Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari to be introduced in Politics

President (Co-Chairman PPP) Asif Ali Zardari has decided to introduce Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari into Politics at strong recommendation of PPPP members.

Sources from PPPP disclosed here Monday that the decision has been aimed to present Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari as
second fiddle of (L) Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and to compete with Fatima Bhutto in National Political platform.

Sources further informed that during the meeting President Asif Ali Zardari also pointed out to the participants that Bakhtawar Bhutto was also taking keen interest in the politics, on which the participants of the meeting backed the President’s idea.

Agitated youth of PSF resorts to aerial firing in DI Khan

DI KHAN: Agitated youth of Peoples Students Federation (PSF) after condolence prayer of their Divisional President resorted to aerial firing in different areas of the city and coerced the merchants to close markets.

According to details, Divisional President of PSF Farhan Baloch, who was killed by firing of unidentified persons near Imamia gate in the jurisdiction of City Police Station yesterday and after observing his condolence prayer the agitated youth of PSF resorted to aerial firing in Mohallah Mujahid Nagar, Commissionairy Bazar and Baghari Bazar, resultantly all the shop owners closed their shops in these areas.

While in the most crowded Bazar of the city (Tarpanawala Bazar) some unidentified persons also killed a tailor master by firing and succeeded in running away on motorcycle and after the incident the markets in the adjoining area were also being closed.

After reports on number of terrorists incidents in the city the Police raided in different parts of the city including Haidari Chowk, Alamdar Chowk, Thala Bhammoh Shah, Mohallah Konerawala and in other areas of the city and detained 24 suspected people and set their investigations from theses people.

Pakistani Students take lead in helping IDPs

ISLAMABAD-To minimise the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), people especially students from various academic institutions have been extending all out help for the suffering Pakistanis who are forced to vacate their areas in Swat, Buner and Malakand and are living in miserable condition.
Relief camps are being established. In the federal capital, relief camps are set up in different educational and commercial localities and people are donating cash, blankets and many other essential items with great enthusiasm for the their brothers and sisters hailing from troubled areas of Swat and Malakand.
Qauid-i-Azam University Islamabad (QAU), Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Asghar Mall College and the students of Gordon College Rawalpindi are also busy in fund-raising campaign for the military operation victims. Karkunan of Islami Jamiat Talba, Insaf Students Federation, Annjaman Talba-e-Islam, Muslim Students Federation and People’s Students Federation are actively collecting donation from the students in the campuses.
It was agreed that all universities would join hands in this day to mobilise all possible resources for IDP especially the students.
HEC has announced to establish IDP Welfare auditable account for receiving contributions from the universities in Pakistan and committed one-day salary for the purpose. It was also recommended that internally displaced students will be exempted from the tuition and hostel fees and some subsistence allowance may also be offered to such students. Universities all across Pakistan also offered to accommodate displaced students in their programs free of cost.

Chairperson of NCHD - PSF

A jubilation rally was taken out by the activists of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Sindh Peoples Youth (SPY) and Sindh Peoples Students Federation (SPSF) after the appointment of Syeda Nafisa Shah as the Chairperson of NCHD on orders of Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani. The rally was led by President PPP Taluka Khairpur Syed Amjad Ali Shah, General Secretary Ali Sher Makol, President Khairpur city Muhammad Saleh Ansari, General Secretary Ghulam Hussain Mughal, President of PPP Ladies Wing Ghazala Siyal, Zahid Ali Gambhir and others. The leaders chanted slogans in favor of the party leadership and congratulated Syeda Nafisa Shah on her appointment as the Chairperson of NCHD.

About Peoples Students Federation (PSF)

About Peoples Students Federation (PSF)
The student wing of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Formed in 1972. Part of progressive students’ alliances, the USM and the PSA in the 1970s and 1980s. Exhibited electoral strength in interior Sindh and northern Punjab. Played a leading role in the anti-Zia agitation in the late 1970s and then again during the MRD movement in 1981 and 1983. Many members were flogged and tortured by the Zia regime. Currently the organising strength behind the PPP rallies.

Ideology: socialist (1970s); progressive (1980s-90s-2000s).

Famous Former Members: Jehangir Badar (former minister); Masroor Ahsan (former senator); Qasim Zia (former minister/hockey player); Salamullah Tipu (notorious radical).

Shuhda Gallery : PSF Remembering The Martyrs

KARACHI: The scene outside the bungalow was quite normal; people were sitting in the lawn talking casually and some veiled women were sitting on chairs waiting to submit their applications to someone, however, when one enters the bungalow, a damp sadness can be felt engulfing you.

The double storey bungalow stands right behind the landmark mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This is the provincial secretariat of the ruling PPP. The central leaders used to sit in these offices and listen to the public and party activists but ever since the PPP came into power, these offices are empty. However, it was not these deserted offices that made this scribe visit the secretariat. Right after the main entrance of the bungalow, all the walls of a hall are filled with colorful pictures; pictures of the past, the young, the old and women and men.

The people in the photographs are PPP-Jiyalas (hardcore activists) who were martyred on different occasions. The Shuhda or martyrs’ gallery comprises of 615 pictures, including photos of those people who were hanged during the regime of Ziaul Haq, the victims of the October 18 blasts in Karachi and the martyrs killed in the blast in Rawalpindi when Benazir was assassinated.

“These are pictures of all those martyred during the past 30 years. Although it was not possible to collect pictures of all the martyrs, I have tried my best to get most of them,” said Asif Rahi, the founder of the gallery. Rahi is a senior Jiyala and has served the party since his childhood. “The party’s martyrs belonging to Karachi were my close friends and I had pictures of most of them already,” he said, adding that on the first death anniversary of PPP leader Munawar Soharwardi, when he took a picture to display, he also received pictures of many other martyrs.

“After getting the pictures, I got an idea to establish this unique gallery; I started working on the idea and now this gallery holds a large number of photographs of the martyrs,” he added. During the 1988 general elections, when Rahi was sitting in the election office, some armed men kidnapped him. They brutally tortured him and with a hot iron rod, they branded him with three letters, PSF, as he was working as the office bearer of the People’s Student Federation (PSF), the student wing of PPP.

“They would have killed me and I was really lucky to survive, so I decided to do something for those killed while they were working for party and at last I got this idea and started this gallery,” Rahi said, showing the letters branded on his back.

To frame, enlarge and develop a single picture one needs several hundred rupees and, during the past three years, Rahi has spent several hundred thousand rupees from his own pocket. “I have not taken a single penny from any one, even when the party is in power,” said Rahi. Hundreds of PPP workers visit the gallery daily and ask Rahi for copies of certain pictures and he provides them with CDs of the pictures from his own pocket.

He is also planning to launch a website carrying the pictures; however, he has no money for that. “I have established the gallery for my inner satisfaction, not to make money and I will continue working on it till I can,” he said.

Another clash at FUUAST

KARACHI: For a second consecutive day, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) became a battleground as two organisations clashed with each other, leaving many students injured. According to Risala Police Station officials, some Pukhtoon Students Federation (PSF) members, who are not enrolled in FUUAST, tried to enter the university premises. As a result, other student organisations’ members objected and tried to stop them resulting in a clash between PSF and Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT). Surprisingly, People’s Students Federation who had a brawl with IJT on Wednesday supported IJT on its stance to ban entry of all external elements. staff report

PSCC - Pakistani Students in China

PSCC is a forum for Pakistani students in China, where members can meet, post messages, read posts, and send personal messages to each other. The PSCC Forum use open source world leading code, and run faster than any other forum on the net. In addition, the forum is hosted in china, so it is free from Great Fire wall of China. The forum site can be accessed from any university with out using any proxy setting, which are required for all website like yahoo, msn etc. This is very important aspect of our forum. The people who join the forum have freedom of speech. this freedom is our right. In addition we All Pakistani Students will accept the terms and condition of the forum, which can be changed any time with out any notice. One very important think for our forum to run smoothly in China is to keep it clean, constructive, and informative etc. we all should keep in mind the long term traditional friendship between China and Pakistan. We will not encourage any one to post any thing which can harm the emotions of Chinese people. Our aim is to bring Pakistani students together, and if we can act as a bridge between both countries, making our ties and trust more firm. I hope these will be enough to deliver my idea about this forum. For any question or comments, please contact Admin of the forum.

Zardari Keen to Have All Children in Politics

* Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa to start with PPP’s students’ wings

Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa Zardari, the children of Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Bhutto, are likely to start their political career with the People’s Students Federation and the PPP women’s wing,

Sources in the Pakistan People’s Party told Daily Times on Saturday that Mr Zardari told a delegates from the PSF and the Ladies’ Wing at Bilawal House this week that he wanted to see his children become active in politics.

The three children, who at present study in Dubai where Ms Bhutto lives in self-exile, will not be able to play an active role in politics until the completion of their education, the sources said.

However, they will remain in contact with seniors in the students’ and women’s wings of the PPP for political training.

“Mr Zardari said he wanted Bakhtawar and Asifa to learn from the seniors in the Ladies’ Wing,” said MNA Nafisa Raja, who is president of the organisation’s Karachi chapter.

Mr Zardari, who son of former MNA Hakim Ali Zardari, also has other members of his family in politics. One of his sisters, Faryal Talpur, is nazim of his home district of Nawabshah and another, Dr Azra Pechuho, is MNA from there.

Sources in the PPP said that the announcement of Bakhtawar and Asifa joining the Ladies Wing could be made at the organisation’s next convention.

Mr Zardari reportedly hinted at having Bilawal join the PSF when an official of the Sindh People’s Students Federation complained that the PPP leaders do not allow their sons to join the party’s students wing.

5th Death Anniversary of Suharwardy Observed

Members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) student of Peoples Student Federation (PSF) and Youth Wings protested against unemployment on the 5th death anniversary of Munawar Suharwardy, a former provincial information secretary of PPP who was assassinated.

Earlier, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Rashid Rabbani spoke at a condolence meeting held at the People’s Secretariat and played down the issue of unemployment. He said unemployment and joblessness has lesser importance as compared to the issue of terrorism. The unemployed youths belonging to People’s Students Federation and Sindh People’s Youth, however, insisted that their demands should be met and said that they were not satisfied with the government’s employment policy. PPP members and officials observed the 5th death anniversary of Suharwardy and offered their prayers for him. They opined that they will follow Suhrawardy’s footsteps and added that though he faced hardships, he never bowed down to the dictatorial regimes. Meanwhile, Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah could not attend the death anniversary programme because the relevant authorities had not issued security clearance for his arrival at the scene. Deputy speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza, Provincial Adviser Sharmila Farooqui, Najma Saeed Chawla, Waqar Mehdi, Rafiq Engineer, Ismatullah Khan, N D Khan, Suhail Abedi, Sardar Khan, Anwar Lal Deen and many other PPP officials attended the condolence meeting.

Peoples Students Federation

Peoples Students Federation (PSF) is a student federation and the back bone student wing of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Shaheed Qamar Abbas was the Founder of Peoples Students Federation NWFP. Some popular PPP leaders like Jahangir Badar, Qasim Zia, and Ch. Ghulam Abbas were the Ex-Members of PSF Punjab. Shaheed Najeeb Ahmed was another popular leader of Peoples Students Federation Sindh and the Current Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Ms Shehla Raza was the joint secretary of PSF girls wing at the Karachi University. Currently the student of the department of Political Science at the Karachi University (KU) is the president of Peoples Students Federation.

Pakistan's Tipping Point

You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea. -- Benazir Bhutto

My country mourns. And as my countrymen join me in personal grief over the loss of my mother, I join them in national grief over the loss of something even greater: the loss of Pakistan's greatest voice for democracy.

Benazir Bhutto's death, however, shall not have been in vain. We will go forward, as she would have wanted, and bring freedom and democracy to Pakistan.

For those in my country who would find it easier to walk away from democracy and seek revenge through violence, I urge you to remember my mother's words: democracy is the sweetest revenge. To plunge the country into more violence and chaos would only play into the hands of those who hope for democracy's failure. The terrorists have no use for democracy, and the current government fears it. We must unite and rise above both.

And to those outside of my country, who support our fight for democracy, I urge you to consider this: We cannot oppose one form of tyranny while turning a blind eye to another. Together, we must stand against the violence of the terrorists on the one hand, while standing equally firm against Pervez Musharraf's use of it as an excuse to impose his own repressive will upon the people of Pakistan.

Musharraf has made a mockery of our constitution. The world watched in disbelief as he declared emergency rule and sent troops into the streets in November – not because of a terrorist threat to the government, but a constitutional threat to his autocratic grip on power. The men he threw into jails were not terrorists but Supreme Court judges and respected lawyers. The newspapers he intimidated were not organs of terrorists but of free and independent citizens of Pakistan.

My mother stood bravely against both the tyranny of terrorism as well as the tyranny of dictatorship. She has been martyred for her courage and pursuit of pursuit of freedom, but now that courage and pursuit has been bequeathed to the to the people of Pakistan. We shall carry on.

It will take the kind of courage my mother showed showed. It will take courage among her loyal followers to calm their anger and renounce violence or revenge. We must instead demand fair and open elections, free of government intimidation, and then make our show of force on election day.

It will also take courage on the part of Pervez Musharraf and those who have supported his government, including those outside of Pakistan.

With my country's judges and lawyers still in jail, its free media intimidated and silenced, and its political leaders unsafe to walk the streets, we cannot pretend to have free and open elections. There can be no legitimacy to elections held under such ominous conditions. Those who espouse the virtues of democracy cannot stand by idly and maintain their credibility while this repression continues.

Our free and independent Supreme Court must be restored; the justices jailed by Musharraf must released and returned to their proper seats, replacing the cronies with which Musharraf has packed the current court. Our other judges, lawyers and civic dissidents must be freed. The intimidation campaign waged against the free media must be halted. International election observers must be allowed to monitor our elections to ensure against government intimidation. And, finally, a credible international commission must be allowed to investigate the mysterious circumstances of my mother's assassination. Only after these steps are taken can we begin the honorable march to democracy and stability.

For those who think that by supporting dictatorship they are somehow securing stability in Pakistan, I can say only this: Where is that stability today? My country teeters on the precipice of anarchy not because of any actions by radicals or terrorists but because of the unchecked and power-mad actions of a military dictator.

Pakistanis will soon hold the most important election in our history. We have reached a tipping point. We will either unite behind democracy and the fight against radicalism and violence, or we will descend into the all-too-familiar cycles of despotism, terror and instability.

Those of us who will fight for democracy must make our stand now. Then, together, a united and democratic government can turn its attention to the extremists and terrorists who seek to undermine freedom in our country and throughout the world.

Yousaf Raza Gillani - Pakistan Peoples Party

Gillani was born into a prominent family of landowners from the Punjab province, many of whom were involved in politics, including his father, who was a provincial minister during the 1950s. After studying at the University of Punjab (M.A., 1976), Gillani joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in 1978. In 1985 he was elected to the federal parliament, but a conflict with Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo led to his replacement and eventual marginalization within the PML.

Gillani joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after Pres. Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq dismissed Junejo’s government in 1988. The PPP returned to power under Benazir Bhutto following Zia’s death in a plane crash later that year. Gillani served as speaker of the National Assembly (1993–97) during Bhutto’s second term as prime minister. Bhutto was removed as prime minister in 1996, and in elections the following year the PPP suffered a decisive defeat. Gillani, who remained a senior member of the PPP, was arrested in 2001, on charges of granting illegal government appointments while he was speaker, and served more than four years in prison, though he maintained his innocence.

In October 2007 Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile to lead the PPP in general elections called for early 2008. In December 2007, however, she was assassinated. Following her death, Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, became head of the PPP, which managed to win the most seats in elections held in February 2008. The PPP subsequently negotiated a coalition agreement with Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz. With Zardari ineligible to become prime minister, because he had not been elected to parliament, in March the PPP selected Gillani to become prime minister.

Bilawal a ‘higher security risk’ than Prince William

Security was discreetly stepped up as the new term started on Monday at Oxford University, where Benazir Bhutto’s son has vowed to complete his student life despite being named her political heir.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari returned to his first-year history studies at Christ Church College after being named Ms Bhutto’s long-term successor as Pakistan People’s Party head following her assassination in December and looming elections.

Scotland Yard has been drafted in to protect the 19-year-old in a top secret operation which one security industry source said would cost “thousands and thousands” of pounds a month.

Despite this, Christ Church -- founded in 1529 -- was still open to visitors on Monday and, as usual, bowler-hatted porters manned its gates rather than police, although there seemed to be more officers than usual patrolling the street outside.

While the college has reassured students they have no reason to suspect a “direct threat” to Mr Bilawal, some in Oxford have already expressed concerns that his presence could pose dangers to others in the city.

“Go home, you endanger us all here in Oxford by being here,” one person wrote on the website of the local Oxford Mail newspaper, while another was hostile to the idea that British taxpayers would pay for his security.

“Idiots from his country want to kill him but I bet the British taxpayer is footing the bill for his security,” another added.

“Go home now and take the dangers you pose to others with you.” Scotland Yard, which is overseeing the security operation, would not discuss arrangements to protect Mr Bilawal, while Oxford University also declined to comment.

But Mike Faux, of private security firm Executive Group Holdings, who has worked with footballer David Beckham, the British royal family and singer Michael Jackson, told AFP it would cost “thousands and thousands” of pounds a month to guard him.He said he thought Mr Bilawal would likely have armed guards 24 hours a day who would use tactics such as decoys and convoy vehicles to protect him.

Mr Faux said Bilawal was now a higher security risk than anyone in Britain, including future king Prince William, and questioned the wisdom of his returning to university so soon after his mother’s killing.The officers protecting him would currently be on “code red”, he added.

“You’ve got a man here whose mother has been killed, he’s now a very high threat himself and he’s going about his life as a normal individual,” he said.

“What happens is the client wants to live a normal life, particularly at that age with parties... his advisers should be telling him no, he can’t do that.

“He wants to live a normal life but unfortunately he can’t... she (Benazir) did -- she said I’m going to carry on as I have -- but it cost her her life.” Christ Church seems keen to help Mr Bilawal realise his stated aim of being just like any other student at Oxford.

In an email sent to students just before the start of term, an official wrote: “We have at present no reason to suppose that there is any direct threat to Bilawal, but we do have a responsibility to try to ensure that he is able to lead a normal life as an undergraduate and benefit to the full from his time at Christ Church,” the Oxford Student newspaper reported.

But this may prove even more difficult than authorities at the college -- also attended by Mr Bilawal’s grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former prime minister, -- anticipate.

While Oxford is used to high-profile students -- others in recent years include Chelsea, daughter of then United States president Bill Clinton, and former British premier Tony Blair’s son Nicky -- none came with such a bloody political pedigree as Mr Bilawal.—AFP

Bhutto’s killing deepens negative perceptions about Pakistani-Americans: LA survey

A survey conducted by Los Angeles Times has revealed that most Americans of Pakistani descent feared that the recent happenings in Pakistan, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, crackdown on Opposition parties and the general political chaos, had further deepened the negative impression about Pakistanis in the US.

It was found that after these incidents, while some Americans perceived that Pakistan was a country where Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden lived, others thought Pakistan was a militant Arabic-speaking Mideast country.

Oxford Union organises debate to pay homage to Benazir

In an honour to slain former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto, the prestigious Oxford Union Debating Society organised a debate in her memory.

Incidentally, Benazir was Society’s ex-president in 1977 while she studied at the Oxford.

The debate was attended by Benair’s former colleagues, students and friends, besides her 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is a first year student at Christ Church College, reported the Dawn.

CIA chief blames al Qaeda, Mehsud for Bhutto's assassination

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director
Michael Hayden is of the view that the al-Qaeda and militant Pakistani
tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for the December 27,
2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In an interview given to the Washington Post, Hayden said Bhutto
was killed by fighters allied with Mehsud, a tribal leader in
northwestern Pakistan, with support from al-Qaeda's terrorist network.

Apprehending attack, Benazir didn’t want party leaders to accompany her

Slain former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto did not want her party leaders to accompany her in her car in Karachi because she apprehended a suicide attack and did not want other party leaders to fall prey to it. PPP leader Nisar Ahmed Khuhro wrote this in an article published in a local paper in Karachi.

He wrote that before arriving in Karachi on October 18, Benazir had said that she did not want any party leader to accompany in her car, but no one agreed with her suggestion

US Consulate in Karachi was next target of Benazir’s murder suspect

A teenage suicide bomber, who was arrested in Dera Ismail Khan for his involvement in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, has told interrogators that his next target was the US Consulate in Karachi.

Sources said that Aitzaz had confessed during preliminary interrogation that he had been asked to attack Bhutto in Karachi if she escaped the attack in Rawalpindi.

But after Bhutto’s assassination, Aitzaz had been directed to move to Karachi to target the US Consulate, they said.

Zardari says will fulfil Benazir’s mission

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has said that he will lay down his life to fulfil his wife, Benazir Bhutto’s mission.

Appealing to PPP leaders, workers and people of Pakistan to question him should he deviate from Bhutto’s mission, he said: “I shall have no right to be buried at Garhi Khuda Bux if I drift away from her mission.”