Fifty MPs have bogus degreesAccording to the daily Pakistan, 50 members of parliament in Pakistan submitted bogus degrees to meet the legal requirement of literacy before fighting the 2002 election. These degrees are advertised on the internet by fly-by-night universities in the West. After receiving fees in dollars these universities send all kinds of degrees to prove that the politicians are educated up to BA, which is the requirement.
The Muslim’s only weapon
Columnist Abdul Qadir Hassan wrote in the Jang that he could not make out why the clerics under the leadership of Mufti Munib had to issue a fatwa that Muslims cannot be suicide-bombers. He said Muslims had only one weapon and that was their lives now, against which all modern weapons of the West were useless.
Why the rulers are ‘zalim’
Ex-ISI chief General (Retd) Javed Nasir wrote in the Nawa-e-Waqt that Allah had imposed zalim (cruel) rulers on the Muslims. He said that most of the Muslims had turned away from the teaching of the Quran, hadith and directions of the saints of Islam. The only road to success in earthly life was a return to Quran and hadith. The Muslims should do tauba (expiation) and return to religion. The great spiritual leader of Islam, Abdul Qadir Jilani, was actually a Hanbali saint whose actual writings should be read.
America and ‘mixed marathon’
Writing in the Jang, Abdul Qadir Hassan wrote that a mixed marathon in Lahore was first disallowed by the Punjab government because its ruling family was not in favour of men and women running together on the roads of the city. But those who were leading the mixed marathon were stronger than the government because of their connection with the US. And America was interested in getting the American type of women (amiriki qamash ki) to run in front of the people of Lahore. A telephone call came from Islamabad and the Punjab government had to let the mixed marathon be staged. America was spending a lot of money on the NGOs (dalar pani ki tarha baha raha hai) and people who were once with the Soviet Union are now with America.
We will stop the mixed marathon!
Quoted in the daily Pakistan, Jamaat Islami youth organisation Shabab Milli said that it would stop the mixed marathon of Asma Jahangir, who was in fact an American agent. It said the youth of Jamaat Islami did not believe in section 144 imposed by the Punjab government. The youth of Shabab Milli will risk their lives (jaan hatheli par rakh kar) and prevent the marathon.
Running not good for women!
Speaking in a discussion at the Khabrain, clerics Dr Sarfraz Naeemi, Maulana Saifullah Saif and Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer said that there was no scope for a mixed marathon in Islam. Women could have entertainment but it had to be within the four walls of the home. They said that running was not good for women as that became problematic in child birth, which was their foremost duty.
The army tried to kill Musharraf!
Quoted in the Khabrain, state minister for religion Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain said that army personnel had tried to kill Musharraf twice and they could launch a third attack on him any time. Qazi Hussain Ahmad continued to say that he would oust Musharraf from the army. This meant that he had supporters inside the army. Musharraf himself had said that Pakistan was threatened internally. Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain was called to London by his leader and he might have to resign from his ministerial post.
Newspapers cause heart attacks
Sarerahe stated in the Nawa-e-Waqt that PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told an ailing Jamaat leader Farid Paracha that he should stop reading the newspapers as they caused heart attacks. Yet, the newspapers kept the politicians alive by publishing their statements. The statements in turn caused heart attacks.
Mullah Umar’s man escapes
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, one Abdul Rehman Wazir who enabled Mullah Umar to escape on a motorbike in Qandahar in 2001, was about to be captured in Multan in the hideout of a banned jihadi organisation when he was alerted and escaped. His hideout was attacked by the authorities after his cell phone was traced. He had earlier escaped from Qandahar to North Waziristan to create new outfits with Al Qaeda’s Abu Harith and Abu Khalid. After the death of Abu Khalid and Abu Harith he fled to South Punjab but here too he was made to flee because of the information revealed by Al Qaeda’s Abu Faraj captured earlier. Abdul Rehman Wazir was close to Al Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.
High Court and jihad
Writing in the daily Pakistan, Tanvir Qaiser Shahid stated that a Lahore lawyer MD Tahir had made a petition at the Lahore High Court that since the United States had desecrated the Quran, the honourable court should declare that jihad had now become compulsory for every Pakistani and that he should make ready under the obligation of jihad to attack the United States. On the other hand, the Muslim Conference leader of Azad Kashmir, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan gave an interview to a weekly saying that jihad had become business and that jihad in Kashmir had harmed the Pakistani cause. Sardar Qayyum also said that jihad-advocating people like ex-ISI chief General (Retd) Hamid Gul were sheikh chilli (slaves of fantasy).
Pakistanis most deported category
According to the daily Pakistan, the most deported category in the world were Pakistanis at 42,000. Out of this number over 10,000 were deported from Arab states, while Europe and the US accounted for the rest. Pakistanis pleaded financial pressure and unemployment as reasons for trying to leave Pakistan illegally.