Government gone crazy!!! Dismissed SP Gujranwala on refusing to arrest innocent people.

Government has seriously gone insane. One SP in Gujranwala refused to arrest innocent people on using their right to protest. The government removed him from his post.

It shows that there are people who listen to their conscious, but only person who seems to be totally without conscious right now is Zardari. He doesn't even seem to care what people of Pakistan think.

Insurgency in Swat - An analysis

Here's an analysis of the Swat situation by Abdullah Saad (http://abdullahsaad.com), a must read:

Part 1, Part 2

In the commando's footsteps?

By Kamran Shafi

REALLY, now! It is one thing to renege on repeated solemn, signed, public promises; it is quite another to use one’s powerful office to rub an honourable man’s face in the dirt.

Indeed, to trample so cruelly and thoughtlessly a most honourable and brave and courageous movement’s face into the ground.

I refer to Asif Zardari’s statement: “The way these ‘former’ judges are delivering speeches similar to that of politicians, I would advise the prime minister to give them a party ticket for the Senate elections to be held next year.

“I do not see even a minute judicial crisis except a few judges delivering political speeches … 42 out of 62 judges have taken new oath and now it’s a problem of only four, five people as many of them have already retired.” A newspaper added: “When asked whether these 4/5 judges also included Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, [President Zardari] said in a lighter tone that [Justice Iftikhar] was so popular that he might pose a threat to the government, as they had assumed the role of politicians and we would invite them to join politics and contest the Senate elections. He said the president has the power to lift the two-year ban before any judge or government servant contests polls.” I am not shocked, for anything might happen in a country where for the very first time the leader of the largest (so far anyway) political party has the gall to say that a political promise was just that, politics; that it was not the word of God.

What saddens, and greatly angers me, is that an honourable man, and from what I have seen and heard of him, a damn good judge, is being treated the way he is. Let me clarify here and now that I have only once attended My Lord Iftikhar Chaudhry’s court, on the day that he had suo motu remanded Mukhtaran Mai’s case to the Supreme Court after the Lahore High Court had released her rapists and their henchmen.

The way the judge, helped by his brother justices Bhagwandas and Syed Saeed Ashad, disposed of the seven or eight cases before Mukhtaran Mai’s was exemplary. Indeed, one of the lawyers who I have known for more years than I care to count told me that the judgment against his client was exactly right! Justice Chaudhry’s many achievements have been recounted in this column too many times before; suffice it to say that a man of his stature and standing does not deserve the ignominy being heaped upon him by none other than the highest in the land. Indeed, going to the extent of sarcastically saying that Iftikhar Chaudhry had become so popular that he “might pose a threat to the government” is a blow that reminds one of Musharraf calling My Lord Chaudhry “the scum of the earth”.

Not to be left behind, Attorney General Khosa — a fitting successor to the much disgraced Malik Qayyum who was actually forced by the Supreme Court to resign from judgeship of the Lahore High Court for conspiring with Saifur Rahman to award a heavy sentence to Benazir Bhutto — has invited My Lord Chaudhry to take a fresh oath and become a judge of the Supreme Court! Khosa has, once again, aired the New Pakistan Peoples Party’s line that whilst Musharraf’s actions of November 3, 2007 were de facto improper there is no way other than a constitutional amendment to put his actions right. And that there is no constitutional way of doing that other than a constitutional amendment. Then why don’t you move an amendment, Attorney General?

It is no use trying to talk to the purposely deaf. One can only shake one’s head in dismay at the way the mightiest (thus far, but certainly not for long) political force in the country is heading towards certain disaster.

Elsewhere now, and while some Indians are protesting the expense of $76m on sending a moon probe on an indigenouslymade Indian rocket that will reportedly do what no probe has done before (thank you, Star Trek), the Pakistan Navy is procuring a 35-year-old frigate from the US which will refurbished at a cost of (a further?) $54m! Talk of priorities! What do we need a 35-year-old frigate for, please? Who does the Pakistan Navy intend to frigate, specially in light of President Asif Ali Zardari’s ringing recent pronouncement that India has never been a threat to Pakistan? Another toy for the boys, what, such as the F-16s which are programmed not to leave Pakistan’s airspace and which will mean another $3bn down the tube?

And another thing. I have asked this question before, let me ask it again: who are the Pakistani agents for these two deals? Why is this a deep dark secret? And while we are at it, who is the agent for the two Saab early warning system aircraft which were procured two years ago (way before the rupee’s dive into oblivion, mark) for US$1.2bn, which was double their offer price in 1995?

And yet another thing. Why is the army going ahead with the new GHQ project in Islamabad the Beautiful at this time when the poor have neither food nor electricity nor potable drinking water? It has a very plush headquarters in Rawalpindi already; we are living in the Information Age where the headquarters of the three forces do not have to be in the same city for ‘coordination’. So why?

Finally, there is a great debate raging on whether the Commando will enter politics to try and resurrect his ‘golden era’ — I swear someone said this just yesterday! My answer is this: Musharraf can do what he wants but the man must be tried first in an open court of law for his sheer ineptness, and for setting this country alight with the fires of hate and malice and rancour.

Above all, since he was the allpowerful Commando-in-Chief, he must be asked why both the crime scenes where two deadly attacks on Benazir were made, the one in Karachi resulting in the death of over 150 poor innocents and the maiming of hundreds of others and the one in Rawalpindi resulting in her own tragic death and that of many others, were sanitised inside of minutes while every other bombing was cordoned off for days on end while forensics experts scoured the area for clues.

Let him answer the charges, then jump off a bridge if he must. ¦

The article was published in Dawn on October 28, 2008 (Tuesday).
'In the Commando's footsteps?'Dawn ePaper - Digital replica of Print Edition.

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US sponsored 'democracy': An interesting analysis

zaid hamid talks abt involvement of cia in pakistani affairs... he also mentions how deep does this involvement go... he describes how pakistan shot itself in its feet by helping usa against Taliban... when pakistan started refusing to act on US orders coz they got proofs tht cia n raw r destabilising pakistan in the wake of this american defined war on terror... talks abt indian sponsored govt. in balochistan... he further talks abt barahamdagh bugti's relationships with indian agency... n much more... he talks abt media war being staged against pakistani ppl... many secrets revealed... a must see!!

How he missed all the buses, including the Nobel Prize

By Hamid Mir

ISLAMABAD: Was the fallen Pervez Musharraf living in a fool’s paradise right till the end? He may have been.

Just a few minutes before his speech he told one of his close friends that the coalition partners will start fighting with each other very soon, there will be more political instability in his absence, people will come out on the streets in the next six months and they will demand “come back Musharraf”.

That is the reason Musharraf is not leaving Pakistan. He will stay in Pakistan under heavy security and he will wait for the people to call him back. He is sadly mistaken. The people of Pakistan have already rejected him and his policies on Feb 18. They were sick of him and that was why even George W Bush abandoned him in his last days but Musharraf still thinks that Pakistan cannot survive without him.

He claimed in his Monday speech that Pakistan was about to be declared a failed state in 1999 but he rescued the country and brought a new recognition for Pakistan. He never mentioned Kargil which gave a bad name to Pakistan, he never mentioned anything about the judicial crisis that he created in 2007 and he never mentioned anything about the assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.

Read Full article

Impeachment of Musharraf

Nawa-i-waqt

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Bila Unwaan!

DAWN - Cartoon; July 20, 2008


the cartoon speaks for itself :)

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The flea of inanity and the ‘PPP-Q’

By Saira Minto

IN ‘A plea for sanity’ (May 28), Murtaza Razvi focused on trashing the lawyers’ movement by indicating that it lacks vision and is isolated, a movement that was being carried on “in [a] vacuum … from day one”. He also alleged that lawyers and their representatives were acting with a “tunnel vision” without any assurance of light at the end and that their one-point agenda of restoration of the judiciary was making them miss “the only window of opportunity”, that is an agreement with Mr Zardari.

One can admire the writer’s boldness in loyally advocating participation in pro-establishment mainstream Pakistani politics and the brazenness with which the PPP is promoted as the only saviour of the current imbroglio. The PPP? A party that has always jumped at the slightest opportunity to strike deals with the establishment and which may just be renamed ‘PPP-Q’ in due course!

The lawyers confronted Musharraf and his establishment when it attempted to remove the chief justice in March 2007 by force, coercion and several manipulative devices including the pretence to act under Article 209 of the constitution. The lawyers, the public and the media thwarted that attempt by exposing it and by supporting the Supreme Court to provide it with the confidence needed to stand up to Musharraf. Political parties (especially mainstream) supported it marginally and cautiously.

The lawyers’ community is representative of a wide-ranging socio-cultural spectrum of Pakistani society and within itself it adheres to democratic norms. Estimated to be 100,000 in number and spread all over the country from grassroots tehsils and subdivisions to provincial and federal metropolises, the lawyers do not belong to any one political persuasion. They are a diverse lot.

What brings them together is their profession which is dependent on the existence of an independent judiciary and the prevalence of a system of governance based on the constitution. Their bar associations and councils are professional bodies duly elected from top to bottom. They act in unison whenever there is a threat to the constitution, to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. This is not the first time that they have done so.

In the time of Ziaul Haq, leading lawyers suffered harassment and long terms of imprisonment for raising their voices. The political parties did not unite with the lawyers even then but taking their cue from them established their own Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in Feb 1981. After the lawyers had held their conventions in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Rawalpindi and resorted to street protests, the MRD undertook an anti-martial law campaign independently. The two movements were separate but complemented each other in working for the same objective.

Today, when the lawyers’ movement, aided by the people’s approval, the media and the real judges, has already pushed back the establishment a few steps, the political parties, especially the ‘PPP-Q’, only seem to want to enter into deals and bargains with the junta purely for personal benefits, shamelessly disregarding their commitment given in the Charter of Democracy.

Musharraf’s Nov 2007 martial law (aka emergency) which was imposed against the backdrop of the lawyers’ movement should have been a time to consolidate political forces, speed up agitation against the regime and wrap up matters effectively and finally. Nothing of the sort, however, was forthcoming from the mainstream parties, and it was again the lawyers supported by civil society and the media who agitated against the president and his coteries. The complicity of the ‘PPP-Q’ was the most glaring when the party failed to launch a movement against this group even after Ms Bhutto’s ghastly murder.

The Feb 18 elections were held under grave circumstances. The election result is now widely acknowledged to be the people’s pronouncement against Musharraf, the establishment and the emergency/martial law. While all elected representatives agreed that the Nov 3 actions were unconstitutional and that Musharraf’s continuation in power would hamper the transition to democracy, the new Assembly delayed asserting its sovereign authority to overturn the acts of Nov 3 which could have been done by restoring the judiciary to its Nov 2 position.

The drafting and development of ‘constitutional packages’ were offered as justification for the delay and even now a partial and limited restoration is being proposed — while paying lip service to the formulations in the Bhurban Declaration and the independence of the judiciary.

It is strange, indeed, in this scenario for any serious and mature commentator to propose that the lawyers, civil society and the media simply shut up and fall in line with those who have not only once again reneged on their word but are also looking for excuses to hang on to the remains of a dictatorship for their own benefit and protection.

The lawyers’ approach has been focused and to call their integrity in pursuing it ‘tunnel vision’ qualifies as either an inane and ignorant joke or cruelty or both. Lawyers have not only acted wisely but exactly according to Jinnah’s principles of unity, faith and discipline. They have kept themselves away from political manipulators and self-seekers — something that helps them stay united and strong.

It should also be pointed out, for the record, that it is wholly incorrect that the lawyers’ movement is restricted to Punjab. The huge number of people that turned out for Chief Justice Chaudhry on his visit to Peshawar on May 31 is sufficient to refute that baseless assertion.

All over the world, movements are led by trade unions under one red flag, unpolluted by political vested interests. Lawyers are doing something similar in that sense through the common bond of their profession. Their movement is neither isolated nor apolitical. It is a movement of professionals who are themselves the mainstream and their politics comprises a campaign for true democracy, not hobnobbing with the establishment. To a lot of people, there seems to be a more real and brighter light at the end of this tunnel than there is at the end of the one that the ‘PPP-Q’ wishes to drag this country through.

The long march of June 10 is well timed. If they happen, and hopefully they will, both Musharraf’s exit and the restoration of judiciary will be events that will come about as a result of the lawyers’ movement, and not because of this or that ‘constitutional package’ and the mass deception that accompanies it.

DAWN - Editorial; June 06, 2008

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New article in PPP amendment bill

The PPP’s constitution amendment package inserts a new article after Article 270AA in the Constitution.

The proposed new article reads as follows: “270AAA Validation of Ordinances etc: (I) The Islamabad High Court (Establishment) Order, 2007 (P.O.No. 7 of 2007) and the Ordinances, except those specified in the Sixth Schedule, made between the 12th day of July, 2007 and the 15th day of December, 2007 (both days inclusive) and actions taken there under shall be deemed to have been validly made and taken by the competent authority notwithstanding the expiry of period of four months specified in Article 89 and notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.

“(II). The Islamabad High Court (Establishment ) Order, 2007 (P.O No. 7 of 2007) and the Ordinances, except those specified in the Sixth Schedule, in force between the 12th day of July, 2007 and the 15th day of December, 2007 (both days inclusive) shall continue in force until altered, repealed or amended by the appropriate legislature.

New article in PPP amendment bill -DAWN - Top Stories; June 02, 2008


'Long live PPP' who is running musharraf's govt. on his wills and is betraying the ppl of pakistan... It makes evident tht PPP is not sincere in restoring the pre nov 3 2007 judiciary... lets see how PML-N plays its cards now... will they leave the coalition n join the ppl on june 10??? lets hope!

One can now easily hate PPP for obvious reasons

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PPP on 'Save Mush Harm Pakistan' mission

Selective indemnity proposed in expanded PPP package

By Syed Irfan Raza

Pakistan people’s Party’s constitution amendment package contains insertion of Article 270AAA to give indemnity to certain actions of President Pervez Musharraf, including ordinances issued between July 12 and Dec 15 last year, but is vague on the issue of proclamation of emergency and Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).

The package, containing about 80 amendments, if approved, will make drastic changes in the Constitution to restore the sovereignty of parliament and curtail the powers of the president.

But perhaps the most significant of all the measures suggested is an amendment to reinstate all the judges who were sacked under the emergency order and to reinstate them to the position that existed on Nov 2, 2007.

The package suggests amendments regarding reinstatement of the superior court judges, a new form for members of the armed forces, validity of general elections of 2008, renaming of the NWFP and changes to the article dealing with high treason.

A copy of the package was handed over to Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Mian Mohmmad Nawaz Sharif by Law Minister Farooq Naek in Lahore on Sunday.

Analysts said the indemnity to be provided in the proposed package to President Musharraf would pave way for him to step down because most of his actions that had become controversial would get constitutional cover and, therefore, might not be challenged in a court.

The latest version of the Constitution contains new articles 270AAA, 270B and 270C providing indemnity to the acts of the president, including the sacking of about 60 judges, under his controversial decision to proclaim emergency. The 17th Amendment had introduced Article 270AA validating earlier acts of the president.

My Comment: Shame on PPP acts... it is not goin to help pakistan in any way. How can they add this indemnity to such an act in their package??? they certainly are not sincere in restoring teh judges... r they nuts????

The insertion of Article 270AAA (point 73) might have been included in the package at a later stage because it has not been reported in the media.

Earlier, the media had been told that the package contained 62 amendments but the draft given to the PML-N chief has about 80 points.

It may be mentioned here that President Musharraf had already inserted an article in the Constitution and its clause-I validates the proclamation of the state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

However, the Article 270AAA proposed in the package does not mention specifically the proclamation of emergency and the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

Selective indemnity proposed in expanded PPP package -DAWN - Top Stories; June 02, 2008

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Article inserted by Musharraf

The following is the text of Article 270AAA inserted in the Constitution by President Pervez Musharraf last year.

In the Constitution, after Article 270AA, the following new Article shall be added, namely:- “270AAA. Validation and affirmation of laws etc. (1) The proclamation of Emergency of 3rd November, 2007, all President’s Orders, Ordinances, Chief of Army Staff Orders, including the Provisional Constitution order No.1 2007, the Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2007, the amendments made in the constitution through the Constitution (Amendment) Order, 2007 and all other laws made between the 3rd day of November, 2007 and the date on which the Proclamation of Emergency of the 3rd Day of November, 2007, is revoked (both days inclusive), are accordingly affirmed, adopted and declared to have been validly made by the competent authority and notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.

“(2) All orders made, proceedings taken, appointments made, including secondments and deputations, and acts done by any authority, or by any person, which were made, taken or done, or purported to have been made, taken or done, on or after the 3rd day of November, 2007 in exercise of the powers derived from any Proclamation, Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 2007, President’s orders, ordinances, enactments, including amendments in the Constitution, notifications, rules, orders, bye-laws, or in execution of or in compliance with any orders made or sentences passed by any authority in the exercise or purported exercise of powers as aforesaid, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution or any judgment of any court, be deemed to be and always to have been validly made, taken or done and shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.

“(3) All proclamations, President’s orders, ordinances, Chief of Army Staff Orders, laws, regulations, enactments, including amendments in the Constitution, notifications, rules, orders or bye-laws in force immediately before the date on which the Proclamation of Emergency of the 3rd day of November, 2007 is revoked, shall continue in force until altered, repealed or amended by the competent authority.

“Explanation.- In this clause, “competent authority” means,- (a) in respect of President’s orders, ordinances, Chief of Army Staff Orders and enactments, including amendments in the Constitution, the appropriate Legislature; and (b) in respect of notifications, rules, orders and bye- laws, the authority in which the power to make, alter, repeal or amend the same vests under the law.

“(4) No prosecution or any other legal proceedings, including but not limited to suits, constitutional petitions or complaints, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution or any other law for the time being in force, lie in any court, forum or authority against any person or authority on account of or in respect of issuance of the legal instruments referred to in clause (1) and on account of or in respect of any action taken by the Chief of Army Staff, the President or any other in exercise or purported exercise of the powers referred to in clause (2).

“(5) For purpose of clauses (1), (2) and (4) all orders made, proceeding taken, appointments made, including secondments and deputation, acts done or purporting to by made, taken or done by any authority or person shall be deemed to have been made, taken in good faith and for the purpose intended to be served thereby.”

Article inserted by Musharraf -DAWN - Top Stories; June 02, 2008

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MQM chief calls for reconciliation :)

Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has asked all political and religious parties and lawyers’ bodies to pursue the policy of reconciliation because the economic crises confronting the nation require understanding and tolerance among all parties.
My Comment: Altaf saab yehi baat zara apnay mush saab ko bhi keh dein... bohut zid ho gayee ab judges ko insanon ki tarah waapis aa jaanay day...

In a statement issued from London on Monday, he said that the continuing rise in oil prices, shortage of foodstuff and increase in prices of staple food had taken the shape of a ‘silent Tsunami’.

“The rocketing price of staple food is driving poor people to commit suicides and, regrettably, our politicians are not paying attention to basic problems of the common man,” he said.

sarkar, i agree tht the country is facin the economic crisis... but whts its cause??? did u try to find out? in politicians per ilzaam na lagayein... inko to abhi aaye huay juma juma 8 din huay hain... aapki ally govt. and aap k ally mush ki nigraan govt. ki phainti lagnay waali hai jisnay yeh sab maslay kharay kiye.... mush said, agar hum amreeka ki madad na kertay to woh hamein pathhar k dor mein bhaij deta... ab aap konsay dor mein baithay hain???? kia aap pathhar k dor ki taraf nahi ja rahay??? iski wajah us 1 banday ki zid n bewaqoofi hai... aap usko pase pusht daal rahay hain... agar ab judge bahaal na huay to in future konsa judge steel mill koRyon kay mol biknay se rokay ga????? kon army take over kay khilaaf khara ho ker halaf uthanay se inkaar karay ga???? koi nahi... yeh political parties bhi mush ki games ki wajah se consensus nahi ker pa rahi hain janab.... aankhein kholein... insaan banein...

The MQM leader said that the stock exchange index continued to plunge, making the entire business community jittery and uncertainty was forcing businessmen to transfer capital out of the country.

Mr Hussain said that the US and Nato countries had expressed their dissatisfaction over the country’s political state of affairs while extreme dangers were looming over the borders.He regretted that politicians, instead of striving for improving the economic condition, were busy with issues which “remotely concern the 98 per cent people of middle class and down-trodden segments of society.

“Even during this dangerously delicate situation we are resorting to politics of agitation and demonstrations while the situation demands seriousness and resolution of conflicts through understanding and reconciliation and avoiding confrontations.”

keh dekho kon raha hai :) "...avoiding confrontations" :)

The MQM leader directed volunteers of the Khidmat-i-Khlaq Foundation (KKF) to take steps to provide flour and rice to needy families.

MQM chief calls for reconciliation -DAWN - Top Stories; May 27, 2008

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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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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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Respecting the mandate

Source: Nawaiwaqt

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"Shake the Three" operation

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Difference between 1-man rule n democracy

US has intensified Fata strikes: WP

Ecerpts only. Source: Dawn

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, March 27: The United States has escalated air strikes against Al Qaeda fighters operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas fearing that the new government in Islamabad may object to future strikes, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
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Officials interviewed by the Post for the article said Washington wanted to inflict as much damage as it can to Al Qaeda’s network now because President Pervez Musharraf may not be able to offer much help in the months ahead.
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The Post noted that neither the US nor the Pakistani authorities officially confirmed US missile attacks on Pakistani territory, which would be an infringement of Pakistani sovereignty.
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Thomas H. Johnson, a research professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, told the newspaper that policy makers in Washington were aware that “Musharraf’s days are numbered, and so they recognised they may only have a few months to do this. Musharraf has . . . very few friends in the world -- he probably has more inside the Beltway (Washington) than in his own country.”

The report claimed that after months of prodding, the Bush administration and the Musharraf government this year reached a tacit understanding that gave Washington a freer hand to carry out precision strikes against Al Qaeda and its allies in the border region. The issue, however, is so sensitive that neither side is willing to discuss openly, the report added.

According to the Post, the goal of the new US strategy is partly to try to get information on senior Al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, by forcing them to move in ways that US intelligence analysts can detect.

“It’s not a blitz to close this chapter,” a senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the newspaper. “If we find the leadership, then we’ll go after it. But nothing can be done to put Al Qaeda away in the next nine or 10 months. In the long haul, it’s an issue that extends beyond this administration.”

The report said that the Bush administration’s effort to uproot Al Qaeda also has benefited from shifting loyalties among residents of the border region. Some tribal and religious leaders who embraced foreign Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters as they fled from Afghanistan in 2001 now see them as troublemakers and are providing timely intelligence about their movements and hideouts.

Experts interviewed by Post, however, warned that the new US strategy could backfire if missiles take innocent lives.

“The [tribal] Pashtuns have a saying: ‘Kill one person, make 10 enemies,” said Mr Johnson. “You might take out a bad guy in one of these strikes, but you might also be creating more foot soldiers. This is a war in which the more people you kill, the faster you lose.”

look mush tunay kia haal ker diya mulk ka... may Allah guide u....

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US Tones Down Praise for Musharraf

By FOSTER KLUG

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just months ago, the United States publicly championed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as an "indispensable" ally.

Now, officials barely mention the man the Bush administration once promoted as essential to holding together a nuclear-armed country deemed crucial to the U.S.-led fight against extremists in South Asia.

The new tone comes as the United States works to gain the favor of Pakistani opposition forces that won big in last month's parliamentary elections and as Musharraf's grip on power weakens. The newly empowered politicians are promising to reinstate fired judges who had questioned the legality of Musharraf's continuing in office.

The United States says it still intends to work with the former army chief, whom Pakistani lawmakers elected to a five-year presidential term in October. But the Bush administration appears to be shifting from making support for Musharraf the core of its Pakistan policy, which many U.S. lawmakers and Pakistani opposition leaders have long wanted.

Robert Hathaway, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Asia program, said Bush officials will not abandon Musharraf, "but clearly they have to, in rather dramatic fashion, alter what had been their previous practice of putting all of the American eggs in a Musharraf basket."

Pakistan's "new realities," Hathaway said, "dictate that they deal with Islamabad on a much broader basis if they wish to have any sort of influence in Pakistan."

In Feb. 18 parliamentary elections, the parties of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, finished first and second. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, a party loyal to Musharraf, lost heavily.

The turnaround for Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, followed months of angry criticism at his crackdown late last year on the opposition, judiciary and media. In November, he declared a state of emergency and purged the Supreme Court before it could rule on the disputed legality of his presidential re-election.

Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South Asia, said this week that the United States was reaching out to the opposition. "We have talked to all the parties, telling them all, `We will work with whoever emerges as the leadership,'" he said.

The U.S. does not seem as eager to promote Musharraf as it once was.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told lawmakers late last month that "Pakistan has been indispensable" to the fight against extremists, a marked change from his comments in November that Musharraf himself was the indispensable key to the effort.

This week, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack avoided taking a position on the possible restoration of the judges.

Asked if the United States was reaching out to politicians to express opposition to bringing back the judges, McCormack said, "No."

"We're not in the business of interpreting their laws or their constitution for them," he told reporters. "We don't have a vote in this, nor should we."

The United States does, however, have a stake in Pakistan's success as a moderate Islamic state. Washington has pumped about $10 billion in aid into Pakistan since Musharraf sided with the United States in the drive to topple the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan and hunt down terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Farhana Ali, an analyst at the Rand Corp. think tank, said there is a "hesitancy within the administration to completely let go of Musharraf."

She added that the Bush administration acknowledges "that we need Pakistan's support. Therefore, it's wise for us to accept whoever is going to take the throne."

Mush Improved Pakistan's Image - There is no threat to Pakistan's Sovereignty :) See urself

"US yearns for Pak capitulation"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has given them bases and logistic support as well as intelligence sharing but what the US is now demanding from Islamabad has shocked the Defence and Foreign Ministries and the initial reaction has been a rejection of what are highly intrusive demands for the US military and auxiliary personnel in Pakistan.

This scribe has learnt of the latest set of 11 demands the US has put to the Government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Defence. As one goes down the list of the demands, they become increasingly untenable.

The first demand is for granting of a status that is accorded to the technical and administrative staff of the US embassy. The second demand is that these personnel be allowed to enter and exit Pakistan on mere National Identification (for example a driving licence) that is without any visas.

Next, the US is demanding that Pakistan accept the legality of all US licences, which would include arms licences. This is followed by the demand that all these personnel be allowed to carry arms and wear uniforms as they wish, across the whole of Pakistan.

Then comes a demand that directly undermines our sovereignty – that the US criminal jurisdiction be applicable in Pakistan to US nationals. In other words, these personnel would not be subject to Pakistani law. Full Story by Shireen Mazari

We, the ppl of Pakistan who rejected mush in recent elections, demand the same from america... if they accept all these for pakistani citizens, then we have no objection... but mush is not qualified to even have a look at these demands in order to accept or reject them, since he does not have mandate now... ppl have voted against him... so US shld had put these demands infront of newly elected govt... so tht there could b a chance of a NO or reciprocity... US wants all such things done before the elected govt. takes charge
btw i found a link at pkpolitics to a case where reciprocity was demanded from US :) see this...
NAPLES (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa said Washington must let him open a military base in Miami if the United States wants to keep using an air base on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

"If there's no problem having foreign soldiers on a country's soil, surely they'll let us have an Ecuadorean base in the United States."

Well done Rafael...

See our i.e. Pakistani response US wish list confirmed

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Saturday while commenting on The News story "US yearns for Pak capitulation" said: "Foreign governments make proposals from time to time to secure facilities and privileges for their personnel in the event of temporary assignment or transit.

"Only those proposals are considered that are in line with our domestic laws and international instruments such as the Vienna Conventions on Privileges and Immunities. Nothing is accepted that is not consistent with our national interest and impinges upon our sovereignty."

Ok i m convinced my FO... i m convinced tht we r a sovereign state... plz dont repeat this again n again... but i must say... ecuador was asked to do far less than all this and they clearly showed they want all this on equality basis... all diplomatic negotiations take place on equality basis... in our case :) there will not be any negotiations since we r a 'sovereign' state and it is a threat to our 'sovereignty' to negotiate on US orders... n as u said we'll not do anything which is not consistent with our national interest and impinges upon our sovereignty.

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Blow to Musharraf

Pakistani parties to share power

Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari were winners in February's elections
The leaders of the two parties that won Pakistan's elections have signed an agreement on a coalition government.

February's parliamentary elections delivered a crushing defeat to parties loyal to President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Musharraf has urged the incoming government to leave politics aside and concentrate on good governance.

(hehe mush asks political parties to leave politics lolz... he is mad another proof... he can do politics in army uniform n the parties with mandate should not :D)

Mr Sharif has consistently called for the president to step down in the wake of the elections, which were regarded as a key step in Pakistan's transition from military to civilian rule.

The BBC's Barbara Plett, in Islamabad, says the deal will be seen as a further blow to Mr Musharraf who will face a parliament dominated by his adversaries.

Two issues had dominated the talks: The PML(N) party's insistence that judges sacked by Mr Musharraf in November be reinstated, and the PPP's desire for Mr Sharif's party to formally sign up to the cabinet.

Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif told a news conference that both matters had been settled.
All the sacked judges will be reinstated via a parliamentary resolution passed within 30 days of forming a new government.

That appears to mean that the chief justice will get back his job, in defiance of Mr Musharraf's strong objections, our correspondent says.

In return Nawaz Sharif has agreed that his party will join the cabinet - even though he does not recognise the president's right to rule.

Full Story

PML-N is respecting the mandate it got from people...