Pakistan upset at being left out of US-Taliban talks

WASHINGTON:  Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani said that Pakistan is not part of the negotiations between Washington and the Taliban and is upset about it.

“We have told America that we are not happy with this,” said Haqqani in an exclusive interview with Express 24/7.
The Obama administration has recently confirmed that it had established contacts with the Afghan Taliban though it insisted the negotiations were at a preliminary stage. It is widely believed that the US has deliberately kept Pakistan at bay about its efforts to seek a peace deal with the Taliban ahead of the phased withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Earlier, a statement issued by the foreign ministry after talks between State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and US deputy special representative Frank Ruggiero, in cloaked diplomatic language complained that “the minister underscored the importance of clarity and strategic coherence as well as transparency to facilitate the Afghan people and the Afghan government in the process for peace and reconciliation.”
Haqqani’s statement is also the first official recognition of Pakistan’s displeasure at being excluded from the endgame in Afghanistan.
“If America believes that Pakistan’s participation is required for success in Afghanistan, they will have to get Pakistan on board in their negotiations with the Taliban,” said Haqqani.
Visas for CIA operatives
Haqqani dismissed reports that the Pakistan Embassy in the US had issued 67 visas to CIA operatives. A local newspaper last week quoted embassy officials in Washington as saying that the Pakistan embassy has issued visas to CIA officials for deployment in Pakistan.
“The news reports are rubbish, false … the media should be more responsible,” said Haqqani while dismissing the report.
Haqqani also said that Pakistan has lodged a protest with the Americans on militants crossing over from Afghanistan into Pakistan and launching attacks.
“The Americans should wipe out Taliban sanctuaries in Kunar and Nuristan,” he said.
The interview will be aired today on Express News.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai

ISLAMABAD:  The military command has yet to decide whether the recently arrested army officers should be tried by a court martial or be dismissed from the army, said Brig (retd ) Shaukat Qadir, who is familiar with the procedure.

Last week, the army had detained Brigadier Ali Khan, an officer who had been serving at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, for his alleged ties to extremist organisations. A day later, four army majors were arrested for their alleged links with the banned organisation Hizbut Tahrir.
The adjutant general of the Pakistan Army will decide the issue after receiving the findings of the board of inquiry (constituted by him) to investigate the allegations against the arrested officers.
The board of inquiry will give the full right of defence to the five officers detained for having links with the United Kingdom-based outfit Hizbut Tahrir and also for breaching army discipline.
Another source revealed that the activists of the organisation will also be put on trial before a general court martial, along with the army officers in case the adjutant general decides to constitute the court and try the accused.
According to a Supreme Court ruling, a civilian can be tried by the military tribunal if the person is implicated in an offence against the Pakistan Army, said lawyer Qazi Mohammad Anwar.
It is learnt that security agencies have arrested some activists of HT for giving “instigating” material to army officers to make them work against their high command and the civilian government.
An army officer charged by military court for breaching discipline is liable to be imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years.
The sentence of life imprisonment or death, under the military laws, can be given if the accused is found guilty of mutiny or intending mutiny, he said.
However, Qadir said the inquiry board has yet to determine the nature of the offence allegedly committed by the arrested army officers. “The army has a very transparent judicial system that provides full rights of defence to the accused, he said adding that “under the system, the prosecution will have to establish its case with undeniable evidence.”
He may recommend to the chief of army staff for the dismissal of the officers in case the board of inquiry does not find sufficient evidence against them that warrants a court martial.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

Pakistan firing rockets into Afghanistan: Karzai

KABUL:  Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused Pakistan of firing 470 rockets into the country’s two eastern provinces over the past three weeks, which Afghan officials said killed 36 people, including 12 children, an Associated Press report said.

The attacks came in Kunar and Nangrahar provinces where Nato forces have withdrawn and where “Pakistani Taliban” moved in behind fleeing civilians, AP quoted Afghan border officials as saying.
Karzai said he discussed the rocket barrage with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zadari during an anti-terrorism conference in Tehran on Saturday, the same day the Afghan defence ministry spokesman warned that Afghanistan would “defend itself”.
Afghan security officials said joint Nato and Afghan border units have fired back into Pakistan, but Nato and Pakistan military officials denied any knowledge of border skirmishes.
“The government of Pakistan should understand that there will be a reaction for killing Afghan citizens,” the report quoted Afghan government spokesperson Mohammad Zahir Azimi as saying.
The Afghan president said he also had discussed the border attack with US Army Gen David H Petraeus, the Nato commander in Afghanistan, and US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry during his regular national security council meeting on Sunday.
Azimi said the Afghan defence ministry “asks the president of Pakistan to stop the artillery firing and compensate the losses caused.”
Afghan border police spokesman Edris Mohmand, who reported 36 Afghans killed by the rockets, including 12 children, said 2,000 families have fled districts threatened by the barrage, including Asmar and Nangalam in Kunar, and Goshta districts in Nangrahar.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

Election battles: Allegations of rigging spark violent protests

MUZAFFARABAD/LAHORE:  Allegations of rigging descended into violence in many parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, with political activists clashing with each other and with officials supervising the election, forcing the AJK Election Commission to suspend the results for LA-17 (Poonch-Sudhnoti I) and postponing the election in LA-37 (Lahore).

Throughout the day on Sunday, reports continued to surface of severe violations of electoral law, both within the territory and in Punjab, which was the only province whose Kashmiri diaspora was voting for the AJK Legislative Assembly election. Kashmiris in Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan will vote at an as yet unspecified date after elections for their seats were postponed due to a poor law and order situation.
In LA-17, political activists set election officials’ offices on fire, which burnt the records of the returns that had been filed, forcing the AJK Election Commission to suspend the results from that constituency. It was not immediately clear which candidate had been in the lead in that constituency and which party’s activists were responsible for the violence.
Meanwhile, activists from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) clashed with those from Punjab’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) resulting in several instances of violence in Lahore that left several people injured and caused the AJK Election Commission to postpone the election for the Kashmiri diaspora in Lahore and Sheikhupura districts (LA-37).
In the Azad Jammu and Kashmir itself, electoral anomalies were both blatant and subtle. In some constituencies, especially those that have refugee camps, the identification requirements seem to have been considerably relaxed. Several children, very obviously below the voting age of 18, were seen voting at several polling booths with election officials not taking any action against them.
There was also considerable confusion about the requirements for identification documents. Some officials were under the impression that voters were required to live in the jurisdiction of the polling booth they were trying to vote in, turning away several voters because their addresses on their computerised national identity cards did not fall in the constituency they were voting in. The AJK Election Commission had initially instituted this requirement on Saturday but then withdrew it within hours after coming under severe pressure.
Election officials appeared to be quite tardy in several locations, arriving up to two and half hours late in places like Madina Market in Muzaffarabad. Very often, female voters were being served by male election officials.
In LA-27 Muzaffarabad, the constituency comprising the suburbs of the region’s capital city, elderly ladies were taken to the room for male voters where polling agents were stamping their ballots on their behalf. These women had no idea about who their votes were being cast for.
Meanwhile in Punjab, the police have registered nine cases against workers from the PPP after they began protesting against what they described as blatant rigging by activists belonging to the PML-N. Ghulam Abbas Mir, a PML-N candidate, however, claimed that only one of the cases was against the PPP’s workers, and that involved vote rigging.
The violence caused the election commission to postpone the election in the constituency. PML-N MNA Khawaja Saad Rafique, however, claimed that the election was postponed after it emerged that the PPP’s candidate would lose the seat. PPP MPA Raja Riaz, however, said that the PML-N could not win the AJK Legislative Assembly seats in Punjab without the help of the police, implying that the province’s ruling party was involved in rigging the vote.
Sources told The Express Tribune, however, that the PML-N had formulated committees in every constituency where the Kashmiri diaspora was voting in a bid to influence election officials to allow manipulation of the voting and election results to suit the PML-N. Allegations of bribery were also levelled against several officers manning the polling booths.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

Volte-face of Fazl, Shujaat on Abbottabad incursion

ISLAMABAD:  Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Maulana Fazlur Rehman may throw a wrench in the proceedings of a judicial commission which is set to probe this week into the unilateral US raid in Abbottabad in which al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed, eight weeks after the incident.

Both parties had endorsed the decision to set up the commission when the idea was mooted during the May 14 joint sitting of parliament.
Political observers believe both leaders’ assertions terming the Abbottabad commission an unnecessary exercise may create a controversy.
Analysts believe that their opposition will cast doubts over the composition, status and power of the commission. It will breach the nation’s trust regarding the transparency of the probe of this incident, they said.
PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, whose party recently joined the federal cabinet, gave a statement in response to PML-N’s lawmakers’ harsh speeches against Pakistan Army.
“Accountability should not become a witch-hunt to defame a national institution like the military establishment,” Chaudhry Shujaat said on Saturday, adding: “The constitution of such a commission is unnecessary.” Similarly, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman had a couple of weeks ago opposed its constitution, fearing that if army is implicated in the incident, it “will directly affect our state’s stability”.
Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of PML-N has already written a letter to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, saying he was not consulted over the nomination commission members.
He also said that the commission’s terms of reference were also not acceptable to the PML-N as it “believes that the commission will be powerless”. The party also said that no timeframe has been fixed for the presentation of commission’s recommendations.
According to a joint resolution passed by parliament on May 14, the prime minister was required to consult the chief justice and the leader of the opposition on the formation of the commission.
“Too much delay in the formation of commission to investigate the incident triggered controversy and jolted masses’ trust in the commission’s composition, power and credibility,” observed a senior lawyer, SM Zafar. The legal status of the commission “is all right”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has welcomed the formation of the commission and called for a quick and transparent inquiry into the incident.
“I am surprised by the U-turn of the JUI-F and the PML-Q on the issue,” he said.
Officials told The Express Tribune that one commission member, former ambassador Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, who is abroad but is expected
to reach Islamabad on Monday (today).
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

Govt has stabbed MQM in the back: Altaf

 

KARACHI:  Asking for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections to be declared null and void, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief (MQM) Altaf Hussain said that fresh elections should be held to counter the “autocratic steps” of the government.

While addressing a workers convention across the country a day after elections on seats reserved for Kashmiris in Karachi were postponed, Hussain said: “Despite the fact that the MQM has supported the government in difficult times, it has stabbed us in the back,” he alleged, adding that “June 26 should be observed as a day to mark the dictatorial actions of the present government.”
The MQM nominated President Asif Ali Zardari for the office of the president at a time when no one from his own party was ready to suggest his name and gave unconditional support to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, he said.
Hussain claimed that important leaders from the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) had told the MQM that the elections would be postponed if the party does not agree to let go of one seat.
He said that the MQM had made all preparations and opened party offices in Kashmir and fielded candidates from nearly all constituencies according to the demands of the Kashmiri people. “In the previous elections, the MQM had won two seats and it was expected that the MQM would win more seats this time, he added.
A similar situation happened in 1993 when the then corps commander of Karachi Lt. Gen. (retd) Naseer Akhter tried to browbeat the MQM into accepting four seats, but the MQM had refused to bow down and boycotted the elections, Hussain said.
Altaf Hussain said that a “high-profile” personality from the PPP had promised him that he would never betray the MQM. The MQM now asks him not to go against their party if he cannot support it, he added.
The elections were postponed on the pretext that the Rangers were not ready to provide manpower. If it were really so then “he should have resigned from his position instead of stabbing the MQM in the back.”
He asked the MQM’s Coordination Committee to file petitions in courts seeking to make the elections null and void.
“The government should know there is a bad time ahead because the government has cheated the MQM that stood by it in times of need. Do not forget that it is 2011 and not 1993,” he warned.
The Pakistan People Party meanwhile accused the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz of rigging the elections in Punjab. Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Minister Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, a close associate of the president, said nine seats for Kashmiris in Punjab were rigged by the district administration.
“The Punjab government had desecrated the sanctity of the electoral process by using district machinery and police for organised rigging,” Wattoo said at a press conference here on Sunday.
“Punjab governor Sardar Latif Khosa tried to contact Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to discuss the situation, but Sharif refused to talk to him,” Wattoo added.
The administration should not have become a tool of the provincial government since it serves the country and not a political party, he said.
Police officials tortured PPP workers and held Presiding Officer Ishtiaq Ahmed hostage to compel him to say that polling had been transparent, Watoo said.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan also said complaints were being received about rigging in different areas of Punjab.
Talking to Pakistan Television, Awan said that PML-N candidates, after seeing a clear defeat resorted to violence at different polling stations in Sialkot and Lahore.
She said PPP and Muslim Conference have decided to go to litigation jointly against PML-N’s AJK election rigging.
Responding to allegations, PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique accused the federal government of trying to rig the AJK election results. “President Asif Ali Zardari is bent upon hijacking the elections,” he said.
Speaking to journalists in Lahore, he warned that if the results are changed, the central government will have to pay a heavy price for it.
Jamat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) also condemned what they called the government’s interference in Kashmir elections. WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP AND QAMAR ZAMAN IN ISLAMABAD.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

Manipulation: Ballot papers redesigned in favour of few

MUZAFFARABAD: Manipulated ballot papers, designed to benefit certain political parties, were used in Muzaffarabad on Sunday, field visits of The Express Tribune to various polling stations in and around the capital revealed.
In one of the most competitive seats, LA-26 Muzaffarabad-III, the constituency comprising the urban areas of the capital city from where the former prime minister and chief of PML-N’s AJK chapter Raja Farooq Haider, Muslim Conference’s incumbent prime minister’s son Sardar Usman Khan and veteran PPP leader Khawaja Farooq were competing, the ballot paper was designed to benefit Muslim Conference’s candidate. Sardar Usman lost the election nevertheless.
The names of 12 contestants along with their election symbols were listed side by side in two columns, as opposed to the normal ballot paper where there is only the name of one candidate in one row. However, the column next to the 13th candidate, Muslim Conference’s Sardar Usman Khan, was left blank.  The ballot paper was basically designed so that when a person votes and folds the paper vertically in two folds, the ink is smeared on two names making the vote inadmissible. The ballot paper in the election, however, was required to be vertically folded four times – a quarter of the paper from both sides at a time. So if the voters folded the ballot paper four times only then would the ink not be spread on two names.
The workers and polling agents of the PML-N and PPP provided the copies of the blank ballot papers to The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.

PPP poised to gain simple majority

 

 Interior Minister Senator A. Rehman Malik visiting polling stations established in sector G-6 to monitor security arrangements for fair, transparent and free AJK elections. – Photo by APP

MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan People’s Party AJK appeared to have gained simple majority in the AJK Legislative Assembly as unofficial results for 36 of the 37 constituencies for which elections were held on Sunday poured in at late night.
But a private TV channel reported that the PPP leadership had decided to invite the Muslim Conference to form a broad-based government.
According to the channel, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani contacted AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, the chief of the Muslim Conference.
Unofficial results showed that of the 29 constituencies in the AJK territory, the PPP had either won or was leading by a sizeable margin in 18, followed by the MC which had clinched victory in four and the PML-N which emerged victorious in four constituencies (two of them won by its chief organiser Raja Farooq Haider).
One independent candidate also emerged victorious, whereas results in one constituency, LA 17, Poonch-I, were being awaited. According to sources, the situation was tense in the constituency.
In the eight constituencies of Kashmiri refugees in Pakistan, the PML-N won in four, PPP in two and MC in one. An independent candidate also won a seat.
Polling in four constituencies of Kashmiri refugees has been postponed.
Prominent among the winners were Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan and former premiers Sardar Yaqoob Khan, Barrister Sultan Mahmood, Raja Farooq Haider.
PPAJK’s President Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, senior vice-president Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin, secretary general Chaudhry Latif Akbar were also among the winners. However, the defeat was of the party’s vice-president Khawaja Farooq Ahmed was shocking who had fallen victim to intrigues by some of leaders of his own party.
Losers included AJKLA speaker and PPAJK candidate Chaudhry Anwaarul Haq who was defeated by PML-N’s Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, despite having received the backing of AJK President Raja Zulqarnain Khan.
PML-N organising committee’s secretary Shah Ghulam Qadir, who had chosen Neelum Valley to contest this time, instead of his previous constituency in Rawalpindi, lost to PPP candidate Mian Abdul Waheed.
Elections were held amid serious objections raised over flawed electoral rolls and inadequate security arrangements which resulted in violence in several areas, leaving at least two persons dead and scores others wounded.
The Election Commission had postponed on Saturday polling in three of the 12 constituencies for Kashmiri refugees in Pakistan, citing law and order problems and a controversy over nearly 500 votes.
On Sunday, polling in another Kashmiri constituency in Lahore – LA 37 Valley-II – was also postponed by Chief Election Commissioner Khawaja Mohammad Saeed in the wake of serious law and order problems.
Elsewhere, polling began at 8 am but turnout which was low in the early hours picked up in the afternoon.
However, voters and polling agents were heard literally cursing the EC over flawed electoral rolls, which caused inconvenience not only to them but also to polling staff and led to altercations.
In many areas, the lists provided to presiding officers were either incomplete or did not match with the ones held by supporters of candidates outside polling stations.
Although polling in urban areas was by and large peaceful, severe clashes and even exchanges of firing were reported from rural areas, leading to suspension of polling in many stations. Most of the quarrels took place between supporters of PPP and PML-N.
In LA 25, Muzaffarabad-II, a man identified as Mohammad Bashir, reportedly a supporter of independent candidate Chaudhry Shahzad, died in hospital after having suffered stab wounds. Another man was injured in the clash. Police arrested five people from the area.
Another casualty was reported from LA 6, Bhimber-II, in an exchange of fire between PPP and PML-N workers for nearly an hour. The deceased identified as Raja Iftikhar was said to be a PML-N supporter.
However, AJK IGP Dr Tarik Ahmed Khokhar said he was ‘extremely satisfied’ over security arrangements made for the polls.
“Barring a few incidents, the whole process remained extremely peaceful, notwithstanding fears about large-scale violence,” he told Dawn.
EC Secretary Mohammad Younas Mughal told newsmen that polling in the four constituencies of Kashmiri refugees where election had been postponed for different reasons would be held next month.
Our Correspondent adds from Sialkot: PML-N candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Ishaq won by defeating PPP’s Chaudhry Shaukat Wazir Ali in LA-32 Jammu III, Sialkot.
According to unofficial results, Mr Ishaq bagged 24,407 votes against Mr Wazir Ali’s 18,101.
Muslim Conference candidate Sahibzada Hamid Raza got 7,510 votes.
Our correspondent adds from Attock: PML-N candidates were leading against their opponents in LA-35 Jammu & others-6 and Kashmir Vally-5 constituencies of Attock district.
EC spokesman for Attock Syed Zaigham Altaf told newsmen that according to unofficial results, PML-N candidate Raja Muhammad Saddique begged 1,475 votes while PPP aspirant Amin Chughtai got 647 and Sardar Abdul Razzak of the Muslim Conference 30 votes in LA-35.
According to unofficial results, of the 100 votes cast in Kashmir Vally-5, PML-N candidate Bashir Ahmed secured 42 votes while PPP candidate Abdul Salam Butt bagged 40.
Our Peshawar Bureau adds: A scuffle took place between supporters of the PML-N and PPP in the lone polling station in Peshawar set up for the LA-35, Jammu 6 constituency.
No untoward incident took place in other parts of the province.
Polling for LA-41 has been postponed.
Our Staff Reporter adds from Lahore: The AJK Election Commission postponed polling for LA-37 constituency after receiving reports of brawls between PPP and PML-N activists at various polling stations set up in the provincial metropolis.
Clashes were reportedly from polling stations in Qila Luxman Singh, Government Chishtia High School, Islampura, and Home Economics College in Misri Shah.
In Faisalabad, a clash between supporters of PML-N and an independent candidate left two people injured during polling for LA-38 constituency.
In Gujrat, police registered cases against 28 PML-N workers during polling for LA 34 in close contest between a PPP-PML-Q nominee and a PML-N candidate.

Authorities yet to exhume body of girl killed by her family

Medical board yet to be formed to exhume and conduct autopsy on Azrana.

SUKKUR:  The Sindh health director-general has yet to form a medical board to exhume the body of a girl, who was killed and buried by her family in Sukkur.

The victim, Arzana, was killed allegedly by her father, Imdad Ali Shaikh, brother Raza Muhammad Shaikh and cousin Gul Muhammad Shaikh on June 12. The culprits reportedly buried her body in the courtyard of their house in Farash Morr village.
One of the neighbours alerted the police, who raided the house and arrested Imdad, his wife Rasheeda, Gul Muhammad, and daughter-in-law Shamul, who is married to Raza. The victim’s brother, Raza, has been on the run.
Abad police filed the case on the complaint of Arzana’s sister, Sakina, who nominated five people in the FIR – Imdad, Rasheeda, Raza, Shamul and Gul Muhammad. Sakina told the police that, five years ago, her sister was married to a man, Haji Mubarak. They had a son but Haji Mubarak died three years ago.
Sakina accused her father of being greedy and forcing Arzana to marry an old man for money.
When she refused, the men in the house started beating her up and eventually killed her, the sister recalled. Sakina said they buried her in the courtyard so that no one would find out.
On June 13, the arrested accused were produced before the court of the first civil judge and judicial magistrate, Ghous Ali Shah, who sent them to jail on remand. The court also ordered the medical superintendent of Civil Hospital, Sukkur, to constitute a medical board to exhume the body and conduct an on-spot post-mortem. It has been 12 days but no action has been taken.
Abad police senior investigation officer Amjad Iqbal Mughal told The Express Tribune that two constables have been deployed outside the family’s house since June 13 and no one will be able to take away the body.
For his part, the medical superintendent, Dr Mehboob Shah, said that he was not empowered to exhume the body and conduct the post-mortem. He wrote to the medical superintendent of Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana, to set up a medical board for the purpose.
Sindh health director-general Captain Dr Ghulam Sarwar Channa has assured that the board will be set up in a day or two, he added. CMCH medical superintendent Dr Zulfiqar Sial and Dr Channa were not available for comment.


Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

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Politically Incorrect: ‘Maulvi’ is not a negative term: JUI-F

KARACHI: 

Central leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Hafiz Hussain Ahmed has said that President Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif should avoid defaming religion in their disputes.

“We condemn the use of the word Maulvi in an abusive way,” he said at the press club on Saturday. “The language being used during the election campaign should be condemned. They are defaming our religion to please the US.”

First, the government and other ordinary institutions were in a defensive position, but now the country’s defence institutions are on the defensive themselves, he quipped.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

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NLC scandal: PAC goes after generals

ISLAMABAD:  In an unprecedented move, the parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC) has held three former army generals responsible for financial corruption – in this case the Rs1.8 billion losses at the military-run National Logistics Cell (NLC).

The three retired generals – Lt-Gen Khalid Munir Khan, Lt-Gen Mohammad Afzal Muzaffar, and Maj-Gen Khalid Zaheer Akhtar – along with a civilian chief financial officer, Saeedur Rehman, have been found responsible for the losses at the NLC, a commercial logistics company operated by the military.
“In the light of three inquiry reports, the PAC finds serious violation of rules, the prime minister’s directives and discipline and holds
three generals and a bureaucrat responsible,” said PAC Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan during the committee meeting.
The PAC postponed a decision on penalties, however, in anticipation of receiving the military’s internal inquiry report. Acting Defence Secretary Air Vice-Marshal Najum told the committee that the military had completed its inquiry, and was reviewing it.
The PAC decision comes after months of wrangling between the PAC and the military hierarchy, which had set up its own inquiry commission in November last year even though the PAC had already been investigating the matter since February 2009. The military had initially asked for a month to deal with the issue. It has now been more than seven months since the inquiry initiated by Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani began.
On June 13, the PAC expressed frustration over the slow pace of the military investigation and said that if the military did not submit a response soon, the PAC would have no choice but to take a unilateral decision without any military input.
The PAC is required to submit a complete review of government accounts by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
Five people in the NLC management – three retired generals and two civil servants – were responsible for illegally borrowing Rs4.3 billion from commercial banks between 2003 and 2008 and investing the money on the Karachi Stock Exchange, incurring a loss of Rs1.8 billion to NLC, which eventually had to be paid by the national exchequer.
Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz had barred the NLC from making such investments in the stock market, but Lt Gen Muzaffar is reported to have continued to do so until his retirement in 2008.
“In March, Gen Kayani shared certain findings of the [military’s] inquiry which are very much in line with our findings,” said Chaudhry Nisar.
He said military brass had been acting “hyper-sensitive” in recent days and he urged them to get over their sensitivity and take action against corrupt individuals to save the institution.
Meanwhile, the PAC also gave the government three days to recover the car illegally being retained by Brigadier (retd) Mazhar Qayyum after his retirement as chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
The PAC also ordered the recovery of Rs678,000 from former managing director of the Pakistan Housing Authority Hassan Waseem Afzal for availing irregular perks during the second PML-N tenure in the late 1990s.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Clear violation: Centre flouts apex court orders again

KARACHI:  The Sindh government has appointed the Federal Investigation Agency’s former director-general Waseem Ahmed as additional chief secretary (interior) in clear violation of Supreme Court orders.

The move signals the revival of the post of additional chief secretary in the provincial home department.
It is learnt that Ahmed has been awarded a one-year contract. Ahmed is the first police officer ever to have been appointed on this highly-sensitive provincial post.
The Supreme Court had issued clear orders for not appointing any retired officer on any post after which several officers were accommodated as consultants in various departments.
Among others, senior member of the Board of Revenue Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha is also serving illegally in his position.
Under the law, the chief minister has no authority to extend the tenure of any officer of the district management group.
Earlier, Anwar Ahmed, who belonged to the district management group, served as the additional chief secretary. When Anwar Ahmed was transferred elsewhere the authorities abolished the post.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had issued orders to suspend Waseem Ahmed in the Hajj scandal case. However, the federal government did not remove him and Ahmed had to stand down himself.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Anti-graft watchdog: PAC freezes payments to ad agencies

ISLAMABAD:  The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly has taken notice of the advertisement scandal of Rs350 million and has stopped accountant-general of Pakistan (revenue) (AGPR) from making any payments. It has issued directives that AGPR should not pay advertising agencies till the final decision is made by the PAC.

According to Express News, the committee chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the committee that he has noticed that orders have been issued for payment of Rs350m to advertising agencies illegally.
He said that AGPR has also raised objection to the payments.
He added that while common people in the country are facing difficulties in making ends meet, this step by the government is not justified in any sense.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

PTI rally: 'Remove the govt, save the country'

MULTAN: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched its ‘Remove the Government, Save the Country’ campaign from Multan on Sunday.
PTI chief Imran Khan took out his rally from Lahore, making several stops on the way to Multan.
Adressing a gathering at Mian Channun, he said the Pakistan Peoples Pary and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are at loggerheads with each other and must be ousted from the government. He said that both parties  have failed to address the problems of the masses.
In Multan, thousands of people have gathered in the city’s sports ground to welcome the PTI rally.
More than 3,000 police officials have also been deployed in the area for security purposes.

Missing persons case: Justice Iqbal’s retirement a cause for concern

ISLAMABAD:  Litigants whose cases are fixed for hearing by the bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, especially family members of missing persons, are right to be anxious about his retirement from the Supreme Court on August 1.

In a country where state institutions have witnessed a steady decline both in terms of the competence of core personnel and the quality of service they provide, people trust individuals, not the institutions they represent. There is the question of trust the petitioners repose in the judge. As family members of missing persons will testify, they have complete faith in Justice Javed Iqbal and believe he is the best choice for ensuring the recovery of their loved ones.
The missing persons’ case due to its sensitive nature may not proceed at the same pace since it is difficult to hold the police and secret agencies to account for forced disappearances, once Justice Javed Iqbal retires, said Amina Janjua, Chairperson Defence of Human Rights, while talking to The Express Tribune. “I hope after Justice Javed Iqbal’s retirement, the new judge actively pursues the case like him.” Janjua has requested Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to either give an extension to Justice Javed Iqbal till the missing persons’ case is decided or to take up the case himself. “We cannot afford to start from zero,” she said.
Dysfunctional secretary Port Qasim Authority (PQA) Abdul Jabbar Memon, who was practically jobless for several months for taking his case to the apex court, was appointed as a director in the National Institute of Labour Administration and Training on Justice Javed’s orders. Memon said he has great respect for Justice Javed Iqbal, because he worked hard and took personal interest in his case, due to which irregularities in PQA were highlighted.
Justice Javed Iqbal, the second senior most judge of the Supreme Court, is a close associate of the chief justice and actively supported the restoration of the judiciary. Justice Javed Iqbal was elevated as chief justice of Balochistan High Court in 2000. After two months, he was elevated to the Supreme Court. Last week the government appointed him as the president of the inquiry commission constituted to investigate the May 2 US incursion of Abbottabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir polls: A regional election goes national

 

ISLAMABAD:  Despite being a regional election, the AJK election is, in fact, a nationwide election since – by a quirk in the provisional constitution of the region – the Kashmiri diaspora spread throughout Pakistan is represented in the Legislative Assembly, and thus queues up to vote just like their relatives in Azad Jammu Kashmir itself.

Of the 41 directly elected seats for the AJK Legislative Assembly, 29 are based on the constituencies located within AJK itself and 12 represent the Kashmiri diaspora all over Pakistan. Nine of them are in Punjab, two in Sindh and Balochistan, mainly Karachi, and one for the Kashmiris settled in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
There are also eight reserved seats, of which one is for representation for Kashmiris living abroad, mainly in the United Kingdom. The remaining reserved seats include five for women.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Public trust in judiciary growing: CJP

 

KARACHI:  The role of judiciary is getting more crucial with every passing day as more and more citizens are reposing confidence in this institution for remedying their grievances, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Saturday.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day-long  ‘First Summit of All Pakistan Judicial Academies’ hosted by the Sindh High Court.
Urging judges to acquaint themselves with a wider knowledge of human society and its foibles, he said that it was the only way they could resolve contemporary societal problems.
The Supreme Court chief justice said that a judicial academy will soon be set up in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, adding that Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan already have judicial academies.
These academies, he said, had been established to cure intrinsic weaknesses of the judicial system.
Expressing the hope that the summit would provide an opportunity for critically examining judicial institutions, he said that it was vital for making sure that they met current social needs.
Highlighting the judiciary’s independence, he cited a legal luminary Charles Evans Hugges: “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the Constitution.”
Urging judges to learn to utilise information technology tools and other modern gadgets, he said that the newer approach and training towards judicial functions could lead to a ‘judicial reformation’, adding that it would further strengthen the judicial system.
The conference will conclude on Sunday evening.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Balochistan Assembly: MPAs show ‘no interest’ in budget discussion

 

QUETTA:  Lawmakers showed no interest in debating the Balochistan budget which led the speaker to adjourn the session for 15 minutes due to a lack of quorum.

Saturday’s session resumed afterwards but few members stood up to discuss the budget.
Provincial Minister for Agriculture Assad Baloch said the federal government did not provide funds in accordance with the province’s needs. “We need more dams to boost our agriculture sector, but the federal government has allocated Rs500 million only for the construction of dams which is lesser than our expectations,” he said.
Provincial minister Nasreen Khethran also expressed her resentment over not disclosing the details of development expenditures in the supplementary budget. “It is ironic that over Rs14 billion have been allocated or spent but details were not mentioned in the provincial PSDP,” she remarked. Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Abdul Bari was one of the few lawmakers who lauded the provincial government for presenting a ‘good budget’. Lawmakers also welcomed the fresh agreement with Iran under which electricity will be imported to overcome Balochistan’s power crisis.
Meanwhile, the Balochistan Employees Efficiency and Discipline Bill 2011 was also tabled in the House on Saturday. Speaker Aslam Bhootani presided over the session, while Minister for Services and General Administration Sardar Sanaullah Zehri tabled the bill. According to the bill’s text provided by the Assembly Secretariat, the Balochistan Province Removal from Service enforces the Special Powers Ordinance 2000 under which disciplinary cases of government servants are dealt. The centre had repealed the said ordinance earlier at federal level and has desired that the provincial governments repeal their respective ordinances too. Accordingly, the Balochistan Employees Efficiency and Discipline Act 2011 was drafted and approved by the provincial cabinet in its meeting held on March 17, 2011.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

AJK elections: Chaos as CNIC requirement withdrawn within hours

 

KARACHI / MUZAFFARABAD:  The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission took two decisions that created confusion and chaos in the run-up to the region’s Legislative Assembly election on Sunday (today), raising questions about its own credibility and independence and prompting the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to boycott the election.

The commission withdrew its decision to require computerised national identity cards (CNIC), bearing address that falls under the jurisdiction of the local polling station, “under pressure” hours after having announced the measure.
Its decision to postpone the elections for three  seats representing the Kashmiri diaspora in Karachi and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa prompted the MQM to boycott the election.
The decision to withdraw the CNIC requirement from voting booths has raised fears of rigging in the elections. The commission itself estimates that up to 15% of the names on the electoral rolls may be bogus. Outside observers believe the number to be as high as 30%.
In a bid to limit the possibility of rigging, the election commission had announced on Saturday that it would only accept CNICs as legal identification at the polling booths. Election officials would be required to ensure that only people whose address fell within the jurisdiction of a particular polling booth would be allowed to vote there.
Immediately after the election commission announced the requirement, several political parties, including the ruling Muslim Conference began agitating against it, which raised the spectre of violence on polling day. Within hours, the requirement had been withdrawn.
“It was withdrawn under pressure… you can understand it,” said one senior official of the AJK election commission, who wished to remain anonymous. He did not clarify whether the pressure came from the AJK government or the Pakistan government.
Electoral rolls in Azad Jammu Kashmir have been notoriously flawed for decades.
Earlier attempts to fix the problem through a CNIC requirement have also been met with stiff resistance. Manzoor Gilani, a former chief election commissioner in the region, said that the Legislative Assembly passed a unanimous resolution against him when he tried to initiate such a measure, forcing him to resign.
Meanwhile the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which won two seats from the Kashmiri diaspora in Karachi in 2006, has boycotted the election after the election for the seats in Karachi were postponed.
The announcement was made by deputy convenor of the party’s central coordination committee, Farooq Sattar, at a press conference in Karachi. Sattar blamed the Sindh government for the postponement, even though the announcement came from the AJK Election Commission, which said that the law and order situation in Karachi was not conducive to holding an election.
“The undemocratic, unconstitutional and unethical postponement of the elections in three constituencies is part of a nefarious plot to stop the MQM from emerging as the third option to the Kashmiri people,” claimed Sattar.
The MQM won the two seats for the Kashmiri diaspora in Karachi in 2006 and was expected to win them again this year though most analysts did not rate their chances highly at winning other seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.
Of the 41 directly elected seats for the AJK Legislative Assembly, 29 are based on the constituencies located within AJK itself and 12 represent the Kashmiri diaspora all over Pakistan. Nine of them are in Punjab, two in Sindh and Balochistan, mainly Karachi, and one for the Kashmiris settled in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Elections were postponed in the latter three. The federal interior ministry, however, claimed in a statement that the MQM and the Pakistan Peoples Party are expected to jointly file a request to the AJK Election Commission asking for a new date for the postponed elections in the three constituencies.
The ministry also denied that it had any role to play in the postponement. (With additional reporting by Umar Nangiana in Islamabad)


Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Flowers and parks: Painting Pindi with colours

RAWALPINDI:  Rawalpindi was never known for its lush parks. Green lawns dotted with colourful flowers with shade provided by huge trees are not a common sight in the congested metropolis. However, with the formation of Parks and Horticulture Agency (PHA) there is hope that things might move in the right direction.

As many as 50 big and small parks of Rawalpindi will be handed over to the newly-established PHA by the end of this month.
About 300 staff presently working with the garden branch of Rawal Town Administration (RTA) would work under PHA from the next fiscal year; the grievances of the staff have been addressed by the district government in a recent meeting, said Captain (retd) Mushtaq Ahmed, the managing director (MD) of PHA.
Around 42 parks are presently being looked after by the RTA, six parks are being controlled by Potohar Town Management and two big parks are being taken care of by the Rawalpindi Development Authority.
The PHA has started preparing a report about the deteriorating condition of some of the parks in the city and will start repair work after the agency has obtained finances from the provincial budget and after being handed over the trained staff, said Ahmed.
The PHA, which was established under the big cities’ package, aims at improving the green areas of the city, including parks and the green belts along the main roads, he added.
Speaking about the income of the agency in Rawalpindi, Ahmed said the summary for establishing a body in the city had been approved by the provincial cabinet and it would be functional only after the law was passed by the assembly.
After the establishment of the authority, the revenue presently collected by the district government through billboards and parks would be transferred to PHA, the MD said.
As long as the PHA functions as an agency, its expenditures both for development and non-development purposes will be obtained from the provincial authorities.
The MD added that PHA has recently completed the beautification of a railway bridge on Benazir Bhutto Road at Marreer Chowk. The bridge was more than 100 years old.
The agency has also started building Azadi (Freedom) Wall outside the historic Liaqat Bagh on Benazir Bhutto Road where the history of the struggle for freedom of Pakistan would be painted at a cost of Rs20 million, Ahmed said.
PHA also plans to install a huge clock near Rialto Chowk at Benazir Bhutto Road, to add to the beauty of the city. The project will be funded by private sector and the sponsors will be compensated through advertisements of their products.
Moreover, about the future of the staff to be shifted from RTA, Ahmed said the employees had been ensured by the district government that they would be paid by the PHA as their services would be utilised by the agency.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Gastroenteritis kills two women, infects over 1,500

 

HARIPUR:  Two women have been dead, while over 1,500 have been registered with the local health department, as reports of gastroenteritis (gastro) have been confirmed from various parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). The local authorities confirmed the death of two women. However, they refused to disclose the names of the deceased.

According to the health department and local villagers, the disease broke out in Kailag village in Kholian Bala last week, affecting 1,500 residents including women and children of all ages.
Health Executive District Officer Dr Mazhar Ali told The Express Tribune that two women, aged between 30 and 45, have died of the disease. “The waterborne disease is widespread in the village and every third house has been affected by it,” he added.
He explained that more than 500 households in the village are reported to have a patient suffering from the disease, while around 350 families have more than one victim.
He claimed that the situation was under control and all patients suffering from dehydration had been treated. “All necessary initiatives have been taken and the patients are recovering fast. We are still checking whether the deaths of the two women were due to gastro or not. The fact that no more deaths have been reported in the village speaks volumes about the performance of health department,” he remarked.
He further said that the disease was first reported in Havelian in Abbottabad, from where it reached Kailag village. The main reason behind the spread of the virus was due to contaminated water. “Since villagers have been using water collected in an open tank during the spring season, the chances of contamination are very high,” he explained. “Even though hand pumps for potable water are present, these pumps are also open to contamination, which results in the development of gastroenteritis,” he added.
He went on to explain that even though the report on water samples sent to National Institute of Health was yet to be obtained, the chances of water containing fecal coliform bacteria (a bacteria found in solid human waste) was very high, given the current situation.
He also said that a fully equipped mobile team of doctors and paramedical staff had been deployed in the village, which was taking care of patients, besides spreading awareness about hygiene in the area. He advised the villagers to use boiled water, and contact doctors if they feel the onset of nausea, vomiting or high fever.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

Security arrangements for elections finalised

 

ISLAMABAD:  Security arrangements have been completed for the general elections of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly to be held in the capital on Sunday.

Over a thousand police officials have been deployed at 22 polling stations set up to facilitate the residents of AJK living in the federal capital.
Inspector General of Police Islamabad Bani Amin directed all the police officials to ensure security arrangements on the day of the elections to avoid any untoward situation.  He was accompanied by Chief Commissioner of Islamabad as he visited the polling stations on Saturday to see the security arrangements.
Walkthrough gates have been fixed at most sensitive polling stations and officials of special branch of police and bomb disposal squad will be deployed at almost all polling stations, the IGP said.
The IGP asked the supervisory officers, the superintendents of police and sub-divisional police officers to personally supervise the arrangements and remain on duty. Amin directed the official to ensure timely deployment of police force at the polling stations and asked for continuous coordination between all police departments and divisions.
He also directed police officials to set up special checkpoints, equipped with metal and explosives detectors, in and around the city, exit and entry points and the roads leading towards the polling stations. Officials from police training school will be deployed on these checkpoints.
Police will also comb through the surrounding areas of the polling stations in the capital early on Sunday morning.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.