In its 62nd year, Israel is in a diplomatic, security and moral limbo, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

In its 62nd year, Israel is in a diplomatic, security and moral limbo

Says an editorial in Haaretz, Tel Aviv

April 19, 2010

The joy attendant on Israel's Independence Day traditionally focused on emphasizing the growing list of the young state's achievements and the sense that the country was progressing toward a better future - one of peace, enhanced physical and existential security, integration into the family of nations and the region, and a normalized existence. But the country's lifespan, which was considered a great virtue in and of itself during the first few decades, has become secondary to a far more important question: Within what dynamic is Israel operating? Is time on Israel's side? Is it setting goals for itself and working toward their realization? Has it blossomed into maturity? Are its citizens more secure and happier? Does it greet the future with hope?

Unfortunately, Israel's 62nd Independence Day finds it in a kind of diplomatic, security and moral limbo that is certainly no cause for celebration. It is isolated globally and embroiled in a conflict with the superpower whose friendship and support are vital to its very existence. It is devoid of any diplomatic plan aside from holding onto the territories and afraid of any movement. It wallows in a sense of existential threat that has only grown with time. It seizes on every instance of anti-Semitism, whether real or imagined, as a pretext for continued apathy and passivity. In many respects, it seems that Israel has lost the dynamism and hope of its early decades, and is once again mired in the ghetto mentality against which its founders rebelled.

Granted, Israel is not the sole custodian of its fate. Yet the shortcomings that have cast a pall over the country since its founding - the ethnocentrism, the dominance of the army and religious functionaries, the socioeconomic gaps, the subservience to the settlers, the mystical mode of thinking and the adherence to false beliefs - have, instead of disappearing over time, only gathered steam. The optimistic, pragmatic, peace-seeking spirit that once filled the Israeli people, in tune with the Zionist revolution, which sought to alter Jewish fate, has weakened. And it is not clear whether the current government is deepening the reactionary counterrevolution or merely giving it faithful expression.

http://newageislam.com/in-its-62nd-year,-israel-is-in-a-diplomatic,-security-and-moral-limbo/current-affairs/d/2735

Munir Commission Report- Part 38: The Final Phase, Books and Documents, NewAgeIslam.com

Books and Documents

Munir Commission Report- Part 38: The Final Phase

This phase opens with the Chief Secretary’s letter of the 21st February, 1953 to Mr. G. Ahmad, Secretary for the Interior. After dwelling on the sins of the Ahrar during the recent past, it informs the Centre that direct action is supposed to start at Karachi on the 23rd February

in the form of picketing of Ahmadi shops, and that volunteers will be sent from the Punjab and other provinces. On the 16th February, the Prime Minister was greeted with a hartal and black flags, and at a public meeting the same day, while the speakers were careful to emphasise that violence should not be resorted to, they were at pains to excite and inflame public feeling. The police were being reminded to remember the Day of Judgment when dealing with civil disobedience. Shopkeepers had been forced to close shops against their will and those who did not do so had their faces blackened. Two incidents resulting in violence had taken place. Law abiding citizens could not disapprove of demonstrations for fear of being labelled as Ahmadis. A depot holder in Lahore refused to sell wheat to an Ahmadi woman until she had given an undertaking to take part in an agitation against her own people.

But, concluded the letter, as the agitation was not confined to this province and the demands did not fall within the provincial sphere, the Government feel “very handicapped in dealing with the situation effectively” and think that it will considerably strengthen their hands if the Central Government could enunciate the firm policy that they want to adopt with reference to these demands. Whatever this policy may be * * * * * the Provincial Government feel that they are strong enough to implement that policy within the province”.

http://newageislam.com/munir-commission-report--part-38--the-final-phase/books-and-documents/d/2757

Belgian lawmakers vote to ban full-face veils in public, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Belgian lawmakers vote to ban full-face veils in public

PARIS -- Belgian lawmakers on Thursday passed a nationwide ban prohibiting women from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public places, the first move of its kind in Western Europe.

The unanimous vote in the lower house of Parliament came in response to growing irritation in Belgium and other West European countries over the increasing numbers and visibility of Muslims whose customs and attitudes often present a challenge to the continent's largely Christian heritage.

The French government, after months of rancorous debate, has pledged to pass a similar nationwide ban by September, a promise denounced by Muslims as "stigmatization" of their religion. President Nicolas Sarkozy decided last week to introduce the bill despite a warning from the country's constitutional court that a blanket prohibition would probably be unconstitutional.

"The burqa has no place in France," he said.

Similar bills have been introduced in the parliaments of Italy and the Netherlands, where local jurisdictions have already imposed more-limited anti-veil measures. Two dozen communities in Belgium also have decreed local bans, including Brussels, the capital.

According to Human Rights Watch, the U.S.-based advocacy group, political figures in Switzerland and Austria have suggested that legislation such as Belgium's would be a good idea in their countries as well. Farther north, Denmark's government issued a statement in January saying the full-face veil was out of sync with Danish values, but decided against legislation because few women wear such garments.

Swiss voters, in a referendum in December, barred Muslims from building minarets, or towers, to call the faithful to prayer. Their vote, widely decried as anti-Islamic by Muslim and human rights groups, generated favorable comment from conservative French politicians along with suggestions that France should impose a similar minaret ban.

http://newageislam.com/belgian-lawmakers-vote-to-ban-full-face-veils-in-public/islamic-world-news/d/2783

Give up Babri Mosque Claim: Hindutva Leader's Appeal to Muslims, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Give up Babri Mosque Claim: Hindutva Leader's Appeal to Muslims

INDORE: Bringing to the fore yet again the party's pet issue, new BJP President Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the Ram temple in Ayodhya is its soul and appealed to the Muslims to adopt a "generous" attitude by giving up their claim on the disputed site.

In his presidential address at the opening of the two-day National Council here, he also spoke on issues seeking to broadbase support for the party like wooing Dalits and minorities and the need to instill a new work culture in the organisation without resorting to sycophancy.

Leaving no one in doubt about the party's stand on issues like Ayodhya and alleged minority appeasement, 52-year-old Gadkari, the RSS choice for the post, said "the BJP stands fully committed to the construction of a grand temple in Ayodhya".

"Today, I appeal to the Muslim community to be generous towards the sentiments and feelings of Hindus and facilitate the construction of a grand Ram temple. If you (Muslims) give up your claim on the land at the disputed site, we will cooperate in the construction of a magnificent masjid in a nearby land," he said.

Gadkari's remarks are seen as a new attempt by the BJP to revive the Ram Janmabhoomi issue while at the same time making a bid to co-opt the minorities.

The opening session also saw the former President Rajnath Singh apologising to partymen for any wrong decisions taken during his term that witnessed bitter infighting among middle-rung leaders, especially after the Lok Sabha debacle last year.

Gadkari was scathing in his criticism of the Government on its alleged attempts at minority appeasement. He, however, said it was wrong to say that BJP was against Muslims. If it was so, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani would not have made A P J Abdul Kalam the nation's President.

http://newageislam.com/give-up-babri-mosque-claim--hindutva-leader-s-appeal-to-muslims/islamic-world-news/d/2478

Karachi blast death toll mounts to 43, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Karachi blast death toll mounts to 43

ISLAMABAD: Karachi was in mourning a day after the deadly suicide attack on a Muharram procession in which the death toll has now climbed to 43.

Despite the incidents of widespread arson following the bombing, the situation remained under control.

But until late into the morning, fire engines continued to battle flames in properties that were set ablaze by rioters after the bombing.

The provincial government declared on Tuesday a holiday and designated it as an official day of mourning for the dead.

Shops, businesses, schools and petrol pumps remained closed and there was no public transport as the city prepared for the funerals of those who were killed in the attack.

Hundreds of shops were burnt in Monday’s arson spree following the suicide attack. Interior minister Rehman Malik, who visited Karachi on Tuesday, said the incidents of violence were a “pre-planned” conspiracy to engulf the city in flames.

He said it was improbable the Shia mourners in the processions were carrying jerry-cans of petrol ready to torch properties.

Conspiracy

The fires began within minutes, and this, Mr. Malik said, pointed to a conspiracy against Pakistan.

He promised that the government would compensate traders for the losses, which may be run into billions of rupees.

http://newageislam.com/karachi-blast-death-toll-mounts-to-43/islamic-world-news/d/2305

Love-Bomb, a new RSS weapon against innocent Muslim youths of Kerala: Jana Satta, Muslims and Islamophobia, NewAgeIslam.com

Muslims and Islamophobia

Love-Bomb, a new RSS weapon against innocent Muslim youths of Kerala: Jana Satta

Kerala facing a new danger

The Kerala High Court instructed the central government yesterday to investigate into the so-called allegation of conversion of the Hindu girls to Islam by Love-Jihad organization of Kerala. The home ministry will submit the finding report to the court in this matter. It has also ordered to investigate the influx of money for this project. Justice K. T. Shankaran has issued this order while hearing anticipatory bail petition of the two accused youths. They have been accused of forcing the college girls to convert to Islam and for being attached to Popular Front of India, a South-friendly organization. The Justice asserted on observing the case diary, “It seems there have been many cases like this, the organizations like “Love-Jihad” or “Romeo-Jihad” are the fabrications of a particular group of Muslims in Kerala”.

Recently in previous month, two parents had filed a writ petition in high court after their daughters were missing. The girls reported on being recovered that they had been kidnapped and were being forced to convert to Islam. After the girls were sent to the parents’ custody, the court asked the police to investigate into the matter as to how the girls are being enticed in love and being forced for conversion to another religion.

The concerned girls are the residents of Kochi and Trivanantpuram who studied in Pathan Mithqan College. One of them fell in love with her senior colleague and she wished to marry him. Her lover involved the other girl with his friend. The girls reported that they were taken to Malayapuram and given religious books; also they were shown the video of religious significance. The police admitted that there have been certain cases of girls being trapped in love and forced into conversion. Some girls have been returned to their parents who did not file legal cases for fear of social embarrassment. According to sources, this organization is especially targeting the Hindu girls.

http://newageislam.com/love-bomb,-a-new-rss-weapon-against-innocent-muslim-youths-of-kerala--jana-satta/muslims-and-islamophobia/d/2121

Maldives President requests ruling on non-Muslim worship, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Maldives President requests ruling on non-Muslim worship

President Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday he would seek advice from religious scholars on Islam’s position on allowing non-Muslims to worship in an Islamic community.

In his radio weekly address, the president said the constitution was "very clear" that laws contrary to Islam could not be made or enacted.

"It has become very important for me to find out what Islamic sharia says about not allowing foreigners who want to worship other religions in the Maldives," he said.

"When this bill comes from the People's Majlis for the president to ratify, the question before me will be what is the ruling in Islamic sharia on people of other religions living in an Islamic community to worship?"

The president said he needed an answer to the question before ratifying the bill. "When I know, it will be easier for me to make a decision on ratify the bill before it becomes law," he said.

Banned

Last week, a bill proposed by independent MP Ibrahim Muttalib Fares-Maathoda on outlawing places of worship for non-Muslims was sent to committee for further review with unanimous consent of all MPs who participated in the vote.

At the sitting, Muttalib said he learned that inquiries had been made with the government on establishing places of worship for expatriates and there was no law to forbid it.

http://newageislam.com/maldives-president-requests-ruling-on-non-muslim-worship/islamic-world-news/d/2125

Pakistan still wondering if Lashkar-e-Taiba is a ‘Strategic asset’ or a liability,

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Pakistan still wondering if Lashkar-e-Taiba is a ‘Strategic asset’ or a liability

Pakistan: two questions, multiple realities

By Nirupama Subramanian
Nov 27, 2009

The government also launched an investigation into the planning of the Mumbai attacks in Pakistan. The probe named the LeT as the group behind the attack. The government made multiple arrests, registered a case and put seven people, including Lakhvi and Abdul Wajid, on trial.

Analysts and officials in Pakistan feel that all this only goes to show that no state “elements” could have been involved in the Mumbai attacks. The government could not have taken any of these actions without the consent of the ISI and the Army. Even the investigation by the Federal Investigating Agency, they say, would not have been possible, but for the assistance provided by intelligence agencies.

There is a real worry within the military and the intelligence agencies, these analysts say, that if there is another attack of a similar nature in India, it could trigger an India-Pakistan at a time when its forces are tied up battling the Taliban on the western borders. This, they say, is a “nightmare scenario” that the Pakistani authorities are trying their best to avoid.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan-still-wondering-if-lashkar-e-taiba-is-a-%E2%80%98strategic-asset%E2%80%99-or-a-liability/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/2156

Mumbai 26/11: India’s Was The Best Possible Riposte, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Mumbai 26/11: India’s Was The Best Possible Riposte

By Richard Stagg

As my Prime Minister made clear during his visit to India shortly after the attacks, the U.K. was — and is — determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism. Over the last year, we have been true to our word, and U.K. and Indian authorities have worked closer than ever to stop further attacks from happening.

It was quickly recognised that the Mumbai attacks emanated from Pakistan. The British government has been working with the Pakistani authorities over the last year to try to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice, and further such attacks do not happen. I don’t say this simply through empathy for the victims and their families of bombings and shootings across South Asia -- of which there are far too many -- but because terrorism with roots in this region also has a huge impact on my country. As I have said before, three quarters of the most serious terror plots being investigated by U.K. authorities have links to South Asia. Unless and until this threat is dismantled, people in Europe and Asia will continue to face the sort of indiscriminate killing that we saw in London in 2005 and in Mumbai last year.

http://newageislam.com/mumbai-26/11--india%E2%80%99s-was-the-best-possible-riposte/war-on-terror/d/2157

Difficulties of An alternative discourse within Islam, The War within Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

The War within Islam

Difficulties of An alternative discourse within Islam

By Ayesha Siddiqa

3 Oct 2009

A FEW months ago, I met a three-member team from a UK-based think tank called Quilliam. Based in London, the organisation claims to be the first counter-terrorism think tank in the world.

It was started by two young Muslims, Ed Hussain and Maajid Nawaz, who were formerly part of the Islamist organisation Hizbut Tahrir (HT). They are now dedicated to weaning Muslim youth away from global jihad and towards peace.

It was interesting listening to Maajid Nawaz who had come to Pakistan to talk about his experience as a member of HT. He said he used to visit Pakistan to recruit people in the military and in government for the global jihad. It was during a period of incarceration that Nawaz said he saw the light and decided to wean people away from jihad.

Luckily for the two men, the British government was able to provide funding to set up Quilliam. Now they both go around the world with a missionary zeal to spread another kind of message. Their aim is also to bridge the gap between the Muslim world and the West.

The Quilliam team’s trip to Pakistan was aimed at visiting universities where Maajid Nawaz spoke to students about how he was wrong in supporting global jihad. Earlier, the organisation had funded a conference of the vice-chancellors of various Pakistani universities to convince them of the project that Nawaz later undertook.

http://newageislam.com/difficulties-of-an-alternative-discourse-within-islam/the-war-within-islam/d/1862

ولی رحمانی مدرسہ بورڈ کے مسئلے میں قوم وملت کو گمراہ کررہے ہیں: امام کونسل, Urdu Section, NewAgeIslam.com

Urdu Section

ولی رحمانی مدرسہ بورڈ کے مسئلے میں قوم وملت کو گمراہ کررہے ہیں: امام کونسل

New Delhi: 2 Oct. Hindustan Express (News Bureau): A like-minded group of people like Wali Rahmani are misguiding Muslims on the issue of establishment of a Central Madrasa Board. They are trying to drag an age-old demand of Muslims into a controversy and also trying to frighten innocent people by imaginary dangers looming ahead. By this malicious act, the character and the nature of madrasas will become suspicious and mystifying. This opinion is expressed by an eminent member of Muslim scholars’ group in reaction to the statement of Maulana Wali Rahmani, Sajjada Nashin of Khanqah Rahmani, Munger and the organizer of Madrasa Modernization Committee of central government that “the formation of Central Madrasa Board is no panacea for any disease; this idea is the brain-child of Mr. L.K.Advani”.

Another group of scholars and intellectuals is supporting the idea. Maulana Maqsoodul Hassan Qasmi and Maulana Mahmoodul Hassan Nadvi, the president and the vice-president of Imam Council of India respectively, have asserted in a joint statement without naming anyone: “Imam Council condemns the blind opposition of Central Madrasa Board expressed by an eminent Islamic scholar in an interview to a newspaper”. This interview was published in the 30th Sep.2009 edition of Hindustan Express. The leaders of Imam Council are trying to save the innocent Muslims of India from being betrayed by some selfish people. They are always obedient to serve for their personal gains, in exchange of the membership in different committees or to get a ticket to parliament. They have also questioned him for being the chairman of the Madrasa Modernization Committee of central government formed by Mr. Arjun Singh. Why is he still continuing on the post if the Central Madrasa Board is of no use?

http://newageislam.com/urdu-section/ولی-رحمانی-مدرسہ-بورڈ-کے-مسئلے-میں-قوم-وملت-کو-گمراہ-کررہے-ہیں--امام-کونسل-/d/1864

A Christian priest reads Quran entire Ramadan, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

A Christian priest reads Quran entire Ramadan

Thiruvananthapuram: For 65-year-old priest G.S. Francis, the Holy Quran is as dear as the Holy Bible.

Church of South Indian (CSI) parish vicar Francis has been reading the Quran for an hour everyday during the fasting month of Ramzan for the past two decades.

"The Old Testament and the Quran are almost similar and I do read it every day for an hour during the month of Ramzan. In fact in the course of theology, the holy books of other religions like the Ramayana and Quran are taught," he said.

"I learned theology at a seminary by attending a part-time course. It was in 1989 that I was ordained as a priest. The state government allowed me to don the cassock because I agreed to do the priestly duties as an honorary service," he added.

Francis retired from the state government as deputy development commissioner in rural department a decade back and has been a priest in the church since then. The church is located at Thalassery in Kannur district.

He said during the month of Ramzan he fasts when he has no other duties to perform.

"It has become a practice for me ever since I became a priest to refer to religious books like Quran and Ramayana. This helps me to understand other religions. This reading helps me when I deliver messages in the church. One gets knowledge for preaching when one studies other religions because a comparative study is required and I am happy doing this," Francis said.

http://newageislam.com/a-christian-priest-reads-quran-entire-ramadan/islamic-world-news/d/1739

The Way Out of Afghanistan, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

The Way Out of Afghanistan

By Fareed Zakaria

22 September 2009

The most important reality of the post-9/11 world has been the lack of any major follow-up attack. That’s happened largely because Al Qaeda has been on the run in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The campaign against terrorist groups in both countries rests on ground forces and intelligence. A senior US military official involved in planning these campaigns told me that America’s presence in Afghanistan has been the critical element in the successful strikes against Qaeda leaders and camps. Were America to leave the scene, all the region’s players would start jockeying for influence over 
Afghanistan. That would almost certainly mean the revival of the poisonous alliance between the Pakistani military and the hardest-line elements 
of the Taleban.

It is worth reminding ourselves that Afghanistan is not in free fall. The number of civilian deaths, while grim, is less than a 10th the number in Iraq in 2006. In the recent election, all four presidential candidates publicly endorsed the US presence there. Compare this to Iraq, where politicians engaged in 
ritual denunciations of the United States constantly, to satisfy the public’s anti-Americanism.

The Obama administration’s answer to the worsening situation in the country appears to be: “more.” More troops, civilians, tasks, and missions. There is nothing wrong with helping Afghans develop their country. But if the goal is to give Afghanistan a strong, functioning central government and a viable economy, the task will require decades, not years. Afghanistan is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. It has had a weak central government for centuries. Illiteracy rates are somewhere around 70 percent. Building a 400,000-strong security force, as some in Congress have proposed, will be arduous in this context, not to mention that its annual cost would be equivalent to 300 percent of the country’s GDP.

http://newageislam.com/the-way-out-of-afghanistan-/war-on-terror/d/1786

Pakistan fighting for survival against Taliban: Zardari, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Pakistan fighting for survival against Taliban: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is fighting a war for its survival against the Taliban, who have a presence in large parts of the country, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.

"Taliban want to overtake the state of Pakistan," he told a US TV channel. "It is indispensable to halt the rising influence of Taliban by using force as they desire to change our living style."

The interview will be broadcast Sunday.

Noting that the military was backing the government in its war against terrorism along the country's restive border with Afghanistan, Zardari said that but for this the Taliban would have overrun Islamabad.

Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday jointly presided over a high-level meeting to review the situation in tribal areas and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and decided to continue the military operation against Taliban militants in the turbulent Swat valley to re-establish the government's writ.

"The meeting expressed satisfaction over the way the fight against militancy was proceeding and vowed to continue the campaign till the eradication of militancy and complete restoration of the writ of the government," Dawn reported Saturday.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan-fighting-for-survival-against-taliban--zardari/islamic-world-news/d/1194

Afghan editor arrested for alleged blasphemy, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Afghan editor arrested for alleged blasphemy

KABUL (AFP) — An Afghan news editor has been arrested for a publishing a newspaper article rejecting that religions, including Islam, were passed to humans through divine revelations, an official said Wednesday.

The news editor of a small Kabul newspaper, Payman Daily, was picked up Tuesday, days after the allegedly blasphemous article was printed, the deputy attorney general, Fazel Ahmad Faqiryar, told AFP.

"He was arrested for publishing an article in which he has rejected revelation. This is an insult to Islam and the rest of the religions," Faqiryar said.

The journalist, whom Faqiryar would not name, was being investigated. If found guilty under Afghanistan's law, which is based on Islamic Sharia law, he could face a sentence ranging from a reprimand to the death penalty, the official said.

The journalist was arrested after a council of Islamic clerics and a government media disciplinary commission found that the article was "an insult to Islam," the official said.

The paper had earlier apologised for publishing the article.

Razaq Mamoon, a former editor-in-chief, told AFP that the article had been taken from an Afghan website and was not written by the newspaper's staff.

After the hardline Islamic Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, Afghanistan installed a Western-style democratic system that provides for freedom of speech.

http://newageislam.com/-afghan-editor-arrested-for-alleged-blasphemy----/islamic-world-news/d/1122

Backgrounder: The Muslim Minority Uighurs in China, Islam and Human Rights, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Human Rights

Backgrounder: The Muslim Minority Uighurs in China

Since the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, Xinjiang has enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy. Turkic rebels in Xinjiang declared independence in October 1933 and created the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (also known as the Republic of Uighuristan or the First East Turkistan Republic). The following year, the Republic of China reabsorbed the region. In 1944, factions within Xinjiang again declared independence, this time under the auspices of the Soviet Union, and created the Second East Turkistan Republic. But in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party took over the territory and declared it a Chinese province. In October 1955, Xinjiang became classified as an "autonomous region" of the People's Republic of China.

Some Uighurs, nostalgic for Xinjiang's intermittent periods of independence, call for the recreation of a Uighur state. "The Central Asian Uighurs know a great deal about the two East Turkestan periods of sovereign rule, and they reflect on that quite frequently," says Dru C. Gladney, president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College. Many of these Uighurs say China colonized the area in 1949. But in its first white paper on Xinjiang, the Chinese government said Xinjiang had been an "inseparable part of the unitary multi-ethnic Chinese nation" since the Western Han Dynasty, which ruled from 206 BC to 24 AD.

http://newageislam.com/backgrounder--the-muslim-minority-uighurs-in-china--/islam-and-human-rights/d/824

Pakistan: US policy after Musharraf, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

Pakistan: US policy after Musharraf

By Teresita Schaffer

General Pervez Musharraf's resignation after nearly nine years at Pakistan's helm should take the brakes off the transition to an elected Government. This is good news for a country whose political institutions have nearly suffocated under years of military-dominated Governments. It is not the end of Pakistan's political crisis, but it gives the United States an opportunity to recalibrate US-Pakistan relations without the complication of the personal connection with Gen Musharraf.

The US Administration was slow to realise that Gen Musharraf was no longer capable of being the face of US-Pakistan relations. It continued to see him as a 'factor for stability' even after he had been decisively rejected in the elections and had lost control of the machinery of Pakistan's Government. But in the weeks prior to his exit, the Bush Administration made clear its intention to let Gen Musharraf's future play out according to Pakistan's political dynamics. So, more importantly, did the Pakistani Army.

Now Pakistan needs to come to grips with its urgent problems, and the US needs to help it do so. This will require determination and sophistication in dealing with an elected Government and a population that blames the US for many of its problems. It will also require some attention to the long-term reforms that the country has needed for decades.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan--us-policy-after-musharraf/islam-and-the-west/d/693

An Islamist’s resurrection in Kashmir, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad

An Islamist’s resurrection in Kashmir

Syed Ali Shah Geelani woke up shortly after four in the morning and turned on the radio — the sole news source in the beautiful but sparse mountain cottage which briefly served as his prison last month. Half an hour later, an attendant who brought tea heard Kashmir’s Islamist patriarch sobbing quietly. News was coming in about an encounter near Jammu, which had claimed the lives of three terrorists, three soldiers and five civilians. “So many people have given their lives for the movement I lead,” Mr. Geelani said, “I will have no answers to give them in the hereafter should I falter now.”

Four years ago, when he was released from prison and flown on a government jet to the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Mr. Geelani’s autumn appeared to be upon him. He faced an uphill battle against cancer — and what appeared an even more certain defeat at the hands of his political adversaries.

On his return to Kashmir, Mr. Geelani found himself sidelined by the Jamaat-e-Islami, the party he had led for years. Worse, in 2005, the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led All Parties Hurriyat Conference opened negotiations with New Delhi, breaking with its historic rejection of a dialogue that did not include Pakistan. Less than three years later, though, Mr. Geelani has become the principal voice of the Islamist movement against India. How did this come about?

http://newageislam.com/an-islamist%E2%80%99s-resurrection-in-kashmir-/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/719

Pakistan: US attack inside Pakistan - a wake-up call, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Pakistan: US attack inside Pakistan - a wake-up call

By Rasul Bakhsh Rais

September 09, 2008

The chaotic conditions in the tribal belt are well known: breakdown of the old socio-political order; inflow of foreign militants; and now the rise of the Pakistani brand of the Taliban movement with transnational links to likeminded groups in the region. With the militancy growing and American patience running out, Pakistan faces a complex security situation in the region that can have adverse spill-over effects for other areas of the country as well as Afghanistan. And while our security forces are battling the Taliban, suffering major losses, NATO and the US have not made things easier for us by regularly attacking targets inside our territory.

To begin with, American attacks on Pakistani villages indicate a lack of trust in the ability of Pakistani forces and the political will of the government to use force against the militants. They also go against the understanding between Washington and Islamabad on sharing responsibilities and tasks in combating terrorism, i.e. the US would help Pakistani forces build up their counterinsurgency capacity, but the actual fighting would be done by the Pakistani forces.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan--us-attack-inside-pakistan---a-wake-up-call-/war-on-terror/d/720

Tariq Ali: Has the U.S. Invasion of Pakistan Begun?, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Tariq Ali: Has the U.S. Invasion of Pakistan Begun?

In Iraq, 146,000 American soldiers seem not to be going anywhere anytime soon, while in Afghanistan another 33,000 embattled American troops (and tens of thousands of NATO troops), suffering their highest casualties since the Taliban fell in 2001, are fighting a spreading insurgency backed by growing anger over foreign occupation. The disintegration seems to be proceeding apace in that country as the Taliban begins tothrottle the supply routes leading into the Afghan capital of Kabul, while the governor of a province just diedin an IED blast. "President" Hamid Karzai was long ago nicknamed "the mayor of Kabul." Today, that tag seems ever more appropriate as the influence of his corrupt government steadily weakens.

In the meantime, in Pakistan, a new war, no less unpredictable and unpalatable than the last two, develops, as American strikes fan the flames of Pakistani nationalism. Already the Pakistani military may have fired itsfirst warning shots at American troops. Part of the horror here is that much of the present nightmare in Afghanistan and Pakistan can be traced to the sorry U.S. relationship with Pakistan's military and its intelligence services back in the early 1980s. At that time, in its anti-Soviet jihad, the Reagan administration was, in conjunction with the Pakistanis, actively nurturing the forces that the Bush administration is now so intent on fighting. No one knows this story, this record, better than the Pakistani-born journalist and writer Tariq Ali.

http://newageislam.com/tariq-ali--has-the-u.s.-invasion-of-pakistan-begun?/war-on-terror/d/737