Upon entering the grounds I came across painters
The "Namda" being prepared
Welcome to Kashmir
Buy for a cause
Do the bhangra? this was fun by the way
Dr. Maria Sultan is D.G. South Asian Strategic Stability Institute SASSI. I asked her about the impact that OBL's death could have on the region. Dr. Maria Sultan is of the view that the killing of Osama Bin Laden should be considered an opportunity. This development provides U.S. with a chance of a relatively easier exit from the Afghan battle field.
At the same time, she is concerned about one aspect of the May 2 raid in Abbotabad . The fact that this operation was carried out in Pakistan could spell a dangerous phase for the country if it establishes the paradigm of similar operations in Pakistan going forward.
Muhammad Hanif, Well known journalist and author of the critically acclaimed "A Case of Exploding Mangoes" gave his candid opinion when I asked him about his views on the Pakistan- U.S. relations post Bin Laden and Pakistan's reaction to that raid. Squabbling couple- that's what comes to Mr. Hanif's mind when he looks at Pakistan - U.S. relations over the last 10 years. Both have been doing things behind each other's back he says. In doing so,they fall apart but then also kiss and make up. If one goes by the results of this alliance its very clear that Pakistan would be better off away from the States and should start achieving results in the region with the help of its neighbours. A patch up with India is a good idea according to him.
He observes that there is nothing substantial in Pakistan's reaction to the U.S. Navy Seals covert operation in which Osama Bin Laden was killed. Pakistan's shouting about breach of its sovereignty does not make sense to him because this is something that's been happening for quite sometime now in the form of drone strikes inside Pakistan's territory.
"Let's continue with the work but lets make adjustments that do not get us bad PR" this is how Mr. Hanif sums up Pakistan's reaction .
Lt. Gen. ( r) has a keen eye on defence related developments. I asked him if the trove of info recovered from BinLaden's hideout in Abbottabad could spell trouble for Pakistan and how should Pakistan deal with the threat from India? Gen. Masood predicts that there would be some exaggeration based on the info recovered from bin Laden. This exaggeration he says would mainly be to exert pressure on Pakistan to correct its policies .
About Pakistan's future strategies he says there is no dispute over the idea that Pakistan should break away from militants totally.
Pakistan should instead focus on strenghtening itself. This can come about by making its people strong by providing them with education and implementing sound economic policies. Then, there will be no need to feel a threat from the Indians. If people are happy he says, all threats to any country die their own death. People are stronger than nuclear weapons.
Syed Ali was one of the first correspondents to reach the Abbotabad compound where Osama Bin Laden was killed. He described to me his experience.The compound appeared to be more of a safe house than a compound says Ali.
As a budding journalist he found himself reconciling the many different accounts that were available on the location. Different sources had different stories. To his surprise locals didn't have a clue what was going on around them. Foreign media teams did a splendid job covering the story. But what's the actual story, he says, no one knows!
This was a story he would never forget covering.