Yesterday some of us had the honour of meeting Justice (Retd) Wajeehuddin, fondly known as the Real President of Pakistan, at Hamid Zaman's home. We thank Mustafa Ramday - Justice Khalil Ramday's son - for arranging the meeting.
For the benefit of all, I would like to recap some of his comments:
1. The movement for the restoration of the judiciary is historic, and *will* succeed.
2. Contrary to what a certain thug has been saying, it will *not* require two-thirds majority in both houses for his actions to be undone. They can be reversed by executive order backed up by even a simple majority in parliament.
3. After the elections, the lawyer's movement will give a certain deadline (backed up by civil society) for the new parliament to reverse the unconstitutional orders passed by musharraf. if need be, the entire nation will be asked, at a predetermined date and time, to come out of their houses, offices and factories briefly to show their unity and solidarity with the movement.
4. If the incoming government fails to restore the judiciary within the proposed time period, we will start a peaceful movement for civil disobedience.
5. At no time, not for a moment, must we allow for another dictator to come and replace the current one. Pervez Musharraf is a symptom of the disease - he is not the disease itself. The disease has been the army's string of forays into governance, administration and politics, directly through military coups and indirectly through behind-the-scenes manipulation of political governments through the ISI.
6. This disease has to be eliminated. If today Kyani is asking for army personnel to not meet politicians - he is only doing his job. Do we commend or put on a pedestal every Pakistani for doing what they are supposed to do anyway? Do not give any army chief the room to feel he is anything more than a servant of the state, as the Founder of our Nation told a complaining colonel once.
7. He also urged members of civil society, to look for amongst themselves, people who possess the qualities of sincerity, selflessness, competence, and above all, compassion for the common man, who could become candidates for the future from different political parties. The political process has never been allowed to mature in Pakistan- and the corruption we see in the political arena is also another symptom of the disease - but we must not give up on this process, nor lose sight of the disease behind these symptoms.
Finally, it is important for all of us in civil society to remember and be prepared for the fact that the the restoration of the judiciary is a key facet (but not the sole one) of our fight for the institution of civil rights, freedom, democracy and rule of law. Our battle will be a long and drawn-out one, and we must not lose energy, nor hope, nor focus.
In Continuing Solidarity,
Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Inspirational Meeting with Justice (R) Wajeehuddin
Imran Khan barred from entering Karachi
Military Retirees Demand Musharraf’s Resignation
Published: February 6, 2008
They had assembled for a seminar, but in an unprecedented public protest, a retired army chief, several retired generals and dozens of former servicemen came out onto the main road chanting and shouting against Mr. Musharraf.
Just two weeks after they first assembled on Jan. 22 and wrote a resolution calling on Mr. Musharraf to resign, the retired officers’ movement is starting to build momentum and appears poised to take over where the lawyers’ movement, with its main leaders under house arrest, has stalled.
The campaign was also to warn the government not to try to interfere in the parliamentary elections on Feb. 18. The retired officers met for a seminar about Kashmir, the territory that Pakistan and India claim, organized by the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen’s Society, which cares for the welfare of retired military personnel, in a hotel near the Army General Headquarters. The speeches soon turned political, taking aim at Mr. Musharraf, blaming him for abandoning Kashmir, stifling an independent judiciary and perpetuating his one-man rule.
“He has messed things up; look at the law and order,” said Lt. Gen. Jamshed Gulzar Kiani, a retiree who was the corps commander of Rawalpindi, one of the most important posts in the army, under Mr. Musharraf when he was commanding general of the armed forces.
The rash of suicide bombings and the fighting raging in two of Pakistan’s four provinces were the main concerns the former generals raised.
Mr. Kiani said that Mr. Musharraf gave an elaborate seven-point order of action when he seized power in 1999, but that after eight years he had not delivered on any of them.
“Where is the interprovincial harmony?” he asked. “Where is the law and order? Even the economy is going down with escalating food prices. The net result of the eight-year rule is a complete mess-up of the country.”
Another former general, Ali Kuli Khan, who was passed over for the top army job when Mr. Musharraf was appointed to it in 1998, expressed his frustration with a cricket term. “We are here to bring the lesson home that you have had enough of an innings,” he said, “and unless you back off it will not be possible for things to calm down.”
The outbursts, by traditionally loyal and discreet men of the armed forces, represent yet another sign of the growing resentment in Pakistan against Mr. Musharraf, whose popularity has plunged since last March, when he dismissed the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The disaffection has grown sharply since Nov. 3, when Mr. Musharraf imposed martial law to see through his own election to another presidential term and since the Dec. 27 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader and former prime minister, as she campaigned.
Last month the former servicemen issued a statement urging Mr. Musharraf to resign and hand over power to Mr. Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest since Nov. 3.
Mr. Musharraf, who was in Europe at the time, attacked his detractors. “They are insignificant personalities,” The Financial Times quoted him as saying in an interview at the Davos World Economic Forum. “Most of them are ones who served under me, and I kicked them out.”
Most of the retired officers at the meeting dismissed his remarks by saying that they considered him a junior officer. Mr. Kiani, who had served under General Musharraf, said the ex-servicemen supporting the movement were now far more than the original 100 who signed a statement last month calling for him to step down.
The generals’ movement is important because Mr. Musharraf is more likely to listen to his peers, several at the meeting said.
“This development, and their involvement, is unprecedented,” said Roedad Khan, a retired senior bureaucrat who was a guest speaker at the seminar. “This is bound to change the course of events, and very soon.” As he arrived he was welcomed by one of the organizers, who exclaimed that the servicemen wanted to draw in representatives of the bureaucracy to their campaign.
Mr. Kiani urged Mr. Musharraf to “please quit” and said his policies were putting the army at the center of controversy. “We don’t want any finger pointing at Pakistan Army,” Mr. Kiani said in his speech.
Asad Durrani, another lieutenant general who led the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, said the protest voiced by the retired military officers was “long overdue.” He denied that the retired generals were being urged by some quarters in the Pakistan Army, which under the leadership of its new chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has shown signs of distancing itself from politics.
“Nobody has been told anything,” Mr. Durrani said.
But one retired general in the audience, who asked not to be identified because of the political nature of his comments, suggested that there was a similar mood among current officers. “If you are getting all of this from people who have been in uniform, it is likely that those still in uniform feel the same way,” he said.
Chief Justice of Pakistan and Three Prominent Lawyers Declared Political Prisoners
For Immediate Release: Thursday, 7th February, 2008
Lahore, Pakistan - In a briefing paper released today, the LUMS Rule of Law Project concludes that the detention of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and advocates Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice(ret'd) Tariq Mehmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd violates Pakistan's constitution as well as customary international law. The report finds that the four are political prisoners and recommends their immediate release.
The briefing paper addresses the factual and legal bases for the detention of each detainee. Ahsan, Mehmood and Kurd have received detention orders purporting to justify their detention under theMaintenance of Public Order Ordinance. The briefing paper concludes that there is sufficient evidence of mala fide, or bad faith, to render each order subject to legal challenge in Pakistan's high courts under Article 199 of the Constitution.
The Chief Justice and his family have been detained in their official residence since November 3, 2007, without any legal processor detention order. The report notes that this detention violates several provisions of the constitution and is therefore entirely unlawful.
"These detentions are particularly troubling because the detainees have been targeted for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs," stated American lawyer Devin Theriot-Orr, director of the Rule of Law Project. "The detainees are in a double-bind because theyare suffering under an unlawful detention and have no forum where they can seek to enforce their rights following Musharraf's removal of the majority of appellate judges in November."
The briefing paper recommends that Pakistan release the detainees immediately and that international human rights organizations and concerned individuals put pressure on the Pakistani government to protect the fundamental rights of Pakistani citizens. The brief also recommends the reinstatement of all deposed judges and the restoration of the constitution to it's status on November 2, 2007.
This paper follows on the Project's release of a report in January entitled Defending Dictatorship: U.S. Foreign Policy and Pakistan's Struggle for Democracy. The report, co-authored by members of a delegation from the United States National Lawyers Guild, concludedthat U.S. support for President Musharaff and its failure to demand restoration of the deposed judges will have long-term negative impacts on the judiciary and the rule of law in Pakistan and damage regional safety and security.
Professors Roger Normand and Justice (ret'd) Jawwad Khawaja of LUMSestablished the Rule of Law Project to serve as an academic clearing house for documentation and research regarding constitutionalism and the rule of law in Pakistan.
CONTACT: Devin Theriot-Orr, LUMS Rule of Law Project, +92(334)428-9694, rlp@riseup.net
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: http://ruleoflawproject.org/pubs/briefing01.pdf
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
External debt hits$40.322bn in 4 years
By Shahid Iqbal KARACHI, Feb 5: How much the government added to the external debt is much more important than the build-up of a heap of new record domestic debt, addinga trillion rupees to the total.
The huge external debt, which witnessed an addition of about $7billion to the total of over $40 billion in just four years, is set to start a vicious cycleof borrowing — servicing — borrowing. The rising bill of external debt-servicing gets more importance in the wake of widening current account deficit.
This deficit curtails the government’s ability to pay external bills, forcing it to borrow to meet the requirement or sell the assets it has for yieldingforeign exchange. The government has been paying about $3 billion each year as debt-servicing despite rescheduling of Paris Club consortium debt which has the largest sharein the total debt.
The latest figures issued by the State Bank showed that the total external debt reached $40.322 billion from $33.352 billion since 2003-04. The addition of about $6.9 billion in just four years showed that the government borrowed massively to meet its external payment. This has increased the cost of debt-servicing.
The future government is bound to borrow more to keep itself able to make external payments. This could bethe second biggest task of the future government after de-freezing the petroleum prices. The future government will have to carry out another task to launch Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) to raise dollars for its increasing demand.
The dollar demand has multiplied after record oil prices which hit $100 per barrel. The slow export growth and high import growth is another difficult area which demands more dollars. The country’s foreign exchange reserves have stared depleting but still these are about $15 billion. This will be the toughest task for the future government to maintain reserves and keep the payment system smooth.
The foreign exchange reserves have been a trade mark of success of the previous government. Both the Prime Minister and President referred the forex reserves as one of the biggest successes in numerous speeches they made in last couple of years. The SBP’s data showed that the government of Shaukat Aziz went beyond all records of increasing domestic debt which rose by almost one trillion rupees infive year to make the total as Rs2.7 trillion.
According to the report, the previous government which completed its five-year tenure increased the domestic debt by 58 per cent in five years. The government broke all records of previous governments to add such huge debt on the back of the weak economy. The previous government added both the external and domestic debt on such a scale which never happened before.
The caretaker government has followed the same path and has been borrowing at the fastest speed. The State Bank in its monetary policy criticised huge borrowing from the State Bank. The SBP accused the government of accelerating inflation through huge borrowing and destroying all efforts of the SBP to control inflation. The governmentborrowed about Rs237 billion from SBP in six months.
Myth Busters: Researchers Needed
Project Editor: Syed Saad Rizvi
Contact info: saadmustafa.rizvi@gmail.com
Serious researchers needed.
Educate yourself and the people of Pakistan.
Show the world that the much clamor of economic growth is a fraud.
Stop the blasphemy against the judiciary, friends and civil society.
Help unearth the misuse of state resources and privileges by a few Generals that has destroyed the stature of our once loved Pakistan army.
Myth busters needs you!
If you are interested in working to expose the lies spread by Musharraf and his PR team please get in touch with the editor.
Parliament Watch
Tired of Personality based politics?
Don't want to see the same corrupt politicians getting re-elected again and again and again?
Want to see new faces in these upcoming elections?
Know inside information about a candidate that the world should know?
Want to be part of the struggle for rule of law, democracy and power to the people?
Then Parliament Watch is Just for you
Parliament Watch is an objectively based political candidate review project. It is meant to promote an "informed" voting behavior by creating transparency of the election process. The goal of this project is to help voters choose the right candidates to avoid corruption, nepotism, and undemocratic ideals. It serves as a medium for the public to voice their opinions and help portray the candidates. This project offers objective reviews on candidates based on documentation of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Pakistani media, and publicly available documents and research material. This project contains surveys, polls, and indices that provide statistical data on the candidates.
This project is one of the projects of the Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) by which members have collaborated to provide the people of Pakistan a tool for deciding who to vote for. It is with this project, that the members hope to induce the civil society to create a stronger polity for informed decision making. Parliament Watch focuses on Members of National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan and with further funding will provide more information and reviews of other assemblies that make up the polity of our country.
But you can't leave your office, house or dorm? Or are not in Pakistan?Don't worry, you can still contribute by giving a few minutes of your time by:
- reading about the candidates that interest you, to ensure the information is accurate - giving ratings on a candidate's CDI index
- providing links to his interviews and news articles in the comments section
- typing stuff you hear about a candidate on TV, Radio or from people.
- helping us gather the manifestos of each candidate and the parties.
Our plan is to get enough information on as many candidates as possible and hopefully with the help of sponsors distribute agendas amongst the masses. Even if we get a few cities done, it will be a good start that hopefully we'll be able to improve on once the real judiciary is reinstated.
Remember the website: www.pw.org.pk
Politicians commit to spend more on education
By Iftikhar A. Khan
ISLAMABAD, Feb 5: Mainstream political parties Tuesday committed themselves to enhance the education budget from 2.4 per cent to 4 per cent of the GDP within the next three years with an increased focus on areas lagging behind in education and literacy indicators.They signed a declaration to the effect at the conclusion of a multi-party conference on ‘Education for All in Pakistan’ organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), a foreign- funded NGO.
The parties committed to allocate 10 per cent of the annual education budget to literacy programmes, arrange free and compulsory primary education, and ensure 100 per cent primary enrolment, and 85 per cent adult literacy by the year 2015.In a bid to impress that they mean it, the parties promised to abolish political favouritism and interference in education departments, to modernise and introduce a uniform core curriculum in schools across the country and to effectively utilise the allocated education budget each year.Though the political parties pledged to enhance the education budget, the commitment by almost half of them does not mean anything at this stage due to their decision to boycott the polls.
The three major political parties including PML, PML-N and PPP remained in government, but took no practical steps in this direction. These parties, however, have made promises in their election manifestoes to focus on the education sector.The 16 political parties which signed the Joint Declaration were represented by Senator Mushahid Hussain (PML), Raja Zafarul Haq (PML-N), Shah Mahmood Qureshi (PPP), Prof Ibrahim (JI), Senator Tahir Mashhadi (MQM), Senator Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli (PPP- Sherpao) and Dr Arif Alvi (PTI), Haji Mohammad Adeel (ANP), Takri M. Mengal (BNP-Awami), Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini (BNP-Mengal), Senator Shahid Bugti (JWP), Maulana Amjad Khan (JUI-F), Pir Nasir Jamil Hashmi (JUP-Noorani), Prof Sajid Mir (JAH), Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch (NP), Senator Abdur Rahim Mandokhel (PMAP).Some of the participants of the moot called for a proper system of check and balance to ensure proper utilisation of funds, alleging that a huge chunk of funds for education was siphoned off by the bureaucracy.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Mushahid Hussain announced that his party had the plans to initiate mass literacy programmes across the country, increase teacher retirement age from 60 to 65 years, modernisation of curriculum and to ensure transparency in scholarship awards.He emphasized the need to ease visa restrictions on Pakistani students seeking to undertake advanced studies in physics and engineering due to a negative perception of Pakistan’s nuclear state status.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Punjab PPP chief pointed out the sustained lack of political will in developing the education sector citing over 22 policy action plans introduced by various governments and their inability to foster any change in basic education and literacy indicators.While endorsing the Joint Declaration commitment of increasing education budget to 4 per cent of the GDP, he stressed on removing institutional weaknesses that hinder effective use of education funds and building of institutions’ capacity to enable them properly utilise funding.
Raja Zafarul Haq highlighted the potential of youth and pointed out that when given the right opportunities and access to education they can exceed internationally set standards of high learning achievement. He observed that mere increase in the education budget would not make any improvement, but an overall change in the strategy was required for it.
Senator Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli termed education as the key to success. She said under the constitution free primary education has to be ensured in minimum possible time. Advocating for allocating more resources for public sector education, she pointed out that Malaysia spends 26 per cent of GDP on education.Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch and Haji Adeel elaborated stressed the need for teaching mother language at primary level. Endorsing this view, Senator Shahid Bugti compared the bleak education and literacy scenario in Pakistan with the much poorer countries of Africa with better adult literacy rates including Rwanda, Malawi and Nigeria.Senator Abdur Rahim Mandokhel underlined the need to make political parties accountable to the masses and not to the perceived power bases of the country as witnessed over the years. He said education budget should be increased, but there must be a system of accountability in place to ensure proper utilisation of the funds.Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini and Nasir Jamil Hashmi pointed out the problem of political interference at the district level and proposed more accountability and transparency in the system.
Yasin Zafar called for encouragement and improvement in religious educational institutions bringing them at par with the mainstream educational institutions.Senator Mashadi endorsed the mainstreaming of religious institutions with a focus on modernising their curricula and to abolish the existing multi-class education systems in the country.
(Coutresy Dawn, Feb 6, 2008)
People's Resistance Street Theatre in Karachi
Yesterday (Feb.5th, Tuesday), the street theatre group of PR did three chilling performances on sea view. It was an 8 minutes long theatre which highlighted the plight of a poor household, where a 'chowkidaar' takes absolute control by promising 'khushhaali' to its inhabitants. Instead of their situation getting any better, the family is fed-up by the chowkidaar's demands for security measures in their home. Finally, complete chaos takes place as the situation of the family and of society in general goes from bad to worst. During the pandemonium, the narrator stops everyone and interacts with the crowd.
A lot of different and interesting views were exchanged with people on the beach. However, probably because of my green army cap and crude punjabi-accented portrayal of the 'chowkidaar', people immediately answered Musharaff as the main culprit for the family's plight. When asked what could be the solution for the household's problems, many people simply suggested the removal of the army from civilian affairs, while others stated that all of us have to work together for the nation's betterment.
The theatre ended with the actors and people from the crowd moving in a tight circle and shoving off the 'chowkidaar', who tries to break into them shouting 'main khushhaali lay kar hi aaon ga!' 'main ghar ki behtari karon ga!' People who joined us in this circle in all three performances were really happy to be a part of the solution.
We would like to thank the handful of PR people who showed up. It was disheartening to see that they were less in number than my own personal friends.
We must all thank Abira for providing her house for the past whole week for our theatre training. I would personally like to thank Mr. Shahid Shafaat, our theatre guru, without whose dedication and training none of this would be possible. Please if everyone can send him a thank you note on his email address: shahidshafaat@hotmail.com, its the least we can do to appreciate his commitment. Finally, PR theatre group would not have even gathered if it wasn't for Ambreen's efforts. She has done a great job of coordinating and motivating everyone interested to participate. Great work Ambreen!
We have tentatively planned to perform again on Sunday Feb.9th, obviously keeping in mind everyone's availability and the current political situation.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
HRCP denounces fresh curbs on Aitzaz and Tariq
Lahore, February 4: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) regrets that the government could not stomach its good act of restoring Aitzaz Ahsan and Tariq Mahmood to freedom for more than 24 hours. The tactic used by the government to evade its obligation to refer their cases to the Review Board reminds one of practices favoured by autocrats of the most contemptible variety. An administration that circumvents its legal and moral duties in this manner undermines the very foundations of an order based on respect for law. What makes the action against these distinguished lawyers reprehensible, from the very first day of their incarceration, is the fact that they have not been accused of any offence, and what they are supported to be prevented from doing is not a crime in any democratic dispensation. Their detention at the moment also amounts to a crude interference with the electoral process. The orders of their detention must be withdrawn forthwith.
Iqbal Haider,
Secretary General
Tribute to Benazir: From a mother
Dr. Nighat Khan
It was probably a sheer coincidence that I started my married life and career in 1988. The same year when the dark days of the Zia era had come to an end and a young, intelligent, vibrant and beautiful woman was poised to become the first PM of an Islamic country. She had gotten married a year before me and now she was to be a PM and a mother.
Millions of Pakistanis felt hopeful, or rather ecstatic at her sight. She exuded hope and glory this wretched nation deserved for a long time. Expectations mounted. But the mess was too much to clean, with so much to do amid hostility and animosity from all quarters of the establishment. Pakistanis began to grumble as they wanted her to fix all their ills with a magic wand.
By the time my first daughter Myra was born in November 1989, she had already succeeded in the no confidence movement against her. I was in labour when I heard the news. I also juggled my career as a faculty member of Aga , motherhood and the challenges encountered by many a career woman even today but many decades before.
She was dismissed as PM without being given a chance. And then the propaganda machine started churning against her and anyone close to her. I must confess I, along with many Pakistanis, felt disappointed and were perhaps swayed by the mass campaign against her and her husband. You see, we are a strange nation. We give decades to each dictator to mess with our destinies but are so short fused with politicians within 1/4th of that period.
I never met Benazir in person, a regret that I am going to take with me. The only time I saw her in person was when she had come to pick up Bilawal from school, who was a year ahead of Myra. She was already out of power as PM and was there as a mother.
At home time I looked up the Foyer steps one day and there she was. Tall, majestic radiant and towering everyone around her. She was flashing a charming smile. Oh God, how this image of her never left me. I wish I had gone up to her talked to her, befriended her as a mum.
What ever happened in 1990s, with the murder of her brother, what she was enduring many of us have only dreamt of. She was hounded by opinion makers, accused by the press of murdering her own brother. So much so that eventually she was driven out of the country. We celebrated when a “soft dictator” took over. She tried to come back but no one was ready to heed any attention. The upper classes went on about their comfortable living. Democracy, rule of law were perhaps never our priorities.
Her eventual arrival on 18th was preceded by the cacophony of NRO. Her reconciliatory tone was seen as her admission of corruption. On every TV channel, the so called intellectuals were busy dissecting NRO. But the common man had another idea. How she must have felt to see those thousands of human head dancing to her tune. They had no concern for NROs; all they could think was their leader was back. Her image of looking up the heavens with tears rolling down is immortal. She looked determined as well as radiant. But Benazir, the dark forces who killed the first PM of the country did not like what they saw. They were there to finish you. They failed only temporarily. Scores of people were killed and crippled.
My heart sank when she announced Liaqat Bagh as her venue for her next public rally on 27th December. I listened to her speech. She was exceptionally animated. I saw her coming down the stage after her speech, feeling relieved that she was fine now and changed the channel to BBC Food. You see, I come from Pindi and as a young girl, had witnessed the false trial and then tragic assassination of her father. I was worried that she is mother of children of my age and I know what I mean to my girls. I don’t know why I changed the BBC food channel and by mistake I pressed PTV channel number (We only press for PTV channel by mistake these days). I saw the ticker. There was breaking news of a bomb blast in her rally. My heart sank immediately. “Oh my God they got her”, I yelled for my husband who was quietly working at his laptop. I held his hand and said “She is no more”. I know for the next 15-20 minutes, TV channels tried to reassure us that she had left the rally and was safe. But it was her husband’s plea to pray for her life that the gravity of situation became a reality. I knew she was gone.
How could this happen? The shock, despair and horror which took over every Pakistani were by no means unique to me. I was part of a nation grieving. Like many Pakistanis I had broken down and was crying like an inconsolable child for days. Nothing seemed important anymore. My younger daughter would come every 5 minutes and say “your kiss makes me feel better so I will take care of you” She would hug me and give me a kiss. There was a role reversal. I had neglected my children in my grief. But I knew deep down at least I was alive for my daughters. My heart was bleeding for Bakhtawar, Asifa and Bilawal. Myra and Mareeha’s mother was alive but who will console these children? When will their mother give those hugs and kisses? Listen to their squabbling and just smile? How could such cruelty be meted to these children? Who are these heartless people? Don’t they have any children or grand children to plot such medieval murder? No one gave us any answers and the ones who did were so ridiculous that we were outraged even more.
I have been to Garhi Khuda Baksh lately with a group of women from WAF and anyone who visits that place cannot describe the intensity of tragedy striking us. But I went to her father’s grave and 30 years of grieve had come out and I cried and cried the tears I could not shed since April 4, 1979. I felt I was guilty of a terrible slight. I apologised to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for not rising up as a Pakistani at his murder. I apologized to him for being a drawing room talking head, for not meeting his illustrious daughter in person and telling her that she and I one in principle, that we had difference but we had more similarities. Sorry my dear prime ministers, we are ever so sorry for your killers are amongst us. I want to say
Qatal-e- hussain assl mein murg-e yazeed hai
Islam zinda hota hay hur Karbla kay bad
Benazir by taking your assassin head on, you have taught us new meanings of courage. They might have eliminated you physically but you have chosen to live on. Anyone who doubts that should go to Garhi Khuda Baksh and witness flocks of poor, shoeless people pouring in to her burial site after walking for miles.
Email by Masood Sharif Khan to the Youth of Pakistan
Assalam alaikum All,
The younger generation of Pakistan gives me a lot of hope that all may not be lost as yet. I salute Raheem-ul-Haque and Saeeda Diep for their courage and conviction (READ THEIR ORDEAL BELOW). I salute every single one of you striving for Pakistan's freedom.
While I am proud of every single one of you I am quite ashamed of the fact that my generation has more or less failed to provide the younger generation a Pakistan wherein instead of feeling the need of distributing fliers demanding freedom in all respects (which truly is a basic human right that need not be asked for in a civilised society but be ensured by the State on its own) you all should have been striving towards self improvement at this stage of your lives.
There should have been jobs out there for which you all should have been competing knowing that your connections in this haphazard society of ours is not going to improve your lot but your competency will.
My generation should have built a Pakistan for you all which should have been free of guns, drugs, bombs and fighting of all sorts so that all of you could have happily indulged in your career building rather than being beaten by robotic so called security guards and the police itself for trying to salvage Pakistan from going deeper down the pipe.
I feel truly proud of all of you. You are all my sons and daughters. You are all, each one of you, truly the sons and daughters of this unfortunate land i.e. Pakistan that we call our motherland. THE MOTHERLAND IS TRULY PROUD TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE ALL OF YOU OUT THERE FIGHTING THE HEAVY ODDS IN ORDER TO RESCUE PAKISTAN FROM GOING INTO A STATE OF PARALYSIS WHILE MANY ARE JUST WAITING AND WATCHING THE MOTHERLAND SUFFER AND BE FURTHER MAULED.
I believe in the power of one. You all are not one but many. One day those that now watch you suffer at the hands of the guards etc from the sidelines as in this case will be by your side. The struggle must go on if Pakistan is to be saved from the scheming within the country and from the conspiracies being hatched against its very integrity. This beautiful land of Pakistan needs to be salvaged, saved and put on the path of true freedom and has to be done very soon.
Believing in the power of one I recently wrote a letter to President Musharraf to resign giving him an exit strategy after having announced a resignation intent. Some of you may have read that but some may not have. Therefore I am attaching portions relevant to the incident of Raheem and Saeeda below.
EXTRACTS:-
The deplorable law and order situation in the country, in general, and the mishandling of the situation in our erstwhile peaceful tribal areas and other parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) only add to the widespread belief in the country that you and your government have now become a huge part of the problem and are certainly not equal to the task of finding a solution to the gigantic problems faced by Pakistan. These problems have gained unimaginable dimensions through the years of your rule. While the Army and the paramilitary is deployed to fight in many parts of NWFP the police and the rangers etc are busy beating up the civil society in the city streets. Pakistan and Pakistanis are no longer at peace with each other.
.............This is an occasion to set things right. Mr President, the entire Pakistani Nation wants that you should not stand in the way leading to the evolution of a free and independent nation governed by systems, institutions and a free judiciary rather than by the whims of individuals. Pakistanis desire that you should now help bring this about through an announcement that you have, in principle, decided to resign and work for a smooth transition of power in the shortest possible stipulated period.
..............The people of Pakistan cannot now be stopped, through the misuse of State resources and the application of brute force, from achieving THE PAKISTANI DREAM which entails a free Pakistan for us all – from the common man to the President/Prime Minister. Pakistanis now want a Pakistan where law is the protector rather than being the tormentor of its own population.
Have you not, Mr President, seen pictures of those young Pakistanis protesting against your actions against the judiciary being beaten so ruthlessly? It is the State that you are heading that is beating its own children, my children as well as your children, Mr President. Collectively they all belong to us. They are our kith and kin. They are our blood and are also Pakistan's future.
Protests will take place. Protests have to take place in any society. They will always take place and, therefore, governments in Pakistan will have to be more tolerant with dissent and if they cannot be then they should either do only the absolutely unquestionable things so that there is no need for anyone to protest OR they should resign and make way for others to succeed them.
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.........Make way for the future rather than having respectable people like our lawyers and students beaten up ruthlessly on our streets. These are the truly enlightened people of Pakistan who supported you till you went wrong. These people will never damage a single plant while protesting. So why beat them so brutally? I assure you that there is no way any amount of baton charge can now deter these leaders of tomorrow.
Pakistanis now seek that true freedom that they have longed for in the shape of The PAKISTANI DREAM which envisages us as the proud citizens of a Pakistan governed by systems and the national institutions rather than being ruled by a one man regime. Mr President, make way for The Pakistani Dream and become a part of it too. I urge you, and I am sure millions of Pakistanis would second me on this, to do the following:-
a. Announce that you have decided to resign and that you shall hand over power to a new President as soon as he is elected.
b. Announce that you shall meet all the political leaders within one week and, thereafter, will announce just one person as the consensus Prime Minister who will run the government through the existing bureaucratic structure and will have no Cabinet of useless Ministers. Also add that, thereafter, you shall recede into the background till the new President is elected and you finally hand over to him.
c. At this point, in time, also announce the revival of the judiciary to its 02 November,2007, position because this one step will bring about the lost confidence of the people of Pakistan and will also help give credibility to the whole process of the transition of political power.
d. That the new Prime Minister, independent of you, will appoint a new Election Commission, Chief Ministers and Governors.
e. That this new Prime Minister and the new Chief Election Commissioner will conduct a free, fair and impartial general elections within 90 days of taking office.
f. That during the three months in power the Prime Minister along with the revived judiciary will lay down the methodology for the effectiveness of the existing rules of business for all the government institutions so that once the new government takes charge there is never a transgression of one institution into the working of any other institution, civil or military.
g. That within one week of the new parliament coming into force the schedule for the election of a new President will be announced and once the new President is elected you shall hand over to him. The revived judiciary will give you immunity till this time i.e. when you actually hand over and leave. This can always be worked out amicably if we all put Pakistan ahead of our own selves.
I have suggested this smooth transition as compared to an abrupt transition so that the world starts looking at us as a civilised country and so that the country's chances of plunging into anarchy are avoided. The option of immediately handing over to the Chairman Senate after announcing the new consensus Prime Minister is available for you to consider. However, I will still recommend that work on the smooth transfer of political authority should begin immediately and in right earnest.
The writing on the wall is written in large, capital and bold letters, Mr President. Failing to read the same will be very detrimental for Pakistan.
The moment belongs to you, Mr President, and the choice of bringing about a graceful and historic political change in Pakistan, or an ignominious one, is all yours.
My prayer to ALLAH THE ALMIGHTY is to give you the strength to make the right decision which can only be to make way for the future in the most graceful manner.
Best regards.
Sincerely,
(MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK).
iIEND OF EXTRACTS
If I could somehow do it I would bring about a generational change in Pakistan wherein Pakistan and the shping of it's destiny has a smooth transfer from the present generation to the younger generation in totality so that the stagnancy imposed upon Pakistan in the name of "experience" is done away with and Pakistan becomes that true progressive and welfare State that THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN was always meant to be but never got anywhere near it's goals. 85% of Pakistanis live in deplorable conditions. They need help. Our help.
This is an occasion for the Pakistanis to realise that we are in a make or break situation and there is now nothing but we ourselves that can come to our own rescue.
My salutes and my very sincerest of prayers for all of you who can take injuries on your own bodies so that Pakistan is truly free.
PAKISTAN PAINDABAD
Sincerely and from the innermost core of my heart an admirer of what you young people , the students - and of course the lawyers are doing for Pakistan.
Very humbly yours - and someone ashamed of the fact that his generation has let down our beloved Pakistan.
MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK
Masood Sharif Khan is a former IB Chief of Pakistan who resigned from the PPP when BB refused to take up the stance of the restoration of the judiciary and like us is boycotting the elections. He has already spent many years in jail for voicing up against Musharraf.
Solidarity Rally on the 9th of February
Today Pakistan stands at the crossroads of chaos and instability. The events of November 3rd, and December 27, 2007, have had a devastating affect on our nation, the Balkanization of which is now a very likely future scenario. The gravity of the situation demands that we, the people of Pakistan, stay united and work for the restoration of our judiciary, which can restore order to our nation. In the wake of rising provincial disharmony and the judicial crisis, Hum Logge has organized a plan to rally under the flag of Pakistan for solidarity on February 9th, 2008 from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad, via the G.T. road.
“Hum Logge” consists of organizers, in consultation with the Leaders of the Bars and major political parties, who are advocates of civil rights, the independence of judiciary, and a restoration of democracy. The parties will participate in the rally for a national cause since they too stand as a symbol of the Federation. We will rally with full support and enthusiasm from all classes of people (awam: the real people), the Leaders of the Bars and other participants including WAF (Women Action Forum), HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan), CCP (Concerned Citizens of Pakistan), the members of various NGOs, local civil society groups, SAC (Student Action Committee), and most importantly, the most marginalized citizens of this nation, who are the real voters. Hum Logge- We, the people, ARE the government. United we stand to make our voice heard.
Objectives:
The rally aims to reiterate the people’s demands for the restoration of the judiciary, free and fair elections for democracy, and to show solidarity amongst the four provinces in order to move the country away from the prevailing, vulnerable situation. It’s time to work together for the solidarity of our country.
We will join our brethren in Islamabad and together march towards the Supreme Court so that we can influence the present regime to meet our demands. We aim to show solidarity with judicial leaders who are acting players for the suppressed of the country, and who are fighting for the independence of the judiciary, civil liberties, freedom of democracy, a free media, and a society rid of atrocities and tyranny.
We anticipate everyone’s involvement and request that all individuals and organizations send their delegations as representatives in large numbers to show strength, power and the struggle of the people of Pakistan for their rights and for democracy.
This is for PAKISTAN and for ALL Pakistanis. It does not matter who you are and what your affiliations are. We ONLY want the Pakistani flag here, be it in the form of the flag itself, stickers, banners, etc. We want to focus on unity instead of the minor differences in agenda that we may have. Now is the time to unite.
We would also be obliged if people can donate cars for transportation to Islamabad. Please do register your cars with us and confirm the number of people you will be bringing along with Bina Qureshi.
UNITED WE STAND FOR A SOLID PAKISTAN.
Looking forward,
Bina Qureshi
Team leader
Phone number: 0300-8412435
Email: images_help@yahoo.com
nabihameher@gmail.com
kamilhamid@gmail.com
SHC disposes of May 12 petitions : Five-member bench declines to ‘interfere’
KARACHI: A five-member bench of the "Sindh High Court (SHC)" on Monday disposed of multiple petitions filed in connection with the violence on May 12 here, saying no aggrieved party had filed any cases, and it did not want to “interfere”. The bench, led by SHC Chief Justice Afzal Soomro, and comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan, Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Abdur Rahman Faruq Pirzada and Rana M Shamim, said a few individuals could materially disrupt a law and order situation. This, it said, was likely to adversely impact the economy, and cause insecurity and unrest among citizens. The bench also discussed a suo motu reference moved by the SHC registrar, which was converted into a constitutional petition. It said the preliminary objections raised by Sindh Advocate General (AG) Dr Muhammad Faroogh Naseem, questioning its maintainability had merit. The bench also discussed the argument of the respondents and the State on the blocking of roads and all exit and entry points leading to the SHC. It noted that Naseem had argued that state functionaries were well within their powers to deny access to roads and premises to avert threats to life and property. The bench also noted that 80 FIRs had been lodged and investigations were underway. The contempt-of-court applications against the Sindh home secretary, IGP, CCPO Karachi, TPO Saddar and others, were also rejected. ar qureshi
Monday, February 4, 2008
Amin for Missing Persons' Recovery
Senior Vice Chairman of the PPP, Makhdoom Amin Fahim Monday said his party would take steps for the recovery of all missing persons of the country if voted to power. Talking to newsmen, he said the registration of fake cases against PPP workers and transfer and postings of government officers on the eve of elections were underway, but the Election Commission seemed to be helpless in this regard. He said inflation had broken the back of the poor masses and stressed on the importance of an independent judiciary for the provision of justice to the common man.
Kurd re-arrested in Quetta
Ali Ahmed Kurd, a leading figure in the lawyers’ movement, was re-arrested on Monday after being freed from 3 months of detainment without charge. He was arrested as he attempted to leave Quetta to address lawyers in Lahore. “The rulers are scared that I will create problems for them and under this fear they have again detained me. This detention is illegal,” Kurd said. “Our struggle for the independence of judiciary will continue and such steps cannot deter us,” he said.
Suicide Bomber in Rawalpindi kills six
RAWALPINDI, Feb 4 (Agencies): A suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a bus carrying defence forces personnel, detonating a blast Monday that killed six people and wounded 30 others in Rawalpindi's R.A.Bazar area, police said. The bomb went off during the morning rush hour outside the army's National Logistics Cell, where the army has its headquarters. The bus was destroyed and several people wounded in the explosion, police official Abdul Waheed said. Several vehicles were badly damaged. An eye witness said a bus carrying army medical trainees had been targeted. He said about 25 people had been injured. Television footage showed the mangled wreckage of the vehicle, which troops later covered with a white tent.
Devolution gives too much power to local govts: Arif Hasan
KARACHI, Feb 3: Discussing the major changes that have shaped Pakistan since independence, renowned architect and urban planner Arif Hasan criticised President Musharraf's devolution of power plan, initiated in 2001, saying that it had largely failed and had handed power back to the old elites.
He was speaking at a lecture titled 'Urbanisation, politics, public and national interests,' held at the office of an NGO here on Sunday.
"Civil society organisations – in their romanticism – had opted for this," he said, referring to the devolution plan in his highly informative speech, which was punctuated with statistics and interesting personal anecdotes. "But I had my reservations." He claimed the devolution of power initiative had given too much money and power to the district governments, with no proper checks in place from the central bureaucracy. "The result is the citizen has to go grovelling to the nazim to get his job done."
Mr Hasan said one of the few good things witnessed during the Ziaul Haq era was the entry of traders and entrepreneurs at the level of local politics, whereas today power was back in the hands of the feudals and other traditional wielders of authority.
Along with devolution, the six other major factors that he reckoned had shaped the country since partition were the constitution of pre-partition society, the migration from India, Ayub Khan's 'Green Revolution,' urbanization, the Zia era and globalization.
Mr Hasan intricately wove all the factors together and ably described their inter-connectedness, which was responsible for the present chaos. He said at the time of partition, the major identifier in society was caste affiliation, while society was managed by panchayats, though this system was not uniform,
Describing the massive migration from India at partition, he quoted a study which says that in the early 1950s, 48 per cent of the urban population in Pakistan said that they had come from India. "This caused huge urbanization, whereby the population in some cities increased by 100 per cent. The Hindu traders left while poor, rural Muslims came in. However in the NWFP and Balochistan, de-urbanization was witnessed as there was no one to replace the Hindu middle class," said Arif Hasan.
"The old relationship between the caste and the mohalla disappeared and the old values were replaced by a fiercely upwardly mobile culture. We moved from being a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society into a uni-religious one trying to become uni-lingual," he said.
The Green Revolution, which was initiated in the late '50s but it took off and experienced incredible growth in the '60s, changed rural society, he said. "Before this, the feudal order financed agriculture and also worked with the establishment. With the Green Revolution, new people came into the scenario, such as salesmen, mechanics, etc. Small farms were bought up by larger farmers. This changed the position of the feudals, as the banks and informal sector became the financiers. Cash changed everything. However, the feudals continued to control the politics of the country," observed Mr Hasan.
He said the old system functioned on the basis of clan and tribal affiliations; but the introduction of cash weakened this system. The panchayat and jirga were challenged for the first time.
"Industrialisation in the Ayub era also increased urbanization. Subsistence fishing was replaced by commercial fishing; traditional fishermen had to take loans to keep up. The same happened in the carpet industry. We moved towards a capitalist system without the proper infrastructure," he added.
He said that though there was currently a major construction boom in the country, there was not enough qualified manpower, such as surveyors or equipment operators, to fill these jobs.
"The institutes to train these people do not exist. They have nearly all learnt through the shagirdi system; the polytechnics have no money and have obsolete equipment. We have abandoned middle level education, such as technical colleges. Thus, our universities are castles built on sand," he said.
Changing values
Arif Hasan said that the increase in the number of working women was fuelling immense social change, altering the attitudes of how the relationship between men and women was viewed. He cited a recent survey, which studied the way young couples use public spaces as rendezvous, and said that out of 100 couples surveyed, only 28 were married. "There is a need for new societal values; most people are quite modern but fear tradition," he said.
Coming to the policies of the Zia era and their repercussions today, he said these policies consolidated the religious establishment. Apart from the growing presence of religion in the public sphere, he said Gen Zia's policies "stifled the universities and killed off the youths as extra-curricula activities were banned. The custodians of the religious establishment became the guardians of morality."
This was also the time, he said, when the westernised elite stepped out of public life and built their own world, which resulted in ghettoisation. "People turned to ethnic and clan organisations" due to the political vacuum, he added. "The Zia era coincided with the period of urban consolidation in Pakistan."
As for globalization, he said we had failed to capitalize on the phenomenon and resultantly, Pakistan had turned into an under-developed country from once being a mid-level developing country.
The lecture was organised by the People's Resistance and the Green Economics and Globalisation Initiative in the Shirkat Gah's office.
Punjab College doles out meager apology to SAC
Today as a disappointing conclusion to the battle for justice between the Students Action Committee (Lahore) representatives and the Punjab College establishment, a negotiation was held at the Muslim Town police station.
Mediated by SP Mansoor Haq, the two sides had a face off with five on each panel. The victims were represented by Azhar Siddique, Punjab Bar Council Media Advisor; Firdous Butt, Vice President High court Bar; Advocate Irshad, VP Lahore Bar; Saeeda Diep and Usman Gill, the latter two involved with the earlier altercations.
Punjab College had on their panel: Principal Agha Tahir, Vice President Naveed, Prof. Jameel, Prof. Farooq (Advocate), and Prof. Rasheed. According to the SAC representatives who had been assaulted earlier, all five of the Punjab College personnel present in the panel had been present at the time of the beating and some had been physically involved in the assault itself.
Without pushing for the filing of an FIR on the behalf of the teachers and students calculatedly beaten up, the SP focused for a low key, almost negligible result of a verbal apology.
For the SAC, settling for such a trifling recourse is not a matter of few resources but the futility of pursuing the matter in courts where justice is hard to find, where justices are behind bars with the support of the present judicial system.
When District Nazims and caretaker cabinet Ministers have the might to unleash brute directives, the authenticity of the current regime and its components is obviously brought into question.
The question is, if the current judicial system was impartial or non partisan, would SAC representatives, only armed with words, have to walk away with mere apologies instead of just legal recourse?
Pakistan's Forgotten Man
In the past months, as the crisis in Pakistan has worsened, key figures in the Bush administration, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have spoken out about the need for free and fair elections and have condemned extremism. Yet they've continued through-out to support the man who poll after poll show to be the least popular public figure in Pakistan, less so even than Osama bin Laden: President Pervez Musharraf. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte went so far as to call Musharraf an "indispensable ally" just days after the general declared de facto martial law and suspended Pakistan's Constitution.
All the while, U.S. officials have ignored a man who lives a mere stone's throw from Musharraf. This man's exclusion might seem understandable: barbed wire surrounds his home, the phone lines are cut and the gate is padlocked from the outside. Yet he is no dangerous criminal. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the chief justice of Pakistan. He's also one of the most popular figures in the country, according to recent polls, and its best hope for returning to a democratic path.
Chaudhry was an unlikely figure to become public enemy No. 1. He was appointed chief justice in June 2005 by Musharraf himself. Once on the bench, though Chaudhry proved independent, he was no iconoclast. Yet he acted in ways that made Pakistan's powerful elites nervous. He expanded the jurisdiction of his court in the domain of human rights, refusing to tolerate police abuses. He reached out to victims of forced marriages and Pakistan's unjust rape laws. He blocked a number of land developments that would have harmed the environment. And in the process, he made some powerful enemies: many of the developers he stymied were Musharraf cronies or Army officers.
The chief justice made himself even more unpopular in 2006 when he began to probe into a growing scandal over missing persons. In the years since September 11, Pakistan had suffered a disturbing number of forced disappearances, as individuals were yanked off the streets, allegedly by security personnel. As the number of victims grew, mothers, wives and daughters of the disappeared began to picket the Supreme Court. Finally the justices took notice and in 2006, after several hearings and much prodding by the court, some 200 missing people were released from custody. Musharraf was reportedly angry with the move and told the Americans that Chaudhry had ordered the release of 60 terrorists arrested during the Red Mosque crackdown. In fact, it was three other justices, none of whom were fired, who had released those captives; Chaudhry wasn't even involved in that decision.
It was probably the matter of Musharraf's own future that sealed Chaudhry's fate. Late last year Musharraf began to worry that if the chief justice insisted on following the letter of the law, Musharraf would be barred from running for another term as president (since the Constitution disqualifies anyone in uniform from standing for the office, and Musharraf was still head of the Army). To prevent any objections, on Nov. 3 Musharraf fired the Supreme Court judges, had them arrested and also detained the attorney pleading the case against him: me.
This was not the first time Musharraf had moved against the chief justice. He had first ordered him to resign in March 2007, and when Chaudhry refused, had removed and detained him, though the justice was unanimously reinstated by 13 members of his own bench in July.It was Chaudhry's campaign to get back onto the court that turned him into a national hero. After he was sacked, bar associations across the country invited him to speak. As he traveled the country, millions came out to receive him. Wherever he went, men, women and children poured out to cheer him on for having defied the increasingly unpopular general. Showing solidarity became a way to denounce the president. Ordinary citizens cheered Chaudhry with defiance in their eyes. I know—for I was his driver during this tour.
Chaudhry's brave stance soon won him accolades around the world: Harvard Law School gave him its highest award, the Medal of Freedom, and the New York City Bar Association made him a rare honorary member.
Yet U.S. officials remain unmoved, despite a letter Chaudhry sent to Western leaders last week protesting his treatment. Blind to the overwhelming support Chaudhry enjoys at home and abroad, Washington continues to pay lip service to the need for an independent judiciary in Pakistan while doing nothing to support one. This strategy is dangerously shortsighted. The United States has every reason to worry about terrorism and instability in Pakistan. But allowing Musharraf to continue arresting judges and peaceful protesters will only strengthen the terrorists' hand. If we lock up our judges and subvert the legal process, then those who believe in a more brutal kind of justice will triumph. It's therefore high time to take a stand. From now on no dignitary should visit the president on his hill without making it a point to inquire about the prisoner on the hill nearby. Due process and democratic principles demand nothing less.
Ahsan, a former minister for law, justice and the interior in Pakistan, is currently president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He has been detained without charge since Nov. 3.
With Extreme Prejudice?
On two consecutive days, 1st and 2nd February, the staff (security personnel as well as faculty members) of Punjab College, Muslim Town have tried to deny the rights of free speech and of free association of pro-democracy activists, and members of the Student Action Committee (SAC) Lahore - even going to the extent of brutal, un-restrained physical assault. In the face of this practical demonstration of the fascist attitudes nurtured in the so-called institutes of higher education that constitute the Punjab Group of Colleges, owned and run by the Nazim (Mayor) of Lahore, Mian Amir Mehmood, the activists have shown a remarkable degree of calm and fortitude, refusing to be provoked, and yet refusing to bow down to the dictates of the civilian collaborators of Army rule.
As already reported in some newspapers (e.g. Dawn), on Friday 1st February, Raheem-ul-Haque (adjunct faculty at Punjab University, former Project Manager at Techlogix) and Saeeda Diep (a veteran political, and not merely social, activist) were distributing flyers on the public side-lane in front of the two sections of the segregated Punjab College. The flyers, published by the Students Action Committee, laid out the basic demands of the Committee and also urged students to join hands with other sections of the public in a protest demonstration in Nasser Bagh on Saturday, the 2nd. The two activists were handing out flyers to all the students, boys and girls, consistent with their belief that information and debate are as much the right of women as of men. While Raheem was distributing some flyers outside the girls' section of the college, he leaned over the chain at the exit and handed a few to some students standing there. He then continued distributing the pamphlets to other students as they left for home or arrived for class. It is important to note two things here: at no point did either Raheem or Diep trespass on the private property of the college, unless, of course, in his extraordinary legislative zeal, the President decides to declare into existence a new law against aerial trespassing, "Thou shalt not lean into, or otherwise violate the airspace of, another's property"; not a single student had actually complained against the actions of the pro-democracy campaigners.
Soon thereafter, one of the security guards employed by the College told Raheem to stop handing out the flyers. Raheem defended his acts, saying that he was well within his rights to do as he pleased in a public space and that he was distributing flyers to the girls in the same way that he was distributing them to the boys. The guard slapped Raheem. Instead of hitting back, Raheem asked him why he'd hit him. He got two more punches for his trouble - this time the guard broke his spectacles. Again Raheem tried to reason with the guard, protesting that he was not doing anything wrong. He then walked over to consult with Diep. The guard followed, and the ensuing discussion quickly heated up with the guard pushing Diep and insulting both activists in abusive language. People gathered around them, which prevented the guard from following up his verbal threats with further physical aggression. Realizing that the situation could spiral out of control, some staff members from the College extricated the guard from the crowd.
Incensed and humiliated, the two activists decided to bring this action to the notice of the larger public. Some friends and one reporter arrived on the spot in short order. At this point, the group decided to report the matter to the police. At the nearby Muslim Town police station, which is also the office of the Superintendant Police Saddar Division, the police hummed and hawed for two hours before finally announcing that they needed a medico-legal report from the nearest government hospital. The physician at Jinnah Hospital diagnosed a perforated left ear drum and prescribed some antibiotics. Armed with the report, the group headed back to the police station, where they were informed that such an injury, not visible to the naked eye, was not serious enough to be the subject of their hallowed "First Investigation Report" (FIR)!
That evening, members of the Students Action Committee gathered outside Aitezaz Ahsan's house to celebrate his release, prepared a press release and vowed to go back the following day to the same college to concretely demonstrate the strength of their resolve.
The next day, Hassan Rehman (FAST-NU graduate student) and Umayr Hassan (FAST-NU faculty member) accompanied Raheem-ul-Haque and Saeeda Diep to Punjab College. They arrived at 11.30 AM and started handing out the flyers urging students to attend the protest demonstration that would start in a few hours time. It seemed that they had proven their point and were about to disperse (in fact, Hassan Rehman had already left) when the Principal of the College arrived in his black Mercedes. Some of the security guards (there were at least ten of them in total) called Raheem to meet the Principal. Raheem and Diep - infuriated - argued with him that their guards had no right to tell them what to do on public property and that, in fact, they (the College) was illegally encroaching upon public property (the green belt between the service lane and the main road serves as a parking lot for the College). Raheem mentioned that he had taken several photographs of the encroachment. Another SAC member, Shehryar (software engineer by profession) arrived while the argument was going on.
At some point, as he leaned either to say or after having said something to the Principal, the Principal grabbed Shehryar by his collar and then told the guards to thrash him. All of the guards fell upon Shehryar, punching, slapping, and then picking him up to be taken inside the College premises. Diep and Raheem went to save Shehryar and were similarly assaulted. Diep was dragged along with Shehryar while Raheem and Umayr were slapped and pushed into the premises through another gate.
Inside their offices, the four were forced to sit on the sofa and not allowed to go out. Raheem, infuriated, railed against the teachers present, who either remained silent spectators or told the activists to shut up or taunted their professionalism or called them Indian agents/NGO people. They claimed they were puncturing car tires and instigating students inside the campus. A female teacher suggested that Diep (being a female) could accompany her elsewhere - Diep angrily refused. Shehryar struggled against the goon squad and was beaten again. The other three tried to protect him as Raheem was punched and his nose started bleeding profusely. Diep tried calling Usman Gill (SAC activist and recent graduate from FAST-NU) and while she was talking to him, the guards tried to confiscate her cell phone - Diep refused but could not complete the call. This and more went on for more than an hour, with the College personnel alternating between beating up the activists and apologizing to them. There were twenty or thirty of them in all, some staff, some faculty and some who looked like hired thugs in plain clothes, who attacked and tormented the trapped pro-democracy campaigners.
Suddenly, Shehryar fell on all fours, gasping and indicating that he had difficulty breathing. It was a clever hoax, but no one including friends realised it then and started to panic. They clamoured for an ambulance to be called, warning the administration of the trouble they would bring upon themselves were one of them to die on the premises. As Shehryar lay limp on the floor, Umayr went outside to tell someone to call an ambulance. Usman Gill was outside and Umayr shouted to him telling him to call the ambulance. As he came nearer to the College boundary wall, someone behind Umayr told the guards outside to bring Usman inside. A guard grabbed Usman by the collar and tried to push him toward the gate - Usman resisted and was released just outside the gate as the police had arrived by that time. Usman, Umayr, Raheem and Diep's driver carried Sheryar outside and laid him in Umayr's car as Shehryar and Diep were driven away to safety.
The rest of the SAC members waited for the senior police officer (already aware of the incident the previous day) to arrive while the activist and College administration argued the case with the officer present. In particular, the activists demanded that the College return Shehryar's cell phone and Raheem's camera (used to photograph the College façade as well as the encroachment - hence the reason the guards to grab it from Raheem's car, as witnessed by Umayr's driver. The camera cost approx. $1000.) When the senior police officer arrived, the same argument persisted: the students demanded the retrieval of their property while the college personnel complained that the SAC members had been interfering inside their College. They now also claimed that the activists had damaged their property - a door glass was broken when the guards were scuffling inside with Shehryar. It was not clear who broke it. All parties now went inside the offices and the officer then had a word in private with the Principal. Outside, Umayr narrated their tale to a plainclothes Special Branch (police intelligence) representative. Outside, again, the officer had managed to recover the cell phone and asked the administrators to look for the missing camera asked the activists to come to the police station to lodge a complaint while his junior stayed back to look for the camera. Raheem and Usman went with him in the police mobile car.
By this time, Diep had managed to inform the SAC members attending the big rally at Nasser Bagh. However, once the activists had managed to free themselves, they sent messages to the SAC members to attend the rally which was the more important event, and to come over to the Muslim Town police station afterwards.
Shehryar and Raheem got medical treatment. Shehryar had a broken finger and Raheem had a bloody nose swollen as after a boxing match.
Around 20 - 25 SAC members had gathered at the Muslim Town police station by 4:30 PM. The SP allowed some SAC members to enter his office to take part in the discussion as the SAC lawyers presented their case and pressed for an FIR to be lodged against the staff of Punjab College. After much prevarication, during which he must have realised that SAC had a solid case and that he would have to file a report, he invited the group to go over to the College with him to talk to the College administration. Here a comic twist presented itself: the SP never showed up. He climbed into his official brand new 2.4D Toyota Hilux and disappeared. While the SAC members waited outside the College, they started raising slogans against the military dictatorship, against the Nazim and against oppression. About the same time, students started leaving for home and were quite surprised to encounter the SAC group in full cry. Some of them stopped to ask what had happened - they either knew nothing at all, or had been fed lies by the administration to the effect that the people beaten up earlier that day had been teasing female students. The SAC members disabused them of this fiction and even handed them their new flyers.
Eventually a DSP arrived and started negotiations with the SAC lawyers. At first, it seemed that he merely wanted SAC to leave the College and move to a less "disturbing" location, such as the police station. But the SAC members flatly refused and demanded that some resolution be arrived at, otherwise they were willing to stake out the premises for as long as it took. Eventually, the DSP asked that Diep and Raheem tell him exactly what happened. At this point, Diep started narrating how they were dragged into the premises and beaten by College personnel. As she was showing him the path, the College personnel got infuriated. Banking on the fact that they were employed by Mian Amir Mehmood, they took an aggressive attitude towards the DSP and virtually ordered him off the premises, daring him to challenge their authority. Humbled and humiliated,, the officer left the premises. Some SAC members were enraged at this concrete proof of the adage "he who has the stick, has the buffalo". After a brief verbal altercation with the College personnel, other SAC members intervened and defused the situation. At this point, the SAC and the lawyers conferred and it was decided that while the lawyers negotiated with the police, the SAC members would head to the Lahore Press Club.
At the Press Club, the Students Action Committee staged a small demonstration, prepared a new press release, and informed various media channels (newspapers and television) of the events of the day.
The SAC held a protest demonstration at the Press Club in support of their injured colleagues on Sunday, 3rd February.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Information Minister warns media of 'Nov-3'-like action
HYDERABAD, Feb 2: Federal Information Minister Nisar Memon has warned television channels of a reprise of the Nov 3 action if they 'continue to flout' the Pemra regulations.
"I urge these TV channels to abide by articles of their licence as they have pledged not to violate them. It would have been better had the government stopped on day one the TV channels for violating the rules," he said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of APP's Sindhi service here.
He said around 50 TV channels were working in the country, adding that the elections would not be considered free and fair if they projected any particular party.
The minister said the Election Commission was implementing laws relating to the general election and TV channels should not violate the terms governing their licences. He warned that TV channels violating laws would be taken to task.
(Courtesy DAWN)
SAC protests against brutalization of members
The Students Action Committee (Lahore) held a short but vehement protest against the brutal assault by Punjab College's establishment on four SAC representatives and a bystander driver.
Held outside the Press club today at 1 pm, students and sympathetic citizens stood, braving intermittent rain, raising slogans against the District Nazim Amir Mehmood and Principal Sohail Afzal, a minister for special education in the caretaker government.
They irate crowd chanted slogans against the current regime's support for such barbaric officials, who not only relentlessly brutalized the five victims to the point of one of them losing consciousness but displayed complete disregard of the presence of police investigators at their campus Saturday evening.
The SAC (Lahore) condemns the establishment for encouraging such individuals to act as sham academics and educationists. This encouragement comes in many forms; one such point, the reluctance of the SP Muslim town police station to register an FIR against the Punjab College administration for sending guards on a public road to kidnap and torture the SAC representatives and a bystander driver.
The SAC (Lahore) will persist in working for their representatives, the teachers and students, who were harassed and will not rest till legal action has been implemented. No strong arm will threaten students, the future inheritors of the country.
Verging on Delusions: Inside the mind of a Dictator
Dr Murad Moosa Khan
Delusion: a firm, fixed belief held with great conviction despite evidence to the contrary. Delusion is a symptom of psychosis- mental disorders in which a person loses contact with reality.
In the last eight years of misrule this country has been subjected to, two pictures stand out for me. In August 1999 soon after the Nawaz Sharif government was overthrown, Brig. Rashid Qureishi, the spokesman for the military government came on television and declared 'We don't want sham democracy, we want real democracy. We want a government that is of the people, by the people, for the people'. I found it surreal for a man in military uniform using Abraham Lincoln's (without even acknowledging him) hallowed words and having no qualms about it.
The second picture is of an interview a few weeks ago. Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of PML (Q) was asked whether General Musharraf would give up his uniform. "Yes, he would", he said, adding "General Musharraf looks dashing in uniform and Mr. Musharraf would look dashing in a designer suit".
Although eight years apart the two statements give us an insight of how the minds of dictators and those around him, work. It is important to understand this if we are to break out of this impasse and save the sinking ship of this country.
Today, millions of Pakistanis live in abject poverty teasing out a living for mere existence. Millions are unemployed or underemployed. Millions remain without health care and education. Millions are subjected to the indignity of being treated in government hospitals. They have no security. They have no laws to protect them. Where there are laws it is only to protect the rich and powerful.
In many parts of the country, people are selling their kidneys to pay off their debts. Millions suffer the daily humiliation of hanging from buses to get to work. Millions live and breathe the air whilst surrounded by filth, garbage and overflowing gutters.
What goes through the mind of dictators and the people who hold the real power in Pakistan, as they see the abysmal state of affairs? Quite clearly they see the situation very differently from the way the man in street sees it. From their perspective, the existence of the country is being severely threatened (which everyone sees too) but they feel they are the only ones who know how to save it. They see the politicians as tried and failed, corrupt, greedy people who only have lust for wealth and power. They have examples of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir's experiments in front of them and that feeds their way of thinking.
What are we to make of our rulers who tell us that only they know what is good for the country? That the rest of us- academicians, economists, scholars, lawyers, judges, doctors, engineers, teachers, students, retired senior military officers and other members of the civil society are ignorant mortals who know nothing about the dangers facing this country or how to tackle them? That democracy is not good for us? That they know how much the people love them? And that they will know when the time is right for them to step down?
Or is it that they are suffering from delusions?
A dictator's thinking is severely restricted and he suffers from selective listening. He has a very narrow vision. He cannot live with dissent. Dictators tend to be liberal as long as you agree with them. Any serious opposition and they crush it, never mind the democratic intent. They do not trust anyone beyond a small close group of people who feed them only with the information they want to hear. Their whole perspective is based on this narrow line of information. Hence our (ret) General's reply in the BBC interview recently, when asked if he would resign, 'I will go when I realize the people don't want me'. When asked how would be know that, he replied 'I have my sources of information'. These sources of information are his close aides who feed him the information he wants to hear. He has no idea how unpopular he is and that the vast majority do not want him. But it is important to understand he actually means it when he says the things he does. He is not making them up.
This type of thinking is verging on a 'delusion'. Many dictators also suffer from paranoia- a feeling (beyond the normal opposition one encounters) that others are against them and out to get them and must be eliminated. Hitler showed many traits of paranoia, as did Stalin and Saddam Hussein. It makes them more and more isolated and insular and as they near their demise they become more and more bizarre- both in their thinking and behavior. We have countless examples in history of such dictators and their strange behaviors- Idi Amin of Uganda, Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Duvalier of Haiti, Marcos of Philippines.
One can see it in the General's (ret) responses in interviews recently. Hosing down of Benazir's assassination site was 'inefficiency', Benazir was 'unpopular with the Army', 'I am very popular with the people', the West is 'obsessed with democracy' and the ex-servicemen opposing me are those 'I threw out of the military'. The latest we hear is the statement against the London based senior journalist where he had no misgivings in letting him 'have a couple to fix him' because the journalist dared to ask uncomfortable questions. These are statements of a man whose rational thinking is fast eroding.
A dictator's military background and particularly if he has had commando training makes it difficult for him to think otherwise. It makes him rigid in his approach with a 'never surrender' attitude. To him every encounter is a battle and the enemy must be vanquished. The frequent use of terms such as 'tactical', 'strategic' and 'campaign' while discussing issues that have nothing to do with the military are indicative of this. You can take a man out of the army, you can never take the army out of the man!
Even his physical appearance is important to consider. Observe his walk, with chest out, tummy tucked in, dyed hair, purposeful stride. He tries to look much younger than his 64 years. This also contributes to his self-image and ego. Imagine if he stopped dyeing his hair- a white haired General (ret), which he actually is, would look very different and his whole image and persona- both for himself and others would undergo a drastic change. Mushahid's Hussain statement is a rare glimpse of how the 'yes men' praise the master, making him even more self-centred and in the process, more reckless.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to change this line of flawed thinking as dictators do not think there is anything wrong with their way of thinking. Hence most dictators are forcibly removed- either violently or forced out. This is what history teaches us. Let there be no doubt about it.
The author is a Professor of Psychiatry at Aga Khan University. He can be contacted on muradmk@gmail.com.
Maltreated Justice Tariq advised physiotherapy
Doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) here on Saturday advised physiotherapy to justice Tariq Mehmood (retired), sources told Dawn.
Mr Mehmood accompanied by a magistrate and police personnel was brought from his residence to the hospital for his medical checkup, where doctors suggested physiotherapy to him for 10-15 days on daily basis, the sources said.
They said Mr Mahmood had sever backache and swelling on his knees. After consulting the doctors, he left for his house, which has been declared a sub-jail since December 6.
He was brought to the hospital after a day of his release by the government, but again was detained in his house.
Earlier, the Pims doctors examined him at his besieged house and advised physiotherapy on daily basis for December.
Detained soon after the November-3 emergency, Mr Mahmood continues to be under detention.
He developed pain in the early days of detention, when he was shifted to the Sahiwal jail from Rawalpindi. With the decrease in temperature, the pain worsened.
He was treated with pain killers, as there was no facility of conducting medical tests in the jail.
Later, he was shifted to Kot Lakpat jail Lahore on November 26, when his condition deteriorated and was taken to the Services Hospital for treatment.
There he underwent an MRI and X-rays and doctors found a hair-line fracture on his left knee. Mr Mahmood was asked to undergo a surgery, which he refused.
