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India-Pakistan

Lal Masjid operation: SC moved for registering cases against 22 persons

2012-05-09

[Dawn] A former nazim ...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... of Jamia Hafsa on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to the police to register cases against 22 persons, including former President Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and ex-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for their alleged role in the killing of innocent people and desecration of the holy Koran during the Lal Masjid operation in the year 2007. On May 4, separate complaints were lodged by 11 people against the 22 persons with the Aabpara police. The police registered the complaints in its daily diary and issued separate numbers to the complainants. The police also sent the complaints to its prosecution department for legal opinion. When contacted, Advocate Tarqi Asad, the counsel for petitioner Maulana Abdul Qayyum, the former nazim and teacher of the seminary, said a request was also made to the apex court to take up the matter on Tuesday (today) when another identical petition would be heard. The petition named as respondents the secretary interior, inspector general of Islamabad police and the station house officer (SHO) of Aabpara. The court was requested to order the SHO to register criminal cases against those responsible for the deaths of the innocent persons and desecration of the holy Koran. "Deaths caused during the operation were in violation of Articles 9, 10, 10-A and 14 of the constitution. Besides, desecration of the holy Koran is against the sentiments of Mohammedans and a violation of Article 20," the petition said. It stated that as per finding of the apex court on October 2, 2007, 103 bodies had been recovered from the premises out of which only 16 could be identified. The remaining were handed over to their families, but 12 of them were not accepted due to lack of identification. The petitioner added that as per statements of principal Majida Younus alias Umme Hassan and a former student of Jamia Hafsa, Ayesha, recorded in the same court order, about 1,300 orphan students were on the premises who remained untraceable. "The number of those killed was very high but only 103 deaths were admitted by the respondents." The petitioner stated that in the court's order it was also admitted that 662 persons were tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! and later released. "But the fact is that most of them were never released and they were either killed or are still in detention." The claim can be verified from the statement of one of the legal heirs of the victims, Ghulam Mohammad that he had seen his son when he was tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! but his whereabouts was never known afterwards. The petitioner claimed that another man -- Muzammil Shah -- had informed the court during the last hearing that his son Mohammad Ali was alive till July 6, 2007, but after that nothing was known about him. In view of the order, legal heirs of the victims had been filing applications with the police and civil authorities from time to time requesting them to register criminal cases against the responsible persons. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... they were told that only the Ministry of Law and Justice could allow registration of such cases. The petitioner pleaded that FIR be registered on charges of murder and desecration of the holy Koran against the former president and prime minister as well as Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former federal and state ministers Mohammad Ali Durrani and Tariq Azeem, former religious affairs minister Ijazul Haq, former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri, former Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former environment minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, director crisis management cell Javaid Iqbal Cheema, General (retired) Javed Majeed, then director general (operation) Rangers General Hussain Mehdi, former secretary interior Syed Kamal Shah, former IGP Islamabad Iftikhar Ahmad, former deputy commissioner Islamabad Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, former SSP Islamabad Capt (retired) Zafar Iqbal, former chief commissioner Islamabad Khalid Pervaiz, former DIG Islamabad Shahid Nadeem Baloch, former DG ISPR Waheed Arshad, former chairman CDA Kamran Lashari and those who participated in the operation. Besides, the petitioner also prayed the court to set aside the December 27, 2011, agreement signed between Umme Hassan and the government under which the victims' families would not make any claim or get any case registered against anyone in future.

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India-Pakistan

A fairy-tale cabinet

2008-11-07

By Cyril Almeida PRIME Minister Gilani’s (or are they President Zardari’s?) ministers are a bit like Snow White’s dwarfs, Santa Claus’s reindeer and Disney’s Dalmatians: you know there’s a lot of ’em but, try as you might, you really can’t name them all. There’s Dopey and Dasher and Chew and Sherry and Zehri and — only this is certain: they are all Happy. Though, unlike the fictional characters, our ministers are not quite so cuddly. Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, PPP MNA from Jacobabad, is the man now responsible for the education of Pakistan’s children. His record is stellar. He is a veteran PPP leader, an LLB from SM Law College and an MA from the University of Karachi. Oh, and he was allegedly involved in a small matter of handing over five girls — the youngest was two, the oldest six — to settle a decade-old karo-kari feud in his area. Good ol’ Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered his arrest in 2007. Bijarani points out though that he was subsequently cleared by a lower court. There’s more good news for women. Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri, a Balochistan National Party (Awami) man who caused a furore recently by defending karo-kari as a tribal custom, has been rewarded with a ministry. To accommodate Zehri, postal services has been spun off from the communications ministry. So there you have it: Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri, minister for postal services. Women, beware: the confidentiality of your letters is now at risk. Why not just give Zehri women’s development? The MQM has the answer: “[T]he ministry like woman development [sic] is of no importance,” an unnamed senior party leader told a local paper. Given the choice between no ministry and women’s development, the MQM chose the former. Serving the people apparently does not include women. But there’s hope in Muzaffargarh. From there hail two new ministers, embodying the best of a secular, democratic dispensation. Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, NA-180, last made news in March when he was caught enjoying a late-night party at the ‘Cat House’ in Islamabad. At least Jatoi prefers the company of women; three Russians and three Chinese were amongst the 20 women detained in the raid on the house. And Jatoi’s neighbour over in NA-177 is Hina Rabbani Khar, enlightened moderation personified. Our latest minister of state for finance and economic affairs is the envy of all ministers. She has an inherited constituency, so she can pick and choose who she wants to work with. The two-time MNA is already a two-time loyalist. But at least she does not change her governance interests: Khar likes the economy. From parliamentary secretary to minister of state in the PML-Q dispensation and special assistant to the prime minister and back again to minister of state in the PPP one, Khar has stayed focused on economic affairs. And why not, for who better to explain to the IMF the mess we’re in than someone who had a front-row seat to the shenanigans that got us here? My favourite though is Farzana Raja, who has used the chairmanship of the Benazir Income Support Programme to acquire for herself ministerial status. The poor have become a status symbol. Perhaps as the next step in self-aggrandisement ‘Minister’ Raja can have a bus load of BISP beneficiaries follow her flag-flying car. They can tumble out on demand, ready to sing Raja’s praises at opportune moments. Six months of that and she may be ready to be canonised. And all this before Round 3, when the MQM and JUI-F will be brought on board — which they must before the Senate elections in March. And there still remains the possibility of the PML-Q, forward bloc or the whole lot of them, hopping on board. At least we now know where a slice of that IMF bailout will go. The 55-plus cabinet is creeping up to the 75-odd ministers of Shaukat Aziz and the 65-odd of BB’s second stint. Good luck trying to get precise numbers. Farzana Rajas abound: ministers who aren’t quite ministers but have ministerial status. It’s all very confusing, unless you happen to be a beneficiary — in which case you are of course Happy. It is easy to get carried away though. The cabinet has been plucked from politicians of the Class of 2008, a wily lot. The fact that the cabinet isn’t smaller points to another factor at play: survival is informing the choices of Zardari or Gilani (whoever the cabinet really belongs to). But what’s good for Zardari’s survival is not necessarily good for our survival. The real problem isn’t size but performance. Try naming half a dozen ministers from the pre-expansion set-up. Visibility does not equate to performance, as the Mohammad Ali Durranis and Wasi Zafars of the last government proved, but after 12 years in the wilderness surely we can expect some ministers to be ready to unveil their plans. Where have they been all these months? And if not some performance by every minister, then how about a decent performance by some ministers? Again, the most active members of the cabinet are unelected: Rehman Malik and Shaukat Tareen. For every 20 ideas they come up with, 19 may be nonsensical. But better to be 1 from 20 than 0 from 0. And if not a decent performance by some ministers, then how about righting constitutional imbalances? Again, given the nature of our politics it would be unfair to expect Zardari to do anything about it before March when Senate elections will be held and much of the PML-Q and MMA deadwood will be cleared out. But if March comes and goes? And if not constitutional readjustments then how about the law at the micro level: the lower courts, the police and public prosecutors? Set them free from political interference. Let them get on with the business of protecting the people; hobbled as the institutions are they can still make a difference. And if not the micro level — then what? Where does it stop? At what point do you give up, resigned to watching opportunities slip by yet again. This cabinet can yet become a footnote to this government if Zardari wants. All he has to do is think. Think big, think small. And then act. Not in our name but in our interests.

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India-Pakistan

Let Them Eat Grass

2008-02-18

Gallows humour about the country's economic crisis pervades the political ambience days before Pakistan goes to the hustings. Symbolising the grim mood is a popular Urdu sms which reads in English, "No flour, no electricity, no water, no sugar, no cooking oil, no petrol, and if you too don't want to be around, then stamp Musharraf's cycle (PML-Q) on the ballot." Indeed, President Pervez Musharraf finds to his horror the story of Pakistan's economic miracle, scripted in breathless prose and spectacular figures, has reached an unexpected denouement—inflation has touched 11.86 per cent, food prices are soaring, and acute shortages of wheat, cooking oil, gas and electricity have the nation groaning in misery. And to think, barely two years ago, policy wonks cited the booming Karachi stock exchange and a near double-digit growth rate to justify Musharraf's rule. Taxing: Long line-up at a Karachi flour mill Today, the galloping inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the country's 160 million people, three-quarters of whom live on $2 or less a day (one dollar is equivalent to 60 Pakistani rupees). Food prices have risen by 10 per cent in each of the last three years; the price of wheat, Pakistan's staple, has witnessed a 14 per cent hike since last November. Worse, Pakistan's central bank—the State Bank—has lowered its estimate of growth rate for this fiscal year from 7.6 per cent to just above 6 per cent. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader and former commerce minister Ishaq Dar says the irony of the looming crisis is that Musharraf had promised to rescue the economy to justify his coup against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. "What statistics his officials reel on the TV may or may not be true," he shrugs, "but what the public suffers is high inflation, increasing poverty, stock exchange-related scams and controversial privatisation deals." Adds Pakistan People's Party leader Ahmed Mukhtar, also an ex-commerce minister: "Why should Pakistanis care about the Taliban and America if they have to fight for a day's aata?" This is why, Mukhtar says, "wherever you go, you hear people shout, 'Go Musharraf Go'." What has principally fuelled the public outcry is the rising price of flour, a kg of which at subsidised rates costs between Rs 14-18. Early January, the price in the open market doubled, touching Rs 60 in some areas. Similarly, the price of a 20-kg flour bag has gone up from around Rs 250 to Rs 450. Former federal secretary for food and agriculture Zafar Altaf blames it on the government's decision to export half a million tonnes of wheat last year, amid Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi's boasts of a "bumper harvest". The export led to shortages, and import of wheat at a 70 per cent higher price had a cascading effect. "Either the claims of a bumper crop were false and designed to justify wheat exports or, if the claims were correct, the wheat stock has been hoarded somewhere and the current crisis is artificial," says Dr Altaf. The faulty export policy gave a fillip to hoarding. PML(N) leader Ahsan Iqbal claims several leaders of the ruling PML(Q) stocked two million tonnes of wheat, pushing the prices higher and earning billions. Besides imports jacking up the prices, owners of rice mills exploited the wheat shortage to sell rice at inordinately high prices—Rs 30 per kg for inferior quality and Rs 70-75 for the best quality. The rice millers then ploughed their profits to buy and hoard wheat—much to the agony of people. Apart from hoarding, wheat has also been reportedly smuggled into India and Afghanistan. Former federal minister Mohammad Ali Durrani says the government has recently deployed 6,000 rangers and paramilitary troops around flour mills, distribution points and checkposts to prevent smuggling. But, as ppp leader Sherry Rehman says, the government has already pushed the country back by decades, as the long-forgotten images of people queuing up for flour return. "Under no democratic government did Pakistanis see food prices soar, so much so that people standing in long lines outside government food distribution centers had to be turned away empty-handed," she says. The bitterness of daily existence can't even be mitigated by a sweetener—the rising price of sugar has made it scarce. The government's recent decision to increase the ex-mill sugar price from Rs 23 per kg to Rs 30 should cause a spike of Rs 6.50 in the open market. Oblivious to the consequences on the common man, Zaka Ashraf, chairman, Punjab Sugar Mills Association, justified the government's decision: "The government had the option of either reducing the support price of sugarcane to appease the mill owners or increase the price of ex-mill sugar." The government chose the second option which, Asghar Butt, a sugar dealer, says "wasn't justified and will be another bombshell for consumers". What's more, the Federal Food Committee (FFC) has predicted an acute shortage of edible oil. Domestic production meets only 17 per cent of the demand. The decline in the world crop of palm oil and soybean is the chief reason behind the crisis, FFC officials say. "Edible oil has become costlier by Rs 40 per kg over the last month," said Fareed Qureshi of the Karachi Retail Grocers Group. The darkness enveloping Pakistani society is symbolically manifested in severe power shortages. Most urban centres witness outages of 10-12 hours a day, and rural areas anywhere between 12-18 hours. The Musharraf government's failure to foresee future demands will, according to official estimates, cause a shortfall of approximately 6,000 megawatts by 2010. Also, no commercial gas was made available to industries for the last two weeks, forcing closure of hundreds of factories. The agony of people has failed to convince people like ex-minister Tariq Azeem about the Musharraf regime's myopic economic policy. Azeem insists, "Even the government's worst critics acknowledge there was a turnaround. People who were using bicycles have switched to motorcycles, and motorcyclists to cars." But Sakib Sherani, chief economist, ABN Amro Bank, Islamabad, says the headline-grabbing growth figures have bypassed the average Pakistani. Quite like the nda's India Shining slogan of 2004. Then the poor took their revenge on Vajpayee and Co. It should be the same in Pakistan on February 18.

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India-Pakistan

One killed, 10 injured in Quetta bomb, mine blasts

2007-12-18

A boy was killed while nine other persons including a police constable were injured in a bomb blast on the main Abdul Sattar Road here Monday evening. Separately a man was injured in a mine blast while another landmine was detonated by police. DSP City Raja Ishtiaq told this news agency that unknown miscreants planted a bomb in front of Malik Plaza, which exploded when the bazaar was packed with people busy in Eid shopping. As a result, at least 10 people were injured who were rushed to nearby National Hospital and Civil Hospital. The boy identified as Rehmatullah succumbed to his injuries in National Hospital while the injured traffic police constable Mohammad Ali Durrani, Mohammad Musa, Nasrullah, Ahmed Ali, Tayyab, Abdul Qayyum, Rafiq, Ateeq and Mohammad Naeem were shifted to Civil Hospital for treatment. Their condition is stated to be out of danger. In another incident, a man was seriously injured after stepping on a landmine apparently planted by unknown miscreants in a graveyard on western bypass. Police also recovered another mine after search.The injured was admitted to Bolan Medical Complex and a case was registered against unknown saboteurs.

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India-Pakistan

'No emergency' in Pakistan

2007-08-10

Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, appears to have backed away from declaring a state of emergency after mixed reports that he would opt for authoritarian rule. Local television channels and newspapers reported on Thursday that the declaration was imminent but Pakistan's information minister denied that any such decision had been made. Mohammad Ali Durrani said: "In the president's view, there is no need at present to impose an emergency. The president was under pressure from different political parties to impose an emergency, but he believes in holding free and fair election and is not in favour of any step that hinders it." Opposition parties say issuing an emergency decree would be drastic and retrogressive.

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India-Pakistan

Military Inc: enter at your own risk

2007-06-08

At 10 pm on May 25, Ayesha Siddiqa gets a call from the information minister. It's only a chat he wants with the author of Military Inc. Maybe tomorrow, he can drop in, he wonders. He doesn't. On the evening of May 27, Mohammad Ali Durrani calls again, "can we meet at 11 am tomorrow?" 'Tomorrow' arrives sans Durrani. "I kept my husband from going to work as I wanted him around when my fellow Bahawalpuria (Durrani is from a neighbouring area) came," Ayesha says. Then comes 'D-Day' May 31, the day of the launch. The booked hall cancels her out; hotels shoo her away. Meanwhile the moment of the launch draws. Disinformation goes into overdrive with text messages flying around saying the launch is called off; the book is banned. "I wish I had met Durrani. I wanted to know why the government was so hyper, so fearful." Ayesha says. "Perhaps the time was inopportune; the moment wrong," she adds as an afterthought. The Supreme Court seminar relayed live flayed the army and the top brass swore never again would they allow a frontal assault. Ayesha became their first anger-victim. Peripatetic and barefoot on the mosaic floor of her home in Islamabad, Ayesha, 41, is constantly on her cell. Tea with biscuits arrives. "Can you get me some saltish biscuits," she asks her servant. "I'm diabetic; I've had five heart surgeries." Well-wishers call to talk about General (retd) Hameed Gul's reported Rs1.2 billion defamation notice to her. She often breaks into seraiki with the callers. The TV crew of Al-Jazeera has turned up to interview her. She must change out of her casual tee shirt and sweat pants, dab on some makeup, do her hair before facing the camera. What was the trigger that caused you to write this book? Did you think it would raise such a stink in the establishment? "No I didn't," comes her honest reply. "What's the hoo- hah about?" she throws her hands in the air. "All the information is already out there in the public domain. I merely connected the dots," still perambulating and fidgeting with her cell and newspapers. Okay, stop quibbling about the theory part Ayesha reproduced from public and government records, national assembly, even court papers. That's old hat. Let's move to her free-spoken analysis of the military business she dubs "Milbus" which is the real problem for the military. "Milbus is meant for the gratification of senior officers where huge funds are transferred from public to private individuals without any transparency," Ayesha says. Almost all countries, developed and developing, have military empires, "but Pakistan is unique, with Indonesia and Turkey coming close." Explaining while Western militaries operate from outside, making money doing business with other countries, "in Pakistan the military penetrates inside to get imbedded in the socio-economic and political arenas. For 60 years, the military classes have cohabitated with ruling elites such as the politicians, bureaucracy, civil society and businessmen wresting an empire for themselves for the senior army officers. Democracy is their anti-thesis." It took her two years to research the answer she wanted: "I could not understand why everybody in the military was biting into the pie and why the corporate and the political elites were letting them do that." She found an "explanation" at last: In Pakistan predation is the norm and the predators are the ruling elites. Put simply, the defence forces along with others have preyed on and plundered the resources of the state. "I must have interviewed some 100 odd johnnies (she won't name them) from these walks of life from which I have drawn this conclusion." Well, you started the shosha; added fuel to fire; got the crowds all het up, so now for you to look deflated and be on the defensive, even sound apologetic, as you did on Geo with Kamran Khan is most surprising? I tell her. "Says who I was on the defensive?" Ayesha hotly refutes. "Yes, you were", Brigadier (retd) Ishtiaq Ali Khan echoes. He lives nearby. Pulling out a list of good the 'Military Inc' has done, he says: "it employs a large number of ex-army personnel as well as civilians; tens of thousands ex-soldiers get welfare benefits in healthcare, education, loans in far-flung areas and supports financially widows and families of over 50,000 shaheeds (martyrs)." "You become a fraternity -- all you military people (retired and serving) when your interests are threatened," Ayesha tells the brigadier who is one of the three high-ranking officers who resigned when General Zia overthrew Bhutto and took power in 1977. The man has principles. Judging by an old Suzuki FX he drives, one can only say that 'Milbus' must have bypassed the brigadier. Still, his old heart beats in unison with his fellow military men. "Brigadier sahib (woe betide, he hasn't read her book!) I will not talk to a retired or serving officer unless he has read my book. I repeat I have no intention to malign the army. I'm just presenting the facts," she tells Ishtiaq Ali Khan. Addressing us both, she mildly scolds: "Your views are too simplistic. It's very sad that you should look at my TV interview with such a narrow vision." Continuing her 'lesson' to a 'pair of school kids' (me and the brig) she begins all over again: What the book contains was earlier extracted and printed in two Newsline articles last year. "I wanted to test the waters and when I got no reaction from any quarters, I went ahead with the publication." We're informed that heavyweights like Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Justice Fakhruddin G Ibrahim and Jamil Yusuf okayed the Military Inc book proposal and nominated Ayesha in 2004 as a Woodrow Wilson Scholar. She went to Washington and wrote the book. "Let me make one thing very clear," she says when I ask why she politicised the launch by inviting opposition party parliamentarians Aitzaz Ahsan and Ahsan Iqbal to speak. "I am an academic; not a politician. I don't lead rallies." She invited the two Ahsans because she wanted to "put them on the spot for their parties' unholy alliance with the army". I don't accept her argument. I think the author wanted fireworks but hadn't bargained on an inferno. She reminds me of the brave and heroic fire fighters of New York, dousing her inflammatory book with foamy explanations on why she penned it. Her father, Sardar Owaisi, was an MPA belonging to the PPP. He died in 1979, when Ayesha was only 13 years old. "I wanted to enter politics but at age 26, when I went to UK to do my PhD in war studies, I was completely engrossed in academia and could never give up writing." Her mother, Jamila Hashmi, is the renowned short-story writer. Today, their daughter has shown spunk to stand up to the establishment: the security analyst's own security is in danger: "My home and world is Pakistan and my heart breaks when I get messages to leave the country." You're gutsy; people want you as their hero, I tell Ayesha. "I'd rather be a Harry Potter than a CJP 2!" she smiles. Epilogue: That evening (June 5) Ayesha abruptly left for London.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan tightens media rules after army criticised

2007-06-02

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani authorities are tightening rules to restrict live television broadcasts of opposition rallies in a move aimed at stopping criticism of the powerful military. Criticism of the army is a sensitive issue but some lawyers supporting suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry threw barbs at the military at a seminar broadcast live on private television channels on Saturday. The government responded by filing a legal complaint against the lawyers. In addition to the legal action, the government’s broadcast authority is going to enforce rules that require television stations to get permission for live broadcasts. “We will ensure that the rules are properly followed,” said a senior government official who declined to be identified. A broadcaster said there had always been a rule requiring permission for live broadcasts but it had not been invoked before. “Now, they say they will not allow it without permission,” said Syed Talat Hussain, news director at the private Aaj television. He said he had received an instruction to get permission this week. Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani, asked about the broadcasting rule, said: “We will not allow maligning of the army and the judiciary. It will no longer be tolerated.” No live broadcasts. Censorship of the press. No free assembly for groups of five or more. And don't even think of changing the 'religion' category on passports. Yup, that Pakistan's a thriving democracy, huh.

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India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2007-05-21

Nakal khors at Punjab University As reported in daily Express, the Higher Education Commission urged action against the teachers of many jamiat (universities). Last year in Punjab University (PU) five teachers copied foreign researchers’ publications and printed their names on them to earn promotions and medals. The university formed three committees in one year and is reluctant to punish the teachers. The university’s Grants’ Commission has demanded the removal of these teachers. Art gallery changed into performing arts hall As reported in daily Jang, Madiha Gauhar, Usman Peerzada, Samina Ahmad, Khalid Abbas Dar and Asim Bokhari addressed a press conference at the Lahore Press Club saying that the government has reserved the auditorium of the National Art Gallery in Islamabad for the performing arts and any criticism by some visual artists has been misplaced. They said that the artists should show solidarity while people from Jamia Hafsa are rising in the country. Madiha Gauhar said that there is no hall in Islamabad and the auditorium was being used for useless activities like fashion shows. Violence at Punjab University As reported in daily Khabrain, a student in the English department in Punjab University was beaten by a student group for talking to a female student. According to the students, the university has 25,000 students and has been held hostage by a student tanzim for decades. The administration said that the student tanzim is not as powerful as before and 35 students were expelled who opposed the administration for creating the music department and holding book fairs at the university. Nawaz Sharif has got the key Afamous columnist wrote in daily Nawa-e-Waqt, that Benazir Bhutto has cleverly made herself a popular leader in Pakistan. But, if both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir are allowed to come back to Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif will attract a much bigger crowd than Benazir. Nawaz is no angel however, and he is obsessed with acquiring all powers for himself. He tried to impose his brother on Punjab and had no respect for the free press and the judiciary. But there is no doubt that in his cultural and social behaviour, he is much closer to the majority of Pakistanis. Who is Khalid Khawaja? In daily Nawa-e-Waqt lyrical columnist Irfan Siddique, wrote that he saw Khalid Khawaja in a mosque of his mohalla for the first time. After 9/11 when the wives and children of the Arab mujahideen were wandering and no one was ready to support them, he saw two people who were very anxious about them. One was ex MNA from Kohat, Jawed Ibrahim Paracha, and the other was Khalid Khawaja. Soon they formed a defense of human rights and Khalid Khawaja was made the chief coordinator. He was arrested by agencies on January 26. The role of the media in Pakistan As reported in daily Nawa-e-Waqt, the minister for information Mohammad Ali Durrani said that the media has got more freedom today as compared to previous governments. The executive editor of Nawa-e-Waqt Majid Nizami said that the media is not as free as is being suggested. Misinformation in the media is being spread because ministers are spreading confusions about the deal. Similarly a news channel gave the news that an open trial of the Chief Justice would be held by the Supreme Judicial council. Aamer Ahmad Khan of BBC said that the open trial news was mentioned by Qazi Hussain Ahmad who is not an ordinary vendor on the street but a responsible politician. Beggars, vendors and shepherds are American agents As reported in daily Express, suspicious Taliban people have distributed pamphlets in the Bajaur agency. The pamphlets said that beggars, vendors and shepherds are American agents and threatened harsh punishments if they didn’t leave the Bajaur agency. According to an English newspaper no organisation accepted the responsibility for the pamphlet. Ban on loudspeakers in Mauritius According to daily Express, the head of the Muslim Citizen Council of Mauritius, Fawad Atini said that Muslims never objected to the fireworks of Chinese religious festivals, nor to the bells of Christian churches, then why has a ban has been imposed on using loud speakers from a mosque for Azaan. A local court banned the use of loud speakers of a Hayat ul Islam mosque on the complaint of a local non Muslim who said that the loud noise of the loudspeakers disrupted his routine life. Research is essential in Islam As reported in daily Jang, the founder of the Tehreek Minhaj ul Quran said that today there is a lot of knowledge but very little practice. And lots of people who are working on religion have closed their ties with research. He said the body of Islam should not be with arrows of lack of knowledge. A boy with a tail in Mahabharat As reported in daily Khabrain, in an Indian city, Bhatinda, a boy was born with an ugly growth similar to a tail in a hospital where a superstitious pundit declared him as an avatar of Hanuman. A crowd gathered to see the boy and the fraud pundit has started minting money by fooling people. The boy is trained by the pundit to bless the people while the child doesn’t even know what he is doing. Atlas Of Creation proves Darwin wrong As reported in daily Nawa-e-waqt, a Turkish preacher, Adnan Auktar, alleged that with the help of the skeleton and pictures and quotes from the Holy Quran, the theory of Charles Darwin can be proved wrong. He also proved that there is no connection between Darwin’s theory and communism, and between fascism and terrorism. His book Atlas Of Creation is being distributed free of charge in France. His book is also translated into the Arabic and Malaysian languages. Mercenaries and jihad soldiers In daily Express, famous columnist Abdul Qadir Hassan wrote that enlightened moderation was formulated by an American Jew Henry Kissinger and has become the slogan of our government. Henry Kissinger studied the culture and religion of Islam and created this beautiful slogan to counter the challenge of Islam. Enlightened moderation attacks the Islamic commandment of jihad that is linked with extremism and terrorism. If a Muslim doesn’t have passion for jihad then he is a mercenary who like the Muslim soldiers of the British era fought at different fronts in Burma and other places.

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India-Pakistan

Cabinet divided on Jamia Hafsa issue

2007-04-12

The federal cabinet was on Wednesday divided on the Jamia Hafsa issue, with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) ministers demanding use of force and others supporting negotiations. Four ministers from the MQM raised the Jamia Hafsa issue and demanded action. However, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao and Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq disagreed, saying that talks were under way to resolve the issue. The sources said after Sherpao and Haq briefed the cabinet members, it was agreed that use of force should be the last option. “The dominant view of the cabinet members was to first exhaust all means to settle this issue without using force,” sources told Daily Times. The sources said Sherpao and Haq were confident a peaceful solution could be reached. “It was unanimously decided to give talks a chance,” the sources said. Later, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told reporters: “We have many options to deal with this issue, but the government will wait for the outcome of talks between Chaudhry Shujaat and the Jamia Hafsa management before taking any action.” He said the law-enforcement agencies had been given clear instructions on the issue. He rejected rumours about a change in the government, saying that all institutions were strong and working well. He also rejected reports that it was the last cabinet meeting and a photo session was conducted on Wednesday.

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Afghanistan

Anti-Pakistan statements hurting Karzai's popularity: Durrani

2006-12-18

Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said on Sunday that the government of President Hamid Karzai was losing its popularity in Afghanistan due to its anti-Pakistan statements. “Pakistanis and Afghans are one people, and their leadership can win public support provided they begin efforts to bring the citizens of both countries closer,” Durrani said. “Pakistanis and Afghans are one people, and their leadership can win public support provided they begin efforts to bring the citizens of both countries closer,” Durrani said at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme at the Peshawar Press Club. The minister said Pakistan did not want to hurt the sentiments of Afghans by responding to Karzai’s statements in the same language. He said the two countries were liked via social, cultural and religious bonds, and anybody who tried to break those bonds would face a public backlash. “Like in the past, we will remain friends in the future,” Durrani said. The minister said there were no disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, merely misunderstandings. He said he was planning a visit to Afghanistan with a team of journalists to remove these misunderstandings. He said the freedom of the press in Pakistan had strengthened the government. The government respects democratic institutions and the media, he added.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistani Islamists protest as new rape law signed

2006-12-02

Religious party activists held small protests on Friday in several cities around Pakistan as President Pervez Musharraf signed into law a bill curtailing the scope of Islamic laws on rape. Islamist opposition lawmakers have threatened to resign from parliament over the issue, but protests held after the National Assembly passed the Women's Protection Bill earlier this month have failed to generate much public support. "Right. We're gonna get out there and demonstrate against nooky." The passage of the bill was seen as a test of Musharraf's commitment to his vision of "enlightened moderation", and a major battle in a long struggle between progressives and religious conservatives to set the course for this mainly Muslim nation. "The bill was sent to the president by the prime minister yesterday, which he signed and returned today," Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told Reuters. Hundreds of supporters of the Islamist parties chanted anti-Musharraf slogans at a demonstration in Rawalpindi, the city next door to Islamabad, and demanded that the government scrap the bill, and there were smaller rallies in other cities after Friday prayers. The act takes the crime of rape out of the sphere of the religious laws, known as the Hudood Ordinances, and puts it under the penal code. Under the Hudood Ordinances, which were introduced by a military ruler in 1979, a rape victim had to produce four male witnesses to prove the crime, or face the possibility of prosecution for adultery. The change does away with that requirement and will allow convictions to be made on the basis of forensic and circumstantial evidence. An Islamist opposition leader said it would turn conservative Pakistan into a "free sex zone". Liberal groups and human rights activities have hailed the amendment, although they want a complete abolition of the Hudood Ordinances.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan denies coup rumours while Musharraf away

2006-09-24

Pakistan on Sunday denied rumours of a coup attempt against President Pervez Musharraf while he is visiting the United States. Newspaper offices and journalists were inundated with telephone calls and text messages inquiring about the rumours, which coincided with a widespread power cut. But television programmes did not allude to them until Geo Television ran a ticker headline saying Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani had accused "rumor mongers" of exploiting the power cut. Reuters made checks with senior government as well as military officials, and journalists saw nothing unusual in the capital or the neighboring garrison city of Rawalpindi. Durrani, who is traveling with Musharraf, told Reuters from New York: "These rumours were sparked by the power breakdown. These are baseless. These rumours spread because televisions were off and telephones were on." A military official who declined to be named added: "It's totally rubbish." Last week Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as Thai prime minister while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York -- which Musharraf also attended. MEDICAL CHECK Durrani also said Musharraf had had a routine medical check-up in Texas with a Pakistani-American doctor. "He is absolutely all right," he said. Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless military coup seven years ago and has controversially held onto his role as chief of army staff, is due to launch his autobiography, entitled "In the Line of Fire," in New York on Monday. He also has a second meeting with President George W. Bush, along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and is due back in Pakistan by the end of the week. Power cuts are not unusual in Pakistan but Sunday's outage, which blacked out large parts of the country including Islamabad, Rawalpindi and the eastern city of Lahore for several hours, was unusually extensive. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said maintenance work on a transmission line in northern Pakistan had caused the breakdown, and officials at the state-run power utility ruled out sabotage. Musharraf has survived several assassination attempts since withdrawing Pakistan's support for the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan in 2001, after the Islamist militia refused to surrender its guest, Osama bin Laden, in the wake of al Qaeda's September 11 attacks on the United States. While fears of assassination remain, speculation about Musharraf's grip on power is seldom heard, as there is no overt political challenge to him. Leaders of the mainstream opposition parties are living in exile, and while some Islamist leaders talk of toppling the president, most diplomats and analysts reckon Musharraf could only be ousted by a coup from within the military.

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