While the Pakistan’s former president/military dictator Pervez Musharraf is now in a virtual exile in London, the country’s Supreme Court has asked Musharraf to return and “explain his action of imposing Emergency in 2007 and sacking of 60 judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary,” who has now been reinstated. (See here…)
Meanwhile a British Muslim politician, Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham, has announced that he will move a London court against Musharraf for the latter’s alleged “war crimes”.
The News of Pakistan reports that “some of the legal minds involved in pursuing the case against Musharraf will be those who had experience in preparing charges against Chilean army general Augusto Pinochet and had him arrested.” More here…
A highly controversial book “Investigating the Mumbai Conspiracy” was released recently, and it categorically states: “The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks were first conceived on the third floor of (Pakistan’s spy agency) Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters at the Zero Point in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, overseeing a shadowy empire of spies and jehadis which today poses a greater threat to global security than the al-Qaeda.
“The book makes sensational claims – that the Mumbai terror attack was planned and executed by the Pakistan Army and its different agencies including the Inter Services Intelligence and the Special Services Group (SSG) and that the Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was not only in the know of the attack but had planned every detail of the assault with his close confidants in the Pakistan Army’s top leadership.
“The book claims that the Pakistan army top brass including former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf had been playing one of the deadliest games in recent history to provoke a disastrous war among the two nuclear armed nations.
“Containing documents like the Mumbai charge sheet confessional statements of the lone surviving attacker Ajmal Amir Kasab and other details, the book lays bare the tale of the Mumbai attacks and warns of the coming wave of terrorist assaults on India from across the border in Pakistan.
“The thrilling book has hit the news stands at a time when Pakistan has handed over a 36-page fresh dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to New Delhi, giving an update on the investigations.
“The dossier confirms what India has been insisting all along – top operatives of Lashkar-e-Toiba were responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks.
“This is the first official admission from Pakistan that its citizens were involved in the November 26, 2008 terror attacks. The deadly assault was carried out with by ten heavily armed jehadis who came via ship and boats from Pakistan and held India hostage in Mumbai for over 60 hours.” More here…
The NYT has a story under the heading “Terror Ties Run Deep in Pakistan, Mumbai Case Shows.” See here…
Time magazine says: “Pakistan is not betting on a U.S. victory in Afghanistan, nor is it going out of its way to help achieve one.
“Instead, say analysts and former top officials in Islamabad, Pakistan views the conflict in Afghanistan through the lens of its own national interests and its conflict with India — and it will act accordingly, prioritizing securing its own interests in Afghanistan’s future.
“And that could be bad news for a U.S.-led military campaign that depends on Pakistan’s help for thwarting the Afghan insurgency.” More here…
Meanwhile The Christian Science Monitor reports: “Pakistani Navy officials warn the (Indian) nuclear submarine, launched on Sunday, could spark an arms race. Two weeks ago the countries agreed to peace talks.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.