Missing Persons Case: ‘Playing Hell with the Citizens of Pakistan'

It is a sign of the times that supercilious, self-important public servants are finally being made to trudge to the Supreme Court and make an appearance.

Yesterday in the Missing Persons Case, Defence Secretary Kamran Rasool and National Crisis Management Cell director-general Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema both showed up before the three-member Supreme Court investigating the ‘mysterious’ disappearance of scores of Pakistani citizens. The Secretary for the Interior excused himself from appearing on grounds of ill-health and the Attorney General, playing true to form, remained missing as has now become routine.

The regime officials informed the court that 56 individuals on the HRCP list of 136 had been traced. Of them, 45 had been freed, three were under trial, five under custody, one detained under the Security of Pakistan Act, one was an army deserter and one had been convicted. However, according to Brigadier Cheema, 80 people were still ‘untraced’.

Not true said the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), as The Nation reported:

The HRCP lawyers Fakhruddin G Ibrahim and Asma Jahangir doubted the claims made by Brig Cheema about the 45 ‘free persons’ as according to HRCP’s information, these people were still missing.

The Nation then continued:

…Brig Cheema informed the court that rest of the people mentioned in the list could not be traced since the list provided by the HRCP “is very scanty and deficient of details, like parentage and addresses of the missing persons.”

Human Rights Activist, lawyers Asma Jahangir argued before the court that the addresses of those persons were intentionally not provided, since the families of those missing individuals had secretly contacted them (HRCP) and were afraid of being harassed by the “powerful intelligence agencies.”

…Defence Secretary Kamran Rasool, while defending the intelligence agencies told the court, “agencies denied that people have been picked up unlawfully.”

Justice Javed Iqbal asked the Defence Secretary about the procedure that intelligence agencies follow. “How are they (agencies) answerable to you and at what point they inform you about any individual being picked up. Where is that law according to which people have been picked up,” Justice Javed Iqbal questioned.

Defence Secretary informed the court that Defence Ministry is unaware of the operational activities of the intelligence agencies and was only controlling the administrative side of them.

…Advocate Ikram Chaudhry told the court that the persons who had been released were constantly threatened by the agencies, and that they could again be abducted if they tried to reveal any such information about their unconstitutional detention.

While denouncing Brig Cheema, Advocate Ikram Chaudhry said, “They are not as innocent and straight as they are portraying before you. They have played hell with the citizens of Pakistan.”

The truth be told is that it is widely suspected that for the past few years the state has been managed by Musharraf by means of his ‘secret agencies’. And, the people that run these agencies are not accustomed to being answerable to anyone but the army chief.

Just take the latest example.

On Thursday Dato Param Cumaraswamy, head of the International Commission of Jurists’ (ICJ) mission to Pakistan, informed the press that on 9 March, after the Chief Justice’s release from his prolonged incarceration at the Army Camp and subsequent denial of access to his office at the Supreme Court, the ICJ has learnt:

“that when the Chief Justice reached his residence, 18 intelligence agents were reportedly inside the house, his housekeepers had been sent home and his phone and cable lines were disconnected. His cars were also fork lifted and taken away.”

While the Supreme Court has now:

- hinted at giving a ruling in the missing persons’ case which would not only punish the guilty but also guide parliament to frame a law to rein in intelligence agencies.

- indicated that whosoever was found responsible for disappearances would have to answer for each day of confinement of the missing persons.

It is obviously going to be a tough call for the judges. These agencies, having run unchecked for thirty odd years, are unlikely to cede their ‘sovereignty’ so easily.

However, we should all back our Courts to the hilt, with the sincere hope that one day Pakistan will return to the care of its 'uniformless' citizens.

Pakistan

Supreme Court of Pakistan

missing persons case

A Polite Rejoinder to a Judge

According to a newspaper two days ago, Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal took the opportunity to criticise journalists for discussing the constitution without possessing much knowledge about it.

With all due respect to the honourable judge I think he has got it badly wrong.
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Lest anyone accuse me of contempt let me quote the highly regarded Lord Salmon in my defence.

In 1968 Salmon LJ, dismissing an application for contempt of court went to the extent of recognizing that writers must be permitted to make criticisms that may be inaccurate, unfair, off the mark, rumbustious or in poor taste.

"It is the inalienable right of everyone to comment fairly upon any matter of public importance. This right is one of the pillars of individual liberty - freedom of speech, which our courts have always unfailingly upheld.

"It follows that no criticism of a judgment, however vigorous, can amount to contempt of court, provided it keeps within the limits of reasonable courtesy and good faith.”

Anyhow I am not venturing to comment on a judicial judgement, but simply making an observation on an aside uttered by Justice Javed Iqbal.
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Here is my respectful address to Justice Javed Iqbal.

Respected Judge Sahib,

As you should be well aware, the Constitution of Pakistan is not the property of the Executive, the Parliament or the Judiciary. It is the property of the people of Pakistan.

Simply put, the Executive is legally commanded to follow it and the Parliament empowered to amend it, the Judiciary’s role is limited to interpreting it – and no more.

As the Constitution is a property of the people they are perfectly entitled to discuss it, comment upon it, praise it and even criticize it. Judge sahib, whether their comments are informed or not, is completely and utterly irrelevant.

In fact it is high time the Constitution was discussed and debated on television, radio, chaikhanas and in the streets. The more it is discussed, the more people will become conscious of their so-called ‘sacred rights’ guaranteed by the Constitution - which sadly have been regularly watered down by a feeble judiciary following the instructions of dictators since days of Justice Munir in 1955.

It is widely accepted by many citizens of Pakistan, that along with the military, the judiciary is equally culpable in destroying their freedoms and human rights for over fifty years.

In the past month we have witnessed an extraordinary revival in the defence of our Constitution – thankfully it is no longer considered ‘a simple booklet of ten to twelve pages which can be torn up’ by any tin pot dictator with the support of a servile judiciary.

People are now calling for an independent judiciary as stipulated in the Constitution of 1973; others are calling for provincial autonomy as envisaged in 1973 when the constitution came into existence. Importantly, many citizens are demanding their guaranteed rights of free expression, an unshackled press and liberty from unlawful oppression and illegal detention as encompassed in this most important of all national documents.

One of the few admirable aspects of the modern Americans is the reverence they display for their constitution.

Judge Sahib, I respectfully suggest that it is high time we did the same.



Pakistan


Supreme Court of Pakistan

Gen. Hamid Gul on ‘Bottle Friends’

Sometime ago in the capital city, I called at someone’s place. A small group of visitors had already gathered there and they were all busy discussing – what else? – the CJ crisis.

And then who should drop in for a visit?

The grandfather of jihadism himself, General Hamid Gul.

Needless to add, social decorum was properly maintained and the retired general was accorded the requisite degree of respect for his “age and stage” in life - that is no discourteous comments were made nor were any blunt queries directed at him.

Nevertheless taking advantage of the presence of a once extremely powerful (and still influential) Khaki, he was asked some pertinent questions by those present.

Here are some of his replies:

Musharraf, as one of his juniors in command, proved to be ‘a good subordinate but was of decidedly average intelligence.’

The present lot of his handpicked generals are much junior to Musharraf in rank, tenure and experience. They were probably brigadiers, or even junior, at the time he took over as chief of army staff with the rank of full general. More importantly, ‘Musharraf does not take the trouble to sound out any of them on important policy matters.’

‘Neither does Musharraf bother to consult his own group of handpicked politicians.’

So who does the Commando General consult when making important ‘decisions of state’ – like fixing a ‘pesky’ Chief Justice?

Well, according to the ex-ISI chief, regime policies are discussed and decided at Musharraf’s late evening sessions with - what Hamid Gul refers to in English as - his ‘bottle friends’ (hum payalas in local idiom).
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Now I was not overly surprised by Hamid Gul’s revelation; I had been hearing the same thing from various sources for a lengthy period of time.

To me the actual confirmation came when Musharraf was interviewed by the Washington Post in September 2005.

When questioned by US journalists about the rape victim Mukhtaran Mai he gave what he thought was a well considered reply:

"A lot of people say that if you want to go abroad and get a visa from Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped"

I t was obvious who these “a lot of people” were.

I could easily imagine a bunch of inebriated pals – endowed with an uncommon dose of ‘macho’ irrationality - giving that kind of message to their leader in the early hours of the morning. And given the type of man Musharraf is, he took it as a given reality.

When his blundering remark drew outrage around the world, he denied ever making it. However the Washington Post then posted an audio of the interview on the internet establishing the general, not only as a macho dipstick, but a fibber as well. .
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It is therefore quite feasible that at one these sessions not so long ago, some members of this select company may have suggested that getting rid of a troublesome chief justice would be a piece of cake – just put on the uniform, glower at him and the guy would automatically crumble to pieces.

Well it did not quite happen as planned, but I would dearly love to know more about these ‘bottle friends’.

Does any one know who they are?

Pakistan

The Creepy Reichsleiter

Yesterday Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain made a decidedly creepy statement while addressing an assembled crowd of PML(Q) ‘toughs’ outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad.

The Daily Times quotes him as saying:

“those criticising the army should be gunned down.”

While I realize the Chaudhry owes his present social (his father was a humble constable), financial (he is a rupee billionaire many time over) and political (as a former-prime minister and a current Reichslieter of Punjab) positions to the patronage of a long list of army generals (from Ayub Khan to Musharraf), even such pathetic loyalty has to have its limits.

By publicly advocating these ‘summary executions’, he is in breech of every norm of civilized behaviour.
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In my book perhaps the only American worthy of admiration was Abraham Lincoln – one of history’s greatest democrats. He once said:

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Sadly in Pakistan, the gift of power has done nothing but produce a lengthy line of authority-addicted mediocrities.

Pakistan

Stratfor : Expect Violence in Islamabad Today

Strategic Forecasting Inc., more commonly known as Stratfor, a private intelligence agency (once referred to as "The Shadow CIA") has made the following forecast:

- "Pakistani opposition forces prepared for a large demonstration outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad on April 24 to protest the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his aides have made plans to instigate clashes between the opposition and government supporters to justify a police crackdown in the Pakistani capital."

- "To counter the opposition's April 24 demonstrations, the Pakistani government has organized a 2,000-strong pro-government procession from Punjab to Islamabad, led by supporters of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League. Two notable figures that helped plan this march were Punjabi Law Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja and Salman Shah, financial adviser to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz."

- "The pro-government march planners also have arranged for several delinquents, party strongmen and government agents to take part and set off a confrontation between the chief justice supporters and the pro-government demonstrators. The anticipated clashes are intended to justify a government crackdown against the opposition protesters and demonstrate how the government is going on the offensive. Musharraf hopes to kill two birds with one stone by using this police crackdown to send a message to the Red Mosque mullahs, who have taken advantage of the Chaudhry debacle to advance their own aggressive Talibanization campaign."


- "In line with this plan, Musharraf is temporarily escaping the heat from the Chaudhry protests by going on a tour to Poland, Spain, Bosnia and Turkey to enhance Pakistan's trade ties. By leaving the country during a political imbroglio, Musharraf is indicating that he has things under control and his government is still in the driver's seat."

- "Musharraf realizes the need to sustain Pakistan's relevance in Washington's eyes and has thus tacitly allowed Islamist militants to use Pakistan as a launchpad for attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, much to the ire of the Afghan government… Musharraf is likely to exhibit a marked change of attitude during the Turkey visit. Already fearing the growing Talibanization in his own country, Musharraf will assure Karzai that Pakistan will do more to rein in the Taliban along the border."

- "Meanwhile, rumors abound that Musharraf has finally cut a deal with his primary political opponent, Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P). The two are ready to cut a deal, but there is no assurance that either side will uphold its part of the bargain without backstabbing the other."

- "The talk of Musharraf-Bhutto deal-making has also given the Pakistani government enough fodder to keep the Pakistani opposition front divided."

- "More important -- and contrary to public statements -- Bhutto sees Musharraf, who shares with the PPP-P a common secular ideology, as a medium through which her party could stage a political comeback. Should Musharraf lose his power, all bets are off. This is why, unlike Sharif, Bhutto does not favor using the Chaudhry crisis to oust Musharraf. She wants to use the crisis to pressure Musharraf into negotiating with her."

- "For any real deal to come from the Bhutto-Musharraf talks, the Pakistani president needs to devise some way to ensure he remains president without making the PPP-P look like it has sold out."

- "One thing for certain is that the general has not run out of options, and officials in Washington are just as eager to see how Musharraf manages to work his way out of this political fracas to ensure U.S. interests in combating al Qaeda and Taliban militants do not get tangled up in Musharraf's mess."

Pakistan

Supreme Court of Pakistan

Regime Clamps Down on the Press Yet Again

According to BBC Aaj TV and Geo are currently the most popular news channels in Pakistan. Having largely muzzled Geo TV, the regime Media authority PEMRA is now whacking Aaj with its customary big stick

Dawn reported this morning that Aaj TV is once more under the gun “for airing news, talk shows and other programmes on the current judicial crisis”.

Pemra has also warned all private TV channels not to air programmes casting aspersions on the judiciary and “integrity of the armed forces of Pakistan,” besides contents which were likely to encourage and incite violence or contained anything against maintenance of law and order or which promoted anti-national or anti-state attitudes

Thanks to Reuters this piece of news has been given a wide coverage in the international press:

Aaj Television described the show-cause notice served on it by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as an "assault on freedom of press".

The notice said Aaj, which means Today, had violated an order of the Supreme Judicial Council, which is hearing a case against suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, by telecasting news, talkshows and other programmes on the sub-judice case.

The notice, signed by a serving senior police officer inducted into PEMRA, said the media watchdog could cancel the channel's short term uplinking license if it failed to respond within three days.

Syed Talat Hussain, Aaj Television's director news and current affairs, accused the Government of pressurising his channel "to take the chief justice case off air completely".

"Everything is facade in this country. Democracy is a facade, judicial independence is a facade, and today we discovered that press freedom is a facade," Mr Hussain said.

PEMRA's spokesman, Mohammad Saleem, said the action was legal.

"It has nothing to do with freedom of expression. We did what regulatory bodies all over the world have been doing," he said.

What a load of rubbish!

Imagine claiming that they are only doing what “regulatory bodies all over the world have been doing”. Could someone ask these goons to name any other similar regulatory authority that has ‘a serving senior police officer’ issuing such draconian notices to the press? (Okay, Burma, Zimbabwe and North Korea excepted).

I enjoy watching Talat Hussain. He seems to a better job than most of his rivals put together. All power to Aaj TV and him!

Press Censorship

Pakistan

Press Freedom

Aaj TV

Musharraf phones Benazir himself

Newsweek comes out this week revealing how anxious Musharraf has really become.

Quoting sources from both sides of the political divide, Newsweek reports that a frantic Musharraf has telephoned Benazir Bhutto at least three times. Apparently this time desperation has made him seek her out directly rather than relying on his aides.

Here is an excerpt:

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April 30, 2007, Newsweek, U.S. Edition

Musharraf's Secret Deal
By Zahid Hussain and Ron Moreau

One of America's most crucial allies against Al Qaeda is bargaining for his political life. Public opposition to Pakistan's autocratic leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has grown so fierce that he's secretly reaching out to a longtime enemy of his military rule: exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. According to sources close to both sides who cannot be named because of the sensitivity of the ongoing talks, Musharraf has telephoned Bhutto at least three times.

Benazir Bhutto
Pakistan
Musharraf

Desperately Seeking Succour

The anxieties of Pakistani political/military leadership vis-à-vis Washington, can be extremely embarrassing at the best of times. They seem desperately keen at all times to be in the good books of the US Administration.

Recently we had to suffer Benazir Bhutto extolling US’s beneficial impact in Iraq on BBC, now we have a besieged Musharraf suddenly offering his services to help resolve the sixty year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the interview aired late Friday on Dubai-based Al-Arabya television, Musharraf said he was "enthusiastic" to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and would go to Israel if his offer to mediate was accepted.

"It will be an honor if I can contribute in any way," said Musharraf. "If there was a role that I can play, and both sides accept that role, yes, indeed, I would like to play that role."

The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post had this to say:

Israel has rejected the surprise offer by Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

An official in the Prime Minister's Office described the offer as "a little ridiculous," noting that there are no diplomatic relations between Islamabad and Jerusalem.

"We have an Arab initiative. Why would we need a Pakistani initiative?" the official asked, adding that mediation efforts would be welcomed from any state that had ties with Israel.

Sources in Jerusalem said that although Prime Minister Ehud Olmert welcomed the possibility of dialogue with Saudi Arabia, which also has no diplomatic ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia cannot be compared with Pakistan. Saudi Arabia, together with Egypt, is one of the leaders of the Arab and Muslim world, and is on a different level, as far as Israel is concerned, than Pakistan.

A more conciliatory note was sounded by Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev who said Pakistan's involvement would be welcomed, but that Musharraf's effectiveness would likely be limited.

Pakistan

Bob Woolmer: His Murder Nearly Solved?

OK, I admit The Sun is the rubbishiest of newspapers, but…but for a brief moment imagine if what yesterday’s news item hints at, just turns out to be true.

I have never heard of Aconite. Has it really been used ‘in several high-profile assassinations in Pakistan’ as this piece asserts or is this wretched paper making it up to sell more copies.

Only time will tell.

And yes, the other piece of news in The Sun is that Jamaican detectives have identified a suspect on the newly cleaned and enhanced CCTV footage.

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Potter drug did kill Woolmer

The Sun, April 20, 2007

CRICKET coach Bob Woolmer WAS poisoned by the “Harry Potter” drug aconite.

Toxicology tests have confirmed “significant” traces of it in the Pakistan coach’s body.

The tests were ordered following an anonymous tip to Jamaican police — eight days after Woolmer died — that aconite had been used.

Aconite, which paralyses the nerves, normally takes only 30 minutes to kill. Victims suffer vomiting and diarrhoea before collapsing unable to breathe, to die in agony.

Experts say the drug causes a sensation like ants crawling over the body.

A neck injury — which caused police to say Woolmer had been strangled — is now thought to have followed a fall when he collapsed.

Detectives believe the drug, in the form of white powder, could have been tipped into whisky Woolmer was drinking in his room — or sprinkled over sleeping tablets and diabetes pills he was taking.

The ancient poison, also known as wolfsbane, is said to be perfect for concealing murder and has been used in several high-profile assassinations in Pakistan.

… One senior police source said last night: “The toxicology tests show that he had significant traces of aconite.

“We are now entirely convinced he was poisoned. The fact that aconite has also previously been used in Pakistan may also be highly relevant.”

Another source added: “This murder proves that truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction. It is now an international inquiry and could ultimately involve high-level diplomatic discussions.”

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'Suspect' over Bob Woolmer

The Sun, April 21, 2007

AN inquest into the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has been postponed — due to “significant developments” in the murder inquiry, it was revealed last night.

Detectives are believed to have identified a suspect on enhanced CCTV footage from his hotel in Jamaica. Sources say images cleaned up by Scotland Yard show a man of “considerable interest”.

They added: “The time of the footage and its location mean that this individual must be considered a suspect.”

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Bob Woolmer
Pakistan
Pakistan Cricket

Agencies now threatening Lawyers?

This piece of ominous news appeared in The Nation's leader page.

Can things get much worse? I suppose they can if these people actually carry out what they threaten to do.

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Lawyers threatened

THE Chief Justice’s Defence lawyers’, Munir A Malik and Muhammad Ali Kurd’s disclosure of the threats the two have been receiving, allegedly from the agencies, is rather chilling. “Different agencies are threatening me to take back my name from Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s panel. They threatened me about my children and also asked about my daughter’s school.”

The lawyers allege that the agencies have been threatening them for the withdrawal of their names from the panel representing the CJ in the reference against him, threats that would aggravate the current situation exponentially if acted out upon even slightly. The issue of the missing persons lies in the backdrop of the current judicial crisis. The lawyer community knows that when they receive threats from these quarters, they are to be taken seriously. As it is, quite a mess has been created in the country due to the extra-curricular operations of the intelligence agencies. They are a loose cannon that keeps diverting from their actual mission statement. This behaviour of theirs has been a malignant problem; a Damocle’s sword that is not conducive to the establishment of genuine democracy in the country.

In this specific case, they are also not conducive to the judicial process that has ensued with the reference. The CJ, along with his counsel, should be given due protection. This action further reinforces the image of injustice that recent events hold for the general public. The powers that be had better call the intelligence agencies off if they are actually serious about justice being served.

Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan

Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Petition in the SJC

The Regime’s feeble allegations against Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Pakistan have been publicised to death.

Today’s Daily Times carries details of the CJP’s legal rejoinder to Musharraf ‘’s nonsensical reference.
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What Justice Chaudhry has to say before SC

The Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (CJP), in his constitutional petition filed by Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, has pleaded the following:

- That the reference filed against the CJP is mala fide (‘in bad faith’)

- That Article 209 of the Constitution does not allow the president to file a reference against a sitting CJP, nor does it permit a Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to inquire into his conduct.

- It was unlawful to restrict the CJP from performing his functions by sending him on forced leave and appointing another judge in his place as acting CJP.

- That an in camera (secret) trial was not only a violation of the Constitution and the fundamental rights of the CJP but it also amounted to a travesty of justice and fair play. The CJP contends that a trial in camera can take place only with the consent of the petitioner.

- That the SJC has no validity without a permanent CJP and that an acting CJP cannot preside over the council meeting. (This law has been established in The Al-Jehad Trust case).

- That the appointment of an Acting CJP was illegal.

That the SJC must, at all times, be presided over by the CJP and that he was not only the lawful CJP but was also 'the integral and unavoidable' chairman of the SJC

That no person, harbouring a bias against the CJP (or against whom the CJP had sufficient allegations of bias), could not become a member of a SJC.

In more precise terms the CJP contends that there are ‘three controversial judges’ who are disqualified to sit at the SJC for having personal interest, bias, and prejudice against him. The CJP, as a petitioner, neither expects a fair trial nor does he expect any justice at the hands of these three judges as long as they remain members of the SJC.

About Justice Javed Iqbal

The removal of the CJP from his office will open up the prospect of Justice Javed Iqbal becoming the permanent CJP for a term of more than four years. “Can he escape then the temptation of voting to oust the petitioner,” the petition has questioned.

“He rushed to take an oath as the acting chief justice and celebrated the occasion despite [the fact that] the CJP was still detained in Rawalpindi in the office of the referring authority,” the petition says.

The petition also states that Justice Javed Iqbal obtained admission for two of his daughters – Ayesha Javed and Qaiser Javed – in the Bolan Medical College despite they failed to qualify for admission on merit. They were adjusted against a “special quota” in 1995 and latter against an “Azad Jammu and Kashmir quota” in 1998.

The CJP has maintained that Justice Javed Iqbal, got his son-in-law – a civil judge – transferred and posted him as the deputy secretary at the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, Balochistan, against the rules.

About Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar

The petition alleges that he too rushed to administer oath to Justice Javed Iqbal as acting chief justice despite the fact that CJP (the petitioner) was still detained in Rawalpindi by Musharraf.

That a reference/complaint is pending against him concerning the alleged misappropriation of funds of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai University, Khairpur. That is already on the record of the SJC.

About Justice Iftikhar Hussain, Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court (CJP)

That there several references/complaints pending against him.

That Justice Iftikhar Hussain had developed ‘a strong and settled hostility’ towards the CJP, which was widely known to the members of the bar and the bench.

That Justice Iftikhar Hussain was not even on talking terms with the CJP. Nor do they even shake hands. Such was the open display of hostility by him that even when the petitioner, as CJP, visited the Punjab Bar Council at its invitation, Justice Iftikhar Hussain instructed all Lahore High Court judges not to attend the function

The petition says that the Justice Iftikhar Hussain was actively involved in the conspiracy to disable the CJP. “His recommendations for elevation of advocates and judicial officers to the high court were not approved by the CJP and his elevation to the Supreme Court was opposed by the CJP in August 2005."

The petition says that Justice Iftikhar Hussain’s brother is in the federal cabinet and has been severely critical of the CJP.

Then there is also mention in the CJP's petition of the main player and his purported adviser:

About General Musharraf

The petition says that the General’s impugned action to file the reference against the CJP, and the manner in which it carried out, is an attempt by the General to humble, humiliate, subjugate the judicial organ of the state, especially at a time when the judiciary was just beginning to assert its constitutional authority by giving relief to the common man.

The reference is also rendered invalid by malice as it was brought about as a direct response to the fact that the CJP refused to resign after being pressurised by General to do so.

About Shaukat Aziz

The petition says that the Prime Minister, on whose advice the reference was purportedly filed, was himself found, in a judgement authored by the CJP, to have been engaged in some ‘serious omissions and commissions’ in the Pakistan Steel Mills case. It was a case in which the attorney general had himself admitted that the whole process of sale was ‘convoluted’. On the basis of this judgment, the PM had to face no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan

The Missing Persons Case (Part II)

Ten days ago I blogged ( They Remain Missing) about the hearing of Missing Persons’ Case held on 10 April before a three member bench of the Supreme Court.

At this hearing:

- The Attorney general, despite a Supreme Court notice to appear, ducked from appearing at the hearing despite being on the court premises earlier that morning.

- The Ministry of Interior failed to file a detailed reply on the missing persons despite being notified by the Supreme Court to do so. Instead the Ministry submitted a letter undertaking to provide a detailed response at the date of the next hearing.

A decidedly patient Supreme Court then:

- Assured the family members of the missing that that the attorney general would appear before the court at the next hearing; and

- Ordered the Deputy Attorney General to send a notice to the Interior Ministry to disclose the whereabouts of those who are in military detention, as well as locate the rest of those missing.

At the end of the hearing a dejected Raja Muhammad Irshad , the Deputy Attorney General told the press:

“If by next hearing the Interior Ministry doesn’t inform us about the whereabouts of those people, I will refuse to present this case.”

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As the Missing Persons Case has been widely cited as one of the reasons for which the Chief Justice of Pakistan was unlawfully ‘dismissed’ by Musharraf, your Blogger believes it is imperative that the case be tracked to its conclusion.

The three member bench of the Supreme Court presently hearing this case is being presided by Justice Javed Iqbal, whom, readers will recall, briefly (and it turns out illegitimately) took the oath of the office of Acting Chief Justice while the Chief Justice of Pakistan was being subjected to illegal captivity at his residence.
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The next hearing of the case was held yesterday.

Did the Attorney General, Makhdoom Ali Khan, show up?

No

Did the Ministry of Interior, as ordered, present the Court with a detailed reply on the missing persons?

No
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The Travails of the Poor Deputy Attorney General (DAG)

According to The Nation, a visibly distressed Raja Muhammad Irshad, the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) informed the Court:

- "The crisis in the country is due to the non-enforcement of the Constitution."

- DAG "repeatedly told the bench…that he could not do more than contacting Ministry of Interior.
'I have my limitations and I can only operate through Ministry of Interior,' DAG said while responding to the distressed families’ demand of issuing notices to the heads of IB, ISI and MI to be answerable for the abduction of the nationals of this country."

- The DAG while "referring to articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution said, “The court can dispense justice through these articles.” He further told the court to use its powers."

The News adds:

The deputy attorney-general said, “I have sentiments, too, being a father, a brother and a husband and feel the difficulties of the families of the missing persons. Therefore, I cannot face them.”

“At previous date I was assured the Interior Ministry would provide me the report,” the deputy-attorney general submitted. “Head of the Crisis Management Cell Brig Cheema had told me that the orders of the apex court would be complied with. I wonder as to why he has not complied with the orders of the apex court.”

The deputy attorney-general informed the court that he can no longer pursue the case in the prevailing situation and can assist the court not more than this.

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A Brief Summary of the extraordinary Court proceedings

Excerpts from The Nation, :

Asma Jahangir, one of the lawyers representing the aggrieved families, asked the bench to make the agencies answerable before the court. “Our lives are threatened by these agencies,” she said.

Justice Javed Iqbal responded to Asma Jahangir’s remarks by saying, “ yeah na kahain keh hur cheez agencies nay kee hai (do not blame agencies for everything that happens).”

While repeating President General Musharaff’s statement over the missing persons’ issue, he said that these people could be militants motivated to join jihad.

Justice Iqbal further told the anxious families, who have been searching for their loved ones for the past six years, “not to be hasty in pursuing this case.”

Senator Farhatullah Babar, who had filed a petition in the same case on the last hearing on April 10, 2007, urged the SC to order the government to divulge the law under which the intelligence agencies operate so that the issue of missing persons could be examined in its correct perspective.

He told the bench that he had also raised the same question in the Senate in October 2003 and the information was denied by the Ministry of Defense, saying, “the subject matter of this question is of secret and sensitive nature and it asks for information on a matter prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country.”

Justice Javed Iqbal while supporting Ministry of Defense’s response narrated by Senator Farhatullah Babar said that some laws were sensitive and could not be probed.

The lawyers present in the court were surprised over such a response and questioned about the laws kept secret from the public. “This is something new to me that laws are also kept confidential,” said Asma Jahangir.

Excerpts from the Dawn:

Mr Babar also urged the Supreme Court to ask the government to produce a copy of the law under which intelligence agencies operated so the issue of disappeared people could be examined in its correct perspective.

It was necessary, he said, because the parliament had denied even a copy of the law saying the issue was sensitive. Asma Jehangir, the HRCP chief, urged the court to summon officials of the intelligence services because, according to her, people were working under the threats of the agencies.

Ms Janjua recalled that in December, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had directed intelligence services – the Inter Services Intelligence, the Military Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau – to send their representatives to the court and answer questions regarding the missing. Five hearings had taken place since then without any progress, she lamented.

“What is the point if this court has no control over these agencies,” she said, adding that the court was adjourning the matter week after week.

Justice Iqbal, however, assured relatives of missing people that the court would take every possible step to minimise their grievance. “Your confidence in the court will never be shattered and betrayed.”

Every institution in Pakistan was answerable to the Supreme Court and nobody was above the law, Justice Iqbal observed, but said certain jihadi outfits were also involved in the disappearance as they lured young men by convincing them to wage a holy war.

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Prior to adjourning the case the Supreme Court summoned the Defence Secretary, the Interior Secretary and the Director General of National Crisis Management Cell to appear at the next hearing scheduled for 27th April.

Link: The Glasshouse: The Missing Persons Case - They remain Missing

Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan
missing persons case

Shujaat: “It was an Intelligence Agency…”

There is a fascinating news item in today’s News (‘Why Shujaat stays away from judicial crisis ’) which provides a glimpse into what took place at the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s house (on 9 March 2007) shortly after he was so brazenly ‘dismissed’ by Musharraf.

On the evening of 9 March while Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was hosting a reception at Punjab House for the outgoing US ambassador, Ryan Crocker,he received an urgent message from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat to meet with the Chief Justice as part of “a damage-control exercise”. Here is what followed:

- Before visiting the Chief Justice, Shujaat ‘formally secured permission from an intelligence agency for this meeting’.

- During his discussions with the Chief Justice, Shujaat found him to be ‘very accommodating in conversation’.

- '[As] the discussions were progressing, the agency officials kept working on their agenda to fully ‘disarm’ the chief justice. Ignoring [Shujaat’s] presence in the Chief Justice House, they snapped telephone connections and asked Justice Chaudhry’s family to hand over the keys of all the vehicles under their use.'

- '[Then] Justice Chaudhry’s son, Dr Arsalan, rushed into the drawing room and told his father about the fresh directive he had received from the officials. It stunned both of them — Justice Chaudhry and Chaudhry Shujaat. (Shujaat fails to enlighten us what this directive was).'

- ‘Shujaat had felt very embarrassed over this untimely demand of the security officials. And the demand was being made in his presence, thus putting his credibility and role under question.’

- ‘[Shujaat then] immediately phoned the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to ask about the reason behind this behaviour when he was doing all this at the behest of the government. Shaukat had promised to do something but he could not.’

- Shujaat insists that ‘It was the [agency] officials’ unwise gesture [that] foiled efforts he was making to broker a face-saving patch-up’.

- ‘Shujaat later stood up and thanked Justice Chaudhry. “I am happy with you and the way you honoured me. I promise you not to come again at the behest of the government,” Shujaat has been quoted as telling Justice Chaudhry in his concluding remarks.’

- ‘According to the sources, Shujaat categorically told the government that he would not offer his role any more in this issue and that he had made a commitment to Justice Chaudhry in this regard.’

- ‘Shujaat has distanced himself from the ongoing crisis afterwards, it has been reliably learnt. His statement that he did not meddle in the affairs of the judiciary and the Army, was against the backdrop of this incident, officials said.’

This confirms what was widely suspected (and reported) at the time that the Chief Justice of Pakistan had been left to the mercy of one of the regime’s intelligence agencies.

The agency would have been acting on the Army Chief's instructions; otherwise Shujaat and Shaukat Aziz would not have been so pathetically helpless.



Pakistan
Chief Justice of Pakistan

The impending Benazir-Mushrraf Deal

A question: Why are Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto urgently trying to strike a deal?

From Musharraf’s standpoint it is quite comprehensible – it is all about kursi, kursi and kursi.

The Chief Justice crisis has demolished his image of invincibility, the Army is getting openly reviled at protest rallies held in streets of Punjab, and Washington has ended its post-9/11 love affair with him. With his grip on power eroding, the plan of getting ‘re-elected’ through once more gerrymandering the constitution has become fraught with political insecurity and is no longer an easy option.

Consequently, a suitable deal with Benazir Bhutto (and her PPP) is perhaps the safest way to extend his stay in power and enable him to face elections.

____________________________________________

Benazir has been increasingly desperate for a deal ever since she was convicted in a Swiss Court of Law for money laundering. Having appealed the decision she now faces the possibility of even a harsher future - a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

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The evidence against Benazir Bhutto and her spouse was strong enough to convict her in July 2003 of money laundering (the charge of corruption was not included as the funds had been placed in Geneva banks prior to the recent enactment of Swiss anti-corruption legislation) by Swiss Magistrate, Daniel Devaud.

Benazir Bhutto appealed the case. Unfortunately for her now there is an additional charge of aggravated money laundering which carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail as well as a fine of about one million Swiss francs if Bhutto is found guilty.

The evidence stacked against her appears to be fairly conclusive. In September 2005 she was grilled by the Swiss judge for over eight hours. Apparently an emotional Benazir replied to these questions by denying any knowledge of the bank accounts or the millions of dollars worth of ‘commission’ payments made into them.

And when presented with the evidence of the court-sequestered £120,000 diamond necklace discovered in their bank lockers, she admitted that her husband had bought it for her but claimed that as she had refused to accept it she could not be held responsible.

Even after having adopted the legal stance of dumping all the guilt on her spouse, Benazir is still not certain whether the Swiss Court will acquit her.

In the circumstances, it is not surprising to learn that Asif Zaradari has been living in New York for the past few years. As the US and Switzerland do not have an extradition treaty, it will not be possible for the Swiss Courts to lay their hands on him if he is found guilty in the criminal case arraigned against him.


In the event Benazir Bhutto is found guilty of the crime of aggravated money laundering in Switzerland her political future would suffer a tremendous blow. In fact it will be finished if she has to serve time in jail. For once she will not be able to claim political bias, as no one would believe that a Swiss Court would hold a political grudge against her.

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For readers who still believe the accusations of corruption against Benazir Bhutto are mere fantasy, then your Blogger suggests that a brief bout of ‘Googling’ might change their perspective.

For those too lazy to Google just simply click the following links:

The New York Times
The Sunday Times
The Guardian

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So, one can only conclude that any deal entered between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto will be based on purely selfish motivations on the part of both of them. One hopes to retain his precious kursi and the other hopes to finally get a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card.

However, whether a deal does materialise, is still a moot point.

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Accepting Musharraf in uniform or allowing him to get re-elected through the existing assemblies, will damage Benazir’s political standing fatally; even the most loyal of her supporters will face difficulty in rising to her defence.

If she colludes with Musharraf and enters into political alliance for the impending elections, she cannot help but become seriously tarnished in the process. She might have got away with it if Musharraf had still been a powerful dictator (which is clearly no longer the case). Now she will be perceived as providing political sustenance to a drowning despot – an unforgivable sin as far as most democratically-minded people are concerned.

However, at the same time the self-centred pressures of getting rid of all corruption cases arrayed against her and the lure of return to Pakistan as a 'homecoming Queen' cannot be discounted nor undervalued.

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From Musharraf’s standpoint losing his uniform is risking political suicide – without the 600,000 men in tanks, helicopter gunships and F-16s propping him, he may soon turn into a political nonentity and sent to political oblivion.

Even if he scrapes a deal with the PPP whereby he discards his uniform for a guaranteed five year term as president, his future remains fraught with risk. While he may possess the requisite constitutional sanction to dismiss future prime ministers and governments, recent events have shown him to be an exceedingly unpopular leader. This obvious lack of public support will weaken him in any potential conflict with the government of the day.

It must be borne in mind that the sight of a weakened Musharraf has changed the attitude in the Bush White House as well. Now beginning to plan for a post-Musharraf Pakistan, the White House has determined that a PPP-Army alliance is the best possible alternative for the US, given the current circumstances.

However, American demands to make a deal with Benazir must be galling for a military dictator used to getting his own way - his recent outbursts against the US are therefore quite comprehensible.

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If a deal does come through - and the signs are there that it will - one can ask: How long will it last?

Considering, there is hardly any love lost between Musharraf and Benazir, if anything their state of mutual loathing has been quite overt, and that military dictators have always held a low threshold for even their own-appointed prime ministers (just take the examples of Zia and Junejo, and Musharraf and Jamali), it will be a deal built on quicksand and probably last no more than a few days after the elections.

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As far the rest of Pakistani politics is concerned, this is what a commentator in Dawn said yesterday:

The Pakistan People’s Party would be a big loser in the event of a deal with the government, according to political analysts based in the capital.

Conversations with sources close to the leadership in different parties revealed that a good number of PPP hawks were seeking membership of other parties, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, after resigning themselves to an arrangement between their party and the government.

The reports of a PPP-government reconciliation have, paradoxically enough, brought joy to other opposition parties as they feel that the last impediment to an anti-Musharraf alliance — People’s Party chief Benazir Bhutto — will now be out of the way.

This was how a leader of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal saw the shape of things to come: “It will enable anti-Musharraf forces to gather on one platform, ensuring a head-on collision between the pro-US ‘enlightened moderates’ on one side, and ‘pro-Islam’ forces on the other.”

The Musharraf-Benazir deal will definitely be a setback for those elements which had set their sights on the forthcoming elections as a vehicle of change.

For hangers-on of the Musharraf government, for instance the PML-Q, the patch-up would be like a bolt from the blue. However, several observers warned of an upheaval if the new arrangement fails to come up to the expectations of the nation.

Pakistan
Musharraf
Benazir Bhutto

Legal Bells Begin To Toll

To the amazement of many, fifteen Sindh High Court Judges voluntarily turned up at Hyderabad last Sunday and listened to an address given by Mr Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan had been invited to the meeting by the Hyderabad Chapter of the High Court Bar Association and the Hyderabad District Bar Association.

And to top it all, The Daily Times reported today that

The Sindh High Court has issued an order to the entire legal fraternity that a full-day strike be observed on April 18 to protest the president’s reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary.

What next I wonder?



Pakistan
Chief Justice of Pakistan

An American View on the Lal Masjid Crisis

There are many who believe that an official agency helped create the Lal Masjid crisis and there are others who maintain that while the military regime had no hand in its creation, it took deliberate advantage of the turmoil and allowed it, by calculated inaction, to deteriorate unnecessarily.

The purpose behind the action or inaction on part of the regime is purported to be twofold:

- To distract the public from the ongoing CJ crisis
- To use this display of ‘the spreading virus of Talibanisation’ to wring international support for a beleaguered establishment.

Here is a take on the situation by an American who is well-acquainted with Pakistan and its political foibles.
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William Milam is a former US ambassador to Pakistan and here is a relevant excerpt from his op-ed in the Daily Times today:

Did someone or several someones in the government look the other way and do nothing while these clerics and their adherents went about setting up their own state in the capital?

But even the dumbest conspirators couldn’t be that dumb, could they? If someone in power allowed (or encouraged) the events that led to the confrontation with the Lal Masjid clerics in order to inspire belief in the president’s indispensability, they sure got it wrong. What they inspired instead is a widespread impression of impotence, fecklessness, or worse, Islamist fifth columns inside the government. The real question seems to be, with bulwarks against extremists like this, what’s left for Pakistan anyway but Islamist extremism.

This will accelerate the rate of change of perceptions about President Musharraf abroad, and domestically too. Here is the perception scorecard of the past few months: the president wishes for as much influence in Waziristan as the British had, but is able only to adopt one-half of the British policy—the money part. The British had a hammer they could use judiciously and carefully; he doesn’t. Without that hammer he is a one-handed adversary. He can get some things done such as getting the Al Qaeda foreigners pushed out, or killed. But it does not seem that he can stop the Taliban forays into Afghanistan to fight (and kill) US and NATO troops. Nor is he able (willing?) to disrupt Taliban actions by finding its leaders in Balochistan. And lately, when all this indecision and failure of nerve is in the international and domestic spotlight, his government has also seemed paralysed by the challenge from Lal Masjid. The issue of the chief justice, though seemingly quiescent in the past few days, has not gone away either

In other words, the vacillation and confusion in the face of the Lal Masjid defiance has only exacerbated the image of weakness, temerity and blunder that has developed over the past few months. This is exactly the opposite of what a conspiracy to make him look good would have wished for. And it is exactly the opposite of the image that President Musharraf has always seemed to want for himself.

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Is the regime culpable? Most likely. Your Blogger is convinced that the word military intelligence is an oxymoron.


These people may be good at short term tactics, but as far as longer term stuff goes their track record is disastrous. Think about 1965, think about 1971, think about Kargil; the list goes on.

M B Naqvi in today’s News reminds us of two haunting and very recent instances:

A typical example is the way he treated Nawab Akbar Bugti. Bugti may be dead and his home destroyed, but politically it was the regime that was defeated. Bugti has become the Baloch nationalists' icon who will go on inspiring an insurgency for God knows how long. Musharraf gave Baloch nationalists a hero instead of negotiating over the Baloch grievances and accepting some of their demands while assuring them an honourable share in decision-making.

The way the chief justice of Pakistan was arrested and manhandled is another instance. Musharraf needlessly brought on this continuing and evolving crisis which he could have done without. Now, the whole legal fraternity -- important opinion makers -- is up in arms.

Pakistan
Lal Masjid

A Lover Spurned?

In the history of Pakistan we have had many ‘aiders’ and abettors of military dictators, unhappily too numerous to mention. However there are some prominent ones worth mentioning, among these are leading notaries such as the late A.K. Brohi and Sharifuddin Pirzada. As many of us know, these two specialized in regularly providing ‘legal’ sustenance to usurping Generals and were singularly obliging in turning the 1973 Constitution into a mockery of rule of law and democracy.

Interestingly enough, one of Zia’s key deputies, General K.M. Arif mentions in his memoirs how these two small-minded intriguers repeatedly tried to undermine each other in an effort be seen as the one closest to Zia. We are told Brohi and Pirzada loathed each other.

Since then that Brohi has been summoned to the ultimate court – where he may possibly be answering for his legal misdeeds – but we have remained stuck with Pirzada and his infatuation with army dictators. He was among the first to be called by Musharraf for advice after the 12 October 1999 coup.

But recently things seemed to have changed.

According to a press report Musharraf did not consult Pirzada when he decided to act against the Chief Justice of Pakistan. And, ‘Pirzada felt left out in the cold in the major decision making process at the president’s level.’

No doubt feeling grieved at this slight Pirzada decided to let loose a few bombshells while giving an interview which appeared in this month’s Herald.

After announcing that he had ‘no hand’ in the reference filed against the Chief Justice and revealing that he had refused to represent the regime in this case before the Supreme Judicial Council, he made the following legal points:

A judge cannot be removed under the provisions of the Constitution. Till retirement age there is complete security, except if a judge is not able to perform his functions properly or if he is guilty of misconduct.

If a judge is accused of misconduct then it is only up to the Supreme Judicial Council to decide whether he should be removed or not.

International law recommends that that if a judge insists upon an open trial he should be given one.

Having damaged the regime’s position so comprehensively, it is not surprising that Musharraf is mightily miffed with the senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Law, Justice and Human Rights..

In the piece titled Rift between Musharraf, Pirzada widening, a Qatari newspaper says:

The filing of the reference…proved the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Now, a source added, Pirzada’s relations with Musharraf are on the rocks. The official said Pirzada, who used to flank the president in most of the important meetings, is no longer seen in such a conspicuous position.

He said at a time when Musharraf needed solid legal, constitutional and moral support from Pirzada, the latter has not only refused to oblige but continues to embarrass him in his own style.

Has old age made Sharifuddin Pirzada at last see some sense? Or, was his reaction simply that of a spurned egotist being ‘left out in the cold’?

You decide…

Pakistan
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Sharifuddin Pirzada

Lal Masjid (contd.) Part II

What exactly is the history of Lal Masjid?

The News informs us:

According to CDA records Lal Masjid is the oldest mosque built in Islamabad … The mosque was constructed by CDA. The construction was funded by the Finance Ministry and the mosque belongs to the Auqaf Department… Maulana Abdullah was appointed the first Imam of Lal Masjid.

Just who was this Maulana Abdullah?

Surprise, surprise, not only was he the father of these two firebrand brothers currently behind the Lal Masjid ruckus - Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi - but he had also been a privileged personal favourite of General Zia-ul-Haq.

The journalist Amir Mir tells us that Maulana Abdullah was ‘a highly politicized Deobandi mullah who remained critical of all the governments except that of General Zia’s.’

During the 1980s Abdullah was famous for delivering fiery speeches in support of the Afghan Jihad. With the approval and patronage of the government and the ISI, the Lal Masjid soon became a centre for Deobandi jihadis going to fight the Soviet occupation troops. Other Deobandi militants – such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen - were also patronised by Maulana Abdullah. Leaders of these extremists groups would regularly come to deliver sermons and raise funds in the mosque.

Amir Amir further informs us that:

Maulana Abdullah [became] a devoted supporter of the Taliban and the al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, with whom he had reportedly developed special ties. In a newspaper interview, Maulana Abdur Rashid Ghazi, the younger son of the late Maulana Abdullah, confessed that his father had special ties with Osama bin Laden and the two had met on several occasions.

As fate would have it, Maulana Abdullah met a violent end on 17 October 1998 when he was assassinated - shot dead as he crossed the courtyard of the Lal Masjid - by suspected Shia militants. As is the case for most tit for tat sectarian killings the culprits were never found.

After Abdullah’s death his two sons - Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi – took over the running of the mosque along with two madrasas, Jamia Hafsa, for female students and Jamia Fareedia for males. They continued preaching an uncompromising and extreme form of Islam.

Abdul Aziz remained the official khatib in this government-owned mosque until 2005 when he was sacked for issuing a Fatwa declaring that no army officer killed fighting the Pakistani Taliban could be given a proper Islamic funeral.

While Abdul Aziz is a proclaimed offender in number of cases the regime has proclaimed its inability to nab him. It blames this helplessness on the grounds that he is protected by hundreds of baton wielding female students.

It is believed that there are around 7,000 students studying in the male and female sections of the religious seminary. Some 70 per cent of these are said to be from Waziristan and other Pashtun tribal areas.

Despite regime protestations, journalists like Umer Farooq (‘The Firebrand Cleric And His 'Lal Masjid' Polemics’) have a different take on the current state of affairs.

The impunity with which this new fundamentalist group is pursuing its agenda has led many observers to believe that Abdul Aziz and his baton wielding female students have the support of some powerful segment of Pakistan government. Abdul Aziz doesn't deny this. He told Asharqalwsat [a UK-based Arabic newspaper]that a lot of people from the administration and police are coming to us and extending secret support.

However, this is not the only reason why people think that the fundamentalist group enjoys the backing of powerful people from within the government. The precision and dexterity with which Abdul Aziz and his brigade of female students have so far handled the so-called movement to enforce Islamic law in the country has compelled many analysts to believe that there is a mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

So what is really taking place in Islamabad?

Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing is for certain: In Pakistan what meets the eye and what the hidden reality is, are often two different things.


Pakistan
Lal Masjid
Jamia Hafsa

A New Brand of ‘Law Enforcers’?

I have little idea who the writer Sadiq Saleem is, but he has posted an intriguing article on New-Pakistan.Com in which he suggests that we may have a new brand of ‘law enforcers’ operating in Pakistan.

It is sounds shivers-running-up-the-spine scary!

I note that he quotes the US-based former Pakistani police officer Hassan Abbas as one of his sources of information. Does anyone have any further information on this subject?
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Islamabad Police Talks of ‘Strangers in Police Uniform;’ Strange Goings on as Pakistan Turns into Mukharabat State

Evidence indicates that Pakistan’s ubiquitous intelligence services now have a secret division of Stormtroopers who might have been responsible for the manhandling of Supreme Court Chief Justice, Mr. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, as well as for the much condemned attack on the studios of Geo Television.

During the hearing before an inquiry tribunal in the incident of the Chief Justice’s manhandling, the Police Officer incharge of the relevant Police station laid responsibility at the door of “strangers in police uniform.” According to an account of the inquiry tribunal’s proceedings in Dawn, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Kohsar police station, Inspector Rukhsar Mehdi maintained that he was rather away from the place where the Chief Justice was reportedly roughed up.

“He claimed that some strangers in police uniform were present on the spot where the CJ and his wife were manhandled and forced to ride an official car before proceeding to the Supreme Court where the Supreme Judicial Council was to meet on March 13,” Dawn reported.

Earlier, author and scholar Hassan Abbas, himself a former Police Service of Pakistan officer, had confirmed in an interview on Voice of America (VOA) that the attack on Geo television had been conducted by members of the Corps of Military Intelligence and not by the Punjab police whose uniforms the attackers wore.

Both reports seem to indicate that Pakistan’s intelligence services now have a covert division of stormtroopers who can terrorize people not liked by the regime and can get away with it by shifting the blame to regular branches of government such as the police force.

The police in Pakistan do not have a good reputation so it is easy for General Pervez Musharraf and his Gestapo-like intelligence services to maintain deniability of their involvement in attacks that might cause a backlash as was the case with the manhandling of Justice Chaudhry and the ransacking of Geo television’s studios.

In addition to the two events, there were also reports of intelligence agency personnel dressed as lawyers trying to join lawyers’ protests. These people could have acted as agents provocateurs attempting to discredit the lawyers’ anti-Musharraf campaign or disrupt the protests. But some of them were identified by lawyers who forced them to run off without carrying out their disruptive mission.

Emergence of information about a covert organization that performs more than the usual spying, arm-twisting and blackmailing functions associated with Pakistan’s intelligence agencies confirms that Pakistan is now a full-fledged ‘Mukhabarat State.’ For those who are not familiar with the term, ‘Mukhabarat State’ describes Middle Eastern countries where a U.S.-backed head of state (such as Hosni Mubarak of Egypt) rules with the help of an expansive secret police that manipulates and control every aspect of civilian life.

At the tribunal of inquiry into the manhandling of the Chief Justice, Police Inspector Rukhsar Mehdi was shown a picture published in a section of the press in which the chief justice was surrounded by a number of police officers and a person whose face was not visible grabbing the chief justice by the hair, he said picture was genuine but he could not recognize the man whose hand pulled the Chief Justice’s hair.

When the tribunal head Justice Afzal asked him to recognize a police inspector in the pictures, the SHO said the man-in-uniform was a stranger and not an officer of the Islamabad police. "I have spent years in the capital police but I have never seen this man before," he was reported as saying.

- Sadiq Saleem New-Pakistan.Com

Pakistan

The Protests Continue

According to press reports yesterday Islamabad witnessed a significant increase in the number of people protesting against the suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Your Blogger is of the opinion that if hundreds of political activists had not been arrested the night before and there had been none of the dozens of police road blocks set up all over Islamabad, the crowds would have much more substantial.

As a US reporter on the scene informs us:

Protesters said they could not draw bigger crowds because police detained hundreds of activists Thursday and set up many checkpoints and blockades. Between Rawalpindi and neighboring Islamabad there were 13 police checks, protesters said.

Arshad Shah, a mechanic, with hair down his back, said he told police who stopped his car on the four-hour drive from Lahore to Islamabad that he was a Sufi Islam holy man. "I told them there was a big Sufi party, otherwise they may have arrested me," he said

And their anger was palpable:

People chanted "Musharraf dog," or simply, "doggie, doggie," which caused at least one police officer to laugh.

…Atif Hussain, 35, said he and some friends brought about 30 tires from a used-tire shop. They set fire to two or three at a time, hoping to send a message. Hussain said he quit his government intelligence agency job 10 days ago in protest over Chaudhry's removal.

"Musharraf broke the constitution," Hussain said. "If we burn tires, what's the difference? We are small people. We are just sending a signal. His office is right behind here, so maybe he can see all this smoke."

And the Army was not spared either:

Traditionally off-limits to criticism, the powerful military was maligned almost as often as President Pervez Musharraf, who is also the head of the army.

"The generals and colonels command no respect," said Kamran Khan, 36, a businessman from Lahore, as he marched in front of the Supreme Court on Constitution Avenue, which was closed for the demonstration. "People hate the military, just because of Musharraf."

This anti-Army trend was confirmed by Dawn as well:

Protesters were also carrying banners and placards inscribed with various slogans. One placard read: “Reduce the poor’s burden, reduce army by 80 per cent”. Another banner read: “India is a threat to Pakistan is a misconception. Poverty and unemployment are more serious threats to the country”. “Judiciary is superior to army. Get lost military dictator,” read a banner carried by some lawyers.

In Karachi demonstrating lawyers beat up Geo and ARY television reporters and cameramen and smashed their equipment. Senior bar association members came on television last night and apologized for this grave infraction. Some even suggested that it was likely to be a government ruse to create a divide between the lawyers and newsmen.

Your Blogger has been told by a source that the attacking lawyers were recognized as members of a local ethnic party, namely the MQM. While I cannot confirm the validity of this report, the fact that this party is part of the coalition government in Sindh does make it sound feasible.

Pakistan

The Tragedy of Sonia Naz

Concerned about the miserable plight of rape victim Sonia Naz, I blogged about her tragedy eight times.

My last blog dates from April 2006 – a year ago when I learnt from the newspapers that she had been beaten to a pulp. By then I had come to the depressing conclusion that with the government of Punjab determined to oppose her, she stood little chance of obtaining justice.

Since then there has been little news about her, until today.

This morning I read in the Daily Times that the accused had been acquitted in court.

Sonia Naz herself has been missing for a while. I wonder where she is and what has happened to her?

If anyone can help, please do so.

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SP, SHO acquitted in Sonia Naz case

LAHORE: An additional district and sessions judge on Thursday accepted an application by SP Khalid Abdullah and Inspector Jamshed Chishty to acquit them of the charges of kidnapping and raping Sonia Naz. Earlier, notices had been issued to Sonia Naz on several occasions, but she had failed to appear in court. The court on Thursday rejected an application by her counsel Naveed Inayat Malik that trial against the accused should be delayed till she appeared in court. The court had started the process to declare Sonia Naz an absconder/a proclaimed offender on December 23, 2006, when she failed to appear in court. The court had also directed the police to attach her property and had earlier issued her arrest warrants, but she still did not attend the proceedings.

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For those interested in learning about her tragic plight here are the links to my previous Blogs


My Previous Blogs

I Was Raped on Police Officer’s Orders (Part I)

Sonia Naz: Rape Case (Part II) - The Background

Sonia Naz: Rape Case (Part III) - Subsequent Events

Sonia Naz - Rape Case (Part IV) – Latest Update

A Sonia Naz Update - 26th September

Sonia Naz - Rape Case (Part V) – November Update

Sonia Naz : A Victim of Grubby Punjab Politics?

Sonia Naz – The Unfolding Tragedy – April 2006


sonia naz

Pakistan

The Missing Persons Case - They remain Missing

Well, if the regime thought that by coming down hard on Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, it would pressurize the other Supreme Court judges into submission, it was mistaken.

In the latest Herald magazine Umer Farooq (‘General Justice’, page 76, April issue) informs us:

‘the bar’s relentless campaign in support of the beleaguered judge has had a profound impact on the Supreme Court. The court may have been cowered into virtual silence and inertia in the first few days of the Chief Justice’s unceremonious sacking, but it is now starting to assert itself with vigour.

…At the time of the Chief Justice Chaudhry’s suspension, it was thought that the proceedings in the missing persons’ case would be deferred. However, the Supreme Court decided otherwise and a three-member bench resumed the hearings of what has already become one of the most high-profile cases in the country’s judicial history. Relatives of missing persons have accused the government’s intelligence agencies of illegally detaining the disappeared, a charge that has made the government uncomfortable. No less a figure than Musharraf has gone on record to suggest that ‘jihadis’ and not the intelligence agencies were to be held responsible for the disappearances.

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It is time for a bit of recollection: Who exactly are these missing people?

Earlier this year the independent and respected Human Rights Commission of Pakistan published its annual report. This is what Dawn had to say about it:

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has accused the government and its security apparatus of exercising a ‘horrific pattern’ of forced disappearances of its opponents, and described it as a ‘new form of human rights abuse’ in the country.

The commission’s annual report for 2006 launched on Thursday described the forced disappearances ‘a highly disturbing trend’, which was increasing at an alarming rate. Citizens across the country were being picked up by intelligence agencies and taken to be detained in secret locations while some had been handed over to the US, the report said.

Spread over 340 pages, the report details the rights issues in 18 separate categories, ranging from law and administration of justice to law and order situation, rape and other atrocities against women, rights of children, restrictions of political participation, rights of labour, and issues of health and environment.

However, the report’s real emphasis was on the deteriorating situation in Balochistan and Waziristan, the use of military to curb political and religious militancy, and abduction and disappearance of opponents, mainly from the violence-hit areas.

According to the report, the trend of organised disappearances started around 2001 and since then at least 400 persons had gone missing. However, the commission feared the figure was only ‘the tip of the iceberg’.

The report said people suspected of being involved in attacks on the president, the Baloch nationalist struggle and those struggling for the rights of Sindhi people were frequently targeted. The largest number of disappearances, it said, was reported in Balochistan.

Prolonged and illegal detention and torture and humiliation of the detainees were growing problems, the report said.

Condemning the breakdown of law and order, the HRCP chairperson Asma Jahangir said that most of the disappeared were not suspected militants but government opponents. “Torture of the missing persons is the rule rather than exception.”

She said that the HRCP had filed a petition on behalf of the families of the missing persons. “But many are too frightened to come forward and talk about their relatives kidnapped by intelligence agencies.”

So now it’s down to the word of the HRCP against that of Musharraf.

A simple question: Is it possible for hundreds of Baloch (and Sindhi) nationalists to all of a sudden ditch their secular convictions, take up religious fanaticism and vanish completely into the Jihadi fold?

Apparently Musharraf would wish us to think so.

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And so on Tuesday the hearing on the Missing Persons case was continued. Sadly two our nation’s senior most judges were presented with a situation bordering on the farcical.

The Supreme Court had sent notices to the Attorney General, Makhdoom Ali Khan, to appear on the date of the hearing and answer all the questions raised by the distraught family members of the missing people.

As the Attorney General was not present in the morning the bench deferred the proceedings of the case till 11:30 am. However, despite repeated instructions from Court to the Attorney General to attend and represent the government’s case, he did not make an appearance in the courtroom. Makhdoom Ali Khan had apparently decided to do a bunk - he sent his equally reluctant deputy Raja Muhammad Irshad to stand in his stead.

As The Nation reported:

The attorney general despite being present in the Supreme Court building who had also presented the case in the same courtroom just a few minutes ago, simply refused to appear before the court and rather nominated deputy attorney general to present the case.

Senior Advocate Iqbal Haider, who had filed a constitutional petition in the same case … said, “Why doesn’t any lawyer want to represent the government. Before this case the AG was present in the courtroom. May be he doesn’t want to be the party in the government’s criminalities.”

At the previous hearing of the case the Supreme Court had directed the Interior Ministry to file a detailed reply on the missing persons by April 10. And now the Deputy Attorney General Raja Muhammad Irshad had to inform the Supreme Court that the Interior Ministry had disobeyed the court’s explicit instructions. According The Nation, all he could do was pathetically tell the court:

“It’s a very sensitive case and I am completely helpless. All I can do is to contact Interior Ministry and that I did. But they didn’t give me any information about the whereabouts of those missing people.”

The Nation also added:

Deputy Attorney General while unwillingly representing the government told the court that the Interior Ministry was supposed to respond on the whereabouts of the missing persons on 8th April, two days before the due date of the hearing. But instead the Director of the National Crisis Management Cell of the Interior Ministry, Lt Col Muhammad Imran Yaqoob sent a letter to the Attorney General just few hours before the hearing, saying, “The list of 148 was received in the Ministry of Interior on March 28, 2007. It was immediately sent to all home secretaries and intelligence agencies for tracing the missing persons. Replies are awaited.”

The Interior Ministry also requested the Supreme Court to grant sufficient time. “A detailed response would be submitted on the next date of hearing,” the letter reads. But the Supreme Court did not accept the letter because it was not filed through “Advocate on Record.”

Despite the provocation the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing until April 20, 2007.

One of the judges, Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar ordered the deputy attorney general to send a notice to the Interior Ministry to disclose the whereabouts of those who are in military detention, as well as locate the rest of those missing.

While Justice Dogar is said to have reassured the family members of the missing that that the attorney general would appear before the court at the next hearing, the reality is not quite as positive.

According to The Nation Attorney General, Makhdoom Ali Khan has privately announced:

“This case is not my responsibility and deputy attorney general will be dealing with this case.”

And to make matters worse the Deputy Attorney General Raja Muhammad Irshad has informed the press:

“If by next hearing the Interior Ministry doesn’t inform us about the whereabouts of those people, I will refuse to present this case.”

In the meantime the missing remain missing...

Link: The Glasshouse: The Missing Persons Case (Part II)

Pakistan
Missing Persons Case
SupremeCourt of Pakistan

Lal Masjid (contd.)

We learn from this morning’s newspapers that at a high level meeting yesterday - attended by Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz, prominent ministers and intelligence chiefs – it was decided not to impose a clampdown on the activities of the Fundos running a parallel state a stone’s throw from the regime’s seat of governance.

In a front page story in the Daily Times we are told:

‘The intelligence bosses maintained that a crackdown would create a law and order situation in Islamabad and would strengthen extremists in the country.’

'Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told the meeting that the government could not afford the use of force against madrassa students since general elections were near.'

'Javed Iqbal Cheema, director general of the National Crisis Management Cell, also opposed the use of force, “because we are already confronting difficult situations in Waziristan and Balochistan”. '

'Sources said that almost all meeting participants - which included Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Law Minister Wasi Zafar and Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani - opposed a crackdown on madrassa students.'

The News columnist Nasim Zehra agrees with this decision but for different reasons. According to her General Musharraf has simply opened too many other fronts – the legal fraternity, the Media, the Baloch and the ‘liberal’ politicians – to take on these religious extremists. And the country is paying a high price for his recklessness.

Gen Musharraf certainly has a problem on hand. A violent reprisal on women students can incite protests across the country and add to his woes. Besides, many students are wards of non-commissioned officers in the Pakistan Army, a factor which has its own set of problems for the President who was, three years ago, targeted by a coalition of terror groups and junior officers in the intelligence agency and Pakistan Air Force.

Whatever might be Gen Musharraf's compulsions to allow the brothers in Lal Masjid to hold Rawalpindi to ransom, he will have to live with this growing realisation among the people in Pakistan that law and order is fast spinning out of his control.

There are quite a few clear signs of such an eventuality. The street protest over the suspension of the Chief Justice was one. The 'Talibanisation' of the tribal areas and NWFP is another. Areas in Bannu, Malakand and Tank in the frontier province are virtually under the Taliban rule. Jihadis, too, exercise a strong hold over large towns in the area like Dera Adam Khel and Dera Ismail Khan. The Taliban has ordered the closure of girls' schools, video shops, barber shops and NGOs. The provincial Government, controlled by religious extremists, is planning to ban dance, music and other cultural events in the region.

In Baluchistan, despite the brutal slaying of veteran Baluch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti last year and the forced disappearances of young Baluch leaders, the situation is far from being under control. Rocket attacks and bomb blasts are recurring regularly in Quetta, Pasni and Turbat towns. In the last six months, 116 bomb blasts have been reported from the province.

In the Northern Areas, the Sunni-Shia conflict continues unabated, particularly in Parchinar and Chitral. In Sind, young women, both Hindu and Christian, are forced to convert to Islam. Temples and churches are attacked and vandalised. False cases are registered against Hindus.

In Punjab and other areas, journalists, daring to express dissent or simply report incidents, are being systematically brutalised. The highly respected Dawn group of newspapers recently front-paged its run-in with the Musharraf Government.

The question being asked both in Pakistan and outside is: How long will it take the Pakistan Army to realise that its Chief of Staff has become a liability, and might just threaten the supreme position it holds in a country which is often called 'An Army's Nation'?

Pakistan
Lal Masjid
Jamia Hafsa

Benazir Bhutto’s ‘Wisdom’ on Iraq

I recall one of Benazir Bhutto remarks, when she said something along the lines of: ‘I have sadly learnt to sacrifice political morality in favour of political pragmatism’.

Many would question her claim to having practiced any political morality after her 1988 election, but that is not the issue here.

So here is a humble message for her!

Okay BB,

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(Side issue here: I recently read a news report that PPP seniors are now insisting that Benazir be referred to as ‘Mohatarma’ and not ‘BB/bibi’ as ‘Bibi was a term used for low class women’.

What a bunch of ignoramuses and what a load of ineffable codswallop!

‘Mohatarma’, is an Urdu term of extreme courtesy (which to my ears renders a woman positively geriatric). On the other hand ‘Bibi’ (or Lady) is a Persian word redolent of gentility.

Anyhow, not being any party’s appartchik, I reserve my God-given - and democratic - right to call Benazir Bhutto (or for that matter Bush, Bliar, Mush, Nawazu et al) exactly what I want.
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So okay, BiBi!

There is such a thing as pragmatism and there is such a thing as sheer opportunism. Your recent performance on BBC’s Question Time was an illustration of opportunism run amok.

While I realise that you are absolutely convinced that your third chance at power depends on the Bush White House but even blatant obsequiousness has to have limits.

Can I remind you what you said on television on 23 March 2007?

Here is a gist of your pronouncements:

- The world is now a safer place for some, including the people of Iran, because of Saddam’s removal from power.

- Once the Iraqis are able to institutionalise democracy, the invasion and occupation will ultimately be called a success.

- There was a broad-based consensus behind the invasion of Afghanistan, whereas with Iraq, on the basis of faulty US intelligence, there was the perception of an imminent threat.

- Bush’s ‘surge’ (i.e. his plan to increase US troops) has a chance to wipe out the insurgents, the terrorists and the militants.

- If Iraqi democracy succeeds, then Bush and Tony Blair will be regarded as the champions of freedom, and democracy will spread to the rest of the Middle East.

It was just not me who was flabbergasted; this is what a Dawn editorial said about your performance:

…she might as well have added, pigs will fly. Although her utterances occasionally suggest otherwise, Benazir Bhutto isn’t a blithering idiot. The trouble is that, for all her invocations of democracy, for the past 20 years she has clung on to the belief that the road to Islamabad passes through Washington. The idea of speaking truth to power probably never even crosses her mind, and one can only assume she is unembarrassed by the fact that when it comes to Iraq, a military ruler such as Pervez Musharraf, despite being beholden to the US in a variety of ways, manages to sound much less obsequious.

Bhutto appears to have learned nothing during her years in Dubai, else she would have realised by now that the sine qua non of a political future, as far as she is concerned, is not the goodwill of the White House but the intellectual capacity to acknowledge and apologise for her abysmal record in office.

Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto

'Real Democracy' vs. 'Sham Democracy'

Ghani Jafar tells us an interesting tale in The News today ('Deja vu, but vicariously')

Apparently in the early 1990s (during the days of ‘Sham Democracy’) our Amir-ul-Momineen-hopeful and his boys decided to get tough with media men for revealing too much truth for their liking.

It was decided to make a harsh example of a particular senior journalist so that others would tremble in fear from this brutal lesson. And so:

A minor traffic incident was staged to enable the cops to beat him black and blue, wreck the car he was driving and put him behind bars He was treated to third degree methods overnight before his colleagues learnt of the incident and managed to get him out.

As common with most plans made by ‘geniuses’ entrenched in Islamabad, the scheme backfired. The press was up in arms at the brutal treatment dish out their colleague. To appease them two policemen were suspended.

Later it emerged that:

The senior superintendent of police had addressed the entire staff of the relevant station. The high police official had basically patted his subordinates on the back for doing a good job in dealing with the journalist. But, he said that since the matter had taken a political turn…he needed two volunteers for suspension. Those who offered themselves for the purpose, he had assured the audience, would not only be reinstated but also given promotions once the heat died down.

Coming to the present, things do not appeared have changed much in these days of ‘True Democracy’.

After trashing the Geo office the Inspector in charge of the destruction, as Musharraf informed us, has managed to successfully vanish from the face of the earth.

Considering that the Inspector is held single-handedly responsible for the attack on Geo, is it possible that he might have – given his ‘violent outlook’ - decamped to Dera Bugti or Wana to lead a dogged insurgency against Geo TV?

Or, as Ghani Jafar suggests, that he currently might be instead ensconced somewhere in Islamabad awaiting swift promotion the moment the heat dies down?

The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind!

Pakistan

Geo TV

The Amazons of Islamabad

Your Blogger deliberately has avoided commenting on Lal Masjid/Jamia Hafsa issue until now.

Why?

He has had a sneaking suspicion all the while that this ruckus had been intentionally created to divert public attention from the Chief Justice debacle, as well as use this ‘manifestation’ of ‘the spreading virus of Talibanisation’ to wring international support for a beleaguered regime.

So rather than be accused of spreading ‘conspiracy theories’ it seemed preferable to stay mum. But now as I find a chorus of other voices harbouring similar suspicions, it is time to take a look at what has taken place.

Today’s News sums up the state of affairs in a nutshell:

[Islamabad] is being seized bit by bit by two brothers, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi who between them manage the Lal Masjid, the Jamia Faridia (the male madressah) and Jamia Hafsa (the female madressah). It has been reported, but not yet confirmed, that Faridia and Hafsa between them have about 10,000 resident pupils, 2,500 males and 7,500 females. The male pupil hides his identity behind a black mask that covers his head and face which looks quite ominous. The female pupils are clad in black and armed with stout bamboo sticks. They present a formidable and awesome picture. It is nearly impossible to determine the gender of the person clad from head to toe in black burqa. They are tall, hardly anyone less than 5 feet 9 inches which is well above average height of Pakistani females.

Here are the views of four diverse columnists:

Abbas Rashid commented in today’s Daily Times:

It is possible that the Musharraf government is allowing the standoff to prolong in order to distract public attention from the issue of the suspension of the chief justice. He could also be making the point with his increasingly restive allies in the West that they would be better off supporting him in his efforts to roll back the resurgent talibanisation — dramatically manifest as a clear and present danger in the very heart of the capital — rather than becoming too concerned about the essentials of democracy in Pakistan.

Such tactics would certainly be par for the course. The role of disaffected former intelligence officials can also not be discounted. But, in any case this would not be the first time that Musharraf has backed away from taking a stand when it comes to religio-political forces, regardless of the consistent tone and tenor of his liberal rhetoric.

In the same newspaper Brigadier (retd.) Shaukat Qadir is even more forthright.He also informs us that Jamia Hafsa/Lal Masjid was (and quite likely still is) funded by the Islamabad Regime:

While falling prey to ‘conspiracy theories’ is not commendable, there is little doubt that occasionally there is substance to such theories. Let’s consider this case.

Jamia Hafsa was begun with government funding and continued to receive substantial government funding for many years. Whether it still does is not known. The opposition has already alleged that the government has created this situation to divert attention from the chief-justice crisis. Even the MMA has collectively condemned each act of the students of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid and disclaimed responsibility for their acts.

In the background, General Pervez Musharraf is not only faced with the judicial crisis he has created, but is being pressured by the United States on the necessity to hold free and fair elections (US congressmen have gone from Pakistan straight to London to meet with Nawaz Sharif. They were already in contact with Benazir Bhutto, with whom a government deal appears to be in the offing).

It is difficult to see why the government, which can easily pull the curtain on this drama, has refused to do so thus far. Why would Musharraf, who proudly portrays himself as Pakistan’s strongman, allow this episode to drag itself unnecessarily in Islamabad when he has not been averse to using force in the tribal areas, in Balochistan and in Karachi?

Is it possible that he has deliberately permitted the situation to go this far, in the hope that it will reinforce the view that he is indispensable if Pakistan has to have a moderate future? This may or may not be true. But if it is, then all one can say is that if he has, then he has descended to depths hitherto unprecedented. His legacy will be worse than his predecessor, Zia-ul Haq’s.

In the Gulf News Husain Haqqani had this to say:

There are four possible explanations for the deteriorating situation in Pakistan. The first, given by Pakistani officials, is that religious extremism has deep roots in Pakistan and would take many years and a lot more US dollars to root out.

The second, offered by American officials (notably outgoing US ambassador Ryan Crocker) claims that the Pakistani government does not have the capacity to control the Taliban and their sympathisers in all parts of the country.

The third, somewhat harsh, view is that Pakistan's military-intelligence-bureaucratic complex is deliberately encouraging extremism in an effort to extort more international support, manage domestic crises and to persist with their decades old dreams of expanding influence in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

The free rein for Jamia Hafsa's vigilantes, for example, serves the regime's purpose by taking attention away from the crisis generated by Musharraf's suspension of the Sup-reme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhary.

The fourth explanation is a hybrid of the second and the third. Pakistan's rulers, it suggests, give priority to regime survival above long-term national strength. As long as Pakistan's ruling elite presents itself as being between a rock and a hard place, the world will continue to bail it out. After all, no one wants a nuclear-armed state to fall under the control of the Taliban.

The official Pakistani explanation does not hold much water. If the aim of Musharraf's policies is to weaken deep-rooted Islamist extremist groups then why are these groups gaining in strength instead of losing ground?

In principle it seems reasonable that the Pakistani state should avoid using extreme force against its own citizens. But such qualms have never held back the Pakistani state from killing Bengalis in erstwhile East Pakistan or Baloch and Sindhi dissidents.

As for the American account of "limited capacity" of the Pakistani state, that is only partly true. Had Benazir Bhutto or Asif Ali Zardari been the ones hiding in Waziristan, instead of Afghan Taliban and Al Qaida figures, I am quite certain that the Pakistani state would have found the means to deal with any armed supporters they might have had.

That leaves us with the harsh view that the generals like the chaos generated by Islamists and the explanation based on the Musharraf regime's wrong priorities.

There is enough evidence to demonstrate past collaboration between the Pakistan military-intelligence apparatus and extremist Islamists to make the cynics seem plausible. On the other hand, if instead of being used as personal security guards for an unpopular ruler or rent-a-crowd tools at Musharraf's rallies, Pakistan's security forces were properly deployed they could, at least, protect Pakistan's federal capital from Talibanisation.

The survival of Pakistan depends upon eliminating extremists. But the Pakistani establishment's erroneous view that its survival in power is synonymous with Pakistan's survival is pushing the country further to the brink. Regime survival requires manipulation or calibration of the extremists. Pakistan's survival necessitates their containment or elimination.

Then there is a furious Raoof Hasan in today’s Nation who blames the regime directly for the ‘Lal masjid’ mess and lambastes Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz et al and calls them ‘a bunch of half-wits’.

It is when a coterie of self-seeking and self-aggrandising individuals take positions, or indulge in acts, in contravention of the basic provisions of law, that the edifice of the state is rendered insecure before immoral, illegal and untenable assaults. The history of Pakistan is replete with instances graphically illustrative of this malaise. The frequent nightly assaults by tin-pot generals to usurp power from democratically elected governments have provided a classic, unstoppable phenomenon that has repeatedly played with the fate of the state. When that happens, it follows logically that ‘law’ has been replaced with a lack of it, and ascendancy to positions of importance is through non-conformance to the basic tenets of law as against conformance. It also follows that the writ of the state does not emanate from abiding by the book of law, but from the whims and fancies of an individual who, through an unconstitutional, illegal and immoral act, has grabbed for himself the position to be the sole arbiter of the fate of the state and its people. These assaults, repeatedly ‘legalised’ by the use of the notorious ‘Doctrine of Necessity’, have resulted in indescribable tragedies for Pakistan and its people.

The total disappearance of the ‘writ’ of the state emanates from this basic reality: the absence of a lawful and institutionalised mode of governance and its replacement with ‘writ’ being dispensed by a self-anointed individual who, in the first place, is there through an act violative of the relevant provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan. The book is clear and candid about how to deal with such individuals.

Additionally, in the absence of government in accordance with the provisions of law, the likelihood of smaller groups of vested interests within the establishment exerting to ‘destabilise’ the government to meet their own nefarious ends, enhances immensely. The prospect that the establishment is currently riddled with machinations of such vested interests is, therefore, not beyond the realm of possibility, even probability.

Consequently, the charade being enacted at the Lal Masjid and the government’s total inaction and impotence in the face of this unprecedented provocation is understandable. As a matter of fact, those who still dream of any remedial measures in this regard may, as well, stop doing so. This is the fate that we have to resign to in the face of continuing nightly assaults on the state by a bunch of half-wits touting as rulers. If ever lawful authority of the state is to be restored, these usurpers will have to be shown the door, for good!

Pakistan
Lal Masjid
Jamia Hafsa

The Picture That Shamed a Nation

The sight of their country's constitutional head of the Judiciary being grabbed by his hair and physically manhandled by the regime's coercive forces sickened the nation.

The Associated Press quoted Rusul Bakhsh Rais, a professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences, as saying:
"The general and his associates have lost touch with reality They suffered from the misunderstanding that since they control the coercive apparatus of the state, they can control any situation."

Pakistan
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Iftikhar Chaudhry

CJ Crisis Viewed 30 Days Later

Friday Times claims that the day the CJ was summoned by Musharraf he was met not only by Musharraf (dressed in his military fatigues) and Shaukat Aziz, but ‘five senior khakis’ were also present there to ‘eyeball’ him in to submission.

Holding his ground

Bit by bit, details of that fateful meeting between the real PM and the “suspended” Chief Adjudicator are emerging. Our mole reports that the day the Chief went to the camp office, he was greeted by quite a gathering of the top brass. Apparently, there were five senior khakis lined up in the room to eyeball the Chief Adjudicator, besides Shortcut and the real PM in his military fatigues, and he still held his ground.

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And Wajahat Latif writes an interesting summation of the situation in today’s Nation

Losing nerve

When a private TV channel was attacked in the afternoon of 16th March in Islamabad, everyone understood the government was losing patience with the media. The attackers were policemen in uniform acting like hoodlums. Every move they made – breaking glass, equipment, furniture, harassing staff was put on film and telecast as it happened. The myth of media freedom under this regime was exposed.

A few days later, the opposition parties gave a call for peaceful protests on the 21st. The regime panicked and went about arresting opposition workers days before the event in hundreds from various parts of the country in spite of the parties’ assurance to remain peaceful at all times. Nevertheless, the protest was countrywide and the boycott of courts complete. Over-reacting, the jittery regime sat on a slippery slope.

The protest continued. The ARD gave a call for a nationwide protest on the 26th. In a knee-jerk reaction, the police picked up political activists in different places 48 hours before the event. Islamabad was again blockaded by the local administration but the arrests and all other tricks once again failed to halt protests.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chowdhry was to address the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Rawalpindi, on the 28th. It was anticipated to be a major event since the regime had eased restrictions on CJ’s movements, albeit on public pressure. Lawyers took him to Rawalpindi in a procession. The cavalcade of vehicles escorting him became so large that it took them several hours to get there from Islamabad, a distance of no more than half an hour.

But private TV channels could not cover the event as the government jammed their transmissions as explained by anchorpersons later in the afternoon. This was in addition to the scrambling they have been subjected to in the recent weeks.

On 3rd of April, the CJ was to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council in connection with the presidential reference against him. As expected, the regime made advance arrests in hundreds, placing Qazi Husain Ahmad, the head of a major political party, under house arrest. Islamabad was blockaded again, seriously restricting movement of thousands of road users.

Once again, nothing worked for the administration. In spite of the barricades, lawyers, opposition parties, members of the civil society and ordinary citizens collected in front of the Supreme Court by the thousands. Charged with emotion, they chanted anti government and anti Musharraf slogans. The CJ’s car driven by his lawyer Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, had difficulty reaching the SJC because of the sheer enthusiasm of the crowds. Emotion was spilling over, palpable, spontaneous and real.

Early part of the afternoon was sunny and hot, but the crowds stayed, the lawyers inside on the green lawns and the rest of the people outside as the hearing proceeded. Angry slogans rang through the air constantly; there was no let up of emotion. I have seen angry crowds in my time and know that this was one. People seemed to have had enough of this regime. Some pro-government idiots from Gujrat who risked impersonating as lawyers in black coats were immediately identified and nearly lynched.

Later in the afternoon when the CJ came out after the hearing, people simply overwhelmed his car: they wanted to touch him, kiss him. Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry had become an iconic figure, a symbol of defiance. The crowd became a charged procession, proceeding slowly, stopping in front of the President’s House to shout loud anti Musharraf slogans, hoping that he was watching them from a terrace of his palace (as usual). For once behaving sensibly, the police did not try to stop them, or there could have been serious blood shed.

With reference to his Reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan, those in authority, parroted by their courtiers, say two things. In the tone of a bully pretending a concession they say it will be decided according to law, which is a joke. Who does not know that they exhausted the contrary option as soon as the CJ refused to resign?

The other thing is their boast of a free media policy. No more than a cliché, this is a popular slogan of their parrots in all talk shows. The fact of the matter is that the media is far from free in this country. People who are at the receiving end of government’s stick know better: they know that they have had to pay with midnight knocks on their doors, disappearances and sometimes death for reporting the truth. In international press freedom indices, Pakistan today is rated as “unfree”. Reporters Sans Frontiers, a prestigious Paris-based press freedom watch body, mentions Pakistan at 157 in 168 countries in its 2006 press freedom index!

Pakistan
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Iftikhar Chaudhry

Pakistan Cricket's Lightweight

Remaining on the topic of cricket, your Blogger cannot help but notice that despite a series of catastrophes the old adage plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same) continues to apply to the PCB.

I came across one of Kamran Abbasi’s blogs on the Cricinfo site. In this Blog titled ‘Power without responsibility: the story of Pakistan’ .Abbasi lambastes Dr Nasim Asharaf and his mentor Musharraf.

This medical practitioner was, until Musharraf discovered him, simply a US-based urologist. Reclassified three years ago as a ‘cricket expert’ Ashraf was appointed by the General to the PCB Ad Hoc Committee and then last year his mentor made him Chairman PCB.

After the double disaster in the West Indies Asharaf went through the motions of taking responsibility by offering his resignation, which was swiftly turned down by Musharraf.

This is what Kamran Abbasi had to say about General and his medico friend:

We hear that Mushy, the president not the assistant coach, has not accepted the resignation of his pal Nasim Ashraf. This is a diabolical decision. Ashraf has presided over the most disastrous period in the history of Pakistan cricket. Blessed by failure he is being asked to continue and finish the job. God help us. The job he gave the impression of performing was the destruction of Pakistan cricket.

Following the lead of his own boss, President Mushy, he appointed his own pals and acquaintances to key PCB positions. No wonder Pakistan cricket is in a mess.

Ashraf has presided over the dumb reign of Younis Khan as "dummy" captain, the doping fiasco, Waqar's dismissal and the horse-trading that lead to Mushy the coach being appointed, the injury and selection chaos, the unfettered power of Inzamam and the sidelining of Woolmer (on this I quote Bob: "Since the resignation of the last Chairman any views I have had have not been wanted! The new Chairman certainly has his own way"), and a failure to deliver the constitution that he solemnly promised.

What's more he has annoyed the team and management by hanging out with them on tour like some sort of star-struck groupie, worse still a groupie who has got involved with team matters. In short, I hold him responsible for orchestrating this disaster.

President Mushy's decision does make sense from one viewpoint, however. Pakistan has too long tolerated power without responsibility. If Ashraf were to be seen to be taking responsibility for his cock-ups then the president, in his position of patron of Pakistan cricket, might have to accept some responsibility too. Now we couldn't have that could we?

This Blog seemed to have hit a tender nerve among Pakistani cricket fans and they reacted by sending in a voluminous number of comments. What surprised me was the depth of rage surging within the ranks of Pakistan’s cricket loving public.


Here are some examples:

Some humorous
Dear President Musharraf,
Please consider me for the post of PCB Chairman, I am doctor also and have played cricket at college level, rest assured I will complete your mission of complete destruction of Pakistan cricket.

Some Angry
What has Musharraf got to do with cricket? I don't know how he could have any time left over after playing the roles of the president, the army chief, the sole policy-maker while he is not busy interfering with the judiciary etc etc.

This MUSH regime has done nothing but to mess up things in a routine fashion. Nasim is not even qualified to be a water boy yet he is the chairman of the PCB. God help us all!!

Some Bitter
Why are u complaining after all Pakistan is a colony of the Army. It’s there right to do whatever they want and however they want to screw the nation.

Some philosophical (!?)
The story of pakistan and pak cricket goes like this:
..... har shaakh pe aik ulloo betha hay, injaam-e-gulistaan kya ho ga...

Others are problem solving (!)
I am sick and tired of this slow agonizing death. Why don't we just hammer in the final nail? I recommend that Altaf Hussain (MQM) be made president of PCB.
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If you want to read more of these comments then click here: http://blogs.cricinfo.com/pakspin/archives/2007/03/power_without_responsibility_t.php#comments
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Pakistan

Pakistan Cricket

Naseem Ashraf

Honouring Bob

Being Pakistani it is natural for your Blogger to be a keen cricketing fan. The mortifying defeat of our national team by Ireland at Sabina Park, Kingston, was a bitter pill to swallow. But what followed a day later– the tragic death of Bob Woolmer - was a much greater calamity.

Before his death it was becoming increasingly clear that Woolmer's professional expertise was not being properly utilised by the mule headed and increasingly dictatorial Inzamam and the lightweight currently occupying the position of PCB chairman. The moment Naseem Ashraf became head of PCB he effectively sidelined Woolmer (who is on record as having despondently stated :"Since the resignation of the last Chairman any views I have had have not been wanted! The new Chairman certainly has his own way").

Like most cricketing fans I had tremendous respect for Woolmer’s coaching abilities – he had widely been acknowledged as the leading light of the international coaching world. But more than that, like many other Pakistanis, I had come to develop an unusual fondness for this genial, soft spoken and gentlemanly person.

Present reasoning would suggest that either Woolmer died a natural death brought upon by the shock of his team’s defeat or the unfortunate man was gruesomely murdered by an international set of villains – most likely of sub-continental origins.

In either case he died while serving the cause of our national cricket. So it is only appropriate that Woolmer’s services to Pakistani cricket be properly acknowledged.

For my part, I can think of no better way of honouring Woolmer’s memory than by renaming Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium (named after a nasty half-witted Libyan dictator who still remains clueless about cricket) to Woolmer Stadium.

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Bob Woolmer

Pakistan Cricket

Acts of ‘spectacular’ brilliance

March 26, Dawn photo of a few of the 850 vehicles parked public transport vehicles that were commandeered to carry the ‘rent-a-crowd’ prior to Musharraf’s rally at Rawalpindi.

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It’s amazing what levels members of the regime will stoop to defend their now precarious hold on power.

Here are two examples:

1. Musharraf’s “my-rally-is-bigger-than-yours” held last week at Rawalpindi.

Not only did the regime declare a local holiday on the day of the General's rally but it also ordered all teachers at Government schools and colleges, and other civil servants to attend the gathering.

This is Time magazine's take on it.

The government has directed teachers, professors and civil servants to attend, and commanded district and village leaders to bring anywhere from 100 to 1000 people from their towns to the rally. In order to transport these less-than-fervent fans, hundreds of buses, vans and mini-buses have been commandeered from transport operators across the region since Sunday, and parked throughout the capital. The government has promised to compensate drivers for the use of their vehicles, offering 2000 rupees, or $35 in addition to fuel, but that may not be enough to convince them. Drivers point out that their vehicles will be off the road for two or three days, and on good routes, operators make around $45 a day. So just to be certain, drivers' documents were retained to ensure that they show up to work on the day of the rally.

Still, some canny drivers have stayed off the roads altogether, preferring to take a few days off over the hassle of trying to get cash out of the government. The result has been chaos for the tens of thousands in the capital area who depend on public transportation to get to work or school. Taxis have doubled their prices, and the roads around Rawalpindi and Islamabad are full of resigned commuters trudging to their destinations on foot.

Today's rally may be important for Musharraf's eventual re-election campaign, but once again he is alienating the very people he should be courting. In consideration of the transport difficulties, the city government of Rawalpindi has declared today a holiday. Of course, what's the point of a holiday if you can't get anywhere. Then again, that may be exactly the government's point: all the more reason, after all, for residents to attend the rally.

2. Sending of Fake Lawyers

Yesterday when some ‘moderate and enlightened’ members of the regime sent their supporters - falsely dressed in lawyer garb – to shout out pro-Musharraf slogans in front of the Supreme Court, they were delivered an unexpectedly brutal comeuppance.

This is what The Nation reported on this bizarre episode:

With President Musharraf monitoring the things at micro level, another wrong move by some government supporters from Punjab resulted in an embarrassing situation when they, disguising as lawyers, were nabbed and beaten by the SC Bar representatives while chanting slogans in favour of the President.

Chaudhry Khalid Guraal, MPA and Parliamentary Secretary Punjab Assembly brought 40-50 lawyers from Gujrat in support of President Musharraf in the SC premises, almost out of bound for many on the day of hearing the presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Majority of the Musharraf’s supporters were reportedly fake lawyers brought by the MPA. Some of them found to have fake licenses to prove their identity.

SC lawyers claimed that, this bunch of 40-50 impersonating lawyers were in fact villagers belonging to Gujrat, the home town of Ch Pervez Ellahi, the Chief Minister of Punjab and PML President Chaudhry Shujat Hussain.

When they were chanting slogans inside the SC premises in favour of the President, some protesting lawyers outside the premises recognized some of them, forced their way inside and started beating them.

Qari Iftikhar (ex-Qari Punjab Assembly) was the most conspicuous among this ‘fake’ bunch recognized and thrashed by the SC lawyers.

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Undoubtedly there will more similar acts of ‘spectacular’ brilliance over the coming days. Watch this space!


Pakistan

The Guardian (UK): The End of the General

What a refreshing heading from The Guardian's commentary page.

However as the young journalist is of obvious Pakistani origin, some might say that this is just an exercise in wishful thinking on his part.

‘No, it is not’ says your Blogger.

Musharraf, to my mind, is now a severely wounded politician/general. His unpopularity has been exposed to all and it is only a matter of time before he is forced to doff his uniform and along with it, his unbridled power.

Omar Waraich us reminds of what Musharraf said last year:

"The vast majority is with me," he insisted in an interview with the BBC last year. "The day I come to know I'm not popular, I'll quit. But more than that, they'll be out in the streets, and I would not be allowed to stay."

Then he tellingly adds:

Over the past month, vast numbers have been doing just that - taking to the streets in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi in opposition to London and Washington's favourite military dictator.

It is time to quit cribbing about the weaknesses of politicians like Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. We should instead use this current political debacle to firmly establish two guiding principles for the future:
1. A truly independent judiciary
2. Complete freedom for our Press.

If we have an independent judiciary and a free press then no future leader – be it Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto or some other Maula Jat – will have the power to make a mess of things again.


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The End of the General


By turning on Pakistan's judiciary and media, Musharraf may have hastened his regime's end

Omar Waraich
Tuesday April 3, 2007 The Guardian

General Pervez Musharraf has little patience with traditional notions of democracy. Pakistan's president, who seized power in a coup eight years ago, prefers to measure public approval by his own standards. "The vast majority is with me," he insisted in an interview with the BBC last year. "The day I come to know I'm not popular, I'll quit. But more than that, they'll be out in the streets, and I would not be allowed to stay." Over the past month, vast numbers have been doing just that - taking to the streets in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi in opposition to London and Washington's favourite military dictator. But so far he shows no sign of quitting.

The trigger for the protests was Musharraf's decision on March 9 to sack Iftikhar Chaudhry, chief justice of the supreme court, whose case is due to be heard today. Lawyers' strikes, court boycotts and demonstrations erupted across the country. Within days, their ranks were fortified by civil society groups and opposition parties. The police responded with baton-charges, rubber bullets and tear-gas.
The press was also punished for relaying images of bloodied protesters and the mushrooming hostility towards the regime. Geo TV had its offices smashed by police and its staff beaten, Aaj TV was temporarily taken off the air, and journalists elsewhere have spoken of attempts by senior government officials to frustrate their reporting.

When Musharraf appointed himself president in October 1999 it was, he claimed, in order to throw off "the yoke of despotism" and "sham democracy". Many Pakistanis were discreetly optimistic as he pledged to roll back the years of corruption, arbitrary rule and economic disaster that had exhausted the country under the elected governments of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.

Such hopes have long since dissipated. Musharraf's supporters point to the economy, growing at a rate of 6%. But that has been achieved with billions of dollars in aid from the US and has done nothing to diminish the grinding poverty of the majority. The gap between rich and poor has markedly widened under Musharraf, according to his government's own figures.

From the outset, the general assumed all executive powers and proceeded to install uniformed officials in positions of authority. Within months he banned strikes, demonstrations and public rallies - measures that remained in force through the rigged 2002 elections.

The chief source of strain, however, has been Musharraf's close alliance with George Bush and Tony Blair. He defied the will of 80% of Pakistanis by signing up to Bush's war on terror. The fallout from the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan has brought hardline Islamist parties to power in the North-West Frontier province, introducing al-Qaida and Taliban elements into Pakistan, and triggered waves of terrorism that now threaten the major cities.

Musharraf, who trained the Taliban in its earlier incarnation, is now under US pressure to crack down harder on its Pakistani bases. Air strikes have killed many innocents and further inflamed hatred towards Islamabad and Washington. Other measures - torture, unlawful detention, disappearances, extrajudicial executions - have provoked a similar reaction, also attracting denunciations by human rights groups and Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Musharraf has said he intends to continue as president and chief of army staff for the foreseeable future. To do so he needs a pliant judiciary - hence the move against Chaudhry, who had made clear he would not countenance this continued double role.

There are signs Musharraf's US sponsors may be tiring of him and toying with a return to office by Bhutto and Sharif, who lead the main parties. By assaulting the media and judiciary, he may have done his people a favour. It now seems likely that a popular movement for free and fair elections and the restoration of democracy will haunt his regime to its end.
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Pakistan
Musharraf

Dawn in the Line of Fire

Dawn has traditionally been a newspaper that has thrived on past glories and much little else. But - and it is a big BUT – suddenly in the past few months the newspaper has undergone a dramatic change.

Last week Hameed Haroon the CEO of Dawn Group of publications sent out an SOS email which was published in full by fellow blogger Adil Najam of All Things Pakistan.


Your Blogger has attempted to piece together a story largely based upon Haroon’s email and the documentation that came attached with it.
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Historically the widely circulated Dawn has always toed the government line. Perhaps to assuage their conscience its owners have traditionally allowed the newspaper group’s less-read but highly-regarded Herald newsmagazine much more leeway. The same applied to The Star, which followed a policy of sensationalism common to all Karachi’s afternoon newspapers.

So it comes as no surprise to learn that the Sind Government attempted to crack down on The Star as early as 2004. One of its reporters Rasheed Channa was arrested and the CEO Hameed Haroon was facing a fabricated charge accusing him of ‘terrorism and illegal weapons possession’. Apparently the angry Arbab Rahim was calmed down by Musharraf’s direct intervention.

In 2005 it was the turn of the Islamabad regime. It appears that Musharraf was not pleased by Herald’s gutsy coverage of:

- The war in Waziristan,
- Religious extremism in the NWFP
- The possible resurgence of covert regime support to Kashmiri militants

At a well attended meeting of officials an angry Musharraf brandished a copy of the Herald and protested that: “This kind of journalism must be stopped.”

According to Haroon, this mounting frustration turned into fury when the newspaper further refused to comply with instructions for a news blackout on events unfolding in Baluchistan and in Waziristan and the exercising of almost total restraint in reporting the Taliban.

It now seems apparent that in late 2006, with a change in its editorial team, the group’s flagship Dawn finally opted to follow the Herald and The Star and embark on an independent course of its own.

Accoring to Hameed Haroon, in September 2006 ‘a senior government functionary’ phoned Dawn’s Editor and politely conveyed a demand ‘from the highest in the land.’

His exact words: “We are planning a clean-up operation in Baluchistan. Please don’t publish anything on it.” The official is informed that outright blackouts or censorships are wholly unacceptable. All that is offered by Dawn is an assurance that wherever a story warrants a government version, it will be sought and included in the story. The official is adamant and Dawn is again asked to forget that Baluchistan existed. A few days later, the official calls again saying that Dawn’s attitude “is encouraging other media’ to report on the province.” For several days after the government ‘request’ Dawn has been the only paper to cover political events regularly in Baluchistan. But now, says the official, every newspaper and TV channel is citing Dawn as the reason for the blackout being unacceptable.

However when the editor and the Directors of the Board of the Dawn decided that ‘the government’s ‘request’ was unreasonable and needed to be firmly turned down’, the regime unsurprisingly turned nasty.

Earlier in December 2005, according to Hameed Haroon, Shaukat Aziz had urged him (at a meeting Sindh Governor House) to apply for a Television Broadcast Licence. And when Haroon remarked that it required an investment of US$ 40 million, Shaukat Aziz indicated that A “permanent licence it would be granted”.

A year later, in December 2006, after Dawn had expended over a billion rupees Shaukat Aziz had the effrontery now to inform Haroon that as Musharraf “is extremely displeased with Dawn’s refusal to impose a “blackout” on Baluchistan, and consequently there is nothing more he can do to help Dawn obtain a license as “the orders had come from the top” not to issue a license to Dawn.

Furthermore, according to the Editor of the Nation, the Prime Minister has advised him that his group “must refrain from clubbing with the Dawn Group, if it intended acquiring a television license, as Dawn would not be issued with a broadcast license in any case.”
At this meeting, the Prime Minister also remarks that the government is free to place its advertising wherever it chooses to. This is seen as a threat that the Federal Government is considering a ban on advertising in Dawn. At the end of December 2006, the quantum of Federal Government advertising in Dawn begins to plummet.

Obviously to Musharraf’s satisfaction the Dawn Group is hemorrhaging financially. Having setup a fully staffed TV News Channel, which it is prevented from launching, the newspaper group is now paying a price for its sudden surge in freedom.
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Following the travails of Dawn one cannot help but come to the following conclusion:

- The General is a vengeful character
- Shaukat Aziz comes across as a powerless wimp
- And that we must all support Dawn to the best of our abilities!

The Geo/Jang Group appears to have thrown in the towel; I wonder how long Hameed Haroon and his team last out before doing the same?



Pakistan
Hameed Haroon
press censorship
Press Freedom
Dawn Pakistan

Troubles Coming in Battalions

Even given the remote possibility that the General might still think that he is politically secure, your Blogger has bad news for him.

In politics ‘reality’ comes a second place to ‘perception’. What people perceive – whether it be right or wrong - soon ends up forming future ‘reality’.

Truth is that right now everyone perceives Musharraf as damaged goods.

There is an appropriate Shakespearean quote from Hamlet for Musharraf’s current travails:

When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.

Now even the overseas press has begun to write him off.

Yesterday I blogged what the New York Times, and The Times (UK) had to say. Now here are damaging excerpts from articles in Time magazine and The Guardian.

Commenting on the news that burka-clad women raided a brothel and kidnapped an alleged madam "Auntie Shamim", two other women and a six-month-old girl The Guardian said:

Parts of Pakistan are slipping from the control of Gen Musharraf, who is also grappling with the crisis triggered by his showdown with chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Describing the same event, Time magazine has come out with: Is Musharraf Losing His Grip? And said:

Musharraf has always tried to convince the West that he is all that stands between it and nuclear-armed mullahs. Hence the temptation to invoke al-Qaeda as a source of what are clearly very local political troubles. But as novelist Moshin Hamid wrote in the New York Times this week, "Pakistan is both more complicated and less dangerous than America has been led to believe. General Musharraf has portrayed himself as America's last line of defense in and angry and dangerous land. In reality, the vast majority of Pakistanis want nothing to do with violence." Only 13% of Pakistanis supported the fundamentalist parties in the last election, and all indications are that the country's most powerful institution, the military, supports the policies of "enlightened moderation" advocated by Musharraf.

So, even if the general were to lose power in a democratic elections, the chances are that Pakistan would continue on the same faltering path set by the general when he took power in 1999. However, if he continues interfering with democratic processes by suspending judges, cracking down on the media and instituting martial law, he could more easily fall victim to the radical forces he claims to be resisting. The harder Musharraf squeezes, the more the radicals have to gain. "The time has come for him to begin thinking of a transition," writes Hamid. "And for Americans to realize that, scare stories notwithstanding, a more democratic Pakistan might be better not just for Pakistanis but for Americans as well."

Pakistan