Jingoism: Jingoism is extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy.[1] In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism. The term originated in Britain, expressing a pugnacious attitude towards Russia in the 1870s. "Jingoism" did not enter the American vernacular until near the end of the 19th century. This nationalistic belligerence was intensified by the sinking of the battleship USS Maine in Havana harbour that led to the Spanish-American War of 1898. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism
Fascism: is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek elevation of their nation based on commitment to an organic national community where its individuals are united together as one people in national identity. They are united by suprapersonal connections of ancestry and culture through a totalitarian state that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation through discipline, indoctrination, physical training, and eugenics. Fascism seeks to eradicate perceived foreign influences that are deemed to be causing degeneration of the nation or of not fitting into the national culture. Fascism was founded during World War I by Italian national syndicalists who combined left-wing and right-wing political views. Fascists have commonly opposed having a firm association with any section of the left-right spectrum, considering it inadequate to describe their beliefs, though fascism's goal to promote the rule of people deemed innately superior while seeking to purge society of people deemed innately inferior is identified as a prominent far-right theme. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Artists, Intellectuals, Scholars, Authors are universal, they have no boundaries, they are watched, read, quoted, and consulted respectively without any passport and immigration but Talat Hussain (a property of Hameed Haroon and Amber Saigol and Dawn News) think otherwise recently when Giant Pakistani Artist Mehdi Hasan passed away people of India expressed deep sorrow and grief without bothering about Partition, his nationality, colour, religion, passport, or any other divide and duly honoured Great Mehdi Hasan with Respect and Good words, Talat Hussain, Hameed Haroon and Amber Saigol's Alleged Honour was sleeping somewhere when Indians were praising Mehdi Hasan but suddenly "The Sick Patriotism" comes alive in Talat Hussain, Hameed Haroon, Amber Saigol and Dawn News when Pakistanis reciprocated the same honour to a recently departed Indian Artist Rajesh Khanna. Talat Hussain and Dawn News vomited venom in an already venomous atmosphere without bothering about the fact that Mehdi Hasan was born on that side of Border which is now India (in Rajasthan) and Rajesh Khanna had his roots in Burewala, Punjab, Pakistan A K Hangal born in Sialkot (Punjab) and now both sides are two different countries courtesy alleged Founding Fathers and Alleged Freedom Fighters of now Both sides. By the way A K Hangal lived early part of his life in Sialkot, Peshawar, and Karachi. Now Talat Hussain and no good Hameed Haroon and Dawn News should start Tabbarra on Sialkot, Peshawar, and Karachi. Tribute to Rajesh Khanna (1942 to 2012) Part - 1 http://amughal.blogspot.com/2012/08/tribute-to-rajesh-khanna-1942-to-2012.html Tribute to Rajesh Khanna (1942 to 2012) Part - 2 http://amughal.blogspot.com/2012/08/tribute-to-rajesh-khanna-1942-to-2012_15.html Tribute to Ghazal Maestro Mehdi Hasan by Alauddin Khanzada & Asif Noorani. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/12/tribute-to-ghazal-maestro-mehdi-hasan.html Tribute to Ghazal Maestro Mehdi Hasan by Alauddin Khanzada & Asif Noorani http://amughal.blogspot.com/2010/12/tribute-to-ghazal-maestro-mehdi-hasan.html
A K Hangal with Comrade Sobho Gianchandani Honouring Sajjad Zaheer: NEW DELHI: India’s distinguished movie actor and communist ideologue A.K. Hangal died in a Mumbai hospital on Sunday following a brief illness, Press Trust of India said. It said his son Vijay Hangal, a retired still cameraman in Bollywood, appealed for help after failing to meet Hangal’s medical expenses. Several Bollywood celebrities like the Bachchans, producer-director Vipul Shah, and actors Mithun Chakraborty, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan came forward to help him. The 95-year-old character actor and veteran of the fabled progressive cultural troupe, the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association (IPTA), passed away at 9am at the Asha Parekh Hospital in suburban Santacruz in Mumbai, where he was admitted on Aug 16 after fracturing his thigh bone. Best known for his one-liner from blockbuster Sholay — Itna sannaata kyun hai bhai (why so much silence is there), Hangal entered Bombay cinema when he was in his 40s and went on to act in over 200 films. He endeared himself to the audience by playing the role of the lovable old man in films like Sholay, Shaukeen and Namak Haram, “This is really a sad thing…now I am left all alone. I have no words to describe his loss,” Vijay Hangal told PTI. “He was a strong man…he has been a great support to me,” he said. Avtaar Veenit Kishan Hangal was born in a Kashmiri Pandit family in Sialkot and came to the city of dreams — then known as Bombay — at the age of 21. PT said he made an impressive mark as the old man who gets up and joins the troupe in the song Ghanan Ghanan, where he sang one line Kale Megha Kale Megha Pani To Barsao in Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan. The actor was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi cinema in 2006, was in the news last year for living a life in penury. Recently, he returned to face the studio lights after several years for TV series Madhubala, PTI said. REFERENCE: Legendary Indian actor Hangal dies in penury http://dawn.com/2012/08/27/legendary-indian-actor-hangal-dies-in-penury/ Veteran Indian actor A.K. Hangal dies at 95 http://dawn.com/2012/08/26/veteran-indian-actor-a-k-hangal-dies-at-95/
AK Hangal dies at 97, bigwigs skip funeral : Not a single big name from the film industry turned up for the cremation of veteran character actor A K Hangal on Sunday. The 97-year-old, a veteran of over 225 films, passed away early in the morning at Asha Parekh hospital in Vile Parle following a brief illness aggravated by a fracture of his thigh bone. Only character actors like Rakesh Bedi and Raza Murad and friends like Ila Arun were present for the last rites. But that didn't really matter to a man who had dedicated his life to theatre, cinema and social issues. Some theatre enthusiasts posted comments on social networking sites. One of these said that another acting academy had shut down. Hangal was one of the most endearing old men of the film industry with roles in Sholay, Namak Haram and Shaukeen. His one-liner from Sholay, 'Itna sannata kyon hain bhai', achieved cult status.
Sholay's Rahim Chacha had to depend on Bollywood for aid to fight illness. But the actor, who swore by leftist philosophy, believed that the state needs to accept the responsibilities of senior citizens. His son Vijay said, "My father was highly spirited and fought till the end. He survived even after life support was taken off." He added, "He even shot a small scene for the TV serial Madhubala despite his poor health. The moment the camera was switched on, his energy came back.'' Fashion designer Riyaz Gangji, who would visit the actor almost every day, said, "When I asked him if he wanted life support back, he said no.'' Hangal had walked the ramp for the designer last year. Murad said, "The actors would've come if a political party summoned them. But they didn't have an hour to spare to pay their last respects to the man who gave 50 years to the industry and worked with all top stars.'' Hangal started his film career rather late. The actor, who participated in the freedom movement, started off as a tailor. He got associated with actors like Balraj Sahni, Sardar Jafri and Kaifi Azmi, who persuaded him to act. He entered the film industry at the age of 50 with Basu Bhattacharya's Teesri Kasam.
Though new to the industry, he was not afraid to express his anger over Raj Kapoor walking onto the set late. Hangal was very vocal about his political views. He had faced a ban on his film career after the Shiv Sena objected to his attending a function organized by the Pakistan consulate in Mumbai in the 1990s. A Communist Party of India member, Hangal continued to renew his membership every year. Hangal acted in over 225 films in his film career spanning over four decades. He played the roles of a father, uncle or housekeeper to many a big star, including Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. He had cut down on acting for 10 years, but did small roles in Aamir Khan's Lagaan and Shah Rukh Khan's Paheli. The actor's financial condition became an issue with his health falling and his son Vijay having to stop work to look after his father. After reports about Hangal's poor financial condition, the information and broadcasting ministry announced a plan for health insurance of retired actors which has not yet materialized. Vijay said, "The industry's aid did help us pull through all his medical needs. Though film industry bigwigs were not there, his friends from IPTA and character actors attended the cremation. We are planning a condolence meeting at Prithvi Theatre at 4pm on Monday.'' AK Hangal dies at 97, bigwigs skip funeral TNN | Aug 27, 2012, 05.53AM IST http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/AK-Hangal-dies-at-97-bigwigs-skip-funeral/articleshow/15795100.cms
AK Hangal: Bal Thackeray once called him a traitor Hangal was drawn to Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in India. He started working with Balraj Sahni and Kaifi Azmi in IPTA. In his late 40s, Hangal was offered the part of Raj Kapoor's brother in 1966 film "Teesri Kasam" by director Basu Bhattacharya but his scenes were removed from the film. There was no looking back for him after that. He starred in over 200 films. His mostly played roles of father, uncle, grandfather or that of a meek and harassed old man, an image he could never get rid off. The veteran actor suffered a political backlash in 1993 when he applied for visa to visit his birthplace in Pakistan. He was invited and attended the Pakistan day celebrations by the consulate in Mumbai thereby incurring the wrath of the Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray took offence and called him a traitor. A call to boycott his films was made, his effigies were burnt and his scenes were deleted from films. He bounced back after two years with character roles in Amitabh Bachchan's home production "Tere Mere Sapne" and Aamir Khan's "Lagaan". He last shot for Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Paheli" in 2005.
He was awarded Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi cinema in 2006.
The actor was in news last year for living a life in penury. His son Vijay, a retired still cameraman in Bollywood, appealed for help after failing to meet Hangal's medical expenses. Several Bollywood celebrities like the Bachchans, producer-director Vipul Shah, and actors Mithun Chakraborty, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan came forward to help him. He returned to face the studio lights again recently after a gap of seven years for TV show 'Madhubala'. Having reached the sets on wheelchair, Hangal was not sure if he would be able to handle it physically. But he came in his elements once the cameras started rolling. He has a 74-year-old son Vijay with late wife Manorama. REFERENCE: AK Hangal: Bal Thackeray once called him a traitor PTI Aug 26, 2012, 11.05AM IST http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-26/news-interviews/33402013_1_bal-thackeray-tv-show-madhubala-mithun-chakraborty
Clarification: Let me clarify before I proceed that my criticism on Pakistani Media, Journalists, TV Channels and TV Anchors may please be taken as my opinion. I condemn Violence against anybody in strongest possible words. Differing with an opinion is one thing and supporting violence against anybody specifically the Journalists or Media is entirely different and is Totally Unacceptable. PERIOD. --- 26th June 2012 - Karachi: The terror group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the firing attack which left 2 people injured including a security guard in Karachi. In a sadistic statement issued over the phonecall to Aaj News, the TTP spokesperson said, “It is stated that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan accept the attack on Media Channel Aaj TV for the firing attack”. The spokesperson for TTP further said that this was due to the reason that the Jihadi Movement event was not given full coverage and they will continue further attacks if proper coverages are not provided. The dreadful incident rattled the media industry on Monday when Aaj TV office was targeted by four armed men who opened fire and fled the crime scene. The terrible incident resulted in two employees of the office being injured. The incident marked another attack on media with several questions raised. The attacks have been condemned by the President and the Primeminister. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, along with his condemnation, stated that proper measure would be taken to provide protection to media personnel within the country. The PM further ordered the apprehension of the miscreants by the earliest possible time. REFERENCE: Tehrik-e-Taliban claim responsibility for attack on Aaj TV By: Bilal Khan, Uploaded: 26th June 2012 http://www.aaj.tv/2012/06/tehrik-e-taliban-claim-responsibility-for-attack-on-aaj-tv/
2008: Whole bloody West was looking for al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid and other such absconders & Jang Group Geo Tv Reporters were interviewing him as if he was sitting in Cafe Khairabad near Jang Press, Karachi. How Ironic that Kamran Khan was not given the documents on Dr Arsalan but he ranted & he while sitting in Karachi telling tales on a subject whose even basic knowledge is lacked in every journalist what to talk of two bit Kamran Khan. Kamran Khan basically prepared case against Pakistan.
KARACHI: Senior al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid has claimed in an exclusive interview with Geo News that Pakistan has damaged the terrorist organisation more than any other country. The operational chief of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan also said that the recent attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad was conducted by his organisation. He also claimed that al-Qaeda was growing in strength in Afghanistan and would soon occupy the entire country. He strongly debunked the view that al-Qaeda was actually protecting American interests and said it carried out the 9/11 attacks on the US and that 19 of its supporters launched the devastating attacks. He added that many of his comrades were involved in training the hijackers. These comments were made in an interview with Najeeb Ahmed that was broadcast on Monday on Geo TV's Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Saath programme. This was the first detailed interview in five years of a senior al-Qaeda leader. The 53-year-old Mustafa Abu al-Yazid is also known by the name of Sheikh Saeed. He was born on Dec 17, 1955 in Egypt. In 1981, he was incarcerated for three years in connection with the assassination of the then Egyptian president Anwar Saadat. In 1988, he became a member of al-Qaeda and went to Afghanistan. Later, in 1991, he moved to Sudan where he worked for Osama bin Laden as an accountant. By 1996 he returned to Afghanistan and taken over the responsibility of handling al-Qaeda's finances. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had claimed his organisation's responsibility for Benazir Bhutto's assassination in Dec 2007. In his interview, Al-Yazid said the morale of fighters in Afghanistan is very high and they are putting up a tough fight against US troops. He said the resistance is gathering momentum and has become unstoppable. Listing the attacks launched by al-Qaeda, he took credit for the attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. He said the Karzai government would meet the same fate as other 'traitors'. There is no government that supports al-Qaeda as the rulers have sold their faith and by doing so they have put themselves beyond the pale of Islam. In his view, the government that has damaged the Mujahideen the most is Pakistan's. Pervez Musharraf first inflicted suffering on the Mujahideen of the neighbouring country. He claimed that it was because of the sacrifices of the Mujahideen that Russia was unable to enter Pakistan. Musharraf's men arrested and subjected them to violence and handed them over to the Americans. What is a bigger example of collaboration with the infidels than this? This is a crime that can never be forgotten, he said. According to him, it was a matter of great honour that his supporters launched an attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad. He congratulated his comrades for successfully executing this mission. He said they had picked a time to attack when there were no innocent Muslims in the vicinity. In any case, there was strict security around the embassy and it was not possible for ordinary Muslims to come near it. He said many eminent Islamic scholars have justified the practice of suicide bombing. The official Maulvis parrot those Fatwa that they are told to. He said the aim is to engage in direct combat but in many places it is not possible to reach the enemy. He maintained that it is not legitimate to target mosques in this way. He denied al-Qaeda's hand in the attack on Aftab Sherpao in a mosque, saying his supporters never target mosques. A statement to this effect was issued to the Pakistani press soon after the attack. He condemned violence near or inside mosques and said defending the sanctity of such places of worship is every Muslim's duty. He paid tributes to Khalid Sheikh and termed him a fearless person who the Muslim Ummah is proud of. He prayed that God's curse fall on the government that handed him over to the US. Reuters adds: The suicide bomber who carried out an attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad last month came from Makkah, an al-Qaeda leader said in a rare interview with Geo News. It was unclear, from what Yazid said, whether the embassy bomber was a Saudi, as many non-Saudis have settled in Makkah, or whether he had been recruited while visiting the city. Yazid said the bomber had come to join a Jihad in held Kashmir or Afghanistan, but became enraged by the publication of blasphemous cartoons in Danish newspapers in 2005. REFERENCE: Al-Qaeda commander claims responsibility for 9/11 attacks Wednesday, July 23, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=16144&Cat=13&dt=7/23/2008
AAJ News 2008 : Live with Talat - Allegations on Pakistan Scrapped Part 1
2012: Saudi Arabia helped India nab 26/11 handler Abu Jundal NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia has helped India with a major breakthrough in the probe into the 26/11 attacks by facilitating the arrest of Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, one of the key plotters of the Mumbai raid. Jundal, who directed Ajmal Kasab and other 26/11 attackers from the Lashkar control room, was picked up by the Saudi police, who put him on a New Delhi-bound flight after alerting the authorities here about their prize catch. The Lashkar terrorist , an Indian national wanted in many terror cases who was arrested on June 21, has since made the stunning claim that LeT chief Hafiz Saeed was present in the control room when the 26/11 masterminds choreographed the Mumbai attacks. He has also said that ISI and Pakistani army officials were involved in planning 26/11 and attended the meetings. After Kasab and David Headley, the arrest of Jundal is seen as the third major success in India's effort to unravel the 26/ 11 plot. Kasab's arrest was important since his Pakistani nationality exposed Islamabad's initial stubborn denial about involvement in the strike, and put paid to the plan to pin the blame on homegrown terrorists; even Hindu radicals. REFERENCE: Saudi Arabia helped India nab 26/11 handler Abu Jundal Neeraj Chauhan, TNN | Jun 26, 2012, 01.18AM IST http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Saudi-Arabia-helped-India-nab-26/11-handler-Abu-Jundal/articleshow/14396009.cms
AAJ News 2008 : Live with Talat - Allegations on Pakistan Scrapped Part 2
Tired of waiting for the US to help stem terrorist activities emanating from the Af-Pak borders, India has now belatedly turned to the Arab world to make common cause on the threat the Al Qaeda-Taliban combine poses to the region. Really, there couldn’t have been a better place to signal this shift than Saudi Arabia. So, Manmohan Singh’s visit last week, the first by an Indian prime minister in 28 years, came none too early. Rich in oil, flush with funds, and dominating the Islamic psyche ideologically and culturally, Saudi Arabia has helped tune Pakistani politics in the past—for instance, it played a crucial role in the return of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from exile. If Riyadh can’t persuade Islamabad to close the terror tap, the argument goes, no one can. The requisitioning of Saudi Arabia’s help to restrain Pakistan was much celebrated and commented upon in the Indian media. But lost in the obsession with Pakistan were some other aspects of the visit. The Riyadh Declaration, signed between Manmohan and King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, demonstrated significant changes in New Delhi’s approach to Palestine, Israel and Iran, marking what some call a shift in India’s West Asia policy. And Saudi Arabia reciprocated through a telling symbolic gesture—neither Manmohan’s wife Gursharan Kaur nor other women in the Indian delegation were required to do the mandatory hijab in their public engagements. Says a senior MEA official, “The Riyadh Declaration is one of the most significant policy statements by an Indian prime minister on West Asia. For the first time, India has commented on all the major issues before the Arabs—from Palestine to Iran to Iraq to Afghanistan.”
But first, the Pakistan-Afghanistan terror aspect. Reflecting Saudi perturbation at the infiltration of Al Qaeda into neighbouring Yemen and India’s concern at the sea-borne nature of the 26/11 attack, the Riyadh Declaration condemned terrorism and affirmed that “it is global and threatens all societies and is not linked to any race, colour or belief”. No talk of root causes here, no attempt to separate terrorism threatening Saudi Arabia from that plaguing India. True, the Riyadh Declaration does not name Pakistan; a third country is rarely mentioned in such declarations. But sources say the views exchanged in backroom parleys should comfort India. For one, the Saudis said the Pashtuns, because of their numerical preponderance, have to be an integral part of the solution in Afghanistan. But this does not mean, they insisted, that the Taliban are the only representatives of Pashtuns, who anyway shouldn’t allow the militant organisation to hijack the country’s political agenda. Again, no talk here of good Taliban and bad Taliban, demonstrating the similarity in India and Saudi’s perspectives. The Riyadh Declaration also expresses support for the “efforts aimed at helping Afghanistan develop its infrastructure and achieve social and economic development”—precisely what India is attempting there, and which Pakistan steadfastly opposes. In addition, sources say, Riyadh and other capitals in the Gulf realise there’s a growing “inter-connectivity” among terrorist groups—Lashkar-e-Toiba, Taliban or Al Qaeda—a view India has been articulating for years. But there are differences over what each sees as the causes underlying the political instability in Pakistan. The Saudis, though of the view that the political class there has not pulled its weight, is glad the army hasn’t intervened overtly. India, in contrast, thinks the army still calls the shots in Pakistan. Irrespective of this difference, sources say New Delhi wants the Saudis to “use their good offices” to help the military and political establishment in Pakistan see sense in stemming terror emanating from its soil.
Through the Riyadh Declaration, Manmohan has conveyed emphatically that India’s growing relationship with Israel —a cause of much worry in the region—wouldn’t be pursued at the expense of its traditional ties with Palestine. In doing so, though, Manmohan has been critical of Israel to an extent not seen in the recent past. Also, no prime minister in the last decade has been as supportive of the Palestinian issue as Manmohan.
Not only does the Riyadh Declaration call for resumption of the Middle East peace process in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 242 and 338 for a “two-state” solution, it also stresses upon the need to complete negotiations within a “timeframe”. In addition, it also calls for a “united and viable Palestine” and dubs the building of settlements by Israel in Palestinian territory as a “stumbling block for the peace process”. This formulation signals India accepting the Arab position—the West Bank under the Fatah and Gaza under the Hamas must not be treated separately at the time of granting sovereignty to Palestine.
No wonder the Palestinians are happy. The Palestinian ambassador in New Delhi, Adli Shaban Sadeq, told Outlook, “We appreciate it.” He says it should reverse the infiltration of the Indian political system by Israel, which has exploited the focus on global terrorism and the wounds inflicted on India itself through terror strikes. “But India’s reaffirmation on Palestine (which includes the views expressed by Manmohan during the recent visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to India) has surely put the issue to rest,” he says confidently.
The Riyadh Declaration also calls for making West Asia and the Gulf “free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction”. Though this could be perceived as raising serious concerns about Iran’s alleged “clandestine” nuclear weapons programme, it is also a swipe at the Israelis who have never declared their nuclear weapons. The call for a nuclear-free West Asia addresses the anxiety of the Sunni Arabs about a Shia power—and, simultaneously, expresses the region’s worry about Israel.
The Israelis, understandably, aren’t too happy, though they have refrained from making any official comments. Says an Israeli source, “From time to time Indian leaders have made such comments and we don’t see any significant shift in New Delhi’s stand on these issues. There are some changes in nuances, though.” In diplomacy, radical shifts are rare; nuances often mark the beginning of a shift. REFERENCE: DIPLOMACY: WEST ASIA Music In The Desert India warms up to the Arab world—vital in itself and in its effects PRANAY SHARMA MAR 15, 2010 http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264551
AAJ News 2008 : Live with Talat - Allegations on Pakistan Scrapped Part 3
25 December, 2008 and 2010: Saud Al-Faisal visits india to ease Indo Pak tension Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal will visit New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on bilateral, regional and international issues, said Muhammad Barri. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to visit Saudi Arabia early next year, sources in New Delhi told. Singh was set to visit Riyadh last month, but had to defer his plan due to prior commitments of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Amid the fresh chill in the Indo-Pak ties, Saudi Arabia`s Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal will be in Delhi on a brief visit on Friday during which New Delhi is expected to urge the influential Arab nation to use its influence on Islamabad to end cross-border terrorism. Al-Faisal will hold detailed talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee during which the Indian side is expected to share evidence about involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the November 26 Mumbai attacks. REFERENCE: Saud Al-Faisal visits india to ease Indo Pak tension 25 December, 2008 http://paktribune.com/news/Saud-Al-Faisal--visits-india-to-ease-Indo-Pak-tension-209305.html
AAJ News 2008 : Live with Talat - Allegations on Pakistan Scrapped Part 4
2010: What was the last mission of Khalid Khwaja? Hamid Mir Sunday, May 02, 2010 ISLAMABAD: The last mission of ex-ISI officer Khalid Khwaja failed but his assassination exposed many hidden secrets, including differences between the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban, and has put a spotlight on his highly complex underworld life, as a mediator, sometimes on behalf of the Americans, a power-broker, a mover and shaker besides an ardent Islamic preacher. Squadron Leader (retd) Khalid Khwaja had been playing an active behind-the-scene role in domestic politics of Pakistan for the last 22 years. He became an important international player 11 years ago when he first tried to establish direct links between the Kashmiri militants and the Clinton Administration but failed.
He had been trying to establish direct contacts between the USA and the Taliban for the last five years. He also tried to mediate between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban many times in the last two years but all his efforts failed due to lack of trust between him and the current military leadership of Pakistan. His known contacts with some former CIA officials and an American businessman Mansoor Ijaz also created problems for him. He was intelligent enough in maintaining links with Americans and their critics like Hameed Gul at the same time but unfortunately he could not anticipate the seriousness of his adversaries, who did not miss any opportunity to strike against friends and foes alike.
He was sacked from the ISI on the direct orders of General Ziaul Haq in 1987 but he remained active with the ISI even after his sacking. He was the right hand man of former DG ISI Hameed Gul in 1988 and played a significant role in the making of the anti-PPP political alliance, the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).
He claimed that he arranged a meeting between Osama bin Ladin and Nawaz Sharif in Saudi Arabia in 1989. He made this revelation just a few weeks before the dismissal of Nawaz Sharif government in 1999. Khalid Khwaja tried to convince Nawaz Sharif not to support Asif Zardari as president in August 2008 but the PML-N leader did not listen to him.
Khalid Khwaja was assassinated by a group of Punjabi Taliban on April 30 near Mir Ali in North Wazirastan. He was kidnapped on March 26 along with another former ISI official Col (retd) Ameer Sultan and a British born Pakistani filmmaker Asad Qureshi. An unknown group of Punjabi Taliban, with the name of Asian Tigers, alleged that Khalid Khwaja was working for the ISI and the CIA but that was not the main reason behind his killing.
A few weeks before his abduction, he met Taliban leader Waliur Rehman Mehsud in North Waziristan and handed over a list of some militants and alleged that they were working for Indian spy agencies. Within a few hours of that meeting, the vehicle of Waliur Rehman was attacked by a US drone but the Taliban commander survived. Waliur Rehman immediately informed the Punjabi Taliban to be careful about Khwaja, who then decided to trap him.
A spokesman for Punjabi Taliban hinted on Saturday that “charges against Col Imam are not strong and we may release him”. He also admitted that the Afghan Taliban were also putting pressure on the Punjabi Taliban to release the former ISI colonel.
While talking to this scribe on phone from North Waziristan, the spokesman reacted to the statement of Khalid Khwaja’s wife, who declared that her husband was a martyr because he was killed by some criminals.
The spokesman for the Punjabi Taliban said that both Mr and Mrs Khalid Khwaja played an active role in Lal Masjid tragedy in July 2007. They forced late Abdul Rashid Ghazi not to surrender but disappeared when the operation started.
Some friends of Khalid Khwaja, however, tell a different story. They say that Khwaja was arrested just a few days before the operation in Lal Masjid but they also admit that Khwaja was not supporting the surrender.
It is also learnt that Khalid Khwaja was investigated by a three-member committee of the militants for more than four weeks. Initially, Khwaja claimed that he had moved a petition in the Lahore High Court against the drone attacks along with former PML-N MNA Javed Ibrahim Paracha and he came to North Waziristan for recording the statements of drone victims to be produced in the court on April 6.
The militants confronted him as to why on the one hand he was opposing the drone attacks but on the other hand he was trying to establish contacts between the USA and the Taliban. The militants claimed that he arranged a meeting between US Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes and a religious cleric Javed Ibrahim Paracha in 2005 in Serena Hotel, Islamabad. They also produced some articles downloaded from the Internet and asked about his links with former CIA officials, James Woolsey and William Casey.
Khwaja had met these former CIA officials through an American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who was very close to the Bill Clinton administration. Ijaz played a key role in forcing the Sudanese government to expel Osama bin Ladin from Khartoum in 1996 and helped Khwaja to establish direct links between the Taliban and the Bush administration in October 1999 when he wanted Mulla Omar to meet James Woolsey to avert an American attack on Afghanistan. Mulla Omar refused to meet the then CIA leader.
Next year, Khalid Khwaja tried to fix a meeting between American businessman Mansoor Ijaz and Kashmiri militant leader Syed Salahuddin. Khwaja contacted Salahuddin through his friends in Jamaat-e-Islami and informed him that Mansoor Ijaz wanted to deliver a letter from Bill Clinton. Syed Salahuddin came to know that Mansoor Ijaz had meetings with Indian Army officials in Srinagar in early 2000 and also with then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He smelled a rat and refused to meet Mansoor Ijaz. Shortly after these attempts by Ijaz, a ceasefire was announced by a rebel Kashmiri militant commander Abdul Majid Dar in July 2000 but it failed. Majid Dar was assassinated after sometime in Kashmir.
Khalid Khwaja was arrested in 2002 after the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi. Khwaja had exchanged some e-mails with Pearl just a few days before his killing. Later, Marianne, the widow of Pearl, informed investigators that Pearl contacted Khwaja through Mansoor Ijaz and he only tried to help her husband in obtaining the contact numbers of some militants. Khwaja was released after a few weeks.
He surfaced again in 2005 when he gave an interview to a foreign newspaper and claimed that he was instrumental in arranging funds for a training camp established by a politician from Rawalpindi for Kashmiri militants. The same year he arranged a meeting of an MMA parliamentarian Shah Abdul Aziz, a religious leader from Kohat Javed Ibrahim Paracha and a pro-Taliban businessman Arif Qasmani with some top US officials, including Karen Hughes.
Javed Paracha confirmed that meeting to The News on Saturday and said that it was arranged by Khalid Khwaja. He said: “I was offered a huge amount of money for talking to the Taliban on behalf of the US government, but I told the Americans that first the Pakistan Army must give me a green signal and then I will proceed but Americans were acting on their own and the talks broke down.”
Javed Paracha also said that Khalid Khwaja came to his home on March 25 with Col Imam and a British journalist. Khawja wanted me to help him in his visit to North Waziristan. He said, “May be Khwaja was again trying to establish communication lines between the Americans and the Taliban but I received a clear message from Taliban that your friend is not welcome.”
Paracha claimed that he advised Khwaja not to go there. He said: “I also requested Col Imam not to take the risk. Col Imam was reluctant but Khwaja insisted and they left for Mir Ali against my advice.”
Both Javed Paracha and Khalid Khwaja had close relations with Lal Masjid clerics in 2007. Paracha met Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi along with then Federal Minister Ejazul Haq and requested them to surrender. Khalid Khwaja advised Lal Masjid clerics otherwise.
Khwaja became very active in August 2008 when he contacted PML-N leaders and asked them to file a petition against the participation of Asif Ali Zardari in the presidential election. According to PML-N leader Senator Pervez Rashid, “Khalid Khwaja offered us that Nawaz Sharif should file a petition against Zardari and he will manage a Supreme Court verdict against Zardari within 24 hours but we refused to play in the hands of Khwaja.”
Khwaja had played a very active role against the government of Nawaz Sharif in 1999. He claimed in front of some JUI-F leaders that Nawaz Sharif took money from Osama bin Ladin in 1989 and promised that he would not act against Arab militants after coming into power. Those were the days when Americans were putting pressure on Nawaz Sharif to start operations against the Arabs living in Pakistan. The JUI-F and the JI started a mass campaign against Nawaz Sharif and within a few weeks his government was toppled.
This scribe tried to confirm the claim of Khalid Khwaja from Osama bin Ladin in November 2001 but he never confirmed it. Khwaja told American TV channel ABC in November 2007 that he had arranged a meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Osama bin Ladin in the Green Palace Hotel of Madina in 1989 just a few weeks before the no-confidence move against Benazir Bhutto. Osama was reported to have agreed to provide him some money.
US officials investigated this claim from many al-Qaeda operators arrested after 9/11 but only one, Ali Muhammad, told the FBI that a meeting between the representatives of Osama and Nawaz Sharif took place long ago in Saudi Arabia. He never confirmed a direct meeting between the two. Osama bin Laden never liked these claims of Khalid Khwaja who always claimed to be a friend of Osama. Khwaja had no meeting with Osama bin Laden in the last 20 years but he always claimed to be a friend of Osama.
Khwaja and Shah Abdul Aziz met Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in early 2009. They convinced Baitullah to write a letter to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for a ceasefire. The Pakistan Army leadership never trusted Baitullah Mehsud and this effort failed.
Khalid Khwaja filed many petitions in superior courts in his last days. One of them was against the constitutional immunity for the president. His political role is still a mystery. His friends claim that he definitely had relations with some Americans but he was not a CIA agent.
Sources in the military establishment said that he had no mandate of the Pakistan Army for talking to the militants. Some sources said that Khalid Khwaja was used by the Pakistani establishment against Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto many times but he was not trusted in his last days.
The whole drama of his kidnapping and assassination exposed the internal differences of many Taliban groups. A powerful Taliban commander of North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, tried his best to rescue Khwaja but failed due to his limited influence in Mir Ali. This area is mostly populated by Dawars but these days Mir Ali is controlled by Mehsud militants who have provided sanctuaries to different groups of the Punjabi Taliban, including some Kashmiris, who have developed differences with Pakistani establishment after the ban on many outfits during the last few years. These disgruntled militants don’t listen to Hafiz Gul Bahadar and Sirajuddin Haqqani group, which is influential in the areas close to Miramshah. It is also interesting that these Punjabi Taliban have no respect for staunch US critics like General Aslam Beg and Hameed Gul just because they don’t support bomb blasts in Pakistan. REFERENCE: What was the last mission of Khalid Khwaja? Hamid Mir Sunday, May 02, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=28590&Cat=13&dt=5/2/2010
AAJ News 2008 : Live with Talat - Allegations on Pakistan Scrapped Part 5
2010: Taliban are in Punjab now — officially Umar Cheema Monday, May 17, 2010 ISLAMABAD: Though the provincial government is in a state of denial, the Punjab Police have officially admitted for the first time the movement of the Taliban, their network in district Jhang and southern Punjab and their fund-raising and recruitment drive in the province. The Jhang city police have filed an FIR, the first-ever in the Punjab, which is a severe indictment of the provincial government. The FIR No 320, registered under 11 F/7 Anti-Terrorist Act by the police itself on the basis of their human intelligence, depicts the grim realities of Talibanisation in the Punjab.
The criminal report filed against the district head of a defunct organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammad, discloses that Taliban commanders often come to the city on their way to southern Punjab as the network of Tehrik-e-Taliban is fast expanding in the region. SHO Kotwali Police Station (Jhang city) confirmed to The News the FIR, a copy of which is available with this correspondent, but was reluctant to go into the details. The DPO Jhang and the IG Punjab were not available for comments despite repeated calls and messages.
Jhang, the hotbed of sectarianism, is the hometown of the provincial police chief, Tariq Saleem Dogar. A recent World Bank report has found negligible development spending in the district, Rs 300 per person as compared to Lahore’s Rs 35,000 per person.
The Punjab government has always denied the presence of the Taliban network in the southern belt. The DG Rangers, who once dropped hint of their existence, was contradicted by provincial law minister, Rana Sanaullah, who had formed an electoral alliance with a defunct organisation in a by-election, ran campaign together with their top leader, and released the most dangerous sectarian militants as part of a deal.
The FIR and police intelligence reports indicate the Taliban are thriving in the region. The recruitment drive has also been launched recently in some religious schools. The FIR is registered against Dr. Imran, former head of Jaish-e-Mohammad in district Jhang, who has been accused of recently hosting a prominent Taliban commander carrying head money of Rs 10 million. It says Dr. Imran “runs the network of Tehreek-e-Taliban and Taliban would often come to see him on their way to other districts of South Punjab.” He has also been accused of involvement in fundraising.
The FIR is based on police intelligence that presents far more pessimistic picture than what has been reported in the FIR. The intelligence report indicates that the district head of Toba Tek Singh is a former gunman of Osama bin Laden and a driving force behind the network’s expansion in the southern belt. The Taliban commander mentioned in the FIR without name is Commander Qari Matiullah alias commander Abdul Samad, said a police officer.
According to the police intelligence, Taliban leaders frequent a number of seminaries in Jhang. An under-construction seminary in Jhang district serves as a meeting point of the Taliban leadership. Three other seminaries run by their sympathisers have launched a drive to recruit youth for training in the tribal area, says the report. Mentioning the discussion in a recent meeting held on May 1 in a seminary located in Jhang city, a police source said the religious leaders who spoke on the occasion urged the need for reviving the spirit of 1985 when a war was fought against the Afghan rulers. Jhang and other districts of central and South Punjab are now the main target of Taliban, said a police officer who cited under-development as the reason why such networks thrive. A recent World Bank report has found that the southern belt is the last priority in terms of development by the Punjab government as neither it is ready for fighting militancy nor investing in development. A Taliban sympathiser, however, claimed that Taliban are fighting against the killers of innocent people. He said innocent people were being killed in the name of war against terror. He said anyone whose mother or children were killed was bound to take up weapons. He said Taliban were not terrorists but wanted implementation of Sharia laws. REFERENCE: Taliban are in Punjab now — officially Umar Cheema Monday, May 17, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=28885&Cat=13&dt=5/17/2010
AAJ News 2008 : Live With Talat-Background of Mumbai Fraud Part 3
2009: How an ex-Army commando became a terrorist Hamid Mir Sunday, September 20, 2009 ISLAMABAD: Once he was a blue-eyed boy of President General Pervez Musharraf. He got a cash award from the president for slitting the throat of an Indian Army officer in the year 2000 but after 9/11, he became a suspected terrorist. This terrorist was Ilyas Kashmiri, reportedly killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan last week. US officials claimed that Ilyas Kashmiri was a senior al-Qaeda commander and his death was a huge loss for the militants fighting against the foreign forces in Afghanistan. Very few people know that Ilyas Kashmiri was a former SSG commando of Pakistan Army. He was originally from Kotli area of Azad Kashmir. He was deputed by Pakistan Army to train the Afghan Mujahideen fighting against the Russian Army in mid-80s. He was an expert of mines supplied to Afghan Mujahideen by the US. He lost one eye during the Jihad against Russian invaders and later on he joined Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami of Maulvi Nabi Muhammadi.
Ilyas Kashmiri was based in Miramshah area of North Waziristan where he was working as an instructor at a training camp. After the withdrawal of Russian Army from Afghanistan, Ilyas Kashmiri was asked by Pakistani establishment to work with Kashmiri militants. He joined the Kashmir chapter of Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami in 1991. After a few years, he developed some differences with the head of HuJI Qari Saifullah Akhtar.
Ilyas Kashmiri created his own 313 Brigade in HuJI. He was once arrested by Indian Army from Poonch area of Indian held Kashmir along with Nasrullah Mansoor Langrial. He was imprisoned in different Indian jails for two years and finally he escaped from there after breaking the jail. His old friend Langrial is still imprisoned in India.
Ilyas Kashmiri became a legend after escaping from the Indian jail. It was 1998 when the Indian Army started incursions along the Line of Control and killed Pakistani civilians many times by crossing the border. Ilyas Kashmiri was given the task to attack the Indians from their back. He did it many times.
Indian Army killed 14 civilians on February 25, 2000 in Lonjot village of Nakial in Azad Kashmir. Indian commandos crossed the LoC, spent the whole night in a Pakistani village and left early morning. They slit the throats of three girls and took away their heads with them. They also kidnapped two local girls. The next morning, the heads of the kidnapped girls were thrown towards Pakistani soldiers by the Indian Army.
The very next day of this massacre, Ilyas Kashmiri conducted a guerilla operation against the Indian Army in Nakyal sector on the morning of February 26, 2000. He crossed the LoC with 25 fighters of the 313 Brigade. He surrounded a bunker of Indian Army and threw grenades inside. After one of his fighters Qudratullah lost his life, he was able to kidnap an injured officer of the Indian Army. That was not the end. He slit the throat of the kidnapped officer.
He came back to Pakistan with the head of the dead Indian Army officer in his bag and presented this head to top Army officials and later on to the then Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf, who gave him a cash award of rupees one lakh.
The pictures of Ilyas Kashmiri with the head of a dead Indian Army officer in his hands were published in some Pakistani newspapers and he became very important among the Kashmiri militants. Maulana Zahoor Ahmad Alvi of Jamia Muhammadia, Islamabad, issued a fatwa in support of slitting the throats of Indian Army officers. Those were the days when Corps Commander, Rawalpindi, Lt Gen Mehmood Ahmad, visited the training camp of Ilyas Kashmiri in Kotli and appreciated his frequent guerilla actions against the Indian Army.
His honeymoon with the Pakistan Army generals was over after the creation of Jaish-e-Muhammad. Gen Mehmood wanted Ilyas Kashmiri to join JeM and accept Maulana Masood Azhar as his leader but the one eyed militant refused to do so. The militants of JeM once attacked the training camp of Ilyas Kashmiri in Kotli but he survived that attack. His outfit was banned by Musharraf after 9/11. He was arrested after an attack on the life of Pervez Musharraf in December 2003. He was tortured during the interrogation.
The United Jihad Council led by Syed Salahuddin strongly protested the arrest of Ilyas Kashmiri and on the pressure of Kashmiri militants, Ilyas Kashmiri was released in February 2004. He was a shattered man after his release. He disassociated himself from the Kashmiri militants and remained silent for at least three years.
It was the Lal Masjid operation in July 2007, which totally changed Ilyas Kashmiri. He moved to North Waziristan where he spent many years as a Jihad instructor. This area was full of his friends and sympathisers. He reorganized his 313 Brigade and joined hands with the Taliban but he was never close to al-Qaeda leadership. He attracted many former Pakistan Army officers to join hands with him. The strength of 313 Brigade in North Waziristan was more than 3,000. Most of his fighters were hired from the Punjab, Sindh and Azad Kashmir.
It is alleged that he organised many terrorist attacks in different areas of Pakistan, including the assassination of Major General (retd) Faisal Alvi in Rawalpindi. Alvi was also from the SSG and he led the first-ever Army operation in North Waziristan in 2004.
Kashmiri planned attacks on Alvi on the demand of Taliban in North Waziristan. Sources close to his family have yet not confirmed his death in a US drone attack but there is no doubt that Ilyas Kashmiri was actually a creation of the Pakistani establishment like Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi of the banned LeT.
The Pakistani establishment abandoned and arrested most of these militant leaders without realising that they had followers all over Pakistan and they could create problems for Pakistan anytime. The establishment is still without any policy about all those who were once declared “freedom fighters” and were honored by the top Army officials like Pervez Musharraf. REFERENCE: How an ex-Army commando became a terrorist Hamid Mir Sunday, September 20, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24626&Cat=13&dt=9/20/2009
AAJ News 2008 : Live With Talat-Background of Mumbai Fraud Part 4
2009: Who is Ilyas Kashmiri? Friday, October 02, 2009 Colnel (r) Imam Ex-SSG officer This is with reference to Hamid Mir's report (Sept 20) titled "How an ex-commando became a terrorist". It is total disinformation -- Ilyas Kashmiri neither had any association with the SSG nor did he serve in the army as a soldier. Being an ex-commando officer, I know that the SSG never indulges in such heinous crimes. It's a superior professional force of the army composed of responsible officers and men who carry out professional tasks. I would like to add that there is always an attempt by hostile agencies to defame the security forces of Pakistan with a malicious intent. Therefore, newspapers and columnists must refrain from falling prey to these fifth columnists. REFERENCE: Who is Ilyas Kashmiri? Friday, October 02, 2009 Colnel (r) Imam Ex-SSG officer, Rawalpindi http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=201054&Cat=11&dt=10/2/2009
AAJ News 2008 : Live With Talat-Background of Mumbai Fraud Part 5
Friendly journalists: The ties between the military and the media are strong. The military often use the media to protect its hold on the giant corporate empire which it has built. In the 1980s the military did this through open censorship. Since the 1990s it has evolved subtler ways. It controls almost all access to big stories, and has therefore been able to raise a corps of "friendly" journalists who now control most key jobs in Pakistani media due to their "contacts". President Zardari's supporters suggest the media could have made up the story of the ISI cancelling its trip to the UK in order to spark an anti-Zardari campaign, which intensified as the scale of the flood damage became clear. REFERENCE: Criticism of Zardari in Pakistan hides a political game By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad 7 August 2010 Last updated at 15:10 GMT http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10901583
Take no side, tell all sides: As Reuters journalists, we never identify with any side in an issue, a conflict or a dispute. Our text and visual stories need to reflect all sides, not just one. This leads to better journalism because it requires us to stop at each stage of newsgathering and ask ourselves "What do I know?" and "What do I need to know?" In reporting a takeover bid, for example, it should be obvious that the target company must be given an opportunity to state their position. Similarly in a political dispute or military conflict, there are always at least two sides to consider and we risk being perceived as biased if we fail to give adequate space to the various parties. This objectivity does not always come down to giving equal space to all sides. The perpetrator of an atrocity or the leader of a fringe political group arguably warrants less space than the victims or mainstream political parties. We must, however, always strive to be scrupulously fair and balanced. Allegations should not be portrayed as fact; charges should not be conveyed as a sign of guilt. We have a duty of fairness to give the subjects of such stories the opportunity to put their side. We must also be on guard against bias in our choice of words. Words like "claimed" or "according to" can suggest we doubt what is being said. Words like "fears" or "hopes" might suggest we are taking sides. Verbs like rebut or refute (which means to disprove) or like fail (as in failed to comment) can imply an editorial judgment and are best avoided. Thinking about language can only improve our writing and our journalism. REFERENCE: Reuters Handbook of Journalism http://handbook.reuters.com/extensions/docs/pdf/handbookofjournalism.pdf
Dawn News shamelessly accepts advertisement from Bahria Town
Talat Hussain and Hameed Haroon and Rental DawnNews are expert in performing fellatio . General Pervez Musharraf was invited to Dawn by Hameed Haroon in May 2007 whereas Musharraf was a key culprit of 12 May 2007 Tragedy in Karachi.
Ali Aftab Saeed: Journalist, columnist, director/producer, actor, documentary maker; Ali Aftab Saeed is one multi-talented individual. His experience in main stream media production and journalism goes back 7 years. Apart from all these, Saeed also has a knack for writing witty lyrical compositions. This, paired with his passion for singing was what gave birth to the much acclaimed band Beyghairat Brigade. How often do we read the news and consider it to be fact? Using examples from daily news; Ali Aftab divides headlines into 3 typical categories and explains the importance of thinking before believing.
8/Jan/2012: In a detailed front page story of The News on Sunday, Ansar Abbasi asks, ‘How did Musharraf become a billionaire?’ http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-30227-How-did-Musharraf-become-a-billionaire?- While questions about the source of Gen Musharraf’s personal fortune are legitimate, they typically focus on public information – how was he able to afford his London home? What is his current source of income? But Ansar Abbasi points to new information about Musharraf’s personal wealth, and it is not only the information, but how Ansar Abbasi was able to access it that raises troubling questions. In his article, Ansar Abbasi spends no less than nine paragraphs listing details of Gen Musharraf’s personal accounts with banks and trading accounts in UAE. Not only does Ansar Abbasi list the amounts each account contains, but the account numbers themselves. All of this information is attributed, as usual, to “a source”.
Musharraf has announced that he will return to Pakistan http://dawn.com/2012/01/08/musharraf-plans-trip-to-saudi-to-rally-support-sources/ this month to participate in the next parliamentary elections. The question must be asked who would have access to such private financial information as overseas bank accounts, including their account numbers and amounts? And why would those with access to this information be interested in revealing it to Ansar Abbasi? Is it merely a coincidence that Ansar Abbasi’s “source” has revealed this information at this time? Or is Abbasi’s article intended as blackmail to prevent a politician from participating in elections?
This blog has no way of knowing whether the information provided by Ansar Abbasi is true or false. If it is true, we also have no way of knowing where the money came from – whether from looting the national treasury as seems to be implied by the article, or from legitimate sources such as book sales and speaking fees. It is in the public interest to know that politicians are not building personal wealth through corruption, but it is also in the public interest to know how such private information becomes public. Ansar Abbasi does not need to reveal the name of his anonymous source, but it may be in the public interest to know whether his source is an employee of the bank – which is the bank’s concern, or an employee of some other organization – which may be a concern to democracy. REFERENCE: How did Ansar Abbasi get access to Musharraf’s private accounts? http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2012/01/08/how-did-ansar-abbasi-get-access-to-musharrafs-private-accounts/
The Jang Group has become so obsessed with quickly seeing the back of the government and is probably salivating so much over the prospects of threatened long marches that sometimes it gets muddled up in its excitement... This is the heading from yesterday's daily Jang about Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani trying to reassure people - dreading a government-Supreme Court showdown in court today (October 13) - that nothing bad would happen. The headline reads: "13 March Ko Kuchh Nahin Hoga..." [Nothing will happen on March 13...]. REFERENCE: Crap All Round WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010 http://cafepyala.blogspot.com/2010/10/crap-all-round.html
(Courtesy: Mr. Maaz Abdullah)
One question that should be asked and is being ignored “who aired the news” and CJ “orders” government to find out about the news According to a notification released by the SC, directors of three local TV channels and Chairman Pemra, Mushtaq Ahmed, were informed by a notice to be present at the hearing. The full court will only do the hearings of judges’ restoration notification on 18th October. While other benches will proceed with their normal hearings. -DawnNews SC hearing for restoration notification on 18 Oct Saturday, 16 Oct, 2010 http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/06-sc-hearing-for-restoration-notification-on-18-oct-rs-01
“The burden of proof is upon the plaintiff and the taking of oath is upon the defendant.” (Al-Bayhaqi)”
Guilty by Suspicion is against the Spirit of Islamic Law because when you raise finger then it’s the responsibility of those who allege to produce witness. Benefit of doubt is always given to those who is under trial.
The burden of proof is upon the plaintiff, and the oath is upon the one who is accused (Tirmidhi)
Therefore the ruler is forbidden from imposing a penalty on anyone, unless they perpetrate a crime which Shari’ah considers to be a crime, and the perpetration of the crime has been proven before a competent judge in a judiciary court, because the evidence could not be admissible unless it is established before a competent judge and in a judiciary court.
Jang Group is master of Spreading Rumors.
ISLAMABAD: Terming the headline —’CJs express concern over judges security; threats from admin’ — of a news report, regarding the security related meeting, that appeared in The News on Sunday as misleading, the Supreme Court office, in its press release issued here, has clarified the same as under: “It is clarified that the above-mentioned caption is misleading in so far as it gives the impression that the judges of the Superior Courts have direct clear threats from administrative officials, which is not the true reflection of the issue discussed in the above mentioned meeting nor the press release issued in this regard refers to any such threats. In fact, the meeting discussed the security related situation in view of the purported information ‘emanating from administrative authorities’ in relation to the alleged plot to target the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Lahore High Court as mentioned in the report of the Special Branch of the Government of Punjab. “Unfortunately, your above-mentioned captions portray the totally different message as if the Hon’ble judges of Superior Courts are being threatened by the administrative officials, which is not the case. It is expected that an appropriate clarification may please be published prominently, preferably at the same spot on the front pages of the two newspapers in order to set the record straight.” REFERENCE: SC clarification Monday, September 20, 2010 Shawwal 10, 1431 A.H. http://www.thenews.com.pk/20-09-2010/Top-Story/712.htm
Watch in the video below, Abbas Ather reveals without naming that it was a newspaper (Jang Group’s (Geo TV’s) newspaper The News) which had first spread a false rumour about the denotification of the Supreme Court judges on 19 January 2010. Try to search that news item via Google. And lo and behold. There is actually a news story in The News on that date. But there is a small problem here. The story has been removed from The News website; most probably very recently. No plan to withdraw judges' restoration notification - 19 Jan 2010 ... ISLAMABAD: There is no plan to withdraw the notification issued on March 17, 2009 for the restoration of deposed judges, including Chief ... http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=26750&Cat=13&dt=1/19/2010
Abbas Ather’s conversation with Asma Jahangir in today’s Column Kaar (16 October 2010)- Part 1
Why? The reason is simple. The Supreme Court has ordered an inquiry to investigate those who created and disseminated the rumour; the court has asked Geo TV / Jang Group to produce their record as a part of that inquiry. By removing a culpable piece of evidence, Geo TV / Jang Group are trying to play smart. Ain’t they? However, we have been able to retrieve the removed story (which was reported by none other than the Ansar Abbasi / Muhammad Saleh Zaafir duo) from another website [Pakistan Tribune] http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?223604 (which thankfully copy-pasted this report from The News):
Hamid Mir twisting the facts in Jang, 17 October 2010, claiming that the government did not refute the rumour at any stage; he is also adamant that the Jang Group will not reveal its sources Sunday, October 17, 2010, Zi Qad 08, 1431 A.H http://jang.com.pk/jang/oct2010-daily/17-10-2010/main2.htm
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani refused to cancel the notification for the restoration of deposed judges more than once in last 9 months. The prime minister mentioned this option on the floor of the National Assembly some months back but many of his cabinet ministers advised him not to speak on this issue again because they thought any discussion on this option in the National Assembly might destroy the whole system, luckily sanity prevailed and then prime minister adopted the policy of reconciliation with judiciary. This reconciliation policy later never worked because government was reluctant to implement the SC verdict in the NRO case. Some close aides of President Asif Ali Zardari discussed the possibility of de-notifying restored judges not only with the prime minister many times but they also discussed this option with some top lawyers of the country and that was how this “consultation “became a hot story in the capital first time 9 months ago. This option was again discussed by some close aides of President Zardari on October 12 and after knowing about this development many well informed journalists of Islamabad tried to verify this story from different government sources but nobody was ready to say anything on the record.
However, off the record the government ministers are and have been involved in hectic whispering campaign to malign the judiciary and to give the impression as if it is divided. One federal minister even tried to sell the story to some journalists privately last week that more than 6 judges of the Supreme Court might differ with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the verdict of 18th Amendment case. This minister claimed that some judges were in the “contact “of the government. When he was asked why government was trying to establish secret contacts with judges like the government of Pervez Musharraf did in 2007, the minister just smiled and said, “Only time will tell you that we are different from Musharraf and we will give you ‘shocking surprises”.
Another minister confirmed, “Yes, some people advised us to consider withdrawing the executive order as a last option only if Supreme Court decides to take action against the prime minister under contempt of court. He, however, claimed that there was no threat from judiciary in the evening of October 14 and said, “We don’t know why some journalists claimed that government have decided to sack some judges”. This story was first reported in The News on January 19 2010 by Aslam Khan. Again Mohammad Malick mentioned it as a “plan to take extreme measure of withdrawing executive order reinstating judges” on September 25 2010 in the same newspaper but nobody from the government issued any clarification or denied the claim made by a senior journalist who often meets the president and the prime minister.
Latif Khosa while talking to “The News “claimed on Saturday evening, “Nobody in the government thought even for a second to de-notify the restored judges” but despite his claims some PPP ministers and close aides of President Zardari are still talking against judiciary privately. Their private conversations with media are enough for understanding the “real thinking” and possible designs of their leaders about judiciary. After the latest jolt, the government is now trying to feed the media persons with all kinds of stories. One lawyer very close to President Zardari now blames some judges for leaking information to media because according to him the same judges were contacted by the PPP stalwarts. The fact, however, remained that none of the judges was there for sale and not even one single soul in the superior judiciary was ready to become part of a conspiracy against Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Caught napping, the PPP sources now fear that some of the judges, contacted by the government, might have informed the chief justice about the “attempts “made for changing their loyalty and therefore, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said clearly on Thursday in the court, “Media is not telling any lie I know that this story is correct”. Reliable sources are claiming that judges were aware about the government plan to withdraw the judges’ notification even before this story appeared in media and that was why they moved very swiftly. Another reason for moving swiftly was that the judges had past experience in their view when Musharraf imposed emergency and deposed judges despite categorical assurances by the aides of the former dictator that no such action was planned.
Upset with the situation, now the top aides of the Presidency have started giving new twists to the whole episode to malign the judiciary. According to many legal experts, the prime minister can give a relief to the whole nation by assuring the court in writing that government will not withdraw the notification for the restoration of deposed judges. It is evident that all those who were suggesting Prime Minister Gilani to de-notify the restored judges are now advising him not to send a signed statement to the Supreme Court on Monday. One “legal eagle” of the government said, “The prime minister issued clarification on Thursday night; it was enough now you cannot treat the prime minister of the country like a section officer”. Federal Law Minister Senator Babar Awan insisted in a conversation with The News on Saturday evening that the story about the cancellation of judge’s notification was “disinformation” but he confirmed his routine contacts with some judges as a law minister. He claimed, “Nothing against the chief justice was discussed with any other judge because I am not Sharifudin Pirzada, PM Gilani is not like Shaukat Aziz and President Zardari is not like Pervez Musharraf”. Meanwhile, senior journalists of capital decided that whether it is govt enquiry committee or judiciary, they would never disclose their sources in accordance with the established basic norm. They agreed that if they were called, they would say that they reported what they were being told by the government. REFERENCE: Why did the judiciary move so swiftly? Hamid Mir Sunday, October 17, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-1364-Why-did-the-judiciary-move-so-swiftly
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No plan to withdraw judges’ restoration notification The News Tuesday January 19, 2010 (1035 PST)
ISLAMABAD: There is no plan to withdraw the notification issued on March 17, 2009 for the restoration of deposed judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, said an important minister. He was responding to a question of this correspondent about reports that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition government was planning to technically knock out the judiciary in a ‘democratic way’.
But according to sources, the tug of war between the Pakistan People’s Party and the judicial echelon is not yet over. The PPP-led coalition government is planning to deal with the judiciary in a ‘democratic way’. The defiance strategy focuses on the use of constitutional means to make the judiciary toothless and powerless, said a highly reliable source.
However, the important minister who was initially reluctant to respond saying he was not the relevant person to talk on this issue, agreed to express his opinion after told that no other official was available. He said such reports were totally false and whatever steps the government would take would be in accordance with the law and Constitution. He said a propaganda campaign was being launched against the government to mislead the people. He said there may be such a proposal from any quarters, but the government had never committed violation of the Constitution. The government has not done anything which may offend the judiciary, he said, adding every proposal is thoroughly examined by the Presidency and the Prime Minister House and there is no chance that such a proposal can find any favourable response there.
But according to sources, President Asif Ali Zardari has made the PPP to use democracy and constitutionalism as its weapons to fight back. Initially, resilient Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was also given a go-ahead signal on December 19, 2009 to make his allegiance to the president public after his meeting with Zardari. On the same day, the meeting of the PPP Central Executive Committee ended with a defiant mood. Heated speeches in the meeting considered SC decision “as part of a conspiracy”, informed sources said. The source also revealed that the appointment of Dr Babar Awan as law minister is part of the strategy to fight back judiciary with an executive push. Rescinding government notification and introducing a new ordinance protecting NAB beneficiaries are the options to be used by in coming days to put pressure on the Supreme Court.
Under the same procedural defiance strategy, another highly-placed source said the government intends to withdraw the notification of March 17, 2009 through which the deposed judges of the superior judiciary were restored to the November 2, 2007 position.
The source disclosed that by withdrawing the notification of March 17, 2009, the Presidency believes that the office of the chief justice will fall vacant, so neither any bench could be constituted nor could be any stay order issued until the appointment of a new chief justice.
On March 17, 2009, the Law Ministry had issued two separate notifications and Law Secretary Justice Agha Rafiq had read out the notifications in a press conference.
The first notification stated:
“Whereas the prime minister of Pakistan was pleased to announce on 16th day of March, 2009 that the deposed judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, including Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the deposed chief justice of Pakistan, shall be restored to the position they were holding immediately before 3rd day of November, 2007.
“Now therefore, the president of Pakistan is pleased to restore Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the deposed chief justice of Pakistan to the position he was holding immediately before 3rd day of November, 2007. Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will assume office of chief justice of Pakistan on 22nd March, 2009, after retirement of Mr Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Chief Justice of Pakistan on 21st March, 2009.”
The second notification announced on same day stated:-
“The prime minister of Pakistan was pleased to announce on 16th day of March, 2009 that the deposed judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, including Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan, shall be restored to the position they were holding immediately before 3rd day of November, 2007:
“Now, therefore, the President of Pakistan is pleased to restore the above mentioned deposed judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts to the position they were holding immediately before 3rd day of November, 2007. These judges will assume their office with immediate effect.”
The source has confided that Law Ministry will be playing a pivotal role in the new strategy. Hence, it was important to replace Afzal Sindhu with Dr Babar Awan as law minister. The NAB beneficiaries in the government ganged together in ousting veteran PPP leader Afzal Sindhu. “Muhammad Afzal Sindhu, a veteran PPP leader having the distinction of being a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee during the days of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is a respected lawyer and constitutional philosopher and was unlikely to agree to being part of this dirty game plan, hence he was sent to the Ministry of Railways last month,” the sources pointed out.
Secondly, under the same strategy the government will not take any step for reopening of cases in the Swiss court as was directed by the Supreme Court in its short order declared the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) void ab initio,” pointed out the source.
According to the source, had the government been serious in implementation of the Supreme Court, there was no need to wait for the detail judgment.
Thirdly, he said, the government has not appointed Justice (Retd) Khalilur Rehman Ramday as ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court as recommended by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Advice of the chief justice was shelved by Law Ministry.
The recent spree of aggressive statements by Mr Zardari and PPP leadership is in a wake of being not sure about how army may react if SC throws ‘NAB beneficiaries’ out in a bid to make Pakistan corruption free and ensure that corruption is rooted out of society.
They are confident that their aggressive posture will make the military to refuse abiding by the Supreme Court order in case Article 190 of the Constitution is invoked by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the source elaborated.
It may be recalled that Article 190 has so far been invoked only twice and on both the occasions, the military sided with the executive instead of abiding by the orders of the chief justice. He recalled that when Justice Sajjad Ali Shah had invoked Article 190 as chief judge, the-then chief of army staff Gen Jehangir Karamat had forwarded the court order to the Ministry of Defence for further process and hence the military defied the court order because Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif held the portfolio of the minister for defence at that time.
On the second occasion, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the state machinery including the corps and formation commanders of the Army on November 3, 2007 not to abide by any unconstitutional order of Gen Pervez Musharraf. But the Army defied the court order and a new Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) was issued by Musharraf, imposing martial law on the pretext of emergency, which was also described as emergency plus.
The source said that top advisers of the rulers are currently weighing all the available options but majority of them believes that there is no provision in the constitution for the restoration of a chief justice and the executive order through which the judges were restored could be withdrawn anytime.
It is, however, pertinent to recall here that the federal law secretary, while reading out the two notifications of March 17, 2009, had said as all the deposed judges were reinstated to the position of November 2, 2007, they were not required to take fresh oath. REFERENCE: No plan to withdraw judges' restoration notification 19 Jan 2010 ... http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=26750&Cat=13&dt=1/19/2010 ISLAMABAD: There is no plan to withdraw the notification issued on March 17, 2009 for the restoration of deposed judges, including Chief ... www.thenews.com.pk/print3.asp?id=26750 No plan to withdraw judges’ restoration notification Tuesday January 19, 2010 (1035 PST) http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?223604 Breaking News: The News (Jang Group) removes its 19 January 2010 false story to escape legal action 16 October 2010 http://criticalppp.com/archives/26153
End.
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OLD HABITS DIE HARD
MUHAMMAD SALEH ZAAFIR, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT OF JANG GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS/GEO TV & CONTEMPT OF COURT - ISLAMABAD: The 13-member full court of the Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the unconditional apology of a newsman for filing a report pertaining to the alleged preparation of references against four senior judges of the said bench. Following is the text of the order issued by the 13-member full court of the Supreme Court after unconditional apology by journalist Muhammad Saleh Zaafir:
“Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, editor special reporting of daily Jang and The News, has entered appearance on our call in connection with the news items appearing in the Rawalpindi edition of the daily ‘Jang’ and daily ‘The News’ on 11th June, 2007, regarding some references being made against four senior hon’ble judges of this Court who, presumably also happen to be the members of this bench. The said news item appeared to be open to further serious exception because such a news item had been published, more than boldly, on the front pages of the said two newspapers on the day when the bench was expected to announce its decision on the maintainability of the petition filed in this court questioning the presidential reference against the chief justice of Pakistan. It may be added that certain insinuation have been made in the said news items pointing towards some alleged misconduct committed by the four un-named senior judges of this Court.
2. Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, who is the reporter of the said news items, when confronted with the same, frankly and honestly conceded that he had made no effort to verify the veracity of the allegations levelled in the said news items before publishing the same nor did he have any proof in support of the contents thereof. He, however, added at the very outset that he had utmost regards and respect for not only the said hon’ble judges of this Court but for the entire judiciary; that he did not have even an iota of doubt about their integrity and character and that reporting the said news items was a grave mistake on his part.
3. He tendered verbal unconditional apologies in open Court and also placed on record his statement to the above noted effect, in writing.
4. The regrets offered by Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, reporter/editor, appear to be sincere and the remorse expressed by him appears to be genuine. In this view of the matter, we do not consider it necessary to proceed with the matter any further except warning him to be careful in future.
5. On our call, Muhammad Afzal Butt, president of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists, also entered appearance for assistance.
6. The reporting of the proceedings which have taken place in Court in connection with the matter in question shall be made only to the extent that the apology tendered by the said Muhammad Saleh Zaafir shall be published in full and so would be published this order passed thereon. The daily ‘Jang’ and daily ‘The News’, which have published the news items in question, shall publish the apology and this order, prominently, on their front pages. Muhammad Saleh Zaafir undertakes to do the same and has been ordered accordingly.”
Meanwhile, the following is the text of unconditional apology tendered by Muhammad Saleh Zaafir before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
“I, Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, do hereby tender an unconditional apology to the hon’ble court in relation to the contents of the story that appeared in daily The News/daily Jang on June 11, 2007.
“I have been directed by the hon’ble court to submit any proof in relations to the contents of the said items. I would humbly submit that I have no proof whatsoever in relation to the matter discussed in the said story.
“I keep this hon’ble court in the highest esteem and respect. I can never ever think of bringing about a bad name to the hon’ble court or to any learned judge of the hon’able court. I would submit that I can never think of committing contempt of this hon’ble court.
“I undertake to be careful in future and am ashamed for the publication of the story. I would humbly seek pardon in relation to the grievous lapse. “I pray to the hon’ble court that no further action may kindly be proceeded in relation to the matter. I would entreat that my unconditional apology may graciously be accepted.” REFERENCES: SC warns newsman, accepts apology Wednesday, June 13, 2007 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=8458&Cat=13&dt=6/13/2007 Reporter apologises to SC for ‘baseless report’ Wednesday, June 13, 2007 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=20076\13\story_13-6-2007_pg7_3
REAL FACE OF GEO TV/Jang Group of Newspapers & The News International
LAHORE: Iftikhar Ahmed, the host of Geo TV show ‘Jawabdeh’, resigned on Sunday after the channel administration refused to air an interview with former Pakistan Television managing director Shahid Masood. The interview was recorded last week and was being advertised in the group’s The News and Jang newspapers. On Sunday, the Geo TV administration seized the original recording and declined to run it. Iftikhar Ahmed told Aaj Kal he was being pressured to censor parts of the interview but he did not compromise on principles and resigned. aaj kal report REFERENCE: Geo ‘Jawabdeh’ host Iftikhar Ahmed resigns in protest Monday, November 17, 2008 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\11\17\story_17-11-2008_pg7_34
Correspondents of The News International/Jang Group/GEO TV often fight with each other
ISLAMABAD: Top constitutional expert and former chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim has said that he met President Asif Ali Zardari before the hearing of the NRO case on the request of Chairman Senate Farooq H Naek who wanted to seek legal guidance on NRO and his meeting was never secret, known to everyone and he never gave any assurance to President Zardari on any possible court verdict. Justice Fakhruddin, generally known as Fakhro Bhai, has written a letter to the president and the prime minister to set the record straight after reports that President Zardari had told his PPP parliamentarians that a former judge had trapped him not to defend the NRO in the Supreme Court. Zardari did not name the judge but it was widely speculated that it was Justice Fakhruddin G Ibrahim. In his letter he said senior journalist Hamid Mir was also witness to the whole developments in this regard. Hamid Mir while talking to The News also confirmed that no secret meeting ever took place between President Zardari and Fakhro Bhai and when the latter met the former it was an open secret and was even discussed in Hamid Mir’s Geo News programme Capital Talk. Hamid Mir also verified whatever was stated in the letter of Fakhro Bhai was absolutely correct. The letter makes it repeatedly clear that he never desired to meet President Zardari and only went to the Presidency on the request of his old colleague Farooq H Naek and during the said meeting the prime minister had also arrived. The issue of Swiss cases never came under discussion. He termed the allegation leveled against him defamatory and an attempt to malign him.
Mr Ibrahim sent the following details of the letter to The News:
“I write to you with reference to two columns dated 28.9.10 and 30.9.10 in The News titled “Backdoor channels played key role” and “Zardari admits he was trapped, vows to fight on” authored by Rauf Klasra. In the said articles, Mr. Klasra cites an “inside source” and levels the following defamatory allegations against me”:
1. “At the time of hearing of the NRO case in the SC, a Karachi based former judge who enjoyed good reputation and was considered to be a credible person had visited the Presidency and secretly met Asif Ali Zardari. In this meeting, the former judge had told Mr Zardari that he should not worry about the Swiss cases, as they were closed transaction.”
2. “The former judge advised Mr Zardari to believe in him and should not defend the NRO in the court and he assured him that the judges would not open the cases against him.”
3. “Mr Zardari later discussed this judge’s advice with his top legal aides and Babar Awan was the only minister who had strongly opposed the idea. But Awan’s advice was ignored as Zardari tended to believe in the so-called assurance given by the former judge, who had also taken some drafts with him to convince Zardari how it was in his own benefit not to defend the controversial law promulgated by a military dictator.”
4. “Zardari was said to have commented after reading the explosive contents of the NRO judgment that a former judge had clearly used his credibility to trap him.”
5. “According to this former judge, the Swiss cases were already a “closed transaction” and the court would not touch it at all. Based on this broad understanding given by the former judge in the presence of the legal team of the top constitutional personality, it was decided not to contest the NRO in the court.”
6. “The PPP government was feeling betrayed at the hand of a Karachi based retired judge who had met one of the top constitutional personalities of the government in Islamabad.”
“It is obvious to all that the “Karachi based former judge” repeatedly cited in the above articles is a reference to me, as my meeting with President Zardari and also my candid advice in this matter is a matter of public record and the same was even acknowledged in Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk as far back as 2009. Therefore, there was never any secrecy with regard to my meeting with President Zardari on this issue.”
“For the sake of good record, please note that I met President Zardari prior to the hearing of the NRO case at the request of an old friend and former colleague, Farooq Naek, the Chairman Senate. My advice to Farooq Naek and also to the president on the NRO was clear: The NRO was indefensible and the federation should not defend an immoral law made by a former dictator. The suggestion that I appear in the NRO case on behalf of the federation was politely declined.”
Importantly, at no time have I offered any advice in relation to the Swiss cases nor has the same ever been sought. The Swiss cases did not even come up for discussion in my meeting at the Presidency. Therefore, the despicable allegation, “I assured the president that the judges would not open the cases against him” and other equally defamatory assertions that my opinion was meant as a “trap” callously made in the aforesaid articles are highly deplorable. Kindly, note that it is not in my character to proffer any assurance as to the outcome of a court proceeding. I have not done this in my near 60-year law career, and I have no reason to start now.”
“Contrary to the defamatory allegations published in the above articles, I did not meet the president “secretly” or to “convince” him. I met the president, because I was requested to do so. I never sought any meeting on my own accord. When asked, I stated my honest legal opinion on the NRO. Even otherwise, I have never made any secret of my views on the vires of the NRO or my meeting with President Zardari. At the meeting in the presidency, where many others including the prime minister and the law minister also joined in, it was the Advocate General Sindh who openly stated that the NRO should be defended. At such stage, I left the meeting at the presidency and was not contacted by any person thereafter.” “In conclusion, I regret that a newspaper of your standing and record sought fit to make the aforesaid scandalous allegations without even the courtesy of a phone call to consider the version of the person Mr Klasra so callously sought to defame.” Yours sincerely Fakhruddin G Ebrahim. REFERENCE: Karachi judge denies president’s defamatory allegations By Ahmad Noorani Saturday, October 02, 2010 Shawwal 22, 1431 A.H. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-1030-Karachi-judge-denies-presidents-defamatory-allegations
ISLAMABAD: With reference to the report, “Karachi judge denies President’s defamatory allegations”, published in ‘The News’ on October 2, I may be allowed to ask the honourable retired judge Fakhruddin G Ibrahim that why does he consider himself the only respected former judge of Karachi who could be invited to meet the president and advise on NRO or even offer a deal. Has Karachi no other distinguished person who could have been my ‘unnamed judge’? This correspondent had only reported that President Asif Zardari had told his partymen at the Presidency in the PPP parliamentary party meeting that a former judge from Karachi had met him and advised him not to contest NRO case in SC and that the SC would not touch his Swiss cases, as it was a “closed transaction”. Mr Zardari had further claimed that he had believed the words of this former judge but he was shocked to know the court had ordered reopening of all cases against him. Mr Zardari had commented before his party men that now he was feeling betrayed because this judge had trapped him by advising him not to contest the NRO. He confessed that he had made a mistake to believe in the words of this judge.
I have a right to ask Mr Ibrahim as to where have I misquoted President Zardari and when and where did I name him in the entire story. I could not have misquoted Mr Zardari in the presence of his big media team comprising top professionals like Farhatullah Babar, Faouzia Wahab, Farrah Ishphani, Jamil Soomro, Qamar Zaman Kaira and others. I could not have misquoted the president while dozens of PPP ministers and more than 100 PPP MNAs were present in the same meeting. After the story appeared in the press Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi who had actually triggered this debate on NRO in the Presidency was the first one in the morning to call me. Dr Abbasi said, “Mr Klasra, your story is 99.9 percent correct. This is what I had said in the meeting and this was the response of the president.” After Raja Pervez Ashraf, this is second case in which a person has volunteered to confirm something without being named or asked to. I simply followed the ethics of journalism by not quoting any judge’s name in my story as I will repeat not because I was afraid of someone. I did so simply because Mr Zardari did not name the unknown judge, who according to him had trapped and deceived him. Had he quoted anyone name, I might have used his name even in the start of my story and also took his version. REFERENCE: Neither Zardari misquoted nor ‘retired judge’ named By Rauf Klasra Sunday, October 03, 2010 Shawwal 23, 1431 A.H. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-1057-Neither-Zardari-misquoted-nor-retired-judge-named
