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The Rediff Interview/Benazir Bhutto
 

September 2006

PPP reacts to Musharraf’s criticism of Bhutto
Daily Times, 27 Sept 2006, By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: The Pakistan People’s Party has reacted sharply to President Musharraf’s critical comments on its founder, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Former PPP Senator Akbar Khawaja said in a statement that it was historically wrong and otherwise unfair to hold Bhutto responsible for Pakistan’s break-up in 1971. “It’s regrettable that Gen Musharraf has fired a cheap shot by distorting the findings of the Hamoodur Rehman Inquiry Commission Report.

The commission recorded evidence of more than 213 witnesses and recommended public trials of senior military officers responsible for the 1971 debacle. These recommendations were never allowed to be implemented under military pressure.” Khawaja said all that anyone needed to do to refute Gen Musharraf’s harsh judgment of Bhutto was to take a look at the commission’s report to find out who really was responsible for Pakistan’s dismemberment.

He said democratically elected prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave Pakistan a stable foundation and brought in a consensus constitution. He even sacrificed his life for the sake of his principles. Compared to that, he would like to know what sacrifices the general had made for the sake of Pakistan. Bhutto, he added, remains a revered name nearly 30 years after his execution by the Zia regime, while his daughter continues his struggle for the rights and freedoms of the poor people of Pakistan.

Referring to Gen Musharraf’s address to the UN General Assembly, Khawaja said, “It is sad that in the US, he speaks about sustaining democracy but at home he has failed, two years in running, to even address the joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate.” Gen Musharraf had admitted, he said, that he launched the PML-Q to counter the PPP, which was contrary to Article 244 of the constitution.

Senator Khawaja also questioned Gen Musharraf’s justification of the Zia coup in 1977 by his assertion that the Bhutto-PNA negotiations had failed. He feared that some of the contents of the book just released may have a serious impact on national interests.

The former senator asked the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor General of Pakistan to audit the expenses incurred by the Pakistani taxpayer on Gen Musharraf’s “book promotion tour” and his private visit to at least one American city.

ISLAMABAD: Taking strong exception to 'In the Line of Fire', the memoir of President Musharraf, leader of the opposition in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Thursday said that the various references to former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his "now controversial memoirs" are a deliberate misinterpretation of facts, stating events out of the historical perspective, factually incorrect and expose a bias.

In a statement on Thursday, he said it is a historical fact that since the inceptions of Pakistan the civil-military bureaucracy refused to accept the majority of East Pakistan, which is evident from the removal of Hussain Shaheed Soharwardi as prime minister, the language riots, the deliberate marginalisation of the Bengalis in the civil services and the armed forces.

He said it was the policies of the civil-military bureaucracy that denied East Pakistan its share in governance and economic prosperity.

"This was heightened when the character of the state as envisaged by the Quaid, was changed by them from a welfare state to a national security state and these were the factors that led to the separation of East Pakistan.

"The Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report clearly states the circumstances at the time which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. A plain reading of the Report exposes the real perpetrators of the crime," he added.

As for his democratic credentials, he said it is strange that a person, who draws his legitimacy from a fraudulent referendum, should question the greatest practical revolutionary after Chairman Mao. "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto led a people's movement against the dictator Ayub and waged a struggle for the economic emancipation of Pakistan's working classes from the hands of feudal lords and capitalists. Bhutto led a peaceful working class revolution against the status quo that is why today, even after 27 years of his assassination, he still is the pivot round which Pakistan's politics revolves," he said.

Rabbani said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was not a lackey of the international imperialists, he did not barter the political and economic sovereignty of the country, he did not betray the Muslim Umma, rather he fought imperialism and sought to unite the working classes of the Third World.

"It is a paradox of history that a man whom the establishment physically eliminated, is emerging today as the undisputed leader of this country, that explains why this last ditched attack against him has been launched," he added.

WASHINGTON: The Pakistan People’s Party has reacted sharply to President Musharraf’s critical comments on its founder, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Former PPP Senator Akbar Khawaja said in a statement that it was historically wrong and otherwise unfair to hold Bhutto responsible for Pakistan’s break-up in 1971. “It’s regrettable that Gen Musharraf has fired a cheap shot by distorting the findings of the Hamoodur Rehman Inquiry Commission Report.

The commission recorded evidence of more than 213 witnesses and recommended public trials of senior military officers responsible for the 1971 debacle. These recommendations were never allowed to be implemented under military pressure.” Khawaja said all that anyone needed to do to refute Gen Musharraf’s harsh judgment of Bhutto was to take a look at the commission’s report to find out who really was responsible for Pakistan’s dismemberment.

He said democratically elected prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave Pakistan a stable foundation and brought in a consensus constitution. He even sacrificed his life for the sake of his principles. Compared to that, he would like to know what sacrifices the general had made for the sake of Pakistan. Bhutto, he added, remains a revered name nearly 30 years after his execution by the Zia regime, while his daughter continues his struggle for the rights and freedoms of the poor people of Pakistan.

Referring to Gen Musharraf’s address to the UN General Assembly, Khawaja said, “It is sad that in the US, he speaks about sustaining democracy but at home he has failed, two years in running, to even address the joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate.” Gen Musharraf had admitted, he said, that he launched the PML-Q to counter the PPP, which was contrary to Article 244 of the constitution.

Senator Khawaja also questioned Gen Musharraf’s justification of the Zia coup in 1977 by his assertion that the Bhutto-PNA negotiations had failed. He feared that some of the contents of the book just released may have a serious impact on national interests.

The former senator asked the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor General of Pakistan to audit the expenses incurred by the Pakistani taxpayer on Gen Musharraf’s “book promotion tour” and his private visit to at least one American city.

LAHORE, Sept 26: Punjab PPP information secretary Farzana Raja has challenged Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi for an open debate on who was responsible for the dismemberment of Pakistan.

In a press statement here on Tuesday, she said: “We challenge him and his allies for an open debate on the issue. It will be clear there and then who dismembered the country.”

The chief minister had alleged on Monday that the PPP had caused the break up of Pakistan, and the nation would never pardon it for this sin.

Farzana said: “It is, in fact, the regime and its cronies who are damaging the federation, pushing the country into crises and imposing dictatorship.”

She said: “The rulers should first weigh themselves before hurling allegations on the most popular party and the most popular leadership.”

Farzana, who is also a member of the Punjab Assembly, said it was the PPP which had started nuclear programme to make Pakistan’s defence impregnable, and had given voice to the downtrodden.

She said instead of issuing irresponsible statements, the rulers should work for democracy and give way to the true leadership. —Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE, Sept 26: Major opposition parties on Tuesday lashed out at President Gen Pervez Musharraf, saying he used national resources for the launch of his book and disclosed state secrets to increase its sale.

Commenting on ‘In the Line of Fire’ launched in the US on Monday, a spokesman for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said Gen Musharraf seemed to have decided to make some money, realising that his ‘political demise’ was near.

In a statement mailed to Dawn from London, spokesman Nadir Chaudhri described the book as anti-Pakistan and a pack of lies aimed at rewriting history.

He said the general had made personal attacks on Mr Sharif and lied about the Kargil disaster and the ‘illegal coup’ he mounted to overthrow a democratically elected government in 1999.

He said the Pakistan Muslim League (N) would soon give a comprehensive and befitting reply to Gen Musharraf’s ‘lies’ about these issues.

The spokesman condemned what he called the maligning of Dr A.Q. Khan and said it was reprehensible and unprecedented that an army chief had presented such a negative image of Pakistan.

He said the only motive could be his desire to rake in as much money as he could which was understandable given the fact that he presides over “the most corrupt regime in South Asian history”.

Mr Chaudhri said the general’s ‘sorry explanation’ for his post-9/11 decision to take a U-turn on Afghanistan had exposed his decision-making process as seriously limited, flawed and defeatist that had led to the present gloom in Pakistan.

PML-N’s acting parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan at a news conference in Islamabad alleged that Gen Musharraf had made false claims about the Kargil operation only to gain publicity.

He said the general’s revelation that the US had paid millions of dollars to Pakistan for capturing Al Qaeda operatives had come as a humiliation for the country.

Under the law, he pointed out, the US could not give the prize money to any government or the institution. He asked Gen Musharraf to tell the nation where the money had gone.

The PML-N leader said that being a public servant Gen Musharraf could not write a book and disclose state secrets.

He said the joint opposition would discuss if it should take Gen Musharraf to court.

Mr Khan claimed that at a meeting held in the Governor’s House at Lahore during the Kargil operation Gen Musharraf had told the Cabinet Committee on Defence that the army was in great trouble at Kargil. The then air chief and the naval chief had expressed reservations over the Kargil situation and complained that they had not been taken into confidence before the launching of the operation.

PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal said the general had written his own FIR in the book which was a charge-sheet against himself.

PPP spokesman and former senator Farhatullah Babar said the book had raised the ‘moral and political’ question whether a sitting army chief and president should take public positions on national policy issues and whether he should spend public funds for promoting his book.

“It has set a new and dangerous precedent for the chiefs of air force and navy to also record their memoirs while in service and then take official jets to set out on tour to Europe and America on promotional campaigns,” he said, adding that Gen Musharraf’s visit to the US along with a dozen ministers was less for promoting national interests and more for boosting the sale of his book.

At best, he said, the book is a one-sided version of critical events namely nuclear proliferation, war on terror, the Kargil conflict and the Oct 12, 1999 military takeover.

The book might have boosted Gen Musharraf’s financial standing but it had neither served the cause of truth nor the interests of the country, Mr Babar said.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s deputy parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Hafiz Hussain Ahmed regretted that Gen Musharraf had revealed certain army secrets, besides narrating the incidents of his ‘cowardice’.

He said Gen Musharraf had been claiming for five years that Pakistan’s decision to support the war on terror was a principled stand, but now he said it was because of the US threats.

Referring to claims in the book about Dr A.Q. Khan’s role in proliferation, the MMA leader said Gen Musharraf had, in fact, tried to ‘bail out’ some generals and other influential people involved in nuclear proliferation. He said Gen Musharraf had disclosed several crucial matters which had never been brought before parliament despite opposition’s demands.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) Secretary Finance and eminent lawyer, Senator Dr Babar Awan Monday asked Shaukat Aziz regime to step down immediately in wake of worst power-break down in the country’s history.

Senator Dr Babar Awan said the Prime Minister, Federal Minister for Water and Power and Chairman, WAPDA must resign with immediate effect after they had conceded failure to protect the most vital and strategic national asset.

Talking to media-persons in Supreme Court, Senator Dr Babar Awan called for a judicial inquiry into the unprecedented breakdown that paralysed the public life, especially when the government was trying to hide facts.

Highly doubting the competence of present government to protect national assets as well as national interest, Dr Babar Awan pointed out that the government has miserably failed in securing the national transmission line of electricity that was a vital strategic asset.

The PPP-P lawmaker said no one was ready to believe in whole of the country that the three kinds of electricity transmission, Hydel, Thermal and Atomic could not trip together.
“The whole nation, which remained paralysed for more than 12 hours due to the electricity breakdown, wants to know the facts and a judicial inquiry be launched for expeditiously digging out the real cause,” Dr Awan suggested.

PPP-P leader said thousands of people immensely suffered in operation theatres and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of hospitals across the country due to the failure of the government to secure the electricity supply system what to say the miseries of household and losses to industrial units.

Coming down hard on the authorities for giving “shameful excuses” for Sunday’s electricity breakdown, Dr Awan said WAPDA has neither the technical skill, system or staff to protect the national transmission line nor it has the professional competence for performing the job.

KARACHI, Sept 25: Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) Sindh on Monday criticized the government for greeting holy month of Ramzan with nationwide power failure and brisk price-hike.

PPP Sindh Chapter President Syed Qaim Ali Shah, General Secretary Nafees Siddiqui and Deputy Secretary Information Waqar Mehdi, in a joint press statement, condemning unprecedented prolonged power breakdown said citizens had been suffering for no fault of theirs.

They charged that now countrywide load-shedding was being witnessed, while four to six hour-long power cuts were a routine matter in Karachi, due to which millions of people were being mentally tortured.

They demanded of the rulers to step down, so that people could get a rid of the existing issues.

PPP Karachi Chapter President Rashid Rabani and General Secretary Rafiq Engineer slammed price-hike in the city on the first day of the holy month.

They said the CDGK had totally failed to curb profiteering. They rejected the CDGK's claims of sustaining price of daily-use commodities through price magistrates and said all warnings fell on deaf ears of profiteers.

“None of the official of the concerned departments was seen in markets anywhere in the metropolis, but it was observed that rates were on the rise,” they charged.

They regretted that rulers themselves were backing the profiteers, and the CDGK was trying to show its efficienc by arresting small shopkeepers and turning a blind eye to the big fish.—PPI

LAHORE, Sept 24: Makhdoom Amin Fahim thinks the government will not come down even if all opposition legislators, including those belonging to the ARD, of which he is the chairman, the MMA and other parties tender their resignations, as the ruling coalition can still survive because of its numerical strength.

He says to pull down the unconstitutional and undemocratic setup, all opposition parties will also have to launch a strong public movement, beyond the control of the rulers.

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, he said he would not like the ARD lawmakers to quit the assemblies unless an anti-government atmosphere was created outside the parliament.

He said Ms Benazir Bhutto had directed him that struggle against the present rulers should be stepped up so that a democratic system could be restored at the earliest.

Mr Fahim, who is also president of the PPP-Parliamentarians, said he was calling a meeting of the party’s central executive committee in the first week of October to discuss the situation and work out a strategy for the future.

Thereafter, he said, he would approach various opposition groups to take them along.

He said resignations at this stage would not serve any useful purpose. “Our real target is to send the army back to the barracks, and this will not be possible without a strong movement.”

When he was reminded that the opposition was still groping for a strategy while the assemblies were going to enter their fifth and last year of their constitutional term, he said: “We had not been mandated by the electorate to quit the assemblies on the very first day.”

He reiterated that the ARD wanted to bring the army’s role in politics to an end, and the alliance would frame a suitable strategy for the purpose.

Mr Fahim alleged the government was deliberately circulating various rumours to drive a wedge between various opposition parties. But, he said, the ARD was alive to the situation and would try to take all parties along in its struggle for democracy.

He said efforts were being made to create misunderstandings between the parties in the joint opposition. However, he did not elaborate which steps he was referring to.

He also called for a comprehensive inquiry into the countrywide power breakdown on Sunday.

Meanwhile, ARD secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said he was likely to meet MMA president Qazi Husain Ahmad in Peshawar on Monday. He said if the meeting took place, the two leaders would discuss modalities for cooperation between the ARD and the MMA.

ARD deputy information secretary Munir Ahmad Khan said rumours heard on Sunday showed how unpopular Gen Musharraf and the Shaukat Aziz government were.

He claimed that the people in various cities had distributed sweets when they heard rumours that the parliament and the government had been sacked.

The ARD leader urged the US that instead of dealing with an “individual”, it should engage the people of Pakistan.

Islamabad, 23 September 2006: A Pakistan Peoples Party spokesperson denied that a meeting had been scheduled between military leader General Musharraf and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party. The Spokesperson further denied that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was to travel to London to meet with the top aides of General Musharaf.

The Spokesperson said, "from time to time we read in the press totally false stories pertaining to meetings between Presidential envoys and Mohtarma. For example a segment of the press recently reported that the National Security Council Secretary Tariq Aziz and Lt General Nadeem Taj had met Ms Bhutto in the first week of September. Again this was untrue as no such meeting took place".

The spokesperson further said that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto remained the prime ministerial candidate of the PPP and no nominee from the PPP was being considered to substitute for Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, as the people of Pakistan desired her leadership.

Islamabad September 22, 2006: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed grave concern over the disappearance of a Karachi based journalist Saeed Sarbazi and asked the regime to immediately recover the kidnapped newsman.

Saeed Sarbazi who works for a Karachi based English daily and is also joint secretary of the Karachi Press Club went missing on Wednesday noon soon after leaving his house. Nothing has been heard about him since then as his cell phone is also switched off.

The disappearance of Saeed Sarbazi was agitated in the Sindh Asembly and also by the working journalists who boycotted the proceedings of the provincial Assembly and also took out processions but the regime has neither been able to recover the kidnapped journalist nor come out with any satisfactory explanation.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that the increasing incidents of kidnappings and mysterious disappearances of citizens were alarming and called for an end to it.

She said that the disappearance of journalist Saeed Sarbazi raised questions whether he was kidnapped by state agencies to send warning signals to the free media to toe the regime's line. Such questions will continue to be asked as journalists have come under increasing attacks recently for exposing corruption and misgovernance of the regime, she said.

She said that it was most disturbing that even state institutions appeared helpless to rescue the victims and their families from illegal and arbitrary kidnappings and detention.

"The increasing frequency of kidnapping citizens and holding them in detention without due process is most alarming and must be addressed on an urgent basis".

Failure to trace those illegally kidnapped will only strengthen the perception that power flows from the gun and not from the law, he said. "Such a perception will only lead to anarchy and lawlessness".

The former Prime Minister also urged civil society organizations, the legal fraternity and the judiciary to raise their voice against forced disappearances and harassment of journalists.

Islamabad September 20, 2006: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson PPP Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has welcomed the support for the restoration of Democracy by Human Rights Watch a leading international human rights group.

On the eve of the meeting between General Pervez Musharaf and President George Bush, HRW called upon President Bush to " press the Pakistani military ruler to restore civilian rule, hold free and fair elections, and end legal discrimination against women".

“If Bush is serious about fostering democracy in the Muslim world, how can he support Musharraf’s refusal to end military rule in Pakistan?” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Bush should make it clear that the U.S won’t stand by as it did in the past when Musharraf subverted the Pakistani constitution and staged flawed elections.”

Human Rights Watch has called for fair elections, gender rights and stated that the Pakistani constitution prohibits the chief of the army from holding a political office implying that the General should give up one of the two offices.

Human Rights Watch also commented on the agreement between the ruling party and the MMA on the repeal of anti women’s legislation. However, the regime has clarified on Tuesday that it would submit the bill in its original form to the National Assembly in late September or early October.

HRW took note of other human rights violations stating that, "these abuses include extra judicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and the persecution of political opponents. Pakistan’s military and its intelligence agencies have tortured and forcibly disappeared dozens of people in the volatile southwestern province of Balochistan where they have been facing an armed rebellion by tribal militants operating under the umbrella of the Balochistan Liberation Army.

In a departure from the normal criticism, HRW for the first time called for the removal and prosecution of officials who have perpetuated torture. “Perpetrators of torture must be removed from Pakistan's security forces and prosecuted,” said Adams. “During their meeting in New York, President Bush should tell Musharraf just that the Pakistani military’s rampant abuses must end.”

Further, Human Rights Watch urged both Pakistan and the United States to take concrete measures to end the practice of using enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture as part of counter terrorism efforts.

Islamabad September 20, 2006: A PPP spokesperson has drawn attention to the report by Transparency International which has claimed that the present military regime is perceived as more corrupt than its democratic or civilian predecessors.

The corruption watchdog's 2006 report on Pakistan is based on a sample of 4,000 urban and semi-urban citizens in all four provinces. Asked about the present government, 33 percent of the respondents thought that it was corrupt in 1999-2002, but when asked to assess the period 2002-06, more than 67 percent thought it was corrupt. Yes, it is true 67% - this is the highest ever rating given to a government in Pakistan of corruption.

In a statement today spokesman of the Party said that despite rating as first in corruption according to Transparency International, the regime was not facing a single National Accountability Bureau case. This proved that the NAB was for political and not for corruption purposes.

He said that corruption must be eradicated. Transparency International report highlights the perception of corruption amongst the citizens. Instead of politicizing corruption, the task of the Parliament and the people should be to tackle corruption through setting high moral standards, freedom of information and an impartial anti corruption watch-dog. The PPP pledged to do this when voted into government.

The PPP spokesman said that Transparency International findings also rejected the military regime's view that military dictatorships are honest. It may be recalled that the military dictatorship supporters and the supporters of democracy often trade charges as to which government is more corrupt. The transparency international view, though not
complimentary about political governments, nonetheless comes out against the military regime as number one in corruption.

He said that when military regimes of Ayub, Yahya, Zia and Musharaf were most corrupt, creating from twenty two families to a high of sixty seven percent corruption, it meant that the lower scores showed that the political governments had improved on the situation although there is still a long way to go.

The spokesman said the issue of corruption should be separated from politics. The history of Pakistan shows that the corruption prevails because laws are mocked and political parties broken by abuse of the word while the actual corruption proliferates.

KARACHI, Sept 18: Agha Tariq, son of former senator Agha Ghulam Nabi Pathan, passed away peacefully here on Monday night. He was 62. He was member of the Sindh assembly from Shikarpur.He will be buried in his native village of Sultankot, Shikarpur district, at 4pm on Tuesday.

Islamabad September 18, 2006: Pakistan Peoples Party has strongly condemned the increasing incidents of attacks on the print and electronic media during the past weeks and asked the rulers to stop harassing the journalists.

In a statement today PPP leader of the Parliamentary Party in the National Assembly Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that the closure of ARY TV channel throughout the province of Punjab under orders of the provincial government and assault on other journalists was an attack on the freedom of the press and most reprehensible and condemnable.

Police in the Punjab swooped on private cable operators on Sunday night ordering them to shut the ARY transmissions. Earlier in the day three journalists of the same channel were assaulted by the police near Minar-i-Pakistan for airing a program that the provincial government thought was directed against it. The police ordered the private cable operators to stop airing programs of the private TV channel on orders of the provincial government.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that if the private TV channel had done something illegal then there were laws on the statute under which the PEMRA, the regulatory body for electronic media, could initiate legal proceeding and take action under the relevant laws. The provincial police has no powers to order the cable operators to stop airing programs of the channel.

He said that a few days back the ex- president of the Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) C. R .Shamsi was roughed and beaten in front of the Parliament House by the armed guards allegedly under orders of a federal Minister. Besides, the son of crime reporter of a national English daily Shakeel Anjum was fired upon and injured in front of his house by assailants that are still at large. Two days later the news reporter himself was implicated in a false case and accused of murder.

The PPP leader said that the recent stepped up attacks on media persons was actually a warning to the media in general to stop them from exposing the corruption and misgovernance of the rulers.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim demanded the immediate lifting of illegal ban on cable operators from airing the programs of the private TV channel and an end to the hounding and chasing of journalists.

He said that the PPP would always stand by the side of the free media. He also asked the human rights and media related bodies both inside and outside the country to raise their voice against the latest wave of repression against the journalists.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns kidnapping Jhakrani's cousins

Demands their immediate release and case against kidnappers

Islamabad September 16, 2006: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condemned the kidnapping of the cousins of Ijaz Jhakrani MNA allegedly by the personnel of the state's security agencies and demanded their immediate release.

Several armed people apparently belonging to security agencies came to the apartment of Ijaz Jhakrani in Clifton, Karachi during wee hours of Thursday and dragged away two cousins of the MNA namely Mujib Jhakrani and Zubair Jhakrani along with their driver Sikandar to a waiting vehicle outside. The attackers first broke the close circuit camera to hide their identity, broke open the doors of the apartments and blindfolded the victims before dragging them away.

Zubair Jhakrani was tortured during custody before being released the next day. Mujeeb and the driver however have still not been released and are in the custody of the agencies. Mujib Jhakrani's father had close personal and family relations with the slain late Nawab Akbar Bugti.

State Minister for Interior was supposed to provide information about incident on the floor of the House on Friday but did not do so.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that the incidents of kidnappings and mysterious disappearances of citizens by the state agencies and holding them without trial or production before courts had reached an alarming level and called for an end to it.

She said that it was most disturbing that even state institutions appeared helpless to rescue the victims and their families from illegal and arbitrary kidnappings and detention.

Every now and then aggrieved family members seek to move courts or hold protest demonstrations before the parliament and the Supreme Court demanding to know the whereabouts of their missing near and dear ones and their production before courts of law if there are any cases against them.

Mohtarma Bhutto demanded the immediate release of the cousin of Ijaz Jhakrani and his driver and registration of a case against those who kidnapped and tortured the victims.

It is a matter of national embarrassment that even as the list of kidnapped citizens has grown into several hundreds nobody can be held accountable for their disappearance, she said.

She also urged civil society organizations, the legal fraternity and the judiciary to demand and fight for the due process and the release of the kidnapped citizens.

By Our Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: Some members of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) on Friday staged a walkout at the National Assembly when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain did not allow party MNA Naheed Khan to speak on the issue of alleged political victimisation of party chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

As soon as the speaker said he would not allow Ms Khan to speak on a point of order, several PPP members stood up and demanded that the speaker should give floor to Ms Khan. After protesting for some minutes, Ms Khan staged a walkout with a group of party MNAs. Interestingly, some of the PPP MNAs remained in the house and continued asking the speaker to allow them to speak.

Later, speaking at a news conference in the chamber of the opposition leader in the Senate Raza Rabbani, the PPP MNAs condemned the “partial attitude” of the speaker and warned that they would not let the speaker run the house in the same manner in future.

Naheed Khan said she wanted to draw the attention of the house towards some press reports that the government had contacted International Police (Interpol) for the arrest of Ms Bhutto and wanted to seek a policy statement from the interior minister who was also present in the house. However, she regretted, the speaker not only switched her mike off, but also used unparliamentary language against her. She said the government had gone to such an extent in victimising Ms Bhutto that it had been approaching Interpol.

Ms Khan said on one hand, the speaker allowed Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq to speak against Ms Bhutto, and on the other, he denied their right to respond to the minister’s remarks. She asked the speaker to tender an apology over his attitude.

She also criticized the speaker for not letting them speak against the military rulers.

MNA Mehreen Anwer Raja said dictatorship was visible everywhere in the country which was evident from the Thursday’s incident when the opposition members were not allowed to even enter the Parliament House building.

Nawab Yusuf Talpur, Ramesh Lal and Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar, in a statement, denounced the ‘regime-inspired’ reports of so-called re- confirmation of the red notices allegedly issued by the Interpol for the arrest of Ms Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari. He termed it yet another ‘tirade’ by the regime to tarnish the image of the former prime minister.

Islamabad, September 15, 2006: The Pakistan Peoples Party has denounced the regime inspired reports of so called re-confirmation of the Red Notices allegedly issued by the Interpol for the arrest of Mohtarma Bhutto and her husband Senator Asif Ali Zardari as yet another tirade by the regime to tarnish the image of the former Prime Minister.

Press reports quoting senior government officials have said that the Interpol has reconfirmed the Red Notices issued for the arrest of the former Prime Minister and her husband allegedly for absconding from law.

In a statement today spokesman of the Party said that some months ago the regime had launched a similar tirade against Mohtarma Bhutto that backfired after the PPP exposed the regime's bid to use international organizations for settling political scores with the PPP leadership.

Rejecting the accusation that Mohtarma Bhutto was a fugitive the spokesman said that she had left Pakistan with the permission of the court after the Lahore High Court dispensed with her personal attendance. The Supreme Court heard the appeal filed by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto against her conviction in the SGS case in her absence holding also that she had not fled from the jurisdiction of the court and was residing within territory of another State.

Similarly in the PIA case Mohtarma Bhutto was granted exemption from personal appearance and ultimately the proceedings ended in her acquittal in November 2005, he said.

He said that during election year 2002 the Accountability Court passed orders under a Bhutto specific amendment in the law called Section 31A, sentencing her for alleged non-appearance before the court. She was sentenced even though the court was informed that she had gone abroad with the High Court's permission and her counsels appeared on her behalf before courts.

He said that Mohtarma Bhutto has not been convicted on merits by any court. Her appeal against conviction for non-appearance is pending before the Lahore High Court. Further the Supreme Court has held the conviction in absentia as violative of Constitution, he said.

He said that in recent months Mohtarma Bhutto had appeared before the Swiss Magistrate in Geneva, Switzerland where the military regime was also represented before the Magistrate. Thus the Government of Pakistan is fully aware of her whereabouts.

The regime has been thriving on lies and the accusation that she is a fugitive from law is yet another deliberate lie aimed at hoodwinking the Interpol and involving it in domestic political disputes, he said.

Similarly Asif Ali Zadari was released from prison in November 2004 on orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan after 8 years in prison without a conviction. His name was removed from the ECL on the order of Supreme Court and thereafter Mr Zardari went abroad and came back to Pakistan, not once but many times.

The spokesman said that neither the latest propaganda would mislead the Interpol nor deter Mohtarma Bhutto and the PPP to demand fair and free elections under a neutral caretaker set up and return of the military to the barracks.

Islamabad September 15, 2006: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto returned from London to Dubai Thursday.

During her visit to London, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto appeared in two television programs and one radio program. The television interviews were for BBC and CNN, which were covering the anniversary of the attack of 9/11, as well as the recent situation in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

She also met with former Interior Minister General Naseerullah Babar who was in London. Meanwhile Makhdoom Amin Fahim briefed her on the political situation in Pakistan and the activities of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.

It may be recalled that the PPP is supporting the draft bill repealing discriminatory laws against women as approved by the select committee. However, the PPP opposes the draft bill drawn up in partnership between the PML Q and the MMA. It is not known which bill will be placed before the Parliament.

Islamabad September 15, 2006: Pakistan Peoples Party supports the repeal of anti women laws. In this connection, the Pakistan Peoples Party supported the original bill moved before the select committee of the Parliament for repeal of laws against women.

However, subsequently the ruling party backtracked on the bill approved by the Select Committee concerned. The ruling party entered into negotiations with the MMA and proposed a bill which is once again anti women. Therefore, in view of the draft that was informally circulated regarding the MMA-PML Q bill, the PPP announced that it would oppose the MMA supported bill. The MQM, a member of the ruling coalition, also announced that it would not support the MMA-PML Q bill but would support the one that had been cleared by the select committee.

Therefore today no one knows which bill will actually be brought before the Parliament. The first bill which PPP and MQM support and which is also supported by the NGOs or the second bill which is the product of the PML Q and MMA negotiations.

The MMA-PML Q negotiated bill seeks to:

* Bring Zina back into PPC or Tazeer. Consequently, a woman with a medical certificate as proof of rape will be accused of consenting sex by the rapist. The rapist can then pay two witnesses to accuse another man of being the rapist. Both the rape victim and an innocent man will be in jail. Procedural tightening will not help.

* By reinstating rape in Hudood and Zina in Tazeer , the PML Q and MMA are in fact, bringing back military dictator Ziaul Haq's initial ordinance. This is a widely condemned law and will reinstate the jeopardy of the victim.

* By making this Women's Bill subject specific to Quran and Sunnah as interpreted by sectarian and politicized ulema, women's lives will be in jeopardy. How?
Sessions judges are notoriously gender-biased, as are a majority of so-called ulema . They will find new ways of excusing crimes against women as in cases like Honour Killings, Domestic Violence cases, Zina cases etc where the sessions judges may deem to call ulema to guide them on Islamic law. This would amount to creating a religious court run by ulema.

* The positive judgments which had softened the rough edges of Zia's ordinances by the Superior Courts and the Federal Shariat Court will also be set aside as precedents and a new reign of judicial terror can be unleashed by the Mullas on women specifically as this bill is Women-Specific and so is the clause.

* The PPP has called for the initial draft Bill which repealed anti women legislation to be put before Parliament. The PPP will oppose the MMA_PML Q draft bill. PPP will support the draft bill that it was party to in the select committee.

According to experts, the PML Q-MMA draft altered Women's Protection Bill is a farcical attempt at reforming the Hadood Ordinances. The implications of the Ordinances go far beyond discrimination and persecution of women on the plea of morality. It prescribes for punishments that are inhuman and allows for evidence of male Muslim witnesses for application of Hadd punishments. However, women accused under Tazir punishment of Zina will be like before its main victims. There are ample examples of victims of rape being imprisoned under accusations of zina.

The Women's Protection Bill has addressed none of these concerns. In addition the government has agreed to replace section 3 of the draft by subjecting the interpretation of the Ordinance according to the injunctions of Islam. Such open-ended jurisdiction granted to an already cowed down judiciary will authenticate the most conservative form of religious interpretation. It will also be detrimental to the rights of non-Muslim citizens, who may not prescribed to Islamic principles. The addition of section 3, could also undo the meaningful amendment made in the law by the PPP government in 1996 (The Abolition of the Punishment of Whipping Act, 1996.) that abolished mandatory public whippings for the crimes of Zina and Zinabiljabr.

Meanwhile the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has noted that the two amendments introduced earlier by the clerics within the ruling party had stiffened conditions for complaint of Qazf. By keeping hadd punishment of zinabiljabr in the Ordinance, while moving the Tazir punishment to the PPC, the authors of the draft have created a confusion in deciding jurisdiction of the appellate court. It will only benefit those accused of zinabiljabr.

Finally, observers have noticed that the MMA-PML Q draft bill contains a punishment for "lewdness" in the PPC. This does not make sense and could be a mistake. However, if it is not a mistake, and according to what has been reported in the papers one could argue that a married couple could be held for "lewdness" in certain circumstances.

ISLAMABAD - As Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan reiterated government’s stand, the opposition Senators and treasury member SM Zafar called for constitution of an independent judicial commission to probe the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti.

Fully backed by other opposition members, Opposition Leader Mian Raza Rabbai presented a ten-point formula to resolve the situation emerged in Balochistan in the aftermath of Bugti killing.

As opposition members Rahmatullah Kakar, Ilyaz Bilour, Ismael Boledi also spoke, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan said the opposition has indulged into point scoring. He also spoke on the Waziristan agreement, Dhaka Fall and other issues.

Islamabad September 12, 2006: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed grief over the devastation caused by rains last week in Sindh and asked the regime to immediately attend to the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims.

Continued Monson rains last week played havoc in several of the province's districts particularly Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, Tando Muhammad Khan and Mirpur Khas. Hyderabad was the worst affected as tens of thousands of people have been marooned, shops ha remained closed, food supplies have run out, hospitals are without medicines and power supply disrupted for the past five days. Thousands of cattle head have also been lost due to incessant rains. Out break of major gastro and other diseases is feared, as ponds of stagnant water have still not been cleared.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that she was grieved over the loss of lives and damage to property. She said that the damage could have been contained if the regime had taken necessary precautionary measures well in time.

Mohtarma Bhutto said that it was a pity that the regime spent its time, effort and resources on witch hunting of political opponents while ignoring its basic responsibility towards the people to protest their lives and property. She said that the millions of dollars being spent of political witch hunting could be diverted towards public welfare and
rehabilitation of flood affected people.

The former Prime Minister demanded better support system for the relief and rehabilitation of the flood affectees. She also asked the Party leadership and cadres to spread out in the affected areas and extend all possible material and moral support to the victims. She also prayed for those who lost their lives in the floods.

MUBASHIR HASSAN and CH. AAMER WAQAS
 

LAHORE - While condemning the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the joint opposition leaders Sunday gave a call to the people to rise against the military rulers to save the country, which, they said, was facing a great threat to its existence owing to the harmful policies of General Musharraf and his coterie.
Addressing a big public gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan, held under the aegis of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, to express solidarity with the Baloch people over the ongoing military operation in Balochistan, and killing of Nawab Bugti, the opposition leaders termed the present situation in the country as very precarious with serious threat to its solidarity.

The meeting, which started at 5pm in the evening continued till midnight and culminated at the telephonic address of Quaid PML (N) Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, who had to address almost reduced-to-nil attendance, as, by the time he started addressing the people at around 11.20pm, 90 per cent of the audience had left the venue despite an announcement made by the organisers that the PML (N) chief was going to address them soon.

ARD Chairman, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Ch Aitzaz Ahsan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Qasim Zia, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa, Liaqat Baloch, Tehmina Daultana, MNA Khawaja Saad Rafique, Begum Abida Hussain, Memoona Hashmi, Haji Azizur Rehman Chan, BNP leader Abdul Rauf Mengal, Rahimdad Dad Khan from NWFP, Nawab Lashkari, Sardar Yaqoob Nasir and Abdul Hayye Baloch from Balochistan and Saleem Zia from Sindh were the main speaker among leaders of nationalist parties from Balochistan and NWFP.

The leaders and workers of the PPP and the PML (N) presented a rare show of solidarity on the occasion, as they not only remained cordial with each other throughout the proceedings, they also kept chanting slogans in support of both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
Makhoodom Amin Fahim, however, in his address, complained that the PML (N) leadership should have informed him about Nawaz Sharif’s telephonic address to the meeting, so that he could also request Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the same.

Through its Sunday’s, in the gathering, which was attended by over twenty thousand people according to conservative estimates, the opposition was able to make amends for the poor show on September 1 when its strike call, made to express solidarity with the Baloch people, received poor response from the Lahorites.

While claiming that the days of the present rulers were numbered, the opposition leaders vowed to remain united till the elimination of dictatorship. All the speakers in their speeches were harsh on General Pervez Musharraf and the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, especially Punjab Chief Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi for supporting what they called cruel policies of their mentor.

The leaders condemned the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and observed that country’s integrity was at stake. They asked the people to rise against the dictatorship before a 1971 like situation reoccurs.

Addressing the gathering, Makhdoom Amin Fahim asked the rulers to relinquish power before it was too late. He warned them, saying, “enough is enough”. Makhdoom asked the army generals to act sensibly and not to do such things, which could weaken the very roots of the country. “Don’t create such a situation that people resort to violence,” he cautioned. He urged the people to forge unity among their ranks to fight against the forces, which had created anarchy in the country, and were bent upon breaking the federation.

Deputy Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal was ready to resign within the shortest possible time. “I ask the leaders to announce now; hold a meeting of the joint opposition tomorrow; and we will submit resignations,” he said, adding that it was a matter of saving Pakistan first, then Balochistan. “If Balochistan is separated as it is being visualised at the Pentagon, we will name the province as Pakistan. Mush (Musharraf) is acting upon the agenda of Bush. We will not allow the General to divide Pakistan, nor provide him any pretext to do so,” he added.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said if Nawab Bugti could be declared traitor for keeping his areas backward, then there were score of tehsils of the Punjab, which had been kept backward by Nikka Pervaiz (Pervaiz Elahi). “The Chief Minister should also be brought under the same head, and meted out the same treatment as that of Bugti,” he averred.

Central Secretary General PML (N) Iqbal Zafar Jhaghra, while quoting poet Habib Jalib, said love was not imbibed in people through bullet, and Nawab Bugti’s death was of part of conspiracy, which had already divided Pakistan. “Because of the operation in Balochistan, we are pained the same way and with the same intensity, like that of the Balochis. My message to them is that we will live and die together,” he added.
He said a delegation of PML-N would visit Quetta to deliver a message of solidarity from Punjab to them.
Central leader of PPP Aitzaz Ehsan said signs of President Musharraf’s downfall were appearing, and it was in the interest of the general to quit before he was kicked out by the masses.

Deputy General Secretary MMA Liaqat Baloch said the masses resent Musharraf’s policies, as he was a danger to the Pakistan’s integrity. “The masses can’t afford to endorse any policies of the illegal rulers. That is why the opposition has decided that General Musharraf should resign,” he said, while adding that Bugti’s death, which was being mourned in the Punjab, was a stigma on dictatorship. “Bugti is a martyr, and Pakistan’s eternal enemy is dictatorship,” he maintained.

President PML (N) Punjab Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa said his head had bowed with shame because of poor response by the Punjabis when a protest call was made after Bugti’s Shahadat when the whole of the province was closed, but here markets remained open. “But today’s public gathering has proved it otherwise. Moreover, due to the present circumstances, every conscientious person will resign from the assemblies, as there is no reason to remain members of the parliament,” he said, while adding that no one could purchase Balochis with money.

President PML-N Balochistan Sardar Yaqoob Nasir said Bugti’s killing was unforgettable and the rulers by committing this crime had disappointed the whole nation.

President PML-N NWFP Pir Sabir Shah said President General Pervez Musharraf was answerable to the public about military action in Balochistan and Waziristan, warning that the people would not spare him in this regard.

“PML-N and PPP have joined hand under the banner of ARD and the anti-government movement will be successful,” he added.  Balochistan National Party leader Abdur Rauf Mengal said the rulers had closed the door of dialogue by killing Nawab Bugti.

Former Governor Punjab and PPP leader Ghulam Mustafa Khar said the generals always harmed the country and with Bugti’s killing, they again created hatred among the provinces.
Information Secretary PML (N) Lahore Khawaja Imran Nazir and Sami Ullah Khan of the PPP were the stage secretaries. President Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Noorani) Qari Zawwar Bahadur, Chief Khaksar Tehreek leader Hameed-ud-Din Mashraqi, Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement leader Qamar Bhatti, PML-N MPA Ch Abdul Ghafoor, President Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Punjab Admiral (R) Javed Iqbal, ANP central leader Ahsan Wain, ARD leader Abdul Qadeer Khamosh, Istaqlal Party President Manzoor Hussain Gilani, PML-N leader Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Joseph Francis, Pir Naubahar Shah, Ghulam Nabi Butt, Syed Mushtaq Hussain Shah, Nasreen Nawaz, Rana Arshad and Wali Muhammad Khan also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Quaid Pakistan Muslim League (N) Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said the army should surrender to its own people and the constitution instead of what it did in the ‘Paltan Maidan’ (Bangladesh), and should go back to its own barracks instead of ending up in the enemy barracks that it did three decades back.

He stated this in his telephonic address to a public meeting held under the aegis of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy here on Sunday at the Minar-e-Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif was of the view that instead of bowing before the enemy, it is always better to do so in front of our own people. “The time of the decision has come and the masses should rise against the present rulers, who are oppressing the people and playing with the destiny of the nation. Snatch that gun from the army with which it has already divided the country,” he said while maintaining that the Allah Almighty never changed the condition of those who did not wish to do so themselves.
“They, the rulers, like to talk to enemies but it is difficult for them to have a dialogue with their own people. The masses did not provide arms to the military to suffer its conquest and killing. These weapons were not given for fulfilling one man’s nefarious personal agenda,” he averred, while adding that the previous governments neglected its health and education sectors to empower the army for fighting against the enemy.
He was of the view that the parliament had become ineffective as General Pervez Musharraf and his coterie were taking the decisions. “The Parliament has become useless. Those who talk of establishing the government’s writ should know that the illegal occupants of the power do not do it, as it is only possible through the constitution. They must know that a ruler in ‘uniform’ will neither be accepted so nor his ‘Sardari’, and the Generals Group will never be allowed to be successful,” he said.

He said he was and is with the Balochis. “We will live and die together. The gruesome murder of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti is condemnable and I don’t have words to express my feelings. His death has caused a deep wound to the nation, which will never heal. The cost of the adventure of one man will be paid by Pakistan,” he said, while adding that if the masses would not rise against the incumbent rulers, then the latter would keep on playing with the country.

He said the gunship helicopters and weaponry were not meant for killing Bugti and the people of other areas. “Musharraf has proved that he is not for Pakistan’s solidarity. Will Bugti’s murder solve all the problems? Will the relationship between Islamabad and Balochistan improve? Will the Balochis love the army more? Will Pakistan be strengthened?” he questioned, while asking people to snatch gun from the rulers so that they could not break Pakistan.

“Remember! No dictator can stand people’s might nor any weaponry will do. I won’t feel bad being handcuffed but my heart bleeds at seeing the democracy in chains. I am worried about you, and my being in exile is for you.” he said.

He said the opposition had decided to resign from the assemblies and we would do it in one go. “If resignations can save the country, we are ready to resign now. All sacrifices are for the restoration of democracy, no role of the army in the politics, and the restoration of democracy,” he said.

Nawaz Sharif said the people were drinking dirty water, and were leading lives sans any shelter. “But the rulers are indulging in extravagance at the expense of the masses’ money. The Supreme Court had already given its verdict against the rulers’ corruption. If the present dire state of affairs were allowed to continue, then Pakistan’s crisis will deepen further,” he said, while assuring the people that he and Benazir Bhutto would come back soon to free the people and run the country according to latter’s wishes.

Nawaz Sharif said he was talking to people living in oppression at a place where the Pakistan Resolution was passed.

A means of measuring the government's commitment to issues of gender equality can be gauged through its inaction and reversals on promises made over the past several years. The Hudood Ordinances, the need for laws against Honour Killings, Affirmative Action and Domestic Violence were some of the issues that were brought to the legislative mainstream by the PPPP. While the regime has consistency rejected all bills even in committee, it has used women's legislation as a means to promote its own political agenda without ever making the fundamental changes required by society to provide a back-drop for real reform. The PPPP, despite its bitter experience on short shrift on women's issues with this regime, has not lost sight of its manifesto promises to women, nor the 1973 Constitution, which it introduced in the country as the first consensus constitution.

Even today, in complete parliamentary discord with the PML Q, and while facing brutal political victimisation, the PPPP has kept its commitment to women and contributed constructively and seminally in all the women's committees, especially the Select Committee formed for the Women's Protection bill introduced by the regime in August 2006.The PPP felt that even if the regime is able to introduce any substantial laws that provide even the smallest measure of relief to women, it must support such moves irrespective of the struggle it is engaged in with the regime on a wider political stage to restore civilian democracy in Pakistan.

[All PPPP bills can be obtained from the National Assembly Secretariat by providing Title and name of Member-in Charge, who is the principal mover of the bill, or from an email request to the Central Information Secretariat of the PPP at centralinformationsecretary@gmail.com]

1. The PPP's Prevention of Honour Killings Bill was thrown into committee graveyard for over two years, revived suddenly in the first week of August 2006, and killed without much ado. This bill ensured that justice can no longer be privatised for crimes against women, but it was never even given an honest hearing in the plenary or the Committee. Meanwhile, the government bill on Honour Killings passed amidst opposition and failed to remove the crucial provision for compoundability of "honour killings" cases through compromise and waiver of Qisas. HRCP and Citizens Action Groups Against Honour Killings established a few weeks prior to the campaign against honour killings states that this raised fears ground realities would not change. [Mover: Sherry Rehman ]

2.The PPPP's Protection and Empowerment of Women Bill 2002 , which sought a repeal of discriminatory laws, and other mandatory protections for women against stove burnings, met with opposition by the ruling party in March 2004 and could not be passed. The efforts to repeal the Hudood Laws were blocked when the Federal Government, under Chuadry Shujaat, decided in July that they would be sent to the Council on Islamic Ideology for comment. They have mysteriously never returned from there, while the Chairman of CII, has most recently stated that these laws ought to be repealed. [ Mover: Sherry Rehman ]

3.The second Hudood Repeal Bill moved by the PPPP emerged on the National Assembly agenda by 7 Feb, 2006 and was summarily sent to Committee without debate. It is feared that the legislation will sit there gathering dust, or will be summarily disposed with in the Committee on Women's Affairs, or the Human Rights and Law Committee, or even the Interior Committee, where it was sent intitially. To this day this bill has never been discussed by any committee. [ Mover: Sherry Rehman ]

4.The Affirmative Action Bill moved by the PPPP in 2004, was also kept in Committee cold storage for two years and then tossed aside in August 2006. While the regime kept saying in public that it would mainstream women, in the Standing Committee, where such commitment is needed, the Establishment Secretary was told to say that it is not possible to have more than a five percent quota for women reserved in the public sector for various reasons. When he was told that the 5% quota had already existed since the PPP's third government when it was introduced, and that we were only asking for another increment of five to keep it gradual and bring reservations up to 10% as in many other developing countries, we were informed that it is just not possible. So much for the Affirmative Action Bill. [ Mover: Sherry Rehman]

5.The Domestic Violence Bill, moved in 2005, came up for discussion in the National Assembly on 8 August 2006. Sherry Rehman was not allowed initially to introduce the bill by Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sher Afghan Niazi, when he said that women were allowed to be beaten by their husbands as per Islam, and he cannot allow such a bill even to be introduced. When asked if this was the PML Q manifesto that openly took a position on encouraging violence against women, he insisted he was right and refused to budge from his position of even allowing the introduction of the Bill.This resulted in an uproar in the House, and when the PPPP demanded a vote, Mahnaz Rafi and several other back benchers in the Q League said they would vote with the PPPP on this issue, as did Samia Raheel Qazi. In the absence of the Minister of Women's Affairs, who was not present on the day when such important bills for women were on the agenda, the NA made history by voting against the government for PPPP to at least be given leave to introduce this bill. The bill was introduced, and sent to Committee, but Sher Afghan Niazi was reported to have boasted outside in the parliament cafeteria that he is a member of the said Committee and will not allow it to be passed there. So far there is no action on this bill in Committee, and no-one even knows which committee this belt was sent to.

Islamabad September 10, 2006: Pakistan Peoples Party has expressed reservations about the treaty reached on September 5 by the military regime through the tribal maliks with the militants in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

In a statement today a spokesperson of the Party said that that the regime had claimed to launch the military operation to stop the Afghan group known as the Taliban and the Arab fighters known as Al-Qaeda from operating from its soil where they had converged following the war in Afghanistan in 2001.

The PPP asked whether the regime had signed a peace treaty with foreigners operating on the soil of Pakistan.

He said that the military regime kept changing its policy towards the tribal areas that in turn had led to turbulence in the area. It recalled that an earlier ceasefire had delivered hardly any result and in fact complicated the situation after the murder of Nek Muhammad with whom an agreement had earlier been reached.

The spokesman said that the significance of the treaty would be far reaching coinciding as it does with General Musharaf's visit to Kabul where he promised support to President Karzai in stabilizing Afghanistan. By signing the peace treaty the regime has signaled that it is unable to help Kabul stabilize because it is unable to control the militants despite placing eighty thousand troops in the tribal areas.

The PPP noted with alarm that the Taliban which had been routed falling the fall of Kabul have regrouped and gained in strength virtually enforcing their writ in the tribal areas, carrying out punishments, policing the area and now forcing a peace treaty through which their confiscated arms and vehicles are to be returned to them.

The spokesperson said that the peace agreement amounted to admitting failure to contain the militant elements in the tribal areas despite loss of life suffered by the armed forces during the operation.

He said that in stark contrast to the olive branch being extended to the militants, the nationalists in Balauchistan were facing the brunt of state force as were the political forces of the country whose leaders, including former speaker Yusuf Reza Gillani and Javed Hashmi continued to be imprisoned and party leaders exiled.

It may be recalled that an accord was signed on September 5 between local Taliban leaders and a jirga formed by the military. Almost all the Taliban demands were met including the release of their men, return of their weapons and vehicles, dismantling of the army check posts in the area, and monetary compensation for those killed or injured during military operations. The Army troops would shift from road checkpoints to their camps and bases.

Further the military has undertaken not to launch ground and air operations and lifted the ban on carrying arms. Foreign militants can live in the area by furnishing tribal guarantees to respect the law. This means that the military regime no longer requires foreign militants to be registered.

In return the Taliban promised to stop attacking civil and military installations in Waziristan or attacking the armed forces and government installations.


The spokesman said that the unity of Pakistan was being strained at two borders simultaneously. In Balauchistan the killing of Nawab Bugti had alienated the province and increased resentment against the center. On the other hand, the insurgents in Waziristan had gained strength and the danger was that they would seek to control the buffer between Afghanistan and Pakistan as both countries now appeared helpless before the militants in the belt between the countries.

He said that the Musharaf regime's unique treaty with foreigners in Waziristan giving them a license to remain in their hide-outs for exporting extremism overseas and promoting Talbanization of society would undermine the country's standing.

“No sovereign state has ever written such a document with miscreants having foreign origin”.

Islamabad September 9, 2006: Pakistan Peoples Party has urged the Chief Election Commissioner to immediately intervene and stop the voters' registration exercise in Sindh from being hijacked by a coalition partner in the provincial government.

In a statement today Sindh PPP President Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the credibility of the entire exercise of registration of voters had been thrown into doubt because a coalition partner in Sindh government had forcibly taken over the task of enumeration from the enumerators appointed by the Election Commission and given it to its workers.

"The entire exercise of preparation of electoral rolls has been threatened that calls for urgent intervention by the Chief Election Commissioner"

He said that soon after the schedule for house count and preparation of electoral lists was announced complaints of manipulation started pouring from Karachi and also from some other Districts of Sindh.

After the take over of the work from the officially appointed enumerators by the workers of the political party the work on enumeration of houses had come to a stand still and fake voters lists were being made in Karachi, he said.

He said that in District west, voters belonging to other areas were included in the constituencies that are traditionally dominated by the PPP supporters. Several other areas and houses have been deliberately left out from the count, he said.

The PPP Sindh President said that a Party delegation had called on the Election Commissioner Sindh and also apprised the CEC through fax but no action seemed to have been taken so far.

He said that apart from Karachi similar complaints were received from Larkana, Mirpur Khas, NawabShah, Khairpur, Ghotki, Sanghar, Kashmore and Hyderabad.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the relevant laws governing the electoral rolls, the Election Commission was supposed to up date the voters list every year. He said that at present two voters' lists were available; one was prepared in 2001 for LB elections and the other prepared for the 2002 for General Elections.

He said that in the presence of the two lists available and the law requiring the EC to update the electoral lists every year, there was no justification for preparing fresh lists for computerization. He said that instead of preparing fresh list the present voters' list should be updated and computerized.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah urged he CEC to look into the massive complaints of pre-poll rigging and not allow the hijacking of voter's registration exercise.

Islamabad September 6, 2006: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed concern over the kidnapping of a two year old baby in Jacobabd and asked the regime to immediately recover the child and end the agony of her parents and family.

Two year old Alisha, daughter of Muhammd Rafiq Veesar general secretary of the Party's Jacobabad city chapter was kidnapped by last week outside her home in Jacobabd and has still not been traced.

In a statement today she said that the law and order situation in the country had gone haywire but the regime was oblivious to it and spent time and money only on chasing political opponents.

The family of the kidnapped child has complained that the local administration has turned a deaf ear to their plight.

The former Prime Minister asked for the immediate recovery of the kidnapped child and arrest and punishment to the kidnappers in accordance with the law.

Islamabad September 6, 2006: A Spokesman of the Pakistan Peoples Party has issued the following statement today.

“A section of the press has reported that former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif would be visiting Dubai and meet Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

“It is clarified that the reports of meeting between two former Prime Ministers in Dubai are speculative and not correct.

“Such misleading reports of a meeting in Dubai between the two were also circulated recently when Mohtarma Bhutto was not even in Dubai and was on a visit to the US in accordance with his pre-arranged schedule.

“Both Mohtarma Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif as heads of large political parties are very busy and any meeting between them is formally arranged through contacts between their respective offices.

“The office of Mohtarma Bhutto has not been contacted for any meeting and the press reports are merely speculative.

“Furthermore, Mohtarma Bhutto is shortly leaving Dubai on a private visit”.

Islamabad, 4 September 2006: Former Prime Minister and the Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed her deep sorrow and grief over the death of the former senior minister of Azad Kashmir government, the President of PPP Azad Kashmir and the leader of Opposition in the Azad Kashmir Assembly, Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in a condolence letter addressed to the wife of Sahibzada Ishaque Zafar wrote, "In the passing of Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar our Nation and the Kashmiri people have lost a great defender of Kashmiri rights, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Parliament has lost its Leader of Opposition who was a protector of democracy and a man of courage who faced tyranny through the decades with honour and dignity.
The Pakistan Peoples Party has lost one of its most valued supporters and I have lost a brother. As I write these lines to you I think of my many meetings with Sahibzada Sahib. I last saw him in London this summer when as president of the PPP AJK he assisted the Parliamentary Board in choosing candidates for the elections. I remember the joy with which I learnt that we had swept the Muzzafarabad elections and he had won his seat. I spoke to him many times on the phone. I spoke to him one day before his untimely death on September 1, 2006 to condole the death of your son. I told him that no one should have to suffer the misfortunes that had befallen your family in the recent past. This has included losing a son, a daughter and other relatives in last year's earthquake. It is with deep grief that I now write to condole his passing away."

Remembering Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar, she wrote, "In his last conversation with me, Sahibzada Sahib asked me for ten days leave from Parliamentary and Party affairs saying he was feeling unwell. It almost seemed as though he was taking leave telling me that he would remain loyal to the party and to my leadership to his last breath. He recalled his dedication and devotion to the party through thick and thin. Indeed he served the Party and the masses with honesty, dedication, bravery, patience and fortitude. He was a great orator who could move the masses. The PPP and I shall miss him in elections 2007 and elections after that because he was always on the campaign trail with us. He was a man of intelligence with a formidable memory who could recall historical events and precedents at the tip of his fingers. He was reasonable, flexible, calm, modest, humble and accepted all decisions with good grace. He was a remarkable leader of our Party and our People. He will be mourned by all who knew him."

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto prayed for Allah to grant Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar's soul a place in heaven and courage to the family members to bear this irreparable loss with equanimity.

Islamabad, September 04, 2006: Pakistan Peoples Party has expressed reservation over the purchase of the proposed F-16 fighter aircraft from the United States and called for a review of the decision through an open parliamentary debate through a bipartisan committee.

In a statement today a spokesperson of the Party said that the PPP was committed to a strong and viable defense but its reservations were based on the premise that the cost of the aircraft and the terms and conditions of the sale were not in the national interest of the country.


"The Party therefore demands that the Parliamentary Committee and the Parliament itself must thoroughly debate the proposed purchase before any final decision was taken".

The fundamental issue is where are we going to get the spare parts for these aircrafts if, God forbid, war ensues between India and Pakistan, he said.

When the 1965 war broke out between India and Pakistan, Washington imposed an arms embargo that hurt Islamabad. It is logical to conclude that since Washington is seeking a security relationship with New Delhi, it is all the more unlikely to consider providing spare parts were a conflict to erupt, he said.

Islamabad also needs to keep in mind that after decades of successful production, the F-16 production line appears to be approaching its end. As currently projected, the F-16 production line is scheduled to close in 2008. The proposed Pakistani sale could keep the line open another year. If the production line itself is coming to an end there seems
little point in Islamabad purchasing the concerned fighter aircraft, he said.

He said that the F-16 was first fielded in 1979 and the capabilities of the F-16 vary greatly depending on the upgrade. Islamabad is unlikely to qualify for the most advanced variation and therefore will be purchasing a much older variety.

The PPP appreciates that Pakistan needs to feel secure in its defense capabilities and that the air force does not have modern aircraft after the scuttling of the French mirage sales. However, it has reservations on whether model being considered and whether the present purchase price or terms and conditions of the proposed sale are beneficial to the country, he said.

The terms and conditions that make the sale controversial and therefore not in the best defense interest of the country due to Islamabad being offered an older variant. According to media reports the sale of F-16s, even of the older Block C&D models, will be governed by stringent safeguards. The planes will also be denuded of cutting-edge offensive capability, including the capability to deliver nuclear weapons.

Furthermore, he said, they will be subject to US government approval on the matter of if and when they can be flown overseas. In a July 20 testimony to the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee on the initial security plan for the aircraft, a US government official highlighted semi-annual F-16 inventories and more frequent looks at associated systems by US personnel. These F-16s would not have
electronic warfare (EW) programming capabilities for their radar warning receiver (RWR). This means that these aircraft will have a pre-installed threat library and its RWR will only be able to identify non-NATO aircraft, he said.

If Pakistan, as per the recent statement of Air Chief's, is planning to buy as many as 70 F-16 aircrafts then that is going to cost the nation a staggering amount between three to five billion dollars. This at a time when a gigantic amount has been committed to building a second general headquarters in Islamabad.

As one of the media reports termed it, "five billion dollars is a huge sum. For a host of good reasons, we have the right to know and the need to be convinced that these aircraft will indeed give PAF the edge it needs against an adversary that is superior to it, at least quantitatively."

Although Islamabad's debts were rescheduled following the attacks on 9/11 on America, the financial rewards have been squandered during the years of dictatorship.

A PPP government would have used the funds saved through rescheduling to repay the national debt and take Islamabad onto the road of self reliance and independence to enable its people to have a prosperous future. But even if this was not done by the unrepresentative government, there was no justification to take commercial loans when
soft loans could have been obtained from international financial institutions.

It is time to wake up to the reality that we are in a spiraling debt trap and that the white elephant expenditures like purchasing the F-16 aircraft and building a second GHQ will consume the country in financial troubles, he said.

Words of Shaheed