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Iraq crisis: US strikes aid Kurdish bid to retake dam
Kurdish forces supported by US air strikes are battling to retake Mosul dam from Islamic
State (IS) fighters in northern Iraq.
The operation to recapture the country's largest dam began early on Saturday with raids by F-18
fighters and drones, US officials said.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have shelled militants' positions, and there is an unconfirmed report
of a ground attack.
Meanwhile, reports are coming in of new massacres by IS.
The extreme Sunni group, which overran Mosul this summer and seeks to build a new state
spanning Iraq and Syria, has been accused of a new massacre of non-Muslims on Friday, in a
village near Sinjar.
It was also accused on Saturday of recently killing 700 members of a tribe over the border, in
Syria's oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, in a report which could not be verified independently.
In another development, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Iraq, as
Western states stepped up aid.
'Heaviest yet'
US Central Command said it carried out nine air strikes on Saturday, hitting targets near Irbil and
Mosul dam.
The strikes "destroyed or damaged four armoured personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two
Humvees and an armoured vehicle," a statement said.
"All aircraft exited the strike areas safely."
US military officials told NBC News the decision to try to retake the dam came after intelligence
showed IS militants "were not yet at a point where they could blow up the installation".
A Kurdish commander, Major General Abdelrahman Korini, told AFP that the Peshmerga had
captured the eastern side of the dam and were "still advancing".
Rudaw, a Kurdish news website, said the air strikes appeared to be the "heaviest US bombing of
militant positions since the start of air strikes" against IS last week.
At least 11 IS fighters were killed by the air strikes, sources in Mosul told BBC News.
The dam, captured by IS on 7 August, is of huge strategic significance in terms of water and
power resources.
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Located on the River Tigris about 50km (30 miles) upstream from the city of Mosul, it controls
the water and power supply to a large surrounding area in northern Iraq.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Irbil says there are fears the dam is structurally dubious and many have
warned that it could unleash a catastrophic flood if it was breached.
Massacre allegations
At least 80 men from the Yazidi faith were killed, and scores of women and children abducted,
in the village of Kawju (also spelt Kocho) on Friday afternoon, Kurdish and Yazidi sources say.
Reports say the men were killed after refusing to convert to Islam. A US drone strike later
destroyed two vehicles belonging to the militants.
A Yazidi refugee from a different village, Moujamma Jazira, told AFP news agency that people
there had tried in vain to fight back but were outgunned.
Dakhil Atto Solo said that 300 men had been executed by IS in Moujamma Jazira, and the
women and children abducted. The report could not be verified independently.
Meanwhile, UK-based Syrian opposition activists reported that IS had executed 700 members of
the al-Sheitaat tribe in Deir Ezzor.
"Reliable sources" reported that many of the tribesmen had been beheaded, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said.
Tribesmen in the area had tried to drive out IS at the beginning of the month, in a rare display of
local resistance. IS rushed in reinforcements in response.
The group first emerged during Syria's bloody three-year civil war.
New leadership
Visiting Baghdad, Germany's foreign minister met the new Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi,
who took over from Nouri Maliki this week.
He said he hoped Mr Abadi would be able to represent all the different regions and religions in
the country, as this was the only way to prevent disenchanted Iraqis from backing IS.
German military transport planes have already begun delivering aid through the Kurdish city of
Irbil but Germany is legally prevented from arming countries involved in conflict.
Two Airbus flights carrying UK aid supplies arrived in Irbil on Saturday.
On a stop in the city, Mr Steinmeier met Yazidi refugees.
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IS-led violence has driven an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis from their homes. Whole communities
of Yazidis and Christians have been forced to flee in the north, along with Shia Iraqis, whom IS
do not regard as true Muslims.
Germany accused of spying on Kerry and Clinton
Germany's foreign intelligence agency eavesdropped on US Secretary of State John Kerry
and his predecessor Hillary Clinton, German media reports say.
Der Spiegel magazine says the calls were collected accidentally and the recordings were
destroyed immediately.
Mr Kerry has reportedly spoken to his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, about the
claims.
Correspondents say the reports will embarrass Germany after a row about the US spying on
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Der Spiegel said the German intelligence agency had tapped a satellite phone call Mr Kerry
made in 2013.
Reports in German daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcasters NDR and
WDR said documents passed to the CIA show German spies had also eavesdropped on Hillary
Clinton when she was US Secretary of State.
German government sources told the newspaper and two broadcasters, that they intercepted the
call by chance, and she had not been deliberately targeted. They also said it happened just once.
But media reports said it had not been an isolated case.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Berlin declined to comment on the reports.
If confirmed the revelations could prove difficult for Germany. Relations with the United States
have deteriorated amid allegations of American spying on Germany.
The head of the CIA in the country was expelled last month, after it emerged the agency had
tapped Chancellor Merkel's mobile phone.
What is the most blatant lie taught through Pakistan textbooks?
Nationalism and patriotism in Pakistan are contested subjects. What makes us Pakistanis
and what is it that makes us love our land and nation?

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The answers to these questions vary widely depending on who is being asked. A large part
of our national identity stems from our sense of history and culture that are deeply rooted
in the land and in the legacy of the regions ancient civilisations. Religion has also played a
big part in making us what we are today. But the picture general history textbooks paint
for us does not portray the various facets of our identity.
Instead it offers quite a convoluted description of who we are. The distortion of historical facts
has in turn played a quintessential role in manipulating our sense of self. Whats ironic is that the
boldest fallacies in these books are about the events that are still in our living memory. Herald
invited writers and commentators, well versed in history, to share their answers to what they
believe is the most blatant lie taught through Pakistan history textbooks.
The fundamental divide between Hindus and Muslims
The most blatant lie in Pakistan Studies textbooks is the idea that Pakistan was formed solely
because of a fundamental conflict between Hindus and Muslims. This idea bases itself on the
notion of a civilisational divide between monolithic Hindu and Muslim identities, which simply
did not exist.
The stress on religion ignored other factors that could cut across both identities. For instance, a
Muslim from most of South India had far more in common, because of his regionally specific
culture and language, with Hindus in his area than the Muslims in the north of the Subcontinent.
Similarly, the division of the historical narrative into a Hindu and Muslim period, aside from
the ironic fact that this was actually instituted by the British, glosses over the reality that Islamic
empires also fought each other for power. After all, Babar had to defeat Ibrahim Lodi, and thus,
the Delhi Sultanate, for the Mughal period to begin.
Therefore, power and empire building often trumped this religious identity, that textbooks claim,
can be traced linearly right to the formation of Pakistan.
These textbooks tend to have snapshot descriptions of the contempt with which the two religious
communities treated one another. This is specifically highlighted in descriptions of the Congress
ministries formed after the elections of 1937.
Other factors that contributed historically to these shows of religious contempt in South Asian
history are often ignored. Indeed, Richard Eatons classic study of temple desecrations shows
that in almost all cases where Hindu temples were ransacked, it was for political or economic
reasons.
In most cases, it was because the Muslim ruler was punishing an insubordinate Hindu official.
Otherwise, the Mughals protected such temples. Jumping ahead, this sort of inter-communal
cooperation aimed at maintaining political control could also be seen in the Unionist Party,
which was in power in Punjab all the way up until 1946.
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As Pakistan was formed barely a year later, the notion that its formation was based on a long-
standing and fundamental conflict between Hindus and Muslims is deeply problematic.
Eulogizing leaders
In his preface to the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun warned of seven mistakes that he thought
historians often committed. One of the seven is the common desire to gain favor of those of
high ranks, by praising them, by spreading their fame.
This particular mistake, or lie rather, has plagued history writing for school texts in Pakistan
since the 1950s and has been used as a political tool to project successive rulers whether
civilian or military in a eulogistic format.
Moreover, another mindless inaccuracy is the absence of the other, where India and Congress
are needlessly ignored and a one-sided version of history is deemed necessary for creating a
nationalistic mindset.
This gap continues in the historical narrative for school students post-partition. Hence, some of
the most blatant lies and subversion of historical facts exist in the textbooks mandated by the
federal and provincial textbook boards.
Furthermore, maligning the enemy is done quite overtly and mindlessly in official history
school texts which, unfortunately, is also the case with some Indian school texts documented by
discerning authors on both sides of the border.
Most nation states during the 19th and 20th centuries used official versions of history in order to
create a homogenous and nationalistic identity. Pakistans first education minister, Fazalur
Rehman, set up the Historical Society of Pakistan in 1948 so that history for the new nation
could be rewritten in a fair and balanced manner using authentic and reliable sources.
Successive governments did not further this goal and history written for schools in Pakistan
became the victim of fossilized textbook boards ratifying the work of unethical and unscholarly
authors for public school consumption. Vested interests continue to triumph despite the open
door policy since 2004 for private publishers to bid for quality textbook.
Excluding and manipulating historical periods
The most blatant lie in textbook accounts of Pakistans history is by virtue of omission, which is
in effect the denial of our multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious past. It is a common
complaint that Pakistans history is taught as if it began with the conquest of Sindh by the
Umayyad army, led by the young General, Muhammad bin Qasim in 711 AD.
Most textbooks in Sindh at least do mention Moenjodaro and the Indus Valley civilization, but it
is not discussed in a meaningful way and there is no discussion about its extent and culture.
Important periods and events during subsequent centuries are also skimmed over, like the Aryan
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civilization which introduced its powerful social system and epic poetry (Mahabharata in which
Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa play important roles), the Brahmin religion, a thousand years of
Buddhism with its universities and the Gandharan civilization which was spread throughout
present day Pakistan.
No students of Pakistani schools can tell us that Pakistan was once part of the empires of Cyrus
the Great and Darius of the Achaemenid Dynasty and later of the Sassanian Empire with the
legendary rule of Naushirwan, the Just. Similarly, hardly anyone would be aware that Asoka
whose capital was in Pataliputra in the east of the subcontinent also counted Sindh, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab as part of his domain.
The result of these omissions is disastrous on the minds of the youth in Pakistan. Instead of
seeing themselves as heirs of many civilizations, they acquire a narrow, one-dimensional view of
the world. This is contradicted by what they subsequently see in this global world of information
technology and shared knowledge. That this is also in direct contravention of Islamic teachings
does not occur to the perpetrators of a lopsided curriculum in our schools.
The first assertion in the Holy Quran is Iqra bi Ism I Rabik [and no restrictions are put on the
acquisition of knowledge].
Instead, we have bans on books, digital platforms such as YouTube and even newspapers in this
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The other view:
To say a large part of Pakistans history is shared with India would be stating the obvious.
Yet it is this period of both our histories, or the portrayal of such, that is tampered with the
most and has been used as a political tool by either side. The Herald invited renowned
Indian historian and currently a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow, Mushirul Hasan, to give his
take on the lies taught through textbooks on both sides of the border.
History is only of use for its lessons, and it is the duty of the historian to see that they are
properly taught. Very few in the subcontinent heed this advice. Both in India and Pakistan the
intellectual climate has thrown the historical profession into disarray.
Such is the power and influence of the polemicists that a growing number of people are
abandoning the quest for an objective approach. With the recent appointment of a Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-oriented Chairman of the Indian Council for Historical Research,
liberal and secular historians are worried about the future of their discipline.
The diversity of approaches has been the hallmark of Indian historiography. As a result, the
making of Pakistan and its evolution as a nation state is interpreted differently in various
quarters.
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The ghosts of partition was put to rest and not exhumed for frequent post-mortems. Moreover,
the liberal-left historians did not repudiate the idea of Pakistan. On the contrary, they criticised
the Congress stalwarts for failing to guide the movements they initiated away from the forces of
reactionary communalism.
This was true of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Ram Manohar Lohia, the Socialist leader. The
Maulana, in particular, charged Nehru for jettisoning the plan for a Congress-Muslim coalition in
1937 and the prospect of an enduring Hindu-Muslim partnership.
Tara Chands three-volume History of the Freedom Movement in India held its ground until the
Janata government decided, in 1977, to rewrite the secular textbook. With the establishment of
the BJP-led government in October 1999, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-RSS combination
began its subversion of academia through its time-tested method of infiltration and rewriting of
textbooks and fine-tuning of curricula.
Saffronization of education will breed fanaticism, heighten caste and communitarian
consciousness, and stifle the natural inclination of a student to cultivate a balanced and cautious
judgement. Increasingly, it may be difficult for some of us to establish historical truths or to
defend the cult of objective historical inquiry.
As the radical currents are being swept aside by the winds of right-wing discourse, it is pertinent
to recall the Saidian (Edward Said) dictum that nothing disfigures the intellectuals public
performance as much trimming, careful silence, patriotic bluster, and retrospective of self-
dramatizing prophecy.
The story in Pakistan runs on different lines. Starting with I H Qureshi and Aziz Ahmad, scholars
in our neighbours have tenaciously adhered to the belief that the creation of the Muslim nation
was the culmination of a natural process.
They have pressed into service the two-nation theory to define nationality in purely Islamic
terms. In the process, they have turned a blind eye to the syncretic and composite trajectory of
Indian society, which began with Mohammad Iqbals memorable lines Ae Aab-e-Rood-e-Ganga!
Woh Din Hain Yaad Tujh Ko? Utra Tere Kinare Jab Karwan Humara [Oh, waters of the river
Ganges! Do you remember those days? Those days when our caravan halted on your bank?].
The same poet talked of Naya Shiwala, a temple of peace and goodwill. Again, the same poet
gave lessons of religious understanding and tolerance in yet another poet.
Sadly, these thoughts are hardly reflected in our textbooks. We dont emphasize the virtue of
living with diversity and sharing social and cultural inheritances. We dont introduce our
students to the vibrant legacy of Kabir, Guru Nanak, Akbar, and Dara Shikoh. Instead, we dwell
on the imaginary kufr-o-imaan ki jung, on the destruction of temples and forcible conversions.
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Increasingly, young students are introduced to the Islamist or the Hindutva world views that have
caused incalculable damage to State and civil society.
Saadat Hasan Manto described an existentialist reality the separation of people living on both
sides who had a long history of cultural and social contact and the paradoxical character of
borders being a metaphor of the ambiguities of nation-building. He offered, without saying so, a
way of correcting the distortions inherent in state-centered national histories.
Ayesha Jalal is right in pointing out that as old orthodoxies recede before the flood of fresh
historical evidence and earlier certitudes are overturned by newly detected contradictions, this is
the time to heal the multiple fractures which turned the promised dawn of freedom into a
painful moment of separation.
In the words of the poet Ali Sardar Jafri:
Tum aao gulshan-e-Lahore se chaman bardosh, Hum Aayein subh-e-Benaras ki roshni le kar,
Himalaya ke hawaaon ki taazigi le kar, aur uss ke baad yeh poochein ke kaun dushaman hai? ..
[You come forward with flowers from the Garden of Lahore, We bring to you the light and
radiance of the morning of Benaras, The freshness of the winds of Himalayas, And then we ask
who the enemy is?].
Wars with India
The most blatant lies in Pakistani history textbooks are about the events that are still in our
living memory. Among the many examples, the three given below are about the wars of
1965 and 1971, and the partition carnage of 1947. The reason for the falsehood lies in our
distorted view of nationalism. Rather than let children learn from our historical mistakes,
we show them a false picture. Thus we are doomed to repeat the mistakes generation after
generation.
The following excerpt regarding the 1965 war is taken from fifth grade reading material
published by the NWFP Textbook Board, Peshawar in 2002 The Pakistan Army conquered
several areas of India, and when India was at the verge of being defeated she ran to the United
Nations to beg for a cease-fire. Magnanimously, thereafter, Pakistan returned all the conquered
territories to India.
The Punjab Textbook Board published the following text on the causes for the separation of East
Pakistan in 1993 for secondary classes There were a large number of Hindus in East
Pakistan. They had never truly accepted Pakistan. A large number of them were teachers in
schools and colleges.
They continued creating a negative impression among students. No importance was attached to
explaining the ideology of Pakistan to the younger generation.
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The Hindus sent a substantial part of their earnings to Bharat, thus adversely affecting the
economy of the province. Some political leaders encouraged provincialism for selfish gains.
They went around depicting the central Government and (the then) West Pakistan as enemy and
exploiter. Political aims were thus achieved at the cost of national unity.
While the Muslims provided all sorts of help to those non-Muslims desiring to leave Pakistan
[during partition], people of India committed atrocities against Muslims trying to migrate to
Pakistan. They would attack the buses, trucks and trains carrying the Muslim refugees and
murder and loot them. The latter except was taken from an intermediate classes textbook
Civics of Pakistan, 2000.
Some more examples of totally contorted and misleading, yet ingenious and amusing, narrations
of the history of Pakistan can be extracted from a single text, A Textbook of Pakistan Studies by
M D Zafar.
Pakistan came to be established for the first time when the Arabs led by Muhammad bin Qasim
occupied Sindh and Multan. Pakistan under the Arabs comprised the Lower Indus Valley.
During the 11th century the Ghaznavid Empire comprised what is now Pakistan and
Afghanistan. During the 12th century the Ghaznavids lost Afghanistan and their rule came to be
confined to Pakistan.
By the 13th century Pakistan had spread to include the whole of Northern India and Bengal.
Under the Khiljis Pakistan moved further South to include a greater part of Central India and the
Deccan.
During the 16th century, Hindustan disappeared and was completely absorbed in Pakistan.
Shah Waliullah appealed to Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan and Pakistan to come to the
rescue of the Muslims of Mughal India, and save them from the tyrannies of the Marhattas
In the Pakistan territories where a Sikh state had come to be established, the Muslims were
denied the freedom of religion.
Thus by the middle of the 19th century both Pakistan and Hindustan ceased to exist; instead
British India came into being. Although Pakistan was created in August 1947, yet except for its
name, the present-day Pakistan has existed, as a more or less single entity for centuries.
Pakistan was made for Muslims
The most blatant lie that covers page after page of history textbooks is that Pakistan was created
for the promotion and propagation of religion. In fact when the Muslim League was established
in Dhaka in 1906 one of the foremost principles was the creation of loyalty to the British rulers
and to promote greater understanding between Muslims and the British government.
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The idea of religion barely entered the discourse of the Muslim League until the elections of
1937, when the League lost elections and the Congress won decisively. It was at that time that
religious nationalism was invoked vigorously to create a feeling of unity among the Muslims of
Uttar Pardesh (UP), Bengal and Punjab in order to provide the League an ideational basis of
support.
Pakistan was mainly created for the protection and promotion of the class interests of the landed
aristocracy which formed the League. The meeting at which the League was formed was
attended mainly by the landed elite which feared that if the British left India and representative
government was established, the traditional power of the loyal Muslim aristocracy would erode,
especially since the class composition of the Congress reflected the educated urban and rural
middle classes seeking upward mobility and a share in political power.
The peasant movement in Bengal was mobilised for purely political purposes since its aims and
ideology conflicted radically with those of the landed aristocracy.
The urban educated middle classes of UP which joined the League later and enunciated the
Hindu-Muslim difference argument in 1940, eschewed Muslim nationalism soon after
independence because it had outlived its political use. The nature of the state outlined by the
educated urban class in 1947 was based on a pluralistic vision of a state based on religious and
citizenship equality.
An unreasonable demand
THE PTI and Tahirul Qadri have separately played their cards they have showed the
kind of street support they command and they have made known their set of demands. To
the extent that Imran Khan has demanded electoral reforms be enacted by the government,
the PTIs claim can and should be countenanced and worked on by parliament. As for
much of the rest of the PTIs and Mr Qadris demands, the PML-N government,
mainstream political parties and parliament can rightly dismiss them. For why should
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resign a year after winning an election widely perceived to be
credible and acceptable? Surely, street power cannot once again become an acceptable
means to bring down a democratically elected government because if the PTI and Mr
Qadris supporters were to achieve it today, then what is to stop anyone else from
marching to oust the government that will replace it or the one after that?
Consider also the contradictions that riddle the PTIs stance. The chief minister of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak stood in Islamabad to call for the resignation of Prime Minister
Sharif when the two men head governments elected under the same framework of rules and in
an election where voters simultaneously voted for the provincial and national assemblies. If the
entire electoral system is fundamentally flawed and prone to massive rigging, then why is the
PTIs government in KP not tainted by the same flaws? Furthermore, consider the commitment
to rectifying electoral flaws that the PTI has had in other arenas: neither has the PTI-led KP
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government held local government elections nor has it offered up a raft of proposals to ensure
that, when held, the local government polls in KP will serve as a template of fairness and
transparency for other provinces and the federation to follow.
Yet, even if there are no acceptable grounds for the PML-N government and Prime Minister
Sharif to resign simply because the PTI and Mr Qadri have called for the resignations, there is
surely much that the government must adjust in its approach to politics and governance. The
present crisis only truly became a crisis when the government panicked and tried to scuttle the
protests, whether by trying to dismantle the barricades around Mr Qadris headquarters in Lahore
or by invoking Article 245 to draft in the army to help protect Islamabad and finally by
barricading Lahore and Islamabad and the roads in between. Until the very end, when the
government finally showed restraint and calm, it was more the mishandling by the government
of the evolving situation that raised the political temperature than anything the PTI or Mr Qadri
had done. Now, if electoral reforms are not taken up seriously and urgently, perhaps the seeds of
another crisis in the future will be inadvertently sowed by the PML-N again.
Please take the revolution off my front lawn
The government, as it happens, has more rights to safeguard than only your right to
protest; theres also, whats technically known as the rest of the country to cater for,
and to ensure its political stability, security and general well-being.
With the PTI and PAT having descended upon the countrys capital that fact has become far too
easy to overlook in the midst of boiling passions.
You have a right to protest. Lovely! I wish you all the fruits that a functional democracy (not
technocracy or mob rule) has to offer. Yes, democracy, which many of the protesters now
ironically scoffs at, and dont see what the big deal is about.
In the meantime, I have a right to conduct my business as usual.
A shopkeeper in Gujranwala has a right to not have a mob imposing itself on his street, spooking
his customers and blocking his supplies.
A homeowner in Islamabad would prefer not to have revolutionaries camping on his front lawn,
littering the roads, violating the prized serenity of his neighborhoods, and in all likelihood,
vandalizing it.
PTI, PAT marchers in Islamabad: Qadri says 'revolution' won't take much longer
Though, I would never stand for violence against the demonstrators, it is not inconceivable for
the government any government to hinder their mass influx into a city, no less the capital
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city of Pakistan. And mind you, that's not the same as banning a citizen from walking up to the
protest site with a large sign in his hands, and a catchy, rhyming slogan on his tongue.
Having been personally inconvenienced on more than one occasion by the containers blocking
major streets and arteries into the capital (I live in Rawalpindi, and work in Islamabad), I still
acknowledge their need. Moreover, I acknowledge that at the risk of being harangued by PTIs
online presence!
But it is also among a governments responsibilities to non-violently resist its own
unconstitutional dismantling. A democratic government, after all, is one which the nation has
generally agreed upon, unless definitively proven otherwise by the independent judiciary (not
Khans own worthy judgment). Therefore, one mass, however sizeable it is, cannot be allowed
overturn that grand consensus or cripple its functioning or infrastructure.
Marches keep capital on tenterhooks
Containers dont bite, and the trenches are probably not teeming with snakes. Government
officials dont shoot flaming arrows at the marching protesters from their castles parapets; I
believe they could be forgiven for trying to impede hundreds of thousands of people from
pouring at once into Islamabad, posing significant security threats to the city, as well as to
themselves.
I do empathize with the protesters; their disillusionment with the way things are, and the desire
to shake up the system for the better. The embryonic democracy is noticeably imperfect.
But change does not always come through destruction and turbulence.
The system should be made to gradually evolve through democratic selection; through
parliamentary procedure, and not weekly revolutions.
PAKISTAN: The Conspiracy: There has been an unending stream of propaganda against
Pakistan ever since she decided to go nuclear. She is variously described as a violent country,
failed and most dangerous state, hub of terrorism where women are mercilessly abused, etc. etc.
Given the repetition, over time, such depictions are bound to make unsuspecting people accept
these as facts especially when the media do their best to prevent the true picture from being
presented.
The media in Pakistan are complicit, if not the protagonists, in this nefarious game to create
alarm abroad and induce despondence at home to make people lose hope and faith in the future.
Facts are misrepresented and positive developments ignored to create dissatisfaction, resentment
and instability in the country. This is an attempt to clarify a few of the more common negative
perceptions that abound both in the media and on the Internet.
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To understand a country one has to really know the ethos of its people. This is not always easy
for someone who is not a part of the culture. The inability to understand often leads to poor
judgment and miscalculation. Just to give one example, an oft repeated joint US National
Intelligence Council and CIA report released in 2000 predicted: by year 2015 Pakistan would be
a failed state, ripe with civil war, bloodshed, inter-provincial rivalries and a struggle for control
of its nuclear weapons and complete Talibanisation. 2015 is almost here but the dire prediction
seems nowhere near coming true.
Not Intolerant: There is a general impression that people in Pakistan are bigoted and intolerant.
In reality they happen to be anything but that.
According to a survey published in The Washington Post last year (15th May 2013), Pakistanis
are more tolerant than people in almost all the countries in Europe, including France, Germany
and Holland. Only Norway, Sweden and Britain have a higher rating. About 6.5% of Pakistanis
said they would not like to have a neighbor from a different race. In India, on the other hand,
more than 40 % of the people would apparently not like it.
Also not Violent: Pakistanis are also not violent. The rate of deaths due to violence per 100,000
people in Pakistan is still less than that in the US (5.0 as against 6.5). It is only a fraction of what
it is in almost all of Africa, Latin America (including Mexico) and also Russia. It is about the
same as for India and Israel but less than in most of Eastern Europe.
The incidents of rape in Pakistan are among the lowest in the world ---- less than one thousand a
year for a population of 180 million. France on the other hand, with one-third the population of
Pakistan, averages more than 10,000 cases a year. President Carter, in his recent book A Call to
Action: Women, Religion, Power and Politics claims some 12,000 women in the US military
alone were raped in 2012. Yet, ironically, human rights organizations in the West chose a rape
victim from Pakistan and paraded her around the world to symbolize the plight of women in
general.
Karachi is often labeled in the western media as the most dangerous city in the world (The
Financial Times, 28th June, 2014). If you were to do a Google search of the top fifty most
dangerous cities in the world you will not find Karachis name on the list. The rate of violent
crime in Detroit, Michigan is seven times greater than that in Lahore, Pakistans second largest
city.
Terrorism: Much is also made of religious extremism and incidents of terrorism in the country.
These are not peculiar to Pakistan or the Muslims. Yet, the word terrorism has been made more
or less synonymous with Muslims which has no basis in fact. According to the list compiled by
the FBI for the twenty-five-year period between 1980 and 2005, Muslims were involved in only
six per cent of all the terrorist acts committed in the US as against the Jews in seven per cent and
Latinos in forty-two per cent.
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The European Unions Terrorism Situation and Trend Report for 2010 indicates that out of a
total of 294 failed, foiled or successfully executed terrorist attacks in Europe in 2009 only one
was by Muslim extremists. As against two by the group opposed to the importation of wines
from North Africa (article by Dan Gardener in The Ottawa Citizen of 5th January 2011).
Extremists are found in any religion be it Christianity, Judaism or Hinduism. The same is true for
acts of terrorism but the two, that is, religious extremism and terrorism are not synonymous (The
Battle for God, by Karen Armstrong). IRA in Northern Ireland, ETA in Spain, Shining Path
Guerillas in South America, Naxallites, Nagas, ULFA, NDFB, the Khalistan Army to name a
few in India, Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, FLQ in Canada ---- are not Muslims. (Dying to Win, by
Robert Pape, University of Chicago).
The threat posed to the West by Muslim extremists may well have been exaggerated and even
misplaced according to Sir Richard Dearlove who had been head of Britains MI6. He thinks the
9/11 attacks put a 'distortion' towards Islamic extremism in the public consciousness which has
remained ever since:
There was no terrorism in Pakistan to speak of until General Musharraf, under pressure from the
US, broke longstanding agreements with the tribesmen and sent troops into Waziristan to hunt
down Taliban escaping from Afghanistan. The force used was excessive, inappropriate and
unlawful. It is the basic cause of terrorism in Pakistan today (Yeh Khamoshi Kahaan Tuk, by Lt.
Gen. Shahid Aziz and The Thistle and the Drone, by Akbar S. Ahmed).
Taking advantage of the situation, some other actors have jumped into the fray using
Afghanistan as their base. India, for instance, has about one million people of Indian origin living
in the United Kingdom and she needs only two consulates to look after their needs. On the other
hand in Afghanistan, where there are only 3,600 or so Indian nationals, she now maintains seven
consulates, most of these in towns along Pakistans border. They are widely believed to be
involved in supporting terrorism inside Pakistan.
Similarly, CIA memos reveal that in 2007 and 2008 Israeli agents posed as American spies and
recruited men to work for the terrorist outfit Jundallah in Pakistan to carry out false flag
operations against Iran (False Flag, by Mark Perry, foreignpolicy.com, 13 January 2012).
What We Can Do: Sitting back and allowing things to get from bad to worse is not an option
for the sake of our children and grandchildren, if nothing else. To pin hope entirely on the
government or some other body too is flawed for no government can succeed without public
support. By withholding it we are in fact setting up Pakistan to fail. Mindless criticism, moping
and groaning do not help matters either. The only way out is to think positive, join hands and
pull together. Just get up and do your part ---- starting with spreading the message to as many
patriotic Pakistanis as you can.
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Current Affairs
Analysis: Another Repressive Law
By Saba Imtiaz
ITS here in all its black and white legislative glory. The Protection of Pakistan bill
after attempts at amendments and the rare op-ed pointing out how it curtailed basic
human rights has got through parliament, with the National Assemblys approval
coming through on Wednesday.
But the issue of basic human rights continues to dominate in the document. The Protection of
Pakistan bill is the newest of the national security laws to have emerged from parliament; a law
that expressly states it protects against the waging of war or insurrection. The law provides for
preventive detentions, will go into effect retrospectively, and allows law-enforcement agencies
and armed forces to arrest suspects and search houses without warrants; and authorizes them to
use force.
Opposition parties managed to squeeze in some amendments to the original Protection of
Pakistan Ordinance: some of the powers granted to law-enforcement agencies and the armed
forces have gone; a judicial inquiry can be constituted for killing suspects. The Guantanamo-
esque enemy combatant term has been done away with, and has been replaced with enemy
alien.
Veteran human rights activist I.A. Rehman said, Theyve made some changes, like reducing
detentions and providing for references to the high court. But now theyve included insurgents
and who are insurgents? Theyre our own people. In reference to the shoot-on-sight powers
to officers of a BS-15 rank, Mr Rehman said that the question isnt of the officers grade, but
whether they can shoot people without a second opinion.
But the Protection of Pakistan bill goes far beyond existing national security laws, and the impact
will only be seen once it starts appearing in court documents.
The silver lining and surprisingly, there is one is that the violations of human rights will
inevitably be addressed when these cases and/or the law is challenged in the higher courts, in the
light of previous judgments.
One of the more glaring elements of the Protection of Pakistan bill is that it places the burden of
proof on the suspect, reversing the age-old principle of innocent until proven guilty. Currently,
it is the states responsibility to prove a crime; under the Act, an accused is guilty until he or she
can prove otherwise.
Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi, a criminal lawyer, pointed out that this burden of proof existed in the
Control of Narcotic Substances Act as well. The Supreme Court and the high courts have ruled
that the prosecution still has to establish its case, Mr Naqvi said.
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Current Affairs
The Protection of Pakistan bill also states that several of the high courts powers including of
habeas corpus, suspending a sentence and granting bail that exist in the Code of Criminal
Procedure dont apply to the offences listed in the law. Yet, it allows those found guilty to
challenge their sentences in a high court. Legal experts said this anomaly has previously emerged
in cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the National Accountability Bureau law, with the
Supreme Court ruling that the high courts authority cannot be undercut. The Supreme Court
said you cannot create a parallel judicial system, Abdul Maroof Maher, a state prosecutor at one
of Karachis anti-terrorism courts said.
But while some issues may be addressed, practically and legally, there are still far too many
questions.
The retrospective nature of the law is one. Under the Protection of Pakistan bill, anyone deemed
to have been detained or arrested before the original ordinance was passed last year, can be
considered arrested under the Act, if theyre accused of the same offences that are in the law.
Practically, this means that anyone detained at the moment assumedly including victims of
enforced disappearances could find themselves accused under the Protection of Pakistan
law. This is a good thing, Mr Maher said. This will help solve the issue of missing people.
At least youll know where your person is. At the very least, youll know that the person is
detained, has been legally charged.
But the mystery of the missing may not necessarily be solved for those searching for them.
According to the Protection of Pakistan bill, the government, armed forces and law-enforcement
agencies may withhold information on why it has detained someone; and may only tell a high
court or the Supreme Court where the detainee is being held.
The law may have been passed, but the challenges are only just starting to emerge. The
Protection of Pakistan bill promises new special courts and judges; but cases in Karachi under its
predecessor the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance have so far been heard by one of five
anti-terrorism courts. With overburdened courts already dealing with everything from young men
accused of murders in Karachis upscale Defense neighborhood to alleged extortionists, how will
a court where judges and lawyers are routinely threatened deal with another mass influx of
cases?
Mustafa Qadri, the Pakistan Researcher at Amnesty International, said that successive
governments seem to think that the way to dealing with the breakdown of law and order is
through giving law-enforcement agencies sweeping powers; instead of the nitty-gritty of having
people properly trained in forensics, having proper prosecutors, a witness protection program,
not allowing people to use prisons for operations.
In a way, Mr Qadri said, these kinds of security laws take the pressure off the state to address
these issues.
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Current Affairs
Another issue for law-enforcement agencies and courts will now be determining whether a
case falls under the Anti-Terrorism Act or the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, because the
laws overlap extensively. In one recent episode, a case was filed under both laws. The
investigation agencies are a victim of confusion; theyre applying the Protection of Pakistan
Ordinance and the Anti-Terrorism Act at the same time, Mr Maher said.
Lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said that the law was simply enacted to give legal cover to already
existing practices by law-enforcement agencies, such as killings in police encounters and
enforced disappearances. However, Mr Siddiqi said: The irony is that it is being said that the
law is being brought against the war on terror and this law doesnt even apply to the so-called
war area, given that the bill will be enforced in the federally and provincially administered tribal
areas only if the president issues a notification to that effect.
Iraq crisis: UN launches new aid effort in north Iraq
The United Nations agency for refugees is launching a major aid operation to reach more
than half a million people displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.
Tents and other goods will be sent to the Kurdish city of Irbil via air, road and sea, the UNHCR
said.
Meanwhile a BBC correspondent at the strategically important Mosul Dam says Kurdish and
Iraqi forces have retaken it from Islamic State (IS) militants.
IS forces have captured large parts of northern Iraq in recent weeks.
"UNHCR is this week launching one of its largest aid pushes," the agency's spokesman Adrian
Edwards told reporters.
Aid will first be sent by air from Jordan, beginning on Wednesday. More goods will be sent by
road from Turkey, and by sea from Dubai and Iran.
"This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster, and it continues to affect very large numbers of
people," Mr Edwards said.
An estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced so far in 2014, according to the UN agency -
more than 500,000 from fighting in the Anbar region, and another 600,000 displaced from
conflicts around Mosul and more recently Sinjar.
"Conditions remain desperate for those without access to suitable shelter - people struggling to
find food and water to feed their families, and those without access to primary medical care," the
organization said in a statement.
Dam recaptured
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Current Affairs
Meanwhile Western powers are stepping up efforts to stem the advance of IS by supporting
Kurdish and Iraqi government forces in northern Iraq.
On Monday, US President Barack Obama said that the Mosul Dam in northern Iraq had been
recaptured by Kurdish forces, a key gain against the militants.
US President Barack Obama says IS militants are "a threat to all Iraqis and the entire region"
Mr Obama said the US helped in the operation by launching air strikes targeting IS positions
around the dam, Iraq's largest.
He said the move was a "major step forward", and that the US had begun a long-term strategy to
defeat the militants, including the building of a humanitarian "international coalition" in response
to the crisis faced by refugees.

Recapturing the dam has been a key focus of the last few days, due to warnings of catastrophic
ramifications if the dam came under the control of IS militants who did not have the capabilities
to carry out essential maintenance work on it.
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Current Affairs
According to US assessments, the dam has the potential to cause severe flooding in Mosul, and
possibly even affect areas as far south as Baghdad.
The BBC's Jim Muir, who is at the dam complex, says that after several days of fighting, it is
now firmly in the hands of Kurdish and Iraqi government forces.
However, hostilities are not completely over in the area, our correspondent reports.
He says the roadside and entrances to the complex are littered with debris and wreckage
following American air strikes, as well as the remains of explosives left behind by IS militants.
A short distance away to the south west, gunfire and explosives have been sending smoke into
the sky as Kurdish forces try to push their front lines further into the low hills nearby, he says.

India cancels talks with Pakistan over Kashmir row
Ties seemed to warm when Indian PM Narendra Modi (R) invited Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-
in ceremony
India has cancelled talks with Pakistan after accusing it of interfering in India's internal
affairs.
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Current Affairs
It comes after Pakistan's high commissioner in Delhi consulted Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead
of the talks, which were agreed in May.
The two countries' foreign secretaries were to meet next week in Islamabad to discuss the
resumption of formal dialogue.
Pakistan described the Indian decision as a "setback".
"It is a longstanding practice that, prior to Pakistan-India talks, meetings with Kashmiri leaders
are held to facilitate meaningful discussions on the issue of Kashmir," a statement from the
Pakistani foreign ministry said.
Relations seemed to be on the up when new Indian PM Narendra Modi invited his Pakistani
counterpart to his swearing-in ceremony.
But, say correspondents, the cancellation is an indication of the tough new approach adopted by
his government towards Pakistan.
Last week Mr Modi accused Pakistan of waging a proxy war against India in Kashmir.
'Unacceptable'
Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit announced plans to meet Kashmiri separatists in
Delhi last week.
On Monday, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh warned Mr Basit against it, saying he could
either have a dialogue with India or talk with the separatists.
India reacted with fury when it became clear the Pakistani envoy had gone ahead with the
consultation.
India's Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Delhi told Mr Basit "that Pakistan's
continued efforts to interfere in India's internal affairs were unacceptable".
He added that the action "raises questions about Pakistan's sincerity and undermines the
constructive diplomatic efforts" initiated by India.
"No useful purpose" would be served by the foreign secretary's visit to Islamabad, the
spokesman said.
Reports said Mr Basit was scheduled to meet more Kashmiri separatist leaders on Tuesday.
The US has described the cancellation of talks as "unfortunate". A State Department spokesman
said it was "important that both sides still continue take steps to improve relations".
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Current Affairs
India has long accused Pakistan of sponsoring militants in the disputed region - though despite a
recent spike, overall the violence has declined since the early 2000s.
Relations plunged again over the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack.
Claimed by both countries in its entirety, Kashmir has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years.
The South Asian rivals have fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region.
Independence: Ordinary women, extraordinary acts
Ms Zahida Mushtaq was born in 1935 in Sialkot and was an active participant in the
Pakistan Movement. In conversation with The Citizens Archive of Pakistan, she recalled:
We used to go to demonstrations before partition. Begum Tassadiq Hussain would tell us that
women will go to a rally on such and such day. While men and women would go to
demonstrations together and the men would be around us to protect us the biggest rally
that I was a part of went to the Civil Secretariat in Lahore. There too, men surrounded the
women for protection. Begum Shahnawaz was there too, at the front, and we were accompanying
her. When we got to the Secretariat, we encouraged each other to climb the gate, because it was
very tall. My older sister, Shamim, along with a number of other girls, climbed over the gate and
then got onto the roof of the Secretariat with the help of the men. I was still climbing the gate
when Shamim hoisted the Pakistani flag onto the flagpole of the Secretariat. Once we got down,
we were arrested by the British.
Ms Khurshid Niazi was born in Mianwali in 1922 and was in the Girl Guide Association for
eight years during her childhood. She was a teenager when she saw an entire nation be divided in
two and then picked further apart by conflict and unrest. Ms Niazi migrated to Pakistan from
Ambala by way of a military convoy, leaving behind all that she knew and, therefore, has vivid
memories of the struggle and passion for her homeland. Women were very active, very very
active. In Ambala in 1946-47, Ms Fatima [Jinnah] would take her companions and find places
where she could gather them, like a school or even a mosque. There, women were told about
Pakistan and how it would provide us freedom. If women hadnt participated in rallies,
[Pakistans creation] would have never happened. And the men gave their women permission to
participate. These women would leave their houses wearing burqas and, although they werent
educated, they would nonetheless participate in demonstrations. They took it upon themselves,
like a mission.

When talking of the Pakistan Movement we always speak about the men who lead from the
front and whose names are enshrined in our history books; but here we present stories of
the unsung heroes, the less known women who played an extraordinary role in creating
Pakistan
22

Current Affairs
Ms Shaukat Ara was born in 1926 in Lahore and was a very active participant of the
Independence Movement between 1945 and 1947. She took part in numerous gatherings of
female Muslim League members and also gathered support for the party. Ms Aras most
permanent memories, however, are her harrowing experiences from the refugee camp at Walton,
Lahore, where she volunteered tirelessly.
There are a few things [about the Walton camp] that I can never forget. It was awful. There was
a train car that they didnt stop at the railway station and was, instead, brought straight to
Walton. And what I saw in it severed limbs, dead people, injured people hidden beneath dead
bodies. I was assigned to the dispensary with three other girls, because my father was a doctor
and I knew basic first aid and such. So, the four of us me, my younger sister, my cousin and
another volunteer we would work around the clock, never feeling that we could get tired.
Ms Khalida Chughtai was born in 1926 in Gurdaspur, India. She was amongst the countless
women who, in the lead up to partition, took to the streets and demonstrated in support for
Pakistan. Due to her active political support of partition and her opposition of the British, she
was also among those who drew the ire of the establishment.
I was a student of the Islamia College for Women and the college was often visited by female
leaders of the Muslim League who made the student body aware of the objectives of the party.
They would come and start discussions and I would join them to help them, because the girls
often didnt listen to them. But, being their class fellow, I was able to get through to them. So,
our Principal, Mrs Thakurdas, said that no girl would go and participate in the civil disobedience
movement that was taking place. Her orders were strict and final, but us girls, we decided that we
will participate in the processions of the civil disobedience movement at all costs, so that the
Pakistan Movement gets the help it needs. So, we took out processions and were opposed by the
government. We were charged with Section 144 but we persisted and continued with our
demonstrations, peacefully chanting slogans in support of Pakistan. After three days of
demonstrating, we were arrested by the police.
Pakistani teachers, check your egos at the door
I was never really a good student. Having been one of those kids who asked far too many
questions in class, I usually ended up standing on a desk or in a corner because teachers
couldnt be bothered to deal with me.
I missed that subtle yet crucial phase of Pakistani primary education that takes place outside the
classroom, where family and society covertly convince a child into keeping his or her mouth shut
about certain things.
It is quite a delicate brand of conditioning: learning to read heightened body language, social
cues and lightly murmured tsk tsks in response to certain questions prepares a child about the
acceptable boundaries of curiosity.
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Current Affairs
Having spent my childhood abroad, where being inquisitive in a classroom was encouraged, it
took me a couple of years of being met with shocked looks and haw hai whispers behind my
back to realise that the Pakistani carrot/stick method operated differently.
It actually took me quite a few years to recognise that certain questions were not supposed to be
asked in Pakistan. You didnt ask, for example, why there wasnt a chapter on Gandhi in
Pakistan Studies class or why we didnt study different religions and languages in school.
Why didnt we ask these questions? That was another question we never asked.
Ironically, I am still faced with the same problem; only this time it is reversed and I have
encountered it in the capacity of a teacher.
Even at the college level, I usually find that it takes me an average of five to six classes before
my students are somewhat convinced that I really mean it when I tell them that within my class
they can ask anything. That, if all they learn from me is to listen to someone elses opinion, in
spite of disagreeing with it and without flying into a fit of rage, is learning enough.
Critical thinking is a core component of all education and apart from the buzzwords that
underline this; all it really means is a person raising their argument rather than their voice.
It is a constant challenge to get students to form their own opinions, because this is something
the Pakistani education system does not teach us. If anything, we usually learn to defend
opinions with logic rather than emotion in spite of our education and not because of it.
A trend I have observed among many students is an innate fear of exploration.
It is true that institutionalised education systems do limit academic exploration, and that
standardised tests and over emphasis on GPA and foreign admissions are often a poor litmus test
for gauging passion, original thinking and creativity, however, these are not irreconcilable
domains.
I have lost count of the number of times a student has come to my office asking me what to write
their research paper on. I always respond with:
What do you want to write it on?
And he or she invariably counters:
What do you want me to write it on?.
We continue this negotiation for the time that it takes me to convince them that my job is to help
them best express what they want to express, not tell them where their interests should lie.
Seeing as I work within the Humanities, I find this hesitance all the more perverse but I can
understand where it stems from.
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Current Affairs
We, in Pakistan, seem to have a very strong need to hold absolute opinions as answers to
complex and simple questions alike. Very few of us are comfortable entertaining multiple
positions and ideas in percentages 60/40, 70/30 rather than Yes/No monoliths.
Maybes, almosts, sometimes, often this and occasionally that are words that I need to teach most
of my students. The fact that using qualifiers is not a sign of cowardice or moral relativity or lazy
thinking is something they need to be convinced of because they have seldom encountered it. If
anything, absolutes lead to lazy thinking because a yes or no answer seldom requires a follow
up and there are very few practical or personal situations that can be summed up so simply.
Embracing grey zones in thought is often the best use of grey matter, but it is often a
struggle to convince people of this.
Pakistans education system needs to produce thinkers rather than assembly line workers with
wonderful test scores and no critical faculties.
One of the keys to doing this is for teachers to check their own egos at the door, for us to finally
recognise that learning is a two-way street and just because our side of the desk tends to have
more years and degrees in its corner doesnt necessarily mean that it should do all the talking.
The best classrooms need conversation, and if teachers can make students believe that what they
think really matters to us, students tend to approach their education differently.
I often randomly ask my students to take over my desk and teach me something I dont know,
its a great exercise where they simply feel valued enough and I get to learn about a discipline I
have no background in.
This has extended itself to students coming to my office and lending me books and
recommending authors Ive never heard of, proposing class discussions that I can incorporate
and generally feeling invested in our work together. Because that is the key, we work together.
I had very low expectations of myself when I set out to teach last year and the only standard I set
was that I wanted to be the kind of teacher I wish I had when I was in college. I wish I had
teachers who told me to take books as maps and go exploring and genuinely cared where I ended
up.
I wanted teachers to tell me where to look and not what to see as Alexandra Trenfor puts it.
I couldnt abide the idea that there were right books and wrong books because I think that
people who take this approach are inherently terrified of knowledge and exploration and of
thinking for themselves. Someone who pre-empts that some knowledge might inherently corrupt
or destroy them is already compromised by fear.
There is already plenty of that to go around in Pakistan and students shouldnt have to bear the
brunt of it.