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Riaz Haq writes this data-driven blog to provide information, express his opinions and make comments on many topics. Subjects include personal activities, education, South Asia, South Asian community, regional and international affairs and US politics to financial markets. For investors interested in South Asia, Riaz has another blog called South Asia Investor at http://www.southasiainvestor.com and a YouTube video channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkrIDyFbC9N9evXYb9cA_gQ
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
The Checkered History of Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as the Frontier Gandhi, led the secular Pashtun Nationalists' opposition to the creation of Pakistan before 1947. Their efforts to stay with India failed when they lost a referendum and the majority of the voters of then Frontier Province chose to join Pakistan.
After the humiliating loss in the referendum, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, his son Abdul Wali Khan and their supporters decided to seek an independent nation of Pakhtoonistan. When Ghaffar Khan died, he was not buried in Pakistan. Instead, he was buried in the Afghan city of Jalalabad according to his will. His son Wali Khan then carried the movement forward.
Pakhtoonistan Movement:
After the creation of Pakistan, Ghaffar Khan and Wali Khan launched Pakhtoonistan movement that sought to create an independent state of Pakhtoonistan with the eventual goal of erasing the Durand Line to unify it with Afghanistan.
The central government in Pakistan responded by assimilating Pakhtoons in civil and military services from early 1950's. By the end of 1960's, the Pakhtoons were holding many top positions in the civil and military bureaucracy. At the time Pakistan was ruled by Ayub Khan, himself a non-Pashtu speaking Pakhtoon.
Both the Afghan and the Indian governments continued to back the Pakhtoonistan movement in 1960s and 70s.
In 1960, then Afghan Prime Minister Daoud Khan sent his troops across the Durand Line into the Bajaur Agency of Pakistan to press the Pashtunistan issue, but the Afghan forces were routed by Pakistani Tribals. During this period, the propaganda war from Afghanistan, carried on by radio, was relentless.
Daoud hosted Pakistani Pakhtoon Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Ajmal Khattak, Juma Khan Sufi. Daoud started training Pakhtun Zalmay and young Balochs and sent them across the border into Pakistan to start a militancy.
In 1961, Pakistan retaliated against Daoud's support to militias in areas along the Durand Line by closing its borders with Afghanistan, causing an economic crisis in Afghanistan.
A former RAW officer RK Yadav has, in his book "Mission RAW", confirmed that Indian intelligence officers met Khan Wali Abdul Wali Khan in Europe on several occasions to provide support and funding for the Pakhtoonistan movement.
In 1975, then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ordered Pakistan's intelligence agency to respond to Afghan provocations. Pakistan ISI trained Jalaluddin Haqqani, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as their Afghan proxies.
Soviet Invasion:
The Soviet troops rolled into Afghanistan in December, 1979 to assert control after several coups and counter-coups in the country. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States responded to it by recruiting, training and arming a resistance force referred to as "Mujahideen". India supported the Soviet invasion and occupation in a United Nations vote in January, 1980.
Soviet troops were defeated and forced by the Mujahideen to withdraw after 9 years of occupation. The Americans also decided to leave the region with Afghanistan in complete chaos as various Mujahideen factions split along ethnic lines fought for control of Kabul.
Pakistan was the most affected as a result of Afghan war and instability. Millions of Afghan refugees poured across the border in Pakistan. Many were radicalized, trained and armed to fight. The "Kalashnikov Culture" spread across Pakistan causing instability.
The Taliban:
In 1990s, Pakistan supported the Taliban led by Mullah Omar to try to stabilize the situation. The Taliban defeated all other factions and warlords and took control of most of Afghanistan. The only part of Afghanistan that remained beyond their control was the Panjshir valley in northern Afghanistan that was controlled by Tajik warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud.
The Taliban hosted Al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The United States accused Al Qaeda of carrying out the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. When the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden to Washington, President George W. Bush ordered the US military to invade Afghanistan to force the Taliban out of power.
US Invasion:
The US invasion of Afghanistan forced the Taliban out of power and drove them and Al Qaeda fighters across the border into Pakistan. Pakistani military arrested most of the Al Qaeda leadership and many of the Al Qaeda fighters and handed them over to the United States. Bin Laden was found and killed by the Americans in a raid in Abbotabad, Pakistan in 2011.
Indian intelligence agency RAW has established its presence in Afghanistan along the border with Pakistan since the US invasion and the installation of a Kabul government the includes pro-India members of the Tajik dominated Northern Alliance.
India's Covert War Against Pakistan:
Fomer US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said back in 2011 that "India has always used Afghanistan as a second front against Pakistan. India has over the years been financing problems in Pakistan". Secretary Hagel was speaking at Cameron University in Oklahoma. Direct and circumstantial evidence of India using Afghanistan to attack Pakistan has grown to the point that even Indian analysts and media are beginning to acknowledge it:
1. Bharat Karnad, a professor of national security studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, recently acknowledged India's use of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist group against Pakistan in an Op Ed he wrote for Hindustan Times.
2. Indian journalist Praveen Swami said in a piece published in "Frontline": "Since 2013, India has secretly built up a covert action program against Pakistan."
3. India's former RAW officers, including one ex chief, have blamed Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested by Pakistan in 2016, for getting caught in Pakistan as a "result of unprofessionalism", according to a report in India's "The Quint" owned and operated by a joint venture of Bloomberg News and Quintillion Media. The report that appeared briefly on The Quint website has since been removed, apparently under pressure from the Indian government.
4. A story by Indian journalist Karan Thapar pointed out several flaws in the Indian narrative claiming that Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested in Pakistan while engaging in India's covert war in Balochistan, was an innocent Indian businessman kidnapped from Chabahar by Pakistani agents. Writing for the Indian Express, Thapar debunked the entire official story from New Delhi.
ISI Bogeyman:
British Afghan war veteran Major Robert Gallimore says he saw no presence of Pakistan's intelligence service ISI in Afghanistan. The Afghan Army saw the " imagined nefarious hand" and "bogeyman" of Pakistan everywhere but he never saw it. He "saw not one piece of evidence" of it. It was all in their minds.
During his three tours of duty in Afghanistan, he could hear all the radio conversations going on but never heard any Pakistani accent. He did, however, see "buckets and buckets of money" and rising Indian influence in Afghan Army that blamed Pakistan for all their problems. Pakistan is their bogeyman.
The Afghan Army says they'll feel good when they can "invade Pakistan". They do not blame the British but the Pakistanis for Durand Line that they do not recognize.
Major Gallimore sees the emergence of an India-Pakistan 21st century "Great Game" similar to its British-Russian predecessor. Many Afghans support creation of Pashtunistan by annexing northern part of Pakistan into Afghanistan. They blame Pakistan for the Durand Line, not the British or their own leaders who agreed to it. As a result, Maj Gallimore warns that Afghanistan has become much more volatile and dangerous than ever before.
The animosity of secular Pashtun Nationalists and their Tajik and Uzbek allies against Pakistan is not new. It didn't start with Pakistan's support of the Taliban in 1990s. Their hostility against Pakistan dates back to the creation of Pakistan. Afghanistan's was the lone vote against the admission of the newly independent state of Pakistan to the United Nations in 1947. Since then, the anti-Pakistan campaign by Pashtun Nationalists on both sides of the Durand Line has received support from New Delhi. A former RAW officer RK Yadav has, in his book "Mission RAW", confirmed that Indian intelligence officers met Khan Wali Abdul Wali Khan in Europe on several occasions to provide support and funding for the Pakhtoonistan movement.
Viewpoint From Overseas host Misbah Azam discusses this subject with Ali H. Cemendtaur and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com)
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
What is the Haqqani Network?
Trump's Afghan Strategy: Will Pakistan Yield to US Pressure?
Why is India Sponsoring Terror in Pakistan?
Karan Thapar Debunks Indian Narrative of Kulbhushan Yadav
Coll's Directorate Demonizes Pakistan ISI
Gen Petraeus Debunks Charges of Pakistani Duplicity
Husain Haqqani vs Riaz Haq on India vs Pakistan
Impact of Trump's Top Picks on Pakistan
Husain Haqqani Advising Trump on Pakistan Policy?
Gall-Haqqani-Paul Narrative on Pakistan
India Ex RAW Officer Documents Success Against Pakistan
Robert Gates' Straight Talk on Pakistan
27 comments:
What some British major on the ground in Afghanistan did nor did not hear on the radio is rather meaningless. No one is suggesting that Pakistani ISI operatives are in Afghanistan fighting the coalition or talking on the radio. Pakistan provides support on its side of the border, the Afghan Taliban fighters move back and forth to carry out their attacks on Afghans. Are you seriously claiming that Pakistan has never supported the Taliban and has nothing to do with them? The logic escapes me, who rules Afghanistan is a vital Pakistan interest on the one hand, and on the other the Pakistani Army and its very capable intelligence service is doing absolutely nothing to advance that interest? You never heard of the Quetta Shura, or that many Taliban leaders were killed by US drone strikes in Pakistan? What were they doing there if Pakistan was not supporting them?
- February 13, 2018 at 8:09 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
NA: "What some British major on the ground in Afghanistan did nor did not hear on the radio is rather meaningless."
What the British major saw and heard during his three tours of duty in Afghanistan is far more meaningful than your view of what is happening there.
Also much more meaningful than your opinions is what US Gen David Petraeus says about Pakistan's role in Afghanistan.
Why? Because Petraeus held top positions as CIA director, and as US military commander in Afghanistan.
"I looked very very hard then (as US commander in Afghanistan) and again as CIA director at the nature of the relationship between the various (militant) groups in FATA and Baluchistan and the Pakistan Army and the ISI and I was never convinced of what certain journalists have alleged (about ISI support of militant groups in FATA).... I have talked to them (journalists) asked them what their sources are and I have not been able to come to grips with that based on what I know from these different positions (as US commander and CIA director)".
Gen Petraeus did acknowledge that "there's communication between the ISI and various militant groups in FATA and Balochistan (Haqqanis, Taliban, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, etc) but some of it you'd do anyway as an intelligence service." He added that "there may be some degree of accommodation that is forced on them (Pakistanis) because of the limits of their (Pakistan's) forces."
- February 13, 2018 at 8:37 PM
You didn't actually respond to any of my questions, and recycling two or three quotes while ignoring all other evidence is poor logic.
You also are extremely selective in what you pick out of Petraeus' view. See this from NY Times:
C.I.A. Steps Up Drone Attacks on Taliban in Pakistan
September 27 2010
As evidence of the growing frustration of American officials, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has recently issued veiled warnings to top Pakistani commanders that the United States could launch unilateral ground operations in the tribal areas should Pakistan refuse to dismantle the militant networks in North Waziristan, according to American officials.
"Petraeus wants to turn up the heat on the safe havens," said one senior administration official, explaining the sharp increase in drone strikes. "He has pointed out to the Pakistanis that they could do more."
Special Operations commanders have also been updating plans for cross-border raids, which would require approval from President Obama. For now, officials said, it remains unlikely that the United States would make good on such threats to send American troops over the border, given the potential blowback inside Pakistan, an ally.
But that could change, they said, if Pakistan-based militants were successful in carrying out a terrorist attack on American soil. American and European intelligence officials in recent days have spoken publicly about growing evidence that militants may be planning a large-scale attack in Europe, and have bolstered security at a number of European airports and railway stations.
"We are all seeing increased activity by a more diverse set of groups and a more diverse set of threats," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano before a Senate panel last week.
The senior administration official said the strikes were intended not only to attack Taliban and Haqqani fighters, but also to disrupt any plots directed from or supported by extremists in Pakistan's tribal areas that were aimed at targets in Europe. "The goal is to suppress or disrupt that activity," the official said.
The 20 C.I.A. drone attacks in September represent the most intense bombardment by the spy agency since January, when the C.I.A. carried out 11 strikes after a suicide bomber killed seven agency operatives at a remote base in eastern Afghanistan.
- February 13, 2018 at 9:08 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
NA: "You also are extremely selective in what you pick out of Petraeus' view. See this from NY Times: C.I.A. Steps Up Drone Attacks on Taliban in Pakistan September 27 2010"
And you're not selective? Picking out a NY Times report to support your opinion? Why not get first hand info directly from the people who know better....people who challenge journalists' 2nd and 3rd hand accounts?
Watch the following videos and listen first hand to the words of Gen David Petraeus and Major Robert Gallimore:
- February 13, 2018 at 9:20 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
The Forgotten History of
Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations
by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Tara Vassefi
It was Afghanistan rather than Pakistan that chose to make this border dispute, and the issue of Pashtunistan, so central to the two
states' relations.
At the outset, Afghanistan was the only country to vote against Pakistan's admission into the United Nations, justifying this vote with the argument that Pakistan's northwest frontier "should not be recognized as a part of
Pakistan until the Pashtuns of that area had been given the opportunity to opt out for
independence."12 Pakistan was admitted despite Afghanistan's objections. But thereafter
Kabul launched a series of low-level attacks against Pakistan, maintaining some degree
of plausible deniability throughout (as Pakistan would later do when non-state actors
that it sponsored struck at India, Afghanistan, US forces, and others).
George Montagno, who served as a visiting professor of American history at the
University of Karachi, has noted that for years after Pakistan's creation, Afghan agents
operated within the Pashtun areas, "distributing large amounts of money, ammunition
and even transistor radios in an effort to sway loyalties from Pakistan to Afghanistan."13
Another of their obvious goals was to build support for an independent Pashtunistan.
At the same time that Afghanistan worked to build support within Pakistan's Pashtun
areas, it also escalated its attacks into Pakistan proper.
Pakistan claimed that on September 30, 1950, its northern border was attacked by
Afghan tribesmen, as well as regular Afghan troops, who crossed into Pakistan 30
miles northeast of Chaman in Baluchistan.14 It didn't take long for Pakistan to repel
this low-scale invasion, and its government announced that it had "driven invaders
from Afghanistan back across the border after six days of fighting."15 For its own
part, Afghanistan claimed that it had no involvement in this attack, which it said was
comprised exclusively of Pashtun tribesmen agitating for an independent Pashtunistan.
But given Afghanistan's later use of irregular forces dressed as tribesmen, Pakistan's
claims that the aggression had emanated from Afghanistan's government seem credible.
- February 13, 2018 at 9:29 PM
This nautanki wont end until Pakistan integrates Afghanistan or at least its Pushtoon speaking East and South into the Islamic Republic. The Tajik and Uzbek parts can integrate into Tajikstan/Uzbekstan respectively.
- February 13, 2018 at 9:32 PM
True. And there are a lot of reasons for the checkered history, several of which you mention. Pakistan is not blameless.
Can anything be done to improve the ties?
Have you written anything similar about the history with Iran?
And how about the long history of separatism in Balochistan?
- February 14, 2018 at 6:59 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
Ahmad: "Can anything be done to improve ties (with Afghanistan)?"
Yes. I think it requires the following:
1. Understand and acknowledge the complicated history of the region, particularly the history of the Great Game played between the British and the Russian empires.
2. Accept that this great game is more complicated: It's not just between India and Pakistan; it involves many other players from within and outside the region.
3. Try to hammer out a regional solution that is acceptable to at least India and Pakistan. ...and hopefully other players.
On Iran-Pakistan ties, here a piece I wrote a few months ago:
Iran and Pakistan: Friends or Foes?
On Balochistan: I think it's part of the great game that also includes India, Iran, Afghanistan and other players.
- February 14, 2018 at 7:09 AM
Afghan Pak History
When Maharaja Ranjit Singh crossed the Indus and captured Peshawar, the Durrani winter capital, and its surroundings in 1823 from the Afghans, little did he realize that he was to change the course of history of the region forever. Very much like Caesar crossing the Rubicon, there was no turning back once the Sikhs established themselves on the west bank of the Indus. The British inherited Ranjit Singh's empire that included Peshawar and pushed it further westwards, demarcating their boundary with Afghanistan via the 1893 Durand Line. Pakistan, in turn, inherited the British possessions in 1947 and the stage was set for the events that had, and continue to have, a fundamental impact on Pakistan and the region. Ayub Khan possibly best summed up Pakistan's disparaging attitude towards Afghanistan. Keen to project Pakistan as the best Muslim bastion against the spread of Soviet communism, in December 1959 he told visiting US president Eisenhower, 'The Afghans were not Muslims nearly as much as they were opportunists.'
Commenting on this, Haqqani notes that this provided an insight into the emerging mindset in Pakistan. 'Afghans had been Muslim for longer than several ethnic groups in Pakistan. Pakistan had come into being only twelve years earlier, whereas Pakistan's military dictator felt he could dismiss his country's northwestern neighbor as an opportunist and as insufficiently Muslim.
A broad sweep of the history of Pak-Afghan relations since 1947 reveals that at its core, Pakistan's policy is dictated by its insecurity vis-à-vis the Durand Line. Right from 1947, Pakistan was faced with a western border that was disputed by its neighbour just as, in its perceptions, India in the east too was seeking to undo Partition. Afghanistan was the only country that opposed Pakistan's membership to the United Nations on 30 September 1947 on the grounds that treaties with Britain lapsed when a new state, Pakistan, was created. As such, for Afghanistan, the Durand Line that demarcated the border between Afghanistan and British India after the Second Afghan War ceased to exist. In any case, the Afghans considered the 1878 Treaty of Gandamak and the Durand Agreement of 1893 as unjust agreements imposed on them by Britain, which they were forced to accept after a military defeat. Every Afghan government has hoped to re-annex the territories east of the border, extending up to the River Indus.
Ref: Olaf Caroe, The Pathans, Karachi: OUP, 1976 reprint, originally published in 1958, p. 325.
'Memorandum of a Conversation, Karachi, Pakistan, 8 December 1959, FRUS 15 (1958-1960)', cited in Husain Haqqani, 'Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, The United States and an Epic History of Misunderstanding, New York: Public Affairs, 2013, p. 93.
- February 14, 2018 at 7:52 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
Anon: " Ayub Khan possibly best summed up Pakistan's disparaging attitude towards Afghanistan."
Ayub Khan was a Pashtun. He saw himself as a Pakistani, not an Afghan.
- February 14, 2018 at 8:43 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
Here's Khaled Hosseini on Kabul, Peshawar and Islamabad in his book "The Kite Runner":
"If Peshawar was the city that reminded me of what Kabul used to be, then Islamabad was the city Kabul could have become someday. The streets were wider than Peshawar's, cleaner and lined with rows of hibiscus and flame trees."
- February 14, 2018 at 10:13 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
Here's an Afghan engaging in some wishful thinking vis-a-vis Pakistan:
Pashtun Spring: Time to redraw the boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan
Redrawing the line, to merge FATA, Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Balochistan into Afghanistan could help to end the blood spilled in this region. This would eliminate the safe-haven status of the region for terrorists by bringing the lawless territory under the control of Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are operating. Eliminating the arbitrary, artificial border would be a great legacy for the United States and international community — winning over the hearts and minds of the region's inhabitants by bringing together people who were forcefully divided more than a century ago.
In addition, redrawing the boundary would be a quick solution to reaching the collective objectives of the United States, NATO and Afghanistan. This would:
Make it difficult for terrorists to use the area to plan and train for their operations, and will deny them a place to which they can escape the U.S., NATO or Afghan forces;
Help in monitoring Al-Qaeda activities, since the terrorist group continues to seek opportunities to strike Western countries;
Help to contain ISIS, whose members often hide in the mountains of the area;
Help the United States with its stabilization efforts in Central and South Asia;
Bolster the reputation of and regard for the United States, by promoting unity among people of the region.
Ultimately, bringing stability to this region, and getting rid of Pakistani-backed insurgency, could become a model of freedom. Redrawing the Durand Line and merging the territory into Afghanistan would give the country access to international waters, providing a win from a logistical and economic perspective for the United States, NATO and Afghanistan. This would pave the way for a direct connection between Central Asia and the Middle East.
- February 14, 2018 at 10:17 AM
I read the article "Pashtun Spring: Time to redraw the boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan" by Ahmed Shah Katawazai o Th Hill. As a Pakistani, I found the comments section very entertaining. I recommend it for everyone for a good laugh.
- February 14, 2018 at 9:37 PM
Afghans are our brothers.. We should be tolerant towards them...One day they will come around to see we are sincere.
- February 15, 2018 at 3:44 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
My trip to Pakistan's 'Jihadi Disneyland'
A fact-finding tour of Waziristan, formerly the most dangerous place in the world
Freddy Gray
Not so long ago, Barack Obama called Waziristan 'the most dangerous place in the world'. It was the losing front in the war on terror, a lawless region in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan infested with Taleban and terrorism. Today, thanks to the Pakistan army, even a risk-averse hack like me can go there with scarcely a tremor. On Wednesday, as part of a British media delegation, I flew by military helicopter to Miranshah, the administrative HQ of north Waziristan. The soldiers took us to a newly built 'markaz (hideout) re-enactment' centre, which we quickly renamed Jihadi Disneyland. It is a true-to-life terrorist den, constructed by Pakistani soldiers with extraordinary attention to detail. The idea, I think, is to educate future generations about the terrorists' way of life. But it feels more like a show home for wannabe bin Ladens, featuring everything an aspiring holy warrior might want in his property. There's an American Humvee parked in the courtyard, a massive weapons stash and a couple of goats tethered to a tree. There's also a brightly decorated room for brainwashing child suicide bombers, with framed pictures of some of the 72 virgins awaiting the lad when he has done his duty. Plus some fruit. The pièce de résistance is a torture chamber in the underground tunnel network. 'This is where they do the beheadings,' said the proud colonel showing us round.
We then went on a bus tour of Miranshah, which is being reconstructed as a model Tribal Area town. The security forces talked about establishing 'new normalcy', but the atmosphere was strange, something like an enormous public school not quite ready for the new term. Miranshah has a sports ground, outdoor communal areas, educational facilities, a hospital, even a 'tuck shop'. It was eerily empty. I couldn't tell if that was because not many people really lived there or because the army, worried that we might be attacked, had shut the town down. 'Why are all the signs in English?' asked one of our group. 'Oh that's for the visitors,' replied the colonel. 'The locals, they know their way around.'
It's vile to be cynical, especially in a country that has suffered so much. That same day, just six kilometres from where we were, two soldiers were killed in a rocket attack. Some 70,000 Pakistanis have now died — 'embraced martyrdom' is the official idiom — in the US-led war on terror. You can see why Pakistan's government gets upset when Donald Trump accuses them on Twitter of harbouring terrorists and offering nothing but 'lies and deceit'.
Our press trip, organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, was meant to correct such misperceptions. We knew we were being spun, but it was impossible not to fall in love with the Pakistanis' eccentric PR-style. In the Prime Minister's office in Islamabad, Nasser Khan Janjua, the national security adviser, told us that Pakistan was 'a scapegoat'. 'Those who fight us blame us, those who side with us blame us,' he said. He didn't want to be gloomy, however, so for the last part of our interview he transmogrified into a representative of the tourism board and spent ten minutes showing us slides of his favourite parts of Pakistan.
- February 15, 2018 at 9:33 AM
Very good article. Short, to the point and informative. Free from charts and statistics.
It feels incomplete. Please continue to Part-2 of this History Lesson.
- February 15, 2018 at 3:12 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
Taj: " Please continue to Part-2 of this History Lesson"
I will write more as events unfold. It's an ongoing saga.
- February 15, 2018 at 6:09 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
History of #Pakistan -#Afghanistan Ties; Afghan War End-Game; #AsmaJehangir Tribute. #India #GreatGame #UnitedStates #Taliban #AlQaeda #terrorism #ISI #DirectorateS #SteveColl #Pashtun http://www.riazhaq.com/2018/02/history-of-pak-afghan-ties-afghan-war.html …
Munich [Germany], Feb 18 (ANI): Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has claimed that Pakistan does not have any organised terror outfits on its soil.
Addressing the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2018 in Germany on Saturday, General Bajwa said, "Today, I can say with pride and conviction that there are no organised camps on our side of the border. However, presence of terrorists of various hues and colors cannot be ruled out. We still have their active and sleeper cells and they are hiding in mountains, border towns and 54 refugee camps, besides some major town and cities."
The army chief also stated that Pakistan still hosts approximately 2.7 million refugees from Afghanistan "whose concentration is regularly used by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Haqqani network to recruit, morph and melt".
Bajwa refused to blame the Kabul administration, and claimed that of the last 130 terrorist attacks in Pakistan's border areas last year, 123 were conceived, planned and executed from Afghanistan.
"We understand their [Kabul's] predicament and therefore we do not blame them, but instability in Afghanistan is also hurting us badly. And it is happening despite the presence of the most powerful alliance in Kabul," he said.
The Army Chief also urged the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to conduct, audit and introspect to find out the causes of the standoff.
"We defeated Al Qaeda, the TTP and Jammtul Ahrar while their safe havens still exist in Afghanistan at a mere fraction of resources employed at the other side of the border. Instead of blame game it is time for the NATO to conduct and audit and introspection to find out the causes of this stalemate," he added.
The three-day MSC, which commenced on Friday, is scheduled to end today.(ANI)
- February 17, 2018 at 9:57 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
#Tajik, #Uzbek say #IamnotAfghan. #Afghanistan #eTazkira
It is a single word that outsiders commonly use to refer to nationals of Afghanistan. Its formal placement on the country's long-planned electronic identity card, however, has inspired a hashtag and arguments that reflect a national divide: #IAmNotAfghan.
President Ashraf Ghani and First Lady Rula Ghani became the first citizens to apply for the new card last week. But the proposed use of the word Afghan on its face may scupper the entire multi-million dollar project.
"I am from Afghanistan, but I am not Afghan," Aslam Niazy, a young citizen from Jowzjan province, wrote in a Facebook post, in three different national languages, on Monday. His post ignited a debate about ethnicity and identity among his friends on the social network, which has since spread across the country, reflecting a schism that continues to threaten Afghanistan's unity.
Despite its initially apparent accuracy, members of minority ethnic groups equate "Afghan" as a synonymous and historic reference of Pashtun ethnicity, a group that makes up more than a third of the population.
"Those who oppose consider that the word Afghan is a reference to one community of Afghanistan and so cannot represent the identity of all citizens," said Ghulam Ali Danishgar, a sociologist in the capital Kabul. "However, geographically we are Afghans."
Across the world, citizens of Afghanistan are also largely and commonly referred to as Afghans. The nation's full name - The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - also appears along the top of the card.
Although the country is riven by suicide attacks from the Taliban and ISIL insurgents the cards were primarily devised to help provide better access to public services rather than as a means to improve security.
Known locally as eTazkira, a reference to the existing paper identity document - needed to get water, electricity, education or housing - the electronic card's introduction has been delayed for years because of ethnic sensitivities.
"It's not just about the word, but about the appeasement of the Pashtun nationalists' groups," says Tahir Qadiry, head of Mitra TV and a senior adviser to Atta Noor, the recently ousted governor of Balkh province, who is an ethnic Tajik and opponent of the identity card scheme.
"Even though Ghani is a Pashtun himself, he has always showed himself to be democratic and not a nationalist. But now when he finds himself losing the Pashtun support, he is using the politics of identity to regain the Pashtun majority," added Mr Qadiry.
Other opponents include the infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who despite reputedly being in exile in Turkey retains the title of vice president, and Mohammad Mohaqeq, another anti-Soviet era fighter turned politician. Both them and Noor are planning to boycott the identity card scheme in their constituencies.
And Afghanistan's chief executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah, while not outright critical of the new cards, had called on the government to postpone the launch, pending further consultation.
There is also a broader political interest as the cards should help reduce voter fraud which is rampant in elections. The election commission lacks accurate data and fair voting and ballot counting is a subject of regular dispute, with "ghost votes" a major problem. The electronic cards would also help create a census; the last full one was in 1979 and several attempts since have fallen short.
In an attempt to avoid discord it was proposed near the end of 2017 that the ethnicity of the cardholder would be featured alongside the nationality reference. However, that amendment was also opposed and rejected by several parliamentarians.
- February 21, 2018 at 5:04 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
#Balochistan Separatist Leader Jumma Marri Says in #Moscow He Now Supports #Pakistan and Blames #India for Hijacking Struggle: #CPEC #China #Russia #Afghanistan https://sputniknews.com/interviews/201802231061939477-balochistan-korybko-jumma-marri-baloch/ … via @SputnikInt
Dr. Jumma Marri Baloch, a prominent leader of the Baloch independence movement and designer of the separatist flag, recently renounced his decades-long campaign against Pakistan while attending a Pakistani Unity Day event last weekend in Moscow, where Sputnik's Andrew Korybko had the chance to conduct a brief interview with him.
Sputnik: Tell us little about yourself: how and why did you come to Russia, how long have you been here and what do you do presently?
Jumma Marri Baloch: I think everybody who was interested about the Baloch affairs might know my struggle to free Balochistan, which is not hidden from anyone. I will not be wrong if I say that I am from those people who were always on the forefront of the Baloch freedom struggle — many of the readers might know the fact that the Free Balochistan flag, which is currently very popular and is in use, was designed by me.
For the sake of Free Balochistan I left my home, Pakistan, province, tribe and even my father and brothers. In 1979, due to the Balochistan movement I, along with my family, left for Afghanistan and settled there. Since 2000 I am in self-exile in Moscow.
Sputnik: Who is behind the so-called "Free Balochistan" Campaign, what are they aiming for, and how do they operate?
Jumma Marri Baloch: There are no doubts that India is squarely behind the unrest in Balochistan. I am a witness to it from within: India tries to counter Pakistan's support for Kashmir and India wants to pay Pakistan in the same coin by supporting a few so-called Baloch leaders who are enjoying very luxurious lifestyles in such expensive cities as Geneva and London. These people are sending some money to create unrest in Balochistan like blowing electricity supplies, mining bridges and putting mines in the roadside to keep the money supplies open from Delhi.
Sputnik: What is the reason why some international media have been repeating the claims of Baloch separatists and sometimes even lobbying on their behalf, and how does this relate to global fake news industry?
Jumma Marri Baloch: No international media pays any attention to these Baloch separatists except Indian media that are working closely with the Indian intelligence who are paid to cover their paid agents working as Baloch freedom fighters. These are all Indian attempts to silence the voices of the Kashmir struggle for freedom. I guarantee if Pakistan gives even the slightest hint to the Indians that they will stop supporting the Kashmiri, the Hindus will dump the Baloch next day down in a sewage canal.
Sputnik: What is the most effective way to debunk these falsehoods and show people the truth about Balochistan and its native people's relationship to the rest of Pakistan?
Jumma Marri Baloch: Develop the awareness of people about the negative propaganda, through education and empowering the local people to run their affairs without intervention. The Baloch must be respected, first of all, on their own soil, then such negative propaganda will have no effects. The majority of the Baloch people have no problem with Pakistan, but they have questions to the government as every normal citizen of any country around the world.
- March 1, 2018 at 6:01 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
RAW: India's External Intelligence Agency
India's primary espionage agency and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have long been at odds in a long-standing battle for influence.
Backgrounder by Jayshree Bajoria
Since its inception in 1968, RAW has had a close liaison relationship with KHAD, the Afghan intelligence agency, due to the intelligence it has provided RAW on Pakistan. This relationship was further strengthened in the early 1980s when the foundation was laid for a trilateral cooperation involving RAW, KHAD, and the Soviet KGB. Raman says RAW valued KHAD's cooperation for monitoring the activities of Sikh militants in Pakistan's tribal areas. Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab were demanding an independent state of Khalistan. According to Raman, Pakistan's ISI set up clandestine camps for training and arming Khalistani recruits in Pakistan's Punjab Province and North West Frontier Province. During this time, the ISI received large sums from Saudi Arabia and the CIA for arming the Afghan mujahadeen against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. "The ISI diverted part of these funds and arms and ammunition to the Khalistani terrorists," alleges Raman.
As a result, India established a dedicated external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing. Founded mainly to focus on China and Pakistan, over the last forty years the organization has expanded its mandate and is credited with greatly increasing India's influence abroad. Experts say RAW's powers and its role in India's foreign policy have varied under different prime ministers. RAW claims that it contributed to several foreign policy successes:
the creation of Bangladesh in 1971;
India's growing influence in Afghanistan;
the northeast state of Sikkim's accession to India in 1975;
the security of India's nuclear program;
the success of African liberation movements during the Cold War.
Over the last forty years the organization has expanded its mandate and is credited with increasing India's influence.
RAW's first leader, Rameshwar Nath Kao, led the agency until he retired in 1977. Many experts, including officers who worked with him, credit Kao with RAW's initial successes: India's triumph in the 1971 war with Pakistan, and India's covert assistance to the African National Congress's anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. "To a large extent, it was Kao who raised RAW to the level of India's premier intelligence agency, with agents in virtually every major embassy and high commission," writes Singh. But the organization has been criticized for its lack of coordination with domestic intelligence and security agencies, weak analytical capabilities, and complete lack of transparency.
- April 25, 2018 at 9:48 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
Is #Trump handing over #Afghanistan to #Pakistan by #US #Troops withdrawal?. The #Taliban, the strongest force in the country, have not been defeated yet. On the contrary, their control over #Afghan territories has increased manifold in past few years.
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to withdraw nearly 7,000 US troops – roughly half of the American military presence in the country – from Afghanistan.
US media claims that these soldiers could be heading back home within months.
These reports emerged after President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the "Islamic State" militant group had been defeated in Syria and thus the Middle Eastern country no longer required US troops there.
But the Taliban – the strongest militant force in Afghanistan – have not been defeated yet. On the contrary, their control over Afghan territories has increased manifold in the past few years. If this is the case, why must Washington reduce its presence in the war-torn country?
The US has intensified efforts to find a political solution with the Taliban in the past few months, with Zalmay Khalilzad, the US' special representative for Afghanistan, holding several high-profile talks with Taliban leaders in Qatar.
A victory for Pakistan?
These talks are being facilitated by Pakistan, whose prime minister, Imran Khan, maintains that the Islamist group can't be defeated through war.
However, both Kabul and Washington have been skeptical of Islamabad's long-term motives in Afghanistan. Afghan and US officials have repeatedly said that Pakistan backs some factions of the Taliban that destabilize the Afghan government. By doing that, the powerful Pakistani military hopes to minimize Indian influence in Afghanistan and a return of the Taliban in Afghan politics, they say.
Pakistan's military and civil establishment, analysts say, still consider the Taliban an important strategic ally, who they think should be part of the Afghan government after the NATO pullout.
Observers say that the Pakistani military hopes to regain the influence in Kabul it once enjoyed before the United States and its allies toppled the pro-Pakistan Taliban government in 2001.
Pakistan's Afghanistan policy hasn't changed since the US toppled the Taliban regime in 2001, but the Trump administration's stance toward Islamabad has wavered in the past few weeks, experts point out.
The potential US troop reduction would likely to give an upper hand to Islamabad in dictating the future political setup in Afghanistan.
Siegfried O. Wolf from the Brussels-based South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF) told DW that he was convinced that several elements within the Pakistani security apparatus still believe that the Taliban could be used as a strategic tool to counter Indian presence in Afghanistan.
'Weakening your own position'
It remains to be seen whether President Trump would actually withdraw 7,000 troops from Afghanistan, but the fact that the US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis – one of the main supporters of a strong US military presence in Afghanistan – is leaving his post in February, 2019, has definitely created more uncertainty around the West's Afghan mission.
"If the US actually goes ahead with the troop reduction plan, it would be a manifestation of Trump's 'America First' policy," Thomas Ruttig, an expert from the Afghan Analysts Network, told DW.
"But at a time with Khalilzad is trying to negotiate with the Taliban, the troop reduction does not make any sense," he added.
"This would weaken the positions of both Washington and Kabul in the middle of peace talks," Ruttig emphasized.
But some experts are of the view that a potential troop withdrawal could be a calculated decision by Trump.
- December 21, 2018 at 4:42 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
#Pakistan's development assistance to #Afghanistan has reached US$1 billion and the country's development assistance is geared towards investment in #infrastructure, #education, #health, #agriculture and capacity building of Afghan professionals. https://nation.com.pk/15-Jun-2018/pakistan-s-development-assistance-to-afghanistan-reaches-1-billion-us-envoy
BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China, Masood Khalid said on Friday that Pakistan's development assistance to Afghanistan has reached US$1 billion and the country's development assistance is geared towards investment in infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and capacity building of Afghan professionals.
READ MORE: Speakers for creating awareness about autism disorder
Pakistan has made singular contribution in education by extending 6,000 fully funded scholarships to Afghan students while100 seats have been reserved for women annually, he said in an exclusive interview with a Chinese magazine "China Investment" here.
He informed this year around 750 Afghan students joined Pakistani universities to pursue their education in Pakistan.
Pakistan, he said, has setup healthcare facilities in Afghanistan including three hospitals, i.e, Jinnah Hospital Kabul, Naib Aminullah Khan Loghari Hospital and Nishtar Kidney Center in Jalalabad.
The ambassador said the Pakistan government also initiated capacity building projects for Afghan healthcare professionals, under which 59 Afghan medical professionals including doctors, nurses, and technicians successfully completed their training in 2017.
READ MORE: Seven drug pushers held in Islamabad
In addition, 42 Afghan healthcare professionals will start training at Institute of Kidney Diseases Peshawar, he added.
Masood Khalid said that Pakistan is also assisting Afghanistan in capacity building in the fields of agriculture, banking, railways, military and diplomacy.
Multiple Afghan agricultural professionals have undergone training in "Quarantine and Plant Protection" in Pakistan, he said and added, 20 fully funded scholarships will be provided to officials of Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock to pursue their professional studies at Faisalabad Agricultural University.
He said a fresh batch of railway professionals will soon be trained at Pakistan's Railway academy, Lahore.
READ MORE: Name of next Japanese era announced
The ambassador said that Pakistan aims to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan in different fields for capacity building of Afghan institutions and professionals so that they contribute to the betterment of their people.
In this regard, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China are engaged closely through Practical Cooperation Dialogue. Pakistan and China have asked Afghanistan to identify areas in which the countries could provide necessary training and arrange capacity building courses for Afghan professionals.
About the achievement and significance of trilateral dialogue among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Afghanistan and Pakistan last year in June.
He informed that the three countries agreed to establish the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Minister's dialogue to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest, beginning with economic cooperation.
READ MORE: PM to lay foundation stone of Mohmand Dam: Vawda
The first meeting of the Foreign Minister's level dialogue was held in Beijing on December 26, 2017.
He said the dialogue was focused on three major areas namely deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing connectivity under the Belt and Road initiative and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
"The three sides reaffirmed their support for a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. The trilateral forum will contribute to the greater connectivity, economic prosperity and peace and development of the three countries and the region," he added.
- April 3, 2019 at 9:37 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
#Afghan students attending school in #Pakistan's #FATA has dropped by 75% but #terrorism-related incidents have also plummeted to their lowest levels on the Pakistani side since the border fence was built. @TRTWorld https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/fighting-the-fence-how-some-afghans-cross-the-pakistan-line-for-learning-25659
Abdul Raziq Shinwari has been running a school near the edge of the border on the Pakistani side for more than a decade. He says that since visas and passports were now mandatory, the number of students admitted has fallen to half their former capacity and Afghan students, in particular, by 75 percent.
"We used to have 600 Afghan students, which are down to 150 now," he said.
"Our school was closed off to Afghan students for most of 2017 due to the unrest and the border closure. Many lost out on their 9th and 10th grade exams and became school dropouts."
Though students have since been exempted from the travelers' conditions, they have to carry around a white-coloured card.
Sheraz Khan is one such student. The 14-year-old says he crosses the border because the standard of education on the Afghanistan side remains lower given that subjects are taught in Pashto.
"Here, we study in English," he says. "How can we advance in life using only our mother tongue?
"It was fun coming in groups to school. I now travel all by myself from my area."
He says several schools in his area were blown up by Taliban and Daesh terrorists.
"I have seen explosives being placed inside schools with my own two eyes," says Khan.
"That is why we have to cross the border to ensure we get a decent education."
He says the security situation at their end isn't safe and that his family doesn't let him venture out after sunset. "We even prefer to offer evening prayers at home," says Khan.
He points to the white ID that enables him to cross the border.
"This card will ultimately guarantee that I fulfil my dream of becoming a doctor."
Kabul, which has never accepted the area to be an international border, insists the area remains disputed and that is precisely why fence construction has angered the Afghan government.
Zardasht Shams, Afghanistan's deputy ambassador to Pakistan, said the Afghan government has repeatedly objected given that the fence would quite literally create a wedge between people of common cultural and ethnic descent.
"Our position is very clear. It's a unilateral and counterproductive measure," said Shams, who added that countering terrorism and infiltration requires more viable and practical efforts.
And yet, terrorism-related incidents have plummeted to their lowest levels on the Pakistani side since the fence was built. Bombings were widespread and frequent prior to that, especially along the border.
Islamabad is adamant that the construction of the fence will be completed by the middle of next year.
Islamabad says the fact that Afghan students can enter without a visa, something most countries would never accept, shows that education isn't hindered by the fence.
Still, many feel the crunch.
"The new border management system may be good for the Pakistani government but it has caused a lot of difficulties for people on both sides of the border," says Mira Khan.
The 19-year-old from the Gardi Ghous area of Nangarhar Province, says he would have to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to school in time.
Like most Afghans, he would run his father's shop after school to earn his expenses.
"I was running a shop at the same time as studying," he said. "My father died last year. People here are poor. Some even take on hard labor to put themselves through school."
"The security situation has improved since the Afghan government launched a series of anti-terror operations," says Khan, adding that the concept of women getting education doesn't exist in his area.
Some say the fence divides families since tribes living on either side often have family connections.
- April 8, 2019 at 7:48 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
#Pakistan's development assistance to #Afghanistan has reached US$1 billion and the country's development assistance is geared towards investment in #infrastructure, #education, #health, #agriculture and capacity building of Afghan professionals. https://nation.com.pk/15-Jun-2018/pakistan-s-development-assistance-to-afghanistan-reaches-1-billion-us-envoy
BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China, Masood Khalid said on Friday that Pakistan's development assistance to Afghanistan has reached US$1 billion and the country's development assistance is geared towards investment in infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and capacity building of Afghan professionals.
READ MORE: Speakers for creating awareness about autism disorder
Pakistan has made singular contribution in education by extending 6,000 fully funded scholarships to Afghan students while100 seats have been reserved for women annually, he said in an exclusive interview with a Chinese magazine "China Investment" here.
He informed this year around 750 Afghan students joined Pakistani universities to pursue their education in Pakistan.
Pakistan, he said, has setup healthcare facilities in Afghanistan including three hospitals, i.e, Jinnah Hospital Kabul, Naib Aminullah Khan Loghari Hospital and Nishtar Kidney Center in Jalalabad.
The ambassador said the Pakistan government also initiated capacity building projects for Afghan healthcare professionals, under which 59 Afghan medical professionals including doctors, nurses, and technicians successfully completed their training in 2017.
READ MORE: Seven drug pushers held in Islamabad
In addition, 42 Afghan healthcare professionals will start training at Institute of Kidney Diseases Peshawar, he added.
Masood Khalid said that Pakistan is also assisting Afghanistan in capacity building in the fields of agriculture, banking, railways, military and diplomacy.
Multiple Afghan agricultural professionals have undergone training in "Quarantine and Plant Protection" in Pakistan, he said and added, 20 fully funded scholarships will be provided to officials of Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock to pursue their professional studies at Faisalabad Agricultural University.
He said a fresh batch of railway professionals will soon be trained at Pakistan's Railway academy, Lahore.
READ MORE: Name of next Japanese era announced
The ambassador said that Pakistan aims to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan in different fields for capacity building of Afghan institutions and professionals so that they contribute to the betterment of their people.
In this regard, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China are engaged closely through Practical Cooperation Dialogue. Pakistan and China have asked Afghanistan to identify areas in which the countries could provide necessary training and arrange capacity building courses for Afghan professionals.
About the achievement and significance of trilateral dialogue among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Afghanistan and Pakistan last year in June.
He informed that the three countries agreed to establish the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Minister's dialogue to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest, beginning with economic cooperation.
READ MORE: PM to lay foundation stone of Mohmand Dam: Vawda
The first meeting of the Foreign Minister's level dialogue was held in Beijing on December 26, 2017.
He said the dialogue was focused on three major areas namely deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing connectivity under the Belt and Road initiative and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
"The three sides reaffirmed their support for a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. The trilateral forum will contribute to the greater connectivity, economic prosperity and peace and development of the three countries and the region," he added.
- April 8, 2019 at 7:51 PM
- Riaz Haq said...
#Pakistan transfers 'state-of-the-art 'Jinnah #Hospital in #Kabul to #Afghan govt. Other #health facilities gifted by Pakistan in #Afghanistan include Nishtar Kidney Center in Jalalabad and under-construction 100-bed Naeb Aminullah Khan Hospital in Logar. https://www.dawn.com/news/1477343
The Government of Pakistan on Saturday officially handed over the Kabul-based Jinnah Hospital to Afghanistan, according to a press release issued by the Foreign Office.
The FO said that Afghan Vice-President Sarwar Danish, Afghan Minister of Public Health Dr Ferozuddin Feroz and Pakistani Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan, jointly inaugurated the "200-bed state-of-the-art" hospital in a ceremony held in Kabul today.
Khan, the Pakistani representative, expressed hope that the Jinnah Hospital — completed at a cost of $24 million — would be a "substantial contribution" to the health sector of Afghanistan.
The minister, as per the press release, also conveyed Prime Minister Imran Khan's message that Pakistan would continue to take all possible measures for the welfare of the people of Afghanistan, adding that the premier wished to see a "stable, secure, peaceful, prosperous and sovereign Islamic Republic of Afghanistan".
Afghan minister Dr Feroz expressed his gratitude for the "generous gift" and appreciated "Pakistan's immense assistance in the health sector," which also includes the Nishtar Kidney Center in Jalalabad and the under-construction 100-bed Naeb Aminullah Khan Hospital in Logar.
Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zahid Nasrullah Khan, said that the Jinnah Hospital was a "flagship project" of the nation's US$1 billion development assistance to Afghanistan, which according to the press release, was in "in pursuance of Pakistan's policy objective of deepening and broadening people-to-people connections between the two countries".
- April 20, 2019 at 8:02 AM
- Riaz Haq said...
#India's history of going in to #Afghanistan after foreign invasions. #India supported #Soviet invasion of #Afghanistan and went into the country after 1979. Again in 2001, India found its way back into Afghanistan after #American invasion. @Diplomat_APAC http://thediplomat.com/2019/05/india-in-afghanistan-after-the-soviet-withdrawal/
In the UN debates during an emergency special session, India in fact broke ranks with its nonalignment partners and openly supported the Soviet position. India's strong relations with the Soviet Union and Cold War geopolitics, where the United States alongside India's rival Pakistan was propping up the Afghan resistance, were instrumental in prodding India to take the Soviet side in Afghanistan.
The tide shifted yet again in 2001. With the U.S.-led war on Taliban, India found its way back into Afghanistan. However, in the overall geopolitical calculations, Pakistan emerged as an all-important country due to its proximity to the Taliban heartland and its strong leverage over the militant group. Many times it has been alleged that, to cater to Pakistani wishes, India's active involvement in Afghanistan has been discouraged – even though India and the United States share common goals and principles in relation to democracy and development in Afghanistan. In 2001, India was not invited to the Bonn conference, where the post-Taliban order in Afghanistan was discussed. Though eventually India joined as an observer and engaged in informal negotiations, it had to move its support from its old allies like Qanooni and Abdullah from the Northern Alliance to the United States' favored Pashtun candidate, Hamid Karzai. In helping to bring about a consensus around the Pashtun leadership of Karzai, India also lost its existing clout among the non-Pashtun leadership, its friends in the erstwhile Northern Alliance.
In today's Afghanistan, the Taliban form both the problem and the solution. The group has emerged as an ethno-nationalist force with various factions stitched together through tribal-ethnic allegiances rather than a mere Islamic extremist organization. There are groups and subfactions within the Taliban that do not view their overbearing dependence on Pakistan favorably.
The Taliban are players in Afghanistan and India needs to engage with them, even if only with the subfactions that may be motivated to accept the Afghan Constitution. Unlike the Taliban period, India may not avail itself of the full support of Iran and Russia, as both countries have had limited ties with the Taliban and their interests are not wholly congruent with India anymore. In a post-U.S. Afghanistan, India can safeguard its interests through an approach that is balanced, nuanced, and conciliatory in nature, but also moderately partisan when and if required. There are possibilities for India to build a stronger consensus among Afghan stakeholders (Pashtun and non-Pashtuns alike), through largely conciliatory approaches, to present a united front against the Taliban while simultaneously also engaging in or facilitating negotiations with the Taliban.
- May 14, 2019 at 9:55 PM


text:
Today's Glimpse into the Virtual Home
Earlier, I wrote about the concept of the Virtual Home as the center of your activities in virtual reality. It is personal space, lounge, hangout, and launching pad. There are a number of ways to handle the user interface for the Virtual Home.
We're going to quickly look at VirtualReality.io, cover the concept for the Rift Navigator, and go back and pick up a great Virtual Home that I missed called Anarchy Arcade. After that, the conversation will switch gears to highlight a fundamental problem inside the Virtual Home (and virtual reality as a whole).
VirtualReality.io is a no-nonsense launching pad for VR software. It doesn't do a lot. It doesn't have the personal space, lounge, or hangout. What it does do, though, it does correctly. They've got the launching pad covered for the novice user.
The user selects an application from a catalog of third party software and it installs it onto their system. When the user selects the installed program, the interface quickly moves out of the way, but returns when the application terminates. There is no need to remove a head-mounted display. At a basic level, a Virtual Home needs to behave similarly.
Currently, the major downside to VirtualReality.io is content. Content is centrally managed. In order for an application to be listed, a request has to be submitted, and the application has to meet certain requirements. My hope is that as VR software matures, these simple technical requirements will be a non-issue for most applications. Perhaps a set of command-line parameters can be standardized to make the adaptation easier.
Rift Navigator
Some concept images for Rift Navigator were released yesterday. It has good art direction. From the images, it appears to have everything we're looking for: a private space with some customization, a place to hang out and invite others, a place to launch VR software or Metaverse destinations from, and also a place to consume media from.
As a design choice, they aren't currently looking at creating an environment which can be fully explored. Transportation from room-to-room or within a room would be via teleportation. Why? They state that they wish to avoid the inconsistency between our real bodies and our virtual bodies, which may break immersion. The unique touch in Rift Navigator is the user interface: a virtual tablet which can be invoked and dismissed at will.
Anarchy Arcade
It is easy to be too complimentary of a concept image because it may have yet to be compromised by real-world design choices. These choices can force us to accept something that is less than our own vision.
I'm a little late to discover Anarchy Arcade, a virtual world that seems to have just about everything we're looking for in a Virtual Home. If this is the kind of thing that you might be interested in, I'd encourage you to go and download the free prototype. A Steam client is required to run the demo (because the code is based off of Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer).
Starting from a base room, you fill it with props (objects such as chairs, tables) and media (YouTube pages, images, movies, Steam software, PC applications). In this particular implementation, you don't start out with the full library of props, but you continue to unlock more objects as you add additional content.
This unlock system is mildly motivating, but it is annoying to be denied the big-screen TV and other must-haves until you've accomplished specific goals. I manipulated my own score to quickly gain several unlocks by moving high-valued objects and redeploying them.
The art style could use a bit of work, but to be fair, I wasn't using one of the standard demonstration maps. Once populated (and populating the map was not an experience for a novice user), I was ready to go into multiuser mode.
The fact that this programmer is out there and ahead of everyone else also means that his is the first real demonstration of where the Virtual Home concept starts to run into problems.
There is a lot of metadata that needs to be managed in order to put a clickable movie on the wall. We've got the title, description, media type, the actual media, optional trailer media, a static logo, a marquee, and a URL to send someone to in order to purchase the media. A lot of that is pulled together automatically using scrapers.
Scrapers are an unfortunate problem. A fully automatic scraper probably isn't going to do a great job. A targeted scraper may not be difficult to code, but when you have to maintain a number of different scrapers, you'll be working with third parties who don't make collecting metadata so easy and won't notify you before things break.
While you may share the filename of the movie, the actual content of the movie is not shared. It assumes that the file distribution for images, movies, and software all happens outside of Anarchy Arcade (or not at all). "Anarchy Arcade is not screen-sharing or peer-to-peer file sharing software," says software designer Elijah Newman-Gomez.
In Multiuser mode, if a piece of media (images, movies, and more) is missing on the other end, it doesn't play. The other users must literally have "C:/Movies/Guardians of the Galaxy/Guardians of the Galaxy.mp4". The final version of the software will try to bridge the gap by offering the user choices of where the media may be obtained. There is no way to guarantee that the two versions will be synchronized.
As a launching pad for software (Steam or otherwise), Anarchy Arcade does a fair job. As a virtual reality launcher, it has some of the same immersion-preserving requirements as VirtualReality.io, but it doesn't actively enforce them. It is up to the user to configure the connected software to behave appropriately, or to deal with the consequences.
Additionally, the Source Engine doesn't lend itself to being a lightweight app launcher. When launching outside applications, the program suspends itself to conserve system resources. Once control is given back to Anarchy Arcade, the current version requires a click from the user and a fair amount of time to establish control again.
Anarchy Arcade is still in development and has a few more twists waiting for you. If you'd like to read more about where the developer is heading, then visit his Oculus Developer Forum post from January 29th, 2014.
Bonus Topic: Fix the Internet Hole
The timing of these media management examples couldn't be better, considering that they will be the topic of an upcoming post. Media management is even more necessary for Virtual Worlds than for the Internet. A piece of the Internet is missing. When and if someone is able to solve it, they're going to be the king of the Metaverse.
How do we handle content? VirtualReality.io goes for a centrally managed approach. They themselves define what media is available, where it can be downloaded, and provide the necessary screenshots and decisions for you to choose.
Anarchy Arcade attempts to lean on Steam as a content provider (today for games, tomorrow perhaps for media as well). Where that doesn't work, Anarchy Arcade hacks around it with scrapers. Considering that they're up against a problem as fundamental as media management, they do as good of a job as you can expect.
There is no common registry that allows two users to recognize that they are both legitimate owners of the same movie title. If we're both legitimate owners of the same movie, we can't recognize that fact, and we can't be given permission to bridge the technical divide between us.
Alternatively, if I have the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and you don't, there is no direct way to codify what exactly I have so that the system can automatically determine how you need to go through your preferred media provider to receive a copy. There is no authority that I can go to in order to get permission… even voluntarily pay for permission… to share my media with you. That's big.
ASIDE: Good for Marvel. As recently recently popularized by John Carmack, they've provided an API which describes their comic book media. Having a common dictionary to map media to is at least part of the problem that needs to be solved… for all media.
There is no method of matching movie capabilities (Full HD, SD), variants (European version, Director's Cut), or media (Blu-Ray, streaming rental). If I want a marginal upgrade, there is no recognition for what I currently own. My resource is stranded, and no amount of money will convert my participation into something else. I either have to live with what I have, or I have to pay full price for only a marginal difference.
Fess up. Is the business model to screw me? Or does it just happen because there isn't a better way? Will piracy be the only relief that I am offered?
In writing to the Australian Government, Google says, "We believe there is significant, credible evidence emerging that online piracy is primarily an availability and pricing problem." You better believe it. I can't even throw money at them!
In Closing
In this article, we reviewed VirtualReality.io, the Rift Navigator concept, and the demonstration release of Anarchy Arcade. We showed how the thread of media management runs through them all and illustrates an upcoming problem in virtual worlds.
If the issue of media continues to go unsolved, either virtual reality will be a diminished social experience, or it'll be the most clear and unfortunate demonstration yet of why media, content, and consumption needs to be brought under a rational framework.
One response to "Today's Glimpse into the Virtual Home"
Karl Krantz says :
Great article on a topic that I've spent a lot of time thinking about. You should take a look at VR Launchpad. It's basically a 3D VR desktop application that provides seamless launching and transitions from within VR. No matter what application you are in, you can always return "home" to the menu by hitting escape key or the center/home button on an Xbox controller.
Unlike VR.io, it does not have a cloud component, so you're on your own to find new applications. But adding new applications is as easy as drag and drop into the list.
It supports just about any of the hundreds of VR demos and applications out there, and automatically handles Unity configuration dialog boxes. It also allows application-level arguments and many other configuration options.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We take a look back at what was making the headlines locally on this week in 1992, 1967 and 1917.
Friday October 23rd, 1992
Warnings - while the project was still at the planning stage - by the town's Community Council, that the wrong location had been chosen for the new Mineralwell Park sports pavilion, and that as a result the multi thousand pound facility could be subjected to vandalism, unfortunately gained some substance this week when the building was attacked by hooligans - even before it has been completed.
The community council had suggested that Baird Park would be a better site, as it would be better lit and adjacent to a main road, and therefore less likely to be abused.
The problem was brought to a head this week when a series of break-ins was reported at Mineralwell. Between Sunday evening and Monday morning, not only the new community building itself but three Portakabins on the site were broken into and a battery charger removed, and several padlocks smashed. Nearby, Stonehaven Thistle Cricket Club's hut, and premises owned by the model car racing club were also broken into, though nothing was stolen from either.
Work has been going on at a steady pace on the £280,000 multi-purpose building at Mineralwell, and it has been confirmed this week that completion is due by February 26.
The day local sportsmen and women can get into the finished product is eagerly awaited, as they presently shiver without adequate facilities.
Friday October 27th, 1967
There have been several reports of a mystery plane or planes flying low over the Mearns.
it was first reported flying very fast and very low over the road between Laurencekirk and Fettercairn in the general direction of Stonehaven a fortnight ago. "It wasn't more than a couple of hundred feet above our car," said a motorist. "It was so low that we stopped to watch it in case it crashed into the hills behind the Drumtochty-Fettercairn road."
"It looked as if it was contour flying," said another observer. "It was very quiet and though the impression may have been caused by the angle we saw it, it didn't appear to have any wings. It looked exactly like TV pictures of the swing-wing aeroplane with its wing retracted," said another observer. "Perhaps there are F.111s on test here from America." A similar plane was reported flying over the Montrose Basin in the direction of Laurencekirk last Tuesday.
Many people will endorse the views expressed at a meeting of Kincardineshire Education Committee by Provost Mrs Mary Lawson, Banchory, about the proposed swimming pool at Banchory. Provost Mrs Lawson contended that the £60,000 scheme was beyond the burgh's means and that, if it was carried out, pensioners would be paying rates above their means.
Thursday October 25th, 1917
Potato lifting has been progressing rapidly during the past week, and the weather, at least up to Wednesday afternoon showed considerable improvement.
On that day the rain came down heavily, and later on there was a tempestuous storm of wind. There has been a fairly stiff frost for one or two nights back, and the sooner the potatoes are out of the ground now the better.
The local school is one of the few exceptions as regards holidays at the time of the potato harvest.
In most of the neighbouring districts the schools are shut for a week or fortnight at this time. Here, however, holidays are not granted, but special exemption is given to older pupils who wish to assist. Children are much sought after this year as other labour is scarce, and high wages are being made.
Generally, affairs in the Howe are quiet just now, and it might almost be said that we have retired to our Winter sleep.
There are indications, however, that there will shortly break out an epidemic of displenish sales, in the burgh itself as well as in the surrounding farming district. In view of the scarcity of agricultural appliances, and the very high prices ruling for stock, the farming displenishes will prove more attractive than usual.


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I have mentioned platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in a dozen or so posts on this blog over the past three years. Although the positive effect of PRP on hair growth is somewhat controversial, there is no controversy when it comes to the fact that PRP contains numerous concentrated growth factors. And many of these growth factors are known to at least modestly benefit hair quality as well as hair quantity.
While in the past I have briefly discussed some of the key growth factors that are highly concentrated in PRP, I think that it is worth having a separate post here that discusses all of them in a bit more detail. It took me a while to research and write this post, and there is a good chance that I am still missing things so any corrections and suggestions in the comments are most welcome.
It should be noted that even many non-PRP related hair loss hair loss products have targeted one or more of the below listed growth factors in order to stimulate hair growth. There is a good chance that both PRP as well as hair loss products that contain some or all of the below growth factors make existing hair stronger, but it is highly unlikely that they ever bring back hair that has been lost for a long time. They could bring back recently lost hair, but that is also a controversial subject.
Growth Factors in Platelet-Rich Plasma
The key growth factors in PRP that are supposedly beneficial to hair growth are:
- Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1).
- Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF).
- Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF).
- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).
- Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF).
- Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-β).
- Nerve Growth Factor (NGF).
I start with the growth hormone insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) because I have already covered it a few times on this blog before.
- Promotion of IGF-1 expression is one of the main considerations behind Shiseido's bestselling adenosine based products.
- US-based Follicept is also targeting IGF-1 delivery in its hair loss product.
- Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs — one of the more exciting recent developments in the hair loss world) are rich in various growth factors including IGF-1.
- Last year, an important and widely publicized study found that topical application of oleuropein (derived from the leaves of olive drupes) induces hair growth in mice. According to the study findings, oleuropein-treated mouse skin showed substantial upregulation of IGF-1.
I list fibroblast growth factor (FGF) next because I have also covered it many times on this blog before. There are 22 types of FGFs numbered FGF-1 through FGF-22. A significant number of these influence hair growth and I may write an entire detailed post on FGFs at some point in the future. I have covered some of the key ones on this blog before, in particular FGF-5, which discourages hair growth and has to be inhibited. Australian company Cellmid's Evolis line of products claims to inhibit FGF-5.
Note that PRP does not inhibit growth factors, so it is more relevant for the purposes of this post to discuss some of the FGFs that promote hair growth. It seems like the main ones are FGF-1, FGF-2, FGF-7, FGF-9 and FGF-10. Evidence for three of those (FGF-1, FGF-2 and FGF-10) positive effects on hair is found in an important 2014 study from China. Note that "hair cell regeneration" or variations of that term are mentioned a number of times in this study, even if in mice. PRP is said to increase FGF-2 concentration levels. Interestingly, when I interviewed Dr. Malcolm Xing last year, he mentioned that FGF-2 is the preferred growth factor used at this clinic for his work purposes.
FGF-9 has become an especially important growth factor in large part due to the work of the renowned Dr. George Cotsarelis, who holds a patent titled "Fibroblast growth factor-9 promotes hair follicle regeneration after wounding". Dr. Cotsarelis is also a co-author of a 2013 paper that concludes: "The importance of FGF-9 in hair follicle regeneration suggests that it could be used therapeutically in humans".
Finally, FGF-7 (also called keratinocyte growth factor, or KGF) is required for hair growth. The well known researcher Dr. Elaine Fuchs co-authored an important study on FGF-7, hair development and wound healing all the way back in 1995. Moreover, Histogen's Hair Stimulating Complex product is focusing on KGF as one of the key growth factors to be injected in human scalps.
Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a key growth factor involved in blood vessel formation. A 2006 study from Japan found that "PDGF isoforms induce and maintain anagen phase of murine hair follicles". Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are rich in various growth factors including PDGF, and are becoming increasingly utilized in the hair loss world.
Besides hair growth, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is also involved in blood vessel formation. A 2001 study concluded that "normal hair growth and size are dependent on VEGF-induced perifollicular angiogenesis". Note that Shiseido's adenosine based shampoo also promotes the expression of VEGF. The previously discussed adipose-derived stem cells are also rich in various growth factors including VEGF.
Also, one of the ways in which Minoxidil works is via the upregulation of VEGF. Moreover, Histogen's Hair Stimulating Complex product is focusing on VEGF as one of the key growth factors to be injected in human scalps.
A number of studies have examined natural and synthetic products that increase VEGF and their impact on scalp hair. For example, in 2018, Japanese researchers found that water-soluble chicken egg yolk peptides stimulate hair growth through induction of VEGF production.
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) promotes cell growth, proliferation and differentiation. A 2003 study from Hong Kong concluded that EGF functions as a biological switch that is "turned on and off in hair follicles at the beginning and end of the anagen phase of the hair cycle".
Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is a cytokine protein growth factor. From the brief research I did, it seems like TGF-β actually adversely impacts hair growth! e.g., see here, here and here. So I am not sure if this growth factor in PRP benefits hair. Will update this if I find out more.
There seem to be mixed opinions on the impact of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the hair cycle in any significant manner. A 2006 study suggests both anagen-promoting and catagen-promoting effects of NGF on the hair cycle. Another study, also from 2006, seems to also find different effects of NGF on the hair cycle.


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I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about the materials that go into our smartphones. Maybe it was all this talk about Apple going back to plastic designs for a new, cheaper iPhone. Maybe it was seeing that awesome sapphire screen demo from the Mobile World Congress. Maybe it was thinking about HTC going outside the box for the HTC One's design, while Samsung keeps churning out more of the same. Whatever the reason, I've got materials on my mind, and I think we finally need to start bringing them front and center to pay them the attention they deserve.
What's your phone made of? Plastic? Metal? Considering the sort of smartphone details we obsess over, those are some incredibly vague answers. "Oh, well this phone appears to be made out of matter, primarily of the solid variety." We know the difference between LCD and AMOLED screens, between RGB and RGBG subpixel arrangements, but nobody's talking about ABS versus HDPE, or the trade-offs between two aluminum alloys.
That's a shame, because it adds so much unnecessary subjectivity and uncertainty into how we evaluate phones. Is that polycarbonate on a Lumia 920 going to resist scratches better or worse than the Hyperglaze (whatever the heck is actually in there) on a Galaxy model? It's a little embarrassing that we have to address that from the position of "well, this one feels sturdier" when we could be looking at hard data.
For all the benchmarks we run and spec sheets we read, why don't we have comparable data for the materials that make up the bodies of our phones? The best that are probably currently used are the certifications for water and dust resistance touted by manufacturers of ruggedized handsets, but even that falls short of the breadth of data that could really be useful in making our purchasing decisions.
I especially wish we had some readily available stats for the glass covering our phones' screens. Easily the most fragile component of our phones, for products that see so much abuse day-in and day-out we know remarkably little about just how strong they are. Occasionally we get at least some metric by which we can evaluate these parts – is it Gorilla Glass or is it something else – but I can't count how many time's I've heard that a phone doesn't use Gorilla Glass, but some unrelated strengthening treatment instead.
What good is info like that? Tell us what the treatment is. If "trade secrets" prevent detailed disclosure, fine – we'll live with that – but there's no excuse why not to have some data to back up your claims. We can quantitatively examine material hardness. If you're touting your glass as extra durable, tell us just how many newtons of force it can withstand, applied where on the material, without shattering.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if manufacturers didn't already have much of this data just sitting at their fingertips, having done their own testing during development; after all, they have an interest in making their products durable, and will want to know just how successful they've been. So, why aren't they sharing it?
Well, I get the feeling that smartphone manufacturers are already a little upset with how spec-heavy the industry is. While that's great for the company that's on top at the moment, it presents a never-ending drive to one-up or be one-upped, and it becomes a whole lot more difficult to sell a phone where the focus is more on the user experience and software. Surely, adding in a whole mess of physical specs would just create more headaches for them.
There's also the issue of liability, and while a company might say "this material will endure an impact of up to X," it's going to be hard to argue with the upset customer who breaks his phone and insists up and down that there's just no way the fall could have subjected the handset to those kind of forces. After all, a spec is just another kind of guarantee, and the more you offer your customers, the more opportunities your product has to fail to deliver.
Still, I'd like to see smartphone customers asking these kind of questions. Which plastic is this backplate made of? How durable is this camera lens, sticking out like it does? Our phones sure have to put up with a lot during their lifetimes, and the materials that go into their construction absolutely matter. We just need to be paying more attention.


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How Can You Beat UMAT?
The best way to beat the UMAT is in your preparation. While nobody can predict the exact questions or stimuli that will appear on the UMAT each year, there are similarities in the skills and methodologies required to solve UMAT questions from year to year. By mastering these strategies in your preparation you should be able to answer any questions with any stimuli that they throw at you correctly and efficiently on test day!


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Coriander Seed Essential Oil
Certified Organic
- Coriandrum sativum
- Origin: Hungary
Parts Used
Extraction Method
Steam distilled
Note Classification
Sweet, spicy, woody, slight fruity top note
Generally used as a middle note in aromatherapy blends, the unique aroma of this oil is fun to play with in aromatherapy blends. It can support citrus notes, enhance spicy blends, and add an interesting earthy tone to other oils.
1/2 oz., 1 oz., and 2 oz. essential oils are packaged in amber glass bottles with drop reducers for easy application. Larger sizes are packaged in amber screw cap bottles and do not come with reducers or droppers.
linalool, α- and β-pinene, and γ-terpinene.
Blends Well With
Bergamot, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clary sage, clove, cypress, frankincense, geranium, ginger, grapefruit, jasmine, lemon, neroli, nutmeg, orange, palmarosa, petitgrain, pine, sandalwood, vetiver, ylang ylang
Herbal Miscellany
All parts of the coriander plant are used in cooking. The seed is found in many Indian dishes. The root is found in Asian dishes, and the leaf or cilantro is found in Mexican dishes.
Oil Specific: None known.
General: As with all essential oils, never use them undiluted, in eyes or mucus membranes. Do not take internally unless working with a qualified and expert practitioner. Keep away from children. If applying an essential oil to your skin always perform a small patch test to an insensitive part of the body (after you have properly diluted the oil in an appropriate carrier).
For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.


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Registration for the SWARM
The Sacramento State Athletics Department is excited to announce the launch of the new student spirit group, The SWARM (formerly known as the Green Army). The group focuses on promoting school spirit through the organized support of all Sacramento State athletics teams. To fully participate, students will need to register as SWARM members. Membership is free.
Membership Benefits include:
• Official SWARM t-shirt each year throughout your academic career
• Priority seating at all home athletic events
• Opportunity to participate in exclusive halftime contests
• Invitations to special SWARM socials and events
• Exclusive road trips to away sport events (example: Causeway Classic games at UC Davis)
• The SWARM newsletter with updates about gameday and other events and offers.
• As always, students get free admission to all Sacramento State home games with a valid One Card.
Don't miss out on the action. Join The SWARM today by clicking here! You can also follow The SWARM on Instagram @theswarmsacstate
For more information about the SWARM, and how you can be involved with Sacramento State Athletics, please contact (916) 278-2222 or email email@example.com.


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With the GermanMAESTRO M-Line, you get the concert hall, the festival stage, the unplugged-gig and all your other favorite songs directly into your car – in a breathtaking quality.
German Maestro MS 64.3 Active
The ultimate sound experience without compromise
The M-Line represents the top end product you can get from GermanMAESTRO right now. All the knowledge about speaker engineering and all the experience and skills in manufacturing high-end loudspeakers are combined in this product.The result is a high-end audio system in an impressively high series production quality, which is usually just known for products coming from small manufactures. Proudly, we manufacture this high-end audio system in our factory in Obrigheim, Germany. All build parts we are using are strictly selected.Each driver is handmade with great passion and attention to detail.After the final assembling, each driver passes a very accurate quality control with precise frequency response measuring to ensure that each M-Line system which is leaving our company will sound a 100% like the series reference sample and thus have a constantly high sound quality.In order to achieve an outstanding sound performance and a surprising high power handling, we are using several exclusive technologies which make the M-Line become such a superb sounding and performing audio system.Most of those technologies have been simulated with the finite element method (FEM), a numerical procedure for solving differential equations. By using this method in combination with a lot of experience, the M-Line is one of the most noble and best performing aftermarket car-hifi systems in the world.As a result, the listener will experience breathtaking fine resolution with amazing attention to detail, an impressive dynamic range with immediate response, a very well balanced tonality over the whole frequency range (28Hz – 32.000Hz) and a very solid sound stage with very precise positioning.
- Mô tả
Mô tả sản phẩm
Mô tả sản phẩm
Technical Data
Diameter T/W:
40 mm (1.6") / 10 cm (4") / 16 cm (6.5")
Power Handling:
90 W RMS / 295 W Max.
Freq. Response:
28 – 32.000 Hz
Crossover Frequency:
209 / 2.350 Hz 12dB / 12dB / 12dB / 12dB
86 dB (2,83V/1m)
1) Tweeter
UltraSphere™ technology for extraordinary wide sound irradiation
Nano-ceramic coating on the tweeter dome for minimizing reflections at high frequencies
FEM calculated tweeter dome geometry for best possible force transmission from the voice coil to the tweeter dome
High power neodymium magnet system for best efficiency
0,75mm² connection cable for a lossless connection
The MT 40 WS with UltraSphere™ technology is a very high-resolution tweeter and one important component of the M-Line.
2) Midrange & Woofer Drivers
Nano-ceramic coating to minimize distortions and support the membranes
FEM calculated membranes for a high-end linear frequency response
25mm / 38mm edge wound voice coils for a high power handling
Gold coated connection terminals for an optimum connection to the speaker cable
Compact, high efficiency neodymium magnet system with FEM calculated t-yoke geometry to increase efficiency and linear travel of the voice coil
Aluminum basket with CTC technology for optimum heat removal and best performance
The MM 4008 midrange driver and the MW 6508 woofer driver are using nano-ceramic coated polypropylene membranes with an optimized geometry.


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Beatified 1929
Canonised 1970
Feast 19th July
St John Plessington is one of two Shrewsbury saints to be canonised among the 40 martyrs of England and Wales in 1970, the other being St Margaret Ward. He is also one of six of the 40 martyred after they were accused of treason in the "Popish Plot", which had been fabricated by Titus Oates, and which led to the deaths of more than 25 innocent Catholics in the late part of the 17th century.
Although he was born in Dimples, near Garstang, Lancashire, St John exercised his ministry in Cheshire and North Wales, and he was hanged, drawn and quartered on 19th July 1679 at Boughton Cross, overlooking the River Dee at West Chester. What is remarkable about his execution is that St John wrote his speech for the scaffold ahead of his death. It was later printed and copies still exist. According to Butler's Lives of the Saints the speech represents "a particularly clear statement of denial in the face of death of the charges upon which he was condemned", charges which, had they been true, would have made him a dangerous criminal rather than a martyr.
St John told the crowd that there was not a shred of evidence of treason against him and he was dying solely on account of his priesthood. With great fortitude, he added: "Bear witness, good hearers, that I profess that I undoubtedly and firmly believe all the articles of the Roman Catholic faith, and for the truth of any of them, by the assistance of God, I am willing to die; and I had rather die than doubt of any point of faith taught by our holy mother the Roman Catholic Church."
St John, who sometimes called himself William Pleasington or John Scarisbrick, had studied for the priesthood at the English College at Valladolid, Spain. He returned to England in 1663 and based himself largely at Puddington Hall, near Burton, Wirral, where he laboured without harassment for more than decade as chaplain to the Massey family and tutor to the children.
But in 1678 the pretended revelations of a conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and replace him with his Catholic brother James created national hysteria. In December that year they claimed their first victim, Edward Coleman, and until 1st July 1681, with the martyrdom of St Oliver Plunkett, Catholics were executed in locations all over England. According to a local tradition, St John was drawn into the plot at the insistence of a Protestant landowner simply because he had forbidden a match between his son and a Catholic heiress. Three witnesses gave false evidence of seeing St John serving as a priest: he forgave each of them by name from the scaffold.
St John was buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas's, Burton, after Puddington locals would not allow his quarters to be displayed. Attempts to locate and exhume his body, as recent as 1962, have been unsuccessful but vestments associated with him are kept at St Winefride's in Neston and a small piece of blood-stained linen is treasured as a relic in St Francis's Church in Chester.
Statues and stained-glass windows were installed in his honour in St Laurence's, Birkenhead, and St Werburgh's, Chester. He is commemorated in St John Plessington College, Bebington, Wirral.
The image pictured above right, of a stained glass window in St Winefride's Church, Holywell, depicts St John ministering to a kneeling woman then giving his speech on the day of his execution.
Sources: Butler's Lives of the Saints; Memoirs of Missionary Priests by Bishop Richard Challoner, Nine Martyrs of Shrewsbury Diocese by Kevin Byrne, and The Popish Plot by John Kenyon.