To Boycott or Not!!

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Beggars we are

Well, turns out, this brand new "democratic" government is going to revolutionize everything that went wrong in the last regime. How? One might ask. Simple. Beg for more!!! Military regime got military qarzay (borrowing), non-military operators will get non-military qarzay, (10 billion vs. 7.5 billion now) but one thing is in common, and that is this qarzay. Javed Chaudhary yesterday said in his Express News program that "in the documented history starting from 10,000 years or so, no human nation has brought about any revolution with money earned from begging". It's a simple matter of principle. People who get our votes are not made up of elements required for taking a strong decision of "no more begging". Iran, I read in the papers is the only Muslim country who made that decision a while back, and now as a result, they make everything on their own. They, no more rely on any other country for instance, US, UK, Russia, UN, etc etc. We, on the other hand, like to have everything made for us, by someone else. We like brands, we like big names and BigMacs. But unfortunately we are doing that at the cost of being beggars, mentally, intellectually, ideally, literally, I'm afraid in all due respects. But who cares, we can get to wear armani jeans and get to eat Quarter pounders for a few more years. Good luck to the change of faces, for I don't have respect for arrogant and selfish short-sighted "beggars", neither does the world, neither does history, but more importantly neither does Allah!!

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Oil prices have to rise, comments bbc

Nawa-i-waqt

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buying power of poor reduced

Effects of economic policies of Shaukat Aziz govt.

"Lawyers not responsible", says Sher Afghan's Lawyer

Source: The Post

Afgan's counsel denies FIR against lawyers

Staff Reporter

LAHORE: Noor Muhammad Awan, counsel for Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, has declared an FIR registered by the police against 44 lawyers on charges of attack on Dr Sher Afgan fake and baseless. Noor Muhammad Awan advocate said this at an emergent press conference held here at the Punjab Bar Council in the presence of a large number of lawyers. It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Sher Afgan Niazi had visited the office of Noor Muhammad Advocate when unidentified lawyers allegedly attacked him on April 8 and later Aitzaz along with office-bearers of SCBA and LHCBA came to his rescue. Noor said Dr Sher Afgan did not want to register any FIR against lawyers because lawyers including SCBA president Aitzaz saved his life when the mob attacked him. He added that the FIR was baseless and against facts, because lawyers did not attack the former federal minister. "Dr Sher Afgan Niazi did not want to get any FIR registered against lawyers and police on its own registered the FIR," he said. According to the FIR lawyers were holding sticks and clubs for attacking the former federal minister but it was not true, he said.

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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President, governor blamed for Lahore incident

The Punjab governor, caretaker government and President House are allegedly involved in violence against former federal minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi as they are conspiring to prove that the new democratic government is ineligible to control the state of affairs.

This was said by President Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) Sardar Asmatullah at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Clearly those were officials of the intelligence agencies who thrashed the former minister and it was quite evident from their hair cuts and dressing, he alleged.

The LHCBA condemns the unfortunate incident and expresses its utter grief over the tragedy, he said.

The bar representatives said it was unjust to single out lawyers as the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident in Lahore.

People in February 18 elections discarded political parties that supported President Pervez Musharraf, and that annoyed the establishment which in collaboration with intelligence agencies was trying to sabotage the democratic process, Sardar Asmatullah claimed.

Trashing of former Sindh chief minister and ransacking of the official residence of Supreme Court judge, who did not take oath under November 3 PCO, reveal the real intentions of the conspirators.

The plot becomes more evident as the attack on Dr Arbab Rahim was carried out from the governor’s gallery in the Sindh Assembly, the LHCBA president said.

President, governor blamed for Lahore incident -DAWN - National; April 10, 2008

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Aitzaz ‘withholds’ decision to quit SCBA

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan announced on Wednesday that he had withheld his decision to resign from the SCBA post, and accused the presidency of trying to sabotage the fledgling democracy and jeopardising the Bhurban Declaration on restoring pre-emergency judges.

“I am withholding the decision for a day to convince and consult the legal community since the entire executive committee of the SCBA as well as the presidents of different high court bars and districts bars have warned me that they would do the same if I quit,” he told reporters at his residence here.
...
Referring to the beating up of Dr Afgan and the treatment meted out to Arbab Ghulam Raheem, he alleged that such incidents were taking place because President Musharraf had refused to accept the people’s mandate of Feb 18. “He (President Musharraf) should not act like a spoilt child,” he observed.He also demanded that an inquiry committee be set up to look into the Dr Afgan incident and said that in future no lawyer would act contrary to the norms or decency in any manner.

He said being in a responsible position he felt that it was his duty to risk his life to save the former minister who, according to him, was manhandled by policemen in plainclothes and intelligence people. He said his allegations were supported by the fact that the driver of the vehicle was missing when Dr Afgan was rescued. Besides, only one Superintendent of Police and a dozen constables were on duty to handle such a charged situation.

He had gone there along with lawyers Manzoor Qadir and Anwar Kamal and, he said, everyone obeyed him and helped Dr Afgan.

He asked why had the Governor of Punjab, the caretaker chief minister, former chief minister Pervez Ellahi and the inspector-general of police, who were accusing lawyers, failed to show up at the scene to protect Dr Afgan.

He asked them where were they when he was beaten up in Islamabad at the time of filing of nomination papers of President Musharraf before the Election Commission.

Referring to the incidents of lawlessness in Karachi, he called up the leaders of the MQM to calm the situation in the city.

Aitzaz ‘withholds’ decision to quit SCBA post -DAWN - National; April 10, 2008

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Aitzaz says he won’t revise decision

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan has said the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had advised him against quitting the post of the SCBA president, but it was very difficult for him to reverse his decision.

Addressing a late-night press conference at his residence,

Barrister Aitzaz said he would make a formal announcement about his resignation in a couple of days.

He said that policemen in plain clothes were “among the lawyers” when former minister for law and parliamentary affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi was beaten up.

He said he had announced his resignation because some lawyers were among the people who had thrashed Niazi. He said he had asked the police to make a safe passage for Dr Niazi, but they did not heed his advice.

Aitzaz says he won’t revise decision -DAWN - Top Stories; April 09, 2008

he shld stick to the decision I think

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‘Black coats’ or ‘Blackshirts’! -DAWN - Top Stories;

IF Monday’s incident inside the Sindh assembly was despicable, the treatment meted out to veteran politician Sher Afgan Niazi by a group of ‘lawyers’ in Lahore yesterday has perhaps put the entire nation to shame.

The images of Arbab Ghulam Rahim being thrashed by an unruly band of PPP activists in Karachi were still fresh in the minds of most people, when the television screens started to flash some of the most disturbing images of people in black coats beating, abusing and humiliating a former minister. Sher Afgan’s only crime was that he didn’t agree with the lawyers’ movement, sided with President Musharraf on the issue of proclamation of emergency, and even lost his seat in the elections after being dumped by the then ruling PML-Q.

Perhaps in civilised societies even criminals are not treated the way some of the people treated Sher Afgan outside a lawyer’s chamber.

During the chaotic situation in Lahore on Tuesday, when this group of lawyers refused to listen even to their leader Aitzaz Ahsan, there were clear signs that if not checked at this stage the ‘black coats’ may soon be replaced by what were once known in Europe as the ‘Blackshirts’.

Indeed, what was being dubbed as a movement for restoration of democracy and rule of law was clearly showing signs of fascism.

Sher Afgan Niazi has always been a controversial person, and the way he had taken upon himself the task to defend all of the President’s actions earned him the reputation of being more loyal than the king.

At a time when most leaders of the previous governments were clearly avoiding taking a position on President Musharraf’s move to impose emergency, Sher Afgan was perhaps the only minister in the previous cabinet to publicly support or justify the presidential action. Of course, it made many people in the country quite angry. But could that justify such uncivilised behaviour? Certainly not.

One can argue about the real causes for this kind of intolerance in the society, and there is every reason to believe that because of repeated disruptions in the democratic process, many people have adopted violent means to voice their grievances. Still, there can be no justification for the way senior politicians and lawyers have failed to control their supporters, who are bent upon settling scores the way they feel is the right way.

Perhaps the first signs of such ‘fascist’ trends were seen when after the restoration of Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry the first time a group of lawyers in Rawalpindi took upon itself the task of enforcing their style of justice system.

During this period, at least one pro-Musharraf writer, and a lawyer, Naeem Bukhari, who was author of a controversial letter against the chief justice, were badly thrashed by this group.

Former Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad was roughed up at the Supreme Court, and at one point some lawyer activists burnt the copy of an apex court verdict simply because it was not acceptable to them. One can always argue these were aberrations in what had come to be known as one of the most forceful lawyers’ movement for restoration of the judges and rule of law. Had these incidents been condemned at that stage, those who took the law in their own hands in Lahore on Tuesday wouldn’t have dared to do so. Ironically, most of those linked to the lawyers’ movement, and the opposition parties of that time, preferred to recognise and condemn such fascist trends.

The result is that today those who in the past had been directly responsible for supporting and promoting military rule, dictatorial actions and dismantling the rule of law in the country, are now coming forward to present themselves as better democrats. They are certainly not democrats. If anything, they are the people who are directly responsible for destroying everything that is democratic in the country.

Most observers of democratic struggle in this country are of the view that these incidents, serious as they are, should prove to be a wake-up call for both the democracy-loving politicians and lawyers. And if one can dare say, also for the media, especially the independent television networks, to take a step back and think how the name of freedom and democracy is being used by some to damage or destroy the very basis on which these lofty ideals are set.

Pakistan’s chequered political history is witness to the fact that the opponents of democracy have always used such incidents to their advantage to disrupt the efforts for the establishment of rule of law in the country. Until two days ago the whole nation was in an upbeat mood, celebrating the restoration of democracy, and hoping for a better future. These incidents have somehow disturbed them, if not dashed their hopes outright.

However, there is still hope. It’s mainly because there exists in the country a very strong coalition of political forces who have suffered in the past at the hands of dictators. But these seasoned politicians and leaders of the lawyers’ movement need to rise to the occasion and instead of getting involved in petty issues and score-settling, deliver democracy and rule of law.

They are quite capable of delivering, provided there is realisation about the gravity of situation, and a will to do so. If they fail, the real loser will be democracy, and the people of Pakistan.

‘Black coats’ or ‘Blackshirts’! -DAWN - Top Stories; April 09, 2008

if lawyers did this, they did it wrong... if they have been used by some hidden hands, then they must be careful in future... but since it has now been done, I think lawyers community should extend an apology n improve their distorted image... they shld do it before it gets too late.

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