Posts

MQM USA Protests Against Continued Oppression of Mohajirs in Pakistan

/in /by

Washington, DC – The Muttahida Quami Movement USA (MQM USA) held a rally here on Saturday, June 19 – including a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House and the State Department – to protest against the continued oppression of the Mohajir (Muslim immigrants from India) community by Pakistan’s ISI. MQM USA’s central organizer Matloob Zaidi led the rally. This was followed by an annual convention held in Springfield Virginia on June 20th which included a speech by the MQM’s founder and leader, Mr. Altaf Hussain.

Participants in the rally reiterated their demands of the right of self-determination under the UN Human Rights Charter, and freedom of Sindh from Pakistan and its brutal establishment. MQM seeks to send a United Nations team to Sindh to speak with Mohajirs and oppressed Sindhis, and intervene to put an end to the continued human rights violations, including forced disappearances, political victimization, and extra judicial killings.

In a recent incident MQM worker Shahid Aziz died in the custody of police and para military Rangers in Karachi Central Jail as a result of torture by government officials. This is one of the many hundreds of incidents of the ISI’s atrocities and brutality against the Mohajir community in Pakistan, particularly in the urban areas of the Pakistani province of Sindh.

MQM’s demands include putting an end to Chinese colonization, stopping the spread of Islamic extremism in the South Asia region by the Pakistani Army and ISI, and stopping the ethnic cleansing of the Mohajir community.

The MQM is a political party in Pakistan. The All Pakistan Muhajir Student Organization (APMSO), which was founded in 1978 by Altaf Hussain, led to the birth of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement in 1984. In 1997, the MQM officially removed the term Mohajir from its name and replaced it with Muttahida (United). On June 19, 1992 Pakistani military launched an operation against MQM in Karachi.

US Refuses to Comment on Turkey-Pakistan-China Nexus

/in /by

Washington, DC – The United States has no comments on the various reports in regional and international media which allege a growing interest of Turkey, Pakistan and China to collaborate in sharing and developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

At the regular State Department briefing on Friday (May 7), IAT (Tejinder Singh) posed the question: “What is the US reaction to reports over last few weeks about the emergence of a China-Pakistan-Turkey nexus on nuclear proliferation, and Pakistan coordinating on capacity-building of the three countries which has been flagged by watchdogs and media? And we all know about Turkish President Erdogan has been quoted as expressing his desperation on developing the caliphate atom bomb to fulfill his neo-Ottoman aspirations. So what is the US reaction to these reports?”

In response Jalina Porter, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the US State Department told journalists during the daily State Department briefing, “We have no – nothing to announce on these reports at this time.”

Interesting to note that Selcan Hacaoglu writing in a Bloomberg report titled, “Turkey Widens War Tech Hunt by Tapping Pakistan’s China Ties,” noted: “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed “very serious potential” for collaboration with Pakistan on defense projects, and top defense officials have met in recent months.”

The report further said: “A deal would get NATO-member Turkey closer to some of China’s military technology. Pakistan builds its JF-17 fighter jets with China and is said to have adapted Chinese designs for its Shaheen ballistic missile.”

Another report by Paul Antonopoulos in Greek City Times listed a number of meetings between Pakistani and Turkish top army brass, including Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Nadeem Raza who visited Turkey from March 27th to April 2nd.

Antonopoulos wrote: “It is pertinent to note that reportage in the press on all these meetings mentioned that defence production was one of the main agendas, with aerial vehicles and nuclear proliferation being the target areas.”

“The emergence of a China-Pakistan-Turkey nexus on nuclear proliferation and Pakistan coordinating on capacity building of the three countries has already been flagged by watchdogs and media,” added the Greek City Times report.

Pentagon Explains Military Assistance to Azerbaijan as Biden Waives Ban

/in /by

Washington, DC – The United States listed a few explanatory points for offering military support to Azerbaijan as a conflict between it and Armenia is still hot and brewing. The Biden administration recently declared Turkish massacre of Armenians more than a century ago as “Armenian Genocide.”

Responding to a question on the presidential waiver on the ban on military aid to Azerbaijan from IAT (Tejinder Singh) at the Pentagon briefing, Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Anton T. Semelroth, DoD Spokesman said in a delayed email reply, “We review thoroughly any potential assistance to Azerbaijan to ensure it will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and will not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.”

“Our non-lethal security assistance to Azerbaijan is in the US national security interests, and helps enable Azerbaijan to secure its southern and maritime borders to reduce the threat of terrorists, WMD, and other illicit trafficking.”

Citing examples to support the US decision, the DOD Spokesman added, “For example, just recently the x-ray scanners we provided were used to identify a large shipment of heroin at the Iranian border.”

Within 100 days of being sworn-in as the US President, Joe Biden became the first US president to issue a statement formally describing the 1915 massacre of Armenians as a genocide.

The killings took place in the days of the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of modern-day Turkey. But the issue is highly sensitive, and previous US administrations have not used the term genocide in formal statements amid concerns over damaging relations with Turkey, a NATO ally.

Bit within two weeks of formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide, President Joe Biden gave a waiver to give American taxpayers money to Azerbaijan.

Nearly a year ago Azerbaijan reignited sanguinary hostilities with Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Within weeks, a Russian-French-American ceasefire brought open hostilities to a smoldering peace but Azerbaijan had already gained control of a sizable area from Armenia.

The FREEDOM Support Act, enacted in 1992 bars foreign aid from Azerbaijan, crafted amid the first Nagorno-Karabakh War following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 2002 Congress gave the American President power to waive that ban on foreign aid to Azerbaijan.

During the campaign trail, Candidate Biden had openly criticized then incumbent president Donald Trump for waiving the ban and now President Biden himself has done exactly the same, thus adding more to millions of American taxpayers dollars siphoned off to an aggressor country against Armenia.

Political pundits and those watching the region raise issues about the Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan nexus in the volatile area.