UN declares Somalia famine in Bakool and Lower Shabelle

The United Nations has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as it suffers the worst drought in more than half a century.

An estimated 10 million people have been affected by the drought in east Africa.

The UN said the humanitarian situation in southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle had deteriorated rapidly.

It is the first time that the country has seen famine in 19 years.

Meanwhile, the UN and US have said aid agencies need further safety guarantees from armed groups in Somalia to allow staff to reach those in need.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which controls large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories in 2009, but has recently allowed limited access.

An estimated 10m people have been affected in east Africa by the worst drought in more than half a century. More than 166,000 desperate Somalis are estimated to have fled their country to neighbouring Kenya or Ethiopia. 

'Rarely used'

Drought, conflict and poverty have now combined to produce the necessary conditions for famine. Those conditions include more than 30% of children being acutely malnourished, and four children out of every 10,000 dying daily.

"Across the country nearly half of the Somali population - 3.7 million people - are now in crisis, of whom an estimated 2.8 million people are in the south," said a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia.

It said that the ongoing conflict had made it extremely difficult for agencies to access communities in the south, which are controlled by al-Shabab.

"If we don't act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks," the head of the agency Mark Bowden warned.

The BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says the emotive word "famine" is used rarely and carefully by humanitarian organisations, and it is the first time since 1992 that the word has been applied to a situation in Somalia.

The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, said the response by many European and developed countries to the crisis in the Horn of Africa had been "derisory and dangerously inadequate".

"The fact that a famine has been declared shows just how grave the situation has become. It is time for the world to help," he said.

Meanwhile, the UN is calling for unhindered access to affected areas, saying that the security situation is hampering humanitarian efforts.

Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, told reporters that the situation for aid workers in Somalia is "not what we want it to be".

"We do have a very minimal presence, and we have regular visits into the country, but we need significantly better access than we have at the moment to address an emergency of this scale," he said, speaking from Geneva.

The UN World Food Programme, which is trying to feed 1.5 million people, estimates that as many as one million people are in areas it cannot currently access.

"Once we have the assurances of security and the ability to have full access to deliver and distribute and monitor, then we will be prepared to go back in," Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the WFP, told the Associated Press news agency.

Johnnie Carson, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, says the US was assessing if they were seeing "real change" from al-Shabab, or whether the group planned to impose some kind of "taxation" on aid deliveries.

"Al-Shabab's activities have clearly made the current situation much worse," Mr Carson said.

"We call on all of those in south-central Somalia who have it within their authority to allow refugee groups and organisations to operate there to do so," he said.

In a separate development, Amnesty International says children in Somalia are being systematically recruited as child soldiers by militant groups such as al-Shabab.

Drawing on interviews from more than 200 Somalis who have fled their country, the rights group says some of those recruited are as young as eight years old.

The report says al-Shabab lures children with promises of money and mobile phones, but also carries out abductions. 

Areasn Of Food Shortages.

“O’ Muslims! What have you done ?”

So long as we keep blaming others for our woes, so long we will not realize that the fault is ours for allowing others to take advantage of us. Pakistan pompously professes to be an Islamic Republic but doesn’t know what that means. Which Islam? The Islam of God or one of the 72 versions of the cleric? That is our core problem from which all other problems arise. We don’t know who we are and why we are. This leads to an erosion of self-confidence and self-esteem (except in rhetoric), the lack of which make us in thrall of alien ideologies and their political, economic and social constructs.

This poem on the Holy Quran written some 35 years ago by the ninth President of India, Dr. Pandit Shanker Dayal Sharma, says it beautifully. It’s very good because it’s very true. I have translated it myself.

Amal ki kitab thi.

Dua ki kitab bana dia

(English)It was a Command for action.

(English)You turned it into a book of prayer.

Samajhne ki kitab thi.

Parhne ki kitab bana dia.

(English)It was a Book to understand.

(English)You read it without understanding.

Zindaon ka dastoor tha.

Murdon ka manshoor bana dia.

(English)It was a code for the living.

(English)You turned it into a manifesto of the dead.

Jo ilm ki kitab thi.

Usay la ilmon ke hath thama dia.

(English)That which was a book of knowledge;

(English)You abdicated to the ignoramus.

Taskheer-e-kayenaat ka dars denay aayi thi.

Sirf madrason ka nisaab bana dia.

(English)It came to give knowledge of Creation.

(English)You abandoned it to the madrasa.

Murda qaumon ko zinda karne aayi thi.

Murdon ko bakhshwane per laga dia.

(English)It came to give life to dead nations.

(English)You used it for seeking mercy for the dead.

Aye Musalmano ye tum nay kia kiya?

(English)O’ Muslims! What have you done?


Please don’t take kneejerk offense. Righteous rage before thinking is a hallmark of the ignoramus. Don’t focus on who says something but on what he says.

Look at the Muslim condition. They remain on the lowest rung of the ladder. The Jews, numbering less than the people who live in Karachi, are on the top rung. Why? Because they educated themselves, used their minds, recognized and understood the real levers of power, bought stakes in them and became the most powerful people in the world. The Muslims, on the other hand, remain mired in ignorance, waiting for Divine deliverance without bothering to lift a finger, fooling only themselves by wallowing in their undoubtedly glorious past, deluded in their present illusions. They live on homilies and humbug.

The total GDP of all 57 Muslim majority countries put together is less than the GDP of California. The turnover of some top multi-nationals is more. Muslims have the highest illiteracy rate in the world, the lowest educational levels, lower still in subjects that matter like science, the highest birth rate, the highest female and child mortality rates, not a single world class school, university or hospital, no state institutions worth a dime, no nothing. All we have is a bomb and one good friend that some ‘heavenly’ Muslims regard as ‘godless’. If they only knew their religion properly they would be shocked to realize that China is closer to the ideal Islamic state than any Muslim country is.

Muslims were enjoined to become the “central community” that others could emulate – ummatun wusuta. Instead, we’ve become a model of what not to emulate. Of 57 Muslim majority states, only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran call themselves ‘Islamic’. That’s a big claim, so big that it makes one’s heart quake. However, it’s most incumbent upon Pakistan to deliver for it claims it was made in the name of Islam in order to create that model Islamic state that God wanted. To what extent has Pakistan discharged that responsibility? Zero.

Riba is usury and exploitation of all and any sort. It is rampant. When they call usury by another name it doesn’t change its exploitative and un-Islamic nature. Calling riba ‘interest’ is the mark of hypocrisy. Calling it ‘mark up’ is the mark of the devil. There is no such thing as ‘interest’ distinct from usury. It is only a slight of tongue, a play of words devised by the rapacious. Pakistan’s is an economy based on usury upon usury, something that has brought the western economic system to the brink. Our banks charge inordinate amounts in usury on the ignorant excuse that it will lower inflation when it actually raises it. We pay inordinate amounts in usury for our unconscionable debt addiction to live an illusory life of luxury having collateralizing our sovereignty and our soul. Living beyond one’s means is stupidity in the extreme. It is defiance of the Divine. We belong to Dr. Faustus. Luckily, Dr. Faustus is terminally ill with a disease called usury.

Pakistan has all but lost its sovereignty. You know what that means for a state that calls itself Islamic? All sovereignty belongs to the Almighty. He has conditionally devolved some of it on humanity because He has appointed Man his khalifa or vicegerent – a sovereign’s administrative deputy – since humankind is His greatest creation (ashraful makhlooqat). Thus what we have trashed is the sovereignty God devolved on us. Great going!

Pakistan has all but lost its nationhood. You know what that means? The best translation of the Arabic world ummah that I have seen is ‘nation’ – nation of believers in One God within which is the Muslim ummah. That is the first pillar of Islam – Tauheed – belief in One God. So by losing our Pakistani nationhood, are we perhaps not in danger of losing our place in the ummah as a whole? Big talk comes easy for it comes cheap – “Pakistan is an Islamic Republic” – but it’s very difficult to live up to. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Certainly don’t bite if you have no intention of chewing. Most certainly don’t bite if you don’t even know how to chew, not if you have borrowed dentures for which you are paying usury.

Like apes we mimic our master’s systems. God tells us to ‘choose’ from amongst ourselves and from amongst the best. ‘Choose’ implies democracy. Our British system ensures that we choose from amongst the worst. Our parliament-cum-legislature is not only supposed to be an advisory body but also a law making one. Yet it comprises people who know little about jurisprudence, Islamic or Anglo Saxon. The adjudicature includes lawyers many of whom are on a rampage of illegality. Judges are more concerned with matters facetious than with issues requiring immediate justice. We have no institutions with expert jurists to make laws. When law, advice, governance are missing it means Amr bil ma’roof wan nahi ‘an Al Munkar – those who command good and forbid evil – are missing.

New TB Vaccines: A matter of political will

TB vaccine research is moving forward steadily. In their 2010 annual report, the TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI) looks back at a scientifically successful year. Researchers within TBVI’s network are progressing towards new, safer and more effective tuberculosis vaccines. However, in order to successfully deliver these live-saving vaccines to the market, both political support and innovative investment are crucial. Worldwide, 12 vaccine candidates are now in various phases of clinical trials and several more are on their way. Many of these candidates received support through one of TBVI’s research projects. 

“Good reason to be positive,” said Prof. Kaufmann, chair of TBVI’s research project NEWTBVAC. “Having 12 candidates in clinical trials is a breakthrough that nobody would have thought of 20 years ago.” In 2010, existing challenges remained though, one of them being a lack of validated biomarkers, indicators that could for example predict levels of protection. Finding these biomarkers is one of TBVI’s research priorities and research carried out over the past year has certainly led to a better idea of what to look for.

Developing new tuberculosis vaccines is scientifically challenging, but the progress that has been made over the past ten years is tremendous. TBVI ties together a network of more than 40 research institutes, universities and industries with the aim to develop more effective tuberculosis vaccines. TBVI calculated a critical financing gap of 560 million euros, needed to bring the first, most advanced vaccines out of its portfolio to the market. In order to close this gap, the organisation has proposed an innovative funding model. In this plan, European governments are asked to provide guarantees to make it possible for TBVI to finance clinical trials through a loan. The loan can then be repaid through the sales of marketed vaccines. “New vaccines can be developed at no cost for the tax-payer and with minimal risk for state budgets,” explains TBVI’s vice president Joris Vandeputte.

New, more effective and safe tuberculosis vaccines are within sight. However, some promising projects are close to being put on hold because of a lack of funding. New vaccines could be available within a decade. It’s now up to decision makers, politicians and industries to join forces with scientists and make this happen.

Tame Diabetes Before It Gets You

The Union Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad  recently announced a nationwide screening campaign under which every person above 30 years of age and all pregnant women will be tested for diabetes in a phased manner. In his inaugural address at the India Diabetes Summit, which was jointly organized by The Times of India, Britannia Industries, and National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation, New Delhi, he informed that, “Under the first phase, around 10 crore people in 100 districts of 21 states, and urban slums in 33 cities will be screened. This pilot project will cover more people than the population of many countries."

The screening has already been completed in Bangalore and Chennai, and is expected to begin in Delhi in July. In Bangalore, 14% of the people tested were found to be suffering from diabetes, 21% had high blood pressure and 13% persons were having both diabetes and hypertension. The situation was no better in Chennai where the corresponding figures were 17%, 20% and 13%. Around 3% of pregnant women were also found to be diabetic. These figures come as a shock since they would seem to indicate that the prevalence of diabetes is even higher than the current estimates. Another significant point is that most of the affected persons were unaware of their condition of their affliction with diabetes or hypertension.

Once the screening programme ends, the government will reportedly run awareness campaigns through regional media and with the help of health workers.

This indeed is a very positive step, keeping in mind that one person dies due to diabetes every 10 seconds in India and two new persons get the disease in the same time. The number of diabetes patients in the country is estimated to have risen to around 51 million. Worse, many remain untreated due to lack of awareness and die due to complications like heart disease and kidney problems caused by the disease.

A major international study has revealed that the number of adults with diabetes has increased by more than double in the last three decades. The study, the largest of its kind for diabetes, was carried out by an international collaboration of researchers, led by Professor Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London and co-led by Goodarz Danaei from the Harvard School of Public Health, in collaboration with The World Health Organization and a number of other institutions.

The study has found that the number of adults with the disease reached 347 million in 2008, from 153 million in 1980. Of the 347 million people with diabetes, 138 million live in China and India. The proportion of adults with diabetes rose to 9.8 per cent of men and 9.2 per cent of women in 2008, compared with 8.3 per cent of men and 7.5 per cent of women in 1980.

"Diabetes is one of the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Our study has shown that diabetes is becoming more common almost everywhere in the world," said Ezzati.

Another reason for concern is the rise of obesity and diabetes amongst teenagers, chiefly due to life style related problems, especially in urban areas. All work and no play is making city students not only dull but fat. City teenagers going on 17 are carrying not only the heavy burden of parental expectations but extra kilos that they gain in their classrooms. Doctors in Hyderabad, and elsewhere too, report that students are becoming more prone to lifestyle health problems. Chasing better grades, they spend long hours in cramped classrooms during and after school hours. The absence of playgrounds and large campuses, or even the scope to indulge in any extracurricular activity is only fuelling the obesity trend amongst students.  

"Adolescent diabetes is on the rise. But what is alarming is the increase in the number of Poly-Cystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD) cases in young girls because of obesity. I see at least five to seven cases of PCOD among girls in their late teens, every month," said Dr Lalitha K, uro-gynaecologist, Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad, adding that this trend has been on the rise in the last six to seven years.

Unhealthy food habits are also another contributory factor. "These students may carry their lunch from home, but they binge on junk during their breaks. The high sodium, carbohydrates and cholesterol in this usually greasy fare adds to their weight gain, as it is coupled with a sedentary lifestyle without exercise," said Dr VSV Prasad, chief consultant paediatrician, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).

According to Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman of the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation, school children should be disseminated information on good food habits from 10 years of age. There is a need to develop technology for low-cost diagnosis and treatment of diabetes.
Dr Misra has been doing pioneering work in trying to spread awareness about proper diet and physical exercise in school children through numerous projects carried out in several schools of the country. It is important to sustain these and other efforts to keep the public informed about the disastrous effects of junk food, sedentary life style, and alcohol abuse and tobacco usage. The latter is indeed a slow poison which is proving to be one of the main causes of Non Communicable Diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and chronic pulmonary disease.

A recent study carried out by the Preventive Social Medicine department of a Sion hospital in Mumbai, found an uncanny correlation between malnutrition and diabetes. A survey conducted in the tribal village of Themba, found that most of the adults who had diabetes were malnourished as children. Of the 596 persons above the age of 25 years, who were tested, around 5.6% were found to be suffering from diabetes. Another 1.2% had Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG), meaning they were in a pre-diabetic stage and could become full-blown diabetics. Around 4.4% had a high level of diabetes, with uncontrolled sugar levels.

The study has baffled the doctors as common factors like junk food, lack of physical activity and stress, known to cause diabetes in urban populations, were missing in the village. However, several villagers were found to be addicted to alcohol and tobacco and many of the addicts were diabetes patients. This only reaffirms the correlation between tobacco addiction and NCDs like diabetes.

Endocrinologist Dr Dheeraj Kapoor from Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital feels that diabetes could soon become a bigger health issue than malaria and tuberculosis in rural areas. "At some point, even rural lifestyle and food habits are changing," he added.

Recently a three days road show to create awareness on 'Peripheral Arterial Disease' ( PAD ) was organized by doctors, covering  Chennai, Delhi and Pune. Mathias Ulrich, a specialist in angiology who led the show, elaborates that, “Often symptoms such as severe leg pain and burning sensation in the toes are neglected by people suffering from diabetes. But, these could also be symptoms of 'Leg Attack' or PAD. A sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise coupled with smoking puts one at a higher risk of lifestyle-related diseases like diabetes and hypertension which consequently advances the risk of a leg attack."

The state of Goa has added another first to its kitty (it is the only Indian state to have banned sale of gutkha - chewing tobacco)  by recently launching India's first diabetes registry that would be maintained by the health department with the help of Novo Nordisk Education Foundation (NNEF). Its aim is to monitor this metabolic disease on a regular basis. 

"At present free treatment (medicines and insulin injections) is given to diabetic patients who seek treatment in government hospitals. Once Goans, who are seeking treatment with the private doctors in the state, are registered with the diabetic registry of the health department, we will consider extending free treatment to these patients suffering from diabetes," said Goa’s Health minister Vishwajit Rane.

"There is a need to create awareness and educate people about diabetes. It is important for all concerned parties to get together in delivering diabetes awareness, screening, education and treatment to the common man. The registry is a crucial step towards bridging this fundamental gap".

This is a unique initiative that could be replicated across India in a country which has the high population of diabetics.

So we need a multi pronged strategy to tackle this growing epidemic. Different segments of society will require different approaches. While government efforts, like the ones announced by The Union Health Minister and the state of Goa, are more than welcome, all state governments and the medical fraternity will also have to join forces, in earnest, to spearhead massive awareness campaigns with the help of media to focus attention of the common public on a tobacco free and healthy life style.

The role of parents and teachers is no less important in grooming youngsters from early childhood in developing a liking for healthy and tasty food, staying away from all tobacco products,( especially the misleadingly glamorous versions of it like hookahs, low tar cigarettes, etc), and striking a proper balance between academic work and physical exercise. Only then will we be able to tackle the problem of the growing incidence of obesity, diabetes and other related diseases.

Act Now To Control Diabetes

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) launched its World Diabetes Day campaign 2011, on Monday, 16th May, with the slogan 'Act On Diabetes Now'. One of the poignant messages released by the Federation acknowledges that killing one person every eight seconds and four million per year, diabetes is the number one silent killer that can no longer be ignored.

This year’s campaign marks a milestone for IDF and the diabetes community, as IDF intends to build on the momentum created by the first-ever UN Summit on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), to be attended by world leaders in September.  IDF wants messages and decisions coming out of the Summit to be further cemented by global action on World Diabetes Day, which is expected to reach a global audience of over one billion people.

 Speaking at the Commonwealth meeting for 50 Health Ministers in Geneva over the weekend, Professor Mbanya reiterated the need for heightened awareness and increased action, in particular from decision-makers, on NCDs including diabetes. He said, “We should ask ourselves why it is politically acceptable for a woman to die prematurely from a heart attack or cancer, or a man to die prematurely from diabetes or stroke. Something is badly wrong with our thinking on global health priorities”.

The 2011 campaign is the third year of the International Diabetes Federation’s five-year focus on “Diabetes education and prevention”. To complement this theme, IDF has also launched its first-ever animated campaign video, busting popular diabetes myths and putting the facts in full view. The video spells the urgency for concrete steps to be taken collectively by us, in order to stem the tide of diabetes, as the disease poses the problems of kidney failure, blindness, amputations, heart disease and strokes, killing 4 million people every year, and putting  over 300 million people at a high risk of developing diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance/pre-diabetes).

Poor dietary habits and lack of exercise are the main reasons for spreading this epidemic to such unimaginable extent. The time is to act now. Together we can change this scenario by better urban planning which creates the right environment to make healthy choices. It is high time we started clipping down the branches of high cost of care, disability, poverty and discrimination, adorning the tree of diabetes.

“World Diabetes Day on 14 November provides the ideal opportunity to reinforce the messages and solutions that will be presented in New York” said Jean Claude Mbanya, IDF President.
The campaign will urge all levels of society, in the spirit of the UN Summit, to take action on the diabetes epidemic before it spirals out of control.

Rosslyn Chapel Images

Pope creates new diocese of Sylhet in Bangladesh

Pope Benedict XVI on Friday created a new diocese in Bangladesh appointing a bishop to it. The new diocese of Sylhet in north-east Bangladesh has been created from territories of Dhaka Archdiocese, and Oblate of Mary Immaculate Bishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’Cruze of Khulna has been appointed its first bishop. With an area of nearly 15,500 sqkm, the jurisdiction of Sylhet extends over the civil districts of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj and Moulibazar, that are home to 8.2 million people. Some 17,000 Catholics in the 6 parishes of the new diocese are cared for by 21 priests 30 nuns and 95 catechists. The parish church of Lokhipur, 100 km from Sylhet, will temporarily serve as the cathedral of the new diocese.

Christians in India protest incitation of religious hatred

A formal complaint was submitted by Christian leaders and organizations against Prabath Jha, President of the state of Madya Pradesh, an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who gave speeches that incite religious hatred and violence against Christians. During a speech for the upcoming elections in the district of Jabera, to elect a representative in State Parliament, he said: "Christian missionaries are involved in forced mass conversions in Jabera. People need to take revenge for such conversions".The statement has alarmed the Christians in Madhya Pradesh, as they could inflame and provoke anti-Christian violence.Fr. Anand Muttungal, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, said: "The BJP continues to do everything possible to split the community. It is not the first time that it raises allegations of conversion on the eve of elections: when there is a Christian candidate; the question of conversions is exploited for political aim and Christians are portrayed as demons. The speech clearly violates the moral code of conduct. "The forum expressed concern about the safety of Christians and called for police vigilance as such speeches can induce the militants of radical Hindu groups to unleash attacks against individuals, churches or Christian institutions.

Death of retired Bishop of Ujjain

(June 18.06.2011) We regret to announce the death at the age of 90 of the retired bishop of Ujjain, in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, on Saturday morning at. the Pushpa Mission Hospital, Ujjain, 30 kms from Ernakulam. He was of the Syro Malabar rite and the first director of the Mission of St Thomas the Apostle (MSTA) and the first bishop of the newly erected diocese of Ujjain. Bishop Perumattam was born on 3^rd November 1921 in Kakkoor of the Palai Eparchy to a devout ancient Syrian Catholic family. Ordained priest on 11 March 1951 he had been elected Bishop on 26^th February 1977 and consecrated on 15^th May the same year. He retired in 1998 and was succeeded by Bishop Sebastian Vadakel MSTA.  

Bishop Perumattam’s funeral will be celebrated on Tuesday 21^st June at Ujjain Cathedral. 

Bio-Graphy : Mar John Perumattam had his school education at Kakkoor and his priestly formation at St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Alwaye. He was ordained a priest of the Eparchy of Palai on March 11, 1951 by late Mar Sebastian Vayalil, the first bishop of Palai. He was then appointed assistant priest at Vadakara and later at Koodalloor parish. He was sent for higher studies to Rome and secured doctorate in Utrisque Juris from St. John Lateran University. He was appointed vice-Rector and later Rector of Good Shepherd Minor Seminary, Palai. During this period, he was appointed the first Director General of the newly formed Missionary Society of St. Thomas the Apostle of which he is one of the founder members. While he was the Director General of the Society he was nominated the Apostolic Exarch of the Exarchate of Ujjain on July 29, 1968. He was formally installed on January 14, 1969. Msgr. John Perumattam was appointed Bishop of Ujjain on February 26, 1977 and consecrated on May 15, 1977. He is a member of the Missionary Society of St. Thomas the Apostle. He retired from his office on 8th September 1998 as Mar Sebastian Vadakel was installed to the office.  

Sudanese Military, Militias Kill Christians in South Kordofan

Two dead, two others tortured on day when at least three church buildings are attacked.

 

Military intelligence agents killed one Christian, and Islamic militants sympathetic to the government slaughtered another last week after attacking churches in Sudan’s embattled South Kordofan state.

Christian sources said a Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Intelligence unit detained Nimeri Philip Kalo, a student at St. Paul Major Seminary, on June 8 near the gate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Kadugli’s al Shaeer area and shot him in front of bystanders. Kalo and other Christians were fleeing the town after Muslim militias loyal to the SAF attacked and looted at least three church buildings in Kadugli, they said.

UNMIS’s mandate is to support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the country’s Christian and animist south, scheduled to secede on July 9, by helping in the disarmament process, among other means. Armed conflict in Kadugli broke out between southern and northern militaries on June 6 after northern forces seized Abyei last month.

SAF military intelligence agents accused Kalo of being a Christian and suspected he was therefore opposed to the Islamic government, the sources said.

“They shot him in front of our eyes and forced us not to cry, or else we would face the same fate,” a Christian source told Compass on condition of anonymity. Likewise, another Christian survivor said while breaking into tears, “They killed him in front of my eyes.”

On the same day, Islamic militants loyal to the SAF slaughtered a young Christian man by sword in Kadugli Market, the sources said. Adeeb Gismalla Aksam, 33, a bus driver whose father is an elder with the Evangelical Church in Kadugli, was murdered by Muslim extremists shouting, “Allahu-akbar [God is greater]!”

The Islamic militias were heard shouting “Allahu-akbar!” as they began shooting at a Roman Catholic Church building at 3:30 p.m. on June 8, during a mass in which the congregants were asking God to protect them.

“As we were praying, they started to pour bullets at us to the point that we were terribly scared,” a Christian who escaped the attack told Compass.

No one was hit by the bullets shot at the building from the outside, but SAF agents on June 8 arrested the Rev. Abraham James Lual in front of his congregation, a priest of a Kadugli parish told Compass. Accusing Lual of preaching that people should oppose the Islamic government, authorities took him to an unknown location and tortured him two days, releasing him the following morning, the priest said.

The Rev. Paul Okeny, another Catholic priest, told Compass that Islamic militias loyal to the SAF looted other churches in Kadugli as well, besides attacking Lual’s church and depriving him of his belongings.

“Authorities confiscated all his belonging and denied him his cell phone,” Okeny told Compass.

Christians were in shock as they have become targets for Islamic militants working with the Government of Sudan, sources said.

Another Christian who requested anonymity said he was arrested at gunpoint by SAF military Intelligence agents at 8:30 a.m. on June 8. Accusing him of being anti-Islam and therefore opposed to the Islamic government, the security officers took him to a military jail, where he was severely beaten and “kicked like a ball,” he said.

According to the Christian, one high-ranking official told another, “Why shouldn’t you shoot him in his house so that his body gets rotten in his own house?” After taking him to his house, they started to torture him with sticks, guns and knives, saying, “We will kill you,” he said.

“I was praying to God to be with me and forgive them,” he told Compass. “I thought that was my end, but thank God I was released, but warned to quit the town. As I was running they opened fire on me, but the motorbike was running very fast, so no bullet hit me.”

They called after him, “Make sure we will not see your face again,” he added.

The SAF and Islamic militias on June 8 also set fire to buildings of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and the Sudanese Church of Christ in Kadugli, sources said.

“I saw a building of the Episcopal Church of Sudan in flames,” said one eyewitness.

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail of the Episcopal Diocese of Kadugli confirmed the incident.

“The churches and pastors were directly targeted,” he said. “The guesthouse in Kadugli, where my staff lives, was looted. The militias and SAF broke into the church building, taking all property, including the sound system, projector, beds, chairs and two motorbikes, including one of the bishop’s.”

On Sunday (June 12), North Kordofan Gov. Mutasim Mirghani Zaki El-deen declared jihad (holy war) on the Nuba people, most of whom are Christians.

Christians in the area said they are still traumatized as result of the atrocities committed against them by Sudan security forces and militias loyal to the government military. Sources in Sudan said Christians are calling their brothers and sisters worldwide to pray for the crisis in South Kordofan.
“The situation is critical – we need other Christians to fast and pray for us,” said one source.

The world’s worst place for women

(June 17, 2011) Violence, dismal healthcare and brutal poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country for women, with Congo a close second due to horrific levels of rape, according to an expert poll released on Wednesday by Thomson Reuters Foundation. Pakistan, India and Somalia ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse to female foeticide, genital mutilation and acid attacks. The poll by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation of Reuters, a leading news organization, marked the launch of its new TrustLaw Women section, a global hub of news and information on women's legal rights. TrustLaw asked 213 gender experts from five continents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six risks, namely, health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking. Some experts said the poll showed that subtle dangers such as discrimination that don't grab headlines are sometimes just as significant risks for women as bombs, bullets, stoning and systematic rape in conflict zones. Pakistan ranked third largely on the basis of cultural, tribal and religious practices harmful to women, such as acid attacks, child and forced marriage and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse. India ranked fourth primarily due to female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking. In 2009, India's then-Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta estimated that 100 million people, mostly women and girls, were involved in trafficking in India that year.

UN declares Nepal free of land mines

(June 17, 2011) The United Nations declared Nepal free of land mine fields on Tuesday after the last of the anti-personnel weapons planted by the army while fighting communist insurgents was destroyed. Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal flipped a switch to trigger the last land mine, which had been laid to protect the main civil aviation radio tower in mountains south of the capital, Katmandu. U.N. official Robert Piper declared that the mine field in Phulchoki was the last of 53 areas where the army had planted the weapons. The tower at Phulchoki is used by flight controllers to communicate with planes flying across the Himalayan nation. It was guarded by an army camp, which was surrounded by a land mine field to protect against attacks by the Maoist rebels. However, Piper noted that there are still areas where homemade bombs were planted by both sides, and efforts to clear them continue. The task of clearing the land mines began in 2007 after the rebels signed a peace agreement and abandoned their armed revolt, with the United Nations training Nepalese soldiers to do the task. The army has cleared 170 of the 275 fields where it laid homemade bombs, but there is no record on the part of the rebels. U.N. arms monitors have destroyed some 53,000 homemade bombs that were turned in by the rebels after they signed the peace deal.

Priest Condemns State Land Grab

(June 16, 2011) Church people and activists have condemned the Orissa government’s compulsory acquisition of land for a South Korean company’s steel plant. “Force has been used to acquire land,” said Father Santosh Digal, secretary of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese’s commission for Social Communication. The priest alleged that the administration has falsely implicated some people and taken them to jail for resisting the land acquisition. The administration has reportedly placed 20 platoons of armed forces to maintain law and order as well as to help acquire the land for the Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO). The South Korean conglomerate plans to set up a plant in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district to produce integrated steel. The project would also include a power station and a port. Father Digal wants the government to give adequate compensation to farmers whose land has already been taken. Prashant Paikray, spokesperson of POSCO Resistance Committee, pointed out that the government has forcefully acquired 200 betel leaf farms and destroyed them. The latest trouble occurred when people came together and tried to re-erect the betel farms. The administration has acquired as much as 2,000 of 3,719 acres of land earmarked for the steel plant project. With children and women at the forefront, villagers blocked the administration for two consecutive days, although the administration declared the protest unlawful. Meanwhile, the National Council of Churches in India has appealed to the chief minister to stop using force on the protesters and render justice to the villagers, who are mostly tribal and low caste groups.

Pope Benedict XVI Appoints New Bishop for the Diocese of Kohima, India

(June 16, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday appointed Father James Thoppil of the Diocese of Kohima, Nagaland and currently Rector of the Oriens Theological College at Shillong, Meghalaya, as the new Bishop of Kohima. Fr James Thoppil who belongs to the Syro-Malabar Rite, was born in 1959 at Kottayam Kerala, South India. He did his Minor Seminary studies at Dibrugarh, Assam and later did his philosophy and theology studies at the Oriens Theological College and the Sacred Heart Theological College in Shillong. He was ordained priest on 12 January 1986 for the diocese of Kohima. He did his licentiate and doctorate studies in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome. He has been the Rector of the Oriens Theological College since 2007. Kohima Diocese, situated in the North Eastern Region of India has 2.1 million people of whom 57, 500 are Catholics. The diocese has 38 parishes served by 156 priests of whom 72 are religious, 7 religious brothers, 324 nuns and 26 seminarians. The Kohima Diocese has been vacant since October 30, 2009, following the resignation of the earlier Bishop Jose Mukala.

Pope meets another group of Indian bishops

Pope Benedict XVI on Friday urged Indian bishops to take care of their clergy reminding them that through their collaborators they are able to carry out their task of sanctifying the Church and maintaining the communion of the local Church. The Pope met 22 bishops from the states of Chattisgarh and Tamil Nadu who are on their ‘ad limina’ visits to Rome. Such visits are made by heads of dioceses every 5 years or so to report on the state of their jurisdictions. Pope Benedict said that through the clergy, the bishops “are able to reach out more effectively to the religious and lay people in their care.” The Holy Father encouraged the prelates to continue to be at the service of unity, and, leading by example, to draw the people whom they “shepherd into deeper communion, fraternity and peace.” He exhorted the bishops to be supportive of their priests and be attentive to their needs and aspirations building bonds of fraternal love and mutual concern. He told them that their flocks look up to the bishops and priests for a model of holiness, friendship and harmony. Consecrated persons also look up to bishops for guidance, support and inspiration in their life of poverty, chastity and obedience to the life to which they have been called, the Pope said. In this regard the Holy Father expressed the Church’s appreciation for the many women religious of the Church in India saying, “They bear witness to its holiness, vitality and hope.” “They offer countless prayers and perform innumerable good works, often hidden, but nevertheless of great value to the up-building of God’s kingdom.” The Holy Father thus encouraged the bishops in their vocation, and to invite young women to consider a similar life of fulfilment through love of God and service to others. Pope Benedict addressed the group of Indian bishops after his private meetings with Bishops Devadass Ambrose Mariadoss of Tanjore, Patras Minj of Ambikapur, Emmanuel Kerketta of Jashpur, and Paul Toppo of Raigarh.

Union Council Chairman Election of Nawabgonj Upazila, Dhaka news: Nayansree and others Union

The Union Council Chairman Election Nowabgonj Upazila, Dhaka, Bangladesh has been held on 16-06-2011. The people of the Nayansree Union are putting their vote peacefully. In the vote centre, the police doing their duty very good security.

Unofficially declare some result are :

Polash Chowdhury,  win as a Chairman of Nayansree Union Council, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 1,100 vote (Aprox).

Salma Begum, win as a Member of Nayansree Union Council  1,2,3 no ward, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 1,500 vote (Aprox).

Shahadat Hossain, win as a Member of Nayansree Union Council 3 no ward, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 300 vote (Aprox).

Shamol Shorkar, win as a Member of Nayansree Union Council 2 no ward, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 500 vote (Aprox).

Alamgir Hossain, win as a Member of Nayansree Union Council 1 no ward, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 300 vote (Aprox).

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Abdul Fazal,  win as a Chairman of  Sholla Union Council, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 500 vote (Aprox).

Peer Ali,  win as a Chairman of  Shikaripara Union Council, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 1,000 vote (Aprox).

Abdul-Al-Mamun Khan,  win as a Chairman of  Baruakhali Union Council, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 1,800 vote (Aprox).

Mutaha Hossain Khan,  win as a Chairman of  Joy Krishnapur  Union Council, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 1,300 vote (Aprox).

Halal Khan,  win as a Chairman of  Bandhura Union Council, Nawabgonj, Dhaka difference 700 vote (Aprox).

Pakistani Families Flee after Another Bogus ‘Blasphemy’ Charge

At least 10 Christian families in a village in Pakistan’s Punjab Province have fled their homes after a throng of area Muslims accused a Christian of blaspheming Islam on Friday (June 10).

Yousaf Masih of village No. 68 AR Farmwala, in Khanewal district’s Mian Channu area, told Compass that his brother Yaqub’s grandson, 8-year-old Ihtesham (also known as Sunny), had gone out to fetch ice when Muslim boys from a nearby religious school started harassing him.

“The Muslim boys asked Sunny to recite the Kalma Tayyaba, Islam’s foremost proclamation of Muhammad as prophet, and become a Muslim, and only then would he be allowed to go home,” Masih said. “Sunny refused to repeat the Arabic verse, which infuriated the Muslim boys, and they started beating him up.”

Masih said that his son Dildar Masih, a 26-year-old father of two boys ages 3 and 2, was going to his work as a painter when he saw the Muslim boys thrashing his nephew.

“Dildar rushed towards them and rescued Sunny from their attack,” Yousaf Masih said. “Sunny told him that the boys were beating him because he would not recite their Kalma, at which Dildar rebuked the boys for forcing Sunny to renounce his religion. He then asked Sunny to return home and left for his workplace.”

He added that a vegetable vendor named Falak Sher was also present and witnessed the incident.

Yousaf Masih said that he was later walking home when about 60 Muslims led by Qari Hasnain, a village prayer leader, stopped him.

“I later came to know that they were coming from my house,” Yousaf Masih said. “They told me that Dildar had blasphemed Islam by abusing the Kalma. Hasnain claimed that he himself had heard my son abusing the Islamic holy words as he was standing in the entrance of his mosque, located near the site of the incident.”

Yousaf Masih immediately begged forgiveness from them on behalf of his son, he said, and assured them that he would punish Dildar Masih if their allegations were true.

“But Qari Hasnain refused to accept the apology,” he said. “He said that if they start forgiving everyone for blasphemy, then it would become a routine for all to ridicule Islam. This further instigated the Muslims, and they said they would punish Dildar themselves.”

One of the Muslims asked the others to forgive them as Yousaf Masih had apologized for his son, “but they weren’t ready to listen,” he added.

“I knew my son’s life was in great danger, but I still assured them that we would bring him before them so that he could explain the situation,” Yousaf Masih said.

He went home, and soon at least 500 Muslims “besieged” his house, demanding that he hand his son over to them.

“It was later in the evening that we came to know that Qari Hasnain had telephoned the clerics of the neighboring villages, and they had made announcements calling on all Muslims to ‘come out for the defense of Islam’ after the Friday prayer,” he said.

Yousaf Masih said he never imagined the Muslims would resort to such tactics.

“The Muslims were shouting slogans like ‘Death to the blasphemer,’ and, ‘Christians must pay for ridiculing Islam,’” he said. “My brother Yaqub, his son Ayub and I came out of our house and tried to calm the violent mob, but they started shoving and cursing us … they also manhandled my wife Iqbal when she came out of the house.”

His son, still working, had no clue what was going on back home. Yousaf Masih said the Muslims told him to bring his son to the property of Rana Tayyab, a local politician, in the evening, and “we had to say yes to them.”

Before they could meet, however, the village’s mosque loudspeakers began blaring again, urging “all the faithful to find the blasphemer and punish him,” he said.

Yousaf Masih said his son Dildar was not aware of the declarations emanating from the mosque and was caught unaware when the Islamic throng arrived at the house he was painting.

“They pounced on him like tigers,” his elderly father said. “They slapped him, kicked him, and my poor son didn’t even know why he was being tortured.”

During the commotion, a Pashtun villager named Noori, who knew the Christian family, arrived by motorcycle and somehow managed to rescue Dildar Masih from the mob.

“Noori took Dildar to his home, but the mob followed him, most of them armed with weapons,” Yousaf Masih said. “They surrounded Noori’s house and demanded he hand over the Christian to them so that they could kill him.”

Noori called the police to save Dildar Masih’s life, and a patrol car arrived.

“The police took Dildar to the Talumba police station, but within half an hour a crowd of about 2,500 Muslims gathered outside the building and demanded the police hand over Dildar to them,” Yousaf Masih said. “The police personnel present in the building knew the mob would go to any lengths to get their hands on Dildar, which is why they tricked the crowd by sending out a decoy vehicle to show that he was being sent to the city.”

Hasnain led clerics in spreading the word that Dildar Masih was at the police station, and more Muslims arrived. They blocked the main road and began protesting to pressure police into handing Dildar Masih over.

“Public announcements were made to kill Dildar,” Yousaf Masih said, adding that he and other members of his family were about to head to the police station when some villagers advised them not to go. “They told us that Qari Hasnain had poisoned the minds of the people to such an extent that they would not hesitate to kill us also.”

Police registered a blasphemy case against Dildar Masih, No. 211/11 under Section 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order, late Friday night (June 10).

Fleeing
The next day the clerics again stirred up the masses, urging Muslims through the loudspeakers of area mosques to “take revenge.”

Yousaf Masih said that Tayyab, the village leader, tried to calm the throng, asking them to control their emotions “since the main culprit had been arrested,” but they paid no heed.

“We panicked after hearing the announcements,” Yousaf Masih said. “Of the 10 Christian families living in the area, seven of us are related. We decided to immediately leave our homes, fearing for the honor and lives of our women and children.”

The families locked their homes and left with whatever little money they had on them, he said.

“I had a cow, a donkey and two goats, but I could only take my donkey with me,” he said. Tears flooding his eyes, he added, “I cut loose my cow and goat, because I didn’t know when we would be able to return home. The poor animals would have died of starvation otherwise.”

In all, the Christian families left behind at least 25 animals, including some cattle – which they fear may not be there when they return.

Yousaf Masih and his nephew Ayub arrived in Lahore on Monday (June 13) seeking legal assistance for Dildar Masih. At the office of the Community Development Initiative (CDI), an affiliate of the European Centre for Law and Justice, they told Compass that the 10 families had sought refuge with relatives.

“We are poor, but God has been kind to us, and we have been meeting our ends by working hard,” said Ayub, father of the 8-year-old boy whose beating triggered the incident. “But since Dildar’s arrest, everything has changed … all our possessions are in our homes, but we cannot go back there.”

The incident has so frightened the families that they were contemplating settling in some other village even if tensions calm in Farmwala.

Asif Aqeel of CDI said his organization will find a lawyer for Dildar Masih. He said that efforts would also be made to negotiate a safe return of the Christian families to their village after taking local Muslim elders into confidence.

“This may not happen overnight, but we are hoping that the Muslims will shift their focus from the other Christian families as the days pass,” he said.

Repeated attempts to calls the Talumba police station house officer to inquire about the safety of Dildar Masih went unanswered. A police official of the same station who requested anonymity, however, told Compass that police were exercising maximum caution.

“The situation is very volatile here,” he said. “It’s difficult to handle people’s sentiments in cases such as this one.”

Regarding Dildar Masih’s whereabouts, he only said, “the suspect is at a safe place.” 

Pope says new evangelization begins with heart that believes, loves, hopes

(June 14, 2011) “Faith is not conserved by its own merits in the world, it is not automatically transmitted to the human heart, but must always be announced. To be effective, the proclamation of faith must begin with a heart that believes, hopes and loves; a heart that loves Christ and believes in the power of the Holy Spirit!” This was Pope Benedict XVI’s message to the bishops, clergy religious and laity of his diocese Monday evening, gathered together in the basilica of St John Lateran to open the annual convention of the Diocese of Rome. The Holy Father called priests, parents and catechists to launch a new evangelization, to transmit a living faith to the future generation of Romans and create a community of believers in the eternal city where the Gospel is not only preached but put into practice.
Pope Benedict then called on pastoral workers to embrace the need for a new evangelization. He said each one of us, must bring this Good News to the world, that Jesus is Lord . He recalled how his predecessor Blessed John Paul II spoke of the need for a new evangelization aimed at those who, “despite having already heard of the faith, do not appreciate, moreover no longer recognize the beauty of Christianity, and sometimes even consider it an obstacle to happiness”. The Pope said that all baptized are called to be the messengers of the Gospel in today’s world, but above all parents, whose duty it is to seek Baptism for their children. All mothers and fathers are called to cooperate with God in the transmission of the priceless gift of life, but also in making known He who is The Life, and the Church must support parents in this mission, said Pope Benedict.
The Pope also spoke of the formation of children and teenagers, the need to help them understand and mature in their faith but also experience prayer, charity and solidarity. To this end, Pope Benedict continued, the world of the parish oratory, summer camps and small experiences of being of service to others are of precious help to adolescents on their Christian journey.
Finally Pope Benedict encouraged all those committed in these fields to help others discover the Gospel not as a utopia but as the full and real form of human existence.

Balochistan: Greater Realism in China and Iran

 

Independently of each other, China and Iran seem to be developing doubts in their mind about the ability of the Pakistani Armed Forces to restore normalcy in Balochistan and put down the Baloch freedom struggle.

2. Despite brutal suppression, different Baloch organisations calling for greater autonomy or independence have managed to maintain their freedom struggle. They have been greatly disappointed by the lack of external support—particularly from India—to their freedom struggle, but this has not demoralised them. Nor has it deterred them from keeping the freedom struggle sustained despite a large number of deaths sustained by the Baloch youth at the hands of the Pakistani Armed Forces.

3. Both China and Iran have been paying even greater attention to the ground situation in Balochistan than India.They do not wish well of the Baloch freedom-fighters. In their perception, the secession of Balochistan from Pakistan would not be in their national interest. It could have adverse consequences for China in Chinese-controlled Xinjiang and for Iran in its Baloch areas. Any success of the Baloch freedom struggle in Pakistan could lead to a demand for a Greater Balochistan incorporating the Baloch areas of Iran.

4. While China and Iran do not want the Baloch freedom struggle to succeed, at the same time, they are increasingly skeptic about the ability of the Pakistani Armed Forces to put down the Baloch freedom struggle. In their perception, the Baloch freedom struggle will continue to keep Pakistan bleeding and prevent the restoration of normalcy in Balochistan.They are,therefore, avoiding further commitment of a major nature to assist Pakistan in Balochistan.

5.The Chinese reluctance to take up further commitments in Balochistan came out dramatically during the visit of Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani of Pakistan to China last month when Chinese officials, for the first time, openly indicated their lack of enthusiasm for the upgradation of the Gwadar commercial port built and commissioned by them initially into a naval base for use by the Pakistan Navy and subsequently into a base that could be used by the Chinese naval vessels operating in the Indian Ocean and Gulf areas.

6.The entire Gwadar project was a brainchild of Pakistan’s GHQ. Its ostensible commercial purpose of serving the external trade requirements of Afghanistan, the Central Asian Republics and Xinjiang in China concealed an ultimate military purpose of providing a strategic depth to the Pakistan Navy by reducing its dependence on the Karachi port which could be vulnerable to surprise Indian attacks in case of a military conflict.

7. Gen.Pervez Musharraf, when he was in power, was urging the Chinese Navy too to use the port not only to confront the Indian Navy with a new front, but also to use the Chinese military presence in Gwadar to brow-beat the Baloch freedom-fighters.

8. Till the beginning of 2010, there were indications that the Chinese were going along with the Pakistani ideas and urgings for the upgradation of Gwadar into a modern naval base on par with Karachi. Subsequent developments have poured cold water on the Chinese enthusiasm for the project.

9. Even the commercial port which was commissioned in 2006 has been a non-starter. The failure of the Pakistani authorities to develop roads and other infrastructure and to reach a peace agreement with the Baloch freedom-fighters have resulted in a situation where not only international shipping companies, but even those of Pakistan are reluctant to use it. Musharraf’s grandiose ideas of Gwadar becoming the port to serve the external trade of Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics have remained a pipe-dream. They are more interested in a port being developed by Iran with Indian assistance than in Gwadar.

10. By the middle of 2010, it became apparent that the Chinese interest in Gwadar was diminishing. In an assessment on the high-profile visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to China in July last year, I had written as follows: “ Mr.Zardari once again took up with the Chinese the pending Pakistani proposals for the upgradation of the Gwadar port, the construction of an oil refinery and an airport in Gwadar and the construction of oil/gas pipelines from Gwadar to Xinjiang. While the Chinese have readily responded in a positive manner to various proposals for projects in the Gilgit-Baltistan area, they are still hesitant regarding new projects in the Balochistan area. While they do not anticipate any security problems in the Gilgit-Baltistan area, they are still worried about the security situation in Balochistan. Mr.Zardari’s disappointment over the Chinese hesitation in the Balochistan area became evident in his reported remarks to Prime Minister Wen that Pakistan desired that “China should take maximum benefits from the Gwadar Port.” From this it is evident that while Pakistan is keen for the quick implementation of the Gwadar-related projects, security considerations still inhibit the Chinese response.” ( Please see my article titled PAKISTAN AS CHINA’S FORCE-MULTIPLIER AGAINST INDIA at http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/07/pakistan-as-chinas-force-multiplier.html )

11. The Pakistanis were hoping that the openly-expressed Chinese backing for Pakistan in the wake of the widespread criticism in the US of the suspected complicity of elements in Pakistan with Al Qaeda which enabled Osama bin Laden to live undetected for over five years at Abbottabad might be translated into other benefits for Pakistan during Gilani’s visit to China last month. They were particularly interested in two benefits— a Chinese agreement to expedite the supply of military aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force to strengthen its capability to prevent any surprise raids by the Indian Air Force in emulation of the US commando raid on Abbottabad to kill OBL and Chinese acceptance of the Pakistani proposals for the urgent upgradation of Gwadar into a naval base.

12. While the Chinese did oblige the Pakistani request for the expeditious supply of more planes to the PAF, they continue to fight shy of more involvement in Gwadar. They took the extraordinary step of contradicting motivated briefings by members of Gilani’s entourage who sought to convey an impression that the Chinese had reacted more positively this time.

13. In a despatch of May 24 from Beijing, the Reuters news agency reported as follows: “On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she had no knowledge beforehand of the naval port proposal and it had not been discussed during Gilani’s visit. China and Pakistan are friendly neighbours. Regarding the specific China-Pakistan cooperative project that you raised, I have not heard of it,” Jiang told a regular news conference in Beijing.”

14. Simultaneously with the Chinese reiteration of their continued lack of interest in the Pakistani proposals for the upgradation of Gwadar into a naval base with a possible Chinese presence there, reports have been coming in that Iran has started dragging its feet on the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran into Pakistani Punjab through Balochistan because of the continuing freedom struggle of the Balochs.

15. The scepticism of China and Iran regarding the ability of the Pakistani Armed Forces to put down the Baloch freedom struggle should act as a morale-booster to the Balochs and encourage them to further step up their freedom struggle. Unfortunately, the continuing lack of unity among different Baloch nationalist organisations and the consequent in-fighting are coming in the way of a successful culmination of the Baloch freedom struggle.

16. Lack of unity and in-fighting had led to the collapse of the Baloch freedom-struggles in the past. Instead of uniting to succeed, if the Baloch leaders let history repeat itself because of their inability to unite, history will not forgive them. Since the days of Zia-ul-Haq the geopolitical circumstances in the region had never been more favourable for the Balochs. If they miss this opportunity, they may not get another like this again. Unite to succeed—that is the slogan that should be reverberating across Balochistan.

Pakistan’s dirty War from ‘’Bangladesh’’ to ‘’Balochistan’’.

The Pakistani state is violating the international laws since her creation on 14th august 1947.The Pakistan first started violating the international norms by the military aggression and forcefull occupation of the soverign state of the Balochistan on 27th march 1948.The Baloch nation is fighting the illegal Pakistani occupation of the Balochistan from day first.The Pakistani state couldn’t make fool international community any longer by crying a foreign hand in Balochistan.Hang on a second! Pakistan first should explain her illegal presence in Balochistan? This is not a first time in the history that Balochs are resisting foreign invaders. Baloch had fought the Portugueese, Mongols, the British and even the Alexander the great but there was no such blames of any foreign involvement in Balochistan, but the Pakistan is trying to legitimize the genocide of the Baloch nation by labeling it as a foreign funded insurgency.The Pakistani occupiers should understand one thing that “Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth”.

In 1971 the Pakistani army and its paramilitary arm groups the Albadr and Alshams killed three millions Bengali civilians selectively Students, Professors, Doctors, Engineers and many other intellectuals.Now in Balochistan the Pakistani army and its paramilitary arm groups the Musalah Difah, Sipah-e-Shuda, Ansar-ul-Islam killing the Baloch students, professors, Doctor,Engineers,Journalists,Human right defenders and intellectuals.The Pakistani military,FC,ISI,MI abducted morethan 8,000 Baloch from all over Balochistan including 168 women , children and now killing them one by one and throwing their tortured bullet riddled dead bodies in the roadsides,mountains and deserts.The Pakistani terrorist military killed about 210 Baloch youths under custody in last few months.

1-Violence against women: The Numbers of Bengali women were tortured, raped and killed by the Pakistani forces during the war.Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war-babies. The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment. Most of the girls were captured from Dhaka University and private homes.The Pakistani forces are repeating the same crimes against the Baloch women in Balochistan.The occupying forces abducted 168 Baloch women and kept in secret cells and their whereabouts are unknown from several years.A Baloch sister Ms. Zarina Marri, a 23-year-old school teacher from Balochistan , who has been held incommunicado in an army torture cell at Karachi, the capital of Sindh province and used as a sex slave which is also mentioned by the Asian Human Right Commission in one of their report.There are 100’s of other Baloch sisters who are missing after military operations in Balochistan,they are definitely held by the Pakistani military like the Zarina Marri.The Pakistani forces acid attack on Baloch girls in Kalat,Dalbandin,Noshki towns,and warn to attack Baloch women in future if they will come out of the houses.The Baloch women are playing vital role in the Baloch freedom struggle and Pakistan is too much afraid of their active role and that’s the only reason Pakistani forces attacking Baloch women.

2-Violence against minorities: The minorities of Bangladesh, especially the Hindus, were specific targets of the Pakistan army. More than 60% of the Bengali refugees who fled to India were Hindus.In Balochistan the Pakistani forces are killing and abducting Hindus.More than two dozen Hindu families in Balochistan have sought political asylum in India after an increase in cases of kidnapping for ransom and target killings of the members of their community in Balochistan.The Baloch are protecting the minorities in Balochistan from several hundred years and the Hindus holy worship places like Hinglaj Mata temple on the Makran coast and Kali Kalat temple in Kalat are protected by the secular Baloch nation from the ISI which supports and promotes extremist groups like Taliban,Lashkar-e-Tayaba,Sipah-e-Sahaba.

3-Violence against students:The Dhaka University was the center of the Bangladesh independence movement. The Dhaka University students greatly contributed to the liberation of Bangladesh.In March of 1971 the Pakistani Armed Forces chief General Yahya Khan and the politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, launched Operation Searchlight to demolish the independence demand of Bengalis. The Pakistani army convoy attacked the Dhaka University on 25 March, 1971 with heavy weapons such as tanks, automatic rifles,rocket launchers, heavy mortar, light machine gun, around 300 students were killed and hundreds injured.

The Pakistani para military force Frontier Core (FC) attack on the Khuzdar Engineering University during a Balochi cultural day celebration by hand grenades on 2nd march 2010 resulted two Baloch students killed and morethan two dozens badly injured. The (BSO-A) Baloch Student Organisation Azaad organized an event at High School Tump in memory of the Baloch freedom fighter Shaheed Meerjan Meeral who was killed by the Pakistani forces.The Pakistani forces attacked the High school Tump on 6th September 2009 during the event where hundreds of students were gathered to pay their rich tributes to the martyr freedom fighter.Pakistani forces rushed into the school premises and started firing on the participants of the event. Tear gasses were fired on the crowd and the participants were beaten badly by the forces, where young children and women were also victimized.The young Baloch student Mukhtar Baloch was killed and about 24 students critically injured.

The Univeristy of the Balochistan (UOB) looks like the military cantonment than any university as dozens of the army vehicles are stationed in the premises with 100’s of the army personnels.The many students have been abducted from the university hostel ,some found dead while others are still missing.The high number of the Pakistan’s military in ‘UOB’ indicates the Dhaka university style massacre in the coming days.

The extra judicial killings and abductions of the Baloch youths turned faster after the press conference of the Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik during a visit in the Balochistan’s capital city of Quetta. Rehman Malik, has threatened to take action against the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch Students Organization (BSO) using brute force to “crush” those outfits.The human right situation of the Balochistan turned to the worse after Rehman Malik’s visit.The hundreds more Baloch youths abducted including students,political activists,journalists,teachers,human right activists and all of them tortured to the death in the military custody,so far 210 bullet riddled bodies of the youths found from different parts of Balochistan ,while the fate of 1000’s other still not known.But the abductions are still continue and everyday tortured dead bodies are appearing from the deserts ,mountains of the Balochistan.The most of the mutilated bodies are beyond any recognition as the corpses are several months old and in some cases few bodies found from the mass graves. In one of the such case the dead bodies of the Dr. Agha Abid Shah, a former vice chairman of the Baloch Students Organization Azaad (BSO-A), Abdul Sattar Baloch, a government school teacher and Safeer Baloch a political activist all were found from a mass grave.There are high chances that more mass graves would appear in future as the Pakistani military has abducted thousands of the Baloch.

The all of the victims were abducted by the Pakistani forces in the presence of eye witnesses but the Pakistani government keep denying the fact by alleging the foreign agencies like RAW and other forces are wearing the Pakistan’s military uniform are behind the abductions and killings of the Baloch youths, but no one is fool enough to buy the lies of the Pakistani state.Let assume it for a second if the foreign forces are behind all such incidents of abductions and killings of the Baloch activists , like in the case of Abdul Rehman Arif and Mehboob Wadhela who were abducted from Karachi and held several months in custody and their tortured dead bodies recovered from the coastal town of the Ormara ,just few steps away from the ‘’Jinnah Naval Base’’some 240 kilometers away from the Karachi.In the case of Faiz Mohammad Marri and Arif Noor,they were too abducted from their houses in Karachi.The body of the Arif Noor recovered from Windar town of Balochistan about 125 kilometers away from Karachi while the body of the Faiz Mohammad Marri found from the Quetta about 592 kilometers away from the Karachi.If really the foreign forces are behind the abductions of the Baloch youths and roaming freely around the country then what is the credibility of the Pakistani forces??? isn’t a big failure of the already failed state??? The Osama Bin Laden was living for several years under the nose of the Pakistan’s military next to the one of the biggest military academy in Abbotabad,but the Pakistani Army,ISI keep saying that they were not aware of the Osama presence in a military town.The COAS Ashfaq Kayani ,ISI chief Shuja Pasha,IGFC Obaid Khattak and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik listen you guys are not smart enough to hide your committed crimes in Balochistan by nominating the outside forces in the genocide of the Baloch nation without any prove.

According to the Pakistani government that the Military uniform is available in the market ,the outside forces are buying ,wearing and roaming across the country and defaming the already defamed Pakistani military.So what do you think the Pakistani nukes are safe?? Don’t you think the Talibans and Alqaida’s members have also an opportunity to buy and wear the Pakistan military uniforms ,steal the nukes and disappear without any clue.The Pakistan's nukes should be fully dismantle before this world turn into real hell .The United Nation, European Union, International Criminal Court,International Human Right Groups ,International print and electronic media should immediately play their due role to pressurize the Pakistani state to stop violating the international laws and also make her accountable for committed crimes in Balochistan .Dont give another chance to the Pakistani military to kill three million more in Balochistan like they did in Bangladesh.