Current Projects
Pakistan Army busts Hizb-ut-Tahrir Agent?
The Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate of the Pakistan military confirmed on June 21 that the army had arrested a serving brigadier by the name Ali Khan on May 6¶four days after the killing of Osama Bin Laden (OBL) in an operation by U.S. Navy SEALs. Khan was arrested on suspicion of his links with the banned extremist organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HT). He is not the first high-ranking army officer arrested for connections with HT. In May 2009, Col. Shahid Bashir was also arrested along with a retired Air Force officer and a U.S. Green Card-holding engineer for links with HT.[1] At the time of his arrest, Col. Bashir was serving at the Shamsi airfield in the Kharan district of Balochistan. The base had been under use of the American / NATO troops for drone as well as other aerial operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan tribal areas. It is likely that the two arrests of high-ranking officers in a span of exactly two year are not the last ones. A senior military official told CRSS that more officers are probably being questioned for suspected links with HT. The arrests indicate the presence of a radical mindset within the armed forces. On the other hand, it probably also reflects a new thinking: greater attention to all those who might be influenced by organizations such as HT. Moreover, if the army can demonstrate that it has gone after suspected militant officers successfully, it might be able to release some of the pressure it currently faces from the U.S., which is demanding that Pakistan do more to fight extremist elements in and outside the military. HT is a pan-Islamic organization with a reported membership of over a million in several countries.[2] It is very strong in UK and is banned in many Islamic countries. HT was first banned in Pakistan in 2004 by former president, Pervez Musharraf. The proscription was overruled, however, by the Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 2005.[3] The organization was presumably banned again and...
ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums: “Impact of Conflict on Women”
The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ActionAid Pakistan organized a roundtable, 'Impact of Conflict on Women in Balochistan' on June 16. The roundtable was third in a series of roundtables and seminars as part of the ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums. Ms. Rukhsana Shama of ActionAid initiated the discussion by sharing that 85 percent of the population of Dera Bugti had migrated¶including the minority communities. Sharing the findings of ActionAid studies, Shama shared that the male members of the displaced families were not repatriating back to Dera Bugti in as great numbers as the female members because of security and livelihoods concerns, which was creating its own conditions for the women in those areas who are already vulnerable in a tribal society rife with conflict. Shama agreed with the contention that there was a need for greater people-to-people contact of the Baloch with Pakistanis from other parts of the country. Dr. Rakshinda Parveen of Creative Anger by Rakhshi was of the view that inclusion of women in the decision-making processes is very important to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of the women in general in Balochistan . She added that the women from among the elite of Balochistan were not only aloof and insensitive, but also powerless and helpless in supporting the needy. Commenting on the non-elite women from among the masses in Balochistan, Parveen was of the opinion that they were more conscious and socially active, but suffered from loss of attention by the donor community. She suggested sustainable solutions to the problems of Balochi women through certain structural adjustments on priority basis, moreover she stressed that the Balochistan package should have a special stress on prioritizing women to make it more inclusive and gender friendly. Writer, columnist, and independent analyst, Mr. Harris Khalique, argued that tribal society of Balochistan should not be called backward, but...
ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums: "Impact of Conflict on Women"
The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ActionAid Pakistan organized a roundtable, 'Impact of Conflict on Women in Balochistan' on June 16. The roundtable was third in a series of roundtables and seminars as part of the ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums. Ms. Rukhsana Shama of ActionAid initiated the discussion by sharing that 85 percent of the population of Dera Bugti had migrated¶including the minority communities. Sharing the findings of ActionAid studies, Shama shared that the male members of the displaced families were not repatriating back to Dera Bugti in as great numbers as the female members because of security and livelihoods concerns, which was creating its own conditions for the women in those areas who are already vulnerable in a tribal society rife with conflict. Shama agreed with the contention that there was a need for greater people-to-people contact of the Baloch with Pakistanis from other parts of the country. Dr. Rakshinda Parveen of Creative Anger by Rakhshi was of the view that inclusion of women in the decision-making processes is very important to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of the women in general in Balochistan . She added that the women from among the elite of Balochistan were not only aloof and insensitive, but also powerless and helpless in supporting the needy. Commenting on the non-elite women from among the masses in Balochistan, Parveen was of the opinion that they were more conscious and socially active, but suffered from loss of attention by the donor community. She suggested sustainable solutions to the problems of Balochi women through certain structural adjustments on priority basis, moreover she stressed that the Balochistan package should have a special stress on prioritizing women to make it more inclusive and gender friendly. Writer, columnist, and independent analyst, Mr. Harris Khalique, argued that tribal society of Balochistan should not be called backward, but...
ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums: "Impact of Conflict on Women"
The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ActionAid Pakistan organized a roundtable, 'Impact of Conflict on Women in Balochistan' on June 16. The roundtable was third in a series of roundtables and seminars as part of the ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums. Ms. Rukhsana Shama of ActionAid initiated the discussion by sharing that 85 percent of the population of Dera Bugti had migrated¶including the minority communities. Sharing the findings of ActionAid studies, Shama shared that the male members of the displaced families were not repatriating back to Dera Bugti in as great numbers as the female members because of security and livelihoods concerns, which was creating its own conditions for the women in those areas who are already vulnerable in a tribal society rife with conflict. Shama agreed with the contention that there was a need for greater people-to-people contact of the Baloch with Pakistanis from other parts of the country. Dr. Rakshinda Parveen of Creative Anger by Rakhshi was of the view that inclusion of women in the decision-making processes is very important to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of the women in general in Balochistan . She added that the women from among the elite of Balochistan were not only aloof and insensitive, but also powerless and helpless in supporting the needy. Commenting on the non-elite women from among the masses in Balochistan, Parveen was of the opinion that they were more conscious and socially active, but suffered from loss of attention by the donor community. She suggested sustainable solutions to the problems of Balochi women through certain structural adjustments on priority basis, moreover she stressed that the Balochistan package should have a special stress on prioritizing women to make it more inclusive and gender friendly. Writer, columnist, and independent analyst, Mr. Harris Khalique, argued that tribal society of Balochistan should not be called backward, but...
Pak-US Stalemate Persists –
During her visit to Islamabad in the last week of May, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, had called the Post-OBL (Osama Bin Laden) scenario a turning point in the Pak-U.S. relations. Turning point is what the U.S. wants this to be for Pakistan. The Director of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was in Islamabad on June 10 to take the turning point plan a step ahead. He had a dinner meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Director General of the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI), Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha and left in the morning on June 11, without the routine calls on the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, or the Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani. According to various foreign papers including The Telegraph, London, Panetta was in Islamabad 'to deliver damning evidence that Pakistan ´ or at least some elements within its security services ´ was continuing to protect extremists in its tribal belt.'[1] Most of the foreign media reports argue that Panetta chastised Pakistan top generals on leaking of information to terrorists provided by the U.S. to Pakistani security establishment for action against them. He reportedly did that with the help of satellite images and videos wherein the militants in two hideouts in North and South Waziristan are leaving certain ¿bomb-making factories– after information about them was passed on to the Pakistani security forces for action, implying that Pakistani security forces¶or elements within them¶deliberately leaked the information to the militants. Pakistan military seems to have ducked the blow and told the American spymaster it wont allow U.S. forces– involvement in any operations inside Pakistani territories on one pretext or the other. 'We told him very clearly ¿no boots on our soil is acceptable–,' a Pakistani military official was quoted as saying.[2] Pakistan response on the two specific issues ´ more action against militants and the allegation of intelligence information...
Balochistan Package to be implemented for ensuring peace in Balochistan
The demand to prioritize education in the next budget and effective implementation of Balochistan package came out in a policy dialogue forum organized by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Actionaid Pakistan (AAPk) organized a roundtable on 'Education System in Balochistan ´ Youth Perspective'. The Roundtable was presided over by former Deputy Speaker National Assembly and former Federal Minister for Education, Sardar Wazir Jogezai. Mr. Jogezai emphasized the need for making education a priority, purpose-oriented and compulsory in Pakistan. He was of the view that there was no long-term planning for education in Pakistan. He said that it was ironic that in Pakistan education system was following the available resources rather than the other way round. Mr. Jogezai said that availability of good teachers and free and readily available books was more important than schools buildings. Mr. Jogezai also took the opportunity to offer a collective ¿fateha– for Prof. Ghulam Hussain (Saba) Dashtyari who was killed by unknown gunmen on June 1. Prof. Adeel Jamaluddin professor at International Islamic University Islamabad shared that Balochistan has the lowest Human Development Index of all the provinces of Pakistan at 0.556. He said that with a total area of 134,051 square miles and population density of 58.2 persons per square mile, the very geographic enormity of Balochistan had complicated the problems of education even further. Considering the sparsely populated nature of the province, in Prof. Jamaluddin view, Balochistan formal education system had to be even more developed than the rest of the country. In this context, he suggested distance-learning and vocational training as an alternative to be considered by policy-makers for Balochistan. He added that all major universities of Balochistan were in Quetta, which was not feasible for most of the population of Balochistan. He further shared that most of the 19 lowest-literacy districts of Pakistan,...
North Waziristan Offensive: Is the Pakistan Army finally ready for it:
If the media reports were any indicator, the Pakistani army is almost set for fulfilling a long-standing American demand; a conclusive offensive against the Haqqani Network (HQN) nestled in Pakistan semi-autonomous North Waziristan and the Paktia Region of eastern Afghanistan. North Waziristan is one of the seven Pakistan tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, spread over roughly 5,000 sq. km., with a population of 361,246 according to the last official census in 1998. The hilly terrain there is inhabited mainly by the Utmanzai Wazir and Daur tribesmen. Over the years, it has turned into a beehive of militants of various denominations from all across the country and elsewhere, especially after the intensification of military operations, like Operation Raah-e-Raast in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) from April 2009 to August 2009, followed by Operation Raah-e-Nijaat in South Waziristan from October 2009 to March 2010. Hafiz Gul Bahadur is the commander of the North Waziristan-based Tehreeke Taliban militants. The overall supervision of the militants in the agency as well as the adjacent Kurram agency and the Khost, Paktika, and Paktya provinces of Afghanistan is under Sirajuddin Haqqani, the eldest son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was an important commander during the anti-Soviet jihad in the 1980s. Named the Haqqani Network (HQN) by the Americans, Haqqani followers are also believed to be closely cooperating with al-Qaeda. Prominent al-Qaeda leaders of Pakistani origin like Ilyas Kashmiri ( who had founded and used the Brigade 313 in Indian Kashmir) and Qari Zafar as well as several Arabs and Uzbeks are believed to be hiding with the Haqqanis in North Waziristan. This is the reason the U.S. considers HQN a bigger threat than the ¿so called– Quetta Shura Taliban (QST) led by Mullah Omar. The QST is believed to be having a local agenda restricted to Afghanistan, while the HQN¶owing to its strong ties with al-Qaeda¶is believed to have a global agenda....
Terrorist Attack on PNS Mehran
At around 10:30 pm on May 22, 6 armed militants raided Pakistan Navy airbase, PNS [Pakistan Naval Station] Mehran, in Karachi, about 10 km off the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport. Two P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircrafts were destroyed in the attack. Eight Pakistan Navy personnel and two Rangers personnel were killed while 15 others¶both from navy and rangers¶were injured in the attack. PNS Mehran is the headquarters of Pakistan Navy Naval Air Arm commissioned on September 26, 1975 with a current inventory of 27 multi-role aircraft that included the destroyed P-3C Orions.[1] Four people were killed and 56 injured in twin bomb blasts targeting two navy buses in two different areas of Karachi on April 26.[2] On April 28, militants targeted another naval vehicle, killing five and injuring 13 others.[3] The assault on PNS Mehran, the fourth within days of attacks on navy vehicles exposed the level of its preparedness in relation to the current level of threat from a multitude of militant groups. It was inconceivable for a core military establishment housing sensitive military hardware not to employ round-the-clock electronic surveillance or to run marriage halls for profit in its vicinity.[4] According to the Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, the militants entered the compound using ladders and cutting the barbed wire on top of the perimeter walls of the compound.[5] The fact that the militants were able to secure a rather easy access to the compound is a big question mark on the potential of Pakistan security forces. Questions are already being asked in the national media about the capabilities of Pakistan Rs. 600 billion a year military machine to defend itself, let alone defending the rest of the country.[6] The western media, on the other hand, have found another excuse to question the security of Pakistan nuclear installations. 'The discussions raise further questions about the ability of Pakistan military establishment to safeguard its vital assets and...
ΓÇÿFirefighter’ tries to put out the fire
Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held meetings with the President, Prime Minister, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan on May 16 to discuss the situation arising out of the May 2, direct action by the U.S. Navy SEALs killing Osama Bin Laden (OBL) in the town of Abbottabad. The ¿firefighter– lived up to his reputation of keeping tempers controlled at both the ends. He gave a stern message to Pakistan that Congress was scrutinizing its ties with Pakistan and that the road ahead would be defined by actions rather than words. At the same time he assured Pakistan that the Kerry-Lugar-Berman assistance would not be jeopardized, and that any future action against a high-value target would be coordinated with Pakistan. It is important to press the 'reset button' in Pak-U.S. relations. This is how Senator Kerry summed up the efforts of rejuvenating Pak-U.S. relations. Senator Kerry went out of the way to give his personal guarantee to the Pakistani leadership against any perceived U.S. designs on Pakistan nuclear installations by saying rather dramatically that he was willing to write this with his blood. He also cautioned the Pakistanis against the growing extremist influences in the country by invoking the vision of the founding father of this country. It is up to the people of Pakistan to decide whether they want to have a country that is a terrorist haven or a tolerant democracy as envisaged by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Senator Kerrry said. Kerry is mindful of the centrality of the Pak-U.S. relationship for the long-term strategic objectives of the U.S. in the region. Even before landing in Islamabad, during a briefing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said, 'Going forward, we have to act thoughtfully and, no matter what, we have to remember the big picture, the larger strategic interest, and the full nature of this relationship with Pakistan. We should not rush into a situation that hurts our interests.' Kerry...
ΓÇÿFirefighter' tries to put out the fire
Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held meetings with the President, Prime Minister, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan on May 16 to discuss the situation arising out of the May 2, direct action by the U.S. Navy SEALs killing Osama Bin Laden (OBL) in the town of Abbottabad. The ¿firefighter– lived up to his reputation of keeping tempers controlled at both the ends. He gave a stern message to Pakistan that Congress was scrutinizing its ties with Pakistan and that the road ahead would be defined by actions rather than words. At the same time he assured Pakistan that the Kerry-Lugar-Berman assistance would not be jeopardized, and that any future action against a high-value target would be coordinated with Pakistan. It is important to press the 'reset button' in Pak-U.S. relations. This is how Senator Kerry summed up the efforts of rejuvenating Pak-U.S. relations. Senator Kerry went out of the way to give his personal guarantee to the Pakistani leadership against any perceived U.S. designs on Pakistan nuclear installations by saying rather dramatically that he was willing to write this with his blood. He also cautioned the Pakistanis against the growing extremist influences in the country by invoking the vision of the founding father of this country. It is up to the people of Pakistan to decide whether they want to have a country that is a terrorist haven or a tolerant democracy as envisaged by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Senator Kerrry said. Kerry is mindful of the centrality of the Pak-U.S. relationship for the long-term strategic objectives of the U.S. in the region. Even before landing in Islamabad, during a briefing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said, 'Going forward, we have to act thoughtfully and, no matter what, we have to remember the big picture, the larger strategic interest, and the full nature of this relationship with Pakistan. We should not rush into a situation that hurts our interests.' Kerry...
TOP STORIES
TESTIMONIALS
“
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.