Peshawar Citizens Peace Walk - Jan. 30th 2008

A 'Peace Walk' organized by residents of Hayatabad in which families, civil society and political party members also participated.

PART I


Mr Zahid Hussain Mohmand, Secretary Information of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf NWFP, addressed a gathering at a 'Peace Walk' organized by residents of Hayatabad in which families, civil society groups and political party members also participated.

PART II


Courtesy: peshawargallery

Double Standards of Pakistan Government in Dealing with High Profile Deportations

E ILAHI

The brother of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Wajahat Hussain and his other family members were detained last Tuesday at Gatwick airport under the anti-terror law for serveral hours. They were on their way to UK from Spain. According to newsreports, 'Commander Wajahat' as he is referred to in Gujrat had left for Europe to organize pro-Mush rallies everywhere Mush was to visit. Afterwards, they were deported to Pakistan.

The Foreign Office was quick to summon Britain’s Acting High Commissioner on Friday to protest and tell them they deplored the treatment given to the Chaudhries. According to Dawn, Pakistan High Commission in London was pursuing the matter with the British authorities (as of last Friday). As if that was not enough, an envoy from the British High Commission in Islamabad went to the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat on Friday to personally apologize on behalf of the British government. As if that was 'yet' not enough, Chaudhry Shujaat flew out to London himself yesterday in order to take legal action against those who ordered the deportation. Apparently, he is not satisfied with the 'regrets' expressed by the British High Commission and feels his relatives were humiliated.

Now take the case of Abdul Sattar Edhi. On Jan. 8th he was stopped at London on his way to New York. After he arrived in New York on Jan. 9th he was detained for several hours and was questioned about his beard among other things! According to reports, his Pakistani passport and US green card have been seized and he is not allowed to return to Pakistan until the matter is solved; which might be Feb. 20th when the US Immigration authorities have decided to deal with the issue. He was also reportedly threatened intially with deportation from the US. Yesterday, the Foreign Office said it was trying to resolve the issue. As Dawn has reported, this was the third time that Edhi was detained at an airport abroad. In 2006, he was investigated by Canadian authorities at Toronto and in 2007 he was detained at the New York airport.

It would be a great shame if the Foreign Office and Government of Pakistan do not protest and make greater noise than they did when it came to the entourage of the Chaudhries!

After all, Abdul Sattar Edhi is our national hero who is even recognized internationally for his humanitarian and welfare work. A person who actually does do something for the benefit of the people of Pakistan, not for his own benefit unlike our run-of-the-mill politicians. Lets wait and watch how much time and 'power' it takes the Foreign Office this time to resolve the issue of Abdul Sattar Edhi, if at all.

Waltzing among wolves

Op-Ed by Anjum Niaz

Hair blow dried with a hint of a mid-parting and temples conveniently left white to create that academic look, the Pakistani president took his road show to Europe. He did a minuet with Condi Rice. The setting at Davos was sufficiently strategic with a mini Pakistani flag sitting between Musharraf and the American secretary of state. Yes, he looked debonair enough and marshalled notice; yes he stayed at the Dorchester (with taxpayers' money) in London and boasted he'd play bridge with buddy Brig Niaz at his expensive retreat when off, still the president earned criticism not laurels.

Did Pervez Musharraf really think he'll conquer European hearts and minds with his aggressive defence of the indefensible? Yet, at the same time he played the victim. He talked of his opponents whenever he got a chance, accusing evil doers like the sacked Supreme Court judges down to atta hoarders and smugglers eviscerating his writ. Presenting himself as a modern day messiah, Musharraf opened up the wounds of his crucifixion to earn sympathy. Sadly he did not earn much.

Is anyone keeping Musharraf updated with the scornful news stories, editorials, columns and blogs that keep pouring in daily? Not so long ago, the same man was aggressively pursued by every editorial board worth its name whenever he went west. He received kudos. Now he is met by the baying of the wolves.

Since he is a commando he will not throw in the towel and call it a day. Of late we have heard him say he will resign if he's unwanted. Obviously the mercury in the thermometer kept at the Presidency has not shot to danger levels necessitating his emergency exit while everywhere else the barometers are turning red. He still has his followers who go with him to chant slogans wherever they can. Musharraf's party would have been made more the merrier by the addition of another six lackeys flown to London to shout their throats out for him. Unlucky for them, they got nabbed by the airport police under anti-terrorist act and locked up for almost 24 hours and were finally packed off to Pakistan. Among the arrested was Chaudhry Shujaat's younger brother Wajahat, his three nephews and two hangers-on. These Gujrati supporters flew in from Barcelona but were trundled off on the next flight to Pakistan after Interpol grilled them of possible links with Pakistani terrorists recently arrested in Madrid.

The incident warranted an appropriate show of protest for face saving. Hence the British acting high commissioner in Islamabad was trotted out before our acting foreign secretary and made to say sorry. The Foreign Office muscle flexing hardly intimidated the Brits who mumbled tepid apologies and said the deported guys were welcome to return to London anytime. What a farce? We'll never know the truth -- either from Pakistani authorities or the Brits.

President Musharraf often uses our Foreign Office in such situations, ordering about the babus and getting them to do stuff (like intervening for the Chaudhry clan), but treats the Pakistani media with contempt. An amused Maulana Fazlur Rehman has just complained why the FO was not used when he was deported from Dubai. At London at a desi do, he singled out a senior Pakistani journalist who asked him about Rashid Rauf, the suspected terrorist who escaped from a Pakistani jail recently. Musharraf didn't like his question, accusing the journalist of "casting aspersions" and "undermining our forces and your own country". He questioned the journalist's patriotism and professionalism saying that no western media person had asked him this question throughout his tour. "What's bugging this guy (the Pakistani journalist) to ask such a question," Musharraf impugned, "what's his problem?"

His behaviour further fuelled media tut-tutting. He "treats his fellow Pakistanis with contempt while oozing charm for the benefit of foreigners" wrote David Blair, diplomatic editor of Daily Telegraph. But a possible embarrassment awaits Musharraf when he wakes up from his VVIP dream-bed at Dorchester this morning. At 11.30 am before 10 Downing Street will stand Asma Jehangir, Imran Khan, Jemima Khan, and activists of political parties. They will shout "Go Musharraf, go." It is not Islamabad where Musharraf would have had the three lathi-charged, manhandled and tear gassed. This is London. You cannot use the stick here.

Interestingly Musharraf has become controversial. While the governments of Britain, US and Saudi Arabia support him and encourage him to continue throttling people's freedoms as long as he promises to contain suicide bombers killing Pakistanis and not any foreigners, the western media is no longer in love with him. Musharraf in turn hates the Pakistani media because he thinks it is the source of his malignancy spreading cancer against him abroad. In this zero sum game, bigger issues often get blotted out.

What's this talk about Pakistan being the most dangerous country? The British Interior Minister Jacqui Smith according to an AFP report confessed that she is scared walking the streets of London at night. Even posh districts like Kensington and Chelsea are not safe at night, she conceded. Why did the world media not pick up this lead and flash it around the world saying that if the interior minister feels unsafe at night what does it signify? But no one paid much attention because the world media remains Pakistan-centric and loves to dig out all the dirt it can about it from whosoever is willing to snitch.

Recently two retired intelligence bigwigs told the New York Times the intelligence agency had "lost control" of some of the networks of Pakistani militants it has nurtured since the 1980s, and is now suffering the violent blowback of that policy. Who are these two men and why are we keeping quiet? Musharraf's criticism, I guess, is selective and he likes hitting out at those who cannot hit back, like the Pakistani journalist in London.

The writer is a freelance journalist with over twenty years of experience in national and international reporting.

Source: The News International

Edhi faces deportation

US authorities have threatened Pakistan’s most respected citizen Abdul Sattar Edhi with deportation, he said.

“I just received a telephone call from someone, telling me that I am being deported,” Mr Edhi, who is now in New York told Dawn.

He said he was stopped at the airport in London when he tried to board a plane for New York on Jan 8.

Mr Edhi then contacted the US Embassy in London who gave him a letter which allowed him to proceed to New York. The letter also advised him to see US authorities on Feb 18 to clear whatever misunderstandings they may have about him.

Mr Edhi arrived in New York on Jan 9 and was detained at the airport for eight hours.

“They were questioning me why I look the way I look,” said Mr Edhi who has a long beard and always wears traditional Pakistani dress along with a traditional cap.

“They also wanted to know why I visit the United States so regularly,” he said. “I told them I am a social worker. What else I do? I only do social work,” said Mr Edhi who has branches of his trust in several US cities.

“If they do not let me work here, I will work somewhere else.”

About Edhi:

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, as of 1997, Edhi Foundation’s ambulance service is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the world. He also personally holds the world record for having gone the longest time working without having taken a holiday. As of when the record was set, he has still not taken a single day off work.

Source: Dawn

Another Award for Lawyers & Judges of Pakistan

Annual Award for Distinction in International Law and Affairs presented to the Lawyers and Judges of Pakistan, as represented by Aitzaz Ahsan, in asbentia

Embattled judges and vulnerable children are among the issues to be taken up this week as more than 5,000 lawyers gather at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association.

The International Law and Practice Section tomorrow (Wed. Jan. 29th 2008) gives its annual award for distinction in international law and affairs in absentia to Aitzaz Ahsan, on behalf of the lawyers and judges of Pakistan. Much of that country’s legal and judicial community has been in conflict with Pakistan’s leadership since President Perves Musharraf suspended the constitution and replaced seven of the 11 members of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Ahsan, president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, has been under frequent arrest for his efforts to restore Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice.

Earlier this month, the New York City Bar Association granted honorary membership to Justice Chaudhry. In November, the city and state bars, as well as the New York County Lawyers’ Association, organized a rally attended by about 700 people at Manhattan Supreme Court in support of Pakistan’s lawyers and judges.

Sources:
New York Law Journal
New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)

Police tear-gas anti-Musharraf protest [Watch Video & Pictures]

Click on the link below to view Video:
Pakistani lawyers protest against Musharraf regime

Click on the link below to view pictures (Courtesy Rise of Pakistan):
24 Jan 2008- Islamabad Protest of Lawyers and Police's baton charge

Pakistani riot police used tear gas and batons here on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, Agence France-Presse reporters witnessed.

Around 400 people, including lawyers, hardline Islamists and supporters of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan screamed ‘Death to Musharraf’ when police stopped them from visiting Pakistan’s former top judge.

Musharraf sacked chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry under emergency rule in November last year. Chaudhry remains under house arrest in Islamabad.

The protesters tried to break through a police barricade outside the upmarket Marriott Hotel, which is near Chaudhry’s house, but were forced back by baton-wielding police who then fired tear gas.

Waving black flags, the protesters regrouped and chanted: ‘We will lay down our lives for the chief justice.’
Former premier Nawaz Sharif was prevented from meeting Chaudhry on Wednesday.

The independent-minded Chaudhry became a pro-democracy icon when he fought back against Musharraf’s initial attempt to oust him in March 2007 on charges of misconduct.

Musharraf declared an emergency and finally sacked the judge on November 3 amid fears that the Supreme Court was set to overturn his victory in a presidential election the previous month.

Source: TV3 (NZ) & Hemscott

What future for Pakistan's lawyers' movement?

By Faisal Naseem Chaudhry
[advocate, Lahore High Court, Lahore, Pakistan]
Monday, January 21, 2008

"All was not well on the morning of December 27, yet it was not so unwell either. Elections were to take place on 8th of January. Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and other politicians were on a move round-the-clock as part of their election campaign. The lawyers' boycott of judges who had taken oath's under General Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule was a working reality, especially in Lahore. The issue restoration the ousted superior court judges was sizzling and Bhutto was condemned for her fluctuating stance on the subject.

Everything changed at 6 PM that evening when one or more bullets killed her. Three of days official mourning witnessed excessive damage to public and private property resulting in huge losses to the national exchequer; just the other day Pakistan Railways demanded 6 billion rupees for a revamp. The Election Commission of Pakistan set February 18 as the new date for General Elections, and the deposed judges appeared to be part of history.

Only in the last couple of weeks has the lawyers' movement witnessed some progress. The Lahore District Bar Elections took place on 12 January. Hamid Khan's all-powerful "Professional Group" made a clean sweep. After a couple of days, the new Chief of Army Staff issued a strict official directive that he would not tolerate military's indulgence into politics and any officer inviting a politician to his office shall have to face serious consequences. News items also appeared that the Army Chief also decided to summon back officers working as deputies in in civilian organizations.

In the wake of all this, a strange decision of Pakistan Bar Council struck everyone. Through a resolution, it decided that the lawyers' fraternity would observe a complete strike of Superior and Subordinate Judiciary on every Thursday while on other working days only a token strike shall be observed from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. This is interesting because in the Superior Judiciary, the tea break for judges commences at 10:30 and ends at 11. The decision jolted not the community, but rather its discipline. In its wake, provincial and local lawyers bodies agitated and simply flouted the decision of the Pakistan Bar Council, asking it to go back to its former rule.

February 2008 is going to be a very important month. National Elections are to take place, but for me, the Lahore High Court Bar Association Elections (23 Feb) are of more importance. It was a shame when the Office Bearers of the Lahore District Bar Association came out against rallies amidst police baton charges and our leadership preferred to take shelter in the form of 'house arrest'. It was a shame when we were advised to 'protest' within the boundary of the High Court: "Do not go out; police will beat you. Let the thrashing of Civil Court Lawyers take place, you are superior. They appear before the subordinate judiciary, you appear before the Lordships." It was a shame in toto. If the District Bar Association was not there, the leadership of the Lahore High Court Bar Association in connivance and collaboration with the recently retired Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court would have almost destroyed the lawyers' movement in Lahore.

This is why I consider the forthcoming LHCBA elections of supreme importance. If the "Professional Group" does not succeed this time having Mr. Anwar Kamal as candidate for the position of President, we shall again be constrained to merely read in the newspapers as to what is going on at Peshawar High Court or Sindh High Court at Karachi. The office bearers of Lahore High Court Bar Association caused great damage to the lawyers' movement in fear of the former Chief Justice of Lahore High Court. Kudos go to the individual lawyers who were arrested, beaten, and later jailed under Anti-Terrorism charges. It was these individual members of the High Court Bar who said 'no' to the office bearers, refused to listen to their deodorized speeches, and decided to join their Civil Court colleagues in the streets. What a day it was when the former President of the Lahore District Bar (as the new President has been elected on Jan 12) virtually bullied the District Police Officer in the last week of December, "On November 5, we were not prepared. If you have guts, try to baton charge us today and then see how we are going to hammer you and your foot-constables". Police Officers did not baton charge afterwards since the then Chief Justice had not issued any clandestine orders in this regard. I am not aware of other provinces and Bar Associations other than the two based in Lahore, but so far as Lahore is concerned, the lawyers were beaten on March 13 and November 5 under the specific orders of the then Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court working through the President of the Lahore High Court Bar Association. I do not have a video to support my arguments but these arguments are the talk of the town. Take a poll; you will get the same opinion.

Since November 3, 2007, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan), Mr. Ali Ahmad Kurd, and many others have been detained in their houses. They have not been allowed to come out of their houses lest 'public order' deteriorate. Where is the democratic United States in all this? Its leaders would prefer to have debates over the fate of Guantanamo detainees while one of ours - imprisoned by a government they support - is the Chief Justice of this country. The EU meanwhile is sending a Mission to 'observe' the upcoming National Elections, yet the EU does not seem to care about the fate of those who sacrificed their high offices for the security of our constitutional rights.

On top of all this, we also do not allow them to start their Chambers either. The deposed judges have been asked by the lawyers not to commence legal practice, as it would be taken as consent to the unlawful removal from office. Almost three months have passed with no other source of income and they are sitting home while restrained by us not to work as legal counsels.

I am apprehensive of the days after the National Elections. The infamous 'horse-trading' will begin in the newly elected Constituent Assemblies; the newspapers will have other spicy stories to publish; the new Prime Minister of Pakistan will address his 'brethren' promising the alleviation of their sufferings; I shall have new clients and new litigation in my pocket, and amidst the mesmerizing lights of Lahore we shall forget how a deposed Judge will pay the electricity bills to have lights in his house."

Source: Jurist

Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand and Leicester Square ...

By Lorne Gunter
Monday, January 21, 2008

I'm with you and you're with me, so we are all together;

And we are marching to Islamabad, Islamabad, Islamabad;

Oh, we are marching to Islamabad, Islamabad, Hurrah!

Come on, Canada. Let's get our creative juices flowing. Now that Liberal party leader Stephane Dion has declared war on Pakistan, we're gonna need some great tunes our boys and girls in uniform can sing as they slog their way from the rolling sand dunes of the Thar Desert, through the mangrove swamps of the southern coast to the frigid peaks of the Himalayas and Hindu Kush.

There'll be pheasants over, the wide Hunza Valley; Tomorrow, just you wait and see ...

The goatsman will tend his kids. The opium will bloom again. And Rashid will go to sleep, in his own little room again.

Oh, I know the Liberals are in full backpedal over remarks Mr. Dion made in Quebec City last week that sounded an awful lot like a plan for an invasion of Pakistan. You can tell how desperate they are because they stooped to sending the unbelievable Denis Coderre out to cover his boss's tracks.

The opposition leader's office now insists: "Mr. Dion obviously did not propose any sort of military intervention. Mr. Dion believes that Canada must focus our diplomatic efforts on Pakistan in order to secure the border with Afghanistan."

OK. But what he said sure sounded a lot like a call to arms. If the Pakistanis cannot stop the Taliban from training within their boundaries and pouring into Afghanistan to attack our troops, Mr. Dion warned, "We could consider that option with the NATO forces in order to help Pakistan help us pacify Afghanistan."

Sure, sure. He didn't mean we should send the Patricia's and the Van Doos into Baluchistan. No, Mr. Dion clearly meant non-military action. Our diplomats always refer to themselves as "NATO forces" and their negotiations as "pacification."

I know Mr. Dion now insists he has "no solution" regarding Pakistan and our mission in Afghanistan. (I can already see the Tory ads featuring that gift of a quotation.) But I think Mr. Dion was really letting his inner hawk shine through in Quebec. Deep inside this mealy-mouthed, Liberal equivocator lies the heart of another Winston Churchill. "We shall fight them in the madrasas. We shall fight them on the cricket pitches. We shall fight them in the Punjab and in the tribal territories. We shall never surrender!"

It's clear to those who care to look that if the Liberals are elected at the next election, D-Day in Pakistan won't be far off.

So who among us will step up and be the Canadian Spike Jones?

When al-Qaeda says, "We ist der master race," we HEIL! HEIL! Right in bin Laden's face. Not to love Der Prophet is a great disgrace; so we HEIL! HEIL! Right in bin Laden's face.

Or Marlene Dietrich?

Underneath the prayer light at the mosque gate, darling I remember the way you used to hate. 'Twas there that you whispered tenderly, Mullah Omar, wanted me.

So maybe the wartime songs aren't going to work. But how 'bout those gung-ho Liberal campaign ads the party's clever strategists are no doubt devising as we speak to capitalize on Mr. Dion's newfound jingoism? I'm betting they reprise, with a twist, those "men with guns" ads that were so successful for them in the 2006 election.

"Stephane Dion has a plan. He wants soldiers. With guns. In Pakistan. On Pakistan's streets ... we're not making this up. Vote Liberal. And we'll be in Rawalpindi by Christmas."

Of course, Mr. Dion didn't mean we should invade a country of 170 million Muslims. But, if Stephen Harper had said the same thing while in opposition, the Liberals would have pounced on it as proof he lacked the mental sophistication to be PM.

There's no reason not to accuse Mr. Dion of the same now.

Source: National Post