Good news for DEAD people(murdoo kay lyeen khush khabri)

Taliban one Frankenstein

                                                     Taliban: 

                                                         A Frankenstein(Monster)

Veil on the intellect of Men

 An eye opener.

Veil on the intellect of Men

Today, we are celebrating all around the world ‘the day of veil’. First of all, llama Yusuf Allah kirzori introduced it in 2004 during a conference held in London. There almost three hundred participants presented in it. It was an opportunity for all Muslim ladies to celebrate Islamic culture and traditions. There has been some propaganda against veil especially from some western countries against it. Without going to be prejudiced, one should know about its reality and truth. It may be controversial in many terms even in our own society and various religious sectors. However, a historical and cultural aspect of Islamic history regarding veil can give us righteous guidance and reality about it.

The literal meaning of ‘hijab’ is covering body, observe veil. However, what should be the veil and how much is bit controversial and not ubiquitous among Muslims. Some of them have strict concept of veil especially for women and young ladies particularly about veil on face. Some of them follow a lenient way of veil in which face is not covered in complete and woman or girl can be identified by viewing. However, the main idea behind veil is sacredness and purity of intentions in order to not to provoke sensations to opposite sex.

The culture and religion are two separate things that should not be mixed. As in various Islamic countries, dress of people and code for the sacredness of dress various from each country. For example, most of Pakistani women and girls don’t cover their faces but cover their bodies and head with variety of clothes. On the other hand, Muslim women in Saudi Arabia used to cover their faces up to nose. Sometimes their eyes are also covered with clothes. It is due to the fact that in Arabic culture veil is strictly followed due to tribal customs and according to their own environment. It is same as men in desert covered their faces because of dust in the desert can spread over their faces. So it was a tribal or environmental requirement which should not be mixed up with religion. So every culture can follow their own dress codes by following Islamic beliefs and customs. However, the spirit of Islam should be there. That is the only limitation. In other words, the real teaching of Islam should not be affected while following our own cultural traditions and customs. Islam does not mean Arabic culture.

Islam does not stop anyone to hide her or his identity. The main spirit behind veil is promoted humanity, respect and peaceful gender environment among society. Otherwise it can turn into an animal kingdom where no one pays respect to women. It is essential to preserve their sanctity and respect by covering them into veil.

By Mazhar Shahzad

Bahawalpur.

Pakistan ki choti si kahani

There was one village where everyone is looter and corrupt. Everyone cheated everyone. The person who was expert in looting and corruption stood in high ranks. All the state of affairs was very poor. Economy was going down day by day. The village chief was also a renowned smuggler. He didn’t take care of his people as well. However, he wanted to remain in safe heaven. All the people blame their leader for his corruption, but also busy in looting others from vendor to leader.

One person came from masjid’  mosque. He said that I will improve the state of affairs by advising them good deeds, but in return I wanted to be a chief. As the God advised me to take control of power, so you have to give me powers to enforce his commands. The offer was rejected. Second person who spread news to the residents came and claimed that he can improve everything, but needs a lion share in chief‘s wealth. Similarly, the offer was turned down.

Third person was guard. He said that I m eligible to improve everything , but i need share in every good place of the village or allow him and his man to get money from every person to get his share in reward of his services. Chief was sharp enough and ask three people to show their powers by extracting money from the people by hook or crook. The three people start fighting one another as well as start looting people. The people were in misery. They ask chief to handover their territory to some other state, but he didn’t ready as he said that looters should be from our own people. At least money will remain in the hands of our own people not in the hands of the other people.

 Finally, guard came forward and claimed the he s nobler than chief as his name has noble words and captured the chief and took over the territory. Finally, all the people were on the roads and chanting slogans. ‘Tum jeeto ya haroo humain tum say pyar hay’. Either you lose or win, we love you. Also the advisor came forward and chanting slogan in favor of the guard.tum jeeo ya maroo humain tum say pyar hay’ either you live or die, we love you. Religious man also clamouring.tum janat mein jao ya jahanum mein humain tum say pyar hay’ either you go to hell or heaven, we love you. Guess the story which territory was that place in the world?                                       By Mazhar Shahzad Rao

Analysis: Time to retaliate with full force

KARACHI:  The terrorists have struck again. The blast in Kissa Khawani bazaar is the third major terrorist attack in the last week. Should the current trend continue and our government remains as indecisive, wavering and hesitant, we may see many more innocent lives lost at the hands of these terrorists.

There are only two real alternatives to the war that we fight against terror, both of which are unpleasant. Negotiate with these terrorists, who continue to murder innocents and refuse to renounce violence, or wage an all-out war against them.
Talking peace with the Taliban has taken us nowhere. All serious security analyses validate the bankruptcy of negotiating peace with Taliban as the favoured option of our state. The benchmark for those against peace talks with the Taliban is the failure of several such efforts in the past. Those still optimistic about negotiations should look at the seriousness with which these terrorists have responded to the government’s desire for peace from an all-encompassing political front – the all parties conference.
As far as waging an all-out war against the terrorists is concerned, our security establishment seems to consider it as an irresponsible choice, which entails killing our own countrymen. But are these terrorists not taking lives of innocent people, our own people on a daily basis? Where is the state response? Why is the state so reluctant to make a choice? Is it the cost and fear of implementing a high risk political and military strategy that ties our hands?
It’s time we stopped appeasing and misguiding the people of this country by our procrastinated acts of policy formulation. It’s time for policy implementation. If there was any seriousness in our approach to the national security, our anti-terrorism policy should have been on the table by now, jumpstarting the state’s response against the murderers of our people.
The army may also exercise restraint to a point. It cannot wait eternally for the democratically elected government to seek a ‘responsible end’ to this war. Although the army has pursued peace talks in the past, it realises now that this policy has failed.
The army understands that the Taliban and its many factions don’t understand the language of peace. It has for long believed that these ideological crusaders, emboldened by the reluctance of our political leadership to own this war, have in their minds the grand design of state control.
The fact that the Taliban remain resurgent, that the army has suffered huge losses in this war and that it cannot pull out its troops deployed on the western frontier means that there can only be one responsible end to this war and that is taking the war to the militants. The army knows that history will eventually judge it not for how it practised neutrality as democracy took root in the country but for how it fought when national security was threatened. The onus of responsibility on the army becomes ever enlarged when it knows that the tragedy that this nation suffers has got everything to do with the blatant mistakes committed by its own military leaders in the past.
The army’s current strategy for fighting terrorists is to keep hardening their targets while they select new soft ones. A decade of disjointed civil-military effort has only allowed terrorists to hammer us at will at times and places of their choosing. It is almost as if they are sure that the state would do nothing beyond fighting this as a defensive war.
Our preventive measures, no matter how secure, will never stop the determined terrorists. There are too many targets and there is too less money to harden all of them. Mosques, churches, hotels, schools, military establishments – we have tried to safely protect all of them. Yet the terrorists keep shifting to new targets.
We need to make a choice and make it now. Terrorists must be deterred through the fear of state retaliation and punishment.

Who Are the Taliban?

Their history and their resurgence

by Laura Hayes, Borgna Brunner, and Beth Rowen

Infoplease Atlas: Afghanistan Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef seated in front of Taliban militia members. Source/AP Photos If a man fears death, he will accept fever. —Afghan proverb Related Links Timeline: The Taliban Who's Who In Afghanistan Afghanistan Primer Profile: Afghanistan Afghan War September 11: People in the News Remembering September 11 Osama bin Laden Al-Qaeda International Terrorism

For more on the Taliban see Timeline: The Taliban.
The Taliban ("Students of Islamic Knowledge Movement") ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001. They came to power during Afghanistan's long civil war. Although they managed to hold 90% of the country's territory, their policies—including their treatment of women and support of terrorists—ostracized them from the world community. The Taliban was ousted from power in December 2001 by the U.S. military and Afghani opposition forces in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the U.S.

The Taliban's rise to power

The Taliban are one of the mujahideen ("holy warriors" or "freedom fighters") groups that formed during the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-89). After the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Soviet-backed government lost ground to the mujahideen. In 1992, Kabul was captured and an alliance of mujahideen set up a new government with Burhanuddin Rabbani as interim president. However, the various factions were unable to cooperate and fell to fighting each other. Afghanistan was reduced to a collection of territories held by competing warlords.
Groups of taliban ("religious students") were loosely organized on a regional basis during the occupation and civil war. Although they represented a potentially huge force, they didn't emerge as a united entity until the taliban of Kandahar made their move in 1994. In late 1994, a group of well-trained taliban were chosen by Pakistan to protect a convoy trying to open a trade route from Pakistan to Central Asia. They proved an able force, fighting off rival mujahideen and warlords. The taliban then went on to take the city of Kandahar, beginning a surprising advance that ended with their capture of Kabul in September 1996.

Afghanistan under the Taliban

The Taliban's popularity with the Afghan people surprised the country's other warring factions. Many Afghans, weary of conflict and anarchy, were relieved to see corrupt and often brutal warlords replaced by the devout Taliban, who had some success in eliminating corruption, restoring peace, and allowing commerce to resume.
The Taliban, under the direction of Mullah Muhammad Omar, brought about this order through the institution of a very strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Public executions and punishments (such as floggings) became regular events at Afghan soccer stadiums. Frivolous activities, like kite-flying, were outlawed. In order to root out "non-Islamic" influence, television, music, and the Internet were banned. Men were required to wear beards, and subjected to beatings if they didn't.
Most shocking to the West was the Taliban's treatment of women. When the Taliban took Kabul, they immediately forbade girls to go to school. Moreover, women were barred from working outside the home, precipitating a crisis in healthcare and education. Women were also prohibited from leaving their home without a male relative—those that did so risked being beaten, even shot, by officers of the "ministry for the protection of virtue and prevention of vice." A woman caught wearing fingernail polish may have had her fingertips chopped off. All this, according to the Taliban, was to safeguard women and their honor.
In contrast to their strict beliefs, the Taliban profited from smuggling operations (primarily electronics) and opium cultivation. Eventually they bowed to international pressure and cracked down on cultivation and by July 2000 were able to claim that they had cut world opium production by two-thirds. Unfortunately, the crackdown on opium also abruptly deprived thousands of Afghans of their only source of income.
Although the Taliban managed to re-unite most of Afghanistan, they were unable to end the civil war. Nor did they improve the conditions in cities, where access to food, clean water, and employment actually declined during their rule. A continuing drought and a very harsh winter (2000–2001) brought famine and increased the flow of refugees to Pakistan.

Cultural and religious basis for the Taliban

In the context of Afghan history, the rise of the Taliban—though not their extremism—is unsurprising.
Afghanistan is a devoutly Muslim nation—90% of its population are Sunni Muslims (other Afghan Muslims are Sufis or Shiites). Religious schools were established in Afghanistan after Islam arrived in the seventh century and taliban became an important part of the social fabric: running schools, mosques, shrines, and various religious and social services, and serving as mujahideen when necessary.
Most of the Taliban's leaders were educated in Pakistan, in refugee camps where they had fled with millions of other Afghans after the Soviet invasion. Pakistan's Jami'at-e 'Ulema-e Islam (JUI) political party provided welfare services, education, and military training for refugees in many of these camps. They also established religious schools in the Deobandi tradition.
The Deobandi tradition originated as a reform movement in British India with the aim of rejuvenating Islamic society in a colonial state, and remained prevalent in Pakistan after the partition from India. The Deobandi schools in Afghan refugee camps, however, are often run by inexperienced and semi-literate mullahs. In addition, funds and scholarships provided by Saudi Arabia during the occupation brought the schools' curricula closer to the conservative Wahhabi tradition. Ties between the Taliban and these schools remain strong: when the Taliban were defeated in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif one of Pakistan's largest religious schools shut down for a month and sent thousands of students to Afghanistan as reinforcements.
While the Taliban present themselves as a reform movement, they have been criticized by Islamic scholars as being poorly educated in Islamic law and history—even in Islamic radicalism, which has a long history of scholarly writing and debate. Their implementation of Islamic law seems to be a combination of Wahhabi orthodoxy (i.e., banning of musical instruments) and tribal custom (i.e., the all-covering birka made mandatory for all Afghan women).

The opposition

Afghanistan's civil war continued until the end of 2001. The Taliban's strongest opposition came from the Northern Alliance, which held the Northeast corner of the country (about 10% of Afghanistan). The Northern Alliance comprises numerous anti-Taliban factions and is nominally led by exiled president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Generally, the factions break down according to religion and ethnicity. While the Taliban is made up mostly Sunni Muslim Pashtuns (also referred to as Pathans), the Northern Alliance includes Tajiks, Hazara, Uzbeks, and Turkmen. The Hazara, and some other smaller ethnic groups, are Shiites. The Ismaili community, which suffered in Taliban-occupied areas, also supports the Northern Alliance.
Although the Taliban called for a negotiated end to the civil war, they continued to mount new offensives. In September 2001, the leader of the Northern Alliance, Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, died from wounds suffered in a suicide bombing, allegedly carried out by al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization with close ties to the Taliban.

The Taliban against the world

The Taliban regime faced international scrutiny and condemnation for its policies. Only Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut diplomatic ties with the Taliban.
The Taliban allowed terrorist organizations to run training camps in their territory and, from 1994 to at least 2001, provided refuge for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization. The relationship between the Taliban and bin Laden was close, even familial—bin Laden fought with the mujahideen, has financed the Taliban, and one of his daughters is reportedly married to Mullah Muhammad Omar. The United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions, UNSCR 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000), demanding that the Taliban cease their support for terrorism and hand over bin Laden for trial.
The Taliban recognized the need for international ties but wavered between cooperation—they claimed to have drastically cut opium production in July 2000—and defiance—they pointedly ignored international pleas not to destroy the 2000-year-old Buddhist statues of Bamian. However, they made no effort to curb terrorist activity within Afghanistan, a policy that ultimately led to their undoing.
Even after their ouster, the Taliban's brand of Islamist radicalism threatens to destabilize other countries in the region including Iran, China, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. The Taliban's relationship with Pakistan is especially problematic. A high percentage of the Taliban are ethnic Pashtuns; Pashtuns are a sizable minority in Pakistan and dominate the Pakistani military. Public support for the Taliban runs very high in the Pashtun North-West Frontier province where pro-Taliban groups have held uprisings and sought to emulate Taliban practices by performing public executions and oppressing women.

The end of the Taliban?

In September, 2001, the U.S. placed significant pressure on the Taliban to turn over bin Laden and al-Qaeda in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. On October 7, after the Taliban refused to give up bin Laden, the U.S. began bombing Taliban military sites and aiding the Northern Alliance. By November 21, the Taliban had lost Kabul and by December 9 had been completely routed.
An interim government was agreed upon by representatives of Afghanistan's various factions during talks held in Bonn, Germany. On December 22, 2001, Hamid Karzai, an Afghan tribal leader, was sworn in as interim chairman of the government. Karzai initially supported the Taliban and is respected by many former Taliban leaders. In January 2002, the Taliban recognized the interim government.

The Taliban's Resurgence

While many of the Taliban's most radical leaders and supporters were killed, taken prisoner, or fled the country, many former Taliban returned to their homes and continue to work for the Taliban's goals. The Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, has continued to elude capture.
In 2003, after the United States shifted its military efforts to fighting the war in Iraq, attacks on American-led forces intensified as the Taliban and al-Qaeda began to regroup. President Hamid Karzai's hold on power remained tenuous, as entrenched warlords continued to exert regional control. Remarkably, however, Afghanistan's first democratic presidential elections in Oct. 2004 were a success. Ten million Afghans, more than a third of the country, registered to vote, including more than 40% of eligible women. Despite the Taliban's threats to kill anyone who participated, the polls were reasonably peaceful and the elections deemed fair by international observers.
In 2005 and 2006, the Taliban continued its resurgence, and 2006 became the deadliest year of fighting since the 2001 war. Throughout the spring, Taliban militants infiltrated southern Afghanistan, terrorizing villagers and attacking Afghan and U.S. troops. In May and June, Operation Mount Thrust was launched, deploying more than 10,000 Afghan and coalition forces to the south. In Aug. 2006, NATO troops took over military operations in southern Afghanistan from the U.S.-led coalition, which put a total of 21,000 American troops and 19,000 NATO troops on the ground. In September NATO launched the largest attack in its 57-year history. About 2,000—the vast majority Taliban fighters—were killed in military operations during the year.
In September 2006, Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf signed a controversial peace agreement with seven militant groups, who call themselves the "Pakistan Taliban." Pakistan's army agreed to withdraw from the area and allow the Taliban to govern themselves, as long as they promise no incursions into Afghanistan or against Pakistani troops. Critics say the deal handed terrorists a secure base of operations; supporters counter that a military solution against the Taliban is futile and will only spawn more militants, contending that containment is the only practical policy.
The Taliban rescinded the cease-fire in July 2007 after clashes between government troops and radical Islamist clerics and students at Islamabad's Red Mosque. After the initial violence, the military laid seige to the mosque, which held nearly 2,000 students. Several students escaped or surrendered to officials. The mosque's senior cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz was caught by officials when attempting to escape. After negotiations between government officials and mosque leaders failed, troops stormed the compound and killed Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who took over as chief of the mosque after the capture of Aziz, his brother. More than 80 people died in the violence. Fighting in remote tribal areas intensified after the raid.
In 2008, after more than five years as Afghanistan's leader, President Hamid Karzai still has only marginal control over large swaths of his country, which is rife with warlords, militants, and drug smugglers. The Taliban now funds its insurgency through the drug trade. An August 2007 report by the United Nations found that Afghanistan's opium production doubled in two years and that the country supplies 93% of the world's heroin.
In February 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Robert Gates warned NATO members that the threat of an al-Qaeda attack on their soil is real and that they must commit more troops to stabilize Afghanistan and counter the growing power of both al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
In August 2008, the Pakistani military launched a three-week-long cross-border air assault into Afghanistan's Bajaur region, which resulted in more than 400 Taliban casualties. The continuous airstrikes forced many al-Qaeda and Taliban militants to retreat from towns formally under their control. However, the Pakistani government declared a cease-fire in the Bajaur region for the month of September in observance of Ramadan, raising fears that the Taliban will use the opportunity to regroup.
Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, was killed by a C.I.A. drone strike in August 2009 in South Waziristan, a remote region of the country. He was blamed for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the terrorist attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, and dozens of other suicide bombings. Despite his death, the Taliban continued its resurgence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009. In fact, the Taliban was blamed for the violence that led up to August's presidential election in Afghanistan, an apparent attempt to disrupt the elections and further destabilize the country.
The Taliban continued its attacks on government targets and U.S. and NATO troops into 2013. As the U.S. was preparing to withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the Pentagon released a report in late 2012 that said, "The Taliban-led insurgency remains adaptive and determined, and retains the capability to emplace substantial numbers of I.E.D.s and to conduct isolated high-profile attacks."
In June 2013, The Taliban opened an office in Doha, Qatar, and its representatives held a press conference with an international media contingent. The U.S. said it would begin long-delayed peace talks with the group. Afghanistan was expected to do the same, but instead said it would not engage in any dialogue with the Taliban, saying such discussions lent the militants credibility

Read more: The Taliban | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/taliban.html#ixzz2sF8CQsRz

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