Pak High Commission in Nuclear Trade

After all Pakistani proliferation activity was reduced to a singularity called A Q Khan, the Govt. (read Musharraf) said he had no knowledge of Khan’s activities. Apparently Khan flew planes loaded with supplies to various countries all by himself. Atleast that is what Musharraf wants the world to believe and his annadatas seem to have trusted this version.
But once the nuclear agreement between India and US was reached, Musharraf wanted a piece of that pie too. If he was not part of the action, he would be forced to look elsewhere and it would threaten stability in the region, he warned. Now we know he was serious.

Pakistan High Commission in London is on a British intelligence list of 360 companies, universities and government organisations seeking to procure nuclear and other weapons related technology.
The 17-page document identifies 95 Pakistani organisations and government bodies, including Pakistan High Commission in London, as having assisted in the country’s nuclear programme. The list was compiled two years ago shortly after the security service mounted a surveillance operation at the Pakistani high commission, which is the only diplomatic institution on the list. Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner, said: “It is absolute rubbish and we take strong exception to these allegations.”[Pakistan’s government implicated in nuclear trade]

We are indeed different

“We are brothers and sisters and should not be killing each other. Let’s hold some candles and kiss each other”. That was the slogan of the peaceniks who thought that with some people to people contact, (as opposed to terrorist to armed forces contact), there would be peace between India and Pakistan. They tried many tricks, like lighting candles in the border (sometimes forgetting to take the candle) and getting a Pakistani actress to kiss an Indian actor.
But looks like we are not made of the same material. This was revealed by none other than the symbol of Indo-Pak make out activity, actress Meera

Pakistani film actress Meera, who last year created flutters in Bollywood with her hot kissing scenes in film “Nazar”, has done a volte-face regarding screening of Indian films in Pakistan, saying that the Bollywood films should not be shown in Pakistan because Indians had a “different culture and mindset” than the Muslims.
Vehemently opposing bringing Indian films to Pakistani cinemas, she said it should “never” happen.
“India has a different culture, Indians have a different mind-set and Indian movies should not be screened in Pakistan. We should produce our own movies. We are Muslims and we have to make films that depict our own culture,” the Daily Times quoted the film actress as saying. [‘Muslim’ Meera does a volte-face, backs Bollywood ban in Pak]

At this point, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Amir Khan should have told her – hey we are Muslims too!
But then you are a product of your upbringing. You have to see what is taught in schools there to see how brainwashed people are. Note that these are not madrassa books, but the ones approved by the Govt. of our friend P. Musharraf.

* The Hindus treated the ancient population of the Indus Valley very badly. They set fire to their houses and butchered them.
* The religion of Hindus did not teach them good things, Hindus did not respect women.
* The Hindu has always been an enemy of Islam. [Hindu, Enemy Of Islam]

Next time these candlewallahs go to Pakistan for some good kabab and curry, can they address these fundamental issues which mould the thinking of an entire generation.

Soft Borders: Not a good idea

A battle between U.S. forces and insurgents in eastern Afghanistan spilled across the border into Pakistan during the weekend, and witnesses said U.S. rocket fire killed five Pakistani tribesmen.
U.S. attack helicopters opened fire in Lawara Mandai, a Pakistani border town in the North Waziristan tribal region, as U.S. forces pursued insurgents after what the U.S. military called an ambush by guerrillas, officials and residents said.
Although Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly allows U.S. “hot pursuit” missions when guerrillas cross from Afghanistan into Pakistan, opposition groups have denounced the incursions as illegal attacks on sovereign Pakistani territory.[U.S. tracks insurgents to Pakistan, killing 12]

Aah, this is why Musharraf rejected the idea of soft borders.

The Dangerous Game

Finally it takes a Frenchman to say things bluntly

For my part, I know where I stand. Having had the chance, during my investigations into journalist Daniel Pearl’s murder, to observe close up the nature of the ties between the ISI and a number of Islamist groups, such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, linked to the “sacred” cause of Kashmir, I don’t have many illusions as to the sincerity of the Islamabad leaders when they present themselves as the best students in the anti-terrorist class.
I just hope that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice doesn’t have any more illusions than I have, and that when she thanks the Pakistanis for “the difficult work they’ve done,” she knows that she’s trifling with us, and she knows what she’s doing. I hope that when, in order to break the “axis of evil,” the Americans ally themselves with one of the regimes that has at its disposal both weapons of mass destruction and the ideology capable of putting them into action, they are fully aware that they’re playing with fire. And that they’re playing the craziest, most paradoxical and — if they’re not careful — most dangerous diplomatic poker game in contemporary history. [Pakistan’s Chips in a Shady Game]

Bernard-Henri Levy is the author of Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, which is an investigation into the murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan.

AQ Khan's India Connection

Terry Gross had an interview with David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C on the topic of nuclear proliferation and AQ Khan in particular. In the interview (click on the listen button), he makes a statement that India was one of the beneficiaries of the Khan network.
Now pause for a second and understand that the seriousness of that statement. a) Khan worked on the nuclear program for Pakistan to defend itself against India and now the same Khan has sold technology to India and b) India bought things in the black market for its nuclear program. Albright says, it was a Khan associate in South Africa, who sold some items to India’s gas centrifuge program and probably Khan was not aware of this, but somehow Albright seems to be aware of it. The justification was, Khan’s associates were motivated by money and not ideology.
But then Khan too was not motivated much by ideology, for he was willing to sell to anyone willing to pay. The customers did not even have to be Islamic states (North Korea), but Islamic states and organizations got preferential treatment. Terry asked him if the Pakistani Govt was involved in all this and why Khan was given such a lenient punishment. Albright replies that Khan stuck a deal with Musharraf and said he would not implicate anyone above him, and in return he and his associates would not be harmed. The claim of Pakistani Govt. not knowing about Khan’s activities is a lie as the deal with North Korea was between the two Governments.
Albright also thinks that North Korea is a “logical” country.

EU snub for Pakistani delegation

In Longitudes and Attitudes, Tom Friedman categorizes the Sept 11 hijackers into two classes, Europeans and Saudis. The Europeans are people like Mohammed Atta, who got indoctrinated in radical Islam after moving to Europe. The European attitude was that, do whatever crazy things you want, so long as it is not against us. The Saudis are those hijackers who provided the muscle power.
Now it comes as a surprise that such a liberal Europe has snubbed a delegation of Pakistani MPs with the comment that the delegation did not meet, “ideals of democracy, equality and human rights”.

British Labour MEP, Neena Gill, leader of the EU parliament’s South Asia inter-parliamentary committee, said: “The European Parliament espouses the ideals of democracy, equality and human rights.
“While we have members who represent all shades of the political spectrum, we are all working within the framework of a fully functioning democracy.
“We cannot condone therefore individuals who place themselves outside these parameters, for they represent everything we stand against.” [EU snub for hardline Pakistan MP]

Senator Maulana Sami ul-Haq, the person in question runs a seminary which graduates students to fight enemies of their religion and supports the Taleban and Osama bin Laden.

A new Khan on the block

In India when you think of Khans, the people that come to mind are the leading actors in the film industry, Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir. From Pakistan, more famous than Imran Khan is AQ Khan, who even appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. Now here comes another Khan, following the trendsetting path set by AQ.

A Pakistani businessman illegally exported devices from the United States that could be used to test, develop and detonate nuclear weapons, the government alleged on Friday.
A federal indictment against Humayun A. Khan was unsealed along with a guilty plea by his alleged partner, who admitted routing high-speed electrical switches through South Africa to avoid raising authorities’ suspicions. The switches – which can be used in medical and military devices – were then shipped to Pakistan.
The United States prohibits the export of the switches, also known as “triggered spark gaps,” to Pakistan and a handful of other countries to prevent potential nuclear proliferation. [washingtonpost.com > Nation > Wires > Pakistani Accused of Exporting Devices]

I wonder if this Khan apologizes on national TV, the matter would be considered settled.

Another report to ignore

Pakistani Govt is biased against minorities. We are not saying it, but the Pakistan National Commission for Justice and Peace.

The NCJP has said that the attack on minorities’ places of worship, instances of forced conversions, discriminatory laws are being used as weapons for political leverage and evictions of minorities indicate the state’s failure to ensure not only human rights but implement legislation for effective governance….[Pak commission says govt. biased against minorities via DhimmiWatch]

Since minorities are opressed in Pakistan, do you think anyone would refuse a visa to Musharraf ?

No flexibility from Pakistan

Even before Musharraf could finish uttering the word – flexibility, India displayed lot of it. The General is still not happy and keeps asking for more and more. But at the same time you would think that Pakistan would also reciprocrate in this flexibility contest. But it is not so.

Coming back to its oft-repeated harp on Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Pakistan would never be flexible in its principled stand on the issue.
Talking to visting Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Aziz ruled out any normalisation in bilateral ties unless the Kashmir issue was resolved in tune with the aspirations of the Kashmiris.[Pak rules out any flexibility on Kashmir]

But I hope this does not stop us from displaying more generosity.

Queen Aishwarya and Sonia Gandhi

Was Sonia Gandhi behind the economic blockade imposed by India against Nepal 1989 ? According to Jonathan Gregson in his book Massacre at the Palace: The Doomed Royal Dynasty of Nepal, there was an issue between Sonia Gandhi and Queen Aishwarya during the SAARC meet over who should take precedence. This incident strengthened Rajiv Gandhi’s determination to teach and an economic blockade was imposed over Nepal using the pretext that the trade treaty between the two countries had expired.
Later when a widowed Sonia Gandhi visited Kathmandu, the Queen made sure that she was denied permission to enter Pashupathinath temple on the basis that she was born a Catholic. The Queen thus gained happiness of standing up against India, whom she hated because she thought India was behind the Spring Awakening of 1990 that led to democracy.
Devyani Rana was one of the women shortlisted for marrying Prince Dipendra and she was related to the Scindias of India. Devyani’s mother cosidered the Nepali Royal family below them. This combined with the Queen’s hatred for India, made the Queen oppose Dipendra’s marriage to Devyani. Later it was over this woman that Dipendra massacred the Royal family and killed himself.