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Religious Extremism: Lynching against Minorities
The minority question has been controversial in India. With the success of Hindu nationalist Bhatrtya Janata Party and other extremist religious groups, atrocities against minorities in general and Muslims in particular have increased. BJP, Shiv Sena and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are thriving with an agenda of turning Indian secular state into a Hindu state. India is well known for its political framework and shared historical background. It has operated under the precursor of secularism to deal with its ethnic, cultural and multi-religious diversity. But the conflict between this secular ideology and minority rights remained unresolved.
Article 29 to 30 and 35A to 35B of the Indian constitution, talks about minority rights but the word minority lacks a legally acknowledged definition. Similarly, the word secularism is highly misinterpreted with anti-religion phenomena. Religion-based and under-privileged class minorities of India are marginalized in the socio-economic environment. The ideal of secularism has failed to serve equal opportunities and rights to the Indian minorities.
Current wave of Hindu extremism has shaken the foundations of the secular India. It is becoming difficult for minorities to live in India with their religious and ethnic identities. Animosity of Hindu religious fundamentalists are not only limited to Muslims but other minorities including Sikh and Christian fraternity had also been a subject of majoritarian violence, hatred and anxiety. The contradiction in the secular principles of the state was evident when Muslim community was singled out in 1992 Babri Mosque incident and the state could not protect and control the masses. Similarly, in 2001 Muslims were the victims of hatred in communal riots when fundamentalist groups settled Dalits against them. Moreover, Kandamal riots in Orissa (2008) members of Christian community became the victim of communal violence and relief administration was stopped by the administration from taking any relief work.
There has been a gradual increase in the number of attacks against Muslims and low-caste Dalits since 2014, by the groups claiming to protect cows, considered sacred by Hindus. The government under PM Narandra Modi has failed to stop these incidents of lynching. Currently a 10 minute video of a 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari from Jharkhand caught the attention of religious minorities all across the globe. Tabrez was tied to a pole and was beaten for 12 hours. He was forced to chant “Jai Sri Ram” (hail Lord Ram) a Hindu hardliner slogan. Similarly, a 15-year-old boy was set on fire for not chanting this slogan.
There has been series of incidents in India where the victims were attacked for allegedly not chanting “Jai Sri Ram”. At present it seems that BJP is following soft Hidutva policy and has been ineffective to duly recognize the minority rights and champion their cause.
Religious Extremism: Lynching against Minorities
The minority question has been controversial in India. With the success of Hindu nationalist Bhatrtya Janata Party and other extremist religious groups, atrocities against minorities in general and Muslims in particular have increased. BJP, Shiv Sena and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are thriving with an agenda of turning Indian secular state into a Hindu state. India is well known for its political framework and shared historical background. It has operated under the precursor of secularism to deal with its ethnic, cultural and multi-religious diversity. But the conflict between this secular ideology and minority rights remained unresolved.
Article 29 to 30 and 35A to 35B of the Indian constitution, talks about minority rights but the word minority lacks a legally acknowledged definition. Similarly, the word secularism is highly misinterpreted with anti-religion phenomena. Religion-based and under-privileged class minorities of India are marginalized in the socio-economic environment. The ideal of secularism has failed to serve equal opportunities and rights to the Indian minorities.
Current wave of Hindu extremism has shaken the foundations of the secular India. It is becoming difficult for minorities to live in India with their religious and ethnic identities. Animosity of Hindu religious fundamentalists are not only limited to Muslims but other minorities including Sikh and Christian fraternity had also been a subject of majoritarian violence, hatred and anxiety. The contradiction in the secular principles of the state was evident when Muslim community was singled out in 1992 Babri Mosque incident and the state could not protect and control the masses. Similarly, in 2001 Muslims were the victims of hatred in communal riots when fundamentalist groups settled Dalits against them. Moreover, Kandamal riots in Orissa (2008) members of Christian community became the victim of communal violence and relief administration was stopped by the administration from taking any relief work.
There has been a gradual increase in the number of attacks against Muslims and low-caste Dalits since 2014, by the groups claiming to protect cows, considered sacred by Hindus. The government under PM Narandra Modi has failed to stop these incidents of lynching. Currently a 10 minute video of a 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari from Jharkhand caught the attention of religious minorities all across the globe. Tabrez was tied to a pole and was beaten for 12 hours. He was forced to chant “Jai Sri Ram” (hail Lord Ram) a Hindu hardliner slogan. Similarly, a 15-year-old boy was set on fire for not chanting this slogan.
There has been series of incidents in India where the victims were attacked for allegedly not chanting “Jai Sri Ram”. At present it seems that BJP is following soft Hidutva policy and has been ineffective to duly recognize the minority rights and champion their cause.
BY
USA Military Aid to Pakistan – Recent Developments
USA Military Aid to Pakistan – Recent Developments
Pakistan’s geographical location and borders sharing with states like India, Afghanistan and Iran made it impossible to achieve peace without weapons and military advancement. Pakistan has always been under constant threat of being attacked directly or circuitously. We are witness to all the attempts of subverting Pakistan from within and India has been actively participating in that. By keeping in view the deterioration of economic condition and increase in advanced defense system USA has been providing military assistance to Pakistan since long. The unfortunate incident of 9/11 became a challenge for Pakistan to fight against terrorism and militancy along with other internal and external challenges.
To crack down on militants and their safe havens in Pakistan USA passed five year plan 2009-2014 under former president Barak Obama and $7.5 billion worth of assistance was provided. This bill also created a bit of cleft between civil and military leadership in Pakistan because it was looked upon as threat to sovereignty by military. Along with internal and external security threats, even though Pakistan lost thousands of citizens and military personnel and billions of dollars to this fight, it was constantly hammered to destroy militant’s safe havens in Pakistan and USA kept warning Pakistan that if they found any traces of attacks on USA soil back to Pakistan there will be severe consequences.
After Obama the pressure mounted when Trump started the chant of “Do More” because Pakistan was given $33 billion since 2002 to fight the militants and accused Pakistan of quietly supporting Haqqani network and providing militants with safety on their soil. It was said that rather fighting terror, Pakistani military used $200 million funds for armament, anti-missile defense system and fighter aircrafts including F-16s when the terrorists had no air attack capability. Pakistan has received about $15 billion over the past 15 years including funds for Foreign Military Financing, Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund and International Military Education and Training funds. In January 2018, USA announced that it was suspending $900 million of security aid and military equipment to Pakistan because it failed to fight effectively against terrorists and militancy.
Pakistan was ashamed and accused internationally for not putting “enough effort” and just using the USA for the sake of money. The relationship was sore between Pakistan and USA until the recent meeting of President Trump and PM Imran Khan where the PM of Pakistan emphasized that USA and Pakistan need to have a good working relationship to proceed ahead on good terms. Trump showed optimism by saying that the USA and Pakistan have a better relationship now and that USA State Department will provide Pakistan $125 million for its F-16 aircraft’s technical assistance. PM Khan further assured president Trump that Pakistan will do whatever it takes to keep going the peace process and that there are and never will be any safe havens for militants in Pakistan.
BY
Dialogue and Peace: Resolution of Kashmir Conflict
By Zara Qurban
Kashmir has been a flash point between Pakistan and India. The reason is that the partition plan was not implemented in its letter and spirit. The partition plan of Indian sub-continent, under the formula of, that is, Kashmir was required to accede either with India or Pakistan and then Maharaja of Kashmir acceded with India despite Kashmir being Muslim majority which favored Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan geographically since the beginning. India being obnoxious as ever enforced war on the valley of Kashmir to keep them from getting what they truly deserved- Freedom and Autonomy. India has never been concerned with the catastrophic outcomes of war in waging and maintaining it, but it has been blinded with the vile idea of gaining power over region to weaken Pakistan.
Unfortunate Kashmiris could not get the taste of freedom and sovereignty due to the constant tug of war between India and Pakistan, the two nuclear powers, for past several years. One giant reason for why the relationship between both the belligerents has always been under hot waters is India’s use of coercive measures against Kashmiris to keep them repressed, to deny their right of self-determination and to keep undermining any bilateral or multilateral solution to the issue. The earthly paradise has turned into a valley of dead bodies of the loved ones, bullets, blood and women of all age groups who have been physically violated by Indian soldiers.
It has always been the major approach of Pakistan to resolve Kashmir issue through UNO Resolutions to ensure the natural right of freedom of Kashmiris and to save them from further Indian atrocities. However, Pakistan rejected the UNHC Resolution number 47 that suggested Pakistan to withdraw its forces from Kashmir because of Indian approach of crushing innocent Muslim Kashmiris in order to maintain power over them. India has always been a fixed believer of war and genocide, it never really participated in finding any solution to the issue with clean heart and mind rather it has always taken defense under ferocious and intimidating methods which has further fractured the fabric of the Kashmiri society. India wants to bring Kashmiris, who have sacrificed to an unimaginable level to secure their right to freedom, on their knees through the projection of power.
Pakistan has successfully managed to keep the issue of Kashmir internationalized for past several decades to bring the attention of others influential countries towards India’s unrealistic and barbarian behavior regarding Kashmir. Few States of the international community have become blind, deaf and mute in fear of protecting their trade benefits with India since it’s a big market. Pakistan has tried numerous time on regional and international forums to discuss the matter and bring out the best alternative solution but India despite showing willingness to have dialogues restrains from doing so by constantly accusing Pakistan of being involved in terror activities and buys time to uptight its hold on Kashmir.
If the world pays close attention to the local grievances it will be quite evident that the Kashmir is not just some territorial issue between two strong-headed States, but it is more of a political issue which requires a political solution because it involves the people of Kashmir who are the rightful owners of their piece of land. All the rightful representatives are either jailed or killed to minimize the intensity of freedom movement led by agitated Kashmiris.
The constant atrocities, unfair treatment of the people of Kashmir and the killing of young freedom fighter Burhan Wani whose brother was also killed for no reason by Indian soldiers have escalated the intensity of freedom struggle and movement. India has never failed to violate the ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control and the violent responses have increased since the PathanKot incident followed by the Uri attack and Pulwama episode. India blamed Pakistan for conducting those attacks before even inquiring and successfully politicized the attack to gain more public sentiments which eventually helped the already ruling hardliner party of BJP under Narendra Modi to bag more votes to secure second term as Prime Minister of India.
Both the belligerents need to realize that military or coercive measures are not the solution rather it will further fragment the Kashmiri society. Dominance of one group over the other can never ensure human security that is mostly needed to comfort Kashmiris emotionally as of now. This is high time that Pakistan convinces India to have result oriented dialogues because BJP has majority in the Upper House and bill can be passed with a vast majority that can benefit the people of Kashmir and help them being a part of normally functioning States as well as the relationship between India and Pakistan will also improve. Ex-President of Pakistan and CoAS General Pervaiz Musharraf suggested a solution to this issue to have productive dialogues with India that Kashmir should be demilitarized and people from both sides should have the liberty to move and participate in economic activities. If not independence, autonomy should be given.
Kashmir needs a tripartite solution including Pakistan, India and people of Kashmir. The leadership responsible for carrying out solution from all three sides should have the exact knowledge of the problem. India need to realize that turning Kashmir issue into religious radicalization and promoting nationalism to fuel already brewing tensions will not bring any stability to the region. Kashmir’s president Sardar Masood Khan mentioned with a heavy heart that unarmed and innocent Kashmiris with only stones and sticks in hands are standing firm against 700,000 fully armed Indian forces, how is this even justified in the eyes of so-called secular and democratic State of India?
Joint machinery needs to be established to maintain law and order situation and to conserve political, educational, religious and humanitarian rights in Kashmir. UN Resolutions should be used as a tool towards making Kashmir stable and secure for its people. Being major stake holders, India and Pakistan have the authority to make the quest of finding solution complex or humble by working together. Funding of the fighters cross-borders on both sides should be stopped to promote peace, security and development of the people who have been kept deprived of all these for so long just because they belong to a “disputed territory.” The whole nation is being taken for granted which is not and should not be acceptable for much enlightened world of today.
PM Visit: Trade and Economic Cooperation
The three day visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan seems to have struck a chord and both President Donald Trump and PM Imran Khan have found some common grounds to move forward on. This week’s summit talks turned out to be a positive initiative from both sides as they kept aside their bitterness and grievances. This meeting broke the ice and both the countries are now back on track to have bilateral relations. Pakistan’s President’s visit to the United States was not only a good step to the outer world but was a good indicator for Pakistan’s economy too.
The talks revolved around four different subjects including the peace process in Afghanistan, the Kashmir issue between two contending rivals India and Pakistan, regional security, and fostering trade and economic relations. Trump on Monday also hinted at the possibility of restoring about $13 billion aid to Pakistan that was suspended in 2018. Outcomes of these talks indicate that the bilateral ties between both countries will grow in the near future. However, the US is dangling the possibility of stronger trade and economic relations with Pakistan if it helps with the peace talks in Afghanistan and do more to crack down on terrorism within its borders.
Investment and economic cooperation were of a more prime concern than the renewal of the US aid to Pakistan. Because the US has been Pakistan’s important development, investment, and trade partner and Pakistan’s second largest export market after European Union with total trade of $6.627 billion during FY 2018-19 and over $1.5 billion worth of investment. Moreover, The American President also showed interest in raising the US investment and expanding trade relations with Pakistan.
Acknowledging that there have been ups and downs in Pakistan – U.S relations Pakistan is looking forward to discover ways and means to deepen its economic relations with Washington through a constructive and positive approach. This cooperation will be beneficial for both the countries. Pakistan is expecting US engagement in the areas such as economy and finance, energy, science, and technology as well as agriculture. These areas have the potential to build up long-term economic growth, stability, and human development.
Indeed, this three-day visit to Washington has helped to soften Pakistan’s relations with the US. Now is the time when the US investors must convince their potential investors to invest in Pakistan and should transfer the latest technology to Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan should focus more on its private sector by providing all kinds of support and skills to boost its exports.
BY
Conference on Strategic Environment: Role of Leadership (2050)
On 19th of April 2019,
Pakistan House organized a Round-Table Conference in Islamabad on ” Strategic Environment:Â Role of Leadership (2050)”.
Conference on Positive Propaganda vs. Rhetoric: Managing Policy Perception of Pakistan
On 29th of April 2019, Pakistan House organized a one-day International Conference in Islamabad on â€Positive Propaganda vs. Rhetoric: Managing Policy Perception of Pakistan.
Ms Sana Maqbool, News Anchor at PTV World, was the Master of the Ceremony.
Conference on Actualization of national Narrative
Pakistan House organized a one-day International Conference on March 28, 2019 in Islamabad on
Actualization of national Narrative.
Ms Sana Maqbool, News Anchor at PTV World, was the Master of the Ceremony.
Conference on Occupied Kashmir: The Victim of State and Societal Coercion
Pakistan House organized a one-day International Conference on 25 February in Islamabad on â€Occupied Kashmir: The Victim of State and Societal Coercion.
Ms Sana Maqbool, News Anchor at PTV World, was the Master of the Ceremony.