PML, MQM trying to raise storm in a teacup: Episode engineered: LHCBA

The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) has said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam are trying to raise storm in a teacup over manhandling of former minister for parliamentary affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi.

Speakers at a session of the LHCBA here on Wednesday were unanimous that the lawyers were being blamed for beating up Niazi in an episode engineered by the presidency, and the people who manhandled the minister were indeed policemen in civvies.

LHCBA Secretary Rana Asadullah, Abdur Rasheed Qureshi, Hafiz Abdur Rahman Ansari, Mian Abdul Qadoos, Hamid Khan, HRCP chairperson and advocate Asma Jehangir and LHCBA President Anwar Kamal spoke on the occasion.

They said since March 9, 2007, sorriest of the developments took place but those, who were trying to play up the incident, did not bother speaking about it. They said at a time when democratic forces were gaining strength, the dictator was trying to show the world that democracy was not right for the people of Pakistan.

They said the whole incident was the result of a well thought-out conspiracy under which Dr Niazi remained inside the office of the lawyer, and refused to come out even after the lawyers requested him to leave the place. The role of the police – which had been present on the spot but failed to prevent the incident even after the lapse of five hours – made it abundantly clear that it was a conspiracy.

Dr Niazi had visited the same place a day earlier and had the lawyers been so interested in beating him up, they could have done it on that day, they added.

They condemned former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, former information minister Sheikh Rashid and MQM chief Altaf Husain for using derogatory remarks against lawyers in the wake of the incident.

They said the conspiracy was aimed at sabotaging the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of deposed judges. They vowed to continue the struggle and expose what they called “nefarious” designs of the dictator.

They said they would also hold accountable any lawyer found involved in the incident. They said the lawyers were nearing their objectives and needed to keep focus on their struggle, especially after the release of the judges and the Murree Declaration between the PPP and the PML-N for the restoration of the judges.

They asked Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan to reverse his decision on resignation because none of the lawyers were involved in the incident. They said the lawyers were baton-charged, stoned and tear-gassed but they never let patience slip out of their hands. They said the incident like May 12, engineered by the MQM, could not be forgotten and the lawyers wanted to do away with this culture of aggression.

Speaking on the occasion, LHCBA President Anwar Kamal said the manhandling of Dr Niazi was a reprehensible act. Let alone lawyers, not even a layman would want to beat up even a labourer, he added.

He said the lawyers were not involved in the incident as evident from their role of being on the forefront for establishment of the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and supremacy of the Constitution.

He added the men associated with agencies had been beating up Dr Niazi while the lawyers, present on the spot, tried to protect him.

He announced forming a committee consisting of former LHCBA presidents to examine the video footages of the whole incident and prescribe punishment for lawyers found involved in Niazi’s thrashing.

He announced observing a complete strike of the court proceedings on Thursday (today) and setting up of hunger strike camps for two hours in connection with the weekly protest over the Nov 3 Provisional Constitution Order.

LHCBA Secretary Rana Asadullah presented a resolution before the house against SCBA president’s resignation decision. The resolution, which also condemned the attack on Mianwali District Bar Association offices after the incident, was carried unanimously. Mianwali is the hometown of Dr Niazi.

It also demanded exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of May 12 incident in Karachi.

LBA: The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) has accused President Pervez Musharraf and the caretaker government of, what it says, “engineering the manhandling of former minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi in Lahore on Tuesday”.

Addressing the general house at Aiwan-i-Adl on Wednesday, LBA President Manzoor Qadir said the manhandling was aimed at sabotaging lawyers’ movement for the independence of the judiciary.

He said he was an eye-witness to the incident, and that no lawyer was involved in attacking Dr Niazi.

A mob beat up the former minister for law and parliamentary affairs on Fane Road, ignoring bar leaders’ warnings that their action would jeopardise the drive for the revival of the pre-emergency judiciary.

He said only 40 to 50 per cent of the people present there were lawyers, who had tried their best to avoid the violence. Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan had himself rescued Dr Niazi, he added.

He said police provided ample leeway to the mob to attack Dr Niazi and did not try to protect Mr Niazi “because the attackers were from them”.

He said lawyers fought the “terrorist in uniform” for the restoration of judges and an independent judiciary. He claimed the establishment was trying to create differences among lawyers.

LBA Vice-President and Secretary Malik Arshad and Latif Khan Sara added the manhandling of Mr Afgan was continuity of the ongoing campaign of violence. They asked if lawyers had beaten up Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

They said lawyers would face trial if the government tried to involve even a single lawyer in the ongoing violent activities. They said saboteurs wanted to kill Dr Niazi to end the lawyers' movement.

PML, MQM trying to raise storm in a teacup: Episode engineered: LHCBA -DAWN - National; April 10, 2008

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Lawyers for unconditional reinstatement of judges

Lawyers will not accept any constitutional package and amendment that affects reinstatement of the deposed judges including deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

If any steps are taken against the Murree Declaration, the lawyers will relaunch their movement, said Supreme Court Bar Association member Sheikh Ahsanuddin here on Friday.

He said conspiracies were being hatched against the Murree Declaration, whereby the coalition partners had made a commitment to have the deposed judges reinstated within 30 days of the formation of a new government.

The conspiracy is aimed to sabotage the plan of the new government about the reinstatement of all the deposed judges, he added.

The deposed judges are a beacon for the people and nothing short of their unconditional and complete restoration would satisfy them, he said.

He said lawyers’ struggle was aimed at strengthening national institutions including parliament and the judiciary. He paid tribute to the deposed judges for not bowing before the rulers.

Agencies adds: Lawyers have said they will announce their future strategy if deposed judges were not reinstated within the period as promised under the Murree Declaration.

“Lawyers community supports the decision of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), giving a timeframe to the government for reinstatement of the deposed judges,” this was stated by Sardar Asmatullah Niazi, president Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association, and Athar Minallah, member Pakistan Bar Council, while talking to journalists outside the residence of the deposed chief justice in Islamabad on Friday.

They said lawyers would not create any problem or difficulty for the government during these 30 days.

Lawyers for unconditional reinstatement of judges -DAWN - National; April 05, 2008

lawyers clearly oppose the method being adopted by PPP... so do I... n so should everyone of us... unconditional reinstatement would make future vioators think that their orders can be reversed, they r not the ultimate power... adopting any other means for reinstatement would strengthen their belief that they own the country n can do whtever they want to do with it, nobody wiil b able to challenge their decision

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Aitzaz, Zardari stick to their positions on judges

There was "no agreement, no disagreement" on the issue of restoration of deposed judges in the Thursday night meeting of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Aitzaz Ahsan with PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari.

The two stuck to their respective stand on the question of sacked superior court judges, an informed PPP leader told The News. Aitzaz Ahsan wants instant reinstatement of the deposed justices, saying the talk of amending the Constitution to restore them, amounts to accepting as legitimate unconstitutional actions taken by the then chief of the Army staff (Pervez Musharraf) on Nov 3 last. It would open a Pandora's box for the future, he believes.

Instead of restoration of these judges, Zardari wants to cautiously move for the "independence of the judiciary". He is not inclined to reinstating the deposed judges. However, lawyers, supporting deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, say it would not be possible for the new PPP-led government to keep him and other judges under house arrest and they have to be freed immediately.

"Once the top judge is released he will be addressing bar associations all over Pakistan and will be visiting different cities in processions," a senior lawyer, aligned with the SCBA and the PPP, told this correspondent.

He admitted that this would throw up a grave challenge to the new government, which would face street trouble from day one. He conceded that this would also lead to an intense clash between the government and the lawyers' community.

In the Punjab, the provincial government to be led by the PML-N would not be opposed to the lawyers' movement and would, in fact, encourage it because of this party's unambiguous stand on deposed judges' restoration.

Another lawyer said the attitude of the federal, Sindh and NWFP governments to the lawyers' renewed movement would be different because these would not be backing it in any way. He said pressure would be kept on the PPP government to restore the judges but it would be given some time, enabling it to act in the right direction without much delay.

As far as Aitzaz Ahsan is concerned, lawyers said, it would be difficult for Zardari to tolerate him in the party if he continued to embarrass and put pressure on the PPP through his powerful street campaign.

Lawyers associated with the PPP apprehend that their party would further damage itself if it stood by its non-committal policy on the issue of restoration of judges. They feel that Nawaz Sharif, who came out with a better showing in the Feb 18 elections compared to the PPP, would further gain ground because of his stand on deposed justices.

They said had the PPP matched, if not surpassed the stance taken by Nawaz Sharif on the judges issue, combined with the massive sympathy wave in the wake of assassination of Benazir Bhutto, it would have convincingly won the elections.

Aitzaz, Zardari stick to their positions on judges

zardari is not willing to restore the judges the way ppl want... the constitutional package would assert tht whtever mush did on november 3 is justified... do we want this? atleast I dont.... i want mush to b an example for potential violators n breakers of constitution... a true -ve example so that ppl stop playin with the constitution... n the country progresses in the right direction... but for now it seems that the parliament is also gonna compromise under the logic of 'doctorine of necessity'... among all the major parties I believe only PML-N is respectin the mandate it got... reason for which could be any but its stance is very clear n brave unlike the stance of PPP... see the following for details on the constitutional package n aitzaz's response

To diffuse the judicial crisis, Mr. Zardari has offered the Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry the position of Governor of Baluchistan. Instead of humiliating Mr. Musharraf and the Army, he has also asked the president to create a resolution on restoring the judges. Mr. Zarzari is planning to ask parliament to accept the dismissal of all the judges and then reappoint them under a fresh mandate. This may prclude Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry from the position of the Chief Justice. more...

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The word Scrutiny invites bars’ ire -DAWN - National; April 05, 2008

LAHORE, April 4: Reacting to the reports about judges’ scrutiny after their restoration, the bar associations have warned parliament of ‘consequences’ in case it links revival of the pre-emergency judiciary to any constitutional package.

At a joint press conference on Friday, the Lahore High Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association said they would resist any deviation from the Murree Declaration which sought restoration of the deposed judiciary to what it was on Nov 2.

LHCBA President Anwar Kamal, Lahore Bar Association head Manzoor Qadir, Supreme Court Bar Association Secretary Chaudhry Amin Javed and Vice-President Ghulam Nabi Bhatti and Lahore Tax Bar Association president Mohsin Nadeem were among the participants. Former SCBA chief Hamid Khan also was present at the press conference held on the high court bar premises.

The LHCBA president said lawyers would not accept any step of parliament intending to sabotage the restoration of all the deposed judges. Any attempt to curtail the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan or provincial chief justices would also be frustrated, he said.

....

LBA President Manzoor Qadir said the political parties, now in the government, had won a heavy mandate because of the issue of the judges’ restoration. The lawyers now felt that they were not only trying to wriggle out of the declaration, but also betraying their mandate too, he added.

“Let me make it clear that the lawyers will not allow parliament to cast aside its word on the restoration of the judges,” he said. He criticised Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naik for stating that “Musharraf is a national asset”. He said such a statement not only hurt the lawyers, but also lacerated the feelings of the people who had rejected a dictator through the ballot.

Hamid Khan said the lawyers were aware of the conspiracies originating from the presidency to sabotage the process of revival of the pre-emergency judiciary. He added that the restoration of the judges and the constitutional or the so-called reform package were two separate issues which could not be tied to each other. He asked Mr Naik to make public all the steps being taken for the restoration of the judiciary.

Mr Khan said he saw no justification for President Musharraf to stay in the office because he had lost the day his party (PML-Q) faced a humiliating defeat. Parliament, he said, would have to consult the bar associations before introducing any ‘constitutional package’, otherwise, it would have no value.

The word Scrutiny invites bars’ ire -DAWN - National; April 05, 2008

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A Case Before the Nation

By Dr. Haider Mehdi

People of Pakistan!

Let us, for the sake of deliberation and in good faith, give the benefit of the doubt to Gen.(retired) Pervez Musharraf and accept all of his claims: Yes, Benazir killed herself by hitting the car’s sunroof lever. Yes, she was warned not to hold a political rally. Yes, no state agency was involved in her gruesome murder. Yes, the Sharif brothers went into exile at their own request. Yes, the former Chief Justice of Pakistan was rightfully sacked. Yes, several civil society activists and lawyers deserve to be put in jail. Yes, Gen. (retd.) Pervez Musharraf is the best thing that has ever happened to Pakistan in its 60-year history. Yes, the General (retd.) has given unprecedented economic prosperity and political stability as well as true democracy to this country. Yes, the majority of Pakistanis are extremists and terrorists. Yes, Pakistan’s survival as a nation is dependent on American goodwill and fighting its war on terror. Yes, without the General (retd.), Pakistan has no future. Yes, the General (retd.) is the promised “messiah” and so on and so on.

Having admitted all that is claimed by the incumbent leader, the nation still needs some kind of criteria to evaluate the performance of its political leadership. After all, that is a common process in a democratically-run nation – and the General (retd.) asserts that present-day Pakistan is a true democracy shaped and gifted by him and supported by American benevolence.

Leadership performance evaluations are generally conducted within specifically defined frameworks. General characteristics attributed to political leadership are: vision, willing followers, influence, situational adaptability and communication excellence. These five concepts, though not giving a complete picture, present an underpinning of an effective political leadership. Can Musharraf’s performance be evaluated by the application of these five concepts? Perhaps these notions are too broad and the discussion could be a complex and lengthy process.

It would seem more appropriate to look at Musharraf’s performance within a more specific framework. One such perspective is the notion of charismatic political leadership. Is Musharraf a charismatic leader? Charisma, originally a Greek word, means divine gift, and scholars have attributed such a leader with “having considerable power over followers, especially in times of crisis.” A charismatic leadership is gifted with “(a) formulation of a strategic vision, (b) inspiration and empowerment of followers, and (c) superior articulation and impressive management skills.” Charisma is directly related to a leader’s behavior; it is an ability to tie the self-concepts of the followers in with the nation’s vision, goals, identity and purpose.

The questions are: Has the General (retd.) been able to invoke followers’ loyalty at a massive national level? Has he succeeded in inspiring and empowering the masses? Has Pervez Musharraf been successful in giving strategic goal-oriented visionary leadership to the nation? Has he proven effective in present-day national crisis management by acknowledging the self-concepts of the masses with their national vision, goals, identity and purpose? Has the General (retd.) demonstrated superior management skills at resolving the economic and political problematics faced by the nation? Does he enjoy considerable power over the masses by virtue of his personal behavior and attributes? Has he been able to positively influence the masses at large and provide the civil society in particular with a legendary and imaginative leap in political doctrine or ideology?

Unfortunately, the answers to all of these questions are not in the affirmative. The fact of the matter is that the nation, as a whole, is completely alienated from Musharraf’s political doctrines. Civil society is in turmoil like never before. State violence has reached unprecedented levels. Political chaos has reached unmanageable scales. The nation has been going through one crisis followed by another ever since the General (retd.) came to power some eight years ago. The era of confusion, national disarray and multiple political exigencies is a testament to the fact that the General (retd.) does not possess the credentials of a charismatic leader, nor has he the qualities that inspire people, empower followers or offer a vision, goal, identity or purpose to the nation.

Another conceptual framework in which a leader’s performance can be evaluated is to look at his/her management style. Management is a process of getting work done through others. It involves planning, organizing, leading and controlling, which are critical steps in getting the national agenda accomplished. A vital element in a political leader’s management style is that he/she uses influence rather than relying on authority or positional power to accomplish the desired end results. Concurrently, outstanding national leaders focus on political variation and accommodation of diverse points-of-view, inspire change and deal with national turbulence with imaginative innovation rather than relying on the status quo and constancy – the art of creating national harmony comes out of the craftsmanship to seek concord, congruity, peace and unison out of chaotic conditions -- rather than the other way around.

Once again, unfortunately as it is, the General’s (retd.) leadership has offered none of the dynamism of a successful, innovative management style. The national agenda remains obscure under his leadership. The masses face unprecedented price hikes, inflation is sky-rocketing, the poverty level is increasing and the socio-economic gap in the society is widening. The law and order situation in the country has never been so bad. The national consciousness has been decimated by psychological pressures of oppressive cultural and political trends espoused by the incumbent regime. The nation has lost its bearings over its national identity and purpose by overwhelming capitalistic and foreign-dominated political policies and economic planning. The General (retd.) completely relies on his authority and positional power to alter national institutions, the constitution and the day-to-day running of state affairs. The common people are suffering and in agony like never before in the chronicles of this nation. We have come to live in most dangerous times under the present political dispensation engineered by the General’s (retd.) leadership. It is quite evident that the General (retd.) has not demonstrated the prowess of an outstanding leader in national management. It is a sad and unflattering commentary on Musharraf’s leadership.

The General (retd.) claims that his intentions have been thoroughly noble and conceived in the goodness of his heart and mind – “Pakistan First” has been his symbolic patriotic slogan.

A phrase attributed to an anonymous writer warns: “Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hardboiled egg.”

Albert Camus, the world renowned Algerian-French writer, extensively wrote on the French oppression of the Algerian populous. “The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.”

On one hand, Vladimir Lenin combined ideological intentions with full-scale political actions by granting independence to Finland in appreciation of their national sentiments at the time of Bolshevik Revolution, without a bullet fired or a Finish citizen killed.

Americans, on the other hand, nearly obliterated by force an entire civilization and population of native American Indians – in pursuit of American national objectives. Ironically, the similar ideology of “the clash of civilizations” is at play in the contemporary political situation focusing on the premise: “accept Westernization or perish.”

There are lessons for the General (retd.) to learn in all of these historical events. Indeed, history is made of actions and not intentions – the General’s political actions have caused permanent and irreparable damage to the national edifice to an extent that it seems most appropriate for him to take an exit from the politics of the country. That would be an honorable course of action now.

I rest my case. The entire nation has to be the jury – in the end, it is the people of Pakistan who will be the judge.

Hold your breath – you may be in for surprises either way…!

The Nation, January 15, 2008

Who Loves Pakistan?

Friends,

How current regime operates in Pakistan is understood by many in many different ways. But to me the picture is dangerous, I love my country and have done so since I was a kid. This happens to be my identity.

Afghanistan's war was dragged first into Pakistan's tribal area by our rulers, now they have dragged this war into mainland Pakistan (Swat, Lal Masjid, etc.). We did not have many friends in Balochistan (because of how they were dealt with, of course) already. Now we do not have many friends left in NWFP. Sindh has its share of problems already, with water sharing and other disputes.

And currently we are going nowhere, we are not trying to improve the situation. With US already taken over Pakistan's nukes (ref: Pak nukes already under US control), planning to deploy its army to "protect" Punjab/Islamabad (ref: Pakistan's Collapse, Our Problem By FREDERICK W. KAGAN and MICHAEL O'HANLON), whats the message?

It seems to me they are waving bye bye off to the rest of what is left of our home Pakistan. Is this home going to be broken. I hope and pray that I am totally mistaken. But read the following article, see the map linked with it (attached below), the news is not good... Google on "Greater Middle East Project" and you will find a lot more stuff to read and to ponder upon e.g. Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a "New Middle East".

Blood borders

How a better Middle East would look

By Ralph Peters

International borders are never completely just. But the degree of injustice they inflict upon those whom frontiers force together or separate makes an enormous difference — often the difference between freedom and oppression, tolerance and atrocity, the rule of law and terrorism, or even peace and war.

The most arbitrary and distorted borders in the world are in Africa and the Middle East. Drawn by self-interested Europeans (who have had sufficient trouble defining their own frontiers), Africa's borders continue to provoke the deaths of millions of local inhabitants. But the unjust borders in the Middle East — to borrow from Churchill — generate more trouble than can be consumed locally.
more at ... http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2006/06/1833899 and the map that goes along with it... http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/xml/2006/06/images/afj.peters_map_after.JPG

Long Live Pakistan
Numan Sheikh