contents · 2019-04-01 · mucad ibrahim, a three-year-old boy full of light and love. naeem...

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04Editorial : Future of Muslim women with Hijab in Sports

06Current Affairs : Christchurch: A lesson in how love trumps hate

08New Zealand: After Christchurch, Muslims need more than just your thoughts and prayers

09UK: A Day At London's Largest Mosque

12Draining the swamp of extremist venom

14Pakistan Military Eyes Key Role Developing Giant Copper And Gold Mine

1713 Urdu Autobiographies By Women That Men Need To Read

19India-Pakistan Dialogue Should Focus On Reviving Trade, Not On Kashmir

20A walk through the historic streets of Chakwal

23China Denies Report Of Secret Military Project In Pakistan Trade Corridor

245 Words That Mean Completely Different Things In England And America

25USA: Types Of Islamophobia Fox News Is OK With

27How Iran fueled Islam’s Sunni-Shiite divide

30Women-Friendly Financials

32Pakistan: Darra Adam Khel where guns were sold once, now Rubab are manufactured

Monthly LAHORE International www.lahoreinternational.com

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Should Muslim women in Hijab be allowed to take part in

International sports? Some Islamic countries aren’t allowing women to take part in sports that are incompatible with Islamic dress code.In 2016 American Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim woman athlete, made history by becoming the first Muslim-American to stand on a podium at the Rio Olympics, winning a bronze. Her win was big reason why Nike recently announced plans to debut a “Pro Hijab” for Muslim women who compete. In February 2019, London’s Brunei University, in a bid to encourage more Muslim women to take part in sports announced the launch of their very own sports hijab. Despite there being so much noise in the media about Muslim women in sport, statistics show that they still have a relatively long way to go.Does wearing the hijab restrict Muslim women and girls from taking part in sports? The answer would have been yes ten years ago, but no longer. The recent emergence of Muslim women taking the sporting world by storm

has meant that seeing the hijab in a stadium, or even the ring, is quickly becoming the norm.The US weightlifting federation dress code is also designed in a way that makes it difficult for Muslim women to observe the hijab and compete. It states that athletes cannot wear long sleeves or long

bottoms. However, Pakistani weightlifter Kulsoom Abdullah was told she could not compete at the national level unless she wore a weightlifting singlet. A girl from Minnesota, Amaiya Zafar 18, was disqualified for defying 'safety rules' at the Sugar Bert Boxing National Championship. "I was told I couldn't compete in my hijab, even though it gave me no

competitive advantages" explains ZafarThe Sporting Equals Organization states that only 26.1 percent of Asian women take part in the recommended levels of sport and physical activity (once a week) compared to 31.4 percent of white British women. Shockingly, another study by Sports England found that only 18 percent of Muslim women participate in regular sport, compared to 30 percent of the entire UK's female population.Many sports still don't cater to the specific needs of Muslim women and their dress code. For instance, the basketball governing body, FIBA, prohibits players from wearing the hijab for health and safety reasons. The US weightlifting federation dress code is also designed in a way that makes it difficult for Muslim women to observe the hijab and compete. It states that athletes cannot wear long sleeves or long bottoms. It’s time the rules are changed to cater to needs of Muslim athletes in hijab.

Zakaria Virk, Editor

Future of Muslim women with Hijab in Sports


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I have decided to stick to love. Hate is too great a burden to bear- Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Friday, the 15th of March 2019, 50 people were murdered and 50 injured after a gunman stormed two mosques in the city of Christchurch, rendering the terrorist attack the biggest massacre in New Zealand's modern history. The shooter was armed with at least two assault rifles and a shotgun. Police also defused explosive devices in a car and two other armed suspects were taken into custody while police tried to determine what role, if any, they played. The blood bath that took these lives and many more was live-streamed for 17 minutes on Facebook. About 200 people had watched as it happened but the first user report of the video come in 12 minutes after it had ended, Facebook said.By the time, it was removed from the website, a copy had been placed on alt-right site 8chan. In

the day that followed, the video had to be blocked over 1.2 million times at the point of upload and already uploaded videos deleted over 300,000 times. The shooter also posted a rambling, 74-page manifesto on social media in which he identified himself by name and as a 28-year-old Australian who was a white supremacist out to avenge “attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims”.Mucad Ibrahim, a three-year-old boy full of light and love. Naeem Rashid, a Pakistani academic tried to stop the shooter. Atta Elayyan, a goalkeeper on the national futsal team with a new-born daughter. Kamel Darwish, a dairy farmer who arrived in Christchurch that

day and didn’t want to miss prayers. Ozair Kadir a 25-year-old aspiring pilot. Haji Daoud al-Nabi, an elder known for helping newcomers who greeted the shooter with Salam Brother. Hamza Mustafa, just 16 who called his mother when the shooting started. Ansi Alibava, young women who just finished her Masters. Husna Ahmad, who led a number of women and children to safety after the shooting began then gave her

Christchurch: A lesson in how love trumps hate

Sittara Barooj Akbar


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life saving her husband who was in a wheel chair. Amjad Hamid, a cardiologist with a passion for serving humanity. Zeeshan Raza, a mechanical engineer whose parents Ghulam Hussain and Karam Bibi came to visit him from Pakistan. These are just some of the beautiful lives that were lost in the atrocious mass shooting, five of whom were under the age of 16.The victims have been descried as full of energy, love and joy. People who emanated nothing but the representation of God’s Love, Peace and MercyAfter the horrific shootings, the country sprang into swift action following the example of its inspiring Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. She was quick to call the incident an act of terrorism, a designation that can be lacking for far-right, white perpetuated killings, and within hours had vowed

to change the gun laws to prevent future atrocities with the declaration that they would ban semi-automatic firearms – the guns most frequently used to commit mass murder. Arden went on to say that the attack reflected “extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.”Immigrants she said, “have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home,” “They are us.”The day after the attack, Ardern wore a headscarf as she stood in the centre of a room, surrounded by families of the victims desperate to hear words of reassurance. Even before she said a word, Ardern's simple decision to cover her hair served to show families she respected them and wanted to ease their pain.She spoke with emotion and empathy, comforting families and updating the public with

the latest on the investigation. Prime Minister Ardern has proven to be a point of stability for all New Zealanders and her actions have personally touched the relatives of those who died in the massacre.It has been the face of their leader, who has been the voicing the grief of a nation,and not that of the shooter that has come to dominate coverage. Thanks in part to a ban on publishing certain details about him the criminal has been forced into the background, facing punishment for his cowardly acts but being denied the fame and notoriety he so desperately desired.In her address to a sombre session of parliament that she opened with Assalam-o-Alaikum, Arden said “He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety, and that is why you will never hear me mention


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his name.” She added, “He is a terrorist, he is a criminal, he is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless.” She went on to implore others to speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them. She then ordered an inquiry into whether government agencies could have prevented the attacks.In the past few years, there’s been a growing push for not just leaders like Ardern but the media and the general public as well to do what she’s doing here. The concern: Mass shooters are carrying out these horrific tragedies in part for fame and notoriety.Keeping that in mind, the request was also made by the police to stop circulating the video of the massacre. Instead of remembering the victims, some people in the world were helping spread the message of hate and fear the terrorist wanted by sharing

the video where dozens lost their life. What purpose was such senseless and distressing footage serving except to document a nightmare and further the shooters agenda? All around the world, leaders and people reacted with shock, horror and grief to the killings. Vigils have been held, social media has been flooded with heartbroken posts. At the White House, President Trump called the bloodshed “a terrible thing” but rejected any suggestion the white nationalist movement is a rising threat around the world, saying it is “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.” but Islamic leaders, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan pointed out that the bloodbath and other such attacks as evidence of rising hostility toward Muslims since 9/11. A number of Democrats — including Sen. Kaine, Sen. Klobuchar, Sen. Blumenthal

and Rep. Talib — agreed with the sentiment and publicly criticized the president for failing to condemn white nationalists and suggested his inflammatory language contributes to the violence.Trump responded by accusing “the fake news media” of attempting to blame him tweeting “The Fake News Media is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand,” Trump tweeted. “They will have to work very hard to prove that one. So Ridiculous!”Meanwhile, the suspect himself praised Trump as a symbol of white identity in his manifesto. Pope Francis also offered prayers for "our Muslim brothers" killed in the attack against two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand during the Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.


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Atrocities such as this will happen again while the

media and politicians create a climate in which far-right ideas can flourish Flowers left at Finsbury Park mosque in London, in response to the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand. There is a certain profundity about waking up one morning, when your only plans for the day are to go to Friday prayers with your family, to discover that on the other side of the world people just like you, doing exactly the same thing with their Friday as you intend to do with yours, have been slaughtered. Flowers left at Finsbury Mosque, London My first response upon reading of the massacre in Christchurch was, I admit, stunned blankness. I could read the words, and I understood them, but for a few moments there was no obvious emotional reaction. Not because I didn’t care about what had happened, but because the enormity of it meant it was simply too difficult to immediately process.The responses from many people, both politicians and those known personally to me, have been welcome. They have been kind and they have been compassionate and they have been well-intentioned. It is clear that there are many who are hurt and outraged by this atrocity. Promises of “thoughts and prayers” abound. But what they fail to understand is that we do not need your thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers may be useful to the dead, and they may provide some comfort to the relatives of the dead, but they do nothing of substance for the rest of the living. Your thoughts and prayers will not save our lives, while the actions of politicians and the media undoubtedly destroy them.Every single day, people like me are subject to a media onslaught. Every single day, we are demonised, both by the people who make our laws and by the people who have

significant influence over public opinion. And when I say “we”, I don’t just mean Muslims. Because it’s not just Muslims who are losing their lives at the hands of far-right nationalism. It’s Jews and Sikhs and black people. Because when fascism comes to call, it usually doesn’t care what shade of “different” you are. All it knows is that you are different, and it does not like you for it.My fury and my pain is not lessened when a Jewish person is killed, or when a Hindu person is killed. We share a common humanity and that is sufficient for us to feel rage and pain. And it is evident that very many people do feel a sense of shared humanity with those targeted in attacks. Those emotions are not specific to people of colour, or to religious

minorities. We do not own them. But marginalized people do have an acute understanding of what it is to live their lives in a constant state of low-level alert. How could we not? We’ve spent the past 20 years watching the world around us change beyond all recognition. Endless wars in the Middle East. Talk of “clashes” of ideology and culture. Refugee children left to die in the sea. The Windrush scandal. Rightwing nationalists given platforms that no one would have dreamed of giving them in the 1990s. There was a time when the very notion of the leaders of extremist parties appearing on Question Time was criticised heavily from almost all quarters.These days we have racists and extremists on mainstream television all the time, and

hardly anyone in any position of influence bats an eyelid. Those in power have made their

position clear: they will invade our countries of origin and they will plunder our resources, but they don’t want us in their countries. They value our oil, but they don’t value us. They dress it up as “free speech”, but through their actions hatred has been legitimised, and minorities die because of it. You may disagree, but it is the truth.So we don’t need your thoughts and prayers. We need our rights to be defended. There are many good and brave people who do that every day, but too often they’re doing it in a climate that is wilfully hostile. We need politicians and the press to do it. They created an environment where radicalism could flourish. Now it’s their job to send it back to the margins, where it belongs. That’s no

small task: hours after the shootings in Christchurch, the Australian senator Fraser Anning released a statement blaming an increasing Muslim presence for what happened. Will he be condemned by the people whose voices matter? Will he be sanctioned in any meaningful way? Or will he be allowed to continue to spew hate speech?

Politicians and the press can keep their platitudes. They’re meaning-less unless they’re borne out by action. It’s time to make a stand. Defend our rights. Protect us from terrorism. Use your position to send a clear message that hatred has no place in society. Stop giving a platform to extremists. Stop pretending that white nationalism is not a threat to us all. Have the courage to stand up for our rights as citi-zens.Too many have died. More will die if you fail to act. History will judge you for it.

• Masuma Rahim is a clinical psychol-ogist- theguardian.com/commentis-free/2019/mar/15/christchurch-mus-lims-thoughts-prayers-far-right

New ZealaNd: after ChristChurCh, MusliMs Need More thaN just your

thoughts aNd prayers

Masuma Rahim the Guardian, UK


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There are more than one million Muslims in London, many

of whom were born and bred here. According to the last census in 2011, 5 per cent of our city's population is Muslim, but there are still lots of damaging stereotypes and misconceptions about the Islamic faith.The recent media frenzy around Shamima Begum, the IS bride who left London to join the Islamic State in Syria at the age of 15, has done nothing to help the image of Muslims living here.But the fact is, most London Muslims live normal, peaceful lives. They get the Tube to work, struggle to pay rent and moan about Brexit along with the rest of us. They also have to battle negative stereotypes about their faith on a daily basis, despite the fact most Londoners have never set foot in a mosque.So to dispel some of the myths around Muslims we've lifted the lid on London's largest place of Islamic worship, the Baitul Futuh

Mosque also known as "the Morden Mosque", in Morden, South London.While the majority of London Muslims belong to to the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam, the Morden mosque, which is the biggest in Western Europe, belongs to the Ahmadiyya community.Ahmadiyya Muslims believe the true and peaceful message of Islam was revived by their Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889, and they seek to spread the message of Islam through peaceful means.We spoke to Ahmadiyya Muslim, Farhan Khalid, 24, who volunteers in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK (AMA UK) outreach team. The software consultant moved to New Malden, Merton 10 years ago from Belgium and spends he's free time working to "promote the true and peaceful teachings of Islam."He recently helped organise an open day at the 13,000 capacity Baitul Futuh Mosque for members of the public. He gave us a run down of

a how a typical day at the largest mosque in Western Europe goes and debunked some of the biggest myths surrounding Muslims.

TIME LINEA DAY AT LONDON'S LARGEST MOSQUE

1. 5.15AM - MORNING PRAYER2. 9AM -10AM , 1PM -2PM, 6.30PM - 7.30PM - THE CANTEENThe mosque even has its own canteen which serves three free meals a day to anyone who wants them. The times listed above are the hours in which staff employed at the mosque eat, but it's open to member of the public 24/73. 10AM - 5PM THE LIBRARY AND THE CENTENARY GALLERYInside the mosque is the Aftab Khan Library which has a selection of religious and non religious books, magazines and literature. It's open for everyone to use. There's also the Khilafat Centenary Gallery, an exhibition space celebrating 100 years of Ahmadiyya spiritual

A DAY AT LONDON'S LARGEST MOSQUEUK:


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leadership. Both of these facilities are open to non-Muslim members of the public.4. 10AM -7.45PM THE BOOKSHOPThe mosque has an Islamic bookstore packed full of Islamic texts for people to purchase.5. 1PM - LUNCHTIME PRAYERMuslim prayers are performed five times a day. Muslims can pray anywhere, but it is especially good to pray with others in a mosque. Praying together in a congregation helps Muslims to realise that all humanity is one, and all are equal in the sight of Allah.Morning prayer or "Fajr" is the first prayer of the day and is always held before sunrise.Lunchtime prayer or "Zuhr" is always held around midday after the sun has passed its highest point in the sky.6. 4.15PM - AFTERNOON PRAYERAfternoon prayer or "Asr" is held in the late part of the afternoon.7. 6.15PM - SUNSET PRAYER

The sunset prayer or "Maghrib" is held just after the sun goes down.8. THE WASHROOMSMuslims must be clean before they pray. They make sure of this by performing ritual washing, called wudhu. The mosque has men and women's washing facilities for this reason.9. 8PM - NIGHT PRAYERThe Night prayer or "Isha" is held between sunset and midnight.10. 8.30PM - 9PM THE SPORTS HALLThe Morden Mosque has a sports hall which is used for sports like basketball and badminton, social activities and events such as the National Peace Symposium, which was held there at the start of March. It's normally open in the evenings for sports activities after the night prayer, but the times it's used can vary depending on bookings.11. A COMMUNITY HUBThe Mosque serves as a hub for Morden's wider non Muslim community too. It hosts everything form school exams, to fire service training and operates as an NHS

blood donation point. Members of the public are welcome to visit Morden's Baitul Futuh Mosque at any time.All the community spaces: The canteen, the library, the bookshop and the gallery are closed briefly during prayer times but reopen afterwards.

7 things you didn't know about Muslims

According to Farhan, these are some of the biggest things people don't know about Islam.1. Islam is a peaceful religionFarhan said: "Islam rejects all forms of terrorism and advocates justice against all forms of cruelty, corruption and disorder. "The Holy Qur’an states: 'O ye who believe! be strict in observing justice, and be witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or against parents and kindred. Whether he be rich or poor, Allah is more regardful of them both than you are. Therefore follow not low desires so that you may be able to act equitably. And if you conceal the truth or evade it, then remember


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that Allah is well aware of what you do.'"2. Muslims must be loyal to their country of residenceFarhan said: "The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that love for your country is part of your faith."3. Muslim women must be treated as equalsFarhan said: "Islam has assigned a position of dignity and honour to women. Equality and rights of women are essential for peace, comfort, happiness and progress. Islam holds that man and woman complement each other and are a means of mutual fulfilment."4. Islam promotes religious and political freedomFarhan said: "Islam promotes fundamental freedoms such as religious, political, national and civil freedom. Such freedoms are essential for a society to make progress and guarantee peace and security. The Holy Qur’an states: 'if they turn away, then thou art responsible only for the plain delivery of the Message.""If they turn away, We have not sent thee as a guardian over them. Thy duty is only to convey the Message." And "I am but a plain Warner.'"5. Religion should be kept separate from politicsFarhan said: "Islam tells us that no religion has the right to interfere in areas exclusive to the state nor has the state any right to interfere in religious affairs. Islam instructs Muslims that acceptance of faith is a matter between man and his God, and everyone is permitted to live according to their faith and perform their religious duties."6. People who reject Islam won't be punishedFarhan said: "Islam grants complete freedom of choice to believe or not to believe. Man is free to accept a Message or reject it. The Holy Qur’an says: 'Let him who will, believe, and let him who will,

disbelieve.'"7. The real meaning of 'Jihad'Farhan said: "Jihad means to strive. The Holy Qur’an describes only one form of Jihad as the 'great Jihad', which is the Jihad of explaining the message of the Holy Qur’an. It says: 'So obey not the disbelievers and strive against them by means of it (the Qur’an) a great striving.' All other forms of Jihad are lesser Jihad to this Great Jihad."The only permission in the Holy Qur’an for the lesser Jihad of fighting is in self defense: 'Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged.'"4. things you didn't know about mosquesFarhan explained that all Mosques should be peaceful places for people to gather together to worship God and to spread love, compassion and goodwill throughout society.He wanted to bust the following myths about mosques.1. Non Muslims are welcomeFarhan said: "Many do not know that non-Muslims are also welcome to pray in a Mosque to worship God. In the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), we find an example of how a Christian delegation visited the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). When it was their time for prayer, they wondered where they should pray and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said they do not need to worry as the Mosque is a house of worship for all and they are welcome to pray inside his Mosque."2. Mosques don't teach Muslims to hate non MuslimsFarhan said: "Some people think that Mosques create disorder and that Muslims are taught hate towards non-Muslims in Mosques, but this is completely false. A Mosque are 'Houses of God' they are places to gather together in congregation to worship Him. The fear of Islam has developed because

some non-Muslims are not familiar with Islam’s true teachings and so their views are strongly influenced by the heavily publicised hate-filled acts of extremist Muslim groups. But a Muslim who offers his prayers with humility is a person who is kind, caring and merciful and who strives to stay away from immorality, illegal activity and all forms of evil. Rather than promoting disorder or division, Mosques are a means of bringing people together in humility for the worship of their Creator." 3. The reason men and women pray separatelyFarhan said: "During prayers, the sole focus should be on God. So to keep one’s attention on this objective, men and women pray in separate parts of the Mosque."4. The call to prayerFarhan said: "The call to prayer is made publicly through loudspeakers where it's permitted. Where it's not permitted, it is made inside the mosque."Visit London's largest mosqueThe Mosque also serves as a hub for Morden's wider non Muslim community too. It hosts everything from school exams, to fire service training and operates as an NHS blood donation point. Members of the public are welcome to visit Morden's Baitul Futuh Mosque at any time.Farhan said: "By visiting the mosque, non-Muslims will learn about the true message of Islam and remove any misconceptions they may have. They can see the true Islam in practice and how we will strive to serve humanity with selflessness and open hearts."To organise your visit to the mosque call 0800 917 7871 or 020 8687 7804, or email [email protected]://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/what-typical-day-londons-largest-15972267


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CRACKDOWN on extremist groups. Offices and bank

accounts sealed. Madrasahs and clinics run by the charitable arms of militant organizations taken over.So far, so good. But this was the easy part, and has also been attempted by past governments. But soon, the political bill is presented, and judicial and bureaucratic lethargy kicks in. Those arrested are released due to a lack of evidence as witnesses are often terrified of appearing against vicious killers. And judges, too, have been known to succumb to fear.The ongoing crackdown against proscribed jihadi groups has clearly come due

to the threat of being placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘blacklist’. For some time, we have been in the limbo of the ‘grey list’, and now have until May to clean up our act.Many Indians insist that it was their recent raid in Balakot that has pushed Pakistan into taking action. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if the Martians had pressured us into doing something we should have done years ago. As long as the job gets done, everybody is welcome to claim the credit.But the cynic in me sounds a warning note: we’ve been here before. Déjà-vu. Grabbing the suspects is the easy part as they have been

free to roam around in public despite being on several terrorism lists. The hard part is to try and sentence them. And the toughest bit is to drain the swamp of the extremist venom that has poisoned the public discourse.In Pakistan, an entire generation has grown up thinking it is normal for terrorist gangs to operate freely, apparently with the blessings of the state. So whenever there’s a terrorist atrocity in our neighbourhood, and a Pakistan-based organisation claims credit for the operation, the mantra from the Foreign Office, talking heads on TV, and much of

draiNiNg the swaMp of extremist venom

By Irfan Hussain


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the public is: ‘where’s the proof?’Many years ago, I met a very senior air force officer at a party in Karachi, and asked him about our use of jihadi militants in Kashmir. “You civilians don’t understand,” he said in an obnoxiously superior tone. “With about 5,000 fighters, we have tied up several divisions of the Indian army in Kashmir. Had it not been for our boys, these divisions would have been on our border.”This was before 9/11; now the policy has changed. After that fateful day, the distinction between freedom fighters and militants was virtually erased. So much so that India can now conduct an air raid deep into our territory to avenge the Pulwara suicide attack, and it is Pakistan that gets lectured by foreigners on the need to stop providing a safe haven to terrorist groups.By appearing to use militancy as an instrument of policy, we were becoming isolated in the community of nations. Even those who

feebly support the Kashmir cause are critical of the unconcealed presence of an array of jihadi groups in Pakistan.In earlier FATF meetings, Pakistan had stonewalled by claiming that organisations like the militant Islamic State group, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed fell into the ‘low to medium risk’ category. Really? ‘Low risk’? Now they have been upgraded to the high-risk category where they belong.But as our negotiating team has discovered, the rest of the world is neither blind nor stupid. In fact, Pakistan has been given a lot of time on the grey list to block channels of terrorist financing. Now, the vice is tightening, and if our tottering economy is to avoid a mortal blow, the authorities had better deliver on their promises.After the savage attack on a Peshawar school in 2014, the army knocked heads and got all major political parties to agree to the National Action Plan. This ambitious plan called for

not only military action, but a wide array of policies to be implemented by the federal and provincial governments aimed at eradicating the extremist mindset that had taken root in Pakistan.But five years on, it is only the army that has completed its assignment while politicians have sat on their hands, lacking the resolve to act. Chaudhry Nisar, the interior minister in the previous government, was supposed to chair a number of committees set up to monitor progress. As far as I know, few meetings were held and Nacta, the implementing agency, has hardly been stellar in its performance.One specific plank in NAP was intelligence sharing between federal and provincial agencies. But spooks guard their sources closely. Then there were a raft of decisions about curbing the media and mosques in the dissemination of hate messages. Finally, the curricula of madressas and state schools was supposed to be cleansed of xenophobia. Hardly any of this has happened.The result of this dither and drift is our current situation of being dragged into taking action. What will come of it remains to be seen. https://www.dawn.com/news/1469960/now-the-hard-part

[email protected]


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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's military is taking a key

role in the development of one of the world's biggest untapped copper and gold deposits, which is currently stalled by a multi-billion dollar legal wrangle with foreign mining firms, multiple sources familiar with the situation said.

The Reko Diq mine has become a test case for Prime Minister Imran Khan's ability to attract serious foreign investment to Pakistan as it struggles to stave off an economic crisis that has forced it to seek an International Monetary Fund bailout.

Ten current and former provincial and federal government officials and

mining sources familiar with the project in the Baluchistan region say the military has become the most important voice on the future of Reko Diq, which it sees as a strategic national asset.

The military will not only be in a position to decide which investors develop the deposit, but an army-controlled engineering firm, Frontier Works Organization (FWO), is positioning itself to be a member of any consortium involved, these people said.

"This has been taken over by GHQ," said a senior Baluchistan government official, referring to the Pakistan army's General Headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

In a statement in response to Reuters' questions about its role in Reko Diq, the military spokesman's office said: "(The military) may only participate in government's plan of development of Reko Diq, as per national requirements."

But it acknowledged that FWO, best known for building roads through Pakistan's rugged and lawless border regions, has developed "substantial" mining capability in recent years and would be interested in taking a role in the project. "If an opportunity arises of participating in developing Reko Diq, FWO may work at par with other competitors (or) companies provided the project is

giant copper and gold minePakistan military eyes key role developing


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financially viable (or) suitable," the statement said. When asked, a spokesman declined to elaborate on the statement.

Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said civilian authorities in the insurgency-hit southwestern province of Baluchistan were in charge of Reko Diq and, along with Khan, would take a decision, but added that the military "and all other stakeholders are obviously important players".

FWO referred questions to the military spokesman's office. Khan's spokesman Iftikhar Durrani said Baluchistan province was in charge of Reko Diq, and referred questions to the provincial government and the military spokesman's office.

The manoeuvring behind the project shows how the military, which has historically dictated Pakistan's security and foreign policy, is leveraging its sway over the civilian government at federal and provincial level to carve a growing role in the nation's business affairs.

The army has ruled the nuclear-armed nation for nearly half its history and is considered to have a major influence over Khan's recently elected government. A military spokesman declined to comment.

"The military has taken a front seat," said Ayesha Siddiqa, author of the book "Military Inc.", which analyses

the army's business interests and influence in Pakistan. "They've understood that the economy is important for having a strong military," she said. "Control of the economy also gives the military a handle over expanding their business interests."

TalksBuried at the foot of an

extinct volcano near the frontier with Iran and Afghanistan, the mine's development has long been delayed by a dispute with previous investors in the project, Canada's Barrick Gold and Chile's Antofagasta.

The government is urgently trying to settle the dispute as a World Bank arbitration tribunal, which ruled against Pakistan in 2017, is in the next few months expected to announce how much in damages the country must pay to the foreign firms, who are claiming more than $11 billion.

The dispute relates to the withholding of a mining lease.

Islamabad is also trying to find new partners to invest in the project.

But any new investors will need the blessing of Pakistan's military, according to government officials and mining sources.

State-run companies from resource-hungry China have long coveted Reko Diq and more recently Saudi Arabia has shown interest, according to Pakistani officials.

Some Western diplomats say the Reko Diq dispute has been a significant foreign investment deterrent, with international businesses unnerved at how Pakistan dealt with the companies that had pledged to invest $3.3 billion to develop the country's then-biggest mining project.

Barrick Gold and Antofagasta, whose joint venture Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) discovered vast mineral wealth in Reko Diq, say they had invested more than $220 million by the time the Baluchistan government, in 2011, unexpectedly refused to grant them the critical mining lease needed to keep operating.

Pakistan argued its move was legitimate because TCC's feasibility study was incomplete and the country's Supreme Court voided the deal in 2013. But in 2017 the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled against Pakistan.

TCC did not respond to requests for comment and Antofagasta and Barrick Gold both declined to comment. Reuters could not determine whether either company would be willing to return to the project.

Foreign InvestorsThe last serious attempt

at settling the Reko Diq case was scuppered in 2016 by


16

the military, which vetoed paying hundreds of millions of dollars to TCC, according to a senior Baluchistan official and two former senior officials in Islamabad.

But the military has since changed its stance and is more open to a settlement with TCC, according to a lawmaker close to the military and a source close to Prime Minister Khan. The military was also involved in appointing Pakistan's current legal team.

In response to a Reuters question about blocking the previous settlement effort, the military said: "Let's see how the case progresses." It did not elaborate or comment on whether it was playing any role in the latest negotiations.

Some mining experts say a likely solution would be for a new investment consortium to

pay the settlement fee on behalf of cash-strapped Pakistan in exchange for future royalty fees or mining rights.

Information Minister Chaudhry said Pakistan was engaged in negotiations with "both" the current investors about a settlement and also potential new investors, with interest coming from the Middle East and Europe. He declined to name the potential investors.

Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar said in October that Saudi Arabia has inquired about investing in Reko Diq and another government official confirmed talks were ongoing.

Saudi Arabia did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Reko Diq. During Crown Prince bin Salman's visit to Pakistan last

month, the kingdom pledged to invest $2 billion in mineral development projects, though the provisional agreements were vague and did not mention any specific projects.

China's state-owned miner China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), which operates the Saindak copper and gold mine close to Reko Diq, has been eyeing the bigger deposit for more than a decade, according to mining and MCC officials.

A few years ago Chinese state giant Norinco also made an approach, according to two sources familiar with Norinco's offer.

Full report at:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.

com/world/pakistan/pakistan-military-eyes-key-role-developing-g i a n t - c o p p e r - a n d - g o l d - m i n e /articleshow/68384852.cms

The Reko Diq project site | Courtesy Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan


17

In the realm of literature,

just like many other domains,

women have come a long way.

Urdu literature, too, witnessed

a phenomenal rise of women

writers in the 20th century.

But it would not have been

possible without

the pioneering

efforts of those

who paved the

way for women’s

participation in

Urdu literature

and journalism in

the late 19th and

early 20th century.

Unlike other genres, women

started quite early when it

comes to autobiographies

in Urdu and Urdu’s first

autobiography was written

by a woman. Paradoxically,

in the 20th century, Urdu

biographies by women were

few and far between and it was

not until the last quarter of the

last century that women really

began contributing to this

genre prolifically that allures a

vast readership.

March 8 marks the

International Women’s Day.

This piece is a humble gesture

to pay tribute to women

writers of Urdu who have

penned their autobiographies.

Because of constraints of

space, many books written in

the late 20th century and in

recent decades had to be left

out of this brief piece. Though

Shabana Saleem’s book on

the topic has recently been

published, it does not cover

all Urdu autobiographies by

women and a more detailed

study is still needed.

Beeti kahani (1885)

Though first published in

1995, it was written in 1885

and revised by the author

herself in January 1887, which

makes it one of the earliest

autobiographies of Urdu. In

fact, Jafer Thaneseri’s Kala

pani, considered to be Urdu’s

first autobiography ever

written, was written in 1886.

Penned by Shehr Bano Begum,

a descendent of the Nawab of

Pataudi, the book was edited

by Moinuddin Aqeel and its

second edition appeared from

Lahore in 2006.

T u z k - i - S u l t a n i

(1903)

Sultan Jahan

Begum, the female

ruler of Bhopal, was

one of the pioneers of

women’s education

in the subcontinent.

The book consisted

of three parts and the

second part, ‘Gauhar Iqbal’

appeared in 1909 and ‘Akhter

Iqbal’, the last one, in 1914.

Zamana-i-tehseel (1906)

It is a sort of epistolary

memoirs by Atiya Fyzee. She

went to England in 1906

and began writing detailed

letters back home. Her sister

Zehra Begum would send the

edited version of these letters

to Tehzeeb-i-Niswan, an Urdu

magazine for women published

from Lahore. Zamana-i-

tehseelfirst appeared in

book form in 1923. Edited by

Mohammad Yameen Usman,

Dr. Rauf Parekh

13 Urdu autobiographies by women that men need to read


18

the book was published from

Karachi in 2010.

Nairangi-i-bakht (1942)As the title suggests, Vazeer

Sultan Begum, the author, has

narrated the story of reversal

of her fortune when she was

divorced and went to court to

claim mehr. The brief work is

rather emotional and reads

like a melodramatic novel.

Aik actress ki aap beeti (1942)

Bimla Kumari, or Prema,

a well-known actress of

her times, penned her brief

biography, narrating how

innocent girls are trapped.

Aazadi ki chhaaon mein (1975)

This book by Anees Qidvai,

sister-in-law of India’s then

minister Raf’i Ahmed Qidvai,

sounds more like a diary as

it covers the events that took

place during Independence in

1947 and a few years later.

Silsila-i-roz-o-shab (1984)

Sualiha Aabid Hussein,

a well-known Indian fiction

writer, published her

autobiography that reflects

life, especially the atmosphere

at Panipat and Jamia Millia

Delhi.

Jo rahi so be khabari rahi (1995)

Ada Jafri, a well-known

Pakistan poet, narrated her

life story in a captivating

manner. Describing her early

life in Badaun and her later

life along with her husband

Noorul Hasan Jafri, the book

has many glimpses of the

times.

Hum safar (1995)Written in a simple yet

flowing and highly readable

language, Begum Hameeda

Akhter Hussein Raipuri’s

autobiography depicts many

well-known figures such as

Zafar Umer Zubairi, her father

and the writer of Neeli chhatri,

one of Urdu’s earliest detective

novels. A serious scholar like

Moulvi Abdul Haq is painted

quite differently and in bright

colours by Begum Hameeda

Akhter.

Buri aurat ki katha (1995)Kishwer Naheed’s

iconoclastic autobiography

first appeared in 1995 from

India and was then published

from Pakistan. Both the

versions differ slightly at

certain places. Why? One can

understand well.

Dagar se hat kar (1996)Saeeda Bano Ahmed’s

autobiography reads exactly

as the title suggests: away from

the beaten path. Depiction of

working for All India Radio

and life in Lucknow and

Bhopal in pre-independence

era in simple and chaste prose

is readable. A Pakistani edition

was published from Lahore in

2006.

Parde se parliament tak (2002)

It was first published in

English in 1963 under the title

From purdah to parliament.

Begum Shaista Ikramullah

rewrote it in Urdu and added a

few details. The Urdu version

appeared in 2002.

Zindagi ki yaaden (2003)First written as Urdu essays

and then published in English

under the title Remembrance

of the days past, the book is

an expanded version of the

two previous works by Begum

Jahan Ara Habibullah. A slim

volume subtitled Riyasat

Rampur ka nawabi daur, it

offers rare glimpses of the

princely state of Rampur

and its grandeur along with

the social rites and rituals of

the past. It has a historical

significance, too.

These Urdu autobiographies

by women show how women

perceive the world and how

they feel about it. One feels

that men must read these

books to see the world though

the eyes of women. It will be

quite an experience!

https:// images .dawn.com/news/1181988/13-urdu-autobiographies-by-women-that-men-need-to-read-now


19

On February 27, Wing Commander Abhinandan of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was arrested in

Pakistan after his jet went down during a mission inside Pakistan. He was shown on television prais-ing the Pakistan Army for treating him well, while bravely refusing to answer questions. The officer was impressive as he spoke, his face covered with blood, a brave son of a decorated IAF officer. Pa-kistan has done well to return him to India for the sake of peace.On February 26, according to the Indian news agency ANI, “Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fighters destroyed multiple terrorist camps across the Line of Control” killing hundreds of terrorists under-going training. This news came after the Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor had claimed that “Indian aircraft intruded from Mu-zaffarabad sector” and dropped a payload near Balakot after “facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force”.Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was the first to tweet on the attacks from the Indian government’s side. This was the first time after the 1971 war that IAF had crossed into Pakistan-controlled air space, he said. On the Pakistani side Major-General Asif Ghafoor, Director-General Inter-Services Public Re-lations (ISPR) gave information about the “Indian aircrafts’ intrusion across the LOC in Muzaffarabad Sector” to the media.Pictures released by the DG-ISPR appeared in the Pakistani press showing a burnt steep mountainside with “no sign of any damage to any property, apart from a few pine trees”. India claimed that it had struck Balakot.The world outside immediately focused on the in-famous camp near Mansehra where the terrorist organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was known to train terrorists. Mansehra became internation-ally known after a Pakistan airforce officer Adnan Rashid defected to the al Qaeda while training there. He later tried to kill former President Per-vez Musharraf.Musharraf, also a former army chief, who is today on the run from an anti-terrorism court says he didn’t kill Benazir Bhutto but some “rogue elements within the army” might have. He asserted: “I don’t have any facts. But my assessment is accurate. I think a lady who is known to be inclined towards the West is seen suspiciously by those elements.” But elements within the army thought Musharraf

was doing something worse: Getting cosy with India. He survived an assassination at-tempt.Even then, Pakistan and India need to talk. Some dialogue between the two countries is on. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Member of the National As-sembly, was recently in India for the Kumbh Mela. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Exter-nal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The Pakistani daily Express Tribune reported him as saying: “I have communicated a positive note to the Indian leaders and I hope there will now be a change in their behaviour.” (See also ‘A Hindu in Pakistan’ IE, January 19).The world is neither with India nor with Pakistan as it asks them to stop escalating their quarrel after the Pulwama tragedy. While not defending India over its violation of the Line of Control, it keeps re-minding Pakistan about its “covert war” outfits like JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba. This is something that Pakistani TV shows too have started discussing. On February 7, for instance, Dawn TV anchor Meher Bokhari, talked about the Paris-based Forward Ac-tion Task Force’s (FATF) stricture on Pakistan for “not doing enough” against its “terrorists”.India and Pakistan, though, must avoid discussing Kashmir. This is because there is always a stale-mate with India demanding that Pakistan let up on cross-border terrorism and Pakistan insisting on talking about all items of disagreement, “including Kashmir”. Such peace pantomime has not worked and will not work. The two must seriously think of “normalising”, that is, allowing “connectivity” under SAARC through free trade and free move-ment of goods and traffic. India should be given a road through Pakistan to another SAARC member, Afghanistan, and onwards to Central Asia. The pro-ject started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee must be car-ried to its conclusion — to give the people of South Asia a chance to live in peace.Khaled Ahmed is consulting editor, News-week PakistanSource: indianexpress.com/article/opinion/col-umns/talk-but-not-on-kashmir-pok-loc-abhinan-dan-india-pakistan-pulwama-attack-5607505/

India-Pakistan Dialogue Should FocusOn Reviving Trade, Not On Kashmir

Khaled Ahmed


20

We start our journey on foot from the doorways of our ancestral

home on Allah Ditta street, located across from Sarpak (meaning ‘pure ground’ in Urdu). I visit Chakwal occassionally and we always spend a few days in this house, owned and originally built by my great-great-grandfather.

The baithak in the Centre commands serenity and space, and brings all the members of the household together for communal dining and reminiscing of the past. The surrounding rooms have changed shape over the years and have adapted to modern day comforts, but the elders still remember how everything was originally, comprising of: a space to keep cows and hens, an open kitchen, and, a raised platform for prayer.

We start our journey on foot from the doorways of our ancestral home on Allah Ditta street, located across from Sarpak (meaning ‘pure ground’ in Urdu). I visit Chakwal occasionally and we always spend a few days in this house, owned and originally built by my great-great-grandfather.

The baithak in the centre commands serenity and space, and brings all the members of the household together for communal dining and reminiscing of the past. The surrounding rooms have changed shape over the years and have adapted to modern day comforts, but the elders still remember how everything

was originally, comprising of: a space to keep cows and hens, an open kitchen, and, a raised platform for prayer.

The real joy of visiting a place is always in what lies beyond the walls. We exit the gates to emerge onto the street, facing Sarpak. A few decades ago, this was a rain-filled pit that had water clean enough to bathe or wash clothes. Later, it became the bathing and resting ground for buffaloes before resigning to its present-day fate of being a garbage dump and algae colony.

In contemporary times, Sarpak is most closely associated with the Markazi Imambargah close by, and the adjoining huge communal ground. This ground serves multiple functions, such as acting as a cricket ground, a football field, a car park, a shortcut for passing rickshaws and cars, a procession gathering spot (religious or political) and an open idle space to pass the time.

Our guide is my granduncle who resides in the United Kingdom but visits his hometown every year, relishing in the simplicity of the place and reminiscing his childhood memories. His stories relate the transformations of the buildings, the town and the people who used to reside in this

neighborhood.After crossing

the now-metalled road, he quickly leads us onto the sheltered l a b y r i n t h i n e s t r e e t s (or galliyan) of Chakwal’s oldest parts. The streets are barely wide enough for three

A walk through the historic streets of ChakwalTayeba Batool


21

people to walk side-by-side, yet motorcyclists pass by, barely breaking speed and almost always (miraculously) causing no harm.

Gravel and concrete have replaced the older mud paths and narrow water drains lie exposed on either side. The streets are narrow but take a 360-degree turn, and history appears to call out to us at each step.

Traditional handcrafted wooden doorways are still in use, bringing alive the craftsmanship and naturalistic designs of yester-years. Overhead balconies (jharokas) and raised platforms outside the home (takhts) testify how once upon a time all neighborhood gossip was delivered via evenings spent with neighbors.

Arabesque lattice patterns, and arches on windows are yet another reminder of days gone by. I cannot help but notice the similarity here with some of the streets in the walled city of Lahore.

As we walk ahead, we notice that there are no name plates or numbers outside several houses. My granduncle points to multi-storey houses on the way, and relates generational stories of how families residing here, prospered or decayed.

“That is the kothi of the halwai (maker of halwa, which is a South Asian dessert). I met his son in the United Kingdom. One day, this fine, young gentleman comes to my office looking for me, and announces, without shame, that he was the son of the halwai in our neighbourhood. He has really helped his family back home.”

This is one of the many rags-to-riches stories to be encountered in this region. Several prominent businessmen, high ranking military personnel, and politicians can trace their roots to Chakwal – both

the town and the villages within its judicial boundaries.

My granduncle also points out a marker on our path saying: “Every year I visit, I always see trash dumped at this exact spot. Always. I don’t know why.”

The mound of plastic bags, food waste and fruit peels on the otherwise clean alley is an eyesore and is disturbing for the olfactory senses. The mystery of how it gathers here, who collects it and why it is not removed by the residents is still unresolved. Unfortunately, this menace of waste pollutes much of our interaction with the urban space.

A little further, we arrive at a tile clad wall and a dome structure, hinting that we were standing before a mosque. “Can you guess how old this mosque is?” Our guide eyes us eagerly, anticipating the ‘wow’ moment to come. “Sometime around 1950?” I suggest. “This is the oldest mosque in Chakwal, almost three centuries old,” he informs us.

And we are, as he expected, awe-struck standing in front of the Paki Masjid. The mosque was established in the beginning of the 17th century, soon after the era of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. The plaque on the wall also claims that a certain Chaudhary Guda Baig Khan laid the mosque’s foundation.

After multiple turns through the residential quarters, we come out into Bhabra Bazaar, the market place. I can see stalls and carts selling

fruits, vegetables, Chinese plastic toys, clothing items, and savoury snacks such as chana chaat, dahi bhallay, and french fries are lined up. Sound levels here have increased manifold. The traffic din from the main road further ahead, fills up the space, alongside the conversational Punjabi and


22

the street hawkers loudly declaring goods for sale.

I also spot the Bab-e-Chakwal (Gate of Chakwal), a recently constructed monument, at the end of the line. I am struck by the confluence of the old and the new, and how it changes within just a matter of minutes and just a few feet. The hanging bulbs on the stalls are already lit. The brightest point, however, is the shop in the middle: Chakwal’s famous ‘Pehlwan Rewari’.

“This is the original and very first shop,” another long-time denizen of Chakwal tells me. Multi-coloured fairy lights decorate the signboard, with the trademark photo of a man with a moustache (possibly the Pehlwan who started the business). The rewari (sweet candies traditionally made of ghee, gur and sesame seeds) is a speciality of Chakwal, as the sohan halwa is to Multan.

Emerging onto the main Chakwal Road, I already feel nostalgic for the more intimate, accessible space we were walking through. Cars

are now in sight, as are billboards, stretches of multi-storey buildings, and a big, grey road leading to (or coming from) a vast stretch of land. At a small flower market on the main road, my companions buy rose petals for their visit to the graveyard the next day.

The oldest mosque in Chakwal.We return via the Hospital Road,

behind the District Hospital, which was established during colonial times. Passing by a traditional tandoor, we grab fresh, hot naans for the journey back. My grand-uncle introduces us to one of his class fellows, a fruit seller, who insists we take home a few oranges.

And that is how the walk through history ends – reaffirming bonds of friendship, memories and places, and a social fabric that keeps everyone together, even after so many years.

All photos: Tayeba Batool- https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/78560/a-walk-through-the-historic-streets-of-chakwal/

Chakwal’s famous ‘Pehlwan Rewari’.‘Jali’ work on the balconies.


23

BEIJING: China on Friday dismissed as untrue a US

media report that alleged that it has hatched a secret plan to build fighter jets and other military hardware in Pakistan as part of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Islamabad datelined report in the New York Times said Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches to the secret proposal.

"Chinese officials have

repeatedly said the Belt and Road is purely an economic project with peaceful intent. But with its plan for Pakistan, China is for the first time explicitly tying a Belt and Road proposal to its military ambitions - and confirming the concerns of a host of nations who suspect the infrastructure initiative is really about helping China project armed might," the report said.

"According to our information the relevant report is not true," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, told a media briefing when asked about the report, which coincided with the eighth Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of the CPEC during which both sides

signed an agreement to expand industrial cooperation in diverse fields and attract investment in special economic zones.

Hua said the CPEC is an important framework for cooperation bearing the long-term interests in mind.

All-weather friends and close allies, China and Pakistan have been jointly building the J-17 Thunder, a single seater multi-role combat aircraft. Pakistan has been eyeing a number of new advanced Chinese jets including the stealth fighter.

h t t p s : / / w w w . n d t v . c o m /world-news/china-denies-new-york-times-report-on-building-military-jets-in-pak-1966481

China Denies Report Of Secret

Military Project In Pakistan Trade Corridor

The Islamabad datelined report in the New York Times said Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches to the secret proposal


24

It doesn’t seem like the ongoing confusion between

British English and American English will ever come to an end. And we might just have to make our peace with this. While some differences between the two versions are quite apparent e.g. the ‘s’ and ‘z’, others not so much.

Even though Americans share the same language as those in England, words that commonly mean one thing in the US can mean something completely different in the UK—and vice-versa. Compiled from Reader’s Digest, here are five words that mean completely different things in the two nations.1. Bird

In America, a bird is an animal with feathers – it’s as simple as that. In England however, a bird

is often used to describe a young female, similar to the way young women are referred to as “chicks” in the America.2. Jumper

The term “jumper” typically involves a call to 911 in the US, as it can refer to a person who’s attempting to jump from a bridge or building. The meaning couldn’t be more different in Great Britain, where “jumper” is the name given to a knitted top, or a sweater.3. Geezer

Amercians see the word “geezer” as a derogatory term often paired with “old” to describe an elderly, old man. In England, the word “geezer” is a slang term given to a regular man, and is often used the same way Americans refer to young guys as “dudes.”

4. BootIf a Londoner tells you he locked

something in his boot, you may look at him quizzically. Yet, don’t be alarmed: While in America a boot is a type of footwear, in England, the term is used to refer to a trunk of a car.5. Pants

Telling a British person you got your pants dirty could elicit some raised eyebrows. In America, of course, pants are clothing that covers you from your waist to your ankles. However, in England, the term “pants” is another word for “underwear.”

h t t p s : / / t r i b u n e . c o m . p k /story/1921652/4-5-words-mean-completely-different-things-england-america/

5 WORDS THAT MEAN COMPLETELY

DIFFERENT THINGS IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA

Pakistani student goes to NASA on week-long internship

A 12-year-old Pakistani student, Radeeyah Aamir, has been selected for a one-week internship program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

During the program, Radeeyah will undergo training for next-generation Astronaut Training Experience, said a statement released by the US Embassy in Pakistan.

In January, three students of the space science department at the Institute of Space Technology

(IST) in Islamabad received international acclaim for their research on super-massive black holes and galaxy collisions in space.

According to reports, the findings had been lauded as ‘outstanding’ by experts belonging to the field in question.

h t t p s : / / t r i b u n e . c o m . p k /

story/1911870/8-pakistani-student-

goes-nasa-week-long-internship/


25

“Think about it. [Rep. Ilhan] Omar wears a hijab,” Fox News host Jeanine Pirro looked

straight into the camera and told her viewers Saturday night. “This, according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won’t get molested. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?”

Her on-air comments, which explicitly questioned Omar’s loyalty as an American lawmaker simply because of her religious beliefs, were widely criticized, with civil rights groups nationwide calling for Pirro’s resignation. Her employer even condemned her comments in a statement released on Sunday, saying they “do not reflect those of the network.”

Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, later thanked the network on Twitter for its condemnation. Shortly after that, Pirro released a statement defending her segment, saying that she did not call Omar un-American and that her “intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don’t support the Constitution.”

But to say Pirro’s comments do not reflect Fox News’ position is far from the truth. For years, she has propagated anti-Muslim disinformation without any consequence — and so have her colleagues throughout the network. Fox News has amassed a well-documented history of spewing anti-Muslim propaganda with impunity.

In a 2016 segment of “Fox News Live,” Pirro advocated for mosques to be surveilled and supported Newt Gingrich’s call to “test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they

should be deported,” as he told the network’s Sean Hannity.

In 2015 she invited a Steve Emerson, a “high-profile Muslim-basher,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, to discuss his since-disproved theory about so-called no-go zones in the U.K. and France; he claimed Muslims who refuse to assimilate reside in enclaves that are beyond the control of local law enforcement and even bar non-Muslims from entering.

After the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in France, Pirro’s show promoted bigoted inaccuracies — among many during Fox News’ coverage. The

network was forced to issue not one but four corrections in a single day for wildly inaccurate r e p o r t i n g a b o u t Muslims in Europe.

That year, she went on a seven-minute I s l a m o p h o b i a -riddled tirade in which she said a

“reverse Crusade” was in progress against white Christians. In another instance, she called for the mass murder of Islamists — a label used to describe politicians who run on political platforms influenced by the Islamic faith.

A few days after the 2015 National Prayer Breakfast, a national interfaith event held in Washington, D.C., Pirro again took to her show and collectively blamed Muslims, a community of 1.6 billion people, for a series of terrorist attacks. She berated then-President Obama to “stop defending Islam” and to “start protecting Americans.”

“Consider this: The first World Trade Center attack in 1993, by Muslims. The USS Cole bombers were Muslim. The Fort Hood shooter was Muslim. The shoe bomber was Muslim. The underwear bomber was Muslim. The Boston bombers were Muslim. The Sept. 11 hijackers were Muslim,” she

USA: Types Of Islamophobia Fox News Is OK WithFox News said Jeanine Pirro’s Islamophobic comments don’t reflect the network’s views. History shows it does.


26

said. “Mr. President, please identify what other violence is being committed against Americans in the name of any other religion, or is it just coincidence?”

Media Matters, a nonprofit research center dedicated to monitoring and correcting misinformation in American media, has long documented Fox News’ Islamophobic history.

“It’s definitely not isolated to her show. That’s a given,” said Rebecca Lenn, Media Matters’ director of external affairs. “Fox News has definitely been a leading driver of the anti-Muslim fervor in the media landscape for a long time. There is no doubt, taking a step back, that bigotry and extremism are at the very heart of the network, and that’s becoming even more of a reality since the network has positioned itself as Trump’s go-to propaganda network.”

There is no shortage of examples of blatant anti-Muslim rhetoric broadcast on Fox News.

On “Fox & Friends,” co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed in 2010 that “all terrorists are Muslims.” In another episode of the same program that year, co-host Pete Hegseth had some advice for the Muslim community, saying, “If you don’t want to be portrayed in a negative light, maybe don’t burn people alive and set off bombs and things like that.”

“Muslim immigration means more Islamic terrorism,” said Pamela Geller on Sean Hannity’s show in 2017. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated her “the anti-Muslim movement’s most visible and flamboyant figurehead.”

“You have to admit, there is a Muslim problem in the world,” Jesse Watters saidon “The O’Reilly Factor” in 2017.

https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/fox-news-isla

mophobia_n_5c8811ebe4b038892f482d12

Pakistan: First Dalit Hindu Female Lawmaker Addresses Parliament

Islamabad, Mar. 8, 2019: Krishna Kumari Kohli,

Pakistan’s first female senator from the Hindu Dalit community, on Friday chaired the session of the upper house of parliament on occasion of International Women’s Day.

“Chairman Senate of Pakistan decided to make our colleague Krishna Kumari Kohli aka Kishoo Bai to Chair the Senate for today on Women’s Day,” Senator Faisal Javed tweeted.

Krishna, 40, was elected as senator in March 2018 after spending many years working for the rights of bonded labourers in Muslim-majority Pakistan. She is the first Thari Hindu woman to be elected to the Pakistan senate.

She belongs to the Kohli community from the remote

village of Dhana Gam in Nagarparkar area of Sindh province where a sizeable number of Hindus live.

“I consider myself very fortunate today to be sitting on this seat…,” she said before starting the session.

International Women’s Day is observed across the world on March 8.

Born to a poor peasant, Jugno Kolhi, in February 1979, Krishna and her family members spent nearly three years in a private jail owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district.

She was a grade 3 student at the time when held captive. She was married to Lalchand at the age of 16, when she was studying in 9th grade.

She pursued her studies and in 2013 she did masters in sociology

from the Sindh University. She had joined the Pakistan Peoples Party as a social activist along with her brother, who was later elected as Chairman of Union Council Berano.

Krishna’s election to Senate represented a major milestone for women and minority rights in Pakistan.

h t t p : / / m a t t e r s i n d i a .c o m / 2 0 1 9 / 0 3 / p a k i s t a n s -first-hindu-female-lawmaker-addresses-parliament/

Krishna Kumari Kohli


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DUBAI: The centuries-old sectarian Sunni-

Shiite divide is arguably so entrenched that many — even Muslims — would be hard-placed to pinpoint the source of the largest cultural dispute in the history of Islam.

As author John McHugo pointed out in an exclusive interview with Arab News, the origins of the 1,400-year divide were “virtually unknown” in the West outside specialist academic circles until the Iranian revolution of 1979, which prompted several, varying narratives of the clash between Sunnis and Shiites. Today, the divide is frequently seen as an important aspect of the conflicts that have been ravaging Syria and Iraq over the past few years, and of the power politics playing out elsewhere in the region.

Yet McHugo feels the dispute remains widely misunderstood. “We live in a time of appalling violence across large swaths of the Arab world and many other Muslim countries. When people ask how this has come about, they often find themselves presented with an answer citing the Sunni-Shiite divide.”

This was the catalyst for the scholar of Islam to pen his latest book, “A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi’is,” in which he aims to combat the myths about the divide.

McHugo explained how the schism between the sects of Islam is more toxic today than ever before, resulting in decades of war in Middle Eastern countries including Syria, Iraq and Yemen, but said the dispute is as much political as it is religious.

McHugo said many trace the divide back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD. “You could argue that the divide goes back to the last hours of Prophet

Muhammad’s life and people were wondering who would take leadership after his passing,” he said. “Although it goes back that long way, I wouldn’t say there has always been conflict. If an ancient

feud between Sunnis and Shiites is truly the fault line that has divided the Muslim world ever since the death of the Prophet Muhammad, why did it receive so little attention

before the late 1970s?“Nevertheless, an

ancient religious dispute, a focus for primordial hatreds, can appear to fit the bill for today’s many disasters in the Middle East.”

People in the West, McHugo said, have to be very careful about making

these judgments. “Very often Sunnis and Shiites have been able to coexist in harmony. Look what happened in Iraq after the First World War: We found Sunnis and Shiites coming together to resist British occupation.

“We start off from the assumption that there is conflict — of course there are conflicts. It would be stupid to deny that Saudi Arabia and Iran are rivals at the moment, but that is often expressed in terms of the Sunni-Shiite divide. This is royally misunderstood.”

McHugo recalled studying Arabic and Islamic studies at Oxford University and the American University in Cairo

The Arab News

How Iran fueled Islam’s Sunni-Shiite divide


28

in the early 1970s. “We had to do a paper on Islamic beliefs and institutions and a typical question might be: ‘What is the Sunni-Shiite divide all about?’ It was all frightfully academic and, more likely than not, the opinion was that this wasn’t something important today and it was fading into history.”

But then came the Iranian revolution in 1979, which launched a radical Shiite Islamist agenda. “Suddenly you had every journalist wanting to show insight into this Sunni-Shiite divide,” McHugo said. “Then they would start writing about what happened in the 7th century — and you suddenly had these two narratives being portrayed and the impression was that you had this sort of struggle going on all this time on the differences between the two branches of the religion about which is the supreme form of Islam.

“But when the Iranian regime happened, what Shiite cleric Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution, wanted was to get all Muslims behind his Islamic revolution, Sunnis as well as Shiites.”

McHugo, who worked across the Middle East for more than a quarter of a century, said that since many recent conflicts led to reports emphasizing the sectarian divide, tearing communities

apart from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Pakistan, he felt a “light needed to be shone” on the subject.

“It was 2014 when I spoke to my publisher saying that the divide was misunderstood. I found myself getting increasingly angry about it all — that is when I decided to

explain to the public to make them understand how people in the region think and feel.”

Many people have “blithe assumptions” about the Sunni-Shiite divide. “Because we tend to see so much in the Middle East through a prism of violence, people in the West think of the Middle East as being very violent, which I think is a real distortion.

“For hundreds of years people have lived peacefully and when there are conflicts or crisis there is always a reason — population explosion hasn’t helped, to give one example — but we have got one pair of

spectacles about the way we see the Middle East.”

Ayatollah Khomeini wanted to get all Muslims behind his revolution. (AFP)

McHugo explains how members of the two sects have co-existed for centuries and share many fundamental beliefs and practices. But they differ in doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organization.

McHugo opens his book explaining the origins of the divide, highlighting that the sectarian split could be traced back — not because of religious differences from the mainstream — but because of two different perceptions of who should exercise religious authority among Muslims after the Prophet’s death.

But McHugo believes the “divide is less important than it is often portrayed today” because the dispute is paired with politics. “I think that whenever there is a problem between the Sunnis and Shiites we should look at the causes of that problem and often you will find that problem is not to do with religion, it is to do with other political factors.

“For instance, if you take what has been happening in Syria, you have Muslim forces fighting the regime of Bashar Assad, who has been using Iranian support. So what happened is, what started off as


29

an Iranian revolution, turned into a kind of proxy war.

“That is what I’m hoping to make people realize — that the violence we see today in many Arab countries is because of the politicization of Shiite Islam and then the turbocharging of sectarian violence which followed on as a result of the Iraq invasion in 2003 up until 2005, when some people carried out a cultivated act of sabotage and sacrilege when they blew two major Shiite shrines in Iraq with the express intention of starting a sectarianism war. And here we are now, in 2019, still recovering from that.”

The author said Sunnis are 85-90 percent of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslim population, and Sunni Muslims are present in more countries and regions throughout the world, whereas most Shiite Muslims live in four countries: Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq. Saudi Arabia has one of the largest proportions of Sunni Muslims in the world.

Looking at the future of the Sunni-Shiite divide, McHugo sees signs of hope. “I think a positive thing was the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inviting Iraqi politician Muqtada Al-Sadr, who is a Shiite cleric, and I think that’s very good indeed.

“As time passes, we see more and more people coming out of the woodwork and opposing secular politics. But I think it will take a while for this oil tanker to be turned around. People’s perceptions take a while to change. I don’t want to lie — there is a lot of sectarian hatred that has been sown, particularly since 2005.”

Iran has been a “very, very bad boy here,” said McHugo. “This is in terms of trying to spread its influence, but it does that through both Sunnis and Shiites.

“For instance, you have Hezbollah in Lebanon, which it has backed, but it has also backed the Islamist group Hamas, which is a Palestinian

Sunni Islamist fundamentalist organization.

“Then you have internal tension in Iran and you have the Revolutionary Guards who seem a state within the state and control a large part of the Iranian economy that leads to corruption. There is still this revolutionary impulse in Iran and this has still not gone away.”

McHugo said he hopes his book will clarify a “simplistic narrative which is in danger of taking firm hold in the West” — that Sunnis and Shiites have “engaged in a perpetual state of religious war and mutual demonization that has lasted across the centuries; and that this is the root cause of all that is wrong in the Middle East today.

“This is a very convenient narrative. It deflects attention from the immediate causes of the increase in sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites over the past few years. Where bloodshed between Sunnis and Shiites occurs, it is usually entwined with political issues.

The way to stop today’s bloodshed is to sort out those political problems. Unfortunately, that runs up against the vested interests of any player.”

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1463886/middle-east


30

It is now universally acknowledged that

India has shown spectacular performance in financial inclusion and is now a candle light for the developing world. Most international surveys and studies vouch for this. They also highlight the impressive gains for women.

According to the World Bank’s Global Findex Survey (2017) 80 per cent Indian adults now have a bank account — 27 points higher than the 53 per cent estimated in Findex 2014 round. In respect of women, 77 per cent now own a bank account against respective 43 per cent and 26 per cent in 2014 and 2011. On this basic measure of financial inclusion, females are more financially included than before. India has cut its gender gap in financial access from 19.8 percentage points in 2014 to 6.4 in 2017.

To service one-half of the population, banks as well as other service providers will have to develop products specifically for them

However, a more granular analysis shows that gender gaps is still worrying. While more women have been enrolled for bank accounts, a larger gender gap

persists in their usage. And beyond account ownership, in terms of credit and insurance usage, the gender gap remains high. For example, female account owners show an 11-percentage point gap against men in terms of account usage; 54 per cent of women with an account made no deposit or withdrawal in a year as compared to 43 per cent of men. The credit gender gap is still more stark. Distribution of outstanding credit in small borrower accounts shows 24.5 per cent share of female account owners against 72 per cent by men as on March 2017.

Women often face several barriers which limit their financial inclusion, other than the universal constraints that low-income communities face: limited access to mobile phones, lower literacy levels,

less confidence in using technology and restrictions on travel or social interaction. We need to address them through behavioural and reformist approaches, instead of the usual hardware-based approach, so that demand and supply-side barriers that women face in accessing finance are eliminated.

Women's participation in the financial system can have significant benefits in terms of economic growth, greater equality and societal well-being. When women are empowered as economic actors, the benefits touch everyone. They have more child-centered preferences than men. Access and usage of financial services are levers for increasing women's participation in the economy. They enhance their self-confidence and place financial

d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g power in their hands resulting in large development pay-offs.

Women are a low-revenue segment but prove to be loyal and profitable clients when treated with respect and served with appropriately-designed products. Women are more risk-aware than men and take

Dr Moin Qazi, India

Women-friendly financials


31

longer to make decisions but they make firm decisions and when they do, they tend to be more trustworthy and reliable customers than men. Financial service providers need to ensure that the fees are not prohibitive and the design tools which are used make their engagement with financial service providers friendly, safe, affordable and convenient.

Professionals and practitioners have distilled some salient features of financial products and services that foster women’s active participation in formal finance. They find that women don’t have a straight financial journey and have more interruptions and life-stages in their financial lives due to withdrawal from employment during pregnancy and in medical emergencies for nursing sick family members. They may remain active users of the accounts during these periods. Women should be able to reactivate their accounts without much hassles or penalties. Women are also more price-point sensitive and expect affordable fees.

The single best way to increase account use would be to more fully digitise government transfers. Women without accounts frequently interact with governmental offices to make payments (P2G) or to receive payments from them (G2P). Fees paid to access public services and payments for public utilities are still made mostly in cash in the developing world, and if payment was required to be made through electronic means it could help a first interaction

with a digital payments system. Many state governments in India have adopted the default savings options by mandatorily delivering all wages to participants of government schemes and programmes through formal saving accounts. For example, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) states that at least one-third of its beneficiaries should be women and their payments should be delivered via electronic transfers to bank accounts

Providers will need to deepen their understanding of the unique needs of women consumers and develop products and customer experiences tailored to these needs. This doesn’t sound like rocket science and it isn’t, except that the financial products currently available to women are clones of regular products and do not match their distinct income, expenditure and savings patterns. For example, income, which is mostly from their casual employment, tends to be more irregular and unpredictable, often cobbled together from various sources. Savings are limited; often taking the form of small amounts saved daily that need to be banked quickly to prevent them from being spent. Formal credit histories are virtually non-existent. There is heavy reliance on informal networks like friends and family for financing big-ticket needs.

Women clients, particularly in rural areas, find interacting with male staff at banks an intimidating experience and may not trust banks as they

are not considered part of their trusted service providers. To overcome such psychological barriers, financial institutions can increase women staff, and appoint dedicated ones to serve women customers because most of them have a preference for a non-intimidating environment. Women customers are likelier to entrust such a retailer with their finances. They look for a consistently high-quality experience, and the qualities they look for in these experiences include: ‘trustworthiness’, ‘understanding’, ‘dependability’ and ‘accessibility’. In failing to develop client experiences rooted in men and women’s fundamentally different perspectives on finance, monetary services institutions are missing a very significant business opportunity.

Employing more women as bank tellers or mobile money agents can make it easier for more from the sex to board financial services. Women want financial services delivered to them by someone who is experiencing the same issues as them. The country has only 5 per cent women as Business Correspondents (BCs). India has 8.7 million Self-Help Groups (SHGs) comprising more than 100 million women members. The number of SHGs in the BC space needs to be stepped up.

(The writer is Member, NITI Aayog's National Committee on Financial Literacy and Inclusion for Women)

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/columnists/women-friendly-financials.html


32

PESHAWAR: Safarish Khan’s family has for

generations been in the arms business in Darra Adam Khel, a small mountainous town in northwestern Pakistan that is home to South Asia’s largest black market for hand-made replicas of deadly weapons. But, three years ago, Khan decided to switch trades.

These days, in the same shop where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather fashioned guns out of iron, Khan carves wood into rabab — the classical musical instrument

indigenous to Pakistan’s northwest and neighboring Afghanistan.

Safarish Khan, who sold guns for years, is now bringing smiles to people through the rabab. (AN photo)

“I still use the same machinery and have the same shop but now carve wood instead of iron,” Khan, 47, told Arab News at his shop as he polished the newly minted rabab sprawled across his lap.

“For years, I sold guns. Now I’m trying to bring smiles to my war-hit people through the

rabab.”Khan is one of dozens of

gunsmiths and merchants in the town of about 120,000 people who have switched to a new livelihood as the “golden days of arms dealing” have ended, local elder Malik Naseem Javid said.

Javid and other elders from the area said the market was in decline due to the heavy cost of production and lack of government support. A ban on weapons’ licenses and increased restrictions on explosives had only made things worse.

guns were sold once, now Rubab are manufactured

Pakistan: Darra Adam Khel where


33

Army operationsIn recent years, army

operations against militants

who have used Darra’s

surrounding tribal areas to

train and launch attacks in

Pakistan and Afghanistan, in

part because the region had

no government writ, has also

driven away arms buyers and

sellers.

But for 150 years before this

decline began, the black market

flourished, partly because it

lies in an “Ilaaqa Ghair,” or no-

man’s land, where the country’s

laws did not apply.

Darra was formerly a

part of Pakistan’s Federally

Administered Tribal Areas

(FATA), governed for over 150

years by a draconian colonial-

era law that had denied people

basic legal rights and prescribed

collective punishment against

entire tribes for offenses

committed by an individual.

Last year, Pakistan’s

Parliament passed legislation

to merge the tribal regions

along the Afghan border with

the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)

province, a key step in ending

the region’s much-criticized

governance system.

Last month, the provincial

KP government said the arms

manufacturing industry would

be developed into an industrial

zone and its products would

have access to national and

international markets, and

quality raw materials through

a legalized registration process.

But many of Darra’s

merchants see the government’s

promises as hollow, and are

already looking for alternative

businesses.

They fear that government

intervention will only mean

higher rents and production

costs at a time when business

is already suffering due to ever

rising prices of explosives and

iron.

Shah Nawaz, 38, said

his family established their

business, Sarhad Arms

Manufacturers, in 1956 but

had converted the facility into a

slipper factory.

“Due to militancy, the

government banned arms

licenses and explosives and

other restrictions affected

the arms businesses gravely.

Our earnings were reduced

drastically and family elders

began to think of alternatives,”

Nawaz told Arab News. “So

we closed our well-known

arms company and started

this unknown shoe business.”

Saiful Amin’s family has also

been in the arms business for

80 years, with Moon Star Arms

Company. Their factory on

main Kohat Road now sits idle

and most of the employees have

been laid off.

“Our family is looking for a

side business, otherwise soon

we will be on the streets,”

Amin told Arab News. “To

balance profit and expenses, we

have leased half of the factory

building to another person.” He

said 75 percent of shops in the

market used to sell arms but

that number had reduced to

about 30 percent now. “A few

years back we would sell about

200 pistols per month but that

has decreased to 50-60.”

Thousands of workers

previously employed at the

market are also struggling and

many have turned to low-paid

labor. Nisar Khan, an expert

in making the 9MM pistol,

said he had done nothing but

forge weapons for 30 years. “I

am seriously thinking about

setting up a vegetable or fruit

cart,” he said. “I have to feed

my children.”

Many of Nisar Khan’s friends

were also looking for alternative

livelihoods, albeit reluctantly.

But Safarish Khan said he

was happy to leave a trade he

considered sinful. “I am the

lucky one that I could adopt

making rababs as a profession,”

he said with a smile. “In these

tough times, I can finally earn

my living in a respectable and

dignified way.”

http://www.arabnews.com/

node/1449971/world

contents · 2019-04-01 · mucad ibrahim, a three-year-old boy full of light and love. naeem...

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