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India-Pakistan

Maryam warns of going on a hunger strike if Nawaz not allowed homemade food

2019-07-09

[DAWN] Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of incarcerated former premier 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, then by the courts... , on Monday warned that she would go on a hunger strike if the government doesn't allow her father homemade meals. "The fake government has imposed restrictions on homemade meals for Nawaz Sharif. The staff who took his food has been waiting outside the jail for the last five hours," she said via a tweet. "Mian sahab has refused to eat prison food. If they [the government] do not take back this restriction in the next 24 hours, then I will contact the court." "If I don't get help from the court, then I will sit outside Kot Lakhpat jail. Even if I have to go on a hunger strike, I will do it," she warned in another tweet. "I don't trust these oppressors; they can mix anything in Mian sahab's food," she said, adding her warning should not be considered a mere threat and that she would go through with it. Later in the day, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif also took to Twitter to condemn the restriction on homemade food for Nawaz Sharif. He said Mian Nawaz Sharif is a heart patient and depriving him of homemade food is a grave oppression. He demanded the government to immediately ensure the provision of home-cooked meals to Nawaz.

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India-Pakistan

Fazlur Rehman, Nawaz discuss 'shared concern' on inflation, economy

2019-04-10

[DAWN] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... on Tuesday called on former prime minister 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, then by the courts... at his residence to inquire about the latter's health and discuss the political situation in the country. Rehman, while talking to journalists after the meeting, said he had been in touch with other politicians, including Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... , who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... . He added that he will also call on Zardari in the next few days as believes that "internal connections [among opposition parties] should remain intact". "The agenda of the meeting was limited to inquiring about his [Nawaz Sharif's] health, but we also discussed our shared concerns about towering inflation, which is affecting the common man, and the troubled economy," he said while responding to a question. Calling Prime Minister Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... a "fake and khala'i [extra-terrestrial]" premier, Rehman described the current regime as an "installed" one. He added that the ruling regime has no knowledge of the ideology of Pakistain, the ground realities of the country and the economy. He repeated that the JUI-F has completed 10 'million marches' against the government and that they are ready for a decisive one. Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella went down under the weight of the custard... Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry ‐ who is already not in the good books of the JUI-F ‐ took to Twitter to criticise the meeting and asked the judiciary to take notice. "The Supreme Court had been informed that Nawaz Sharif was ill at a extant that it would be life threatening if he is denied bail. Lied, as always. And now instead of an ambulance, Fazalur Rehman has reached there and is providing political oxygen to Mian Nawaz Sharif. Courts should take a notice of it."

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India-Pakistan

Nawaz Sharif was destined to be eclipsed by the army chief

2015-07-24

[DAWN] A year or so ago, those in Lahore who didn’t approve of the Sharif brothers’ rule had in a majority of cases placed their bets on Imran Khan. The skipper has since been dropped in favour of a more forthcoming and more empowered Gen Raheel Sharif. Any further developments in which Mr Khan is seen to be blocked – such as a judicial commission report that does not favour his cause – is going to add to Gen Sharif’s appeal as the only likely change-maker. The general’s rise has been swift. For a brief period after the dharna in Islamabad was called off, it seemed to some that the old PML-N alliance with the army had been restored. That the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had failed to get from the military the relief it was looking for brought back the old grand theories about Mian Nawaz Sharif’s ‘natural’ bonding with the military, established meticulously over time under the tutelage of Gen Ziaul Haq. The PML-N government was thought to have left the worst behind it and was certified to not be threatened with any imminent danger. But considering how much history and common sense was invested in the theory, the moment passed all too quickly. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was destined to be eclipsed by the army chief. The old theory was replaced by new ones, many of which sought not to unduly disturb the visible sensitive balance with the military the Sharif government had managed to ‘restore’. The agreement was that Gen Sharif was a rival of Prime Minister Sharif’s choosing in public gallery. With a quick recall of his past it was decided that PML-N leaders were once again willing to live by an illusion of power while the real authority rested elsewhere — so long as it kept Mr Khan at bay. Thus the most talked about of the explanations was that which projected the prime minster as a satisfied junior partner to Gen Sharif.

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India-Pakistan

A battle without heroes

2014-08-12

[DAWN] Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... wants to be Prime Minister and he wants it really, really bad. All elections till, if and whenever that time will be "rigged". There is a lot of hubris by Mr. Khan and his enthusiastic cadre about facts and exposes. Sadly, none of it is completely rational. Sadder still is the fact that it does not matter. "Reason" is the distinctive casualty this protest season. Dr Qadri, now, wants blood. He wants "action", chaos and perhaps most significantly he wants deaders. His holiness is playing an extremely dangerous game. We should expect nothing less or more from Shaiky-ul-Islam. It is his willing playmates, the Mian brothers, which stumps one at the sheer masochism and desire for political suicide. It is almost poetic; all three of them deserve each other. What does Mian 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... want? Mian Sahib wants to survive. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... the battle is significantly already lost, and Mian Brothers have no one to blame except for themselves and the loyalists. There probably will not be a coup. Yet, Mian Nawaz Sharif, the businessman has squandered political and moral capital spectacularly fast and with breathtaking recklessness. The best case scenario is that Mian Sahib "survives" and does just that, survive, nothing more, with the possibility of quite a lot less always looming. All the plans, if there were any, sacrificed, the price of survival, subsisting. We know the "not best" case scenario, all too well. The moral and indeed political authority erodes as Lahore is a battleground. Not quite the incredible hyperbole of his holiness Qadri of absurd comparisons with Gazoo, yet quite bad, worse than it was on the worst day of the lawyers' movement against the Commando. Tear gas shelling, lathis, arrests, petrol stations closed, mobile phone services tipped to shut down anytime, the Metro Bus model of good governance at peak levels. Dr Qadri provokes and incites, that is just what he does. He exaggerates, threatens and blackmails, today Model Town is Gazoo, last year the elected government was the "Yazids". He is a vacationer and has no stake in the system. His business is hate and fear. In the Mian brothers, he has struck gold. Mian Nawaz Sharif is nothing right now, if not very, very afraid. Those asking Mian Nawaz Sharif to retire are hammering on an open door. Mian, the elder has in fact retired. Mian, the younger takes a sledgehammer to every nail. The PML-N government is not to be judged in comparison with the egoistic Mr. Khan and or the maniacal, Dr. Qadri. It has to stand on its own merits, and it does not. Mr. Khan and His holiness do set the bar very low, and being better than them might not mean all that much in any objective or perhaps final analysis. Excessive force is being used. Qadri wants deaders, and Mian Sahib is here to oblige. His holiness was all this last time around and yet the country did not descend into chaos. Mr. Khan threatened dharnas every week, and Mian Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... lead marches against the President, yet calm, albeit, a tense one prevailed. What is different this time around? Firstly, it is the Mian government, and they do not like dissent, particularly when the heaviness of the mandate bears upon them. Secondly, Punjab and Lahore is where the line is drawn, in this case by blood. Zaman Park and Model Town versus Model Town and Raiwind. This is just not done. You mess with Punjab, it is personal. Tahirul-Qadri has an entire city hostage, and worse he did not have to work very hard for it. Mian Shahbaz Sharif handed it to him on a platter, with ribbons and all that jazz. The fear demonstrated by the brothers is unbelievable, from the blockades and arrests, to the astounding absurdity by Rana Mashood and Co (where in God's name does the PML-N find these gems, a secret mystery garden in Raiwand, perhaps). One shudders to think how of all of this will play out when Mr. Khan embarks on his march of destruction, and the same tactics will be used, since, these tactics apparently is what the entire skill set of the government is composed of. There is collective punishment for the entire city, and most of the province for the sins of Qadri, and much more awaits us for the silliness of Mr. Khan. Our fundamental rights are suspended since Qadri and Khan do not respect law? This fight has no heroes, only varying degree of villainy. The violent versus the vicious. The dumb versus the dumber. Yet, there is a heavier onus on Mian Nawaz Sharif, and he seems both unwilling and unable to discharge it. One has to resist the very real temptation of not letting the thoroughly unappealing and undemocratic politics of Mr. Khan and Dr. Qadri not obscure the arrogance and inefficiency at display by the Sharif government. There is never a valid, justifiable excuse for the "boys" to come in. Messers Khan and Qadri have not put forth compelling arguments for a midterm. Yet, the threat lies within. Model Town episode 1 and 2 are signature bureaucratic solutions, the sort that Mian Nawaz and Shahbaz love. Mian Nawaz Sharif, it seems has no real appetite left for hands on politics. That's too bad. The task at hand requires lot more than Turkish and Chinese solutions, whiz kids and wily bureaucrats. Where was the address to the nation on rigging allegations, Khan and Qadri threat? Where the all parties' conference was when it was needed (would have at least saved a lot of pleading and desperate wooing being attempted now)? Policy making was never PML-N's strong point. Marketing and optics were all they had; after Article 245, section 144, Model town and Islamabad, not anymore. Sticks and stones should not be all it takes to bring down the mighty Punjab Police. With the feeling of futility, one can still volunteer advice. Let them do their thing; just enforce the law, not repression, respect dissent (even if unsubstantiated and vicious). Tire them out, exhaust them, have a dialogue with them and the rest of the politicianship, a real one, not the superficial sort going on now. Once all of this is over, it soon will be, and if there is still time, the battered Mian Sahib has to begin the long process of consolidating and actually doing some democratic governance and slowly regain the lost political capital. All of that will require doing some real, serious politics. It seems, it is simply too much to ask.

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India-Pakistan

PPP dares PML-N to try Musharraf

2013-06-15

[Pak Daily Times] The Pakistain People's Party (PPP) on Friday threw down the gauntlet to Prime Minister 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... asking him to publish the Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... Commission report, shoot down drones and prosecute former military dictator Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... for treason, to fulfil the pledges he made before coming to power. Addressing a presser, PPP Secretary General and former Punjab governor Sardar Latif Khosa asked Nawaz Sharif to publish the report on the Abbottabad operation in which al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... was hunted down by the US whose forces intruded into the Pakistain airspace in the dark of night. "Mian Nawaz Sharif used to say that he would implement this commission's report. Now the time has come to fulfill his promise," Khosa remarked. He asked what was stopping Nawaz from shooting down the intruding drones despite being the prime minister now. Khosa recalled that Nawaz had also pledged to prosecute Musharraf and should honour his commitment now. He also lashed out at the PML-N government for presenting what he termed an anti-people budget and said that the government has "slaughtered the masses" by presenting such an unjust budget.

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India-Pakistan

PM Sharif's convoy stopped to let Army chief pass

2013-06-06

[BETA.DAWN] As Pakistain witnessed a historic democratic transition, many in the county have started to believe that the days of military supremacy are over. But not on the roads, at least not yet. As 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... , along with his family, left for the Presidency to take oath as prime minister for a record third time on Wednesday, he struck reality on the streets of Islamabad. The question is: who is the real power wielder in Pakistain? The prime minister or the Army chief? Theoretically, the army chief is answerable to a grade-22 civil bureaucrat. Practically, he is mightier than any elected or non-elected individual in the country. One such demonstration of this reality was witnessed Wednesday soon after Mian Nawaz Sharif's election as Prime Minister of Pakistain. After securing more than two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the premier reached Punjab House to freshen up. The prime minister was supposed to reach the Presidency before 4:00 pm to take oath from President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... At the oath-taking ceremony, services chiefs, politicians, diplomats and senior civil and military officials had been invited. PML-N sources and eyewitnesses said first to come out of Punjab House was the SUV carrying first lady Kulsoom Nawaz and her daughter Mariam Safdar. Just behind them were the vehicles of Hamza Shahbaz and Hassan Nawaz. The convoy of the prime minister was standing at close distance from the cars of his family members. As soon as they reached the outer barrier of Punjab House adjacent to Margallah Road, an alter commando blew the whistle with full force ordering the driver to stop the vehicle. Consequently, the prime minister's convoy had to stop as well. The pause remained for two to three minutes. The commando was there to make sure nothing should obstruct the route of the Army chief's convoy, only allowing vehicles from Punjab House to pass after the entire convoy of the army chief drove away. Whether it was a mere coincidence could not be ascertained. None of the PML-N leaders was ready to comment on the incident. But the prime minister might have shared his thoughts with his closest aides.

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India-Pakistan

Court moved against Nawaz's peace overtures to militants

2013-05-24

[Dawn] A writ petition was filed before the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court on Wednesday against the statement of former prime minister Mian 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... that he would hold talks with the myrmidons, requesting the court to declare that no person could engage in negotiations with any private army. The petition, filed by freelance journalist Shahid Orakzai, requested the court to declare that Mr Sharif's inclination to come to table with a private army belied his allegiance to Pakistain. The petitioner stated that immediately after his party's election victory, Mr Sharif invited the Indian prime minister to attend his oath-taking ceremony and did so without the approval of the President of Pakistain who was to conduct the oath. He contended that the promotion of good neighbourly relations was not a higher constitutional priority than the preservation of Islamic ideology of Pakistain. The petitioner requested the court to instruct the Election Commission of Pakistain (ECP) to inquire into Nawaz Sharif's relationship with the private army at war with Pakistain and give a ruling on his qualification to be elected as an MNA. He has also requested the court to allow him interim relief by restraining the ECP from notifying the return of Mr Sharif or suspend such a notification until decision on this petition. The respondents in the case are Mian Nawaz Sharif and the ECP through its secretary. The petitioner has raised several points asking whether any member of the National Assembly can review or revise any state policy without taking any oath under the Constitution. He questioned whether any member-elect of the National Assembly could assume control and command of the armed forces or dictate a ceasefire before assuming the office of prime minister. He asked whether any member-elect of the National Assembly could hold talks with a private army in contravention of Article 256 of the Constitution.

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India-Pakistan

Blasts at election offices kill eight in Pakistan

2013-04-28

Eight people died and 29 were injured Sunday in two separate bombings at election offices in Pakistan, police said. The first incident occurred Sunday morning at an election office at the Orakzai Agency and Kohat border, Geo News reported. The bomb, containing 22 pounds of explosives, detonated at the joint office of independent candidate Syed Noor Akbar from Orakzai Agency, and Awami National Party candidate Khurshid Begum, from Kohat, police said. Neither candidate was injured. At least five people died and 21 others were injured in the blast. The second blast was in Peshawar where at least three people died and eight were injured, Geo News reported. The explosion was at the office of an independent candidate for Bara Khyber Agency, Nasir Khan. Khan was uninjured. In response to the bombings, President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Mian Nawaz Sharif called on politicians to unite against terrorism. "We just cannot let a handful of militants deny us elections. We will have to stand as one man against their anti-Pakistan designs. Elections shall be held as scheduled no matter what," he said in a statement.

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India-Pakistan

Sharifs not defaulters: NAB

2013-04-07

ISLAMABAD -- The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has denied that it declared the Sharif brothers -- Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif -- as defaulters. In a late night Press release on Friday in response to Shahbaz Sharif's rejoinder to media reports that the bureau had declared him and Nawaz Sharif loan defaulters, the NAB said it had, instead, cleared their nomination papers. It explained that it had only given the details of cases against the Sharif brothers to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) but had never declared them defaulter. You begin to wonder if Pakistan would just be better off if it shot or deported everyone in the country named Sharif, Musharraf, Bhutto or Zardari... That'd just clear the way for the Chaudrys. We can solve that too... Meanwhile, the NAB also clarified that to facilitate the commission in conducting fair and free election 2013, the bureau was providing the information sought by ECP about different candidates. Seaparately, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar on Saturday refuted Sharif's allegation that President Asif Ali Zardari was behind the conspiracy to malign Sharifs by dubbing them as loan defaulters. Babar said the president had nothing to do with the preparation of lists of defaulters by the State Bank of Pakistan, the NAB and the the ECP. In a related development, the SBP acknowledged that it had wrongly listed a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Jehangir Tarin as defaulter of Rs440 million when he was ex-officio chairman of Taxila Heavy Mechanical Complex, a state-owned enterprise.

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India-Pakistan

Imran says Allah Almighty not the secret hands behind him

2011-11-26

[One Pakistan] Beautiful Downtown Peshawar , Chairman Pakistain Tehrik Insaf Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... has rejected the notion that he has been backed by secret agencies saying the Allah Almighty and people of Pakistain are his supporters. "I always sought help from Allah and he is backing me. With the support Allah and back of people of Pakistain I will clinch two wickets of President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... and Mian 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... with a single ball, " Imran said while addressing a party gathering in Jhagra area in the outskirt of Peshawar. Mr. Khan who address the gathering of thousands people, where considerable number of females were also present, said his first priority will to bring uniformity in the educational system as well bring financial reforms in order to provide equal opportunity to the poor to compete with those belongs to high class,". He said PTI Tsunami has reached Jhagra and no one can stop it. He said that PTI stands for liberating masses from the clutches of inflation, and will introduce uniform education system and social justice to the masses. Khan said that the era of old politics of lies and old parties has come to an end and that they were going to make a new Pakistain. He said that the people were being crushed in a crucible of the inflation, adding that PTI will impose taxes on the rich. He came down hard on Pakistain Mohammedan League (PML-N) Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif saying that he even failed to control dengue mosquito, so how can beat PTI in politics. He said that PTI was Pakistain?s political party and belonged to all persons without any discretion of caste and creed and that they will end the hatreds. We will put an end to begging for and make Pakistain a donor country,? Khan added. At the start of the meeting Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) leader and member of its Central Executive Committee (CEC) Iftikhar Khan Jhaghra announced to resign from his party and joined PTI. Speaking at this occasion, Jhaghra said that the PPP days were numbered due to its corrupt leadership. PTI Provincial Chief Asad Qaiser said at this occasion PTI was the province largest political party. Qaiser at this occasion enumerated Imran Khan?s services for Pakistain and said that Imran Khan is representing Pakhtuns. He said that it was time of change and asked the people join Imran to create a new Pakistain. Others party leaders also spoke at this occasion.

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India-Pakistan

Present govt the most corrupt in Pakistan's history: Nawaz

2011-11-21

[Dawn] The Chief of the Pakistain Moslem League (PML-N) Mian 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... said that the present government is the most corrupt in the history of Pakistain and that the ministers are only making money. He was speaking to a large gathering at Faisalabad. Nawaz Sharif also said that he was saddened to see the country's situation. "We are among the last in South Asia," he added. Nawaz Sharif stressed on President Zardari to launch an inquiry into the alleged memo to Mike Mullen. He said that if Zardari will not start any inquiry he will go to the Supreme Court on the behalf of all four provinces over the issue. He also criticised Prime Minister Gilani for praising the US government after the operation against the late Osama bin Laden. ... who sleeps with the fishes... Nawaz Sharif said that Kashmire is an issue of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and security. Criticising the agencies he said that they should stop their interference in the political affairs of Pakistain. Thousands of peoples welcomed Mian Nawaz Sharif, the head of the N League. Earlier, Chaudhary Nisar Ali, Javed Hashmi, Sanaullah Zahri, Saad Rafiq, Pir Sabir Shah and other leaders addressed the gathering. Chaudhry Nisar Ali said that ISI is a national organization and that the army is defamed when it personally held on to power. Talking about the assets of Nawaz Sharif, he said that Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... should contact the Supreme Court on the issue of assets.

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India-Pakistan

Continued from previous page

2011-11-16

[Dawn] THERE is no running away from Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... , not as yet when some of the important people around have just acknowledged his presence. The prime minister, a veteran politician in the old school who had initially refused to be drawn into discussing the Imran option, or even his jalsa, finally spoke on the subject last week. As did indeed Mian 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... , who was away while the agents of change got together to hold a big anti-Sharif rally in the heart of the Sharifs' Lahore. Since he has just been taken real notice of, the Pakistain Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief has now entered a phase where his opinion is urgently sought on sensitive subjects such as the ISI, who the army chief owes his allegiance to and the controversial blasphemy law. He is under watch for each step he takes, each word he utters and any sign of his old impatient, even self-righteous, self he may betray. Not only Imran Khan's own gestures but also the moves of his party men are being closely followed for any giveaway that could come in handy later. The large numbers that are behind him are right now all too willing to ignore any PTI slips as teething problems for a born-again party of a born-again someone. Thus the talk about a complaining senior PTI member who suddenly finds a television studio in Lahore too small for his expanding ambitions does not rise above a whisper. Imran Khan's own rather curt -- typical? -- reaction to a television anchor, who was discourteous enough to cut him short while he was giving his opinion on the cricketers' conviction in London, also goes unchallenged in a manner that is so atypical of our media. The anchor is constrained to murmur an apology and allow the leader of change in Pakistain to speak his truth. The truth from Imran Khan's side that has emerged so far portrays a polarised country that allows one set of people to persecute and prey on another on the basis of belief and the law. In the PTI chief's opinion, the British introduced the blasphemy law to ensure harmony in society and it is our indigenous invention -- the current polarisation -- that exposes someone like Salmaan Taseer or Shahbaz Bhatti to the assassin's gun. Pressed by the interviewer, a non-Pak, he eventually concedes that reform may be in order -- which prevents misuse of the law. A procedural change in the blasphemy law is perhaps what Imran Khan is willing to concede, something which Gen Musharraf has attempted and what the current PPP-led government had at least promised. If this amounts to skirting the issue then the PTI chief appears to be doing it as well and as skilfully as any other politician around. But obviously now is not the time to raise such questions for fear of being cast by Imran lovers as the perpetrators of the status quo. Imran Khan says he is different. His proclaimed strength lies in his high morals and his promised ability to better execute what others can at best support in theory. He reacts strongly to suggestions that he is being propped up by the ISI, taking on Mian Nawaz Sharif over his statement about the new PTI being a creation of the agencies. He is quite frank in pointing out how Nawaz Sharif's remarks about the agencies' backing for PTI had resulted in a further swelling of PTI ranks. "The PML-Nawaz is the only party created by agencies" in Pakistain, he says, before he tells everyone that only those with a corruption record would be susceptible to bowing to the ISI's wishes. The ISI's reputation is not in question here. The target of the growing public tirade are the politicians who have failed to deliver after they were installed in power, something that according to the general belief cannot be done without the agencies. There is surely another way of looking at the situation, but who wants that in the excitement of a new Pakistain dawning on its deprived people. If it has taken Imran Khan 15 years to mature as a popular politician, it has taken Nawaz Sharif double that time to recognise his potential as an anti-establishment politician. And it has taken the PPP, not exactly a novice in the field of wheeling and dealing, much longer to unabashedly clarify that the agencies were on its side. This is an interesting sequence: Imran Khan says the ISI went after only corrupt and moral-less politicians; Nawaz Sharif accuses him of being the agencies' stooge and Imran Khan reciprocates in kind; Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... , the ultimate believer in parliament's supremacy, happily claims to be saddled by the agencies. All three have been heard speaking of reform. It is fine to be critical of weak-kneed, corrupt politicians who cannot stand up to the agencies. It is also okay for a politician calling for change to be pushing his credentials as an incorruptible and strong alternative to past and present rulers. That true reform would mean taking the ISI off the politicians' back is a thought that perhaps doesn't occur to the PTI 'supremo' who boasts that no one can control him. The crucial question is, how can an agency be allowed to gather dirt on politicians and then how does it use these dossiers of misdeeds to discredit and then dismiss the politicians? No one is asking Imran Khan this question at the moment. All embarrassing queries are directed at the poor souls who have set the stage for an awakening. How can the so-called democrat in Prime Minister Gilani allow himself to be flaunting the agencies' support? How can Nawaz Sharif deny someone else what he has himself enjoyed for so long? If not a new Pakistain, a large number in this country right now are wedded to the idea of a new cast in Pakistain. That, the word goes around, will be a huge relief in itself.

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