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Hollow Victory! Defeat's agony! Afghanistan-Iraq

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As Robert Fisk and others have noted, the sickly scent of defeat wafting over the the campaigns in Mesopotamia and Bactria cannot be disguised with the sweet smell of roses. The American people have seen through the fog and understand the real facts about the war. The repudiation of the war mongering is everywhere, in election results, in polls and in the general demeanor of the people.

Published on Saturday, April 12, 2008 by The Independent/UK Semantics Can’t Mask Bush’s Chicanery by Robert Fisk
After his latest shenanigans, I’ve come to the conclusion that George Bush is the first US president to march backwards. First we had weapons of mass destruction. Then, when they proved to be a myth, Bush told us we had stopped Saddam’s “programmes” for weapons of mass destruction (which happened to be another lie).

Now he’s gone a stage further. After announcing victory in Iraq in 2003 and “mission accomplished” and telling us how this enormous achievement would lead the 21st century into a “shining age of human liberty”, George Bush told us this week that “thanks to the surge, we’ve renewed and revived the prospect of success”.

Now let’s take a look at this piece of chicanery and subject it to a little linguistic analysis. Five years ago, it was victory – ie success – but this has now been transmogrified into a mere “prospect” of success. And not a “prospect”, mark you, that has even been glimpsed. No, we have “renewed” and “revived” this prospect. “Revived”, as in “brought back from the dead”. Am I the only one to be sickened by this obscene semantics? How on earth can you “renew” a “prospect”, let alone a prospect that continues to be bathed in Iraqi blood, a subject Bush wisely chose to avoid?

Note, too, the constant use of words that begin with “re -”. Renew. Revive. And – incredibly – Bush also told us that “we actually re-liberated certain communities”. This, folks, goes beyond hollow laughter. Since when did armies go around “re-liberating” anything? And what does that credibility-sapping “actually” mean? I suspect it was an attempt by the White House speech writer to suggest – by sleight of hand, of course – that Bush was really – really – telling the truth this time. But by putting “actually” in front of “re-liberate” – as opposed to just “liberate” – the whole grammatical construction falls apart. Rather like Iraq.

For by my reckoning, we have now “re-liberated” Fallujah twice. We have “re-liberated” Mosul three times and “re-liberated” Ramadi four times. The scorecard goes on. My files show that Sadr City may have been “re-liberated” five times, while Baghdad is “re-liberated” on an almost daily basis. General David Petraeus, in his pitiful appearance before the US Senate armed services committee, was bound to admit his disappointment at the military failure of the equally pitiful Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Basra. He had not followed Petraeus’ advice; which was presumably to “re-liberate” the city (for the fourth time, by my calculation but with a bit more planning).

Indeed, Petraeus told senators that after his beloved “surge” goes home, the US will need a period of “consolidation and evaluation” – which is suspiciously close to saying that the US military will be, as the old adage goes, “redeployed to prepared positions”. Ye gods! Where will this tomfoolery end?

In statistics, perhaps. By chance, as Bush was speaking this week, my mail bag flopped open to reveal a letter from my old American military analyst friend, George W Appenzeller. He gently (and rightly) corrects some recent comparative figures I used on US casualties in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. “In previous wars,” he writes, “the US army has not reported to the public the number of wounded who are treated and immediately released back to duty. They have reported these casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars”.

So here are a few Appenzeller factoids (glossed by Fisk, so the responsibility is mine!). The correct ratios for wounded in action vs killed in action for Iraq and Afghanistan is 8.13 to 1; for Korea, it’s 7.38 to 1 and for Vietnam it’s 6.43 to 1.

The true number of US wounded in Iraq until 18 March this year was 13,170, of whom 8,904 were so badly wounded that they required air evacuation to hospitals outside Iraq. The number of killed in action in Iraq is 3,251. (The other 750 died in accidents or of sickness.) But this does not include the kind of figure that the Pentagon and Bush always keep secret: an astonishing 1,000 or more Western-hired mercenaries, killed in Iraq while fighting or killing for “our” side.

But now I’ll let George Appenzeller speak in his own words. “There are widely ranging estimates, but roughly 450,000 individuals … fought on the ground in Vietnam … At the height of the Vietnam war there were 67,000 ground combat troops there. That is roughly the number of ground combat troops the US presently has deployed in Iraq. Interestingly enough, that is also about the number of ground combat troops the US had fighting at any one time in the Korean war.

“The US army now has a much leaner and meaner organisation than in the past with a higher proportion of combat troops to total troops. All those American civilian truck drivers and Bangladeshi cooks have freed up troop slots that have gone to the combat arms.”

No, Iraq has not yet reached Korea and Vietnam proportions. The three-year Korean war resulted in 33,686 US battle deaths and about 250,000 US wounds, an average of 94,562 casualties per year. The American phase of the Vietnam war lasted 14 years and resulted in 47,378 US battle deaths and 304,704 US wounds, an average of 25,149 casualties per year and an average of 66,792 during the four years of 1966-1969, the height of American fighting.

The Iraq war has lasted five years and has resulted in 3,251 battle deaths and 29,395 wounds, an average of 6,529 casualties per year. “Thus, the average number of killed and wounded during the Korean war was three times the total number of killed and wounded in the five years of the Iraq war. The average number of killed and wounded during each of the most difficult years of the Vietnam war was twice the total for the five years of the Iraq war.”

Now for much more blood, the civilian variety. According to George, “About 1,600,000 were killed in the Korean war, 365,000 (according to American authorities) and four million (according to the Vietnamese government) during the American phase of the Vietnam war, and who knows how many in Iraq. No fewer than 250,000, certainly.”

Not that long ago, Bush claimed that civilian fatalities in Iraq were “30,000 more or less” – again, note the “more or less” – but I can see why these statistics matter even less for him. It’s not just that we don’t care a damn about Iraqi lives. We are going to care even less about Iraqi civilian casualties when we walk backwards, when we are renewing and reviving and re-liberating all over again.

Robert Fisk’s new book, ‘The Age of the Warrior: Selected Writings’, is published by Fourth Estate

Hollow Victory! Defeat's agony! Afghanistan-Iraq

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India's Caste based exploitation and control: A Dalit view

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V.T. Rajshekar, a noted Indian political scientist talks about “India”

On Dec.22, 2005 (Dec.23 in India) American television viewers as well as an international internet audience were treated to a very special interview conducted on the relatively new but increasingly popular internet TV program, Current Issues.

V.T. Rajshekar, a noted Indian political scientist, author, journalist and publisher, appeared on the program and provided the Current Issues audience with a socio-political breakdown of modern India.

Most Americans are unaware of events in India, many aren’t even familiar with the reality of the inequitable caste system. Rajshekar was like a breath of fresh air blowing through stagnant contemporary American political skies. He opened the interview with what may perhaps turn out to be the most significant aspect of the interview and that was an introduction of himself, his Weltanschauung (political world view), his journal Dalit Voice, and the plight of the persecuted nationalities of India.

India is not Hindu: Rajshekar immediately dispelled that notion that India is a Hindu nation. He eloquently explained how the alien Aryan religious system was initially introduced to the subcontinent and how it is exploited by the ruling Brahminical caste to indoctrinate the masses and maintain control over them.

He compared the virtual micro-minority Brahmin monopoly of the Indian media, government, political parties, educational system and professions to the [deleted] {polyarchs} in America and how they too have usurped the leadership positions in the very same institutions and for the same purposes, to exercise control over the majority. This isn’t to say that he exonerated the European American leadership of their responsibility in criminal world events, but he recognizes that the current leadership here in the US does not reflect the will of the European American majority, nor America’s diverse minority. This is an incredibly important point because it reveals a commonality that all peoples share in today’s world, an inability to exercise one’s true will in the face of the imposed oppression of a few elitists, whether those elitists be [deleted] Brahmin or wealthy European traitors serving [deleted] masters.

Rajshekar reveals how the outsourcing of American jobs to India isn’t serving the Indian people, something most Americans erroneously believe, as much as it enriches the oppressive Brahminic minority of India who have allied themselves with zionism and the state of Israel at the expense of India’s persecuted majority.

Fraud on democracy: V.T. Rajshekar also exposes the ruse of democracy (one man one vote) in India and how the subterfuge can be compared to our own fraudulent system here in the US. He explains how the theoretical concept of democracy exists in India but how it is manipulated by the Brahmin monopoly of the Indian media and how it dictates its will through the indoctrination process offered by the substandard Indian educational system. He dismisses the idea that India educates its masses, revealing that most Indian schools, roads, public services and jobs exist only in the cities, not in the countryside, where the largest number of Indians live.

He reveals himself to be an eminent political scientist by nearly dissecting through the extraneous political noise associated with the inconsequential and getting right to the purulent cancer lying just below the surface, by explaining how the media in both countries dominated by a numerical minority and how that monopoly effectively renders the voice of the majority null and void.

Internet breaks monopoly: In the US..[deleted]. This is evident by the fact that legitimate polls reveal that 85% of the American people believe George bush should be impeached; yet he still sits in the White House. The Brahmins do exactly the same in India. They position themselves to determine what the Indian public sees, hears and learns.

Fortunately for the people of the world, the Internet has disrupted this media monopoly and we are able to hear for ourselves the words of political dissidents like V.T. Rajshekar, Mordechai Vanunu, Dr. Fredrick Toben, Ernst Zundel, and many others on new Internet TV programs like the Current Issues. No longer do [deleted] and Brahmins maintain an absolute stranglehold on information dissemination. No longer are they able to dictate their “reality” without being scrutinized and critiqued by brilliant, albeit persecuted, modern-day dissidents. Dalit Voice

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COMMUNICATION
Extending caste to economic planning is dialectically right
BOBBY ANTHONY, 23 – SITLA DARSHAN APTS., MAHIM (W), BOMBAY – 400 016
I read your long Editorial on economic planning. (DV Dec.1, 2005: “DV jumps from social to economic”). The ruling upper castes will oppose it. The opposition is in the form of a systematic conspiracy of silence. But be rest assured that the same people who have resorted to this strategy are secretly discussing whatever you write. They will pretend to ignore you until they have no choice but to confront you. Another reason why they are ignoring you is because they don’t want to grant legitimacy to you in any manner and end up making you any sort of a leader. This is nothing new and all ruling classes do this.

I strongly feel that you should leave no stone unturned to make DV a national weekly.

CASTE-BASED CAPITALISM
I also think that despite shrinking attention spans, TV is a better medium. All you have to do is look at the effect that Dr. Kancha Ilaiah has when he takes on VHP heroes on NDTV with Rajdeep Sardesai as mediator. I think you too must get into TV.

Caste-based economic development is worth pursuing. In India, capital has been refracted by caste leading to what Dr. Kancha Ilaiah calls casteisation of capital. That is how we have caste-based housing societies and banks like Saraswat Co-operative Bank. We too must set up such housing societies and co-operative banks on caste basis. But it may eventually lead to violence and caste-based ethnic cleansing due to various other factors. You may also have to prepare a strategy in an era where a global market crash may lead to state capitalism under an Brahminical bureaucratic bourgeoise making a come-back. Even under such a system economic planning will have to be caste-based.

BRAHMINS & SOCIALISM
The zionazi narco-dollar is artificially propping up the New York stock exchange and global banking system. All this maya may not last long and may even lead to a great economic depression which may be worse than the 1930 crash. This will be the time when the Brahminical bureaucrat-technocrat types and “Socialist Brahmins” will say that “socialism is better”. They may try to milk the socialist cow once again or resort to naked fascism. These are the only two possibilities and I feel you should be prepared for both the situations with a fool proof strategy.

No revolution in history has proceeded peacefully and your “caste identity” theory also has military value – it has the potential to rip apart the Indian army on caste lines. Imagine caste-based revolts within the army. The British were forced to run away because Indians in the royal British army revolted.

PRINCIPAL ENEMY
So, not only must we press for private sector reservations, we must also push for caste-based economic development. If necessary, we must even launch a Bodh Gaya liberation movement on the lines of the Ram Janambhoomi movement.

So far no Indian Maoist has launched a movement naming Brahmins as the principal enemy, even though they say that feudalism is the principal contradiction.

How can feudalism be fought as the principal contradiction without fighting Brahminism which is the fountainhead of feudal fascism? No Indian maoist has openly declared that caste is both base as well as superstructure. It is both subjective as well as objective. It is because caste is also a base that it influences the superstructure. Otherwise casteisation of capital would not have occurred on a regular basis.

CUTTING CROSS-THREAD
An honest maoist should lead economic boycott of upper caste products as well as organise the cutting off of cross-thread as part of a de-feudalisation drive. But nothing like this has happened so far because of savarna marxists. It is because of such ideas that I support your “caste identity” theory. You are planning to fight casteism with caste. Dialectically, you are correct. Now “Socialist Brahmins” will be totally exposed. They also know this and that is why they are keeping quiet. But be rest assured that this is merely the clam before the storm.

Caste demographics seem to suggest a possibility of caste-based ethnic cleansing due to fights over women and water, due to female infanticide as well as water shortage. Your game plan appears to be to ask for a rightful share of the economic cake based on caste lines. You have observed how ethnic identities could not be erased despite East European-style state capitalism. I am also aware that Lohia had mentioned that in India caste is class. I also fully agree with you that Brahminical marixsts have been deliberately misinterpreting marxism in a mechanical way.

I have already read your How Marx Failed in Hindu India? Going by the demographic reasons I feel there is a possibility of your “caste identity”- based economic development leading to violence along caste lines. Peaceful economic empowerment using caste identities may not be possible all the time. There should not only be religious revolution but also linguistic and cultural rejection – that is Dalits should completely jettison their so-called mother-tongue and neutralise sanskritisation by adopting total Westernisation. Even Ambedkarites seem to be quite sanskritised or tend to be impractical mother-tongue maniacs. I think rejection of what you call Mother Tongue mania is absolutely necessary to finish off brahminisation (sanskritisation). If the Dalits get together and threaten en masse conversion to Islam if land reforms and human rights are implemented all hell will break lose.

ENGLISH PRAVACHANS
Please write on how sanskritisation could perhaps be neutralised with unabashed and complete linguistic and cultural rejection of Brahminised “mother tongues”. What is the necessity to cling on to such Brahminised mother-tongues especially when these are getting anglicised and westernised every day because of industrialisation? I have actually seen and heard English pravachans conducted in Matunga’s temples. All “Sri Sri” Ravi Shankars speak in English. So why should Dalits love such mother-tongues and dig their own grave? Dalits ought to understand that Western culture accepts beef-eating. Tribal and Dalit culture are more aligned to Western culture than puritanical Brahminical culture can ever hope to be. Dalits ought to stop learning their so-called mother-tongues are enough to preserve their myths and collective memories, they are mistaken.

English will not only serve the purpose better, but also enable them in touch with the Blacks and the Burakumin as well as other allies. It will put them on a level paying field vis-a-vis Brahmins who love to play jazz music of Black African slave origin and prevent the Dalits from learning. I am convinced that along with rejecting Brahminical religion, Dalits should culturally and linguistically reject Brahminical agri-rural-feudal bullshit which is already decaying and dying. Dalits should westernise furiously to kill sanskritisation and brahminisation.

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CASTE WAR IN CHURCH
DV supports Madras CSI Bishop’s bid to oust Syrian Christians
XAVIER GNANARAJ, NO.17 – APPADURAI FIRST ST., AYANAVARAM, MADRAS – 600 023
The minority upper caste (Syrian) Christians of Kerala have abrogated the ecclesial as well as educational institutions to themselves by fraudulent means. Such instances are many. St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore, was jointly established by the Catholic churches to offer quality medical education to oppressed Christians. However, the college has been hijacked by the upper caste Kerala Christians. Recently, Rev. V. Devasahayam, the CSI Bishop in Madras, has given a call to retrieve the four famous Christian colleges in Madras (Women Christian College, Madras Christian College, Meston Training College and St. Christopher’s Training College) from the clutches of upper caste Christians. The Bishop formed a retrieval committee to look into the issue and reclaim these colleges to serve the 40 lakhs of Tamil Protestant Christians of the Madras diocese.

Nadar-Dalit clash: However, in this act of treachery some Nadar Christians of the CSI diocese of Madras who were once the front-runners of social transformation in Tamil Nadu, have abetted the crime of Keralites. A deep chasm exists in the diocese between the Dalits (Adi Dravida) and Nadar Christians. The economically powerful Nadar Christians have a grouse against the poor Dalit Christians. The cause of disagreement is the control over the finances of the CSI diocese among the affluent Nadar Christians and the Dalit Christians.

This chasm is being fully exploited by the Keralites to achieve their unholy aims of controlling the colleges in Madras.

Stella Maris College: The other side of the story is the case of Stella Maris College, under the control of the Catholic diocese of Madras-Mylapore. There are also the nuns from Kerala have taken full control of the college with little room for the native Tamils in general and the Tamil Dalits in particular.

Meanwhile, the principal of the Madras Christian College has issued an advt. threatening those who are demanding justice. It is unbecoming of a principal of such a famous college to issue such a threat against the Bishop who wants to reclaim these colleges so that the Dalits and oppressed for whom the colleges were started can utilize these.

Remember, the fierce battle waged by the Nadars to reclaim the Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank from the ESSAR group.

Some linguistic jingoists from Kerala in the Christian College have been saying that it is not Madras Christian College but Malayali Christian College. Who owns the college? The diocesan committee and the duly appointed ecclesial authority or a few individuals who want to abrogate powers to themselves?

The right step to retrieve the colleges and establish the priority to the Dalit Christians of the state is to involve the Tamil Protection Movement and other Dalit outfits, organizations, movements and political parties. The Bishop must ask the Govt. of Tamil Nadu through the State Minority Committee and set the ball rolling. It is the duty of all self-respecting Tamils to support the claims made by the CSI Bishop.

The four colleges usurped by Syrian Christians were under the Madras Diocese until 1980 when the Women’s Christian College, Meston and Christopher’s colleges, which were registered under the Societies Act, were discreetly brought under the Companies Act.

“The cardinal principle was that the institutions would be administered by persons nominated by the church on a time-bound basis. However, those nominated to the Governing Council fraudulently altered the clauses and made themselves life-members, besides abrogating the power to nominate or expand the council”, Devasahayam said.

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TN ruled by non-Tamils
Dalit Voice fully supports the stand taken by Bishop Devasahayam to reclaim the institutions belonging to the CSI church from the Syrian Christian usurpers. Tamils have been steadily losing Tamil Nadu itself to outsiders. Today non-Tamils are virtually ruling TN. What a shame on the children of Periyar E.V. Ramaswami and his Self-Respect Movement. The Bishop and the CSI church must note that his fight is not a legal question but a question of Tamil identity and Tamil pride. What a misfortune that the country’s most ancient and original Dravidians are ruled by Aryans – EDITOR.

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BOOK REVIEW
Perpetual conflict in S. Asia until Hindus stop persecuting Bahujans
USMAN KHALID, 3-BLACKLANDS DRIVE, HAYES, MDDX, UB4 8EU, U.K.
I have read Dr. (Mrs.) Ajeet Jawed’s book on Jinnah but hesitated to comment because my understanding of Jinnah is very different from her. This is not unexpected because I judge him with a different yardstick. However, we both see him as a leader with clear vision, great integrity, sterling character and exemplary steadfastness.

There were two very distinct phases of his political life: (1) in which he was looking after the interest of Muslims during a period of political and social reform with agenda being set by the British Raj; (2) period of constitutional reform in which the agenda was set primarily by Hindu bigots like M.K. Gandhi. That he was not a bigot in either of those phases is conceded by all. But that does not make him secular or Indian Nationalist as Dr. Jawed concluded. His politics was determined by the political focus and agenda of the time. This has to be case with every successful politician. And he was more than a politician; he was statesman who set precedents that guide peoples in the entire region including those he did not claim or try to lead – the Sikhs and Dalits.

Hindu bigots: Most of the book is devoted to wondering what he could do as a leader of secular India if Hindu bigots had embraced him rather than spurn him. But Hindu bigots could not have embraced him except in the manner in which L.K. Advani did. He also praised Jinnah for being secular and the outcry of bigots in the BJP – who outnumber those clever with words by 100 to 1 – was indeed spectacular. In her eagerness to make the same point L.K. Advani made during his visit to Pakistan, she ignores what he did do as a leader of the Muslims of South Asia and sought to do for other minorities including the Sikhs and Dalits.

I see that a concerted effort is being made by Indian scholars to rehabilitate Jinnah to assimilate Muslims in a manner similar to that used by the Brahmin for assimilating native Bahujans into the Hindu fold.

The Brahmin embraced the gods of the native peoples but on their terms; they made them the children of lesser gods -Untouchables in their own land. What is an offer to the Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Sikhs is the same status and fate.

Distorting history: India is not just politically Machiavellian; it is socially Machiavellian as well. India is continuously trying to rewrite and distort history in order to assimilate those it can and liquidate those it cannot. Jinnah took a long time discovering that truth. He was not alone; the Muslims of British India took even longer. India has not abandoned its quest. Perpetual strife and conflict is the fate of entire South Asia until India abandons its quest to absorb/liquidate other identities. That it has sharpened the Muslim identity of Bangladesh by trying to impose secularism on that hapless country should have taught India a lesson. But India refuses to see and learn. It is trying its subversive methods against Pakistan as well and the reaction is even stronger. Even If India wins a battle or two that it has with American blessing and help, it is bound to lose the war.

Hinduism is not a faith; it does not seek converts or respect the identity of other peoples; it subverts other identities and its embrace is deadly. Islam, on the other hand, offers converts equality and honour, the embrace of Islam is socially uplifting. (usmankhalid@lisauk.com)

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A must book for every DV family member You will shed tears as you read it
JINNAH (Secular & Nationalist)
Dr. (Mrs.) Ajeet Jawed
2005 pp.400 Rs. 255, $15
Faizbooks.com
1116 (CL), Main Market, Paharganj, New Delhi – 110 055. email: info@faizbooks.com

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Dalit scholar looks at anti-human features of Hinduism
ROOPALI ROKADE, 1455, APT.#2, GERRARD STREET EAST, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA – M4L 1Z9
Introduction:
By his origin alone a Brahmana (Brahmin) is a deity even for the gods, and (his teaching is) authoritative for men, because the Veda is the foundation for that. (Manusmriti, XI, 85).
Hinduism is so ancient that its followers claim it to be eternal (sanatan). The “infallible” Vedas assert the creation of a divine social order based on varna system, which led to the formation of castes and hundreds of subcastes in India. At the roots of the Hindu social system lies a dharma as prescribed in the Manusmriti. God, the ultimate reality, could be attained only by unquestioned service (karma) to the Brahmins, while they lead the quest of the Brahman by reading and reciting the Vedas.

SHUDRAS RELIGIOUSLY HUMILIATED
The Brahmin men, thereby, codified this in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda which reveals the Chaturvarna comprising 1. The Brahmins (who originated from Brahma’s mouth, and thereby, are his mouthpieces) 2. The Kshatriya, who ruled and fought on the divine advice of their Brahmin masters, 3.Vaishya, who formed the trading community and 4.shudra, the craftsmen, potters and farmers. Those who did not belong to any of these varnas were the ati-shudras, the Untouchable outcasts. (Shudra=low, ati-Shudra =most low). Brahminism is a confluence of the three twice-born varnas, headed by the Brahmins, who have religiously humiliated the shudra, the ati-shudras, tribal communities, Christian and Muslim minorities. Few of them, like the leftists and feminists are Brahmin by birth, but may not be Brahminical in ideology and practice. (The word Brahminism refers to the upper-caste people who represent the Vedic hegemony) There have always been various other deities and forms of worship in India which, according to the non-Brahmin scholars, have been co-opted and appropriated by Brahmanists. These variations, they say, are distinct and cannot be interpreted as different manifestations of the Brahman.

KILLING OF SHUDRA SHAMBUKA
“Hindus may be tolerant, not Hinduism either socially or intellectually”. (Nath, Ramendra) The Vedas and other Hindu scriptures lack even oblique emphasis on humanitarian values like equality, fraternity and compassion toward all human beings. Obsessive importance is given to following one’s dharma based on karma, which is in turn based on one’s birth, not capacities. The best punya (good deed), according to the Manusmriti, is to donate generously to a Brahmin (not to the poor) and the worst kind of paap (sin) is to hurt a Brahmin.

Ram, the hero of the “sacred epic” Ramayana, and supposedly incarnation of God Vishnu, kills Shambuka, a shudra, who had taken to ascetic practices in search of the ultimate reality. He (Ram) was taught his dharma (duty) by the sons of the Brahman (the Brahmins) to persecute the one who disobeyed the Divine Law. Dronacharya, the Brahmin Guru in Mahabharat, demands Eklavya (a shudra) his thumb as guru-dakshina (fees of the teacher) because he could not let a shudra excel Arjuna, a Kshatriya and god Krishna’s friend, in archery. The influence of these Vedic principles, law books and “sacred scriptures” has reduced Dalits (Untouchables) and women to subhuman status, in spite of the Constitutional protection.

During the pre-colonial period, untouchability, sati (widow-burning), child marriages and Devadasi (temple prostitution) were on a historic high.

GANDHI’S LIP SYMPATHY
While M.K.Gandhi paid only lip service to the cause of untouchability, other crusaders like Jyotirao Phule, Periyar and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar paved the way to the emancipation of the downtrodden by securing Indian women and the Dalits constitutional rights and reservations.

Untouchability: The outcasts were scavengers of the social order for generations and lived outside the village boundaries. Untouchability, under the pretext of purity, is as sanatan as is Brahmanism. Inter-dining and inter-caste marriages were strictly prevented as divine will. The Untouchables could not use water from the ghats and wells of the twice-born. These restrictions are followed in villages even in this century.

Its impact is very severe because masses of people remain enslaved in this vicious system physically, mentally and spiritually as part of obedience to god’s commandments for their wrong deeds in the past birth. Manusmriti prescribes several brutal punishments for those who break these laws of karma and purity. Caste discrimination takes different subtle forms in cities.

HINDUISM PROHIBITED EDUCATION
Let the three twice-born castes (varna), discharging their (prescribed) duties, study (the Veda); but among them the Brahmana (alone) shall teach it, not the other two; that is an established rule.(Manusmriti, X, 1)
All over the world, religions worked for mass education, except Hinduism, which worked to restrict social mobility. (Ghose, Sagarika). Vedas and shastras reserved the right to education to the Brahmin men. More than 50 years after India’s “independence”, only a tiny percentage of Dalits are literate.

Most of them live in incredible conditions in the villages. Syllabi in schools and universities is so designed that it gives little or no space to understand the real struggles and problems in the society.

Dalits and tribals have lost their cultural and religious identities in the course of compulsory Brahmanism in schools and media.

Women:
A woman is forever either the daughter, wife or mother of a man; men are to revere women in household settings (Fisher, Mary Pat, 88)
BRAHMINS PERSECUTE PHULE
It was a shudra couple, Jyotirao and Savitri Phule, who started the first ever girls school in India, especially for the Untouchable girls during the British colonial rule. Brahmins harassed them for breaking the “sacred” Hindu law.

While Gandhi fought for political freedom mobilising men and women from all communities, he did not oppose the Varna-Vevastha and supported the Sati-Savitri and Sita images of Hindu women.

Dr. Ambedkar had to resign as Law Minister to get the Hindu Code Bill passed which empowered women by securing them equal property rights and right to divorce besides other. The Brahminical forces condemned such reforms because it was against the Hindu vedic laws.

Dalit women lie at the lower-most rung of the social ladder. The Devadasi tradition of child prostitution in temples continues in some parts of the country. Most urban prostitutes come from Dalit communities.

FALL OF WOMEN UNDER HINDUISM
Besides this, Hindu women remain trapped in the Sita-Savitri ideal of eternal self-sacrifice and service to men, especially husbands. Rape and violence on Dalit women (Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist) go unreported. Inter-caste marriages are rare. It is not uncommon to kill those who marry against the shastras (Hindu laws) when one of the parties is a Dalit.

Women’s literacy is stunningly low; women’s employment does not always render them equal status because they have to remain subordinate to men as part of the Divine Hindu order. Besides dowry deaths, female foeticide has become like a norm in India, among educated middle- class Hindus, in spite of the law against sex determination. Ironically, doctors use godly code words like Jai Shree Ram if it is a boy and Jai Matadi (victory be to the Goddess) if it is a girl. Customs like doodh-piti (drowning baby-girls in a pot of milk) continue in some parts of India.

The root cause is not only patriarchy, which is universal, but a deeply rooted religious belief (Hindu), which bestows spiritual bliss to the ones who are blessed with sons because it is a son who traditionally gives agni (fire) on one’s death that leads to one’s moksha.

WHEN BRAHMINS ATE BEEF
Ahimsa (non-violence):

Svayambhu (the self-existent almighty god) himself created animals for the sake of sacrifices and a Brahmin may eat flesh of animals consecrated with Vedic mantras. (Manusmriti, V, 39,36).

There are ample evidences in the Vedas and other scriptures, which indicate that Brahmins have been meat-eaters, ate even beef and drank seven kinds of wine. The Ashwamedha Yajna demanded a number of horses for sacrifice. The “supreme queen” had to do intercourse with the royal horse a night before the Yajna after which the horse was set free as a royal symbol of power expansion.

It could have been by the advent of Budhism in India that the Brahmins took to vegetarianism.

The outcastes were condemned to eat meat of dead animals. The sacred scriptures are full of brutalities against animals and human beings. Even at a symbolical level, one cannot doubtlessly assert that the Hindu gods represented goodness.

Hospitality: Atithi Devo Bhava (a guest is god):

BRAHMIN DOMINATION IS TOTAL
Unfortunately, not every person who visits a Brahmin is defined as guest. A Kshatriya, Vaisya and a shudra at a Brahmin’s door are not atithi (guests), according to the Hindu shastra (Law).

But a Kshatriya (who comes) to the house of a Brahman is not called a guest (atithi), nor a Vaisya, nor a sudra. (Manusmriti, III, 110) Brahmins enjoy exclusive privilege in every aspect of life to date.

Political Economy:

Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana (Brahmin); on account of the excellence of his origin. The Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to all. (Manusmriti, I, 100)
Brahminical scholarship legitimised leisure, mantra, puja, tapasya and soothsaying and defied all economic theories including feminist economic theory. (Ilaiah, Kancha). Brahminical hegemony pervades through every aspect of Indian societies.

Politics in India is religion and caste- based. Brahminical forces have invariably controlled the major political parties in power. The Dalits merely try to lobby and their leaders mostly fail to address their issues in the post-Ambedkarite era. Major educational, health and commercial institutions are owned and controlled by upper castes. Dalits are systematically excluded from being part of development programmes.

Christian and Muslim minorities are exploited invoking the heroic deeds of Ram and Krishna who symbolise violent coercion.

Hinduism is deemed synonymous to Indian nationalism. In villages, these minorities are treated as untouchable outcastes who would pollute their dharma (Hindu). Old town planning tells a lot about the Hindu caste system. Brahmins reserved the area lining rivers, building temples on the ghats and declaring them sacred, in other words reserved exclusively for the pure ones. Dalits, Muslims and later on Christians lived out of the limits of the chaturvarna (the four-tier system).

WHITE WOMAN AS TEMPLE PRIEST
Elite Brahmanism, on the other hand, has been successful in India and abroad projecting a liberal, accommodating, democratic image. They go to the extent of refusing the Manusmriti as part of Vedic Hinduism, which has been to them, until the dawn of British colonial rule, as important aspect of Hinduism as is the Shariah to Islam and to the Muslims.

Recently, a Western (White) woman was appointed high priest in Varanasi, the most sacred Hindu place of pilgrimage. This honour and authority was never bestowed upon any Brahmin woman scholar in the history of Hinduism.

Not to mention, non-Brahmin men and women are still not allowed to study the Vedas in Hindu religious schools. The Shankaracharyas and other religious heads take no stand against untouchability and other issues. Brahmin priests control temples, harvest gods and humiliate Dalits and women.

Upper-caste leftist, Dalit, Muslim and Christian activists who raise their voices against this age-old system face a number of threats from the Hindu fascist quarters for whom Dharma-yudh (holy war) is the essence of Hinduism. Christian missionaries and innocent children were burnt to death, nuns mass raped, Dalits lynched in public, Dalit women stripped and paraded on streets.

SOCIALIST & SACRED BRAHMINS
It cannot be a coincidence that no Brahmin woman or man has faced such humiliation in the history of Brahmanist India. In the view of many Dalit scholars liberal and fascist Hindus are two sides of the same evil- Brahmanic/Vedic Hinduism.

“Dalitisation alone can effectively challenge Brahminical fascism parading in the garb of Hindutva.” (Ilaiah, Kancha)

Law & order: Prisons in India are occupied mostly by Dalits. It is similar to the condition of the African- Americans in the US prison industry. Dalit custodial deaths are numerous. There are evidences which indicate how the police department is ordered by the upper-caste ministers to allow the mob to do its job during communal violence. (Sharma, Rakesh)

Tsunami: The latest natural disaster brought the world together to help those who suffered tremendous loses. However, the aid that poured in from all corners of the world could not reach Dalit and Tribal communities in India, as it should have. Untouchability was evident. Fear of the Christian missionaries mobilised some politically motivated volunteers to keep the Dalit and tribal masses from being converted to Christianity. Some Dalit activists have documented the caste-based relief work in a short documentary film, Outside Mercy.

CONCLUSION
Hinduism is an exceptional religion because it legitimises all kinds of divisions, discriminations, inequalities, exploitation, violence, and, pornography too in its Vedas, Puranas and books of Divine Laws. While the Budha, Jesus and Prophet Mohammad worked to bring about equality, peace and love, especially for poor men and all women in the society, the Hindu rishis perceived the ultimate reality as a divisive, discriminating power working only to protect and serve the pets of Brahmin, brutalising rest of the humanity, including all women.

Christians, Muslims and Buddhists are encouraged to read, understand, and propagate their religion and to move closer to the ultimate reality. However, Brahminism has always banned non-Brahmins from the same and has not been tolerant to the people of their own religion, as they have been to the powerful Westerners.

BURNING OF MANU SMRITI
The low-caste Hindus have readily converted to Islam and Christianity and to Budhism to get rid of their castes. The real impact of Hinduism on Indian social structures is nothing but casteist and sexist degradation.

December 25th is observed as Manusmriti Dahan Diwas, on which several Dalit and women’s groups symbolically burn the Hindu law book in public, like Dr. Ambedkar, who did the same when he led the movement to annihilate caste and abolish untouchability in India. (roopalirokade@yahoo.com)

References:
Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002.

Ambedkar, Dr. B.R., Writings and Speeches, Vol.3, Maharashtra Govt.

Ilaiah, Kancha, Why I am not a Hindu, Distributed by Bhatkal Books International (1996)

Sharma Rakesh, The Final Solution,

Sagarika Ghose, The Earthly Pundit, Independent Media Centre, India , 2003

Nath, Ramendra, Why I am not a Hindu, www.infidels.org. Bihar Rationalist Society, 1993.

Omvedt Gail, The Pioneer, Jan.30 2000

Now, a phirang priest in Varanasi, The Times of India, March 11, 2005

Manusmriti, translated by Buhler, George, The Laws of Manu, Sacred Books of the East, Vol.25.

………………………..

The essay was written as part of the interdisciplinary course from the Dept. of Philosophy, Toronto. Though not an exhaustive piece of work, the essay attempts to present an argument against the notions that have been popularised over centuries about Hinduism, especially in the West. Following were some of the issues discussed in the class with regard to what Hinduism has given to the world. The author got an A+ in the course.

India's Caste based exploitation and control: A Dalit view

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The Melungeons: Muslims in USA before Columbus After Spanish Inquisition

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The Melungeons: Muslims in USA before Columbus After Spanish Inquisition

PAKISTAN LEDGER| 

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 April 11th, 2008  | |  | RUPEE NEWS | Moi April 11th, 2008 MUSLIMS IN AMERICA

Fromt he 7th Century inscriptions of Arabic on Nevada Rocks, to Islamorada in Florida, to the Meungeons of the Applachians, to the Morrish Architecture of Caliph-Haronia (California), Islam is present everywhere in America. One just needs to look.

• USA Muslims: 7th Century Islamic inscriptions on Nevada rocks
• Recreating a New America as envisioned by our Founding Fathers:-A patriotic American Muslim speaks out
• AMERICA IS MY LAND TOO: A patriotic Muslim American speaks out
• Muslims in America before Columbus
• A mosque is as American as apple pie. Muslims have been part of America before Columbus
• 500 American town have Muslim names. Reds have Green Roots. Cherokee Muslims. Mali Muslims visit American. Chinese Muslims
• Expansion of Early Islam in maps: 6th & 7th century
• Creeping Shariah? Muslims were in America before Columbus, Pilgrims or May Flower

The Melungeons
Etymology of the term “Melungeon”. Kennedy (1994) writes that it derives from the Turkish melun can (from Arabic “mal`un jinn” ????? ???) which means “damned soul”.

In Spain the Muslims were known as Mudajjan a word probably related to the term Melungeon. Ethnically, many of the Santa Elena colonists were Berber Muslims and Sephardic Jews, recruited by the Portuguese Captain Joao Pardo from the heavily Berber Galician Mountains of northern Portugal in 1567-less than one year before the Inquisition kicked into high gear against the Muslims.

When Santa Elena fell, its inhabitants-including its converted Jews and Muslims-escaped into the mountains of North Carolina. And there they survived, intermarrying to some degree with Native Americans, eventually merging with a second group arriving on American shores in, ironically, 1587, the same yr. Santa Elena fell.

Chinese Muslim Admiral Zeng he discovered America before Columbus

A 10th century Arab map showing America as Ard Majhoola

The Melungeons: An Untold Story of Ethnic cleansing in America (B.Kennedy)  This is an article from Islamic Horizons magazine Nov/Dec issue 1994.

The Melungeons An Untold Story of Ethnic cleansing in America By Brent Kennedy Perhaps Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, was Melungeon.

It somehow seems fitting that one of America’s greatest Presidents should be of mixed race and probably Muslim heritage. But who are the Melungeons? Historical records document that from 1492 through the early 1600′s an estimated 500,000 Jews and Muslims were exiled from Spain and Portugal through a religious witch-hunt known as the Spanish Inquisition. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim exiles escaped to their ancestral homelands of Morocco, Algeria, Libya nd Tunisia.

In fact, the well-known Barbary Coast Pirates of North Africa sprang from this group. They, along with their Turkish compatriots, were renowned for their seagoing exploits as they sought revenge against the Spanish and Portuguese in ferocious Mediterranean sea battles. Of course, they didn’t always win: those pirates unfortunate enough to lose at sea often ended up as galley slaves beneath the creaking decks of Spanish and Portuguese ships bound for the New World. Ironically, slaves of the Christians once again.

Other Muslims-Berber in particular-Moriscos they were called made their way to the Canary Islands, India, France and other countries. And interestingly enough wherever these exiled Berbers went, they identified themselves as ‘Portuguese,” even if they had originated in Spain.

In fact, the term “Portuguese,” became almost synonymous for both the Muslims and the Jews who had been exiled during the Inquisition. Finally, as the Inquisitions grew in Power and severity, even Christianized Moors and Jews were forced in exile. These “Conversos” the name given to both Muslim and Jewish coverts were not trusted by either the Church or the government, and probably with good reason, since most had converted Catholicism only to avoid the death sentence.

The Spanish Inquisition, horrible as it was accomplished something of great historical value for Islam. Even though Western historians have generally ignored the evidence, there is little doubt that Muslims played an early-and perhaps the earliest- role in the permanent settlement of this Nation.

And there is little doubt that the Inquisition-with all it agonies-drove Spanish and Portuguese Muslims toward the New World. While American school children learn of columbus’s role in the discovery of the New World, they aren’t told the entire story. For example, Columbus employed both Moorish and Spanish sailors, and himself may have been Jewish.

On his fourth voyage in 1502 he records two important discoveries: First, on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, he discovered an iron pot and an old ship’s mast preserved in an Indian hut. He and his crew determined these artifacts had come from the Canary Islands.

The Canaries, a Portuguese possession, had been a favorite dumping ground for Conversos of Muslim Berber origin. Second, on July 31, 1502, came an even more extraordinary discovery. Off the island of Jamaica, Columbus encountered strange people on a strange ship that western historians have generally considered to be Mayan Indians. This ship was forty feet ling with a diameter of eight feet, and had a shaded pavilion in the center. From a distance, Columbus thought it to be uncannily like the Moorish galleys he and so often seen the the Mediterranean.

There were approximately forty men and women on thie galley and unlike the Jamaican Indians, these people wore clothing: sleeveless shirts and with showy colors and designs like those Columbus had seen, in his own , in Muslim Granada. These so-called Mayan Indians carried a cargo of tools, copper implements, and forges for working copper. But perhaps Columbus’s striking observation was that the women aboard this galley “covered their faces like the women of Granada.” Were these truly Mayan Indians? Or simply one more case of biased historians refusing to accept the fact that Muslims could have reached the New World before Columbus? Columbus certainly considered the possibility.

In 1527, the first land crossing of the US by an non-Native American most likely was achieved by Azemmouri, a Moroccan Berber- a muslim. Originally a member of an expedition of 300 Spaniards, only Azemmouri and three of his comrades survived this eleven yr, 5,000 mile trek from Florida to the West Coast and back to Texas. He was the first explorer to enter a Pueblo Indian Village, and the story of his daring exploits make for fascinating reading.

Curiously, Azemmouri is never mentioned in the American history books. The establishment of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 was indeed an important event in American history.

Bit is was by no means the first European settlement in the New World. The Spanish established the Santa Elena, South Carolina, colony in 1566, forty yrs before Jamestown. The colony thrived for more than twenty yrs until it was overrun by the English in 1587. But since the English won the battle for this Nation, Santa Elena was conveniently left out of American history books. What happened to the survivors of Santa Elena, and who were they?

Their identity is important to understanding the hidden role played by Islam in the shaping of the American nation. Many of the Santa Elena colonists were converted Muslims and Jews or Conversos.

In Spain the Muslims were known as Mudajjan a word probably related to the term Melungeon. Ethnically, many of the Santa Elena colonists were Berber Muslims and Sephardic Jews, recruited by the Portuguese Captain Joao Pardo from the heavily Berber Galician Mountains of northern Portugal in 1567-less than one year before the Inquisition kicked into high gear against the Muslims.

When Santa Elena fell, its inhabitants-including its converted Jews and Muslims-escaped into the mountains of North Carolina. And there they survived, intermarrying to some degree with Native Americans, eventually merging with a second group arriving on American shores in, ironically, 1587, the same yr. Santa Elena fell.

North African Berbers and Turks captured in the Mediterranean by the Spanish and Portuguese were regularly used as galley slaves in ships crossing the Atlantic. Once in the New World, these Muslim captives were assigned to slave labor on sugar plantations and in the mining operations of among other places, Cuba and Brazil. In 1586, English pirate, Sir Francis Drake, commanding thirty English ships, made a daring raid against his Spanish and Portuguese enemies on coast of Brazil. During this raid, Drake liberated some 400 Portuguese and Spanish held prisoners, including an estimated 300 Moorish and Turkish galley slaves Muslims captured in Mediterranean sea battles as well as several dozen South American Indians, a smaller number of West African Muslims, and a few Portuguese soldiers.

Drake had planned to arm and release Turks and Africans on Cuba, to serve as a stronghold against Spanish but heavy storms forced him to continue up the coast of North Carolina. There on Roanoke Island he was sieged by stranded English settlers pleading for a ride home to England. The English colony of Ralph B Lane had enough of the New World and wanted to go home. To fulfill their wish, Drake had to make room for them on his already crowded ships.

According to English records, only 100 Turks were taken back to England where they were ransomed to the Turkish Dominions,” There’s no further mention of the remaining 200 Moors, Turks, West Africans, Portuguese Soldiers or the South American Indians by Drake, and records show that Sir Walter Raleigh who visited the Island two weeks later found no trace of them.

Where did they go?

Research indicates that Drake left them behind, assuring that he or someone would be back for them. But that was no guarantee of safety from the pursuing Spanish of Portuguese. On Roanoke Island they were little more than sitting ducks.

There is little doubt they made their way the short distance e to the mainland, probably utilizing the small boats left behind by the English, and then traveled steadily inland. Along the way too intermarried with Native Americans, mostly Powhatan, Pamunkey, Nansemond and Hatters. Within the next decade or so they encountered the remanent of the Santa Elena colony, many of whom shared their Muslim heritage.

And there thousands of miles away from their homelands, these two surviving groups became one people. Christians, Jews and Muslims- literally the people of the book- living and worshipping the God of Abraham together.

In 1654, the English explorers learned from southeastern Indians of a colony of bearded people wearing european clothing, living in cabins smelting silver and dropping to their knees to pray many times daily, wherever they might be. A people who did not speak English, but claimed to “Portyghee” In the mid 1600′so there were people living among the Powhatans and related tribes of eastern Virginia and North Carolina who were described as dark like Indians, but called “Portugals” A similar people in South Carolina called themselves “Turks.”

The early 17th Century Powhatan Indians description of Heaven is nearly word for word the description found in the Holy Quran. In the 1690′s, French explorers reported finding “Christianized Moors” in the Carolina mountains.

When the first English arrived in the mid- 1700′s, large colonies of so called “Melungeons” were already well established in the Tennessee and Carolina Mountains. And, in broken Elizabethan English they called themselves “Portyghee,” or by the more mysterious term “Melungeon” Tennessee Governor John Sevier records a 1784 encounter in what is now Western North Carolina with a dark-skinned, reddish-brown complexioned people supposed to be of Moorish descent who claim to be Portuguese.

In east Tennessee in late 1700′so Jonathan Swift, an Englishman married to a Melungeon woman utilized Melungeon men in his own silver mining operations. His dark-skinned companions were known as “Mecca Indians.” Over years, as growing numbers of Anglo settlers swept upon them and around them, Melungeons were pushed higher and higher into the mountains. And their claims of Portuguese and Melungeon heritage were increasingly ridiculed.

Even the word Melungeon became a most disparaging term. In fact, to be legally classified as a Melungeon meant in the words of one journalist, to “nobody at all”.

The Melungeons, pushed off their lands, denied their rights, often murdered, always mistreated, became an imbittered and nearly defeated people. Over the ensuing decades- in a vain effort to fit in with their Anglo neighbors, they lost their heritage, their culture , the names and thier original religion but not their genetic structure. Perhaps the most stunning evidence is the gene frequency research conducted in 1990 by Dr. James Guthrie, who performed a reanalysis of 177 Melungeon blood samples taken in 1969, in east Tennessee and SW Virginia.

Dr Guthrie compared the frequency of certain genes within the Melungion sample to the know genetic make-up of nearly 200 other world population groups. His findings indicated no significant differences between the Melungeon people of east Tennessee and SW Virginia, and the people of North Africa and especially Morocco, Algeria and Libya and the Calician mountains of Spain and Portugal, Iraq, Cyprus, Malta, the Canary Islands and extreme southern Italy, and most interesting certain South American Indians and last but not least, the Turks.

Can it be pure coincidence that these gene frequency comparisons match up so perfectly with those populations theorized to be the source of the Melungeons?

Can this sort of coincidence truly exist? There as also a number of medical conditions associated with the Melungeon people, e.g. sarcoidosis, a dibilitating and sometimes fatal disease which is primarily a disease of Arabic, North African and Portuguese people with links to the Canary Islands, In this country it’s most common among Caucasian-Americans of Melungeon decent and AfricanAmericans with SE roots. Both groups undoubtedly share the same Mediterranean and Middle Eastern gene pool.

There is strong evidence that Christopher Columbus himself suffered from sarcoidosis. And there are other genetically related illnesses as well. Familial Mediterranean Fever, thallasemia and Machado Joseph Disease (also know as Azorean Disease) are all strong indicators that Melungeons are indeed of mixed Mediterranean, Middle Eastern North African and African descent.

Even if historians never took seriously the Melungeon claim to be Portuguese or Moorish, the medical and genetic work cannot be so easily dismissed. What can the long-standing mystery word Melungeon possibly mean? It was used by Spanish and Portuguese Berbers to describe themselves.

But now there is yet another hint, further substantiating a Muslim origin. there are two Turkish words; “melun” meaning cursed or damned and “can” meaning “life” or “soul” used together these words- Pronounced Melungeon” translate as “one whose life or soul has been cursed.” Which would seem quite appropriate for 200 Muslim Turks an Ocean away from their loved ones and their country.

The descendants of the Melungeon people are everywhere , especially those who have ancestors from the SE US, of any race with the following surnames: Adams, Adkins, Bell, Bennett, Berry, Bowling, Chavis, Coleman, Collins, Gibson, Goins, Hall, Jackson, Lopes, Moore, Mullins, Nash, Robinson, Sexton and Williams. As a result of continuning research, several American celebrities have recently discovered their Melungeon roots.

The Melungeon researchers are supported by grants from the governments of Portugal, Morocco and especially Turkey. The Turkish are providing Arabic-reading scholars to translate records from the Ottoman Empire. Among the other competent scholars assisting in this research are Dr. Ahmad al-Hassan, author of “An Illustrated History of Islamic Science and Technology” published by Cambridge University Press. Research grants have also come from the humanities councils of South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia.

Many Melungeons are excited to learn that, though they themselves are Christians, their ancestors were Muslims, and what they accomplished. This realization put into better focus the prejudices that their people have suffered, not only the older members of their families, but still living ones.

A Melungeon lady suffering because of the dark color of her skin, or a Melungeon male being attacked by tow men in Blacksburg VA in 1980 because they thought he was Iranian, or another being detained as a suspected Palestinian at an Israeli border crossing while visiting the Holy Land with his family. All these things have impact, and point out the insanity of prejudice based on one’s physical haracteristics.

The Melungeons were Americans, and Christians as well and even thought they were Scots Irish. Bit it didn’t matter, because the rest of World was caught up in its preset prejudices. The Melungeons experience shows that even if kinship may not be seen on the surface, it’s there.

The Melungeons victims of an early form of ethnic cleansing-are the ancestors of a significan number of present day Americans. Americans who may not know they are descended from Muslims and Jews, Arabs, and Berbers, Africans and Native Americans, Portuguese and Spanish. And when people maliciously target any religious, racial or ethnic group that is different from what they perceive themselves to be, they are truly hurting themselves. Racial and religious prejudice is nothing more than self mutilation. Humankind are all not just figuratively-but literally- brothers and sisters. Not just in God’s eyes but in true family kinship as well The Melungeons, though most today are Christian, are the living legacy of Islam’s first wavy of immigration to the New World.

For further information, This article is just a piece of Brent Kennedy’s book The Melungeons: The resurrection of a Proud People published by Mercer University Press (1994)

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The Melungeons: Muslims in USA before Columbus After Spanish Inquisition

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Promises are made to be broken! Is this Democracy?

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The new coalition government is rady to implement the “MInus One” formula under which all the judges will be restored and then Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry will resign from his post. Technically this will enable the PML(N) to say that it has kept the promises, and the lawyers can declare victory and go home. Mr. Chaudhry will recuse himself from Mr. Musharraf’s case.

When will the Pakistani politicinas quit playing games and get to the real problems of the people, water, electricity, Kashmir, Afghanistan and Terrorism.

New govt plans to thank, say ‘bye to Iftikhar* Iftikhar Chaudhry may be reinstated, then forced to retire

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is drafting a constitutional package likely to sideline sacked chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The PPP is expected to submit the proposal for parliamentary scrutiny as soon as next week. It is honour bound to reinstate the judges sacked on November 3 within 30 days of the formation of the government, under a pact between PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan’s new political order will thank Chaudhry for precipitating the political shift that led to the defeat of pro-Musharraf parties in February’s elections, reinstate him and then try to wave him goodbye, analysts and others said. “Restoration will redeem his honour,” said a senior PPP official in government. “But this is about reforming the judiciary, not making heroes out of people.”

“If there is any compromise on this issue then there are serious threats to the coalition,” Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a senior minister from the PML-N, told Reuters, adding that for now “all is well”.

Independent analysts say Zardari has Nawaz’s approval to remove Chaudhry without the issue breaking the coalition, but that Nawaz won’t say so publicly as he has to manage dissent in the PML-N. “They are together on the fundamental issue, that this time the civilians will prevail,” the PPP official said. The restored judges could revive challenges to Musharraf’s re-election in October while still army chief, or go after the president for his November 3 actions.

The PPP wants to avoid an early confrontation with Musharraf.

The PPP faces several problems including stabilising its government, averting possible economic crisis, and fighting Al Qaeda-inspired militants.

“Who benefits from upheaval?” asked the PPP official. “There’s a difference between a compromise and a sell-out.”

It has been argued that forcing Chaudhry into early retirement could go some way to defusing a potentially explosive situation.

“The other option is not to remove him, but to reduce his personal power,” the PPP official said.

That would entail removing the chief justice’s right to allocate judges to cases, and choose which judges sit on benches.

Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, warned of more agitation if Chaudhry is removed.

“There will be no closure of the issue. There will be continued uncertainty and instability,” he said. reuters

Promises are made to be broken! Is this Democracy?

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Is Husain Haqqani a Neocon mole? Pakistans's Ambassador to USA "traitor?"

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Is Mr. Haqqani a Neocon mole in Islamabad? How long can he last?

Is Husain Haqqani a “Mir Jaffar” Neocon Mole planted in Pakistan to monitor and report on the inner workings of the nuclear program? He received more than a quarter of million Dollars for research on similar subjects. See AIPAC press release below.

Husain Haqqani: Dangerous 5th column or selfish opportunist?

Pakistan’s New Ambassador: Traitor or Naïve fool?

Mr. Potato-Chips goes to Washington:-Neocon from Pakistan

A rebuttal to Mr. Haqqani: US policy and Pakistan’s drift

Mr. Haqqan is the new Ambassador to the USA. Pakistanis had breathed a sigh of relief when it was reported that he did not get the job as the Ambassador to the USA–it was not to be. As ambassador to the USA, Haqqani will essentially act as a “prime minister representative to foreign governments,” though the duties of the job have yet to be defined. Pakistani Americans hopes he is sent back to Sri Lanka.

It is a matter of public debate. Which flag does Mr. Haqqani owe his allegiance to?

Who is Haqqani? A Western Oriental Gentleman (WOG) came to the USA in 2002. His credentials were pretty weak an MA from The University of Karachi. He noticed that there was a huge opportunity in making a deal with Faust and selling Islamphobia to the naive and scared American public. In the grand tradition of “Orientalism”, this new FOB (Fresh of the boat) man jumped on the Neocon bandwagon and stabbed the Civil Rights Movement in the heart. Mr. Hussain Haqqani’s incorrect, false and incendiary statements caused havoc with the normal functioning of the great American Democracy. Hackles were raised. If a man named Hussian said this, it must be true. If a Pakistani said this it must have veracity.

The major Kashmiri Jihadi groups retain their infrastructure because the Pakistani military has not decided to give up the option of battling India at a future date. Afghanistan’s Taliban also continue to find safe haven in parts of Pakistan. Hussain Haqqani

Mr. Haqqani’s statements and article fanned the wave of Islamphobia which ended up affecting the lives, and livelihood of thousands of Muslims. It was because of this sort of Islamphobic drivel that thousands of Pakistanis were packed up in C-130s and sent back to Pakistan. If they were lucky the spent a few nights in the rape and sodomy centers  of 3rd world and Eastern European torture centers. If they were unlucky many of these Pizza Delivery people ended up in Gitmo. If they were unlucky they ended up in satellite prison systems in Egypt and Jordan’s notorious “mukhabarrat”. For these unlucky souls Abu Ghraib would be a picnic. Many of these horror stories are listed in “Civil Rights in Peril” and hundreds of other Human rights and Amnesty International reports.

Synopses & Reviews Publisher Comments:
Among U.S. allies in the war against terrorism, Pakistan cannot be easily characterized as either friend or foe. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is an important center of radical Islamic ideas and groups. Since 9/11, the selective cooperation of president General Pervez Musharraf in sharing intelligence with the United States and apprehending al Qaeda members has led to the assumption that Pakistan might be ready to give up its longstanding ties with radical Islam. But Pakistans status as an Islamic ideological state is closely linked with the Pakistani elites worldview and the praetorian ambitions of its military. This book analyzes the origins of the relationships between Islamist groups and Pakistans military, and explores the nations quest for identity and security. Tracing how the military has sought U.S. support by making itself useful for concerns of the momentwhile continuing to strengthen the mosque-military alliance within PakistanHaqqani offers an alternative view of political developments since the countrys independence in 1947.

Book News Annotation:
Tracing political developments in Pakistan from the deliberately vague ideological justifications the Muslim League’s Muhhamad Ali Jinnah employed in calling for the formation of Pakistan to the present time, Haqqani (a former advisor to three Pakistani prime ministers and now a professor of international relations at Boston U.) analyzes the uneasy political alliance between the military and Islamists that has developed over the years and now poses unique challenges for the American “War on Terror” and relations with South Asia. Distributed in the US by Brookings Institution Press.
Annotation ?2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Synopsis:
Because of its cooperation with the United States since 9/11, Pakistan is thought to be ready to give up its longstanding ties with radical Islam. But its status as an ideological Islamic state is closely linked with the Pakistani elite’s worldview and the praetorian ambitions of its military. This book analyzes the relationships between Islamist groups and Pakistan’s military. Tracing how the military has sought U.S. support by making itself useful for concerns of the moment–while continuing to strengthen the mosque-military alliance within Pakistan–Haqqani offers an alternative view of political developments since the country’s independence in 1947.

Mr. Haqqani should have been defending the innocent. He was like Nero wathcin Rome Burn. Mr. Haqqani was not just a spectator, he was an active participat on the crusade on Muslims in the West.

Now this Neocon is coming back to the USA as Pakistan’s ambassador to the USA?

Mr. Neocon goes to Washington–from Pakistan

Mr. Haqqani addressed the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA). The tone and content of his sppech disparaged Pakistan and Pakistanis.

 April 27, 2004 in JINSA Events, Programs, Publications and Notices : Events, Meetings and Programs : The Policy Forum
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Dealing with a Difficult Ally; Pakistan’s Tenuous Role in American Foreign Policy
Husain Haqqani Outlines Four Trouble Spots in Pakistan-U.S. Relations

“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are two of the United State’s most difficult allies. Why difficult? Because there are those who would argue they are not allies at all… but [are, in fact] sources of trouble.” Speaking before a standing-room only crowd at the JINSA Policy Forum on March 2, 2004, Husain Haqqani, a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former advisor to Pakistani prime ministers Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Nawaz Sharif, and Benazir Bhutto, shared insights into four alarming trends with the potential to seriously complicate American relations with Pakistan. These trends, he said, are nuclear weapons proliferation, Pakistan’s role as a center of an Islamic militant movement, the continued precariousness of South Asian regional politics, and domestic issues complicating Pakistani efforts towards international engagements.

Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
Reflecting recent mainstream news coverage on the issue, Haqqani, a syndicated columnist for the Indian Express, Gulf News and The Nation (Pakistan), reiterated the pressing danger of Pakistani-orchestrated nuclear arms proliferation. Though such dangers have been recognized by the American government as a growing security threat, he explained, “there is going to be no consequences for Pakistan, because Pakistan is cooperating with the United States in the hunt for Bin Laden.”

Hussain Haqqani during JINSA’s March 2, 2004 Policy Forum.
Pakistan’s Role as a Center of an Militant Islamic Movement
While lauded for its cooperative role in war against terrorism, Haqqani suggested that Pakistan also has, and continues, to serve as the center of an Islamic militant movement. Abdul Alaa Maududi, founder of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami movement, authored Jihad for Islam, a seminal work regarded by Haqqani and others “as the boiler plate for subsequent developments in that whole theory about global [Jihaddist] effort.” While Pakistan acts as a central hub for international Islamic militancy, such violent factions also enjoy domestic support within elements of the Pakistani government. Haqqani suggested that “Pakistan’s military for strategic reasons has allied [with Islamic militancy] time and time against, and it was the alliance between the mosque and the militancy … which produced things like the Taliban.”

The Continued Precariousness of South Asian Regional Politics
The sporadic volatility of Indian-Pakistani relations, Haqqani reasoned, functions as the conduit for Pakistan’s military to gain control of the country. Regardless of the present strategic threat posed by India, the fact remains that “just as major threats to national security require large national security establishments, sometimes having a large national security establishment requires a large national security threat.” Continuing the explanation, “after the threat [of Indian secessionism] is gone, [the Pakistani military] has to continue to say that India is an existential threat.” In addition, Kashmir remains a key issue of international dispute, and Haqqani suggested it too functions as the means for the military establishment “essentially to justify its own role as Pakistan’s final arbiter and of the ruler of Pakistan.” By periodically putting pressure on India military Pakistan’s governing body solidifies its dominion over the nation – a particularly perilous and precarious balance of power, especially in light of the recent South Asian nuclear arms race; “The Pakistani military, like all praetorian militaries, basically does not want to relinquish power. So therefore they have to keep the South Asian competition alive.”

Domestic Issues Complicate International Engagements
Pakistan, while competing in the South Asian arms race and possessing the means to deliver nuclear weapons 1500 kilometers beyond its borders and vying for international prestige, faces growing domestic economic concerns. Thirty-one percent of the population lives below the international poverty line, with another 21 percent struggling at levels just above the $1 a day threshold. While both India and Pakistan originally faced similar patterns of rampant poverty, poverty levels in India have been decreasing yearly while they continue to rise on an annual basis in Pakistan. Haqqani believes that Pakistan spends roughly six percent on its GDP on the military and, given India’s dynamic economy, Pakistani efforts to match the military outputs of India cannot continue indefinitely.

Concerns over “nuclear weapons, Islamic militancy, extreme poverty, and a military that doesn’t want to relinquish power” exist in Pakistan, Haqqani noted. But complicating possible reformers is the fact that Pakistan’s leadership has historically enjoyed a “grossly exaggerated notion of [its] significance in the world.” The phenomenon has resulted from the United States’ repeated engagement of Pakistan as a client in dealing with regional problems such as supporting the mujaheddin in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union rather than developing a true partnership based on the sharing of liberal values and common regional goals.

Currently the U.S. government supports [Pakistan's dictator] Gen. Pervez Musharraf on account of his promise to continue efforts to defeat Islamic militancy, Haqqani reminded the audience. While Musharraf has enjoyed successes in combating terror, however, the Pakistani leadership continues to view “some Islamic groups [of questionable character in favorable light] because they have been helpful to the Pakistani military in tying down Indian troops in Kashmir.” Moreover, one must wonder why there have been nearly simultaneous terrorist attacks in both Pakistan and Turkey and in Pakistan and Iraq. Indeed, there exists in Pakistan an underground terror network that Musharraf is not targeting “partially because he doesn’t have the capacity to break it down [since] he and many of his military colleagues created this fire. When the ones who lit the fire are asked to put it out they still have some ideas about ‘this part of the fire we like,’” Haqqani said.

The aftermath of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl’s murder provides insight into the troublesome relations between Pakistan’s ruling elite and organizations carrying out terrorism, Haqqani related. When al Qaeda operative Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, upon learning he had been implicated in Pearl’s kidnapping and killing, contacted a Pakistani military intelligence officer who had been his handler, he inadvertently turned himself in to government forces and, moreover, presumably did so with mindset that he was dealing with friendly forces. “The fact that [an al Qaeda terrorist] feels so comfortable with Pakistani intelligence officers … is a source of worry in itself,” Haqqani said.

These issues suggest America should reevaluate its attitude towards Pakistan and the country’s leadership. U.S. policy makers, Haqqani concluded, “have opted so far to put their faith in General Musharraf and nudge him very gently. Not publicly but only privately.” Perhaps, given the gravity of the concerns, it may be best to explore other means to enact policy change and explore the serious challenges Pakistan poses as a difficult ally.

By JINSA Editorial Assistant Shai Dardashti

Is Mr. Haqqani a Pakistani Ambassador a security risk for Pakistan. Is Mr. Husain Haqqani a US citizen? His interests are making money and supporting the Neocon cause disqualifies him from representing Pakistan. As Pakistan’s ambassador to the USA., his deep links with the think tanks will jeopardize national security. There was a huge outcry on importing the last Prime Minister from the USA, and Mr. Zardari as well as Mr. Sharif said, that this would never happen in their administration. They are kind of correct, because they are not importing Mr. Haqqani, they are simply giving him a new title. His loyalties will remain with those who have written him huge paychecks.

What irked Pakistani Americans most about Mr. Haqqani’s writings were his insinuations innuendo and portrayal of false history about Islam in America. His most egregious offense was to cast doubt on the loyalty of Muslims in America. His portrayal of terrorists cells and sleeper cells mirrored the writings of Dr. Emersen, Robert Spencer, David Harowitz, Michelle Milkin and others the worst Islamphobes in the planet. For example Mr. Haqqani’s article with the innocuous title “The Politicization of American Islam” is a ticking time bomb for American Muslims. It is exactly these type of writings that have encouraged Michelle Malken to write “The Case for internment”, a book that propounds the thesis that the internment of innocent American citizens who happened to be Japanese

However he has more than skeletons in his closet. He is a closet full of skeletons. For the past decade his sordid connections with the Neocons and their think tanks created this tsunami of Islamphobic rhetoric that eventually turned into a crescendo of Anti-Pakistan balderdash.

The new Pakistani ambassador to the USA will be very comfortable in Washington circles. His last paychecks came from the DC think tanks which have propagated the culture of hate against Pakistan. Mr. Husain Haqqani is a honorable gentleman, well read, and prolific in his writings in English as well as Urdu. His mastery of Urdu literature, and his cognizance of world affairs, and his intimate knowledge of Pakistani politics should be commended. In circumstances other than today, he would have made a good ambassador for Pakistan.

As Islam continues to win converts in the United States, these new converts are more likely to be influenced by radical Islam than by traditional Islam.Husain Haqqni

The portrayal of DMS (Dead Muslim Scholars) as progenitors of all evil in the world is a growth industry in America. Mr. Haqqanis writings linking DMSs to 911 and future events is exactly what is depicted in Mr. Geert Wilder’s balderdash “Fitna”. If Fitna is blasphemy, Mr. Haqani’s sacrilegious writings also create psychopathic paranoia in the intellectual circles of America. What is worse, Mr. Haqqani’s writings are then quoted as “fact” to create discriminatory laws, illegal surveillance and creates the case to end Habeas Corpus via the “Patriot Act” Laws.

Many mosques and organizations in North America are influenced or controlled by associates of the Muslim BrotherhoodHussain Haqqani

These sort of statements are insidious on many counts:

1) What does “some” mean. There are more than 3000 mosques in the USA. Taking a conservative estimate of 10% that amounts to about 300 mosques. Even if it is 150 (5%) or even less than that 50, that is enough to cover many major cities of the USA. In fact Congressman Peter King and Mr. Emersen did exactly what was feared. They took Mr. Haqqani’s sentence and substituted “some” for 80% and plastered the internet and airwaves with this gobbledygook

2) The other problem with this claptrap is usage the of the word “controlled.” Mr. Haqqani makes it sound as if the mosques are fully owned franchises of the Waffen SS, complete with nazi salutes, arms and brownshirts. In fact this is exactly what has happened, Mr. Robert Spencer taking cue from writings like those of Mr. Haqqani recently celebrated “Islam-Fascism” week on American University campuses. All Islamphobes one can list were there spreading the same kind of hate. This sort of nonsense also shows up in American foreign policy, targeted killings, drone bombings and cross border raids on innocent civilians in Waziristan and FATA. In a sense this article is responsible for blood on Mr. Haqqani’s hands. Obviously the poorly run, dilapidated building passing for mosques are the first attempt of Muslims to create and be part of the American mainstream by building a community. Mr. Haqqani’s unsubstantiated claims not withstanding, there are several books that have repudiated this drivel. Two books “Why they don’t hate us”, and “Civil rights in Peril” refute the Haqqani neurosis. We wish Mr. Haqqani had participated in writing these and thse types of books. Alas! Mr. Haqqani used his command of the English language to fill his pockets on the heads of poor and innocent Muslims and Pakistanis

3) Mr. Haqqani’s insinuations have harmed the Muslims in America and Muslims all over the world an has harmed Pakistan by these type of articles. For example he insinuation has tried tie Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) with these groups overseas. The struggle for Muslim Civil Rights has thus impaired Muslim civil rights and harmed America.

4) Muslim Civili Rights organization and other organizations in the USA know Mr. Haqqani’s records. Mr. Haqqani will be unable to function in the USA as an ambassador of one of the largest Muslim countries in the world when he is identified with the Neocons who forced Mr. Bush to wage war on Afghanistan and Iraq. It is these same Neocons who are ready to attack Iran and bomb Pakistan.

In short, Mr. Haqqani’s writings have done great harm to Pakistanis and Muslims.

This is his official biography posted on his own website http://www.husainhaqqani.com/:

Husain Haqqani is Director of the Center for International Relations and Professor at Boston University. He is Co-Chair of the Hudson Institute’s Project on the Future of the Muslim World as well as editor of the journal ‘Current Trends in Islamist Thought’ published from Washington DC.

Haqqani came to the U.S. in 2002 as a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC and an adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He is a leading journalist, diplomat, and former advisor to Pakistani Prime ministers. His syndicated column is published in several newspapers in South Asia and the Middle East, including Oman Tribune, Jang, The Indian Express, Gulf News and The Nation (Pakistan).

Husain Haqqani is co-chair of the Islam and Democracy Project at the Hudson Institute. This is a Neocon think tank which is very Anti-Islam. For details on this group with Fascist leanings, see Appendix A. Mr. Haqqani not only was a member of this institute, he also participated in and was the co-chair “Islam and Democracy”, an anthology of Islamphobic writings spreading paranoia and hatred towards all Muslims and Pakistanis in America.

Semantics are extremely important. We strenuously objected to Mr. Haqqani’s usage of Quranic words for nafarous purposes. He continues to use the words giving succor to the enemy, but also encouragin appartichiks like Mr. Shaharyar to “monkey say monkey do” follow in his footsteps and use the same blasphemous wordings. Mr. Haqqani should be aware that blasphemy is still an offense in Pakistan and congucating Quranic terms to portray ignoble people is blasphemy. When Pakistani territory is called a “safe haven”, instead of a hideout, it creates paranoia in Washington.

The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups (Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, April 2005)

We have repeatedly requested Mr. Haqqani not to use Neocon language. He continues to do so. One would have expected Mr. Haqqani to be the frontline “haraval dasta” to mold American opinion in projecting a realistic picture of Pakistan. By his writings, Mr. Neocon Haqqani did the exact opposite.

Against the murdered shut the door, not bear the knife himself

The Pakistani Ambassador to the United States of America is one of the most important positions in the world. The Ambassador represents Pakistan, Pakistani thought and Pakistani interests. Mr. Haqqani represents none of the credentials. The fastest way to fame in the America of 2002 was to create an atmosphere of “the hordes are coming” and write about “sleeper cells”. Mr. Haqqani in a faustian deal with the think tanks did exactly that. To sell books and get his articles published Mr. Haqqani followed the Salman Rusdie route to notoriety. He is a biased partisan of the PPPP to such an extent that he has for the past decade sacrificed Pakistan’s interests for the sake of putting the PPPP back in power in Islamabad.

In the interest of full disclosure, this author has been in email contact with Mr. Haqqani for years. We posted the email exchange on RupeeNews.com, however Mr. Haqqani objected to personal email being posted on the internet. This was a reasonable request so we removed his portion of the comments. He appreciated the quick response to his request.

These issues will not go away. It would be best if Mr. Haqqani is never made Ambassador. It would be horrible for him, if had to resign later.

This article will be researched and Mr. Haqqani’s writings will be added to the articles on a periodic basis. By writing this article we are very well aware that our invitations to the Pakistani Embassy implaced by Dr. Maleeha Lodhi will be canceled by Mr. Haqqani!

APPENDIX A

The History and Unwritten Future of Salafism HILLEL FRADKIN

The Brotherhood in the Islamist Universe GILLES KEPEL

Something’s Rotten in Denmark NASER KHADER

The Islamization of Arab Culture HASSAN MNEIMNEH

The Crisis of the Arab Brotherhood ISRAEL ELAD ALTMAN

Reporting the Muslim Brotherhood ROD DREHER

The Brotherhood’s Westward Expansion IAN JOHNSON

The Brotherhood Network in the U.S ZEYNO BARAN

The Politicization of American Islam HUSAIN HAQQANI

Contributors and Editors

Hillel Fradkin, a Hudson Institute Senior Fellow, is the Director of the Center for Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World.

Husain Haqqani is co-chair of the Islam and Democracy Project at the Hudson Institute.

Eric Brown is a Research Fellow with the Hudson Institute’s Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World.

APPENDIX B

Source: http://www.futureofmuslimworld.com/research/pubID.83/pub_detail.asp

The Politicization of American Islam
by Husain Haqqani Published on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
REPORTS Current Trends in Islamist Ideology vol. 6

Since its inception, the Muslim Brotherhood has defined itself as the vanguard of a global Islamic revival. After starting out in Egypt in 1928, the Brotherhood had set up branches in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Morocco, Hyderabad (India), Hadramawt (Yemen) and Paris by 1937.1 The universality of the Brotherhood’s ideology and organization was described by its founder, Hassan al-Banna when he said:

A Muslim individual, Muslim family, Muslim nation, Muslim government and Muslim state should be able to lead Islamic governments, should be able to unite the dispersed Muslims, should be able to regain their honor and superiority, and should be able to recover their lost lands, their usurped regions and their occupied territories. Then it should be able to raise the flag of Jihad and the call towards Allah until the entire world is benefited by the teachings of Islam.2

In al-Banna’s vision, the Brotherhood was not to be restricted to a single country or region. Its members had the responsibility of organizing themselves and carrying its message throughout the world. Since the objective of this organization was not merely to expand Islamic piety but rather to create an Islamic political entity, the Brotherhood could not ignore the major actors in its global power play. Within the Muslim world, the Brotherhood sought members who would struggle to create and lead what they construed as the Islamic State. In countries with non-Muslim majorities, the purpose was to advance the Brotherhood’s political agenda by all means possible. In a message addressed to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Banna stated:

Always remember that you have two basic objectives: number one, that the Islamic country should be free from all foreign control, for freedom is the natural right of every man which can be denied only by an oppressive dictator; second, in this free land [the concept of freedom in this context is very different from a Western understanding], a free Islamic government should be established which should act on the Islamic commands, should enforce its collective system, should declare its right principles as operative, and should popularize among the people its message which is based on wisdom. As long as the government is not established, all Muslims will be guilty, and for any slackness and carelessness in this connection will have to be accountable before Allah.3

The Muslim Brothers’ mission is defined in a seven-point pledge of allegiance, which emphasizes the connection between being personally religious and creating an Islamic polity.

The Oath of Allegiance

First, a person who takes the oath of allegiance to the Brotherhood acknowledges that he will build up “an Islamic personality: his body should be strong; his character should be firm; his thinking should be mature and balanced; he should be capable of earning his living and be resourceful; his belief should be on the right lines and his prayers should be selfless; he should be keen for his progress as an individual, and mindful of his time; all his affairs should be organized; and his existence should be beneficial for others to the best possible extent. These are the duties of every Muslim Brother individually.”4

Second, he should establish a Muslim family. Each Brother should win the loyalty of his own family members; he should prepare them to be respectful of Islamic etiquette in their private lives and to follow it. He should give to his sons and his servants the best available training and should instruct them, bringing them up on Islamic teachings. This is the duty of a Muslim Brother in relation to his family.

Third, the Brother should work to reform society. He should popularize righteous living; he should encourage the prohibition of evil deeds, and should encourage performance of good acts that exalt virtue, and a competitive spirit in performing good deeds. Importantly, he should induce the people to “color their whole living in the Islamic hue.”5 This is the duty of the Muslim Brotherhood, of every Brother individually, and it is also the responsibility, as a whole, of the entire Jamaah of the Brotherhood.

Fourth, a Muslim Brother should free his country from every foreign, non-Islamic control. He should not allow any other political, spiritual or economic power to step into authority.

Fifth, he should reform his government until it is, in the true sense of the word, converted into an Islamic type of government, able to perform its duty and responsibility as a servant of the entire Muslim community of believers, or Umma.

Sixth, the Muslim Brotherhood should collectively work to restore the international position of the Umma. To this end, it will be necessary to liberate occupied Muslim regions. The Brotherhood should restore Muslim honor and superiority; it should promote its civilization and re-establish its culture. A new spirit of oneness should be instilled until the entire Umma becomes a heartwarming unity. In this way the crown and throne of the caliphate of the world can be regained. Seventh, the Muslim Brotherhood should perform the duties of the teacher, serving as the “guide to the whole world.”6 Beginning with the individual, the focus then expands to the family, then the Muslim society, then the Muslim states and governments, and then to the whole world. The Muslim Brotherhood stipulates spreading its politicized version of Islam “to every nook and cranny of the world in a way that there will not remain any trace of polytheism on this earth, and everywhere the invigorating sight of obedience to Allah may be seen everywhere. Indeed, Allah cannot but make his light supreme.”7 This casting of Islam as an ideology, as opposed to a religion that serves as the means of spiritual salvation to its followers, sets the Muslim Brotherhood apart from purely religious groups. Assertions about the universality of a religion can be found in the writings and pronouncements of preachers of other faiths. Statements such as eliminating polytheism might have been read differently, perhaps as pious objectives of a puritanical group, if the political agenda of foisting an Islamic State did not accompany these declarations.

The objectives, the method, and the outline of the Muslim Brotherhood’s message as defined by its founder in the 1930s—shortly after the founding of the Brotherhood—has been consistently followed by successive generations of Muslim Brotherhood members. Since then, the Muslim Brotherhood and its fellow travelers have expanded their presence to almost all continents. In the United States, the Brotherhood’s expansion has been particularly significant.

Taking Root in American Soil

There was an indigenous Muslim community in America, especially among African-Americans, long before significant numbers of immigrant Muslims started arriving in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1950s, Muslim immigrants came either as students at American colleges and universities, or as young men and women who, after completing their education, decided to pursue the American dream. They did not come to Islamize the United States or to pursue the agenda of political Islam. But they did have religious needs. They needed a mosque to pray in, halal food to eat, proper religious and cultural education for their children, and they needed to arrange and organize marriages and burials according to Islamic rituals. Muslim immigrants to the United States also discovered that certain economic practices common in the U.S.—for example, mortgage financing and bank interest—were being questioned by theologians in the Muslim world, and thus they started worrying about how to have banking arrangements that were not interest-based.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood rose as leaders of the burgeoning American Muslim community ostensibly to address the Muslim community’s concerns and needs. In the process, they were also able to lay the foundation of political as well as potentially radical networks that would advance the ideological agenda laid out by Hassan al-Banna. Thanks to them, four things happened simultaneously in the 1950s.

First, the Muslim Brotherhood needed cadres worldwide, since it was propounding a universal message. The Muslim Brotherhood initially comprised people who could read and write, but now they were looking for people with higher education to fill out a more robust talent pool. Since many young Muslims had come to the United States to receive an education, the Muslim Brotherhood recognized that they could get better quality cadres by drawing from Muslims studying in the United States.

Second, for Muslims who came to the United States as students, or as young professionals starting out in pursuit of the American dream, there was a need for services in relation to prayer, religious obligations, and the Muslim equivalent of a Sunday school for their children. The Brotherhood astutely recognized that the Muslim community’s needs could dovetail nicely with its own. The immigrants had come to the United States to pursue a home and a car, a good job and an education for their children. Most of them sought an Islamic tradition—including a house of worship and a relationship to God—but were not necessarily motivated to change the world or to wage Jihad. However, if the Islamistswere the only providers of religious services, those young and ambitious Muslims, who were not very clear about their own religious beliefs, would embrace political Islam as their ideology in an attempt to protect their Islamic identity and heritage.

The third key development in the 1950s was Saudi Arabia’s emergence on the global scene and its desire for influence among the world’s Muslims. Hermann Eilts, who served as U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Saudi Arabia reports that, in the late 1940s, Hassan al-Banna and some of his closest associates used to travel to Saudi Arabia—not the Saudi Arabia of today, but a kingdom that was still just coming out the shadows of its early Wahhabi, non-modernist beginnings. The Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, in particular, had ties with the Saudis. According to Eilts, Sheikh Mohammed Suroor Sabhan, a Sudanese, was Saudi deputy finance minister at the time and bore responsibility for providing money for the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence-building program.8 Now that Saudi funding was available, this collusion coincided nicely with the international agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood. All al-Banna and his associates had to do was persuade the Saudis that expanding into Europe and America was a significant opportunity and a worthwhile investment.

The fourth issue that worked to the Brotherhood’s advantage during the 1950s was the Cold War. The U.S. was still trying to find its way in a very complex new world, and American policymakers were not necessarily aware of the complexities they were facing. They took a binary approach: the U.S. needed to contain communism, which also meant it needed to stop newly-independent Muslim countries from becoming friends of the Soviets. Thus, anybody the Americans could find to help in that process became a useful partner. This approach positioned the Saudis as key allies of the United States, and the Muslim Brotherhood was allied to the Saudis. Therefore, in the context of the Cold War, the U.S. and the Muslim Brotherhood seemed to be potential partners. The level of sophistication regarding the Middle East in the United States was very limited at this time (some would argue that it still is). For example, there was an education initiative called the “Red Pig” campaign. “Pig” is the symbol of dirt—and hence forbidden by Islam. Propagandists combined it with “red,” meaning communist, to create the phrase “Red Pig,” a simplistic term meant to convince Muslims that the communists were bad.9

Another idea conceived by the Americans was to try to find a “Muslim Billy Graham.” The person most likely to be identified as a Muslim Billy Graham could only be someone who himself wanted to be identified as such; somebody eager for the funding and support needed to carry out his own crusade. Not surprisingly, one of the people who showed up to fill that role was a man by the name of Said Ramadan. He was the husband of Wafa al-Banna, who was the daughter of Hassan al-Banna. By 1953, Hassan al-Banna’s son-in-law was privileged to have a meeting in the Oval Office with Dwight Eisenhower, the President of the United States. In his role as a potential Muslim Billy Graham, some in Washington expected him to mobilize the Muslims of the world against the evil and atheism of communism.10

Building a Global Network

The Egyptian revolution in 1952 led by Gamal Abdel Nasser marked the beginning of the rise of Arab nationalism. Within a few years, Iraq fell to the Baathists and, later on, came under communist influence. These developments made the Cold War paradigm of seeking allies opposed to Soviet influence all the more urgent. The Muslim Brotherhood was looked upon with renewed interest and favor, especially by the U.S. intelligence community, which envisioned it as a major source of resistance against Arab nationalism and Nasserism. Said Ramadan recognized a golden opportunity when he saw one, and quickly and strategically positioned himself. Western-educated, and with exceptional access, he started building up the Brotherhood’s international institutional mechanism. Although the Muslim Brotherhood was restricted to Arabic-speaking countries at this time, Said forged an alliance with the fledgling Muslim state in Pakistan, and especially with Jamaat-e-Islami led by Abul A‘la Maududi. In fact, Ramadan gained enough influence in Pakistan by the time of the first World Muslim Congress held in Karachi in 1949 that Pakistan’s prime minister—a Westernized man very much in President Truman’s favor —wrote the preface to one of Ramadan’s first books. In essence, a secular national leader was writing the preface to an Islamist scholar’s book, thus implying that radical Islam could be the west’s ally within the greater framework of the Cold War.

Said Ramadan set up the Islamic center in Geneva in 1961, and then in 1962, Saudi Crown Prince Faisal Abdul Aziz helped create the Muslim World League, also known as Rabita al-Alam al-Islami. Radical Islam has noticeably flourished in places where people linked to the Rabita originated: Ramadan himself was Egyptian; Abul A‘la Maududi, Pakistani; Haj Amin al-Husseini, of Palestine; Sibghatullah Mujaddedi of Afghanistan; Mohammed ibn Ibrahim al-Shehr, the Saudi Grand Mufti; and Abdul Rahman and Yahya al-Iryani of Yemen. The Rabita became a major funding source for radical Islamic projects all over the world. Given the fact that the American Muslim population comprised either of young professionals or students, one of the first organizational structures to emerge in the United States was the Muslim Students Association (MSA), founded by an Iraqi Kurd, Jamal Barzanji and his family network, all of whom were associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood-linked students who grew out of the student format then created other institutions such as the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). At the same time, the Muslims Students Association of America became the pivot of an International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO).Another important Brotherhood achievement took place in the publishing world. Noting that fewer books had been translated from western languages into Arabic in the last 100 years than were translated into Spanish every year, the MSA sought and acquired funding to do a massive translation project of all the major texts of radical Islam: the works of Said Qutb, Abul A‘la Maududi, al-Banna, and everyone else in the Brotherhood’s ideological network were widely published and distributed. These texts were translated into 70 languages, thus making them available to every Muslim center or mosque. When American Muslim college students visited their school’s Muslim prayer room, they could choose any of these Islamist books to take home. All of these were edited, published, and/or printed in either Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, and to this day remain available free of charge.

Traditionalist Islamic texts do not enjoy the benefit of such broad and free circulation, nor do modernist writings that seek to bridge the divide between Islam and the West. Instead, the translated books have helped bring an entire generation of young Muslims closer to the Brotherhood’s politicized view of Islam than, for instance, the Sufi version emphasizing piety. A young Muslim engineering student, say in Oklahoma or Michigan who wants to learn about his faith can simply visit the school’s prayer hall and take whatever Islamist literature he wants: if he is a Turk, it’s available in Turkish, if he is from India, it’s available in Hindi, if he is Pakistani it’s available in Urdu, and it’s certainly available in English. He mbraces the Brotherhood’s notion of Islam as political ideology and is inadvertently influenced by Jihadist ideas, often with little awareness of the pluralist traditions within Islam.

The Muslim Students Association also started inviting speakers to the United States from the Muslim world, including Abul A‘la Maududi, Abul Hassan Ali Nadvi, and Yusuf al-Qaradawi. While the American government facilitated these trips because they perceived the speakers to be devoutly anti-communist (which they in fact were), most of the lectures were actually about the impending clash between Islam and the West. In essence, as far back as the 1970s, the Muslim Brotherhood was fighting communism while at the same time preparing its followers for a confrontation with the West. Maududi’s speeches in America, each one subsequently published in book form, are very strong on this subject—as are Nadvi’s and Qaradawi’s. Their cumulative message focuses on how the Westernized way of life is not going to be Islam’s salvation. Instead of modernizing the Muslim world, the Muslim Brothers’ agenda, then and now, is to Islamize the modern world.

An Islamist Success Story

After the massive publication program of the 1960s and 1970s, the 1980s saw the Muslim Brotherhood’s America Project became a major source of fundraising in the Gulf region. This became possible thanks to the rise in oil prices after 1973. The anti-Soviet Jihad in Afghanistan enabled the Brotherhood to create networks for raising funds and even for providing ammunition for the mujahidin; those networks included charities. Following the Iranian revolution of 1979, the Saudis began competing with the Iranians for influence over radical Islamists. The U.S. saw Iran as the enemy and Saudi Arabia as an ally in this struggle for regional leadership. Once again, the Brotherhood benefited from the perception that they were on the right side of the U.S. strategic agenda.U.S. intelligence officials have often believed that there is no inherent clash of interest between radical Islam and the United States. As a State Department official said about the Taliban in 1995, “the Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis did. There will be Aramco, there will be pipelines and there will be an emir, no parliament, and lots of Sharia law. We can live with that.”11 This attitude of ignoring the consequences of Jihadist ideology and attitudes towards the West has allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to dramatically expand its networks, and those networks have emerged as the most influential face of Islam within the Muslim communities in the United States, even though they do not necessarily represent the Muslim majority.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s successful expansion in the United States had four effects on the Muslim community in the country. First, many of the leading figures in the U.S. Muslim community ended up being people from, or influenced by, the Muslim Brotherhood. They had the money, resources, and the connections to organize and claim to represent America’s Muslims.

Second, many mosques and organizations in North America are influenced or controlled by associates of the Muslim Brotherhood. The American Muslim community as a whole is very diverse and includes Sufis, Shias, Sunnis, and people with backgrounds in syncretism. Although an overwhelming majority of American Muslims would prefer that their imams be American and Muslim—rather than radical Muslims aiming to change the American way of life—the Muslim Brotherhood has identified itself as their leaders.Third, the Muslim agenda in the U.S. has been defined by the Muslim Brotherhood. Matters of religious interpretation and inter-faith dialogue have taken a back seat to the Brotherhood’s political issues and priorities. Instead of accepting the diversity among Muslims who consider Islam simply as their religious faith, Muslim Brotherhood leaders describe Islam as a political and social ideology. Islam is therefore defined as ideology and faith, and any distinctions between the two become blurred.

Fourth, the Muslim Brotherhood’s dominance has marginalized traditional Islam within the American Muslim community. The kind of people who want to say their prayers but otherwise want to get on with the business of life; who want to have a relationship with God through saintly intermediaries, but do not want to think in terms of political agendas, have found themselves on the outside of the organized U.S. Muslim structures.

The Muslim Brotherhood also has had an impact on the American mainstream. As the American media and academia sought to understand Islam, because of the way the Brotherhood has organized itself, journalists and scholars found it most convenient to approach Islam through the Brotherhood’s politicized version. Only recently have some academics begun doing research on Sufi traditions or non-radical versions of Islam. Otherwise, one often hears that Muslims divide the world between Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb, the land of Islam and the land of war, even though that is one particular version of Islam, not its universal view.

This tendency to adopt the Brotherhood’s point of view is also related to the fact that distinctions within Islam are complex and can be difficult to discern. When people with very little background knowledge and historic understanding of Islam get into the business of trying to understand the contemporary Islamic world, the temptation is great to go and pick up a copy of the Koran, locate a specific verse, and then read some of the debates within the Islamic theological tradition. However, the more the layperson gets into it, the more confusing it becomes, because any spiritual understanding of Islam is quickly over-taken by current politics. For instance, Islam has existed for fourteen centuries, but it is only now that suicide bombings are taking place in Islam’s name. In fact there is no long historic Islamic tradition of suicide killing in the same manner. The explanation for this phenomenon cannot be easily provided through direct references to original sacred texts of Islam. That is because today’s Islamist activism does not come directly from the Koran, even though the Koran is invoked by its defenders.

Islamism is essentially a recent movement, reflecting a particular response within the Muslim world to Muslim decline, based on the types of arguments forwarded by the Brotherhood. Along similar lines, consider the question of violent jihad, which has long been debated, just as the concept of Holy War was debated among Christians throughout the Middle Ages and well into modern times. There’s a famous ruling going back to the thirteenth century by certain scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, who argued that jihad is the sixth pillar of Islam. But throughout Islamic history there have been others who have argued that military jihad is only meant to be a response to an attack.

Allowing radicals to define Islam may be, in some respects, like having Christian Evangelicals define Christianity without allowing Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox or other denominations to offer alternative definitions. Islam’s historic religious tradition is equally diverse and there is scope for further diversity, especially in the free environment of the United States. But for many Americans, the Muslim Brotherhood’s version is now the “official” and mainstream version of Islam. If a news organization is looking for a spokesman for the Muslims, they usually go to one of the Brotherhood-linked organizations, marginalizing the opinions of traditionalist but non-radical Muslims. Ironically, commentators then turn around and wonder what has happened to the moderate Muslims. The point is that moderate Muslims do not control the organizational structures from which Muslim spokespeople in the U.S. are selected.

As Islam continues to win converts in the United States, these new converts are more likely to be influenced by radical Islam than by traditional Islam. Whether it’s a Muslim prison ministry, a chaplaincy in the military, or some other U.S. outreach, all of its teachings have been influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood sufficiently for the Brotherhood’s views to be the prism through which new converts view Islam. Even critics of radical Islam are affected by the Muslim Brotherhood’s notion that there is only one Islam. As a result, the plurality of Islam and the pluralism within Islam are totally ignored. Creating the illusion of homogeneity for a diverse community might be the Muslim Brotherhood’s most effective and profound accomplishment. It has achieved this through its well-planned takeover of Muslim leadership in the United States.

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This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Is Husain Haqqani a Neocon mole? Pakistans's Ambassador to USA "traitor?"

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Afghan War: Pakistan Safe sanctuary or hideouts? A hideout is a place where those in pursuit go and hide. A sanctuary is a place which is the base of operations protected by the government.

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A hideout is a place where those in pursuit go and hide. A sanctuary is a place which is the base of operations protected by the government.

Obvioulsy the Pakistan government does not protect the Taliban. If it did Gitmo would be empty. More than 500 key players of Al-Qaueda have been handed over to the USA.

To invade or not to invade. That is the question debated by the armchair generals with vested agendas who have no clue about Pakistan, Pakistanis or Aghanistan.

They use the English language to influnce and change the reality on the ground. The term used by the neocons and their supporters is “safe sanctuary.” The real word that should be used is “hideout”. The reason is that the government and government supports do not allow any “safe haven.”

However because of the terrain, some find refuge and safety in the Hindu Kush mountains. American forces with all the technology in the planet are unable to stop the cross border terror into Pakistan. The US cannot stop the illegal immigration from Mexico. How can they expect the Frontier Constabulary equipped with WW2 rifles to fight the terrorists. They need 100,000 M16s, night vision goggles, and 50 helicopters, and a dozen predator drones.. None of this has been provided.

US Intervention in Pakistan By Sajjad Shaukat

Faced with the unsuccessful war against terrorism, the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher on March 26, this year enraged the people of Pakistan . Apart from negotiating with President Musharraf, both officials also talked to the elected PM Yousaf Raza Gillani and met various leaders of the PPP, PML (N) ANP, MQM, and PML (Q) including tribal elders. Unlike the past, the timing of the Negroponte-Boucher visit during the change of government amounted to open American intervention in the political process of Pakistan .
Renowned thinkers, Thomas and Beloff agree that intervention is a dictatorial interference by a powerful state in the affairs of another state in order to extract some specific concessions-by imposing will on a weaker state.

There are a number of techniques of intervention such as coercion, pressure, threat to use force and its actual employment. In this context, blockades and sanctions are also part of interference. Intervention may be open or hidden, direct or indirect.

Though under the UN Charter the states are not permitted to intervene in the internal affairs of other independent states, yet the powerful countries do make covert or overt intervention in the affairs of less powerful countries. So, US intervention under the guise of world terrorism is quite contrary to the international norms.

As regards the threat of force, in the aftermath of the September 11 catastrophe, the US former Deputy Secretary of State, Armitage had threatened to bomb Pakistan “back to the stone age” unless it joined the fight against Al-Qaeda. Musharraf acted upon the principles of ‘realpolitik’ and joined the US anti-terrorism enterprise as the country has been facing hostile factor of India , besides political and economic crises. In the latest threat, CIA Director said on March 30, this year said that Al-Qaeda fighters have turned Pakistan ‘s “tribal areas into safe havens” and the US “has interest in targeting the border region” between Pakistan and Afghanistan .

According to Lawrence , “The essence of intervention is actual employment of force, in case the dictates of the intervening power are disregarded.” Invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition in 2003 presents a worst example of such an open intervention.

Another dimension of the US intervention is the economic one. Being a less developed state, Pakistan has depended upon US aid from 1950s till today. Without any doubt economic dependence has brought political dependence in its wake.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, in the uni-polar world, the US remains the lone superpower and Pakistan has become more vulnerable to the demands of Washington . America has imposed its terms of globalisation on Pakistan without bothering for any adverse impact on the economy of the latter.

Besides, global financial institutes like IMF and World Bank which are under the control of the West have also been used by Washington to interfere indirectly in the affairs of Islamabad . The two US senior visiting diplomats also held talks with the tribal elders of Khyber Agency to discuss a new package of 750 million dollars from Washington to the region.

However, the developments in the last week of March, 2008 are of critical importance regarding US incursion in Pakistan . In this respect, on March 26, in a press conference Boucher while describing Pakistan said, “an important ally of war on terror” stated that the US would “enhance its support for Pakistan if the new government enhanced its cooperation.” One day before, Negroponte pointed out that there are still “irreconcilable elements in the extremists” and “talks are not possible with them.”
On March 26, PM Gillani told both the visiting officials that the country “desired to improve the relations” but “all key policy decisions will be made through parliament.” Almost a similar opinion was expressed by other two coalition leaders.

Meanwhile, COAS, General Kiyani had already explained on March 6, 2008 in a meeting of the corps commanders that “the army would stay out of the political process” and reaffirmed the army’s “commitment to the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan ”
which could be “possible with the full support of people.”

Nevertheless, all the statements of the civil and military leaders show that American unilateral open intervention has produced a negative impact on Pakistan in the past. Now, the US will not be allowed to violate the sovereign right of Pakistan as an independent state. Despite its cooperation with America , the new coalition government in the country has decided to review its policy towards war against terrorism by negotiating with the militants instead of using force in resolving this sensitive issue.

The US news intelligence service, Stratfor indicated on March 25, 2008 that the new political forces of Pakistan “cannot afford to dismiss national sentiment in policy-making” and can be expected “to derive a hard bargaining with Washington on the parameters of counterterrorism cooperation”. It also disclosed that “in turn, Washington which has extensive experience in dealing with Pakistani leaders and rulers will try to exploit differences among various stakeholders in the new regime to secure
the goals.”

In fact, the situation has entirely changed. Now, it must be a matter of mutual dependence between Pak-US relationship. If Pakistan needs aid from America , the latter also requires the support of the former for the war against terrorism.

Our leadership should know that the US has badly entangled in a prolonged anti-terrorism enterprise on global level, which has reduced its leverage of bargaining. In these circumstances, any unjustified meddling by Washington will be counterproductive as our country is already facing instability in wake of a continued suicide bombings in 2008.

At this juncture, our political leaders, security forces and the public must have a strong unity to respond to any undue American intervention.
__________________________
Pakistani writer who writes on international affairs and who is also author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations. Source: Pakistan ’s English daily ‘The Nation’

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This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Afghan War: Pakistan Safe sanctuary or hideouts? A hideout is a place where those in pursuit go and hide. A sanctuary is a place which is the base of operations protected by the government.

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Mephitic Muslims mistreat women! Polygamy and Pedophilia

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See video at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4610290&page=1

Oops! Sorry!

This is one is about 400 women routinely raped by Texans in El Dorado Texas, USA.

Mephitic Muslims mistreat women! NOT!

How quick are we ready to accept sterotypes? Some read the news to confirm their bigoted views. The media has reported this, but differently. The word “Christian” does not appear anywhere in the story or most (if not all) of the stories in the newspapers and the media. There is no mention of “Christists”. The Church of Latter Day Saints or Mormons are Christians, and Mit Romney was accepted as a Christian.

Many such rape and polygamy camps exist in and around Utah and Texas and are routinely unearthed. If it had been one Muslim woman raped in Pakistan, the world headlines would be all over the newspapers degrading the prophet, the book and the bad evil Muslims.

Pakistani rape victim Mukhtaran Mai was splashed all over the world as a sign of women repression in Pakistan. No story on the 21% women in the Pakistani parliament.

More than one million women raped in the USA per year. Not a whimper. 10,000 murders in America per year, one person is murdered in Pakistan, and “the violent behavior of Muslims” is splashed all over the internet. Terms like “Honor killings” are invented to demonize Islam. How many of the drive by shootings in and murders in the UK are base don revenge, gang violence which could also be labeled as “Honor Killings”. With 5% of the population the US has 25% of the world prisoners, someone has lost the moral high ground to place labels on Islam and Muslims.

The Life of a Polygamous Woman: Warren Jeffs Had Strict Rules Governing His Female Followers
By DAN HARRIS, CHRIS STRATHMANN, KIRAN KHALID and IMAEYEN IBANGA
April 8, 2008

The various pictures of heavily-clad women — many carrying small children and boarding buses — following a weekend raid on a polygamous compound in Eldorado, Texas, has spotlighted again the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Days Saints, especially its female members.

Texas faces complicated child protection crisis.

As authorities try to unravel what could be the country’s largest child abuse case in the nation’s history, some wonder how and why women in the cloistered community led by the jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs were silent for so long.

More then 400 women have been evacuated from the compound after officials got a phone call from a female member claiming sexual misconduct.

The women spend much of their days caring for children on the compound’s 1,700 acres. The women till gardens, quilt and often were forced to marry while still in their teens. The main compound is concentrated along the Arizona-Utah line but several enclaves have been built elsewhere, according to The Associated Press.

Mephitic Muslims mistreat women! Polygamy and Pedophilia

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British boxer Amir Khan closer to Title fight

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Amir Khan (born December 8, 1986) is a British boxer from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. He is the current Commonwealth lightweight champion and is ranked # 3 by the WBO and # 5 by the WBC. He is also ranked # 7 by the Ring Magazine and # 6 by Boxrec.[1] Khan has won all his professional fights to date.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSblALBeJrw

Khan was born and raised in Bolton, Lancashire and is an avid supporter of his local football club, Bolton Wanderers, where he uses the club’s training facilities at the Reebok Stadium. [2]

Khan belongs to the Janjua Rajput clan[3][4] of Matore in Rawalpindi Pakistan[5] which has a long and well documented history of warrior kings and a strong martial reputation.

He was educated at Smithills School in Bolton and Bolton Community College. His first cousin is the England fast bowler Sajid Mahmood and his younger brother, Haroon Khan, is an amateur boxer.[6] He was a hyperactive child and “a born fighter”, according to his father, who encouraged him to take up boxing.

He often uses his position as a well-known British Muslim to encourage better relations between British Muslims and the wider community, particularly in his home town of Bolton.

Khan’s early life and career has been documented in a book titled Amir Khan: a Boy from Bolton (ISBN 0747587604; published July 2007) and he has also released a DVD of his first nine fights.
Amateur
Khan began boxing competitively at the age of 11, with early honours including three English school titles, three junior ABA titles and gold at the 2003 Junior Olympics.[7] In early 2004 he won a gold medal at the European Student Championships in Lithuania, and in South Korea several months later he won world junior lightweight title after fighting five times in seven days.[7] Khan then rose to fame as Britain’s sole representative in boxing at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning a silver medal at the age of 17 in the lightweight boxing category. He was Britain’s youngest Olympic boxer since Colin Jones in 1976. He lost in the final to Mario Kindelan, the Cuban who had also beaten him several months earlier in the pre-Olympic match-ups in Greece. In 2005 he avenged the two losses by beating the 34 year old Kindelan in his final amateur fight.

Amir Khan stops Kristjansen, moves closer to world title fight

LONDON: Lightweight Amir Khan stopped Dane Martin Kristjansen in the seventh round in Bolton on Saturday to close in on a world title fight. The British Olympic silver medal winner was given a tough examination by Kristjansen before unleashing a powerful combination of punches to end the WBO eliminator. Khan’s record since turning professional after the Athens Olympics now stands at 17-0 while Kristjansen, who had not been stopped before in his 24 fights, suffered his second defeat.

The 21-year-old Khan began at a fast pace and looked capable of finishing the fight in the first couple of rounds. However, Kristjansen used his experience to weather the storm. Khan slowed in the fifth and sixth rounds but then caught Kristjansen with a rapid succession of punches in the seventh to put him down and force a standing eight count. Khan, who also received a warning for punching while his opponent was on the floor, finished the job in style by launching another attack moments later, sending Kristjansen to the canvas twice more before the referee ended the fight. Khan’s manager Frank Warren said there was no rush to secure a world title fight. “He will fight again in June, maybe in the States,” Warren told the BBC. “I’m sure we will get some news from the WBO in the next few weeks and we’ll see where we go from there.” reuters

British boxer Amir Khan closer to Title fight

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New Sharif in town snubs "low level" US official Richard Boucher

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Fake bravado or covering up a deal with the USA? New Sharif in town snubs the team of the Mr. Richard Boucher and Mr. Negroponte.

It took rudeness to get to the American tin ear–oblivious to the suffering and the pleas for sanity and peace.

Mr. Ayaz Mir, a veteran journalist has been excoriating the politicians about kowtowing to the “low level” US officials for years. Mr. Mir is now a politician and part of the PML(N), Mr. Nawaz Sharif’ (part of the ruling alliance) party. Mr. Nawaz Sharif a former Prime Minister refused to go and see Mr. Boucher at the Embassy and finally met him at the Punjab House, where he berated Mr. Boucher for coming at an inopportune time. The Nawaz Sharif snub is a reflection of the reception that that the Boucher team faced in Pakistan. The apparent bravado and backbone displayed by Mr. Nawaz Sharif is obviously meant for domestic consumption, but the new reality in town is that “there is a new sheriff in town”. This is the political drama that energizes writers like Robert Ludlum.

The predator bombings do not have an impact on the ordinary American. There is a direct blowback on the normal Pakistanis. Pakistan faced more suicide bombings in 2008 then in the past five decades. Pakistan and Pakistanis are miffed at being bombed at will in FATA and Waziristan. They are also appalled at the jelly-backbone of the president who has acquiesced to the drone bombings on sovereign Pakistani territory. As Imran Khan said “the war on terror has become a war for survival for Pakistan.”

Pakistan Panorama: Coalition fends off US arm-twisting (by Kamran Rehmat)EVEN as Yousuf Raza Gillani basks in the glory of a unanimous mandate as prime minister – a first in Pakistan’s history – his coalition appears to have weathered the assault of top American diplomats, who also drew unanimous flak at home and in the US for their less-than-concealed arm-twisting of the new administration.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary for South Asia and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher explained their latest foray into the territory of their favourite ally in the so-called war on terror as a routine visit.

Clearly, it was far from anything routine. The very timing of the visit was questionable and something that even the usually sedate Foreign Office in Islamabad attempted to make a clean breast of. Officialdom in Islamabad explained that although the visit was on the cards, it had sufficiently cautioned Washington on the schedule and even described it as “inappropriate”.

The Americans, however, ignored the advice. Negroponte and Boucher were meeting the recently retired General Musharraf as Gillani prepared to take a parliamentary vote for the new leader of the house.

Pakistanis are clearly aghast at how the American duo was scurrying from one part of the country to another to coerce major political stakeholders into committing to a continuation of what is seen by many as a destructive seven-year war-on-terror.

The State Department officials were unapologetic about both the timing of their visit or demand for the new Pakistani leadership to show up their fangs in the war-on-terror. To their chagrin, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif chose to snub them in his inimitable style.

Sharif refused to go to the US Embassy to have a session with the eyes and ears of American diplomacy, who were described by his aide as “junior officials” in an attempt to justify why it was inappropriate for the former prime minister to have the “call on”.

It was apparently, a calculated move to put the Bush Administration in its place for its snub of Sharif last year when President Bush stated that he did not trust the former premier for his alleged association with the rightwing parties.

Sharif ensured the climbdown of the diplomats by offering to meet them at the Punjab House in Islamabad, fully knowing that in the changed political stratosphere, where he holds a commanding position, they would have no choice but to meet him – especially, after the stated US mission of engaging with all Pakistani stakeholders.

As well as raise Sharif’s profile, the move according to political observers, both restored a semblance of dignity to his country, which under Musharraf has been viewed by them as a genuflection to the Bush Administration, and accentuate the shift in the balance of power from the Presidency to the Parliament.

The upfront approach also appeared to raise the self-respect of an average Pakistani given the strong public reaction against the visit.

Refusing to be cowed down by his guests, Sharif pointed out that the impetus on policy-making viz-a-viz the war-on-terror would now move from the Presidency to the Parliament. As well as highlight the failed policy of the seven years thanks to the ineffective US engagement with just one individual, the PML-N leader said that while Pakistan wanted peace just as much as anyone else, “we could not be expected to kill our own people”.

The continued emphasis on reverting to the Parliament as the decision-making entity rubbed off on the leadership of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as well, which was embarrassed by revelations that her husband and current party co-chairman Asif Zardari and his aides had gone to the US Embassy to meet the American diplomatic machine.

Even though the PPP put that down to mere “logistics” and security reasons, few were ready to take their word. However, on the positive side, the bulwark provided by Sharif’s pro-active stance enabled the PPP to switch on the P (parliament) word as well.

While it is easy to credit the PML-N with taking an aggressive stand, the comparison in the level of intensity with PPP should be seen in perspective. The latter may be beholden to the Bush Administration for facilitating Bhutto’s return to Pakistan last October and the strategic passage of a so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance, which finally relieved her and husband Asif Zardari of the threat of conviction in multiple cases of corruption.

The PPP is therefore, understandably understated about the new order in Islamabad although it would probably, welcome the chance to make decisions about all issues, including the war-on-terror, at home.

While there is a body of opinion that suggests both PPP and PML-N are secretly united and only creating a smokescreen of divergence on the issue, ultimately, the key to any policy review on the war on terror will lie with the army. It remains to be seen, if the new command under General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, will be anywhere near enthusiastic to let go off sizeable military aid that it receives from Washington as part of terror war engagement. The new coalition will also have to watch its back over possible adventurism by an isolated Musharraf, who would like to retain the American umbrella.

If the army finds it difficult to resist the temptation offered by the multi-million dollar assistance, the hope of a new dawn envisioned by the civilian leadership could be set back.

Having said that, the American diplomats have gone home with doubts over what the future holds, PPP’s half-hearted assurances of continuing the war-on-terror notwithstanding. The Bush Administration is not easily given to calls for course correction but even in the US the demand for changing an eminently disastrous policy of engagement with one individual and only employing use of force as a means to combat extremism and terror is getting louder by the day.

As Prime Minister Gillani’s Advisor, Hussain Haqqani, aptly quipped recently – there’s a “new sheriff in town” – but it remains to be seen if the White House is up to recognition.

New Sharif in town snubs "low level" US official Richard Boucher

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Pakistan's US & Chinese F-22P Frigates 3 Shipyards in Karachi, Qasim & Gwader

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The Pakistan Navy is working towards the triple goals of indigenous production, the maritime safety of the the Pakistani coastline as well as the defense of the Gulf from the hegemony of Bharat (aka India). To achieve its goals, the PN is is actively working to develop its own manufacturing base. The Karachi Shipyard has been an integral part of that strategy. Duplicating the KSEW is one strategy to expedite the production of ships in Pakistan. Pakistan gets Chinese F-22P Frigates & help to upgrade the Karachi Shipyard upgrade. The friendly countries of China and Pakistan are working on  new Shipyard in Gwador, and another one in Port Qasim for starters. There is much discussion about a new pipeline to China. The two sister countries are also working on the Sino-Pakistan AWACs.

ISLAMABAD (APP) – Commissioning of F-22P frigate for Pakistan – PNS Shamsheer - was held on Saturday at Shanghai, China, where Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nauman Bashir was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Nauman said, “Pak-China friendship is deep rooted, everlasting and is further bolstering day by day. This exemplary friendship has always remained a source of close cooperation in the strategic and other defence fields.” Nationn. December 19th, 2009

After the successful creation of the joint production facilities to produce the JF-Thunder aircraft, Pakistan is now the recpient of four Frigates from China. The 4th and successive Frigates will be manufactured in the upgraded Karachi shipyard facilities. The Frigates also come with helicopters and accessories.

It is ironic that in the 70s, the very same Karachi Shipyard manufactured a ship for China called the “Hetian”.

This serial production of the Frigates from the Karachi Shipyard will begin soon and the Frigates will be stationed at the three ports of Pakistan.

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According to Janes the Pakistan Navy is expected to place a formal request to the U.S. for six Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates to augment its surface fleet. These may replace the Type-21s and act as stop-gaps until new-built frigates and corvettes are commissioned. The weapons and systems on the PN FFG-7 have not yet been disclosed, but they could include the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) as well as Mk 32 torpedo tubes for Mk 46 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) torpedoes.

According to Janes’ IDEAS2004 interview with former Pakistan Navy Chief ex-Admiral Karimullah at least four additional new-built frigates will be acquired by the navy. The new frigate will be larger and superior to the F-22P; it will likely have a better air defence system and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability; and use more advanced sensors, radar and electronics. Kanwa recently reported that the Pakistan Navy has shown recent interest in the Chinese Type 054A frigate. Another potential option could be the TKMS MEKO A-200 frigate.Wikipedia

The Frigates jointly built by Pakistan and China will go a long way in preventing agression against Pakistan.

The first of four F-22P frigates ordered by the Pakistani navy from China three years ago will be launched on Monday from a Shanghai shipyard.

The deal marks the navy’s first purchase of a major fighting unit from China. In the past, it procured such military hardware from Western countries including Britain and France.

Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, who will attend the launch ceremony, said the frigates will “form a very important component” of the country’s surface fleet.

“They will be deployed for the defense of our maritime interests and to meet our commitments in other aspects of maritime diplomacy,” he said yesterday in Beijing, adding the shift from West to East displays the navy’s confidence in Chinese industry.

As well as the four frigates, the deal will include the transfer of Chinese naval shipbuilding technology to its neighbor, as the last vessel is expected to be finished at a shipyard in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2013, under an agreement signed in April 2005.

This will be “a catalyst” for cooperation on the construction of vessels, Tahir said.

“It will enhance Pakistan’s capabilities in shipbuilding and also the Karachi shipyard’s capabilities in managing the construction of a large warship,” he said.

The importance of the launch has extended beyond collaboration in shipbuilding. It also acts as testimony to the two Asian nations’ strong ties in military cooperation in a broader sense, Tahir said.

Beijing and Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, have always enjoyed sound military cooperation, and last March, the PLA navy took part in its first-ever multilateral naval exercise AMAN-07 in Karachi.

“We were very happy to see the PLA ships operating with other navies of the world in Pakistani waters. And of course their performance was excellent and exemplary,” Tahir said, adding Pakistan will host a similar exercise next March.

“We are very hopeful the PLA ships will participate again with the navies of other countries in the interests of stability in the world’s maritime domain.”

On Thursday, the naval chief met with China’s Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie, with whom he spoke of deepening exchanges and cooperation between the defense departments and armed forces of the two countries.

Liang said the defense departments and militaries have maintained long-term exchanges and conducted multilevel cooperation across a wide range of fields.

He also said he hopes the two sides will make joint efforts to promote exchanges and bilateral cooperation to serve the development of the strategic cooperative partnership of the two countries. China-made frigate ready to set sail for Pakistan By Zhang Haizhou (China Daily) Updated: 2008-04-05 09:14

Pakistan’s “214 Subs” made in Karachi 5th Generation Su-35 spinoffs made in China as J-11s Russia chagrined at Into-US relations doesn’t transfer Flanker Su-30 development technology to India. Builds plane itself.

Brecorder quoted Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani Prime minister of Pakistan as saying that the government has adopted a ‘vision for new shipyards and development of shipbuilding industry on a grand scale.

Mr Gilani said that the government would move in this direction at a very fast pace and added that together, we will ensure that Pakistan becomes a leading shipbuilding country in the region, in line with its true potential and ideal location.

He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Stus No 1 first small tanker cum utility’ ship being built by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works for Pakistan navy.

Mr Gilani further said that the shipbuilding is an industry which can act as a catalyst for overall industrial development, leading to economic development, large scale employment generation and poverty alleviation. He added that this is a labor intensive industry and is best suited for developing countries like Pakistan.

Mr Gilani also urged each and every individual, working in KSEW, or related with these activities, to work with dedication for the progress of KSEW and the shipbuilding industry in the country. He also congratulated Karachi Shipyard management for early achievement of launching milestone, and appreciated the efforts of its architects, engineers and workers involved to accomplish the prestigious task.

Mr Iftikhar Ahmed Rao MD of Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works said that two ships of this type were being built by KSEW for Pakistan navy at a cost of USD 11 million each. The first ship of this series was already launched, while both ships would be completed by February, 2010.

The KSEW is the only heavy engineering industry of Pakistan that is catering for shipbuilding, ship repairing and heavy or general engineering requirements. It has played a historical role in transferring of technology and broadening the industrial base of the country. KSEW was established in mid-fifties as a project of PIDC, and was incorporated as a public limited company in 1957. Pakistan shipbuilding industry to be developed on grand scale. Friday, Jan 16, 2009.

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The Gwadar Shipyard is planned to be established at Gwadar East Bay (Shamba Ismail area), on an area of approximately 500 acres (2 sq. kilometers approx). Initially planned to carry out ship repairs, it shall lead to ship building of up to Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) and Ultra large Crude Carrier (ULCC) size and will have at least two dry docks of approximately 600,000 DWT.

The Qasim Shipyard is planned to be developed adjacent to Korangi Fish Harbour (Port Qasim Area), on an area of 500 acres (2 Sq. kilometers approx) with at least two dry docks of 600,000 DWT. Main function of this shipyard will be building of large ships up to VLCC/ULCC size and construction of Offshore / Onshore Oil Rigs. It will also have ship repair facilities.

The Shipyards are to be developed with minimum financial support from the Government of Pakistan. The projects are conceived in a manner, whereby the private sector will be responsible for designing, financing, building, operating and maintaining the Shipyards.

On behalf of the Government of Pakistan, Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited is seeking advisory services from internationally qualified and experienced advisory firms ideally led by a reputable international financial institution / investment bank and comprising of requisite technical, legal and other consultants to assist the Government of Pakistan in planning, development and implementation of these projects.

Proposals for advisory services for both projects separately are solicited from internationally qualified and experienced advisory firms with demonstrable experience in structuring world class shipyard development related transactions.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) package including the Terms of Reference (TOR) and other relevant information can be downloaded from the following websites:

(i) Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works’ Official website

(ii) Planning Commission’s official website

(iii) Infrastructure Project Development Facility’s official website

(iv) Public Procurement Regulatory Authority’s official website

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LONDON: The UK and Pakistan are discussing a deal under which the Pakistan Navy (PN) could acquire up to three Type 42 Batch 3 destroyers following their retirement from the Royal Navy (RN), Jane’s Defense has learned.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is conducting a separate dialogue with the United States regarding the availability of additional FFG 7 frigates, as the PN looks to recapitalise a large part of its surface combatant force through second-hand acquisitions.

The PN frigate force currently comprises six ex-RN Type 21s constituting the 25th Destroyer Squadron. Transferred between 1993 and 1994, these ships – now known as the Tariq class – have undergone significant modernisation since transfer, but all are now over 30 years old and becoming increasingly difficult to support.

Pakistan also has four F22P frigates on order from China with the first, Zulfiquar, due to be accepted into service later this year. Pakistan in the frame for Type 42 Destroyers. Online News

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Noticias de Rupia | Nouvelles de Roupie | Rupiennachrichten | ??????? ????? | ???? | Roepienieuws | Rupi Nyheter | ??????? | Notizie di Rupia | PAKISTAN LEDGER | ???????? ????? | Moin Ansari | ???? ??????? | DefensebriefsIntellibriefs Translate to: RSS feed: | RUPEE NEWS | Moin Ansari | ???? ??????? | ????? ????? | Save/Share

Pakistan's US & Chinese F-22P Frigates 3 Shipyards in Karachi, Qasim & Gwader

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