PPP sets up Relief
Fund for Quake victims
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Peoples Party has set up Earthquake Relief Fund for the
rehabilitation and relief of quake affected victims and called upon the
people to generously donate towards the Fund.
Under directions of the Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto an emergency
meeting of the Party leaders was held in Islamabad that decided to
immediately set up the PPP Relief Fund for victims of the earthquake.
The meeting presided over by the Party Vice Chair Makhdoom Amin Fahim was
attended by Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA, MNA, Nayyar Bokhari MNA, Naheed Khan MNA
and Senators Safdar Abbasi and Farhatullah Babar..
After the meeting Makhdoom Amin Fahim vice chair of the PPP said in a
statement that Mohtarma Bhutto had approved that the Fund would be operated
and managed by a two-member committee in accordance with a criterion to be
laid for disbursement. The Fund will also be subjected to external audit by
auditors.
Meanwhile the Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has made an impassioned
appeal to the people to donate generously in cash and in kind to help their
grief stricken brethren in this hour of calamity.
Makhdoom
Amin Fahim said that a separate Bank account number of the PPP Relief Fund
will be announced on Monday. In the meantime donations in the form of bank
drafts and cheques payable to PPP Relief Fund may be sent to the address of
Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA General Secretary at the PPP Central Secretariat H
#1, Street 85, G-6/4, Islamabad, he said.
He said that relief camps will also be set up at the district levels and
urged the people to make donations in kind at the district relief camps of
the Party.
Instructions were conveyed to the Party's provincial presidents to gear up
the task of setting of relief camps and collecting donations., he said.
A committee headed by Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA and comprising of provincial
Party presidents, Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA, President AJK PPP, President NAs
PPP, Opposition Leader in the Senate, Leader of the Parliamentary Party in
Frontier Assembly and Barrister Sultan Mahmood has been set up to raise
funds. Another Committee comprising of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raja Pervez
Ashraf, Senator Enver Baig, Akbar Khawaja, Sherry Rehman MNA and Senator
Abdullah Riar has been set up to collect donations in kind form businessmen,
industrialists and pharmaceutical firms.
PPP continues
despatching relief goods to quake hit areas
Islamabad, 15 October 2005:
Pakistan Peoples Party NWFP has established relief camps for the affectees
of deadly earthquake which hit northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir on 8
October. These camps have been established in Mardan, Swat, Swabi, Malakand,
Nowshera, Peshawar and Charsadda.
The relief goods are being collected and despatched to the affected areas
from these camps. In this regard today nine trucks loaded with relief goods
have been sent to Muzaffargarh, Garhi Habibullah, Balakot and Batagram. The
PPP Upper Malakand has sent two trucks of relief goods to Shanglapar in Swat
region where over 500 people have perished in the earthquake. Pakistan
Peoples Party Charsadda has despatched two trucks of relief goods to
Shanglapar.
Pakistan People Party till Friday has already sent a total of 104 truck load
of relief goods to the affected areas in NWFP and Azad Kashmir. The Central
Secretariat PPP Islamabad is coordinating the relief efforts.
PPP Central
Secretariat Coordinating relief activities
Islamabad, 14 October 2005: On the instructions of Chairperson
Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the party organisation is
continuously collecting, despatching and distributing relief goods to the
affectees of earthquake in Azad Kashmir, Mansehra, Batgram, Balakot and
other areas affected by earthquake.
A total of sixteen trucks load with relief goods were despatched on Friday
to Bagh, Dheerkot, Rawalakot, Thub, Batal, Bafa, Mansehra and other affected
areas.
Regarding despatching and distribution of relief goods a meeting was held in
Central Secretariat PPP Islamabad attended by Ch. Yasin, the General
Secretary PPP AJK. Yesterday five trucks loaded with relief goods were
despatched to Bagh, Rawalakot and Muzaffarabad arranged by Secretary General
PPP in Lahore. Dr. Fakhar of Lahore PPP donated a truckload of goods and has
left for Batgram to distribute among the affectees.
The PPP organisations of AJK is coordinating with the Central Secretariat in
despatching and distribution relief goods. Chaudhry Yasin has left for Dubai
for a day and in his absence Mr. Sabri is assisting the Central Secretariat.
Naheed Khan’s rejoinder to
Pervez Ilahi
Islamabad: 15 October 2005: Naheed Khan
member national assembly and political secretary to the Party Chairperson
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has very strongly criticised the statement of Chief
minister Punjab in Washington in which he has accused former prime minister
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto of using the situation because of the earthquake for
political advantage.
Naheed Khan said in a statement that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is the first
political leader in the country who immediately instructed her party to
start the relief effort in the affected areas. On her instruction it was the
party’s workers who were first to reach the affected areas and start relief
work.
Ms. Naheed Khan said Pakistan Peoples Party is the party of the people and
has a commitment to raise its voice for the rights of the people. She said
in contract Mr. Ellahi was a servant of military dictatorships which had
usurped the rights of the people. Perhaps this is why he could not
understand the need to speak up for the plight of the people
Naheed Khan said that the Chief Minister Punjab who is on foreign junket at
the expense of taxpayers’ money does not have a shred of moral and sense of
responsibility in his character. At a time when the entire nation is in
mourning the Chief Minister Punjab is on a leisure trip of the West. Naheed
Khan advised the Chief Minister Punjab to review his and his master’s deeds
since the calamity has hit the nation instead of levelling accusation on the
most popular and compassionate leadership of the country. "This is not the
time to indulge in blame game", Naheed Khan advised the Chief Minister.
Mohtarma Bhutto concerned
over continued closure of KU
Asks regime to reverse discriminatory admission policies
Islamabad: October 16, 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed concern over the continued closure of
the Karachi University as protests against discriminatory admission policy
entered fifth day today and continued to grow in intensity.
The activists of the Students Action Committee have forced a shut down of
all classes and academic work at Karachi University for the fifth
consecutive day today. Five nationalist groups also joined hands to protest
against changes in admission criteria that make school education in Karachi
compulsory before a student can even apply for admission in any faculty of
Karachi University.
After Sindh University, Shah Latif University, Sindh Agricultural Tandojam
now the students of Karachi University are up against administration as
students' protests in Sindh province continue to grow.
In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that the new policy for
admission to Karachi University which required school education in Karachi
compulsory was discriminatory and militated against the fundamental rights
of a large number of admission seekers.
Up until now a rather less discriminatory policy of higher secondary school
from Karachi was necessary. The new changes further the ethnically oriented,
discriminatory, divisive admission policy that is against the fundamental
right of education, she said.
She said that because of shrinking resources a large number of non-Karachiites
seek admission in big city university like Karachi University. Changing the
policy overnight and denying them admission tantamount to depriving them of
their right to education, she said.
She warned that divisive, discriminatory policies would render the youth
bitter and frustrated and called upon the regime to reverse its
discriminatory polices.
PPP relief
effort continues
Islamabad, 16 October 2005: On the
instructions of Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto
relief efforts by the party is continued and relief goods are being
collected and despatched to the affected area monitored by the Central
Secretariat, Islamabad.
In this regard the Secretary General PPP, Jahangir Badar and opposition
leader in the senate, Senator Raza Rabbani left for Muzaffarabad on Sunday
morning with nine truck load of relief goods. General Secretary PPP Azad
Kashmir, Chaaudhry Yasin, former minister AJK government Chaudhary Majeed
and Chaudhary Pervez Ashraf also accompanied the relief goods.
Naheed Khan, the Political Secretary to the Chairperson PPP, Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto will leave with another consignment of relief goods on Monday
morning for the affected areas. Pakistan People Party Sindh has established
hundreds of relief camps all over the province including Karachi, Hyderabad,
Larkana, Khairpur, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Sanghar and Noushehro Feroze.
NA Standing Committee summons
all concerned with the ill-fated Margalla Towers for examination
Islamabad, 19 October 2005:
The Standing Committee of the National Assembly for ministry of interior
has summoned all the concerned officials involved in evaluation approval,
construction and examination of ill-fated Margalla Tower which collapsed on
8th October during the killer earthquake killing more than 60 people and
over 90 rescued injured.
The Chairman Standing Committee, Sardar Talib Nakai ordered to summon these
officials on the submission presented by member Standing Committee Syed
Nayyar Hussain Bokhari MNA. The submission says that the Margalla Towers
were the only building which collapsed in the city causing great concern
among the public and hence is a matter of public importance thus it should
be brought on the agenda of the Standing Committee to examine the negligence
by the builder, contractor and the Capital Development Authority. It also
asks for taking measures for rehabilitation of the affectees and
reconstruction of the apartments.
Mohtarma Bhutto condoles the death of Sardar Farooq Abbasi
Islamabad, 19 October 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party and her
spouse Senator Asif Ali Zardari have condoled with Mrs. Sardar Farooq Abbasi
over the death of her husband, Sardar Farooq Abbasi who passed away
recently.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in a condolence message to Mrs. Abbasi, wrote, "Mr.
Farooq Abbasi will be long remembered by the leadership and workers for his
services for the cause of Pakistan Peoples Party".
She also prayed to Almighty Allah for the eternal peace to the deceased’s
soul and courage to the family members to bear this irreparable loss with
equanimity.
Mohtarma Benazir sends
gifts for injured children in hospitals in Islamabad
Islamabad, 19 October 2005:
Members National Assembly Naheed Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and
Nayyar Hussain Bokhari visited hospitals in Islamabad where the injured
children in the earthquake are being treated and distributed jackets, toys
and other gifts on behalf of Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
The leaders of PPP visited the children war in hospitals in Islamabad on
Wednesday ds where the victims of killer earthquake are being treated. On
this occasion Kamran Zafar, Khurram Rasool, Nargis Faiz Malik, Ibne Rizvi,
Kamran Chaudhry, Shakeel Abbasi, Atif Kiani and Qasida Murtaza were also
present. Naheed Khan talking to the injured said that PPP would continue to
help the affectees until all of them are rehabilitated and re-housed.
Meeting of PPP Azad Kashmir
summoned in Islamabad
Islamabad, 20 October 2005: On the instructions of
Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the Secretary
General PPP Jahangir Badar has summoned an important meeting of Peoples
Party Azad Kashmir on 22nd October at the Central Secretariat, PPP
Islamabad. Jahangir Badar has asked all the MLAs and members of Kashmir
Council to attend the meeting.
Rules asked to heed
UNICEF warning
Islamabad October 20, 2005: Mian Raza
Rabbani, Leader of the Opposition, Senate of Pakistan and Deputy Secretary
General, PPP has issued the following press statement:
"The warning issued by the Unicef that 10000 more children could die in the
coming weeks due to hunger, cold and disease in the earth quake hit areas as
aid has still not reached certain areas is a matter of gave concern and one
requiring immediate action by the Government.
"According to the Unicef still around 120,000 children have not been reached
in the mountains and they stand exposed to dehydration, bad weather and
various diseases. It will be recalled that in the quake an unprecedented
number of school buildings collapsed coupled with the delayed rescue
operations, resulted in the deaths of thousands of children. Those who
survived suffered physical disability and mental trauma. In other words AJK
has almost lost an entire generation, this in itself is horrifying but will
also have far reaching effects on the region and its people.
"The PPP under directions of its Chairperson Ms Bhutto has directed the
Party workers to lay special emphases on the relief goods required for the
relief of children, in this connection the Party will also be making contact
with the Unicef in Pakistan.
"That a new wave of deaths threatens the quake hit areas due to a
multiplicity of reasons, requires an integrated national response which can
only be developed through a Joint Session of Parliament, therefore, the
Government should summon the same immediately".
PPP denounces regime’s
disinformation campaign
Islamabad October 21, 2005:
Spokesman of the PPP has issued the following statement today.
"A section of the press today has reported that Mohtarma Bhutto recently
made a formal request to the military regime to allow her return to the
country without being arrested or restricting her movements but that her
request was turned down.
"The report quoting unnamed and unidentified ‘reliable sources’ seems to
have been planted by the agencies to create doubts in the minds of the
people and for causing a split in the ARD and the opposition
"Mohtarma Bhutto is a citizen of Pakistan and will return to the country
whenever she deems it appropriate. To return to the country is a matter of
her right and not a matter of bounty by the military regime which she should
beg.
"The regime’s penchant for playing politics in this hour of national tragedy
only strengthens the suspicion that in this hour of grave national crisis
the military junta’s sole aim is to make hay on the bones of tens of
thousands of innocent people who perished in the earthquake.
"This penchant of making hay was demonstrated when the regime first claimed
that disaster management was not the job of the military but when
international relief and dollars started pouring in it appointed military
officers to do the job which it had first disowned".
"The regime is playing partisan politics to paint the leaders of people
black and perpetuate itself in power as misery stark the land.
"Such politics can be played only by those who have diseased minds and
sickly souls"
Mohtarma Bhutto asks regime
not to neglect backward areas during relief efforts
Islamabad October 11, 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the PPP Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto
sent her heartfelt condolences to all the victims of the recent earthquake
in Pakistan which had shattered the fabric of life in large parts of the
country. She called upon the people of Pakistan to generously contribute to
the relief efforts that are currently underway.
In a statement today she said she was disturbed to hear reports that people
in the Northern Areas who have been severely affected by the national
tragedy have not yet received the attention that is due to them.
The former Prime Minister expressed her dissatisfaction at the military
regime's relief efforts in parts of the country and especially from Northern
Areas from where the Party had received negative reporting. According to the
reports, scores of people are still buried under the rubble.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto noted that the military regime has singularly failed
to provide aid to the poor and most vulnerable communities in the North of
Pakistan. She said that while it was appropriate to focus of rescue efforts
centred around the upmarket F-10 residential tower, the poorer areas in the
North should not have been largely abandoned.
For example, she said, there was no meaningful relief effort in Balakot,
Muzaffarabad, Mansehra and Abbottabad - where even after 24 hours there was
no sign of aid.
People are using their bare hands to scratch the rubble. Thousands of people
had to sleep in open areas in harsh weather conditions – and thousands still
lie under fallen concrete structures although several days have passed.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that she is sad to know that innocent children
have been the main casualty of this disaster. She noted with anguish that
the public buildings, especially schools and buildings, have proven to be
most fragile and have come down at the first signs of the earth quake.
Mohtarma Bhutto noted that this speaks volumes about the shoddy construction
of schools and the corrupt practices of education departments who award
contracts to sub-standard contractors. She called upon the regime to
constitute an enquiry into the sub-standard construction of these schools as
soon as emergency relief had been provided to the victims.
Foreign currency can also
be deposited in PPP Relief Fund
Islamabad October 12, 2005: Arrangements
have also been made for making foreign currency deposits in the PPP Relief
Fund already opened in the Bank Al Falah, PPP announced today.
For making contributions in US dollars the following procedures may be
adopted.
Corresponding Bank’s routings, for Bank AlFalah Limited (Islamabad, Main
Branch), Swift address: ALFHPKKAISL
FOR USD
PLEASE TRANSFER USD TO AMERICAN EXPRESS BANK, 3 WORLD
FINANCIAL CENTER, 23RD FLOOR NEWYORK, N.Y 10285-2300 U.S.A. SWIFT: AEIBUS33
FOR CREDIT TO ACCOUNT TO 740084 OF BANK ALFALAH KARACHI FOR ONWARD CREDIT TO
ACCOUNT NO. 0035-01014063 IN THE NAME OF PPP RELIEF FUND WITH BANK ALFALAH
LIMITED ISLAMABAD.
FOR GBP
PLEASE TRANSFER GBP TO HABIB BANK LIMITED, LONDON GRANITE HOUSE
97, CANON STREET LONDON EC4N-5AD (SWIFT: HABBGB2L) FOR CREDIT TO POUND
STERLING ACCOUNT NO. 01155800129 OF BANK ALFALAH LIMITED KARACHI FOR ONWARD
CREDIT TO THE ACCOUNT NO: 0035-01014063 OF PPP RELIEF FUND WITH BANK ALFALAH
LIMITED ISLAMABAD.
FOR EURO
PLEASE TRANSFER EURO TO COMMERZ BANK AG, 60261 FRANKFURT AM MAIN
GERMANY (SWIFT: COBADEFF) FOR CREDIT TO ACCOUNT TO. 4008807182 OF BANK
ALFALAH KARACHI FOR ONWARD CREDIT TO ACCOUNT NO. 0035-01014063 IN THE NAME
OF PPP RELIEF FUND WITH BANK ALFALAH LIMITED ISLAMABAD.
The Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has appealed for generous
donations in the PPP relief Fund to help the quake victims.
MUSHARAF REGIME IGNORED QUAKE
WARNING AND PREDICTION OF FORTY THOUSAND DEATHS
The New York Times had issued a clear seismic warning more
than four years ago about a potential quake threat to Islamabad and
adjoining areas devastated by the most deadly tremor on a massive Richter
scale of 7.5.The said warning had appeared chapter and verse in August in
2001 in The News .The foreboding story had been printed by the Pakistani
daily under the caption of "Islamabad under threat from biggest ever quake"
written by Amir Mateen.The studies quoted in the story indicated that
"foothills of Margallas in Islamabad are close to the catastrophe zone"The
ominous report had presciently predicted 40,000 deaths and 100,000
injuries.The said story had even gone to the extent of warning that "much
worse (than previous quakes)appears not only inevitable but overdue".Why
such a dire warning was shelved by the authorities in Islamabad needs to be
investigated.
If the then warning had been heeded the latest tragedy may not have been
prevented but a substantial loss of life and poperty could have been averted
by taking safety measures in time.
The militay regime owes it to the people of this country an immediate
explanation of this callous indifference to such a clear warning.
With Quake Aid Scarce,
Survivors Left Out in Cold
By John Lancaster
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, October 12, 2005; A01
RAWALAKOT, Pakistan, Oct. 11
-- In a cold and driving rain, a dozen young men stood by the side of the
road Tuesday afternoon, flagging down any vehicle that passed. A truck
pulled over and they ran to the driver's window, pleading in vain for tents
and blankets to shelter their families.
"My house has collapsed," said Wagar Ahmed, 21, waiting along the road for
the second day after walking an hour and a half from his remote mountain
village. "We have all grouped together to ask for help."
The moment illustrated the growing desperation of survivors of the massive
earthquake on Saturday that killed an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 people
across Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and adjacent areas. One million people
were thought to be left homeless.
With worsening weather and rising fears of hunger and disease, people in
many stricken areas had yet to see evidence of a government and
international relief effort that was attempting to rush in food, shelter and
rescue equipment. Countless mud-brick villages -- many of them virtually
destroyed -- cling to the sides of Kashmir's forested mountains and are
difficult to access in the best of times. The quake was centered in
Pakistan, but struck a wide swath of territory in South Asia, affecting
parts of India and adjacent areas of Afghanistan.
The devastation was evident during a four-hour drive through part of
Kashmir. Families huddled in ruins or stood in the soaking rain as lightning
crackled over nearby mountaintops. No international aid vehicles, and only a
handful of army trucks, were visible along the route of roughly 50 miles,
made nearly impassable in places by rockslides.
The scene was similar in Rawalakot, a once-pleasant town of about 60,000
people that is one of the largest in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. "We are
badly surprised that we didn't see any Red Cross, any donor agency," said
Abid Hussain, a businessman and former chairman of the local development
authority. "We didn't receive a single injection" of medicine.
Although there is an army garrison nearby, troops were busy tending to their
own dead and injured, and only a few soldiers were visible in the main part
of town on Tuesday. The earthquake killed an estimated 600 people in
Rawalakot and destroyed a college as well as both the military and civilian
hospitals in town. In the absence of other assistance, Hussain directed
rescue operations on his own, renting two backhoes from a contractor to
clear rubble and turning over his wedding hall for use as a medical clinic.
The wedding hall was formerly attached to his four-story hotel, now in ruins
with several bodies believed to be inside. Hundreds of homes in the town
were destroyed and survivors were camping outside. "We are badly in need of
tents," said Hussain, a sturdy-looking man with a commanding presence.
"Ninety percent of our population is beneath the blue sky."
The weather worsened over Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and adjacent damaged
areas to the west, grounding helicopters and slowing efforts to deliver
relief supplies and evacuate the injured. Interior Minister Aftab Khan
Sherpao, meanwhile, raised the estimated death toll in Pakistan to at least
33,000; another 2,000 are reported to have died in the part of Kashmir
controlled by India, just across the cease-fire line that divides Pakistani
and Indian forces in the disputed Himalayan region.
In response to the 7.6-magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit Pakistan
in a century, the United Nations and numerous foreign governments have
pledged assistance, and experts from international relief groups were busy
assessing where and how to distribute the aid.
U.N. agencies estimated that a million people were in need of food and
housing; officials at the World Food Program said the first shipment of food
-- enough to feed 240,000 for five days -- was en route from Italy and could
arrive by Wednesday.
"This food is needed urgently," Amjad Jamal, a World Food Program spokesman,
told the Reuters news agency. "People are trying to recover from a major
disaster; they are in shock and their bodily resistance will go down if they
do not have enough food."
But the task of providing earthquake victims with food -- as well as other
basic needs such as shelter and medical care -- has been greatly complicated
by the vast size of the affected area and the inaccessibility of many
stricken villages, some of which have been cut off by landslides.
With most victims still awaiting help, there were growing fears of the
threat posed by disease and exposure, with nighttime temperatures plunging
toward freezing in the mountainous areas where most of the damage occurred.
Khawaja Shabir, director general of health in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir,
told Reuters that health services in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the
region, have "totally collapsed" and that "malaria, gastroenteritis and
waterborne diseases have already spread in worst-hit areas of the city." At
least 10,000 people are thought to have died in Muzaffarabad, where most
buildings were destroyed or badly damaged.
Ronald van Dijk, UNICEF's senior representative in Pakistan, described the
situation as "extremely urgent," Reuters reported. "It's October, it's very
cold at night and there are entire villages flattened, so people have to
sleep in the open. In addition, there are many injured people, including
children, and fresh water supplies have been damaged."
There were a few moments of optimism on Tuesday. In Balakot, a heavily
damaged town in Pakistan's North-West Frontier province, adjacent to
Kashmir, rescuers shouting "He's alive!" pulled a teenage boy from a wrecked
building, 78 hours after the quake, the Associated Press reported. In
Islamabad, the capital, a 55-year-old woman and her 75-year-old mother were
found in good condition in the wreckage of 10-story apartment building 80
hours after it collapsed.
But there was no evidence of rescue or relief operations in other parts of
the stricken zone.
The young men waiting by the side of the road to Rawalakot, for example,
came from the village of Danna, a collection of about 1,000 mud-and-stone
houses scattered across five or six miles of forest and terraced farm
fields. Not visible from the asphalt road, the houses are strung out along a
stony track that on Tuesday was barely navigable by four-wheel-drive vehicle
because of small landslides.
The earthquake killed about 150 people in Danna, including 20 children who
died when the middle school collapsed, according to Wagar Ahmed, the young
man whose house was one of many in the village that were destroyed. A
delivery-truck driver, Ahmed lived in the house with his parents and six
siblings, including a 6-year-old brother and 7-year-old sister.
With the home now resembling a refuse pile, the men in the family have been
sleeping outside while the others have taken refuge in the partially
collapsed house of a relative next door. "It was very cold, and it started
raining this morning at 10," said Ahmed, a small man wrapped in a thin
woolen scarf who appeared exhausted.
Back down the mountain and closer to Rawalakot, Mohammed Hasrat, 20, walked
in the rain along the side of the road, shivering in a thin shirt and
slacks. He carried a blanket and a change of clothes in a plastic bag and
said he was returning home from the town of Bagh, where several relatives
had died.
Gratefully accepting a lift, he said that the earthquake had destroyed most
of the homes in his village and that most people there were spending the
nights outside, including his nephews, ages 3 and 4, whose parents had
covered them with cattle fodder to keep them warm.
"Nobody has brought us tents," said Hasrat, whose village is accessible only
by foot. "Everyone sleeps in the fields or the forest."
Even in a relatively prominent and prosperous community such as Rawalakot,
many people were living in the open. Among them was an elderly couple,
Mohammed and Jehan Akhbar, who until Saturday occupied a metal-roofed stone
house a short walk from the main bazaar. Now they live under a plastic sheet
on a muddy patch of earth littered with straw and wet cardboard.
"We need a solid tent," said Jehan Akhbar, as her husband, an amputee, tried
to stay warm under a pile of blankets. "We need something to eat."
Mohtarma Bhutto
participates in prayers for earthquake victims in Dubai
Eighty eight truck loads of relief goods sent to Northern Areas
Convoys of relief goods left Larkana for Islamabad, more convoys ready to
leave
Islamabad October 13, 2005: Pakistan
Peoples Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto attended a prayer function
in Dubai for the souls of the victims of the earthquake that devastated
large portions of Northern Pakistan.
A PPP AJK leader Sardar Yaqoob arranged the Quran Khawani. Prominent members
of the expatriate community participated. Amongst those making donations to
the PPP Relief Fund announced by the Chairperson were Ch. Zafar, Abbass
Bhatti, Akram Farooqi, Sher Mohammad Shahani and Nazeer Ahmed.
Mr. Zubair and Mr. Chughtai collected relief goods in Sharjah for despatch.
Children of Mohtarma Bhutto also contributed towards the PPP Relief effort.
Meanwhile eighty-eight truckloads of supplies for earthquake victims have
been despatched by the PPP relief teams to Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Balakot,
Batagram, Baffa, Makoi and Tiba Mohri during the last two days. The relief
goods included essential food supplies, drugs, blankets, clothing, and other
essentials of life and the trucks left Islamabad.
Under directions of the Party Chairperson special truckloads of essential
supplies were also despatched from her town in Larkana to the quake affected
areas. One consignment has already left Larkana to be followed by another
one on Friday. A prayer congregation for the soul of the victims was also
arranged at the Shaikh Zaid Colony mosque in Larkana.
Provincial presidents are supervising the relief effort from their province.
Presidents of Lahore and Karachi have transported relief goods to the
capital for further upcountry distribution. Islamabad PPP was the first to
collect goods and, in coordination with Provincial President Frontier, send
them to villages just beyond Mansehra.
The Islamabad PPP relief goods reached in less than twenty four hours after
the earthquake struck on October 8th. Dead bodies were still lying on
streets and injured were yet to be rescued.
President AJK PPP has lost eleven members of his family and his house has
fallen apart. He survived as he was in Islamabad. He rushed to Muzzafarabad
the same day from where he is elected. Due to breakdown in phone
communications, it took five days to establish contact with him after his
departure.
Meanwhile donations continue to pour in the PPP Relief fund set by the party
Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the relief and rehabilitation of
quake affected people. The Chairperson has asked Pakistanis living in Dubai
and all over the world to donate generously to the PPP Relief Fund. The
donations can be made in account number 0035-01014063 in any branch of Bank
Al Falah.
CORRUPT MUSHARRAF
TYRANNY FAILS to HELP PAKISTANIS and KASHMIRIS
PAKISTAN - WHY DID EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FAIL?
October 14, 2005
By LEE SUSTAR
DELAYED RESCUE attempts
after the massive earthquake that struck Pakistan October 8 led to countless
deaths--and highlighted the human cost of militarism and imperialist power
plays in Central and South Asia.
The estimated death toll was as high as 30,000 as Socialist Worker went to
press. Suffering was intensified by the failure of the military-led relief
effort in Pakistan to provide food and shelter to survivors.
"We are not mourning our dead today, we are mourning our ties with the
government," said magistrate Raja Mohammad Irshad of the city of Bagh, which
is in the Pakistani-controlled section of the disputed province of Kashmir.
"We are asking whether they think we are human beings, or animals, or
non-living things," he said. Many survivors were angry because
[self-appointed] President [General] Pervez Musharraf--who took power in a
1999 military coup--posed for a photo op at a collapsed building in the
capital of Islamabad, while cities in the affected area and scores of towns
of villages went without help.
The earthquake--the worst in the region in a century--would have had a
catastrophic impact in any case. But its effect was greatly magnified by
thearea's poverty--a legacy of British colonialism, aswell as the current
U.S. effort to use Pakistan as a cornerstone in the "war on terror."
The priorities of militarization--and protecting theinterests of the
country's tiny wealthy elite--meantthat Pakistan hasn't taken precautions
against apredicted earthquake. A blunt warning had come earlier this year.
Following the tsunami disaster last December in countries that ring the
Indian Ocean, the Pakistani newspaper Dawnnoted that "an official of the
Geological Research Center in [the Pakistani city of] Quetta told a program
on a private television channel...that the government is totally unprepared
for the eventuality of an earthquake like the one that hit [the province of]
Baluchistan in 1935."
The result was to multiply the numbers killed in the earthquake--and the
misery of survivors. "We survived the earthquake," Mohammad Zaheer told a
journalist in the northwestern town of Balakot. "But now we realize we will
die of hunger and cold."
Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India since the countries became
independent from Britain in 1947, has devoted its resources to developing
nuclear weapons in a country where about half of adults are illiterate and
one-third are officially considered poor. And these figures understate the
real social crisis. According to the Pakistan Planning Commission Working
Group on Poverty Alleviation, more than 29 million people--or 22.3 percent
of the population--don’t eat enough to meet basic daily nutritional
standards.
The U.S. promised aid to earthquake survivors. But the eight helicopters
initially offered by George W. Bush are pathetic in view of the resources
available in U.S.-occupied Afghanistan just across the border from
Pakistan--or the billions given to support Musharraf and his military. Bush
offered Musharraf $3 billion in aid in 2003 to support the "war on terror"
following the September 11 attacks. According to the Asia Times Web site,
about $692 million have been allocated to Pakistan for fiscal year 2005, and
the U.S.-dominated "coalition aid" totals $1.3 billion, equal to about a
third of Pakistan's total defense spending. The U.S. has been leaning on
Pakistan to collaborate in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, who is said to be
operating in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, from which Pakistani
troops have traditionally been prohibited. Since much of the province is
devastated, the U.S. will likely pressure Pakistan to move its military
deeper into the area--under the guise of providing relief.
Meanwhile, though tensions between India and Pakistan have eased since
2002--when 1 million troops faced off in the dispute over Kashmir--Pakistan
waited for a crucial 48 hours after the earthquake before agreeing to accept
aid from India. India, for its part, will use the crisis to consolidate its
brutal occupation of Kashmir on its side of the so-called Line of
Control--where more than 900 people were reported to have died in the
earthquake. Even Israel is getting into the act, offering aid and rescue
teams to Pakistan as a way to legitimize its dealings with Muslim countries.
Just as Iraq war spending hamstrung the federal government's response
following Hurricane Katrina in this country, great-power maneuvers and
militarism will impede humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan, and on both
sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir.
"General Musharraf is making fools of us," a government official in the town
of Bagh told reporters. "There is no relief, no rescue teams, nothing."
INTERNET-WEB LINKS:
Donations of Millions for Pakistan Untraceable
http://www.haroonsaadiq.com/affairs/donation.htm
Pakistan Officials Embezzle Donations
http://www.haroonsaadiq.com/affairs/embezzle.htm
Victims of the Deadly Quake Should Not Become Cash Cows For Usurpers
http://www.satribune.com/archives/200510/P1_tn2.htm
http://www.satribune.com/thread.jsp?forum=3&thread=2673
Musharraf Completes Six Years of Flip Flops, Impetuous Actions
http://www.satribune.com/archives/200510/P1_zia.htm
Musharraf Engulfed in Biggest Emerging Financial Scandal of his Tenure
http://www.satribune.com/archives/200509/P1_fund.htm
Musharraf's Smart Crony, Left Alone to Face the Media, Gets Knocked
Out
http://www.satribune.com/archives/200509/P1_fund2.htm
PAKISTAN - Why Did Earthquake Relief Fail?
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/561/561_16_Pakistan.shtml
http://www.socialistworker.org
SYED ADEEB
http://www.SyedAdeeb.com
http://www.SyedAdeeb.net
http://www.syedadeeb.blogspot.com
ADEEB PRESS
http://www.AdeebPress.com
http://www.AdeebPress.net
http://www.adeebpress.blogspot.com
HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION (HRF)
Human Rights Forum (HRF)
http://www.hrforum.blogspot.com
GOVERNMENT REFORM FORUM (GRF)
http://www.reformforum.blogspot.com
http://www.realreforms.blogspot.com
MEDIA PRESS FORUM (MPF)
http://www.pressforum.blogspot.com
Quake death toll
feared to surpass 40,000
.jpg)
MUZAFFARABAD:
Death toll in the disastrous earthquake that had struck Azad Kashmir,
Frontier province and Punjab is likely to go beyond 40,000 marks, while the
much needed relief works in some of the devastated areas could not yet been
taken up.
The nightmare and the huge tragedy that visited these ruined and ravaged
vast areas of hills and dales and the plane lands with no exceptions and
with equal severity could hardly be described as words fail to depict the
real scene of that doomsday, which had befallen on the people of those areas
at large--- at every step, in every street, in each village and in all the
cities there was a new and all the more pensive story piercing iron in the
soul.
The enchanting streets of Azad Kashmir that used to captivate the visitors
here from all over the world now lying desolate and deserted—that aroma of
the sweetness in life lost into the wind—that serenity enlivening the soul
no more exist instead alas, it is the heartrending stories of death and
destructions that echoes and prevail everywhere.
The decaying corpses still lying buried underneath the debris has polluted
the environment and posing a threat to those also who somehow fortunately
escaped the apocalypse.
The question as to when these bodies would be taken out of the rubbles still
remains unanswered. There is none to give a positive reply. Meanwhile, the
helpless people kept waiting for the help.
Muzaffarabad Assistant Commissioner, Masudur Rahman told that all the
government buildings and educational institutions in the city have been
razed to the ground and 11,000 dead thus far has been confirmed in Azad
Kashmir alone, while with every passing day the figure jumps up by several
hundreds.
Hazara division in Frontier province stands most affected, where
accessibility to Abbotabad, Mansehra and far-flung areas of Battgram
district could not have been made possible as yet. The people rendered
homeless here have been forced to shiver-away their cold nights in the open
sky. Hundreds of students both boys and girls are still lying under the
debris. Several modern villages of Mansehra have been totally leveled to the
ground. Roads in Battgram are still blocked after the land sliding, which
has made the relief goods reaching here difficult. Food items have been
dropped through helicopters in several areas of Mansehra.
It is not possible to assess the loss of life and property accurately at
this juncture. However, the life stands totally paralyzed and traumatized
due to non-availability of food, water, electricity and roads—nothing in
fact is left over there for bare subsistence expect the flickering hopes in
helpless gazing eyes waiting for the help and succour to come and if the
messiah carrying aid remained on the way for long, then these waning light
in the eyes may die down for ever.
.jpg)
A
victims waits for help outside her devastated home. Below A collapsed high
rise
Victims of
the Deadly Quake Should Not Become Cash Cows For Usurpers
By Dr. Tarique Niazi
WISCONSIN,
October 11: It is heart-breaking to watch television images of
the death and destruction wrought in Pakistan by an earthquake the intensity
of which beggars parallel in the past 100 years. Measured 7.6 at the Richter
scale, its destructive outcome is not hard to imagine. Within 24 hours of
its strike on October 8, the death toll has already run into thousands.
What packed it with even a deadlier punch was its “shallowness,” i.e., its
ground motions were closer to the surface, which pulled down high-rise
structures and mud-house villages with equal ease. Geologists believe that
deeper sub-surface tremors would have been less lethal and had even less
fatal impact on surface objects and surface life.
Unlike in the past, this earthquake’s geological sweep was felt throughout
the length and breadth of Pakistan, and beyond to neighboring Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, and India. Yet the major brunt of it was borne by northern
Pakistan that sits closer to its epicenter. The worst-hit, thus far, is
Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir where 200 Pakistani soldiers
stationed there have also been reported dead.
It is still too early to assess the full extent of the devastation,
especially in many parts of northern Pakistan, such as Batagram, Balakot,
Mansehra, Abbotabad, and Pattan. These areas have been geographically
susceptible to earthquakes. In the 1970s, the whole of Bhisham in Kohistan
was razed to rubble, which is Pakistan’s Alaska. The sun sets on it as early
as 3 in the afternoon. Yet its natural endowment makes it “mark of beauty.”
The late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto picked up its pieces and remade
it into a crown jewel to behold.
Like Bhisham, many parts of northern Pakistan are inaccessible or hard to
access by land. Road and rail links fluctuate between “to be and not to be.”
Where there are roads, they stand there as an apology for their existence.
This inaccessibility, especially for the relief and recovery effort, will
cause even more death and destruction than what is known as of now.
Even a bigger challenge to rescuers is the “law-and-order” orientation of
the Pakistani State that singularly serves the ends of its abusive
dictators, directing all its resources against “political crime,” i.e.,
democratic opposition. As such State institutions are in the business of
savaging, not saving lives. It is, however, the communitarian resources in
extended families, tribal formations, and inter-tribal alliances, which
provide much-needed succor to those in need.
Urban-based civil society organization (CSOs) could become a modern agent of
national relief, but their resources are already stretched to limits in
combating “unnatural disasters,” i.e., military dictatorship and its
economic, political, and social impact. Some of the private-sector relief
groups, such as the Edhi Welfare Trust, are too urbanized in their relief
operations to work in the trying semi-and-non-urban settings of
land-slide-prone Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir and northern
Pakistan.
The law-and-order orientation of the State, to the criminal neglect of mass
welfare, has grown manifold on Gen. Musharraf’s watch, who for the past six
years has been squandering the national resources on buying “legitimacy” for
his illegitimate government. Even just two days before the earthquake
struck, he was busy bullying and bribing voters to elect his nominees to
city halls, town houses, and village councils.
The lowest bid for a mayoral seat was 25 million rupees in a country where
the average monthly wages of a full-time worker, who traditionally provides
for a family of five, is 2,500 rupees ($1.38 a day)! It is these families
who will have been buried alive without even hearing the sound of “help is
on the way.” Just in one town of Pakhtunkhaw, 400 children had died under
the collapsed detritus of their school building.
All State resources are committed to keep Gen. Musharraf and his
illegitimate government in power. His power grab costs the nation a whopping
$15 billion a year. Every nickel of which is spent on the dual task of
keeping him in job and safe from the growingly impoverished masses. As a
result, coercion, corruption, and cronyism (CCC) have come to mark his
governance, while the masses languish in the prison of life. There is little
that has been invested in their welfare over the past six years.
Even Islamabad, where Gen. Musharraf’s dictatorship seats itself, is not
immune from his neglect. A case in point is the disaster site of the
10-story Margalla Tower, where volunteers were moving immovable slabs of
concrete and jumbles of mangled steel with their bare hands. CNN and MSNBC
have shown others hammering away at the remains of the building to recover
the entrapped dwellers. Volunteers pulled out “one man by cutting off his
legs,” reported the Associated Press.
This is the work of earth-moving machines– bulldozers, tractors, cranes.
None was in sight, however. Atop of it all and even in the teeth of this
tragedy, Gen. Musharraf showed up at the site in “full military gear” of
“Chief of Army Staff” for a photo op. He never passes up an opportunity to
insult the stricken nation of Pakistan by flashing his army uniform as a
reminder that it continues to be shackled by his dictatorship.
His empty-headedness, which only exceeds his reputation, keeps spilling out
of his gunner’s image, nevertheless. At the disaster site of Margalla Tower,
he could not come up with a single word of sympathy for the victims or their
surviving families. All he said was a gauntlet to the forces of nature: “…it
is a test for all of us… and we are sure we will qualify this test,” AFP
reported him saying. We will qualify this test? This syntax does not just
represent unfamiliarity with human language, but unmitigated intellectual
vacuity.
Still more empty-headedness was on display in his reaction to the
earthquake, which was however predictable: Establishment of the “President’s
Relief Fund.” Quick on his heels, his “Prime Minister” has set up two
telephone lines in his secretariat. Is that all? Where is the institutional
help? Relief and recovery effort? Saving lives from under the fallen
structures? Who is going to call you, moron, when telephone lines in the
quake-hit areas have all been knocked down?
Their actions are, indeed, worse than their intentions. Tens of thousands,
if not hundreds of thousands, are still groaning under the damaged buildings
and devastated dwellings. Those who have survived are still uncared for,
hungry, and thirsty. In Abbotabad, which is strewn with military
establishments and which sits only a stone’s throw from where Gen. Musharraf
lives, “hospital staff used loudspeakers to ask people for food and other
relief supplies.” “President’s Relief Fund” is not the answer to their
needs. Instead, the Fund is a money-making scheme to further fertilize
Musharraf dictatorship. Ben Phillips of Oxfam, on the contrary, has
identified “tents, blankets, food, and medical supplies” as the immediate
needs for the relief effort.
Between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 11, 2003, Gen. Musharraf spun the war on
terror into a cold cash of $20 billion. He should not be allowed to turn the
blood of thousands of earthquake victims into another spigot of cash. First
of all, an honest assessment of needs should be made for immediate relief
supplies. The week from October 8 should be devoted to just saving,
sheltering, feeding, and clothing the survivors. Can these needs be met
locally, regionally, nationally? Should Pakistan ask friendly nations for
help? The answer to all these questions depends upon a nation-wide needs
assessment.
All relief aid – both public and private – however should be offered to
private-sector charities such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, CARE, Edhi Welfare
Trust, and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). In parallel,
Pakistan’s political parties are taking charitable initiatives of their own
as part of their long-held traditions, which deserve all-out support.
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have
instructed their respective parties to set up relief operations in affected
areas. As these parties have local roots in the quake-hit areas, they could
be the best delivery mechanism for relief aid, and they should be preferred
for cash donations to the “President’s Relief Fund.”
As a matter of fact, Prime Ministers Bhutto and Sharif have reportedly asked
their party leaders to respectively set up the “PPP Relief Fund” and the
“PML Relief Fund,” both inside and outside Pakistan, with substantial seed
money of their own. Individual and organizational donors would better serve
the cause of relief by making donations to these funds. In the meanwhile, my
heart goes out to the victims of the devastating earthquake, and their
families.
Mohtarma Bhutto Congratulates Party Workers on Success in Local Elections
Islamabad October 7, 2005;
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has felicitated the awam dost candidates elected as
district, tenshil and town nazims in the third phase of local polls on
Thursday. She also congratulated those awam dost candidates who lost by a
very narrow margin due to unprecedented rigging and manipulation resorted to
the regime.
In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that she saluted the
heroic fight put up by all of them even though victory was denied to them by
a regime that was bent upon rigging and manipulating from the very start of
phase 1 of the elections.
She said that when the September phase of the elections was over it was
apparent that the combined opposition parties had won the local polls in
areas like Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Shaikhupura, Multan, Bahawalnagar
and Kasur. This showed that the entire central Punjab, the recruiting area
for the Army, had voted against General Musharaf and supported the
opposition candidates, she said.
She said that the victory of the people in surmounting the odds and
defeating the ruling Party overcoming manifold obstacles had frightened the
rulers. Consequently, the rulers now wanted to strip the right of vote from
the citizens of the country. Many meetings were being held by the frightened
ruling class to see whether they could change the constitution to make the
election of President and perhaps Parliament through the indirect method.
This would involve taking away the right to elect the government and
president from the people and put it in the hand of the councilors. The
regime felt that a small electoral college was easier to manipulate through
bribery and coercion than the masses of the country.
The former Prime Minister said that indeed the councilor votes had been
tampered with. In areas like Nawabshah, Larkana and elsewhere, the
councilors vote was double stamped by the authorities to dent the majority
of the awam dost. She said it was a matter of pride that the people of the
country stood by the PPP and the PPP would always stand by them.
She noted that Musharaf had completed three tenures as Army chief and two as
President whereas by his yardstick that someone who has served two terms
cannot serve a third meant that he should now prepare to retire for he had
failed to resolve the bread and butter issues of the people or bring respect
to Pakistan as its citizens were suspected at every airport of the world.
Mohtarma Bhutto said that now that the entire central Punjab and many other
areas had revolted against the ruling regime. It was the election result as
it emerged in September, despite the thuggery and rigging that was giving
nightmares to the rulers. They were therefore in desperation contemplating
to strip the people of their right to vote by re-introducing a system akin
to the so called basic democracy tried by a previous military dictator Ayub
Khan. She asked all patriotic people to support the movement to end military
dictatorship and bring back the rule of law, representative governance and
basic freedoms to pull the country out of the crisis. The people must rise
and act and prove o the world that Pakistan was not a failed state, she
said.
She said that the people of Pakistan were disappointed that the Election
Commission of Pakistan and the judiciary were unable to provide relief in
the hundreds of applications and petitions made by opposition candidates.
She said that the judiciary and the Election Commission needed to be more
sensitive to the issues raised by the opposition to lend some credibility to
the polls that were reduced to a farce.
The former Prime Minister called for the Pakistan Human Rights Commission to
take over eight to ten posts in the election commission to make it
responsive. She also said that the independent judiciary was needed to hear
and resolve opposition complaints. She said that with an independent
election commission, an independent judiciary and a neutral military and
police force, the country could begin to overcome its image as a failed
state.
She said she was proud of the people of Pakistan. "The people
of our country have shown they possess the noblest human qualities of
steadfastness and devotion to principles by refusing to be cowed down by
tyranny". She said the day was near when the people would once again form a
government of their true representatives and begin a journey of regeneration
and hope to tackle the problems of poverty and backwardness.
Mohtarma Bhutto Condemns Rape of Minor Girl in Church
Islamabad, 6 October 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party expressed
profound shock over the outrageous rape of a 13 year old girl child in a
place of worship.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said the PPP stood for women's rights and regarded
women as the Mothers, daughters, sisters of the country whose life, liberty
and right to happiness was a fundamental rights.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that PPP Founder Quaid e Awam Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto emancipated women of Pakistan who were shackled to superstition,
exploitation and slavery. The PPP was carrying on his mission to safeguard
the rights of the daughters of our country.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said it was unhelpful that the regime persisted in
persecuting women. She said that General Musharaf's medieval view that women
want to get raped for benefits reflected the extremist tribal ideology which
had no place in modern Pakistan. Under this extremist view, camouflaged
under false claims of "enlightened moderation", disadvantaged groups,
including women, minorities, labour and peasants were facing increasing
hardships and discrimination.
The Chairperson PPP recalled that under Musharaf, Mukhtaran Mai's rapists
were repeatedly freed and only reimprisoned under international pressure.
Mukhtaran Mai herself was banned from travelling abroad by a military junta
that allowed rape to flourish under its tenure and considered talking about
it as a crime and punished those that wished to highlight the problem to
eliminate it. The Chairperson said that Shazia Khalid was forced to flee
into exile under death threats conveyed by officials of the regime and her
rapist went unpunished. Another rapist in Azad Kashmir was also not tried
hiding under his army uniform when in fact he had disgraced the uniform and
should have been stripped of it. The tragedy in the life of Sonia Naz who
was raped by so called protectors of the law was another black mark on the
Musharaf junta.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that instead of chasing rapists, the regime was
chasing opponents and rigging elections which had led to the collapse of
governance. Inflation, Unemployment, lack of basic utilities and the
miserable state of the disadvantaged groups was hurting the quality of life
of the citizens. The inability of the Election Commission or the Judiciary
to provide relief to victims and the overbearing political role of the
military in civilian life was leading many scholars to call Pakistan a
failed state.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that Musharaf Junta had three tenures as army
chief and two as President, one before the Referendum and one after the
General elections. But it had failed to resolve the problems of the people.
She said that every dictator from Ayub to Yayha to Zia tried to strengthen
his dictatorship by seeking external crutches while ignoring the day to day
problems of the people. She said people of Pakistan were not born slaves
that they should accept the "conquest of the constitution" through illegal
means of brute force as has occurred since 1999. She asked all patriotic
people to support the movement to end military dictatorship and bring back
the rule of law, representative governance and freedoms where through
accountability and representation, Pakistan could be pulled out of the
crisis in which power hungry individuals had placed it. She asked the people
to speak up for what was right and against what was wrong and to join public
meetings and sits ins and other protests arranged by the ARD to create
pressure to end the tyranny which was leading to myriad social, economic and
political problems of which the rise in rape statistics was one part of the
ugly reality.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that despite the attempts to silence her
through concocted and fabricated cases, she was determined to speak up for
the rights of the exploited, oppressed, suppressed, repressed and
disadvantaged people of Pakistan.
It may be recalled that Yazman (District Bahawalpur Pakistan), a 13 year old
Christian girl Rukhsana who was returning to her home, was allegedly
kidnapped by Nazir Ahmed (Jeera) at gun point and taken to the nearest New
Apostolic Church and raped. On hearing cries of the helpless girl people of
the area rushed and saw Nazir Ahmed raping Rukhsana inside the Church. On
seeing the people, the accused ran away waving his gun in his air. According
to the priest, influential people of the area stopped the poor family from
taking any action against the accused.
However the girl was hospitalised and her medical examination conducted,
According to her advocate, the medico legal report is awaited from a Multan
hospital. Under the Chief Minister Punjab, whose family previously were
alleged to be supporters of Lashkar e Tayyaba, the police was not interested
in registering an FIR of the case until 3-9-2005. Having been pressurised to
register the case under public and church influence, the regime is turning a
blind eye as terrorists threaten Priest Binyamin who has been forced to save
his life by hiding with his family.
Under Chief Minister Punjab, the rapists have no fear and do not hide. It is
the victims who have to hide because Musharaf's regime does not give them
protection. Thus Shazia Khalid, Sonia Naz and scores of others were forced
into hiding while the criminals walked free and Musharaf mocked rape victims
by claiming that they cry rape to become millionaires and to get a Canadian
visa.
Incidentally not a single rape victim became rich. Their lives were ruined
forever.
PPP writes
to CEC regarding rigging in Rawalpindi during LB polls
Islamabad, 06 October 2005: Kamran Zafar,
Member,Central Monitoring Cell,Awam Dost Group has informed the Chief
Election Commissioner about the acts of rigging and the interference of the
federal ministers including Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed whose nephew Rashid Shafiq
is contesting for the Nazim in Rawal Town in the local bodies elections and
asked him to take immediate actions.
Kamran Zafar in one of the two separate letters addressed to the Chief
Election Commissioner wrote "At least three ministers of the ruling party
namely Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Minister for Labour and Manpower and Raja Basharat,
Provincial Minister for Law and Local Bodies are present and going around
different polling stations in Rawalpindi, along with their henchmen and
local administration, with a view to intimidate the councilors. The voters
are being threatened with dire consequences, in case they do not vote for
the Establishment-backed candidates. The tactics being used by the ruling
junta negates the electoral laws and amply demonstrates their fascist
tendencies".
He further wrote "We have tried to draw your kind attention innumerable
times towards the state of affairs prevailing in different cities of
Pakistan ever since the 1st phase of Local Bodies Polls was launched, but
unfortunately the Election Commission has not risen to the occasion and
emboldened the Establishment to intensify its 3rd degree methods in order to
win the elections. It is high time that the Election Commission should take
cognizance of the blatant violation of electoral laws and direct the
Government functionaries and ministers to desist from the shameful and naked
aggression which they are exhibiting in the polls in Rawalpindi, today".
In the second letter he wrote, "In continuation of my earlier fax message
submitted to you in the morning, today, permit me to state that the
interference by the federal and provincial ministers and the local
administration continues unabated. Not only that, Mr. Rashid Shafiq nephew
of Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Federal Minister is demanding from the voters that
they should show him the stamped ballot paper. This is being done with the
connivance of the Presiding Officer at Divisional Public School, Shamas Abad,
Rawalpindi. The above is being brought to your notice for taking immediate
cognizance before it is late in the day".
Pakistan Must Protect
Its Women
By Yasmeen Hassan
Thursday, October 6, 2005;
Dear President Musharraf,
I was among the Pakistani and Pakistani American women you addressed on
Sept. 17 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York on the issue of violence against
women in Pakistan. You exhorted us not to air Pakistan's dirty laundry
abroad, meaning you do not want us to publicize cases of violence against
women, such as those of Mukhtar Mai and Shazia Khalid, both of whom have
been raped and both of whom have been denied justice in Pakistan. You
threatened the women's rights activists among us who are involved in
international campaigns about violence against women in Pakistan and called
us unpatriotic.
President Musharraf, you seem to want to cleanse the reputation of Pakistan
without addressing the real issue: violence against women and the failure of
the legal system to hold the perpetrators of this violence responsible. You
keep reminding us, and the international media, that violence against women
occurs all over the world, including in Western countries. You say that
Pakistan should not be singled out for attention. But the issue is not that
violence against women occurs elsewhere; it is how the government responds
to such violence, what laws and other mechanisms it puts in place to protect
women, and how well it implements such laws.
Pakistan has not only systematically failed to implement and enforce laws to
protect women from violence, but the system that is in place re-victimizes
victims of violence rather than delivering justice. The Hudood Ordinance
requires a confession or the testimony of witnesses other than the victim to
secure a conviction for rape, and rape victims can find themselves being
punished for fornication if rape is not proved. You acknowledged the
deficiencies in the system while talking about your stance in Mukhtar Mai's
case: You told us that you had issued instructions for punishment of the
perpetrators of the gang rape of Mai regardless of the law. Pakistani women
want the right to have the perpetrators of violence against them punished by
the law rather than despite it.
You said legal reform was pointless because the personnel in the police and
other agencies responsible for law enforcement were of a certain "mind-set"
that would have to be changed before effective reform could take place.
President Musharraf, the "mind-set" of the people of Pakistan did not stop
you from committing Pakistan's resources to hunting down al Qaeda supporters
in Pakistan at the request of the United States. So why use the argument
that we have to tread slowly and carefully on the issue of violence against
women while we are waiting for "mind-sets" to change? Do the demands of the
women of your own country (the "weak sex," in your words) not match the
demands of a superpower? Isn't the fight against sexual terrorism that
potentially affects approximately half of your own population at least as
important as the fight against international terrorism on foreign soil?
Women who are victims of violence need immediate remedies and access to
justice. Enactment and enforcement of progressive legislation that ensures
women access to justice is a way to change mind-sets and to end the current
system of impunity for perpetrators of violence.
Pakistan is a signatory of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, one of the seven major international human
rights instruments, and has recently submitted its first report to the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. As part of the
reporting process, nongovernmental organizations will submit shadow reports
to this committee and, to the extent that your laws and practices do not
conform with the standards of the convention, your representatives will have
to engage in a dialogue with the committee.
If you do not want your dirty laundry aired abroad, please take urgent
measures to wash it at home by repealing the Hudood Ordinance, reforming
legislation on rape, enacting laws on domestic violence, effectively
implementing laws on violence against women, and creating other systems and
mechanisms that ensure women access to justice, rehabilitation and
protection.
The writer, a Pakistani lawyer, published the first study of domestic
violence in Pakistan. She is employed by the United Nations, but the views
expressed here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of the
United Nations.
Please
find enclosed the CRS report for US Congress on Pakistan Domestic Political
Developments
Here are some quick highlights of the report:
In a very subtle way, the report highlights the issue of
political succession in Pakistan. It discusses the options of
constitutionally designated successor to Musharraf – Muhammad Mian Soomro
and possibility of military takeover by Vice COAS Lt. Gen Ahsan Salim Hayat,
if Musharraf were removed through violent means. (Page#29-31).
The report mentions our position on rigging in latest local election in
Pakistan that Musahrraf violated the code of conduct by urging voters to
cast ballots for candidates favored by the ruling PML, by vote-rigging and
by women being barred from some polling stations. Alan added Wajid sahib's
comment (my guess) about the whole process as a "typically vice-regal
electoral exercise", but did not mention his name! (Page#1).
The report acknowledges that Pakistan's moderate, secular parties continued
to face governmental repression by once again highlighting the treatment
meted out to Zardari sahib upon his arrival to Pakistan (Page#2). This is
the second time that this issue is highlighted in front of congress.
Pakistan's underdeveloped democracy and rule of law are themselves the
central cause of country's instability. (Page#3).
The report says that the military has increased its control over Pakistan so
much so that it is now overwhelmingly in all sectors of the state, the
economy and society. It has damaged country's democratic institutions with
major political parties seriously weakened in recent years. (Page#7)
It echoes Stephen P. Cohen assessment by quoting him that Musharraf is a
"sustainable failure". Mr. Cohen's statement before a House panel calling
for Sharif and Bhutto's return from exile a requirement for truly free and
fair elections in 2007 is also mentioned. (Page#8)
The report acknowledges that PPP won the largest number of overall votes in
2002 elections, but Pakistan's electoral rules awarded it runner-up status
only. (Page#14).
Musharraf "handed over areas bordering Afghanistan to religious parties" in
an effort to ensure continued US support while simultaneously placating
domestic opponents. (Page#15)
It concludes by discussing the pros and cons of four major policy options
for US: statusquo, increased pressure, increased incentive and adjusting of
current USAID programs.
Mohtarma Bhutto grieved over loss of lives and damage due to quake
Islamabad October 8, 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed profound grief and shock over the high
intensity earthquake that rocked parts of the country on Saturday.
A high intensity earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked areas
from Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Mansehra,
Azad Kashmir and adjoining areas causing several casualties and widespread
damage to the property the details of which were still pouring in.
In a message today the former Prime Minister said that she was grieved over
the natural disaster that had caused several deaths and widespread damage to
buildings and property in many parts of the country. "On this occasion our
thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and with those who have
suffered ".
She said that calamities like these demonstrated the sheer helplessness of
man before the forces of Nature.
Mohtarma Bhutto called upon the rulers to mobilise its resources for the
rescue and rehabilitation of affected people. She also asked the Party
workers to donate blood to those injured and mount relief measures for the
victims. She asked the Party leaders to personally supervise the relief
measures and work alongside the workers for the relief and rehabilitation of
the affected people.
US
congressional report says Pakistan’s military has overwhelmingly controlled
economy and society
Islamabad October 8, 2005: The
Congressional Research Studies report on Pakistan Domestic Political
Developments has endorsed the opposition’s point of view that the military
has increased its control over Pakistan so much so that it is now
overwhelmingly in all sectors of the state, the economy and society. It has
damaged country's democratic institutions with major political parties
seriously weakened in recent years.
The latest CRS report has also highlighted the issue of political succession
in Pakistan -an acute concern of many US policy makers. It discusses the
options of constitutionally designated successor to Musharraf – Muhammad
Mian Soomro and possibility of military takeover if Musharraf were removed
through violent means.
The CRS report acknowledges that PPP won the largest number of overall votes
in 2002 elections, but Pakistan's electoral rules awarded it runner-up
status only. It quotes Mohtarma Bhutto verbatim on coalition formation after
election that Musharraf "handed over areas bordering Afghanistan to
religious parties" in an effort to ensure continued US support while
simultaneously placating domestic opponents.
The report for the US congressmen mentions PPP position on rigging in latest
local election in Pakistan that Musahrraf violated the code of conduct by
urging voters to cast ballots for candidates favored by the ruling PML and
by vote-rigging and by women being barred from some polling stations.
The report acknowledges that Pakistan's moderate, secular parties continued
to face governmental repression by once again highlighting the treatment
meted out to Asif Ali Zardari upon his arrival to Pakistan. This is the
second time that this issue is highlighted in front of congress.
It also quotes Mr. Cohen's statement before a House panel calling for Sharif
and Bhutto's return from exile a requirement for truly free and fair
elections in 2007 is also mentioned.
The CRS report concludes by discussing the pros and cons of four major
policy options for US: status quo, increased pressure, increased incentive
and adjusting of current USAID programs.
PPP
sets up Relief Fund for Quake victims Mohtarma Bhutto makes impassioned
appeal for donations
Islamabad October 9, 2005:
The Pakistan Peoples Party has set up Earthquake Relief Fund for the
rehabilitation and relief of quake affected victims and called upon the
people to generously donate towards the Fund.
Under directions of the Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto an
emergency meeting of the Party leaders was held in Islamabad that decided to
immediately set up the PPP Relief Fund for victims of the earthquake.
The meeting presided over by the Party Vice Chair Makhdoom Amin Fahim was
attended by Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA, MNA, Nayyar Bokhari MNA, Naheed Khan MNA
and Senators Safdar Abbasi and Farhatullah Babar..
After the meeting Makhdoom Amin Fahim vice chair of the PPP said in a
statement that Mohtarma Bhutto had approved that the Fund would be operated
and managed by a two-member committee in accordance with a criterion to be
laid for disbursement. The Fund will also be subjected to external audit by
auditors.
Meanwhile the Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has made an
impassioned appeal to the people to donate generously in cash and in kind to
help their grief stricken brethren in this hour of calamity.
Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that a separate Bank account number of the PPP
Relief Fund will be announced on Monday. In the meantime donations in the
form of bank drafts and cheques payable to PPP Relief Fund may be sent to
the address of Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA General Secretary at the PPP Central
Secretariat H #1, Street 85, G-6/4, Islamabad, he said.
He said that relief camps will also be set up at the district levels and
urged the people to make donations in kind at the district relief camps of
the Party.
Instructions were conveyed to the Party’s provincial presidents to gear up
the task of setting of relief camps and collecting donations., he said.
A committee headed by Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA and comprising of provincial
Party presidents, Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA, President AJK PPP, President NAs
PPP, Opposition Leader in the Senate, Leader of the Parliamentary Party in
Frontier Assembly and Barrister Sultan Mahmood has been set up to raise
funds. Another Committee comprising of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raja Pervez
Ashraf, Senator Enver Baig, Akbar Khawaja, Sherry Rehman MNA and Senator
Abdullah Riar has been set up to collect donations in kind form businessmen,
industrialists and pharmaceutical firms.
CHAIRPERSON PPP ANNOUNCES
FIFTY LAC RELIEF FOR EARTHQUAKE AFFECTEES AS FIRST STEP
Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto
announced on October 9, 2005 that Rs. Fifty lacs will be donated through the
PPP for the earthquake affected people. Under her direction, a PPP Relief
Fund for Quake victims has been established for the rehabilitation and
relief of quake affected victims. She further directed the PPP cadre to
establish relief camps to collect goods, medicines and donate blood towards
support for the earthquake affectees.
You are requested to generously donate towards the effort of Mohtarma and
the PPP.
An account in
the name of PPP Relief Fund has been opened in the Al Falah Bank. Donations
in Pakistani rupees can be made into any branch of the Al Falah Bank in
Pakistan in account Number 0035-01014063. More details below.
Immediate donations can also be made in the form of bank drafts payable to
PPP Relief Fund. These may be sent to Secretary General at the PPP Central
Secretariat H #1, Street 85, G-6/4, Islamabad. However, direct bank
transfers are preferred.
Provincial Presidents have been directed to establish relief camps and send
the goods for the affectees in consultation with the contact numbers given
below. You may also set up a relief fund to collect goods to send to
affectees. However, President of your province must be informed as well as
District President.
Further
details for contributing funds for the PPP relief fund can be obtained from
the Media Office Islamabad. Contact numbers are as below:
Off.. + 92. 51. 220. 2837.
Fax.. +92. 51. 220. 2835.
drkhshan@isb.comsats.net.pk
BANK ALFALAH LIMITED
1-B, Awan Arcade, Nazimuddin Road, Blue Area, Islamabad. 44000
Ph: 92-51-2206986 Fax: 051-2279897
Email:
isb@bankalfalah.com
Website:
www.bankalfalah.com
Account Title : PPP Relief Fund
Account No. : 0035-01014063
Account Type : CA – PKR
CORRESPONDENT BANK’S ROUTINGS
FOR BANK ALFALAH LIMITED, (ISLAMABAD MAIN BRANCH)
SWIFT ADDRESS: ALFHPKKAISL
FOR USD
PLEASE TRANSFER USD TO AMERICAN EXPRESS BANK, 3 WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER, 23RD
FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10285-2300 U.S.A. SWIFT: AEIBUS33 FOR CREDIT TO ACCOUNT
TO 740084 OF BANK ALFALAH KARACHI FOR ONWARD CREDIT TO ACCOUNT NO. IN THE
NAME OF WITH BANK ALFALAH LIMITED ISLAMABAD.
FOR GBP
PLEASE TRANSFER GBP TO HABIB BANK LIMITED, LONDON GRANITE HOUSE 97, CANON
STREET LONDON EC4N-5AD (SWIFT: HABBGB2L) FOR CREDIT TO POUND STERLING
ACCOUNT NO. 01155800129 OF BANK ALFALAH LIMITED KARACHI FOR ONWARD CREDIT TO
THE ACCOUNT NO. OF (BENEFICIARY) WITH BANK ALFALAH LIMITED ISLAMABAD.
FOR EURO
PLEASE TRANSFER EURO TO COMMERZ BANK AG, 60261 FRANKFURT AM MAIN GERMANY
(SWIFT: COBADEFF) FOR CREDIT TO ACCOUNT TO. 4008807182 OF BANK ALFALAH
KARACHI FOR ONWARD CREDIT TO ACCOUNT NO. IN THE NAME OF WITH BANK ALFALAH
LIMITED ISLAMABAD.
CONTACT
KASHIF AHMED
BANK ALFALAH LIMITED
ISLAMABAD MAIN BRANCH
PH: 051-2206986-7, EXT – 218, 205
PPP delegation leaves
for NWFP with relief Goods
Islamabad, 10 October 2005:
A delegation of Pakistan Peoples Party headed by the Vice Chairman PPP,
Makhdoom Amin Faheem will leave for NWFP to distribute relief goods tomorrow
Tuesday at 9 am from PPP Central Secretariat, Islamabad.
The delegation would visit Mansehra, Balakot, Garhi Habibullah and would
distribute food and medicine to affectees of earthquake. Pakistan Peoples
Party on the instruction of Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has
established a relief fund and also relief camps.
Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto expresses grave concern over lawyer’s arrest in Lahore
Asks EC to stop violations of code of conduct for polls
Islamabad 3 October 2005: Former Prime
Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has
expressed grave concern over the arrest of a lawyer in Lahore on Saturday
during hearing of a case regarding third phase of local bodies elections.
The lawyer of Awam Dost Candidate for the post of town Nazim in Lahore, Dr.
Zahid Akram was arrested during hearing in court room in Lahore in the case
of disqualification of awam dost candidate in Lahore. The arrested lawyer
was released after protest from the lawyers’ community.
The arrest of a lawyer has also disturbed the legal fraternity in Lahore,
which held an emergency meeting. The meeting asked the Chief Justice of
Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court to take remedial
measures to ensure that such incident do not take place in future.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto expressing her concern over the incident said that
it is unfortunate that even the members of legal fraternity do not feel
secure while performing their professional duties in election related
matters. She said that the regime had disabled the Election Commission from
holding free, fair, and democratic elections and that had created an
atmosphere of chaos and anarchy in the country.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said that the situation in the country is fast
deteriorating. She demanded the holding of free, fair and democratic
elections under an independent Election Commission in which the Human Rights
Commission had also been given a responsible role, to overcome the grave
national crisis.
Former Prime Minister said that rigging in the first and the second phase in
the local bodies election is continued in the third phase. Nazim, Naib
Nazmis and Councillors elect are being kidnapped and pressurised to change
loyalties and vote for government nominated candidates.
She also condemned the kidnapping of over 170 Councillors in Multan by the
opponent of Awam Dost Candidate Makhdoom Mureed Hussain Qureshi. Such
incidents are a blatant violation of the code of conduct for elections and
asked the Election Commission to take note of it and stop these illegal
acts.
PPP asks CEC to take action
against CM Sindh
Islamabad, 4 October 2005:
Member PPP Central Monitoring Cell, for local bodies elections Kamran
Zafar has apprised the Chief Election Commissioners of rigging and
manipulations by the King’s Party in the third phase of local bodies
elections in Tharparkar district and asked him to take notice of the
excesses being committed by the Establishment on the behest of Chief
Minister Sindh, Arbab Ghulam Rahim.
Kamran Zafar in his letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner
informed him of a report by Mahesh Kumar Malani from Tharparkar which says
that the opponents of Awam Dost presented forged documents to get Dr. Manoj
Malani disqualified to contest election for the post of Nazim in Tharparkar.
After the rejection of nomination papers of Dr. Manoj Malani an application
was filed in the Sindh High Court Hyderabad Bench. The hearing of the
application was set for 28.09.2005. The hearing could not be held because
the judge Mousa Leghari went on three days leave and the matter was delayed
until 03.10.2005.
Regarding other excesses in Tharparkar, the report says that the police
threatened another Awam Dost Candidate Hayat Hingorgo and he had to go on
hiding. His family is being continuously harassed and he was forced to
withdraw in favour of government-backed candidate.
The report further says that dozens of government schools teachers have been
suspended from service because they are supporting Awam Dost Candidate.
Bachal Halepoto, Mohammad Yaqub, Daim Sand,. Jalal Din Halepoto, Malook
Halepoto, . Khameeso Halepoto, Allah Dino Rahimoon, Salam Rahimoon, Nazir
Rahimoon, Aqil Sand, Akbar Sand, Abab Ali, Bekhuji Thakar, Bhaguji Thakar,
Sikandar Ali Samoon, Babar Ali Rahimoon, Mangal Menghwar, Alji Thakar, Sahib
Singh Thakar, Nibuji Thakar, Neebraj Thakar, Ghulam Qadir Khaskeli, Dhani
Bux Khaskeli and Jaman Sand are a few teachers who have been suspended in
Taluka Nagarparkar.
Kamran Zafar urged the Chief Election Commissioner to take immediate notice
of the excesses and take measures against Chief Minister Sindh who is
blatantly violating election rules and committing excesses against Awam Dost
candidates in Tharparkar.
The ruling coalition’s top
five
SARMAD BASHIR
The incident of Punjab MPA and Parliamentary Secretary Muhammad Ahmad Khan
beating the AEC Kasur is no surprise. Somehow the Punjab Assembly has the
honour of producing more goons than all the other three provincial
assemblies and National Assembly put together.
Muhammad Ahmad Khan, the scion of a former Deputy Chairman Senate, made no
departure from the tradition set by Mr Wasi Zafar who is known for coming to
blows with everyone who crosses his way. Wasi Zafar has come a long way from
being identified as the Punjab Assembly’s most violent back-bencher to
become Federal (out) Law Minister who feels no qualms about behaving like an
outlaw when it comes to dealing with ordinary folks.
No matter he is in the House or elsewhere, fixing ‘disrespectful’ fellow
human beings is his favourite pastime. Maybe he thinks that resorting to
strong-arm tactics is the only way to make others respect him and obey his
orders. He did the ‘Wasi special’ once again the other day when he slapped a
hapless waiter at a five-star hotel who had committed a sin of calling him
‘uncle’. As a competent man of law he also knows very well how to cover up
his unlawful acts. It didn’t take him too long to get a written apology from
the waiter for being disrespectful to an honourable customer.
This must have saved his erstwhile fellow jialas and his guests that night,
Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat and Naurez Shakoor, from the embarrassment of
denying that an unpleasant incident had taken place in their presence.
Knowing them, the duo must have decided thee and then never to accompany the
Law Minister to any public place in future. They might have already told
their staff to make sure he is not on the flight they would be taking to go
home for a weekend. My friends will prefer driving all the way to Lahore or
Sahiwal!
It must have given Mr Wasi Zafar an immense pleasure to hear about the
parliamentary secretary and his armed accomplices beating the Assistant
Election Commissioner in his hometown on refusal to give him the special IDs
issued to the UC nazims and councillors by the Election Commission as voters
for district nazim polls scheduled for Thursday. Notwithstanding the ban
imposed by the CEC on the legislators and federal and provincial ministers
from entering polling stations or influencing the Commission’s staff, the
Parliamentary Secretary was bent upon defying any such dictate that might
create roadblocks in the victory of his maternal uncle contesting for
nazimship.
Punjab Chief Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi has reportedly taken strict notice of
this act of hooliganism by his parliamentary secretary and directed the
concerned authorities to immediately submit a detailed report about this
incident to the CEC. But the official handout carried no rebuttal of the
allegation leveled by Lt Gen (retd) Majid Malik about the manipulative
tactics being employed by the district administration to prevent the voters
from voting in his favour. Isn’t the General being unfair in accusing no
less a person than the Punjab Chief Secretary of supervising this exercise?
Perhaps the General needs to understand that after his matriculation
certificate was validated by the Supreme Court the Punjab Government had to
operate at the highest administrative level to ensure his defeat.
But then engaging administrations to manipulate elections is the art the
ruling coalition has actually learnt from those whose successful political
engineering led to the formation of an artificially-contrived political
dispensation in vogue in the country. The ruling leadership itself was the
finest find of a fellow jat bureaucrat now calling the shots.
Anyway getting back to the point after a slight digression one can say
without any fear of contradiction that the Graduate Punjab Assembly has no
dearth of young members who have brought more shame to the ruling party than
all the unlawful activities of their leadership put together. Try to explore
this August House and you will find all sorts of stuff on the Treasury
Benches. Not too long ago, the Punjab Population Welfare Minister Mr Hashim
Galeecha lost his official car at gunpoint when he was waiting for a
transvestite while returning to his Defence residence after the first hectic
day in office.
Mr Galeecha, though, is the one and only of his type. Apparently, his other
colleagues do not find the same (perverse) pleasure in such activities. They
get their kicks from wielding their strong arms against weaker mortals. My
friend Amir Sultan Cheema believes the best way to establish his authority
is to swing at the minions of the administration. So he did, when he slapped
DO Sargodha in front of a very large crowd only because the poor officer had
not got down from the stage when he had arrived at the venue of the public
meeting he was supposed to address.
By the way, the PA first-timers have been no less lethal than their senior
colleagues. Mr Aslam Iqbal once gate-crashed into a police station to secure
the release of his younger brother who had beaten the SHO black and blue
after the latter’s refusal to let his ‘buddies’–the three honourable
bootleggers–go home. Drawing inspiration from such past icons of
blow-bashing, who are all sitting on the treasury benches, the parliamentary
secretary did as he should have done to progress in the party. Once merely a
cultured man, he represents the party culture and on present form, now ranks
among the ruling party’s top five!
E-mail queries and comments to:
sarmad@nation.com
Reopening of dead case against
sick Begum Nusrat Bhutto condemned
‘Worst kind of persecution by sick minds’
Islamabad October 5, 2005:
The Pakistan Peoples Party has strongly condemned the re-opening of a dead
reference against the former first lady Begum Nusrat Bhutto and termed it as
the worst kind of persecution by sick minds that are ruling the country
today.
On Tuesday an Accountability Court in Lahore directed NAB to supply list of
properties allegedly owned by Begum Nusrat Bhutto, to inform the court about
her whereabouts in writing and called for report from the Karachi and Lahore
Police regarding execution of warrant of her arrest before adjourning the
case to 19-10-2005.
An application on behalf of Mohtarma Bhutto for her mother Begum Nusrat
Bhutto was also filed in Accountability Court Lahore that was made part of
the record.
In a statement today Raja Pervez Ashraf Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the
Party in the National Assembly deplored that a medical certificate had
already been submitted that Begum Sahiba was dependent on full time care and
therefore unable to defend herself but that has been ignored.
He said that the reopening of the case against the widow of the country’s
first directly elected Prime Minister that has remained dormant for nearly
five years was a worst manifestation of political vendetta.
"It only demonstrates the viciousness and vendetta of rulers", he said
adding that it was intended only to torture the Bhutto family and pave way
for eliminating the genuine representatives of the people to perpetuate
dictatorship.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said that Begum Nusrat Bhutto was too sick to stand trial
and under the law could not be tried as she was not in a position to defend
herself..
The PPP leader also warned the mandarins of NAB to keep in mind the fate of
the previous czars of accountability and also the rulers.
Is this the way the family of the nation's great hero who gave this country
the nuclear capability, brought back the prisoners of war, sought to erase
the shame of surrender in Dacca and gave the country self respect and
esteem, Raja Pervez asked
The PPP leader said that this immoral drama was being enacted only to
torment the former Prime Minister Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto. He said that the
military regime was bent upon discrediting and destroying genuine
representatives of the people through a sham accountability process. The
accountability under NAB and Musharraf is selective and designed exclusively
to advance the political agenda of the regime, he said.
PPP
condemns sacking of hundreds of employees in PIA
Raza Rabbani Demands their reinstatement
Vows to raise issue in Senate
Islamabad October 1, 2005:
Mian Raza Rabbani, Leader of the Opposition, Senate of Pakistan and
Deputy Secretary General PPP has issued the following press statement:
"The PML (Q) Government has once again proved that it is a big business
friendly and anti labour Government. The step of the PIA management to
compulsorily retire over 850 employees in groups 3 to 5 who have attained
the age of 57 years as on the 30th September 2005 is condemned in the
strongest terms.
"The PIA has an army of Directors, General Managers and retired army
officers in the top management who are drawing salaries and allowances that
run into lacs of rupees every month but the axe has fallen on the low grade
employees. This is in keeping with the policy of the PML (Q).
"It will be recalled that in earlier retrenchments in other Organisations
the low grade employees were removed from service while on the
recommendation of the International Donors consultants were hired on huge
retainers.
"This Government is presiding over the biggest retrenchment in the history
of Pakistan.
"The PIA management has a lot to account for to the people of Pakistan in
terms of sales and purchases of aircrafts, foreign trips of the top
management, huge amounts being spent on the renovation offices and purchase
of cars for the management.
"This is the tip of the ice berg; more retrenchments are expected by this
anti labour management which has already privatised a number of the
Departments of the Corporation to the determent of its financial interests.
"These retrenchments are a part of the "ramzan package of the Prime
Minister" that was announced a few days back.
"The PIA management is taking advantage of the fact that trade union
activity in the Corporation has been banned under an Administrative Order.
The ILO has on more than two occasions called upon the PIA to restore the
Unions. PIA is in violation of the fundamental rights conferred under the
Constitution, the law, the Conventions of the ILO and the observations of
the ILO.
"The Opposition will take this matter up in the requisitioned Session of the
Senate which is to commence on the 7th October 2005".
The PPP calls upon the PIA management to stop its anti labour polices
immediately and withdraw these discriminatory orders.
PPP warns the regime
of law and order situation in Rawalpindi
Islamabad, 1 October 2005:
Naheed Khan MNA, and the Political Secretary of the Chairperson Pakistan
Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has warned the regime not to create a
law and order situation in Rawalpindi by intimidating and harassing the
supporters of Awam Dost Candidate, Mian Khurram Rasool for Nazim in Rawal
Town.
In a statement, Naheed Khan said that the entire police force in Rawalpindi
on the order of DIG and SSP Rawalpindi and the SHO’s of police station Pir
Wadhai, Ganj Mandi, Waris Khan and Sadiqabad is busy in hounding the
supporters of Awam Dost Nazim in the elections of Rawal Town and using
coercive tactics on the supporters of Awam Dost Candidate to change their
loyalties for Rashid Shafiq, the nephew of a federal minister from
Rawalpindi. She asked the regime to immediately put an end to intimidation
and harassment of the supporters of Khurram Rasool and warned the regime
that if any law and order situation arise because of this continued hounding
and harassing then Awam Dost Group would not be responsible.
Mohtarma Bhutto attends
prayers for slain PPP leader
Pays rich tributes to Akbar Umrani
.jpg)
Islamabad, October 1, 2005: Former Prime
Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto Friday attended a Quran Khawani in Dubai for PPP ticket holder Akbar
Umrani who was killed by armed gunmen in Karachi last week.
Following the prayers, she paid tributes to Mr. Akbar Umrani for dedicating
his life to his country and his people through the platform of the PPP.
She said that Akbar Umrani embodied the highest values of honesty, loyalty,
devotion to principles and upheld his value system throughout his life.
She noted that some people sell their conscience for personal benefits.
However, Mr. Umrani lit the path of those brave sons of the country who
could not barter their principles for worldly goods but who sought through
their dedication to the PPP to change the destiny of a country mired in
poverty, unemployment and lawlessness.
The former Prime Minister said that Mr. Umrani was known throughout the
country and in the Gulf because each PPP worker had respect amongst his
colleagues and the larger society for struggling for the larger cause of the
motherland and its people. She said that such a struggle required
steadfastness in the face of adversity. Mr Umrani, she stated, had shown
this by standing shoulder to shoulder with the exploited and oppressed
people of Pakistan in fighting for a credible government that could give
dignity to every citizen irrespective of their birth, their race, their
religion or gender from the platform of the PPP.
She also condoled with the family of Mr. Umrani. She said that the PPP,
which was the larger family of Mr. Umrani, felt his loss. The former Prime
Minister expressed the hope that young people would be inspired by the great
qualities of character that Mr. Umrani had shown in his life by upholding
the banner of truth, freedom and emancipation from backwardness and come
forward to support the PPP and fill the gap caused by his departure.
Mr. Umrani was shot dead in Karachi by armed gunmen shortly before he was to
leave the city for Sharjah. He hails from Balauchistan. His brother, Sadiq
Umrani, is a member of the Central Executive committee of the PPP. He leaves
behind a wife and small children one of whom is called Benazir after the
Party leader.
Mohtarma Bhutto condoles death
of Justice Hafeez Memon
Islamabad October 1, 2005: Former Prime Minister and
Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has
condoled the death of former Chief Justice Sindh High Court and former
Supreme Court Judge Justice Hafeez Memon.
Justice Abdul Hafeez Memon died in Karachi on Friday.
In a condolence message the former Prime Minister said that Justice Hafeez
Memon enjoyed great respect both in the bar and the bench for his integrity,
legal acumen and qualities of head and heart. He was a deeply humane judge
who never allowed his personal emotions to sway him, she said.
Mohtarma Bhutto said that Justice Memon was very popular with the members of
the bar who held him in high esteem and felt very comfortable with the bench
on which he sat as a judge.
She prayed to Allah to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant
strength to the members of the bereaved family to bear the loss with
fortitude.
PPP shows concern over
lawyer’s arrest
Islamabad, 1 October 2005: Secretary
General, Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and Deputy Parliamentary
leader in the National Assembly, Raja Pervez Ashraf, MNA has expressed grave
concern over the arrest of a the lawyer of Dr. Zahid Akram, Awam Dost
Candidate in the third phase of the local bodies elections in Lahore.
In a statement, Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the regime had resorted to all
kinds of coercion and highhandedness in the first and the second phase of
local bodies election and now the arrest of a lawyer of Awam Dost Candidate
has given a new dimension to the entire electoral process in Pakistan.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the arrest of a lawyer has also annoyed the
legal fraternity in Lahore, which held an emergency meeting. The meeting
asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Lahore High
Court to take remedial measures to ensure that such incident do not take
place in future. Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the party believes in
dispensation of justice and the rights of the people to defend themselves
and their views without any hindrance.
Raja Pervez Ashraf expressing his concern over the incident has asked the
Chief Election Commissioner to ensure free, fair and transparent elections
by asserting its authority so that such unfortunate incidents do not occur
in future.
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.