More arrogance from Arabs

[flameboard]

The truth is militancy is a hard thing to fight. Pakistan army is among the most powerful armies in the world and it as lots of experience. I think the Arabs desperately need Pakistan to win this for them, plus they're used to making others do their work. If they lose their own people in fighting it'll be hard for them to have local support

 

[Daneshmand]

That's extremely insulting.

By the way, did you note the whip in his other hand?

Now that is something, worrying.

 

[VelocuR]

By the way, did you note the whip in his other hand?

Now that is something, worrying.

I see, it look like AK-47 or something gun. Whip should look like long stick.

 

[Daneshmand]

I see, it look like AK-47 or something gun. Whip should look like long stick.

Even more worrying sign.

 

[SipahSalar]

Hilarious from a Bahraini paper, where the rulers are by and large hated by the majority Shia population and depend on Saudi troops, and firepower to hold the feeble hold they have over the country together.

Yar these are just cartoonists. Check dawn newspaper, probably hte most reputable in Pakistan, they have been making interesting cartoons regarding Arabs too, some are pure insulting.

 

[A1Kaid]

That's extremely insulting.

Who cares? Are you that sensitive that some cartoon offends you? Should PAF conduct airstrikes on KSA because of this cartoon and salvage pride of Pakistan? These are nonsense things to get mad over. Arab coalition has been smacked hard enough with a unanimous no vote coming from Pakistani parliament. Let them make all the cartoons they want, they don't reflect reality.

Fact is by their own admission of asking Pakistan for help the Arab countries admit they are weak, lack military experience, and lack the martial spirit for war. The fact they ask Pakistan shows they view Pakistan as a capable military power. They would not ask a weak military power for assistance.

Pakistanis have been the most successful fighters in Arab military campaigns whether it be PAF pilots flying in Jordan and Syrian Airforce against Israeli Air Force in the 1970's or the PAF pilots in the RSAF in 1969 in aerial campaign against Yemen. Their own troops are inferior to Pakistani personnel and Arabs understand this.

If you understand Arab culture and history you would know them asking for help in a war means you are someone they look for defense too because you are strong and capable.

 

[Mrc]

Saudis are more worried about iran starting a civil war in kingdom through iraq and their proxies in iraq....saudi has alarge shia population in border areas of iraq...

This is exactly what they are being re assured for. From joint statement of national assembly to address by PM yesterday; a threat to saudi integrity will not be tolerated...


Pakistan is only military to fall back on as their local population wont allow US boots on ground.

Now no body can expect houthis to march on to saudia... its iran via iraqi route which is bothering saudia
Also pakistan can neutralize iran using tactical battlefield nukes......in minutes....
Some thing US can also do but will than probably keep all the oil for them selves.
Now these HOT HEADED ARAB jahlia dont realise how grave the situation is and how much pak is important for them

 

[Al Bhatti]

Thought I'd just share something from Arab media about Pakistan now that our leaders have dared to disagree with these Arab supremacists.

Pakistani Blackmail

“MAY God bless difficulties that made me differentiate my friends from enemies.” This part of a poem is applicable to some countries whose leaders released statements to express their true position shortly after the ‘Operation Decisive Storm’ began. They thought they could use this sensitive period in the history of the Arabian Gulf as an investment.

These countries imagined that the issue will be limited to issuing statements and nothing else, but they failed in the examination. This is exactly the situation of Pakistan whose government opted to join the Arab-Islamic coalition without any official request from the coalition.

When GCC countries decided to face the challenge of Iran in Yemen, they were aware that the responsibility to secure the region rests on them alone and this is the reason why they did not wait for anybody to take the lead before they attacked.

Through parliamentary voting, Pakistan took a position to remain neutral in what they call as “Confrontation in Yemen”. This action has exposed the mask of blackmail under the slogan of protecting Islamic sanctuaries and unity of fate between Islamabad and Riyadh. The slogan has become a tool for political blackmail under the illusion that it could be used to revive the distressed economy.

Meanwhile, the GCC countries are aware right from the start that assistance offered to the country is meant to extinguish the fire of extremism which is widespread in the region and to assist Islamabad in overcoming poverty. This is because poverty is the main reason for some countries’ inability to control activities of terrorists, which threaten security of the Arabian Gulf and Islamic nations.

Reviewing the military history is necessary for Pakistan to abandon its illusion of being a superpower in the Islamic world. It was defeated in all wars, starting from the war against India that led to the birth of Bangladesh in 1970 until the war against Taleban whose terrorist activities Pakistan could not curtail. We possibly can understand why it bows for Iran due to fear of another defeat in its border with the Mullah regime, which is experienced in incubating extremist groups.

Undoubtedly, the Pakistani leadership made a mistake of betting on Iran and getting scared of Iran, because it will sooner or later discover that Iran boasting of ammunition and missile capabilities, as well as the nuclear program, is just playing games. This is more noticeable in the fact that Iran is a paper tiger in the hour of truth as regards to full discovery of its nuclear program, which the international community will surely follow to discover the ballistic missiles program.

Pakistan, like other countries, will realize that the nuclear program is only a false propaganda — similar to that of Saddam Hussein 12 years after he was pulled out of Kuwait. His armies were defeated within a short period and the US tanks entered Baghdad a few days after the Liberation War started in Iraq.

GCC countries do not need Pakistan but the latter needs these countries in various ways. They are capable of securing their territories by forming alliances with other Arab nations like Jordan and Egypt, while the international allies support them politically and militarily. This is the reason why Iran ran helter-skelter across the world to stop the Determination Storm as a measure to protect its children in Yemen, which it bred like Hassan Nasrallah and his gangs that were trained for crisis and terrorism in Lebanon. It believes that ensuring Houthis to remain in Yemen could be a source of threat to the region, but it will be disappointed the same way it was in other cases.

Lest we forget that Islamabad should be wary of the Iranian plans, especially the efforts of Iran to scare the world with its military capabilities. The so-called strength has been exposed at the Bahraini doorstep, while it could not touch the Eastern part of Saudi Arabia and it is unable to maintain stability in Yemen.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah


Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

Pakistani blackmail

Just look at the tone of these Bedouins, look how quickly they show their true colours. Lakh lanat on any Pakistani still falling over themselves to kiss their behinds. It's funny he talks about all the wars and crises, I wonder where these ******* were during war with India or the issue of Kashmir.

If I remember correctly he was given a 1 year imprisonment and 2000 KWD fine for blasphemy. He does not have a good reputation amongst the Kuwaitis themselves.

 

[New World]

1300 year ago a young Arab aged 17 years old attack subcontinent and conquer 1/3 of the land within few months. And
now Arabs Military is the most incompetent force in the region,

 

[JamD]

1300 year ago a young Arab aged 17 years old attack subcontinent and conquer 1/3 of the land within few months. And
now Arabs Military is the most incompetent force in the region,

The First Pakistani?
Ever since the early 1970s, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), has been frequently organising ‘Yaum Babul Islam’ — an event in which the party celebrates the conquest of Sindh by Arab commander Mohammad Bin Qasim (in the 8th century CE), explaining it as the ‘advent of Islam in South Asia’.

Speakers at this event also describe Qasim as the ‘first Pakistani’ and then trace and place the creation of Pakistan to the arrival of the Arab commander 1,300 years ago.

Curiously, the JI was originally opposed to the man who actually created Pakistan (in 1947): Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Overplayed or underplayed by historians and scholars, this general from Arabia remains a mystery to many
JI’s founder, Abul Ala Maududi, had found Jinnah to be steeped in the ‘Western notion’ of nationalism and too Westernised to deliver and head a Muslim state.

So one can suppose that the whole idea of an ancient Arab commander being posthumously raised to become the main architect of what hundreds of years later would become Pakistan, is more in tune with JI’s Arab-centric concept of Pakistani nationhood.

But it wasn’t really the JI that had first initiated the idea of dressing up an 8th century Arab as the true founder of Pakistan. This impression which, from the late 1970s onwards, has found ample space in the country’s school text books, was first alluded to in a 1953 book, Five Years of Pakistan.

The book was published by the government to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Pakistan. In a chapter authored by archaeologists associated with a state-funded archaeology project, the authors describe Sindh (after it was invaded by Qasim), ‘as the first Islamic province in South Asia’.

In a recent detailed essay on the subject, Manan Ahmed Asif (a professor of history at Columbia University), informs that although allusions to Qasim being the ‘first Pakistani’ can be found in various publications after 1953, he was first officially adopted as the ‘first citizen of Pakistan’ in Fifty Years of Pakistan published by the Federal Bureau of Pakistan in 1998.

The whole notion of Qasim’s invasion of Sindh being the genesis of a separate Muslim state in South Asia was first imagined by a handful of Pakistani archaeologists in 1953.

It then found its way into the narrative of religious parties such as the JI, before being weaved into school text books (by the populist Z.A. Bhutto regime) due to the severe existential crisis that the country faced after its Eastern wing (former East Pakistan) broke away in December 1971 to become Bangladesh.

The notion was then aggressively promoted by the reactionary Ziaul Haq dictatorship (1977-1988), as a way to explain Pakistan as a nation that had deeper roots in the ancient deserts of Arabia than in the congested expanses of South Asia.

What’s most interesting is the fact that as far as the region’s history is concerned, or even that of the Arabs, Qasim’s foray into Sindh was not quite the significant event it is made up to be.

Professor Manan speaks of a silence that usually greets historians when they go looking for ancient sources about the event; there are almost none. This gives rise to the question, if Qasim’s invasion of Sindh was such a grand undertaking, why is it only scarcely mentioned in the available textual sources from the period?

The earliest available source to mention the invasion is the 9th century book Kitab Futuh al-Buldan by Arab historian al-Baladhuri. It was written more than a hundred years after the invasion.

Then there is also the 13th century Persian text called Chachnama that was authored almost 400 years after Qasim’s forces arrived on the shores of Sindh.

When historians such a Prof Manan and Dr Mubarak Ali piece together whatever little early sources there are about the event, it transpires that the Arabs had first begun to exhibit interest in Sindh in 634 AD.

The Umayyads (the first major Muslim empire), sent troops to conquer Sindh on a number of occasions between 644 AD and 710 AD. Most of these raids were repulsed by local tribes, even though at times Arab armies did manage to hold on to Makran (south of Sindh), but not for long.

The reasons for the Umayyad to enter the region were many: it was a rapidly expanding empire and wanted to get a toehold in the region. It wanted to gain control of the region’s lucrative port trade. It also sent in troops to crush renegades and rebels that used to escape to Makran from the Umayyad mainland, sometimes to hide and sometimes to organise attacks against the empire from here. Such rebels included the radical Kharajites who had established a clandestine foothold in Makran.

The popular narrative found in most post-9th century Muslim history books about Qasim’s invasion sees him being sent here by Umayyad governor in Baghdad to avenge the plundering of Arab ships by Sindh’s pirates and the refusal of Sindh’s ruler, Raja Dahir, to do anything about it.

Historians such as Dr Mubarak Ali and Prof Manan who have tried to substantiate this narrative with the help of authentic sources have found only sketchy evidence to validate this account.

Manan concludes: ‘Qasim’s expedition was merely the latest in a 60-year long campaign by Arab regimes to gain a foothold over the port trades and to extract riches from these port communities (in Sindh and Makran) …’

Qasim’s supposedly genesis-like manoeuvres in Sindh are also largely a myth. In 731 when al-Hakim al-Kalbi was appointed governor of Sindh (some 20 years after Qasim’s death), he found a land where a majority of those who had converted to Islam (during Qasim’s stay here), had reverted back to being either Hindu or Buddhist. So much for Qasim’s Sindh being the genesis of Pakistan.

The question now is if Qasim’s invasion was comparatively a minor historical event, how did it become so inflated?

We have already seen how and why it gained such an existential significance in Pakistan. It was almost forgotten about for hundreds of years, even during much of the 500-year long Muslim rule in India.

Interest in Qasim was ironically reignited by British colonialists in the 19th century. British author, James Mill, in his book The History of British India (1817), mentions Qasim as an invader who created a rupture in the region.

Hill presents very little evidence but his lead was followed by other British authors of the era who all saw Qasim as the man who opened the gates for hoards of Muslim invaders to pour in and destroy the Indian civilisation.

This narrative of a bloodletting Qasim was then picked up by early Hindu nationalists, some of whom who had largely forgotten about this 8th century Arab!

A couple of 19th century Muslim historians, Syed Suleman Nadvi and Mohammad Hanif responded by offering a more studied look at Qasim’s invasion, describing it as nothing like the one that was being peddled by the British colonialists and early Hindu nationalists.

They portrayed Qasim as a just, tolerant and gallant man. Both these versions of the man emerged from the highly polemical debate on Qasim’s invasion that erupted in the 19th century between the British, Hindu and Muslim historians.

The truth is, to non-aligned history, Qasim remains to be an enigmatic figure of which sources say very little. But ever since the 19th century, he has become an overtly glorious myth to some, and an equally mythical force of destruction to others. Historical truth has nothing to do with either version.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 12th, 2015



Not so sure. As a grow older I'm inclined more and more to question the history that is taught to us in school and increasingly it just sounds like our love affair with 'being and glorifying Arabs'. But yes your point wasn't about this but about the decline of their military prowess. I agree with that. How can I not. Aish o Ishrat main yehi hoti hai. Same with the mughals.

 

[SrNair]

Thought I'd just share something from Arab media about Pakistan now that our leaders have dared to disagree with these Arab supremacists.

Pakistani Blackmail

“MAY God bless difficulties that made me differentiate my friends from enemies.” This part of a poem is applicable to some countries whose leaders released statements to express their true position shortly after the ‘Operation Decisive Storm’ began. They thought they could use this sensitive period in the history of the Arabian Gulf as an investment.

These countries imagined that the issue will be limited to issuing statements and nothing else, but they failed in the examination. This is exactly the situation of Pakistan whose government opted to join the Arab-Islamic coalition without any official request from the coalition.

When GCC countries decided to face the challenge of Iran in Yemen, they were aware that the responsibility to secure the region rests on them alone and this is the reason why they did not wait for anybody to take the lead before they attacked.

Through parliamentary voting, Pakistan took a position to remain neutral in what they call as “Confrontation in Yemen”. This action has exposed the mask of blackmail under the slogan of protecting Islamic sanctuaries and unity of fate between Islamabad and Riyadh. The slogan has become a tool for political blackmail under the illusion that it could be used to revive the distressed economy.

Meanwhile, the GCC countries are aware right from the start that assistance offered to the country is meant to extinguish the fire of extremism which is widespread in the region and to assist Islamabad in overcoming poverty. This is because poverty is the main reason for some countries’ inability to control activities of terrorists, which threaten security of the Arabian Gulf and Islamic nations.

Reviewing the military history is necessary for Pakistan to abandon its illusion of being a superpower in the Islamic world. It was defeated in all wars, starting from the war against India that led to the birth of Bangladesh in 1970 until the war against Taleban whose terrorist activities Pakistan could not curtail. We possibly can understand why it bows for Iran due to fear of another defeat in its border with the Mullah regime, which is experienced in incubating extremist groups.

Undoubtedly, the Pakistani leadership made a mistake of betting on Iran and getting scared of Iran, because it will sooner or later discover that Iran boasting of ammunition and missile capabilities, as well as the nuclear program, is just playing games. This is more noticeable in the fact that Iran is a paper tiger in the hour of truth as regards to full discovery of its nuclear program, which the international community will surely follow to discover the ballistic missiles program.

Pakistan, like other countries, will realize that the nuclear program is only a false propaganda — similar to that of Saddam Hussein 12 years after he was pulled out of Kuwait. His armies were defeated within a short period and the US tanks entered Baghdad a few days after the Liberation War started in Iraq.

GCC countries do not need Pakistan but the latter needs these countries in various ways. They are capable of securing their territories by forming alliances with other Arab nations like Jordan and Egypt, while the international allies support them politically and militarily. This is the reason why Iran ran helter-skelter across the world to stop the Determination Storm as a measure to protect its children in Yemen, which it bred like Hassan Nasrallah and his gangs that were trained for crisis and terrorism in Lebanon. It believes that ensuring Houthis to remain in Yemen could be a source of threat to the region, but it will be disappointed the same way it was in other cases.

Lest we forget that Islamabad should be wary of the Iranian plans, especially the efforts of Iran to scare the world with its military capabilities. The so-called strength has been exposed at the Bahraini doorstep, while it could not touch the Eastern part of Saudi Arabia and it is unable to maintain stability in Yemen.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah


Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

Pakistani blackmail

Just look at the tone of these Bedouins, look how quickly they show their true colours. Lakh lanat on any Pakistani still falling over themselves to kiss their behinds. It's funny he talks about all the wars and crises, I wonder where these ******* were during war with India or the issue of Kashmir.

All of yours war with India was your own creation.
Of Course GCC would have been in there for protect you even militarily If India tried to invade Pakistan.But it was the Pakistan that created all those war and so simply they couldnt interfere but yet they gave you money and oil.

 

[Hyperion]

As I keep on repeating, the greatest threat to world peace is not The Indians, The Israelis, The Ethiopians, nor The Martians, it's the Arabs. The Arabs. Get rid of them and the whole universe will be a better place!

 

[SrNair]

May they have been felt that nation having SUPAR(I)CO would help them and would be enough.

I don't know why the GCC countries don't turn to their bigger economic friend India, the Supa Powa.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I don't know why the GCC countries don't turn to their bigger economic friend India, the Supa Powa.

Oh.... India only does BUSINESS with everybody. India just has no "ummah trip" going on with anyone.
Most of all; India does not have an "Army for Rent".... that activity is for some other blokes.
Therefore.... when the Arabs want business, they come to India. But when they want "cannon-fodder", they go elsewhere!

 

[Sulman Badshah]

Et tu, Pakistan?
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Text size
Faisal J. Abbas
The record needs to be set straight on a few issues relating to the recent Pakistani parliament vote to remain neutral with regards to the war in Yemen.

First and foremost, Pakistan is a sovereign country, a close ally, a dear friend and a strategic partner to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in general. Now, there might be a few question marks around PM Nawaz Sharif’s commitment from the beginning and his decision to take the matter to parliament; however, the Pakistani people representatives have spoken and they decided that this is not their war, full-stop.

On the other hand, it is quite understandable that the decision might have shocked many observers. Given the enduring belief (or myth as it turned out to be) of Islamabad’s bottomless commitment as a military ally of the Gulf, one must also put things in perspective and not over-estimate the impact that such a decision might have on Operation Decisive Storm itself or other geo-political realities relating to Pakistan and the GCC.

Pakistan’s participation would merely be an “addition to the coalition;” however, Islamabad’s non-participation “wouldn’t affect the coalition work”

Faisal J. Abbas
As accurately pointed out by Saudi military spokesperson Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri last Friday, Pakistan’s participation would merely be an “addition to the coalition”; however, Islamabad’s non-participation “wouldn’t affect the coalition work.”

Indeed, Saudi Arabia – with more than a 100 fighters jets deployed - is very much capable to continue the airstrikes unilaterally if needed be, and the presence of three (or even a dozen) Pakistani fighter jets or a few vessels will not really make a difference.

The only situation where Pakistan’s participation might have been useful would have been if a ground operation was decided. However, as pointed out numerous times by General Asiri, there are no indications, whatsoever, at this stage that boots on the ground are required. (And if there was such a need, then Pakistani troops would certainly be an addition, but would definitely not affect the mission if Islamabad declines.)

Now as for PM Sharif’s cryptic statement yesterday, which on one hand said that Pakistan “doesn’t abandon friends and strategic partners,” but on another, upheld his parliament’s vote to remain out of the war in Yemen; such statements are similar to the meaningless ones repeated by other ‘allies’ who huffed and puffed pledging over the past few weeks not to allow any harm to fall upon Saudi Arabia and to defend the Kingdom at any cost.

Such heroic statements are certainly heart-warming, but putting aside the lip-service, what needs to be made clear is that Saudi Arabia doesn’t need help in defending itself against a militia which – if put together in one place – might struggle to fill the recently inaugurated al-Jowhara football stadium in Jeddah.

Changing dynamics
So why was Pakistan invited to join the coalition in the first place then?

First and foremost, the coalition was formed to widen the Arab, Muslim and international support for the operation which was launched in response to a plea for help by Yemen’s legitimate President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi.

Then, it is of course the Pakistani experience in combating terrorist groups and advanced military capabilities (owed to a large extent to Gulf support and aid throughout the years to help Islamabad face both regional and internal threats).

Given the border it shares with Iran, having a bigger Pakistani role in the coalition could have been an extremely useful stabilizing force which would indeed help put an end to the fighting and bring the Houthis to the negotiating table without conditions.

Saudi Arabia doesn’t need help in defending itself against a militia which – if put together in one place – might struggle to fill the recently inaugurated al-Jowhara football stadium in Jeddah

Faisal J. Abbas
However, it is also that border which it shares with Iran which should remind Pakistan of the importance of its strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia and the GCC.

Indeed, Islamabad should remember that it was the Gulf which has always been there for Pakistani leaders and politicians when they needed support, be it internally or on the international community level; also GCC countries were always there to help Pakistan financially and were the first to send aid and ease the pain after every natural disaster that has hit the country in recent years.

Despite the recent developments, it is unlikely that we will see a change in the level of commitment and care that the Gulf people have for ‘our brothers’ in Pakistan. In fact, we should make it a point to show the Pakistani people that our love for them isn’t – or ever was - a case of tit-for-tat. I think it will be very wise to reach out to the people directly (and not through politicians) from now on, this can be achieved by securing food and water, as well by helping build schools, hospitals and develop other humanitarian projects which the masses – and not the elites – will benefit from.


A Pakistani soldier carries aid supplies from Saudi Arabia, in Retra town about 55 kms north west of Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

However, what Islamabad should realize on a political level is that the region’s dynamics are changing and with Iran brazenly meddling in Iraq, Syria and Yemen; Pakistan – with its proximity to Tehran - is not immune to the threat and its best bet is to continue to be the reliable ally it has always been to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

___________
Faisal J. Abbas is the Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabiya English, he is a renowned blogger and an award-winning journalist. Faisal covered the Middle East extensively working for Future Television of Lebanon and both Al-Hayat and Asharq Al-Awsat pan-Arab dailies. He blogs for The Huffington Post since 2008, and is a recipient of many media awards and a member of the British Society of Authors, National Union of Journalists, the John Adams Society as well as an associate member of the Cambridge Union Society. He can be reached on @FaisalJAbbas on Twitter.