General Zia killed Mengal's sonWriting in Jang Hamid Mir stated that Sardar Ataullah Mengal was alienated from Punjab because he thought that it remained passive when the Baloch were being persecuted. He told the columnist that when in 1958 old friends Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan fell out, the former asked the Khan of Kalat to revolt against the army, but Mengal was of the view that now that Pakistan had come into being the Baloch sardars should accept it. The columnist recalled that Mengal's son was killed by General Zia when he was army chief under Bhutto. He did a commando operation in Karachi at Mir Balakh Sher Mazari's house to capture him for investigation but the boy got killed during exchange of fire. Later when Bhutto was accused of killing Asad he wrote in his prison memoirs Facts and Fiction that it was actually General Zia who had done it and then asked him to hush it up. Mengal did not know where his son was buried.
Be tough with non-Muslims!
Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt Dr Hussain Ahmad Paracha said that the Quran had ordained that Muslim (Momin) should be kind to the Muslim but hard with non-Muslim. After that Allama Iqbal too had written his couplet that had asked the Muslims to be smooth as silk to other Muslims but hard as steel to non-Muslims. But today in Pakistan 'enlightened moderation' meant being hard on the Muslims and soft on the non-Muslim outsiders.
Lack of wisdom of clerics
Writing in daily Pakistan, Dr Israr Ahmad stated that the movement of reshami romaal (silk kerchief) of Sheikhul Hind Maulana Mehmoodul Hassan, leader of Deobandi Muslims, failed like many other movements led by clerics because of their lack of realism. Abul Kalam told Sheikhul Hind that he should fight against the British inside India but he thought he could go to the Turks and ask them to attack India as Darul Harb (home of war). He went to Arabia and met Sharif of Mecca who captured him and handed him over to the British. He was sent to Malta as a prisoner and the movement collapsed. After returning from Malta, Sheikhul Hind admitted that Abul Kalam was right and he was wrong.
Thus spake Mufti of Kaaba
Sarerahe praised the khutba of hajj of Mufti of Kaaba in Nawa-e-Waqt which said that Muslims had allowed the Christians (ahle tathlith) to become their masters. The Christians had become a torture (azaab) and the Muslims had forgotten the Message. The khateeb said that dajjals were assaulting the Muslims like locust swarms. Instead of being model to the world which was their mission Muslims had become the lowest of the low.
Women can't be president in Iran
Writing in Jang Irshad Haqqani stated that recently Tehran appeared to be in favour of letting women run for the post of president in the coming election, but the Guardian Council soon clarified that this was not possible. The clergy based its reasoning on the word rijl meaning man but many other clerics say that rijl can mean man and woman both in certain contexts. The columnist thought that Iran could show independent thinking and remove the word rijl from the constitution and make it possible for women to run for the office of the president.
Taliban caught in Quetta
According to Jang, 23 Taliban were caught by the police in Quetta, including deputy governor of Helmand province Mullah Khushdil and IG police Kabul Mullah Ibrahim. The other big personalities were Mullah Abdur Razzaq and Mufti Rahmatullah.
Spies versus Pakistan
Columnist Irfan Siddiqi wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that an Indian consulate had opened across the Chaman border in Kandahar. Additionally, Donald Rumsfeld had created a new spying agency which was spreading its wings in Afghanistan. In tandem with it, KHAD and MOSSAD were active against Pakistan, while America was sharpening its teeth to attack Iran.
Marathon against Islam
Quoted in daily Insaf, Punjab Jamaat Islami leaders Liaquat Baloch and Farid Paracha said that Lahore's international marathon on January 30 was against Islam because women were allowed to run in it together with men in public view. Women and men running together was against Islam. Also women running in public without proper hijab was against Islam.
What happened in Balochistan
Historian Raja Anwar wrote in Khabrain that Khan of Kalat gave Jinnah funds after weighing him in silver because he wanted to remain free in Balochistan while accepting Pakistan's suzerainty. Eleven years after partition Balochistan was attacked and 'conquered'. General Ayub brought a law that enabled him to depose and appoint Baloch sardars. He removed Ataullah Mengal and replaced him with his uncle but the Mengal tribe beheaded the new incumbent. General Ayub hanged the family of Sardar Nauroz Khan Zehri and thus bought the hostility of the Zehri tribe. After 11 years, General Ayub called off the army and sent in police and rangers who were cut down by the Baloch like gajar mooli (carrots and radishes). In 1973 started another operation in Balochistan after taking into confidence Sardar Bugti, the Khan of Kalat, the Raisanis of Sarwan, the Magsis, Sardar Doda Khan Zehri of Jhalawan, Jam of Las Bela and Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai. After overthrowing Bhutto, General Zia had dinner with the Baloch sardars Bhutto had jailed in Hyderabad and killed Bhutto after two years.
Suicide bomber identified
According to Jang, the suicide bomber who tried to kill prime minister Shaukat Aziz last year at Fateh Jang was one Muhammad Irfan from Shish Mahal Road Lahore. He was the son of a tailor master and had taken his early training in a religious seminary. He passed his B. Com and then started working at a four-star hotel in Lahore. He was recruited by one Zeeshan Mehmood of Anarkali Lahore. Zeeshan had been to Afghanistan to train with Al Qaeda and was an accused in the attempt to kill President Musharraf in the tutelage of the key Al Qaeda agent Amjad Farooqi since killed in Hyderabad. Zeeshan got Irfan to meet Amjad Farooqi who brainwashed him and got him to blow himself up next to the car of the prime minister near Attock. Daily Insaf recorded the reaction of 'Hafiz' Irfan's neighbours and relatives. Everybody vowed that he was a most peace-loving and God-fearing person and was killed by the government unfairly. (Irfan's father later identified his severed head and owned up the act. The family was asked to approach the court for getting possession of the head, the only remaining part.) According to Jang, the head of Hafiz Irfan was brought to his family by the police in a bucket. His neighbours did not accept that he was a terrorist as he used to lead the namaz at the local mosque. His funeral at Data Sahib was attended by a mammoth crowd Daily Pakistan reported that he had told his family before disappearing that the police would kill him.
Confusion over Balochistan
Writing in daily Pakistan Abdul Quddus Minhas stated that in Balochistan the political parties were behaving in a confused fashion. While the MMA was opposed to military operation in the province, its ministers were present in the Quetta cabinet meeting in which the provincial government asked the centre to deploy troops in Sui. The PPP was opposed to the military operation but its real worry was about the gathering strength of the Baloch nationalists. PMLQ and MQM were opposed to the military operation but were present in the cabinet session in which action in Balochistan was decided.