Monday, June 1, 2009

Deliberate power shortfall in Pakistan

By Abdullah Muntazir

Pakistan is facing electricity crisis these days. In the name of ‘load management’ Pakistan Electric Power Company deprives Pakistani public from electricity for 8 to 12 hours daily. No one knows what the exact reason behind electricity shortfall is as PEPCO is not sharing the cause, it only tells us the effect. When I tried to dig out the truth I came to know that electricity shortfall claims are false and there are huge contradictions between PEPCO’s claims and its own facts and figures. These contradictions led me to the conclusion that in fact there is no justification of ‘load shedding’. If for the sake of argument one believes in PEPCO’s claim of shortfall then too, load shedding should not exceed from four hours a day.
             To prove PEPCO’s claims as wrong I used its own facts and figures obtained from its website.

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Swat: Military Operation to Increase Militancy


By Abdullah Muntazir
No one knows what will be the final outcome of the ongoing military operation in Malakand division of Pakistan’s frontier province; however, one of the immediate consequences of the operation is that the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has gone into the millions. The other outcome is that the Taliban, who were increasingly losing their credibility prior to the operation against them, have now received a chance to prove that they are victims of ‘America’s allies’, and they will most certainly exploit the collateral damage caused by military operation in their favor. Ever since 2004 when military operations first began in tribal areas, we can clearly see that after every military operation the Taliban only became stronger than before. I fear the results will be the same this time too, and the Pakistani military will only earn the outrage and hatred of the displaced people. In fact, the people of Swat have already begun to speak out against the military operation. They have now begun saying that we have become homeless not because of the activities the Taliban, but in fact, because of the military operation there. The military operation has not only made us homeless, but our beloved ones have fallen prey to the much-abused term ‘collateral damage’.
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Do the Taleban Pose a real Threat to India?

By Abdullah Muntazir

Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has said the Taleban can attack India during the upcoming Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) elections. The Indian media had previously published reports that the Taleban had reached (occupied) Kashmir and are poised to enter India from there. It therefore needs serious attention, analysis, and understanding, whether the Taleban really do pose a threat to India or whether Indian statements and media reports are in reality a pretext to pave the way for further Indian interference in Afghanistan’s affairs.
The evidence which I offer in support of this contention is that the Taleban have never carried out any armed activity outside Afghanistan, nor have they ever hinted of having such an intention either. I must also mention here that I do not assign
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Jihadi Group’s Trademark Gets Stolen


By Abdullah Muntazir

Lashkar-e-Taiba’s trademark has been stolen, and the irony is that the stolen trademark is now being used against Lashkar itself. The recent attack on the Manawan Police Training School Lahore, after the previous attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the same city, is the latest example of this peculiar development. India has been facing such attacks, usually referred to as ‘fidayeen attacks’, since 1999. This terminology was also used by the Indian media in their news coverage immediately after the Mumbai attacks with headlines such as, ‘Mumbai under Fidayeen attack’. Although Lashkar-e-Taiba had denied involvement in these attacks, yet Indian, British, and Pakistani intelligence still hold this group, 
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