Former CJP ignorant of the Constitution: Pervaiz Rasheed

Avoids giving clear answers on AJK's financial and constitutional empowerment 

Federal minister for information and broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rasheed on Sunday took strong exception to the “unconstitutional stance” of the former chief justice of Pakistan regarding the office of the prime minister.

“Regrettably the former chief justice is unfamiliar with rather ignorant of the Constitution of Pakistan… He has always been coming up with formulae in contravention of the Constitution and his latest stance falls in the same category,” the minister said at a press talk in Central Press Club Muzaffarabad.

The former CJP had opined that the upcoming budget session would be entirely unconstitutional and illegal in the absence of the PM.

He had suggested that the only remedy left to provide legal cover to the passage of budget and avoid a constitutional and financial crisis was an in-house change with the PM stepping down to pave the way for his successor in the shape of a new leader of the house.

Questioning the locus standi of the former CJP to issue “fatwas” in politics, information minister Pervaiz Rasheed said: “No one knows which political party Iftikhar Chaudhry represents, but he is talking about a prime minister who secured a two-third majority in the national and a provincial assembly.”

He said the former CJP should “come out of his dreams of replacing the parliamentary government with a presidential system”.

According to the information minister, some forces were hell-bent upon creating instability in Pakistan to weak its defence and economy, something the government would never let happen.

“Our enemies cannot digest that Pakistan’s foreign reserves have reached at $21 billion,” he said.

He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had an agenda to construct roads for progress and prosperity in Pakistan, whereas PTI chief Imran Khan wanted to use these roads for demonstrations to create political instability in the country. 

The minister maintained that both drones and Mullah Mansour entered Pakistan without visas and this was the outcome of the policies of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf who had sold everything after the October 12, 1999 coup.

On a question about India’s alleged plans to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits and retired army officials in separate colonies in the held Valley, he said India had got no right to “artificially and factiously” change the demography of the disputed region.

The federal minister pointed out that people from different faiths had been living in same neighbourhoods in Jammu and Kashmir with harmony for centuries together.

That should not be disturbed, he said, warning that otherwise Pakistan would not only apprise the world of its repercussions, but also raise a strong voice against it.

However, on issues regarding AJK’s financial and constitutional empowerment, the minister avoided to give clear answers.

When he was asked if the federal government would ink an agreement with AJK on Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) he started tracing the history and the role of PML-N government regarding speedy execution of the mega power project. 

“We came to power in 2013 while the Neelum Jhelum project is being constructed before that under the prevailing Pakistani laws…Why NJHP was not completed in time and why this question was not raised at that time,” he said.

He then went on to say that the PML-N government had inherited NJHP as ruins which had eaten up billions of rupees and there were not even distant signs of its completion.

“It’s the special interest of our prime minister due to which the project will be commissioned by next year.”

However, when he was reminded of the basic question, he said the agreement issue would also be settled once AJK got a new government and new laws.

“Neelum-Jhelum has to remain in AJK and Allah willing it will be AJK’s property. We have never created such conflicts, neither with the provinces nor with AJK.”

When he was asked to clarify how long the PML-N led federal government would take to bring constitutional reforms in AJK if it clinched victory in the upcoming AJK polls, he termed the question as “premature.”

“I don’t know who the AJK people will vote for or which party will form government. If my party comes into power it will be binding upon her to remove the shortcomings and lacunae,” he said.

“For this I as well as my party’s government will be answerable.”

However, he reiterated, exact answer to this question would depend on the “performance and attitude” of the next government.

He did not agree with a questioner that the PML-N central leadership was imposing its decisions on party’s AJK chapter.

“We have been visiting AJK for long, and we have not come across any single complaint to this effect. This question may apply to some other party or person.” 

The federal minister was accompanied by Dr Asif Saeed Kirmani, Special Assistant to the PM, and Raja Farooq Haider, PML-N AJK president and Leader of the Opposition in AJK Assembly.

Tariq Naqash

AJK Council polls held amid allegations of horse trading

PTI and MC enter into electoral alliance "to smash PPP-PML-N nexus" 

Amid allegations of horse-trading, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday elected four members of the AJK Council, giving two seats to the ruling PPP and the rest to the divided opposition.

The polling was held in the MLA Hostel under the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. All but one of the 48 Legislative Assembly members (MLAs) took part in it.

While the opposition PML-N was on the ‘high moral ground’ as its all 11 MLAs voted for and got elected their nominee, Parvaiz Akhtar of Sudhnoti, the PPP appeared to be in a shock as at least 7 voters slipped from its ranks, including at least three cabinet members.

Both PPP candidates – Akhter Parvez Awan and Mohammad Younis Meer – got 11 votes each, but Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, the joint candidate of Muslim Conference (MC) and PTI, was the highest scorer with 14 votes.

The PTI has one and MC has 4 ‘declared’ votes in the 48-member house.

Shortly after the announcement of results, Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed removed rehabilitation minister Abdul Majid Khan and Mangla dam affairs minister Mohammad Hussain Sargala from cabinet with immediate effect for voting against the party discipline.

The ministers claimed that they had sent their resignations to the PM at 12:30pm “on the call of their conscience.”

“The MC and PTI have set the worst examples of horse-trading,” alleged Mr Majeed at a press conference, questioning that how the parties with total 5 votes could bag 14.

Flanked by some cabinet members, the AJK premier said he would soon track down the remaining treasury members who had voted in favour of Mr Abbasi.

“We will file references against the defectors, but in the meanwhile the Chief Election Commissioner should also take stock of it and suspend the membership of all those who resorted to floor crossing,” he said.

“The horse trading is condemnable and I am afraid it will send a negative message across the Line of Control from the base camp of freedom struggle,” he added.

Sources close to Mr Majeed confided to this scribe that he believed that some “hidden forces” (a reference to intelligence agencies) had persuaded such a good number of legislators to vote for the MC-PTI joint candidate.

However, when this scribe put this question to him at the presser, he said: “It was just the money that bought loyalties.”

The PPP leaders however appreciated the PML-N for discouraging horse-trading.

However, at their press conference, the PML-N leaders made scathing criticism of the PPP as well as the MC, PTI and their “facilitators.”

“It’s a food for thought for the Kashmiri nation that how an alliance with 5 votes has secured 14 votes,” said PML-N president Raja Farooq Haider.

He said, of the four Council members, only Parvaiz Akhtar of PML-N and Akhter Parvez Awan of PPP were genuine political activists while the other two had purchased not only the party tickets but also the votes.

“At least Rs 350 to 400 million have been invested in this election, something we had long been expressing apprehensions about,” he said, adding, those who had sold their conscience were worst than the ‘prostitutes.’

In response to a question, Mr Haider said not only money but also the “hidden forces” had facilitated the victory of MC-PTI joint candidate.

“If the ministers who voted for Mr Abbasi have a pang of conscience they should step down,” he said.

The PML-N senior vice president Chaudhry Tariq Farooq pointed out that since the ruling party had bagged only 22 votes, it had lost simple majority in the 48-member house.

However, a spokesman for the government said this voting was not a measure to determine the trust of house enjoyed by the government.

MC-PTI ALLIANCE

Earlier, while the polling was in progress, PTI president Barrister Sultan Mahmood and MC president Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan announced at a joint press conference that they had agreed to form a formal alliance for the upcoming polls.

Fielding a joint candidate for the Council elections was a first step towards that alliance, they said.

However, when they were asked that how could they get their nominee elected when they had only 5 votes, both leaders smartly responded that they would “recover their stolen legislators from PPP and PML-N.”

Mr Mahmood and Mr Ahmed also named five members each from their sides to prepare recommendations for the alliance within ten days, “following which its nitty-gritty would be taken care of.”

In response to question, the MC chief, who has always been critical of ‘ghair riyasti’ (non Kashmir based) political parties, said: “PTI is different. Here decisions are made by Barrister Sahib, in contrast to the PML-N where the employees of the federal government rule the roost.”

Tariq Naqash

AJK students, faculty members condemn use of pellet guns by India in Kashmir

Students and faculty members of the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) staged a demonstration here on Thursday to condemn the use of pellet guns, which have left hundreds of people handicapped in Indian occupied part of Kashmir.

The demonstration was organized by the AJK chapter of International Forum for Justice and Human Rights (IFJHR), headed by Mr Mushtaq ul Islam, in collaboration with varsity administration.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans condemning and seeking ban on use of pellet guns on peaceful protests in the India held territory, the demonstrators also chanted against India, vociferously.

Pellets are small iron ball bearings that are fired at high velocity. The guns pump out hundreds of pellets quickly, which can cause widespread injuries across the body.

According to Amnesty International India, the pellet gun cartridges used in India held Kashmir contain 400 to 500 plastic pellets. When fired at short range, a single shot can pierce the target’s body with hundreds of pellets. When aimed higher up the body, they can cause serious eye injuries.

Reports in local and international media revealed that these guns were used extensively during anti-India protests in the summer of 2010 and ever since there is not let up in its use.

Indian troops claim that they use the “non-lethal” pellet guns to quell protests when they go ‘out of control,’ but Mr Islam said pellet guns had claimed scores of lives, besides rendering hundreds of people handicapped for good.

“The situation is alarming, but the world community seems to be in deep slumber,” he lamented, stressing upon the UN, international community and global human rights watchdogs to end their silence and play their due role to bring the brutalities let loose by Indian troops in Kashmir to end.

Faculty members and students also expressed their views on the occasion.

“My heart goes to my brothers and sisters who are braving atrocities that have no parallel in the modern history… We all salute them for their valour and determination,” said Ayesha Sohail, chairperson of the English Department.

“The world must not remain silent over these atrocities,” she said.

Student Aqib Safeer said Kashmiri people had proved it time and again that use of brute force could not quell their popular movement for their right to self determination.

“While condemning the despicable acts of Indian troops, we also express complete support and solidarity with our brethren across the divide,” he said.
Others who spoke were Prof Dr Rustam Khan, dean of sciences, Uzair Ahmed Ghazali of Pasban-e-Hurriyat, an organization of post-1990 Kashmiri migrants.

Tariq Naqash

Bilawal asks people to support his party to rid Pakistan of Sharifs

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has asked the people of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to support his party to rid the country of rulers who he alleged had plunged it into the lowest levels on all fronts.

Speaking at his second election related public rally in the town of Bagh on Tuesday, he reiterated his criticism of the “friendship” between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi whom he repeatedly referred to as “killer of the Muslims of Gujarat and Kashmir.”

“When I refer to the carnage of Muslims of Gujarat under the patronage of Mr Modi, some people view it in the context of India Pakistan relations. I want to tell them that Mr Modi is neither Rajiv Gandhi, nor Manmohan Singh or Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” he said.

He recalled that when Mr Vajpayee visited Lahore to launch friendship bus, the PPP had termed it a ‘way forward’ but contrarily Mr Modi was viewed by many countries as a terrorist and denied visa for the very reason.

Criticizing Mr Sharif for attending Mr Modi’s swearing in ceremony and later inviting him to a family function in Pakistan, he said: “No ruler has dealt a blow greater than this to Kashmir issue.”

“Mian sahib you should have remembered that they are the people who have unleashed unpatrolled brutalities on Kashmiris…. but instead of lodging protest you even forgot to mention Kashmir in Ufa Declaration,” he said.

The PPP leader alleged that Mr Sharif had spoiled the foreign policy of Pakistan, which was why today India was Pakistan’s enemy, Afghanistan was angry at Pakistan and friendship with Iran was also at the lowest ebb.

Apart from that, the prime minister has also made a mockery of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir issue, he said.

“If you support me I will soon rid you of these rulers… I will not disappoint you. I will not turn my back on you in any condition, at any cost,” he said, in a direct address to the people of Pakistan and AJK.

“I promise to take you to your destination and get back the status of this country in the comity of nations,” he added.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari alleged that Sharif brothers were least bothered about the country and more about their business.

It was because of their failed policies, poverty had risen to new heights and labourers and farmers were suffering the worst, he said.

He also questioned prime minister’s claims about development and said the development was nowhere on the ground but in TV and newspaper advertisements

Of the Panama Papers, he said the PPP wanted transparent investigations into it.

According to him, “conflicting statements and one after the other lie” on Panama Papers had complicated the case of prime minister, besides landing him in deep waters.

“The prime minister is answerable to the nation, but he is avoiding it,” he said.

While reminding Mr Sharif that he had demanded resignation of Yousuf Raza Gillani (then prime minister) in a public meeting, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said: “Either you should admit you were wrong or accept my demand and go home.”

He also criticised accountability and investigating bodies for sparing the ruling party leaders.

“Is it national accountability bureau or Noon League accountability bureau?”

He asked the UN to implement its resolution on Kashmir and grant Kashmiris their right to decide their fate like the people of East Timor and South Sudan.

Stating that Mr Sharif had done nothing for AJK except clamping sanctions, he asked the audience to support his party in the forthcoming elections for their honour and a better future of Kashmir.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari also came down on the Punjab government, particularly its Orange Train project.

Quoting Quaid-e-Azam on the status of minorities in Pakistan, he said it was ironical that the PML-N government in the Punjab was demolishing ten churches for Orange Train project, in spite of the fact they were not just worship places but also heritage sites.

He said on the one hand the PML-N government was spending Rs 162 billion for Orange Train project the entire annual budget of AJK was just Rs 68 billion.

“This is unjust, rather cruel distribution of wealth.”

HAIDER GILANI

At the outset of his written speech, Mr Bhutto-Zardari briefly mentioned release of Ali Haider Gilani.

“I congratulate you all for my brother Ali Haider Gilani has been freed from terrorists in Afghanistan,” he said.

Earlier, former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said as he was leaving for Bagh, he learnt that his son had been recovered in an operation in Afghanistan.

“However, instead of visiting my son, I preferred to visit my sons and daughters in Bagh, in accordance with the ideology and thoughts of (Zulfikar Ali) Bhutto,” he said.

Others who spoke included PPP secretary general Jehangir Badar, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Faryal Talpur MNA and Sardar Qamaruz Zaman.

Interestingly, while glorifying the late Bhuttos in her speech, Ms Talpur listed her nephew in the same lot.

“Martyrs never die, they are alive… In today’s gathering (Zulfikar Ali) Bhutto Shaheed is with us, BB (Benazir Bhutto) shaheed is with us and her son Bilawal Bhutto Saheed is also with us,” she said, in a slip of tongue.

Tariq Naqash

Bilawal asks PM to step down, criticizes him for "going soft" on his Indian counterpart

Coming out strongly against the government, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on

Saturday asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down, until an inquiry into the money laundering allegations levelled at his family was completed.

“As long as the investigations into the Panama leaks are ongoing, you should resign. You can resume [office] when you are absolved of the charges,” he said, reminding Mr Sharif of the advice he had given to former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani when the latter was facing multiple charges, including allegations of involvement in the Haj scam as well as contempt of court.

He was speaking at a public rally in the city of Kotli in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), held to kickstart his party’s election campaign ahead of polls in AJK, where the PPP has held power since 2011.

Observers said despite campaigning for the event, the party failed to attract more than six thousand people. It was surely smaller than PTI chief Imran Khan's public rally in the same ground.

Accusing the prime minister of letting business interests dictate his policies, Mr Bhutto-Zardari exclaimed, “Alas! You have been the prime minister thrice, but you could not become a leader."

“Your days are already numbered. Today, you have been reduced to the level where you rush to Russia one day and head to London the next for a check-up. You send one representative to Germany and another to the US, and when all this doesn’t work, you rush to Panama and bootlick their finance minister,” he said.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari criticised Orange Train and Metro buses projects, saying they had not benefited the poor. He also came down upon the government for not passing the benefit of petrol prices reduction in the global market.

He said the loans obtained by PML-N government over the last three years were bigger than the collective figure of all previous governments.

“The nation will hold you accountable for it. But you also know very well that your government will not complete its constitutional term, which is why you have announced rallies across the country in anticipation of snap polls,” he said.

“You also know very well that your government will not be able to complete its constitutional term, which is why you have announced rallies across the country, in anticipation of snap polls,” he said, echoing what PTI chief Imran Khan had been advocating in recent days.

This is the first time the party has blatantly called for the PM to step down in the wake of allegations — thrown up by the Panama Papers leaks — that his children owned offshore companies.

Earlier this month, party leaders had repeatedly termed the PTI’s call for the PM’s resignation as ‘premature’, saying it was too early to demand anyone’s resignation on the basis of the leaks.

KASHMIR-BAITING?

Throughout his speech, the PPP chairman repeatedly attacked the PM for going soft on his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Playing on local sentiment against PM Sharif over what he called the government’s “obliviousness” to the human rights violations in India-held Kashmir, he said, “Nawaz Sharif has not spoken strongly on the Kashmir issue for the past three years, let alone condemning atrocities in India-held Kashmir.”

Mentioning Asiya Andrabi, a Srinagar based pro-Pakistan activist, he said while the US had expressed concern over her arrest, the PML-N government did not bother to utter a few words.

“I Bilawal Bhutto Zardari assure the people of both parts of Kashmir that PPP will never remain silent over their rights. We are beside you and we will remain beside you in every struggle of yours,” he said.

He said he did not have any fear to speak for the Kashmiris.

“Whenever we speak on Kashmir, Mr Modi and Indian media launch propaganda against us. They burn our pictures, hack our party’s website because they know that Bhutto’s voice is heard across the globe,” he said.

“When puppets speak, they say it’s the ISI speaking and when Mullahs (a reference to clergy) speak, they say it’s the terrorists speaking, but when a Bhutto speaks, they don’t have any answer.”

“Listen, even if Mian sahib does not speak, the PML-N government keeps mum over the atrocities on the unarmed Kashmiris, don’t worry I will become your voice and apprise the world of the brutalities of Modi government,” he added.

He said Kashmiris had a long history of struggle and he was proud to be the chairman of a party that had always stood for them.

He said he viewed Kashmir as Germany, where a nation had been divided by erecting a fence.

 “If my voice is being heard across the divide, my slogan is grander than the rest, i.e., plebiscite, plebiscite (in Kashmir)… We will take the whole of Kashmir.”

At the outset of his speech, Mr Bhutto-Zardari highlighted the importance of the settlement of Kashmir and Palestine conflicts for global peace, which he said would never come as long as the Indians and the Israelis shed the blood of the Kashmiris and the Palestinians, respectively.

 “Peace in South Asia will bring peace in the Middle East and peace in both regions will turn the whole world into a peaceful place. I ask the governments in South Asia as well as world powers that while you talk about peace and pinpoint the problem, why don’t you take steps to address the problem.”

“You pass resolutions at the United Nations, but fail to implement them. You talk about human rights, but you turn deaf ears and blind eyes towards the repression in Indian held Kashmir,” he said to the world community.

He lamented that there was an arms race between countries while poverty was touching greater heights, education and health facilities were almost non-existent and extremism and fanaticism was multiplying daily, mainly because major issues and conflicts were thrown into the cold storage instead of their settlement.

He alleged that the PML-N government was meting out similar treatment to Kashmir issue.

On AJK elections, he alleged that the federal government was distributing AJK Council funds among PML-N candidates, fake CNICs were being prepared through Nadra, non-Kashmiri votes were being enrolled in Punjab and Balochistan “to replay 2013 like rigging in the upcoming AJK polls.”

“I know they are experts of rigging and stealing the mandate of others through bullying and artifice. But I have full faith that my Kashmiri brethren will fail their designs…Defeat of Nawaz Sharif will be the defeat of Modi and victory of Kashmir,” he said.

Listing some achievements by his party’s government in education sector in AJK, he said: “Surely mistakes might also have been committed but I will now take care of everything myself.”

“Whoever will make a mistake will have to account for it. I will not tolerate corruption at any cost, because I believe in transparency, service to people and their development.”

The PPP chairman also asked the federal government to give special package to AJK and make maximum investments in different sectors.

“I want to see a bright Pakistan from a prosperous Azad Kashmir where people have employment and free health and education facilities,” he said.

“If we are brought into power we will translate this dream into reality,” he said, while asking people to give him a pledge that they will vote for the PPP.

Former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gil­ani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, AJK PM Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, senior minister Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin and others also spoke on the occasion.

GOVT REACTION

The ruling PML-N, however, dismissed Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s outburst, maintaining that the PPP chief was twisting the facts to suit his agenda.

“Instead of demanding PM Sharif’s resignation, he should have asked for one from Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, who has plunged the beautiful region of AJK into the depths of dilapidation, corruption and bad governance,” Dr Asif Saeed Kirmani, special assistant to the prime minister, told this scribe.

He also deplored the PPP leader’s “irrational demand” for the PM’s resignation, saying that “he (Bilawal) does not know that the prime minister does not figure anywhere in the Panama Papers.

“The names of his children are there, and they will clear themselves when­ever a commission is constituted,” he said.

On the Kashmir-specific allegations, Dr Kirmani maintained that Kashmir was an international issue but was converted into a regional dispute by Mr Bilawal’s grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto under Simla Agreement.

“It goes to the credit of Nawaz Sharif that he revived this issue at the UN and all other international forums with full force,” he said.

Otherwise, Dr Kirmani said, he welcomed Mr Bilawal in AJK, because “finally the PPP leader had felt the heat of the successful workers’ conventions by the PML-N.

He claimed that the people of AJK were fed up to the hilt with the “corrupt and inefficient” PPP government, which would be sent packing through the power of vote.

“Mr Bilawal’s speech reflected his fear of PML-N’s popularity. Let it be know to him that by the blessings of Allah and support of masses the PML-N will form next AJK government with absolute majority.”

… Tariq Naqash