Chori Aur Seena Zori: Dost Muhammed Khosa

Despite serious financial constraints, a Mercedes Benz car is about to be purchased for Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s ‘fleet of vehicles’ at more than Rs25 million. Official documents suggest that owing to the financial position of the provincial government, Rs25.4 million would be drawn in advance through a supplementary grant before the close of the current financial year as a special case, by relaxing rules. The government of Punjab had imposed in October last year “a complete ban on purchase of vehicles, refurbishment, interior deco ration of offices, establishment of new offices, furniture and fixture, procurement of generators, air-conditioners and other luxury items etc”. A few weeks back, the federal government slashed the Public Sector Development Programme for the current year by more than 45 per cent to Rs250 billion from the budgetary allocation of Rs446 billion because of a severe financial crisis and rising fiscal deficit, halting development activities for public welfare. In December, the federal cabinet announced wide-ranging austerity measures to curtail government expenditure, restricted the entourage of the president and the prime minister to seven vehicles and that of governors and chief ministers to six vehicles. It also announced use of only locally manufactured vehicles and armoured vehicles for official purposes. The approval for the purchase of Mercedes for the governor was given by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Since the expenditure is to be incurred by the provincial government, the chief minister also has approved the costly purchase in violation of his government’s policy decisions. The policy directive issued by the provincial government bans such extravagance, envisages reduction in expenditure and calls for observing austerity and ensuring economical use of public resources. A circular issued on Oct 9 said that any departure if warranted under ‘unavoidable circumstances’ would only be considered and recommended by an austerity committee constituted by chief minister. “The recommendations so formulated are to be submitted to the chief minister for appropriate orders.” The committee was not consulted for the procurement of the Mercedes. Documents suggest that the chief minister initially suggested that the governor’s secretariat should request Mr Taseer to consider whether such an expensive pur chase could be postponed in the present financial situation. However, he later sanctioned the Rs25.4 million price estimate of Shahnawaz Ltd when the governor concluded that the vehicle was critically important for carrying out official business. The governor was of the view that since the Mercedes cars of Governor’s House were also used by VVIPs and foreign dignitaries during visits to Lahore, the new vehicle must be part of the governor’s fleet. He said the purchase could not be postponed for an indefinite period and almost six months had already passed since the initial request. Sources close to the chief minis ter said the new Mercedes was not justified on the basis of VVIP duties and for foreign dignitaries because bullet-proof vehicles were available in Lahore for the president and the prime minister and for foreign dignitaries. A source close to the governor said the car being purchased would replace an old vehicle purchased in 1994 for official use. He said the old car had been declared unfit for VIP use. He said that since the federal cabinet division had conveyed the approval of the prime minister for the purchase or import of the car, there was no need for the provincial government to get its approval from the austerity committee.

In yet another criminal case involving a PML-N figure, the Mozang police have registered a case against MPA Malik Feroze Joya, his brother Munir Joya and a son in a car fraud case. Munir Joya is the RTA secretary.

The police, who have yet to arrest any of the suspects, claim that Joya brothers are not found guilty in the hitherto (police) investigation.

Architect Hassan Jameel Chaudhry of Faisal Town’s HBFC scheme has accused the MPA, his brother and son Umer Feroze Joya of taking away his car worth Rs1.8 million parked at Canal Motors. They got it registered in the name of Umer Feroze in connivance with the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department, he said.

He stated in his application that he had parked his new car he had bought in January 2010 at Canal Motors owned by Rana Qaiser Nazir for sale on Feb 11. He said evidence and discussions with ex-employees of Canal Motors revealed that MPA Feroze of Mianwali, along with another MPA and 30 gunmen, reached the showroom on Feb 12, got the original registration book at gunpoint in the presence of the showroom owner and drove away with the car.

The showroom owner, however, informed Hassan that his car was stolen by unidentified people and “did not reveal the truth”.

Hassan lodged an FIR under section 406 of the PPC with the Faisal Town police against Rana Qaiser and his staff on Feb 21. Qaiser and others have gone missing since Feb 19 for their alleged involvement in fraud cases.

Hassan later came to know on March 28 that according to the excise department’s record his vehicle had been transferred in the name of Umer Feroze. The suspects, he said, used fake signature and thumb impression on transfer letter with forged stamp papers. There was no signature and thumb impression of any witness, he said.

He said this proved that the staff of the Motor Registration Authority also was involved in the process. Hassan challenged the transfer at MRA against which they issued a legal notice to both parties for hearing on April 20. The suspects did not appear before the authority.

The authority deferred the matter for another 22 days by giving another date of May 12 under pressure of the MPA’s brother, said Hassan who finally got registered a case under sections 420, 468 and 471 of the PPC against the three on April 23.

He further said the Mozang investigation police raided the house of Munir Joya who threatened the police team with dire consequences. The police returned without any arrest.

Hassan said Mr Joya had been calling at his cell phone and threatening and abusing him. He has appealed to the chief minister, the IGP and the Lahore High Court chief justice to take notice and provide him justice.

Civil Lines Division SP (Investigation) Shahzad Asif Khan, however, said Joya brothers had been exonerated in the Faisal Town case by the investigation police after they produced genuine transfer documents.

He said their investigation found that the complainant had got registered two similar cases involving Joya brothers, wondering how the two FIRs of a single incident could be lodged and how two punishments could be made in similar cases.

He said Munir Joya was RTA secretary but the registration of cars was the responsibility of the excise department.

The SP said the police could not arrest Joya brothers without evidence, adding that he had called both parties at his office on Wednesday (today) for inquiries. He expressed ignorance about any police raid at the house of Munir Joya.

Rs25m Mercedes Benz being purchased for Taseer

Despite serious financial constraints, a Mercedes Benz car is about to be purchased for Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s ‘fleet of vehicles’ at more than Rs25 million.

Official documents suggest that owing to the financial position of the provincial government, Rs25.4 million would be drawn in advance through a supplementary grant before the close of the current financial year as a special case, by relaxing rules.

The government of Punjab had imposed in October last year “a complete ban on purchase of vehicles, refurbishment, interior deco ration of offices, establishment of new offices, furniture and fixture, procurement of generators, air-conditioners and other luxury items etc”.

A few weeks back, the federal government slashed the Public Sector Development Programme for the current year by more than 45 per cent to Rs250 billion from the budgetary allocation of Rs446 billion because of a severe financial crisis and rising fiscal deficit, halting development activities for public welfare.

In December, the federal cabinet announced wide-ranging austerity measures to curtail government expenditure, restricted the entourage of the president and the prime minister to seven vehicles and that of governors and chief ministers to six vehicles. It also announced use of only locally manufactured vehicles and armoured vehicles for official purposes.

The approval for the purchase of Mercedes for the governor was given by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Since the expenditure is to be incurred by the provincial government, the chief minister also has approved the costly purchase in violation of his government’s policy decisions.

The policy directive issued by the provincial government bans such extravagance, envisages reduction in expenditure and calls for observing austerity and ensuring economical use of public resources.

A circular issued on Oct 9 said that any departure if warranted under ‘unavoidable circumstances’ would only be considered and recommended by an austerity committee constituted by chief minister. “The recommendations so formulated are to be submitted to the chief minister for appropriate orders.” The committee was not consulted for the procurement of the Mercedes.

Documents suggest that the chief minister initially suggested that the governor’s secretariat should request Mr Taseer to consider whether such an expensive pur chase could be postponed in the present financial situation.

However, he later sanctioned the Rs25.4 million price estimate of Shahnawaz Ltd when the governor concluded that the vehicle was critically important for carrying out official business.

The governor was of the view that since the Mercedes cars of Governor’s House were also used by VVIPs and foreign dignitaries during visits to Lahore, the new vehicle must be part of the governor’s fleet.

He said the purchase could not be postponed for an indefinite period and almost six months had already passed since the initial request.

Sources close to the chief minis ter said the new Mercedes was not justified on the basis of VVIP duties and for foreign dignitaries because bullet-proof vehicles were available in Lahore for the president and the prime minister and for foreign dignitaries.

A source close to the governor said the car being purchased would replace an old vehicle purchased in 1994 for official use. He said the old car had been declared unfit for VIP use. He said that since the federal cabinet division had conveyed the approval of the prime minister for the purchase or import of the car, there was no need for the provincial government to get its approval from the austerity committee.

The Rottweiler of Islamofascism is cannibalized by his own ilk

Khalid Khawaj’s bullet-ridden body thrown onto a rubbish mound in Waziristan reminds one of William Shakespeare’s central theme in his tragedies: Evil is self-destructive. Khalid Khawaja was an extremely evil man who was one of the ISi experts who dedicated their lives to undermining democracy and promoting Islamofascism in Pakistan. He cheered the Lal Masjid terrorists when they terrorized the people of Islamabad for not following the Dark Ages ethos of Wahabism.
It was Khalid Khawaja who in 1989 arranged a meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Osama bin Laden to bring down the democratically elected government of Benazir Bhutto. It was Khalid Khawaja who barked up every right and wrong tree to prove that the terrorists of the Lal Masjid were saintly, peace-loving Muslims. It was he who set up a “human rights” group to tell the world that the Taliban were a bevy of Islamic Che Guevaras fighting for justice and international brotherhood against imperialism. He used his financial resources (stolen from the national exchequer just like his fellow ISI Islamist-robbers) and political contacts to hide the unspeakable atrocities the Taliban have been carrying out in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He was a de facto ambassador of the Wahabi Monarchy of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan. His wickedness was boundless and he was able to corrupt an already-anti-People’s Party Supreme Court. The evidence? Here is the evidence: According to PML-N leader Senator Pervez Rashid, “Khalid Khawaja offered us that Nawaz Sharif should file a petition against Zardari [challenging his ability to become Pakistan’s president] and he will manage a Supreme Court verdict against Zardari within 24 hours but we refused to play in the hands of Khawaja.”
But he was relentless. He filed a case in the court of the fellow Islamofascist Chaudhry Iftikhar against the constitutional immunity of the president of Pakistan. He did not live to see the day, but Chaudhry Iftikhar may oblige him posthumously.
Again, he was able to stop the government of Pakistan from extraditing terrorists like Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and five American youths to the United States. He was right: the Islamofascist judges of Pakistan were at his beck and call. One after the other he filed petitions in various courts for the release of terrorists and murderers. He cheered on as Ahmedis, Christians, and Shias were killed by his fellow Talibanic Islamofascists.
But in the end, the evil of which he was a part came full circle. He was killed by the Lashkar-e-Jhangivi terrorists, the group whose mission is either to kill all the Shias of Pakistan or force them to convert to Wahabism. The evil created by the ISI is so stupendously insane and paranoid that it is suspicious of everyone including its own creators.
Khalid Khawaja’s funeral prayer was led by the Imam of the Lal Masjid; Lal Masjid, the infamous bastion of Islamofascism in Islamabad. His friends, followers, and supporters have dispatched to him to paradise where he will sleep with 70 ever-virgin houris till the Doomsday. Meanwhile the evil of which he was a part will continue to doom the minorities in Pakistan.
The words of Khalid Khawajs’s widow—that he is a martyr and she is proud of him—have been echoing with a shattering noise for their emptiness, hypocrisy, and madness. He was not martyred, but cannibalized by his own ilk. Like Shakespeare’s Iago and Edmund, the Satanic Khalid Khawaja will inspire revulsion in anyone who stands for goodness.

The standards the Supreme Court is setting for others, shouldn’t it be applying some of them to itself?

The political landscape is undergoing a shift, with some of the rules of engagement changing. Consequently, it is no longer true to say that the president, the prime minister and the army chief constitute Pakistan’s ruling troika.
President, prime minister and parliament, collectively, now find themselves reduced to the position of one part of this trinity, signifying a diminution in the authority of both government and parliament.
The space thus vacated is being filled increasingly by a robust and hyperactive Supreme Court (SC), now widely seen as the second member of this troika. It is taking up matters, and exercising its suo moto jurisdiction, in an ever-expanding variety of fields, causing unease in the halls of government.
It is a measure of the government’s diffidence, its exceptional lack of self-confidence, that even where it could have stood its ground — as in the matter of Justice Ramday’s extension and the desired elevation of Lahore High Court chief justice Muhammad Sharif to the SC — it backed down at the last minute, embracing discretion over valour. But with the SC in full throttle regarding its suo moto interventions, the government can be forgiven for wondering whether it was right to make such a virtue of surrender.
The army chief is the one constant in this sea of flux, his authority not only undiminished but enhanced: firstly, by the weakness of the federal government; and, secondly, by the army’s operations in Swat and South Waziristan. Small wonder that if the government is diffident, General Headquarters is riding a wave of triumphalism, the demoralisation of the Musharraf years a distant memory. As any student of Pakistani history knows, a growing imbalance between the military and political arms is not a good thing. It is the ground which nurtures Bonapartism.
To either side of this troika is a chorus consisting of the media. Just as a newly-empowered judiciary is still trying to get its paces right, a newly-empowered media is still in the process of finding the right note for itself. On the whole it is doing a splendid job, but elements in it seem little better than evangelists out on a self-proclaimed mission to reform the universe.
The SC sometimes gives the impression of taking its cue from these reformers. Time was when governments would get sleepless nights from real or imagined intrigues emanating from the GHQ. Today the danger to government is less from that quarter than from the holy marriage between media gladiators and judicial activism.
An active judiciary on the side of the people is something we have never had before. Now that we have one, this is something to celebrate. For too long generals and judges have collaborated to undo democracy. We need a new collaboration between democrats and judges to strengthen democracy. Sadly, this is not happening because democracy is failing to settle down, people are angry because of power cuts and food inflation, and many of the steps the higher judiciary is taking are contributing to this state of uncertainty.
The SC is doing everything in good faith. There shouldn’t be any doubts on this score. But, unwittingly for the most part, its hyper-activism, the tendency it has shown to stray into fields which, strictly speaking, lie not in the judicial domain, are serving to distract the attention of the political government.
To be sure, governance is not what it should be. There is too much corruption in its territory, too much incompetence, too large a body of ministers not yoked to a common purpose. It doesn’t help to have a president who has a huge image problem. It doesn’t help to have a prime minister who is as much a product of accident as the president. But the government’s plight is being made worse by the Molotov cocktails, so to speak, coming from the SC’s direction.
The SC has done much good and its activism serves to keep senior officials on their toes. But not all its interventions have had happy endings. The Lahore High Court intervened in the matter of the pricing of sugar and we immediately had a sugar crisis on our hands. The SC looked into the question of petroleum pricing but nothing was settled to the public’s advantage. Clearly, there are things the judiciary just cannot fix.
It is a good thing the SC is insisting on transparency in the LNG issue. Its judgment in the civil servants’ seniority case should serve as a salutary reminder to the government that there can be no such thing as absolute and unchecked prime ministerial discretion when it comes to the promotion of civil servants.
But the question arises that if these are the standards the SC is setting for others, shouldn’t it be applying some of them to itself? If the executive authority is not to exercise blind discretion in the promotion of senior civil servants, should the chief justice of Pakistan have absolute discretion in the selection and appointment of high court and Supreme Court judges? What is then so wrong with the 18th Amendment which spreads responsibility for judicial appointments, virtually eliminating governmental influence and only tempering to some extent the discretion of the chief justice?
It is not a little strange, however, that those in the forefront of the petitions in the SC challenging this particular provision of the 18th Amendment can be questioned about their own conduct in the recent past. Qazi Anwar, the president of the SC Bar Association, and senior lawyer Akram Sheikh, who are among the leading petitioners, felt no qualms about appearing before Chief Justice Dogar. They are now judicial purists of the highest order. But does it never cross their minds that only who have not sinned should cast the first stone?
Is it also not strange that those in the forefront of the lawyers’ movement, whose leadership indeed kept the movement on the right path — Munir Malik, Aitzaz Ahsan, fiery Ali Ahmed Kurd, Tariq Mahmood — are either quiet these days or in private nurse the gravest suspicions about the moves to take parts of the 18th Amendment to the SC?
If Dogar is to be considered the touchstone of judicial evil, there should be some consistency in reckoning the guilt of those who had anything to do with him. As already mentioned, those who attended his court and appeared before it are now the leading defenders of judicial independence. The Nov 3 judges who went along with Dogar are in the wilderness, where they deserve to be. But one or two are not.
All the judges elevated to various high courts by Dogar were dismissed by a stroke of the judicial pen soon after Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s rightful restoration. But at least 10 of the 17 present SC judges took oath under the maligned Dogar. It takes some effort to reconcile oneself to this idea, especially given the SC’s zealousness in so many things these days. So much for consistency and double standards.
In the 18th Amendment parliament has undone the validation conferred on Musharraf’s coup by the 17th Amendment. But parliament has shown grace by giving protection to the judges who swore fealty at the altar of Musharraf’s PCO and then, in the Zafar Ali Shah case, endorsed Musharraf’s coup and even conferred on him the right to amend the Constitution. Included amongst this number was My Lord the Chief Justice. No one’s past is perfect. But the least an imperfect past should be able to do is inculcate a measure of tolerance.
It is not only political and military power which can go to one’s head and lead to that common frailty of humankind: overreaching oneself. It applies to all forms of power, including judicial power, not that this admonition in any way is applicable to the present holders of high judicial office. Far be it from me even to suggest it. But perhaps it is useful to keep this caveat in mind as we go about pursuing the elusive goal of political stability and try to figure out ways to ease the plight of our sorely-tried people.

Democracy versus ‘the establishment’ in Pakistan

At independence, Pakistan inherited an over-developed colonial state structure, a relatively weak political class, and a fragmented society from the British. Rather than sparing efforts for nation-building, the colonial state structure, designed to maintain a hold over ‘subjects’ rather than ‘citizens’, soon asserted its control over the polity and sidelined the political class in national decision-making.
It did not take long for the military, the most organised state institution, in connivance with the bureaucracy and the judiciary to expands its domain of influence and consolidate its role as ‘the’ power broker in the country. Starting from Governor General Malik Ghulam Mohammad, who dismissed the first constituent assembly of Pakistan because the prime minister, Khwaja Nazimuddin, had challenged his action, down to General Musharraf toppling the elected government of Nawaz Sharif, there has been no looking back. The non-elected forces that have exercised power over the national destiny are today known as the ‘establishment’ in our political parlance.
The UN Commission on Inquiry Report on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has defined the term as: “The military high command and the intelligence agencies form the core of the Establishment and are most permanent and influential components.” As controversy on the UN report grows louder for pointing a finger towards the ‘establishment’, albeit indirectly, for its errors of omission in Benazir’s assassination, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani felt it necessary to dispel the impression that there are any differences between the PPP and the establishment on his way to Bhutan to attend the 16th SAARC Summit.
The hostilities between the PPP and the establishment go back a long way, to the time when it implemented, although selectively, its radical socialist programme in the 1970s. Land reforms and the nationalisation policy of the first PPP government directly affected the propertied class, many of whom belonged to the establishment. It is thus not surprising that the entire industrial and feudal class joined the opposition camp and there was not a murmur when General Ziaul Haq mounted his coup against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
After Bhutto’s controversial removal from the scene, the PPP has gone through introspection and drastically discounted its original agenda in adopting market capitalism, but its old adversaries still view it with great suspicion.
Although the establishment — weakened primarily by the ill-advised policies and decisions of the Musharraf regime, the abortive jihadi policy that backfired and, finally, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto — has had to make a tactical retreat and hand over power to the PPP coalition government after holding relatively free and fair elections, the inherent tensions between the two centres of power remain.
Despite its flaws and weaknesses, the list of the PPP coalition government’s achievements is not small: it rid the country of a dictator, elected a civilian president, restored the judiciary (albeit at the eleventh hour, after public pressure mounted), created consensus on the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award that had been hanging fire throughout Musharraf’s years in power, created political consensus in support of the war on terror, and passed the historic 18th (Constitutional) Amendment.
The unity of political forces has made it very difficult, if not impossible, for the entrenched forces to defy the political government’s stretching of the limits of the traditional power configuration, given that the military is currently occupied with a full blown war against an elusive enemy. The tide of consensus, created through a policy of reconciliation remarkably carried forward by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani against all odds, has been too strong to resist.
These accomplishments have augmented the image and stature of the political class tremendously. But it does not mean that the apparently weakened establishment will sit back quietly. If history is a guide, it will strike back as soon as an opportunity arises. The political class will have to retain the unity it has shown on major issues over the last two years if we are to block such a reversion to a sorry past.

ایک سو چھ جمع ایک بے ایمان

ہوا یوں کہ چند کور کمانڈروں نے فیصلہ دیا کہ ہوا میں موجود ایک جنرل کو ملک کا چیف ایگزیکٹو بن جانا چاہئیے . ملک کی سب سے بڑی عدالت نے فیصلہ دیا کہ اس جنرل کو آئین میں ترمیم کا حق ہے . اس جنرل نے ملک میں بہت سی چیزیں تبدیل کیں . سپریم کورٹ نے اس کو کچھ نہیں کہا .

اب ایک دن اس جنرل کو پتہ چلا کہ بی اے کے سلیبس میں ایک ایسی چیز موجود ہے جو ایک بے وقوف کو عقل مند بنا دیتی ہے . اس نے الیکشن لڑ نے کے لیے بی اے کی ڈگری کو لازمی قرار دے دیا. سپریم کورٹ نے اس پر کوئی اعتراض نہیں کیا .
اتفاق سےبہت سے سیاست دانوں نے جو اپنے علاقے کے لوگوں میں قابل قبول تھے کبھی نہیں سوچا تھا کہ ڈگری ان کے کام میں حائل ہو سکتی ہے جیسے محترمہ عا بدہ حسین جو امریکہ جیسے ملک میں سفیر رہ چکی ہیں جیسے نوابزادہ نصراللہ خان جن کی زمینیں سیاست میں آنے کے بعد کم ہوئی تھیں
اب کچھ لوگوں نے تو بی اے کا امتحان دیا اور اخباروں میں مذاق کا نشانہ بننے ، کچھ نے اپنے بیٹوں ، بیٹیوں اور بہوؤں کو امیدوار بنایا .
کچھ نے سوچا کہ ویسی ہے ایمانی کی جا ۓ جیسی جنرل نے کی تھی کہ ملک پر قبضہ کر لیا ، ویسی ہی بے ایمانی کی جا ۓ جیسی سپریم کورٹ نے کی تھی کہ ایک جنرل کو آئین میں ترمیم کا حق دے دیا. ان لوگوں نے مدرسوں سے ڈگریاں لے لیں
بے ایمان جنرل کا گیارہ نومبر والا اقدام ابھی تک قانونی ہے
بے ایمان جنرل کو آئین میں ترمیم کا حق دینے والے جج سپریم کورٹ میں بیٹھے ہیں
لیکن مدرسے کی ڈگری لینے والا بے ایمان ہے

شاہد مسعود ، ہاں اسمبلیوں میں ایک سو چھ بے ایمان لوگ ہیں جن کی ڈگریوں پر اعتراض ہے، سپریم کورٹ میں ایک بے ایمان ہے جس کے فیصلے پر اعتراض ہے ، کیا یہ ہو سکتا ہے کہ ایک سو چھ بے ایمانوں کو اسمبلیوں اور ایک بے ایمان کو عدالت سے نکال دیا جا ۓ

Resignations on fake degrees: May 15 by-poll to cost exchequer Rs12m

The by-election to each National Assembly seat, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan, costs the exchequer Rs4 million and that of provincial Rs2million. The ECP will be spending Rs12 million on May 15 when he by-poll to two NA and as many PA seats is held.

The by-poll to these seats -– NA-167 (Vehari), NA-178 (Muzaffargarh), PP-259 (Muzaffargarh) and PP-63 (Faisalabad)—is being held on identical reason, that is, the fake degrees possessed by 2008 general election winners. But to the utter surprise of the general public the two major parties, PPP and PML-N, have adopted these ‘cheats’ and fielded them again.

The PPP fielded Jamshed Dasti from NA-178, Nazir Jatt from NA-167, Allah Wasaya alias Chunnu Leghari from PP-259 while PML-N picked Mian Asif Ajmal for PP-63.

“Though there is no provision in the ECP rules to bar a candidate from re-contesting in case he or she has to vacate the seat for possessing fake graduation degree, a rival candidate can challenge the qualification of such a candidate before a returning officer,” an ECP official told Dawn.

The PPP is of the view that there is no question of ‘moral grounds’ in awarding a ticket to such candidates as degrees have nothing to do with politics while the PML-N claims that it will not have awarded a ticket to its party candidate if such a situation has arisen.

“We have awarded a ticket to Mian Asif Ajmal as we have a commitment with the unification group MPAs that they will contest next elections on PML-N platform. So we are honouring our commitment,” PML-N Senator Pervez Rashid responded to a question by Dawn.
And at the same time he has the view that

“the PML-N will not re-award a ticket to any such candidate of its party keeping in view the moral grounds,” the PML-N senator said. 
 
“I think the people of his (Ajmal)’s constituency will reject him if they think that he had done something wrong by becoming an MPA on the basis of a fake BA degree,” Rashid said and added that going through re-election was also a form of punishment.

PPP central information secretary Fauzia Wahab was however very critical over ‘select’ accountability of her party men. “The degrees of some 50 per cent MNAs have been challenged in the courts since long but the cases of a few of them are being taken up, why?

“I think there should not be any bar of degrees on politicians. Politics is not something that is learnt through obtaining degrees,” she said.

Justice Tariq Mahmood (retired) said the democratic system should be allowed to run smoothly and such issues would be settled automatically.

PML-N slammed for by-polls ‘rigging’

The Punjab PPP has lambasted the PML-N leadership for using negative tactics to rig the upcoming by-polls in various constituencies of the province.

Flanked by senior PPP provincial leader Usman Salim Malik, Punjab PPP general secretary Sami Ullah Khan, in a press conference on Tuesday, came hard on the PML-N for its ‘moral bankruptcy’ which had become obvious due to its maneuvering in the by-polls.

He said the PML-N had awarded party ticket to Mian Ajmal Asif from PP-63 against PPP Punjab president Rana Aftab Ahmed despite the fact that Ajmal had to resign for possessing a fake graduation degree.

He said Ajmal Asif was a ticket-holder of the PML-Q in the February 2008 polls but now, despite all its tall claims of principled politics and hatred against Musharraf, the PML-N had fielded the same man as its candidate.

Sami Ullah Khan also expressed dismay over the statement of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan for terming PP-63 a battle between Mian Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. He appealed to the judiciary to declare Asif Ajmal disqualified for possessing fake degree as it had done in case of two PPP candidates on similar allegations.

PP-63 by-election

On April 10, 2010, Mian Abdul Qayum, a labour leader in Faisalabad, submitted his nomination papers as candidate for the Punjab Assembly constituency 63 by-election on May 15. The other candidates are from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and the National Muslim League. We need your support to contest this by-election.
The seat was declared vacant when Mian Asif Ajmal resigned after, during a Supreme Court hearing, it became clear he has submitted bogus degrees to the election commission in 2008 to prove that he is a graduate. Asif Ajmal is an industrialist and owner of a textile factory. He was arrested by police in 2008 after he and his goons fired on workers of his textile factory when they were demanding wage increases and union rights. One worker was killed and more than a dozen seriously injured. He spent nearly one and half months in jail at but was released using his political influence among police and courts. He was elected in the February 2008 election, nominated by the Pakistan Muslim league Q, he later joined PMLN. Mian Nawaz Sharif has nominated Asif Ajaml to contest this seat on the ticket of the PMLN, a party that claims to defend democratic traditions and the fight for an independent judiciary.

The Pakistan Peoples Party's Punjab president, Rana Aftab, is once again contesting the election after he was defeated in 2008 general election. He has been member of Punjab Assembly two times earlier. He is a rich farmer and an advocate by profession and die-hard PPP activist.
Amjad Warraich, a former member of parliament and leader of a new Muslim League under his leadership, has also announced that he will contest this seat. His wife is member of national assembly and his brother is in Punjab Assembly. There is no end of gluttony within this family.

600 sugar bags seized from Assembly member relative’s godwon

Friday, 11 September 2009 Gujranwala police have recovered 600 bags of sugar during a raid at a covert godwon of brother-in-law of PML-N member provincial assembly Sheikh Mumtaz.
According to cantt police station, in Raholi area, the sugar bags were loading at a truck to shift to other district last night. When police reached the scene and inquired about the matter, godwon owner Sheikh Irshad fled from the scene whereas police arrested his servant and people loading sugar bags.
The godwon has been sealed and police contingents have been deployed. Action will be taken against Sheikh Irshad under charges of hoarding. On the other hand, PML-N MPA disassociated himself from Sheikh Irshad and refused to talk.

Nawaz Sharif and Osama Bin Laden

In this era where bizarre conspiracies are emerging day by day, we sight one more new but old story getting leaked out by a former ISI official and now chairman Defense of Human Rights organization Mr. Khalid Khwaja. The characters of this real story are not other than the Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Nawaz Sharif and the biggest villain of the state Osama Bin Laden.
In a statement from the capital of the Islami Jhamoria Pakistan, an Ex. ISI officer Khalid Khwaja says that Ex. Premier Nawaz Sharif had met al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for receiving funds of five hundred million rupees (PKR 500,000,000, then equiv $ 10,000,000) from him. It is also been heard that in late 1980’s Osama Bin Laden played a vital role of introducing Nawaz Sharif with the royal family of Saudi Arabia – to which Osama Bin Laden had closed connections – showing Osama’s growing interest in Nawaz Sharif’s political life.
Speaking in ARY news programme “Eleventh Hour”, the former ISI official and now chairman Defense of Human Rights organization Khalid Khwaja claimed he had arranged meetings between bin Laden and Nawaz Sharif on bin Laden’s request and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief had held five meetings with the al-Qaida chief so far.
(The Times of India source: Nawaz Sharif met Osama five times: Ex-ISI official)
Nawaz Sharif showed corruption at its peak; by reading aforementioned statement one common man could easily understand the evil plots built by the evil political parties like PML-N for destabilizing Pakistan and for strengthening their own empires.
Further it depicts that Pakistan doesn’t only take funds from USA, UK, Japan, and China etc, but few representing state also begs in front of the terrorists like Osama Bin Laden.
This is not the first time that Khwaja Khalid has unfolded the mystery, but this has been done before in 2005-06 too. In an article of Express India it is reported that “Pakistan’s Daily Times said Khawaja arranged the meeting and, Nawaz actually met Osama on three separate occasions – what the other topics discussed were (other than money), has not been divulged.” (Indian Express source: I love jihad: Nawaz Sharif to Osama)
On the other hand, party representatives and admirers of Nawaz Sharif – Ahsan Iqbal and Siddique al-Farooq both termed these allegations as baseless and meaningless.
Khwaja, but confidently challenged all the deniers of these meetings held between Nawaz Sharif and Osama Bin Laden and further said, if they have any solid proof of disagreement with my statement, then those disbelievers should public their evidence.
It seems like politics in Pakistan is getting worst day by day for PML-N and their representatives. As dozens of allegations are pointing arrows at their faces.
What will be the future of Pakistani Politics? Everyday unfolds a new mystery and everyone is in dilemma, thinking of a better tomorrow.

Operation Midnight Jackal

Operation Midnight Jackal was a political scandal in Pakistan in which members of the ISI (a military intelligence agency) attempted to overthrow the government of Benazir Bhutto. Former ISI operative Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmed Billa is regarded as the mastermind of the plot. The operation was exposed when Intelligence Bureau IB taped a conversation between two army officers of ISI regarding toppeling down the government of Benazir Bhutto. In the conversation one Officer Major Aamir (retired from Military after exposition of operation) reviled that General Mirza Aslam Baig ( COAS Pakistan Army) of that time wanted to end government due to some issues.

Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Brigadier (r) Imtiaz said Operation Midnight Jackal was launched to topple Benazir Bhutto’s government, Dunya TV reported on Thursday.

Talking to the channel, he said the operation was not a big issue, but the politicians had politicised it.

He revealed that General (r) Aslam Beg, the army chief at the time, wanted to bring a change in the National Assembly through a no-confidence motion with the help of Operation Midnight Jackal, as General Beg believed that Benazir Bhutto’s policies were contrary to those of the army. He said General Beg did not agree to Benazir’s Afghan policy. The former IB chief said after Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as prime minister, General Beg and then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan had discussed at length the possibility of replacing her, adding that the operation was also launched for that reason.

Brigadier (r) Imtiaz said his major mistake was his failure to refuse to obey General Beg’s orders. During a subsequent inquiry, General (r) Hameed Gul advised him not to speak against the army chief as that could raise questions about the army, he maintained. Brigadier (r) Imtiaz told the channel that he was retired on the directions of General (r) Naseerullah Babar.

General (r) Asif Nawaz Janjua had suspected Imtiaz of tapping the former’s phone calls, the ex-IB chief said. Imtiaz said stayed quiet throughout his service since he did not want his institution defamed. He said president Ghulam Ishaq had offered him to join his “gang” and offered him privileges, as a cold war for power was raging between Nawaz Sharif and the then president. He said he had been meeting both the leaders and tried bring them together.

The former IB chief said he was also blamed for convincing General (r) Akhtar Abdul Rehman to join then president Ziaul Haq on the flight to Bahawalpur at the eleventh hour, whereas the names of those going to Bahawalpur had already been finalised in the General Headquarters.

NAB recovers Rs1.6bn in Mehran Bank case

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered Rs1.6 billion in the famous Mehran Bank scandal case by selling Benami property of defunct bank’s chief Younus Habib in Islamabad, a spokesman for the NAB said on Wednesday.

The amount is stated to be the country’s biggest-ever single cash recovery in a wilful loan default case. In addition, the Younus Habib Group will also pay Rs420 million.

According to the NAB, Younus Habib, former chief operating officer of the defunct bank, had offered to settle his liability through the sale of his Benami property and accordingly entered into a settlement agreement of Rs1.6 billion with the National Bank of Pakistan.

The Benami property, a plot in Blue Area of Islamabad, was later sold to the National Logistic Cell (NLC) for Rs2.2 billion.

The recovery would resolve a major loan default of the Mehran Bank which was merged into the NBP because of the latter’s liquidity/solvency issues.

A ceremony was held at the NAB Headquarters where NAB acting chairman Maj-Gen Mohammad Siddique handed over sale proceeds of the property to NBP chairman Syed Ali Raza. NLC director-general Maj-Gen Khalid Zahir Akhtar and other senior officials were also present.

The arrest of Younus Habib in April 1994 lifted the curtain from one of the country’s biggest financial scandals in which Mr Habib had allegedly siphoned off a staggering Rs5 billion and doled out millions of rupees to politicians in order to cover up his crime.

He was arrested on a complaint by the State Bank of Pakistan for committing misappropriation in the sale proceeds of Dollar Bearer Certificates (DBCs) to the tune of $36.7 million.

On April 20, 1994, giving details about the payments made by Mr Habib to generals, politicians and political parties, the then Interior Minister, Nasirullah Babar, told the National Assembly that the main beneficiary of his largesse was former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg who received Rs140 million.

Others who were named by the interior minister included Jam Sadiq Ali (Rs70 million from Habib Bank and Rs150 million from Mehran Bank), MQM chief Altaf Hussein (Rs20 million); Yousuf Memon for Ejaz-ul-Haq and Javed Hashmi (Rs50 million); Nawaz Sharif (Rs6 million); former Sindh chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Shah through his secretary (Rs13 million), MQM Haqiqi (Rs5 million), former Sports Minister Ajmal Khan (Rs1.4 million), Jam Mashooq Ali (Rs3.5 million), Liaquat Jatoi (Rs1 million), Dost Mohammad Faizi (Rs1 million), and Jam Haider (Rs 2 million).

The Mehran Bank had been doing badly since its very inception in January 1992, and banking experts attributed this poor performance to Younus Habib's penchant for `extra-curricular banking activities’. In fact, the only reason why the bank had managed to stay afloat was the protection and patronage enjoyed by Mr Habib whereby hefty government accounts were brought to Mehran Bank.

Mr Habib had admitted that out of $36.7 million generated through the sale of DBCs, a federal government paper that the State Bank sold through commercial banks, he used $20 million to pay back a portion of the amount owed to the ISI and used the rest to meet some other pressing obligations.

According to the SBP rules, proceeds from the DBCs (Mehran Bank was given $40 million worth) had to be deposited within 72 hours of the sale. However, Mr Habib did not meet this deadline -- in fact, never deposited the money at all.

On Dec 14, 1995, Younus Habib was awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment and was fined Rs36.7 million in a fraud case by the Special Court for Offences in Banks in Sindh.

Mehran Bank scandal

Mehran bank scandal also known as Mehrangate was a major political scandal in Pakistan between 1990-1994 in which senior politicians and political parties were found to have been bribed by military and intelligence officers to prevent the re-election and destablise the government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Initiated by Chief of Army Staff Mirza Aslam Beg with the alleged support of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan payments of up to 140 million Rupees were done by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Asad Durrani and Javed Nasir via the owner of Mehran Bank Yunus Habib. Intelligence funds were deposited in Mehran bank in 1992 propping up what was an insolvent bank as a favour for its owners help in loaning money to the Inter-Services Intelligence in 1990 that was used in the creation of the right wing alliance Islami Jamhoori-Ittehad and bankrolling the campaigns of many opponents of the PPP.
The scandal subsequently broke after the new ISI Chief Lt. Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi decided to transfer the intelligence fund back to state owned banks as per official rules. Mehran Bank was unable to return the money due to its poor financial state and collapsed. It was later discovered that large sums had been siphoned of to 39 fictitious parties.
In 1995, Mehran Bank was amalgamated with the National Bank of Pakistan and in 1996 the NBP had to make full provision for Mehran's liabilities which resulted in a net loss that year to the bank of Rs 1.260 billion.

On April 20, 1994, giving details about the payments made by Mr Habib to generals, politicians and political parties, the then Interior Minister, Naseerullah Babar, told the National Assembly that the main beneficiary of his largesse was former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg who received Rs140 million.
Key politicians named as recipients of ISI funds included Jam Sadiq Ali (Rs70 million from Habib Bank and Rs150 million from Mehran Bank), Journalist Altaf Hussein Qureshi (Rs.20 million); Yousuf Memon for Ijaz-ul Haq and Javed Hashmi (Rs.50 million); Nawaz Sharif (Rs6 million); former Sindh chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Shah through his secretary (Rs13 million), MQM Haqiqi (Rs5 million), former Sports Minister Ajmal Khan (Rs1.4 million), Jam Mashooq Ali (Rs3.5 million), Liaqat Jatoi (Rs1 million), Dost Mohammad Faizi (Rs1 million), and Jam Haider (Rs 2 million).
Yunus Habib was arrested on April 7, 1994 for misappropriation in the sale proceeds of the Dollar Bearer Certificates. On Dec 14, 1995, Younus Habib was convicted of fraud and embezzlement and given a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment by the Special Court for Offences in Banks in Sindh.

Pakistani Abu Ghraib Scandal

Original Statement from AHRC
PAKISTAN: Young women held in military torture cells and forced into sexual slavery
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-012-2009
January 12, 2009
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: Young women held in military torture cells and forced into sexual slavery
Ms. Zarina Marri, a 23-year-old schoolteacher from Balochistan province, was arrested in late 2005, and has been held incommunicado in an army torture cell at Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. She has been repeatedly raped by the military officers and is being used as a sex slave, to induce arrested nationalist activists to sign state-concocted confessions.
One man, who was arrested by a state agency and kept in military torture cell almost for nine months, narrated the story of this young woman to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF); nowpublic.com; the International Red Cross; and at Woolwich Court in London. The current whereabouts of the young woman are not known. It has been asserted that women who are fighting for the greater autonomy of Balochistan are being arrested by the state agencies and being forced into sex slavery in their custody.
Mr. Munir Mengal, the managing director of a Balochi-language television channel, was arrested on April 4, 2006 from Karachi International airport by the state intelligence agencies and transferred to a military torture cell in Karachi for nine months (http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2006/1666/). He narrated the story of the forced sex slavery of the young teacher Zarina Marri whom he encountered in a military cell. According to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Mr. Munir Mengal witnessed many human rights violations in this military prison. Mengal says that, “a young Balochi woman, Ms. Zarina Marri, was used as a sexual slave by the officers. They even once threw her naked into my cell. I did not know what had happened to this mother of a family who was arrested by the army in our province.”
Another Balochi nationalist (name omitted by request), who was arrested by the military intelligence agency twice and kept in military cells in different cities, has confirmed to the AHRC that there were young Balochi females seen at those two torture cells, naked and in distress. The prominent Balochi nationalist leaders say that they know fact that young Balochi women are being arrested, either during or after protest demonstrations on the disappearances and are missing. They also know about the women are sexually abused in the military custody but they cannot say so publically because of their sanctity and harassment of their families.
Mr. Munir Mengal was also tortured and his penis was severely injured when he refused to have sex with Zarina Marri. He told RSF, “on 27th January, 2007 at 6 pm Major Iqrar Gul Niazi (Military Intelligence) called me in his office and showed me some nude pictures, and laughingly told me that you have been a director of a TV channel so certainly you have good relations with actresses.”
When he returned to his cell he found porn pictures strewn all over it. Around 12 pm a low-ranking military officer called Subedar brought a female there. She was trembling and weeping. “He threw her on my body and told me, ‘You know what to do with her. You are not a child we have to tell what to do with her.’” Mr. Mengal says after half an hour the officer returned, and seeing them sitting apart, abused them and forcibly took off their clothes. Mengal said he was stunned when the woman began praying in the Balochi language. She told Mengal her name was Zarina Marri and that she belongs to the Kohlu area, headquarters of the rebel Marri tribe, a scene of a bloody insurgency that begun in 2005. She said she was a schoolteacher and that the army personnel had abducted her along with her one-year-old.
“They accuse us for spying for the Baluchistan Liberation Army,” Zarina Marri said. She begged Mengal to kill her. “I have been undressed several times for them.”
Mengal said on the refusal to have sex, the intelligence officials inflicted cuts on his private parts. “I thought I would lose my manhood,” he said. Ms. Zarina told to Mengal that she has seen some females in the torture cell but was not allowed to talk with them.
At the time of this incident Colonel Raza of the Pakistani Army was in charge of that cell. After a few days he was transferred to Rawalpindi, Punjab province and Colonel Abdul Malik Kashmiri came as head of the military torture cell.
Mr. Munir Mengal was released from the military torture cell on 4th August 2007 and was held in a civilian jail on August 5th. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives met him in Khuzadar jail, where he provided them with a detailed briefing which they wrote down. The next day their doctor also checked the injured portion of his penis. Mr. Andrew Barterlays, the officer of ICRC who visited Mr. Mengal several times in jail, told Mr. Mengal that until he was out of custody the ICRC could not take up the issue of Zarina Marri, because both their lives would be threatened.
The Asian Human Rights Commission has already reported that 52 torture cells are run by the Pakistan army, please see following link (http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1574/), Karachi was stated to have three military torture cells. The testimony by Mr. Munir Mengal has revealed the most heinous methods of army torture, using young women as sex slaves to induce political opponents to sign the government-concocted confessions of terrorist and anti-state activity.
The AHRC severely condemns the use of women as sex slaves by the Pakistan army and for keeping these women incommunicado. Pakistan is the signatory to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) but women are being used as sex slaves in a gross violation of the Convention by army officers.
The AHRC urges the government of Pakistan to immediately hold a judicial investigation into the women detainees being used as sex slaves by the army officers in their detention centers, and to arrest all the army officers posted in the torture cells; both in Karachi and in the rest of Pakistan. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes must be brought before the law. The government should ascertain the whereabouts of the women arrested from Balochistan province who have disappeared after their arrest, including Zarina Marri. It is the duty of the government to search for the missing persons taken by State intelligence agencies, who have held them in torture cells for many years.
Pakistan proudly calls itself the Islamic Democratic State but its rulers appear to lack the courage to bring its own military into check. It is a military that engages in torture and some of the most heinous methods of breaking the spirit of those that it considers the enemy, it is a military that pays no heed to the norms of civilised behaviour and is one that, if not brought to book will convert Pakistan into a barbaric state.

Real Face of Pakistan's religious Minister

This is Real Face of Pakistan's religious Minister  Shagufta Jamani. She is Minister of Religious Affairs but shaking hand and hugs a Man.

PML(N) one more scandal

Scandal of Moonis Elahi

We all know how angelic the character of Moonis Elahi is, who was dreaming about becoming the chief minister of Punjab like his dad was hoping to become the next prime minister of Pakistan with Musharraf as president as he vowed to elect Musharraf five times in uniform.
Now Rana Sanaullah of PML-N has exposed a scandal of Moonis Elahi in which he alongside with one Mian Imtiaz Ahmad and one Brig. Mukhtar has forcefully bought a very precious agriculture form from the poor people near Rahim Yar Khan. The irony is that the elected person from that area is PPP’s Chaudhry Javed Wariach who promised with the poor people that he would get them their land back, but now according to the people of that area, he has also become a part of this booty. They say that the PPP leader has taken millions of dollars from the encroachers and also shares in a hotel in gulf.
Obviously, the Moonis Elahi has denied these charges and some female members of PML-Qaaf made Punjab Assembly a hell.
Punjab government should establish a judiciary inquiry commission on this issue.

(PML-N) member of Punjab Assembly Amir Hayat Khan Rokhri arrested in a scandal

The city police have arrested Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N)’s member of Punjab Assembly Amir Hayat Khan Rokhri on drinking charges here on Tuesday. 
The MPA, being drunk, was held by intelligence agency officials at a police check post and later was handed over to police.

He was traveling on his black BMW bearing number LW-645.
Rokhri was elected member of Punjab Assembly from Mianwali. He was twice elected as member of National Assembly in the past.

He is currently a member of Pakistan Cricket Board besides president of Lahore City Cricket Association and General Secretary of Badminton Federation.