DWS, Sunday 21st July to Saturday 27th July 2013

	DWS, Sunday 21st July to Saturday 27th July 2013
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NATIONAL NEWS
Four FC men and 15 Taliban killed in Khyber clashes By Ibrahim Shinwari LANDI KOTAL, July 20: Four personnel of the Frontier Corps and 15 Taliban were killed during an operation against militants in Akkakhel area of Khyber Agency on Saturday. . Codenamed Khyber-2, the operation was launched against Taliban hideouts in Zawa and Khurmatung areas of Akkakhel in Bara on Friday after insurgents bombed a checkpost of the security forces, killing two Frontier Corps personnel. Of the four FC personnel slain in the operation, one was identified as Manzoor. His body was taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Kohat. The three others remained unidentified. Military sources said that nine militants were killed on Friday and six more on Saturday. Security forces also took control of two important heights of Surgarh and Shergarh in Zawa area. The clashes on Saturday left two soldiers dead, taking the death toll of FC personnel to four in two days of clashes. The sources said the military used helicopter gunships to destroy two Taliban hideouts and give cover to the advancing ground forces. Another report put the militant death toll at 22. The death toll could not be verified from independent sources, our correspondent in Kohat added. Agencies add: The area was being used by militants to put pressure on the provincial capital. In recent weeks, police and military posts in and around Peshawar have come under attack. The key area straddles the Nato supply line into Afghanistan, used by US-led troops to evacuate military equipment ahead of their 2014 withdrawal. Security forces have been fighting for years against homegrown insurgents in the tribal belt, which Washington considers the hub of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.
Heavy rain floods cities, villages in Punjab By Intikhab Hanif LAHORE, July 20: A spell of torrential rain began in the upper parts of the country and northeast Punjab on Saturday, causing urban flooding, inundating villages and swelling major rivers and nullahs in the Sialkot region. . Two women in Pasrur villages died after the roof of their cattle-shed collapsed during the rain. Three people were injured in Lahore’s Kot Abdul Malik when the roof of their house caved in. A child was killed and six people injured when the roof of their home collapsed in Shakargarh’s Tola village. Upper catchments of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers received heavy to very heavy rain. The Flood Forecasting Division warned of very high flood in Jhelum river at Mangla and high flood in the Chenab at Marala on Sunday. Medium to high flooding is expected in hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts and their surroundings.The spell of rain is being generated by a persistent westerly wave and incursion of a moist current from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The Met office forecast more intense rain as the incursion of the moist current intensified on Saturday. It was reaching upper parts of the country up to 7,000ft. The spell of rain is covering upper parts of the country and Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Lahore divisions. Islamabad received the heaviest rain over the past 24 hours. The Met office recorded 217mm of rain in Saidpur. Gujranwala received 134mm of rain, Sialkot airport 133mm, Rawalakot 97, Sialkot city 93, Gujrat 67, Jhelum 55, Mangla 46, Garhi Dupatta 43, Kotli 40, Islamabad Zero Point 34, Muzaffarabad 25, Murree and Chakwal 24, Lower Dir 23, Dir and Saidu Sharif 17, Mandi Bahauddin 16, Balakot 15, Kakul 12, Risalpur and Barkhan five and Bhakkar 2mm. Lahore received heavy rain at around noon which turned city streets into rivulets. Many low-lying localities were inundated and the city witnessed worst traffic jams during and after the rain which, otherwise, made the weather pleasant. The maximum temperature was just 27 degrees Celsius as against the minimum 25 Celsius last night. Teams of the city district government struggled to clear water from the low-lying areas like Lakshmi Chowk, Misri Shah and in front of the Qadhafi Stadium. But many places were still inundated till the evening. Rainwater entered Nicholson Road’s Haji Camp and hampered its repair work. By 5pm the local Met office had recorded 62mm of rain at the airport and 48mm at its Jail Road observatory. It was heavily overcast in the evening and the Met office expected more heavy rain in the next 24 hours. RISING RIVERS: The FFD said the water level in River Jhelum at Mangla was 100,000 cusecs and was expected to rise to 250,000 cusecs. In the Chenab at Marala the level was 80,000 cusecs and expected to rise to 210,000 cusecs. The Met office forecast widespread thundershowers, with gusty winds, of moderate to heavy intensity with very heavy intensity at isolated places over upper catchments of all the major rivers along with Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala and Lahore divisions and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Scattered thundershowers, with strong winds, of moderate intensity may occur over Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions. Isolated thundershowers, with strong winds, are likely in Kalat, Sibi, Naseerabad and Zhob divisions, lower Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan. Nullahs of the Ravi and Chenab may attain medium to very high flood levels. Our Sialkot correspondent adds: Farzana Bibi, 37, was killed and her sister-in-law Saleema Bibi injured as the roof of their muddy cattle shed collapsed on them during heavy rain early in the morning in village Darwaal-Sabzpeer, Pasrur. The women were milking cattle. The injured was admitted to the Pasrur THQ Civil Hospital, Sialkot, in a critical condition As many as 21 villages of Pasrur were inundated after high flood in Nullah Dek. It overflowed near Chahoor village, inundating Jabbokey, Nawaadhey, Chahoor, Machchaana, Eispur, Seehowal, Mehtabpur, Hunjali, Qila, Kaka Pan, Punj Graayien Bajwa, Sojowali and Saarh Fataah. The level of the nullah was 26,500 cusecs near village Mehtabpur-Hunjali. The floodwater also damaged crops over a vast tract of land in Pasrur. The water level in the rivers Chenab, Jammu Munaawar and Tavi and Nullahs Aik, Dek, Palkhu and Bhed was also rising because of heavy rain in Sialkot and the neighbouring Jammu. The water level in Nullah Aik near Oora, Sialkot, was 20,000 cusecs.
Better ties needed with neighbours, says Nawaz By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 20: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked the Foreign Office to strive for a ‘peaceful neighbourhood’ by improving ties with neighbouring countries. . The prime minister gave the instructions on Saturday during his first visit to the Foreign Office since assuming the office last month. Mr Sharif has kept the portfolio of foreign affairs ministry with himself. According to FO spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry, the prime minister visited the FO for an “in-depth briefing on foreign policy”. Soon after assuming office, the prime minister wrote letters to the country’s ambassadors, outlining his government’s foreign policy priorities. In a poor reflection of its diplomacy, Pakistan finds itself in an uneasy neighbourhood and its relations with most of its neighbours range from distrust to acrimonious. The prime minister stressed the need for a peaceful and stable neighbourhood and Pakistan’s positive contribution to the creation of such an environment, said a statement issued by the FO. Mr Sharif’s emphasis on strengthening relations with neighbours has different connotations for different countries. In the case of China it implies deepening the ‘strategic partnership’. With respect to India it reflects the PML-N government’s keenness to lower tensions and move ahead with trade. With Iran it wants to maintain a semblance of normalcy. The dynamics of relations with Afghanistan are altogether different. The prime minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaj Aziz, is travelling to Kabul on Sunday to invite President Hamid Karzai for a visit to Islamabad. His trip is meant to soothe tense relations with Afghan leaders, which have been impeding reconciliation efforts in that country. The other relationship, which was intensely debated at the briefing, was with the US, particularly with reference to the core irritant of drone strikes, withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the future of strategic partnership. The prime minister reminded the Foreign Office bureaucracy about his focus on promoting trade and economic ties for meeting the needs of national development. Mr Sharif said he wanted to see Pakistan’s image abroad improved because of its contribution in making the region peaceful and stable. Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani briefed the prime minister about “current regional and international environment”. He highlighted main aspects of major relationships and presented the FO’s institutional recommendations for the conduct of foreign policy.
Three dead, official hurt in Karachi blasts By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 20: A government official survived a bomb attack on his vehicle on a busy road here on Saturday that left his police guard dead hardly an hour before another bomb went off in a house due to ‘mishandling’ by suspected terrorists in another area, killing two of them. . According to police, the vehicle of Matanat Ali Khan, Karachi’s metropolitan commissioner, was attacked near Essa Nagri after he left his office at Civic Centre for home almost an hour before sunset. Initially the police described the incident as a grenade attack, but the impact of the explosion forced them to change their opinion. “The attack was carried out through a bomb planted in a motorcycle parked along Sir Shah Mohammad Suleman Road,” said SP Muqaddas Raza. “Most probably a remote control device was used to detonate the bomb.” The explosion was so powerful that it destroyed the double-cabin vehicle of Mr Khan and three stationary motorcycles, damaged two rickshaws and smashed windowpanes of several flats. Other than Mr Khan, the blast left three other people injured. They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Aga Khan Hospital. They included his guard, constable Sohail Anjum Siddiqi, who suffered head injuries and died in hospital, an official said. While police were busy collecting evidence from the scene, another explosion inside a flat in Patel Para left two people dead and as many injured. Police said the blast occurred on the third floor of a three-storey building, which was rented out only four days ago. “The three-storey structure has been built on a 60-yard plot in a narrow street,” said SP Raja Umer Khattab of the CID’s counter-terrorism unit. “It seems that the blast occurred when explosive material also containing ball bearings was mishandled by the people in the flat. Another police officer said that four men were in the flat when it was hit by the blast. Two died on the spot and two were injured and taken to the Civil Hospital. “One of the injured has been taken into custody,” he said. “The other is in a critical condition and going through surgery. The bodies could not be identified as one of them has almost been torn into pieces and the other has been mutilated.
PPP rejects PML-N’s plea for consensus By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, July 20: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz short-listed on Saturday three candidates — former Sindh governor Mamnoon Hussain, former chief justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and veteran party leader Sartaj Aziz — for the coming presidential polls. . Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif told Dawn that he had proposed the three names to the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, and asked him to agree on any one of them. Mr Shah, a PPP leader, said he had received a message from Mr Asif that the government wanted to see the next president elected unanimously. Mr Shah said he had officially communicated to the government that the PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Senate, Raza Rabbani, was the party’s candidate for the Aug 6 elections. “I have told him that a fourth name also deserves consideration for the office of the president. Raza Rabbani is our candidate and we should select the best among the four candidates,” he said. Mr Shah said the PPP would soon contact other parties to seek their support for Mr Rabbani. He said Mr Asif had also sought the opposition’s support on the government’s demand for a change in the date for the presidential elections due to Ramazan, but he had categorically told the minister that the PPP would not support the move. He said the government should not make the issue controversial. “I have advised the government not to pursue it and let the elections be held on schedule,” he said. According to sources in the PML-N, Mamnoon Hussain appears to be forerunner among the party’s candidates as he belongs to Sindh and is considered to be a diehard member of the party. After expiry of the five-year term of President Asif Ali Zardari on Sept 8, there will be no representation of Sindh in the top constitutional offices of the country. Therefore, the sources said, the party’s leaders had the desire to bring someone from Sindh to the Presidency. They said the name of Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui had been proposed to avoid possible criticism from some political or media circles as he was the party’s candidate against President Zardari when it had no chance to win the polls in September 2008. However, senior members had suggested to the prime minister that the future president must be a committed party loyalist, the sources said. Sartaj Aziz, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, is also considered to be a PML-N, but he could only get a chance of becoming the president if the party did not take the provinces’ representation into consideration, they said. Presently, the National Assembly speaker belongs to Punjab, the deputy speaker to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Senate chairman to Islamabad and his deputy to Balochistan. Prime Minister Sharif, who belongs to Lahore, is already facing criticism for giving a majority of important positions in the federal cabinet to persons belonging to Punjab. While the government and PPP were preparing to contact other parties to seek support for their candidates, two other opposition parties — the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and PML-Q — also nominated their own candidates. A PTI spokesman told Dawn that the party had nominated Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed as its candidate for the top constitutional office. He, however, refused to comment when asked if the party was ready to withdraw its candidate for the sake of the opposition’s unity. The PML-Q chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has reportedly nominated Senator Saeedul Hassan Mandokhel from Balochistan. According to the schedule released by the Election Commission, the nomination papers will be submitted on July 24 and scrutinised on July 26. The papers can be withdrawn on July 29 when the final list of candidates will be issued. Given the party position and affiliations in the four provincial assemblies, the National Assembly and the Senate, a PML-N nominee is likely to win the election.
Articles 62, 63 to come into force By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, July 20: In a significant development, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday decided to make disqualification clause of the constitution applicable to presidential candidates. . The ECP will obtain a declaration from presidential candidates affirming that they fulfil the qualifications specified in Article 62 of the constitution and that they are not hit by any of the disqualifications specified in Article 63, or any other law for the time being in force for being elected as the president of Pakistan. The ECP amended the rule governing the presidential election on Sept 10, 2007, to take away the provision for disqualification of presidential candidates — less than a month before the polls comfortably won by the then military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf. Key opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, were in exile at that time. The amendment in the presidential election rules, which is still in force, was kept a guarded secret by the ECP until it was disclosed by former minister for parliamentary affairs, Dr Sher Afgan. Under the defunct section 5(3)(a) of the presidential election rules, the returning officer was empowered to conduct a summary inquiry and reject any nomination paper after determining that the candidate concerned was disqualified under the constitution to be elected as president. The section was simply struck off. The justification for the abrupt amendment was that it was meant to bring the rule in conformity with two judgments of the Supreme Court passed in 2002 and 2005. The justification, however, did not satisfy many who believed that if the change in rules in light of the judgements was at all required why the ECP kept sleeping over it for years and came out with it weeks before the election to explicitly favour Gen Musharraf. A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by former chief justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad on a petition filed by Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussian Ahmad challenging the referendum order of April 27, 2002, observed that disqualification clauses listed under Article 63 of the constitution were not applicable to the president’s election. A similar observation was given in another judgment passed in 2005. Interestingly, incumbent Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was member of both the benches. The ECP has yet to amend the controversial amendment introduced in the rules, but a senior official of the ECP said the nomination papers of all presidential candidates would be scrutinised on the touchstone of the constitution. He conceded that rules cannot override the substantive constitutional provisions. The amendment had been introduced to allow the then military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to contest presidential poll while in military uniform.
New COAS: critical decision coming up for PM By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, July 20: Before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s proverbial honeymoon period is over he will be faced with critical decisions like succession in the army command and rotating the ceremonial chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee among other services. . When these decisions are to be made, Prime Minister Sharif, who is in office for a record third non-consecutive tenure, will find himself at the same crossroads he has been at twice (in 1993 and 1998) – in fact thrice if his botched attempt to appoint Gen Ziauddin Butt as army chief in 1999 is also counted. On both previous occasions he chose men (Gen Waheed Kakar and Gen Pervez Musharraf) who sent him packing months later. Nevertheless, the choices were relatively easier in 1993 and 1998. He now has to look for a man who can deal with the multi-dimensional threats to national security, turn around the country’s fortunes in the fight against terror and, more significantly, work with the civilian leadership in redressing the civil-military imbalance believed to be at the root of many of the ills the country faces today. Last but not the least, the new army chief also has to be in sync with Mr Sharif’s vision of normalisation of ties with India. If his previous words are taken into account, the prime minister does not have a tough choice to make: “I’ll go by the book. I’ll go by the merit. Whosoever is the most senior would occupy the job. The next one, the next in line.” This would give Mr Sharif a panel of three generals who would then be in service: Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood and Lt Gen Raheel Sharif. According to the rules, names from this panel would be sent to him by the defence ministry, which at the moment is headed by Mr Sharif himself. Mr Sharif, who according to insiders will be cautious this time around in picking the next man, has already started screening the candidates. In this task he is being helped by the old duo – ‘heir apparent’ Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar — that made the choice for Gen Musharraf in 1998. The two have been meeting the people concerned and one such meeting that was noted by many was their visit to Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt Gen Khalid Nawaz. No one is privy to the discussions in the Chaklala Garrison. Is there a move afoot to grant Gen Nawaz an extension before he retires in October and subsequently make him the army chief or was the visit just aimed at consultations about the prospective candidates? No one can say with surety. Gen Nawaz is a relative of Raja Zafarul Haq and belongs to a village — Nara Matore — located in the suburbs of the federal capital. When silence is the order of the day in matters as sensitive as the selection of the next army chief, using simple arithmetic sequencing comes in handy. Mr Sharif’s choice in 1993 was Gen Kakar who was then fourth on the seniority list and in 1998 he picked Gen Pervez Musharraf who was number three on the seniority list. Can one say that this time around he would go for the man who would be number two (Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood) and technically also on the panel that would be presented to the prime minister. The speculation that Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood would make it to the office is also supported by some ground realities. Gen Mahmood was earlier this year elevated to the coveted office of Chief of General Staff. Eight of the last 13 army chiefs had served as CGS prior to becoming a four-star general. Gen Mahmood has served as Lahore Corps Commander which may go in his favour as the Sharifs are in favour of those who have worked in Lahore — an inclination that is reflected in their key bureaucratic appointments. And don’t forget the general too hails from Lahore. Moreover, Gen Mahmood has remained military secretary to former president Rafiq Tarar. Gen Mahmood comes from Baloch Regiment, the parent arm of Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and as a major general he had served under him in the ISI as deputy director general. In Gen Mahmood’s appointment as the CGS, who is in charge of operational and intelligence matters at the General Headquarters, Gen Kayani has already indicated his personal preference, if one were to read it that way. He also remained aide-de-camp (ADC) to former army chief Gen Aslam Beg, who was held responsible by the Supreme Court in the Asghar Khan case for creating the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad and engineering the 1990 polls. The 1990 elections brought Nawaz Sharif into power at the centre for the first time. The other person, who is not much discussed among the likely Gen Kayani’s successors, but is seen as a safe choice by the Sharif camp is Lt Gen Raheel Sharif, who is currently Inspector General Training and Evaluation at the General Headquarters. A careerist like Gen Mahmood, he previously served as Corps Commander in Gujranwala and held the prestigious position of Commandant Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul. Gen Sharif is the younger brother of Nishan-i-Haider recipient Major Shabbir Sharif. Curiously, very few are willing to bet on Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, even though he would be the senior most at the time of Gen Kayani’s retirement on November 28, provided the seniority list is not affected by any extensions. Theoretically, he should be Mr Sharif’s choice if we go by: “The next one, the next in line”. Gen Aslam is presently posted as Chief of Logistics Staff at the General Headquarters. The current postings of Gen Sharif and Gen Aslam – slots that are seen in military service as positions where senior generals cool their heels prior to retirement — are why many do not consider them to be serious contenders for the slot. Gen Aslam has had a brilliant career in military service where he remained Director General Military Operations, commanded Special Services Group (SSG) and then became Corps Commander in Bahawalpur, before being dispatched to the wilderness of logistics. His role in Operation Rah-i-Rast (Swat), where he bravely took on Taliban insurgents in their stronghold of Peochar was and is widely appreciated. His colleagues in the military simply say that “there are issues”, but throw no light on why a high-profile general has ended up in a dead-end job. And if this was not a disadvantage enough, others feel that Mr Sharif may not have the stomach for another commando after his tryst with Gen Musharraf. Other than Gen Nawaz, whom many are not counting on because his apparent retirement date comes before the succession takes place, the other dark horse in the race is Lt Gen Tariq Khan, Corps Commander of Mangla. His fellows describe him as a ‘seedha fauji’ (a real soldier) and a hard-task master. He successfully commanded counter-insurgency operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas as Inspector General of Frontier Corps. Other than stories of his gallantry in confronting militancy, what also goes in his favour is that the Americans speak very highly of him. He is a recipient of US Legion of Merit.
4 assets of EOBI’s ex-chief seized, court told By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, July 20: During an ongoing investigation into the Rs40 billion Employees Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI) scam, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has unearthed and seized four properties in different cities belonging to its former chairman, Zafar Iqbal Gondal. . Submitted by Additional Director General for Law Mohammad Azam Khan to the Supreme Court, a preliminary inquiry report suggests that Mr Gondal owns land measuring 537 kanals in Mandi Bahauddin, a farmhouse spread over 19 kanals in Islamabad, a plot measuring four kanals and eight marlas in Banni Galla area of Islamabad, a plot measuring 556 square yards in Sector E-12 of Islamabad and a Prado Land Cruiser which was purchased by the EOBI allegedly in violation of rules. Mr Gondal has been accused of having allowed investment in private sector development projects without seeking prior approval of the EOBI’s board of trustees in violation of public procurement rules which call for ensuring transparency in government enterprises’ dealings with public sector. Some of the investments made by the EOBI are said to be related to the purchase of following: plots in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Islamabad/ Rawalpindi, the Crown Plaza in F-7 Markaz of the city, two 4,300cc Prado Land Cruisers for personal use of officials, two controversial plots in Sukkur, seven plots in Islamabad, land measuring 40 kanals and 16 marlas in Lahore, four floors of a plaza/hotel in Lahore and land worth Rs20 million near Karachi airport etc. Investment was also made for the construction of a seven star hotel near Lahore airport and M-9 Motorway. The FIA, after registering an FIR about the purchase of the Land Cruisers, has recovered and impounded the vehicles and arrested Wahid Khurshid, EOBI’s director investigation on the charge of being involved in the deals. On Friday a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had ordered freezing of the DHA’s bank accounts until it deposited a staggering Rs22.29bn at the office of the court registrar. About the investment of Rs650 million in the purchase of the Crown Plaza spread over 600 square yards, the FIA report said that the EOBI had paid an exorbitant price of Rs1.02bn to buy the five-storey building. The investigators believe that it was a mutually agreed price as a result of a kickback of Rs150mn. The bid was prepared by Mirza Abdullah Baig, a property dealer, and sent to Wahid Khurshid who gave a counter offer of Rs1.02bn on April 25, 2012. Asked by Khurshid, Shujja Hussain of Diamen Associates inspected the property for price evaluation on April 20, 2012. According to the report, Abdul Qayyum, the seller of the Crown Plaza, had told the FIA about wrongful and illegal payments made to Masood Ahmed Chaudhry and other officials of the EOBI. His statement was endorsed by the manager of the National Bank of Pakistan’s Melody branch. The FIA assured the apex court that it would conduct a fair market evaluation of the property through the National Engineering Services Pakistan. To expose the nexus between Gondal, Khurshid, Qayyum and Chaudhry, their possible interconnected bank transactions would be scrutinised, the FIA said. About the purchase of a plot measuring eight kanals and located at Moza Kallar Kahar, Chakwal district, at a price of Rs32m, the FIA report said that two members of a committee -- Arif Ellahi, labour secretary of Sindh, and Abid Mahmood, a representative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development -- had objected to investments in small towns, saying they would yield little benefit to the institution. The revenue record requisitioned from the district coordination officer of Chakwal highlighted that the property was part of the land owned by one Maqsoodul Hassan and its possession was never taken by the EOBI, the FIA report said. As the land was a joint property of some people, its other owners might file a suit to claim a share in the plot. Prime facie, the FIA said, the deal did not appear to be transparent since the seller is brother of Raja Azeem, son-in-law of former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf. Same is the case with the open plot measuring 1.9 kanals and located on Chakwal-Talagang road. The plot was purchased for Rs60.4m from Sanaul Haq but the sale deed showed the price at Rs11.7m. Haq is also a brother of Azeem. A case about the plot was pending in the court, the report said and added that it had been purchased in complete disregard of the EOBI rules.
Transformation of economy envisioned By Amin Ahmed ISLAMABAD, July 20: The government announced its development strategy on Saturday, including a five-year plan for 2013-18 and a ‘Perspective Plan 2025’ with the ultimate goal of making Pakistan a ‘developed country’ by the completion of 100 years of its existence in 2047. . The Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, said at a news conference that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had approved restructuring of the Planning Commission and his ministry would now be called the ‘ministry of planning, development and reforms’. He said the restructuring would bring reforms in the economic as well as administrative structures and the ministry would become a development think-tank to steer the country on the path of transformational change and for creating a globally competitive knowledge economy. The restructuring process will increase the membership of the Planning Commission by three members and add four new units for strategic planning and policy, reforms and innovation in government, development communication, and strategic and regional initiatives. At present, the commission has only one member on board while the contracts of other members have expired. Mr Iqbal said the government was issuing advertisements to fill the posts of eight members through an open competition on merit from the country and abroad. The posts of chief economist and vice-chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics would also be advertised, he said. The five-year plan will be ready by December and its seven priority areas will be energy for all; building new pillars for self-reliance and high sustainable growth through resource mobilisation, investments and exports; making private sector the driver of growth and promoting the public-private partnership mode and entrepreneurship; value addition in productive sectors for a globally competitive knowledge economy; developing modern infrastructure, including transit economy, economy, energy, information technology and trade corridor; initiating institutional and governance reforms for high performance government; and building social capital. The minister said that while bringing value addition in the productive sectors, the government would focus on value addition from commodity to value-added products. Institutional and governance reforms would be brought through public sector modernisation for quality service delivery, while social capital would be built through education skill, harnessing the potential of youth and social harmony, he said. He said the Planning Commission had remained a disabled body in the past. Now it has been decided that the prime minister will chair meetings of the commission so that policy decisions on development issues can be taken in time. Mr Iqbal said the five-year plan would be synchronised with the term of the government. “We are not an under-developed country, rather we are an under-managed country,” he said while explaining the government’s development strategy. Under the plan, he said, the government would not only overcome the energy crisis but lay a strong foundation for meeting future needs under the integrated energy policy. He said self-reliance would be achieved not only on the basis of remittances but the private sector would be given a leading role. The minister said the previous PML-N government had prepared a roadmap for energy in 1999 and estimated production of 28,000MW by 2010. The situation would have been better if the roadmap had been implemented. Mr Iqbal said the sole objective of the performance unit will be to review projects’ performance on a monthly basis and inform the prime minister. The projects will also be reviewed at quarterly meetings chaired by the prime minister. The new development projects would be for the country as a whole and the future generations and their completion would lead Pakistan to emerge as a developed country. The strategic policy and planning unit will prepare the perspective plan, coordinate with ministries and support them in developing effective sector strategies and policies. The unit will identify key challenges for the government, develop five year plans, build the ministries’ strategic capabilities and develop strategies and policies. A separate unit will be set up to deal with economic trade corridor. A Pakistan competitive unit will be set up to promote the country’s global ratings. The minister said massive investments could have made in Pakistan during the past five years but investors had fled because of corruption and poor governance. He said corruption and bad governance were the major concerns for investors rather than security. “Still, investors are prepared to come back to Pakistan and the government will fully facilitate them.”
Balochistan’s 17 districts without power supply for three days By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, July 20: Balochistan’s 17 districts, including several parts of Quetta, are without electricity for the past three days because the Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) has not yet started repair work on four pylons blown up by gunmen in the Kachhi district on Thursday.. Official sources told Dawn on Saturday that Qesco had not initiated repair work for security reasons. “Our engineers and technical staff will start work after they are provided foolproof security,” a Qesco official said. The disruption of power supply has affected life in 16 districts, including Sibi, Kachhi Bolan, Mastung, Kalat, Qila Abdullah, Qila Saifullah, Pishin Ziarat, and some parts of the Quetta district. It has also caused shortage of water, and citizens are facing hardship, particularly during Sehr and Iftar.
Two die in attack on Karachi ANP office By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 21: An activist of the Awami National Party was killed and two others were injured when the party’s office in Landhi’s Gulshan-i-Buner area came under attack on Sunday night. However, the party claimed that its two workers had been killed.. “An explosion occurred at the ANP’s office and it was followed by an attack by gunmen,” said DIG East Capt Tahir Naveed. “Bomb disposal officials have been sent to determine the nature of the explosion.” SHO Shabbir Hussain of the Quaidabad police station said two men opened fire and hurled a ‘cracker-like thing’ at the office. Three men were in the office at that time. One of them died on the spot and two others suffered injuries. But ANP spokesperson Abdul Malik told Dawn that the party’s local leader Afroz and activist Dilawar had been killed and eight workers were injured. The attack took place in the area where a bomb blast in the office of Amanullah Mehsud, the party’s candidate for a Sindh Assembly seat, had claimed 12 lives during general elections on May 11. Not far from the place where Sunday’s attack took place, ANP candidate for NA-254 Sadiq Zaman and his six-year-old son had been shot dead on May 2 while they were coming from a mosque after Friday prayers. Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack. In another incident, two men died in a clash between groups of residents of Faqir Colony in Orangi Town. A man was shot dead during an attempted robbery in Soldier Bazaar. Police said robbers had stormed an internet café near Nishter Park. Tahir, 28, resisted the robbers when they tried to snatch his mobile phone.
Aziz seeks to allay Afghan concerns KABUL, July 21: Pakistan is willing to help jumpstart long-stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban to try to end the more than 12-year war in Afghanistan if the parties request its help, Sartaj Aziz, Special Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, said here on Sunday. . He said during his daylong visit to Afghanistan that Pakistan had in the past helped persuade some Taliban factions to discuss peace and also had played a role in helping the group’s representatives travel to Qatar before those efforts stalled. “In the future, to the extent we are requested, we can play the same role but at the appropriate time and in consultation with other interested parties.” Mr Aziz said Pakistan was again prepared to ease the movement of Taliban negotiators and release more detainees belonging to the organisation should the Afghan government request it. “I have brought a message of cordiality and goodwill for Afghanistan,” he said at a news conference after meeting the Afghan foreign minister. “The main purpose of my visit, as some of you may know, is to convey a formal invitation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to President Karzai to visit Pakistan,” he said. “For us, a peaceful, stable and united Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan,” he said, calling for a “close relationship” and reiterating Pakistan’s support for an “Afghan-led” peace process with the Taliban. Mr Aziz denied perceptions that Pakistan controlled the Taliban and said it could only help bring about a deal and not impose one. “We have some contacts with the Taliban because of the past but we don’t control them.” He said Pakistan had eased the movement of negotiators and released 26 Taliban detainees at the request of the Afghan government. Mr Aziz denied allegations of trying to break up Afghanistan or planning to end the Afghan war with a power-sharing role for the Taliban. He said Pakistan wanted a reset on diplomacy with Afghanistan after a sharp deterioration triggered by botched efforts to aid US efforts to start peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar. “Without peace and security in Afghanistan, peace and security in Pakistan cannot be ensured,” he said. Mr Aziz said Pakistan had facilitated travel to Qatar by Taliban representatives at the request of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council. “It is for Afghans themselves to decide what system and what kind of post-2014 arrangement they would like to have.” He said that Pakistan would extend its full support and cooperation in holding intra-Afghan talks for peace and stability in Afghanistan. However, he said any peace talks must be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. “The PML-N government wants to expand relations with Afghanistan,” he said. He said Pakistan wanted to remove all barriers in the way of trade between the countries. He said expansion in trade would bring prosperity for the people of both countries, besides improving the economy. Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said efforts on both sides to strengthen relations, fight terrorism and ignite peace talks “have not been successful”.“I hope the new government of Pakistan will open a new chapter in Pakistan-Afghan relations,” he said.--Agencies
CCI meeting tomorrow to discuss new energy policy By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, July 21: The government has convened a meeting of the Council of Common Interests on Tuesday.. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will preside over the meeting which has a one-point agenda – the new energy policy. The chief ministers of the provinces, who are members of the CCI, are expected to give their opinion on the policy and suggest ways of improving electricity generation and overcoming loadshedding. The new policy is understood to have recommendations for reforming the power sector which over the years has virtually touched the rock bottom and plunged large areas in the country into darkness. According to an official of the prime minister’s office, the four chief ministers have confirmed their participation in the meeting. After its approval by the council, the energy policy will be forwarded to the federal cabinet which is likely to meet on July 25. PM’s address to nation: Meanwhile, the prime minister plans to address the nation in a few days. Although more than one government source confirmed the prime minister’s decision of sharing priorities of his government with the nation, they were uncertain about the day the speech would be made. “It can be Monday or some other day, but it will take place in the next few days,” said a senior official of the PM’s office. Soon after his election as prime minister on June 5, Mr Sharif had said in the National Assembly that he would soon address the nation to share his government’s vision with them. A government source said that Mr Sharif’s speech would be mainly deal with the new energy policy on which he and a team of energy experts had been working even before the general elections. The official said the speech would also be touching other issues of national importance such as a new national security policy. The government has also announced to convene an all-party conference to seek the opinion from other political leaders and give a final shape to the security policy. Over the past couple of weeks, the prime minister has been visiting important government offices and departments, including the ISI headquarters and ministries of interior and foreign affairs. The official of the PM’s office said that in his speech the prime minister would shed light on how the government intended to address various issues concerning the foreign policy, national security, energy crisis and development projects he would be undertaking in the coming years. The prime minister will also share with the nation the country’s economic woes which had forced his government to go to the International Monitory Fund to boost foreign exchange reserves.
Tragedy befalls Iranian mountain climbers By Farman Ali Baltistani SKARDU, July 21: An Iranian climber has died, another has gone missing and yet another has been stranded at about 7,800 metres while descending from the Broad Peak after conquering it. . According to sources, nine climbers from different countries scaled the peak and began descending. Six of them reached the base camp. However, an Iranian mountaineer fell into a ditch, another one went missing and the third has been stranded at a height of about 7,800 metres. On Sunday, an army helicopter tried to rescue the stranded climber but did not succeed due to inclement weather. With a height of 8,051 metres, the Broad Peak, also known as K3, is the 12th highest mountain in the world. It is located on the Pak-China border and in the Karakoram mountain range about 8km from K2. AP adds: The head of a mountaineering club in Islamabad confirmed that rescuers had called off their search for the three Iranian climbers. Manzoor Hussain, the president of the Alpine Club, said his outfit was coordinating the expedition and that the three Iranians successfully ascended the summit of Broad Peak. He said the men sent a call for help while descending the peak, saying they were exhausted and had run out of food. Mr Hussain said rescue teams were dispatched, but failed to find them. He said the three men were last in touch with their homeland via satellite phone on Saturday.
London-bound PIA plane develops fault, lands in Moscow By Bhagwandas KARACHI, July 21: A London-bound PIA aircraft with at least 128 passengers on board had to make an emergency landing at Moscow airport on Sunday after one of its engines ceased to function, according to information reaching here. . Sources in the PIA said another aircraft with over 200 passengers on board had been diverted to the Russian capital to take the passengers stranded there to Manchester. From there, they would be transported to London, probably by road because of night ban on flights over the British capital. Because of the mishap, the sources said, the London-bound passengers would be reaching their destination three hours behind schedule, and probably in buses. They said that PIA’s flight PK 785 had left Islamabad for London at around 10am. While the aircraft had covered about half the distance, the compressor of one of its two engines developed a fault and the engine ceased to function. The pilot decided to divert the flight to Moscow and the plane landed safely at the Sheremetyevo international airport at about 3.30pm. The Boeing 777 will be inspected on Monday and a decision would be taken about the repair work needed. The sources said the pilot of flight PK 701, which had left Islamabad at about 2pm, was asked by the PIA management to take his aircraft to Moscow to take the passengers stranded there to his destination, Manchester. The flight would stay in the Russian capital for a couple of hours before flying over to Manchester by the evening (local time). When contacted, PIA spokesman Mashhood Tajwar said the engine of the ill-fated aircraft developed a fault while it was flying over Eastern Europe/Russia. Capt Ijaz Durrani decided to make a ‘technical’ landing at the nearest airport, in Moscow. All the passengers were safe, he added. He said the engine could not be checked immediately because the Moscow airport authorities were unable to provide such services on Sundays. Since the PIA did not operate flights to Moscow, he said, it had no arrangements for technical services there. Engineers would be sent from Pakistan to examine the engine. Mr Tajwar confirmed that another PIA aircraft, which had left Islamabad in the afternoon, had been directed to go to Moscow to take the stranded passengers to Manchester. He said the aircraft was expected to land at Manchester airport by 8pm (local time). If the flight reached Manchester after sunset, the London-bound passengers would be taken to the British capital by road. The drive would take a few hours, the spokesman added.
Manoeuvring by bureaucrats over key posts alleged By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, July 21: A group of professionals working in regulatory bodies have alleged smart manoeuvring by some bureaucrats during the process of selection for top posts in more than two dozen public sector enterprises and regulatory bodies.. A senior official told Dawn that the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the Cabinet Division had received a number of representations from senior professionals who felt having been elbowed out of the competition process through manoeuvring of age-limits to pave the way for their juniors to become top bosses in key organisations. “In today’s world of knowledge and innovation, age hardly matters. A youngster in the mid-30s with required qualification and exposure could be as good as a 55-year-old careerist while a 70-year-old veteran with wide experience could do wonders if not cut off from the relevant field,” the official said. Various ministries have recently advertised for heads of enterprises and set age-limit of 60 years, otherwise retirement age for government employees to attract a wider pool of experienced professionals. The ministry of power which had earlier set the upper age-limit of 55 years or higher for its power companies enhanced it to 60 years after it was advised to attract experienced candidates and not to limit their choice of candidates at the application stage. The upper age-limit for oil and gas companies (PSO, OGDCL, SNGPL, SSGCL and PPL) is also 60 years. But for positions of members and chairmen of regulatory bodies, like Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) which required more experienced people than power companies the maximum age-limit was set at 56. However, the age-limit for another regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), is 62 years.“This shows there is no principle for setting age-limit. It’s arbitrary and depends on the availability of connected people in the bureaucracy who are going to protect and promote each other during the selection process,” an official alleged. “They did so in the previous government and are out to follow it now while using shoulders of the PML-N government,” he said. Another official said that regulatory bodies needed more experienced people than public sector enterprises because regulators were responsible for steering the entire sectors and acts of various regulatory bodies like Nepra, Ogra and Pemra set the retirement age of their members and chairmen at 65 years. While there is no age limit for members and the chairman of PTA in the Telecom Act, retirement age of 65 has been followed for the PTA. “Setting the age-limit to a much lower 56 years for the PTA and Nepra will not only limit the availability of experienced candidates for chairmen and members but also become inconsistent with provisions of their respective acts,” said a former Nepra member. It was in this spirit that regulatory positions are tenure-based, generally having an initial term of four years so that a person is still able to be considered for the second term before reaching the retirement age of 65. The age-limit of 56 is designed to disqualify some professionals at the application stage. Therefore, senior officials at Nepra and PTA have complained to the government that they have been deliberately kept out of the process through age-limit and they are frustrated to note that their juniors may apply for key regulatory positions and become their bosses. They said that if the prime minister or courts looked at the entire record which kept on changing the upper age-limits, the dubious moves of some bureaucrats at the cabinet and establishment divisions. Sources said the age-limit for PTA had been changed and published in newspapers thrice within a few days of the previous government to accommodate a favourite of the then prime minister to influence the lucrative 3G auction. This was followed by hurriedly-framed rules by the cabinet division, subsequently stopped by the Lahore and Islamabad High Courts. Fingers are being pointed towards a couple (a husband and his wife) in telecom and establishment divisions for the move.
Groundbreaking of 147MW hydel plant likely on Aug 15 By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 21: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to perform the groundbreaking of 147MW Patrind hydropower project in Azad Kashmir on Aug 15.. The Korea Water Resources Corporation of South Korea is the sponsor and developer of the country’s second independent hydropower project in the private sector. The firm, commonly known as K-Water, has already started work on the project processed by the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB). The project is expected to start commercial operation in 2017 at an estimated investment of $362 million. The first independent hydropower project in the private sector – New Bong Escape of 84MW – was inaugurated by the prime minister last week. A government official said the PPIB was expediting another hydropower project of 100MW – Gulpur hydro project – in the private sector. It will be completed by December 2017. He said the PPIB had inducted 29 independent projects and three power policies. It was providing about 8,657MW of electricity at a cost of $9.2 billion to the national grid, which was more than 50 per cent of the country’s total generation capacity, he pointed out. The official said that five big projects of 3,800MW – Karrot hydro of 720MW, Suki Kinari hydro of 840MW, Azad Pattan of 640MW, Chakothi Hattian of 500MW and Kohala of 1,100MW – were also under various stages of processing. These are expected to be completed by 2020. The feasibility study of 590MW Mahal hydropower project has also been completed and it is in the prequalification stage to attract investment for construction.The focus of investment in the energy sector has now been shifted to hydropower generation to produce cheaper electricity and improve overall energy mix and tariff affordability. The government is also working on coal and some co-generation projects of 1,200MW through the PPIB. The official said that investment conferences and road shows were being planned in several world capitals in the next few months to attract quality investors in the power sector.
Provinces oppose bulk power purchase By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, July 22: Three provinces have opposed the Supreme Court’s suggestion of supplying electricity in bulk directly to the provinces in accordance with their requirements and deducting the cost at source from the National Finance Commission (NFC) award allocations. . The court had asked Attorney General Muneer A. Malik to seek instructions from the federal and provincial governments on the possibility. The proposal meant that the provincial governments, being responsible for maintaining law and order, would collect the dues for ensuring smooth supply of power to their consumers ready to pay the charges, absolving the centre of the responsibility and any backlash. A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has taken suo motu notice of loadshedding. In response to the court’s directive, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa submitted replies through their advocates general, opposing the proposal. Balochistan did not submit its reply. Punjab’s acting Advocate General Mustafa Ramday said the province was receiving Rs500 billion through the NFC and if Rs420bn was deducted in advance, little would be left for other expenses. The court said that if the provincial government could not purchase electricity, it should curb the theft of electricity and gas in the province. Mr Ramday said the Punjab government had launched a campaign and registered several cases in this regard. The court took notice of an allegation that the fertiliser factories, despite availing the federal government’s subsidy, were not providing relief to farmers and selling the products at a very high price. The court issued notices to fertiliser companies and adjourned the hearing for two weeks. FATA: The court also took suo motu notice on an application of Senator Hilalur Rehman highlighting the plight of residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) who are suffering because of 22 hours of loadshedding every day. The senator from Mohmand Agency said people living in his area were facing the worst ever loadshedding during Ramazan because the Peshawar Electric Supply Company was not supplying the due share of electricity to the area. He said the Tribal Electric Supply Company and the National Power Construction Corporation provided electricity to Fata through both Tesco and Pesco. He said Pesco received 15pc electricity from the NPCC, of which Fata’s share was 3pc. Even if this allocated amount was supplied to the region, its residents would get a big relief, he added. The senator said Tesco’s quota is 307 megawatts, but Fata was getting less than 160MW. He requested the court to order Pesco to normalise the supply for the people of Fata. The chief justice ordered registration of the application and putting it up with the relevant judicial file after obtaining a reply from the managing director of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company.
Loadshedding to end by ’17 By Sohail Iqbal Bhatti ISLAMABAD, July 22: The government has finally formulated the much-awaited National Energy Policy 2013-18. It will be presented to the Council of Common Interests for approval on Tuesday. . Under the policy, a copy of which is available with DawnNews, power sector subsidy will be phased out by 2018 and loadshedding will be ended by 2017. It aims at generating surplus electricity in 2018, privatising government-owned power plants and a few power distributing companies (Discos), bringing the double digit cost of power generation to a single digit, restructuring the water and power ministry, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Oil and gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), adjustment of outstanding dues owed by public and private organisations through federal adjusters and formation of regional transmission and power trading system. The policy has been prepared by the Ministry of Water and Power to support the current and future energy needs of the country. It comprises seven points envisions a profitable, bankable and investment-friendly power sector which meets the nation’s needs and boosts its economy in a sustainable and affordable manner while adhering to the most efficient generation, transmission and distribution standards. According to the policy, the power sector is currently facing a number of challenges -- a yawning gap between supply and demand which far outstrips the current generation capacity (up to 4500-5000MW), highly expensive generation of electricity (Rs12 per unit) because of increased dependence on expensive thermal fuel sources (44 per cent of total generation), an inefficient power transmission and distribution system which currently records 25-28pc losses because of poor infrastructure, mismanagement and theft of electricity. Goals: To achieve the long-term vision of the power sector and overcome its challenges, the government has set the following goals: Build a power generation capacity that can meet the country’s energy needs in a sustainable manner; create a culture of energy conservation and responsibility; ensure generation of inexpensive and affordable electricity for domestic, commercial and industrial use; minimise pilferage and adulteration in fuel supply; promote world class efficiency in power generation; create a cutting edge transmission network; minimise financial losses across the system; and align the ministries involved in the energy sector and improve governance. Policy principles : The efficiency will be predicated on three pillars of merit order, transparency/automation and accountability. The merit order will be privilege fuel allocation on the basis of efficiency and set a tariff structure which encourages efficient technology and management, optimises dispatch and payments and retire high cost power in favour of lower cost sources. Transparency will be achieved by easing access to information through a public website and by optimising transmission through technology/automation. Accountability will be ensured by hiring solely on the basis of competency, signing performance contracts with heads of all entities and exercising zero tolerance towards corruption and poor performance. Similarly, competition will be built on three pillars -- upfront tariff, competitive bidding and key client management. Infrastructure will be developed and incentives provided to attract greater private sector investments. The government will set the foundations of energy cities and corridors and sponsor public-private partnership for coal and run-of-river projects. The government will redesign and strengthen the national grid transmission network and build a regional transmission and power trading system. The tariff and competitive bidding process will be controlled by a world-class regulatory authority. Upfront tariff will be set for low cost fuel and competitive bidding will be used to further reduce the cost. Sustainability will be grounded on three pillars of low cost energy, a fair and level playing field and demand management. Low cost of energy will be ascertained by altering fuel mix towards less expensive fuels such as hydro, biomass and coal. The power sector will be afforded a privileged access to gas allocation. Investments required for the low cost fuel mix will necessitate rationalisation of electricity tariff.
Sindh govt assured of centre’s help By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 22: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has assured the Sindh government that the federal government will provide it whatever resources it requires to restore peace and improve law and order situation in Karachi.. The minister, who was on a whirlwind visit to the city on Monday, spent a busy day to assess the law and order situation and muster support for the PML-N candidate in the presidential election scheduled for Aug 6. During his eight-hour stay, he met Director General of Rangers Maj Gen Rizwan Akhtar at the Rangers’ headquarters, followed by a meeting with Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the CM House and Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad at the Governor’s House, bedsides a meeting with PML-N leaders from the province. Before returning to Islamabad in the evening, Chaudhry Nisar also paid a visit to the Raja House to meet PML-F chief Pir Pagara and briefly talked to reporters. In reply to their questions, he said he had never talked about imposing governor’s rule in Sindh or giving a one-month deadline (to the Sindh government) to improve law and order situation in Karachi. Since the PPP had a clear mandate in Sindh, he said, the federal government would cooperate with it. He said the chief minister had a long political career and commanded respect among politicians. “Sindh is a sensitive province and conditions in Karachi, which is a mini-Pakistan, have an impact on the entire country,” the interior minister observed. The minister said all political parties would work together to make security forces effective and find a solution to political and administrative issues. He said he was going back with a better understanding (of Karachi) and trust in the provincial government. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would visit Karachi soon, Chaudhry Nisar said. CHIEF MINISTER: During a meeting with the chief minister, he attended a briefing by the provincial chief secretary, the police chief and the DG Rangers on law and order situation in Sindh, with a focus on Karachi. The chief minister thanked the minister for taking interest in law and order situation in the province, particularly Karachi. “Although Rangers and police are striving to eliminate crime in Karachi and have arrested several suspects involved in heinous crimes and terrorism, the Sindh government needs cooperation of the federal government to improve law and order situation in the city,” he said. No doubt some incidents of bomb blasts and targeted killing had taken place in Karachi, but police and Rangers had made efforts to prevent such incidents in future, he said and stressed the need for cooperation at different levels to cope with the challenge. He said Lyari had always been a fortress of the PPP but law and order situation had recently taken an ugly turn in the area. Referring to the migration of families of Kachchi community from Lyari, he said a five-member ministerial committee was in touch with them and 80 per cent of the families were ready to return home. GOVERNOR: At a meeting with Governor Ibad, the minister discussed with him law and order situation in the province, particularly Karachi. They agreed that all political entities had to play a role to improve the situation. The minister directed law enforcement agencies to take action against criminals without any discrimination and assured them of cooperation of the federal and provincial governments in this regard. The governor said a foolproof security system was being evolved to improve law and order which was necessary for economic progress. Chaudhry Nisar inquired about well-being of MQM chief Altaf Hussain and asked the governor to convey his best wishes to him. PML-N: At a meeting with the minister, the PML-N leaders presented suggestions for restoring law and order in the city and the province.
ECP rejects govt plea on presidential poll delay By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, July 22: The Election Commission of Pakistan turned down on Monday a request made by the government to change the date for presidential election and said the poll would be held on Aug 6 as already announced by the commission. . Sources told Dawn that ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmad Khan had written a letter to the law secretary informing him that the government’s request had been placed before the commission comprising the chief election commissioner and four provincial members, but they declined to accept it on the grounds that any change in the schedule was not possible at this ‘belated’ stage. An ECP official claimed that no concrete reason for changing the schedule had been given by the government. He said it was still possible for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other lawmakers to cast their votes and then leave for Saudi Arabia to perform Umra on the night of 27th Ramazan. The polling will start at 10am. The government had on Friday sought a slight change in the schedule because some people had already planned to perform Umra and observe Aitekaf. After examining legal and technical aspects of the matter, the ECP secretariat immediately prepared a summary ruling out the possibility of any change in the schedule. The government’s request, along with the secretariat’s summary, was placed before the commission on Monday. The ECP rejected the government’s plea. When contacted, a federal minister said the decision would be challenged in court. He said a number of lawmakers observing Aitekaf would not be able to come for casting their vote. “It is difficult for us to ask people not to observe Aitekaf and sacrifice their intent for an electoral exercise, and even if we do that, many will find it difficult to follow.” He said the government had not proposed any date for the presidential election and was ready to accept any date even after 27th of Ramazan. A PML-N leader said the ECP should convene a consultative session to decide on an agreed date. The term of the incumbent president is to expire on Sept 8 and it will not make any difference if the polling is delayed for a week or so. He said the argument that holding the election after Aug 8 would be a violation of the constitution was not valid because it had been done by the ECP on various occasions. He pointed out that a National Assembly constituency remained without representation for five years as elections could not be held there in 2008 and afterwards. The elections in another NA constituency could not take place on the same ground on May 11. The PML-N leader said that under the law the ECP was bound to fill vacant assembly seats within 60 days, but by-elections in 42 national and provincial assembly constituencies were being held on August 22 – beyond the period specified in the law.
Mamnoon strongest PML-N candidate By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, July 22: With two days remaining for submission of nomination papers for the presidential election, the PML-N is reported to have narrowed down the list to three candidates.. Senior PML-N leaders told Dawn that former governor of Sindh and party loyalist Mamnoon Hussain was the front-runner followed by PM’s adviser on foreign affairs and national security Sartaj Aziz and former chief justice of Pakistan Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui. July 24 is the last date for submission of nomination papers in the four provincial capitals and in Islamabad. The polling will be held on August 6. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Mamnoon Hussain on Monday and informed him that the party was considering his candidature. Mr Hussain confirmed to Dawn that the prime minister had discussed with him his possible nomination as a candidate of the ruling party. A veteran Muslim Leaguer, Mr Hussain is a graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. He remained loyal to the PML-N leadership during the rule of Gen Pervez Musharraf, but later kept a low profile. Mr Hussain said that soon after he had left the university in the late 60s he was elected joint secretary of the Muslim League in Sindh. Although Mr Hussain remained associated with the party in the 70s and 80s, he was deeply involved in his textile business. In 1993, he came closer to the party leadership when Mr Sharif was contesting his removal from the prime minister’s office by then president Ghulam Ishaq. “Then onward, I remained an active member of the party and worked in various positions, including as acting president of the PML-N Sindh for some time. At the moment, I am senior vice president of the party, the position which obviously I will resign if chosen by the party to run for the post of president,” Mr Hussain said.Before serving as the governor of Sindh from June to October 1999 when the PML-N was in power, he worked as adviser to then chief minister Liaquat Jatoi. When pressed, Mr Hussain said: “By tomorrow evening, it will be clear who is going to be the PML-N’s nominee. I have only been told that the party leadership is considering my name also.” But his presence in Islamabad indicates that the party has made up its mind to nominate him as its candidate. According to a PML-N leader, Mr Hussain will surely win the party’s nomination. Moreover, he said, since Mr Hussain belonged to Sindh his party could counter the PPP’s propaganda that the PML-N was accommodating only Punjabi politicians at the centre. When approached, Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Saddiqui told Dawn that nobody from the ruling party had contacted him so far. He was PML-N candidate in the 2008 presidential election. Sartaj Aziz could not be contacted for his comment.
SC wants legal work completed by Aug 15 By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 22: The Supreme Court ordered the four provincial governments and the Islamabad administration on Monday to complete legal formalities, including delimitation of constituencies, by Aug 15 to enable the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local government elections preferably on Sept 15.. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said it would appreciate if the provincial governments held the polls by Sept 15. It said the process of promulgating new laws and rules and conducting delimitation of constituencies should be finalised to ensure early elections. “The constitution casts a duty on us that it should be enforced by following its provisions practically to enable the general public to participate in good governance,” the chief justice observed while stressing the importance of the elections. The issue had attracted the attention of the court on July 17 during the last hearing of a case relating to law and order situation in Balochistan after which the court decided to pursue the matter. The court recalled that it had already fixed Sept 15 as the date for the elections in the areas falling under the jurisdiction of cantonment boards across the country and the relevant authorities had assured it of conducting the exercise. The ECP’s Director General (Elections) Sher Afgan informed the court about legal implications because of which the commission needed at least 90 days to hold the elections after receiving requests to do so from the provincial governments. Citing the Local Governments Act of Balochistan, he said the provincial governments would ask the ECP to hold the elections and submit their plans about relevant laws and rules, besides completing the process of delimitation. Normally, he said, the ECP needed 60 days to hold general elections but if the assemblies were dissolved before completing their term, the commission required 90 to 120 days to make arrangements for the elections. Acting Advocate General of Punjab Mustafa Ramday told the court that the provincial government would be ready to hold local government elections but needed two to three weeks for completing the process of delimitation and promulgation of relevant laws. Advocate General of Sindh Khalid Javed said the provincial government was ready to hold the elections by the date fixed by the court but, if permitted, it would be easy for it hold the polls after Dec 31. The governments of Balochistan and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa have already given their consent for holding the elections and sought a specific date from the ECP. Representing the Islamabad administration, Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti said the federal government was ready to hold the polls in rural areas of the capital but needed amendments in the Local Government Act 1979 for doing so in urban areas.
Syrian rivals urged to respect holy sites By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 22: The Foreign Office condemned on Monday an attack on the shrine of Sayyeda Zainab in Syria and urged militants to respect the sanctity of holy places and called upon the government of the country to ensure their safety.. The charge d’affaires of Syria was called to the Foreign Office and “concerns of the government and people of Pakistan” over the attack on the shrine on the outskirts of Damascus were conveyed to him. Mortar shells fired by insurgents struck the shrine on Friday, killing, among others, its caretaker Anas Romani. “The government of Pakistan strongly condemns the deliberate and wanton attack on the holy sites, including the recent attack on Sayyeda Bibi Zainab’s shrine on July 19 in Damascus. The trend of desecration of the holy sites has hurt the sentiments of Muslims in Pakistan as indeed the world over,” a Foreign Office statement said. The Syrian government, which is fighting a raging insurgency since 2011, was asked to “ensure safety and security of all shrines”. The protest came a day after Shia groups demonstrated outside the Foreign Office. “Such violations, which also fan sectarian strife, are most reprehensible,” it said. In a separate statement, President Asif Ali Zardari said that mortar strike was most “hurtful and despicable that could have been perpetrated only by the lowest and the meanest”.
MQM leader lashes out at PTI chief By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 22: MQM leader Hyder Abbas Rizvi has criticised the allegations levelled against Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and asked him to refrain from issuing provocative statements hurting the sentiments of ‘millions of MQM workers’.. Talking to journalists in London, the PTI chief had held the British government responsible for the murder of PTI leader Zehrah Shahid Husain in Karachi and said that it should restrain its citizens from spreading violence in Pakistan, a clear reference to Mr Hussain. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr Rizvi said Imran Khan was accusing the MQM and its leadership of being involved in violence only to divert people’s attention from his irresponsible activities and behaviour. He said while the country was facing severe crises, Mr Khan preferred to attend a charity programme in London to save Asian elephants instead of staying in country to attend an all-party conference called by the government to formulate a national security policy. Mr Rizvi said it was difficult to understand what Mr Khan wanted to achieve by provoking the people of Sindh’s urban areas. He said the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had failed to do anything to meet the promises it had made and was facing immense pressure from civil society and the masses for having failed to stop drone attacks and persistent terrorist attacks. During his election campaign, he said, the PTI chief had promised that after coming to power he would not allow drone attacks and Nato supplies. And now he was keeping quiet on these issues to hide his party’s failure and was issuing provocative statements against the MQM.He said a member of the provincial assembly belonging to Imran Khan’s party was murdered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but he did not utter a word about it. Accompanied by Wasay Jalil and other MQM leaders, Mr Rizvi said the PTI was running a vicious campaign against MQM and Mr Hussain. He accused the party of having asked its workers to call London police and lodge false and fabricated complaints against the MQM chief. He said everyone knew that Mr Khan never condemned terrorist attacks on innocent people, defence installations, mosques, Imambargahs, etc, and instead supported Taliban and militants of other banned organisations on every forum. Mr Rizvi said that soon after the murder of Zehrah Shahid the PTI chief had blamed the MQM chief for it, but he should now be asked why he was not telling the nation who was behind the murder of his party’s MPA and attacks on security personnel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Karzai sets terms for Pakistan visit KABUL, July 22: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday gave a lukewarm response to Pakistan’s invitation to visit Islamabad, setting conditions for any high-level talks designed to mend increasingly frosty relations.. Pakistan on Sunday sent its top diplomat to offer further assistance to Afghanistan’s efforts to reach a deal with the Taliban to end 12 years of war. Foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz held talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and met Mr Karzai to deliver in person the invitation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – already extended twice by telephone. On Monday the president’s office said Mr Karzai had accepted the invitation “in principle”. But Mr Karzai said a high-ranking delegation could visit Pakistan only when the agenda is specified, initial preparations have been made and a “serious and effective struggle against terrorism and the peace process are on the top of the agenda”. Mr Aziz is the most senior member of Pakistan’s new government to visit Afghanistan at a time when relations between Kabul and Islamabad have been worsening. International efforts to start talks with the Taliban are in disarray after the disastrous opening of a liaison office for the Taliban in Qatar. A furious Karzai slammed it as an unofficial embassy for a Taliban government-in-exile. Last week Mr Karzai’s chief of staff, Karim Khorram, claimed the Taliban office was part of a plot to break up Afghanistan, orchestrated by either Pakistan or the United States.Mr Aziz denied perceptions held by many in Afghanistan that Pakistan controlled the Taliban, saying only that “we have some contacts” with the militia.—AFP
Abid named minister of state By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 22: The Acting President and Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari approved on Monday appointment of Abid Sher Ali as minister of state for water and power. . Mr Ali is said to be a nephew of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Government’s critics have started criticising his appointment. “The acting president, on the advice of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, approved the appointment of Mr Abid Sher Ali, MNA, as minister of state in terms of Article 92(1) of the Constitution,” President’s Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said. In a separate development the acting president approved on Monday the appointment of Abdul Latif Golo, District & Sessions Judge (BS-21) as Judge Accountability Court-I Karachi on deputation basis. The acting president also approved the following appointments on the advice of the prime minister. Advocate Sher Shah Kasi, has been appointed Deputy Attorney General Quetta, Advocate Syed Muhammad Attique Shah as Additional Attorney General-I Islamabad, Nasir Mahmud as Deputy Attorney General-X Lahore in place of Iftekhar Shahid and Sajid Ijaz Hotiana as Standing Counsel-XVIII Islamabad. Under a separate decision the acting president accepted the resignation of Habib Ullah Shakir from the post of Additional Attorney General-I Islamabad.
Kate gives birth to third in line to throne LONDON, July 22: Prince William’s wife Kate gave birth to a baby boy on Monday, providing Britain’s royal family with a future king in an event that had been anticipated around the world, Kensington palace said. . Crowds cheered and rushed towards the gates of Buckingham Palace as it was announced that the Duchess of Cambridge had produced a male heir. The baby will be third in line to the throne and in the direct line of succession after head of state Queen Elizabeth-II’s eldest son and heir Prince Charles, and then his eldest son William. “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4.24pm (1524 GMT),” Kensington Palace said in a statement just over four hours afterwards. “The baby weighs 8lbs 6oz. The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.” The boy’s name was not revealed, but he will be known as Prince of Cambridge.—AFP
Campaign launched by PPP for Rabbani By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, July 23: The PPP launched its campaign for presidential candidate Raza Rabbani on Tuesday and succeeded in winning over the support of the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A). . The PML-Q agreed to support the PPP nominee but only if he became the joint candidate of all opposition parties. And PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain declared in the presence of PPP leaders that no-one from his party would be a candidate. Earlier, the party had nominated Senator Saeedul Hassan Mandokhel as its candidate. On the other hand, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) told the PPP leadership that it could not promise to support Mr Rabbani because it was a partner of the PML-N in the ruling coalition. A PPP delegation comprising its senior members spent a busy day on Tuesday, meeting leaders of the PML-Q, ANP, BNP-A and the JUI-F and seeking support for Mr Rabbani who also attended the meetings. The PPP started the day with a meeting in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, at Parliament House. The meeting decided that the PPP would approach all parties having representation in parliament and the provincial assemblies and request them to support Mr Rabbani. The meeting was attended by Makhdoom Amin Fahim, former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, Leader of Opposition in the Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. Afrasiab Khattak and Haji Adeel of the ANP and Senator Kalsoom Parveen of the BNP-A also joined the meeting and announced their parties’ support for the PPP candidate. Later, a delegation headed by Khursheed Shah visited the residence of the PML-Q president. Chaudhry Shujaat later told reporters that no-one from his party would submit nomination papers for the election. He stressed the need for uniting the opposition and said his party would support a joint candidate. Some TV channels quoted sources as saying that Chaudhry Shujaat had reminded the PPP leaders that Mr Rabbani had been criticising the PML-Q in recent days. But the claim was refuted by the PPP. Mr Rabbani had opposed the PPP leadership’s decision to include the PML-Q in the ruling coalition in 2011 and had even resigned from a ministry in protest. When contacted, PML-Q’s Information Secretary Kamil Ali Agha said his party had not announced unconditional support for the PPP nominee. Chaudhry Shujaat asked the PPP leaders to talk to other opposition parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, so that a joint candidate could be fielded against the government candidate. Mr Agha said only a joint opposition candidate could create problems for the ruling party, otherwise, there would be no problem for the government given the numbers in parliament and provincial assemblies. He said the PML-Q would abstain from the election if the opposition failed to come up with a joint candidate. Khursheed Shah said the PPP team would meet PTI and MQM leaders soon to seek their support. The PPP leaders later went to the residence of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Later, talking to reporters, Maulana Fazl said he had told the PPP leaders that since it was the desire of the PML-N and the PPP to decide on a consensus candidate, it would be good for the federation if a joint candidate was agreed upon. When contacted, JUI-F spokesperson Jan Achakzai said his party had not promised to support Mr Rabbani. “In principle, the party belongs to treasury benches so it is for the PML-N to decide,” he said, but complained that so far they had not been consulted by the PML-N over the presidential election. “It is ironic that the opposition PPP has contacted us to seek our support, but our ally PML-N still does not have time to pay a courtesy call as required by etiquette.” Mr Rabbani will submit his nomination papers at the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday (today).
Govt goes to SC over presidential poll date By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 23: The government filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday a petition requesting it to order the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the presidential election on July 30 instead on Aug 6. . The petition was filed by leader of the house in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq through Mohammad Ashraf Gujjar, along with an application seeking early hearing of the matter. In his petition, filed a day before the last date for filing nomination papers for the presidential election, Raja Zafarul Haq argued that the matter pertained to public importance and enforcement of fundamental rights of members of parliament and provincial legislatures. He said the government had requested the ECP and the chief election commissioner to reschedule the polling date from Aug 6 (27th of Ramadan) to July 30 (20th of Ramazan), but they declined to entertain. He said the date fell in the last 10 days of Ramazan which carried a lot of importance for Muslims. A large number of lawmakers are planning to sit in Aitekaf in the country or in Makkah and Madina and they will not be able to cast their vote on Aug 6. Many of them may also be in Saudi Arabia to perform Umra during that period. The petition pleaded that only the polling day should be changed to July 30 while keeping the remaining schedule intact. Raja Zafarul Haq said Aug 6 would also be close to Eidul Fitr and many lawmakers would like to proceed to their hometowns. He said the constitution guaranteed that “the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah”. The constitution also guarantees the fundamental rights, including freedom of belief, faith and worship, besides declaring that Islam shall be the state religion of Pakistan. He argued that the fundamental rights of lawmakers would be infringed if the presidential poll was held on Aug 6 because they would not be able to participate in the election in view of their spiritual and religious engagements in the last 10 days of Ramazan. FINAL LIST: When contacted, an ECP official said the final list of candidates was to be published on July 29 which would be followed by the printing of ballot papers and their transportation to the provinces and it could not be done in a single day. But he said it was possible to do it by squeezing the dates at other phases of the election. In Karachi, meanwhile, 25 forms for the presidential election have been issued by the office of Sindh High Court registrar. Officials said the forms could be collected and submitted from 9am to 12 noon on Wednesday. They said the office of SHC Chief Justice Mushir Alam, who is presiding officer for the election in the province, would dispatch the forms to the Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday. Those who have collected the forms are: Irshad Mehboob, Mohammad Shakir, Syed Mustafsir Hussain, Mohammad Aslam Khan, Jawad Jeelani, Haji Khan Mashori, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Absar, Mohammad Waseem, Mohammad Shahid, Shaikh Moazzam, Abdul Qadir Ghanchi, Qadeer Khan, Manzoor Ahmed, Mohammad Iqbal Babar, Arif Alvi, Shamim Ahmed Khan, Shaikh Mohammad Arshad Jabbar, Malik Jaffer, Sohail-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Ilyas, Ghayur Mohammad Khan and Noshad Ahmed Umrani.
MQM, PTI brace for court battle Dawn Report KARACHI / ISLAMABAD, July 23: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, claiming damages of Rs5 billion for allegedly defaming and maligning MQM chief Altaf Hussain.. The PTI announced that it also would file a defamation suit against the MQM and its leaders. MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar filed the suit in the Sindh High Court, submitting that Mr Khan had accused Mr Hussain of being involved in the murder of PTI leader Zehra Shahid and of inciting violence.
CCI defers approval of power policy By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, July 23: The Council of Common Interests deferred on Tuesday for a week the approval of a new power policy on the request of chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.. Although a meeting of the CCI lasted for over two hours, it could not approve the policy because KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak expressed his inability to make suggestions or recommendations before going through its draft and getting an expert opinion on it. According to a government official, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah shared the views of his KP counterpart and sought some time. The prime minister accepted their plea and constituted a special committee, comprising chief secretaries of the four provinces with one nominee each of the provincial governments. The committee will submit its report within one week. The official said earlier a detailed briefing was made, particularly for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh chief ministers. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been the core member of a government team which worked on the power sector reforms and Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik is an ally of the PML-N. At least three smaller provinces are not happy with a recommendation in the proposed policy that provincial governments will be responsible for 70 per cent of recovery of electricity bills in their domains, failing which a deduction will be made at source from the federal divisible pool. Since the provincial governments had the constitutional protection for distribution of funds from the federal divisible pool, why would they forgo their right just to benefit the federal government, wondered an energy expert. The provinces would be least interested in sharing the burden of Wapda’s mismanagement because electricity was a federal subject, he said. According to another recommendation, the federal government intended to stiffen punishment for electricity and gas theft. But the KP government felt that it would not be easy to enforce strict punishments at a time when the provincial police was already at the receiving end in its fight against militants, a PTI source said. The legal framework worked out by the federal government needed provincial governments’ consent for implementation. According to it, anyone found involved in tampering with the transmission of electricity will be awarded a three-year imprisonment or Rs10 million fine or both. It has suggested a two-year rigorous imprisonment or Rs3m fine or both to those involved in damaging the transmission line or power theft, one-year jail sentence or Rs1m fine or both for tampering with domestic power meters and a three-year imprisonment or Rs6m fine or both for tampering with commercial meters. Provincial governments will be responsible for arresting and prosecuting the accused because law and order is a provincial subject. The meeting also discussed the issue of restricting government subsidy to the domestic consumers who use 200 units per month. The Sindh chief minister wants the limit to be raised to 300 units. The prime minister told the CCI meeting that major problems being faced by the power sector were demand-supply gap, lack of affordability, inefficiency and power theft. “Pakistan is producing 45 per cent of electricity with expensive furnace oil, resulting in higher tariffs. The distribution losses of 25-28 per cent and electricity theft worth Rs140 billion per annum are major causes of power shortfall,” Mr Sharif was quoted as having said at the meeting. After the CCI meeting, the prime minister and his energy team had a meeting with newspaper editors, TV anchorpersons and owners and managing directors of media houses. Dr Musadik Malik, special assistant to the prime minister on energy, gave a briefing. It was followed by a question-hour session. A cursory look at the energy policy and strategy draft suggests that the government wanted massive privatisation of the power sector, but in a phased manner. According to a participant of the meeting, there was nothing new in the policy because international donors had been pushing the governments in the past for tariff increase and improvement in the management of the power sector. Mr Sharif agreed with a questioner that one should not expect new investment in the absence of a good law and order situation. The government is working on a national security policy. The prime minister said that poor policies and a lack of attention by previous governments had put the energy sector in a shambles. He said the generation of cheap electricity was a challenge, but the transmission and distribution system also needed revamping and huge investments.
Court seeks policy to end enforced disappearances By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, July 23: The Supreme Court sought on Tuesday a comprehensive policy from the federal government suggesting measures against enforced disappearances. . The government is required to formulate the policy in 10 days and inform the court about steps to be taken to recover missing persons and discourage the disturbing trend of individuals picked up allegedly by intelligence agencies. “We direct Attorney General Muneer A. Malik that he should point out to us about the policy of the government as to what measures being taken to ensure that no person is subjected to enforced disappearance,” said an order dictated by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who heads a three-judge bench hearing cases of missing persons. “It is the duty of the state to look into the aspect and formulate policies ensuring that persons are recovered as early as possible to help reduce the miseries and plight of family members of the victims, including womenfolk, children and their parents,” the order said. The court ordered that a summary of the cases be sent to the government, along with the order, for consideration. It said that if an accused was found involved in committing crimes against the state or society he should be dealt with sternly. The court noted that about 504 persons had been arrested from various areas and confined in different internment centres set up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulations 2011, but their cases were not being sent to the competent courts of jurisdiction for trial. The act authorises the civil government to detain in the centres persons accused of terrorism. “There are also complaints that these prisoners are not being looked after properly at the internment centres since there are issues of proper supply of food and clothing to them,” the court regretted. It said the cases of enforced disappearance had also been under consideration of different high courts for so many years. The courts were trying to ensure that the fundamental rights of citizens under Article 9 were implemented, but again it was the primary duty of the government to protect the life and liberty of its citizens, it observed. The court regretted that the misery of families of the missing persons was increasing day by day in the absence of sufficient resources to support them or provide them security of life. At times it becomes difficult for the victims’ families to even reach courts to attend hearings. On the other hand, the bench said, the courts issued notices to the attorney general or advocates general of the provinces and state functionaries like police officials for the recovery of missing persons. Sometimes they succeed in proving relief, but on occasions a person is recovered with a warning not to divulge anything about their captors. The court said it would continue to hear the cases but it would be better if the government played its due role in ensuring the fundamental rights of the missing persons under the constitution. Referring to an application filed by Abida Malik, the court ordered Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar to seek instructions from the defence secretary whether an individual or an institution was behind the abduction of her husband. Abida Malik alleged that her husband Tasif Ali alias Danish had been picked up by Major Haider of the Military Intelligence (MI) on Nov 23, 2011, from Azad Kashmir. Dr Mohammad Aslam said his son-in-law had an argument on telephone with Major Haider a day before his abduction. He said Major Haider might be a business partner of Tasif who was doing timber business and also crossed the border in 1999 from Kashmir. He said he had met Major Haider but after that he was not accessible. The MI had rejected the allegations and said Tasif had neither been apprehended nor held by it. Major Haider was neither posted to the place concerned nor had any role in Tasif’s abduction. About the case of Amina Masood Janjua, chairperson of the Defence of Human Rights who is campaigning for the release of detained persons including her husband Masood Janjua, the court was informed by Superintendent Police of Rawalpindi Haroon Joya that Civil Judge Rawalpindi Irfan Naseem Tarar had issued an arrest warrant against Brig Mansoor Saeed Shah of the Inter Services Intelligence in whose captivity Dr Imran Munir had been kept from July 2006 to March 2007. In his statement recorded before a joint investigation team constituted on the orders of former interior minister Rehman Malik in December 2009, Dr Munir said that during his captivity in a secret detention cell somewhere near Zakaria Masjid Road, Westridge, he had come across a few inmates and one of them was a businessman from Rawalpindi namely Masood Janjua who had been missing since July 30, 2005. Dr Munir now lives in Malaysia. SP Joya said the defence ministry had denied that the ISI had any detention cell near Zakaria Masjid Road. The court directed the police officer to handle the case carefully since the honour of institutions was involved in the matter.
Evacuee trust lost Rs1.9bn in deal with DHA By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 23: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) discovered that the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had failed to safeguard its interest by investing in a real estate business of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Lahore, and ended up with a staggering loss of Rs1.9 billion in the business. . The information came through an inquiry submitted by FIA Additional Director General (Legal) Muhammad Azam before the Supreme Court on Tuesday during proceedings of a case initiated on a complaint filed by Sardar Mastan Singh, President of the Pakistan Sikh Council, who is based in the Sikh holy place of Nankana Sahib. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was heading a three-judge bench, reiterated that the court was under a constitutional obligation to safeguard interests of the minority community. Surprisingly, all transactions and deals between the ETPB and the DHA were executed during the period when ETPB chairman Asif Hashmi was in charge. Asif Hashmi was appointed by the previous PPP government and is now believed to be staying in the UAE. On Feb 6, the Supreme Court had imposed a ban on the DHA Lahore from altering Sikh properties in its possession in any way. Advocate Hafiz S. A. Rehman appeared on behalf of the ETPB, Advocate Shahram Sarwar represented the Sikh community while the DHA Lahore was represented by Advocate Asim Hafeez. During proceedings of the case, the Supreme Court dropped hints it may order the FIA to register criminal cases and proceed against those responsible for causing a huge loss to the ETPB or order the DHA to return all lands it had acquired from the ETPB, though Asif Hashmi will still be facing consequences for the deal. An inquiry report submitted by Additional Director General (Legal) Muhammad Azam before the Supreme Court suggested that originally the ETPB owned 1152 kanals and 15 marlas of land at the Village Lidher, 2862 kanals at Motasinghwala and 244 kanals and 15 marlas at Dera Chahal in Tehsil Lahore Cantt. The total ETPB land situated at Mouza Lidhar and Motasinghwala and transferred to the DHA, Lahore, comes to 843 kanals and 15 marlas against 25 per cent exemption plots files. Twenty-five per cent exemption plots means that the ETBP will get 25 per cent of plots in exchange after the lands were developed for the housing society by the DHA. But 244 kanala and 15 marlas of land at Dera Chahal could not be transferred to DHA due to protest by the Sikh community because the land belongs to Gurdwara Bebe Nanki. Though the June 9, 2006, agreement between the ETPB and DHA could not be executed and the exchange/transfer of the lands was stopped because of the public hue and cry, the actual agreement was not cancelled. This led to a liability of Rs18.8 million on ETPB for expenditures incurred by the DHA Lahore for vacation of these lands from land grabbers/occupants. The Ministry of Minorities approved an ambiguous ETPB board resolution on April 28, 2009, for acquisition of ETPB lands by the DHA, Lahore Cantt, against 25 per cent exemption plot files without considering an earlier offer by DHA extended on July 20, 2007, to acquire lands against 33 per cent exemption plot files. The FIA report also suggested that the DHA paid compensation of ETPB lands at Mauza Lidher and Motasinghwala to unauthorised men to the tune of Rs657 million (Rs126 million in cash and 59 plots of one kanal each) without justification when beneficiaries do not exist in the list of legitimate lessees of ETPB. “Therefore distinct possibility could not be ruled out of having receipt commission/kickbacks by DHA and ETPB and officials of the ministry concerned through these beneficiaries,” the FIA report alleged. In some cases DHA Lahore paid compensation to land grabbers prior to the execution of the agreement between DHA Lahore and ETPB whereas Rs22.3 million was paid through cash showing mala fide on part of the ETPB and DHA Lahore. The FIA report said that it discovered massive irregularities in spending of ETPB funds due to non-observance of procedural formalities as envisioned in the Pak-PWD Code and Management and Disposal of Urban Evacuee Trust Properties 1977. The proceedings will again be taken up by the court on Thursday.
Gilani says ready for arrest By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, July 23: Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he is ready to get arrested and sent to jail if he has done anything illegal.. Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House on Tuesday, Mr Gilani said a perception was being created that he was being protected by the Punjab police. “Today I have come to Islamabad and ready for the arrest if anyone wants to do so,” he said. Mr Gilani said there was nothing wrong in appointing Tauqir Sadiq as chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), adding that decisions taken by him as prime minister were legal and constitutional and he was not afraid of consequences. He said as prime minister he appointed not only Sadiq but several other top-ranking officials as well, including the chief justice, army chief, air force chief and chief of the joint staff committee. It would be unfair to regard Sadiq’s appointment illegal and other appointments legal, he added. Answering a question about the role of the judiciary, the former prime minister said the judiciary should allow the government to function and, at the same time, the government should not interfere in the affairs of courts. Sources in NAB told Dawn that officials of the bureau were considering to seek accountability court’s help in responding to what Mr Gilani said on Tuesday about his arrest. They said that the former prime minister might be summoned by an accountability court for not cooperating with NAB in the case related to Sadiq’s controversial appointment. Media reports indicate that during interrogation Sadiq had unveiled names of several people who had played some role in his appointment, including former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf and former adviser to prime minister for petroleum Dr Asim Hussain. A senior NAB official who did not want to be named said that under the NAB ordinance the bureau could arrest a person if he or she refused to respond to its three notices but the action would require approval from its chairman. Because the position of NAB chairman was now vacant, he said, the bureau could not issue warrants for the arrest of former prime minister. On July 16 Mr Gilani defied the forth notice of NAB by saying that being a former prime minister he enjoyed immunity and could not be summoned by any investigation agency.
First glimpse of baby prince LONDON, July 23: Prince William and his wife Kate gave the world its first glimpse of their baby on Tuesday when they left hospital with the boy who is third in line to the British throne.. To cheers from well-wishers and hospital staff, the beaming couple waved and took turns to hold their son, wrapped tightly in a white blanket with only the top of his head visible. “We are still working on a name, so we will have that as soon as we can,” William told reporters, adding that he could not be happier. “He’s got her looks, thankfully.” Kate, wearing a pale blue dress with white polka dots, said they were both feeling “very emotional”. “It’s such a special time. Any parent...will know what this feeling is like,” she said before William drove the young family away in a Range Rover. Kate, 31, gave birth to the couple’s first child on Monday afternoon and all three spent the night in the hospital.—Reuters
Ex-Ogra chief’s remand extended By Malik Asad ISLAMABAD, July 23: An accountability court extended on Tuesday the remand of former chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Tauqir Sadiq till Aug 2 after investigators of the National Accountability Bureau sought his custody for further investigation.. NAB investigators produced Tauqir Sadiq, the main accused in the Rs82 billion Ogra scam, before Judge Mohammad Bashir. Sadiq accused NAB investigators of torturing him and trying to force him to make false confessions. “They kicked me in my face and beat up with punches and compelled me to record a statement against my close relatives, including PPP leader Jahangir Badar and his son Ali Badar.” He also said that the investigators had humiliated and tortured him repeatedly after removing his clothes since his arrest on July 9. Contrary to a NAB claim that during interrogation Sadiq had disclosed names of a number of government functionaries and policy-makers and accused them of having received kickbacks, the accused said he had never said anything against anyone in connection with the Ogra scam. Barrister Saeedur Rehman, Additional Deputy Prosecutor General of NAB, told the court that since the accused had disclosed names of some beneficiaries of the scam, the investigators required his custody for another 14 days. An interim reference submitted in NAB in connection with the scam alleged that Sadiq, Mansoor Muzaffar Ali, member Gas, Mir Kamal Farid Bijarani Marri, member finance, and Jawad Jameel, staff officer to the Ogra chairman, were involved in the scam. NAB has accused Sadiq of providing undue benefit to some private companies and individuals, causing a loss of Rs82bn to the exchequer. According to the reference, Sadiq and the co-accused provided undue financial relief to private firms and individuals and issued licences for CNG stations on fake or bogus documents. Sardar Asmatullah, the counsel for Sadiq, said in the court that the NAB reference was based on incorrect information. He pointed out that an increase in unaccounted for gas (UFG) from 5 per cent to 7pc for the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) had been made after getting approval from the competent authority. He said since the SNGPL and SSGC were state-owned companies, the increase in UFG benefited the government. Meanwhile, a NAB investigation officer moved an application for warrants for arrest of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, but the court did not entertain it. The officer later told Dawn that Sadiq had issued a notification for the increase in UFG on the instructions of Mr Gilani. He said the application seeking Mr Gilani’s arrest warrants had been moved because he did not join the investigation although several notices had been issued to him. The court sources told Dawn that under the Accountability Ordinance of 1999, NAB could issue arrest warrants to ensure attendance of a witness. The accountability court, they said, could be requested for issuing arrest warrants only if a person required for interrogation was a fugitive or absconder.
Militants attack ISI offices in Sukkur By Waseem Shamsi SUKKUR, July 24: Terrorists rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the local headquarters of the ISI here on Wednesday evening, leading to collapse of a major part of the building and death of at least four officials of the intelligence agency and two attackers.. This was the first terrorist attack on offices of a security agency in this part of the country. The attack was followed by intense firing and hurl-ing of grenades in the Barrage Colony which also houses the headquarters of Shahbaz Rangers, Military Intelligence and other government offices and residences like the DIG House and Commissioner House. Three assailants died in the exchange of fire. The vehicle laden with explosives hit the ISI office-cum-residential building about five minutes after the Iftar time. A major part of the building collapsed and an electricity transformer was damaged. Outer walls, main gates and windows and doors of the nearby Commissioner House and DIG House were damaged. Several army men, including officers, were seriously injured and taken to the Civil Hospital. DIG Jawed Alam Odho and Commissioner Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi said 40kg of explosives were used in the initial attack. The assailants hurled 34 grenades from time to time and five to six live grenades were found by the bomb disposal squad. Five to seven suspects were arrested and search for others continued in different areas till late in the night. TV channels put the death toll at seven to ten but there was no confirmation from the hospital. Sources said the dead included ISI’s deputy director Maj Zeeshan, Azizullah, Asghar Ali and Nazeer Ahmed and an unidentified man. Sources said that two suicide bombers had blown themselves up at the beginning of the attack. Although ISI offices were the main target, more than 100 houses were also damaged. Ahsan Korai, a gardener at the DIG House, died when the wall of a servants quarter collapsed on him. Several women and children were injured after being hit by shards of damaged windowpanes. Several people going to a mosque for Maghreb prayers were injured and taken to different hospitals. Fear and panic gripped Sukkur and parts of Rohri and thousands of people came on the roads. Sepco cut electricity supply to Sukkur and the city plunged into darkness which hindered rescue work. Rangers and police cordoned off the Barrage Town and roads around it and sealed an area about three kilometres. Mobile phone service was suspended in a large area. An emergency was declared in hospitals, doctors and paramedics were called from the houses on emergency duty. Appeals were made for blood donations. Power supply was not restored even five hours after the attack and Sukkur wore the look of a deserted town. Agencies add: Four explosions were heard in the area, with ‘terrorists’ seizing control of one government building and firing at another, PTV reported. The wall of a third building had collapsed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although ISI and security forces are frequent targets for the Taliban. Sukkur has traditionally been immune from such violence, more frequently seen in the northwest on the Afghan border or in cities of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. An intelligence official in Karachi said gunmen first detonated a bomb near the office of a senior police official before making their way to an ISI office and detonating a car bomb there. “A search and cordon operation is still on. We suspect that some militants may be hiding inside,” the official said. Masood Bangash, a senior police official in Sukkur, said suicide bombers were involved in the attack. “One suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden car in front of ISI office and other militants started firing on police,” he said. “Police have killed three attackers but we suspect that one more attacker is alive and hiding in a building,” he said.
PPP objects to change in election schedule by SC By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, July 24: Reacting sharply to the Supreme Court’s decision to advance the date of the presidential election, the PPP indicated on Wednesday that it might boycott the polls in protest.. Addressing a news conference hours after the SC ordered the Election Commission to hold the election on July 30 instead of Aug 6, senior PPP leaders alleged that the move was aimed at depriving the opposition of adequate time to run its election campaign. The harshest criticism of the SC decision came from Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan who had been in the forefront of the historic movement for the reinstatement of the deposed judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, during the previous military rule of Gen Pervez Musharraf. “We strongly protest over the verdict. We are consulting our allies whether we should participate or not in the presidential election for which the government, the court and the Election Commission have joined hands,” he said. He said the verdict had been announced merely on the application of a PML-N office-bearer, without hearing the parties concerned, including the candidates, and without issuing notices to anyone. He said the SC decision did not have any constitutional footing because the date for the presidential election could be changed only if the National Assembly was dissolved. Mr Ahsan alleged that the PPP was being kept out of the whole process and the outcome of May 11 general elections was also a result of an alliance of all the state institutions. He said the PPP had no intention to file a review petition because in its opinion it would be of no use. He said the decision had hampered the election campaign of Raza Rabbani, the PPP candidate for the post of president, and he would not be able to contact members of all the four provincial assemblies to seek their support. “The court has not got even passing marks in the today’s examination,” he said, adding that the judgment had created “many doubts” in the minds of the people and strengthened a perception that the judiciary always acted fast on PML-N’s requests. In the past, he said, the SC had dismissed two chairmen of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the requests of the then opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. “We would now like to see whether the present opposition leader Khurshid Shah is also given the same veto power on the issue of appointment of the NAB chairman.” The PPP leader expressed surprise over the SC’s act of changing the election schedule on its own instead of asking the ECP to do so. “The SC asks every entity to operate within (assigned) area. I wish the SC had done so itself,” he said. Mr Rabbani said it would be impossible for him to visit the four provincial capitals for his campaign during the period shortened by the CS decision. He said the government’s candidate could visit the provinces by using the official aircraft of the prime minister, but being an opposition candidate he did not have any resources to match the campaign of his rival. The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Shah, said it appeared that the government had panicked after seeing the active campaign that the PPP had launched for Mr Rabbani on Tuesday when a delegation of the party met the leaders of four parties in one day. PPP president Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar, former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and Senator Saeed Ghani were also present on the occasion. Later in the evening, some senior PPP members gathered at the residence of Syed Khurshid Shah for an informal meeting to discuss their future strategy on the matter. Sources said the party leaders decided to meet the representatives of the ANP and the other parties, which had announced their support for Mr Rabbani, on Thursday to seek their opinion regarding the option of boycotting the polls. The sources said the PPP was itself divided over the issue. Meanwhile, the sources said federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday talked to Mr Shah by telephone to seek support for his party’s candidate and to discuss the situation after the SC decision.
SC orders presidential poll on July 30 By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, July 24: The Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday to hold the presidential election on July 30, instead of Aug 6, as sought by the federal government in a petition filed in the court.. Though the ruling PML-N clinched its preferred election date in a single hearing, the court’s decision triggered criticism from certain quarters. The petition was filed by leader of the house in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq through Mohammad Ashraf Gujjar on Tuesday, along with an application seeking early hearing of the matter. The petitioner was present in the Courtroom 1 when the case was taken up by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The court asked ECP’s Additional Secretary Sher Afgan to seek instructions from the commission if it could hold the election on the date suggested by the petitioner. When the bench assembled after the half an hour, Mr Afgan informed it that the ECP felt that it needed three clear days between the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers by candidates and the polling date to complete necessary arrangements. He assured the court that the commission would comply with whatever order it issued. After getting the assurance the court issued the order for a change in the schedule. The reaction to the verdict was immediate and critical. Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairman Qalbe Hassan said the apex court should not have intervened in the ECP domain and let the commission settle the matter. He was of the opinion that the ECP had rightly set Aug 6 as polling date since Article 41(4) of constitution explicitly suggested that the election to the office of the president should be held not earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days before the expiry of five-year term of incumbent president. President Asif Ali Zardari’s tenure will end on Sept 8. “It’s like dictating the ECP in the open court,” Mr Hassan said. Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association retired Justice Tariq Mehmood said the verdict was expected. He said a constitutional body like the ECP which had the prime responsibility of holding elections surrendered or abdicated its authority. It will encourage other institutions to fill the space. Another senior counsel said on the condition of anonymity that the apex court should have heard other political parties contesting the presidential election by issuing notices to them, instead of deciding the matter in the first hearing. But senior counsel Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry was of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with the order since no constitutional provision had been violated. In its judgment, the court observed that holding election to the office of the president was one of the most important constitutional activities which had to be undertaken by the ECP. “Therefore, it is the duty of the ECP to facilitate all the voters and electors and enable them to exercise their right of franchise.” The court ordered the ECP to change the election schedule: filing of nomination papers on July 24, their scrutiny on July 26, withdrawal of candidature up to 12 noon on July 27, publication of the final list of candidates at 5pm on July 27 and the polling on July 30. In his petition, Raja Zafarul Haq argued that polling date fell in the last 10 days of Ramazan which carried a lot of importance for Muslims. A large number of lawmakers are planning to observe Aitekaf in the country or in Makkah and Madina and they will not be able to cast their vote on Aug 6. Many of them may also be in Saudi Arabia to perform Umra during that period. He said Aug 6 would also be close to Eidul Fitr and many lawmakers would like to proceed to their hometowns. He argued that the fundamental rights of lawmakers would be infringed if the presidential poll was held on Aug 6 because they would not be able to participate in the election in view of their spiritual and religious engagements in the last 10 days of Ramazan. The petition said the impugned schedule violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner as well as other parliamentarians because if they opted to exercise their voting right they would have to give up their spiritual and religious plans.
Mamnoon, Rabbani file papers in Islamabad By Malik Asad ISLAMABAD, July 24: Wednesday was an unusual day in the Islamabad High Court as litigants, court officials and journalists, instead of witnessing the court proceedings, were more interested in catching a glimpse of the country’s future president.. Two candidates belonging to the ruling PML-N, one to the opposition PPP and six others filed their nomination papers for the presidential election. Except for PML-N’s Mamnoon Hussain and Zafar Iqbal Jhagra and PPP’s Raza Rabbani, six others appeared to be more interested in attracting media attention than contesting for the post of president. The six did not even mention the names of their proposers and seconders in the papers which is mandatory. They reached the IHC much earlier than the presiding officer and candidates of the PML-N and the PPP. The time for filing nomination papers was 8am to 12 noon. Mamnoon Hussain arrived at about 10.30am with a group of supporters. He was accompanied by PML-N’s information secretary Mushahidullah Khan, Zafar Ali Shah and Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman. Mr Hussain submitted three separate papers. Senator Mushahidullah and MNAs Malik Ibrar and Tahria Aurangzeb were his proposers and Haji Akram Ansari, Zafar Ali Shah and Zeb Jaffer seconders. PML-N’s secretary general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra submitted two nomination papers as a covering candidate for Mr Hussain. His name was proposed by Malik Rafique Rajwana, Baleeghur Rehman and seconded by Dr Darshan and Mian Najeebullah. While IHC Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi was examining the papers of PML-N’s candidates, Raza Rabbani arrived with more than two dozens parliamentarians and workers of the PPP. Those accompanying him included PPP’s senior leaders Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Aitzaz Ahsan, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Farhatullah Babar and Qamar Zaman Kaira and Senator Kalsoom Parveen of the BNP-Awami. Talking to reporters after submitting his papers, Mamnoon Hussain said that if elected he would try to keep the office non-aligned and non-political. When asked why leaders of other coalition parties had not come with him, he said that since the party had finalised his name in the morning, he was unable to contact coalition partners. He said the PML-N wanted to take all stakeholders on board and would seek their cooperation in the election. Mr Rabbani told reporters that a schedule for his election campaign would be announced after the scrutiny and acceptance of his papers. He said the presidential election being held after the smooth transition of power from one civilian government to another would strengthen democracy in the country. He said the 18th Amendment had introduced the balance of power between the offices of the president and the prime minister and determined the real role of constitutional bodies. Iftikhar A. Khan adds: According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 33 nomination papers were filed by 24 candidates throughout the country -- 18 in Islamabad, seven each in Karachi and Lahore and one in Peshawar. No paper was filed in Quetta. The nomination papers of retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf were submitted in Karachi and Lahore. Most other candidates filed their nomination papers either without any proposer or seconder or nominated by those who are not lawmakers. In what appeared to be a clear publicity stunt, the papers of one Shakil Ahmad Khan mentioned “My PM Nawaz Sharif” as proposer and President Asif Ali Zardari as seconder. A candidate from Peshawar filed his papers without any proposer or seconder.
KP document warns of US withdrawal fallout By Ismail Khan PESHAWAR, July 24: An official strategy document on counter-terrorism by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has warned that victory by the Afghan Taliban will further boost the morale of the Pakistani Taliban and it is erroneous to believe that militancy in Pakistan will end automatically with the withdrawal of foreign forces from neighbouring Afghanistan.. The assessment, contained in KP’s Home and Tribal Affairs Department’s 35-page ‘Checkmating Terrorism: A Counter-Terrorism Strategy’ document has gained currency in recent times. Participants in back-to-back meetings to mull formulation of a counter-terrorism policy last month pressed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take civil-military control of the Afghan policy to pre-empt the fallout of post-US withdrawal from Afghanistan. “I think, there was an agreement,” Khalid Aziz, head of the Regional Institute of Policy Research and Training, who attended one such meeting, said. “Exit (of foreign forces) does not mean the cause of action will disappear (for our militants). There will be a new push for the enlargement of influence in Balochistan, KP and Fata. “Our miseries begin with the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. The prognosis is bad but this is what it is. This is the writing on the wall.” Prime Minister Sharif was also cautioned against embracing the militants’ talk-for-peace offer on face value. “Don’t let your fingers burn,” Mr Aziz quoted a participant of the meetings as saying. He noted that Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security Sartaj Aziz’s statement in Kabul that Pakistan did not have favourites in Afghanistan was a reflection of the realisation dawning in Islamabad. It is not known if the all-powerful military establishment that continued to direct Pakistan’s Afghan policy since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan also holds the same view. At a background meeting with media early this year, a senior security official tried to push home the point that the Afghan Taliban would look towards Kabul once they became part of the political dispensation, and the Pakistani Taliban would start looking towards Islamabad, implying that the nexus between the two ideological twins would sever once foreign troops left Afghanistan. But some government officials warn that while Pakistan seems to be preparing itself for a possible civil war and chaos in Afghanistan in the absence of a political settlement in the post-US withdrawal scenario, there is still no understanding about the likely implications for Pakistan if the Afghan Taliban gain full or partial control in their country. “A part of the common discourse on the issue to which a substantial portion of our intelligentsia, political leadership and ‘other stakeholders’ subscribe is that militancy would cease in Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa once foreign troops leave Afghanistan and militants (in Pakistan) would then lay down arms to lead normal lives,” says the 35-page paper. “This is a fallacy. It will not happen and it is not difficult to understand why,” says the document prepared by the Home & Tribal Affairs Department. It was approved by the ANP-led cabinet but ironically remains unimplemented. The Afghan Taliban enjoy ‘strategic depth’ in Fata and the Pakistani militants because of the ideological, material and coordination linkages with the Afghan Taliban have acquired strategic depth in Afghanistan, the document says. Attacks from across the border by Pakistani militants enjoying shelter there are a case in point, it says. The US-led foreign troop withdrawal will create a sense of euphoria among the Taliban in Afghanistan and the TTP-led militants in Pakistan for their perceived triumph in forcing foreign troops to leave. “Why would the Afghan Taliban provide strategic depth to Pakistan-based militants is not difficult to understand? Ideologically, Taliban do not recognise state boundaries. For them it is Darul Hurb vs. Darul Islam and there are no boundaries within Darul Islam and “fighters in the way of Allah”, are to be welcomed. That the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan – an umbrella organisation of the Pakistani militant groups – takes its relationship with the Afghan Taliban seriously and it was evident recently when it sacked its chief spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan for making statements against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The document says that the Afghan Taliban would be bound to help Pakistani militants due to numerous ideological, ethnic, religious and financial linkages developed between them for decades and the support that was extended to them both in men and material terms in their struggle against foreign forces’ presence in Afghanistan. “Wishing the militants away would not make them disappear,” Azam Khan, the principal architect of the strategy document and secretary of Home & Tribal Affairs, cautions. “With the departure of the US troops, the TTP and its multiple partners will pursue their ‘jihad’ with renewed vigour under the banner for setting up a true Islamic Caliphate in Pakistan.” “There is no on-off switch button. You can’t unplug Pakistani militants from their ideological battle-hardened brethren from across the border,” Azam Khan maintains. The already well-trained and organised with specialised wings for finance, training, operations and justice, Pakistani militants would surely replicate the successful tactics of the Afghan Taliban in their struggle against the Pakistani state and the democratic dispensation which they deem un-Islamic, it says. The document warns that hostile agencies would also like to exploit the situation. “That the waters have become quite murky thereby enabling foreign intelligence agencies to fish in these troubled waters, compounding the matter further to the peril of the Pakistani state, is a logical manifestation of facts on ground in the areas. “We find ourselves in a complex situation. Wisdom demands that we prepare ourselves for the worst,” Home Secretary Azam Khan said. “The strategy document was prepared after long and hard analysis of the aims, tactics and modus operandi of the militants minutely. We have put forward concrete steps to counter the same. What we need is a whole state machinery response of which law enforcement is just one element. And this cannot happen without KP and Islamabad joining forces.” A former security official warns that Islamabad did not take into its calculus the possible fallout on Pakistan of the Afghan Taliban’s partial or total triumph in Afghanistan. “We tend to have short memories. We have forgotten that it were the Afghan Taliban that had allowed our sectarian outfits to run training camps in Kargha to the south of Kabul and in Khost and had given shelter to their top leaders,” he recalled.
Dar wants shorter processing period for privatisation By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, July 24: The government has decided to vigorously pursue its privatisation programme. . Finance Minister Ishaq Dar ordered the Privatisation Commission on Wednesday to cut the processing time by one-third — from 18 months to a year — to speed up the work of taking major public sector enterprises to the sale counter. He ordered that the boards of directors of all public sector enterprises should have at least one director from the commission in order to add urgency to the work. Although no formal decision about units to be privatised was made at a presentation on privatisation programme on Wednesday, Mr Dar hinted at divesting more government shares in major banks like the United Bank, Allied Bank and Habib Bank. A list of 64 possible units was presented. It included four power distribution companies, a generation company, three insurance companies and four oil and gas companies, besides divestment of additional government shares in privatised units. The minister asked the commission to prepare a list of units that could be privatised immediately. He was informed by the secretary of the commission that under the existing system, various stages of privatisation of an entity, from inviting expressions of interest to appointment of financial advisers and bidding, would take 18 months. He was of the opinion that it was time-consuming and directed the secretary to restructure the timeline and the process so that a transaction was completed in 12 months without compromising on transparency and rules and regulations. “The schedule should be reviewed and made more realistic so that privatisation can be fast-tracked,” he said. When the minister sought an update on resolution of the issue of transfer of PTCL properties to ensure recovery of $800 million from the UAE’s Etisalat, he was told that it would require about Rs5-6 billion to transfer some land titles in the name of the PTCL. The commission has deputed two joint secretaries as focal persons to deal with the issue of such properties and assets in the four provinces. Mr Dar said the commission would receive from the finance ministry the amount required to complete the transfer process. “We will provide you the money you require but it will be treated as a loan, repayable soon after the sale proceeds are received,” he told the secretary of the commission. While it would require about Rs2.5bn to complete transfer of titles of public sector properties, the exact amount required for private properties had not yet been worked out. According to an evaluation made a few years ago, the cost had been estimated at Rs540m but may have now risen to Rs3-4bn.
S. Arabia will send imams to Pakistan By Syed Rashid Husain RIYADH, July 24: Saudi Arabia would send imams, one each from Masjidul Haram in Makkah and Masjid-i-Nabawi in Madina, to Pakistan every year.. Talking to visiting Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Mohammed Yousaf, President of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais made the announcement. He said this was being done to promote ties between the two countries. He said that King Abdullah attached great importance to Pakistan and its people. Relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are based on deep love and reverence, Sheikh Al-Sudais told the Pakistani minister and the accompanying delegation. He also prayed for the Muslim Ummah and progress and prosperity of Pakistan. The Pakistani minister told Sheikh Al-Sudais that Pakistan was making a concerted effort to promote interfaith dialogue in line with the initiative of King Abdullah. He also extended an invitation to Sheikh Al-Sudais to visit Pakistan. Sheikh Al-Sudais visited Pakistan while the Lal Masjid episode was dominating headlines, apparently to convince Maulana Abdul Aziz and late Abdul Rasheed Ghazi to surrender before authorities. However, clerics of Lal Masjid did not pay heed to his advice.
Egypt’s military chief calls for rallies CAIRO, July 24: Egypt’s military chief called for mass rallies on Friday to give him power to tackle violence that has surged following the coup overthrowing the first democratically and freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi, and ramping up pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood.. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the military coup and deposed Mr Morsi on July 3 and installed an interim administration, said on Wednesday he did not want more bloodshed and urged “national reconciliation”. But Mr Morsi’s Brotherhood, which accuses Gen Sisi of leading a coup, said the call for nationwide demonstrations raised the spectre of a military crackdown, and warned of possible civil war. Underscoring the potential for trouble, the Muslim Brotherhood announced nationwide pro-democracy and anti-military demonstrations on Friday. Speaking after days of sporadic street clashes that have left more than 100 dead, Gen Sisi said ordinary Egyptians should rally to strengthen the hand of the army and police. “I request that all Egyptians next Friday ... go down (into the street) to give me a mandate and an order to confront possible violence and terrorism,” he told a military graduation ceremony in remarks broadcast live by state media. Citing the “current situation”, the United States said President Barack Obama had decided to delay delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to the Egyptian army, signalling deepening concern in the West over the course taken by the Arab world’s most populous country. Since the Arab Spring revolutions took hold more than two years ago, Egypt has been in turmoil because of military’s involvement in politics, raising concern among allies in the West and in neighbouring Israel, with which Egypt has had a “peace treaty” since 1979. Brotherhood supporters have also taken their woes onto Egypt’s sun-baked streets, setting up a round-the-clock vigil in northeast Cairo, close to key military installations. “This is an invitation to civil war and the spilling of the people’s blood in the streets,” the Brotherhood said in a statement published on Facebook, denouncing Gen Sisi as head of a “military dictatorship”. Gen Sisi’s speech followed an overnight bomb attack on a police station in Mansoura, 110 km north of Cairo that killed one person and wounded two dozen others. A military government spokesman condemned it as a “terrorist attack”. Two soldiers were also killed in attacks by militants in the North Sinai region shortly after Gen Sisi spoke, security sources said, while the military-controlled state television said three “terrorists” had died in a car bomb near a police training centre in the area. Twenty-four people were reported hurt in clashes in the Nile delta cities of Damietta and Menoufiya. In overnight bloodshed in Cairo, two people were killed and 23 wounded when a march of Brotherhood supporters came under military fire, security sources said. It was the latest in a line of assaults targeting unarmed Egyptian people. “We think that after what Gen Sisi has said, there will be violence on Friday. He is encouraging thugs to come and attack our peaceful protest,” said Mohammed Hamdi, 24, an engineering student attending the Brotherhood’s Cairo vigil. “We have no guns and don’t want violence. We will keep protesting the bloody military coup,” he said. The Gen Sisi-led military has accused the Brotherhood of inciting trouble and deposed President Morsi supporters of using weapons. The army has denied orchestrating a coup, and Gen Sisi, wearing dark glasses, rejected on Wednesday accusations he had violated the Constitution and betrayed elected president Morsi, who has been held by the junta at an undisclosed location. Gen Sisi said he would stick to a political roadmap drawn up by the military that envisions fresh parliamentary elections within about six months. The Brotherhood has said there can be no political reconciliation until deposed president Morsi is restored to power. The majority of Egyptian people denounced the Gen Sisi-led military coup. “The coming elections will be decisive. If you have real weight and public opinion supports your movement, then that will be reflected in the coming vote,” he said, wearing military uniform. State news agency Mena said the interior ministry planned “unprecedented security” to protect the Friday rallies. The pro-military youth group Tamarud said on Facebook that it was throwing its weight behind a fresh round of demonstrations. “We call all the great Egyptian people to gather in the squares of Egypt this Friday and to call officially for the prosecution of Mohamed Morsi and to support the Egyptian armed forces in its coming war on terrorism,” the movement wrote. Yasser El-Shimy, an Egypt expert at the International Crisis Group, said escalating tensions jeopardised the prospects for establishing political stability. “Both the authorities and the Muslim Brotherhood should recognise the urgency of negotiating a compromise out of this ever-escalating impasse,” he said.—Reuters
Bollywood star Salman charged with homicide MUMBAI, July 24: An Indian court on Wednesday charged Bollywood star Salman Khan with culpable homicide over a 2002 hit-and-run case that could land him behind bars for 10 years, his lawyer and reports said. . Mr Khan, 47, is alleged to have rammed his Toyota Land Cruiser onto a pavement and over five homeless people in suburban Mumbai, killing one and injuring four others. The movie star, wearing a grey shirt and black trousers, pleaded not guilty to charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder in a Mumbai sessions court, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said. Prosecutor Shankar Erande asked the judge to frame the charges on Wednesday, rather than adjourn the long-running case, as the actor was going abroad for two months, which could further delay it going to trial, PTI said. The judge then read out the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Mr Khan was earlier being tried under lesser charges of rash and negligent driving but prosecutors filed an application for the charges to be upgraded, which the court upheld in February. Mr Khan’s lawyer Majeed Memon told reporters the case had dragged on for almost 11 years, and blamed the legal system in part for delays. “It has been unduly delayed and today, when almost 11 years have passed by since the date of the incident, the charges have been framed by the competent court,” Mr Memon said. Petitioner Abha Singh, who was present in the courtroom, told media outside the court that the judge, while framing the charges, said “Salman Khan’s blood contained 30mg of alcohol, according to that he was drunk.” Mr Singh has filed a separate petition questioning the decade-long delay in trying Mr Khan.—AFP
15 envoys named By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, July 24: The government has approved its first batch of 15 ambassadorial postings but kept pending the nomination of envoys for key capitals.. Most of the appointments have been made against vacancies created after retirement of the incumbents, while in other cases the new officers will replace their colleagues returning to serve at the headquarters. Many of the new appointments have been made from among the mid-career officers who will take charge in small and medium missions abroad. Announcement of nominations for major capitals, including London, Washington and Abu Dhabi, and fate of the remaining 14 political ambassadors appointed by the PPP government was being keenly awaited, but like many other critical decisions the government chose to defer the matter for a while. According to sources, the Foreign Office mandarins made an attempt to test the waters by suggesting posting of a career foreign service officer as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, a post till recently held by a political envoy, but the government kept the slot vacant although it approved other proposed names of career diplomats. Political appointees traditionally have a 20 per cent quota in ambassadorial postings, but many of them are assigned to major capitals, creating heartburn among the career diplomats who worry about their prospects. The last government gave one-third of the ambassadorships of X category (most important) missions to political ambassadors. It is expected that a major chunk of the appointments for the bigger stations would again go to political nominees. Some at the foreign ministry, however, still saw the government’s consent to most of the proposed names as a “big achievement” that needed to be “appreciated”. Those approved for ambassadorial appointments include Najamus Saqib (currently director general of the ECO, CARs and Iran-Turkey division) as envoy to Denmark; Imtiaz Ahmed (DG, China) as ambassador to Argentina; Ayesha Riaz (additional secretary, Europe) as ambassador to Austria; Ayaz Ahmed (DG, Europe I) as ambassador to Romania; Khalid Memon (DG, headquarters) as ambassador to Poland; Saeed Khan (DG, Europe II) as ambassador to Greece; Aizaz Chaudhry (additional secretary, UN, and spokesman) as ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg; Noor Jadmani (special secretary) as ambassador to Iran; Masroor Junejo (additional secretary, ECO and CARs) as high commissioner to South Africa; Zahid Nasrullah (director general, Middle East) as ambassador to South Korea; Attiya Mehmood (formerly posted to Jordan) as ambassador to Indonesia; Safdar Hayat (DG, audit and inspection) as ambassador to the Philippines and Dr Aman Rashid (DG, disarmament) as ambassador to Switzerland.
Royal baby named George Alexander Louis LONDON, July 24: His Royal Highness has a name. . Britain’s new prince has been named George Alexander Louis, royal officials said on Wednesday, ending speculation over what moniker Prince William and his wife, Kate, would pick for their first child. Kensington Palace said the royals were “delighted to announce” their son’s name, adding that the two-day-old baby and third-in-line to the throne would be known as “His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge”. Six previous British kings have been named George, and the name was a favourite of British bookmakers in the run-up to Wednesday’s announcement. For now, the baby is expected to stay out of the spotlight after making his first “public appearance” in the arms of his parents outside London’s St. Mary’s Hospital on Tuesday. After leaving the hospital, the couple introduced their son on Wednesday to great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who was keen to see the baby before she starts her annual summer vacation in Scotland later this week. Then the young family headed to see Kate’s parents in their village near London. Now that Kate and William have chosen a name, they are expected to soon choose a photographer for the baby’s first official portrait.—AP
Cabinet wants extension of quota system By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, July 25: The federal cabinet decided on Thursday to extend the quota system in central civil services for 20 years.. An official handout said the government had decided to continue with the existing arrangements under which every province held a certain quota in civil services. It said the cabinet had approved a constitutional amendment to the first provision of Article 27(1) which suggested that “in the interest of national integrity and harmony, adequate representation in the service of Pakistan for persons belonging to any class or area is only possible when the period is further extended”. The provision provides for merit and regional quota for fulfilment of direct recruitment to posts in the federal government. The existing provision will be extended to another 20 years from next month onwards. Some ministers opposed the extension but the meeting decided that since the amendment had to be made by parliament the issue should be discussed on the floor of the house which would decide whether the quota system should continue. A spokesperson of the MQM said his party had opposed the extension because it was against the principle of open merit. The party will definitely vote against this amendment. The original 1973 constitution had fixed a period of 10 years for the job quota for the provinces, but the governments in the 1980s and 1990s enhanced it to 40 years which will expire on Aug 13. If the government desires to retain the quota system it will have to amend Article 27(1) of the constitution titled “Safeguard against discrimination in services” as early as possible. POLITICAL CRISIS: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who presided over the cabinet meeting, categorically stated that keeping up with the best democratic traditions, the PML-N would neither try to dislodge the present government in Azad Kashmir nor would it be part of any no-confidence move. He directed Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Barjis Tahir to firmly convey the decision to the PML-N leadership in Azad Kashmir. They should abide by party discipline and abstain from indulging in any activity which could create a political turmoil in Azad Kashmir. Some legislators belonging to the PPP had moved an application for a vote of no-confidence against their prime minister. “The PML-N has taken a similar position during the formation of the governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” Mr Sharif was quoted as saying in the handout. AFGHAN REFUGEES: The cabinet took up the issue of Afghan refugees’ repatriation beyond June 30 this year and decided to carry on the process until 2015. The prime minister constituted a three-member committee comprising Minister for States and Frontier Regions Qadir Baloch, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and Information Minister Parvez Rashid to prepare a report on timely repatriation of the refugees. CHINA VISIT: The prime minister briefed the cabinet on his visit to China. He said both the countries had agreed to develop the Gwadar-Kashgar economic corridor which would prove to be “a dream come true” in terms of progress and prosperity for the people of Pakistan and the region. He said Chinese companies were expected to relocate their businesses to economic zones along the corridor in Pakistan. It will also open an avenue for Pakistan’s trade and commerce with other countries of the region. The prime minister said the two countries had set up task forces to monitor and expedite the process of executing the economic corridor project. He said that as a goodwill gesture shown by the Chinese side, insurance charges of six per cent on the Chinese investment in Pakistan which ran into billions of rupees had been waived. He said the economic cooperation between the two countries would result in Pakistan’s economic resurgence. The cabinet confirmed the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee in its meetings on June 27 and July 2, 11, 12 and 18. AGE LIMIT: The cabinet approved an amendment to the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance Act, 1969 (Act-II of 1969). The amendment will remove the age limit of 70 years for the provision of benevolent grant to family members of an employee who dies up to the age of 70. Grants under other schemes such as marriage grant, burial charges and educational stipends are admissible without restriction of any age limit. AGREEMENTS: The cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to negotiations and signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for developing “China-Pakistan economic corridor” and long-term and action plans between the National Development and Reform Commission of China and the Planning Commission of Pakistan. It also gave ex-post facto approval to the signing of an MoU with Poland on cooperation in energy and mineral resources. The MoU will encourage and promote investments in energy and mineral projects in the two countries, foster development of technological research, cooperation among academic and science institutes and promote best standards and practices in the energy sector. The cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to the negotiations and signing of an MoU between the department of plant protection of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry of Australia for export of mangoes to Australia.
Attack on ISI office; body of 5th bomber found By Waseem Shamsi SUKKUR, July 25: The body of another suicide bomber was found on Thursday in the parking area of the ISI office which had been attacked on Wednesday.. According to official sources, three ISI officials and a brother of the gardener of the Commissioner House were killed in the attack. Reports on Wednesday said that four attackers had been killed. The bodies of suicide bombers were taken to the civil hospital in Sukkur amid tight security. The sources said that a team of ISI officials had arrived here from Karachi and inspected the blast site. A police team headed by SP CID Karachi Raja Umer Khattab is also investigating the incident. Intelligence agencies have sealed the ‘red zone’ area of Barrage Colony and Rangers personnel deployed there are not allowing movement of public. Two suicide jackets found in the debris have been defused by the bomb disposal squad. The suicide bombers had attacked the ISI office with automatic weapons and hand-grenades. The ISI personnel returned fire and killed three of the attackers. The sources said the attackers had hurled more than 40 grenades on the ISI building and 34 of them went off one by one and the remaining six were found by the bomb disposal squad. Law-enforcement agencies and police have so far arrested five to seven suspects and looking for others in different areas. DIG Sukkur Range Jawed Alam Odho and Commissioner Sukkur Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi told newsmen that 40kg of explosives had been used in the attack. The ISI building was destroyed and major portions of the DIG House and Commissioner House were damaged by the explosion. Walls of a hotel collapsed and cracks appeared in other nearby buildings. SSP Sukkur Irfan Baloch told Dawn that Shahzore truck had been used in the attack, like in the earlier strike on the Rangers Headquarters in Karachi. He said that the terrorist whose body had been found was carrying dry fruit and dates in his pockets, indicating that the attackers planned a hold-up and taking hostages. He said the affected area had been cleared and police were patrolling and strictly checking people at entry and exit points of the city. Meanwhile, funeral prayers for Major Zeeshan, Hawaldar Azizullah and Asif Ali were offered at Pano Aqil Cantonment on Thursday. The body of Major Zeeshan was sent to his native town Sialkot and of Azizullah and Asif Ali to Hyderabad. The brother of the gardener of the Commissioner House was laid to rest in a local graveyard. AFP adds: According to a spokesman for the Rangers, the dead include five attackers, and four police and intelligence officials. Officials had previously put the death toll at seven, saying on Wednesday that the five attackers, one intelligence agent and another government official had been killed. State TV said at least 38 people were wounded. “We rounded up several people on Wednesday night after the attack and are interrogating them,” the Rangers official said.
PM seeks support of JUI-F, Fata senators for Mamnoon By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 25: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stepped up the campaign for Mamnoon Hussain, the PML-N nominee for the presidential election, on Thursday. He received a delegation of Fata senators at his office and sought their support for Mr Hussain.. An official handout stated that they had discussed the overall political situation in the country, but a PML-N source said the prime minister urged the lawmakers to vote for Mr Hussain. The delegation of senators consisted of Abbas Khan Afridi, Engineer Malik Rashid Ahmed, Haji Khan Afridi, Hidayatullah, Hilal-ur-Rehman, Malik Najamul Hassan, Mohammad Idrees Khan and Mohammad Saleh Shah. The prime minister also held a meting with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and sought his support for the PML-N’s presidential candidate. Mr Sharif said the office of the president represented the federation and that was why his party had chosen a non-controversial figure from a smaller province with an objective to strengthen the federation. He said the PML-N was trying to win the support of all political parties for Mamnoon Hussain. Maulana Ghafoor Haidri and Akram Khan Durrani, leaders of the JUI-F, attended the meeting. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was also present. The JUI-F said in a statement that the party would discuss Mr Sharif’s request with its leaders before taking a decision. But it said the JUI-F chief had conveyed his displeasure to the PML-N for not consulting him before finalising the name of Mr Hussain. “Had the JUI-F been consulted, it would have suggested a suitable name,” Maulana Fazl was quoted as saying in the statement. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sharif had held a meeting with PML-N’s Balochistan president Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri and the Minister for States and Frontier Regions, retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, and discussed the election strategy. According to a PML-N leader, the prime minister directed them to keep an eye on provincial lawmakers in the treasury and make sure that they voted for the party candidate. The PML-N, National Party and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party are coalition partners in Balochistan, whose assembly carries special importance in the presidential election. The electoral college comprises 342 members of the National Assembly, 104 of the Senate, 371 of Punjab Assembly, 168 of Sindh Assembly, 124 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 65 of Balochistan Assembly. Since the Balochistan Assembly is the smallest house with 65 members, votes in the three other provincial assemblies are to be divided by 65. This means 5.7 MPAs of Punjab, 2.58 of Sindh and 1.9 of KP will be equivalent to one vote. On the other hand, one-member-one-vote formula is applied to the National Assembly, Senate and Balochistan Assembly. Hence the 65 members of the Balochistan Assembly will play a crucial role in the presidential election. Its lawmakers are traditionally known for changing sides. In the 2008 elections, the PML-Q had emerged as the single largest party in the provincial assembly, but the post of chief minister went to the PPP. “The PML-N enjoys sufficient majority in the electoral college, but even then we don’t want to take any risk and that’s why Mr Sharif has directed Sanaullah Zehri and Qadir Baloch to keep their eyes open,” said a senior party leader privy to the meeting.
NA, Senate sessions summoned By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, July 25: On the advice of the prime minister, acting President Nayyar Hussain Bokhari has summoned separate sessions of the National Assembly and Senate on July 29 for the presidential election to be held the following day.. According to an official announcement, the sessions will commence at 4pm. The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that the scrutiny of nomination papers would be carried out by Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim on Friday. According to the commission, two dozen candidates have filed 33 nominations papers, with some of them having filed more than one paper. PPP candidate Raza Rabbani has submitted seven nomination papers. Talking to Dawn, senior ECP officials said the papers of most of the candidates, except those of Mamnoon Hussain of the PML-N and his cover candidate Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Raza Rabbani and retired justice Wajihuddin Ahmed of the PTI, might be rejected for various reasons. According to Article 41(3) of the constitution, the president will be chosen for five years by the electoral college of 706 lawmakers, including 104 senators and 342 members of the National Assembly and 260 of the provincial assemblies. By-elections for about 50 seats of national and provincial assemblies are scheduled for August 22.
PPP lobbies parties for presidential election boycott By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, July 25: Clouds of controversy have started hovering over the coming presidential election as, after the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) also has begun thinking of boycotting it.. Talking to Dawn on Thursday, PTI’s vice-chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that after receiving a formal request from the PPP, his party had started in-house consultations on the option to boycott the presidential polls in protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to advance the polling date to July 30 from Aug 6 on the ruling PML-N’s request without hearing the other stakeholders. Two other opposition parties -- Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and the Awami National Party (ANP) -- also declared that they would support a boycott if the decision was taken jointly by the PPP and PTI. The chief of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Aftab Sherpao, told a PPP team which called on him at his residence that the final decision regarding participation or boycott of the polls would be made by his party in a meeting on Saturday.The PPP team comprised Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Leader of Opposition in Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, the party’s presidential candidate Raza Rabbani, information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira and former interior minister Rehman Malik. It met the chiefs of the ANP, PML-Q, QWP and the PTI in order to persuade them to boycott the elections. ANP chief Asfandyar Wali told reporters after his meeting with the PPP delegation that his party would stand by the PPP in whatever decision it would take. PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told the PPP leaders that his party was ready to announce the boycott on the condition that PTI chief Imran Khan should also do the same. According to sources, Chaudhry Shujaat himself tried to contact Mr Khan after he returned from London in the morning, but could not talk to him. Later the PML-Q chief talked to Mr Qureshi and informed him about the objections raised by the PPP. Ajmal Wazir, the PML-Q’s senior vice-president, said Chaudhry Shujaat had categorically told the PPP that his party was ready for boycotting as well as for participating in the poll provided the decision was made from the platform of a joint opposition. In case the PPP and the PTI failed to reach a consensus on boycott or on a joint candidate, the PML-Q would abstain from the voting, he said. Mr Wazir said there was a strong likelihood that Chaudhry Shujaat and former chief minister Pervez Elahi would not be in the country on July 30 since the latter was expected to undergo an operation in London next week. The PPP leaders later met the PTI chief at his residence and apprised him of their concerns over the SC decision. Talking to reporters, a jubilant Chaudhry Aitzaz said the nation would hear “good news tomorrow” and the PPP and PTI would come up with a joint decision. A PPP leader claimed that Imran Khan was also in favour of boycotting the election, but had sought time to consult his party’s members before taking a final decision. He said Mr Khan had promised to get back to the PPP by Friday morning, the day when the Election Commission would scrutinise nomination papers of the candidates. Mr Qureshi said he had discussed the issue with the PTI chief after his meeting with the PPP delegation and the party had started consultations on whether there would be any use of contesting the presidential polls. He, however, said his party did not want to take any “emotional decision” and would adopt only the “correct and constitutional path”. “It is premature to speak on the issue” was his reply when asked about the possibility of agreeing on a joint candidate if the two parties decided to participate in the polls. He, however, regretted that the PPP had nominated Mr Rabbani as the candidate without consulting the PTI, thus forcing them to field retired Justice Wajihuddin as a candidate. He aid the PTI also had “reservations” over the SC decision and it already had serious reservations over the conduct of the ECP in the general elections. Mr Qureshi held the ECP responsible for the present controversy. “Was the ECP not aware of the dates when the presidential elections had become due? Was it not aware that Aug 6 would fall in the last Ashra (10-day period) of Ramazan?” he wondered.
PM’s aviation adviser tells SC he will quit post By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, July 25: Facing a controversy over having been court-martialled and holding Canadian citizenship, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem appeared before the Supreme Court on Thursday and informed it that he had decided to resign from the post.. “Since he (Shujaat Azeem) is embroiled in the controversy which he does not want to expand because it will hamper his performance, he is tendering his resignation,” Attorney General Muneer A. Malik said on behalf of the adviser. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had summoned Mr Azeem to explain why in the light of articles 93(1,2) and 63 of the constitution, he was occupying the sensitive post with a status of minister of state when he had been court-martialled and was a dual national. The matter cropped up on July 12 when the court’s attention was drawn to a news item headlined “New order for aviation causes uncertainty” during the hearing of a case relating to the delay in construction of the New Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Fatehjang, 30km southwest of Islamabad. The report said that before his appointment as PM’s adviser Shujaat Azeem had served as chief executive officer of the Royal Air Service, a ground handling company, and was reportedly a partner of Chaudhry Munir, the main infrastructure contractor for the new airport -- an example of conflict of interest. According to the report, Mr Azeem is a former pilot of the Lebanon’s Hariri family and he started his career as a PAF pilot. He holds Canadian citizenship. Mr Azeem was court-martialled during his stint in the PAF and his not-so-good memories in the air force might not help him develop an interface with the defence ministry for coordination, the report said. When the case was taken up on Thursday, the attorney general, along with the adviser, walked up to the rostrum and conceded that there was no doubt that Mr Azeem professed dual nationality but he did not solicit to become the adviser on aviation; rather he was invited by the prime minister to perform in the capacity of adviser. Mr Azeem said he would meet the prime minister and tender his resignation. The attorney general said Mr Azeem had been court-martialled on four minor charges, one of insubordination, but none involving offence of moral turpitude. Referring to Mr Azeem’s appointment as chief executive officer of Royal Air Service, the AG said he had quit the post in February well before assuming the office of adviser to the prime minister. He accepted that aviation facilities had a relationship with national security but Mr Azeem wanted to assure the court that his loyalty was with Pakistan and in view of the controversy over his appointment he had decided to tender his resignation to the prime minister in order to avoid being embroiled further in such controversy. The court ordered the attorney general to place on record the notification of acceptance of Mr Azeem’s resignation.
Task force on missing people to meet on 29th By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, July 25: A recently-constituted task force on missing people will hold its first meeting on Monday (July 29).. Headed by an additional secretary of the interior ministry, Athar Sial, the task force comprises home secretaries of the four provinces, additional attorney general, a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, additional inspectors-general of special branches of the four provinces and additional chief secretaries. The task force is mandated to formulate a national policy on the missing people, monitor the progress and coordinate efforts of all the stakeholders working on the issue. The meeting will be attended by senior officers of the four provincial governments, intelligence agencies, ministries of defence and law, inspectors-general of police and chief commissioner of Islamabad. The issue of missing people came to light in 2006 and the Supreme Court took suo motu notice in a case involving the disappearance of Masood Janjua and others. In 2010, a Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court was constituted and it submitted its report on Dec 31, 2010. In the last hearing of the case on July 23 the Supreme Court directed the government to submit its policy on the missing people in the shortest possible time and fixed Aug 2 as the next date of hearing.
20 decomposed bodies found in Bara By Ibrahim Shinwari LANDI KOTAL, July 25: Twenty decomposed bodies were found in a deserted place in Bara area of Khyber Agency on Thursday.. According to an official, the bodies found in Khawangi area of Akkakhel, where security personnel are carrying out a search operation after claiming to have flushed out militants from their hideouts last week, were decomposed beyond recognition and stank because they had been lying in a ravine for many days. He said the deceased might be militants because security forces had carried out an operation in the locality a week ago. The area, adjacent to Orakzai tribal region, is considered to be a bastion of some militant groups. Security officials claimed to have killed 15 militants in an operation codenamed Khyber-2 on July 19 and 20 which had been launched after the death of two soldiers in an explosion in Akkakhel. The official said some of the militants were killed in their hideouts in an ambush and the rest in an exchange of fire during the military operation. Two soldiers were killed on the second day of the operation. The bodies found in Khawangi were brought to the Levies centre at Shah Kas.
‘Syria death toll over 100,000’ UNITED NATIONS, July 25: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday the death toll in Syria’s civil was over 100,000, up from 93,000 last year. . Speaking to journalists ahead of talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr Ban called on the Syrian government and opposition to halt the violence in the 2½ year civil war, saying it is “imperative to have a peace conference in Geneva as soon as possible”. “There is no military solution to Syria,” Mr Kerry told reporters. “There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table”. The US and Russia, along with the United Nations, are trying to convene an international conference in Geneva to try to agree on a transitional government based on a plan adopted in that city a year ago.—Masood Haider
Train derails in Gujranwala; 3 die By Akram Malik GUJRANWALA, July 25: Three people were crushed to death and several others injured when a Rawalpindi-bound train came off the tracks in a crowded area here on Thursday. . The dead and injured were vegetable and fruit vendors and their customers present between the tracks and the G.T. Road at the time of the derailment. The train passengers remained safe in the accident near the Gondalanwala Chowk. According to local railway officials and witnesses, the train driver and his assistant, who fled the scene after the crash, did not spot a ‘stop’ sign. The train had to be stopped at the loop line to give way to the Awam Express coming from the opposite direction. As a result, the ill-fated train ran into a dead-end, jumped off the tracks and crashed into the vendors plying their business on the G.T. Road. The train crushed to death a vendor, a woman and a child and left several people injured. The injured and bodies of the deceased were taken to a local hospital. Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique asked the general manager of the Pakistan Railways to submit a report on the accident within 24 hours. On his part, the general manager suspended train driver Muhammad Riaz and his assistant Shahid Zaheer. The railways administration brought heavy cranes from Lalamusa and Lahore to lift the engine and bogies and arranged Iftar for the passengers, who later left for Rawalpindi. The minister announced that heirs of each of the deceased would be paid Rs500,000 and the injured Rs100,000 as compensation. According to a handout, a railcar going to Rawalpindi from Lahore met with an accident in Gujranwala, leaving two people dead and four injured. Gujranwala DCO Tariq Javed Malik supervised the rescue operation, the handout added.
80 perish as train crashes in Spain SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (Spain), July 25: A train hurtled off the tracks as it reportedly tore at twice the speed limit around a bend in northwestern Spain, killing 80 passengers and injuring 140 in the nation’s deadliest rail disaster since 1944. . Carriages piled into each other and overturned in Wednesday night’s crash, smoke billowing from the wreckage of mangled steel and smashed windows as bodies were laid out under blankets along the tracks. State railway company Renfe said it was too early to determine the cause but several media outlets said the train carrying 218 passengers and four crewmembers was speeding. It came off the tracks at a curve at 8.42pm (local time) on Wednesday as it was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia. One of the drivers who became trapped in the cab after the accident told railway officials by radio shortly after the crash that the train had taken the bend at 190 kilometres an hour, sources told El Pais newspaper. The speed limit on that section of track is 80km an hour. “I hope no one died because it will weigh on my conscience,” he said, according to the paper’s online edition. The eight carriages derailed on a stretch of high-speed track about four kilometres from the station in the city, the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage which has been followed by Christians since the Middle Ages. The train was the Alvia model which is able to adapt between high-speed and normal tracks.—AFP
Ambiguity over US officials’ visit By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, July 25: It’s not only the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who’s keeping his hosts in Pakistan guessing about his travel plans, but Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins is also following his boss by not confirming if he is coming to Islamabad over the weekend.. Officials at the Foreign Office were till Thursday afternoon desperately trying to find out from the US Embassy if Mr Dobbins was sticking to his schedule. But the embassy wasn’t of any help either and asked those contacting from the Foreign Office, much to their chagrin, to wait and see. The special envoy was due here over the weekend to discuss the revival of peace process in Afghanistan and efforts for normalisation of Pak-Afghan ties, and more importantly, finalise the agenda for Mr Kerry’s upcoming visit.The government is also awaiting Mr Kerry’s visit itinerary. “The visit of Secretary Kerry is very much on the cards, but the dates have not yet been finalised,” FO Spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at his weekly briefing on Thursday. Secretary Kerry was tentatively scheduled to visit Islamabad sometime next week (Tuesday/ Wednesday), but up till now the government does not know whether or not the visit is on. Even the advance team that the State Department dispatched to Islamabad for the secretary’s trip can’t say when Mr Kerry reaches here. Mr Kerry, who was originally to visit Pakistan last month, had at the last moment cancelled the trip citing pre-occupation with Syrian crisis, but went to New Delhi for a three-day trip around the same dates. Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz had met Mr Kerry on the sidelines of the 20th Ministerial Meeting of the Asean Regional Forum in Brunei Darussalam on July 2 to discuss future bilateral cooperation. A substantive agenda awaits Secretary Kerry in Islamabad, where he will not only be discussing bilateral matters like resumption of ministerial-level strategic dialogue and contentious issues like drone strikes, but also regional issues as to how to take forward the stalemated peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. Spokesman Chaudhry doesn’t agree with the notion that the ties were not in the best of shape, but admits that the relationship has had its share of convergences and divergences. “I believe that Pakistan is engaged with the US on the basis of mutual respect and mutuality of benefit,” he says. About the reports of a Pak-US prisoners swap agreement that may lead to repatriation of Aafia Siddiqi, he said there was no such arrangement but indicated that the two sides were considering proposals to “join two regional arrangements” that could serve as a point of reference for considering requests for prisoner exchange. “This particular aspect is under consideration in the Ministry of Interior,” he said. AFGHANISTAN: Responding to a question about Mr Aziz’s visit to Kabul on Sunday, he said the Pakistani government was hoping to work with the Afghan government “on an agenda that leads us to lasting peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region”. He said Pakistan would persevere with its approach of maintaining a “close, positive and constructive engagement” with Afghanistan despite the distractions caused by frequent outbursts of allegations from Kabul. Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan “exercised utmost restraint (in the past) and will continue to do that. We believe that allegations and counter allegations will not help us achieve our shared goal of securing peace and stability in Afghanistan and our region.” INDIA: The FO spokesman said Pakistan was ready to engage with India under the Composite Dialogue process to counter terrorism in the region. He hoped that the resumed dialogue process would start soon and enable the two sides to deal with issues like terrorism that had been souring bilateral ties.
Nawaz criticises PPP boycott: It’s Mamnoon versus Wajih By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, July 26: Controversy over the schedule of presidential election took a serious turn on Friday when the main opposition PPP announced that it was boycotting the election in protest against advancing the date of polling from Aug 6 to July 30. . The contest for the top constitutional post will now be between the ruling PML-N’s Mamnoon Hussain and retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). The PPP said it would play the role of genuine opposition. The PML-N criticised the PPP’s decision and termed it against the spirit of democracy. The election was originally scheduled for Aug 6 but the PML-N challenged it in the Supreme Court on the grounds that a large number of members of the national and provincial assemblies and Senate would find it difficult to cast their vote because some of them would be in Saudi Arabia to perform Umra and a number of others would be observing Aitekaf around that time. The court in its first hearing on the petition ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to change the date and hold it on July 30. PPP’s presidential candidate Raza Rabbani did not appear before the ECP for scrutiny of his nomination papers on Friday and as a result his papers were rejected by the commission. The PPP announced the boycott at a press conference addressed by Raza Rabbani, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Amin Fahim and Aitzaz Ahsan. “Today’s decision is part of our struggle against the military as well as civil dictatorship and to save democracy,” Mr Rabbani said, adding that president was a symbol of federation and if he contested as a symbol of one unit it would be a clear violation of the constitution. He said that according to the revised schedule the scrutiny was to be held on July 26, leaving only two days for the candidates to travel across the country, from Peshawar to Lahore, Quetta and Karachi to seek support from the electorate. “Why would members of the provincial assemblies cast their vote without listening to the candidates,” he asked. About the petitioner’s contention relating to Umra and Aitekaf, Mr Rabbani said the electoral college comprised 1,200 members of the National Assembly, Senate and provincial legislatures, but the date had been changed because 50 to 60 voters might observe Aitekaf. He warned the government that the boycott would not be the end, but the beginning of opposition. “We boycott the election only to save the federation.” The PPP leader said petitioner Raja Zafarul Haq was just a voter and he had no right to challenge the poll schedule. “Whatever relief he demanded he got it.” Amin Fahim said the PPP would not accept anyone elected as the next president. “If we don’t accept the process of election then how can we accept its product,” he asked. Aitzaz Ahsan said it was illogical to advance the date of polling. The PPP will not move the Supreme Court for a review. He criticised some of the decisions taken by the apex court and said: “When PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif appears before the Supreme Court a ‘memogate’ commission is formed the same day; when Khawaja Asif moves the apex court against appointments made during the caretaker set-up these are declared invalid the same day and two former NAB chairmen are removed on petitions of Chaudhry Nisar.” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a statement that the PPP should have demonstrated sportsman’s spirit instead of boycotting the election. “Boycotting the election is against democratic norms.” The prime minister praised the role of PTI and said: “The PTI’s decision is commendable which will strengthen democracy.” PML-N leader Senator Mushahidullah said the constitution could not be run on the whims of Raza Rabbani and Amin Fahim. Awami National Party leader Haji Adeel said in a statement that his party would support the PPP’s decision and boycott the election. Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Syed Munawar Hassan said the PPP’s decision would not make any ripple in the country’s politics.
Twin blasts in Parachinar kill 45 By Hussain Afzal PARACHINAR, July 26: Twin blasts ripped through a congested market and a taxi stand in Parachinar town on Friday, leaving 45 people dead and around 75 injured, officials and residents said.. Political Agent Riaz Mehsud said the death toll could rise because many people had suffered critical injuries. He said arrangements were being made to shift the critically injured to Peshawar and other cities. He said one of the blasts was carried out by a suicide bomber while the other might have been a planted one. Residents said the blasts occurred within an interval of a few seconds about two hours before Iftar. The first blast occurred at the main chowk near a mosque where a large number of people were busy purchasing food items. The second blast took place at a taxi stand on the School Road, causing damage to shops and vehicles. Wazir Ali, an office-bearer of Anjuman-i-Hussainia, said human flesh and blood littered the area near the mosque. The situation in the agency headquarters hospital, the main healthcare facility in the area, was chaotic. Badly injured people were lying on the floor due to non availability of beds and people were seen bringing charpoys from their homes for them. Dr Abdullah Jan of the agency headquarters hospital said over 100 injured were brought to the hospital. Majority of the critically injured had been referred to hospitals in Kohat and Peshawar while 25 had been admitted, he added. Another doctor said 10 bodies had been brought to the hospital and 25 were lying in an Imambargah. The injured were being taken to other towns in private cars. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah condemned the blasts in Parachinar and expressed sorrow over the loss of precious lives. He issued directives to the commissioner of Kohat division and the provincial director general of health services to enforce emergency in hospitals and ensure best possible treatment to the injured. Parachinar is some 250km west of Peshawar and has a population of 50,000.In the wake of sectarian clashes in 2007 army and paramilitary forces set up several checkpoints on roads leading to the town. ROADSIDE BLAST: Two people were killed and six others injured in lower Kurram tribal region on Friday when a passenger bus hit a landmine in Mangag area of Khar Patti. The bus was going to Parachinar. The deceased were identified as Nasir Hussain Toori and Khair Ali. They died on the spot. The injured were identified as Mushahad Hussain, Afsar Ali, Jamil Hussain, Intizar Hussain, Inayat Ali and Musarrat Hussain. They were taken to the agency headquarter hospital in Parachinar. Two of the injured were said to be in critical condition.
ECP accepts 3 nomination papers By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, July 26: Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim accepted on Friday nomination papers of three presidential candidates – PML’s Mamnoon Hussain and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). . PPP’s candidate Mian Raza Rabbani pulled out of the race at the last moment in protest against what he called unilateral revision of the schedule. In a statement submitted to Justice Ebrahim, who is returning officer for the presidential election, Mr Rabbani regretted that he had neither been consulted nor heard. He said his party and members of other parties which had supported him jointly decided that he should not participate in an election that was loaded in favour of one particular and favoured candidate. He said he was withdrawing all nomination papers filed by him or on his behalf for the presidential poll. Mr Rabbani’s papers were ‘rejected as withdrawn’. The papers of other 19 candidates were rejected as none of them were signed by a lawmaker, as proposer or seconder. Mamnoon Hussain was the first to appear before the CEC. A candidate, whose papers were later rejected, raised a number of objections to the candidature of Mr Hussain, saying he was over 65 years of age and, therefore, was not in a position to effectively discharge his duty as head of the state. He said that being a PML-N loyalist he could not be a symbol of federation and remain impartial. Mr Hussain also does not sport a beard. The objections were instantly rejected by the CEC, leaving many to wonder how a person with no locus standi had been provided an opportunity to raise objections. Objections were also raised to the nomination of Justice Wajihuddin. A candidate claimed that the PTI candidate lacked Islamic knowledge. He said Pakistan had come into being after a lot of sacrifices and the PTI’s slogan of a ‘new Pakistan’ was sufficient to reject papers of its candidates. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, a covering candidate for Mamnoon Hussain, is likely to withdraw his papers on Saturday. Therefore, it would be a one-to-one contest between Mr Hussain and Justice Wajihuddin and there is no suspense about the outcome in view of PML-N’s numerical strength. Talking to reporters after the acceptance of his papers, Mr Hussain said he would resign from the basic membership of the PML-N after his election as head of the state. He said he would try to remain impartial. He expressed displeasure over PPP’s decision to boycott the election and said it was not in the spirit of democracy.
PTI to give ‘N’ a run for its money By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, July 26: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has decided to take part in the presidential election, refusing to side with the PPP in its boycott of the process. . Fit-again PTI chief Imran Khan, speaking at a press conference at the party’s secretariat, said his party had decided to go ahead with the presidential election so as not to give a walkover to the ruling party’s candidate. Imran Khan, who returned two days ago from London, said it was a hard decision because the PPP had a point in its call for boycott of the election. Clarifying the party position, Mr Khan said after consulting legal experts on the Supreme Court’s decision to change the date for election from Aug 6 to July 30, “we have reached the conclusion that there is no legal glitch. Hence Justice (retired) Wajihuddin Ahmed will contest the election.” Justice Ahmed blamed the Election Commission, instead of the Supreme Court, for the election date controversy. He said constitutionally speaking, the ECP had a window of 30 days to carry out the election process, but since it didn’t utilise it adequately, interested candidates felt free to run their campaigns. Asking the PPP, ANP and PML-Q leaders to vote for him, Justice Ahmed said: “I urge all these parties not to let this opportunity slip though their hands and take part in the election process and vote against the PML-N candidate.” The Awami National Party and the PML-Q have expressed support for the boycott call given by their former ruling coalition partner in the centre. Since the election will be conducted through secret ballot, legislators can listen to their conscience without fear of reprisal from their party leaders, the retired judge said. Imran Khan was hopeful that voters would at least give weight to Justice Ahmed’s unblemished record before casting their vote on July 30. The PTI chief recalled that Wajihuddin Ahmed refused to accept General Pervez Musharraf’s takeover in 1999 and resigned. PROTEST: The PTI chief once again reiterated his call for a countrywide street march after Ramazan if the SC and ECP didn’t “listen to the party’s call for biometric-based investigation of votes in four constituencies”. “Our petition is already lying with the SC in which the party has asked for investigation since it has enough evidence to prove that the May 11 elections were rigged. “I am not for derailing the present government, but I want to ensure that in future no sham elections are held. My party will not go back on its demand for investigation,” the PTI chief asserted. When Justice Ahmed was asked if he endorsed Mr Khan’s critical views against the SC and the ECP, the PTI’s presidential candidate said he not only endorsed the stance but would also call upon the SC to accept his party’s demand for a fresh scrutiny of votes. “I must say the May 11 elections were worst in terms of rigging and mismanagement. The PTI has accepted election results, but not election rigging,” he said.
MQM, PML-N in new bonhomie By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 26: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement announced on Friday ‘unconditional’ support for PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain in the presidential election after a delegation of the ruling party visited its Nine Zero headquarters to seek its support. . The support strengthened the position of the PML-N because of the number of legislators of Muttahida in the parliament and Sindh Assembly. The development provided the beleaguered MQM with a political respite because, according to sources, in return for its support the ruling party invited it to join the federal government. It was the first visit of a high-level PML-N delegation to the MQM headquarters since the parting of ways between Nawaz Sharif and the MQM after the assassination of former Sindh governor Hakim Muhammad Said in 1998 and imposition of governor’s rule in the province. Although the MQM had unconditionally supported Mr Sharif during the election for prime minister, relations between the two parties remained uneasy because of the bitter past. But the enthusiastic welcome given to the PML-N delegation and the subsequent announcement about MQM’s support for Mr Hussain made it clear that the two parties had decided to bury the hatchet and make a fresh start. Both parties insisted that the support was ‘unconditional’ and the sources said the PML-N had made an offer to the MQM to join the federal government. Modalities in this regard would be sorted out after the presidential election. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad accompanied the PML-N delegation comprising Mamnoon Hussain, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Pervez Rashid, Nihal Hashmi and others. Earlier, the delegation held a meeting with Dr Ibad at the Governor’s House which was also attended by Senator Babar Ghori of the MQM. MQM workers garlanded the PML-N leaders on their arrival at the Nine Zero. They held a meeting with members of the MQM coordination committee in the presence of Governor Ibad. MQM chief Altaf Hussain also spoke to the PML-N leaders on phone from London. According to a press release issued by the MQM, Mr Hussain told the PML-N leaders that he had forgotten the bitter past and wanted them to convey his message to Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif that both sides should forget the past and make a new beginning. He said he considered the Sharifs as his brothers. “There were some misunderstanding (between us)...Altaf Hussain is also a human being and not an angel...Let’s start a new journey and work together to steer the country out of crises and solve the problems of power, gas and water and other public issues.” Senator Dar told Mr Hussain that there was no difference between his thinking and PML-N’s policies. Later, leaders of the two parties came out of the Nine Zero and briefly spoke to reporters. Mr Dar said the MQM had announced its ‘unconditional’ support for PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain and his party was grateful for this. As MQM workers raised slogans, Mamnoon Hussain reiterated that if elected he would act as president of the entire country and not of one party. He said he himself belonged to Karachi and would try to solve problems of Karachi and Sindh. MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said his party had decided to unconditionally support Mr Hussain for the sake of democracy. He said that although the support was unconditional, the MQM hoped that the PML-N government would play an effective role for ending illiteracy and poverty and eradication of terrorism. The MQM has 22 members in the National Assembly, seven in Senate and 48 in the Sindh Assembly -- 47.60 electoral votes. The PML-N delegation was also scheduled to meet PML-Functional chief Pir Pagara, but it was informed that the meeting could not take place because of the latter’s pressing engagements. Earlier, Senator Dar expressed displeasure over the PPP’s decision to boycott the presidential election. Talking to reporters at the Karachi Airport, he said: “Let me say that PPP has set a very bad precedence as it is against the spirit of democratic norms. The PML-N has always moved to strengthen democracy whether we are in the government or in the opposition. The issue raised by the PPP for boycotting the election is not justified.” He said the candidates did not need to approach their members and other parties since the presidential election din not require any massive campaigning.
Call for trial under ATA: SC not satisfied with FIR in driver’s killing By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, July 26: The Supreme Court on Friday expressed disappointment that the Rangers personnel involved in the shooting of an unarmed taxi driver in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar on July 16 were not being dealt with strictly. . A three-judge Supreme Court bench, which had taken suo motu notice on the killing of the taxi driver, regretted that the paramilitary soldiers were being tried under the Pakistan Penal Code instead of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. Murid Abbas, the taxi driver, was buying fruit across the road near Kamran Chowrangi when the Rangers personnel signalled him to stop. When he allegedly failed to stop his vehicle, the Rangers personnel shot him dead. “We have pointed out that the manner in which the FIR has been registered without applying relevant sections of the law is sufficient to prima facie draw a conclusion that the culprits are not being dealt with strictly as per the law,” observed the chief justice while dictating the orders. The Supreme Court ordered Attorney General Muneer A. Malik to supervise the investigations into the killings of innocent persons by Rangers. The AG was also asked to hold consultations with the Prosecutor General and the Advocate General of Sindh. The alleged lapses in registration of the case give rise to apprehensions that the dead man’s family would not get justice, the court observed. In view of the sensitivity of the matter and the fact that such incidents sow fear in society, the court observed, the trial of the suspects should be held under Section 19(4) of the Anti Terrorism Act of 1997. The court ordered the police as well as the Rangers to complete their investigation in the murder case of Murid Abbas as early as possible and directed the trial court to decide the matter not later than one month from the date of submission of the challan. Earlier Attorney General Muneer A. Malik informed the court that an FIR had been lodged in the case of Murid Abbas and that the Rangers’ response this time was better than what it was in the murder case of Sarfraz Shah in June 2011. Advocate Shahid Bajwa, who represents the Rangers, informed the Supreme Court that Dua Bibi, widow of the taxi driver, had been offered a job along with a compensation of Rs1.8 million. The Rangers had paid Rs200,000 to the widow as she had been observing Iddat (a 40-day period spent at home by a woman after death of her husband). The chief justice observed the court was aware that the country was passing through turbulent times and the law enforcers were paying with their lives for defending the nation. However, he regretted, the act of killing an innocent and unarmed taxi driver by a man in uniform was a grave matter. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, a member of the bench, observed that the court only wanted the forces to behave sensibly and to learn from their mistakes. “I have learnt that personnel of law enforcement agencies attend a three-month course to learn how to salute their seniors. There should also be a course to teach them how to deal with unarmed civilians,” observed Justice Khawaja.
Kerry visit: picture unclear even after PM’s intervention By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, July 26: Finalisation of dates for US Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to Pakistan took a bizarre twist on Friday after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally got involved with the scheduling of the visit.. The Prime Minister’s Office, after Mr Sharif’s meeting with US Ambassador Richard Olson, first issued a statement saying Mr Kerry was expected in ‘next two days’. Hours later, the handout was amended and the revised one said the secretary would visit in `a few days time’. Mr Kerry, who postponed his June trip to Islamabad, had promised to visit in the last week of July to meet the newly-elected leadership for chalking the way forward in bilateral ties. With the month’s last week only two days away, the two sides are yet to come up with a final date for the visit. What’s exactly holding them up? One well-known reason is that Mr Kerry intends to visit Islamabad sometime in first week of August, but that does not suit Mr Sharif, who is planning to be in Saudi Arabia in those dates. Mr Sharif had got the presidential poll, originally slated for Aug 6, rescheduled by approaching the Supreme Court because that date conflicted with his travel to Saudi Arabia. The change led to boycott of presidential election by opposition parties led by PPP. The boycott could have potentially cost the election its credibility had the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the other major opposition party, not agreed to remaining in the contest. Another angle emerged from the PM Office statement which said: “The Ambassador (Olson) shared with the Prime Minister (Sharif) US priorities relating to the visit.” A Foreign Office source disclosed that the schedule of Mr Kerry’s visit would be announced after a meeting of the foreign ministry’s top brass on Saturday, which would discuss the agenda shared by the US envoy. This has led to speculations that the issues to be raised during Mr Kerry’s visit may be another cause of delay in finalising the schedule. Prime Minister Sharif, the statement said, affirmed to the ambassador his commitment to a strong and cooperative relationship with the US. He also reiterated Pakistan’s full commitment to all initiatives designed to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan. Our Washington Corres pondent adds: The US State Department also is refusing to clear the ambiguity concerning visits to Pakistan by senior officials, although it did say that Secretary Kerry was still looking forward to his visit. At the State Department’s regular press briefing, deputy spokesperson Marie Harf was pointedly asked if the secretary was planning to visit Islamabad on the 29th or 30th of this month. “We’ve said repeatedly that the secretary looks forward to travelling to Pakistan when he can spend some time there discussing a wide range of issues, but I have no travel to announce at this point,” she said. Asked if US Special Representative James Dobbins planned to visit Islamabad this weekend, Ms Harf said she had no “travel to announce for Ambassador Dobbins” either. Mr Dobbins was expected to be in Islamabad over the weekend to discuss the revival of Afghan peace process and efforts for normalisation of Pak-Afghan ties. But so far, Islamabad did not know if he was coming as scheduled. When he arrives, Ambassador Dobbins will also finalise the agenda for Mr Kerry’s visit.
Oil prices may be raised considerably By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, July 26: Amid a controversy over legal status of profit margins of marketing companies and dealers, the prices of all petroleum products are estimated to be increased considerably on July 31, owing to price fluctuation in the international market and devaluation of the rupee. . An official of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) said on Friday the price of petrol was estimated to be increased by Rs2.8 per litre, to Rs104.5 per litre from the existing rate of Rs101.7. The price of high speed diesel (HSD) may go up by Rs3.5 per litre to Rs110.26 per litre from its existing price of Rs106.76. The price of kerosene oil has been worked out at Rs99.94 per litre, an increase of Rs3.65. The price of high octane blending component (HOBC) is estimated to be increased by Rs5.5 per litre to about Rs129 per litre from its existing rate of Rs123.46. The light diesel oil price may go up by Rs3.45 per litre, to Rs95.6 per litre from its current rate of Rs92.17, according to the Ogra official. He said a working paper on oil pricing will be forwarded to the federal government on July 30, with the request to keep the prices unchanged at the existing level to protect the consumers from a general price hike and increase in the cost of transportation just before Eidul Fitr. He said that ahead of every Eid the transporters increased their rates, but any raise in the prices of petroleum products now would provide them with a justification to do so. Any hike in the prices of petroleum products at this juncture, therefore, would create problems for the government. Meanwhile, a crucial question of law has arisen over the size of the profit margins allowed to supply chain players, particularly petroleum dealers and oil marketing companies. Some officials in the petroleum ministry believe the government has allowed the companies and dealers to draw higher profits for two months without any legal cover. They say the profit margins allowed to companies and dealers should have been cut down two months ago but because that did not happen the consumers should be given relief now. However, senior officials of the petroleum ministry and Ogra, who did not take notice of the discrepancy in a timely manner, want the current dealer margins and company commissions to continue for another four months. At the heart of the dispute is a February 23 decision of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet that increased the margins of the oil companies and dealers on sale of petrol by 25 paisa per litre and 41 paisa per litre, as an interim arrangement. The same meeting increased margins for dealers and oil companies by 10 paisa per litre on the sale of high speed diesel. The ECC had decided that “a detailed study to establish basis for revision of margins of the OMCs and dealers should be carried out within three months and submitted for consideration of the ECC. Till that, the revision in margins as approved above would be treated as interim relief”. The decision resulted in an additional profit of about Rs360 million for the companies and dealers. Both the petroleum ministry and the Ogra failed to initiate any study. The interim period came to an end on May 31. Some officials in the petroleum ministry and the Ogra argue that since the two institutions had failed to conduct any study, the interim relief should have been de-notified and withdrawn under the ECC decision. The petroleum ministry has, however, sent a fresh summary to the ECC, which is expected to meet on Tuesday, to grant extension in the current margins for another four months as another interim arrangement. It said the previous ECC decision was implemented with effect from April 1. It said the Ogra had now been requested to “carry out the requisite study keeping in view their role as an independent regulator, so that a criteria or policy for revision of margins on petroleum products may be developed and submitted to the ECC for approval”. The ministry further claimed that “since the above study could not be completed within three months due to various reasons, it is therefore requested that additional time of four months after approval of the ECC may be allowed in this regard with the advice that Ogra should conduct and complete the requisite study within the proposed time limit”. Besides the import price parity of petroleum products, the high profit margins allowed to dealers and oil companies, the government is charging petroleum levy at Rs14 per litre on HOBC, Rs10 per litre on petrol, Rs8 per litre on HSD and Rs6 per litre on kerosene oil. On top of that the government has started charging 17 per cent GST on sale price of petroleum products as opposed to previous rate of 16 per cent.
US to back economic opportunities for MuslimsUS to back economic opportunities for Muslims By Our Correspondent WASHINGTON, July 26: US President Barack Obama has said that a key part of America’s engagement with Muslim communities around the world has to be supporting economic opportunity and entrepreneurship.. Addressing his fifth iftar-dinner at the White House since coming to power five years ago, President Obama praised Muslim-Americans for their contributions to America"s development. “Even as we support citizens seeking to determine their own destiny, a key part of our engagement with Muslim communities around the world has to be supporting economic opportunity and entrepreneurship,” he said. Mr Obama said his administration had launched an annual entrepreneurship summit to spur innovation and business growth in Muslim communities and announced that he would attend the next summit during his visit to Southeast Asia for the Asean meeting later this year. Mr Obama’s guests for Thursday night dinner included three Muslim American entrepreneurs — Shazi Visram, the founder and CEO of Happy Family Organic Superfoods; Adam Hussein, an inventor who is venturing into the field of video games for social good; and Iya Khalil, a biotech expert. Other guests included Muslim ambassadors, members of Congress, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, chief of staff Tina Tchen and the First Lady. Guests were seated on 13 tables, each with nine or 10 people and covered beautiful grey-blue tablecloths with pewter collared floral design and green-and-blue flower arrangements. Mr Obama began his remarks with “Ramadan Kareem,” and said, “As the Quran teaches, whoever does an atom"s weight of good will see its results.” “Muslim Americans and their good works have helped to build our nation, and we"ve seen the results,” he said. “Throughout our history, Islam has contributed to the character of our country, and Muslim-Americans, and their good works, have helped to build our nation — and we"ve seen the results. We"ve seen those results in generations of Muslim immigrants - farmers and factory workers, helping to lay the railroads and build our cities,” he said. He noted that Muslim innovators had helped build some of the highest skyscrapers in the United States and also had made major contributions to space science, unlocking the secrets of the universe. “Every day, Muslim Americans are helping to shape the way that we think and the way that we work and the way that we do business. And that"s the spirit that we celebrate tonight — the dreamers, the creators whose ideas are pioneering new industries, creating new jobs and unleashing new opportunities for all of us,” Mr Obama said.
Pakistan calls for Morsi’s release ISLAMABAD, July 26: Pakistan called on Egyptian authorities on Friday to release deposed president Mohamed Morsi and restore democratic institutions in the country. . “Pakistan urges all sides in Egypt to address legal and constitutional issues in an inclusive and peaceful manner to enable the country to successfully restore democratic institutions as early as possible. We also call for the immediate release of Mr Morsi,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said. The statement came on the day when supporters of Mr Morsi and those in favour of the military intervention which ousted him held massive rallies. Pro-Morsi protesters have been holding demonstrations since July 3, while his opponents took to the streets after a call by Army Chief Gen Abdel Fattah El Sisi for rallies to strengthen the military’s ‘mandate’ to stop “violence and terrorism”. The tone of the FO statement on Friday was in contrast to some of its earlier statements on Mr Morsi’s overthrow in the aftermath of some anti-Morsi protests. The earlier statements had underlined “honouring aspirations of the people”. The statement noted that Mr Morsi’s ouster was a major setback for return of democracy to Egypt and to the achievement of aims and objectives of Jan 2011 revolution.—Staff Reporter
Editorial NEWS
Shady transactions: DHA’s dealings EVEN as the revelations of the Abbottabad Commission about the sweeping powers of the military and its multiple failures are being discussed, the armed forces have been caught up in another maelstrom. The EOBI scandal landed up in the Supreme Court and led straight to Islamabad’s Defence Housing Authority. The revelations highlighted how EOBI funds had apparently been lost in a number of shady deals and how a huge chunk of the money was ‘invested’ in DHA land. When the Authority expressed its inability to pay back the Rs22.29bn, the court froze its accounts.. The court case has highlighted once again the lack of transparency in the affairs of the Islamabad DHA and its widespread ramifications. The land bought by the EOBI, according to the information provided in the court, was at prices far higher than the market price and it appears that the land is disputed. In addition, the FIA investigations reveal that the agreement between the DHA and Bahria Town precludes the DHA from selling land to a third party including the EOBI. Neither has the land handed over to the EOBI been developed as promised. The picture is far from clear and it will take some time before the allegations and counter-allegations can be verified. But this is not the first time that the DHA Islamabad has faced allegations of wrongdoing. To give one example, the investors of the DHA Valley (a residential scheme launched for soldiers and other junior ranks) have also complained of being swindled because of the agreement between Bahria Town and DHA. In fact, rumours about the wrongdoings in DHA schemes have been the talk of Islamabad for years now and the absence of real information and hard facts have only allowed them to flourish. The military leadership needs to realise that the lack of transparency and accountability in running DHA are now tarnishing its image. Unless the military leadership is willing to launch an inquiry to determine if those running DHA played any role in the EOBI scandal; satisfy the investors of the DHA Valley; shed light on the agreements between DHA and private parties such as Bahria Town and Habib Rafiq; and bring some transparency to the running of the Authority, the allegations and rumours will not die down. This will only bring disrepute to the entire institution of the armed forces.
Need for overhaul: Balochistan law enforcement BALOCHISTAN’S precarious law and order situation is further aggravated by various internal and external issues confronting the provincial police force. On Thursday a superintendent of police was suspended after police prevented the private guards of Senior Minister Sanaullah Zehri from forcibly entering the Balochistan Assembly. Quetta’s police chief told the chief minister such actions have a demoralising impact on the force, and it is welcome that cases have been registered against the guards after the Balochistan High Court took notice of the incident. Earlier, at a Supreme Court hearing the issue of infiltration within the ranks of the Balochistan police came up when the provincial chief secretary told the court that “individuals influenced by proscribed outfits are working in the police force”. These are just some of the challenges confronting the Balochistan police: when its personnel try to act they are stopped by ‘influentials’, while a much graver problem is that of the existence of militant sympathisers within the force. Where the latter challenge is concerned, information about raids is leaked while the escape of incarcerated suspects or convicts is also facilitated. Experts familiar with the Balochistan policing structure say the entry of such elements is possible due to ineffective screening procedures, as well as political inductions.. In order to improve security in Balochistan the policing structure must be revamped. Currently numerous law-enforcement agencies are active in the province. For example, the paramilitary Frontier Corps, which has a visible presence in Balochistan, is not an anti-terrorism force and lacks the counterterrorism tools needed to weed out militancy. What can be considered is a single policing system across the province; presently the police are in charge of urban ‘A’ areas, while the tribal Levies serve in rural ‘B’ areas. Questions have been raised about the Levies’ level of training and efficiency. Ultimately, a professional police force drawn from local recruits trained in modern investigation techniques coupled with a strong system of prosecution through anti-terrorism courts is required to effectively handle Balochistan’s myriad shades of violence.
Of questionable merit: Spurious ‘traditional’ medicines THIS country has had its share of tragedies resulting from spurious or substandard allopathic medicine; the deaths of at least 125 heart patients given contaminated cardiac medicine early last year is one of the more recent instances. Thus when the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan bill was signed into law in November 2012, it was widely welcomed as an attempt towards integrated drug regulation. The issue had become even more critical after the 18th Amendment led to the devolution of health, among other subjects, to the provinces. It is therefore a matter of concern that, according to officials in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department, Drap has told them to not concern themselves with the sale of traditional medicine which includes homeopathic, unani and herbal drugs. These drugs, after last year’s legislation, also fall within the ambit of Drap under its “health and OTC products” division. The provincial health officials claim that this approach has given further impetus to the sale of fake or spurious drugs under the seemingly innocuous label of ‘traditional’ cures. . According to some estimates, a little over half of Pakistan’s population takes recourse to traditional or alternative forms of medicine as the first line of treatment, with the proportion rising to 80pc in rural areas. The comparatively low cost of such medicines also encourages people to opt for them. They are not registered and, more often than not, have not undergone any testing and are manufactured under dubious conditions. Notwithstanding the prevailing disarray in Drap — reported by sources within the body — and the bureaucratic hurdles to meaningful action created by avarice-driven vested interests, drugs labelled ‘traditional medicine’ must be regulated, and soon. Otherwise disaster can be just a tablet, or tonic, away.
A long wait: Energy policy THE ‘energy policy’ we are hearing so much about is beginning to appear like an elusive mistress, revealing itself only in glimpses. It has been over two months now since we were told that a working group had been formed, that a large plan was being hammered out, and that a comprehensive set of reforms, aimed at resolving the country’s power crisis on a permanent basis, would be unveiled. Since then we’ve seen a retirement of the circular debt to the tune of Rs326bn — in a surprise move only days before the close of the last fiscal year — and further talk of tariff hikes beginning with industrial and commercial consumers. And now we’re hearing talk of full-scale privatisation of the various power utilities in both generation and distribution.. All of this is good in one sense. Retirement of the circular debt was indeed essential before undertaking any meaningful reforms. Tariffs do need to be reformed to close the gap between the cost of generating electricity and the cost at which it is sold. Without closing this gap, the circular debt would come back within a few months, just like it has done in every other instance of full-scale retirement of debt. Closing this gap means raising the cost at which electricity is sold; but it also means bringing the cost of generation down by raising efficiencies. And today there is hardly anybody left who believes that the power bureaucracy can do much to raise efficiencies, meaning the induction of private management is going to be key to the whole process. So it is a good thing that the government is talking about these measures, and it is also a good thing that it appears to have the sequence right. What is missing in all this is the policy itself, the deeds that make the words meaningful. Now we are told that the policy will be taken to the Council of Common Interests before it is unveiled. Broadening ownership is a good idea, and it would be helpful if the provinces desist from being merely obstructionist. But given the hype and the amount of time that is going into this affair, we are entitled to expect that we would have been further down the road by now. Delaying bitter medicine is never a good thing. Some delays are to be expected, but the government also needs to be careful that it is not left forever in search of that other elusive mistress: consensus.
Effective response needed: Terrorist threat in Karachi AN accidental explosion in Karachi on Saturday evening has once again laid bare the serious and continuing threat the city faces from terrorist violence. According to media reports yesterday, one of the alleged terrorists who survived the explosion in the Patel Para neighbourhood of Karachi claimed that he and his accomplices who died in the blast were planning an attack on processions marking an important day in the Shia calendar. Neither the plot nor the target is particularly surprising. Karachi has been and remains a dangerous sectarian flashpoint. What is cause for alarm, though, is the manner in which the plot was exposed. Had the would-be bombers proved more skilful at assembling bombs, Karachi may have discovered the bombers only after they had carried out a successful strike. The short-run measures that can be taken to avoid more sectarian carnage in the days ahead are seemingly being taken: the police are coordinating with Shia leaders and intelligence agencies to secure the Yaum-i-Ali procession route and ensure a peaceful day.. Yet, that still leaves the larger problem of sectarian and other terrorist cells able to blend in all too easily in one of Karachi’s many teeming neighbourhoods and plan and plot attacks with near impunity. The only effective responses to this long-standing threat are well known by now: better resourced and trained police; minimising political interference in law enforcement; enhanced coordination across civilian and military intelligence agencies; and a gradual rebuilding of trust between the citizenry and the state — perhaps in better times, neighbours may have reported the suspicious behaviour, if any, of the occupants of the apartment that was blown up. In Karachi’s case, of course, the problems are compounded: an uneasy relationship between the PPP government in Sindh and the PML-N government at the centre, as well as an uneasy relationship between the MQM, which dominates Karachi, and the PPP, which dominates rural Sindh. But if Karachi’s legitimate leadership continues to abdicate its responsibilities to the city, the terrorists will surely demonstrate what they are capable of.
A well-scripted farce: Israel-Palestine talks GIVEN the fate of previous such ‘breakthroughs’, John Kerry’s announcement on the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks “in the next week or so” should be taken with a pinch of salt. The two sides have reached, according to the American secretary of state, an agreement “that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations”. The final status issues are what the Palestinian conflict is all about — Jewish settlements, a Palestinian state’s borders, the refugees’ return and Jerusalem. As he made the announcement in Amman on Friday, Mr Kerry must have known Israel’s inflexible position on these issues. All Israeli governments, including the one now headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, have made it abundantly clear they have no intention of scrapping Jewish settlements on the West Bank, including Jerusalem, which they consider Israel’s “eternal capital”. This flies in the face of President Barack Obama’s June 4, 2009, speech in which he had called upon Israel to stop work on the settlements. On the 1967 borders, President Obama ‘corrected’ himself within 24 hours of his May 2011 faux pas that aroused the wrath of the Israel lobby in America; and expecting Israel to accept the refugees’ return is unrealistic.. The only serious attempt at a two-state solution was made in 1993 by Bill Clinton when Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signed the declaration of principles. However, after Rabin’s murder, Israeli governments wrecked it systematically. The resumption of talks must be welcomed for record’s sake. In truth, Israel has no intention of giving up the occupied territories, the promise to free Palestinian prisoners coming across as a PR job. Launching such talks satisfies Washington’s ego. For most others, it is a well-scripted farce that gives Israel time to gobble up occupied territory.
Not a promising start: Sartaj Aziz’s Kabul visit LITTLE good comes out of an unwanted visit, but in the world of diplomacy, it is always better to try than not. Sartaj Aziz, the PML-N point man on foreign policy and national security, went to Kabul on Sunday as a barely welcome visitor. Mr Aziz, after all, had already earned the ire of the Karzai administration for allegedly suggesting a carve-up of Afghanistan to accommodate the Afghan Taliban — a claim that the PML-N quickly and strongly repudiated. In any case, it would have hardly gone unnoticed that Mr Aziz’s trip, during which he invited President Karzai to visit Pakistan, came on the heels of the very highest level of British politicians travelling to Pakistan to talk security. The British visitors to Pakistan most likely pressed hard to get the new Pakistani government and the security establishment to re-engage a balky President Karzai and help restart the abortive Doha reconciliation process. So an unwanted visit by a potentially reluctant visitor — it was hardly an auspicious start to the PML-N leadership’s foray into Afghanistan.. As if to underscore the sheer intransigence and near petulance that has come to characterise the Karzai camp in recent months, on Monday, President Karzai himself appeared to suggest that the invitation to visit Pakistan was barely worth his consideration, accepting the offer in principle but setting various preconditions for an actual visit. A day earlier the Afghan foreign minister, Zalmai Rassoul, had also tinged his optimism on positive change going forward in the relationship with Pakistan with pessimism about what past contacts with Pakistan had, from the Afghan government’s perspective, brought over the years. Into that most staggering of challenges, then, Mr Aziz waded in on Sunday and as is the nature of such high-profile diplomacy, the positive results, if any, will only be known in the weeks and months ahead. What is clear, though, is that Pakistan’s — the security establishment’s, really — attempt to sideline Mr Karzai has, as could have been predicted, backfired. Whether Mr Karzai is part of the solution or part of the problem when it comes to a post-2014 settlement was not for Pakistan to decide, especially when Mr Karzai will be in the presidency until next April. To argue for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process while dismissing as irrelevant and unwanted the incumbent head of the Afghan government was hubris that could easily have been avoided. For reasons right and wrong, no one really trusts each other in the AfPak conundrum — but that does not mean they cannot work together at all.
Inability to learn: Flooding again IF it weren’t a matter of lives and the livelihoods of thousands of people, Pakistan’s inability to learn from experience would be farcical. We refer, of course, to the onset of the monsoons and the flooding that several parts of the country, particularly Punjab, have been experiencing in recent days. In the areas surrounding Narowal and Sialkot districts, heavy rain and increased flows in water channels and/or breaches have left entire villages inundated. In Prana Walah village alone, which is under some four feet of water, around 2,000 people were reported stranded on their rooftops. Meanwhile, in the agricultural heartland of the country, paddy crops over hundreds of acres have been destroyed, the lives of hundreds of heads of cattle are at risk because of the unavailability of fodder — adding to this is the looming scenario of disease and destroyed infrastructure that inevitably follows large-scale inundation. The lower parts of the country have not yet been affected to the same degree, but there is little doubt that when the waters hit, the situation — at the very least in pockets — will not be dissimilar.. Did the state do much to prepare for what has become a regular characteristic of the monsoons in Pakistan? It has been only three years since the catastrophic floods of 2010 when the state apparatus was caught napping amidst unforeseen natural disaster. But there are few indications that the administration learnt anything from that experience, even though the following years saw the same suffering, albeit on a somewhat lesser scale. Each time the state creaks into ponderous action as though surprised that the rainy season has started, and each time sections of the population that are least able to ride out the storm are left badly affected. How many times does the same scene need to be played out before Pakistan learns to clean up its water courses, shift vulnerable populations and have a mapped-out plan for disaster mitigation ready by the time the skies open?
Cosmetic measures: Pillion-riding ban ALTHOUGH the pillion-riding ban has been in effect since March in Karachi, no significant fall has been witnessed in the number of violent killings in the metropolis. In fact, recent figures released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan state that over 850 people have been killed between April and June while the ban has been in force. These figures should prompt the authorities to take a fresh look at the ban and its effectiveness. What it has done has affected millions of people in Karachi, as commuters, unable to hitch a ride on a friend or a co-worker’s motorcycle, are forced to opt for an inefficient public transport system. The ramshackle state of the city’s buses and coaches is well known. Frequent CNG shutdowns have further aggravated the situation. There are now fewer buses on the roads, which means that people have to compete for every inch of space on dangerously overloaded vehicles. To add to this, because of the ban thousands of pillion-riders have been arrested and temporarily placed in lock-ups; this for a relatively minor infraction while far more dangerous individuals are free to roam the city’s streets. The ban is also a way for police to further shake down motorcyclists; a small bribe is usually sufficient for violators of the ban to avoid arrest.. An indefinite, open-ended ban on pillion-riding is a bad idea and hurts the common man more than it hurts the criminal or militant. If there is a pressing need, the practice can be banned for a short period. A permanent ban only adds to people’s miseries and does little to control killings. Such moves are cosmetic measures that do little to deter violence and are no alternative to better policing based on workable intelligence and pre-emptive law enforcement.
Uneven approach: Power policy THE new power policy carries an uneven promise of change. It is comprehensive in that it touches on almost every aspect of the power sector. But its hand is light in some places and heavy in others. For instance, in the matter of recovering outstanding bills the new policy is quite heavy-handed. Government defaulters, like the provincial governments, will find themselves dealing with a “federal adjuster” who will be empowered to deduct their outstanding amounts from federal transfers. Defaulters in the private sector will face disconnection after 60 days of non- payment, and reconnection to the grid will only be allowed with pre-paid meters after that. Ominously, the policy also makes reference to “[e]xternal collection agencies” that may be used to “improve cash flows”. Meanwhile, the policy of making high-loss areas bear a heavier burden of loadshedding will now become a national policy, where until now it was being seen only in Karachi.. But important ambiguities remain. For instance, the old suggestion of creating an energy ministry has obviously been debated by the working group, but the proposal has been defeated. Instead, there will be an “official coordination council” which will liaise between the ministries of water & power, petroleum and finance, and the Planning Commission. The powers of the council are ill-defined — to “ensure information integration” and “assist in policy formulation” — and its role is likely to be a marginal one. Coordination in the power sector will depend — now as before — on the degree of personal rapport that the various ministers can develop with each other. For institutional reform, the policy mentions reforming Nepra and Ogra “to improve efficiencies”, a far cry from the strengthened and autonomous regulators that many have been calling for. The policy focuses on trying to wring more out of the present state of affairs rather than reforming the architecture of the power sector as a whole. It talks about providing white-glove treatment to new investors through “key client managers” and time-of-day metering and efficiency standards for electronic appliances. It aims to build a merit order in fuel allocations by providing fuel on priority to more efficient plants (ie the independent power producers) and says that conservation strategies like the early closure of shops “may be considered”. But for all its impressive scope, the actions outlined in the document are likely to fizzle out faster than the planners think because ultimately it is the same power bureaucracy embedded in the same institutional configuration that will be responsible for its implementation.
Lay of the land: Development authorities NEW bits of disturbing news from the real estate or housing sector are cause for a deeper look at the manner in which the city development authorities in Pakistan are performing their basic duties. Doubts have been cast at a deal between Islamabad’s CDA and DHA involving money from the EOBI, the fund for pensioners. There is an assertion the CDA ‘illegally’ transferred its own job of developing acquired land to the DHA. More questions arise and once again we see a formula where a city development authority ends up as a mere go-between, a commission agent: it obtains land from individual owners on the promise of paying them in the shape of developed plots; it then outsources development and gets a few developed plots of its own in the bargain. Through this ingenious partnership and using its official status a city development authority can earn without much effort and without even troubling itself with its original assignment ie development. The current status of development authorities in Pakistan does not conform to the nature of work that is expected of them. . In fact, the job of a city development authority is not to facilitate real estate business but to come up with projects to meet the growing housing and similar needs of the people. Any diversion will corrupt the system, and in many ways. One consequence of a city development authority not functioning properly is evident in the mushrooming of unapproved housing schemes. Take the case of the Lahore Development Authority which is now vowing to move against illegal schemes in its jurisdiction. There are at least 175 of these societies now accused of fleecing people by selling them often cheaper but always underdeveloped plots of land, said a recent report. Obviously such a huge pile-up could not have been possible had the LDA been more vigilant and more committed to its brief of ensuring standards in an area that is open to anyone who cares to have a look.
Parliament’s job: Proposed changes to Egypt’s constitution IT is true that the changes proposed to be made in the Egyptian constitution will be put to a referendum, but must the military-backed interim cabinet divert its — and the nation’s — attention from the principal issue? The principal issue is Egypt’s quick return to democracy through a transparent election at the earliest. All other considerations are of secondary importance, and that’s where the government headed by President Adly Mansour has its priorities wrong. The constitution now sought to be amended was largely the work of the government headed by ex-president Mohammed Morsi. Even though the constitution was controversial, it had been approved by a referendum in December 2010. However, the Morsi government backed by the Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown by the army following widespread dem-onstrations. Since then Mr Morsi has been under arrest, leading Brotherhood members are in detention, and Morsi supporters have continued their demonstrations to vent their anger on the army for its overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected president. The disturbances have led to several deaths since the July 3 coup. . In a speech on Saturday, Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi called for national reconciliation through a dialogue among all political parties. However, the Brotherhood has rejected the talks’ offer and pledged to continue its agitation. As time passes, the polarisation is likely to worsen, as some liberal political parties have also refused to collaborate with the generals. The army high command must realise it subverted the democratic process simply because there were anti-Morsi demonstrations. As the history of many countries, including Pakistan, shows, the intensity of street violence is no indication of majority opinion. If there are any deficiencies in the constitution which have to be removed, it should be left to the freely elected parliament to amend the basic law.
More arms for both sides: Syria proxy war could intensify PAKISTAN’S plea to all sides to stop pouring arms into a Syria that is burning makes eminent sense. Speaking to the Security Council on Tuesday, Ambassador Masood Khan emphasised the need for hastening the holding of the Geneva conference, because it was only through talks that peace could be restored to Syria. Ambassador Khan’s plea to the UN’s executive arm coincided with the decision by the intelligence committees of the American Senate and House of Representatives to arm Syrian rebels. Despite reservations on the Obama administration’s Syrian policy, said House committee chairman Mike Rogers, there was consensus in the lower house on the CIA’s arms shipments to the rebels. A day earlier, after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a Syrian government spokesman said “all agreements” between Damascus and Moscow on arms delivery “are in place”. As a Syrian rebel spokesman said, the American decision could induce other sides to arm the anti-government militias.. With Saudi Arabia and Qatar already helping the rebels with monetary and military aid, and Russia arming Syrian security forces, the stage is set for an intensified proxy war which has already cost more than 100,000 lives. Regrettably, the powers which could have brought the slaughter to an end seem to be pouring oil on the fire. The Geneva moot remains a mirage. Originally planned for May, it has continued to be postponed. Now it is doubtful whether it will be held even in September. Sadly, geopolitical considerations have overshadowed the need for ending a conflict in which foreign militias with a sectarian agenda have turned Syria into a battleground. Most regrettably, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference are merely watching from the sidelines one of the Middle East’s most tragic events.
Cutting corners: Ill-advised amnesty scheme THIS country is legitimately criticised on the grounds that policy is formulated in a manner in which a signal is sent out that cutting corners is tolerated. Into this category must fall the amnesty granted to owners of smuggled vehicles by the last government in its final days. The scheme regularised, after payment of nominal taxes, vehicles that had either been smuggled into the country, or on which customs duty had not been paid. The scheme was declared illegal on June 19 by the Islamabad High Court through a short order. On that occasion, the court directed the FBR to confiscate vehicles registered under the scheme; later the federal tax ombudsman Shoaib Suddle said that stolen vehicles had also been cleared under it.. The cancellation of the scheme was not without controversy, however, with the Lahore High Court weighing in to suspend the verdict and asking the federal government to submit a response. Now, on Monday, the IHC issued a detailed order on the case, saying that the scheme had caused losses to the tune of Rs35bn to the national exchequer. Further, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui directed the FIA to carry out an investigation against the FBR chief under whose charge the scheme had been set up. In all this wrangling, the issue at the heart of the matter seems in danger of being lost. This is not the only such amnesty scheme under which influential people have benefited at the cost of the state. Justice Siddiqui’s judgement pointed out that under six such amnesty schemes from 1998 to 2007, over 17,000 vehicles had been cleared. And last year, an amnesty along the same lines allowed investments to be made in the Karachi Stock Exchange without any questions being asked about the source of the funds. Such moves communicate to those who pay their taxes that there’s little point in being honest. Acknowledged, expanding the tax net is a difficult task. But can the state at least refrain from itself making exemptions as well?
An unnecessary move: Presidential poll PERHAPS it was inevitable. An election without controversy, even an election in which the result is a foregone conclusion, is seemingly impossible here. Ever since the ECP announced the schedule for the presidential election and it dawned on the people’s representatives that polling day will fall on Ramazan 27, the PML-N has expressed its desire to see polling day brought forward. Ostensibly, the reason is the sanctity of the last days of Ramazan, during which some Muslims dedicate themselves to prayer or proceed on umrah. But there is a numbers game involved, too. While the PML-N is all but certain of comfortably electing its candidate, party legislators reluctant to be away from their hometowns in the run-up to Eid may skip the vote — potentially rendering the margin of victory for the PML-N candidate narrower than the party would like.. Having failed to convince the ECP of the absolute necessity of bringing the vote forward, the PML-N then turned to the Supreme Court. Whatever the oversight on the part of the ECP when it originally announced the election schedule, the fact of the matter is that the ECP is meant to be the ultimate authority on procedural electoral matters. Procedural matters are best not rushed and need to be carried out in a thoughtful and deliberate manner. And part of the proper procedure for any election is to allow the candidates time to canvass for votes. The Supreme Court’s intervention, then, was not a good idea to begin with. The ECP is a constitutional entity and much has been done with the 18th and 20th Amendments to guarantee its independence. Ultimately, the people’s representatives have constitutional duties and the election of the president is one of them — while having to turn up to vote on Ramazan 27 until 3pm may be inconvenient, it was by no means impossible. At the very least, no MNA or MPA could realistically claim they could not make it home in time for Eid several days later. More worrying, however, is the implied logic of the Supreme Court order yesterday. In accepting the petitioner’s logic that to hold the presidential election on Aug 6 would violate the fundamental rights of members of the assemblies because it would force them to “give up their spiritual and religious plans”, the scope of fundamental rights on the touchstone of religion appears to have become unlimited. Argue today on religious grounds and that argument will almost automatically be accepted by the highest court in the land — that surely was not the original scheme of the Constitution.
Ray of hope: Cricket win AS competitions go, this was not a bad match-up at all. The ups and downs in the middle would suggest it was a fight among equals that made the contest so interesting. Pakistan beat West Indies 3-1, with one game ending in a tie, but the competition was tougher than the final score would indicate. The winner of the series was decided in the last over of the last game. Exciting stuff, presumably, but then obviously, ‘we could have won in a more convincing manner’ and ‘we need to improve if we want to succeed against a stronger opponent’. Absolutely correct; so long as we give credit where it is due. . The win in the Caribbean is definitely a turn towards the better after dismal showings in recent times including the performance in the Champions Trophy in England. Individually, many of the players may have failed to emerge from their bad patches. The brittleness was all too visible in the Pakistani batting, and the bowling which is otherwise considered to be the side’s strong point, looked out of sorts sometimes. But there were many positives to build on as well. Misbah-ul-Haq was outstanding — especially when he was in a less defensive frame of mind — as was generally Muhammad Irfan. Some other senior professionals in the side were rather erratic, shining occasionally and leaving the others a lot to do. Clearly during the series Pakistan relied too heavily on players in their 30s — Misbah, Irfan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Hafeez. Apart from Junaid Khan in the bowling and a couple of flashy bursts by Umar Akmal at the crease, the youngsters remained by and large subdued. These young members must assert themselves a lot more for convincing performances against more formidable teams.
Timely action missing: Falling rupee RECENT declines in the value of the rupee smack of speculative moves. A vicious circle always comes into being when the rupee begins to lose value against the dollar. The declines create more demand as people anticipate further declines in days to come. The heightened demand further drives the declines. It always takes timely action from the State Bank of Pakistan to break this circle by injecting fresh supply of dollars into the money markets to stabilise the currency. This vicious circle reared its head in the days leading up to the elections, and has returned once again to haunt the money markets. The recent declines are unusual because a very large spread has opened up between the rate in the open market versus that in the interbank market. This spread is larger today than it has been in decades.. Fundamentals do not justify the rapid pace of declines that the rupee is witnessing these days. No major change has come about in the country’s stock of foreign exchange reserves, and the interbank rates are not sliding as fast as those on the open market. Some amount of uncertainty has arisen regarding the preconditions demanded by the IMF, with rumours gaining ground that a devaluation of the currency is one of these preconditions. Sentiment and rumours are easy enough to stamp out, given appropriate attention. It’s heartening that the finance minister is engaged with the problem, working the phones with currency dealers and bankers. But officials of the SBP — the first line of defence against sentiment-driven currency moves — appear to be missing in action. A ship in stormy waters needs a captain more than anything else, and given the storm of sentiment sweeping the money markets, it should be all hands on deck. Much of what is happening in the currency markets can be rectified with concerted action, and the SBP needs to emerge from its slumber sooner rather than later.
Will they ever learn?: Sukkur attack A SPATE of publicity surrounding militant cells linked to extremist groups being broken up in recent weeks, and some kind of violent reprisal was near inevitable. It seems to have come in Sukkur on Wednesday evening with the ISI offices bearing the brunt of a well-coordinated and sophisticated attack. After each such attack, part of a seemingly endless and utterly vicious cat-and-mouse game, the usual points are belaboured: there is no coherent strategy in the war against militancy; operational lessons are never truly absorbed; the enemy is cannier and more sophisticated and adaptive than given credit for; and a root-and-branch overhaul of state and society is needed if the threat of terrorism, militancy and extremism is ever to be defeated.. Yet, in the aftermath of Wednesday’s attack, there are at least two points that are worth dwelling on some more. First, the problem of security being fatally compromised in Ramazan around the time the daily fast is broken has not been addressed. The Marriott bombing in 2008 demonstrated just how deadly a breakdown of discipline among security personnel can be. Five years on, the need for extra vigilance and alertness around iftar time has clearly not been hammered into even those tasked with protecting the most likely of targets. The problem sits at the crossroads of societal trends and the decline of institutional discipline. The primacy of breaking the daily fast in a particular manner appears to have trumped even the individual’s instinct to protect his own life — and even the armed forces appear unable to drill home the message that guards must stand guard and everyone in certain high-risk locations must be extra vigilant in the minutes before and after the fast is broken. Quite how the problem can be fixed is truly a vexing question. Second, the ISI’s lead role in not just the intelligence side of counterterrorism but also at the operational end needs to be rethought. Tracking down militants is an intelligence agency’s job; taking out militants and physically dismantling militant organisations is a job for law-enforcement agencies, particularly the police, and within the police, specialised teams handling counterterrorism responsibilities. An intelligence agency, even a military-run intelligence agency, is best shielded from a front-line role in the operational parts of counterterrorism: because it distracts from the core of the intelligence mission; because it involves too many ancillary skills; and because it makes the agency itself a core target of the militants. An overarching role for the ISI in counterterrorism is boomeranging on the organisation itself.
Unnecessary response: Presidential poll boycott IF controversy was in fact unavoidable, then perhaps it was too much to hope it would end quickly. A historic and democratic transition in the presidency has been plunged into deep and fresh controversy by the PPP’s decision to boycott the rescheduled election. Quite where the original sin lies in this unnecessary fiasco is a tough call. Had the PML-N not fought so hard to have the Election Commission of Pakistan’s original poll timetable amended — a fixation seemingly rooted in the party’s desire to score a crushing victory in the presidential election, as opposed to just a comfortable win — the Supreme Court would never have been seized of the matter to begin with. But then, the court had the option of erring on the side of caution, and, arguably, the Constitution too, by allowing the presidential election schedule to be decided by the ECP. Neither the PML-N nor the court erred on the side of caution, however, and now the PPP has decided to do the worst it can do to the legitimacy of the electoral process.. The optimistic approach here would be to regard the entire matter as little more than a storm in a teacup. After all, given the configuration of the assemblies, the PML-N was always in pole position to decide who will be elected the next president, regardless of the date on which the election was to be held. Unhappily, optimism isn’t really warranted at the moment. The PPP, as indeed all opposition parties, has been denied a fair electoral process, and the democratic project is certainly about both substance and form. There is, then, little cause to be optimistic to begin with. But the PPP’s response has further and unnecessarily tainted the democratic process. To be clear, given that a Supreme Court bench presided over by the chief justice of Pakistan has overruled the ECP, a legal challenge to the court-sanctioned change of polling day was unlikely to succeed. But a political response to a legal challenge has been the PPP’s preferred, almost default, response since 2009. That famously did not work in the Swiss-letter saga and, in the case of a presidential election, is certainly not a democracy-enhancing step. The PPP contested general elections in 1990, 1997 and 2008 in far more adverse circumstances and with the stakes much higher. A boycott is a tempting device for a party to register its protest against an unfair process or system, but participating sends an even stronger signal — that democracy is the ultimate goal and it will be ultimately achieved, in form and in substance.
Cash crunch: Pre-Eid demand SHORTAGE of fresh currency notes has become something of an annual feature in Ramazan, especially as Eidul Fitr draws closer, and this year is no different. People wanting to get new notes from the banks are usually turned away, unless they have ‘contacts’ within the institutions, even though the State Bank of Pakistan had till last week issued Rs48bn worth of new notes. However, wads of cash are available in the open market, but only after paying a mark-up. Despite the SBP’s promise that more cash would be supplied, reports indicate that the shortage persists across the country. Another cash-related issue that crops up as the countdown to Eid begins and shopping activities reach fever pitch is that many ATMs crash because of the high demand and consequent shortage of notes. Although the latter problem could be resolved if banks made a greater effort to replenish ATMs, especially those located close to major shopping hubs, the banking system comes under considerable pressure when cash exits its coffers at an alarming speed in the run-up to Eid. . In any case, the pre-Eid cash crunch is a good opportunity to reassess Pakistan’s dependence on a heavily cash-based economy. One suggestion is that both purchasers and retailers opt for plastic rather than buying and selling in cash. For example, if Eid purchases were made with debit cards, which any bank account holder can have access to, it would free up a lot of cash in the system. This would also be prudent from the security angle, as paying with plastic is a much safer option than carrying large amounts of cash. But admittedly this will require a major shift in consumer and retail culture, as only major retailers offer payment options through debit\ credit cards. Small- and medium-sized outlets must also be encouraged to offer payment options other than cash, which can help to better document the economy. This may help reduce the cash crunch, and, in the case of Eid, make it easier to obtain fresh notes for eidi.
Hardly a reminder: Train accident TO say that Thursday’s train crash in Gujranwala should serve as a grim reminder to the authorities of the poor safety standards in Pakistan Railways would be disrespectful to the memory of the three people who were killed in the accident. Indeed, PR is in a state where no reminders are needed. Unlike the shock surrounding a fatal derailment in Spain some hours earlier, rail accidents here are almost routine. What else can one expect from a rotten system whose reform has been reduced to spurts of sloganeering and loud promises of reform — but little more? In this latest instance too, the railways minister was as quick to lament the state of the railways as he was to express his sorrow when lives were lost in a train crash at an unmanned signal in Sheikhupura a few weeks ago. It would be unfair to pin the latest crash, apparently due to driver error, on the minister. But since he has very visibly taken it upon himself to turn PR around, this is as good a time as any to be asking him when and how he plans to begin his campaign for lifting the pall of gloom hanging over the railways.. PR is desperately crying out for an overhaul and much emphasis has been put on the need to spend on locomotives and on improving tracks. No doubt these are laudable goals, but the grand recovery plan must also include investment in human resource. Reports in the past have spoken of how vulnerable to making mistakes overworked drivers can be. The authorities must explain what remedial steps they took between one human error and the next, and what measures they have in mind to address the serious problem now.
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Anger in Kashmir By Sameer Bhat ONCE again fear of the awkward looms in Kashmir. . On Thursday India’s Border Security Force (BSF) opened indiscriminate fire upon a group of Kashmiris demonstrating in Gool village killing four and injuring dozens. The immediate provocation was the manhandling of a local imam by the soldiers who reportedly objected to the late night buzz around the mosque in Ramazan. Taking umbrage at the imperious attitude of the BSF, the locals organised a protest, citing interference with their religious obligations. This protest march was fired upon. Although India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was quick to condemn the excessive use of force, his statement did not cut ice with many in Kashmir. Article 19 in the Indian constitution allows citizens the right to assemble peaceably; Article 25 states all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to practise their religion. Critics say that India’s track record in Kashmir has been anything but egalitarian. Protests are regularly met with violent force. Instances of high-handedness by the military are not uncommon. The latest incident in Gool has reinforced those fears. Located in the Ramban district, Gool is a small village with a soothing and atmospheric way of life. Deeply conservative, like most of Jammu & Kashmir, for the villagers Ramazan holds special significance. It is not entirely unreasonable that people would not take kindly to any obstruction in their way of life or worship. The BSF, originally tasked with preventing trans-border crime, has no business to object, meddle with or desecrate any structure central to Kashmiris. It is a pity that such a provocation was allowed in the first place and then ruthlessly suppressed. The families of the deceased had first refused to remove the bodies from the BSF camp site to protest against the firing, but later agreed to the burial on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the administration announced curfew in various parts of the Valley. Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers promptly put up checkpoints and barbed wire on roads in Srinagar to prevent any anti-India protests. There were curbs on internet connectivity in several places. Authorities usually resort to suspension of internet and mobile services during unrest in the Valley to muffle any dissent. Media reports suggest that Srinagar’s historical Jamia Masjid was out of bounds for devotees on Friday. Already there have been clashes reported between people and security forces from across the Valley. Despite the harsh clampdown, protests broke out in Shopian, Baramulla, Ganderbal and other areas. The authorities have now decided to extend the restrictions till Sunday. While Kashmiris are used to such curbs that are imposed from time to time, incidents such as the one in Gool risk intensification of the existing feeling of estrangement among the people. Stung by the outrage, the BSF released a press note in an effort to contain the fallout. Among other things the statement said: “A mob consisting of approximately 700-800 men, started stone pelting vigorously on the BSF post ... Protesters blocked all the roads going towards the BSF Post Dharam. Efforts were made by a section of protesters to attack the post and inflict injuries on BSF and police personnel, compelling them to open fire in self defence.” People vehemently dispute the BSF version saying that it was essentially a procession, after sehri, by villagers to register their protest. Empty bellies have seldom breached military barracks. India has a huge military presence in Kashmir. With more than 600,000 troopers in the Valley, it is the highest civilian-military ratio anywhere in the world. Friction with the civilian population is a natural corollary in these cases which, coupled with the moral dimensions of such a massive presence, throws up questions on laws governing the engagement. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which is firmly in place in Kashmir, effectively shields the Indian military and paramilitary forces from any prosecution, resulting in their impunity. The UN has previously asked India to repeal the AFSPA, terming it a colonial-era law that breaches contemporary international human rights standards. A probe has now been ordered into the incident and BSF asked to vacate the Dharam camp in Gool. Even as local police has taken over the facility, activists say it is too little and too late. The influential New York headquartered Human Rights Watch has reacted sharply to the incident, asking the Indian government to appoint an independent commission to promptly and transparently investigate the killing by BSF troops in Jammu and Kashmir. “The government should act to end the BSF’s longstanding impunity for large numbers of killings over many years,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement released to the media. Ironically in a gesture reminiscent of a tragi-comedy, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, famous for his penchant for tweeting, maintained an eerie silence on social networking sites, and emerged only a day later to reprimand news channels for quoting an inaccurate death toll. In reality the top brass of the BSF and police were equally flustered and had to revise the death toll much later. Notwithstanding the statistics regarding body bags and the debate on how many died or lived to tell the tale at Gool, the fact that the topmost representative of the state prefers to hunt down numbers in a way a magpie collects shiny things, is a reflection of how callous things have gotten in the Valley. Often enough, injustice is inseparable from life in Kashmir. Mothers do their best to keep their sons away from an early grave but then occasionally, like in Gool the other day, they are unable to do so. It is a sad commentary on the democratic halo which India so carefully maintains that it has to put down a bunch of country people for simply claiming their fundamental rights. This Ramazan the luxury of innocence is being taken away. The writer is a Kashmiri blogger and journalist based in the Middle East.
The energy challenge By Munir Akram OVERCOMING Pakistan’s energy crisis has been proclaimed as the highest priority by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government. The recommendations issued by the Pakistan Visionary Forum’s energy experts at their Lahore meeting on June 30 constitute an excellent agenda for action.. The government has already acted on the first recommendation: to eliminate the so-called circular debt by paying Rs306 billion and promising to pay the rest of the Rs503bn that is owed by later this month. The other proposals made by the experts — for short-term action — acceleration of recoveries, including from government institutions; stopping electricity theft; rationalising tariffs — and medium-term steps to enhance energy efficiency — could ‘save’ up to 40pc of the country’s current power production. This would be sufficient to meet the current demand. The critical policy decisions, however, concern the selection of future energy options, their priority, magnitude and sequencing. These decisions will need to take account of technological, economic and political factors. Wind and solar power can contribute to Pakistan’s generating capacity. But both still require significant subsidies to be economically viable, even if the tariffs are rationalised. The tariff offered by the previous government — 17 cents per kilowatt hour — was almost double the cost of producing energy from fossil fuels. Pakistan should not sacrifice economic growth by resorting to the most expensive options first, while ignoring the more readily available and cheaper alternatives such as coal and hydropower. Wind and solar installations should be limited to regions — such as Balochistan, interior Sindh and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas — where electricity grids are unavailable and uneconomical. Nuclear power will be essential in the long term to assure Pakistan’s energy independence. However, the capital cost of installing nuclear plants is high and the most advanced reactors — from France, Japan and South Korea — are unlikely to be sold to Pakistan. Once China develops the most advanced reactors, and Pakistan’s financial position is stronger, the expansion of nuclear power will become a realistic option for Pakistan. The use of gas for power and home consumption is attractive for Pakistan, for three reasons. First, Pakistan already has in place the extensive Sui gas distribution system. Second, gas prices are likely to come down due to expanded supplies from shale gas exploitation by the US today and later by China and others. Third, gas is a relatively cleaner, low-carbon-emitting fuel as compared to other fossil fuels. Until Pakistan discovers other gas fields to replace the depleted Sui reserves, it should look to gas imports at competitive prices to meet its near-term needs. The Iranian pipeline is a rational option; but its realisation may continue to encounter objections from the US and others. It may therefore be wise for Pakistan to make the installation of a liquefied natural gas terminal for gas imports a high priority. For the longer term, Pakistan’s best options for power generation are hydro and coal. Pakistan’s river systems provide the potential for almost inexhaustible power generation. The advantages of hydropower are self-evident: clean and cheap energy as well as flood prevention and improved irrigation. Most of the sites for the larger dams have been identified and considerable preparatory work completed. Yet, due to misguided parochialism and pusillanimous leadership, Pakistan has tapped only a small fraction of this vast natural resource. Some contracts, recently awarded to Chinese companies, appear to be stalled. A crash programme should be launched for hydropower installation. Chinese companies appear ready to execute such projects and to provide a considerable part of the financing. The failure to exploit Pakistan’s enormous coal deposits is equally monumental. Technical incompetence has played a major role in this failure. Some Western powers, while still utilising old and ‘dirty’ coal plants, now oppose financing from international institutions for coal power in developing countries. New technologies — coal gasification and liquefaction — can be utilised for the extensive and efficient use of Pakistan’s several coal fields, including the giant coal deposits in Tharparkar. Yet, not a single ton of Thar coal has been mined. Proposals from national and international companies are collecting dust in the Sindh Coal Authority’s filing cabinets. Open proposals should be invited from interested companies and entrepreneurs for the exploitation of Pakistan’s coal fields and decisions made rapidly under the glare of public scrutiny. Meanwhile, the installation of coal-fired power plants should be accelerated. Until Pakistan’s indigenous coal becomes available, these plants can use imported coal since it is cheaper than oil or gas. Pakistan’s energy policy will need to overcome certain political, institutional and financial obstacles. Resistance from vested interests will have to be countered boldly, and relief provided to the poor. Competent and honest professionals should be recruited to execute specific elements of Pakistan’s energy policy. The responsibility for monitoring implementation would best be assigned to a high level independent commission rather than the line ministry. At the operational level, it would be advisable to decentralise functions. A corporation controlling the state electricity grid is necessary but generation plants and local electricity distribution can be managed more efficiently by separate public and, preferentially, private players. Financing for the energy plan will have to be generated from efficiency, tariff rationalisation and several other means, such as project financing from companies awarded the construction contracts (on the Chinese model); privatisation of state generating plants and distribution companies, such as the Karachi Electric Supply Company sell-off; and, most significantly, fiscal reforms to mobilise investments in energy infrastructure and power generation. In the final analysis, success or failure will depend on the determination with which the government pursues the implementation of a clear energy plan, rewarding performance and penalising corruption and incompetence. Political indecision or technical confusion at this time could consign Pakistanis to live in even greater darkness. The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador to the UN.
Carefree in Karak By Cyril Almeida IT’S the outrage against the outrage that is, if you will, a little outrageous.. A bunch of mullahs sitting around decide that the occasional woman walking around in public offends them. Par for the course, really. But it’s Ramazan and folk try their luck. If you’re a mullah and women walking around in public offends you, why the hell not? Piousness is at its peak and, who knows, maybe no one will push back. So you and your bearded buddies come up with an edict and decide to try and get it implemented. The media reports on it and, oh no, it becomes a scandal and your loopy plan gets beaten back by a sea of righteous outrage. So the women of Karak are now free to roam around and do all the un-Islamic things that you, the well-intentioned mullah, tried to prevent them from doing, right? If only. In a day or two, a week at most, the next outrage will arrive and the righteous outrage will move on, a new cause to champion and get all excited about. Hey look, the haters are hating on Malala again. We love you Malala! You’re our hero! Chin up, girl! Oh, some girls were buried alive in some remote corner of Pakistan that even Google Maps can’t locate. Disgusting! What a monstrous, terrible people! Why can’t people respect the Constitution! Down with tribal backwardness! Some kids are burned to death in a thoroughly avoidable accident or a few others are sold off to settle some dispute? Justice for the victims! Punishment for the monsters! But let’s, hypothetically, return to Karak. The rogue who dreamt up his scheme of banishing women from the public space is pondering what went wrong. Did he and his buddies jump the gun? Was their PR bad? Did they need to do some more homework first? If he is clever — and he could just be — the rogue mullah will figure out one of two things. To begin with, it was the district administration’s fault. The mullah and his buddies tried to play nice and do the right thing. They went to the local administration and asked them to cooperate in enforcing the ban. So next time, work on the district administration first. Either wait for a fellow believer to come along as the in-charge of Karak’s local administration or lobby for one to be drafted in — after all, a conservative belt needs a conservative administrator. Or our rogue mullah could be the impatient sort and opt for the obvious: enforce the ban himself. Karak is a small place and the markets few. The mullah and his buddies can always print a few pamphlets, turn up at shops that cater to women and at the homes of offending women, and politely, of course, lobby for change. It’s easy to be polite when you’re with your buddies and you guys have a few sticks handy. Your message is usually well received. In our hypothetical Karak and the immediate outrage, what matters are three things: time, the make-up of the state, and vigilantism. The mullah has all three going in his favour. One, the mullah has time to tweak strategy and dream up new ideas. Crucially, while the mullah is dreaming up new ways to reshape society, no one else is thinking of ways to thwart him. It is in many ways the perfect one-sided contest. The mullah dreams up new perversions and the anti-mullah fringe in society pushes back. But only the mullah is working on how to reshape society — his opponents are fighting episodic, and fleeting, battles. The mullah sees the forest, his opponents are battling individual trees. Two, the mullah has allies in the state apparatus. The good folk in the local administration were decent enough to listen patiently to the mullahs’ request and then politely turn them away. That is as good as it gets. Imagine a more ridiculous hypothetical scenario. A group of women clad in what the average woman wears while out shopping in Zamzama, Liberty or Jinnah Super turn up at the Karak local administrator’s office and demand that their right to shop unmolested in Karak’s bazaars be protected. They may — may — be treated with equal good humour and patience as the mullahs were, but it’s not hard to guess what would be said about the women the moment they turn their backs. The women would be, well, stuff unfit to be printed in a family newspaper. The mullahs, meanwhile, are misguided zealots at best, family men who take the man part of that phrase more seriously than the family bit. Three, the mullah has vigilantism as an option. If matters have unravelled in our hypothetical Karak to the point that violence is an option, then: a few women roughed up, a few shopkeepers’ heads cracked open, and mission accomplished. If not, a quieter war can be waged. Threats, intimidation, the local mosque’s loudspeaker used to broadcast the message — people will get it, sooner or later. Women will eventually disappear from our hypothetical Karak’s marketplace. Our mullah in Karak may be a bigot, misogynist and possibly a misanthrope too — but to focus on him is to miss the point. The mullah is what he is and does what he does because he is a creature of his circumstances, a product of his environment. Change the context, change the environment, change the state’s orientation, and the mullah can be returned to his status of old: a quirky local figure who has some ritualistic significance, but no real power or influence. Leave things as they are, though, and the mullah will eventually show us what power and influence in his hands can achieve. And not just in Karak. The writer is a member of staff. cyril.a@gmail.com Twitter: @cyalm
The magic wand By Hajrah Mumtaz BEING processed through domestic airports recently, I was struck once again by the fact that security staff use a small handheld wand-like device with which they scan the exterior of vehicles. Supposedly, the device is meant to be able to detect explosives.. The gadget is or follows the pattern of the ADE651, originally manufactured by a company called the ATSC(UK). This device was marketed as being able to detect, according to the model, explosives and/or drugs, and as being effective long-range, across multiple buildings and through lead-lined walls or under water. It was sold in the thousands to countries with severe security issues, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Niger. In all, the governments, police and security forces of around 20 countries bought them for protection; customers included the United Nations, Kenya’s police force, the prison service in Hong Kong and the border control authorities of Thailand. The devices, as it turned out, were a scam. The first suspicions of fraud surfaced in 2008 and earlier this year the businessman behind ATSC(UK), Jim McCormick, was found guilty by the jury of London’s Old Bailey on three counts of fraud. During the three-year investigation, tests found — to quote the detective who led the process — that there was “no way in which the device could work according to the presently known laws of physics”. Based on a joke golf-ball finder and costing a fraction to manufacture, the device was sold by McCormick — himself an ex-policeman — at up to £33,000 each, earning the businessman some £60 million. Given that the machine has no working parts, the audacity of the scam and the gullibility of those that were duped are remarkable. At the sentencing in April, Judge Richard Hone told McCormick: “The devices were useless, the profit outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the highest category. “The principal aggravating feature is that … what you perpetrated was a callous confidence trick. “You knew the devices did not work, yet the soldiers of Iraq and elsewhere believed in them, in part due to your powers of salesmanship and in part the extravagant and fraudulent claims made in your promotional material. “I am wholly satisfied that your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals.” In terms of several countries, excluding Pakistan, it was effectively demonstrated during the trial that the uselessness of the device very likely was the direct cause of deaths and injuries, such as a vehicle loaded with explosives being able to cross through a checkpost. The detective leading the investigation against McCormick pointed out before the court that “both civilians and armed forces personnel were put at significant risk in relying upon this equipment”. The device has been denounced by both the British government and scientists, and has largely been removed from the armoury of security personnel. Not so, it seems, in Pakistan, where a remarkably similar antenna-bearing gadget continues to be used at, as noted earlier, potential targets such as airports and shopping malls. After the McCormick story started coming out as a scam in January, this newspaper contacted the Airport Security Force (ASF) at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport where the device was apparently still being used. The ASF circumvented the issue by saying that what they were using was not actually the ADE651 but a similar gadget based on the same principle that the force had designed itself. However, a written request for the opportunity to test the object was turned down. Here and there, you still see the device or its clone in use. Since citizens have a stake in security in the country and at places such as airports, I think we are owed an explanation. Do the devices work or, like the ADE651, are they ineffective? Here in Pakistan we cannot conclusively say, unlike Iraq, that reliance on the device has definitely allowed explosives to pass through security cordons — yet. The country’s security situation is frightening enough; surely we have the right to expect that whatever devices are used in the effort to keep people safe, they are scientifically sound and in good working order. It’s unlikely, though, that any explanation will be forthcoming from official quarters. Instead of following the logic of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, this state generally tends to wait for disaster to strike and then find ways to mitigate it. What we could do with is a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the security measures used at public places across our towns and cities. I’d really like to know, for instance, how many times the random checks made on vehicles passing through police checkposts, which are such an inconvenience to the public, have netted any results. How many criminals caught in this fashion, how many vehicles with explosives stopped from their deadly purpose, etc. It is unfortunate in the extreme, however, that Pakistan’s security issues are compounded by, on the one hand, groups of extremists becoming increasingly adept at using technology and new ideas to wreak their deadly violence and, on the other hand, security and police forces that remain reliant on outdated methods and technologies. The magic wand that is supposed to detect explosives is merely representative of a deeper, structural problem that is discussed widely but worked upon insufficiently. Held hostage, meanwhile, are the lives of both civilians and security personnel. The writer is a member of staff. hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com
Rivalry in Afghanistan By Moeed Yusuf WE are less than 18 months away from the December 2014 transition deadline in Afghanistan. Political and security-related issues that need forward movement during this period are in focus — as they should be. . The India-Pakistan rivalry in Afghanistan is one elephant in the room that seems to be receiving less and less attention. The usual tendency at Track I — understandably so — and off-the-record Track II policy forums — much less understandable given that these are meant as opportunities for candid discussions — is to put a positive spin on this. Both sides feel compelled to throw out clichés: ‘we stand for peace and stability in Afghanistan’; everything should be ‘Afghan-led and Afghan-owned’; no one should interfere in Afghan internal affairs’, etc. After all, it is only politically correct to highlight the wonders Indo-Pak cooperation can do in Afghanistan: regional integration, energy flows from Central Asia, joint investment in Afghanistan, joint development projects and all the rest we have heard a million times over. It doesn’t hurt to aspire. But doing so without taking the logical steps that are required to make such grand ideas a reality is neither here nor there. For instance, no one dare oppose an Afghan-led process at any policy gathering. And yet, not only have Afghans been deprived of the freedom to decide the fate of their country for decades but any number of external players are busy furthering their interests at the expense of other rivals even today. Of course, these external parties still stand for non- interference in Afghanistan! Hardly any two countries revel in undercutting each other more than India and Pakistan. Their competition has been a decidedly negative force in Afghanistan since the 1990s and continues to be so today. Both remain obsessed with the other. The principal driver of Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy after 9/11 was the concern of Indian influence — ‘encirclement’ as the establishment would see it — in Afghanistan. Domestic implications of developments in Afghanistan may have overtaken this worry now but the theme of Indian interests in Afghanistan continues to play on the minds of the security elite. India’s outlook in Afghanistan was no less fixated on Pakistan. Rightly so, at no cost does New Delhi want to see Pakistan use Afghan territory to damage Indian interests like it did during the 1990s. Its development priorities and project choices, especially in the south and east of Afghanistan are not disconnected from this fear. Both sides are convinced that the other has been up to no good. Indians believe that Pakistan has regularly targeted its interests in Afghanistan through its proxies. The Pakistani establishment is equally certain that India has been using Afghan territory to fish in troubled waters in their country. Privately, both sides would even tell you that their goals in Afghanistan may be mutually exclusive. Indians would hate to see Pakistan regain excessive clout over southern and eastern Afghanistan (the general sense in the Indian policy elite is that Pakistan not only wants this, it still seeks to reinstall the Taliban regime in Kabul); the Pakistani establishment cannot help see a conspiracy in everything India does relatively close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The conventional wisdom is that Indian and Pakistani behaviour towards each other will depend on what transpires in Afghanistan post-2014. This is only partly true. In reality, their competition has a direct bearing on how things actually develop in Afghanistan over the next 18 months and beyond. If both parties are convinced that the current Afghan reconciliation process won’t deliver and that Afghanistan will fall into a civil war situation, they will begin to hedge more actively with their traditional partners — India in the north and Pakistan with the hardline Pakhtun elements in the south and east. In doing so, they’ll make healthy Indo-Pak coexistence in Afghanistan even less likely. The point here is not to say that dreaming up positive engagements and transformative economic developments is a waste of time. The contention simply is that the route to this end-state of cooperation and regional integration is a two-step process; Indo-Pak coordination and collaboration requires prior steps aimed at reversing the negative trends in their competition. Both sides will at least have to begin considering the possibility of cooperating in Afghanistan seriously before lofty goals can be entertained. From what I can tell, this is not the conversation taking place in either Islamabad or New Delhi. Making this transition requires Indo-Pak engagement specifically over Afghanistan. Let me single out what is perhaps the most important aspect of this engagement: high-level dialogue between intelligence officials. The goal won’t be to talk cooperation; it will merely be to figure out mutually acceptable ways of coexistence such that the negative fallout of their bilateral competition on Afghanistan’s stability is eliminated. Whichever activities bother one or the other side need to be discussed one by one; the accused should come clean or resolve to rectify problematic actions. A verification mechanism must also be devised to ensure some level of satisfaction on both sides. Since intelligence battles signify the operationalisation of efforts by both sides to directly undercut the other, sorting out issues through this channel will have a force multiplier effect across the board. To be sure, these dialogues will require a tough, coldhearted, and gloves-off approach. But there is no way around it. Both sides must give it their best shot in a quiet, backchannel format. Of course, discussions on avenues for cooperation and positive contributions to Afghanistan can continue simultaneously. But they are unlikely to get too far unless the intelligence track moves forward. Failing this, we will probably be consumed by feel-good statements. Sadly, they won’t mean anything to the average Afghan who desperately wants to see external powers cease their proxy games. The writer is South Asia adviser at the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.
The obscurant discourse By Khadim Hussain THE utter confusion of the socio-political discourse in Pakistan’s state and society is manifest in the latter two’s response to three distinct yet interwoven discourse patterns. . First, the response to the threat that extremism and terrorism have posed to society and the state seems to be consciously or unconsciously made ambiguous through raising irrational and contradictory questions over and over again. Those sections of the state and society which are instrumental in subverting and manipulating the discourse might wish to establish intellectual control over the masses that would rather live a life of peace and prosperity. Instead of working out a comprehensive and coordinated policy to mitigate the threat, the middle classes and state functionaries in Pakistan muddle the response by indulging in incoherent debates to figure out the ‘real cause’ behind the menace. In contrast to the clear policy stand and systematic strategies militant organisations evolve to defeat the state and establish their writ, state functionaries and the middle classes would have us believe that terrorism exists because of state vacuums — the lack of speedy justice and education, poverty and unemployment. Moreover, they would have us believe that extremism and terrorism originated in Pakistan after 9/11. At the same time, they raise the point that terrorism crossed over the border from Afghanistan and landed in Pakistan for no reason. Drone strikes are yet another purported reason. State functionaries and the middle classes still keep singing the mantra of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban. Though one would rather see state vacuums filled sooner than later, the confusion thus created results in the inability of both the state and society to construct an alternative discourse based on pluralism, human rights and constitutional democracy. The confusion also strips the government, state institutions and civil society of the ability to evolve a coherent, coordinated and comprehensive counter-extremism and counterterrorism policy. Second, ambivalence and inconsistency in using collective wisdom to formulate foreign policy has created a dangerously polarised discourse. Who should formulate foreign policy? What should be the guidelines for a consistent foreign policy? Should it be guided by our collective insecurities or by geo-economics? Should we strive towards acting on common interests with other states and societies or name permanent ‘enemies’ and permanent ‘friends’? Should we engage in a meaningful dialogue on issues related to foreign policy or dub those who differ with us as ‘traitors’ and ‘agents’, and silence dissenting voices through the use of force? It seems that at the core of the debate on foreign policy is the fundamental question of the supremacy of parliament. Perhaps until this question is resolved in Pakistan, the foreign policy discourse will remain obscure. Third, the response to the attack on Malala Yousafzai last year and the celebration of Malala Day this year has clearly indicated a fractured socio-cultural fabric in Pakistan. The discourse on Malala as a symbol of education and civilisation was obscured by raising questions about her integrity, humanity and intentions. The simple fact is that a young Pakistani girl who wanted to go to school and who wanted other girls and boys to go to school was shot in the head by militants while she was on her way home from school. The other fact is that well-meaning people in Pakistan and abroad stood by her and condemned the attackers for the sake of education and civilisation. The Malala discourse does not only represent modern civilisation; it also symbolises the historical continuity of the land. Malala has not only taken the discourse of human dignity, pluralism and constitutional democracy forward but has also recognised the Gandhara, Indus and Islamic civilisations. Malala today symbolises the struggle of all those prophets, saints, revolutionaries and freedom fighters who stood for indigenous wisdom and identity, freedom and equality, irrespective of creed, caste, gender, race and religion. She represents those who triggered human creativity and innovation. Instead of supporting this discourse, sections of the state and society in Pakistan have created confusion. Starting from questions related to the attack on Malala to questions about her ability to write diaries and speak in public, a consistent effort has been made to malign her as an ‘agent’ of CIA, RAW and Mossad. Illogical comparisons between her and those killed in drone strikes as well as Aafia Siddiqui are drawn to obfuscate the discourse on civilisation. As her voice for education and civilisation gets stronger, sections of Pakistanis become more insecure. This third response indicates a rupture between Pakistan’s state and society and modern human civilisation. The question one is tempted to ask is whether this is a collective suicidal tendency or a yearning for achieving perceived ‘national and strategic interests’. Is this rupture because of the manufacturing factory that is our education system or because of political segregation and isolation from the modern world? Civil society organisations, political parties, the academia, media and state institutions in Pakistan have to engage in deep deliberations and dialogue to identify and address these ruptures. Threats and weaknesses have to be converted into strengths and opportunities. Holding the rest of the world responsible for whatever goes wrong with us won’t work for too long. The writer is a political analyst. khadimhussain565@gmail.com
Behind the conspiracy theories By Syed Irfan Ashraf ON television, a couple of celebrity anchors were discussing the rising tide of conspiracy theories in Pakistan. One of the anchors complained that everyone in Pakistan is a foreign agent in the eyes of the other.. Media anchors skilfully identify a malaise but circumvent a candid prescription. Such tricks have become a vital part of the political economy of celebrity journalism, which has flourished for all the wrong reasons over the past few years. It is not difficult to understand that conspiracy theories are the outcome of a retrogressive culture which flourishes in a controlled information regime due to the lack of public empowerment. In Pakistan, however, conspiracy theories are a vital part of national politics since they help status quo forces protect their interests. Since the creation of the country, organised efforts have been at work to prevent power from leaving the hands of the ruling elite. The issue is not that people are not ready for change; the fact is that the state apparatus is incompatible with the changing spirit of the times. Therefore, civilians’ empowerment has always been discouraged to enable conservative forces to maintain the status quo. The outcome of this retrogressive approach has caused irreparable damage to the country in which the militarisation of public space is notable. Though political analysts have thus far highlighted the political aspect of the security establishment, this approach has proved deceptive and counter-productive. By focusing on its material strength, such analysts have blurred the effects of the militarisation process. This enables the security apparatus to dominate civilian space. From politics to educational institutions, from the confectionary business to civil institutions and from construction contracts to housing colonies, the footprint of the military juggernaut provides a material base for the supremacy of retrogressive ideas, ideals and ideology. Centralised military policies shrouded in secrecy and ‘legitimised’ by the sacred notion of national security also grant ‘legitimacy’ to the military ideology. The very ideal of first-class citizenship is associated with rewarding the soldierly values of patriotism, security, power, masculinity and discipline. Such concepts promote an anti-civil bias to discourage the possibility of alternatives. This extension of the security apparatus into the public sphere has so far helped powerful elites resist any development incompatible with their cynical political beliefs. Moreover, it has created material conditions for empowering retrogressive mindsets to defend the interests of the ruling elites. Conspiracy theories are helpful in this nexus. During the last few years, however, the issue has been further aggravated. Progressive forces such as the media, civilians’ networks, civil society groups and human rights organisations have set up new goalposts to fight conservative forces in the public domain. This development is a threat for the militarised views of the ruling elites and their extension in the public sphere. A fight has been launched against progressive forces on two vital fronts. At the top officialdom protects its domain through exploitative institutional power, while cynical forces in the public sphere resort to conspiracy theories. The Abbottabad Commission’s report is a case in point. The establishment’s action of constituting an inquiry into the leakage and publication of a detailed story are steps to reduce the authenticity of the leaked draft. The move demonstrates the security apparatus-media anchors nexus, which reinforces the status quo. Therefore, what happened in Abbottabad has become less important. More vital for the security apparatus is to keep people in the dark about the Commission’s report lest they know who is who and what is what. Public empowerment, in this way, is considered a threat to the process of militarisation which sustains the forces of status quo in the public sphere. Of late, a sickening new wave is doing the rounds on the social media, a comparison entitled ‘Epic Pakistani Ideological Battles of History’. Two different contexts, two different events, two different personalities and two diametrically opposed ideologies are corralled into a radical conclusion — Malala Yousafzai vs Aafia Siddiqui. It is unimportant whether one is better than the other. More vital is to note the way radicalism is fighting plurality. An intelligent young girl with years of struggle for the right to education behind her, and a bullet mark on her head, has infused new spirit into peace initiatives across the globe. But status quo forces, in their hatred for Western values, have disowned Malala to own those who kill civilians on an almost daily basis. Whenever officialdom fears the possibility of progressive social change in society, conservative circles set about trying to cause a rupture. This symbiotic relationship between the state and its conservative assets in society is why conspiracy theories flourish. Women are a favourite choice in the contest between retrogressive and progressive ideas. A video that emerged in 2009 showing a girl being lashed by the Taliban in Swat is another case in point: masculinity bred on militarisation has brought femininity to centre stage in a violent theatre. As long as the power elites manage to hide behind an opaque window, citizens will be deprived of a chance to discover the method in their madness. Therefore, moving from one drop scene to another, the security apparatus will continue to guard its power through confusion. Conspiracy theories are the outcome of this undeclared strategy, which extends military rule in the public sphere through celebrity anchors and religiously motivated ideals. This whole system of confusion deprives Pakistan of a vision and social agenda. The writer is a journalist and PhD student at the Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, US.
Right to information By Shahid Kardar NEPOTISM, extortion and bribery have become a way of life, and not just with politicians. Except that in their case it tends to be exhibited more shamelessly. . While corruption exists in one form or the other in all societies, the major difference in our case is the extent of its pervasiveness and its implications for governance and the value system in general and the political culture in particular. Corruption has become systematic. It has become institutionalised at all levels in a way that it has become an integral component of the administrative, social and political culture. Hence, the question, ‘Who says that our system lacks transparency?’ — when the rate to get something done is well known what greater transparency can one ask for! At one end are the scandals involving political leaders and senior civil and military officials which is leading to a complete loss of faith in government. Hence the belief that nothing meaningful will ever be done to control it and that those perpetrating such crimes will never get punished. So what should be done? How can we begin to institute systems and procedures that can deter corrupt practices? This is important because global competition is influencing policy and quality of governance and Right to Information (RTI) can improve governance and transparency by inducing systemic changes. The legal right to information is critical to the effective functioning of democracies, and the wider distribution of information empowers citizens to challenge the abuse of power. The law in Pakistan requires the government to disclose some information on decisions taken or actions initiated. But, since RTI, transparency and good governance mean different things to different people there is need for clarity on the objectives and the indicators that would assess the progress made on this front. The freedom of information law ranks low on the basis of international best practices. It is not regarded as a serious initiative to promote and strengthen the public voice. There are too many exemptions (public-sector corporations and minutes of meetings, file notes are excluded from its ambit) on the plea that it would not be in the ‘public interest’ to share these and that doing so would weaken the decision-making process. But then there are no clear guidelines for classifying documents as confidential, pertaining to national security, damaging to the economy, etc. for exclusion; thereby providing the potential for discretionary abuse. Furthermore, hardly any effort has been made on the classification, archiving, indexation and retention period of these documents. Even the political leadership wants to operate behind a cloak of secrecy and is least pushed by the denial of this fundamental right. This situation is skillfully exploited by the military and civil bureaucracy, the long-term beneficiary of such a system of secrecy. At present, the demand side for information is weak and not regarded as a mainstream issue by politicians (although the Public Accounts Committee of parliament has become active), the media, civil society, even the legal community. Other issues dominate public narratives and concerns. There is also the aspect of general apathy and sense of servility in our culture towards authority and fear of state functionaries — ‘they can only do me harm’. The media is also undergoing a transition and has commercial interests (government ads, ratings), while lawyers have little interest because the law does not provide for recourse to the courts although Article 19-A now provides an opportunity. However, there are positive developments providing an impetus for public interest litigation — a growing vocal urban middle class, greater democratisation of society and polity, social media and internet exposure to related global developments and recent judicial activism against corruption and the arbitrary use of discretion. These changes, supplemented by an assertive media and the demand for greater transparency, checking of public corruption, exercise of rights to basic services, redressal of grievances, accountability and better leadership, although episodic in nature and none of it by using RTI, are forcing governments to respond. These developments will hopefully motivate others and create opportunities. So what indicators should be crafted to assess the improvements in RTI? What percentage of data will be objective-based and measurable? How much will be based on perception surveys — the latter is likely to be of varying quality and reliability. Also, should these indicators focus on the nature of instruments and the formal mechanisms and practices, ie comparing laws on institutional structures, capacities, systems and processes? But then what will indicators like the number of requests for information and the number processed, complaints filed and their disposal, etc mean if civil society’s demand is weak or if the numbers worsen simply because of systemic deterioration? What will it mean over time and space and in comparison with changes in regional countries, although indicators like the time frame for response, the disposal and resolution of complaints and reasons for delay and basis for decisions taken can still be relevant. Nevertheless, to elicit wider public interest, indicators must have relevance and utility for ordinary citizens — on criteria and procedures for applying to government schemes, listing of beneficiaries of government schemes, recruitment policies and processes, property ownership and transfer processes, etc. To this end, much of the effort will have to be on proactive disclosures on procedures, processes, concessions, privileges granted, periodic publication of reports, etc. Therefore, indicators should focus initially on the extent of disclosures, legal obligations to publish, limited exemptions, costs to extract information (time and money) and quality of whistleblower protection — options provided by technology making all this easier and cheaper. Examples could relate to law and order data (crime resulting in deaths), police behaviour (complaints registered and disposed), quality of the legislature (attendance, participation in debates), etc. In all this, the trickiest question would be how to extend the scope to include the armed forces that refuse to be accountable to the rest of society and insist on persevering with their internalised system of accountability. The writer is a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Dangerous times By Naziha Syed Ali THE first thing that strikes you upon speaking with journalists in Balochistan is the palpable sense of fear among them. . A few weeks ago, I met some of them while they were attending a workshop in Quetta. They came from all over the province, including some of the areas where the insurgency is at its height — Khuzdar, Awaran and Turbat. The common refrain was ‘don’t quote me by name or say anything that could indicate my identity’. Journalists are a beleaguered community in the province. They face intimidation and worse from different quarters: the Frontier Corps, military intelligence agencies, pro-government anti-nationalist groups, sectarian and separatist militants as well as feuding tribes. According to figures compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 13 deaths have occurred in Balochistan between 2006 and 2012. Journalists in Quetta say that the actual death toll exceeds 30 in the past five years alone. No one has been put on trial, let alone convicted, for any of these murders. In May this year, owners and chief editors of six newspapers were issued show cause notices by the Balochistan High Court for violating an earlier order not to publish statements by extremist organisations. The papers in question had printed the claim of responsibility by a sectarian group, Jaish Al-Islam, for the murder of a police official the month before. One of the editors said the court told him it was no excuse to say that if he did not follow the militants’ instructions he would be risking his life. Sometimes militants even insist on newspapers printing names of individuals that are on their hit list, which gets the publications into further trouble with the law. Press releases from extremist organisations, even political parties who champion press freedom, are common. They often arrive with a note saying “Publish without editing”. This is generally followed up with instructions as to which page and in how many columns the release should be printed. There is no editorialising of news: making your opinions known in such circumstances would be highly reckless. As far as possible, Balochistan journalists’ strategy is to report on the most innocuous happenings — the building of a new road, minor local government issues, a health seminar, and the like. But that is difficult to pull off in a province with a raging insurgency, a state that resorts to unconstitutional and repressive measures to deal with it, and terrorists of all stripes wreaking havoc. Working in such an environment can be like picking one’s way through a minefield. Journalists speak of having to be careful of every word they use, to the extent of counting how many words they use for each side so as not to seem partial. ‘Mistakes’, however inadvertent, can be deadly. Chisti Mujahid, a veteran columnist for Akhbar-i-Jehan, was gunned down in Quetta in 2008 by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), because of an article he had written on the death of their leader Balach Marri. The sub-editor in Karachi had embellished it with a well-known verse by Bahadur Shah Zafar lamenting his exile, which the BLA construed as an insult to Marri. Such are the risks when editing takes place in distant newsrooms by those without a nuanced understanding of the situation. There are times when journalists will ask their head office in Quetta or elsewhere to omit the dateline (which describes when and where a story is filed) to make it more difficult to identify them. And that’s notwithstanding the fact that most of them, especially district correspondents, work without a byline anyway, which is common practice in rural and tribal areas all over Pakistan. Most such journalists also work without pay or for a pittance. One journalist, who works for a news agency, told me he was expecting to be paid Rs2500 in a couple of months, and couldn’t say when any subsequent pay cheques would materialise. Compensation lies in the ‘enhanced prestige’ journalists acquire by wielding a press card and thus gaining access to local power circles, which also puts them in a position to get favours — reportedly in cash or kind. That’s part of the problem. For although there’s little doubt that conditions for journalists in Balochistan are fraught, journalists themselves and media owners also bear some responsibility for their predicament. A number of journalists, despite claims of impartiality, are said to be aligned with either the government or the nationalist groups, or they take sides in tribal/political conflicts. That leaves them open to allegations of biased coverage by groups willing to make their point through the barrel of a gun. Certain publications that as per policy have never printed press releases, do not find themselves under the same level of pressure. Much of the time, journalism here, especially for district correspondents, is a part-time profession — as it has to be, given the lack of compensation. Many of them are working as teachers, clerks, even shopkeepers and newspaper distributors while moonlighting as journalists. The Quetta-based Balochistan Union of Journalists refuses to grant membership to such “part-time” reporters. The provincial government also gives accreditation only to those journalists who work inside Quetta while those based in the remaining 30 districts do not get official recognition. This deprives them of vital institutional support needed to forge a united front to demand action against coercion, threats and physical harm and also to formulate a policy dealing with ethics and professional practice. There was a partial attempt towards this when a three-member journalist committee decided that newspapers would only print militants’ claim of responsibility and not the entire statement. After a period of restraint, however, the same practice is back. Meanwhile there are reportedly more training opportunities for news media, which is important to bring some professionalism into the journalist cadre. That must, however, be backed up by media houses/owners paying the journalists adequate compensation instead of leaving them at the mercy of circumstances where they are expected make their way as best they can with little more than their press card. The writer is a member of staff. naziha@gmail.com
Australia turns its back on ‘boat people’ By Mahir Ali WHEN the Australian Labour Party (ALP) dumped Kevin Rudd as prime minister in 2010, his parting words included the admonition that the government must avoid “lurching to the right” on its policy towards asylum-seekers. He might as well have added: “Don’t do it without me.”. Less than a month after his dramatic return to the helm, Rudd has instituted a strategy described as hitherto the harshest response to the refugee dilemma, decreeing that henceforth the question of resettlement in Australia simply will not arise for asylum-seekers arriving by boat in Australian waters. The fate that awaits them is immigration detention in Papua New Guinea (PNG), where their claims will be processed by the local authorities. If they are deemed to be genuine refugees, they will be afforded the opportunity to settle in PNG — a nation with high rates of unemployment, crime and, more generally, despair, and with a poor record in spheres such as health and education. If not, their options extend from indefinite detention to returning to the country they fled from, or any other state where they may be allowed to reside. The choices are intentionally unattractive. Deterrence is the name of the game. The standard excuses include the valid argument that the journeys on rickety vessels from Indonesia to the nearest Australian territory, Christmas Island, are invariably hazardous; it is no doubt utterly appalling that more than 800 children, women and men have drowned since 2009. And “people-smuggling” has become a lucrative cottage industry for enterprising Indonesians, who are believed to charge would-be asylum-seekers something like $5000 each for the dubious privilege of a berth on what is all too often an un-seaworthy boat. It’s fairly obvious that such journeys would not be undertaken if the passengers in question had a better alternative — such as purchasing an airline ticket for a fraction of that sum and hopping aboard a flight to Australia. Those who are able to do so, and thereafter apply for refugee status, face considerably less contempt and cruelty than “boat people”. “For those who come across the sea/ We have boundless plains to share,” says one of the more absurdly anachronistic verses in Australia’s national anthem. A more relaxed visa regime, meanwhile, is an option that’s not even up for debate. An even more crucial factor that almost never enters the national debate in Australia is the level of desperation that persuades people in, say, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq or Sri Lanka to attempt a journey that entails a series of serious risks and the depressing prospect of discomfiture. Those of us living in relative comfort can barely imagine the degree of despair that drives such decisions. And most of us don’t even try. Is it particularly surprising, then, that the domestic argument in Australia focuses on “border protection”, as if its status as a relatively popular destination for refugees somehow poses an existential threat? Sure, in terms of political geography Australia is something of an anomaly. Until four decades or so ago it only welcomed immigrants who broadly fit the pattern of its racist White Australia policy. It had, like most other countries at the time, initially turned away Jewish refugees fleeing the depredations of Nazi Germany. Boat people first became an issue in the late 1970s, in the aftermath of the Indochinese conflict. Malcolm Fraser, the conservative prime minister at the time, says he was advised to set up mandatory detention centres but turned down the “barbarous” proposal. It was the supposedly social-democratic government of Paul Keating that introduced mandatory detention, although the present saga essentially dates back to conservative prime minister John Howard’s rule. He chose to be ruthless, and pandering to xenophobia proved to be a vote-winner — not least because Howard voiced the idea, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, that there may well be “terrorists” among the asylum-seekers. It is easy to forget that most of those stranded, as a matter of policy, on the island of Nauru turned out to be legitimate refugees, and many of them were eventually able to settle in Australia. What’s easily remembered is that a few boats were towed back to Indonesia, and for a while the boats stopped coming — never mind that this coincided with a sharp drop in refugee numbers across the world. Howard’s heir Tony Abbott, who expects to become prime minister within the next couple of months, has said he intends to repeat his mentor’s tactics. He may, however, have been trumped by Rudd in the race for the lowest common denominator. Abbott has felt obliged to condone the “PNG solution”, while predicting — or should one say hoping? — that Rudd will not be able to implement it. Human rights activists and lawyers, meanwhile, have raised the valid concern that by subcontracting its obligations to one of its poorest neighbours (and its only ex-colony), Australia is violating international treaties to which it is a signatory, and the policy is likely to be challenged in court. Not long before the new policy was announced, Australia’s foreign minister, Bob Carr, declared — without citing any evidence — that many of the supposed asylum-seekers were anyhow would-be economic migrants, seeking better prospects (as if that were somehow an unpardonable crime) rather than fleeing political or religious persecution. He cited “middle-class Iranians” in particular, and Rudd subsequently echoed the view. Never mind the question of where Australia would be today but for those who populated it to improve their prospects, in the decades after it was initially colonised to house criminals. Neither such insinuations nor Rudd’s new policy can be expected to cut much ice with Hazaras trapped in Indonesian limbo, to whom even PNG seems a better bet than returning to the likelihood of a violent death in Quetta. mahir.dawn@gmail.com
Hardly a new chapter Najmuddin A. Shaikh IF Mr Sartaj Aziz visited Afghanistan to convince Hamid Karzai of Pakistan’s sincere desire to improve relations and to work in tandem with Kabul to promote an Afghan-owned, Afghan-led reconciliation process, reports so far suggest that the mission was at best of limited value. . His Afghan counterpart had no hesitation in stating that efforts to improve relations and “ignite peace talks” had not been successful even while expressing the hope that a new chapter would be opened with the advent of the new government in Islamabad. President Karzai accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan “in principle” but insisted that before “a high-level delegation” visited Pakistan preparations be made and an agenda drawn up with the “top” items being the “serious and effective struggle against terrorism and the peace process”. As was expected, the Foreign Office has termed the visit productive. This positive spin on the visit is a commendable effort to prevent the further deterioration of relations but we must recognise that Afghanistan appears to be taking the stance that in talking to Pakistan it will be doing Pakistan a favour. It is the same attitude that Karzai has taken in his discussions with the US. American commentators have often unfairly accused Pakistan of negotiating by “putting a gun to its own head and threatening to shoot if its demands were not met”. Now with far more justification President Karzai and his aides can be accused of having adopted this tactic. It is delusional to believe that it is the US and not Afghanistan that needs a bilateral security arrangement or that Pakistan needs Afghan cooperation rather than the other way round. But that is what seems to be emerging from Kabul. This is not, however, the time to lose one’s cool. Within the ruling circles in Kabul as in the loyal opposition many Afghans are wary of what they see as an overplaying of the nationalist card by Karzai. His quarrel with the Americans has been condemned, as has been, perhaps less stridently, the attitude he has adopted towards Pakistan. So there will be changes forced upon him, but it would be best if they came as a result of internal rather than external pressures. In the meanwhile, the new government which has already recognised the paramount importance of the Afghanistan issue for our internal and external security must reflect on the following questions relating to reconciliation in that country:- First, the Afghan Taliban say they will not talk to the “puppet” Karzai government. On this we cannot agree with the Taliban since Karzai is the elected president and must be a lead participant in the intra-Afghan talks. What we can suggest is that when Karzai talks he should do so after building civil society and opposition consensus that Salahuddin Rabbani, head of the High Peace Council, said he was working towards. Will Karzai do this? Second, even if there was a “road map for 2015” (requiring Pakistan to play a role in persuading the Taliban to negotiate an agreement for a share of power for the Taliban at the centre and some posts in areas where their influence was strong) that was proposed by the Afghan High Peace Council last November, it has now been disowned by Karzai. Should Pakistan then use whatever influence it has with the Taliban to agree to talks without any assurance of what the outcome will be? If we are going to stand by our present stance that this is an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led reconciliation this is what we may have to do. Will the Taliban agree? Third, Mr Aziz said in Kabul that if requested and at the proper time and in consultation with other interested parties we would release other Taliban we are holding. We must decide on the appropriate time and also whether it would not be in the fitness of things for Afghanistan to release into our custody Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader they are holding. Fourth, Karzai says that there cannot be talks between the Americans and the Taliban. Yet it is Karzai who has said all along that he wants the release of Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo and the delisting of the Taliban leaders currently on the UN sanctions list since this would facilitate reconciliation. Surely he must accept that such a release can only come through the envisaged exchange of the Taliban from Guantanamo for the one American prisoner that the Taliban are holding. This will not only be a confidence-building measure but would also ensure that the Americans can secure a commitment from the Taliban to publicly renounce ties with Al Qaeda and even to promise that in the intra-Afghan talks they will not seek constitutional changes that would affect women’s rights, etc. How can Karzai be persuaded? Fifth, we have to be clear on whether it is in our interest that the Americans retain a residual presence in Afghanistan. I believe it is because such a presence would ensure that the Afghans receive the annual $8.5 billion the international community has pledged. Without such assistance the Afghan security forces would have to be disbanded and the economy would collapse with disastrous consequences for Pakistan. The problem here is not only the declared Taliban opposition but also that the Karzai administration has fulfilled only three of the 17 conditions by way of reforms and elimination of corruption laid down in the Mutual Accountability Framework in Tokyo last year. How can this dual problem be resolved? Sixth, should we take military action against the TTP elements that are now operating against us from Afghan territory and risk further exacerbation of relations with Afghanistan or should we use other means to tackle this menace? There are of course numerous other related questions. The government needs to constitute a task force under Mr Aziz to identify all the issues and to make recommendations that would facilitate the formulation of a coherent policy. The writer is a former foreign secretary.
Neoliberalism and the Taliban By Rafia Zakaria ON the face of things, there could not be a starker, more complete contrast between the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the pro-market, deregulation-heavy politics of the neoliberal state. . In world politics, the Taliban seek and perform a tableau inspired by anti-modernity and obscurantism. In the details of their bearded, veiled and amputation-friendly public performance of politics there appears a strident disavowal of the transnational interconnectedness assumed by bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. It is a neat duality, hence an inherently attractive one, not least because it sells the particular brand of Taliban fundamentalism as an authentic response to the domineering policies of rich imperialist nations. It is precisely this perception — the opposition between neoliberal policies of rich nations and the institutions they control, and the Taliban’s obscurantism — that post-colonial scholar Masud Raja is able to disentangle. In his paper, Neoliberal Dispositif and the Rise of Fundamentalism, Raja points our attention to the interconnections between neoliberalism and the rise of fundamentalism inside Pakistan. His thesis is based on the following premises: first, he argues against what he calls the Western notion that paints the fundamentalist “as a fully realised subject of its own will”, without historical context and untouched by the particularities of politics. This in turn allows Western theorists studying Islamic fundamentalism to trace the distortions of faith not to the historical and political contexts in which they arise but to problems within the religion itself. Second, globalisation — even while pretending to achieve the equality of opportunity between rich and poor nations — has nevertheless allowed global hierarchies to be dominated by former colonial nations. In turn, the neoliberal state is one that promotes privatisation and supports deregulation, such that private entities take over many functions of the state. In terms of Pakistan, the interplay of these three factors since the 1970s and the first wave of Islamisation under Gen Ziaul Haq proceeded thus: the Soviet-Afghan war ended just as world economies were being restructured. Under the auspices of the new neoliberal mantras, the function of a state was not necessarily redemptive or distributive but rather to create market efficiencies that stabilise a consumption-based economy. In most developing countries, including Pakistan, this created a crisis of legitimacy. In simple terms, a state no longer performing welfare functions — such as care of the poor, elderly, weak and orphaned, or creating programmes that would ensure the well-being of the citizen against the vagaries of the future — needed a new way to justify its existence. Most developing countries redefined the state essentially to become a security state. In the Pakistani case, this crisis also produced a vacuum that was in turn filled by fundamentalism, particularly the public performances of piety enabled and supported by the state. Following privatisation in the Pakistani context, space was created for the burgeoning of a vast, motley group of religion-based charitable entitites that could now take over what used to be functions of the state. Education was provided by madressahs, crisis relief by private Islamic waqfs and similar organisations. It was this change in the role of the state that created the impetus to find new things that the state could do to show its power and justify its functions. In Pakistan’s context, this became the enforcement of public piety. The enforcement of Sharia became a pet pastime and in successive governments the pastime became an obsession. None of the welfare provisions of Islamic law were given much attention, since that area of state action had already been given up. Instead, emphasis was put on visible acts of impiety, from eating in Ramazan to ‘blasphemy’. Unsurprisingly, since citizenship began to be defined in religious terms, minorities and women bore the brunt of the transformation. In being the ‘other’ to the good Pakistani, they were the bad against which the good was defined. One of the most crucial insights to emerge from Raja’s thesis pertains to the rise of fundamentalism within a particular historical and global epoch. With the state retreating from welfare provision and redistribution and resting its legitimacy on the basis of public piety, a set of perfect circumstances was created for those seeking to attack the state or use the same recipe for establishing their own legitimacy. Indeed, the TTP has done precisely that. Today, it competes with the state in enforcing increasingly crude rituals that have been constructed in the Islamised public sphere as indicators of piety. If the state has laws that prohibit the public consumption of food during Ramazan, the Taliban can go further and kill someone for it. If the state prevents non-Muslims from running for certain offices, then the TTP can ban them altogether. In this sordid competition, religious ritual is shorn of its spiritual significance and reduced to an act of public performance that indicates belonging or citizenship; both the state and those challenging the state push the envelope further and further. In the past, post-colonial theorists have proffered the idea that Islamic fundamentalism is an oppositional discourse to imperialism and hence neo-imperialism. That is a limited thesis; a historical analysis that connects global pressures to reconstitute the state and to cut back on its welfare functions (as the IMF and the World Bank have often demanded of poor countries) goes further. It reveals fundamentalism and, in Pakistan’s particular case, the rise of fundamentalisms, as inextricably connected to the pressures faced internationally. Islamic fundamentalism is thus exposed not as a discourse created in opposition to imperialism but rather by the vacuums created by global inequalities and the international mechanisms that maintain them. The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy. rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
Shaping of a nightmare By Jawed Naqvi IN his short innings as foreign minister in the Janata Party experiment of 1977-79, Atal Behari Vajpayee drove down to the L3 lecture hall at Jawaharlal Nehru University. . The predominantly leftist academic community in the packed room heartily welcomed his speech about the restoration of democracy in India after Indira Gandhi briefly flirted with dictatorship. Vajpayee then produced one of his less reported one-liners. “You were all opposed to my party’s campaign for nuclear deterrence, so we decided to drop the bomb.” I can clearly remember how the anti-nuclear declaration had invited the loudest cheers. His prime minister, Mr Morarji Desai, was vehemently opposed to atomic weapons, and that had prompted the tactical decision by Vajpayee’s religio-fascist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to lie low on its cherished militarist project to capture power in India. It would be another 20 years before Vajpayee eventually got his chance to break the 1978 vow against nuclear weapons and to follow to fruition the military path his party had prescribed for years. Four years after declaring India an atomic power Vajpayee was swiftly engaged in a military standoff with Pakistan. May 2002 saw the streets around Delhi’s diplomatic enclave deserted out of fright as Western leaders and their senior representatives rushed between Islamabad and New Delhi to arrest the strange enthusiasm for mass suicide both countries harboured. Vajpayee is erroneously regarded as a moderate Hindu leader. Those who assess him thus have conveniently forgotten his involvement in the horrific Nelli massacre of Muslim women and children in Assam in 1983. They have also failed to remember the 1996 presidential address read by Shankar Dayal Sharma, which was a blueprint for Hindutva rule in India. Vajpayee had dictated the mandatory presidential address although his 13-day rule ended without him facing the trust vote in the Lok Sabha. Ironically, the current ‘agreeable’ man from the Hindutva stable happens to be Lal Krishna Advani, author of a nationwide communal frenzy after he helped raze the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. Given their level of political subterfuge that passes for democratic aspiration, can we even begin to imagine the havoc that could be wreaked on India by someone who even Vajpayee and Advani regarded as an extremist from the Hindutva stables? Narendra Modi may or may not get to become the prime minister of India. Caution, however, dictates that we know his mind on the most crucial issues the world would confront under his stewardship. What will be his attitude to his nuclear-armed neighbours, China and Pakistan? And what will be his militarist choices to coerce the country to accept his neoliberal economic model that has the support of the industry? It would be a grievous folly to disregard the bone-chilling interview on India’s nuclear stance the late K.S. Sudarshan gave shortly after he retired as the head of the RSS. Mr Modi, who sees himself as a loyal foot soldier of the RSS, will have to make his opinion crystal clear on the Sudarshan doctrine on nuclear war. Mr Sudarshan had pronounced a few core benefits to India of a nuclear war with Pakistan or even a wider Third World War. The late RSS chief was a virtual patron saint of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and had pockets of influence within the ruling Congress. In the unusual interview, which would put a bellicose Iranian cleric or a North Korean party apparatchik to shame, Mr Sudarshan had proposed a conflict (including a nuclear conflict) because it becomes inevitable when aasurs (literally demons) become a dominant force. In his scheme of things the aasurs were evidently Pakistanis. It would be useful to quote him directly, since the utterances could imply a future Indian nuclear doctrine should ‘Hindu nationalists’ represented by the RSS take power on their own in India. Mr Sudarshan was asked if India should go to war with Pakistan over the Mumbai carnage of November 2008. He said war should be the last option because it would not stop there. He also said when “aasuri powers” start dominating the planet there is no other way but war. “It will be nuclear war and a large number of people will … [perish]. In fact, not me but many people around the world have expressed their apprehension that this terrorism may ultimately result in a third world war. And this will be a nuclear war in which many of us are going to be finished. “But according to me, as of now, it is very necessary to defeat the demons and there is no other way. And let me say with confidence that after this destruction, a new world will emerge which will be very good, free from evil and terrorism.” Let it not go unsaid that the groundwork for Sudarshan-style militarism was carried out by the less maligned Congress. It was Indira Gandhi after all who cast the first stone in the South Asian brinkmanship by testing the bomb in 1974. Much of India’s militarism has been directed at cultivating domestic constituencies. It was the Congress, which gave unbridled powers to the armed forces to tame and crush the people’s voices in the border region of Kashmir and the northeast. Whether it concerns providing for a 30,000-strong troop deployment on the China border (and no money for schools and hospitals) or preparing a multi-headed nuclear missile, Mr Modi will only be slipping into the shoes of the Congress. It is his messianic zeal that is more worrying, not unlike the feeling you get from men in North Korea and Iran, and from sections of the ruling elite in Pakistan. The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.
Power policy gaps By Khurram Husain IT is almost here. The new power policy, much hyped and much anticipated, is almost with us. Although by the looks of things, there are still a few hurdles to cross in the Council of Common Interests (CCI).. First the good news. The policy indeed exists. This is no minor thing in a country used to hearing words like “there will be no more load-shedding after Dec 31”. The fact that a new and comprehensive power policy is in fact being debated in the CCI is a step forward for sure. But is it enough? That’s where the good news begins to fade. The policy is indeed comprehensive. It puts a lot of emphasis on repairing the Pakistan Electric Power Company’s cash flows through enhanced and aggressive bill recoveries, even sounding a menacing note in some places, for instance by alluding to the use of “external recovery agencies”. Are we going to be breaking legs to get people to pay their bills? The only problem with a ‘let’s get tough on the defaulters’ approach is that the distribution companies are not particularly effective in serving people with a viable bill in the first place. Many of the bills that are stuck up in recovery are calculated on an average-use basis, and only a small proportion of the total units billed actually have a meter reading behind them. Bills not recovered become disputed easily, and when meters have not been read in order to generate the bill, grounds exist for court intervention. In some cases, such as the dispute between KESC (Karachi’s power utility) and Pakistan Steel, the courts are actually willing to get tough with the defaulter. But the KESC is still struggling to get its largest defaulter — the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board — to pay up due mainly to the latter’s dispute over the billed amount. The flip side of getting tough on defaulters is getting tough on the collector to be responsible in generating bills in the first place. Little in the policy tells us more about how this will happen since the power bureaucracy is notorious for its imperviousness to outside pressure. A few strange things have also happened during the course of the debate leading up to the power policy. For instance, in the early days we were told by multiple players that the average cost of generation is Rs15 per unit, whereas in the policy the same cost is given as Rs12. There may be a logical explanation but even so, we are owed an answer. Here’s why this is important: the manner in which the cost of generation is calculated is opaque. All costs of the power bureaucracy are added up, along with a predetermined ‘rate of return’ on its assets. This total is divided by the total number of units of electricity billed to consumers. The problem: included in the costs are massive operational expenditures like salaries and retirement benefits of the power bureaucracy employees, as well as line losses and theft. Consider some numbers. Distribution companies calculate what they call a ‘distribution margin’ which is the amount they need to make on every unit of electricity sold in order to recover costs. Take the example of the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) which serves all of southern Punjab. Mepco draws about 12.5 billion units of electricity from the grid, and sells 10.2bn units to a customer base of about 4.5 million households. It has an employee strength of over 17,000. The largest head in its operating cost is the power purchase price, which comes in somewhere around Rs130bn annually of late. The next largest head is what they call O&M expenses, which is largely “salaries and benefits” of the employees. In Mepco’s case, this head is just under Rs10bn. Based on these sorts of figures, Mepco calculates for itself a ‘distribution margin’ of just under Rs1.48 per unit. It gives its total revenue requirement as just over Rs15 per unit, where it purchases its electricity for Rs12. Now consider this: half of the total difference between the cost at which the company purchases its electricity and the cost at which it seeks to sell is accounted for by heads like salaries, retirement benefits, travel allowance etc. The other half is accounted for by a head titled ‘prior period adjustment’. Do your own math on that one! I’ve chosen Mepco as an example rather randomly, but you’ll find the same proportions in the ‘distribution margins’ of all other distribution companies. The point is simple: what we call the ‘cost of generation’ often has lots of costs bundled into it that may very well be largely spurious. The new power policy gives the cost of generating electricity as Rs12 per unit. In earlier on-the-record comments, the water and power minister has given the figure of Rs15 per unit instead, and this is corroborated by other stakeholders in the power bureaucracy. What explains this Rs3 discrepancy? If you recall that almost 90bn units of electricity are sold in Pakistan every year, it’ll be easy to understand why a Rs3 discrepancy is such a big deal. There may be a perfectly logical explanation for this. Is it possible that the earlier figure was given for public consumption whereas the new figure has been given for IMF consumption? When talking to the public, it would make sense to emphasise the gap between the cost of generation and the cost to the customer. But when dealing with the Fund, which insists on seeing this gap closed, there is a built-in incentive to understate the gap, so as to make the eventual task of closing the gap altogether that much easier. Again, I don’t know the reason behind this Rs3 discrepancy, but we are owed an explanation, because as it stands, the discrepancy is testament to the arbitrary manner in which figures like the cost of generation are calculated. The writer is a Karachi-based journalist covering business and economic policy. khurram.husain@gmail.com Twitter: @khurramhusain
‘Hang Dr Zulfiqar’ By I.A. Rehman THE government is obviously too busy with petty matters to have taken notice of a sinister move to subvert the sacred death penalty regime. . Some condemned prisoners have chosen to invoke the argument of double jeopardy in order to escape capital punishment. They argue that the punishment for murder is death or life imprisonment. They were awarded death sentence but they have been kept in prison for 14 to 25 years and have completed the term for life imprisonment. They cannot be hanged now because that would amount to punishing them twice for a single offence. The matter is in court and comment on it should be avoided except for expressing the hope that the case will be decided according to the ideology of Pakistan. It is also necessary to respect the wishes of all those who have been starved of the pleasure of seeing human beings strung up the tiktiki (gallows). The mischief-makers include one Dr Zulfiqar Ali whose aamal-nama (record) is so black that it cannot be summed up in these columns. In order to ensure that he does not exploit a momentary lapse by our ever-watchful dispensers of justice it is necessary to inform the public of the misdeeds of the said Zulfiqar Ali. He was accused of murder in 1998 and sentenced to death. He attributes his conviction to his lack of resources and inability to engage a competent lawyer. Poor excuse. In our highly efficient state of Pakistan, poverty and lack of resourceful defence counsel has never resulted in the Western phenomenon called miscarriage of justice. But that is a relatively small matter. For what he has been doing in prison he deserves the Czarist punishment of being riddled with 40 bullets. In prison the said Zulfiqar Ali started improving his academic qualifications. He acquired the following diplomas and degrees: MA in political science; DHMS (a four-year homeopathy course); diploma in Islamic medical science (two-year course); diploma in the study of Islam (one-year course); diploma in the study of hadith (one year course); diploma in Ilm-ul-Tazeer (six-month course); diploma in banking (one-year course); diploma in journalism (one-year course), diploma in mass communication (one-year course), and a medical assistance course (one-year programme). Apart from holding a doctorate in herbal medicine from Allama Iqbal University Zulfiqar is also said to have done Masters in Business Administration and English. The audacious fellow not only abused the prison facilities to add to his graduation certificate that he had in 1998 but also spread the poison of knowledge among fellow prisoners. By April 2009 when he was due to be hanged, 12 of his pupils had done graduation, 23 had passed the Intermediate examination and 18 had passed the matriculation test. His jailers became accomplices. Not only did they allow Zulfiqar to be called ‘educationist’ they also sought his help in educating and motivating the prisoners to reform themselves. How perverse! Before proceeding any further it is necessary to call the Adiala prison bosses to account for allowing Zulfiqar the freedom to achieve the academic distinction that free persons cannot easily win in open universities. What have they reduced their jail to? Is the Higher Education Commission aware of attempts to disrupt Pakistan’s wonderful penitentiaries by turning them into educational campuses that we can do without? On another plane, the ulema have a duty to deliberate on the question whether a man sentenced to death can be allowed to study hadith and Islamic criminal law. (Forget what Abu Hanifa, Abul Kalam or Maulana Maudoodi or the heroes of 1857 did in prison; we have a new nazaria (outlook), thanks to a dictator who is often hailed as General Phansiwala). This Zulfiqar Ali obviously has considerable persuasive powers. He convinced his wife of his innocence and the poor thing died of cancer. The same is perhaps the case with his two daughters who were babies when he entered prison. His friends will try to invoke people’s instincts for mercy with tales of the convict’s suffering in the death cell. All such efforts must be foiled, for Zulfiqar, like other death row veterans, is himself responsible for causing delays by exploiting legal loopholes and filing mercy petitions. Attempts will also be made to sidetrack issues by citing examples of thieves’ becoming national heroes or of killers who won their freedom by paying blood money or by terrorising the victim’s heirs. It is nobody’s fault if Zulfiqar is neither rich nor a gangster. If fate had so willed he could have benefited from the Diyat law and become a successful doctor or lawyer or even a parliamentarian. This didn’t happen. Let him be resigned to his fate. So far as the people are concerned they believe that the law must be upheld even if the heavens fall. We are sure the media dignitaries whose pens get frothy when they go for the abolitionists will not fail the state in defending its right to kill. Neither compassion nor reason should be allowed to interfere with the law. Dr Zulfiqar Ali must die. Murder can be forgiven but not illicit learning. Tailpiece: Thank God and the Election Commission that the next head of state will have stood the test of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. Whatever he may as president be guilty of, the stigma of failing the Articles 62/63 criterion might not stick to him. What a pity the ECP authority is limited to elective offices although there is reason to apply 62/63 to all holders of high offices, including governors, judges, perhaps even members of the ECP. No need to inquire what the ulema of Baghdad were doing when the Mongols were breaking down the city gates. The tradition is alive.
Why do they hate us? By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar DURING George W. Bush’s tumultuous eight years in power, America’s global standing fell to its lowest level in decades. Were it not for the power of its guns and dollars, the US might even have acquired pariah status. . At the nadir of this downward spiral soon after the invasion and occupation of Iraq, American media persons, thinkers and political figures started to ask the rhetorical question ‘Why do they hate us?’ The question implied both that the American people and government were indistinguishable and that the proverbial ‘rest of the world’ was a monolith that was envious and spiteful of the success of the ‘land of the free’. In short, it was an ill-disguised attempt by opinion-makers in the US to win an increasingly sceptical public back over to the side of Empire. Yet it would be wrong to suggest that there is not something resembling a state-society consensus in the US vis-à-vis Washington’s role as world sheriff. To be sure, the relationship between the ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ of the capitalist world system is sustained in no small part by the consent of ordinary people in the core states, and particularly in the belly of the beast itself. During time spent recently in Quetta, Gilgit and their respective environs, I was reminded again of just how wide the gap between the ‘core’ and ‘peripheries’ of the Pakistani state has become, and, indeed, that it continues to grow with each passing day. Ordinary people welcome visitors “from Pakistan” as if they are coming from another country. Political workers are much more explicit in asserting that their homeland is a colony, being managed from Rawalpindi by the imperial army. So-called patriotic Pakistanis — from Punjab in particular — are typically unable to relate to such sentiments in any way. This is perhaps both cause and consequence of the fact that the peripheries are still viewed by those in the Punjabi heartland through what can only be called a colonial lens. In Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala, as well as in Islamabad, the Gilgits and Quettas of the world are often defined only by their ‘backwardness’. If the underlying feeling is not one of contempt, it is motivated by pity. In fact, economic deprivation notwithstanding, both Gilgit and Quetta boast a much more politically conscious population than any similarly sized city in Punjab. Nawaz Sharif’s insistence on advertising load-shedding as Pakistan’s biggest problem does not imply that economic and social hardships begin and end with power shortages. While the peripheries are bothered greatly by load-shedding, it is far from their biggest concern. Heightened political consciousness in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and other peripheral regions is explained by decades of acute and systematic economic exploitation that is far more damaging than load-shedding. It is hardly surprising that most of us have not had a history lesson to this effect. Both in this country and in the rest of the world throughout the modern period, colonial social contracts have been based on sustained economic and social subjugation, which ultimately gives rise to an anti-colonial politics revolving around questions of identity, and specifically the right to self-determination. It is too bad that the only example of self-determination about which we are taught begins and ends with the hackneyed slogan ‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’. In the case of GB, it is remarkable that nationalist politics demanding an end to ‘colonial rule’ has taken as long to come to the fore as it has. Notwithstanding the fanfare surrounding the Gilani government’s name-granting exercise to the erstwhile ‘Northern Areas’, the people of GB still do not exercise basic political rights — they have no representation in the National Assembly. Indeed the official policy of successive Pakistani governments vis-à-vis GB has been simply to assert that the latter’s fate is bound up with that of the Kashmiris and that their status will remain pending until resolution of the so-called Kashmir dispute. Worryingly for the people of GB, where formal political rights have been granted to a peripheral population, as in the case of the Baloch, there has been little change in status quo. Militant Baloch nationalists have historically enjoyed greater legitimacy than their moderate counterparts by pointing to the fact that GHQ’s colonial policy towards Balochistan has arguably become more suffocating following the accord of provincial status in 1970. Today in GB and Balochistan registration licences are not granted to prospective media outlets except in cases where the state can be sure of the applicant’s allegiance. Ordinary people — let alone political workers — are hesitant to express political views in public for fear of being disappeared, or labelled as fifth-columnists. There are many differences of course between GB and Balochistan, and between these and other peripheral regions such as Sindh, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir. But the similarities are obvious: a colonial state policy vis-à-vis all of the peripheral regions has been in place for more than a century, and continues to be upheld. Should we still ask, then, why oppressed nations in this land of the pure harbour antipathy towards Punjab in particular, and Pakistan more generally? As in the case of the US, and all multinational states featuring a dominant centre, what is telling is that the question itself is being asked. Mercifully, ordinary people in the peripheries do not hate ‘us’ any more than they hate those in their midst who do the bidding of the state. In fact, the struggle for identity and economic freedom is a direct affront to the politics of hate that our holy guardians have championed for the best part of seven decades. This is why we must support those who demand their basic freedoms. They speak for us, and for all those around the world who remain steadfast against injustice, whatever its form. The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Push for local polls By Asha’ar Rehman CHIEF MINISTER Shahbaz Sharif’s reluctance to allow local government polls in Punjab runs counter to his party’s high ratings established by a growing heap of public surveys. . All these surveys give the chief minister, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and their party a huge lead over others in the political arena. This would suggest that a local government (LG) election will be a walk in the park for PML-N nominees. Leaders with this kind of support should fear nothing, least of all a local government vote in a province which they have just recently swept in a general election. Still, the most popular of them all have been found wanting in creating a precedent for Pakistani politicians’ ability to efficiently tackle political matters. As fate would have it, it is a nudge from the court that has moved Punjab willy-nilly towards holding the much-delayed LG polls. A law defining the LGs’ structure in the province is being urgently fine-tuned, incorporating clauses to ensure that it is as safe as possible for the PML-N to enter the territory it has so carefully stayed away from over five long years. The previous Shahbaz Sharif government had shown little inclination for reviving or recreating LGs. It repeatedly put off the election by making amendments to the Local Government Ordinance, 2001. Only towards the end of its term did the previous Punjab Assembly feel the need to appear to be taking up the matter. That, too, coincided with growing pressure from the courts, even though the lawmakers and government had bona fide political reasons to defy calls for re-establishing LGs. After the 2008 polls brought Shahbaz Sharif to power, his government was initially dependent on support from the PPP in the Punjab Assembly. It was perfectly understandable that in those days, when the PPP-PML-N alliance was being hailed as a true vanguard of democracy and a fulfilment of the dream enshrined in the Charter of Democracy, he shunned the idea of an elected local government. The partnership could squeeze some concessions out of Shahbaz in favour of the PPP. Shahbaz Sharif then worked to create a new support base within the assembly which eventually allowed him to break free from the PPP. Yet, while his own style of centralised governance left little room for proper functioning of the local governments, as an imposed choice, the idea of local bodies was also discouraged because of the presence in the field of a large number of non-PML-N actors with a capacity to influence these polls. These actors included MNAs and MPAs from both the PPP and a truncated but as yet not decimated PML-Q. The 2013 general elections removed these PPP and PML-Q players from the face of Punjab, but the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf did get enough votes to signify a new threat to the PML-N at the local level of politics across the province. But just as the general election results created the need to stall the polls until a suitable time, the size of the PML-N victory in Punjab spelled out its own political requirements. A large number of PML-N lawmakers had to be given some sense of a share in power, and while not all of them could be given ministries in Punjab and at the centre, accommodating a host of ‘local influential’ families within the PML-N by activating the dormant local government was a visible option. The old danger of local governments throwing up power players at a distance from the centre, in this case a very self-righteous centre in Shahbaz Sharif, were there, but some kind of risk had to be ultimately taken. This risk appeared increasingly unavoidable as the courts repeatedly asked for progress towards the holding of local government polls. Considering all the factors, it is not that bad a toss for the PML-N to lose. The court’s directions have saved the party’s leadership from taking a difficult decision. The impression that comes through is that Punjab is doing it under duress, and after all its inaction on the issue over the last five years, it can use the current emergency to rush the local bodies law without paying too much attention to protestations over some of its features. It has a court deadline to work by and cannot entertain prolonged deliberations. The PPP has been demanding LG elections on a party basis, a wish the PML-N shows little signs of granting, without explaining the reasons for its bias for non-party polls. The PPP, guilty of dragging its feet on LGs elsewhere, could be right in arguing for party-based polls. The strange formula where members elected individually are encouraged to join a party of ‘their’ choice has little logic other than the one dictated by a desire to unfairly secure an election. A report published in Dawn on Monday points out some aspects in the LG draft bill which could undermine the basic rules of devolution. These include indirect election of LG heads; the chief minister’s powers to dismiss the head of a local government; the setting up of a provincial local council commission that comprises, overwhelmingly, the nominees from the provincial government and is answerable to the chief minister to ‘monitor’ the LGs, etc. Also, on the web, observers have questioned the “extremely undemocratic” provisions where “about 50pc members (women, minorities, youth, technocrats, peasants and workers) of each council will be filled through indirect elections”. It is moot whether a rushed poll is in the interest of the people who are being sought to be empowered here. Reports say there are various other areas that need to be looked at, if not by the assembly where the PML-N’s overwhelming majority could preclude meaningful discussion, then through a public debate outside the house without which no legal provision is deemed fit enough for passage in a democracy. That is a sign of democratic development this country should be keen to flaunt at this point in time. The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
Public sector revamp By Sakib Sherani TO its credit, the government has moved relatively fast on two important fronts: one, putting in place a credible, long-term plan for the resolution of the energy crisis; and two, setting up a transparent mechanism for revamping the boards of public-sector entities.. To ensure its efforts on both fronts succeed, it will eventually need to institute wider reforms in the civil service. The abysmal performance of the energy sector, and of all entities in the wider public sector domain, reflects two home truths. First, the glaring limitations of the country’s ill-equipped civil service to deliver anything beyond ‘district administration’; and second, the large footprint — and commanding heights — the public sector has come to occupy despite the ostensible ‘opening up’ of the economy since the 1990s. The unending stream of public-sector enterprises (PSEs) whose management positions have been advertised, many performing unheard of and obscure functions from hard-to-find locations, is a testimony to the thriving size of Pakistan’s civil service. At last official count, for the National Commission on Governance Reforms headed by Ishrat Husain, the number of state-owned enterprises was at least 411. The combined civilian workforce both at the federal and provincial levels was estimated at a couple of million people. (So bloated is the public sector, it is believed it took several weeks for the cabinet and establishment divisions to furnish the number of employees in the wider government-owned and controlled domain.) The attributes of low efficiency, virtually absent accountability, and a large, distortive footprint on the economy are characteristics of the civil service that are hardly unique to Pakistan. Barring rare examples, such as Singapore, bureaucracies operate in a similar fashion, and with similar results, around the world. A common strand is the similar ‘incentives framework’ in which bureaucracies operate, whose defining characteristics include: • Limited accountability • Job security • Taxpayer money provides a backstop to unlimited losses • Lack of merit-based decisions regarding human resource, such as in appointments, promotions, transfers and nomination for training etc • Limited competition among the workforce • A virtually non-existent performance-based rewards structure As a result of this incentives structure, it is hardly surprising that the public sector is riddled with low productivity and efficiency and pervasive corruption. The government-controlled power sector, PIA, PSO, OGDCL, Pakistan Steel Mills, Railways et al, all exhibit symptoms of the same malaise — unaccountable management by government servants or public-sector employees. So pervasive is the lack of accountability in the public sector, that even those organisations performing some of the most important functions, such as the state-owned power sector companies or the Federal Board of Revenue, have been operating till now without Key Performance Indicators — an essential management tool to gauge performance. Moreover, the footprint of the public sector in Pakistan has even extended to specialist and technocratic agencies such as the regulatory watchdogs (Nepra, Ogra etc.) for example, with retired civil servants occupying the most unlikely of positions. (A recent egregious example is the case of a senior, newly retired bureaucrat who got himself appointed as chief statistician of the country on a permanent basis. His previous experience includes being district commissioner of Sahiwal.) Contrary to common wisdom even those PSEs making a profit are imposing a burden on state and society. This is so on a number of counts. First, PSEs stifle competition and innovation, as they cannot survive without permanent protection of the state. Second, they pre-empt resources that could have been better utilised by the private sector. These entities under normal circumstances would almost surely have produced higher profits and paid more taxes under the private sector. They thus impose a significant opportunity cost — or a welfare loss — to the economy and society as a whole. As is widely recognised, the only justification for having an economic activity in the public sector is where ‘market failure’ exists. A case in point would be PIA or the Railways serving an un-served or under-served section of the population even though it is a loss-making proposition. It is interesting to note that even the private sector produces the same results when faced with a similar incentives structure. The case of Japan is illustrative in this regard. As a cultural norm, over decades Japanese workers even in the private sector have been retained for life in the company they have worked for, while promotions have been based strictly on seniority rather than merit. The only saving grace for Japanese companies has been the unrelenting exposure to international competition via exports. While large-scale retrenchment has taken place in Japan over the past two decades, the private sector’s modus operandi and its patronage by the state have been two important factors in prolonging its economic depression. On the other end of the spectrum is Singapore’s civil service, which is often cited as a model of efficiency and transparency. What makes Singapore unique is not that its civil servants are paid market salaries, but that it is a ‘mandarin’ or specialist service, unlike Pakistan’s ‘generalist’ structure. The lesson for policymakers given the size and performance of the public sector is that a credible and wide-ranging restructuring is needed — not just of the PSEs but eventually of the civil service structure. While the government may mull a Malaysian ‘khazanah’-type model of restructuring the boards and management of PSEs while retaining ownership, this can only be an interim solution. Ultimately, a credible and transparent programme of privatisation to strategic investors — one that does not lead to charges of crony capitalism — is the most viable option. The writer is a former economic adviser to government, and currently heads a macroeconomic consultancy based in Islamabad.
Malala escapes the cauldron By Irfan Husain STOP me if you’ve heard this one, but there was this guy waiting in line to be told whether he’d spend eternity in hell or heaven when a passing angel offered to take him around the underworld.. The visitor saw huge cauldrons with roaring fires below each one, and giants with cudgels standing guard. The guide explained that if a condemned sinner tried to climb out, the sentries would promptly knock him back in. But when they passed by the cauldron full of Pakistanis, the visitor noticed there was no giant to guard it. When he asked why, the angel replied: “When Pakistanis try to escape, the others pull them down, so we don’t need a guard.” This is what’s happening to poor Malala Yousafzai. Both Left and Right have joined hands to destroy her credibility after her eloquent and deeply moving speech at the UN recently. In a flurry of hostile, mean-spirited emails, the trolls on the internet have savaged the heroine from Swat, accusing her of being either Satan’s pawn, or an American agent. Both points of view are part of what I call our overarching ‘yes, but…’ narrative. The affirmative is used to agree that the Taliban are violent terrorists, and then immediately comes this predictable anti-American riff: ‘But aren’t the Americans doing even worse things with their drones?’ This is followed by a whole litany of complaints about Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. It is this moral relativism that lets the Taliban off the hook and prevents a national consensus from developing. Even my old friend Ayaz Amir seems to have joined this chorus. In a recent column in The News, he wrote: “‘Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists,’ she [Malala] said. But who are the terrorists? If we accept the American definition of terrorism that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are terrorists, is it all that irrelevant to ask as to who’s killed more people since the September 11 attacks, the ‘terrorists’ or the apostles of right, the Americans?” Yes, Ayaz, it is an entirely irrelevant question. Terrorists are defined as people who target unarmed, innocent non-combatants to further political ends. States exercise a monopoly on violence, and often use it to defend their interests. There are international agreements and treaties that are supposed to prevent and govern warfare between states. It is entirely legitimate and even necessary to debate and criticise the American use and abuse of its power. But to lay this burden on poor Malala’s young shoulders is a wicked thing to do. Ayaz Amir concedes that “Malala is not to be blamed”. But why conflate American wrongs, real and perceived, with Malala’s UN speech? Ayaz Amir, like many other Pakistanis, has hailed the Taliban as freedom fighters. Really? Who do the jihadis slaughtering Pakistanis by the thousands want to free the country from? When they blow up (Pakistani) Hazaras in Quetta, are they motivated by a burning desire for freedom? Or when they go about destroying (Pakistani) schools, do they think they are striking a blow for liberty? While they are beheading their (Pakistani) victims, do they see themselves as heroes of a liberation struggle? This is a mindset shared by the Taliban on both sides of the border. And when people attempt to make a distinction between the TTP and the Afghan Taliban, they forget that they are ideological Siamese twins. Many Pakistanis, on both Right and Left, are so consumed by their anti-Americanism that they close their eyes to what’s happening around them and to them. Our tormentors are Pakistanis, as are their victims. Let us not elevate the Pakistani Taliban to the level of the Vietcong or the PLO. Those who have slaughtered over 40,000 Pakistanis need to be identified as who they really are: killers who have no qualms about bringing death and destruction to thousands of innocent men, women and children. In one anti-Malala diatribe, somebody posted this little gem: “Forget the image of your country, forget about the school. She [Malala] would eventually get what she was after, a life of luxury abroad.” Actually, Malala is not leading a ‘life of luxury’: her father has been appointed an education officer at our consulate in Birmingham, and she’s going to school there. This is hardly living it up in St Tropez. More to the point, this trope is similar to Musharraf’s infamous put-down of Mukhtaran Mai when he implied that her gang rape provided her with the opportunity to go abroad. Both the blogger and Musharraf seem more concerned about the image of Pakistan abroad than what’s happening in the country. And the reality of life in Pakistan for women is especially hard. According to most global indices, ours is one of the harshest environments in the world for women. Joining us at the bottom are India, Afghanistan and Somalia. Recently, we learned that two girls had been killed by relatives just because a film clip of them dancing fully clothed in the rain was uploaded to the internet. Another unfortunate woman was reported to have been killed at the command of a tribal jirga for possessing a cellphone. These are stories that barely make it to page six of the national newspapers. Not a day passes without news of some gruesome atrocity committed against women. In our ferociously patriarchal society, when a woman achieves something the world applauds, should we not be proud? Should we not shower her with bouquets instead of brickbats? When somebody climbs out of the cauldron reserved for Pakistani women, must we try to drag her back? It is typical of our cynical mindset that even when there is poetic justice in Malala’s rebuttal of everything the Taliban stand for, there should be catcalls instead of cheers. In a country so short of heroes, it is ironic that Malala should have more admirers abroad than she does in Pakistan. irfan.husain@gmail.com
Web of estrangement By A.G. Noorani PRIME MINISTER Nawaz Sharif’s recent discussion with Subhash Chandra, the CEO of Zee TV, an Indian TV network, is noteworthy because what he said reflected the generally sad state of communications between the peoples of the two countries.. Mr Sharif said that the regulatory regimes in India and Pakistan need to be relaxed to facilitate media outlets and to reach out to a maximum number of viewers in both countries. He also called for the relaxation of Indian rules so that Pakistani channels can be seen in India. Right now, Indian entertainment channels are beamed in Pakistan but Indian news channels are banned. There is, on the other hand, a complete ban on all Pakistani television channels in India. The prime minister rightly highlighted the media’s role in bringing the people of Pakistan and India closer. One might add that it could also foster informed exchanges between the two peoples, strengthen the role of dissent and democratic discourse within each country. The citizen will no longer be dependent on the official spokesman of his government and the motivated spin he provides. One example from personal experience will suffice to prove the point. On the very first day of the Agra summit, in July 2001, the then Indian minister for information & broadcasting, Ms Sushma Swaraj, meticulously listed to the battery of media persons of India and Pakistan the subjects discussed — everything bar Kashmir, which she studiously omitted. Contradictory reasons were provided. Kashmir was so “obvious” she said only to reveal later that she had been briefed to speak thus. This writer switched on to PTV and learnt from the anchor, who had spoken to a member of the Pakistani’s delegation, that Kashmir had figured prominently at the summit. PTV remains banned in India only from June 2002 for reasons that were never officially disclosed. It had done no damage to India’s security even during the weeks when India’s troops were massed on the Radcliffe Line in Punjab and along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Nor, I might add, can All India Radio or any of the Indian news channels inflict any grave damage if they are permitted within Pakistan. The truth is that instead of progressing towards freedom of media, we have regressed. Till the war of 1965, this newspaper was sold in parts of my city, Bombay. Radio Pakistan could be heard for long. The monster of television has swallowed radio, a far more informative medium, to the point that manufacturers of radios provide you with FM and AM but not so readily the bandspread short-wave. We are the poorer for that; especially on information about the one neighbour whose well-being is so closely tied up with our own. In April 1961, 14 years after the partition and while the Kashmir dispute was the subject of animated debate in the UN Security Council, an Indo-Pakistan cultural conference was held in New Delhi. The report of its proceedings is a collectors’ prize. It was inaugurated by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Erudite papers were read on archaeology, history, education, the fine arts, languages, journalism and films. Pakistan’s delegation was led by Dr Ishtiaq Hussein Qureshi who had won distinction as a professor in the University of Delhi. Urdu received special attention. The conference’s recommendations were ignored. They bear recalling now, half a century later. It recommended that: “1. (a) for exchange of information on literary and cultural matters centres may be established in the two countries; “b) meetings of representatives of the two countries should be held from time to time; “(c) facilities should be provided for work and study to genuine students and researchers sponsored by the universities and learned bodies of standing; “(d) exchange of professors and students should be encouraged; “(e) facilities should be provided for the (i) study of archaeological and other material, books, records, manuscripts, visits to such sites, journals, etc., for the supply of their copies — microfilms, photostats, etc. (ii) exchange and transmission of books and journals published in the two countries and (iii) facilities should be granted to individual scholars who have left behind their collection of books to secure them. “(f) conferences may be held periodically for scientific and academic subjects in which representatives from the two countries may participate. “2. The conference strongly urges upon the governments of India and Pakistan the desirability of protecting the copyright of the authors and publishers and requests them to enter into an agreement for this purpose.” Both governments determine the level of communication between their peoples and where they also influence its content. Organisers of a seminar in India need an OK from both the external affairs ministry and the home ministry if participants from any of the neighbouring countries are to be invited or of the subject of the discussion is, among other things, ‘political’. Pakistan’s interior ministry doubtless has its own curbs to impose. The citizen is the poorer for all these curbs that go to weave a web of estrangement. Pakistan’s television has become far richer and more varied in the last decade. Dissent in both countries is more articulate. Therein lies hope. We must press the two perpetually feuding states to grant the citizen his freedom to travel and to receive information from any source of his choice. It is vain to look to the courts alone for redress. The bans on telecast are utterly unconstitutional. So are the arbitrary curbs on travel. The citizen has a right to listen to a writer, artist or scientist whom an organisation invites to participate in a conference. To deny him a visa is to violate the citizen’s right to receive information. This was argued in the case of Tariq Ramadan, the distinguished scholar on Islam, in the US. However, the courts are chary of intervening when the state claims ‘national security’. It is for civil society to assert itself. The writer is an author and a lawyer.
Caught in no-man’s land By Abbas Nasir THE militant attack on the ISI office in Sukkur earlier in the week underlined the need for a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy.. And how do we respond? We reignite the debate over the ownership of a war that has now taken thousands of lives, left an equal number maimed or injured and scarred the psyche of millions of Pakistanis. It’s been over a decade that the then military strongman, Gen Pervez Musharraf, took that call from US official Richard Armitage in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and almost immediately agreed to all his demands under threat of being bombed ‘back to the Stone Age’. The US bombing campaign in Afghanistan that followed and then the arming and rapid advance on Kabul by the Northern Alliance and the ‘strategic retreat’ of the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan’s ‘logistical support to the US’ may have aroused anger here. But can we say hand on heart that it was the only trigger for the mayhem that’s been inflicted on our country and people? We’d be terribly naïve to suggest any such thing. The seeds of what we face today were sown during support to another US campaign in the same country some 20 years earlier. No point crying over spilt milk. Like there is no point in reminiscing about how lovely, serene and peaceful the past was. A generation has grown up in Pakistan (or is it two?) that knows no peace. The attack on the ISI office in Sukkur, said to be the first in Sindh’s third biggest city, and its location took me back to happy times, to car journeys during my father’s time in the services in the 1960s. A stone’s throw from the ISI office, I believe, is the Circuit House. We must have stopped there several times in the 1960s. It’s beautifully manicured lawns, grand large rooms with very high ceilings and welcoming staff keen to make you feel at home any way they could, starting with a steaming cup of tea for the grown-ups and chilled orange/mango juice for us. Once you had washed away the travel dust and fatigue in a bath the size of a hockey field, within half an hour, and almost magically, food appeared — dal, steamed rice, freshly made chapattis and at least one saalan (curry) usually chicken or, if you preferred, anday aaloo (boiled and potato). Given how awful the roads were then and how basic the shock absorbers on our car, a nice bath, food that tasted like it had been created by a gourmet chef, and a relaxing stroll in the enormous garden caressed by the cool breeze coming from the almost adjacent Indus had you ready for sleep. You could easily confuse yourself with a character from the Raj as you sunk in the soft embrace of the comfortable mattress and pillows of a huge bed. It was only after a rushed breakfast in the morning when you squeezed yourself back into the very basic family Skoda that you were reminded of your reality. Once we also stayed at the then delightful InterPak Inn. I think it was built and owned by the national flag carrier or one of its subsidiary companies then. Its rooms were much smaller than the nearby Circuit House but its staff had trained at the InterContinental Hotel, Karachi, and the menu was fairly elaborate. Those were the days when democracy had still to surface in the country and though an underground movement for change was under way, it was entirely peaceful. So, it was not a surprise that the only concern my father had as we strolled towards the barrage was that the car battery was acting up. It would be unwise of me to return to the present only when the next explosion shatters some more lives in one or another part of my beloved land. But surely, the concern ought not to be yours and mine alone. What about those entrusted with our security?It is clear that the army and its security services have taken a massive hit in this war we are unable to even own up to (or successfully dissociate ourselves from) and continues, along with the valiant police/paramilitary forces of KP in particular, to take heavy casualties. Many defenders of the ISI have attacked its critics and say that the agency is solely responsible for protecting the country from those that seek to harm it be they ‘foreign powers’ or Al Qaeda or most notably the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. They credit the agency with almost all terrorist ‘kills or captures’ and point out the example of one Karachi police unit that has had major ‘successes’ against the TTP but in effect only owns up to ISI arrests of militants and does the legal/court work so the agency remains behind the scenes. The idea here isn’t to comment on, condemn or condone the agency’s political role but to assess if the country’s premier security agency, which has also lost physical assets and personnel, in the war against terrorism is now geared up for the challenge. When you ask knowledgeable professionals their response is mixed. This simply reflects the confusion at the policymaking level. Sources familiar with the workings of the agency suggest that its counterterrorism wing is clued in and knowledgeable. However, the pulls and pushes of the agency department entrusted with ‘running’ the Afghan operation often tend to work at cross-purposes with the wing. The sad bit is that the elected political leadership has so far either been incapable of taking charge or hasn’t been allowed to. And the military leadership finds itself in a sort of ‘no-man’s land’ between the defence doctrines of Ziaul Haq’s (suicidal) international jihad and Musharraf’s (hypocritical and equally ineffective) enlightened moderation calling for duplicitous support to the West. “Till these contradictions are resolved. Rest assured all of us are condemned to live with uncertainty, murder and mayhem casting an ominous shadow over our future,” says one former military officer. The writer is a former editor of Dawn. abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
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