Military deal signed between China and Pakistan

Islamabad and Beijing signed a document on Tuesday for bilateral military cooperation after talks between senior Chinese and Pakistani officials.

A high-powered Chinese delegation, led by Deputy Chief of General Staff General Ma Xiaotian, held discussions at Joint Staff Headquarters, Rawalpindi, to kickstart the 9th round of Pak-China Defence and Security talks, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Details of the document were not made public. One military official merely said that it reflected the increasing ongoing cooperation between the two countries.  This cooperation, the official added, included high level exchanges, training programmes and intelligence sharing.

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STRATEGIC PIVOT TO NOWHERE

 

When Britain and France launched pre-emptive military strikes last year that would eventually depose Libyan leader Muramar Qaddafi and his regime, one of President Barack Obama’s most senior advisors described U.S. involvement as “leading from behind,” a most unfortunate descriptor that haunted the administration much as George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” label early in the 2003 Iraq war repeatedly hounded him.  Then, this January, in announcing a new defense strategy, the White House made another blunder.  This strategy was proclaimed as “a strategic pivot to Asia.”

Almost immediately, the administration reversed gears.  No one easily accepts responsibility for a major gaffe and “rebalancing” became the palliative excuse.  Yet, the damage was done.  And the real reason for the pivot, namely an “emerging” China—another offensive reference— was as unmentioned by the White House much as a bizarre relative is hidden in the attic so as not to frighten the kiddies.

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Sufism at Dharki

Dharki, a city located in the Ghotki District of upper Sindh is home to a sizable Muslim community, as well as a Hindu minority.

The Sant Satram Das Temple, with its sprawling grounds is overlooked by multiple statues of Hindu deities and is located close to the Bharchundi Sharif Shrine.

The shrine is a Sufi centre with a madrassah that has been mentioned in the media in connection with a high number of alleged forced conversions of members from the Hindu community in the area.

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COUNTERING BLASPHEMY

There is persistent outflow of anti-Islam literature in various forms: movies, caricatures, printed matter and word of mouth. Pattern is of a well orchestrated, multi-pronged campaign to keep the Muslims off balance. Reactions by the governments of the countries from where such materials are originating have generally been varying: refusing to take responsibility, indifference, complacency, denial and outright defence of these, presumably non-state, media actors.

This is the fourth major event over the last few years that has caught global attention. Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard’s caricatures and Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders’ documentary became public in a quick succession. Then it was Pastor Terry Jones with his disgraceful plan to burn the Quran. Now is the feature film: ‘The Innocence of Muslims’. And without caring for the on-going global protest, French satirical weekly ‘Charlie Hebdo’ has published sacrilegious cartoons of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). To rub salt to the injury, the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has commented, “We are in a country where freedom of expression is guaranteed, including freedom to caricature.”

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The peaceful rallies media failed to cover

What the Media Did Not Tell You; Pakistan’s Protests Marred Against Blasphemy on Ishq-E-Rasool Day.

How the Miscreants Drowned Out the Sane Voices

In a disappointing turn of events, the small but vicious crowd of hooligans bent on destruction & vandalism was largely successful in damaging the efforts of hundreds and thousands of Pakistanis on Ishq-e-Rasool Day today. The hardwork that went behind the organization of hundreds of massive peaceful rallies went to waste as Pakistani media chose to selectively broadcast the violence through showing repeat telecasts of the few angry mobs, completely ignoring the larger protests taking place country-wide. As channel after channel showed clips of burning cinema houses, banks and police vehicles, it failed to show the crowds behind such disgusting and UnIslamic acts were small and in no way represented the 180 million Pakistanis. The few hundred people were nowhere near the half a million Pakistani Muslims who had taken to the streets today. All Ullama have unanimously condemned the vandalism and violence, which had nothing to do with Islam and Sunnah.

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Recipe for Disaster

“—When black people are attacked, they call it Racism. When Jewish people are attacked, they call it anti-Semitism. When  Women are attacked, they call it Gender Discrimination. When Homosexuals are attacked, they call it Intolerance. When they attack your Country, they call it Counter- Terrorism. When a Religious Sect is attacked, they call it Hate Speech. But when they attack the dignity of the Prophet of Islam, Prophet MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H), they call it “Freedom of Expression”—.

Samuel Huntington’s “The clash of Civilizations” planted the thought that Christianity and Islam may be headed for a clash. His idea probably was that thinking minds would work to avert such a catastrophic confrontation but unfortunately there were those who considered such a clash desirable and began work to bring it about. These were the Evangelicals who claimed divine guidance—remember former President Bush flabbergasting the French President by talking of ‘Gog and Magog’? Now with hindsight the progression of events that has brought us to the present day violence can be traced without going back into the ancient history of religious rivalries.

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Pakistan representations all over the world

Quaid-e-Azam’s Statue in York University, Toronto (Canada). It is a 1.5 metre high bronze statue.

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Untitled

More than a week has passed since the Sindh People Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) was passed but there is still much confusion about it. Political parties are once again in the boxing ring hurling punches at each other on so many issues that the real issues have been left unaddressed. From its method of emergence, party alliances, down to the basic rights of the people of Sindh are being argued about. SPLGO has been rejected by all opposition parties. A three- day strike was called for by the Save Sindh Committee and endorsed by opposition parties. ANP’s minister in the Sindh cabinet even went to the length of resigning from the assembly.

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Three-day National Space Conference organized at COMSTECH

 

The Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is organizing a three-day National Space Conference from September 17 at COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad.

A statement here on Saturday said that the moot is aimed to create awareness amongst the decision-makers and the general public, about the importance and crucial role that space science and technology can play in contributing to the social and economic development of the country.

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Pakistanis protest against anti-Islam video

One person has died in the city of Hyderabad and at least eight people have been injured in protests across Pakistan against a controversial video mocking the Prophet Muhammad.

In the southern port city of Karachi,around 1,000 protesters began throwing stones and police responded with teargas and by firing into the air,Fayyaz Laghari,a senior policeman,said on Sunday.

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