The release of Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafeez Muhammad Saeed, hardcore Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdullah Aziz, and now Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed chief Sufi Mohammad has cast serious doubts over Pakistan's claims that it is seriously acting against the Taliban and other home grown terror outfits, a senior US intelligence official has said.
Pakistani authorities and the local Taliban have agreed to a ceasefire in the troubled Swat valley following peace talks between militants and religious hardliners, a top official said on Saturday. Syed Mohammad Javed, the commissioner for Malakand division which includes Swat, told reporters that the security forces and the Taliban would observe the truce. He made the announcement after meeting Maulana Sufi Mohammad, a hardline cleric who is negotiating with the militants.
Moulana Naseeruddin, a popular cleric, and 13 other youth were arrested by the Gujarat Police in 2003-2004 and lodged in the Sabarmati jail for almost six years, as the trial in POTA court dragged on.
Kalyan Singh, who was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister at the time of demolition of the Babri Masjid, on Tuesday suggested a negotiated settlement of the vexed Ram Janmbhomi-Babri Masjid tangle. Singh, who quit the BJP on Tuesday, said that when he was the chief minister, he had initiated steps to this effect but before a settlement could be reached, his government had to go.
Aiming at a "decisive" victory over the Taliban, Pakistan on Thursday pressed with air and ground operation in the north-western tribal belt, where fierce fighting killed nine soldiers and 14 militants, including a son of a hardline cleric who negotiated the Swat peace deal.
A delegation of Imams on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and urged him to help restore calm in the Kashmir Valley which is witnessing turmoil following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.
Heavily armed Taliban on Friday began pulling out from the strategic Buner town and were returning to their bastion in Swat valley after a deal was brokered by hardline cleric Sufi Mohammed, amid intense global pressure on Pakistan over the presence of militants so close to Islamabad.
The planned 3 per cent increase in pay would be across executives, middle management, supervisory and clerical positions, global consulting firm Hay Group said in a recent report.
Among the 23 American CIA officers convicted by an Italian court on Wednesday for their role in the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in 2003, is the Mumbai-born Sabrina deSousa. Abu Omar was kidnapped from Milan, Italy, as part of the CIA's 'rendition' programme, and was held in Egypt for four years where he says he was repeatedly tortured by interrogators. He was never charged with a crime, and was ultimately set free
Four days after a peace pact was inked between religious hardliners and the North West Frontier Province government, leading cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad is yet to make Taliban leaders accept the deal, to enforce Islamic laws in the violence-hit Swat valley.Mohammad, who has been holding talks with Taliban leaders, on Friday met its commander Maulana Fazlullah, who is his son-in-law, for direct talks as reports said the Taliban was demanding the withdrawal of security forces.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan was committed to the implementation of UNSC 1267 sanctions regime and has taken several steps in this regard.
'People are much more afraid,' Salman Rushdie said, speaking of the years following the fatwa Iranian clerics had declared against him. 'There has been a chilling effect. Now people think twice before they make... almost any remark about Islam. They think twice in case somebody decides to be offended.'
Students seek transparency! Want to know the real reason for the revision in the results of the final ICAI-conducted CA exam.
From banking to teaching, the list covers all.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and fiery cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri have been booked under the anti-terrorist act for attempting to attack Pakistan's parliament.
Taliban forces in Pakistan have announced a ten-day ceasefire in the restive north western Swat valley, as peace talks between a senior cleric and local authorities are believed to have struck a deal to enforce Shariah laws in some parts of the region.The announcement of the truce came a day after a Chinese engineer, abducted by the Taliban six months back, was set free in Swat as a 'goodwill gesture'.
A Muslim cleric of the Jama Masjid in Bharatpur has been detained for interrogation in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts that killed 66 people, the police said on Monday. Mohamaad Ilyas, the Imam of the Jama Masjid, was detained on Friday and had been taken to Jaipur for further investigations by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Circle Officer (City) Ratan Lal Bhargava said.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi claimed in a rally in Indore that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was trying to recruit disgruntled riot-affected youngsters to carry out its nefarious plans. Vicky Nanjappa finds out the truth behind his statement
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who have extended support to the Congress to form the government in the state, were not present.
The Afghanistan government has ordered private TV stations in the war-ravaged country to stop broadcasting popular Indian soap operas by April 15, a move that apparently reflected the growing influence of hardliners who criticised the serials as being 'un-Islamic'. Several private Afghan TV channels, including Tolo, Ariana and Shamshad, broadcast the Indian soap operas dubbed in Pashto and Persian. Action will be taken against TV channels that do not stop airing the serails.
The 72-year-old master strategist ensured that the Congress's internal conflict ended and took on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shivraj Singh Chouhan -- the state's longest ever serving chief minister.
Rouhani, who is on his maiden visit, will meet President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday and will discuss cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
The Pakistan Army on Sunday launched a fresh drive against pro-Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat region amidst indications that the security forces would adopt a tougher approach against the ultras in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Imams in Uttar Pradesh have been asked to give special discourses after Friday prayers to apprise Muslims that Quran does not approve of any kind of terror activity, a step aimed at checking their exploitation by militant outfits, in the name of Islam. Ulemas (Muslim scholars) under the banner of 'Movement Against Terrorism', which was formed after a meeting of Muslim clerics and scholars in February, have sent letters to imams throughout the state.
The founder of the dreaded terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed undergoes regular dialysis at an army hospital in Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
The fuel price hike for the last 16 days had caused inconvenience and disappointment among the general public.
Television is a tool of enjoyment and most widely used for 'prohibited' things and impossible to use 'without a sin,' says a fatwa by Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, a view brushed aside by three influential Muslim organisations.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday said there was no scope of change in the triple talaq system and rejected the suggestion by some community outfits for building a consensus on making a three-month period mandatory before finalisation of divorce.
A prominent Muslim cleric on Wednesday asked the government to order a high-level inquiry into the activities of the saffron outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, accusing them 'of playing a role in the recent terror attacks' in the country.Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in New Delhi, raised the demand during a meeting he had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning.
He said that Taslima should tender a written apology for all her 'anti-Islamic publications as per the traditions of the Holy Prophet'. He also sought an assurance from the writer that in the future, she will desist from writing 'blasphemous' material.
Tension continues to simmer in Pakistan's Swat valley with fresh troop build-up while the extremists loyal to pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah have released 48 captured soldiers.
A fragile truce in the Swat valley of northwest Pakistan collapsed on Wednesday as troops targeted militant hideouts with artillery and helicopter gunships, killing at least 20 insurgents. The attacks on armed followers of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah in and around Matta were launched after the militants carried out overnight attacks on police posts near Kabal and Saidu Sharif, officials said.
Police and paramilitary troops set up security posts and bunkers protected by sandbags in Kabal, a small town near Maulana Fazlullah's stronghold at Imamdheri.
A pro-Taliban cleric's militant followers on Saturday clashed with security forces at several places in Swat valley of northwest Pakistan leaving up to 15 people dead, a day after troops backed by helicopter gunships attacked a seminary run by him. The skirmishes erupted after security forces attacked Maulana Fazlullah's sprawling madrassa at Imamdheri, three kilometres from Mingora, the headquarters of Swat district in North West Frontier Province.
The EU too urged Pak to ensure "safe and secure conditions" for the polls.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, an 89-year old largest such Islamic body in the country that issued a 'fatwa' signed by 6,000 Muslim clerics in Hyderabad ten days ago against terrorism, on Monday moved the Supreme Court for release of a large number of Muslim youths held in connections with blasts in Malegaon in 2001, 2006 and 2008.
The iftar will be attended by Shia cleric and religious leader Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Christian priest Anand John, Sikh leader Gurcharan Jeet Singh and Sandip Pandey, Magsaysay award winner and convenor of National Alliance for People's Movement
The 21-day coronavirus lockdown in force since Wednesday has triggered a mass exodus of migrant workers across the country since the last few days.
Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch who was killed for bringing "shame" to the family by posting risque videos and posts on Facebook was strangled to death by her cousin and not by her brother, a polygraph test found on Saturday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances