'Chaudhrys were after me!'
As reported by Insaf, ex-PM Mir Zafarullah Jamali stated that he used to receive lists of appointees to the cabinet from the president. Jamali was inducted to keep the Punjabis out of contention for the PM's job. He was threatened from the start that if he did not do as directed he would be sacked. The order for the appointment of Faisal Saleh Hayat, Naurez Shakoor, Rao Sikandar, Raza Hiraj and Major Tahir Warraich came directly from the president. Jamali said a Gang of Four in the Chaudhry circles got Kabir Wasti to write a letter of accusations about him to the president. Jamali went to Chaudhry Shujaat and told him to get this shatoongra (small Satan) off his back or he would sort him out. President Musharraf would lose his temper on the MMA and delivered long lectures. Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang that President Musharraf had given a chit to Ijazul Haq for the ministry of overseas Pakistanis, but Mr Jamali gave him religion ministry instead. This had offended the president.
Absconding 'naib khateeb' threatens 'fatwa'
According to Jang, the absconding naib khateeb of Lal Masjid Islamabad had sent a video message to a gathering of Imran Khan's Tehreek Insaf saying that he had absconded because he was not willing to be arrested and kept in custody. He said allegations against him of being linked to Al Qaeda were false. He said the other person implicated in the case, Maulana Abdul Aziz, khateeb of Lal Masjid had only issued a fatwa against the Wana Operation. He said MMA's Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Tehreek Insaf's Imran Khan should sit down and analyse the statements issued by the three ministers accusing him of being an agent of Al Qaeda.
Ahle Hadith have nine splinters
According to Khabrain, a 9th splinter in the wahhabi religious party Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith had appeared after one leader Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer quarrelled with the big MMA leader Prof Sajid Mir and decided to start up his own new party.
Mengal's rebellion
Writing in Jang, Irshad Haqqani stated that while the Senate Committee would do well to discuss the Balochistan issue with Sardar Ataullah Mengal, it should keep in mind that he has recently demanded Balochistan's autonomy not under the 1973 Constitution but in the light of the 1940 Muslim League resolution asking for 'sovereign states'. Mengal also wanted the Balochistan projects like the Gwadar port handed over to Balochistan. He also wanted all revenue handed over to Quetta and then negotiated for the central share from it. He did not want non-Balochistan domiciled citizens of Pakistan to have the right to vote in Balochistan.
Sacred name on 'zanana' cloth
According to daily Pakistan, the people of Alipur Chaththa were outraged when one cloth merchant sold a piece of ladies' cloth with the name of the Holy Prophet PBUH on it. A wave of anger (leher daur gayi) ran through the markets and the people came out to protest this latest occurrence. One honourable cleric said that this was a conspiracy of the yuhud-o-hunud (Jews and Hindus) and the government should at once uncover the culprits behind the printing of the cloth. The public protested on the roads for some time.
Hameed Gul admits wrong
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt, ex-ISI chief General (Retd) Hameed Gul said that he was wrong when he condemned Nawaz Sharif for opposing the Kargil Operation. The Kargil Operation was wrong (jhak mari gayi) but Nawaz Sharif was in no position to stop it. He said Pakistan should stick to the Kashmir position and not be too scared of offending the Americans.
Liaquat's problems with Jinnah
Former chief secretary Punjab, SK Mehmood, told daily Pakistan that prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan developed problems with governor general Quaid-e-Azam after 1947 on the question of settling refugees from India. He said there was an over all policy for settling them agreed at the top, but Liaquat Ali Khan wanted his own constituency carved out in Karachi by giving them special attention. The Constituent Assembly constituencies were mostly located in India. Because of these bad relations the Quaid was not looked after when he travelled from Balochistan to Karachi and died on a road in Karachi. He said Bhutto was partly to blame for the fall of Dhaka. He was unfairly hanged after Punjabi judges on the Supreme Court bench wanted him hanged and the non-Punjabi judges were opposed to hanging him. He said Bhutto was not bodily harmed before his hanging.
Kenya doesn't love Pakistan
Writing in Khabrain Wajahat Ali Khan stated that when he checked for Pakistani books in Kenya's biggest library he found that there was not a single book on Pakistan or from Pakistan in the library while there were 35 books on and from India. He added that there was not a single copy of the Holy Quran in the library.
ARD plays clever card
Writing in Jang Nazeer Naji stated that by nominating PMLN's Makhdoom Javed Hashmi as its candidate for premiership against Mr Shaukat Aziz, the ARD had cleverly challenged the MMA. It was apparent that the real foe of the clergy was the PPP and not the party of Nawaz Sharif. ARD had played a clever card by challenging the MMA to oppose Makhdoom Javed Hashmi. Haroonur Rasheed wrote in Jang that Makhdoom Javed Hashmi came from a middle class family with divine origins. His forefather was a nobleman of Multan who married a daughter of Muhammad Tughlaq, the ruler of Delhi. His father Muhammad Shah owned only five squares of land. Hashmi was a brave man who started with a religious party and like Liaquat Baloch was for a time an admirer of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Musarrat Shaheen was PAT member
According to Khabrain, Pakistan Awami Party (PAT) of Allama Tahirul Qadiri revealed that film actress Musarrat Shaheen was a member of PAT but it was not greatly disturbed by the fact that she had now joined PML. Ms Shaheen had announced at the time of offering herself to the PML that she was not a member of PAT. The party also published a photograph of the great actress submitting her party membership form to Allama Tahirul Qadiri.
Muhammad and India
Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt, Hamid Sultan stated that in all the libraries of the world the name of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH was written with the required words of reverence but not in India. At first India too followed the practice of showing reverence but now India used Muhammad simply without any show of reverence like PBUH. In India people who have visited the railway stations have noted that drinking water is designated as 'Muslim water' and 'Hindu water', which means that Muslims are not allowed to drink the same water as the Hindus. Many Pakistanis are misguided when they propose friendship and trade with India.
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and Dr AQ Khan
Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt, Irfan Siddiqi stated that in an American book on Pakistan's nuclear programme it was revealed that Dr Qadeer Khan's smuggling of nuclear secrets was revealed by Al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad after his arrest in Pakistan and his handing over to the United States. Khalid Sheikh revealed that AQ Khan was involved in international nuclear smuggling.
Oil on water colours, Pakistani style
Writing in Khabrain, Khalid Masood Khan stated that when he was in Manchester he had occasion to attend a function celebrating August 14. Pakistani painter Agha Nisar was exhibiting his water colours when the meal was served. The Pakistani crowd rushed to the dishes and one Pakistani resident lady took down a painting, laid it face down on the table, and put her dish of oily chawal on it. The white mayor of the town went up to her, took her aside and rescued the painting. In another function the announcer kept alive the audience's interest by announcing that food would be served soon. When the lunch boxes were served in their seats the resident Pakistanis snatched more lunch boxes than their share from the trays. Some residents grabbed a lot of lunch boxes and were found gorging themselves. Some British Pakistanis saw that the lunch boxes wee being raided and went for the kitchen instead and began eating there. The columnist observed that in the UK the white citizens observed the principle of lining up for their turn. But Pakistanis were still following the wild tradition of back home.
To break Pakistan
Daily Nawa-e-Waqt editorialised that retired Indian General Murli Dhar should be praised for speaking the truth when he said after crossing into Pakistan that in his 38 year career in the Indian army he was busy discussing with Indian politicians ways and means to break Pakistan. The general said that India had killed 70 thousand people in Kashmir and if there was an Indo-Pak war the two countries would be destroyed in quick time by atom bombs.
Pakistani Laila in Indian film
Daily Khabrain stated in its film column that Pakistani actors were now attracting publicity by saying that they had been invited to act in Indian films and were no longer proud of acting in Pakistani films. On a Lahore set, famous Pakistani actress Laila was acting in Wehshi Haseena (Savage Beauty) when she said that she would soon be going to London to act in an Indian movie. She said she was going to London instead of Bombay because the part required shooting in London. |
The heads of the six religious parties that form the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal will meet here today to finalise a policy on a number of key political issues. We will review the presidential election, return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan and other issues, said Syed Abdul Jalil Naqvi of the Millat-e-Jafria Pakistan. Jamaat-e-Islami leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Pir Abdur Rahid Naqshbandi of the JUI-Senior, Prof Sajid Mir of the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith and Sahibzada Abu Alkhair Al Zubair of the JUP have confirmed their participation at the meeting. 
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) central leadership has not decided about its members resigning from the National Assembly on the coming presidential election, MMA vice president Prof Sajjad Mir said on Tuesday. He said opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman had assured the MMA central leadership that he would not give a safe passage to President Pervez Musharraf. 
One man died and three others were injured when Sunni Tehreek (ST) workers tried to take over the Jamia Masjid Ahle Hadith in Tunisia Lines on Tuesday. According to reports, ST workers from the nearby Faizan-e-Aulia mosque surrounded Jamia Masjid and fired at those inside. 
Smaller parties in the