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ISLAMABAD: A parliamentarian from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) made a fortune through fraudulent land deals with the help of senior officials of the National Police Foundation (NPF), Islamabad, documents with The Express Tribune showed.

A confidential inquiry report, which was submitted before Federal Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry earlier this month, said that a member of the National Assembly, Anjum Aqeel Khan, is involved in a six-billion-rupee land scam in which he was aided by four former NPF officials, including former managing director Iftikhar Ahmed Khan. Others named in the report are former housing additional directors Abdul Hannan, Khuda Baksh and Laeeq Ahmed Khan.

Before Aqeel won a National Assembly seat in 2008 on a PML-N ticket, he acted as a ‘broker’ for the NPF through his M/S Land Linkers. His job was to find land for the foundation’s residential colony.

The report alleges that Aqeel had hundreds of NPF housing colony’s plots allotted to his nominees without any formal agreement. The NPF allotted these plots in accordance with the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) 54:46 formula, which governs the affiliation of private land with government housing schemes.

According to the formula, a private landowner has to surrender and provide 46 per cent of his land for roads and streets. Aqeel was allotted 162 kanals of developed land and, as per this ratio, he has to provide 300 kanals. To date, he has provided only 71 kanals and he is yet to provide 229 kanals on account of affiliation of land and an additional 100 kanals on account of double purchase, the report says.

Now, however, Aqeel is accused of fraud as he has allegedly not transferred 329 kanals of land to the NPF. He is also facing charges of selling 39 kanals of land to the NPF a number of times.

Newly-appointed NPF MD Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, who also holds the dual charge of the chief of NPF, said: “I will look into the … matter and those found guilty will not be spared,” he said.

MNA Aqeel Anjum Khan, later, acknowledged that he had arranged the land on behalf of the NPF but denied causing any loss to the NPF or being part of any such scam. “I made deals with the NPF till 2002 but after that, I did not enter into any land deal with them,” he said.

Aqeel claimed that a NPF officer had demanded money from him but he had refused, following which this report was compiled against him. “[NPF Estate Director] Shahid Iqbal has himself given me a clearance certificate which establishes that fact that I do not owe anything to the foundation,” he claimed.

However, when The Express Tribune contacted Iqbal, he challenged the claim that Aqeel had been given a clearance certificate. He said that he had documentary evidence of the fraud committed by Aqeel in connivance with former NPF officials. He said he has already sent an inquiry report to the interior ministry.

The report says that under an agreement, Aqeel was purchasing land for NPF. On May 16, 2002, he requested affiliation of 75 kanals and submitted a list of 178 nominees. The NPF accepted the requested and allotted 41 kanals to 120 of his nominees. On August 25, 2003, he again requested affiliation of 60 kanals and NPF allotted 33 kanals to his nominees. However, to-date, he has not transferred any land to the NPF. He has not submitted any revenue papers or even a rough map of the land.

On April 29, 2004, Aqeel again requested for affiliation of 50 kanals without proper documentation and 40 kanals of developed land were allotted to his nominees.

Then, on September 9, 2004, Aqeel surrendered 20 allotment letters and requested the authorities for commercial conversion of the area for building flats.

However, he had surrendered only allotment letters since no land was available. But, the request was accepted and 48 kanals, which previously belonged to SSP Nawaz Kiani, former inspector general Chaudhary Manzoor and his wife, and other police officers, were allotted to Aqeel even though he had not asked or paid for it, and neither had he transferred it in the name of the NPF. This piece of land is currently worth Rs4 billion.

As per the NPF’s records, all four of Aqeel’s requests are on his letterhead. It says that Aqeel successfully sold these plots and made good money by “surrendering fictitious letters as a goodwill gesture” and even commercial areas were allotted on his letterhead to different parties.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

SHANGLA: Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid’s candidate Muhammad Rishad Khan won the by-election for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seat PK-87 Shangla-1 which fell vacant after the death of his father Muhammad Zahir Shah Khan on November 28, 2010.

Khan managed to bag 18,342 votes while his rival Muhammad Yar Khan of the ruling Awami National Party polled 12,332 votes.

The constituency has 145,000 registered voters, including 59,000 females, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Voting started across 102 polling stations in the constituency at 8am and ended, without any incident, at 5pm. Forty-three polling stations were declared sensitive, while another 44 declared highly sensitive for the by-election.

Women voters largely refrained from casting the ballot due to the traditional customs prevalent in the region. A total of eight candidates were in the run, of which four belonged to various political parties while as many were independent candidates.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

SHANGLA: Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid’s candidate Muhammad Rishad Khan won the by-election for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seat PK-87 Shangla-1 which fell vacant after the death of his father Muhammad Zahir Shah Khan on November 28, 2010.

Khan managed to bag 18,342 votes while his rival Muhammad Yar Khan of the ruling Awami National Party polled 12,332 votes.

The constituency has 145,000 registered voters, including 59,000 females, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Voting started across 102 polling stations in the constituency at 8am and ended, without any incident, at 5pm. Forty-three polling stations were declared sensitive, while another 44 declared highly sensitive for the by-election.

Women voters largely refrained from casting the ballot due to the traditional customs prevalent in the region. A total of eight candidates were in the run, of which four belonged to various political parties while as many were independent candidates.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

ISLAMABAD: Marvi Memon, a National Assembly lawmaker from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, has urged speakers of all provincial assemblies to accord national language status to all regional languages.

According to a press release issued here on Saturday, letters have been sent to speakers of all assemblies.

The MNA had also submitted a bill in the National Assembly in August 2008, calling for declaring all provincial languages, including Balochi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Shina, Balti and Siraiki as national languages. Over time, other languages were to be added.

The press release said the people of Pakistan had “long been demanding national status for their mother tongues. Urdu will continue to be (the top) national language and English as the official language, as per the Constitution”.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2011.

ISLAMABAD: Marvi Memon, a National Assembly lawmaker from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, has urged speakers of all provincial assemblies to accord national language status to all regional languages.

According to a press release issued here on Saturday, letters have been sent to speakers of all assemblies.

The MNA had also submitted a bill in the National Assembly in August 2008, calling for declaring all provincial languages, including Balochi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Shina, Balti and Siraiki as national languages. Over time, other languages were to be added.

The press release said the people of Pakistan had “long been demanding national status for their mother tongues. Urdu will continue to be (the top) national language and English as the official language, as per the Constitution”.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2011.

KARACHI: When 17-year-old Syed Samiullah couldn’t come up with answers in his Islamiat and physics examinations last year, he wrote things that have now landed him in jail for blasphemy.

On Saturday, Judicial Magistrate, Central Ehsan A Malik ordered Samiullah to be sent to the juvenile prison after the Shahrae Noor Jehan police produced him in his court and requested judicial custody. In an application to the judicial magistrate, Samiullah submitted that he had confessed to committing the “unpardonable sin”. He said he regretted his actions, and had promised that he would never commit “such a sin again”.

During investigations, Samiullah had told the investigators that he was troubled after he had discussed various issues with his cousins, who had come to stay with his family from Norway. According to Samiullah, he was so much ill at ease during the examinations that when he was unable to answer any of the questions, he committed blasphemy. “I feel ashamed and guilty and am tendering an unconditional apology.” He is a student at a private college.

The incident was reported to the police by Prof Agha Akbar, the controller of examinations of the Intermediate Board of Education, Karachi who attached copies of Samiullah’s answer sheets. One of the exams was held on April 30 last year but because of the process of verifying facts, the FIR was lodged on Friday, January 28, under Section 295 (c) (for blasphemy), one day before Samiullah’s arrest.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

PESHAWAR: In the first arrest since the fake degrees saga made headlines, a member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was arrested on Saturday for possessing an unauthentic degree.

Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Sardar Ali was taken into custody by officials of the Chota Lahore police station from the courtroom after the local additional sessions judge, Jehangir Khan, rejected his bail application.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials on January 21 had moved an application to the District Police Officer (DPO) Swabi to register a case against Ali for contesting elections on a fake degree. The MPA had moved a pre-arrest bail application on January 25.

Meanwhile, ECP sources said that the First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the MPA on January 21 on charges of being involved in corrupt practices under Section 78(3)(d) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, and sections 94, 199, 471, 200 and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court fixed Monday for the next hearing.

Ali had contested the 2002 general elections for the provincial assembly from PF-34 Swabi as an independent candidate and defeated the candidates of major political parties including Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). His closest rival in the elections was PPP-Sherpao’s Abdul Karim Khan of Tordher. Ali was also associated with the PPP-S but he contested elections as an independent candidate in protest after the party’s leadership awarded a ticket to Khan and Sardar defeated him in the elections.

In June last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to take action against all politicians who had contested the 2008 general elections using forged documents and academic degrees. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) summoned all parliamentarians’ degrees and sent them for verification to respective universities. Degrees and documents that could not be verified were sent to a committee formed by the ECP, headed by Afzal Khan, which conducted hearings into these cases.

In December last year, the ECP started criminal proceedings against fake degree holders and Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza sent cases to district police officers.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2011.

PESHAWAR: In the first arrest since the fake degrees saga made headlines, a member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was arrested on Saturday for possessing an unauthentic degree.

Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Sardar Ali was taken into custody by officials of the Chota Lahore police station from the courtroom after the local additional sessions judge, Jehangir Khan, rejected his bail application.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials on January 21 had moved an application to the District Police Officer (DPO) Swabi to register a case against Ali for contesting elections on a fake degree. The MPA had moved a pre-arrest bail application on January 25.

Meanwhile, ECP sources said that the First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the MPA on January 21 on charges of being involved in corrupt practices under Section 78(3)(d) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, and sections 94, 199, 471, 200 and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court fixed Monday for the next hearing.

Ali had contested the 2002 general elections for the provincial assembly from PF-34 Swabi as an independent candidate and defeated the candidates of major political parties including Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). His closest rival in the elections was PPP-Sherpao’s Abdul Karim Khan of Tordher. Ali was also associated with the PPP-S but he contested elections as an independent candidate in protest after the party’s leadership awarded a ticket to Khan and Sardar defeated him in the elections.

In June last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to take action against all politicians who had contested the 2008 general elections using forged documents and academic degrees. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) summoned all parliamentarians’ degrees and sent them for verification to respective universities. Degrees and documents that could not be verified were sent to a committee formed by the ECP, headed by Afzal Khan, which conducted hearings into these cases.

In December last year, the ECP started criminal proceedings against fake degree holders and Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza sent cases to district police officers.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2011.

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is to summon former housing minister Rahmatullah Kakar for an inquiry into the embezzlement of billions of rupees in acquiring land for the Prime Minister Housing Scheme (PMHS) in Islamabad.

Kakar allegedly paid Rs1 million per kanal when the market price hovered between Rs400, 000 to Rs500,000 in Zone-IV, Islamabad. He purchased the land at double the price from Green Tree, a real estate firm. The PMHS has acquired 3,000 kanals of land close to the Simly Dam Road to create around 15,000 plots for federal government employees.

The decision to initiate an enquiry against Kakar and other housing ministry’s officials was taken at a NAB meeting held before the directors generals (DG) Conference last week after scrutinizing the record retrieved from the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation.

“We are going to issue a notice to the former housing minister to appear before NAB investigators and record his statement,” a senior NAB official told The Express Tribune.

Kakar has denied the charges levelled against him. “I have nothing to do with the land scam,” he said, talking to The Express Tribune. “If summoned by NAB, I will clarify my position.” He said the allegations against him were politically motivated and gained momentum when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) left the coalition. According to him the deal was clinched by the secretary housing and works in 2007-08. Officials responsible for squandering public money in the controversial land deal will also be included in the investigation. NAB decided to include the names of former secretary housing GM Sikandar, former additional interior secretary Zaffar Abbasi and DG FGEHF Sher Afzal Khan in the inquiry last month.

The scam surfaced last year when it was taken up in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the NA standing committee on housing and works.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is to summon former housing minister Rahmatullah Kakar for an inquiry into the embezzlement of billions of rupees in acquiring land for the Prime Minister Housing Scheme (PMHS) in Islamabad.

Kakar allegedly paid Rs1 million per kanal when the market price hovered between Rs400, 000 to Rs500,000 in Zone-IV, Islamabad. He purchased the land at double the price from Green Tree, a real estate firm. The PMHS has acquired 3,000 kanals of land close to the Simly Dam Road to create around 15,000 plots for federal government employees.

The decision to initiate an enquiry against Kakar and other housing ministry’s officials was taken at a NAB meeting held before the directors generals (DG) Conference last week after scrutinizing the record retrieved from the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation.

“We are going to issue a notice to the former housing minister to appear before NAB investigators and record his statement,” a senior NAB official told The Express Tribune.

Kakar has denied the charges levelled against him. “I have nothing to do with the land scam,” he said, talking to The Express Tribune. “If summoned by NAB, I will clarify my position.” He said the allegations against him were politically motivated and gained momentum when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) left the coalition. According to him the deal was clinched by the secretary housing and works in 2007-08. Officials responsible for squandering public money in the controversial land deal will also be included in the investigation. NAB decided to include the names of former secretary housing GM Sikandar, former additional interior secretary Zaffar Abbasi and DG FGEHF Sher Afzal Khan in the inquiry last month.

The scam surfaced last year when it was taken up in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the NA standing committee on housing and works.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

ISLAMABAD: After three days of adopting a measured approach, the US Embassy has come out and demanded in absolute terms the release of an official involved in a shootout in Lahore.

However, the Foreign Office does not seem to be convinced of the official’s diplomatic status.

The embassy has stated that Raymond Davis, an official attached to the US consulate in Lahore who gunned down two men at Qurtaba Chowk on Thursday in apparent self-defence, enjoys diplomatic immunity under international law, and cannot be tried in Pakistan.

The embassy has also said that Davis holds a diplomatic passport – which initial reports suggested he didn’t – with a visa valid till June 2012, and therefore should be released immediately.

Initially, the US missions in Pakistan were not confirming the diplomatic status of Davis, who has been given on a six-day remand to the Punjab police by a Lahore magistrate. A one-line statement immediately following the incident had only regretted that the incident resulted in the loss of life.

Saturday’s statement, however, defended Davis’ act saying: “The diplomat had every reason to believe that the armed men meant him bodily harm. Minutes earlier, the two men, who had criminal backgrounds, had robbed money and valuables at gunpoint from a Pakistani citizen in the same area.”

In fact, the statement puts the onus of the confusion on the Pakistani authorities.

It said that the local police and senior authorities failed to observe their legal obligation to verify his status with either the US Consulate General in  Lahore or the US embassy in Islamabad, adding that the arrest and subsequent remand of Davis is a violation of international norms.

However, the press statement did not mention the portfolio of Davis nor explained the nature of the job he is assigned in Pakistan.

Doubts in the Foreign Office

“The Punjab police are handling the investigation and its report is awaited,” Abdul Basit, the spokesperson of the ministry of foreign affairs, remarked when contacted in order to confirm the status of Davis – also pointing out that the matter is before a court of law. “For the above reasons, the foreign ministry has no substantive comments to offer,” he said.

However, other Foreign Office officials, speaking off the record, have expressed doubts about the authenticity of Davis’ diplomatic status, saying that he was not enrolled with their protocol section, which is known as P-2.

They also pointed out that Davis had not presented his diplomatic credentials at the time of his arrest.

Puzzled diplomats

Diplomats in Pakistan were puzzled by the incident, questioning why it took three days for the US embassy to act on Davis’ behalf. “Why did they not act as soon as the incident was reported? Was it because he did not have diplomatic papers at all?” one diplomat said, adding that a diplomat was supposed to carry relevent documents on his person at all times to preempt all possibilities.

They also raised eyebrows on his handiness with firearms – saying that no ordinary diplomat was “trained to fire in such a manner exhibited by Davis”.

Ambassador contacts Sharif

With the Punjab government handling the case, US Ambassador Cameron Munter rang up Nawaz Sharif the chief of the province’s ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), according to a statement by the party.

Expressing grief over the death of three Pakistanis in the incident, Ambassador Munter sought the custody of Davis. Sharif, however, was said to have told the ambassador that the matter was for the court to decide now.

The military weighs in

Highlighting the seriousness of the case for the government, military officials are learnt to have advised the government not to take the matter lightly. They said that political cost of his release would be “stupendous”.

Interestingly, one military official is being said to have even suggested that the case could be “used for urging the United States government to dismiss the case filed against the director-general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)”, which is being heard by a court in New York.

Meeting summoned

The National Assembly standing committee on interior has directed the secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs to ask the US Consulate Lahore to send a representative to attend a meeting that will take up the issue, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

The news agency, quoting documents in its possession, said that the meeting will be held on Jan 31 in parliament house. The chairman of the standing committee, MNA Abdul Qadir, will preside over the meeting. Interior Minister Rehman Malik and other officials of the concerned of ministry have also been asked to attend the meeting.

Also summoned to the meeting are the Inspector General Police Punjab and the Capital City Police Officer Lahore.

The heirs of the two men killed by the US official’s fire have also been invited to attend.

Petition filed

A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court seeking suo motu notice by the chief justice on the issue of Davis’ status.

Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaafri has filed an application on Saturday requesting that the official’s status should not be put out of the court’s jurisdiction without its approval. The applicant also submitted that Davis should be tried under Pakistani law and no ‘special favours’ be granted by the government.

WITH REPORTING BY RANA TANVEER IN LAHORE

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

KARACHI: A Hindu lawmaker from an opposition party has resigned from his seat reportedly after receiving threats and has shifted to India, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Ram Singh Sodho was a member of the current Sindh Assembly on a reserved seat for minorities on a ticket of the Pakistan Muslim League led by the Chaudhrys of Gujrat.

The Times of India reported that Sodho received threats and moved to India, from where he sent his resignation to Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro.

The resignation was accepted with immediate effect.

However, sources told The Express Tribune that Sodho had handed his resignation to Arbab Ghulam Rahim, chief of the PML-Q Likeminded Group in Sindh, before leaving the country. The Election Commission of Pakistan acted immediately and notified the election of Chettan Mal, the next candidate on the party’s list of non-Muslim candidates on reserved seats.

Sodho, who belongs to Mithi, in Tharparkar district, had been receiving threats for the last two years, family members said. “I cannot say who had issued him threats, but his party leaders and family members were aware of it,” Paret Lal, a cousin of Sodho, told The Express Tribune. He refused further comments on the issue.

But his party colleagues denied there were any threats to Sodho’s life. “It’s baseless. There were no threats to his life,” said Razzaque Ramho, deputy parliamentary leader of the PML-Q Likeminded Group in the Sindh Assembly.

“His eldest son had died in the earthquake and another son lives in India. He has shifted to India only because he cannot move properly due to a problem in his spinal cord,” Ramho added.

In his resignation, too, Soho cited failing health as the reason for his decision. Sodho said that he was stepping down because he could not continue as member of the Sindh Assembly due to his deteriorating health.

Pitambar Sewani, another minority legislator from the ruling PPP, said that Sodho had been trying to get political asylum in India for the last couple of years. “We condemn this practice which is aimed at defaming the province of Sindh,” Sewani told The Express Tribune.

Sodho, a relative of Rana Chandar Singh, was first elected as a member of the Sindh Assembly in 1985 and was made adviser to the chief minister. He had contested the local bodies election in 2001 and served as deputy mayor of Tharparkar district from 2001 to 2005.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.

PAKISTAN: Four people were injured as militants fired rockets in the Bara market of Khyber Agency on Saturday.

Security sources say that militants fired three rockets near the press club in Bara market which injured four people including a security person. The injured have been shifted to a local hospital in Peshawar.

The security forces have cordoned off the area and a search operation in the region has been initiated.

Earlier last night (Friday), at least eight people including two women were killed and 14 others wounded in twin truck bombings that targeted a key road tunnel in Kohat.

The attacks took place late Friday night in and outside the tunnel which connects the main city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the city of Kohat.

In the first attack, “an explosive-laden truck entered the tunnel and blew up, badly damaging another truck behind it, wounding five people,” top administration official in Kohat, Shahidullah, told AFP.

Security officials said the attack aimed to damage the Japanese-built tunnel, which had been recently reopened to 24-hour vehicle traffic after being open during the day only because of the risk of militant attacks.

Shahidullah said that in the second incident, an oil tanker packed with explosives hit a joint paramilitary Frontier Corps and army checkpoint outside the tunnel.

“The checkpoint was empty but four civilians, including two women who were travelling in a passenger van behind the tanker, were killed and 14 others wounded in the attack,” he added.

The checkpoint is located in the lawless tribal town of Darra Adam Khel, which is known for its weapons bazaar and illegal arms factories.

A local police spokesman confirmed the two attacks and casualties, and said that at least 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the first attack.

He said that the security forces cordoned off the tunnel immediately after the incidents and closed it to traffic.

Pakistan’s northwest and tribal areas have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters sought refuge there after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The government has claimed a number of military successes against the militant hardliners during the last two years, but attacks continue across the country and are concentrated in the northwest.

LAHORE: The progressive elements should stand up and raise their voice against violence and those supporting it if they actually want to see a change in society.

This was stated by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairperson Dr Mehdi Hasan on Friday at a seminar on ‘No to Incitement of Violence’. The seminar was organised by the Centre for Peace and Democracy at the Lahore Press Club.

“All of us are responsible for the recent wave of extremism. By retreating, we have provided space to the people who spread violence,” he said. He said the roots of the country’s problems went back to its creation.

He said after Jinnah’s death, his party approved the views supported by religious parties, which had opposed the idea of Pakistan, in the form of the Objectives Resolution of 1949.

He also blamed the judiciary for taking up selected causes. “Had the judiciary been free, it would have taken up Asghar Khan’s petition which is pending since 1974,” he said, “the ISI chief’s statement is on record that Islami Jumhoori Ittehad was created because Army did not want to give the Pakistan Peoples Party a free hand in the country’s affairs.”

Dr Hasan said the 1973 constitution could not be revived unless the changes brought in by dictators through 8th and 17th Amendments were done away with. The media, he said, was promoting extremist views. He said there were about 150 opinion pieces published in five major Urdu newspapers every day and 95 per cent of these promoted extremist views.

Lawyer Abid Hasan Minto said most of the people he had interacted with had no understanding of the blasphemy laws. Tracing the history of the laws, he said from 1947 to 1980 there was no law dealing with tauhin-i-risalat. He said the Section 295-C introduced during General Zia’s era had both death and life sentences. “It was through a Federal Shariat Court (FSC) ruling that four judges expunged the life sentence from the law,” he said. He added that the FSC was created by the 8th Amendment and had no place in a parliamentary form of government.

Minto said Islamic jurists had differed on punishment for blasphemy. He said Imam Abu Hanifa had ruled out death sentence for blasphemy in light of Quran and Sunnah.

He said those defending the law for the love of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) should instead work towards providing justice to the common man. “How can one have devotion for the Holy Prophet (pbuh) without bothering to examine the message of equality, justice and peace that he preached,” he asked.

He criticised the religious parties for rallying in support of a law “they had no knowledge about” and never raising their voices against private jails in Sindh, honour killings and the exploitation of workers.

PPP’s information secretary Fauzia Wahhab said only four women and a minority MNA had had the courage to stand up and condemn Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassination in the National Assembly. She said there were loopholes in the legal system, pointing to the high acquittal rate of terrorism suspects. She said people promoting violence were benefiting from these loopholes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2011.

KARACHI: The Afghan and Italian consulates in Karachi have been accused of being involved in issuing fake no-objection certificates (NOCs) for the clearance of Isaf cargo destined for Afghanistan, which were eventually pilfered in Pakistan.

The allegations, made in a report prepared by the office of the federal tax ombudsman, have been submitted to the Supreme Court which is hearing the case into the Isaf container scam.

Despite repeated attempts, the Italian and Afghan envoys have refused to answer queries sought by the federal ombudsman and Customs Intelligence unit, sources within the two offices say.

“A detailed questionnaire has again been sent to the Italian consulate regarding the matter. The Customs Intelligence has been pursuing the case since last August, but they persistently ignore us. The same goes for the Afghan consulate in Karachi,” a senior official said.

According to the report, on April 8, 2010 the directorate general of Customs Intelligence, after receiving specific information that a container (No SOLU7066253) with illegally-declared goods had left Karachi for Peshawar, registered a case (FIR 40/2010) at I & P Branch, Customs House, Peshawar.

On April 10, 2010, two persons (a customs clearing agent of M/s Tayyaba Agencies and a transporter of M/s Umair International) were arrested from Karachi. During interrogation, the clearing agent confirmed that the container belonged to M/s Lunar Products of Kabul. On April 13 last year, the same container was found in a dismantled condition on the Ring Road, Peshawar. The proprietor of the said premises was also arrested.

By this time the Customs Intelligence came to know about the arrival of a second container of the same company at Karachi port. Its physical examination yielded 36,000 cans of beer and 4,800 bottles of Scotch whisky. The container was earlier declared to contain “Coca Cola (10,800 cans), Sprite (10,080 cans), soda water (9,600 cans), mineral water (12,720 cans) and sparkling water (3,600 cans)”.

The value of the “declared” goods according to the invoice had been shown to be Rs1.3 million. However, the value of goods plus the amount of unpaid customs duties worked out to be in excess of Rs15 million.

The investigation team arrested Muhammad Sohail, a local representative of M/s Lunar Products in Pakistan. According to his statement, Mateen, a foreign national of Afghan origin and settled in Sweden, had contacted him for engaging his services for the clearance of Isaf cargo from Karachi.

Mateen gave Sohail authorisation of Isaf headquarters on the basis of which he obtained recommendatory letters of the Afghan Consulate-General in Karachi. “In fact, Isaf was not found to be having anything to do with the scam. The Isaf representative in the British High Commission confirmed that no nation participating in Isaf had claimed to have utilised the services of M/s Lunar Products. However, the recommendatory letters written by Afghan Consulate General were confirmed to have been genuinely issued, though on the basis of what turned out to be fake Isaf letters during the investigation,” the report said.

During the investigation of the container scam, the investigating team suspected that possibly five containers belonging to M/s Supreme Foods and 22 containers belonging to M/s ES-KO had been cleared under dubious circumstances.

The report added that while M/s Supreme Foods’ containers, like Lunar, probably never crossed into Afghanistan, the clearance was done under fake cross-border certificates. The 22 containers belonging to M/s ES-KO were apparently cleared on the basis of fake NOCs issued by Afghan Consulate, Karachi. It was also suspected that many more containers belonging to M/s ES-KO had also been cleared against fake NOCs issued by the Italian Consulate, Karachi. “As the Italian Consulate has apparently dilly-dallied to respond in the matter, the Office of Federal Tax Ombudsman intends to closely monitor this investigation, as also the allegedly fake NOCs issued by the Afghan Consulate, Karachi,” the report added.

A representative of the Italian embassy in Islamabad, Mr Sergio declined to comment about the whole affair.

Afghan embassy’s press attaché Abdul Rahim also declined to speak about the matter.

A senior official probing the matter conjectured that since these foreigners have diplomatic immunity, they think they can get away even with ‘criminal’ activity. “But they forget that even if one has diplomatic immunity, one can’t get away with organised crime in the host country,” he said, adding that the courts in Pakistan are expected to press criminal charges if the embassies and their consulates concerned do not respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2011.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday warned against a proxy war in Afghan­istan, a day after the two countries announced the formation of a joint commission to reach out to the Afghan Taliban as part of the reconciliation process.

The warning came from a top foreign office official, the secretary ministry of foreign affairs Salman Bashir, who said that a proxy war in Afghanistan must end now and added that the two countries can work bilaterally to resolve their issues.

“Pakistan does not want a disastrous future for Afghanistan. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan will decide their matters mutually,” Bashir said while talking to reporters at the Naval Headquarters.

As the US deadline to start pulling out its troops from the war-ravaged country draws near, Pakistan and Afghanistan have recently intensified their interaction at different levels to resolve militancy issues.

Pakistan has been critical of alleged deep Indian involvement in Afghanistan and the foreign secretary’s statement seems to be a veiled reference towards its eastern neighbor.

“The situation in Afghanistan is becoming adverse and both countries would have to work jointly to bring back peace and stability there,” Bashir remarked, adding that Pakistan was ready to play its role for brining peace in the volatile region.

He rejected reports by Russian media that the alleged suicide attackers of Moscow airport bombing were trained in Pakistan and said that Russia has not sought Pakistan’s help in probing the incident as yet.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Office Women’s Association (PFWA) presented a cheque of Rs4.57 million to the Pakistan Navy, in support of the ongoing relief and reconstruction activities in flood-hit areas.

Chairperson PFWA Mrs Taranum Bashir presented a cheque to Naval Chief Admiral Noman Bashir. The chief said that Pakistan Navy is committed to serving the nation and would continue its activities.

Elaborating on the operations, he said that Pakistan Navy has successfully launched early rescue and relief operation in Phase I, and reconstruction and rehabilitation projects are under way in Phase II, in which reconstruction of houses, health clinics etc are being given priority.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2011.

LONDON: Increasing numbers of senior Taliban members are showing interest in reconciliation talks, a senior Foreign Office official said in a briefing to journalists in London on Friday. However, there was not much chance of a sudden breakthrough in negotiations, she added.

Regarding Pakistan’s role in reconciliation efforts, the official said that although Pakistan has an important stake in Afghanistan it is not a controlling stake and the interests of other countries in the region would also have to be taken into account.

The reconciliation efforts, she said, were Afghan led, and President Karzai had made it clear that there would be no preconditions to talks.

She acknowledged that the Pakistan Army had made ‘heroic efforts’ to combat violent extremism but added that Britain would like to see more efforts between Kabul and Islamabad to deny safe havens to the Taliban.

Asked whether the level of violence in the region needed to be lowered, she said it was the UK’s position that military pressure should continue as the Taliban were continuing to harass and intimidate villagers.

The official refused to comment on the use of drones in the conflict and whether they were ‘operationally helpful’. This was a matter for the US and Pakistan, she said, and the British government assumes that its allies are acting within the bounds of international law.

Asked if the British government ‘approved’ of drone strikes, she said it was “not an issue on which the British government’s approval is needed.”

The purpose of the briefing was to apprise the media of the progress that had been made in the last year towards ‘normalisation’ in Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2011.