Relatives of missing people register protest in front of SC

ISLAMABAD: The relatives of missing people staged a strong protest in front of Supreme Court here on Wednesday.

President of Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan also participated in the protest rally and announced to take part in future demonstrations.

Addressing the relatives of missing people, Imran Khan said that rampant lawlessness has deteriorated law and order situation of the country. Intelligence authorities are governing the country, he added.

“If the missing people are innocent then the government should proceed their cases in the court,” he held.

“It is sheer violation of justice that destitute and helpless people are protesting for their relatives,” he remarked.

Lamenting the current situation, he pointed out that the contemporary situation was worse than the British rule.

Amina Masood elaborated that 16 cases of missing people had registered and more than 100 cases were under process in Supreme Court.

She said that the Apex Court was executing the case of missing people but it was postponed due to unknown reasons.

In the protest, 20 women, 20 men, and 12 children were sitting outside of the supreme court in severe cold to register their protest. They were holding placards, banners and posters inscribed with slogans against the government.

Source: Online News

New Human Rights Watch report drubs Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Human Rights Watch (HRW) says in its annual report issued this week that President Pervez Musharraf’s government did little in 2006 to address a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation.

The report’s “ongoing concerns” include arbitrary detention, lack of due process, and the mistreatment, torture, and “disappearance” of terrorism suspects and political opponents; harassment and intimidation of the media; and legal discrimination against and mistreatment of women and religious minorities. However, the human rights watchdog group calls the passage of the Women’s Protection Bill a significant development, besides the North Waziristan peace deal with “Taliban supporters” and reconstruction efforts in Azad Kashmir after the earthquake, though the later were marred by allegations of corruption.

PTI chief shocked at police brutality

ISLAMABAD, Dec 31: Chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has expressed a deep sense of shock and sorrow over the highhanded behaviour meted out to the relatives of “missing” persons by the Rawalpindi police on Thursday.

Commenting on the incident, Mr Khan stressed upon the point that it was their constitutional right to know the fate and the whereabouts of their relatives who had been missing for quite some time.

He said the crime of the family members was none other than holding a peaceful gathering to make their voice heard by the quarters concerned. But there was no excuse for using brute force on non-violent protesters, which included women and children, in a shameful manner.

Gen Musharraf’s election opposed

ISLAMABAD, Dec 29: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has decided to mobilise public opinion against what it called the government plans to get General Pervez Musharraf re-elected as president by the present assemblies.

The decision was taken at the first meeting of the newly-elected SCBA after a re-polling was held under the supervision of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) to end a bitter row between two groups of lawyers.

The missing link: families ‘outbid’ US

“The brazen use of force against innocent parents, sisters and brothers of the missing persons exposes the ugly face behind the mantra of enlightened moderation” : Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: The families and friends of the missing persons on Friday continued their protest for the production of their loved ones in a court of law while offering the government $6000 for the release of each person against $5000 being given to it by the Bush administration.

The relatives and friends of the missing persons from all over the country staged a demonstration in front of Lal Masjid after the Friday prayers. MNA Mian Muhammad Aslam was the only local politician who attended the protest by the distressed families of the missing persons, some of whom were allegedly picked up by the secret agencies in 2002.

The peaceful protesters, carrying placards inscribed with angry slogans against President Musharraf’s policies, attracted a sizeable number of people on the busy Melody Road adjacent to Lal Masjid.

Government priorities misplaced: Imran

LAHORE, Dec 21: Teheek-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan says the present government is an anti-people set-up with misplaced priorities. “The rulers are spending billions of rupees in security and other useless heads, but they are not ready to reduce oil prices which are on the slide in the international market,” Khan told a news conference.

The government, he said, was trying to make money by piling misery on its people, which should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

About his meeting with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he said it was an effort to get the entire opposition on board on one-point agenda — removal of military dictatorship and restoration of genuine democracy in the country.

In addition to it, he added, Pakistan also needed independent judiciary, election commission and National Accountability Bureau.

The PTI, he said, was of the opinion that all parties should join hands to play their role in the restoration of democracy. “If these parties do not join hands, the general will manipulate elections, impose a dummy government on the people and have another subservient man elected as prime minister.”

Should that happen, he warned, the country would neither get any foreign investment nor development.

The PTI, according to him, was striving hard to get all parties attend the APC at London so that they could play an effective role.

Flanked by other party leaders, Imran Khan took exception to the Punjab government for imposing opposition-specific Section 144. He said the chief minister, along with President Pervez Musharraf, had been holding election rallies at state expense but was not allowing opposition to hold such rallies.

He termed the finalisation of civil nuclear deal between India and the US a failure of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

“The government of Pakistan is killing its own people in order to please its American masters. In spite of offering every kind of incentive on Kashmir to India, the military ruler has failed to get any concession in return.”

The Pakistani government, Khan added, was doing everything under the sun to please the US government, which in turn was busy pleasing India.

Source: Dawn

Durrani parries query on Quaid views on army

ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: Federal Minister for Information Mohammad Ali Durrani said on Thursday the birthday of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah would be celebrated in a befitting manner.

However, speaking at a news conference here, he declined to offer comments on the Quaid’s vision of armed forces’ role in the country. A reporter had asked his comment on Quaid-i-Azam’s declaration after the creation of Pakistan that the role of armed forces would be limited to their defence duties and they would not involve themselves in politics or administration. The minister only said everything in the country was being done according to the Constitution.

Source: Dawn

Musharraf ahead of Benazir, Nawaz in popularity poll

General Pervez Musharraf is more popular in Pakistan than Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, according to the findings of the research wing of the US Republican Party.

The survey ranked Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif second and third, respectively, in terms of popularity after President Musharraf. The survey was ordered by the International Republican Institute (IRI) of the party and conducted in September.

Dawn has obtained the survey�s broad findings which are yet to be made public and many of which would make politicians sit up. IRI officials made a PowerPoint presentation — second after the one in June — to Benazir Bhutto in Dubai last week and Nawaz Sharif in London earlier.

Continue reading on: Dawn

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Reaction of People on BBCUrdu:

جی ہاں مشرف صاحب مقبول ترين رہنما ہيں۔ امريکی اداروں اور حکومت کيليے اگر محترم صدر صاحب وردی اتار ديں تو انکی ق ليگ بھی انکے ساتھ نہيں ہوگی۔ اگر مشرف صاحب صدارت اور فوجی وردی اتار کر اليکشن لڑيں تو انکو اپنی مقبوليت کا اندازہ ہو جائے گا کہ ان کا سايہ بھی انکے ساتھ نہيں ہوگا۔ يہ سب لوگ جن کے مفادات ان کی وردی کے ساتھ وابستہ ہيں دوسرے وردی والے کے ساتھ ہوں گے۔ يہ سب چڑھتے سورج کے پجاری ہيں۔ مشرف بيچارے تو وہم ميں ہيں۔ انہی لوگوں نے ضياءالحق کو بھی ’مرد مجاہد‘ کہا تھا، اب آمر کہتے ہيں۔

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اسے پڑھ کر کوئی حيرانگی نہیں ہوئی۔ جنرل نے9\11 والا واقعہ باجوڑ ميں دہرايا ہے۔ اس واقعہ سے بش نے فائدہ حاصل کيا اور جنرل نے شہرت حاصل کي ہے۔ اصل شہرت کے بارے ميں جاننا ہے تو صدر صاحب وردی شريف اتار کر اليکشن ميں جيت کر دکھائیے۔

More on: BBCUrdu

Sitting assemblies to re-elect president in uniform

The presidential election will be held in September-October 2007 and the present assemblies will form the electoral college to elect the president for another next five-year term.

“Yes, the presidential election has to be held before November 12 in view of the constitutional provision,” a top aide to President Pervez Musharraf told The News on Thursday. He also confirmed that a firm decision was taken some time back that the present assemblies (the Senate, the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies) will form the electoral college for the elections.

“We have secured legal and constitutional opinion of all the concerned people and top constitutional experts and there is no ambiguity in this context,” said the top presidential aide, who unfolded nitty-gritty of the 2007 presidential polls.

Continue reading on: The News

Govt urged to come clean on ‘enforced disappearances’

ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: Human rights activists staged a protest demonstration here on Saturday to press the government to produce in court what they described as victims of “enforced disappearances” belonging mostly to autonomy-seeking nationalist parties of Balochistan.

The demonstration was jointly organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Defence of Human Rights and other non-governmental organisations in front of the Parliament House.

Human rights groups say that of 242 people missing since 2000, 110 are from Balochistan, 70 from Sindh, 42 from Punjab and 20 from the NWFP.

“Every week, we are getting something like three new incidents. We have been able to verify, to date, 250 people — from 2002 up till now,” HRCP chief Asma Jahangir told the Reuters news agency at the rally.

Several relatives of missing people joined dozens of rights activists for the protest outside parliament.

Continue reading on: Dawn

School curriculum ‘enlightened’

‘Muslim deprivation, not religion, led to Partition’

* New Pak Studies syllabus ‘eliminates prejudice against non-Muslims’
* Includes concept of ‘enlightened moderation’, economic and privatisation policies, October 1999 coup

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: The government has made drastic changes in the new Pakistan Studies curriculum, including new chapters on the Musharraf government’s economic and privatisation policies and “enlightened moderation”, and less biased explanations of the Two-Nation Theory and Partition.

The causes of the military takeover of October 12, 1999, the devolution of power process introduced by Gen Musharraf’s government and the 2002 elections will also be covered in this section.

Special space has been given to Musharraf’s policies of enlightened moderation, privatisation and industrialisation. Also included are the economic reforms of the present government masterminded by Shaukat Aziz, first as finance minister and then prime minister.

Complete Story: Daily Times

Uniform will stay: Musharraf

NEW DELHI: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that he will not give up his position as the chief of the army before polls next year. In an interview to a private Indian TV channel, the Pakistani ruler, who came to power in a coup in 1999, said he would continue to hold the job as the army chief as long as the constitution allowed him to.

“The constitution allows me to hold it till 2007, so I will hold it. So if the elections, as I said are in November, I will be in uniform,” Musharraf said.

Musharraf said it was not easy to give up the army uniform. “It’s not easy, because there are some perceptions. At this moment what Pakistan is facing needs a unity, a unity of command over important organs of state, which includes the military, the political and the bureaucracy.”

The president, however, did not give a definite date for the polls, saying they could be held late 2007 or early 2008.

Musharraf also told the network that he would not allow exiled former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to contest elections next year as both of them have been convicted by court.

“Both of them are convicted. One of them has gone out (of Pakistan) for 10 years for an agreement, by himself. And the other is out since,” Musharraf said.

Source: Times of India

Too much of loose talk

By Anwar Syed

I MAY have said this before, but if I have, it will bear repeating that we as a people, and particularly our politicians and government spokesmen, talk too much. Excess necessarily makes for extravagance, and leads to loss of precision, coherence, and relevance.

General Musharraf told a group of officers in Lahore (November 26, 2006) that “temporary upheavals in the country’s security environment should not arouse public concern, because the turmoil had been caused by the government’s own steps taken to rein in anti-state elements.” He went on to say that whichever way the government settled major issues, some disturbance was bound to occur. In any case, his government intended to “take the bull by the horns.”

The general would have made good sense if he had said only that certain anti-state groups were making trouble, and that his government meant to deal firmly with them. But he wouldn’t be content with brevity and discretion. He admitted that “upheavals” had indeed erupted, and that they threatened national security. Strangely enough, he added that they were not anything for the people to worry about. Common sense will tell us that upheavals can be extremely unsettling. How, then, can anyone in his right mind say that the people, whose lives and fortunes are bound to be affected, should not be concerned about them?

Continue reading on: Dawn

لگڑبھگا جانتا ہے۔۔۔

وسعت اللہ خان
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام

پاکستان میں پچھلے چھ برس کے دوران اسٹیبلشمنٹ کا لگڑبھگا سینکڑوں لوگوں کو منہ میں دبا کر لے گیا اور اب بھی لے جارہا ہے۔ کیا کسی نے سوچا کہ پہلے ادوار میں لوگ زیادہ تر گرفتار ہوتے تھے مگر اب ہر ہفتے کسی نہ کسی کے غائب ہونے کی اطلاع اتنے تواتر کے ساتھ کیوں آتی ہے۔

اسٹیبلشمنٹ کے لگڑبھگے پر یہ راز پوری طرح کھل چکا ہے کہ سول سوسائٹی کے جتنے بھی نمائندہ ادارے یا افراد ہیں وہ دیکھنے میں تو بظاہر ہزاروں، لاکھوں میں ہیں۔ لیکن ان میں اتنا ہی ایکا ہے جتنا کہ قصائی کے پنجرے میں بند مرغیوں میں یا چیتے کا سامنا کرنے والے جنگلی بھینسوں کے غول میں یا بھیڑیے کو دیکھنے والی بارہ سنگھوں کی ڈار میں ہوتا ہے۔

Full Article: BBCUrdu

On the same topic:
وہ جو لاپتہ ہیں۔۔۔

پاکستان یا غائبستان

 

How democracy works in Pakistan

29 – 9 – 2006

The authorities in Islamabad have many ways to ensure the right result in elections. Irfan Husain tells some tales from the polling booth.

The circumstances surrounding the destruction of a madrasa in Bajaur which killed up to eighty-five people on 30 October 2006 demonstrate yet again the tricky nature of President Pervez Musharraf’s current balancing-act. In particular, the involvement of the United States in the assault, and the nature of the protests in its aftermath, reveal Musharraf to be caught between the hammer of Washington’s demands and the anvil of his people’s rising anger.

Continue reading on: www.opendemocracy.net

Irfan Husain is a columnist with Dawn newspaper in Pakistan.

Musharraf’s predicament, Pakistan’s agony

5 – 9 – 2006

The 9/11 attacks made Pakistan the frontline of the global war on terror. But it has all been downhill for Pervez Musharraf since then, writes Iftikhar H Malik.

The events of 11 September 2001 transformed the position of Pakistan in world politics, and offered its leader General Pervez Musharraf a frontline role in the “war on terror” the United States announced in their aftermath. Five years on, what has the country under Musharraf’s leadership made of the responsibility – and the opportunity – it was then presented with?

The phone call from the US’s then secretary of state Colin Powell that woke Musharraf with the news of the attacks in Washington and New York offered him a straight choice: Washington or the Taliban. For Musharraf, it was more than an easy decision – it was a godsend. Since his dismissal of an elected government in October 1999, the military ruler had become a pariah in the west, and the 9/11 attacks were a quick route to recover lost (or never gained) legitimacy, as well as a vanguard role in the unfolding war.

Continue Reading on: OpenDemocracy.net

Iftikhar H Malik is professor of history at Bath Spa University, England, and is also associated with Wolfson College, Oxford. His forthcoming book, Crescent between Cross and Star: Muslims and the West after 9/11 (2006) is being published by Oxford University Press.

’انٹیلیجنس ریپبلک آف غائبستان‘

حسن مجتبیٰ
سان ڈیاگو، کیلیفورنیا

وطن عزیز جہاں اغوا برائے تاوان ایک صنعت کا درجہ حاصل کرچکی تھی وہاں اب ’اغوا براۓ گمشدگی‘ کی وارداتیں ریاستی ہنر و حرفت کا اعلیٰ نشان بن چکی ہیں۔ ’باطل سے دبنے والے اے آسماں نہیں ہم۔۔۔۔‘

 

رکھوالوں کی نیت بدلی گھر کے مالک بن بیٹھے
جو غاصب محسن کش تھے صوفی سالک بن بیٹھے
جو آواز جہاں سے اٹھی اس پر تیر تبر برسے
ایسےہونٹ سلے لوگوں کے آوازوں کو بھی ترسے

احمد فراز کی آواز ہر دور کی حکومتوں کے لیے درویش کا اپنی جوتی میں بھیجا ہوا رقعہ ہے۔

Read full article on: BBCUrdu

Musharraf wants to be Pakistan`s Hosni Mobarak: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaaf and member national assembly MNA drawing parallel between long serving Egyptian President Husni Mobarak and the President General Pervez Musharraf said that President Musharraf wishes to become `Hosni Mobarak` of Pakistan.

In an interview to a private TV channel on Tuesday the opposition leader said, the resignations are not being tendered from the assemblies due to the internal differences within Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

He observed that we don`t consider PML a political party nor have any differences with it, real differences are with the military dictator who are endeavoring towards the `murder` of democracy in Pakistan.

For the restoration of true democracy the MMA decision of en masse resignations is praise worthy and I completely agree with it. All opposition parties must tender en masse resignations from the assembly.

Due to the differences within MMA this is not possible. If any one from MMA will resign that will be Jamaat-e-Islami. The Fazlur Rehman group will never resign.

In response to a query, he said there are weaknesses that lie with some of the opposition parties because of which they cannot unite at a single platform and a little role in this is of the governmental agencies. They will never let grand alliance become a success.

In apropos Women Protection Bill, he supported MMA stance but opposed Hasba Bill adding that the bill will weaken institutions in the name of Islam.

Source: Paktribune

Imran asks SC to take Suo motto action of Extra-judicial killing in Bajaur

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan demanded of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motto notice of the extra-judicial killing of 80 people in Bajaur, 60 of whom were under the age of 18 as this constitutes a crime against humanity and no one has the right to be judge, jury and executioner.

“If the Chief justice does not take action now, then the people of this country are entitled to ask, “What is the purpose of our judiciary? What has happened to that basic human right that every individual is innocent until proven guilty?”, he stated this while addressing a press conference here at Parliament Lodges on Wednesday.

He demanded of Supreme Court to constitute high level inquiry commission, which find out the fact whether this crime was committed by the Pakistani forces or the Americans.

Imran Khan said: “Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death for becoming judge, jury and executioner of 247 Iraqi Shias in 1982. How does General Musharraf’s crime differ from this? Especially as 60 of those killed were children. Whilst Saddam has never admitted to his crime, Musharraf has admitted to his”.

He said that the Bajaur incident would further radicalize our society. This shameful and cowardly act would drive more and more into the hands of extremists, he said.

He said that opposition in Pakistan was not yet united and due its divide the government take many advantages. “I will not name the persons who do not want to see the opposition united for the cause of democracy,” he said.

He said that Wednesday suicide attack in Malakand is a direct consequence of General Musharraf’s owning up to the Bajaur killings. “Between 35 to 50 Pakistani soldiers have needlessly been killed in this suicide attack,” he said.

Imran Khan said that how much more blood be sacrificed by Pakistani soldiers and citizens for Musharraf to please his foreign masters and get their support for his illegitimate military regime?

Already, he said, thousands of Pakistani civilians and soldiers have died in Waziristan to fight the US war on terror, which has become, evident from the Bajaur incident, “a war of terror”.

He said that Musharraf’s shameful capitulation to American demand is posing a huge threat to the future of Pakistan. Since the US has already lost the battle for hearts and minds in both Afghanistan and Iraq, it is destined to lose the war on terror, he said.

He said that the Malakand suicide bombing could be a prelude for worse to come. There is no shortage of recruits for those resisting the Americans thanks to acts of the state terrorism such as in Bajaur. It is no longer Pakistan first, but Musharraf first, he said.

Source: www.onlinenews.com.pk

Musharraf statement on Bajaur agency incident insulting: Political, Religious leaders

ISLAMABAD: The political and religious leaders and thousands of protesters on the third consecutive day of protest rallies against killings of students of seminary in US-led coalition forces bombardment in Bajaur agency flayed the statement given by President Musharraf that those killed in attack were militants.

In NWFP and tribal areas the markets remained closed and the entire country seemed to be wearing mournful look.

The security forces besieged the entire area of Bajaur agency and all the entry and exit points were sealed.

The funeral prayer in absentia was held in Fowara chowk Peshawar under Jamat ul Dawat (JUD). It was led by JUD leader Maulana Inam Ullah. Thousands of mourners attended the prayers.

THE JUD has appealed the ulema to offer funeral prayers in absentia in every village and town of the country of those 83 students who were killed in seminary in air strike.

The religious and political leaders have strongly condemned the statement given by the President General Musharraf that the people killed in attack on seminary in Bajaur agency were militants, not innocent.

Equating the students of Quranic teachings with the militants is very shameful, they held.

JUD leaders Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki and Maulana Amir Hamza said that the air strike in Bajaur agency is conspiracy to fuel civil war in the country and blatant terrorism. The attitude of government of Pakistan in regard to this incident is not correct in any way. How shameful it is that the rulers have taken the responsibility of bombardment on seminary rather than condemning the US led coalition forces attack on madrissah.

The statement given by the President General Pervez Musharraf on massive killings of madrissah students that they were militants is tantamount to adding insult to injury, they added.

Protest rallies were held jointly by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba and Passban in Peshawar and Bajaur.

The demonstrators torched the US flag during a demonstration in Anar Changi. Certain areas of Momand agency were also sealed.

Source: Paktribune