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The Rediff Interview/Benazir Bhutto
 

December 2005

Indicted lobbyist represented Pak Army
By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Jack Abramoff, a high-profile Washington lobbyist being investigated for graft and other corrupt practices, at one time counted the Pakistan Army as one of his clients, though the then prime minister of the country did not know it.

According to a report published on Thursday in the Washington Post, Abramoff turned up as a representative of the Pakistani military when then prime minister Benazir Bhutto went to Washington in 1995 to seek the return of $600 million Islamabad had paid for 28 F-16 fighters.

“Bhutto’s Washington lobbyists were at the Pakistani Embassy savouring her successful meeting with President Bill Clinton when a man in a suit made a mysterious entrance. ‘Suddenly, this portly guy steps in and sits down. He says nothing,’ recalled one of the lobbyists.

The Americans asked him to introduce himself. He folded his arms and refused. ‘Finally, he says, “I am Jack Abramoff,”’ recalled the lobbyist, a well-connected Democrat. They had never heard of him. Abramoff explained that he was ‘close to Newt (Gingrich, then speaker of the House of Representatives).’ The astonished lobbyists for Bhutto learned that Abramoff had travelled to Islamabad and had sold his services to the Pakistani military without the prime minister’s knowledge.”

How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal

Jack Abramoff liked to slip into dialogue from "The Godfather" as he led his lobbying colleagues in planning their next conquest on Capitol Hill. In a favorite bit, he would mimic an ice-cold Michael Corleone facing down a crooked politician's demand for a cut of Mafia gambling profits: "Senator, you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is this: nothing."

The playacting provided a clue to how Abramoff saw himself -- the power behind the scenes who directed millions of dollars in Indian gambling proceeds to favored lawmakers, the puppet master who pulled the strings of officials in key places, the businessman who was building an international casino empire.

Abramoff is the central figure in what could become the biggest congressional corruption scandal in generations. Justice Department prosecutors are pressing him and his lawyers to settle fraud and bribery allegations by the end of this week, sources knowledgeable about the case said. Unless he reaches a plea deal, he faces a trial Jan. 9 in Florida in a related fraud case.

A reconstruction of the lobbyist's rise and fall shows that he was an ingenious dealmaker who hatched interlocking schemes that exploited the machinery of government and trampled the norms of doing business in Washington -- sometimes for clients but more often to serve his desire for wealth and influence. This inside account of Abramoff's career is drawn from interviews with government officials and former associates in the lobbying shops of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP and Greenberg Traurig LLP; thousands of court and government records; and hundreds of e-mails obtained by The Washington Post, as well as those released by Senate investigators.

Abramoff, now 47, had mammoth ambitions. He sought to build the biggest lobbying portfolio in town. He opened two restaurants close to the Capitol. He bought a fleet of casino boats. He produced two Hollywood movies. He leased four arena and stadium skyboxes and dreamed of owning a pro sports team. He was a generous patron in his Orthodox Jewish community, starting a boys' religious school in Maryland.

For a time, all things seemed possible. Abramoff's brash style often clashed with culturally conservative Washington, but many people were drawn to his moxie and his money. He collected unprecedented sums -- tens of millions of dollars -- from casino-rich Indian tribes. Lawmakers and their aides packed his restaurants and skyboxes and jetted off with him on golf trips to Scotland and the Pacific island of Saipan.

Abramoff offered jobs and other favors to well-placed congressional staffers and executive branch officials. He pushed his own associates for government positions, from which they, too, could help him.

He was a man of contradictions. He presented himself as deeply religious, yet his e-mails show that he blatantly deceived Indian tribes and did business with people linked to the underworld. He had genuine inside connections but also puffed himself up with phony claims about his access.

Abramoff's lobbying team was made up of Republicans and a few Democrats, most of whom he had wined and dined when they were aides to powerful members of Congress. They signed on for the camaraderie, the paycheck, the excitement.
"Everybody lost their minds," recalled a former congressional staffer who lobbied with Abramoff at Preston Gates. "Jack was cutting deals all over town. Staffers lost their loyalty to members -- they were loyal to money."

A senior Preston Gates partner warned him to slow down or he would be "dead, disgraced or in jail." Those within Abramoff's circle also saw the danger signs.

Their boss had become increasingly frenzied about money and flouted the rules. "I'm sensing shadiness. I'll stop asking," one associate, Todd Boulanger, e-mailed a colleague.

Abramoff declined to comment for this article. "I have advised my client not to speak, except in court," said Neal Sonnett, one of his attorneys. A friend of two decades, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), defended Abramoff: "I think he's been dealt a bad hand and the worst, rawest deal I've ever seen in my life. Words like bribery are being used to describe things that happened every day in Washington and are not bribes."

Few of those interviewed would agree to be quoted on the record because of the ongoing investigation by a Justice Department task force. But some who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they look back in amazement at the heady days of Abramoff's rise.

"We weren't outside the box," the former Preston Gates colleague said. "We were outside the universe."

Hints of Trouble
A quarter of a century ago, Abramoff and anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist were fellow Young Turks of the Reagan revolution. They organized Massachusetts college campuses in the 1980 election -- Abramoff while he was an undergraduate at Brandeis and Norquist at Harvard Business School -- to help Ronald Reagan pull an upset in the state.

They moved to Washington, maneuvered to take over the College Republicans -- at the time a sleepy establishment organization -- and transformed it into a right-wing activist group. They were joined by Ralph Reed, an ambitious Georgian whose later Christian conversion would fuel his rise to national political prominence.

Soon they made headlines with such tactics as demolishing a mock Berlin Wall in Lafayette Park, where they also burned a Soviet leader in effigy. "We want to shock them," Abramoff told The Post at the time.

They forged lifelong ties. At Reagan's 72nd-birthday party at the White House, Reed introduced Abramoff to his future wife, Pam Alexander, who was working with Reed. She eventually converted to Judaism and embraced the Orthodox beliefs Abramoff had adopted as a teenager.

Even in those early days, there were hints of the troubles to come. "If anyone is not surprised at the rise and fall of Jack Abramoff, it is me," said Rich Bond, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Abramoff and his crew busted the College Republicans' budget with a 1982 national direct-mail fundraising campaign that ended up "a colossal flop," said Bond, then deputy director of the party's national committee. He said he banished the three from GOP headquarters, telling Abramoff: "You can't be trusted."

Shortly thereafter, Abramoff was running Citizens for America, a conservative grass-roots group founded by drugstore magnate Lewis E. Lehrman. Abramoff was in frequent contact with Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, the Reagan White House's Iran-contra mastermind, about grass-roots efforts to lobby Congress for the Nicaraguan contras, according to records in the National Security Archive.

One of Abramoff's most audacious adventures involved Jonas Savimbi, the Angolan rebel leader who had U.S. support but was later found to have ordered the murders of his movement's representative to the United States and that man's relatives. With Savimbi, Abramoff organized a "convention" of anticommunist guerrillas from Laos, Nicaragua and Afghanistan in a remote part of Angola.

Afterward, Lehrman fired Abramoff amid a dispute about the handling of the group's $3 million budget.

Abramoff also worked on behalf of the apartheid South African government, which secretly paid $1.5 million a year to the International Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit group that Abramoff operated out of a townhouse in the 1980s, according to sworn testimony to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

At the same time, Abramoff dabbled as a Hollywood producer, shepherding an anticommunist movie, "Red Scorpion," starring Dolph Lundgren, filmed in Namibia, which was then ruled by South Africa. Actors in the film said they saw South African soldiers on the set. When the film was released in 1989, anti-apartheid groups demonstrated at the theaters. The movie ran into financial difficulty during and after production, but Abramoff produced a sequel, "Red Scorpion 2."

Mysterious Entrance
When Republicans wrested control of the House from the Democrats in 1994, Abramoff turned his focus back to Washington politics. With Norquist's help, he reinvented himself as a Republican lobbyist on heavily Democratic K Street.

Norquist was one of the intellectual architects of the Republican Revolution and a muse for its leader, Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), soon to be speaker of the House.

Abramoff also counted on his father, who had a wealth of connections from his days as president of the Diners Club credit card company. Frank Abramoff had once looked into operating a casino in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. territory that includes Saipan. He introduced his son around, and the Marianas became one of the first important clients of the new lobbyist.

Soon the younger Abramoff developed a key alliance with Rep. Tom DeLay, a conservative Republican from Texas who was working his way up in the House leadership. The two met at a DeLay fundraiser on Capitol Hill in 1995, according to a former senior DeLay aide. The aide recalled that Edwin A. Buckham, then DeLay's chief of staff, told his boss: "We really need to work with Abramoff; he is going to be an important lobbyist and fundraiser."

DeLay, a Christian conservative, did not quite know what to make of Abramoff, who wore a beard and a yarmulke. They forged political ties, but the two men never became personally close, according to associates of both men.

Almost from the start, Abramoff struck some rival lobbyists as a strange figure who operated on the margins. He even turned up as a representative of the Pakistani military when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto went to Washington in 1995 to seek the return of $600 million the Islamabad government had paid for 28 F-16 fighters. The sale had been blocked by the U.S. government over concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program.

Bhutto's Washington lobbyists were at the Pakistani Embassy savoring her successful meeting with President Bill Clinton when a man in a suit made a mysterious entrance.

"Suddenly, this portly guy steps in and sits down. He says nothing," recalled one of the lobbyists. The Americans asked him to introduce himself. He folded his arms and refused.

"Finally, he says, 'I am Jack Abramoff,' " recalled the lobbyist, a well-connected Democrat. They had never heard of him. Abramoff explained that he was "close to Newt."

The astonished lobbyists for Bhutto learned that Abramoff had traveled to Islamabad and had sold his services to the Pakistani military without the prime minister's knowledge.

In the Senate, Abramoff befriended Republicans and their staffers, along with some Democrats on the appropriations committees. In August 1999, he signed up for the National Republican Senatorial Committee's "Tartan Invitational," in which a half-dozen Republican senators and their aides spent a few days with about 50 lobbyists golfing at the exclusive St. Andrews Links in Scotland.

The following year, Abramoff figured out how to use his clients to fund his own trips to St. Andrews with lawmakers. The first guests were DeLay and his aides.

Team Abramoff
With Norquist's help, Abramoff secured a spot on the transition team for the Interior Department after George W. Bush was elected president in 2000. He tried to place several officials in Interior, including an unsuccessful attempt to land a former Marianas official in the top spot overseeing U.S. territories.

He was able to befriend J. Steven Griles, the deputy interior secretary, e-mails and interviews show. By the sum mer of 2001, Abramoff was referring to him in an e-mail to a client as "our guy Steve Griles." Federal investigators are now looking into whether Griles interceded on behalf of Abramoff and improperly discussed a job with the lobbyist while in a position to affect his clients. Griles denied any wrong doing in recent testimony to the Senate.

Abramoff's team also cultivated Roger Stillwell, the Marianas desk officer at the Interior Department. In a recent interview, Stillwell said he accepted dinners at Abramoff's restaurant, Signatures, and tickets to Washington Redskins games. But he said that all those actions occurred while he was a contract employee at Interior, not a federal worker. He also said he sent Abramoff copies of e-mails he sent to his boss, but he noted that none of them contained confidential information and that "there's nothing wrong with doing that."

Abramoff wallowed in his access, real and imagined. When his crack administrative assistant Susan Ralston bolted for a position with White House political adviser Karl Rove, Abramoff told colleagues he had gotten her the job even though it was Ralston's old boss, Reed, who made it happen, her former colleagues said.

Even glowing profiles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal noting Abramoff's extensive influence and impressive income were not enough. Abramoff quietly paid op-ed columnists thousands of dollars to write favorably about his clients, including one writer for Copley News Service who disclosed this month that he had been paid for as many as two dozen columns since the mid-1990s.

Abramoff drove his colleagues hard, often e-mailing them late into the night. Many more than doubled their Hill pay when they went to work with him, some earning salaries of $200,000 to $300,000.

"He hired a bunch of white, middle-class Irish Catholic guys who wanted to exceed their parents' expectations," said one of the young lobbyists who himself fit that description. "He was always pushing, demanding. He would say, 'We are a family, we will work 24 hours a day, we will win.' "

Team Abramoff included former staffers to DeLay, as well as to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), head of the Senate Appropriations panel's Interior subcommittee; Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Administration Committee; Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), who has served on the key House committee that oversees tribes; and Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), now minority leader.
Abramoff gathered his troops for strategy meetings that were "a great show," rollicking forums where ethical niceties were derided with locker room humor, recalled a former Preston Gates colleague. "Jack would say, 'I gave that guy 10 grand and he voted against me!' " the former associate recalled.

Bill padding was openly discussed, according to Abramoff's Greenberg Traurig e-mails that have been released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. For example, in April 2000, Abramoff had lobbyist Shawn Vasell working on a monthly invoice to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, telling him to "be sure we hit the $150k minimum. If you need to add time for me, let me know."

An exasperated Vasell e-mailed back: "You only had 2 hours. We are not even close to this number . . . ." Abramoff's solution: "Add 60 hours for me," and "pump up" the hours for three or four other lobbyists.

The Choctaws were one of a half-dozen Indian tribes who gave more than $80 million to Abramoff between 2000 and 2003. Not only were the tribes paying Abramoff's lobbying firm, they were also paying Abramoff's secret outside partner, Michael Scanlon, who charged the Indians millions of dollars for public relations work and split the money with Abramoff. Scanlon's public relations fees did not have to be disclosed under lobbying rules, thus making it possible for the magnitude of their take from the tribes to be kept from public view. The two dubbed their scheme "Gimme Five," according to e-mails in which Abramoff disparaged their clients as "morons" and "troglodytes."

E-mails show that Abramoff put his money into an array of political and personal projects.

The nonprofit Capital Athletic Foundation, for example, allowed him to schmooze with Washington's movers and shakers at charity affairs. He put a congressional spouse -- Julie Doolittle, wife of the California lawmaker -- on his payroll to plan at least one event. The congressman's office has said that there was no connection between his wife's work and official acts.

The foundation was ostensibly created to help inner-city children through organized sports. There is no evidence money went to city kids, but the foundation did fund some of Abramoff's pet projects: a sniper school for Israelis in the West Bank, a golf trip to Scotland for Ohio congressman Ney and others, and a Jewish religious academy in Columbia that Abramoff founded and where he sent his children to be educated.

Another Abramoff financial vehicle was the nonprofit American International Center, a Rehoboth Beach, Del., "think tank" set up by Scanlon, who staffed it with beach friends from his summer job as a lifeguard. The center became a means for Abramoff and Scanlon to take money from foreign clients that they did not want to officially represent. Some of the funds came from the government of Malaysia. Banks and oil companies there were making deals in Sudan, where U.S.

companies were barred on human rights grounds. Sudan was among several oil-rich nations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East that Abramoff eyed as venues for lucrative energy deals. Abramoff told associates he wanted to become a go-to person for U.S. companies seeking to do business with oil-patch nations.

But by early 2003, Abramoff's private dealmaking had spiraled out of control. His religious academy was draining his income, and his restaurants were hemorrhaging money. He told Scanlon in an e-mail that February that he was at "rock bottom" and needed funds immediately. By the next day, he was frantic. "Mike!!! I need the money TODAY! I AM BOUNCING CHECKS!!!"

THE FAST RISE AND STEEP FALL OF JACK ABRAMOFF
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi - Washington Post Staff Writers
'Enron of Lobbying'

Thursday, 29 December 2005: To Abramoff's rivals in the niche world of tribal lobbying, however, he was still a confounding success.

Team Abramoff was stealing away tribal clients from other lobbyists and charging fees of $150,000 a month or more -- 10 or 20 times what the Indians had been paying to others. Team members did it by touting their ties to powerful Republicans on Capitol Hill and stoking tribal worries that Congress might try to tax casino proceeds. Abramoff and Scanlon also quietly got involved in tribal elections.

Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.), the ranking Democrat on the Indian Affairs Committee, remembers first hearing "vague complaints" about Abramoff in June 2003 from three Democratic lobbyists. The tribes had traditionally supported Democrats, but Abramoff was capturing them for Republicans, getting them to boost their contributions and give two-thirds to his party.

There was even more buzz on Capitol Hill about Scanlon, the gregarious former DeLay press aide who had become a multimillionaire almost overnight. His old friends were astonished that Scanlon, then in his early thirties, was traveling to the beach by helicopter and living in a waterfront Rehoboth mansion that he bought for nearly $5 million in cash. A Louisiana paper, the Town Talk of Alexandria, reported in September 2003 that the Coushatta tribe paid Scanlon's public relations firm $13.7 million, a figure that amazed tribal lobbyists as well as some of Abramoff's colleagues. It was around that time that one colleague, Kevin Ring, learned from one of Abramoff's assistants that his boss was secretly getting money from Scanlon, according to a source privy to the conversation.

"This could be the Enron of lobbying," Ring told the colleague.

Rival lobbyists, including some Republicans, were comparing notes about what they considered Abramoff's outrageous conduct.

One of them contacted The Post in fall 2003. In early 2004, The Post published a detailed account of Abramoff's tribal lobbying, showing how four of Greenberg Traurig's Indian clients had paid $45 million, most of it in fees to Scanlon's firm. Within weeks, Greenberg initiated an internal investigation, Abramoff was ousted and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee began its own inquiry, which unearthed hundreds of incriminating e-mails from Abramoff's Greenberg Traurig computer files.

Abramoff had another problem that few people in Washington knew about. He and another old friend from College Republican days, Adam Kidan, had purchased in 2000 a fleet of Florida casino boats for $147.5 million. By 2004, SunCruz Casinos was bankrupt, and the two men were being sued by lenders for $60 million in loan guarantees, accused of faking a wire transfer for the $23 million they had promised to put into the deal.

Even more serious, Abramoff and Kidan were targets of a Florida federal grand jury investigating the SunCruz wire transfer. And local authorities were probing the gangland-style slaying of the man who had sold them the cruise line, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.

Greenberg Traurig officials have said that they asked Abramoff to resign in March 2004 over unauthorized personal transactions. They have noted that they had no knowledge of his financial arrangement with Scanlon before they received inquiries from The Post.

However, two months before the firm requested Abramoff's resignation, Greenberg lawyers representing Abramoff in the SunCruz bankruptcy summoned Scanlon to the firm's Miami headquarters to ask about the relationship, according to two people close to Scanlon. Scanlon told them he had paid Abramoff $19 million out of the money he had received in public relations fees from tribal clients. Cesar L. Alvarez, president and chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, said the firm will not comment on any meeting with Scanlon.

By the spring of 2004, the Justice Department had launched an investigation of Abramoff and Scanlon that quickly developed into a multi-agency task force.

Pressure to Plead
Nearly two years later, Abramoff's legal troubles appear to threaten the careers of many of his colleagues and political allies. Sources familiar with the Justice Department investigation say that half a dozen lawmakers are under scrutiny, along with Hill aides, former business associates and government officials.

Two of Abramoff's former business partners -- Scanlon and Kidan -- have pleaded guilty and have agreed to testify about bribery and fraud in Florida and Washington.

Three men have been arrested in the Boulis killing. Two of the three were Kidan's associates; one of them is known to law enforcement as an associate of the Gambino crime family.

Another former Abramoff associate, David H. Safavian -- most recently head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget -- has been indicted on five felony counts of lying to federal investigators about his dealings with Abramoff while he was chief of staff at the General Services Administration.

Within the past year, Abramoff began selling off assets such as his restaurants and has told his lawyers he is broke. He faces the possibility of lengthy prison sentences and stiff financial penalties that could be reduced if he cooperates.
All these developments have added to the pressure on Abramoff to reach his own deal before the SunCruz trial begins on Jan. 9.

Alan K. Simpson (R), the former Wyoming senator who was in Washington during the last big congressional scandal -- the Abscam FBI sting in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in which six House members and one senator were convicted -- said the Abramoff case looks bigger. Simpson said he recently rode in a plane with one of Abramoff's attorneys, who told him: "There are going to be guys in your former line of work who are going to be taken down."

Dozens of lawmakers -- who were showered with trips, sports and concert tickets, drinks and dinners -- are returning campaign contributions from Abramoff and his clients and calling him a fraud and a crook.

Burns, one of half a dozen legislators under scrutiny by the federal Abramoff task force, returned $150,000 in campaign contributions this month.

"This Abramoff guy is a bad guy," Burns told a Montana television station. "I hope he goes to jail and we never see him again. I wish he'd never been born, to be right honest with you."

Former Republican congressman Mickey Edwards (Okla.), usually a defender of lobbying and Congress, said there have always been members who get caught "stuffing money in their pants." But he said this is different -- a "disgusting" and disturbingly broad scandal driven by lobbyists whose attitude seemed to be "government to the highest bidder."

"This is at a scale that is really shocking," said Edwards, who teaches public and international affairs at Princeton. "There is a certain kind of arrogance that in the past you might not have had. They were so supremely confident that there didn't seem to be any kind of moral compass here."

Researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report.

Mohtarma Benazir dispels impression of PPP support to Kalabagh dam construction

Islamabad, December 27, 2005: PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto has stressed the need for construction of small dams to overcome water shortage problem in the country.
According to VOA, Benazir said, "it is absolutely wrong that PPP government favored the construction of Kalabagh dam, however a suggestion came about the construction of Indus Dam. When the suggestion reviewed, it was found that it was same as Kalabagh Dam with a new name".

"As the three provinces have given the decision against the construction of Kalabagh dam then it was necessary to search alternative sources of for construction of big water reservoirs, she said adding that, we gave the priority to construction of small dams", she observed.

She went on to say that Kalabagh dam was not perennial dam. She further added that she hoped President General Musharraf would also review his decision in this regard.

"If it is not in the interests of Pakistan, it is unconstitutional. I think he will abandon it and will give top priority to the construction of small dams in the country or other alternative to remove the water shortage from the country", she stressed.

PPP apprises HR Organisations of regime’s support for criminals

Islamabad, 22 December 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has apprised the International Human Rights Organisations of the acts of harbouring criminal elements by the members of regime with a view to rig elections and contributing to the deteriorating law and order in the country.

Fauzia Wahab MNA and Central Coordinator Human Rights Cell, Pakistan Peoples Party in a letter to the International Human Rights bodies wrote, "An example is the recovery of a kidnapped persons from the premises of a parliamentary secretary belonging to the ruling Party. His name is Khalid Asgher Ghurral. According to media reports, the city police raided the parliamentarian's house on November 14, 2005 in search of the kidnapped man. Amongst the criminal elements were two proclaimed offenders and five criminals who had found refuge in the house of the Parliamentarian. The car used in the kidnapping was an official government car with the identifying green number plate of LHR-2515 which must have belonged to the Parliamentarian. The raid took place on the Police complaint of the father of the victim who accused the Parliamentarian kidnapping his son. No action has been taken against the Parliamentarian despite the Police complaint, the recovery of the kidnapped person from his house, the identification of the car used in the kidnapping and the presence of several criminal elements. In fact the Parliamentarian has had the arrogance to deny that any raid took place on his house. However, the said raid and recovery were confirmed by the local Gujrat Police as well as Deputy Superintendent Police Mahmood Hassan Qureshi, in charge operation for the recovery of Tayyab son of Bashir Ahmad."

She asked the human rights bodies to raise their voice against victimisation of real political leadership in Pakistan and wrote, "We are drawing your attention to this matter so that you may raise your voice to put an end to political victimisation through the present establishment NAB and instead support a transparent and impartial accountability system that can catch criminal elements who try to hide behind dictatorial regimes and thus invite and perpetuate dictatorship. The immunity given to corrupt elements under the Musharaf regime makes a mockery of the Musharaf oath of good governance as the "reason de etre’ for the military coup of 1999. The revelation of a Pro Musharaf Parliamentarian's involvement in abduction and kidnapping with impunity is another glaring example of how the people of Pakistan suffer under a regime which denies them their fundamental right to elect their own government freely."

"The Human Rights Cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party would like you to take up the issue of the two corrupt parliamentarians cited here as well as raise your voice against the excesses of the present accountability bureau while supporting the establishment of one which can take to task those corrupt elements of the last six years that have flourished while Musharaf exploits the war against terror to perpetuate his dictatorship", she concluded.

Punjab is with smaller provinces on Kalabagh Dam issue —Naheed Khan

Islamabad, 23 December 2005: Political Secretary to the Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and member national assembly Naheed Khan has asked the government not to tread a path which could be detrimental to the federation of Pakistan.

In a statement, Naheed Khan said that Pakistan Peoples Party under the leadership of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has always worked in the interests of the people and has roots in all the four units of the federation. The regime should pay heed to the advise of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and should not insist on building Kalabagh Dam. She said that Kalabagh Dam project is a disputed project and three out of four units of the federation have rejected it. Naheed Khan said that Punjab has always supported the federation and does not support Kalabagh Dam project. She said that Punjab is with the three smaller units of the federation and would resist any effort to weaken the federation.

Naheed Khan said that Kalabagh Dam is against the spirit of constitution and is a conspiracy against federation. She said that the people of Pakistan would not let this conspiracy jeopardize the federation. She said that General Musharraf has raised the issue to divide the people of Pakistan to prolong his rule because he knows in his heart and soul that his days are numbered.

Stability, my foot!
By: Kamran Shafi

December 22, 2005: According to news reports, H E Ryan C Crocker, ambassador of the US, spoke at some length to a group of journalists in Islamabad on November 12. I shall limit myself to discussing his take on “democracy” in Pakistan, because his remarks on “banned” militants doing relief work in the quake-ravaged areas are not for anyone else but the government to answer, being as it is in the firm hands of Dubya’s tight buddy Pervez Musharraf. This is what the press reports:

The ambassador said, “Pakistan at present did not seem to him like a military dictatorship. There was much more open discussion now on democracy and the future of democracy than before, he said, adding the US interest in Pakistan was in a long term strategic partnership. We cannot sustain it without sustainable, institutionalised democracy.”

“My belief is that President Musharraf means what he says when he says he wants stable democracy for Pakistan,” said ambassador Crocker. “I have heard him speak about his vision for Pakistan; of where he would like the country to go, and that’s a pretty compelling vision,” he said, and then emphasised that implementation was very important.” The report goes on: “Crocker said… from reading Pakistan’s history, Ayub Khan seemed to him a pretty impressive leader, but what he didn’t do was establish stable democracy.”

Right, let us for the sake of argument, even though much can be said for the sterling work that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government did for the country after the debacle of the 1971 war, concede that civilian governments in Pakistan have not been able to achieve stability. Well then, have military governments achieved stability?

Ayub Khan’s disastrous East Pakistan policy brought this country stability? The fact that official, institutionalised corruption first came to be recognised during his time was a stabilising factor? Yahya Khan’s handling of the situation in East Pakistan was a model of stability? Zia ul Haq’s ruinous Afghan policy stabilised the country when heroin and the Kalashnikov flooded the country?

And when Jihadis were produced by thousands with the US government’s full complicity and who are now the bane of our lives? The very first time that this country lost territory to hostile forces in peacetime was when Zia’s military government was in the saddle and we were caught napping and Siachen was occupied by India.

As for “the kind of democracy Pakistan had in the last decade,” what does the ambassador know about the “kind” of democracy this poor country had in the last decade?

He obviously uses the word “decade” loosely, and means the period of the elected governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Now then, because our American buddies keep a rather close watch on what goes on in Islamabad, H E should know better than anybody how this country’s venal establishment, handmaiden to the military-civilian intrigue-machine queered the pitch for the elected leaders, far more for the non-Punjabi Benazir Bhutto than the Punjabi Nawaz Sharif.

He should know more than anyone in the world the ugly machinations of Mr GIK when he sat brooding, Sphinx-like, in the presidency, plotting his next move, placing his pawns in all the important positions in the government and choking off the hapless civilian government.

His Excellency should know of the Punjab Government’s open revolt against the federation, led by the establishment’s then blue-eyed son, Nawaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab no less.

As part of which mutiny Punjab government funds were used to foment rebellion against the “Sindhi Prime Minister” by printing and distributing flyers and buttons and bumper stickers and banners exhorting the Punjabis to wake-up. “Jag Punjabi Jag” was the chilling slogan.

He should know that whenever civilian leaders tried to make peace with India, the establishment used every trick in the book to trip them up, even paint them as traitors and worse. I remember so well the time when Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto had almost agreed to a mutual withdrawal from the icy wastes of Siachen upon which young men of both countries have faced excruciating, painful, needless death and injury, and the establishment scuppered it heartlessly.

Blood-curdling stories are legion, of the dastardly acts of the establishment and its “agencies” in other areas of Pakistani life: of corrupting malleable politicians with secret service funds; with using bribery and corruption to make turncoats turn coats repeatedly and often. And then giving politicians a bad name.

Might I end by asking his excellency if “sustainable, institutionalised democracy” is at all possible when shenanigans and jiggery-pokery are employed by the managers, or shall we say the ‘general’ managers of this present enterprise as a matter of course? Does he think the rigging of elections will lead to “stability”?

Or that the exclusion of the undisputed leaders of two of the largest political parties of the country from mainstream politics will help in “sustainable, institutionalised democracy”? Or that the big general using the Punjab card to ram through the Kalabagh dam is a stabilising factor?

And, most important of all, does H E think the “War against Terror” can ever be won without the help of a mass political party operating within pure and unadulterated democracy?

 
The writer is a retired Pakistani army officer and a freelance columnist

Mohtarma Bhutto stresses constitutionalism and rule of law

Islamabad December 24, 2005: Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has felicitated the nation on the Quaid’s birth anniversary falling on Sunday and urged the people to forge unity in their ranks to regain their democratic and political rights to make Pakistan a shining example of prosperity and progress.

"On this auspicious occasion I wish to greet the entire Pakistani nation", she said in a message today.

The Quaid's birthday indeed is a day of rededication to the ideals and principles of the Father of the nation. But it also is a day of introspection and reflection to pause and ponder as to what steps we can take to restore the ideals and principles for which the Quaid created this homeland of ours, she said.

She said that the Quaid stood for constitutionalism, rule of law, respect for human rights, tolerance, pluralism and honouring the mandate of the people.

It is a sad thought that on the Quaid's birthday falling this year, his ideal of constitutionalism has been negated by the regime trampling the constitution for personal political agenda.

Manipulating general and local bodies’ elections, entering the Presidency through the mechanism of unconstitutional referendum, factionalising political parties, imprisoning persons on political grounds or exiling them is a departure from the high ideals that led to the vigour and vitality of the Muslims of the Subcontinent. That vigour gave the strength to face colonialism and carve out an independent Nation state called Pakistan.

Mohtarma Bhutto said that it is the dream of the PPP to reclaim that spirit of strength and unleash the creative power of the people through freedom, justice, the rule of law and an end to terrorism and violence.

The Chairperson PPP said that the Quaid stood for equality before law. The selective process of accountability was contrary to the vision of Pakistan's founding Father as was the promulgation of special laws with retrospective effect and special courts. As a Barrister and a man dedicated to legal values, Quaid e Azam would be appalled to see how the judiciary’s independence has been eroded in the homeland he created.

Mohtarma called upon the people of the Four federating units of Pakistan to unite to reclaim the values that the Quaid e Azam bequeathed to the Nation as his heritage.

Mohtarma Bhutto Felicitates Christian Community

Islamabad, 24 December 2005: Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has felicitated Christian Community on the eve of Christmas falling on Sunday.

"I wish to felicitate Christians all over the world particularly our Christian brothers and sisters in Pakistan on the auspicious occasion of Christmas. It is time for festivity, celebration and rejoicing. It is also a reminder to all of us of the teachings of Jesus Christ (May Allah be pleased with him) who always spread the message of love, forgiveness and brotherhood among the people without any prejudice and discrimination.

"I hope the Christian Community in Pakistan would renew the pledge to follow the true teachings of Jesus Christ (May Allah be pleased with

him) and will continue to play their positive and constructive role in the society. They are a law-abiding and loyal community and we are proud of their tremendous contributions to the advancement and development of the country.

"On this auspicious occasion I also wish to reiterate the commitment of the Pakistan Peoples Party to continue to fight along with our Christian brothers and sisters for the rights of all minorities and deprived people in the country for establishing a liberal and pluralistic society in Pakistan in which every citizen is allowed to participate freely in the social, political and economic development of Pakistan irrespective of his cast, creed and colour.

"Let me also reiterate on this occasion our pledge that the PPP will continue to uphold the right of the Christians, indeed of all minorities, to be treated as equal citizens of the state and allowed to partake in its development on an equal footing".

Briefing to PPP leadership about Kalabagh Dam held

Islamabad, 24 December 2005: A briefing on Kalabagh Dam was arranged at the Central Secretariat Islamabad to apprise the leadership of Rawalpindi and Islamabad of the issue.

Addressing the gathering the President PPP Parliamentarians Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that Kalabagh Dam is a conspiracy against federation and an effort to create hatred for Punjab. This is a play to hide government’s failure at every level.

The former Chairman IRSA, Engineer Fateh Ullah Khan Gandapur said that the life of Kalabagh Dam is less than fifteen years and it would not play any part to improve country’s agriculture production. He said that the international experts have rejected this project. He said that it will be detrimental to the smaller provinces. He further said that there are several alternative projects available which should be explored.

The briefing was attended by Zamurd Khan MNA, Fauzia Habib MNA, Nayyar Bokhari MNA, Amir Fida Piracha MPA, Agha Riazul Islam, Iqbal Butt, Ibrar Rizvi, Sardar Salim, Qazi Sultan Mehmood, Rashid Mir, Khalid Nawaz Boby, Raja Altaf, Shahzada Kausar Gilani, Nargis Faiz Malik, Sahibzada Zulfikar Ali, Nasir Mir, Ibna Rizvi, Javed Mir, Shabbir Babar, Chaudhri Kamran, Sajid Abbasi, Khalid Satti, Javed abbasi, Agha Taimur and Asif Akbar.

The meeting passed resolutions demanding to shelve Kalabagh Dam project forever and to consider alternative projects. Meeting also demanded to withdraw all false and concocted cases against Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and her honourable return to Pakistan. The meeting expressed its resolve to resist Kalabagh Dam at any cost and to pay sacrifices for the rights of the people.

PPP Labour Wing organised Christmas function

Islamabad, 24 December 2005: The Labour Wing of Pakistan Peoples Party, the Peoples Labour Bureau organised a function on the eve of Christmas in Lahore at the PLB Secretariat, arranged by incharg PLB Pakistan, Abdul Qadir Shaheen. The Secretary General PPP Jahanigr Badar was the Chief Guest on this occasion. A large number of PPP members of Christian Community was in attendance including Younus Bhatti, Jossef Francis, Aurangzeb Barqi, Hashmat Barkat advocate, Raja Thomas Albert, Baboo William Roose, Patran Ghani and Sooba Sarvea.

Addressing the gathering, Jahangir Badar said that the members of Christian Community have always supported the PPP struggle for democracy, equal rights for every Pakistani citizen and social and economic emancipation of the downtrodden of this country. Wishing a very happy Christmas to the Christian Community in Pakistan he asked the Christian Community to work with the PPP for honourable return of the most popular leadership, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto back to the country.

Abdul Qadir Shaheen said that no one would ever be able to stop Christians’ support for the PPP because the PPP has always supported and worked for the minority rights in Pakistan. He said the days of dictatorship are numbered and soon Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto would be back in the country to lead Pakistan to development and prosperity.

PPP has never supported Kalabagh Dam

Islamabad, 24 December 2005: A spokesman of Pakistan Peoples Party has refuted the news items and statements in a section of press and media alleging that the Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party former Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto supported Kalabagh Dam if it was renamed and called Indus Dam.

The spokesman in a statement said that this assertion that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto ever supported Kalabagh Dam is totally wrong and an effort by the obscurantist to misguide the people of Pakistan. The fact is that there was a proposal by certain elements about an Indus Dam. This was dismissed by the PPP government when it was found out that it was nothing but Kalabagh Dam renamed. Moreover, no presentation was made to the then Prime Minister, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto demonstrating that building a dam at Kalabagh was technically feasible. Kalabagh Dam is not technically feasible as a water project, the spokesman concluded.

VVIP planes and Saab surveillance system

Opposition demands making public Senate body recommendations

Islamabad December 19, 2005: The meeting of the Defense Committee of the Senate convened today (Tuesday) to further discuss the purchase of VVIP planes and saab surveillance system from Sweden is redundant and aimed at achieving some purpose other than stated in the notice.

This has been stated in a joint statement today by five members of the Senate Committee on Defense and Defense Production namely Senators Rukhsana Zuberi, Sardar Mahtab Khan, Mouhim Khan Baloch, Kamran Murtaza and Farhatullah Babar.

A notice issued by the Senate secretariat Monday morning said that a meeting of the Committee will be held today (Tuesday) to further discussion of purchase of VVIP planes and purchase of saab surveillance system. The meeting is requisitioned by Senators Kamil Ali Agha, Naeem Hussain Chattha, Asif jatoi and Muhammad Akram, the notice said.

The five senators belonging to PPP, PML (N), MMA and BNP (Awami) said that the issue of VVIP and Saab surveillance system had already been discussed threadbare in two sessions of the Committee held on December 2 and again on Friday December 16. At the last meeting on Friday December 16 the Committee also finalised its unanimously agreed recommendations, they said.

They pointed out that the unanimous recommendations at the last meeting was possible due to the efforts of Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Chairman of the Committee Nisar Memon themselves who played a positive role. After finalisation of the agreed recommendations Mushahid Hussain Syed even moved a resolution hailing Chairman Nisar Memon for his wisdom and thoughtfulness in striving for consensus. His applause of Chairman Memon was while heartedly endorsed by them (the opposition members) as well, they said.

After the December 16 meeting and adoption of consensus recommendation the opposition members refrained from talking to the media as it was agreed that the Secretariat of the Senate would issue press statement. However, for unexplained reasons the Senate secretariat did not issue any press release that evening.

The five senators said that they did not protest even at this breach of understanding because in any case the recommendations have been minuted and made part of record.

Some leading national dailies also reported quoting unofficial sources that the Senate Committee had recommended cancellation of the VVIP deal and review of the Saab deal. It s pertinent to note that these press reports were not denied by the Senate Secretariat. "We demand that the joint recommendation made at the last meeting of the Committee be formally made public".

They said that the Senate rules also applied to its Committees. According to Rules 127 and 189 that pertain to resolutions and motions respectively a motion shall not raise a question substantially identical with one that on which the Senate has given a decision in the same session.

Since the Committee has already given its decision on the issues of VVIP planes and the Saab surveillance system it would be futile to reopen it.

The government may seek to reverse the recommendation of the previous meeting but legitimacy that comes with Parliamentary approval will continue to elude it, they said.

Mohtarma Bhutto criticises military deployment in Balochistan

Islamabad December 20, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has criticised the deployment of the military against tribesmen in Balochistan.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that the violence in Balochistan is a direct consequence of the imposition of military rule in the country. She said that each and every military rule in the country spawned secessionist tendencies.

"When the Constitution is suspended or altered against the wishes of the people and the provinces, Pakistan is weakened as the violence in Balochistan demonstrates".

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that the General Ayub Khan dictatorship culminated in the alienation of East Pakistan which led to the creation of Bangladesh. She said that the General Yahya Khan dictatorship resulted in the Baloch uprising which the subsequent PPP government had to deal with. She noted that following the killing of Quaid e Awam, Sindh was ready to secede but PPP had rescued the Federation.

The PPP Chairperson said that the General Musharraf military dictatorship has resulted in the use of the military in Waziristan as well as in Balochistan. She said that the use of force can only further alienate the people of Balauchistan.

More worrying is the scorn that the Musharraf regime has been pouring on the provinces by insisting on violating water rights as contained in the Constitution, she said. She apprehended that if freedom, democracy, constitutional rule, provincial autonomy and peoples rights were not restored, the trouble could spread further.

Mohtarma Bhutto called for the formation of an immediate interim government of national consensus to hold fair elections and transfer power to the people and to the provinces to save the Federation.

"Our young soldiers are trained to defend the country from foreign aggression and to defend the Motherland. It is not right that the guns for the defence of the country should be turned on the citizens of the country", she said.

Mohtarma Bhutto said, "we should learn the lesson of history that military rule breeds discontent and disintegration and restore democracy before it is too late".

It may be recalled that paramilitary forces backed by helicopter gunships launched a counter-offensive on Baloch tribesmen in Marri areas and also clashed with tribesmen in Bugti areas on Monday.

Termination of contract employees from PTCL is a conspiracy against employees: Naheed Khan

Islamabad, 22 December 2005: Political Secretary to the Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and member National Assembly Naheed Khan has strongly condemned the cancellation of the meeting of standing committee on information technology and telecommunication scheduled for 23 December 2005 which was to take up the issue of termination of contract employees from Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL) and demanded of the regime to immediately stop terminating poor people from their jobs.

In a statement today Naheed Khan said that it was her call attention notice in the national assembly regarding termination of contract employees including women in phases, which was sent to the standing committee on information technology and telecommunication. The meeting of the said committee was scheduled on 23rd December but was cancelled
without any justification. Naheed Khan expressed her apprehension that the regime has covertly agreed with the buyer company Etisilat to lay off over 40 thousand employees from PTCL, and termination of contract employees is part of that conspiracy against employees.

Naheed Khan said that the PPP under the leadership of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had provided jobs to the poor people of Pakistan in its two tenures in government. It is shameful that cases have been initiated against popular leadership for giving employment to the people. She said that the PPP has firm resolve to provide job opportunities to the poor people of Pakistan and would do so again when it comes to power. Naheed Khan said that the dictatorship always hurt people whereas democracy brings economic well-being and prosperity to the country.

PPP apprises HR Organisations of regime's support for criminals

Islamabad, 22 December 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has apprised the International Human Rights Organisations of the acts of harbouring criminal elements by the members of regime with a view to rig elections and contributing to the deteriorating law and order in the country.

Fauzia Wahab MNA and Central Coordinator Human Rights Cell, Pakistan Peoples Party in a letter to the International Human Rights bodies wrote, "An example is the recovery of a kidnapped persons from the premises of a parliamentary secretary belonging to the ruling Party. His name is Khalid Asgher Ghurral. According to media reports, the city police raided the parliamentarian's house on November 14, 2005 in search of the kidnapped man. Amongst the criminal elements were two proclaimed offenders and five criminals who had found refuge in the house of the Parliamentarian. The car used in the kidnapping was an official government car with the identifying green number plate of LHR-2515 which must have belonged to the Parliamentarian. The raid took place on the Police complaint of the father of the victim who accused the Parliamentarian kidnapping his son. No action has been taken against the Parliamentarian despite the Police complaint, the recovery of the kidnapped person from his house, the identification of the car used in the kidnapping and the presence of several criminal elements. In fact the Parliamentarian has had the arrogance to deny that any raid took place on his house. However, the said raid and recovery were confirmed by the local Gujrat Police as well as Deputy Superintendent Police Mahmood Hassan Qureshi, in charge operation for the recovery of Tayyab son of Bashir Ahmad."

She asked the human rights bodies to raise their voice against victimisation of real political leadership in Pakistan and wrote, "We are drawing your attention to this matter so that you may raise your voice to put an end to political victimisation through the present establishment NAB and instead support a transparent and impartial accountability system that can catch criminal elements who try to hide behind dictatorial regimes and thus invite and perpetuate dictatorship.

The immunity given to corrupt elements under the Musharaf regime makes a mockery of the Musharaf oath of good governance as the "reason de etre' for the military coup of 1999. The revelation of a Pro Musharaf Parliamentarian's involvement in abduction and kidnapping with impunity is another glaring example of how the people of Pakistan suffer under a regime which denies them their fundamental right to elect their own government freely."

"The Human Rights Cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party would like you to take up the issue of the two corrupt parliamentarians cited here as well as raise your voice against the excesses of the present accountability bureau while supporting the establishment of one which can take to task those corrupt elements of the last six years that have flourished while Musharaf exploits the war against terror to perpetuate his dictatorship", she concluded.

VVIP planes and Saab surveillance system

Opposition demands making public Senate body recommendations

Islamabad December 19, 2005: The meeting of the Defense Committee of the Senate convened today (Tuesday) to further discuss the purchase of VVIP planes and saab surveillance system from Sweden is redundant and aimed at achieving some purpose other than stated in the notice.

This has been stated in a joint statement today by five members of the Senate Committee on Defense and Defense Production namely Senators Rukhsana Zuberi, Sardar Mahtab Khan, Mouhim Khan Baloch, Kamran Murtaza and Farhatullah Babar.

A notice issued by the Senate secretariat Monday morning said that a meeting of the Committee will be held today (Tuesday) to further discussion of purchase of VVIP planes and purchase of saab surveillance system. The meeting is requisitioned by Senators Kamil Ali Agha, Naeem Hussain Chattha, Asif jatoi and Muhammad Akram, the notice said.

The five senators belonging to PPP, PML (N), MMA and BNP (Awami) said that the issue of VVIP and Saab surveillance system had already been discussed threadbare in two sessions of the Committee held on December 2 and again on Friday December 16. At the last meeting on Friday December 16 the Committee also finalised its unanimously agreed recommendations, they said.

They pointed out that the unanimous recommendations at the last meeting was possible due to the efforts of Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Chairman of the Committee Nisar Memon themselves who played a positive role. After finalisation of the agreed recommendations Mushahid Hussain Syed even moved a resolution hailing Chairman Nisar Memon for his wisdom and thoughtfulness in striving for consensus. His applause of Chairman Memon was while heartedly endorsed by them (the opposition members) as
well, they said.

After the December 16 meeting and adoption of consensus recommendation the opposition members refrained from talking to the media as it was agreed that the Secretariat of the Senate would issue press statement. However, for unexplained reasons the Senate secretariat did not issue any press release that evening.

The five senators said that they did not protest even at this breach of understanding because in any case the recommendations have been minuted and made part of record.

Some leading national dailies also reported quoting unofficial sources that the Senate Committee had recommended cancellation of the VVIP deal and review of the Saab deal. It s pertinent to note that these press reports were not denied by the Senate Secretariat.
"We demand that the joint recommendation made at the last meeting of the Committee be formally made public".

They said that the Senate rules also applied to its Committees. According to Rules 127 and 189 that pertain to resolutions and motions respectively a motion shall not raise a question substantially identical with one that on which the Senate has given a decision in the same session.

Since the Committee has already given its decision on the issues of VVIP planes and the Saab surveillance system it would be futile to reopen it.

The government may seek to reverse the recommendation of the previous meeting but legitimacy that comes with Parliamentary approval will continue to elude it, they said.

PPP condemns rigging in bye-elections

Islamabad, 15 December 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Dr. Safdar Abbasi has condemned the wide spread rigging that took place during the recent bye elections.

He said that in this context, the example of the By-Election in NA-210, Jacobabad III was one example. The civil administration and police used brutal force against PPP MNA's, MPA's and workers. Ballot boxes were stuffed by police the night before the polls.

The PPP calls upon the Chief Election Commissioner to register a criminal case against Police involved in stuffing of the ballot boxes and send them to prison to give a warning to other Police officials to desist from breaking the law by stuffing ballot boxes, he said.

PPP polling agents were abducted, assaulted and arrested by Kashmore police, criminal cases were lodged against them. Candidate Imran Bijjerani's chief election agent, Aijaz Jakhrani, was detained at 12:00 and released after poll hours.

Ballot stuffing took place at such extravagant levels that the ruling candidates un-official results came to 156000 votes. Even the Election Commission found this hard to accept and it was rejected by the Chief Election Commissioner on press and electronic media.

Dr Safdar Abbasi said that the ballot stuffing was so great that according to it sixty percent of the people voted when even in Karachi, a large metropolis with easy transport, polling was was not more than 12%. Thus there was no question of polling in Jacobabad being more than twelve percent and in all likelihood, given the rugged terrain and difficulty of transport, even lower.

He further said that despite the massive stamping of ballots, the PPP candidate won on 114 polling stations. The ruling candidate was wrongly shown to "win" on 17 polling stations. Winning on 114 stations was shown as 16,400 votes whereas so called "winning" on 147 polling stations was shown as a mammoth 156000 votes. On polling station Ali Sher Sarki 650 votes had been Precast in the night before the polling began.

Senator Dr. Safdar Abbasi said that the PPP demands action against the presiding officer who admitted ballot stuffing to the Assistant Returning Officer. He said that when the Police and the Presiding Officers are the ones to fill the ballot boxes and rig elections, then
no election can ever be fair. It therefore demanded from the Election Commission that it order the arrest and removal from government service of the Police and the Presiding Officers involved in rigging to prevent them breaking the law with impunity. For example, PPP candidate visited this polling station Ali Sher Sarki With Assistant Returning Officer
Kandhkot. Upon questioning By ARO, the presiding officer admitted that three officials, namely Additional Secretary to Chief Minister Sindh, Ghulam Sarwar Sarki, DSP and SHO forced him to stuff ballot box. Media persons representing Kawish Television Network and Sindh Television were also present. The confession of the concerned presiding Officer was
telecast on TV.

He said that every single polling station had one ballot box missing as per material invoice. This could not happen without collusion of presiding officers. The pattern of using Police and Presiding Officers to rig elections will be used in the General Elections unless the Election Commission makes an example of those Police and Presiding Officials caught rigging in the bye elections. PPP polling agents were prevented entry to polling stations by police in a minimum of 150 polling stations.

Senator Safdar Abbasi said that the violation of the Constitution through orders to rig the elections amount to treason. Chief Minister Sindh visited Guddu on 08th December, 2005 and directed civil administration and police to secure victory of the ruling party candidate by hook or crook. Based on the reports filed during the Bye election, the PPP has called for declaring the bye election null and void and for re-election, he concluded.

Swiss case matter of life & death for regime, not for Mohtarma Bhutto

Islamabad, 14 December 2005: The trumped up case before a Swiss Magistrate triggered by false allegations by Islamabad is a matter of life and death for the dictatorial regime and not Mohtarma Bhutto, said spokesman of the Pakistan Peoples Party in a statement today.

The spokesman was responding to the claim by Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Tuesday 'the Swiss case a matter of life and death for the PPPP'.

The Islamabad triggered investigation hearing in Geneva is a matter of "life and death" for the military dictatorship in its campaign to politically eliminate Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for which millions of dollars have been spent, Senator Farhatullah Babar.

"The fact is that Mohtarma's position is safe in the hands and the hearts of the people of Pakistan who know that she is being victimized for courageously standing up for the democratic rights of the people".

She is courageously fighting for the rule of law, for federalism and egalitarianism while the military dictator is exploiting the war on terror to further his own dictatorship and usurpation of peoples and provincial rights, he said.

The spokesman said that the amount of time and money spent on hiring a battery of lawyers, changing NAB laws with back date and mounting propaganda campaign showed the extent of terror struck into the regime by her brave defence of Federalism, Freedom, Human Rights and emancipation of the people from poverty and exploitation.

For the regime the Islamabad triggered case in Geneva, based on a letter of request by Islamabad and a false claim that it was an injured Party and on which huge sums have been spent by engaging a big team of costly lawyers, the hearing indeed is a 'matter of life and death'.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said that it was the same case in which the Supreme Court of Pakistan had not only set aside the conviction awarded by the Trial Court but also observed 'the bias of the trial judge floated on the surface of record', forcing most unceremonious exit of two judges from the Bench.

The regime has panicked and that is why the Information Minister has claimed that the case was a matter of life and death for the PPPP, he said.

Kalabagh Dam: Rabbani rejects constitutional guarantees

ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: The Pakistan People’s Party has rejected the assurance of constitutional guarantees offered by President Gen Pervez Musharraf to allay the misgivings of the people of Sindh about the construction of Kalabagh Dam.

In a statement here on Wednesday, leader of the opposition in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani said it was hard to accept what he said the so-called assurances of constitutional niceties from a person who had trampled the Constitution and also got away with it.

“The PPP does not recognize the political and technical committees set up by the regime to report on the feasibility of the dam building, as they have no locus in the Constitution and their reports have no meaning whatsoever.”

It is a matter of record that three provincial assemblies have passed unanimous resolutions against the building of the dam, he added.

Violence grows in Pakistan's tribal zone, despite Army presence.
Gretchen Peters

The Christian Science Monitor

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN 12/12/2005: Music and TV have been banned. Women are confined to their homes. Shops must close five times a day for prayers, an edict enforced by armedreligious police who patrol the streets.

These changes, say local residents and reporters, have come just within the past few months to Waziristan, a restive region along the Afghan border that is seen as a possible hideout for Al Qaeda leaders. Last year, under pressure from the US to clean up the semi-autonomous zone, Pakistan launched military operations that ended 10 months ago in a peace deal with some rebel tribes.

Now the harsh edicts and an upsurge in violence suggest that Waziristan is far from pacified. Observers say it is slipping back into the hands of Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, despite the 60,000 Pakistani troops and paramilitaries garrisoned there.

"Since [the deal], the government authority seems to have become weak," says Rahimullah Yusufzai, a journalist who reports on Pakistan's tribal area. "The vacuum has been filled by these militants."

In a tally compiled from official sources and newspaper reports, more than 60 pro-government tribal and religious leaders have been killed, two local journalists have been gunned down, and hundreds more people have fled since February.

"They do what they feel like doing and there is no one to stop them," says a local reporter there who left the South Waziristan district capital Wana after receiving threats from militants. "And it's the foreign elements among them," he says, referring to Al Qaeda, "who are calling the shots."

Just this past week, a bomb blast in the bazaar in Jandula left 12 dead. Separately, four paramilitary troops patrolling Wana were kidnapped by militants.

And in North Waziristan, armed Islamic seminary students clashed with a group of bandits, killing at least 20. With a ferocity that harkens back to the early days of the Taliban, the students hung their victims in the streets of the district capital Miran Shah, stuffing their mouths full of money.

The violence came days after an unmanned aircraft killed five suspected militants, including, Pakistani officials say, Abu Hamza Rabia, a top Al Qaeda figure.

Senior Pakistani officials say it's too soon to jump to the conclusion that terrorists were behind last week's violence.

"I don't think it should raise eyebrows or concern," says Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukut Sultan. "It appears these incidents are more related to local politics between the tribes.... It is more related to that than terrorism."

But analysts point out that tribal battle lines have been drawn of late between groups that allied themselves with the Army, and those who sided with the militants. There is increasing evidence that Arab, Uzbek, and Chechen fighters linked to Al Qaeda are operating in the area, according to Mr. Yusufzai and others.

Locals, none of them willing to be quoted, said the militants had gone so far as to open recruiting offices in North and South Waziristan to recruit fighters for their "jihad" against the Pakistan Army and US forces in Afghanistan.

Video released by the militants, and sold in local shops as part of their recruitment drive, show militants training openly.

The militants have even held public gatherings, the most recent in October to mark the year anniversary since the Pakistan military bombed a militant camp in Dela Khula, killing 40 of their comrades.

As part of the February deal, militants pledged to renounce violence and end attacks in Afghanistan. Yet Afghan officials in the three provinces that border Waziristan, contacted by the Monitor, say the frequency and sophistication of cross-border attacks have actually increased.

"They launch suicide attacks, plant bombs, and launch ambushes," says Paktia police chief Aghul Suleiman Khan. "Increasingly, we see Arab fighters leading them."

Swiss case matter of life & death for regime, not for Mohtarma Bhutto

Islamabad, 14 December 2005: The trumped up case before a Swiss Magistrate triggered by false allegations by Islamabad is a matter of life and death for the dictatorial regime and not Mohtarma Bhutto, said spokesman of the Pakistan Peoples Party in a statement today.

The spokesman was responding to the claim by Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Tuesday ‘the Swiss case a matter of life and death for the PPPP’.

The Islamabad triggered investigation hearing in Geneva is a matter of "life and death" for the military dictatorship in its campaign to politically eliminate Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for which millions of dollars have been spent, Senator Farhatullah Babar.

"The fact is that Mohtarma's position is safe in the hands and the hearts of the people of Pakistan who know that she is being victimized for courageously standing up for the democratic rights of the people".

She is courageously fighting for the rule of law, for federalism and egalitarianism while the military dictator is exploiting the war on terror to further his own dictatorship and usurpation of peoples and provincial rights, he said.

The spokesman said that the amount of time and money spent on hiring a battery of lawyers, changing NAB laws with back date and mounting propaganda campaign showed the extent of terror struck into the regime by her brave defence of Federalism, Freedom, Human Rights and emancipation of the people from poverty and exploitation.

For the regime the Islamabad triggered case in Geneva, based on a letter of request by Islamabad and a false claim that it was an injured Party and on which huge sums have been spent by engaging a big team of costly lawyers, the hearing indeed is a ‘matter of life and death’.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said that it was the same case in which the Supreme Court of Pakistan had not only set aside the conviction awarded by the Trial Court but also observed ‘the bias of the trial judge floated on the surface of record’, forcing most unceremonious exit of two judges from the Bench.

The regime has panicked and that is why the Information Minister has claimed that the case was a matter of life and death for the PPPP, he said.

Frontier PPP President lashes at Aftab Sherpao

Islamabad December 13, 2005: Frontier PPP President Rahim Dad Khan has criticised Interior Minister Sherpao for being a puppet of his military masters and singing their tune of exploiting the people's provincial and human rights.

He was responding to Interior Minister Aftan Khan Sherpao’s statement that General Musharaf was ready to accept PPP without Mohtarma Bhutto.

In a statement today the Frontier PPP President said that it was out of question to separate Mohtarma Bhutto from the Party and the people. He said that the people of Pakistan must decide who should govern Pakistan and not the anti people forces.

Mr.Rahim Dad Khan pointed out that due to the ban on Mohtarma, the PPP in 2002 was without the parliamentary leadership of Mohtarma and had won the majority. However, the regime postponed the session of the National Assembly indefinitely and through DG Rangers General Mehdi broke a faction of the PPP to form a one-member majority government after releasing late Sipah e Sahaba leader Tariq Azam MNA.

The Sherpao statement that PPP without Mohtarma was acceptable to Musharaf was thus another lie, he said.

The regime foolishly thought it could repeat 2002 in the next general elections and were busy approaching different PPP leaders to tell them that they were acceptable as Prime Minister if they could keep Mohtarma out of the General Elections and deny the people of Pakistan the chance to vote for their most popular leader.

He said that by this tactic the regime wrongly thinks that it can divide the PPP and cause confusion in its ranks. Every PPP leader knows that his own survival, that of the Party and that of the hard working people of the country lies in a transition of power from the anti people dictatorship of Musharaf to the pro people elected democratic government of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

In fact it was clear that while Musharaf was acceptable to international powers, he was not acceptable to the people of Pakistan who had never freely voted for him in any election.

He said that Mr. Musharaf had given himself four extensions as army chief denying many other capable officers the right to become chief as provided by the Constitution of Pakistan. And while he was busy giving himself unconstitutional extensions, he was attempting to, again unconstitutionally, bar the twice elected Prime Minister from appearing before the court of the people to stand for election a third time.

Mr.Rahim Dad Khan pointed out that many offers were made to Mohtarma to accept the Prime Ministership to stop her Opposition to military rule that she had rejected. Consequently she faced political victimisation but refused to bow down before the military usurpers. He said that the PPP believed in the path promised by Quaid e Azam for which Quaid e Awam laid down his life, that is a Federal, democratic and egalitarian Pakistan with full provincial autonomy, human rights, dignity and emancipation of the people from poverty and backwardness.

Once Mr. Sherpao too believed in this he said. However, after his Hayatabad plot scandal and investigation, he switched sides which was most unfortunate. A true patriot does not change sides but fights for what he believes in no matter what the obstacles.

Mian RazaRabbani rejects constitutional guarantees
Says nation cannot be fooled

Islamabad December 13, 2005: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and deputy secretary general of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mian Raza Rabbani has issued the following statement today.

"The Pakistan Peoples Party rejects the assurance of constitutional guarantees offered by General Pervez Musharraf that he thinks will allay the misgivings of the people of Sindh about the building the Kalabagh dam.

"It is hard to accept so called assurances of constitutional niceties from a person who has trampled the Constitution and also got away with it.

"The PPP does not recognise the political and technical committee set up by the regime to report on the feasibility of the dam building. These Committees have no locus in the Constitution and their reports have no meaning whatsoever.

"It is a matter o f record that three provincial assemblies have passed unanimous resolutions against the building of KBD.

"To say that the dam will be built whether there is consensus on it or not as General Musharraf has said is the greatest affront to the people of the federating units and will endanger the integrity of the federation.

"The regime’s antics to raise the non-issue of KBD only to divert public attention from the serious issues facing the country is condemned in the strongest terms"

"The PPP was against the Kalabagh Dam because it was not only opposed to the Federal principle but also it would not resolve the water issue and only add to the debt burden of the country".

Benazir Bhutto, four others acquitted in PIA illegal appointments reference

KARACHI, December 01: Judge Parkash Lall of Accountability Court has acquitted PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and four others in the reference filed against them on their alleged involvement in making illegal appointments in PIA. The others are PPP-P MNA Naheed Khan, Col Basit, Abdul Qadir Jamoot and Naeem-ul-Hassan.
The court in a short order announced that prosecution counsel had failed to present any solid evidence or witness in the case registered under Ehtesab Act, therefore, the charge in question is not proved against the accused. They are exonerated honorably.

Reference on making 1397 illegal appointments in PIA was filed against Benazir Bhutto under Ehtesab Act during the last tenure of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Nasir Hussain Jaffery appeared on behalf of the accused. A large number of PPP workers and leaders were present outside the court at the time of pronouncement of judgment. They chanted slogans “ Jeeai Bhutto, Jeeai Benazir as soon as the verdict was delivered.

It may be recalled that the judge of accountability court put off the decision for three times and eventually rendered the decision in the evening.

Meanwhile, the PPP has welcomed the verdict of the Accountability Court Karachi quashing aside the PIA reference against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and termed it as triumph of justice.

The Accountability court number 4 in Karachi on Wednesday honourably acquitted all the defendants in the case saying g that the prosecution had failed to establish its charges against the accused.

Besides former Prime Minister other defendants included Naheed Khan, Air Marshal Umar Farooq former Managing Director PIA, Ghulam Qadir Jamot and Najmul Hassan a former official in the PM’s secretariat.

The case was based on the regime’s allegations against Bhutto that she had made appointments in the PIA in violation of the rules and policy.

In a statement today vice chairman of PPP Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that the Wednesday’s court verdict had proved the political nature of accountability under General Musharraf. He said that the Party was confident that Benazir would also be acquitted in all other cases.

Benazir gets 'World Tolerance Award' from Gorbachev

Islamabad, Nov. 30 (PTI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has been conferred the "World Tolerance Award" 2005 by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, in Germany.

The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) headed by the former Premier said today that she was chosen for "her vision, personal strength, commitment to her ideals and passion for creating a better and peaceful world in the 21st Century."

Bhutto, currently living abroad in self exile was chosen by a committee chaired by Gorbachev and composed of distinguished International World Award Jury, a statement by PPP said.

The citation praised her for becoming the first woman to lead a Muslim country in modern times when she was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988.

"Throughout the times of political struggle and year spent in exile you pledged to transform Pakistani society by focusing attention on the programs for health, social welfare and education for the underprivileged," it said.

"Your continued efforts to improve the condition of women in your country, even under the most difficult circumstances are in inspiration to millions of women around the world. You have emphasized the need to put an end to the divisions in Pakistani society, including reducing discrimination," it added.

The previous winners of the Tolerance Award include Pope John Paul-II, eminent Opera Singer Luciano Paverotti, Renowned Broadcaster Larry King and Former Polish President Lech Walesa.

Pakistan's nuke facilities suffered damage by recent quake
Press Trust of India

New Delhi, November 20, 2005: Pakistani nuclear facilities and storage sites in the Northern Areas have suffered "15 to 20 per cent damage" in the recent mega quake and the local populace faces the risk of contamination, a report said.

Claiming that these sites and facilities had suffered serious damage, the European website Newsinsight reported that "the local population faces the risk of contamination, but a curfew has been imposed and they are being actively prevented by the authorities to leave the area".

"There is 15 to 20 per cent damage to Pakistani nuclear facilities and storage sites in the Northern Areas, especially in Skardu and Chitral," it said, adding, "While Western sources did not say that reactors had been damaged in the October 8 earthquake, they confirmed that missile silos had developed cracks and storage facilities had taken a hit".

Pakistan government turned away international relief teams "because of the serious damage to the nuclear facilities in the Northern Areas".

The report said Pakistan had not allowed Indian Army relief work or IAF supply drops besides withdrawing consent for Israeli assistance fearing infiltration by Mossad agents "who would destroy the atomic establishments".

"Since the epicentre is likely to be seismically active for another two years, they expressed fear of further collapse of the nuclear establishments," the website said.

"To prevent leak of this massive nuclear destruction, Pakistan bottled up the local population by imposing curfew and did not permit international inspection of the disaster-hit areas," it added.

Senate Defense Committee to discuss saab deal today

Islamabad December 1, 2005: A meeting of the Defense Committee of the Senate will be held today (Friday) in the Parliament House to discuss the purchase of saab planes for the PAF from Sweden and also two new planes for use by VVIPs.

The meeting was requisitioned by four opposition Senators namely Farhatullah Babar and Rukhsana Zuberi of the PPP, Sardar Mehtab Khan of PML (N) and Kamran Murtaza of MMA. Defense Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Defense Secretary Lt General ® Tariq Wasim Ghazi besides several other officials have also been asked to attend the meeting.

Talking to the press in London after the Party's meeting Nov 27 Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto reiterated her call for the cancellation of the saab deal saying that resources needed to be diverted to reconstruction work. . During Senate debate on earthquake a number of opposition speakers also demanded cancellation of the Saab deal.They have also demanded cancellation of the plans to purchase two new planes for VVIP travel.

PPP denounces regime for rising corruption and lack of transparency
TI’s report has exposed regimes’ claims of combating corruption

Islamabad December 5, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the regime for the rise in corruption and lack of transparency despite the massive amounts spent by it on the National Accountability Bureau.

In a statement today the Party’s Vice Chairman and leader of the Parliamentary Party in the National Assembly Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that the latest report by Transparency International had more than exposed the regime’s hollow claims of combating corruption.

The Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index for 2005 rates Pakistan at No. 144 with Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Paraguay and Tajikistan, making it the fifth most corrupt country in the world.

Transparency International "is a composite survey, reflecting the perceptions of business people and country analysts, both resident and non-resident". According to TI, "The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain, and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians."

India was considered a far cleaner place to do business with a ranking of 88, almost 66 places above Pakistan's position.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that Pakistan's rating was tied in 6th position as the most corrupt country in 2004 whereas it was at 11th position in 2003. Now it had graduated to the fifth position, which shows further rise in corruption even after huge expenses on the so called NAB.

It proves what the PPP has all along maintained that NAB was in fact a political tool being used by the regime for political re-engineering, he said.

The PPP leader recalled that in mid-1990s during democratic rule the establishment made political capital out of the TI report which even though was then in its earlier stages was used to undermine democracy in the country.

It has now become clear that corruption was used as an excuse for increasing the military establishments stranglehold over the country through palace coups, he said.

He said that Pakistan's rating for perceived corruption increased in 2005 over the 2004 rating, which itself was worse than the rating for 2003. "The establishment is dumb today but if a truly elected government had been in place, it would have blown it for political purposes".

The PPP has been seeking to wipe out corruption by documenting the economy and that was why it was scandalised by vested interests who were looting the country through Cooperatives, politically motivated written off loans and huge procurements without audit and accountability, he said. The TI report showed that claims by the regime to have eliminated corruption were wrong. Between 1988 and 1999 no elected civilian government was allowed to complete its term because of alleged corruption. However, the Musharaf regime has completed one five year term and begun its second term in civil office besides giving himself extension as Army Chief as corruption continues to soar, he said.

When he deposed a civilian government in a military coup in 1999 General Musharaf had claimed that the military coup was to wage a war against corruption. That war has been lost despite using NAB to tailor the political landscape to justify the illegal usurpation of power.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that constitutional governance alone could put Pakistan on to the road of prosperity while military rule heightened ethnic tensions, weakened the Federation as the emergence of the Balauch Liberation Army proved and undermined the economy with monstrous loans that mortgaged the future of our coming generations.

Senator Enver Baig Commends Commonwealth

Islamabad, December 5, 2005: Senator M. Enver Baig President Foreign Liaison Committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party has issued the following statement today:

"I would like to take this opportunity to pay a well deserved tribute to the leaders of the Commonwealth for the joint statement issued by them on the conclusion of their recent meeting in Valetta.

"The statement is highly commendable for once again reminding General Pervez Musharraf that holding by the same person of the post of Army Chief and President is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy.

"The PPP and its Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has time out of number pointed out this grave constitutional anomaly which has been thrust by sheer brute force on the people of Pakistan.

"It is time that the General heeds the advice and doffs his uniform in deference to internal and international public opinion.

"In it lies his own personal honour and the honour of the flag and the country."

New GHQ to be eighth wonder: PML-N
By Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: Central leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) on Friday denounced the government’s plan to construct a new General Headquarters (GHQ) in the capital as a huge housing scheme in the name of building “Defence Services Complex”.

PML-N MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq, vice-president Mushahidullah Khan and the ARD information secretary, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, alleged at a press conference that the GHQ project was the most expensive project in the country’s history.

They were not against the construction of the new GHQ but were opposing the launching of a housing project in the name of defence needs, said Mr Rafiq.

He claimed the new GHQ being constructed over 2,450 acres in the federal capital’s prime sectors of E-10 and D-11 would cost $2.4 billion and would be the world’s largest GHQ when finished. He said the cost did not include the price of the land which the Ministry of Defence bought from the Capital Development Authority at a throwaway price.

When completed the new GHQ would be the eighth wonder of the world, he said, asserting that it would be the only GHQ which would have large bungalows, luxury apartments and commercial buildings.

He said that according to his information, there would be 90 bungalows of six bed rooms, 300 bungalows of four bed rooms and 14,750 luxury apartments.

Besides this, he said, three lakes covering 45 acres would be created inside the complex. Some 40 blocks of quarters for non- commissioned army officers would also be built.

Mr Rafiq disclosed that the complex would have 12 schools and two colleges for the children of officers serving in the GHQ. There would be 8 to 10 big community centres with play areas for children and four multipurpose halls in the complex.

It would be the only GHQ in the world to have commercial high-rise buildings, he said, expressing surprise that just 200 acres of the total 2,450 acres had been earmarked for office buildings.

Mr Rafiq asked the military leadership not to put “this huge financial burden on the poor people of the country”. He took exception to the statement of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the GHQ was being built by army through sale of its own lands.

He asserted that the military lands belonged to the federal and provincial governments. “What will we do if tomorrow Pakistan railways starts selling its lands to build its head office in the same fashion?” he asked.

He called for stopping work at the site. He said the nation would have no objection, if this amount was spent on the purchase of defence equipment.

The PML-N leaders said that a few “ruling generals” were bringing bad name to the armed forces, which had already become controversial due to their indulgence in politics.

US on the scent of terror money in Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Beyond the tragedy of more than 70,000 lives being lost in the October 8 earthquake that devastated large sections of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the disaster alerted US intelligence to the fact that the financial conduits that feed militancy and terror remain very much intact.

At very short notice, millions of dollars poured into the coffers of the jihadi group Jamaatut Dawa (formerly Lashkar-i-Taiba), allowing it to immediately take over relief operations in Kashmir while the Pakistan government dallied.
As a direct consequence of this realization, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) once again prevailed on Islamabad to launch an offensive against al-Qaeda-linked foreign elements sheltering in the country, notably in the North and South Waziristan tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.

Over the past few years, invariably under US pressure, Pakistan has undertaken similar offensives, with varying degrees of success, beyond whipping up tribal animosity by sending troops into the semi-autonomous regions.

In the latest initiative, according to security contacts who spoke to Asia Times Online, the US insisted that Pakistan authorities conduct across-the-board checks and arrests, while simultaneously US operatives would go after specific targets in an effort to search out illicit financial arteries.

One Pakistan move involves Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz of the famous Lal Masjid Islamabad. They issued a controversial religious edict during one of the previous operations in South Waziristan calling on people not to pray at the funerals of Pakistan Army personnel killed in action in the area. The two religious leaders have had their movements restricted.

On the US side, they appear to have scored a hit with the elimination of al-Qaeda number three, Hamza Rabia, in North Waziristan, apparently through missiles fired from a CIA drone. However, the body has not been found and al-Qaeda has denied that he is dead.

During the latest crackdown, the activities of the Jamaatut Dawa are also under the spotlight.

A high-level Washington-based source told Asia Times Online:

"Like prayers, zakat [compulsory charity - 2.5% of an individuals's annual reserves/savings in Sunni Islam and 5% among Shi'ites] and pilgrimage, jihad is also an integral part of the Muslim faith, that is why there is a trend that those Muslim philanthropists who build mosques, seminaries and donate money to Islamic relief operators also send money to those they view as mujahideen. That is the reason decision-makers in Washington are convinced that those who contribute money to Islamic groups in Kashmir are also involved in supporting the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The current operations in Pakistan are being supervised and controlled by US intelligence. The role of the Pakistani forces is to do the supporting "donkey work".

A case study

Dr Dawood Qasmi, a graduate of the Dow Medical College in the port city of Karachi, works at the National Institute of Child Health in the same city. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is in hot pursuit of him.

His father, brother and two nephews were arrested, and the women of his family were threatened with arrest if Dawood did not give himself up. However, a hue and cry raised in the media forced government agencies to release the men and lay off the women.

Dawood is a former commander of the banned Laskhar-i-Taiba in Sindh province. His role was to recruit civilians to join the Kashmiri movement. He was closely associated with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Kashmir cell. The ISI provided him with ample funds to recruit youths, beside giving him expensive vehicles and armed guards. Laskhar-i-Taiba was one of the most active militant groups in Kashmir.

But post-September 11, 2001, events changed Dawood's life (Asia Times Online wrote a detailed account of his life Confessions of a failed jihadi , although he was not identified by name in the story).

Disillusioned, he gave up his activities with Laskhar and returned to his quiet life in the medical world.

"Dr Dawood Qasmi fully realized it [operations in Kashmir] was not a jihad but a Pakistan Army operation for which it was only using civilians as gun fodder. So he set himself aside. Initially he was working with an online medicine research firm and later on he joined the National Institute of Child Health," said his daughter, Dr Hania Dawood Qasmi of the Baqai Medical University in Karachi.

"Three months ago a colonel approached Dawood and tried to prepare him to work again for Laskhar, but Dawood refused. He said to me that he knew that as he had already been tracked by the FBI, an association with Laskhar was essential as it was the only way to get government protection. But he said that his conscience was not ready for him to become a Laskhar member again, as it would mean being an ISI proxy," Hania Dawood maintained.

Dawood was then left alone. But once the relief operation started in Kashmir, he was contacted by the Jamaatut Dawa to help as a doctor. He agreed, and was quickly provided with huge sums of money to purchase medicine and surgical equipment to be taken to Kashmir to establish mobile hospitals, and even an operating theater.

A week ago, as a result of the US-inspired campaign to track money sources, all senior police officials were asked to update their information on jihadis, especially those active in their areas. Dawood would probably not have been targeted, had not his friend from Laskhar days, Arif Qasmani, been involved.

Arif Qasmani was a part of a high-level November 14 meeting in Islamabad held to initiate a process for peace between the Afghan resistance and coalition forces led by the US. Apparently, Arif Qasmani spoke about Dawood and his involvement in the relief operations, and also about how he had quickly received cash.

Ears obviously pricked up. Soon after, a joint team of the FBI, the army and the police raided Dawood's home in the early hours of the morning, explained Hania Dawood, but her father was out.

"We were the ones who suffered from the hands of the police," said Dawood's 75-year-old father, Abdul Rauf. "They handcuffed me, my son and my grandson. They called us names and forced us to tell where Dr Dawood was. They threatened us that if we didn't tell them the whereabouts of Dr Dawood, they would humiliate all our family members and detain the women and humiliate them in front of our eyes. They did not properly feed us. I was the first person who was released because my health deteriorated."

Later, after the media got onto the case, all family members were released. Dr Dawood Qasmi's whereabouts are still unknown.

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

Mohtarma Bhutto expresses grief over Iran Air crash

Islamabad December 6, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has expressed shock and grief over the air crash in Iran on Tuesday that led to the death of scores of people.

In a condolence message the Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that she was grieved to learn about the death of so many people when a plane crashed into a building in Tehran on Tuesday.

According to Tehran TV the plane, a C-130, crashed into a building in a suburb of the capital Tehran causing an explosion and fire in an apartment building. The plane had developed a technical problem shortly after take-off, according to the TV.

In her message, Mohtarma Bhutto said, "The people of Pakistan share with their brotherly and neighbourly country of the Islamic Republic of Iran the sorrow caused by deaths through the plane crash".

The people of Pakistan share with their brotherly and neighbourly country of the Islamic Republic of Iran the sorrow caused by deaths through the plane crash, she said.

"On behalf of the Pakistan Peoples Party, I condole the deaths of scores of people", she said and added, "May God bless the souls of the victims and give their families the patience to bear the loss".

PAKISTAN 'S PROPOSED NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS:
A Critique of the Draft Bill

Pakistan Peoples Party
Central Policy Planning

1. The Government of Pakistan has submitted "a bill to provide for the setting up of the National Commission on Human Rights" to the National Assembly in May 2005. In theory, a National Human Rights Commission could promote and protect human rights standards. However, it is feared that this proposed Commission would provide cosmetic legitimacy without significant changes on the ground.

2. Summary of Findings

THE PROPOSED NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION BILL:
Human Rights Vigilance or Regime Legitimisation?
3. The dictatorship’s motives are clear in the Statement of Objectives and Reasons attached to the bill. This describes the NHRC as "a driving force for negating the propaganda of human rights violations in Pakistan." The focus on projecting a 'soft image' abroad instead of correcting reality is amplified in section 11 of the draft. Here the NHRC is required to defend matters relating to human rights in Pakistan on the international scene. Amnesty International and other human rights bodies argue that this function is incompatible with the independence and impartiality which are core requirements of an effective NHRC.

Other Areas of Potential Concern
4. As an accountability mechanism, a national human rights institution will find it extremely difficult to function in a state without a democratic system of checks on the exercise of power. Keeping this in mind, the issue of appointment is crucial. Section 4(1) of the bill vests the power to select, appoint and dismiss the chairperson and members of the NHRC exclusively with the President. It makes optional for the President to seek nominations and recommendations. For the selection to be fair and transparent and to ensure the appointment of persons of competence and impartiality, different sectors of society should be involved in the process as provided in the Paris Principles. If the decision were a unilateral one made by the President, it would defeat the basic purpose that such a commission upholds in the first place. In addition, there is the risk that the office will become politicized. Individuals who have an established history of independence from government should be appointed to head national human rights institutions. At present, the recommendations of the HRCP are ignored so the purpose of setting up this commission becomes questionable.

5. The provision under section 19 of the bill requiring the NHRC to submit its reports to the Federal Government for presentation to Parliament within 90 days, is insufficient to ensure transparency of the NHRC's workings and the government's responses to its recommendations. Given Pakistan's recent record of military operations shrouded in secrecy, Amnesty International's belief that the NHRC reports, including reports s, should be promptly made accessible to the public, is an excellent suggestion.

6. The NHRC should be completely separated from the government, in particular members should be appointed for a specific period and not subject to arbitrary removal by the President. The institution can also be strengthened through a redrafting of its enabling law improving its investigatory powers, making it accountable to the National Assembly and entrenching its powers and functions in the Constitution.

7. The scope of human rights as defined in the bill is restricted. The definitions exclude economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to health, education and food, which are provided in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The other issue is that the NHRC can promote only those rights that relate to the treaties Pakistan has ratified. Pakistan has ratified only a handful of many human rights treaties. We suggest that Section 2(d) should be reformulated.

8. Article 3(a)(iii) of the Paris Principles lists amongst the responsibilities of the NHRC "the preparation of reports on the national situation with regard to human rights in general, and on more specific matters." In addition, the provisions in section 11(c) of the bill relating to prison visits by the NHRC are too narrow to objectively ascertain the conditions of detention of all detainees in Pakistan. In addition to jails, detainees in Pakistan are also held in police stations, military detention and often in undeclared places of detention where detainees are held under security legislation or on suspicion of "anti-terrorist" activities. Under military governments particularly, individuals and political rivals have been interred in psychiatric institutions and other locations, all of which, without exception, should be within the Commission's mandate.

9. Clauses related to appointment procedures do not adequately ensure the independence, impartiality and competence of the NHRC. The bill does not make any specific reference to qualifications in this respect, and according to the recommendations of Amnesty, sections 3(2)(ii) and 3(2)(ii) should add that all nominees have proven experience of and commitment to human rights and that all sections of society are adequately represented in the Commission.

10. Further, section 10 of the bill should be amended to remove the requirement that staff must be former government employees, and ensure that the Commission appoints its staff from amongst persons with known commitment to human rights, and adequately representing all sectors of society.

11. In terms of funding, the provisions in the bill for ""Finance, Accounts and Audit"" (sections 20-21) may not secure sufficient funding for the NHRC and provide for too much control by the government of the NHRC's funding. According to the Paris Principles, an NHRC should be funded so as "to enable it to have its own staff and premises, in order to be independent of government and not be subject to financial control which might affect its independence."

12. The NHRC bill proposes the formation of Human Rights Courts, but provides no further detail on how these courts will overlap with existing courts (Shari'a courts for instance), or how the jurisdiction of these courts will be separated out in an efficient manner.

Conclusion
13. A national human rights commission must be seen as belonging to the nation as a whole and functioning independent of political agendas and excessive governmental control, both factors that are not represented in the present human rights bill. If the government does not acknowledge certain fundamental flaws in the bill some of which are indicated in this paper, then it will inevitably bring into question the motive for bringing this committee into being in the first place – the result of international pressure as opposed to the Government's own desire to improve the human rights situation within the country.

Backgrounder: The Human Rights Situation in Pakistan after Military Takeover
14. Since General Musharraf's coup five years ago, Pakistan's military has been able to act with increasing impunity. A new law on the National Security Council (NSC) and the passage through parliament of a bill allowing President Musharraf to continue as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in 2004 indicate the increasing centralization of military power in the decision-making processes. Almost all key matters have been decided by the presidency. The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has stressed that the NSC bill is "an attempt to rewrite the civil-military equation and to assign a role to the armed forces which, essentially, is not provided under the constitution."

15. The situation of fundamental human rights under this highly centralized regime has also been quite dismal. Violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, rape, "honor killings" and trafficking, is common. The existing legal code discriminates against women and hampers the judicial process. The regime has yet to repeal the Hudood Ordinance, despite repeated calls for its removal by the government-run National Commission on the Status of Women, as well as women's rights and human rights groups. Bills in support of the Hudood repeal by PPP in the National Assembly have been rejected. [1] The regime still rejects the PPP Honour Killings Bill and continues to provide impunity to 'honor' criminals by having passed its own watered-down bill in an attempt to appease its donors. A recent display of the savage treatment women often face is the famous case of Mukhtar Mai, who was gang-raped on the demands of tribesmen — or by some accounts, on the orders of a tribal council – of the Mastoi clan. While Mukhtar's case has received global attention and produced stinging criticism against the government's disinterest in issues related to women's rights, there are literally thousands of other Pakistani women victim to the same fate on a daily basis.

16. The rights of religious minorities too are at risk. Religious violence has increased significantly in Pakistan in 2004, as the policies of the General -President has left the population polarized in their opinions, deeply divided, and mistrustful. According to Human Rights Watch, in October 2004, at least seventy people were killed in sectarian attacks perpetrated by both Sunni and Shi'a extremist groups in Multan and Karachi .

17. Human rights abuses do not end here. The government, since its "war on terrorism" has also continued to use the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and a host of anti-corruption and sedition laws to jail political opponents or silence them with the threat of force. The repression of political opponents also manifests itself in the systematic oppression of the mainstream political opposition. The ARD's leadership, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif have not been allowed by General Musharraf to return to Pakistan, while several senior leaders like the former speaker of the National Assembly, Yusuf Reza Gilani and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi languish in jail on false charges. On April 6th, 2005, thousands of PPP leaders and parliamentarians were arrested in Lahore for attempting to reach the Lahore airport to receive the former political detainee, Asif Zardari who has been in jail for nine years without a conviction. Silencing and repression is faced not only by the political opposition, but journalists as well.

18. There have been major complaints about the harassment of individual journalists for working against the "national interest," thereby severely curtailing the right to freedom of _expression and the dissemination of information. For the first time in Pakistan, two journalists have been killed in the tribal areas in the line of duty. In the same context, the PPP's Freedom of Information Bill was dismissed without discussion on the floor of the National Assembly, only to be replaced with an earlier Ordinance 2002, which had become infamous in the local media as the "Freedom of Disinformation Ordinance." This law, instead of enabling access to information, which is a fundamental human right in Pakistan's own constitutional context, is riddled with clauses that actually block access to information, allowing the government time and impunity to destroy public records that may be requisitioned.

19. The curtailment of the right of civilians to elect their own public representatives is a serious violation of human rights fundamental to adult citizenship. The military regime most recently demonstrated its contempt for this entitlement by the state's appropriation of all resources to deny opposition forces a level playing field in the 2005 local body elections. A scathing report on the devolution plan, released by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) early in the year which also maintains that the scheme was intended to expand the role of the military and act to centralize rather than devolve power. In order to ensure that the local body elections would yield an optimal crop of regime-loyalists, pre-poll rigging was instigated on an unmatched scale. [2] On the one hand, the government insisted that Local Bodies polls be held on a non-party basis, yet government party members were openly using state resources to manipulate the elections in their favour. An unprecedented arsenal of instruments was applied on the political opposition candidates to withdraw in the most violent election witnessed by Pakistan. Opposition districts were gerrymandered while hundreds of police officials were transferred across the country in complete violation of the Election Code of Conduct well after the announcement of the poll schedules. Right until Election Day in both phases, women and minority candidates were kidnapped from their homes, often at midnight in almost all districts of Sindh as part of a concerted witch hunt of Awam Dost candidates. In more ways than one, the Local Bodies election 2005 was seen widely as the military's frontline plan to distort the playing-field for the 2007 general election, which is itself a violation of democratic rights.

[1] Further statistics on violence against women can be found with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, HRCP, and the US State Department. For instance HRCP reports that in the year 2004, over 2000 cases of physical abuse against women were reported; the US State Department states that local human rights organizations documented 1,458 cases during the year 2004 that were just cases of Karo-Kari killings.

[2] The government's intentions became evident in light of developments in Sindh, where 23 districts were carved out of 16 districts without any criteria except political manipulation. Awam Dost Nazims were dismissed illegally without concurrence from the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) chief.

PPP criticizes Shaukat Aziz for his remarks not to lower oil prices.

Islamabad December 7, 2005: The Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the statement of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the petroleum prices would not be lowered because the government was already facing a deficit of Rs 60 billion on this account.

Talking to newsmen on Monday the Prime Minister also claimed that the government did not allow increase in fuel prices when oil prices were increasing the world over.

In a statement today a spokesman of the Party Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the government had been increasing oil prices even as they were decreasing in the international market. There is a serious disconnect in government’s pronouncements on this issue. While the Prime Minister said that oil prices would not be lowered his Petroleum Minister was assuring the Parliament that oil prices would soon be decreased, he said.

He said that the oil prices were rising not because of international price rise but due to the manipulations by the oil marketing companies.

The PPP he said that already demanded a probe into the oil price scam and withdrawal of price fixation from the cartel of oil marketing companies under the name of Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) and handing it over to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) the statutory body created for this purpose.

He said that serious bungling in the oil prices had come to surface in replies given to Senate questions that can no longer be covered up. He said reluctance on the part of the regime to hold an inquiry raised serious questions about the powerful vested interest behind the scam.

He said that the transportation margin allowed to each oil company was only two rupees per litre in July 2004 but had been increased to nearly ten rupees a litre by December that year.

Such a massive increase in transportation margin is nothing short of a scandal, he said. The OCAC was a cartel of oil marketing companies that made hay while the poor groaned.

It is intriguing that a statutory body called the ‘Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’ (OGRA) existed for fixing oil prices but the government still allowed the cartel of oil marketing companies to determine oil prices, he said.

Former Punjab governor calls on Mohtarma Bhutto
Pledges to assist Party in campaigning for democracy

Islamabad December 8, 2005: Former Punjab Governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar called on Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in Dubai on Wednesday.

During call on the Party Chairperson Mustafa Khar said that he was loyal to the Party and its leadership. He said that he would like to help the Party by mobilising its workers, particularly in the Punjab.

The former Punjab Governor also said that he was not interested in a Party office but in assisting the Party in campaigning for the restoration of democracy and the success of the Party manifesto in the forthcoming General Electio

Mohtarma Bhutto says regime trying to divide country through Kalbagh dam

Islamabad December 8, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party has said that the regime was trying to divert attention from its failure in providing adequate earthquake relief and rehabilitation by raising the Kalabagh issue once again.

In a statement today she recalled that for the last nearly three decades one military dictator or another had tried to divide the country and the people by raising Kalabagh Dam issue with a view to weaken opposition to its dictatorship.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that Quaid e Azam founded Pakistan as a Federation. She noted that three assemblies had voted against construction of the Kalabagh Dam.

She said that the people of Punjab had given sacrifices for Pakistan and would not want to endanger the Federation by building a dam rejected by three of the federating units.

The former Prime Minster said that PPP opposed construction of the Kalabagh Dam on the grounds that first, it was against the Federal principle and therefore illegal, second it would not resolve the water issue and third it would add to the debt burden of the country crushing the common people under its weight.

She urged the people of the country to unite in defeating the designs of the dictatorship and to unitedly oppose any act which was against Federalism, against the strength and unity of the country and against the welfare of the common people.

Mohtarma Bhutto asked the regime to rebuild Muzzafarabad, Balakot, other earthquake affected areas of the country as well as invest in schools, hospitals, sanitation, water supplies, strengthening of irrigation canals, flood control and job generation instead of wasting funds on white elephant projects such as the second GHQ in Islamabad when an adequate one exists in Rawalpindi

JIYE BHUTTO, JIYE BENAZIR, JIYE AWAM,
JEEVEY JEEVEY PAKISTAN

By: Senator (R) Jehangir Badar

PAKISTAN PEOPLES PARTY WAS FOUNDED by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in a convention called at Lahore on 30.11. 1967. The making of PPP came into being as the out come of ability, philosophy, knowledge, hard labor and communication of Shaheed Bhutto with the masses in Pakistan, which was responded very well. After the martyrdom of Chairman Shaheed Bhutto, his daughter Ms. Benazir Bhutto is leading the party in continuity of his mission. She is brave, able and capable of delivering the goods in accomplishing the mission revealed in the making of Pakistan Peoples Party.

Actually, before the convention held, Shaheed Bhutto, made his followings by striking deep into the hearts of the people of Pakistan, when he spoke at the time of Indo-Pak war as Foreign Minister of Pakistan; when he led a delegation to the UNO and delivered the famous speech at UN Security Council, “ we will wage a war for a thousand year” (Sept. 22nd, 1965). Shaheed Bhutto emerged on the world stage as leader of the Pakistan delegation to the UN in 1959 at the age of 31 years. To muster support for the Kashmir issue, he usefully toured China, Britain, Egypt, and Ireland. After serving Foreign Minister of Pakistan, he resigned in June, 1966 from Ayub Khan Cabinet over differences with later. Shaheed Bhutto made indelible imprints on the world community by his inimitable oratorical skill in the United Nation General Assembly and the Security Council. Thus his image as a true Pakistani and a nationalist entrenched in the hears of the people in and outside the country. After his ouster from
Ayub cabinet, his image added by his other qualities, his devotion and hard struggle to fight for the emancipation of the down trodden and poor classes, who were sufferers, brought him up as the exceptionally accepted leader of the people. When he started his expedition for democracy, he was welcomed every where, he visited. This was his home word done in consolidating his relations with the masses before the making of PPP. He spent more than a year in establishing such relation and in creating his credentials deeply; which on the making of PPP, his party and he was received warmly by the people in advancing such formation.

Pakistan Peoples Party Convention was attended by few hundreds, and was represented by different working groups of the labor, peasants, intellectuals, students, advocates, and several progressive political workers. They were joining Shaheed Bhutto in his struggle for democracy, and for getting economic and social justice for the people of Pakistan. The making of PPP, was a traditional shift, in the creation of a political party. Usually, a political party is being framed with its structure sitting in a drawing room and then an offer is made to the public at large to come and join them in the objectivity. But, unlike that , Shaheed Bhutto opened his dialogues with the people first, and after amassing their support, he formed the party for his supporter for the cause explain and understand by them. Shaheed Bhutto first opened his dialogue with the students and then with the advocates, and gradually, with all the communities. Students community became spearheading his movement. By making PPP, Shaheed Bhutto provided a political platform for his comrades who were already supporting him. The suit was massively followed by the joining of thousands of political workers. AT the Convention held, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was elected as its first Chairman.

After the formation of PPP, in a very short time, the supporters of Shaheed Bhutto, in the streets, formed PPP at local level. From Khyber to Karachi, like a wave, PPP units were formed in several streets at all the places. These units were given acknowledgment under process in due course of time. These were formed as a gesture of love towards Shaheed Bhutto, and a mark of trust of the people to have won over by him. PPP was also formed in places outside Pakistan. Within few days after the formation of PPP, at UK, Pakistani Community gathered and chosen Mr. Hukum Dad Khan, as first President of PPP, UK. Shaheed Bhutto image and hard working done, early to formation of PPP, built the new political party over night. This was his charisma. Thus, Shaheed Bhutto and the people of Pakistan are the founders of PAKISTAN PEOPLES PARTY.

Shaheed Bhutto before making of PPP, was acknowledged as the representative of the peoples aspiration. People of Pakistan had accepted his political philosophy. as a creed, trusted and followed him. Shaheed Bhutto succeeded in establishing unending relations with the masses, which was due his sincerity and devotion with the cause of people’s emancipation. He traveled for thousands of miles and reached where no leader is gone, before and after him. He spoke for social and economic justice for the poor and down trodden and the deprived classes. The love for real freedom, equality, and sovereignty of people were inspired by him in the people.

The making of PPP, had brought both, qualitative and quantitative, change in the existing political scenario of Pakistan. Qualitative, as Shaheed Bhutto, enabled himself to change the political culture by giving people a awareness to speak and fight for their rights and equality in the society. People changed the old culture and started struggle for their rights. The quantitative change said to be as Shaheed Bhutto awaked a very big and silent majority from long and deep slumber and enabled them to participate in politics. He prepared, and strengthened the down trodden and poor by showing them the path to fight against all injustices in the society. He brought them in the main steam of politics to get their rights. People of Pakistan acknowledged him as their savior. He led them successfully. Such difficult task was possible only by a leader of his caliber. His vision, brave heart, determined mind, knowledge and skill was a necessary requirement for this gigantic task. Despite being the scion of a feudal, he did hard job making several sacrifices. Bore the inception of PPP, Shaheed Bhutto was offered important offices by some leading political parties by joining any. He had already gained experience as Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim League (Convention) at a time when he was a minister. At the start of his venture for democracy, he was of the view of joining some existing political party, which is progressive and liberal in nature; but later he left the idea and formed Pakistan Peoples Party. He made it to meet the requirement of the people of Pakistan.

After acceptance of his resignation from Ayub Khan cabinet an d after having last meeting with him, Shaheed Bhutto departed by train on 22nd June, 1966 from Rawalpindi to Lahore. The people gave their determined mandate; he was departed and warmly received by the masses, mostly students, labor and advocates at every station in the way. On his arrival at Lahore Railway Station, thousands of people from all walks of life, especially the youth, raised him on their shoulders, and brought him outside station, from where he was taken in a procession to Faletti’s hotel at the Mall road, with hundreds of vehicles, tongas, cabs, scooters, rickshawas, and a very big running crowd. It was an amazing spectacle. This was his emergence as the sole individual and most popular leader. This was the beginning of new style of politics in Pakistan i.e., politics of the people, for the people and by the people of Pakistan which brought Shaheed Bhutto in awami politics. Dictator Ayub Khan failed to stop his way. On 24th June, he was departed for Karachi from Lahore; the same enthusiasm was seen at every railway station in the way by the people in receiving Shaheed Bhutto with thousands of numbers. This was carried in the following months and years. This was the first breakthrough in the traditional politics of Pakistan which was monopolized by the feudal and upper classes in our society.

History has chosen Shaheed Bhutto for this unique role. He was to play the role against existing heavy odds. Everything was repressive; the military regime, the industrial oligarchy, the landed aristocracy, and the colonial bureaucracy. But he had the people with him with an aura of romance on both sides. It was not an easy road to democracy. Many have wondered how Shaheed Bhutto succeeded in maneuvering such a movement of the people successfully, compared with the more experienced and strong political leaders and parties working since several years, were failed. He succeeded because, he did not confine himself to the plush-comfort of his drawing room, merely content with issuing hgh-sounding statements to the press. He came out, into the open streets. He seized the tissue. He seized the moments. The people were ready for a revolutionary change. He led them into the revolution. He was sensitive to the people and he spoke their idioms He articulated their aspiration. He showed them light to the end of the tunnel. He saw the rainbow in the sky, and the stars in the firmament. This was Shaheed Bhutto magic, this was Bhutto charisma. This was Shaheed Bhutto’s appeal. He succeeded because he was sincere and gone through a gradual process. Under his romance with the people of Pakistan, he refused all offers by other parties to join any, or for any status. Under the aura of this ecstasy, Shaheed Bhutto rose above any fear or reservation and created for people of Pakistan, a political party; Pakistan Peoples Party.

After making of PPP, Shaheed Bhutto continued his romance with the people and sacrificed his life fighting for their rights against dictatorship in the country. His romance with people is revealed by the letter he wrote to his daughter Mr. Benazir Bhutto, on 21 June, 1978, when he was in death cell and she came of parliamentarian age. He advised her, in that letter, saying, “ The paradise of world is under the feet of your mother, but the paradise of politics is under the feet of the people.”

The Making of PPP is being for the service of the Peoples of Pakistan, in the struggle for poor and down-trodden, and the deprived masses. In today’s world PPP is leading party fighting and struggling the cause of Shaheed Bhutto for democracy, social & economic justice, and fundamental rights. PPP is continuing its historic struggle under the leadership of Ms. Benazir Bhutto for the emancipation, sovereignty of people with Equality. PPP desires happiness for the people of Pakistan in 21st century.

Click on the photograph to see a large view

On Wednesday, November 30, 2005, in Ambassador Restaurant, Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, PPP, USA played a glowing tribute to one of the greatest leaders in the world, founding chairperson of PPP, and the first directly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, a hero of the people, not only in Pakistan, but across the Muslim world and the third world countries, Shaheed-e-Jamhuriat, Quaid-e-Awam, Janab Zulfkar Ali Bhutto, on the 38th Founding Day of Pakistan Peoples Party.

The office bearers and workers of PPP, USA showed full confidence in Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's leadership.

Words of Shaheed