'Democratic' India denies rights of Kashmiris...

SRINAGAR, Feb 20: Police opened fire and lobbed teargas shells to disperse protesters demanding the release of a top pro-independence leader on Friday, injuring at least 26 people.

Angry protesters took to the streets in Srinagar, shouting “Down with security forces, release Shabir Shah,” while some threw stones at policemen.

“Twenty-six people were injured in the clashes,” police official Fayaz Ahmad said.

Last year police detained Shah, a senior Kashmiri leader after he led some of the biggest rallies in two decades against Indian occupation of the disputed region.

Shah, dubbed by his supporters ‘Kashmir’s Nelson Mandela’ for the more than 20 years he spent in prisons for opposing Indian occupation, is an executive member of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, main alliance of Kashmiri political parties.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the region since a freedom struggle broke out in 1989. But overall violence involving Indian troops and militants has declined significantly since India and Pakistan began a slow-moving peace process in 2004. New Delhi has put a pause on that dialogue after last November’s Mumbai attacks.--Reuters

26 injured in Kashmir police firing -DAWN - Top Stories; February 21, 2009

but who cares???

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Two leading Pakistani lawyers to receive 3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award

Source: AHRC

[January 23, 2008] The Board of Directors of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to announce that it has decided to grant its 3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award jointly to Muneer Malik, former President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, together with his successor, Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan.

The award is in recognition of the historic leadership role that the lawyers of Pakistan have had in fighting against military dictatorship there during the past year, spearheading the protests against General Pervez Musharraf’s unconstitutional removal and illegal confinement of Chief Justice Iftekhar M. Chaudhary on 9 March 2007.

The lawyers’ movement has attracted interest and immense support of people from all walks of life in Pakistan and the scheme to remove the chief justice was thwarted, although he was again illegally removed from his post, along with 55 other senior judges, including 13 from the Supreme Court, when Musharraf seized power through an unconstitutional declaration of emergency rule at the end of the year.

The lawyers, judges and others of Pakistan have been making great sacrifices to defend the independence of their judiciary as a last bastion against the otherwise unchallenged power of the military. This struggle is continuing today.

The 3rd Asian Human Rights Defenders Award is thus awarded to these two leading lawyers both in recognition of their personal sacrifices as well as to them as representatives of the entire people’s movement against dictatorship in Pakistan.

For his leading role in fighting against the removal of the chief justice and promoting the struggle for an independent judiciary, Muneer Malik was arrested and drugged, causing him to suffer renal failure. He is still recovering today. Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan has been kept under detention since the emergency was imposed on 3 November 2007.

The two lawyers’ leadership, courage and unswerving commitment to their profession, their integrity and their country are strongly symbolic of their cause. In them we acknowledge and award all of the lawyers, judges and others who have refused to bow down to the immoral pressure of military force, including all of those dismissed from their posts and kept in their houses. They stand today as the representatives of civilised society and institutional commonsense in Pakistan, in stark contrast to the barbarism and primitive feudal order represented by Musharraf and his allies.

By making this award we also again emphasise that the international community is obliged to support the people of Pakistan at a time that they are faced with the very real threat of being subjected to the sole authority of a merciless and self-interested executive authority. We call upon others to join with us in open expression of support for these lawyers and their struggle.

ABOUT THE AWARDEES

Muneer A. Malik was President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan from October 2006 to October 2007. He has fought for the independence of the judiciary and independence of the legal profession consistently. When Chief Justice Iftekhar M. Chaudhary was removed unconstitutionally by General Musharraf, he was among the senior lawyers who openly defied the move and led his peers in their struggle to oppose it, which swelled into a massive outpouring of dissent against military dictatorship from people in all quarters and professions. As a result, he was arrested and imprisoned. While held in the notorious Attock Jail under supervision of the ISI, the military intelligence agency, he was given drugs that he was told were painkillers. Thereafter he suffered renal failure. His life was saved only due to massive locally and internationally pressure that led to the authorities acquiescing to the needed medical intervention. He is still undergoing treatment.

For details of his views on the present crisis see: here

Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan is the serving President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and he too has consistently fought for the independence of judiciary and lawyers. He also led the protests against the attack on the chief justice. He successfully represented the chief justice in the case for his reappointment, despite heavy pressure being brought upon him not to do so. He was put under house arrest together with the senior judges and other lawyers when the emergency was imposed illegally on 3 November 2007 and remains there to this day.

For his views see here

New fronts of protest are opening up every day......

"If they thought that a week into emergency rule they'd be able to silence dissent, they haven't, However weak or fledgling, new fronts of protest are opening up every day." Aasim Sajjad, Professor of colonial history and political economy at LUMS, associated with the People's Rights Movement and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, as reported by bloomberg.com on 11th November.

The picture is of Asim Sajjad's arrest on 04th November, from the office of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, within 24 hours of declaration of the state of emergency(read Martial Law). He was put to jail but released a few days later.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiV.DbtKKSUw&refer=home
Reported by: Naween A. Mangi in Karachi, Pakistan on nmangi1@bloomberg.net

hum ghulam ibn-e-ghulam hain... aur rahein gay bhi?

common man is not rising... i've tried to convince a few 'well educated' guys to atleast feel tht all wht happened is bad but they r firm in their belief tht since they cannt do anythin so there is no use of feeling tht its bad. And for some reason they believe tht nothing wrong happened and it is the destiny of Pakistan. Pakistan has a history of such events and nothings happens to pakistan if any such thing happens. It will always b a slave. Those guys are mentally contaminated, n do not realize the strength they have, they fail to realize they can make a difference. they have been brain washed tht they r slaves n raising voice is of no use... this is so coz they have been livin in slavery since their birth. Iqbal rightly said in his days

Tha jo na-khoob batadreej wohi khoob huaa
K ghulami mein badal jata hai qaumon ka zameer

Using the words of Faiz, i pray to Allah:

jin k sir muntazir-e-taigh-e-jafa hain unko
dast-e-qaatil ko jhatak denay ki tofeeq milay

'Elected King'

H.E. Gen. Musharraf is not guilty of wht happened on november 03, 2007 the 'brightest' day in Pakistan. It is the judiciary which is the root cause. The interesting address of H.E. clearly showed how patient he had been, n how severely the judicial system has damaged Pakistan's stability. The judiciary was sheltering Pakistani citizens... err 'terrorists 'arrested by the security agencies either without any charge (since terrorists need not b charged) or on serious charges like 'he shook hands with a man who was sitting with a man who was found buying a cap from a shop near which a very close friend of Osama was seen 3 years ago'. This was not the only crime committed by the judiciary. It did not accept the decision of 'The King' when he sacked the little CJ of Pakistan on some 'serious' grounds.

The judiciary was guilty of standing united and strong against the peaceful visits of armed forces to the houses of terrorist Pakistani citizens in various parts of the jungle... err state. Political system was well in place and there was no uncertainty n anxiety in the nation abt wht will happen, everyone was certain tht nothin is gonna happen. Musharraf is not gonna go, n y shld he go, he is elected as a king by the ppl elected by animals... err people of Pakistan. But when the judicial activism showed a bit of hope to the insects of the country tht they can ask someone tht some loyal slaves of the King are disturbing them, they started gettin uncertain. This was the beginning of treason. I mean the loyal slaves now cannot pick any animal from his home without telling him the charges against him. This was too bad, they r authorized by the 'elected king' to pick, beat, kill or do anything they want to do with any animal they like. Who gave the judges the authority to stand in their way? This moved the country to a state of uncertainty.

Moreover the judiciary has been playin 'games' with the King who never played games with the insects livin in the jungle... by not promisin to remove the uniform more than 1 times and not takin the uniform off.

So the king thought of a solution... remove every judge capable of givin hope to the insects of civil society, stop the ppl who respect them, beat everyone who wants them to stay. This was inevitable for the Elected King to impose martial law... err 'emergency'. H.E. was not willing to do so, his heart wept, he felt drowned but for the sake of common insects in Pakistan, for the sovereignty of the country it was mandatory to impose the Law of Jungle.

Now the country is in a 'certain' state, everyone knows tht emergency has been imposed, no one has any rights, every citizen knows tht his future is in safe hands of the elected king. So the act of the King was just.

So there is no need to protest, we r justified in stayin home n not participatin in any protests... dont think, stay home, have a cup of coffee watch a tv show, sit back, relax, sleep, get up n goto work again. keep goin in this cycle n feel tht u r free. Enjoy the law of jungle.