Monday, July 26, 2021
How elections happen in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Time to take lid off the biggest scam
Thanks to both Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif governments, the ‘AJK’ legislative assembly is completely toothless. Why have an election at all?
It’s election time in what the Pakistanis like to call ‘Azad Kashmir’ — that thin slice of territory that is meant to showcase Kashmiri ‘independence’. It’s a different issue that it’s not independent at all, and that its legislature has the powers equivalent to a District Magistrate in India. But the pretence is maintained, once every five years, glamorous political leaders descend on Muzaffarabad, give speeches, and disappear, not to be seen again till the next round. It’s all rather delicious irony, given the beating of Pakistani political chests on self-determination in Kashmir.
The Azadi of ‘AJK’ elected bodies
For the uninitiated, ‘AJK’ is a territory of about 13,000 sq km that was once part of the kingdom of the Maharaja of Kashmir, as is the rest of what we call PoK ( Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), which includes the much larger over 72,000 sq km of Gilgit Baltistan.
A hugely strategic area since British times, Islamabad quietly divided PoK into two through the still secret Karachi Agreement 1949, in complete violation of UN Resolution 47. Essentially, the ‘Azad Kashmir government’ handed over 12 subjects, like defence, foreign policy, and the coordination of all affairs of Gilgit Baltistan to Pakistan. In other words, ‘Azad Kashmir’ found itself a quarter of its former size, without any consultation with its own people. Subsequently, the basics of a presidential, and later a parliamentary system were set up, which meant a president, a prime minister, a legislative assembly etc, all of which sounded fine on paper. In reality, actual power resides with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who chairs the upper house called the Kashmir Council in Islamabad, which is dominated by establishment cronies. The Council decided on everything from publication of newspapers to the appointment of the auditor general, leaving the legislative assembly with basic day to day running of the state. It does levy taxes, but tax officials are appointed by Islamabad. In 2018, the outgoing Nawaz Sharif government tried to overturn this state of affairs with the Thirteenth Amendment, which quietly transferred the huge powers of the Council to the legislature and changed the terminology of ‘Interim Constitution’ to just ‘Constitution’. That would have given ‘AJK’ a certain independence. Then, Imran Khan’s government reacted with a hammer that was the Fourteenth Amendment in 2020. It took away even the few powers of the state, and indeed banned the use of the word ‘state’ at all. Among other changes, a new clause allowed any bill passed by the Council to become law, without the assent of the ‘President’ of PoK, completely eroded judicial autonomy, and further restricted political activity. It was virtual annexation, and was opposed ‘in totality’ by the Cabinet of ‘AJK’, but the legislative assembly was reported to have accepted it in December 2020. So, as of now, the ‘AJK’ legislative assembly is completely toothless. And it is to this body that elections are being fought. One wonders why anyone even bothers. The election game It is this sad travesty of a democratic institution that is going to elections. The legislative assembly consists of 55 seats, 45 of which are general, and 8 are reserved for women, technocrats and religious scholars. Of the 45, 12 seats are reserved for refugees from Jammu and Kashmir. In the past, most of these seats were usually usurped by the ruling party in Islamabad, because most refugees live in Punjab and Sindh. For instance, Jammu-1constituency’s voters are spread over Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan provinces in 48 districts. This segment has little interest in local issues, and votes from provincial viewpoints. Another 8,000 families who migrated after 1990 have been settled near Garhi Dupatta by the Pakistan army. These voters are even more eager to please the powers that be. A large number of seats are therefore already in the hands of Islamabad including some obvious candidates from 32 registered political parties, like the Tehreek-e-Labbaik, which assisted the deep State in defeating Nawaz Sharif in his home state in the 2018 general elections. It is now contesting elections despite being a proscribed organisation, in a typical sleight of hand of the deep State, with its candidates up for all seats including the refugee constituencies. Then are the mainland parties like the Pakistan Peoples Party and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which have huge resources, compared to local parties like the Muslim Conference or the Jamaat-e-Islami, who usually opt to be a small minority in a government dominated by the Pakistani parties. Despite this, it seems that Islamabad still likes to make sure it has the seats. Federal Minister Amin Ali Gandapur who presides over the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, was reported to have paid some PKR 500,000 in cash to his party’s political workers in Mirpur, just weeks before elections. The money was ostensibly to repair a link road. Apparently, the exalted minister takes a deep interest in what should have been the job of local government. As before, it is widely expected that the ruling PTI will swing the elections. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Imran Khan was in election mode, drawing large crowds. His speeches at Bhimber and Mirpur focussed almost entirely on the corruption of Nawaz Sharif, and how his own government had changed Pakistan from a beggar state to prosperity. The first one might be true, but the World Bank would certainly disagree with the second. Being Imran Khan, he could hardly resist a dig at Prime Minister Modi, but the Kashmir issue was largely mentioned only in passing. Party leaders hardly ever talk of Kashmir during elections in PoK. Benazir Bhutto didn’t, neither did Nawaz Sharif. Nor does Imran Khan now. It seems it’s not quite the soul-searing issue that Islamabad would have everyone believe. Essentially, it doesn’t get votes. That for India is the most interesting thing. Meanwhile, the sitting ‘Prime Minister’ Raja Farooq Haider has accused Imran Khan and his ministers of ‘direct meddling’ in the elections. He should be careful. Last year, he was nearly charged with ‘treason’ against Pakistan, a charge hastily withdrawn as Rawalpindi realised the effect it would have on an apparently ‘Azad’ territory. And so the charade continues. Pakistani leaders will object to the creation of local bodies in Kashmir, the delimitation process, and upcoming elections, even as their legislative body is reduced to nothing at all. That process needs to be shown to Srinagar’s feisty politicians, the public, and the so-called international community. It’s time the lid was taken off the biggest scam of all.https://theprint.in/opinion/how-elections-happen-in-pakistan-occupied-kashmir-time-to-take-lid-off-the-biggest-scam/702425/
Noor Mukadam's murder exposes toxic misogyny in #Pakistan
Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old woman and daughter of Pakistan's former ambassador to South Korea, was brutally killed in Islamabad on July 20. The alleged killer, Zahir Zamir Jaffer, was reportedly her acquaintance. According to police reports, he beheaded Mukadam after shooting her. Violence against women is widespread in Pakistan, but the recent spate of women killings has shocked the South Asian nation. On Sunday, a man burned his wife to death in the southern Sindh province, while another man shot dead his wife, his aunt and two underage daughters in Shikarpur city on the same day. A 30-year-old woman who was raped and stabbed on Saturday in Rawalpindi city succumbed to her injuries on Sunday. On July 18, a woman was tortured to death by her husband in Sindh. Last month, a man killed two women, including his former wife, in the name of "honor" in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The recent cases have triggered a debate about the state's failure to protect women, the culture of impunity, and the reasons behind society's tendency to curtail women's independence and inflict pain on them.
https://www.dw.com/en/noor-mukadams-murder-exposes-toxic-misogyny-in-pakistan/a-58645017
European Parliament to withdraw Pakistan's GSP+ status over abuse of blasphemy laws
Amid abuse of the blasphemy laws and cases widely reported across Pakistan, the European Parliament has moved to withdraw Islamabad's GSP+ status.
Philippe Jeune, writing in EU Political Report said that the European Parliament has criticised Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws and called for a review of the status quo.
Pakistan is a major beneficiary of the trading opportunities offered by the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).
From January 1, 2014, Pakistan has benefited from generous tariff preferences (mostly zero duties on two-thirds of all product categories) under the so-called GSP+ arrangement aiming to support sustainable development and good governance.
In order to maintain GSP+ status, Pakistan is obliged to ratify and effectively implement 27 core international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.
On April 24th of this year, in a Joint Motion for a Resolution, supported by all major political groups, MEPs called for an immediate review of Pakistan's eligibility for GSP+ status, and considered appropriate, the withdrawal of that status, said EU Political Report.
Such a move, which apparently enjoys the support of the majority of the house, would be highly damaging for Pakistan's economy: from 2010 to 2020, EU27 imports from Pakistan have almost doubled, with much of the growth coming in the aftermath of the award of GSP+ in 2014, wrote Jeune.
According to figures released by the European Commission, the EU is now Pakistan's second most important trading partner, accounting for 14.3 per cent of Pakistan's total trade in 2020 and absorbing 28 per cent of Pakistan's total exports.
Parliamentarians alleged that the blasphemy laws are used to "incite harassment, violence and murder against those being accused, causing people who are accused of blasphemy have to fear for their lives regardless of the outcome of judicial procedures."
They further stated that "it is widely known that Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often abused by making false accusations that serve the personal interests of the accuser," the report added.
Moreover, EU Today reported that as per a US news agency investigation, sexual harassment, rape and physical abuse by Islamic clerics teaching in madrassas or religious schools throughout the country is a common phenomenon.
It is in these schools - known as Madaris-e-Deeniya in Urdu - that many of the country's poorest, and most vulnerable study.
Whilst the government has promised to modernise the curriculum and make the madrassas more accountable, police say the problem of sexual abuse of children by clerics is pervasive and the scores of reports they have received, none of which have resulted in the conviction of a cleric, are just the tip of the iceberg, reported EU Today.
Religious clerics are a powerful group in Pakistan and are united. Whenever any allegations of abuse are brought against them they join hands to defend each other.
They have often been able to hide the widespread abuse by accusing victims of blasphemy, defamation of Islam, or defamation of the prophet, which carries a mandatory death sentence, reported EU Today.
In such a scenario, the family of any young girl - or boy - alleging sexual abuse by a cleric, faces two options.
To report the offence, knowing that no action will be taken against the cleric, who will invoke Pakistan's draconian and internationally condemned blasphemy laws, and stigmatising the victim for life, or worse: those accused of blasphemy often face the wrath of the mob or they can say and do nothing.
On April 28th, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a joint motion, supported by all major political groups, for a resolution on the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, calling for more comprehensive approaches to address such abuses of the laws as described above in Pakistan, reported EU Today.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has previously called for the elimination of blasphemy laws throughout the world - globally, 84 countries have such laws, although few if any are as far-reaching, draconian, or as open to abuse as those of Pakistan.
Pakistan has the highest rate of enforcement of blasphemy laws, with Iran the second highest. They impose the death penalty for defaming the Prophet Mohammed.
https://in.news.yahoo.com/european-parliament-withdraw-pakistans-gsp-164709614.html
#PTI won through rigging in #Kashmir elections, allege Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz
Bilawal Bhutto says despite rigging and violence by the PTI, PPP has emerged as the largest Opposition party in Kashmir. Says Election Commission failed to take action against the PTI. Maryam Nawaz says she has not accepted the results and will never accept them.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Monday alleged that the PTI won the Kashmir polls through rigging and rejected the results of the elections held Sunday.
Maryam praised the party workers for "putting up a good fight" despite "violence and rigging by PTI" in the Kashmir elections held Sunday.
According to unofficial results, the PPP has emerged as the largest Opposition party in the AJK Legislative Assembly with 11 seats while PML-N bagged six and two other parties got one each. The PTI won 25 out of 45 seats.
Taking to Twitter, Bilawal Bhutto claimed the election commission had failed to take action against the PTI for violating electoral rules.
"Despite this, PPP emerged as the largest opposition party in AJK with 11 seats, up from 3 seats last time. incredibly proud of PPPAJK for putting up a good fight," the PPP leader tweeted while sharing the list of the party's winning candidates.
'Will not accept results'
Meanwhile, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz tweeted that she has not accepted the results and will never accept them. "I did not accept the 2018 results either or acknowledge this fake government," she added.
She lauded the party workers and voters.
"What response we will come up with for this shameless rigging, is a matter that the party will decide soon, InshaAllah."
In another tweet, she praised the party workers for fighting against all odds in the elections.
"I would like to commend all the voters and workers of PML-N for their courage and bravery. I am very proud of them," she said.