Residents of Pak’s Bara district flee homes following Lashkasr’s warning

Landi Kotal (Pakistan), Sep 19 (ANI): Following a warning issued by the leader of a terrorist organization, hundreds of Bara residents fled their houses to move to safer places before the last day of Eidul Fitr festivities.

On Friday morning, Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) chief Mangal Bagh issued a warning over his illegal FM radio station, saying that people should take cover as his armed outfit was about to retaliate the military operation in Bara, The Dawn reports.

Earlier, the militant leader had said that his private miltia would not resist the operation in the area.

Traders and shopkeepers of Bara bazaar have shifted their merchandise to safer places, it has been learned.

Meanwhile, the bullet-riddled body of Wahid son of Hanan, who was kidnapped by Lashkar activists a day earlier, was found in Jamrud Khwar area.

A note was found with the dead body saying that anyone found assisting the security forces would meet the similar fate.

Earlier, the FC media cell had appealed the locals to help security forces in their operation against militants. (ANI)

Fazlullah hiding in Peochar, would be arrested soon: Malik

Islamabad, July 28 (ANI): Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah aka Radio Mullah is injured and is hiding in the terrains of Peochar along with his close aides, Interior Advisor Rehman Malik has said.

Malik claimed the security forces have surrounded Fazlullah and his accomplices, and that they would be arrested soon.

Over the past few days media reports as well as the Pakistan Army have been claiming that Fazlullah, who has a 50-million-rupee bounty on his head, has been grievously wounded in missile hit and is on his death bed.

However, neither the Pakistan government nor the Army was able to confirm the reports.

Recently, Mingora residents said they had heard Fazlullah over his illegal FM radio station, but it could not be confirmed whether the broadcast was live or a pre-recorded one.

Talking to a private television channel Malik said the military offensive against the Taliban and other extremists have been successful and nearing its end.

He also rejected reports that the Taliban fighters were hiding still hiding in the Swat and Malakand Divisions and planning to regroup themselves once military moves out.

“Now there is no danger of the terrorists regrouping,” The Daily Times quoted Malik, as saying. (ANI)

Himachal gets first private radio station

Shimla, July 10 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Friday got its first private radio station with the launch of Reliance’s BIG FM station.
The station was launched by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Himanshu Shekhar, BIG FM’s business head, said: “This is our first radio station in this hill state. Now, we have 45 FM radio station across the country.”

“Initially, the radio station entertains people of Shimla and adjoining areas for 16 hours a day, later it will be 24-hour entertainment station,” he added.

Racist Oz radio presenter tells bashed Indian students to go home

Sydney, July 2 (ANI): A presenter for a New South Wales community radio station has been reprimanded for several racist remarks, which included one statement where she urged attacked Indian students to go back home to study.

Terrie-Anne Verney, a presenter and sales representative for Griffith FM radio station 2MIA, was reprimanded after it was revealed that she was the administrator of several racist and anti-immigration groups on famous social networking website Facebook, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

According to reports, she was the administrator of group like “F-ff, We’re Full” and had joined groups like “Stop the Islamisation of Australia while we still can”, “Australian Conservative United Party”, the “Australian Protectionist Party” and “Australians against Multiculturalism”.

She was reported to have written extremely rude comments about the recently attacked Indian students in Australia, saying that attacked Indian students were “playing the victim card” and the “shit around their head must do something to their brain”.

“Maybe a gun to their head might help them get the hint that they are not wanted here!!,” Verney reportedly wrote on one of her Facebook group.

In various posts on the site, she made a mockery of foreigners who did not have a good grasp of English.

“If we allow the Islamic faith to continue to grow, sooner or later the Australian way of life will be destroyed,” Verney wrote in another post.

Meanwhile, Edna Wakley, president of the Griffith Community FM Association and station manager at 2MIA, has expressed disbelief at Verney’s remarks, saying that she was unaware of the incident until Wednesday.

“It is disappointing that this staff member’s actions could place a cloud over the integrity of this Association and all that it has achieved in Ethnic Broadcasting, multiculturalism and the community at large,” a statement released by the radio station said. (ANI)

FATA women break social stereotype to become radio journalists

Peshawar, June 30 (ANI): With a minidisk recorder in her hand, Asma rushes around in a small Peshawar studio, trying to finish editing a radio news bulletin so that she can make it back to her home before dark.

“If I don’t get the bulletin done in time for this evening’s show, the station won’t let me continue as a radio journalist. But if I don’t get home on time, then my parents won’t let me continue working either,” the Dawn quoted Asma, as saying.

Asma is one of three women reporters for Radio Khyber, a Jamrud-based FM radio station, which is intended at countering the extremist, pro-jihad illegal radio stations run by hard-line clerics throughout the tribal agencies.

Supported by the FATA Secretariat, the radio station was earlier presenting just infotainment shows, but in the wake of Pakistan Army’s military offensive the station decided to broadcast regular news bulletins.

In the tribal belt, where women are facing many dogmas, it is remarkable that three women have come forward to work as radio journalists.

“People in the tribal areas don’t like it if their women call in to radio shows. They think it is shameful if their voices are broadcast on air because the radio goes to the public,” said Tayyab, Radio Khyber’s news editor.

Some of Asma’s colleagues had to overcome their families’ and their own reservations to pursue the career of their choice.

Quetta based Kulsoom says her parents and brother strongly disapprove of strange men hearing her voice on air.

“But I wanted to do something unique. I’m the first Pathan girl from Balochistan who has come into the media,” she says

“I was scared of reporting and had heard that women face problems when they come into the field. But once I started I realised we get more respect than the men and everyone is more cooperative,” adds Andaleeb, a young reporter from Landi Kotal.

However, none of the female reporters are willing to be confined to covering women’s issues alone.

“Women aren’t usually allowed to do this, but I want to cover the military operations underway in the agencies,” Asma says. (ANI)

After T20 win, Pak fans flock TOI blog

NEW DELHI: Ever heard anyone say “Jai Hind” and “Pakistan Zindabad” in the same breath? It happened on the TOI website soon after Pakistan’s T20 World Cup victory on Sunday night. Pakistani fans flocked to the entry “Chak de! Pakistan” posted by one of TOI’s bloggers soon after the final. Some had heard about it on the local FM radio station. Others had been following the blogger’s earlier posts about the Pakistani T20 team. Seeing Pakistan’s victory as a subcontinental triumph, many felt cricket could achieve what their rulers had failed to: peace.

“The history of sports is filled with romantic stories of improbable triumphs. Pakistan’s T20 World Cup victory against Sri Lanka is the stuff of folklore. Someday, someone will make a film called, Chak De! Pakistan,” the blog posted by Avijit Ghosh said.

“For, this emphatic eight-wicket victory wasn’t just about what Younis Khan and his men achieved on the pitch. We must not forget the circumstances in which it came about. Pakistan had played little international cricket in recent times. They had also performed poorly in its early games. But the team bounced back to fashion a triumph that will surely lift the spirits of a nation ravaged by a brutal internal strife,” it said.

A sample of readers’ comments:

Abdullah: Thanks, Avijit! You had predicted it! It is an honour for Asians that Pakistan won today and Sri Lankans are runners-up. We want our Indian brethren also to share this moment with us. Mubarak.

Waqar: I am from Lahore. I am not a big fan of TOI but I read it daily. TOI is usually very anti-Pakistan but your article and appreciation of Pakistan’s victory proves I was wrong.

Imran: You had the script for the film Chak De! Pakistan. Before the T20 even started, you were 100% correct on your prediction.

Nayyar Afaq: Thank you for your balanced blogs on T20 series. For us, it is not only a win, but a start of new spirit and optimism to meet, greet and defeat all the challenges. For India and Pakistan, sports raises our morale and spirit, something our rulers failed to gift us. No military or intelligence can transform minds, but sports can. We all need Peace.

Maqsood: Jai Hind and Pakistan Zindabad

Bala Srinivasan: Pakistan deserves to be champions. They played with their heart. Hearty congrats to the champions and the writer who predicted it.

Fazlullah says Taliban will accept only Islam’s writ in Swat

Islamabad, Apr.26 (ANI): The Taliban’s Swat chapter commander, Mullah Fazlullah, has said that the Taliban would accept only ‘Islam’s writ’ in the Valley.

Making an announcement over his illegal FM radio station, Fazlullah said that the Taliban would not hesitate in more sacrifices if sharia is not implemented by the government in the Malakand division, the Daily Times reports.

He added that the Taliban is offering full support to the peace deal inked between the NWFP Government and the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM). (ANI)

After divorce, Taliban now bans beard shaving in FATA

Islamabad, Apr.11 (ANI): Days after announcing a ban on divorce, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has now barred men in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Bajaur region from shaving their beards.

Announcing the ban over the outfit’s illegal FM radio station, the TTP’s Bajaur Agency chief Faqir Muhammad said severe punishment would be handed out to those who do not follow the restrictions.

The TTP has also announced a ban on drug peddling, non-government organisations (NGO) from working in the agency, and has termed the grants under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as ‘haram’.

Muhammad said some people have been arrested for their involvement in the BISP and would be punished according to sharia.

“People assisting women in getting ID cards made and distributing BISP money among them would be arrested,” he warned. (ANI)

Now, “draconian” Taliban bans divorce and “snuff” in FATA

Islamabad, Apr.9 (ANI): The increasing influence of the Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan can be judged from the fact that it has now established an FM radio station in the Darra AdamKhel region to air its own set of rules.

In the first of the announcements made from the illegal radio station, the Taliban has banned divorce without their consultation, and also barred people from using naswar (snuff), The Nation reported.

A resident of the area, on condition of anonymity said: “Taliban commander Tariq, in his address on the radio channel, made it clear to the people that no one would give divorce to their wives without consulting leaders of the group, and warned of severe consequences for those who did not obeyed the orders.”

The outlawed group has also asked medical store-owners not to sell intoxicating drugs without prescription from a doctor, and told all naswar-sellers of the region to destroy their stocks. (ANI)

Taliban has network in rest of Pakistan too: Pak editorial

Islamabad, Jan.18 (ANI): The increasing influence of the Taliban, and other extremists groups in the tribal region, and especially in the Swat valley in Pakistan, reaffirms the Taliban ambitions of running a parallel government in the country.

According to a Daily Times editorial, the territory controlled by the terrorists has increased from 25 to 75 percent.

The recent ‘fatwa’ by the Taliban to close down all girls school in the region has led to the systematic destruction of female educational infrastructure in Swat by the Taliban and loss of protection by the state, the editorial claims.

While the ‘democratic’ government in the country has vowed several times to suppress extremism, it has failed at every step miserably.

The seriousness of the clamp down on the increasing territory of the outlawed group can be gauged from the fact that they (Taliban) have an autonomous state of their own, complete with running ‘sharia’ courts and an FM radio station exhorting the people to accept the new order or die, the editorial says.

They have their own network of intelligence and an information secretary that you can ring up and talk to, it added.

The extremist problem is not new to the Swat region as it has a history that says that it was in the mid-1990s when the radical cleric Sufi Muhammad asked for sharia. In 2001, the Sufi joined the Taliban in Afghanistan to fight the Americans. After his arrest, his son-in-law Maulvi Fazlullah unfurled the flag of jihad in Swat and was soon taking orders from the Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

Sincere and devoted steps by Pakistan are needed if it wants the Swat Valley to retain as its indispensable geographical part.

Pakistan can turn away from the obligation of saving Swat only at the risk of further more dangerous erosion of the state. It is a war that has to be fought and Pakistan cannot afford to lose it. Islamabad must realise that Swat terrorists have their networks in the rest of the country, the editorial concluded. (ANI)