Iranian, Pakistani officials discuss gas cooperation
VoH Monitor
By: A.Yusifzade
AZERBAIJAN, Baku, September 30: Pakistani Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Seyed Naveed Qamar and a delegation from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) held a meeting in Islamabad to discuss different aspects of the multi-billion-dollar pipeline project which is due to bring Iran's gas to Pakistan, Fars News Agency reported. The high-level Iranian delegation informed Pakistan that Iran has already constructed 900 km pipeline of 56 inch diameter from Assalouyeh gas processing facility up to Iranshahr.
Syed Naveed Qamar welcomed the Iranian delegation and expressed his satisfaction on the progress of the project for import of 750 million cubic feet per day of gas from the brotherly country of Iran. The next coordination Committee meeting is scheduled to be held in Tehran in February 2011, the statement said. In a major breakthrough on March 20, 2009, the Pakistani government approved Iran's proposed pricing formola for gas supplies to the South Asian nation. Subsequently, Tehran and Islamabad signed a final agreement to launch implementation of the project. Tehran and Islamabad also sealed a final contract for the start of Iran's gas exports to Pakistan through the multi-billion-dollar pipeline in spring 2014. The gas will be supplied from the South Pars field. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas per anum, which is expected to be later raised to 55 billion cubic meters. It is expected to cost $7.4 billion.Cour.- Trend







Violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty unacceptable: President
Monitoring desk
ISLAMABAD, September 30: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said the government strongly disapproved any incident of violation of its sovereignty.Any violation of internationally agreed principles was counter-productive and unacceptable, he remarked.The president expressed these views during a meeting with Director CIA Leon Panetta, who called on him here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.Leon Panetta was accompanied with Ms. Anne W. Patterson, US Ambassador to Pakistan. Interior Minister Senator A. Rehman Malik, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and DG ISI Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha also attended the meeting.
Matters relating to cooperation in the fight against militants and security situation in the region among other related issues were discussed in the meeting. President said that the fight against militancy and terrorism remains the highest priority and the government was determined to pursue its struggle against militancy till its logical end. He said that there was a need to enhance trust, cooperation and coordination at the strategic, policy and operational planes.
Capacity enhancement of the Pakistan security apparatus was very crucial, the President observed. The President said Dr. Aafia's sentence was being perceived as harsh and disproportionate and has led to protests in Pakistan. Leon Panetta thanked the President for meeting and reiterated his government's commitment to help people of Pakistan in all possible manners. Asif urges relief bodies to augment efforts: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday urged Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), NGOs and other humanitarian organisations to augment efforts for relief and rehabilitation of the flood affected people. In a meeting with President of International Federation of Red Crescent (IFRC) Tadateru Konoe here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President asked the relief organisations to complement government's efforts in reaching out to the flood victims in remote areas of the country.
President appreciated IFRC for the humanitarian services to the most vulnerable sections of the society in critical times of natural disasters, including the recent devastating floods. The President said the country had never seen such a large scale devastation caused by the floods that affected over 70 districts of the country. He said besides initial relief to the flood affected, there was a need to take measures against the spread of diseases and rebuild destroyed homes, roads, bridges and infrastructure.He said it was a huge challenge for any government or party to undertake on its own and can only be managed with combined and concerted efforts of the whole nation, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the civil society, the international community and donor agencies. IFRC President Tadateru Konoe apprised President Zardari that PRCS and movement partners have so far reached out to over 1,43,000 families by providing food packs and non-food items and added that the IFRC planned to provide assistance to 300,000 affected families during emergency relief phase.








NATO cross-border air strike ‘kills 3 Pakistani soldiers’
Monitoring Report
ISLAMABAD, Sep 30 (ANI): Three Pakistani soldiers have reportedly been killed in an air strike by NATO helicopters during a cross-border attack, Pakistani officials have said. According to a Pakistani security official, the soldiers were killed in an “unprovoked attack” on a Pakistani checkpoint, the BBC reported.
The NATO helicopters crossed up to 5km (three miles) into Pakistan, he added. This strike was the third NATO raid across the Afghanistan border into Pakistan over the past week. Earlier this week, following aerial engagement in Pakistani territory by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik had called it a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, and assured the Senate that the Afghan ambassador would be summoned to explain his position over the cross-border air raids by the ISAF. According to military sources, ISAF, which had earlier defended their air raids as an action ‘under the right of self-defence’, later informed the Pakistani commanders that they were trying to establish whether their helicopters during the operation had entered Pakistani territory.







‘Home-Page’ - Telling the story of the unknown and overlooked side

VoH News Monitor

KARACHI, September 28: Marium Agha and Seher Naveed from Pakistan, Manali Shroff from India, Ivy Hon Mei Chan from China and Jo Ying Peng from Taiwan are the five artists whose works transform into a visual language, and a series of attractive representations come about through a conversation about home.
‘Home-Page’ writes to eliminate race, political affiliations and borders; it writes to alert the public about abuses occurring beyond the news headlines. It tells the story of the other side - a side often unknown, ignored, overlooked or disregarded. This exhibition aims to show what goes beyond the media culture and the subjects that make the world and its people alike. Agha and Naveed received their Bachelor of Arts degree from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, while Shroff, Chan and Peng received theirs from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Tamkang University in Taipei respectively. All the artists received their Master of Arts degree from the Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design of London. Agha’s works explore the process of seeing an object, doing which one develops a relationship with the object based on one’s interpretation. She challenges predefined interpretations through her works by allowing the viewers to have a relationship with an object without tainting their experience of seeing it in any other context or framework. Her work style is derived from her home and society, the failed democratic government, the Muslims’ apathy and the conflicts within oneself. Naveed’s work develops with her awareness of physically living in one urban space and virtually being part of another. She came to London with a keen interest in the cityscape and has since been working with subject matters that involve urban landscape and social politics for reasons she is still not fully aware of. Perhaps it is this void that lies between visual imagery and reason that makes her increasingly curious of the workings of the urban landscape.
She is curious with the fascination of the everyday life, how media interprets, the constructions that interrupt our daily movement and her fascination with ‘living in a window punctuated world’. Shroff’s paintings are suffused with the surrealism of the everyday life and she often draws on visions and eccentric encounters in her mundane life that thrive in strange juxtapositions of humans and animals. The mysterious animals with their human eyes have very illusive but essentially benign presence. Though for all its strangeness and for all its dreamlike quality of its representation, in her paintings is a world rooted in reality. Her paintings are a window into her unexplained world that is at once recognisable, yet bizarre. The unrealistic nature of this relationship creates an enticing predicament, leaving the viewers to question the situation, and it would not be wrong to call her paintings ‘urban folktales’. Chan’s works deal with the transformation and reconfiguration of quotidian objects. By showing familiar things in unfamiliar ways, not only the characteristics of materials but the cultural and symbolic meanings are also challenged and transformed.
Thus, viewers are brought into an unprecedented realm to experience these everyday objects again. Peng is practicing primarily in video and photography and she has worked extensively with the theme found in ‘The Screen Project’ that explores the relation between the real and the representation. She has been the concept of few recent exhibitions, and her works multiply the different layers of symbolic boundaries. ‘Home-Page’ includes Agha’s ‘72 Virgins for my suicide lover’; Naveed’s ‘Time pieces’; Shroff’s ‘I go east, you go west, let’s lead the rest’, ‘Hark, hark the dogs do bite... utopian fantasies of Dominique clerk’ and ‘And the world calls us Colonial Cousins’; Chan’s ‘Tiny Oceans’; and Peng’s ‘Between Arrival & Departure’. This exhibition would continue until Thursday. photos courtesy artchowk gallery, Daily Times reports.



MQM slams US for Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sentence

Monitoring desk
KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain deemed the United States responsible for the unrest in the world, demanding the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui. Hussain addressed the scores of people, estimated to be 300,000 by the MQM, who gathered on his call at MA Jinnah road, near Tibet centre, on Tuesday to condemn an American court’s verdict of Siddiqui’s case.


On September 23, she was sentenced to 86 years in prison on seven charges, including the attempt to murder US military personnel. The rally was declared successful as members of MQM-opposing groups including the Sunni Tehreek and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam also participated in the rally. Representatives of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, Karachi Bar Association, trade unions also joined to condemn the verdict of Dr Siddiqui’s case. Claiming that Siddiqui is innocent, Hussain demanded her release. “The Americans are responsible for what they have done to the world. America has killed innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he decried. “The allegations against Dr Siddiqui are false as they could not prove them. America is answerable [not Dr Siddiqui],” he said, slamming the US. Hussain claimed that ninety percent of the world’s population is against the US and its policies. The MQM showed solidarity with Dr Siddiqui’s cause in more than one way – representatives of MQM’s Rabita Committee were sitting with Dr Siddiqui’s sister, Fauzia Siddiqui. Altaf Hussain called for a united stand on Dr Siddiqui’s case, urging all civil society groups to join in the “struggle”. “Dr Aafia is the daughter of the nation and a symbol of pride [as she] stood courageously and faced the trial. It was exemplary to see a Muslim woman not give up and fight,” Hussain claimed.

Security arrangements
A few hours before the rally, men in yellow caps guarded the entry and exit points of the venue, while a heavy contingent of police and other law enforcing agencies were also deployed. MQM’s security personnel searched each and every participant of the rally at the entrance. The police was seen on the roofs of buildings around MA Jinnah road while the paramilitary Rangers took their resistant positions after the rally ended.

Rallies across Sindh
Several rallies were organised in various parts of the province to protest against Dr Siddiqui’s sentence. Activists of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Muslim Students Federation held a demonstration outside the Hyderabad Press Club to condemn the sentence. Protesters shouted slogans against the verdict and claimed that the government has not taken the issue seriously. Meanwhile, in Sukkur, a rally was led by Qutubud Din, the MQM Sukkur Zone incharge, during which protesters marched from Jinnah Chowk to the press club. Activists of the Sunni Tehreek and the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz also participated in the rally. Expres Tribune Pakisan






Protest against Aafia sentencing,Police baton charge, arrest IJT workers
VoH MONITOR

KARACHI, September 25: The area surrounding the US Consulate was turned into a battlefield on Friday when a large number of workers of Islami Jamiat Talaba and other organisations tried to march towards it during a protest against the sentencing of Dr Aafia Siddiqui by a US court.The doctor was given 86 years imprisonment on Thursday for allegedly snatching a weapon from US men in Afghanistan and attacking them.Following the incident, a massive traffic jam was witnessed in surrounding areas including Zaibun Nissa Street, MA Jinnah Road, Fawara Chowk and II Chandigar Road. Thousands of vehicles remained stranded for about two hours, while all commercial activities remained suspended.
Officials of law enforcement agencies baton charged the protesters and resorted to tear gas shelling. The Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT) workers, led by their Karachi Amir Samiullah Hussaini, organised a meeting near Jehangir Park, Saddar after Juma prayers. Later they took out a rally and started marching towards the Karachi Press club, said SSP Saddar Town Javaid Akbar Riaz, while talking to Daily Times.
He said when the rally participants started to march towards American consulate, the law enforcement agencies and elite force blocked the roads with barricades in order to avoid any untoward incident near the American consulate.Daily times

Posted by Shamsuddin Muhammad on Thursday

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Monitoring every regional historical development

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Discerning social Change in Gilgit-Baltistan

Discerning social Change in Gilgit-Baltistan
Reflecting socio-economic, administrative and cultural impulses in regional periphery

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Mission Statement & Weekly VoH Publishing team


VoH
Voice of Voiceless

The blog aims to disseminate the accurate regional information without consideration of race, color, ethnicity, religion and ideology to the valuable readers across the globe. We promise to abide with the moral and professional ethics of citizen journalism through this medium of communication. The voiceless masses of this one of the most beautiful places on earth, situated in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan experience hard times due to continuous natural and man made disasters which have left them at surviving stage. Shortly speaking, in a short span of time, Hunza valley has embraces a steady socio-economic and ecological development making it self an authentic book to read about or take a model for rest of far flung valleys bordering Chines Sinkiang province in the extreme north of the country. The haphazard material development in this comparatively small area has also served to create various socio-economic and ethical problems which ultimately served to shake the fabrics of very roots and foundations of culture and civility among dwellers. On geo-political front, analysts find a very little say of a common man in the major decisions related to regional socio-economic development, violation of meritocracy by mafias in political parties, pressure groups which safe guard their own interests, a unbridled bureaucracy, corrupt regimes that patronizing nepotism or favoritism and who wield powers in Gilgit, the main hub and capital of Gilgit-Baltistan. Rapid increase in expenditures ranging from general commodity price hikes to transportation has left no option or time for people to think on other issues.
The so called Economic-Recession, unequal distribution of wealth, concentration of opportunities towards certain beings, lack of social responsiveness and transparency in government sector and no check and balance on private sector has brought its ugly implication in terms of high unemployment, depression among the youngsters, anxiety and hatred towards system of governance.
We vow to bring fore the issues of common man at grass root level, strive to highlight irregularities in government sector and flaws in public policy and finance in a democratic way. We shall continue to give our opinion on issues of importance and determine to prove a viable platform to have a positive role for public welfare, inter-communal harmony, integrity and social justice.
Amid such a situation when even the survival of country is on stake and is defamed due to continual terrorist incidents throughout the our county, we may pray for a peaceful and prosperous future of the nation. May Lord save the peaceful Gilgit-Baltistan region from the evil designs of devils in human form.

The blog has been developed and upgrading by the efforts of the following dedicated volunteers.


Board of Editors
Editor: Shamsuddin Muhammad
Email:jaashams@gmail.com


Co-editor: Inam Karim
Email: inamkarim02@gmail.com


Reporting Team
Karachi: Sartaj Karim
Email: sartaj_compaq@hotmail.com



Hunza: Naeem Hamoon
Email: naeemhmn@hotmail.com


Gilgit: Aslam Shah

Email: hunzaishah@gmail.com


Islamabad: Ikramullah Baig
Email: hunza_havenonearth@yahoo.com

Voice of the voiceless!

The blog is a venture with exclusive news updates, unbiased analysis and opinion on historical, cultural, ecological, socio-economic, geopolitical and administrative issues and events occurring in country in general and the region particular. It would serve as a portfolio of credible information retained first hand from own and secondary reliable electronic and print media sources and aspire to become a powerful voice for a common man. We are committed to adhere with the professional ethics of citizen journalism, a new trend to shackle the chains of excessive curb over dissemination of reality either for any cause in the name of so-called sensor, with maximum possible accuracy and least deviation while delivering information to show the real side of picture of events so that our valuable readers will have an alternative portal to know what developments are going on various levels, particularly backward areas like that of Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Azad Jamu and Kahsmir, Tribal areas etc., across the country. One can easily discern a great social change in terms of attitudes, perceptions both in individual and society; values and reaction to the variables in daily life patterns among the dwellers of the comparatively backwards areas like Gilgit-Baltistan, a deprived region of its fundamental rights for more than six decades of its liberation from colonial yolk. In a quest to voice over issues of vital importance, keeping closer to circle of concern, Hunza, a name famous for its beauty and rich cultural heritage has been selected to represent as a case to further the cause and issues of the rest of the region. Virtually, the region especially Hunza-Nagar retained a rapid development with a short span of time after remaining isolated for centuries to out side world. The blog also aims focus largely to identify core areas from on bottom or grass root level to the top. Keeping due consideration of inter-religious harmony, tolerance, respecting pluralism, diversity, mutual respect, democracy, equal opportunity and other aspects of human rights and professional values of journalism, the blog will serve as a binding force and medium of voice of the voiceless people of the area with reference to Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The idea of creation of this blog came into my mind during a visit after spending few years of career at Karachi, capital of Southern province to the region. While traveling from south pole of the country to north, I experienced many new changes nearly in all aspects of life explicit in urban areas and implicit in rural belts: people have opted to modern technology, availed faster means of communication; task centered behavior, selfishness, following short-cuts, chase of wealth and more opportunities in their career and many more that made their lives much more easier but crazier than before. Nevertheless, the scene suddenly turned bit dim when I entered the region of Gilgit-Baltistan. I could not believe my eyes that this was the Gilgit I saw four years ago. Many things, except the faces were utterly unchanged formats primitive outlook. The Chinese bridge that linked Danyore and Gilgit and a main source of transportation was no more. Few people told me that few journalists have lost their lives in lethal road accident due to lack of arrangements on part of concerned authority to avoid the incident. Karakorum High Way (KKH), one of the highest truck able route and so-called eighth wonder in the world is under construction and many places portray nothing but a passage through a rough stony pasture. It took nearly twenty four hours from Rawalpindi to reach after an exhaustive journey to Hunza, my home town, compared to nineteen hours in past. The scenario seemed worse in Hunza, my home town which remained unchanged for last four years except a drastic decline in standard of living of more than fifty percent of the population. One may think that people have replaced muddy homes with cement ones but that are not the real yardstick of measurement of both mental and material development. Infrastructure, fixtures, telecommunication systems were largely depreciated to their estimated life coupled with inappropriate number of personnel required in educational, administrative and health institutions. The so-called economic meltdown that started from American giant Leman soon took the world into its tyrant claws, shaking many stable economies of the world including the rural areas of developing states- a big example of negligence and subjugation by the rulers of respective countries where people live not above the level of animals. Apart from the allegations on policy makers of industrialized nations having economic interest only, the poor, irrational, incompetent, self-centered and corrupt leadership in Pakistan like other third world countries where immature economies spends it larger portion of budget expenditure on defense could not resist the negative consequences of economic crisis in terms of high rate of unemployment, recession, right or down sizing, price hikes, violation of consumer rights and so on. Hunza-Nagar, like other parts of Gilgit-Baltistan was no exception. The smiling faces that greeted us once warmly few years ago turned unhappy for the crisis brought its ugly implication on the daily life pattern of an individual thus sucking down the unique attributes of population: courtesy, generosity and hospitality. Having a so-called high rate of literacy in the country unfortunately, the region is facing many problems ranging from health to drinking water and energy sector. To many, it was because of lack of geo-political awareness and excessive tendency towards NGO culture where people little bother to beg their rights from the states besides emphasis on duties. Historical chronicles vindicate that the region remained in isolation for many centuries due to a specific location and lack of access to out side world. Many dynasties ruled the area that hardly accepted change in a traditionally sophisticated feudal based society. The wheel of transition continued to move and finally the area got librated through a mutiny with the help of indigenous population from the clutches of Dogra subjugation. Later, the area was affiliated with Pakistan vide a secret treaty called Karachi Treatise as defacto part, unconditionally. Gilgit-Baltistan region got on real terms an impetus to grow from zero level with the visit of three icons of development: Aga Khan, President Ayub Khan and Z.A.Bhutto- a historic event of its nature with long standing implications on live of the people of the region.The area could hardly observed any impulse for more than half dozen years of affiliation with Pakistan when Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan (3rd) first time introduced Diamond Jubilee Schools network during mid fifties in the region. A real phase of development gain impetus when Shah Karim Alhusaini, Aga Khan (fourth) stepped in the region, a population with miserable conditions in 1960. He initiated many new projects in different aspect of life, strengthening the existing educational network under the umbrella of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) for the betterment and uplift standard of living of masses lived under poverty line. Aga Khan Development Network in collaboration with donor agencies, with a view to bring social change from grass roots level, initiated rural support programme and other services for less-privileged societies in the region. In simple words, initial projects were stretched to new areas under AKDN umbrella ranging from self-entrepreneurship to planning and building services. These development programmes served a catalyst for a common man who, earlier was confine to a certain limit where facilities and perks were confined to a specific creed, definitely a big change in society led to process of decline of so-called nobility. By, 1974, Z.A.Bhutto, chief of Pakistan Peoples Party and his cabinet undertook a disintegrated country following the fall of Dhaka, albeit eliminating princely status of numerous states gave them democratic structures, initiated socio-economic, political and administrative reforms in civil services cadres under 1973 constitution of Pakistan. These reforms opened a path for further reforms in tribal and affiliated princely states, mostly in mountain regions. Elders assert, by 1976, when Bhutto abolished the princely status of the units and replaced the princely flag with that of the country declared region formally its de-fecto part. The new development allowed for the first time a limited right of franchise and representation in a parallel council governed from capital. He in collaboration with international donor agencies like UNICEF and World Food Programme helped ensure provision of basic necessities like food to indigenous population still in poor conditions. He gave word to poor and enables to build his destiny. The facility fell a prey of Zia-ul-Haq who abolished the programme to benefit his favorite breed. He altered such programmes to facilitate Mujahideen busy fighting Afghan war against Soviet invasion on behalf of American assistance. By, 1988, before the withdrawal of USSR, Zia regime played a dirty game: as an integral strategy to get parallel success, he supported a breed of militants to eliminate all those against his faith in Gilgit-Baltistan. Unfortunately, the indigenous people could not understand his nefarious designs under the veil of religion that had to sustain his regime using divide and rule tactic and nothing to do with public welfare fell a prey of communal discord. Thousands of innocent people were brutally killed without a reason from both sides and this in turn sowed the seeds of sectarianism thus introducing a Kalashnikov culture in this region. On country’s political front, frequent interventions of military in politics in the wake of undemocratic moves of leadership, double standard attitude of bureaucracy and excessive influence of establishment forces harmed political evolution during last sixty two years of country's history. A finest dictatorship is considered worse than a worse democracy for it largely overlook the opinion of masses. The undemocratic regimes since 1952 onwards in general and during dictators’ regimes left people with no option but to support immature, corrupt and unable leadership confined to their self interests coupled with narrow vision. On global front, with the withdrawal of USSR from Afghanistan, American administration started to shift its strategy of dependency and support for Pakistan especially that to check movement and expansion of communist philosophy, an anxiety among the then US policy planners. Political front once again passed through a new change in 1999 when military took over in October 1999. Numerous Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), both national and international rapport delivered remarkable work since 1990s to 2004 in many sectors like education, health, cultural preservation, design and building.

History repeated itself, but in a new form under different circumstances after cold war, when terrorists attacked twin towers of World Trade Centre, an icon of prestige and glory of America killing thousands of innocent people as a response to US policies inviting a fresh hostility between US and Islamist groups or in other words initiated an open conflict between two countering forces. To some, hidden forces worked behind the incident: Muslims thought it was a Judaist elements while to Europe and US a strike of Islamist elements; even the then Bush administration alleged Islamist groups behind this nefarious act to initiate an open armed struggle to defy its policies and interests. The September 11 incident served a cause to create sufferings for the Muslim communities residing in America and Europe. Being a sponsoring source of Jihadist elements, Pakistan was in real trouble as it was asked either ally the US or ready to go into stone age. Consequently, Pervez Musharraf took U-turn in state policy against billions of dollars as assistance. Once again, US dependency on Pakistan after Afghan war, in an endless war against an invisible enemy in terms of Osama started, leading farmer to think to gain control over natural resources in Afghanistan and Central Asian states. As a state, Pakistan endured many hardships, mostly from inside elements, Majority of our political leadership, for instance is largely nurtured under the aegis of military establishments and always ready to achieve their own interest lest it comes to compromise on national matters, evident from the successive overthrowing of representative regimes. They could not deliver any remarkable to uplift the standard of living of a common man except false promises. It was the Musharraf regime which can be given credit for many reasons: allowed a national government to complete its five year tenure, introduced local government systems for dicentralization of power though a move to by pass the then political and administrative forces like his predecessors military dictators to bolster one man show. Apart from few of blunders in terms of killing of Akbar Bugti, subjugation of judiciary, appointment of army on service and retired personnel in institutions offering higher education, other key positions in major public organiztions and using force as a decisive force instead of dialogue his regime can be recalled for many things during last eight years. He was the first who put hand on non-state actors, brought changes in status of deprived regions like Gilgit-Baltistan bringing reforms and took initiatives to improve education and health facilities. He gave us an International University, increased woman representation, empowered Northern Light Infantry, established N.A scouts and notified Hunza-Nagar district and many more. Yet, at the same time on mass level, despite many accomplishments, it failed to address the real issues of poor. Giant fishes got most and poor further got depressed as the regime greatly revolved around the interests of Chaurdhries and lords. December 2007, shall be remembered a black day when Benazir Bhutto, a female leader of international repute was assassinated at the same place where one of the most famous Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan as killed. Country fell into chaos and observed an extreme internal and internal threat to her existence second time after 1971. Good heaven, the situation soon normalized. With the dawn of democracy, based on Benazir Bhutto's sacrifice has brought a hope of change of image of the country in global economy. PPP led contemporary government has given a new Self Governance Reforms Package 2009 ahead of poles to empower the assembly to legislate on various subjects not allowed in past and choose their own Chief Minister unanimously with the consent of Prime Minister, the head of set up-a good initiative after Z.A Bhutto's compassions for the region. The package has opened a door for more autonomy resembles to that of Azad Kashmir. Though, there are many flaws in the package yet, it will serve to reduce feeling of deprivation among the masses.

There is another side of the picture that the poor performance in many of the departments in government sector during last two years has raised many questions in our mind regarding its capability to cope the challenges that the country faces internally and externally. Public welfare, security from internal and external aggressions and provision of basic necessities to the citizens is the fundamental responsibilities of modern states. Yet, more focus on external threats under security syndrome has left the country nothing but to expend on defense-thus neglecting other sectors like education, strategic personnel planning, health, trade and industry and exploitation of natural resources to strengthen our economy. As for as the private sector especially the NGOs are concerned, the are now confine to reporting to get funds, roam and measure the length of roads in their luxury vehicles. Now it depends on flow of events that will decide the future course of history.





Shamsuddin Muhammad,

Author and Editor,

VoH



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Hyderabad,, IslamicRepublic of Pakistan, Pakistan
I am social person with a tendency towards learning knowledge that will balance the material world and the hereafter, a legacy obtained from the family. I earned my MA (General History with specialization in Modern History) and M.A.S (Master of Administrative siences with speciliazation in HRM) both from University of Karachi in 2005 and 2007 respectively, am fond of social work and public welfare. The blog focuses on social change caused by socio- economic and geo-political impulse in the country in general and the region particular.

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