We won't let you bury NRO; you can bury democracy instead.

Here is a selection of three op-eds on this topic:

Abbas Ather notes that the right-wing (pro-Taliban) anchors and propagandists don't want to bury NRO; instead they wan't to bury democracy in Pakistan.

Munno Bhai wonders if the abusers of the freedom of media in Pakistan might need a "Saif-ur-Rehman" in the future?

Ayaz Khan advises anchors and journalists with a particular (pro-Taliban, anti-Zardari or anti-democracy) agenda to have a bit of objectivity in their reporting and analysis.

(Abbas Ather)

(Munno Bhai)

(Ayaz Khan)

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Pakistani media, Nawz Sharif and Mrs Wasim Akram's funeral

Statement by Nawaz Sharif on NRO, followed by an analysis by Ayaz Khan.

NRO to be opposed at all forums, says Nawaz
By Our Staff Reporter (Dawn)
Saturday, 31 Oct, 2009

LAHORE: The PML-N will oppose the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) at all forums and will finalise a line of action at a meeting on Tuesday, Nawaz Sharif, the party’s chief, said here on Saturday.

Talking to newsmen at the residence of former test cricketer Waseem Akram after condoling the death of his wife, Nawaz Sharif said his party would oppose passage of the NRO in the House as the 'legislation was tantamount to maligning the Parliament'.

The former prime minister accused the standing committee of the National Assembly of bulldozing democratic norms along with the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) at its Friday meeting.

The NRO was aimed at providing benefit to a class of people who, in the larger interest of the nation, must not take the benefit.

Asked about his meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari this week, he said it was in the 'larger national interest' rather than 'seeking any plot or contract'.

In the meeting, 'we talked about implementation of the Charter of Democracy'. The president, however, did not raise the issue of NRO nor took him into confidence.

Asked if the issue could lead to a confrontation between the PPP and PML-N, he parried the question and said: 'Politics of plots and contracts must end.'

On his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Raiwind on Thursday, he said he put across the concerns and reservations of his party over the Kerry-Lugar bill 'without mincing words and wanted America to address them'.

Here is the op-ed by Ayaz Khan on this topic:

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Slaughterhouse in mad house - Taliban in Pakistan

Pagal khanay mein zabah khana - by Mohammed Hanif

پاگل خانےمیں ذبح خانہ

محمد حنیف

بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، کراچی

’تو پھر کیا تمام پنجابی طالبان، وزیرستان ہجرت کر جائیں گے یا ایک چھوٹی سے خلافت ملتان اور رحیم یار خان کے بیچ میں بھی قائم ہو گی‘

گذشتہ ہفتے ایک غیر صحافی دوست نے سوال پوچھا کہ آخر پاکستانی طالبان کے سیاسی مقاصد کیا ہیں۔ میں نے اسکو سنی سنائی باتیں بتائیں لیکن اسے کیا یقین آنا تھا مجھے خود اپنے جواب پر یقین نہیں آیا۔ تب سے میں ہر صحافی، دانش ور سے پوچھتا ہوں، ادارتی صفحے کھنگالتا ہوں اور جو جواب ملتے ہیں اس سے میرے ذہن میں مزید سوال اٹھتے ہیں۔ اب تک ملنے والے جوابات اور میرے سوال در سوال کچھ یوں ہیں۔ جواب پہلے ہے سوال بعد میں۔

ج: پاکستانی طالبان، افغانستان کے طالبان کے ساتھ مل کر امریکی فوجوں کی واپسی چاہتے ہیں اور یہ چاہتے ہیں کہ پاکستان قبائلی علاقوں میں مداخلت نہ کرے تاکہ وہ اپنے قبائلی رسم و رواج اور شریعت کے مطابق زندگی گزار سکیں۔

س: تو پھر کیا تمام پنجابی طالبان وزیرستان ہجرت کر جائیں گے یا ایک چھوٹی سے خلافت ملتان اور رحیم یار خان کے بیچ میں بھی قائم ہوگی؟

ج: پاکستانی طالبان کا کوئی وجود نہیں یہ صرف قبائلی انتظام ہے۔ خون کا بدلہ خون۔ پاکستانی فوج نے ان پر چڑھائی کی۔ وہ صرف بدلہ لے رہے ہیں۔

س: اگر یہ صرف قبائلی انتقام ہے تو گزشتہ دہائی میں شیعوں سے اور اس سے پہلے قادیانیوں سے کون سا انتقام لیا جا رہا تھا؟

ج: یہ تحریک اس عالمی اسلامی نشاۃ الثانیہ کا حصہ ہے جو نو گیارہ کے بعد شروع ہوئی۔ یہ تحریک اس وقت تک جاری رہے گی جب تک مسلمانوں کا ازلی دشمن امریکہ گھٹنے نہیں ٹیک دیتا۔

س: اس عالمی تحریک کے پوسٹر بوائے اسامہ بن لادن ہیں اور گیارہ نو سے پہلے ان کا سیاسی مشن تھا سعودی عرب میں اسلامی نظام کا نفاذ۔ سعودی عرب میں اسلامی نظام کا نفاذ؟ ہمیں تو بچپن سے پڑھایا گیا تھا کہ سعودی عرب وہ واحد جگہ ہے جہاں اسلامی نظام موجود ہے۔ تو اب کیا مقصد ہے؟ کیلیفورنیا میں اسلامی نظام کا قیام؟ اور کیا یہ عظیم مقصد پشاور کے معصوم بچوں کو زندہ جلائے بغیر حاصل کیا جاسکتا ہے؟

ج: آپ واقعی توقع رکھتے ہیں کہ قبائلی پٹھان کسی سیاسی منشور پر عمل کر رہے ہیں؟ یہ سوال ہی لغو ہے۔

’میڈیا میں اور مسجدوں میں انکا دفاع کرنے والے کس کے ایجنٹ ہیں‘

س: الیاس کشمیری، ڈاکٹر عقیل، حاجی اسحٰق، اکرم لاہوری، مولانا مسعود اظہر نہ تو قبائلی ہیں نہ پٹھان۔ یہ سب پاکستان میں کبھی کسی ایجنسی، کبھی کسی مذہبی جماعت کے ہیرو بھی رہے ہیں۔ تو کیا یہ سب لوگ بھی طالبان کے ساتھ تعلق بنانے کے بعد پٹھان ہو گئے ہیں؟ کیا ان سادہ دلوں کا بھی کوئی سیاسی منشور نہیں ہے۔ اور کیا اس نامنشور پر عمل کے لیے ضروری ہے کہ غریبوں کے بچے بارود اور کیلوں سے بھری جیکٹیں پہنا کر اڑادیے جائے؟

ج: یہ سب امریکہ، اسرائیل اور بھارت کے ایجنٹ ہیں۔

س: سب کے سب؟ اور میڈیا میں اور مسجدوں میں انکا دفاع کرنے والے کس کے ایجنٹ ہیں؟

ج: یہ ملک ایک پاگل خانہ ہے۔مصری عالم سید قطب کے پیروکاروں کے ذہن میں آیا کہ اس پاگل خانے کے بیچ ایک ذبح خانہ قائم کر دیا جائے تو سارے پاگل اپنے کام چھوڑ کر یا تو تالیاں بجائیں گے، یا روئیں گے، یا خون میں ہاتھ دھو کر اپنے چہروں پر ملیں گے۔گوشت کے لوتھڑے بھنبھوڑیں گے، ڈر کے سجدوں میں گر جائیں گے، ذبح خانے میں سجدوں میں جھکی گردنیں کاٹی جائیں گی، پرانی قبروں سے ڈھانچے نکال کر انہیں چوراہوں پر پھانسی دی جائے گی۔ چھوٹے بچوں کو چھوٹی قبروں میں دفنا کر اللہ کی رضا قرار دیا جائے گا۔ ذبح خانہ تکبیر کے نعروں سے گونجے گا۔ اور یوں سارے پاگل سید قطب کے خواب کی تعبیر پائیں گے اور بخشے جائیں یا نہ جائیں پاگل خانے کی پاگل زندگی سے نجات ضرور پائیں گے۔

س: آمین ثم آمین

War and politics

Reality check

Friday, October 30, 2009
Shafqat Mahmood

Their claim of fighting for Islam was always a sham. That they are barbarous animals has been exposed by the bombing of innocent people in Peshawar. This is not the first time and it will not be the last. They will stop at nothing to get what they really want; power to lord it over you, and tell you how to live your life.

Is this slaughter of poor men, women and children happening because they hate the United States? Were they cutting throats and whipping women in Swat because of the drone attacks? Are these the kind of people who can be talked to, as Imran Khan, Rustam Shah Mohmand and others would have us believe?

They tell us that we the people of Pakistan are being targeted because our governments, past and present, collaborated with the US in fighting the Al Qaeda and Taliban. Let us for a moment accept their logic. How will they explain that these groups had already created cadres, prepared suicide squads, armed themselves and were ready to take on the Pakistani state?

Did this occur because of US-Pakistan partnership after 9/11 or was this happening anyway? The Sufi Mohammads of this world were on the warpath much before September 2001 as were the Punjab-based radical sectarian outfits. Their power and organisation was growing and they were all prepared to assert themselves whether or not the US-Pakistan collaboration took place.

The American presence in Afghanistan has of course added to the problem. After it was occupied, Al Qaeda and other radical groups shifted to Pakistani border regions, adding their money, leadership and skills to the growing strength of local groups. Drone attacks and the overbearing American attitude did not help either. But to say that the terrorism we face today is only because of Pakistan-US collaboration is delusional.

The US could indeed help us to fight this home-grown insurgency better by making its attitude towards Pakistan clearer. It is not just a question of giving us money and arms, although given the state of our economy and the militancy challenge it is not something to sneer at. It could go further by giving greater respect to our sovereignty and not appear to assist our adversaries.

Unwelcome drone attacks are just one aspect of it. The growing footprint of US advisors and security personnel on the ground in Islamabad and other parts of the country is disturbing for the Pakistani people. Some of them have even been caught roaming the capital with arms and others allegedly stopped close to our nuclear installation in Kahuta. Such stories fuel the already high levels of anti-Americanism in the country.

The US attitude in Afghanistan is also giving rise to misgivings. It is allowing Indian presence there to enlarge rapidly. The opening of new consulates is just one part of it. Indian civil institutions and private contractors in every field are also a growing presence. If the US wants to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, it has to show greater sensitivity to our concerns.

The Americans also need to clarify their attitude towards known anti-Pakistan figures, such as Brahmdagh Bugti and others, who are being given refuge in Afghanistan. There is sufficient evidence, according to Pakistan government, of Indian meddling in Balochistan. By giving refuge to the so-called Baloch nationalists, the Americans appear to be colluding with them.

It is in this context that the conditions attached to the Kerry-Lugar Bill raised so many doubts in Pakistan. If there had been no worries regarding American intentions, some of the intemperate language may have been tolerated given the larger framework of support contained in it. But the feeling that Americans are not playing straight, led to the strong response in the country. (The News)

(Ayaz Khan)

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A useless meeting between Zardari and Nawaz?

(Nazir Naji)

......

Negative expectations from ‘Z-N’ meeting

The general impression in the media about Monday’s meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and the PMLN leader Mr Nawaz Sharif was that it broke no new ground. One TV channel was so upset that it called the meeting a “zero”. It is true that nothing radically different was visible — after the meeting — in the past tenor of the PPP-PMLN relationship. It would be interesting to find out what the media wanted the meeting to achieve.

Some anchors could not hide the fact that they had nursed negative expectations from it. They wanted Mr Sharif to challenge Mr Zardari and put conditions before him that would end the latter’s alleged dominance in the country’s governance and possibly get from him a credible pledge about sacking a number of ministers. The anti-PPP media did not spell out what it wanted from the meeting of the two party bosses, but they kept talking about the “unconstitutionality” of the NRO, corruption in the government and a sell-out of national honour to the US while accepting the Kerry-Lugar law.

For them the meeting was a damp squib. They, and the “guests” they brought to the talk-shows, kept “advising” Mr Sharif to stand firm and say no to Mr Zardari on all the three above-mentioned “national issues”. The more passionate of the critics relied on the “suffering of the people” at the hands of a government that could not resolve the power crisis, failed to carry out the Supreme Court orders to provide cheap sugar to the common man, and was impervious to people committing suicide. They wanted Mr Sharif not to cooperate with Mr Zardari but to deliver a Darwinist coup de grace to a government they thought was too weak to last.

The meeting delivered nothing of this. What it did deliver clearly was an assertion by the PMLN that it will not participate in the collapse of the political order created by the 2008 elections. It did not discuss the NRO which is sub judice and in the cognisance of the parliament. Mr Sharif did not ask Mr Zardari to get rid of the governor in Punjab or to say no the grant-in-aid coming in from the US, because of which, together with the IMF assistance, Pakistan’s economy still enjoys a measure of international trust. There was however a discussion of the removal of the 17th Amendment disabilities through the 18th Amendment which the parliament is already seized of.

All kinds of “conspiracy” theories flew around. Politicians who specialise in reading the tea-leaves of Pakistan’s meta-history said that both the big parties had once again decided to take dictation from America and line up together to welcome the US Secretary of State Ms Hilary Clinton whose forthcoming visit will hand over the next bit of the American agenda in Pakistan. The absence from the meeting of Mr Shehbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was interpreted in the same context: they were punished through a blackball for having gone and met the army chief who was opposed to American aid.

The biggest item that has infused the paranoid aspects of the Pakistani state and has surfaced once again — the expected American attack on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities — was also not discussed. After all the hype created by the media and those who influence it, Mr Sharif thought it was not necessary for him to put Mr Zardari on notice on the subject. The Americans are supposed to be beefing up their diplomatic facilities with mercenary soldiers to make a dash for Kahuta to steal the bomb.

What Mr Zardari has achieved by inviting Mr Sharif to Islamabad is a reiteration from the latter of his resolve not to topple the government before its term. What Mr Sharif has achieved is no major shift from the political stance that has made him the most popular politician in the country. Those who think that he should do what most ordinary politicians do after becoming popular — rock the democratic boat and unleash all sorts of undemocratic forces — have been disappointed. (Daily Times)

A positive sign
Dawn Editorial
Wednesday, 28 Oct, 2009

No breakthrough in Zardari-Nawaz talks No breakthrough in Zardari-Nawaz talks That the meeting between President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif did not yield any breakthrough is being seen as a sign of failure in some quarters. We have a different view. Held in a congenial atmosphere where hawks such as Chaudhry Nisar of the PML-N were excluded and where controversial subjects such as the National Reconciliation Ordinance were avoided, the meeting demonstrated a much-needed maturity among our political leaders that has not been in evidence lately.
By now, the primary political disagreements between the PML-N and the PPP are well known: the PML-N wants the anti-parliamentary presidential powers enshrined in the 17th Amendment revoked and the bar on a third-term prime minister removed, while the PPP argues that partners such as the ANP and MQM need to be won over by the PML-N for a constitutional amendment package. Add to that the reluctance, as some believe, of President Zardari to give up powers he currently enjoys and it is easy to see why there has been an impasse for several months now.

But concentrating on the differences between the two parties can lead to the mistaken conclusion that they are inevitably on a collision course. There is at least one important point of agreement between President Zardari and Mr Sharif specifically and their two parties generally: the need to protect democracy against extra-constitutional forces. In this regard, it is significant that in the wake of the army’s public objections to the Kerry-Lugar bill, Mr Sharif has elected to meet President Zardari. That it was not just the two leaders but high-powered delegations from both sides that met on Monday has sent an unmistakable signal: the politicians want the space to sort out their disagreements for themselves. This is how it should be; keep the channels of communication between the largest political parties open at all times and present a united front in the face of unwanted interference from the non-parliamentary forces.

Nevertheless, we also feel that the PPP and the PML-N need to strike a deal on the constitutional amendment package sooner rather than later. Political instability is an unfortunate fact of life here, and the longer the matter is drawn out, the more it will encourage mischievous elements outside the PPP and PML-N and hawks within to goad the leadership of the two parties onto a dangerous path of confrontation. While meetings and summits are good, they also need to yield results. There is agreement on the broad parameters of constitutional changes; President Zardari and Mr Sharif need to compromise on the peripheral issues for the sake of the bigger picture.

(Ayaz Khan)

(Hamid Akhtar)

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Pakistan Begins Long-Awaited Offensive in South Waziristan

By VOA News 17 October 2009

Pakistan's military has begun a long-awaited ground offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan.

Earlier Saturday, ahead of the planned offensive, Pakistani authorities imposed a curfew in the region, an insurgent stronghold near the Afghan border.

Pakistan's army operation in South Waziristan follows a string of attacks, believed to be part of a Taliban campaign, that killed more than 150 people in the last two weeks.

Three suicide bombers attacked a government site in Peshawar Friday, killing at least 13 people, including three police officers, two women and one child.

A Pakistani policeman and bystanders remove an injured suicide car bomb blast victim after an attack on a police building in Peshawar, 16 Oct 2009

Top Pakistani military and political leaders met in Islamabad Friday to discuss the wave of violence, the ground offensive in South Waziristan, and the displacement of people in the region.

The U.N. refugee agency reports thousands of people are fleeing South Waziristan to escape anticipated violence. U.N. agencies estimate more than 100,000 people in the region have been displaced since May.

A spokesman for the refugee agency says it is working with local partners to distribute relief supplies, including sheets, sleeping mats and kitchen sets to those now fleeing South Waziristan.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Pakistan army begins ground assault on Taliban in South Waziristan

Pakistan's army has begun a ground operation against Taliban militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border after weeks of air and artillery strikes.

Published: 7:59AM BST 17 Oct 2009

www.telegraph.co.uk

A senior government official said that the government and party leaders gave the military full backing on Friday, vowing to weed out militants and restore the writ of the state.

"The ground operation has begun," said Tariq Hayat Khan, the secretary of Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal regions. The army has said about 28,000 soldiers are in place to take on an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban. About 500 commandos arrived in the region on Friday, security officials said.

The army has stepped up its air and artillery attacks in recent days to soften up the militants' defences while civilians have been fleeing.

The militants have launched a series of brazen attacks in the past 12 days, striking at the United Nations, the army headquarters, police and the general public, killing more than 150 people and apparently trying to stave off the army assault.

The head of the army, General Ashfaq Kayani briefed government and party leaders on Friday and they all agreed that the militants posed a serious threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the state.

"The national consensus is reaffirmed to establish and maintain the writ of the state to weed out these elements," said a statement issued by the office of Yusuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister.

More than 80,000 civilians had fled from South Waziristan in anticipation of the offensive and the UN refugee agency said more people had left this week.

Earlier, a government official said authorities had imposed a curfew along roads in South Waziristan to protect forces moving towards militant strongholds.

Jag utha he sara watan, sathio, mujahido

Attacking South Waziristan

A gathering representing all the political parties in government and opposition has given Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani the formal go-ahead to attack terrorist bases in South Waziristan. The decision to attack was taken by the politicians after a briefing by General Kayani in which he explained that the terrorists attacking in various parts of the country were sourced in South Waziristan and that their desperation was clearly owed to their weakened position.

General Kayani was of the opinion that this was the right moment to strike in the stronghold of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but the army needed complete support from the civilian government and the opposition to give its soldiers the kind of moral backing they needed to operate in their own territory. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani presided over the meeting that gave the general the clearance to launch the attack.

This is strategically the right time to go into South Waziristan where the state has in the past tried to parley the local warlords into peace. It first talked to a Wazir leader called Nek Muhammad but the peace accord did not last long, and Nek Muhammad was killed in 2004; it then negotiated peace with Baitullah Mehsud in 2005 but once again the agreement broke down, and Baitullah Mehsud was killed in 2009. Wary of talking peace from a position of weakness, the state waited till its position was strengthened on the ground by Operation Rah-e-Rast in Malakand.

South Waziristan is supposed to be the toughest terrain on which to fight any enemy. Its area is the largest among the FATA agencies, but its population is barely half a million compared to Malakand where it is 3 million. The population of South Waziristan has either fled the area in anticipation of the attack – which they have repeatedly but silently recommended to the army – or are in the process of doing so by moving towards Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP.

For once the army is not responding in a knee-jerk manner to desperate initiatives taken by the terrorists; it is deciding what it will do and where and the TTP will have to respond to the choices the army will make on the battlefield. Also, the Pakistan Army will not be facing the enemy from a position of weakness, including a total lack of experience in fighting an irregular war. It will act based on the insights gained from operations in Malakand and Bajaur and will not be stricken by doubts about where it stood vis-à-vis the people of Pakistan.

The politicians may be divided over other matters but are united over the need for a military operation against the terrorists. There was a time when the opposition in parliament was actually not convinced by a military briefing and still recommended “talking” to the Taliban instead of taking them on in Malakand. The Pakistan Army sees no disadvantage in international disapproval of what it does but rightly concerns itself about the consent of the people of Pakistan as represented in parliament. The consensus expressed on Friday therefore will be the most certain guarantee for an operation “with full national conviction”.

Across the border, in Afghanistan, the Unites States and its NATO allies are wondering if they should continue their war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. President Barack Obama is wavering over whether to send in ten to sixty thousand additional troops to Afghanistan or think of formulating a strategy of exit by 2011. The South Waziristan operation will help the US decide not to leave Pakistan in the lurch again. It is the operation in Malakand – and its remarkable success in a short time – that has encouraged the West to think that it is possible to defeat terrorism.

The Kerry-Lugar legislation has emanated from a feeling of confidence in the ability of Pakistan to defeat the terrorists – despite the ill-advised language it used in the “conditionalities” set down in it, which actually communicated a lack of it. The operation in South Waziristan will decide a lot of things on the other side of the Durand Line. The US and its allies will have to take a close look at the new situation arising from the operation, they will have to respond to the possible relocation of the “foreign” terrorists back into Afghanistan and address Pakistan’s concerns about its security. (Daily Times)

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The secret meeting between Shahbaz Sharif and General Kayani

Weren’t they supposed to call on generals?

Saturday, October 10, 2009 By Rauf Klasra ISLAMABAD: The “constitutional chain of command” comprising the president, the prime minister and the defence minister was not taken into confidence by either of the participants of a recent secret meeting of the COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan. Sources told The News that President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and even Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar were caught off guard when the media reported the details of the secret meeting between the top leaders of PML-N with General Kayani. The sources even claimed that these frequent secret meetings between the top leaders of PML-N and the Chief of Army Staff as confirmed by Ch Nisar Ali Khan in his speech in the lower house the other day, might well have given the required confidence to the top guns of the GHQ to send the tersely worded press note to the media after the corps commanders meeting. The sources said that the departure of the Army chief from his earlier tall claims of not getting himself involved in the political matters of the country after he took oath in 2007 had greatly shaken the confidence of this chain of command in the promises of top military brass, which had doled out commitments to the nation and the media of staying away from the politics. The sources claimed that even the PML-N, which had been championing the cause of democracy from exile, had conveniently violated the CoD by secretly holding a meeting with the COAS. DG ISPR Major General Athar Abbas, when asked to comment if the president, prime minister or defence minister were informed about the secret meeting with Shahbaz Sharif and Ch Nisar Ali Khan, was unresponsive. Ch Nisar Ali Khan justified the meeting by saying that it was held in the national and security interests. But, the sources said, this plausible justification was not enough to convince those people who heard the PML-N making tall claims in the past—not to meet the Army generals what come may. These meetings with the army chief further led to speculations in the Islamabad circles that perhaps the history of 90s was being repeated when the military establishment used the opposition leaders to topple the sitting governments. The immediate result of this secret meeting with General Kayani was that the very next day, to the much surprise of the PPP rulers at Islamabad, Shahbaz Sharif launched lethal attack against the Kerry-Lugar Bill. The sources said the PML-N leaders were now fast getting frustrated with the policies of President Zardari who was not showing required interested in bringing about changes in the 17th Amendment. The sources said, by holding such secret meetings, PML-N leaders were trying to improve their bargaining position visa-a-vis 17th Amendment. On the other hand, the army establishment was happy to meet them secretly to also make the PPP rulers fall in line. Ayaz Khan:

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PML(N)'s balloon punctured by Brigadier Imtiaz?

Asadullah Ghliab's analysis: PML(N)'s baloon punctured?

Ayaz Khan: Nawaz Sharif under pressure?

PML(N) issues 24 hour deadline

LAHORE: PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal initially announced a 24-hour deadline for the PPP to stop its “propaganda campaign” before extending it to 48 hours, a private TV channel has reported. He told journalists the party would respond in kind if the campaign were not stopped, it added. daily times monitor

Go ahead! We don’t care: PPP

* Babar says issuing ultimatums against spirit of reconciliation, mutual accommodation
* Presidency has no role in allegations of slush fund distribution among politicians

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: In a tit-for-tat reply to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal’s warning that his party would respond against the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) leadership if it did not mend its ways within 48 hours, PPP leaders said they were not afraid of any ultimatum.

The president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar rejected and condemned the attempts to accuse the Presidency of being involved in what has been described as “character assassination” of some political leaders. “There is no question of the Presidency being behind the resurrection of old accusations against some political leaders,” he said.

He said the accusation relating to the distribution of slush funds among politicians some two decades ago were not new and kept popping up every now and then. He said that it was strange that the Presidency was being accused for the first time of a role in the said accusations.

Not good: Babar described the present “hurling” of ultimatums at the president and the Presidency as most unfortunate, uncalled for and against the spirit of reconciliation and mutual accommodation.

The president’s spokesman said the PML-N should provide evidence to back up its claims.

He said the PML-N should not retaliate because of old accusation being brought up by a few disgruntled indivisuals.

Babar said those making the accusations were perhaps hoping to exert pressure on the Presidency to reject any previous record against the said people and in effect giving them future immunity. “This, however, is not the responsibility of the Presidency’s media outfit,” he said.

Babar recalled that when the same person had levelled the accusations against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the PPP leadership, the party and its leadership had directly confronted and squashed the false claims.

Pending: He said the case of alleged distribution of slush funds among politicians was not only almost two decades old but also pending in the Supreme Court. “As such the PPP cannot formally comment upon it let alone endorse the guilt or innocence of anyone allegedly involved,” he said.

PML (N) knew about Karachi operation: General Safdar Ali Khan

Updated at: 1830 PST, Monday, August 31, 2009

LAHORE: Ex Director General Rangers Major General (retired) Safdar Ali Khan said the maps of Jinnahpur were recovered in a raid, however the news was later repudiated under political pressure.

Talking to media in Lahore, he said, “Karachi operation was not against any particular party or community, but it was carried out to purge the city from weapons and criminal elements. Whereas Jinnahpur maps were found in a search operation, which were later dined under political pressure.

“The then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan did not want that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) be crippled against Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), Jamaat e Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), and it was the main reason to end the Karachi operation.”

He said, “Pakistan Muslim League (N) cannot shake off the responsibility by claiming that it did was not informed about the operation, since such operations are not carried out without apprising the government.”

Not only the torture cells were found at Jamshoro University, but anthem and slogans for Sindhu Desh were also witnessed written on the walls, he continued.

He said, “When I was GOC Hyderabad in 1987, Altaf Hussain held a rally along with Jeay Sindh, where he torched the National Flag saying it was a great blunder to acknowledge Pakistan.”

Major General (retired) Safdar Ali Khan said he ordered the than Commissioner Ali Mohammad Sheikh to arrest Altaf Hussain, but the Commissioner replied (the than) president Zia-ul-Haq had directed him not to take any action against the MQM Chief.

General Beg’s mess

Ex-army chief General Aslam Beg (Retd) gets bogged down in damning facts whenever he tries to fend off criticism of his past misdeeds. In the latest attack launched by an ex-ISI officer Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmad Billa (Retd), his tenure as the army chief is again highlighted. The charge — as framed by those who are taking note of Brig Ahmad’s campaign — is that the PPP was victimised by Gen Beg and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and that Ms Benazir Bhutto was dubbed a “security risk” in order to get rid of her.

In answer to Brig Ahmad’s accusation that operation “Midnight Jackals” against the government of Ms Bhutto was at the behest of General Beg and the then ISI chief General Hamid Gul, Gen Beg has now asserted that “Benazir Bhutto was no threat to national security”. To prove that she was “loyal” rather than a “risk”, he cites an incredible but typical secret agency report in 1990 that “the US, the Israelis and Indians were planning to attack Pakistan’s nuclear facilities”. According to him, her response was that “the Pakistan Air Force should be ready to attack India’s nuclear facilities in case Pakistan was attacked”. But if one reads the memoirs of Ms Bhutto, she doesn’t return the compliment. In fact her version is that General Beg didn’t trust she would be sensitive to the security of the country and was warned off certain areas of policy that the army had monopolised and was not willing to change despite a string of failures. She was asked to stay sway from the Afghan policy, Kashmir policy and the nuclear programme, among other issues.

Gen Beg is also keen to divert attention away from his Mehrangate scandal and focus instead on — in his thinking — a less culpable source of the money that was distributed among the politicians to defeat the PPP at the coming polls. He says, “The Saudis had given bags full of money to Mahmood Haroon to woo politicians to join the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), which was constituted to ensure that Benazir did not return to power”. To make it more realistic he has added the detail: “Haroon had claimed that the ‘money-bags’ were so heavy that his shoulders hurt for days”. But evidence shows that it was not Mr Mahmood Haroon’s shoulders that hurt but the hearts of the account-holders in the Mehran Bank that bled when details of how the bank had disbursed big amounts of money to Gen Beg came out. However, Gen Asad Durrani, the then ISI chief, has stated that he had distributed the IJI funds on orders from the army chief. If Mr Beg knew that the money was going to unfairly tilt the elections against the PPP, why did he allow the ISI to distribute it? Especially as he thought Ms Bhutto was no security risk.

Gen Beg is apparently running out of his stock of red herrings. Instead of explaining his own problems with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he has chosen to explain how Mr Sharif fell foul of the then army chief General Asif Nawaz. He should have explained his insubordination when he went and discussed the nuclear programme with Iran without consulting the prime minister. Mr Sharif is on record as having complained that Gen Beg was running his own nuclear policy in violation of his oath as the chief of Pakistan Army.

Gen Beg is in the habit of floating impossible theories as “breaking news” simply because there are people in the national media willing to listen to his anti-American rhetoric. Whenever there is a need for this kind of catharsis, he contributes fantasies that he has named “strategic defiance”. His latest pronouncement is that the people (read the US) who killed General Zia in 1988 also killed Benazir in 2007. He has blithely disregarded the fact that in any investigation of General Zia’s death his name has cropped up again and again.

Not surprisingly, this has compelled General Zia’s son, Mr Ijazul Haq, to say: “Mirza Aslam Beg should participate in the criminal investigation into the deaths of General Ziaul Haq and Benazir Bhutto if he has information about the killers”. Mr Haq is also on record as saying that he had read the “secret” Justice Shafiur Rehman (Retd) Commission report on the death of General Zia and that it had contained information about how the army had obstructed the commission’s inquiry. (Daily Times)

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