Figures speak for what the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) did in 2014; a whopping 427 national radio and tv shows, documentaries, more than three dozen public consultations/ discussions/ seminars, nearly 100 research reports and newspaper articleson counter-radicalization, rule of law, security and governance reforms reflect our unparalleled performance in 2014. With the support of dedicated team members in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Swat, Quetta and Karachi, CRSS kept its focus on the aforementioned issues via print and electronic media as well as public consultations –manifest in the broad range of activities and outreach to the public at large. CRSS therefore takes pride in the national audio-visual advocacy campaign that it ran to raise awareness on the absolute essential need for the Rule of Law and the inevitable but lingering reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Center conscientiously strives for advocacy for civil liberties, anchored in fundamental human rights as envisaged in the constitution, rule of and respect for law and promotion of universal concepts such as equal citizenry (one of the UN indicators for rule of law) and secular governance – goals that were reflected in a nation-wide engagement between foreign scholars hosted by CRSS and students at universities in Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore. As part of its exclusive focus during 2014, the CRSS: aired 383 radio programs in total through its media advocacy campaign across Pakistan, reaching every segment of the population, to build a narrative for social and political cohesion vital for the democratic growth of Pakistan, including o   62 radio programs in Balochistan, under the Balochistan ke Awam ki Awaz (Balochistan Democracy Awareness Initiative) initiative o   60 radio programs under the “Moong Qabail” (We the Tribe) initiative, in collaboration with USAID-funded Citizens Voice Project for the awareness of FATA citizens on the draconian...

Since 2013, despite dozens of trips to other nations, there have been only six visits from heads of state or governments, with only two in 2014. Despite tight budgets in the country, the PM's trip to the US alone costed Rs. 91 million. This recap provides an insight into the spending by our leaders on foreign trips. While Pakistan’s heads of state and government like to visit foreign countries quite frequently, foreign dignitaries visiting Pakistan has become increasingly rare. Since the 2013 election, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have made 28 official trips abroad, but hosted only six such visits from the heads of state or government of five countries. Of those six visits, four visited Pakistan in 2013 and only two during 2014. The four state visits to Pakistan during 2013 were made by former Afghan president Hamid Karzai (August 26), Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (August 20-21), British Prime Minister David Cameron (June 29) and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (December 23-24). During 2014, Pakistan was visited by only two foreign heads of state: newly elected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Bahrain’s King Sheikh Hamad. The sparse record in 2014 was at least partly due to political unrest in Islamabad. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was scheduled to visit Islamabad in November 2014, but cancelled due to the sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Official trips abroad by Pakistan’s heads of state and government have become politically controversial in a country where budgets have always been tight, even though the sums spent on them are miniscule relative to overall government spending. The 28 trips undertaken by Prime Minister Sharif and President Hussain have cost the taxpayers Rs391 million in total, according to government disclosures made to Parliament on Monday, less than 0.01% of the overall budget. In response to questions raised by Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and Dr Nafisa Shah, both PPP members of...

In Paris on January 11, some 40 heads of states and governments stood among tens of thousands as a mark of solidarity with the journalists and staff of Charlie Hebdo. In Peshawar, on January 12, it was only the Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif, personally greeting the children back to the Army Public School (APS). Only a day earlier, the army had organised a visit to Peshawar for foreign ambassadors to see the APS students at a hospital. This chain of events clearly betrayed the divide between an embattled military that continues to simultaneously fight terror and insurgency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Fata, Balochistan and crime in Karachi, and the civilian leaders, who remain entangled in settling petty political scores, personal pursuits of wealth and also keep raising security walls around them. This is Pakistan’s sad reality: the ruling elite is pre-occupied with personal agendas and is disconnected from the grassroots issues of daily life. Take the 20-point National Action Plan against terrorism, for instance; it promised formulation of a comprehensive policy to deal with the issue of Afghan refugees, beginning with the registration of all unregistered illegal refugees and eventually restricting them, Afghans in particular, to camps. This singles out Afghans as the possible drivers of violence and terrorism. The UNHCR speaks of roughly 1.7 million refugees all over Pakistan, most of them in Fata and K-P. At least 50 per cent of refugee families are scattered all around the greater Peshawar region. Most live in clusters of rented houses and countless are involved in small, medium and large businesses, such as trade, transport, cottage industries, construction and agro-farming. The UN runs more than 100 schools for refugee children, particularly those living in or around designated refugee camps. Local partners help in improving access to social sector services provided by the UNHCR. Afghan children are not only restricted to dedicated schools. They are...

“An extraordinary situation and circumstances exist which demand special measures for speedy trial of offenses relating to terrorism, waging of war or insurrection against Pakistan and prevention of acts threatening the security of Pakistan. There exists grave and unprecedented threat to the territorial integrity of Pakistan by miscreants, terrorists and foreign funded elements. Since there is an extraordinary situation as stated above it is expedient that an appropriate amendment is made in the constitution. The bill is designed to achieve the aforesaid objects.” That is the Statement of Objects and Reasons, of the 21st Constitutional Amendment Bill, unanimously passed by the National Assembly and the Senate on January 6, to mixed reception. Raza Rabbani of the PPP burst into tears, saying he felt he was betraying his conscience but remaining loyal to the party leadership. Leaders from Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s faction of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islaami (JI) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), perhaps predictably, refused to vote. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself, could not be happier, all shaking hands and beaming smiles. The civil society remains divided, some seeing this as a necessary step and relying on the military intervention to fix the situation in the country, and others viewing it as a distortion of the constitution. The media, so instrumental in invoking a sense of patriotism for the army and the nation over the last several months, was quick to label it a soft coup. Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a constitutional expert and Supreme Court advocate, feels that the new military courts will be viewed as a parallel judicial system if seen through the lens of the law of peace. The constitution was written in a conservative environment, when such existential threats to Pakistan did not exist. Pakistan is under a systematic, systemic attack by a well-entrenched, well-coordinated, well-funded enemy. This...

As the parliament and the GHQ celebrate the passage of the 21st Amendment, they face pressing questions as to whether they will demonstrate a similar resolve in enforcing the rule of law. Firstly, will this unprecedented anti-terror national consensus trigger the much-needed strategic rethink too? So far, most of the conversation in and outside the parliament has focused on terrorist forces operating across the country with the assumption that they are peddling their own narrow agenda. But is it really so, or is this brutal war on the people and interests of Pakistan a major consequence of the country’s faulty foreign policy? Secondly, will the government and the military mobilize and deploy the same energy, with the support of the same two-thirds majority of parliament, for forcefully implementing counter-terror measures? Thirdly, will the parliament rise above expedience and legislate for bringing all educational institutions including the madrassas under government regulation? Under Article 25A of the constitution, provision of education is a primary responsibility of the state. So should be the oversight of seminaries and their curricula. Fourthly, will the 247 parliamentarians – hopefully joined by the PTI – also stand up to review the relics of the Gen Zia era, such as the Islamic Ideology Council (CII), headed by an orthodox Maulana Sherani who considers the council something supra-constitutional and thus above the parliament? Although the CII was an essential element of the 1973 constitution, it is nothing irreversibly sacrosanct. The constitution is a dynamic document that democracies keep adapting to changing circumstances. Can the government enforce the loudspeaker law to demonstrate its commitment? Fifthly, since the key to an effective fight against anti-state forces lies in enforcement of law, why does the government not implement the West Pakistan Regulation and Control of Loudspeakers and Sound Amplifiers Ordinance of 1965, amended on February 19,...

PESHAWAR : For the first time in Pakistan's history the health authorities have started administering polio injections in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), officials said on Wednesday. The injectable/inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is said to be highly effective in preventing paralytic disease caused by all three types of poliovirus and is currently being used by a majority of the polio-free developed and advanced countries. Officials in the Fata secretariat told Dawn.com that polio injections have been planned for 17,393 children in the frontier region of Bannu. They said that so far about 5,906 children have been injected with anti-polio vaccines and the five day drive will end on Friday. The experts are of the view that injections would be more effective as compared to polio drops, secondly the polio vaccination had been proved an uphill task due to law and order situation and attacks on the vaccinators besides denial on part of the parents. The inactivated polio virus vaccine is injected into a muscle or under the skin and is usually given by a healthcare professional in a hospital, clinic, or provider’s office. Pakistan is one of the three polio-endemic countries which have been using oral polio vaccine (OPV) since the disease has hit the country. The Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-18 of Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) had hinted at the new scheme in its April 2013 report of introducing IPV for the first time in three polio endemic countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Published on www.dawn.com on January 8, 2015

 A monthly update on the Covert War about the CIA strikes in the region of North Waziristan. This is the same place where Pakistan's Armed forces have been conducting a counter-terrorism operation. CIA Pakistan drone campaign reported to have killed nearly five times more people under Obama than under Bush. No confirmed civilian casualties in Pakistan for second year running. Domestic buildings continue to be the most frequently hit target in Pakistan. Highest ever number of drone strikes in a year in Somalia. Total people killed per strike in Yemen hits highest level. Pakistan December 2014 actions Total CIA strikes in December: 4 Total people reported killed: 14-20 All 2014 actions Total strikes: 25 Total reported killed: 114-183 Civilians reported killed: 0-2 Children reported killed: 0-2 Total reported injured: 44-67 All actions 2004 – 2014 Total Obama strikes: 357 Total US strikes since 2004: 408 Total reported killed: 2,410-3,902 Civilians reported killed: 416-959 Children reported killed: 168-204 Total reported injured: 1,133-1,706 Although the CIA did not carry out a strike in Pakistan for the first five months of the year, drones were reported to have killed at least 114 people in 2014, more than in all of the previous year. The number of people killed per strike, or casualty rate, also increased slightly. The CIA’s strikes have been concentrated on North Waziristan where the Pakistan military has been conducting its own counter-terrorism operation. The drone strikes began on June 11, five days before the Pakistani offensive. The timing fuelled speculation that the Pakistani and US governments had resumed coordination on drone strikes after an apparent deterioration of relations in 2011. Pakistan’s military offensive came after the breakdown of peace talks between Islamabad and the Pakistan Taliban. All but one of the CIA’s strikes this year hit in an area where the Pakistan military has been carrying out air or ground operations. Almost half the strikes...