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Thursday, September 15, 2011
Italy: September 6 general strike only the beginning of the struggle to bring down Berlusconi government and go beyond By Roberto Sarti
Taiwan/ Venezuela (Spanish)/ Israel (Serbo-Croat)/ Revolutions of 1948 (Bahasa Indonesian)
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The crisis that has shaken the world economy since 2008 has pushed bourgeois ideologists to desperately seek a solution. They are looking for alternative ways of running their system, seeking to square the circle and maintain capitalism without its inevitable contradictions. As Asia, and China in particular, is doing so well, there is a burgeoning literature about the Chinese model, just as in the past there was so much made of the "Japanese miracle". In Part One of this article Luca Lombardi looks at the experience of Taiwan.The Evolution of a Pakistani Militant Network
STRATFOR Weekly Intelligence Update
<http://images.response.stratfor.com/eloquaimages/clients/STRATFOR/%7b39208a
45-d650-49e9-becc-dee769c285f5%7d_stratfor-logo-600w.gif>
The Evolution of a Pakistani Militant Network
By Sean Noonan and Scott Stewart
For many years now, STRATFOR has been carefully following the evolution of
"Lashkar-e-Taiba" (LeT), the name of a Pakistan-based jihadist group that
was formed in 1990 and existed until about 2001, when it was officially
abolished. In subsequent years, however, several major attacks were
attributed to LeT, including the November 2008 coordinated assault in
Mumbai, India <http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090114_mitigating_mumbai> .
Two years before that attack we wrote that the group, or at least its
remnant networks, were nebulous but still dangerous
<http://www.stratfor.com/let_nebulous_dangerous> . This nebulous nature was
highlighted in November 2008 when the "Deccan Mujahideen
<http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20081126_india_militant_name_game> ," a
previously unknown group, claimed responsibility for the Mumbai attacks.
While the most famous leaders of the LeT networks, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and
Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, are under house arrest and in jail awaiting trial,
respectively, LeT still poses a significant threat. It's a threat that comes
not so much from LeT as a single jihadist force but LeT as a concept, a
banner under which various groups and individuals can gather, coordinate and
successfully conduct attacks.
Such is the ongoing evolution of the jihadist movement. And as this movement
becomes more diffuse
<http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110120-jihadism-2011-persistent-grassroo
ts-threat> , it is important to look at brand-name jihadist groups like LeT,
al Qaeda, the Haqqani network and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan as loosely
affiliated networks more than monolithic entities. With a debate under way
between and within these groups over who to target and with major
disruptions of their operations by various military and security forces, the
need for these groups to work together in order to carry out sensational
attacks has become clear. The result is a new, ad hoc template for jihadist
operations that is
<javascript:launchPlayer('b0jmk73a',%20'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPM1N
HgEInI',%20640,%20360)>
http://media.stratfor.com/stratfor_images/playbuttonsmall.gifnot easily
defined and even harder for government leaders to explain to their
constituents and reporters to explain to their readers.
Thus, brand names like Lashkar-e-Taiba (which means Army of the Pure) will
continue to be used in public discourse while the planning and execution of
high-profile attacks grows ever more complex. While the threat posed by
these networks to the West and to India may not be strategic
<http://www.stratfor.com/al_qaeda_and_strategic_threat_u_s_homeland> , the
possibility of disparate though well-trained militants working together and
even with organized-crime elements does suggest a continuing tactical threat
that is worth examining in more detail.
The Network Formerly Known as Lashkar-e-Taiba
The history of the group of militants and preachers who created LeT and
their connections with other groups helps us understand how militant groups
develop and work together. Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad (MDI) and its militant
wing, LeT, was founded with the help of transnational militants based in
Afghanistan and aided by the Pakistani government. This allowed it to become
a financially-independent social-service organization that was able to
divert a significant portion of its funding to its militant wing.
The first stirrings of militancy within this network began in 1982, when
Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi traveled from Punjab, Pakistan, to Paktia,
Afghanistan, to fight with Deobandi militant groups. Lakhvi, who is
considered to have been the military commander of what was known as LeT and
is awaiting trial for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, adheres
to an extreme version of the Ahl-e-Hadith (AeH) interpretation of Islam,
which is the South Asian version of the Salafist-Wahhabist trend in the Arab
world. In the simplest of terms, AeH is more conservative and traditional
than the doctrines of most militant groups operating along the Durand Line.
Militants there tend to follow an extreme brand of the Deobandi branch of
South Asian Sunni Islam, similar to the extreme ideology of al Qaeda
<http://www.stratfor.com/many_faces_wahhabism> 's Salafist jihadists.
Lakhvi created his own AeH-inspired militant group in 1984, and a year later
two academics, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Zafar Iqbal, created Jamaat ul-Dawa,
an Islamist AeH social organization. Before these groups were formed there
was already a major AeH political organization called Jamaat AeH, led by the
most well-known Pakistani AeH scholar, the late Allama Ehsan Elahi Zaheer,
who was assassinated in Lahore in 1987. His death allowed Saeed and Lakhvi's
movement to take off. It is important to note that AeH adherents comprise a
very small percentage of Pakistanis and that those following the movement
launched by Saeed and Lakhvi represent only a portion of those who ascribe
to AeH's ideology.
In 1986, Saeed and Lakhvi joined forces, creating Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad
(MDI) in Muridke, near Lahore, Pakistan. MDI had 17 founders, including
Saeed and Lakhvi as well as transnational militants originally from places
like Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian territories. While building facilities
in Muridke for social services, MDI also established its first militant
training camp in Paktia, then another in Kunar, Afghanistan, in 1987.
Throughout the next three decades, these camps often were operated in
cooperation with other militant groups, including al Qaeda.
MDI was established to accomplish two related missions. The first involved
peaceful, above-board activities like medical care, education, charitable
work and proselytizing. Its second and equally important mission was
military jihad, which the group considered obligatory for all Muslims. The
group first fought in Afghanistan along with Jamaat al-Dawa al-Quran
wal-Suna, a hardline Salafist group that shared MDI's ideology. Jamil
al-Rahman, the group's leader at the time, provided support to MDI's first
militant group and continued to work with MDI until his death in 1987.
The deaths of al-Rahman and Jamaat AeH leader Allama Ehsan Elahi Zaheer in
1987 gave the leaders of the nascent MDI the opportunity to supplant Jamaat
al-Dawa al-Quran wal-Suna and Jamaat AeH and grow quickly.
In 1990, the growing MDI officially launched LeT as its militant wing under
the command of Lakhvi, while Saeed remained emir of the overall
organization. This was when LeT first began to work with other groups
operating in Kashmir, since the Soviets had left Afghanistan and many of the
foreign mujahideen there were winding down their operations. In 1992, when
the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was finally defeated, many foreign
militants who had fought in Afghanistan left to fight in other places like
Kashmir. LeT is also known to have sent fighters to Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Tajikistan, but Kashmir became the group's primary focus.
MDI/LeT explained its concentration on Kashmir by arguing that it was the
closest Muslim territory that was occupied by non-believers. Since MDI/LeT
was a Punjabi entity, Kashmir was also the most accessible theater of jihad
for the group. Due to the group's origin and the history of the region,
Saeed and other members also bore personal grudges against India. In the
1990s, MDI/LeT also received substantial support from the Pakistani
Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) and military, which had its
own interest in supporting operations in Kashmir. At this point, MDI/LeT
developed relations with other groups operating in Kashmir, such as
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad e-Islami and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Unlike
these groups, however, MDI/LeT was considered easier to control because its
AeH sect of Islam was not very large and did not have the support of the
main AeH groups. With Pakistan's support came certain restraints, and many
LeT trainees said that as part of their indoctrination into the group they
were made to promise never to attack Pakistan.
LeT expanded its targeting beyond Kashmir to the rest of India in 1992,
after the destruction of the Babri Masjid mosque during communal rioting in
Uttar Pradesh state, and similar unrest in Mumbai and Gujarat. LeT sent Azam
Cheema, who Saeed and Iqbal knew from their university days, to recruit
fighters in India. Indian militants from a group called Tanzim Islahul
Muslimeen were recruited into LeT, which staged its first major attack with
five coordinated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on trains in Mumbai and
Hyderabad on Dec. 5-6, 1993, the first anniversary of the destruction of the
Babri Masjid mosque. These are the first attacks in non-Kashmir India that
can be linked to LeT. The group used Tanzim Islahul Muslimeen networks in
the 1990s and later developed contacts with the Student Islamic Movement of
India and its offshoot militant group the Indian Mujahideen
<http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/india_arrests_revelations_and_implications>
.
The Student Islamic Movement of India/Indian Mujahideen network was useful
in recruiting and co-opting operatives, but it is a misconception to think
these indigenous Indian groups worked directly for LeT. In some cases,
Pakistanis from LeT provided IED training and other expertise to Indian
militants who carried out attacks, but these groups, while linked to the LeT
network, maintained their autonomy. The most recent attacks in India - Sept.
7 in Delhi
<http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110907-india-militants-attack-delhi-high
-court> and
<javascript:launchPlayer('kzf68752',%20'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exibT
PofO8U',%20640,%20360)>
http://media.stratfor.com/stratfor_images/playbuttonsmall.gifJuly 13 in
Mumbai - probably have direct ties to these networks.
Between 1993 and 1995, LeT received its most substantial state support from
Pakistan, which helped build up LeT's military capability by organizing and
training its militants and providing weapons, equipment, campaign guidance
and border-crossing support in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. LeT operated
camps on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border as well as in Kashmir, in
places like Muzaffarabad.
At the same time, MDI built up a major social-services network, building
schools and hospitals and setting up charitable foundations throughout
Pakistan, though centered in Punjab. Its large complex in Muridke included
schools, a major hospital and a mosque. Some of its funding came through
official Saudi channels while other funding came through non-official
channels via Saudi members of MDI such as Abdul Rahman al-Surayhi and
Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq, who reportedly facilitated much of the
funding to establish the original Muridke complex.
As MDI focused on dawah, or the preaching of Islam, it simultaneously
developed an infrastructure that was financially self-sustaining. For
example, it established Al-Dawah schools throughout Pakistan that charged
fees to those who could afford it and it began taxing its adherents. It also
became well-known for its charitable activities, placing donation boxes
throughout Pakistan. The group developed a reputation as an efficient
organization that provides quality social services, and this positive public
perception has made it difficult for the Pakistani government to crack down
on it.
On July 12, 1999, LeT carried out its first fidayeen, or suicide commando,
attack in Kashmir. Such attacks focus on inflicting as much damage as
possible before the attackers are killed. Their goal also was to engender as
much fear as possible and introduce a new intensity to the conflict there.
This attack occurred during the Kargil war, when Pakistani soldiers along
with its sponsored militants fought a pitched battle against Indian troops
in the Kargil district of Kashmir. This was the height of Pakistani state
support for the various militant groups operating in Kashmir, and it was a
critical, defining period for the LeT, which shifted its campaign from one
focused exclusively on Kashmir to one focused on India as a whole.
State support for LeT and other militant groups declined after the Kargil
war but fidayeen attacks continued and began to occur outside of Kashmir. In
the late 1990s and into the 2000s, there was much debate within LeT about
its targeting. When LeT was constrained operationally in Kashmir by its ISI
handlers, some members of the group wanted to conduct attacks in other
places. It's unclear at this point which attacks had Pakistani state support
and which did not, but the timing of many in relation to the ebb and flow of
the Pakistani-Indian political situation indicates Pakistani support and
control, even if it came only from factions within the ISI or military. The
first LeT attack outside of Kashmir took place on Dec. 22, 2000, against the
Red Fort in Delhi.
The Post-9/11 Name Game
In the months following 9/11, many Pakistan-based jihadist groups were
"banned" by the Pakistani government. They were warned beforehand and moved
their funds into physical assets or under different names. LeT claimed that
it split with MDI, with new LeT leader Maula Abdul Wahid al-Kashmiri saying
the group now was strictly a Kashmiri militant organization. Despite these
claims, however, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi was still considered supreme
commander. MDI was dissolved and replaced by Jamaat-ul-Dawa, the original
name used by Saeed and Iqbal's group. Notably, both al-Kashmiri and Lakhvi
were also part of the Jamaat-ul-Dawa executive board, indicating that close
ties remained between the two groups.
In January 2002, LeT was declared illegal, and the Pakistani government
began to use the word "defunct" to describe it. In reality it wasn't
defunct; it had begun merely operating under different names. The group's
capability to carry out attacks was temporarily limited, probably on orders
from the Pakistani government through Jamaat-ul-Dawa's leadership.
At this point, LeT's various factions began to split and re-network in
various ways. For example, Abdur Rehman Syed, a senior operational planner
involved in David Headley's surveillance of Mumbai targets, left LeT around
2004. As a major in the Pakistani army he had been ordered to fight fleeing
Taliban on the Durand Line in 2001. He refused and joined LeT. In 2004 he
began working with Ilyas Kashmiri and Harkat-ul-Jihad e-Islami. Two other
senior LeT leaders, former Pakistani Maj. Haroon Ashiq and his brother Capt.
Kurram Ashiq, had left Pakistan's Special Services Group to join LeT around
2001. By 2003 they had exited the group and were criticizing Lakhvi, the
former LeT military commander.
Despite leaving the larger organization, former members of the MDI/LeT still
often use the name "Lashkar-e-Taiba" in their public rhetoric when
describing their various affiliations, even though they do not consider
their new organizations to be offshoots of LeT. The same difficulties
observers face in trying to keep track of these spun-off factions has come
to haunt the factions themselves, which have a branding problem as they try
to raise money or recruit fighters. New names don't have the same power as
the well-established LeT brand, and many of the newer organizations continue
to use the LeT moniker in some form.
Operating Outside of South Asia
Organizations and networks that were once part of LeT have demonstrated the
capability to carry out insurgent attacks in Afghanistan, small-unit attacks
in Kashmir, fidayeen assaults in Kashmir and India and small IED attacks
throughout the region. Mumbai in 2008 was the most spectacular attack by an
LeT offshoot on an international scale, but to date the network has not
demonstrated the capability to conduct complex attacks outside the region.
That said, David Headley
<http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20091216_tactical_implications_headley_case>
's surveillance efforts in Denmark and other plots linked to LeT training
camps and factions do seem to have been inspired by al Qaeda's transnational
jihadist influence.
To date, these operations have failed, but they are worth noting. These
transnational LeT-linked plotters include the following:
* The Virginia Jihad Network
<http://www.stratfor.com/sleeper_cell_threat_search_unlikely_places> .
* Dhiren Barot (aka Abu Eisa al-Hind)
<http://www.stratfor.com/attacking_pyramid> , a Muslim convert of Indian
origin who grew up in the United Kingdom, was arrested there in 2004 and was
accused of a 2004 plot to detonate vehicle-borne improvised explosive
devices in underground parking lots and surveilling targets in the United
States in 2000-2001 for al Qaeda. He originally learned his craft in LeT
training camps in Pakistan.
* David Hicks, an Australian who was in LeT camps in 1999 and studied
at one of their madrassas. LeT provided a letter of introduction to al
Qaeda, which he joined in January 2001. He was captured in Afghanistan
following the U.S.-led invasion.
* Omar Khyam of the United Kingdom, who attended LeT training camps in
2000 before his family brought him home.
* The so-called "Crevice Network," members of which were arrested in
2004 and charged with attempting to build fertilizer-based IEDs in the
United Kingdom
<http://www.stratfor.com/arrests_show_countries_agencies_cooperating> under
the auspices of al Qaeda.
* Willie Brigette <http://www.stratfor.com/australia_al_qaedas_sights>
, who had been connected to LeT networks in France and was trying to contact
a bombmaker in Australia in order to carry out attacks there when he was
arrested in October 2003.
While these cases suggest that the LeT threat persists, they also indicate
that the transnational threat posed by those portions of the network focused
on attacks outside of South Asia does not appear to be as potent as the
attack in Mumbai in 2008. One reason is the Pakistani support offered to
those who focus on operations in South Asia and particularly those who
target India. Investigations of the Mumbai attack revealed that current or
former ISI officers provided a considerable amount of training, operational
support and even real-time guidance to the Mumbai attack team.
It is unclear how far up the Pakistani command structure this support goes.
The most important point, though, is that Pakistani support in the Mumbai
attack provided the group responsible with capabilities that have not been
demonstrated by other parts of the network in other plots. In fact, without
this element of state support, many transnational plots linked to the LeT
network have been forced to rely on the same kind of "Kramer jihadists
<http://www.stratfor.com/beware_kramer_tradecraft_and_new_jihadists> " in
the West that the al Qaeda core has employed in recent years.
However, while these networks have not shown the capability to conduct a
spectacular attack since Mumbai, they continue to plan. With both the
capability and intention in place, it is probably only a matter of time
before they conduct additional attacks in India. The historical signature of
LeT attacks has been the use of armed assault tactics - taught originally by
the ISI and institutionalized by LeT doctrine - so attacks of this sort can
be expected. An attack of this sort outside of South Asia would be a stretch
for the groups that make up the post-LeT networks, but the cross-pollination
that is occurring among the various jihadist actors in Pakistan could help
facilitate planning and even operations if they pool resources. Faced with
the full attention of global counterterrorism efforts, such cooperation may
be one of the only ways that the transnational jihad can hope to gain any
traction, especially as its efforts to foster independent grassroots
jihadists have been largely ineffective.
"Parachinar--- A Sad Story" by Riaz Ali Toori
Parachinar—-A Sad Story
September 15th, 2011 | Add a Comment
By Riaz Ali Toori:
http://pakteahouse.net/2011/09/15/parachinar-a-sad-story/
Parachinar, Pakistan's paradise is very significant due to its strategic location, bordering Afghanistan, 250 km west of Islamabad. Lying in the upper part of Kurram Agency, it is blessed with natural beauty, is part of Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan and its geographical coordinates are 33° 53′ 51″ North, 70° 6′ 0″ East.
People there are friendly and eager to acquire knowledge. There are good opportunities as well as encouragement for females aspiring for education. Each year students in hundreds leave the town for other cities of Pakistan in pursuit of standard education. A good many members of the young generation are presently studying in almost all Cadet Colleges, medical colleges, and engineering universities across the country. Remarkably, there are no restrictions, usually in existence in the tribal societies, on women's education while parents feel proud if their daughters achieve a mark in education. There are one Degree College for men and one for women. There are nearly 270 primary, 30 secondary and 32 high schools excluding a number of private schools and colleges. The main source of income is farming on very small scale, gardening and natural resource utilizations. A large section of people from Parachinar have proceeded abroad, especially to the Middle East for making a living resulting in comparatively decent and modern standard of life being enjoyed by them. Most of the people there prefer government service and a large portion of the youth have been commissioned in Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force. Qualified doctors and engineers from Parachinar, who are in hundreds, are serving in different hospitals and departments around the country and abroad. This friendly and happy environment was shattered by some illegitimate émigrés with the help of a few devilish folk in town.
Despite its natural beauty, talent of the people and strategic importance, Parachinar is presently in a dire state due to sectarian brutality originated by the politico-religious-militant policies of the dictator Zia-ul-Haq. The people of FATA will never forgive the dictator for converting their earthly paradise into hell. People there were happy with their simple and strange traditions. He snatched from tribesmen the right of living in peace, self-respect and happiness. How difficult it was for those families who were dislocated from different parts of FATA and forced to live in IDP camps, making their women and children beg for food, shelter and clothing. These were initiated by Zia-ul-Haq who in the name of Holy War against USSR pushed the simple tribesmen into war and their children were forcefully trained as militants. He never thought once that the militants then fighting a so-called holy war against USSR could become the cause of extremism and sectarianism around the country.
The worst a State can do is to subject its citizens to war either against any enemy or any organization. It is the responsibility of the State to secure its borders and protect its territory by itself rather than by the citizens. Citizens only can contribute in the well-being of the State through paying taxes and respecting the law and constitution of the country.
The residents of Parachinar are largely Shia Toori tribe, who has been the target of Jehadiatrocities, the sole cause of sectarian clashes in that area. These clashes have turned the once beautiful land into ruins, halting human life there. The main road called Tall-Parachinar road connecting Parachinar to the rest of country has been blocked by terrorists. This has caused the local merchants to gouge the prices up to ten times of even basic staple foods such as flour, ghee, sugar and rice. The younger residents of Parachinar are worst off still. With the lack of basic education, the land of Parachinar is effectively being thrown back into the dark ages. Most of the schools in the area have been destroyed by terrorist's attacks.
If the road opens for a day or a week, kidnapping, slaughtering and killing travelers immediately becomes rife. As a result the people of Parachinar are besieged within their area with lack of daily and much needed rations and passing through state of angst and uncertainty.
In very recent few years dozens of blasts, rocket attacks, gunship fires, and kidnappings have taken place. Today there is no family that has had not lost a beloved in this ongoing imposed terrorism. The people of Parachinar are being killed, slaughtered, kidnapped and their dead bodies are being mutilated after slaughtering and killing. The recently abducted were killed and then their dead bodies were set on fire. All the victims were below 35years in age. Some were married who left behind widows and orphans while those who were engaged left their fiancés with unfulfilled dream of having their hands stained red with henna.
Despite this difficult situation the teachers of Parachinar with the help of locals are busy in educating their pupils as a result of which the students scored very well in recent Matric and BA/BSc examinations. This year, thousands of students, both girls and boys, passed the Metric exam with excellent results same was the result of BA/BSc.
The students in thousand on this Eid have gone Parachinar to celebrate the moments of happiness with their families are now wedged into Parachinar due to the blockade of road. As a result daily they are holding protest in Parachinar city and insisting the Government to either take them safely to Peshawar or open the road for them so they can go to their universities and colleges that can continue their studies.
This everything is forcing the locals to agitate against Government inside Parachinar and in different cities. If the media and Human Rights organization would have not ignore the crises of Parachinar, today it wouldn't be the most dangerous zone for Human Rights violation in the world.
What is more hurtful for those who want to see a stable, progressive, peaceful and united Pakistan is that the local tribesmen are losing their trust on the political government of Pakistan, state agencies and even Pakistan Army as all so far have totally failed to provide security to their lives and region.
In a condolence gathering for the seven martyrs of Parachinar who were killed mercilessly on the very next day of Eid ul Fitar, the people strongly expressed their heartfelt grief over the killings as well as apathy on the part of the Government and its institutions.
Now the people there are assuming and believing that it is our state and its agencies do not want peace in Parachinar. Such thinking in an area where not a single case of attack on Government officials has been reported while history is witness that the people have fought in the name of Pakistan and are more patriotic than other inhabitants; is highly injurious for the stability of country.
I was horrified to listen to the views of the people that they are so much fed up of this ongoing slaughter of their men, women and children that they are thinking to give up citizenship of Pakistan as their women, children, honours, lives and property are not safe in Pakistan.
A number of people were of the opinion to appeal to the UN and some countries to accept them as their prefecture and give them security of life.
In such a situation I strongly appeal to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan that it is time to end this horrific war at any cost and provide the much-needed security to the region whose people are most nationalistic. The Pakistan Army must take fierce actions against the extremists and terrorists to make the area safe and peaceful before our enemies take the advantage of the worst situation to stimulate agitations and mutiny against the state of Pakistan.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Polit Bureau of Communist Party of India (Marxist)---OIL BLOCKS-STATEMENT OF
From: Heikki Sipilä <heikki.sipila@saunalahti.fi>
Date: Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 4:10 AM
Subject: [communist_news] Take Against Reliance & Review Policy
To: communist_news@yahoogroups.com
Take Against Reliance & Review PolicyKOMINFORM
September 10, 2011
Press Statement
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
Take Action Against Reliance & Review Policy
The CAG report on the Performance Audit of Hydrocarbon Production Sharing Contracts for the on-shore and off-shore oil and gas blocks has once again exposed the nexus between the policy makers and big businesses that has matured under the UPA government. The audit of the KG-D6 deepwater block operated by the Reliance Industries reveals the following malpractices, which have caused substantial losses to the government:
· The RIL grossly inflated the capital costs to claim a much higher share of the profit petroleum
· The RIL awarded procurement contracts to other private companies without competitive bidding, leading to inflated costs
· The RIL has retained the entire 7645 sq.km exploration area instead of their entitlement of retaining only 5% of this area after 2009, in complete violation of the Production Sharing Contract
The CAG Report makes it clear that there was a 117% increase in estimated capital expenditure for the block – from $2.4 billion to $5.5 billion – for Phase I itself, where no augmentation of capacity was involved.
The CAG Report has also pointed out that in huge procurement contracts, awards were made by RIL "on single financial bids, major revision of scope/quantities/specifications, post-price bid opening, substantial variation in order quantities, with consequential adverse implications for cost recovery and GOI's financial take." In one instance of a single party financial bid, a contract of $ 1.1 billion was given to the Aker group for a 10-year lease against an estimated original cost of $300 million. RIL gave 8 such contracts to the Aker group out of 10 single party bids, on what appears prima facie to be sweet-heart deals which enabled it to inflate capital expenditure.
The other major issue that CAG has noted is the connivance of the DGH and the Petroleum Ministry with RIL in allowing the latter to hoard the entire exploration area as discovery area. As per the Production Sharing Contract, RIL was supposed to vacate 25% of the exploration area in the first phase, 50% in the second phase and all areas in which it had not sunk wells or developed oil wells in the third phase. Instead, RIL never relinquished any of the areas and has been allowed to keep the entire 100% of the 7645 sq km of the exploration area for the KG D6 block in complete violation of the contract. The entire purpose of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) of time bound and expeditious development of India's hydrocarbon resources gets defeated if private parties are allowed to retain exploration area.
The CAG report shows that while royalties have gone up clearly indicating a rise in production, the share of profit petroleum has dipped from Rs. 5926 crore in 2009-2010 to Rs. 3,610 crore in 2010-2011. This further substantiates that all is not well in the handling of the Production Sharing Contracts, calling for their thorough review and modification. The audit of the Panna Mukta oilfield and the one held by Cairn Energy shows similar anomalies, bringing into question the entire NELP and the way it is being implemented.
The CPI (M) demands the following immediate action on the basis of the CAG findings:
· Taking back 95% of the exploration area illegally retained by the RIL in gross violation of the Production Sharing Contract
· Imposing penalties on RIL for gold-plating contracts and cornering almost the entire share of the profit petroleum
· Immediate prosecution of the former DGH and other involved officials
· Investigation into the role played by the Ministry of Petroleum
· Bringing major modifications in the Hydrocarbon Production Sharing Contracts to prevent such misuse
· Review of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP)
http://www.kominform.eu
World had survived bigger fools than Osama, Mullah Omar and President Bush
A decade old —Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
This is a new war; on one side are arrayed the major powers and on the other people with ideologies warped enough to justify unprecedented barbarity to satiate their hate
Soon after the 9/11 incident in 2001, I had written this piece and wanted to share my perspective of it then with the readers. Though reduced in length, it is essentially the same.
September 11 will forever remain etched in the memory and psyche of mankind, for a variety of reasons depending on how it affected the individual's life and outlook on religions, nations, regions and ideologies.
The psychological, political, social and economic impact of the event was of a magnitude that may well decide the course of future world history. The world has polarised into two distinct camps: those who will terrorise others in the name of suppression of terrorism, and their victims. The September 11 events have changed the ground rules of how future wars will be waged, and triggered a new continuous war to be waged according to new rules. Traditional rules of conventional and unconventional warfare have been turned upside down.
I think the injustices, arrogance and ham-handedness of the US in dealing with the world led to this. Osama, Mullah Omar and others of their ilk who were first nurtured and patronised by the US for their own selfish ends became enemies when interests diverged. The latest crackdowns will lead to immense suffering for the innocents.
In the US, a new McCarthy era has been unleashed. Unfortunately, this will not be restricted to the US alone because it has enough clout to impose it on countries that, like Pakistan, depend on its largesse. Some European countries have joined the chorus. The tone and tenor are both threatening and disquieting for the rest of the world.
The US has proved vulnerable from many aspects. 9/11 proved that the US psyche, its security and its policies are fragile, or should I say fickle, because they have changed now and could change again. It tends to respond in knee-jerk fashion and its panic buttons are unnecessarily pressed.
Unfortunately, such events occur at a time when dictators are in the saddle here and a twist of fate provides them much required legitimacy, courtesy Washington. In 1979, Zia was patronised and now once again the US, brushing aside every democratic and moral norm for their goals, provided support to Musharraf.
The arms embargo and sanctions were lifted. Much-needed money was given for services promised, but to what avail? Almost immediately, Pakistani generals were seen strutting around the Ankara arms exhibition, shopping for new 'toys'. The precious little received will be misused in a futile arms race and not for the reconstruction and development of a country laid waste by years of misgovernance and corruption. But, as they say, fools are destined to repeat the same mistakes.
This country will see a surge in repression under the flimsy pretext of countering terrorism and the West will condone it. Any voice raised for the national rights of the Baloch and Sindhis will be crushed with the blessings of the west as part of the ongoing counter-terrorism effort. Sectarian strife and lawlessness will rise dramatically.
Although this is not a war between Islam and Christianity or East and West, but, sadly, this is the course it is doomed to take. Anybody who is coloured is a suspected terrorist and if he is self-respecting and does not take to western ways, he becomes a confirmed terrorist. There already have been hate crimes in the US and Europe. This will provide an excellent cover to the likes of Timothy McVeigh and will conveniently blame Muslims.
No sane person will even attempt to justify the events of September 11, let alone rejoice over them. Any loss of innocent lives is reprehensible. But neither can a sane person be asked to condone the everyday assault of Israeli tanks and F-16s on unarmed Palestinians, or the continued denial of rights to the Kurdish, Kashmiri and Baloch people to name a few, or the sufferings of Iraqis due to the embargo or the financial and fiscal overlordship over the developing world by the IMF and the World Bank for the sake of western interests.
This is a new war; on one side are arrayed the major powers and on the other people with ideologies warped enough to justify unprecedented barbarity to satiate their hate. There is clear and present danger of even more spectacular attacks using atomic, biological and chemical weapons.
It is imperative that a more just world order is evolved with a consensus of regions and states because such attacks are not against individual countries but against civilisation and life as we know it. All states sponsoring, aiding and abetting terrorism should be made to pay the price but this criterion should not be left to be determined by the exigencies of the US. Labelling Palestinians terrorists and exempting the Israelis will never solve the issue.
The people of Afghanistan deserve a much-needed break, to build their own country without religion or ideology being imposed on them from outside. They never deserved to be ruled by the Taliban but the Pakistani ISI thought otherwise and thrust them upon these unfortunate people. In the future history of Afghanistan, 23 years (1978-2001) will be written off as lost years.
The trauma of displacement, which Afghans will again face, is barely understood and hardly felt by the people on the sidelines. I have spent 13 years (1978-91) as a Baloch refugee in Afghanistan and have seen these traumas firsthand. Every time a family is displaced it loses everything and has to begin anew psychologically, economically and socially. The children and the elderly succumb to diseases and the elements — you never see many of them in refugee camps. The displacement is total and it leads to loss of self-esteem. No wonder terrorists, criminals and pimps find ready recruits in refugee camps. Only cohesive groups can avoid such pitfalls.
The net result of 9/11 will be curbs on our already scant freedom here and being eyed with suspicion abroad. People will be burdened with increasing external and internal debts as the precious little money that will come this way will be gobbled up by generals making use of their newfound freedom from embargo. The democratic process will be put into the freezer and forgotten because the West needs a stable Pakistan. They could not care less if it is ruled by Attila the Hun as long as it is stable for their needs.
An online friend in the US was worried about the situation in her country and Pakistan. I told her that the world had survived bigger fools than Osama, Mullah Omar and President Bush and would survive again. Brave words I suppose!
Friday, September 9, 2011
PAKISTAN-FACTS OR FARCE
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The period between 1918 and 1939 was the most revolutionary in world history. It was touch and go for the survival of capitalism. A devastating blow could and should have been inflicted against global capitalism in China in 1925-7, instead the opportunity was frittered away.POSTED BY --------
Karmal
About Me
Afghan leftist , international revolutionary. Trained many revolutionaries from 1978 to 1992 in the art of armed insurrection. Hizb e Parcham All we know is that Marx was right. A graduate of USSR Intelligence school at Tashkent and Kiev. Originally a Baloch from Farah province in Afghanistan and now settled in Quetta Pakistan.
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