Ali Dayan Hasan (HRW Pakistan) recants statement against ISI

Ali Dayan Hasan at IPSMM2012

The newly appointed Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence may have attained an understated and unsung victory for his intelligence agency considering the recent and highly surprising statement by Human Rights Watch‘s Pakistan head Ali Dayan Hasan that the ISI may not be involved in the Saleem Shahzad murder AT ALL!

Mr Hasan made this statement at the recently concluded India-Pakistan Social Media Mela held at a local hotel in Karachi.  He was invited as a speaker for the session titled ‘Negotiating complexity: human rights and social media.’

Apart from his condemnation of ‘trolls’ (read his notoriously egotistical irritation on being questioned by critics in general and Twitter activist @Laibaah1 Marri in particular) on social media, Mr Hasan said “My position and HRW position is clear. We never say that he was killed by the ISI. Who killed him has to be determined by an independent probe.” Could we be correct in considering this latest statement by Mr Hasan a recanting of the previous allegations that HRW has made, all but implicating the ISI in carrying out the Saleem Shahzad murder?

The Mehmal Attack – by Ravez Junejo

@Mehmal goes berserk; attacks @Laibaah1 at being criticized

On January 7, 2011,  Twitter user @Laibaah1, an individual known for her activism in support of minorities rights in Pakistan and reminding the urban-origin (read Karachi and Lahore based) ‘liberal’ bloggers, tweeters and the socialite ‘human rights activists’ of their ignored duty towards cataloguing the Deep State-backed mass massacre of Pakistanis belonging to such groups, had respectfully tweeted to Twitter

Amnesty’s statement masks the role of the Deep State in Shia massacres in Pakistan

Amnesty's report fails to identify the role of the Deep State in Shia massacres in Pakistan.

It was amusing as well as educating to see how some urban (seemingly) liberal Pakistani tweeps and media persons uncritically recycled and reported the Amnesty and HRCP’s recent statements on the systematic and ongoing Shia massacres in Pakistan.

While I have already expressed my fellow activists’ and my views on the HRCP’s statement, the aim of this post is to analyze the Amnesty International’s recent statement.

I have now had a chance to read the Amnesty’s statement (21 September 2011) on Shia Massacres in Pakistan.

Here are some comments.

1. The Amnesty’s statement misrepresents the ongoing Shia massacres by the TTP-SSP-LeJ proxies of the Deep State (army-ISI) as ‘sectarian violence’ between Sunni and Shia, a routine law and order issue. Amnesty states: “Continued failure to address sectarian violence will only exacerbate

‘It’s totally democratic to block Laibaah, the Darth Vader of the Twitterverse’ – says Ali Dayan Hasan

Related post: Fourth suspension of Laibaah’s Twitter account – by Almadar Mengal

Announcement
Some apologists or affiliates of the Deep State are currently trying to get my twitter account suspended. They did it thrice before. For example: bit.ly/r8lDao and also: http://www.petitiononline.com/Laibaah/petition.html

Unfortunately this time the mafia active to get my Twitter account banned is led by none else than Ali Dayan Hasan, the controversial director of HRW in

On Rezaul Hasan Laskar’s dubious reporting from Pakistan

Embedded in the narratives of Pakistan's military establishment and urban elite

Update: After critical comments by Laibaah, Mr. Rezaul Hasan Laskar was a part of an ugly campaign to get her account banned on Twitter.

Rezhasan Rezaul Hasan Laskar
Dear all, this is a request: kindly report @Laibaah as spam to #Twitter. her latest tweet describes me as spox “of ISI and Taliban”. folks i think it’s about that time when we should seriously think of reporting @Laibaah as spam to #Twitter. I’m going to start.

https://pakistanblogzine.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/fourth-suspension-of-laibaahs-twitter-account-by-almadar-mengal/

Will Mr. Laskar agree with the silencing of his own voice from Twitter or media only because some of his readers may not agree with his reports and narratives? A media person must never be a part of a campaign to curb free speech.

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Critical readers of Pakistani and international media are aware of how certain foreign correspondents based in Pakistan are carefully sucked into pro-military establishment narratives by a tight network of urban (seemingly liberal) writers and activists, who remain very soft on Pakistan army/ISI while very harsh on politicians and the civilian government.

For example, read this post: Foreign journalists in Pakistan: Embedded in the narratives of military establishment and urban elite

Indian journalist Rezaul Hasan Laskar is one such journalist who is commonly seen in Islamabad and also

An open letter to Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of HRW: A call for help from Pakistan

 The following is an exact copy-paste of the ad hominem, straw man and abuses which were showered at me by Mr. Ali Dayan Hasan, Director of Human Rights Watch, Pakistan, on Thursday, 22 September 2011 in full public sight. What was my crime? I had written the following critical post: : Pakistani Shias, rights activists reject HRCP’s statement on Shia killings in Pakistan.

In summary, the following was my criticism of the HRCP statement in

Laibaah, the liberal fascist, must refrain from attacking human rights defenders – by Ali Dayan and Beena Sarwar

Hazara Shias are preparing to bury their loved ones massacred by SSP-TTP proxies of the Deep State in Mastung.

Editor’s note: In the light of some feedback received from various activists within and outside Pakistan, I wrote a brief, critical post on HRCP’s statement on the massacre of 30 Shias in Mastung. Apparently, my post was hugely disliked by some leading champions of human rights including Ali Dayan Hasan (HRW), Beena Sarwar (CFD) and Raza Rumi (PTH/TFT). Beena called me a liberal

Cyril Almeida’s invitation to army to save Pakistan from Zardari

According to Cyril: Army must consider that "the costs of non-intervention are higher than the benefits of the status quo."

Critical readers of Pakistani media are quite familiar with Cyril Almeida and his double-tongue when its comes to the ostensible criticism of army and appreciation of democracy while remaining loyal to the narratives of the Deep State. Mr. Almeida’s writings and services to the Deep State are a living proof of the fact that there are not only right wing columnists and media persons (mainly in the Urdu press) who recycle and reinforce the Deep State’s narratives, there are also some seemingly liberal columnists and writers (mainly in the English press) who are equally friendly and useful to the Deep State.

Special links with the military establishment 

Pakistan’s media circles are aware of frequent contacts between ISPR and Cyril, a privilege which is not available to anti-establishment journalists. Recently Cyril’s close contacts with the Deep State were revealed by none other than another ‘colleague’ i.e. Ahmad Quraishi. Mr. Quraishi writes quite visibly upset by the fact that Mr. Almeida leaked details of a confidential brief by none other than General Kayani:

Columnist Almeida extensively quoted from a background briefing and turned inaccuracies into policy statements. Thankfully, he didn’t forget to add, “All comments were made strictly on the condition of anonymity being maintained.” Oh really?

Mr. Almeida apparently was one of four-dozen editors, talk-show hosts and columnists invited by Pakistan Army Chief

A humble request to Mustafa Qadri (Amnesty) and Ali Dayan Hasan (HRW)

Related posts: Appeal to HRW, Amnesty, HRCP: Don’t ignore or misrepresent Shia genocide in Pakistan

Resources on Shia genocide in Pakistan

SOS from Hazara Shias of Quetta

SOS from Toori Shias of Parachinar

SOS from Saraiki Shias of D.I.Khan

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Mustafa Qadri and Ali Dayan Hasan are two highly respected gentlemen because of their services to human rights in

Questioning Laibaah’s integrity – by Ailia Zehra

A fellow tweeple, Abdul Bugti, who describes himself as “A Baloch” questioned @Laibaah’s integrity on the Pakistan Blogzine advocacy google group for

Human rights activist @Laibaah silenced by Urban Elite Tweeples – by Alamdar Ahmad Mengal

Cross-posted from LUBP

LUBP Editor’s Disclaimer: While we may not agree with some of the contentions offered in this post, we wholeheartedly

Let’s defend Ejaz Haider, the defender of Pakistan army!

Related posts: Silence of the Liberal Lambs: A rebuttal to Ejaz Haider – by Dr. Mohammad Taqi

On Ejaz Haider’s ISPR press release on Hazaras of Balochistan – by Farrukhzad Ali

The following post has two parts. The first part (titled Ejaz Haider’s lies) deconstructs his lies on Shia Hazara genocide. The second part

Who is @Laibaah? – by Laiba Ahmad Marri

Related post: Questioning Laibaah’s integrity – by Ailia Zehra

According to my Twitter profile, I am:

“a Pakistani American currently based in Arizona, USA. As a human rights activist, I question silence of Pakistan’s urban

Malik Siraj Akbar: a little bit of honesty please!

Introduction
The aim of this post is to highlight how a seemingly decent journalist can fall into  dishonesty in order to serve personal friendships and possibly career. Given that @maliksirajakber has today publicly blamed me for being disrespectful to Urooj Zia and blocked my Twitter account, I have no choice but to publish his DMs to me regarding @Uroojzia to explain our respective positions.

On 19 July 2011, I was approached on Twitter by Malik Siraj Akbar, the

Some tough questions for Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan Rep for Human Rights Watch

Ali Dayan Hasan holds civilian government not ISI and army responsible for terrorism in Pakistan

Who knows better than Ali Dayan Hasan the distinction between the lucrative profession of human rights and the actual practice of human rights! A cursory look at his family background and career will tell us a lot about his selective take on human rights and free speech (wiping out mass murder of Hazara, blockade of Parachinar, mass murders in