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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 29 June, 1995 Issue : 01/25
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The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from
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CONTENTS
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MQM
..........MQM activist's teenaged sister 'gang-raped'
..........Inquiry ordered into rape incident
..........MQM calls for 3-day mourning
..........MQM to observe protest on Fridays, Saturdays
..........MQM activist 'unveils' party's plans
..........Extradition of Altaf sought, says Babar
Karachi
..........24 shot dead in city as violence escalates
..........Violence claims 20 lives in city
..........32 killed as violence spreads in city
..........23 shot dead in city violence
..........14 killed in city violence
..........Violence in city claims 11 lives
Mohal warns CM against joining hands with PML
Incitement to insurgency : Altaf issue may be taken up with UK: PM
Maulana Tariq surrenders
Experts being invited to help fight terrorism
Govt changes media managers
3 German engineers kidnapped
Extortion rampant, HRCP told
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Budget targets termed over-optimistic
Low cotton stocks hit textile industry
NBP to float Modaraba : 6 modarbas allowed to diversify
Govt to hold talks with IMF on adjustments
Index falls further as stocks maintain bearish outlook
The Business & Financial Week
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The general's generals By Ardeshir Cowasjee
A volatile week
Karachi events confuse visiting Senators From Shaheen Sehbai
Of Mice and Men : Seeking forgiveness By Hafiz-Ur-Rehman
MQM & Karachi crisis By Dr Mohammad Waseem
The circus in the Punjab By Tahir Mirza
Dateline Washington : The considered State Dept view Shaheen Sehbai
*From the Press Gallery
..........A polite gesture lost By Nasir Malick
..........Karachi overshadows budget By Nasir Malick
..........Playing with the sentiments' By Nasir Malick
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SPORTS
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950623
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MQM activist's teenaged sister 'gang-raped'
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June, 22: Mother of an underground Mohajir Qaumi Movement
worker claimed that her 16-year-old college-going daughter was gang-
raped allegedly by the activists of Peoples Party and MQM Haqiqi during
an attack on her Gharibabad residence on late Tuesday night.
Shortly after party's women wing chief Shamim Khalil read out a written
statement at a Press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday
night, 50-year-old Rashida Begum gave details of the attack which, she
said, occurred on the night of June 20.
She claimed that over a dozen armed men raided her house, raped her
daughter and took away cash and gold ornaments worth hundreds of
thousands of rupees.
The alleged victim was also produced before the journalists. She was
constantly sobbing, crying and being consoled by other women.
Meanwhile, MQM workers kept a mobile phone line open for an unidentified
person, believed to be a top MQM leader, who listened to the entire
Press conference. The entire proceedings were videotaped by MQM men.
"We were asleep when they sneaked into our house. Four of them took
position atop the roof.
Three others were outside. They asked us about the whereabouts of Shahid
Feroze. They started manhandling me, my two sons, a daughter-in-law and
my daughter, when we were unable to give them any information," she
said.
"First they threatened to kill my two infant grand-children. Then they
threatened to dishonour my daughter, Farzana. They took her into another
room and did what they had threatened to do. We pleaded them not to do
this but they did not listen to us," she said.
"They came at midnight and left the house at 3 am. In the morning we
took Farzana to a private hospital in New Karachi for treatment. I did
not go to the police station because I feared the Haqiqi and Peoples
Party men would kill all my family members," she said.
"At the time of the attack, my husband was in an adjacent house. When
some neighbours tried to intervene, the armed men stationed on rooftop
and outside the main entrance, turned them away," she said.
"They blind-folded one of my married sons and ordered him to keep lying
on the floor. His 15 year-old brother was asked to do likewise," she
said.
According to the affected family, the victim has identified some of the
accused who, she says, live in the same neighbourhood.
MQM women's wing chief Shamim Khalil blamed Peoples Party councillor
Naeem Qureshi, a member of KMC advisory council, his son, two nephews
and some Haqiqi workers for the rape.
"They came in three government vehicles and fled the house while
shouting Jiye Bhutto slogans. They left the house like conquerors," she
said.
She said the family kept quiet for a day and discussed the incident with
family elders whether to make it public. "As it was a very sensitive
issue and the honour of other Mohajir women too could be at stake, the
family decided to come out in the public," she added.
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950624
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Inquiry ordered into rape incident
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KARACHI, June 23: The provincial government has ordered an inquiry into
the alleged rape of Farzana Feroz, sister of an Altaf group activist,
Shahid Feroz. The inquiry will be conducted by a Judge of Sindh High
Court.
Meanwhile, MQM MPA Shoaib Bokhari, along with the victim of the alleged
incident, lodged an FIR with the police here on Friday evening.
Mr Shoaib M Bokhari, lodged the FIR with the Sharifabad police on Friday
evening under Hudood Ordinance.
The complainant, lodged Farzana, has named eight persons as culprits.
They include Ayub, son of Naeem Qureshi; Bhura, son of Naeem Qureshi;
Munna Dacoit, son of Naeem Qureshi; Sudhir alias Bholoo, Naeem, Ghias,
Iqbal and an unknown son of Naeem Qureshi.
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950624
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MQM calls for 3-day mourning
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 23: The Mohajir Qaumi Movement Coordination Committee
appealed to the people on Friday to observe peaceful mourning on
Saturday, Sunday and Monday over the gang rape incident of Tuesday last.
In a statement, the committee asked the people to wear black armbands,
close business, refrain from brining transport on roads and express
solidarity with Farzana Sultan, the victim of sexual barbarism.
The committee said the government had not yet arrested the alleged
culprits, Naeem Qureshi, his sons Bhoora and Muna Dakait, and his two
nephews Nadim Ghias Sudhir alias Bholoo and Iqbal, involved in the
incident.
The committee alleged that the main culprit was hiding in Islamabad.
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950627
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MQM to observe protest on Fridays, Saturdays
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 26: The Mohajir Qaumi Movement coordination committee'
which gave a 48-hour ultimatum on Saturday evening in support of its
six-point demands on Monday, announced observance of a two-day weekly
closure till the acceptance of its demands.
According to a statement released by the committee, the first protest
closure will be observed on Friday (June 30) and Saturday (July 1).
The committee said the new line of action had been adopted after a
thorough discussion and mutual consultations by the MQM legislators and
the coordination committee members.
"The MQM has not opted for an indefinite closure, firstly, because it
wants to give more time to the government to reconsider its demands and
show a positive attitude, and secondly, it wants to make it clear to
democratic countries and human rights organisations that the MQM does
not believe in rigidity," the committee said.
It said despite the "objectionable remarks by the prime minister against
the Mohajirs, the MQM had suspended its protest drive for an indefinite
period as a gesture of goodwill.
"This proves that the MQM believes in democratic norms and a process of
mutual understanding for getting issues resolved," the committee added.
It said despite the continuing genocide and rape incidents, the MQM had
decided to confine its protest to two days a week.
The committee demanded of the government to stop genocide of the
Mohajirs, accept MQM's genuine demands and solve the problems through a
peaceful process of dialogues rather than using brute state force
against the party.
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950628
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MQM activist 'unveils' party's plans
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, June 27: Hashimuz Zafar for whose release MQM had given a 48-
hour ultimatum to the government at a press conference, held at the PID
press centre on Tuesday, claimed that the MQM wanted to create a general
desperation where the people of Karachi would be left with no other
option but to support the demand of a separate province.
"The present spate of terrorism will continue till March 1996 when the
MQM has planned to put forth the demand of holding a referendum on the
issue of a separate province," he alleges.
"If the government does not accept the demand for a referendum, the MQM
would raise the issue at the international level and project it as a
denial of the right of self-determination for creating a parity- between
Karachi and Kashmir," he said.
Hashimuz Zafar in this regard referred to an open letter of Altaf
Hussain of 1994 in which he had reportedly hinted that "agencies" wanted
to create Sindhu Desh and greater Punjab and make Karachi a satellite
state of a greater Punjab.
Obviously such a situation would not be acceptable to the people of
Karachi and they would prefer independence rather than becoming a
satellite state of a greater Punjab, he said.
Given the geographic importance of Karachi, Western and regional powers
would willingly throw their weight behind the demand and force a
solution of both the Kashmir and Karachi issues, he added.
Zafar accused a former minister and brother of a serving general
Chaudhry Nisar Ali, for leaking details of the army operation in Sindh
to Altaf Hussain.
He also alleged that leaders of the ANP in Karachi had been supplying
arms to the MQM. He also named some PML MNAs from Karachi as the
financiers of the MQM.
Zafar seemed well prepared for the press conference. He had notes with
him and in a very systematic way he not only gave details of his crimes
but also briefed a hostile press about the MQM's operational mechanism,
its alleged Indian connections, strategy and ultimate goals.
He was very confident and conducted the press conference like a seasoned
media manager. He also gave full details about eight terrorist groups
and their area of operation at present active in Karachi.
Hashimuz Zafar, 25, and resident of house No C-17 Sir Syed Town, North
Karachi, said he had joined the All Pakistan Muhajir Students
Organisation at the age of 17 when he was studying in Government College
of Technology.
He confessed to involvement in numerous crimes, including the murder of
MQM Chairman Azim Ahmed Tariq.
The organisational set-up of the MQM, which comprised units, sectors,
zones and main centre at Nine-Zero, he said, was disbanded before the
military operation.
Now an underground information centre was maintaining a link with 22
different sectors. Some time Altaf Hussain, through Nadeem Nusrat,
issues orders to the sectors-in-charge for carrying out different
operations on mobile phones. Pagers were also being used to maintain a
link and convey messages, he said.
"The sector in charge of Landhi, Amir Siddique, and the sector in charge
of Malir, Qamar Ghalib, are currently manning the information centre,"
he claimed.
Giving details of various groups active at the sector level, he said the
Khalid Taqi Butt group was active in the old city area, Liaquatabad,
Lines Area, Society, Clifton, Defence and PIB Colony. The Farooq Dad
group was operating in Pak Colony, Baldia Town, Nazimabad, and Gulbahar.
The Faheem Commando group is active in Federal B. Area, North Karachi
and Nazimabad.
Tahir Rafi, Arif Qureshi, Khuram and 10 other boys were the members of
the Mubeen Thunta group controlling the Malir and Model Town areas. Then
there were other groups, like those headed by Javed Khan, Javed Michael,
Asfar, Khaliq Anjum, Kamal Ansari alias Par, and Muhammad Shahid.
The MQM, he said, was regularly maintaining a hit list which was update
>from time to time. Names of the members of MQM Haqiqi political rivals,
defectors and known police officers were on this list. Altaf Hussain, he
said, personally checked this but list and gave approval.
However, a source disclosed that the programme of press conferences
would continue for quite some time as a number of MQM "activists" had
been arrested in Islamabad during the last one month. One by one all of
these would be presented before the press and electronic media.
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950629
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Extradition of Altaf sought, says Babar
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By A Correspondent
KARACHI, June 28: The government formally confirmed here on Wednesday
that it had issued "red warrant" through Interpol to seek arrest and
return of Altaf Hussain to Pakistan from the United Kingdom for
"involvement" in acts of terrorism in the city.
Talking to newsman at the State Guest House, Federal Interior minister
Naseerullah Babar told newsmen that the step had been taken in the light
evidence and because Pakistan not have extradition treaty with the
United Kingdom.
"It is incumbent upon police forces of various countries who are members
of Interpol to arrest him (Altaf) and return him to the place of crime,"
Babar said, adding that "the Foreign Office would take parallel measures
with the British government in this regard."
The decision to seek Interpol's assistance was taken late Tuesday at a
time when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto announced setting up of a
committee for opening a dialogue with MQM leaders who were not involved
in terrorism. The offer was rejected by the Rabita Committee of the MQM.
Babar said the MQM leader, who went into self-exile just before the army
operation in 1992, was a "proclaimed offender" and the government's
decision to seek Interpol's assistance was a "normal process".
He said Altaf Hussain's reported statement that he could go beyond the
demand of a separate province for Mohajirs if the MQM demands were not
met was an indication as to what he had up his sleeves.
The government was interpreting the reported statement as an indication
of separatist designs but the MQM supporters did not consider it to be
against the integrity of Pakistan.
The MQM founding leader is alleged to be involved in about 100 cases,
including murders and inciting violence. He has already been sentenced
to 27 years imprisonment in absentia in two cases of kidnapping and
torture of an army official.
Keeping the opinion of dialogue open, Babar said, "if Altaf Hussain
strikes withdraws call for renounce violence, ask his activists to
surrender arms and stop violence, then some one will be sent for talks
with him!"
He emphasised that Mr Hussain should return to Pakistan and face charges
against him in the courts as was done by Mir Murtaza Bhutto the
estranged brother of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
He said the government would not withdraw cases registered against
anyone and would take action against activists of Al-Zulfikar, MQM or
Jeay Sindh movement, if they violated law and were found involved in
criminal acts.
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950624
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24 shot dead in city as violence escalates
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By Ghulam Hasnain
KARACHI, June 23: Twenty-four people were killed and several others
wounded in targeted attacks, sniping and gunbattles between rangers,
police and armed youths on Friday, raising the month's death toll to
204.
Among the dead were a central leader of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, S.
M. Tariq, who was gunned down near his Federal B. Area residence, and an
unidentified woman.
Ten people were killed in Korangi alone, where hundreds of rangers and
police fought pitched battles with armed youths for several hours. But
most of the dead were innocent people caught in the cross fire.
Eleven people including an MQM leader, were killed in District Central!
S. M. Tariq, 36, the party's former central finance secretary and
brother of an ex-MNA, S.M. Aslam, was gunned down near his Federal B.
Area house in the late afternoon.
As soon as the MQM leader came out of his residence in a car, he was
intercepted by armed men, riding a car, who sprayed him with bullets. He
received over a dozen wounds and died instantly.
Javed, a pedestrian, who was wounded in the attack, died in the Abbasi
Shaheed Hospital a couple of hours later.
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950625
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Violence claims 20 lives in city
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By Ghulam Hasnain
KARACHI, June 24: Twenty people were killed and many others wounded as
widespread violence paralysed the city on Saturday amid chaos and
confusion in the ranks of police and rangers.
Two policemen, two MQM workers, two truck drivers, a PPP activist, and a
police informer were among those who fell victim to the shooting spree.
The day-long violence, on the first day of the three-day mourning being
observed by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement over the alleged gang rape of a
college student, forced the cancellation of examinations, closure of
shops, markets, business and commercial centres. The absence of public
transport and shortage of staff hampered industrial activities reduced
port operations and affected PIA's domestic flights.
Unidentified men attacked a newspaper office with a rocket propelled
grenade, set on fire a passenger train, ransacked and destroyed over a
dozen public and private vehicles, set ablaze two bank branches, a
Pakistan Telecommunication's customer service centre, a petrol pump,
and some shops.
Several parts of the city were under the control of armed youths as
police and rangers were not deployed early in the morning.
The newly-appointed chief of the city police, Dr Shoaib Suddle, was not
available for comment on why effective security steps were not taken.
A 20-year-old MQM activist was killed and another wounded in a shootout
with police in Ferozabad. Police claimed that the victim was trying to
set on fire a private car when he was challenged by the police.
Another MQM worker was kidnapped and killed in Orangi Town. The MQM
claimed that Mohammad Mateen, 28, a vegetable vendor, was allegedly
kidnapped by PPP activists from his house and later his body, with
bullet wounds and signs of torture, was thrown in a nearby area.
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950626
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32 killed as violence spreads in city
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By Ghulam Hasnain
KARACHI, June 25: At least 32 people lost their lives and many others
were wounded as the city witnessed one of the worst days of violence on
Sunday, marked by several rocket and grenade attacks.
A C-130 of Pakistan Air Force was sprayed with bullets while landing at
the Shahra-e- Faisal base on Saturday. PAF officials detected at least
seven bullet marks on the tail of the transport plane on Sunday.
A PAF spokesman, talking to Dawn by telephone from Islamabad on Sunday,
however said that the aircraft was not targeted but was hit by bullets
owing to indiscriminate shooting in the area near the base.
All the shops and markets, commercial and business centres remained
closed on the second day of the three-day mourning being observed by the
Mohajir Qaumi Movement over alleged gang-rape of a college student and
assassination of the party's leader.
Unidentified men carried out rocket attacks against police and rangers,
fired rockets at police stations, engaged members of the law enforcement
agencies in gunbattles in various parts of the city and destroyed public
and private property.
The two explosions, followed by heavy shooting, created a scare in the
entire area and the neighbours claimed that the rocket explosion r at t
led the windowpanes in the radius of one kilometre.
A new dimension was added to the ongoing kidnapping and killings of
political opponents when police found at least nine bullet-riddled
bodies with hands and legs tied, on major city roads and in streets.
Some of the residents of the areas where these bodies were found,
accused police and rangers of dumping them there while officials said it
was a result of infighting between the rival groups of Mohajir Qaumi
Movement.
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950627
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23 shot dead in city violence
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By Ghulam Hasnain
KARACHI, June 26: On Monday, the third and last day of mourning observed
by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, 23 people were killed and many others
wounded in the city which remained in the grip of armed youths.
An unprecedented wave of fear swept the city following anonymous calls
to offices, banks and other establishments, telling them to shot down
all businesses by 4 pm on Monday.
Long before the deadline, thousands of panicky employees, including
those of multinationals, hurried back home.
The uncertainty was over when the MQM announced an end to its mourning
but decided that two days a week (Fridays and Saturdays) would be
observed as protest days until the government accepted its six-point
demand.
Violence dealt a severe blow to industrial production, commercial and
business activities and kept the Karachi Stock Exchange closed for the
second consecutive day.
The four days of continuous violence which claimed over 100 lives and
huge losses to public and private property created acute shortages of
edibles, consumer goods not only in localities where complete closure
was observed but in other areas of the metropolis as well.
Arsonists set on fire at least six houses owned by their rivals in
Orangi, two KMC offices, a councillor's office, a bank branch, a utility
store, and a showroom, and attacked the offices of Board of Secondary
Education in Nazimabad and set ablaze five staff vehicles parked there.
Rangers and police exchanged fire with the youths in parts of the city
but were unable to maintain law and order there as the heavily armed
youths kept them out of the troubled localities.
The mysterious killing and kidnapping of Balochis and Sindhis and
Pukhtoons in district West sparked off ethnic tension followed by heavy
shooting.
Police found the bodies of five young unidentified labourers, who were
kidnapped, tortured and later their bodies were abandoned in Saeedabad.
All the bodies were stuffed in sacks. Police said they seemed to be
labourers. Their legs and hands were also tied.
Till the filing of this report only three of them were identified as
Asif, Aijaz and Haq Nawaz. Two of them were brothers. They were
residents of Mansehra Colony of Saeedabad.
Two Baloch youths were kidnapped in Orangi Town and their bodies were
dumped in Orangi Extension. The incident sparked off ethnic violence in
the area.
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950628
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14 killed in city violence
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 27: Fourteen people were killed on Tuesday as the city
tried to limp back to normality after three days of "mourning" observed
by the MQM.
Clashes during the last few days allegedly between the supporters of
Mohajir Qaumi Movement and the People's Party took an ethnic turn in
parts of the city due to the mysterious killings of members of Pakhtoon,
Punjabi and Baloch communities.
Rival ethnic groups drug trenches and in the heavy gunbattle took place
two MQM workers were killed. The MQM claimed that two of its workers,
Faqir Mohammad, 30, and Mohammad Tahir, 20, were gunned down by the
ruling party activists.
Violence erupted in Orangi Town in the morning when some People's Party
activists of Baloch Goth forced some Urdu-speaking shopkeepers to pull
down their shutters in protest against the kidnapping and killing of two
Baloch youths-Nawab, 20, and Ghafoor, 25,-on Monday.
Soon after, members of both the communities took positions atop the
roofs of their houses and exchanged heavy gunfire.
Baloch Goth residents claimed that the rangers, who came following their
appeal for help, mysteriously left the area a few minutes later. "We
contacted the government advisers. Nobody is coming to our rescue. They
incited the Baloch youths against the Mohajirs but now, when our
localities are being attacked, we are not being provided any help by the
government," a resident said.
The kidnapping and killing of five Pakhtoon and Hindko speaking youths
in Saeedabad on Monday triggered ethnic tension there on Tuesday.
According to police reports, the Mohajirs and Hindko-speaking people
>from Hazara, exchanged fire.
"The rangers have been rushed to contain the violence. But intermittent
firing is still going on," said a police officer of the troubled area.
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950629
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Violence in city claims 11 lives
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By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 28: Eleven more people, including an eight-year-old girl
and a woman, were killed in the city on Wednesday, raising the month's
death toll to record 303.
On account of ethnic tension in Orangi Town, Baloch families started
leaving for safer places on Wednesday while various Baloch nationalist
organization observed a one-day strike in the industrial town of Hub to
protest against attacks on the members of Baloch community in Karachi.
Baloch youths beat up Urdu speaking factory workers on the; main Hub
River Road, pelted vehicles with stones, lit bon fires and turned back
all the vehicles bringing workers from Karachi.
The protesters also blocked the main Hub River Road and damaged several
vehicles.
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950625
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Mohal warns CM against joining hands with PML
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Bureau Report
LAHORE, June 24: Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker and PML(J) leader
Manzoor Mohal warned on Saturday that in case Chief Minister Manzoor
Wattoo tried to join hands with the PML(N) he with 16 PML(J) MPAs and
some independents would revolt and start supporting the PPP.
"We are opposed to the PML(N) They are a rival faction. We cannot
tolerate PML(J) cooperating with them", he said at a news conference at
the Punjab Assembly chambers. However, he did not say what would be his
line of action in case the PPP dislodged Mr Wattoo with its own efforts.
Chief Minister Wattoo was quoted as saying on Saturday that contacts
between the PML(J) and the PML(N) would have a positive impact on
national politics.
Political circles here interpreted this as a distinct hint by the chief
minister that a reunion of the two PML factions which had separated in
April 1993 was a possibility.
Mr Mohal, who is the MPA for Bahawalnagar, said he wanted to see the PDF
work smoothly and complete its five-year term.
He rejected as baseless the opposition's allegation that he was a
political turncoat. He claimed that he had always stood by his
principles.
He admitted that he had joined the PPP and then left it, but clarified
that he had not done this out of any consideration for material or any
other gain.
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950625
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Incitement to insurgency : Altaf issue may be taken up with UK: PM
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, June 24: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday: "We
will talk to the British government as to how Altaf Hussain is using
their territory for inciting an armed insurgency in Karachi. "She was
commenting on a reported interview-of the MQM leader with Voice of
Germany.
She told newsmen: "I have not seen any such interview but if these
reports are true then we will talk to the British government".
She immediately directed her Press assistant to get a transcript of that
interview.
However, Ms Bhutto said :" We will continue to seek a political solution
to Karachi's problems but the Altaf group will have to lay down arms
first, surrender all proclaimed offenders and condemn terrorism.
"MQM must realise that they could not get their demands fulfilled
through bloodshed", she added.
She condemned the murder of S.M. Tariq. "He was a brave so of Karachi
who renounced fascism and refused to go along with Altaf Hussain," she
said.
Ms Bhutto linked the gang- rape of Farzana Feroze to the factional
fighting between the Altaf group and the Haqiqi group. The government,
she added, had already ordered a judicial inquiry to bring facts before
the nation.
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950626
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Maulana Tariq surrenders
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*From A Correspondent
PESHAWAR, June 25: Maulana Azam Tariq, central leader of Sipah-i-Sihaba
Pakistan (SSP) and leader of the Muttahida Deeni Mahaz's parliamentary
party in the National Assembly, surrendered to the NWFP authorities here
on Sunday.
Earlier, addressing a Press conference at the Peshawar Press Club
Maulana Tariq gave his reasons for going into hiding for the last few
months.
The MNA from Jhang revealed that he had gone underground on February 22
before police raided his residence in the wake of the government's
action against religious educational institutions. He said that he had
avoided arrest because it might have aggravated the law and order in the
country and hurt the religious sentiments of the people.
Rejecting the allegation of SSP's involvement in terrorist activities,
the Maulana said his opponents had launched a smear campaign against him
and his party to hinder their just struggle to protect Islam. He claimed
that his party did not believe in armed struggle and it preferred to
settle issues through dialogue.
Maulana Tariq expressed full confidence in the judiciary and said he was
ready to face all cases registered against him.
However, he termed the cases baseless and mala fide, adding that, in a
couple of cases, even the main accused had been released after
undergoing six months imprisonment but he was still wanted by police,
although his name had been mentioned in the FIRs as a coaccused.
Replying to a question, he expressed ignorance about the number of cases
registered against him.
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950627
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Experts being invited to help fight terrorism
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, June 26: Experts on urban terrorism from France and Turkey
are being in which by the government to combat MQM insurgency in
Karachi, Interior Minister Gen.(Retd) Naseerullah Babar told National
Assembly on Monday.
Babar who was replying to questions on the Karachi situation said that
Turkey had vast experience in fighting urban terrorism and therefore the
government has decided to acquire experts from there.
The interior minister in his answer conceded that the situation in
Karachi was very serious but denied that the government was going to
call out army.
"We have no intentions to call out army", he said while adding that it
was the objective of "our" enemies to bog down Pakistan Army in Karachi.
They want to divert Pakistan Army from their prime task of defending the
geographical frontiers of the country, he said.
Babar while opposing the idea of sending troops in Karachi said that
even the army had not achieved very tangible results in controlling the
situation during the two and half years long operation.
He blamed the opposition for encouraging Altaf Hussain and his
terrorism. He said the opposition's plan to convene an All Parties
Conference on Karachi issue was giving moral support to Altaf Hussain.
He called upon the opposition to condemn violence and terrorism and
completely isolate Altaf Hussain.
Regarding the alleged gang-rape of Farzana Feroze he said, it was a base
less and concocted case. He said the main objective of the whole case
was to malign and defame the government.
He called upon the members to do some soul-searching and realise whether
a 68 year old man could resort to such kind of action.
He also disagreed with the idea that more forces should be deployed or
curfew should be imposed in the city for curbing the surging wave of
terrorism. He pointed out that the total strength of Karachi police was
only 20,000 which he said was inadequate to control the situation. He
said the PPP when came into power in 1988 had increased the strength of
Karachi Police from l2,000 to 20,000.
The situation in Karachi, he added was a cause of concern.
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950627
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt changes media managers
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*From Nasir Malick
ISLAMABAD, June 26: In a major reshuffle of the information ministry,
the government brought back some of the media managers who had
successfully run the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif government's
information policy, an official source told Dawn. Controversial
information secretary, Hussain Haqqani, had been replaced by Haji
Muhammad Akram, the architect of Mr Sharif's media campaign, and he was
expected to take charge in the next few days, the source said. Mr
Haqqani had been made the chairman of House Building Finance
Corporation.
The managing director of Pakistan Television Corporation, Farhad Zaidi,
has also been removed and his predecessor, Shahid Rafi, has been brought
back. Mr Rafi had earned fame for launching and successfully running Mr
Sharif's image-building flood and rape victim campaigns. (In a later
development Rana Shaikh wife of the Foreign Secretary Najmuddin Shaikh
was nominated instead of Shahid Rafi.)
Ishfaq Gondal, the Principal information secretary (PIO), who was
considered to be close with Mr Haqqani, has also been removed and
replaced by Anwar Mahmood who was holding the same post during the
Sharif government.
The portfolio of handling the internal publicity has been given to
Ismail Patel, the former Press assistant to ex-president Ghulam Ishaq
Khan, who was presently working as secretary of Environment Protection
Council held by Asif Ali Zardari.
A PPP official, when contacted by Dawn to seek his comments on the
sudden changes in the ministry, said the Prime Minister was not happy
with her media team which, he added, had failed to deliver the goods. He
said it was for this reason that the government had recently asked a
newly formed advertising agency to work for its image building. "The
information secretary had become too big for his boots," he added.
A week earlier, the government had replaced the managing director of
state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) by bringing Azhar Sohail in
place of Aslam Sheikh.
"The new team is experienced and we hope that things will improve."
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950628
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3 German engineers kidnapped
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*From Ahmad Hassan
PESHAWAR, June 27: Three German engineers, kidnapped by unknown gunmen
late on Monday evening, have been taken to a remote tribal area most
probably Orakzai or Khyber Agency. The German nationals, it may be
mentioned, were kidnapped in their own vehicle while they were returning
>from their work site at a WAPDA grid station on the outskirts of
Peshawar. Acting Inspector General of Police Sikandar Mohamandzai told
newsmen on Tuesday that the police had found some clue to the kidnappers
and recovered the vehicle on borders of Khyber and Orakzai agencies.
But, he added, the identity of the kidnappers could not be disclosed at
the stage.
The IGP said Inayatullah, the driver of the vehicle in which the Germans
had been kidnapped, was one of the culprits. The IGP was of the view
that the cause of the kidnapping could not be established for the time
being. Some disgruntled workers at the grid station might have been
involved in the incident, he said. But, he added, no ransom had so far
been demanded by the kidnappers. However, he was confident that the
Germans would be recovered soon.
The Germans, Gunder Mayor, Kohler and Amon Horst, were working at the
grid station extension project at a village, Sheikh Mohammadi, along
with other foreign engineers and experts.
Peshawar police have sought the help of political administration of
Khyber and Orakzai agencies for the recovery of the Germans.
LATEST POSITION: Latest reports say that the kidnappers, including the
driver, belong to the gang which was involved in a fierce shootout with
police in Badaber on March 20 last in which four of their men had been
killed. The Germans, the reports say, have been taken to a remote
village Hasankhel in the Khyber Agency with the authorities have located
but are tight-lipped about it.
NWFP Chief Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao who is concerned over the
incident, which can jeopardise foreign investment, has held discussions
with the DIG, headquarters, Sikandar Mohmandzai, and the DIG, Range,
Fayyaz Khan.
Another report, which could not be confirmed, said that the kidnappers
had demanded Rs 100 million for the release of the Germans.
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950628
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Extortion rampant, HRCP told
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
LAHORE, June 27: Extortion of money by politically sponsored armed youth
in collusion with police and other law enforcement agencies was an
allegation levelled by almost all those the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan (HRCP) interviewed for a report on the causes of the current
situation in Karachi.
The report, released to the Press here on Monday (and covered in
yesterday's issue), is based on a study by a five-member fact-finding
mission of the HRCP whose members interviewed a cross section of the
people.
The HRCP was told that Karachi was a hostage mainly to the two MQM
factions. The MQM (Altaf) held large parts of the city in its control
while the MQM (Haqiqi) dominated Korangi and the adjoining areas. They
were not only fighting for domination but also came into conflict over
extortion of money.
A group of industrialists and businessmen claimed that about Rs8 million
was being collected by extortionists every day. Half of the money was
going to one political faction and the rest was being shared by other
political groups and the police. "Bhatta" was also being extracted from
labourers, as claimed by a group of trade union leaders. They said
marriage ceremonies were being "taxed" by militants. In one area of
Karachi, the "tax" was Rs 10,000 for a boy's wedding and Rs 5,000 for a
girl's marriage.
Doctors told the HRCP mission that in-door clinics were forced to pay
"protection money" in some parts of the city. They conceded that
hospitals were under instructions of the Sindh home department not to
admit a sick or injured detainee without permission. Similarly, issuance
of false medical reports on sick detainees was admitted. "We are
violating the UN Declaration on the Duties of Physicians to Persons in
Detention by yielding to the government instructions", the doctors said.
An office-bearer of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association alleged
that an ethnic group had raised an armed militia of young people who
were given a monthly salary of about Rs6,000 with a motorcycle and a
kalashnikov. Members of this force were largely responsible for
collection of "bhatta" which was not only going to the organisation but
also being shared with police.
Another matter raised pertained to local elections on which opinion was
divided. Some supported immediate local elections to take care of the
deteriorating civic conditions in Karachi. But another opinion was that
local elections should be held after a census in the city. But both
sections of opinion feared that the existing conditions were not
conducive to an electoral exercise. Similarly, they feared, the MQM (A)
might not behave differently from what it did when it was in control of
the main city institutions like the KMC, KDA, KESC and the Steel Mills
during the tenure of the late Jam Sadiq Ali as chief minister. "Karachi
does not deserve a repetition of what the MQM has done in the past", a
former president of the Karachi High Court Bar Association said. Sindh
Minister for Planning Nisar Khuhro said factional fighting was taking a
heavy toll. The factions were also extorting money and some were issuing
receipts for "donations". He said Karachi needed a negotiated
settlement, but expressed his opinion that the MQM was not trustworthy
as it had changed its negotiating team every time talks seemed to be
making some progress.
Prof Ghafoor Ahmad of the Jamaat-i-Islami alleged that all kinds of
crime like drug trafficking, gun-running, gambling and prostitution were
on the increase and the government was fully aware of the elements
behind the criminal acts. He said people were being harassed and
detainees set at liberty after paying bribes to police and the rangers.
PPP (SB) chairman Mir Murtaza Bhutto told the HRCP mission that the law
enforcement agencies were patronising gunrunners and drug barons. He
denied involvement of Al-Zulfiqar in the violence in Karachi. He
supported talks between the government and political groups, but said he
was opposed to the MQM demand of a separate province.
MQM (A) leader MPA Shoaib Bokhari and advocate Khalid Qazi said the
government's victimisation of people for not voting for the PPP in the
1993 elections and oppression by the administration and law enforcement
agencies were the reasons mainly responsible for the violence in
Karachi. "People have been driven to take up arms against these
excesses" Shoaib Bokhrai said. He said the police were picking up
relatives of "wanted" people and were taking them to places other than
police stations where they were tortured. Such cases ran into their
hundreds, he alleged.
The MQM representatives denied the charges of raising an armed militia
and paying its members salaries. They also denied that the MQM wanted
Karachi to be a separate province (Mr Altaf Husain on Monday said this
was what the Mohajirs of Karachi wished).
MQM (H) leader Afaq Ahmad charged the MQM (A) with acquiring, "with
foreign help," strength to paralyse the city. He also alleged that the
MQM (A) had raised an armed militia comprising youth trained in the use
of arms.
IGP Afzal Shigri admitted that violators of law were paying protection
money to "patharidars" who in most cases were in league with policemen.
He said Karachi was facing a situation of mini insurgency where a weak
police force of 27,000 was working against heavy odds. In his view a
strength of 70,000 was required to combat violence in Karachi.
The IG gave figures of people killed or injured during the period when
the army was operating in Sindh (Oct 1993 to Nov 1994) and after it was
widbdrawn. According to the data, 353 people were killed, including 103
of MQM (A) and 74 of MQM (H), during the army operation. Ten policemen
were also killed during the period. The number of those injured during
the period was 649.
After withdrawal of the army, according to the data, the number of those
killed rose to 781 and those injured to 1,056. Of them 73 belonged to
the MQM (A) and 78 to the MQM (H). The number of policemen killed during
the period was 82 and the number of dead among the rangers and the
payment was 18. The number of injured policemen was 112, the IG said.
===================================================================
===================================================================
950625
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Budget targets termed over-optimistic
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, June 24: Former minister in the caretaker government of Moin
Qureshi and Director of Institute of Business Administration, Dr Hafiz
Pasha on Friday termed the budgetary projections of 1995-96 as over-
optimistic and felt that the credibility of government budgeting was
very low.
Speaking at a seminar titled 'Effects of the Federal Budget on National
Economy' he said: "The budget starts with a wrong benchmark" adding that
the revenue estimate was on a very high side and "there was an over-
optimistic projection."
The seminar was held under the auspices of Irtiqa Institute of Social
Sciences.
"We start with a handicap of Rs 16 billion and the salaries hike
recently announced by the government will add another Rs 5 billion to
it," he observed.
He expressed apprehension that the high rate of taxation would divert
investment from tariff to non-tariff areas thus bringing about
distortions in the economy hurting indigenous industry in the process.
Dr Shahida Wizarat of the Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC) of
the Karachi University, on the other hand, put forth a very positive
view of the budget saying that the happiest portent of it all was the
regaining of lost sovereignty-to some extent-in that many of the
conditionalities laid down by the Bretton Woods Institutions had not
been adhered to purely in the national interest.
It may be recalled here that the IMF had called for cutting the budget
deficit to 4 percent of the GDP and bringing the maximum tariff rate to
45 percent, but the budget proposed cutting down the deficit to 5
percent and trimming tariffs to only 65 percent.
She said, the IMF had to be convinced that deviating from targets did
not imply abandoning objectives.
Sajjad Akhtar, also from the AERC, was of the view that the Withholding
Tax on bearer certificates proposed in the budget would discourage
savings and divert them from productive channels.
Economic columnist Mr Sultan Ahmed, was of the opinion that it was a
"note printing budget" which would inevitably lead to inflation. He
apprehended that the figure of note printing could touch Rs 30 billion.
He felt this was inevitable as the government had to spend 60 percent of
its tax revenues on debt servicing alone.
Dr Mehnaz Fatima of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi
University, stressed the need for enhancing the spending on education
and social welfare, which, she said, were the chief barometers of
economic development. She was of the opinion that the present allocation
of 2.8 percent of the GDP was insignificant given the needs of the
country.
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950626
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Low cotton stocks hit textile industry
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana
KARACHI, June 25: With cotton stocks in the country near depletion, on
an average, two textile spinning mills are being closed down in a week
due to want of raw material.
According to textile industry sources, presently the country is carrying
total raw cotton stocks of around 0.9 million bales. These stocks
include 0.7 million bales held by the textile spinning industry, and
about 0.2 million bales held by ginners and Cotton Export Corporation
(CEC).
Against these stocks, the industry sources asserted that on an average
the monthly consumption of the installed and working capacity of the
spinning mills is above 0.7 million bales of raw cotton.
"If no immediate and corrective measures are taken to replenish the
cotton stocks available to the country's largest industrial sector,
about 40 to 60 percent of the industry would collapse by end August for
want of raw material," exhorted a leading textile spinner.
The Cotton Export Corporation is holding around 0.1 million bales out of
the imported raw cotton from Central Asian States (CAS) and is awaiting
the distribution policy expected to be announced by the government in
the near future.
The CEC had contracted 31,000 tonnes (0.175m bales) of raw cotton from
Central Asian States late last year, and after receiving around 0.1
million bales the fate of the balance, which comes to around 75,000
bales, could not be known.
Similarly, the private sector that had also entered into purchase
contracts for about 50,000 bales at the official level with these states
and for around 0.1 million bales at private level, but they did not
receive any quantity due to redtapism in these states, the textile
industry sources lamented.
Out of the total of 0.4 million bales purchased from United States, so
far around 0.2 million bales have reached Pakistan, while around 0.1
million bales are in the pipeline.
"It is true that about 0.1 million bales purchased by Pakistani spinners
from the US, at a very lucrative price ranging between 70 to 90 cents
per lb, were sold back by them in the intentional market when the raw
cotton prices rose above 100 cents in the New York market," confessed
Anwar Ahmed Tata Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association
(APTMA).
With no hopes of arrival of raw cotton from abroad, the spinners now
feel that the next 3 months would be most crucial for the industry which
may starve for want of raw cotton.
Mr Tata said that out of 450 textile units installed in the country,
about 300 spinning units are presently working but if raw cotton is not
made available, he apprehended that about 40 percent of them would also
cease production by August this year.
He said that due to the high rate of closures in the textile industry,
banks' outstanding dues have already shot up from Rs 80 billion to Rs 90
billion in 1994-95 and in case no corrective measures are taken, the
bank defaults would rise to Rs 100 billion by next year.
The APTMA chairman claimed that an average spinning unit having 15,000
spindles is presently suffering a daily loss of around Rs 0.3 million
per day.
He said that yarn prices are persistently falling in the domestic as
well as international markets but the spinning industry at large
continues to bear the high cost of production which is the highest in
the region.
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950626
-------------------------------------------------------------------
NBP to float Modaraba : 6 modarbas allowed to diversify
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, June 25: The government-run National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has
received the clearance of the Religious Board to float a modaraba while
six existing modarabas have been allowed to diversify themselves into
the multipurpose modarabas.
Sources close to the Board told Dawn from Islamabad on Sunday that the
stage is set for the launching of First National Bank Modaraba with a
paid-up capital of Rs 500 million adding that the sponsors were busy
seeking an authorisation certificate from Registrar of Modarabas for the
said purpose.
The Board gives its clearance after ensuring that the businesses which
the proposed modaraba intends to undertake are covered under Islamic
laws while the Registrar issues an authorisation certificate after
submission of a final prospectus by the modaraba.
Sources said the sponsors of the First NBP Modaraba were expected to
submit their final prospectus within a few weeks and get the approval of
the Registrar to float the modaraba.
They said the proposed Modarba be would be multipurpose in its nature
and carry out such businesses as finance and leverage finance, equity
market operations, project financing, venture capital and leverage
leasing, besides dealing in Islamic finance instruments like musharaka
and morabaha etc.
Presently 52 out of total 68 registered modarabas are operational and
First NBP Modaraba would increase the list to 53. The proposed modaraba
would be the third one launched by a government-run bank. Allied Bank
Ltd and Habib Bank Ltd are already in the business.
Sources close to Religious Board said the Board had approved conversion
of six specific-purpose modarabas into multi-purpose modarabas. The list
includes (i) First Ibrahim Modaraba (ii) First Al-Noor Modaraba (iii)
First Dadabhoy Modaraba (iv) Guardian Leasing Modaraba (v) First Sitara
Modaraba and (vi.) Unity Modaraba.
Specific modarabas are the modarabas authorised to undertake only one
kind of business while multi-purpose modarabas can involve themselves in
a variety of businesses.
Sources said the above-listed modarabas were expected to submit their
amended prospectus to the Registrar of Modarabas and get his formal
approval before announcing their conversion from specific purpose
modarabas into multi- purpose modarabas.
Sources said with the conversion of the above-mentioned modarabas would
trim the list of the specific modarabas from seven to only one. The lone
specific-purpose modaraba is Equity International Modaraba which
operates in the area of venture capital. The modaraba is jointly
sponsored by BRR Group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Recently the Religious Board approved the pattern of Income Notes
Certificate-a debt instrument to be used by the IFC for financing
Pakistani modarabas on profit and loss sharing basis instead of fixed
interest.
The move would help the liquidity-starved modaraba sector to benefit
*from the IFC to the tune of $100 million to $150 million.
Besides about a dozen modarabas have already been allowed to raise funds
*from the public through Certificates of Musharaka also an Islamic debt
instrument designed on the basis of profit and loss sharing instead of
fixed interest which Islam prohibits.
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950627
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt to hold talks with IMF on adjustments
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*From M. Ziauddin
ISLAMABAD, June 26: The government will have a detailed discussion with
the IMF in the near future on the adjustments made in the ongoing
programme of the Fund to accommodate the economic and political
objectives of next year's budget, the prime minister's special assistant
told Dawn here on Monday.
He said, due to some critical economic and political developments taking
place since the prime minister's visit to the USA when a number of
proposals were discussed with the IMF regarding the third year of the
programme and a tentative understanding reached in April 1995,"certain
adjustments in the programme were made by the government and these
adjustments will be the focus of government's discussions with the Fund
in the near future."
According to Mr Khan, a programme of economic reforms and adjustments
was not a one-time affair. "It is a continuous process spread over
several years which is periodically reviewed and updated as experience
is gained during the implementation."
He said the government was committed to pursuing the programme, "not
because of any external influence, but because we feel that it is the
only way to revive the sagging economy and bring about discipline in the
country's economic management."
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950629
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Index falls further as stocks maintain bearish outlook
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Our Commerce Reporter
KARACHI, June 28: Stocks maintained a bearish outlook on Thursday as
leading investors were not inclined to take new positions apparently
awaiting a breather in the City violence.
Trading volume was, however, extremely low, reflecting the absence of
leading sellers and it could well prove a good omen for the general
health of an uncertain stock trading.
Instances of strong speculative buying were, however, not lacking as a
section of investors moved from the high risk areas to the relatively
safer-havens in a bid to avert any undue losses.
Floor brokers said, as there is no indications of an improvement in the
City law and order situation in the near future, dealers and investors
are moving cautiously and are not inclined to tread on risky path.
"The presence of strong institutional support though on selected
countries is chief reason behind the current calm market stance," they
added.
Analysts said, the market might have collapsed in similar conditions as
the prevailing one. Being essentially sensitive to negative external
news it always emits distress signals.
But it went to the credit of financial support, though on selected
counters, which did not allow the total bear-run, they added.
However, there appeared to be no possibility of an immediate turnaround
as much will depend on the City situation and when sanity returns to
stem the polarisation.
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950625
-------------------------------------------------------------------
+++The Business & Financial Week
-------------------------------------------------------------------
+++THE Pakistan Banking Council has recommended to the Ministry of
Finance to allow out-of court settlement in decreed cases adjudged
against sick units.
+++PAKISTAN'S federal budget 1995-96 is not in line with the accord
reached earlier with the IMF, an IMF official said recently.
+++THE 1995-96 federal budget has proposed a reduction in the duty-free
allowance of incoming passengers to accord protection to the domestic
electronics and electrical appliances industries.
+++WAPDA has met 7661 MW consumers' power demand without resorting to
load shedding by June 10, according to WAPDA officials.
+++AN amount of Rs 14.39 billion has been earmarked for the Sindh Annual
Development Programme for 1995-96.
+++THE Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation will be receiving foreign
loans totalling around Rs. 1277.949 million as non-plan resources for
the execution of programmes aimed at further updating the latest
technology for the benefit of its customers.
+++THE Export Processing Zones Authority is to launch feasibility
studies for setting up EPZs at Lahore and Peshawar at a cost of around
Rs 400 million each.
+++The Allied Bank Ltd, is planning to launch its own insurance and
leasing companies shortly.
+++PUNJAB Senior Minister Makhdoom Altaf Ahmad, justifying the levy of
new taxes to the tune of Rs 700 million, has said that the provincial
government, according to the NFC Award, was bound to levy an additional
eight per cent taxes every year.
+++Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Anwer Saifullah
Khan inaugurated a Liquefied Petroleum Gas bottling plant as the Dhodak
oil fields at cost of Rs 35 million recently.
+++THE International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICETU) is
likely to ask the European Union to terminate preferential trade
benefits to Pakistan because of alleged widespread use of forced labour
and child labour.
+++TWO major motorbike manufacturers have sizeable orders from Iran,
Bangladesh, and some African and Latin American countries.
+++THE World Bank foresees private sector investment in Pakistan at $4.9
billion a year, over the next two years of which, imported
machinery/equipment would comprise $3 billion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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950623
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The general's generals
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By Ardeshir Cowasjee
GENERAL Khalid Mahmud Arif has written well. His book (third impression
being printed, fourth planned) is informative.
For his opening chapter he has borrowed a title from that master of
English prose, Winston Spencer Churchill, without giving credit where
credit is due. Volume 1 of WSC's monumental work, The Second World War,
was entitled 'The Gathering Storm', the title General Arif chose for his
first chapter.
With Arif's Working with Zia, it is hard to determine a moral. To be
able to do so, we will have to wait for him to publish his second volume
in which he should reveal, for the benefit of history and for the people
of his country, all that he knows and which he has accepted his share of
the blame and has not disassociated himself from the doings of the man
with whom he worked so closely for ten long years.
Zia got to be the Chief of Army Staff through the old art of sycophancy,
practised successfully through the ages by so many men intent on getting
to so many high places. He bowed and scraped and ingratiated himself,
and it worked.
According to General Faiz Ali Chishti, in his hook, Betrayals of another
Kind, Zia "had to be the best sycophant to win over Mr Bhutto". Chishti
relates the method of sycophancy adopted by Zia in 1975, when he was
Corps Commander in Multan, in order firstly to get close to the PPP
leaders of the area and then to the Great Leader, ZAB himself. He made
frequent visits to the houses of Sahibzada Faruq, Hamid Raza Gilani,
Sadiq Hussain Qureshi and others who were high in the party hierarchy.
"He literally used to beg for invitations", Chishti recounts.
Whilst in Multan, Zia apparently wrote a letter to General Sahibzada
Yaqub Khan, then our ambassador in Washington, asking him to help
install ZAB as Colonel in-Chief of the Armoured Corps. It was unheard of
for a politician to be granted such an honour. But this disgraceful
anomaly was finally achieved through the good offices of the then COAS,
General Tikka Khan, a solid PPP supporter. One story has it that Zia had
a special uniform laid out for ZAB for wearing at his investiture, but
at the last minute ZAB got cold feet and decided not to change out of
his civvies.
When the time came, in 1975, for ZAB to replace Tikka who was due to
retire in March 1976, the Lieutenant-Generals in order of seniority
were, Muhammad Sharif, Muhammad Akbar Khan, Aftab Ahmed Khan, Azamat
Baksh Awan, Agha Ali Ibrahim Akram, Malik Abdul Majeed, Ghulam Jilani
Khan, and Muhammad Ziaul-Haq.
Arif tells how the sycophants once more came into play. ZAB having
already made up his mind that Zia was his man, discussed the appointment
of the new COAS with such underlings as Akram Shaikh (Director,
Intelligence Bureau), Said Ahmed Khan (his Chief Security Officer),
Masood Mahmood, (Director of the gestapolike FSF), Lt General Ghulam
Jilani Khan (DG, ISI), Brigadier Muzaffar Khan Malik (of the National
Security Council), Major General Imtiaz (his Military Secretary),
Maulana Kausar Niazi, and the smooth sycophant, "the Bhutto Boy" of the
Intelligence Bureau, Lt Colonel Mukhtar Ahmed who had been specially
inducted to keep a watch on the army.
We can be sure that not one of these smart intelligence chiefs dared
voice one word against ZAB's proposed appointment. Yesmen to the last,
they must have praised him for his wise and brilliant choice. So much
for our so-called intelligence agencies who continue to spend enormous
amounts of the people's money without any accountability at all.
According to General Arif, not one of the superseded generals opposed
the appointment to ZAB's face, though God knows what their inner
thoughts were.
The general, in his book, betrays no signs of sycophancy, so let us give
him the benefit of the doubt and presume that Zia chose well when he
appointed him his COS, to cover his rear. Zia perhaps followed General
George Smith Patton's maxim that a loyal officer is preferred to a
brilliant one. It cannot be denied that Arif remained loyal to his
chief, and remains so to this day.
Working With Zia naturally covers the break-up of the country, and tells
us how Pakistan was broken in folly. Arif tells us what many of us know,
that the principal architect of 'East Pakistan Amputated' (as he heads
the relevant chapter) was ZAB, who deceived the incompetent President,
General Yahya Khan bringing down both him and the country. Yahya, says
Arif, was "a shrewd and intelligent person. He possessed a discerning
mind which quickly grasped the essentials of martial law, worked hard
and took timely decisions which met with public approval. Thereafter he
became over-confident and complacent. He started relying heavily on the
coloured advice of a handful of advisers who put a ring of isolation
around him... As the pressure of work increased so did his urge for hard
drinks".
Arif recounts how towards the end of his rule, the Rangila Raja, drank
excessively and indulged in activities unworthy of his high office...
Yahya enjoyed ephemeral pleasures".
After the dismemberment of the country the Hamoodur Rahman Commission
was appointed to inquire into its circumstances. ZAB apparently
destroyed all copies of the HRC report except one which he kept
carefully under lock and key in his Secretariat. Following his arrest,
when his documents were collected, one volume of the sole existing copy
of the Report was found to be missing. ZAB's house was searched, and the
volume was found hidden in a wall safe. The HRC, for reasons we all more
or less know, has never been made public. Arif, who as virtual chief of
the army at the time, must be very familiar with the contents of the
Report and could well have confirmed to us just why it was and still is
thought to be not fit for the eyes of the country's citizens. He could
also have revealed exactly what was in the volume so carefully hidden by
ZAB.
After the passage of more than 20 years, surely we can now be told. They
know all about it over the border. Scouring through the Indian Press,
>from time to time we come upon references to and quotes from the
mysterious Hamoodur Rahman Report.
Back to the present, and we leave Arif and his book for another day. it
is time once again for the selection of a COAS to succeed General Waheed
who retires this coming January. In the most august and honourable
National Assembly on June 18, Chaudhry Nisar, of military background and
connections, observed that "the army is never loyal to a particular
government. If you think you can do anything by bringing in a general of
your own choice after Waheed, you are mistaken. If you bother to find
out what is being said and discussed in army quarters, messes and on the
parade grounds, you will know the truth".
Come what may, following the thinking of her father, Benazir will
disregard merit. She will seek out a subservient man, who will please
her with his consummate sycophancy, and do her bidding.
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950625
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A volatile week
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STOCKS turned in a volatile performance during the preceding week as
investors were not inclined to take new positions and played on both
sides of the fence owing mainly to city violence. After an early steep
rise, what the dealers called, post-budget reaction to some of the
positive fiscal incentives to the corporate sector in the new federal
budget, the market fell later.
However, as there were not many sustaining factors, investors took
profits at the early inflated level, pushing the market into the
downward territory.
The Karachi Stock Exchange index of share prices, which at one stage,
appeared to have consolidated itself well above the psychological level
of 1,600 points, was finally quoted at 1,611.26 as against last week's
1,590,27, reflecting the weakness of the base shares.
The market capitalisation which had risen to Rs.319-billion after having
fallen from the peak of Rs. 442 billion last week owing to pre-budget
strong speculative buying fell to Rs.314 billion.
The stocks remained hostage to the city killings as attempted rallies on
selected counters failed to generate sympathetic buying on other
sectors. Investors were worried over the increasing incidents of
violence and stayed away.
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950627
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Karachi events confuse visiting Senators
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*From Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's surprise offensive against
Altaf Hussain's MQM, which has now been officially declared as a
terrorist organisation, has landed five "poor" senators from Pakistan
into an unwanted soup- their Kashmir junket has turned into a Karachi
nightmare.
The five Pakistani senators, carefully selected to represent the four
provinces and Karachi, now in Washington to lobby for the Kashmir cause,
are the most distressed lot in town because events in Karachi have
overtaken their Kashmir agenda and everyone they meet is interested only
in finding out what is happening to Pakistan's commercial capital.
Led by former law minister Iqbal Haider, the Senators were hardly aware
that in their first two days in Washington, they would have to answer
all the questions about Karachi's worsening situation and hardly any on
Kashmir. The rest of their official engagements are going to be
different in no way.
The Senators, including Hamid Raza Gilani, Masood Kausar, Dr Abdul Hayee
Baloch and Hussain Shah Rashdi, are not the only ones who are facing
this cross examination. After headlines screamed in Washington media
about the killings in Karachi, everyone connected to the sub-continent
is asked the same question and no one, including the Senators, has any
answer.
The Senators were grilled for almost four hours by Pakistan community
intellectuals on Sunday morning and later for another two hours by
Pakistani newsmen at Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi's residence. They were
confused, mostly eventhey unable to speak out their mind lest Benazir
Bhutto may get annoyed and at times appeared disgusted with their
leadership. The one question which none of them could answer was: "Why
has Benazir Bhutto decided to launch an offensive against the Mohajirs
in a manner that would leave them with no option but to think about
separation from Pakistan ?"
This question seemed to be crudely phrased but in the background of what
has happened in Pakistan in the last few days, it was the sharpest media
trick to get to the bottom of the situation.
These recent developments included the federal government's case on MQM,
submitted to the Supreme Court. After reading that version, it is hard
to believe that the government could ever again have political
negotiations with the MQM.
MQM has been officially labelled as terrorists, foreign agents,
separatists, saboteurs, anti-state and what not. And that is the
position of the federation of Pakistan. The prime minister has come out
in even stronger words against Altaf Hussain and his band. "Altaf Group"
is now the official name for terrorists.
And these strong words are being used when police and the para- military
forces are totally paralysed and over-powered in Karachi. Violence has
escalated to the level that rockets are now the norm, rather than
exception and roads are ruled by gangs. Business and even stock exchange
had to close down.
With administration in a state of total breakdown the army seemed to be
watching the situation from the sidelines after having burnt its fingers
in Karachi for almost 30 months. They are, in a way, enjoying to see the
politicians stew in their own juices.
In such a situation, why has Benazir Bhutto taken the offensive and what
are her means to deliver on the strong words she is using so often, the
visiting Senators were repeatedly asked. They were clueless.
At the Ambassador's dinner for the Senators and a few Pakistani newsmen,
the Senators were asked by me to give a "one liner" reply to the
question of what would happen to Karachi. Their response was
interesting:
Iqbal Haider: Karachi would return to normal after the present phase and
terrorists would be eliminated. (He had much more to say off the
record).
Rashdi: There would be a civil war and whoever wins would rule Karachi.
Masood Kausar: We (people of NWFP) are confused and don't know what is
happening.
Dr Hayee Baloch: I hope things would improve but I don't know.
Hamid Raza Gilani: It is a larger conspiracy and things have gone out of
the hands of Altaf Hussain as well.
Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, Nation's Khalid Hasan, APP's Afzal Khan,
columnist Dr Manzur Ejaz and Dr Hassan Shahzeb, a Pakistani doctor who
presented a solution to the Karachi problem at a George Washington
University Forum earlier in the week, looked at the senators, in awe and
almost stupefied.
Dr Hassan's solution included 10-points, starting from division of
Karachi into 10 units, holding of local bodies polls under army
supervision after judicial scrutiny of candidates to eliminate persons
with criminal record, disbanding the present police force and forming
municipal police under elected representatives, designation of MNAs from
Karachi to make room for genuine representatives, Islamabad should
prepare to live with lesser revenues from Karachi, a rapprochement with
India should be attempted and Establishment should stop patronising the
militant clergy.
No one discussed these solutions in detail but everyone was feeling the
urgency for a solution to the Karachi issue lest things get out of hands
of the politicians.
In undertones there was the fear that Benazir Bhutto was being led up
the war path by some misguided individuals in her Administration.
Knowing Benazir Bhutto's style of government when, at times, she accedes
to even the wildest of ideas if they are coming from someone she thinks
is a welwisher, she could well have been misinformed.
But what almost everyone was unable to comprehend was why Benazir was
acting as an authoritarian military ruler, when her forte should have
been political dialogue and consensus on such tricky and sensitive
issues as the peace of Karachi, the lifeline of the country's economy.
Dr Hassan has also noted the same in his paper to the George Washington
University: "They (Benazir & Co) are forgetting the basic lessons of
history. They are relying too much on their new found love with the
Establishment. They should remember that Nawaz Sharif was once a blue-
eyed boy of the same Establishment. In a nutshell they have failed to
govern in a mature way. Some utterances on the part of the Prime
Minister are simply irresponsible and even juvenile."
No body said it but it could be felt that everybody was now looking upto
President Farooq Leghari as the only ray of hope for any political
solution to this murky situation. Leghari's views have been much more
moderate and sensible and there have also been mutterings of differences
between Benazir Bhutto and the President.
What would happen if the President and the Prime Minister were to
develop real differences on the issue is a million dollar question. But
the saying "history repeats itself", was meant for all ages and times.
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950628
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Of Mice and Men : Seeking forgiveness
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By Hafiz-Ur-Rehman
IF I had anything to do with the destiny of this country I would spend a
lot of my time, energy and persuasive powers in trying to convince my
people that we owe a national apology to the people of Bangladesh.
After I have brought them round to my way of thinking, I would take a
large representative delegation (including top brass from the defence
services) to Dhaka, and there, in an address at Paltan Maidan, formally
and in a spirit of genuine contrition, seek the Bengalis' pardon for
thrusting our imperialism on them which led to their breaking away from
us in 1971.
If Japan can do this and seek the forgiveness of the Chinese, an alien
people, for the barbarities and inhuman treatment they infected on them
in the Sino-Japanese War, why can't we adopt a similar gesture towards a
people we still claim are a part and parcel of our psyche and our so-
called Islamic spirit?
In Bangladesh, they say to visiting (West) Pakistanis: "We still love
you, but we couldn't live with you in a master-servant relationship. You
do not realise it but you started the alienation process right in 1948.
We would have laid down our lives for Pakistan, but not for our masters
in West Pakistan."
Incidentally, they also say, "And we are told you have found a scapegoat
in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. How is it possible for one man to break up a
country by just saying, Idhar ham udhar tum? Believe us when we say that
even if he had not uttered these words, even if you had agreed to make
Mujibur Rahman prime minister or president, we couldn't have stayed
together. You people are incapable of change or getting rid of your
superiority complex".
I have been going through a paper on the Bengali Language Movement
written by Dr Tariq Rahman for a learned journal. It has revived old
memories and old perceptions dimmed by time. It also took me back to
those early days of Pakistan when the people of East Bengal and of West
Pakistan had common aspirations and the new state was an exciting
adventure for both.
There must have been something wrong with me as a Punjabi that I looked
at Bengalis as equal partners in that adventure. Much as I respected,
admired and even loved the Quaid-i-Azam, I was taken aback by his firm
declaration in Dhaka that Bengalis were welcome to use their language in
their provincial affairs but the national language of Pakistan would be
Urdu and Urdu alone.
The best of leaders are sometimes mistaken, or misled. I'm not trying to
explain away the Quaid's unequivocal stand on the issue, but I have a
feeling that, being a non-Urdu speaking person himself, he was led into
believing that all Pakistanis were united on the national language. That
those who differed were only mischief-makers.
I am no historian, just a student and observer of events and
personalities. My reading of the Pakistan story tells me that all the
political personalities really close to the Quaid were from West
Pakistan who could not conceive of any other language sharing the
limelight with Urdu. Those from East Bengal who were also close to him,
like, for instance, Khwaja Nazimuddin, themselves spoke Urdu and did not
represent the true feelings of the Bengalis.
Anyway, the fact remains that the fight for Bengali became, over the
years, a fight for Bengal, a fight for a greater share in the governance
of the country. It also became a demand for a more decent and sensitive
attitude from the Western brothers who were incorrigible in thinking of
themselves superior to Bengalis in everything-in looks, in brains the
way they spoke English, and the stylish way in which they lived.
They viewed the Bengalis with contempt. (Don't let anyone try to tell me
they didn't.) The simple life-style of those people, their strong
emotional reactions, their stress on their own brand of nationalism,
were all hateful to West Pakistanis, and these Brown Sahibs made no
secret of their feelings. It was imperialism all the way, and worse than
the imperialism the Bengalis had seen in Englishmen, since it came from
one's own people.
How many times did I not hear the words, "These fellows only understand
the danda, the stick. That's the only way to keep them in order." The
West Pakistanis- actually civil and military Punjabis and the elite
among the Urdu-speaking officers-had discovered a colony and were
enjoying every minute of ruling over it.
My wife says I have "a black tongue" of the Urdu idiom which predicts
only dark happenings, a sort of Pakistani Cassandra, because I had told
her in the early sixties, "If we carry on like this, the Bengalis will
go their own way in ten years." I don't claim any prescience, it was
plain common sense, and any idiot who kept his antennae in working order
could have seen it the way I did. It only needed putting aside one's pet
notions.
This subject is fit for a book, and books have been written on it. I
wonder if those of us who were responsible for alienating the Bengalis
ever got to reading them. I don't think so. Most of us still hold on to
our colonial ideas, and make them evident in our dealings with the other
peoples also who happen to inhabit Pakistan. We have learned no lesson.
History cannot be overturned. What has happened cannot be undone. The
hatred of years inspired by our treatment of the Bengalis and our snooty
attitude towards them cannot be transformed into love now. And even if
it could, what can it give us now and what purpose will it serve when we
stand separated? And don't forget that apart from our complexes about
ourselves and about the Bengalis they are better off as a nation, for
they are more united than we are. Maybe this is our punishment.
The first thing friends and relations ask when you return from a visit
to Dhaka is: "Are the Bengalis sorry now for breaking away?" These
people think that our "benevolent rule" over East Pakistan was a
blessing from God which the Bengalis failed to appreciate at that time
so they must be regretting their behaviour now. What a pity that a
little love and understanding could have averted that great calamity of
separation.
Whatever you may think about it, I honestly feel that a conscious,
calculated move to beg the Bengalis' forgiveness is called for. It
will do what no amount of diplomatic, trade, social and cultural
relations can ever achieve. We talk incessantly of Islam. Let us do
at least one of the many good things that Islam advises us to do:
promote affection and harmony between two constituents of the ummah.
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950628
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MQM & Karachi crisis
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By Dr Mohammad Waseem
AT the heart of the current MQM agitation lies Altaf Hussain. While he
has been in direct or indirect control of this party for a decade or so,
his role has been analysed essentially as a charismatic leader capable
of and insisting on making decisions on his own. In reality, he has all
along operated in a complex network of relations with his partymen,
which provides the proper context for explaining the current wave of
political violence and future prospects of peace in Karachi.
A major concern of Altaf Hussain is to survive as a political leader of
the MQM and its constituency the Mohajir community. Gone are the days
when he was a confident, assertive, pragmatic and realistic leader of a
political party which was struggling for safeguarding the interests of
its constituency through electoral politics. Unfortunately, he has to
his credit a relatively long career of blundering his way through
bizarre coalitions and violent agitations. From an alleged creation of
the intelligence wing of the armed services, he has led his community to
a headon collision with the army and various state agencies. From a
partner in coalition with the PPP, he has led his followers to an
extremely adversarial relations with that party, with no chances of an
early rapprochement with it. From joining the IJI-PML alliance and
subsequently getting alienated from it to relying on it once again in
utter desperation, he has made a series of overtures to a party of no
consequence in Sindh.
Not surprisingly, Altaf Hussain is struggling for his political
survival. He is a leader who got maximum support from his community but
gave it frustration and desperation in return. The struggle for his
survival has led Altaf Hussain to place himself at the centre of the
MQM's demand structure. Withdrawal of criminal cases against him and
grant of permission to him to operate freely in the political field are
demands which have held the whole political process hostage in Sindh.
This is a credit to the ingenuity of Altaf Hussain that he has
intertwined his fate with the fate of a whole community. In this way, he
has halted the process of political bargaining between the two political
parties, the PPP and the MQM, representing Sindhis and Mohajirs
respectively.
A part of Altaf Hussain's strategy to pursue his battle for survival is
to disallow the emergence of a pattern of leadership which might have-
the potential of eventually displacing him from his role on top of the
MQM. One after another, he has changed the composition of the MQM's
negotiating team so as not to allow any MQM leader to remain in the
public eye for too long. What he fears most is the gradual building of
public trust in any one of his lieutenants ranging from Ishtiaq Azhar to
Farooq Sattar and others. Similarly, when he sees the growth of
operational power on the ground in the hands of one or the other MQM
Senator or MPA, he finds it necessary to cut him or her down to size. It
is a demagogue's strategy for survival par excellence.
On their part, the cadres and workers of the MQM use Altaf Hussain for
their own purposes. They extensively rely on him as a symbol of the
Mohajir ethnonationalist movement. They do this for gaining legitimacy
in the eyes of their peers in the party or in the locality. They try to
outdo each other in showing loyalty to Altaf Hussain, referring every
decision to him in London and quoting him in and out of context. Altaf
is thus used and abused for legitimacy purposes. His name is a political
resource in the pool of symbols for the Mohajir movement which every
political careerist finds it necessary to appropriate.
Being within the hearing of Altaf Hussain is not only a feather in the
cap of all MQM stalwarts. In fact, his name is also attached to parallel
or even contradictory decisions for what is usually described as the
cause of unity in the Mohajir ranks. In other words, the MQM leaders and
workers have increasingly turned Altaf Hussain into an extremely useful
symbol of political power and influence at home. As time passes, he is
losing real operational power and is being elevated to a high symbolic
position which is in turn tapped by dominant factions within the party
As an exile, Altaf is acutely dependent on his channels of communication
at home in order to arrive at decisions in urgent or not so-urgent
matters. Therefore, the local leaders have taken the initiative
essentially in terms of choosing the type of message to be communicated
to the party chief, its wording, its timing as well as a suggested line
of action in response to the message itself. In this way, Altaf
Hussain's decisions from a distance of five thousand miles tend to be
manipulatet by his lieutenant.
Not surprisingly the fateful decision of Altaf Hussain to boycott
elections for the National Assembly in 1993 cost the MQM extremely
heavily because it destroyed the party's bargaining capacity at the
federal level. Altaf's leadership through remote control was based at
that time, and continues to be based at present, on a myopic vision,
which is for all practical purposes is a faxed vision. It is possible
that the relatively assertive section of the local MQM leadership would
have shown their disagreement with their leader's unwise decision.
However, the immediate reversal of the boycott strategy for elections of
the Sindh Assembly at least partially compensated for the ineptness of
the previous decision. The abdication of decision-making authority in
favour of Altaf Hussain by the local MQM leadership has robbed the party
of pragmatic and flexible response to political developments at home.
This two-step decision-making process has cost the MQM in terms of its
negotiating pull with the concerned authorities, be it the army
leadership, the caretaker government of Moeen Qureshi or the present
government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. It is obvious that no
negotiations will be allowed to go very far if they do not reinstate
Altaf Hussain in the politics of Pakistan. It has been argued by the MQM
that the solution of the current crisis lies only through Altaf Hussain.
But, as a convict and in exile, Altaf's interests are limited and his
logic is involute. No wonder, the PPP-MQM negotiations have run aground.
Altaf Hussain and the MQM leadership have produced what can be described
as a Mohajir mindset.
This mindset is imbued with a litany of sacrifices, persecution syndrome
as well as endemic separatism reflected through various models ranging
>from Hong Kong Singapore-Jinnahpur model to a model based on some kind
of separation from Sindh. A large part of this mindset can be attributed
to the efforts of Altaf Hussain and his colleagues during the last
decade. Even those Mohajirs who oppose the MQM politics have selectively
embraced the MQM idiom about sacrifices and persecution. Such is the
power of ethnicity even while the immediate casualty is truth.
On the other hand, a strong criticism of Altaf Hussain has set in even
within the traditional MQM constituency. People tend to criticise him on
various grounds, especially on aspects of his political discourse.
However, there is no immediate challenge to his leadership from within
the ranks of the MQM. This is in sharp contrast to the patterns of other
ethnic movements such as the Baloch or Sindhi nationalism. The latter
fell a prey to factional splits and fractionalisation because the older
ties of tribal or village community continued to operate as sub-
identities.
As opposed to this, the Mohajir community of urban Sindh is essentially
an atomised society, comprising elements from different tribal, caste,
ethnic, sectoral and sectarian backgrounds. There are no rival
identities operating against the dominant Mohajir identity in urban
Sindh. Altaf Hussain was the direct beneficiary of this state of affairs
in the last decade. On the other hand, when the cracks appear within his
organisation, the absence of a cushion against imminent splattering in
the form of tribal or village-based identities will lead to political
disaster.
Altaf Hussain seems to have already played his historical role in
creating and consolidating the Mohajir identity in the past. The future
holds no prospects for him given his conviction and exile.
Meanwhile, the present is both unpleasant and insecure for him, as he is
deprived of the status as a free citizen of Pakistan despite his
following spread over millions.
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950629
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The circus in the Punjab
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By Tahir Mirza
LAHORE: Every morning here in Lahore we are regaled by statements from
the chief minister, the senior minister, various other ministers and
advisers as well as assorted functionaries of the PPP and the PML(J)
about the health of the coalition government in the province. When
Chaudhary Altaf was alive, we used to have a statement or two from him
also, God bless his soul, but the new governor has got into the act
quickly enough. As he is entertained nightly by one minister or the
other, he too obliges reporters in attendance with comments on
differences within the PDF.
Following these official pronouncements and reading the reports in the
newspapers the next day, it appears that there is no issue before the
provincial cabinet and the provincial organisations of the PPP and the
PDF bigger than what one side is saying about the other. The people and
their problems can go hang. Let-us look at the headlines from various
newspapers for just one day, Wednesday, with, as the reader will notice,
Mr Manzoor Wattoo waxing almost typically "There have been
misunderstandings between the coalition parties before and there will be
misunderstandings in the future. We bend where we have to bend, where we
have to advance, we advance, where we have to beat a retreat, we
retreat." "The provincial assembly will not be dissolved! Governor
Saroop. "Ups and downs constitute the beauty of politics! "Mr Wattoo.
"Efforts should be made to reform the chief minister, otherwise the
alliance will not work." Afzal Chan (PPP member). "The affairs of Punjab
will be decided within Punjab. If a problem is not solved, then we can
go to the president or the prime minister."-Governor Saroop. "There is
no question of the assembly being dissolved. Misunderstandings will
end." Mr Wattoo "I have understood the governor's statement. A branch
which is flexible is in less danger of being broken." Mr Wattoo "One
should not pay any attention to rumours." Governor Saroop. The more they
talk, the worse everything looks. The impression of a severe crisis
becomes stronger.
There is a crisis in Punjab. It is a crisis of confidence and trust
between the PML(J) and the PPP. It has been there almost since the
coalition government was formed. The differences between the coalition
partners are not about policy or ideology, when they would have enjoyed
at least some distinction; in any case, ideologically, there is nothing
to choose between the two parties. The differences or
"misunderstandings" are about privileges and distribution of development
funds. The problem was inherent in the coalition. Mr Wattoo has 18
members of his own in the 248-seat assembly plus about the same number
of independents who support him. The PPP has 100 members and is the
larger party. But it cannot form a government of its own without the
PML(J)'s support, and that is why Mr Wattoo is chief minister. If the
arithmetic had not been like this and the PPP had won more seats, Mr
Wattoo would not be at the helm of affairs in Punjab. Since he is, the
PPP members should be told by the leadership that they'd better, in
words now made famous by Mr John Major, "put up or shut up." At the
moment there seems to be no alternative to Mr Wattoo. The PPP hotheads
have to ask themselves only this one question! if the coalition is
disbanded today, who or what will replace it tomorrow? If the PPP tries
to destabilise Mr Wattoo, it will hurt its credibility among its
remaining allies, with many of its partners in the struggle for
democracy already disillusioned with its performance. But Mr Wattoo too
has to stop using his office to so blatantly favour his own people and
present himself as being more powerful than he actually is. The
allegations made about the distribution of funds and recruitments in
government should be seriously answered. Many of us who have not
entirely lost faith in our democracy repeatedly point to the extent of
accountability now in evidence, as reflected daily in newspaper stories
about the high and the mighty. But what is the point in such
accountability if those named do not still feel accountable? Our leaders
simply do not seem bothered to reply to the charges published about them
or to issue any clarifications. Silence on such matters can be seen only
as acceptance of guilt. Mr Wattoo too has yet to convince the people of
the province that he is providing them with a clean and honest
administration; in fact because of his running feud with his coalition
partners, there is no doubt that development work is suffering, with
only the bureaucrats happy, playing off one side against the other.
Perhaps the new governor will better spend his time in taking notice of
public complaints about everyday problems and the law-and order
situation rather than in making trite remarks about the coalition. He at
least would do well to keep himself away from the daily circus.
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950629
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline Washington : The considered State Dept view
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaheen Sehbai
THE LATEST State Department assessment of Pakistan's recent political
history states that the Benazir Bhutto government in 1990 was
ineffective and corrupt, Nawaz Sharif's economic reforms greatly
improved Pakistan's economic performance and business climate and Ghulam
Ishaq Khan subverted the Nawaz Sharif government in May 1993. "It is an
assessment which places Benazir Bhutto in a very negative frame while
promoting Nawaz Sharif and his achievements,?' according to an analyst
who does not belong to Pakistan.
The State Department views are contained in the official country profile
documented as "Background Notes" on Pakistan, published by the
Department's Bureau of Public Affairs in April and now available for
everyone, with no restriction on reprinting its contents.
The profile gives, in a concise form, all basic data and information on
Pakistan to a visitor like geography, population, growth rates of
economy, per capita income, trade figures, exchange rates, a brief
history, foreign relations with US and other countries, business and
travel information and names of important officials in the respective
embassies in both countries. It is the section on history and
particularly under the sub-heading "The return of Democracy" that gives
the authentic State Department view on what happened in the crucial
period between 1990 and 1993 when Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were
dismissed, elections were held twice and palace intrigues and behind-
the-scene manipulations determined the political future of Pakistan.
The important points and observations given below need to be
highlighted:
- It gives no opinion on Gen Zia's 1984 referendum and only mentions
that against Zia's claims of 90 per cent success, "many observers
questioned these figures."
- It says the 1985 non-party elections were legitimate because of 53 per
cent voter turnout and absence of fraud.
- It says "The (1990) October elections, observed by several
international organisations, confirmed the political ascendancy of IJI",
thus implicitly dismissing Benazir Bhutto's allegations that these
elections were rigged.
- Giving reasons for dismissal of the Benazir Bhutto government, the
profile says: "A fragmentation in the governing coalition and the
military's reluctance to support an ineffectual and corrupt government
were accompanied by a significant deterioration in law and order." The
point to be noted here is that none of these words has been either
attributed to someone or put under quotes. In comparison when reasons
for dismissal of Nawaz Sharif in 1993 are discussed, all the reasons-
administration, corruption and nepotism-are in quotes.
- It says president Ghulam Ishaq Khan continued his efforts to subvert
the Nawaz Sharif government by engineering dissolution of the Punjab and
the NWFP Assemblies, and the charge is direct, not attributed to anyone.
- The Mazari government, it notes experienced a problem of credibility
because of allegations of corruption against its members.
The Moeen Qureshi government, it says adopted political, social and
economic reforms that generated considerable domestic supported foreign
admiration.
- The profile lists Mohajirs as the fifth ethnic group in Pakistan after
Punjabis, Sindhis, Pathans and Balochs.
The portion dealing with "The Return of Democracy" is reproduced here,
in full:
"On December 30,1985, President Zia removed martial law and restored
constitutional rights safeguarded under the Constitution. He also lifted
the Bhutto government's declaration of emergency powers. The first
months of 1986 witnessed a rebirth of political activity throughput
Pakistan. All parties-including those continuing to deny the legitimacy
of the Zia/Junejo government-were permitted to organise and hold
rallies. In April 1986, PPP leader Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto, returned to Pakistan from exile in Europe.
" Following the lifting of martial law, prime minister Junejo attempted
to make his Pakistan Muslim League (PML) a political party capable of
competing with the PPP and its MRD allies on a national level. His
increasing political independence and differences with Zia over Afghan
policy resulted in tensions between them. Zia was a firm advocate of the
Afghan resistance, which had been fighting Soviet forces since they
invaded Afghanistan in 1979; Junejo repeatedly expressed his concern
over the effect the conflict and the presence of some 3 million Afghan
refugees had on Pakistan's internal security.
"On May 29,1988, President Zia dismissed the Junejo government and
called for November elections. In June Zia proclaimed the supremacy in
Pakistan of Shari'a (Islamic law)? by which all civil law had to conform
to traditional Muslim edicts.
" OD August 17, a plane carrying President Zia, American Ambassador
Arnold Raphel, US Brig-Gen. Herbert Wassom, and 28 Pakistani military
officers crashed on a return flight from a military equipment trial near
Bahawalpur, killing all of its occupants. In accordance with the
Constitution, chairman of the Senate Ghulam Ishaq Khan became acting
President.
" Ghulam Ishaq Khan announced that the elections, scheduled for
November, would take place.
After winning 93 of the 205 National Assembly seats contested, the PPP,
under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto, formed a coalition government
with several smaller parties, including the Mohajir Qaumi Movement
(MQM). The Islamic Democratic Alliance (IJI), a multiparty coalition led
by the PML and including religious right parties such as the Jamaati-
Islami (JI), won 55 National Assembly seats.
"Differing interpretations of constitutional authority, debates over the
powers of the central government relative to those of the provinces, and
the antagonistic relationship between the Bhutto administration and
opposition governments in Punjab and Balochistan seriously impeded
social and economic reform programmes. Ethnic conflict, primarily in
Sindh province, exacerbated these problems. A fragmentation in the
governing coalition and the military's reluctance to support an
apparently ineffectual and corrupt government were accompanied by a
significant deterioration in law and order.
"In August 1990, President Khan, citing his powers under the Eighth
Amendment to the Constitution, dismissed the Bhutto government,
dissolved the national and provincial assemblies, and announced new
elections to be held in October. He appointed opposition leader Ghulam
Mustafa Jatoi as caretaker prime minister and appointed caretaker
governments in each of the four provinces.
"The October elections, observed by several international organization
confirmed the political ascendancy of the IJI. In addition to a two-
thirds majority in the National Assembly the alliance acquired control
of all four provincial parliaments and enjoyed the support of the
military and of President Khan. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, as leader of the
PML, the most prominent party in the IJI, was elected prime minister by
the National Assembly.
"Sharif emerged as the most secure and powerful Pakistani prime minister
since the mid1970s.
Under his rule, the IJI achieved several important political victories.
The implementation of Sharif's economic reform programme, involving
privatisation, deregulation, and encouragement of private sector
economic growth, greatly improved Pakistan's economic performance and
business climate.
The passage into law in May 1991 of a Shariat bill, providing for
widespread Islamisation, legitimised the IJI government among much of
Pakistani society. The military's participation in the allied forces
during the Gulf War improved Pakistan's relations within the world
community.
"However, Nawaz Sharif was not able to reconcile the different
objectives of the IJI's constituent parties. The largest fundamentalist
party, Jamaati Islami (JI), abandoned the alliance because of its
perception of PML hegemony. The regime was weakened further by the
military's suppression of the MQM, which had entered into a coalition
with the IJI to contain PPP influence, and allegations of corruption
directed at Nawaz Sharif.
" Prime minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to place his own candidate in the
vacant chief of army staff position, against the wishes of both the army
and the president. Considering Sharif's intentions a direct threat to
his political authority, president Khan used his constitutional
privilege as commander-in chief effectively to place his candidate, Gen
Waheed, in the position.
" Despite this setback, Nawaz Sharif intensified his political
confrontation with Ghulam Ishaq Khan.
The prime minister appealed for the renunciation of the Eighth
constitutional Amendment (created under Zia in 1985), which conferred
upon the president the power to dismiss the government. Khan, hopeful
for a second five-year term, argued that the Eighth Amendment was an
important barrier to the ambitions of the prime minister.
" After PML chairman Junejo's death in March 1993, Sharif loyalists
unilaterally nominated him as the next party leader. Consequently, the
PML divided into the PML Nawaz (PML/N) group, loyal to the prime
minister, and the PML Junejo group (PML/J), supportive of the president.
"In April 1993, president Khan, citing 'maladministration, corruption,
and nepotism' and espousal of political violence, dismissed the Sharif
government. The consequent interim government led by Balakh Sher Mazari
experienced a problem of credibility because of allegations of
corruption against its members.
"The Supreme Court reinstated the Sharif regime in May l993. However,
president Khan continued his efforts to subvert the government of prime
minister Sharif by engineering the dissolution of the Punjab and NWFP
assemblies. The continued confrontation between Sharif and Khan
polarised Pakistani politics and threatened to undermine government
institutions. Finally, under a compromise brokered by the military, both
president Khan and prime minister Sharif resigned in July 1993. Wasim
Sajjad, who was serving as Senate chairman, was appointed interim
president.
"An interim government, headed by Moeen Qureshi, a former World Bank
vice president, took office with a mandate to hold national and
provincial parliamentary elections in October. Despite its brief term,
the Qureshi government adopted political, economic, and social reforms
that generated considerable domestic support and foreign admiration.
"In the October 1993 elections, the PPP won a plurality of seats in the
National Assembly, and Benazir Bhutto was asked to form a government.
However, because it did not acquire a majority in the National Assembly,
the PPP's control of the government depended upon the continued support
of numerous independent parties, particularly the PML/J. The
unfavourable circumstances surrounding PPP rule-the imperative of
preserving a coalition government, the formidable opposition of Nawaz
Sharif's (PML/N) movement, and the insecure provincial administrations -
presented significant difficulties for the government of Prime Minister
Bhutto. On the other hand, the election of Prime Minister Bhutto's close
associate, Farooq Leghari, as president in November 1993 gave her a
stronger Dower base.
" During the past 15 months in office, Prime Minister Bhutto's
government has set out clear policies to deal with key Pakistani
priorities, such as the economy, narcotics, and human rights. The
government's economic plan received strong support from the
international community in the form of an extended fund facility from
the IMF in 1994. Pakistan promulgated comprehensive counter narcotics
legislation in early 1995 and stepped up efforts to eradicate poppy
production in the NWFP. In an effort to improve respect for human
rights, the government created a human rights cell in the ministry of
interior."
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950623
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*From Press Gallery : A polite gesture lost
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasir Malick
WHEN the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif finally found some time from his
hectic political schedule to speak on the budget, Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto was present in the House to lend him an ear. When he stood up to
deliver his speech, Benazir and some of her ministers even thumped the
desks, a gesture rarely shown in our parliament. And when the prime
minister had to leave the hall midway through his she, again in a rare
show of civility, wrote him a chit, seeking to be excused for her
absence. However, this whole exercise in politeness had little effect on
Nawaz Sharif whose response was less than generous. And the response of
his otherwise well-mannered and soft-spoken information secretary,
Mushahid Hussain, was even less so.
Ms Bhutto had come to the House thrice to listen to Mr Sharif's speech
who, for reasons best known to him, did not open the general debate on
the budget, as is customary. He chose last day of the general debate to
make his speech and the prime minister specially came to the House to
hear him.
Before taking her seat, she tried to exchange pleasantries with the
opposition leader who pretended to be busy, ostensibly in reading some
papers. The prime minister had to settle for an exchange of pleasantries
with Gohar Ayub and Asfandyar Wali, who reciprocated.
Nawaz Sharif, who read out a 10 page prepared speech, attacked the
fiscal policies of the government, though at times he would add a few
remarks off the cuff before quickly reverting to the written text,
obviously fearing he might loose his concentration. He did not succeed
much, however, for, to the utter surprise of all of us in the Press
Gallery, he read the entire page five of the speech twice.
The reporters thought he would soon realise his mistake and go on to the
next page but that did not happen. The embarrassment of his party men
only too obvious, as their leader galloped through the pages with
amazing self-confidence.
"You never believed us that he (Sharif) cannot concentrate on an issue
for more than five minutes, what do you say now after today's show?" was
the caustic comment of one ruling party member.
When Mian Sahib was halfway through, the prime minister apparently
remembered some engagement. But before leaving she left a chit at the
desk of the opposition leader, who did not even as much as glance it,
and said his speech was more important than the chit. "I will not read
this chit," he declared.
Gohar Ayub, however, picked up the chit and read it. When Sharif was
finished, he handed the piece of paper to him which he read.
As Benazir left the hall, a number of journalists left the gallery to
talk to her but she refused to say anything. "She is missing out on a
golden opportunity. She could have engaged us in a conversation and made
it to the front pages tomorrow, overshadowing Nawaz Sharif," was how a
senior colleague felt.
After Mr Sharif's speech, some journalists rushed to the opposition
leader's chamber to know what the prime minister had scribbled on that
piece of paper. Mushahid Hussain was there to make a fun of the gesture.
"She has written, Mian Sahib I love you," he quipped.
He also uttered some unprintables about why Gohar Ayub had picked up the
chit.
However, finally it came to be known that Ms Bhutto had written: "Came
here to listen to your speech. Leaving for certain pre-engagement. Hope
to see you again."
Meanwhile, the general debate on budget which ended today, had been
tough for the ruling party members and the reporters alike. The PPP
members were prohibited by the prime minister to visit the cafeteria
while their absence was killing for the columnists who pick up a lot of
information and gossip, both printable and otherwise, from them over a
cup of tea. During their absence it was journalists versus journalists,
debating issues and getting nowhere.
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950625
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*From Press Gallery : Karachi overshadows budget
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasir Malick
ISLAMABAD: The budget lost its relevance as Karachi overshadowed the
proceedings when the National Assembly met on Saturday after a day's
recess. The killing of 35 people in Karachi at the hands of
"terrorists", till the afternoon, had shaken up the treasury and
opposition members alike.
Political expediencies were overcome by national interest, and members
realised that any further delay in controlling the situation could take
matters to a point-of-no- return. The horrifying experience of 1971 in
East Pakistan has not been washed from the memories and every member was
speaking from his heart to save Pakistan, the approach though was
different.
The government's concern was reflected in the Prime Minister's talk with
the reporters whom she had herself invited to her chamber where she only
talked about Karachi. When a journalist asked her about her uneasy
relationship with Punjab Chief Minister Manzooor Wattoo, she was
undoubtedly irritated as Karachi is her first priority, though she still
is not ready to give in to the demands of MQM, which she terms " a
terrorist organisation."
A ruling party member said when the Punjab issue was raised by some
party MNAs during their meeting with the Prime Minister, she told them
that she was too occupied with Karachi, her first and last priority for
the present.
But Ms Bhutto's tone towards Altaf Hussain remained unchanged as were
her conditions for dialogue. "Lay arms, surrender the wanted people and
come for a dialogue," she repeated. But what she did not tell the
reporters were the government plans to hold an in camera session of the
National Assembly where it would take the members into confidence about
the" involvement of MQM and other terrorist groups in Karachi killings."
This piece of information was perhaps held up for being announced inside
the House by Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar.
What Ms Bhutto said for the first time was that if it was true that
Altaf Hussain had talked about an armed struggle in Pakistan she would
take up the issue with the British government.
There was no indication that she is ready to talk with Altaf Hussain
without pre-conditions, not realising that many of her party members are
in favour of a dialogue but cannot dare annoy her.
"We respect her political acumen but she has to realise the ground
situation," an MNA from Punjab said after the parliamentary meeting of
the PDF alliance which was presided at by the Prime Minister and where
she took the same stand. "Think of the miseries of the people living in
Karachi, how long they can bear this situation."
The fear that the situation in Karachi can spill over to other provinces
where the bodies of police and paramilitary people killed by "
terrorists" in Karachi have started arriving, has gripped the MNAs from
Punjab and NWFP particularly. These killings can create hatred against a
particular community, which has no role in terrorism, and thus achieve
the nefarious objectives of the "terrorists."
Deputy Opposition Leader Gohar Ayub mentioned at least two people in his
area whose bodies arrived recently from Karachi.
A consensus was found in the House during debate on Karachi that
something urgent should be done while rising above party politics. The
debate, allowed on points of orders and in which more than 50 members
*from the two sides took part, was serious and unlike the past the
members acted responsibly. Even Federal Minister for Law N.D.Khan, who
is good at provoking the opposition, spoke maturely.
While the opposition remained adamant that the government should contact
Altaf Hussain for dialogue and withdraw cases against MQM workers, it
simultaneously condemned "terrorism" in Karachi.
For the first time Achakzai found himself in a difficult position where
he could neither support the MQM nor the government. On one hand, he
said Altaf Hussain was not as big a leader as he claims, yet he also
advised the government to initiate dialogue with him. He said that at
least half of Karachi's population was neither Mohajir nor Sindhi and
any solution ignoring them would not work.
"Altaf's extremism is that he considers himself the king of entire
Karachi, (which he is not)," Achakzai said but in the same breath he
said that there was no way to overcome the problem other than by
initiating a dialogue as he represents a big community. "I personally
don't consider him a very big personality." He also criticised the
government for " crushing violence through state terrorism." What
perhaps he wanted to say and did not was that the city should be
redemarcated so that various communities living in Karachi get a
proportional representation in the city.
Ijazul Haq, the son of former dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haque, perhaps still
relished the memory of good old days when his father ruled this country
against the wishes of the people. "If parliament does not take this
issue seriously, the undemocratic forces, which are (always) ready to
take democratic decisions, will be ready once again to act," he warned.
The scion of a martial law dictator, Ijaz was perhaps trying to justify
the undemocratic decision of his father, who is considered to be the
mentor of the MQM.
But Gohar Ayub was justified in agitating against the government's
failure to name its party members on the National Assembly Committee on
Karachi. The committee was formed through a joint resolution but the
government has not yet named its people, thus deliberately delaying its
formation. What the government wants to achieve by delaying the
formation of the committee is unclear. The committee, having equal
representation from the government and the opposition side, would have
shown its sincerity in solving the aggravating situation.
Better late than never. The government should announce the names of its
members on the committee so that at least its sincerity is not
questioned by the opposition as well as the public.
Regarding the in-camera session, it has yet to be seen whether the
government will be able to convince the opposition about the involvement
of the MQM in the incidents of Karachi.
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950627
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*From Press Gallery : Playing with the sentiments'
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasir Malick
ISLAMABAD: The opposition was callous in its bid to score political
points over Karachi issue. It wasted almost the entire day demanding
suspension of rules to discuss Karachi situation and did not agree to
the government's suggestion that it withdraw its cut motions, pass the
budget and discuss Karachi for the remaining three days.
Karachi was discussed in the House just two days back when more than 50
members spoke on the subject. Since then the killings have only
increased or one could assume that the assembly had to make any
worthwhile contribution to improving the situation.
Mahmood Achakzai, who is self-styled champion of rule of law, was
playing a front man's role for the opposition, advocating the bypassing
of the rules and procedures which clearly say that no business can be
taken up during the budget session. Even the debate allowed by the
speaker the other day on points of order was contrary to the rules.
Deputy opposition leader and former speaker Gohar Ayub even tried to
mislead the House by claiming that he had suspended the rules during the
budget session in 1992 when a similar situation had arisen in Karachi.
But Raza Rabbani called the bluff and when the record was brought
to the House on his insistence, it was revealed that the rules were
never suspended and the debate was included on the agenda of the day in
violation of procedure.
Everybody on the opposition seemed to forget that it was during its
tenure in the government that the army was sent to Karachi. Similarly,
most of the cases against MQM workers and leaders were registered during
its tenure. And when Chaudhry Nisar declared that the cases had been
registered on the orders of the former army chief Asif Nawaz, wasn't he
admitting that Nawaz Sharif was only a pawn in the hands of those who
were actually running the affairs of the country.
Chaudhry Nisar also informed the House that at one stage the MQM had
agreed to hand over at least six "terrorists" from its ranks to the
government. One failed to understand whether Nisar was favouring the MQM
or confirming its involvement in acts of terrorism, which it denies even
today.
The opposition members kept on proclaiming that the budget was of little
consequence compared to the Karachi situation, but were not willing to
withdraw the cut motions. Their main demand was to hold an immediate
debate followed by a joint session of parliament after the budget to
discuss the Karachi situation. The government and the speaker were ready
to agree to a debate provided the opposition withdrew their cut motions.
However, on the issue of a joint session, it was not ready to make a
commitment.
The open offer of the ministers to the opposition for initiating a
serious dialogue and its request for cooperation on Karachi was not
reciprocated.
Speaker Yousaf Raza Gilani was in the most difficult situation trying to
balance himself on a tight rope. He was not willing to violate the rules
and simultaneously trying to appease the opposition.
When Gohar Ayub misquoted the precedence, he at once announced that if
there was a precedence he would allow the opposition to move its
resolution seeking suspension of the rules.
Deputy Law Minister Raza Rabbani, could hardly veil his annoyance with
Gilani. "There is also a precedence of passing a constitutional
amendment in 12 minutes when Gohar Ayub was the speaker, will you follow
that, too? " he shouted. "It was an irregularity committed by the then
government which was acceded to by the then speaker," Rabbani said
referring to the Karachi debate which was held in 1992 during the budget
session. But the speaker had already made up his mind not to take the
blame of disallowing a debate on Karachi and easily shifted it to the
treasury benches by allowing Achakzai to move the resolution for
suspending the business.
Achakzai, instead of reading a simple resolution calling for the
suspension of the rules to discuss the Karachi situation, tried to play
with words to give an impression as if the resolution was meant to call
for a joint sitting of parliament, but his move was pre-empted by the
speaker who did not allow him to go any further. Though the move was
rejected by the majority vote in the first place but the opposition
called for a division during which the resolution was defeated by 106 to
57 votes. The opposition staged a token walk out as a protest.
Interestingly opposition leader Nawaz Sharif who attended both the
morning and afternoon sessions, did not utter a word on Karachi.
Some parliamentary observers felt that the PML's insistence on convening
a joint session of parliament betrayed a lingering fear its much-
trumpeted conference on Karachi might not create the impact it desires
in the absence of the PPP and veteran leaders like Nawabzada Nasrullah
Khan, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and Maulana Fazalur Rehman.
A joint session could also provide an opportunity to the MQM which is
not represented in the National Assembly but has a few senators, to
present its side of the story, which the opposition hoped would
embarrass the government.
But Sharif is faced with a dilemma. He had assured Altaf Hussain that he
would get the Karachi seats vacated by his partymen to pave the way for
holding fresh elections but he has not been able to convince his MNAs to
resign. And there is every fear that this issue would crop up at the
Karachi conference and the PML might find itself in quite a spot.
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