Facts about Ashura

• Fasting on the 10th Muharram i.e. Ashura was obligatory on the Muslims before the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory.
• Fasting on the 10th of Muharram expiates the sins of the previous year.
• Musa (as) and the Bani Israel were saved from the Pharaoh by the parting of the sea on 10th Muharram.
• Prophet Musa (as) as a sign of gratitute to Allah used to fast on the day of Ashura and Jews did the same.
• Prophet Muhammad (saw) on hearing the fast of Musa (as) also ordered the Muslims to fast on this day and himself did the same.
• Prophet Muhammad (saw) decided to fast on 9th Muharram as well to differentiate from the Jews but he passed away before he could do so.

The Duty of Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

The Qur'an and hadith lay great emphasis on the duty ofal‑'amr bil ma'ruf wa al‑nahy `an al‑munkar, and it is recognized as one of the most important duties of Muslims in general and the `ulama' in particular.

Unfortunately this duty is discreetly shunned by the dhakir who is averse to disturb the complacence of his audience and to venture to guide them at the cost of his own popularity. The strategy of con nivance, though full of perils in the Hereafter, yields immediate returns. The strategy of reducing (seemingly, elevating) the wajib al‑ita'ah Imams of the Ahl al‑Bayt (A), obedience to whom is obligatory, into holy inimitable metaphysical figure‑heads to be admired and implored in supplications for worldly benefits, may serve to attract applausing crowds but does no service to the religion of God and does no justice to the great teachers of mankind, which the Ahl al‑Bayt (A) in fact were.

In some cases the attitude goes further than mere connivance, where the dhakir tries to soothe and appease bad religious conscience by proving on his own authority that absence of obedience to the commands of the religion of the Ahl al‑Bayt (A) will not hurt the believer as long as he remains their passionate admirer, as if such a thing were possible. When such disastrous attitudes are consciously cultivated among the people, when the mourning assemblies‑which were original ly instituted to propagate the message of al‑Imam al‑Husayn - are held without paying any attention to al‑'amr bil ma`ruf wa al‑nahy`an al‑munkar and to the sublime goals of al‑Imam al‑Husayn and the sacred purposes behind his resistance against the regime of Yazid, it is not strange that those goals should gradually lose their relevance in the Muslim society, and theahkam should become unimportant for the Muslim masses.

Future China Pakistan Relations

China –Pakistan relations began in 1951 when Pakistan was among the first countries to break relations with the Republic of China or Taiwan and recognize the People's Republic of China. Since then, the two countries have regularly exchanged high-level visits resulting in a variety of agreements. The China has provided economic, military, and technical assistance to Pakistan. The alliance remains strong.

China strongly supported Pakistan's opposition to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. The China and Pakistan also share a close military relation, with China supplying a range of modern armaments to the Pakistan defense forces. Lately, military cooperation has deepened with joint projects producing armaments ranging from fighter jets to guided missile frigates. Chinese cooperation with Pakistan has reached high economic points with substantial investment from China in Pakistani infrastructural expansion, including the noted project in the Pakistani port in Gwadar.
Diplomatic relations

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China were established on 21 May, 1951.

Pakistan-China Military relations

The People's Republic of China's relationship with Pakistan has often been regarded as all weather and time tested. This friendship for both the Asian countries holds great importance and is priceless in terms of common interest and geo-strategic alliance.
In recent years the friendship has deepened even further and China has several defense treaties with Pakistan.
China has been a steady source of military equipment and has cooperated with Pakistan in setting up weapons production and modernization facilities.
The two countries are also actively involved in the joint venture of several projects to enhance each others' military needs, including JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, K-8 Karakorum advance training aircraft, space technology, AWACS, Al-Khalid tank,missiles and many other projects. The two countries also held several military exercises together to further deepen and enhance cooperation between the two armed forces. Also China is the largest investor in the Gwadar Deep Sea Port, which is strategically located at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. China and Pakistan also have deeper ties in Science and Technology. China has supported Pakistan's Nuclear Program and helping Pakistan's to build more Nuclear Plants. China and Pakistan also sign an agreement of Civil Nuclear technology. China and Pakistan also cooperating is Space Technology, which is resulting as Pakistan's sending satellites and being a part of Asia's Space Race.
Following are some of the most important events in relations between the two neighbors.
1999 - A 300-megawatt nuclear power plant, built with Chinese help in Punjab province, is completed. China is helping to build a second 300-megawatt nuclear plant due to be finished by 2010.
2001 - A joint-ventured Chinese-Pakistani tank, the MBT-2000 (Al-Khalid) MBT, comes into full production.
2002 - Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo attends ground-breaking ceremony for Pakistan's Gwadar deep-sea port. China provides $198 million for $248 million joint project.
2007 - China-Pakistan joint-ventured multirole fighter aircraft - JF-17 Thunder (FC-1 Fierce Dragon) is formally rolled out. 2008, Pakistan starts mass production of the aircraft.
2008 - China warns US of war against Pakistan, during which former President Pervez Musharaf visits China, Musharaf raised issues of US attacks inside Pakistan.
Pakistan's foreign office (the first foreign issue to speak of Tibet) speaks for more than 3 times per month on the Tibet issue, calling for the world to stop opposing China and the Olympic games.
Pakistan welcomes China's Olympic torch warmly. Pakistan became the first country not to protest against Tibet when the torch arrived. China as a result thanked Pakistan for its continuous support.
2008 China and Pakistan sign an FTA free trade agreement. It is the first such agreement signed by the two countries. As a direct result China will open new industries in Pakistan and Pakistan would be offered free trade zones in China.
2008 China vows to help Pakistan in civil nuclear technology by building and helping in the Khusab Nuclear Programme providing technology to Pakistan for better maintained of civil nuclear plants.
2008 Pakistan and China to build first ever train routes near Karakrum Highway.
2008 The F-22P frigate, an advanced state-of-the-art Chinese navy frigate, comes into service with the Pakistani Navy.

Pakistan and Bangladesh

When the British partitioned the Indian subcontinent, they created a nation called Pakistan for the Muslims in then region. Pakistan consisted of two regions – West Pakistan and East Pakistan – separated by 1,100 miles of Indian territory. East Pakistan seceded from the nation, causing a civil war. India joined the conflict on the side of the East Pakistanis. In 1971, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh had many reasons for separating from Pakistan:

• Bangladesh is only one-fifth the size of Pakistan, it has a larger population.

• The two nations are very different. Pakistan is a mountainous nation with many ethnic groups, while most people in Bangladesh share the same culture. 98% of the people of Bangladesh speak Bengali, yet less than ten percent of Pakistanis speak Urdu, their official language.

• By 1970, East Pakistan paid more taxes than West Pakistan, but the government was dominated by West Pakistanis.

• A violent flood in 1970 killed more than 300,000 Pakistanis. Many people in East Pakistan accused the government of delaying shipments of food and relief supplies to the victims.

Bangladesh faces some of the greatest challenges of any nation in the world. It is the ninth most populated nation in the world. Bangladesh has half the number of people of the United States, but they are squeezed into an area less than the size of Wisconsin. Bangladesh is located on a delta formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. The rivers often flood, killing many people. Crowded conditions and natural disasters have made famine, or great hunger, a common problem in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh came to today's shape through a long history of political evolution. Bengal was probably the wealthiest part of the subcontinent up till the 16th century. The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. All of this was just a prelude to the unstoppable tide of Islam which washed over northern India at the end of the 12th century. Mohammed Bakhtiar Khalzhi from Turkistan captured Bengal in 1199 with only 20 men.

Under the Mughal viceroys, art and literature flourished, overland trade expanded and Bengal was opened to world maritime trade - the latter marking the death knell of Mughal power as Europeans began to establish themselves in the region. The Portuguese arrived as early as the 15th century but were ousted in 1633 by local opposition. The East India Company negotiated terms to establish a fortified trading post in Calcutta in 1690.

The decline of Mughal power led to greater provincial autonomy, heralding the rise of the independent dynasty of the nawabs of Bengal. Humble East India Company clerk Robert Clive ended up effectively ruling Bengal when one of the impetuous nawabs attacked the thriving British enclave in Calcutta and stuffed those unlucky enough not to escape in an underground cellar. Clive retook Calcutta a year later and the British Government replaced the East India Company following the Indian Mutiny in 1857.

The Britons established an organizational and social structure unparalleled in Bengal, and Calcutta became one of the most important centers for commerce, education and culture in the subcontinent. However, many Bangladeshi historians blame the British dictatorial agricultural policies and promotion of the semi-feudal zamindar system for draining the region of its wealth and damaging its social fabric. The British presence was a relief to the minority Hindus but a catastrophe for the Muslims. The Hindus cooperated with the Brits, entering British educational institutions and studying the English language, but the Muslims refused to cooperate, and rioted whenever crops failed or another local product was rendered unprofitable by government policy.

At the closure of World War II it was clear that European colonialism had run its course and Indian independence was inevitable. Independence was attained in 1947 but the struggle was bitter and divisive, especially in Bengal where the fight for self-government was complicated by internal religious conflict. The British, realizing any agreement between the Muslims and Hindus was impossible, decided to partition the subcontinent. That Bengal and Punjab, the two overwhelmingly Muslim regions, lay on opposite sides of India was only one stumbling block. The situation was complicated in Bengal where the major cash crop, jute, was produced in the Muslim-dominated east, but processed and shipped from the Hindu-dominated city of Calcutta in the west.

Inequalities between the two regions i.e. East and West Pakistan soon stirred up a sense of Bengali nationalism that had not been reckoned with during the push for Muslim independence. When the Pakistan government declared that `Urdu and only Urdu' would be the national language, the Bangla-speaking Bengalis decided it was time to assert their cultural identity. The drive to reinstate the Bangla language metamorphosed into a push for self-government and when the Awami League, a nationalistic party, won a majority in the 1971 national elections, the president of Pakistan, faced with this unacceptable result, postponed opening the National Assembly. Riots and strikes broke out in East Pakistan, the independent state of Bangladesh was unilaterally announced, and Pakistan sent troops to quell the rebellion.

The ensuing war was one of the shortest and bloodiest of modern times, with the Pakistan army occupying all major towns, using napalm against villages, and slaughtering and raping villagers. Bangladeshis refer to Pakistan's brutal tactics as attempted genocide. Border clashes between Pakistan and India increased as Indian-trained Bangladeshi guerrillas crossed the border. When the Pakistani air force made a pre-emptive attack on Indian forces, open warfare ensued. Indian troops crossed the border and the Pakistani army found itself being attacked from the east by the Indian army, the north and east by guerrillas and from all quarters by the civilian population. In 11 days it was all over and Bangladesh, the world's 139th country, officially came into existence. Sheikh Mujib, one of the founders of the Awami League, became the country's first prime minister in January 1972 ; he was assassinated in 1975 during a period of crisis

The ruined and decimated new country experienced famine in 1973-74, followed by martial law, successive military coups and political assassinations. In 1979, Bangladesh began a short-lived experiment with democracy led by the overwhelmingly popular President Zia, who established good relationships with the West and the oil-rich Islamic countries. His assassination in 1981 ultimately returned the country to a military government that periodically made vague announcements that elections would be held `soon'. While these announcements were rapturously greeted by the local press as proof that Bangladesh was indeed a democracy, nothing came of them until 1991. That year the military dictator General Ershad was forced to resign by an unprecedented popular movement led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League.

Democracy was re-established and the economy ticked along at a 4.5% growth rate, which hardly made it an 'Asian tiger' but was at least respectable. Political dog-fighting between the BNP and the Awami League became acrimonious in the run up to national elections in February 1996 leaving the country strike-ridden and rudderless. The election was marred by violence and boycotted by the three main opposition parties, resulting in a BNP shoo-in. However, low voter turnout and reports of ballot-box stuffing by polling officials raised serious questions about the government's legitimacy and in April 1996 Prime Minister Begum Khaleda agreed to stand down and appointed an interim caretaker administration, pending new elections scheduled for 12 June 1996.In the elections Awami League got the largest number of seats. Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the leader of the Awami League, was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Government.

Allama Mashriqi

Allama Mashriqi, one of the founding fathers of Pakistan, was one of the greatest scholars and leaders of the 20th century. This book is a timeline of events surrounding this giant among men and his Khaksar Movement (Khaksar Tehrik - KT). Mashriqi broke records at the Cambridge University and emerged as a world-renowned mathematician and scholar. It is believed that his academic records at the Cambridge are yet to be broken. He held the position of Under Secretary (Education) in British India. Before partition, the British offered him title of Knighthood and Ambassadorship; he declined them. His monumental work is "Tazkirah" (nominated for Nobel Prize), which presents a scientific view of the Holy Koran. Mashriqi founded the KT in 1930. The Khaksars created history and led to the freedom of the Indian-subcontinent. This book is the result of exhaustive study by Mr. Nasim Yousaf (grandson of Mashriqi) and is one of the most valuable documents in Indo-Pak history that has ever been produced on the KT. This work will go a long way in unveiling many hidden facts surrounding independence, as Pakistan and India's history remains incomplete and imperfect without discussing the KT's role toward freedom. This work goes far beyond merely listing dates of events; it includes correspondence, resolutions, press statements, govt. communiques, photos, etc. This work allows the reader to get an undistorted and true understanding of Mashriqi and the Khaksars' unmatched resistance and suffering that mobilized the nation for liberty. This book is indeed an eye-opener and a great source of knowledge for scholarly studies, historians, professors, students, filmmakers, journalists, etc. interested in Indo-Pak history. The editor has used credible sources, and his knowledge provides great insight into Mashriqi's life and KT. Based on his information, Mr. Yousaf has provided comments wherever needed. Two web sites have been dedicated to Allama Mashriqi. Author's info: Mr. Yousaf's other works and books include: . "Pakistan's Birth and Allama Mashraqi: Chronology & Statements, Period: 1947-1963" . "Allama Mashriqi & Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan: Two Legends of Pakistan" . "Import &Export of Apparel & Textiles Part I: Export to USA Part II: Import from Pakistan" . "Import & Export of Hand Knotted Oriental Rugs; Part I: Export to USA, Part II: Import from Pakistan" . "Importing Gifts, Housewares & Decorative Accessories from Hong Kong" . "Export Housewares, Gifts & Decorative Accessories to the United States of America" . Various articles on Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik, which have been published in Pakistani newspapers and are available on the author's web site. Extracts from the author's research have also been published on web sites dedicated to Allama Mashriqi and Dr. Akhtar HameedKhan.