Current Projects
Drone Strikes in FATA: Debates on Armed Conflict, Legality and Illegality
Introduction The Drone strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan remain one of the major obstacles when it comes to Pak US relations. These strikes, carried primarily by the CIA, are targeted towards militant factions operating from FATA and target the coalition forces in Afghanistan (Zenko, 2013). According to the New America Foundation’s national security database on drones, since 2004, there have been a total of 373 Drone strikes in total killing between 2100 to 3400 people with civilian causalities accounting for 258 to 307 people1. FATA, the tribal frontier also called as the most dangerous place on earth, is a semi-autonomous region that harbors a number of militant factions operating both inside and outside Pakistan (Nawaz, 2009). FATA’s semi-autonomous status leads to a complex administrative mechanism when it comes to delegating administrative authority for governing the region (Khan, 2010). Therefore, the region, divided in 7 Tribal Agencies and six Frontier Regions, is run by Political Agents, appointed by the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who are facilitated by the Frontier Constabulary (FC). For that reason, this complexity of governance resulted in FATA being used as springboard for training Jihadi fighters in the 80’s Afghan war against the Soviets, and eventually became a terror hotbed after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center (Gul, 2010). Furthermore, the same drone strikes have also targeted Taliban groups that are only operating against Pakistan such as the Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) (Williams, 2010). Although armed drone strikes started in Yemen in 2002, the technology and method came into the global headlines because of FATA, Pakistan (Williams, 2010). The frequency of these strikes started to rise from 2007 peaking in 2010, where reduced drastically from 2012 onwards (Williams, 2013). There were no strikes in 2014 until a predator drone struck Uzbek militants in June soon after a deadly attack...
Is the New Silk Road really an economic corridor for China and Pakistan?
While the world is busy tackling the ISIS and its look-alikes in the Middle East, China, on the other hand, has other plans to chase. One such plan is reviving the centuries old Silk Route, or the New Silk Road – a series of routes that were important in the past for cultural interactions and trade between the East and the West. As part of this revival, China recently announced working on a high speed train from Lanzhou to Urumqi, capital of the troubled Xinjiang province. It is also rumored that the train may, in future, reach out to regional states including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey, along with further reaching out to, and concluding in, Bulgaria (Europe). With extensive visits to central Asian states by the Chinese president and penning a number of multibillion dollar deals with his counterparts, President Xi Jinping of China has ensured that his vision of the New Silk Road starts off on the right footing. The progress on the project comes at an ideal phase in the Chinese economy, where the country recently surpassed the US economy in terms of its purchasing power parity (PPP). China’s PPP, in the current year, has reached a mammoth figure of $17.6 trillion or 16.48% of the world’s GDP, while the US stands at $17.4 trillion. The Silk Road Project consists of three parts. The first part starts from Xian (China) goes through Pakistan and ends in Turkey. The second strand stretches from Bangladesh to Myanmar, whereas the third aims at connecting China’s Fujian coast with the rest of the world. Luckily for Pakistan and its economic prospects, China plans to expand one of the three Silk Route channels into Pakistan, starting from Kashgar and ending in Gwadar via Karachi. Source: Xinjiang Regional Development and Reform Commission; China Daily Funds have already been allocated for preliminary research to measure prospects of building one of the toughest routes that is ought to connect China and Pakistan. Reviving the...
Fear of terrorism: Pakistan sees 69% drop in foreigners’ arrival
Pakistan loses lustre for foreigners as it has witnessed 69% dramatic decrease in foreign nationals’ inflow in the last six years. The country was welcoming 2,254 foreigners daily in 2008 – a figure that reduced to 1,548 foreigners per day in 2013, according to official statistics prepared by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS). Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) also fears that the country will witness a further decrease in arrival of tourists due to ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb and worsening law and order situation in northern areas and Balochistan. The FIA and IBMS earned Rs2.1 billion on account of foreign exchange through State Bank of Pakistan during this period, revealed official documents sent to the Cabinet Division (CD). The FIA forwarded these details to the CD in response to a written request by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Armaghan Subhani. The figures – also available with The Express Tribune – show that over 44.5 million foreigners visited Pakistan from 2008 to June 2014. As many as 19,067 foreigners visited Pakistan on tourist visas from 2011 to 2013. The FIA and IBMS, however, did not provide the data of foreigners, who came on tourist visas from 2008 to 2010. In 2013, overall 565,212 foreigners came to Pakistan while 822,800 foreign nationals visited the country in 2008. As many as 854,900 overseas visitors came to Pakistan in 2009, 718,832 in 2011 and 663,829 in 2012. Interestingly, Pakistan witnessed a record rise in arrival of foreigners in 2010 when an estimated 906,800 of them visited the country. An estimated 2,928 of 198,201 foreign nationals came to Pakistan on tourist visa in the first six months of 2014, according to investigation agency’s figures. Some 34,412 students came to Pakistan during the last four years. As many as 222 people came for religious purposes, 3,363 for medical purposes, 392 on official business, 4,165 on commercial visas and 398...
Operation Zarb-e-Azb: TTP sets up new sanctuaries in Afghanistan
Pakistani officials claim to have found evidence of ‘new sanctuaries’ set up by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates in the Afghan territory near the border with North Waziristan Agency, where a massive military operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Azb, has been ongoing since mid-June. A senior security official told The Express Tribune that the new sanctuaries have been established to create difficulties for Pakistan’s military and disrupt Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the troubled agency. “It is a worrying development that the TTP is regrouping close to the border right under the nose of the Afghan security forces,” said the official, who did not wish to be named. When asked, the official did not rule out the possibility of ‘tacit support’ from Afghan security agencies for the new Taliban sanctuaries. Despite repeated requests, Afghan authorities have done little to dislodge militants from their side of the Durand Line[1], he added. ‘The lack of action from Afghan authorities has encouraged the terrorists to carve out new sanctuaries.” Pakistan has long urged Afghanistan to eliminate what it calls ‘safe havens’ of the TTP in northeastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. Fugitive TTP chief Mullah Fazllullah is also believed to be hiding in those areas. Islamabad has sought Fazllulah’s extradition from Afghanistan, but Kabul is not forthcoming to such a demand. The Afghan inaction stems from a trust-deficit with Pakistan. While Pakistan voiced concern over Afghanistan’s reluctance to cooperate against the TTP, Kabul continues to believe that the country’s security establishment is still supporting Afghan insurgents. Recently, an acting Afghan interior minister reiterated these allegations against Pakistan while speaking at a conference in New Delhi. However, with the formation of the new unity government led by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Islamabad is hoping for a new beginning. “I think we should give...
Challenges for the Afghan government
The unity government in Kabul is gradually moving into action on various fronts. But the most formidable challenge it faces is how to push the national reconciliation process because both Dr Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah are caught between two conflicting narratives on the issue of talks with the Taliban. Lets first recap who says what. Mullah Omar continues to peddle the idea of an Afghan-inclusive government based on Islamic principles. Dr Abdullah Abdullah insists that most Afghans are against Taliban ideology and “we are not prepared to compromise to please a small number of militants.” The civil society initiative Afghan People’s Dialogue on Peace talks of “armed opposition, illegal militias” and urges “disarmament of illegal groups.” President Ashraf Ghani has been requesting the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami to enter political talks but says, “We didn’t invite Mullah Omar. He’s on the terrorist watch list.” It is a sort of a divided house. As far the external players, the United States, Pakistan, and China are concerned, they have been supportive of political reconciliation through talks with the Taliban. Advisor on national security and foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, in a policy statement at the Council on Foreign Relations (which he reiterated at an Islamabad seminar) declared that “Reconciliation is an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process, but if they want our help, whatever help we can give, we will. But it is an Afghan initiative how they want to approach this task and what exactly do they want us to.” Indian and Russian positions are more in synch with that of Abdullah Abdullah who rejects talks with the Taliban. In this context, a Russia Today commentary by Rajeev Sharma on post-2014 challenges to India and Russia is quite instructive and perhaps reflects what Indian and Russian policy establishments think. “Thus the Indian and Russian strategic interests coalesce over the post 2014 Afghanistan. Both of them want to see the back of Taliban in the...
Provisional edict: Protection of Pakistan Act against Shariah, says CII
The Council of Islamic Ideology[1] (CII) on Wednesday provisionally declared the controversial Protection of Pakistan Ordinance Act (PPA) 2014[2] against Shariah law. Speaking at a news conference after the last session of CII’s 196th meeting, the council’s chairman, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, said the final edict over the matter would be issued after consultation with legal, defence and political experts. He said CII’s research wing has been directed to look into the provisions of the law and compile a report for further discussion. Maulana Sherani said the CII meeting discussed several other subjects in addition to the PPA 2014, including the National Security Policy, Muslim Marriages Act 1939, Pakistan Treaty Series and corporal punishment for children. He said the CII recommended that a woman cannot serve as a judge in Hudood and Qisas cases. The meeting also noted that while a marriage would not be annulled if a Muslim wife converts to another religion, but it would be revoked if a Muslim husband converts, he added. The meeting also unanimously recommended a ban on hate speeches which lead to sectarian violence, particularly during the month of Muharram, Sherani said.[3] The CII also called for better protection for minorities, observing that the government was responsible for providing security to non-Muslims and their places of worship. The CII also called for better protection for minorities, observing that the government was responsible for providing security to non-Muslims The CII chairman told reporters that a committee would be constituted after consultation to look into the Pakistan Treaty Series. If needed, consultants would be hired from abroad for this purpose, he added. The council also expressed satisfaction over the Islamic Financial Philosophy, Maulana Sherani said, adding that as far as the punishments regarding children was concerned, there was a need to do more research on this subject. “This was an observation and no final decision [on...
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan: Common Security Challenges require Collective approaches
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan currently face multiple complex security threats. Most of them emanate from al-Qaeda-linked Afghan, Pakistani, Uzbek, Arab and Chinese Uighur Islamist militants – under-pinned by the trans-nationalist pan-Islamist ideology. Organized crime such as illicit drug trade and arms’ smuggling supplement these threats and represent huge concerns to all three countries. A collective approach to tackle these issues, it seems, hinges on how the new Afghan unity government led by President Ashraf Ghani and his deputy Dr. Abdullah Abdullah positions itself to the daunting challenge. The challenge is formidable indeed because of conflicting positions of major stakeholders. Mullah Muhammad Omar (Chief of the Afghan Taliban), for instance, rejects the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA)[1] , between US and the Afghan government. He is of the view, “there should be an Afghan inclusive government based on Islamic Principles”. Omar’s spokesperson, too, insists that “there will be Jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan until the American leave”[2] While Mullah Muhammad Omar makes reconciliation conditional to the US-led foreign troops’ withdrawal,, President Ashraf Ghani is urging dialogue; shortly after taking oath Ghani said: “We ask opponents of the government, especially the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami, to enter political talks.[3] “We didn’t invite Mullah Omar. He’s on the terrorist watch list.”[4] This underscores Ghani’s limitation too; he wants to negotiate with an opposition that has kept the country on tenterhooks for over a decade and continues to mount major attacks on government targets but his desire is constrained by the fact that Mullah Omar is on a US terrorist watch list, implying thereby that unless the government can reach out to Mullah Omar on its own, it too will be seen as subservient to Washington, with little hope for meaningful resumption of the reconciliation process. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah the newly appointed chief executive of...
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan: Common Security Challenges require Collective approaches
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan currently face multiple complex security threats. Most of them emanate from al-Qaeda-linked Afghan, Pakistani, Uzbek, Arab and Chinese Uighur Islamist militants – under-pinned by the trans-nationalist pan-Islamist ideology. Organized crime such as illicit drug trade and arms’ smuggling supplement these threats and represent huge concerns to all three countries. A collective approach to tackle these issues, it seems, hinges on how the new Afghan unity government led by President Ashraf Ghani and his deputy Dr.Abdullah Abdullah positions itself to the daunting challenge. The challenge is formidable indeed because of conflicting positions of major stakeholders. Mullah Muhammad Omar (Chief of the Afghan Taliban), for instance, rejects the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA)[1] , between US and the Afghan government. He is of the view, “there should be an Afghan inclusive government based on Islamic Principles”. Omar’s spokesperson, too, insists that “there will be Jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan until the American leave”[2] While Mullah Muhammad Omar makes reconciliation conditional to the US-led foreign troops’ withdrawal,, President Ashraf Ghani is urging dialogue; shortly after taking oath Ghani said: “We ask opponents of the government, especially the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami, to enter political talks.[3] “We didn’t invite Mullah Omar. He’s on the terrorist watch list.”[4] This underscores Ghani’s limitation too; he wants to negotiate with an opposition that has kept the country on tenterhooks for over a decade and continues to mount major attacks on government targets but his desire is constrained by the fact that Mullah Omar is on a US terrorist watch list, implying thereby that unless the government can reach out to Mullah Omar on its own, it too will be seen as subservient to Washington, with little hope for meaningful resumption of the reconciliation process. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah the newly appointed chief executive of...
Equal Citizenry must for multi-faith society: Scholars
Secularism is about equality, provision of basic human rights to all indiscriminately, freedom of belief, and guarantees of justice and welfare. Secularism in Australia is enshrined in the constitution which predominantly ensures state, religion separation. The societal change will not happen until appropriate policy choices are made. Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have many similar issues which are different than the western settings, therefore the panacea lies in home-made solutions tailored to the relevant contexts, not imported! These were the notions expressed by the two member delegation of speakers each from Australia and Bangladesh, during the dialogue at Quaid-i-Azam University and a Roundtable at Heinrich Bӧll Stiftung (HBS), Islamabad on Oct. 20, 2014 as a part of a dialogue series “Governance, Community and Religion (GOCORE)” with Pakistani universities students, intelligentsia, academia and civil society jointly organized by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with Heinrich Bӧll Stiftung (HBS). The speakers for the dialogue series include Dr. Ann Aly, one of Australia’s foremost academics dealing with counter-terrorism and Mr. Shahab Enam Khan, one of Bangladesh’s eminent scholars and researchers in the fields of international relations, security studies, media, and public policy. These speakers from Australia and Bangladesh shared their respective experiences of dealing with multicultural diverse societies and ensuring religious freedoms as well as states’ impartiality towards different religions and ethnic groups. They underscored the need to embrace concepts such as tolerance for diversity and equal citizenry in a multi-faith society. Dr. Ann Aly, a research fellow in the Department of Social Science and International Relations at Curtin University, Western Australia said that we might think of secularism and democracy as a form of government, a way of life, a system of organization, a set of values or beliefs, western...
Heinous Crimes Report – September 2014
Incidents of heinous crimes in Pakistan continued unabated in September, 2014. Brutality, Child abuse, Honor Killing, Intolerance, Denial of justice, Misuse of power, and Violence against women reflects the extent of growing violent tendencies across Pakistan. Most of these crimes are committed by the relatives of the victims. These crimes can’t be eliminated by use of force as the perpetrators are seldom suspected as criminals. They commit these crimes because they get motivation from the prevalent centuries old socio-cultural norms and values in the society. These norms and values allow such crimes to go unrecognized and unpunished for religious, ethical and moral reasons. Following is the data to examine these crimes. Brutality Child abuse Honor Killing Intolerance Justice denied Misuse of power Teen’s crimes Terrorism against children Violence against women Brutality: Four cases Slitting of an old woman Killing of a son in front of his mother Murder for petty issue Kidnapping and killing of a child by a woman Date Source City Province Narrative 3-Sep-14 The News Burewala Punjab Prayer leader tries to rape girl in mosque By our correspondent BUREWALA: People foiled a rape attempt with a four-year-old girl by a prayer leader at Bairiki Mujahid Colony on Tuesday. 3-Sep-14 Express Tribune Mansehra KP The nightmare continues: Teenage victim pressured by rapist to settle the case MANSEHRA: Fourteen-year-old Masooma Bibi* who was first raped by five men and then by the policeman she turned to help for has said the latter is threatening her to drop the charges or reach a settlement. 11-Sep-14 The News Charsadda KP CHARSADDA: Foiling an attempt to marry a 13-year-old girl under the ‘Swara’, the police on Wednesday arrested the jirga members and representatives of the two parties in Rajar village in Charsadda district, official sources said.A jirga was in progress to settle the dispute and had decided to give away Kamil Ali’s sister Razia Bibi in...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.