| We support democracy, not the corrupt: Nawaz |
 Hypocrisy thy name is Nawaz Sharif. Former prime minister and PML-N Quaid It may be recalled that Nawaz’s political career began as The group took a decision to secure project loans from the foreign banks and only working capital was taken from the nationalized commercial banks. The project financing from foreign banks was ostensibly secured against the foreign currency deposits, a number of which were held in ‘benamee’ accounts, as repeatedly claimed by then interior minister Naseer Ullah Babar at his press conferences. In 1992 Salman Taseer released an account of Nawaz Sharif’s corruption stating that the family had taken loans of up to 12 billion rupees, which were never paid back. On March 2, 1994, Khalid Siraj, a cousin of Nawaz Sharif claimed that the assets of the seven brothers were valued at Rs21 billion. By 1995 family’s declared annual profits from industrial units had increased 1500% from US$ 30 million to staggering US$ 400 million. Besides, court record shows that Musharraf government had prepared a money laundering reference against Sharif brothers in 2000 on the basis of a statement recorded by one of their trusted lieutenants, Senator Ishaq Dar, according to published media reports. Senator Dar’s handwritten statement, given before a magistrate back on April 25, 2000, had alleged that Sharif brothers used the Hudaibya Paper Mills as cover for money laundering during the late 1990s, said the report. Nawaz universally known as no less a corrupt is also confirmed from the latest media report that Sharifs own property worth more than 20 million pounds (Rs2.7 billion) in and around Central The company’s website lists several properties, which include Flat 8, Burwood Place – London W2, worth 700,000 pounds (Rs96.6 million); Flat 9, Burwood Place – London W2, worth 900,000 pounds (Rs124.2 million); 10 Duke Mansions, Duke Street, London W1, worth 1,495,000 pounds (Rs206.31 million); Flat 12a, 118 Park Lane, Mayfair – |
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| Who actually is in-charge in Pakistan? |
 Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday confidently facing a brigade of aggressive and hostile television anchorpersons made some disclosures in his efforts convincing that he was firmly saddled in the seat of the chief executive, making all important decisions in consultations with his cabinet and the parliamentarians from either side. The prime minister finally disclosed that, contrary to the general perception, it was he, and not the Army chief, who restored CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges on March 15. He dismissed the general perception that the judges were restored on the intervention of General Kayani and said the decision to restore the Gilani once again openly defended President Asif Ali Zardari and rejected the impression that he (Asif Ali Zardari) had resisted CJ’s restoration, arguing that without President Zardari’s backing the restoration of judges might not have been possible. PM gave a clear indication to all that his government was in no hurry to reopen the NRO Swiss cases against President Zardari. He said he would wait for the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court before taking a decision to write to the Swiss authorities. PM Gilani said the government would introduce an accountability bill. The PPP strongly believed in accountability, he said but was against any political victimization in the name of accountability. Asserting that he was in complete control of the situation, Gilani said he had visited Pakistan’s nuclear facilities and also seen the nuclear bomb. He said the National At the same time, Gilani cautioned that all the state institutions should operate within their constitutional obligations and given legal mandate, otherwise their clash would ruin everything in Pakistan. He also denied differences between President Zardari and army leadership as being reported in the media. Gilani said deadlines about the imminent fall of his government had started coming the day he had assumed office. He said first his government was given three months, then six months and now December was the deadline, but it too had passed. He said his opponents should wait for five years. Meanwhile, the opponents within and outside the parliament blame that nothing has changed since the ouster of President Musharraf, as all powers remain vested with the President, who in fact is running the show and making every important decisions overriding the parliament. A section of the opposition seems losing all patience for the fledgling democratic government and in their utter frustration are trying to settle their score with the government by approaching the courts for declaring it illegal and immoral, while the other more influential of them have even started covertly seeking help and assistance from the army. Among the triumvirate each possessing their own popular support, at times appear to have fallen on different wave lengths and developed serious differences, instead Gilani asserted, “The army is with us and would support us. We have to remove the negative image against Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,” he stressed. On the other hand, after a lapse of almost two and a half years, only the other day penned down detail judgment by Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday in the case of restoration of the Isn’t a very queer situation, all the top men in the executive, parliament, military as well as in the judiciary (restored by Gilani or Kayani, no provision in the constitution) stand controversial today, leaving one gazing in the in the wilderness, who actually should resign and who should stay put. |
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| Power tariff enhanced by over 13 pc, people pinning hopes on God sent angels’ suo motus find of no help |
 The government’s decision to raise the power tariff by more than 13 percent, effective from January 1, 2010, has administered an electric shock to the nation. The decision to withdraw electricity subsidies being given to lifeline consumers and the agriculture sector does not come as a surprise as it was part of the conditionalities that the Under the IMF’s pressure, Pakistan has had to take many unpopular decisions on economic matters, the new electricity tariff being one of them. The inability of successive governments to tackle the energy crisis has hit our economy hard over the years. The incumbent government should have come up with a rational policy to deal with this issue; instead the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf, went on to make false promises. While he has been harping on about the end of load shedding by December 31, 2009, the country has been enveloped in darkness due to frequent power outages every day for the past few weeks. On top of that, inflated electricity bills have devastated the common man. As if this was not enough, the government’s latest decision will hit the poorest hard and deal a huge blow to the agriculture sector. This too will affect poor farmers the most. Institutions like the |
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| After the historic decision of Supreme Court… |
 The landmark verdict of the The full court of SC, through its verdict reflecting the wishes of the people, has given a message to the world that the judiciary of Pakistan is independent. For the first time a decision has received such widespread applause. The people are supporting the verdict in almost every forum and every section of the society. The politicians are vowing not to let the process of democracy derail while the people are showing all out favour for the accountability of corrupt politicians and rulers. They want the plundered money of the country to be brought back. But it is difficult for the people to digest when all the accused claim that their hands clean. The prices have sky rocketed while unemployment and poverty have increased even further yet these problems go unnoticed and unattended on the part of the people holding reigns of power. Everyone is in favour of a transparent administration and a clean society. Everyone wants that any kind of confrontation between the institutions must be avoided in the larger interest of the country. Are the country institutions heading toward any kind of confrontation? Will the Supreme Court’s verdict pave the path for transparent accountability? Please, share your views with us. |
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| Sharifs didn’t resign over charges, why should PPP: Taseer |
 Nobody from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will resign over mere allegations, as no case has yet been proven in court, said “Allegations have been levelled against leaders of the PML-N and other political parties, their cases are pending in courts ... why are no decisions being announced in their cases?” asked Taseer while addressing the media in Lahore. He said Nawaz came to power with cases pending against him, while Shahbaz Sharif was also governing Punjab “in the same manner”. The Punjab governor said that democracy and the system could never sustain if “interference in each other’s work continues”. He said the PPP had worked hard to strengthen democracy in the country, but institutions’ interference in each other’s work would weaken democracy. “Allegations will keep surfacing, but the government will continue its work,” he said, and questioned if he should listen to some TV programme anchors and step down or work for the masses. He said nobody could force anybody to resign. The governor said the PPP would remain in the government and face the charges against the party in court. Replying to a question, he said the media did not have the mandate to decide who should resign, and it should only play the role of a “watchdog”. He said that the president, the prime minister, the Senate chairman and the He also questioned why justice was only for those who remained imprisoned for years. He said justice should be for the 160 million people of Pakistan. He said PPP would serve the people who elected it. Replying to a question, he said the PPP had made great sacrifices for democracy, and it was for the masses to decide about the fate of elected representative after every five years. “The PPP will go back to the voters after five years,” he said. |
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| PPP vows to foil any repeat performance of judicial murder |
 The PPP-led government appears to have been rocked back by the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdict. For those baying for the NRO beneficiaries’ blood, it must come as a surprise, nay even shock, that far from rolling over and playing dead, the PPP seems to have decided to take on its detractors and come out of its corner fighting. The President and the PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari Saturday presiding over the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting said that the PPP would use ‘democracy and constitutionalism’ as its weapons to fight its adversaries and foil all conspiracies against it. “None of the accusations have been proved during more than a decade of witch-hunting and there is no reason why anyone should resign until proven guilty of wrongdoing,” president’s spokesman Babar quoted the President as saying. The president said the party survived even after the judicial murder of its founder chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Approved resolution in the meeting stated that the PPP co-chairman was carrying forward the politics and struggle of the party for the coming generations. “The PPP, in this journey to the future, will continue its struggle under his (President Zardari) leadership with unity and consensus.” “The meeting resolves that any baseless propaganda against Zardari will not be tolerated and will be fully countered”. Through another resolution, the party CEC paid tributes to former prime minister and party chairwoman The members called the meeting extremely important in the current political scenario, saying it gave the CEC members a chance to speak their hearts out. Among others speaking on the occasion, Syed Khurshid Shah truly venting out the sentiments of the people of However, President Asif Ali Zardari said he didn’t want to ‘become another Mujeebur Rahman’. “We are a federation... we will support it because we have a long struggle for the federation and democracy.” The source further said that many CEC members from Sindh endorsed the views expressed by Khurshid Shah. Their body language spoke for themselves that enough is enough---Sindh losing patience now, the volcano is about to erupt—history will not wait for anyone, it is bound to take its own course—if Zardari not willing to lead, the wheels of change would not stop—Balochistan has already taken the lead—Sindh cannot remain unmoved and detached from what is happening in its neighboring province—all for the rights of the provinces over its own resources---a full autonomy in line with the 1940 resolution of Pakistan. |
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| Punjab reveling on NRO, now all set for getting their SC verdict on the construction of dams including Kalabagh |
 The two consecutive orders of the Supreme Court (SC)--one on July 31st and the other on the historically December 16 bleak day for Pakistan-- fired consecutively within a short span of four months, have not only virtually rocked the existing fledging democratic system, but also left the already crumbling nation tattering. The emerging scenario in Pakistan gives the impression that the super-Punjab perhaps monkeying the global superpower U.S., which has kept its dominance over the weak and underdeveloped countries through its ever-changing tactics—sometimes through covert CIA operations destabilizing the established governments and toppling it—sometime through encouraging military coup detat within----- and of late, in the name of democracy, justice and law by instituting its minions and cronies for the sustenance of its hegemonies undisturbed and unchallenged. A 17-member larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday unanimously set aside the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance, declaring it void ab initio – or invalid from the outset. It may be recalled that SC in its earlier July 31st, 09 verdict (more akin to martial law orders) had ruled unconstitutional the emergency Musharraf had declared Nov. 3, 2007 and had fixed Nov. 30 as the deadline for the approval or rejection of the 37 ordinances including the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by parliament for reasons legal or otherwise. One wonders, when SC declaring emergency rule on Nov 3, 2007 as ‘not condonable,’ saying that illegal acts will always remain illegal even if not challenged in a court, in the streets or in the political arena, why NRO was also not struck down straightaway instead of playing Knowledgeable sources say that Sindh is in fact being mercilessly punished earlier by brutal military operations and now in the name of While the supporters of Gen. Ziaul Huque’s look alike outside SC, a section of Lahorites, a few districts in the Potohar and the Sindh Chief Minister said that unholy campaign has been initiated against elected President Zardari by undemocratic forces to compel him to vacate the presidency, which will be infringement of the votes of Sindh Assembly. He further said that Constitution of the country has given immunity to the office of Other reports said that the people by and large in Sindh seem to be furious over Punjab leaders’ demand of seeking President Zardari’s resignation, if not legal at least on moral ground, despite a very bad prcedence set by the judiciary itself, covertly referring to the recent past judicial turmoil. |
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| JI chief claims, “No Muslim involved in suicide attacks in Pakistan” |
 Notwithstanding, the fact that the JI chief Munawar Munawwar Hassan in the same breath said, “Terrorists had reached the military GHQ and remained there for more than 24 hours, so why should we believe in the success of the Army operation in Swat and South JI is on record to have its changing stances on terrorism---initially held the view that the ouster of dictator Musharraf and the restoration of democracy would end terrorism in all its forms---then came with the argument that unless judiciary was restored peace was not possible i.e. accepting the fact that terrorism has its roots within the country and was very much home-grown, but now taking a sharp U-Turn it has started blaming the U. S. and its agencies, despite most of the heinous incidents of suicide bombings and blasts’ responsibility owned by the Taliban spokesman either live or through video statements on TV channels besides Taliban’s warning to clerics issuing ‘Fatwa’ against the suicide bombings. |
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| Was CJ Chaudhry’s motorcade accident ‘highly unusual’? |
 Was it an attempt on the life of Meanwhile, it is reported that a whispering campaign has been unleashed by certain elements to malign CJ Chaudhry, claiming that his blemished son Arsalan Iftikhar was driving the car, which had narrowly missed a fatal accident in Islamabad. The gossip that has reached the media circles suggests that CJ Chaudhry, as alleged in the Musharraf era’s reference against him, has a passion for pompous protocol and majestic show off preferred traveling through Motorway all the way from Lahore to Islamabad keeping everybody all along including the police on toes, while the Registrar Supreme Court had rejected the inquiry conducted into the incident because of the Arsalan factor. However, the senior police officials and all those involved in conducting the enquiry disclosed that the chief justice was not even in his own official car, but was traveling in the The inquiry report, disapproved by Registrar Supreme Court Dr. Faquir Husain, interestingly did not mention any such thing. There were dozens of eyewitnesses, including members of the chief justice’s security officials and members of his motorcade, and none ever raised this point, said the report. The inquiry committee, constituted by the Interior Ministry, which submitted its findings to the government of late, however, does not see any conspiracy behind the accident. It rather concluded that the accident took place because of the negligence of the traffic police. |
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| Consensus on NFC Award, Centre makes historic shift to provincial autonomy |
 The federal and the provincial governments have finally achieved a landmark consensus on the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award-- with the vertical share of provinces in the federal divisible pool increased from 47.5 percent to 56 percent for the first year of NFC (2010-2011) and 57.5 percent for the remaining four years. In marathon negotiations spanning over three days in Lahore, not only the Centre sacrificed its share under the vertical arrangement in an endeavour to give additional financial incentives to the provinces, but also the Punjab showed flexibility on contentious issues under the horizontal inter-provincial sharing of resources. Federal Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, who is also chairman of the 7th NFC Award, accompanied by the four provincial chief ministers and the finance ministers, made Friday this announcement on the finalization of the award – the first in 13 years, at a press briefing, amid rare applauses and praises for each other. Tarin said the Centre recognised the needs of the federating units for a larger share in the divisible pool, as they are assigned the task of providing basic services like health, education, water supply and sanitation to the masses. He said, “The federation will become stronger if the provinces achieve the financial autonomy and become more powerful,” he added. Tarin told journalists the federal government has agreed to cut tax collection charges from 5.0 per cent to 1.0 per cent and this amount would also be added to the divisible pool. About the thorny issue of sales tax on services, he said the NFC recognized sales tax on services as a provincial subject and the respective provinces might collect it. About the horizontal distribution among the provinces, he said the Punjab would now get 51.74 per cent, Sindh’s share will be 24.55 per cent, the NWFP will receive 14.62 per cent share, while About the break-up of unprecedented multiple indicators and their weightages, the finance minister said population would be given 82.0 per cent weightage, poverty/backwardness 10.3 per cent, revenue collection/generation 5.0 per cent and inverse population density 2.7 per cent. He said the federation and the Punjab, The minister said the Centre and all the four provinces recognize the role of the NWFP as a frontline state against the war on terrorism. “Apart from the federal government’s commitment to bear all expenditures of the “We propose to boost our tax-to-GDP ratio to 13.9 per cent from the current 8.8 per cent over the next five years. In addition, the federal expense is being reduced to 12 per cent from 14.6 per cent. That will allow us to allocate more resources to the provinces,’ he maintained. Later, Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani called the award a “positive and productive beginning... this is a step towards provincial autonomy”. President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday warmly felicitated the nation and the federal and provincial governments on reaching a consensus on the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and termed it win-win for every one. Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani said consensus over NFC award reflects that country’s political leadership is fully capable of resolving issues, while the people at large hailed it as a victory of democracy. |
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| Militants today out to destroy Pakistan, they must be destroyed before they do it to us |
 We count the dead – 484 since October 5 according to one source, the government and the security agencies need to take stock of the situation and come up with new strategies to counter this rise in terrorist activity. They also need to stop living in denial about certain things. For terrorist attacks in Meanwhile, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chief Hakeemullah Mehsud said in a phone call with CNN on Tuesday TTP will take on the army when winter arrives in the tribal region. “We will wait till January for our offensive since we are stronger during the snowing season,” Hakeemullah said. He said he was confident despite the large-scale On the other hand, US envoy for It’s not quite known what the government and military tactics are and whether any distinction continues to be made between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. It must be hoped this is no longer the case. Once upon a time the Afghan Taliban were allies; the good and evil of that partnership has been debated at length. But there can be no doubt at all that today the militants are out to destroy the state of Pakistan and all that it represents. It has become impossible to distinguish between the different branches of militancy. All the forces that make it up have amalgamated; in some places the nexus is loose, in others tightly tied together. It is necessary to destroy all forms of militancy if this network is to be broken. We still do not know why there is what appears to be a continued reluctance to go after the likes of Mullah Omar and his men. Similarly, no effort has been made either to target militants based in southern |
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| Will the SC also review how 15/20 years old NRO cases remained unheard or undecided |
 A 17-member larger bench of the Supreme Court – headed by Legal experts believe the court would not only decide the fate of the beneficiaries, but would also determine the scope and parameters of the constitutional immunity available to the Meanwhile, ML-N Quaid It may be recalled Nawaz’s political career began as Punjab finance minister in 1981 under one of the worst dictator of Pakistan General Zia-ul-Huque. The day Nawaz Sharif had become finance minister; the entire family’s earnings were few million rupees and had only one refinery. From there they went on to: Ittefaq Sugar Mills set up in 1982, Brothers steel in 1983, Brother’s Textile Mills in 1986, Brothers Sugar Mills Ltd in 1986, Ittefaq Textile units in 2-3 in 1987, Khalid Siraj Textile Mills in 1988, Ramzan Buksh Textiles in 1987, Farooq Barkat Private Ltd. in 1985. By the time of Zia ul Haq’s fateful plane crash, Mian Muhammad Sharif’s family was earning a net profit of US$ 3 million, up from a few million rupees. By the end of the decade their net assets were worth more than 6 billion rupees, according to their own admission, nearly US$ 350 million at the time. But this turned out to be small-change, when Nawaz Sharif became the Prime Minister. When Nawaz Sharif became prime minister, the group took a decision to secure project loans from the foreign banks and only working capital was taken from the nationalized commercial banks. The project financing from foreign banks was ostensibly secured against the foreign currency deposits, a number of which were held in benamee accounts, as repeatedly claimed by then interior minister Naseer Ullah Babar at his press conferences. In 1992 Salman Taseer released an account of Nawaz Sharif’s corruption stating that the family had taken loans of up to 12 billion rupees, which were never paid back. On March 2, 1994, Khalid Siraj, a cousin of Nawaz Sharif claimed that the assets of the seven brothers were valued at Rs21 billion. By 1995 family’s declared annual profits from industrial units had increased 1500% from US$ 30 million to staggering US$ 400 million. Now coming to Mian Sahib, his official statement of his assets was just made public recently, in which he says that his total worth is Rs1 crore or so, and he actually owes money to his children, therefore he wouldn't have to pay high taxes. His worth, including all his factories is Rs1 crore?? And poor Nawaz Sharif has to loan money from his children. He filed these while giving long emotional speeches on the importance of justice and truth. Court record shows that Musharraf government had prepared a money laundering reference against Sharif brothers in 2000 on the basis of a statement recorded by one of their trusted lieutenants, Senator Ishaq Dar, according to published media reports. Senator Dar’s handwritten statement, given before a magistrate back on April 25, 2000, had alleged that Sharif brothers used the Hudaibya Paper Mills as cover for money laundering during the late 1990s, said the report. As regards the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani claiming his wife not the NRO beneficiary, knowledgeable circles raise questions why did the bank not recover the full loan amounting to Rs470 million from the wife of PM by auctioning her property? Why was her loan written off against the payment of Rs35 million only? Why was section 19(3) of banking laws not applied in her case? On the other hand, the mastermind of the so-called judicial revolution, Today, the President, prime minister, parliament, judiciary, defence managers, politicians and the entire legal community stand thoroughly exposed, as they all carry plethora of obnoxious allegations against them, yet to be cleared from the relevant constitutional bodies, but unwilling to leave their offices and the nation to choose its own way, until the volcano erupts and the real justice—people’s justice sparkles. |
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| Pakistan and the US need to work closely together to defeat militants |
 A senior US diplomat has again raised the question of the presence of key militants in Quetta, and said that members of Somewhat more disturbingly, there has been at least a hint that the US could consider drone strikes in Even though anger against the Taliban has been growing, feelings against the US continue to complicate the issue and add to the hurdles that hamper the effort to defeat the militants. Pakistan and the US need to work closely together to defeat militants. Washington needs to acknowledge that Pakistan has lost thousands – civilians and soldiers – in this effort. Some have died in fighting; others in terrorists’ attacks. The US then needs to make sure it can work with Pakistan and indeed learn from its experiences. Conjecture about the presence of key Taliban leaders in Quetta has continued for a long time. People based in the city have themselves narrated anecdotes of regular gatherings at certain houses. It is thus possible that there is some truth in the rumours about this presence. And if it is so then the real question is… what we are doing about it? We need to devote more thought to this so that all energy can be directed towards doing what is best for our county and its people. Unbelievable as it may seem given the havoc the Taliban have inflicted on our country, there still seems to be some doubt as to how we should deal with them. The militant threat is a huge one and it will take a major, well-coordinated effort to defeat it. The focus in the aftermath of the new US strategy should be to find ways to effectively counter the threat. |
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| Al Qaeda-Taliban monsters’ massacre in the mosque |
 Just as we tentatively take a few deep breaths, hoping that the worst days of terror are over, the militants strike back, demonstrating that they remain capable of organising the most audacious of attacks. Certainly the one on the mosques located not very far from the GHQ in The assailants, said to number seven or eight, clearly intended to create maximum mayhem. They succeeded. Multiple suicide attacks took place inside the Parade Lane Masjid, off Peshawar Road during Friday prayers, portions of which collapsed as a result. The fact that the terrorists succeeded in entering it is in itself telling. The mosque is reported to be one frequented mainly by military personnel with tight security routinely in place. Despite this, the terrorists seem to have been able to enter with their grenades and bombs. People reported to have been grabbed and shot at close range. Grenades targeted others. It was unclear at the time of writing how many terrorists had managed to flee. In the immediate aftermath of the attack the toll is being put at 40. It could rise. The awful events that have occurred give rise to important questions. Did the militants have links that made their task possible? How did they have so much information about the layout of the mosque? How were they able to get past the security shield reported to have been in place? These queries have come up before – most notably after the siege of the GHQ. This latest massacre resembles that attack. Perhaps it could have been averted had we tried harder to honestly answer the questions that had come up previously. The attack comes just a day after the attempted bombing of the Naval Headquarters. The bombing that killed an MPA in Kabal in Swat seems to have been a part of this new wave of terrorism. Some consider it an upshot of utter desperation, some link it to the announcement of the US troop surge in Afghanistan, while others believe it is simply a continuation of the Al Qaeda-Taliban inherent barbaric instinct. What is clear is that amidst us remain persons willing to unleash the most fearful violence. They are capable of the most organised of actions. The operation waged in FATA has struck the terrorists cowardly taking to their heels, who in their desperation have started targeting, mosques, Imambargahs, shopping malls and other public places. |
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| Will Obama's new Afghan policy make the difference? |
 President ‘We will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan,’ Obama told cadets at the US ‘We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan,’ he said as he rolled out his new strategy for Afghanistan. ‘That is why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border,’ he said, more than eight years after ‘In the past, there have been those in Pakistan who have argued that the struggle against extremism is not their fight, and that Pakistan is better off doing little or seeking accommodation with those who use violence,’ he said. ‘But in recent years, as innocents have been killed from ‘Public opinion has turned. The Pakistani army has waged an offensive in Swat and South Waziristan. And there is no doubt that the United States and Pakistan share a common enemy,’ he said. ‘In the past, we too often defined our relationship with Pakistan narrowly. Those days are over,’ ‘We will strengthen Pakistan’s capacity to target those groups that threaten our countries, and have made it clear that we cannot tolerate a safe-haven for terrorists whose location is known, and whose intentions are clear,’ he said. ‘America is also providing substantial resources to support Pakistan’s democracy and development. We are the largest international supporter for those Pakistanis displaced by the fighting,’ he said. ‘And going forward, the Pakistani people must know: |
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| US, UK should share actionable intelligence about Osama: Gilani |
 Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani has rejected reports that al-Qaeda chief Responding to a statement by Meanwhile, the Pakistan authorities ought to take serious exception to the present UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown who has been haranguing them for their failure to capture Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri who, according to the Western propagandists, are presently hiding in the unruly region of FATA, most probably in South Waziristan. Suddenly, a couple of days before Mr. Brown thundered, "If we are putting our strategy into place, Pakistan has to show that it can take on Al-Qaeda." The imperialist streak lingers on though the hollowness of the command comes out clearly in the loss of foreign possessions and global clout. Forgetting that it was the Americans that let, according to their own Senate report, the feared Osama slip away from his pulverised Tora Bora mountain hideout, Mr. Brown remarked, "We have got to ask ourselves why, eight years after September 11, none has been able to spot or detain or get close to Osama bin Laden...(and) Zawahiri...we have got to ask the Pakistan authorities and security services, army and politicians to join us in the major effort the world is committing resources to, not only to isolate Al-Qaeda, but to break them in Pakistan." Mr. Brown should be listening to Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, who counseled the international community to give Pakistan a lot of help because it "does not really have the capabilities for the sort of anti-terrorist measures that we want". |
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| Stop rubbing salt into the wounds, jiffy enact law ensuring 1940 resolution status to provinces: Baloch nationalists |
 The government on Tuesday presented the much-awaited The package talks about giving provincial autonomy to Balochistan and abolishing the concurrent list. It also recommends that the under-construction cantonments at Sui and Kohlu in the Bugti and Marri areas respectively be halted for the present, the military be withdrawn and replaced by the FC. The package also deals with the issue of missing people. It says that the list of missing persons would be investigated and if found in custody, would be released. The government has also assured that there would be no political victimisation. Among other things, there would be an inquiry by the superior judiciary into the murders of Nawab Akbar Bugti, Baloch political workers and target killings in the province. Besides, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani extended an invitation to the angry political leadership of Balochistan, from within and from abroad, to join the national mainstream and initiate a dialogue. “On behalf of this august house as well as with the backing of political leadership of the country, I extend the hand of reconciliation and invite our estranged brothers to a dialogue in all sincerity with a hope that they will respond positively,” he said while addressing the joint sitting of Parliament prior to presentation of Balochistan package “Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan”. On the other hand, the exiled Baloch leaders rejected the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package on the grounds that it doesn’t go far enough to meet their main problems. Hyrbyair Marri, the London-based leader of the powerful Marri tribe, remains staunchly opposed to any compromise with the government. He called Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package a ‘mockery and a cruel joke’ with the people of Balochistan and said it falls short of Baloch expectations and was only an exercise in buying more time. Marri said President Zardari and his government may have good sentiments, but they were powerless and the real powers rest with the military establishment. “If Zardari is so powerful and omnipotent, then why is he expecting the UNO to find killers of his wife Mohtarma Mir Suleman Dawood Khan, the current Khan of Kalat, said the government failed to take all stakeholders on board and didn’t consult those it didn’t like. “Baloch nationalist parties were not consulted and only allies of the current government were informed about it a few days ago.” Noordin Mangal, who regularly speaks at the UN forum, said the package doesn’t address the real problems of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) Vice-President, Sajid Tareen noted what had been announced in the package never been the demand of Balochistan’s people. “Our stand remains unchanged that the federating units must be treated as per the 1940 Pakistan Resolution,” he said. Senator Dr Abdul Malik of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) said the package could not satisfy the people of Balochistan, as it had nothing significant for them. Senator Hasil Bazinjo said the package carries most of the old things and there is nothing new in it. “The Baloch people want practical steps, not announcements,” he added. Political observers said that some of the provisions of the package might work against its thrust of reconciliation. For example, the leaders in exile are welcome to come home without fear of prosecution, except those who have serious charges against them. Similarly, political prisoners are to be released except those with serious charges against them. That leaves out all the prominent leaders in exile and most of the political workers in custody, whether acknowledged or ‘missing’. This will hardly work to bring a healing touch to the troubled province. The government must talk to the actual protagonists to bring about real change in the province. The Baloch people deserve relief after successive military operations and exploitation at the hands of the Centre. |
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 This forum had warned over a year ago that Punjab, in line with the global US policy change of the then upcoming In all 8,041 cases all across Pakistan would open up for legal proceedings, it is said. It may be recalled that most of these cases were cooked up and registered sometimes in the first and second stints of Nawaz Sharif’s premiership, especially in Let us not forget that these some 15/20 years old cases, after a brief gap of nearly a year, would be opening up providing the legal community a huge financial bonanza in terms of fleecing the clients and extorting fabulous money in the name of making under the table payments to the judges for favours, yet the cases true to the tradition of our Quoting the Minister of Law, Afzal Sindhu, many corruption cases were pending for decades. “Only one case was decided, after which three judges had to resign,” he added. He said cases filed against the PPP leaders by the NAB during the tenure of However to cut the story short, it is now the responsibility of the ‘independent’ judiciary and the revolutionary legal community to proceed with these cases and decide as jiffy as the cases of Sharifs and rise to the expectations of the people by ensuring recovery of the entire 165 billions of rupees written off because of the promulgation of the NRO. ‘Independent’ judiciary thus far has given a very poor account of itself, especially in respect of the fixation of petroleum products’ prices, electricity and gas tariffs, sugar price and on the terror fronts those of Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz and Tahrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) chief, Maulana Sufi |
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| Will PM intervene or will |
 The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has warned that it will cease to exist and its actions will become invalid in case the government fails to re-promulgate the Competition Ordinance on or before November 28. Addressing a press conference, Chairman CCP Khalid Mirza said that the commission had formally kick-started the required process by sending an official communication to the He said that according to one legal opinion the president could re-promulgate the Competition Ordinance 2009 even after the cut-off date of November 28, 2009, but in that case the CCP would cease to exist after Nov 28 till the re-promulgation of the ordinance. He said that the The CCP, he said, had taken decisions in about 20 cases pertaining to various sectors, including cement, stock exchanges, The Supreme Court in its July 31, 2009 verdict declared the PCO actions as illegal and unconstitutional and directed the government to get approval of parliament on all ordinances, including the Competition Law, till November 28, 2009. If the government would not get parliament’s nod till the stipulated timeframe, the CCP actions would become invalid. To another query about the industrial sector objections that the CCP would hurt investors’ confidence, he said that those, who were ‘dishonest’ drumming up such kind of propaganda. He said that being affiliated with the World Bank and the IFC, he brought around $300 million investment in Pakistan and he knew that the investors would only like to invest in the countries, where favourable law and order situation and competitive laws exist. Answering another objection raised by industries for increasing right of appeals through high courts, Khalid Mirza said that the judicial reforms aimed at reducing the number of appeals as one full right of appeal was sufficient in accordance with the dispensation of justice and practices adopted around the world. A top diplomat confided to The News that some very important donor countries were watching the CCP issue very closely and that the Gilani government’s action would speak volumes about it matching its words of creating a corruption-free and exploitation-free environment with equally laudable deeds. |
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 Balochistan Chief Minister (CM), Nawab Aslam Raisani, accompanied by the CMs of While the Punjab CM, Shahbaz Sharif, reciprocating the sentiments said that no problem is insurmountable. “I assure you that no issue would be big enough an issue not to be resolved”, he said and added, “We would resolve them through mutual consultations and trust and that is the basis of our interaction”. “I promise that we will do our level best to make Pakistan a welfare state,” he said, adding that Pakistan would dispel the unfounded concerns and wrong propaganda. Shahbaz said that Pakistan would be strong when all the four provinces become prosperous. “This is the basic principle”, he remarked. The Punjab chief minister said that discussions were going on at the NFC meeting in the same spirit. He said that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is fully in contact with all the four provinces. Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, said that the NFC was a very important issue. He said that the political governments at the centre and in the provinces better understand the needs and requirements of the people. It may be recalled that talking of the need of a new social contract was once made a taboo in Pakistan and any one doing so was branded a traitor. It is heartening to note that the chief ministers of the provinces have shown their inclination not only to delineate and discuss about it, but also to come to a resolution of this issue, which has been instrumental of giving a perception of utter exploitation of the smaller provinces and root cause of discord. The rebel Baloch leaders demanding provincial control over the natural resources of the province and the nationalists in Sindh and NWFP advocating full autonomy to the provinces in accordance with the 1940 Lahore Resolution all believe that the 1973 constitution with as many as 17 amendments tailor-made to serve the needs of the subsequent rulers has outlived its purpose and become totally redundant, especially in respect of a new social contract between the federating units and the province’s right on its natural resources. One would only hope that the Punjab, Balochistan and the Sindh chief ministers were not playing to the gallery and really meant what they said and would soon after arriving at a consensus on the NFC Award make a beginning of the talks on provincial autonomy also, without which the country could not witness the harmony, peace and understanding among the provinces so urgently needed for progress and prosperity of the federating units and thereby the Federation itself. |
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