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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case verdict: PPP MPAs protest against non-implementation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/520536/asghar-khan-case-verdict-ppp-mpas-protest-against-non-implementation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/520536/asghar-khan-case-verdict-ppp-mpas-protest-against-non-implementation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 14 Mar 13 05:25:56 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hafeez Tunio]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=520536</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Chant slogans against Sharif brothers; warn of staging sit-in outside Supreme Court.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Lawmakers from the Pakistan Peoples Party staged a walkout from the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday in protest against the non-implementation of the Supreme Court verdict in the Asghar Khan case.


The MPAs demanded the federal government implement the decision within 24 hours.

MPA Imdad Pitafi pointed out that no action had been taken against the politicians accused in the case, including Nawaz Sharif, who was allegedly involved in the rigging of the 1990s elections in order to defeat the PPP.



“The Supreme Court had given a verdict saying the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad was formed and funds were distributed by intelligence agencies among the politicians (to prevent the PPP from winning,” he said, adding that they would stage a sit-in outside the Supreme Court if the implementation of the case was delayed.

“If the Supreme Court can disqualify an elected prime minister, [why can’t it implement] the Asghar Khan case [verdict],” Pitafi added.

MPAs Farheen Mughal, Kulsoom Chandio, Shamim Ara Panhwar, Dr Sikandar Shoro also approached the podium of the speaker and chanted slogans against the Sharif brothers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan petition: Beg’s review petition rejected on technical grounds</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/470006/asghar-khan-petition-beg%e2%80%99s-review-petition-rejected-on-technical-grounds</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/470006/asghar-khan-petition-beg%e2%80%99s-review-petition-rejected-on-technical-grounds#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 23 Nov 12 04:40:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=470006</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[SC refuses to entertain application as Beg used new counsel against rules.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Citing technical grounds, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a review petition filed by former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg pertaining to the verdict against him in the Asghar Khan petition.


The court rejected Beg’s review petition on Thursday, saying he was represented by Advocate Akram Sheikh in the case and was not allowed to change his counsel in a review petition. Beg had filed his petition on Wednesday through Advocate Ali Zafar.

According to Supreme Court Rules 1980, “Except with the special leave of the court, no application for review shall be entertained unless it is drawn by the Advocate who appeared at the hearing of the case in which the judgment or order, sought to be reviewed, was made. Nor shall any other Advocate, except such Advocate, be heard in support of the application for review, unless the court has dispensed with the requirement aforesaid.”

Beg’s new counsel, cognisant of the SC rules, had given an explanation in this regard in the review petition, saying that Advocate Sheikh had informed the petitioner that he could not appear in the review due to health and personal reasons.

“In view of the issue of limitation and in order to protect his rights, the petitioner has engaged Ali Zafar,” the review petition stated.

A similar situation occurred recently when the federation decided to challenge the apex court’s decision on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case. The court returned the petition at first instant but, due to the nature of the case, later allowed the federation to engage a new counsel.

When asked about his future course of action, Advocate Zafar said that the SC office had raised a few other objections, which they would contest before the court.

“We will also refer to the NRO case, Arslan Iftikhar case and some others in which the court had allowed a new counsel in review petitions,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Aslam Beg files review plea against SC’s veridct</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/469177/asghar-khan-case-aslam-beg-files-review-plea-against-sc%e2%80%99s-veridct</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/469177/asghar-khan-case-aslam-beg-files-review-plea-against-sc%e2%80%99s-veridct#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 21 Nov 12 07:59:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=469177</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Beg maintains, he did not have any role in distributing money to politicians during 1990 general elections.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Former army chief General (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg filed a review petition on Wednesday against Supreme Court’s verdict in the Asghar Khan case, saying that he did not have any role in distributing money to politicians, Express News reported.

Beg filed the petition through Advocate Ali Zafar, after his previous counsel Akram Shaikh had denied filing it.

In its verdict in the Asghar Khan petition, the apex court concluded that then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, along with Beg and former ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, distributed funds among various political quarters to influence the 1990 general elections.

As a consequence, the court had noted in its short order that “the President of Pakistan (representing the unity of the Republic) violates the Constitution if he fails to treat all manner of people equally and without favouring any set.”]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Govt challenges SC ruling on president’s ‘apolitical’ role</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/467503/asghar-khan-case-govt-challenges-sc-ruling-on-president%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%98apolitical%e2%80%99-role</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/467503/asghar-khan-case-govt-challenges-sc-ruling-on-president%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%98apolitical%e2%80%99-role#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 18 Nov 12 04:49:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=467503</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Files petition arguing that president’s office is political.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Clearly, the current opposition and retired army officers are not the only ones affected by the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Asghar Khan petition.


The federal government has challenged a portion of the verdict pertaining to the president’s political role, maintaining that the office cannot be termed apolitical.

In a review petition filed on Saturday, the government has asked the court to review its findings since the allegations contained in the case did not, in any way, involve the incumbent president.

While the Supreme Court registrar has not yet accepted the petition, citing procedural errors, the federation has signaled its intentions to defend President Asif Ali Zardari’s political activities. President Zardari already faces contempt proceedings in the dual offices case, currently being heard at the Lahore High Court, which pertains to his concurrent roles as the head of a political party as well as the President of Pakistan.

The review petition notes that “the office of the president is a political office… [any individual] is appointed to the office through an electoral process and is nominated by a political party.”

“In discharging his duties, the president must keep in touch with all political parties and leaders, and members of the public to keep himself informed about the affairs of the state… [he] cannot remain aloof from political activity,” it adds.

In its verdict in the Asghar Khan petition, the apex court concluded that then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, along with Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, distributed funds among various political quarters to influence the 1990 general elections.

As a consequence, the court noted in its short order that “the President of Pakistan (representing the unity of the Republic) violates the Constitution if he fails to treat all manner of people equally and without favouring any set.”

The government’s review petition, however, contends that “the conduct of the incumbent President of Pakistan was never an issue in this case, nor was it relevant for a decision in the matter.”

“The matter before this court pertained to events which allegedly took place in 1990… (therefore) the observations made by this court amount to an error on the face of the record and its order is liable to be reviewed.”

It adds that, by involving the incumbent president in the case, the apex court had applied ‘a different yardstick’ to the office. The petition further asks the judiciary to ‘exercise restraint’ while dealing with the Presidency in order to maintain the office’s respect.

“Adherence to the Constitution requires and demands that the symbol of all authority of the state be shown full respect by all institutions of the state. Any observations that demean and diminish the office of the president need to be avoided.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Federation files review petition against SC verdict</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/467195/asghar-khan-case-federation-files-review-petition-against-sc-verdict</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/467195/asghar-khan-case-federation-files-review-petition-against-sc-verdict#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 17 Nov 12 09:41:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=467195</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Petition states Supreme Court should not have given any verdict related to president.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Challenging the verdict given by the Supreme Court in the Asghar Khan case, the federation filed a review petition against it on Saturday, Express News reported.

Deputy Attorney General Dil Muhammad Ali Zai said that the review petition has been filed, the stance of which was critical of the court's verdict against the president.

The Supreme Court’s detailed verdict on Asghar Khan’s petition had, among other things, also commented on the president’s role.
“The President of Pakistan is not supposed to indulge in politics as it has been established in the role of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan [during his tenure]… [he] has no authority to create an election cell or support, in any manner, a favoured candidate or political party, either by issuing directions to the armed forces or to civilians.”
The petition states that the Supreme Court should not have given any verdict related to the president.

Ali Zai said that although the petition was particularly against the Supreme Court's references with regards to the president, but it was also against the overall verdict.

The court's verdict had criticised the army, agencies and the president's office on the long drawn-out case.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: FIA starts work to implement court order</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/466181/asghar-khan-case-fia-starts-work-to-implement-court-order</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/466181/asghar-khan-case-fia-starts-work-to-implement-court-order#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 12 10:25:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[iftikhar.choudhry]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=466181</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Agency will issue notices to politicians to return money in a month.]]>
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				<![CDATA[After acquiring certified copies of the Supreme Court’s detailed verdict on the Asghar Khan case, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started its work to implement the order.

The agency will initially issue notices to those who had allegedly received money from the military during the 1990 elections. The politicians will be given a month to pay back.

The FIA will further issue a second notice to those who fail to return the money and will be given a week’s time.  The agency will extend the deadline on request but the politicians will then have to submit a written statement, promising to pay the money back in a month or two.

According to an FIA official, Interior Minister Rehman Malik advised investigators to discuss the recovery process with law ministry officials.

In case of no recovery, the FIA team will take further steps as mentioned in an action plan formulated with the help of legal advisers.

This story was originally published in Roznama Express on November 15, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: FIA’s credibility called into question</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463982/asghar-khan-case-fia%e2%80%99s-credibility-called-into-question</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463982/asghar-khan-case-fia%e2%80%99s-credibility-called-into-question#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 11 Nov 12 05:55:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463982</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Younus Habib’s statement says he was arrested, pressured by agency.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Even though the Supreme Court has tasked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) with probing politicians who allegedly received money from the military during the 1990 elections, its detailed judgment on the Asghar Khan petition also puts the agency’s credibility at stake.


In its detailed judgment released on Thursday (November 8), the apex court incorporated two affidavits of former chief of Mehran Bank Younus Habib, alleged to have arranged money for the politicians. His affidavits, however, revealed that the FIA had, in fact, forced him to arrange the money.

In its short on Oct 19, the court had directed the FIA to investigate politicians who allegedly received money during the 1990 elections. The agency was, however, awaiting the detailed order before initiating the probe.

Younus Habib’s statement

Habib alleged that it was under the FIA’s pressure that he arranged money from Habib Bank in 1990 to rig the elections on the directions of then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg.

He claimed he was arrested and kept in an FIA cell in Karachi for five or six days and was pressured by some FIA officials to arrange the money by “hook or crook” – a term, he added, was frequently used by the then president and army chief.

Habib added that during his time in FIA’s custody, he decided to arrange the money at any cost and was bailed courtesy of then Sindh chief minister Jam Sadiq Ali. He said that being a government servant, he had no option but to obey the president and the army chief in the name of  “supreme national interest”.

Rs1.48b sanction by Habib Bank

Another important aspect revealed in Habib’s affidavits was that “loans worth Rs1.48 billion were sanctioned by the Provincial Committee and Executive Committee of Habib Bank Limited.”

Habib also gave a break-up of this amount: out of Rs1.48 billion, only Rs140 million were distributed among politicians, while the remaining money was transferred to the Army Welfare Scheme.

Habib said he did not know the details, but said the remaining amount was utilised for purchase of properties.

According to details, Gen Beg received Rs30 million for his organisation, ‘Friends’. The apex court had given army authorities time to present details on whether the money was invested in army schemes or transferred to Gen Beg’s organisation, but according to the court’s detailed judgment, defence authorities failed to produce details of the accounts where the money was deposited.

Roedad Khan’s influence over FIA 

In his statement, Younus Habib also revealed that he was informed by the FIA that he was arrested on the orders of Roedad Khan. Habib said Khan initially pressured him to lodge a complaint against President Asif Ali Zardari, which he refused.

He claimed that Khan was probably heading a cell to initiate cases against Zardari and late prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Khan confirmed that he was responsible for pursuing cases against Zardari and Benazir while he was heading the defunct National Ehtisab Bureau. Khan said the courts vindicated Benazir and Zardari despite concrete evidence of corruption against them.

However, he added that he was not aware of the existence of any election cell in the Presidency.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case verdict: Let bygones be bygones, says Pervez Musharraf</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/464025/asghar-khan-case-verdict-let-bygones-be-bygones-says-pervez-musharraf</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/464025/asghar-khan-case-verdict-let-bygones-be-bygones-says-pervez-musharraf#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 11 Nov 12 05:49:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=464025</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says clash of institutions will shake foundations of state.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, commenting on recently renewed tensions between state institutions, said these were the pillars of the state and a clash would shake the very foundation of Pakistan.


In an exclusive interview on Express News' To the Point with Shahzeb Khanzada,  he refused to comment on the political fallout of the Supreme Court judgement on the Asghar Khan case and the demand to put retired generals on trial for poll rigging and conspiring against people’s mandate.

“We should look at the present situation and plan for the future. The country is confronted with a host of crises; nobody is talking about these, everybody has started digging up graves and looking for skeletons in the closest – for heaven’s sake, think of Pakistan,” the ex-president said.

Musharraf added that the Asghar Khan case was 15 years old,and  at that time, a ‘different political culture’ existed and there was ‘a totally different environment’ in which these decisions were taken.

Saying that people should not “get bogged down in the past”, the former dictator said that if they wanted to open up past cases, they should also publish the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report and fix responsibility for the breakup of East Pakistan, as well as probe Ayub Khan’s takeover and the assassination of prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan.

Regarding the accountability of the army, Musharraf said it has a very strong system of accountability. A naval chief was booked by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but cases against the politicians were not framed by the army, he added.

When asked whether he agreed with the decisions of the Supreme Court, the former president had a surprising answer to give: “I think only Almighty Allah is above the Supreme Court, and I accept its decision and would not like to comment on it.”

He said it was ‘very sad’ that the Asghar Khan verdict has led to a blame game.

Regarding the emergency of November 3, 2007, Musharraf said the establishment, the military brass, and the government at that time were taken on board with the decision.

The former president, now living in self-exile, said that if the court decides to put Gen Beg and Durrani on trial, it should be so – but should not give the perception that the action is against the army as an institution. Weakening the army would mean weakening Pakistan, he emphasised.

Musharraf brushed aside Gen Beg’s claims that someone, but not army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, would impose martial law. He also rejected claims that he was behind the creation of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the religious right-wing alliance that formed the government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the 2002 elections. “Why would we support our opponents?” he asked, asserting that the 2002 polls were fair.

The former dictator claimed that there were only 13 or 14 unaccounted for missing people in Balochistan, and that the rest “go away to fight Jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir, or take to the hills in Balochistan”. Musharraf said he would ‘definitely’ return to Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan petition: Verdict throws PPP, PML-N into war of words</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/464015/asghar-khan-petition-verdict-throws-ppp-pml-n-into-war-of-words</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/464015/asghar-khan-petition-verdict-throws-ppp-pml-n-into-war-of-words#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 11 Nov 12 05:39:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondents]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=464015</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Kaira hits out at PML-N for ‘stealing people’s mandate’ in 1990; Ahsan Iqbal mocks allegation.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The country’s volatile political scene heated up on Saturday when the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) engaged in a verbal duel unleashing a fresh salvo of allegations against each other.


In Karachi, federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira convened a news conference – replete with sweeping statements and papers which he claimed were documentary “evidence” against the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad – questioning the PML-N’s credibility.

“It was not the PPP, but the PML-N and its leaders who stole the people’s mandate and rigged the 1990 elections to form a fake government,” Kaira said referring to the Supreme Court ruling in the Asghar Khan case.

The caretaker government at the time used the state machinery against the PPP, Kaira told journalists at the PPP media cell.

He lashed out at the caretaker set-up – which included then prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, and provincial chief ministers, Jam Sadiq among them – for “kicking the PPP out of the power corridors”.

“We are not blaming anyone, but the Supreme Court’s judgment has proved who received money from Younus Habib,” Kaira said, adding that after coming into power, the PML-N granted a licence to Habib for Mehran Bank in 1992.

Kaira also stressed the government would hold parliamentary elections after March next year.

PML-N responds

In a tit-for-tat attack, the PML-N dismissed the party as illegal and unregistered, and asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take immediate notice of the party led by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PML-N senior leader Ahsan Iqbal lashed out at the ruling party, saying, “The real registered political party is Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) whose head is Makhdoom Amin Fahim.”

“President Zardari has been fooling the people for five long years by leading a fake and defunct political party which has no record in the ECP and it should take notice of this illegal act,” he maintained.

Referring to Kaira’s statements against the PML-N, Iqbal said, “Such tactics will never prove productive as people know the ground reality better, and will vote on the basis of the PPP’s performance over the last five years, which is shameful.”

To a question, he said his party would welcome any sort of commission to be constituted to probe into the IJI’s alleged involvement in poll rigging. “The PML-N will welcome and cooperate with any commission even if it comprises Rehman Malik, Imran Khan and Altaf Hussain,” he added.

Iqbal further alleged that the PPP rigged the elections in 1993 with the help of intelligence agencies. He added that his party would strongly resist any attempt to delay the general elections.

The PML-N is also considering approaching the ECP if Zardari does not relinquish the co-chairmanship of PPP. “We reserve the right to take every constitutional step if the president does not comply with the court orders,” PML-N Senator Tariq Azeem told The Express Tribune.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has recently taken up a contempt of court petition against President Zardari over his indulgence in political activities despite an earlier court ruling directing him to refrain from the same.

Senator Azeem said his party would wait for a court injunction before approaching the ECP regarding the president’s dual offices and political activities.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Kayani said nothing against democracy, says Punjab CM</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463624/kayani-said-nothing-against-democracy-says-punjab-cm</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463624/kayani-said-nothing-against-democracy-says-punjab-cm#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 10 Nov 12 05:56:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463624</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Kayani had never said any word to create conflict with the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, says Sharif.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has not said any such thing which is unconstitutional and a threat to democracy in Pakistan, said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.


He was talking to reporters in Arifwala, a rural town of Sahiwal district, where he had come to offer condolences to MPA Dr Farrukh Javed over the death of his father.

“Kayani had never said any word to create conflict with the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” Shahbaz said.

He said that decisions of the Supreme Court are never a threat to democracy in Pakistan and they will never be.

About the Asghar Khan case, he said the Supreme Court has not mentioned the name of a single politician in its decision and it has only said that the politicians did not abide by their oath.

Talking about the election strategy of PML-N, he said: “Our target is simply to completely defeat PPP not only in Punjab but across Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2012.]]>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Asghar Khan case: Nawaz rejects Younus Habib’s charges</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463630/asghar-khan-case-nawaz-rejects-younus-habib%e2%80%99s-charges</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463630/asghar-khan-case-nawaz-rejects-younus-habib%e2%80%99s-charges#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 10 Nov 12 05:43:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[news.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463630</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sharif says that the PPP-led coalition government should announce schedule for the next elections to end uncertainty.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said that it is the first time that an elected government is completing its constitutional term.


“I’m not against the army, I remain its well-wisher, but I do have complaints against some generals,” Nawaz told Geo TV in an interview on Friday.

He said that the PPP-led coalition government should announce schedule for the next elections to end uncertainty.

About the Asghar Khan case, the PML-N chief said, “It’s strange that Younus Habib remembers our names, but when he is asked about Pakistan Peoples Party, he says he can’t recall who he gave money to.”

Nawaz brushed aside allegations of Habib, that he had given money to the Sharifs. “We actually fired him when the PML-N formed the government in 1990 and made sure that Habib did not become the chief executive of Mehran Bank.”

General Pervez Musharraf also doled out public money to win support of politicians, but the army cannot be held responsible for mistakes and adventurism of some generals.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2012.]]>
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				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/463630-nawazsharifsana-1352526198/463630-nawazsharifsana-1352526198.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Nawaz claims 'army generals' had conspired against his govt too</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463577/nawaz-claims-army-generals-had-conspired-against-his-govt-too</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463577/nawaz-claims-army-generals-had-conspired-against-his-govt-too#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Nov 12 19:49:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463577</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says he would accept an FIA probe against him in the Asghar Khan case even though the agency reports to Rehman Malik.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif blamed ‘army generals’ for conspiring against his elected government in the past, claiming that gunny bags full of money were brought in Punjab to topple his government, Dawn News reported on Friday.

In an interview to a private news channel, he dismissed allegations of receiving money from former Mehran Bank head Younis Habib, a charge leveled against him in the Mehrangate case.

“Had I received money and had he been kind enough to us, my government would have not have fired him from his post.”

Commenting on the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case and the possible investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against him, Nawaz said that he would accept the probe despite the fact that the agency reports to Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

He also said that the government should implement the court’s orders in letter and spirit.

Earlier, his brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had said that the Supreme Court had not named any particular politician in the Asghar Khan case order, but has only said that politicians did not honour their oath.

Talking about the law and order situation in the country, the PML-N chief said that bringing the country to normalcy was an uphill task, particularly in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Karachi where the situation was getting out of control.

General Elections

On his party's strategy for the upcoming general elections, Nawaz said that the PML-N will form an electoral alliance with a party which would ensure peace in Karachi.

“We might not need any alliance prior to elections anyway,” he added.

Speaking about the political scenario in Punjab, he said that his party would be fielding strong candidates in the elections, from every constituency of the province, adding that the PML-N would accept poll results even if they lost, as the party had already put up with the incumbent government with humility.

The PML-N chief demanded that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government should announce the dates for general elections and end the ‘suspense.’]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/463577-nawazsharifsana-1352489848/463577-nawazsharifsana-1352489848.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Asghar Khan case: SC did not name any particular politician, says Shahbaz Sharif</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463439/asghar-khan-case-sc-did-not-name-any-particular-politician-says-shahbaz-sharif</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463439/asghar-khan-case-sc-did-not-name-any-particular-politician-says-shahbaz-sharif#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Nov 12 17:28:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463439</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Punjab chief minister says passing statements on court orders was incorrect.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Supreme Court, in its Asghar Khan case order, did not name any particular politician, but has only said that politicians did not honour their oath, reported Express News on Friday.

Talking to the media at Arifwala, Shahbaz said that the apex court had correctly interpreted the Constitution. However, he added that passing statements on court's orders is incorrect.

The chief minister added that the army chief has not said anything which could be taken as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday announced its detailed verdict in the Asghar Khan case and ordered a probe into allegations against the Intelligence Bureau (IB) distributing Rs270 million in Punjab during governor rule.

Last month, the Supreme Court announced a short judgement where it held two retired military generals, Director General ISI Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani and Chief of Army Staff Gen (retd) Aslam Baig, responsible for bribing politicians in order to rig the 1990 general elections.]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/463439-shahbazSharif_1737096833/463439-shahbazSharif_1737096833.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Asghar Khan case: Imran Khan lashes out against Sharif brothers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463313/asghar-khan-case-imran-khan-lashes-out-against-sharif-brothers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463313/asghar-khan-case-imran-khan-lashes-out-against-sharif-brothers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Nov 12 14:21:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[anwer.sumra]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463313</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PTI chief says it has been proved who is financed by the ISI after Supreme Court's verdict.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Asghar Khan case, criticised the Sharif brothers for accepting money to sabotage 1990 general elections.

“Those who alleged that the PTI was financed by the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] have been found accused in the Asghar Khan case as it has been proved that ISI gave money to [PML-N chief] Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N to do rigging,” Imran said addressing a gathering on Friday.

Imran challenged that if anyone could prove that the PTI received money from the ISI, he would quit politics forever.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday announced its detailed verdict in the Asghar Khan case and ordered a probe into allegations against the Intelligence Bureau (IB) distributing Rs270 million in Punjab during governor rule.

Last month, the Supreme Court announced a short judgement where it held two retired military generals, Director General ISI Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani and Chief of Army Staff Gen (retd) Aslam Baig, responsible for bribing politicians in order to rig the 1990 general elections.]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/463313-imrankhanptiPPI-1352470340/463313-imrankhanptiPPI-1352470340.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Asghar Khan petition: Illegal orders should not be obeyed says SC</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463105/asghar-khan-petition-illegal-orders-should-not-be-obeyed-says-sc</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/463105/asghar-khan-petition-illegal-orders-should-not-be-obeyed-says-sc#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 08 Nov 12 23:03:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qamar.zaman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=463105</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Apex court’s detailed verdict absolves armed forces of any responsibility for rigging 1990 elections.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court’s (SC) detailed verdict on Asghar Khan’s petition announced on Thursday made it very clear that ‘illegal orders’ should not be obeyed.


Declaring that Gen (retd) Aslam Beg and Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani acted independently while bribing politicians and rigging the 1990 elections, the verdict absolved the armed forces from any responsibility for the act. It added that both generals’ actions had defamed the institution.

The armed forces must remain confined to defending the country and upholding its Constitution, noted Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the detailed verdict on the petition.

The role of the country’s armed forces, perhaps for the first time in Pakistan’s history, came under debate in the aftermath of the SC’s short order on the petition. Two of the country’s former top military officials had been held responsible for rigging the 1990 elections to prevent Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from coming into power.

Then Inter-Services Intelligence director general Lt-Gen Assad Durrani had actually admitted to the distribution of funds among politicians on then army chief Gen Beg’s instructions. Durrani had justified his actions by saying they were undertaken in the ‘greater national interest’.

Beg, in his statement, had also maintained that his and Durrani’s actions did not amount to misconduct since they were carried out under a lawful chain of command.

But the judgment very clearly stated that “if any such illegal order is transmitted, the same is not worthy to be obeyed.”

Commenting on the armed forces’ role, it stated that “a member of the armed forces must remain committed to defending Pakistan … against external and internal threats and, subject to law, acting in aid of civil power when called upon to do so by the federal government.”

“In the course of discharge of his duties, a soldier is obligated to seeing that the Constitution is upheld,” it added.

The 141-page judgment also commented on the president’s role.

“The President of Pakistan is not supposed to indulge in politics as it has been established in the role of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan [during his tenure]… [he] has no authority to create an election cell or support, in any manner, a favoured candidate or political party, either by issuing directions to the armed forces or to civilians.”

The court order also singled out defence authorities for failing to furnish details regarding an account of Gen Beg’s organisation ‘Friends’, where the record indicated Rs30 million – from the Rs140 million intelligence agencies allegedly obtained in 1990 for political purposes – were deposited.

While the court had directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate charges against the two generals and politicians accused of accepting bribes from them, the agency maintained it could not probe the latter until the detailed verdict came out.

Meanwhile, Salman Akram Raja, Asghar Khan’s counsel in the case, told The Express Tribune that Durrani and Beg could be tried under article 6 of the Constitution – which defines the act of high treason, punishable by death – since they had subverted the Constitution.

“The issue of secret accounts that were maintained by secret agencies also required to be further investigated,” he added.

(Read: Detailed court verdict)

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: SC orders probe into Rs270m distribution allegations</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/462646/asghar-khan-case-sc-orders-probe-into-rs270m-distribution-allegations</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/462646/asghar-khan-case-sc-orders-probe-into-rs270m-distribution-allegations#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 08 Nov 12 10:19:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=462646</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Detailed verdict includes Brig Hamid Saeed's diary containing names, details of those involved.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court, announcing the detailed verdict on the Asghar Khan case, ordered a probe into allegations against the Intelligence Bureau (IB) distributing Rs270 million in Punjab during governor rule, Express News reported on Thursday.

The Supreme Court registrar briefed the media on the 151 pages long verdict.

The verdict also contains Brigadier Hamid Saeed's diary which contains details and names of those involved in the alleged distribution of money.

Today's verdict serves as an elaboration on the short verdict announced earlier and is penned down by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Last month, the Supreme Court announced a short judgement where it held two retired military generals, Director General ISI Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani and Chief of Army Staff Gen (retd) Aslam Baig, responsible for bribing politicians in order to rig the 1990 general elections.

The apex court had directed the FIA to probe charges against Baig and Durrani for rigging the elections as well as an investigation into the accused politicians who were allegedly bribed by the two generals.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials earlier said they cannot launch an investigation into accused politicians in the Asghar Khan case until a detailed verdict was announced.

Read the detailed verdict here. ]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/462646-supremecourtafp-1352367958/462646-supremecourtafp-1352367958.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: FIA awaits detailed verdict to launch probe</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/461946/asghar-khan-case-fia-awaits-detailed-verdict-to-launch-probe</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/461946/asghar-khan-case-fia-awaits-detailed-verdict-to-launch-probe#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 12 06:07:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=461946</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[FIA officials will most likely begin investigation into case when DG FIA Muhammad Anwar Virk returns to Pakistan.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Top officials from the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Tuesday that they cannot launch an investigation into accused politicians in the Asghar Khan case until a detailed verdict is announced.


Last month, the Supreme Court held two retired military generals, Director General ISI Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani and Chief of Army Staff Gen (retd) Aslam Baig, responsible for bribing politicians in order to rig the 1990 general elections.

The apex court had directed the FIA to probe charges against Baig and Durrani for rigging the elections as well as an investigation into the accused politicians who were allegedly bribed by the two generals.

Officials told The Express Tribune on Tuesday that they cannot begin an investigation against the accused politicians on the Supreme Court’s interim order because it did not name any politicians accused of taking bribes from Durrani and Baig in the 1990 general elections.

However, the FIA Anti Corruption and Legal Branch wings can launch an investigation against military personnel under Act 1974 (VIII of 1975), which empowers investigators to conduct an investigation against any Pakistani citizen.

Senior FIA officials, currently waiting for further orders in the case, will most likely begin a formal investigation into the case when DG FIA Muhammad Anwar Virk returns to Pakistan. He is currently in Italy, along with interior minister Interior Minister Rehman Malik, representing Pakistan at the 81st Interpol General Assembly Ministerial Conference.

Officials associated with legal wing of FIA say that they have yet to receive copies of the interim order from the court. They are hoping to receive copies of the order before the DG FIA returns to Pakistan. They plan to kick off the investigation next week in light of the apex order.

Meanwhile, sources in the FIA told The Express Tribune that the three most senior officers, specifically Khalid Qureshi and Islamabad Zone’s Director Sajjad Haider will head the team to probe the allegations levelled against Baig and Durrani.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>FIA be fully empowered to probe Asghar Khan case: PTI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/460524/fia-be-fully-empowered-to-probe-asghar-khan-case-pti</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/460524/fia-be-fully-empowered-to-probe-asghar-khan-case-pti#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 04 Nov 12 06:27:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[anwer.sumra]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=460524</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Imran warns of political wrangling between PPP and PML-N if issue is left unresolved.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Saturday warned against delaying the investigations and subsequent judgment on the Asghar Khan case, adding that such a move would promote political wrangling between the PPP and PML-N.


Transparent and fair investigations should be ensured so that the PPP and PML-N do not indulge in “Noora Kushti” and “dirty politics” to cover up corruption charges against their respective parties, Imran told a news conference at the party’s media centre.

Accompanied by the party’s senior leadership, the PTI chief said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should be fully empowered to conduct an impartial inquiry. Only then can the politicians guilty of receiving cash handouts from intelligence agencies during the run-up to the 1990 elections be brought to justice, he added.

Imran also stressed on the need to recover public funds that were spent to influence election results.

Intra-party polls

The PTI chief categorically rejected reports about the party delaying intra-party elections due to internal conflicts.

Citing technical reasons, he said it was difficult to prepare error-free electoral lists because of limited resources. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) achieved the same after spending billions of rupees.

He, however, promised party workers that elections to appoint office-bearers would be held before the upcoming parliamentary polls.

He added the youth would be encouraged to participate in the intra-party elections, while no one would be able to “buy” votes.

Imran said those who had quit the party had done so of their accord. “They are welcome to return, but only after agreeing to follow the party’s rules.”

Detained at airport

Replying to a question regarding his brief detention at the Toronto airport, Imran said they asked him why he was such a strong advocate of stopping drone strikes. He added American authorities were scared of him arranging protest rallies in the country.

He lamented neither the president nor the prime minister issued statements condemning his detention, adding that had such an incident occurred in Pakistan, the US would have actively defended its public figures.

He cited the example of Raymond Davis’ arrest and the consequent backlash from US functionaries. He said his detention and interrogation did not only amount to disrespecting the head of a political party, but also the entire nation.

‘Basis of ideology’

Dispelling the impression that the PTI tsunami had died down, a confident Imran said his party would “sweep” the upcoming general elections.

He said his party would win on the basis of its ideology rather than on the strength of individual candidates. He added some elements were fanning hatred by giving the incorrect impression that his party had been taken over by feudal lords. Imran said all the political parties had united against the PTI, which they see as a threat to their popularity.

Hailing the Supreme Court’s ruling on Balochistan, Imran said he agreed that lack of good governance was the main problem.

PTI’s senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said his party would break the status quo. He reiterated Imran’s comments of attracting voters through the party’s ideology.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>The tale of delayed justice</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/460285/the-tale-of-delayed-justice</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/460285/the-tale-of-delayed-justice#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 03 Nov 12 17:30:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qamar.zaman.kaira]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=460285</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[We are happy that after 22 years, Court has accepted the crime as crime. We can wait another 22 years for convictions.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The stealing of the 1990 elections, once again, is a common subject of discussion these days. Not only that, but echoes of the rigging of the 1988 elections are also resonating. In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon was banished from politics for bugging the party headquarters of the opponents. The court not only announced the verdict but also awarded due punishments. The entire process was completed within 22 days. The verdict in the rigging of 1990 elections has come after 22 years and that, too, in an incomplete form.

In spite of this development, our friends and the editorial pages of newspapers are feverishly engaged in hiding the proven crimes of rigging of the elections and sabotaging of the mandate of the people. They are also trying to ferret out something negative against the affected Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its allies.

Muhtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto did not survive to see her stance about the rigging of the 1990 elections being proved right. After an inordinate delay of 22 years, an incomplete verdict has come to show the existence of a conspiratorial cell in the presidency and the use of public money against the PPP has been established; they have their own elected president sitting in the presidency who has cleansed it of all the remnants of conspiracies and turned it into a catalyst for strengthening democracy. Nevertheless, the people of Pakistan and time have delivered a marvellous justice.

But those elements who projected the 1990 elections as the true verdict of the people are now desperately trying to throw the blame for this proven crime back on the PPP through their editorial notes to camouflage their own embarrassment.

The decision makes mention of only one president who could not be President Asif Ali Zardari, as he himself was an aggrieved party. How could he be the architect of this crime? The verdict is about the president who occupied the presidency when this episode unfolded. Is it not a matter of oppression that when at last an incomplete verdict has been given, attempts are being made by the use of the power of the pen to give it a different hue and use it against the oppressed. It has been established beyond any iota of doubt that president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and his cronies stole the people’s mandate by manoeuvring the defeat of the PPP and catapulted Mian Nawaz Sharif as prime minister of Pakistan. But no punishment has been handed out. However, the Court has unequivocally declared the simple truth that Nawaz Sharif became prime minister courtesy rigging of polls at the official level.

The worst dictator of our history could not banish the PPP from the political landscape of Pakistan despite his sinister machinations and the judicial murder of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After his death in a plane crash, his successors unleashed unending conspiracies against the PPP and Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto. Mohsin Naqvi wrote that the daughter of Asia was surrounded by conspiracies. Even Mohsin Naqvi was martyred. Through newspaper advertisements, editorials and making noise on the official media, they tried to rub in the notion of Benazir being a security risk. Bhutto’s son-in-law was implicated in false and fabricated cases. But how could the people believe this farce? They repeatedly mandated the PPP into power. The PPP has no doubt about the fact that the people are more intelligent than the so-called intellectuals and their miniature groups. They know who their well-wisher is. General Hameed Gul created the IJI after the demise of General Ziaul Haq in 1988. Actually the conspiracy against Shaheed Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto was hatched the day she landed in Pakistan in 1986. The IJI secured only 53 seats against 92 of the PPP in spite of official support. However, the enemies of the PPP succeeded in rigging elections in Punjab and making Mian Nawaz Sharif the chief minister of the province. Then, in 1989, an abortive attempt was made to bring in a vote of no-confidence against Benazir. Ultimately, through a conspiracy, Benazir’s government was sacked. In the ensuing elections, the IJI obtained 105 seats through rigging, official patronage and extensive use of public money. The PPP could only manage 45 seats. Benazir Bhutto, while talking to the media at Islamabad airport on October 25, 1990, said that she was being threatened that her husband will be eliminated. She declared that the IJI owed its existence to animosity against the PPP. She emphatically declared: “On October 24, the mandate of the people was stolen. The tyrants usurped the rights of the people in the broad daylight and we are participating in the provincial elections for the tomorrow of Pakistan and democracy.”

Now, the Court has accepted the PPP’s version about the rigging of elections and asked for filing an FIR. We are sanguine that history will unravel the ultimate truth. This verdict established without any doubt that public money was used to steal the elections and the mandate of the people. Is it a small theft that public money is spent on stealing the public franchise? Yet, Chaudhry Nisar has the audacity to ask in a press conference, what have we done? He asks the well-informed journalists of Islamabad in feigned innocence that there were eight other parties in the IJI, so why then is only the PML-N being pinpointed? Perhaps, he thought that this new crop of journalists will be unaware of the nexus between the government that was formed as a result of rigging the elections, four chief ministers and 80 per cent members of his league. A poet probably said this verse for our friend “Yaade Mazi Azab Hey Ya Rab Cheen Ley Muj Sey Hafza Mera” (Oh God, my past memories are haunting me please deprive me of my retentive faculty of mind). People are flabbergasted as to how a person like him could muster the courage to ask, what we have done, even before the ink with which the verdict was written dried out? His situation can be likened to General Yahya Khan’s asking after dismembering Pakistan “Mein kera lokan di khoti noon hath laya eh?” (what have I done to earn the ire of the people?)

It has been proved that that an election cell existed in the presidency, which planned the rigging of the elections and the conspiracy was executed through lavish use of public funds to keep the PPP out of the corridors of power. Shaheed Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto, in a press conference on October 18, 1990, revealed that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan had ordered that no election result should be announced without it being shown to him first. This is how complete rigging had been choreographed. In the short verdict announced by the Court, the name of the head of the cell has not been revealed but there are innumerable witnesses to this effect. It is obvious that there existed a cell and it might have been headed by somebody. Maybe in the detailed verdict, an order may also be given for action against him. The basic difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that of legitimacy, which comes through public mandate. Our history is replete with direct and indirect martial laws. The government formed in 1990 was a product of an indirect martial law. It was a denial of people’s right of vote and that is why it became a culpable crime. Ahsan Iqbal says that the people will not vote in the elections on the basis of history. Whatever the reason, the people have been putting their trust in the PPP. The people know the historic injustices, their perpetrators and their victims. Let Ahsan Iqbal say what he likes but the reality is that, once again, a historic injustice stands proven during our regime. It is a recent occurring and that is why pro-PML-N columnists are trying desperately to defend its leadership. Every column begins with the line that the PML-N has no connections with this case. They end up saying that it was an insignificant case of the past which has come to a close. One may ask that if this was so, then why there was a need to write columns on this subject every day? Obviously, there is some spark flickering somewhere and emitting smoke relentlessly. If the PML-N tries to suppress it as rubble of history, then the people will also demand accountability of the slogans raised in favour of the rule of law and justice. Granted that due to our judicial system and the political nature of the case, the matter dragged on for long but it does not mean that the culprits should not be unmasked and go unpunished. Justice delayed is justice denied. But intellectual dishonesty and apologetic attitudes are even bigger injustices. A robbery was committed in broad daylight and now the perpetrators want the people to forget it. This apologetic stance, however, cannot change history. The history is that Asghar Khan contested election from NA-95 from Lahore against Nawaz Sharif in the 1990 elections and later on lodged a case of the rigging of the elections, on which the verdict has been delivered now. Even then, Chaudhry Nisar asks, what have we done? The rigging was carried out through the use of money. Fake organisations were raised and in their name, an advertisement campaign in the media was run utilising the funds provided for the purpose. Three to four advertisements were placed in one newspaper daily for the character assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari. A number of false cases were instituted against them.

Now, it has been established that they were never elected. If they were not elected, how did they form the government and what is the truth about the cases raised by them? What about the fables of piety and trusteeship? The PPP and its allies, through the platform of the Peoples Democratic Alliance, issued a white paper comprising 500 pages that furnished exhaustive details about pre-poll rigging, partisan attitude of the caretaker set-up and the president, ghost polling stations, registration of bogus votes and ID cards, misuse of postal votes, denying access to the polling stations to the voters of the alliance, arrests and kidnappings, forced expulsion of polling agents from the polling stations, changes in the elections results before sending to the presiding officer, refusal to provide signed copies of result to the polling agents, presence of police within the polling stations and the tactics used to pressurise the ticketholders not to participate in the elections.

President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Roedad Khan were personally monitoring this rigging. The rigging was carried out through the presidency, caretaker government (Jatoi) Ghulam Haider Waen, Jam Sadiq, bureaucracy and functionaries of the court. The modus operandi of rigging on the polling day was that they would enact the farce of a hundred per cent polling of votes, whereas the general turnout was not more than 40 per cent. So, through this extensive rigging, seats were won for the party of Nawaz Sahrif and he was unfairly made the prime minister. Muhtarma Benazir demanded re-polling in a hundred constituencies in view of this unprecedented stealing of elections which was outrightly rejected. Mian Sahib became prime minister on the basis of a false mandate. Even then, Nisar asks, what have we done? Mushahidullah Khan says that the names of Nawaz and Shahbaz have not been mentioned in the Court decision. The fact is that the affidavit on the basis of which the Court has delivered the decision contained the names of these two gentlemen on top of the list. According to the Court procedures, if the contents of the affidavit entered in the Court are not contested or disputed, it is tantamount to confession and the Court has no option other than to decide the case on the basis of that affidavit. According to the affidavit submitted by the former ISI chief, both Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif received the money. This money was only a token. The other benefits that they accrued afterwards were much bigger than this. Since the Mian brothers did not contest the affidavit of the ISI chief, therefore, in conformity with judicial principles, their culpability stands proven and if the Court had not shown leniency, they could even had been convicted on the charges of violation of the Constitution, showing disrespect to the public mandate and accepting illegal money. Both brothers could have been incarcerated, fined and debarred from participating in political activities. But the Court exhibited leniency. We are happy that after 22 years, the Court has accepted the crime as a crime. We can wait for another 22 years for their convictions. Shahbaz Sharif, every now and then, talks about resignations on moral grounds. Now, that his crime has been established and further investigations have been ordered by the Court, morality demands that he should resign from his post till the completion of the probe. The verdict in the Asghar Khan case has identified an old bureaucrat known as Baba and his 40 accomplices, and the people now know who the real and the biggest 40 thieves are. I appeal to the people to recognise these characters and their Baba properly. Otherwise, they will continue to dupe the people with identical names. I will also advise this gang of 40 thieves to listen to the poetry of a romantic poet who says sunta ja sharmata ja (listen and feel embarrassed) instead of breaking the legs of the revolutionary poet Habib Jalib. And if at all they need to do something, they better be ashamed of what they have been doing because according to Karl Marx, this is the least revolutionary step that they can take.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>The military-military divide</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458840/the-military-military-divide</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458840/the-military-military-divide#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 31 Oct 12 17:47:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shahzad chaudhry]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=458840</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Divisions between the 3 arms lurk just under, even as military gives impression of being homogenous on surface.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The proverbial has hit the fan after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Air Marshal Asghar Khan case, which establishes the likely culpability of retired generals, Mirza Aslam Baig and Asad Durrani, in the 1990 election scam. The investigations must still be done, evidence processed and completed, charges tried by criminal courts to indict those involved in conniving a replacement of a democratically-elected government.

But, what has come after is even more revealing. Not to most who serve in arms because they live the reality to a certain degree, but to those who think of the military as a monolith — military is more a Janus. Hearing Baig tear into Asghar Khan, and somewhat into Durrani, reinforces the reality of a divide that lurks just under, even as the military gives the impression of being homogenous. Better sense of the leadership in the three services leads them to paper over differences and provides a semblance of normal functioning; usually, that might not be the case. It helps if at least two, especially the army and the air force chiefs, have known each other previously and have got along well; that, too, helps in keeping the differences under wraps. (The navy’s medium of operation is water, which does not conflict with the army, helping to keep them separate; but don’t count on it for you may be surprised beyond belief.) The working cultures, otherwise, are so different in each service to be alien to the other. God forbid, if this is supplemented by chiefs who wish to stand their point or have not got along well with each other previously, then it becomes open war. The good thing is that in functioning as a system, there are imperatives that will force the services to work together, but no one ever promised (you) a rose garden, along with sunshine.

Back then to Baig’s diatribe against Asghar Khan. In Baig’s words, “Asghar Khan is a traitor; he was removed as the air force chief in 1965 to be replaced by Nur Khan just before going to war because the army did not trust him — remember Ayub Khan was both the president and the army chief and he could order such a change; that Asghar Khan connived with the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief to keep the air forces out of the Rann of Kuch war of April 1965.” It was a skirmish, not a war, and the IAF did stay out of it. I am sure Baig’s attempt at character assassination of Asghar Khan is aimed at discrediting his standing as a petitioner, but that is now over as the Supreme Court did find merit in what he had petitioned, as worthy of attention. By doing what he has done, Asghar Khan, now 91, may have given the nation a lasting gift by forcing caution on any future adventurer who plans to play favourites through unlawful inducements of money, pressure and simple manipulation of the democratic process. Better late than never.

Asghar Khan is a man of principle and largely known as such. He is the father of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and recognised as such. He was replaced by Nur Khan as the chief in July 1965, after having served for eight years, as the first Pakistani air chief. He had assumed command of the air force at the age of 35 — yes 35, you all thirty-somethings — and retired at the age of 43. He built the air force and trained it into a war-ready service, which Nur Khan took to war. Otherwise, between July and September 1965, it would have been impossible to prepare a force if it already had not been war-ready. Nur Khan gave the air force its indomitable leadership and that, too, was a factor. Asghar Khan was no traitor. As the 1965 war began, he was found more in the air headquarters than out of it and remained closely involved with the operations.

What then happened in April 1965 during the Kuch skirmish? Air Marshal Arjan Singh was the Indian chief. Asghar Khan and he had been together in the Royal Indian Air Force before Partition as batch-mates, as had Nur Khan. The two established contact during the skirmish and agreed on keeping the two air forces out, for fear of escalation. They did, except for one Mystere that seemed to have lost its way drifting across the border, which was successfully forced down by the PAF. The same Arjan Singh was hosted by Air Marshal Nur Khan at the air headquarters as his guest immediately after the 1965 war. Arjan Singh is the only air force officer in India to have been promoted to the five-star rank of a Marshal of the Air Force despite his discretionary conduct when looked at from an Aslam Baig perspective. At 93, Arjan Singh remains a most veritable emblem of dignity and poise as he still fondly welcomes Pakistanis into his abode.

Many years later, in 1999, another air force chief refused to plunge into Kargil at the behest of the army, unless the government of the day ordered him to do so. The government of the day did not and he kept his air force fully poised but out of conflict, only helping through a supportive role. By now, both India and Pakistan were nuclear-capable and such playfulness could have only pushed the region into its Armageddon. The Indian Air Force, too, exercised control over its ambit and restricted operations within its own line of control. For all its depravity, the one positive that came out of the Kargil conflict was the limit of power that regressed its unabashed use by the two nuclear nations. Nuclear-capable nations have greater stringency in exercise of power, which in itself is paradoxical but real. Both nations should imbibe this as a lasting lesson and stop seeking space for a limited war.

Just another nugget from the Asghar Khan saga. When a local lad, who was in the air force, approached Asghar Khan’s father to gain a recommendation for a posting to a place of choice, Asghar Khan’s father knew who to approach. A retired brigadier, he called up President Ayub Khan to request Asghar Khan, his son, to comply with the request. Ayub Khan did, which Asghar Khan refused. The consequence: Asghar Khan stopped all communication with his father till a long time after. They don’t make them like that, anymore.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: In 1990, Benazir was labelled a security risk by army, says former MI official</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458674/asghar-khan-case-in-1990-benazir-was-labelled-a-security-risk-by-army-says-former-mi-official</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458674/asghar-khan-case-in-1990-benazir-was-labelled-a-security-risk-by-army-says-former-mi-official#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 31 Oct 12 04:54:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=458674</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Then head of MI Sindh chapter explains why military toppled Bhutto-led govt.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court’s short order in the Asghar Khan case may have placed blame on two army generals for violating the Constitution by rigging the 1990 elections against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), but it left lingering questions about the details of the so-called “anti-state activities” of “some players” that prompted the interference to begin with.


One of the pushers of the “national interest” argument, the former head of the Military Intelligence (MI) Sindh chapter Brigadier (retd) Hamid Saeed shared details of such activities with The Express Tribune. In an earlier statement submitted by the former MI chief to the Supreme Court, which Saeed also shared with The Express Tribune, the former MI chief said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was labelled a “security risk” for Pakistan, adding that Bhutto’s public criticism of the army had landed her in hot waters.

Saeed, who claimed that it was not an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operation and that the MI was supervising it when Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani was its director general, claimed that the former prime minister had also blamed the army for supplying weapons to ‘Muhajirs’ in Karachi, citing the target killings of political workers by rival groups in the city. Bhutto also publicly slammed the army for enriching uranium to levels not acceptable to world powers, he said.

Furthermore, Saeed claimed that Bhutto in another incident censured the army for conducting an annual military exercise in Sindh without her consent, adding that the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) was forced to issue a press release clarifying that under the law the army chief was not obliged to seek anyone’s permission for conducting training exercises in any part of the country.

Saeed also referred to a BBC interview of Benazir Bhutto in which she voiced her support to India in crushing the armed dissident Khalistan movement in Indian Punjab.

In his affidavit, Saeed alleged that the Bhutto-led government had also given sensitive posts in the government to Al-Zulfiqar activists, endangering national security. The retired brigadier alleged that these activists had been given training by India to carry out acts of terrorism and that a record of these terrorists was available with the intelligence agencies. In an interview with Waqt TV, Saeed also named Mir Murtaza Bhutto, brother of Benazir Bhutto, as a supporter for these activists.

The former MI official claimed that, after the Bhutto government was sent packing through a presidential order on September 12, 1990, the then DG MI Major General Muhammad Asad Durrani visited Karachi and directed him to open six accounts in different banks, send him the titles of the accounts and monitor the account balances on a weekly basis.

Saeed added that, in compliance with these directions, six accounts were opened in different banks, in which funds began pouring in from September 16, 1990. By October 22, 1990, Rs140 million had been deposited in these accounts, he said.

“I would like to state that, during my service with the Military Intelligence, I was of the opinion that the funds were coming from the General Headquarters (GHQ),” Saeed said, adding that he only learnt of Younus Habib’s involvement in the case after he was arrested for fraud at Habib Bank Limited.

Furthermore, he claimed that Durrani had called him to explore the possibility of bailing Habib out of jail, adding that the army chief wanted to secure his release because he had been helpful in doing work of “national importance.”

“I showed him my inability to do so because the case was sub judice,” Saeed said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Meet the press: ‘SC should reveal full Younas Habib statement’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458429/meet-the-press-%e2%80%98sc-should-reveal-full-younas-habib-statement%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458429/meet-the-press-%e2%80%98sc-should-reveal-full-younas-habib-statement%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 30 Oct 12 20:35:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[agencies]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=458429</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sanaullah says FIA investigation of politicians ‘cannot be considered credible’.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Following the Supreme Court verdict in the Asghar Khan case, former army chief Gen (retired) Aslam Beg and former ISI director general Gen (retired) Asad Durrani should be arrested and investigated, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday.


He said facts obtained from these investigations must be made public.

He was addressing Meet the Press programme at the Faisalabad Press Club.

Keeping in view the Federal Investigation Agency’s track record, he said, any inquiry conducted by the agency could not be considered credible.

“Younas Habib is a convicted person and a man of dubious character,” he said.

He said that the SC had expunged eight paragraphs from the written statement presented by Younas Habib in the court during the hearing of the Asghar Khan case. Had these paragraphs not been expunged, a ban could be imposed on the Pakistan People’s Party, he said.

“I will make sure these paragraphs are included in the investigations against the generals,” he said.

The minister said that the SC decision was a “ray of hope in the prevailing darkness”. If it was implemented with good intent, he said, it could brighten democracy in the country.

He said the PPP was busy in point scoring rather than implementing the decision.

The establishment should be made subservient to democratic institutions to ensure the supremacy of the people, he said.

He alleged that corruption had remained the sole agenda of the PPP during the last five years. This, he said, was the reason why not a single resolution adopted by the parliament could be implemented.

He said the Aiwan-i-Sadar had become an epicentre of political activity and the PML-N will move the Supreme Court to bring this to an end.

He said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s tsunami had turned out to be Poras’s Elephant, which was trampling its own army. He said Khan would fail to achieve his agenda.

On the other hand, he said, if the PM-N came to power again, energy crisis would be overcome in three years.

On terrorism and military operation

Talking about the Centre’s steps to eradicate terrorism, Sanauallah said there weren’t any. He said the government had not taken the military leadership into confidence in this respect either.

Opposing a military operation in South Waziristan, he said the PML-N would resist if the PPP tried to delay the general elections under the pretext of a military operation. He, instead, stressed on establishing the government’s writ in South Waziristan. He said that the prevailing wave of terrorism had started during Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf’s regime and the incumbent government was pursuing his policies.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case verdict: Rigging proof hard to come by, says Army veteran</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458059/asghar-khan-case-verdict-rigging-proof-hard-to-come-by-says-army-veteran</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/458059/asghar-khan-case-verdict-rigging-proof-hard-to-come-by-says-army-veteran#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 30 Oct 12 05:13:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=458059</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Retired brigadier says nothing will happen to those found guilty.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) would not be able to collect records from the General Headquarters, or the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), on money allegedly distributed to politicians during the 1990s, said Brig (retd) Shaukat Qadir, a security consultant.

The FIA would not find anything, in terms of documentation, to establish that two former generals – Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani – had distributed millions of rupees among their political favourites to manipulate the general elections, Qadir said.

“The FIA would not get the record of the distributed money since such transactions are not recorded on official files – they are made on verbal directives,” he added.

Qadir, a former chief of Islamabad Policy Research Institute, believes ultimately nothing will happen to the former servicemen found guilty in the Supreme Court ruling on the Asghar Khan case and the politicians who received money.

“The blame game by politicians would die its natural death after some time,” he said, but quickly added that in the future, army generals would think twice before getting involved in such “adventures”.

The generals now know they can be brought to court for their wrongdoings, he said.

Court-martial ‘impossible’

Qadir said the army would fully abide by the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Asghar Khan petition, as well as any decision taken by the defence ministry while implementing the ruling against the two retired generals.

Their trial by a military court, however, is not possible, he added. “Firstly, the army would not be able to find any general to head the military tribunal to try Aslam Beg, if, at all, it decides to put Beg on trial,” Qadir said.

Meanwhile, another high-level military source, ruled out a court-martial of the former generals. The case appears similar to the National Logistic Cell (NLC) scam, but it’s not. Why? Because the army has tried retired generals in the NLC scam since they misappropriated public money. That was not the case in the rigging of 1990 elections, the source added.

Media reports, however, say that the money used to rig the 1990 elections was taken from a public sector bank.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Trying the generals</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/457894/trying-the-generals</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/457894/trying-the-generals#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 29 Oct 12 18:16:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=457894</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Will the PPP government prosecute former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg (retd) and former DG-ISI Asad Durrani?]]>
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				<![CDATA[Will the PPP government prosecute former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg (retd) and former DG-ISI Asad Durrani in the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict, wherein they were found guilty in the long-standing Asghar Khan petition after 16 years?

The Supreme Court, in its short order, has ruled that the late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was the then-president of Pakistan along with Beg and Durrani, acted in violation of the Constitution by facilitating the success of a group of politicians and political parties, etc, against rival candidates in the general election of 1990, for which they secured funds from Younis Habib.

Both the generals have expressed their dissatisfaction over the verdict and are looking forward to presenting their side of the case when it finally comes to a trial court. The point that will come up for discussion and will exercise many minds is the compulsion of  ‘obeying orders’ even when their legality is even vaguely in violation of the law.

The supremacy of the army in Pakistan is still tacitly accepted and no government can survive for long unless it aligns itself with its thinking and accepts its ‘national strategy’. The past also tells us that the Constitution favoured the ‘troika system’ that rigged the 1990 election with bribery. The president was the supreme commander armed with Article 58(2)(b) that could cashier the elected parliament. The judiciary invariably sided with the ‘troika’ and legitimised those actions which are now being challenged by the Supreme Court.

The present PPP government, though surviving in a deceptive, new ambience of military non-interference and judicial autonomy, is hardly better placed to investigate the generals. The political opposition still wants it out by fair method or foul and the judiciary is snapping at its heels while the military can barely tolerate it after the Memogate case.

The supremacy of the military in Pakistan has its origin in Pakistan’s nationalism and it is going to be difficult for the government to try the generals under Article 6 for treason and may ask the army to prosecute them under its law, not least influenced by a recent example of its refusal to expose a number of its corrupt retired officers to the law of the land.

Shuja Nawaz, in his authoritative history of the army, Crossed Swords: Pakistan its Army and Wars within (2008) explains why it may be difficult to prosecute the generals. “The Pakistan Army, a well-organised entity, has tried to fit into an underdeveloped political system. While responding to the unequal challenge of next-door India, it has ended up appropriating for itself the bulk of the state’s resources. Furthermore, its acts of trespassing and usurpation have sapped its professional function.”

Long years of military rule has shaped the national mind, already inclined towards jihad. The Pakistani mind is a militarised mind. Our children imbibe militarism from textbooks. If in the past, India was the enemy we had to defeat, today, it is a combination of foes with India, the US and Israel rolled into one. We need a strong and paramount army now more than ever before. The effect is total ignorance of economy-based governance, a blind carnal attraction to nuclear weapons which a civilian prime minister tested in 1998, after which there was no domestic or foreign investment in Pakistan.

Judicial immaculacy does not fit into the new paradigm of a weak state that has lost its writ in most of its territory, which cannot successfully prosecute and punish the terrorists it catches and lets its citizens survive by paying ransom to kidnappers and bank robbers whose ideology is deemed superior to the ideology of Pakistan by a vast madrassa network patiently waiting for a ‘revolution’. Alive to the cue, the politicians, too, predict a ‘revolution’ as Lal Masjid in Islamabad gets ready to build a bigger stronghold in the heart of the capital for the Taliban as the next rulers of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Needed: a break in the cycle</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/457262/needed-a-break-in-the-cycle</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/457262/needed-a-break-in-the-cycle#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 26 Oct 12 17:47:55 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[amina.jilani]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=457262</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[October 19 judgment cemented the fact that elections cannot be ‘free and fair’ as long as politicians can be bought.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Since 1999, Air Marshal Asghar Khan has written to each subsequent chief justice of Pakistan requesting that the Supreme Court take up his petition, which was last heard on October 11 of that year by the then-chief justice who reserved judgment. The Pervez Musharraf coup came the following day. The human rights petition was shelved.

Since the petition was first taken up in 1996, the Air Marshal’s stance has been that the fate of the petition should be decided before the next election so as to curb the ISI’s influence and thus, perhaps, prove a factor in making Pakistan’s elections an inch nearer to being ‘free and fair’.

Well, our present chief justice has finally heard and decided. The old problem now arises. The Court can hand down a decision but it is powerless to implement it. That is left to whatever authorities are involved and knowing them as we do, we can be reasonably sure that all concerned will sit back on their respective haunches and do nothing. The Election Commission has already opted out.

The military will let matters drift and we can also be reasonably sure that its old practice of helping ‘arrange’ elections will not be discarded. Enough has emerged in the media over the intervening years for us to be pretty clued up on the extent to which the 1990 elections were ‘arranged’ and who are the guilty, both givers and takers.

Then came the next election in 1993, and we all knew that after a prime minister and president were sent home by an army chief — who barely had to raise his swagger stick — the PPP would be given its turn. The same happened in 1997, when the powers that were had enough of the PPP and ushered in was Nawaz Sharif and his merry men. And who was it that ‘arranged’ for that totally discredited, corrupt and inept party, the PML-Q (a rank insult to Mr Jinnah), to be gifted the country in 2002? The year 2008 was a foregone conclusion due to the ‘sympathy’ factor, so the ISI did not have to unduly bestir itself to any great extent to let the PPP have its turn.

What the October 19 judgment has done is cement the fact that elections cannot be ‘free and fair’ for as long as politicians can be bought, and with them their vote bank, which is anything but ‘free’. Where the candidate goes, the vote bank follows willy-nilly.

Now, in a few months, there will be another round of elections — that seems certain barring some unforeseen act of whoever or whatever. For many, the thought of either the PPP or the PML-N (tradition it is its turn) sitting on top of us once again is infinitely depressing and distasteful. That leaves Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Imran has persevered along his path for as long as has Asghar Khan. Does he stand a chance? The rumour-mongers were at it earlier this year claiming that ‘election-arranger’, the ISI and child of the army, was backing him. The possibility, one supposes, could exist but how will it be managed? Where is Imran’s vote bank?

Whatever the ISI political cell there may be is certainly no longer based in the presidential mansion, which now has its own political cell run by an arch-manipulator who has so far outsmarted his political opponents and to a certain extent, even the mighty army whose chief is beholden to him for his role in creating the NRO and thus installing him with his precious immunity intact. The army chief reaped his just reward — the three-year extension announced to the nation at midnight; an unprecedented event.

If by any fluke, Imran Khan can pull something off; his coming would be more than welcome, purely because it would be something new and break the old tradition of the two hopeless main parties resuming their turns. It seems a far cry, but then strange happenings are not foreign to the republic that is Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Nawaz Sharif ‘strongly’ denies taking money from ISI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456885/asghar-khan-case-nawaz-sharif-%e2%80%98strongly%e2%80%99-denies-taking-money-from-isi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456885/asghar-khan-case-nawaz-sharif-%e2%80%98strongly%e2%80%99-denies-taking-money-from-isi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 12 17:03:41 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=456885</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PML-N chief says Yunus Habib had a criminal past, party considering to move court against his allegations.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif “strongly” denied allegations of receiving from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency during the 1990 elections, reported Express News on Thursday.

He said that Mehran Bank owner Yunus Habib, who allegedly gave loaned money to the ISI in the 1990s, had a “criminal” past and he did not remember ever meeting him.

Nawaz also said that his party is considering to move the court against Habib’s allegations.

The PML-N chief added that he has no objections over the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) probing the case on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Earlier, the PML-N had called for an independent investigation into the case instead of the FIA which works directly under the interior ministry.

In the Asghar Khan case, the Supreme Court had found a former army chief and a former chief of the all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) guilty of rigging the 1990 general elections (against the Pakistan Peoples Party), and ordered legal action against the two former generals.

The late former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, retired army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and retired ISI chief Lt-General Asad Durrani were adjudged to have “acted in violation of the Constitution by facilitating a group of politicians and political parties,” the court’s short order had stated.]]>
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			<title>1990 election rigging: Kaira demands PML-N apologise to nation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456628/1990-election-rigging-kaira-demands-pml-n-apologise-to-nation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456628/1990-election-rigging-kaira-demands-pml-n-apologise-to-nation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 12 06:36:28 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=456628</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Accuses party of sabotaging people’s mandate in 1990 elections.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) should tender an apology to the nation for sabotaging the people’s mandate in the 1990 elections.


Talking to a television channel, he said that PML-N’s deliberate manoeuvring in the past elections damaged the concept of free and fair elections and added that PML-N leadership should ask to be pardoned by the nation for their wrongdoing.

He said that Nawaz Sharif was elected as prime minister in the 1990 elections after poll rigging. Kaira said that provincial governments also emerged in the 1990 elections with the help and support of the establishment.

The information minister said that a ‘truth and reconciliation commission’ should be formed to bring the whole story before the country, and that an inquiry should be conducted in accordance with the law.

Kaira also emphasised that former premier Benazir Bhutto had been vindicated after her statements about poll rigging in the 1990 elections had proven true.

The minister said a white paper issued by Benazir regarding the poll rigging had clarified that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had nothing to do with Asghar Khan’s petition, because it was moved after they lost the elections.

Replying to a question, he said that action against involved elements would be taken in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

He said that Mian Nawaz Sharif had granted banker Younas Habib a Mehran Bank license as a gift to hatch a conspiracy against the PPP.

Kaira added that false cases had been made against PPP leaders and workers during the tenure of the past regimes. He said that the media and judiciary are now free and rigging would be far more difficult in the future.

Kaira addresses polio

The information minister also addressed on Wednesday the participants of an inauguration ceremony for the documentary “Polio victims: the spirit of survival”.

He said it is the responsibility of political and religious parties, media and all segments of society to play their role in eradicating polio. He expressed gratitude to international donor agencies for cooperating with Pakistan in eradicating polio.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2012.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan Petition: Former DG ISI speaks publicly on distributing money</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456636/asghar-khan-petition-former-dg-isi-speaks-publicly-on-distributing-money</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456636/asghar-khan-petition-former-dg-isi-speaks-publicly-on-distributing-money#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 12 05:24:32 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[news.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=456636</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Former DG ISI Assad Durrani says he implemented the decision that was made in light of the situation of that time.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Asad Durrani has accepted that he had distributed the money during the 1990 elections.

Speaking to anchorperson Javed Chaudhry on the Express News talk show ‘Kal Tak’ he said that he implemented the decision that was made in light of the situation of that time. He said that he was ready to face the trial anywhere. Durrani said that he had asked the court if he should disclose the reasons the money was distributed, but the court did not give him any response.


Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Nawaz no longer saadiq or amin, says Sharjeel Memon</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456510/asghar-khan-case-nawaz-no-longer-saadiq-or-amin-says-sharjeel-memon</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456510/asghar-khan-case-nawaz-no-longer-saadiq-or-amin-says-sharjeel-memon#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 12 01:40:36 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=456510</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Information minister requests Election Commission of Pakistan to disqualify Sharif from contesting future elections.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Wednesday that the “real face” of Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was exposed after the Supreme Court passed its judgment in the Asghar Khan case.


The verdict proves that Nawaz Sharif had disgraced the mandate of 180 million people and pocketed billions of rupees, and the PML-N will definitely face defeat in the upcoming elections, Memon said in a statement.

“No one can save Nawaz Sharif from going behind bars this time.” The information minister also requested the Election Commission of Pakistan to disqualify Sharif from contesting future elections. While borrowing the terminology used by the Supreme Court in a case concerning federal interior minister Rehman Malik, Memon said that the Sharif brothers were no more saadiq (true) and ameen (trustworthy).

The apex court had declared that the interior minister could not be considered saadiq and ameen as he had allegedly submitted fake documentation about his nationality status when the court was holding hearings on the dual nationality case.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: SC verdict is unjust, says Aslam Beg</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456688/asghar-khan-case-sc-verdict-is-unjust-says-aslam-beg</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456688/asghar-khan-case-sc-verdict-is-unjust-says-aslam-beg#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 12 23:37:37 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Beg alleges Lt Gen Durrani's list is fake and that verdict for case timed to further delay elections.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A week after the Supreme Court ordered the government to probe the accused in the Asghar Khan case, former Army Chief General Alsam Beg has said that he has been dealt injustice and that the list of beneficiaries provided by former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt. Gen. Assad Durrani was fake.

Speaking during an interview on Ary News, Gen. (retired) Aslam Beg alleged that the court had only looked at one side of the story and its efforts to seek further evidence had been largely blocked. He added that the court did not  hear him out, nor did it allow his witnesses be presented or allow any of the other witnesses, save Gen (retired) Naseerullah Babar, to be cross examined.

“I do not accept this judgment … apex court says that criminal liability has been proved - without any proof?”

‘Durrani’s list is fake’

Gen Beg said that the money used in 1990 elections was not public money and that he has proof for that.

“I knew that this money had come and that it was given. The president knew about it - I went to him. I warned [ISI chief] Durrani,” he said.

When asked did he know to whom the money was given to, Gen. Beg denied. "I don't know."

When asked whether the money was given to Nawaz Sharif, the former army chief said, “why only Nawaz Sharif, everyone who is on that [Durrani’s] list did not take money. Gen. (retired) Naseerullah Babar has confrimed this.”

When he was asked whether he believed the then ISI chief had lied in court and that Gen. Babar was telling the truth, Gen Beg acknowledged. “I definitely believe that.”

When confronted with the facts presented by Younis Habib, the former army chief said that under the law, a person who has been sentenced and served time in jail, his testimony is not admissible in court.

ISI’s political cell

Asked whether the then ISI chief had not violated his oath through his involvement in the ISI’s political cell, Gen. Beg said that was not the case since Durrani, and all the ISI chief’s who either preceded him or succeeded him were working under the mandate given by prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who had first created the cell in 1975.

Beg though questioned why subsequent governments including those of Ziaul Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Benazir, Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf continued to use the political cell instead of shutting it down.

“It has closed today, and it would not have closed if I had not exposed the matter before the Supreme Court in 1997,” the former army chief said, claiming credit for shutting down the spy agencies political cell.

“I told the SC that this all would not have happened if the 1975 notification would not have been issued by Bhutto. On this, the SC said that this notification be brought and shown. It was brought and shown, but after that "there was no light left in the lamps".

Verdict engineered to postpone elections

Gen. Beg alleged that the verdict in the Asghar Khan case, a case which was taken up after spending 16 mothballed years in the Supreme Court, was orchestrated to postpone the elections, with the incumbent government the obvious beneficiaries.

“The election commission is right. The case was dormant for 16 years, why was it picked up only now?”

“Is it or is it not a plan to delay elections so that after a year Zardari can be relected [as president ] for a second five year term?” he said.

Asghar Khan: Traitor or hero

Commenting on the petition filed by air marshal Asghar Khan, which culminated in the October 19, 2012 order, former army chief said that some new information had been revealed by Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s son Gohar Ayub a few months ago in a television programme.

Beg said that Gohar had revealed that an intelligence intercept of air marshal Asghar Khan’s communication days before the 1965 war had shown that the air force chief would not order his pilots to engage in the war, terming it a ‘war of the khakhis’.

The former army chief said that he then personally rang up Gohar who confirmed the matter to him. When Beg questioned why had the field marshal desisted from trying the air chief for the obvious high treason, the answer provided was that this would tantamount to tarnishing the air force’s image.

Beg went onto add that the Asghar Khan had also sabotaged the PNA-government deal before instigating General Ziaul Haq to stage a coup. “He [Asghar Khan] wrote to Zia that if Bhutto was not immediately removed, he would destroy the country. Zia sent the letter to his formation to create public opinion and a few days later he installed martial law.”

The former army chief further revealed that it was on Asghar Khan’s insistence that Bhutto was hanged. “Whose agenda was it to get rid of Bhutto?” Beg asked, before answering it himself that it was Henry Kissinger who wanted to get rid of the PPP founder for starting Pakistan’s nuclear programme, enhancing ties with China and bring the Muslim world under the umbrella of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC).]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case verdict: Govt rejects PML-N demand for independent probe</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456184/asghar-khan-case-verdict-govt-rejects-pml-n-demand-for-independent-probe</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456184/asghar-khan-case-verdict-govt-rejects-pml-n-demand-for-independent-probe#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 12 05:24:22 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=456184</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Supreme Court has ordered govt to further probe issue through FIA.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The government has rejected a demand from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for an independent probe commission to identify the politicians who allegedly received money from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the run-up to the 1990 parliamentary elections to influence the results.


“It is not our decision. It is a Supreme Court order and has to be implemented. No one should try to run away from historic facts,” Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told journalists on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court said in its weekend verdict that the ISI had distributed millions among leading political parties to form an alliance of rightwing parties called Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).

The alliance won the elections against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and helped Nawaz Sharif become the prime minister for the first time.

The court ordered the government to further probe the issue through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to identify the political groups which received the money.

The PML-N said it welcomed the court ruling but called for an independent investigation instead of the FIA which works directly under the interior ministry.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Sunday that his party, the PML-N, would never accept an FIA probe because of fears that the government could influence it.

Another PML-N leader demanded on Monday that a team from the United Nations should be invited to investigate the country’s biggest political scam to make the outcome acceptable to all.

But Information Minister Kaira said there was no need to either form an independent judicial commission or to invite a UN team for the probe because in either case it would negate the Supreme Court order.

He also asked the PML-N leadership to tender an apology to the nation and the president for “robbing” the PPP of people’s mandate in the 1990 elections. The PML-N leadership should do penance by apologising to the nation and the president, he added.

“Today, the doors have been slammed shut on poll rigging and no one can win elections on the basis of false propaganda and agencies’ support,” Kaira said.

What has been depicted in the court verdict is just a small chapter of the condemnable propaganda as various other characters and their wrongdoings are yet to be exposed, he added.

He said the court verdict had vindicated slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in her grave as all her statements proved true, including the formation of government by stealing the people’s mandate.  (With additional input from APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Don’t hold your breath awaiting prosecution</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456188/asghar-khan-case-don%e2%80%99t-hold-your-breath-awaiting-prosecution</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/456188/asghar-khan-case-don%e2%80%99t-hold-your-breath-awaiting-prosecution#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 12 04:56:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=456188</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Current, retired FIA officers sceptical of trial of politicians that allegedly received money.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[While many have hailed the verdict in the Asghar Khan case as a landmark judgment – having established that money was indeed given to politicians in the run-up to the 1990 polls, – whether those accused of receiving money will actually be prosecuted remains doubtful.


Five days have passed since the judgment, but the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the government are yet to formulate a strategy or initiate investigations in compliance with the Supreme Court verdict, The Express Tribune has learnt. According to sources, the FIA has not even obtained relevant records from the Supreme Court.

For starters, two technicalities, according to a senior official of the FIA, seem to be getting in the way. First, the money allegedly received by politicians was technically in the form of donations, which means the national exchequer was not affected. Traditionally, the FIA probes cases concerned with public money. Secondly, the Supreme Court verdict states that sufficient evidence needs to be collected before initiating proceedings – which is a particular obstacle in this case.

Not fit for trial? 

While an official of the FIA said the case did not fall under the ambit of the agency because no public money was involved, FIA Director (Law) Muhammad Azam Khan, while talking to The Express Tribune, said a probe would be conducted whether it fell in their purview or not because they were legally bound to act in compliance with the apex court’s orders.

That notwithstanding, another senior FIA officer said that, without sufficient evidence, the FIA cannot register a case.  So far, no incriminating evidence has surfaced despite a lapse of 22 years, even during the SC’s hearings.

The lack of evidence has to do with ‘missing links’ – the people who actually allegedly distributed money to the accused politicians. Since the money was not directly distributed by Beg or Durrani, the identities of the ‘middle men’ along with their statements, as well as a money trail, must be available for the FIA to convert the inquiry into a criminal case.

Then, the expected denial of those who allegedly received the money also has to be taken into account. There would have to be sufficient evidence to disregard a denial and run a case on one party’s statements.

Likelihood of prosecution

Several serving and former FIA officials, including former FIA additional director-general Zafar Qureshi, expressed scepticism. Qureshi, who led the investigation into the multi-billion-rupee National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scandal, said the precedent was weak.

Qureshi pointed to the acquittal of accused in the NICL case, including Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, in spite of tangible evidence, which includes a money trail and written statements from bankers, account holders, and other concerned people.

In the Asghar Khan case, no such evidence seems to exist.

Officers also pointed to investigations into the Steel Mills corruption case and the Hajj corruption case (investigated by FIA), and the Rental Power Projects case, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) scandal, the National Logistics Cell (NLC) scam and the Railways property lease scandal (investigated by NAB), saying that, despite a substantial amount of time passing, no major culprit has been arrested.

The guilty ones

The accused politicians’ case seems to be far off. The federal government is, in fact, yet to approach the relevant institution to take action against those actually identified and found guilty – i.e. then army chief Gen (retd) Aslam Beg, and then ISI chief Gen (retd) Asad Durrani – of distributing money.

Neither the army nor the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been approached to initiate legal action under the Pakistan Army Act (PAC) or the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Dr AQ Khan urges government to implement SC orders</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455769/asghar-khan-case-dr-aq-khan-urges-government-to-implement-sc-orders</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455769/asghar-khan-case-dr-aq-khan-urges-government-to-implement-sc-orders#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 12 14:56:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
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			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=455769</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Chairman Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Pakistan pays tribute to SC for exposing 'dark chapter' in country's political...]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Chairman Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Pakistan Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan on Tuesday urged the government to implement the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Asghar Khan case in letter and spirit.    

In a statement released on Tuesday, Dr Khan paid tribute to the Supreme Court of Pakistan for exposing a “dark chapter” of the country’s political history, adding that the apex court should ensure implementation of the order.

He said that the country should be purged with corrupt politicians for ensuring a true democratic country as dreamt by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It was necessary to brought to book those who helped steal the 1990 general elections, he maintained.

Dr Khan reposed his faith in the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, saying that he was an honest judge and that under his vigilance, people of Pakistan should be able to elect a loyal and honest government.]]>
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			<title>1990 pre-poll rigging: SC verdict could fuel political anarchy, warns poll chief</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455619/1990-pre-poll-rigging-sc-verdict-could-fuel-political-anarchy-warns-poll-chief-front-page</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455619/1990-pre-poll-rigging-sc-verdict-could-fuel-political-anarchy-warns-poll-chief-front-page#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 12 22:34:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=455619</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Questions timing of judgment, says it could stoke clash between political parties.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim on Monday expressed serious concerns over the timing of the Supreme Court’s verdict over what is referred to as the Asghar Khan petition.


“A decision at this time can result in a clash between political parties. It might affect the course of the next elections,” the country’s poll chief told The Express Tribune. Last week, the apex court released a short-order maintaining that intelligence agencies had distributed money among politicians in a bid to influence the results of the 1990 elections – an order that was widely hailed.

“It happened in 1990. Now, the judgment has left everything in a shambles,” said Ebrahim, adding the move will not bode well for a smooth political transition.

Earlier, Ebrahim appeared to be even more concerned about the implications of the verdict when he told BBC Urdu that the decision would fuel political “anarchy.”

“The case has been pending for the last 16 years, but the court has given its decision now. I think it would add to the political anarchy in the country … it certainly won’t do any good,” the BBC quoted Ebrahim as saying.

When asked about the veracity of these comments, Ebrahim admitted he did say that. “Yes, this is correct. I believe so … I have said this.”

Ebrahim also held a meeting with Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry earlier in the day. However, he said the two discussed other pressing issues and the court’s verdict was not deliberated over. Ebrahim added he would discuss the matter with Chief Justice Chaudhry in subsequent meetings.

The chief justice told Ebrahim that the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) does not allow the district-level judiciary to take part in the electoral process, as it distracts judges from their primary duty while complaints of corruption tarnish their image.

Upon this, Ebrahim requested the chief justice to review the NJPMC. A statement released by the Supreme Court maintained that Ebrahim had formally requested Chief Justice Chaudhry to allow district and sessions judges to serve as district returning officers in the upcoming parliamentary polls.

He added there was a broad consensus amongst civil society, political parties and media to make the election process more credible.

The chief justice assured Ebrahim of taking the proposals into consideration during the NJCPMC’s next meeting on November 3.

Talking to journalists before his meeting with the chief justice, Ebrahim said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could not take action against politicians accused of having received cash handouts during the 1990 elections.

“We have no constitutional provision to disqualify these politicians,” he said, pointing out that the court had referred the matter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). He further said the ECP decides who fulfills eligibility criterion spelt out under articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution after receiving nomination papers.

Replying to another query, Ebrahim said the ECP has not yet received a reference from the Senate chairman regarding Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s disqualification.

“We can only proceed against him once we receive a disqualification reference against him.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Begum Bhutto, Malala and Benazir’s historic vindication</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455260/begum-bhutto-malala-and-benazir%e2%80%99s-historic-vindication</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455260/begum-bhutto-malala-and-benazir%e2%80%99s-historic-vindication#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 12 17:42:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[wajid.shamsul.hasan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=455260</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Like Begum Bhutto &amp;amp; Benazir, Malala stood up fearlessly against barbarians opposing girls’ education, women’s rights.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[As I sat down to pen my thoughts on the first death anniversary of Begum Nusrat Bhutto — one of the greatest leaders of Pakistan — I received the good news that brave Malala Yousufzai, targeted by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is on her way to recovery.

Soon after, came a historic piece of news. The Supreme Court of Pakistan — after 16 years — vindicated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s charge that the 1990 elections were stolen from her through a conspiracy hatched by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, former army chief General (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and their intelligence apparatus in collusion with the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad politicians that included some leaders who, even today, continue to masquerade as champions of democracy. The Supreme Court concluded that all those high and mighty individuals, in cahoots with their political puppets, shamelessly violated the Constitution.

The prophetic words of Benazir reverberated in my ears: “Inshallah, a day will come when I shall stand vindicated.” The Supreme Court has dealt a severe blow to all those who still harbour the dream to be kicked into power by the jackboots and their Taliban supporters. Despite being educated at the University of Oxford, unlike those clerics who are bigoted by their bearing, certain individuals ignore that the TTP is not killing any foreigner in its ‘jihad’, but targeting innocent Pakistanis like Malala, our soldiers, and all those who believe in enlightenment. The TTP agenda is not to free Afghanistan from what Imran Khan calls “foreign occupation” but to occupy Pakistan.

Why I have opted to correlate Malala with Begum Bhutto is relevant since the 15-year-old brave girl, after having experienced the worst during the Taliban occupation of Swat, is fighting for her life. Like Begum Bhutto and Benazir, she stood up fearlessly against the barbarians who opposed girls’ education and women’s rights. Malala’s is a commitment that follows the illustrious footsteps of Begum Bhutto and Benazir, who fought and sacrificed their lives for the empowerment of women, education of girls and the less privileged.

Although Begum Bhutto is not with us any more, her spirit must be feeling elated at the brave actions of Malala, the relentless commitment of the PPP government and the Pakistani people to fight against obscurantism and the Supreme Court verdict in the Asghar Khan petition. Malala’s gradual recovery and the Supreme Court verdict have provided rare moments of joy for a nation that has suffered and waited long to see the apex Court vindicate genuine democratic leaders rather than bailing out military dictators and their anti-democracy hirelings. The resilience of our people as manifested by Malala and the continued sustainability of democracy despite a long catalogue of intrigues, machinations and extra-constitutional interventions, symbolise our national determination for overcoming all internal and external challenges.

These landmark events need separate comments but I would like to salute the likes of Begum Bhutto, Benazir and now Malala, as well as the Pakistani people, government, and the civil and military leadership, who have remained steadfast in their commitment to pursue the destiny chosen for them by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The best tribute to the departed soul of Begum Bhutto would be to ensure — come what may — the education of girls and the rights of women, besides of course, upholding the flag of democracy, sovereignty of parliament and inculcation of the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>History’s verdict</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455251/history%e2%80%99s-verdict</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455251/history%e2%80%99s-verdict#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 12 16:41:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rasul.bakhsh.rais]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=455251</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asghar Khan case must help us bury the myth that military intervention, political manipulation serve national interest]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The decision by the Supreme Court in the Asghar Khan case is historic. It is a milestone and in many respects path-breaking. The decision deals with many fundamental, structural political issues, the political process and the role of different institutions that will continue to be debated for sometime. However, one issue tops all others in importance and that is the role of the military and intelligence agencies in politics. These two public institutions and those who have been leading them have done greater harm to democracy and to the will of the people than any other institution, person and force, external or internal.

It has taken decades of struggles, movements and political fights to get Pakistan on the rails. The people’s train, loaded with the energy of popular will, had a rough time moving forward on twisted rails, which was further blasted by constitutional landmines planted by martial leaders. Those who planned constitutional subversions and those who benefited from them justified this joke with one of the largest Muslim states, in the name of national interest. In all military takeovers and in subsequent interventions in the political process of the country from behind the scenes, there was always personal prejudice, partisanship and short-sighted, personalised understanding of the national interest.

We must salute Asghar Khan for holding his ground through these years and bringing before the courts, the nation and the world, the biggest national fraud ever committed in the form of rigging of the 1990 elections. This case, debated so much in the media during the past 16 years or so, should have occupied the apex Court earlier. We can celebrate it for what it says and consider it better late than never. The argument of national interest couldn’t be sold anymore to an independent judiciary unlike in the post-martial law packed courts. The history’s verdict is out, documented and on judicial paper. What is that? It is the rigging of elections, manipulating the political process, robbing financial institutions, twisting the roles of state institutions and bribing client politicians, who have served only in the special interests of individuals, and not that of Pakistan.

The story of ‘national interest’ and its embedded narratives in national security, ‘accountability’ and ‘true democracy’ had believers and takers in that particular constituency of the political class that tied up its political fortune with the military. This subordinate class of politicians formed parties, built up coalitions like the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad and secretively received funds to finance their campaigns. This class of politicians, using the instrument of power, has grown very strong pockets of strength in different parts to counter an organic growth of true representation of people.

What was the bargain between the client political class and the military? Simply put, it was the acquiring of power for serving the personal and group interests of the military leaders. Both enjoyed control over the state, economic resources and society. And while making money — tonnes of it — and allowing all friends and families to be in this political business, they were all defending, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. What a joke.

Contradictions of these military leaders and those who supported them are quite obvious on two core issues: democracy and national security. Even a common rustic man on the street would know that a diverse society like Pakistan’s cannot make any progress on national integrity — which is the central point of security — without being ruled by representatives from different regions of the country. A selective co-optation of individuals by the military, in colonial fashion, only pushed the genuine representatives towards alienation, despondency and, in some cases, resistance. This remarkable judgment must help us bury the myth that military interventions and political manipulations serve national interest, security and the people. The actors in the plot did quite the contrary.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan ruling left no room for ECP to proceed against politicians: CEC</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455101/asghar-khan-ruling-left-no-room-for-ecp-to-proceed-against-politicians-cec</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/455101/asghar-khan-ruling-left-no-room-for-ecp-to-proceed-against-politicians-cec#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 12 09:35:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=455101</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim says after ruling Constitution does not allow ECP to take legal actions against politicians.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Chief Election Commissioner (ECP) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim said Monday that Supreme Court’s ruling in the Asghar Khan petition has not left any room, according to the Constitution, for the commission to carry out proceedings against politicians involved in rigging the 1990 election, Express News reported.

The Supreme Court had ruled that the election, which brought the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to power for the first time at the centre was rigged, with the main part in this played by the military, the ISI and then-president the late Ghulam Ishaq Khan — in other words, the ‘establishment’.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Ebrahim said that after court’s ruling, a few politicians urged the ECP to carry out proceedings against politicians who were involved in rigging.

Responding to a question Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s dual nationality case, the ECP chief said that the Senate Chairman was supposed to send a reference in the case and that the ECP could only take a decision once it is received.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case verdict: Governor Khosa takes a swipe at PML-N</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454983/asghar-khan-case-verdict-governor-khosa-takes-a-swipe-at-pml-n</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454983/asghar-khan-case-verdict-governor-khosa-takes-a-swipe-at-pml-n#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 12 05:39:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454983</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says distributers and recipients of money should be tried for treason for rigging 1990 elections.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[If the Asghar Khan case is pursued to its logical end, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership will vanish from politics, claims Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa.


Addressing a ceremony at Chand Rai village near Chongi Amar Sidhu on Sunday, Khosa said that the distributers and recipients of cash handouts have committed treason.

He was referring to the then-ISI and army chiefs and the politicians who formed the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) at their behest in the run-up to the 1990 general elections.

Khosa added that those who “usurped the rights of the people” should be tried for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.

In a veiled reference to the PML-N chief, Khosa alleged that some politicians were groomed during [Gen Ziaul Haq] martial law and rose to power through undemocratic means. “Such politicians have been unmasked – they are not interested in the democratic process,” he alleged.

In an indirect criticism of the judiciary, Khosa said while the apex court decided cases involving the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) it should also ensure a speedy trial of the case against Shahbaz Sharif who “took over the province unconstitutionally, four years back”.

Khosa urged the Supreme Court to decide the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) so that “character assassination of the creator of the country’s Constitution” could be stopped once and for all.

For the PPP, politics is like a religious obligation (ibaadat),” Khosa said. “It is a party of martyrs like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto.”

Later, Governor Khosa also visited the residence of late advocate Shakir Ali Rizvi to offer condolences to his family. Rizvi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen last week in Lahore.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd,  2012.]]>
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			<title>What lies beneath</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454843/what-lies-beneath-3</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454843/what-lies-beneath-3#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 12 17:42:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamal.siddiqi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454843</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[As a nation, we cannot look up to people who have made us proud. And we glorify those who need to be shamed instead.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It is said about the Pakistani nation that we are adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We continue to question our achievements but, at the same time, gloss over our failures, in the process, lying to ourselves and to others around us who care to listen. The same goes for those we consider our role models and our heroes. Somehow as a nation, we cannot look up to people who have made us proud. And we glorify those who need to be shamed instead.

Take the Malala Yousafzai incident and how it is being played out. While the world lauds the bravery of this 15-year-old who is now being seen as a symbol of resistance against the Taliban and a voice for education for girls in the country, within us are a number of people who are saying that the media is going overboard in its coverage of her. Instead, they argue, the focus should be on the children who die in drone attacks. Does it always have to be about one or the other? Can’t we mourn those who die in drone attacks and at the same time be proud of our brave sons and daughters? Why must we put them down?

We are not proud of Dr Abdus Salam, the country’s only Nobel laureate, because he was an Ahmadi, irrespective of what he achieved. Dr Eqbal Ahmad, one of the greatest minds of the subcontinent, lies forgotten, possibly because his columns in Dawn at the time asked questions and pointed out problems to which no one seemed to have answers or solutions. His dream of an international place of learning in Islamabad where the best and the brightest could come and benefit remains unfulfilled. The land on which it was to be built is appropriated for much lesser gains.

Another great writer and activist, Tariq Ali, is also disowned by us because we see him as an atheist. His leftist credentials just won’t do. Tariq Ali may be a hero in many international circles but in Pakistan, most don’t know him. Or don’t want to.

We are happy to trash writers like Dr Mubarak Ali and Khaled Ahmed because they are seen as too secular minded. Their only crime possibly is that they write what they see and mince no words about it. We are not used to the truth. And these two gentlemen have taken considerable pains to correct the notions and ideas that have been fed to us for decades by our official historians. The lies that we live with.

Most Pakistanis still think that we won all our wars with India and that India in fact started all the wars. They think that Bangladesh was created because the East Pakistanis were ghaddar, that one Pakistani soldier equals two Indian soldiers. If that is not all, we firmly believe that the Taliban are, after all, Muslims and, therefore, they cannot kill or bomb fellow Muslims. It is all a conspiracy against the Muslim world — somehow defeats the purpose of the attacks. That is possibly why the Taliban take credit for them repeatedly at the top of their voices.

Now, we hear that Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy will no longer be teaching at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. Apparently, one of the greatest scientific minds that Pakistan has produced cannot find an extension at LUMS. No reason has been given. Except that someone let on that the great professor “writes too much” and “appears too frequently on television”. That’s rich coming from a university whose vice chancellor, in earlier years, also wrote in equal quantities and even had a show when he was younger on PTV. One would have expected such treatment from public sector universities. One can only wonder what forced LUMS to sack Dr Hoodbhoy. Personal jealousy?

In all this atmosphere of collective amnesia, we see a refreshing development this week in the form of a ruling by the Supreme Court on the Asghar Khan case. That the Court finds two army generals and a president of the country guilty of violating the Constitution and rigging a general election is a first step towards uncovering the truth. That the two generals will be prosecuted for treason remains to be seen — highly unlikely, despite the reaction from the present-day military high command endorsing the judgment and insisting that the army should stay out of politics. Credit goes to Asghar Khan for persisting and the Supreme Court for sitting up and taking notice. Good sense prevails in some instances, no matter that it happens two decades later.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd,  2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Chaudhry Nisar doubts FIA will perform</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454808/asghar-khan-case-chaudhry-nisar-doubts-fia-will-perform</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454808/asghar-khan-case-chaudhry-nisar-doubts-fia-will-perform#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 12 14:32:56 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ferya..ilyas]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454808</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[FIA has been working as a &quot;handmaiden&quot; for the government to protect corrupt people, says opposition leader.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[For the last four and a half years, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been working as a "handmaiden" for the government to protect corrupt people, said Opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday.

Speaking to media in Islamabad, Nisar said one cannot expect fair performance from the country’s investigative agency.

“I’m surprised; SC knows what FIA did in Hajj scam, NICL case and the OGDCL case,” he said.

Following the apex court verdict on the Asghar Khan petition which found a former army chief and a former chief of the all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) guilty of rigging the 1990 general elections (against the Pakistan Peoples Party), the FIA was directed to recover money used for this purpose from certain politicians. The FIA will have to recover Rs140 million.

The opposition leader said that there is not even a single issue in which the FIA had worked transparently.

Nisar further lashed out at politicians who have been attacking his party Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) since the court’s verdict.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Beg, Durrani to be tried, promises Kaira</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454675/asghar-khan-case-beg-durrani-to-be-tried-promises-kaira</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454675/asghar-khan-case-beg-durrani-to-be-tried-promises-kaira#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 12 06:24:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454675</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says JIT to probe politicians accused of receiving money.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[While it remains to be seen how far the legal retribution will go, the government pledged on Saturday that it will try two retired generals found guilty of rigging the 1990 general elections.


According to Federal Information Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira, the government would do this in compliance with the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling on the Asghar Khan petition.

Asked if the government will institute the process of high treason against the retired generals under Article 6, Kaira responded in the affirmative.

While talking to representatives of the print media outside the Punjab Governor House on Saturday, Kaira said the government is also creating a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe all those politicians suspected of receiving money from the intelligence agencies in the lead up to the 1990 polls.

The majority of the team will be comprised of officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

“The JIT will investigate the politicians mentioned [as recipients] in the affidavits [submitted before the court],” he said. Kaira added that the SC has directed the government to investigate individuals whose names surfaced during the case proceedings. Asked whether the JIT will probe all the money distributed by Yunus Habib between 1988 and 1994, he replied the court ruling restricted it to investigate the funds used to rig the 1990 elections.

Responding to a question over what implications the SC ruling had for the Presidency, he declined to comment saying he would not want to increase ‘bitterness’ between the two institutions in light of PPP’s reconciliation policy. He maintained, however, that the president’s office was a political one since he was an elected official.

“Like the speaker of any house, the president belongs to a political party. His conduct, however, should be neutral and impartial,” Kaira said.

He also claimed that the ruling had reiterated his party’s stance that they have been at the receiving end of injustice at every election. Asked what PPP will do as the ruling has indirectly termed Nawaz Sharif’s term following the 1990 elections illegal, he replied the government is contemplating how to provide that tenure a legal blanket.

Kaira defended prior PPP governments’ decisions to appoint one principal culprit behind the rigging – Lt-Gen Asad Durrani – as an ambassador to Germany and give the other – Gen Mirza Aslam Beg – an award. He maintained the award was presented to the Pakistan Army rather than Gen Beg in an individual capacity. At the same time, he said, Durrani was appointed because he fulfilled the technocratic criteria for the position. He expressed astonishment at statements by senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders such as Senator Pervez Rashid over these issues and asked the opposition party to refrain from such measures.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: FIA faces herculean task ahead</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454677/asghar-khan-case-fia-faces-herculean-task-ahead</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454677/asghar-khan-case-fia-faces-herculean-task-ahead#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 12 06:12:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454677</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Country’s premier investigation agency will have to recover the Rs140 million distributed among politicians in 1990.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) faces a herculean task following the apex court verdict on the Asghar Khan petition, according to several officials and experts.


The country’s premier investigation agency will have to recover Rs140 million – the current value of which will be much higher – from certain politicians who allegedly received money from former army chief Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director-general Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani in 1990.

Talking to The Express Tribune, former interior secretary Tasneem Durrani said the FIA will have to summon the politicians accused of receiving money so that they may record their statements. The agency will ascertain their guilt keeping in mind various laws, including the Political Parties Act and other codes of conduct formulated by the Election Commission of Pakistan, he added.

“If the accused politicians are found guilty, their cases will be referred to the courts,” observed Durrani.

The FIA DG is likely to take up the matter on Monday (tomorrow), said Azam Khan, the agency’s legal director. The agency will make its final decision on how to tackle the case after receiving copies of the court’s record and its verdict from the Supreme Court registrar’s office. An FIA team will then start its investigation by serving notices to the accused parties, Khan added.

The SC short order also directed that the money be recovered with ‘profit’. FIA’s financial experts will have to determine the current value of the Rs140 million distributed in 1990.

Investor and financial expert Raja Faisal told The Express Tribune that the amount FIA will have to recover is around Rs3.4 billion. “One tola of gold cost Rs2,500 in 1990. Its current cost is about Rs62,100,” he elaborated.

For example, Jamaat-e-Islami allegedly received Rs5 million according to documents submitted to the court. If charges against them are proved, the party will end up paying Rs124.2 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: MQM demands action against army, govt officials</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454682/asghar-khan-case-mqm-demands-action-against-army-govt-officials</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454682/asghar-khan-case-mqm-demands-action-against-army-govt-officials#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 12 05:55:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[news.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454682</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asks politicians who received money to surrender before the law.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Welcoming the Supreme Court’s ruling on Asghar Khan’s petition, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has demanded action against the army and government officials involved in rigging the 1990 elections.


According to a press release issued by the party’s co-coordination committee on Saturday, the committee asked all politicians who accepted money from army and intelligence officials to “show courage” and surrender themselves to the law.

It further claimed that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was also offered money like others but he refused to accept it and ‘sell his conscience’.

The statement said that the case bore out the fact that government agencies had been meddling in the country’s political process and influencing elections.

The committee called for ensuring that all state institutions work within their framework in future and do not transgress their constitutional limits.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>1990 elections rigging case: Sharifs should be banned from politics, says Sharjeel</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454665/1990-elections-rigging-case-sharifs-should-be-banned-from-politics-says-sharjeel</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454665/1990-elections-rigging-case-sharifs-should-be-banned-from-politics-says-sharjeel#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 20:55:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454665</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The minister said that govt would also probe the matter further and find out who else was involved in this offence.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to bar Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from taking part in the elections.


He made these remarks after the Supreme Court’s ruling on a petition filed by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan in 1996, in which the Inter-Service Intelligence was accused of distributing money to politicians so that the general elections of 1990 could be manipulated. The apex court ruled that some political parties had indeed accepted money and were backed financially by ISI.

At a press conference on Saturday at Chief Minister House, Memon said, “PML-N were the main recipients of the money. The ECP should disqualify them because country does not need corrupt politicians.”

Memon, who was flanked by revenue minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, alleged that both PML-N leaders have broken all records of corruptions. “They are no longer honest and trustworthy. The court’s verdict has proved that they are obsessed with money.”

He said that there was no restriction on PML-N leaders to visit Sindh, but it would be better if they surrendered all looted and plundered money before coming to the province.The minister said that government would also probe the matter further and find out who else was involved in this offence.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Sixteen years on</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454371/sixteen-years-on</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454371/sixteen-years-on#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 19:07:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454371</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The question we need to ask is why it has taken so long for this verdict to be delivered.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[We have confirmation of something we had all known or suspected for a very long time. The 1990 election in our country, which brought the PML-N to power for the first time at the centre was rigged, with the main part in this played by the military, the ISI and then-president the late Ghulam Ishaq Khan — in other words, the ‘establishment’. The three-member bench of the Supreme Court, which delivered the verdict on a 1996 petition filed by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan, did not mince words in stating that as the plaintiff alleged money had been handed out through the Mehran Bank by the ISI, essentially to determine the outcome of the polls and to keep the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) out of power. The Court has ordered action under the law against then-COAS General Mirza Aslam Beg and the DG ISI at the time, Asad Durrani, for their illegal actions and hurled the ball into the government’s court by ordering it to initiate this process through the FIA.

It is encouraging that the prime minister has immediately stated that the Court’s orders will be implemented. The PPP has always spoken of the political cell set up in the presidency to fix the 1990 polls. Whether it is now truly able to manage the matter is something to be seen and, of course, in the Court verdict, there are also warnings for the future with the bench making it clear that the president of the country should not be involved in political events in any fashion. It has said precisely the same for the military. The question we need to ask is why it has taken so long for this verdict to be delivered. Asghar Khan put the evidence he had before the Court a full 16 years ago. It is strange that this was ignored; the case, after all, has striking repercussions for our democracy. For one, it establishes links between the agencies and particular parties. Secondly, it shows the extent to which forces will go to ‘manage’ election results. We have to find a way of ending this trend once and for all.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Setting the record straight</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454377/setting-the-record-straight-3</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454377/setting-the-record-straight-3#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 17:39:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454377</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Judgments don't stop coups, intrigues or armoured vehicles. But, it may have become slightly more difficult to do so.]]>
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				<![CDATA[It is said that the advantage of being a cynic is that one is either proved right or pleasantly surprised. The Supreme Court has passed a short order in the Asghar Khan case and declared that the formation of the IJI by the military establishment to ensure a handpicked government comes to power was unconstitutional. Further, there are clear directions in the short order to prosecute the then-army chief, the director general of the ISI and all politicians who received the illegal payments. Well, many of us have been pleasantly surprised.

The judgment is indeed historic in more ways than one. The Supreme Court has clearly and in unambiguous terms held that the Khakis have no role in politics and they have in the past breached the Constitution in manipulating elections. It is impossible to overstate the significance of this. The delight is not so much from hearing it, since most of us knew that for some time and even the generals involved were arrogant enough to repeatedly say this. It is from hearing the Supreme Court say this. Take a bow, My Lords. Air Marshal Asghar Khan and his brilliant lawyer Salman Akram Raja deserve our gratitude.

I do not want to be a spoilsport here. However, the order could have at least expunged the service record of the two generals and asked for all retirement privileges to be withdrawn immediately. Similarly, asking the federal government to investigate, while perfectly legally justifiable, deviates from the standard practice of the past few years, during which the Court has left very little to chance. Perhaps, a judicial commission could have been formed. We have seen the Supreme Court can, when it wants to, send elected prime ministers home without referring to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Continuing with the nitpicking, one may disagree with the conclusion that these were individual acts and not of the army and ISI as institutions. Especially since it reflects very poorly on the succeeding army and ISI chiefs who never thought it fit to have the matter investigated and clear the names of their institutions. The bringing in of the president’s role and political activity also is slightly discomforting. Since for sometime at the end there was the impression that the primary focus of a case where BB was illegally and unconstitutionally defeated was on president Asif Ali Zardari who, if anything, is a victim of the IJI; even if vicariously. The sceptic would still find cause for alarm on the observation on the dual offices of the president, which was originally not an issue. Nevertheless, much can be forgiven today. However today is not a day for cynicism; the Supreme Court has ruled against the chief of army staff and the DG ISI; Malala is on her way to recovery. We do not get many such days.

The onus is now on the federal government to prosecute the generals for treason and investigate the politicians named. I respect the senior citizens as much as the next person, yet I say without any feeling of guilt that seeing General Aslam Beg and General Asad Durrani behind bars would be a very happy moment. The coalition federal government has been weak in taking on the military establishment so far. However, with rejuvenated hopes I assume that the Court will be as vigilant and demanding as it was in the NRO case to ensure that the judgment is enforced in “letter and in spirit” and if the government displays reluctance to lock the two rogue generals, the Court will undoubtedly take matters in its own hands and do the needful.

Coming back to historical significance, the 1990 election was rigged, stolen; it is official now. The generals and the politicians involved did not only breach the Constitution, they betrayed us as a people. All politicians involved should be investigated. The heaviest burden lies on Mian Nawaz Sharif, the opening batsman of the IJI. Mian Sahib, if you have anything to apologise for, there is no time like now. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto stands vindicated today. The implications of this judgment are fairly severe, namely that Mian Nawaz Sharif cheated his way to first become the Prime Minister of this country. For starters, Mian Sahib should volunteer himself for accountability. All member parties of the IJI and their leadership owe an apology to the people of this country. Truth before reconciliation. Otherwise, a lot of lofty talk on “rule of law” and democracy would become nonsensical and dishonest.

The most heartening aspect of this judgment is that there is still hope for the history of this country to be corrected. The Asghar Khan case is a big milestone. However, there are many more on the road past. Mr Nasim Hasan Shah, one of the judges on the bench in the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case, has already said on record that the verdict was delivered under pressure. This is admission of complicity in murder. Let him be summoned to court and at least publicly apologise. The Court has rightly observed that orders from superiors form no basis for violating the Constitution. There are many generals from the Zia and Musharraf eras who are still around, many have now reinvented themselves as champions of democracy, who should be summoned and tried and punished, even if they are to be token, symbolic punishments. General Hamid Gul takes indecent pride in his role in forming the IJI in furtherance of ‘national interest’ and if he is fit enough to attend and address DPC meetings, he should be able to stand trial. Then, there is the murder of BB and Nawab Akbar Bugti.

I know a lot of this is wishful thinking. The generals are unlikely to be imprisoned. However, it is a pleasurable imagination. And for once, it is for good reason. The short order of October 19, despite our little disagreements, is a good reason to be hopeful. Judgments and pieces of papers do not stop those mounting coups, their intrigues or armoured vehicles. However, it might have become slightly more difficult from now on for anyone to do so in the future. Here is to hope.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Asghar Khan case: Shahbaz Sharif says PML-N accepts SC ruling</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454285/asghar-khan-case-shahbaz-sharif-says-pml-n-accepts-sc-ruling</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454285/asghar-khan-case-shahbaz-sharif-says-pml-n-accepts-sc-ruling#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 11:53:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454285</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Punjab chief minister alleges that President Zardari also made a deal with IB for his political gains.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced on Saturday that his party was ready to accept the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Asghar Khan case, reported Express News.

The apex court had announced its short order on Friday declaring that the 1990 elections were rigged by the then intelligence and army chiefs.

Addressing an event at Cadet College, Kalar Kahar, Sharif alleged that President Asif Ali Zardari had also made a deal with Intelligence Bureau (IB) for his political gains.

He also asked on whose orders a long march towards Islamabad was held to topple the first government of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif.

Commenting on the ongoing energy crisis, the chief minister said that Pakistan is facing a self-created crisis and urged the government to wake up before it is too late.]]>
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			<title>Analysis: Putting to rest the past, and the present</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454145/analysis-putting-to-rest-the-past-and-the-present</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454145/analysis-putting-to-rest-the-past-and-the-present#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 05:58:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Ejaz Haider]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454145</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Constitution states than an Election Cell must not be created in support of any party.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Let’s start with the non-obvious. The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s short order in the 16-year-old ISI case has – or should – put paid to conspiracy theories that next year’s elections will be delayed and the Pakistan Army is prepping to install a technocratic, long-term interim government in collusion with the SC, a Bangladesh model of sorts.


RIP that, thank you. Just like the President of Pakistan and Chiefs of the Army and the ISI cannot act in any manner prejudicial to the “will of the people of Pakistan”, neither can the SC, either itself or in tandem with the military.

Within the immediate context one would describe this as a positive development.

Then there is the president and his office. The court says, “A President of Pakistan... being head of the State represents the unity of the Republic under Article 41 of the Constitution. And as per the oath of his office in all circumstances, he will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. Thus, holder of office of President of Pakistan, violates the Constitution, if he fails to treat all manner of people equally and without favouring any set, according to law, and as such, creates/provides an occasion which may lead to an action against him under the Constitution and the Law.” (NB: order is reproduced verbatim.)

The paragraph is significant in the current context when read in conjunction with the court’s observation that “The President of Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff, DG ISI or their subordinates...are not supposed to create an Election Cell or to support a political party/ group of political parties, because if they do so, the citizens would fail to elect their representatives in an honest, fair and free process of election, and their actions would negate the constitutional mandate on the subject.”

From this general statement, arising out of an episode in 1990, the court proceeds to issue an order in the present: “Any Election Cell/Political Cell in Presidency or ISI or MI or within their formations shall be abolished immediately and any letter/notification to the extent of creating any such Cell/Department (by any name whatsoever, explained herein, shall stand cancelled forthwith).”

The Lahore High Court is hearing a petition challenging President Asif Ali Zardari’s two offices. The LHC has not been very aggressive in taking up the issue. It will be interesting to see if the LHC reads this new judgment as a message to get on with deciding the two offices case.

If that happens, we might end up seeing an attempt to get Mr Zardari to pay for Mr Khan’s as well as his own “partisan political” actions! There are too many press reports detailing political meetings at the Presidency and President Zardari’s speeches at PPP rallies for anyone to try and make the point about the Presidency being nonpartisan.

Now to the obvious: it is a good judgement. Some say it could have been more forthright. That is a matter of where one stands and how strongly one feels about the excesses of the army and its intelligence agencies. The short order goes beyond adjudging mere financial misdemeanour to establishing the principle of the will of the people as supreme. In the broader context of the civil-military imbalance that has informed both the domestic politics of this country and its foreign and security policies, it is always good to establish the principle of civilian supremacy flowing from the will of the people and its expression. In actual practice, it can take more than just expressing this sentiment because military putsches, when they come, exist outside the law and the constitution.

The famous Asma Jilani judgment of 1973, for example, has been followed by not one but two coups.

It should also be evident that it was easier for the SC to decide the case yesterday (Oct 19) than back in 1996, when the case was filed. For example, former army chief Aslam Beg cannot strong-arm the SC today as he could and did Mr Justice Afzal Zulla’s court. Yes, much has changed, and that’s all to the good. But much more needs to change structurally for Pakistan to be secure both from the military’s adventurism and civilian incompetence.

Who received the dough?

According to the affidavit submitted by Lt-Gen Durrani, the following sums were given to the politicians:

&nbsp;

Mir Afzal Khan (Chief Minister NWFP 1990-93)  Rs10 million

Lt-Gen Rafaqat (for distribution among journalists)          Rs5.6 million

Jamaat-e-Islami                                                Rs5 million

Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi                                      Rs5 million

Jam Sadiq                                                        Rs5 million

Zafarullah Jamali                                             Rs4 million

Nawaz Sharif                                                    Rs3.5 million

Former PM Muhammad Khan Junejo            Rs2.5 million

Pir Pagara                                                         Rs2 million

Humayun Marri (Bugti’s son-in-law)              Rs1.5 million

Nader Mengal                                                  Rs1 million

Kakar (name unclear in affidavit)                   Rs1 million

Abida Hussain                                                  Rs1 million

Jam Yousuf                                                       Rs0.75 million

Altaf Hussain Qureshi (journalist)                  Rs0.5 million

K Baloch (name unclear in affidavit)              Rs0.5 million

Hasil Bizenjo                                                    Rs0.5 million

Mustafa Sadiq                                                  Rs0.5 million

Maulana Salahuddin                                       Rs0.3 million

Several smaller groups received around      Rs5.4 million

Others (reportedly including senior SC

lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada) received             Rs3.339 million

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Analysis: The establishment exposed</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454153/analysis-the-establishment-exposed</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454153/analysis-the-establishment-exposed#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 05:54:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.f.ebrahim]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454153</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The infamous 1996 Asghar Khan case is finally over.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The infamous 1996 Asghar Khan case is finally over. It took the men on the hill a quarter of a century to come to terms that Benazir Bhutto was right. The 1990 election was indeed stolen.


The Supreme Court has not minced words in its short order: “Late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the then President of Pakistan, General (R) Aslam Baig and General (R) Asad Durrani acted in violation of the Constitution…”. Brazenly, this cabal rigged the 1990 elections by doling out funds to parties opposing Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party. According to the Supreme Court, “Their acts have brought a bad name to Pakistan and its Armed Forces as well as secret agencies in the eyes of the nation, therefore, notwithstanding that they may have retired from service, the federal government shall take necessary steps under the Constitution and law against them.”

The Supreme Court verdict clears the way for prosecuting General Beg and General Durrani for treason against the State under Article 6 of the Constitution. However, it is unlikely that the present government has the will to institute such proceedings or waver from its time-tested policy of reconciliation.

The Asghar Khan case will pose an equally uncomfortable dilemma for the armed forces. Given the recent precedent in the NLC scam, General Kayani and the corp commanders will now be asked as to why General Aslam Beg a former Chief of the Armed Forces and General Asad Durrani, head of the ISI, not be re-inducted into the army and face court martial.

In the ultimate analysis, a trial for treason or a court martial are unlikely to have any salutary effect on the destiny of this nation.  Knowing the truth – as we have done so with the Supreme Court verdict – may serve national interest much better.

General Durrani is of course guilty of stealing the 1990 election. But he was man enough to admit his wrongs. We must not forget that without his admission and sworn affidavits, this blot on our nation’s history would never have seen the light of day. More dark knights from the establishment need to take General Durrani’s high road.

The Asghar Khan case is not just about 1990. It is about 2012. If this verdict has vindicated Benazir Bhutto, it has also thrown the gauntlet to Asif Ali Zardari’s Presidency.

The Supreme Court’s judgment focuses on Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s constitutional violations – however, the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court sound like they may have someone else in mind.

The Supreme Court has held that “A President of Pakistan, in parliamentary system of government, being head of the state represents the unity of the Republic under Article 41 of the Constitution. And as per the oath of his office in all circumstances, he will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. Thus, holder of office of President of Pakistan, violates the Constitution, if he fails to treat all manner of people equally and without favouring any set, according to law, and as such, creates/provides an occasion which may lead to an action against him under the Constitution and the Law.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2012.

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			<title>Special report: 16 years in the making</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454143/special-report-16-years-in-the-making</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454143/special-report-16-years-in-the-making#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 12 05:53:19 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[A timeline of the events and the subsequent case.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A timeline of the events and the subsequent case is as follows:

The Supreme Court strikes again. On Friday, the court moved for legal proceedings against former intelligence head and army chief  for rigging the general elections of 1990, in order to prevent the Pakistan Peoples Party from winning. Judicial theatrics are yet to unfold in full swing as the country remains on the tenterhooks.

1990

Yunus Habib, then head of Habib Bank Ltd, loans millions of rupees to Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI); the latter sets up and funds a right-wing alliance, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, against the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1990 elections

1992

ISI repays Yunus Habib’s favour, depositing funds to prop up his insolvent Mehran Bank

April 7, 1994 

Yunus Habib is arrested over a misappropriation in the sale proceeds of Dollar Bearer Certificates.

1993/1994

The scandal breaks after new ISI DG Lt-Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi decides to transfer the intelligence funds back to state-owned banks; Mehran Bank is unable to return the money due to its poor financial state and collapses; It is later discovered that large sums had been siphoned off to 39 fictitious parties

June 7, 1994

Lt-Gen Durrani, then appointed as Pakistan’s ambassador to Germany, writes a letter to then premier Benazir Bhutto informing her of the beneficiaries of the operation and mentioning that it was conducted with the blessings of president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and her predecessor Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. A copy of this letter was later submitted to the court by Naseerullah Babar along with his affidavit.

1995

Mehran Bank is amalgamated with the National Bank of Pakistan

Dec 14, 1995

Habib is convicted of fraud and embezzlement, and sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment

June 11, 1996

Then-interior minister, Naseerullah Babar, gives a speech in the parliament about Habib’s payments to generals, politicians and political parties. Alleges Gen Beg was the main beneficiary

June 16, 1996

Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan writes a letter to then-chief justice Nasim Hasan Shah against Gen Beg, Lt-Gen Durrani and Habib for misusing public funds

Nov 24, 1996

Supreme Court conducts the first hearing of the case

Oct 12, 1999

Last hearing of the case is held before it is shelved off for another 13 years, following Gen Pervez Musharraf’s coup. A total of 14 hearings had been held so far

Dec 20, 2006

The National Accountability Bureau recovers Rs1.6 billion from Yunus Habib

Dec 12, 2011

At a joint press conference with PTI chief Imran Khan, Asghar Khan urges the court to pick up his petition

Feb 29, 2012

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry resumes regular hearings of Asghar Khan’s petition

April 30, 2012

Statements of Gen Beg, Lt Gen Durrani and Naseerullah Babar are found to be missing from record; Advocate Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Asghar Khan, informs court that Rs60 million and Rs20 million had also been given to ISI’s ‘K’ fund and its Directorate of External and Operations respectively

March 7, 2012

After years underground, a frail wheelchair-bound Yunus Habib resurfaces, appears before the Supreme Court

March 8, 2012

Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani takes a stand in the SC, provides an affidavit that the army had indeed distributed Rs140 million to anti-PPP political candidates only a few months before the October 1990 general elections. Yunus Habib reveals in his first statement to the court that Gen Beg and then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan forced him to arrange around Rs350 million in the ‘supreme national interest’

March 29, 2012

Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Aftab Sultan appears before court; says he has no knowledge of the alleged funds being issued by the agency

May 8, 2012

Gen Beg denies any involvement in, or knowledge of, dishing out money to politicians in the 90s; he blames Lt-Gen Durrani

June 21, 2012

SC asks defence ministry to produce the notification under which a political cell in the ISI was set up in 1975

July 25, 2012

Lt-Gen Durrani names military officers allegedly involved in rigging the 1990 elections; claims half of the Rs140 million were distributed through him, the rest were deposited to ISI’s secret funds

Sept 12, 2012

Attorney General Irfan Qadir informs court the notification for the creation of ISI’s political cell is unavailable; court reiterates demand for notification

Oct 2, 2012

Defence ministry says no political cell was operating in the ISI

Oct 3, 2012

SC makes the Presidency a respondent in the case; CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry says the president’s office cannot be used for political activities

Oct 14, 2012

CJ Chaudhry says Lt-Gen Durrani violated the Constitution and his oath by distributing the funds among politicians

Oct 17, 2012

Presidential Secretary Malik Asif Hayat’s response to the court says no political cell has been operating in the presidency since 2008; Gen Beg and Lt-Gen Durrani point fingers at each other

Oct 18, 2012

Former Military Intelligence chief Brig (retd) Hamid Saeed submits his statement to the court

Oct 19, 2012

SC announces verdict in the case

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2012.

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