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Pakistan’s Election to D-8 Offers a Second Chance

D-8 summit in Islamabad
D-8 summit in Islamabad (Credit: dawn.com)
D-8 summit in Islamabad (Credit: dawn.com)

The hosting of the Developing Eight Summit in Islamabad, which commenced on November 22, means more than a gathering of eight Muslim nations, as far as Pakistan goes. The meeting, at which President Asif Ali Zardari took over the chairmanship of the group from his Nigerian counterpart, offers Pakistan a chance to pull itself back into the mainstream of global life from the fringes to which it has been pushed, chiefly due to security reasons. The fact that five heads of state attended the event, with Bangladesh and Malaysia represented at the adviser and ministerial levels respectively, marks a rare success for Pakistan — a nation that stands increasingly isolated.

The D-8 group consists of eight nations with a combined estimated total population of one billion. The theme of the summit was  ‘Democratic partnership for peace and prosperity’. Pakistan remained keen to focus on trade issues and economic cooperation during the Summit, the events in Gaza overshadowed Summit proceedings to a considerable degree, especially since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are all key players in the Middle East crisis. Pakistan was also able to bring up the main item on the agenda: increasing trade between member countries from $130 billion to $507 billion by 2018.

As significant as the discussions were, the symbolism involved in the Summit, marked a major triumph for the government. The visit by Goodluck Jonathan was the first by a Nigerian leader in 28 years. To ensure safe movement to their respective destinations, massive security was put in place, creating a traffic logjam for the locals. This, however, is the price we pay for the militancy that lives on in the country — an issue also discussed at the Summit. We must hope the meeting with key leaders can bear fruit as intended by the objectives of the Summit.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2012.

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Supreme Court Examines Mining RIghts in Balochistan

Copper deposits at Reko Diq (Credit: tethyan.com)
Copper deposits at Reko Diq (Credit: tethyan.com)
Copper deposits at Reko Diq (Credit: tethyan.com)

ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: Advocate General Balochistan Amanullah Kinrani on Wednesday apprised the Supreme Court that the BHP, the world’s leading copper mining company, which had been given a mining lease for discovery of gold and copper reserves in Reko Diq during 1990s was not registered under Pakistani laws.

He was appearing before a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sh. Azmat Saeed, that resumed hearing of a petition moved by late Mualana Abdul Haq.

In response to bench’s remarks, Kinrani maintained that the BHP had not been incorporated in Pakistan as foreign minerals mining company.

The chief justice observed that the Balochistan government should have known the fact as all foreign companies were required approval from the Board of Investment.

He told Khalid Anwar, counsel for Tethyan Copper Company (TCCP), that nothing like mining agreement existed prior to 1996 with the BHP, but a request for relaxation of rules was submitted.

He said the relaxation was sought when there was no agreement. “Show us any exploration agreement from any part of Pakistan with similar precedent. We will examine the instant matter on touchstone of the Pakistani laws.”

Khalid Anwar said when Chagi Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement (CHEJVA) was reached, there was no such requirement.

The CJ remarked, “Do not give such a free hand, we are a sovereign country.”

Khalid Anwar contended that the BHP was not entitled for such an agreement as it did not make any discovery in the area.

He said the TCCP had made a discovery in 2006 so why it was blamed for the acts of BHP.

Reading out Companies Act, he said under its provisions, Pakistani exploration companies did not require registration but it was a requirement for the foreign companies while his client TCCP was a subsidiary of the TCCA and a Pakistani company.

The counsel further apprised the bench that the negotiations for reaching an agreement for Reko Diq mining venture started way back in 1993 and after three years of elaborate discussions involving all the stakeholders, a consensus draft was agreed upon which had all the transparency.

He said the BHP made a generous offer of 25 per cent to the provincial government which was unprecedented in the exploration history at that time.

Refuting claims about corruption or any underhand deals, he said relaxation of rules did not amount to amending of Balochistan Mineral Rules of 1997.

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, counsel for BHP, apprised the bench that they were contacting with their clients but the time difference was a matter and would assist the court with relevant record.

The advocate general Balochistan apprised the bench that barrister Aitzaz Ahsan was also engaged by the provincial government to represent it in the instant case and sought an order in this regard.

The chief justice told him that the court always welcomed everyone and had not stopped Aitzaz from appearing.

Further hearing was adjourned to Thursday.

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1990 election was rigged, rules SC

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered legal proceedings against a former head of intelligence and former army chief over allegations that politicians were bankrolled to stop the current ruling Pakistan People’s Party from winning the 1990 election.

It was a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court 16 years after retired air marshal Asghar Khan filed a case, accusing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of doling out money to a group of politicians in the 1990s.

A three-judge bench comprising the chief justice, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain issued the short order after hearing a petition filed in 1996 by Khan requesting the court to look into allegations that the Inter-Services Intelligence had financed many politicians in the 1990 election by dishing out Rs140 million to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and stop Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from coming to power. The petition was based on an affidavit of Durrani.

The Supreme Court in its short order ruled that there was ample evidence to suggest that the 1990 election was rigged and that a political cell maintained by the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan supported the formation of the IJI to stop a victory of the PPP. The ruling said Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Baig and Durrani violated the Constitution.

“Late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the then President of Pakistan, General (R) Aslam Baig and General (R) Asad Durrani acted in violation of the  Constitution,” said the apex court, adding the federal government should take “necessary steps under the Constitution and Law against them.”

Stating that corruption was carried out in the 1990 election, the ruling said that the president, the army chief and the ISI’s director-general were not authorised to constitute an election cell. It added that the state should implement its authority through the elected representatives of the people.

The election cell “was aided by General (R) Mirza Aslam Baig who was the Chief of Army Staff and by General (R) Asad Durrani, the then Director General ISI and they participated in the unlawful activities of the Election Cell in violation of the responsibilities of the Army and ISI.”

The apex court moreover ruled that political cells of the ISI and the President House should be abolished and ordered the government to take legal action against former retired generals involved in the corruption as well as against Younus Habib, former president of the now defunct Mehran Bank.

The court further ordered that money that was illegally disbursed among the politicians by the then president and the ISI should be recovered and deposited in the Habib Bank along with the accumulated interest on it. Adding to that, the short order said that legal action should also be taken against the politicians who received the money.

“Mr. M. Younas A. Habib, the then Chief Executive of Habib Bank Ltd…arranged/provided Rs.140 million belonging to public exchequer, out of which an amount of Rs.60 million was distributed to politicians,” added the short order.

The ruling further said that Federal Investigation Agency should investigate into the matter, adding that, if evidence was found against anyone, action should be taken against them.

Moreover, the Supreme Court said that political activism was not the domain of the military and the intelligence agencies. Their job is to cooperate with the government, the judgment said.

Friday’s proceedings

During the hearing, Attorney General Irfan Qadir began presenting his arguments.

Qadir said he was representing the federation and the defence ministry.

Responding to which, Chief Justice Iftikhar directed Qadir to produce the document enabling him to represent the defence ministry.

The attorney general said he would try to assist the court to the best of his abilities “in the short time that was available” to him.

Qadir criticised the judiciary upon which the bench expressed its displeasure.

The attorney general said he had reservations over comments alleged to have been made by Justice Khawaja.

“Justice Khawaja said the Pakistan People’s Party government had failed to perform in the past four years,” Qadir said.

Upon which, Justice Hussain said: “You should not name a particular judge. Those were the remarks of the bench.”

The attorney general requested the bench to exclude the concerned remarks from the record of the case.

Qadir added that judges had taken oaths under the PCO in the past and had also allowed the military to step in, in violation of the Constitution.

The attorney general moreover said that the Asghar Khan case had been pending for the past 15 years and blamed the judiciary for the delay.

He further alleged that “the present judiciary” wanted to “destabilise the government”.

The chief justice remarked that Rs140 million had been given out by Younus Habib and asked as to who was responsible for that.

He further said that evidence suggested that the money was distributed at the behest of the presidency, adding that, prima facie the President House was involved in the operation.

The chief justice reiterated that the president should be impartial and should not partake in political activity.

Responding to which, the attorney general said that the president’s oath does not restrict him from partaking in politics, adding that, the office of the president was also a political position.

The president’s oath is not any different from the oaths administered to the prime minister and the ministers, Qadir said.

Upon which, the chief justice said that the Constitution entitles the president, not the prime minister, as the head of state.

The attorney general added the parliament had on several occasions saved the judiciary from embarrassment.

Chief Justice Iftikhar said the judiciary would not allow derailment of democracy in the country.

He further said that former interior minister Lt-Gen (retd) Naseerullah Babar had also revealed that money was distributed to politicians to manipulate the country’s politics, adding that, it was allegedly done in the greater national interest.

The attorney general said those involved in the decisions of the past were important personalities, adding that, the individuals who were accused of receiving the money should also be heard.

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Pakistani military blocks anti-drone convoy from entering tribal region

PTI rally (Credit: pakistantoday.com.pk)

Dera Ismail Khan, Oct 7 – Leading a convoy of thousands, the former cricketer was within striking distance of South Waziristan, where the CIA uses remote-controlled planes in the fight against Islamist militants, when he abruptly turned back.

Later Khan said he had changed plan because of warnings from the army and the risk of becoming stuck after the military-imposed curfew.

Addressing an impromptu rally of his supporters, he said the convoy had still been a huge success because he had gone to areas his political rivals “can only look at on maps”.

“We want to give a message to America that the more you carry out drone attacks, the more people will hate you,” Khan told the crowd of around 2,500 supporters. But after two days of travel, the U-turn seemed to surprise some, including a senior party official who got out of his car on the heat-baked roadside surrounded by arid scrubland and declared he had no idea what was going on.

Others expressed anger, saying Khan was more interested in using the event to burnish his popularity before a general election due at some point in the next six months.

“I am very disappointed,” said Khalil Khan Dawar, an oil industry worker who had travelled all day to get to the edge of the tribal agency. “We had to get to South Waziristan. For him this is not just about drones, it is about popularity and elections.”

Some have also questioned the relevance of Kotkai, the town in South Waziristan where Khan hoped to hold his rally, to the drone debate. Most drone attacks now take place in North Waziristan, and Pakistani army efforts to wrest control from militants have forced many of Kotkai’s residents to leave.

The abandonment of the much-publicised attempt to reach Kotkai was the second sudden change of plan on the same day. Earlier Khan had appeared to reassure a largely female delegation of the US peace group Code Pink that there would be no attempt to enter the tribal areas and that instead a rally would be held in the town of Tank.

By midday it was decided to push on regardless, apparently out of a desire not to disappoint the throngs of people who had joined his convoy along the road from the capital, Islamabad. That was despite the all-too evident disapproval of authorities who had placed shipping containers across the road at three different points.

The vehicles, including buses crammed with supporters waving the red and green flag of Khan’s political party, ground to a halt as throngs of protesters worked to push the obstacles out of the way, in one instance destroying a small building in the process.

Indignities and discomforts are nothing new to the mostly middle-aged and female activists of Code Pink, some of whom have been arrested while campaigning against US drone strikes. But being trapped on a bus travelling towards Pakistan’s tribal areas proved too much even for the most hardened of campaigners. “We had only one toilet break in nine hours,” said Medea Benjamin, leader of the 35-strong team of Americans who had agreed to join Khan on the march. They chose not to continue into, in the words of Benjamin, a “chaotic” situation.

To add to their miseries, their minders urged them to stay behind the curtains of their bus – emblazoned on its side with huge images of people killed by drone strikes – throughout much of the journey, particularly in many of the areas affected by militant groups. “It was hard for these people because they are protesters and they wanted to get out there,” said Shahzad Akbar, a lawyer who was looking after the group. “But there’s no way we are going to let them get out in some of those towns!”

Billed as a protest against drone strikes, which Khan and his supporters claim kill large numbers of innocent civilians as well as flouting Pakistan’s sovereignty, the procession had the feel of a political rally on wheels. Many of the vehicles eschewed anti-drone slogans and instead carried pictures of PTI politicians anxious to be included on the party’s official ticket in the upcoming elections.

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Balochistan hearing: Military, govt deflect Akhtar Mengal’s blows

Sardar Akhtar Mengal with Nawaz Sharif (Credit: thenews.com.pk)

ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: In the wake of Thursday’s high drama at the Supreme Court, the country’s top military leaders rushed to vindicate themselves over the Balochistan problem on Friday, stoutly denying that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) had any involvement in enforced disappearances.

The statement came in response to the six recommendations that former provincial chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal presented before the apex court a day before as a precondition for talks. The former chief minister did not mince his words – the conditions include what he referred to as a suspension of covert and overt military operations in Balochistan, recovery of missing persons, and disbanding ‘death squads’ operating under the supervision of secret agencies.

Friday’s statement was submitted by Balochistan Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad. It was prepared at a meeting attended by top military and executive authority officials in compliance with SC orders.

The high-level meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Naveed Qamar and attended by army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI Director General (DG) Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, ministers for information, law and postal services, the defence secretary, the attorney general, the principal secretary to the prime minister and the Balochistan chief secretary. The prime minister could not attend the meeting, because he was not present in the capital.

The joint statement addressed the other accusations hurled at the armed forces besides missing persons: “No covert and overt military operation is being carried out in Balochistan by the armed forces. Second, no person alleged to be missing is in the custody of or under detention of any law enforcing authorities or any other agency of Pakistan. Despite this all out efforts are being made to find out whereabouts of the persons who are alleged to be missing. Third, no proxy death squads are operating under the supervision of ISI and MI.” The statement added that the government has always believed that all political parties in Balochistan should participate in political activities without any interference from any quarter.

The statement, however, repeated information that is already available – Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) have been constituted and recently, the Balochistan government has approved a compensation policy for legal heirs of deceased persons. The government has also made a commitment to settle displaced persons.

The chief justice, on the other hand, remained unconvinced. “People have been missing for three years and hearing their [relatives’] accounts brings tears to one’s eyes,” he stated. He also cut short the chief secretary’s attempt at discussing other issues, including the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja said there was no obligation to believe the affidavits submitted by intelligence agencies in which they claimed their innocence. We will see the grounds realities too, the court warned.

The chief justice also asked the leaders of all political parties, including Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif, on Friday’s hearing, to partake in finding a solution to the Balochistan crisis, saying that it was not just the government’s responsibility.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry issued these directives while penning down a short order pertaining to the Balochistan security case.

Uncomfortable army, govt

Sources said that military officials were ‘very much perturbed’ over Thursday’s proceedings of the apex court. Meanwhile, Raja Irshad, counsel for ISI and MI, expressed similar concerns: While talking to The Express Tribune, Irshad said Mengal was glorified by the court and that “We (army and secret agencies) will take action on such allegations. It was a totally wrong claim that secret agencies are involved in the killing of thousands of Baloch.”

Attorney General Irfan Qadir, whom the court passed a restraining order against on Thursday for ‘interfering in the hearing’, wasn’t very happy with Mengal’s demands either – and asked the chief justice to keep the disgruntled Baloch leader’s statements off record. He also asked the chief justice to direct Mengal to re-submit a more ‘moderately-worded’ statement.

Sources added, however, that executive authorities have decided to gear up political activities in the troubled province as the upcoming parliamentary elections draw closer, and hence did not take too harsh a stance against Mengal’s recommendations.

The court will hear the case from October 8 at the Quetta registry. It also told the provincial chief secretary that judges could pay a ‘surprise visit’ to areas in the province, particularly Dera Bugti, to examine ground realities.

 

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Army Stops Anti Film Protestors from Breaking into Diplomatic Enclave

Protestors overturn container blockade
ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: The Army was called in on Thursday to prevent close to 3,000 angry protesters from entering the diplomatic enclave in Islamabad during a protest against the anti-Islam film.

The US Embassy is one kilometre away from the entrance of the diplomatic enclave and there are no barriers inside. According to Express News correspondent Qamarul Munawar, if the protesters, who are present at the gate of the enclave, manage to break through, then it will result in chaos.

He added that the Army was called in as the police shelling remained ineffective in controlling the protesters.

Express News correspondent Haider Naseem reported that the protesters coming from Rawalpindi to Islamabad headed back after the police hurled tear gas at them.

Around 50 protesters and 38 police officials were injured during the riots who were shifted to the Polyclinic hospital.

An ulema delegation met with the IG Police and chief commissioner and agreed on a deal. Maulana Zahoor Alvi confirmed that the arrested protesters were also released.

SSP Traffic Police Islamabad Dr Moeen Masood told Radio Pakistan that the red zone of Islamabad will remain closed on Friday for traffic.

He said that the normal traffic would ply between the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as well as within Islamabad.

Dr Masood added that 274 Islamabad police personnel were deployed for controlling traffic and they would remain alert on Friday as well.

Mobile services will also remain suspended in Islamabad tomorrow (Friday) from 9am-11pm to avoid any untoward incident.

Islamabad’s heavily-guarded diplomatic enclave is home to most Western embassies, including the US, British and French missions.

Earlier during the protest, police fired live rounds and tear gas to break up a crowd of students, many armed with wooden clubs.

The crudely made Innocence of Muslims has triggered protests in at least 20 countries since excerpts were posted online, and more than 30 people have been killed in violence linked to the film.

There have been dozens of protests around Pakistan over the past week and at least two people have been killed, but Thursday is the first time protests in the capital have turned violent.

Police fired tear gas and live rounds as the protesters, chanting “We are ready to die to safeguard the Prophet’s (pbuh) honour,” tried to break through a barrier of truck containers set up to block access to the diplomatic enclave.

“I was ordered by my boss to disperse the crowd and that is why I had to open live fire but the aim was nearby trees and not the demonstrators,” Zaman Khan, a police officer deployed at the picket said.

The firing forced the protesters to scatter, but they returned later to pelt the police picket with stones.

Student Asif Mehmood demanded police let the protesters through to the US embassy and urged harsh treatment for American pastor Terry Jones, notorious for past Quran-burning episodes and who is reportedly connected to the film.

“Terry Jones and the filmmaker should be sternly punished for playing with the feelings of Muslims. We will not tolerate this blasphemy,” Mehmood said.

Fellow protester Rehan Ahmad said: “Islam is often ridiculed by America and the West and blasphemy is committed against our Prophet (pbuh) in the name of freedom of expression.”

 

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‘Hate Content Grows in Pakistan’s text books’ – Study

Lahore, Aug 31: Hate content in textbooks used in the Punjab has increased from ‘45 lines in 2009 to 122 in 2012’, a content analysis report published by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) said on Thursday. The report titled Education or Promotion of Hatred was distributed at a conference, Biases in Textbooks and Education Policy, organised by the NCJP on Thursday.

The study examined 22 textbooks for the academic year 2012-13 in the Punjab and Sindh from classes 1 to 10.

The report says that one of the 30 chapters in the general knowledge textbooks for class 1 has content advocating intolerance. It says there has been a ‘marked increase’ in hate content in the curricula of classes 7 to 10.

In 2009-2011, it says, 12 chapters in various textbooks at these levels contained hate material. The number of such chapters has increased to 33.

As many as seven lessons with hate content are part of the 8th class Urdu curriculum for 2012-2013, compared to none in 2009, it says. It also says said that the number of such lessons in the Pakistan studies textbooks for classes 9 and 10 had increased to three in 2012 from none in 2009. It says that hate lessons that were part of the class 6 social studies and class 7 Islamiat books in 2009 had been excluded from the 2012 curricula.

Speaking at the launch Dr Mehdi Hasan, the School of Media and Communication dean at the Beaconhouse National University, said Muslims posed a greater danger to their fellow Muslims then to non Muslims in Pakistan.

He said, seminaries, where less than 4 per cent of the Pakistani children studied in Pakistan, did not pose a greater threat than schools, where hate material was being taught to students as young as to be in class 1.

He said, “Teaching students that a certain religion teaches ‘bad things’ is not just a violation of human rights but also a severe ethical violation.”

Dr Hasan said that a religious state was not a democratic state. He said that Pakistan had been established through a democratic process.

Wajahat Masood, an assistant professor at BNU, said future generations will likely judge the present as ‘sub-human and insensitive’.

He said hate content and distortion of history was evident in curricula as well as in Pakistani literature. Masood said that sectarian and religious discrimination should be recognised as ‘vulgar’ and discouraged.

Irfan Mufti, deputy director at the South Asia Partnership Pakistan, said that hate content in school syllabi spoke volume of an intolerant society.

“Hate content will turn our children into intolerant individuals,” he warned.

Dr Baela Raza Jamil, director of programmes at the Idara-i-Taleem-O-Aagahi highlighted the Compulsory Education Act that was passed recently by the Senate for Islamabad. She said the Act had failed to mention religion as a reason for which no discrimination would be allowed in provision of education.

‘She said after the devolution of powers to the provinces, each province was responsible for regulating its curricula.

Dr AH Nayyar, visiting professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, regretted that many such reports had been issued previously, but the matters had become worse instead of improving.

NCJP Executive Director Peter Jacob regretted that textbooks were being used to promote hatred in the country.

“Religious discrimination cannot be eliminated unless people working for it are demotivated,” he said.

 

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Flashback to the Musharraf Era

Baloch tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti (Credit: nation.com.pk)

After 9/11, the Musharraf administration’s alliance with the U.S. in the `War on Terror,’ allowed the army to clamp down on a simmering Baloch insurgency with the type of secrecy they used to hunt down Al Qaeda militants. While the Afghan Taliban was left free to operate in Balochistan, the administration made Baloch secessionists disappear under the smokescreen of combating terrorists.

Fuelling Balochistan’s insurgency was the fact that its disarming barren exterior hides rich deposits of minerals, coal and natural gas, which make a significant contribution to the nation’s energy needs. Islamabad’s failure to pay royalties and subsidies to Balochistan and its tight fisted control of the provincial government has fanned the tribal and secessionist movement, which reached a new pitch under Musharraf.

In 2005 when tribal leaders Nawab Akbar Bugti and Khair Baksh Marri mounted an insurgency against Musharraf, the army hunted down and killed their tribal fighters in the mountainous strong holds of Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts. In turn, the militant tribesmen ambushed and killed constabulary from the Frontier Corp, blew up gas pipelines and sabotaged train supplies to the province.

As rocket attacks accelerated, the Musharraf government set up a new military base and camps for army officers along the  Sui gas field. The military and Baloch militant nationalists now engaged in a full scale war,  backed by missiles and propaganda from both sides. From the government side, the District Coordination Officer Dera Bugti Abdus Samad Lasi told me that the tribal leaders like Nawab Akbar Bugti were responsible for keeping their people poor and backward, even as they used their tribesmen to fight their wars.

Enter a young woman doctor from Karachi, Dr Shazia Khalid, who then worked in Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, which manages the gas fields in Balochistan.  Living alone at the company’s onsite hospital, she was woken one night in January 2005 and reportedly raped at gunpoint by an army officer. Despite company directives to stay quiet, she testified against the offending captain.

Shazia’s testimony to the media sent a match through the smoldering Bugti insurgency.  Baloch insurgents intensified their attacks on army personnel and blew up gas pipelines, severing gas supply to the rest of the country.

Hustled into exile into London, Shazia spoke to me from her new location.  Gen. Musharraf had rejected insinuations that any army man could be involved.  However, annoyed by the negative publicity, Pakistan’s officials had arranged for her to go abroad. As she awaited an immigration visa for Canada, Musharraf  added insult to injury with his remark quoted in the Washington Post in September 2005: “If you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped.” The remark, obviously intended for a victim of rape, hurt the young woman.  “It has made me lose hope of receiving any justice in Pakistan,” Shazia told me in a voice muted with pain.

From his hiding place in Dera Bugti, the former governor of Balochistan and tribal chieftan, Nawab Akbar Bugti was livid that Shazia had been raped by an army man – and that he was being protected by the military president. In a voice that shook with anger, he told me that Baloch tribesmen would not rest until Shazia’s rapist was brought to trial. Without waiting to differentiate, he declared, “You in the West may take rape lightly but we in Balochistan consider it a grave human rights violation of women.”

The army used satellite telephones to trace Bugti to an elaborate complex of caves he inhabited in Dera Bugti, where he was killed in a massive army operation.

In the US, where President Musharraf had managed to blur the lines between the terrorism launched by the Taliban and insurgency by Baloch nationalists, Bugti’s murder was lumped with Pakistan’s ongoing war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The day after Nawab Akbar Bugti was murdered, an influential US newspaper cited Bugti’s murder as the death of a “terrorist.”

For a while Musharraf’s operation against the Baloch nationalists broke the back of the insurgency. But in death, Bugti became a martyr. It rekindled memories of Balochistan’s forced annexation to Pakistan and further provoked Baloch militants to seek arms and money from other countries in order to secede from the federation.

 

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Accused in Fauzia Bhutto’s Murder Killed by Tribesmen

Nawabshah renamed Shaheed Benazirabad (Credit: pakmed.net)

KARACHI, Aug 20: The former Sindh Assembly lawmaker, Raheem Baksh Jamali, who was shot and injured in a mosque in Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah) on Sunday, succumbed to his wounds on Monday in a Karachi hospital, Geo News reported.

Reportedly, unknown gunmen attacked a mosque-bound Jamlai, who was observing Itikaf – an Islamic practice consisting of a period of retreat in a mosque during the month of Ramadan, especially the last ten days.

According to reports, the attackers, four in number, who knew exactly where to find him, got him in the main mosque in Cooperative Housing Society in Shaheed Benazirabad at 5:30 AM in the morning.

Jamali was shot and left for dead but the doctors in a local hospital where he was rushed to saved him form dying immediately before advising he be shifted to Karachi for further treatment.

Bullets had damaged his vital organs including pancreas, stomach and a kidney, which led to his death.

He was elected member Sindh Assembly in 1988 as a Pakistan Peoples Party candidate.

 

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Pakistan Needs to Prepare for the Process of Fair Elections

Karachi, Aug 3 – Imagine a situation in which 4 candidates, A,B,C and D contest elections from a constituency. There are 100 voters in that constituency and the turnout is 40 percent. A,B,C and D receive 6, 9, 12 and 13 votes respectively, and thus D wins the election. If this situation prevails at most other constituencies, we will have a government with absolute majority although 68 percent of those who voted and 87 % of the total eligible voters never voted for that government. This may be summed up as madness bordering on tyranny. Technically this is also referred to as democracy.

Now imagine another situation in which three candidates contest elections from a constituency. They submit their nomination papers and make the required declarations. All three possess fake degrees, hold dual nationalities, hide their assets and have defaulted on tax payment for past several years. They have also been regular “bhatta” collectors and engaged in ‘ephedrinal’ matters over a long period of time. What is the chance that the Election Commission will disqualify any of them from contesting the election and becoming our next Prime Minister. The answer is ‘Zero’. While this may sound utterly sinister, that is exactly how the system is designed to work.

If we tax our memories hard enough, we will recall that it was only four years ago that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) conducted a fake exercise code named ‘elections’ using a fake list of 37.2 million fictitious voters. It then went on to multiply the scam by introducing some 300 parliamentarians who had cheated the system by acquiring fake degrees. Not satisfied with the level of spuriousness, the ECP also forgot the vital constitutional requirement of checking for dual nationality and thus pushed in another estimated 80-100 half foreigners as our law makers. Finally the ECP preferred to look the other way even when a parliamentarian broke away from police custody, was found using stolen visa card or declared a fake degree holder by the Supreme Court.

Will the next election replicate the ECP’s dismal performance of the past? Do we realise that we have the same infra structure, the same rules and the same bureaucratic mindset of the past. In the last elections the ECP came out with a brilliant gimmick. Enter your NIC, select the province and hit the ‘send’ button to search your voter ID. As there was no corrective mechanism beyond pressing the ‘send’ button, we ended up with a voter list of 37.2 million fake names. This time too, we are told to enter the NIC number, punch 8300 and send an SMS. One promptly receives a response which describes your electoral details. But how will an estimated 15 million dead punch their NIC cards and send SMSs from locations where (fortunately) the telecom industry has no access. What happens when the response indicates a wrong name or address. Exactly like the last time, the ECP has opted for a look-good process that neither corrects nor improves the current voter list.

The decisions relating to eligibility of those contesting elections ought to be based on scrutiny of facts. The ECP in this area is designed on the pattern of a glorified post office. It must limit itself to the business of collecting and filing nomination papers. It must not use eyes, ears or neurons of its own. It must wait for a political opponent or a party to challenge the information provided by a contestant. Once elected, it must wait for the Speaker to refer a case for disqualification. While the number of delinquents ran into hundreds, how many cases for disqualification were referred to the ECP. So unless the ECP has the courage and conscience to break away from its apathetic past and act proactively, it is likely to allow the same aberrations to reappear as our second generation of law breakers.

The Supreme Court has already declared that the First-Past-the-post electoral system violates the concept of majority rule, and has asked ECP to find ways to ensure true representation of the people. Despite having been specifically directed to do so, the ECP has taken no steps to move towards ‘proportionate’ or the ‘run-off’ system of representation. Pakistan ought to opt for a system of proportionate representation, if we wish to move away from the tyranny of a minority in the garb of a majority.

Will the ECP before receiving the nomination papers of a candidate also ask for the names of his / her party office bearers. Will the ECP check if they meet the qualification requirements for being elected as parliamentarians, as required by Section 5 of the Political Parties Order. Will the ECP also remember to ensure that the office bearers of a political party do not hold an elected public office, which is rather well defined at section 9 of the Political Parties Order. How come the ECP remained in deep slumber while this law was flouted over the past four years. If the new ECP setup can do just the few things mentioned in this article, Pakistan would get a fresh opportunity to build an equitable and accountable electoral system.