The Daily PakistanPolitics Mar16-31, 2015

• Mar31-2015--The PCB announces problematic choices as one day captain--Azhar Ali and chief selector Haroon Rashid as chief selector...haroon has failed at developing cricket and is also famous for having failed in the world cup...Azhar Ali says he has solved his batting techniques in one day cricket...basically a test match type of cricketer he could possibly have a better brain than Misbah ul haq but will find it difficult to match the consistency of the former captain...he wants to focus on playing as a unit...one would suggest that the selected players improve their techniques consistently by correcting their faults and attempting to play consistently longer innings...without continuous skill development the players will always fail at the top level and in tournaments such as the worldcup...seeing the pathetic form of Afridi in the worldcup one wonders how long he will last as 2020 captain...
  
• Mar31-2015--Altaf Hussein refuses to step down yet again...this time after naming three possible successors...The ethnic troublemaker altaf hussein is seen as the main culprit behind karachi's law and order problems...anyway at least two of his successors are known to have been terrorist controllers before escaping to england
  
• Mar31-2015--LHC orders cantonment polls tobe held on a party basis...this is a serious rejection of PMLn views which see's non party based polls at the LG level as beneficial where they can play on biradris and families...anyway the parties had already named their panels as khushal pakistan, naya pakistan and awam dost to differentiate between each other...
  
• Mar30-2015--five hundred pakistanis evacuated from wartorn yemen via a PIA airplane which landed at an airport under attack from saudi planes
  
• Mar30-2015--a colonel is shot dead in peshawar
  
• Mar30-2015--five militants killed as FC rescues four kidnapped drivers in mastung
  
• Mar30-2015--an LNG tanker berthes at karachi and its cargo is regassified and added to the gas network over 15 days...it could improve power availaibility to some extent the government says
  
• Mar30-2015--In the political domain a PTI candidate wins over a joint PPP-PMLn candidate in AJK...PMLn has some new legal concerns over the judicial commission...while shiite and religious groups have concerns about the government sending troops to saudia...
  
• Mar29-2015--15 militants killed in Tirah fighting where an army checkpost was attacked
  
• Mar29-2015--The PMLn regime has hanged 65 death row prisoners since December
  
• Mar28-2015--making the economic situation clear the PMLn goes for another $500 milion tranche from the IMF bailout package...as usual pakistanis will have to suffer further...The IMF is known to bring ordinary people more trouble with its meaningless useless policies
  
• Mar28-2015--four militants shot dead in karachi
  
• Mar28-2015--The PMLn which has the know how to develop false leaked tapes says they have a tape in which Imran Khan expresses pleasure and satisfaction at the attack on PTV HQ's which were daily issuing news bulletins against the PTI's constitutional avenue shenanigans...Imran Khan says that is an attempt by the government to avoid an election enquiry into PTI's allegations...The PTI chief seems unaware of the mqm duality in attitude...altaf hussain was hedging his bets by supporting both sides in the dharna days in expectations of a military takeover...!!!
  
• Mar28-2015--a police bus carrying SSU policemen hit by a locally made roadside bomb killing two in karachi...many are pointing to the mqm as being behind the recent wave of terrorism against the rangers and the police...while the pathetically ill informed interior minister and sindh chief minister continue to support the mqm shenanigans even after the recent revelations of involvements...the primeminister too has to realize that the issue is not of victimisation but whether the mqm is directly involved at the top and organisational levals..this has become quite clear after the raids on the mqm offices and how they brought guns and ammunition in ambulances from quetta...and were deeply involved in karachi's mayhem and criminal activities...
  
• Mar28-2015--what a change...a king dies and almost his entire policy of tolerating iranian attitudes and warmongering is thrown aside...the previous king was too much of a moderate and kept tolerating iranian shenanigans...As the saudis reacted against the iranian attempt to occupy sunni yemen thru a shiite houthi militia the pakistanis ordered the evacuation of around 3000 pakistani's...saudi help was sought by the embattled yemen president who had been forced out of sanaa...he had replaced the previous president thru UN-Saudi mediation...yemen has a long history of infighting between rulers, invaders and the hill dwellers "zaidis"...They fought all the muslim arab dynasties and were also occupied by the Ottomans until the early part of the 20th century...the zaidis generally ruled by imams formed several dynasties one of which is said tobe the origins of ismaili's in the subcontinent...the north and south and other surrounding arab states continuously fought each other resulting in regular government changes...The zaidis were formed by an cleric who came from medina and in 897 formed his imamate with two local clans and are the dominant militants in the area...they differ from sunnis whose egyptian hanafi school is the majority in yemen...the imam's attempt in every reincarnation to start their own rule and religious interpretations as opposed to following the islam initiated by prophet mohammed(pbuh)...Yemen was unified by the ottomans despite constant warfare and strife with the zaidi imam's until 1918...the british occupied Aden and also had trouble with the zaidi's...however in the mid 1900's yemen was divided into north and south...however trouble continued between the two regions until they were unified in the 1990's...even after that trouble and fighting continued...the latest being 2011 when hadi was brought in as president and elected for two years...however alqaeda and houthi opposition brought the situation to the present scenario...The houthis who are a mountain dwelling shiite minority and are regarded as zaidi's a shiite clan almost all with similar looks who were attempting to occupy the south with increased iranian involvement...as the threats of sunni-shiite strife increased the saudis bombed the sanaa airport to halt further deliveries of arms to the northern houthis...The moderate arab states have been steadily unnerved with the increasing iranian militant involvements in lebanon, syria and iraq...the attempt to dominate the sunni majority yemen was the last straw...The sunni monarchies have been propped up by alqaeda's control over the militancies...however the US-iranian nexus has destroyed saudi confidence and they fear being surrounded by shiite iranian dominated states on their borders...the iranians have started to dominate the militancies in syria and iraq to acclaim from the US...while the saudis have been worried by the sunni type militancies they have regarded them as problems away from their borders...however with the iranians literally taking over syria, iraq lebanon and yemen it meant that they would be the next victims of iranian attempts to dominate the arab area's militarily... as opposed to an israeli dominated arab world...yemen has in the past fought the persians too and have had border problems with the saudis too...shiite iran was not seen as too friendly a neighbour compared to the US controlled israeli state...with the US leaning towards a nuclear iran it became unbearable for the arab states to be surrounded by unfriendly hostile states...something that is very uncommonly similar to israeli views...with the US increasingly forcing the arabs to use their airforce against the IS the saudi reactions were almost a natural progression if they have to control things in the arab regions...The shiites are generally hostile to sunnis while the iranians are regarded as hostile to the saudis and sunni's...the iranian regime wont even allow sunni mosques and restricts sunnis from even eid prayers in the pakistan embassy...obviously they oppose sunni governance as well as sunni militants of the alqaeda and taleban types...The pakistanis who would have to defend the saudis are in the strange position of being willing to fight in a foreign country...the pakistanis are not known for such bravura unless it is under the UN umbrella...in pakistan shiite politicians who usually are sectarian in orientation are opposing sending troops to saudia...many donot consider the pakistan army as having real capability to defend saudia or fight it out in support of saudi or sunni interests in yemen...the iranians had better be aware that an allout war against arab interests alone is not a view that will find them friends amongst sunni muslims...many have noticed the cowardly pro shiite Nawaz Sharif shying away from fighting iranian controlled militants... however they now seem tobe willing to even send in troops to defend saudi arabia if the need arises...something that can be considred similar to iranian revolutionary guards leading the fight against al qaeda and IS in syria and iraq...while the saudis are not as liberal in tolerating militant behaviours they seem tobe realising that pakistan is not that dependable in matters of war and militancy...the pakistanis long tolerated the militants in their tribal areas and have only recently begun to deal with them militarily...the pakistanis have not developed a military which can project its force at a great distance and it would be the first time if they have to send troops...it is not that easy to fly in 10000-20000 troops with necessary armour such as troop carriers, tanks and military firepower and than have to fight a tribal rebellion...pakistan even avoided sending troops to iraq and afghanistan...even though many regard the saudi airforce as much better equipped compared to the pakistanis. The saudis before this have sent in a motorized battalion to bahrain as a show of force to trouble making shiites over the dammam-bahrain causeway and participated in the war against iraq and liberation of kuwait...in pakistan there have been pro shiite for houthi yemen demos from extremist shiite groups such as the mwm and the pro shiite PPP and Imran Khan have opposed helping the saudis...yemen has been dealing with an alqaeda uprising in one of its states but its military had been dealing with it adequately with obviously US drones...The US regards the yemen alqaeda as much more fierce than the main al qaeda groups...recently many alqaeda groups have been announcing alliances with the IS which is a small grouping but willing to fight openly as opposed to alqaeda's terrorist tactics...This uprising in yemen is regarded as a consequence of the unification and the north south divide as well as the long history of houthi occupations...houthi rule has been resisted over the centuries and yemen has been the target of other arab rulers...christan, arab, ottoman and egyptian...the iranians were quick to rally support to the houthis after they took over sanaa and immediately started flying in manpower and weapons...The pakistanis however are not regarded to be willing to send in troops that could be involved in ground fighting with tribal militants in yemen and many think they would be restricted to policing the saudi borders that are now under threat from iranian dominated arab regimes...yemen is regarded as the origins of coffee cultivation which was spread all over its occupations/empire by the british
  
• Mar27-2015--Saudi Arabia suggests that pakistan has agreed to participate in the operation against the occupation of Yemen by the iranian backed Houthis...Pakistan says that they are willing to help defend saudia and a delegation will go to study how they can participate...this after the saudi announcement that an operation has been launched against houthi militants...many believe that the saudi's will force the militants to backout from occupying the south although many donot expect a ground offensive at this stage...without a ground offensive usually things donot move unless the Houthis are faced with numerous casaulties...many thing that the previous ousted yemeni president and some elements of the yemeni army and police are supporting the Houthi takeover
  
• Mar27-2015--there are tobe partyless LG polls in islamabad
  
• Mar27-2015--gunmen kill five policemen in Loralai in two incidents, torch a police vehicle and fire rockets at a checkpost
  
• Mar26-2015--The strange system put in place in karachi by musharaf is being brought to an end as the chief minister is now fully in charge after nawaz sharif and qaim got a military briefing on karachi without the presence of the mqm...Imran Khan also said that this is the end of the line for altaf hussain and people should not depend on rulers residing in foreign countries and who keep their assets abroad...
  
• Mar26-2015--46 killed and and numerous hideouts destroyed in the military operations in kurram and khyber agencies
  
• Mar25-2015--six militants killed in FC gunbattle in Awaran
  
• Mar24-2015--PMLn mullah Tahir Ashrafi receives death threats from the TTP...one of the few mullahs who has consistently opposed the terror oriented suicide mullahs...
  
• Mar24-2015--11 militants killed in Tirah fighting
  
• Mar24-2015--PMLn holds the 23 March military parade once again after seven years...an edgy primeminister looked on to insipid speeches and a smallish crowd at a new venue hastily completed with no seating capacity...a relic of the ayub khan era when it used tobe held at the racecourse ground to much fanfare...the parade and the parade ground were killed by the PPP alongwith the islamabad GHQ...with the military a little upbeat after subduing the Fata taleban to a large extent and corraling the mqm's troublemakers the PMLn held it under a very heavy security blanket in which all mosques in the area were shutdown ...even a mosque at the IIU was shut down...The PPP leaders never ventured outside the red zone and this is just Nawaz Sharifs second visit outside the security blanket...The limited venue put paid to any equipment movement and the main show were the airforce antics with a new missile drone also involved in the flypast...the JF17 theatrics were flawed with only white smoke...The military has been critisized for not dealing with the indian border violations...and Nawaz Sharif's friendship with the indians was blown skyhigh after the indian deputy foreign minister expressed disgust and loathing at having to visit the pakistan high commission for just 10 minutes...the junior minister is an ex indian army chief...!
  
• Mar23-2015--after the mqm chief threatened to kill rangers and a terrorist attack on a rangers vehicle the STP called the mqm a terrorist outfit which wins elections thru terror and at gunpoint
  
• Mar23-2015-- to return to the assemblies after an enquiry commission notification is issued...they also announced the dismantling of all PTI committees anmd new elections after much bickering and local infighting...Imran Khan had taken to adhoc appointments after the departure of Javed Hashmi
  
• Mar23-2015--security forces retake heights in Tirah losing seven soldiers and killing 24 militants
  
• Mar22-2015--Nawaz Sharif tries to confuse sialkot bussinessmen by saying that the karachi operation is not against the mqm which has been the worst participant in the karachi mayhem...unless the mqm is controlled there will be no peace in karachi.
  
• Mar22-2015--Military says 80 killed in Tirah fighting while losing seven troops
  
• Mar22-2015--SBP cuts interest rate to 8%...that shows that bank loans are not that popular anymore amongst big bussineess who usually have enough funds available
  
• Mar22-2015--police kill five in karachi encounters
  
• Mar22-2015--PCB considering Azhar Ali for the one day captainship slot...some commentators have reccommended Wahab Riaz while others think of sarfraz, asad shafik and even the mavericks Fawad Alam and mohammed hafeez...before the worldcup shehzad was regarded as the next captain while some thought of the troublemaker umar akmal...with failures and all pakistan can replace almost all the batsmen in the one day squad...many only expect haris sohail and shehzad to survive...so the new captain can pick an entirely new batting lineup...many think that moeen khan needs to go home as well...
  
• Mar21-2015--two security men killed in Khuzdar in an attack on a DC's convoy while one soldier killed in Tirah fighting
  
• Mar21-2015--pakistan collapsed to an ignominous defeat in their quarter final world cup...micheal clarke fooled misbah ul haq into attempting a third six over midwicket and the openers could not get the ball thru the slips...that left no one else and pakistanis folded around 200 against an intelligent though not fearsome australian attack...The pakistani bowlers did not have the intellect to remember the shortcomings of the batsmen barring a vicous barrage of bodyline bowling at shane watson by wahab riaz...however the dropping of an easy chance by rahat ali ended any remaining hopes... irfan's unavailaibility showed that the team had forgotten that he is easy to injure...he should have been saved for the important match...The team as a whole probably should be retired..the future cricketers should realize the need for practice, consistency and overcoming errors...at the top level the other teams have improved tremendously...even the indians now can boast of a couple of real fast bowlers and bowlers can bowl with guile at speeds of 144-150
  
• Mar21-2015--The government and PTI are said to have reached an agreement on a mild enquiry into the 2013 elections
  
• Mar21-2015--a suicide bomber on a motorcycle rams into a rangers vehicle in karachi killing two...another motorcycle blast near a bhohra mosques kills another two...many think it could be the mqm retaliating against recent revelations of their involvements in killing, bhatta and terrorism...The police think it might be the radical taleban...
  
• Mar20-2015--The government delays death sentence of saulat mirza after his video...many think it is an attempt to get him of the hook if the mqm can be hooked...!
  
• Mar20-2015--the interior minister that they can share information on imran farooks murder with the british
  
• Mar20-2015--20 militants killed as gunship helicopters attack tirah
  
• Mar20-2015--police make arrests in karachi murders of parween rahman and zohra shahid...!
  
• Mar19-2015--34 militants killed in Tirah in aerial bombardment on LI camps...an LI spokesman said that nobody had been killed and only empty houses had been bombed...!
  
• Mar19-2015--new airforce chief is sohail aman...the airforce has been in the forefront in bombing tribal militants
  
• Mar19-2015--The PMLn regime started wavering as it deferred two death sentences for murder...
  
• Mar19-2015--In a video from a death cell in Machh jail saulat mirza the killer of the KESC MD accused Altaf Hussain, Ishratul Abad and Baber Ghauri of ordering him to kill the KESC MD...he also blamed altaf for killing the mqm chairman azeem ahmed tariq...Ishratul abad was accused of protecting Mqm's criminal elements...he also wanted his death sentence deferred so he could set the record straight...the president supposedly deferred his death sentence and Ishratul Abad was said tobe considering resigning from the governor's office...This is the second major accusation against the mqm and its workers after being accused of setting the baldia factory on fire...The interior minister has protested to the british government for allowing altaf hussein to run a killers cell from london and threaten the Pakistan army and rangers...Altaf Hussain had fled to london after karachi gangs started targetting him...after almost a decade of ethnic mayhem or regional warfare
  
• Mar18-2015--Rangers file a case against altaf hussain for threatening to kill rangers personnel...
  
• Mar18-2015--The unprincipled PPP still wants the mqm to join the sindh government...?
  
• Mar18-2015--two women polio workers and a police guard shot dead in mansehra area
  
• Mar18-2015--shakil afridi lawyer shot dead in peshawar...claims from jundullah and jamaat ul ahrar
  
• Mar18-2015--two policemen shot dead in karachi
  
• Mar17-2015--Islamabad preparing a 2000 man riot control force
  
• Mar17-2015--Senate elections in Fata on the 20th
  
• Mar17-2015--a few hundred rowdy christians continued to riot on Ferozpur road forcing Nawaz Sharif to avoid inaugurating the Faisalabad-Gojra motorway...as the christians threatened a woman driven car she raced away running over several people two of whom later died...the christians who had earlier killed and burned two other people started damaging four metro stations...police and rangers used tear gas to clear the road and some traffic started moving on the road where all commercial activity had seized...protestors in pakistan have to learn the difference between rioting and damaging property which destroys any cause they might have...
  
• Mar16-2015--15 killed as two churches attacked by suicide bombers in lahore
  
• Mar16-2015--13 bodies found in south waziristan mountains of shaktai after military operation in which seventeen went missing