Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Nawaz Sharif or Asim Bajwa, corruption scandals in #Pakistan turn into never-ending soaps
By ARIFA NOOR
In Pakistan, no one seems interested in demanding stronger, more independent institutions which would do due diligence away from the public glare.
Assets have become a four-letter word in Pakistani politics. Let talk begin of the ‘assets’ of anyone well known, especially in politics, and chances are it will not end well — or ever end.
From a prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) to a judge (Qazi Faez Isa) to a former military man (Asim Saleem Bajwa), they have all been accused of hiding their wealth and because it was not made public it is assumed that it was illegally gotten.But what is even more fascinating is the reaction to these allegations made public. Our ability to buy them or reject them is directly linked to our political affiliation and not to the ‘facts’ made public. And because it’s a matter of belief, the ‘faith’ is rarely shaken, regardless of what follows. Be it the case of the former prime minister or the current judge, or present cabinet members, political beliefs decide which side of the issue we will land on and stay, no matter what transpires later.
Is this because of the polarisation in our politics? Partly, this is so for our national political scene is rather Manichean these days and everything is either to be accepted for all its goodness or rejected entirely for being evil. Shades of grey are old-fashioned, even if the book so titled proved rather popular. In our part of the world, for those who follow politics closely, it’s black and it’s white, as Michael Jackson once crooned.
And, therefore, wealth is accepted or its accumulation deemed acceptable, or otherwise because of who the owner is. And not the size or origins of the wealth. Facts have never been less important.
But this, too, is only part of the story.
Another part of it is linked to the undocumented nature of the economy. Chances are that most of those who are well known and wealthy have riches they can’t explain because of the manner in which businesses and people in Pakistan operate; figures are fudged and income tax evaded. And this is helped along by the law which says any ‘remittance’ from abroad will not be questioned. It is one of our, many, open secrets that unaccounted money is sent abroad through illegal means and then sent back through banking channels. And once this is done, the money is legit, till a fuss is kicked up for reasons other than the law and taxes. Such transactions would be found in many a bank account of the rich and the famous.
And the second issue here is of the breakdown of our institutions. Be it the FBR or investigative agencies such as the FIA which should be looking into these matters and determining the facts, none of them is capable of doing this. The organisations are so compromised that their inquiries and decisions lead to no closure.
As a result, scandals or allegations turn into a never-ending soap. Take the case of Nawaz Sharif — from Hudaibiya to Panama to the JIT to the NAB courts, it’s a story spanning decades and yet nothing is settled or resolved. Neither the details and reality of the ‘wrongs’ nor if they were really committed — those who believe in his innocence or his guilt do so by ignoring the actions and the findings of the state institutions, which in turn will declare him innocent or guilty, depending on the times and the political environment.
Hence, a case will be closed by the courts and in retrospect the decision will seem shady. Investigations will go on for years without anyone ever hearing anything and then suddenly they will move at breakneck speed and evidence will pile up faster than it is consumed. It is all, always, part of a game and rarely ever due to an institution doing its job.
This perhaps is the most worrying aspect. For without stronger institutions, none of these problems will ever addressed. After all, Pakistan is not the only country where the powerful are able to influence the system; it happens elsewhere also. But at some stage, the allegations or the scandal is big enough for the institutions to ignore all pressure and just do their job. The Epstein or Weinstein convictions are a case in point. And this is essential if people are to still have some level of trust in the state.
But this is never our goal. Because for everyone involved, it’s easier to keep NAB or FIA or even the trial courts so compromised that either accountability can be avoided or used for political ends. And this is true of the politicians as well as the establishment. And unfortunately, if there is any unspoken consensus between the two at the moment, it is to not address the larger systemic problems; instead, it’s to continue manipulating the system for political ends.
And sadly, the rest of us have become part of the game. We, too, now want a general or a politician or a judge to be held accountable. For some the politician is more accountable because he is elected to office by the people; for others, a general should be because politicians have already offered themselves up for accountability and paid a ‘heavy price’ more than once; and others still, a judge providing answers will ensure the fairness of the system. But no one seems interested in demanding stronger, more independent institutions which would do due diligence away from the public glare and also ensure that a scandal or an allegation is put to bed, one way or the other. However, in our part of the world, this is such a boring approach. And it doesn’t allow us to beat our chest and announce our patriotic or liberal credentials. Grey, after all, is a four-letter word.
Another Christian Sentenced to Death in Pakistan on Weak Blasphemy Charges
A court in Lahore, Pakistan today has sentenced a Christian to death over charges that he allegedly sent “blasphemous” text messages to a Muslim colleague seven years ago, his lawyer said.
Asif Pervaiz, a 37-year-old father of four, has been in jail for seven years since he was charged with blasphemy in October 2013 after his former supervisor at a garment factory, Saeed Ahmed Khokhar, accused him of sending sacrilegious text messages from his cell phone, attorney Saiful Malook said.
Pervaiz was charged under sections 295-A, 295-B and 295-C of the blasphemy laws, he said, with the latter, insulting the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, carrying a mandatory death sentence. The court ruled that Pervaiz would first serve a three-year prison term for phone misuse, be fined 50,000 rupees (US$300) and be “hanged by his neck til his death.”
Pervaiz has maintained that his supervisor accused him only after he refused to convert to Islam. Malook said the prosecution’s case was so weak that he could not fathom why the judge had ruled against his client.
Malook, a Muslim who represented Aasiya Noreen (known as Asia Bibi), also sentenced to death before she won her freedom, said that the ruling by Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmed Qureshi dismayed him because there was no evidence to justify the charges.
Pervaiz has said he had lost his SIM card some days before the alleged incident, which Khokhar misused to send derogatory text messages to his own number, the attorney said.“In his statement to the court, Pervaiz had categorically said that the complainant used to pressure him to renounce his Christian faith and convert to Islam,” Malook said. “Pervaiz said that due to the complainant’s constant harassment, he was forced to leave his job at the factory, but the latter continued to hound him at his new workplace.”Report (FIR) was initially registered against “unknown person,” and Pervaiz’s name was added to it later using a different pen, which clearly points to mala fide, Malook said.“Even though there’s a clear ruling by the Supreme Court that such doubtful FIRs should be quashed, the sessions judge, while admitting that my client’s name was added later, ruled that he did not see any dishonesty on the part of the complainant because he had approached the police specifically against the accused,” Malook said.
The forensic report on the text messages that the prosecution presented also should not have been admissible because the officer who took the cell phone to the laboratory did not appear as witness as per the law, he added. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is binding on the prosecution to prove that evidence sent for forensic examination remains in safe custody from its recovery until sent to a forensic laboratory, but in this case the investigating officer failed to name the person to whom he handed the cell phone, he said.
Moreover, the duty officer did not appear in court to testify who had taken the evidence to the laboratory, Malook added. The report only stated the name of a sub-inspector, Muhammad Arshad, but even he didn’t appear in court to record his statement, the attorney said.
“Despite these glaring lapses, the judge still admitted the report,” Malook said.
A police telephone operator at the Crime Record Office of the Inspector General of Police had requested records of Pervaiz’s calls from the mobile phone company and appeared in court as a witness. But according to Section 164 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Malook submitted to the judge, the witness should have been the person who generated the cellular data from the automated system, not the person who requested it, and therefore this too could not be admitted as credible evidence.
“However, my argument was not considered,” Malook said. “Although I’m greatly disappointed by the ruling in this case, one cannot ignore the fact that it has become a norm of trial court judges hearing blasphemy cases to convict the accused no matter how weak the prosecution’s case is.”
Malook said he would appeal the conviction in the Lahore High Court this week.
He said Pervaiz was naturally distressed when the judge announced the sentence.
“It’s tragic that Pervaiz has already spent seven years in prison during the trial, and God knows how many more years he will have to remain incarcerated till the high court takes up his appeal,” he told Morning Star News. “The worst thing in blasphemy cases is that the accused are left to rot in jail for years till their innocence is finally proved.”
Christians Targeted
False accusations of blasphemy are widespread in Pakistan, often motivated by personal vendettas or religious hatred. The highly inflammatory accusations have the potential to spark mob lynchings, vigilante murders, and mass protests.Between 1987 and 2017, 1,534 individuals were accused of blasphemy. Of those accusations, 54 percent (829) were made against religious minorities. As Christians make up 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s population, the 15.5 percent of accusations (238) against Christians is highly disproportionate.
Including Pervaiz, 25 Christian are imprisoned on blasphemy charges in 22 cases in Pakistan.
The Supreme Court ruled in October 2018 that Noreen (Aasiya Bibi) had been falsely accused in her case, and that Pakistan law provided inadequate oversight for false accusations.
In the past month, many people with in Pakistan’s Shia Muslim minority also have been accused of blasphemy, especially in Punjab Province.
New Case
Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province recently registered a blasphemy case against a Christian for allegedly desecrating pages of the Koran.
Risalpur Police Station House Officer Nek Zaman Khan said that officers arrested David Masih on Aug. 30 after residents of the Family Park area in the city posted videos of Koranic pages desecrated in a sewage drain.
“The residents complained that pages of the Koran were being thrown in the sewage drain by unknown persons, which was hurting their religious sentiments,” Khan told Morning Star News. “We began investigating the case and took several people into custody. During interrogation, a Christian resident identified as David Masih confessed to the crime.”
Khan claimed Masih “practiced black magic” and was misusing the Koran for that purpose and was sent to jail after being charged.
Morning Star News has made repeated attempts to contact his family but has yet to reach them.
Pakistan ranked fifth on Christian support organization Open Doors 2020 World Watch list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, and on Nov. 28, 2018, the United States added Pakistan to its blacklist of countries that violate religious freedom.
https://christiannews.net/2020/09/09/another-christian-sentenced-to-death-in-pakistan-on-weak-blasphemy-charges/
Imran Khan should visit Sindh’s flood-hit districts and personally see the havoc that the rains and the floods have wreaked, Chairman PPP
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that it is imperative that the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan visits Sindh’s flood-hit districts particularly Mirpurkhas division and should personally see the havoc that the rains and the floods have wreaked in there. He was talking to the flood victims of district Sanghar worst affected by the torrential rains and subsequent floods. He had arrived at Khipro and travelled through Loon Khaan, Pirumal, Kandyari and other areas. His tour of the flood-hit areas was ended at Berani town.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that heavy rains and then floods had wreaked havoc in these districts and the crops and the livestock in Sanghar district have been ruined on which the Federal government should immediately announce to release ‘Pakistan Card’ to the people so that the affected populous could find some remedy to their wounds.
It is also unavoidable that the Supreme Court hand over the withheld money to the Sindh Government with which the later may initiate to improve the destroyed infrastructure. The people of Sindh are waiting to see this happen, he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari assured the affected people that the Party and the Sindh Government shall continue to help them and would never leave the the people of Sanghar alone in hours of testing and on mercy of the nature.Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also on the occasion issued necessary directives to the Party leaders that they should help the affected people.At the end of his today’s visit at Berani, Party leaders and Jialas and area’s notables called on the PPP Chairman at the residences of member national assembly (MNA) Shazia Atta Marri and Senator Anny Marri.Members provincial assembly, Sindh, belonging to district Sanghar also called on the party Chairman at the house of Ali Hassan Hingoro in Khipro and briefed hoim about devastations that ruined the area.
PPP Chairman reached the town of Khipro in Sanghar and visited a camp set up for the internally displaced people by the rains. He met the victims there and inquired about their problems. When he saw a sick labourer Jumoon Kanbhar in the camp, he issued directives to the Sindh Chief Minister that he should forthwith make necessary arrangements for shifting of that sick to Karachi so that he could be treated there properly. CM Murad Ali Shah assured the PPP Chairman the poor sick person would be given best medical treatment in Karachi.
PPP Chairman was accompanied by the Sindh CM, Aajiz Dhamrah, Sohail Anwar Siyal, MNA Shazia Atta Marri, Senator Imam Ud Din Shauqeen, Sardar Muhammed Bux Mahar, Senator Anny Marri, Shahid Thaheem, Sarfraz Rajar, Jawaid Javed Nayab Leghari, Faraz Dero, Naveed Dero, Jam Madad Ali, Zulfiqar Shah, Ali Hassan Hingoro, Allauddin Junejo, Jahangir Junejo, Khadim Rind, Shakeel Marri and others.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/23726/