Dissident Pakistani Exiles in UK ‘On Hit List’

Karima Baloch, who campaigned for an independent Balochistan, was found dead in Toronto, Canada, last December. Photograph: Baloch Students Organization Azad
THE OBSERVER: Critics of country’s military told by Met police of plots against them as security forces fear there may be an attack in Britain

Pakistani exiles living in London who have criticised the country’s powerful military have been warned that their lives are in danger, raising fresh concern over authoritarian regimes targeting foreign dissidents in the UK.

British security sources are understood to be concerned that Pakistan, a strong UK ally – particularly on intelligence issues – might be prepared to target individuals on British soil.

The Observer has been told of further warnings given by other intelligence services across Europe to Pakistani dissidents, including rights activists from the Pakistani province of Balochistan, journalists, and members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, a group representing ethnic Pashtuns. » | Kiyya Baloch and Mark Townsend | Saturday, August 7, 2021

Poor and Desperate, Pakistani Hindus Accept Islam to Get By

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Drawn by jobs or land offered by Muslim groups, some Hindus, facing discrimination and a virus-ravaged economy, are essentially converting to survive.

The Hindus performed the prayer rituals awkwardly in supplication to their new, single god, as they prepared to leave their many deities behind them. Their lips stumbled over Arabic phrases that, once recited, would seal their conversion to Islam. The last words uttered, the men and boys were then circumcised.

Dozens of Hindu families converted in June in the Badin district of Sindh Province in southern Pakistan. Video clips of the ceremony went viral across the country, delighting hard-line Muslims and weighing on Pakistan’s dwindling Hindu minority.

The mass ceremony was the latest in what is a growing number of such conversions to Pakistan’s majority Muslim faith in recent years — although precise data is scarce. Some of these conversions are voluntary, some not. » | Maria Abi-Habib and Zia ur-Rehman | Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Julian Assange Interviews Imran Khan On His Success In Politics

Inside Story: Will Donald Trump Cut All Aid to Palestine and Pakistan?

Palestinian leaders say they will not be blackmailed after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid worth around three quarters of a billion dollars a year.

He made the statement on Twitter, blaming Palestinians for refusing to engage in Middle East peace talks. The PA responded saying the US should not blame Palestinians for 'its own failures'.

Relations with the US have plummeted since Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital last month. The aid cut threatens money allocated to the Palestinian Authority. But most US funding goes to development and building projects - and not directly to the Authority itself.

The US is also withholding millions in financial assistance to the Pakistani government. Saying Islamabad has given the US 'nothing but lies and deceit' over the years - accusing the country of being a 'safe heaven for terrorists'. So, what's behind Trump's threats and what will it mean for US policy in the region?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Steven Rogers - A member of the Donald J Trump for President Advisory Board; David Sedney - Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Previously served as Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defence for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Are Universities in Pakistan Becoming a Breeding Ground for Terrorism?

Inside Story - Can Trump Succeed in Ending the War in Afghanistan?

The US President has signalled more US troops will be sent to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. He said the United States was no longer “nation-building” and that America will “fight to win”.

Announcing his new strategy he singled out Pakistan, saying it must stop providing safe havens for those he calls terrorists. And he warned Islamabad it had much to lose if it didn't stop harbouring them.

Will the US president succeed in ending America's longest war where others have failed? | Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Shafiq Hamdam, former NATO Adviser; Ayaz Wazir, former Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan; Hardin Lang, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress

Pakistani Journalist: Why Is Trump Pushing For Failed Military Solution Instead of Diplomacy?

On Monday President Trump announced an escalation of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He also issued a warning to Afghanistan’s neighbor, Pakistan. President Trump went on to say that the U.S. would develop its strategic partnership with India, calling on the Modi government to help in Afghanistan. Observers say that the move might be a signal to Islamabad that the U.S. would back India in the struggle between the South Asian rivals, unless Pakistan severed ties with the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, one of its factions. For more we speak with Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi, editor of the national Pakistani newspaper The Daily Times and a professor at Cornell University and Ithaca College.

Donald Trump Hit Pakistan On Afghanistan War With Provocative Criticism | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's provocative criticism of Pakistan and the dearth of State Department officials in position to handle the diplomatic side of Trump's Afghanistan strategy.

Pakistan: Police Enforce Ramadan Fasting in Streets of Lahore

Plight of Christians in Pakistan

Pakistan: Islamists Angry at New Law against Forced Conversions

Pakistan Adopts New Law to Tackle Honour Killings

Pakistan's parliament has passed a law that increases penalties for people found guilty of so-called honour killings.

Pakistan's Imran Khan on the Taliban and Nawaz Sharif

We speak to the politician and we ask Bernie Sanders adviser, Jeffrey Sachs, if he will vote for Hillary Clinton.

Imran Khan on Women's Rights in Pakistan - UpFront

The murder of controversial Pakistani social media sensation, Qandeel Baloch, prompted much condemnation.

‪Christians Are Being Persecuted In Pakistan‬

Why I Became a Christian in Pakistan - Ex-Muslim Girl's Testimony

Pakistani Lawyer Files Petition for Return of Koh-i-noor Crown Jewels Diamond

The Koh-i-noor diamond is set in the state crown of Queen Mary,
consort of George V, and last worn by the Queen Mother.

THE GUARDIAN: Gem set in crown last worn by Queen’s mother belongs to Punjab province and was forcibly taken by British colonialists, says petitioner in Lahore

A lawyer in Pakistan has filed a court petition seeking the return of a diamond he says Britain forced India to hand over in colonial times.

Once the largest cut diamond in the world, the 105-carat Koh-i-noor is one of the crown jewels. It is set in a crown last worn by the Queen’s late mother during her coronation.

Lawyer Jawaid Iqbal Jafree filed the petition at the high court in Lahore on Wednesday naming Queen Elizabeth II as a respondent. The application asks that Britain hand back the diamond, now on display in the Tower of London.

India also has made regular requests for the jewel’s return, saying the Koh-i-noor is an integral part of the country’s history and culture. In 1850, Britain’s then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria. » | Reuters | Thursday, December 3, 2015

Pakistan's Hidden Shame

Sabeen Mehmud, Pakistani Women's Rights Activist, Shot Dead

Country’s prime minister condemns killing of campaigner after forum about disappearances of nationalists in Balochistan region

Read the Guardian article here | Jon Boone in Islamabad | Saturday, April 25, 2015

The Radical Cleric Building a Militia in the Heart of Islamabad

Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz shows religious books to the media
during a news conference in Islamabad on Friday.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Maulana Abdul Aziz, the cleric of the Red Mosque and one of the most dangerous men in Pakistan, tells the Telegraph if the country does not implement Islamic law, he and his followers “will solve it”.

He is one of the most dangerous men in Pakistan and is supposed to be in police detention.

Instead, as several thousand hardline Muslim worshippers knelt in prayer at the Red Mosque in the heart of Islamabad, the voice of Maulana Abdul Aziz called out over them defiantly.

Seven years ago, the radical cleric led heavily armed al-Qaeda gunmen in a bloody siege at the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid in Urdu, which left more than a hundred children, soldiers and militants dead.

The brutal denouement, including the killing of his brother and son, set off a wave of Taliban suicide bombings which struck at the heart of Pakistan's military establishment.

Now Pakistan’s intelligence services believe he is building a new militia, grabbing land for more madrassas and preparing for another tilt at forcing the country to adopt strict Islamic law. Eyewitnesses said they had seen 30 to 40 heavily armed men from the militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba inside the mosque.

Once again, he is a reminder that one of the West's most important allies against the forces of terror has a problem dealing with militant voices even in the middle of its own capital. In December, a Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for Aziz but the police have been unable to enforce it. “We are trying out best to implement it,” a police official said. » | Dean Nelson, Islamabad | Sunday, February 08, 2015