The state that wouldn't fail

[RabzonKhan]

EDITORIAL: A daunting challenge

Daily Times
January 19, 2011

The courage with which the Supreme Court (SC) is questioning the culture of impunity surrounding the intelligence agencies is commendable. In the latest hearing of the missing persons’ case, the SC upheld the rights of the citizens enshrined in the constitution: “No functionary or authority is competent to detain, arrest or pick up any citizen unless there is sufficient material or circumstantial evidence against that person. This court shall take due notice of it.” Justice Javed Iqbal, who heads the three-member bench hearing this case, had said in the last hearing that 2011 would be the year of recovery of missing persons. Also, last week the judicial commission on missing persons submitted its report before the court, whose contents have not yet been made public. At the same time, in expressing dissatisfaction with the attorney general’s report, the court directed him to meet top officials of the ISI and convey the court’s reservations to them, which, in the court’s opinion, would resolve 50 percent cases. With due respect, the ground realities may not so easily lend themselves to the kind of solution the court desires. If that had been the case, this particular issue that has been before the SC since 2007 would by now have yielded a far greater number than the 174 recovered out of the officially acknowledged 235 missing persons.

Human rights activists put the figure of missing persons at about 7,000 in Balochistan alone. Some quarters in the government dispute this claim, calling it an exaggeration. If a citizen, a set of citizens or a family or community claims that their loved one has disappeared and is able to provide some evidence for that disappearance, how can the government refute that claim out of hand? Instead, it must act responsibly by investigating any such claim to determine whether it is correct or not.

Asma Jahangir submitted before the court that four more persons had disappeared on December 4, 2010, three from Balochistan and one from Sindh. On Monday, three more bullet-riddled bodies of missing persons have been discovered in Balochistan, bringing the number of such bodies to 85 in the past two and a half months. Is the response of the intelligence agencies to the pressure that they are being subjected to by the SC to produce tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of the missing persons? The court must take serious notice of this.

The missing persons case is symptomatic of the dilemma of Pakistan, which inherited a weak political and civil society and an overdeveloped state structure from the British at the time of independence. Over the years, the military asserted itself in national decision-making and the scope and role of intelligence agencies widened, especially after the first Afghan war. This ‘deep state’ is neither transparent nor answerable to anyone. Is it not time to reverse this trend, whose ill effects on society can be seen in this case? Although the SC has expressed its determination to continue hearings till the last person is recovered, the SC’s hearings may not be enough to reverse this trend. The SC’s remark that it is a case of public interest and parliament should take it up makes eminent sense. It is the job of the political forces and parliament to control the deep state. The judiciary, political society and civil society will have to come together to reverse this malign phenomenon.

 

[RabzonKhan]

ANALYSIS: The powerful and overpowered of the PPP

Daily Times
Farhat Taj
January 22, 2011

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has arguably been the most popular federalist party of Pakistan. The party has been binding Pakistanis across the ethnic and religious divide with the federation of Pakistan. It has secular credentials and has been backing minorities’ rights. In short, it has been an asset for the federation of Pakistan and the hope of millions of oppressed people in Pakistan. This was the PPP of the past.

The party’s current stint in power is anything but everything the PPP has been known for — moderation and people’s democratic rights. There is a lot that can demonstrate that the PPP, under the current leadership, has drifted far away from the cherished goals the party has stood and sacrificed for. Take, for example, the overpowered people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the issues surrounding the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, former governor of Punjab.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto visited areas across FATA and established a popular tribal support base for the PPP. He announced major developmental schemes for the area that could never materialise due to his removal from power by General Zia soon afterwards. It seems that late Benazir Bhutto was fully aware of the ISI-controlled drama of terrorism in FATA and the threats it poses to the world. She knew how important it was to stop the ISI from using the tribal areas as strategic space against Afghanistan. Therefore, she had filed a case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the extension of Pakistan’s Political Parties Act to FATA.

What has the present PPP government done to eliminate the ISI’s unquestionable control over FATA? Only lip service. In August 2009, President Zardari announced the implementation of the Political Parties Act in FATA. The announcement was never followed by an official notification. It is clear that the ISI has no intention to give up FATA as a strategic region. What else could be the reason behind the lack of official notification of the president’s order? The president has no courage to tell the people of Pakistan that the military establishment is the hurdle to end the legal isolation of FATA. The party, it seems, is afraid that it will lose power if it tells the truth. Power, it seems, is more important for this government than the sufferings of the people of FATA.

On the other hand, the PPP is openly abandoning powerful people within its own ranks for taking a principled stance against the forces of religious fanaticism. Unlike the overpowered people of FATA, late Salmaan Taseer was the powerful governor of Punjab and an important member of the PPP. He gave his life for supporting a poor Christian woman entrapped in a dubious blasphemy case. The PPP, which is supposed to be a supporter of the minorities’ rights, extended him no support. He was left vulnerable to attacks by religious fanatics, who took his life. The party succumbed to religious fanaticism and abandoned one of its own members who had taken a principled stance on this issue.

Another PPP member, Sherry Rehman, who was prepared to table a bill to amend the country’s blasphemy laws in the National Assembly, has been silenced and made to give up the plan by the party. Reportedly, the minorities’ minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, has had fatwas issued against him calling for his assassination. The minister has been participating in public debates over the blasphemy laws and has been highlighting legal flaws in the laws. There is no sign the PPP would publicly stand by the minister for fear of losing power under pressure from the right-wing lobby. It looks as though clinging to power is more important for the party than protecting minorities.

The PPP is losing space to the religious fanatics and silencing with its own hands all the sane and principled voices within the ranks of the party. Shortsighted and insensitive people are running the show in the party. Rehman Malik, the interior minister, even had the audacity to declare in the backdrop of Taseer’s assassination that he would kill with his own hands anyone found to be involved in blasphemy. Moreover, in FATA no one takes the interior minister seriously. Everyone knows he means nothing in the ISI scheme of things for FATA. Yet he would never desist from giving statements on FATA. The more he sounds firm in his statements on FATA, the more ridiculous he appears. He looks more like an entertainer and less of an interior minister to the FATA tribesmen.

The other irresponsible voice in the PPP is that of Fauzia Wahab. She has been issuing insensitive statements regarding the Swat IDPs crisis. For example, she said that, like Afghan refugees, the people of Swat could not be allowed to spread across Pakistan. The shortsighted PPP spokesperson did not care to think that, unlike the Afghan refugees, the Swat IDPs were citizens of Pakistan and had the right to go wherever they like in Pakistan.

It seems the current group leading the PPP believes that it can survive in power by appeasing the religious right-wingers. Thus the party is giving up its traditional moderate, secular and progressive role to accommodate the ever-demanding religious right-wingers. This is dangerous, especially in places like FATA where the state of Pakistan has lost legitimacy due to the ISI’s use of the area for strategic games through religious forces at the cost of the tribesmen’s blood. A moderate, progressive and pro-tribal people stance of the PPP could have saved the deteriorating state legitimacy in the area. Moreover, it could have affirmed the oppressed people like the religious minorities’ hopes in the PPP and by extension in the state. The current situation characterised by the rising power of the religious Right is not sustainable over a long period of time. It may ultimately lead to the break up of the state. Should that happen, the PPP would also be responsible for giving up it secular credentials in the face of the growing tide of the religious Right, which added to the people’s lack of confidence in the state.

The writer is a PhD Research Fellow with the University of Oslo and currently writing a book, Taliban and Anti-Taliban

 

[SekrutYakhni]

The rule of law should prevail under any circumstances. Unfortunately, our security agencies think that the 'rights of the people' do not apply to poor Pakistanis. Had it been a son of Zardari, a jihadist, or a son of Kiyani, security agencies would have cleared the way...

I know a case where a guy joined talibs and the secutiy agencies went to their house, without any search warrant, terrorizing/torturing their family members without any REASONABLE GROUNDS. Yes, that jihadi was not a saint BUT there is a certain right given to us--Security agencies do not have mandate/right to abuse the parents of that lunatic individual or any other case, as a matter of fact.

The irony is, when our politicians and establishment justify their actions by brining the U.S. into the matter. Ohh, we are not the only country doing that, the U.S. is also doing it...

Supreme Court should send strong message to those self created jihadis and to their families and should order a court martial of the people involved (who abused their powers)...

But how can we court martial army men, top brass?
It is a matter of ego/prestige...

Pakistan tujhe salam....

GHQ can court martial khaki boys who do not follow their orders but they cannot court martial individuals who ruined our country or who abused their power...

No, no, no...

 

[SekrutYakhni]

These are the countries that don't have time to think about 'state that wouldn't fail'

Sukna scam: Court martialled Rath loses rank


SHILLONG: Lt Gen PK Rath, who was convicted in a land scam by a court martial a day earlier, was Saturday handed down a sentence including stripping off of his rank and forfeiture of 15 years of service for pension purposes.



Regardless of any political implications, sticking to the content, this never happened in Pakistan...

 

[sparten]

That is disinfectants and false. It not something that would never happen in Pakistan, it has happened.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Former Pakistani navy chief arrested

SLAMABAD : Rank of admiral, medals and other decorations have been forfeited for the former Naval Chief, Mansur-ul-Haq on admittance of guilt of receiving huge kickbacks during his term in the office.

This was stated by the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau, (NAB) Lieutenant General Muneer Hafeez at a press conference on Wednesday.

Mansur-ul-Haq has also been removed from the list of retired officers of Pakistan Navy besides withdrawing all the pension benefits and other perks, the Chairman NAB said.

Article: Mansoor's Admiral rank, military awards withdrawn. | AccessMyLibrary - Promoting library advocacy

 

[sparten]

EDITORIAL: A daunting challenge

Daily Times
January 19, 2011

The courage with which the Supreme Court (SC) is questioning the culture of impunity surrounding the intelligence agencies is commendable. In the latest hearing of the missing persons’ case, the SC upheld the rights of the citizens enshrined in the constitution: “No functionary or authority is competent to detain, arrest or pick up any citizen unless there is sufficient material or circumstantial evidence against that person. This court shall take due notice of it.” Justice Javed Iqbal, who heads the three-member bench hearing this case, had said in the last hearing that 2011 would be the year of recovery of missing persons. Also, last week the judicial commission on missing persons submitted its report before the court, whose contents have not yet been made public. At the same time, in expressing dissatisfaction with the attorney general’s report, the court directed him to meet top officials of the ISI and convey the court’s reservations to them, which, in the court’s opinion, would resolve 50 percent cases. With due respect, the ground realities may not so easily lend themselves to the kind of solution the court desires. If that had been the case, this particular issue that has been before the SC since 2007 would by now have yielded a far greater number than the 174 recovered out of the officially acknowledged 235 missing persons.

Human rights activists put the figure of missing persons at about 7,000 in Balochistan alone. Some quarters in the government dispute this claim, calling it an exaggeration. If a citizen, a set of citizens or a family or community claims that their loved one has disappeared and is able to provide some evidence for that disappearance, how can the government refute that claim out of hand? Instead, it must act responsibly by investigating any such claim to determine whether it is correct or not.

Asma Jahangir submitted before the court that four more persons had disappeared on December 4, 2010, three from Balochistan and one from Sindh. On Monday, three more bullet-riddled bodies of missing persons have been discovered in Balochistan, bringing the number of such bodies to 85 in the past two and a half months. Is the response of the intelligence agencies to the pressure that they are being subjected to by the SC to produce tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of the missing persons? The court must take serious notice of this.

The missing persons case is symptomatic of the dilemma of Pakistan, which inherited a weak political and civil society and an overdeveloped state structure from the British at the time of independence. Over the years, the military asserted itself in national decision-making and the scope and role of intelligence agencies widened, especially after the first Afghan war. This ‘deep state’ is neither transparent nor answerable to anyone. Is it not time to reverse this trend, whose ill effects on society can be seen in this case? Although the SC has expressed its determination to continue hearings till the last person is recovered, the SC’s hearings may not be enough to reverse this trend. The SC’s remark that it is a case of public interest and parliament should take it up makes eminent sense. It is the job of the political forces and parliament to control the deep state. The judiciary, political society and civil society will have to come together to reverse this malign phenomenon.

Amongst other bull **** the article is wrong when it says that agencies have no power of arrest. FIA certainly dose as do the Military Police. Furthermore all citizens have the power of arrest. Section 59, CrPC.

59. Arrest by private persons and procedure on such arrest: (1) Any private person
may arrest any person who in his view commits a non-bailable and cognizable offence, or
any proclaimed offender, and without unnecessary delay, shall make over any person so
arrested to a police-officer or, in the absence of a police-officer, take such person or cause
him to be taken in custody to the nearest police-station.
(2) If there is reason to believe that such person comes under the provisions of Section
54, a police-officer shall re-arrest him.
(3) If there is reason to believe that he has committed a non-cognizable offence, and he
refuses on the demand of a police officer to give his name and residence, or gives a name
or residence, which such officer has, reason to believe to be false, he shall be dealt with
under the provisional Section 57. If there is no sufficient reason to believe that he has
committed any offence; he shall be at once released

 

[SekrutYakhni]

"(1) Any private person
may arrest any person who in his view commits a non-bailable and cognizable offence, or
any proclaimed offender, and without unnecessary delay, shall make over any person so
arrested to a police-officer or, in the absence of a police-officer, take such person or cause
him to be taken in custody to the nearest police-station."

"him to be taken in custody to the nearest police-station."

WHAT????
Do you think that ISI handed those criminals to police right away?

"If there is reason to believe that such person comes under the provisions of Section
54, a police-officer shall re-arrest him."

This article of criminal code, I suppose, DOES NOT talk about the FAMILY MEMBERS of the ACCUSED.
Remember: There is a difference between ACCUSED and an OFFENDER.

"view commits a non-bailable and cognizable offence, or
any proclaimed offender, and without unnecessary delay"

So, in order to arrest someone, you need to have a REASONABLE GROUNDS, right?
There is a difference between offence and accuse.


Can you try again to justify the lunatic actions of your human lord? (I suppose)

 

[SekrutYakhni]

" FIA certainly dose as do the Military Police"

Yes, you might be right but there are some legal liabilities for the police officers and military services to follow. There are some rights given to the accused or even offender.

You cannot pick someone from a house without giving the reasons of arrest to the accused/offender and/or to the family members. If, there is an emergency, you can take someone right away BUT YOU HAVE TO provide legal counsel or at least tell the relatives.

Missing person case is not about arresting someone or accusing someone.
Yes, if ABC, did commit some federal offence, he/she should be given legal counsel OR the relatives should be informed.

It seems like, the people went missing in thin air, which is wrong.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

Furthermore, you cannot "SELL" people to foreign countries as Musharaf did.

I feel no shame to say that this decision involves other core commanders or military top brass.

Can you please tell me some section of our constitution which says that citizens of Pakistan can be handed over to foreign countries?

 

[SekrutYakhni]

"That is disinfectants and false. It not something that would never happen in Pakistan, it has happened."

It seems that you are presenting a specific lobby here, most likely those khaki boys or AT LEAST you have a biased love for them in your heart.

I think you did not read your post, which is not good at all.

"former Naval Chief, Mansur-ul-Haq "

Go back and look at my post. The Indian ARMY General is a serving one...
Feel the difference?

How many serving ones did we get behind the bars in the past?
Someone, anyone??

 

[SekrutYakhni]

Ohh, do you remember General Niazi?
The one who surrendered?

" In order to clear his name, Niazi sought a court martial, but it was never granted. "

So, we could not even do a court marital of a person who b|tched our country, let alone luli mulis like Musharaf...

 

[sparten]

"former Naval Chief, Mansur-ul-Haq "

Go back and look at my post. The Indian ARMY General is a serving one...
Feel the difference?

How many serving ones did we get behind the bars in the past?
Someone, anyone??

Mansur-ul-Haq. Have you read the entire article? He was dismissed from service by the Nawaz Government while the serving Naval Chief
in 1997. The loss of rank and privileges was in 2002.

And yes you have had serving Generals court martialed. The whole Agosta fiasco saw several officers cashiered.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Much belated chest-beating

Dawn
Kamran Shafi
Jan 25 2011

I AM astonished at the hand-wringing going on at present with various commentators whingeing and wailing at the pass that our poor country is at.

Rather late in the day, what, to now beat their breasts and moan when it was quite clear years ago that we were travelling at the speed of light to the dark and stifling place we find ourselves in today.

Did it have to take the brutal murder of the governor of the most powerful province of the country in, of all places, the capital of the Land of the Pure by, of all people, one of his own guards?

Did none of them realise that the unholy nexus between the Deep State and the hard-line religious extremists (aka `assets`) would one day lead to just such a situation? In which no one had any control over anything at all, in most cases deliberately. In which the writ of the `assets` would far outweigh even the imperatives of the state itself. And in which an atmosphere of extreme fear would be engendered so that the manipulators who live in the shadows would be free to go on with their machinations unfettered.

Why is everyone so surprised that we are where we are today? That even those of us brought up in Muslim homes as Muslims should now be made to feel that we were not Muslims in the real sense; that the faith we were taught as children to be a kind, merciful and forgiving one was actually nothing of the kind? Why the surprise when the writing has been on every wall in this blessed country ever since the days of Zia?

The most frightening aspect of this whole matter is that there is no realisation even now among those that consider these dark forces their `assets` that an unruly and self-righteous horde can hardly be an asset at all. That this horde can only morph into a force that will sweep all before it, as has happened in Swat already. That this Frankenstein`s monster will increasingly turn on its creator, as has happened already in the several brutal attacks on our army installations and vehicles, even on mosques, God help us.

But enough of whining. The point really is that you and I have no control over what the Deep State does or does not do. We can just roll with the punches and try and fight back as best we can and live by the values we were brought up with. Oh, and yes, give friends you have not met or spoken to in a while a call. And go and see them and talk about the old days, recalling events of fond memory.

Reminisce pleasurably about what this country was before it was set upon by the ideological thekedars and moulded and twisted to suit the ethos of our various Bonapartes. And do it before it is too late, a realisation brought to the fore by the recent demise of a dear and affectionate senior friend and relative, and one of the very best civil servants I have known, Javid Akram. RIP, adda .

What, pray, is this about building an addition to that extremely ugly scar on Islamabad`s already mostly ugly architectural landscape, the parliamentary lodges? Why add to the city`s hideousness? And at such enormous cost? Just as the government had the good sense to shelve plans for building a monument to the much-lamented Benazir Bhutto, so should it have the good sense to abandon this wasteful project before another paisa is spent on it.

Many MNA and senators` hostels, I am told, are inhabited by relatives, constituents, secretaries and servants, with the parliamentarians concerned living in their own homes in Islamabad. This should be encouraged by giving them a housing allowance which will prove cheaper in the long run considering the enormous administrative costs that accrue in looking after the hostels. The hostels thus freed can be allotted to the `needy`.

I have had occasion to visit the hostels, mercifully only twice in the last 10 years, and have found them ****** beyond belief: roofs leaking; public areas smelling like sewers; bathrooms broken and dysfunctional. There was an MNA on television the other day describing the present cafeteria as filled with water after the recent rains which weren`t quite a deluge. No sirs, no. Please stop this complete waste of scant resources.

Well, God be praised, there I go too, lighting upon the `bloody civilians`! Whilst I had known for some time now that a fleet of top-of-the-line BMW 7-series motor cars had been imported during the closing days of the Commando`s rule for senior army officers, I actually saw a motorcade of the corps commander during a recent visit to Karachi in which the car carrying the officer was a BMW 7-series.

As an aside, a bad choice for our roads, for it had to slow down to a crawl to go over the bumps in the broken road. In these days of rampant terrorism this is a huge security hazard if you ask me.

So could one ask the army too to cut down on wasteful expenditures, only one of which is these fancy cars. The expenses on the building of military messes and VVIP guest houses, and those expended on their running are also in the public domain just as the expenses related to elected people are. If for nothing else, at least so that we the people could compare and see just who is the bigger spender.

In the end, might one ask whatever happened to the army`s inquiry into the loss of Rs2.5bn of the NLC`s money on the stock exchange? And to the alleged firing squad inquiry, both ordered by the COAS himself months ago?

 

[Khan_patriot]

Pakistan was name in the name of Islam and for Allah and Allah is looking after it....
ALLAHOAKBAR

 

[RabzonKhan]

EDITORIAL: Rights violations in Pakistan

Daily Times
January 26, 2011


In its World Report 2011, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the security situation in Pakistan “continued to deteriorate in 2010 with militant groups carrying out suicide bombings and targeted killings across the country”. The HRW report shed light on some very important aspects like counterterrorism, human rights violations by our security forces in conflict areas, mistreatment of minorities, media freedom, judiciary and legal reforms. Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at the HRW, said that “Taliban atrocities are not happening in a vacuum, but instead often with covert support from elements in the intelligence services and law enforcement agencies”. This comes across as another damning indictment of our security establishment, which is protecting certain factions of militants, despite its campaign against terrorism. The local Taliban have wreaked havoc in the country. Thus, if some elements in our law enforcement agencies are indeed complicit in giving support to the Taliban, they must be given exemplary punishment. Pakistan has seen enough bloodshed to last us a lifetime, but there seems to be no end to this madness. Just yesterday, Lahore and Karachi were rocked by terrorist attacks. If the terrorists are not stopped, they will continue with their barbarity.

The HRW report also highlighted how our security forces violate basic human rights during military operations. According to the report, there were “summary executions, arbitrary detention, forced evictions, and house demolitions” in Swat by our military and the police. In a widely circulated video, some soldiers were shown executing a group of men in Swat. Despite assurances by General Kayani to investigate the matter, nothing has come out of it and no one has been held accountable. This culture of impunity is not just limited to FATA or Swat. The situation in Balochistan is far worse. The Baloch continue to go ‘missing’ despite the government’s promise of addressing the grievances of the Baloch. The FC is accused of running a parallel government in Balochistan. Many of the missing are tortured and then killed. Bullet-riddled bodies of the Baloch have been found in different parts of Balochistan. If the military establishment keeps up with this disastrous policy, the situation will certainly get out of control. A political solution is imperative or else the consequences can be catastrophic.

On the other hand, the mistreatment of minorities and violence against women continues in Pakistan. In a patriarchal society like ours, domestic violence, forced marriages and rape are a norm, especially in rural areas. Gender equality remains a distant dream. As for the religious minorities, there seems to be no end to their woes. Religious extremism and bigotry is on the rise. The brutal assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer is a stark reminder of how intolerant we as a nation have become and how fanaticism has permeated our society. On the one hand we are victims of terrorism in the name of religion, and on the other, ethnic strife has led to hundreds of deaths in Karachi. Meanwhile, a weak democratic government is struggling to survive.

Media freedom has also suffered a blow under these trying times. Those journalists who are brave enough to objectively criticise the military are threatened and harassed by the intelligence agencies. The Taliban and other terrorist groups have also threatened or killed journalists for their honest reporting. Pakistan’s tragedy is that our security forces are ‘protecting’ criminal elements while the latter continue to terrorise its citizens. It is time that the government takes some serious measures in order to save our beloved motherland.