Indo-Pak softening

A recent poll shows that at least half of the Indian and Pakistani public is ready to accept a solution where Kashmir is part of neither country.

A recent poll shows that at least half of the Indian and Pakistani public is ready to accept a solution where Kashmir is part of neither country. Says Dawn July 18: 8220;A survey by the WorldPublicOpinion.org asked Indian and Pakistanis to consider a range of possible outcomes for the Kashmir question and to say whether they found them desirable, acceptable, tolerable, or unacceptable. A majority of those surveyed would find independence at least tolerable if Kashmiris wanted it8221;. Says The Nation July 18 8212; 8220;The greatest indicator of flexibility is that Indians as well as Pakistanis express a readiness to have the Kashmiri people decide their fate, WorldPublicOpinion.org said. More significant, Indians and Pakistanis showed a readiness to have the Kashmiri people decide their fate, the report said8221;.

Nawaz8217;s changing priorities

Rehman Malik, Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs met PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in London on Thursday reports The Nation July 18. The newspaper report says: 8220;advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik could not satisfy PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif about the operation being carried out in FATA8221;. Sharif, who is also steadfastly committed to the reinstatement of judges was not keen to meet Rehman Malik but met him after being persuaded by a common friend. In light of his changed priorities, the PML-N chief unequivocally stated, 8220;Now, it is a must to save the country.8221; The News July 18 also reports that Nawaz Sharif may miss the meeting of federal ruling coalition partners on July 23. Says the report:8221;Senior PML-N leaders have urged Nawaz Sharif to make it to Pakistan from Britain on or before July 23 to attend a crucial meeting of the federal ruling coalition partners. However, they say Nawaz was unlikely to reach back home around this date because of his family engagements, especially his wife8217;s recuperation from a serious surgery8221;.

Beyond national pride

The News July 18 carries a report which makes it clear that in case the UN Secretary General does set up a UN commission to probe Benazir Bhutto8217;s murder, Pakistan will have no say in the formation of the commission even if the UN decides to appoint Israelis and Indians into the commission. But a source in Pakistan8217;s Foreign Ministry was quick to state that 8220;Indians and Israelis would not comprise the commission8221;.

Now investor protests

Protests in Pakistan seem to be never-ending, the latest being angry stock market investors protesting the continuing fall in the Karachi Stock Exchange KSE. Says Dawn July 18 8220;Investors at the Karachi Stock Exchange resorted to violence on Thursday, ransacking the bourse8217;s furniture, pelting the glass doors and windows of the trading hall with stones and raising slogans against the government and the KSE management8221;. The investors also blamed the government for the situation and were unhappy, as well, with the way financial institutions were not taking any interest in the rapid fall in the market. Says The Nation July 18: 8220;Investors in Lahore and Islamabad held similar protests, burning tyres and blocking roads. There are speculations that over three dozen brokers of KSE are facing default due to unprecedented downslide at the stock market, being kept secret by the concerned authorities for fear of public wrath, said sources8221;.

No longer 8220;People8217;s Party8221;

Ghulam Mustafa Khar, former Governor of Punjab and a senior PPP Leader has said that the will of Benazir Bhutto which nominated Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Zardari as her successors was a forgery. Says The News July 18: 8220;Former governor of Punjab and veteran PPP leader Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar has said that Asif Ali Zardari was not the successor of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and that Benazir Bhutto8217;s will nominating Asif and Bilawal as her political successors was fake and prepared after her death8221; . Khar also said that the present set up of the PPP consisted of individuals who never had qualms about making compromises with dictatorship. He attributed Benazir Bhutto8217;s death to her deal with Pervez Musharraf.