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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 26 December 1996 Issue : 02/52
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Tremor shakes parts of Karachi
Caretakers fail to produce charges: report
Emphasis on accountability of bureaucracy
Cabinet split over recovery from defaulters
Customs deny seizure of gold from Asif
Asif Zardari booked in Murtaza case
Benazir questions credibility of elections
Old faces may be back, fears Meraj
SC asked to help undo 8th Amendment
PIA suffering loss of $200,000 a week
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UAE defers giving $350m till polls
Businessmen sign accord with India
Govt borrows over Rs 5bn
WTO cannot provide safe future, says Bilour
Financial reforms next week
Task Force proposes cut in tariffs to 35pc
Stocks under pressure, suffer erosions on wide front
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'Ehtesab' or 'Intekhab'? 2 Ardeshir Cowasjee
Towards continuous accountability Zia-ul-Islam
The principles the Quaid stood for Imtiaz Rafi Butt
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Plan for comprehensive junior squash coaching unfolded
Afridi, Mushtaq rescue Pakistan with lusty hitting
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961221
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Tremor shakes parts of Karachi
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 20: An earthquake of mild intensity shook a sleepy
Karachi awake early on Friday morning at 7.21 am. The epicentre of
the tremor, which measured 4.0 on the Richter scale was
approximately 520 km south-east of Karachi near Rajkot in the
Indian state of Gujarat, according to the seismic monitoring
network of Pakistan and the Meteorological (MET) Department.
The tremor lasted a very short time, less than a second, and was
followed by minor aftershocks, which were not felt in Karachi, a
spokesman for the MET office told Dawn. He said that the occurrence
of a tremor and its aftershocks were analogous to a pendulum. The
first swing was the greatest and each successive swing was smaller
than the previous one, he said.
The Met office spokesman said that underground explosions also
create seismic waves but they were registered separately from
naturally occurring seismic shockwaves. He said that this tremor
was certainly a natural one, not man-made.
The main tremor was strong enough, however, to wake up many
Karachiites on a usually sleepy Friday morning.
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961225
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Caretakers fail to produce charges: report
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec 24: The US and Canadian media has begun to reflect
a sense of disappointment over the failure of Pakistans caretaker
government to produce any evidence against ousted Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto and her husband.
Two major newspapers on Tuesday published identical reports saying
almost seven weeks after the dismissal of Bhutto, the caretaker
government has started to look as precarious as the one it
replaced.
The Toronto Globe & Mail and Washington Times reported from
Islamabad that the powerful President Leghari had been unable to
produce formal corruption charges against Benazir and her husband
or deliver the election reforms, he claimed, were needed to secure
democracy.
Even Mr Legharis repeated promise of elections on Feb 3 remains
in doubt, the newspapers said.
The report said: Despite embarrassing corruption charges against
the interim cabinet, Mr Leghari has stood firmly by his ministers.
He assured the public that fresh elections would be held and
promised new measures to prevent loan defaulters and tax evaders
from contesting the polls.
If the proposed regulations are legislated and enforced, they
could bar both Ms Benazir Bhutto and Opposition leader Nawaz
Sharif, who is considered a major loan defaulter, from seeking
elected office for the next five years, the papers said.
But many observers doubt the reforms can be implemented before the
elections and serious questions remain about whether the interim
regime can ensure a fair contest anyway, the reports said.
The Washington Times said the accusations of rampant corruption and
deteriorating law and order could now be made against Legharis
own interim cabinet. Recent Pakistani Press reports revealed old
ties between interim PM Meraj Khalid and some of Pakistans drug
barons.
These people do not have a certificate from God that they are
clean, the reports quoted a former PPP MNA from Karachi Wajha
Karim Dad.
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961221
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Emphasis on accountability of bureaucracy
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R.M.U. Suleman
CARETAKER Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid has said that certain
members of the bureaucracy and other exploitative classes are
trying to frustrate the process of accountability and thwart the
caretakers efforts to formulate basic policy guidelines which they
want to spell out future directions in all walks of life.
Corruption at all levels, political as well as bureaucratic, is a
fact of life in Pakistan that is eating into the vitals of the
countrys economy. This reality has also been affirmed by
independent studies carried out by reputable international agencies
as Transparency International (TI) which has classed Pakistan as
the second most corrupt country in the world after Nigeria.
It is universally recognised that corruption always moves from top
(politics) down (bureaucracy). This implication is there even in
the aforesaid remarks of the caretaker PM. His predecessor has been
even more categorical in insisting that in Pakistan in general, and
during her regime in particular, there has been hardly any
corruption at the political level.
In support of her claim, the ousted PM presented the evidence, that
when the list of top defaulters was presented in the National
Assembly, 97 per cent of them were not politicians, but
businessmen. No bureaucrats were, of course, identified in this
rogues gallery of bank defaulters.
Even the 3 per cent share of politicians in the rogues gallery is
rather surprising, since in all civilised countries, politicians
and businessmen have been separated into at least formal non-
competing groups. This does not mean that politicians do not reap
the rich fruits of business. They do, but do it through surrogates.
Conversely, most big politicians are surrogates of big business in
developed countries.
As for the high ratio (97 per cent) of non-politicians among the
top bank defaulters, the political involvement of politicians must
obviously be far too high. Without effective big politician
interest, it is impossible in this country to secure big business
loans, deliberately with heavy under-collateralisation, that are
hard to recover, whatever stringent recovery laws are enforced.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. A
bureaucracy becomes autonomous and exercises near-absolute power
when the process of class formation is weak or when no class is
dominant. This is certainly not the case in Pakistan, where the
feudal or landed class still retains the dominant position. Once a
class becomes dominant and retains its dominance, the autonomy of
the bureaucracy ceases to exist and it becomes an instrument in the
hands of the dominant class. Since the Pakistan bourgeoisie is also
now in the process of establishing its dominance, the Pakistani
bureaucracy will soon lose its autonomy and power still further.
Even when the position of dominant classes in a society is fully
crystallised, the need of bureaucracy, civil and military, as
junior partners in the crime of corruption still remains. It was
thus quite in the fitness of things that just a day before its
ouster, the federal cabinet of Benazir Bhutto had formed two
committees to scrutinise the declarations of assets and liabilities
filed annually by government officers.
The first committee was to scrutinise the declarations of
government servants working in Grades 17 to 19. It was to be headed
by the minister of the concerned ministry and establishment
secretary or his representative and the secretary of the ministry
concerned were to be its members.
The second committee was to scrutinise statements of officers in
Grade 20 and above and was to be headed by the prime minister. The
chairmen of the Federal Anti-Corruption Committee (FACC) and Prime
Ministers Inspection Commission (PMIC) and secretaries of the
Establishment and Cabinet Division were to be the members of this
committee.
If any mis-declaration was found during scrutiny or the committee
was informed through any other source, the concerned agencies were
to be asked to check and verify the declaration. The formation of
the committees for scrutinising the declarations was expected to
end the controversy between the FACC and senior government servants
who had been refusing to file declarations for scrutiny with the
FACC, questioning its authority.
The cabinet was told that since the exercise involved a huge volume
of information-gathering spread over an 11-year period, the
committee was not in a position to submit its findings readily.
The cabinet directed the special committee to speed up its work and
submit its report at the earliest as it would help in de-
politicising bureaucracy. The cabinet also decided to make
necessary amendments in the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules
1964 to take disciplinary action against those civil servants who
unauthorisedly acquire government record, documents or information
or communicate it directly or indirectly to anyone not authorised
to receive it.
On November 4 the caretaker federal cabinet approved the
accountability bill to net corrupt politicians and civilian and
military bureaucrats. Unlike the original draft bill, envisaging
accountability of all armymen, the caretakers agreed to partial
accountability of military personnel on temporary civilian
appointments.
Army officers are inducted in the civil services and also appointed
on lucrative posts in the civilian organisations but had never been
held accountable even if there were reports of corruption against
them. They are appointed as heads of public sector organisations
like Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Oil and Gas
Development Corporation, Water and Power Development Authority,
Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation, Sui Gas Company etc.
Military Procurements have also traditionally been notorious for
kickbacks and commissions.
The President has been excluded from accountability because of
constitutional protection to him under Article 248 (2). A similar
immunity has also been extended to provincial governors. Whatever
the constitutional provision, the fact of the Presidents wielding
absolute power needs to be duly considered.
Histrionics
Some of the causes of bureaucratic corruption are specific to
Pakistan. To begin with, there were huge chunks of evacuee
property, urban and rural, available for allotment to hordes of
refugees from India, particularly from the agreed areas for mass
exchange of population. For expeditious rehabilitation, these
allotments involved massive exercise of discretionary powers. Since
humans are not angels, few could resist the temptation of
corruption, which soon became deeply ingrained in society.
In the shrinking remnants of the iron frame, the main fault was
arrogance rather than corruption, which long remained an exception
rather than the rule. This position was decisively changed with the
selective and arbitrary cashiering of senior bureaucracy by Ayub
Khan. Yahya Khan did one better by his well-known retirement of
three-knot-three: The civilian martial law of ZAB turned this
number to thousands and increased the arbitrariness of the whole
exercise.
When Gen. Zia came to power, this scribe along with some others was
engaged part-time in an interesting research study entitled
Negative Bureaucratic Behaviour, a nice euphemism for
bureaucratic corruption. It was a multi-country, Canadian
organised, and financed study.
The Pakistan Administrative Staff (PASC) College was handling the
study in Pakistan with a multi-disciplinary team representing
revenue collection, expenditure control, import and export control,
police, etc. As the team entered the crucial report-writing stage,
there was suddenly an order from the federal Establishment Division
to stop all work on the study forthwith.
The irony of the story was that the Secretary Establishment who
signed the stop-study order had also earlier initiated and
supervised the study in his capacity as the Principal PASC. From
him it was learnt that the new ruling Zia team took bureaucracy to
be its strongest collaborator. The report, it was assumed, would
definitely be anti-bureaucratic and the government of the day did
not want to rattle its most valuable collaborator.
During the restoration comedy, bureaucracy was deemed to be a clay
in the hands of the political overlords who could mould it in any
form they liked. The Caretaker PM, Moeen Qureshi, felt the need for
bringing in suitable Civil Service Rules that could provide
security of tenure and independence to bureaucracy. The successor
Benazir government was happy to see these Rules lapse.
The new caretaker government has yet to find time to devote to such
matters. Dr. Mubashir Hasan has urged the amendment of Civil
Service Rules to empower senior government servants to take
disciplinary action against their subordinates as a part of a
general move for decentralisation. A totally pliant bureaucracy can
neither be efficient nor honest.
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961221
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Cabinet split over recovery from defaulters
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Ihtasham ul Haque
SHARP differences have developed in the caretaker cabinet over some
important economic and financial matters, including the definition
of a defaulter. It has now approached President Farooq Leghari to
help iron out the differences.
The President is believed to have expressed his inability to offer
any instant solution specially over the question of defaulters and
that is why about dozens of cases were lying pending, waiting to be
entertained either by Chief Ehtesab Commissioner, banking tribunal
or any court.
The ministers of law and interior had given their reports
recommending early initiation of cases against about 40 defaulters.
However since the cabinet has not reached a decision how to deal
with the issue, the officials concerned were purtubed and called
for taking an early decision.
The most irritating question being discussed over which no decision
could be taken due to sharp differences was the definition of
defaulters. Insiders said that some of the members, including the
Prime Ministers Adviser on Political Affairs and Accountability,
Najam Sethi, Advisor on Finance, Planning and Economic Affairs
Shahid Javed Burki, Minister for Petroleum Javed Jabbar and
Minister for Industries Brig.(retd) Sadiq Awan, were demanding that
the defaulters should not be given any relief and that their loans
must be recovered.
And in case they refused to pay their loans in a matter of days
then criminal cases must be prepared against them for transferring
to the Chief Ehtesab Commissioner. On the other side some others
including Minister for Education, Science, and Technology, Begum
Syed Abida Hussain, who has resigned, and the Minister for Defence
and Establishment, Mr. Shahid Hamid, has been pleading that the
defaulters be given enough time and that their loans should be
generously considered for rescheduling.
Those who were seeking payment by defaulters are also said to have
called for handing over two separate lists containing names of
about 500 people to the concerned organisations. But the others in
the cabinet specially Abida and Shahid Hamid had a soft corner for
the defaulters.
It is interesting to note that the president who on the one hand,
directed the caretakers to recover at least Rs. 30 to 40 billion,
out of Rs.140 billion outstanding loans, has not been able to
remove the confusion on the definition of a defaulter.
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961224
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Customs deny seizure of gold from Asif
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 23: The customs department has categorically denied
having seized gold or antiques being smuggled out by former federal
minister Asif Ali Zardari or any person connected with him.
In its report and para-wise comments on a petition filed by
advocate M.D. Tahir for safe deposit and custody of Rs 700 million
reportedly recovered from Mr Zardari at the time of his arrest from
the Governors House, Lahore, on the night between November 4 and 5
and of gold and antiques allegedly intercepted and seized by the
Customs while being smuggled out by him, the department said the
news in a Lahore Urdu daily on which the allegations were based was
not authentic.
The report, submitted in the Lahore High Court by the Customs
deputy collector (exports), Mughalpura, Lahore, on Monday, said
while the petitioner may be an advocate and a citizen of Pakistan
as stated by him in his petition, he is ignorant of facts and has
filed a petition without ascertaining them.
A few pieces of antique jewellery weighing 119.3 grams were seized
at the dry port early in October but were handed over to the
curator of the archaeology department for safe custody and proper
maintenance as directed by the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The lawyer should have filed a petition against the newspaper that
carried the false report, the department said.
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961220
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Asif Zardari booked in Murtaza case
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Dawn Report
KARACHI, Dec 19: The CIA police on Thursday formally booked Asif
Ali Zardari in the Mir Murtaza Bhutto case and shifted him from
Landhi Jail to the Women police station near governor house amid
tight security.
The area was without electricity when Mr Zardari was escorted in an
APC (PS-9762) by the SSP CIA, Ali Gohar Mithiani, to the Women
police station. The CIA police will produce him in the court of
district and sessions judge, South, on Saturday to seek his remand
for interrogation in the murder case, sources said.
His lawyers who met him at 6.30pm on Thursday, told Dawn Mr Zardari
was very happy with the Sindh High Courts judgement regarding his
illegal detention. According to his lawyers, Mr Zardari told them:
I have always, and still have, great respect for and trust in the
judiciary. I am innocent. They have implicated me in false cases.
His detention, under maintenance of public order (MPO), was set
aside by the Sindh High Court on Wednesday, but he was not
released.
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961225
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Benazir questions credibility of elections
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Our Correspondent
LARKANA, Dec 24: The ousted prime minister Benazir Bhutto, while
demanding the restoration of her government, has urged President
Farooq Leghari to step down for, as she put it, sacrificing
national interests for the sake of his personal interests.
Addressing a Press conference at Naudero on Tuesday, she repeated
the claim that Mr Leghari was very much ambitious to form a Kings
party.
She proposed a meeting between the Leader of the House and the
Leader of the Opposition after a possible restoration of the
National Assembly in order to hammer out political strategy to
establish a stable government and drive out the country from
political and economic crises.
She labelled caretakers as biased and prejudiced and said
election under Mr Leghari would not be acceptable to the nation.
Such an election would further deepen the crises facing the
country, she said claiming that the president wanted to see a hung
parliament to suit his interests.
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961221
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Old faces may be back, fears Meraj
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LAHORE, Dec 21: The caretaker prime minister, Malik Meraj Khalid on
Saturday expressed the fear that old faces might return in the
upcoming elections and called upon the people to vote for sincere
and honest candidates.
Speaking at the Lahore High Court Bar Association, he stated that
foreign diplomats in Islamabad had told him that they did not
expect much change after the Feb 3 elections. If that happened, the
interim PM said, the country would remain unstable and there would
be no solutions to the countless problems faced by the people.
Mr Meraj Khalid also spoke of the difficulties in unearthing
evidence against the corrupt politicians .
Corruption has become so technical that those indulging in it have
left behind no trace but we are striving to gather the evidence,
he said.
He said unless there was accountability, the situation which
existed before November 5 would continue.APP
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961223
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SC asked to help undo 8th Amendment
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Shujaat Ali Khan
LAHORE, Dec 22: The Supreme Court was on Sunday requested to order
the establishment of a constitutional commission to scrutinise the
8th Amendment and prepare a report which should be submitted to the
parliament straightaway or after a referendum, for subsequent
action.
The apex court was also requested to declare General Ziaul Haq a
usurper with effect from March 1981 when he promulgated a
provisional constitutional order but condone his actions and
decisions, including the Eighth Amendment, like those of General
Yahya Khan in Asma Jilani case.
Appearing for appellant-lawyer Abdul Mujib Pirzada, his brother,
Barrister Abdul Hafiz Pirzada said the (late) chief martial law
administrator himself destroyed whatever legal cover was provided
to him by the Supreme Court in the 1977 Nusrat Bhutto case by
nullifying its verdict through his 1981 PCO. His regime no longer
represented a mere deviation from the Constitution.
The general, he submitted, ushered in a new order in the name of
Islamisation in 1981, appointed a federal council or Majlis-i-
Shoora of his supporters in place of parliament, combined in
himself all executive, legislative and judicial functions of the
state, deprived the citizens of their fundamental rights and the
superior courts of their jurisdiction to enforce them and, above
all, prescribed a new oath for superior court judges and
administered it selectively to those he liked.
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961224
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PIA suffering loss of $200,000 a week
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Masood Haider
NEW YORK, Dec 23. Ever since PIA started its two weekly flights
from Chicago and Washington in early December, it has been
suffering losses to the tune of $200,000 per week, highly informed
sources here told Dawn.
PIA introduced from Dec 12, two flights a week from Chicago and two
from Washington. Both flights which transit through the JFK Airport
carry the bulk of passengers for New York city. These flights then
terminate and originate as the case may be from Chicago and
Washington. Until Monday they carried a total of 15 or 20
passengers to and from these two new destinations. As a
consequence, the airline pays more in refuelling and handling of
flights at these two cities than it can justify.
The sources said that every time the PIA flight originates from
Chicago it incurs an expenditure of over $60,000, same is the case
in Washington.
The main reason for the losses being suffered by the airline is
that since its major payload is from New York, flights between New
York and the other two American cities become redundant. Reasons
why PIA has no payload from either of these two cities are, because
of its commitments in New York and also because it has not geared
itself to the service fully, for if it were to be a real
destination then PIA would have direct flights from the two cities
to a destination in Europe.
According to sources, the airline had not acquired rights to fly
directly from either Chicago or Washington to a European
destination and so it has to transit through New York to fly to a
European destination en route to Pakistan.
PIA officials in New York confirmed that only 15 or 20 passengers
were being carried to and from the two new destinations four times
a week. The PIA management thinks that ultimately the new
destinations would become economically viable in long run.
Meanwhile, the North American route which accounted for $60 million
a year in profits is fast becoming a loser.
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961223
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UAE defers giving $350m till polls
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By Ihtasham ul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Dec 22: The United Arab Emirates has expressed regrets
that it could not accede to Pakistans request for 350 million
dollars, saying that the matter could be considered only when a new
government was in place after the Feb 3 elections.
Informed sources told Dawn here on Sunday that the visit of prime
ministers advisor on finance, planning and economic affairs Shahid
Javed Burki could not achieve the desired results.
The delegation which included the deputy chairman of the planning
commission, Dr Hafiz Pahsha, and the chairman of the privatisation
commission, Dr Sulaiman Shah, was told by the UAE authorities that
at this stage they could not commit anything and would wait for the
formation of a new government in Pakistan.
Mr Burki had requested the amount to improve the countrys balance
of payments position.
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961224
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Businessmen sign accord with India
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 23: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed
between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FPCCI) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FICCI) at the Federation House in New Delhi on Monday
morning.
Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, President, FPCCI, and Mr A. S.
Kashliwal, President, FICCI, signed the MoU on behalf of their
federations.
Among those present were FPCCI delegates and leading Indian
industrialists and businessmen.
Replying to the welcome speech, on the occasion, President, FPCCI,
Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, said if trade between Pakistan and
India is to be promoted, the governments of the two countries will
have to play more positive role.
According to the FPCCI Press release, Senator Bilour further said
that the viability of the process will depend upon a continuing
political commitment in support of an expanded trade.
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961224
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Govt borrows over Rs 5bn
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 23: The government on Monday borrowed Rs 5.930 billion
from the banking sectormostly from the state-run banksthrough
sale of Short Term Federal Bonds.
Sources in the money market told Dawn the State Bank of Pakistan
raised the amount for the government by way of selling the six-
monthly bonds at its weekly auction.
The SBP sold these bonds at an average 17.21 per cent annual
return with the minimum and maximum yields ranging between 15-17.25
per cent, one of the sources said.
Bankers and money brokers reached by Dawn said the state-run
National Bank of Pakistan made the largest purchase of a little
more than Rs 5.0 billion followed by Muslim Commercial Bank (Rs
800m) and Habib Bank Ltd. (Rs 100m). The market was tight in the
beginning with call rates ranging between 20- 22 per cent but an
inflow of Rs400m-500m brought down the rates to 10-12 per cent,
the treasury manager of a bank said.
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961225
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WTO cannot provide safe future, says Bilour
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 24: The President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers
of Commerce and Industry, Senator Ilyas Bilour, has said that the
new World Trade Treaty does not provide a safe future for the
developing countries and, therefore, urged them to join hands and
foster economic co-operation among them to effectively deal with
the emerging situation.
Speaking at a luncheon meeting of Indian businessmen at New Delhi,
organised on Wednesday by the Punjab, Haryana, Delhi Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, the Senator observed that culmination of
Uruguay Round of talks into Marakesh Agreement and the creation of
World Trade Organisation has evoked scepticism among the developing
countries.
A Press release of FPCCI on Wednesday said that Senator Bilour made
a specific reference to developed countries strategy for phasing
out Multi Fibre Agreement in the next decade, who on the other hand
have pressurised the developing countries to open their market for
textile products from them without any delay.
He also spoke of the other barriers on developing countries by the
developed nations like linking the issue of child labour and
environment with trade.
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961225
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Financial reforms next week
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtasham ul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: To cut expenses of the financial institutions,
the Deputy Governor of the State Bank Ashraf Janjua has been
directed to determine the surplus staff in the banks and the
Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) and present his report to
the government immediately.
Informed sources told Dawn here on Tuesday that the move aimed at
drastically cutting down the expenditure of banks and the DFIs
through staff retrenchment and closing down surplus branches.
Sources said that the schedule for the banking sector reform
programme would be announced in the first week of January to
substantially cut wasteful expenditures of the nationalised banks
and the (DFIs).
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961220
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Task Force proposes cut in tariffs to 35pc
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Dec 19: The Task Force on Tariffs has finalised its
recommendations and presented it to the government, proposing
reduction in tariffs to 35 per cent in the shortest possible time,
to be undertaken from 1997-98.
The Task Force on Tariffs, headed by me, has suggested that
tariffs must be brought down to 35 per cent as early as possible
and the recommendations must be implemented in letter and in spirit
from the next financial year, said Minister for Commerce Dr
Mohammad Zubair.
He pointed out that the Task Force on Tariffs has given its report
well in time. He told Dawn here on Thursday that the reduction in
tariff has always been a problem in Pakistan although previous
governments had agreed to drastically bring them down. The issue of
reducing tariffs was one of the major conditionalities of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF). Pakistan was to reduce its
tariffs to 55 per cent in 1995-96 but when failed to do so the Fund
put further restrictions to offer financial support to Pakistan.
For the current year the target was fixed at 60 per cent which too
did not seem to be achieved.
Our Task Force has called for gradual reduction in tariff rates in
which revenue impact should also be assessed before eventually
bringing them down to 35 per cent, the commerce minister said. He
said: Let us have a competition everywhere for which it is
necessary to do away with these tariffs.
We are trying to make things easy for the future elected
government by proposing recommendations through various Task Forces
to improve the overall economic and financial health of the
country, he added said.
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961220
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Stocks under pressure, suffer erosions on wide front
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 19: Stocks remained under pressure on Thursday and
suffered price erosions on a wide front, as investors were not
inclined to make larger commitments despite news of release of held
up IMF loan of $80 million under the standby arrangement.
There was, therefore, no trace of the late Wednesday evening 5.07
points gain in the index in response to positive news from the aid
front when the trading resumed as sellers again dominated the
scene.
However, some analysts said the market could respond positively to
objective news by the next week after it fully digested the
negative impact of the current galore of rumours aimed at
resignations of some caretaker federal ministers including the
prime minister.
It was largely the weekend selling which kept the buying interest
in a low-key and the performance of the market could be a bit
improved next week though on selected counters.
The KSE 100-share index showed a fresh modest decline of 7.06
points at 1,378.49 as compared to 1,385.55 a day earlier,
reflecting the weakness of the base shares.
Analysts said the market might be terribly upset owing to rumour-
mongering, which points to political instability. There are some
other bearish news also which are keeping the underlying sentiment
in the minus column.
The news of resumption of IMF credit line is a big news and the
market has to welcome it sooner or later, they maintained.
They said the election uncertainties might continue to take their
toll after regular intervals but the underlying sentiment could be
kept intact on the strength of selective support.
But some others said the market is terribly short of funds as
leading players are feeling the pinch of big portfolio losses and
that could keep the sentiment in low key.
However, big decline in some of the leading shares worried
investors which indicated that a formidable section of leading
operators is selling in the leading issues, cashing in on the
available margin of profits.
A big sell-off might not be imminent as some of the genuine
investors are out to sell, prompting fresh selling from others,
dealers said.
A fresh sharp fall of Rs 12 in PSO, which fell to Rs 266 against
its face value of Rs 10, with 20,500 shares changing hands worried
investors as a big fall in a blue chip could mean a bad news for
the entire market.
All other leading shares also fell but fractionally. Some of them
fell sharply under the lead of Dadabhoy Insurance, Dewan Textiles,
Al-Abid Silk and Hinopak Motors, which has been in strong demand
over the last few sessions and had risen substantially owing to
higher earning and a good payout for the last year.
Others fell by Rs 1.25 to Rs 5, biggest decline of Rs 5 being again
in Dadabhoy Insurance, followed by Lease Pakistan and Pak Gulf
Insurance.
Textile and banks shares fell in unison, although fractionally but
some of them managed to finish higher under the lead of Fateh
Textiles, which rose by Rs 5.
Synthetic shares followed them on active short-covering at the
lower levels and rose, major gainers among them being Gatron
Industries and Dhan Fibre.
Other good gainers were led by KASB & Co, Pakistan Oilfields and
Adamjee Insurance, which posted gains ranging from one rupee to Rs
2.
The most active list was again topped by Hub-Power, steady five
paisa on 7.348m, followed by PTC vouchers, lower 20 paisa on
6.457m, ICI Pakistan, easy 35 paisa on 3.070m, Dhan Fibre, firm
five paisa on 1.590m, and FFC-Jordan Fertiliser, unchanged on
1.328m shares.
Other actively traded shares were led by ICI Pakistan (r), easy
five paisa on 0.428m, Dewan Salman, lower 50 paisa on 0.376m,
Sunflow Citruss, off 50 paisa on 0.375m, Faysal Bank, up 40 paisa
on 0.297m, D. G. Khan Cement, unchanged on 0.169m, and Askari Bank,
up 50 paisa on 0.165m shares.
Trading volume fell to 24.182 million shares from the previous
29.454m shares, owing to the absence of leading buyers.
There were 308 actives out of which 141 shares fell, 90 rose with
77 holding on to the last levels.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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961220
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'Ehtesab' or 'Intekhab'? 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ardeshir Cowasjee
NO government can be forgiven for looting the people's money,
whether it be donated or deposited by or extracted or extorted from
them.
The sin is compounded a hundred-fold when it loots for its own
nefarious purposes, its own trusts specifically established, and
which by law are solely to be used "for the help and assistance of
destitute and needy widows, orphans, invalids, infirm and other
needy persons." When a government loots, intentionally misusing its
own laws, it commits, without doubt, criminal breach of trust.
What follows is a sordid tale of sordid deeds done by persons
deserving of the same adjective. On March 24, 1994, former Interior
Minister Major-General Naseerullah Babar wrote to M.A.K. Chaudhry,
the Chairman (Ameen, 'the most trustworthy') of the Pakistan Bait-
ul-Mal (PBM) on the subject of "request of Mir Ahmedan Raheja Bugti
for justice and protection." On March 31, Naseerullah telephoned
the Chairman insisting that a sum of Rs 10 million be made
immediately available for that purpose. The same day, the Chairman,
instead of denying the request outright, wrote to the General:
"1) There is no precedent of Bait-ul-Mal assistance to such a large
group of persons who are displaced on account of political
persecution.
"2) The procedure laid down by the Board of Management (BoM)
requires every recipient of financial assistance to fill an
application form which has to be verified by the local Zakat
Committee and another official/respectable. This procedure will
obviously have to be bypassed.
"3) The scale of assistance laid down by the BoM is Rs 2,500 per
applicant where his application is not properly verified. This is,
therefore, the scale permissible.
"4) If sanctioned, this assistance can only be a one-time grant as
a very special case."
Having written so, he asked if the matter could wait until the BoM
met on April 17. If not, he as Chairman could take the decision "as
per directive of the Prime Minister" and issue a cheque for Rs 10
million "in the name of some responsible authority like the
Governor of Balochistan." A copy of the letter was endorsed to
Tahir Mohammed Khan Niazi, "Advisor to Mr Asif Ali Zardari,
Minister, Islamabad, with reference to our telephone conversation."
On April 3, 1994, Ahmad Sadiq presided over a meeting called at
short notice. Present were Ameen Chaudhry, Interior Secretary
Jamshed Burki, Addl. Secretary, Special Education and Social
Welfare, M. Hassan, two JSs of the PM's Secretariat, Nasir Hussain
and Yasrab Malik, Section officer, Ministry of SE & SW, Sarafaraz
Ali and "a number of Bugti tribe leaders."
The very next day, April 4, duly allowing himself to be
intimidated, the Ameen, in total disregard and dereliction of his
duty, issued a cheque in the amount of Rs 10 million in the
personal name of "Major-General (Retd) Naseerullah Khan Babar",
drawn on the State Bank of Pakistan, Lahore (PBM cheque no.
000039).
On April 24, another cheque for Rs 10 million was issued in the
same name (PBM cheque no. 000043), for the same purpose.
Two crimes begot a third. On November 23, 1994, the Ameen signed a
third cheque made out to "the Governor of Balochistan" in the sum
of Rs 30 million (PBM cheque 000067), for the "rehabilitation of
Bugti-Kalpar tribesmen." This was done in compliance with the Prime
Minister's secretariat's letter U.O. No. 5(13)/E&F.1/94 dated
November 16 1994.
The total of Rs 50 million was supposedly to be distributed to the
Rahejan and Kalpar Bugtis to support the tribal warfare being waged
by them against Nawab Mohammed Akbar Shahbaz Khan, Tumandar Bugti,
and to keep him pinned down in his ancestral home at Dera Bugti.
The reasoning might have been: 'an enemy of an enemy is my friend.'
The purpose: to perpetuate the PPP rule in Balochistan. Whether or
not this money enriched the Bugtis and the Kalpars, or some others,
the fact is that it was money wilfully misappropriated and
misspent. A crime.
On the receipts produced for the PBM the same five thumbs were
impressed upon five lots of receipts: 325, 265, 118, 114, and 80,
all for hundreds of small amounts.
Apart from this, the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal was further depleted by
"Ms. Naheed Khan, Political Secretary to the Prime Minister" and
"one Mr Rehmat Ullah, a consultant to the Prime Minister." In gross
violation of all rules, sums totalling Rs 6.171 million and Rs
27.05 million were sanctioned on their 'directions.' Cheques
totalling Rs 34,099,909 made in the names of various persons were
also collected by her from the PBM.
The Ameen, and each of the persons mentioned above, are thus
undoubtedly guilty of having committed criminal breach of trust.
The people ask whether all those named above cannot be held
accountable and charged under, amongst others, the following
sections of the Pakistan Penal Code?
Section 409 PPC: "Whoever, being in any manner entrusted with
property, or with any dominion over property in his capacity of a
public servant or in the way of his business as a banker, merchant,
factor, broker, attorney or agent, commits criminal breach of trust
in respect of that property, shall be punished with imprisonment
for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term
which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."
Section 109, PPC: "Whoever abets any offence shall, if the act
abetted is committed in consequence of the abetment, and no express
provision is made by this Code for the punishment of such abetment,
be punished with the punishment provided for the offence."
Section 34 PPC: "When a criminal act is done by several persons, in
furtherance of the common intention of all, each of such persons is
liable for that act in the same manner as if it were done by him
alone."
All read with section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption, 1947:
Act II:
"Any public servant who commits or attempts to commit criminal
misconduct shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both."
In the fitness of things, the Governors of Punjab and the NWFP,
retired Lt.-General Raja Saroop Khan and retired Major General
Khurshid Ali Khan, chose to resign rather than dissolve their
assemblies at the behest of the President. The Governors of Sindh
and Balochistan, Barrister Kamaluddin Azfar and Lt.-General (retd)
Imranullah Khan, chose to do the President's bidding, issued their
dissolution orders, and stayed on. Why were they not sent home?
Having not been sent home, why did they not go home voluntarily?
Benazir, as prime minister, presided over the cabinet, and as
finance minister, presided over the economic committee of the
cabinet (ECC). She controlled all the money coming in and all the
money going out. She was directly responsible for appointing
corrupt supine men who headed our NCBs, DFIs, DBPs and the NIT. The
bad debts (non-performing loans) of the first three totalled Rs
62.592 billion at the end of 1993. Thereafter, money was loaned by
these institutions, and not collected by them. Today, the bad debts
total Rs 96.238 billion (Rs 9,623 crores), an increase of over 53
per cent.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan a nationalised bank,
UBL, has actually declared a loss on its balance sheet. Again, for
the first time, NIT is unable to buy back its units across the
counter. Unit holders wait for months before they can encash their
units. When NIT does buy back, it does so at the rate of Rs 13.70
per unit, whereas the net asset value of the units remaining with
it is estimated to be in the region of Rs 8 each. Each time a unit
is encashed the value of the units remaining with NIT decreases.
The state and the people are expected to suffer and bear the loss
created by this colossal theft.
There is not an iota of doubt that during Benazir's two rounds and
Nawaz's one, the country was massively and comprehensively robbed.
If the existing laws, and the laws being framed today, are unable
to incriminate and disqualify at least the entire cabinets of the
three governments, strict liability laws must now, without delay,
be promulgated, i.e. should a prima facie case be established, the
accused must then prove his innocence. The burden of proof should
be reversed.
Should this caretaker government allow the robbers and wrongdoers
of the past three governments to be 'elected' to rule over them,
the people will hold that the President and his ministers have
conspired to so do, and will hold them responsible at the bar of
the people's justice. Accountability takes time. The President
must, as he is obliged to do under the Constitution, hold a
referendum and let the people decide what they want first ehtesab
or intekhab?
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961220
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Towards continuous accountability
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Zia-ul-Islam
THE caretaker government is reportedly considering the setting up
of permanent accountability cells in all departments of the federal
government. This is no doubt a great idea. It is also the most
difficult to achieve, keeping in view that more than a dozen
departments, cells and teams are busy full-time in this very
exercise, working day and night to achieve a perfect zero score.
The Press reports say that a two-member cell consisting of the
secretary of the department and another senior officer may be
formed for this purpose. The funny part of the report is that great
difficulty is being experienced in finding really honest senior
officers in various departments who could be appointed in these so-
called accountability cells. Leaving aside the genuine difficulties
which will surely be faced regarding the search for honest people
for the cells, one can be sure of one thing.
The idea that there should be permanent cells must have come from
one of the caretaker rulers, most probably the Prime Minister
himself. The other bright idea that these cells should be manned
by the secretary and another senior officer of the department
itself must surely have originated from some clever bureaucrat.
While the interim rulers may be trying to do the business of
cleaning up the national stables (no pun intended), the
bureaucrats, who are definitely not interim and who are fully
conscious of the fact that, after all, they have to do business as
usual at the end of this whole affair, are taking care to make
sure that their apple-carts are not upset during the stay of the
caretakers.
At the end of the day, when all the excitement of elections (or the
postponement thereof, on which considerable amounts of satta money
is being slapped) is over and all the accountability accounts
have been closed, these very poor, over-worked civil servants will
be called upon by the nation to put things back in a neat order
from where they had started fifty years ago. Of course, the last
thing they would like at that time would be to find some drastic
changes in the system which may pose hurdles in adopting the old,
familiar, well- trodden ways. Hence the excellent advice: appoint
two senior people from the department itself to carry out their own
accountability!
Humour aside, there is no such thing as self-accountability. God
didnt make man from that kind of stuff. The earlier we understand
this basic principle, the better for us, or whatever remains of us.
All efforts and attempts at holding accountability festivals in
this country have gone down the drain because we have steadfastly
stuck to the principle that we are our own best judges.
All our accountability organs are, in real terms, based on this
principle. The anti-corruption departments are manned by the same
people who find themselves on the other side of the table within
days. Anti-corruption committees are headed by the same civil
servants who are in positions where they should be under close
watch. The same is true of the hordes of other organs which are
responsible for holding bureaucrats accountable. Even the
Ombudsmens offices are cramped with officers from the police, DMG
and other groups. In our system, today a person is posted as
hatchet man and tomorrow, some times literally, he is squarely
tucked under the same hatchet. No doubt, the nation is sick and
tired in its search for accountability.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United states has an
accountability system that is working in a near-perfect manner for
over a hundred years. They have an inspection wing which has an
officer at every level corresponding to the officer in the IRS.
Copies of all assessment and other orders passed by Revenue Agents
(equivalent to our Income Tax Officers or Assistant Commissioners)
are automatically passed on to the officers corresponding to that
level in the inspection wing. Similarly, copies of appellate orders
are handed over to the higher-level officers in the inspection wing
and so on. The process is in-built and goes on smoothly,
automatically and without any fuss. All orders are thus scrutinised
almost as soon as they are passed. If there appears anything wrong
or improper, the inspection wing takes notice and moves immediately
to rectify the situation. Those who pass orders are aware that
their orders are all the time under close, detailed scrutiny and
are therefore careful in what they write.
Of course the inspection wing consists of people who do not belong
to the IRS department. They are not inter-transferable with the IRS
officers and they do not fall under the head of the IRS. On the
contrary, they are highly paid officers who report directly to the
Finance Secretary.
If we wish to introduce real accountability among our civil
servants, we should devise systems similar to the one mentioned
above. The present set of organs meant for this job are not only
useless; they are definitely counter-productive. Most of them are
themselves biggest sources of corruption and filth in this country.
They need to be disbanded summarily and replaced by a new set of
institutions.
Let there be an inspection wing attached to each department
performing functions similar to those mentioned above. In our case
officers in this wing may be recruited from the judiciary for a
fixed four-year, non-extendable term. While they are serving in the
wing they should get handsome extra salaries and they should report
directly to a specially constituted bench of the High Court in the
case of the provinces and of the Supreme Court in the case of the
federal government. Where will all the money come from, and where
will all the hundreds of justices and judges to man the wings come
from? These problems have perfectly valid solutions, provided there
is the will to get at the roots of corruption, which, at this
juncture in the history of Pakistan, I believe there is.
The Supreme Court should arrange a competitive examination on the
same lines as the one arranged for the superior civil services, to
recruit a corps of judges of the same level as a sessions judge. In
fact, such an exam should be held annually to recruit all kind of
judges, doing away the system of nominating judges of their choice
by successive governments. Now that the judiciary in this country
has begun to assert itself, giving a final ray of hope to the
people, it is the duty of the existing members of the judiciary to
make sure that only the best people are henceforth inducted into
their ranks. And there is no system better than a comprehensive
written test of the kind in vogue for the CSS candidates.
As for the money, there will really be no shortage of it if a real,
effective ban is imposed on (a) fresh recruitment of all kinds for
three years, even for the CSS types; (b) re-employment of even the
exceptionally indispensable ones, (c) all promotions for a period
of three to four years. In addition, perks and privileges of senior
bureaucrats should be cut down to national proportions. If all
facilities like vehicle, servant, telephone, house, etc., are
translated into money and given in the form of cash, the saving to
the exchequer will be tremendous. In any case, the money that will
be saved to the nation as a result of this permanent watch over the
activity of senior government servants will far outweigh the
expenditure on the inspection wings.
Of course, most of the present organs performing (and miserably
failing in) these functions should be abolished as soon as the
inspection wings come into existence. Not only should the highly
bloated anti-corruption departments be disbanded, along with the
so-called Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers Inspection Teams,
even the FIA and similar organisations which are used more for
terrorising than for any positive accountability will have to go.
Experience has shown that the larger the number of organisations
for the same purpose the greater the confusion and the lesser their
achievement. Instead, let us have just one decent organisation for
accountability, headed, not by the executive, as at present, but by
that other pillar of the state, the judiciary. We owe it to the
wronged people of this country.
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961225
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The principles the Quaid stood for
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Imtiaz Rafi Butt
TODAY, the country is again in the midst of political and economic
turmoil and, more so, a moral crisis. There is talk of corruption
in high places and a universal clamour for accountability. A
caretaker government is in the saddle and striving hard to put the
house in order within the short interval at its disposal. A
Herculean task, indeed.
The caretaker prime minister, in one of his recent addresses,
bemoaned that the nation would not have come to such a pass had the
rulers not strayed away from the path prescribed by the Quaid. He
urged the people to recapture the spirit of the forties and work
with a new passion to translate the Quaids dream into reality.
Excellent sentiments. But the question is how much longer will the
nation have to wait before the expectations of the Quaid are
fulfilled.
The fact is that soon after the demise of the Quaid, the rulers set
aside his precious legacy and embarked on a reckless course that
pushed the country time and again onto the verge of disaster. They
forgot the sacrifices that the Quaid and his band of heroic
followers had made to wrest a separate homeland for the Muslims
from a xenophobic Hindu majority and an arrogant British imperial
power. The tragedy of Pakistan, writes Saad Khairi, is that
while surviving all the problems of Himalayan dimensions, it was
then hijacked by a gang which neither represented the people nor
shared the spirit of the Pakistan movement.
Ghulam Mohammad, Iskander Mirza, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq
who would have normally retired as government pensioners captured
power and ruled the country as a colony as the British did. They
had never fought even a single municipal election and lived in
their own world totally cut off from the common man. They neither
understood nor cared for popular sentiments.... They mentioned
Jinnahs name merely as a cover for their destructive policies to
trample under foot every principle that he held dear.
What were the principles dear to the Quaid? What sort of a socio-
political framework did he envisage for the new state of Pakistan?
The Quaid was of the view that the social system of Pakistan should
be built on civilised values, a democratic culture, time-honoured
judicial traditions and on a modern industrial and non-feudal
agricultural base. A social system founded on co-operation rather
than contention that would lead to harmony, discipline, self-
reliance, freedom from exploitation, and enable Pakistan to find
its rightful place in the fraternity of nations.
The Quaid-i-Azam was a man of few words, a brilliant constitutional
lawyer and a great civil libertarian always outspoken in defence of
individual rights and equal justice. Sir, he insisted on behalf
of the editor of the Bombay Chronicle, B.G. Horniman: I do
maintain, and I have drunk deep at the fountain of constitutional
law, that the liberty of man is the dearest thing in the law of any
constitution and it should not be taken away in this fashion.
These words were uttered in 1924. Twenty-three years later he was
to be elected unanimously to preside over the meeting of Pakistans
Constituent Assembly. Addressing the august house on August 11,
1947 he said: ... the first duty of a government is to maintain
law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of
its subjects are fully protected by the state .... One of the
biggest curses from which India is suffering is bribery and
corruption. That really is a poison. We must put it down with an
iron hand. The next thing that strikes me is ... the evil of
nepotism and jobbery. This evil must be crushed relentlessly. I
want to make it clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of
jobbery, nepotism or any influence directly or indirectly to bear
upon me.
Earlier in April 1943, the Quaid had given expression to his views
on social justice and economic equality. Here I should like to
give a warning to the landlords and capitalists. The exploitation
of the masses has gone into their blood. They have forgotten the
lesson of Islam .... Do you visualise that millions have been
exploited and cannot get one meal a day? If this is the idea of
Pakistan, I would not have it. If they are wise they will have to
adjust themselves to the new conditions of life. If they dont, God
help them, we shall not help them.
The Quaid had a clear conception of the lines on which he wished to
build Pakistan. But, sad to say, he died early in 1948, barely a
year after the creation of Pakistan. But within those twelve hectic
months he compressed the energies of a life-time and left behind a
comprehensive blueprint for the future guidance of the nation. Had
he lived for ten more years, he would have transformed and
institutionalised the spirit of the Pakistan movement and given a
proper start to the democratic process.
It is a pity that even after a lapse of fifty years we have not
been able to redeem the pledge we made to the Quaid. On the
contrary, every successive government has either pushed the Quaid-
i-Azam into the background or altered his image to suit its own
questionable ends. Every year loud tributes are paid to his memory
but the spark of sincerity is missing; the true meaning and purpose
of his mission is glossed over. Portraits of the Quaid adorn
lacquered walls of many a public and private establishment but do
they in any significant sense signify loyalty to the Quaids
ideals?
The Quaid had espoused democracy; we ushered in a reign of civil
oligarchy and military dictatorship. He had warned us against the
evils of corruption, nepotism and jobbery; we took to these with
unbounded exuberance. He had enjoined economic justice; we
succumbed to mercenary motives and created a horrendous gulf
between the haves and the have nots.
The Quaid was a man of great integrity. Even his enemies could not
fault him on this account. When Lord Reading, Viceroy of India,
offered to include the Quaids name on the coveted list of persons
he was recommending for knighthood, the Quaid declined the offer
and replied: I prefer to be plain Mr Jinnah. I have lived as plain
Mr Jinnah and I hope to die as plain Mr Jinnah. Character to him
was of the very essence and he defined it thus: The highest sense
of honour, the highest sense of integrity, conviction,
incorruptibility, readiness at any time to efface oneself for the
collective good of the nation.:
Now that Pakistan is on the threshold of its golden jubilee and
poised to enter upon a new phase in its political life, it is
important for us to redeem our pledge and make the ideals of the
great Quaid the corner-stone of our socio-economic and political
edifice. We must rekindle the old fire and reaffirm our faith in
egalitarian and democratic institutions. The Quaid himself was
firmly committed to democratic principles.
Addressing the Sibi Darbar in February 1948, he said: I have had
one underlying principle in mind, the principle of Muslim
democracy. It is my belief that our salvation lies in following the
golden rules of conduct set for us by our great law-giver, the
Prophet of Islam. Let us lay the foundation of our democracy on the
basis of truly Islamic ideals and principles. Our Almighty has
taught us that our decisions in the affairs of the State will be
guided by discussions and consultations.
Democracy and Pakistan are inseparable. Democracy is indispensable
for the stability and progress of the country. Should democracy,
God forbid, suffer a serious setback, the future of the country
would be greatly imperilled.
The coming year promises a wind of change in our political life.
Elections are in the offing. The process of accountability is
gaining momentum. New faces animated with a new zeal and resolve
are likely to appear on the political horizon. One hopes that the
new leadership will not display the brazen indifference of its
predecessors and ensure that the ideology of Pakistan and the
perceptions of the Quaid find the place that they rightly deserve.
Democracy, rule of law, human rights, equality and fraternity
these are what the Quaid-i-Azam stood for and wanted Pakistan to
embody these enduring values. Thus alone, he believed, could
Pakistan fulfil its destiny. The whole world, said the Quaid, is
wondering at the unprecedented cyclonic revolution which has
brought about the plan of creating and establishing two independent
sovereign dominions in the sub-continent. As it is, it has been
unprecedented; there is no parallel in the history of the world.
Nirad Chaudhuri, a fierce opponent of partition and by no means a
friendly critic writes: Jinnah was the only man who came out with
success and honour from the ignoble end of the British empire in
India. He never made a secret of what he wanted, never
prevaricated, never compromised and yet succeeded in inflicting an
unmitigated defeat on both the British government and the Indian
National Congress. I salute Jinnah as an honest and honourable
enemy and acknowledge his greatness.
During his brief stewardship of the new state, the Quaid-i-Azam set
up some exceedingly sound and healthy precedents the ones that
could have, in course of time, developed into strong traditions. If
the lead given by the Quaid had been faithfully followed, many of
the ills and crises that have afflicted Pakistan after his death
would have been avoided. But will the nation rise to the occasion
even now? Will it respond to the call of the hour? Only time will
tell.
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961225
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Plan for comprehensive junior squash coaching unfolded
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Sports Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) on Tuesday
announced a comprehensive junior coaching programme termed as the
remedial step to reduce the existing gap between Jansher Khan and
other Pakistani players in the world ranking.
The two-phased scheme will be carried out at Peshawar and Karachi.
Top youngsters within the age group of 19 years will be invited to
these `coaching clinics initially being set up for a period of one
year.
A Press conference to announce the scheme was addressed by Air
Marshal Aliuddin, Senior Vice President, PSF, Jansher Khan, Qamar
Zaman, Mohibullah Khan and Sq. Ldr Fazal, secretary PSF here at
Chaklala PAF base.
At the beginning the Air Marshal informed the Press that the
President of Pakistan has awarded Jansher Khan Rs. 0.2 million as a
token of appreciation on winning the World Open title for the
eighth consecutive time. It was stated that the President will
present the cheque to the stalwart. AM Aliuddin on behalf of PSF
congratulated Jansher Khan on the unprecedented feat and prayed
that the world number one would go on winning for many more years.
At least for the next three to four years as Jansher himself says
and if he is not tired then perhaps he can continue a little
further than that, he said.
Talking about the junior scheme, the Air Marshal said that over
the past few years PSF has been consistently presenting programmes
to groom youngsters with the basic aim to get a successor to
Jansher Khan. Efforts have been launched through PIA colts,
international tournament in Pakistan which helped to expose 60-70
potential youth. Besides there had been concentrated efforts to
prepare teams. More boys have been picked and tested through
divisional recommendations etc., he said, but added that the
forthcoming scheme has one basic difference. It will be run under
the supervision of top notch professionals.
AM Aliuddin said that PSF has held dialogue with top professionals
trying to find a way to reduce the huge gap existing between
Jansher Khan and other Pakistani players. Finally, the programme
which is the brainchild of Jansher, Qamar Zaman and Mohib is being
launched from December 28th at Peshawar.
Named as Jansher Coaching Clinic, the programme initially will
continue for one year. Mohibullah will be the senior coach while
Qamar Zaman will be the manager. Farrukh Zaman and Liaquat Khan are
the other coaches. For the first time in Pakistan coaches will paid
for their services, it was said.
The Air Marshal, later, admitted that although a number of junior
programmes were initiated there was no direct involvement of the
professionals.
Top seven juniors have been selected to attend the coaching clinic
which includes Amjad Khan, Kashif Shuja, Muhammad Hussain, Mansoor
Zaman, Shahid Zaman and Shahzad Mohib.
These youngster are in such an age group where they require
scientific coaching under professional trainers and we strongly
hope that with proper training these future worldbeaters should
burst into action within a period of one year, AM Aliuddin said.
The grooming programme includes morning physical training, four to
five hours of evening game besides learning through audio-visual
aid once in a week.
The monitoring of the programme will be carried out every three
months. Those failing to achieve the target, whether player
or official, will be removed and replacements will be made.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
961220
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Afridi, Mushtaq rescue Pakistan with lusty hitting
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HOBART (Australia), Dec 19: Teenager Shahid Afridi slammed 80 off
62 balls to rescue Pakistan from a mediocre first innings total on
the opening day of their four-day match with Tasmania here
Thursday.
The 19-year-old right-hander and legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed (65)
helped Pakistan fight back from 110 for six to be all out for 299
off 72.3 overs. In reply, Tasmania were 73 for one at the close at
the Bellerive Oval, with Jamie Cox on 39 and nightwatchman Daniel
Marsh two.
All-rounder Shaun Young upset Pakistans hopes of a sizeable first
innings total by taking career best first-class figures of 7-64 to
become the states leading first-class wicket-taker. Afridi, whose
102 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka on October 4 was the fastest in
limited-over internationals, clubbed 11 fours and one six before he
was caught by Ricky Ponting at mid-wicket off spinner Mark Hatton.
He had been dropped by Young at first slip on 45.
After winning the toss, Pakistan surprised by opening the innings
with leading off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, but he made only 10 off
51 balls before he was trapped lbw in Youngs second over. Young
snared the experienced Ijaz Ahmed with his next delivery, edging to
Ponting at third slip for a duck. Young missed the hat-trick, but
in his fifth over he struck again when he caught and bowled
Inzamam-ul-Haq for seven. Mushtaqs innings ended when he became
Youngs seventh victim, caught on the off-side by Cox. Young
exceeded his previous first-class best of 5-36, also achieved
against Pakistan in Devonport, Tasmania, in 1991-92. He also became
Tasmanias leading wicket-taker with 147 in a performance that was
the best seen on the island since 1983-84 when Peter Clough took 8-
95 against Western Australia.
Pakistan struck back shortly before stumps, claiming the wicket of
opener Dene Hills, who was caught by Mohammad Zahid at wide mid-on
off Mushtaq.AFP.
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