acting CEC appointed in AJK 'in a controversial manner'

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Tuesday appointed the AJK High Court Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal as acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in a move that an opposition lawmaker said amounted to infringement of the Interim Constitution Act 1974.

“In exercise of powers conferred by section 6-A of the AJK Chief Election Commissioner (Terms and Conditions) Act, 1992, as amended vide Ordinance XIX of 2015, the AJK President, after consultation with the AJK (Supreme Court) Chief Justice, has been pleased to appoint Mr Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, Chief Justice AJK High Court, as acting CEC in addition to his duties as High Court CJ, till the appointment of (permanent) CEC,” said a notification issued by the AJK law department here.

“The notification shall take effect on and from the date Justice Mughal takes upon himself the oath of this office,” it added.

An official spokesman told this scribe that Justice Mughal would be administered oath at 11:30 am on Wednesday.

Under section 50 of the AJK Interim Constitution Act, 1974, the CEC is appointed by the AJK President on the advice of the Council (headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan as Chairman) on such terms and conditions, as may be prescribed (by law or rules made thereunder).

However, the issue had become an area of contention between the governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad, after the retirement of Justice Munir Ahmed Chaudhry on April 14, 2015, who was holding the additional charge of this office since April 27, 2013.

On September 11, the Council sent an advice to the AJK government for the appointment of Justice (retired) Munir as CEC for one year and 15 days, i.e. the remaining period of his previous term of three years.

However, the AJK government did not comply with the advice, and instead filed a reference in the AJK Supreme Court that which authority was competent to legislate about the terms and conditions of CEC in the present situation.

Interestingly, the AJK Chief Election Commissioner (Terms & Conditions) Act was passed by the AJK Assembly in 1992 and by the Council in 2000.

The Apex Court opined on October 21 that the matter relating to the terms and conditions of the CEC was within the legislative competence of the AJK Assembly and not the AJK Council.

After the apex court opinion the AJK government promulgated Ordinance XIX of 2015, whereby section 6-A was inserted in the 1992 Act to create room for the appointment of acting CEC.

However, in the meanwhile, the Council sent advice for appointment of Justice Mughal as permanent CEC. Instead of following the advice, the AJK government locked horns with the Council, maintaining that Justice Mughal did not figure in the 3-member panel it had sent to the Council for the purpose.

In the meanwhile, the AJK government asked the AJK Supreme Court CJ to recommend any judge as acting CEC. As the SC CJ also proposed Justice Mughal, the government initiated the case for his appointment as acting CEC. The summary was however withheld by the chief secretary on the grounds that since the constitutional advice from the Council for appointment of permanent CEC had already been received, there was no reason to appoint an acting CEC.

On Monday, the AJK President allegedly wrote to the chief secretary to return the summary, lying pending with him. While that was yet to happen, the government initiated a fresh case for appointment of acting CEC and got the notification issued from the law department on Tuesday, without involving the chief secretary’s office.

Under section 7 (b) of the Rules of Business, all cases submitted to the Prime Minister are required to be routed back through the chief secretary. However, sources confirmed that the summary regarding Mr Mughal’s appointment was not routed back through the chief secretary’s office.

Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, deputy opposition leader in the AJK Assembly and PML-N senior vice president, said the government had infringed the interim Constitution Act, 1974 by ignoring the advice of the Council.

“Unfortunately the AJK government is on a warpath under a well thought out conspiracy and in doing so is trespassing not only the subordinate laws but also the supreme law, that is the Constitution,” he said. 

... Tariq Naqash 

Discrimination against Afghans and Pashtuns: The truth behind

Mohammad Akbar makes his living by selling vegetables seeds on a pushcart near Hamam Wali Masjid in Muzaffarabad. He was born in Tagao, in Jalalabad district of neighboring Afghanistan,

Akbar Khan beside his pushcart

approximately in late 60’s. 

In 1995, several years after migrating to Pakistan, he married to a cousin in a refugee camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Buner district and two years after tying the nuptial knot, moved to the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with his spouse and an infant daughter.

In the ensuing years, his family multiplied, following the birth of seven more children, one of whom unfortunately got killed in the devastating 2005 earthquake at the age of 3 years. His eldest son is however now a student of first year in a private college in Muzaffarabad.

The family lives in a tin-roof shelter that a local resident has allowed them to raise on his land, without any rent. Eighteen years on, they are contended, even though the breadwinner hardly makes both ends meet.

In summer last year, he took his family to his birthplace in Afghanistan, perhaps for the first time after shifting to Muzaffarabad.

They stayed there for five months but none of his family members, he says, showed an iota of interest to permanently settle down in the warn-torn country.

“We are happy here. My children have friends here and they mostly converse with each other in Urdu and Pahari (rather than Pashto),” says the bearded man, implying their level of integration.

In December last year, when gunmen massacred at least 141 students at an army run school in Peshawar, repatriation of Afghans without proper identification papers began from across the country, under a nationwide counter terrorism strategy.

According to Khuda Bakhsh Awan, AJK's Inspector General of Police (IGP), some 11000 illegal Afghan refugees were evicted from the region early this year in the wake of the worst ever terror attack.

“They were the people, totally unverified… Many of them moved out (of AJK) voluntarily,” he says.

Interestingly, Akbar survived that eviction, notwithstanding the fact that all he possesses is an ‘identity card’ issued in 1990 by a Quetta based Afghan militant organization – Nida-e-Mujahideen.

“I have myself provided all details to the local police station... Whenever, there is any operation against the Afghans, officials come and ask questions, but never have I faced any intimidation or harassment,” he says.

“If they don’t evict us, we would love to settle down here for good.”

However IGP Awan says the AJK government cannot take any decision on this issue in isolation.

“Still, some 5-6 thousand Afghans possessing Permit of Residence (PoR) cards are living in AJK. They have been given the deadline of December 31 by the federal government. If there is no extension in the deadline, they too will have to leave,” he adds.

On October 5, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) organized a protest demonstration in Islamabad against the alleged cancellation of 100,000 CNICs of the Pakhtuns and their forced displacement from Punjab and AJK.

PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai alleged that Pakhtuns were being (mis)treated like that of Afghans.

On the following day, an adjournment motion was also tabled in Balochistan Assembly on alleged expulsion of Pakhtuns from AJK. The motion was converted into a resolution and adopted by the house on October 12.

However, AJK authorities reject allegations of discrimination against Pakhtuns in their territory.

“In fact, people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have centuries old relations with the Kashmiris. They are connected to each other by the bonds of friendship, kinship and trade,” says IGP Awan.

Ground realities substantiate his views, as they show Pakhtuns not only successfully running profitable businesses but also owning residential and commercial properties in AJK, some in contravention to the laws of the land.

Ishaq Khan is one of them. He runs a cloth shop in Khan Market, off Madina Market, a commercial hub of Muzaffarabad.

From 1960 onwards, his grandfather Haji Noor Mohammad started visiting Muzaffarabad as a cloth seller. According to him, his grandfather had migrated to Quetta in 1947 from Ghazni in Afghanistan.

In 1979, Haji Noor Mohammad’s sons and two other Pakhtuns, also claiming to be the Quetta residents, jointly purchased a piece of evacuee property in Madina Market from an influential allottee against Rs 700,000 - then considered to be a huge amount.

They razed a house on the property and built shops thereon, naming it as Khan Market.

A lot of hue and cry was raised by some Kashmiris against the deal, citing alleged violation of the State Subject Law that governs the issues of citizenship and purchase of property in both parts of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir. The law was introduced by the Hindu Dogra ruler of the erstwhile princely state in 1927.

According to the law, there are three categories of State Subjects, known as class I, II and III.

Class I – “All persons born and residing within the State before the commencement of the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh Sahib Bahadur, and also persons who settled the reign before the commencement of samvat year 1942 (1885AD), and have since been permanently residing therein.” Class II – “All persons other than those belonging to Class I who settled within the State before the close of samvat year 1968 (1911AD), and have since permanently resided and acquired immovable property therein.”

Class III – “All persons, other than those belonging to Classes I and II permanently residing within the State, who have acquired under a rayatnama any immovable property therein or who may hereafter acquire such property under an ijazatnama and may execute a rayatnama after ten years continuous residence therein.”

“My father Haji Jan Mohammad obtained an ijazatnama and then rayatnama which qualified him for class-III State Subject certificate,” claims Ishaq.

Like Haji Noor Mohammad’s descendants, there are tens of hundreds of Pashto and Hindko speaking families from KP who have purchased properties in AJK over the years bygone, amid serious complaints and concerns that corrupt revenue department officials have liberally exercised authority in favour of most of them.

Those who have obtained permissions without providing requisite documents are now feeling the heat of impending action against the illegal residents, officials say.

According to intelligence sources, it were some of these people who misled and provoked Mr Achakzai into hurling allegations against the AJK government.

These sources claim that some Afghans with the help of corrupt officials of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) obtained Pakistani CNICs which were detected during scrutiny launched under the counter terrorism strategy.

“If the CNICs of some Pakhtuns have been cancelled, it’s because either they simultaneously possessed Afghan refugee cards or there were errors and omissions in the information they (had) provided to Nadra,” one official source points out.

“There is no truth in reports that the Pakhtuns are being discriminated in AJK… If there has been any action against anyone, it’s not because of his cast, creed or ethnic background but because of some offense that no government can overlook,” he adds.

Sources reveal that the ijazatnama or rayatnama granted to such people are also being reviewed. So far around two dozen such certificates have been cancelled in Muzaffarabad, Dadyal and Mirpur, according to them.

These people have either disposed off or will have to dispose off the properties they have raised here, the sources say.

However, those Pakhtuns or other Pakistanis who have duly fulfilled all requirements to permanently or temporarily settle down in AJK are at ease.

Ahmed Shah Bukhari and his five siblings represent that class.

Bukhari’s Pashto speaking father shifted to Muzaffarabad more than 50 years ago from Abbottabad as a cloth merchant. Today, all of his children are separately dealing in the same commodity in different markets of Muzaffarabad. They have also obtained class III State Subject status.

“We too were migrants (from Abbottabad) … (But) for the last two decades I am being constantly chosen as an office-bearer of the traders’ association in Madina Market. Currently, I am also heading the PML-N trade wing in district Muzaffarabad,” Bukhari, 58, says.

“I have not faced any disrespectful behavior at the hands of officials or public… If anybody has faced, it might be because of some guilt,” he adds.

However Abdul Majid Khan, minister for rehabilitation in the present PPP government, slightly differs.

Not many people in Pakistan know that his grandfather Khan Abdul Hameed Khan, the first elected prime minister (1975-77) of AJK and previously also president and chief justice, was real younger brother of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, KP’s first chief minister after 1947.

Majid Khan’s constituency - one of the 12 housing the Pakistan based Kashmiri refugees - is spread over the entire KP.

He claims that the Pakhtuns from Miankhel tribe used to do trade with Kashmir valley and were given citizenship rights by the Dogra ruler long before partition.

Many of them migrated from Kashmir Valley in 1947 and settled mainly in KP and some parts of Punjab, he adds, putting their current number to around 6000.

“They are among the people whose CNICs have been cancelled. The authorities are neither treating them as Pakistanis nor Kashmiris, but as Afghans which is unfair,” he says.

 “Action against people who are not Pakistani or genuine Kashmiri citizens is fine, but good eggs should not be wasted for the sake of a few bad ones,” Khan stresses.

Meanwhile, as the December 31 deadline for the eviction of Afghans approaches, the AJK government has been asked by the States and Frontier (SAFRON) Division to wait for a final decision of the federal government in this regard.

Referring to the same direction, Pathan Welfare Association has made an appeal to the AJK government not to be too hasty in expelling well-settled and integrated Afghans. 

In the light of the SAFRON Division communique, the AJK government has asked all administrative officers to wait for the next policy decision by Islamabad.

Nevertheless, officials says, there is no reason to halt implementation of a settled policy whereby all Afghan refugees are required to live in the same district for which they have been issued the PoR by Nadra.

“Let’s hope this issue is not negatively exploited by anyone, whether living here or elsewhere,” they say.

……..Tariq Naqash

A "study tour" without any study

     A parliamentary delegation from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is most likely to proceed to the United States of America (USA) at the weekend on a weeklong “study tour” that many believe is merely a junket at the cost of poor taxpayers.

    The AJK Legislative Assembly secretariat had been making arrangements for the tour for quite some time to expend around Rs 9.5 million earmarked in current fiscal for foreign tours of parliamentary delegations. However, the move was virtually shrouded in secrecy in the absence of any official word by the LA secretariat on the subject, despite repeated queries by media persons.

      At least three notifications were issued about the tour in the recent past either due to replacement of members or change of travel dates or some other technical hitches. However, a final notification was issued on Wednesday, which said that an 11-member delegation under the leadership of Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq would leave on November 7 for the weeklong visit to the US.

     The other members of delegation, according to the notification, were minister for information Sardar Abid Hussain Abid, minister for forests Sardar Javaid Ayub, minister for tourism Abdul Salam Butt, minister for electricity Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, minister for food Javed Iqbal Budhanvi, opposition PML-N lawmakers Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Dr Najeeb Naqi and Barrister Iftikhar Gillani and MQM lawmaker Muhammad Salim Butt. LA secretary Chaudhry Basharat Hussain would accompany as delegation secretary.

    Though the notification was not available, Mr Hussain however told a group of media persons that the purpose of the visit was to “create awareness among our (Kashmiri) community on Kashmir freedom struggle, apart from holding meetings with the American think tanks.”

     The delegation, he added, would also visit the UN headquarters to call on some official there.

   However, with only two days to go to their departure, the delegation members were not aware about their appointments/engagements in the US. According to sources, no meeting or appointment stood confirmed as of Wednesday.

     “… Things are under process and will be finalized in a day,” Mr Hussain said.

He told that his secretariat had emailed Dr Maliha Lodhi, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, and she would arrange a meeting with UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović.

     “We are expecting her reply by tomorrow. But, more than her, I am making efforts myself,” he said.

    When asked if the Foreign Office had been taken on board with regard to this visit, he said: “We have just informed them.”

     He also admitted that the delegation did not have any plan to meet any Congressman in the US.

    When reached on phone in Hajira, his hometown in district Poonch, LA Speaker Sadiq maintained that though the delegation would speak about Kashmir issue, “but primarily it was a study tour” like what were being regularly undertaken by the members of national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan.

   “We will visit the UN headquarters and meet different delegates. We have tasked the US based Kashmiri community to arrange these meetings,” he said.

     Asked if they would share the details of their engagements before departure, the speaker retorted: “We are not obliged to inform the public about (our engagements during the) tour.”

     Interestingly, Faisal Rathore, one of the delegation members, candidly admitted on Wednesday that appropriate preparations for the tour were missing. “But we will try our best to meet important figures, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,” a paper quoted him as saying.

     On October 23, PML-N president Raja Farooq Haider, who is also Leader of the Opposition in AJK Assembly, had declared that his party’s lawmakers would not be part of any delegation, leaving without already arranged meetings/engagements.

     However, as yet only one of the three PML-N legislators, included in delegation, had announced that he would not join the delegation.

   “I am not going… But I can’t say about others,” said Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, in an SMS to this scribe.

     It may be recalled that Mr Farooq had also declined to join a similar junket in 2012 on the grounds that “tours without proper preparations were simply waste of taxpayers’ money.”

   Civil society activists were also angry at the “wasteful use of public money on fruitless visits.”

   “Even if it’s a study tour they should have chalked out plan of their engagements, appointments and meetings well before their departure. To me it’s simply a junket,” said Ayesha Siddique, a rights activist.

    Sources disclosed that LA secretariat was also working on another parliamentary delegation to be dispatched to Europe in near future.

    Those who have been left out now will make it to the next delegation, they said.

........ Tariq Naqash

.......Embedded in tragedies

Najum posing with South Sudanese children in July 2014

   Najum-ul-Saqib Iqbal was searching for a job high and low after earning bachelor’s degree from the University of Azad Jammu ad Kashmir (AJK) in 2005. Unlike most of his contemporaries, the 20-years old was desirous of working with foreigners rather than in public sector, which he believed divested the energetic and ambitious youths of dynamism and ebullience.
    However, in those times hardly any international organisation had significant presence in Muzaffarabad. And if there were any, they were working in partnership with the public sector, without hiring local staff.
   While his hunt was on, Muzaffarabad was struck by the ruinous earthquake in October the same year. A common impression in the initial days of tragedy was that life could hardly return to normality in the ravaged AJK capital. Apparently, the temblor put the kibosh on the hopes for employment he and his likes had been aspiring to grab. Instead, they were overwhelmed with worries about sustenance of their respective families.
    But as they say every cloud has a silver lining, the destructive earthquake too had brought opportunities in its fold for people like Najum-ul-Saqib.
    In less than three weeks of the earthquake, he clinched a job in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which had by then opened its office in Muzaffarabad to launch rescue and relief operations in the affected zone.
    Today he is serving in the same organisation as deputy head of Media and Public Relations, to the pride of his family and friends.
    “Working with such a prestigious institution was a dream. Unquestionably, the earthquake devoured our town... but at the same time it provided opportunity to youngsters like me to translate their passion into life changing experiences,” he says.
    “The disaster gave me opening to prove my worth on the one hand and build great relationship with the people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and races on the other,” he adds with a beaming face.
    Though exact data is not available, but it is believed that hundreds of educated youths got well-paid jobs in and around the places they lived, after the UN agencies and national and international humanitarian organisations came rushing to the quake-hit Kashmir to embark on rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations at a massive level.
   “In the aftermath of the earthquake, few could see the silver lining. But since opportunities are embedded in tragedies I had a hunch that this disaster will also open a window of opportunity for the local educated youths on the basis of their unexplored talent,” says Khizar Hayat Abbasi, a Muzaffarabad based media consultant.
    Mubashir Nabi of Act International, the second NGO he raised after 2005 to deliver in the fields of health, education, governance and youth empowerment, backs his views.
    “The young people had spark and potential but lacked exposure to the working and expertise of international humanitarian organizations.  The earthquake gave them opportunity and today hundreds of them are delivering and competing not only within the country but also in the global market,” he says.
   More than men, the women were able to see a new world. Prior to October 2005, the easily available or mostly preferred jobs for the members of the fairer sex were either in education or in health sector. Women in other public sector organisations could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
   However, after the earthquake those barriers were also broken and young girls took up challenging assignments in UN agencies and national and international non-governmental organisations, showing their true mettle.
   Quratulain Zubairi, now 32, is one of them. She lost her both parents in the earthquake in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Her mother belonged to Muzaffarabad and father to Balakot.
    Then holding a bachelor’s degree, she shifted to her maternal grandmother’s home in Muzaffarabad. But for almost next ten months she would daily commute between Muzaffarabad and Balakot to work with a national NGO as a social organiser.
    In the following years, she switched over to some three other NGOs in Muzaffarabad, apart from improving her qualifications. Last year, she joined an international NGO in Muzaffarabad as project officer, looking after both office and fieldwork.
   “Yes indeed, the earthquake opened up new horizons not only in economic and infrastructural development but also in the human resource development.... though we had to pay a heavy price for this it,” she says, referring to the around 73,000 deaths in the disaster.

  “But this is not the end of my career. I am looking forward to more feats.”

    Dr Bushra Shams, UN Women’s gender adviser for AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), praises UN agencies and other organizations for their contribution to capacity building and the training of youth in AJK in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake.

“They facilitated a paradigm shift in approaches, assumptions and working patterns vis-à-vis women and youth,” she says.

    Sociologists also admit that people from different regions, races and cultures influenced local population in many ways.

   “No doubt, women were socially and financially empowered after securing jobs in national and international NGOs… They (women) also gained control over financial resources as well as role in decision making and freedom of mobility,” says Nazneen Habib, head of the sociology department in the AJK University.

     However, she maintains, when the girls became earning hands for their respective families, their parents tended to overlook their job schedules, which ultimately gave birth to too many social problems.

     “At that time, focus was to earn money and therefore many taboos associated with working in NGOs were overlooked…Even when the girls were made to stay outside AJK in the name of official engagements, it met deliberate oversight,” she says
   Not too long after the earthquake, the affected areas were abuzz with gossiping about the alleged exploitation or harassment of women in the NGOs. Some incidents of exploitation did come to fore, but many went unreported or were intentionally swept under the carpet for fear of calumny.
   However, ten years after the calamity, situation has improved according to Ms Habib

 “Now there is resistance... People do consider pros and cons of jobs before allowing their females to join,” she claims.

    After the earthquake, local economy also got a boost as local construction firms and skilled and unskilled manpower from the area got contracts and employment respectively as reconstruction began.

    Before the earthquake, the telecom sector in AJK was monopolized by Special Communications Organisation (SCO); its cellular phone service was limited and erratic. Collapse of landline telecom system and erratic cell phone coverage delayed rescue work during the earthquake.
    Scores of human lives could have been saved if a reliable communication system had existed in 2005; this realization compelled Islamabad to allow private cellular companies to launch their services in AJK.

    Anjum Farid Khan, a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority official in Muzaffarabad, says that cellular networks not only provided a much needed facility particularly to the people living in isolated areas up in the mountains, but also job opportunities to the local youth.
     The facility also turned out to be blessing for media persons who had to rush towards the fixed line phones to dispatch their stories, prior to quake.
   “Whether any natural disaster or tensions along the Line of Control, journalists receive firsthand information from the affected people instantly which they pass on to their respective organizations after verification, thanks to mobile phones,” says media consultant Abbasi.
    However, these benefits apart, a vast majority still believes that the service disturbed the social fabric of their society.
  “No technology is negative or positive. It’s the usage that makes it so,” says Rahat Farooq, a practicing lawyer and social activist.

   “However, unfortunately, unchecked use of mobile phones has badly affected our values, leading to frequent incidents of elopement and other social evils. Situation is worse in the rural area,” she adds

  Former AJK Assembly member Gulzar Fatima has same views.
   “The mobile phone, allied internet and cheap call packages are leading our younger generation to destruction and we must rise to the situation to take remedial measures,” she asserts.
    Not only mobile service, the government also permitted, around same time, private FM radio stations to start transmissions from AJK.
  “The FM radios were a valuable addition, providing awareness, education, information and entertainment to survivors,” says Basharat Mughal, an FM radio presenter.

   In April 2005, India and Pakistan had launched a fortnightly bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad to facilitate divided Kashmiri families. The service, which was described as ‘mother of the confidence building measures’ between the two countries, came to a halt after the earthquake, only two days after its 14th trip.

     On October 18, the same year, the then military ruler Pervez Musharraf made a proposal to open the Line of Control (LoC) to allow flow of relief goods and reunion of quake affected divided families. 

    On October 29, the same year, both countries inked an agreement to open the LoC at five points. The first crossing point linking Tetrinote with Chakan da Bagh was opened on November 7. The Chakothi-Uri crossing point was opened after two days. Two of the remaining three points were also opened afterwards. .

A family crossing Kaman Bridge on foot to enter AJK

     The frequency of cross-LoC travel was also increased gradually and, according to conservative estimates, more than 30,000 people from both sides have availed themselves of the facility over the past ten years despite frequent complaints about bureaucratic hurdles.

    Trade between the two sides was launched in October 2008, and continues to this day. “This activity has engaged former militants, and thousands of other low paid workers for livelihood,” says Muzammil Aslam, one of the traders.

    As the badly damaged road infrastructure was also revived and revamped in accordance with the NHA specifications, it gave tremendous boost to tourism sector and subsequently to the local economy.

   For example, Neelum valley had always been a great tourist attraction, but its dilapidated road network would discourage nature lovers from visiting it.

    Following the construction of a quality road to Neelum’s headquarters, the area is pulling tourist crowds from across the country. In peak seasons, it’s difficult to find accommodation there, even though over a 100 guesthouses have emerged there in a short span of time.

   Similar is the scene at other tourist sites where road network has been improved under the reconstruction programme.

  Khawaja Owais Ahmed, a leading tour operator and hotelier, appreciates that road network has wonderfully improved in the aftermath of earthquake.
   “Let’s be thankful for what we have got… But they should not stop here. Economic activities are rooted in good quality roads. Let’s hope they always keep them in good condition.”   ... Tariq Naqash

AJK LA passes 9 resolutions against Altaf Hussain

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved all nine resolutions moved by as many legislators from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Muslim Conference (MC) to censure the diatribe of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain against the army and other national institutions.

The MQM lawmakers – two in the currently 48-member house - however boycotted the proceedings after party’s parliamentary leader Mohammad Tahir Khokhar was not given the floor by Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq.

The first resolution against Mr Hussain was read by Raja Farooq Haider, leader of the opposition and president of the AJK chapter of PML-N.

As he was about to start, Mr Khokhar also stood on his seat, demanding he should also be given the floor to respond to the “media trial” of MQM.

However, when the chair did not allow him he kept on uttering something that was inaudible in the press gallery, following which his microphone was switched off on the orders of speaker.

 On this, Mr Khokhar and his colleague Mohammad Saleem Butt walked out of the hall in protest.

Interestingly, the MQM legislators - who were members of the AJK cabinet until their dismissal by Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed on Tuesday, a day after he had given them an ultimatum of 72 hours to break away from Mr Hussain - were sitting on the opposition benches. However, after they walked out, neither the treasury nor the opposition members made any effort to bring them back to the house.

The duo then hit back at Mr Majeed and others in front of the media persons, covering assembly proceedings.

Back in the hall, while condemning the recent “provocative and contemptible” statements of Mr Hussain, PML-N president Haider insisted that the Britain should proceed against her citizen for “inciting hatred and violence in Pakistan.”

He asked what he called patriotic parliamentarians of the MQM to stop Mr Hussain, facing charges of money laundering and homicide in Britain, from using the name of MQM.

Mr Haider also called for legal proceedings to disqualify the MQM lawmakers in AJK under the relevant laws and Constitution “for their condemnable press conference in Islamabad.”

Other movers included ministers Chaudhry Latif Akbar and Chaudhry Akbar Ibrahim, deputy speaker Shaheen Kousar Dar, PML-N MLAs Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Syed Shaukat Ali Shah, Farooq Ahmed Tahir and MC MLAs Sardar Mir Akbar Khan and Sardar Siab Khalid.

All of them condemned Mr Hussain for “impairing the identity and prestige of country and maligning the institution responsible for national safety,” and demanded exemplary punishment to him under charges of high treason.

They maintained that since Mr Hussain’s views had also hurt the sentiments of Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), AJK government should clamp a ban on MQM unless all of its members dissociated themselves from the London based leader. 

They also urged the media to stop giving coverage to the elements “playing into the hands of anti-Pakistan forces.”

All movers paid rich tributes to the government of Pakistan, army and other law enforcement agencies for their commendable contribution to restoring peace in Karachi.

Winding up debate, Premier Majeed announced that a parliamentary committee, representing treasury and opposition benches, would summarise the resolutions and assembly’s debate thereon to be sent to the British government.

“He (Altaf Hussain) conspires and spews venom against Pakistan and its armed forces and we cannot accept and tolerate him or his likes,” he said.

The AJK premier maintained that the MQM chief had a proven nexus with India, “notwithstanding the fact it had unleashed a reign of terror in held Kashmir to perpetuate its occupation, apart from masterminding acts of terrorism in Pakistan.”

“The exasperating remarks of MQM chief have aroused deep resentment among the Kashmiris on both sides of the divide,” he added. 

Regarding disqualification of MQM legislators, the AJK premier said since they had taken oath of allegiance to Pakistan, he would look what action could be taken against them following their renewed support to Mr Hussain. 

Earlier, a rally was also held in Muzaffarabad to express solidarity with the armed forces and condemn tirade of abuse against the country and its institutions by MQM chief.

MQM lawmakers hit back

Speaking to media persons, Tahir Khokhar and Saleem Butt also gave an “ultimatum of 72 hours” to Premier Majeed to apologise to their party, or else they would make some startling disclosures about him.

Until yesterday, Mr Majeed would describe Altaf Hussain as his leader, but today he is using foul language against him, they said, while waving a CD which they claimed contained recordings of telephonic conversations between Mr Majeed and Mr Hussain.

Mr Majeed should himself tell that who he would call in MQM London secretariat and what kind of language he used against “institutions and individuals, they said.

They questioned that when Asif Ali Zardari spoke against the army, why similar resolutions were not moved by Mr Majeed and others against him?

They also condemned the ruling party for brazenly infringing democratic traditions by denying MQM right to speak in the face of nine resolutions against its leader.

Tariq Naqash