November 2007

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The Rediff Interview/Benazir Bhutto
 

 

 

 

November 2007

MUSHARAF IS LOVING IT
SHAME ON HIM

 

Civilian Presidency Beckons For Pakistan's Musharraf


ISLAMABAD November 21, 2007: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf returned from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday expecting to be sworn in as a civilian leader within days, having already freed thousands of detainees held under emergency rule.

While critical of his imposition of the emergency on November 3, Washington has given General Musharraf, a crucial ally against al Qaeda, space to put things right before a parliamentary election on January 8 that the opposition could boycott.

"He has said he's going to take off his uniform, he's said there would be elections. Today he released prisoners, and so far I have found him to be a man of his word," President George W. Bush told ABC News in an interview overnight.

"And do I believe that he's going to end up getting Pakistan back on the road to democracy? I certainly hope so."

Western governments fear that stifling democracy could play into the hands of Islamist militants threatening nuclear-armed Pakistan, but Bush was keeping faith with Musharraf.

The Commonwealth of 53 nations, mostly former British colonies, has threatened Pakistan with suspension unless Musharraf repeals emergency rule and takes other steps.

Caretaker prime minister Mohammadmian Soomro has asked Commonwealth ministers meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Thursday to delay their decision, arguing that the situation was returning to normal.

A government spokesman said more than 5,000 lawyers, opposition and rights activists detained in a round up of Musharraf opponents had now been released. They included cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, freed on Wednesday.

Although Pakistan is racked with militancy, one of Musharraf's aims in invoking an emergency was to purge a Supreme Court that appeared set to annul his re-election by parliament in October.

The court, now packed with pro-government judges, is expected to strike down the last of six annulment petitions on Thursday.

WEEKEND SWEARING-IN


"We hope the petition will be decided tomorrow, God willing, and if it's done then the president may take an oath as a civilian president, as he has himself said, on Saturday or Sunday," Attorney General Malik Qayyum told Reuters.

Police stopped Wajihuddin Ahmed, who ran against Musharraf in the election, from visiting former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other sacked judges under house arrest on Wednesday.

"We want restoration of superior judges and removal of all existing judges. They are not judges, they are dummies," Ahmed said, as police blocked him and a dozen lawyers.

Investors in the Karachi stock market, however, took heart from Bush's comments and the likelihood that Musharraf would finally be sworn in for a second term.

The main index gained just under 1.5 percent to stand a little less than 3 percent below pre-emergency levels.

While securing his position, Musharraf remains concerned that he will have few friends in the next parliament.

His visit to Saudi Arabia had sparked talk that he would either reach out to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif or seek to prolong his exile there.

"This time no one contacted me," Sharif, the man Musharraf deposed in a bloodless 1999 coup, told Reuters by telephone from the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

Musharraf has sought support from another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, but his strategy up to now has been to marginalise Sharif.

Chances of a deal with Bhutto, leader of the biggest opposition party, have receded, but could be revived.

Musharraf allowed Bhutto to return to Pakistan in October shielded from prosecution in old graft cases she says were politically motivated. Once back, though, she became increasingly confrontational, and spent a few days under house arrest.

After meeting British High Commissioner Robert Brinkley at her party headquarters in Karachi on Wednesday, Bhutto said it was imperative Musharraf quit the army but she did not repeat a call for him to step down as president too.

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider, Kamran Haider, Augustine Anthony and Simon Gardner in Islamabad; editing by Roger Crabb)

Deposed judges release ruling against Musharraf


ISLAMABAD: Three defiant judges of the Supreme Court, who are presently under house arrest after imposition of emergency, have now declared in their detailed judgment submitted before the SC last Friday that General Musharraf could not be allowed to contest the presidential elections.

They say frequent military interventions and destabilization of elected governments have given “rise to indiscipline, disorder, unemployment, massive corruption, intolerance, and extremism in Pakistan, which must be eradicated and eliminated with iron hands”.

These judges who had refused to take oath under the PCO, have also observed in their joint judgment, which has not been released to the media, that continuation of Musharraf as the army chief beyond December 31, 2004 was “illegal and unlawful”.

The judges, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan and Mian Shakirullah Jan, were part of the nine-member bench which had dismissed the petitions of Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Imran Khan on September 28, 2007 with regard to the question whether Musharraf could contest election from the present assemblies with or without uniform.

The judges submitted their detailed judgment to the Supreme Court on Friday in which they have addressed seven questions that were raised before the court. Talking to The News, Justice Rana Bhagwandas who headed the bench, confirmed that he along with Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza and Mian Shakirullah had submitted their judgment last Friday but the authorities may not have released their 58-page long observations.

Justice Bhagwandas who was in good spirits and in a defiant mood told this correspondent they had taken a lot of time and effort to put together the arguments to establish their points of view. The SC should have made their judgment public.

But, he said, it was not done. He observed that his staff might have handed over the judgment to the concerned authorities for its release to the media, but it was simply dumped and ignored. “These are very important observations and everybody should come to know about those points on the basis of which we had decided the issue of eligibility and merit.”

In the judgment spread over 58 pages, the three judges have observed that “we earnestly feel that this country no longer can afford the luxury of resorting to circumvent the law and the constitu tional mandate by upholding and affirming the draconian doctrine of necessity restored to earlier.

Indeed, the judges of this court are under an oath to uphold, preserve and defend the constitution of Pakistan, which must be strictly adhered to in letter and spirit without any fear or favour, or ill will.

“Any endeavor to continue and affirm the present system of governance, which has transformed parliamentary system of governance into presidential form of government is bound to damage the dignity, respect and honour of the citizen of this country in the comity of the nations and bring a bad name to it, which can hardly be appreciated.

“Independence of judiciary, stability of the democratic system, regular conduct of the general election process, allowing the institutions to serve freely within the sphere of their scope and without involvement of the armed would always be in the supreme interests of the nation.

They said: “Needless to emphasis, frequent military interventions and destabilization of elected governments have always given rise to indiscipline, disorder, conflict of interests, inflation, unemployment, massive corruption, intolerance and extremism in the country which must be eradicated and eliminated with iron hand and strengthen in accordance with the law”.

In the same judgment the judges have also observed “we earnestly feel, there appears to be enough substance and force in the submission of the petitioners that General Musharraf could not contest elections from the current assemblies as outgoing assemblies can not be allowed to bind the successor assemblies to be elected as a result of popular mandate. Further more, members of present electoral college, who have already expressed their opinion by expressing a vote of confidence immediately after their assumption of office, may not be in a position to exercise their right of franchise freely and independently. They would naturally be influenced and swayed by their earlier decision.

“Since the term of the office of President as well the present assembly expires simultaneously on November 15, 2007, it would be in the fitness of the things and in consonance with the democratic norms and intentions of the framers of the constitution if the new assemblies and the electoral college are allowed to exercise their right to elect a president of their choice during the term of electoral college under the constitution.

“An exceptional situation which can be conceived may be where the incumbent president, before expiration of his term of office, is removed from his office on the ground of physical or mental incapacity, is impeached on a charge of violating the constitution or the gross misconduct; resignation or death when the office of president falls vacant, the existing electoral college would be constitutionally authorized to elect another president for the un expired term of office.

“Indeed, General Musharraf, was fully alive to this situation, therefore while promulgating LFO 2002, he introduced meaningful amendments in the Chief Executive order, he introduced meaningful amendments in article 224 of the constitution, providing for time for election bye election. While the original text provided that a general election to the national assembly or a provincial assembly shall be held within a period of 60 days immediately “preceding” the day on which the term of assembly is due to expire, the expression “preceding” was intentionally substituted by the term “following”.

“This amendment was intentionally and deliberately made with a view to make a room for a seeking election to the office of the president from the outgoing assemblies in conformity with clause (4) of article 41 of the constitution stipulating that election to the office shall be held not earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of the president in office. The draftsmanship and ingenuity of those who suggested the above said amendment in the constitutional provisions can only cause dismay may be looked upon with sorrow and grief”.

“Since the purpose and object of the amendments never saw the light of the day, it is hard to appreciate the ground realities providing the forum to present electoral college for election of the same person to the office president for another tem for which new assemblies have to be elected a as a result of popular vote based upon election manifestoes of various political parties.

“It may be further observed that the president being an integral part of the parliament, it would be quite inconceivable and unusual that the parliament with whom a president has to work in total cordiality and harmony should not be elected by such parliament.

“At the cost of repetition, it may be noted that a parliament having outlived its tenure should not be allowed to bind the successor parliament with its choice as it is well settled that a parliament may do anything but bind the successor parliament. The present parliament having outlived its life, in our view, does not have a democratic mandate of the people to elect the same person as president for another term of five years, which would militate against the well entrenched principles of democratic value”.

“For the aforesaid facts, circumstances and reasons these petitions are allowed and General Pervez Musharraf declared to be disqualified to contest for the presidential election,” the three judges concluded.

General Musharraf sat on a wall
Husain Haqqani


He feels let down by the West. But every US-backed authoritarian ruler has blamed America for creating circumstances that eventually led to his great fall

After imposing martial law disguised as a state of emergency, General Pervez Musharraf has cracked down on Pakistan’s judiciary, media, moderate political opposition and nascent civil society. His actions have been universally condemned by the international community. But instead of recognising the error of his ways, he feels “let down by the West” and “betrayed by the media.”

Musharraf is following in the footsteps of the Shah of Iran, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, and Manuel Noriega of Panama. In their final days, each one of these US-backed authoritarian rulers blamed the United States for failing to understand their compulsions and for creating the circumstances eventually leading to their downfall.

In the days to come, Musharraf and his remaining loyalists can be expected to whip up anti-Americanism in an effort to deflect blame for their predicament. Things were going well until the US demonstrated its legendary fickleness and showed a soft spot for Benazir Bhutto, Musharraf’s apologists will argue vehemently.

Musharraf recently spoke of Bhutto as “the darling of the West,” completely forgetting that he, and not Bhutto, was the recipient of billions of dollars in aid and personal praise from a long list of luminaries ranging from President Bush to Donald Rumsfeld. If, as Samuel Jackson asserted, “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”, then anti-Americanism is the last refuge of US-backed dictators.

The Shah’s problems were of his own making, as were those of Marcos. Manuel Noriega mistakenly believed that his status as US ally would allow him to get away with anything, including drug smuggling. Given the general misgivings about US foreign policy in third world countries, these rulers thought that all they had to do to retain US support was to raise the spectre of joining the ranks of America haters within their societies against whom they were originally supposed to help Washington. But the crash of dictatorships comes from mistaken domestic policies; it is not always a function of foreign policy.

Even now, the uproar against General Musharraf has been caused by his disregard for Pakistan’s Constitution and his disrespect for rule of law. After all, of the UN’s 191 member states, why is it that Pakistan is the only country where the chief of the army staff has got rid of the country’s Supreme Court to thwart a judicial verdict against his person?

But, accustomed as he is to turning to America for support, Musharraf is trying to persuade the international community that he is indispensable for the US-led war against terrorism and given his services for the West, his coup against Pakistan’s constitution should be treated as a minor matter. Soon after the 1999 coup d’etat that brought him to power, Musharraf telephoned General Anthony Zinni, Commander of the US Central Command (CentCom). Both Generals Musharraf and Zinni have publicly confirmed their conversation. In his book Battle Ready, written with Tom Clancy and published in 2004, General Zinni says that Musharraf told him “what had led to the coup and why he and the other military leaders had no choice other than the one they took.” Zinni also mentions Musharraf’s help, two months later, in arresting some terrorists sought by the US, which led Zinni to tell Washington, “now do something for Musharraf.”

In the aftermath of a military coup that entailed toppling an elected government, General Musharraf found it expedient, possibly necessary, to seek advice and support from the top American general dealing with the Middle East and Central Asia. Musharraf has been proud of his American connections, citing on more than one occasion US support since 9/11 as somehow conferring legitimacy on his military regime. But now it is useful for him to pretend that the West has turned its back on him.

For almost seven years, Musharraf has had a free ride with international public opinion by pretending to be a reformer without delivering much by way of internal reform. Now that he has exposed himself in the aftermath of martial law/emergency, Musharraf should be prepared to lose the international support he assiduously cultivated.

The US is being nice to Musharraf by giving him time to rectify his mistake instead of putting its full weight behind Pakistan’s political opposition and civil society. So, if someone should be complaining right now, it should be the thousands of civilians jailed without cause, not Musharraf. The US has already done more than its fair share for Pakistan’s ruler and all that largesse has still not prevented Musharraf from turning against America. It is time for America to do something for the democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

The writer is director of Boston University’s Centre for International Relations

LEADER ARTICLE: Watch Your Back
V R Raghavan


November 21, 2007: In 1999, after mounting a coup, General Pervez Musharraf spoke to the nation late at night. One of the reasons he attributed for the necessity of the coup was Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif disturbing the integrity of the Pakistan army by summarily replacing Musharraf with another general. That telling observation indicated the army's perception of its role in Pakistan.

The integrity of the army was more important than the integrity of the country, and for that an elected government had to be removed. This perception has guided the Pakistan army through the country's independent history. The past and future of Musharraf is better understood through the conviction of the Pakistan army's image of itself.

The question being asked now is if, when and in what manner Musharraf would leave office. But the real question is: How would the Pakistan army respond to the possibility of Musharraf either continuing in or leaving the political scene? In my several years of association with senior Pakistan army officers — many of them with intellectual and professional acumen — the overwhelming impression is of a deeply held belief that the army is better endowed to govern the country than any other institution. This is a conviction which has lasted from Field Marshal Ayub's time.

This belief that the army knows what is best for the country has been sustained by the dismal political leadership of Pakistan. However, Musharraf has had more attempts on his life than his predecessors. There have also been attacks on him in the well-protected Rawalpindi military zone.

Not a few of these attempts involved insiders. The reality of dissent in the Pakistan army is now recognised by observers. The question is whether the army and particularly its corps and division commanders view Musharraf as a liability. In other words, is he doing what Sharif did by disturbing the legitimacy of the Pakistan army? There is a strong opposition to the US-led military operations in Pakistan, particularly in the border areas. The army by its association with American operations is inevitably seen to be fighting someone else’s war and worse, fighting its own people.

The recent reverses in tribal areas, including surrender of Pakistani soldiers to tribal militias, has not enhanced the army's image. The army has also taken more casualties in this campaign than it has in many decades. Retired generals have gone to the extent of saying that army morale has "folded up like a tent". While this may be an overstatement, it does provide clues to the army's state of mind.

General Kayani's elevation as the chief designate until Musharraf demits office is a pointer to the internal politics of the Pakistan army. Kayani was not part of Musharraf's inner circle in 1999. He is, however, like Musharraf, a self-made man. Musharraf reposed faith in Kayani by choosing him to probe the assassination attempts. Later, he was made GOC of the Rawalpindi Corps, which is the ultimate indicator of commanding the trust of the army chief.

Kayani was also deputy military secretary to Benazir Bhutto when she was prime minister in 1980s. No wonder he was chosen to parley with Bhutto in Dubai on the power-sharing arrangement with Musharraf. When asked if she trusted General Kayani, Bhutto is reported to have said that while she has faith in him, she did not like questions on trust. Bhutto has obviously gone through too much to trust the army.

The Pakistan army is a professional army with a sound chain of command. Discipline and commitment has always been high.

On the other hand, the social milieu in the country has changed greatly. Pakistan now has a far more complex society with greater Islamisation than ever before. The army cannot remain wholly unaffected by the national mood. If that mood which has turned against Musharraf now turns against the army, a real change would have occurred. Greater use of the army in subduing popular movements and casualties to the civilian population could suddenly become an explosive issue.

It is not clear if Bhutto can mobilise a million people to march in Islamabad. The possibility of that has forced Musharraf to have her detained and released by turn. Musharraf has ruled with the assurance of the army's loyalty to him and its perceived place in Pakistan's polity. If these defining elements are increasingly seen to be eroded, there could be a need to question the general's wisdom.

Alternately, if Musharraf is seen to be above the army, his relevance to the integrity of the army would be questioned. Musharraf and Kayani are products of a system which gives primacy to the power of the military over politics. The infallibility of the military as the only factor in Pakistan's future is now in question. It remains to be seen if the army views the costs of its loss of public esteem to be greater than the continuation of Musharraf as the head of state. In the interim, Bhutto and Musharraf could well find a way for political cohabitation.

(The writer, a retired lieutenant general, is director of Delhi Policy Group)

PPP Says PCO SC verdict would not resolve legitimacy issue


Islamabad, 20 November 2007: The Pakistan Peoples Party said that the PCO Supreme Court verdict Monday dismissing petitions against General Musharraf’s nomination as Presidential candidate was expected after the Constitution was suspended.

In a statement today a spokesperson of the Party said that nonetheless the issue of legitimacy would still have to be referred to the new Parliament as and when it was elected, and the verdict had not solved this issue.

He said that the verdict would be viewed by many as reminiscent of the verdict given by the then Federal Court headed by Justice Munir that still haunts the country.

Political manoeuvre: Sharif shuns Mush, woos Bhutto


November 20, 2007: Exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif urged fellow opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to join him in boycotting Pakistan’s upcoming elections, as he said he had spurned a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf.

The former premier’s comments in a telephone interview came amid fevered political manoeuvring in nuclear-armed Pakistan, as Musharraf jousts with his foes over his imposition of a state of emergency.

Musharraf was flying on Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, Sharif’s home in exile, fuelling reports that he would reach out to the former premier in a bid to split a possible Bhutto-Sharif alliance. Sharif, however, ruled out any meeting with the man who ousted him eight years ago, saying: "I am not prepared to meet that man when he has arrested the judiciary, gagged the media and suspended the constitution."

"I think the nation needs to prepare for a decisive battle against dictatorship," Sharif said from his home in Jeddah late on Monday. Sharif said Musharraf tried to contact him three times in the past two months asking for a meeting. "I regretted it, I said no, it will not serve any purpose," he said.

The industrialist-turned-politician was kicked out of Pakistan within hours when he tried to return from exile in September.

Instead, Sharif said talks to form an opposition front with Bhutto had progressed further — so long as they can agree on an agenda to adopt against military ruler Musharraf. "I welcome the proposal by Benazir Bhutto for holding an all-parties conference," he said, referring to a meeting called by Bhutto for the middle of this week.

Musharraf in Talks on Exiled Rival
By JANE PERLEZ


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 20 — In his first trip out of the country since declaring emergency rule, the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss the future of one of his main political rivals, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who lives in exile there.

Saudi Arabia, one of Pakistan’s closest allies, has indicated that Mr. Sharif should be allowed to return to his homeland to participate in parliamentary elections, Pakistani officials and Western diplomats said.

The Saudis have argued, diplomats said, that since Pakistan allowed a secular female leader, Benazir Bhutto, to return from self-imposed exile, then Mr. Sharif, a more conservative and religiously inclined leader, should be permitted to come back, too.

General Musharraf toppled Mr. Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999 and sent him into exile soon afterward. He has become one of the general’s fiercest critics, and his return to Pakistan could present a strong political challenge to the party that backs the president and to Ms. Bhutto’s party.

In General Musharraf’s absence, the Pakistani election commission said that parliamentary elections would be held on Jan. 8. General Musharraf has insisted that these elections will be held under emergency rule, a stance the Bush administration has criticized.

Opposition parties have that said free and fair elections would be impossible without the judiciary and the television stations that General Musharraf banned under emergency rule more than two weeks ago. But so far the parties have stopped short of forming a united front that would boycott the voting.

As the Musharraf government prepared for the controversial elections, the Interior Ministry announced that 3,416 detainees arrested under the emergency rule had been released. That figure could not be verified. A Western diplomat said Tuesday that the Pakistani government had indicated that about 1,000 detainees out of 4,500 had been released.

In Sindh Province, the home secretary, Ghulam Mohammad Mohatarem, said 650 people had been released from detention. Diplomats said there seemed to be a revolving door; as detainees were let go, other political opponents were being arrested.

In Karachi, police arrested about 200 journalists Tuesday as they marched from the press club to the governor’s house in protest over the closure of Geo TV. The television station has refused to sign a new code of conduct introduced by the government since emergency rule was imposed on Nov. 3.

Speaking in Karachi from a police station where he was being held with 35 other journalists, Zarar Khan, a reporter with The Associated Press, said that two journalists were beaten severely by police officers as they were rounded up and had suffered head wounds.

In an example of the government failing to follow through on its promised releases, 45 lawyers were ordered released on Monday by the High Court in Lahore, Iqbal Haider, the secretary general of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission said. But then the government immediately issued new detention orders for the lawyers, and they were kept in prison, he said. In Karachi, a prominent lawyer, Naim Queresh, was removed from the bar association headquarters Monday as he was addressing his colleagues, Mr. Haider said.

The most prominent of the government’s opponents remain detained. Among them are the four leaders of the lawyers’ movement, including Aitzaz Ahsan, the chairman of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League, the political party led by Mr. Sharif. The judges on the Supreme Court who were dismissed by General Musharraf are also still under house arrest.

The role of Mr. Sharif has come to the fore since the return of Ms. Bhutto, who also is a former prime minister. Mr. Sharif tried to return to Pakistan a few months ago after the Supreme Court, which General Musharraf dismissed, ruled that he should be permitted to do so. But soon after landing at the Islamabad airport in September, Mr. Sharif was unceremoniously deported and sent back to Saudi Arabia.

Since then, supporters of Mr. Sharif have protested, asserting that it was unfair of the Saudis to keep Mr. Sharif and effectively prevent him from participating in Pakistani politics. The demonstrations against Saudi Arabia, an ally that contributes financially to Islamic schools and sells Pakistani oil at favorable rates, are deeply embarrassing to the Saudi royal family, diplomats and Pakistani officials said.

In an interview in Tuesday’s issue of the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Mr. Sharif said that he would not meet with General Musharraf in Saudi Arabia. In the interview, Mr. Sharif said that he wanted emergency rule lifted before he would return. Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Mr. Sharif’s party, said that General Musharraf would be trying to dissuade the Saudis from releasing Mr. Sharif.

“From the Saudi point of view, Benazir Bhutto is here, but Sharif is not allowed,” Mr. Iqbal said. “By having him in Saudi Arabia, they become involved in party politics here, and they don’t like that.”

In his autobiography, “In The Line of Fire,” General Musharraf described how he had arranged a deal with Mr. Sharif in 1990 in which criminal charges against the former prime minister were dropped on the condition that he agreed to go to Saudi Arabia for 10 years and remain out of politics.

Rasheed Abou-Alsamh contributed reporting from Jidda, Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan's Bhutto meets US envoy after talks plea


KARACHI November 19, 2007: Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto met the top US diplomat in Pakistan on Monday after Washington called for a resumption of power-sharing talks with President Pervez Musharraf.

Ambassador Anne Patterson travelled to Bhutto's stronghold in the southern port city of Karachi for talks at her residence.

Patterson also visited the offices of a leading private news channel that was shut down at the weekend by the government to express her concern at the move, officials said.

The flurry of activity came after Bhutto spoke late Friday with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte during his weekend visit here to try to defuse the crisis over Musharraf's state of emergency.

Before he left Sunday, he urged Musharraf to end emergency rule and resume talks with Bhutto, who had last week ruled out further contacts.

Patterson told reporters as she left that she was meeting Bhutto and other political leaders to press for free, fair and transparent elections.

"The United States is interested in the reconciliation of all the moderate political elements," she said.

"I am here to assure her and all others that we will do everything possible to ensure that the election takes place."

Musharraf's government said earlier Monday that he had recommended setting January 8 as the date for long-promised general elections.

Bhutto and Musharraf had been in power-sharing talks before the November 3 imposition of emergency rule, with the United States eyeing an alliance of the two moderate, pro-Western figures as a bulwark against Islamic militancy.

Last week Bhutto said those talks were over and pledged never to work with Musharraf in government, but she pointedly declined to repeat those comments when interview Sunday by CNN after Negroponte's departure.

"Let's stop a moment and see whether he first responds to Washington," she said, referring to Musharraf.

Nor did she repeat them Monday following Patterson's visit.

"I mentioned our concern about the credibility of the election process and asked for the steps that should be taken to ensure free, fair and transparent elections," she told reporters.

"Elections are essential for democracy but should be held in a transparent and impartial way."

Patterson also visited Geo television's studios in Karachi, two days after the station and another private news channel were closed down by authorities, the station and US officials said.

"She went in person and expressed great concern over the situation. She said that it is not only an issue of free speech but also about economic punishment," US embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton said.

Mir Ibrahim, a senior Geo executive, said the government had also shut down Geo's entertainment and sports channels beaming out of Dubai in an apparent punitive measure.

"The US ambassador visited our office in Karachi. She expressed deep concerns about the staff and their financial well-being," Ibrahim told AFP.

He said Patterson had "expressed solidarity and that she was particularly concerned why Geo was targeted."

Fading hopes for the ‘disappeared’


Monday, November 19, 2007: The disbandment of the full-bench of the Supreme Court, hearing the case of about 100 ‘disappeared’ people, and initial indications of a changed tone and tenor from the apex court, come as a blow to the families of victims of enforced disappearances. Till early November, when emergency was slapped on the country, the families of these persons had had reason to hope they would soon be freed. The tough stance adopted by the court, its warnings to top intelligence agencies and its harsh words to government officials, had raised the possibility of more people emerging from the secret places of detention where they continue to be held, sometimes for years. Indeed, largely as a result of the active role adopted by the court, at least 99 secretly detained persons, who featured on a list of 198 ‘disappeared’ people put before the court by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) early this year, in a petition seeking their release, had been set free, and the whereabouts of several others uncovered.

Investigations by the court, and evidence from accounts given by those released, also led the bench to conclude that these persons were in the hands of intelligence agencies. It is unfortunate that rather than utilizing these findings to restrict, or at least regulate, the working of intelligence agencies, the regime has instead enacted laws, such as recent amendments in the Army Act, which give further protection to these agencies. Previously too, President Musharraf had insisted that the ‘missing’ people had in fact themselves ventured away from their homes for ‘jihad’. This conclusion ignores reality. The fact is that the largest number among the ‘disappeared’ are young Baloch men, known as belonging to progressive, indeed secular, schools of thought. Others on the list are prominent Sindhi writers or poets, again known to be at least as fervently opposed to religious extremism as the president himself.

Sadly, a few seem to have been victimized simply because of a personal issue pitching them against intelligence personnel, and a large number, according to testimonies they have provided to the court, have suffered severe torture while in custody. For some, this has brought lasting physical and psychological damage. It is unfortunate that rather than taking up the issue of such persons, and indeed the wider matter of human rights abuses committed by state agencies, the regime would prefer such matters to be buried and hidden away. Already, Pakistan’s name figures on the lists of countries where enforced disappearances are an issue, and Amnesty International, among other groups, has campaigned extensively to draw attention to their plight. All well-wishers of Pakistan would surely wish that the country’s name could be removed from this category of countries. This can happen only if the existence of human-rights abuses is squarely acknowledged and faced up to, so these problems can be resolved. Denying that these are an issue at all, or wreaking wrath on all those who deign to take up the matter, including the courts, can, in the longer run, solve nothing at all.

PPP files reference against former PM Shaukat Aziz, Ch. Shujat, Senator Mushahid Syed and former Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani


Islamabad, 19 November 2007: Pakistan Peoples Party has filed a reference with the National Accountability Bureau against former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, President Pakistan Muslim League(Q), Ch. Shujaat Hussain, Secretary General PML(Q) Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and former Minister Information Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani for misappropriating huge amounts belonging to the national exchequer and thereby causing a colossal loss to the government of Pakistan by way of corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of powers.

The reference was filed by Ch. Mohammad Aslam Advocate on behalf of the Pakistan Party.

The reference reads, “The Respondents who are deadly against the Pakistan Peoples Party & it’s Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, have been trying their level best to malign the party with a view to keep the party and it’s leadership away from the people of Pakistan right from the day, they assumed the posts in the Muslim League (Q)/ Government of Pakistan and they have not hesitated from using illegal, unethical, unconstitutional and unprecedented means and ways even in this regard. In connection with the filthy campaign launched by the respondents against the symbol of democracy Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Chairperson PPP and her popular party which rules the hearts of millions of people of Pakistan, the respondents got a highly objectionable, derogatory, insulting, damaging and baseless proclamation published in the daily The News, The Daily Jang, The Daily Nwa-i-Waqt, daily Waqt, Daily The Nation, Daily Ausaf and Daily Jinnah vide publications dated 14th & 15th of November 2007 (Copies attached herewith) at the expense of Government of Pakistan which amounts to misuse of powers, misappropriation of government funds and an illegal act, regarding the government funds entrusted to the Respondent No. 1 who in connivance with the other respondents committed an offence punishable Under the NA Ordinance 1999.”

The reference reads, “Based on the above facts and grounds respondents have shown wilful indulgence in misusing their power and corrupt practices under Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance. They are liable for the punishment under Section 10 of the NAB Ordinance 1999.

“It is therefore requested that the orders may kindly be passed for investigation into the matters set out herein above and a reference against the respondents for violating the provisions of Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance 1999 punishable under Section 10 of the Ordinance be initiated in competent court of law.” The reference prays.

Pakistan caretaker PM vows to improve army capabilities

 

Islamabad, Nov 17 - Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro said Saturday the government would continue to extend all necessary support to enhance and improve the capabilities of the armed forces to meet the defence needs of the country.The prime minister was talking to the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Tariq Majeed, who called on him at the Prime Minister Secretariat, reports Online news agency.Soomro said Pakistan is a peace loving country and does not harbour aggressive designs against any country. Nevertheless, peace is achieved through strength and not weakness.He also said every Pakistani is proud of the role played by the armed forces in maintaining internal and external security, particularly their role during earthquake and the recent floods in Sindh and Balochistan.Gen. Majeed updated the caretaker prime minister on the modernisation and upgradation projects undertaken by the army to increase its defence preparedness.

Pakistan Rejects Calls to End Emergency
By PAUL HAVEN


November 18, 2007: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government dismissed a last-ditch U.S. call to end emergency rule, leaving the Bush administration with limited options Sunday in steering its nuclear-armed ally back toward democracy.

Pakistan said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte brought no new proposals on a make-or-break visit, and received no assurances after urging Musharraf to restore the constitution and free thousands of political opponents.

"This is nothing new," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told The Associated Press. "The U.S. has been saying this for many days. He (Negroponte) has said that same thing. He has reiterated it."

Locked in a battle with increasingly powerful Islamist militants, Pakistan is seen as a key front in the war on terror. U.S. officials are clearly fearful that the emergency rule imposed more than two weeks ago could lead to a potentially destabilizing round of political turmoil.

In an early morning news conference before departing Pakistan, Negroponte said he hoped that the president listened to his appeal to end a crackdown on opponents before legislative elections scheduled for January.

"I urged the government to stop such actions, lift the state of emergency and release all political detainees," Negroponte told reporters at the U.S. Embassy. "Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections."

But Musharraf has appeared intent on setting his own pace despite warnings from Washington, which has been hesitant to match criticism with actions such as cutting military aid.

Militant gains have raised U.S. concerns about Pakistan's ability to combat militancy and flush out remnants of al-Qaida and the Taliban believed to be sheltering in the country's rugged northwestern tribal areas.

Pakistani army helicopter gunships strafed militant positions in the northwest on Sunday, hitting a valley where fighters loyal to a pro-Taliban cleric have been battling security forces for months, the army said.

Soldiers also fired artillery and mortar shells at militants in Swat, inflicting "many casualties," the army said. It did not offer any specific casualty figures.

Fighting in Swat, a former tourist destination about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad, has turned parts of the region into a no-go zone for journalists, and the army claims could not be independently verified. The rebels could not be reached comment.

Fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a rebel cleric who wants to impose Islamic rule, have steadily advanced down the Swat valley since July, taking over towns and driving back government forces.

On Saturday, a top general said 15,000 troops were massed for a major offensive against the insurgents, and the military said that between 35 and 40 rebels had been killed in attacks by army helicopter gunships a day earlier, bringing the total number of rebels killed in the past week to more than 100.

Elsewhere in the northwest, rival Sunni and Shiite Muslims battled Sunday in a town where three days of sectarian violence has left 91 people dead, officials said.

Both sides fired mortars and other heavy weapons at each other in the town of Parachinar late Saturday and early Sunday, targeting residential areas and hitting mosques, an intelligence official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from two Sunni neighborhoods in the town early Sunday, the official said.

In a bid to quell the violence, the military said it was deploying an unspecified number of soldiers and members and Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary paramilitary force to Parachinar.

Musharraf has insisted he would only lift the emergency if the national security situation improved, and strongly hinted that such a move was unlikely before parliamentary elections scheduled to be held by Jan. 9. The opposition has called that position preposterous, saying a free and fair vote could never be held while thousands of opponents were behind bars and political parties were denied the right to assemble.

Sadiq insisted the government was taking all necessary steps to hold a fair election.

Despite Musharraf's apparent intransigence, Negroponte would not characterize his trip as a failure.

"In diplomacy, as you know, we don't get instant replies when we have these kinds of dialogue," he said. "I'm sure the president is seriously considering the exchange we had."

Senior Bush Administration officials have said publicly that they have no plans to cut off the billions of dollars in military aid that Pakistan receives each year.

Musharraf has said he would step down as army chief by the end of the month, but has insisted that he will serve out a five-year term as civilian president. He won the extra term in an October vote in parliament. The Supreme Court was set to rule on whether the vote was constitutional when Musharraf declared the emergency on Nov. 3, effectively purging the court. In addition, some 2,500 opponents have been jailed and independent TV stations taken off the air.

Musharraf has defended the moves, saying they are necessary as his forces struggle to combat an increasingly virulent Islamic insurgency. But opponents note that the vast majority of those targeted in the crackdown have been pro-Western moderates, human rights activists, lawyers and journalists.

Negroponte met for more than two hours Saturday with Musharraf and Pakistan's deputy army commander, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, as well as other leaders. He also spoke by phone with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan last month hoping to work out a power-sharing deal with Musharraf but has ended up becoming one of the leading voices calling for his resignation.

Negroponte urged the two on Sunday to restart talks and ease "the atmosphere of brinkmanship and political confrontation."

"If steps were taken by both sides to move back toward the kind of reconciliation discussions they were having recently, we think that would be very positive and could help improve the political environment," he said.

Bhutto told CNN's "Late Edition" that: "I believe Mr. Negroponte did the right thing in asking General Musharraf to lift the gags on the media, to release the thousands of opposition and human rights leaders, as well as to retire as chief of army staff ... We just wonder how we can have fair elections when so many people are under arrest and the media is gagged."

Though measured in his comments, Negroponte expressed some impatience with Musharraf, saying he hoped to see more steps toward democracy soon. "There remain some other issues that are yet to be considered, or yet to be undertaken," he said, without going into detail.

Associated Press reporters Matthew Rosenberg and Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

PPP workers and leaders sent to jail

 

Islamabad, 18 November 2007: The arrested leaders, office bearers and workers of Pakistan Peoples Party were brought hand cuffed before duty magistrate Rawalpindi. These included former Senator Malik Hakmeen, Atif Kiyani, Rashid Nasim Abbasi, Muhammad Anwer, Jaffer Shah, Babu Idrees, Malik Sher Ahmed, Ashfaq Kazi, Riasat Abbasi and Gulfraz Awan.

Afterwards, they were sent to Adiyala Jail. Earlier PPPP Secretary General Raja Pervez Ashraf, Zammurad Khan and Sardar Shoaib Mumtaz were released. These PPP workers and leaders were arrested on Saturday while protesting against the imposition of Martial Law in the country.

In NWFP, the PPP workers, leaders and office bearers arrested on 9th and 10th November have been kept in Dera Ismail Khan and Haripur jails.

They include Rahim Dad Khan, Arbab Alamgir, Fareed Toofan, Israr Khan, Behramand Tangi, Sarmad Khan, Attaullah Khan and dozens other.

PPP leaders in Faisalabad have been charged under 16 MPO and sent to district jail. These include Raja Riaz, Rana Aftab Khan, Jahanzeb Gill, Zafar Iqbal and Bashir Ahmed.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns murder of Hayatullah’s wife
Demands probe and arrest of killers


Islamabad November 18, 2007: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condemned the brutal murder of the wife of tribal journalist Hayatullah and demanded a thorough probe into the matter and arrest of the culprits involved.

The wife of Hayatullah was killed in a bomb attack on her house in Mir Ali in North Waziristan late last night.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that she was shocked and grieved to learn about the gruesome murder of the widow of a young and promising journalist who himself had been slain last year by unknown assailants.

Mrs Hayatullah has been vigorously pursuing the killers of her husband and had complained of receiving threatening calls warning her against chasing her husband’s murderers.

Only an impartial and judicial probe can reveal the bloodstained hands behind the crime, Mohtarma Bhutto said.

Last year her husband the 29-year-old journalist, who was abducted on December 5 2005 while investigating the death of an Al Qaeda operative in the tribal areas, was found dead on 17 June 2006. He was handcuffed and had been shot in the back of the head.

A few months later his brother was killed under mysterious circumstances.

The family members of tribal journalist Hayatullah Khan alleged that state agencies were involved in his murder.

She also prayed for eternal peace for the soul of Mrs. Hayatullah and solace to the members of the bereaved family.

Meanwhile Mohtarma Bhutto has also condemned the disappearance of journalist Shoaib Bhutta and demanded his early release. The family of Shoaib Bhutta has alleged that he was whisked away by some men in plain clothes from his office in Islamabad and taken to an unknown place.

The former Prime Minister said that the mysterious disappearances in the country had increased alarmingly and called for bringing the agencies under the ambit of law. She also called for the immediate release of Shoaib Bhutta.

Pakistan’s Collapse, Our Problem
New York Times
By FREDERICK W. KAGAN and MICHAEL O’HANLON


November 18, 2007, Washington: AS the government of Pakistan totters, we must face a fact: the United States simply could not stand by as a nuclear-armed Pakistan descended into the abyss. Nor would it be strategically prudent to withdraw our forces from an improving situation in Iraq to cope with a deteriorating one in Pakistan. We need to think — now — about our feasible military options in Pakistan, should it really come to that.

We do not intend to be fear mongers. Pakistan’s officer corps and ruling elites remain largely moderate and more interested in building a strong, modern state than in exporting terrorism or nuclear weapons to the highest bidder. But then again, Americans felt similarly about the shah’s regime in Iran until it was too late.

Moreover, Pakistan’s intelligence services contain enough sympathizers and supporters of the Afghan Taliban, and enough nationalists bent on seizing the disputed province of Kashmir from India, that there are grounds for real worries.

The most likely possible dangers are these: a complete collapse of Pakistani government rule that allows an extreme Islamist movement to fill the vacuum; a total loss of federal control over outlying provinces, which splinter along ethnic and tribal lines; or a struggle within the Pakistani military in which the minority sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda try to establish Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

All possible military initiatives to avoid those possibilities are daunting. With 160 million people, Pakistan is more than five times the size of Iraq. It would take a long time to move large numbers of American forces halfway across the world. And unless we had precise information about the location of all of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and materials, we could not rely on bombing or using Special Forces to destroy them.

The task of stabilizing a collapsed Pakistan is beyond the means of the United States and its allies. Rule-of-thumb estimates suggest that a force of more than a million troops would be required for a country of this size. Thus, if we have any hope of success, we would have to act before a complete government collapse, and we would need the cooperation of moderate Pakistani forces.

One possible plan would be a Special Forces operation with the limited goal of preventing Pakistan’s nuclear materials and warheads from getting into the wrong hands. Given the degree to which Pakistani nationalists cherish these assets, it is unlikely the United States would get permission to destroy them. Somehow, American forces would have to team with Pakistanis to secure critical sites and possibly to move the material to a safer place.

For the United States, the safest bet would be shipping the material to someplace like New Mexico; but even pro-American Pakistanis would be unlikely to cooperate. More likely, we would have to settle for establishing a remote redoubt within Pakistan, with the nuclear technology guarded by elite Pakistani forces backed up (and watched over) by crack international troops. It is realistic to think that such a mission might be undertaken within days of a decision to act. The price for rapid action and secrecy, however, would probably be a very small international coalition.

A second, broader option would involve supporting the core of the Pakistani armed forces as they sought to hold the country together in the face of an ineffective government, seceding border regions and Al Qaeda and Taliban assassination attempts against the leadership. This would require a sizable combat force — not only from the United States, but ideally also other Western powers and moderate Muslim nations.

Even if we were not so committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Western powers would need months to get the troops there. Fortunately, given the longstanding effectiveness of Pakistan’s security forces, any process of state decline probably would be gradual, giving us the time to act.

So, if we got a large number of troops into the country, what would they do? The most likely directive would be to help Pakistan’s military and security forces hold the country’s center — primarily the region around the capital, Islamabad, and the populous areas like Punjab Province to its south.

We would also have to be wary of internecine warfare within the Pakistani security forces. Pro-American moderates could well win a fight against extremist sympathizers on their own. But they might need help if splinter forces or radical Islamists took control of parts of the country containing crucial nuclear materials. The task of retaking any such regions and reclaiming custody of any nuclear weapons would be a priority for our troops.

If a holding operation in the nation’s center was successful, we would probably then seek to establish order in the parts of Pakistan where extremists operate. Beyond propping up the state, this would benefit American efforts in Afghanistan by depriving terrorists of the sanctuaries they have long enjoyed in Pakistan’s tribal and frontier regions.

The great paradox of the post-cold war world is that we are both safer, day to day, and in greater peril than before. There was a time when volatility in places like Pakistan was mostly a humanitarian worry; today it is as much a threat to our basic security as Soviet tanks once were. We must be militarily and diplomatically prepared to keep ourselves safe in such a world. Pakistan may be the next big test.

Frederick W. Kagan is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Michael O’Hanlon is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Musharraf Refuses to Say When Emergency Will End


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 18 — Continuing to defy the United States, Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declined to tell a senior American envoy on Saturday when he would lift a two-week-old state of emergency, Pakistani and Western officials said.

In a two-hour meeting, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte urged the president to end the emergency. But General Musharraf said he would do so when security improved in the country, the officials said. Mr. Negroponte is the United States’ second highest ranking diplomat.

“The president said, ‘I have noted your concerns and I think I will address all of these,’ ” a close aide to General Musharraf said.

In a news conference before he left Pakistan on Sunday, Mr. Negroponte said it would take time to determine whether the American message had an impact.

“In diplomacy, as you know, we don’t get instant replies,” he said. “I’m sure the president is seriously considering the exchange we had.”

The state of emergency remains a major embarrassment for the Bush administration, which has given more than $10 billion in aid to General Musharraf’s government since 2001 and declared him a valued ally. Ten days ago, President Bush personally telephoned General Musharraf and asked him to end the state of emergency, with no result.

The Bush administration has also pushed for General Musharraf, who is army chief as well as president, to resign from his military post. The general has said he will, but not until the Supreme Court certifies his re-election last month to a five-year term as president, which opposition groups say was illegal.

In addition to meeting with General Musharraf, Mr. Negroponte met twice with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the deputy commander of Pakistan’s army and General Musharraf’s designated successor to head the army. The time and attention paid to General Kayani, a pro-Western moderate, seemed to signal American support for him.

Mr. Negroponte met with General Kayani for an hour on Saturday morning. Then, Mr. Negroponte had a two-hour dinner with General Kayani and Tariq Aziz, a close aide to General Musharraf. General Kayani is widely believed to want to remove the military from politics and to focus on securing the country.

On Nov. 3, General Musharraf declared emergency rule, blacked out independent news stations and began a crackdown that led to the arrest of an estimated 2,500 opposition politicians, lawyers and human rights activists. The move, which General Musharraf has said is an effort to curb terrorism, is widely seen by Pakistanis as an effort by the increasingly unpopular ruler to cling to power.

Mr. Negroponte said he had urged the Pakistani leader to end the emergency, release all political prisoners, resign from his post as army chief and hold free and fair elections in January.

“Emergency rule is not compatible with free and fair elections,” Mr. Negroponte said at the news conference. “The people of Pakistan deserve the opportunity to choose their leaders.”

In a sign of General Musharraf’s growing isolation, the secretary general of the main political party backing him called Saturday for an end to the emergency. The leader, Mushahid Hussain, said that ending the state of emergency would cause “less tension, less political conflict and less polarization.”

“The national interest would be better served,” Mr. Hussain said in an interview with Dawn News, a Pakistani television channel. “The emergency has been having a very negative impact, both at home and abroad.”

A poll in late August and early September by the International Republican Institute, a Washington-based group that conducts democratic training programs overseas, found that 70 percent of Pakistanis supported General Musharraf”s immediate resignation. His popularity is believed to have decreased further since the declaration on Nov. 3.

Western diplomats say they believe that Pakistan’s army still supports General Musharraf, but that there is unease with his leadership. With the army facing a growing insurgency from Islamic militants in the northwest, generals are eager to have an army chief who is focused solely on military matters, they said.

Twice in Pakistan’s history, senior generals have asked military rulers to resign when their conduct was deemed damaging to the army. So far, no signs have emerged that General Kayani or other leaders have asked General Musharraf to step aside.

Mr. Negroponte held a series of meetings that seemed intended to revive an alliance between General Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, an opposition politician and former prime minister.

On Friday, Mr. Negroponte telephoned Ms. Bhutto. He then met Mr. Aziz, the Musharraf aide who served as a back-channel negotiator in an effort to broker a deal between the president and Ms. Bhutto.

American officials hoped that Ms. Bhutto’s presumed popularity in Pakistan would bolster General Musharraf’s low standing. The state of emergency decree seems to have scuttled any deal, for now.

European diplomats and Pakistani analysts have long questioned the viability of an American-engineered Bhutto-Musharraf alliance. Any government they form would be viewed as a United States puppet, they said, and be unpopular.

In the September opinion survey, only 28 percent of Pakistanis polled named Ms. Bhutto as the best person to handle the problems facing Pakistan, out of seven choices. Seventeen percent named General Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister who is in exile in Saudi Arabia and refuses to negotiate with General Musharraf, received the highest marks, with 36 percent support.

The poll of about 4,000 Pakistanis had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Also on Saturday, hundreds of Pakistani journalists in three cities protested the president’s continuing crackdown on the media.

In the days before Mr. Negroponte’s arrival, the government allowed several independent news stations to resume broadcasting on cable television, but they operate under a strict new law that carries a sentence of up to three years in jail for journalists who “ridicule” the president.

Carlotta Gall contributed reporting from Islamabad.

Bush Failed to See Musharraf’s Faults, Critics Contend

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG



WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — In the six years since Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, joined President Bush in the fight against Al Qaeda, it has been an unlikely partnership: a president intent on promoting democracy and a military commander who seized power in a bloodless coup.

Mr. Bush has repeatedly called Gen. Musharraf “a friend.” In 2003, the president invited the general to Camp David, a presidential perk reserved for the closest of allies. Last year, at the general’s insistence, Mr. Bush risked a trip to Pakistan, jangling the nerves of the Secret Service by spending the night in the country presumed to be home to Osama bin Laden.

But now that the general has defied the White House, suspending Pakistan’s Constitution and imposing emergency rule, old tensions are flaring anew. Mr. Bush is backing away from the leader he once called a man of “courage and vision,” and critics are asking whether the president misread his Pakistani counterpart.

They said Mr. Bush — an ardent believer in personal diplomacy, who once remarked that he had looked into the eyes of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and had gotten “a sense of his soul” — was taken in by the general, with his fluent English and his promises to hold elections and relinquish military power. They said Mr. Bush looked at General Musharraf and saw a democratic reformer when he should have seen a dictator instead.

“He didn’t ask the hard questions, and frankly, neither did the people working for him,” said Husain Haqqani, an expert on Pakistan at Boston University who has advised two previous Pakistani prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. “They bought the P.R. image of Musharraf as the reasonable general. Bush bought the line — hook, line and sinker.”

White House aides said Mr. Bush is clear-eyed about his pact with the general, a pact that was sealed on a Saturday evening in November 2001, over an intimate dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. They had just met face-to-face for the first time, during a meeting of the United Nations, and, despite past tensions between their countries, an air of cozy familiarity filled the room.

“It was a lovely dinner, very sociable,” said Wendy J. Chamberlin, the former ambassador to Pakistan, who attended. “I wasn’t nervous, because I knew Musharraf and I knew how charming he is, and I could see that they would get along fine. And besides, the mood was exuberant. Musharraf was like a conquering hero, Musharraf had done the right thing. He was the man of the day.”

Today, the general is hardly the man of the day. On Saturday, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte — who was the host at the Waldorf dinner as the ambassador to the United Nations then — met with General Musharraf and pushed him to end Pakistan’s state of emergency. Back in Washington, Mr. Bush was close-mouthed, saying little about the man he once praised as “a courageous leader and friend of the United States.”

The two have spoken just once, on Nov. 7 by telephone, in the two weeks since General Musharraf imposed de facto military rule. Mr. Bush, who initiated the call, termed it “a very frank discussion” — Washington code for a pointed airing of differences.

“My message was very, very plain, very easy to understand,” the president said. “And that is: the United States wants you to have elections as scheduled and take your uniform off.”

The “Bush-Mush relationship,” as some American scholars call it, has always been complicated, more a bond of convenience than a genuine friendship, some experts said. When he was running for office in 2000, Mr. Bush didn’t even know General Musharraf’s name; he couldn’t identify the leader of Pakistan for a reporter’s pop quiz during an interview that was widely replayed on late-night television.

Relations between the nations had been tense over Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions even before Mr. Bush took office, and American aid to Pakistan had been all but cut off. But Sept. 11 threw the United States and Pakistan together. Mr. Bush demanded General Musharraf’s allegiance in pursuing Al Qaeda — and got it. General Musharraf demanded military aid that could help him maintain power — and got it.

Experts in United States-Pakistan relations said General Musharraf has played the union masterfully, by convincing Mr. Bush that he alone can keep Pakistan stable. Kamran Bokhari, an analyst for Stratfor, a private intelligence company, who met with General Musharraf in January, said the general viewed Mr. Bush with some condescension.

“Musharraf thinks that Bush has certain weaknesses that can be manipulated,” Mr. Bokhari said, adding, “I would say that President Musharraf doesn’t think highly of President Bush, but his interests force him to do business with the U.S. president.”

In his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire,” General Musharraf writes glowingly of the trust Mr. Bush placed in him. But he passed up a chance to praise Mr. Bush on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where he was promoting the book. Mr. Stewart asked who would win a hypothetical contest for mayor of Karachi, Mr. Bush or Mr. bin Laden.

“I think they’ll both lose miserably,” the general replied.

Mr. Bush, by contrast, was “favorably impressed” with General Musharraf, according to Ari Fleischer, the president’s former press secretary. Mr. Fleischer recounted one session where the general had been warned in advance not to ask the president for F-16 fighter jets, because the answer would be no. “Musharraf brought it up anyway,” Mr. Fleischer said, “and Bush told him the answer is no. But I think Bush liked the fact that he does what he wants to do, and says what’s on his mind.”

Their ties have not always helped General Musharraf; critics in Pakistan have accused him of being a tool of the United States, and derisively call him “Busharraf.” In Washington, Mr. Bush has faced criticism as well, from those who say he should have been tougher on General Musharraf, especially with top Al Qaeda operatives like Osama bin Laden still on the loose.

Richard C. Holbrooke, the ambassador to the United Nations under President Clinton, said one of Mr. Bush’s biggest mistakes was not pressing General Musharraf to turn over A. Q. Khan, the former chief of Pakistan’s nuclear program, to American interrogators.

“I don’t see that the Bush administration was wrong in 2001 to put its chips on Musharraf, who promised democracy and who promised to take off his uniform, but something has gone very badly wrong,” Mr. Holbrooke said, adding, “The question is, is this because Bush was soft on Musharraf the way he was soft on Putin?”

As the state of emergency drags on, the administration has begun thinking about alternatives to General Musharraf, and is reaching out to generals who might replace him. Mr. Haqqani, the Boston University professor, and Ms. Chamberlin, the former ambassador, said the effort was long overdue.

Mr. Haqqani has been cautioning the administration for years not to “personalize this relationship,” while Ms. Chamberlin said it is a mistake to view General Musharraf as indispensable. “Our relationship with the army and with the people of Pakistan is indispensable,” she said, “but it is not based on one man.”

Yet, having declared General Musharraf a friend and an ally, Mr. Bush is not ready to give up on him. The president places a high premium on loyalty; when top aides like Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary, and Alberto R. Gonzales, the former attorney general, disappointed him, he was reluctant to cut them loose. So it is with General Musharraf.

“President Musharraf made a decision the president didn’t agree with,” said Dana Perino, the White House press secretary. “We are disappointed with it, but the president doesn’t want to pre-emptively throw up his hands. He wants to help him get back on track.”

Arrest of PPP workers and leaders continues


Islamabad, 17 November 2007: The arrest, torture and harassment of Pakistan Peoples Party workers continue all over the country. From Karachi to Khyber PPP workers continued their protest against imposition of Martial Law by General Musharraf.

In Khairpur Mirs, PPP candidate from PS-30 and President Bar Association Khairpur, Syed Muhammad Bachal Shah Jillani was arrested along with over 200 PPP workers yesterday.

Today the Secretary General Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Raja Pervez Ashraf continued the long march for the restoration of democracy from Gujar Khan with a procession of thousands of PPP workers. A heavy contingent of police stopped the procession at Mandra toll plaza and police baton charged the protestors and arrested over seventy PPP workers including Raja Pervez Asharaf. The arrested were taken to civil lines police station, Rawalpindi.

The police also stopped another procession in Rawalpindi led by Zammurrad Khan, former Senator Malik Hakmeen and Atif Kiyani. Police used tear gas shelling and baton charged the procession causing injuries to dozens of PPP workers including women workers. Dozens of workers have been arrested including Zammurrad Khan, Malik Hakmeen Khan, Atif Kiyani, Jafar Hussain Shah, Sohaib Mumtaz, Rashid Nasim Abbasi, Babu Idrees, Malik Sher Ahmed, Mohammad Anwer, Ashfaq Ahmed Kazi and Riasat Abbas. PPP women workers have also been arrested.

The PPP workers took out a procession in NWFP and blocked the Tourkhan – Afghanistan road for few hours. They were protesting against the imposition of Martial Law in the country by General Musharraf. Severaloffice bearers and PPP workers were arrested including President PPP Khyber Agency, Farhad Shabab Afridi, President PPP FATA, Malik Waris Khan Afridi, PPP General Secretary FATA Mirza Ahmed Jihadi, PPP Information Secretary FATA, Ishrat Shinwari, Presidnet Muhammad Agency, Dr. Farooq, Khiyali Khan, President PPP Landi Kotal Ata Mohammad Shinwari, President PYO Khyber Agency Fawad Afridi, President PSF FATA Saiful Islam, Mannan Afridi and Chief Coordinator PPP Women Wing FATA Ms. Ayesha Gulalay.

All Pakistan Minority Alliance also took out procession in Karachi against imposition of Martial Law and house arresting Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in Lahore. The APMA workers were detained at defense police station and cases were registered against them under Section 7 of Anti-Terrorist Act, 16 MPO, 148/188 and 290/147.

Despite the arrests, intimidation, registration of cases, harassment and victimization, the PPP workers reiterated their resolve to continue their struggle for restoration of democracy under the fearless leadership of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Dispatches from sub-jail
By Sherry Rehman


November 16, 2007: When an elephant starts dying, it thrashes around for its survival. The danger is that if it takes too long, it damages the very soil it feeds on. Unfortunately for Pakistan, the regime in power today is doing more than just collateral damage as it thrashes about blindly to save itself.

In Islamabad, on November 10th, the whole world saw how the police barricaded the PPP Chairperson, Mohtarma Bhutto and a few parliamentarians into her home. All of Islamabad was paralysed and the whole of Rawalpindi blocked. The PPP workers at Liaqat Bagh were arrested in hordes and the area sealed off.

For those who have seen Pakistan 's many political convulsions, it felt like history was repeating itself. The regime clearly fears the pulling power of the PPP as once again, the party openly took on a martial law regime in a cloud of teargas, mass arrests, and clashes with police. The show of public strength on October 18th in Karachi had caused many sleepless nights in the establishment's ranks. The threat of a million people waving flags from Islamabad to Laiqat Bagh, Rawalpindi was enough to rock the sinking ship.

Yet everyone knew that after the Karachi welcome, the second real challenge to the tottering regime would come from the heart of the Punjab. The prospect of a PPP Long March, led by a defiant Ms Bhutto from Lahore to Islamabad via a long route, over three days, was again too much for the regime to stomach without further blundering. On the night of November 12th, before we could say the words " midnight knock", right after Ms Bhutto met with a group of senior editors in Lahore at Senator Latif Khosa's house, the gate slammed shut on all of us inside the house.

All those outside had remarked on the huge police contingent amassing around the Defence Road bungalow, and by midnight when the last visitors had left, the barbed wire started rolling out by the kilometre. Massive trucks filled with wet sand positioned themselves in front of all the barricades to prevent the PPP skirmishes which occurred in Islamabad, where a handful of parliamentarians had managed to break the barbed wire mesh and battle past the first barricades to get Ms Bhutto out of the house near the press, who were waiting near the turning. But in Lahore, by 12.30 am, two Armoured Personnel Carriers, like mini-tanks, positioned themselves in front of the house. The side walls were encircled and the house at the back filled with more police.

We stayed up most of the night in illegal detention, while the morning saw a notice slapped on the padlocked gate. The notice was a Maintenance of Public Order charge against Ms Bhutto, putting her under house arrest for seven days. Even though the house was declared a sub-jail, the rest of us on the inside were illegally detained.

Before the authorities could swoop down on the rest of this battle-hardened party, PPP Punjab President, Shah Mahmoud Qureshi left with over 200 vehicles joining him along the way to lead the Long March from Ferozepur Road to Okara. This group took hundreds of people along the way, joined later by Qasim Zia and Makhdoom Yusuf Reza Gilani, which inflamed the regime that had grown used to arresting leaders and de-mobilising entire political parties. By the evening, Punjab crackled with the din of "Jeay Bhutto" slogans resounding from police vans rounding hundreds of PPP leaders and workers.

Back at the Khosa House, the gaggle of bristling paparazzi at the barricade was moved away as part of the media black-out policy the regime had adopted since November 3 2007. A journalist at the barricade rang to say that 4000 policemen were posted around the house, wondering why such a heavy contingent was needed to lock in one unarmed woman. I told him that the one woman whom they needed an army to detain, was the symbol of resistance to all that the Zia-ist establishment had plotted for.

He asked why was this group relevant today? What had they got to do with the state Pakistan was in now, where terrorists were on the rampage with impunity, while police and rangers ran around rounding up peaceful democrats? This group is relevant today because this was a nexus that had spent billions of rupees of slush money to create the IJI in 1990 against the PPP, and this was the group that had fuelled the Afghan jihad. They had a heavy investment in keeping the PPP out of power, and they would stop at little, including creating new leaders with no following to pose as alternatives. They were paranoid about a political party with real mass support and plans, to run the country without military hegemony. They preferred politicians who fast-tracked their careers via the intelligence agency route. This was the group that had been instrumental in sponsoring the Afghan Mujahideen, the Arab Al-Qaeda, and later the Pak-Afghan Taliban.

After scanning the work of experts on Pakistan's role in the Afghan jihad, and its own blowback in Pakistan, the journalist rang back to say that this was also the shadowy nexus that was now feeding key people in his profession to say that Ms Bhutto was insincere, and that her defiance, both at great personal and physical cost was part of a pantomime staged to pressure Musharraf. He added that he had reason to believe that this group had international links, and was powerful enough to shuffle one military dictator for another military ruler dressed up as a moderate in order to counter Bhutto.

His words were prescient. Sub-jail is not the same as suffering in a nasty jail, but it has its limitations. Access to amenities one takes for granted start drying up and newspapers have to be smuggled in. On November 14th, the small group with Ms Bhutto in Khosa House woke up to many newspapers carrying huge half-page advertisements plastering a forged letter written by Ms Benazir Bhutto to Peter Galbraith in which she was cast in an anti-state mould, appealing to the Americans and the Indians to lean on Pakistan to facilitate her return to power. Even in 1990, the Zia-ist combine that had the letter forged and planted all over the national press, was widely seen as a crudely put-together chapter of the dirty-tricks campaign that the Bhutto-bashers had been running since 1986. And here it was again, funded and sponsored by the same people who had probably sprung for the hit on Ms Bhutto's truck on October 19th, killing 158 people.

Political activists have now been thrown summarily in jails all over the country under terrorist cases. In Lahore as in Islamabad, women parliamentarians like Uzma Bokhari, Farzana Raja, Mehreen Raja and Fawzia Habib were dragged by the hair to be shoved into police lock-ups with no washroom facilities, left to sleep on freezing floors. Phone calls flooded our cell phones to report arrests all over the Punjab, with reports of the jails and lock-ups bursting with detainees shouting slogans.

Without missing a heartbeat, Sindh rose up with one voice to protest the internment of the PPP chairperson. Mass arrests followed virtually everywhere. Earlier on, Karachi had seen almost the entire Sindh leadership of the PPP arrested for peaceful marches. Now Larkana, Jacobabad, Matyari, Tando Mohammad Khan all saw laathi charges and police action where the protestors were tear-gassed ruthlessly. In Qambar Ali Khan, Thatta, Badin and Ranipur, women and students were violently dragged to armoured vans. All over the province, we heard of major arteries like the National Highway blocked in Dadu while the Hub River Road remained blocked by protesting citizens and the Qaidabad routes were choked off by angry students the whole day. In the NWFP too, police has swooped down on the PPP Frontier President Rahimdad Khan, and arrested him with the entire party executive of the province.

In Lahore, as the battle on the streets intensified with the state clashing with the PPP everywhere, Ms Bhutto demanded the end of General Musharraf's divisive and violent rule in Pakistan. "His promises mean little, as his goalposts keep changing," she said. People phoned in, excited by the prospect of an open challenge to a tottering regime. But this is not a matter to celebrate, a colleague rightly said. Pakistan does not need more chaos and instability.

Unfortunately, this is not a choice we made, but a responsibility thrust on the party. People are looking for leadership out of this crisis, and the PPP will not disappoint. Ms Bhutto is determined that the Long March to freedom will continue, in more ways than one. If not this week, then the next, or the next, the sound of our feet will drown the sound of the jackboots.

Sherry Rehman is Central Information Secretary of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Pakistan's One-Man Calamity
By Nawaz Sharif


Saturday, November 17, 2007 JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia: My country is in flames. There is no constitution. Judges have been sacked on a whim and arrested, political leaders locked up, television stations taken off the air. Human rights activists, lawyers and other members of civil society are bearing the brunt of a crackdown by a brutal regime. Extremism has assumed enormous and grave proportions.

All of this is the doing of one man: Pervez Musharraf. He first struck at the core of democracy on Oct. 12, 1999, when he dismissed my government at gunpoint. My government was chosen by the people of Pakistan in free and fair elections. But Musharraf so feared my popularity that he banished me from the country and won't allow me to return. After Pakistan's Supreme Court declared this year that I have a right to return, I flew into Islamabad in September. But Musharraf brazenly refused me admittance to my own country.

On Nov. 3, Musharraf struck again at democracy. He abrogated the constitution and declared a state of emergency. For Musharraf, the constitution is nothing but a piece of paper that can be crumpled and discarded. After the Supreme Court stood up to him early this year and attempted to restore the fundamental rights of the people, he dismissed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. Stung by the successful civil society movement that led to Chaudhry's reinstatement, Musharraf acted quickly after suspending the rule of law. The Supreme Court was considering Musharraf's eligibility to be elected president despite being the army chief, but before the court could rule, Musharraf dismissed the entire judiciary.

These are the wages of dictatorship. Democracy holds the key to resolving Pakistan's problems. Musharraf hopes that other nations will prefer his despotism to the anarchy he claims would erupt were he to leave office. This is a lie that America and other Western nations should not accept. Tyranny is never a substitute for freedom, and there is no substitute for democracy.

Musharraf's self-serving contention that a free vote would result in extremists coming to power is utterly flawed and intended to frighten the West. First, the people of

Pakistan should have the chance to elect people they trust. My party, the Pakistan Muslim League, and Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party enjoy tremendous support across the country. Both of these parties are more progressive and forward-looking than the general's ineffective autocracy.

Second, were there to be free and impartial elections, the world would see the rise of moderates in Pakistan. We are a moderate country. It is dictatorship that is fueling extremism. Return to the people their right to vote in free elections, and you will see the results. Musharraf and his men have turned their backs on freedom and put their lust for power over the good of the nation.

They are hoping that a state of emergency will continue their control and are ignoring the fundamental damage to Pakistan.

America has always been a friend of Pakistan. It is our strategic and natural ally. I remember the good relationship I shared with President Bill Clinton during my term in office. When Musharraf's misadventures in Kargil in 1999 brought us close to nuclear confrontation with India, I, in close consultation with Clinton, defused the situation. I remember President Clinton saying: "The world should thank Nawaz Sharif for averting a nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India."

Clinton refused to shake hands or be photographed with Musharraf when he visited Pakistan in 2000. People took that as a gesture from a friend who wished Pakistan well. By refusing to associate with a dictator, President Clinton essentially won the hearts of the Pakistani people. That was the policy that should have been pursued. That is the policy that should be pursued now. America should not alienate 160 million Pakistanis by supporting a dictator who prefers rifles to reason.

America must support the Pakistani nation -- not a single individual. America must also support the democratic process in Pakistan. The people of Pakistan are waiting for the powerful voice of America to be heard clearly by the enemies of freedom. The generals must go back to the barracks. The judiciary should be reinstated as it stood before the proclamation of emergency. There is no other way forward.

We are struggling for the restoration of genuine democracy in Pakistan. Our jails should be filled with criminals and law-breakers, not politicians and law-abiding lawyers. The army of Pakistan should be defending the liberty of the people at the direction of elected, civilian leaders, not usurping power and creating a police state. Musharraf is the problem, and he should quit -- both as army chief and as president.

Nawaz Sharif was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan. He is living in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Reverend Jessie Jackson telephones Mohtarma Bhutto
Expresses solidarity with efforts for restoration of democracy
Mohtarma Bhutto invites Reverend Jessie to visit Pakistan


Islamabad November 17, 2007: Reverend Jessie Jackson today telephoned Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and conveyed his support for the efforts aimed at restoration of democracy in Pakistan and to her struggle for the holding of free and fair elections in the country.

Reverend Jessie Jackson a distinguished leader of the Democratic Party leader is known for his outstanding humanitarian efforts in Syria Cuba Yugoslavia and Liberia.

He is known the world over for supporting democracy movement in South Africa when Mr Nelson Mandela was fighting apartheid and for saving countless lives.

The former Prime Minister appreciated his services for the cause of democracy and human rights throughout the world and thanked him for his support to the struggle for democracy in Pakistan.

She also invited him to also visit Pakistan. Jessie Jackson accepted the invitation and would be soon visiting Pakistan in a show of solidarity with the forces of democracy.

 

 

On Sunday, November 11, 2007, PPP, USA held a protest demonstration in New York, 65th Street and 5th Avenue (in front Pakistan Consulate) against emergency rule in Pakistan and arrest of political leaders and workers by dictator Gen. Musharraf's regime.


Some office bearers and members of PPP, USA who were present were: Dr. M. Hassan, President, PPP, USA (who lead the demonstration); Chaudhry Ijaz Farrukh, S.V.P, PPP, USA; Farasat Chaudhry, V.P, PPP, USA; Shafqat Tanweer, Gen. Sec., PPP, USA; Ch. Hafiz Kalooh, V.P, PPP, USA; Shoukat Bhutta, President, PPP, Tristate chapter; Khalid Awan; Masood Zikria, Additional Info. Sec, PPP, USA; Malik M. Iqbal Awan, President, NYC chapter; Malik Mushtaq Ahmad, Gen. Sec., PPP, NY chapter; Farooq Khwaja, Info. Sec, PPP, NY chapter; Munawar Alam, President, PPP, Pennsylvia chapter; Victor Gill, President Study Circle, PPP, USA; Rana Ramzan; Inam Abbasi; Abida Sitar; Shahid Comrade, General Sec. Pakistan Freedom Forum; Dr. Ghonbal; along with big number of PPP's supporters, sympathizers and democracy lovers.


The demonstrators were holding Pakistani flags and PPP flags. They were also holding placards and banners on which were written slogans against dictator Gen. Musharraf and his regime.
Some slogans were:


1.) Go Musharraf Go, No Musharraf No.
2.) Restoration of Democracy,
and end emergency rule immediately
3.) Uniform democracy: NO, NO.
4.) Bawardi Jamhuriat Ka khatima lazmi ha.
5.) Release all the political prisoners.
6.) Jeeway Jeeway, Bhutto Jeeway.

Also, PPP, USA passed a resolution in which they stated:
1.) Dictator Gen. Musharraf must resign.
2.) No more army general rule the country.
3.) Release all the political prisoners immediately.
4.) Military must go back to the barracks.
5.) Hold The Scheduled Elections on time.

It was a very succesful Demonstration.

Chaudhry Ijaz N. Farrukh
SVP./ SEC. INFO. PPP, USA

Long March protest
Two killed, several injured, countless arrested
Dispatches from sub-jail

By Sherry Rehman


November 16, 2007: When an elephant starts dying, it thrashes around for its survival. The danger is that if it takes too long, it damages the very soil it feeds on. Unfortunately for Pakistan, the regime in power today is doing more than just collateral damage as it thrashes about blindly to save itself.

In Islamabad, on November 10th, the whole world saw how the police barricaded the PPP Chairperson, Mohtarma Bhutto and a few parliamentarians into her home. All of Islamabad was paralysed and the whole of Rawalpindi blocked. The PPP workers at Liaqat Bagh were arrested in hordes and the area sealed off.

For those who have seen Pakistan 's many political convulsions, it felt like history was repeating itself. The regime clearly fears the pulling power of the PPP as once again, the party openly took on a martial law regime in a cloud of teargas, mass arrests, and clashes with police. The show of public strength on October 18th in Karachi had caused many sleepless nights in the establishment's ranks. The threat of a million people waving flags from Islamabad to Laiqat Bagh, Rawalpindi was enough to rock the sinking ship.

Yet everyone knew that after the Karachi welcome, the second real challenge to the tottering regime would come from the heart of the Punjab. The prospect of a PPP Long March, led by a defiant Ms Bhutto from Lahore to Islamabad via a long route, over three days, was again too much for the regime to stomach without further blundering. On the night of November 12th, before we could say the words " midnight knock", right after Ms Bhutto met with a group of senior editors in Lahore at Senator Latif Khosa's house, the gate slammed shut on all of us inside the house.

All those outside had remarked on the huge police contingent amassing around the Defence Road bungalow, and by midnight when the last visitors had left, the barbed wire started rolling out by the kilometre. Massive trucks filled with wet sand positioned themselves in front of all the barricades to prevent the PPP skirmishes which occurred in Islamabad, where a handful of parliamentarians had managed to break the barbed wire mesh and battle past the first barricades to get Ms Bhutto out of the house near the press, who were waiting near the turning. But in Lahore, by 12.30 am, two Armoured Personnel Carriers, like mini-tanks, positioned themselves in front of the house. The side walls were encircled and the house at the back filled with more police.

We stayed up most of the night in illegal detention, while the morning saw a notice slapped on the padlocked gate. The notice was a Maintenance of Public Order charge against Ms Bhutto, putting her under house arrest for seven days. Even though the house was declared a sub-jail, the rest of us on the inside were illegally detained.

Before the authorities could swoop down on the rest of this battle-hardened party, PPP Punjab President, Shah Mahmoud Qureshi left with over 200 vehicles joining him along the way to lead the Long March from Ferozepur Road to Okara. This group took hundreds of people along the way, joined later by Qasim Zia and Makhdoom Yusuf Reza Gilani, which inflamed the regime that had grown used to arresting leaders and de-mobilising entire political parties. By the evening, Punjab crackled with the din of "Jeay Bhutto" slogans resounding from police vans rounding hundreds of PPP leaders and workers.

Back at the Khosa House, the gaggle of bristling paparazzi at the barricade was moved away as part of the media black-out policy the regime had adopted since November 3 2007. A journalist at the barricade rang to say that 4000 policemen were posted around the house, wondering why such a heavy contingent was needed to lock in one unarmed woman. I told him that the one woman whom they needed an army to detain, was the symbol of resistance to all that the Zia-ist establishment had plotted for.

He asked why was this group relevant today? What had they got to do with the state Pakistan was in now, where terrorists were on the rampage with impunity, while police and rangers ran around rounding up peaceful democrats? This group is relevant today because this was a nexus that had spent billions of rupees of slush money to create the IJI in 1990 against the PPP, and this was the group that had fuelled the Afghan jihad. They had a heavy investment in keeping the PPP out of power, and they would stop at little, including creating new leaders with no following to pose as alternatives. They were paranoid about a political party with real mass support and plans, to run the country without military hegemony. They preferred politicians who fast-tracked their careers via the intelligence agency route. This was the group that had been instrumental in sponsoring the Afghan Mujahideen, the Arab Al-Qaeda, and later the Pak-Afghan Taliban.

After scanning the work of experts on Pakistan's role in the Afghan jihad, and its own blowback in Pakistan, the journalist rang back to say that this was also the shadowy nexus that was now feeding key people in his profession to say that Ms Bhutto was insincere, and that her defiance, both at great personal and physical cost was part of a pantomime staged to pressure Musharraf. He added that he had reason to believe that this group had international links, and was powerful enough to shuffle one military dictator for another military ruler dressed up as a moderate in order to counter Bhutto.

His words were prescient. Sub-jail is not the same as suffering in a nasty jail, but it has its limitations. Access to amenities one takes for granted start drying up and newspapers have to be smuggled in. On November 14th, the small group with Ms Bhutto in Khosa House woke up to many newspapers carrying huge half-page advertisements plastering a forged letter written by Ms Benazir Bhutto to Peter Galbraith in which she was cast in an anti-state mould, appealing to the Americans and the Indians to lean on Pakistan to facilitate her return to power. Even in 1990, the Zia-ist combine that had the letter forged and planted all over the national press, was widely seen as a crudely put-together chapter of the dirty-tricks campaign that the Bhutto-bashers had been running since 1986. And here it was again, funded and sponsored by the same people who had probably sprung for the hit on Ms Bhutto's truck on October 19th, killing 158 people.

Political activists have now been thrown summarily in jails all over the country under terrorist cases. In Lahore as in Islamabad, women parliamentarians like Uzma Bokhari, Farzana Raja, Mehreen Raja and Fawzia Habib were dragged by the hair to be shoved into police lock-ups with no washroom facilities, left to sleep on freezing floors. Phone calls flooded our cell phones to report arrests all over the Punjab, with reports of the jails and lock-ups bursting with detainees shouting slogans.

Without missing a heartbeat, Sindh rose up with one voice to protest the internment of the PPP chairperson. Mass arrests followed virtually everywhere. Earlier on, Karachi had seen almost the entire Sindh leadership of the PPP arrested for peaceful marches. Now Larkana, Jacobabad, Matyari, Tando Mohammad Khan all saw laathi charges and police action where the protestors were tear-gassed ruthlessly. In Qambar Ali Khan, Thatta, Badin and Ranipur, women and students were violently dragged to armoured vans. All over the province, we heard of major arteries like the National Highway blocked in Dadu while the Hub River Road remained blocked by protesting citizens and the Qaidabad routes were choked off by angry students the whole day. In the NWFP too, police has swooped down on the PPP Frontier President Rahimdad Khan, and arrested him with the entire party executive of the province.

In Lahore, as the battle on the streets intensified with the state clashing with the PPP everywhere, Ms Bhutto demanded the end of General Musharraf's divisive and violent rule in Pakistan. "His promises mean little, as his goalposts keep changing," she said. People phoned in, excited by the prospect of an open challenge to a tottering regime. But this is not a matter to celebrate, a colleague rightly said. Pakistan does not need more chaos and instability.

Unfortunately, this is not a choice we made, but a responsibility thrust on the party. People are looking for leadership out of this crisis, and the PPP will not disappoint. Ms Bhutto is determined that the Long March to freedom will continue, in more ways than one. If not this week, then the next, or the next, the sound of our feet will drown the sound of the jackboots.

Sherry Rehman is Central Information Secretary of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

PPP delegation meets Secretary Election Commission


Islamabad, 16 November 2007: A delegation of Pakistan People Party called on the Secretary Election Commission to handover the letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner by the Chairman Election Monitoring Cell, PPP, Senator Sardar Latif Khan Khosa. The delegation included Kamran Zafar, Nazir Dhoki, Ms. Palwasha Behram, Sheikh Mansoor and Tariq Malik.

The letter drew attention to an immoral and indecent media campaign launched by Pakistan Muslim League (Quid-e-Azam) to malign the Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Two advertisements have been published in the national media on November 14, 2007 and November 15, 2007 that are based on forgery and out of context press headlines. Ordinarily name of the advertising agency which has prepared the advertisement appears with the advertisement, but in this particular case, the name of the advertising agency has not been indicated that shows a clandestine nature of the campaign.”

It was asserted in the letter that these advertisements flout the Code of Conduct for elections on multiple levels, as detailed below: The campaign is being run at the State expense to malign the leadership of the largest political party of the country. The advertisement on November 14, 2007 was based on a forged letter. (Please see the enclosed letter from Mr Naveed Malik) Mohtarma Bhutto never wrote such a letter nor received any reply. Hands involved in forging such a letter must be identified. Additionally full page advertisements are being issued on State expense by both the Punjab Govt and the Federal Govt to project certain individuals. An international forensic expert should be hired for audit trail that will prove that the Government money is being used for such advertisements. The slanderous campaign is against the law and against the Code of Conduct and you are to implement the law and the Code of Conduct.

The letter further reads, “It has been learnt that the Musharraf regime has also hired a new PR Firm in the USA to which it is paying US$ 650,000/- to malign the political standing of Mohtarma Bhutto with a view to bring her political opposition. The Election Commission of Pakistan must issue notice to terminate the present specification mandate of duty given to the Firm wherein to malign Mohtarma Bhutto, call for all correspondence with that Firm including by the Govt officials or any other deputed for the task and do an audit trail to find the source of money. Genuine
political parties have been denied an opportunity to state their position by creating a mediaenvironment where people of Pakistan have no access to independent electronic media. Popular leadership of the political parties is under detention and not allowed to interact with the media. In these circumstances, we feel that possibility of a fair and free election where all political parties are provided a level playing field is increasingly bleak.”

The letter asks the Chief Election Commission to take the above steps immediately for fulfilment of constitutional obligation to hold fair, free and impartial elections.

PPP workers arrested on 4th day of long march

 

Islamabad, 16 November 2007: Over 200 PPP activists were arrested today in Lalamusa, Gujrat and Kharian on the 4th day of the long march .

Those arrested included, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich MNA, Chaudhry Manzoor MNA, Dr. Firdaus Ashiq Awan MNA, Kamar Zaman Kaira MNA, Ijaz Saman MPA, Saood Dar MPA, Lala Shakeel MPA, Malik Tahir MPA, Abdullah Virk Ex-MNA, Tahir Zaman Kaira District President Gujrat and Zahid Bashir Chaudhry City President Sialkot.

There have also been clashes in Gujranwala between police and people.

REBUTTAL TO GPM AND THUGS OF GUJRAT


By Wajid Shamsul Hasan- November 16, 2007


Gujrat—in the province of Pakistani Punjab—has earned international notoriety for at least two things—if not more. Firstly, it is known widely what many in their reverence call “Shah Doula Dey Chohay”—men and women with shrunken heads over a large human body-- described medically as micro-encephalic children. When one looks at their sad plight, it evokes sympathy and remorse.

While not under-estimating them, one can not, however, ignore yet another ignominiously cursed breed—though in appearance normal but otherwise no better than those creatures that gnaw the society at its roots, grind their teeth into its vitals and yet take pride in being known as Choudhries otherwise popularly described as Co-operative Thugs of Gujrat.

Not that it is something despicable to be scions of a foot constable to rise in a society--from rags to riches particularly when they have used all means—fair and foul including their kinky queer habits-- what makes one take exception to them is their most outrageous attempt at drowning Punjab in their filth and stinking scum. By abusing 44 per cent of the province’s development fund in an advertising campaign to white wash their overly <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">kala-kola image and also to re-launch a recycled dirty tricks media operation of 1990 election campaign against PPP chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto—they have started digging their own grave to be finally buried deep down under the loads of dung-heap of their misdeeds.

I am sure painful and agonising shrieks of Imran Khan’s sisters as well as brave PPP ladies, human rights workers—when pulled by their hair and dragged by the private police force raised on the pattern of Hitler’s Storm troopers by the Choudhries directly under the orders of their commando godfather—would be recorded as one of the most gory and blood curdling chapters that would make previous tortures to political dissidents bed-side tales for the kids.

The clarion call by Bhutto for a people’s revolution for the restoration of democracy, rule of law, restitution of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges sacked by General Pervez Musharraf to save his second skin and to perpetuate his illegal hold on power by media blackout and Draconian clampdown on the journalists---sooner than later—would unleash the dynamics of change for the good of the country.

By returning home under direct threats of assassination by those who have wielded power for more than eight years and having survived an attempt on her life just when she landed back home to a tumultuous welcome by millions, her message to them is loud and clear—nothing can stop the caravan of democracy from reaching the goal post of its destiny. Her timely return has awakened the masses from their deep inertia inflicted on them by hunger, starvation and deprivation and they are ready for the battle to save Pakistan especially at this critical juncture when Pakistan’s mighty General has been conceding territory miles followed by miles to the conquering militants in Swat and Northern Pakistan.

When he has dragged the country to the point when it could be declared a failed state any hour, he wants more time to Viagra-ise himself through emergency so that he could do what he could not do in last eight years. In short, his is a recipe for a total disaster.

At this defining moment all the saner political elements should join hands with Bhutto to make a united effort to stop Pakistan’s slide down the eddy of doom.

It needs to be realised that the Gujrat’s co-operative thugs, their Praetorian godfather and other political scavengers in cahoots with them, have bloated themselves on the nation’s blood. They have got addicted to it and it is running through them—instead of giving it up they are hell-bent to devour the body to the barest of its bones. One feels that Pakistan needs to be saved from these vultures first, obscurantist forces that thrived due to their patronage can be taken care of later. The masses know well that Bhutto haters are the doddering vestiges of the old order who are writhing in the last trauma and tremors and to get rid of them for good now requires one big and final push to send them rolling down never to rise again.

A Pakistan designed to be secular and democratic by the founding fathers was perforce allowed to be hijacked by the obscurantist elements who had opposed the Quaid’s progressive and modern vision. And the land where its citizens were not to be discriminated on account of their caste, creed or colour was allowed to be fragmented by those who had opposed Mr Jinnah’s egalitarian Pakistan. And the Generals instead of surrendering to the political will of the masses and accept them as the sole arbiters of power, preferred to lay down their arms before the Indians.

Ms Bhutto’s announcement to return to Pakistan had made nights sleepless for those who had socio-economically and politically scavenged Pakistan. Ever since then and more desperately now her political adversaries—both in the corridors of power and outside—have been trying to outdo each other in distorting her image by their vicarious spins to derail her well-thought out mission to restore the supremacy of the masses.

Enormously vicious print media blitzkrieg through heavily paid huge advertisements is much more of the same that the masses have suffered through since 1970. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was targeted then and now once again his daughter is facing the malicious propaganda on slought. All the filth that has been catapulted at the Bhuttos has fallen back direct on the face of its perpetrators. Theirs indeed, is a rare phenomenon. The more Bhuttos are character-assassinated, the more endeared they become with the masses. Almost all her adversaries—including those in the government-- joined hands to malign her political brinkmanship under different interpretations and connotations.

Even those in the media who claim to have an eye to see things that are normally opaque, could not guess. They rushed to declare that she had lost her face by agreeing to engage herself in talks for peaceful transition to democracy only to be jolted out of their firmly taken up positions by the teeming cavalcade of her “shirtless and shoeless” supporters from every nook and corner of Pakistan to converge onto Karachi to give it the look of a “mini-Pakistan” as a newspaper correspondent aptly described the look of the Quaid’s last resting place. All their calculations and estimates failed and most of them wimpishly agreed: deal or no deal, people wanted her back, to be in their midst and to lead them once again.

Now most of her political contemporaries who did not see eye to eye with herpolitics—sneakily accept that she played her cards exceptionally well. As a result now to campaign against her are only the Thugs of Gujrat, Musharraf’s HMVs and those that wag their tongues and tails just to please their master with the whip. With rotten eggs spread on their faces, even likes of Shedda Tullies (not mistake him for Mark Tully) are accusing the PPP Chairperson of doing what General Pervez Musharraf has come to be internationally known as: “mother of all about turners” and “mother of service to his foreign masters”.

In their heart of hearts they know that none of the military dictators in our history has done so much for the Americans as the GPM. And there is no other reason but this “mother of all services” rendered by him to them that has made Washington—despite being fed up with him for being too much of an embarrassment for them now--to continue trying to seek a safe exit strategy for him. Indeed, the common man in the street though empty in the stomach—gets a full laugh when he hears the general now rendered into a tin-pot stutterer on the idiot box claiming that he does not accept foreign dictates—only welcomes foreign exchange. It is something like pot calling the kettle black. His band-wagoners have conveniently forgotten the fact that it were Pakistan’s military rulers who have rendered Pakistan’s sovereignty and independence into a myth and not Bhuttos.

Is it not a fact that a Pakistani prime minister had to rush to President Clinton to plead to him to save Pakistan from the dreadful fall-out consequences of the Kargil misadventure in 1999? Had the Americans not intervened effectively then, a war with India could not be averted. And indeed much earlier to that--in 1971- had not President Nixon stopped Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from advancing her conquering troops into West Pakistan after having captured 5000 square miles of Pakistani land on the western front, by now Pakistan would have become a foot note in history. It was ZAB who got back in the Simla summit what our generals had shamelessly lost in the battlefield.

It was again a Bhutto that saved Pakistan from being declared a terrorist rogue state in 1993. Even in General Zia’s time —Benazir Bhutto—considered a ‘security risk’ by him had used her good offices to save Pakistan from American sanctions.

Even his worst critics acknowledge today that ZAB had restored Pakistan’s image of honour and respect in the comity of nations by his pro-active foreign policy, his support to the Arabs and his sincere commitment to the Third World. It was General Zia who rendered this revived image of respect back to square one.

While one would have ignored with contempt the well-orchestrated media blitzkrieg launched against her following her return in which “she came, she saw and she conquered”, the lowly swipe by GPM at her showed his pathetic state of mind. One had heard much about his other inadequacies but one did not know that he suffered from what doctors call figure-blindness. Giving an interview to a foreign journalist he ridiculed the popularity that Bhutto enjoys among the masses. Having kept her illegally hostage, her house surrounded by more than 3000 police men plus an equal number in civvies, he said that she could not collect 150 people. One was reminded of a similar guffaw by him when he could not see the huge crowd at the Supreme Court through his window which was either shut or opened on the opposite side. Not only that, he also gave reasons for “her” unpopularity.

He referred to her statements on Dr A.Q. Khan, Red Mosque and the Islamic militants, giving these the twist that only people who suffer foot-in-the-mouth disease can. His spin doctors had started shooting from their hips—to accuse her of being anti-state and of having belittled Dr A.Q. Khan. Like his now former ministers, his was an attempt at insinuating her. His ministers, it needs to be recalled, had twisted her statement that in which she had said that Dr A.Q. Khan had been singly made a scapegoat and to know the truth as to who were the real culprits or who other beneficiaries were along with him in the nuclear money loot—she would allow IAEA access to meet Dr A.Q.Khan in Pakistan to find out the truth. No where did she ever say that when she would come into power she would hand over Dr Khan to IAEA interrogators.

Ms Bhutto was once asked the hypothetical question whether a government led by her would cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in investigating charges against Dr. A.Q. Khan. She responded by saying that a PPP government would extend full cooperation to the International Atomic Energy Commission. This position was not very different from what Musharraf government has maintained. Her simple statement of a factual position was deliberately distorted to imply that she promised any unlawful handing over of anyone to foreigners. Rather, she has maintained that the PPP has always sought to establish rule of law and there was no question of violating Pakistani or International law in relation to the freedom and personal rights of anyone, including Dr A.Q. Khan. One may add here that to get to expose the real racketeers behind the nuclear super market she had demanded immediately institution of a by-partisan parliamentary committee to investigate. There is, indeed, something more than meets the eye that whenever there is any move to let Dr A.Q. Khan speak out, those generals having the major share in the nuclear pie rush to shoot it down as anti-Pakistan.

We must remember Zulfikar Ali Bhutto preferred death than to give up his pursuit of the nuclear glow for Pakistan.

In one of his last meetings ZAB emphasised to his daughter that Pakistan’s nuclear programme should remain deterrent and at no stage transfer of technology be permitted.According to him, those opposed to it might swallow the bitter pill of a Pakistani bomb but they would unleash their wrath on Pakistan if it passes the technology onto other Muslim or friendly countries. They would not let Pakistani bomb become an Islamic bomb.

In the light of her father’s instructions she made Pakistan’s Nuclear Doctrine very clear. No export of it at any cost. It has been Benazir Bhutto’s mission to protect Pakistan’s nuclear programme. According to her, Pakistan’s nuclear programme was a matter of life and death for Pakistan. No one would be allowed to roll it back nor would be permitted to stop its further development solely as a deterrent. In her nuclear doctrine there is total ban on transfer of nuclear technology for “money or friendship”.

It is for its future protection that Bhutto has always emphasised upon the need for a investigation into the violation of Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine. It is a must to reassure the international community that Pakistan is a responsible nation and it can secure its nuclear arsenal. It will have to be done sooner than later to nip that lobby in the bud that believes that in order to attack Iran’s nuclear programme Pakistan’s shall have to be destroyed first to ensure it does not fall in the hands of Taliban and religious extremists.

PPP condemns roughing up of women protestors and activists


Islamabad, November 16, 2007: Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the roughing up of women workers and elected members of Parliament by male members of the security forces and lodging them in lock ups with males in police stations.

Women workers and members of provincial and national assemblies have undergone harsh treatment and subjected to shockingly abusive treatment by the security personnel over the last couple of days.

A large number of female activists of the Party have been arrested during the long march and shoved into police vans as male policemen beat and shoved them around. The women protestors were also booked under various offences including terrorism. The people also witnessed the scenes of state brutality against them.

In a statement today PPP Senator Rukhsana Zuberi said that it was most condemnable that female political workers were so maltreated by male police personnel and booked under anti terrorism laws.

Amongst others those who have been arrested, jailed and now under house arrest are PPP Punjab information Secretary and MPA, Farzana Raja, Yasmin Misbah ur Rehman MPA, Mehreen Anwar Raja MNA, Uzma Zahid Bokhari MPA, Fayza Malik MPA, Dr. Nadia Aziz MPA., Saghira Islam MPA, Talat Shakoor, and Bilum Hasnain MNA.

For two nights the arrested women were not allowed to sleep and were subjected to harassment and torture. They were moved from one place to another to ensure that the party and their relatives could not reach them.

The PPP has demanded that all the women workers should be released immediately and persecution and harassment should come to end forthwith.

She also demanded strict action against the male police personnel who misbehaved with the women protestors.

It is highly deplorable that the state apparatus is being used to target innocent political workers, Senator Rukhsana Zuberi said.
 

PPP welcomes Senator Dodd’s call for ending emergency, shedding uniform


Islamabad November 16, 2007: Pakistan Peoples Party has welcomed Senator Dodd’s letter to Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte urging him to press for ending the state of emergency in Pakistan and Musharraf doffing uniform.

As General Pervez Musharraf refuses to doff uniform and lift the siege imposed through emergency, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a letter asked Secretary Negroponte to press Musharraf to end Pakistan's state of emergency, lift the restrictions on Pakistani media and release detained members of political opposition.

Dodd also said General Musharraf must resign his post as head of Pakistan's Armed Forces and allow free and fair elections, saying that Musharraf regime’s clampdown “are troubling developments that threaten to destabilize an already fragile region".

"General Musharraf's recent imposition of a state of emergency is extremely worrisome with ramifications that extend well beyond Pakistan's borders," Dodd said in the letter.

In a statement today spokesperson of the Party said that Senator Dodd’s letter lends encouragement and support to the movement for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan that the PPP is presently embarked upon under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto.

It is also a timely reminder that the people of Pakistan do not stand alone and that their struggle has the support of peoples and nations in every continent of the world, he said.

The following is the full text of Senator Dodd's letter.

Dear Secretary Negroponte,

I am writing about the dangerous developments in Pakistan and your upcoming meeting with Pakistani President, General Pervez Musharraf.

General Musharraf's recent imposition of a state of emergency is extremely worrisome with ramifications that extend well beyond Pakistan's borders. The Musharraf government's recent clampdown on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and other members of the political opposition and civil society, the Pakistani Supreme Court, and Pakistani and international media are troubling developments that threaten to destabilize an already fragile region.

I have no doubt that in your meeting with the Pakistani President you will reiterate the Administration's stated policy that General Musharraf should resign from his position as Chief of Staff of Pakistan's Armed Forces. A return to civilian rule is, in my view, a necessary first step on the road to democratization. However, if General Musharraf is truly committed to a democratic Pakistan, such a step must be followed by free and fair elections in which opposition groups are free to operate and campaign in an open and democratic fashion and in which the media and civil society are able to be actively engaged in the political process.

No such democratic transition can take place, however, without an immediate end to Pakistan's state of emergency rule. Therefore, I respectfully request that you urge General Musharraf to move quickly to end Pakistan's state of emergency, halt restrictions on Pakistani media and unconditionally release detained members of political opposition, including Benazir Bhutto, Imram Khan and members of the Pakistani Judiciary.

I encourage you to make it abundantly clear to General Musharraf that Pakistan's stability, security and democracy is of paramount interest to the United States and must be as well to Pakistan's political leaders. You should also inform General Musharraf that the US Congress stands with the U.S. Administration in its efforts to resolve the current crisis in Pakistan and stands ready to do its part at the appropriate time.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and please do not hesitate to contact myself or my staff if you have any questions”

Meanwhile the Pakistan Peoples Party North Texas Dallas chapter has decide a protest against the emergency on Saturday and for demanding fair and free election in Pakistan.

“We appeal to all the people of our country to walk with us on our common destination towards freedom. We ask the international community to give us moral support”, said Raja Zahid Akhtar Khanzada General Secretary PPP Dallas in an announcement today.
 

Pakistan: Musharraf Uses Anti-Terror Laws to Jail Critics

Government Expands Crackdown by Detaining Hundreds of Opposition Activists


New York, November 16, 2007 – Pakistan’s government under General Pervez Musharraf’s emergency rule has expanded its crackdown on its critics by detaining hundreds of opposition activists from the country’s largest opposition party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Human Rights Watch said today. When US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte arrives in Pakistan on Friday, he should publicly demand the immediate release of all protestors and Pakistan’s judiciary held in detention or house arrest since the crackdown began on November 3, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.

After Bhutto on November 13 called off power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, activists from the PPP have faced police violence and mass arrests, particularly in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. On November 13, the government announced that it would not allow Bhutto to mount a protest march planned by her party for the same day. Bhutto and many PPP leaders have been under house arrest in the central city of Lahore since November 13. There are multiple reports of the police tear-gassing and beating protestors with batons.

“Musharraf is trying to cling on to power by beating and jailing an ever-growing number even of opposition activists,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But as Musharraf fills the jails with his critics, Pakistanis are expressing their disgust at his repressive rule through continued protests.”

November 14 saw arrests all over the country. In the city of Jhang, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States and a PPP member, Abida Hussain, was arrested and placed under house arrest after she attempted to lead an anti-Musharraf rally. The Punjab province president of the PPP, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, along with several others, was arrested in Rajewala in Punjab province while attempting to lead a protest march from Lahore to the capital Islamabad.

Human Rights Watch has received reports that hundreds of PPP supporters along the route of the party’s proposed protest march have been detained without charge to prevent mobilization for and turnout at the march. Similarly, in the southern province of Sindh, the political base of the PPP, hundreds of party activists have been arrested in the cities of Karachi, Hyderababad, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Thatta and Larkana. Human Rights Watch has been able to confirm the detention of at least 600 PPP activists across Sindh who were protesting Bhutto’s house arrest. Unconfirmed butcredible reports indicate the numbers are likely to be much higher.

Human Rights Watch expressed concern at the use of anti-terrorism laws to detain peaceful opponents of the Musharraf government. While most of the detained activists are being held without charge, many have been charged under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), while others are being held under provisions of the colonial-era Maintenance of Public Order Act (MPO).

PPP Senior Vice Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani and 150 PPP activists were charged and produced in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore, then sent to jail on judicial remand. The 150 detainees include at least 40 women, some of them PPP members of the national and provincial legislatures.

Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s national cricket team and leader of a small but vocal opposition party, Movement for Justice (PTI), was arrested on November 14 after he attempted to lead a student

rally at Punnjab University in Lahore. Aftab Cheema, a senior Punjab police officer, confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that Khan was being held at an undisclosed location and had been charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

“Musharraf is trying to portray opponents of his power grab as terrorists,” said Adams. “His abuse of Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws in a desperate bid to hold onto power must end.”

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call  for Musharraf to end the state of emergency, rescind the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) and return to constitutional rule. Musharraf must reinstate the judiciary headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, restore fundamental rights, remove restrictions on the media, and release thousands of political detainees held since November 3.

Human Rights Watch also urged Musharraf’s principal patron, the United States, toimpose comprehensive sanctions on all military and economic aid, with the exception of humanitarian assistance. The US should also

impose travel restrictions on members of the Musharraf government. US Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte should make it clear to Musharraf that continued US support depends on his reversing the measures he has instituted since November 3. Negroponte is due to arrive in Islamabad on November 16.

“US failure to back up its words of criticism with concrete sanctions has only fueled further political repression in Pakistan and deepened resentment of the US among Pakistanis,” said Adams. “Negroponte’s message to Musharraf needs to simple and straightforward: if he doesn’t end repression, respect human rights and restore the rule of law, Pakistan will lose billions of dollars in US support.”

Islamabad Nov 15, 2007 : The following is the update on the arrests of PPP leaders and
activists on the third day of the March on Nov 15.

 
Ghulam Abbas, Sec Gen Punjab PPP has reached Sheikhupura with hundreds of supporters and over a 100 buses. Deputy Leader Opposition Punjab, Rana Aftab arrested while leading Long March out of Faisalabad.

Reports of clashes between protestors and police trying to break up the march were pouring in at the time of compilation of the report.

In Peshawar the Frontier PPP Sec General Najmuddin Khan and others were arrested after baton charge and clashes with police. Demonstrators also tear gassed as clashes erupted.

Frontier President of the PPP Rahim Dad Khan already locked in jail.

In Karachi violent clashes took place in Lyari that resulted in the killing of two PPP workers. Opposition leader in the Senate Mian Reza Rabbani and former federal minister Yusuf Talpur arrested while leading a procession.

Police fired upon the protesters as major towns and villages shut down amid shelling, baton-charges protesting the detention of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and arrests of over 7500 leaders and workers of the party on third consecutive day Thursday.

Nawabshah remained shut completely. In Sakrand, police resorted to firing injuring PPP worker Raza Mohammad Chandio. Eight PPP workers including the injured one whisked away by the police which also registered case against them.

Over 50 PPP leaders and workers including PPP District President Dr Mohan Kohistani, Dr Sikandar Shoro and others were arrested in Kotri. The protesters blocked the Kotri roads paralyzing the vehicular traffic while shopkeepers pulled their shutters down in protest.

In Chachro, over two dozen PPP workers were arrested following a protest demo. Those arrested include PPP tehsil Chachro President Ghulam Hussain Gajju, Kamal Bajeer, Jalal Bajeer, Ghulam Rasool Rahimoon and others.

The reports about protests were pouring in from Tando Ghulam Ali, Talhar, Matli, Gulab Leghari, Tando Bago, Jam Sahib, Dando, Hyderabad, Larkana, Naudero, Qambar, Thatta, Gharo, Dadu, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Mehar, Ghotki, Khairpur, Faiz Gunj, Shikarpur, Kot Mirs, Garhi Yasin, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot etc.

PPP demands probe into misuse of state funds for media trial of Mohtarma Bhutto

Calls upon CEC to take note of Code violation


Islamabad November 15, 2007: Pakistan Peoples Party has demanded probe into the use of state funds spent on slanderous campaign against the PPP and Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

In a statement today spokesperson of the Party said that the Party had credible information that public funds at the disposal the Information Ministry have been used in financing the smear campaign.

“Funding slanderous campaign with public money is a grave violation of the code of conduct for elections” he said adding “The Party calls upon the EC to immediately take steps to stop it and hold accountable those responsible”.

Silence and inaction by the EC on such a grave violation of the code of conduct would be seen that the Election Commission is either unable or unwilling to enforce its code of conduct, he said.

He said that the Party had also learnt that the government had hired a new lobbying firm in the US for $650,000 for regurgitating allegations against the Party leadership in the foreign media.

“The Party demands a thorough probe into the misuse of state funds and the hiring of a lobbying firm for the media trial of Mohtarma Bhutto and urges the CEC to take notice of the violation of code of conduct at state expense.

Mohtarma Bhutto expresses shock over fall of town after town to militants in Swat


Islamabad, 15 November 2007: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto expressed shock that yet another town in North West Frontier Province had fallen in the Swat Valley. She expressed alarm that under the present military dictatorship, Pakistan was facing threat of dis-integration. She called upon the people of Pakistan especially the youth, the middle classes, working classes, labour, peasants, intellectuals, doctors, teachers and lawyers, those in uniform or retired, civil or military, or retired to strengthen her hands so that PPP and its allies could succeed in restoring democracy and strengthening the Nation by strengthening the people.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said instead of sending the police force to strengthen the administration in Alpuri, following the fall of Madyan and Kalam, the regime had sent its forces to fortify Lahore and Rawalpindi. “Tear gas, baton charging, and rubber bullets should be used on militants not on pro-democracy forces,” Mohtarma Bhutto said.

She said it was a matter or National shame and humiliation that the Pakistan flag had been lowered in Alpuri, and the Pakistan Constitution had been torn to shreds. Mohtarma said that this regime was “more interested in self preservation than National preservation”. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto called on the people to rise up and join the Freedom March of the people to obtain freedom from martial Law, freedom from tyranny and freedom of the people.

She said, “The motherland is calling to every patriotic son and daughter to stand up and defend the sacred soil of our territory”.

Mohtarma Bhutto recalled the days of 1971 when General Yahya surrendered to Indian forces. She said such surrender must never again be witnessed. The PPP had given a call to the people to bring an “Awami Revolution” to save the country. She called upon all the people of Pakistan to join the Freedom March of the people by participating with PPP flags, their own party flags, or white or black-flags as suited them.

She said, “We must save Pakistan by saving democracy.”

Mohtarma Bhutto said that General Musharraf had announced sending the Army to Swat yet Alpuri had fallen, and before that Kalam, Madyan, Khyber, Bajour, Waziristan. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said army jawans are brave, police sepoys are brave, and people of Pakistan are brave. They can defend the country from the forces of terrorism, militancy and extremism and the conspiracy to tarnish the name of Islam by distorting its image. But she questioned how the Army, the police, or people could fight if the Nation was leaderless and rudderless. Mohtarma said she had returned to Pakistan to save the people, especially, the young from the dis-integration of the country and with her hands strengthened by the 16 crore people of Pakistan, she would raise the flag of the country in Alpuri, in Madyan, Kalam, and all the parts of Pakistan now lost under an illegal military dictatorship.

It may be noted that Alpuri in Shangla fell four days after Mohtarma warned it would fall if re-enforcement were not sent.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns arrest of Imran Khan and PPP Leaders


Islamabad November 14, 2007: Former Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condemned the arrest of Imran Khan and PPP leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi MNA, Raja Riaz MPA, Dr. Asad MPA, Hasan Murtaza Shirazi, Khawaja Rizwan Alam and others in Lahore and Faisalabad.

In a statement today she said that the arrests of PPP leaders and workers and baton charge of women activists would not discourage the Party from the freedom march.

She said that the march was aimed at ending the martial law, restoration of the Constitution, independence of the judiciary and prosperity of the people. The march is to end Martial Law and return Pakistan to its peoples.

She called for the immediate release of Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and all those detained by the police.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns baton charge on students


Islamabad November 14, 2007: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the assault on teenage school students in Islamabad and called for inquiry into the incident and punishment to those who have transgressed the law and crossed all limits.

The regime on Monday crossed a new threshold by attacking, arresting and detaining schoolchildren in Islamabad. A group of students, most of them between 14 and 18 years of age, was walking outside a public park as a sign of protest when it was intercepted by the Islamabad Police who said that they had no special approval from the magistrate's office to walk any further.

Even as the students did not challenge the police, they were immediately surrounded by hundreds of policemen and began manhandling the children and charging them with batons, pushing them into police vans. 48 boys were physically assaulted and detained, amongst them a 12-year old boy.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that she was shocked to learn of the incident. She said that the state’s brutality against school going children would leave deep scars on them that would not be conducive to their growth as law abiding and peaceful citizens.

She demanded a thorough probe into the matter and bringing to book the minions of law enforcing agencies who committed such a crime at the behest of their political masters.

Mohtarma Bhutto also sympathised with the beleaguered and harassed students and their families.

Mohtarma Bhutto expresses solidarity with Okara tenants

Deplores state excesses against them, calls for giving tenants rights


Islamabad, November 14, 2007 - Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has hailed the heroic struggle waged by the tenants on the farmlands in Okara and said that the Pakistan Peoples Party was with them and would not abandon them.

In a statement today she said that she planned to meet the tenants in Okakara during the long march to express solidarity with them but an unnerved regime had blocked her from visiting them.

She said that she was shocked to learn during exile the atrocities committed against the tenants and how their lands were being grabbed that had damaged the image of the country.

She said that two years ago the PPP took up the issue in the Human Rights Committee of the Senate which called for an end to the victimization of tenants. It also said that since the land belonged to Punjab the provincial government should also be involved in resolving the dispute.

The Senate report had also lamented the massive human rights violations of the tenants and the filing of false cases against them and recommended that the investigations into cases should be entrusted to agencies outside Okara.

But within days of the Senate body’s recommendations another offensive was launched against the tenants, she said.

"It was an affront to the elected Parliament that the Parliament's recommendations were so brazenly disregarded and brute force used against tenants". She said that the PPP will implement the Parliament’s recommendations.

Mohtarma Bhutto said that the Human Rights Watch also criticized the torture of Okara tenants. "Pakistan's military and paramilitary forces are brutalizing their own people in the Punjab instead of protecting them," said a recent HRW report. "It's a dangerous moment in Pakistan when the military turns on its own core constituency."

The report said that even children of the farmers were tortured to coerce them into signing tenancy agreements.

The former Prime Minister demanded that a bipartisan parliamentary probe into the shameless and barbaric incidents of torture of tenants. She said that she was shocked beyond measure that the security forces continued with killing and torturing farmers in the Punjab with impunity because they refused to sign contracts to cede their land rights to the army.

The PPP Chairperson called upon the regime to stop torturing poor peasants, restore them their rights and punish those 'responsible for inflicting torture on the tenants and bringing huge embarrasment to the nation'. Mohtarma Bhutto said that soon she will visit her deprived and dispossessed brothers and sisters at the farmlands.

PPP denounces smear campaign of Mohtarma Bhutto
Decides to take legal action against plotters


Islamabad November 14, 2007: Pakistan Peoples Party has denounced the smear campaign of character assassination through newspaper adverts today against the Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto as “dying kicks of the Jehadi remnants of Zia era”.

In a statement today spokesperson for the Chairperson PPP former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the letter alleged to have been written by Mohtarma Bhutto was forged in 1990 by elements in agencies. The forgery behind it has been exposed from the following, he said.

1. Mohtarma Bhutto has never used letterheads titled “Mrs. Benazir Bhutto”.

2. The name was deliberately misspelled as GAILBRAITH in the letter to evade legal action just in case Mr Peter Galbraith challenged it.

3. In September 1990, the date of the forged letter, the purported addressee Peter Galbraith was a senior advisor to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1979 to 1993) and not in the NDI as stated in the forged letter.

4. The letter is full of grotesque grammatical mistakes that are unimaginable from the office of Chairperson PPP.

The publication of a forged letter after nearly two decades shows how the moving finger that has engineered elections in the past is at it again, he said.

These elements had also cobbled together an anti PPP alliance IJI using money stolen
rom the banks, he recalled.

He said that it was curious that the ad was printed even though, contrary to the normal practice, the name of the advertising company that designed the advert was not mentioned.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the Party had credible information that the secret hands behind the campaign financed the advert from the public funds at the disposal of Information Ministry and paid at commercial rates.

“The dirty brigade playing dirty tricks at public expense must be punished; they will be”

The Party has decided to take legal action against all those involved in planning, executing and financing this smear campaign, he said.

November 8, 2007
Press Release

Kerry, Biden Introduce Pakistan Resolution Condemning State of Emergency


Washington, DC -- Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs, which includes Pakistan, and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) today introduced a resolution, urging President Musharraf to end Pakistan’s state of emergency and reinstate the Constitution. The Kerry-Biden Resolution urges that United States military assistance to Pakistan should be subjected to careful review. The resolution asserts that assistance for the purchase of certain weapons systems that are not directly related to the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban should be suspended if President Musharraf does not revoke the state of emergency, restore the Constitution, follow through on the pledge to relinquish his position as Chief of the Army and allow for free and fair elections to be held in accordance with the timeframe announced today by the Government of Pakistan.

“It is important to send a strong message to Pakistan that we will hold them to their word when it comes to getting back on the path to civilian democracy,” said Sen. Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs. “The Resolution I have introduced with Senator Biden today provides a real incentive for General Musharaff to restore the rule of law and move forward with crucial democratic reforms while preserving our core interest in fighting terrorists in Pakistan.”

"This resolution sends a strong message on the need for a speedy return to the democratic path – a message that I sincerely hope President Musharraf will take to heart. Musharraf should immediately release the lawyers, journalists, and human rights activists he's arrested since imposing de-facto martial law; restore the independent judiciary he's subverted by firing Supreme Court justices unwilling to sign a loyalty oath to him; make good on his pledge to hold free and fair elections in the legal timeframe; and restore rule of law and constitutional government to Pakistan,” said Sen. Biden, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This resolution backs up the Administration's statement that military aid for Pakistan will now be placed under review. It also puts Musharraf on notice that if the current crisis continues and President Bush declines to take action, Congress will.”


Below is the text of the Kerry-Biden resolution:

Expressing the Sense of the Senate on the declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan.

Whereas, a democratic, stable, and prosperous Pakistan that is a full and reliable partner in the struggle against Al Qaeda and the Taliban and a responsible steward of its nuclear weapons and technology is a vital national security interest of the United States and essential to combating international terrorism;

Whereas, General Pervez Musharraf became the President of Pakistan following a military coup in October 1999;

Whereas, President Musharraf dismissed Pakistan’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9, 2007, resulting in massive street protests and a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to clear him of any wrongdoing and reinstate him on July 20, 2007;

Whereas, the Government of Pakistan announced on September 18, 2007 that if re-elected president, General Musharraf would resign his position as Chief of the Army by November 15, 2007;

Whereas, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, called this announcement “a clear reflection of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s firm belief in democracy.”;

Whereas, an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan allowing President Musharraf to hold the Government of Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership positions expires on December 31, 2007;

Whereas, President Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto conducted extensive negotiations on a power-sharing arrangement that would allow Ms. Bhutto to return to Pakistan and lead the Pakistan People’s Party in parliamentary elections scheduled for January 15, 2008;

Whereas, President Musharraf was elected to another term by the parliament of Pakistan on October 6, 2007;

Whereas, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has been reviewing the constitutionality of this election and intended to issue a ruling in November 2007;

Whereas, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan on September 10, 2007, and was immediately forced to leave the country in contradiction of a ruling by the Supreme Court;

Whereas, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007 after more than eight years in exile, and was immediately targeted in a suicide bombing by extremists that left at least 140 people dead and over 500 injured in Karachi, Pakistan;

Whereas, on August 10, 2007, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice personally requested that President Musharraf refrain from suspending the Constitution, and on November 1, 2007 again reiterated to President Musharraf U.S. opposition to any “extra-constitutional” measures;

Whereas, over the past six years the United States has provided more than $10 billion in aid to Pakistan, of which approximately 60% was Coalition Support Funds designed to reimburse Pakistan for counter-terrorism efforts, 15% was for security assistance to the military, 15% was for general budget support, and approximately 10% was for humanitarian assistance; and

Whereas, Admiral William Fallon, the senior U.S. military commander in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, advised General Musharraf on November 2, 2007 that emergency rule might place that aid at risk;

Whereas, on November 3, 2007, General Musharraf, in his role as Chief of the Army, declared a state of emergency, suspended the Constitution, dismissed Pakistan’s Chief Justice Chaudhry, and initiated a nation-wide crackdown on political opposition, the media, and the courts of Pakistan resulting in the arrest of over one thousand political opponents;

Whereas, the White House declared that imposition of emergency rule was “deeply disturbing,” and Secretary of State Rice said that the United States would “have to review the situation with aid” in light of these developments.

Whereas, on November 7, 2007, President George W. Bush spoke with President Musharraf and conveyed the message that “we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform.”

Whereas, on November 8, 2007, the Government of Pakistan announced that parliamentary elections would be held by February 15, 2008, and that President Musharraf would relinquish his position as Chief of the Army prior to being sworn in as President.

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate—

(1) to condemn the decision by President Musharraf to declare a state of emergency, suspend the Constitution, dismiss the Supreme Court, and initiate a nation-wide crackdown on political opposition, the media, and the courts;

(2) to call on President Musharraf to revoke the state of emergency, respect the rule of law and immediately release political detainees, restore the Constitution, freedom of the press and judicial independence, and reinstate all dismissed members of the Supreme Court;

(3) to call upon President Musharraf to honor his commitment to relinquish his position as Chief of the Army, allow free and fair parliamentary elections in accordance with the schedule mandated by the Constitution, establish an independent commission to guarantee that such elections are free and fair, and permit full and unfettered independent monitoring of such elections;

(4) that the Government of the United States should provide whatever assistance is necessary to facilitate such free and fair elections, including by supporting independent election monitoring organizations and efforts;

(5) to call upon the Government of Pakistan to conduct a full investigation into the attempted assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto and provide her and other political leaders with all necessary security to ensure their personal safety; and

(6) that United States military assistance to Pakistan should be subjected to careful review, and that assistance for the purchase of certain weapons systems not directly related to the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban should be suspended if President Musharraf does not revoke the state of emergency and restore the Constitution, relinquish his position as Chief of the Army, and allow for free and fair elections to be held in accordance with the announced timeframe.

PAKISTAN: Canadian, Dutch and Hong Kong lawyers call for release of Pakistan lawyers
and return to rule of law


Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and Lawyers without Borders/Québec (LWB) and the Dutch Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation (L4L) and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) join to call for:


1. The immediate release of all lawyers arrested under preventative detention measures, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Asma Jahangir, United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; Aitzaz Ahsan, President of the Supreme Court Bar; over 50 members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) including Executive Director I.A Rehman, Secretary-General Iqbal Hiader (former attorney general of Pakistan) and Jawed Iqbal Burqi; Muneer A Malik former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association; Imran Qureshi, of the Women’s Rights organization; Ali Ahmed Kurd, former Vice Chair of the Pakistan Bar Council; Tariq Mahmood, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Abrar Hassan, Ahsan Bhoon and others;

2. Strict adherence by the State and state officials to all Pakistan laws and to applicable international standards governing the guarantees, safeguards, rights and freedoms applicable to the role of lawyer, including those embodied in the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers

3. Strict adherence by the State and state officials to all Pakistan laws and to applicable international standards governing the humane treatment of prisoners, including the universal non-derogable prohibition against torture;

4. Appropriate civil and criminal remedies for violations of the rights of those detained.

5. Dismissal of the warrant for the arrest of United Nations Special Rapporteur in Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani.

6. The immediate re-instatement of and adherence to the Constitution of the Republic or Pakistan and rescission of the Emergency Declaration of November 3, 2007, the Provisional Constitutional Order No. 1 of 2007 and the Oath of Offices (Judges) Order, 2007


It is apparent that the above named and numerous other Pakistan lawyers have been arrested and detained solely to prevent them from carrying out their professional duty to advocate vigorously against the arbitrary suspension of the rule of law and violation of human rights by the Musharraf regime, and for the restoration of law in Pakistan. Reports indicate that the lawyers arrested have been subjected to a number of serious violations of their fundamental rights in addition to arbitrary arrest and detention, including denial of due process, denial of necessary medical attention, denial of access to legal representatives and visitors and exposure to the possibility of torture and other prohibited inhumane treatment. Recent (November 11, 2007) amendments were made to the law to allow the trial of lawyers and other civilians by military courts for a range of acts including making statements ‘conducive to public mischief’.

LRWC, L4L, LWB and ALRC state that lawyers in Pakistan are duty bound to uphold the rule of law and to advocate for justice and against repression. To do so, they must be willing and free to stand between the state and the citizen and to criticize and call into question the actions of the State when human rights are threatened.

Norms of international law establish minimum standards protecting the advocacy rights of lawyers and these standards have been adopted by Pakistan both as a member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Part VIII of the Latimer House Guidelines for the Commonwealth, provides, "An independent, organized legal profession is an essential component in the protection of the rule of law." The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, at Articles 16 and 17, require Pakistan to ensure that lawyers are free to "perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference..." and "where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities." Furthermore, Article 23 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provides that "Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights ."

Pakistan is also obligated to respect the prohibitions against torture, arbitrary arrest and detention contained in, inter alia, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). State practice and opinio juris have resulted in these rights becoming part of customary international law. Regardless of the current status of the Pakistani Constitution, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan remains obligated to observe these basic tenants of international law.

LRWC, L4L, LWB and ALRC condemn military president General Pervez Musharraf’s repression of the peaceful efforts of members of the Pakistani Bar to uphold the law and to advocate for the rule of law, the independence of the Pakistan judiciary and adherence by the Musharraf regime, to the Constitution of the Republic of Pakistan. LRWC, L4L, LWB and ALRC condemn the extra-legal measures being used to punish the legitimate and lawful exercise of freedom of speech and assembly by lawyers.

LRWC, L4L, LWB and ALRC view the Emergency Declaration and subsequent changes to Pakistan law as being illegitimate, prohibited by both the Constitution of the Republic of Pakistan and by international law, with a cloak of apparent legality.

Background

When military President Musharraf sacked the Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court on March 9, 2007, hundreds of lawyers rallied and spoke publicly in support of the Chief Justice and against proceedings brought against him by Musharraf. Protests by lawyers, judges and others continued up to July 20, 2007 when the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Chaudhry reinstated as Chief Justice and dismissed the proceedings against him as illegal.

The repression of lawyers by the Musharraf regime recommenced when a state of emergency was declared and the Pakistan Constitution suspended on November 3, 2007. The suspension of the constitution resulted in the repeal of fundamental human rights, including the right to life and liberty, freedoms of assembly, association and speech, equality before and equal protection of the law. Core legal rights related to arrest and detention are also repealed, including the right to counsel. Since then, thousands of lawyers and human rights activists have been arrested and detained.

LRWC, L4L, LWB and ALRC join with other lawyers and human rights advocates in Pakistan and around the world in calling for the immediate remedies set out above.


Sincerely,

Gail Davidson, Executive Director, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada Judith Lichtenberg, Executive Director, The Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation Pascal Paradis, Executive Director, Lawyers without Borders Québec Basil Fernando, Executive Director, ALRC
 

Winding Back Martial Law in Pakistan
Asia Briefing N°70
12 November 2007

OVERVIEW


General Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law in Pakistan on 3 November 2007. He suspended the constitution, sacked the chief justice of the Supreme Court and removed other judges of that court who declared his act illegal. Police immediately began arresting lawyers, politicians and human rights activists. Independent television channels were taken off the air and reporting restrictions imposed. Thousands have since been jailed, journalists threatened and protests by lawyers and others suppressed. Replacing dissenting judges with hand-picked appointees, and ruling by decree, Musharraf’s objective is to retain personal power by gaining judicial approval for martial law, followed by the creation of a democratic façade through rigged elections. The international community should demand the immediate restoration of constitutional order, the rule of law and the legitimate judiciary, the release of political prisoners and the appointment of an impartial caretaker government to oversee free and fair elections.

Musharraf has said he expects polls before 9 January and will take off his uniform before taking his oath for a new presidential term. But this offer does not go far enough. No proper elections can be held under martial law, supervised by a Musharraf-controlled Election Commission and a judiciary that has been purged and hand-selected by the military, and while some political leaders are in jail and others are barred from standing.

Musharraf claims he acted to restore stability but in fact he has sought to stamp out demands for democracy after eight years of military rule. The general’s claims to legitimacy had worn thin, and he was facing a challenge by the Supreme Court to his re-election as president by a lame-duck and stacked electoral college in October. While saying he was tackling extremism, the arrests of non-violent, secular people showed his true intentions. Even as the military was filling the jails with lawyers and journalists, they were releasing 28 militants, some of whom had been convicted of terrorism, in yet another deal with violent extremists.

In response to all this, the U.S., the UK and the European Union (EU) have expressed disappointment, but signalled they wish to continue cooperation with President Musharraf and his government, particularly on counter-terrorism. The focus has been on the need for Musharraf to remove his uniform and conduct elections – not on the necessity of restoring the constitutional order and the rule of law. The mistakes of the international response in the past to Pakistan are being repeated. The general has used the issue of terrorism with skill for years, drip-feeding anxious Western governments limited intelligence on jihadi groups while doing little to address extremism at home. Officials in Washington and London have been particularly prone to mistaken belief that the choice in Pakistan is between democracy and stability. Apart from handing over a few high-level al-Qaeda members, Pakistan has done little else: it has refused to close Taliban camps and jihadi madrasas or end extremist recruitment and fundraising. Driven by what is even in the short term a highly questionable interpretation of their security interests, Western governments have weakened their long-term security by supporting military rule rather than democratic institutions and the people of Pakistan.

A strong international response to military dictatorship has been hampered by anxiety that Pakistan might become another Iran, hostile to Western interests and yet a greater security threat if Musharraf were to leave the scene, as happened when the Islamic Revolution deposed the Shah in 1979. The analogy is false. Pakistan is a very different country, with a vibrant civil society, courageous and respected judicial and media institutions and above all a long democratic tradition and civilian parties that are widely popular and experienced in government. Its extremist forces have gained what status they have in the country’s politics as the beneficiaries of military manipulation, not broad citizen support.

This latest coup makes it essential to rethink policy towards Pakistan and to recognise that Musharraf is not only not indispensable; he is a serious liability. Extremism would be better reduced now and would be more assuredly barred in the future by the rule of law under a democratic government led by one of the moderate political parties.

In response to martial law, the international community should take the following
steps:

 

speak out unequivocally for democracy in Pakistan, rejecting the idea that martial law is needed for stability, and demand a return to constitutional order;outline a series of graduated sanctions starting immediately with suspension of high-level talks on military cooperation, suspension of new military training, review of military aid to distinguish what is essential counter-terrorism (CT) help from general assistance, and establishment of performance-based conditionality on all non-CT military assistance until constitutional order is restored;

follow this up – if Musharraf makes it necessary by not giving up his post as army chief by 15 November when his parliamentary dispensation to hold that post as well as the presidency expires, and does not restore the constitution, release political prisoners, restore the independent judiciary and accept its judgement on the legality of his October 2007 re-election as president, and set a date for elections – with gradually tougher sanctions, including suspension of all non-CT military aid and visa bans for top military and government officials;

if these steps are not taken within 30 days, restrict non-CT arms sales; freeze officer training abroad and foreign assets of the military and its foundations and businesses; and refuse to accept high-level visits by Pakistani officials for as long as the constitution is not restored and the military holds politicians, lawyers and civil society actors under arrest and otherwise restricts their civic freedoms; also insist that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) be given unrestricted access to prevent torture and abuse in custody; and simultaneously expand aid for education, poverty reduction, healthcare and relief work, channelling money through secular non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
 

U.S. Is Looking Past Musharraf in Case He Falls
By HELENE COOPER, MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID ROHDE


WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 — Almost two weeks into Pakistan’s political crisis, Bush administration officials are losing faith that the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, can survive in office and have begun discussing what might come next, according to senior administration officials.

In meetings on Wednesday, officials at the White House, State Department and the Pentagon huddled to decide what message Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte would deliver to General Musharraf — and perhaps more important, to Pakistan’s generals — when he arrives in Islamabad on Friday.

Administration officials say they still hope that Mr. Negroponte can salvage the fractured arranged marriage between General Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. But in Pakistan, foreign diplomats and aides to both leaders said the chances of a deal between the leaders were evaporating 11 days after General Musharraf declared de facto martial law.

Several senior administration officials said that with each day that passed, more administration officials were coming around to the belief that General Musharraf’s days in power were numbered and that the United States should begin considering contingency plans, including reaching out to Pakistan’s generals.

More than a dozen officials in Washington and Islamabad from a number of countries spoke on condition of anonymity because of the fragility of Pakistan’s current political situation. The doubts that American officials voiced about whether General Musharraf could survive were more pointed than any public statements by the administration, and signaled declining American patience in advance of Mr. Negroponte’s trip.

Officials involved in the discussions in Washington said the Bush administration remained wary of the perception that the United States was cutting back-room deals to install the next leader of Pakistan. “They don’t want to encourage another military coup, but they are also beginning to understand that Musharraf has become part of the problem,” said one former official with knowledge of the debates inside the Bush administration.

That shift in perception is significant because for six years General Musharraf has sought to portray himself, for his own purposes, as the West’s best alternative to a possible takeover in Pakistan by radical Islamists. While remote areas in northwestern Pakistan remain a haven for Al Qaeda and other Islamic militants, senior officials at the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon now say they recognize that the Pakistani Army remains a powerful force for stability in Pakistan, and that there is little prospect of an Islamic takeover if General Musharraf should fall.

If General Musharraf is forced from power, they say, it would most likely be in a gentle push by fellow officers, who would try to install a civilian president and push for parliamentary elections to produce the next prime minister, perhaps even Ms. Bhutto, despite past strains between her and the military.

Many Western diplomats in Islamabad said they believed that even a flawed arrangement like that one was ultimately better than an oppressive and unpopular military dictatorship under General Musharraf.

Such a scenario would be a return to the diffuse and sometimes unwieldy democracy that Pakistan had in the 1990s before General Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup. But the diplomats also warned that removing the general might not be that easy. Army generals are unlikely to move against General Musharraf unless certain “red lines” are crossed, such as countrywide political protests or a real threat of a cutoff of American military aid to Pakistan.

Since he invoked emergency powers on Nov. 3, General Musharraf has successfully used a huge security crackdown to block large-scale protests. Virtually all major opposition politicians have been detained, as well as 2,500 party workers, lawyers and human rights activists, and on Wednesday, a close aide to General Musharraf said the Pakistani leader remained convinced that emergency rule should continue.

Pakistan’s cadre of elite generals, called the corps commanders, have long been kingmakers inside the country. At the top of that cadre is Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, General Musharraf’s designated successor as army chief. General Kayani is a moderate, pro-American infantry commander who is widely seen as commanding respect within the army and, within Western circles, as a potential alternative to General Musharraf.General Kayani and other military leaders are widely believed to be eager to pull the army out of politics and focus its attention purely on securing the country.Senior administration officials in Washington said they were concerned that the longer the constitutional crisis in Pakistan continued, the more diverted Pakistan’s army would be from the mission the United States wants it focused on: fighting terrorism in the country’s border areas.

The officials said there was growing worry in Washington that the situation unfolding in the mountainous region of Swat, where Islamic militants sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda are battling Pakistan’s Army, was a sign that General Musharraf — and the Pakistani Army — might be too busy jailing political opponents to fight militants. The administration officials said they were also dismayed that General Musharraf last week released 25 militants in exchange for 213 soldiers captured by militants in August, and agreed to withdraw soldiers from certain areas of South Waziristan.Since spring, concern has been growing in the armed forces that General Musharraf’s battle to remain in power and his recent political blunders have cost him popularity with the public and damaged the reputation of the armed forces, Western and Pakistani military analysts say.

The army’s poor performance battling militants in the country’s rugged tribal areas in the northwest has placed enormous strain on the army as well. Hundreds of soldiers have died, dozens have surrendered without a fight and militants have carried out beheadings to demoralize the force.

“The army is getting more and more concerned and worried and disturbed,” said Talat Masood, a retired general and political analyst. “They have a genuine engagement in the tribal belt of Frontier Province and Baluchistan,” he said, referring to armed clashes. “And now they have such a major confrontation between the military and civil sectors of society, and the lines are getting sharper.”While the military supports the emergency, it is doing so with caution, and there are red lines the army will not cross, Western military officials in Pakistan said. “Kayani is loyal to Musharraf,” said one Western military official. “But also to Pakistan.”

One red line the military would probably not be prepared to cross would be if it were called on to maintain internal security anywhere beyond the areas of the insurgency. If widespread political protests were to emerge, the army could be called out to enforce law and order.

While no large-scale protests have emerged since the emergency was declared, the apparent collapse over the last week of American-backed talks to create a power-sharing deal between Ms. Bhutto and General Musharraf could lead to more street confrontations, diplomats said.

As General Musharraf has refused to lift his emergency declaration, lawmakers in Washington have stepped up threats to freeze aid payments to Islamabad. “There is widespread disapproval in Congress of these actions,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey, a New York Democrat who is on the House Appropriations Committee. “As long as the emergency rule continues, I don’t know if we can provide direct cash assistance to the Musharraf government.”

But other top Democrats say they are wary about endorsing cuts in aid, citing concern that it could undermine efforts to fight Al Qaeda in Pakistan. And the Western military official in Pakistan warned that an aid cutoff could anger Pakistan’s army. Other experts argue that pressure could build on General Musharraf if the corps commanders believed that the president’s actions threatened the $1 billion in annual aid Washington provides to Pakistan’s military.

“The military is pretty demoralized right now,” said Christine Fair, a Pakistananalyst in Washington. “But what keeps Musharraf in the position he is in with the military is the huge largess from the United States.”

David Rohde and Carlota Gall reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Thom Shanker contributed from Washington.

Musharraf's Electoral Farce
The Washington Post
By Benazir Bhutto


Wednesday, November 14, 2007 LAHORE, Pakistan: All through the years of the Soviet  empire, its Politburo held "elections." Of course, calling something an election and  actually having it be an election are different things.

I am under house arrest in Lahore, barricaded in by Pakistani police with bayonets. Despite Gen. Pervez Musharraf's announcement of a date for parliamentary elections, I  doubt that we are in for a change. I cautioned the general earlier this year that his  election as president by the present parliament was illegal. He insisted otherwise.

We agreed to disagree and decided that we both would accept a ruling by the Supreme  Court regarding eligibility. Yet when the court was on the brink of deciding,  Musharraf imposed martial law by suspending the constitution, and he removed several  of the Supreme Court justices.

Today the nation is paying for his mistake.

We are witnessing a farce in Pakistan: While an election schedule has been announced,  the problem lies in what has not been announced. No indication has been given as to  whether Musharraf will keep his previous commitment to retire as army chief on  Thursday.

No date has been given for the lifting of emergency rule; the reconstitution of the  election commission; the implementation of fair election practices; the removal of  biased officials; or the suspension of the mayors, who control the guns and the funds  -- that is, police and government resources -- to adversely influence elections.

Moreover, judges, lawyers, human rights activists and students across the country are  in prison or under house arrest. The independent media have been shut down, television  stations stopped from broadcasting news.

Several foreign journalists have been expelled. Thousands of political activists, a  majority from my Pakistan People's Party, have been arrested.

Police have erected barricades and deployed armored personnel carriers and trucks  filled with sand to cut off access to my house and to prevent people from going from  one city to another. Musharraf knows how to crack down against pro-democracy forces.  He is, however, unwilling or unable to track down and arrest Osama bin Laden or  contain the extremists. This is the reality of Pakistan in November 2007.

The only terror that Musharraf's regime seems able to confront is the terror of his  own illegitimacy. This is the second time Musharraf has imposed martial law and the  second time he has sacked judges since taking over the country in a coup in 1999. It  was then that he first promised "to bring true democracy."

The election commission has promulgated election rolls judged illegitimate by  Pakistan's Supreme Court and the National Democratic Institute for International  Affairs. Some polling sites have been kept secret. Musharraf's political opposition is  banned from campaigning or organizing and has been denied access to state-controlled  media. We

cannot meet, we cannot rally, and when we try to bring the people to the streets they  are gassed, beaten and shot at with rubber bullets. This is not only a military  dictatorship, it is a classic police state.

On top of a litany of assaults on the rule of law, the general has unilaterally amended the Army Act of 1952 to grant the army the power to try civilians in military courts. Courts-martial will operate by military rules in secret, and defendants are not allowed legal representation.

No attempt has been made to differentiate between average citizens and terrorism suspects associated with militant groups. Many believe that these laws were passed to intimidate pro-democracy forces, not to try terrorism suspects. This is the "democracy" that Musharraf envisages.

While living in America when I attended Harvard in the early 1970s, I saw for myself the awesome, almost miraculous, power of a people to change policy through democratic means. Today I am seeing the power of the people coalescing once again. Journalists, judges, and political and civil activists have joined together against Musharraf's second declaration of martial law. They see him as the obstacle to the democratization of
Pakistan.

This is why I have called upon Gen. Musharraf to resign as president and chief of army staff, and to pave the way for the composition of an interim government of national consensus that will oversee the transfer of power to duly elected representatives of the people.

The people of the Soviet Union knew that "elections" for the Politburo were fraudulent. The people of Pakistan know that elections under martial law are a similar sham.

Benazir Bhutto, head of the Pakistan People's Party, was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan. She is under house arrest in Lahore.

Things Get Uglier In Pakistan

Ruth David


November 14, 2007: Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan was arrested Wednesday after he made a public appearance at a student rally against President Musharraf’s move to impose emergency rule.

Khan, a former cricket captain for Pakistan, was spotted in Lahore for the first time after he was placed under house arrest, following emergency rule that was declared by the government on Nov. 3. He led a rally in the city where he had gone to a university and told the media that he was happy to have started “the student movement.”

Thousands of students wearing black arm-bands shouted anti-Musharraf slogans as Khan was taken away.

Some religious students in the university had detained Khan, enabling the police to whisk him away. The move was a setback for Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto, who Tuesday said she would scrap a proposed power-sharing agreement with Musharraf, and join forces with the opposition. Bhutto has also been placed under house arrest in Lahore.

Opposition parties say police have detained around 15,000 supporters since Musharraf imposed emergency rule and clamped down on the judiciary and media. (See: “Activists Detained In Pakistan Crackdown”)

He blamed a rise in militancy and judicial intervention in the government’s functioning for the move, which has been criticized by the West. The Bush Administration, which said it was reviewing aid for the region, is sending Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Pakistan this week to urge Musharraf to lift the emergency rule.

Opposition lawmakers and civil society have also launched protests against the military leader’s latest move. On Wednesday, exiled prime minister Nawaz Sharif told media from Saudi Arabia that he was willing to set asides his differences with Bhutto and work with her party to restore democracy.

Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan last month, but Musharraf didn’t allow him to step out the airport, instead sending the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader to Saudi Arabia.

In a release on the party web site, Sharif was quoted as saying the opposition needed to unite to tackle Musharraf. “That is the need of the hour because single-handedly to fight dictatorship is going to be a difficult task.” He also offered praise for Bhutto’s initiative to cut ties with Musharraf.

An alliance between Sharif’s and Bhutto’s parties and popular Islamic political outfits will also bring thousands more supporters on to the streets, intensifying pressure on the government, analysts say.

Musharraf has promised to hold national elections on Jan. 9, but opposition leaders say the polls will be rigged if they are held under his rule, especially since politicians are being arrested every day.

In an interview with Britain’s Sky News, the leader who came to power in a coup in Oct 1999 said he would not give up his post till political turmoil in the country ceased.

“I am not a dictator, I want a democracy,” he was quoted as saying.

Student protests build in Pakistan
Campus protests gather steam throughout the country, worrying the fragile regime.

By Shahan Mufti


November 15, 2007: The steady rumbling of dissent on university campuses across Pakistan is an ominous development for the country's military regime. Student activists in Pakistan have a history of effecting dramatic political change.

What began last week as a protest against the arrests of academics at a university in Lahore has quickly spread across larger campuses, energizing new movements and inciting old student political groups from a near two-decade slumber. But when opposition leader Imran Khan, a perceived hero of the student movement, arrived Wednesday to address students in Lahore, members of a powerful and established Islamist student group quickly handed him over to police.

For Mr. Khan and others, targeting university campuses is a shrewd move. But his arrest reveals the scattered nature of the students' potent political power. Unless the opposition can arrive at a consensus, observers say, the movement will remain incoherent. At the core of this confused effort lies the clashing visions of the old student political groups with a new wave of activists who hope to effect a more profound shift in Pakistani politics.

"This 'new student movement' is very significant," says Rasul Baksh Rais, a professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) who is a liaison between the administration and student leaders on his campus. Mr. Rais added that students even snubbed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she invited them for a meeting. The students' lack of interest in Pakistan's premier opposition figure, Rais says, indicates that "until all parties are able to come on one platform it is unlikely these students will want to support one party over another."

Whether Ms. Bhutto will eventually be able to seize the reins of such a unified movement remains a question, observers say. Security officials said she will likely remain under house arrest until Thursday at the earliest. On Tuesday, Bhutto called on the president to resign. Her spokeswoman told reporters Wednesday that she is attempting to rally the political opposition, including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to present a more unified opposition to President Pervez Musharraf's authority.

Musharraf said Wednesday that he expects to step down as Army chief by the end of November and begin a new presidential term as a civilian, warning that Pakistan risked chaos if he gave into opposition demands to resign. In an interview with the Associated Press, he accused Bhutto, currently under house arrest, of fueling political turmoil and rejected Western pressure to quickly lift emergency rule, which he indicated was likely to continue through the January elections. "I take decisions in Pakistan's interest and I don't take ultimatums from anyone," he said at his Army office.

Khan was one of the only prominent political leaders to have avoided arrest by going into hiding, and had sparked student activism by speaking at a university campus on the eve of the emergency. Through underground messages from hiding, Khan had called for a "youth army" to take to the streets. "My goal was to set in motion a student movement," he said after his arrest.

'No greater ideology at work'

Students became the latest ingredient in the urban street caldron – along with political party workers, lawyers, and civil society groups – after President Musharraf extended his sweeping security crackdown to academics. The arrests of two professors from LUMS, after the declaration of emergency last week, sparked immediate protests and the arrival of riot police at the campus gates.

The agitation spread like wildfire to other smaller, private universities. Within a week, Khan visited Punjab University, the historic core of student activism, to try to harness the unwieldy power of the students. Shortly after his arrest, Khan told reporters that student "collaborators" had betrayed him to security officials. His surprising detention indicates that the youth movement is united only by its opposition to the current regime – and little else.

"There is no greater ideology at work here that I can describe," says Hashim bin Rashid, a LUMS student leader, dressed in all black and topped off by a black headband. The students at his campus, he says, are more inspired by larger concepts of social justice.

"It's easy to turn a blind eye to everything going around you when you have a silver spoon stuck in your mouth," he says. "But we are here because we have a stake in saving this country."

Pakistan's history of student struggle


This sentiment, admits Mr. Rashid, might not be what is driving students in older, more established student groups, which have been the breeding grounds for many of Pakistan's old guard politicians. But in a country that places student activism at the center of its historical narrative of independence, student politics in any form has often been essential to carving the country's political power dynamic.

In the 1960s, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto toppled military ruler Gen. Ayub Khan on the back of a seething student street movement. The early 1980s saw student groups target Gen. Zia ul-Haq's regime, prompting him to ban student unions as part of an effort to depoliticize the schools.

But some of the newer institutions have no experience with political activism. Their opposition to the military regime is defined by "a liberal ethos, a modernist structure of values," that focuses on "constitutionalism, rule of law, and the independence of judiciary, rather than identifying with any prevailing political party," says Rais.

This new movement has awaked student activism after two-decades of depoliticalization. While it remains germinal and incoherent, the students have the potential to help decide Musharraf's fate – as other movements have done in the past. As the new, nonaligned movement spreads to the traditional centers of student power, it's likely to become more complicated – both for the students and the government they oppose.

Nadeem Farooq Paracha, a journalist who was active in student politics during the military rule of General Zia and was arrested several times for "anti-state" activities sees this as a very different movement than that of the 1980s, when large state owned universities, not elite colleges, were the center of activity.

"If this spreads further to local colleges and universities, this will become a totally different ball game," says Mr. Paracha. "The government will have to really start worrying in that case."

Bhutto to call Sharif to form opposition front


November 14, 2007: Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto said she is to call exiled premier Nawaz Sharif later on Wednesday to ask him to form a united opposition front against President Pervez Musharraf.

"The aim of those talks will be to form a common front, to formulate a joint strategy for saving democracy," Bhutto said in a telephone interview from a key aide's house where she is being kept under detention.

"I will be talking to Nawaz Sharif, I have tried twice and spoken to officials from his party and I have not been able to speak to him yet and I will be trying again."

The two-time former premier, who heads Pakistan's biggest opposition group, has spoken to nine other leading political opponents of Musharraf in the past two days, a senior aide in her party said.

Seeking to isolate Musharraf after he declared a state of Emergency, they are hoping to reach agreement for an all-parties conference later this month -- possibly as early as next week.

"She is talking to other political leaders and the agenda of the talks is the revival of democracy and restoration of the 1973 constitution," said the aide, Safdar Abbasi.

We are ready to work with Benazir: Sharif


November 14, 2007: Pakistan's exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday he was ready to work with another former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, against the military rule of President Pervez Musharraf.

Bhutto has been trying to forge an opposition alliance after she called on Musharraf to give up power and has spoken to leaders from Sharif's party about a coalition.

"We are ready to set aside our differences with the People's Party and work for the return of democratic rule,"


Sharif said on telephone from Saudi Arabia, referring to Bhutto's party.

Pakistan opposition aims to unite against Musharraf


November 14 2007: ISLAMABAD: Pakistani opposition parties tried to forge a united front on Wednesday against military president Pervez Musharraf who insisted a state of Emergency was necessary for fair elections.

US ally Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, declared emergency rule in nuclear-armed Pakistan on Nov. 3 when he suspended the constitution, rounded up thousands of opponents and curbed the media. "We are ready to set aside our differences with the People's Party," former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said, referring to the party of another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

Bhutto, who had been in power-sharing talks with Musharraf for months, returned home in October from eight years of self-imposed exile and aimed to work with the president on a transition to civilian rule. Then came the crackdown.

After police stifled a protest by Bhutto on Tuesday and put her under house arrest, she announced her talks with Musharraf were over, and for the first time called on him to step down as president as well as army chief. She said her party might boycott a parliamentary election Musharraf has promised to hold by Jan 9 Bhutto also contacted old rivals including Islamist alliance leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, whom police detained on Wednesday, and Sharif's party to urge a "coalition of interests", party officials said. "She's trying to unite all political parties on a minimum agenda to return the country to true democracy," said Latif Khosa, a senator and aide to Bhutto. "The minimum agenda is the ouster of General Musharraf and formation of a neutral government of national consensus to organise free and fair elections."

Sharif and Bhutto were bitter rivals during the late 1980s and 1990s. They both served two terms as prime minister until Musharraf ousted Sharif in 1999. Both Bhutto and Sharif faced corruption charges. Underscoring the difficulty of uniting a fractious opposition, students loyal to religious alliance leader Ahmed briefly detained Imran Khan when he emerged from hiding to lead a campus protest in Lahore. Police later detained Khan.

Pakistan EC to decide on election schedule today


November 14, 2007: ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Election Commission is meeting on Wednesday to decide on the schedule for the general election and a draft code of conduct for political parties.

The meeting, to be chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq, will review the draft code of conduct and decide when to call political parties for discussions on implementing the regulations, said Kanwar Dilshad, the Secretary of the Election Commission.

Referring to the schedule for the polls, Dilshad said the commission had decided in principle that this would be announced soon after all the national and provincial assemblies are dissolved by November 20.

"In principle, the election schedule will be issued after the dissolution of the assemblies. The National Assembly will be dissolved on November 15, the provincial assemblies will be dissolved on November 20 and after this, the election schedule will be announced," Dilshad told Dawn News channel.

The meeting will also decide on the appointment of returning officers across the country, he said.

President Pervez Musharraf announced on Sunday that the general election will be held by January 9 next year.

Opposition political parties and civil society groups have, however, called for the Election Commission to be reconstituted to ensure free and fair elections.

The Pakistan People's Party of former premier Benazir Bhutto has also alleged that there are numerous discrepancies in the voters' lists announced by the poll panel last month.

Bhutto, Musharraf: After the Break-up

Benazir Bhutto under house arrest in Lahore.


As breakups go, it was pretty spectacular. On Tuesday, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ended months of speculation over a pending marriage of convenience between her and Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, by announcing she was breaking off the engagement. "It's impossible to work with him," she told a small group of reporters by telephone. "I'm calling for General Musharraf to step down, to quit, to leave, to end martial law."

Bhutto was speaking from house arrest in Lahore where she had just been served a seven-day detention order. Hundreds of police prowled the neighborhood where she was staying, preventing journalists and supporters from reaching her. Trucks filled with wet sandbags had been pulled up to her front gate, dozens of empty buses parked crosswise blocked the street and the neighborhood's entire perimeter had been wrapped in barbed wire and lined with baton-wielding riot police. Anti-government protestors burned a tire, then a car. Paddy wagons disgorged police and sucked up low-level opposition politicians who chanted pro-Bhutto slogans. Bhutto, whose welcome-home rally had been the target of a suicide bomb attack in Karachi on October 18 that killed 156, lamented her choice of housing, saying that she had picked because it had seemed impervious to outside attacks. "Now we are seeing it's playing to General Musharraf's advantage," she told reporters, "who should be hunting Osama bin Laden but who instead is hunting me."

Since the implementation of emergency rule on November 3, Bhutto has vociferously attacked Musharraf, calling for an immediate return to rule of law, the reinstatement of suspended Supreme Court justices and a lifting of media bans. Yet Bhutto had, until now, refused to rule out future negotiations, prompting critics to dismiss her actions as political theater, suspecting Bhutto would sell out the democracy movement for a chance at another term in office.

On Sunday Musharraf announced that parliamentary elections would be held on January 9, a month earlier than his original declaration, and a key Bhutto demand. It looked like the diplomatic tango would continue in that vein for a while: Choreographed shows of protest by Bhutto, followed by tactical retreats for the general. The end goal was democratic equilibrium — Musharraf would remove his military uniform and in exchange Bhutto's powerful Pakistan People's Party would support him as a civilian president. Bhutto justified her negotiations with the loathed dictator by saying she was ensuring Pakistan's smooth transition to democracy.

But the duet ended in discord on Monday evening, when thousands of PPP supporters across the country were rounded up in advance of a planned democracy march from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad. "It left my party with the conclusion that he does not really want to do business with us," says Bhutto. "It made it clear that he was using us as icing on the cake to make sure no one notices the cake was poisoned."

In many ways, Bhutto's brief alliance with Musharraf may actually work to her, and Pakistan's, advantage. "Bhutto did a smart thing by negotiating with Musharraf," says former Bhutto advisor Husain Haqqani. "By doing so she assured the world that she was not a spoiler, that she was committed to the war on terror. Now it is up to the western governments to realize that Musharraf is a problem, not the solution."

Even so, it won't be easy. Musharraf too, is a consummate politician, and he has measured Bhutto's weaknesses precisely. Bhutto was allowed back in the country without fear of arrest for longstanding corruption charges — which she claims were politically motivated — on the basis of a controversial amnesty granted by the General. The independent judiciary sacked by Musharraf when he assumed emergency powers had, in fact, been considering appeals to reverse that amnesty on constitutional grounds, and with a newly loyal Supreme Court in place, the General may have the means to yank back his engagement gift, leaving Bhutto vulnerable to arrest and imprisonment.

But the lady has backup. Frustration and discontent with Musharraf's attempts to stay in power are mounting in the international arena. "If it becomes more and more clear that he is not budging," says a Western diplomat based in Islamabad, "Then certainly you start thinking of alternatives." The Pakistani Army, which has been suffering a backlash against Musharraf's rule, may agree. "The military does not want to be in this position," says the diplomat. "They want out of politics, and they are upset that Musharraf has placed them front and center."

As a charismatic leader with the force of the country behind her, Bhutto could very well lure the military away from Musharraf, especially if Western powers force him to step down as army chief. Internal pressure on Musharraf is increasing to such an extent that he may be forced to step down regardless. "At this point there is no way to put humpty dumpty back together again," says an Islamabad-based analyst, who, fearing a new Emergency rule ordinance that prohibits defamation of military personnel, asked not to be named. "If the military asserts power over Musharraf, this will be the beginning of a true transition to democracy in Pakistan."

Bhutto for campaign with MMA

 

November 13, 2007: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto established direct contact with MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed for the first time today to forge consensus for a joint campaign for the restoration of democracy.

The Pakistan People's Party chairperson, under house arrest here to prevent her leading along march to Islamabad against the emergency, and the Jamaat-e-Islami chief talked on phone, PPP leaders said.

They spoke about the possibility of convening an all party conference and stressed the need to strengthen ties. They also said a joint strategy would be worked out in consultation with their allies, Geo News channel reported.

The PPP had earlier used senior leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim to hold talks with the Jamaat leader. Political circles termed the talks between Bhutto and Ahmed as a significant breakthrough.

Bhutto also contacted Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader Imran Khan, who is in hiding in Lahore to evade arrest. Khan has been critical of her efforts to forge a power-sharing arrangement with President Pervez Musharraf.

Khan welcomed Bhutto's statement that the PPP would boycott polls held under emergency. Bhutto today also asked Musharraf to quit as both president and army chief.

Bhutto and PML-N chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also separately contacted Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and all three leaders agreed to launch a
combined struggle against the emergency, Geo News reported.

Sharif, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia, also welcomed Bhutto's call for Musharraf to resign and said the opposition should unite against the military ruler.

Protests against Bhutto's house arrest


November 13, 2007: Members of the Pakistan Peoples party organised protests across the country on Tuesday, after PPP chief Benazir Bhutto [Images] was put under under house arrest for the second time in less than a week, to prevent her from leading a long march from Karachi to Islamabad against the emergency rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf [Images].

Top Lahore [Images] city police official Aftab Cheema delivered a seven-day detention order for Bhutto but PPP leaders refused to accept it.

Hundreds of PPP workers were also arrested in overnight swoops by police across Punjab province, especially at places where Bhutto had planned to address rallies during the long march.

Bhutto also asked Musharraf to quit as President, saying the days of dictatorship in Pakistan were over.

"We say Musharraf must leave. The time for dictatorship is over. It's time to bring a transfer to democracy," she said.

Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan from an eight-year self exile after Musharraf promulgated an ordinance that allowed withdrawal of graft case against her, has repeatedly called on the general to resign as head of the army, end emergency rule, reinstate the Constitution and free detained activists.

Meanwhile, the PPP had to start its long march without Bhutto. Shah Mahmoud Qureshi, the president of the Punjab unit of the PPP, led the march with 110 vehicles and thousands of followers.

Bhutto remains in house arrest, PPP vows to continue march


Lahore: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto remained under house arrest here for the second day on Wednesday as her Pakistan People's Party said it would push ahead with its "long march" against the emergency amidst a tense stand-off with President Pervez Musharraf.

Nearly 1,000 policemen are deployed around the home of PPP leader Latif Khosa, where the 54-year-old Bhutto has been detained, preventing her from stepping out to join the march from Lahore to Islamabad.

Police also stepped up efforts to block the march, now being led by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the head of the Punjab unit of the PPP. Officials moved to block PPP activists from across the province joining the motorcade as it makes its way through the interiors of Punjab.

Bhutto stepped up efforts to forge a united front with other political parties to take on Musharraf, whom she had called on on Tuesday to quit as president and army chief.

She has also ruled out serving with the military ruler in any future government.

For the first time, Bhutto on Tuesday held direct parleys on phone with Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed. PPP secretary general Jahangir Badar, talking to reporters outside Khosa's house, said: "Talks with other parties and all democratic forces like the bar associations are on to carry on our campaign for civilian democratic rule."

Khosa's house has been surrounded by barbed wire and metal barricades while police vehicles and trucks have been used to block nearby roads. Officials said Bhutto's house arrest would continue under a seven-day detention order served on Tuesday and there was no plan to shift her to Karachi or Islamabad.

The officials said Bhutto had been detained "for her own safety" as there are reports that suicide bombers had entered Lahore to target her. The PPP has dismissed this contention, saying the military regime is "dead scared of the street power" of the party and "will leave no stone unturned to crush the resistance" that the PPP has put up.

Hundreds of PPP workers have been arrested across Punjab to prevent them joining the long march that is expected to culminate in Islamabad with a sit-in. PPP workers also clashed with police in Karachi and Peshawar during protests against Bhutto's detention.

HUNDREDS TAKE TO THE STREETS EVEN WITHOUT BHUTTO


Lahore Nov 13: Despite the absence of former PM Benazir Bhutto, under house arrests since yesterday - and for the next seven days - at the dwelling of one of her aides in Lahore, the long protest rally she convened against the state of emergency and the suspension of the Constitution (declared on 3 November by Pakistani President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf), has begun. Several activists of the PPP (Pakistani Peoples' Party), led by Ms Bhutto, have taken to the streets of the capital city of the eastern province of Punjab, slowly marching to Islamabad: 275km, to be covered in 3/4 days, provided that law enforcement personnel doesn't intervene, considering that the rally has been officially forbidden. The march is being led, on behalf of Ms Bhutto, by the provincial leader of the PPP, Shah Mahmoud, who claimed he is sure that many others will join the motorised convoy along the way.


"Should I be arrested - he said, speaking in English - some other party official will take my place at the head of the rally". He also added that whilst starting off the march, he and other party members were briefly stopped by anti-riot police officers. "But we did manage to get going eventually", he added. Police sources, on the other hand, deny that the march actually began and reached the Lahore countryside, playing down the extent of the march itself.

Pakistan won't allow Bhutto's protest


November 12, 2007: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will not be allowed to hold a protest procession across Pakistan because it will violate a ban on political rallies under the state of emergency, a government spokesman said today.

Bhutto and other opposition members have threatened to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections unless the restrictions imposed by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf come to an end and he resigns as army chief. Musharraf said the vote would take place in mid-January, but critics say with the state of emergency, elections will be neither free nor fair.

Bhutto was due to depart from the city of Lahore on Tuesday.

Musharraf's Electoral Farce

By Benazir Bhutto


November 14, 2007: LAHORE, Pakistan -- All through the years of the Soviet empire, its Politburo held "elections." Of course, calling something an election and actually having it be an election are different things.

I am under house arrest in Lahore, barricaded in by Pakistani police with bayonets. Despite Gen. Pervez Musharraf's announcement of a date for parliamentary elections, I doubt that we are in for a change.

I cautioned the general earlier this year that his election as president by the present parliament was illegal. He insisted otherwise.

We agreed to disagree and decided that we both would accept a ruling by the Supreme Court regarding eligibility.

Yet when the court was on the brink of deciding, Musharraf imposed martial law by suspending the constitution, and he removed several of the Supreme Court justices. Today the nation is paying for his mistake.

We are witnessing a farce in Pakistan: While an election schedule has been announced, the problem lies in what has not been announced. No indication has been given as to whether Musharraf will keep his previous commitment to retire as army chief on Thursday.

No date has been given for the lifting of emergency rule; the reconstitution of the election commission; the implementation of fair election practices; the removal of biased officials; or the suspension of the mayors, who control the guns and the funds -- that is, police and government resources -- to adversely influence elections.

Moreover, judges, lawyers, human rights activists and students across the country are in prison or under house arrest. The independent media have been shut down, television stations stopped from broadcasting news. Several foreign journalists have been expelled. Thousands of political activists, a majority from my Pakistan People's Party, have been arrested.

Police have erected barricades and deployed armored personnel carriers and trucks filled with sand to cut off access to my house and to prevent people from going from one city to another.

Musharraf knows how to crack down against pro-democracy forces. He is, however, unwilling or unable to track down and arrest Osama bin Laden or contain the extremists. This is the reality of Pakistan in November 2007.

The only terror that Musharraf's regime seems able to confront is the terror of his own illegitimacy. This is the second time Musharraf has imposed martial law and the second time he has sacked judges since taking over the country in a coup in 1999. It was then that he first promised "to bring true democracy."

The election commission has promulgated election rolls judged illegitimate by Pakistan's Supreme Court and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. Some polling sites have been kept secret. Musharraf's political opposition is banned from campaigning or organizing and has been denied access to state-controlled media. We cannot meet, we cannot rally, and when we try to bring the people to the streets they are gassed, beaten and shot at with rubber bullets. This is not only a military dictatorship, it is a classic police state.

On top of a litany of assaults on the rule of law, the general has unilaterally amended the Army Act of 1952 to grant the army the power to try civilians in military courts. Courts-martial will operate by military rules in secret, and defendants are not allowed legal representation.

No attempt has been made to differentiate between average citizens and terrorism suspects associated with militant groups. Many believe that these laws were passed to intimidate pro-democracy forces, not to try terrorism suspects. This is the "democracy" that Musharraf envisages.

While living in America when I attended Harvard in the early 1970s, I saw for myself the awesome, almost miraculous, power of a people to change policy through democratic means. Today I am seeing the power of the people coalescing once again. Journalists, judges, and political and civil activists have joined together against Musharraf's second declaration of martial law. They see him as the obstacle to the democratization of Pakistan.

This is why I have called upon Gen. Musharraf to resign as president and chief of army staff, and to pave the way for the composition of an interim government of national consensus that will oversee the transfer of power to duly elected representatives of the people.

The people of the Soviet Union knew that "elections" for the Politburo were fraudulent. The people of Pakistan know that elections under martial law are a similar sham.

Benazir Bhutto, head of the Pakistan People's Party, was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan. She is under house arrest in Lahore.

Digging a Hole
The New York Times
EDITORIAL


November 14, 2007: With five words in an interview with reporters for The Times yesterday, Gen. Pervez Musharraf showed how far removed he is from understanding what democracy is, never mind fulfilling his oft-broken promise to lead Pakistan back toward a stable and prosperous future.

Asked about Benazir Bhutto's call for his resignation, General Musharraf, Pakistan's president, shot back that the opposition leader, who is under house arrest, ''has no right to ask.'' Oh, really?

Although General Musharraf seems to believe that he can continue calling the shots, his political space is narrowing. Ms. Bhutto has ruled out a power-sharing deal with him in a future government. Washington had hoped such an agreement would be the key to Pakistan's transition back to democracy. And is there anyone who assigns any credence to his claims that he declared martial law to assure free and fair elections?

The world knows what it would look like if the general were serious about giving up a dictator's power. He would resign as the army's chief of staff by tomorrow, the day he is supposed to be sworn in for another term as president. He would reinstate the Supreme Court justices that he dismissed so they could not declare his ''re-election'' to be the sham that it so evidently was -- rather than have it validated by pliant justices he installed after declaring martial law.

In the interview, General Musharraf continued to defy Pakistan's Constitution -- and direct appeals by President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- by refusing to say when he would step down as army leader. He offered a ludicrous defense of his scrapping the Constitution, dismissing the Supreme Court and arresting some 2,500 opposition party workers, lawyers and human rights advocates -- and gave no hint when he might lift martial law.

Although he proved his tough-guy bona fides by rising to the top army post and then staging a bloodless coup in 1999, General Musharraf looks increasingly weak. He has taken to petty name-calling against the head of Pakistan's human rights commission. Putting political rivals under house arrest makes it seem as if he fears them as much, if not more, than Al Qaeda and the Taliban, which are the real threats to his country and beyond.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is scheduled to meet General Musharraf in Islamabad later this week. We hope his message will be unambiguous. General Musharraf must lift martial law, reinstate constitutional processes, release political detainees, unfetter the media, give up his army post and accept whatever ruling the Supreme Court makes on his eligibility to be president. He must set a firm date for elections in January and facilitate everything -- an election commission, voter registration, media access, international monitors -- to make those polls as free and fair as possible.

Otherwise, the United States, which has provided Pakistan with more than $10 billion since Sept. 11, 2001, should condition some of that assistance on Islamabad's performance in fighting extremists and reconsider aid not directly linked to counterterrorism, like support for the F-16s that Washington let Pakistan buy. It should also shift money toward political parties, schools and courts to help the Pakistani people build a democracy.

The United States has core interests in Pakistan that need to be defended. That means standing firm for a stable civil society and democratic processes, fighting terrorism and securing the nation's nuclear arsenal.

Large scale arrests of PPP leaders and workers

Former Speaker Yousuf Raza Gillani, Opposition Leader Qasim Zia and Punjab Secretary Information among arrested


Islamabad, 13 November 2007: Hundreds of Pakistan Peoples Party workers including women Parliamentarians have been arrested in different cities in the Punjab and Sindh on the eve of Long March as the former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest at the house of Senator Khosa House in Lahore.

According to initial reports those arrested included Vice Chairman of PPP, Yousuf Raza Gilani, opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Qasim Zia, Punjab Information Secretary Farzana Raja, Beelum Husnain MNA, Yasmin Rehman MNA, Mehreen Anwar Raja MNA, Tasneem Qureshi MNA, Uzma Bokhari MPA, Faiza Malik, Nadia Aziz, Mirza Afzal, Samina Naveed, Sughra Imam, Hoor Bokhari, Saghira Islam, Ashraf Ejaz Gill, Abdul Qayyum jatoi and others. Farzana Raja was detained at a male prison and treated with violence and disrespect. Others who have been arrested include

President PPP Punjab, Shah Mehmood Qaurshi reached Kasur with a large procession and started Long March towards Okara. The procession was intercepted near Dibalpur by the heavy police deployment but the provincial PPP President managed to escape and continue his Long March and reached Okara. PPP Parliamentarian Ch. Manzoor also escaped arrest and managed to reach Okara.

In Lahore, the Khosa House was surrounded by thousands of policemen to stop the Chairperson from leading the Long March.

Meanwhile PPP Karachi has announced three-day strike against Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s house arrest. Member Sindh assembly Sassi Palejo was arrested along with dozens of workers in Thatta. Police raided village Dinabad district Thatta, the village of member Sindh Assembly Humera Alwani and arrested her 72 years old uncle Imamdino Khwaja after torturing him during the raid. The police also tortured Waloo Baloch, Juman Mirbahar and Allahno Mirbahar.

Police has carried out raids in towns, cities and villages on the route of the long marc h. Clashes have erupted between PPP activists and baton charging police in Lahore, Kasur, Dipalpur, Allahabad and other cities and towns on route of the Long March. The Long March will resume from Okara Wednesday morning.

Presidential notification and retirement as army chief two separate issues


Islamabad, 13 November 2007: PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that the Presidential notification and retirement as army chief were two separate issues and it was wrong to connect the two.

In a statement today he said that the announcement that National Assembly would be dissolved on Thursday, provincial assemblies on Nov 20th and elections to the National and provincial assemblies would be held on the same day before January 9, 2008 is a step the right direction.

However, the nation still has not been given any date of Musharraf retiring as Chief of Army Staff.

The PPP demands that General Musharraf retires from the Army on or before November 15 as promised by him to the PPP, the Supreme Court and the people of Pakistan, he said.

General Musharraf says that he cannot do so unless the PCO Supreme Court decides the case.

He said that the PPP believes that the issues of Presidential notification and retirement as Army Chief are two separate issues. Musharraf must retire as Army Chief on or before November 15 while the issue of eligibility is decided.

It is therefore wrong to connect the eligibility issue with retirement as Army Chief.

The Pakistan Peoples Party believes that fair, free and impartial elections and free expression of the will of the people of Pakistan cannot be made under the present environment. The opposition parties are gagged and their hand tied while the Election Commission has still not been reconstituted, he said.

The issue agitating public mind including emergency, a pliant judiciary, a non-independent Election Commission and the presence of the political mayors controlling guns and funds have still not been addressed.

Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the amendments made in the Army Act making it applicable to all citizens rather than extremists militant groups has also raised many questions and sent wrong signals to the peoples.

Unless these issues are addressed the parties would be going into the electoral arena with their hands tied, he said.

The announcement of the election schedule may raise hopes but far too often in the past hopes were raised only to be dashed, he said.

Bankrupt Relationship


Despite George W Bush's rhetoric about freedom, the struggle against terrorism is provoking a reaction familiar from the Cold War and nowhere is that clearer than over Pakistan.

In the old parlance, General Pervez Musharraf is "our sonofabitch". He has failed to stamp out extremist groups and close the madrassas that inspire them. He has allowed the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan to fall into the hands of assorted jihadis. And he has sacked independent-minded judges for fear that the Supreme Court declare illegal his re-election as president last month.

Yet, despite this combination of incompetence and brutality, America and Britain continue to back him as head of what has a strong claim to be the most dangerous country in the world.

In order to broaden the government's political base, their plan is for the general to doff his army uniform later this month and enter into a power-sharing arrangement with Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party, after general elections in February.

If that ever comes to pass, it will bring together a soldier whose popularity has plummeted and a politician whose standing has been undermined by her willingness to cut a deal with him. And the prospects for its lasting are slim: Miss Bhutto and the military are like oil and water.

In short, the relationship between Gen Musharraf and the West is bankrupt. Valued as an ally after 9/11, he is now part of the problem. Under his dictatorship, Pakistan has become an increasingly ungovernable country in which moderate, secular forces have been sidelined to the advantage of the Islamists.

An alternative – an alliance between General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, the army chief designate, and Miss Bhutto's secular rival, Nawaz Sharif – seems neither imminent nor especially enticing. But that should not blind Britain and America to the fact that their "sonofabitch" in Pakistan is a spent force.

Pakistan's High Commission sent the following response to this article:

"The language used for the President of Pakistan in your leading article ("Bankrupt relationship", November 9) is offensive and flouts the norms of decent journalism.


"For a newspaper of The Daily Telegraph's reputation to resort to such derogatory language is highly regrettable. This deserves an apology." Imran Gardezi, Minister Press

Musharraf Makeover Proves Too Much for One Lobby Firm

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum


November 13, 2007: Lobbying can be an unsavory business. Just ask former senator John Edwards of North Carolina. He hopes to ride that fact to the Democratic nomination for president.

Then again, lobbyists love it when companies and countries get into trouble. The bigger the problem, the larger their fees.

So it was noteworthy last week that Cassidy &amp; Associates, one of D.C.'s biggest lobbying firms, resigned from its just-signed $1.2 million-a-year lobbying contract with the government of Pakistan.

Cassidy dropped the engagement, it said, because the military crackdown by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had rendered its efforts to generate good will useless. "We thought it best to withdraw from the account as the dramatic changes in Pakistan impeded our effectiveness on their behalf," said Tom Alexander, Cassidy's spokesman.

A statement by the Pakistani Embassy, however, raises the prospect that the decision was more mutual. "The contract for one year was still at the trial phase when, during the course of the first month of association, both the Embassy of Pakistan and Cassidy &amp; Associates came to the conclusion that the latter could not effectively implement the contract as lobbyist," an embassy spokesman said in a statement. "As a result, Cassidy &amp; Associates asked for withdrawal from the contract that the Embassy has accepted."

Cassidy says it was not pushed out by Pakistan. "There was never any concern about our work expressed by the embassy," Alexander said.

Whatever the story is, there's no need to worry about Pakistan (not that you would). It still has a lobbyist, the same one it has had for 2 1/2 years. Van Scoyoc Associates continues to represent the government at half the price Cassidy was charging -- $660,000 a year. "We work with the embassy to address legitimate concerns that have been raised in Congress and recent actions by the government of Pakistan," said Mark Tavlarides, a vice president of the lobbying firm.

And clearly, with no regrets.

Proclamation of Emergency Issued by Gen. Pervez Musharraf


Following is the text of the Proclamation of Emergency declared by General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday, as released by The Associated Press of Pakistan, a state-run news agency.

WHEREAS there is visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED explosions, rocket firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan;

WHEREAS there has also been a spate of attacks on State infrastructure and on law enforcement agencies;

WHEREAS some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism thereby weakening the Government and the nation’s resolve and diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace;

WHEREAS there has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular;

WHEREAS constant interference in executive functions, including but not limited to the control of terrorist activity, economic policy, price controls, downsizing of corporations and urban planning, has weakened the writ of the government; the police force has been completely demoralized and is fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism and Intelligence Agencies have been thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists;

WHEREAS some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released. The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law enforcement agencies subdued;

WHEREAS some judges by overstepping the limits of judicial authority have taken over the executive and legislative functions;

WHEREAS the Government is committed to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law and holds the superior judiciary in high esteem, it is nonetheless of paramount importance that the Honourable Judges confine the scope of their activity to the judicial function and not assume charge of administration;

WHEREAS an important Constitutional institution, the Supreme Judicial Council, has been made entirely irrelevant and non est by a recent order and judges have, thus, made themselves immune from inquiry into their conduct and put themselves beyond accountability;

WHEREAS the humiliating treatment meted to government officials by some members of the judiciary on a routine basis during court proceedings has demoralized the civil bureaucracy and senior government functionaries, to avoid being harassed, prefer inaction;

WHEREAS the law and order situation in the country as well as the economy have been adversely affected and trichotomy of powers eroded;

WHEREAS a situation has thus arisen where the Government of the country cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution and as the Constitution provides no solution for this situation, there is no way out except through emergent and extraordinary measures;

AND WHEREAS the situation has been reviewed in meetings with the Prime Minister, Governors of all four Provinces, and with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chiefs of the Armed Forces, Vice-Chief of Army Staff and Corps Commanders of the Pakistan Army;

NOW, THEREFORE, in pursuance of the deliberations and decisions of the said meetings, I General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff, proclaim Emergency throughout Pakistan.

2. I hereby order and proclaim that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance.

3. This Proclamation shall come into force at once.

Pakistan's 'Proclamation of Emergency', the Judiciary and Other Stories


Pakistan's military ruler, General Musharraf, has for the second time in eight years imposed Martial Law in the country. One should not be led astray by the 'Proclamation of Emergency' issued by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Although the official TV channel of the government is busy selling the idea of an 'emergency' to its viewers, the reality remains that Pakistan is facing its sixth Martial Law since independence.

Under the 1973 Constitution, the only way for the Federal Government to issue a proclamation of emergency is under Article 232 in case the country faces a threat of war or external aggression, or internal disturbances beyond the control of a Provincial Government. The proclamation is to be made by the President and must be placed before the Parliament for the latter's approval. While a proclamation is in force, the Federal Government may make orders to the Provincial Governments and may suspend the operation of constitutional provisions with regards to provincial bodies and matters. Such orders must be approved by the Parliament. The Parliament may also legislate on provincial matters while the emergency is in force and may extend its life for up to a year. The Federal Government may suspend the enforcement of fundamental rights. However, the government may not hold the constitution in abeyance and may not suspend provisions related to the senior judiciary.

The Proclamation of Emergency issued by the COAS today is not a proclamation under Article 232. It has not been issued by the President but by the COAS. It contains no reasons that show neither an objectively verifiable threat of war or external aggression nor an internal disturbance that was actually outside the control of a Provincial Government. It only alleges that judicial activism is hampering the war against terror and is demoralizing the executive. The proclamation holds the Constitution of Pakistan in abeyance which is not permitted under the Constitution. Pursuant to this proclamation, the political leadership is being arrested alongside of prominent lawyers. Reports indicate that the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who was illegal removed not so long ago, has been put under house arrest and that other senior judges are being forced to retake oaths under a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). The proclamation is hence illegal, unconstitutional and amounts to an act of treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.

The PCO is of great importance as it manifests the intentions of the military dictator. The document provides that no court will take cognizance of any order made by the government pursuant to the proclamation of emergency. It further gives power to the federal government to require that all Superior Court judges retake their oaths and provides discretion to the former to choose which existing judges to call for such an oath. Such a measure has met tremendous resistance from existing judges. As of now, reports in leading newspapers indicate that only three Supreme Court judges out of seventeen and around twenty judges out of almost a hundred from the four provincial High Courts have taken oath under the PCO. Moreover, acting on the application of the Pakistan Bar Council President, a eight member bench of the Supreme Court set aside the PCO and the Proclamation of Emergency just hours before law enforcement agencies surrounded the SC building. The bench ordered all civil and military officers and personal to disregard any illegal and unconstitutional order of the government.

The latest move by the general is an illegal, ultra-constitutional and desperate attempt to hold on to power by unconstitutionally clipping the power of the judiciary that was trying to uphold that constitution and safeguard the fundamental rights of the citizens. By clipping the power, the general has done away with the hundreds of cases challenging the actions of the executive including the case regarding his candidacy for the Presidency and the notorious National Reconciliation Ordinance.

It remains to be seen what level of protest the political, legal, and civil communities can gather in the coming days and weeks. Clearly the public can draw inspiration from the Honorable Judges of the Superior Courts who refused to retake their oath and upheld the sanctity of the Constitution.


Syed Umair Javed is a third-year law student in the Department of Law & Policy, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.

It is martial law


* Emergency imposed, Constitution held in abeyance
* ‘Judicial interference’, law and order cited as reasons
* PM, CMs and cabinets to continue
* Senate, NA, PAs and local governments not suspended
* COAS empowered to amend Constitution
* Fundamental rights under articles 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 19, 25 suspended
* Troops deployed at government installations
* Private TV news channels blacked out

By Rana Qaisar

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday imposed a state of emergency in the country and promulgated a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) holding the Constitution in abeyance.

“Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf has imposed a state of emergency in the country and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order,” an official statement said, without using the word “president” for Gen Musharraf.

Under the PCO, the Constitution will remain in abeyance. However, General Musharraf did not suspend the Senate, National Assembly or the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan assemblies. The local governments will also continue to work.

The PCO empowers the president to amend the Constitution. With the promulgation of the PCO, fundamental rights under Articles 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 25 of the Constitution will remain suspended while all provisions of the Constitution under Articles 2, 2A, 31, 203A to 203J, 227 to 231 and 260(3a and b) will remain in force.

The proclamation of emergency order cited “increasing interference by some members of judiciary” and increasing terrorist attacks as justifications. The imposition of emergency comes as the Supreme Court was hearing a petition challenging Gen Musharraf’s eligibility to contest presidential elections. The government was reportedly expecting an adverse decision in the case, with intelligence reports indicating that most judges on the 11-member bench were likely to rule against the president. The prime minister and his cabinet, and the provincial governors and chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan and their cabinets will remain in place.

The decision to impose an emergency and promulgate the PCO was taken at a high-level meeting, which started at noon and continued till 5pm. Gen Musharraf chaired the meeting and his top commanders attended.

All private local and foreign TV news channels were taken off air at 5:05pm and Pakistan Television (PTV) made the first announcement about emergency rule at 6:05pm. Army troops, Rangers and police were deployed at the PTV headquarters, Radio Pakistan, parliament building, Constitution Avenue, airport and other government buildings.

Reasons behind imposition of emergency


* Attacks on state infrastructure, security agencies

Judicial interference:

* Affecting war against terrorism, economic growth

* In executive functions

* Weakening government’s writ

* Demoralising police, hampering intelligence agencies

* Release of some militants by court orders

* Judges overstepping their authority

* Supreme Judicial Council made irrelevant

* Judges humiliating government officials in courts

* Trichotomy of powers eroded, law and order affected

‘Emergency to end judicial activism’
By Ihtasham ul Haque


ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday defended the proclamation of the state of emergency and said that judicial activism had brought the country to a complete standstill.

“Pakistan is on the verge of destabilisation and this is not acceptable to me and this has forced me to take this action. Also I believe that at this stage inaction will be suicidal and I cannot allow this situation as it will harm the third stage of transition to full democracy,” he said in his address to the nation on state-run PTV and Radio Pakistan.

He said that some members of the Supreme Court were creating hurdles in the launching of the third phase of return to complete civilian rule.

The president requested the United States, European Union and the Commonwealth to realise the gravity of Pakistan’s problems and avoid criticising the government for imposing the state of emergency.

“Please don’t demand your level of democracy as we are trying to learn. Give us time. We are trying to lean about civil liberties and other such issues,” he said. “Please bear with me and understand our problems,” he told the West.

He justified his action by quoting US President Abraham Lincoln who, according Gen Musharraf, broke laws and usurped the rights of the people to preserve the Constitution.

The president said that Pakistan was passing through a difficult phase and could not anymore accept the downslide of economy and the overall law and order situation, particularly created by terrorists and religious extremists.

He accused some judges of the superior judiciary of bringing harm to three pillars of the state -- judiciary, legislature and executive. “On the one hand, Pakistan’s sovereignty has been seriously challenged by terrorists and on the other the country’s system is semi-paralysed due the judicial activism,” he said.

Gen Musharraf regretted that senior government officials were forced to visit the Supreme Court almost daily and their reputation was being dragged in dirt. “Over 100 suo motu cases are being heard by the Supreme Court, besides thousands of applications against the executive were being entertained due to which the government’s system has collapsed totally,” he said, adding that senior government officials were not performing their duties due to fear and state of uncertainty.

He said he had drawn a three-stage strategy to introduce full democracy in Pakistan. From 1999 to 2002, he said, he was running the country alone and then from 2002 to 2007, elected federal and provincial governments were performing their duties. “And I was just overseeing that system,” he said, adding that he was ensuring the complete transition by first having the presidential election and then general elections.

“But they created problem for me after I was elected president by with 57 per cent vote. They kept on dragging the issue and did not allow its notification and this was how they created a state of uncertainty and frustration among the masses.”

The president said that while some members of the superior judiciary were deliberately creating problems for him, some people in the media, especially a few television channels, remained busy in adding to the negativism in the country.

“I want to ask the nation why did this judicial activism create problems in the relationship of judiciary, legislation and executive,” the president said.

He said since there were serious allegations against the CJ, he was forced to send this reference to the council on the advice of the prime minister. “And I did nothing wrong but then I saw that the Supreme Judicial Council was not allowed to run properly and this led to the breakdown of everything in the country.”

What may follow after PCO
Jalil-ur-Rehman

 

LAHORE: The promulgation of the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) by Chief of Amy Staff (COAS) General Pervez Musharraf issued here Saturday will affect and cause the following developments and steps to be taken in continuation of the PCO as well as Proclamation of Emergency.

The Senate of Pakistan shall continue to exist.

In terms of the PCO imposed by the COAS, the National Assembly, provincial governors, the federal cabinet, chief ministers, provincial cabinets in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan and all the provincial assemblies except NWFP shall continue to remain functional.

Judges of the superior courts (provincial high courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan) may be asked to take their oath afresh.

The federation can invite judges of its own choice for taking oath afresh and the judges not invited for the fresh oath shall be deemed to have been retired from the judiciary.

If some judges of the Supreme Court including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and others are not invited for taking oath afresh, the next senior most judge in the seniority list shall be the new chief justice of Pakistan. Since Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar has sworn in as Chief Justice of Pakistan as such after his retirement the next judge will be the CJP.

Justice Falak Sher of the Supreme Court of Pakistan if invited for taking oath afresh may become the new Chief Justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar in case he was invited for taking oath under the PCO.

The COAS may set up special courts comprising military and judicial officers for the trial of extremists and terrorists under some new law to be introduced in the next few days.

All kinds of public rallies and meetings shall be banned in the country.

The federal and the provincial governments can be dismissed at any time by the COAS and new interim caretakers set up formed as and when required to run day-to-day affairs.

Some fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution can be suspended in the Provincial Constitution Order (PCO).

After Proclamation of Emergency, the COAS may also impose governor's rule at any time during emergency in the provinces under which the provincial governments shall be under the direct administrative control of the federation.

The tenure of the National and provincial assemblies can be extended for one year as provided in the 1973 Constitution.

The Proclamation of Emergency and the PCO can be assailed on legal and judicial grounds, provided the 1973 Constitution is intact or the new PCO keeps fundamental rights intact.

The constitutional organs and institutions shall continue to exist.

In case the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies of the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan are dissolved on completing their five years tenure, the speaker of the National Assembly and all four speakers of the provincial assemblies shall continue in their offices until the new speakers are elected by new members of the National and provincial assemblies.

Bhutto criticizes martial law in Pakistan
Former prime minister talks with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell


NBC News' Andrea Mitchell speaks with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, from her home in Karachi, Pakistan. Bhutto had just arrived in Pakistan after the imposition of martial law by President Pervez Musharraf.

MITCHELL: Prime Minister Bhutto, tell me what your latest information is about what President Musharraf has done, and your reaction to it.

BHUTTO: General Musharraf has suspended the constitution of Pakistan, so it's really a declaration of martial law. But he's calling it an emergency. An emergency sounds more palatable to international opinion. But the proclamation says that the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance, and that's very worrying. My party and I would like to see the constitution restored.

MITCHELL: Is there any justification that you know of for him declaring this suspension of the constitution?

BHUTTO: Well, General Musharraf has tried to justify the imposition of martial law or emergency claiming that there has been an ascendancy in the activities of extremists. I agree with him that there has been ascendancy in the activities of the extremists, but I don't believe in the solution. In my view, dictatorship fuels extremism. The extremists feed off dictatorship, and dictatorship feeds off the extremists. The dictatorship needs the extremists to justify its existence, and the extremists need dictatorship to expand and spread. So I believe the solution lies in respecting the constitution, respecting the rule of law, and investing in the people, trusting the people, and allowing the people to determine their future.

MITCHELL: What are you planning to do?

BHUTTO: I returned to Pakistan to give moral support to the people of my country and to tell them that they were not alone in the struggle for the restoration of our constitution. I plan to meet with leaders of other political parties and discuss with them the policies we should make in trying to seek a restoration of our constitution.

MITCHELL: At this point, given what General Musharraf has done, have you abandoned any plan to work out a political agreement where you would run, and become prime minister, and work with him in a government?

BHUTTO: Well, it's very difficult for me to work with a military leader. General Musharraf has committed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and he has personally assured me, that he would retire as Chief of Army Staff. But now he has declared martial law in this capacity, as Chief of Army Staff. The constitution gives our president emergency powers, but the constitutional articles for emergency have not been utilized. Instead General Musharraf has said that in his capacity, that "I, General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff, proclaim emergency." So he has actually said that he will continue as Chief of Army Staff, and that makes for a very difficult situation. Of course, if he was to restore the constitution and retire as Chief of Army Staff, that would be a totally different situation. It would lend confidence that he was once again considering the democratic route. But not while he remains Chief of Army Staff and suspends the constitution.

MITCHELL: And what do you think you and your supporters can do now, politically or in any other fashion?

BHUTTO: Well, we would like to protest the imposition of martial law, and we would like to raise our voices for the restoration of democracy. So we're going to be meeting together to discuss the most effective ways of doing that. We are calling upon the international community to use its enormous leverage with General Musharraf to persuade him that this is a regressive step, it's a violation of the promises and the commitments that he made to the people of Pakistan and to the international community. And that if he really wishes to fight extremists, then the best way to do that is to trust the people, restore the constitution, establish an independent election commission, and hold fair, free and impartial elections.

MITCHELL: Have you had any communication with Secretary Rice or any American officials?

BHUTTO: Not yet. I just came to Pakistan. But before, earlier, yesterday I heard that there were efforts being made to stop the imposition of emergency. And I also planned to come back to Pakistan so that I could also contact the people in the regime here and tell them not to take this step. But by the time I left, they had already taken this step.

MITCHELL: I've seen a report from Sky News that you believe that this is an attempt to delay elections for a year or two. Is that what you believe is happening?

BHUTTO: That's right. My reports from inside the regime are that there is going to be a salami (piecemeal) approach, where we are going to be told this is a temporary measure for three to six months, and then it will be extended for another six months. And in fact, I believe that the hard-liners within the regime, and there are many hard-liners which served with an earlier military dictator of the 80's, who formed the Afghan muhjahideen who went on to become al-Qaida and Taliban. These hard-liners believe that America will be caught up in the presidential elections for a year. And then a new administration in the U.S. will take another year to settle down. And they feel they need two years to drive NATO out of Afghanistan, destabilize (Afghan President) Karzai, and set up a kind of puppet government there, as well to expand their influence in Pakistan. These are the reports I'm getting from inside the regime.

MITCHELL: You think that General Musharraf is trying to suspend the constitution for an extended period of time, for a matter of years?

BHUTTO: Yes. But he will not say so immediately. It will be done in installments. I believe this position has been taken to suspend the constitution for at least one year, if not two.

MITCHELL: I was going to ask you if you're concerned for your safety?

BHUTTO: I do have concerns for the safety of all the people of my country, not just myself. I am unsure what will happen; this is a difficult period, but at the same time, General Musharraf has also been sensitive to international opinion. He was going to impose emergency earlier, and then the United States intervened; there was a long conversation with the secretary of State. And so I do believe that it's very important for us to try and get Pakistan back on to the democratic track. To persuade General Musharraf to restore the constitution, and to respect the courts, to respect the judiciary, and to trust the people of the country.

MITCHELL: Prime Minister, what would you like the United States government to do at this stage?

BHUTTO: I would like the United States government to telephone General Musharraf to tell him that it's not possible for them to support the suspension of Pakistan's constitution or the sacking of the judges. And that democracy is important, as President Bush has rightly said, it is democracy, it is the strength of the ballot, not the bullet, that is more important, and if it's about winning hearts and minds then democracy is very important. I would like the United States to tell General Mushararf -- please, accept the verdict of the people, hold elections, restore the constitution.

MITCHELL: Do you think it's so risky at this point that you would not hold rallies or marches? Have you decided one way or another what you want you and your political supporters to do?

BHUTTO: We would like to hold rallies and public demonstrations, but now fundamental human rights have been suspended, and we are going to have to get together to decide what is the best form of protest. But there will be a protest. Whether it's a public meeting, whether it's a sit-in, there will be protests, because it's very difficult to keep quiet in the face of the suspension of the constitution of Pakistan, which amounts to a military rule. We would like to see the restoration of the constitution, and I would like to urge General Musharraf to restore the constitution, to accept the verdict of the court, even if it's a verdict that he does not like. Because we can only strengthen the rule of law if we accept the verdict of the court. And I would like to ask Washington not to put everything behind one man, but to put it behind the people of Pakistan. People of my country must know that the international community and the world's only superpower stands with them rather than with an individual.

Lawyers will protest tomorrow

 

KARACHI/LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Lawyers’ associations said on Saturday that lawyers would observe a strike on Monday, November 5, to protest the imposition of an emergency in the country.

Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Aziz Akbar Baig said the lawyers would hold meetings and rallies to condemn this “unconstitutional step”.

Punjab Bar Council Vice Chairman Tariq Javed Warraich said the emergency had put the country in danger and lawyers would resist it at any cost.

Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) President Ahsan Bhoon said the whole nation would resist the emergency and the lawyers would never accept judges taking oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order.

Separately, the Sindh High Court Bar Association hosted a meeting in Karachi after the proclamation of the emergency. The meeting passed a resolution stating that lawyers were concerned over the proclamation of emergency in the country at a time when the nation was preparing to elect its representatives and the Supreme Court was about to decide petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s eligibility to run for a second presidential term.

Lawyers elsewhere in the country hosted similar meetings and resolved to resist the president’s step.

Gen Musharraf’s Second Coup:

 

•Charge-sheet against judiciary

•Media ‘promoting negativism’

•Country’s ‘integrity at stake’

•Legislatures intact


ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: In what is a virtual martial law, President Pervez Musharraf, acting as army chief, on Saturday imposed a state of emergency throughout Pakistan, suspended the Constitution and replaced superior courts in a move that could put the country’s political future into disarray.

In his proclamation of emergency, the general blamed growing violence by militants and a judiciary which he said was working at “cross purposes” with his government and the legislature for his most drastic action since he seized power in an October 12, 1999 coup.

A Provisional Constitutional Order was also issued, putting the Constitution in ‘abeyance’ but saying the country would be “governed, as nearly as may be, in accordance with the Constitution” although seven of its articles relating to fundamental rights would remain suspended, and empowering the president to amend the document ‘as is deemed expedient’.

The move, greeted with immediate condemnation at home by opposition parties, lawyers and human rights groups and concern from “war on terror” allies like the United States and Britain, came only 12 days before the expiration of General Musharraf’s presidency and the present assemblies and while an 11-judge bench of the Supreme Court was in a weekend recess in its hearing of challenges to his election for another five-year presidential term mainly on grounds of his army office.

General Musharraf seemed to have run out of other political and constitutional options as he took one of the most extraordinary steps by a ruler in 60 years of Pakistan’s life, putting aside not only the Constitution but also his own sweeping powers as president and preferring to act as Chief of the Army Staff.

The emergency proclamation said a situation had arisen where the “government of the country cannot be carried out in accordance with the Constitution” and “the Constitution provides no solution for this situation”.

However, the present federal and provincial governments, both houses of parliament and the provincial assemblies were kept intact.

CHARGE-SHEET AGAINST JUDICIARY: While it started with what it called “visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks” as grounds for the action, the proclamation contained a long charge-sheet against the superior judiciary some of whose members, it said, “are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism, thereby weakening the government and the nation’s resolve and diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace”.

“... (T)here has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular,” it said, adding that there was “constant interference in executive functions.”

It also blamed the judiciary’s interference for having “weakened the writ of the government, the police force ... been completely demoralised and ...fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism, and intelligence agencies ... thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists.”

While “some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released,” it said and added: “The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law enforcement agencies (were) subdued.”

CONSULTATIONS: The proclamation said the general acted after reviews of the situation in meetings with the prime minister, governors of all four provinces, armed forces chiefs and army corps commanders.

“Now, therefore, in pursuance of the deliberations and decisions of the said meetings, I General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff, proclaim emergency throughout Pakistan,” it said. “I hereby order and proclaim that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance.”

BLOW TO JUDICIARY: The emergency proclamation’s charges against judicial activism, which were immediately followed by change of command at the Supreme Court as well as changes in provincial high courts, appeared aimed at reversing what was hailed as a revival of independence of the judiciary after months of an epic movement led by lawyers since the president suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on March 9.

Justice Iftikhar, who was reinstated by a bench of Supreme Court judges on July 20, and several of his colleagues got marching orders under the new Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) though some of them put up a last-ditch resistance by holding the action void.

The proclamation accused “some” unspecified judges of the superior courts of “overstepping the limits of judicial authority” and having “taken over the executive and legislative functions”.

The references seemed to be mainly directed at Justice Iftikhar and his colleagues for some of their actions against government officials and pursuance of the cases of missing people allegedly detained by intelligence agencies.

The fundamental rights suspended by the PCO related to security of persons (article 9) safeguard as to arrest and detention (article 10), freedom of movement (article 15), freedom of assembly, (article 16) freedom of association (article 17), freedom of speech (article 19), and equality of citizens (article 25).

It said the Supreme Court or a high court or any other court “shall not have the power to make any order against the president or the prime minister or any persons exercising powers or jurisdiction under their authority”.

Reports on Saturday’s events in Islamabad were filed by Raja Asghar, Nasir Iqbal, Amir Wasim, Khaleeq Kiani, Baqir Sajjad, Ahmed Hassan, Munawar Azeem and Muhammad Asghar.

Black Saturday

 
November 3 will go down as another dark day in Pakistan's political and constitutional history. It can be safely said that this is one of General Pervez Musharraf's gravest errors of judgment, and a sorry indication that nothing has been learnt from the mistakes of the past. The imposition of emergency rule and suspension of the 1973 Constitution announced on Saturday is only going to destroy the very institutions that this country crucially needs for evolving into a true democracy, particularly the judiciary, media and parliament. It will further fracture an already weakened federation, alienate those who have grievances against the centre, such as the Tribal Areas and Balochistan, and push whatever little credibility the government had down a very deep abyss. Such a draconian step will also have little effect on our ability to fight terrorism and extremism. It would be fair to assume that the emergency has been imposed only to target two institutions: the judiciary and the media but it may well have poisonous effects on another: i.e. parliament. Those in the ruling PML-Q will be foolish not to realise that the legislative branch of government has received a death blow as well since the imposition has come from an army general.

The fact that the official statement carrying the emergency announcement used 'army chief' rather than president to refer to the authority behind the promulgation is significant as well indicating that perhaps what we have on our hands is a de facto martial law -- one in which the assemblies will function but only to give the impression that democracy has not been hampered in any manner. Furthermore, the timing of the proclamation, a few days before an expected judgment on a case that could have potentially declared the president's re-election null and void, is such that very few people in this country, or overseas for that matter, will buy the argument that it has been imposed to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation and to allow the government to focus on fighting extremism and militancy. It will be difficult to remove public doubts that it has only been imposed to target a superior judiciary that has finally found some spine and is carrying out its constitutional role of acting as a watchdog on the executive, which in Pakistan's case was often overstepping its constitutionally-defined authority. As for the media, the fact that private television channels were blacked out for the better part of Saturday is a grim indication of the government's intentions. However, here too, such bans are essentially counter-productive and will be seen by ordinary Pakistanis as a desperate act of a regime bent on shielding itself from criticism.

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been informed that his services were no longer required. In any case, the promulgation of a provisional constitutional order would mean that most of the judges of the Supreme Court who had in recent weeks taken a brave and defiant stand against the government and the military would be pushed aside and not be invited to take a fresh oath; many would in all probability decline such an offer. As news of the imposition of emergency spread, eight members of the Supreme Court defiantly struck down the proclamation, which could well trigger off a new stand-off. The future is not looking good -- not least because the president's move is bound to have massive repercussions and a severe response from all segments of civil society. Such acts are indefensible at any time, more so in this day and age.

Musharraf Declares Emergency Rule in Pakistan
Constitution Suspended; Chief Judge Fired

By Griff Witte


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 4 -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday declared emergency rule, suspended the constitution and fired the country's chief justice, extraordinary steps that gave him almost absolute power in a country that he described as spinning out of control.

The government deployed hundreds of army rangers on the streets of Islamabad, arrested some opposition figures and blacked out privately owned television stations across the country.

For Musharraf, who has become deeply unpopular in recent months, the moves represented a drastic gamble and came despite intense appeals from the United States and other Western allies to stay within the bounds of the Pakistani constitution.

In an emergency order, Musharraf cited rising extremism and a judiciary "at cross purposes" with the rest of the government as reasons for the moves. But the timing suggested he was also attempting to extend his rule as both president and army chief. The Supreme Court had been reviewing a challenge to his candidacy for another presidential term, and was expected to rule as early as next week.

The court made a defiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt Saturday to block Musharraf's implementation of emergency rule; in response, seven dissident justices were immediately removed from the bench. Musharraf said the Parliament, where he holds a commanding majority, would remain intact.

Members of Pakistan's fragmented political opposition condemned Musharraf for moves they said effectively put the country under martial law, and they vowed to take to the streets in protest. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a longtime political rival of Musharraf's, immediately flew back to the country from a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

Musharraf appeared on national television just before midnight Saturday and delivered a rambling, 50-minute defense of his decision. He described a government that, faced with terrorist threats and on the verge of destabilization, could no longer function. The country has been beset by a wave of attacks by Islamic extremists in recent months; those attacks have expanded from tribal areas along the Afghan border to regions farther east that have traditionally been relatively peaceful.

"In my view, this was the simplest way to save Pakistan, to put it back on the right track," Musharraf said.

At one point in his speech, Musharraf, 64, began speaking in English, saying he wanted to address the United States and the West. "I would kindly ask you to understand the criticality of the environment inside Pakistan and around Pakistan," he said. "Inaction at the moment is suicide for Pakistan, and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide."

He then quoted Abraham Lincoln, saying that America's 16th president had broken laws, violated the U.S. Constitution and trampled individual liberties to keep the country together during the Civil War.

Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999, vowed to continue to move Pakistan toward democracy but did not specify how. He said only that he "hoped" the country could still hold parliamentary elections that had been expected by January.

State-run TV aired interviews in which pro-government analysts criticized political opponents and the independent media for not backing Musharraf at a time of crisis.

Meanwhile, the government instituted tough new media restrictions that made it a crime to defame Musharraf, the army or the government. One private news station that has been particularly critical of Musharraf, Aaj, was raided early Sunday, and police attempted to remove the station's broadcasting equipment.

"He's pretty much carrying out a second coup," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, an analyst. "For all practical purposes, it is direct military rule. And he becomes the supreme ruler of Pakistan. There's no constitutional limit on him because he's set aside the constitution."

Rizvi said Musharraf's stated reasons for declaring an emergency were misleading. "It has nothing to do with the insurgency," he said. "It has to do with Musharraf's political survival."

Mushahid Hussain, a close adviser to Musharraf and a top leader in the ruling party, said the steps amounted to "de facto martial law." He said he had repeatedly tried to persuade the president against the measures in recent days but was outvoted in Musharraf's inner circle.

Hussain predicted that the moves would be disastrous for Musharraf and for the country.

"The way forward has to be democratic and constitutional. Any other course is a recipe for disaster. More importantly, it will not be accepted by the people of Pakistan and it will not work," he said.

According to Hussain, Musharraf convened a meeting of his top advisers on Wednesday to discuss options; 20 of 25 were in favor of emergency rule.

Musharraf appointed a new chief justice to replace Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who was believed to be under house arrest Saturday night. Journalists were barred from approaching Chaudhry's residence.

This March, Chaudhry was removed from the court by Musharraf, but the court reinstated him in July.

The other dissenting judges were also removed from office Saturday and escorted away in police vehicles about 8:30 p.m. Before they were removed, the group of seven justices had issued a ruling that Musharraf's decision was unconstitutional and had "no ground/reason." The court ordered that the emergency rule should not be instituted.

Four judges signed an oath to abide by Musharraf's new provisional constitution, and were immediately sworn in to a new panel.

"This is a very fateful day for the country. Pakistan is in deep, deep crisis," Aitzaz Ahsan, Chaudhry's attorney, said hours before being arrested. "It is one man against the nation."

Ahsan said Musharraf had declared emergency rule because he expected to lose the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the future of his presidency.

Bhutto, who returned last month from an eight-year exile, condemned Musharraf's moves and said emergency rule made it unlikely there would be fair elections. Her spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said she has not been in recent contact with Musharraf.

Opposition leaders reported late Saturday that squads of police officers were conducting raids and arresting Musharraf critics. Ahsan Iqbal, with an anti-Musharraf group led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said he had managed to slip out a back door when police came to his house to detain him.

"By seconds, I managed to get away," he said. Iqbal said his party would take to the streets to oppose the emergency.

"If the situation in Pakistan has become so grave that you need an emergency, then the person who has been responsible for the past eight years needs to be taken to task," Iqbal said. "General Musharraf is not serious about restoring democracy. He is only perpetuating his own power. He could not afford free and fair elections."

Hundreds of police officers and army rangers set up multiple checkpoints in and around Constitution Avenue, the wide, leafy boulevard where the president's house, the Parliament building and the Supreme Court sit. At one of the checkpoints, dozens of Musharraf's opponents began gathering in an apparently spontaneous display of anger at the emergency declaration, shouting, "Go, Musharraf, go!"

"This is a shame for all of the nation," said Chaudhry Asahgar, a resident of Islamabad. "The whole nation has been destroyed due to this." Several people shouted criticisms of the United States, blaming it for keeping Musharraf in power.

On Friday, U.S. officials had tried to pressure Musharraf to avoid declaring emergency rule or martial law. Adm. William J. Fallon, chief of the U.S. Central Command, met with Musharraf and tried to encourage him to back down from his plan.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Saturday that the United States was "deeply disturbed by reports that Pakistani President Musharraf has taken extra-constitutional actions and has imposed a state of emergency."

Musharraf won a new, five-year term as Pakistan's president in elections last month. But the Supreme Court was still deciding whether he was eligible to run in the first place.

While most analysts had predicted that the court would rule in Musharraf's favor and allow him to begin his new term, the government seemed to be getting nervous as the case dragged on in recent weeks.

With his current term as president set to expire Nov. 15, Musharraf had vowed to step down from his military post before he was sworn in for a new term. But he has broken promises to take off his uniform before and was considered reluctant to do so now. Government officials had been vague lately about Musharraf's plans, refusing to rule out the possibility of an emergency.

Special correspondents Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Shahzad Khurram in Islamabad and staff writers Robin Wright in Washington and Karen DeYoung, traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, contributed to this report


The president sends troops into the streets, expels the chief justice and cuts communication, plunging the country deep into political crisis. The U.S. condemns his actions.


By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

 

November 4, 2007: President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule in Pakistan plunged the country into fresh crisis Saturday, clouding the prospects for a return to civilian rule and posing the greatest quandary yet for the United States in its dealings with an essential but problematic ally.

Saturday's proclamation gives sweeping powers to Musharraf, an army general who seized the presidency in a coup eight years ago but has seen his grip on power falter in recent months.

He wasted little time in wielding his new authority, suspending the constitution, sending troops into the streets and deposing the chief justice, who had been a particular thorn in his side. He jammed private TV channels that have been critical of his rule and cut telephone service in Islamabad, the capital.

In a televised address to the nation late Saturday, Musharraf declared that Pakistan was at a "dangerous" juncture and that Islamic extremists were threatening the authority of the government. But critics denounced the emergency measures as driven more by domestic political woes than threats to national security.

Musharraf has been considered a crucial U.S. partner since his decision, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, to aid the United States in its war against Islamic militants, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But even as the United States pours billions of dollars of military aid into the country, many have questioned the depth of his commitment to fighting the radicals.

The Bush administration expressed deep concern Saturday, but stopped short of personal condemnation of the general, whom it has supported through months of growing unpopularity among his people.

"The U.S. has made clear that it does not support extra-constitutional measures, because those measures would take Pakistan away from the path of democracy and civilian rule," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Saturday while traveling from Turkey to Israel. "And whatever happens, we will be urging a quick return to the path of constitutional rule and constitutional order. . . . We are urging calm on all the parties."

She declined to say whether Musharraf had given the United States advance notice of his actions, but said Washington had told him many times that it would oppose such a move. In August, when the general considered imposing a state of emergency, Rice called him at 2 a.m. Pakistan time and dissuaded him.

Still, the Pakistani leader's action will not mean an automatic suspension of U.S. military aid, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Saturday. "At this point," Morrell said, "the declaration does not impact our military support for Pakistan."

Some analysts described the declaration as a last-ditch effort by Musharraf to hang on to power.

"It's effectively martial law," said Hassan Abbas, a former Pakistani government official who is now a scholar at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "He wants to eliminate all those who were trying to challenge him."

The state of emergency throws into doubt elections that had been set to take place by mid-January. In his address, the military ruler said he hoped democracy would be restored after parliamentary elections.

"But, in my eyes, I say with sorrow that some elements are creating hurdles in the way of democracy," said Musharraf, who was clad in a traditional black tunic rather than the military fatigues he often wears. "I think this chaos is being created for personal interests and to harm Pakistan."

He even invoked Abraham Lincoln, describing how one of America's greatest presidents had suspended some liberties to keep order and preserve unity at a time of national crisis.

Many ordinary Pakistanis, unmoved by such rhetoric, responded with somber dismay.

"So he really has done it," said Javed Rashid, a businessman in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. "I feared for my country before. I fear for it even more now."

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose return to Pakistan last month has roiled an already turbulent political scene, flew back to Pakistan from a family visit to the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai as the emergency order was taking effect.

Met at the Karachi airport by supporters from her Pakistan People's Party, she declared it the country's "blackest day."

Police escorted her from the airport, and paramilitary troops were deployed outside the compound that houses her office and home. It was not clear whether the troops were for protection or to restrict her movements.

Musharraf's dramatic move came days before an expected Supreme Court ruling on whether his election last month to a new presidential term was valid. Opponents said the vote should be thrown out because Musharraf, under the constitution, was not eligible to run while serving as chief of the army.

In recent days, Musharraf's aides had appeared to be laying the groundwork for an emergency declaration, citing intensified attacks by Islamic militants along the border with Afghanistan, together with a spate of suicide bombings in major cities.

Word of the declaration of emergency rule came in a terse announcement on official Pakistani television, though rumors had raced through Islamabad, Karachi and other big cities for hours beforehand.

"The chief of the army staff has proclaimed a state of emergency and issued a provisional constitutional order," a grim-faced newscaster announced.

Witnesses reported that military vehicles patrolled Islamabad's main avenues and blocked roads, including Constitution Avenue leading to the Supreme Court building. Several justices, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, were inside the building at the time, and later were taken away in a police convoy.

Pakistan's political scene has been increasingly tense. When Bhutto returned last month from eight years in exile, she was met with a devastating attack on her homecoming procession that killed more than 140 people.

Bhutto and Musharraf have been in power-sharing talks. But analysts said the emergency declaration would make it difficult for Bhutto, who advocates a return to civilian rule, to cooperate with Musharraf.

Some analysts said the Bush administration had placed too much emphasis on the personal relationship with Musharraf rather than cultivating allies from a broad political spectrum.

"His record is erratic both as a statesman and a strategist -- something the administration realized too late," said Stephen Cohen, a Pakistan expert at the Brookings Institution.

He and others said they believed the decision might have been generated by the army's fear that Musharraf could no longer control events without expanded powers.

Musharraf has previously conducted large-scale roundups of political opponents, and his foes feared that mass arrests were inevitable. "GOING INTO HIDING," one said in a text message sent moments after emergency rule was declared.

Before going off the air, private GEO television reported that Aitzaz Ahsan, a Musharraf critic and the president of the Supreme Court Bar Assn., had been taken into custody.

A declaration of emergency, which is similar to martial law, gives the government the right to suspend basic civil liberties. Judges were also asked to take a new oath of office, swearing allegiance to the regime.

Opposition parties expressed shock over Musharraf's move. The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was deported when he tried to return to Pakistan in October, denounced the emergency rule declaration and vowed to resist it.

The Supreme Court immediately issued a ruling, signed by seven judges, saying that the government did not have grounds to declare an emergency. Lawyers and other opponents gathered outside the high court building, apparently trying to provide protection to the justices inside.

Musharraf had pledged to step down as army chief before being inaugurated to a new presidential term. His swearing-in was to take place Nov. 15, provided that the court did not invalidate his election.

The general's downward spiral began this year, when he tried to remove Chaudhry on misconduct charges. But lawyers and other opponents took to the streets in protests that eventually swelled into a nationwide pro-democracy movement. Chaudhry was reinstated by the high court in July -- a ruling Musharraf accepted at the time.

Human rights groups denounced the declaration. New York-based Human Rights Watch called it a "shameless attempt to prevent Pakistanis from enjoying their basic rights under the law, and a brazen attempt at muzzling the judiciary."

laura.king@latimes.com

Times staff writers Paul Richter in Istanbul, Turkey, and Julian E. Barnes in Washington and special correspondent Mubashir Zaidi in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Musharraf Pledges Democracy as Bush Condemns Pakistan Emergency

By Ed Johnson and Farhan Sharif


Nov. 6 (Bloomberg): President Pervez Musharraf pledged to return Pakistan to democracy and step down as army chief as the U.S. called for an end to emergency rule and elections to be held on schedule.

``I am determined to remove my uniform'' and complete Pakistan's transition to civilian government, Musharraf said yesterday in a televised briefing for overseas diplomats on the emergency decree. ``There will be harmony. Confidence will come back into government and the law enforcement agencies.''

President George W. Bush said yesterday the elections must be held ``as soon as possible.'' The national ballot is due by Jan. 15 and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said it will be held according to schedule.

Musharraf suspended the constitution on Nov. 3 for the second time since he took power in a 1999 military coup, saying judicial interference in government affairs had hampered the fight against terrorism and extremism in the world's second largest Muslim country.

He fired Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, barred the Supreme Court from making any ruling against his administration and curbed freedom of the media.

``We made clear that these emergency measures would undermine democracy,'' Bush told reporters following talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He declined to say what actions the U.S. would take if Musharraf doesn't lift the decree.

U.S. Ally
Pakistan is a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups operating along the mountainous border with Afghanistan. Officials said the U.S. will review financial assistance to the South Asian country in response to the decree, although it won't cut funding for counter-terrorism operations.

Musharraf told diplomats the election would be held ``as close as possible to the schedule,'' Agence France-Presse reported, citing presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi.

Attorney-General Malik Muhammad Qayyum said Musharraf would step down as armed forces chief and take the presidential oath as a civilian, AFP reported. He didn't provide a date, it said.

The declaration of emergency rule came as the Supreme Court was nearing a decision on the legality of Musharraf's Oct. 6 re- election as president. Opposition parties had asked the court to disqualify him on the grounds that the constitution bars him running for another five-year term while remaining army chief.

The Supreme Court banned the Election Commission from declaring a winner until its ruling.

Musharraf told diplomats yesterday that senior judges had ``paralyzed various organs of the state'' and threatened to make his government dysfunctional, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Court Challenge

The court has repeatedly ruled against the government in recent months. It reinstated Chaudhry as chief justice in July, five months after Musharraf sacked him for alleged misuse of authority.

Judges also said the government must allow former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to return from exile in Saudi Arabia. Sharif flew back to Islamabad on Sept. 10 after the ruling to campaign against Musharraf's re-election. He was deported within hours.

Security forces sealed court buildings in Karachi and Rawalpindi yesterday, beat protesters with batons and arrested more than 150 lawyers challenging the state of emergency decree.

About 500 people have been killed in terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, in Pakistan since July, when troops stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad, ending a challenge by pro- Taliban clerics seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital.

The country witnessed the worst terrorist attack in its 60- year history last month when suicide bombers targeted opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on her return to Pakistan to contest the elections. At least 136 people were killed.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net  Farhan Sharif in Karachi, Pakistan on Fsharif2@bloomberg.net

Protests spread across Pakistan

Lawyers take to streets again; return to constitutional path, says Rice


Defying emergency: Riot police beat up a lawyer during a demonstration in Lahore on Monday as protests against the Emergency erupted in a number of cities across Pakistan.

Islamabad/Washington: Baton-wielding police on Monday fired tear gas and clashed with thousands of lawyers protesting against President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to impose Emergency rule, as Western allies in the “war on terror” threatened to review aid to, and ties with, Pakistan.

More than 1,500 people have been arrested all over Pakistan since Saturday, when a state of Emergency was declared.

Gen. Musharraf laughed off rumours that the Army had placed him under house arrest. He promised foreign diplomats at a meeting that elections would be held and defended his decision to impose Emergency, but gave no dates.

He told envoys at his official residence that the “superior judiciary had paralysed various organs of the state and created impediments in the fight against terrorism.” He accused the country’s independent media of helping the cause of extremists “by showing the gory scenes of suicide bombings that encouraged these elements to carry on with their heinous acts.”

Polls on schedule: Aziz
General elections due by mid-January will be held “on schedule” despite a state of emergency, state media quoted Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also as saying on Monday. “The next general elections will be held according to the schedule,” the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Mr. Aziz as saying.

Foreign governments, which had urged Gen. Musharraf not to impose Emergency rule, stepped up pressure on the General, who faces waning domestic support.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions of dollars in aid since Gen. Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001, attacks. At a news conference in the West Bank on Monday, she urged Gen. Musharraf to follow through on past promises to “take off his uniform.”

“I want to be very clear,” she said. “We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections.”

The U.S. warned Gen. Musharraf that “our relationship will not remain the same” unless he reverses course on the Emergency and steers back to democracy. U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington, “It is our hope that this decision will be reversed in short order.”

Lawyers attempted to stage rallies in major cities, but were beaten and arrested. In the biggest of several gatherings, about 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in Lahore. As they tried to exit on to a main road, hundreds of police personnel stormed inside, swinging batons and firing tear gas. Lawyers, shouting “Go Musharraf Go!” responded by throwing stones and beating the police personnel with tree branches. The police bundled about 250 lawyers into waiting vans. At least two of them were bleeding from the head.

Musharraf Gambles with Pakistan's Future
The President declares a state of emergency, but his army is no longer so popular and the U.S. may withdraw military aid


Pakistan's political crisis has reached its predictable zenith, with President Pervez Musharraf declaring a state of emergency on Nov. 3. Opposition party workers, civil society leaders, human-rights activists, lawyers, members of the judiciary, even former intelligence chief Gul Hamid, an extremist sympathizer—but no members of the armed forces—have been arrested without charge and jailed. "Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan," said Musharraf in a nationally televised statement. "And I cannot allow this country to commit suicide."

Suicide or murder, this move has taken Pakistan back to where it began—as a poor, developing nation with great promise that had been ruined by 60 years of bad administration and an opportunistic and dominating military which effectively seals off any democratic impulses. "We are in 2008, but Pakistan is back to 1958," Nasir, a reader of the popular Pakistani Web site pkpolitics.com, posted sorrowfully on its site on Nov. 4. The country has been led by military rule or martial law for more years than it has by democratic election, and, judging by the army's support for Musharraf's recent unpopular move, the generals are in no hurry to return to the barracks.

That Musharraf has overplayed his hand is obvious. Blaming his own nine-year rule for increased terrorist activity and a newly emboldened judiciary, as an excuse to prevent a democratic election, is audacious—and could prove foolhardy.

Military's Risky Turn Against Extremists

What is less apparent is that for the first time, the Pakistani army may have serious reason to reconsider its place in the country. Over the years, a once-popular army has lost its luster for the population. In the early days of Musharraf's rule, the military maintained goodwill. Even after 2001, when Musharraf entered into a close embrace with the U.S. as an ally and got his country badly needed economic aid, the army was tolerated—despite its obvious links with extremists in the region.

The double game was exposed when the extremists—Musharraf's core constituency after the military—were targeted by his army under pressure from the U.S. In 2006, the Pakistani army lost nearly 100 soldiers fighting extremists and Al Qaeda in the wilds of Waziristan in eastern Pakistan. That number has increased dramatically to more than 700 in 2007—600 alone since July, according to Eurasia Group, a political risk analysis outfit based in New York.

This matters, because more than 25% of Pakistan's foot soldiers come from the same tribal areas and they are not inclined to fight their own people. Several hundred soldiers have been court-martialed this year for refusing to fight in the region. Army rule has ensured that most state benefits are funneled into Punjab, the most prosperous state in the country with the majority of army recruits. The eastern tribal regions, on the other hand, have suffered from decades of neglect and lack of development. In the absence of strong administrative machinery, these regions have held together on the old tribal loyalty system. The influx of foreign fighters, which has made the tribal areas a haven for terrorists, has broken down the old loyalties. Here, more than anywhere else in Pakistan, the army is viewed with suspicion for fighting America's war, not Pakistan's.

New Rulers of a Feudalistic Society

Over the years, the military has taken control over all other aspects of Pakistan—political and economic. There is very little private business in Pakistan compared with the army's vast commercial interests. The army is the largest landowner in Pakistan (12% of the country's land), the largest corporation, the largest nongovernment organization, the largest farmer. It consumes more than 50% of the country's annual budget, in addition to the annual $2 billion in military aid it receives from the U.S. Ayesha Siddiqa, an independent security and strategic affairs analyst in Pakistan, and author of the bold Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy, estimates the army's business interests at more than $4 billion. Over the years it has co-opted civilian institutions such as the Education Ministry and even the Cricket Board, with military officers heading them. Army officers have become the new rulers of an already deeply feudalistic society.

This has not gone unnoticed by ordinary Pakistanis, who have seen their lot deteriorate as the military has enriched itself at their expense. U.S. aid has helped to increase the country's GDP, but a basic education is still not within the reach of most Pakistanis, health care continues to deteriorate, the media is often intimidated, and journalists are often jailed and killed. Emergency rule by the army will do nothing to strengthen business and investor confidence, say expatriate Pakistanis.

Across the border sits India, with its booming economy, robust democratic political systems, and rising middle class, a country on its way to becoming a world power. In Pakistan, the military identified itself with soldiers and the elite feudal classes, ignoring the poor and the middle classes who are the backbone of Pakistani society and make up its intelligentsia.

Calls for Resignation
This middle class, which nurtures civil society groups and yearns for a more equitable, democratic, and independent-acting Pakistan, is now asserting itself. The last six months have seen an astonishing blossoming of that civil society, led by lawyers and the judiciary. The goal: the restitution, to pride of place, of the much-manipulated constitution of the country. The target: Musharraf, who further abused and misused the constitution to stay in power as both President and army commander-in-chief and to suspend the rights of opponents.

The spark was ignited in March, when Pakistan's chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, began asking uncomfortable questions about Musharraf's dual position, the quick and cheap sale of state assets, and people missing from their homes after the army conducted random searches across Pakistan. Infuriated, Musharraf asked Chaudhry to resign. The judge's refusal became the rallying point that ordinary Pakistanis needed; hundreds of thousands rose up in support, asking for Musharraf's resignation instead and a return to democratic rule.

It could have worked. A deeply flawed but workable power-sharing agreement with exiled opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, brokered by the U.S., was nearly in the bag. And the Supreme Court, under the popular, reinstated chief justice Chaudhry, had allowed Musharraf to run for reelection—subject to a Nov. 6 hearing on whether he would have to give up his post as army chief. Afraid the public mood for democracy would force him to run for president as a civilian, Musharraf imposed emergency rule. "Let's not kid ourselves that it's an 'emergency'—it's martial law," said Talat Hussain, a popular host on Pakistan's Aaj TV, minutes before Islamabad blacked it off viewers' screens.

The Money's on Musharraf
Perhaps Musharraf should have stuck to what he knew best, running the army. A shrewd politician would have sensed the national mood and gone with it, instead of against it. But Indian intelligence officials who have studied Musharraf say he is a high-risk gambler, with the luck of the devil. Despite deepening discontent and growing radicalization within the rank and file of the army, Musharraf has hung on to power for nine years, and survived four assassination attempts during that time. The emergency was a calculated risk, and though India immediately deployed additional troops on its western borders, the bets in the bazaar are that Musharraf has a 60% chance of pulling off his audacious, unpopular move.

Certainly those chances will diminish if the U.S. withdraws its military aid from Pakistan, or if the Pakistani army refuses orders to shoot its own countrymen. Already, rumors have surfaced that the vice-chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Kaini, placed Musharraf under house arrest on Nov. 5, taking over as army chief. The rumors have been denied by Musharraf, but reflect the tensions between him and his army over the declaration of the state of emergency.

Pakistan's fate will be sealed in the next few days. Already, the country is split between pro- and anti-Musharraf groups; many judges in Sindh and Peshawar have refused to swear allegiance to the new chief justice installed by Musharraf. Increased agitation and street protests will be evidence of reduced support for Musharraf from the public and from within his army, and will speed his execution or departure. If he is able to contain the agitation, it will enhance his standing within the army, and ensure a few more years of army rule in Pakistan while effectively silencing democratic voices.

Either way, the U.S. would do well to expand its circle of friends in Pakistan beyond Musharraf and his army—or cast its net wider for another strategic country to be its ally in the war on terror.

Kripalani is BusinessWeek's India bureau chief .

Bhutto slams Pakistan crackdown, calls for elections


KARACHI--Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto on Monday condemned a police crackdown on lawyers rallying against a state of emergency and called for elections as planned in January.

"We strongly condemn the violence against lawyers and media people. This force and brutality should be kept away from our society," Bhutto told a news conference in the southern city of Karachi.

"All political prisoners should be released."

Bhutto, who leads the opposition Pakistan People's Party, flew back from a short visit to Dubai on Saturday just hours after military ruler and army chief President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule.

She had earlier returned to Pakistan on October 18 after eight years of self-exile after talks on a power-sharing deal with Musharraf ahead of general elections. The government dropped corruption charges against her to enable her homecoming.

"I want elections to be held on time," Bhutto said. "Elections should be completed by 16 January.

"Musharraf should fulfil his promise to remove his uniform, which he made to the Supreme Court and that he made when he was having dialogue with us," she added.

"If Musharraf wants to defuse this crisis he should immediately restore the constitution."

Bhutto also called for a "political solution" to the ongoing problem of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militancy in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Two suicide bombers tried to assassinate her during her homecoming parade last month, missing her but killing 139 people.

"There should be a political situation of problems in the tribal areas... We want all moderate political parties to unite to deal with extreme.

Pakistan's Failure -- and America's


With the declaration of emergency rule, Pakistan authorities are rounding up not terrorists but judges, human-rights lawyers, journalists, opposition politicians -- in short, the unarmed. And what is the the U.S. response to this outrage?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she is "disappointed" in Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff's declaration of emergency rule and that the U.S. will "have to review the situation." But she vows to continue American aid so that Pakistan can continue "to fight against terrorists." Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that the U.S. should be "mindful not to do anything that would undermine ongoing counter-terrorism efforts."

America seems so powerless because Musharraf is a "key ally" in the war on terrorism and because, with as many as 30 nuclear weapons, there is little it can do. The larger issue is the failure of the the generals: those in Pakistan who have poorly executed the "war" against terrorism, and those in the U.S. who have been unable to get above the day-to-day fighting to come up with a winning strategy for what they themselves call the long war.

Barely a year ago, when the Pakistani general, so witty and so sharply dressed, came to America to promote his new book "In the Line of Fire," we chuckled when he appeared on the talk shows and on Comedy Central. Now in his final hours, this snake has taken private television off the air, cut telephone lines and rounded up hundreds of prominent members of society.

The irony is that, by declaring emergency rule, Musharraf demonstrates what he can do with the massive military machine and system of secret police at his disposal. Why hasn't the same decisive tactic been used against al Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorists residing in the country?

The Bush administration says that it pressured Musharraf to allow former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan so that the two could fight terrorism together. But even that accommodation was not acceptable to the general, particularly when his relative unpopularity was highlighted by the massive turnout that greeted Bhutto on her return. (Bhutto, perhaps seeing the truth as Musharraf's plan unfolded, left Pakistan on Friday "for family reasons.")

But on the larger issue, the war on terrorism, the Bush administration has proved less forceful. The general was supposed to have been a godsend. Yet we are witnessing wholesale violence and the imposed spread of Sharia (Islamic law), perpetrated by a coalition of Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, working with al Qaeda and local clans who have no interest in democracy or the 21st century.

Musharraf has created sympathetic supporters in Washington and the West who acknowledge the spread of Islamic radicalism under his reign but also fret about the difficulties of countrymen fighting countrymen and the "ways" of tribes in a difficult and remote part of the world. Add to that Pakistan's nuclear weapons, its always-dangerous standoff with India and its explosive demographics, and no wonder it appears that there is "little" Washington can do.

In October 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban and defeat al Qaeda, no one was keen on focusing on the thousands of Pakistan "volunteers" sent to fight Americans across the border. Musharraf was a crucial ally, and there was a hierarchy of priorities. Today, however, many of those same volunteers, some of whom have taken American lives, are the new Pakistani terror class, protected and given sanctuary by Musharraf's bad generalship and by the American focus elsewhere.

Large swaths of the northwest Pakistani border lands have come to resemble Taliban Afghanistan. Pakistani Taliban, as they are now called, have even persuaded (or forced) people to destroy their televisions, a move that now must look quite pleasing to the military dictator and enabler who does the same from far away.

Emergency rule in Pakistan demonstrates not only Musharraf's failure, but that the joint U.S.-Pakistani approach to fighting terrorism is badly conceived and poorly implemented. I don't have the answer here. But clearly we need to rethink the war and our approach for the future. Sadly for everyone, the best possible outcome now may be for the Pakistani military to stage yet another coup to rid the country of Musharraf. Then maybe it can actually go after the armed terrorists in its country

US Tied to Pakistan With Billions in Aid
By PAULINE JELINEK



WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan are bound together in a multibillion-dollar relationship aimed at buying Washington an ally against terrorism and providing the Asian nation with benefits ranging from military equipment to child health programs.

U.S. assistance and other payments to Pakistan have totaled $9.6 billion in the six budget years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, according to the State Department.

The largest payout each year is for what the Bush administration calls "reimbursements" for Pakistan's help in the global war on terrorism. Under that program, Pakistan submits claims — such as its costs for providing observations posts along the Afghan border or its costs for taking part in joint operations with the U.S. against al-Qaida.

The reimbursements amount to some $80 million a month, said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman — or nearly $1 billion a year.

On top of those payments, the U.S. also gives Pakistan direct aid for humanitarian programs, economic development, military needs and so on — well over $700 million in each of the last two years.

Pakistan receives military equipment under the assistance programs, as well as by buying some, such as the 36 F-16 aircraft it is purchasing for up to $3 billion.

"This request will maintain Pakistan's support in the global war on terrorism and efforts to build peaceful and positive relations with its neighbors, India and Afghanistan," the administration said in documents justifying the budget requests.

Following is a sampling of how the State Department proposes to spend $785 million on Pakistan in fiscal year 2008:

_$342 million for efforts to counter extremists, narcotics trafficking, weapons proliferation and other security issues.

Money from this group will be used to help modernize Pakistan's military, provide training, buy military equipment and help maintain previously purchased U.S. military equipment.

_$249 million for economic growth. That includes developing infrastructure for transport, power, irrigation and vocational training.

_$50 in humanitarian assistance, including to rebuild hospitals and schools damaged or destroyed in the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan's northwest.

_$103 million for health, education and water and sanitation. That includes scholarship programs to help the disadvantaged get advanced educational degrees in agriculture and business as well as programs against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, for mother and child care and to promote family planning.

_Nearly $42 million for governance and democracy programs. The money is to support democratic practices in political parties and in civil society, promote free and fair elections, develop the media and support the legislative process. The Bush administration budget request noted that elections were planned in 2008, a prospect now in doubt because of the imposition of emergency law over the weekend.


Words of Shaheed

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

There was a great Prime Minister, the first Prime Minister, the father of the present Prime Minister of India, who said, "We were too old, we were too tired to oppose Pakistan, and Pakistan had to come into being. But we hope that one day we will get together gain." I too hope so, not that Pakistan will emerge as subservient to India but in the sense that we will get together again as equal friends, in a common fraternity, living in a common subcontinent and sharing the common effort of seeing that poverty, ignorance and misery are wiped out. If there are any two countries in world that are the poorest in the world, they are Pakistan and India. Our resources might be tremendous, but the fact is that we two are the poorest in the world. Yet in the last 24 years, we have gone to war three times. Three times there has been conflict in the subcontinent. I remember that Prime Minister of the Soviet Union once telling me that even rich nations try to avoide war; poorer nations should make a greater attempt to avoid war.

Speech at the Security Council, New York

December 12, 1971

 



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