Thousands of people attended funerals in Karachi on Saturday for those who died in bomb attacks on a bus and then a hospital where casualties were being treated, as the toll reached 33.
Mourners cried out as the bodies of 14 victims were brought to a sports field following Friday’s attacks.
“More than 10,000 people attended the funeral of the 14 deceased,” Javed Mehr, a local police official at the ground, said. “The entire area was sealed off by police and paramilitary Rangers to avoid any untoward incident.”
Funerals were also held for five members of a Christian family killed in the hospital blast, four of them women.
Karachi’s roads were mostly deserted, while shops, business centres and educational institutions were closed as the port city mourned.
Police said the bombs were planted on parked motorcycles and detonated by remote control, rather than being suicide attacks.
“According to our preliminary investigation, both the explosions were triggered by remote control,” senior police official Mazhar Mishwani said. Thirty-three people, including women and children, died as a result of the attacks and 170 others were being treated for injuries, provincial health minister Saghir Ahmad said.
The jury has found Dr. Aafia Siddiqui guilty of shooting American Terrorists in Afghanistan. She was accused of shooting members of US terrorists who had illegally kidnapped Dr. Aafia several years ago from Karachi along with her 3 children. Although the only one found shot was Dr. Aafia herself, but jury decided that she was still guilty of trying to cause harm to the american citizens. No other charges were brought against Dr. Aafia, who has accused the americans of putting her in secret prisons and torturing her for several years.
Update: USA Jury found Afia guilty of attempted murder
Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui went on trial in a federal courtroom in New York City on January 19, charged with the attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan’s Ghazni Province in 2008. The case against Dr. Siddiqui, 37, is rapidly unraveling due to lack of evidence and discordant testimony from witnesses.
It is becoming increasingly evident that the charges amount to a frame-up that has been staged to cover up the fact that Siddiqui, along with her eldest son, had been held without charges in the US military’s notorious Bagram prison in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2008 where they were subjected to torture. Two of Dr. Siddiqui’s younger children are still missing.
According to the account given by US authorities, Aafia Siddiqui was taken into custody by Afghan security services in July of 2008 after they alleged having found a list of US targets for terrorist attacks as well as bomb-making instructions and assorted chemicals
Day by day coverage of Dr. Aafia’s Trial:
Day One http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30901
Day Two http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30931
Day Three http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30933our
Day Four http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30942
Day Five http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30960
Day Six http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30967
Day Seven http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30973
Day Eight http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30978
Day Nine http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30990
Day Ten http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=31000
by Ali Moeen Nawazish
Politics is at best a bearably unfair playing field, the players seen as indifferent despots who choose to reign with nothing but terror and wish nothing but what is the worst for all the people of Pakistan. Eventually what happens is by these very assumptions that the only we can actually trust our ourselves or our close friends, and not to mention the prime root taken by many a state of political indifference.
In my recent interview of MNA (NA-96) Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, I saw a few things from a different light- a light that is perhaps not much reflected upon.
The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board headed by Pakistan Army wants to close several schools near GHQ permanently for sake of their own security.
The RCB Chief said that “It is a part of policy that schools will not be allowed in residential areas due to security threats, traffic problems and noise pollution”.
This is an extreme example of hypocrisy as the schools are always located within hearts of residential areas in all over the civilized world so that it is convenient for children to go to nearby schools. Similarly, the military bases are located far away from residential and urban areas, so that these areas could be used by civilians for residential and business activities, without any sight and noise of military vehicles roaming around in civilian areas.
In a significant development, President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday turned down a recommendation by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to elevate Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, senior puisne judge of the Lahore High Court, to fill the seat which has fallen vacant after the retirement of Khalilur Rahman Ramday.
“Keeping in view the lego-constitutional position, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has advised President Asif Ali Zardari to request Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to reconsider
Dear Everyone,
We are delighted to announce the launch of beta version of PKPolitics Mobile. This site is now mobile friendly, and you should be easily able to use all the commonly used features of the site using your mobile device.
In addition to using to access news and share comments, the contributing members will also be able to watch videos on their mobile devices. PKPolitics Mobile has been tested with the iPhone and the iPod Touch, but it should also work fine with BlackBerries, Palm, Android and other mobile devices. We have currently enabled videos for all users for compatibility testing.
We need your help in testing it on different platforms so that we can resolve any technical issues with your specific mobile device.
Every member will be able to access videos during its beta testing.
Thanks,
PKPolitics Team
Warning: Don’t watch videos or access the site while driving, or anyother activity which can put you at risk.
Disclaimer: Please ensure that you have generous data tariff or a good data plan on your mobile plan as video streaming is a data intensive process, and therefore PKPolitics will not be responsible for any data charges incurred while watching videos on your mobile device.
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Poll: Who will win NA-55 – vote here!
New Ordinance and withdrawal of Notification – Two Pronged strategy to knock out judiciary
The tug of war between Pakistan Peoples Party and Judicial echelon is not yet over. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition government is planning to technically knock out Judiciary in a ‘democratic way’. The defiance strategy focuses to use constitutional means to make judiciary ‘toothless and powerless, informed a highly reliable source.
جس عہد میں لٹ جاۓ فقیروں کی کمائی
اس عہد کے سلطان سے کچھہ بھول ہوئی ھے
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday released the detailed judgment in the National Reconciliation Ordinance case. The 287-page detailed ruling was penned by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The judgment was signed by Justice Khalil Ramday on Jan 12 before his retirement. Citing the example of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the ruling said that the Philippine government
Please cast your vote on the extremism solution here
Intelligence Squared arranged a debate with various experts on Pakistan’s issues related to War of Terror and their possible solutions. The video of the event was published on the IQ2 website and is being republished here at PKPolitics.
Pakistan is the world’s tinderbox: a nuclear-armed state, riven by ethnic and religious conflict, home to the Taliban and al-Qa’eda, poised on a knife edge between secularism and Islamicism, an ally of America yet seething with anti-Americanism.
Exclusive Interview with Engineer Khurram Dastgir
Ali Moeen Nawazish brings a fresh episode of Better Pakistan with Engineer Khurram Dastgir (MNA NA-96), discussing issues of youth, intra-party democracy and the role of the common man. This is the first of a two part interview, the second one focusing more on the direction the youth should take, and what the role of an ordinary person can be in making Pakistan Better.
For Pakistan! Pakistan Zindabad
The Information Minister and Senior PPP Politician Qamar Zaman Kaira is in deep trouble after his failed attempt to politicize the superior judiciary. Kaira claimed earlier this week that the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has met Shahbaz Sharif – the Chief Minister of Punjab, and also asked the Supreme Court to take a Suo Moto action on this meeting.
The Supreme Court immediately released a Press Release on their website strongly denying any such meeting and also ordered the accuser (Kaira)
MQM and PPP have agreed to appoint Administrators in Sindh for 90 days until the local bodies elections are held.
The agreement was reached after the conditions from MQM were met that all the Administrators, who are Government Employees, will be approved by MQM. Secondly, in case the Government fails to hold the local bodies elections within 3 months, the ex-nazims will be reinstated to their current position as of now.
Muhajir Qaumi Movement (Amir Group) – 1314
Muhajir Qaumi Movement (Afaaq Group) – 270
Motahida Qaumi Movement (Altaf Group) – 84
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – 75
Awami National Party (ANP) – 54
Jamaat-e-Islam (JI) – 51
Sunni Tehreek (ST) – 40
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) – 14
by Javed Malik
As the world celebrates the arrival of a new decade starting with year 2010 I find myself reflecting on how turbulent this decade has been for the Muslim World.
It was in this decade that Mr. Bush launched his ‘Crusade’, which became the ‘war on terror’ and targeted at least two Muslim countries — Afghanistan and Iraq — and threatened several others including Iran and Syria.
Please share what should be realistically accomplished within year 2010 in terms of any issues that you believe are very important to put Pakistan on the right course.
Feel free to share what you believe could be the key targets in any areas, including Political Parties, Parliament, Governance, Judiciary, Foreign Policy, Economics, Energy etc.
by Muhammad Riaz Amin
Observers are almost unanimous about Zardari’s speech that it was a speech of a scared man, who was calling bluff as a last resort. He tried to be convincing and pretending to be determined, but remained unimpressive. He tried to roar like a confident, upright and truthful person, but ended up with stammering screams of shaken and scared liar.
The Supreme Court has struck down a previous verdict of the Lahore High Court on postponement of elections in NA-55 Rawalpindi. The case was then sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan to pick it up from the stage where it was left.
A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary observed that the election commission was an independent body not subservient to any federal or provincial government. The executive should assist the commission in discharging its duty, the court said.
This decision was for NA-55 only. Earlier the provincial government went to the Lahore High Court for postponement of elections on ground of poor law and order situation and threats to the candidates’ lives.
However, in their explanation in front of the court on Wednesday, the Punjab government informed the court that the Supreme Court’s verdict will be implemented.
Ex-prime minister, the head of PML-N, Nawaz Sharif and Sheik Rashid of AML are the potential contestants of this NA-55 constituency.
At least 20 people were killed and scores of people wounded on Monday after a powerful blast ripped through Karachi’s main Ashura procession at MA Jinnah Road.
Sindh Health Minister Dr. Saghir Ahmed confirmed Geo that 20 people were martyred in the blast.
The blast triggered stampede and panic among the mourners, who pelted stones at the police vehicles. Some eyewitnesses said they have heard some gunshots on the occasion.
The second anniversary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto is being observed in country, Geo News reported Sunday.
The central public gathering to commemorate the second anniversary of assassination of Benazir Bhutto is currently in progress with a large number of people, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) workers including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Garhi Khusda Bux.
The Quran Khawni started at 8am today and the hands were raised in prayers for the eternal peace of the martyred Bhutto.
The PM Gilani also visited Garhi Khuda Bux and offered Fateha Khawni at her tomb and laid sheets of flowers there. PPP leaders including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Babar Awan, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Sindh Assembly Speakers Nisar Khuro also visited her tomb.
