Australian takes issue over skewed article on Pakistan

Time – Australian takes issue over skewed article on Pakistan

Editor’s Note: A rejoinder to the article: Karachi (Pakistan) – A doomed city in TIME. A worthy response. THANK YOU Tony Lazaro for a very balanced

view.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2103706,00.html republished by PAKISTAN TODAY: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/01/%E2%80%98karachi-is-doomed-karachi-is-indestructible%E2%80%99/

The Editor, Time Magazine

Dear Editor,

I recently returned from a charitable trip to Pakistan, whereby I visited both Karachi and Islamabad. I spoke with several universities, key businesses, prominent business leaders and several religious people from all generations….

On the day I returned to the office, someone had placed your magazine (January 16, 2012), on my desk. I read with interest your article on Karachi and the city in doom. For a person to have just returned from the very same place that your magazine described was somewhat bizarre, so I read with great detail your writer (Andrew Marshall’s) account.

Let me begin by saying that I often flick through your magazine and find the articles of great interest, but on this particular day and this particular article, I found certain comments to be both one sided and indeed very negative. I say that because I saw a different Pakistan to what was portrayed in your article. I do not and will not comment on the political or religious problems that the country faces, but I will go so far as to say that not everything is as bad as the image that your magazine paints.

Sure there are deaths in the cities. Please show me a city in the world, that is free from political fighting and unrest.

Sure there are differences in the political party opinions. Please show me a country in the world where the political parties agree.

Sure the innocent are suffering. Please show me a country in the world where wealth and power is equal and the innocent don’t suffer.

Sure corruption is in Pakistan. Please show me a country in the world that is corruption free.

My list could go on, but my point is that Pakistan does have problems…but so does every other country in the world in some way or another. However, in the case of ALL other nations, there are often good things to report and the media goes out of its way to promote these good things across the globe, whenever possible. The ridiculous amount of shootings in the USA are balanced off by the success of Google, Microsoft and Apple. The financial dilemmas of Greece are lost in the marketing of the Greek Islands as a holiday destination of choice. The child slave industry of India, is brushed under the carpet in favour of the nation’s growth in the global software boom. What I am trying to say, is that someone needs to look further into Pakistan and see that there are millions of great stories to write about, which would portray the country in a different light, to that what is being portrayed by your article.

When I was in Pakistan, I visited a towel manufacturing company (Alkaram Towels). They produced some $60million in export in 2011 and are aiming at $85million in 2012. A substantial increase in sales…in a recession I would remind you. The company was started by the current Chairman, Mr. Mehtab Chawla, at the tender age of nine, after his father passed away. Today the very man employs 3000 staff. Now that’s a story.

I visited universities of NED, Hamdard, Karachi, Szabist and NUST. The students are unbelievably intelligent. They spend their spare time developing APPS for android and apple. They are involved in cutting edge technology and no one in the world knows this. Why not send a reporter to Pakistan to look into this. Why not research good things in this nation, rather than just the bad things. At NUST (National Institution for Science and Technology – Islamabad)) there were 38,000 applications for medicine. There are only 83 seats for the medicine course on offer. The competition is unbelievable. In short it pushes the best to be even better. But the world doesn’t know this. Why ? Because no one wants to report on it, or no one knows about it…or both !!

Please do not get me wrong. I understand that news is news, but it is high time that the western world stopped promoting these terrorists and political wars in Pakistan and started to write something that would help the nation. Something positive. If we really care about global partnerships and economic growth, then I suggest we try and give Pakistan a helping hand. There are 180 million people in Pakistan, 65% are under the age of 25. The youth of Pakistan is its strength.. it is like a sleeping giant. If you think that India is a booming nation. I suggest you stop a second and look at Pakistan. Given a little help from the western world, Pakistan can become a dominant economy. She doesn’t want aid and she doesn’t need money… she just wants the chance to be seen in a different light. I believe we have a fundamental obligation to assist. The only question is, who will reach out first.

Warmest regards,

Tony Lazaro
Managing Director
Rising Stars Management Group

Tel: 02 8824 7000
Fax: 02 8824 7766

www.risingstars.com.au

“There is no justice in all of Afghanistan” Interview conducted by Ingrid Müller

	16.10.11	Tagesspiegel (Berlin)	“There is no justice in all of Afghanistan” Interview conducted by Ingrid Müller
“It’s not true that Taliban are against girls’ education” Taliban Fouzi Habibullah, a member of the High Peace Council, on mistakes at the reconstruction and the chances of negotiations

Tagesspiegel: The assassination of the head of the Peace Council has shattered the hope for progress. What will happen now?

Habibullah Fouzi: The death of Burhanuddin Rabbani is a very big loss. He was an extraordinary personality. Masoom Stanakzai, who was severely injured in the attack, will return from India in the coming days and report to the Executive Committee.

Tagesspiegel: How could the terrorist come into the house?

Fouzi: The two guests said they had an important message from Taliban leader Mullah Omar and the Quetta Shura (editor’s note: the highest decision making body of the Afghan Taliban, which takes its name from the Pakistani city of Quetta). Rabbani was very enthusiastic that he could make peace, and he wanted to achieve it personally. On this day, it should come a big step forward. The two had a CD and a letter from Mullah Omar with them. Masoom Stanakzai had checked that in advance.

Tagesspiegel: Witnesses say Mr. Stanakzai told the security people that they should not check both because they were well known.

Fouzi: That’s not true. On the contrary, he said they should be searched. But the controls are not effective in Rabbani’s house. There are no metal detectors, only pockets are searched there. The technology is not up to date, if we had it, the bomb in his turban would have been discovered. We now necessarily need metal detectors.

Tagesspiegel: How did the Quetta Shura and Mullah Omar react?

Fouzi: We do not know whether it was a conspiracy or whether the two really were emissaries of the Quetta Shura. They have neither confirmed nor denied it on their website.

Tagesspiegel: Mullah Omar and the Quetta Shura are considered to be the key, but so far they have refused to enter talks.

Fouzi: Mullah Omar is the spiritual leader of the Taliban, their Emir. In Islam, people must follow their Emir. Peace will only come with Mullah Omar. If Mullah Omar and the Quetta Shura come to the negotiating table, this will be a big step for the future.

Tagesspiegel: Why are they so important?

Fouzi: There is a huge distance between the population and the Afghan government. Usually a government helps its people. When the foreign troops arrived, the people had hoped that their basic needs would be met: food, education, work. But none of this has been met.

Tagesspiegel: Can you elaborate?

Fouzi: The people have more confidence in the foreign troops than in their own government. The government has nothing to say. There is a lot of money from abroad, but only ten percent of it goes to the Afghan government; most of it is spent by the NGOs in parallel. Everything is done by foreign troops. Over the entire ten years they have built no government, no defense, no interior no justice. In cities like Kabul, a lot has improved. But in the country, especially in the provinces where the Taliban are strong, there is poverty. First, these people have to get help, otherwise it is impossible to create peace.

Tagesspiegel: How do you imagine that?

Fouzi: A strong government would include all Afghans. But there is no government system that could guarantee security, peace, justice and labor. Look at the government: when a minister moves, all those responsible immediately move with him. None of them is interested in fighting for social rights or justice. There is no justice in all of Afghanistan. Not a single problem you can solve without corruption. People tell you they have to pay for it in the Ministry of Justice if they want to enforce a right already vested. How much money has flowed into Afghanistan, 70 billion? But where is peace? In some provinces you cannot even drive safely on the road. Where’s the money gone?

Tagesspiegel: What needs to change?

Fouzi: Seats must not be awarded to friends and by party affiliation, but on the abilities of the people. And it will not work out without negotiating with the Taliban. The government and the world must begin with it.

Tagesspiegel: After the attack, however, many think that these conversations are over before they have begun.

Fouzi: It would have been Rabbani’s desire to keep going. He had just hope for a big breakthrough. We must convince Pakistan to help with it. We have good relations. The international community should also ask Saudi Arabia to make use of its religious influence.

Tagesspiegel: What does help mean, military pressure or negotiations?

Fouzi: Pakistan will know how it can help and what is better for it.

Tagesspiegel: And then?

Fouzi: The world needs to get out of the way the obstacles for talks with the Taliban. They must stop the Taliban blacklist. Even I was on the list up till July, though I am a member of Peace Council. And there must be an address for the Taliban. Where it is that is not important, it is only necessary that there is a place where the Taliban enjoy immunity. Then they can come for talks. Peace is our religious obligation.

Tagesspiegel: At the moment, however, everything has stopped. What do you expect for the Afghanistan conference in Bonn in early December?

Fouzi: The conference is very important. The people pin high expectations on it. The biggest problem with the first conference in Bonn was that no Taliban were invited, only Northern Alliance members. Therefore we have today’s problems. The Taliban must come to Bonn, this time we need one of their representatives there.

Tagesspiegel: You do not believe that the Taliban will participate?

Fouzi: If we do not manage to bring the warring Taliban to the negotiations, others should be invited from Afghanistan. We have many important Taliban here. I can give you the names of five from the Peace Council, e.g. the former Deputy Minister of Higher Education, the former Taliban representative to the UN, myself. Nobody asked me. But if I was, I would come.

Tagesspiegel: And beyond the Council?

Fouzi: The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, their foreign minister and their trade minister are important people. But unfortunately, none of them plays any significant role anymore, neither for the government nor for the people. Moreover, it is very easy to blame everything on the Taliban. We have a lot of problems, but the Taliban are blamed for all. There are also thieves and robbers, who hold the Taliban responsible for their actions. This is the reality. The international community has made mistakes as well. It has not tried to pave the way. Incidentally, the Germans might try to get Mullah Tayyab Agha to Bonn. He has already been to Germany for talks and he is very close to Mullah Omar.

Tagesspiegel: The Germans are hosting the conference, it lies in the hands of the Afghan government of President Karzai.

Fouzi: In Afghanistan, there is a joke: A man comes into the house of his host. He is asked: Do you want rice or meat? He replies: Don’t you have two pots that you can cook both?

Tagesspiegel: Many people think that the Peace Council with all its former warlords is even closer to war than to peace.

Fouzi: We should not point to single people. The Afghans want peace, we do help in the process. As long as there is no peace, there is no decent life.

Tagesspiegel: Do the Taliban want peace?

Fouzi: Without hearing them, we do not know what they want. They need to be at the negotiating table.

Tagesspiegel: Many people fear that the Taliban want to ban education for girls again.

Fouzi: It is not true that Taliban are against girls’ education. This is a misunderstanding. In Islam, education is important for everyone. The first word in the Koran is ecra - read! The Taliban only don’t want a mixed education of girls and boys. Moreover, the Taliban have changed.

Tagesspiegel: Therefore, they could join the government?

Fouzi: We don't have to hand over the whole government to them, do we? But they could compete in elections. We need the Taliban for peace.

Habibullah Fouzi is a leading member of the High Council of Peace in Afghanistan. This body established by President Hamid Karzai in 2010 shall advance the peace process and establish contacts with senior Taliban leaders. The head of the Council, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, was murdered in his house by a suicide bomber a few weeks ago. Fouzi Habibullah, who was ambassador to Saudi Arabia under Mullah Omar’s Taliban government, accepted a amnesty program in 2005. Tagesspiegel editor Ingrid Müller spoke with Fouzi in Kabul in the anteroom of Rabbani’s former official residence – which was still sealed with white and blue tape.

Article comes with picture: “Protests after the assassination of former President Rabbani. It would have been his desire to continue to negotiate with Taliban, says Fouzi” (http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/es-gibt-in-ganz-afghanistan-keine-gerechtigkeit/5071662.html).

Is Pakistan Playing a Double Game?

Is Pakistan Playing a Double Game?

By U. Haider

It seems as if for western analysts, history of the region of Afghanistan, Pakistan starts from 9/11.  They blame Pakistan for the creation of Taliban. They seem to forget that they are also one of the creators of this monster. When soviets invaded Afghanistan in early 80s, western powers created, swelled and supported the idea of Jihad against the invading infidels in world's Muslim community for the next decade. Infact, misinterpreted the Islamic terminology Jihad to put a tough resistance against Russians. They created, trained and provided arms and ammunition to mujahedeen with the help of a military dictator, whose rule was prolonged and protected by them against the wishes of the people of Pakistan. And after soviet's withdrawal from Afghanistan they left the war Torne region just with armed jihadi militias, doctrine of strict Islamic law and hatred against the infidels. Pakistan already with instable economy was bearing the burden of 4 million Afghanis left to rot by the westerners. For next decade Pakistan was slapped with sanctions after sanctions while Afghanistan was left to see a bloody civil war and then the Taliban regime. Hilary Clinton's famous remarks in a senate hearing "We have to cut what we sow" about this situation tell the whole story.

9/11 awoke the U.S. and the westerners from their deep slumper of triumphs against Russians. Their response was a full bloody war against one of the poorest countries in the world, the country which already saw 20 years of war. The then Pakistani leadership attempted to convince the U.S. and its allies for giving a chance to diplomacy to take its course towards any resolution but the west ignored the sane words. They went to war in Afghanistan, and now after 10 years they are exploring ways of how to get out of it with least embarrassment. USA and the west even after invading Afghanistan never tried to solve the issue through diplomatic channels, which now eventually after a decade they see as an option and most probably a better option.  

Western allies should have used force where it was absolutely necessary and for the other issues they should have used discussion, negotiations. They have failed to give the Afghan people the much desired better life and a hope for bright future which Afghani people desperately needed. West has failed to use this opportunity to win hearts and minds of the Afghani people and Muslim community in general. Currently most of the Afghanistan is unstable, most of the provinces under Taliban control and no signs of stable government and government institutions. Now even the western public is antagonized by this long stretched war and public opinion is vastly against it.  

For a while now USA, NATO and western governments are blaming Pakistan for playing a double game in the war against terror. They say that Pakistan is playing both sides, fighting with the western allies and on the other hand supporting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been allied to Taliban regime in the past when western governments were ignoring the problems of Afghanistan and imposing sanctions on Pakistan. After Pakistan's alliance with western powers against Taliban and Al-Qaeda, it has suffered the most in this war. Taliban and Al-Qaeda have played havoc in Pakistan with suicide bombings. What Pakistan received in return for supporting the Western allies during the last 30 years, first as an ally against Russians in Afghanistan and then in the war against terrorism is a totally shattered very fabric of Pakistani society, economic loss of around US $ 50 billion and sacrifice of around 30000 lives of both security personnel and civilians in the war against terrorism.

Pakistan's army cleansed the swat valley and South Waziristan regions from these terrorists. It is in Pakistan's national interest to not to outstretch its Army and that is why it is dealing with these terrorists region by region. Everyday western powers are coming up with new ways to pressurize Pakistan in starting an operation in North-Waziristan. Pakistan's Army is already engaged in stabilizing the regions of Swat valley and South Waziristan and helping people in the worst floods of country's history. It cannot possibly start an operation in North-Waziristan. West wants that operation because it is in their national interest, but they are completely ignoring the fact that Pakistan does not see in its own national interest to start an operation in North-Waziristan. Pakistan is not a terrorist state nor does it support terrorism, it will take action in North Waziristan, when it sees fit.

Pakistan wants to negotiate with the Taliban to come to a solution for Afghanistan. Pakistan resides in this region, It sees India as a threat to its sovereignty, no matter how much the west tries to portray that India is not a threat, India will remain a threat to Pakistan. It is in Pakistan's national Interest to have a government in Afghanistan that is if not pro-Pakistan at least is neutral in dealing with Pakistan and India.  Pakistan has learned from its previous experiences of the west, it will not be willing to put everything on the line like in the 80s and then watch west running away as soon as it achieved its goals. Pakistan is a part of this region and it will have to put its national interests before anyone else's. 

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(Writer is a postgraduate student presently living in Berlin and can be accessed by e-mail: us_butt@hotmail.com)

New Pak-German Treaty to Promote and Protect Investment

New Pak-German Treaty to promote

And Protect Investment

(By Shahid A. Kamal)

          The Federal Republic of Germany and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan signed an “Agreement of the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments” on December 01, 2009 to enhance bilateral relations in the economic, trade and investment fields. The new Agreement has replaced the old version of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) signed fifty years back in November, 1959 by both countries. Pakistan was the first country with whom the Federal Republic of Germany signed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) after the 2^nd World War. This BIT was also the first one in the world that provided an adequate mechanism of reciprocal protection of investments, setting the precedent to be followed by other countries.

          Both the countries felt the need of reviewing this 50 years old treaty with a view to update and rewrite its various clauses bringing them in line with modern day requirements. After detailed review and deliberations, the new Treaty was finalized and signed by the respective Federal Ministers of both the countries on the eve of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s official visit to Germanyfrom November 30 to December 03, 2009.

The modern version of the investment treaty has opened a new chapter in the bilateral economic relationship. The agreement provides legal protection for investment in both countries including non-discriminatory treatment, respect for private property, transparency and the international arbitration of disputes. It would strengthen bilateral engagement in area of investment and would give confidence to German investors to look towards Pakistan as a destination to make profitable investments and expand their business.

Some of the important features of the treaty pertain to providing fair and equitable treatment to the investment by investors of the other contracting state and shall provide full protection and security in accordance with customary international law. Returns on investment and re-investment shall enjoy the same

protection as the investment. Both the countries shall facilitate the investors of each

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other countries with regard to their entry, sojourn and employment pertaining to their investments within the framework of their respective national legislation.

 The agreement binds both the countries to respect and protect intellectual property rights of the investors of each other in accordance with their national legislation, rules and regulations. Both the countries shall not accord less favourable treatment to the investors and the investments of each other countries than that they accord to their own investors and their investment or to investors and investments of any third state in their respective countries.

       Investment by investors of either state shall not be expropriated, nationalized or subjected to any other measure tantamounting to expropriation or nationalization in the territory of the other state except for the public benefit and against compensation. Investors of either state shall enjoy most-favoured-nation treatment in the territory of other state with regard to investment losses and compensation, indemnification and restitution thereof owing to war or other armed conflict, revolution, a state of national emergency or revolt.

The investors of each other country shall also not be accorded treatment less favourable than the treatment to be accorded to the contracting state’s own investors as regards to restitution, indemnification, compensation or other valuable consideration in case of investment losses due to war, armed conflict or revolt. Both the countries shall guarantee all transfers relating to an investment to be made freely and without delay into and out of its territory with applicable rate of exchange on the day of transfer.

 The German Government has already restored extending investment guarantees to German investors for Pakistan, which it stopped a few years back, and now this agreement, has restored the confidence of German Investors. One hopes that these positive developments will promote active partnership between the two countries and contribute to the enhancement of bilateral economic relations. 

(The writer is Ambassador of Pakistan to Germany)

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Unmarked graves in Kashmir: a hindrance to peace?

Unmarked graves in Kashmir: a hindrance to peace?