آج کا بلاگ۔ ذرا سوچیئے !! ہماری اور سکول کی تربیت میں کہاں خلا ہے۔ اور کیا ہم اپنے بچوں کو اچھا انسان اور ایک مہذب شہری بنا رہے ہیں؟ معاشرتی علم اور سوک حساسیت دے پائے ہیں؟ کیا ہم حقوق اللہ اور حقوق العباد میں مطابقت رکھ رہے ہیں؟ یا پھر ہم دہرے معیار زندگی پر چل رہے ہیں؟ کیا ہم انبئیاء کی تعلیمات اور دین محمدصلى الله عليه وسلم پر ہیں یا دین مولوی پر؟ کیا ہم 1500 سال پہلے زمانہ جاہلیت کی طرف گامزن ہیں؟ کیا ہم اپنے ملک کے قوانین اور ملکی نظریے کوسمجھتے ہئں۔ قائد اعظم کے سادہ منشور “ایمان، اتحاد، تنظیم اور یقین محکم کو سمجھ پائے؟ کیا ہم سائنس، ٹیکنالوجی،اکنامکس پولیٹکس میں ربط اور اپنے روز مرہ کے معمولات میں انکی اہمئیت جان پائے؟؟؟ آئیےہم سب مل کر اپنا محاسبہ کریں ، اپنے شعوری اور فکری مغالطوں کو ٹھیک کریں! ملک و قوم کی ترقی میں اپنا حصہ ڈالیں اور آنے والے کل کو خوشحال ، محفوظ اور مستحکم کریں۔ استحصال کا خاتمہ ۔ سماجی انصاف کا راستہ رابعہ غنی
TikTokers, YouTubers banned from parks of Punjab After the distressing incident of 400 men assaulting a female TikToker in Greater Iqbal Park, Lahore went viral over the internet, Punjab government has proposed a ban on the entry of TikTokers and YouTubers from the parks of Punjab. It has been further revealed that any TikToker or YouTuber found recording videos in parks of Lahore will be investigated. According to reports, the government of Punjab will be taking assistance from private security companies which will lead to trained security guards keeping a check/ patrolling in all renowned parks of Punjab. Also new cameras will be installed in parks of Punjab and the cameras failing to function properly will be repaired to ensure proper security measures.
Is the resurgence of Taliban a bailout for foreign troops?
Credit @Kenroth
The house of cards built somewhat painstakingly by the United States and its allies in the War on Terror in Afghanistan has collapsed much earlier than many would have imagined. Over 300,699 strong Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) either catapulted or surrendered in a matter of days to just 80,000 Taliban. Only a of couple of days after his last press conference on August 13, the Taliban captured Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani was forced to flee the country. Within hours of his last press conference, eight provinces had surrendered. These included key northern and western provinces. The Taliban took Kabul in the next couple of days.It may have seemed imminent to many but for those like me who had been frequenting Kabul, the latest resurgence of Taliban had started much before it made the headlines around the globe in July. The question arises whether the scenario was scripted to ensure a bailout for the US and allied troops. Does the pull out represent a strategic shift by the US? There are no simple answers. All plausible explanations lead to even more questions. The US does not have an enviable track record of making a honourable exits. For their part, the Afghans do not have a history of sitting idle or in peace.It took the Taliban almost 10 years after 2001 to get their bearings after having been thumped by technologically advanced NATO-led and US-commanded forces. They remained scattered across the countryside especially in Pashtun strongholds bordering Pakistan; but also along the borders with Iran and Tajikistan, to get enough oxygen to wait for the right time to resurface.The first ray of hope was provided by none other than President Obama when the US administration bargained with the Taliban for the infamous 2014 swap of five members of the Talibanin for Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier held captive by the Haqqani network for five years. This was one of the tipping points where the Taliban realized that they were back in the Great Game of Gambles (GGG). It was also perhaps the starting point of a slide down the slope for the Americans’ war on terrorism. This led almost to legitimizing the operational and financial lifeline of Taliban and all other insurgents in the country as a visible hike (almost 35 percent on average) in kidnapping for ransom and poppy cultivation was seen after 2014.These -five Taliban men released by the US were Khirullah Said Wali Khairkhwa, 47, once the Taliban interior minister, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, a former chief of staff in the Taliban army in the 1990s, Mullah Norullah Noori, a provincial governor in several key areas during the Taliban regime, Abdul Haq Wasiq, 43, the deputy chief of intelligence for the Taliban and Mohammad Nabi Omari, 46, a member of a joint Al Qaeda-Taliban cell in the Khost province. They had been held in the Guantanamo prison for over a decade and were considered high risk by US military courts and intelligence fraternity. The Obama administration was almost set to lure the Taliban into a peace deal as part of their exit strategy but this swap ended Obama’s dream deal with Taliban because of heavy thumping from US Congress. Instead of pulling out, he eventually ended up increasing the US boots on the ground from 7,500 to over 10,000; thus, giving Trump a chance to pounce on the Democrats in the 2016 election campaign.This was also the time when differences between President Ghani and US started seeing the sunlight. It is considered by many as the starting point of US distancing itself from Ghani and relying more on its trusted ally, Hamid Karzai, and its representative Zalmay Khalilzad. The period coincided with Trump’s foreign policy overtures whereby Pentagon and senior military officials were seen gasping for a breather as Trump first announced a sudden pull out of troops from Syria, and then overruled the Pentagon to ask Zalmay Khalilzad to prepare for wrapping up the two-decade-long war machine in Afghanistan without even consulting the NATO and/ or the Afghan government.Amid these frustrations and knowledge of the fact that US diplomats and US representative to Afghanistan Khalilzad had started behind-the-doors negotiations with the Taliban leadership after releasing some key Taliban figures from Guantanamo Bay, President Ashraf Ghani, offered a truce to the Taliban in February 2018. The offer was turned down by a buoyant Taliban. This was followed by a one-sided three-day ceasefire on Eid in July 2018. The Taliban grouped openly and allowed people to take selfies with them during Eid gatherings.
The Taliban resurgence has not been much different from their rise in 1991. The key factors on both occasions were pretty much the same. There were pockets of support across borders with Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan.
Zalmay Khalilzad then became a target of the Ghani establishment who openly called him a ‘viceroy’ and ridiculed him on public TV debates, describing him as a power-hungry man and a rival to Ghani’s presidency. But then Americans had also made public the decision to hold formal talks with the Taliban in Doha. They soon agreed to sign a deal with the Taliban leadership for pulling out the troops by May 2021 with four key conditions, namely, no more hostilities, not letting Afghan soil to be used by a terrorist outfit like Al Qaeda, intra-Afghan talks to find a political solution and an interim government. None of these, except the US pull-out seems to have been acted upon. Many in Kabul believe that that’s what the US actually wanted. The rest of it was for optics.
What led the Americans to believe that they are heading nowhere and should have an exit strategy; the sooner the better. The factors include rampant corruption in the Afghan government, intolerance and infighting within Afghan ruling elite over ethnicity and control of revenues, heavy reliance on warlords instead of strengthening the governance structures or armed forces, heavy dependance on US and foreign assistance and the demand to cut down all sorts of monitoring on spending by Afghan government. Of course, there were other internal and external factors. Other regional and global powers were ensuring their presence in the country to safeguard their interests in the event of a US pullout. This included Pakistan, Iran, the Central Asian Republics representing Russia by proxy, China, India, the UAE and Turkey.
All these combined to lead the successive American administrations (Obama, Trump and Biden) to develop an exit strategy that led to creating enough doubts in the minds of the Afghan people about the sustainability of the Afghan government and eventually provided enough space for the Taliban to grow from strength to strength in the country’s suburbs. Imagine a government unable to govern, an army unable to stick to basic training norms and combat readiness manuals, a police force marred by corruption and a political leadership in which over 90 percent of the office holders have dual nationalities.
The Ghani-led coalition government, after the almost delegitimising elections in 2014 and later 2019, required intervention by US high command to forge a unity government to let Abdullah Abdullah share power with President Ghani, was failing miserably to provide a governance. Instead, they were accommodating the former warlords with questionable backgrounds as governors and police or local army command and control posts. This, ultimately, was leading to an increase in corruption at provincial and Kabul level with many believing that the governors of all bordering provinces were appointed for a one-time half a million to a million dollar ‘donation’ to the presidency. The president kept the appointment of even a director in a ministry to himself and approval of all major procurements anywhere in the country. Any efforts by donor countries, including reports from Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) — a watchdog arm of the US State Department established under National Defence Authorisation Act 2008 — were not taken by Ghani government in good faith because these reports saw the country ranked 4th on a global corruption index out of 180 countries in 2016 and then among top ten most corrupt in the subsequent years.
Amidst these ‘donations’, ‘accommodation’ and ‘exit strategy’ scenarios, President Trump’s foreign policy overtures, overriding and at times completely ridiculing the voices from Pentagon, the NATO allies and senior diplomats, helped the Taliban slowly but gradually manage to gather enough resources to take over the night-time government across key entrance and exit points of major cities including Kabul. By 2017, it was an open secret that despite NATO and US forces’ presence (mired in all sorts of uncertainty and cut down to a minimum for Operation Resolute Support), the Taliban were ruling almost 65 per cent of the country from dusk till dawn. By 2018, at least 26 out of 34 provinces were within the reach of Taliban and intermittent skirmishes were reported between Taliban fighters and forces loyal to local governors’- militias or Afghan National Army. The desertion rate among ANA soldiers and selling of their weapons and uniforms to the Taliban and returning to the base camps for issuance of new equipment with some concocted stories was rising since 2014. At times this was mentioned by the SIGAR in its quarterly evaluations that were brushed aside by both senior US military command and the Afghan government. Eventually, the Ghani government convinced US political leadership not make the SIGAR quarterly findings public because these were bringing a bad name to the country and denting the morale of the armed forces.
Warlords with and without Taliban were the other resurgent force. This included those who could not get accommodation within the dollar-hungry governments of first Karzai and then Ghani. The Afghan government in-fighting (between Abdullah Abdullah and Ghani) and skillful king-making advances of former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, proved just enough of an opportunity for both these warlords and the Taliban to gain enough ground to surround key provincial capitals and Kabul that a collapse of government soon after a US troops pull out became obvious.
The Taliban resurgence has not been much different from their rise in 1991. The key factors on both occasions were pretty much the same. There were pockets of support across borders with Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan and a flourishing business of kidnappings for ransom. There was a never-ending supply poppy. The role played by Turkey, China, Russian Federation and India was new. The Taliban have started playing with all sides to gain enough breathing space and momentum to return to the negotiating table to seek not only financial support but also legitimacy. Meanwhile, other players can come up with their plans. All those dreaming of strategic gains in Afghanistan must understand that in Afghanistan it’s either the Afghan way or the highway.
Author, Saeed Ahmed Minhas
The author is a veteran journalist and can be reached atsminhas07@gmail.com
Passengers carrying passports issued by India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka or Uganda can enter Dubai with tourist visas if they have not entered or been to these countries in the last 14 days, flydubai said on its website.
The budget carrier said PCR test requirements will be based on the country of departure.
Travellers should have approval from the GDRFA (General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs) and also present a printed copy of a negative Covid-19 PCR test with a QR code in English or Arabic taken no more than 48 hours prior to the flight departure.
Passengers will also have to take a rapid PCR test at the airport six hours before the flight and then again at the arrival at Dubai International airport.
If you are a UAE resident, GCC citizen or visitor arriving in Dubai, regardless of where your journey originated, you must be able to present a negative Covid-19 PCR test result (from a test taken in the country of departure no more than 72 hours prior to the departure of your inbound flight to Dubai),”
Khaleej Times
Arriving passengers will also be required to undergo an additional PCR test when landing in Dubai.
It said the carriage of passengers travelling to Dubai from Bangladesh is suspended until further notice. The entry of passengers arriving from Afghanistan or Indonesia – or transiting through the two countries within the last 14 days – is also suspended.
However, this does not apply to members of diplomatic, economic and scientific missions, UAE nationals, holders of a UAE Golden Visa and those passengers exempted and/or granted permission to enter the UAE by the appropriate authorities.
In response to a query from a passenger, Emirates airline also said people who have stayed out of India during the last 14 days, can travel to Dubai on a visit visa.
Additionally, Indian nationals with a normal passport who are travelling to India via Dubai can also obtain a visa on arrival in Dubai for a maximum stay of 14 days provided they have a visitor visa or a green card issued by the US, or a residence visa issued by the UK or Europe union.
Seven people in the crowds near Kabul Airport died amid the chaos of those fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
The MoD said in a statement on Sunday that “conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible”. It added: “Our sincere thoughts are with the families of the seven Afghan civilians who have sadly died in crowds in Kabul.”A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul’s international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said Sunday, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country.The deaths come as a new, perceived threat from the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan has seen US military planes do rapid, diving combat landings at the airport surrounded by Taliban fighters.
Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,
UK Defence Ministry
Other aircraft have shot off flares on take-off, an effort to confuse possible heat-seeking missiles targeting the planes.The changes come as the US Embassy issued a new security warning Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a US government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have been no confirmed attacks as yet by the militants, who have battled the Taliban in the past.On Sunday, the British military acknowledged the seven deaths of civilians in the crowds in Kabul. There have been stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the UK Defence Ministry said in a statement.Thousands rushed the airport last Monday in chaos that saw the US try to clear off the runway with low-flying attack helicopters. Several Afghans plunged to their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane. It’s been difficult to know the full scale of the deaths and injuries from the chaos.The Biden administration is considering calling on US commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they are evacuated from their country by military aircraft. Under the voluntary Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, civilian airlines add to military aircraft capability during a crisis related to national defence. That program was born in the wake of the Berlin airlift.On Saturday, a Sky News correspondent watched as UK paratroopers began pulling people from the mayhem before medics checked vital signs of those left on the floor after a crush and then covered bodies in white sheets.British soldiers have been inside the airport boundary attempting to help evacuate British people and Afghans with the right to come to the UK.Thousands of people gathered outside the gates of the Hamid Karzai International Airport trying to escape from the country, fearful about what would happen following the Taliban’s lightning takeover of the country.On Wednesday, 17 people were injured in a stampede at a gate to the airport and, on Monday, at least five people were killed during chaos on the ground and at least one fell from a US military plane after hundreds of desperate people flooded on to runways at the airport.Witnesses have said the Taliban imposed some order around the airport on Sunday, ordering those outside the gates form orderly queues and preventing crowds from gathering elsewhere nearby.
The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother’s life
Report
According to tweets from the US Air Mobility Command, the mother delivered the baby just as the C-17 transport aircraft touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.The mother reportedly went into labour during the second leg of the flight fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. However, she began experiencing complications once the craft reached its flight altitude of over 28,000 feet (8,534 metres) due to the drop in air pressure.”The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother’s life,” said the tweet, which was sent from the US Air Mobility Command’s official account.Once the plane was on the ground at the Ramstein base, personnel from the Air Force’s 86th Medical Group assisted in the delivery of the baby in the C-17’s cargo bay, the tweet said.Both the mother and child were then quickly transported to a nearby medical facility, where they are reported to be in “good condition.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Turkish producers have signed an agreement to make a TV series on the life of the famed 12th-century Muslim commander Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, the Turkish side announced on Saturday.
The first sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, Salahuddin (1138-1193) led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant. After the battle of Hattin in 1187, he retook Jerusalem from the Crusaders who had conquered Palestine 88 years earlier.
The TV series will be produced by Pakistan’s Ansari & Shah Films and Turkey’s Akli Films.
“Contract signed between Akli Films and Ansari&Shah Films,” Akli Films owner Emre Konuk said in a tweet. “May this international project, which will be prepared with the cooperation of Turkey and Pakistan, be beneficial to our country and our art world.”
Akli Films said in a statement the three-season series will feature actors from Turkey and Pakistan, and will be shot in Turkey.
ISLAMABAD: Founding President of Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ms. Samina Fazal has condemned the incident at Minar Pakistan Lahore and said that all women should come together on the Women’s Rights Act for the last several years. We were struggling to encourage Pakistani women to work hard and contribute to Pakistan’s economic development. These latest inhumane incidents are increasing day by day. Pakistan is not a safe country, at least for women. Media He always objects to women. He makes them look weak and bad. That is why the society is following him. Law enforcement agencies and the government should play their role in identifying the culprits and punishing the heinous crimes. He expressed these views in his statement. “These incidents make women feel insecure for themselves, their sisters and daughters,” she said. How will a frightened insecure mind work and develop? How will we send our daughters to schools, colleges, universities, workplaces? How will we marry them with fear in our minds that she will be killed or Will he be killed? “It’s time for us to raise our voices collectively,” he said. Women in government should feel our pain and the higher authorities should realize that punishment is very important to prevent crime. We women are seeking justice for all those who have been killed, tortured, physically, mentally. And emotionally harassed, they called on the government to impose the death penalty on those who abused or assaulted women. The struggle will continue until women’s protection bills are passed and until These criminals are not severely punished, women will remain insecu.
Lodhran, Rescue 1122 Control Room received a delivery case emergency call from Basti Amrewala on the outskirts of Gogra, on which the control immediately dispatched an ambulance with a senior medical technician. The ambulance was on its way to the hospital from the emergency room. At the same time, the delivery of the baby started in the ambulance near Mandhali turn on Jalalpur Road. The rescue team included Zafar Iqbal Senior Emergency Medical Technician, Tanveer Waris Emergency Medical Technician and Malik Arshad Rescue Driver in the rescue team. The father of the baby born in the ambulance, Shaukat Hussain and Warsha paid tribute to the professionalism of the rescue team and thanked the rescue team.
Ijaz Khan Sahu 