Suspicion raised about upcoming test/interviews as 3000 apply for 48 already filled posts in AJK Assembly

        The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly secretariat has received more than 3000 applications for the 48 non-gazetted posts advertised last week, in what reflects growing unemployment in the region.

However, little does majority of the applicants know that it would merely be waste of time, energy and money for them, as the people already holding these positions are most likely to be regularised through the duplicitous selection process, it has been learnt. 

Interestingly, a group of ruling Peoples Party workers, led by Khawaja Atif Bashir, has already voiced serious concern about the “underhand recruitment procedures” in AJK Legislative Assembly, by staging a demonstration on a bustling thoroughfare here, during which an effigy of Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq was also torched.

Background interviews by this scribe with Legislative Assembly officials, who declined to be identified for fear of grudge-bearing actions by their high ups, revealed that every speaker had been clandestinely creating posts, making appointments of favourites and later getting them confirmed through so called test/interviews by the departmental selection committee(s).

The recently advertised positions had once again brought this iniquitous practice into spotlight as, according to insiders, all were already filled by two former speakers  - Shah Ghulam Qadir and Chaudhry Anwaar ul Haq - as well as the incumbent speaker.

According to the AJK Legislative Assembly Recruitment (Terms and Conditions) Act, 1976, the speaker can create any new post up to BPS-16, without the approval of Finance Committee, which he heads himself.

He can also create posts in BPS-17 and above but for a period of six months. For creation of BPS-17 and above posts on permanent basis, Finance Committee’s approval is required.

Mr Qadir, who remained speaker from July 2006 to August 2010, had created 12 posts, whereas Mr Haq had created 39 posts from August 2010 to July 2011. The incumbent speaker, who assumed this office in July 2011, had so far created 6 posts, according to Legislative Assembly secretary Chaudhry Basharat Hussain.

It may be relevant to mention here that the AJK Finance Department was at odds with the LA secretariat for “wanton creation of posts” in it and had not included these 57 posts in the current year’s budget, notwithstanding their “approval by the Legislative Assembly’s Finance Committee,” where lone dissenting voice was raised by PML-N legislator Chaudhry Tariq Farooq.

Sources said apart from the fresh posts, the speakers had also been making appointments against other posts falling vacant due to promotions, up-gradations or retirements of employees. Even the incumbent speaker had so far made at least 18 appointments in the same fashion.

Interestingly, speaker’s own son Khurrum Sadiq was inducted as ‘protocol officer’ in BPS-17 in August 2011 allegedly through a backdated order (issued) by Mr Haq, whereas information minister Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi’s younger brother Basit Naqvi was inducted by Mr Haq as assistant protocol officer in BPS-16, after the announcement of June 2011 election schedule.

The duo was separately confirmed over the last four months by “fulfilling the formality of advertisement and subsequent test/interviews by the departmental selection committees,” source said.

The committee which found Khurrum Sadiq “suitable” for the post was headed by deputy speaker Shaheen Dar.

The selection of incumbent speaker’s son was reminiscent of confirmation in 2004 of the son and brother in law of the then speaker Sardar Siab Khalid against two gazetted posts by a committee, headed by the then secretary who had in return got his own son confirmed in the same manner.

Sources confided that while 48 posts had been advertised for confirmation of the incumbents after stoppage of their salaries by the Accountant General’s office, at least 30 more posts, also already being occupied, were yet to be put to the same process.

At the moment, the strength of the AJK Legislative Assembly secretariat staffers has touched the figure of 379. This is too high strength for a (currently) 48-member house, which hardly meets for more than 25 days in a calendar year.

When questioned by this scribe as to why it had taken too long to advertise these posts, Speaker Ghulam Sadiq said these posts were created and temporarily filled before his period without advertising them and after assuming office he had twice passed orders for test/interviews but the process got delayed “due to one or the other reason.”

He claimed he was the only speaker who had not created any post, but later admitted he had also created six posts.

When his attention was drawn to the previous practice of confirming the incumbents through test/interviews, he said: “It’s the responsibility of the (selection) committee to make selections on merit, even if it goes against the incumbents.”

LA secretary also vowed that as member of the selection committee he would “try his best to make selections on merit.”

Meanwhile, the demonstrators at the CMH Road called upon the AJK’s superior judiciary and Ehtesab Bureau to take notice of “slaughter of merit and morality in the LA secretariat.”

 “Its not just injustice but ruthlessness. Poor dupes do not know that this process is merely an eyewash,” said young PPAJK leader Khawaja Atif Bashir…. Tariq Naqash

Neelum Valley women up in arms about anti-peace moves in their area

 Concerned at the escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC), a group of women staged a demonstration in Neelum valley on Tuesday for continuity of peace in their area, which had long borne the brunt of cross border shelling before the rival troops struck a truce agreement in 2003.

Official sources told this scribe that over three dozen women, led by Ms Sarwar Jan, Chaand Bibi and Arifa Bibi, took out a rally from Athmuqam, district headquarters of Neelum Valley, and ended it at a nearby Pakistan army installation.

Earlier, according to some witnesses, the police tried to stop them within the town, but later gave in to their insistence to see the local military commander. 

“Indian shelling, unacceptable. We want peace,” read one of the several placards, the women were carrying on the occasion.

“UNO play your role in revival of peace along the LoC,” read another placard.

Speaking to the local army commander, representatives of demonstrators recalled that Neelum valley people had fought Indian aggression for over a decade and offered innumerable physical and material sacrifices.

“Even today we stand shoulder to shoulder with our armed forces, but we are not able to offer more sacrifices, and want revival of complete peace in our valley,” they told the military official.

They stressed that Islamabad should forcefully call upon the United Nations to take stock of recent ceasefire violations by Indian troops and play its role for revival of peace.

They also expressed serious concern at alleged movement of the activists of some outlawed militant groups in their area and called for “reining them in for the sake of peace.”

Witnesses and official sources told Dawn that the military commander assured the demonstrators that he would convey their concerns and demands to the authorities concerned.

Arifa Bibi later told local journalists that tensions along the LoC were a great conspiracy against the democracy in Pakistan and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take its immediate notice.

“The government should strictly ban the movement of extremists in our area so that the much cherished peace remains intact,” she said.  

It may be recalled that it’s not the first time when Neelum valley residents have voiced their concern in the face of threat to the peace in their area.

In August last year, residents of Neelum valley staged a shutter down strike for maintenance of peace along the LoC and suppression of the alleged activities of some outlawed militant groups in their area.

In 2011, when three Pakistani soldiers were killed in unprovoked Indian shelling, the valley residents, fearful of the pre-ceasefire nightmarish conditions, had taken out a big rally in Athmuqam on the day of Eidul Fitr, calling upon Islamabad and New Delhi to exercise restraint and maintain truce along the dividing line.

Prior to that, in July 2008 around four dozen women, led by Chaand Bibi, had staged a barefoot march and a symbolic sit-in in Athmuqam against the “growing activities of some militant groups” which they feared could harm the truce along the LoC.

FEAR OF DISPLACEMENTS

The demonstration in Athmuqam coincided with unprovoked shelling by Indian troops in Nakial sector of Kotli district, triggering panic and fears of displacements after a decade long gap.

“They (Indian troops) started shelling at 8:45 am in the morning, yet again without any provocation, targeting various villages of Nakial sector with small weapons and mortars,” deputy commissioner Kotli Masoodur Rehman told this blogger.

However, fortunately there were no casualties, he said. 

He regretted that the Indian troops were “brazenly targeting civilian populations” which had compelled the administration to consider relocation of affected people, where unavoidable.

He said the administration had re-activated “Village Coordination Committees” (VCC), comprising notables of border areas, to take decisions regarding relocation of affected people in consultation with them.  

Nakial sector has seen 11 persons, including a soldier, wounded over the past one week. According to Pakistani military sources, Indian troops had pounded 800 shells in this sector alone on Thursday.

“This indicates that Indians seem to be in no mood to let the peace prevail along the dividing line,” Mr Rehman said.

At least 20 houses and 3 vehicles were completely or partially damaged, and over 10 buffaloes, each costing 100 to 150 thousand rupees, killed and several other cattle injured in Nakial sector in one week, meaning thereby the people had started suffering economically as well, he added.

It may be recalled that prior to the November 2003 ceasefire along the LoC, displacements and relocations of affected populations were a regular occurrence. The truce however had brought an end to this painful activity.... Tariq Naqash

AJK civil society protests against killing of Kashmiris by India

Civil society activists held a candle-light protest in Muzaffarabad on Friday evening against the killing of four residents of Neelum valley by the Indian army, and urged Islamabad to use its offices for the recovery of their bodies.

Four Neelum valley residents — Zaafran, son of Ghulam Sarwar, Shahzaman, son of Mohammad Younas, Wajid Akbar, son of Ali Akbar, and Faisal Iqbal, son of Sher Zaman — went missing on July 29.

It turned out later that they had been killed by the Indian army on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC).

According to their relatives, the victims were collecting a medicinal plant — Tripatra or Barseem (Red Clove) — along the unmarked dividing line when the Indian army “arrested and took them across”.

An Indian magazine, Firstpost, quoting an FIR registered in a police station in the India-held territory on July 30 on behalf of the 56-Rashtriya Rifles, disclosed that the four were killed by the army near Katwar Post late on the preceding night as “unidentified Pakistani intruders”.

The FIR recorded the army’s statement that it recovered one AK-56 assault rifle, three pistols and a 12-bore shotgun from the group.

However, even some Indian officials were skeptical about the claim. The FirstPost also quoted a senior Indian army officer, based in occupied Kashmir, as pointing out that "it was unusual for an infiltrating group of four terrorists to possess only one assault rifle, and no grenades or communication equipment."

The protest in Muzaffarabad was organised through the social networking site, Facebook, by members of a group, namely AJK Civil Society Forum.

It began at the Central Press Club and culminated on the main road outside, where the demonstrators lined up at the pavement and lighted candles.

They were holding placards seeking an end to killing of innocent Kashmiris by India.

"Stop genocide of Kashmiris," read one placard. 

“They were innocent citizens, but the Indian army arrested them from Pakistani territory and killed them in cold blood,” said Mir Adnan Rehman, one of the organisers of the protest.

He regretted that Islamabad was yet to highlight this violation of the LoC in a forceful manner.

Pakistan should take effective steps to get back the bodies of the victims to be buried by their relatives in their ancestral areas, he said.

Lawyer Raza Ali Khan said the Indian government and the media were launching an unending offensive against Pakistan on flimsy grounds, while Pakistan government was unable to highlight the excesses by the Indian army within the held territory as well as in areas along the LoC.

The demonstrators also vented anger at mainstream Pakistani media for not "properly focusing attention on unrelenting ceasefire violations by the Indian army and its adverse effects on the lives of border area residents.” 

"Why Pakistani media is silent over the killings of Kashmiris," questioned another placard. 

It may be mentioned here that residents of border areas in AJK allege that Indian military often whisks away civilians as they herd cattle, cut fodder or pick fuel wood or medicinal plants along the LoC.

In June 2009, deputy commissioner Neelum Ahmed Attaullah had confirmed that a Valley resident, identified as Manzoor Ahmed, was “picked up and taken across by the Indian troops near Tejian village."

Prior to that, in September 2007, three men went missing from Dhakki and Chaknar hamlets of Neelum Valley and their relatives alleged they were kidnapped by the Indian troops from this side of the LoC... Tariq Naqash

Nawaz Sharif's decision on no trust move leaves his party wretched in AJK

No doubt, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to keep the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) chapter of his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) away from the no confidence move against AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed has given new lease of life to the latter, but many believe it has wreaked havoc on his own party in the region.

Mr Sharif’s decision came like a bolt from the blue for the PML-N AJK leaders, who had thrown their weight behind the no trust resolution to “rid the people of AJK of a corrupt, inefficient and unscrupulous regime” after a lengthy meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday (July 24).

At the same meeting, a charge sheet against Mr Majeed, citing alleged corruption of his government in mega deals, was also handed over to Mr Haider, on the basis of which it was finally decided that the party must lend support to the no trust resolution.

If one is to believe an Islamabad based anchor of Kashmiri origin, Mr Sharif invited him for a briefing on the “merits and demerits” of (supporting) the no trust move, following which he took decision that his party would remain “impartial.” 

 The anchor, who declined to be quoted, claimed before this scribe that Mr Sharif had no prior formal intimation of the political manoeuvres of his party’s AJK chapter and that he (PM) had come to know about its support to the no trust move from the TV tickers and newspaper clippings.

Mr Sharif is deadly against the culture of lota cracy – a term for turncoats in Pakistan – and that’s why he decided to keep his party away from the move, stressed the anchor.

What added insult to the injury was the fact the Mr Sharif did not give audience to PML-N AJK president Raja Farooq Haider to hear from the horse’s mouth reasons and justification for the supporting the move.

Instead, during his meeting with the anchor, he spoke to Mr Majeed for about 10 minutes on phone, but did not bother to contact Haider, his handpicked representative in AJK. 

Background interviews with PML-N leaders and other sources revealed that it was not that Mr Sharif was completely blank about the no trust move as at least two of his confidants - minister for information Pervaiz Rasheed and minister for Kashmir affairs Barjees Tahir - were not only aware of what the party’s AJK chapter was up to but had also expressed their support.

According to one PML-N sources, the information minister had uttered a famous Persian verse, Hama’n Yara’n Dozakh, Hama’n Yara’n Bahisht (Together with friends in Hell or Heaven) before Mr Haider and PML-N AJK secretary general Shah Ghulam Qadir when the duo met him and told that they (PML-N AJK) had decided, “at the end of its tether, to support efforts to dislodge Mr Majeed’s corrupt government.”

On July 25, two days after the submission of no trust resolution, Barjees Tahir told the official APP news agency that PML-N AJK would support the no confidence move against Mr Majeed.  

Sources claimed that Mr Haider had been seeking an appointment from Mr Sharif for the past six weeks to seek guidance about the party’s strategy in AJK “where winds of change had started blowing.” At a chance meeting in Lahore, Mr Haider was compelled to send a chit to Mr Sharif scribbled with a request for a meeting but to no avail.

Recently, Mr Sharif made two tours to AJK to inspect and inaugurate hydropower projects, but could not spare time for a sitting with his party leaders here. Rather they felt he was offering them cold shoulders, sources added.

Soon after the TV channels started airing breaking news that Mr Sharif had decided to remain impartial in AJK, Mr Haider once again sought a meeting with Mr Sharif. He waited in Islamabad over the next 24 hours, but there was no call.

Finally, he invited his entire parliamentary party to meet in Islamabad, and the meeting lasted till 2 am on Friday during which the participants discussed, and of course vented anger at, what had been done by their leadership at the last moment.

The message that the PML-N will remain impartial in AJK was repeated at the federal cabinet meeting earlier in the day. And to ensure that the PML-N AJK leaders should not take any otherwise decision at the meeting, they were again reminded of it in a “strong worded” message shortly before the commencement of their meeting.

“Prime Minister (Sharif) has taken a decision and if anybody does not fall in line, he will have to face the music,” Mr Rasheed told Mr Haider by phone, without mincing words.

The meeting heard charged speeches, and Mr Haider, who otherwise carries the reputation of a straightforward, rather blunt, leader, kept on listening in a virtual state of helplessness. Finally, the majority’s opinion prevailed that the party must live with this situation or else they could “earn ire of Mian sahib.”

It would not be out of place to recall that when PML-N was being launched in AJK, its leaders here had claimed that they would not act as “puppets” like that of the PPAJK leaders and instead would enjoy independence in their internal decisions.

However, the fate of their first ‘independent’ decision had made a mockery of their claims.

“People will rightfully ask us that will we submit ourselves in the same manner if tomorrow a decision on Kashmir issue is imposed on us in the same fashion,” one chagrined leader said.

Party leaders also wonder as to what stance will they take before the public about their oft-trumpeted allegations, which had also surfaced in the charge sheet.

Feeling wretched, many PML-N leaders and workers feel they would hardly be able to play the role of a vigorous and effective opposition in AJK against a government protected by none other than their own leader (Mr Sharif).

And many party workers have already started posing hard-hitting comments and questions on social media.

The PML-N cadres are of the view that while their central leadership kept on maintaining that they would remain impartial in AJK, practically it had interfered in AJK to rescue Mr Majeed’s government.

They believe that they have been sacrificed at the altar of their party’s interests in Pakistan, and for the second time.

Previously, at the time of election of special seats of AJK Assembly, the PML-N leadership took its AJK chapter by surprise by fielding Dr Fauzia Ashraf for one reserved seat it was able to grab.  The lady had not even visited AJK before that election, but she was gifted the membership because her spouse, Dr Tahir Javed of PML-Q, had formed a so-called “Unification Bloc” in the Punjab Assembly and his support was required to sustain the government of Shahbaz Sharif. Of course it was not lota cracy by any means. 

This time round it was perhaps the presidential election, as the PML-N leadership wanted not to annoy the PPP lest it might not leave the fray. However, that goal remained unachieved after the PPP announced its boycott of the presidential polls.

 And when earlier in the day a PML-N delegation visited nine zero in Karachi to seek support of the MQM for its presidential candidate Mamnoon Hussain, many people were reminded of Mr Sharif’s earlier statements against the urban Sindh based party, which he had held responsible for all acts of terrorism in Karachi.

Of course that too had nothing to do with the lota cracy or morality as was questioned by many on the social media, instantly.

All said and done, the PML N leaders in AJK, who were eyeing next government in AJK, are worried as to how they will do the damage control and make ordinary voters believe that they do enjoy assertiveness, independence, credibility and status before their central leadership that will eventually help them safeguard the interests of this region.

“I don’t think any political force in AJK will trust us in future. Instead, they may prefer to talk to the anchorpersons whose views are more valuable for our leader (Mr Sharif) than our observations and sentiments,” summed up one of the PML-N leaders here.

Ends

'No Trust Move' against AJK PM: reminiscent of the past

A no confidence resolution against Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed has been submitted in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly secretariat by two ruling Peoples Party (PPAJK) dissidents on Monday, reminding people of similar exercises of the past that had brought the entire system into disrepute.

In order to fulfil a constitutional requirement, the resolution has proposed the name of Barrister Sultan Mahmood – a top PPAJK leader who had held this office from 1996 to 2001 - as successor to the incumbent premier.

The no confidence move, which comes hardly a week before 67 year old Mr Majeed completes his two years in office, will decide his fate within a week of its submission in the Assembly.  

It is reminiscent of three similar and successful exercises between 2009 and 2010, which had generated critical opprobrium for the previous Assembly and its members.

“Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed has caused irreparable harm to Kashmir freedom movement, identity of the state, governance and developmental activities besides violating merit, ruining institutions, unlawfully distributing development funds and inducting favourites, instead of eligible persons in the Public Service Commission,” read an excerpt from the resolution, submitted by minister for rehabilitation Abdul Majid Khan and MLA Muhammad Hussain Sargala.  

The resolution levelled serious corruption charges against Mr Majeed, citing some allegedly controversial deals which had been repeatedly surfacing in the Legislative Assembly as well.

Mr Mahmood told this scribe that the move enjoyed support of around 17-18 members of ruling coalition as well as the entire opposition, including 11-member Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and 5-member Muslim Conference (MC).

“Actually, people from within the (ruling) Peoples Party had been aspiring for a change for long because of unrelenting corruption, bad governance and inattention to Kashmir cause by the present setup,” he said.

However, dismissing his claims, PPAJK secretary general and minister for finance Chaudhry Latif Akbar told a news conference in Muzaffarabad that Mr Majeed not only enjoyed the trust of PPAJK parliamentary party but also that of President Asif Ali Zardari, Ms Faryal Talpur and Syed Khurshid Shah.

“If Mr Mahmood proves his majority in the (PPAJK) parliamentary party, Prime Minister Majeed will step down on his own, there and then,” said Mr Akbar, who was flanked by five PPAJK lawmakers.  

He called upon the PML-N and MC to remain impartial in PPAJK’s internal rift.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should direct his party here to stay away from this dirty game. The way he (Mr Sharif) has shown respect to the mandate of other parties in Pakistan should be replicated in our area as well.”

However, late night reports confirmed that at least 10 cabinet members, including two from the MQM, had faxed their resignations to Prime Minister Majeed.

They included Chaudhry Arshad, Afsar Shahid, Abdul Majid Khan, Chaudhry Akbar Ibrahim, Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, Akhtar Hussain Rabbani, Azhar Hussain Gillani, Ali Shan Soni, Tahir Khokhar and Salim Butt.

Thirteen members of the ruling coalition were at the residence of Mr Mahmood on Monday night, holding an important meeting and one of them confidently told this scribe from there that Mr Majeed’s exit was now a matter of days. 

Earlier in the afternoon, this correspondent tried to reach PML-N president Raja Farooq Haider and MC president Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan for their views but they were unable to take up calls.

Apparently, both parties were separately busy in “consultative meetings” but those were merely a perfunctory process and in fact everything had already been settled.

However, a statement by MC president to a private TV channel had left a bad taste in the mouth of PML-N stalwarts. 

Sardar Attique was reported to have said that the PML-N had earlier caused cracks in Muslim Conference and was now bent to do the same with the Peoples Party. 

A PML-N leader told this scribe that they would take up the controversial statement at an appropriate place and time. 

The AJK politics has always had great influence of the powers that be, given its so-called sensitive nature, and making and breaking of the governments here can hardly take place sans their consent or consultation.  

While Mr Mahmood is in the good books of the powers that be, Sardar Attique too carries the repute of respecting their 'suggestions' (read instructions) all along his political career. His party is regarded as "pro-Establishment," a term for loyalists of such powers. 

It is however yet to be seen if the PML-N has also fallen in line or not, contrary to the claims of its leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. 

According to AJK’s Interim Constitution, a resolution seeking no confidence against the prime minister has to be voted after three days but not later than seven days from the date of its submission in the Assembly. Following its passage by majority of the total membership of the Assembly (currently 48), the person named as the successor assumes the office of prime minister, brining an end to the term of his predecessor and his cabinet... Tariq Naqash 

'Unusual reception' of federal minister in AJK irks Kashmiri leadership, civil society

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed on Tuesday detailed five members of his cabinet to receive a federal minister at an entry point near here on his maiden visit to the AJK capital, in a move that drew flak from opposition and civil society activists.


While minister for school education Mian Abdul Waheed, minister for college education Matloob Inqilabi, minister for food Javed Iqbal Bhudanvi and minister for works Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed welcomed the federal minister for Kashmir affairs Birjees Tahir at Kohala bridge, some 35 kilometres from here, after waiting for him for about an hour along with the deputy commissioner and SSP Muzaffarabad, minister for information Bazil Ali Naqvi received the VIP guest near Ambore tunnel, 5 kilometres from here, along with around one dozen people.


Eyewitnesses said the AJK cabinet members garlanded the visiting minister with festoons of artificial flowers.


Highly placed official sources told this scribe that chief secretary Alam Din Bullo was not in favour of sending the cabinet members to Kohala to receive the federal minster.


Instead, he had suggested that the DC and SSP should receive the guest at Kohala and he (the CS) and other officials would greet him at the entrance of a hotel here, where the AJK prime minister had arranged an iftar dinner in his honour.


However, sources said, Prime Minister Majeed did not agree with the suggestion and directed the designated ministers to escort the federal minister from Kohala to Muzaffarabad. 


The iftar dinner was held in the capital's only 5-star hotel and the federal minister attended it with a sense of gratification, apparently unmindful of a ban Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has imposed on all kinds of iftar dinners to reduce burden on national exchequer.


 The unprecedented reception on the part of Peoples Party led AJK government however sent a shock wave among the civil society and political activists who said it amounted to “undermining the status of the AJK government.”


A post on this issue in social media also triggered an insightful debate with comments pouring in not only from the AJK based Kashmiris but also those living across the Line of Control (LoC) and abroad.


“A simple humiliation of already humiliated government. Even (the federal) minister himself should have taken notice of this unusual reception,” said former Prime Minister and opposition Muslim Conference president Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan in a text message to this scribe.


Even the PML-N AJK chapter president and leader of the opposition in AJK assembly Raja Farooq Haider was not happy with this development.


The PML-N activists did not attend federal minister's reception at Kohala. 


“Azad Kashmir is back in 1950’s,” Mr Haider told this scribe, referring to an alleged practice of 1950’s when the AJK president(s) used to receive the joint secretary of federal ministry of Kashmir affairs at Kohala. 


The practice however came to end when legendary leader K H Khurshid became the AJK president in late 50’s.


PML-N’s senior vice president Chaudhry Tariq Farooq MLA was also aghast at what he said ‘shameful act on the part of the AJK government.’


“The AJK government wants to hush up its corruption and hoodwink the federal government with such acts of puffery,” he remarked.


Interestingly some ruling Peoples Party leaders had also erected billboards in the civil secretariat area with welcoming slogans for the visiting federal minister.


Shaukat Javid Mir, one of the spokesmen for Prime Minister Majeed, shrugged off criticism against the reception and maintained that the PP government had demonstrated its “traditional hospitality” notwithstanding difference of political ideologies.


But there were hardly any takers of the official stance.


“AJK and Gilgit Baltistan are 'dependencies'...there is need to redefine and restructure this relationship (with Pakistan)... Even the chief ministers and governors in the federating provinces have little time for visiting ministers,” said analyst M Ismail Khan in his comment on Facebook. 


Shams Rehman, a UK based Kashmiri community leader, maintained that there was nothing wrong in showing some courtesies but meanings changed when relationships were not equal.


The federal minister is scheduled to meet various people and attend some briefings here on Wednesday before returning to Islamabad the same evening… Tariq Naqash

Midland doctors build state of the art health facility near Muzaffarabad

   Hardly 9 kilometres away from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital, along the much improved Jhelum valley road, one cannot help but notice a magnificent structure that has unobtrusively emerged over the last four years and houses a state of the art charitable health facility.

For long, most of the people driving through Tandali village were not aware that how selflessly and tirelessly a team of United Kingdom based devoted Pakistani and Kashmiri doctors was working day and night to translate its dream of providing this ‘humble gift’ to the earthquake stricken people of Kashmir.

Today, the 88-bed health facility stands out in the picturesque area, thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of Midland Doctors Association United Kingdom (MDAUK), a registered charity in UK with zero administrative expenditure.

During a visit to the hospital site on Wednesday, a day before its formal inauguration by AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, this scribe caught a glimpse of how the MDAUK team had thrown itself heart and soul into the project over the last five years.

Dr Syed Yusuf Iftikhar, who heads MDAUK as chairman, was passing directions to workers and volunteers to make everything in readiness for the inaugural ceremony.

The 58-year old Karachi born consultant surgeon recalled that how it was decided to raise a ‘futuristic health facility’ in this region, in the aftermath of October 2005 earthquake, which left more than 70,000 people dead and thousands others wounded.

Within a week after the tragedy, Dr Iftikhar was among a team of 7 surgeons from Nottingham and Derby which flew into Pakistan and worked over the next six days in a field hospital in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The glaringly obvious lack of appropriate medical facilities even before the disaster was shocking for them and, on return to England, all dedicated themselves to building a charitable hospital in the region.

MDUK was created initially to serve this simple purpose though later it engaged itself in other charitable acts in Pakistan as well, such as establishing a model village in Sindh for the flood victims.

According to Dr Iftikhar, the hospital was designed to not only provide completely free healthcare at the point of delivery but also serve as a major training centre for local healthcare professionals as well as a focal point for any future relief operations in the event of any other disaster.

Land, measuring more than 4 acres, was acquired in 2008.  Architectural design and structural engineering drawings were done in UK and Pakistan, respectively, to resist a 9-magnitude temblor and finally construction work started in July 2009.

Dr Iftikhar would travel to Pakistan after every three months, at his own expense, for 3-4 days to inspect the construction work and meet relevant needs. So would be done by other members, including the Mirpur born MDAUK vice chairman Dr Javed Raza.

When asked if ever he thought that he had launched a difficult project, Dr Iftikhar said: “Our vision was to do something unique, something that was not previously available to the people here.”

“Today I am excited that we have been able to actualise our aim of raising the National Health Services (NHS) inspired health facility which will be run by the NHS consultants, thanks to our trustees, sponsors and donors,” he added.

He told that instantly they had hired a staff of 15 people, including two doctors, to run the facility. However, gradually, the strength would swell to 125, from highest to the lowest tier.

A team of senior surgeons from the UK would visit the hospital every month not only to perform operations but also to transform their knowledge to the local staff, he added.

The imposing edifice, with red brick roofs, has two portions. The front portion is single storied whereas the rear portion has two floors. In between and around are lush green lawns, some still under development.

The structure houses 16 capacious wards with attached bathrooms, operation theatres, laboratory, X-ray plant, physiotherapy section, lecture hall, canteen and a prayer place.

Hospital and patients will benefit from picture archiving and communication system (PACS) through which X-rays and other electronic images would be transmitted to the MDAUK office for expert opinion.

The building is also equipped with a digital telephone system with 60 handsets and associated accessories, night vision cameras and IT facilities.

To a question, he said as yet around £2.5 million had been spent on the project. The cost could have swelled, had the construction work been given to any contractor, he said.

Local residents were jubilant at the opening of a modern hospital in the area.

“This hospital will not only provide us much needed healthcare facilities but also serve as a milestone in development of the entire area,” said one of them on the occasion. Tariq Naqash