Our leaders appear compromised can they be trusted –>Ansar Abbasi ,The News

After the WikiLeaks deluge

By Ansar Abbasi

Source : http://thenews.com.pk/02-12-2010/ethenews/t-2415.htm

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan stands insecure as our leadership, both political and military, ruling the country have been exposed by no one else but Washington, to whom our leadership is shown by WikiLeaks to have sold their souls at the cost of national integrity, honour and prestige.
Is our fate in safe hands? This is the fundamental questionthat boggles almost every mind in Pakistan as the WikiLeaks bombshell, believed to be deliberately leaked by Washington to attain its designs including chaos in Pakistan, leaves hardly anyone among the leaders here to be trusted.
Each and every word of WikiLeaks would be taken as true if Pakistani authorities and leaders, blamed and shamed by these leaks, do not come out with a clear answer. They need to reply, more importantly through their actions, that Pakistan is no more American domain.
Otherwise, WikiLeaks precisely proves what was earlier said i.e. Pakistan has been practically reduced from a sovereign state to an American colony as the president, prime minister, top political leaders and even Army chief all have been shown pleasing or taking into confidence the US ambassador — the de facto viceroy of Pakistan — to continue ruling the roost with the blessings of Washington.
DG ISI Lt Gen Pasha too crossed the limits of discipline as he is shown by the WikiLeaks to have told US officials that President Asif Ali Zardari was corrupt. The question here arises why did he report such purely internal matter to the Americans.
The only exception has been Imran Khan, the man who on the face of Americans has been criticising US policies, drone attacks, the so-called war on terror besides asking for negotiated settlement with Taliban to end extremism and refusing to dance to the tunes of the “real masters” of this unfortunate country.
Shame is too little a word to reflect on the portrayed conduct of those ruling Pakistan after one goes through the WikiLeaks, which is expected to heap more dirt on Pakistan as well as the Muslim nations.
What would be more shameful than reading President Asif Ali Zardari as conceding to the Americans, “We are here because of you,” and then assuring Washington, “We won’t act without consulting with you.” To the pleasure of his masters, Zardari committed Pakistan to the war on terror, insisting that it was Pakistan’s own war.
Asfandyar Wali too shares the shame by inviting Washington to influence both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari through Jeddah and Dubai to mend fences. Why did he invite three foreign countries in matters purely pertaining to internal politics?
Look at the callousness of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who on the issue of drone attacks told Washington, “I don’t care if they (US) do it (carry out drone attacks) as long as they get the right people. We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.” The premier had snubbed the interior minister Rehman Malik, who had suggested to the Americans that the Predator attacks should be stopped after the Bajaur operation.
Look at the double speak of the PML-N, whose top leadership both Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan were shown repeatedly assuring the Americans that the PML-N was pro-America. To leave no doubt about his loyalty to the Americans, Nawaz recounted his decision to override his Chief of Army Staff and deploy Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia in support of the US coalition in the first Gulf War. Here Chaudhry Nisar Khan reminded that it was the PPP and its leaders who were organising street demonstrations against Pakistan joining with the US coalition.
Exposing the hypocrisy of the already stinking Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the WikiLeaks revealed that the leader of the country’s most fiercely pro-Taliban religious party, hosted a jovial dinner for Ms Patterson at which the Maulana sought her backing to become the prime minister and expressed a desire to visit America. His lieutenant Abdul Ghafoor Haideri acknowledged that “All important parties in Pakistan had to get the approval of the US (to get power).” Just compare the actions of these Maulanas to what they preach in their speeches. Simply disgraceful!
Interior minister Rehman Malik is referred to as a frequent and co-operative interlocutor, who professes his support for cooperation with the United States.
No less shocking is the way the Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has been opening his heart and mind before the Americans, including the US ambassador. Otherwise giving the impression of being a man of few words, the Army chief spoke before the Americans against President Zardari and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, and also talked of getting resignation from the president and tailoring democracy to his sweet choice.
He also hinted at supporting Asfandyar Wali Khan, the leader of the Awami National Party, as the new president. Kayani even made it clear to Ms Patterson, the former US ambassador, that regardless of how much he disliked Zardari, he distrusted Nawaz even more.
Such hobnobbing of the military chief with any foreign diplomat or official, what to talk of Americans, is undoubtedly a violation of discipline and breach of his oath. Unluckily, we have a tainted president, tainted prime minister and tainted political leaders otherwise this is a fit case of seeking explanation from the Army chief.
With such leadership, both political and military, Pakistan’s future is really bleak. Whom should we trust? Who is free from the US influence? Can we become a sovereign nation? Can we take our own decisions? Why do we have more faith in Washington than in God? How could we save Pakistan from being destabilised after reading what our president, prime minister, political leaders and Army chief have said to a minnow American — Anne Patterson? With such leadership, how can we tackle the problem of terrorism? Who would save us from disgrace and shame?
One hardly has any answer to the above questions. Our irony is that our leaders are leading us to shame like never before. What option do they have to undo what they have brought for this country and its people? Resignations and stepping down from their respective public and political offices is one option. Another option is to say a firm no to the American drone attacks, cut the Nato supply line, revisit our policy on US’s so-called war on terror, halt all military operations inside Pakistan, open up dialogue with the local Taliban leaders to bring to an end terrorism and desist from dancing to the tunes of Americans.
Otherwise these leaks, containing truths and half-truths all suiting Washington but embarrassing others, are bound to create more mistrust and chaos in the country, which is the actual design of those having leaked it from Washington.

Monitoring by SC going on for years–>Ansar Abbasi report in The News

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=26187

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: The monitoring mechanism reflected in the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment for the accountability courts is well within the parameters of judicial functions of the Supreme Court and a practice that is going on for years.

However, the judgment has been grossly misinterpreted by some to show that it amounts to interference in the functions of the executive branch.

Independent sources in the Law Ministry confided to The News that all the special courts, set up in the past or are functioning right now in Pakistan, have been and are being monitored and supervised by the apex court, which adopts such monitoring mechanism to ensure that cases pending before the courts concerned do not get delayed unnecessarily.

The sources believe that those feeling uneasy with the monitoring mechanism announced in the Dec 16 judgment for the accountability courts are deliberately creating confusion to prove this judgment as a move by judiciary to interfere in the executive functions.

These sources said such elements are said to be oblivious of the fact that a similar monitoring mechanism is working in the apex court for anti-terrorist courts.

Even for high courts and the subordinate judiciary, a comprehensive monitoring mechanism is presently in place as part of the national judicial policy to ensure quick disposal of cases and to clear the backlog.

Following the government’s complaint that the terrorism cases are not timely pursued and result in increase in terrorism, the present Supreme Court under Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had set up an effective monitoring system to keep a vigilant eye on the anti-terrorist courts so that no unnecessary delay could occur in such cases.

Under this monitoring scheme, Justice Javed Iqbal serves as a monitor for anti-terrorism courts of Sindh; Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday oversees the ATCs in Frontier; Justice Nasirul Mulk supervises the Balochistan ATCs; and Justice Sardar Raza Khan is monitoring the performance of the Punjab ATCs.

Neither anyone had objected to this monitoring mechanism for the ATCs nor was any objection raised for such overseeing strategies adopted in the past for the special courts during the last three decades. However, the sources said a vested interest group is deliberately trying to create confusion for the monitoring mechanism evolved for the accountability courts by the Supreme Court.

In its latest judgment, which has unnerved many powerful and mighty in the government, the Supreme Court clearly said this mechanism is evolved to “monitor the progress and the proceedings in (NAB) cases”.

Since the NRO beneficiaries and their sympathisers were generally complaining that the cases terminated under the condemned NRO remained undecided for over 10 years, this mechanism was evolved to address these complaints and ensure the NAB accused get quick justice.

The NAB has been condemned by the NRO beneficiaries while the Supreme Court also found its incumbent chairman, the prosecutor general and the deputy prosecutor general incompetent. Therefore, the apex court judgment directed the Bureau to transmit periodical reports of the actions taken by them with regard to NAB cases to the Monitoring Cell of the apex court set up following the same order.

Interestingly, similar directions were given to all the provincial governments under the national judicial policy to ensure that the challans in criminal cases, pending before the lower or superior judiciary, are submitted by prosecution within the stipulated time period to avoid unnecessary delays in dispensing justice.

Imran says he got positive response from Taliban–>We support this initiative from Imran Khan and demand the government and urge the people to honestly support it.

At last someone from politicians finally volunteered for the cause of peace in Pakistan. We cannot expect any good from parliamentarians, government, army or agencies to work for the cause of peace because it will not serve their greed and lust for power.

People like Imran Khan , other leaders from PTI and Jamat e Islami,Ulemas who are trusted by tribesmen and other religious and political figures need to make a joint effort for this cause and  this should be backed by the trust of Pakistani people and government.

Army and agencies shouldn’t try to deceive the people this time as they have already created a huge mess just for dollars and to serve their imperialist masters.

We support this initiative from Imran Khan and demand the government and urge the people to honestly support it.

We need to get out of this war against humanity and peace, we are already too late and cannot afford more damage.

We oppose the killings of innocent people in army actions, suicide bombings or in any other way.

————————————————————————————-
Imran says he got positive response from Taliban

The News

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=212671

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan, who on Wednesday offered his services and even showed the willingness to go to the tribal areas to get the mounting terrorism issue resolved through political dialogue, got encouraging response from the Taliban side. His appeal, however, seems to have fallen on the governmentís deaf ears.

The cricket hero-turned-social worker, Imran Khan, told The News on Thursday that after his Wednesday’s press conference, he was contacted by some important Taliban groups, who posed their full confidence in him for political solution of the problem. Khan said that no one from the government side contacted him though.

Imran Khan on Wednesday volunteered to mediate between the government and the Taliban leadership to bring peace, claiming that the menace of terrorism was bound to grow because of the military operation in South Waziristan and in the absence of a political solution.

In his press conference, he had said that if the government gave him the mandate, he was willing to travel to the tribal areas and elsewhere to negotiate peace. His only pre-condition to mediation between the two sides was that the government would not let the US-pressure to ruin his peace efforts like the past.

While some people believe the government has no political strategy to address the issue and is entirely dependent on the military operation that has allegedly aggravated the problem, Imran has taken a bold step amidst great chances that he would be dubbed pro-Taliban by confused Pakistanis and arrogant foreigners.

Imran Khan got an encouraging reaction from some Taliban leaders. Khan said that he was now even considering convening an all parties conference (APC) on the issue. Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman Group) are also opposed to the military operation and seek a political solution to the problem by revisiting Pakistanís policy on the US war on terror, formulating an independent foreign policy and bringing an immediate halt to the military operation in the tribal areas, particularly South Waziristan.

Although, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is not appearing in the media these days, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Professor Munawar Hasan has become vocal in his opposition to the military operation. Interestingly, the PML-N is also not supportive of the present military operation but it lacks the guts to public its demand a political solution to terrorism. However, the party is not making its views public amid reports that it does not want to irritate Washington that is today quite pleased with the party and its top leadership.

In this situation, Imran Khanís daring initiative to do what others are shy to do, is expected to bring pressure on all other pro-dialogue parties, including the PML-N, the JI and the JUI(F) to sit together and chalk out a strategy where the government could be pressurised to save its innocents, whether in the tribal areas or in settled areas of Pakistan from being killed.

Finally, dreaded NRO list is out and official–>The News

In a country where people are not able to find sugar and other daily usage items and where electricity has become a real luxury , the elite political , military ,corrupt business and bureaucratic classes consider themselves above every law of the land and don’t think of themselves answerable to any system of justice.

Below is the list of NRO beneficiaries which include list of accused criminals who got their selves cleaned with this draconian law introduced by the dictator Musharraf.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Finally, dreaded NRO list is out and official

The News

By Ansar Abbasi
Source : http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=25672

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented to the government on Thursday a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO.

Sources in the Law Ministry while sharing with The News the “complete list” of NAB’s NRO beneficiaries, explained that thousands other cases of NRO beneficiaries did not belong to the NAB but with the provincial governments because they were criminal cases and were not covered by the NAB law.

On top of the list is the name of President Asif Ali Zardari while his several close associates, both political and bureaucratic, including Rehman Malik, Salman Farooqi and his brother Usman Farooqi, Hussain Haqqani and Siraj Shamsuddin are also reflected.

The list, which also reflects a brief introduction of the cases dropped against each name under the NRO, also includes the name of serving and former ministers, federal and provincial secretaries, ex-chief secretaries, existing or former members of the national and provincial assemblies and others.

According to the list, Asif Ali Zardari remained the beneficiary No 1 of the NRO as at least eight of his NAB cases of corruption and misuse of authorities were dropped. These cases included the alleged kickbacks from SGS PSI Company, grant of licence to ARY Gold causing huge loss to government, corruption in purchase of Ursus tractors under the Awami Tractor Scheme, illegal award of contract to Cotecna for pre-shipment, assets beyond means, received kickbacks from Sajjad Ahmad (late) ex-chairman Pakistan Steel Mills, illegal construction of Polo ground at PM House and the money laundering SGS Swiss case.

Others amongst politicians include Nawaz Yousaf Talpur, ex-MNA and former minister, who was co-accused in URSUS tractors case; Ms Nusrat Bhutto, assets case; ex-MNA and the PPP Secretary General Jehangir Badr, assets case and corruption in Sui Southern Gas Company; ex-minister for commerce and presently Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar, misuse of authority in issuing sugar export permit to non-entitled persons in 1994; ex-MNA Malik Mushtaq Ahmed Awan, embezzlement in Octroi contracts; ex-MNA Rana Nazir Ahmed, assets case and misuse of authority; ex-MPA Mian M Rashid, assets case and illegal appointments; ex-MPA Tariq Anees, assets beyond means; ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood Dina, assets beyond means; ex-minister of education Sindh Agha Sirajuddin and others, misuse of authority; ex-chief minister and former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, misuse of authority, illegal allotment of plots and assets case; ex-provincial minister Ghani-ur-Rehman, assets beyond means; ex-senator Haji Gulsher, misuse of authority and acquisition of land; ex-provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi, misuse of authority and acquisition of land; ex-MNA Mir Baz Muhammad Khan Khethran, misappropriation of government funds allocated for people’s works programme; ex-federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan, misuse of authority in allocation of LPG and illegal appointments; ex-provincial minister Sardar Mansoor Laghari, corruption in Utility Stores Corporation; ex-Mayor Sargodha Ch Abdul Hameed, assets beyond means; ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Shoukat Ali, ex-MNA Haji Kabir and ex-chairman Zila Council Lahore Ch Zulfikar Ali in Zila Council fraud case.

Amongst government servants and others, who had benefited from NRO and got themselves cleared from NAB cases include ex-additional director general FIA and presently Interior Minister Rehman Malik, embezzlement of funds on account of un-authorized released of imported yellow cab cars, illegal detention of complainant and illegal gratification; ex-secretary information and presently Pakistan’s ambassador in the US Husain Haqqani, co-accused in Ms BB case of TV channels; ex-federal secretary and presently principal secretary to the president Suleman Farooqi, illegal allotment of textile quota, forgery and fraud, obtained illegal benefits in connivance with exporters; ex-chairman Pakistan Steels Mill, caused loss to Pak Steels through illegal disposal of 15.93 MT of end cuts, procurement of Ferro Silicon at higher rates; ex-joint secretary PM Secretariat, former principal secretary to the PM Gilani and presently Executive Director ADB Siraj Shamsuddin, illegal appointment; ex-NBP president and presently Pakistan’s ambassador M B Abbasi, corruption and corrupt practices and loan default; ex-secretary Sindh Rasool Baksh Rahoo, KPT land cases; Mashook Ahmed Usmani, Aurangzeb, Moin ul Arfeen, Akhtar H Askari and Kher M Kalochi of Pakistan Steels Mills (PSM) in the case of purchases on exorbitant prices for PSM; ex-DG textile quota Nayyar Bari and ex-DD Export Promotion Board Anees Alam, illegal allotment of textile quota, forgery/fraud, obtained illegal benefits in connivance with exporters; ex- secretary commerce Brig (R) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, co-accused in ARY Gold case; ex-advisor to Prime Minister A R Siddiqi, co-accused in AAZ and BB cases; ex-principal secretary to the PM Saeed Mehdi, co-accused in polo ground case; ex-principal secretary to the PM Ahmed Sadiq, assets beyond means; ex-chief secretary Punjab Javed Qureshi, fraud in Zila Council Lahore contracts; ex president HBL, willful default, ex DG Intelligence Bureau Brig Imtiaz, assets beyond means; ex-MD Printing Corporation of Pakistan Pir Mukarram, corruption and corrupt practices; ex-DG Textile Quota Akhtar Alam in textile quota case; ex-secretary Petroleum Capt (R) Naseer Ahmad, misuse of authority in awarding contracts for OGDC; ex-Director Textile Quota Syed Arfeen, textile quota case; customs officials Khalid Aziz, Muhammad Nawaz Butt and Mumtaz Ali Changezi in illegal evasion of tax duties case and wrong refund of customs rebate case; Pak Steel employees Syed Iqtedar Rasool, Qaiser Raza, Irfanuddin, Hisamuddin and Qurban Ali Jatoi in import of PIG iron for PSM case; General Manager Port Qasim Authority Abdul Sattar Dero, corruption in PSM; businessman/transporter Pir Deedar Hussain Shah, yellow cab scam; ex-FIA Assistant Director Sajjad Haider, ex-Inspector Muhammad Sharif Qureshi and inspector Moeen Ashraf, all three co-accused of Rehman Malik in embezzlement of funds on account of unauthorized release of imported yellow cab cars case; Assistant Director FIA Agha Ishrat Ali, assets beyond means; ex-Deputy Director FIA Ch Muhammad Sharif, assets beyond means; ex-Additional Commissioner Income Tax Javed Iqbal Mirza, assets beyond means; ex Managing Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Aftab Ahmed, misuse of authority in awarding contracts; Project Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Fareed Ahmed, misuse of authority in awarding contracts; ex-Regional Commissioner of Income Tax Sindh Abrar Ahmed, assets beyond known resources.

The names of other beneficiaries are Collector Customs Imtaiz Ali Taj; ex-Secretary Javed Burki, DG Port Qasim Authority Irshad Ahmed Sheikh; AD FIA Noor Muhammad Kaka; Maj (R) Rashid Khan; Additional Director FIA Ali Qaswar Bokhari; ex-DG Peshawar Development Authority Syed Zahir Shah; Suptd Customs Check Post Mand Muhammad Younas Butt; Customs officials Sherdad Khan, Sajad Hussain, Muhammad Sarwar and Abdul Hameed Siddiqi; Senior Store Manager Muhammad Iqbal; District Engineer Water Supply Quetta Zamarak Khan; Revenue Officer Pashin Rehman Ali; Assistant Revenue Office Pashin Hafiz Matiullah; Superintendent Revenue Officer Pishin Muhammad Iqbal; Junior Auditor Ibrar Hussain; ex-SP Railways Inamur Rehman Sehri; ex-DC CDA Ch Muhammad Aslam; ex-Secretary CDA Abdul Ghafoor Dogar; ex-AD CDA Mushtaq Ahmed Baloch; ex-Sub Engineer CDA Muhammad Ismail; ex-DC CDA Ahmed Khan; ex-Account Officer Attaullah Khan; ex Patwari Muhammad Farooq; ex-Patwari CDA Muzamil Hussain; Clerk CDA Dawood Khan; ex-Deputy Director Planning CDA Muhammad Iqbal; ex-DC CDA Muhammad Amin; ex-DC CDA Shoukat Ali; Supervisor PTCL Sheikh Liaqat Ali; Assistant Manager GHQ Habibullah Tasnim; Assistant Store Keeper Muhammad Saeed; ex-DG Services CDA Mohiuddin Jameeli; ex DD CDA Muhammad Ashfaq; ex-Asstt Estate Manager CDA Din Muhammad; EGDC official Raheel J Qureshi; GPO Rawalpindi officials Muhammad Farooq, Salim Raza, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Akhtar and Arshad Mehmood; ex-Tehsildar Raja Zahid Hussain; Dy DG Military Land and Cantonment Department Abdul Naeem Khan; ex-SSD MEO Rwp Sh Muhammad Amin; Assistant Director Military Land and Cantonment Abdul Hayee Qamar; ex-DG Military Land and Cantonment Qazi Naeem Ahmed; Abdul Ghafoor Khan, Muhammad Ali; ex-Chairman SLI Zaheer; ex-DG NHA Iqbal Ahmad; ex-Chief Engineer CAA Raees M Irshad; CAA officials Ghulam Qadir Lakhan, Shafique Siddiqi, Ahmed Hussain, Iqbal Bangash, Khurshid Anwar, M Akbar, A D Abbasi, Kh Farooq Ahmad and Rafique Shad; OGDC officials Jaffar Mohammad, Khalid Subhani, Capt (R) Nazir Ahmed; Najmul Hassan, M Ishaq, Muzaffar Hussain, Shahid Ahmed, Qamar Hussain Shah, M Israel Khan and Bashir Ahmad Bhatti; PWD officials Mureed Ahmed Baloch, Sadaqat Ali, Khalid Mehmood Nasir, Akram Rao, Rashid Mujib Siddiqi, Aslam Shahid, Zahid ullah Khan and Shabbair Husain; Wapda officials Anwar Hussain, Wapda Line Superintendents Saifullah, Muhammad Arshad, Syed Ehsan Ali Shah, Mirza Saeed Ahmed, Akbar Ali and Allah Wasaya; Nadra officials Hakim Din, Sardari Ali and Nadir Khan; Zakim Khan Masood, Sadiq Ali Khan, Sardar Mansoor Leghari, Din Muhammad, Sikandar Ali Abbasi, Ahmad Yar Gondal, Amin Jan, Sharif Alam Padri, Usman Ghani Khatri, Adnan Khawaja, Nadeem Imtiaz; ex-official Abdul Hakeem, proprietor M/s Techno Int Pir Bux Solangi; private person Abdul Sattar Mandokhel; official S M Attaur Rehman; Sahib Dad Mengal; Hamza Khan Gabol; Riaz ul Hassan Rizvi; Shamsuddin, Ayaz Ahmed, Mukhtiar Ahmad, Muhammad Ali, Abdul Aziz, Rasheed Muhammad Qureshi, Mumtaz Ahmed Bhutto, Maqsood Ahmed, ex-UDC MEO Sialkot Naeem uddin, ex Asst Audit Officer Muhammad Hanif Rahi; ex-cameraman Abu Zar Jaffari; Auditor General officials Muneeruddin Ch, Abdul Razaak Bhatti, Mehr Sajjad Ahmed, Mirza Sajjad Ahmed, Mirza Muhammad Ayub, Muhammad Iqbal Shah, Mukhtar Ahmed, Malik Shahmat Ali, Mian Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Shafique, Syed Javed Hassan, Syed Muzaffar H Shah, Muhammad Sarwar Safi, Muhammad Shabbir and Tariq Mehmood; Food Department officials Ch Nazir Ahmed, Safiullah Awan and Muhammad Usman; Wapda’s Liaqat Ali, Customs Ali Muhammad Sheikh; PTCL’s Munawar Hussain, Muhammad Ashfaq Naz and Muhammad Shahid; Lahore Wapda’s Shahid Iqbal Ghauri, Manzoor H Chohan, Muhammad Javed, Abdul Rehman, Iftikhar Ali and M Qasim; Amjad Hussain Sandhal, Syed Zahir Hussain, Ghulam Mustafa, M Hanif; Sadiq Muhammad, Sameer Amjad, Ch M Siddiqi, Rasheed Ahmed Patwari, Mirza Sher Muhammad; businessmen Seth Nisar Ahmed and Zahid Mehmood; official Murid Ahmed Baloch, Qazi Afzal Hussain, Shaukat Hussain Shah, Maqbool Ahmed, Noor Jamal, Sardar Muhammad Nasim, Mirza Sher Muhammad, Rashid Ahmed Patwari, Muhammad Usman, Arshad Mehmood, Muhammad Akhtar and Waheedur Rehman.

Marriott hotel blast-Americans’ presence at Marriott not a secret–>What else can we expect?

Well how many lives our nation will lose? how many lies our nation will face? how many incidents like Marriott do we have to see? What else can we expect in this so called war against terrorism(in fact a war against humanity)?

It seems that Zardari government is pursuing the same dirty agenda of CIA which Musharraf patronized  to make Pakistan a real slave of the zionist powers. It’s the nation which now and then trust these traitors to rule the country.

I don’t know when people will learn?

Americans’ presence at Marriott not a secret: US embassy(The News)

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani authorities are trying to solve the riddle of US Marines and their mysterious steel cases, which were shifted to the Marriott Hotel four days before the hotel was reduced to ashes by the worst ever terrorist attack in the history of the federal capital.

These authorities want to ascertain if it was a routine exercise or part of some special mission that does not have the approval of the Government of Pakistan.

The US embassy insists the activity witnessed was a team of support personnel that often and routinely precede and/or accompany certain US officials. However, the government authorities probing the matter have already got most of the facts ascertained as mentioned in The News story on Sunday.

According to an official source, the authorities were told that mysterious activity of the US Marines took place around 12:00 midnight on 16 September. Already the government has got the information that several rooms on the fourth floor of the Marriott were in permanent use of the US authorities. Three of these rooms were said to be inter-connected and contained some intelligence equipment and other material allegedly used for espionage.

Sadruddin Hashwani, the owner of the Marriott, when approached denied that the Americans had any such presence in the hotel and said that like any such hotel in the world his guests included people of different nationalities. “Why focus on the Americans unnecessarily,” Hashwani wondered. He refuted that the US embassy had permanently hired several rooms in his hotel.

The US embassy spokesperson Lou Fintor, however, when asked if the US embassy had hired several rooms in the Marriott Hotel for years, said in his written reply that the US embassy has been a frequent customer of the Marriott Hotel for many years. On any given day, he said, there were employees of the American embassy and official American visitors staying at the hotel. “There is nothing unusual, secretive or ‘mysterious’ about this,” he said.

When asked if three of these permanently hired rooms were interconnected, Fintor said, “For our frequent visiting delegations, the embassy often rented adjoining rooms — as we often do in other hotels in Pakistan and in the world.”

Responding to unconfirmed reports that the US-rented rooms in the Marriott Hotel were being used by the CIA for espionage purposes, he said, “Unfortunately, far too many things have been ‘said’ that have absolutely no basis in fact. There is no truth whatsoever in allegations that covert activity was taking place on the part of the United States government.”

The spokesman said that these allegations are inaccurate, irresponsible, baseless and completely without any foundation whatsoever.

About the Marines and the steel cases which were reported to have been shifted to the hotel between the night of 16 and 17 September and whether these Marines and the suitcases were in the hotel on the day of the blast or evacuated before, he said, “A team of support personnel often and routinely precede and/or accompany certain US government officials. They often carry communication and office equipment required to support large delegations, such as high-level administration officials and members of the US Congress.”

He added that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would travel with communications equipment. “It is quite possible that some saw this communications equipment moved into the hotel. This equipment would leave with the CJCS. If the equipment was transported in full public view then obviously there was no attempt made to conceal its movement.”

Witnessed by many, including a PPP MNA and his friends, a US embassy’s truckload of steel boxes was unloaded and shifted inside the Marriott Hotel on September 16 midnight only after Mike Mullen, the US Admiral, had met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others in Islamabad and had already left. Both the main gates (the entrance and the exit) of the hotel were closed while no one except the US Marines was either allowed to go near the truck or get the steel boxes unloaded or shift them inside the hotel. These steel boxes were not being passed through the scanners installed at the entrance of the hotel’s lobby, and were reportedly shifted to the fourth and fifth floors of the Marriott.

The US embassy spokesman also confirmed that the Marriott rooms, which were in use of the US officials, had the communication and office equipment, which were transported for use by Admiral Mullen.

A hotel employee, on condition of not being named, confided that the hotel management had been receiving threats from unknown persons for the last six months to get the US officials vacated from the hotel. However, Mr Hashwani when confronted said that there has been no threat received by the hotel management.

Why another crackdown on media is round the corner–>The News

 

 

Why another crackdown on media is round the corner

By Ansar AbbasiISLAMABAD: Yet again, the media in Pakistan is under serious threat. Alarm bells have already started ringing. Naked warnings are being overtly given. Lists of “troublemakers” in the media are being compiled and the NRO-laundered intelligence sleuths are being assigned to straighten out the “crooked” pen pushers. Some media houses have been pinpointed for “conspiring” against the elected government (read presidency if you like) and are being warned to get ready for another round of beating. The stage is being set to teach the unrepentant media a lesson. The assault could be subtle. It could be uncouth and blatant. It could be direct. It could be vicious. Some fear, perhaps it has already been conceptualised and may be launched within days, if not already put into action. The journalists smell a rat when they talk with government leaders, but they have not panicked. They are rather relaxed and prepared for the fight to defend the freedom of the press as guaranteed by the Constitution. It might be new for the present day masters of our destiny to flex their newly acquired state muscles to tame the media but those associated with this profession are used to it. From the days of the draconian press laws introduced by the first military dictator of Pakistan General Ayub Khan to the era of public whipping of journalists during Zia’s Martial Law and then to the post Nov 3, 2007 media-specific black days of General Musharraf’s military rule, not to mention the wrongs done to the country’s press during the democratic governments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the losers have always been those trying to strangulate the media. But the rulers perhaps are not in the habit of learning lessons from other people’s experiences. At least, it seems so from what is being contemplated now to gag the media, whose major crime today is that it reminds the leaders of their actions and promises of the past. A lunch hosted by a PML-Q lady MNA at her Margalla Road house on Friday served as an opportunity for a selected gathering of “notorious” journalists to share their views on the looming threats to the media. The host of Aaj TV’s popular programme ‘Bolta Pakistan’ and senior journalist Nusrat Javeed believes that the crackdown on media is just round the corner. It might strike us in just a few days. He was of the view that a ‘financial emergency’ was likely to be imposed to attain the objectives of the vested interests. Hamid Mir, the host of Geo TV’s CapitalTalk and a senior columnist, was certain that the D-day was just 10 days away. He said that the list of five marked journalists had swelled to 17 and possibly included the names of most of those invited to the lunch. According to Hamid Mir’s assessment, amongst the media houses, Geo News, The News and Aaj Television were said to be the first in the firing line. † Our Group Editor Shaheen Sehbai perhaps had some clear picture of what was simmering against the media but for being a man of few words he kept his secrets to himself. Syed Talat Hussain shared his latest confrontation with some presidency-backed local businessman, who told him that the media was responsible for all the present ills of Pakistan. The man had reportedly celebrated the March 9, 2007 removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry because the latter had ruined his golf dreams. It had all happened because of the media, so for the likes of this man media is undoubtedly the villain and, therefore, should be cursed. Kashif Abbasi of the ARY TV was sharing with this scribe the kind of pressures he was presently facing. Geo TV’s Dr Shahid Masood from Dubai explained as to why he focused on Rehman Malik in his popular programme ‘Meray Mutabiq’ on Saturday night. Dr Shahid said that during his last visit to Islamabad, he got a plain warning from Rehman Malik in the presence of Asif Ali Zardari. “The situation is really scary,” he said, adding that Rehman Malik talked of his “punches” to respond to the “punches” of the media. Malik, he said, introduced himself as the establishment and the master of all the intelligence agencies. “Honestly, it was shocking for me,” Dr Shahid said, adding that Benazir Bhutto had done a lot to support the cause of the independent media, particularly after Nov 3, 2007 but things had now changed altogether. Media is today the only pillar of the state that is still standing but under a serious threat. The other key pillar, the judiciary, was made to collapse on Nov 3, 2007 when General Musharraf carried out his coup against the institution. The new parliament is already is shambles and lacks confidence. The Executive is simply nowhere and is hostage to the status quo of the remnants of the past military regime. May one ask the champions of democracy and the masters of our destiny on what grounds and basis do they intend to run the state. Can the state survive without these pillars? Have our leaders developed some innovative vision, alien to the world’s experiences, to run the country? Are we going to prove to the world that we actually are a banana republic? Enjoy your bananas.

Rehman “Double Agent” Malik–>Emergency mailing list

Who is this Rehman Malik and why is he in the news for not so good reasons. And why is he still being kept in the government even when he can not be trusted as the items below will show:

Background:

 

“Rehman Malik rose to dizzying heights from a lowly grade 13 or 14 officer. Stories of Malik trying to worm his way through by bribing his seniors are still fresh in our minds. Come promotion time, he’d turn up at their homes with trays laden with designer suits. By golly, it worked!” [1]

 

Naseerullah Babar had tried to warn Benazir Bhutto to get a reliable security advisor as her potential murderers would have to come from within her party. He had advised against this third class officer to be part of her security chief. Malik was FIA chief and would report to Babar and his disapproval of Malik can be seen in the quoted article.

 

He was soon to replace Amin Fahim as Benazir’s dealer of the military and was the primary negotiator of the NRO:

 

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=66184

 

Rehman Malik and illegal money:

 

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C31%5Cstory_31-5-2007_pg1_4

 

He is known to have a lot of money illegally during Benazir’s time through corruption and money laundering.

 

Links with Foreign Agents:

 

Rehman Malik had dealings with Mosad and FBI during Benazir’s government

 

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/fia/index.html

 

Benazir Bhutto appointed Rehman Malik as chief of the Federal Investigation Agency which then launched a secret war against the Islamists, which amounted to a direct attack on the ISI. The Pakistani military was equally dismayed by reports of FIA contacts with the Israeli secret service, the MOSSAD, to investigate Islamist terrorists. The FIA leadership under Bhutto also angered Islamist elements because they allowed the extradited Ramzi Yousaf to the US for trial on the New York Trade Centre Bombing. One of the first acts of President Leghari after dismissing Benazir Bhutto on 05 November 1996 was to imprison the Ghulam Asghar, head of FIA, suspended on non specified corruption charges, and Rehman Malik, Addl. Director General FIA, was also arrested.

 

http://www.rense.com/general25/team.htm

 

 

Working for Ejaz Shah, Tariq Aziz and Nadeem Taj

Rehman Malik had established good relations with the Musharraf, DG MI Ashfaq Kiyani, DG ISI Nadeem Taj and other top brass of Pakistani Army. When Benazir mentioned that the notorious Ejaz Shah, who was DG IB, and also known as the “handler of Osama bin Laden”, might be involved in the attack on her, Malik was summoned by DG ISI Nadeem Taj. The security provided to him was unprecedented because Ejaz Shah had accompanied him to the GHQ in order to work things out with DG ISI Taj and Rehman Malik.

“Earlier, Rehman Malik was taken aback when he was given extraordinary protocol at the Islamabad airport. He found dozens of top security and protocol officers receiving him inside the plane. A bulletproof car was specially parked close to the plane and he was taken out of the Islamabad airport amid tight security, which is not even available to the federal ministers.”  [2]

 

What was this secret meeting all about? Why was he flown to meet Ejaz Shah who was one of the possible killers of Benazir as said by her? Why was Ejaz Shah present at this meeting to discuss security of Benazir when he was being alleged to be behind Oct 18 attack on Benazir? Rehman Malik did not respond to journalists when they came to know about the meeting and asked for his opinion:

 

“Talking to The News, Rehman Malik confirmed his meeting with DG ISI, but refused to comment on the nature of his talks. On the issue of extraordinary security provided to him by the government, Malik said, they had some concerns about my security and they acted on their own.”

 

Rehman Malik was the chief negotiator of Musharraf-Benazir deal and had established many key connections which he uses till now.

 

Suspicious activities around Benazir’s Assassination

First Interview of Rehman Malik, within hours of BB’s Death:

All videos and details can be seen here: http://pkpolitics.com/2008/01/04/fishy-character-rehman-malik/

- RM claims that his car was 4 feet away from BB’s car during incident and he also claims that he did not hear gunshots?

- Although being BB’s Chief Security Office (CSO), he did bother to call anyone in BB’s car [Naheed Khan, Amin Faheem, SP Major Imtiaz, Safdar Abbasi & 2 other persons]

- As per his understanding, BB was safe and this is what he told the Geo TV after the explosion.

- He says that they stopped at the Hospital and found that BB’s car was not coming. He took a U turn from there and found that BB’s car had already entered hospital and there was lots of crowd over there.

- He said that he was trying his best to get the custody of dead body As Soon As Possible from the Hospital. Why he wasn’t bothered about further investigation when he has been a Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)?

—————————————————————

Rauf Klasra of The News claims that:

- Brigadier Cheema officially told on TV that BB was safe after confirming from CSO RM, who himself said the same on Geo TV

- As the tire of BB’s car got burst after the explosion, Major Imtiaz moved BB to Shery’s car after traveling a short distance

- RM went directly to Bilawal House in Islamabad and confined himself there until Zardari reached Islamabad from Dubai

- Babar Awan sitting next to RM says that they directly went to Bilawal House in Islamabad assuming that BB was okay and she was directly following their car.

- Once Babar found that BB did not reach Islamabad, Babar immediately rushed back towards Rawalpindi and RM did not accompany him to Rawalpindi.

- Babar’s statement (who was sitting next to RM) is in complete contradiction to RM’s claim that:

—> They returned to hospital from next U-Turn (as told to Iftikhar of Geo)
—> They stopped the car when they could not see lights of BB’s car anymore

Link to Rauf Klasra’s Article

Last but not least, the suspicious person with strange antics standing close to BB while she was addressing at Liaqat Baagh, was hired on special recommendation of Rehman Malik. This person, Khalid Shahinshah who was personal servant of BB, might have known about the explosion in the advance which could be the reason he rushed into the armored car before everyone else.

The Post says that:

PPP sources have reported that the moment Benazir ended her address, this (servant) man was the first one to dive into her bullet proof Land Cruiser; an unusual change from past routine whilst he always boarded the vehicle after Benazir, often hanging by the external pedestals of her Cruiser, as was evident in videos.

One other household servant and Dr Safdar Abbassi got seated in the rear portion of the Cruiser, and when the suicide bomber blew himself apart, Khalid was also present in the Cruiser. Afterwards he (Khalid) went over to the Zardari House, Islamabad where he lived for two days, and did not visit Naudero despite Benazir’s death, making it there on third day. When informed about the video of his antics he promptly disappeared from the scene, over the excuse of his mother’s death.

 

Post Assassination:

http://www.makepakistanbetter.com/Why_how_what_forum.asp?PageNo=&GroupID=5&ArticleID=2716

Rehman Malik is a buddy of Tariq Aziz. His wife runs Nasir Nursing Home in Rawalpindi and his brothers in law do not die their identity as being Qadyanis. Rehman Malik is thus a bridge between Musharraf and Zardari. Fatima Bhutto (Read her interview in today’s Nation newspaper) blames specifically Asif Zardari for assassinating Murtaza Bhutto. Rehman Malik was the right hand man of Zardari and hence his role due to his high position in FIA makes him even more suspicious.

Rehman Malik who drives very fast on Islamabad streets breaking all laws, is trying to be over-smart and trying to stop restoration of judges and sacking of thoroughly corrupt and yes men judges ( How can they be judges when are bootlickers of dictators?) Rehman Malik had in hand with Farooq Naik are toeing Uncle SAM’s dirty lines and policies which are in fact 100%  Satanic and anti people. Uncle SAM (Sub-animal materialism) does not free judiciary and true democracy in any Muslim country. So through dirty and behind the scene games Human Satans are playing their dirty games. Certainly such people must not be in any Government position and must be fired. Mr. Nawaz Sharif as well as all other political parties must demand his immediate expulsion. Rehman Malik played key role in induction of terrorists in Sind Cabinet which now contains over 13 proven die hard terrorists as ministers! CIA and International Zionism played key role in induction of MQM terrorists who carried out May 12 2007 Karachi Carnage and burnt lawyers alive on 9th April, 2008 are in the folds of PPP Sind Government as Uncle SAM demanded. How people of Sind will live peacefully and progress amidst these fully protected terrorists? Against the Shar (Mischief) of all these human Satans and Jin Satans we take Allah’s protection who is the Rabb of Falak  and People as well the King and the God of all human beings.

Prof. (Dr.) Anwar Ul Haque

Rehman Malik let Benazir’s killer and his close friend Ejaz Shah flee the country

 

Ejaz Shah Headed Downunder

April 29th, 2008 Arif Rafiq Posted in Ejaz Shah |

The previous Intelligence Bureau chief Ejaz Shah–accused by Benazir Bhutto of plotting the assassination attempt on her in Karachi–has been allowed to leave the country for Australia. The purpose and duration of his visit is unclear, but it’s worth noting that Pervez Musharraf, a close friend of his, attempted to post him as high commissioner to that country in 2004, but the Aussies seemed to have objected.

 

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message480663/pg1

 

Bhutto’s MOSSAD security detail
Quote

Benazir Bhutto appointed Rehman Malik as chief of the Federal Investigation Agency which then launched a secret war against the Islamists, which amounted to a direct attack on the ISI. The Pakistani military was equally dismayed by reports of FIA contacts with the Israeli secret service, the MOSSAD, to investigate Islamist terrorists

[link to www.globalsecurity.org]

At her side today is Rehman Malik, a former Pakistan intelligence chief who followed Bhutto into exile and has become one of her key backers and advisers.

REHMAN MALIK, FORMER PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE CHIEF: If you say people keep saying a lie, again and again, and again and again, it becomes true. And now it is our turn to say the truth again and again so people should know that she was not corrupt, she was never corrupt.

Malik has been central in negotiating her return and in negotiating an amnesty from any corruption charges with military ruler President Musharraf.

BENAZIR BHUTTO: We have not done any deal. We have held negotiations for the transition to democracy and certain initial positive developments have taken place in that regard.

Beyond the party faithful, her arrangement with General Musharraf has been viewed with cynicism. She’s portrayed as propping up a failing dictator to secure her own amnesty and share of power, but apparently they have more in common than many have assumed.

REPORTER: So there are similarities?

REHMAN MALIK: There are similarities. Moreover, we don’t want terrorism, General Musharraf doesn’t want terrorism, the international community doesn’t want terrorism. So this is a very common place thing, a very common issue?

[link to news.sbs.com.au]

It was Rehman Malik who initially told the press BB had been shot twice. In a bullet proof car?

Smells of double agent false flag assassination. Not Pervez despite 911 connection/ Remember FRAMED 7/7 Pakistani bombers. This is JWO region destabilisation and Balkanisation plan. Same as Iraq.

Plus

Paki nukes give falseflag terror a ramp up and excuse to invade

 

Rehman Malik goes to ALL major meetings even Negroponte, Peterson, etc

 

http://www.karachipage.com/news/Mar_08/032608.html

 

 

He does not know anything about the judges issue but is in the committee..

 

He also has been the one responsible for the delay of the polls.

 

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=14559

EC confirms Malik’s key role in by-polls delay
Thursday, May 08, 2008

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: The controversy behind the postponement of the by-elections deepened on Wednesday when the Election Commission Secretary Kanwar Dilshad revealed that he had received a phone call from Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik, who had asked for a delay. This confirms a similar claim by the NWFP government. As Dilshad’s statement to The News firmly established that Rehman Malik was the man who had successfully executed the controversial postponement, it was still unclear who, between the Zardari House and the presidency, actually authored the script of the so-called conspiracy.

 

 

Rehman Malik was involved either directly or indirectly in Benazir’s death

 

He is close friends with Musharraf’s aides

 

Close friends with Ejaz Shah, the person responsible for Benazir’s Assassination

 

Already known to have acted on a conspiracy for the Presidency.

 

 

 

---

[1] http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/071028/dmag16.htm

[2] http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=76915

Ali Munir

 

Emergency mailing list

Emergency@lists.hcs.harvard.edu

http://lists.hcs.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/emergency

PML-Q trying to come out of Musharraf’s shadow—>The News

Lets hope for the good!  :)

PML-Q trying to come out of Musharraf’s shadow

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which despite being in the opposition is still seen as the king’s party, is struggling to get out of President Musharraf’s shadow and is planning to take popular decisions that may include support for the restoration of judges.

Pro-president voices are fast dying down in the party, created by Musharraf through the ISI to perpetuate his military rule, amid reports that a considerable number of party MPs, both in the National and the Punjab assemblies, are exasperated and trying to detach the party from the presidency.

“Despite being in the opposition, we are being suspected and not treated in the manner as opposition is usually treated,” an influential PML-Q leader told this correspondent, revealing that even the Chaudhrys of Gujrat were now not that enthusiastic in their love for President Musharraf.

Even a family source of the Chaudhrys admits that the recent covert move of the presidency to change the PML-Q leadership had greatly disappointed both Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi, who now feel as if they have been stabbed in their back after all they have done for the man at the top.

Though the attempt to change the PML-Q leadership has failed, it has caused mistrust in the relationship between the Chaudhrys and president. However, the two sides are still in contact. Apart from what has happened behind the scenes in the recent weeks and months, a large number of PML-Q MPs are keenly pursuing the policy of detaching the party from the presidency. A Q leader lamented that while in the government they were referred as the king’s men, now when they are in the opposition they are not being treated accordingly both by the media and people.

“There is a growing realisation that unless we publicly detach ourselves from the president, the PML-Q cannot continue as a party that enjoys the trust of the people,” the source said, admitting that any connection with the president at this point of time would be damaging for the political future of the party. The source disclosed that in an indoor meeting, a dominant majority of the Q MPAs in the Punjab had already voiced their opposition to the presidency-PML-Q nexus. These Leaguers are not interested to get the party merged into the PML-N and rather resolve to retain the party as an independent entity. But for this, the party sources agree the PML-Q must sit in the opposition and act like a true opposition instead of serving as the mouthpiece of the presidency.

Some Q-Leaguers, even including those very close to the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, are discussing the option of taking the popular stance of favouring pre-Nov 3, 2007 judiciary’s restoration. “This is the right time to admit before the people that we did wrong in the past and tender an apology and announce our unconditional support to the government to get the deposed judges restored,” an important Q-Leaguer said, adding that in his view, the party should stay in the opposition and should not join the government even if it got the opportunity because of any rift created between the PPP and PML-N.

Army must keep itself away from another confrontation with the civil society

It will be a serious debacle to the social and national integrity of Pakistan if General Kiyani decides to intervene in favour of General (R) Musharraf and his dictatorship.

According to media reports the current PCO-SC of Abdul Hameed Dogar may call the army to help Supreme Court (PCO-SC) in abstaining the National Assembly to revoke the November 3 2007 actions by Dictator Musharraf.

The media reports say that PCO-SC may use article 190 which obligates all the executives to act in aid of the Supreme Court BUT the executives must remember that the constitutional SC is of Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhary not of Abdul Hameed Dogar so if the article 190 is invoked it should be in aid of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary and the Supreme Court which he heads constitutionally.

For the army and military establishment we can only pray that they will keep themselves away from another confrontation (or a possible clash) with the civil society of Pakistan and for the dictator we can only say,” Quit your position,have mercy on Pakistan and stop playing with the constitution and integrity of Pakistan”.

WE LOVE OUR ARMY(IT’S OUR OWN ARMY), WE RESPECT IT VERY MUCH AND IF THE TIME COMES WE WILL FIGHT ALONGSIDE WITH THEM (AGAINST THE ENEMY NOT JUDICIARY OR OUR OWN PEOPLE) BUT WE WANT THE ARMY TO ACT ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION AND TO FOCUS ON THEIR ORIGINAL DUTY (POLITICS IS NOT THEIR JOB).

———————————————————-

Related Report:

A new crisis brewing for General Kayani(The News)

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Despite the legal wrangling on the highly controversial action, the ball will be thrown into the court of Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani if the Supreme Court calls the Army to its aid, apparently to subvert the restoration of the deposed judges by parliament.

The Supreme Court action, some legal minds say, may spell disaster and chaos given the prevailing charged environment in favour of reinstatement of the sacked judges with two main winning parties having vowed to restore them.

Even on the very first meeting of the National Assembly that was meant just for its swearing in, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) made it quite evident that they do not accept the Nov 3 constitutional amendments, which paved the way for sacking of the superior courts’ judges. The two leading partners of the future coalition government — the PPP and the PML-N, which together have 212 members in the National Assembly — have already committed on March 9, 2008 in the Bhurban Accord that they would restore the pre-Nov 3 judiciary through a parliamentary resolution.

If the chief judge decides to invoke Article 190 of the Constitution, which says, “All executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan shall act in aid of the Supreme Court”, and calls the Army in aid of the apex court than such a thing would happen for the second time in the history of Pakistan.

During the second term of Nawaz Sharif, the then chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah had also written to the then Army Chief Jahangir Karamat and sought the military help but he and the GHQ he was heading did not find the chief justice’s request valid for consideration and referred the same to the defence ministry, which is part of the executive.

A simple understanding of Article 190 lays bare the fact that the request to call the Army can’t be made directly to the military and it has to be routed through the executive. But at the same time, there are some constitutional experts, who argue the Supreme Court could directly call the Army.

One of the top legal aides of the government, on condition of anonymity, also argued that the Army could not only be called “to act in aid of the Supreme Court” but also be ordered by the Supreme Court to do the same.

The same legal aide claimed that the purpose of the Full Court meeting is firstly to show solidarity and give clear signal to all and sundry that the post-Nov 3 judiciary is united, and secondly, possibly to consider the option of writing to the Army Chief “to act in aid of the Supreme Court”.

He said if the next government restores deposed judges through a parliamentary resolution and revert the Supreme Court to the pre-Nov 3 situation then who would be there to protect the post-Nov 3 judiciary. The legal aide denied that he was part of a recent presidency meeting, which continued till 4:30 in the morning.

Gen Kayani has already put in a lot of effort ever since becoming the Chief of Army Staff to redeem the respect of the Army. He has not only directed the men in uniform to keep themselves away from politics and political leaders but also issued orders for the return of Army officers from civil institutions back to the GHQ.

The Kayani-led Army also received kudos for its impartial role during general elections. Although the Supreme Court’s order is generally binding on every institution, the present situation is a complex one.

The standing of the present Supreme Court is being questioned by the vast majority of parliamentarians, the legal fraternity, the civil society and others who do not accept actions of Nov 3 emergency-cum-martial law, including sacking of almost 60 judges of the superior judiciary.

In a situation where the people has given their mandate to the anti-Musharraf political forces and in favour of the general demand for restoration of deposed judges, dragging the Army into this matter would be highly controversial. It would be considered as taking side with the dictator and against the interests of the people. Such a situation would be chaotic.

Meanwhile, in the official circles there are fears being raised that the stage is being set by the presidency for imposition of emergency to regain its firm control over the state of affairs. It is apprehended that a situation is being deliberately created where constitutional institutions look like proceeding for a head-on collusion, which would make a perfect case for the caretaker prime minister to advise the president to promulgate emergency in the country.

But in such a scenario, yet again, the result would be complete chaos, anarchy and possibly bloodshed. It is relevant to mention here that 22 retired judges of the Supreme Court, including six former chief justices of Pakistan, have recently supported the idea of deposed judges’ restoration through an executive order or a parliamentary resolution.

They categorically said that this reinstatement does not require any constitutional amendment. All these respected former judges have found the Nov 3 action unconstitutional, including the oath of judges under the PCO.

Despite all this both mainstream parities, the PPP and the PML-N, and the lawyers’ community in order to avoid a possible confrontation, do not seek removal of the PCO judges or those who took oath under the Constitution after Nov 3. Contrary to this accommodation by those who enjoy the will of the people, any move to block reinstatement of deposed judges would be like inviting crisis.