Pakistani Boat Seized Harami Nala

Pakistani Boat Seized From Harami Nala Area Of Gujarat’s Kutch

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday seized one abandoned Pakistani fishing boat from the ‘Harami Nala’ creek area near Bhuj in Kutch of Gujarat, along the India-Pakistan maritime boundary, the force said.

The boat was found from “Harami Nala’ around 6 am by BSF personnel who were patrolling in the area, a BSF official said.
Some ice boxes, jerry cans, and fishing nets were seized by the BSF personnel. However, the men on the boat managed to flee towards the Pakistani side.

“We seized a Pakistani fishing boat from ‘Harami Nala’ in Kutch of Gujarat, around 6 am. A few people were seen on the boat, but they jumped into the water and swam towards the Pakistan side. “Icebox, jerry can, and fishing net have been seized by the BSF personnel from the abandoned boat,” the BSF official told ANI.

The Pakistani fishermen often flee to their side abandoning their boats after spotting BSF patrol units.

The authorities have barred Indian fishermen from entering the creek area, however, Pakistani fishermen enter the Indian side to catch fish.

The ‘Harami Nala’ is also known as the Sir Creek area. The area is a 22 km long and approximately 8 km wide marshy patch that is navigable most of the time.

Earlier in June this year, the BSF had seized three Pakistani boats from ‘Harami Nala’.

In May too, the BSF apprehended over nine Pakistani fishermen and seized a similar number of Pakistani fishing boats in different operations. (ANI)

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Pakistan As International Terror: Jaishankar

India Sees IT as Info Tech, Pakistan As International Terror: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan, said that just as India is an expert in information technology, “our neighbor is an expert in international terrorism” and warned that if terrorism is “being done against us, tomorrow it will be done against you.”

“We have a neighbor.. like we are experts in IT (information technology), they’re experts in “international terrorists.” It’s been going on for years. But we could explain to the world that terrorism is terrorism; today it’s being done against us, tomorrow it will be done against you, “Jaishankar said at an event in Gujarat’s Vadodara.

He pointed out that now the world’s understanding of terrorism has changed as compared to earlier times and it is not tolerating it anymore. “Countries using terrorism are under pressure and are further reluctant,” Jaishankar added.

Speaking on terrorist incidents in northeast India, Jaishankar said that in recent years, these activities have been reduced because India could achieve a land boundary agreement with Bangladesh in 2015. That agreement “stopped extremists from getting shelter in Bangladesh, which stopped their operations in northeast India,” the EAM noted.

Jaishankar on Saturday also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not yield to the pressure amid the soaring oil prices and advised that India must do what is best for the nation and if pressure comes, then face it head on.

“Due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, petrol prices doubled.” We had pressure from where to buy the oil, but PM Modi and the government were of the view that we’ve to do what is best for our nation and if pressure comes, then we should face it, “Jaishankar said in Gujarat’s Vadodara.”

During the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said PM Modi called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a ceasefire for some time so that we could safely evacuate our students.

It is pertinent to note that India has constantly called on Russia and Ukraine to end the war and choose dialogue and diplomacy.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar visited Laxmi Vilas Palace in Gujarat and said that he is “privileged” to see the Raja Ravi Verma painting collection with the 52 foreign ambassadors and high commissioners.

“Pleasure to join 52 Ambassadors and High Commissioners on a visit to Laxmi Vilas Palace. Was a particular privilege to see the Raja Ravi Verma painting collection with them,” Jaishankar tweeted on Saturday.

After meeting delegates and ambassadors of several countries, Jashankar said, “It is a matter of pride that we have come here with officials of different countries.” As the Navratri festival is on, they will spend the day enjoying festivities. They are excited to see the development here.

Jaishankar also took to Twitter and said he looks forward to participating in the celebrations tonight.

The External Affairs Minister is in Gujarat for the Navratri celebrations. Today marks the sixth day of Navratri, and devotees across the country will worship Goddess Katyayani, the sixth incarnation of Maa Durga.

Also known as Mahishasurmardini, Maa Katyayani killed the demon Mahishasura. She is regarded as one of the most violent forms of Maa Durga. She is four-armed and rides a lion. (ANI)

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Dengue Outbreak In Pakistan

Dengue Outbreak In Pakistan, Cases Exceed 30,000 This Year

Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad, reported 104 more dengue cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 30,267 in the country this year, local media reported, citing the Islamabad District Health Officer (DHO), on Saturday.

The federal capital has reported 2,435 cases in the current season, with an overall of 1,379 dengue cases have been reported in rural and 952 emerged from urban areas of Islamabad, ARY News reported.
The rising cases of dengue in Pakistan have claimed 68 lives so far this year, while the total cases have reached 30,267.

In the federal capital, the total cases have gone up to 2,435 while six people lost their lives to the viral disease in the current year. As per the sources, Sindh reported the most cases and deaths, ARY News reported.

Over 9,496 dengue cases, and 37 people were reported dead in Sindh. Punjab reported 6,564 cases, and 18 people lost lives to the virus. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 8,070 cases and seven deaths, while Balochistan reported at least 3,402 dengue cases.

As districts in Pakistan continue to be affected by massive monsoon rainfall and unprecedented levels of flooding, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of significant public health threats facing affected populations, including the risk of further water spread and vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, ARY News reported.

The country is continuing to report more and more dengue virus cases daily, with panic and fear spreading among the public as a shortage of fever medicines has also surfaced.

Adding to the catastrophic situation, the fumigation drive was halted because the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) ran out of fuel, sources said.

Sources told ARY News that the fumigation drive was halted due to the non-availability of petrol and diesel for the past four days.

Record monsoon and heavy floods in Pakistan have given rise to hunger and various illnesses which have affected 33 million people and the experts believe that the situation would aggravate in the coming days as the flood affectees are forced to live under the sky depriving the required resources.

Around 888 health facilities have been damaged in the country, of which 180 are completely damaged, leaving millions of people lacking access to health care and medical treatment, as reported in many affected districts.

Pakistan receives heavy — often destructive — rains during its annual monsoon season, which is crucial for agriculture and water supplies. But the heavy downpour this year has created havoc in the country, while rapidly melting glaciers in the north have for months heaped pressure on waterways.

Huge areas of the country are still underwater and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Pakistan is facing one of the worst flooding events in its history. The human and socio-economic toll is expected to increase as flood levels continue to rise, with immense pressure on the country’s dams. (ANI)

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India Pakistan World Cup Fixture

Why Peace Remains Elusive In Indo-Pak Relations

On Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s 115th birth anniversary last week, his life and death for an undivided India’s freedom, and that he is revered on both sides of the India-Pakistan divide were recalled. But save such sentiments shared by minuscule sections, little is left to work on building good-neighbourly relations.

One people for centuries, they became two adversarial ‘sides’ 75 years ago. Separation resolved nothing; it only deepened the crevices. Unwilling to forget the past, and unable to deal with the present, they are trapped in a cul-de-sac and unable to move forward to that goal.

The sad thing is that once you begin exploring prospects of improving the perennially tense relations, you run into innumerable obstacles and imponderables.

As one sees Pakistan posturing for peaceful ties in diplomatic forums, this is yet another moment. Everyone knows that the current government has neither the mandate nor the pull with the military, to smoke the peace pipe. The all-powerful force where the buck stops is clueless about how to resolve the problems it created by playing favourites, and has conceded space to the squabbling politicians.

Aware that this is the neighbour’s weak moment, India is simply not interested. That has long been its stance. For every Pakistani salvo on Kashmir, India returns the terrorism charge. To every charge of the ‘Hindutva’ campaign, India points to the ill-treatment of Pakistan’s minorities. India’s undeclared goal is to make hay while the sun is not shining on the neighbour.

Social media talks of a contrast. The 4,500-year old drainage system of Mohen Jo Daro in the Indus Valley efficiently disposed of the rain and flood waters when a third of Pakistan was under water. But three Chinese companies gather and dispose of garbage in modern-day Karachi, nicknamed ‘Venice of Sewage’.

What about the flooding of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and other Indian cities? Actually, we are sailing in the same boat that is stuck in sewage. Climate change is hurting both, but they are bogged down in old, divisive issues, unable to discuss such common threats and address them jointly.

Amidst constant diplomatic wrangling, there’s a déjà vu. Like it did in the 1980s, India has protested the $450 million US dole to Pakistan for the “sustainment and support” of the F-16 combat aircraft. It did not work then and it is unlikely to work now.

The sale in that Cold War era was meant to shore up Pakistan’s defences against India. That fig leaf is not available in the radically changed geopolitical situation. Instead, Washington now insists that the aircraft are meant for counter-terrorism. India’s S Jaishankar said: “At the end of the day, for someone to say I am doing it because it is for counterterrorism when you are talking of an aircraft of the capability of an F-16, everyone knows where they are deployed, what is its use, what is its capability. You are not fooling anybody by saying these things.”

Does Anthony Blinken really believe what he says? With changed equations, India sees itself as a bigger US ally, but the latter has always drawn the line at the India-Pakistan border. India is an ally against China only in East and Southeast Asia. That is unlikely to change since the US continues to woo Pakistan to keep it away from China.

ALSO READ: Naya Pakistan, Old Script, Chronic Crisis

Diplomacy can be brazen. Both India and Pakistan must now await its subtle strokes. Like earlier American administrations, particularly the Democratic one, Biden also wants India and Pakistan to talk. But the two are in no mood. In anticipation of this, like two boxers in the ring hitting out before the bell rings, there was no ‘adaab’ from Shehbaz Sharif, nor an extended hand from Narendra Modi at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Unsurprisingly, while the two committed themselves to peace, the Kashmir-versus-terrorism drill also played out at the UN General Assembly.

India’s approach has unanimity – the political opposition is afraid to even utter the word Pakistan for fear of annoying the ultra-nationalists. Pakistan’s stance is also well-calibrated. Shehbaz listed Kashmir as the Number One issue — he can’t afford to miss. His brother Nawaz suffered when he skipped it at Sharm el-Sheikh in 2009.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told a French TV network that India had not helped in fighting floods, “nor was there any expectation.” Surely, Modi telephoned Shehbaz to empathize but did not offer any help the way India does to countries far and near that are hit by natural calamities.

Doubly assuming that the offer was made and Pakistan accepted, it would have caused controversies. Modi would have been accused of feeding the ‘enemy’. Shehbaz had to be careful. Damned for having ‘surrendered’ to a “Hindutva driven” India, he would have gifted a missile to Imran Khan, who wants a snap poll, whatever happens to Pakistan. He has added ‘war’ to his set of issues that would not deter his campaign. War against whom?

There are always “fringe elements” thriving with official or tacit support from the powerful. Amidst global appeals for help and inviting the likes of UN Secretary-General and Angelina Jolie, tomatoes imported from Iran were destroyed by Sunni militants, in full public view, because they were ‘Shia’ produce.

Like ‘fringe’ elements in India shouting “go to Pakistan” to anyone they disagree with, the India angle is strong in Pakistan as well. Imran Khan – and he is not a “fringe element” – playing to the political gallery, has accused the Sharifs of trying to reach “a secret understanding” with India to “promote their business interest.”

Khan and Pakistan’s elite with farming backgrounds do not appreciate this, but there is something about the Sharifs that Indians find easier to work with. The Lahore summit and the unscheduled Modi visit at a Sharif event in 2015 indicate this.

How does one talk trade when that word is anathema? Pakistan Army chief General Javed Bajwa does not say it anymore. In March 2021, he stirred a debate by stressing geo-economics. Among other things, the “Bajwa Doctrine” recommended restoring peace within by putting down various internal insurgencies, reviving economic growth, and reconciling with the neighbours. Analysts thought this was a radical change in the Pakistan Army’s stance. Taking the cue, the commerce ministry decided to resume trade with India.

But the Khan Government annulled it. Sections of the business community saw a win-win situation in bilateral trade, even working to Pakistan’s advantage. But they have been ignored. Nobody in Pakistan has bothered to explain why the “Bajwa Doctrine” was junked, and India couldn’t care less.

Last but not the least, both have electoral compulsions – there will always be. Politicians on both sides indulge in this profitable pastime in the name of democracy, despite Covid, calamities, and constraints on the economy. And ‘war’, if you note Imran Khan’s resolve.

One of Pakistan’s most perceptive writers, F S Aijazuddin, writes: “… the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II has caused many to marvel at the plans made for it years in advance. That is not unusual. Pakistani politicians, too, have been planning each other’s funerals for years.” Isn’t it the same, across South Asia?

The writer can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com

Pak women Maternal Services

Pak Floods: Over 60,000 Pregnant Women Lack Maternal Services

The floods that ravaged one-third of Pakistan have left about 600,000 pregnant women lacking maternal health services including a huge impact on the health facilities for children, media reports said citing a state minister.

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghous Pasha on Thursday said that 600,000 pregnant women in flood-hit areas lack these basic facilities and raised an alarm that over 5 million children have no immunization or nutritional care, reported Dawn.
She exhorted that Pakistan must ramp up efforts to get reproductive health services for women and health care services for children back on track. She made the remarks while addressing the gathering at the seventh meeting of the Parliamentary Forum on Population (PFP), a cross-party platform to raise parliamentary awareness on population and development.

Among those who attended the meeting were members of the Senate, and legislators from the national and provincial assemblies representing all major political parties attended the meeting.

Over rampant climate change and its devastating effects in the form of flash floods, Pasha said that the international community must come together to channel funds supporting countries like Pakistan.

Zeba Sathar, country director of the Population Council, said that the floods have caused great misery for the marginalized population who was already in the grip of economic hardships. Putting out the data, Sathar said that 19 million people out of the 31 million persons living in severely affected areas are poor.

“More than 22.7 million Katcha houses belonged to the displaced population of severely affected areas. Besides women and children, around one million people over the age of 65 are living in severely flood-affected areas and require special care. People living in agri-climatic zones have lost their cattle and crops and have no access to health services,” she said.

Moreover, Samia Ali Shah, project director of the Population Council, also called for addressing the issues and urgently prioritizing the needs of women and girls.

Another issue that was raised in the meeting was Pakistan’s rapid population growth rate. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said the population growth in Pakistan is draining its resources.

A majority of Pakistanis are unhappy with the government’s response to the unprecedented natural disaster that has ravaged millions of lives in the cash-strapped country, according to a survey.

This displeasure was evident in the latest Pattan survey published this week. The survey was conducted by community-based activists at 38 disaster-hit localities of 14 districts of three flood-hit provinces, the Dawn newspaper reported.

As per the survey, most localities were unhappy with the performance of state institutions. People in 92 percent of locations were forced to leave their villages and neighborhoods due to floods, the survey said.

After six weeks of flooding, many families from 15 locations were found living under the open sky on roads, and without tents. In 10 locations majority appeared to have received ‘nothing.’ (ANI)

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Jamtara of Jharkhand

Chinese National Shot Dead In Pakistan’s Karachi

A Chinese national was killed while two others were injured in Pakistan’s Karachi on Wednesday, local media reported, citing authorities.

Quoting a police official, Dawn newspaper reported that an unidentified man opened fire inside a dental clinic in Karachi’s Saddar area.
SSP South Asad Raza said that one person was killed and two people were injured who were shifted to a hospital for treatment. He confirmed that the three were Chinese people.

Taking to twitter, Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the attack. (ANI)

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Canada India

Canada: Don’t Travel To Areas In India Bordering Pak

In what appears to be a bizarre travel advisory, Canada has advised its citizens to avoid all travel to areas in the states of Gujarat, Punjab, and Rajasthan that share a border with Pakistan due to the “presence of landmines” and an “unpredictable security situation.”

“Avoid all travel to areas within 10 km of the border with Pakistan in the following states due to the unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance: Gujarat, Punjab, and Rajasthan,” the advisory states.
The travel advisory put out by the Canadian government on its website, which was last updated on September 27, also asks its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in India due to the “threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country.”

This advisory excludes traveling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh.

It also urges people to avoid non-essential travel to Assam and Manipur “due to the risk of terrorism and insurgency.”

Incidentally, India had on September 23 issued an advisory for Indian nationals and students in Canada to remain vigilant amid increasing incidents of crimes and anti-India activities in the country.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Indian missions in Canada have taken up these incidents with the Canadian authorities and requested them to probe these crimes.

“There has been a sharp increase in incidents of hate crimes, sectarian violence, and anti-Indian activities in Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs and our High Commissions/Consulates General in Canada have taken up these incidents with the Canadian authorities and requested them to investigate the said crimes and take appropriate action,” the MEA said in a statement.

The statement also stressed that “the perpetrators of these crimes have not been brought to justice so far in Canada.”

“In view of the increasing incidences of crimes as described above, Indian nationals and students from India in Canada and those proceeding to Canada for travel/education are advised to exercise due caution and remain vigilant,” the statement added.

The advisory also said Indian nationals and students from India in Canada may also register with the High Commission of India in Ottawa or the Consulates General of India in Toronto and Vancouver through their respective websites, or the MADAD portal madad.gov.in.

“Registration would enable the High Commission and the Consulates General to better connect with Indian citizens in Canada in the event of any requirement or emergency,” the advisory said.

This advisory after India termed the so-called Khalistan referendum conducted by separatist groups as a “farcical exercise”. (ANI)

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Hatred Against Ahmadi Muslims

Pak Min Uses State Media To Fuel Enmity, Hatred Against Ahmadi Muslims

A Federal Minister and Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Mian Javed Latif has launched a fresh hate-filled campaign against the persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan, using religion to score political points, a press release by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights read.

On Wednesday September 15, Latif appeared on Pakistani State TV Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) to utter falsehoods and propaganda against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which is already under immense threat and subjected to cruelties and state persecution.
Pakistan’s media regulatory body – the Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has been criticised for not sanctioning television channels from airing such hate-filled rhetoric.

The use of religion is not new in Pakistani politics but the airing of such rhetoric on mainstream state media is a serious and shocking use of state television and risks furthering an already vile hate campaign against Pakistan’s most persecuted community.

The Ahmadi Muslim Community is being used as a scapegoat to score political points and malign political opponents, without any regard for the risk of life and the hatred it spreads.

At the cost of further endangering the lives of Ahmadis in Pakistan, this level of hate speech in mainstream media and social media is shocking and inexcusable and likely to radicalise people further against innocent Ahmadis. As a result of such hate campaigns, an Ahmadi, Mr Naseer Ahmed was killed last month on August 12 by an extremist radicalised by hate-filled religious clerics, the press release read.

Another Pakistani politician, Federal Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique similarly stoked the fire of enmity against the Ahmadis Muslims. He tweeted the anti-Ahmadi trope and baseless allegation that Ahmadis were a conspiracy against Islam and a seditious group.

This format of hate speech and incitement which falsely blame the country’s ongoing instability on Ahmadi Muslims has a history of triggering violent attacks against innocent Ahmadis.

On July 13, 2021, UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts to bring an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.

It urged the international community to impress upon the Government of Pakistan to honour its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis and that perpetrators of such vicious actions should be brought to justice, to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards. (ANI)

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Pak PM's Close Aide

Former Pak PM’s Close Aide Attacked In London

Rashid Nasrullah, the personal secretary of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was attacked in Ilford town in east London on Monday.

The Dawn newspaper reported that Nasrullah filed a complaint with the police alleging that he was attacked and beaten by three men. Nasrullah said that the attackers threatened to kill him if he did not withdraw his support for Sharif.
“Another day, bullying, another police report! Imran Niazi’s group of goons threatened to kill him with a knife while going to office! Imran Khan there is still time to stop, the fire you are setting will burn it all! There will be a lot of damage. As for the demand to retreat out of fear, this can only be done by death,” he said in a tweet posted on Monday.

This incident come a few days after Pakistan Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was heckled by overseas Pakistanis at a coffee shop in London.

A video went viral on the Internet where overseas Pakistanis were seen circling Marriyum Aurangzeb. The overseas Pakistanis criticized the minister for going on foreign visits amid flood devastation in the country.

Media reports said that overseas Pakistanis followed Marriyum out on the streets, shouting ‘chorni, chorni (thief, thief)’. The video of the entire heckling incident went viral, showing that Aurangzeb did not react to the overseas nationals’ protest and kept herself busy on her mobile phone.

Several federal ministers came forward to Marriyum’s defence, saying that she handled the situation with “grace and composure”, Dawn reported.

Aurangzeb was reportedly harassed and bullied by former PM Imran Khan’s supporters in a shop, the report said.

A woman in the video was seen saying Aurangzeb “makes grand claims on television there but here she does not carry a dupatta on her head.”

This comes amid frequent reports of clashes and heckling between PML-N and PTI workers in London. Their exchanges can often become heated but this was one of the rare incidents of a physical assault, the Pakistan newspaper said.

Earlier in April, PTI activists reportedly attempted to attack Nawaz Sharif outside his office, but were thwarted by his bodyguards. (ANI)

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Pak Military Helicopter Crashes In Balochistan, Six Soldiers Dead

A Pakistani military helicopter crashed in Balochistan province late on Sunday killing all six soldiers on board, the country’s media affairs wing said on Monday.

“All six personnel on board, including two pilots, have embraced shahadat,” Dawn newspaper quoted the Pakistan military’s public relations wing saying in a statement.
No reason was given for the helicopter crash in the southwest area of the country.

Former federal minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry said helicopter flying is getting dangerous and needs engineering evaluation.

“Heli flying is getting dangerous this needs engineering evaluation, too many crashes …RIP Braveheart’s all were too young to die,” Chaudhry tweeted.

The latest incident comes weeks after a similar chopper crash took place in August which claimed six lives including Quetta Corps commander Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali, Dawn reported.

The chopper had lost contact with the air traffic control in Balochistan’s Lasbela district.

The remains of the military chopper’s wreckage, along with the bodies of the six officers and crew members who were aboard, were later found in a coastal Balochistan area. (ANI)

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