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India-Pakistan

Model Town case: FIR registered against Nawaz, Shahbaz and 19 others

2014-08-29

[DAWN] LAHORE: A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 21 persons, including the prime minister and Punjab chief minister, on Thursday on the the orders of the government. The Punjab police received orders on Thursday to register an FIR against those responsible for the deaths of 11 Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) supporters in a violent clash with police. Sections 419, 148, 234, 302 and 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, pertaining to murder, attempt of murder and terrorism, have been included in the FIR. Earlier today, a four-member committee formed by the Punjab government has started work on the recommendations in the Model Town judicial commission report. The committee has been mandated to fix responsibility in relation to the bloodshed that transpired in clashes between police personnel and supporters of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri. The committee is expected to complete its proceedings in a week's time and submit a report to the provincial government. It comprises of Justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman Ramday, the provincial interior and law secretaries and Punjab advocate general. And after the findings that have emerged in the reports of the judicial commission and the joint investigation team, the government committee's fundamental task is to identify those ultimately for the Model Town tragedy. Earlier, the Punjab government had requested the judicial commission for audio/visual evidence in relation to the tragedy. The government commission begun its work days after the judicial commission investigating the Model Town incident held it responsible for the tragedy, saying the police had acted on the administration's orders which led to the bloodshed. The report had said that the affidavits of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and former law minister Rana Sanaullah contained contradictions regarding the orders they reportedly issued to the police to disengage, and said what happened on the ground did not match such claims. At least 11 PAT workers were killed and over 100 people were injured during the clash in Lahore.

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India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2012-02-26

When Gilani offered to come to Aitzaz's house Reported in Jang a close friend of Aitzaz Ahsan and Gilani reported that in his presence Prime Minister Gilani rang Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and asked him to defend him at the Supreme Court in a case of contempt. Aitzaz Ahsan politely refused and said he was senior to him in age and membership of the party but the PM thereafter said that he was visiting him at his house to convince him. After that Barrister Ahsan agreed to defend him at a fee of Rs 100. Is that as much as the cost of a cup of tea? Nasim Wali Khan versus Pak ideologyRespected Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... politician and wife of ANP leader Wali Khan, Nasim Wali, was quoted by Daily Pakistain as saying that Pakistain was not created in the name of Islam but democracy. She hasn't read the writings of the Mr. Jinnah, esq., Father of Pakistan, it would seem. Granted, they are voluminous, as befits his first career. She said Pakistain's intelligence agencies later caused religious fanaticism to spread. That is certainly theory... She said Abaseen-Pakhtunkhwa as name was acceptable to Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... once. Now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was better than no name (Frontier). Haqqani should ask for reparations Writing in Jang Nazir Naji stated that after the winding up of the memo case Husain Haqqani should go back to the Court and ask for reparations for the suffering caused to him. It would be unfair that lawyer Akram sheikh got millions sitting at home while Haqqani had to lose ambassadorship and suffer for no fault of his own. He made the mistake of picking the wrong side, and getting caught. In that part of the world, this is often enough a Darwinian error. Powers behind Defence of Pakistain Council Editor in Chief Khushnood Ali Khan wrote in Jinnah that the grand rally of Defence of Pakistain Council in Rawalpindi was made successful by three organizations. The main work of getting the people and collecting the religious leaders was done by Hafiz Saeed...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat... of Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... while Maulana Samiul Haq of JUI(S) was able to attract a lot of people to the arena. Above all there was the organising hand of Maulana Tayyab of the famous seminary of Panj-Pir in Swabi. Tayyab was the brother of the famous ISI officer Major (retd) Amir. Meera finally chooses husband After a long wait by her fans filmstar Meera was reported by Mashriq as consenting to marry an American-born Pak pilot named Naveed Parvez. She added that the wedding will take place in the following month (February). 'Memo' prepared by Generals Karamat and Mahmud Durrani! Speaking to Mashriq ex-army chief Aslam Beg said that Mansoor Ijaz will have to prove at the Court that the memo that he said he got from Husain Haqqani was actually prepared by Haqqani, ex-army chief Jahangir Karamat and Major General (Retd) Durrani. He said if PM Gilani had been defended by Babar Awan he would have been quickly convicted. Just as well he wasn't, then. Ramday should not comment on case Daily Pakistain reported that Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan defending PM Gilani at Supreme Court protested at Justice (Retd) Ramday's decision to go public with opinion opposed to the PM. At which the other side replied by saying that Ramday had completed two years after retirement and Aitzaz should not get emotional about him. Ramday's brother as attorney general had written the letter to Swiss court to start proceedings against Zardari. Farah Naz Ispahani denies allegation Reported in Mashriq MNA Farahnaz Ispahani wife of Husain Haqqani, who decamped Pakistain and told British journalist Christina Lamb that she had left Pakistain because she was scared of being killed by the ISI, issued another statement that she had not said anything of the sort against the ISI. She said she had great respect for the Army. Ramday's son gets a packet! Revealed in Mashriq Punjab government was said to have paid huge sums to two lawyers for defending the Punjab government in various cases. Khwaja Haris was paid Rs 35 lakh, and the son of the retired Supreme Court judge Khalilur Rehman Ramday a sum of Rs 10.5 lakh. His name was revealed as Mustafa Ramday who was a lawyer. A columnist makes predictions Daily Jang had Hamid Mir reporting that Yasir Pirzada had predicted that in 2012 filmstar Meera will contract a real marriage that she will be in a position to own up to. Soon participants and anchors in TV talk shows will come armed with guns and that Musharraf will stop lecturing the world on Pakistain but focus on music while Ustad Hamid Ali Khan will accompany him. Hamid Mir's own prediction: Senate elections will be held in March and no top judge will succeed in becoming the president of Pakistain. Pasha will go out as ambassador Editor in Chief Khushnood Ali Khan wrote in Jinnah that when the army chief Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... asked ISI chief Ahmad Shuja Pasha if he would like another extension he replied that he would like to retire after which it was planned that he would be sent out as ambassador. After him, either the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... corps commander General Zaheerul Islam or Lahore corps commander Rashid Mehmood would be chosen by the Army Chief as ISI chief. Nawaz Sharif worried about nuclear programme Columnist Saleem Safi writing in Jang stated that when he told Nawaz Sharif that by bringing up the memo case at the Supreme Court he had put himself and other politicians in trouble to the advantage of the Army, Nawaz Sharif replied that he could swear that his intention behind the memo case was to save the nuclear programme of Pakistain. He was convinced that the real aim behind the move by Haqqani was to deprive Pakistain of its nuclear assets. Oh my. Pakistani logic is a very special thing, once it gets properly started. Why Dasti resigned and came back! Columnist Khalid Masood Khan write in Jang that MNA Jamshed Dasti was returning from Luddan after doing condolence for Azeem Daultana when he heard that Hina Rabbani Khar had got his favourite PEPCO XEN Khalid Nazir transferred. He was already greatly upset by the rising influence in PPP of Hina but the removal of the XEN was the last straw. He announced his resignation from PPP amid rumours that he would join Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... . He had already removed a number of XENs for not listening to his advice on the electricity charges. Imran Khan is coming! Yes, yes. We'll believe it when we see it .Veteran politician Syeda Abida Husain told daily Pakistain that Imran Khan was in politics for the last 15 years but now his time had come and he would be ruling Pakistain. She said he was an honest leader and had won the hearts of the people. She said she was not sure if she would be joining Tehrik Insaf. ISI chief supporting an Ahmadi I've got a beautiful bridge to sell, if you're interested. A family heirloom, chock full of olde worlde craftsmanship.  Columnist Hamid Mir writing in Jang stated that once ISI used to accuse the CIA of plotting against Pakistain but now General Pasha was himself trying to prove that Mansoor Ijaz was right in his allegations. People in Pakistain often associate Ahmadis with the CIA but the ISI was now acting as if it was on their side. Yasir Qasmi a Moses in the house of Pharaoh Writing in Jang stated that well known columnist Yasir Pirzada was the son of famous Urdu columnist Ataul Haq Qasmi same way as the house of Pharaoh saw the birth of Moses. Yasir said that columnists had descended like a calamity on Pakistain and he was one of them. Yasir was known for his imitation of the style of well known columnists like Hasan Nisar, Haroon Rasheed and Irfan Siddiqi. He had just published collection of his widely read columns.

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India-Pakistan

Missing prisoners found in spy agencies' custody

2010-12-10

[Pak Daily Times] Two of the country's top spy agencies have confessed before the apex court that 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail were in their custody and were being tried under the Army Act. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistain Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday heard the case of 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail. During the course of proceedings, Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel for the federation, the Pakistain Army, Inter-Services Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, Military Intelligence, told a three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday that the missing prisoners had been in their custody and were jugged during a massive operation launched after the court's direction where more than 20 bully boyz were jugged in the operational areas. He said they were in safe and secure hands and would be charged under the Army Act, adding that their trial would be held in the General Field Court Martial in accordance with law. Recording his statement on behalf of the respondents, Irshad dispelled the impression that the Pakistain Army and its other institutions were above law and the court. He said such negative impression had been given by certain elements who had been playing in the hands of the people who were out to secure their vested interests. He said, "I want to record a statement to dispel the impression that the Pakistain Army or any of its organs, is above law and defy the court's orders. They submit themselves before the constitution and hold the apex court in the highest regard." "They appreciate what the court is doing for the constitutional governance of the country," he added. He said these institutions had been bound to follow the order and judgement of this court. Giving details of the incident, he said these prisoners, soon after their release from the jail, voluntarily submitted themselves in the custody of people who had disguised themselves as secret agencies' personnel. From there, they were taken to operational areas, as they had close links with a well-knit terrorist organisation and were prepared to cause further damage by launching attacks on the army and sensitive installations, he added. Masterminds: Irshad said that these people were criminal masterminds of terrorist attacks on Hamza Camp, the GHQ, Kamra, Friday prayers attack and even involved in an attack on a three-star general in Rawalpindi. To the counsel's objection, the CJP told him that he could contact the authorities concerned as the counsel had assured the court that they would be treated according to law.

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India-Pakistan

SC assigns Anti-Corruption DG to investigate incident

2010-08-21

A two-member Supreme Court bench on Friday assigned a former judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC), presently posted as the director general of the Anti-Corruption Punjab, Kazim Malik, to hold a detailed inquiry into the brutal killing of two teenage brothers in the presence of police in Sialkot and submit a report within seven days. The bench consisting Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the alleged murder of two brothers -- 15-year-old Hafiz Mughees and 19-year-old Hafiz Muneeb -- by a mob in the presence of local police in Sialkot. The court directed the authorities to arrest the accused persons involved in the case as early as possible and submit a report along with the progress of both cases on a daily basis to the SC registrar for the court's perusal in chambers. During the hearing, the court said, "The footage shown by TV channels in the courtroom on multimedia screen indicates that a few people had ganged up on the boys and were beating them mercilessly in the presence of police officers." "The brutality extended to the extent that after their death, their dead bodies were dragged and hanged on the pillars of an overhead water tank situated next to the office of Rescue 1122," the court noted. The DPO concerned told the court that after receipt of notice from the SC through the PPO, Rana Muhammad Ilyas, the SHO Sadar Sialkot was arrested, whereas 12 other police officers named in the FIR had still not been arrested. The court noted that prima facie the footage shown by TV channels indicates height of brutality in a civilised society wherein two young persons had been mercilessly beaten to death in the presence of the police and so many other people were standing there and watching, and nobody, including the police officials whose duty was to protect lives, had the moral courage to intervene to save the two youngsters. "Prima facie, we are not satisfied with the conduct of the DPO and SP (Investigation). It indicates their total failure to maintain law and order otherwise no one would have dared to take the law into their own hands. In such a situation it was the duty of the police officers/official concerned to intervene and should have made efforts to save their lives. The presence of police officers prima facie suggests their involvement in the incident as well, otherwise being in the police force it was their duty to maintain law and order instead of becoming silent spectators to such a horrific incident," the court noted.

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India-Pakistan

End of military rule will be step forward: Uncle Fester

2007-11-28

Former premier Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that President General Pervez Musharraf’s removal from the army would make “a lot of difference,” but insisted the president do much more to end Pakistan’s political crisis, AP reported. Nawaz said Musharraf must also lift the emergency and reinstate the ousted judges to ensure the elections are fair - a condition that the general is highly unlikely to meet. Separately, addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club after visiting deposed Justices Khawaja Sharif, Khalilur Rehman Ramday and Supreme Court Bar President Aitzaz Ahsan, he alleged that some elements had plans to rig the polls to get a two-thirds majority to validate all of Musharraf’s unconstitutional acts in the next parliament, according to a Daily Times report. Nawaz said only boycotting the elections could foil this rigging plan, adding that an All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) meeting on November 29 would decide about a boycott.

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India-Pakistan

14 SC judges put under house arrest

2007-11-05

Fourteen Supreme Court (SC) judges, who refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) promulgated by President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday, have been detained at their residences, sources in the judiciary told Daily Times. A senior lawyer claimed that security personnel surrounded the houses of all such judges. Their telephone landlines and mobile phones had also been blocked. Sacked chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry reportedly had no access to newspapers or television. Security personnel ringed the Lahore home of Supreme Court judge Khalilur Rehman Ramday, who had been hearing challenges to President Musharraf’s October 6 re-election, AFP reported.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistanis will resist martial law: Ahsan

2007-06-06

The people of Pakistan will resist any move to impose martial law in the country again, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, lead counsel of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, said during the hearing of a constitutional petition by the CJP against the presidential reference against him. Ahsan made the remark when lawyer Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada requested the full court to restore CJP Chaudhry for an interim period to quell the present unrest in the country that may lead to the imposition of martial law again by General Pervez Musharraf. Pirzada made the request when Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said the bench was fed up with the repetitive arguments being submitted for the last 15 days. Pirzada said that hearings in such constitutional cases often consumed much time that’s why the bench should restore the CJP for an interim period. “There is no fear of another martial law because those who have seen the rousing welcome accorded to the CJP in Lahore and Abbottabad know that people are on the roads and will resist imposition of a new military rule,” Ahsan told Pirzada.

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India-Pakistan

SC dismisses former ISI chief's petition

2007-03-06

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a constitutional petition filed by former Inter Services Intelligence chief Gen (r) Hameed Gul asking the court to order an inquiry into an attack by US-led forces in Afghanistan in the Shawal area in North Waziristan Agency. The petition, filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, also asked the court to order the government to give compensation to the family of the Pakistani soldier killed in the incident, and to halt military operations “against the people of the tribal areas”. However, a five-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, unanimously dismissed the petition on the grounds that the tribal areas do not come under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The bench also objected that Gen Gul had no locus standi to file the petition, as he is not a resident of the tribal areas. Advocate Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, Gen Gul’s lawyer, told reporters after the hearing that former MNA from FATA Haroon Rashid would now move a similar petition on behalf of the people of the tribal areas. The counsel in his preliminary arguments submitted that the people of FATA were citizens of Pakistan and it was the government’s responsibility to protect their lives and property. Ah, there was the trap the court avoided. If the people of FATA are citizens of Pakistan, it means the government is responsible for a lot of stuff that happens there. Besides Gen Gul, MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed and MNAs from the tribal areas also attended the hearing.

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India-Pakistan

Pak Supreme Court extends kite flying ban

2005-12-10

Why? There is a traditional festival in the Indian subcontinent called Basant. One popular activity is kite flying. This is viewed by Paki authorities as a sign of degenerate hindu culture and therefore something to be stamped out if pure islam is to florish The Supreme Court on Friday extended ban on kite flying as well as its buying, selling and manufacturing along with all types of twine till January 26, 2006. The bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Ch, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmad and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari, directed chief secretaries and IGPs of all the four provinces to ensure strict compliance of court orders during this period. The court also appreciated the efforts of government in implementation of court orders regarding ban. The chief justice announced the order while women kept on raising hue and cry in the courtroom. Malik Qayyum, counsel of Kite Flying Association, requested the court to lift the ban for a short period and if incidents occurred during this period then court can impose ban again. However, the court observed that they would look into this request on the next date of hearing. During the hearing, a large number of women were present in the court.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2005-01-14

Punishment remitted too often According to Jang, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, from a 'larger bench' of the Supreme Court in Lahore, said that the government was too generous in remitting punishments handed down by the courts. Many criminals were let off on flimsy excuses, who then went back to life of crime. He said in one case a prisoner was let off by the government on his learning the Quran by heart, but when he was asked to recite a verse (ayatul kursi) he could not remember it. The bench said that a prisoner given 25 years goes on appeal but before his appeal lands at the Supreme Court he is let off on remission. What should the court do? In other countries, life imprisonment meant life but in Pakistan prisoners were let off through special remissions of all sorts, on national days, and as inam and such pretexts as hifz Quran. In all, over 60 cases were before the court. The court then asked the provinces to provide lists of convicts thus let off. According to Nawa-e-Waqt, Justice Ramday said that life sentence was equal to death and the prisoner should leave jail only after his death. A society of 'khabay' Columnist Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang that he was not very hopeful that the American policy in Pakistan would be able to change the culture of the country back to what it used to be, but he wished sincerely that it would. He said Pakistan used to be a warm-blooded society which encouraged arts and tolerated differences of style of life; but now it was controlled by cruel ideologues who taught men to kill each other for sect. Pakistan was once full of entertainment and, like anywhere in Europe, one could see Pakistanis enjoying themselves at restaurants, dance clubs, navy and air force messes; but now all that was gone and it had become difficult to breathe in an atmosphere of civic liberties. Society was dominated by clerics who did much more useful scholarly work when culture was alive; now they simply joined the oppressive forces. All culture was focused on khabay khana (eating big) and then letting off dakaar (burp) and going home sleepy with over-eating. Would America be able to change all this? Film on Shia-Sunni unity threatened According to Khabrain, film producer Syed Nur was being threatened by unknown persons for his film Ham aik hain (we are one). The theme of his film was unity of Shia and Sunni communities in Pakistan. The film actually showed that it was not Shia and Sunni communities fighting with each other. It showed that a third power outside Pakistan was doing all the killings. But because of a scene of matam (self-flagellation) he was receiving death threats from the very communities he was exonerating from sectarianism. Bridegroom teases girls According to Jang a marriage hall in Sabzi Mandi in Lahore saw a strange drama of eve-teasing. Two barats (wedding parties) had arrives from Tatlay Aali and Gakhar Mandi; but once in the hall the barati people started teasing the women and touching them. On this, the two barats clashed. Chairs were flung at each other (kursian chal gayeen) and there was exchange of mukka ghoonsa (fisticuffs) after which the police arrived and took doolha (bridegroom) Tariq in custody. He was made to rest in thana with his paraphernalia till the two parties had reached an understanding. Musharraf's photo on banknotes Sarerahe wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that an organisation called People's Movement took out a procession in Islamabad asking President Musharraf to print his portrait on the banknotes in Pakistan. They were carrying banners saying Musharraf ka jo ghaddar hai goli ka haqdar hai (He who betrays Musharraf deserves to be shot). The movement also threatened that if the president took off his uniform its ten members will burn themselves in front of his house. Is this blasphemy? Writing in Jang, Javed Chaudhry said that the tomb of Barri Imam near Islamabad was being designed and the design was identical with the one seen at the mausoleum of Prophet Muhammad PBUH in Madina. He stated that the planned tomb at Barri Imam was so identical that it could amount to blasphemy.

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