The devil returns

If we trace down the history of PPP’s (Pakistan Peoples Party) politics since the demise of Benazir Bhutto, we witness a considerable amount of decline in the popularity of the party, which once held the honor of representation in all the four provinces.  Thanks to the unparalleled tales of corruption and height of bad governance PPP has successfully abridged itself to a regional party, PPP is now facing some serious internal crises as the hardliners like Zulfiqar Mirza have started to bash party leadership directly and the signs of rift between the Pro-Son (Bilawal) and Pro-Father (Zardari) factions in PPP are widening more and more with each passing day.

The recent entry of ex-president PPP Sindh and Sindh’s most notorious ex-interior minister Zulfiqar Mirza with fiery statements and accusations on his best friend, business partner, and Co-Chairman PPP Mr. Asif Ali Zardari have raised many important questions regarding the current state of affairs in the party, as well as what is happening behind the curtains.

Following the recent statements of Zulfikar Mirza against PPP co-chairman and other party leaders erupt tension in interior Sindh, party workers torn & burn his posters in his hometown — Badin. Local leaders protest against Zulfikar Mirza & chant slogans in favor of Zardari and PPP.

Though Zulfiqar Mirza holds no portfolio in the current party structure of PPP, Yet he knows how to get Media attention by using age old propaganda tricks of all sorts. From name calling to fake allegations and from inciting religious sentiments by holding sacred religious books in his hand he could go to any extent for making the headlines. Before analyzing his recent gimmicks, let’s have a glimpse of some of his most notorious statements of the past — ‘Ye PAC Wale Mere Bache Hain’ who could forget this shocking statement by Zulfiqar Mirza Sindh’s sitting interior minister then, who didn’t only owned the banned terrorist outfit PAC (Peoples Aman Committee) but also patronized their heinous crimes against Humanity, when they allegedly killed dozens of Urdu speaking Karachiites in a series of events.

Secondly, in one of his most notorious speeches made at a bucohollic party held at ANP’s (Awami National Party) provincial president, Shahi Syed’s house, he tried to incite violence by admitting the fact that he hasn’t given 300 thousand arms licenses for aerial firing in marriages and if violence erupts in the metropolis more Urdu speaking would be executed then any other ethnic community.

While talking with Shahzeb Khanzada on a private news channel, Zulfikar Mirza said “Main Ek Badbudaar Shia Hoon” — this insane statement still needs to be comprehended, how come a man who calls himself a devoted Shia, could disgrace his Faith to such an extent that his statement hurts the religious sentiments of millions of Shias living in the province. Contrary to his tall claims, he never uttered a single word against the Taliban and other banned sectarian outfits like SSP, LeJ who are involved in the ongoing violence against Shia professionals, especially in Karachi.

During his tenure as the Interior minister Zulfiqar Mirza turned a blind eye towards the systematic Talibanization in Karachi, but also kept on putting fake allegations on MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement), whose leader Altaf Hussain was the first to raise voice against the increasing extremism in the province, especially in Karachi.

Now, Zulfiqar Mirza’s return to the mainstream politics after many years, pumped-up to bring a storm in a tea cup. He came up with all sorts of allegation of corruption and mismanagement against his own party leadership of PPP. Media is giving full coverage by interviewing him, although, his interviews are nothing more than frustration against his party.

According to some analysts, his entry on media before senate election and during the time when the country was united against extremists is raising many questions on his intentions. He turned the whole media attention towards him when a mosque belonged to Shia sect in Shikarpur was hit by a suicide bomber. The attack proved that land of Sufis which was pure from such mentality is also suffering from menace of extremism.  This growing terrorism and crime in Sindh including rural area raises many questions on Zulfiqar Mirza’s tenure as Interior Minister and his intentions towards the country. After all, he was the first one who as PPP senior official gave the slogan of “Na khappay Pakistan” (Pakistan won’t survive) on Benazir’s murder in December 2007.

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Social media clout in Pakistan

If the 20th century would be termed as the age of conventional media, the 21st century could be undoubtedly called the age of Social Media. Nowadays, Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Micro blogging, etc. have become an integral part of our everyday life and they have brought some revolutionary changes in communication between people as well as groups and communities. Putting it more simply, social networking is a way for one person to interact with other people or groups on the Internet. People use social media not only to express themselves but also for meeting new friends and locating people who have the same problems or interests.

Most social networking sites provide different resources such as email and instant messages in one place. Availability of these resources makes the communication easy and faster. When we look at the social impact of social networking sites, we find that these sites have both positive and negative effects. Because of this fact, it is necessary to analyze both advantage and drawbacks of social networking sites.

Undoubtedly, social networking sites are dominant to young generation. By using these sites, people can communicate and express themselves by exchanging messages, point of view and comments. Therefore, a person can interact with any person from any place. For example a student can clear his doubts with the help of a teacher. People having different professions can make groups like doctors, lawyers, students, poets, writers, social workers etc. In the past few years I have learnt that the political parties, multinational companies, educational institutes, hospitals are also using social media for promoting and marketing their services and manifestos.

Let’s talk about Pakistan – social media offers a platform to the people to challenge and raise voice against status quo and played an important role for highlighting the issues like Shahzeb Khan and Hamza Ahmed murder. 22 years old Shahzeb Khan was allegedly shot dead by a boy from a feudal family but the law enforcement agencies were hesitant to register a case against the criminal. Pakistanis took this issue on Twitter, Facebook and expressed their feelings against the system that protects these feudal lords. The social media activists demanded the chief justice of Pakistan and other higher authorities to take strict action against the killer.

The most common disadvantage of social networking sites is addiction. Most of the people spend hours accessing these sites for negative purposes and it harms their mental and physical performance in other fields. Sometimes users provide their personal information to others which is insecure, which others can use it in negative way.

Another common misuse of social networking site such as Twitter is that it is used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. Trolling can take different forms, such as defacement, name calling and controversial comments with the intention to cause anger and arguments. Social media is being used for spreading sectarian violence, banned organizations spread fake graphic images of Raja Bazar incident, Rawalpindi.

Social media has also risen up as an effective tool for political campaigns and voter persuasion. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are used by political activists to promote their agenda all over the world but unfortunately, Pakistan has witnessed more petty politics on the social media, where supporters of rival political parties specially Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has crossed all the limits of morality and ethics. From baseless allegations via fake accounts to impersonation of various political & social celebrities PTI social media team has tried its utmost to conquer the social media.

The recent tussle between PTI & Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) over the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has unleashed the new depths of immorality where PTI social media activists have left no stone unturned to defame the PM, even his private life and family members were not only discussed but also abused openly on the social media.

We can see clearly that social networking sites are advantageous only if they are used wisely. Using these sites would be helpful, if users do not spend time there unnecessarily. Wise members never provide personal information to strangers.

Violation of ‘twitter rules‘ has become a common practice as overwhelming number of social media activists of political parties use unfair means to promote themselves and their party hash tags by copying others tweets and spamming hash tags by creating multiple fake twitter handles to give numerous retweets to their own tweets.

It is necessary for us to read the user manual/rules of any product before using it and I believe that most of the twitter users haven’t read the ‘Policies & Violations’ clearly and completely. Use of a tool depends on users –– a doctor can operate with a knife and a murderer can kill a person with the same knife.

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We stand by our armed forces!

Armed forces and security agencies are considered as the symbol of ‘pride of honor’ for any country and nation all over the world as the armed forces are the ultimate custodians of the nation’s freedom as well as the protectors of the geographical and ideological boundaries of the state. However, the real strength of the armed forces is the nation’s unconditional support which gives them the much needed boost in the war time and motivates and encourages them to give their best in battlefield without having a tinge of confusion over what is happening behind them.

Today Pak Army is carrying out the most crucial and decisive of all the military operations. Named after the Sword of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) Zarb-E-Azb holds a great importance in the current national scenario and day by day changing situations in the Middle East. Pak Army is engaged in an offensive against the TTP and other foreign militant groups based in North Waziristan Agency and needs the support of the whole nation as it is much harder to defeat the insurgents as compared to the external enemy, thus the support of the nation plays a pivotal role in the success of armed forces. Unlike the conventional war, war against terrorism is psychological apart from being physical. A clear stance hurts the miscreants who thrive in chaos. While professionalism and ability of Pakistan army can’t be doubted, the willingness of civilian set up to launch such a major operation is still questionable. But now that our air force is striking the hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) almost daily and army is closing in on the militants, political parties, media and the general Pakistan public must come forward and support Pak Army in this decisive battle.

We must not forget the fact that while some political parties like Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have always stood against Taliban and extended their full support to the military operations against the TTP and other militant outfits based in the tribal areas, others such as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) (in KPK) and religious parties such as JUI and JI are still confusing the nation with vague statements and confused policies. Head of PTI, Imran Khan went to the extent that he termed Pakistan’s army incapable of fighting the Taliban head on and declared it a lost battle even before the fight had begun. Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), being religious hardliners have even been known to support TTP in the past. While JUI(S) chief Molana Sami-Ul-Haq openly boasts about his close contacts and relationship with Taliban, JI’s previous chief Syed Munawar Hassan went one step ahead and said that Pak army’s jawans who die fighting against Taliban are not ‘Shaheed’.

Where one feels sorry for Pakistan as a nation as all these Taliban apologists are somehow in the government, hope that sanity will prevail and the nation will stand with its armed forces, which are busy in fighting the TTP militants in the North Waziristan Agency. Our enemies have a clear idea of what they want and have made its motives clear through various press conferences. We should also be clear that we cannot let them take away our sovereignty, our culture, values and democracy. We cannot let Pakistan become a launching pad for terrorism all over the world and we certainly cannot let them take us back to stone-age with their rigid thinking. To protect all this, we have to fight. Our brave army and air force soldiers are taking this fight to Taliban stronghold North Waziristan Agency.

As per the latest updates of ongoing operation Zar-E-Azb more than 500 militants including some commanders of TTP have been taken out and many of their hideouts and suicide bombs manufacturing factories have been destroyed by the Pak army, while 20 brave officers and Jawans of Pak army have embraced martyrdom fighting for the motherland.

At this crucial time MQM Leader & Founder Mr. Altaf Hussain has taken a very timely initiative and called for a ‘Historical Gathering’ to show solidarity with the armed forces of Pakistan, which are carrying out the most important military operation Zarb-E-Azb. This historical display of solidarity will be taking place on 6th of July at the Jinnah Park adjacent to the Quaid’s mausoleum in Karachi.

This is the right time to raise above the politics and political differences and support Pak army in this decisive battle as our existence depends of the success of Zarb-E-Azb, thus, all the patriotic politico-religious parties, media, civil society and common Pakistanis must unite against the enemies of Pakistan and show solidarity with the Pakistan Army, so our brave soldiers could focus their energies on eradicating the menace of militancy from the Land of the Pure, for once and all.

In the end, I just to ask a simple question from all patriotic Pakistanis ‘It’s on us to support Pakistan army in this battle for Pakistan’s survival or not — we have to choose between Taliban apologists and Pakistan’s saviors. I support Pak-Army and operation Zarb-E-Azb against terrorists — do you?’

 

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Altaf Hussain vindicated!

In tough times when a nation’s mettle is tested and since 1971 we have not faced such challenges. At this time, besides the rigors of war which our brave soldiers are fighting with grit and determination, we face a huge national crisis.

On the battle field, our armed forces seem to be doing well. I am no military expert but they appear to be going about their task with dedication, precision and great care. Fighting insurgencies is not easy as it is not the conventional warfare armies are trained for. But, whatever evidence we have, of this and the earlier South Waziristan operation, our armed forces are adapting and beginning to win.

On the political front, it is regrettable that while we are in a virtual state of war, there are discordant voices. Some PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz) members continue to make speeches against the operation and against the army in the National Assembly. This is unhelpful considering that the both Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif have taken an unequivocal stand against the terrorists. Maybe these members should check with their leadership before holding forth. However, no one has been more disappointing in this regard than Imran Khan. I have respect for what he has achieved on the cricket field. He was a great player and an inspirational captain. His achievements in social sphere especially in the shape of creation of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital are truly stupendous.

When it comes to politics and policy though, the same Imran Khan is unfortunately a signal of failure. It can be truly said of him that he never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. He could have teamed up with Nawaz Sharif in 1997 and got his party’s presence in parliament. He flip-flopped with Musharraf — supporting him in the referendum, opposing him in the ensuing general election — and got the worst of both worlds. He boycotted the 2007 election when being in parliament (provided he won) would have made a great deal more sense. These examples are of power politics and it may be argued that parliamentary success or power is no measure of a person’s success as a politician. Fine, let us look at his policy prescriptions. From the start of his political career, he rallied against what is sometimes termed as western culture. This was a straight rejection of modernization.

In a country that was being pulled back by obscurantist mullahs, this was a strange choosing of sides. I will not even go into the personal choices that Khan made while doing this. His second fixation was the idealization of a Pakhtun tribal culture. Granted that their inter-tribal dealings were egalitarian and perhaps the tribal councils or jirgas worked well. How this model could be transplanted in other parts of the country, was neither explained by Imran nor obvious. In between, he took some correct positions on the judiciary question and Musharraf but badly fumbled while trying to prosecute Altaf Hussain in England. A politician should know which battles can be won and which are a lost cause.

Imran vowed to go after Altaf Hussain in England and declared victory even before he had presented his case before the British government. As was expected, nothing has happened despite his various entreaties to the high and mighty in that country. Imran Khan also shamelessly attacked the founder and leader of MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) Altaf Hussain on numerous occasions. Without any proof straight from his hospital bed, he accused Altaf Hussain of killing PTI’s (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) senior leader Zahra Shahid ‘I hold Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder of Zahra Shahid as he had openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts’. In order to gain electoral sympathies and with the intentions of instigating violence in economic hub – Karachi.

When Altaf Hussain replied to the baseless allegations, Imran khan played another dirty trick and filed a case against him for inciting violence. PTI launched a fully fledge campaign in order to persuade Scotland Yard to charge Altaf Hussain and spent millions of dollars hiring telecommunication firms to register complaints against MQM supremo. These firms and his social media workers sent more than 20,000 letters, emails and complaint calls against Altaf Hussain to Scotland Yard.

The much awaited ‘Victory of Truth’ came on June 11, 2014, which was the day celebrations being held to mark the start of Altaf Hussain’s struggle as a 25 year old and the formation of APMSO (All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organization). The same day Scotland Yard announced to scrap investigations MQM leader for ‘inciting violence’. Scotland Yard stated that ‘Altaf Hussain’s speech did not have anything that goes against the UK laws’. On the other hand, Crown Prosecution Service said that ‘We did not have enough evidence to establish a case against Altaf Hussain for ‘inciting violence’ and there would be ‘no further action’ against him on the speeches made after 11th May elections’. They added that complaints had been received on Altaf Hussain’s speech delivered at Teen Talwar, Karachi. Special crime and Operation officers had reviewed the speeches of London based MQM leader and found nothing against the UK laws.

This ‘Victory of Truth’ is a proof for those pathetic political leaders who believe in the politics of conspiracies and want to come into the power through the backdoor. Altaf Hussain has served Pakistan for more than three decades; he knows the politics and politicians from inside out. All the ongoing conspiracies against him are conspiracies against Pakistan in actual terms but Altaf Hussain has always believed in the supremacy of law. The sole reason this ‘Victory of Truth’ is very special to the millions of MQM workers as Altaf has risen again.

 

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Why does MQM deserve Sindh home ministry?

Karachi is at top amongst the most important cities of Pakistan. With a population of more than 25 million spread across more than 3500 sq. km area, the city, being the hub of economic activities, plays a vital role in economic health of Pakistan. It is the major contributor to Pakistan’s economy, employs the largest section of population in the manufacturing, retail and service sectors and has the highest literacy rate with some areas enjoying literacy rate as high as around 90 percent.

According to the official statistics, Karachi accounts for 25 percent of Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 65 percent of national income tax revenue, 54 percent of central government tax revenues, and 30 percent of industrial output.

For the past few years, however, Karachi has been the target of unrest, violence and a host of other issues. Though the city has a history of violence and unrest spread over three decades, mainly because of unplanned migration , free float of arms, lack of law enforcement, weak judicial system and socioeconomic disparities, the year 2013 was the worst in terms of adverse law and order situation. Criminal, ethno-political, sectarian and militant violence have claimed thousands of lives and rendered the metropolis nearly paralyzed. During the last three years death toll rose to an alarmingly high level more than 2300 deaths in 2011, more than 3000 in 2012 and 3200 plus in 2013.

It’s an undeniable fact that consider economic stability of a country is important and essential for national cohesion, progress and prosperity and only a ‘Peaceful Karachi’ can provide the country with a guarantee for the needed safety and security for a stable Pakistan.

The violence in Karachi is the result of several factors including, besides others, ethno-political tensions and demographic pressures that provide a favorable environment for militants and the members of terrorist organizations Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to seek sanctuaries and hideouts here. A peaceful city that Karachi used to be in the past has been turned into a battleground of political parties as all major political parties hold their influence in different ethnically segregated constituencies. Thus, clashes among these diverse groups create chaos and law and order problem in the city. Violence also influences decision-making at provincial and national level. Because of the mounting unrest, demands were made from time to time to hand over control of the city to Pakistan Army – A measure generally taken as a last resort.

Keeping the above mentioned scenario in mind the recent statement of Pakistan Nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer is worth discussing, While talking to the Media about the future of Karachi, Dr. Khan clearly said that ‘The government of PM Nawaz Sharif has disappointed the nation as all the promises they have made during their election campaign have turned out to nothing but mere tall claims.’

Dr. AQ Khan have also said that the law and order situation in Karachi has only deteriorated further since the start of Karachi operation, to go with targeted killings, extortions and robberies, the ongoing operation has added extra judicial killings to the miseries of poor Karachiites. Dr. AQ khan has categorically said that he doesn’t see any political party more concerned and more serious about the Karachi other than the city’s largest stakeholder MQM. Dr. AQ Khan has also appealed to ruling party in Sindh to handover the interior ministry to MQM as he feels that the MQM is the only party which can control the law & order.

If we reflect on the statement of Dr. AQ Khan it seems to be quite workable and carries weight too, considering the tenure of Sindh’s last interior minister who belonged to MQM, Mr. Waseem Akhter didn’t only succeeded in controlling the law and order situation in Karachi but also introduced various schemes to boast the system of surveillance throughout the city, the S.H.O’s and other Police officers were posted and promoted on the basis of pure merit as well as there were no political appointments in the Police Department, which plays a pivotal role in keeping a check on anti-social and criminal elements. That is why almost all of the Karachiites refer to the period between 2003-2007 as the most peaceful era in the history of Karachi. Which could comeback if the rulers take the city’s largest stake-holder (MQM) on board and handover the responsibility of restoring Peace in the ‘city of lights’.

Originally published on ARY

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Imran Khan – A demagogue!

Pakistan is not only an over populated but also an over politicized country, where as many as 236 political parties are registered. But except some notables ones most of these political parties are unknown to be the public, same was the case with PTI, which was created good 15 years ago.

In his early days of politics Imran Khan tried his heart out to cash his Cricket successes in the political arena but failed miserably, in his desperation for power he also supported Musharraf’s referendum, but when Musharraf overturned Imran’s wish to become Prime Minister of Pakistan, disheartened Imran left to live with his in-laws in London. Only to come back with a new agenda of reviving the politically dead PTI and out of the blue the PTI started to stage massive public gatherings and spent about Rs645 million on advertising and marketing to get on the chart of ‘TOP POLITICAL PARTIES OF PAKISTAN.’

If I say that whatever mandate PTI got in the general elections last year was solely because of Imran Khan’s firm and clear stand against the corruption, it wouldn’t be wrong. The educated and privileged youth of the country went to support Imran only because of the promises he made, during his election campaign. The words he used to attract the youth of Pakistan were ‘Tsunami’ and ‘Naya Pakistan’.

Referring to my old blog (Self Destructive Tsunami), which I had written just after a week of general elections 2013. Attitude and the behavior of PTI workers after their worst defeat in GE13 were unbelievable, they were bashing, abusing, blaming and implicate the opponents for rigging. PTI seemed to be competing with itself for setting new lows of indecency and immorality in politics.

PTI, allies formed their government in KPK with the promises of Khan to end corruption in 19 days and terrorism in 90 days and local body election in 90 days as well, contrary to this, a number of corruption cases have surfaced in the dominion of the same party, even their own party workers were involved in the corruption. After that PTI worker from the United States, Mehboob Aslam claimed that he had raised funds for the party worth of 3 million USD from 2008 to 2013, whilst he had not been informed about this sum despite of asking. The list of corruptions continues but the 3 million USD corruption scandal jolted the roots of PTI and placed a big question mark of Imran Khan’s character, which were collected in the name of membership fund from the overseas Pakistanis, and no one knows what Imran did with the money.

By the passage of time Imran Khan has created many issues to distract the concentration from the real issues. He used to yell like a mad man at Shahbaz Sharif during his election campaigns, but soon after he regained his lost love for Sharif brothers and started to bash Altaf Hussain. Imran developed this habit during his cricket days when he used to sledge his opponents to divert their attention but as years past there are still no signs of maturity in Imran Khan.

On the other hand, Media persons and some well-known TV anchors faced an ugly barrage of abuse on social media sites by ‘PTI trolls’. This large section of the Imran Khan fan club showers anybody with a wide range of Urdu, Punjabi and English abuses if it believes that person has criticized Khan or his party.

In the 4th quarter of 2013, Imran Khan urged the Pakistan government to declare a ceasefire if it was serious about holding peace talks with militants and allow them to open an office in Pakistan. After this statement of Khan the conflict was emerged in the party and Asad Umar, a law maker of PTI said that party chief Imran Khan’s statement on Pakistani Taliban was not an official PTI policy statement.

PTI gained immense popularity during the build up to the 2013 elections and immersed as one of the most popular political parties of the nation. Although their performance could be termed as excellent for a new party, they have been losing popularity since then and matters have been worsened by intra-party conflicts and the desertion of members. Many PTI workers, supporters and even the leaders have left the party due to corruption, nepotism and tug of war between the ideological and not so ideological groups within PTI. A forward bloc has also emerged in KP assembly under which fourteen members of the PTI in the KP assembly have raised a banner of revolt against pro-Taliban policies of their own government in the province and formed a separate faction.

This is really an alarming situation for the PTI leadership and if the reservations of the forward bloc had not been addressed this could prove fatal for the future to PTI, with whom the youth of KP has associated their hopes on the May 11 last year.

Originally published on Pakistan Tribe.

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Karachi, where law enforcers are law breakers.

An effective and efficient police is required to maintain order and provide security to the common man. Police is essentially a civilian establishment that is solely answerable to the civil authority for all its actions and functions within clearly defined legal parameters. There can be no modern state without a civilian police organization. In order to carry out its duties and meet its responsibilities police has to be vested with necessary powers for enforcement of law and maintenance of order in the society. There is always a genuine fear that after vesting police with such powers that should “police the police”. In Pakistan we inherited a criminal justice system that was geared to only maintain order and protect the interest of the ruling elite.

While this flawed system survived, the common man continued to suffer at the hands of police as there was no meaningful system of their accountability. Putting together a strong mechanism of accountability without compromising professional and operational autonomy of police posed a challenge, as any imbalance would have either resulted in an ineffective system of accountability or a weak law enforcement structure.
Like majority of third world countries Pakistan is also considered as a Police state where Political parties in power exercise immense power over the Law Enforcement agencies, especially the Police and use it serve their own political purposes instead to empowering them as an independent entity, which could keep a constant check on the criminal elements.

Ironically, when we compare the state of Police department in Sindh, with the Police departments of other provinces, we find that the ruling party has inflicted this most important organ of the state with corruption too, where as many as 1175 Sindh police officials are facing criminal cases pending in courts on different charges. Every day, we hear the more and more news of involvement of Policemen in illegal activities and it seems as if the only motive of the Police officers has become minting money through the illegal means. The overall condition of the Sindh police has deteriorated a great deal in the last couple of years, but the poor citizens of Karachi had to suffer the most in this regard, as Karachi police has added a great deal to their miseries.

The recent news of the alleged involvement of Karachi police officials in illegal selling of arms kept at government storage has raised many questions about the efficiency of the police department as a whole.The weapons sold by the policemen includes 9MM Pistols and other guns, 9MM is hot favorite gun of the target killers which they widely use in target killings. The shocking news that, these accused were from Special Security Unit (SSU), Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC).

AIG Shahid Hayat confirmed that he had reports regarding selling of arms and those involved in the illegal practice belonged to crime branch. I think that there are a lot of law enforcement officers out there who work according to their own set of what is right and what is wrong, rather than deciding what’s right and wrong in the eyes of Law of the land.

There are number of crimes in which either police official were involved or supporting the criminals. Crime branch DSP, Tariq Islam was involved in kidnapping for ransom and extortion, he was famous for “Keep my pocket hot and you are free to do anything”. Few days ago, a policeman was arrested for kidnapping two persons near Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum. While the tall claims from the Sindh government continues regarding target operation, the numbers of crimes are increasing day by day. Involvement of security personals in crimes are a big mark on the credibility of Law Enforcement Agencies. Even the Police chief of Karachi has confessed that the police was involved in extortion.

Now the question is, either all these accused policemen are from the team of Zulfiqar Mirza (Former Home Minister of Sindh) or someone else is operating them. As the former Home Minister of Sindh openly defended the Banned PAC (Sub wing of PPP) “If all PAC (Peoples Amn Committee) members are criminals, then Zulfiqar Mirza should be considered one of them.” The most wanted notorious gangsters of Lyari, Uzair Baloch and Baba Ladla escaped from Pakistan. The escape of Uzair and Baba Ladla abroad proved the leniency of Sindh government towards the Lyari gangsters. According to the sources and the media reports, Law enforcement agencies had failed to enter the troubled areas as they were restricted by the influential leaders of the government.

In the conclusion I would like to give some workable suggestions to improve the dismal condition of the Sindh, especially Karachi police. Police must be made accountable to the elected representatives, civil society, judiciary and independent complaints authorities. This is over and above the internal accountability of police by its own hierarchy. This internal accountability needs to be made effective by delegation of administrative powers to police command chosen on the basis of pure merit, rather than vested political interests. The rationale for enhancement of the powers of the head of the police and the other officers at the command level is the principle of combination of responsibility with authority. Police should be made solely responsible for its duties including a meaningful internal accountability. In this entire arrangement a very fine balance needs to be built by ensuring that the executive head of the government at any level cannot give illegal orders to the police command. The professional and administrative duties must be de-linked from the accountability of the police relating to public complaints.

As the great Richard J. Daley said:

“The Police are not here to create disorder, they’re here to preserve disorder.”

Originally published on ARY Blogs

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Taliban’ haughtiness and government’s cowardice

Where did the Taliban come from?

The myths about the Taliban need to be clarified. They are not an extension of an external threat, they are not being funded by Russia or India. In the 1990s, the Taliban in Afghanistan were fighting the Northern Alliance, and thousands of Pashtuns went to fight as foot soldiers on behalf of the Taliban. In 2001, the Afghan Taliban fled to Pakistan. Pakistani Taliban, who previously had little clout, became hosts of the Afghan Taliban and earned much money for their assistance. From 2001 to 2004, the Pakistani Taliban grew in numbers and influence and became radicalized because of their proximity to the Afghan Taliban. They planned and mobilized to establish a Taliban ‘emirate’ or state in Fata and the expansion of that idea of statehood is what we see happening today.

Pakistani Taliban Expanding

Taliban were launched in the era of PPP’s government in early 1990s, when Benazir Bhutto was the Prime Minister and Major General Naseerullah Khan Babar was the interior minister of Pakistan. The leadership of the Taliban is now in Pakistan and they have stated their intention of overthrowing the government here. The Taliban are linking up with groups in Pakistan and the Pakistani Taliban movement is turning into a multiethnic movement. Groups cultivated to fight in Kashmir have joined up with the Pakistani Taliban, and include Punjabis with organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkatul Mujahideen. Now, some 40 groups in Pakistan are loosely affiliated with the Pakistan – the several years of progressive diplomacy with India exacerbated the rise of different Taliban-affiliated factions. For that reason, Pakistan faces a more dangerous situation than Afghanistan, where Tajik and Uzbek fighters were not permitted to join the Afghan Taliban movement.

Issues in Pakistani governance

Pakistan is also weaker because of raging economic crises, the ongoing insurgency in Baluchistan, and a political crisis. The PMLN government has wasted one year vying with the Peace Talks game for power rather than tackling the Taliban threat. Meanwhile, PTI, which was supposed to serve as the face of Frontier province, has collapsed (PTI officials are often seen sympathizing with TTP).

After 2007/2008, when military operations did begin in Fata, the government pursued a stop-and-go policy, which involved several peace deals that did not hold. In the meantime, the Pakistan government and army failed to protect the people of the Fata and the traditional tribal hierarchies that were pro-Pakistan. About 300 Maliks of tribes were killed and by 2009, there were half a million refugees from Fata in Pakistan. Having lost the goodwill of the population in Fata, the government will find it hard to reenter the area and rebuild traditional tribal structures.

Peace-talk and Ceasefire

While addressing to the session of National Assembly after six month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the peace talk with Taliban despite the attacks, naming a four-member committee to facilitate the peace talk.

Almost after a month of peace talk announcement Taliban militants claimed to have killed 23 FC soldiers and released their video message by saying “Despite the ongoing talks, the government and intelligence agencies are not serious about bringing peace to Pakistan,” said Omer Khurasani. “The government and intelligence agencies martyred our 23 comrades during this dialogue process. In response, we’ve killed the 23 FC personnel. We have also released the video of the 23 FC personnel.”

After that the military strikes continues on the militants’ hideouts in North Waziristan following the Taliban’s slaughtering of the FC soldiers and the recent attacks on the Security check posts. Air force jets have been pounding suspected terrorist camps since then, which also killed several militant commanders.

The Pakistani Taliban has announced that the group will observe a one-month ceasefire as part of efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the government. After the TTP ceasefire, Chaudhry Nisar, in consultation with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel, formally announced the suspension of surgical strikes against the group.

Eleven people including a judge were killed on 3^rd March 2014 in a gun and suicide bomb attack on a court in Islamabad. The Pakistani Taliban denied any connection to the attack, which came two days after the militants announced a month-long ceasefire aimed at restarting stalled peace talks with the government.

Ceasefire announcement and political parties’ response

The country’s major political factions except MQM and ANP welcoming the announcement of ceasefire by TTP have termed it as positive and result-oriented step. Two major political parties ANP and MQM have slightly hinted doubts over the intentions of TTP.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain demanded “a full and thorough” investigation into the attacks on Islamabad District and Sessions Court. “Although an unknown group Ahrar-ul-Hind has claimed the responsibility of the attacks, a majority of the Pakistanis believe this is a fake organisation and these attacks were carried out by Taliban. Taliban do not want to take the blame for the attacks,” Altaf Hussain said in a statement.

Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) held a big rally in Karachi to show solidarity with the Pakistan army, rangers and police who are fighting Taliban militants.

MQM staged a large rally in Karachi to show its Solidarity with Defenders of Pakistan against Taliban

Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said that “Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) made a fool out of the federal government by announcing a fake ceasefire to enter Islamabad.”

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that the United States does not want peace in Pakistan, adding that the US is backing the organisations which are against Pakistan.“US does not want peace in Pakistan until they withdraw their forces from Afghanistan,” Khan said. He added “A full-scale operation would have resulted in more destruction and the death of innocent people.”

Sunni Tehreek shout slogans as they demand a military operation against Taliban, during a protest rally in Lahore

Regional strategy

We Pakistanis are very concerned about the state of our homeland. We want to send a very clear message to all state institutions that we say NO to the Talibanisation. Under no circumstances, can the sovereignty of Pakistan be attacked in this way. This applies also to the constant drone attacks that are taking place. We urge the democratically elected Government to fulfill their duty and follow the will of the people. The will of the people is for the Government to enforce the writ of the state throughout the country, in all provinces. Rule of law applies to all, not just to some.

Action must be taken against the Taliban.

 

Originally published on Pakistan Tribe.

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Discrimination against a community

Unfortunately! The seeds of discord and hatred against Mohajirs were planted during the early days of Pakistan. [From Liaqat Ali Khan and that still continues]

Another victim [Urdu speaking Mohajir] Muhammad Salman S/O Nooruddin, a worker of Unit 75 of the Korangi Sector of MQM. He was kidnapped along with his nephew Noman on February 3. Noman was later dropped off near Tower area the next day; however,  the mutilated body of Salman was found a day later from the Shah Latif Town of Landhi. Postmortem report of Salman clearly shows that he was brutally tortured as his testicles were mutilated and his neck-bone was broken.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain strongly condemned this inhuman act and requested the Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, to take notice of atrocities against MQM.

Addressing a news conference at party headquarters, Nine Zero, member MQM co-ordination committee, Haider Abbas Rizvi,  demanded that the FIR of Mohammad Salman’s ‘extra-judicial’ killing should be registered against Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Shahid Hayat Khan.

Salman’s son standing next to his father’s coffin.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for a probe into complaints by the party about extra-judicial killing and illegal detention of its workers. And demanded a transparent inquiry into the abduction and murder of Muhammad Salman in Karachi.

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Inside-out corruption of Imran Khan

If we say that whatever mandate PTI got in the general elections last year was solely because of Imran Khan’s firm and clear stand against the corruption, it wouldn’t be wrong. The educated and privileged youth of the country went to support Imran only because of the promises he made, during his election campaign. But as we reflect on the track record of PTI and Imran Khan we only witness ‘Change’. Not exactly the change which Imran promised to the nation but a change that nobody could have imagined in his worst of nightmares.

Starting from Taliban apology to blocking NATO supplies and then representing TTP unofficially Imran Khan has always let down his followers. That is the basic reason, Imran seems to be losing the fan base that he gathered up in the last five to six years in a matter of months. His supporters and voters seem to be losing hope in him and the youth especially first-time voters have been left in limbo with nowhere else to go.

There was nothing surprising about Imran’s ascent in the political arena. People were tired of the same old faces, the same broken promises and needed a new ideal to latch on to. Consequently, most people followed Imran blindly, without giving any consideration to his political agenda and his views on important national issues. They gave him a ‘prophetical’ status, rallied for him, enrolled in the ‘Tabdeeli Razakar’ program and did what any patriotic Pakistani would have done. However, what the patriots did not realize was that the hype around Imran would soon fizzle out and things would go back to ground zero.

The most recent corruption scandal that has jolted the roots of PTI and placed a big question mark of Imran Khan’s character, is the missing 3 million USD, which were collected in the name of membership fund from the overseas Pakistanis, and no one knows what Imran did with the money. This news could be taken as authentic because the scam is revealed by a founding member of PTI itself, who claims that Imran Khan has misused his powers to such an extent that now he doesn’t have any other option left but to unmask the real Imran Khan.

Perhaps Imran and his supporters need to travel back in time and assess when things started falling apart.

Flash back:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was making waves and both, the young and old were flocking together to join the latest craze that was Imran Khan. He won the hearts of many with his charisma, fiery speeches, promises for a better Pakistan and open challenges to Mian Sahib and Zardari. He ignited political fervor in the rural areas as well as the urban, in the young as well as the old, in the illiterate as well as the educated.

Attending a PTI jalsa became the thing to do and people did only in the hope of seeing a changed Pakistan. PTI supporters wreaked havoc on social media too and a word against Imran would bring a barrage of insults your way. Then came May 11, 2013, when people woke up with hope in their eyes and patriotism in their hearts. Pakistani expatriates flew all the way to Pakistan to cast votes in favor of PTI and Imran, hoping for a change. He was claimed to be the only savior for this nation.

Where did things go wrong :

It is now clear that Imran Khan lacks political foresight and flexibility. His first major mistake was to lock horns with none other than the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). A little understanding, seat adjustment and alliance with the largest political party in Karachi could have given PTI a chance to establish itself and implement its manifesto which, by the way, was very much in line with the manifesto of MQM.

Imran was over-confident and thoroughly mistaken in assuming that he would be an overnight success in Karachi alone. Rigging or no rigging, PTI failed to cause any considerable dent in the vote bank of MQM, and the following by-elections, under surveillance of the army, gave credence to the fact that PTI was losing its popularity fast in this part of Pakistan.

His second crucial blunder was to team up with the Taliban and support their recent demand for opening up offices for the militants. His main stream followers are mostly educated elite and students, who cannot under any circumstances, support this stance, and this is fast causing a slump in his popularity.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where PTI enjoys complete control, has seen no improvement and there seems to be no proper road map laid down by the chief minister and his team. Instead, the blood-thirsty Taliban are being given an opportunity to further implement their agendas.

What makes matters worse is that Imran Khan is running the show as a dictator, and even his own party members are not privy to his policies and decisions. Just recently, a statement made by Khan regarding the opening of a Taliban office has been completely disowned by his party member, Asad Umar who claimed that this was a personal wish of the Khan, and does not reflect the party’s official view.

Imran Khan who once rallied against nepotism, is now giving priority to the relatives and friends of main stream PTI leaders over common workers, for different party positions. it seems that PTI has become like any conventional Pakistani political party where affiliations are preferred over merit.

Suggestions for damage control:

It is obvious that PTI needs damage control and needs it fast. Instead of crying over rigged cases, PTI founding members need to set up an internal audit of the party funds and if Imran Khan pleads guilty in the corruption scam, he should resign from the party chairman as per his promise or PTI CEC should sack him for misusing his powers, which seems to be the only way out for the PTI. Because if PTI will not follow the policy of self accountability, then its quite obvious that Imran Khan will take the party to a new low and the dreams of PTI Youth will be shatters forever.

Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. Karl Marx

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