The World We Live In !!

The tragic case of Saad Khan, a 32-year old contestant on a Pakistani game show being filmed in Thailand who died while taking part in one of the show’s stunts, highlights the serious issue of safety and regulation in the Pakistani media.

The days of one state-controlled channel informing the obedient nation of what the president did today or which foreign dignitaries the prime minister entertained are long gone. Pakistan’s media scene has transformed over the past decade – and generally for the better. It’s a good thing that there are now dozens of television channels all competing for our attention. With just a few clicks of your remote, you can flick between the latest Bollywood blockbuster, a stern sermonising maulvi, fiery political pundits railing against the government, and all manner of foreign content.

There’s a mass of programming out there and every channel executive is eager for your viewing loyalty – more viewers mean more revenue generated from advertisers. For the most part, advertising is the primary source of income for channels and thus they are exploring ever more sensational ways to secure that money along with their survival in an increasingly ruthless market. Read more…

Dear Gen. Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani,
Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan Army
GHQ Rawalpindi,

As the Commander of the Armies of the Republic, we invite you to take a trip to 2024 in our time machine. Imagine, if after 15 years , an ex-officer of some intelligence agency and the ex-Corps Commander Peshawar appeared on the TV screen claiming whatever was done in Swat in 2009 was nothing but a drama and there was no entity called the “Taliban” in Swat, how will the families of Shuhada/martyrs of Pakistan Army (Jawans and junior NCOs) feel.? What will be the impact of such a revelation on the morale of soldiers and officers? What will they think of their officers and generals when they realize that their blood was used as a bargaining chip by the GHQ?

And what about the nation’s confidence in their Army as the guarantor of our territorial integrity after another Imtiaz Billa spills the beans on Operation Rah-e-Rast? What if the videos of terrorists killed and their hideouts, training camps of suicide bombers, were revealed in 2024 as a brilliant psy-ops action?

This is exactly what some ex-army officers are doing now by appearing on our TV screens and claiming whatever was presented in official ISPR briefings in 1994 was a concocted drama, along with all the footage, pictures and evidence presented to the media. Read more…

In a very shocking development a young 32 year old person, father of four kids looses his life during the filming of a reality show sponsored by Unilever and being produced by their advertising agency Mindshare. Saad Khan was a game show contestant and the host/model Amina Sheikh, who also is the model of Clear Shampoo, gave an underwater challenge to Saad and during the execution of the stunt he apparently lost control, struggled and pleading for help could not recover, the inadequate safety personal and the equipment could not react in time and eventually he drowned Saad Khan, 32 year old young man from Karachi and a father of four kids is sadly the victim, his body was returned to Karachi for burial two days back and the infuriated family has been running from pillar to post but it seems for some awkward reason it fails to catch the media attention and apparently no media house is ready to ‘run the story‘. It is a known fact that the media in Pakistan is usually head over heals on every other lame ass political slander, but surprisingly in Saad’s case this case of gross neglect is not worthy of even a short news item. Might this have anything to do with the influence of Unilever and Mindshare who are giant spenders armed with enormous advertisement budgets.

Teeth Maestro.

SHIMLA : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh from the party, in the wake of him praising Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his recent book.

The BJP top brass took the decision to sack Jaswant Singh at the party’s chintan baithak (introspection meeting) being held in Shimla.

The development came even as Jaswant Singh stayed away from the opening session of the three-day meeting which began here today.

The BJP had yesterday distanced itself from Jaswant Singh’s remarks on Jinnah in his new book, “Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence”, with party president Rajnath Singh saying that his views were against party’s ideology.

AAJ TV : Pakistan Ki Awaz.

Then Maj. Gen. Hamid Gul, Director General of the ISI (far left), with William Webster, Director of Central Intelligence, Clair George, Deputy Director for Operations, and Milt Bearden, CIA station chief, at a training camp for the mujahedeen in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province in 1987 (RAWA.org)

In an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy Journal, retired Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul responds to charges that he supports terrorism, discusses 9/11 and ulterior motives for the war on Afghanistan, claims that the U.S., Israel, and India are behind efforts to destabilize Pakistan, and charges the U.S. and its allies with responsibility for the lucrative Afghan drug trade.

Retired Lieutenant General Hamid Gul was the Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from 1987 to 1989, during which time he worked closely with the CIA to provide support for the mujahedeen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Though once deemed a close ally of the United States, in more recent years his name has been the subject of considerable controversy. He has been outspoken with the claim that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were an “inside job”. He has been called “the most dangerous man in Pakistan”, and the U.S. government has accused him of supporting the Taliban, even recommending him to the United Nations Security Council for inclusion on the list of international terrorists.

In an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy Journal, I asked the former ISI chief what his response was to these allegations. He replied, “Well, it’s laughable I would say, because I’ve worked with the CIA and I know they were never so bad as they are now.” He said this was “a pity for the American people” since the CIA is supposed to act “as the eyes and ears” of the country. As for the charge of him supporting the Taliban, “it is utterly baseless. I have no contact with the Taliban, nor with Osama bin Laden and his colleagues.” He added, “I have no means, I have no way that I could support them, that I could help them.”

Ex-ISI Chief Says Purpose of New Afghan Intelligence Agency RAMA Is ‘to destabilize Pakistan’ | Foreign Policy Journal.

ISLAMABAD, August 7 — The current Ambassador of Austria in Islamabad has made an attempt to grab the property of former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, the late Agha Shahi.

Heirs of Agha Shahi, including his nephew Agha Zafar Hilaly, who was Pakistan’s Ambassador to Italy and Benazir Bhutto’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs told Arab News that “Ambassador Dr. Michael Stigelbauer is not willing to vacate or pay rent after Agha Shahi’s death in 2006, notwithstanding repeated demands by the Pakistan Foreign Office and a Court Judgment asking him to vacate the premises. To my mind such defiance of a country’s laws are unprecedented and unacceptable.” Read more…

Two months before the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of NATO’s first-ever ground war the world is witness to a 21st Century armed conflict without end waged by the largest military coalition in history.

With recent announcements that troops from such diverse nations as Colombia, Mongolia, Armenia, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine and Montenegro are to or may join those of some 45 other countries serving under the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), there will soon be military personnel from fifty nations on five continents and in the Middle East serving under a unified command structure.

Never before have soldiers from so many states served in the same war theater, much less the same country.
Read more…