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Silence from judiciary over media attacks increases self-censorship, Pakistan’s journalists say

When it comes to the military and the judiciary, Pakistan’s journalists are “between a rock and a hard place,” Zohra Yusuf, of the independent non-profit Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told CPJ. In recent months the judiciary, which has a history of siding with Pakistan’s powerful military, has remained largely silent amid attempts to censor or silence the press.

Ahead of elections on July 25, CPJ has documented how journalists who are critical of the military or authorities were abducted or attacked, how the army spokesman accused journalists of sharing anti-state and anti-military propaganda, and how distribution of two of Pakistan’s largest outlets–Geo TV and Dawn–was arbitrarily restricted.

The judiciary, which has power to take up cases on its own, did not intervene on behalf of the press. But it has continued its practice of threatening legal action against its critics.

Some journalists and analysts said that by not taking action, the judiciary has added to a climate of fear and self-censorship.

The judiciary has at times been seen as a strong supporter of democratic values, but Yusuf said the perception among many people in Pakistan is that the judiciary and the military “seem to be on the same page on certain aspects of our democracy.”

“Now … democracy and media are being presented as a problem,” Yusuf said, adding that journalists are bending over backwards to avoid provoking either institution.

Madiha Afzal, an adjunct assistant professor of global policy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the author of Pakistan Under Siege: Extremism, Society, and the State, told CPJ she thinks the judiciary is an “all too willing pawn in the military’s hands.” Afzal added, “I also think that it is in broad agreement with the military in its stance on Pakistan’s politics.”

The judiciary did not respond to CPJ’s email and calls requesting comment.

Pakistani authorities certainly appear to be taking a tougher stance toward the press.

The country’s media regulator issued a statement this month warning news channels not to air any statements “by political leadership containing defamatory and derogatory content targeting various state institutions, specifically judiciary and armed forces.”

And Ahmad Noorani, a senior journalist with The News, told CPJ that some media houses received instructions from “certain forces” not to cover anything that favored former prime minister Nawaz Sharif or went against the judiciary. Noorani did not provide further details.

Owais Ali, the founder of the Pakistan Press Foundation, said a free media was crucial for free and fair elections. “Whatever the political issues are, they need to be discussed. These include criticisms of the judiciary and the military in the forthcoming elections. The media should not have a price to pay simply for reporting what is being discussed by the politicians and political parties.”

The lack of judicial support does not appear to be linked to court capacity. Pakistan’s chief justice came under criticism from political analysts this year for “judicial activism” — taking on suo motu cases, cases taken on the court’s initiative, Reuters reported.

The court has launched inquiries on issues ranging from water shortages, police encounters, and milk prices.

Suo motu cases seem to be taken up “at the drop of a hat,” but when Geo asked the Supreme Court to take on its case, the court refused, Imran Aslam, president of Geo TV, told CPJ, referring to how cable operators arbitrarily blocked the broadcaster’s transmission earlier this year. “I certainly think the judiciary could have done something about Geo.”

The judiciary is supposed to provide justice to the media houses and media workers, but failed to take notice of the situation that the leading news channel of the country was facing, Noorani said. The court could easily have issued an order or at least asked for a report from the relevant regulatory authority, but they didn’t provide any relief to Geo, he said.

Afzal said she thinks the restrictions on Geo and Dawn undermined the outlets’ credibility. “[It] means that many in Pakistan don’t get to hear liberal voices or voices that are critical of the military, which in turn ensures that they remain pro-military and skeptical of liberal voices,” she said.

News outlets that criticize the judiciary often find themselves threatened with legal action. Nearly every major news organization has been served contempt of court notices, Yusuf said.

Last year, Noorani and his paper’s publisher, Jang Group, were served two notices, including one over Noorani’s report on the Inter-services Intelligence. Noorani said the court withdrew the notice after he presented records of his communication and evidence backing the story.

A contempt of court order brought against TV journalist Matiullah Jan and Waqt TV in February, over claims the higher court was insulted on Jan’s talk show, was dropped after the station’s management apologized and Jan said he would exercise more caution, according to Dawn.

Fakhar Durrani, a reporter at The News, said that when he reported last year on judges who were allegedly vying for plots of land that were part of a housing scheme case they were hearing, his organization came under pressure to stop reporting. Durrani, who did not specify where the pressure came from, said he was not able to publish any follow-up stories.

“During that era, my organization was facing contempt of court notices on other issues so they tried not to indulge in any other legal matter,” Durrani said.

Issuing a contempt of court notice to just one news outlet in Pakistan is a sufficient message to all the media houses because it comes from the highest court in the country and there is no way to appeal a Supreme Court order, Noorani said. If the Supreme Court orders the closure of a news station it sends a message to all other media houses to either fall in line or face the consequences, Noorani said.

The uncertainty over what could draw a contempt of court notice exacerbates the situation.
Aslam, of Geo TV, said criticism of any kind is looked upon as almost treasonous. He added, “It’s a scary situation because you don’t know when you’ll be called up in the courts, and this has led us to tread more carefully.”

He added that objective reporting has been skewed in Pakistan because of the constraints “looming” over the media all the time. “What it induces is self-censorship, even if word doesn’t go down to reporters and everybody else, they are looking over their shoulders.”

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Situationer: The killing fields

IN the heart of Mastung city, the Shaheed Nauroz Football Stadium is located on a huge, walled tract of land. This was where, in 2011, the All Pakistan Football Tournament was held. Siraj Raisani, younger brother of then chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, was invited as the chief guest to the final.

At the time, Baloch separatists held sway in the district, and they had warned Siraj Raisani of dire consequences if he visited.

As the final match started, locals say, he arrived with a tribal force of 200 men and as many security personnel. There were around 2,000 spectators in the stadium. All through the course of the match, Siraj’s younger son stood by him in guard; it was during the award distribution ceremony that tragedy struck.

A hand grenade was hurled at Siraj Raisani, and while he escaped the assault narrowly, his son Hakmal was badly injured. The young man succumbed to his injuries on July 29, 2011, while being moved to Quetta’s Combined Military Hospital. In addition to Hakmal, another man was killed while 39 more were injured.

Following the death of his son, which was claimed by Baloch separatists, Siraj Raisani sided completely with the state against the insurgents. Subsequently, he launched his own party, the Balochistan Muttahida Mahaz. In recent times, this was merged with the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), and Siraj was contesting elections in PB-35 against his brother, Aslam Raisani.

In Mastung, politicians campaigned actively for the first time, holding rallies and corner meetings. But elections in PB-35 have been cancelled after the killing of Siraj Raisani.

Shabbir Baloch in Mastung says that he became fearful when he witnessed the vigorous electoral campaign here. “I told my colleagues that the elections would be bloody,” he recalled. “Graffiti, allegedly inscribed by banned Baloch outfits, appeared in the bazaar warning people to stay away from Siraj’s electoral campaign.”

On July 13, Siraj Raisani was continuing with his electoral campaign; a week ago, he had inaugurated the BAP office in Mastung. Finally, party workers set up tents in Dringrah. Candidate Usman Pirkani organised this public meeting, and had asked his Pirkani tribesmen from the remote areas of the district to attend.

A bomb explosion ripped through the crowd at 3:50pm. “I was in the crowds,” remembers Asif Pirkani. “Many of those standing died on the spot, and parts of their bodies rained down on me. I fled the destroyed tent.”

Dringarh is a vast but thinly populated area of 10 villages, with the people belonging to different tribes. It was here that in 2014 a bus carrying Hazara pilgrims was targeted by a suicide bombing that left some two dozens dead. That destroyed bus lies to this day in front of the Levies Station.

Currently, there is tight security in Dringarh and people are reluctant to talk. The victims of the July 13 attack came mostly from outside — the casualties from this area constitute mainly children. The majority of the people killed in the Mastung bombing are from the Pirkani tribe, who are mostly nomads — many don’t even have national identity cards. They did not know who Siraj Raisani was, and Usman Pirkani — who had instructed them to attend the rally — did not himself go. Mohammad Zia, in his late ’60s, lost two sons, along with his nephew. They knew nothing about politics, he said.

One of the injured is Mohammad Azim Pirkani, who is being treated in the trauma centre of the Quetta Civil Hospital. “Everyone one was going, so I joined in,” he said. Three of his colleagues were killed and another was injured. Similarly, another injured man is Rafique, who is a Sindhi man from Quetta. He is not a local of Mastung, but had gone there as a new member of the BAP.

Why did Usman Pirkani himself not go? He said that he was busy with his own corner meeting in Quetta.

The Pirkani tribes are fed up with burying their dead. Qasim Pirkani says they buried 15 men on the first day alone. By local journalist Attaullah’s account, in some places in Mastung, room in graveyards ran out.

Though this bombing was one of the biggest attacks in the country, the day it occurred it was not given adequate coverage by the media. And, beyond Balochistan, hardly anyone knew who Siraj Raisani was. It was only when COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa attended his funeral that the media tuned in.

The tragedy of the Raisani family stems partly from the coincidences: like his son Hakmal, Siraj was injured in an explosion in the same month, in the same district. He, too, died on the way to Quetta’s Combined Military Hospital.

At first, it was believed he was targeted by banned Baloch outfits, but security forces said that these organisations do not have the capability to carry out such attacks. After that, the so-called ‘Islamic State’ claimed responsibility. The security forces have reportedly taken robust action against IS and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants in Mastung.

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White House Orders Direct Taliban Talks to Jump-Start Afghan Negotiations

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Trump administration has told its top diplomats to seek direct talks with the Taliban, a significant shift in American policy in Afghanistan, done in the hope of jump-starting negotiations to end the 17-year war.

The Taliban have long said they will first discuss peace only with the Americans, who toppled their regime in Afghanistan in 2001. But the United States has mostly insisted that the Afghan government must take part.

The recent strategy shift, which was confirmed by several senior American and Afghan officials, is intended to bring those two positions closer and lead to broader, formal negotiations to end the long war.

The shift to prioritize initial American talks with the Taliban over what has proved a futile “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned” process stems from a realization by both Afghan and American officials that President Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy is not making a fundamental difference in rolling back Taliban gains.

While no date for any talks has been set, and the effort could still be derailed, the willingness of the United States to pursue direct talks is an indication of the sense of urgency in the administration to break the stalemate in Afghanistan.

Not long after he took office, Mr. Trump reluctantly agreed to provide more resources to his field commanders fighting the Taliban, adding a few thousand troops to bring the American total to about 15,000. But a year later the insurgent group continues to threaten Afghan districts and cities and inflict heavy casualties on the country’s security forces.

The government controls or influences 229 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, and the Taliban 59. The remaining 119 districts are contested, according the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which was created by Congress to monitor progress in the country.

Providing more authority to American diplomats, a move that was decided on last month by Mr. Trump’s national security aides, is seen as part of a wider push to inject new momentum into efforts to end the war.

Those efforts include a rare cease-fire last month, increased American pressure on Pakistan to stop providing sanctuary to Taliban leaders and a rallying of Islamic nations against the insurgency’s ideology. Grassroots peace movements in the region have also increased pressure on all sides.

Over the past few weeks senior American officials have flown to Afghanistan and Pakistan to lay the groundwork for direct United States-Taliban talks. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo briefly visited the Afghan capital, Kabul, last week, and Alice G. Wells, the top diplomat for the region, spent several days holding talks with major players in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Efforts have particularly focused on trying to persuade the Afghan leadership that such talks are not a replacement for negotiations with the country’s coalition government, but are meant to break the ice and pave the way for those.

Because the previous Afghan government felt left out of peace efforts during the Obama administration, it resisted direct talks, which was one reason peace efforts at that time collapsed.

Neither the State Department nor a Taliban spokesman would comment on the shift of policy toward engaging the Taliban directly.

Ms. Wells, during her trip to Kabul, reported a new “energy and impulse for everyone to renew their efforts to find a negotiated settlement,” largely as a result of the cease-fire. Days earlier, Mr. Pompeo, in a statement, said that there would be no precondition for talks — and that everything, including the presence of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan, was up for discussion.

“I think Secretary Pompeo was very clear — we are prepared to facilitate, to support, to participate in — so there is nothing that precludes us from engaging with the Taliban in that fashion,” Ms. Wells said. “What we are not prepared to do is at the exclusion of the Afghan government — that is the critical difference.”

“We are doing everything we can,” she added, “to ensure that our actions help the Taliban and the Afghan government to the same table.”

With the focus now just on getting negotiations started, it is too early to assess what a final deal acceptable to both sides might look like.

President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan said last month at a news conference that the peace process would be a complicated, layered effort rolled out in phases that were still in the preparatory stage.

He left open the possibility of a more direct American role in the early efforts.

“Various ideas, creative ideas are floating on how to break this logjam and get started,” Mr. Ghani said.

Afghan officials and political leaders said direct American talks with the Taliban would probably then grow into negotiations that would include the Taliban, the Afghan government, the United States and Pakistan.

“If we look backwards, the Bonn process is a pretty good paradigm for what ultimately a peace process is going to look like,” Ms. Wells said, referring to the 2001 talks in the German city that established the post-Taliban government in Afghanistan.

“You are going to start off — the Afghans speaking to one another, but obviously the United States and Pakistan were critical in that inner core, and then you build out.“

A near-consensus has grown among American and Afghan officials involved in earlier and current efforts to fire up a peace process that the only way out of the war is for the United States to take a more direct role in negotiations.

That realization rests on several facts: that the Taliban are a stubborn insurgency, that they have not budged on their demand to talk directly with the Americans, and that the Afghan government, mired in infighting and marred by political opposition, would struggle to lead a cohesive peace agenda without American help.

Douglas E. Lute, a former ambassador to NATO who advised Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush on Afghanistan, said he supported the new marching orders for American diplomats, although he was not privy to deciding on them.

“We’re in diplomatic gridlock right now,” Mr. Lute said. “We ought to look for creative ways to move this forward.”

Officials have been moving with a sense of urgency because Mr. Trump has expressed his frustration with the war and is desperate to see its end, said a senior American official who, like many spoken to for this article, requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss confidential diplomatic discussions.

During last week’s NATO summit meeting in Brussels, Mr. Trump expressed agreement with a reporter’s question that contained the notion that “people are fed up” with the Afghan war.

“Yeah,” Mr. Trump said Thursday. “I agree with that. I very much agree. It’s been going on for a long time. We’ve made a lot of progress, but it’s been going on for a long time.”

An important distinguishing factor of the recent push, according to officials involved in previous efforts, is that the United States military seems very much on board.

In 2011, when the Obama administration first shifted to a policy of ending the war through negotiations, military commanders still believed they could defeat the Taliban. Now, they define their goal more modestly: keeping the Taliban from victory until a political settlement is reached.

Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was instrumental in initiating last month’s rare cease-fire. As further indication that he is an active part of the new peace effort, he has as an adviser a member of the team that made the initial contacts with the Taliban around 2011.

Those early efforts fell apart after disagreements with the Afghan government, then led by President Hamid Karzai. Still, the Taliban established a political commission by moving some of their officials to Doha, Qatar, in the Persian Gulf.

In 2014, the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the American prisoner of war who had been kidnapped by the Taliban after he walked off his base, was negotiated through the Doha office.

Another brief moment of hope occurred in 2015, when Afghan officials and representatives of the Taliban met at a resort town in Pakistan. But the credibility of the Taliban representatives who came to the table was questioned, and the process collapsed when news emerged that the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Omar, in whose name they were negotiating, had actually been dead for three years.

Even if talks do begin again, many observers point to how difficult they will be.

Seth Jones, who heads the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said there was little evidence that the Taliban’s senior leaders were seriously interested in settlement terms acceptable to Afghan and American officials.

“Most Taliban leaders believe they are winning the war in Afghanistan and that time is on their side,” Mr. Jones said.

David Sedney, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense who dealt with Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that while grass-roots peace movements in Afghanistan could upset old calculations, progress on the battlefield and in talks with the Taliban remains dependent on effective pressure on Pakistan, where the insurgent leaders have sanctuary.

What undermines that pressure, he said, is a lack of patience and a “reflex impulse” to judge the new American strategy as doomed so soon after it began.

Signals from the Trump administration and exceptions made to military sanctions on Pakistan indicate that the United States is already backing away from the pressure in the hope that Pakistan delivers Taliban leaders to urgent talks.

“If so, the Pakistanis will once again have taken the measure of a vacillating United States,” Mr. Sedney said. “If that was the only factor at play, then I would say that the U.S. move to engage with the Taliban again, as we did a number of times, would be another U.S. government misstep that exacerbates violence and enhances the Taliban’s hopes for a military victory.”

Mujib Mashal reported from Kabul, and Eric Schmitt from Washington. Gardiner Harris contributed reporting from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.

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Nawaz Sharif arrested on arrival in Pakistan as 132 people die in bombing

Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested in Lahore airport on Friday as he returned to face a 10-year prison sentence which he claimed was part of a wide-ranging, military-backed conspiracy to deny his party a second term in an election due on 25 July.

Military police boarded Sharif’s flight as it landed from a stop in Abu Dhabi after taking off in London. Paramilitary Rangers linked arms and battled against Sharif’s supporters to escort the 68-year-old off the aircraft, into a waiting car and then across the 200 yards to another small aircraft.

The Rangers also arrested Maryam, his daughter, who on 6 July was sentenced with her father to seven years in the trial over how the family came to own four luxury flats in London’s Park Lane, a story that resurfaced in the 2016 leak of the Panama Papers.

As the political drama unfolded in Lahore, fears of violence also surged ahead of the polls as 132 people were killed by a suicide bomber at a political rally in southwestern Balochistan province.

“Who wants to go to jail?”, Sharif told the Guardian from the Etihad airlines flight on which supporters yelled pro-Sharif slogans while in the air.

“But it is a very small price to pay for my mission, which is to establish the sanctity of the vote in Pakistan.”

The arrests ignited an otherwise lacklustre election campaign beset by allegations that the powerful military was “engineering” the vote to promote the main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by the former cricketer Imran Khan.

The military has denied the allegations.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s anti-graft court, ruled earlier this month that Sharif and his family laundered money in the 1990s to pay for the Park Lane apartments, drawing on allegations that resurfaced in the Panama Papers leak.

Before Sharif’s return, his brother Shahbaz, the former chief minister of Punjab, led tens of thousands of supporters in a welcome rally but the caravan had to negotiate a city turned into a warren of roadblocks.

Police arrested more than 500 Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz) party (PML-N) workers in the hours before Sharif’s arrival, banned public gatherings of more than five people and cut mobile phone signals across Lahore.

The media regulator banned mentions of “convicted persons”, thwarting local journalists from broadcasting much of Sharif’s response.

“What credibility will the election have if the government is taking such action against our people?,” said Sharif.

“Somebody is forcing the caretaker government to take these actions,” he said, hinting at the role of the so-called “establishment”, whose influence Sharif attempted to limit until he was ousted in a controversial supreme court ruling last July.

A battle with the deep state, which began when the military ousted Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999, reached its peak this week.

Sharif openly named a general at Pakistan’s intelligence service, ISI, as behind the attempts to push PML-N politicians to join the PTI, splintering the taboo by which civil leaders only refer to the armed forces in vague code; “angels” in the case of intelligence agents.

Sharif planned to appeal against his conviction on landing but analysts doubt he would receive bail before the election.

The leadership hopes that instead his sentence of “rigorous imprisonment” – which could include physical labour – will play to the party’s favour in the elections, turning him into a martyr for civilian supremacy.

Sympathy for Sharif has risen during the illness of his wife, Kulsoom, who is in a coma in a London hospital after treatment for throat cancer. In a parting photograph shared widely on social media, Sharif leans over her sickbed and touches her brow with a gloved hand, while Maryam wipes her eyes.

The latest poll shows that Khan’s party, the PTI, is marginally in front of the PML-N. On Friday, European election monitors were granted permission to deploy across the country.

Friday’s suicide attack – which was claimed by Islamic State – killed Siraj Raisani, who was running for a provincial seat with the newly formed Balochistan Awami party, the provincial home minister, Agha Umar Bungalzai, told AFP.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/13/suicide-bomb-attack-kills-85-and-wounds-100-at-mastung-pakistan-election-rally

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Ex-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif returns to face ‘jail cell’

Ousted Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif is returning to Pakistan despite facing a 10-year jail sentence for corruption.

Sharif and his daughter Maryam both face arrest when they arrive back in Lahore from London on Friday.

The three-term PM was ousted from office last year after a corruption investigation. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years last week.

He has accused Pakistan’s security establishment of conspiring against him ahead of July 25 elections.

“There was a time when we used to say a state within a state, now it’s a state above the state,” he told supporters of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in London on Wednesday.

“Despite seeing the bars of prison in front of my eyes, I am going to Pakistan.”

Thousands of supporters are expected to flock to the airport to greet Mr Sharif, who was convicted by an anti-corruption court last week over his family’s ownership of four luxury flats in London.

Hundreds of party activists in Lahore are reported to have been detained ahead of his return.

He has called for a “mass gathering of the people”.

Sharif, 67, has been one of the country’s leading politicians for most of the past 30 years. His party has blamed the military for being behind his conviction, saying it is going after the PML-N for its criticism of the security establishment and the party’s policy to improve ties with India.

In May, the Dawn newspaper published an interview with Sharif in which he questioned the wisdom of “allowing” Pakistani militants to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai, referring to attacks in the Indian business capital in 2008.

The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its 70-year post-independence history, has denied it has any “direct role” in the elections or the political process.

Although he was disqualified from standing in the upcoming election by the Supreme Court, Sharif remains one of the most popular politicians in Pakistan, especially in Punjab, the most populous and electorally significant province.

Sharif walks into a jail cell

Analysis by the BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad
The last time Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to a jail term after a military coup in 1999, he chose to accept a pardon and exile under a Saudi-brokered deal. But this time, he is walking into a jail cell.
Back then, it was thought that being the spoilt son of a wealthy father, he was too soft to face the various hardships that can befall a Pakistani politician.
But his moves this time underline that he is willing to traverse tougher territory.
Sharif may well be contemplating wider protests after the election, which many believe the military has already “engineered” enough to ensure his party doesn’t win.
And he may have made a huge personal sacrifice for this. Sharif has left behind his wife Kulsoom, who has cancer, on life support in a London hospital, knowing that he may not be able to return to be by her side.

Last week the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court ordered Sharif to serve 10 years for owning assets beyond his income and one year for not co-operating with the NAB. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

His daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, received seven years for abetting a crime and one year for not co-operating – again to run concurrently – while son-in-law Safdar Awan was given a one-year sentence for not co-operating.

Sharif and Maryam also received fines of £8m ($10.6m) and £2m respectively. Their lawyers say they will appeal against the verdict but the pair will have to surrender to the NAB before the appeal can be filed.

The case, known as the Avenfield Reference, relates to a number of properties in the UK capital.

The assault on Pakistan media ahead of vote
The Panama Papers leak in 2015 revealed several of Sharif’s children had links to offshore companies, which were allegedly used to channel funds and buy foreign assets – including luxury flats in Avenfield House, on London’s Park Lane.

His family, however, insist they legitimately acquired the four properties.

As part of the ruling, the court ordered they be confiscated for the federal government.

Pakistan’s general election
Voters will elect candidates for the 342-seat Pakistan National Assembly.

The main parties are Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, former cricketer Imran Khan’s PTI and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s PPP

It will mark the second time that one civilian government has handed power to another after serving a full term.

The run-up to the vote has been marred by what observers say is a crackdown on political activists, journalists and critics of the powerful military.

More than 371,000 troops will be deployed to protect the election and ensure it is “free and fair”, the army says.

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Taliban Opponent in Pakistan Killed by Bomb as He Campaigns

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A candidate from a political party opposed to the Taliban was killed in a suicide bombing late Tuesday as he campaigned in northwestern Pakistan, just weeks before the country goes to the polls.

At least 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded, several of them critically, police and hospital officials said. The death toll was expected to rise, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but immediate suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban, which has frequently attacked secularist politicians.

The attack raised concerns about the safety of candidates running in the July 25 general elections, and immediately cast a pall across Pakistan. It was the first such attack of this year’s campaign.

The candidate who was killed, Haroon Bilour, belonged to a prominent political family from Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Mr. Bilour, who was running for a provincial assembly seat, was at a campaign event late Tuesday night when the bomber detonated his explosives jacket, police officials said.

Mr. Bilour’s father, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, a prominent politician and a senior provincial minister, was killed in a suicide attack by the Taliban just months ahead of the last general elections, in 2013, not far from Tuesday’s explosion. Haroon Bilour’s son was wounded in the latest attack.

The Bilours belonged to the Awami National Party, whose opposition to the Taliban has made it a repeated target of the militants. Several of the A.N.P.’s leaders and at least 700 of its workers have been killed in the past decade.

The intensity of the attacks greatly affected the party’s ability to openly campaign and mobilize supporters in the last general elections and contributed to losses, party officials said. With the security situation significantly improved in the country in the last couple of years, however, members of the A.N.P. had hoped that they would be able to campaign in safety.

Haroon Bilour, the provincial information secretary of his political party, expressed such hopes in recent interviews with local news media. Mr. Bilour had survived at least two assassination attempts.

But late Tuesday, a suicide bomber managed to mingle with the supporters of Mr. Bilour as he arrived at a campaign event in Peshawar. “The suicide bomber was sitting and waiting for Haroon to arrive,” said Taj Muhammad Wazir, a local A.N.P. official.

The killing was widely condemned by Pakistan’s political leaders.

Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, condemned the attack and called for the state to provide proper security for the candidates.

“Yet another A.N.P. leader has sacrificed his life for the sake of peace and democracy,” Sardar Hussain Babak, the provincial general secretary of Awami National Party, said in a telephone interview.

“We have a long list of martyrs, and we will continue to fight against the forces of extremism and militancy.”

Mr. Babak, who is also running for elections, said the party leadership was getting threats from the Taliban on an almost daily basis.

“But the federal and provincial governments have failed to provide us with security,” he said. “We had made our own security arrangements.”

Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud contributing reporting from Islamabad.

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SANA Convention Winds Down in Maryland

If there is one word that describes why over 1,000 people flocked from across the US to attend the 34th annual convention of the Sindhi Association of North America in the Greater Washington area – it is the word nostalgia.

Men, women and children from Sindhi families took advantage of the July 4 holiday in the middle of the week to stay in the North Bethesda Marriot Hotel and socialize extensively.

At the heart of the conversations was the sheer love and concern about the state of the motherland, especially Sindh, where the human index for development is among the lowest in the world.

The upcoming elections, coupled with the recent startling developments under which the thrice elected prime minister now has prison awaiting for him, was the topic that would constantly keep the circles buzzing.

Also under discussion were the extensive health, education and social welfare programs that SANA funds inside Sindh.

Keynote addresses ranged from `,What was the Idea of Pakistan at Partition, What it Should be Now,’ delivered by visiting professor Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, `Sindh, What then must we Do,’ by Shahab Usto and `Thar Coal Project’ by Shamsuddin Shaikh.

Festivities included the annual banquet and music by Sanam Marvi and Saif Samejo.

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SANA CONVENTION BEGINS JULY 6 IN DC AREA

The Sindhi Association of North America will hold its 34th annual convention in the greater metropolitan DC area from July 6-9, 2018. The event which is being held to coincide with the July 4th independence day holiday has participants arriving from across the US, in what the organizers describe as a sold out event.

The three day convention will be cultural, educational and political, with speakers arriving from Pakistan and across the US to focus on issues such as `Missing Persons’ in Sindh, progress made in the Thar Coal Project, archaeological finds in Ranikot Fort, the situation for education, art, philosophy, involvement of civil society and to explore where the state of Pakistan is headed.

SCHEDULE
ID Session Start Time End Time Featuring Ballroom Moderator
Friday July 06, 2018
1 Sindh – Knowledge-based society – Interactive 11:00 14:00 Pre-convention Dr. Mithal Vakassi
2 Break 14:00 15:00
3 Momal Rano 15:00 17:30 New Sindhi Movie Linden Oak LOC
4 Tea for 2 17:30 18:30 Gupshup of families looking for Sindhi families
5 Membership Registration 18:00 21:00 LOC and SANA Volunteers Hall Corner LOC
6 SANA EC/LOC Meeting 18:00 18:30 Khalid Memon Linden Oak General Secretary
7 Informal Dinner 18:30 20:00
8 Formal Convention Opening 20:00 20:15
9 Sindh, the land of art and poetry
10 Youth Program 20:00 21:00
11 Youth Icebreakers 21:00 21:30 Khulda Soomro, Numrah Shaikh, Komal Bhutto
12 Women Program 21:30 22:30 LOC Women BrookSide LOC
13 Youth Game 21:30 22:30 Khulda Soomro, Numrah Shaikh, Komal Bhutto
14 SANA Talent 22:30 01:00 Local Sindhis Talent Discovery Arman, Warisha, and many more

Saturday July 07, 2018
15 Breakfast 07:00 09:00
16 Membership Registration 08:00
17 Protest at Capitol 08:00 10:00 Ali Khaskheli, Ali Hassan Capitol General Secretary
18 Youth DC Tour 09:00 16:00 Komal Bhutto, Khulda Soomro, Numrah Washington DC Komal Bhutto
19 Sorrows of Sindh: Issue of Missing Person 10:00 10:30 Aziz Narejo, Irshad Abbasi, Zakir Bullo, M Rajpar
20 Sindh Vision 10:30 11:00 Ahmer Nadeem Memon, Faiz M Khoso, Aziz Narejo
21 Thar Coal 11:00 12:00 Shamsuddin Shaikh and Naseer Memon, Mushtaq Rajpar
22 Lunch 12:00 13:00 Hafeez Abbasi, Imran, Nasrullah, Sanaullah, Jabbar
23 Media Session Sindh, SANA and news media Zakir Bullo
24 Ranikot jaa raaz (Mysteries of Ranikot) 14:00 Ishtiaque Ansari, Aziz Narejo
25 Bilqees and Razia Trust 14:20 14:40 Sultan LaghariMushtaq Rajpar
26 Sindh Hope (Akhwat NJV Hostil, Schoool and SSS Project) 14:40 15:00 Nazir Tunio, Aziz Narejo
27 Tea for 2 15:00 16:00 Gupshup of families looking for Sindhi families
28 SDA: Small steps big difference 15:00 15:15 Dr Nazeer Dahar D Dr Abbassi
29 Sustainable Sciences 15:15 15:45 Dr Fayaz Memon D Fayaz Memon
30 Women Empowerment through SMEs Business 15:45 16:00 Profs Dr.Anwar Ali Shah G.Syed, Dr.Faiz Muhammad
31 Keynote Speech – The Idea of Pakistan –
What Was It In 1947 And What Should It Be Now? 16:00 17:00 Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy
32 Break 17:00 19:00 NA ABCDE YOU
33 Dinner 19:00 21:00 Hafeez Abbasi, Imran, Nasrullah, Sanaullah, Jabbar ABCDE LOC
34 Youth Skit 21:00 21:45 Komal Bhutto, Khulda Soomro, Numrah ABCDE Komal Bhutto
35 Music 21:45 01:00 Sanam Marvi and Rajab Ali ABCDE Maheen Heesbani

Sunday July 08, 2018
36 Breakfast 07:00 09:00 Hotel Provided, only for room Registered Guest ABC Hotel
37 Medical Seminar 09:00 10:30 Dr Nazeer Dahar, Dr Nada Memon,
38 FAME 10:30 11:00 Zafar Agha D Dr Abbasi
39 State of Education in Sindh 11:00 11:30 Nisar Siddiqui, Dr Abbasi
40 Session with Saif 10:00 11:00 Saif Samejo, Khulda Soomro, Numrah Shaikh White Oak
41 SSDP / Model Village Project 11:30 12:00 Dr Ghulam Qadir Mallah / Ali Hasan Bhutto
42 Career Panel 11:00 12:00 Khulda Soomro, Numrah Shaikh White Oak Komal Bhutto
43 Lunch 12:00 13:00 Hafeez Abbasi, Imran, Nasrullah, Sanaullah, Jabbar ABC LOC
44 Sindhi Philosophy 13:00 13:20 Javaid Bhutto
45 Shaheed Allah Bux Trust 13:20 13:30 Ms Rufina Soomro
46 Keynote – Sindh – What then must we do? 13:30 14:30 Shahab Usto
47 SANA and Computing 14:30 15:00 Majid Bhurgari
48 SANA -Vision 2028 15:00 16:00 Various Speakers
49 General Body 16:00 17:30 Khalid Memon
50 Membership Registration 18:00 19:00 LOC and SANA Volunteers Hall Corner LOC
51 Tea for 2 17:30 18:30 Gupshup of families looking for Sindhi families Brookside Shereen
52 Break 17:30 19:00 NA ABCDE YOU
53 Annual Banquet Transforming Thar Documentary by Thar Coal Dr Abbassi
55 Award Presentation Various Awards presents ABCDE Dr Abbassi
56 Donor Recognition screen slides Dr Abbassi
57 Dinner 20:30 21:30 Hafeez Abbasi, Imran, Nasrullah, Sanaullah, Jabbar ABCDE Dr Abbassi
58 Music 21:30 02:30 Saif Samejo (The Sketches group) and Sanam Marvi ABCDE Maheen Heesbani
59 Music Program Registration LOC and SANA Volunteers Hall Corner LOC
60 Youth Banquet 22:00 23:30 Youth Activities in Separate Hall White Oak Komal Bhutto

Monday July 09, 2018
61 Breakfast 07:00 09:00 Hotel Provided, only for room Registered Guest ABC Hotel
62 Convention Ends 18:27 18:27

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Pak business delegation seeks to enhance trade ties with US

WASHINGTON: A 20-member business delegation has vowed to enhance and expand economic and trade ties with the United States.

The high-powered delegation comprising at least 10 listed companies, including representation from the Pakistan Business Council, Pakistan Stock Exchange, market research companies, large financial institutions and others is visiting the US these days.

It will present success stories and opportunities at the second investors conference organised by JS Global Capital, Pakistan’s largest premier brokerage and investment banking firm, today (Wednesday) in New York.

In its first leg of tour, the delegation met officials from the State Department here on Monday, urging them to soften travel-related advisories so that American investors could be confident to visit Pakistan and make considerable business-related decisions. According to Kamran Nasir, CEO JS Global, the US officials were apprised about growing opportunities as the country transforms into an investment friendly destination.

“We had a candid exchange and managed to discuss mutual concerns with the objective that both countries cannot afford to ignore opportunities that lay ahead,” Kamran said, adding the Americans were told that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was merely an infrastructure network which would ensure foreign direct investment into the country.

“It’s not just about China, the machinery that is being used in energy-related projects and otherwise comes from American companies. Similarly, logistics and technical equipment areas would provide a large window of options to invest in Pakistan,” he said.

The head of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Richard Morin told The News that the mission in Washington was more about promoting trade between the two countries, and removing barrier or irritants. “Pakistan equities are very reasonably priced. There are tremendous growth opportunities for PSX listed companies, and the plan is to share foreign portfolio and direct investment options with US investors,” he said.

Morin added that uncertainty rhymes with opportunity. “If I was a Pakistani investor, my reaction would be to get PSX stocks which is a screaming buyer — a superb buying opportunity. It’s 20 percent cheaper, and these companies provide close to five and a half percent dividend yield, that is almost the interest rate that you get on a savings bond. Then there’s capital appreciation opportunity of the stock market that tops it all,” he said.

Chairman of the Pakistan Business Council Ahsan Malik said Pakistan has a vibrant middle class that’s ready to compete with the rest of the world. “The manufacturing sector represents 13.5 percent of the total GDP by affording 58 percent of tax burden. This isn’t sustainable but expansion in tax base will offer cuts in high taxes on formal sector and provide glowing opportunity for a new investor,” he said.

Ahsan Malik maintained that CPEC provides opportunity to the US companies to bring technological advances in various areas, especially the agriculture sector. Part of the delegation was also Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as Hubco CEO Khalid Mansoor who said that the second investor conference was an earnest effort to dispel Pakistan’s negative image and showcase untapped business opportunities to multinational companies.

“The Business Confidence Index survey has been extremely positive that tells a paradigm shift in growing business environment and should correct Pakistan’s image,” he said. The delegation had compiled a more than hundred pages long comprehensive presentation to convince the US companies about investment in Pakistan in various carefully identified business and development areas. The booklet shows facts and figures along with comparisons with regional competitors. The delegation also met members of the US Pakistan Business Council and had detailed engagements with scholars at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, a local think-tank, on Tuesday.

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Rumors and reactions regarding the recognition of Durand Line

The Dawn News in Pakistan has rejected a report attributed to the news outlet suggesting that the Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar has recognized Durand Line as the official international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“A fake Facebook post screenshot doctored to pose as Dawn.com surfaced on social media on Thursday,” Dawn News said in a report.

The report further added that “The fake post attempts to mislead the public and stakeholders by suggesting that Afghanistan accepted the Durand Line as an official border.

It presented an image of Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and falsely claims this was discussed in a meeting.”

The National Security Council of Afghanistan in a statement said the Afghan officials have neither met with General Qamar Javed Bajwa during their recent visit to Pakistan nor the officials of the two countries had any discussion regarding the Durand Line.

The statement further added that the report published on social media is totally baseless and is a fake propaganda.

According to the National Security Council, the issue of Durand Line has never been shared during any meeting, emphasizing that the issue must never be shared during any bilateral meeting.

The Office of the National Security Council says the issue of Durand Line relates to the nation of Afghanistan and no government has the right to hold talks in this regard.

Rumors and reactions regarding the recognition of Durand Line