Tonight with Moeed Pirzada: Is new wave of terrorism in Baluchistan related to CPEC?
Two recent incidents of terrorism took place in Baluchistan province. In first one at least 28 people were killed and 40 others, including Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, suffered injuries in a suicide attack on his convoy in the Mastung area some 50 km away from Quetta. ISIS took the responsibility of the attack.
In another incident 10 laborers killed while two injured in result of a gun attack at Gawadar.
Dr Moeed pirzada discussed the new terror wave with spokesperson of balochistan government Anwarul haq kakar. Spokesperson said that few small militants groups are working under umbrella of ISIS. These groups are getting information for targets from Afghanistan and Indian intelligence agencies. Dr pirzada raised the issue that why Government is not effectively raising this issue of Indian involvement in terrorism in balochistan. Anwarul haq replied that government of trying its level best to raise the issue at international level. But he stressed the need to generate a collective counter narrative in.
Tonight with Moeed Pirzada: I was told by my sources that Sajjan Jandal will visit Pakistan after UP elections- Khurshid Kasuri
While talking to Doctor Moeed Pirzada, the former minister for foreign affairs Mr Khurshid Kasuri said that he was priorly informed by his Pakistani sources about Indian business tycoon Mr. Sajjan Jandal’s visit to Pakistan. He further said that the problem lies not with India, but Pakistan itself; Pakistan’s narrative has always been proactive. He said that he believes in stabilizing terms with India.
Mr. Kasuri also said that he does not believe that the army will play a negative role in the peace process between India and Pakistan. He said that even in his tenure, efforts were made to destabilize Pakistan through Afghanistan. Commenting on his party’s attributes, he said that most of their achievements have been through back channels. The former foreign minister also said that China will face resistance from everywhere in the region, as it has with Indonesia.
Tonight with moeed Pirzada: India turning to ICJ on kalbhoshan issue
India has moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan, accusing the latter of violating the Vienna Convention in the case of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated on its official website that India had instituted proceedings against Pakistan, accusing it of ‘egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations’ in the matter of detention and trial of its national Kulbhushan Sudhir Yadav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan.
Dr Moeed pirzada discussed with barrister saad rasool, the possibilities of Pakistan on this move of India to take the case in International court of justice. Barrister Saad said that Pakistan should give a solid reply to international court of justice by stating that this case of espionage by kalbhoshan yadev doesn’t fall into jurisdiction of International court of justice. He also said that the case of kalbhoshan is related with terrorism and is in military courts. Matter is totally domestic nature and according to law the spies of other country doesn’t get access to the consular.
James Bond movie
Moeed Pirzada |
Specter, Latest James Bond Movie & why it’s so amazing? Bond movies have always been a barometer of global political agenda, of evolving thought, of how London & Washington are looking at the developing issues and who are the friends and who are the foes.
So in seventies Japanese could be seen as dangerous but by and large till the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of Cold War Russians were the villains, directly or indirectly. End of Cold War gave way to spectre of rogue Russian generals. And then briefly Muslim fundamentalists figure as enemies then bowing out to Chinese who too have figured as “enemies” But the larger than life “Bond” saving the free world from a disaster faded away with the collapse of the Russian threat.
All Middle East is like a large concentration camp with stranglehold of ruling elite and many amongst our leaders fancy that kind of power.
“Spectre” gives you very interesting insights into this changing mindset. How fears of terrorism and other threats can give more and more power to Intelligence Agencies; it shows a point where this rogue head of Joint Intelligence in the UK is putting a case for all friendly agencies to join together against common threats; remember the scene where a tape is played that shows how Joint Intelligence head is listening to what MI6 is doing. And how “M” keeps reminding “C” that this is a nightmare bigger than George Orwell could imagine.
Read more: Amitabh Bachchan’s 15 Best Films of All Time
(My favourite writer; ahead of his times like Jinnah) This movie didn’t have those traditional fireworks, those sustained scenes of continuing destruction of large structures and arrival of good guys in large numbers to defeat bad guys and I am sure some of the best juicy scenes of Craig’s fondness & warmth for ‘her’ were only watched repeatedly by Pakistani censor to make sure that they have completely absorbed them (so I will watch it again in Bangkok or Istanbul or on DVD) Intelligence Community’s growing immense power upon our lives, since 9/11 and its “sense of legitimacy” and how it is being exploited to secure the hold of power elite is now a big threat to what was once actually defined as democracy.
And then briefly Muslim fundamentalists figure as enemies then bowing out to Chinese who too have figured as “enemies” But the larger than life “Bond” saving free world from a disaster faded away with the collapse of Russian threat.
Look around us and see how even civilian elected governments are using Intelligence Agencies to strengthen themselves, to harass their critics, to threaten them into silence, how every private conversation, tweet, family discussion or affairs or troubles (of media persons and opposition politicians etc) are being recorded, at tax payers cost, to blackmail them as and when needed. All Middle East is like a large concentration camp with stranglehold of ruling elite and many amongst our leaders fancy that kind of power. Ask me how my emails, phones, text messages and this page is monitored and transcripts made as and when needed. This is called “Surveillance state”.
Read more: India bans movie “lipstick under my burkha”
June issue of Foreign Policy was on “Golden Age of Surveillance” and all of you get to read a lot what Wikileaks and Snowden reveal. Remember how Julian Assange was turned from a public hero of western consciousness into a pariah forced to hide inside a building. To many of you, this is remote, but not to me; I am a victim of it and I see it very clearly. This is upfront and close. So I have listened to every sentence in “Spectre” very carefully.
As I reached home and switched to CNN, I heard that U.S. Intelligence is now 99.99% sure that Russian plane over Sinai crashed due to a bomb blast on board. Off course, everyone suspects this is ISIS. Then I heard Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish PM, telling Christian Amanpur that this is not against Russia; its against all of us. He is right but what is his solution? All intelligence agencies have to join hands.
So “Spectre” brings a reality that is upfront and close.
Moeed Pirzada is prominent TV Anchor & commentator; he studied international relations at Columbia Univ, New York and law at London School of Economics. Twitter: MoeedNj. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy. This piece was first published in Moeed Pirzada’s official page. It has been reproduced with permission.
How do you know who am I?
Moeed Pirzada |
How do you know who am I ? And what I meant? – A day earlier I was arguing the same with a certain Nitin Joshi on Twitter, I pointed out that he misunderstood a note I wrote. But he shot back and said that he has the right to discover what he finds “relevant” or “important” in what I wrote. I conceded with a cynic remark which meant that “many versions” of myself have started to exist as per whatever anyone wants to conceive or interpret. What I am or represent does not matter. Same now is happening with this “Maulana” false story & my note of explanation.
Truth mostly, if not always, depends upon our ability to perceive it, and our ability to grasp it depends upon our sum total understanding of life, ourselves and world around us. In other words, our understanding is limited by who we are. Remember that frog in a village well who was confronted by the taunt that did he know how large an ocean is? reported by drawing a circle large enough to approximate the circumference of the well and said: “Ocean couldn’t be bigger than this, could it be?” Most of us, in many situations, are like that frog, especially if we insist on locking ourselves in our little worlds. Our understanding of the world is who we are!
I was reacting to the false news that a certain Maulana was recently intercepted by police, found drunk, arrested and then released on the intervention of certain TV anchors. To me as a media person, this was a pathetic example of yellow journalism for the event didn’t happen the way it was described.
Most intelligent people and politics have become immune to whatever media keeps on saying. It has become a noise box of increasing irrelevance.
Now the ensuing debate on the page: whether a certain Maulana or many Maulanas are drunkards & debauch? Should such and such person hold such and such title? And the latest twist that how dare I accuse Maulanas of something like this when I myself have been a fraud who had been forging documents to steal property from my dying father are various rival interpretations and comments on something “arrest of Maulana in drunk state” that actually never happened – even two years ago. This debate is not about Maulana; it is about who various people are, how they perceive the world around them, what they stand for, who they hate etc.
Thanks to most of you this page has become very important! But some of you – a small number- are “plain idiots” and don’t deserve to be on this page. This page and its active community is like a club and all clubs have a certain level to be admitted. Numbers don’t matter, what matters is the level and intelligence of debate.I have gradually realized that despite TV’s reach across large sections of populations now TV programs often are less influential and what I write here or on Twitter creates far greater impact. FB & Twitter have created thousands and thousands of friends and well-wishers and hundreds of powerful enemies.
In recent months all my acclaim and most of my problems & troubles have been a direct result and outcome of what I say and write here. Unfortunately, this means these pages & Twitter handle are monitored & even penetrated by different interests and they are now not only what you commonly think about with euphemistic terms of “idaray” but others much beyond have also been actively interested.
Why? As I said earlier, it is not about numbers; it is about the level of comment and debate and the ideas it creates. And despite monitoring and its hazards (for me, not you) there is a very interesting silver lining. What most of you write, in a reasoned manner, with logic and conviction, is being read, analyzed and creates impact. This has started to become a sort of newspaper or magazine. And most of you deserve Congratulations for this! However, there is no real “power without responsibility”.
Truth mostly, if not always, depends upon our ability to perceive it, and our ability to grasp it depends upon our sum total understanding of life, ourselves and world around us.
British writer James Curran had authored a book about media with this title “Power without Responsibility” which I read at London School of Economics. Pakistani electronic media is a classic, textbook example of Curran’s thesis – though James Curran’s model was a warning about Britain. But Britain & west heeded the warning and avoided the trap; just like west understood George Orwell and saved democracy. Today “Orwellian Societies” exist in many other parts of the world but not in the west.
But Pakistani Media (News & Current Affairs) has gradually lost its relevance and power. Most intelligent people and politics have become immune to whatever media keeps on saying. It has become a noise box of increasing irrelevance. Same is about to happen to social media. My bottom line is: there is no “real power without responsibility”. If you want to have an impact in the world of ideas, if you want relevant people to take you seriously, if you want to do good then learn to comment with logic, reason, and responsibility.
Moeed Pirzada is prominent TV Anchor & commentator; he studied international relations at Columbia Univ, New York and law at London School of Economics. Twitter: MoeedNj. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy. This piece was first published in Moeed Pirzada’s official page. It has been reproduced with permission.
