U.S. admiral reveals plan to triple number of armed Afghans paid to protect villages

The head of the U.S. special forces has revealed a likely controversial plan to triple the number of armed Afghans paid by NATO to protect their villages under a plan once described as "a community watch with AK-47s".

In a rare meeting with journalists Saturday, Adm. William H McRaven, the architect of the daring U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said the plan could go into effect over the next two years.

The number of Afghan Local Police, or ALP, could go up from 9,800 to 30,000, if the Afghan government supports it.

American commanders consider the groups a local and cost-effective solution to shoring up security in Afghanistan's sprawling and lawless rural communities. They were active in 57 districts now, but could cover 99 by the end of 2013.

"The real advantage for the ALP and what it provides you as opposed to the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police is the ability for Afghans from their local districts to protect their own homes," he said. "The ALP allow guys to stay at home and protect their families and their villages."

The ALP created "a network out there that can respond to any potential threats," he said.

Former NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, first introduced the plan 17 months ago, describing it to the U.S. Congress as "a community watch with AK-47s."

But Human Rights Watch accused the groups of "committing serious human rights abuses" and not being held accountable by the Afghan government.

These reports have raised fears that the armed groups might turn on the communities they protect or neighbor, particularly if their coalition wages falter after the NATO drawdown.

There are also concerns they could enter into rivalries with neighboring groups, instead worsening security for local Afghans. McRaven said he had only heard anecdotal talk of these groups fueling local tribal rivalries, but has not seen evidence on the ground to support that.

Col. John Evans, deputy commanding officer of Combined Forces Special Operations, said at 30,000 in number, the groups would cost an estimated $170 million to maintain annually, making them significantly cheaper than the police or army as an Afghan method of providing security locally.

While he said the ALP could not provide all the same skills as the police and army, he added: "There is an economy aspect for the ALP for a government of Afghanistan that is going to continue have to meet financial commitments as a young democracy. It does give them some options."

Evans added that basic training and local accountability were in place to keep the ALP in order. "There are several check and balances: a vetting at the local level by the Shuras", or groups of village elders.

"It allows for people to say that a man would be a good guardian for them as they have known them all their lives. And secondly if this young man turns out not to be an honest man now he is accountable to that village elder as that's how the culture works."

Evans added the ALP were under the remit of the Afghan Ministry of Interior and answerable to local police chiefs.

A highly-decorated Navy SEAL and experienced terrorist hunter, McRaven was also the architect of the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden. He declined to discuss that operation.

McRaven defended NATO's controversial tactic of night raids in Afghanistan, which have become a sticking point in negotiations over the US's long term military presence in the country. He said there have been 2,800 raids on insurgents in the country in the past year alone, only 15% of which fired a shot.

McRaven added that of all the casualties caused by coalition special forces raids, only 1% were civilians killed in error. The intrusive nature of the raids, and the civilian deaths they cause, have made them deeply unpopular in the nation. President Hamid Karzai has frequently demanded that they stop.

"I think you would find that night raids are very valuable when you are trying to get somebody who is trying to hide," McRaven said. "It's an important piece of security and I think we have to continue to have this discussion with the Afghans. I'm not sure I know if it's essential but I know that it's important."

On special forces raids in general in Afghanistan, McRaven said: "There's not a guy in uniform who doesn't realize that we can't kill our way to success here. Statistically of the raids that we do, in generally 85% of them we never fire a shot. That always surprises folks. In a 12 month period -- and this is a number you can take to the bank -- in a 12 month period of time we conducted about 2,800 raids in Afghanistan.

He said the civilian casualties were less than 1%.

"The number of times we engaged was about 15%. In any conflict those are pretty good numbers. The Afghan (commandos partnering the US forces] are always in the lead. A common mission of for the guys is they will helicopter into an area and the Afghans will get on bullhorns and they will say "please come out we are coalition forces."

Previous reports have suggested raids happen on average 10 times a night, but sometimes as often as 40. McRaven's remarks lower that average slightly, but still provide an official confirmation of how common such operations have become.

McRaven said moves are under way to ensure that future night raids are led by Afghan commandos, a possible compromise in the face of complaints here from the presidency. McRaven insisted elements of the Afghan government were in favor of raids.

McRaven also addressed the changing nature of the insurgency after a decade of war in Afghanistan. An operations officer with his team said that since the bin Laden raid and other operations, al Qaeda's "relevance in Afghanistan is becoming less and less. Their leadership has been impacted significantly. Each time they try and put somebody up there, we take them down. That has really put a hurt on al Qaeda."

Afghan insurgents "see al Qaeda more as a liability now. They [the Afghan Taliban] see it was a mistake to ever partner with" al Qaeda, he said.

McRaven added the Haqqani network -- a sophisticated part of the insurgency considered responsible for various raids into Kabul and believed to have significant Pakistani military support -- were tough fighters who are well-supplied.

But he added the network was not entirely dependent on Pakistani support.

"I think the Haqqanis are fairly autonomous. That's not to say that support that they get living in Pakistan certainly makes them more difficult for us to get at. They have been around for quite some time. So they have developed a pretty extensive network in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. I don't think they would go away quickly regardless who went after them."

He added, after a month in which a border clash that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers has taken relations between Islamabad and Washington to a new low, that Pakistan was "an important part of the solution here. while we've had some difficult times here the Pakistanis are still open to dialogue on different levels."

International Human Rights Day: Awakening humanity

Daily Times
Every year December 10th marks ‘International Human Rights Day’ to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN in 1948 following the aftershocks of the devastation caused in the Second World War. The declaration is a set of the fundamental civil and constitutional liberties that all human beings are entitled to, with the rights to life, freedom and equality being at the top of the list.

Foreign interventions, violations of territorial integrity, genocide, dictatorships, gender violence, child labour, false imprisonment and denying the right to a fair trial are just a few instances of human rights violations that the whole world is faced with today. It is, therefore, an established fact that in many countries around the world these basic rights are mere privileges, which millions of people are denied. These rights are meant to be universal and egalitarian; why then are so many people victims of conflict and war, starvation and poverty, restrictions and captivity? It is partisan individuals or societies that transcend the boundaries of humanity, oblivious and/or indifferent to the greater suffering afflicted upon the common people, who are only fighting to gain what is rightfully theirs and unjustifiably not accorded to them.

Similarly, Pakistan too encompasses a system that guarantees human rights but fails where the practical implementation and protection of those rights is concerned. Unfortunately, it is mostly the poor and the minorities who are subjected to oppression and deprivation of some of their most basic rights as equal citizens of the country. With the army’s kill and dump policy in Balochistan, targeted killing of minorities and human rights advocates, discrimination against minorities vis-à-vis their due parliamentary representation to ensure safeguarding of their rights, incitement of sectarian and ethnic conflicts and many other deprivations, Balochistan is the greater victim of human rights defilement in the country today. Therefore, it is noteworthy that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has taken this day to underscore the plight of the people of Balochistan, whose pleas for liberation from the repressive policy of the armed forces have long been turned a deaf ear to by the authorities. The chairperson of the Baloch Human Rights Organisation (BHRO) Nargis Baloch has petitioned the apex court to take suo motu action against the relentless and uncontrolled state of insecurity that the people of Balochistan are confronted with on a daily basis. The government must awaken to resolve this crisis before the Baloch people, who are as much citizens of Pakistan as the rest of us, are permanently alienated and Pakistan suffers an irreversible setback to its solidarity.

President Zardari’s comeback

Editorial:
Daily Times
President Asif Ali Zardari said that his “enemies will be disappointed” because he is recovering and will soon return to Pakistan. Mr Zardari told an anchorperson that those who run away do so with their families but he left his son in Pakistan. It is good to know that the president is feeling better now and we wish him a speedy recovery. This has also put to rest all those rumours, speculations and motivated agendas, the authors of which were frothing at the mouth about the president’s well-being and purported ‘developments’ in the offing. While such rumour-mongering must be condemned, it would be advisable for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to learn a lesson from this furore. When the president flew out to Dubai, we saw contradictory statements coming from the presidential spokesman and other government and party officials. It would have been better if an authoritative official statement had been issued to scotch any rumours and speculations. In this day and age of the media revolution, when even social networking sites can lead to further fog and confusion, it is advisable for all political parties, especially the ruling party, to appoint one spokesperson who would inform the public well in time of any new developments. The irresponsibility of the media and populace aside, the government should also take some responsibility in this regard and not mishandle any such situation in future.

On the other hand, President Zardari’s announcement that he will be back soon has blackened the faces of all those scandal-mongers who were looking forward to ousting the president and the government one way or the other. Ever since the PPP-led government took office after the 2008 elections, it has faced adverse reactions from many quarters, including the media. Every other day we heard analysts giving a timeframe for when this government would fall. Nevertheless, it has survived to date and looks likely to complete its tenure. Those who wanted a military-judicial alliance to turf out the government are also in for disappointment as Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Chaudhry reiterated that there are limits for every institution as per the constitution and all institutions should stay within their parameters so that the country can progress. CJ Chaudhry observed that our nation can achieve political stability, economic development and prosper if we adhere to the dictates of the constitution. The Opposition is also not in the mood to derail democracy. This is substantiated by Mian Nawaz Sharif’s politically mature statements. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) may have gone to the Supreme Court with its Memogate petition but this move cannot be taken as an outright demand to oust the government. Their lordships and the Opposition are not willing to derail democracy. And why should they? Any move leading to the destruction of the democratic process will in effect be as damaging to the opposition parties and the independence of the judiciary as it would the incumbents. It was only wishful thinking on the part of Zardari-haters that the judiciary and the PPP’s rival political parties, especially the PML-N, would help the undemocratic forces.

Pakistan is no stranger to military interventions, be they direct or indirect. More than three decades have been spent under direct military rule and the other three decades have been spent with the military meddling in political affairs. Now that a democratic dispensation is in place after almost a decade of military dictatorship, it should be given a chance to complete its tenure. Impatience is not the answer; the ballot box is.

Karzai says foreigners fuel Afghan corruption

Foreigners are fuelling the problem of corruption in Afghanistan, a country ranked as one of the most corrupt in the world, the Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday.

"We have problems with both Afghans and foreigners... Our foreigner colleagues have not only been uncooperative but sometimes they have created obstacles," he said during a speech in Kabul on corruption.

"One of the ways to curb corruption is that foreigners should stop giving out contracts to the relatives of the high ranking government officials. We have to revise and reform the contract system", Karzai said.

"We have lost our mutual trust: foreigners think we go corrupt for political reasons, and we think they are corrupt for the same reason."

In a global survey published this month by Berlin-based anti-graft watchdog Transparency International, Afghanistan was again named one of the world's most corrupt nations.

Karzai said the problem of corruption was exacerbated by uncertainty over the future of the country.

"We have to work together with our foreigner friends to give people assurance."

Afghanistan pledged at a major conference in Germany last Monday to step up the fight against corruption in return for sustained international support.

"Afghan government institutions at all levels should increase their responsiveness to the civil and economic needs of the Afghan people and deliver key services to them," Afghanistan and its international partners said in a communique after the Bonn meeting.

"In this context, the protection of civilians, strengthening the rule of law and the fight against corruption in all its forms remain key priorities."

Experts say corruption is an endemic problem among many officials in Afghanistan and that the government and foreign powers must do more to combat it.

The US government has spent billions on aid to Afghanistan since 2002, much of which goes through contractors.

Poor data collection system Development work suffers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

DAWN.COM
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a poor system to collect socioeconomic development data with officials blaming it on the successive governments` inclination to `demand-driven` strategies in preference to those based on the province`s needs.

An official of the provincial planning and development department told Dawn on Saturday that collection of primary data generated by conducting sample surveys had never been a priority for provincial government.

He said successive governments prepared development strategies in accordance with the demands by their constituents and dictates by their elected representatives and never tried to ascertain needs of the relevant communities before beginning development schemes for them.

“Surveys are conducted to determine development needs of a region in developed countries before decisions about roads, health facilities or electric supply are made,” he said.

The official said surveys served as a basis for planners to determine a baseline for development, determining requirements of the area concerned.

He said primary data was the most effective tool to develop indicators about sectors, including health, education, agriculture, population welfare, livestock, telecommunication etc, for interventions needed in an area.

According to an official of the provincial Bureau of Statistics (BoS), the last time the province conducted a broad-based survey to collect primary data by spending its own money was in 1988.

“The 1981 village level survey focusing on the rural areas of the province was carried out to collect social and economic data. There followed the holding of a multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) in 2001 and 2008 with the financial assistance of the Unicef,” he said.

He further said the MICS had been used extensively to plan development schemes by international donor agencies.

“The government`s own data, generated through secondary sources, lacks credibility in the eyes of international donors,” said a section head of the P&D department, adding that the government should involve the private sector to perform the job of collecting and compiling data for development planning purposes.

A relevant official said the BoS established in 1970 had a presence in only three of the 25 districts in the province.

“Apart from its central office in Peshawar, the bureau has two `camp offices`, including one each at Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad,” he said, adding that the Musharraf-led military regime attached less significance to the BoS as it reduced its role and strength.

According to another official, the bureau currently compiles the `secondary` data provided by the provincial government`s departments, their attached wings, and the federal government agencies. Besides, it also issues monthly price review bulletins and periodic industrial output analysis.

The official said printed copies of the annual report, titled as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Development Statistics, were distributed among the state universities, government departments and federal government institutions for different purpose. He said the report used information taken from the Economic Survey of Pakistan and data provided by various directorates of the provincial government, including food, agriculture, fisheries, etc.

“The provincial government has never used this important organ to complement development planning in the province,” said the P&D official, adding that it should be used to produce primary data more than compiling secondary data.

He said the bureau had around 50 employees, including 28 statistical officers, statistical investigators and senior statistical keypunch operators.

“Conducting surveys to collect primary data is the most important job the bureau should undertake, but it requires a lot of money,” said the official, adding that more than 60 per cent of the organisation`s annual budget was spent on paying salary to employees.

The P&D department official said an improved data collection system was essential for the provincial government to enable its policymakers, departments and researchers to harmonise the official decision making process with the genuine development requirements of various areas, ensuring apt resource utilisation.

Arrangements finalised to observe Benazir Bhutto ’s death anniversary

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Saturday said it had finalised arrangements to observe the fourth death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto

on December 27 in a befitting manner.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, the provincial secretary information of the party Syed Ayub Shah said the PPP was the largest political party in the country that always served the poor.

Muhammad Azam Afridi, Israr Khan, Said Ahmed Khan and other party leaders were also present on the occasion.

Ayub Shah said that party organisations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be contacted to observe the death anniversary of the late PPP chairperson of the party in a proper manner.

The PPP leader said the government had strengthened the National Assembly through the 18th Amendment. He said it also provided relief to five million families through the Benazir Income Support Programme and reinstated the employees sacked during the Nawaz Sharif government. He added that some forces were once again out to unleash propaganda against the PPP.

Zardari's health improving

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who is undergoing treatment in Dubai for heart complications, is showing improvement and expected to make an "early recovery", authorities and doctors said, as speculation about his health refused to die down here. 56-year-old Zardari was resting in a Dubai hospital on the advice of doctors, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani told a TV news channel last evening. "He (President Zardari) is improving," Gilani said. Gilani said the President, who was feeling comfortable, had talked to him on phone on Friday when former Premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and ex-Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Ilahi called on him at the Prime Minister House. In a related development, a health bulletin issued from Dubai last evening by Zardari's personal physician said: "The President is making smooth progress and feels better. The treating doctors are confident about an early recovery." The bulletin did not give details about Zardari's ailment or say when he is likely to be discharged from hospital. When he was asked about the speculation on Zardari's health, Gilani said: "Anybody can fall sick and he (Zardari) is also an average human being." He said he and Zardari's family had insisted that the President should go abroad for medical tests and treatment. Gilani cited "security reasons" as the caused for the advice given to Zardari to go abroad. He recalled that there were some security threats when Zardari's late father Hakim Ali Zardari was admitted to a hospital in Islamabad earlier this year. The Premier said he and Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were present at the helipad to see off the President when he left for Dubai on Tuesday.

Balochistan: The province where human rights are bullet-riddled

The Express Tribune

Saturday was International Human Rights Day, though in Pakistan the focus remained squarely within its own borders and on one province in particular.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan observed the day in solidarity with the people of Balochistan. Taking a look at recent statistics and hearing the stories from some of those affected, one understands why.

According to an HRCP report, as many as 225 bullet-riddled bodies of missing persons were found between July 2010 and November 2011. The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VFBMP) puts the toll even higher, at 236, and says that all the victims had direct or indirect political affiliation with Baloch nationalist parties or student organisations.

Most worryingly, the numbers are getting worse. 107 new cases of missing persons have been reported this year, out of which 97 people have been found dead in different locations in the province.

“The writ of the government does not exist in Balochistan” says Tahir Hussain, chairman of the HRCP Balochistan chapter.

Hussain also pinpoints the fragile existence of minority communities in the province. “Minorities are compelled to migrate from Balochistan as they have become a soft target for kidnapping for ransom. At least 100 families belonging to the Hindu community have migrated from Balochistan solely because of kidnapping for ransom,” he says. In addition, as many as 80 Shias were killed in targeted killing and bomb blasts this year.

Settlers are also at risk. “Over 100 families, who are Punjabi and Urdu-speaking, have left the province because they were vulnerable to targeted killing by separatist groups,” he said.

Even those defending such minorities and standing up for human rights are under threat. Two activists – Naeem Sabir and Mohammad Siddiq Edo – were kidnapped and their bodies turned up this year,” the HRCP report states.

Mir Asghar Bangulzai, the uncle of VFBMP chairman Nasurllah Baloch, was kidnapped in June 2000 by a group of armed men from Quetta and released after a few days. However, Bangulzai, a tailor by profession, was again abducted in October 2001. A decade has passed and the family is still in the dark regarding his whereabouts. They blame the security forces for the kidnapping.

“You cannot imagine the kind of pain a family goes through when their loved one has gone missing, and at the same time mutilated bodies surface almost every week,” says Nasurllah Baloch.

The HRCP report says that practices of enforced disappearance started during the Musharraf regime in early 2000 and have steadily intensified. “The situation has gone from bad to worse with the discovery of mutilated bodies. Ironically there is no investigation in any of the cases,” says Tahir Hussain.

It adds that security forces are involved in practices of enforced disappearances, while some Baloch armed groups are behind the targeted killing of innocent settlers.

HRCP Balochistan urged the government to investigate the involvement of politicians and security forces. HRCP also demanded that a judicial inquiry be launched into the kidnapping and dumping the bodies of political opponents. Security forces, however, categorically reject the allegations of foul-play in the province

HRCP highlights Balochistan

Addressing the media at Karachi’s press club on Saturday, HRCP Chairperson Zohra Yusuf appealed to the government to address the sense of alienation felt by the people of Balochistan.

Saying the issue was “of foremost concern in the country today,” Yusuf commemorated the day by saying that people in Balochistan “believe that the government of Pakistan is doing injustice with them and such sentiments are increasing.”

However, relatives of Baloch missing persons announced that they would not take part in the rally organised by HRCP Balochistan to observe the human rights day. “The HRCP does not have any role to play for the safe recovery of missing persons,” said Nasurllah Baloch. “The organization has prioritised other issues, giving lesser attention to the gross violation of human rights. We are holding a separate rally to highlight our plight.”

At the conference, the chairperson repeatedly crticised the government for their role in the violation of Balochistan’s human rights.

U.S. flag lowered at Pakistani airbase

American flag was lowered at a Pakistani airbase on Sunday as the U.S. military personnel had been asked to vacate the facility by December 11, local media reported.

Pakistan had asked the U.S. to vacate Shamsi airbase in Balochistan province following NATO fighter jets and helicopters bombed two border posts on November 26 and killed 24 soldiers.

The U.S. had reportedly been using the airbase since late 2001 for military operations in Afghanistan and for drone strikes in Pakistan tribal regions.

Pakistani security forces entered the airfield Sunday morning and hoisted the national flag as the last transport U.S. aircraft left with remaining personnel and equipment, Geo television reported while quoting its own sources.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said last week that the United States has been asked to vacate the airbase by December 11.

Local TV channels reported that the U.S. shifted all its personnel in 9 planes and equipment in nearly 20 transport planes. The personnel, drone aircraft, weapons and other equipment have been shifted to Afghanistan, the reports said.

U.S. officials recently said that they have a backup plan in Afghanistan if the Shamsi airstrip is closed down.

Geo TV reported that senior officials from the Defence Ministry and Civil Aviation were at the airbase at the time of the vacation.Soldiers from the Frontier Corps took control of the airbase late Saturday evening as most of the American personnel had already left the airfield and one U.S. cargo plane had been at the airbase for transferring the remaining personnel and equipment.

The U.S. officials dismantled fiber-made residential barracks which had been built for military personnel, local TV channels had earlier reported.

A Pakistani military official in Balochistan recently said that the U.S. officials at the airbase had also burnt some equipment, which he said is a routine practice as they were not required to be taken out of the facility.

Pakistan's Air Chief, Air Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman told the parliament in a special briefing in May after Osama bin Laden was killed by the U.S. military that the Shamsi airbase had been under the control of UAE.

Pakistan media then reported that the UAE had allowed the U.S. to use it for spy aircraft operation in Pakistani tribal regions. When the facility had been given to the UAE, only small aircraft could land at the airbase.

Sources said that top Pakistani leadership will decide whether or not to hand over the Shamsi airbase to the United Arab Emirates after a complete U.S. evacuation. The UAE had been using the airstrip for small aircraft of its leaders when they used to come to Pakistan for hunting. The U.S. had extended the runway to enable big aircraft to land.

SC larger bench sets to take up Z. A. Bhutto reference case on Monday

Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has constituted an-eleven member larger bench to resume hearing from Monday, a presidential reference, regarding revisiting of late premier

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's murder case.

The larger bench includes the Chief Justice, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Nasir ul Mulk, Justice Jawwad S. Khawja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani and Justice Amir Hani Muslim that will take up the Presidential reference sent to apex Court under Article 186.

The counsels for the parties as well as amicus curiae are being requested to ensure their presence for the case as it is likely to proceed on day to day basis from 12th December to 16th December, 2011 as the Court will have break for winter vacations from 19th December to 31st December 2011.

Notices to all concerned including incumbent president of Supreme Court Bar Association have been issued.

On the last date of hearing on June 29, the matter was adjourned by the larger Bench with the observation that the apex Court would take up the case subject to availability of the Bench.

On April 21, the Court had also appointed amicus curiae including senior advocates/jurists, M/s Ali Ahmed Kurd, Tariq Mehmood, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, Khalid Anwar, Makhdoom Ali Khan, S. M. Zafar, Aitzaz Ahsan, Zahoorul Haq and Abdul Latif Afridi.

Khalid Anwar had expressed his inability to assist the Court as amicus curiae by sending a written request which was accepted by the Court and in his place Qazi Muhammad Ashraf was appointed as amicus curiae.

During the course of hearing on June 29, Attorney General for Pakistan also requested more time to prepare further arguments particularly with reference to each question referred by the President of Pakistan.

While Dr Babar Awan, counsel for referring authority had completed his arguments over the case raising five major questions for the apex Court to revisit the murder case.

The amicus curiae would start their arguments in the case.

Besides, the Chief Justice of Pakistan also constituted four benches (to sit after larger bench) at the Principal seat to hear a number of important cases in the next week starting from December 12.

The first bench includes the Chief Justice and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, the second bench of Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Jawwad S. Khawja and Justice Amir Hani Muslim, third bench of Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, third bench of Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani, and fourth bench of Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Tariq Parvez will take up a number of cases.

According to cause lists, no application for adjournment through fax will be placed before the Court. If the counsel is unable to appear for any reason the Advocate-on-Record will be required to argue the case. Besides, no adjournment on any ground will be granted.