‘If you carry out a suicide attack, you will not die’

If you carry out a suicide attack, you will not die’
* Pakistani teenager detained in Afghanistan narrates how he was brainwashed by clerics
Daily Times, May 28, 2008

KABUL: A 14-year-old Pakistani “suicide bomber”, who is currently in an Afghan intelligence agency’s detention, was convinced by clerics that if he carried out a suicide attack, he would not die, according to a report published in Chicago Tribune on Tuesday.

Shakirullah, who is from Barwan village in North Waziristan, said he agreed to carry out a suicide attack on foreign troops in Afghanistan.

“They said, ‘They’re only foreigners. They’ll die, and you won’t’,” he told the newspaper correspondent, referring to his clerics.

He said he did not know how to drive a car or read a book, and that his only schooling was four months in an Islamic madrassa. Shakir was arrested allegedly in a car filled with explosives.

The report said that it was impossible for the Tribune reporter to independently verify the story because Western journalists were not allowed to visit the Tribal Areas. But it added that Shakir told the tale of his recruitment willingly and calmly, under no apparent pressure.

Intelligence sources said they don’t yet know what will happen to Shakir. If he is sent to Pakistan, he could be killed or recruited again, the report said.

“Everyone is so sad about this kid,” said one Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his job.

The boy said he was recruited in March by two clerics from his madrassa, just after he finished learning to recite the Quran.

Because the book is in Arabic, Shakir said he had no idea what any of the words meant, but the clerics told him the next step to becoming a good Muslim was to blow himself up near foreign forces in Afghanistan.

The report quoted Shakir as saying that his clerics had told him that if he was a good Muslim, he would survive the attack. When he came home, he would be well paid and have everything he wanted.

“They said it was required because I finished the Quran,” Shakir said. “I didn’t want to go. They didn’t let me talk to my family,” he added.

He said he was driven across the border to Khost, an eastern Afghan city near the border and a US military base.

Shakir said that a medical student from another Afghan city and a cleric showed him several times how to drive a car and took him to sermons for three nights.

But before Shakir could launch an attack - on March 20, to coincide with the Afghan New Year - the explosives-filled car stalled in a dry riverbed.

Afghan security forces stumbled upon it and arrested Shakir, the cleric and the medical student.

Shakir said he doesn’t want to attack anyone anymore. “I don’t even know what jihad is,” he said. “I really want to go home.”

Tanda mey mata shwa "تنده مې ماته شوه"

د عبدالهادي حېران د لنډو کيسو لومړنۍ ټولګه د "تنده مې ماته شوه" په نوم تازه په پېښور کې چاپ او خپره شوه. دا ټولګه چې د افغان خپرندويې ټولنې لخوا خپره شوې، سپين کاغذ او زړه راښکونکې سرپاڼه لري او ټولې پکې لس لنډې کيسې خپرې شوې دي چې اته د ليکوال خپلې او دوه د اردو او انګليسي ژبو څخه ژباړې دي.

د عبدالهادي حېران لدې وړاندې د "پښتو په انټرنېټ کې" په نوم يو بل کتاب هم خپور شوى دى. په راتلونکي وخت کې به يې څو نور کتابونه: (١) انګليسي – پښتو متلونه، (٢) ناول، (٣) تکلونه او خاکې، (٤) د انګليسي د پخولو لارښود، (٥) تحليلي ليکنې او نور اثار هم خپاره شي.

د دې ټولو کتابونو د ترلاسه کولو، يا وړانديزونو او مشورو او يا هم د کمپوزنګ او ژباړې د خدماتو لپاره په لاندې تليفون شمېرو او برېښناليک باندې تماس نيولاى شئ.

جلال اباد : (شفيع الله مصور) 0700-676273

پېښور: (يونيورسټي بک اېجنسي) 091-2212534
(ع. حېران) 0332-9198722

برېښناليک: ahhairan@gmail


More Deatil :http://www.khyberwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3713

Celebrated Pushto singer living a miserable life

Celebrated Pushto singer living a miserable life

Chief Minister Pakhtunkhwa Mr. Ameer Haider Khan Hoti giving away a cheque amount to Rs. One Lakh to renowned Fold Singer Badshah Zarin jan at his office after a news article was published in the Daily The News Internatonal yesterday.zahid>khyberwatch.com


Article goes here;

Celebrated Pushto singer living a miserable life



Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tauseef-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: Once rightly considered the queen of Pushto ghazal, Bacha Zareen Jan, who was awarded ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz’ for enthralling music lovers for four decades, is now living a miserable life; thanks to Philistinism displayed by the people at the helm of the affairs.

The melody queen, who ruled minds and hearts of the millions, has now become a perfect example of the Pakhtun psyche noted by famous Pushto poet Ghani Khan in his book ‘The Pathans’, in which he says, “Pakhtuns love music but hate musicians.”

Born in village Kalpanay, Par Hoti, Mardan, in 1942, Zareen Jan lives along with her nephew in a small two-room rented house in Peshawar. The legendry singer started her career at age 7 when she gave her first performance in a programme aired by Radio Pakistan in 1949.

She has the singular talent of having sung Pushto, Hindko, Punjabi, Seraiki, Potohari, Urdu and Persian songs. Later, she decided for a career in singing but was only after she sung ‘Gila da Khpalo keegi Nakri sook da pradoo na gila’ (complains are made to near ones and not to aliens or unknown) that she came to the limelight. “The song became a hit at that time and won appreciation from all and sundry,” she recalled while talking to The News.

Zareen Jan, commonly known as Bibi Gul, sang thousands of Pashto songs for radio, television and stage, few of which including ‘Za Pana Walarha yama’ Halaka balai ma narhawa Leeday ma na shay, ‘Ma pre sezi, zee pa makizoono yara’ and ‘Allah ho sha Allah ho’ are still fresh in people’s minds and are being hummed even today.

She was the first woman Pushto singer who passed secondary school examination from a local school. Zareen Jan said she got initial music lessons from her elder sister Dilbar Jan Balelai and later on Ustad Pazir Khan-the father of famous Sarinda virtuoso, Munir Sarhadi groomed her talent. Ghulam Farid was her mentor in Urdu singing.

She also performed at All India Radio, Delhi. Apart from singing Bibi Gul played central role in radio dramas like Jalat Khan-Mahbooba and Sher Alam Mamoonai. Bibi Gul won plaudits from her admirers. In addition to dozens of awards and certificates, she was decorated with ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz’ on March 23, 2000 for her enormous contribution to Pushto music.

Zareen Jan sang national songs for country’s troops during the 1965 and 71 Pak-India wars. “At that time only live programmes used to be aired so I remained at radio station round-the-clock,” she recalled. She also worked with famous radio producers like Ashraf Maftoon, Arbab Rashid, Younis Sethi and directors like Rashid Ali Khan. She has worked with renowned musicians including Sham Lal, Ustad Pazir Khan and Daulat Khan

Speaking of the present-day Pushto music, she said singers today used old tunes. “There is no creativity except the remixes. New experiments should be done but according to the trend of Pushto music prevalent in our society,” she said.

Zareen Jan did not marry and dedicated her life to Pushto music. As is the fate of other artistes in our country, she is now living a quiet and miserable life in Gulbahar. She has been fighting various diseases for the last so many years. The monthly stipend (Rs2,500) that the culture department used to give her has also been stopped for the last one and half year.

A few days back NWFP culture minister Syed Aqil Shah visited Zareen Jan’s home. Besides giving her Rs3,000 from his pocket he assured her that her stipend would be restarted soon. He promised that the government would try to acquire a plot of land for her.

Interestingly, the visit of the cultural minister to Zareen Jan house invited more trouble for her. When the news of provincial minister’s visit appeared in newspapers, people who had given loans to Zareen Jan from time to time started thronging her rented home to demand a recovery of their loans.

“The minister gave me Rs3,000 and assurances for resolving my miseries but the people think as if I got some hefty amount of the government, which is not the case,” she clarified. Artistes of other provinces received admiration as well as monetary benefits from the government while those from NWFP were always neglected, she complained. She urged the authorities concerned to help her and provide a house where she could live with honour.

The last five years of anti-cultural and anti-entertainment government of MMA dealt a serious blow to the cultural atmosphere of the province. Now, as the nationalist party which claims to be champion of safeguarding Pakhtuns rights was at the helm should provide relief to people who in their own capacity worked for the promotion of Pushto language