Amidst Democracy

گوجرانوالہ:محلہ جگنہ میں شیخوپورہ سے آئی بارات دلہن لیے بغیر واپس

— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) August 30, 2013

گوجرانوالہ:ضِدی دلہا دلہن کو ساتھ لیجانے کے لیے سسرال میں ہی رُک گیا

— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) August 30, 2013

میں نےسلامی دی تونوٹ تھامتےہوئےدلہاکےہاتھ کانپ گئے،دلہن کی ماں کابیان

— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) August 30, 2013

The news channels fell so proud in spreading wrong information. Consider this information in which a pre typed text was posted even before the ball was thrown, later it was revealed that the batsmen failed to get a boundary. The same TV channel shamelessly without apologizing tweeted the normal news.........

احمد شہزادنے پاکستان کی جانب سے پہلی ٹی 20 سینچری اسکور کردی

— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) August 24, 2013

ہرارے:دوسرا ٹی 20؛احمد شہزاد ٹی 20کی پہلی سینچری اسکور نہ کرسکے

— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) August 24, 2013

Do we need to think twice before passing any judgement about this insane media? Do we need to support the so called liberation of MEDIA ? Can we afford to have an uncontrolled medium that jeopardizes the national interests in the name of free information ?  Why on earth we need to have a breaking news on the TV channels every few seconds... And last but not the least, nations like ROME, IRAN, BYZANTINE, AZTECS etc survived without any media, so in this context what should be the role of media . Who should codify the ethics of this bizarre media.. I left the answer to you....

Follow @hadeedsher

Written by Raheel Adnan*

TTP is, at times, wrongfully considered as a faction of ‘Taliban’. It's important to note that, although, Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) share a name, the two groups are discrete entities with fewer similarities than differences. They operate independently with contradictory strategic goals. 'The fact that they have the same name causes all kinds of confusion,' Gilles Dorronsoro of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told NYTimes in 2009.

Taliban vs TTP

As Wikipedia defines, 'the Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan'. They operate against foreign and Afghan security forces but strictly oppose targeting another Muslim state or country. Before 9/11, Taliban hosted and supported several Al-Qaeda leaders but it’s believed that the groups are separated now. Currently Taliban's 'real purpose' is to fight the invading forces in Afghanistan and 'liberate' it from their occupation.

Contrarily Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is an umbrella organization of various anti-Pakistan militant groups. Organization's strategic goals are purely based on enmity toward the Pakistani government and military. TTP can largely be held responsible for violence and security related issues in Pakistan. The group has been extensively involved in suicide attacks on military, police and innocent Pakistanis, heavily armed attacks on Pakistan's security forces, murdering of opponents without discrimination (like the attack on young girl Malala Yousafzai), kidnapping for ransom, killing of high value targets and promoting sectarian violence.

Origination of the Groups

Taliban's origination can be linked back to 1980s insurgence by mujahidin fighters against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. After the fall of Soviet-backed regime, several Afghan political parties signed a power-sharing agreement, but the feeble government lasted only a few days and Afghanistan entered into civil war. Taliban’s militant activities started in 1994. They took control of Kabul in 1996 and ruled the country until American-led NATO invasion in 2001.

TTP’s roots can be traced back to 2002, when Pakistan Army started operation in FATA (Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan) against foreign militants fleeing from Afghanistan into Pakistan due to NATO operation. Eventually in December 2007, several groups united under Baitullah Mehsud to form the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. It’s reported that the TTP killed around 200 tribal elders to strengthen their hold in the region. Several TTP leaders previously participated in Afghanistan war, along with Taliban.

TTP and Al Qaeda are in a close relationship, collaborating in financial matters and manufacturing of explosive devices. White-House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan once said on Fox News, "It [TTP] is a group that is closely allied with Al-Qaeda. They train together, they plan together, they plot together. They are almost indistinguishable."

Relationships between Taliban and TTP

Taliban strongly denies their association with TTP. "We don’t like to be involved with them (TTP), as we have rejected all affiliations with Pakistani Taliban fighters. We have sympathy for them as Muslims, but besides that, there is nothing else between us." There has been several attempts to bring the two organizations together, but Taliban often asks TTP to “to end suicide attacks, attacks against the Pakistani military, kidnappings for ransom, and the killing of innocent Pakistanis”. Apparently, none of the agreements between two groups ever worked.

TTP and Recent Attacks in Mountains

The first incident of violence in the mountains took place in February 2012, when 18 Shia Muslim bus passengers were killed in Kohistan district. Jundallah, a group linked with Al-Qaeda and TTP, claimed the responsibility of the attack. Despite being an unprivileged area, militancy related incidents in the Kohistan were almost non-existent, prior to aforementioned incident. Although, previously militants had a strong hold in the adjacent valley of Swat.

In August 2012, more than 20 Shia passengers were killed in the valley leading to Babusar Pass. TTP claimed the responsibility of the attack. The attackers were disguised in military uniforms.

Although massacre at Diamir BC is the first instance of attacks on foreign climbers, the incident can be closely linked with past events. TTP claims that the attack was carried out by its newly formed team, Junud-ul-Hifsa.

Map showing location of three incidents

'The purpose of this attack was to give a message to the world that Pakistan is unsafe for travel,' said the interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, addressing the National Assembly session, which passed a resolution condemning the incident. 'The government will take all measures to ensure the safety of foreign tourists.'

Note: ‘Taliban’ is at times referred as Afghan Taliban, and TTP as Pakistani Taliban.


*First published here http://bit.ly/12jKK2A

Written by Hadeed Ahmed Sher

So if your bomb isn't lethal enough, and the weight to kill ratio of your indigenous bomb is low then here are Pakistani media standing right beside you to help you out. No wonder how pathetic is your design, even if you use the techniques used in fireworks, we bet our guidance will boost the lethality of your thussss bomb.. All you need is to continuously tune in and watch the Pakistani EXPERT media right after a bomb blast. Alternatively you can read newspapers where the explosives experts of police, in trying to get coverage in national media, explain in detail all the investigation process. However, there is a third way, Yes! You can purchase this Rs 10 guide which has all the solutions to your illness. Kill innocent people with the small but effective bomb. So here we go.

We know that before the start of the Afghan War, the knowledge of how making effective time exploding devices was almost at zero level. It was the "blessing" of Gen. Mushraaf who introduced the astable private media channels. The main income source of these media channels is based on suspense and in winning the rat race of "Breaking News". In trying to do so, they blatantly spread information on how agencies investigate and what caused the damage so high. This leakage of investigation methods is a direct help to the terrorists and banned outfits in the country. Interestingly our media gurus feign to be omniscient but fail to recognize this important aspect. These organizations may not have a central unit for Technology Transfer but our media is efficiently working for their cause by spreading all the necessary information via live footages and interviews.

Before the advent of private electronic media in Pakistan , ball bearing was used only in the shops of lathe machines and in the maintenance of machines. It happened one day that people were told that if these ball bearings are used in a bomb it can devastatingly increase the casualties. The stupidity of media not stopped here but continued as they informed us further that the size of ball bearings matter and when the bomb explodes they burst with the supersonic speed and goes into the eyes, ears, nose and can cause the death of a person. So this tip was effectively used  by the terrorists and caused a lot of damage.

It is also worth explaining here in this Rs10 guide that the use of iron nails can further enhance the capabilities of a bomb. I mean what the hell is wrong with this media... Why on earth we as a NATION or they as an AGENT wants to propagate the techniques or composition of a lethal BOMB. Damn it !! Tell us the information where the heck they are from, LOUD AND CLEAR in a MANLY way doesn't like that they are from a "Banned OUTFIT". This nation is more INTERESTED in getting to know who is their real enemy and media should name the enemy without trepidation. They want to hear the death tolls and about the damage state has incurred with these attacks. NOT WHY THE DEMAGE IS HIGH....

During the time Gen Mushrraf was crushing the State of PAKISTAN under his heavy boots, he was targeted in a planted bomb attack in Jhanda Cheechi Bridge Rawalpindi. The investigative method was kept secret, until those who were involved in that attack were arrested. Months later, when the dictator of Pakistan revealed his book entitled "In the Line of FIRE" aka "سب سے پہلے پاکستان " the investigation procedure was narrated in that book. At first sight it seems to be an impressive effort in reaching to the mastermind of that attack, but if we stop here and think of a while the question is HOW MANY ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THE BOOK WERE SOLD DUE TO THIS SAGA OF THRILL AND ADVENTURE. Perhaps a few dozen or maybe a few hundred. But the impact was shocking. That package was of vital importance for the extremists and years later it was seen that the terrorists involved in an attack on SRILANKAN cricket team used not only different SIMs but also different Mobile sets to avoid detection by the security agencies. The same day again to win the race of breaking news our media told the whole world that the cricketers were brought in a helicopter and showed the helicopter flying. It was a miracle that the terrorist does not have the RPG else they could have used that to shoot down the copter..

The nonsense media continued their stupidity during the rescue operation carried out by Balochistan Police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) after the terrorists took charge of the Bolan Medical college. The media teams of various TV channels showed the sniper positions of the forces. But in order to tell the people that how daring and careful they are, they announced that the footage of live ACTION is not live but delayed. I WISH I could tell these idiots that even then you cannot show the positions of the security forces.

So guys if your bomb isn't lethal enough, and the weight to kill ratio of your indigenous bomb is low then here are Pakistani media standing right beside you to help you out. I am sure that you too are discombobulated with the devious behavior of media on matters of national interest. Instead of spreading ribald stories media should address the situation more maturely else they will soon find themselves bereft of people's support. Media as a stop one solution must repress their boundless high spirits of "breaking news" especially in case of a suicidal attack or a law and order situation.