8:47 PM
Muhammad Zai Khan
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Alamzeb of PPP(Sherpao) killed in Charsadda
At least five people including Alamzeb Omarzai, a former MPA of the Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw assembly were killed in an attack this morning, Geo News reported Thursday.
Alamzeb belonged to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Sherpao group.
It should be mentioned that he worked as district nazim as well.
According to details, some unidentified miscreants opened fire at his vehicle near Charsadda Chawk in the limits of the Thana City, killing Alamzeb on the spot; while, four other people succumbed to injuries at hospital.
It is pertinent to note here that he was twice attacked earlier as well; however, this time, the saboteurs succeeded in killing him.
Alamzeb belonged to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Sherpao group.
It should be mentioned that he worked as district nazim as well.
According to details, some unidentified miscreants opened fire at his vehicle near Charsadda Chawk in the limits of the Thana City, killing Alamzeb on the spot; while, four other people succumbed to injuries at hospital.
It is pertinent to note here that he was twice attacked earlier as well; however, this time, the saboteurs succeeded in killing him.
Movement for Abaseen division gaining strength
The ‘Abaseen division movement’ is getting more strength after the approval of new name Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa for the province as lawmakers from the Pukhtun-dominated districts of Hazara along with those from Shangla in Malakand division will meet today to work out a strategy for streamlining their efforts for establishment of a separate division.
To devise future line of action, provincial assembly members from Battagram, Kohistan, Shangla and Kala Dhaka area of Oghi tehsil, Manshera district will meet today at a local hotel, confirmed the JUI-F MPA from Battagram Shah Hussain Khan while talking to The News.
He said the meeting would work out the modalities for the division such as finalising the place for divisional headquarters as well as to discuss the issue of the status of Kala Dhaka. The lawmaker said they had to decide about Kala Dhaka as the area was Pukhtun-dominated but was part of Manshera district.
To a question, he said the government had not contacted them yet and after today’s meeting they would apprise Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti about their demand.
He stressed that they had a genuine demand as the people of Battagram and Kohistan were facing immense hardships in coming to Abbottabad, the divisional headquarters of Hazara, as it was located at quite a long distance. Besides, the difference of language is also a major barrier in communication for the Pukhtuns of upper districts in the Hindko-speaking majority of Abbottabad.The confident Shah Hussain said that if their demand were met, their division would be the richest among all divisions of the province.
“The area is rich in forests, minerals and water as well,” he said, adding that three dams would be constructed in different areas including Allai dam and two others at Bisham and Kohistan.
He said that with the construction of these dams the area would definitely progress resulting in the welfare of the residents. He said they would apprise the provincial government about their decision and if the government paid no heed, the lawmakers of these areas would again submit a resolution in support of Abaseen division in the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Assembly.
When asked that the formation of new administrative unit in the province might provoke the people of Abbottabad and Haripur, he replied that they should not be the case, as it was their genuine right to ask for a separate division.
The meeting will be attended by Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Minister for Haj & Auqaf Namroz Khan, who was elected from Kala Dhaka, and MPAs Taj Mohammad Khan Tarand and Shah Hussain Khan from Battagram, Mahmood Alam, Maulana Obaidullah and Abdul Sattar Khan from Kohistan and Mohammad Zahir Shah Khan from Shangla. Fazlullah, another lawmaker from Shangla, has gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
To devise future line of action, provincial assembly members from Battagram, Kohistan, Shangla and Kala Dhaka area of Oghi tehsil, Manshera district will meet today at a local hotel, confirmed the JUI-F MPA from Battagram Shah Hussain Khan while talking to The News.
He said the meeting would work out the modalities for the division such as finalising the place for divisional headquarters as well as to discuss the issue of the status of Kala Dhaka. The lawmaker said they had to decide about Kala Dhaka as the area was Pukhtun-dominated but was part of Manshera district.
To a question, he said the government had not contacted them yet and after today’s meeting they would apprise Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti about their demand.
He stressed that they had a genuine demand as the people of Battagram and Kohistan were facing immense hardships in coming to Abbottabad, the divisional headquarters of Hazara, as it was located at quite a long distance. Besides, the difference of language is also a major barrier in communication for the Pukhtuns of upper districts in the Hindko-speaking majority of Abbottabad.The confident Shah Hussain said that if their demand were met, their division would be the richest among all divisions of the province.
“The area is rich in forests, minerals and water as well,” he said, adding that three dams would be constructed in different areas including Allai dam and two others at Bisham and Kohistan.
He said that with the construction of these dams the area would definitely progress resulting in the welfare of the residents. He said they would apprise the provincial government about their decision and if the government paid no heed, the lawmakers of these areas would again submit a resolution in support of Abaseen division in the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Assembly.
When asked that the formation of new administrative unit in the province might provoke the people of Abbottabad and Haripur, he replied that they should not be the case, as it was their genuine right to ask for a separate division.
The meeting will be attended by Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Minister for Haj & Auqaf Namroz Khan, who was elected from Kala Dhaka, and MPAs Taj Mohammad Khan Tarand and Shah Hussain Khan from Battagram, Mahmood Alam, Maulana Obaidullah and Abdul Sattar Khan from Kohistan and Mohammad Zahir Shah Khan from Shangla. Fazlullah, another lawmaker from Shangla, has gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
PAKHTOONS DEFINATION
As Abdul Ghani Khan spoke about Pakhtoons/Pashtuns/Pakhtuns:
The people I love, which makes my task harder than ever.
Pakhtuns, the simply amazing and amazingly simple people, are not easy to love. Pakhtun takes a lot of knowing. Pakhtun is the most complicated simplicity. I want to bring him down from the hills of Khyber and the plains of Hashtnager, face to face with you in his torn clothes and grass sandals, his eyes full of manliness, mirth and mischievous sprite, and his head full of infantile and noble pride - the paramount camouflage he uses to hide his desires
The people I love, which makes my task harder than ever.
Pakhtuns, the simply amazing and amazingly simple people, are not easy to love. Pakhtun takes a lot of knowing. Pakhtun is the most complicated simplicity. I want to bring him down from the hills of Khyber and the plains of Hashtnager, face to face with you in his torn clothes and grass sandals, his eyes full of manliness, mirth and mischievous sprite, and his head full of infantile and noble pride - the paramount camouflage he uses to hide his desires
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Pukhtoons are not terrorists
Pakistan is burning for the last few years in particular Pakhtoon belt. Not a single day passes with out any bomb blast, suicide attack, rocket firing & hand grenade being blasted or thrown on security forces.
There are many aspects to the recent blood shed in our beloved country but the US attacks on Bajur’s seminary couple of years back had been the profound reason behind this blood cycle & the Lal Masjid mayhem added fuel to fire as most of the victims of these assaults were Pakhtoons of tribal belt.
In order to get revenge of their beloved ones killed in tribal agencies & Lal Masjid the people here had different ideas & to be tactful we have to feel the grievances of these poor people.
Another important aspect of the recent suicide attacks is that these all were directed against security forces & it speaks lot about the intentions of these attacks.
Pakhtoons have voted for a progressive part in Feb. 18 elections which seemed to be absurd for many but it should not be so as Pakhtoons are moderate & broad minded people despite being targeted at many stages including our tribal belt & southern Afghanistan.
Pakistan can get rid of these all troubles in only way & that is to say good by to US war on terror & that is it. We can not afford fighting a foreign war in our home land. It should be clear to every one.
There are many aspects to the recent blood shed in our beloved country but the US attacks on Bajur’s seminary couple of years back had been the profound reason behind this blood cycle & the Lal Masjid mayhem added fuel to fire as most of the victims of these assaults were Pakhtoons of tribal belt.
In order to get revenge of their beloved ones killed in tribal agencies & Lal Masjid the people here had different ideas & to be tactful we have to feel the grievances of these poor people.
Another important aspect of the recent suicide attacks is that these all were directed against security forces & it speaks lot about the intentions of these attacks.
Pakhtoons have voted for a progressive part in Feb. 18 elections which seemed to be absurd for many but it should not be so as Pakhtoons are moderate & broad minded people despite being targeted at many stages including our tribal belt & southern Afghanistan.
Pakistan can get rid of these all troubles in only way & that is to say good by to US war on terror & that is it. We can not afford fighting a foreign war in our home land. It should be clear to every one.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
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FRONTIER GANDHI
This year marks the 75th anniversary of an unprecedented yet almost entirely unknown event in the history of nonviolent resistance. In the main square of the city of Peshawar, in modern day Pakistan, several hundred nonviolent Pashtun resisters were shot and killed by British-led troops as they peacefully protested the arrest of their leader, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as Badshah Khan to his followers, and later known in India as “the Frontier Gandhi.”
That they were gathered peacefully in the first place, unarmed, is astonishing in itself since these were Muslim Pashtun from the Northwest Frontier Province of India, members of one of the most violent tribal societies in the world. Khan had persuaded them to lay down their guns and knives and become members of his nonviolent army, the Khudai Khidmatgars, “Servants of God,” and join Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement against British rule.
Badshah Khan was born in 1890, a member of a wealthy and aristocratic Muslim family. Educated and inspired by British missionaries, he began opening schools among the impoverished and mostly illiterate Pashtun villagers of the Frontier Province while still in his early twenties. In 1919, he led demonstrat ions against British rule and was imprisoned for sedition for three years in unusually harsh conditions that almost broke his health. Undeterred, he continued devoting himself to education and reform work among the Pashtun, and claimed to have visited all 1000 villages over a period of about ten years.
Khan was a devout Muslim who claimed to draw his nonviolence directly from Islam. “There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pashtun like me subscribing to the creed of nonviolence,” he wrote. “It is not a new creed. It was followed fourteen hundred years ago by the Prophet all the time he was in Mecca, but we had so far forgotten it that when Gandhi placed it before us, we thought he was sponsoring a novel creed.”
In the late Twenties, after a long period of fasting and meditation, Khan came up with the idea of a “nonviolent army” of Pashtun tribesman who would renounce violence and the code of revenge deeply embedded in Pashtun society. They wore red military uniforms (and were called “Red Shirts”), took an oath foreswearing violence, retaliation and revenge, formed regiments, trained and drilled, and devoted themselves to village uplift, education and reform. When Gandhi declared Indian Independence in 1930, he ignited a massive civil disobedience movement across India in which thousands were jailed, beaten and some killed.
On the remote Northwest Frontier, the repression was far worse. The British regarded the Pashtun tribes as savages. They sealed the borders to the province and unleashed a campaign of violent repression unmatched during the civil disobedience movement. “Red Shirts” were publicly stripped and beaten (shades of Abu Ghraib), their property confiscated, their crops burnt. Through it all, they remained nonviolent. Some Khudai Khidmatgars chose suicide rather than allow themselves to be publicly humiliated. But repression only gathered more recruits to the cause. At its height, Khan’s Khudai Khidmatgars numbered more than 80,000.
On April 23rd, 1930, the British arrested Khan and a mass demonstration filled the main square of Peshawar to protest his arrest. In a moment of panic, British-led troops began firing into the crowd. In his study of nonviolence Gene Sharp, formerly of Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, describes the scene: “When those in front fell down wounded by the shots, those behind came forward with their breasts bared and exposed themselves to the fire one after another, and when they fell wounded they were dragged back and others came forward to be shot at. This state of things continued from 11 till 5 o’clock in the evening.” An estimated two to three hundred Pashtun were killed. One regiment of soldiers refused to fire on the unarmed Pashtun and were court-martial and sentenced to long prison terms.
But Khan’s nonviolent Pashtun army remained nonviolent. Even Gandhi found it remarkable: “That such men who would have killed a human being with no more thought than they would kill a chicken or hen should at the bidding of one man (Khan) have laid down their arms and accepted nonviolence as the superior weapon sounds almost like a fairy tale.”
When a truce was signed two years later, Indians were given the right to elect their own provincial governments for the first time. Khan’s brother, Dr. Khan Saheb became the first prime minister of the Northwest Frontier Province. Badshah Khan himself remained apolitical, choosing to focus on village reform. He became a close confidante of Gandhi’s and can be seen in many photos, the 6 foot 4 Khan towering over the diminutive Mahatma.
In his biography of Badshah Khan, Nonviolent Soldier of Islam (Nilgiri Press, 1995), Eknath Easwaran writes: “Badshah Khan based his life and work on the profound principle of nonviolence, raising an army of courageous men and women who translated it into action. Were his example better known, the world might come to recognize that the highest religious values of Islam are deeply compatible with a nonviolence that has the power to resolve conflicts even against heavy odds.”
India received its independence in 1947, and Khan’s province became part of Pakistan. His close ties to Gandhi and the Indian Congress Party aroused suspicions and his movement was suppressed. Khan himself served another fifteen years in prison for protesting various military dictatorships. In 1962 he became Amnesty International’s first “Prisoner of the Year” and was the first non-Indian to receive the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor. In 1985 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and died at home near Peshawar in 1988, at the age of 98, having served thirty years in prison.
That they were gathered peacefully in the first place, unarmed, is astonishing in itself since these were Muslim Pashtun from the Northwest Frontier Province of India, members of one of the most violent tribal societies in the world. Khan had persuaded them to lay down their guns and knives and become members of his nonviolent army, the Khudai Khidmatgars, “Servants of God,” and join Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement against British rule.
Badshah Khan was born in 1890, a member of a wealthy and aristocratic Muslim family. Educated and inspired by British missionaries, he began opening schools among the impoverished and mostly illiterate Pashtun villagers of the Frontier Province while still in his early twenties. In 1919, he led demonstrat ions against British rule and was imprisoned for sedition for three years in unusually harsh conditions that almost broke his health. Undeterred, he continued devoting himself to education and reform work among the Pashtun, and claimed to have visited all 1000 villages over a period of about ten years.
Khan was a devout Muslim who claimed to draw his nonviolence directly from Islam. “There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pashtun like me subscribing to the creed of nonviolence,” he wrote. “It is not a new creed. It was followed fourteen hundred years ago by the Prophet all the time he was in Mecca, but we had so far forgotten it that when Gandhi placed it before us, we thought he was sponsoring a novel creed.”
In the late Twenties, after a long period of fasting and meditation, Khan came up with the idea of a “nonviolent army” of Pashtun tribesman who would renounce violence and the code of revenge deeply embedded in Pashtun society. They wore red military uniforms (and were called “Red Shirts”), took an oath foreswearing violence, retaliation and revenge, formed regiments, trained and drilled, and devoted themselves to village uplift, education and reform. When Gandhi declared Indian Independence in 1930, he ignited a massive civil disobedience movement across India in which thousands were jailed, beaten and some killed.
On the remote Northwest Frontier, the repression was far worse. The British regarded the Pashtun tribes as savages. They sealed the borders to the province and unleashed a campaign of violent repression unmatched during the civil disobedience movement. “Red Shirts” were publicly stripped and beaten (shades of Abu Ghraib), their property confiscated, their crops burnt. Through it all, they remained nonviolent. Some Khudai Khidmatgars chose suicide rather than allow themselves to be publicly humiliated. But repression only gathered more recruits to the cause. At its height, Khan’s Khudai Khidmatgars numbered more than 80,000.
On April 23rd, 1930, the British arrested Khan and a mass demonstration filled the main square of Peshawar to protest his arrest. In a moment of panic, British-led troops began firing into the crowd. In his study of nonviolence Gene Sharp, formerly of Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, describes the scene: “When those in front fell down wounded by the shots, those behind came forward with their breasts bared and exposed themselves to the fire one after another, and when they fell wounded they were dragged back and others came forward to be shot at. This state of things continued from 11 till 5 o’clock in the evening.” An estimated two to three hundred Pashtun were killed. One regiment of soldiers refused to fire on the unarmed Pashtun and were court-martial and sentenced to long prison terms.
But Khan’s nonviolent Pashtun army remained nonviolent. Even Gandhi found it remarkable: “That such men who would have killed a human being with no more thought than they would kill a chicken or hen should at the bidding of one man (Khan) have laid down their arms and accepted nonviolence as the superior weapon sounds almost like a fairy tale.”
When a truce was signed two years later, Indians were given the right to elect their own provincial governments for the first time. Khan’s brother, Dr. Khan Saheb became the first prime minister of the Northwest Frontier Province. Badshah Khan himself remained apolitical, choosing to focus on village reform. He became a close confidante of Gandhi’s and can be seen in many photos, the 6 foot 4 Khan towering over the diminutive Mahatma.
In his biography of Badshah Khan, Nonviolent Soldier of Islam (Nilgiri Press, 1995), Eknath Easwaran writes: “Badshah Khan based his life and work on the profound principle of nonviolence, raising an army of courageous men and women who translated it into action. Were his example better known, the world might come to recognize that the highest religious values of Islam are deeply compatible with a nonviolence that has the power to resolve conflicts even against heavy odds.”
India received its independence in 1947, and Khan’s province became part of Pakistan. His close ties to Gandhi and the Indian Congress Party aroused suspicions and his movement was suppressed. Khan himself served another fifteen years in prison for protesting various military dictatorships. In 1962 he became Amnesty International’s first “Prisoner of the Year” and was the first non-Indian to receive the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor. In 1985 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and died at home near Peshawar in 1988, at the age of 98, having served thirty years in prison.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
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Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (right) along with Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Vasantdada Patil (left) arriving to attend a reception party, at Santa Cruz airport in Bombay on October 01, 1969
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (centre) returning the garland offered to him at a Pakhtoon rally, organized by the Maharashtra Pakhtoon Jigre 'e' Hindi, in Bombay on January 11, 1970.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (centre) returning the garland offered to him at a Pakhtoon rally, organized by the Maharashtra Pakhtoon Jigre 'e' Hindi, in Bombay on January 11, 1970.
Blast at Anp really
TIMER GIRAH: At least 41 were killed and more than 80 injured in a blast at a public rally of Awami National Party (ANP) in Timer Girah Tehsil of Lower Dir.
Relief teams including ambulances and Bomb Disposal Squad were dispatched towards blast site. The injured are being shifted to the nearby hospitals. The local people started relief work on self-help basis.
It should be mentioned the blast occurred at a public gathering of Awami National Party (ANP) being held in connection with Yaum-e-Tashakkur after the name of the province changed to Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw. The Party kept its program secret.
The security personnel before long arrived on the spot and cordoned off the affected area.
No report about the nature of the blast has yet been received.
The blast occurred near a police check post and a passport office in the main bazaar.
Emergency has been declared in all hospitals in the area. The hospital sources confirmed the killings of at least six people and the number may rise still further and injuries to several others.
Relief teams including ambulances and Bomb Disposal Squad were dispatched towards blast site. The injured are being shifted to the nearby hospitals. The local people started relief work on self-help basis.
It should be mentioned the blast occurred at a public gathering of Awami National Party (ANP) being held in connection with Yaum-e-Tashakkur after the name of the province changed to Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw. The Party kept its program secret.
The security personnel before long arrived on the spot and cordoned off the affected area.
No report about the nature of the blast has yet been received.
The blast occurred near a police check post and a passport office in the main bazaar.
Emergency has been declared in all hospitals in the area. The hospital sources confirmed the killings of at least six people and the number may rise still further and injuries to several others.
