The site consists of comments on Pakistans current political scene. It will highlight the controversies, the scandals, the political leaders and happenings vis a vis the countries present day politics.
THE LATEST COMMENTS ARE ON THIS PAGE.AFTER THIS TRY PAGES 14 , 13 ,12 and 11. THE OTHER PAGES CONTAIN COMMENTS ON EVENTS SINCE MAY 1997.
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NAWAZ SHARIFS FIRST YEAR
EVEN THE FATHER OF THE BOMB IS CORRUPT ??
NWFP, PUKHTUNKHWA , KHYBER OR ALLIANCE
REDUCING THE SERVICES CHIEFS FROM THREE TO ONE
From the beginning to the end Nawaz was dogged by one crisis after the other. Sectarian strife continued in the punjab and MQMa-MQMh war in karachi continued with daily casualties. His alllies continued posing problems and generally Punjab for the first time in the history of the country totally dominated politics .He removed all potential opponents from state institutions such as the presidency and the judiciary by stage managing one crisis after the other.The state of the countries economy did not improve . Privatization is almost at an end but there is no respite for the poor and employment is only available to the politically connected or foreign educated. The country seems to be even more dependent on IMF short term loans than before and the countries economic managers continued to mortgage the countries assetts for foreign exchange. The banking sector did not show much improvement despite induction of overpriced bankers from the private sector and the Muslim Commercial Bank, United Bank Limited and Habib Bank Limited closed down numerous branches and fired thousands of employess. Even foreign banks started to downsize. Wapda continued facing financial problems primarily because of privatization and Private Power Producers. Its financial losses are equivalent to the amounts that it has to pay for expensive electricity purchases from the private sector. One can almost say with conviction that the countries economic situation will be no different even after privatization is completed. Of the 365 days the prime minister spent 65 days on useless foreign tours. The Nawaz family got around 9.7 bilion in loans rescheduled and appointed cronies to all posts available ala asif zardari. Accountability failed as a sop to prop the govt and seemed akin to political victimization. Prices of foodstuffs rose by over a 100%. He has however managed to silence the private sector into virtual submission which the PPP failed to do. With its overwhelming majority in parliament the govt legislated two constitutional amendments and 41 other laws usually without discussion. The govt postponed both the local bodies elections and the census after announcing them. On the provincial and local levels all projects came to a standstill .Most of the govts initiatives were designed to help the rich and only a few major projects were announced. The Pakistan Revenue Service failed to increase tax revenues and the govt is set to reduce its targets by 35-80 billion. Despite an 8% devaluation no major increases were noticed in exports and the speculation is that the rupee might be further devalued. In the open market the rupee touched Rs47 to the dollar for the first time. However there was a general balance with a reduction in imports and the foreign exchange reserves hovered around 1-1.5 billion dollars. The govt could not succeed in increasing loan recoveries and unrecovered loans stood at 130billion. The WB, IMF, Other Donors and the US continued to pressurize the govt on various matters. The afghan issue simmered on and the govt was confronted with the pukhtunkhwa crisis which might cause a fallout in the NWFP.
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In a statement made in the Congress(Indian political party) on the eve of pakistans formation Bacha Khan the father of Wali Khan told the indians that they were leaving them (the pathans sympathetic to the indians) at the mercy of wolves. The wolve he refers to was the Quaid e Azam . This has been clarified by Wali Khan who only now has sort of reconciled to pakistan.
Wali Khan has accused the Quaid e Azam of starting lotacracy. He also questions whether a wolve can really do such things. According to him the khudai khidmatgars were ridiculed by shaving of their beards,blackening their faces and making them ride on donkeys naked with drum beaters around in the villages of NWFP for their opposition to the creation of pakistan. He further states that their houses and shops were looted and many were thrown in jails.After the creation of pakistan Quaid e Azam amended the than constitution to give the federal govt the right to dismiss provincial govts. The amendment was than used to dismiss the NWFP govt and install a PML govt. He also alleges that 600 khudai khidmatgrs were killed when they protested the arrest of Bacha Khan on 12th August 1948. He questions whether that is how the Quaid embraced the pukhtoons.
If the PML did all that to them than one wonders than why the ANP is in a death embrace with the PMLn?
Pukhtunkhwa is the family problem of the Wali family and has nothing todo with the people of NWFP----- MNA Ejaz ul Haq
Pukhtunkhwa is our identity --- says the Mother of Pukhtuns
In related news wali khan has instigated a case against the Frontier Post (generally pro ANP and PMLn) for ridiculing pukhtuns in an article which stated that pukhtuns can never learn and a cartoon which showed a farmer stating that he would be prepared to eat onions to protect his identity and honour rather than eat roast chicken offered by the ANP or the Federal Govt.
The issue of renaming NWFP is to reach its climax in the coming days and the ANP is supposedly going to opt out of the coalition if the PMLn says no.
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The PMLn alliance seems tobe in some trouble on the issue of renaming NWFP. Its nationalist ally the ANP wants the province renamed as Pukhtunkhwa and is making a lot of noise on the matter. The PMLn allies are always at odds with the PMLn so nothing much can be read into their obstructionist attitudes. The PMLn had refused to contest the issue when the ANP raised it in the provincial assembly. However the ANP onits own cannot get the resolution passed thru parliament. The PMLn has come under increasing pressure fron its support groups in the NWFP on the issue and if it supports Pukhtunkhwa it will loose all its seats in the provincial assembly in specific areas. That has caused speculation that the NWFP assembly /govt might not last long. The PMLn is attempting to get the necessary support to form a govt without the ANP which might be difficult. The result would be an end to the PMLn-ANP alliance and NWFP might shortly be heading to the polls where the PMLn is expected to win heavily. The other option would be an ANP-PPP or PMLn-PPP coalition which too would be fragile. The other option which seems like political suicide on the part of the PMLn would be to accept the ANP position which agitates against the general PMLn position. Wali Khan has not been able to get along with any government in pakistan expect the martial law regime of zia ul haq. He could not get along with the balochis, the sindhis the punjabis or the pathans . Wali Khan and company have made several controversial statements on the issue which include the following:
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There was an open campaign in the pakistani press citing corruption allegations against Qadeer Khan whom some call the father of the bomb. Qadeer Khan set up a plant to enrich uranium after collecting the knowledge while working at a netherlands nuclear facility. Qadeer Khan is known to have built several palatial houses in and around islamabad. According to the TFT he also sold a restaurant recently for Rs. 4 crore??!! He was apparently also involved in the controversial HOTSHOTS ARCADE which was recently shutdown by the police after several people were murdered. Anyway the PMLn said it was all an indian plot to dishonour the pakistani scientist.
The Qadeer laboratories have been idle since developing a few short range rickety and unreliable looking missiles and some other minor military items . In between Qadeer attempted to become an idol /public figure attending inaugurations, issuing press statements, donating money etc. and also rebuilding a tomb which supposedly riled up other engineers and scientists who said he was just an administrator and that they did all the work. They expect Qadeer to share the limelight and credits with them. Apparently the laboratory is more interested in developing a cricket team , rebuilding the tomb of a former king and naming the next missile after that king.
However they are now apparently on the verge of developing a medium range ballistic missile with a range of 1500km. It is generally considered that they donot have the necessary technology to develop the rocket motors or the control and monitoring mechanisms . Anyway they are reportedly haggling over a name for the missile. The indians developed their ballistic missiles by buying rocket motors from Russia. Apparently the scientist is prepared to hoodwink the prime minister by supposedly carrying out a test demonstration of the missile in three stages?? One wonders if the prime minister is in china to get the necessary technology??
The PPP in a statement has accused the PMLn govt of victimising Qadeer. Apparently the PMLn has asked for an audit of the Qadeer laboratories by a private firm.The PPP alleges that in 1992 the PMLn govt demolished the house of Qadeer Khan. Qadeer khan was building an opulent and lavish palace in Bani Gala a village near Islamabad against the rules and prople accused him of causing environmental pollution. The annual budget of the Qadeer laboratories is said tobe around $500 million which is spent by Qadeer without any checks. He is also accused of smuggling components from various countries and circumventing even the customs and taxation rules of the country. The PPP also states that a federal minister had a brawl with him recently.
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The concept of a totally controlled judiciary has been achieved by the PMLn. Several judgements by the High Courts and Supreme Courts have shown how well nawaz sharif has achieved that objective. The first judgement was the removal of Sajjad Ali Shah from the position of the Chief Justice on relatively dubious grounds. While Sajjad Ali Shah had made a mockery of the judiciary in his quest for judicial activism (judicial superiority ) that should have been handled via the Supreme Judicial Council rather than by his fellow judges. The SC has just released the full judgement of its decision and it shows that the SC judges donot have any valid reason for Sajjad Ali Shahs removal. They have cited his bad judgements and administrative mishandling as the reasons for his removal which obviously are not justifiable cause. The present CJ also got himself appointed to the Karachi bench while he should have headed the benches at the principal seat of the judiciary. While the judgement has been made on the basis/sense that the judges of the supreme court are equal with regard to jurisprudence/decision making they still attempt to differentiate on the basis of seniority as far as the constitution of various Supreme Court benches is concerned.
The second political judgement came from the Sindh High Court which has upto now been considered the best as far as judicial tradition is concerned. In a decision penned by the new SHC CJ the court released Altaf Hussein and his henchmen who were awarded the death sentence by an anti terrorist court for kidnapping and torturing a military officer. While the initial judgement might have been harsh there was no question as to the involvement of the accused. Thus the Nawaz govt and the judiciary are differentiating on involvement in terrorism based on personal and community political associations.
The other political decision has come from the Punjab High Court which has been politicised since the end of the Bhutto days. The judges in that case considered it alright for Tarrar to have made the judiciary a subject of contempt thus negating an article of the constitution.
Hard on the heels of all that comes the approval of the amendment to the contempt law which literally gives those guilty of contempt the right to appeal even against a verdict of the Supreme Court. Under present laws no appeal is allowed against the judgements of the Supreme Court. So those guilty of contempt a relatively minor offence have been given a loophole which is denied to all others. In approving the contempt law Tarrar has refused to accept the advice of the Supreme Court which had stated that the law was ultravires of the constitution and should be amended.
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In a move that has come thru an ordinance(a controversial means for temporary legislation often used by the dictatorially minded) the govt has renamed the Ehtesab Cell. It is now called the Ehtesab Bureau. Given the intermix of languages in the country our politicos have become sensitive to the interplay of words and their political histories. The word cell is commonly understood as a battery cell. Obviously the goons and dicks at the Ehtesab cell were upset at being considered a battery cell. The word bureau on the other hand is linked to investigations, undercover work and secret goings on with which they are more confortable. They have also given the bureau the powers of a thanedar or SHO and all other investigative and police agencies have to cooperate with them. Meaning that they can generally arrest anyone without reason or investigate anyone without reason and order around the interior minister. The bureau which has fallen on hard times after the lacklustre results of their ' get benazir and her chahetas campaign' has in theory nothing more todo as the next ehtesab will only start after the end of Nawaz Sharifs govt. They have also been given certain other interesting powers including the right to declare a person innocent and the right to appeal against the rejection of their cases to the Suprenme Court. The bureau is doing the same work which was earlier carried out by the FIA. The present govt is generally at odds with the FIA which had investigated them when they were in opposition and obviously know a lot of their secrets. The other reason for the new ordinance is to give the president something todo. The Nawaz govt wants to concentrate all powers in the prime minister and some have been questioning the need of a president. The other view coming from the presidential lobby is that he can rule thru ordinances and there is no need for the prime minister and parliament. Obviously at the moment the prime minister has an edge in that discussion. PAGE INDEXTo go back to the Top
Ever since the retirement of the last Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee(CJCOSC) the govt has been mulling turning the largely ceremonial position into that of an armed forces supremo. That would entail creating a position to which the three armed forces chiefs would be answerable to. The govt apparently has been finding it difficult to deal with the three service chiefs who have differing perceptions about defence needs and wants that to be handled by a professional who would in theory be the armed forces boss. The position would control matters currently handled by the govt as well as the three forces. The possible responsibilities listed are defence budget distribution, senior appoIntments and promotions ,ISI , ISPR, E in C, approval of operations, plans, weapon inductions and all dealings with the govt.
The govt has appointed a CONCURRENT new acting CJCOS but has delayed the matter of appointing a new COAS until the new study has been completed so that the CJCOS can suggest/appoint the new COAS.
The person that the press was referring to as the govts choice for the position of COAS is lt gen Maqbool(NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE HEAD) who is to retire in mid year. The most senior general lt Gen Afsar(QUATERMASTER GENERAL) is to retire in April. The present COAS is due to retire in January 1999 and at that time the seniormost general will be lt gen Ali Quli Khan a relative of foreign minister Gohar Ayub. The list of generals seniority at that time will be Ali Kuli, Khalid Nawaz, Pervez Musharraf, Nasim Rana, Ziauddin, Iftikhar Ali and Salahuddin Tirmizi. So if Jehangir Keramat is tobe appointed the CJCOS and Maqbool as the COAS than the decision will be made after April. However for other permutations the decision on final appointments could be further delayed. (According to THE NEWS) PAGE INDEXTo go back to the Top
Nawaz Sharif seems to be literally a creature of the past and very conservative too. He recently banned simple birth control advertisements which were being funded by foreign donors on the basis that they were sexually suggestive. Apparently the ads which are pretty innocuous have a trademark key on them so that people can remember when they go to buy contraceptives. According to the press the key seems offensive to some who emailed their objections to the prime minister who than banned them from the television screen.
He also still seems to be fighting the demons of the East Pakistan seperation. One of his latest statements is that he will bring to book all those who caused the seperation of East Pakistan. In this context he seems to be in the mood for repatriating not only 9000 families but a total of around 250000 people from Bangladesh. The cost of resettling these people would be an astounding Rs 60 billion which he expects to arrange from donations? Also Nawaz has got his history completely wrong since the PML was literally out of politics in those days and Nawaz Sharifs political birth had yet to take place. The East Pakistan crisis was caused because of his beloved urdu speakers who could not accept bengali as the countries dominant language. Language riots ocurred in East Pakistan in the fifties. The man behind them was non other than Mujib Ur Rehman. Than came the Agartala Sazish case in the ayub era in which the conspiracy was hatched between Mujib and the indians. The 1970 elections showed that there was no support in East Pakistan for a united Pakistan. Mujibs five points which were not acceptable to West Pakistani leaders and were the basis for a division. The five points envisaged total devolution with only defence and foreign affairs left with the center. Even now punjab does not accept financial decontrol and a division of resources on a provincial basis even though there is much greater political openness . Nawaz Sharif has to realize that a few people or individuals cannot cause such a huge division. The people of East Pakistan wanted to be separate and in the end the invasion by the indians accomplished that. Obviously the military tactics employed were of an extreme nature in response to the brutality of the Mukti Bahini who used to behead pakistani sympatisers and Biharis as spies and traitors(akin to tactics adopted by the MQM). Zulfikar Ali Bhutto despite being an accomplished politician could not stop the divide and like a mature politician accepted the inevitable and started rebuilding what was left. Obviously the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army were not functioning on the orders of West Pakistan or Bhutto. It was impossible for the two halves to defend each other. Bangladesh is stronger independent than it was as a part of Pakistan. It was just not possible to defend east pakistan against both internal and external aggression. Most of the people involved in the seperation of east pakistan apart from the generals are all dead. So Nawaz has literally no one to fight against ie apart from the Biharis who were an essential part of the conflict. However given his huge mandate and if he thinks that east pakistan did not want to separate than he can obviously ask them to rejoin Pakistan or he could join bangladesh and accept Hasina as the prime minister and bengali as his mother tongue. Obviously that would not be acceptable to him as he would find it difficult to learn bengali at such a late stage in life.Also the seperation was a natural conclusion to the political, industrial and military hegemony of the Punjabis and Pukhtuns. Very few industries were setup in east Pakistan. In the Ayub era some partial amends were made by sort of attempting to equalise development but by that time it was too late. The bengalis had numerous grievances one of which was the deliberate attempt to keep them out of the army by keeping the height admissible above the average height of bengalis.
As for the Marri rebellion in Balochistan it was a reality and seperatists as Nawaz well knows have to be fought with whatever means available. Obviously the best means are political but in third world countries the armed forces are never very far from politics and in many cases overide govt decisions. Anyway if Zardari senior is to be believed Iran was behind that fight too.
As for karachi what occurred during the PPP era has helped Nawaz control the MQM tremendously even though there have been 500 intra-ethnic killings during the last year. With the terrorists controlled all Nawaz has todo is softsoap the political leadership of the MQM. As for nogo areas one is happy to note that the PML-MQM have turned against them. The MQMa created nogo areas were a much bigger problem than the ones that exist now. Karachi was cleansed and opened by the PPP. That is why Nawaz finds handling the remnants of an insurgency so easy. In the old days he could rarely comment so openly given the political tension. We agree with him that such attitudes are unacceptable and that was the entire PPP philosophy. All areas in the country whether they are in sind ,karachi, punjab, balochistan, nwfp, fata, kashmir or the northern areas should be accessible to the entire populace. Karachi too is not the exclusive domain of the MQMa and other political forces too should be allowed the freedom to operate there. The MQMa in its present shape and mind is probably ashamed of its previous attitudes and role in karachi and hyderabad. One does not forget the MQM's attempts to evict sindhis, pathans and punjabis from specific areas. One hopes that now when the MQM is literally being funded by the federal govt (they have received Rs210 million from Nawaz Sharif) they will change and learn to live amicably with other ethnicities aswell as with themselves.
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Rumours persist despite denials by nawaz sharif that there will be a devaluation. According to a report in todays press the govt is poised to raise the dollar exchange rate to around Rs50. It is argued that the govt might go for devaluations in one or two phases. The only problem is that devaluations are not popular and there are no real reasons for making them. The current argument is the Southeast asian crisis and that the Thai and Vietnamese currencies devaluation is posing problems for the export of pakistani rice!! It is also argued that banks holding huge dollar deposits are arguing that the real exchange rate of the dollar should be around Rs60 to soften nawaz sharifs stance. The argument for raising dollar rates is coming from people speculating in dollars and their influence on the nawaz economic team is substantial. One would suggest that pakistanis hold on to their dollars in the next few months and those wanting to make quick profits turn their rupees into dollars. People who invested in dollars have made good profits in the last ten fifteen years.
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