The Emerging Threat

Dear MatloobZaman and okhla99,

1) Regarding the comment that "In NWFP agriculture remains important.." because of agri-production.. statistical evidence shows that NWFP appears to be severely dependent on outside for its basic agricultural/food needs...

The Social Development Policy Institution report on food security in Pakistan in 2003 reports the following ( i am sure present situation is no better)

"Among 29 wheat surplus districts, 69 percent were in Punjab, 21 percent in Sindh and 10 percent in Balochistan. FSA 2003 ranked, in terms of availability, NWFP, Northern Areas (NAs) and AJK as net food insecure. This state of insecurity, translated into caloric supply at provincial level, revealed that in NWFP caloric poverty in terms of its incidence was the most prevalent as only 1106 Kcals per capita were available from the provincial resources. This caloric shortfall leads towards hunger, as defined by FAO and discussed elsewhere in this report.... In NWFP, there is no wheat surplus district and only 2 (8%) out of 24 districts were self-reliant in wheat production.."

the report mentions that in livestock production there is a surplus in NWFP and Balochistan.... but livestock meat is not our staple diet...bread is!!

now for some reason, the new Economic Survey does not give production and demand figures for NWFP.. the previous one is also silent...

2)regarding fruit production in NWFP... again fruit is not a staple item... but definitely it has huge but unrealised potential.. read the following Dawn article on the state of horticultural production in NWFP

http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/03/ebr5.htm

3) Regarding "some manufacturing and high tech investments" in NWFP......
Mr MatloobZaman,I dont know which high tech industries are you talking about.... I dont have to say anything about the Industrial estates in the province.. you guys must know!! the geographical situation of NWFP militates against any manufacturing activity..... please specify what do you mean by'high tech'...

4) regarding trade in NWFP... yes I agree that trade has flourished here for thousands of years.. again due to geographical reasons... but that trade is skewed against NWFP... finished goods coming in (and of course contraband going out!)

Mr Matloob said "unemployment has reduced due to establishment of industrial zones"... I would take this with a pinch of salt... as i said earlier that industrial zones are in bad shape...

5) Marble production is done but at a very crude level with very less value addition as very primitive methods are used to extract and process that.... it is again taken out to Karachi where marble is converted into finished goods and exported... i know because i have some assoication with that sector...besides, what is the share of marble in pakistan's export?

Now let me come to the comments made by okhla99...

---sovereignty??? what sovereignty are you talking about? please visit Swat, Waziristan..even the outskirts of Peshawar and find out whether the state has sovereignty in real sense WITHIN the state!!

I DO NOT declare NWFP dispensable... the situation on the ground proves that...

Regarding Kashmir.... I say f**k that!! I think we dont need that piece of hillstation where my grandfather used to go durings summers during the Raj!!!!

YOU WAKE UP Mister!! look around yourself and get out of this Kashmir mentality... look at Pakistan in global terms.. where are we going? we need to take care of our bread and butter issues first..it is IDIOTS like you who are after a RHETORIC of Kashmir.. think about what you will gain and what you have gained from this cause.... leave the Kashmiris to themselves.... I think they need to partake of the spectacular economic growth seen by India.... we should try to manage WHAT WE HAVE and not go after what we dont have....

Pakistan Zindabad!

Warmest Regards

T. Khan

Re: # 120
TaureanKhan, please update your information about NWFP based on following:
In NWFP agriculture remains important and the main cash crops include wheat, maize, rice, sugar beets, as well as various fruits are grown in the province. Some manufacturing and high tech investments in Peshawar has helped improve job prospects for many locals, while trade in the province involves nearly every product known to man, as the bazaars in the province are renowned throughout Pakistan.

Unemployment has been reduced due to establishment of industrial zones.

Numerous workshops throughout the province support the manufacture of small arms and weapons of various types. The province accounts for at least 78% of the marble production in Pakistan.
Regards

If Mangal Bagh is actually doing all that mentioned in this article he is placing Judiciary out of business. If his group is really conducting in this manner it would not be out of place for MQM to shake hands with him & his forces to eradicate the mafia which has been hounding with illicit practices similar to what Mangal & his people are taking action against, it would be beneficial for the people of Karachi to request his attention towards Sohrab goth & adjacent locale to eliminate and eradicate all illegal & illicit activities that have been flourishing since the period of Zia-Ul-Haq.

#123 Therefore NWFP is dispensible...


It is idiots like you who sell away the sovereignty of the state. Today you declare the NWFP dispensible. Tomorrow you will declare Kashmir dispensible.

WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT.

Re: # 122
majumdar,

The continued official apathy and indifference (especially at Federal Govt) to the situation in NWFP...it seems that NWFP is not important for Pakistan... the national economy wont be affected if something happens to NWFP... (not withstanding the myth of 'strategic depth blah blah) that is worrying... therefore NWFP is dispensable...

Khan sahib,

(one worrying thing is that NWFP is not indespensable for people down south... )

Why is this worrying?

Regards

Re: # 120; Taurean

no offence intended....and I hope none taken mate.

just look around all the nes threads appearing on Unplugged with the "mashallahs" etc praisning such developments and you'd know what I meant

I don't know you so threw in both possibilities.....no sensible person would be jubilant; unfortunately, if the sensible were in charge, we won't be in the sh.. we are today in the first place!

akcheema,

I dont know why you say that I would be happy to see the present developments... and i am also unsure why will that be a cause for jubiliation.. could you explain?

one worrying thing is that NWFP is not indespensable for people down south... it is neither an agriculatural source (Punjab) nor an industrial or consumer goods suppliers (Karachi/central Punjab)... electricity from ageing dams is the only bargaining point!

regards

Re: # 118; Taureen Khan

I find it worrying though don't know if it is a cause for jubilation for you (as is for many here).

You live in Sydney, I take it....so do I. Feel free to get in touch.....leave that to you

Dear Friends,

Please read the following article which appeared in The News International....

Warm Regards

T. Khan
Sydney



Urgent steps needed to save Peshawar from militants



Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Javed Aziz Khan

PESHAWAR: The provincial capital might slip into the hands of groups of militants within a few months if the government did not take adequate measures to arrest the growing trend of militancy.

The district is surrounded by tribal Khyber Agency in the west, Darra Adamkhel, Frontier Region Peshawar in the south and Mohmand Agency and Shabqadar town of Charsadda district in the north. Militant groups have been gaining strength for the past several months in all these towns.

Militants have now spread to innumerable villages of the Peshawar district. Radicals have thickly populated Matani, Mashokhel, Mashogagar and Badhber villages close to Darra Adamkhel.

The militants associated with two groups of Khyber Agency led by Mangal Bagh and Haji Namdar have been gathering vigour in Sheikhan, Sarband, Regi and Nasir Bagh while two militant groups of Mohmand Agency have established their writ in Mathra, Michni, Daudzai and Khazana villages.

The Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) has never attacked security forces but clashed with rival groups on three different occasions in the past that left several people dead. The LI had threatened action against all those involved in ugly businesses like running brothels, selling liquor and heroin, kidnapping for ransom and other crimes. Many living in the areas close to the stronghold of LI have now abandoned the trade to save their skin.

Similarly, threats were hurled on a number of occasions at the owners of CD and video shops, internet cafes and snooker clubs in Matani, Badhber, Mashokhel, Sulemankhel, Sheikhan and Sherkera in south and Mathra, Khazana, Daudzai, Michni and several other villages in the north of the city. A large number of such shops were bombed later when the owners ignore the warnings.

The law-enforcing agencies were also attacked in these areas on a number of occasions. The situation reached an alarming level so much so that one of the former capital city police officers had to request the government for deployment of Frontier Corps to assist police in combating militants in these areas.

As far as attacks on the security forces are concerned, the record of Matani is the worst. At least 18 security personnel have been killed in ambushes and attacks on security posts in the town in the last two years.

The senior policemen, who were killed in the area during different attacks, included deputy inspector general (DIG) Abid Ali, station house officer (SHO) Gohar Zaman, sub-inspector Inamullah and 13 others. Four policemen each were killed when unidentified attackers attacked police parties patrolling the town on two different occasions.

Reports said a number of criminals had also taken advantage of the situation. A number of gangs were busy kidnapping people for ransom disguised as militants. Several rivals also exploited the situation to take revenge from their enemies by attacking their properties with bombs.

Police establishments were strengthened recently, to some extent, in all the villages sharing boundaries with the tribal areas in a bid to stop the spill over of militants to the settled parts of the provincial metropolis.

The efforts, however, proved a complete failure as militants had become so too powerful in many villages of the Peshawar district to be tamed.

Police officers heading the force in the troubled villages had always complained of lack of staff and sophisticated weapons, which forced the cops to take a defensive position instead of combating the trend.

For example, there are only six bullet-proof jackets and no armoured personnel carrier (APC) with the entire Sarband police station that shares miles long boundaries with the Khyber Agency. The Matani police station has one APC, which is normally found in workshop for repair work.

Strengthening the force in the troubled towns as well as involving local elders to hold jirgas with the top hierarchy of the militant outfits can play a key role in improving the situation. Adopting a clear-cut policy by the federal and provincial governments as well as law-enforcement agencies would help restore normalcy to these troubled regions.

Ayesha,

You are really pathetic, what is wron with some mangal bhag running some parts of pakistan according his rules, as though derived from islam.

Pak army is running the rest of the country under a constitutution, again derived from islam. Do not forget the sharia court, if in doiubt see the oath taking ceremony of the military. It is an islamic army, the same as mangal bhag army.

Ayesha, open your eyes, read my posts, learn about pakistan.

Leadenwinter the sick pro-dictator dimwit (also writes under Mukhtar Ameer) writes "All this shows is that extra-judicial activities against the public are a necessary feature of Pakistani government, in exactly the same way as this is the case in virtually all Muslim countries"

All this shows are your dimwit claims backed by zero evidence and ignorning the fact that those "civilian governments" you rail against were totally working under military subservience as was clearly revealed in how they were allowed to work the government as well as the consequence of their transgressions, they were all under the military boot working in institutions shaped and transformed not by the people of this country (which is democracy) but by the military gun as it worked to incorporate itself into the structure of this country in every nook and cranny. Musharraf was not a "progressive", his Nov 3 2007 actions clearly revealed that, he feigned being a "progressive" not knowing the meaning of the word but using its BS slogans and bells and whistles because it fit into his pro-West post 9/11 agenda- his progressivism itself was for ulterior motive, borrowed and fake. Regarding the economy, he totally f'cked it up for 99% of the pakistani population, if he sold this country at pennies to the dollar to multinationals, punished local manufacturers and farmers and let inflation run rampant due to speculation, banking and the stock market, causing only consumption based growth and that also the consumption of the top 1% plus what is necessary for basic survival by a growing population, does not mean that the sorry mofo had any clue regarding any 'progress' whatsoever. He should be hung by parliament decree and the crows should be allowed to peck on his dead carcass till it is fully consumed, and your kind, those who drink the blood of our people should be tried and hung with him. And do not generalize to the Muslim world knowing well the structure they operate under and how LITTLE democracy exists because of imperialist powers that have used the gun and brute force to keep their own peons in power there- how that fits in with your anti-democracy rant (a clear contradiction)is beyond any thinking person. The only brute force that should be used should be used on your a$$ and with those elite like the sob Musharraf who drink the blood of mankind to enrich their narrow agendas. Extra-judicial killings my a$$, this sob is using alost 100,000 Pakistani troops to extra-judicially kill Pakistanis for the sake of appeasing the Americans, has cause food shortages to be faced by tens of millions of Pakistanis causing at the very least their premature death, and thinks himself above the law, and the miserable f'ck leadnewinter talks about "judicial killings", his kind are so pathetic that I swear if I ever get into a position of power I will personally make examples of them using brute force of the kind never before seen in this nation...

A very well written and well-observed article.

Re: # 74
Nan...
Full of sh**...
Islam is modern religion and is the most educationaly, culturaly, technologically backward religious group!!! There are number of muslim majority countries, including Pakistan. Can you compare your educational,technical, cultural output vis a vis India or Israel?
http://www.middleastwomen.org/html/children.htm
More to follow...

Re: # 99
Drop the bhaiyya, just Tahir is fine.

And do make me laugh a bit more with your theory. I too make you smile, if not laugh.

You will get my joke one day...

Presently It has become fashion of many to critic president as chips are down.
As this NS and Z tamasha is going on governing is going to dogs and slowly and surely economic disintegration has stated due this this Sindi and Punjabi joker one has landed by KSA Kings personal blessings and other by diminishing president of usa. Both are going after president as 'Enemy' rather than their own and mr, Z wife approived president. President brought back and allowed both jokers to come back and they did not keep deal which was agreed with King and USA president. Now it fault of president to allow criminals to come back with big welcome. Instead of showing gratitude for giving mr.Z few billion dollars scottfree even no taxes paid and hijacker rogue punjabi scrap iron man , they have no mercy. This is deadly game like tiger hunting, never injure tiger , kill him or he will haunt back. Zia may be crude and religious but not fool. He new rules of Jungle as he said of hanging of Quaid E Awam either he dies or he will kill me. Now jokers know that they can not touch president so they are barking against it.
Now President is generous and has agreed to work with cooperation from his side. Now iot is best time to all to use their efforts to good things. Now slate of all NS, Z and even president is clean , gone is gone. All this big three's need to cooperate so ship of Pakistan moves forward as plans chartered by president. At this time president is need to check terroridm and home grown talibans and tackle them on ground. President has given good advice and he does not and can not now do much.
Now instead of tribal problem is big problem is B.Stan and need to be tackled. Mengal etc are now going for sessession and they want to cancel all treaties made for B.Stan. The chief minister seems to be fan of BLA, who are everyday damaging national assets. Now this mengal is saying IPI is need to be approved by B.Stan also. What they are talking of breaking coiuntry "democraticall" , this democracy tamasha is going out of control. Now trhey want govt of Singapur company controlling big G to be thrown out, same way with china, copper project. THis sedession againt GOP and mr.Z or NS just want to become popular. Crazyness has limit, now they are bringing in uno for BB death and opening ZAB murder sentence to un. B.Stan radicals want Nawab Bugtis death investigated. Never bring outside people in family problems. When E Pakistan problem outsider ( Indians were allowed) which broke family.
Time has come for atleast next 10 years we need benovalent dictector who will save country. In that case people should evaluate president, I do not think Gen. Kayani is respected world wide though he has good grades in american army estimate. Co operation with genral is necessary for survival , then when things are stabilised tamasha cxan go for few years. If B.Stan gone , sindhi nationalist demands will not be far. Then it will be pakistan only punjab, NWFP and Kashmir ( azad and held). Just like USSR reduced to russia Pakkistan will reduced to punjabi state with urdu language. TOO many professional revolutionaries and hot heads creating problems.
Read this and think. Without firm hands of president things are going to be much worse than little food shortages.

Mengal calls for scrapping international agreements




By Amanullah Kasi

QUETTA, June 8: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F and Balochistan National Party-A are responsible for the sufferings of the Baloch people because these parties approved the military operation in Balochistan, according to Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the chief of the Balochistan National Party-M.

He said the role of these parties in the persecution of the Baloch people would be exposed.

Addressing a public meeting in Kalat on Sunday, he criticised Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani’s recent statement that Taliban and the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army were the brainchild of intelligence agencies. Maulana Sherani is the provincial Amir of the JUI-F.

Mr Mengal said that till recently Mr Sherani was a staunch supporter of the Taliban movement and had collected donation for jihadi groups during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Criticising the JUI-F’s policies, he said that previous provincial government had approved the military operation in Balochistan. “But today, the same parties are describing the operation as an extra-constitutional measure and trying to mislead the people.”

He accused President Pervez Musharraf of pursuing policies of persecuting the Baloch people.

He said that the Baloch people would not accept the international agreements signed by President Musharraf about Balochistan’s land and mineral resources.

He rejected the agreement for the IPI gas pipeline which would pass through Balochistan and said that it had been signed by the federal government without taking Baloch leaders into confidence.

Sardar Mengal said that the Baloch people would not allow the centre to exert control over the Gwadar port or to explore the province’s resources without the consent of their leaders.

Reiterating that negotiations could not be held at gunpoint, he said that at a time when military operation was still under way, the atmosphere was not conducive for talks.

Good day everybody. Hope people emotions do not overwhelm brain