Group Editor of The News International, Mr Shaheen Sehbai [Former Founding Editor/Owner of South Asia Tribune - USA]
There was a time when members of the Pakistani establishment and especially those agencies, used to assume the role of determining what is ‘national interest of Pakistan’, and who is loyal, and who is anti Pakistan, have perhaps done more damage to Pakistan than known enemies of Pakistan. It is unfortunate that every blunder, be it at national level or in foreign affairs, is made in the name of ‘national interest of Pakistan’. People of Pakistan are perplexed as they fail to understand what is ’national interest of Pakistan?
Now this role has been adopted by some of our most "Celebrity Journalists cum Analysts cum Private TV Channel Anchors" even the some of the Senior Most Seasoned Journalist/Editor [Read Shaheen Sehbai, Ansar Abbasi, Dr Shahid Masood, Hamid Mir and Rauf Klasra] have suddenly become so obsessed [right after the announcement of Kerry Lugar Bill] with National Security and National Interest of Pakistan and Futile Ant-Americanism that they forget that what they used to file in web based magazine - South Asia Tribune [based in USA] founded by Shaheen Sehbai [Present Group Editor of The News International Pakistan]. They and some of the most important members of present PPP Government used to contribute in the same web based magazine e.g. Farhatullah Babar, Hussain Haqqani, Wajid Shamsul Hassan and so many others. Shaheen Sehbai never doubted the loyalty of those PPP members when they were contributing for his magazine.
Recently Shaheen Sehbai in several of his so-called "Breaking Stories/News Analysis" in The News International has targetted the present PPP government for compromising on National Security during the Kerry-Lugar Bill Controversy whereas Shaheen Sehbai himself had already damaged the reputation of Pakistan, Pakistan Army and Pakistan National Interest when he was in Self Imposed Exile in USA in his magazine, yes in a country whose legislative bill [Kerry-Lugar Bill] he considers dangerous for Pakistan.
Even in his latest which Shaheen Sehbai has filed in The News International are quite detrimental for Pakistan's National Security [as per the criteria of Shaheen Sehbai and The News International/GEO TV/DAILY JANG], here are some glimpses;
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So far the GHQ has kept the Lashkar Tayyaba quiet by not acceding to the US demands of attacking or even touching Muridke, arguing that once this sleeping elephant wakes up, it could turn around and trample our own forces. After all, the LeT was raised and trained by our military establishment to fight the Indians in Kashmir and they are good at it. Turning their guns inwards, with TTP suicide bombers roaming everywhere, would turn Pakistan into a burning inferno, ready to collapse. Unfortunately, or probably in the interest of the system as the other side may argue, the political wings of our military establishment (read agencies), which had almost become redundant and were dormant for some months, have now come back into action with full force. The intense discussions behind closed doors are focusing on finding some way out before the NRO explodes into the political scene and starts rocking the boat. Political wings of agencies are secretly lobbying members of parliament to vote out the law, which may force the president to think about giving up his powers or to resign. REFERENCE: All power players focus on constitutional knock-out - By Shaheen Sehbai, Dated Friday, October 23, 2009 Kerry-Lugar law’s Muridke clause alienates Army from; NRO-hit presidency; Zardari falls back on Nawaz; ready to give up 17th Amendment powers http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=25146&Cat=13&dt=10/26/2009
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In another "so-called Breaking Story/News Analysis", Shaheen Sehbai says;
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ISLAMABAD: Intense search has begun in political and media circles to find out who is the father of the Pakistan Army and ISI-specific conditions in the Kerry-Lugar Bill, which ultimately led to the assertive statement issued by the 122nd corps commanders’ meeting on Wednesday. But the search will not be too difficult. Between 1988 and 1999, when civilians ostensibly governed Pakistan, US officials routinely criticised the civilians’ conduct but refrained from commenting on the negative role of the military and the intelligence services despite overwhelming evidence of that role. ISI manipulation of the 1988, 1990, and 1997 elections went unnoticed publicly by the United States while the Pakistan military’s recitation of politicians’ failings was generally accepted without acknowledging the impacts of limits set for the politicians by the military. REFERENCE: Mystery of Kerry-Lugar conditions solved? News Analysis By Shaheen Sehbai Dated Friday, October 09, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24919&Cat=13&dt=10/8/2009
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Mr Shaheen Sehbai is condemning PPP government particularly President Asif Ali Zardari for compromising on Pakistan National Security whereas Mr Shaheen Sehbai himself and journalists like him used to do the same in worse possible way while sitting in the USA not only that his present employer i.e. The Jang Group of Newspapers and its top management as well.
LET ME GIVE AN EXAMPLE AS TO HOW SHAHEEN SEHBAI USED TO PLAY WITH PAKISTAN'S NATIONAL INTEREST WHILE SITTING IN USA ENJOYING HIS SEL IMPOSED SELF EXILE AND FILING BUNKUM IN HIS WEB BASED MAGAZINE SOUTH ASIA TRIBUNE!
NOT A SINGLE WORD IS MINE FROM ONWARD.
Group Editor of The News International, Mr Shaheen Sehbai [Former Founding Editor/Owner of South Asia Tribune - USA]
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Issue No 22, Dec 23-29, 2002 ISSN:1684-2075 satribune.com
The Unreported Terrorism Case against Pakistan's Media King Special SAT Report http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec23_29_02/P1_terrorismcase.htm Issue No 22, Dec 23-29, 2002 ISSN:1684-2075 satribune.com
LAHORE: A former Chief of ISI has demanded death penalty under anti-terrorism laws for Pakistan’s virtual media “Ted Turner”, and three other senior journalists, in an Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore, and the charge against them is carrying out “terrorist acts with their pen”, according to court documents.
In this historic but bizarre case of its kind, the ex-ISI Chief, a Lieutenant General of the Pakistan Army, has submitted a signed petition which in itself is a document revealing some of the most well guarded national secrets, which should never have been revealed, and could get the General hanged for committing sedition if taken up by a fair and judicious court. See other Story.
The most intriguing part of this story is that this Anti Terrorism Court of General Pervez Musharraf not only started hearing the case, it even completed testimony of five prosecution witnesses without even sending a notice to the defendants. Later when the Judge decided that he had jurisdiction to hear the case, he summoned the defendants, who raised immediate objections. He then started hearing their arguments. The latest hearing of the case was held on December 19, with earlier hearings held on Dec 3 and 14, 2002.
The complainant in this case is Lt. General (Retired) Javed Nasir, who headed the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) from March 1992 until May 1993 and the case has been filed against owner of the Jang/News Group of Newspapers and GEO TV, Mir Shakil ur Rehman, Mr. Salim Bokhari Editor of ‘The News’ Lahore, Mr. Usman Yousaf Chairman Editorial Committee ‘Jang’ Lahore and Mr. M.A.K. Lodhi Editor Investigations of ‘The News’ Lahore, who is also a senior employee of the official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
The case has been filed under Section 6 (a)(b)(c), 8 & 11 of the Anti Terrorist Act, 1997. Maximum punishment for most of the crimes under this Act is death and Gen. Javed Nasir has demanded in his written petition that the “severest possible punishment” be given to “these terrorists (who) in the garb of journalists have delivered the most lethal blow to the unity and survival of the country.”
“By attacking his reputation the Army and the ISI have been jointly targeted. Left as the last stable institution, if destabilized can lead to an extreme chaos and confusion and eventually to a civil war,” he notes in his petition.
Click here to View Petition Page 1 http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec23_29_02/msr_case05.jpg
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Page 10 http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec23_29_02/msr_case14.jpgThe basis for General Nasir’s complaint is a report published by ‘The News’ on August 24, 2002 which alleged that the General, as Chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, embezzled Rs. 3 billion and had fled the country. The report filed by Editor Investigations, M.A.K. Lodhi, claimed the writer had documents to prove its contents.
Click to see Original Story (Warning: Large file) http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec23_29_02/Originalstory.jpg“The complainant learnt about it (the report) through a telephone call which was followed by thousands of telephone calls from all over Pakistan and the world including England and USA,” General Nasir said in his petition.
The General, who is an active member of the Tableeghi Jamaat, an organization of Islamic preachers, said the news item had “terrorized the entire Jamaat, the membership of which runs into millions, and the masses would have led to sectarian strife had it not been for the complainant’s interview on the TV the same night.”
“The entire report manifests a highly arrogant attitude of a few terrorists garbed as journalists indulging in yellow journalism…they are an incurable cancer of the society which must be removed to save the rest of the nation through major surgical operation in the form of the severest possible punishment,” he demanded.
Mir Shakil ur Rehman appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Court-III Judge Manzoor Hussain in Lahore on Dec 19. Editor Salim Bokhari appeared before him in an earlier hearing.
“The entire journalistic community in Pakistan is terrorized, so much so that the newspapers of Mir Shakil ur Rehman himself, the largest circulated Urdu and English language newspapers and GEO TV, a recently launched satellite channel, have not reported anything about this huge case as yet,” journalists in Lahore told the South Asia Tribune.
The original report against the General, carried by ‘The News’ was denied the same day but the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of General Musharraf confirmed in a letter to the Editor of ‘The News’ on Nov 15, 2002 that “various complaints against Lt. Gen ® Javed Nasir, Ex-Chairman ETPB, are under consideration in NAB.”
Click Here for NAB Letter http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec23_29_02/msr_case01.jpgThis confirmed that not everything reported by the newspaper was wrong but what has shocked the journalists is the manner in which the complaint of the ex-ISI chief was filed and accepted by an Anti-Terrorism Court which started one-sided hearings. Journalists argued that it could at best be a case of defamation and be tried under ordinary law in a civil court.
The ATC, instead of throwing out the case, started hearing arguments and decided that it was within its jurisdiction to hear a libel case, thus setting a new legal precedent and turning the so-called Press freedom pronounced so often by General Musharraf, on its head.
In a short judgment given on Dec 3, 2002, the ATC Judge announced that it was within his jurisdiction to hear such a case. “After considering the material placed on record as aforementioned and reading the above provisions of law, I summon all the four persons arrayed as respondents in the complaint for 14.12.2002. A copy of the complaint, as also that of the evidence referred to above, shall be sent to all of them,” Judge Manzoor Hussain said. Click to View Judgment
The anti-terrorism law was passed in August 1997 by the Nawaz Sharif Government. It gave police wide-ranging powers to arrest suspects and established special anti-terrorism courts. Amnesty International at the time pointed out the manifold ways in which the law violated human rights particularly the right to a fair trial. In ... the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared that the Anti-terrorism law as a whole was not unconstitutional but that 12 key sections of the law were unconstitutional and needed to be amended. Several months later this was done by an Amendment Act.
Dozens of people were tried and convicted by these special courts which still fail to provide a fair trial. Most of the death sentences in Pakistan are imposed by anti- terrorist courts. In November 1998, summary military courts were set up to try, within three days, civilians suspected of specified serious offences. Several people were tried and convicted by these special courts; several were sentenced to death and two men were executed before the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared these courts unconstitutional and ordered them disbanded.
General Musharraf enacted the new anti-terrorist law, which replaced the old one of 1997. It came into force on 31 January 2002. The new ordinance provided for new courts which included one senior military officer nominated by the government besides two civilian judicial officers constituting a three-member bench headed by a civilian judge. The courts were to sit in cantonments or jail premises to ensure the security of accused, witnesses and the judiciary. A senior officer said, "these are not military courts in the true sense, but these courts will comprise civil judges and military officers to speedily dispose of cases of all those involved in terrorism".
Amnesty International condemning the law said it gave the police a new licence to violate human rights. It authorizes the police and army to fire on anyone "committing, or believed to be about to commit, a 'terrorist' offence". It also provides them with powers to arrest suspects and to search premises without a warrant. Placing the interpretation on what is justifiable use of lethal force entirely in the hands of law enforcement personnel is, in the Pakistan context, an incitement to the security forces to commit unlawful killings.
Trial by special tribunals including military staff contravenes Principle 5 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, endorsed by the General Assembly in 1985. It states: "Everyone has the right to be tried by ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures. Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the ordinary courts of judicial tribunals."
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Another masterpiece against Pakistan Army by Shaheen Sehbai is as under:
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Group Editor of The News International, Mr Shaheen Sehbai [Former Founding Editor/Owner of South Asia Tribune - USA]
Ex-ISI Chief Reveals Secret Missile Shipments to Bosnia defying UN Embargo Special SAT Report http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec23_29_02/P1_bosniastory.htm Issue No 22, Dec 23-29, 2002 ISSN:1684-2075 satribune.com
LAHORE: Pakistan defied the United Nations ban on supply of arms to the Bosnian Muslims and sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles were air lifted by the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, to help Bosnians fight the Serbs, an ex-ISI Chief has officially admitted in a written petition submitted before a court in Lahore.
The document was submitted by Lt. General (Retd) Javed Nasir, who was head of the ISI from March 1992 to May 1993, in a case he filed against the owner and editors of the largest newspaper and TV group of Pakistan, in an anti Terrorism Court. The court started hearings of the case earlier this month.
The document refers to the career of the ex-ISI Chief, recounting his achievements and his credentials as a leading Islamic international figure, who, he alleged, had been defamed by a report in the English language newspaper ‘The News’, published by the Jang/News Group, owned by Mir Shakil ur Rehman, the virtual media king of Pakistan.
“The complainant symbolizes the Islam loving populous of Pakistan by being an active member of the Tableeghi Jamaat which stands and works for the preaching of Islam…” his petition in the Anti-Terrorism Court No III, based in Lahore, began. Click here to View Petition Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5 Page6 Page7 Page8 Page9 Page10
He then recalled his role as ISI chief in putting together the Mujahideen Government in Kabul, in April 1992 when Soviet-backed President Najibullah was overthrown and US-backed Mujahideen took over Kabul.
In self adulatory language, the General said in his petition: “On 14th March 1992 I was appointed as DG ISI and became an instant international figure when in April 1992, through his persuasive power and motivational talks he brought all the warring factions of the Afghan Mujahideen to agree to the famous Peshawar Accord and successfully installed the Mujahideen’s first Government under (President) Mujadadi in Kabul.”
“A true practicing Muslim, he would not compromise on the interests of Islam and Pakistan,” the petition filed by Gen Nasir said, and then revealed: “Despite UN ban on supply of arms to the besieged Bosnians, he successfully air lifted sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles which turned the tide in favour of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege, much to the annoyance of the US Government.”
The documents goes on to give details of how then the US threatened Pakistan, then ruled by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to be declared as a terrorist state, if Sharif did not remove him from the post of the ISI chief.
“He thus became the target of US, Indian and Secular minded lobbies both inside and outside Pakistan. Having failed to buy him, the US Government started a totally fabricated and mendaciously false propaganda against him and demanded his removal as ISI chief, failing which Pakistan would be declared a terrorist state,” the petition filed by his lawyers in the court said.
“In April 1993, the US Government finally warned Pakistan Government in writing to remove the complainant as ISI’s head failing which Pakistan was threatened to be declared a terrorists state. It was therefore at the behest of the US Government’s official demand that he was prematurely compulsorily retired from service by the Caretaker Government of Mir Balkh Sher Mazari on 13th May 1993,” it said.
SA Tribune learnt that the highly damaging disclosures by the ex-ISI chief were objected to by the lawyers of the defendants, who had the common sense to point out that these state secrets should not be divulged by a person who was supposed to be responsible and had occupied a sensitive post as the ISI chief.
But despite the warnings, the petition of the General was not changed and was included in the public record of the case against the newspaper.
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