Free Republic

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told a special session of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "assembly" in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday, Pakistan's independence day, that India had plans to attack PoK and that Islamabad would "fight till the end" to counter that. Khan also tweeted separately that RSS's ideology was "as dangerous" as that of the Nazis and that the withdrawal of Article 370 was RSS's "final solution". The "prime minister" of PoK, Raja Farooq Haider, meanwhile, said at the same session that PoK would soon issue a notification - after bringing a resolution in the assembly - renaming the Line of...

The Rediff Special/Mohammad Shehzad in Muzaffarabad 'The quake has strengthened jehad' October 15, 2005 Mohammad Shehzad was among the first Pakistani journalists to reach Muzaffarabad, which was levelled by the October 8 earthquake. In his travels around the region, he discovers that the well-organised rescue operations mounted by the jehadi outfits is winning them the gratitude, and thus support, of the people. The devastating earthquake of October eight has left parts of Pakistan resembling Afghanistan outside Kabul. There is no civil administration and no law and order in place. In a nutshell, it is kind of a civil war. What...

Bin Laden doctor joins ‘jihadi’ relief work A Pakistani doctor who once treated Osama bin Laden is among hundreds of volunteers from an Islamic group who are participating in relief work in quake-hit areas of Pakistan and Kashmir. "We have sent 50 trucks carrying relief goods to Kashmir and those areas of north-western Pakistan where the quake killed thousands of people," said Yahya Mujahid, spokesman for Jamat-e-Dawad group, which describes itself as a charity. The group is headed by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, a senior cleric who founded the anti-India Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in 1989. Lashkar-e-Tayyaba was banned by Pakistani president Pervez...

The Rediff Special/Mohammad Shehzad Muzaffarabad is no more October 14, 2005 Mohammad Shehzad was among the first Pakistani journalists to visit Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which was totally razed by the October 8 earthquake. Relief has been slow and scarce. And nearly a week after the tremblor, he found a man digging through the rubble of his house for the bodies of his loved ones. Six days have passed since the devastating earthquake shattered Muzaffarabad. Most buildings in Azad Kashmir have been pulled down and those with cracks will have to be pulled down. In fact, entire Muzaffarabad...

MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 10: This capital of Azad Kashmir of 0.2 million is no more a city of the living. It is almost a graveyard now. Bodies can be seen everywhere, on roads, streets and under the debris of devastated buildings. There are no medicines and food available and people fight over limited stocks. People have to spend their nights under the open sky and some in their vehicles. There are no tents, no food and no drinking water. Thousands of people are still alive under the debris and fallen building structures. “I am alive. Pull me out for God’s...

First Kashmir bus sets off from Indian city SRINAGAR, India, April 7 (Reuters) - A bus garlanded with orange marigolds set off from the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday carrying passengers bound for the Pakistani side of the territory for first time in nearly 60 years. The bus, launching a historic service linking the Himalayan region divided since 1947, was sent off by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Kashmir's main city Srinagar, bound for Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. "The caravan of peace has started," Singh told thousands of Kashmiris who had gathered in a heavily guarded stadium...