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Opinion: Ted Cruz Is Going to the Dogs

By Gail Collins

If you were a dog, would you rather belong to the senator from Texas or the one from Utah?

So if you were a dog, would you rather belong to Ted Cruz or Mitt Romney?

Yes, you have to choose.

Perhaps you remember that many, many years ago, Romney drove to Canada for a family vacation with his Irish setter Seamus on the roof of his car. I mentioned this fact about two million times when Romney ran for president, mainly to break up the tedium of a very boring campaign.

This week Cruz made headlines when he got caught taking a plane for a family escape to Mexico while Texas was suffering through its stupendous weather crisis.

Michael Hardy, a Texas journalist, went to check on the empty Cruz house in Houston and discovered the neighborhood had indeed had a power outage. He also saw “a small, white dog looking out the bottom right pane of glass in the senator’s front door.”

Ted had abandoned Snowflake the poodle! OK, that’s a little tough. A security guard parked outside the senator’s house volunteered that he’d been doing some caretaking.

We will not stop to investigate whether Snowflake is a boy or a girl, or even if we’ve got the breed exactly right. Suffice it to say that he/she was among the millions of weather-bound Texans Cruz had left behind when he went on, um, a planned vacation.

Cruz’s story keeps evolving, naturally. His original claim that he was just dropping his girls off for a visit with friends faded when many Americans noted the guy was dragging a really big suitcase for a dad who wasn’t planning to hang around. The crucial question is whether Snowflake got a worse deal than Seamus. Any doubts out there, people? One dog is being taken on a family vacation and the other is being left behind in a weather crisis/power outage. In a house Cruz’s wife described to friends by text as “FREEZING.”

Serious citizens might also want to note that Romney has lately been reborn as the champion of independent thinking. Taking the lead in standing up to Donald Trump during the impeachment crises does tend to overshadow driving with a dog on the roof in 1983.

Cruz, however, stuck with the crazed conspiracy theorists after the election and voted against certifying Joe Biden as president. Romney said Cruz and his fellow Biden denialists would “forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy.”

And then he went off to Cancún after Texas was battered by snow, ice and rain, cut off from lights and deprived of reliable clean water. While he scurried back after getting caught in the act, it’s not likely a whole lot of his fellow Texans appreciated his explanation that he was just trying to “be a good dad.”

Yeah, tell it to Snowflake.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/opinion/ted-cruz-texas-snowflake.html

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Video Report - #KhabarSayAagay​ - 'Stolen': Maryam Nawaz Demands Re-Election On NA75. Will ECP Allow?

The Voiceless Victims of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws

 

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) 2018 Fact­sheet on Blasphemy, roughly one-third of the world’s nations maintain a law, or a set of laws, punishing the crime of blasphemy.

In Pakistan—one of three countries where blasphemy is punishable by death— these laws are widely abused to settle personal scores and incite religious hatred. Due to widespread reli­gious intolerance and bias, members of Pakistan’s religious minority communities are disproportionately accused and punished under the country’s blasphemy laws.

In 2018, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was acquitted of the blasphemy charges that had kept her on death row for nearly a decade. The lessons learned from her case, including the international advocacy critical to her acquittal, help to create a template for advocating on behalf of other religious minorities facing similar charges in Pakistan.

In this report, International Christian Concern (ICC) reviews Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and the experi­ence of religious minorities under these laws. ICC goes on to analyze the Asia Bibi case and draws out important lessons that should be applied to similar, ongoing cases.

This report then provides the profiles of 24 current cases in which 28 Pakistani Christians sit charged with or convicted of committing blasphemy. These cases need appropriate international advocacy to come to a successful conclusion. Towards this end, this report provides practical recommendations for the inter­national community which ICC has drawn from the Asia Bibi case and from years of experience working with Christian victims of blasphemy in Pakistan.

Read Full Report - 

https://www.persecution.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/icc_blasphemy_report_revised1.3.pdf

Pakistani Christians Endure 38 Incidents of Persecution in the Last Six Months of 2020

 The last six months of 2020 proved to be another challenging time for Christians in Pakistan. Despite the PTI-led government’s lofty claims, the country’s Christian community continued to suffer discrimination, intolerance, and instances of outright persecution.

International Christian Concern (ICC) documented at least 38 incidents of persecution against Pakistan’s Christian population between July 1 and December 31, 2020. The reported incidents included discrimination, sexual assaults, abductions, forced conversions, forced marriages, blasphemy accusations, and even murder.

Blasphemy Accusations and Updates

Over the second half of 2020, ICC documented at least six blasphemy incidents. As a result of these incidents, eleven Christians were accused of committing blasphemy against Islam and its holy personages.

Among the Christians accused of blasphemy was Arshad Masih, a Christian factory worker from Sheikhupura. On December 14, Arshad was stabbed to death by Atif Ali, his Muslim coworker at Pakistan Spring Factory.

After the attack, Ali claimed he had killed a kafir, infidel, and blasphemer. When he was arrested, Ali asked the arresting officers if he could wash his hands as “he did not want the blood of a blasphemer on his hands anymore.”

“he did not want the blood of a blasphemer on his hands anymore.”

Samina Bibi, Arshad’s wife, reports that Ali attacked her husband due to a promotion Arshad received and his refusal to convert to Islam. Arshad’s widow suspects that Ali attacked her husband because he refused to convert to Islam.

On August 30, police arrested David Masih, a Christian from Risalpure, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. David was charged with committing blasphemy under Section 295-B of Pakistan’s Penal Code for allegedly throwing copies of the Quran in the drainage line.

On November 23, four Christian sanitary workers were accused of committing blasphemy in Lahore. A Muslim cleric accused the Christians of collecting garbage in a bag decorated with a photo of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. They were in police custody until declared innocent after an investigation on November 28.

In addition to new accusations, ICC also noted several high-profile blasphemy cases against Christians being resolved in the second half of 2020.

In October 2020, the Lahore High Court acquitted Sawan Masih; a Christian sentenced to death under the blasphemy laws in March 2014. Sawan was accused by his Muslim friend, Muhammad Shahid, of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a conversation in March 2013.

In December 2020, Imran Masih, a Christian sentenced to life imprisonment under the blasphemy laws in January 2010, was also acquitted and released. Imran’s situation changed very little for more than ten years after his conviction. After a hearing in September 2015, Imran’s appeal to the Lahore High Court was repeatedly delayed until December 10, 2020, when he was finally acquitted.

Forced Marriage and Forced Conversion

Abductions, sexual assaults, forced conversions and forced marriages also continued to affect Pakistan’s Christian community in the second half of 2020. ICC documented at least seven instances in which Christian women and girls were abducted, forcefully married, and forcefully converted to Islam between July and December.

The abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriage of Arzoo Raja, a 13-year-old Christian girl from Karachi, made international headlines and exemplified the abuse faced by Pakistan’s Christian community.

On October 13, Arzoo was allegedly abducted from her family home in Karachi by Ali Azhar, her 44-year-old Muslim neighbor. Arzoo’s parents reported the incident to local police and were informed two days later that their daughter had converted to Islam and married Azhar.

Arzoo’s parents challenged the marriage’s validity, claiming it violated the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act. However, on October 27, the court ruled in favor of the marriage and ordered local police to protect Arzoo and Azhar.

On November 2, police were ordered by the High Court in Sindh to recover Arzoo and arrest Azhar. This came after Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights became involved in the case as an intervener. Arzoo was taken to a women’s shelter, and Azhar was arrested.

On November 9, the High Court in Sindh ruled that Arzoo was a minor and that her marriage to Azhar violated the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act. Arzoo returned to the women’s shelter after she refused to reunite with her family and insisted that she had freely chosen to marry Azhar.

On November 23, the High Court in Sindh ordered that Arzoo remains in the government shelter home until she becomes an adult.

According to the Open Doors USA World Watch List, Pakistan is ranked the fifth most dangerous country to be a Christian. Unfortunately, the intolerance, discrimination, and outright persecution documented by ICC in the second six months of 2020 only support Pakistan’s ranking among the worst persecutors of Christians.

https://www.persecution.org/2021/02/19/pakistani-christians-endure-38-incidents-persecution-last-six-months-2020/

The silence of Canadian authorities regarding the death of Karima Mehrab is deafening

MARGARET JENKINS

Earlier this week, Ontario MPP Jessica Bell stood in the provincial legislature and called for a full and independent investigation into the death of Karima Mehrab, also known as Karima Baloch, a human-rights activist who had been living as a refugee in Toronto. She was just 37 when she was found dead in Lake Ontario in late December. But just one day after her body was recovered, Toronto police quickly declared on Twitter that “circumstances have been investigated and officers have determined this to be a non-criminal death and no foul play is suspected.”

It is clear this is no ordinary case, however, and it requires more than an ordinary investigation. The Canadian government should have immediately made a public statement supporting a thorough investigation to demonstrate Canada’s resolve to protect all who live within its borders. It is not too late for the government to show that it takes this case seriously.

Ms. Mehrab came to Toronto from Balochistan, a Pakistani province where, according to an Amnesty International report released in November, “enforced disappearances targeting students, activists, journalists and human rights defenders continue relentlessly” among the country’s Baloch minority. She was internationally known for fighting for the rights of Baloch people, and was the first female leader of the Baloch Student Organization (BSO). In 2016, she was named one of the BBC’s 100 inspirational and influential women. She continued her work while starting a new life in Canada, enrolling at the University of Toronto, where she met with friends to study for an exam just days before her death. Six weeks after the release of the Amnesty International report, on Dec. 20, Ms. Mehrab disappeared when she went for a walk. Her body was found the next day.

Family and friends told reporters that, in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, Ms. Mehrab had received threatening phone calls and messages. One even warned that if she did not quit her activism, she would receive “a Christmas gift … she [would] never forget.” Ms. Mehrab and her husband felt they were being followed and watched. According to the BBC, one threatening caller told her to return to Pakistan; when she refused, the caller described, in detail, a visit Ms. Mehrab had made to a Toronto park earlier that day. The message was clear: We know exactly where you are – you cannot hide.

This is, unfortunately, all too common. Ms. Mehrab’s predecessor as BSO leader, Zahid Baloch, was abducted in Pakistan in 2014; his whereabouts remain unknown, but he is presumed dead. Ms. Mehrab’s friend Sajid Hussain, who was himself a prominent Baloch activist and the editor-in-chief of the Balochistan Times, was found dead in Sweden’s Fyris River in April last year after going missing for two months. An autopsy found no evidence of foul play, but police said they could not definitively rule out the possibility of a crime having taken place.

Here, there has been no such transparency, and so many questions remain. Have Public Safety, Global Affairs, CSIS or the RCMP supported the Toronto police investigation? Is a thorough probe under way? Have the threatening messages to Ms. Mehrab been investigated? Have Toronto police tried to find video footage of the people who had followed her? What did the autopsy and toxicology reports say (if they exist)? Have links between Ms. Mehrab’s and Mr. Hussain’s deaths been investigated? Have Toronto police contacted the Swedish police? How can the police be sure Ms. Mehrab wasn’t murdered?

Canada has a feminist approach to foreign policy, which includes clear guidelines for protecting female human-rights defenders such as Ms. Mehrab. If she had been pulled from a lake in another country, Canada would likely have called for a thorough inquiry into her death. But unfortunately she died in Toronto, and Canada has been silent; the Toronto police have said nothing on the matter since tweeting their determination of a “non-criminal death” the day after her body was found. In Toronto, Paris and Pakistani cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Quetta, protesters have demanded answers from Canadian authorities.

Canada’s continuing silence sends a chilling message to activists and journalists around the world – and emboldens those who want to silence dissidents regardless of where they live. Canada should instead emulate countries such as Australia, which has defended its activists, journalists and academics from harassment, intimidation and threats, as well as Germany and the U.K., which have launched serious investigations of cases involving political dissidents.

Two weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey, Canada reportedly intercepted a Saudi Arabian “hit squad” at Toronto Pearson International Airport allegedly sent to kill a former top Saudi official living in exile in Toronto. At the time, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said, “We will never tolerate foreign actors threatening Canada’s national security or the safety of our citizens and residents.” The Canadian government now has an opportunity to prove that – by investigating exactly what happened to Karima Mehrab.

Margaret Jenkins is a Canadian researcher. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and has held fellowships at Georgetown, Harvard and Central European universities. She has worked for more than 20 years on women’s rights and gender-based violence in Canada and abroad.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-silence-of-canadian-authorities-regarding-the-death-of-karima/

Biden Won't Let Taliban 'have Its Ways' In Afghanistan, Says Ex-Pakistan Envoy To The US

By Zaini Majeed

Biden administration had grounds to believe that the Taliban dramatically failed to adhere to Afghan Peace Deal, Pakistan’s former envoy to US Haqqani said.

Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani said that the Joe Biden administration will not let the Taliban have its way as the price for ending the war in Afghanistan. Opposed to former US President Donald Trump’s policies that had charted the roadmap of Afghan national reconciliation and complete withdrawal of US and NATO troops from the region, emboldening the Taliban. Biden’s US Afghanistan policy will not cede to Taliban negotiations to put an end to deteriorating security and nearly two decades of war between conflicting parties in Afghanistan. Haqqani further alleged, that despite Trump brokered the US-Taliban deal reached in Doha, al Qaeda has entrenched in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, gaining strength, and the Taliban “refused to respect the gains for the Afghan people.”

In an opinion piece for DC-based newspaper The Hill, the director for the South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute said, Biden administration has grounds to believe that the Taliban has failed to keep the promise made in the Afghan peace deal, which was predicated on the latter's promise to cut off ties with Al-Qaeda. Calling the signing of the US-Taliban deal a ‘non-starter’ Haqqani said in the interview that the Taliban “acted as if it was talking, as victors of a civil war, to other Afghan factions about a power-sharing agreement, albeit on the Taliban's terms,” as cited by news agency ANI.

To ‘re-evaluate’ Taliban’s compliance

Biden will ‘maintain a military presence in Afghanistan indefinitely’, as he had committed to “end forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East” during his election campaign trail, with a mission-focused “on al Qaeda and ISIS”, the former Pakistan ambassador to US noted. But Haqqani stressed, that Biden, however, might not “completely walk away” from Trump administration’s regional diplomacy, breaking new ground, as the sitting US President had vowed to “bring the vast majority of our troops home from Afghanistan.” After a phone call held last week between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Afghan counterpart, Hamdullah Mohib, Biden administration gave mixed signals about US’ Afghan policies in the press, stating that the administration plans to ‘re-evaluate’ the Taliban’s compliance.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration also expressed willingness to work with Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad for future intra-Afghan talks. Even as the White House has provided uncertainty over Biden’s robust stance on Afghan policies, Haqqani said, Biden administration will provide full support to the government of Afghanistan in seeking a settlement with the Taliban. "Even Pakistan, which facilitated US dialogue with the Taliban and has long provided sanctuary to the group's leaders, now seems to support such an approach while describing a hasty US withdrawal as 'unwise'," he wrote.

https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/biden-wont-let-taliban-have-its-ways-in-afghanistan-says-ex-pakistan-envoy-to-the-us.html

Pakistan is isolated and talking peace. But India knows this game too well by now

SESHADRI CHARI 

 As things stand now, the US, China and Saudi Arabia are pulling in different directions with Pakistan caught in the crossfire.

This is not the first time that Pakistan is proposing a peace plan. The more than 70 years of joint history is replete with instances of doublespeak and treachery by Pakistan — peace proposals followed by ceasefires and then their subsequent violation.

But this time it was the turn of Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to sermonise on peace, saying, “Pakistan is committed to the idea of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence….”. Ironically, two days after this homily, the army and the rest of the establishment in Islamabad held the ritual of observing ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ by organising anti-India protests.

 Bajwa’s short-lived peace offer should also be seen in the background of changing geopolitical realities in the region. While Pakistan was considered part of the larger Islamic coalition but a poorer cousin, recent events have resulted in a drift between Saudi Arabia and Islamabad. The relationship took a hit when in 2015, Pakistan disallowed its military from participating in the Yemen conflict much to Riyadh’s displeasure. Islamabad once again stepped on Saudi toes when Prime Minister Imran Khan walked away disrespectfully and in breach of protocol after meeting the Saudi King during the OIC summit in 2019, without waiting for the translator to interpret the words he had exchanged. In November 2020, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement that did not mention Kashmir in spite of Pakistan’s efforts to get the OIC to condemn India’s abrogation of Article 370. In August that same year, Imran Khan ‘accused’ the Saudi-led OIC of inaction over the Kashmir issue and plotted to convene an OIC meeting with the help of Malaysia and Saudi’s bête noire Turkey, bypassing Saudi objection. Saudi Arabia promptly asked Pakistan to repay the $1 billion loan immediately. China came to Pakistan’s rescue.

But China will prefer to wait and watch before advising Pakistan on further moves in the region. It is possible that it was under Chinese prodding that Imran Khan undertook his maiden visit to Iran to play matchmaker between Riyadh and Tehran. The Middle East conflicts are too serious a subject for Pakistan to resolve. The only reason Beijing would have prodded Islamabad is to play a greater role in Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Meanwhile, the White House under President Joe Biden might not appreciate Islamabad rushing in where angels fear to tread. It is clear that Washington wants Iran to “obey and not negotiate”. As it stands now, the US, China and Saudi Arabia are pulling in different directions with Pakistan caught in the crossfire. None of these countries can afford to lose the commercial part of the relationship with India. As for China, it would not want any escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan that could endanger its assets and strategic calculations in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects.

With none of these countries wanting to get into the India-Pakistan conflict, it is clear that an isolated Pakistan has no choice but to return to the table for talks, at least for the time being.

Dissent in PoK, and China holding back

It is becoming an uphill task for the Pakistan Army to meet the demands of the Chinese (army and civilian alike) engaged in CPEC projects and the increasing protests in Rawalakot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) against rising inflation. Earlier in 2019, there were protests against the Pakistan Army and local police at several areas of PoK like Muzaffarabad, Tatto Pani, Rawalakot, Poonch, Hajira, and Tatrinote, with people accusing Islamabad of illegally taking over land for CPEC projects. In September 2018, political activists from PoK held a massive protest in front of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) office to protest gross human rights violations and exploitation of water resources by Pakistan as part of the CPEC projects.

China seems to be in a tearing hurry to complete the highway project between Chitral and Chakdara, which would be connected to the existing motorway that reaches Rashakai, the nerve centre of the proposed lucrative CPEC Special Economic Zone. More importantly, these projects are linked to the westbound highway linking the Karakoram Highway from Gilgit Baltistan to Chitral district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that straddles the Wakhan Corridor, which borders Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan. About 12 km from the corridor, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has reportedly stationed troops at a dedicated military base in Tajikistan and has been conducting regular joint patrols and counterterrorism operations with Afghan security forces to prevent infiltration by militant Uygur groups.

All this irritates the local population and has strong repercussions on political parties that have to tackle people’s ire.

Little wonder then that, every time an election approaches, the political class sets about to make two promises. First is the resolve to send the army back to the barracks. Although this has never happened, the army top brass seems to allow the political parties to have temporary hallucinations about such a possibility. The second promise they make is to undertake efforts to mend fences with India and begin a long life of peace and tranquility. During the 2018 parliamentary election, all the prospective prime ministerial candidates — Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhutto and Shahbaz Sharif — declared their pious intentions to improve relations with India if elected. Ostensibly, such promises must be finding resonance with the masses encouraging them to vote for the right candidate who can engage with New Delhi for peace efforts.

Terms like ‘composite dialogue’, ‘comprehensive dialogue’ and ‘discussing all issues including Kashmir’ have been mentioned at every possible instance on international platforms. While Pakistan unfailingly raises the issue of Kashmir in every peace talk, India repeats the mantra of ‘talks and terror cannot go together’.

India’s brush with various ‘peace’ plans

Successive prime ministers of India have come across peace proposals from Pakistan and also witnessed the brutal terror attacks unleashed by the so-called non-State actors there.

The current phase of composite dialogue between Pakistan and India, which evolved into what is generally referred to as the peace process, began in January 2004 after the summit meeting between then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf. The meeting was touted as one that helped thaw the post-Kargil bitter relations between the two countries. But Islamabad did very little to reign in its non-State actors or prevent use of territory under its control to be used as terror launch pads.

In 2006, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said, “We can make borders irrelevant.” But soon after that, another series of terror attacks took place. Again, after Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, the peace process received a new lease of life, only to disappear in the aftermaths of Uri (2016) and Pulwama (2019).

It is unfortunate that peace proposals from the political institutions in Islamabad have never met with success because they do not have the support of the army establishment, which has assumed a significant role in the country’s political ecosystem. Even more unfortunate is the reality that every serious peace proposal has been followed up by some terror attack or aggression by the army and the so-called non-State actors, most of them patronised by the country’s intelligence wing, ISI. It is doubtful if the all-powerful Pakistan military would really appreciate the two countries deciding to live in peace and bury the hatchet. Pakistan has three power centres; the army, the clergy, and the political establishment, which can be said to be the weakest of the three. The people and the civil society seemingly play little to no role in the decision-making process or overall functioning of the country. One can come across a number of anecdotal evidence highlighting the aspirations and hopes of peace nurtured by the people of Pakistan since the tragic Partition.

Pakistan is a perennial concern for India and one of the biggest impediments to peace and progress in the region. New Delhi must keep all the options for peace talks open but never lower its guard lest it is caught unawares again with yet another terror attack.

https://theprint.in/opinion/pakistan-is-isolated-and-talking-peace-but-india-knows-this-game-too-well-by-now/607747/

#Pakistan - Choices - The Senate Election

By Najam Sethi

The Senate Election has suddenly become a battleground where the opposition has banded together under the flag of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the government and its small party-allies under the banner of the PTI. Lurking in the shadows along the flanks of the PTI – because they are not supposed to be party-political – are a range of state institutions ready to ambush the PDM and its constituents. Prominent among these are NAB, FIA, FBR and IB, all of which have been roped in to victimize the opposition and knock it down. More ominously, despite avowals of “neutrality”, the master Selector-Miltablishment is still pulling all the strings to ensure “suitable” results, like it did after successfully blackmailing the PPP when the election of the Senate Chairman was held three years ago and like it did when a vote of no-confidence against the same Senate Chairman was defeated last year by 14 “defecting” opposition Senators. It may be recalled that when the Senate elections were held in 2018, Imran Khan accused nearly two dozen PTI MPAs from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa of taking money to sell their votes either to the opposition or to their own party colleagues against the decisions of the PTI leader.

Why, the question has been asked, is there such an outcry today by the government and its allies against the buying and selling of Senate votes when yesterday exactly the opposite sentiment was lauded by them? Indeed, Shibli Faraz, the loudest PTI mouthpiece, was delirious with happiness after the vote of no-confidence against the Senate Chairman was defeated last year because the Senators “with a conscience” had broken opposition party lines to do the government’s bidding.

It seems routine mundane reasons are behind such double-speak: it is kosher to buy and sell votes or rig elections if it suits the established powers, and criminal if it doesn’t. There’s not a shred of doubt that the RT system was deliberately “broken down” on the night of vote counting in the general elections in 2018 so that the PMLN could be cut down to size. Yet not a leaf stirred in the Election Commission of Pakistan to object or rectify the situation. Much the same ostrich attitude was adopted by the ECP during other electoral exercises since then.

But now there’s added urgency and priority in the developing situation in the Senate. If the PTI and its allies lose a few seats to the opposition beyond its proportional due, the government won’t be able to marshal a majority in the upper house to confirm legislation in the lower house where it has a majority, leading to loss of confidence in its ability to govern. This is a distinct possibility for two reasons: the PTI ranks are fomenting revolt against their leadership for a variety of reasons; and the opposition is keen to demonstrate its united prowess as a prelude to the Long March which in turn is billed as a prelude to an in-house change (where loyalties will once again be available for transfer). But that’s not all. At stake is the very viability of the Hybrid Political System hoisted by the Miltablishment which depends critically on its control of parliament and legitimizing organs of the state.

Enter the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Although the constitution is crystal clear about the necessity of secret balloting in the Senate elections, the government has petitioned the apex court to opine whether or not the conditionality can be waived without a constitutional amendment requiring a 2/3 majority of both houses of parliament (which it cannot muster). Two developments ring alarm bells in this regard. First, the President has promulgated an Ordinance to require open voting in the Senate elections even before the SCP has given any final opinion in this regard. Second, with only a couple of weeks or so to go before D-Day, the SCP is posing leading questions and making interpretations that seem to challenge the clear intent of the constitutional clauses that stipulate secret balloting. An overwhelming body of opinion in the bar and civil society claims that either way – by eventually holding against the constitution or delaying its judgment in upholding it – the net effect of the SCP’s “hearings” so far is to restrain Senators from straying too far from their masters, their “conscience” that so warmed the cockles of Shibli Faraz’s heart not so long ago be damned.

The role of the Attorney General of Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan also merits comment. The former is supposed to assist the SCP in making just and independent decisions. In this case, however, he is doing exactly the opposite. But the ECP seems to be showing spine in resisting the notion of open balloting. Is that why, ask critics, the CEC and his legal eagles are on the ropes, receiving a hammering from the bench?

History recalls the Lawyers Movement for the Restoration of the Judiciary with some pride because it paved the way for the ouster of a military dictator. It also empowered the judges to be independent of the executive. Unfortunately, however, that “independence” soon thereafter degenerated into an unaccountable tyranny. CJP Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry used his sweeping powers to oust an elected prime minister from office for “contempt of court”, an unprecedented decision in the annals of justice. A subsequent CJP, Asif Saeed Khosa, was more outrageous, knocking out another popular prime minister on the pretext of an unreceived, piddling, salary. A third CJP, Saquib Nisar, was a small man who deluded himself that he was a towering Baba Rehmataya, slashing all who came before him like The Joker in the Hollywood hit movie. Recently, ex-SC judge, Sheikh Azmat Saeed, has brazenly confirmed his anti-opposition and pro PTI-Miltablishment bias.

The current leaders of the SCP have choices to make. If they bend before the Miltablishment and reaffirm the Hybrid Political System that is based on lies, deception and despotism, they will have the dubious “honour” of finally burying the glorious Lawyers Movement in the dustbin of history.

https://www.thefridaytimes.com/choices/

Maryam Nawaz alleges fraud in Punjab bypoll; suspects role of Pak military

Pakistan Muslim League (N) vice president Maryam Nawaz on Saturday accused the country’s military establishment of abducting over 20 election officials to rig the bypoll in Punjab province in favour of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

At least two political workers were killed during the byelection to the National Assembly seat NA-75 in Daska, over 80 km from provincial capital Lahore, on Friday, when clashes broke out, including an incident of

shooting, between the supporters of the PTI and the PML-N. “At least 20 presiding officers of as many polling stations have been abducted on Friday evening along with the ballot boxes to change the NA-75 results. This incident has the signature of ‘Khalai Makhlooq’ (a reference to the Army and the intelligence agency). This incident is similar to that of breaking into my room in Karachi,” Maryam Nawaz said at press conference here on Saturday.

On the intervening night of October 18 and 19, Maryam’s husband and deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law Capt Muhammad Safdar (retd) had been arrested from his hotel room in Karachi by the Pakistan Rangers.Earlier on Saturday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) withheld the result of the constituency in Daska, following reports of the missing election officers. The ECP also expressed doubt over the results of 20 polling stations in NA-75.“The results of the NA-75 constituency were received with unnecessary delay. We tried to contact the presiding officers of some 20 polling stations several times but with no success,” the ECP said in a statement.

The ECP further said: “The chief election commissioner tried to contact the Punjab inspector general of police, commissioner and deputy commissioner on receiving information from the district returning officer (DRO) and returning officer (RO) so the whereabouts of the presiding officers concerned could be ascertained but received no response.” Maryam Nawaz said the military should distance itself from the Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I want to advise the Khalai Maqlooq to distance itself from its ‘incompetent selected’ Imran Khan to save its dignity among the masses,” she said, and alleged that both the selected and selectors had gone to every extent to steal the by-poll but they failed.

She said men in plainclothes had abducted the ECP staff and kept them in detention for more than 14 hours.

“During the detention the results of those 20 polling stations were changed in which the polling turnout was shown 90 per cent compared to the other 330 polling stations (recording) 35 per cent. Only the Khalai Makhlooq and defeated Imran Khan government can do such (a) thing,” she alleged, demanding the ECP to hold fresh by-poll in NA-75.

The PML-N vice president further said the ECP’s statement regarding the NA-75 by-poll is a “charge sheet” against the Imran Khan government.

PTI leader and Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz, however, has claimed victory in NA-75, saying “results received by our polling agents in NA-75 Daska suggest we have won the election by over 7,000 votes. An election we had lost by over 30,000 in the last election.”

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/maryam-nawaz-alleges-fraud-in-punjab-bypoll-suspects-role-of-pak-military-215237

Visa for doctors to air ambulances — neighbours including Pakistan ‘support’ 5 Modi proposals

By HIMANI CHANDNA and NAYANIMA BASU

Modi addressed workshop on Covid management in which 10 nations participated. Officials say all were 'upfront' in saying they agree to all his suggestions, further discussions soon.

Special visa for doctors and nurses, air ambulance agreement for medical contingencies and establishment of a common platform to study effectiveness of Covid19 vaccines — neighbourhing countries including Pakistan have given nod to five proposals made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ThePrint learnt.India Thursday conducted a one-day workshop with nine neighbouring countries — including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles and Sri Lanka — on “COVID-19 Management: Experience, Good Practices and Way Forward”.

The event was inaugurated with PM Modi’s video address in which he suggested several points for the discussion.

A senior official, who participated in the event, told ThePrint that every country gave nod to Modi’s suggestions, and further discussions will be undertaken soon.

“All countries were upfront in saying we support all of the suggestions. Not even a single country’s representative has said that we will get back or respond later,” said the official.

“We will soon begin further discussions on how to convert the suggestions into reality.”

Another source in the government confirmed this: “All countries have agreed that there was a need for such cooperation on a regional basis for fighting such pandemics. They have proposed a structured discussion for regional cooperation on these proposals to take them forward.”

https://theprint.in/diplomacy/visa-for-doctors-to-air-ambulances-neighbours-including-pakistan-support-5-modi-proposals/607775/