Major (R) Aamir, Don Quixote & National Security.

Tilting at windmills: The phrase derives from an episode in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. In the novel, Don Quixote fights windmills that he imagines to be giants. Quixote sees the windmill blades as the giant's arms, for instance. A relevant portion of the novel states: Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless.""What giants?" asked Sancho Panza. "Those you see over there," replied his master, "with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length." "Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone." —Part 1, Chapter VIII. Of the valourous Don Quixote's success in the dreadful and never before imagined Adventure of the Windmills, with other events worthy of happy record. REFERENCE: Don Quixote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote

In his essay ‘Politics and the English Language’, George Orwell warns us against words and phrases drained of all meaning, words that can mean whatever the powerful want it to mean. One such term gaining in currency is ‘national interest’. Government spin doctors (and their stenographers in the media) routinely conflate national interest with people’s interest. But ‘national interest’ is very different from the people’s interest. ‘National interest’ concerns a nation-state’s ability to wage war. Whatever enhances this ability is considered to be in the national interest; whatever threatens it is against the national interest. The most transparent expression of this principle is seen in the ruling classes’ obsession with ‘national security’. The people’s interest, on the other hand, is always issue-specific. It is rooted in local geography, history, and community, while ‘national interest’ is tied to abstractions such as ‘development’ or ‘reform’ or ‘security’. The people’s interest might find a voice in democratic platforms, such as a movement or a party, while national interest is ‘protected’ through the executive and repressive arms of the state – the PMO, the police, etc. And where the people’s interest comes in conflict with ‘national interest’, the former will be booted out, democracy be damned. REFERENCE: Beware of those who speak of ‘national interest’ G Sampath | Agency: DNA | Saturday, October 6, 2012 http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_beware-of-those-who-speak-of-national-interest_1749358

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 1 (GEO TV Sept 2009)


Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 1 (GEO TV Sept 2009) by SalimJanMazari

Interview: "Intelligence agencies are well-equipped to tackle subversive politics" By Aoun Sahi TNS: If so, how do you explain your role in Operation Midnight Jackal?

 IA: The use of word operation for this small incident is a highly trumpeted drama. In this incident my involvement revolved round the blind trust and one sided loyalty that I accorded to my two seniormost superiors General Aslam Beg and Hameed Gul. I was called by Aslam Beg the then COAS and told that the policies of this government regarding nuclear programme, Afghan Policy and interference in the matters of army were creating problems for the country and sought my help in the matter. These two gentlemen, Beg and Gul, were the controlling figures of Midnight Jackal while federal defence secretary Ijlal Haider Zaidi was assisting them. Hamid Gul was serving as corps commander Multan at the time but he used to visit Rawalpindi every week without GHQ permission. There he used to see Ijlal Haider Zaidi regularly while Major Amir and I were also asked to often meet.

 Malik Mumtaz, a grade 17 officer of military engineering service and a friend of Major Amir was the central villain of this incident. After this incident, he landed in India with the help of RAW and from there in London. During the second government of PPP he came back. He should have been convicted under the Army Act. Instead he was elevated to grade 18 and posted in FIA and later he interrogated me and blamed me for distributing millions of rupees among journalists. I want to tell you that during my 15 years long intelligence career, I have never given money to any journalist except one and that was only Rs5,000 and that too was sanctioned by DG ISI; at that time I was not allowed to give more than Rs500 without prior permission of DG ISI. I was also charged with corruption and mainly because when I was director IB, one day Rs15 million were transferred to its account and by the evening same day I used this sum. During investigation FIA people asked about this amount but I refused to tell them the truth because I used this money to safeguard the national interest of Pakistan. Later I also refused to disclose details about this amount in lower court. But in the High Court I did give the details to an honourable judge (Mr Rashid Aziz) in camera and he released me from the case. REFERENCE: Interview: "Intelligence agencies are well-equipped to tackle subversive politics" By Aoun Sahi http://jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2009-weekly/nos-02-08-2009/dia.htm#5

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 2 (GEO TV Sept 2009)



Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 2 (GEO TV Sept 2009) by SalimJanMazari

DAWN 2006: Osama offered to buy votes for Nawaz: Qazi March 19, 2006 ISLAMABAD, March 18: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed has revealed that Osama bin Laden had offered to buy loyalties of legislators to see Mian Nawaz Sharif as prime minister. In an interview appearing in the magazine of an Urdu newspaper on Sunday, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that Osama had visited the JI headquarters Mansoora and wanted to strike an agreement with the Jamaat but the suggestion was declined by him. Excerpts of the interview were published by the newspaper on Saturday. Qazi said he had met Osama several times in the past. However, the JI on Saturday clarified that meetings between the JI amir and Osama in Peshawar and Lahore were held in days when the Al Qaeda leader was staying in Peshawar. Recalling political events that took place when Mr Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League and JI were components of the then Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, Qazi said Osama was a big supporter of IJI and Nawaz Sharif and wanted to see him Pakistan’s prime minister. “Bin Laden was prepared to pay for buying parliamentarians’ votes to achieve this objective,” said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who also heads the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal. He said a delegation sent by Osama had visited him in Peshawar and conveyed that they wanted cooperation from JI but “we declined the request”. In a statement issued on Saturday, a JI spokesman said that excerpts from interview were published in the daily and presented on a private TV channel in such a manner that they were creating confusion in the minds of people.—PPI REFERENCE: Osama offered to buy votes for Nawaz: Qazi March 19, 2006 Sunday Safar 18, 1427 http://archives.dawn.com/2006/03/19/top10.htm

Extremists Nurtured for Short-Term Goals: Swat Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Javed, also provided possible support to the TNSM. President Zardari stated, therefore, that weakness of civil bureaucracy had resulted in the emergence of militants and militancy. Major Amir worked as a catalyst to promote the TNSM in Malakand Division through his father’s seminary in Panjpir which was then run by his brother Maulana Muhammad Tayyib. The JUI (F-group) Vice President, Aziz ur Rehman stated: “the absconder Major Amir is running the law and order situation in Malakand at the behest of Nawaz Sharif.” REFERENCE: Extremists Nurtured for Short-Term Goals - Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi in Malakand Division (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): A Case Study of the Process of “State Inversion” BY Navid Iqbal Khan http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/6.%20Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-%20Muhammadi,%20Navid%20iqbal.pdf


The demolition of the temples in Buner was initiated by Maulana Dua Noor, a cleric who belonged to the Panjpiri sect of Wahabism. After the death of Maulana Muhammad Tahir, his son Maulana Tayyab became the chief of this organization who also manages a huge religious seminary in the town of Panjpir. Muhammad Amir, another brother of Maulana Tayyab was a major in Pakistan Army and worked for Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the country’s spy agency in 1980s. Major Amir allegedly conspired and collaborated with others to topple the democratically elected government of the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1989. Major Amir, the ISI officer, was deeply involved in Operation Midnight Jackal, intended to remove Benazir Bhutto from the prime minister position through a no confidence vote in parliament. Funds for buying votes were allegedly provided by Osama Bin Laden. REFERENCE: Swat Valley- The Metamorphosis By Khushal Khan http://www.tribalanalysiscenter.com/PDF-TAC/Swat%20Valley-Metamorphosis.pdf


The Swat conflict was also deeply influenced by the Panjpirs of Swabi district, adjacent to the Malakand division of NWFP. The Panjpirs follow a localized version of Saudi Wahhabism that was introduced in Pakistan by Maulana Tahir, father of Major Amir, an Inter-Services Intelligence operative who allegedly helped topple Benazir Bhutto’s first government. The madrassa at Panjpir, administered by Maulana Tayyab, Major Amir’s brother, is associated with a who’s who of Pakistan’s extremist leaders, including TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad, Bajaur Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, and the Khyber agency’s notorious militant leader Mangal Bagh. TNSM military chief Fazlullah also adhered to the Panjpir group. This madrassa was an important recruitment camp that also performed the role of a think tank for strategic planning during the Afghan war of the 1980s. REFERENCE: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Policy Paper Inside Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province The Political Landscape of the Insurgency Hassan Abbas, April 2010 http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/policydocs/abbas_0.pdf


In addition, the ideological rigor of the Bajauri militants is explained by the fact that most of the clerics hailing from the Agency are educated at Madaris run by Ishaat-ulTawheed, including TTP leader Faqir Mohammed. The organization is modeled around the madrassa founded by Maulana Mohammed Tahir Panjpir, in Panjpir, Swabi District, NWFP. The Panjpiris are linked to the Jemaat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI), both Sami ul Haq and Fazlur Rehman groups, and are close to the Ahl-e-Hadith ideology. The Panjpiri madaris network was a crucial influence for the Taliban movement in the Pak-Afghan region. Faqir Mohammed perfectly epitomizes the type of leader favoured by the Panjpiris, a dual Amir that leads both from the religious and the military point of view, in orchestrated continuity with paradigmatic figures such as Mullah Mohammed Omar and the early Sufi Mohammed, for example. REFERENCE: The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan: The Bajaur Case - NEFA Senior Investigator Claudio Franco July 2009 http://www.fondazionecdf.it/var/upload/file/992-02.pdf


But Azzam was also reviled, and feared, for his power to inspire others to share his dedication to jihad. There were no less than five assassination attempts on Azzam in the months leading up to his death, says Hutaifa, and countless threats. In the teeming, faction-ridden streets of Peshawar, they could have been launched by one group or several. "Who didn't want to kill Azzam?" asks journalist Ismail, who worked with Azzam and covered the anti-Soviet resistance throughout the 1980s. He counts the possibilities on his fingers: "There was the KGB and KHAD [the intelligence service of the communist government in Afghanistan] because he was a powerful leader in the jihad. Israel and Mossad, because he helped found Hamas. The [Pakistan] government of Benazir Bhutto, which came to know that he helped instigate a no-confidence vote against her in Parliament." There were the Americans, because Azzam objected to their efforts to reconcile the mujahedin with the Afghan government after the Soviets left; Shi'ite elements in Iran who saw him as chief of the Sunnis; Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a powerful Afghan warlord who resented Azzam's support of a rival; and other Arabs, who were concerned about his growing power. "The only person I can say for a fact didn't kill him is myself, because I was getting married in Jordan that day," says Ismail. REFERENCE: TIME's Annual Journey: 1989 - Who Killed Abdullah Azzam? By Aryn Baker / PeshawarThursday, June 18, 2009 http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1902809_1902810_1905173,00.html

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 3 (GEO TV Sept 2009)



Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 3 (GEO TV Sept 2009) by SalimJanMazari

2009:  Political wings still exist in ISI: Maj Amir News Desk Tuesday, September 01, 2009  RAWALPINDI: Political wings existed in the past and still exist in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said Major (retd) Amir, claiming that they worked for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the Operation Midnight Jackal. He was talking to Dr Shahid Masood in ‘Meray Mutabiq’ programme of Geo TV in which former PPP minister Mukhtar Awan and former Army chief General (retd) Aslam Beg also spoke. When asked about the authenticity of the tape with regard to Operation Midnight Jackal, Major (retd) Amir said it was authentic but if the Intelligence Bureau recorded it, why they could not produce the original cassette in the court. “But despite that I admit that it was my voice and I was doing all that with permission of Gen (retd) Kalloo, who later distanced himself from the same. I did convey details about the operation to personal secretary of Gen (retd) Kalloo,” he said. “But when action was initiated against me, even the near ones left me. The civil court acquitted me but a general dismissed me. The civil court described the case as a fairy tale,” said Major (retd) Amir. Commenting on his views, Mukhtar Awan claimed to have come to know when Hamid Gul was heading the ISI that he (Hamid Gul) was emerging as a threat not only to the government of Benazir Bhutto but even to her life. He said on this he advised the Mohtarma to appoint a retired general as head of the ISI. He said the claim of Major Amir that Gen (retd) Kalloo conducted the Operation Midnight Jackal to save the government of the Mohtarma was wrong. He alleged that Major (retd) Amir was part of the conspiracy whereas Gen (retd) Kalloo did not take part in any plot. Mukhtar Awan said Major (retd) Amir and Brigadier (retd) Imtiaz have been favourites of some persons. He said people like them even fix cameras in coffins and also record conversations in the chamber of the chief justice. On this Major (retd) Amir said the man appointed by their (PPP) government as head of the IB submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court that he was taping phone calls of judges and one of the cases against the Mohtarma pertained to this. He said he never taped telephone calls of judges. He said Mukhtar Awan is uttering baseless things while the man who conceived the Operation Midnight Jackal has been living in India after dismissal of their government and later had been travelling on the Indian passport. “What the agency would be called if a major stole personal documents of myself and the prime minister from the Prime Minister House?” Mukhtar Awan questioned. “It was your incompetence that you could not guard your documents,” Major (retd) Amir said in response. Participating in the programme, Gen (retd) Aslam Beg said it was not by chance that the PPP and MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) are working together rather it is a synchronisation of their secular thinking and the present set-up is similar to that of 1988 to a great extent. He said he and Benazir struck no deal in 1988. The allegation was untrue and there is no proof in this regard. REFERENCE: Political wings still exist in ISI: Maj Amir News Desk Tuesday, September 01, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24239&Cat=13&dt=9%2F1%2F2009

2009:  Spy vs spy Shakeel Anjum Friday, August 28, 2009 ISLAMABAD: Brig (retd) Imtiaz Ahmed is an American agent planted by the American agencies mainly to defame the Pakistani intelligence agencies, former director Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Malik Mumtaz Ahmad said on Thursday. While addressing a press conference, he said after having played a key role in toppling the Benazir government in 1990, Brig Imtiaz was now bent on destabilising the present government. Malik Mumtaz claimed that he had informed the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto through her special secretary (security) of the conspiracy plan ‘Midnight Jackal’ of Brig (retd) Imtiaz and Maj (retd) Amar. She contacted the then Army chief Gen Aslam Baig but he had denied. Malik Mumtaz claimed that Benazir had sent her interior minister Nasirullah Khan Babar to Aslam Baig but the Army chief had again denied the report, asking him to produce evidence about the conspiracy. “He is playing in the hands of American agencies to destabilise the political system,” Malik Mumtaz averred. “He is opposing Mian Nawaz Sharif to get entrance in the PPP camp,” he added. He appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice against Brig Imtiaz and reopen his corruption cases. He claimed Brig Imtiaz’s “anti-state activities” were creating confusion in the political system. The former FIA chief alleged Brig Imtiaz had collected illegal wealth during his tenure as IB head. Malik said that a corruption case was lodged with the FIA after the brigadierís removal during the Benazir government. However, the FIA did not pursue the case in the court, and, consequently, it was dismissed. Malik said Brig Imtiaz made 27 valuable properties and a heavy account in a bank of London, adding, he got himself freed from the cases by using his influence during the Nawaz government in 1997. The second case of corruption against Brig Imtiaz was registered by the Account Appellate Bureau chairman in 2000, Malik said, adding that the detailed list of his properties was attached with the petition. The properties included three houses and three commercial units in Islamabad as well as foreign exchange bearing certificates to the tune of Rs 20.8 million. He said a court sentenced Brig Imtiaz to eight years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 7 million, also confiscating his assets. The court disqualified him for ten years for holding any public office or statutory or local authority. But he, taking advantage of the NRO, managed to retake his property. Malik disclosed that before his “retirement at fault” from the Army in 1988, Brig Imtiaz had declared his total asset as a two-kanal plot at the Lahore Cantt Officers Society (Phase-II) and a 2,000-square-yard plot in the Defence Housing Society, Karachi. He questioned how Imtiaz made property worth billions of rupees as IB chief. REFERENCE: Spy vs spy Shakeel Anjum Friday, August 28, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=195414&Cat=2&dt=8%2F28%2F2009

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 4 (GEO TV Sept 2009)



Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 4 (GEO TV Sept 2009) by SalimJanMazari

2009:  Spy vs spy Usman Manzoor Friday, August 28, 2009 ISLAMABAD: Another former senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau has broken his silence after the recent outbursts of Brig (retd) Imtiaz and has revealed that the former IB director-general had planned to register high treason cases against Benazir Bhutto, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Salmaan Taseer and Masood Sharif. Following the recent disclosures of Brig Imtiaz, which have shaken both the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Rana Abdul Baqi, who had served under former IB director-general Masood Sharif and retired as senior director, in an exclusive interview with The News, disclosed that Brig Imtiaz wanted to try Benazir Bhutto and three others because they leaked secret tapes to an Indian journalist and got it published in India Today. According to Baqi, the tapes which were leaked contained conversations between MNAs and Brigadier Imtiaz and Major Amir, and also included classified information about training camps of the Army and other strategic security information which may still be classified. The former IB director said: “In 1991 after completing medical leave I reported at the IB headquarters and started waiting for my next posting, as I was previously working as personal staff officer to IB director-general Masood Sharif. One day, Brig Imtiaz called me in his office because he was upset with the episode of Salmaan Taseer, who had conducted a press conference against the architects of ‘Operation Midnight Jackal’ and India Today had also published some extracts of those secret tapes. The brigadier asked me how did Salmaan Taseer get those tapes? “He (Taseer) is an agent of RAW and India Today got those tapes through Taseer.” “Brigadier Imtiaz alleged according to his information Taseer got those tapes through me.” “According to my sources, Masood Sharif and Benazir Bhutto got those tapes from you,” Brig Imtiaz blamed me, adding: “Benazir Bhutto gave those tapes to Taseer.” Imtiaz added apart from Benazir Bhutto and Salmaan Taseer, Aitzaz Ahsan was also present there and in his presence these tapes were handed over to Taseer. “I want to initiate high treason case against these four because they have handed over classified national secrets to India and you (Rana Abdul Baqi) would become approver in the case and you would admit that these secret tapes were handed over to Taseer in your presence. “I told Brig Imtiaz that I do not know Benazir Bhutto, Aitzaz Ahsan and Salmaan Taseer personally and I can not give any sort of false evidence. I was offered promotion by Brig Imtiaz and upon my refusal I was threatened of severe consequences and an inquiry was lodged against me and I was accused of leaking those secret tapes.” “I told Brig Imtiaz that three sets of these tapes were prepared each containing 12 cassettes. One was sent to the Military Intelligence director-general; one to the Prime Minister Secretariat and the third was kept in IB director-general’s office. I don’t know how Taseer got those tapes. 

Brig Imtiaz constituted a committee to discuss my involvement in handing those tapes to Taseer. Brig Imtiaz’s committee comprised Air Commodore Khalilullah Ghauri, Col Bashir Wali, who has remained IB director-general and Major Salim Khan. The committee inquired from me and I gave a ten-page reply on how these tapes were distributed. The Army men took the last copy of these cassettes which was at IB director-general’s office and a receipt was also given of that episode. “The committee exonerated me after getting satisfactory answers. Commodore Khalilur Rehman Ghauri told me Brig Imtiaz wanted to initiate high treason cases against Benazir Bhutto, Aitzaz Ahsan and Masood Sharif. I was asked to be careful as Brig Imtiaz could be dangerous. I only said I will not give any false evidence.” To a question, the former senior IB director disclosed that the then-government did not pay any heed to Brig Imtiaz’s formula of vindicating the opposition. “Even the prime minister was shocked about Imtiaz’s formula,” said Rana Abdul Baqi, adding: “In 1997 Brig Imtiaz once again wanted to play his role but was reminded of the 1991 mistake.” Brigadier Imtiaz, the mastermind of the Operation Midnight Jackal, when contacted termed all the allegations levelled by Rana Abdul Baqi baseless and said he never gave worth to Rana Abdul Baqi. He said Rana Abdul Baqi was sidelined by him when he assumed the charge of Intelligence Bureau. “I never thought of giving any important task to Baqi,” said the brigadier. Brigadier Imtiaz said the Operation Midnight Jackal was kept alive against a person who has served his whole life serving the country. He said he, Major Amir, Malik Mumtaz (a RAW agent according to Brigadier Imtiaz) and two MNAs were discussing the political situation of Pakistan and mentioned that their views were not favourable to the incumbent regime and that the minor incident was termed the Operation Midnight Jackal. Brigadier Imtiaz said politics was, and is, discussed everywhere but that the minor incident has been kept alive till today. He said Nawaz Sharif, Gen Nasir, Masood Sharif and Rana Baqi had taken MNAs in C-130 from the Rawalpindi Cricket stadium to Swat, which was unauthorised but no one had questioned that. REFERENCE: Spy vs spy Usman Manzoor Friday, August 28, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24160&Cat=13&dt=8%2F28%2F2009

Case of General (R) Faiz Ali Chishti & Major (R) Aamir.

Authority: According to Henri Fayol, "Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience." According to Mooney and Reily, "Authority is the principle at the root of Organisation and so important that it is impossible to conceive of an Organisation at all unless some person or persons are in a position to require action of others." Responsibility: According to Davis, "Responsibility is an obligation of individual to perform assigned duties to the best of his ability under the direction of his executive leader." In the words of Theo Haimann, "Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to perform the duty as required by his superior". McFarland defines responsibility as "the duties and activities assigned to a position or an executive". Accountability: According, to McFarland, "accountability is the obligation of an individual to report formally to his superior about the work he has done to discharge the responsibility." When authority is delegated to a subordinate, the person is accountable to the superior for performance in relation to assigned duties. If the subordinate does a poor job, the superior cannot evade the responsibility by stating that poor performance is the fault of the subordinate. A superior is normally responsible for all actions of groups under his supervision even if there are several layers down in the hierarchy. Simply stated, accountability means that the subordinate should explain the factors responsible for non-performance or lack of performance. Authority, Responsibility and Accountability are Inter-related: They need proper consideration while introducing delegation of authority within an Organisation. In the process of delegation, the superior transfers his duties/responsibilities to his subordinate and also give necessary authority for performing the responsibilities assigned. At the same time, the superior is accountable for the performance of his subordinate. REFERENCE: Authority, Responsibility and Accountability In Management Post : Gaurav Akrani Date : 7/28/2010 12:49:00 AM IST http://kalyan-city.blogspot.com/2010/07/authority-responsibility-and.html

ISLAMABAD, Nov 18: The Pakistan Ex-Servicemen’s Society has asked the media to stop bashing the generals “as a class and the armed forces as an institution”. The society’s president, Lt-Gen (retd) Faiz Ali Chishti, said the generals, who were minister for railways and chairman and managing director of Pakistan Railways when PR land in Lahore was sold to a golf club, should not be treated as army officers because they were not working as generals at the time. He said the media should, however, do its best to expose wrongdoings so that the nation could differentiate between the good and the bad. He said the land was sold to Royal Palm Golf Club by then minister for railways Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi and chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Saeeduz Zafar and managing director Maj-Gen (retd) Hassan Butt of the PR. He said the then head of the government, who was required to supervise their work, should be charged for dereliction of duty. A federal audit carried out in 2007 found that the government lost Rs10 billion because of leasing out of 103 acres of railway land at throwaway prices. REFERENCE: Media urged not to criticise institution of armed forces http://dawn.com/2012/11/19/media-urged-not-to-criticise-institution-of-armed-forces/ 

In addition, the ideological rigor of the Bajauri militants is explained by the fact that most of the clerics hailing from the Agency are educated at Madaris run by Ishaat-ulTawheed, including TTP leader Faqir Mohammed. The organization is modeled around the madrassa founded by Maulana Mohammed Tahir Panjpir, in Panjpir, Swabi District, NWFP. The Panjpiris are linked to the Jemaat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI), both Sami ul Haq and Fazlur Rehman groups, and are close to the Ahl-e-Hadith ideology. The Panjpiri madaris network was a crucial influence for the Taliban movement in the Pak-Afghan region. Faqir Mohammed perfectly epitomizes the type of leader favoured by the Panjpiris, a dual Amir that leads both from the religious and the military point of view, in orchestrated continuity with paradigmatic figures such as Mullah Mohammed Omar and the early Sufi Mohammed, for example. REFERENCE: The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan: The Bajaur Case - NEFA Senior Investigator Claudio Franco July 2009  http://humansecuritygateway.com/documents/NEFA_TehrikeTalibanPakistan_BajaurCase.pdf

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 1 (GEO TV 18 Nov 2012)

 

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 1 (GEO TV 18 Nov 2012) by SalimJanMazari

2007: ‘Establishment doesn’t like public-backed leaders’: LAHORE: Major Amir, the alleged architect of the notorious Operation Midnight Jackal, says Pakistani establishment likes the leaders who are not backed by the public. In an interview with the Geo television on Saturday, Amir said the establishment was against every leader who had people’s mandate behind them. “Pakistani establishment likes leaders like Malik Maraj Khalid, Moeen Qureshi, Sardar Balakh Sher Mazari and current Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz,” he said. Amir said he liked Sharif as a political leader and was a part of his political camp. He said Sharif was more acceptable to the army than Benazir Bhutto. The former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officer said the ISI principally acted on the orders of the prime minister. But, he said, in case of lack of coordination between the prime minister and the army chief the agency preferred to seek directives from the army chief. Amir said he acted on the orders of the then ISI chief in the Operation Midnight Jackal, adding that the objective behind this operation was not to remove the Bhutto’s government. “I was court-martialled and removed from the army even though I proved my innocence before the inquiry committee,” he said. He said Jonejo’s government was removed because the US was against it. “The US thought that Jonejo had failed to deliver on Iran,” he said, adding that Mullah Omar was loyal to Pakistan compared to Hamid Karzai. REFERENCE: ‘Establishment doesn’t like public-backed leaders’ Daily Times Monitor Sunday, April 22, 2007 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C04%5C22%5Cstory_22-4-2007_pg7_19

The Swat conflict was also deeply influenced by the Panjpirs of Swabi district, adjacent to the Malakand division of NWFP. The Panjpirs follow a localized version of Saudi Wahhabism that was introduced in Pakistan by Maulana Tahir, father of Major Amir, an Inter-Services Intelligence operative who allegedly helped topple Benazir Bhutto’s first government. The madrassa at Panjpir, administered by Maulana Tayyab, Major Amir’s brother, is associated with a who’s who of Pakistan’s extremist leaders, including TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad, Bajaur Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, and the Khyber agency’s notorious militant leader Mangal Bagh. TNSM military chief Fazlullah also adhered to the Panjpir group. This madrassa was an important recruitment camp that also performed the role of a think tank for strategic planning during the Afghan war of the 1980s. REFERENCE: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Policy Paper Inside Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province The Political Landscape of the Insurgency Hassan Abbas, April 2010 New America Foundation http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/NAF_InsidePakistansNorthwestFrontierProvince.pdf

 Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 2 (GEO TV 18 Nov 2012)



Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 2 (GEO TV 18 Nov 2012) by SalimJanMazari

2009 Taliban influence in bureaucracy By A. Ameer  On April 5, 2009 a battalion of the Taliban militia with heavy weaponry crossed over the hills from Swat to Buner to avowedly supervise the implementation of the Nizam-i-Adl. The local residents of Buner had been resisting the inflow of the Taliban for a long time. The local elders intervened and tried to convince the Taliban to return but the latter opened fire at them, leaving several injured. Later the Taliban captured three policemen and two civilians, and killed them. The local residents, the people of lower Buner and Sultanwas, gathered to move upward to face the Taliban while the people of upper Buner provided reinforcements. Fighting began and in the ensuing gun-battle some 17 members of the Taliban are said to have been killed. The questions on the minds of the local people were why would the Taliban come with heavy weapons if they did not want to control Buner? And why were the Taliban allowed by the commissioner to move from Swat to Buner with heavy weapons? On April 6, a delegation of the TNSM along with the commissioner Malakand Division went to Buner to negotiate with the local elders. They tried to convince the local elders to allow the Taliban to enter the valley. While the delegation engaged the local administration and the elders of Buner, the Taliban started getting reinforcements. In the context of the Taliban expansion to Buner, it is interesting to note the ideological role played by the relatively less known Jamaati Ashaatutoheed WaSunna, the creation of Maulana Tahir Panjpiri, the father of the infamous Major Amir, a well-known IB and ISI operative in the past and allegedly behind the notorious Operation Midnight Jackal. Major Amir, Syed Mohammad Javed (the present commissioner Malakand Division) and Maulana Sufi Mohammad are said to have been quite close since a long time. REFERENCE: Taliban influence in bureaucracy By A. Ameer http://archives.dawn.com/archives/26963

The demolition of the temples in Buner was initiated by Maulana Dua Noor, a cleric who belonged to the Panjpiri sect of Wahabism. After the death of Maulana Muhammad Tahir, his son Maulana Tayyab became the chief of this organization who also manages a huge religious seminary in the town of Panjpir. Muhammad Amir, another brother of Maulana Tayyab was a major in Pakistan Army and worked for Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the country’s spy agency in 1980s. Major Amir allegedly conspired and collaborated with others to topple the democratically elected government of the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1989. Major Amir, the ISI officer, was deeply involved in Operation Midnight Jackal, intended to remove Benazir Bhutto from the prime minister position through a no confidence vote in parliament. Funds for buying votes were allegedly provided by Osama Bin Laden. REFERENCE: Swat Valley - The Metamorphosis By Khushal Khan September 2012 http://www.tribalanalysiscenter.com/PDF-TAC/Swat%20Valley-Metamorphosis.pdf

Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 3 (GEO TV 18 Nov 2012)



Major (R) Aamir in Jirga - 3 (GEO TV 18 Nov 2012) by SalimJanMazari

Maulana Sufi Muhammad: An Enigma: The seventy five years old Maulana Sufi Muhammad belongs to Maidan, a small town in Lower Dir. He received his religious education from the father of Major Amir, Sheikh-ul-Quran Maulana Tahir at Panjpir in district Swabi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). He then started a religious seminary in his own native town Maidan, Lower Dir. He was also a strong member of the JI (Jammat-i-Islami) till 1989. He was elected District Council Member twice from district Dir. During Afhgan Jihad Sufi Muhammad supported Hikmatyar’s Hizb-i-Islami financially and through man power In 1989, Maulana Sufi Muhammad dissociated himself from the JI and laid the foundation of Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-iMuhammadi on 28 June, 1989 in Maidan, Lower Dir. Sufi Muhammad, however, restricted activities of the TNSM to the Malakand Division (now comprising the districts of Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Chitral, Malakand, Swat, Buner and Shangla), the Kohistan district of Hazara Division and Bajaur Agency. After gaining support for the movement, he demanded the enforcement of the Shariah in these areas. In 1991, he camped at Temergarah (now district headquarter of Lower Dir), along with hundreds of his supporters demanding the enforcement of Shariat in Malakand. He then called off his agitation when Chief Minister Mir Afzal Khan’s government assured him that his demands would be fulfilled. In February 1994, the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the judgment of the Peshawar High Court and declared some provisions of the PATA Regulations in violation of the articles 8 and 25 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As this decision of the apex court deprived the executive authorities of a chunk of their judicial powers, they supported activities of the TNSM tacitly. With this decision of the Supreme Court Maulana Sufi Muhammad also gained confidence and financial support from these local Khans, Maliks and the executive authorities. In May, 1994 the Chief of the TNSM, Sufi Muhammad called off his weeklong protest campaign against the government after he was handed over a copy of the Ordinance signed by the acting Governor Khurshid Ali Khan, envisaging the extension of Islamic laws to the whole of Malakand Division with immediate effect. In November 1994, followers of Sufi Muhammad, launched an armed campaign for their demand and took control of many government installations in Swat District. Sufi Muhammad campaign forced the then PPP-led government to promulgate the Nifaz-e-Nizam-eShariah Regulation 1994 in the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas. Hence (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regulation II of 1994) was promulgated. Not satisfied with the legislation, Sufi Muhammad continued to hold demonstrations. Subsequently, another Regulation called the “Shari-Nizam-e-Adal Regulation, 1999”, (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regulation I of 1999) was promulgated. After 9/11, when American President ordered attack on Afghanistan to topple Taliban government, Sufi Muhammad again made headlines when he left for Afghanistan followed by his supporters to support the Afghan Taliban in the war against the US. Swat Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Javed, also provided possible support to the TNSM. President Zardari stated, therefore, that weakness of civil bureaucracy had resulted in the emergence of militants and militancy. Major Amir worked as a catalyst to promote the TNSM in Malakand Division through his father’s seminary in Panjpir which was then run by his brother Maulana Muhammad Tayyib. The JUI (F-group) Vice President, Aziz ur Rehman stated: “the absconder Major Amir is running the law and order situation in Malakand at the behest of Nawaz Sharif.” REFERENCE: Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi in Malakand Division (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): A Case Study of the Process of “State Inversion”by Navid Iqbal Khan http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/6.%20Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-%20Muhammadi,%20Navid%20iqbal.pdf

General (R) Mirza Aslam Beg Misbehaves & Attacks Journalist Azaz Syed

The history of this much abused country is being churned to let the scum rise to the top. And what nuggets of filth are floating up -- military-made political parties, midnight jackals, cash for elections, Karachi operations, agency this and agency that. Is this the Pakistani version of a truth and reconciliation commission? The 'truth' being dished out has more slants than a right-angle triangle and it is certainly not leading to any reconciliation. The million-dollar question is where all these worms crawled out of? Have they rolled down the presidency, as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) alleges or have they emerged from the irritable bowel of an over-active nine zero? Whoever has unleashed them has no care for the ascetic discipline of the holy month because they make for a juicy and spicy fare. It is easy to choke on Brigadier Billa because he is truly unsavoury. But let us admit to a secret vice; he has stories to tell. And stories are interesting even if they come from the mouth of someone you would ideally like to see begging for mercy, hanging upside down a pole. The question of the month though is -- and it has been asked often enough -- let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I don't see a mad rush for the quarries and the reason is simple. The elite of this country has much to seek forgiveness for. We are all sinners literally and metaphorically. The politicians top the list because they flaunt their sins publicly or maybe we scrutinise them more fearlessly. They are vulnerable because their passion for fame and fortune makes them impatient. 

General (R) Mirza Aslam Beg Misbehaves & Attacks Journalist Azaz Syed (Dawn News)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsaN2LriLeU

General Aslam Beg Lies Again in Daily Ummat dated 31 March 2012 http://ummat.com.pk/story/2012/03/31/2423/

It is not a pleasure they want to defer and end up becoming easy targets for manipulators. The Hameed Guls and the Billas of this world thrive in this milieu. They have guns and cash. While the politicians are more visible, their sins in the larger scheme of things are relatively innocent. They make money and are unprincipled but their impact on the nation is more through happenstance than design. The sins of some people in the military have been more sinister, more egregious and more damaging to the nation. It is they who need to be exposed. In my reading of post-Zia history, there is no greater sinner than Aslam Beg. By his actions after Zia's death and indeed throughout his tenure of office, he caused great harm to this nation. He did not let democracy settle, manipulated parties and politicians and corrupted them, brought governments down, indeed did everything he possibly could to create circumstances for his ascent to power. He failed but in the process, he hurt us badly. It is easy to blame Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) because he had his share of sins but without Aslam Beg goading him on, much of what GIK did would not have happened. It was Beg who asked Hameed Gul to form the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and stop Benazir and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from coming to power. When he could not stop it, it was he who led the media and dirty-tricks campaign to undermine it and bring it down. Let us keep our biases aside for a minute, ladies and gentlemen. Whether we like Benazir Bhutto is not the issue here and more importantly, let us suspend our knowledge of what she did later. However, in 1988 she was not only the most popular leader in Pakistan but an international celebrity. She was an Aung San Suu Kyi like figure whose father had been murdered and who had suffered much hardship. There was not a hint of the taints that later followed her.

If Beg and his cohorts had been patriots, they would not have formed the IJI to stop her. Afterwards when she still made it to power, they would have seen her as an asset to Pakistan. They should have gone to her and said "Madam, you are inexperienced but we will help you run the government. Your international image is a great plus for the country and we want you to repair the damage to our global reputation after Zia's draconian dictatorship." They did nothing of the sort. They started to sully her image and taint her reputation from day one. She indeed had her faults and made their task easier but she should have been guided. Instead, they launched operation midnight jackal, engineered a no-confidence move against her, got the MQM to take on the PPP in the streets of Karachi, thwarted the Pucca Qilla operation, which was leading to the capture of a huge cache arms stored by terrorists in Hyderabad, and then prevailed upon GIK to dismiss her government. This not only hurt Pakistan but derailed democracy. Had a single civilian government completed its tenure and transfer of power taken place through constitutionally scheduled elections, we would have been on our way. But Beg would not allow this. It was not without purpose. His plan was to first destroy the reputation of Benazir, bring her government down, and then do the same to Nawaz Sharif. Once all politicians had been damaged, he thought, his ascent to power would become easy.

Consider this. After the Benazir government had been dismissed in 1990, he distributed money and did everything to make an IJI government come into power. Yet no sooner had Nawaz Sharif taken over, he was conspiring against him. I know this personally because I saw it happen before my eyes. Nawaz Sharif had taken over in perhaps October or November and by December, officers of military intelligence were making contact with the PPP to instigate it against the government. Not only that, Beg deliberately started to undermine Nawaz by taking a position different from that of the government during the First Gulf War. His agents, largely serving military officers but also some of his friends, principally one Lahore-based businessman, started to goad the PPP to take on the Nawaz Sharif government through street power. The purpose was to create enough trouble to make it possible for Beg to take over. Fortunately, for us, his time ran out and Ghulam Ishaq Khan trumped him by appointing a new army chief, two months before his term of office was to end. This was unprecedented and the only reason it was done was to make him a lame duck and thwart his ambition for power. Beg left with much regret but a legacy of bitterness was created that tainted the entire decade of the 90s. Democracy could not settle after that. Benazir and the PPP eventually managed to bring Nawaz Sharif down through Ghulam Ishaq Khan and PML N paid the compliment back by launching various movements during Benazir's second term in office. It then supported Farooq Leghari in the sacking of the second PPP government. This merry-go-round continued until Musharraf threw the whole lot out in 1999. End of democracy phase one. A new phase has started. What will this bring? Email: shafqatmd@gmail.com How Aslam Beg damaged a nation Shafqat Mahmood Friday, September 04, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=196480&Cat=9&dt=9/3/2009

Mansoor Ijaz & Witnesses VS Hussain Haqqani.

Way Back in 1997: ISLAMABAD, Nov. 26: The Supreme Court received a petition asking the court to send a reference against Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah to the Supreme Judicial Council for "having committed high treason," the Registrar of the Supreme Court confirmed. A well-drafted petition filed by an unknown lawyer, Mr. Asad Tariq, asked the court to void the Judicial Officers Protection Act of 1850 or any other law giving immunity to a judicial officer for being inconsistent with Article 25 of the Constitution. He further asked the court to direct the federal government to file a complaint against the chief justice for "having committed high treason." He contended that the executive-judiciary row had halted economic progress and that the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were aimed at ruining the economy. REFERENCE: Petition filed against CJ for `treason' Staff Correspondent DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 29 November, 1997 Issue : 03/48 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1997/29Nov97.html#peti

General Javed Ashraf Qazi says Quran has 40 Chapters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl7KVOhpGA8

KARACHI, Dec 13 (Online): Federal Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi apparently does not know how many \'Siparas\' are there in the Holy Quran. On Wednesday responding a question of TV anchor of a private TV channel morning show, the education minister, who is also retired General of Pak Army and ex-chief of ISI, said that now a student would complete 40 \'Siparay\' of Holy Quran from Class III to VIII in School and now the children would not need to go to \'Madrassas\' for learning the Holy Quran. The anchor surprised over the minister apparent ignorance, asked him how many Siparay they would learn, the minister replied 40 \'Siparay\'. Astonished and surprised over the minister reply, when the lady anchor for the third time said she believed that there were 30 \'Sipara\' in Quran, then Javed Ashraf Qazi shaking his head apologized and corrected himself by saying, \"Oh I am sorry\". End. REFERENCE: Javed Ashraf Qazi does not know how many \'Siparas\' in Quran http://www.paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=162985

ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Siddiq-ul-Farooq, Spokesman and Media Affairs Incharge of Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N in Islamabad, was taught a lesson in typical ISI style on Oct 29, one day after former ISI Chief and current Railways Minister, General Javed Ashraf Qazi, publicly threatened to sort “this guy out.” Farooq was kidnapped, roughed up, beaten with belts, punched and kicked and taken away to a village 30 miles from Islamabad and amid threats of being killed, abandoned after his wallet, money and watch were stolen by army men. He told the South Asia Tribune the attack was ordered by Railways Minister of General Musharraf’s Government, Lt. General Javed Ashraf Qazi, against whom Farooq had filed a reference with the National Accountability Bureau, accusing Qazi of corruption in Railways to the tune of Rs 5 billion in award of contracts and Railways projects. Qazi reacted fiercely to the charges and told the ARY Gold TV channel he will “sort this guy out.” The next day Farooq was picked up and given a sound beating for accusing a former ISI chief of corruption. Then BBC Urdu Service in London interviewed General Qazi and asked him about Farooq’s charges. What Qazi said was shameful and pathetic, unbecoming of any person with even a modicum of decency. He spoke like a typical Lahori hoodlum, a mafia chief, accusing Farooq of being “a liar, a dog and a Mr. Nobody wandering on the streets.” His interview was a shame for the entire nation, specially the Pakistan Army, as it revealed not only the caliber of a retired general, it exposed Qazi as a man who had not been to any civilized institution where he would have learnt some manners of public speech, specially when millions of people were listening to him on a popular radio station. Click here to hear the Qazi Interview with BBC Urdu Service In hitting out at Farooq, Qazi, a sitting cabinet member and a retired General, should have displayed some manners and civil behaviour. Instead of showing to the world that Farooq was a bad guy, his interview proved that he was the rogue, drunk with power and using such language on international radio which no one would even think about using in public for any human being. Javed Qazi is the same person who has been involved in the Rs 25 billion Golf Course Project near Lahore, details of which have been kept a secret from the Pakistani people and the nation “in the supreme national security interest.” He is also the same person who accommodated the infamous father-in-law of General Pervez Musharraf’s son Bilal in the Peshawar-Rawalpindi Motorway project in which project owner himself admitted that the father in law had been given a 2 per cent commission. In his interview Qazi was asked whether he ever thought of resigning, as it the custom, when charges were leveled against him. “I am not a mad man to resign when any dog barks at me. If we start resigning then no body will be left in the cabinet,” was his arrogant answer. Qazi once again threatened to fix Farooq after the Accountability Bureau completes an enquiry into the charges and exonerates him. “Then we will fix him,” he said on BBC. When told that Farooq had lodged a Police Report (FIR) against him, he scoffed at the idea in a scornful way saying: “Koi FIR, Shef IR Nahin Hui” as if he controlled the legal and Police system and was sure that no one could dare to lodge a report against him. Qazi also said the charges were made against him because he had applied for a Senate ticket and people were scared that he would win the Senate election. Political analysts were wondering about the quality of the proceedings of the next Senate with people like Javed Ashraf Qazi occupying key positions in it under the General Musharraf’s supervision. REFERENCE: Shame on You, Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi Issue No 16, Nov 4-10, 2002 | ISSN:1684-2075 | satribune.com Special SAT Report  http://www.antisystemic.org/satribune/www.satribune.com/archives/nov4_10_02/opinion_javedashraf.htm

ISLAMABAD: One hundred and Fifty acres of prime Canal Road land in Dharampura, Lahore is being mysteriously turned into a Golf Course for Railway Executives under the controversial Railways Minister, Javed Ashraf Qazi, and not a soul has been told why and how he has been allowed by General Pervez Musharraf to bring the entire government into disrepute. The Golf Course will be part of the Railway Officers Colony, a privilege which no other group in the country has ever enjoyed. Basically 95 per cent of the poor and hard pressed Railways employees would also not be eligible to even enter the Golf Course which will stay a private and privileged resort for the country’s elite. The circumstances under which the contract for the Golf Course and the Officers Colony has been awarded has generated a lot of suspicion and doubt and not even a respected person like former Finance Minister, Dr Mubashir Hasan, has been provided any detail about the prime land being converted into an entertainment resort for a few officials. The Railway authorities claim that they are going to get a Licensing Fee of US $2.5 million besides an extra amount of Rs 15 million as “annual rental” for next 49 years, which shows the land has been leased out for the next 49 years. But nothing more about the deal, secretly done by Javed Ashraf Qazi, is known. Dr Mubashir Hasan has been banging his head against a brick wall to get some more details because as a Lahori resident he is more concerned about his city’s future. He has been stonewalled. His first attempt was to write to the Railways authorities seeking details about the deal. Click to Read his Letter Page1 | Page2 No one answered. He waited and waited and then he wrote to the Public Accounts Committee to seek details.

The PAC of Mr H. U. Beg sent a routine query to the Railway authorities but the arrogant and headstrong Javed Ashraf Qazi refused to share any information until the matter was raised by some members at a PAC meeting on Railways. To the utter shock of every body the Railways Chairman said the project was “a national security matter” and no details could be given “because the Press will make a scandal out of it.” So he was actually hiding a scandal. Dr Mubashir Hasan, in his letter to Secretary Railways Division, Government of Pakistan, had asked some simple questions to ascertain whether the project met the normal standards of transparency and whether equal opportunity was afforded to every body interested.

His questions included:

- The terms drawn by the Railways for pre-qualification of the firms;

- The names of the firms, which were eventually pre-qualified;

- Terms laid down in bid documents on which prices were invited from pre-qualified firms;

- Names of the firms which submitted their bids with the amounts offered by them.

- He sought clarification whether the land measuring 50 acres, presently under Railway Officers Canal Bank Colony, was also part of the original bid document.

- He also wanted to know if tenders were invited on international basis if the intention was to get foreign firms.

- He also demanded a copy of the final documents of the Lease Deed signed with the Malaysian firms.

Dr. Mubashir’s questions were very pertinent as such a huge deal which would yield a Licensing Fee of $2.5 million needed to pass through very stringent Transparency tests and had proper international bidding being done, much more revenues could have been generated. But the since an ex-ISI chief was handling the matter under a military government, who could question the intentions or honesty of the project managers who thought they were above and beyond any accountability. Now the whole scandal has erupted into the face of Javed Ashraf Qazi and his attitude and behaviour has raised a million more questions about the Lahore Golf Course than he would have imagined. REFERENCE: The Rs 25 Billion Golf Course Scandal in Lahore Why is the Railways Minister concealing the facts? By Shahwar Faryal Issue No 16, Nov 4-10, 2002 | ISSN:1684-2075 | satribune.com http://www.antisystemic.org/satribune/www.satribune.com/archives/nov4_10_02/P1_golfcourse.htm

Meanwhile, a petitioner, Advocate Tariq Asad, submitted the names of two witnesses before the commission. The commission had asked all the parties in the case on Jan 9 to submit lists of their witnesses. According to advocate Asad, his witnesses, former ISI director general Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi and former Intelligence Bureau chief Brig (retd) Imtiaz would brief the commission about the integrity of Mr Haqqani as well as other aspects of his personality. In the application filed under the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act, Mr Haqqani requested the PBC to take disciplinary action against Advocate Sheikh and ask him not to attribute or make false, incorrect and provocative statements against the applicant. REFERENCE: Application filed seeking action against Ijaz’s lawyer By Malik Asad and Nasir Iqbal January 14, 2012 http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/14/application-filed-seeking-action-against-ijazs-lawyer.html

Mansoor Ijaz's Attorney Akram Sheikh Attacks Media (16 Jan 2012)

Memogate Commission Zahid Bukhari (Lawyer of Hussain Haqqani) (16 Jan 2012)

Mohammad Malick (GEO TV/The News International) is behind Memogate (Capital Talk – 23rd Nov 2011)

Lahore: As Online reported on Sunday, Mansoor Ijaz, the central character behind the memogate, did not arrive despite his commitment to appear before the Judicial Commission. Without prejudice to his lawyer's statement that he would appear before the Commission on January 24 for recording his statement, Online sources insisted that he would not come to Pakistan at all. However his lawyer Akram Sheikh has said that his client was scheduled to apply for a visa at Pakistani embassy in Switzerland. Now it’s up to the Commission whether it would wait for the central charcater's hearing in person or resort to cross examine available evidence of the case. This originator and sustainer of Memogate, Mansoorr Ijaz, had Pakistani government, Establishment, media and society reeling for clues for two months and in fact, has brought the future of Pakistani political system in question. All eyes are now on the sane eyes of the Supreme Court. The Memogate petitions assume special significance as the defendants in this case have publicly & openly shown reservations about the neutrality of the Supreme Court. Musawar Mansoor Ijaz, introduced himself in his visiting cards & motepads as an Indian Prince, being a direct descendant of Mughal Queen Mumtaz Mahal ( Taj Mahal fame) from his maternal side. His mother was acknowledged as one Princess Lubna Razia Bint Nazir Ijaz, by no less than New York Times in the obituary of his father in 1992. This was the first social placing which Mansoor and his mother Princess Lubna stunned the naïve Americans with. They apparently believed him and even made this elated inheritance as a matter of historical record. Now anyone in Rabwah can tell you who Mansoor’s mother actually was- direct or assumed descendant of Queen Noor Jahan. She reportedly was the direct descendant of founders of Jamaat Ahmedia Pakistan that is correct. Then there are people in USA, who still claim to be directly involved “in the hand off” of Mansoor Ijaz to American CIA to report on Pakistan’s Nuclear Programme since 1990’s due to his Pakistani ancestry and his family background in Nuclear Physics. Mansoor’s father Dr. Mujadid Ahmed Ijaz, was a professor in Nuclear Physics in US when he died of cancer in 1992. It just took ten weeks, a non-issue and a non-paper to reveal how strong Pakistani Constitution and its power centers are. Let’s get to know the man who did it all. He was called Musawer by his parents. He has written over 170 op-eds in leading American and British dailies and has given over 200 TV appearances. According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of USA “this Firm never filed a return to SEC since 1999 when the filing in USA went Edgar/electronic based”. Prior to that this firm reportedly had only 3 employees and was doing a reported annual turnover of less then One Million Dollars (Equivalent to Pakistani Rupees two crores back then). This Parent Firm doesn’t exist any more, as confirmed by SEC officials in America.Then in year 2000, Mansoor Ijaz broke it to an Indian journalist Ramananda SenGupta at Rediff the following startling facts. “Our business, built around my proprietary CARAT, TRACK and CALOP Systems, today invests across a broad cross-section of industries including oil and gas projects, high technology, infrastructure development and commercial real estate. Crescent Investment Management and its affiliates, Crescent Equity Partners and The Crescent Investment Group, have partners in Europe, the Middle East and Far East.”. Moving on, Musawer M.Ijaz, came out of his startling revelations that Clintons missed at least three selfstyled diplomatic overtures by him to nab Usama Bin Laden from Sudan. This revelation bagged him his only Job as an analyst at Fox TV for an undisclosed sum. This all happened post 9/11. Apparently Mansoor was a paid CEO of this Firm for around four years and the carry home salary of such penny companies in AIM Exchange is generally limited to around 5000 Pounds per month. According to Financial Ombudsman office in London Stock Exchange confirmed that any company with “Crescent Technology Ventures PLC doesn’t exist in their database”. The most interesting part in the Memogate scandal is the fact, that Chief of ISI, Gen Shuja Pasha actually went all the way to London to meet him for four long hours. There were two full weeks between Oct 10 Op-ed article and Oct 22nd meeting at Park Lane between Gen Pasha and The Musawer. The most revealing fact of the matter is how one person, and a perfect conman at that, can send shivers to Pakistani Establishment at the highest national levels sends clear signals to the sandy foundations Pakistan is sitting on. Are we complacent or simply dumb gooves??? Who are we, does anyone know. REFERENCE: Mansoor Ijaz fails to come to Pakistan Monday 16th January, 2012 http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=188189

Brigadier Imtiaz in Front Line - 1 (6 Sep 2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiYwAPheyuE

Brigadier Imtiaz in Front Line - 2 (6 Sep 2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG26ZiU399A

Brigadier Imtiaz in Front Line - 3 (6 Sep 2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RewCGhoFwLk

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: The main characters of the famous ‘Midnight Jackals’ operation of the late 1989 Benazir era have now returned to the TV screens and front pages of newspapers to speak about their adventures, blaming everybody else but themselves, and portraying themselves in their new role as great promoters of truth and honesty. Exactly 20 years later, again in a PPP-Zardari era, why and what these characters are doing have turned out to be the greatest political mystery with major political parties and leaders sucked into the storm blaming each other for unleashing these hounds. The multi-million dollar question ‘who is behind this latest sky dive into the past’ remains unanswered. An investigation by The News revealing scattered links and connecting the dots may lead to formation of a composite picture of the people behind this great diversion from the burning issues of the day. A few weeks ago, a top diplomat flew into Dubai and then Islamabad for intensive consultations with the PPP leadership on how to divert the national media and political focus from the so-called Minus-one and Minus-Zardari formulas based on the NRO cases pending in the Supreme Court, the demand for a trial of General Musharraf and the pressure to scrap the 17th Amendment. These issues had dominated Islamabad drawing rooms and were popping up in TV shows and columns every now and then. Several options were discussed, insiders in Islamabad and Washington revealed to The News. The sources of these anti-Zardari campaigns was determined to be some parts of the Rawalpindi establishment, a major part of the media groups backed by the PML-N which was said to be using this campaign to build pressure on Zardari for conceding the changes in the 17th Amendment. It was repeatedly argued that Washington was getting unusually jittery and unsure about political stability in Pakistan and the flow of generous aid, directly from Washington and through the Friends of Pakistan forum, may be delayed or massively cut if this critical issue was not addressed immediately. The US diplomats and even spokespersons of Friends of Pakistan had in so many ways and so many times conveyed the decision that no direct cash aid would be available as long as the credibility of the process reached some acceptable comfort level. The past of the PPP leadership was hounding its present, in a way. Thus the strategists reached the conclusion that it would be a good idea if the past of the alternate leadership, which meant the PML-N and in a roundabout way the military establishment, was exposed so that the aid-givers get the message that whoever ruled Pakistan, the issue of credibility would remain a burning question and thus it would be pointless to deprive the PPP leadership of the much-needed aid on this pretext. It was also agreed that the judges of the restored Supreme Court be entangled in cases challenging their own legitimacy and credibility and thus forcing some of the known radical judges from opting out of hearing the NRO cases. Sacked Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was also to be activated to stand up and challenge his removal. General Musharraf will also become active and use his millions and his Peerzadas, Malik Qayyums and Saifs to bombard the courts and the media. The deep wound being felt by the presidency was, however, the so-called “positive intervention” of the Pakistan Army chief on the night of March 15 and 16 when President Zardari was forced to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Zardari was on record, on national TV channels and internationally, claiming that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had become political and would never be restored but he had to eat the humble pie. He would never forget the insult. Another sticking point was that aid for military operations, especially in Swat, Malakand and Fata, was continuing and since it was coming directly to the Army in shape of reimbursements, the political leadership was feeling isolated, somewhat humiliated and not in total control. They were being denied dollars because of the trust deficit but Pindi was enjoying the full trust. This situation was not tenable for some. Thus the strategy evolved had to have several components. One was to deflect the Minus-one formula from Zardari. Officially the term ‘Minus-one’ was recognised by ministers on the media and attacks were launched claiming that no one could remove Zardari because it would invoke the Sindh card. On a subtle note presidential aides and cronies, and even some diplomats, started calling their friends and media supporters bad-mouthing the intelligence agencies and some top echelons of the Army establishment. The anti-Pindi whispering campaign was so vicious that even some foreign journalists in Islamabad were surprised at the madness of such a campaign which could ultimately end up in another Oct 12, 1999-like situation when the sitting Army chief was sacked. The ultimate component of the counter-Minus-one plan was to launch the Daylight Jackals. This would serve several purposes. It would hit at the military establishment, the intelligence agencies and cut the politicians who were now claiming to be larger than life to their size. Resurrecting the Mehrangate scandal would be the ideal tactic. The main character of the 1989 scandal, Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmed would be the best person to stir this hornet’s nest. In his mind Brig Imtiaz, who was close to Nawaz Sharif in the past, was feeling left out after the PML-N staged a comeback in the 2008 elections and formed its government in the Punjab. When everybody else from the past had been accommodated, why not him? That was enough for him to settle some scores. It was time to strike back. He agreed to join the planning and launching of the operation. On Aug 17, 2009, shortly after 12 noon, Brigadier Imtiaz walked into the headquarters of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in Islamabad to meet its Chairman Ali Arshad Hakeem. A reporter of The News saw him being escorted by the PR personnel of the Ministry of Interior. Enquiries revealed that the Brigadier had been visiting the Nadra for several days. Some of the known media cronies of the presidency in Islamabad had also been seen visiting the Nadra office frequently during these days while at night these guys would meet and plot their strategy in an F-7 house, near Restaurant Civil Junction. A Radio Pakistan executive had also allowed them to use one of the Radio Pakistan annexe in sector H-8 to late night meetings and parties. The background of the Nadra chairman revealed more when The News investigation moved forward. His official introduction at the Nadra web site says: “Ali Arshad Hakeem has a dynamic professional background in both public and private sector organisations of Pakistan as well as abroad, and had joined the Nadra as chairman on August 12, 2008. His versatile experience had brought many value additions and a completely service oriented vision to the Nadra. He not only served in Pakistan’s Central Board of Revenue for ten years at senior management positions but had also been closely involved with business process outsourcing operations, computerisation of land records and automation of customs process in Pakistan. His special interests include data mining for national security & poverty alleviation. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, Business Administration and Law and believes in an optimistic change through innovation in various business and economic ventures.” But Ali Arshad Hakeem is the son of Major-General (retd) Arshad Hakeem who was very close to Brig Imtiaz during the late 80s, serving in Karachi. Ali Arshad Hakeem also has deep family terms with Faryal Talpur, the sister of President Zardari and thus is very close to Mr Zardari who appointed him as the Nadra chairman, a highly sensitive position in view of the database it controls. Days after his meetings at the Nadra, an important journalist of the official news agency APP started calling TV anchors and media persons on behalf of Brig Imtiaz and each time he handed over the phone to the brigadier who wanted himself on the screens. Many anchors have gone on record to say the brigadier was too eager and ready to spills the beans. One anchor wrote that the brigadier said he wanted to explode a “political nuclear bomb”. That he was going to spill the beans against his own self was irrelevant and unimportant but this time he was trying to compensate the PPP for ‘Midnight Jackals’ against Benazir Bhutto. The other members of the team would call up every friend and ìinterestedî media person to highlight the revelations of Brig Imtiaz and for days and weeks nothing else should be discussed on the media. They were quite successful in achieving that goal, while the presidency would keep on denying that any cell existed in that house on the hill. Factually the cell was not in the presidency. The smell of the rat about his Nadra connections became pungent when The News talked to him on the subject and tried to get his version about why he was frequently going to the Nadra under escort of the Interior Ministry officials, a fact which the Interior Ministry officially denied. He was also asked as to what were his relations with the Nadra chairman. The wily brigadier first denied any relation with Nadra Chairman Ali Arshad Hakeem. That was his first mistake. He said that he had visited Nadra headquarters in mid August to get a new identity card as his old CNIC had expired. He said he chose to visit Nadra headquarters as other Nadra offices meant for this took a long time while Nadra headquarter could issue the card in 24 hours. He said that two days he visited Nadra headquarters for his CNIC and then later on he came to know that CNIC of his wife had also expired so he had to visit Nadra for two more days. His second mistake was that he claimed that he had no relationship with Ali Arshad Hakeem and took appointment to meet him through some other person. Another slip of the tongue was when he praised Ali Arshad Hakeem and said he was an important part of the present government and playing an excellent role in addressing different issues. Sticking to his stand that he had no relations with Ali Arshad Hakeem, Brig Imtiaz said during his meetings no matter of the past was discussed at any stage. However, Ali Arshad Hakeem, whose father Major General (retd) Hakeem Arshad Qureshi remained DMLA Karachi in eighties, when approached by The News admitted that Brigadier Imtiaz was ìa close friend of his deceased father and we have close family relationsî. He called him an Uncle. He confirmed his meetings with Brigadier Imtiaz in mid August in his office in Nadra headquarters but categorically denied discussing any political thing with his uncle Imtiaz. But Hakeem confirmed his close relations with President Asif Ali Zardari. Hakeem confirmed that as his father was DMLA Karachi and Munawar Talpur, husband of President Zardariís sister Faryal Talpur, was member of the Majlis Shura, both the families enjoyed close ties. Talking to The News he said: “Yes, I have close relations with President Asif Ali Zardari who has shown his confidence in me by appointing me as the chairman Nadra.” Hakeem also admitted that he has frequent meetings with President Asif Zardari. But on the record Hakeem only said: “All these meetings are of professional nature and have nothing to do with politics.” After these statements of Ali Arshad Hakeem, when Brig Imtiaz was again contacted on Wednesday he conceded having very close ties with the family of Ali Arshad Hakeem. When he was asked that a reporter had seen him escorted by Interior Ministry officials, Brig Imtiaz denied having any links with the interior ministry and started criticising Interior Minister Rehman Malik. In a direct way he also threatened that he would react “very badly” if this was published. The nervousness and almost panic in the body language and talk of Brigadier Imtiaz revealed more than he did. He did not need a third person to get an appointment with the Nadra chairman, who called him an uncle. He did not need to make repeated visits to collect or get is or his wife’s ID cards. For uncles the cards are delivered at home. What else were these meetings for hours were discussing when cronies of the presidency were also present. When the storm was unleashed by his statements and the military establishment and the agencies were being targeted in the media, abused and humiliated, there was visible jubilation in the presidential camp. One close aide of the president called a TV anchor in Dubai, to claim that now the focus has been diverted from Mr Zardari and at least for a few weeks we will not have sleepless nights. Others who had plotted the scheme to re-launch Brig Imtiaz were celebrating the success in their own domains. An old media manager of the IJI, an important part of ‘Daylight Jackals’, was heard by many congratulating his associates and issuing warnings that much more was about to come if President Zardari was attacked again. The part of the plot to attack the legitimacy of the restored judges has also been launched and sacked CJ Dogar has come on record saying he would challenge his removal in the Supreme Court. The legal team of General Musharraf has started its comings and goings and Justice Malik Qayyum has flown to Jeddah to meet the former president where Interior Minister Rehman Malik had been a royal visitor days ago. The part of the plot to attack the media is yet to be implemented as the operation is not yet over. The Americans, nevertheless, remain deeply suspicious and skeptical. As their first move they have already announced that out of the promised $1.5 billion aid under the Kerry-Lugar Bill, the PPP government will only get about $180 million next fiscal. That would be peanuts and would speak volumes about the confidence the Zardari regime enjoys in Washington and with Friends of Pakistan. Presidency and govt speak: At least three important PPP leaders and spokespersons separately denied having links with Brig Imtiaz controversy or his meetings with the Nadra chairman. Spokesman for the presidency, Farhatullah Babar while talking to The News said that keeping in view the past and credibility of Brig Imtiaz, no person would like to meet him. He said he think that a government officer like Ali Arshad Hakeem would have never met such a person or allow such a person to visit his office. When told that both Ali and Brigadier have confirmed not one but at least four meetings at the Nadra headquarters, Babar said that he couldnít say what might have been discussed in these meeting and only Ali Arshad Hakeem could comment on this. Babar, however, insisted that Ali Arshad Hakeem has no relation with President Asif Ali Zardari and that he is only the chairman of Nadra. Government spokesman and federal Information Minister Qamaruzzaman Kaira when approached by The News and asked to comment on this entire situation insisted that before discussing this situation one must consider the chronology of events. He said that present blame game was started with the speech of the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Kaira questioned The News that if there had been a cell in presidency or Brigadier Imtiaz was to speak on winking of this cell, why all this did not start before the speech of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. He said that after Chaudhry Nisarís allegations, one thing led to another, the media gave these allegations full coverage and a series of allegation and counter allegations were hurled at each other. When Kaira was specifically asked about Brigadier Imtiaz’s meetings with Ali Arshad Hakeem at the Nadra headquarters, he did not deny these meetings, saying that many Army officers have been appointed in Nadra and chairman Nadra Ali Arshad Hakeem, being the son of an Army general would have some relations with Brigadier Imtiaz and that if these meetings took place they have no importance with regard to the present blame game. Asked about close relations of Ali Arshad Hakeem with President Asif Ali Zardari, Kaira said: “There are always relations between people like we being in the government have relations with different politicians in the opposition.” When Kaira was asked about any cell in the presidency working for this blame game and maligning the politicians, he said that he himself (Kaira) was the biggest cell. He said that one of his statements made during a public meeting in Lahore was misunderstood. “Why are you asking me about other people when I am admitting that I am the cell,” Kaira said. When asked that whether this blame game is being done to tackle the Minus-one formula, Kaira said that there is no Minus-1 formula whatsoever. On the question that whether presidency has some resentments over the intervention of the Pakistan Army on the night of March 15 in getting restored the deposed judges which sacked by the previous military dictator Pervez Musharraf, Kaira said there was no intervention of any kind from military in that issue. “Your question that there was some military intervention is based on hypothesis so I would not comment on it,” Kaira concluded. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday the government and the PPP had no connection with the campaign launched by Brig Imtiaz, which, he thought, was apparently a move to protect Pervez Musharraf. He said in an interview: “We do not want to be a party to it, but Pakistan Muslim League-N has started a campaign based on baseless allegations against the PPP. Our party believes in politics of reconciliation ... I urge the opposition party to avoid playing blame-game. Let us sort out issues positively and politically.” According to a report, when he was asked if the people who were behind Brig Imtiazís smear campaign against politicians were the same who launched the ëminus-oneí formula, Malik said he was not sure who was behind it. “But one thing I can say is that the minus-one formula is dead because the nation voted in PPPís favour, giving it the right to complete its tenure.” He, however, hinted that Brig Imtiazís sudden appearance on the political scene might have been patronised by those who wanted to protect the former president. Information Minister Kaira said the recent spate of statements by former intelligence chiefs would only harm national harmony. Kaira said the country already confronted many challenges, and maligning each other would only result in political anarchy. REFERENCE: The return of the Daylight Jackals Shaheen Sehbai with reporting from Mazhar Tufail and Ahmed Noorani Friday, September 04, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24299&Cat=13&dt=9/3/2009

Brigadier Imtiaz in DO TOK - 1 (19th Sep 2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iak1dcjZ3Y


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzHZf0knK_A


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUguUkufols

Brigadier Imtiaz in DO TOK - 2 (26th Sep 2009)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyzCVWShqOg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms6O2M6kWp4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk092rEzIL4

ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 Brigadier (retd) Imtiaz Ahmed, or others like him who served in the security services over the past three decades, may alone know the real reason for re-igniting the controversies regarding their role in the making and breaking of political parties, alliances and governments, and of institutionalising corruption in the country`s politics. It is unclear whether this was his intention but the retired brigadier, known as Imtiaz `Billa (the cat)` in the army circles of yesteryear, has done one great service to this nation. Through his confessions, which he proudly describes as `revelations`, he has revived memories of some of the worst transgressions of the law and violations of norms of decent conduct and human rights by the intelligence agencies. Particularly during the dreaded rule of the dictator Gen Ziaul Haq during the late `70s and early `80s. As these revelations jog one`s memory, one is propelled back in time to the period when Imtiaz Billa`s name had become synonymous with dirty, horrible, tactics in dealing with Zia`s political opponents. During this period, arrests, torture and even death in custody of political opponents dubbed Indian or Soviet agents, had become the order of the day.

As the re-emergence of the debate takes some of us down the memory lane, an unforgettable reference comes to mind when `Imtiaz Billa` came to be known among the communist and other left-wing activists as `butcher`. Tasked by Gen Zia to eliminate anyone or everyone who had even tenuous links with the otherwise tiny communist movement, Billa and his men took upon themselves the task of hunting down those associated with groups viewed as pro-Soviet. Basking in the glory of having earned the support of the United States because of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, Gen Zia wanted to pursue his own agenda of Islamisation by neutralising all who may have represented socialist or secular ideals. Noted journalist Sohail Sangi, one such victim of the security services, recalls that in those days Imtiaz Billa was either posted in Karachi or, as an ISI colonel, was supervising the anti-communist operation in Karachi and elsewhere in Sindh province. It was during these days in August 1980 that a group of left-wing activists approached a few journalists at the press club in Karachi to seek their help in highlighting the news of death in custody of communist student leader Nazir Abbasi. Abbasi had died during torture as attempts were made to extract information from eight prominent members of the defunct Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP). The news had come out once his body was handed over to his relatives for burial, but the newspapers were unable to publish the reason for his death because of strict censorship. As Professor Jamal Naqvi, one of the arrested communist leaders, later mentioned in his testimony during the famous `Jam Saqi trial`, it was Nazir Abbasi`s death that saved the rest of the detainees from further torture, as they were soon shifted from a military interrogation cell to a Karachi prison. Even during the military trial the actual case that the intelligence agency had framed against Jam Saqi and his comrades was not about their involvement in promoting Soviet communism in the country but of working for the Indian intelligence to topple Gen Zia`s military regime. Prof Naqvi, Jam Saqi and also others like Sohail Sangi, Jabbar Khattak, Kamal Warsi and Shabbir Sher are around to testify to the horrors of that dark period. Then there were many other cases against nationalist leaders like Rasul Bux Palijo or communist activists like lmdad Chandio and scores of others that were all fabricated so that those charged could be kept away from mainstream politics.

Hijacking case

The ISI`s political cell under Gen Zia had acquired a much bigger role with the hijacking of a PIA plane by the so-called Al Zulfiqar in 1981. This incident gave a new lease of life to Gen Zia, as he used it to his advantage to allow the intelligence to round up thousands of political activists in the country – perhaps the biggest crackdown since the mass arrest of political activists to coincide with Mr Bhutto`s hanging. Also, Brig Imtiaz Billa is once again trying to make a big thing of the so-called conspiracy hatched by Ghulam Mustafa Khar to topple Gen Zia`s regime. At one point, noted lawyer and activist Raza Kazim was also implicated in the case, and so were a number of junior officers. In this case too they were accused of having links with RAW. None of them ever denied having worked to remove Gen Zia, but for `Billa` and others the easiest thing was to link them to India to justify their military trial.

`American agent`

Perhaps the most bizarre of such incidents was the arrest of a trade union leader in Karachi, Rafiq Safi Munshi on the charge of being an American agent. A few months ago Imtiaz Billa `disclosed` in a newspaper interview how he trapped an `American agent` who was passing on nuclear secrets in Karachi to his `handlers` at the US consulate. Many may differ with the Rafiq Safi`s style of politics, but the fact is that he was associated with the PPP, and was a prominent leader of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation`s (KESC) trade Union, and was not working at Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kannup) as the retired brigadier had portrayed. Even otherwise, what has Kannup plant got to do with Pakistan`s nuclear weapons programme? But in the martial law period the arrest of any opponent of the military junta was justified, and branding them as Indian or Soviet, or in one case, even American, agent kosher.

Special courts

What helped the junta more was a blanket news censorship and holding of trial in summary and special military courts, whose verdicts were often written before the start of the case proceedings. It will be quite interesting to find out that in many cases the only crime of such left-wing activists, including many professors of Quaid-i-Azam University, was secretly publishing anti-Zia literature. The role of the military intelligence services in former East Pakistan is often described as the worst as in those days hundreds disappeared and popular opinion was suppressed by arresting and trying Awami League leaders as foreign agents. But a close study of Gen Zia`s days, and the powers that were given to people like `Billa`, or the entire ISI under first Generals Ghulam Jilani and then Akhtar Abdur Rehman and finally Lt-Gen Hameed Gul, may show how blatantly they violated the law and human rights.

Probe commission

Now that Brig (retd) Imtiaz has himself decided to spill the beans, perhaps, as many believe, to defame a few more politicians, there are some quarters who argue that democracy will be served better if the politicians collectively demand a high-powered commission to probe into the role of the intelligence services in the country`s politics, particularly during the days of Gen Ziaul Haq and beyond. Politicians may or may not have taken money from the ISI or Intelligence Bureau. But if a former ISI chief, Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, accepts he distributed money among a large number of politicians, and if Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Gul boasts of forming an anti-Benazir Bhutto opposition alliance, or if Brig (retd) Imtiaz goes on television to accuse Ghulam Mustafa Khar of taking Rs5 million for his election campaign, then there are enough grounds to initiate proceedings against them and others for subverting the democratic process in the country. Perhaps, the best person to head the commission would be Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan, as he is the one who had approached the Supreme Court to expose the role of the ISI in the country`s politics. And if the present Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani is to be believed about having disbanded ISI`s political wing, it will be fair to assume he will have no objection in a public discussion about the intelligence agencies` dubious political role in the past. At a time when the military is battling forces of religious extremism and militancy, the irony won`t be lost on the leadership that under a different regime it was their own colleagues who tried to crush those representing more tolerant political thought. REFERENCE: Only bean-spilling spooks can tell why By Zaffar Abbas September 1, 2009 http://archives.dawn.com/archives/37099