Wednesday, December 1, 2021
#Pakistan - #Balochistan’s Students Protest Enforced Disappearances
By Somaiyah Hafeez
@sommulbaloch
Students at the University of Balochistan in the Pakistani city of Quetta have been staging a sit-in, resulting in all academic activities being halted, for almost three weeks. Protests started on November 7 after the enforced disappearance of two students of the university, who were allegedly abducted from the campus. Faseeh Baloch and Sohail Baloch went missing on November 1. Since then, their fellow students have been protesting, day and night in the biting cold outside the university. The demonstrators say they won’t stop unless the missing students are released. Negotiations between the students and the university administration took place on November 9 but failed to reach a solution. Afterwards, students from the Baloch Student Organization (BSO) locked the gates of the university and announced that all academic activities, including the semester examinations, would be halted until the missing students were recovered. Later, on November 11, a committee formed by the government met with the students with similarly inconclusive results. “We have had two meetings with the representatives of the government,” Zubair Baloch, chairman of BSO Pajjar, a faction of the BSO, told The Diplomat. “In the first sitting, they assured us that the missing students would be recovered by 16 November. We paused our demonstration on 13 November, but in the second meeting, they had no information whatsoever about the whereabouts of the missing students. “Hence we have now resumed our protests, which will only end after the missing students are recovered.” The issue of the disappearances of the students was also raised in the Balochistan Assembly. This isn’t the first time that Baloch students have been abducted; however, the enforced disappearances of Faseeh and Sohail came as a shock as the students went missing from within the university campus, which has a heavy deployment of security forces, including housing a base of the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force. Balochistan, Pakistan’s geographically largest but poorest province, has been wracked by an insurgent movement for the last two decades. Paramilitary forces are a common sight throughout Balochistan; even educational institutions are not free from the militarization.Enforced disappearances are widely believed to be a part of the state’s counterinsurgency operations. Victims of enforced disappearances range from insurgents and family members of insurgents to political workers and even students. Anyone who is merely suspected of sympathizing with insurgents is at risk of being whisked away.In a recent report titled “Living Ghosts,” the human rights group Amnesty International documented the practice of enforced disappearances in Pakistan and urged Pakistani authorities to end its use as a tool of state policy. The report consists of interviews with 10 family members of victims of enforced disappearances who are still missing to date. The report discusses at length the difficulties faced by the family members in using the legal system to locate their loved ones, the intimidation and threats they faced for their activism against the practice, and the impact of the issue on their mental well-being. As the insurgency has gained momentum over the past few years, there has been an increase in cases of enforced disappearances. Pakistan’s military, however, denies any involvement. In 2019, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, the publicity arm of the Pakistani military, tweeted, “Our hearts beat with families of every missing person. We share their pain and we are with them in the process of tracing them.” On November 26, the office of the registrar of University of Balochistan released a notification announcing the closure of the university until the recovery of the two missing students. “All academic and administrative functions will remain suspended,” the notification said, adding that students must vacate all hostels within three days. Baloch Student Activism The missing students are members of the BSO, a student organization that was founded to campaign for the rights of Baloch students in 1967. The BSO has been responsible for birthing many prominent Baloch politicians. Student leaders of the BSO have later gone on to participate in the politics of the country, many being elected to the National Assembly or becoming the chief minister of the province. Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, the chief minister of Balochistan from June 2013 to December 2015, is a prominent example. Senator Muhammad Akram Dashti, who served as the speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, was also actively involved in student politics. He has raised the issue of the abduction of Baloch students in the Pakistani Senate. He told The Diplomat, “The abduction of Baloch youth, this counterinsurgency tactic, will yield dire negative consequences. Student politics has played a vital role in the politics of Balochistan and has always remained a secular, progressive, and nationalist practice. Balochistan is already a neglected province, this crackdown against the student activists will only further embolden the feelings of alienation and neglect.” “The security establishment hasn’t till date understood how to deal with the issues of Balochistan and how to address the grievances of the province,” Dashti added. “The security establishment often claims that no one is missing or the Baloch students abducted have links with the insurgency movement, but even if that’s the case, enforced disappearances isn’t the answer. If the state has any allegations against any of the students or anyone, they should take the legal procedure against them and present them in front of the courts” Students of Balochistan have been on the forefront of protests in major events in the past few years, on many occasions leading to fruitful results. In 2019, widespread protests by students against a sexual harassment scandal at the University of Balochistan resulted in the resignation of the university’s vice chancellor. The killing of a Baloch student, Hayat Baloch, by FC personnel; the murder of Malik Naz Baloch at the hands of a member of a “death squad”; and the issues with online classes during the pandemic in Balochistan, which lacks internet facilities – these are few examples that led students to mobilize and stage protests for their rights. “If anyone is doing politics that has some impact in Balochistan, then that’s the Baloch students, but they face a lot of issues: There’s [the] academic burden, [and a] lack of facilities,” said Dr. Sabiha Baloch, chairperson of the Baloch Student Action Committee (BSAC). Students undertake political activism to defend their rights, but in doing so, they face a great deal of pressure. “All the students protesting in UoB are threatened, calls are made to their parents with threats,” she said. Baloch Women and Student Politics Balochistan is a highly conservative, tribal, and patriarchal region, where women have restricted rights. However with the recent rise in enforced disappearances of Baloch men, it is the Baloch women who are filling the void created in the province’s political scene, including leading protests against enforced disappearances. Today, Baloch women have a far greater presence in the politics of the province, and much of it comes in the form of activism by Baloch women students. Last month, two young children were allegedly killed in a mortar attack by the Pakistan security forces, which led to protests by the family in Turbat and later on in Quetta, where they staged their protest with the dead bodies. Women were once again at the forefront of these protests: they shouldered the dead bodies of the children when they were finally laid down to rest. In a region where women are confined to their homes, such an act is nothing less than a rebellion. When Karima Baloch, the first women chairperson of the BSO, mysteriously died last year in Canada, Baloch women walked dozens of kilometers to take part in her last rites. Sabiha Baloch is the first female chairperson of the BSAC; however she has had to endure a lot of pressure ever since taking the responsibility. “I belong to a tribal region, and I had to keep my activism a secret for a very long time,” she said. “To date my family is pressurized with constant taunts hurled at my father in our tribe. Everyone says to him ‘your daughter is doing politics.’ They see my activism as a crime because I am a woman.” Baloch women student activists thus bear the brunt of a dual oppression. Collective Punishment Student activists, especially women, fear not only for their own safety but also for the safety of their loved ones. Sabiha’s 19-year-old brother, Shahmir Baloch, a student of Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdhar, was abducted from the university premises along with some other students who were later released. “The day my brother was abducted, I had talked to him on call in the morning. He told me he had received a call threatening him that they’ll abduct me and telling him that ‘your sister is a terrorist,’” she recounted. “I asked him not to worry about me. We consoled each other but I had no idea they would abduct my brother – he has never been involved in student politics.” After the abduction of her brother, Sabiha was under a lot of pressure from her family to resign from her position. She said she decided to halt her activism and even offer her resignation if that would mean the safe release of her brother. Despite her efforts, the release of her brother was delayed time and again. Three months later, her cousin, Murtaza Baloch, was abducted too. Murtaza was released last week, but Shahmir is still missing. “When a female student leaves her home, she rebels against the norms of the tribal and patriarchal society,” said Sadia Baloch, a student activist from Balochistan (no relation to Sabiha). “She faces hostile behavior from administration and after all this, when she emerges as a student activist figure, there is oppression from the state and a collective punishment is given.” “Sabiha Baloch’s brother and cousin were abducted solely because she is a student activist. This is to send across a silent message to anyone resisting,” said Sadia. “If silencing myself would bring back my brother I am ready for that, but I know it wouldn’t because this is just a tactic – a collective punishment and a strategy to silence us from speaking for our rights,” Sabiha said. “They are abducting students from areas where they want to develop pressure. Zehri, Khuzdhar, Kharan, Nushki, Panjgur – every day you will receive news of enforced disappearances from these areas. “The cases that are reported on social media are just the tip of the iceberg, the majority of the cases are not even reported.” Back to the Past – or a New Future? Many Baloch student activists express concern on the mass abduction of students, fearing that security forces are looking to undo the progress the movement has made over the last few years. “Once again an atmosphere of fear is being built in Balochistan, much like 2009 times when one would think twice before calling themselves a Baloch out of fear of abduction,” Sabiha said. “From 2018-2021, the progress that was made via the movement to break free from the shackles of fear, whereby we had the hope that our protests would bear fruit in case someone is abducted or for any other issue – those chains of fear are once again being tied.” Still, the official announcement of the closure of the university until the missing students are recovered is a silent acknowledgment from the administration of the resilience of the Baloch students, who remain unshakable, unmovable, and undefeatable. Balochistan has seen a recent wave of protests from Gwadar to Quetta for the rights of the people and against enforced disappearances. Yet the protests and rallies in Balochistan don’t get any coverage in the mainstream media and Pakistani politicians avoid the issues troubling the country’s largest province.In his latest article, “History and Truth,” author Aasim Sajjad Akthar writes, “it may have been said many times but it must be said again: Balochistan continues to be treated little better than a colony in contemporary Pakistan.” In the words of Senator Dashti, “The state must not repeat the mistakes of the past. Instead of a crackdown against student activists, the state must engage with the youth of Balochistan and address their grievances. Balochistan should not be treated as a colony. That’s the only solution to the mistakes of the past – by safeguarding the rights of the future.”For over three weeks, Baloch students in Quetta have been demonstrating against the suspected abduction of two of their own.
https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/balochistans-students-protest-enforced-disappearances/
Video Report - #NayaDaur #AsmaShirazi Long Before Nawaz Sharif And Audio Leaks, History Gave Its Verdict In Bhutto's Favour: Asma Shirazi
ذوالفقار علی بھٹو ایک سازش کا شکار ہوئے اور جن ججوں نے سزا سنائی وہ بعد میں ان کے حق میں شہادتیں لے کر سامنے آئے۔ عاصمہ شیرازی لکھتی ہیں کہ آج ہماری عدالتوں سے انصاف لینے کے لیے آڈیو اور ویڈیو لیکس کا سہارا لیا جا سکتا ہے لیکن تاریخ کا فیصلہ طویل ترین رہتا ہے۔
#Pakistan: Can Nawaz Sharif Stare Down the Hybrid Regime?
@mazdaki
While the political sands are shifting, the ultimate face-off remains between Nawaz Sharif and the army – with Imran Khan and other minor players being a sideshow.
The drama which started almost two months ago with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s obstinate insistence on retaining his favourite, General Faiz Hameed Chaudhry, as director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) ended this past week with the military brass led by army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa ultimately prevailing.General Faiz has been posted as Commander of the XI Corps at Peshawar and the new DG ISI, Lt. General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, has replaced him. Though the junta showed tremendous patience with its puppet PM – swallowing his tantrums and even allowing him even to interview a slate of candidates – it eventually ensured that he signed off on the candidate the army had chosen.
This is the first major, and very public, rupture between Imran Khan and General Bajwa. Both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and the army have been known to publicly declare that they are “on the same page”. However, that page seems to be in tatters now. And the end result is political uncertainty, if not full-blown chaos, with the two constituents of Pakistan’s hybrid regime, as well as the opposition to it, all fending for themselves.
The army imposed Imran Khan on Pakistan in 2018 by literally stealing the elections. Before engineering Imran Khan’s electoral victory, the army got the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) to oust and disqualify the three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from office on the flimsy charge of failing to disclose potential wages from a ceremonial position he had once held in his son’s UAE-based company.
The army had been infuriated with Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) for trying to assert a modicum of civilian supremacy and pursuing a high treason case against former dictator General Pervez Musharraf. But unable to mount an overt coup d’état due to domestic and international constraints, the brass had opted to rule indirectly in this South Asian variety of a Potemkin Democracy. The idea simply was to maintain a veneer of democracy while the army really called the shots. In the process, the army also canned Nawaz Sharif’s agenda for regional peace and trade with the neighbouring countries, especially India. An economy on upward trajectory between 2013-18, with GDP growth as high as 5.8 and the CPI inflation not exceeding 5.4%, came to a grinding halt under the new management. The junta and Imran Khan both seemed to have convinced each other that the latter had assembled a financial dream team, which would steer the country to an economic Valhalla that the army gods would get to rule over in perpetuity without ever having to deal with irksome democratic mortals.
Fast forward to the end of 2021 and Pakistan’s economy is on the brink of disaster, with inflation skyrocketing into double digits. In a play on the literal meaning of Pakistan – the land of the pure – the Economist has called the country the land of the poor, with its per capita GDP not even at two-thirds of India’s and life expectancy slightly better than Afghanistan’s. While GDP showed a slow uptick, rising imports, surging global commodity prices and the ever-weaking rupee have pushed the hybrid regime to desperately seek a lifeline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In the interim, food and fuel prices have virtually broken the back of the middle and lower-middle classes, and crushed the poor.
But what got the army eventually worried was not the hideous reality of its warped hybrid project, but that its image as the manipulator that could no longer be hidden. The common man is pointing the finger of blame for his economic misery not just at Imran Khan but at those who have installed him. A slogan now heard at protests in the Punjab province, which is home to most of the brass and troops, goes:
“Bhukkay reh gaye main te tu,
Lut ke lay gaya GHQ”
(Who is hungry? Me and You,
Who has plundered? GHQ)
The junta seems willing to sacrifice its protégé so long as the alternative does not try to name, shame, and hold it to account for the disaster. It appears amenable to even letting the judiciary take the heat for its role in bringing down Nawaz Sharif, so long as the generals do not get blamed for leaning on the judges to do their hatchet job.
In essence, the army wants to scale back the intensely in-your-face control of politics that General Bajwa has unabashedly conducted, to one that is more restrained publicly but complete, nonetheless. It effectively wants a face-saving leeway with mere cosmetic changes, without letting the lopsided power equation change vis-à-vis the civilians. To that end, the army might prefer an in-house change where a so-called national government is cobbled together with the help of opposition members from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a PTI block and allied parties pried away from Imran Khan, with the tacit approval – if not support – of the PMLN. This type of dispensation would supposedly run for the rest of the National Assembly’s term through 2023. The proposition may be acceptable or even desirable for the PPP, which potentially eyes the PM slot for its young chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari that otherwise is a pipe-dream given the party’s dismal standing outside the leadership’s home province of Sindh. The PPP would also get to retain its provincial government in Sindh.
Imran Khan as the incumbent would obviously flail and swing against such machinations. In fact, his clinging to General Faiz was an act of self-preservation where he sensed that the army, which as an outfit brought him in, is collectively willing to send him to the chopping block. In the ex-DG ISI, Khan saw an ambitious ally who seemed willing to help him tide over the current crisis, secure a second prime ministerial term and, in a quid pro quo, himself become the COAS next November. But just like in Vegas, in the Pakistan army too the house always wins. The army does not tolerate solo flights from within its ranks. Its decision-making is collective and individual ambition is only acceptable if it matches the institutional needs.
The Khan-Faiz gamble thus backfired, as it does not converge with the army’s current need to repair its incredibly tarnished image. Should the army show him the door, Imran Khan, for his part would not be able put up any significant resistance for multiple reasons. Every bit of Imran Khan’s post-2011 ascent has been meticulously engineered by the army, complete with building his media image, organising his rallies and protests, shepherding the pro-army politicians into his PTI, as well as ruthlessly undermining his political opponents.
Bereft of all that support, it seems highly improbable that Imran Khan would be able to challenge his army masters. The reason that the army has not drummed Imran Khan out after this spat is that there really aren’t any takers for the job, without a change in terms and conditions. In fact, the brass even helped Khan’s government ram dozens of bills, including the approval of controversial Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and voting rights for overseas Pakistanis, through a recent joint session of the parliament. While Khan may see this as success in retaining the army’s patronage, the EVMs – with an inherent potential for electronic rigging – seem to be the proverbial sword of Damocles that the army is hanging over the opposition’s head, especially Nawaz Sharif’s, for he remains defiant and unyielding.
While the political sands are shifting, the ultimate face-off remains between Nawaz Sharif and the army – with Imran Khan and other minor players being a sideshow. Sharif was wronged and doesn’t flinch from saying that it is the army which has wronged him. He, his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, and a sizeable number of the PMLN stalwarts want this rectified. They want their sham judicial disqualifications rescinded and fabricated cases quashed. The father-daughter duo wants not just a level playing field, leading up to free and fair elections, but a guarantee that the army won’t resort to its usual shenanigans and start undermining yet another democratic setup within six months. However, the army seems willing to allow the PMLN back into the game only if – and that’s a huge if – it doesn’t insist on revising and resetting the rules.
Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother and the PMLN’s president Shehbaz Sharif, who has been a consistent proponent of a near-unconditional rapprochement with the army, would be acceptable to the latter. The younger Sharif, however, can’t and won’t go against his brother, not just because of the familial hierarchy but simply because the vote bank belongs to Nawaz Sharif, and then his daughter. The army remains wary of Nawaz given both his past record of trying to assert civilian control over the military and attempts to bring General Musharraf to book for subverting the constitution, as well as the more recent tactic of publicly indicting Generals Bajwa and Faiz for engineering his fall and ouster. For his part, Nawaz Sharif, even when he does not name names, makes it a point to draw attention to the army’s decades-long violations of the constitution. For example, speaking remotely to the recently-held Asma Jahangir Conference, Sharif described those who “scale the walls of the constitution” as traitors, in a thinly-veiled reference to the putschist generals, once again implying high treason charges.
The army, under General Bajwa, therefore, appears to be looking for alternatives to Imran Khan that would also keep Nawaz Sharif at bay for now. It seems to be dragging its feet even on the PMLN’s tacit demand that if an in-house change is to be brought about, it should be for the sole purpose of ousting Imran Khan’s disastrous dispensation and holding fresh elections. The PMLN remains part of an opposition alliance called the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which, after showing tremendous initial promise at its inception a year ago, has been marred by divisions and inaction. The PDM has been promising a multi-pronged strategy to oust Imran Khan and force his army backers to lay off meddling into politics. To that end, it had pledged a pincer strategy of protests in the streets and inside parliament, culminating in the opposition’s resignations from the assemblies. None of that materialised. The junta successfully coaxed components of the PDM, like the PPP, to avert any coherent agitation and action. But that was before the tiff between the army and Imran Khan.
Another factor that has come into play lately are accusations by members of judiciary and an alleged on-tape admission by a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, that the army had coerced the judges into convicting and disqualifying Nawaz Sharif and his daughter on framed charges. While the PMLN has been able to build a fairly strong anti-hybrid regime narrative, it has not been able to get the PDM to put forth a tangible plan for the endgame or come up with one on its own.
To successfully prosecute political change, a sound strategy and robust struggle must match a strong narrative. In the PMLN’s case, the narrative has been enunciated fairly clearly by both Nawaz and Maryam Sharif, but there seems to be vacillation about choosing the means to that end.
I had a chance to meet Nawaz Sharif in London earlier this month. It was eminently clear that in the final lap of his long political marathon, he wants to leave a legacy not just for his party but also a mark on the country’s history. It was refreshing to hear a right-of-centre politician speak clearly about civilian supremacy guaranteed by the constitution, the rights of the federating units, civil liberties, and regional peace. He seemed clear that he would not accept a government without the authority to run it.
The former PM is clearly not interested in political scraps. He does not want to merely replace Imran Khan without a substantive change in the army’s behaviour. He realises that there is a historical opportunity to correct the course of Pakistan’s polity, that no other politician – except perhaps Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the post-1971 scenario – has had. On the strategic front, he seemed inclined to lead a broader front to change, without compromising on the civilian supremacy or his party’s preeminence. On tactics, he appeared patient but not incognisant that time is of the essence and that the window of opportunity can close before one knows it. The constellation of an unpopular and incompetent government and its army benefactors getting squarely blamed for its failings – especially the sagging economy – and public unrest and protest are the essential ingredients for a popular political movement. Pakistan’s current political milieu has them all.
In addition, the only way to push back against the army’s behind-the-scenes political machinations is a strong people’s campaign to counter those. Can Nawaz Sharif pull the rabbit of civilian supremacy out of the current political chaos and stare down the hybrid regime? One wouldn’t know unless he gives it his best shot. But this much is certain: there is no time to vacillate and dither. As Goethe once said, “Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days. Whatever you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it.”
https://thewire.in/south-asia/pakistan-can-nawaz-sharif-stare-down-the-hybrid-regime
Opinion: #Pakistan’s judges need to stop getting involved in politics
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has disqualified sitting prime ministers many times. The judges even decreed the hanging of one prime minister during the reign of a military dictator. There was no public outcry against the judiciary’s dubious actions back then. But society is changing. On Nov. 21, an investigative journalism website released an alleged audio recording on which former chief justice Saqib Nisar can be heard plotting against then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif three years ago. On the tape, Nisar can be heard urging his unknown interlocutor to “penalize” Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz. (Both were under investigation for corruption in 2018, when the recording was apparently made.) “The institutions have asked to do so, whether it is fair or not, it has to be done,” says Nisar at one point. (The journalist Ahmad Noorani, who broke the story, has explained that the term “institutions” refers to the military establishment.) Nisar also notes that they want Imran in power — apparently referring to Imran Khan, the current prime minister — and implies that the judiciary must do what it can to facilitate his rise to power. Nisar immediately claimed that the recording was fabricated. Members of the current government have started defending Nisar, apparently on the instructions of Khan. Nisar’s defenders claim that the audio is part of a campaign launched by Sharif. (Who, it should be noted, used judges against his own opponents in the past.) Some officials say that the audio of the former chief justice is a fake, cobbled together from his old speeches. Noorani says that the tape’s authenticity has been confirmed by an American company that examined it. It’s important to note that Noorani is not living in Pakistan. He is currently living in the United States, where he runs his own website. He was forced to flee his homeland after his journalistic investigations into the corruption of those in power proved too risky. He was attacked in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2017, and the police failed to arrest any of the culprits. He feared for his life due to continuous propaganda against him on some TV channels. Soon after that, he lost his job. No Pakistani newspaper or TV channel was willing to take the risk of hiring him. Just a few days ago, a prominent lawyer, Ali Ahmad Kurd, harshly criticized the judiciary for its past political interference at a conference in Lahore that brought together Indian and Pakistani journalists and activists. Also in attendance at the conference was Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmad, who reacted angrily to Kurd’s remarks: No one should dare to dictate to the judiciary. This is the first time that a prominent lawyer has criticized the judiciary so directly for violating the principle of noninterference in political matters. The Nisar audio leaked a day later. It’s worth noting that Nisar himself has figured in past accusations about political interference by the judiciary. Three years ago, a human rights group, the Women’s Action Forum, filed a reference against the then-chief justice. The complaint, submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council, listed 25 blatant violations that had allegedly been committed by Nisar during his tenure. Yet the complaint was dismissed within weeks of his retirement. Now, two years after his retirement, Nisar is facing a very specific allegation of a different kind. This allegation is not ultimately about a person. It’s about institutions. We urgently need to know the truth about the allegations against Nisar. Larger issues are at stake. Pakistanis want to know why no prime minister in Pakistan has ever completed his or her five-year term. Yet no action has ever been taken against any of the chief justices involved in the corresponding political maneuvers. (Nor, needless to say, against any of the army chiefs who were involved in the same intrigues.) People are not prepared to trust simple denials from institutions. The next audio or video scandal could very well rock Pakistan’s institutions to their core. The country urgently needs an impartial probe of this latest scandal to find out the truth. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/24/pakistans-judges-need-stop-getting-involved-politics/An independent judiciary is one of the crucial pillars of any genuine liberal democracy. Here in Pakistan, a new scandal has ignited a firestorm of controversy precisely because it is reminding us that our judicial branch can make no claim to independence. Our country’s senior judges have intervened in politics again and again throughout history.
