Political Columns

[SBD-3]

COAS did make a statement pointing to the Balochistan government I think...it was during the PM oath taking I think.

As for tracking bodies, I'll tell you a story. This was narrated to me by someone in Balochistan. The Levies there found a mutilated body inside a water drain near Khuzdar. The usual stuff happened, some photos, fingerprints, ID etc. The LEA's also found a note there with the body that said that the BLA did this as this guy was a pro-Pakistani. There was a name of some guy as well and a sign. The LEA's tried to solve the case but no luck.

Then a couple of days later the FC stopped an ammo truck and apprehended the driver. On info from the driver, FC and other agencies did a operation against the intended destination of the truck (on the mountains) and found a little camp. There weren't many people there, only a few were arrested. No leader or anything, probably low level workers. On interrogation, the agencies found out that these guys were the ones who threw that mutilated body in the water drain. Then the court ordered retrieval of missing persons and the name of 2 guys (who were in custody) also came up.

The local authorities got in touch with the SC Quetta branch and explained the situation. The court ordered that these people be produced before the courts and trialed. Presto, within 2 weeks, these guys were free!!!

I am sure you would have seen the interview of Saleem Safi with a suicide bomber, the bomber was confident and said 'mujhay jail nhn hogi, main azaad ho jaoon ga'. Why did he say that? Because he knew that the court wouldn't convict him and his Taliban buddies would pressurize the judge.

Point being, these agencies don't go around kidnapping people for the fun of it. Those kidnapped people are 90% of the time terrorists or have links with terrorists. When they are produced in court, majority get free. Then the agencies do not produce them before courts but keep them with themselves.

Some of these missing persons aren't even in state custody!!! There are instances of young boys coming down from the mountains after seeing their relatives on TV!!! Nobody goes to a terrorists camp after telling his family! They all run away and are presumed dead or kidnapped by their families.

You tell me yourself, why would ISI or FC or Army kill a 60 year old man on oath taking day of CM and dump him??? Why o why? Hamid Mir has absolutely no proof that ISI or FC did it, yet he labels them as the perpetrators. There is just as much of a chance if not more that BLA did it. It could be because the old man was running a shop and refused to pay extortion money. Maybe because BLA wanted to send a message.

hamid Mir said yestrday that it was FC which did these 2 attacks in Balochistan to send a message? He is saying this without any proof, this then further gives rise to negative remarks and feelings in the public.

Now why the Army doesn't respond? Good question. ISPR is slower than a turtle, it sucks at doing propaganda and stuff like that. Second thing is that the Army doesn't have a respondent sitting on a TV show or in the National Assembly to counter Achakzai's stupid comments. (I sort of respect the guy, but this statement was stupid to the core). Third is that what happens if the Army issues a counter statement, and a few days later a journo ends up kidnapped or dead? Fingers will inevitably point out to the military!

But then again, if agencies are able to apprehend them, then they also should be able to furnish credible evidences. Why do these people get free? Because our law enforcement institutions can't furnish any credible or legally admissible evidence against them. The law acts on evidences, which our law enforcement fail to produce, leaving courts to have nothing against them. All Hamid's point is that with now government in the hands of nationalists (as they complain that they were denied) it is crucial for both agencies as well as the central government to be on the same page with Dr Malik that he would be able to deliver to the people of Baluchistan. The dilemma with Dr Malik is that even BLA is acting against him. Now both federal government as well as security establishment should stand by him because he needs it more than ever.

 

[SBD-3]

 

[Jango]

But then again, if agencies are able to apprehend them, then they also should be able to furnish credible evidences. Why do these people get free? Because our law enforcement institutions can't furnish any credible or legally admissible evidence against them. The law acts on evidences, which our law enforcement fail to produce, leaving courts to have nothing against them.

That is a fair point. Our prosecution is abysmal.

But then again, even in cases where there was ample evidence, the terrorists got free. Case in point, the Lal Masjid mullah. His brother was shot, but he got freed by the courts. What more evidence do you need about him? Terrorists captured while fighting the army 50 meters away were handed over to Police and then moved through the courts, but they got free. This was a few years ago. Then the Army started killing them right then and there.

If Musharraf gets convicted of killing Bugti (a warlord, with a private militia blowing up pipelines and tracks and kidnapping people) but the terrorist of lal Masjid doesn't, then you and I both know that we are living in a screwed place.

The reasons for non-conviction are various, death threats to judges, lack of evidence, poor prosecution etc, but at the end of day, a terrorist gets free and the hard work becomes undone.

All Hamid's point is that with now government in the hands of nationalists (as they complain that they were denied) it is crucial for both agencies as well as the central government to be on the same page with Dr Malik that he would be able to deliver to the people of Baluchistan. The dilemma with Dr Malik is that even BLA is acting against him. Now both federal government as well as security establishment should stand by him because he needs it more than ever.

In the article alone, that maybe the point, but in his tirade on Geo TV, that wasn't case. He straight up blamed the FC and ISI of the two attacks in an attempt to destabilize the government.

What evidence does anyone have that the Army doesn't want the nationalists like Dr Malik in government? If it was Mengal in power, then you could have a case, but why would Army go against Dr Malik? Log Area Commander wouldn't be sending him felicitations if the Army was against Dr Malik.

As I said, we have no evidence to say that Army is against Dr Malik and all...

I agree that it is crucial that Army and Federal govt should be behind Dr Malik. The previous CM had given up and had outsourced the job of governing the province to the Army, same as the Federal government did in FATA and ANP in Swat.

Now let's hope all the government do their jobs and don't outsource them to the Army.

 

[Devil Soul]

Mehmood Khan Achakzai Ka Biyan


SYED TALAT HUSSAIN

 

[Bratva]

 

[SBD-3]

 

[Devil Soul]

Dangerous statements
That extremism and a radical mindset, as well as a disregard for the norms of justice, have seeped deeply into our society is something that has been quite apparent for a long time now. But to see its manifestation in the form of an elected parliamentarian demanding the release of a convicted murderer is highly deplorable and shocking. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Mardan, Mujahid Ali, has stoked huge controversy after demanding on the floor of the National Assembly, the release of Mumtaz Qadri, who shot dead the former governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, for his apparent opposition to the country’s blasphemy laws. Qadri was later sentenced to death for his gruesome act.
Although the PTI later dissociated itself from Mr Ali’s statement, calling it an individual act and not reflective of the party’s policy, the matter simply cannot be allowed to rest at that as this comes from someone, who is in a position to influence the kind of laws that enter our statute books, and ultimately, the course the country takes. PTI leader, Arif Alvi’s clarification, that “the party’s policy will remain under the country’s law and the Constitution” is kind of meaningless as it clearly had no influence on Mr Ali, who had no trouble in expressing a view that was in contradiction to the PTI’s policy.
One cannot help but refer to the ruckus that was created after Javed Hashmi famously declared at the inauguration of the new parliament that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is and will remain his leader. He was eventually forced to retract his statement. If such a hue and cry can be raised over a harmless statement like that of Mr Hashmi’s, and if a leader of his stature does not have a problem withdrawing it, then the party must demand a similar retraction from Mr Ali, who has ignored all norms of justice in airing such views. If Mr Ali fails to retract his statement, then the PTI should initiate disciplinary action against him. It should not be this easy for our lawmakers to condone, directly or indirectly, the acts of convicted criminals.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2013.
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[Jango]

 

[SBD-3]

 

[Devil Soul]

Ejazul Haq a spoiler of feel-good mood
By Nusrat JaveedPublished: June 25, 2013
For being a firm believer of undiluted and dynamic democratic system, I would have preferred to consider the Monday of June 24, 2013 as the happiest day of my life. An overwhelming majority of my youngish colleagues dampened the feel-good mood, however, when I walked into the press lounge after witnessing a historic speech delivered by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the national assembly on this day.
Without any exception, all of them instantly expressed the opinion that insidious operators of the so-called deep state would just not swallow the idea of General Musharraf’s trial for treason. A vicious game of either/or has rather been set between the elected government and the deep state after Nawaz Sharif’s dramatic announcement to prosecute the former dictator. They had no doubts in their mind as to who would prove the ultimate winner in this battle and anxiously started to speculate about the possible timeline of the end game. The collective anxiety of my colleagues made me worriedly realize the path dependent defeatism that rules the discourse in our mainstream media. Let me add, though, journalists were not alone in feeling pessimism on this count. Even the majority of PML-N legislators felt the same way in spite of endorsing their leader’s position with spirited desk thumping while sitting in the house. Off the record sharing of thoughts does not permit naming them.
I have it from highly reliable sources that Nawaz Sharif had delivered the Monday speech after preparing its draft after many rounds of brainstorming sessions in Raiwind over the weekend. For more than two hours, he also made himself disconnected with the world before summoning the speechwriter to dictate points for his Monday speech. Both the cell-phones of this speechwriter remained switched off during the past 48 hours.
Without defending or laughing at the cautious and secretive conduct of Nawaz Sharif, one has to admit that things since the suicidal landing of General Musharraf in Pakistan early this year have moved beyond the controlling capacity of a mere individual, even for a formidable politician like Nawaz Sharif.
We have a fiercely independent and hyperactive judiciary in Pakistan these days and it had firmly asked the government to state its position on June 24 regarding the question of trying Musharraf under the treason charges. The PML-N leader could just not afford to act forgetting and forgiving at this stage. After all, throughout the previous five years he had been harshly criticizing the PPP-led government for letting the former dictator leave, first the presidency and later Pakistan, with a formal sendoff glamorised by the guard of honour. After consistently agitating on this issue, he could not act “generous” while deciding on the same question after being elected as the Chief Executive of Pakistan.
Notwithstanding the obvious political compulsions of Nawaz Sharif at this point, we must think twice before setting ourselves to watch the suspense and thrills filled trial of General Musharraf. Discreet messages to the former dictator are still being sent to persuade him for adopting a position that could help find the safe passage for him in the end. In spite of desperate combing and beseeching, my sources are not willing to go beyond merely hinting at the strategy that Dr Qadeer Khan had adopted to elude trial when it came to selling Pakistan’s nuclear capacity and some redundant tools to some states, considered ‘rogue’ by the US-led international community.
For another time, Mehmood Khan Achakzai showed his large heart and calibre by stressing that the civilians should not take the decision of Monday as demeaning or maligning the armed forces per se. The Pakistan Army, as an institution, must not be held responsible for being thus undermined by the opportunistic and self-serving doings of a cabal of ruthlessly ambitious officers. Even if sounding an exceptional critic of Nawaz Sharif’s decision to try Musharraf, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also preferred to strain his mind and leash his tongue for using a restrained language.
Ejazul Haq remained the one and only spoiler of the feel-good mood. The son of General Zia was deliberately provocative to recall Zulfikar Ali Bhutto with scathing words. Doing this, he somehow failed to notice that Aseefa Bhutto Zardari was sitting on a front bench in the visitors’ gallery. She witnessed the national assembly proceedings with studious keenness. With her watching so intently, the crowd of PPP legislators felt doubly annoyed with Ejaz-ul-Haq’s conduct unbecoming of an experienced parliamentarian on such a somber and epoch-making occasion. With his admirable vigilance, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan saved the day for another time with sobering intervention. Although, Ishaq Dar opted to stand as well to protect the government, but in the process quoted those articles of the Constitution that in effect would help those in the end, who passionately demand that General Musharraf should be tried for enforcing “the second martial law” on Nov 3, 2007. He and his collaborators deserve a trial for making the first move on October 12, 1999 as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2013.

 

[Devil Soul]

 

[SBD-3]

 

[rashid.sarwar]

 

[SBD-3]

 

[SBD-3]