Annoucement came days after high level US administration delegation visited Islamabad. In an exclusive report on May 17th, 2010, we published a report confirming that General Kayani will get an extension because American administrtion does not want to change local leadership mid-stream.

Today Pakistani Premier praised General Kayani’s professional capabilities and said his leadership qualities are valued both domestically and internationally. He said the decision to extend the term of COAS has been in consultation with the President Asif Ali Zardari ‘to ensure successful culmination of the ongoing war against terrorism’.

“The government is presently engaged in war against terrorism which is now in a critical stage,” the Premier pointed out, adding, this requires continuity of military leadership under the present Army Chief who led successful operations in Swat, Malakand and South Waziristan.

He said the Army Chief, due to his professional capabilities and leadership qualities, is looked upon with respect and honor both domestically and internationally.

The Prime Minister said the operations initiated against Army Chief remained engaged in the planning, execution and supervision of military operations, making possible success of the offensives launched against the militants.

General Kayani who succeeded Gen Musharraf as Pakistan’s 14th army chief on November 29, 2007, is a recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) for his meritorious services.

He served at various levels of command including his stint as Director General Inter Services Intelligence.

Besides being Chief of Staff Corps, General Kayani has also held the coveted post of Director General Military Operations.

General Kayani is a graduate of Fort Benning (USA), Command and Staff College Quetta, Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth (USA), Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii (USA), and National Defence College Islamabad.

He possesses wide ranging experience in Command, Instructional and staff appointments and has commanded an infantry Battalion, Infantry Brigade, Infantry Division and a Corps.

Your Golf Home reported Friday that a twenty year old Pakistani who recently returned after completing undergraduate degree from US turned a pro golfer giving country some hope and a rising star.

Pakistan‘s youngest golfer Aleem-ur-Rehman, this week announced that he will be playing in all open championships as a professional player. Announcement came after he outperformed his peers and many senior players at the Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course, winning a slot in the prestigious CNS Open Golf Championship to be held in Karachi from July 15.

Young Aleem emerged as the top contender in the trials carding a round of 5 under par 67, including 8 birdies. He demonstrated superb play on the fairways and the putting greens.

During his stay in the US, Aleem took golfing lessons and paid attention to the tips and tricks from the global golf experts.

Aleem is the youngest Pakistani golfer to turn professional. It remains to be seen how far Aleem will travel and whether he will make name in global golf tournaments but he absolutely helps soften Pakistan?s image as a country on the brink of disaster.

It is rather erroneous that the city where Aleem launched his professional golfing career witnessed the gruesome suicide bombing that killed 45 people at the shrine of saint Syed Ali Hajwairi,popularly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh. Grieving Pakistanis look at younger generation of Aleem for delivering good news – and this young man is doing his part.

Somehow, the ISI and the CIA are the two that are most demonized.

The turmoil in Pakistan’s past has led to censure of the ISI. A visible feature of the ISI’s history that has done great damage to its reputation is the continual deterioration of civilian institutions due to multiple military coups. Despite some improvements in civil-military relations in recent years, the army remains a dominant actor in Pakistan’s political makeup.

Previous abuses of power should put intelligence reform at the top of the agenda for change. Before Pakistan can continue its democratic transition, these changes must be addressed. It seems some corrections to the system have already been made; ISI has recently demonstrated a previously unseen forthrightness with both local and international media.

However, the international community continues to blame the country’s problems on the ISI, but still maintains working relations with the agency. Often, these relations undermine the democratic government and vindicate the very intelligence actors that need to be controlled. This double standard can be avoided by direct involvement with the Pakistani government, rather than going through intelligence services.

Additionally, the integration of former ISI agents into other civilian bodies, particularly the IB, should be limited or stopped. Cross-recruitment prevents organizations from becoming independent.

Pakistan also needs to strengthen the police force. A better-trained and better-equipped police force can do a better job of counter terrorism, which work is currently used by the intelligence agencies to legitimize control over politics in Pakistan.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says that the US government is prepared to help develop Pakistan’s law enforcement infrastructure. From training police to setting up point-of-entries at Pakistan-Afghanistan borders, the US can help Pakistan using its experience regulating the US-Mexico border.

Ignoring the need to establish supremacy over the intelligence community would be a grave mistake on the part of Pakistan’s civilian government. Reducing the role of the military in the intelligence sector will allow the government to consolidate itself domestically, so it should be a top priority. In addition, government control over military and intelligence will cast a positive light on the state of Pakistan’s emerging democracy, and will improve international opinions of Pakistan.

Although reform to intelligence agencies will be difficult, the good news is that with patience, resolve, and international assistance, Pakistan’s government can indeed reassert civilian control over the intelligence community. Luckily for Pakistan, there are predecessors to take notes from. Indonesia and Chile have both undergone transformations in the intelligence arena and have plenty to offer Pakistan by way of example.

Intelligence agencies reform in Indonesia and Chile became a reality after media began exposing the atrocities and, people had the courage to reject authoritarianism. Reform of the murky Indonesian intelligence service, Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN), were spurred by revelations that emerged in the trial of the alleged killer of the country’s top human right activist.

Munir Said Thalib, died from arsenic poisoning while on a flight on Garuda, Indonesia’s national airline, from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore on Sept. 7, 2004. Indonesian media exposed the hands behind Munir’s murder.

Extensive exposure by the mass media of the massive human rights violations and power abuse by the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), led to the abrupt breakdown in its public image. And, the abolition of “Dwifungsi ABRI” (the dual-function of the military) became a major demand of the pro-democracy movement.

In this same sense, the Pakistani media’s role is necessary to question the functioning of ISI. To cite but one example, there has been no follow-up on Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s accusations of ISI agents, kidnapping her.

In saying all this, though, we must remember not to throw out the baby with the bath water. Like any other state, Pakistan needs a strong defense system. Calling for military and intelligence reform should not be confused with anti-nationalism; we must always remember the sacrifices of those foot soldiers that valiantly put their lives on the line for their nation’s security.

This article was first published here: http://tribune.com.pk/story/19739/transform-muscle-flexing-isi-into-civil-intelligence/

Begum Ishrat Ashraf, Chairperson of the sub committee of the National Assembly’s standing committee, will lead the endeavor to develop a new business plan within two weeks to rescue PIA from financial ruins. Plan may include purchasing new planes to replace the ones too old fly anymore.

She declared that PIA would not be privatized and there will be no downsizing. PIA has more employees than justified by its revenue but no employee will be laid-off, she added.

Chairperson Begum Ishrat Ashraf told the sub-committee that the previous regime of Gen. Pervez Musharaf and Shaukat Aziz was responsible for the financial crisis of PIA. She blamed the policies of previous regime for the shortfall of Rs 5.9 billion PIA suffered last year. For the current year PIA’s deficit is lower than the previous year.

While speaking to the press Begum Ishrat emphasized the need of a new action plan to reduce PIA’s financial debts, adding that public will be informed of the poor policies of the previous government that has drowned the national airline in huge deficit.

She also recommended replacing the old planes with new planes saying that the state bank of Pakistan will be contacted to cut down the current rate of interest.

Managing Director of PIA Ejaz Haroon said that all agreements would be reviewed to ensure that revenue of PIA is doubled in next four years while taking concrete steps to slash its deficits. Ejaz informed that PIA has not asked the government for any assistance.

But India prioritized its focus on higher education and people were conscious enough to keep their elected leaders honest. One can arrive at the conclusion that democracy is what Pakistan should learn from India’s somewhat success in education.

There is hardly any difference between the two countries, statistically speaking, in their educational development, or lack thereof. But where India scores much higher is in a few of its select academic institutions. These institutions raise the educational quotient of the country to a high, world class level, and by their very presence, they tend to pull up other institutes of learning simply by peer pressure.

Pakistani Education System, Statistics and Demographics

The Pakistani education system is divided into the primary, secondary, and high school levels. Following High School, plenty of private and government-sponsored colleges/universities operate with the charter of Higher Education Commission (HEC). Generally speaking the provincial governments are responsible for the day-to-day management of education; while the federal government have the onus-ensuring budget and quality.

If one was to believe government released statistics, literacy rate in Pakistan increases by 10% with every passing generation, with male literacy rate of only 68%, and the female rate of 48% percent.
Literacy rate alone is not a strong indicator of education.

A better indicator is enrollment in higher education; about 5% of Pakistani men and 3% of Pakistani women have a college education. To further complicate this situation most of the colleges and universities are not of international standard.

Between 1947 and 2003, Pakistan did not have a single university that could be ranked as world class. But in last seven years, Times Higher Education Rankings have ranked the National University of Science and Technology at No 376, while 3 universities have been ranked in the top 300 in the field of natural sciences.

This progress, one might suggest is significant keeping in mind that Pakistan spends only about 3% of its GDP on Education. Tremendous gender disparity further skews any quantitative analysis. The disparity has not been helped by the enforcement of a ban on female education by the Taliban, notably in the scenic Swat valley.

Indian Education System, A Chronicle of Moderate Progress

According to latest figures, the literacy rate of India stands at 64.84%; male literacy is 75.26% and female literacy stands at 53.63%. About one-third of the population, 300 million Indians, is absolute non-literates.

The government spends about 3.5% of the nation’s GDP on education. There are about 400 universities and 16000 colleges in the country, with a system of academic institutions covering technology, management, and medical sciences.

As for higher education, about 9% of Indians have a college education. The figure is about 4 times higher for urban areas. This is about 4% higher than in Pakistan; still not a huge difference.

Statistical and Other Metric Comparison | Centers of Excellence

There is hardly any difference between the two countries, statistically speaking, in their educational development, or lack thereof.

Admittedly, the literacy rate is higher in India by about 8 percentage points; the female literacy rate is about 7% higher as well. Enrolment in higher education is about 4% more overall, in India. It is still nothing compared to, say the US, which has 29% of its people with a college degree.

But where India scores much higher is in a few of its select academic institutions. These institutions raise the educational quotient of the country to a high, world class level, and by their very presence, they tend to pull up other institutes of learning simply by peer pressure.

In science and technology, there were a few institutions like the various IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and the IISc (Indian Institute of Science) that had made a name for themselves in the world academic arena even 30 years ago. At a time when the economy was closed and the present day “economic stability” was unimaginable, these few institutions still used to bring out world-class talent.

Most of this talent had to go out of the country to establish themselves; and it was their overseas presence, that gave their alma maters global reputation.

Over time several other institutions become ‘world class’ in science and technology. IITs of India has raised the bar for various RECs (Regional College of Engineering) and the BITS Pilani institute, the Tata Institutes of Education (TIFR), and even a few state-run universities are slowly making a name for themselves in technological fields.

In the management and finance domain, the ISB is ranked number 12 among world MBA schools by the Financial Times of London. Besides, the various IIMs and a few other b-schools also rank very high. Similarly, in the medical field, the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) has been at the forefront in the development of medical treatment in India, and has spawned, by sheer peer pressure, a number of best of breed medical institutions.

The Situation in Pakistan

When it comes to higher education, Pakistan has not been able to make its mark. Although a few institutions (I am thinking HEJ, IBA and LUMS) can be recognized as emerging leaders – because of highly educated faculty, intelligent management, and above all an intellectually stimulating, liberal environment. But, these institutions also acquiesced to the religious zealots and allowed conservatism to slowly creep-in.

HEC has also failed – it has failed to establish centers of excellence: standards without monitoring and compliance cannot yield results. There is nothing comparable to the IITs, there is nothing comparable to the IIMs and other b-schools.

Although the statistics put Pakistan and India in very close affinity when it comes to literacy rates, Pakistani students do not have the opportunity to attend top-notch colleges/ universities

Democracy in India has provided opportunities to some who were neither generals nor feudal lords, and these middle class and lower-middle class public servants had the foresight to nurture the few higher institutes of learning.

Religious extremism has destroyed whatever institutions Pakistan had pre-Zia-ul-Haq. And, things have gotten even worse with Talibanization – a large population not willing (or afraid) to send its women to go to schools. I know it sounds cliché but it is absolutely true: when you teach a woman you teach a village.

What Pakistan Can Learn From Indian Education

Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher of education, contended that given the history of European imperialism, an emancipatory education of the oppressed involves a dismantling of colonial structures and ideologies.

Independence of nation states, such as Pakistan and India, from the clutches of colonial master was not the end of the colonial culture that supported foreign, non-representative, and repressive rule of colonial power.

Independence from colonial rule was only the beginning of the process of nation building and decolonization. Pakistan, after independence, failed to establish representative and participatory governance and became a non-representative and repressive government. The dictatorial regimes in Pakistan banked on the pre-existing colonial culture and political support of colonial masters to maintain their autocratic rules.

Colonial culture is built and maintained on master-slave relationship between the ruler and the subjects. The dictatorial regime survives as long as this relationship of ordering and obeying is practiced. Master uses coercion as a tool to discipline the slaves. A slave must obey or gets whipped, this has been the law since time immemorial and it still prevails in Pakistan.

Frantz Fanon in his book “The Wretched of the Earth” demands anti-colonial and modern education for native populations. Humanistic society alone can truly be an anti-colonial society.

One can arrive at the conclusion that democracy is what Pakistan should learn from India’s somewhat success in education.

The eternal enmity that ensued with the partition has caused enough death and destruction in the sub-continent already, and the looming threat of nuclear war makes the future insecure. Some visionary leadership is needed to steer the future clear of this imminent death threat hanging over 1.5 billion lives.

Terrorism being the stumbling block, all efforts at negotiations between India and Pakistan came to naught once again. The suffering of the people and environment were ignored over patriotic ambitions, conspiratorial war-mongering and supremacy. In a conflict between two in-equal entities, initiative rests on the one who is bigger. A proactive approach, that engages Pakistan’s war-machinery in trade, might have some merit in diffusing this hostility that has the potential to produce the deadliest-ever-witnessed disaster, in the history of mankind.

The Krupp of Germany used to sell armaments to many countries that fought wars against Germany. A British company ‘Vickers’ was given the license to make Krupp time-fuses before WW1. Vickers was supposed to pay Krupp a fixed sum for every shell fired. After the defeat of Germany, Krupp claimed that money and settled with the British for a lower amount. There are examples in history on trade of weapons between hostile countries.

Dominance of the army over Pakistan is not a secret. The democratic set-up had to comply when Kerry-Lugar aid bill was disputed by the powers. Political signals of peace with India changed into rhetoric of un-ending war over Kashmir, in plain public view. It is the army of Pakistan that survives and thrives with an anti-India manifesto. Jane Perlez reporting on the extension of service for the ISI chief wrote in New York Times, “The announcement extending the tenure of Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha as director of the spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, was formally made Wednesday by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. But it had been clear for weeks that General Kayani planned to keep General Pasha at his side, and that the weak civilian government would have little choice but to go along with it.”(Report dated March 10, 2010.)

Terrorism in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India is a proxy-war causing immense suffering and death. President Karzai of Afghanistan, on his recent visit to Pakistan said, “Afghanistan does not want any proxy wars on its territory. It does not want a proxy war between India and Pakistan on Afghanistan. It does not want a proxy war between Iran and the United States on Afghanistan. It does not want any country… to engage in any activity against another country in Afghanistan.” (Excerpt from the Dawn report, March 11, 2010.)

Afghanistan sent into oblivion after the defeat of Soviet Union, came back to haunt. No matter how deadly the enmity, no country could be dispatched to hell like that. Let alone a nuclear armed country like Pakistan. Those who patronize the indulgence in terrorism must be engaged in peaceful transaction. USA and China invest heavily in building Pakistan army. India, with the ambitions of becoming a super-power cannot afford to postpone involvement indefinitely. A policy of directly engaging Pakistan army in a lucrative deal could see the end of terrorists who commit carnage across the border.

Mitigating the influence of USA and China in Pakistan requires innovative thinking in terms of Indo-Pak relations. IK Gujral, former Prime Minister of India, explaining his 5 point doctrine at Bandaranaike Center for International Studies in 1997 said, “We need neighbors who are developing at least as fast as we are to avoid imbalances which feed dissatisfaction and political problems.”

Many years ago, a Bangladeshi pharmacist asked me, “Do you know the difference between stupid and crazy?” He went on to explain that stupid will never rip a dollar bill. Only crazy could do that. My humble recommendation is based on the assumption that Pakistan’s military leadership is not crazy and India’s democratic representatives could muster the courage and wisdom required for proactive measures to ensure peace in the region. I could be wrong. After all this is just another cry for peace.

For economies like Pakistan, funds repatriated by non-residents to family and friends back home, provide the most tangible link between migration and development. But September 11attacks, it has become increasingly difficult for Pakistanis to get work visas which had resulted in negative growth of remittances.

Analysts believe that latest increase is due to strict regulation of foreign exchange market. Majority of the informal money transfer and forex firms have changed their business practice or disappeared.

Analysts point out that since remittances are unilateral transfers they do not create liabilities. And they usually come with advice—from migrants who have seen better—on how to best use them. Thus, remittances are not simply money, but value-added money.

NRPs sent $588.78 million in February 2009 compared to $641.32 of February 2010, reports Dollars Magazine. The inflow of remittances in July-February, 2010 period from UAE, USA, Saudi Arabia, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries amounted to $1,317.17 million, $1,173.37 million, $1,148.86 million, $826.93 million, $596.26 million and $171.41 million respectively as compared to $1,035.55 million, $1,156.51 million, $962.30 million, $783.39 million, $344.08 million and $150.05 million respectively in the July-February, 2008-09 period.

Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during the first eight months of the current fiscal year amounted to $550.65 million as against $486.34 million in the same period last year. The monthly average remittances for the July-February 2010 period comes out to $723.36 million as compared to $614.83 million during the same period of last fiscal year, registering an increase of 17.65 percent.

During February 2010 remittances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries amounted to $149.45 million, $136.88 million, $111.48 million, $89.21 million, $45.91 million and $13.48 million respectively as compared to $123.64 million, $166.62 million, $127.48 million, $93.09 million, $54.12 million and $18.31 million in February 2009. Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during February 2010 amounted to $41.13 million compared with $58.04 million in the same month of last year.

The true size, including unrecorded formal and informal flows, is believed to be significantly larger. Remittances total at least three times official development assistance and are the largest source of external financing.

According to eyewitnesses, the suicide bomber wanted to take his explosive laden pickup van into the Police Station and when the Policeman on the gate tried to stop him he rammed his vehicle into the gate causing a loud explosion. This blast also damaged a mosque next to the police station.

District Police Officer (DPO) Sajid Mohmand said, “two policemen and one civilian are killed.At least 23 people are wounded, 14 of them are Policemen. The blast also damaged a nearby mosque in the city.”

The injured were taken into the nearby hospitals where most of them are stated to be in stable condition.

There were two suicide bombers. One blew him up at the gate of police station, killing a policeman there. And, “another suicide bomber brought his vehicle with explosives into the building and blew him up, killing a child and a coach driver,” DPO said confirming, “the attacker detonated his pick up van at the gate of the main police station in Karak town.”

Relief operation was immediately initiated by the rescue workers. Bomb disposal squad and other law enforcing agencies have started their investigations.

The injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Karak , some of them are listed in critical condition. Hospital sources have confirmed the death of three victims, while the number of casualties is feared to rise. Local hospital doctor Nazrul Islam said, “We have received three bodies and 26 wounded.”

Karak is a district in the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. It is situated to the south of Kohat District and on the north side of Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts on the main Indus Highway between Peshawar and Karachi. It is 123 km from the provincial capital Peshawar.

While it lies between violence hit areas of Lakki Marwat and Kohat, this was the first suicide attack in the area. The local people said the incident is first of its kind in Karak history.

District Karak has been known for its literacy rate. It has the highest literacy rate after Islamabad and Wah. Since both Islamabad and Wah are mainly composed of temporarily migrated people, therefore Karak is ranked as the highest educated district.

There have been no claim for the responsibility of this attack. But the militants to avenge the military operations in the tribal areas have targeted several times the police force, security forces and government offices.

A week later two police stations were targeted in the northwestern district of Mansehra, killing an area police chief and wounding several officers.

Through the government managed Trading Corporation of Pakistan, Islamabad had issued a tender to purchase 200,000 tons of sugar.

But the country purchased 50,000 metric tons of refined sugar at $585 a ton from Sadan General Trading LLC, a Dubai based firm , reports Bloomberg.

The price is 18 percent below the current rate in London, a global benchmark for refined sugar. Sadan was unable to supply more at the contracted prices.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan on Feb. 11 scrapped a tender to buy 150,000 tons of white sugar after a dispute with the lowest bidder.

Pakistan requires a total 1.2 million tons to bridge a gap in supplies that has pushed prices to near a record. It plans to import 500,000 tons by June and another 700,000 tons by July.

“Pakistan’s military leadership has turned around and now we can see the sincerity in their action,” said a terrorism expert on MSNBC this morning.

Scot Joel, another terrorism expert on ABC Thursday morning claimed, “ISI has changed their attitude towards Quetta Shura and it is indeed a very welcome move.”

New York Times Thursday quoted a NATO commander in Afghanistan saying: “I believe that General Kayani and his leaders have come to the conclusion that they want us to succeed.”

Over all mood of American media seems to turning positive towards Pakistan with many commentators appreciating and acknowledging the leadership of Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, led by General Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday told BBC that the Pakistani leadership “recognises that standing firm against the threat is important to the country’s future”.

In an interview to BBC in Saudi Arabia she said: “I would underscore, that the cooperation is increasing, and it is very valuable.” She further added: “I can express our appreciation for the increasing cooperation between the United States and Pakistan.”

Examiner reported Thursday that information provided by the recently captured Taliban second in command, Abdul Ghani Barader had led to the arrest of two additional senior Taliban leaders inside Pakistan.

Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mohammed both self-proclaimed governors of two key provinces in Afghanistan were arrested by Pakistan Inter Services Intelligence, Pakistani officials have confirmed.

“These were two separate raids conducted chiefly by the ISI,” said an Intelligence source in Pakistan’s capital. He insisted that Americans may have had only ancillary role in the latest bout of success against the Taliban. “We are getting good- actionable intelligence from him,” he said referring to Barader.

Mullah Abdul Salam ran the Taliban’s shadow government in the province of Kunduz and Mullah Mohammed ran their operation inthe Afghan province of Baghlan.

Kunduz and Baghlan provinces had fallen to the Taliban but Obama administration’s re-engagement in Afghanistan seems to be yielding result. Both of these leaders had sneaked into Pakistan recently, reports suggest.

ISI, our sources claim, is on a major mission to capture the Taliban leaders that have snuck in since 2001. “Arrest of Baradar and these two governors are clear indication that ISI has turned on the heat,” said a security analyst.

Quoting American officials, New York Times reported Thursday that the Taliban’s second in command Baradar was providing a wealth of information on the Taliban’s operations. “For the past several days, he has been interrogated by both Pakistani and American officials,” report said.