Thursday 16 January 2014
Wednesday 15 January 2014
Tuesday 14 January 2014
Separate explosions in KP kill one policeman, injure three
Hit Counter
PESHAWAR: Two separate explosions occurred in different parts of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, leaving one policeman dead and three others injured.
According to the police, security personnel had cordoned off the area near a pull in Peshawar's Regi Model Town area when an explosion took place. Subsequently, one policeman was killed whereas another sustained injuries.
Police added that the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) personnel defused two bombs worth five kilograms from the site of explosion.
Meanwhile, a huge contingent of police personnel reached the area and a probe into the incident went underway.
Separately, a bomb explosion took place near a police van, injuring two cops near the Kolachi Tehsil area of Dera Ismail Khan.
The bomb was remotely detonated.
Other sources reported that seven policemen were wounded in the blast on Rohri road and that the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kolachi police station was among those injured in the blast.
The explosion comes as the country celebrates Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, and strict security measures have been put in place across the country.
Mobile phone services were suspended in most parts of the country in order to avoid any untoward incident.
Further details of the incident were not available till the filing of this report.
Dera Ismail Khan sits close to the restive South Waziristan tribal region bifurcated by the semi-autonomous Frontier Region Jandola.
Earlier, four bodies of unidentified people were recovered from Aman Gar area near Kabul River, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Nowshera district.
A policeman of Nowshera Police confirmed that the four people were shot dead and their bodies have been shifted to a nearby hospital for identification.
In a separate incident in Swabi District, an official of the intelligence agencies, Amjad was shot dead in Swabi bus stand area where he was on duty.
Mobile phone services suspended; security beefed up
KARACHI: In a bid to thwart any untoward terrorist incident on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi, mobile phone services were suspended in most parts of Pakistan on Tuesday whereas security was beefed up in all major cities of the country, DawnNews reported.
Muslims across the country celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, which falls on Tuesday, January 14 this year.
Over 100 Ulema, Mashaikh and scholars of the Sunni Ulema Board have urged people to maintain peace.
The cellular services in Karachi will remain suspended between 7am to 10pm while in other parts of Sindh province, mobile phones will remain silent from 7am to 9pm.
A ban on pillion-riding and carrying of weapons in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana has already been imposed by the Sindh government for five days to ensure security on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi.
The ban has been in place since Friday midnight and it would remain in force till Jan 15.
In Punjab, more than 12 cities have been declared sensitive where cellular services are likely to remain banned today. A ban on pillion-riding has been imposed in Islamabad for three days in this connection.
Mobile phone services will also be suspended in most parts of the militancy-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province to go with a pillion-riding ban in Peshawar and a complete ban on motorcycle-riding in D. I. Khan.
Like other parts of the country, strict security measures have been taken in the troubled Balochistan province. Cellular phone services will remain suspended throughout the province on Tuesday.
Defiant official sent on forced leave
ISLAMABAD: After ‘sorting out’ two top bureaucrats, the government sent Accountant General of Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) Tahir Mahmood on forced leave and replaced him with Ghuzanfar Ali Jilani, a grade-20 officer, on Monday.
A senior official of the finance ministry told Dawn that Mr Mahmood had been sent on forced leave by Commerce Secretary Qasim Niaz, who is heading an inquiry against Mr Mahmood.
Mr Mahmood is to retire from service anyway in March this year on reaching superannuation.
The Controller General of Accounts, Asif Usman, immediately directed Mr Jilani, currently working as chief accounts officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to act as the AGPR.
Mr Usman, Mr Mahmood and the finance ministry’s spokesman could not be contacted for comments despite efforts.
Last month, Mr Mahmood had sent four references to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against different ministries, including those of finance and planning, seeking investigations into allegations of corruption, misappropriation of funds and discrepancies in accounts.
The government believed that Mr Mahmood had bypassed rules and regulations by directly sending references to the NAB, suspended him and ordered a counter inquiry against him.
Mr Mahmood challenged his suspension in the Islamabad High Court, which set aside the suspension order.
He resumed the office of the AGPR, but the two sides failed to reconcile.
The IHC will resume hearing of his petition on Thursday (Jan 16).
The official said that Mr Niaz had exercised his powers under the efficiency and discipline rules to send Mr Mahmood on forced leave to ensure that he did not influence the ongoing inquiry.
In reply to a question, he said the court had stayed Mr Mahmood’s suspension, but had not barred the secretary from sending him on forced leave. It is a separate matter.
Over the past few weeks, the government developed differences with Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Chairman Chaudhry Rashid and National Database and Registration Authority head Tariq Malik. After disputes over their termination and court cases, Mr Rashid has gone on leave and Mr Malik has resigned, although his appointment has been declared legal by the IHC.
UN's Ban urges Iraq to address 'root causes' of unrest
BAGHDAD: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Iraqi leaders to address the “root causes” of a surge in bloodshed as security forces clashed on Monday with gunmen in violence-racked Anbar province.
But Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, standing next to Ban at a joint news conference, insisted the Anbar unrest was not due to internal problems, and that dialogue with militants was not an option.
The UN chief's visit to Baghdad comes just months ahead of general elections, at a time when Iraq is suffering its worst spate of unrest since 2008 and on a day when attacks killed 23 people.
Militants hold an entire city and parts of another on Baghdad's doorstep, the first time they have exercised such open control in major cities since the insurgency that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.
“I would urge the leaders of the country... to address the root causes of the problems,” Ban said.
“They should ensure that there is nobody left behind. There should be political cohesion” and “social cohesion, and political dialogue, inclusive dialogue.” Ban's remarks echoed US calls for Iraqi officials to focus on political reconciliation in addition to ongoing military operations.
“The security situation in Iraq is undoubtedly a source of great concern,”said Ban, adding he was “deeply concerned by this escalation of violence in Anbar governorate”.
But Maliki insisted that “what is happening in Anbar has no relation to Iraqi problems,” and ruled out dialogue with jihadists.
Events in the province have united Iraqis, he said, and therefore “today, there is nothing called dialogue”.
“Dialogue with whom, with al Qaeda? There is no dialogue with al Qaeda, and the Iraqi national decision is to end al Qaeda,” Maliki said, referring to militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has played a major role in nationwide violence.
Ban is on two-day visit to Iraq and was also due to meet parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, lawmakers, Vice-President Khudayr al-Khuzaie and the head of Iraq's election commission.
Highway to Jordan, Syria reopened
Iraq is embroiled in a bloody standoff with militants and anti-government tribes in Anbar, the mostly Sunni desert province in west Iraq which shares a long border with conflict-hit Syria.
The country is also experiencing its wost prolonged period of violence since 2008, when it was just emerging from a bloody Sunni-Shia sectarian war that killed tens of thousands.
Clashes erupted in Anbar on Monday between police and militants in Humairah, an area in provincial capital Ramadi, when security forces attempted to reopen a police station, an AFP journalist said.
Fighting was also still raging in the Albubali and Khaldiyah areas between Ramadi and Fallujah, officials said. Authorities meanwhile reopened a stretch of a highway to Jordan and Syria that had been closed for months by Sunni protesters demonstrating against the alleged mistreatment of their community by the Shia-led government.
Analysts say that widespread Sunni anger towards the government has fuelled the surge of violence in the country.
Militants and anti-government tribes still hold two areas in Ramadi, as well as all of Fallujah, a former insurgent stronghold just 60 kilometres from Baghdad.
Clashes still erupt periodically in Ramadi but civil servants have returned to work in the city, and residents who had fled Fallujah have since begun to come back.
ISIL has been active in the Anbar fighting, but so have anti-government tribesmen.
The army has for the most part stayed outside of Fallujah during the crisis, with analysts warning any assault on the city would likely cause significant civilian casualties.
The Iraqi Red Crescent said it had provided humanitarian assistance to more than 8,000 families across Anbar but that upwards of 13,000 had fled Fallujah.
Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp.
The violence spread to Fallujah, and militants moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.
Iraq was also hit by violence outside Anbar on Monday, with at least 23 people killed nationwide.
NA committee approves draft of anti-terrorism law
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control approved on Monday a draft of the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance (ATO) 2013, with some members expressing reservations and writing dissenting notes.
The committee, however, did not approve the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) 2013 which was termed by some members ‘a black law’ and similar to the Indian law called Protection of Terrorism Act (POTA) 2002.
Under the PPO, no-one can oppose any act of the government and all kinds of demonstrations have been banned, according to critics.
Some members of the committee, including Arif Alvi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Nabeel Gabol of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), strongly opposed the PPO 2013 and wrote dissenting notes on the ATO 2013.
“Under the proposed PPO bill presented by the government no-one can raise his/her voice against any act of the government,” said Mr Gabol.
He said that under the PPO no-one could hold a protest rally, even against electricity and gas loadshedding which was contrary to the basic rights enshrined in the constitution.
Mr Gabol said it appeared that members of the committee, especially from the ruling party, were in a hurry to approve the proposed PPO 2013.
After reservations expressed by some opposition members, it was decided that all members of the committee would review the PPO again at the next meeting of the committee.
While the committee headed by MNA Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan was discussing the ATO 2013 and PPO 2013, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who is a member of the committee, did not attend the meeting.
“The main objective of discussing the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013, bill was to take effective measures to protect life and property of the people in the face of increasing acts of terrorism in the country,” the head of the committee said. The absence of the minister was, therefore, strange.
It was not specifically mentioned during the meeting that the ATO had been approved by the committee, but it was nevertheless sent to the National Assembly for debate.
Meanwhile, although the proposed bill has been approved by the committee, several clauses of the ATO 2013 and PPO 2013 seem to be contrary to each other.
“Under the PPO a person can fire on others in self-defence without any warning while under the ATO he has to determine first whether he could be attacked or not,” said Arif Alvi of PTI.
In case of confiscation of property and freezing of bank accounts of those involved in acts of terrorism, the committee was asked for exposing ‘credible source’, but the official of the interior ministry briefing the committee on ATO said the credible source would be financial institutions and agencies.
The committee was apprised that the ATO 2013 had many flaws and, as a result, it has become difficult for the police to collect evidence against the accused.
“According to ATO 2013 more than 10,000 people have been arrested in Sindh only under different charges, but FIRs were registered only against 280 of them,” Mr Alvi said.
JOINT INVESTIGATION TEAM: The committee recommended that a BPS-18 officer should lead the joint investigation team (JIT), while operations of police would be reviewed every month and electronic and other evidence would also be examined by the team.
Some members expressed their reservations over the three-month timeframe given to JIT to investigate cases. They were of the view that it should be curtailed to one month for prompt disposal of cases.
It also approved conferring of special powers of investigation to Rangers especially in Sindh where they are engaged in an operation against outlaws and terrorists.
ELCTRONIC EVIDENCE: It was agreed at the meeting that in many cases of terrorism and crime, electronic evidence was the only option to investigate cases.
In this regard the committee approved a proposal enabling police to become a complainant in extortion cases with special provisions for protection of witnesses (faceless) through video recording.
THREATS: Mr Gabol apprised the committee that the Sindh government had withdrawn Rangers deployed for his security, adding that the latest security alert of the interior ministry disclosed that he and Faisal Sabzwari of the MQM were on the hit-list of terrorists.
“If something happens to him then the federal and provincial governments will be responsible for it,” he said.
On this, committee chairman Shameem Ahmed assured Mr Gabol that he would write a letter to the interior secretary about his security.
Egypt constitution vote begins as bomb underscores divide
CAIRO: Egyptians began voting on a new constitution Tuesday amid high security, as a bomb exploded outside a Cairo court, underscoring lingering polarisation after the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The military-installed government has implored voters to turn out en masse to ratify the constitution in the two-day referendum, hoping to bolster its disputed authority after Morsi's ouster.
An Islamist coalition led by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has called for a boycott and “civilised peaceful protests” during the polling, and the interior ministry has pledged to confront attempts to disrupt voting.
The small, improvised bomb exploded less than two hours before polls opened, causing little damage and no injuries, a police general said.
But it again highlighted the government's precarious grip on the most populous Arab country, still reeling from Morsi's ouster and a bloody crackdown on his Islamist supporters.
The police and army have deployed hundreds of thousands of police and soldiers to guard polling stations amid fears that a spate in militant attacks and protests would keep voters at home.
At one polling station for women at a school, dozens lined up to cast their ballots, some waving Egyptian flags and chanting pro-military slogans.
While it is uncertain how many Egyptians will vote amid concern over violence, the constitution appears certain to pass.
The charter has done away with much of the Islamist-inspired wording of Morsi's constitution, which was suspended on his overthrow, and its supporters say it expands women's rights and freedom of speech.
But it has bolstered the military's powers, granting the army the right to appoint the defence minister for the next eight years and to try civilians for attacks on the armed forces.
Interim president Adly Mansour urged Egyptians to turn out at the polls.
“I call on you to live up to the responsibility you owe to your nation and to ensure a better future for this country to go to your polling station and vote,” he said in a speech on Sunday.
The runup to the vote has been marred by a deadly crackdown on Morsi's supporters, and arrests of activists who campaigned for a “no” vote.
At least seven activists have been detained in the past week as they distributed posters or leaflets critical of the new constitution, prominent rights lawyer Ragia Omran told AFP, adding that most were released after a few days.
The capital has been festooned with banners urging Egyptians to vote “yes”, often featuring military motifs such as a general's hat, an allusion to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Many Islamists revile Sisi as the man who overthrew the country's first freely elected and civilian president, but the general is adored by the millions who took to the streets in July to demand Morsi's resignation.
The army chief is widely expected to run for president, and has said he would stand for election if he felt there was “popular demand,” state media reported this week.
Sisi will closely monitor the turnout and result of the referendum as an “indicator” of support for a presidential bid, said an official close to the general.
The authorities are worried that a low turnout would empower their Islamist opponents in Morsi's Brotherhood movement and cast further doubt on their legitimacy, analysts say.
At least 1,000 people, mostly Islamists, have been killed in street clashes, and thousands have been imprisoned since the ouster of Morsi, whose supporters continue protests almost every day.
Blast injures two policemen in DI Khan
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A bomb explosion took place near a police van, injuring two cops near Kolachi tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday.
The bomb was remotely detonated.
Other sources reported that seven poilcemen were wounded in the blast on Rohri road and that the Station House Officer of Kolachi police station was among those injured in the blast.
The explosion comes as the country celebrates Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, and strict security measures have been put in place across the country.
Mobile phone services were suspended in most parts of the country in order to avoid any untoward incident.
Further details of the incident were not available till the filing of this report.
Dera Ismail Khan sits close to the restive South Waziristan tribal region bifurcated by the semi-autonomous Frontier Region Jandola.
Earlier, four bodies of unidentified people were recovered from Aman Gar area near Kabul River, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Nowshera district.
A policeman of Nowshera Police confirmed that the four people were shot dead and their bodies have been shifted to a nearby hospital for identification.
In a separate incident in Swabi District, an official of the intelligence agencies, Amjad was shot dead in Swabi bus stand area where he was on duty.
Justice, TV style
THE episode’s title sequence opens with a view of Gotham City-like place with shadowy skyscrapers looming in the background and ambulances racing by with sirens wailing. The camera then pans to a burly host clad in a military combat vest, with stubble and sunglasses, hands on his hips, standing next to a large bullseye.
This is not the trailer of a Batman movie nor of the Anil Kapoor-helmed TV show 24 but one of several non-fictional crime shows currently running on Pakistani news channels. The hosts of these shows identify so-called social evil in any city, carry out their own investigation and inform the police, who are happy to carry out a raid.
In a recent episode the show’s team stopped college students coming from what was described as a brothel in an apartment block, threatened to expose their wrongdoings to their parents and run their footage on TV. The scared boys handed their mobile phones to the host who proceeded to note the phone numbers of people running the brothel. The host also conducts SWOT-style raids with policemen in tow. At the end of each episode the host admonishes the public for keeping silent and urges them to speak up against evildoers lurking in their mohallas.
Coupled with themes that tap into the moral panic alongside the bizarre — such as mobile text messages are leading young people astray and stealing real hair from graveyards for hair transplants — announced by hyper-excited voiceovers and graphics, all these elements make for vivid visuals and charged drama. The anchorpersons claim their shows are a platform for the common man to obtain justice, whereas for detractors these shows are perpetuating vigilante justice.
“Pakistan is our country and we have to help our people,” says Sherry, the burly host of a crime show. “The poor have nowhere to go and police can do only so much. The people trust us more. They first get in touch with the media as they feel that we are effective in solving their problems.” Sharea Faisal SP Ali Asif, who has been featured in some crime shows, also concurs with Sherry’s view. “There is a [negative] perception of law enforcement agencies but when they see us on television, the medium is such that it confirms that we have indeed done a [positive] job in the form of raids and arrests. It reinstates the public’s faith in the police.”
He may have a point. But the issue is that the shows are going further, as a member of the editorial committee at a TV channel points out, and many of these anchorpersons are blurring the lines between crime shows and policing which is a problem.
“Robberies are a common occurrence. So should one carry out one’s own investigation, nab the culprit and douse him with petrol and burn him alive?” wonders Wusutullah Khan, broadcast journalist and columnist.
“These shows have become the prosecutor, court and judge. This means the police and the government should be disbanded. Raising an issue is a news channel’s job but taking the law into one’s own hands is not.”
Khan is unimpressed with the argument that these shows are quite popular. “Who is deciding what the viewer likes and dislikes and how it is being measured. A few hundred telemeters in a population of 180 million are a faulty way of measurement. If these shows are so popular then why is it that when one goes to social gatherings people express their disdain for these shows? Why are these likes not being expressed on the social media? And if the hosts say that they receive appreciative calls then they need to tell us how many critical calls they receive. Are these not parameters for viewers’ likes and dislikes?”
Khan also points to an ironic situation in this debate: “Instead of confronting the police why they have not been able to eradicate a crime in their locality, the hosts instead express their thanks to the police for letting their team tag along. It seems the police were so innocent that they had no idea what was happening in their area till these hosts showed up!”
Another important aspect of such shows is that they highlight police and crime show team barging into people’s houses without warrants. “How can you do this? When will this stop?”
IHC order about CNG creates confusion
ISLAMABAD: Two divergent decisions on gas supply to CNG stations by the Lahore and Islamabad high courts have put the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and its domestic consumers in a tight spot.
The Lahore High Court disallowed last week a petition seeking restoration of supply to CNG stations and held that the government’s gas load management policy was on the right track.
On a similar petition, the Islamabad High Court ordered interrupted supply to compressed natural gas stations for three days a week.
An official of the SNGPL said it had become difficult for the company to take a clear stance. “There are chances of violation of court orders in any case. If we provide gas for CNG, it is contempt of the LHC and if we don’t it is contempt of the IHC,” he said.
He said the SNGPL’s regional general managers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad had sought guidance from the company headquarters in Lahore because many CNG stations were located in areas bordering the twin cities, but no guidelines could be provided.
He said the problem was that owners of CNG stations as far as Gujar Khan had been able to get stay orders from the IHC against disruption in gas supply even though they fell in the jurisdiction of LHC, which had a permanent bench in Rawalpindi.
“We are also seeking advice from lawyers and guidance from the federal government, but nobody is in a position to state something with certainty,” he said.
The lawyers are also examining whether the IHC has territorial jurisdiction in Rawalpindi and if so, what would be the status of the LHC and the questions are likely be taken by the government to the Supreme Court.
The sources said the SNGPL staff had been asked unofficially to try to close down CNG stations wherever possible, but when they faced resistance from owners with influence at different levels, they had to back out.
The reason behind such a casual policy, the official said, was not to confront any court but keep the gas going to domestic consumers as they were the top priority of the government under its load management policy.
“The gas pressure is already not up to the mark these days due to harsh winter, but when a CNG station gets opened the supply to most of the domestic consumers stops in the adjoining areas,” he said.
Under the government’s instructions, the SNGPL used to close down CNG stations throughout Punjab for two days a week even in summer, but when it announced complete cessation of supply to the sector for three winter months, at least 77 owners of Rawalpindi and Islamabad sought relief from the IHC.
The court ordered restoration of supply to all stations in Rawalpindi and Islamabad for three days a week.
The government filed an intra-court appeal against the IHC decision, but could not get relief.
According to Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the government had already placed the matter before the Supreme Court.
Monday 13 January 2014
Solar streetlights in Bajaur
KHAR: Installation of solar streetlights is continuing in several trade centres of Bajaur Agency under the Tribal Areas Rural to Urban Centres Conversion Initiative (TARUCCI). So far, 450 solar lights have been installed in several markets, and more would be installed within a month, said an official of TARUCCI.
He said about 1,000 streetlights had been approved under the project at a cost of US $2 million.
The official said after installation of streetlights the traders would be able to keep their shops open till late.
He said installation of streetlights in urban areas of Khar tehsil would be followed by provision of clean drinking water and setting up of sewerage system. He said about US $7 million would be spent on setting up an urban centre at Khar.
All recognise valour of Hangu hero but PTI govt
PESHAWAR: The 15-year-old Aitezaz Hassan Bangash is a hero. He laid his life on January 6 to save his Hangu schoolmates from falling victim to the devil designs of a suicide bomber.
Young Hassan did something that most of us, perhaps, would not even dare think about when a situation warrants. His parallel to none sacrifice is being eulogised by all except for some.
Foreign and local media has covered his valour with professional aplomb. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has recommended his name to the President for conferment of Sitara-i-Shujaat on him.
Military authorities have also jumped in as well. Army chief sent in a representative to lay a wreath of flowers on the young hero’s last resting place and asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary to recommend young Hassan for Sitara-i-Shujaat, ignoring that the same has already been done by the premier.
Senate has passed a resolution, recognising his and the bravery of Sindh police officer Chaudhry Aslam killed in a Karachi bomb blast on Thursday.
Malala Yousufzai, the internationally acclaimed peace and education activist from Swat, has reportedly announced Rs500,000 for Hassan’s family.
On a much larger scale, the young Bangash scion has become a household name. In family living rooms, friends’ gatherings, social networking sites, political conversations, people just can’t fail to recognise his service to humanity and bravery.
Are we missing here something in listing out praise, affection, recognition with which people and institutions have responded to acknowledge the young man’s courage in preferring death over spinelessness?
Yes, we are missing someone that is important because of its constitutional responsibility and moral obligation towards its people. Someone that is also important to directly serve an assurance to the young hero’s family, friends, and the whole of citizenry of Hangu and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reminding them that there is somebody out there to feel their pain, shed tear on their loss, solace them in their difficult time, and stand bravely with them in a time when they need it the most.
The silence with which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has reacted to the young man’s courage or the carelessness with which it responded to the attack on the school is not so astonishing.
The provincial assembly offered belated prayers (on Friday) for both Hassan and the Sindh police officer. Had it not been the police officer’s tragic death in a violent Taliban attack, the assembly might not have opted to remember the young hero.
One can put this argument across with certain degree of confidence because the assembly did not pay attention to the Hangu school attack in its sittings held between Monday and Friday: the day the attack occurred and the day the prayers were offered.Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its major coalition partner Jamaat-i-Islami have over the past several months shown the tendency to protest and explode in condemnation only when a militant is killed in a US drone attack. They beat chest on every such occasion and term it a conspiracy to thwart peace prospects.
PTI chairman Imran Khan’s statement following the Sindh police officer’s murder did not come as a surprise either. The party’s stand towards militancy may not be in line with its own election manifesto, but it is consistent with its attempts to avoid confrontation with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
There is a growing public perception that suggests the PTI leadership is frightened of challenging Taliban over their violence against humanity.
The party supporters might differ with the observation by citing Imran Khan’s recent participation in the polio vaccination campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a reminder of going against Taliban.
However, Mr Khan’s participation in the vaccination campaign would have meant something really bigger if he had chosen to administer the polio vaccination drops to children in Peshawar or Swabi where the ruthless hands gunned down poor vaccinators in the recent. Instead, Mr Khan chose to administer drops to a grandson of his political ideologue Maulana Samiul Haq at a well guarded rural health centre at Akkora Khattak.
Governance requires a little more than rehashing old ideas to formulate forms and project them as a recipe for change. It also requires more than studying different laws to make a new regulation and claim it to be a new initiative. Laws are important. Equally important is the enforcement. Without strict and effective implementation good laws becomes a burden of history.
PTI has promised to ensure good governance. Its election manifesto serves as a sorry reminder of a document that has apparently lost meaning in today’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
PTI’s latest take on peace is well known. Peace cannot be established unless drone strikes are stopped. What if TTP does not agree to peace talks even if the drone strikes are stopped? TTP has already spoken its mind: its struggle is for the enforcement of Sharia in Pakistan, which means drone strikes are a secondary issue.
We can’t remind Chief Minister Pervez Khattak his role as a protector of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But, we can refer to his party’s election manifesto in which it clearly states that “PTI also recognises the scourge of terrorism and its devastating effect on Pakistan and its citizens.” Isn’t Aitezaz a victim of terrorism? Doesn’t he deserve justice? Shouldn’t we arrest the masterminds, who planned the ghastly attack on Hangu’s school?
These are the questions the answers to which are lost deep in PTI-led provincial government’s silence over the consistency with which terrorists have targeted people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since its taking office in June last.
Indian army chief’s claim of ceasefire breach rejected
ISLAMABAD: Responding to the Indian army chief's statement Monday regarding ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LOC), Pakistan Army’s spokesman said that it is contrary to the facts on the ground.
Pakistan Army respects the ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit, said an ISPR press release quoting Major General Asim Bajwa as saying.
He said that after the meeting between Director Generals Military Operations (DGMOs) of both South Asian neighbours on Dec 24 last year, the situation along LOC has improved considerably.
Such accusations and provocative statements are regrettable and counterproductive, the spokesman added.
Warning Pakistan against border violations, Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh had said that India was not bound to follow the rules if Pakistan was up to breaking them.
“If rules are followed by our neighbours, we follow them too. If rules are broken, we won’t sit on it, we will break them too,” Indian media quoted him as saying.
Gen Singh, however, noted that frequency of ceasefire violations have come down remarkably ever since the meeting of the DGMOs of the two countries in December last year.
“Attempts are on to ensure ceasefire agreements are adhered to by both sides. It is our endeavour to control it, not escalate it,” he said.
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