As we reached there, the camp presented a view similar to that when Afghan refugees first came there: long rows of tents; children in shabby clothes playing around; aid agencies distributing things; and the dwellers all complaining.

A big difference between the Afghan refugees and these IDPs was that the former wanted to go back and fight against the Soviets; the latter only want to go back to their homes and live a normal life. They want both the militants and the security forces to end the conflict and want to fight neither.

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The international community is working a lot to educate female population in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly the tribal areas. But, the question is that, is it to concentrate so much on female education while the male population is laso uneducated?

Read and discuss this topic and some others here.

A collection of photos taken by the writer of this blog is online. The photos of sceneries, personalities, Pastho writers and poets, bazaars, markets, gardens, etc, are included. You can revisit the site for more updates. Click Here.

Having a history of continued wars, foreign invasions, poverty, and famines, this Asian city has suffered a lot of atrocities, still its people have not lost hope and rebuilding their country is what they want.

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A joint jirga (council) of the Taliban militants and tribal elders have declared a ban on girls’ education in Pakistan’s Orakzai Agency and ordered Non Governmental Organizations to halt their activities, reported BBC Urdu website. Most of the educational centers in the area are founded and organized by these NGOs.

This meeting took place in the Dabori area on Friday morning (09-05-2008) in the absent of local officials while hundreds of the armed militants were present, a local journalist, Hassan Khan, told BBC Urdu.

The jirga also decided to burn down the houses of the local residents who cooperate with the NGOs and help in girls’ education and ordered the Shiias to limit their daily life activities close to the areas where they live.

Meanwhile, the local militants in Swat announced temporary ceasefire with the Pakhtoonkhwa government after the first round of successful talks. The two parties met in Mingora, Swat, on Friday and discussed their peace agreement.

The provincial government, led by the secular nationalist group, Awami National Party, was eager to sign a peace deal with the militants from its first day of formation. Even before the formation of the government, the then nominated Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti had said in an interview that his government will prefer talks with the militants.

The local militants, led by Baitullah Mehsud, are active in the area for many years. The previous government too had signed a peace agreement with them but it was just a failure. That is why the U.S. and Afghan governments were not happy with another agreement between the militants and the Pakistani government. But both the governments then reportedly conditionally backed the recent agreement. It will be now premature to say how much this deal will succeed.

UPDATE: Suicide Attack After Peace Agreement

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Pakistan scheduled for February 18 seems to be first ever bloodiest experience in the history of the nation as not only the nationalist party saw its supporters bathed in pools of blood but the country’s most popular and the largest political party leader Benazir Bhutto was also sent heaven after addressing a rally in Rawalpindi on Dec 27.

However, her tragic death, which not only shocked the nation but the entire world as well, could not overshadow the brutalities meted out to the political workers in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Charsadda.

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What is your standard for an educated person? Discuss here

This is a new blog where I have given links to al the stuff I have written on the web.

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Known as “harbinger of peace and love” and “the nightingale of Peshawar”, Rehman Baba (1632-1707) is a poet living in the heart of every Pashtoon.

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There were two big news for Pakistan on Aug. 30, 2007. In London, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced that he will return to his country on Sep. 10. In Waziristan, nearly three hundred armed and fully equipped soldiers abducted by scores of the Taliban. read more