Pakistan & Kashmir

By Brig. General Asif H. Raja Asif Haroon Raja “Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost legendary. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge Analysis Ayub Khan had taken productive initiatives to remove the grievances of EP and to a large extent had succeeded in alleviating their inequities. The 1965 War and Bhutto-Mujib politics of violence impeded his 1965-70 development plan. Yahya Khan’s 1970-75 development plan was also aimed at removing east-west disparities. What the two military dictators did for EP, no Bengali leader could do. Did Lt ...

By Brig. General Asif H. Raj Part-1 Asif Haroon Raja “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it”. George Santayana The 1971 War fought between the two arch rivals India and Pakistan fifty years ago is an account of painful memories for Pakistanis, particularly those who were in former East Pakistan (EP). Severance of the eastern limb of Pakistan was a great national tragedy, the anguish of which is still felt by the veterans and the patriotic Bengalis and Biharis and the civilians who had witnessed and undergone the whole trauma. With so many facts hidden under the massive Indo-Western propaganda having now surfaced, it can be surmised that Pakistan was made the victim of a methodically planned conspiracy. Besides India and the rebels of EP, the ...

By Brig. General Asif H. Raja Part -2 Asif Haroon Raja Elections Results and Effects “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything”. Joseph Stalin In the elections held on Dec 7, 1970, AL swept the polls in EP with a tally of 167 out of 169 national assembly seats and the PPP securing 87 of 126 seats in WP (simple majority in Punjab and Sindh).   As per Bengali writer Maswani, ‘Only about 7% of Muslim votes in EP had catapulted secessionist AL into majority. Its apparent success didn’t truly represent the will of the people of EP. The AL had won with only 43% of total votes, out of which about 12% were bogus votes cast mostly by infiltrators and 24.35% by the Hindus. (AMK Maswani, Subversion in EP, P 2). There...

By Brig. General Asif H. Raja Asif Haroon RajaGiven the fascist and anti-Muslim agenda of the BJP, a political baby of the RSS, the founding fathers of which had adopted the Nazis ideology and had aspired to cleanse Bharat of the impure aliens and to convert Bharat into a Hindu State, Pakistan’s hope to develop friendship with India based on sincerity amount to living in fool’s paradise.As long as the BJP presided by Modi is in power, Pakistan’s relations with India will remain unfriendly and hostile.Any gesture of friendship made by the Modi regime will be deceitful since it’s agenda will remain unchanged.India has always considered Pakistan a thorn in its flesh and the only obstacle in its way to achieve global power status.India’s expansionist ambitions received a setback when P...

The month of October has been worse with over 30 killings reported from the region that includes as many as 12 civilians with at least 11 of them killed by militants as close targets. Anees Zargar  Non local laborers waiting for train inside railwaysation Nowgam . Photo by Kamran Yousuf Srinagar: The killing of non-local workers in a fresh series of attacks by suspected militants have prompted the departure of scores of non-locals from Jammu and Kashmir, amidst rising fear and tension in the region. A Non local Labourar standing outside railway station Nowgam, waiting for train. Photo by Kamran Yousuf At least two non-local labourers were killed and another was left injured in South Kashmir’s Wanpoh area of Kulgam on Sunday evening after armed assailants ta...

The assaulted students have accused a group from Uttar Pradesh of attacking them while asserting that locals saved them. Newsclick Report  Image Courtesy: Deccan Herald Kashmiri students at an engineering college in Punjab's Sangrur alleged that they were assaulted late on Sunday night soon after India lost in the T20 World Cup match against Pakistan. Punjab police officials, who reached the campus following the incident, said that the situation at Bhai Gurudas Institute of Engineering and Technology in Sangrur had been brought under control, the NDTV reported. In a widely shared video on social media, a Kashmiri student shows around a room that has been rampaged Sunday night and alleges they were attacked by students from Uttar Pradesh. "We were watching the match...

The former chief minister was confined to her residence and stopped from visiting the family of a South Kashmir youth, Shahid Ahmad, who was killed near a paramilitary checkpost a week ago. Anees Zargar  Image Courtesy: NDTV Srinagar: Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was confined to her residence on Monday and barred from visiting the family of a South Kashmir youth, Shahid Ahmad, who was killed near a paramilitary checkpost a week ago. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader confirmed to a local news agency that she was not allowed to visit Ahmad's family to offer her condolences. At the same time, she demanded compensation for the family. An apple picker Ahmad, 20, was killed on October 24 in South Kashmir's Anantnag after Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), t...

Additional forces consisting of the Indian army, paramilitary border security forces and personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir police have also been rushed around the region as part of heightened security measures to deal with the situation. Anees Zargar  Image Courtesy: AP Srinagar: Armed forces in the Rajouri area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pir Panjal valley launched a mass cordon and search operation in several villages of the region, following which authorities closed the Thanamandi-Rajouri highway for vehicular traffic here on Saturday. According to defence PRO Lt. Colonel Devender Anand, the cordon and search operation in the area is ongoing. No breakthrough has been reported so far. The officials said that the operation was launched in the wee hours after inputs abo...