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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 23 January 1997 Issue : 03/04
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19 killed as bomb explodes outside Lahore court
Accused in Lahore blast confesses
Fanatics could not harm ties with Iran, says Leghari
Altaf wants annulment of special courts Act
Publicise IMF pact: Benazir
Benazir says she will withdraw plea if SC delays Feb. 3 polls
Dissolution case hearing commences
Arguments continue in PA dissolution case
Aitzaz terms rejoinder false
Mir had named conspirators hours before he was killed
Anonymous fax showed plot to eliminate politicians
Satellite services: PTCL clarification
Khattak wants govt not to cancel SPTV licence
---------------------------------
GDP grows at 5% in first three years
SBP given further autonomy
NIT-ICP merger strongly supported
Banks not encashing NIT units
Stocks pass through dull session
---------------------------------------
Ehtesab or Intekhab ? 6 Ardeshir Cowasjee
Promises aplenty, with issues missing Editorial Column
Reversing decline of governance Dr Maqbool Ahmad Bhatty
-----------
W.I. destroyed by pace & spin as Pakistan win 1st final
Pakistan rout W. I to take World Series crown
Melbourne win, a milestone in post-Imran era
Pakistan take one-day crown with easy win
Moin Khan completes 100 victims
Pak U-19 SA tour Hasan Raza hammers 2nd successive ton
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970119
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19 killed as bomb explodes outside Lahore court
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Intkhab Hanif
LAHORE, Jan 18: Nineteen people including Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan
(SSP) chief Maulana Ziaur Rehman Farooqui, the photographer of a
local newspaper and 13 policemen, were killed when a powerful bomb
exploded inside the heavily guarded Sessions Court building on
Saturday.
Maulana Ziaur Rehman's right-hand man, Maulana Azam Tariq,
sustained serious injuries and doctors at the Mayo Hospital said
his condition was critical.
The bomb went off as the two SSP leaders and four workers were
brought to the Sessions Court in a police van from the Kot Lakhpat
jail for the hearing of cases against them. The incident occurred a
minute or two after noon, and created mayhem at the scene.
The dead included two SHOs and an ASI. Over 100 people were
injured, many of them critically. Besides police functionaries, SSP
workers who had gone there to greet their leaders were also caught
and injured in the blast.
Among the injured were five photographers of local newspapers also
who were taking pictures of the SSP leaders. Several reporters had
also gone there to cover the proceedings of cases against the SSP
leaders and were standing nearby, but escaped unscathed.
The SSP leaders and their party workers were brought to the
Sessions Court amidst extra ordinarily tight security for hearing
of criminal cases against them. The workers were in another police
truck and were unharmed because they had yet to be taken out of the
vehicle.
Blood-soaked and crushed bodies lay scattered at the blast site. It
was a grim, devastating scene. The city was stunned as news of the
tragedy spread.
According to police, the bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked
outside the window of the court room of the Additional Sessions
Judge Khalid Mian. The bomb went off when the SSP leaders came near
the motorcycle.
An official of the bomb disposal squad of the Civil Defence
Organisation said it was a two kilo high explosive time device
planted in the tool box of the motorcycle, whose registration
number could not be ascertained.
The bomb exploded when the compound of the courts was guarded by
heavily armed police belonging to several police stations.
The prisoners' trucks were escorted by 40 commandos and over 70
officials of the Mobile Force who were led by the DSP Gulberg.
Prior the arrival of the SSP leaders, policemen were seen checking
people at random at the two entrance gates of the courts with bomb-
detection devices.
At the time of the incident Judge Khalid Mian and some other
colleagues were in a meeting with the District and Sessions Judge
at the Aiwan-i-Adl, about 300 metres away, in their capacity as
returning officers.
As Maulana Farooqui and Maulana Azam Tariq alighted from the truck,
they were encircled by a heavily armed police posse and followers
chanting slogans and showering rose petals on them. The workers had
been waiting for the two leaders since morning.
The deafening noise of the blast was accompanied by a flash of
light, and the entire place was filled with smoke and dust. This
reporter who was present on the spot along with other journalists
saw a screen of haze enveloping the spot where the SSP leaders,
workers and police were present.
Litigants, lawyers and staff of the courts ran to save their lives.
The window panes of almost all court rooms were broken. The court
room of Judge Khalid Mian had its window and doors ripped apart.
His three stenographers, Raza Shah, Anwar and Bashir Baloch,
sustained minor injuries. Their hearing was affected.
When the smoke and dust cleared, this reporter saw mutilated bodies
scattered near the court room. Maulana Farooqui had been killed on
the spot and Maulana Azam Tariq was lying injured. He was brought
to the verandah of the court room by two injured workers who also
collapsed after taking a few steps.
Blood, limbs, shoes and other belongings of the injured and the
dead and cameras of the photographers were spread all over the
site. Many people lay injured, burnt by the blast. They were either
unconscious or crying for help, with their clothes and limbs torn.
Several vehicles belonging to police and people, the prisoners
truck in which the SSP leaders were brought to the courts, some
motorcycles and bicycles were damaged.
After the initial confusion and fear, police and lawyers returned
to shift the victims to hospitals, which were put on alert. Soon
rescue teams of the civil defence, police and district
administration reached the spot. The dead and the injured were
taken to hospitals in police vans and hospitals and civil defence
ambulances. Maulana Azam Tariq was shifted to hospital in a private
car.
The Civil Defence bomb disposal squad also reached there and
collected splinters of the bomb and samples of the wreckage of the
motorcycle in which the device was apparently planted.
Among government officials, Lahore Division Commissioner Salman
Siddique was the first to reach the scene and to supervise the
rescue operation being conducted by a lone magistrate. He was
followed by Deputy Commissioner Kamran Lashari, IGP Chaudhry
Mohammad Amin and Lahore DIG Tariq Parvez. Lahore High Court Chief
Justice Ejaz Nisar, provincial Chief Secretary Parvez Masood, Home
Secretary Hafiz Akhtar also reached the spot soon after.
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970121
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Accused in Lahore blast confesses
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Jan 20: The suspect arrested by the police soon after
Saturday's bomb blast at Sessions Court confessed to having carried
out the explosion resulting in the death of 19 people, including 14
policemen.
The accused is reported to have links with former Imamia Students
Organisation chief late Dr Mohammad Ali Naqvi.
Lahore Range DIG Tariq Parvez told reporters at a Press conference
that the bomb blast was masterminded by one Dr Qaisar Abbas, a
close associate of Dr Mohammad Ali Naqvi who was still at large.
The DIG said the accused, Mehram Ali, had been sentenced to 10
years of imprisonment by a local court on possessing hand grenades
and other explosive material in 1990. However, he was granted
relief when he approached superior court and was subsequently
released in 1994.
He said the accused belonged to Shia sect and wanted to kill SSP
leader Maulana Azam Tariq who, according to Mehram Ali, spoke ill
of Hazrat Ali and his family in his speeches and writings. He said
the accused was exploring ways and means to eliminate the SSP
leader since Mr Azam Tariq's stay in Rawalpindi and Multan jails.
The accused told police that he visited the sessions court on Jan
4, the last date of Maulana Azam Tariq's appearance before the
court. In view of the tight security measures taken by the police,
Mehram Ali found it difficult to make Maulana Azam a bullet target.
He discussed the security arrangements at the Sessions court with
his new mentor Dr Qaisar Abbas and it was decided that a bomb blast
should be carried out to accomplish the mission. Both of them
visited sessions court on Jan 14 to select the spot to park the
motorcycle implanted with explosive material. They planted ten
blocks of explosive material, each weighing about one pound, in the
fuel tank and space above its engine.
According to the DIG, Mehram Ali parked the motorcycle at the
selected spot at about 7am on Saturday and waited for the arrival
of the SSP leaders with remote control in his hand nearby. When SSP
leaders Maulana Ziaur Rehman Farooqi and Maulana Azam Tariq reached
the Sessions court, he became alert and stood only 40 or 50 yard
from the bike. He pushed the button of the remote control device
when the SSP leaders were passing close to the motorcycle. He later
threw the wireless-shaped remote control on the roof of a nearby
Bakhshikhana.
The DIG said the accused was about to slip out of the court
premises when he was apprehended by three police constables posted
there in connection with judicial checking. The wig used by the
accused to conceal his identity supported the suspicion of police
officials.
Initially, the DIG said, the accused tried to mislead the
investigators by giving wrong name and address. Later, he revealed
his exact name which was certified by the police record. He also
revealed the address of the rented house near Angoori Cinema. A
raid at the house led to the recovery of about two kg of explosive
material, a wireless set and other tools used in the incident. The
accused was also produced before newsmen.
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970123
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Fanatics could not harm ties with Iran, says Leghari
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Staff Correspondent
QUETTA, Jan 22: The President, Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari,
has said that Pakistan and Iran are enjoying very cordial relations
and small groups of religious fanatics of the country and the
Taliban could not harm those relations.
Addressing a news conference at the Governor's House, the President
said "We have brotherly relations with Iran and consider them as
our brothers."
He denied a suggestion from a newsman that Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq
and other Muslim countries were involved in whipping up
sectarianism in Pakistan. "They are not interfering in our internal
affair," President Leghari emphatically declared. He regretted that
the Iranian Cultural Centre was burnt down and said. "We will give
adequate protection to all Iranians in Pakistan. Such incidents
would not affect our cordial relations with Iran," President
Leghari told the correspondent.
He said that Iran had some misgivings and apprehension in regard to
Taliban, but those fears could not harm our brotherly relations
with Iran.
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970117
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Altaf wants annulment of special courts Act
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 16: MQM chief Altaf Hussain said that the government's
step of dissolving the special courts was a mere eyewash and was
aimed at misleading the people.
In a statement, the MQM chief said neither the government had
abrogated the 1975 act concerning the special courts, nor had the
cases pending in these courts under the criminal procedure been
transferred to the civil courts, but the session judges have been
given the additional duties as special court to deal with these
cases.
Mr Hussain said the government handout issued by the information
department of the Government of Sindh has given an impression as if
these courts had really been disbanded. "In fact, the special
courts act approved in the 1975 is very much there despite the fact
that the successive governments promised to abolish it," he said.
Mr Hussain said the Sindh government had not annulled or disbanded
the special courts under Section 3(2), but in fact had given this
task to the district and additional judges.
He said it was a wrong impression that the special courts have been
abolished to give any relief to the MQM. "If the government is
sincere in giving some relief, it should amend the law first".
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970117
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Publicise IMF pact: Benazir
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 16: Deposed prime minister Benazir Bhutto demanded
that the caretakers make public details of the agreement they had
allegedly signed with the IMF.
Talking to newsmen at an Iftar party, she claimed that the
caretaker government had agreed to bring down tariff from 65 to 35
percent, which within the next three years, would prove to be
detrimental to the national interest. She said she was not opposed
to a reduction in tariff but said it should be done over a longer
period otherwise competitiveness of the industry would be affected
and the country would face a massive employment problem.
The former prime minister said the manner in which utility rates
and prices of commodities were being raised, it appeared that the
caretakers had accepted the IMF package which she had refused to
accept.
She said during her meetings with the international donor agencies
she had maintained that the method of achieving the target set for
reducing the budget deficit should be left to the government. "It
is unfair and unjust that elected Pakistani leaders cannot make
their own budget and someone comes from Washington and give us a
three-year package every now and then."
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970119
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Benazir says she will withdraw plea if SC delays Feb. 3 polls
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Nasir Malick
ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: Deposed prime minister Benazir Bhutto informed
the Supreme Court that she will withdraw her petition challenging
the dismissal of the National Assembly, if it were to delay the
February 3 general election.
"If our petition were to delay the elections, I would step out (of
court)," Ms Bhutto's counsel Aitzaz Ahsan told a seven-member bench
of the Supreme Court hearing her petition.
The Bench on Saturday heard Dr Farooq Hasan, the counsel of the
Mohajir Qaumi Movement, for more than half day on MQM's request for
being allowed as intervener to the case. The request was opposed by
Aitzaz Ahsan.
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970120
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Dissolution case hearing commences
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 19: A full Bench of the High Court of Sindh commenced
hearing of the three petitions filed by the former chief minister
and two ministers of the erstwhile Sindh cabinet.
Abdul Hafeez Lakho, appearing for the petitioners, while winding up
his arguments referred to the case of Khwaja Tariq Rahim decided by
the Supreme Court in 1992. He submitted that even if it were
accepted that there was corruption, that alone could not justify
the order of dissolution.
Mr Lakho further contended that as far as the killing of Murtaza
Bhutto was concerned, till the passing of the order of dissolution
no one had accused Abdullah Shah's involvement therein.
In any case hypothetically speaking even if he was accused that
would not be a ground to dismiss the entire assembly.
Naimur Rahman, appearing for the governor of Sindh, informed the
court that M. Farogh Naseem would commence arguments for the
respondents and the government of Sindh and thereafter he would go
through the material filed by the respondents.
Mr Naseem, in his address to the court, invited the attention of
the Bench to the very basis and ethos of the exercise of power
under Articles 58 (2) (B) and Article 112 (2) (b).
The counsel contended that these Articles contained a mechanism to
avert an extra-constitutional deviation. He contended that the
court has to interpret the present case in this context. He invited
the attention of the court to the fact that like provisions were
contained in the Government of India Act 1935, but not in the
subsequent constitutions experienced and adopted by the country.
It was in view of lack of such provisions that the country had to
face military interventions and extra-constitutional
interference's.
Mr Naseem emphasised that the court has to acknowledge the fact
that constitutional heads like the president and the governor
cannot be silent spectators to witness the plunder and loot of
public wealth and degeneration of public authorities. He said in
case there is such a silence on the part of the constitutional
heads and they are bereft of such powers then extra-constitutional
interference's can be very much expected. He further emphasised
that in case this was not done the constitutional crisis could
transform into a dictatorial regime and the chance of democracy
would be lost.
He emphasised the need for the court to decide constitutional
questions in consonance with the aspirations of the people at
large, since the very constitution has to suit the genius of the
people.
He then invited the court's attention to the basis principles
contained in the exercise of power under Article 58 (2) (b) and
Article 112 (2) (b).
The counsel for the government of Sindh contended that if on a
particular ground there were 200 documents and the court found only
five or 10 to be relevant that was enough to sustain the
dissolution order.
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970121
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Arguments continue in PA dissolution case
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 20: Mohammad Farogh Naseem, counsel for the government
of Sindh, appearing in the dissolution of assembly cases before the
High Court of Sindh on Monday said that the arguments of the
counsel for the petitioners was based upon a misappropriation of
facts and law.
Presenting his arguments before a full Bench of the High Court of
Sindh, he said the counsel for the petitioners erstwhile chief
minister Syed Abdullah Shah and two of his cabinet ministers, Nisar
A. Khuhro and Pir Mazharul Haq had maintained that the Supreme
Court in Haji Saifullah and Nawaz Sharif cases had struck down the
presidential action of dissolution as illegal, in the present case
also the order of the dissolution should be declared illegal.
He pointed out that the court should indulge itself into the
exercise of judicial and constitutional interpretation to
appreciate the real and correct import of these two decisions of
the Supreme Court.
He pointed out that Hafeez Lakho had stated that in the Saifullah
case the grounds of dismissal given by General Zia were so vague
and that even subsequent material relied upon by the respondents
was rejected.
He emphasised that on the contrary in the Haji Saifullah case no
material was produced by the federal government to support the
grounds of dissolution and it was due to the lack of production of
material that the court declared the order of dissolution to be
unconstitutional.
Mr Naseem pointed out that even in the subsequent decision of the
High Court comprising five judges in the Khalid Malik case (matter
pertaining to the dissolution of the Benazir government in 1990)
the court had taken note of the fact that in Haji Saifullah case no
material was produced and thus no parallel could have been drawn
from it.
Barrister Farogh Naseem emphasised that the true import of Haji
Saifullah case was that facts and circumstances of every case had
to be looked into independently.
Commenting upon the Nawaz Sharif case, Mr Naseem contended that in
the said Sharif case on April 17, 1993, president Ghulam Ishaque
Khan dismissed Nawaz Sharif. He stated that in the Nawaz Sharif
case the then attorney-general had conceded that the only and major
dispute in the Nawaz Sharif case was whether the president could
dismiss the prime minister because a speech challenging him had
been made.
He said that in the present case no such parallel can be drawn. It
was in view of this that even the Nawaz Sharif case was not
applicable to the present controversy.
The counsel pointed out that the other grounds mentioned in Nawaz
Sharif case were hardly common except for the ground of
maladministration. He submitted that as far as the ground of mal-
administration was concerned, the Federation in the case of Nawaz
Sharif could not come up with any positive evidence.
He said there was corruption but there are levels of corruption. In
the latter case, the president and the governor can dismiss the
assembly on that ground alone.
He invited the court's attention to the aspect of individual and
collective material responsibility of the state. Admittedly, where
a person of the status of the brother of the prime minister dies as
a result of police killing or ambush, the state affairs can well be
imagined.
The chief justice also inquired of the counsel as to why the
assembly was dissolved if only the government was found to be at
fault, to which Farogh Naseem contended that the mechanism
envisaged in the constitution is such that the assembly has to go
if the government is at fault, while the court cannot supply any
words in the regard.
The chief justice inquired of Mr Naseem as to how one man could
restrict the life of a democratically elected assembly, to which
Farogh Naseem contended that it was quite possible for an assembly
to lose its mandate even before the time for which it was elected.
He pointed out that in 1988 Mr Junejo's government was dissolved
but he was not elected in 1990. Similarly, Benazir Bhutto was
dismissed and thereafter she was not elected but Nawaz Sharif was
elected. Similarly, after Nawaz Sharif's government dismissal, he
was not elected but Benzair Bhutto was elected. These events
confirmed that the people had lost confidence in the respective
governments even before the full term of the assembly could expire.
At this the CJ said that a very strict interpretation should be
given to Articles 58 (2) (b) and 112 (2) (b), to which Mr Naseem
replied that this was not correct since after the exercise of power
under Articles 58 (2)(b) by the president/government a one-man rule
was not being imposed. On the contrary, the political sovereign,
that is, the electorate was to express a further opinion, thereby
ensuring a better accountability in democratic traditions.
He also said the courts while deciding constitutional cases should
afford such opinions which would be in consonance with the
aspirations of the people since the decisions in constitutional
cases are to be construed as part of the constitution and the
constitution is to suit the genius of the people.
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970121
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Aitzaz terms rejoinder false
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: Counsel for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto
informed the Supreme Court that President Farooq Leghari had
submitted fictitious documents along with his reply and asserted
that the court cannot look into such concocted documents.
Resuming his arguments before a seven-member bench of the Supreme
Court against the dissolution of the assembly and dismissal of PPP
government, Aitzaz Ahsan mentioned a particular letter submitted by
President Farooq Leghari written on Nov. 13, 1995 regarding an
incident which occurred on Nov. 21. Another document had a date of
Nov. 8 but related to an incident which occurred on Nov. 15.
The rejoinder pointed out the false charges and documents proved by
the president in the court specially the one in which he had
claimed that a company, in which Asif Zardari's brother-in-law held
an interest, was illegally allotted land by the Capital Development
Authority.
"The person referred to by the supporting documentation, Mir
Munawwar Ali, is not Zardari's brother-in-law (Mir Munawwar Ali
Talpur) but some one else," it said adding that only the names were
similar. "The mere fact that the prime minister's spouse brother-
in- law's name is similar to that of the alleged wrong-doer
presumably does not justify the dissolution of the National
Assembly."
Referring to another document allegedly signed by Nahid Khan
recommending employment for some one, the rejoinder said the letter
on which the president had relied was a forged document and the
criminals involved in forgery was currently being prosecuted.
The petitioner's counsel went through 276 pages out of 5,000 to
establish that these documents had no nexus with the dissolution of
the assembly. Majority of these letters were lifted from the MQM's
booklet "Genocide of Mohajir Community" which MQM had been
distributing at international forums.
Some documents pertained to the reports of the Amnesty
International and Asia Watch, the human rights groups, on the
situation in Karachi. In these documents, while these human rights
organisations had expressed their concern over killings in Karachi,
they had also mentioned the killings of innocent citizens by
terrorists.
The petitioner's counsel said the Amnesty International report
pertained to 1995 when the conditions were not good. However, he
said the report itself mentions that armed groups were involved in
torture and kidnappings. "This report was released in August 1995.
*From August 1995 to November 1996 he (the president) never wrote to
the government that it had failed to save the citizens from
targeted killings of armed groups. "And what are these armed
opposition groups?" he asked and explained this was reference to
MQM factions. He said the same report had also referred to the
killings of innocent citizens and mentioned that mutilated bodies
were found dump in many parts of the city.
Aitzaz said most of the documents attached were mischief documents
which are published by the non-governmental organisations to
blackmail the government and get foreign aid. "If you have to
dissolve the assembly on such reports then where is the sovereignty
of the parliament?"
He said the NGOs was a big racket and some people, who were
provided aid, were deputed from abroad to prepare such documents
which were not trust worthy.
Another document, he mentioned, was sent to the president on Nov.
13, 1995. The petitioner's counsel asked why the president slept
over the document and took no action from 1995 to 1996.
The Chief Justice told him that the court did not have to solely
rely on these documents while deciding the case. "This may be one
of the documents in support," he noted and advised the petitioner's
counsel just to tell the court whether any document was helpful to
the president in forming his opinion or not.
He said basically all the documents submitted by the president were
un-signed documents. Aitzaz said these were un-substantiated
allegations and quoted a full court decision in Nawaz Sharif case
in which Justice Shafiur Rehman had held that unsubstantiated
documents could hardly be sustained. The judge had noted that if
such unsubstantiated were allowed to be entertained no government
or assembly would stay more than few months.
Many of the documents are newspaper clippings and articles written
by different people. Aitzaz quoting the same full-court decision
said the court had held that mere allegations in form of complaints
or news reports were insufficient for dissolving the National
Assembly.
He contended that most of the material produced in the court by the
president was not available to him before or at the time of the
dissolution of the assembly. Had it been available to him, he would
have written letters to the government but he never took any
action.
At this stage Khalid Anwar, who is representing the president, said
that there was massive material. He said one could not expect that
the president would dissolve the assembly only a day after
receiving the material.
The Chief Justice said that the court had understood his point that
the president was part and parcel of the government and he did not
protest at that time if any material was before him.
Aitzaz Ahsan said it was strange of the president that he was
questioning the government for bringing the Rangers to Karachi for
restoring peace. "If we allow terrorism the government is dissolved
for failing to combat terrorism and if we combat terrorism we are
questioned why the government was combating terrorism?"
Quoting Nawaz Sharif judgment, he said, mere allegations could not
be considered a valid piece of evidence and recalled that there
were allegations of corruption of billions of rupees against Nawaz
Sharif but the court had not accepted those charges.
"My case is much better than Nawaz Sharif. He (Nawaz Sharif) said
in his speech that the president should be lynched. But the
speeches, I am charged with, were nothing compared to that," he
said indirectly referring to the charge of the president that
Benazir Bhutto had ridiculed the judiciary in her speeches. He said
irrelevant documents had been attached by the president and
referred to a writ petition submitted by the president which was
decided even before the PPP came into power.
Earlier, when the court resumed hearing, Aitzaz took strong
exception to the language used by President Farooq Leghari against
Benazir Bhutto in his reply and said that several portions of his
statement were "unpardonable".
Aitzaz said the president had not written any letter to the prime
minister complaining about the extra-judicial killings in Karachi.
"Charges of custodial killings are baseless." He said the president
had time and again publicly stated that peace had been restored in
Karachi and requested the court not to go into each case of
custodial killing.
Aitzaz said there may be some high-handedness by the police but any
wrong-doing of police cannot be contributed to the prime minister
every time. "Ground of mishandling by police cannot be made a
ground for dissolution of the assembly."
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970119
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mir had named conspirators hours before he was killed
-------------------------------------------------------------------
H. A. Hamied
KARACHI, Jan 18: Mir Murtaza Bhutto in his last public address
hours before he was killed in police action had named the people
who had been conspiring against him and they were Asif Ali Zardari,
Syed Abdullah Shah, the director-general of Intelligence Bureau,
Masood Sharif, the deputy inspector-general of police, Karachi
Range, Dr Shoaib Suddle; and the then SSP South, Wajid Ali Durrani.
At a public meeting held in Surjani Town arranged by Maqbool Channa
and members of the minority community, Murtaza Bhutto had named
these people as those who were conspiring against him and others
whose names have been mentioned in the last FIR lodged by one of
the party supporter, Noor Mohammad.
Abdullah Baloch, a member of the executive committee of PPP (SB),
on Saturday testified before the three-member judicial tribunal
inquiring into the causes of the death of Mir Murtaza and seven of
his men on September 20, 1996. The tribunal comprises Justice Nasir
Aslam Zahid, judge of the Supreme Court; Justice Amanullah Abbasi,
and Justice (Dr) Ghous Mohammad, judges of the High Court of Sindh.
The witness said the tape-recordings of the event are available
with him in which Mir Murtaza had also said that if the authorities
wanted him, they only have to produce a proper warrant of arrest
and that he was ready to go with them, irrespective of the fact
from what level of authority the orders have come from.
Mr Baloch, a founder member of the PPP-SB said that Surjani Town
meeting was organised by the local organisers and he was one of the
speakers at the meeting. Others who spoke were Ashiq Hussain Jatoi,
president Sindh PPP (SB); Malik Bagh, divisional president, and
many others.
Q: What time the meeting concluded at Surjani Town?
A: at About 8:00 or 8:15 pm and from there I left for my home in
Old Golimar. I received a phone call from 70- Clifton at about 9 pm
or 9:15 pm, saying that the party chief and his men have been
attacked by the police and he (Murtaza) has been taken to Mideast
Medical Centre. My law office is next to my house and the message
was received by my children. Then I rushed to 70-Clifton and from
there to the hospital.
Q: What did Mr Bhatti tell you about the incident?
A: I was informed that a police party had attacked the motor
cavalcade and being legally minded persons, we should look for an
eyewitness to the incident and lodge a report with the police. We
found Noor Mohammad there who was with Murtaza at the public
meeting.
Q: Did you go to the police station?
A: We took Noor Mohammad and went to Clifton police station to
lodge the report but the police refused to entertain our complaint,
saying that they have no instructions from their seniors.
Q: On the next morning did you go to see the place of the incident?
A: Yes. But there was no signs of what had happened during the last
few hours. Everything was cleaned up and there was no motor
vehicles around the place.
Q: Since when you knew Murtaza?
A: When he returned to Pakistan and when he was appearing before
the courts here.
Q: Did Mir Murtaza mention at any time at party meetings that he is
having opposition from any political opponents?
A: He did not name any party by name but he always used to condemn
Asif Zardari for his corrupt practices he was involved in.
Q: Did he ever mention any danger to his life from foreign
elements?
A: No.
Q: Did your party try to evaluate people around the party to see
whether any of them were RAW agents?
A: Mir Murtaza was always of the view that allegations had been
made that there were RAW agents in his party and that these
allegations were made by the government of Benazir Bhutto. If the
allegations had any basis, Mir Murtaza was of the view that the
government should charge them for the offences in the courts.
The next witness was Dr Zahid Hussain Jatoi, a medical doctor and a
landlord, younger brother of Ashiq Hussain Jatoi, who had been
killed in the incident.
He started his evidence by mentioning that Ashiq Jatoi was afraid
of Durrani, who was the SP of Dadu in 1984, because at that time a
gambling den was being operated with the connivance of the SP. My
brother complained to the then martial law authorities and the
place was raided on the orders of Brig Salim.
We brothers were called by the SP of Dadu at that time and he was
very rude to us because my brother had made a complaint to the
brigadier. Durrani had said they should have told him about it
rather than going to the brigadier. My brother had told him about
the den but he did not listen to him. Since then the SP used to
threaten us and in Karachi as the SSP (South) he used to threaten
him on trivial matters.
A day before the incident of Sept 20, SSP Durrani rang up 70-
Clifton and wanted to speak to Mir Murtaza and he refused, he then
talked to Ashiq. During that conversation, he threatened us for the
bomb blasts that had occurred in Karachi three days earlier. He
wanted to involve us in the bomb blast case, to which Ashique said
we have nothing to do with it. Dr Zahid Jatoi, narrated the alleged
sufferings of the family at the hands of the police for not giving
them information about Ashiq Jatoi after the firing.
>From 9 pm onwards and until 3:30 am of the next morning we were not
told of the whereabouts of Ashiq Jatoi. He was not traceable in an
injured condition in any of the hospitals nor his body was
available in any of the mortuaries. We had been running from place
to place and nobody gave us any information, until at 3:30 am or
even later, six bodies arrived at the JPMC mortuary, and his
brother's body was one of them.
The family had searched for him at JPMC and AKUH and we had no
access to the police stations and or the place of the incident, as
these were out of bounds for us, although through the courtesy of
Dr Abdul Ghaffar Jatoi and the DC (South), the search was made and
each time we were told there is no trace of him.
Several persons went to the JPMC mortuary and to the emergency ward
to look for him, but each time they returned without any
information. It was for the first time that Asghar Ali, the
personal attendant of Mir Murtaza when he was brought to JPMC, told
me with tears in his eyes that Murtaza had been killed and my
brother was seriously injured. That was the first specific
information about Ashiq Jatoi.
I also saw Dr Mazhar Memon, another injured man from the same
place, but he was not aware of Ashique. During these hectic and
agonising period, my wife had been searching for my brother at AKUH
and MEMC, but to no avail. At AKUH, she found ASP Shahid Hayat who
had been taken there.
Finally, when the bodies had been taken to the mortuary of JPMC,
there was no electricity and the mortuary was closed and I got it
opened with the courtesy of a doctor friend, Salim Kharal, but the
bodies were not there.
At 3:30 am the DC confirmed that the bodies were sent to JPMC, then
all of us went there. I remained seated in the car and did not have
the courage to enter the mortuary and identify the body of my
brother. The identification was done by my driver and other
relatives, including Dr Salim Kharal, who was known to me, and we
were together in the same medical college. Then I went home to
inform my parents.
I returned at 4:30 am when sub-inspector Khurram Waris of Clifton
PS arrived with police papers and he deeply regretted the incident,
describing the action as a black spot for the police and it was the
result of the action taken by the senior officers.
The sub-inspector offered to help me in any way possible. I then
asked him to locate the driver of my brother.
At the mortuary, the MLOs and SI Khurram Waris also took my
signatures for handing over of the body.
Tribunal: Where were the bodies for six hours, they were either at
the police station or on the scene of the incident?
Witness: I was not even allowed to go to the two police stations
and the scene of the incident in search of my brother. I don't have
a complete answer to this question.
On the orders of the special court, the police returned the wrist-
watch and Rs 400 which were on the person of Ashiq Jatoi (Dec. 2).
A gold ring and a chain in his neck were missing which were not
returned given, and when I inquired of the police, they said some
"Haram Khor" (dishonest parasite person) has taken away.
The blue Pajero jeep which he (Ashiq) was driving with Mir Murtaza
was also returned by the police minus a tape-recorder, a console
box with a radio. An FIR was lodged with the police against them
for stealing but the things have not been recovered so far.
Dr Jatoi will appear again on Jan 21 to answer questions from
Khawaja Sharful Islam, counsel for Wajid Ali Durrani.
The third and last witness of the day was ASI Badar Alam, son of
former SSP Khurshid Alam, whose services are placed with the
Services and General Administration Department, government of
Sindh.
The 26-year-old witness said he took the six bodies in three
ambulances and handed them over to another police officer at JPMC
and returned. For full night, he was not aware what was happening
around him, he did not talk to anybody, didn't hear anything and
saw nothing about the incident.
A tribunal member, Justice (Dr) Ghous Mohammad, described him as a
patent liar. Working at the Clifton PS on the day of the incident
he was not aware about it and who were involved and what happened
until the next day. He had not made entries in the "Roznamcha"
about his entry into the police station on duty and there was again
no entry made when he left. He did not also made entries in the
daily entries register when he took the six bodies to the hospital
and neither it was entered that he was back from the hospital.
According to the "Roznamcha" and the entries made, he was not on
duty and that he should be marked absent from duty on that date,
the tribunal remarked.
The ASI when asked by the tribunal said he was making case diaries
of old cases that night.
When he was asked if he can produce anyone of them from the police
station right then and he should go in a police mobile in the
company of PDSP Shamim Husain, police liaison officer, to which he
had no answer.
The chairman of the tribunal observed that "we must make a
recommendation that you should not be allowed to continue any
longer as a police officer."
One of the counsel suggested that he was not at the police station,
he didn't go to the hospital with the bodies and with a mala fide
intention had given wrong information or he was suppressing facts.
According to the witness, there are 21 officers, 115 men and three
mobiles in the jurisdiction of the Clifton police station.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing of the witnesses of Murtaza's
party nominees on point of conspiracy, after the evidence of
Abdullah Baloch and Dr Zahid Hussain Jatoi.
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970121
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Anonymous fax showed plot to eliminate politicians
-------------------------------------------------------------------
H. A. Hamied
KARACHI, Jan 20: Testifying before the Murtaza murder case
tribunal, a leader of the PPP (SB) disclosed the existence of a
telefax message which was being circulated at the highest levels,
disclosing conspiracies involving several important personalities
of the country, including the then prime minister, her brother
Murtaza Bhutto, Masood Sharif and Chaudhry Shujaat etc.
Dr Altaf Hussain Khawaja, a deputy Secretary-General of PPP (SB),
made the disclosure about the fax and the first-ever meeting that
took place in July last year between the prime minister and her
brother.
Dr Khawaja disclosed that there was a conspiracy to eliminate the
top leadership of the PML, including the Chaudhry brothers, and
that these decisions were taken at a meeting between the prime
minister and her brother, Mir Murtaza, sometimes in July last year.
The information was contained in a telefax message received by Mir
Murtaza from his boyhood friend, Nagib Zaffar, in Islamabad. He was
given that fax by Ms Rukhshana Bangash, who was then working in the
Prime Minister's Secretariat. The fax was given to her by the prime
minister and finally landed in Karachi in the hands of Murtaza
through Mr Zaffar.
According to the fax, Mir Murtaza was paid for and accordingly a
hit squad of 10 was formed and one of them was Sajjad Jakhro, whose
name was elaborated in detail.
Answering a question from the tribunal, the witness said the prime
minister got the fax from the Military Intelligence and it was
generated by the MI and given to the PM and she gave it to Rukhsana
and through Nagib it reached Mir Murtaza.
Masood Sharif, the then director-general of the Intelligence
Bureau, who was close to the then prime minister, paid Jakhro Rs
2.5 million to eliminate one of the Chaudhry brothers, and in the
deal, one of Jakhro's men was released from jail, Dr Khwaja said.
The witness went to Murtaza saying that the Chaudhrys are fearing
that you might be eliminating them and that Sajjad Hyder Jakhro was
recruited by the IB to eliminate the PML leadership. In this fax,
the PM and Murtaza were together being involved.
Mir Murtaza told me at a meeting that this kind of allegations are
being made involving our own man, Sajjad Jakhro, (who was also
killed in the Clifton incident) in the conspiracy.
Murtaza told me that there was nothing like this and we can send
Sajjad to them to clarify the position. The difference between
Chaudhry Shujaat and the fax message was that Sajjad Jakhro is
being recruited for this purpose by the IB and the fax says that
the prime minister and Murtaza are plotting the murders.
Masood Sharif, a close friend of the then prime minister, wanted
that Murtaza be still branded as a terrorist and the Military
Intelligence wanted that they (PM and Murtaza) should not get
together.
The witness further said there was a conspiracy to murder the then
prime minister and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and (V. A.)
Jaffery, and Ali Sonara was named as the conspirator.
Ali Sonara was arrested in the early morning of September 17, 1997
on the charge of two bomb blasts in Karachi, which occurred 24
hours later and he was arrested a day before the blasts, which
suggests a deep-rooted conspiracy.
Q: Have you seen the fax sent by Nagib Zaffar?
A: Yes. A copy of the fax was seen by me which did not say who had
sent it to whom. It was merely a report floated by the official
agencies.
Q: You said the fax is with the police?
A: Ishaque Khakwani, deputy secretary of the party for Punjab, had
sent a copy to the police along with his statement under Section
161 CrPC in the murder case. Khakwani might be having copies, and
perhaps Nagib Zaffar is also having a copy with him.
Later, the tribunal heard three witnesses from the police who were
called for verification of certain points.
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970117
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite services: PTCL clarification
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: A spokesman of the Pakistan Telecommunication
Company Limited(PTCL) has clarified the Dawn's January 14 and 12
reports that it has signed any contract for providing Satellite
Services in Pakistan, or decided to retrench its 20,000 employees.
The spokesman said in the case of the PanAmSat contract it was not
the PTCL but probably Pakistan Telecommunications Authority which
is the regulatory body dealing with communications services.
He said that the PTCL was an operating company and issuing of
licences for operating any telecommunication services does not fall
under its purview. The regulatory body for issuance of such
licences in Pakistan is Pakistan Telecom Authority(PTA) and not the
PTCL.
Our Staff Correspondent from Washington adds: The PTCL spokesman is
right as the name of the organisation which has signed the contract
with PanAmSat is Pakistan Telecommunications Authority and not
PTCL, as inadvertently reported. PanAmSat has in turn signed
contracts with Pakistani firms Acsys Ltd, Comstar-ISA and Fascom
Systems.
Likewise, the spokesman said that there the PTCL was not
considering any proposal to retrench its 20,000 employees. He said
that the PTCL was a growing organisation and was making substantial
additions to its network every year. In a situation like this, the
question of large scale reduction of staff does not arise. He
stated that the terms and conditions of PTCL employees are fully
protected under the Pakistan Telecommunication (RE-organisation)
Act, 1996 and Service Regulation introduced last year. As such
their services cannot be terminated arbitrarily.
However, the spokesman did not say a word about the circular issued
by the PTCL on Dec. 16 (office memo No.E.30-10-96) for abolishing
726 posts on the basis of which a plan has been made on the
instructions of the caretakers to remove 17,000 to 20,000
employees. The circular seeking abolishing 726 posts from grade one
to grade 18 has been held in abeyance for two weeks by another
circular following large scale protests and surrounding of the
office of the new PTCL chairman Nasim Mirza recently.
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970121
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Khattak wants govt not to cancel SPTV licence
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Muhammad
Abbas Khattak has requested the caretakers not to cancel the
license of Shaheen-Pay TV (SPTV) insisting that it would not only
have a serious negative fallout on Shaheen Foundation, but would
also send wrong signals to foreign investors.
The air chief made this request to the government through a letter
addressed to the additional secretary in-charge, ministry of
information, Abu Shamim Ariff.
In his letter dated January 2, Khattak said that if the previous
government had granted the licence in total disregard to laid down
procedures, Shaheen Foundation cannot be blamed for that nor should
it be made to suffer at this stage of the enterprise.
He asked Ariff to bring these points to the knowledge of the
cabinet and added, "I am confident that no rash decision would be
taken which might have negative repercussions later."
Khattak wrote this letter in response to government's intimation to
him that the licence of the SPTV might be cancelled. The caretakers
contacted him because Khattak had also written a letter to former
prime minister Benazir Bhutto requesting her to grant permission to
run a local channel to augment FM transmission with AM radio
stations for 'external projection'.
In his latest letter, the air chief said that Shaheen Foundation
(SF) entered into a joint venture agreement with Pay TV only
because the project, besides being economically viable, fitted
ideally into the business plan of SF as it promised to provide many
jobs to retired PAF technicians and officers.
The SPTV, he said, has since set up a fairly large infrastructure
at major cities in Pakistan, has acquired a transponder on Asia Sat
II and has entered into agreements with several overseas
broadcasters/programme distributors.
According to Khattak, over 50,000 households have bought LNB
receivers for SPTV MMDs broadcasts.
Khattak believes that the cancellation of licence will affect the
SF in following ways: a large amount of welfare funds that have
been invested and were expected to begin giving returns from this
year onwards would be wiped out; job opportunities for over 100
retired PAF personnel would dry up; the confidence of foreign
joint-venture partners in our other projects like Aircraft
Maintenance and Overhaul Depot and Shaheen Air Lines would be
undermined; and SF would be shunned by foreign investors as our
credibility could receive a serious blow.
He added, "The cancellation of the project whose 50 percent
shareholding is that of foreign investor would also send negative
signals to other prospective investors. Similarly, non- performance
of SPTV contracts with Asia Sat and other foreign companies would
give adverse publicity to Pakistan's investment climate. Moreover,
one of the ministers of the caretaker government has already filed
a case in the apex court against SPTV and a unilateral decision by
the government in a case which is subjudice would cast aspersions
on the intentions of the government and would be construed as
personal vendetta."
He urged the government to view the role of SPTV in the larger
strategic plan as it is also airing Pakistan's viewpoint in Europe.
"Therefore, it may be appropriate to allow SPTV to present its
future vision and strategic plan to the policy planners, before any
decision is taken."
===================================================================
970121
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GDP grows at 5% in first three years
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haq
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: The mid-plan review of the Eighth five-year Plan
(1993-98), released on Monday presents a dismal picture of the
economy which remained well below the target at the aggregate
level, but admits that GDP grew at the rate of 5 percent and
agriculture sector registering a growth rate of 5.9 percent.
However the mid-review expressed concern over the manufacturing
sector, whose growth rate fell below to 4.5 percent against the
target of 9.9 per cent. The large-scale manufacturing grew at the
rate of only 2.6 per cent compared to the plan target of 10.5
percent partly due to delay in the completion of new projects which
were envisaged to enhance the productive capacity of the
manufacturing sector and partly due to unsatisfactory law and order
situation in the country.
The performance on the investment front has not been very
encouraging. The total fixed investment of Rs 255.7 billion in
1993-94, Rs 260.1 billion in 1994-95 and Rs 294.0 billion in 1995-
96 at 1992-93 prices have been below their respective targets of Rs
276.3 billion, Rs 304.5 billion and Rs 338.0 billion. Moreover, the
sectoral composition of investment has not been consistent with the
priorities laid down in the Plan, especially in the private sector,
for example in energy sector investment target of Rs 49.5 billion
(in 1992-93) was envisaged during 1993-96, whereas actual
investment amounted only to Rs 17.1 billion. Similarly, Rs 19.6
billion worth of investment has been made in transport and
communications sector against the target of 74.3 billion. However,
services and ownership of dwellings sector witnessed an achievement
of 138 percent and 116 percent respectively.
Against the Eight Plan private sector investment target of Rs 948.4
billion (1992-93 prices), the actual achievement during the first
three years of the Plan amounted to Rs 439.8 billion (1992-93)
prices showing an achievement of 46.4 per cent of the Eight Plan
target. This achievement was un-evenly spread across the sectors.
In the energy sector, about 13.2 percent of the investment target
was met in 1993-94; there has been a rather significant increase in
investment in the energy sector. A significant achievement has been
recorded in the services (100.1 percent) and ownership of dwellings
(77.8 percent). In the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, the
achievement has been recorded at 58.7 percent and 54.2 percent of
the Eighth Plan target respectively. As proportion of GDP however,
the private investment decreased from 10.0 percent in 1992-93 to
9.4 percent in 1994-95 (1992-93 prices) but improved again to 10.7
percent in 1995-96.
To attract the prospective investors, both within and outside the
country, a number of incentives and policy reforms were introduced.
Almost all areas of economic activity were opened to the private
sector. The government has resorted to privatisation of the state-
owned enterprises and financial institutions and so far 89
enterprises, including banks, have been privatised. Against the
Eighth Plan target of Rs 130.1 billion in 1993-94, Rs 132.3 billion
in 1994-95 and Rs 148.9 billion in 1995-96, public sector
investment was Rs 117.5 billion, Rs 123.9 billion and Rs 128.6
billion respectively. Thus in the first three years of the Eighth
Plan, the public sector fixed investment stood at Rs 370.0 billion
showing an achievement of 49.4 percent.
FISCAL POLICY: The overall fiscal performance during the first
three years of the Eight Plan indicates that total revenues
(including SAP financing) of Rs 755.4 billion (1992-93 prices) were
17.3 per cent of the GDP compared to the target of 19.8 per cent
for the entire plan period of five years. Likewise, the total
expenditure of Rs 1015.6 billion (1992-93 prices) was 23.2 per cent
of GDP as against the Eight Plan target of 24.8 per cent. This
reduction of 1.6 per cent of GDP in total expenditure had been due
to reductions of 0.4 per cent in current expenditure and 1.2 per
cent in development expenditure. On this basis, the overall fiscal
deficit registered a decline from 8.0 per cent of GDP in 1992-93 to
an average of 5.9 per cent of GDP during the first three years of
the Plan, with achievements of 5.9 per cent, 5.6 per cent and 6.3
per cent in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96 respectively. The
government has thus succeeded in bringing about a significant
improvement in fiscal management during the period under review.
MONETARY POLICY: The strategy of restraining monetary expansion to
12.0 per cent per annum so as to reduce inflationary pressure while
at the same time catering to the credit needs of the private sector
was carried out during the Plan period. However, the government was
unable to restrict the growth of monetary expansion to the Plan
target. Money supply grew at an average rate of 16.1 per cent
during the period, which though showing a steep fall from the
benchmark, far exceeds the Plan target as well as much higher than
the real growth of the economy, thereby increasing the inflationary
gap. However, the actual monetary expansion during 1995-96 was
achieved at the rate 14.91 per cent, compared to 18.0 per cent in
the benchmark 1992-93.
Domestic credit increased to Rs 299.7 billion compared to a target
of Rs 236.6 billion, showing an annual average growth rate of 26.7
per cent. However, the government sector credit expanded by 30.8
per cent higher than the target i.e. Rs 98.6 billion against the
target of Rs 75.4 billion. Credit to private sector including
credit to public sector commercial corporations, was 7.5 per cent
higher than the level of the targets for the three years of the
Plan.
PRICES: The Eighth Plan envisaged to bring the rate of inflation
down from 9.3 per cent to 6.5 per cent by the end of the Plan
period. However, during the first three years of the Plan, the
inflation rate accelerated to 11.2 per cent, 13.0 per cent and 10.8
per cent respectively. Thus the average for three years was around
11.7 per cent. The basic cause of the inflation has been supply
bottlenecks and higher money supply than targeted.
Foreign Trade and Payments: The implementation of Eighth Plan
coincided with radical changes in global economy, necessitating
host of new reforms and adjustment in domestic policies. All these
unforeseen developments had far reaching effects on Pakistan's
balance of payments position.
During the first three years of the Plan, several fundamental
reforms were launched in the external sector of the economy. Under
the managed floating exchange rate system, the exchange rate has
been brought close to its equilibrium value. Restrictions on
foreign exchange transactions and keeping foreign exchange accounts
in the country have been removed completely. Imports have been
considerably liberalised. The maximum tariff ceiling on imports has
been reduced to 65 per cent. Negative and restricted lists of
imports were reduced to only those items which are justified on
security, religious and social considerations. In short, under the
Plan, Pakistan's economy has been opened and plugged into the world
market.
The exports (f.o.b.) during the first three years increased, on an
average, by 8.9 per cent per annum against the target of 12.5
percent in nominal dollar terms while the imports (f.o.b.) rose by
7.1 percent per annum as compared to the target of 7.5 percent; the
cumulative deficit in the trade account surpassed the Plan target
by 70.2 percent. As a result of improvement in invisibles account,
the current account deficit was contained at 4.8 percent of GDP
against the target of 3.9 percent of GDP.
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970122
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SBP given further autonomy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 21; The Federal Government promulgated on Tuesday
three ordinances to amend the Bank Nationalisation Act 1974,
Banking Companies Ordinance 1962 and State Bank of Pakistan Act
1956.
Enforced after considerable delay, these ordinances provide legal
cover to the financial sector reforms spelt out in detail by
President Farooq Leghari in his December 25 speech. These reforms
aim at providing greater autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan to
ensure monetary stability and financial soundness, government's
consultation with State Bank Governor on appointment of presidents
and chairmen of board of directors of the banks.
The State Bank has also been vested with authority to provide
necessary guidance in relation to activities which could have
implications for the monetary or credit policies of the Central
Bank to institutions including ICP, NIT, HBFC, NDFC, BEL, Pak-Libya
Holding Company, PICIC Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricultural
Investment Company Limited, SBFC, RDFC, investment finance
companies, venture capital companies and such more companies which
carry out banking business. However, leasing companies and
Modarabas have been exempted from the application of the provisions
of the ordinance.
The Central Board of State Bank will henceforth formulate and
monitor monetary and credit policy after taking into account the
targets set by the federal government for growth, inflation and
revenue generation.
The SBP Governor has been authorised to take measures in emergency
situations but would have to report to the Central Board for
approval. The Governor would now have powers to determine the limit
of credit for the federal government, provincial governments and
other official agencies.
A significant feature is the submission of a quarterly report by
the State Bank Governor to the parliament on the affairs of
national economy with particular reference to economic growth,
money supply, credit, balance of payments and prices.
Another amendment made in the State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956 bars
any governmental or quasi governmental institution to issue any
directive to any banking company which is inconsistent with the
policies, regulation and directives of the Central Bank.
Bankers consider this amendment to effectively check the pressures
brought about by the government in previous years on nationalised
commercial banks to finance yellow cabs, yellow houses, green
tractors, forestation and beautification of cities programmes.
Under the amendment made in the Banks Nationalisation Act 1974, the
Pakistan Banking Council also stands dissolved after functioning
for over 12 years during which it carried out coordination between
the banks and the government, monitor the banks and reported to
government periodically on the performance of government controlled
banks and financial institutions.
"State Bank is simply taking over assets of about Rs 600 million
from the PBC without any liability," a senior officer of the
Council informed Dawn on telephone. He said that PBC has set up a
National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF) in Islamabad to
carry out advance courses in banking. The real estate worth of
NIBAF is said to be about Rs 350 to Rs 400 million. The Council has
also invested more than Rs 200 million in various tax free
investment schemes now being taken over by the State Bank.
PBC has at present 150 staff drawn from three NCBs. It has an
annual budget of about Rs 450 million which was contributed in
equal shares by the three NCBs.
Under the ordinance, all staff will go to parent bank. However fate
of Mr Azizullah Memon who is the senior most banker in M1 grade and
is past president of United Bank is still to be decided.
The ordinance also provides a fix tenure of three years for the
presidents of the NCBs to be appointed by the federal government in
consultation with the State Bank.
Henceforth chairmen of the board of directors will be appointed to
frame policies for the banks. These ordinance will require
ratification of the National Assembly to be elected on February 3.
On expiry of the maturity period these ordinances will cease to be
law unless adopted by the National Assembly.
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970117
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NIT-ICP merger strongly supported
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Jan 16: The idea of merging the National Investment
Trust and Investment Corporation of Pakistan prior to privatisation
has received strong support from the relevant Task Force during its
four-day deliberations, according to an informed source.
It was the majority view among members of the Task Force that these
separate organisations cannot withstand any competition from the
much bigger players from foreign markets. The argument in favour of
their merger is reinforced by the fact that the two organisations,
acting separately, have failed to reverse the bearish trend
persisting in the stock market for more than three years. In that
process, tens of billions of rupees of the investors have remained
locked up, without their being able to do anything about it, the
source remarked.
He acknowledged that the ICP and NIT had played a yeoman's role in
the development of the stock market in Pakistan over a quarter
century. However, ever since the on-set of liberalisation and de-
regulation, they have been unable on account of lack of requisite
skills and resources to hold their own against the international
fund managers.
ICP and NIT have failed to keep pace with the times because,
answerable only to the Ministry of Finance, they are basically
bureaucratic set-ups without the kind of professionalism and
reflexes necessary for operating efficiently and profitably in a
free market. Thus ICP made profits only when it floated small funds
amounting to, say, Rs 5 million. The source cited the unfortunate
experience of its fund called "Prism". When its subscribers
clamoured for dividend, it was contended by ICP that this was the
first mutual fund which guaranteed the return of the capital and
that this capital was blocked up in the stock market owing to the
prolonged slump.
In this regard, an efficient private sector organisation would have
divided it between fixed securities and the stock market so that
the entire capital was not stuck up a situation now prevailing to
the detriment of the hapless investors.
The merged NIT-ICP would be rendered more attractive for a buyer
company because it would thereby become a member of boards of
directors of over 200 companies and thus be in a position to
influence their decision-making, a privilege foregone by the NIT
for the reasons that were obviously far from altruistic.
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970120
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks not encashing NIT units
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LAHORE, Jan 19: President, Lahore Stock Exchange, Khwaja Hamid
Saeed, expressed his grave concern over the refusal of banks to
encash the National Investment Trust units.
In a statement, he said, banks are not encashing the NIT units for
five, ten, fifty and hundred which, he feared, shows that banks
have not enough money in this regard.
He said people have invested billions of rupees in NIT units and
the prevailing situation is very grim.
He said if the people lost their investment in NIT, it will breach
the trust of the people and would be a bad omen for the general
investment culture of the country as the people are subjected to
different scams one after the other.
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970122
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Stocks pass through dull session
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 21: Stocks passed through a dull session as attendance
in the rings was thin owing to strike called by a religious group
to mourn the death of Lahore bomb blast victims.
Although the trading hall remained opened there were not many
buying and selling offers. An idea of sluggishness and investor
disinterestedness may well be had from the fact that only 11 shares
came in for trading, out of the 783, with nine finishing lower and
only one gaining only five paisa. One remained static.
Volume hit the below one million share mark, reflecting the
investors reluctance to indulged in trading. The KSE 100-share
index fell 2.94 points at 1,429.63 as compared to 1,432.57 a day
earlier as base shares fell further. The KSE all share index also
showed a modest decline of 1.44 points at 904.99 as compared to
906.43 a day earlier.
Owing to fresh pruning in the pivotals, the market capitalisation
also suffered a fall of Rs 703.136m at Rs 444.339 bn as compared to
445.042 bn a day earlier.
Price movements were highly fractional and reflected that buyers
and sellers were just filling in the gaps but there was no genuine
effort to pick up stocks of choice at the falling prices. That was
perhaps why the highest gain was of five paisa only and loss one
rupee, telling that there was no genuine activity.
The gain was noted in Dhan Fibre, which was traded higher by five
paisa at Rs 5.15 on a business of 36,000 shares.
Among the losers, BRR Modaraba 1 and 11 were leading, which fell by
one rupee each followed by PTC vouchers, Hub-Power, Bank of Punjab
and FFC-Jordan Fertiliser, falling by 20 to 30 paisa each. Dewan
Salman and ICI Pakistan also suffered fall of 15 paisa each on
renewed selling.
Trading volume fell to 0.706m shares, bulk of which went to the
credit of PTC vouchers, off 30 paisa on 0.250m shares followed by
Hub-Power, easy 25 paisa on 0.225m shares. Other actively traded
shares were led by Dewan Salman, lower 15 paisa on 90,000 shares
followed by ICI Pakistan, easy 15 paisa on 65,000 shares, FFC-
Jordan, lower 20 paisa on 35,000 shares, and Bank of Punjab down 20
paisa on 5,000 shares.
There was no physical business in Al-Meezan Mutual Fund, BRR
Modaraba 1 and 11 and Ibrahim Modaraba, which were traded lower by
five paisa to one rupee, with Ibrahim Modaraba remaining pegged at
the last close of Rs 3.50.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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970117
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ehtesab or Intekhab ? 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
THE '1995-96 Survey' of the International Institute of Strategic
Studies comments on Benazir's second government and on the role of
the Pakistan Army:
"In Pakistan, the army has the final say in the power troika of the
army chief, the president and the prime minister. Analysts there
generally believe that the army allowed Bhutto to return to power
because it desperately needed new arms supplies from the US and
believed that only Bhutto could break the ice with Washington....
"Given the crucial role of the army in Pakistan's power structure,
the retirement of an army chief and the selection of his
replacement is always of great interest and frequently a matter of
fierce in-fighting. Traditionally, chiefs have been reluctant to
quit. But not only did General Abdul Waheed Kakar retire gracefully
in December 1995, he has thus far stayed out of politics. His
successor, General Jehangir Karamat, has evoked no controversy and
he too has a reputation for being a tough, no- nonsense
professional with no interest in domestic politics. The importance
of this for a civilian prime minister cannot be over- estimated."
In this country, there is no such thing as 'free and fair'
elections. Democracy is an elusive myth. Much wrong, and no right,
is done to the people, in the name of the people. Elected
representatives are expected to legislate; here they do not. During
Benazir's second round of three years, only one significant act was
enacted. The Abolition of Whipping Act. The 43 other acts passed
related to amendments of existing legislation, many of which
concerned the augmentation of the perks and privileges accorded to
our parliamentarians which, needless to say, were all unanimously
approved. Rather than legislate, Benazir preferred to govern by
'advising' President Leghari to promulgate ordinances, which he
did, obliging her 335 times.
The President dissolved the assembly on November 5, and the people
were with him. To them, he was the lesser evil of the trio
Benazir and Nawaz being the other two. The people's acceptance
seems to have prompted him to project himself as the cleanest of
the clean. The Mehran Bank affair, the Balochistan land affair, his
grand lifestyle etc, etc have raised doubts in many minds. One
large doubt: had he not been president, would he have managed to
repossess the 29,000 acres taken over by the government in the 1972
land reforms?
Right now there is an on-going argument about who exactly decided
to form the Council for Defence and National Security. All
concerned deny that they were the prime movers. The fact remains
that it now exists, and is firmly hitched to the cabinet. However,
General Jehangir Karamat has reportedly stated that if a newly
voted-in government wishes to disband the Council, he and his army
will have no objections. It is difficult to imagine that this can
actually happen, circumstances being what they are and what they
are likely to be.
Some have held that there was no necessity for this CDNS as there
already exists a Defence Committee of the Cabinet which can well
take care of the defence and security needs, although it has so far
not been taken seriously. For instance, in 1984 the DCC imposed a
ban on the construction of any additional tanks for oil and liquid
storage in the oil tank farm area of the Karachi harbour, near the
entrance to the Keamari wharves. This was done for the safety and
security of the strategically vital port and harbour.
In 1995, Naval headquarters in Islamabad, with the concurrence of
the then Chairman of the Karachi Port Trust, permitted two
political nominee companies, (Al-Rahim Trading and ZY) to construct
liquid storage tanks in the prohibited area. Despite the DCC ban,
not one naval man, not one KPT man raised an objection. Why?
Such an action does not enhance the professionalism or image of the
Pakistan Navy. Neither does the laying of a polo field at naval
base PNS Karsaz, merely to please Asif, at the cost of crores of
rupees of Naval funds. Neither does the selling of 100 acres (some
500,000 sq. yds) of prime land of the naval base PNS Nathiagali,
covering the entire strategic sea front near Cape Monze, to Asif-
crony Tufail Shaikh at Rs 6 per sq. yd (can one buy a yard of
cotton cloth for this price?).
Last month, Vice-Admiral Tauquir Naqvi felt compelled to resign. He
wrote:
".... I have come to the sad conclusion that even though I have
three years to go before super-annuation I no longer find it an
honourable course to serve under the present chief of the naval
staff... I find that his manipulative style of leadership is not in
consonance with the highest tradition of military leadership..."
Now to the subject at hand. As the days pass, none, other than
Nawaz and those who hope to benefit, want elections before the
accountability process is completed. The majority want neither
Nawaz nor Benazir. They do not wish to go through yet another
election, rigged this time in Nawaz's favour, which will burden
them yet again with the same corrupt men sitting in their
assemblies. They do not look forward to another dissolution in six
months time. They fear that elections before their time may lead to
the ultimate imposition of martial law.
This feeling is not indigenous. The Times, the mouthpiece of the
Mother of Parliaments in London, on January 8 editorialised under
the heading, "Time for Pakistan Delaying elections may be better
than it appears":
".... When he dismissed Benazir Bhutto and her Government last
November, President Leghari was acting well within his
constitutional rights. He could also claim to be acting in the
country's best interests; the nation's finances were in a terrible
state and Ms Bhutto was ever resistant to his demands for a
crackdown on the rampant political corruption to which the
financial crisis is linked....
"....A time-limited delay of the February elections would not
necessarily be as damaging to Pakistani democracy as it seems. The
two leading contenders have both been dismissed from office on
corruption charges; three months was always too short a time for
credible choices to emerge from such polluted political machinery.
"Time would also allow the interim Government to toughen up its
accountability law, intended to disqualify politicians guilty of
corruption. It was hastily drafted and has allowed too many big
fish to slip through its meshes. In particular, there is need to
tighten the new rules designed to bar politicians who have damaged
the country's banking system by declining to repay massive personal
loans to which nothing but their political influence entitled
them."
The people say, let there be a time-limited delay in the holding of
elections. Article 58(2)(b) provides for an appeal to the
electorate. Article 48(6) permits the President "in his discretion
or on the advice of the Prime Minister" (the advice being binding)
to hold a referendum. Can the President not ask the people if they
wish for a time-limited delay in the holding of elections (say, a
period of 15 months) which would give him and his team (a changed
team, he should get rid of the known rotters) time to strengthen
the accountability laws and complete the process? From the highest
to the lowest in the land, the feeling is that these elections are
being held far too soon. The Chief Justice of Pakistan is all for
accountability and has stated that the 90 days period is "too
inadequate for completing the accountability process" (Dawn Jan
13).
If, as it seems clear they will, the people vote for a time-limited
delay, the Nawazians, the anxious hopeful beneficiaries, may go to
court in protest. Let the CJ and his brethren then give their
verdict.
Why is the President so keen on no accountability, why is he
letting the political and bureaucratic looters and robbers escape
scot free? If he wishes to absolve the criminals, let him be even-
handed. Let him calculate the total amount of money robbed, perhaps
by some out of need, by those ordinary citizens who have been
convicted and are in our jails for their crimes, and the total
amount robbed by the elected representatives and their bureaucratic
aiders and abetters. The former amount will be laughable,
negligible, in comparison with the latter.
If the grand larcenists are not to be touched, if they are to
remain free, by all that is fair and right the petty larcenists in
our jails must also be set free. There is only one law, and it
covers the mighty and the lowly alike.
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970118
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Promises aplenty, with issues missing
-------------------------------------------------------------------
THE economic crisis the country faces is severe. Yet the main
political parties which are seeking a mandate to govern for the
next five years have a very casual and routine approach to the
problems faced by the national economy. The PPP and PML(N) have
each ruled the country for three years and two-and-a-half years
respectively since 1990 and both have failed to resolve the crisis.
They were dismissed more or less on similar charges. In view of
this experience, they were expected to educate the people about the
true nature of the economic malaise and suggest tangible solutions.
Instead they have presented the voters with a catalogue of wishes
and illusions. They have promised to do what they did not do in the
past. If some of the promised measures were adopted, they failed to
realise the promised goals. Surprisingly, the two parties have not
even tried to explain their failures.
Notwithstanding the present crisis, Pakistan's economy is basically
sound and resilient. For this it has to thank its solid
agricultural base and manpower infrastructure. The root cause of
all the economic ills is the budget deficit and the adverse balance
of payments. In other words, it is our national habit of over
consumption that has devastated us. The bulk of the federal
government's revenues (about 85 percent) is consumed by two items
debt-servicing and defence. The problem of the balance of payments
too is aggravated by the debt-servicing. Only 15 percent of the
state's revenues are left to run the entire civil administration
and undertake essential development work.
Evidently these resources are not sufficient and only drastic cuts
in expenditure or increase in revenues are the two available
alternatives to balance the budget. The first one cannot even be
attempted as defence and debt-servicing are considered unavoidable
expenses which are not open to public scrutiny. Reduction in public
expenditure on other items can at best be marginal and would not
make any substantial impact on overall revenue spending. But at the
same time these cuts would add considerably to the distress of the
people through loss of jobs, reduction in already meagre social
services and abolition of subsidies on essential items.
The other alternative that of raising revenues through additional
taxes is being attempted for several years without any success.
The reason is that the economic groups who have fabulous incomes
and wealth have no desire to pay taxes and the political parties do
not have the will to take them on. The feudal classes, businessmen,
professionals and underground business tycoons defy the state with
total impunity. The additional taxes imposed in the current year
will amount to Rs 60 billion, inclusive of utility charges. But
they will not make any change in the tax-GDP ratio which remains
the same as it was a decade ago.
It is because of the fact these additional levies operate under the
law of diminishing returns. New taxes raise the burden of those who
are already paying them and new tax payers are not roped in.
Similarly bank loan defaulters have defied all attempt at
repayment. The political governments as well as the all-powerful
caretakers have totally failed on both counts. The party platforms
are ominously silent on how they intend to deal with these twin
problems.
The PPP has hinted at a third alternative which has so far remained
a forbidden subject because the international lenders do not want
even a mention of it. It is the rescheduling of foreign debts.
Pakistan's economy, by all accounts, is basically sound. Its
difficulties are temporary for which the international lending
agencies are also partly responsible. They overlooked, rather
encouraged, mismanagement so long as the then governments served
their interests in the cold war years. These accumulated loans and
continued expanded overspending are the legacies of that period.
With the neglect of the existing assets and the failure to create
new assets, the country could not enhance its repayment capacity.
Now a period of respite is needed.
Under these circumstances all promises of raising education and
health budgets, to eradicate poverty, eliminate illiteracy and
disease are meaningless. Similarly the assurances of making
provision of cheap credit for industry or arranging special relief
packages for special economic groups lack credibility. Such
gimmicks are immediately neutralised, even if attempted, as in the
case of the caretakers, by increases in utility charges and cost of
social services and the trimming of essential development projects.
The platforms of the parties, especially the major ones, would have
carried weight if they had devoted space to measures to gear up
national efforts to mobilise more resources and to soften up
resistance of the powerful vested interests against tax payment,
the documentation of the economy and loan repayment. Instead the
emphasis of the major parties is on more liberalisation and
deregulation of the economy and privatisation of the large
enterprises. The objectives of these broad policy measures are not
so much to benefit the economy as to clear the way for more loans
in the immediate future.
One is disappointed with the poverty of new ideas in the programmes
of the political parties. The PML(N) plans to bring the prices of
agricultural produce gradually in line with international prices on
the basis of export prices. No similar assurance is given in
respect of the price of labour, the most important element in
agriculture. Unless all factors are remunerated at that level, and
that is possible only with the enhancement of productivity, it will
bring disaster. The PPP promises to discontinue all perks of civil
servants and fix only cash emoluments. It is a very sound principle
in a democratic set-up but the question arises why this was not
attempted when it was in office. Similar questions may be asked
about the promise to abolish the contract labour system.
What is heartening is the fact that both PML(N) and PPP have
promised to adopt Orangi Pilot Project as a model for neighbourhood
management and the mobilisation of grassroots development
endeavours. For country-wide efforts, democratically elected local
self government institutions, with constitutional guarantees of
continuity and fiscal powers, are a requisite for the success of
such projects. But local bodies do not figure as an important
component in either of the major parties' manifestos. Only MQM, for
the reason of its being solely urban based, gives enough importance
to these institutions. In the 1993 election manifesto the PPP had
devoted much space to the devolution of powers to the lowest level
but this time the subject has been downgraded to insignificance.
None of the parties speaks of the fundamental cause of corruption
in the revived parliamentary system of governance in the country.
It is the fractionalisation of the development programme, put under
the charge of MNAs and MPAs that has opened floodgates of
corruption. It acts against a strategy of coordination and
prioritisation on the basis of the economy's needs. This malady is
the continuing consequence of the 1985 non-party elections when
members were, by necessity, disciplined by offering them
inducements such as allocation of development funds. Now these
funds have become, by tradition, part of the rights and privileges
of the members. As members' projects escape proper technical
scrutiny and economic return criteria they adversely affect the
overall development programme and also give rise to corrupt
practices. It was time that the parties should have voluntarily
offered to abandonment of this practice in their programmes.
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970121
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Reversing decline of governance
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Maqbool Ahmad Bhatty
A GREAT deal has been written about accountability over the past
couple of months, and a significant proportion of the thinking
public appears to favour the weeding out of those politicians and
civil servants whose record does not stand up to minimum standards
of integrity.
Accountability, of course, pertains to past acts, among which abuse
of authority, and misuse of government funds are the main
considerations for punitive action, which is designed as much as
retribution as deterrence for the future. However, a critical
appraisal of the standards of governance, and of the accelerating
pace of deterioration in those standards is even more essential,
since a great deal of what is wrong with our system can be traced
to a precipitous decline in the quality of governance in Pakistan
since our independence.
Over the past fifty years, the assumption of authority by our own
people has not produced any real improvement in attitudes towards
the common man, who has come to dread any contact with state
institutions, that have proliferated, but have also progressively
deteriorated owing basically to the lack of any concept of
officials being "public servants." The proliferation has been due
to the assumption of many additional functions by the state,
ostensibly to improve the quality of life, but the persistence of
bureaucratic attitudes, accompanied by lack of accountability, have
led the man in the street to see government officials as petty
tyrants, an image which government employees from Naib Qasids
upwards appear to relish. Indeed, the aura of authority, and of
power, remains the main attraction of government service,
accompanied by the opportunities to amass wealth, through the
misuse of the power and authority, wherever possible. In addition,
having an official position is helpful for getting those routine
things done which become a source of bother to the ordinary
citizen.
As we open, hopefully, a new chapter of our national life, with
increased emphasis on accountability, there is a concomitant task
of improving the quality of governance in the country. The state
apparatus has evolved over the ages and its three accepted
components the legislature, the executive and the judiciary
provide a framework designed to make the life of the citizens safe,
secure and as happy as possible. A concept has emerged over the
centuries, of the state being responsible for the welfare of the
citizens and for safeguarding their fundamental rights, to which
Islam made a major contribution.
Corruption seems to have seeped into practically all walks of life
in Pakistan, mainly because wealth has become the main criterion
for distinction, rather than righteous living as expressed in the
word "taqwa", which means shaping one's conduct on the fear of God.
Indeed the "momin" is expected to be constantly aware of his
mortality, after a short span on this earth, and to shape his
conduct on the basis of accountability on the "Day of Judgment." At
the same time, Islam recognises that human beings are prone to
temptation, and the Islamic state is required to put in place a
system of governance that punishes criminals and law-breakers who
violate the rights and steal or exploit the possessions of others.
If this ideology, to which most of us subscribe publicly, were
taken seriously, we would not be bogged down the way we are in a
society where the worst features inherited from the caste system of
the sub-continent, and of a colonial past appear to prevail.
The institutional arrangements being put in place to enforce
greater accountability are an imperative necessity, and would help
prevent the worst excesses that have come to notice. However, the
decline of standards of governance, and the pervasive culture of
denying rights unless they can be secured through connections or
corruption need to be tackled through a comprehensive set of
measures. One measure that was taken some fifteen years ago was the
establishment of the office of "Ombudsman" or "Wafaqi Muhtasib" at
the Federal Capital. Though its jurisdiction was limited to the
Federal Government institutions, it did provide a means of redress.
It is a measure of the half-heartedness of our rulers that though
the step was taken by General Zia-ul-Haq during the period he
enjoyed absolute powers, the institution was not replicated in the
provinces, until much later, and still does not exist in all of
them.
Models of good governance abound, specially in the developed
countries, such as Japan, the UK and the Scandinavian countries.
Pakistanis who live in those countries, or visit them, point out
the tension-free character of dealings with the government
departments, in which courtesy and helpfulness are the order of the
day. There is seldom any obstruction or delay, and whether it is
some formality such as renewal of a passport or licence, or a more
complex transaction involving property or taxes, there is very
little hassle over an untraceable file, or an absent functionary.
The basic approach is businesslike, and the officials concerned are
not out to demonstrate their authority by insisting on some routine
or formality, and there is consideration for the fact that citizens
have rights, and that their time is valuable. Taxes are paid and
received without too much fuss. The authorities dealing with law
and order are also both approachable and helpful. So, with good
governance, the citizens get their problems solved with the
assistance of courteous and helpful officials. There is respect for
the law, and its enforcers, and an environment of security and
peace is achieved, with citizens paying their taxes for the
services that are manifestly extended to them.
When we cast a look at the manner in which the government machinery
functions in Pakistan, the picture is far from edifying.
Inefficiency is the order of the day, since merit has become a
secondary consideration owing to the prevalence of political
patronage and corruption. If you owe your job to "sifarish", or a
bribe, you have not been selected on the basis of your competence,
and you are not expecting to be held accountable. Though no
administrative set-up consists of star performers, there used to be
a high proportion of competent performers in various departments in
the early years of independence. The assumption of power by our own
elite has been followed by a progressive deterioration of
performance in most government offices. This is due to several
reasons, including falling educational standards, and the rising
pressure of work due to our exploding population. But the most
important single reason has been the abandonment of merit, and the
neglect of accountability.
As a result, the citizen who has to perforce deal with some
government organisation or another for the conduct of his business
or for access to social services that are in the control of the
state, finds himself harassed, compelled to wait for the completion
of incomprehensible formalities, owing either to red-tape or the
absence of key officials who are on tour or on leave. He is
extended very little courtesy, for he is dealing with the remnants
of a colonial culture in which every official is a "sahib" who has
power that is seemingly without any check on it. The citizen, who
is both poor and illiterate, realises that not only has he no
rights but that there is hardly any redress available for the
wrongs he encounters.
The irony of this situation is that while it caters to the ego of
the officials, who should be facing reprimands for inefficiency and
discourteous behaviour, it is tailor made for corruption. You
either find a patron in high places, or pay a bribe, and all the
seemingly insuperable obstacles to your request or document
disappear. We have seen a great display of ingenuity, as well as
sheer gall in creating avenues for corruption. The principal ploys
are as follows:
i) Inaccessibility: the sahib is in a "meeting" (which may be a tea
session with a colleague), with his superior, or on tour. Even if
he is present, the underling who has the file is sick, or out on an
errand etc. Consequence? Come again tomorrow, or after Friday. The
Naib Qasids of important functionaries bask in the light of their
importance and often get a price for arranging access.
ii) Indifference: the sahib is very busy. Even if he receives you,
he has this, that or the other task that will keep him preoccupied
for the immediate future.
iii) The missing file: Your file is not traceable. If it is found,
key papers are missing.
iv) Inadequate documentation: You bring an application, or set of
documents for some purpose. Some fault can always be found with it.
If you bring original documents, they may not be suitably worded,
or their authenticity can be questioned. In case you bring copies,
their authentication by the correct person may be demanded.
Where payment of bills is involved, specially for large amounts, or
where tenders are involved for government purchases, the scope for
commissions is being constantly enlarged. The costs may go up, or
may be deliberately inflated, in order to increase the commissions.
All in all, nearly every department evolves some way of generating
income through obstruction or exercise of discretion, with
officials of even such welfare oriented departments as education
charging for admissions or pass marks. Many officials of
departments dealing with law and order who are expected to
apprehend such anti-social elements as burglars, murderers and drug
pushers also tend to show more interest in enriching themselves
than in serving the vague cause of public order.
The catalogue of types of poor governance, which have flourished
largely under the political patronage of democratically elected
representatives can be endless. Their patronage has reinforced
objectionable attitudes, in which bureaucrats consider that their
authority lies in saying "no", without realising that they are thus
neglecting their main task of serving the people whose taxes pay
their salaries.
A major task for the caretakers, in the few weeks left of their
tenure, is to initiate steps specifically designed to improve the
quality of governance, by compelling a change in attitudes, and
ensuring closer supervision of officials, with a focus on their
public dealings. Anti-corruption measures have traditionally added
to the cost of corruption, rather than eliminated it. More frequent
access by ministers and senior officials to the public, and
enforcement of rigorous penalties against corrupt officials are the
obvious remedies. Even more important would be a campaign in the
electronic media, specially television, identifying the widespread
instances of bad governance. In the long run, the selection of
officials on merit, and strengthening of institutions of
accountability, such as those of the Muhtasibs might be the answer.
===================================================================
970119
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W.I. destroyed by pace & spin as Pakistan win 1st final
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SYDNEY, Jan 18: Pakistan had a comfortable four-wicket victory over
West Indies in the first of the three finals at the Sydney Cricket
Ground (SCG). Their authority was such that they reached the target
with 11.4 overs to spare after West Indies were restricted to 179
for 9.
Their first win in the World series final overs hot to spinners
Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi who kept the
pressure on once the opening stand of 99 was broken between Junior
Murray and Sherwin Campbell. Waqar Younis, who had an expensive
first spell in which he gave away 29 runs in four overs, when
brought back was as much devastating as were the spinners.
Later Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed and Moin Khan dominated the
proceedings as the West Indians struggled to check their victory
march. Afridi made 53, Ijaz a gritty 60 adding 71 runs for the
fifth wicket with Moin Khan to take Pakistan to within 10 runs of
victory.
The impressive performances was lauded by none other than the Prime
Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, who visited the dressing
room to congratulate the team.
Pakistan chasing 180 for victory lost two wickets for 40 in the
11th over after Inzamam-ul-Haq and Zahoor Elahi were out to poor
shots but Shahid Afridi and Ijaz Ahmed batted sensibly and
attractively to add 53 runs for the third wicket. Afridi reached to
his third fifty in one-day games with 8 fours and in only 50
deliveries before being caught at long off by Courtney Walsh off
Ian Bishop for 53.
Mohammad Wasim was run out after a mix-up but Ijaz and Moin steered
the innings without much fuss taking Pakistan near the target.
Ijaz's 60 contained 3 fours in 71 balls. his dismissal by Walsh
left Pakistan win only ten runs to win which was comfortably taken.
Moin Khan hit a four and a six off successive balls from
Chanderpaul to get past the required runs.
West Indies after being put in by Wasim Akram were given a solid
start of 99 by Junior Murray and Sherwin Campbell who enjoyed their
share of luck as well as the partnership flourished. Murray, when
zero was missed off Waqar Younis in the slips - a difficult chance
but catchable. Later he also survived a run out appeal when the
television umpire decided in his favour.
Waqar bowling a wayward line was mauled for 28 runs in four overs
and had to be taken off. Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid
Afridi wee all introduced into the attack as Akram made quick
changes to dislodge the pair. But it was Mushtaq who broke the
stand when Murray hit low down to him when 48. In the next over
Brian Lara mistimed a drive into the hands of Afridi, the bowler,
who held onto a low catch. Lara had faced only two balls without
scoring. Not much later Afridi with a faster one bowled Campbell
minutes after he had reached his fifty in 87 balls, having hit five
fours.
Waqar, brought back for his second spell in the 32nd over,
devastated the middle order. He bowled Shivnarine Chanderpaul first
ball of his second spell and had Phil Simmons leg before on the
last delivery of the same over for 0. Robert Samuels was his third
victim as he forced the batsman on the back foot. in nine balls he
had taken three wickets.
Afridi, with a quicker delivery, then had Jimmy Adams leg before
for 2 and suddenly West Indies had slumped to 7 for 123 from 0 for
99. In his first four overs Waqar, who had conceded 29 runs, had
given away only seven runs taking three wickets in his next four
overs.
Roland Holder and Ian Bishop then put on 53 runs in 85 balls for a
record eighth wicket stand against Pakistan to make the score look
relatively respectable.
Jamshed Mujahid's direct throw from covers as Bishop attempted a
run resulted in Holder's demise when 32. Curtly Ambrose, the ninth
man out, was out next ball leg before to Waqar as Pakistan
restricted West Indies to 179 for 9. Waqar with 4 for 43 and Afridi
with 3 for 33 were the stars of the show.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
970121
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Pakistan rout W. I to take World Series crown
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Qamar Ahmed
MELBOURNE, Jan 20: In a sensational and low-scoring match for a
one-dayer Pakistan toppled the West Indies by 62 runs today to
clinch the World Series, the trophy and the prize money of 100,000
dollars set for the annual competition.
The Melbourne crowds could not believe their eyes that Pakistan
collapsed for just 165, which appeared an easy target for the
Caribbean but latterly the West Indies' batsmen made a procession
to the pavilion in the face of hostile and venomous bowling of
Wasim Akram, Shahid Nazir and Waqar Younis and the whole lineup
succumbed to a paltry score of 103, thus achieving an unprecedented
success on the Australian soil.
The Pakistani migrants were delighted and cheered with joy as Waqar
uprooted the stump of Cameron Cuffy, the last man.
After being bowled out for a disappointing 165, Pakistan bounced
back in the match with some superb bowling and fielding to strangle
the West Indian batting and bowl them out for 103 in the 41st over.
As the powerhouse of the West Indian batting crumbled, the lights
of the MCG also failed for about 20 minutes with West Indies
struggling at 87 for 7. With the lights switched on once again,
Pakistan also came alight, wrapping up the West Indian innings
giving away only 16 more runs for the remaining three wickets.
The West Indian batting collapse was as sensational as was that of
the Pakistanis earlier on. With only 2 runs scored West Indies had
lost five wickets and at one stage it seemed they might not be able
to pass even their lowest 87 made against Australia at the SCG four
years ago. Wasim Akram had started the rout by forcing Sherwin
Campbell onto his wicket. in the second over Junior Murray was out
leg before to Waqar Younis and then Akram had Sivnarine Chanderpaul
and Carl Hooper on the second and fourth ball of his sixth over.
Their dismissal was followed by that of Jimmy Adams, Phil Simmons
and Brian Lara by Shahid Nazir who had replaced Waqar. In six overs
he had taken 3 wickets for 8 runs and West Indies were down to 7
for 42.
If not for the 47 run eighth wicket stand between Ambrose and
Roland Holder, they may have perished within 100 runs. Ambrose with
an unbeaten 31 was their highest scorer. Chanderpaul and Lara were
dismissed off spectacular catches by Moin Khan who was at his best
to say the least. Once the eighth wicket stand was broken by Shahid
Afridi as he bowled Holder for 20, Pakistan amidst jubilation of
its supporters got rid of Walsh and Cuffy by Saqlain and Waqar.
Afridi was the Man of the finals and Lara Man of the Series.
It is a great moment for a young team that we had. They had firm
belief in themselves and it was the key to our success," said a
delighted Wasim Akram.
He paid rich tributes to his team and praised the West Indies for
the exciting final.
Pakistan batted ineptly after winning the toss. In their 165 all
out in the 49th over, there were two mindless run-outs of Inzamam-
ul-Haq and Wasim Akram. Luckily for them Ijaz Ahmed once again rose
to occasion with a gritty 45 and Mohammad Wasim having come at the
fall of the fourth wicket at 53 was the last man out having scored
41 in nearly two hours batting and later Moin Khan's whirlwind 26
in 29 balls made things look relatively respectable.
Pakistan made two changes, bringing in Aamir Sohail and Shahid
Nazir for Mujahid Jamshed and Mushtaq Ahmed. on a bouncy wicket
Afridi should not have opened, the skill was not there when he
could not get away from a Courtney Walsh delivery. Zahoor Elahi, as
in other ties on Australia, chased an outswinger in the hands of
Brian Lara at first slip off the same bowler.
Aamir Sohail's stay for nearly an hour produced 32 runs with Ijaz
Ahmed as the two tried to salvage the situation. Aamir Sohail then
played a loose drive to Lara in the covers off Cameron Cuff and
departed. Inzamam-ul-Haq made a suicidal call for run and paid the
price as both he and Ijaz ended at the same end and Carl Hooper's
throw did the rest. Third umpire adjudged Inzamam out as he had
left his crease. Ijaz, who had reached the landmark of 4,000 runs
in one-day games, occupied the crease for 112 minutes before edging
Phil Simmons to Murray when 45.
With Mohammad Wasim he had put on 43 runs for the fifth wicket. For
Wasim Akram the second run was not there as he glanced to leg and
Jimmy Adams in a flash threw the ball to the keeper with Wasim
struggling to get to safety. Wickets kept tumbling as young
Mohammad Wasim held on to his end stubbornly. He could not take
risk but Moin Khan did and swung his bat with purpose to add 36 for
the seventh wicket. His dismissal by Adams at 137 left Wasim there
to play out the overs. it did not take long for Cuffy and Ambrose
to polish off the tail.
Saqlain was caught at the wicket off Cuffy and Ambrose had Waqar
Younis yorked with a slower ball and when a desperate Wasim tried
to hit out he was taken at point by Adams.
Pakistan had fallen least knowing that perhaps West Indies could be
as fragile.
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970121
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Melbourne win, a milestone in post-Imran era
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20 (APP) : Pakistan's victory over West Indies in
Melbourne was hailed as a milestone in post- Imran Khan Cricket era
of the country.
Cricket commentators described Pakistan's first-ever triumph in
World Series Cricket, a regular annual feature of Australian
domestic season, as a catalyst to the country's newly-found world-
beating prowess.
The glorious victory assumed a further coating of lustre with the
news that Pakistan had claimed top position in ratings of cricket
playing countries with six Pakistanis also listed among the top 10
Cricketers around the globe.
Not since lifting of the World Cup by Imran Khan on March 25, 1992,
Pakistan had posted such an impressive win in a One-Day Tournament,
the Cricket observers said.
The Melbourne victory was flaunted in cricket circles as the most
dazzling of last five years along with Test Series win in England
in 1992 and 1996.
Member Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Council, Ashraf Qureshi,
eulogised Pakistan's victory as all the more laudable since it was
achieved in the absence of two leading batsmen Saeed Anwar and
Salim Malik.
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970121
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Pakistan take one-day crown with easy win
-------------------------------------------------------------------
MELBOURNE (Australia), Jan 20: Pakistan sensationally took the
World Series one-day crown at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after
bowling out the West Indies in just over 40 overs to wrap up the
best-of-three series 2-0.
Intense pressure from Pakistan's world-class pace duo, Wasim Akram
and Waqar Younis, with fine support from Shahid Nazir, forced a
dramatic Windies mid-order collapse. Then, as Curtly Ambrose and
Roland Holder began to stage a recovery a power cut plunged the
ground into darkness.
The lights were out for 24 minutes and the Windies were out soon
after.
Pakistan's first win in six World Series attempts was seemingly
against the odds after their batsmen withered before an Ambrose and
Courtney Walsh attack to be all out for 165 in 48.3 overs.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
970122
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Moin Khan completes 100 victims
-------------------------------------------------------------------
KARACHI, Jan 21: Wicketkeeper Moin Khan, third in cricket ratings,
is the quickest Pakistan player with the gloves to complete 100
victims behind the wickets.
Moin touched the 100-mark in his 71st match against the West Indies
during the first match of the best-of-three finals at Sydney on
Saturday. He added three more scalps on Monday to finish the tour
with 103 victims that include 76 catches and 27 stumpings.
Moin eclipsed the record of Rashid Latif, his main rival for the
lone place in the team who is presently out of selectors favours.
Rashid had reached the magical three figures from 81 matches.
Rashid has so far accounted for 103 batsmen behind the wickets in
83 matches.
Rashid had overhauled the record of Salim Yousuf who had reached
100 victims in 83 matches. The `Tiger', who later managed the
Pakistan team with Intikhab Alam, ended his career with 102 victims
(80 catches and 22 stumpings) in 86 matches.
Interestingly, none of the Pakistan wicket-keepers have so far
completed a double in one-day internationals. Moin Khan is closed
to that landmark with 854 runs at 20.11. Rashid Latif scored 633
runs at 15.43 with one 50 while Salim Yousuf scored 768 runs at
17.86 with four half centuries.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
970122
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pak U-19 SA tour Hasan Raza hammers 2nd successive ton
-------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLONMORE PARK, BEMONI (South Africa) Jan 21: A flawless century
by Hasan Raza, his second successive ton on the tour, coupled with
a fine knock of 70 by left-hander Shahdab Kabir, enabled the
Pakistan under-19 XI reach 276 for the loss of six wickets at draw
of stumps on the first day in their two-day fixture against
Easterns Under-19.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Pakistani youngsters got
off to a fine start when Shadab Kabir and Farhan Adil put on 32
runs for the first wicket before the latter parted company after
scoring 14 runs.
M. Salim joining Shahdab, left with the score at 74, after
contributing 17 runs to his team's total, but the fireworks really
began when next batsman Hasan Raza joined Shadab and the two were
associated in a fine partnership of 75 runs.
Shahdab, after batting facing 163 deliveries in his 220 minutes at
the crease finally fell, caught by skipper Meyer bowled by Botha
for a well played knock of 70 runs, studded with six boundaries.
Another fine partnership ensued between Ahmer Saeed and Hasan, who
in the meantime completed his half century, facing 116 balls in 128
minutes at the wicket, with four boundaries being his principal
strokes.
After adding 52 runs for the fourth wicket, Ahmer was dismissed for
21 runs. Bazid Khan, the new batsman then added 56 runs for the
fifth wicket with Hasan Raza, before he was dismissed for 16 runs.
In the meantime Hasan Raza continuing to plunder the bowling from
the short pitched deliveries went on to complete his well deserved
century which contained seven boundaries, after facing 212
deliveries in 257 minutes, but after scoring a splendid knock of
121 runs was stumped by keeper Barnard, trying to lift Repsold out
of the ground in the last ball of the day.
M. Shakil was still at the wicket with four runs as the Pakistan
under 19 XI raced to 276 for 6.
Repsold, bowling a fine line and length picked up 2/58 and was well
supported by Botha 2/32.
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