Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Video - #KhaqanSherDilAbbasi - Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Blasting Speech in NA
The civilians are rising. Beware generals.
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) December 10, 2019
Former Pakistani prime minister walks out from #parliament session after telling the speaker he is powerless and has no courage to stand up [to #military] who many believe is persecuting his party the #PMLN. https://t.co/cs50MxmefQ
Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) is on a peaceful quest to free all Pakistanis from oppression
By Mohsin Dawar
The Pakistani state's repeated attacks on us only strengthen our resolve.
In his seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire states: "Violence is initiated by those who oppress, who exploit, who fail to recognise others as persons - not by those who are oppressed, exploited and unrecognised."
These days I have been thinking of his words often, as earlier this year the Pakistani state attacked me and others from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), killing over a dozen people and injuring scores of others. It had the audacity to try and put the blame for the violence on us.
We, of course, were not the ones inciting violence. Our only crime was to try and speak for a community that has faced decades of violence from both the state and armed groups.
Decades of victimisation
I was born and raised in the region of Waziristan in the north-western part of the country, close to the Afghan border. The majority of us are Pashtuns, who constitute the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan. Since colonial times, the region was governed by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a draconian law imposed by the British colonialists in the 19th century. It left the local population with no recourse to courts and liable to be subjected to collective punishment for over a century.
The law was finally repealed in 2018, when the region was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and its people were made equal citizens of the Pakistani federation, at least on paper. In practice however, the inhabitants of this region do not enjoy full citizenship rights and protections; discrimination and abuses against us continue unabated. We are still targetted by police raids and security operations which violate and kill people with impunity.
This violence I grew up with has its roots in the decision of the Pakistani state and its US ally to transform Waziristan into an incubator for fighters in the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s.
The infrastructure that was built there to recruit and train fighters to combat the Soviet army was later used by armed groups like the Haqqani Network and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to wreak havoc in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the strategic decision to allow this vast region to become a breeding ground for terrorists had destructive consequences across the globe, it affected Waziristan's local inhabitants, who were left at the mercy of violent armed groups, the most.
With the start of the US-led "war on terror" in the early 2000s, the region became a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants fighting an insurgency against the international coalition in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan launched repeated attacks and air strikes on the region to "clear out" the fighters. But rather than stopping "terrorist activities", these assaults killed countless civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands. Moreover, Pashtuns across Pakistan started to be stereotyped as "terrorists" even though they themselves were victims of terrorism.
In short, my people have been exploited and oppressed by the Pakistani state, various armed groups and foreign powers for decades and our suffering is still continuing today. But we are no longer willing to take the abuse, persecution and discrimination we face on a daily basis, sitting down.
The PTM shot to prominence in January 2018, when a long march launched in Karachi to protest against the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young Pashtun cloth seller and model, attracted thousands of supporters. The protests continued with a large sit-in in Islamabad and soon the PTM became a strong voice for the people of Waziristan. I was one of the founding members of the movement.
Since the PTM's inception, our campaign for equality, dignity and peace has been growing every day.
As our movement expands its reach, however, the Pakistani state intensifies its attacks on us.
How our call for constitutional rights enraged the military
In April this year, the PTM carried out its biggest political gathering to date in my hometown of Miranshah, which is the administrative capital of North Waziristan - the region that has seen the worst Taliban and state violence. As one of the leaders of the movement and an elected member of the national assembly from that area, I was acting as host. The aim of this gathering was to make the Pakistani leadership understand that we have had enough of both militancy and state violence.
Even though Miranshah's population is just over half a million, the rally attracted tens of thousands of people. The atmosphere was electric and the people were hopeful.
Our message was simple: We want the state to honour the constitutional contract that it has with us.
The constitution clearly recognises us as equal Pakistani citizens and disallows our oppression and persecution. Thus the solution to all our problems - be it justice for the thousands of "missing persons" who were abducted by the state, or the end of extrajudicial murders, or the clearing of the landmines that were left by the military or the ill-treatment that we are subjected to at military check posts - lies in making the state recognise our constitutional rights.
As is the case with all of PTM's rallies, at the end of the day the crowd dispersed peacefully.
While we thought the rally was a big success, the state and the military had other ideas. Clearly feeling threatened by the size of the gathering and our peaceful, status-quo altering call for the constitution to be respected, on April 29, only two weeks after our rally in Miranshah, the Pakistani military issued a statement claiming that PTM is "being funded by foreign intelligence services" and told us that "the time is up" for our movement.
We did not know back then, but this was the military's declaration of war on PTM.
From a peaceful sit-in to a senseless massacre
A month later, on May 25, residents of Doga Macha Mada Khel, a small village in North Waziristan, launched a sit-in, accusing security forces of "persecuting" and "torturing" civilians during a recent search operation allegedly targeting "suspected militants". The sit-in, which was taking place near the permanent Khar Qamar military check post, was peaceful from the very beginning.
As the only elected representative of the region that includes the village, I felt obligated to reach out to my constituents, support their protest and help their voices be heard. With this in mind, on May 26, I visited the village with another member of the national assembly, Ali Wazir, who is also part of PTM.
At the village, we were welcomed by a jubilant crowd of around 200 to 300 people. They garlanded us and together we started walking towards the sit-in area. However, the soldiers at the checkpoint refused to allow us to join the protesters. Tempers were raised, but I did my best to reason with the soldiers and convince them to let us through. But as soon as we went past the check post, I heard gunshots.
Initially, I thought the soldiers manning the checkpoint were firing warning shots in the air. But the sounds of occasional gun shots suddenly turned into the staccato of automatic fire, and villagers around me started to fall. Someone pushed me to the ground and I was dragged into a ravine. When I looked back, I saw blood-soaked bodies lying motionless on the ground and heard the cries for help of the injured.
Later we learned that 15 people were killed and more than 40 were injured as a result of the unprovoked attack. Wazir and eight others were arrested on the spot, but I managed to escape the scene, with the help of other survivors.
For the next three days, we walked through the villages of Daigan, Mohammad Khel, and Hamzoni to get to my village, Darpa Khel, near Miranshah, which is approximately 30km from the site of the massacre. Throughout our journey, we staged several protests to inform the public about the massacre and demand accountability.
When we reached Darpa Khel, we started another sit-in. The military, meanwhile, imposed a curfew on the village of Doga Macha Mada Khel that lasted for eight days, and also surrounded my village. I eventually chose to surrender to the authorities in the town of Bannu because I was scared for the lives of the people in my village.
How victims became perpetrators
In a display of brazen shamelessness, the authorities accused us, the victims, of assaulting the soldiers manning the check post and causing the bloodshed. They filed charges against nine people including me, Ali Wazir and Sanaullah Pashteen, who was killed during the massacre. A few days later, Wazir and I were also blamed for an IED explosion that injured four army officials in Doga Macha, even though we were both in the state's custody at the time of the attack.
In jail, we were kept in cells set aside for terrorists. This was quite ironic, as one of our main demands from the authorities was for them to cleanse our region of terrorists and put those men in these very cells. We were also subjected to treatment usually reserved for the most hardened criminals and convicted terrorists - we were denied access to books, television, newspapers and radio. We were also deprived from participating in parliamentary sessions, which is our duty and privilege as elected politicians. Even during the essential budget session, our constituents were denied representation.
We remained behind bars for four months and endured every conceivable pressure, threat and accusation. In late September, we were finally granted bail because the authorities failed to back their accusations with evidence. However, the charges against us are still in place.
While we were still in jail, the victims of the Khar Qamar massacre, who were branded terrorists both by the authorities and the media following the incident, were suddenly accepted as victims and their families were offered monetary compensation. Interestingly, even the family of Sanaullah Pashteen, who was accused of attacking the checkpoint alongside us, was deemed eligible for compensation. The state offered the families of the deceased a payment of approximately $17,500. People injured during the attack, meanwhile, received around $8,000.
As we languished in prison, Pakistan turned into a larger prison for anyone showing us sympathy. Very few of our fellow politicians raised their voices for us. The local press was full of reports accusing us of treason and terrorism with no space whatsoever given to our version of events. The only venue available for people to share our version of events was social media, but those who used Twitter and Facebook to support us and share our narrative were arrested and charged with the crime of "cyber terrorism".
But this oppression only strengthens our resolve. Frankly, we are at a point where we do not have much left to lose. Just the act of venting our grievances is an act of liberation and luxury for us. Just by speaking out, we are challenging the fear of freedom instilled in our people through decades of oppression. Losing this fear, and daring to demand freedom, is the first step in a process that will eventually liberate not only us, the Pashtuns, but all citizens of Pakistan.
Freire says where there is oppression, both the oppressed and the oppressors are victims, because the act of oppression takes away the humanity of the oppressor too. He considers it the responsibility of the oppressed to liberate not only themselves but their oppressors as well.
"The oppressors, who oppress, exploit and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free them both," he wrote.
The PTM has chosen the powerful path of non-violence to liberate the oppressed Pashtuns in Pakistan, but in doing so, we will also liberate our oppressors so that they can find the humanity that they have lost in their intoxication of power and privilege.
#HumanRightDay #Pakistan - OP-ED - Shireen Mazari and human rights
Yasser Latif Hamdani
No one gave Shireen Mazari the memo that she is neither the Foreign Minister nor the Defence Minister of Pakistan. She holds the portfolio of Human Rights Minister. The Human Rights in that Ministry pertain to the human rights of the hapless citizens of Pakistan and has no nexus with whatever else is happening elsewhere. In fact her jurisdiction does not even extend to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which is supposed to have its own government.
Mazari’s appearance of Mehdi Hassan’s program Upfront on Al-Jazeera was one of those moments that this writer was thoroughly embarrassed as a Pakistani. She was not only caught lying out of her teeth but she appeared entirely ignorant of the very constitution that she tried to quote in her defence. First of all let us be clear on something. The 2nd and 3rd Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan vitiate and militate against the very spirit of Jinnah’s promise to the Ahmadi community and others made repeatedly including but not limited to on 23 May 1944 when Jinnah refused to accept the position that Ahmadis should be excluded from the Muslim community. However who cares about Jinnah in Pakistan now? Consider for example the fact one of the newspapers he founded was destroyed by this state in the 1960s and efforts are underway to destroy the second one as well. His sister was denounced as a CIA/Indian/Afghan agent by the regime in 1964-1965. So clearly the Jinnah argument does not work in modern day Pakistan that is a majoritarian theocracy diametrically opposed to what he put forth as the vision for the country. Hence no PhDs are allowed in the country on his life, politics and work.
Jinnah argument does not work in modern day Pakistan that is a majoritarian theocracy diametrically opposed to what he put forth as the vision for the country. Hence no PhDs are allowed in the country on his life, politics and work
So let us proceed on the basis and indeed stipulate that the Constitution of Pakistan declares Ahmadis Non-Muslim and that the Parliament of Pakistan was vested with Godly powers to decide who is a Muslim and who is not for the purposes of law and constitution. Even so the same constitution promises complete religious freedom under Article 20, unhindered and not subject to any claw back whatsoever. So in other words the state of Pakistan may consider Ahmadis Non-Muslim but the Constitution does not allow the Pakistani state to force Ahmadis to consider themselves Non-Muslim. There can be no other interpretation and if any judge or lawyer tells you otherwise, they are either dishonest or incompetent. The so-called Human Rights Minister had no awareness of this important distinction. What followed was one shamefully ignorant gaffe after another. For example she said Ahmadis are allowed to participate in politics on Non-Muslim seats. She is obviously clueless because every citizen of Pakistan is allowed to contest any general seat under the law. The principle of joint electorate applies. Incidentally Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Bahais, Parsis and Muslims (or those who are constitutionally sanctioned Muslims at least) are on one electoral list. Only Ahmadis are put on a separate supplemental list. This is pure discrimination. Shireen Mazari is either unaware of it or she is incapable of understanding this basic issue. The third option is that she might be lying in the face of it. Then she claimed that the issue is of the declaration of the finality of Prophethood. It is not as simple as that my dear minister. The declaration we are all forced to sign in Pakistan is not simply a declaration of finality of Prophethood. We are also forced to declare Ahmadis Non-Muslim and the founder of their sect/religion/group an imposter and a liar. Every official Muslim citizen on Pakistan ostensibly violates Sections 153-A, 295-A and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 every time he or she gets a passport. This is perhaps the only example in the world of where the state willfully forces the majority of its citizens to violate its own penal provisions. Yet our Human Rights Minister says Ahmadis have all the rights, while also saying that the government should not have appointed Atif Mian as part of the Economic Advisory Council because it was too controversial. Furthermore she declared that there was no discrimination because Atif Mian does not live in Pakistan.
The right honourable minister reminds me of a character out of Monty Python’s Life of Brian because what she is essentially saying is this: Ahmadis are not allowed to self identify, they are jailed and maimed for practicing their faith whatever it is, their places of worship (which cannot be called mosques under law) are desecrated and destroyed, their tombstones are destroyed and talented economists from their ranks are not allowed to join government, but Ahmadis have all the rights in Pakistan. One is left befuddled.Shireen Mazari also claimed that there is no persecution of Shias in Pakistan, claiming that she was a Shia herself. We are certainly not going to question her right to self identify as a Shia whether or not she is one but she went on to claim that sectarian violence happens on both sides. I would like to know how many Sunni doctors have been target killed and how Sunni mosques and Dargahs have been attacked by Shias in the 70 years? I am not even going to start with the official discrimination against Shias in all branches and arms of the government.
The honourable thing for Shireen Mazari to do is to resign her office and seek an office more appropriate to her interests and expertise. In the event that she does not get an office more suited to her special stable genius, perhaps she can take up a career as a critic of Coke Studio as she loves to comment on every other Coke Studio song from her verified Twitter account using a government issue mobile phone and internet connection, while driving around Islamabad in an official vehicle. Surely that will be much better than making an absolute mockery of the Human Rights Ministry which is in utter shambles even otherwise. The human rights of the employees of the ministry are denied routinely, what to speak of the hapless population of Pakistan upon which Madam Minister is foisted against our will.
Pakistanis Rally to End 'Forced Disappearances' by Gov't
Marking International Human Rights Day, activists and families of the missing called on Pakistani Prime Minster Imran Khan to release all detainees being held without due process.
Pakistan's government has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming most of those who are missing went to neighboring Afghanistan to join militant groups.
In an emotional speech in front of Parliament, Amina Masood Janjua, who heads the Defense of Human Rights Pakistan group, said Khan needs to fulfill his campaign promise from last year, when he vowed to end the practice enforced disappearances after taking office.
Some at the rally held photos of relatives they say are detained. Two young girls carried handmade signs saying “I want my daddy back” in Urdu. Their father, Mohammad Usama Mirza, went missing in 2016, and like many other detainees he hasn't been charged or presented before any court.
Janjua herself is the wife of an alleged detainee, Masood Ahmad Janjua, a businessman who went missing in 2005 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Since then, she has been fighting a legal battle for his and other detainees' release. Her husband's whereabouts remain unknown.
Although Pakistani law prohibits detentions without court approval, security officials privately concede that intelligence agencies are holding an unspecified number of suspects. The officials say the detentions are because of ties to militant groups. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media.https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/10/world/asia/ap-as-pakistan-detainees.html
Bilawal Bhutto says Zardari should receive facilities every citizen is entitled to
The PPP chairman was addressing media outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said on Monday that his father and former president Asif Ali Zardari should receive the facilities that every citizen is entitled to .
Bilawal said that he hopes that his father Asif Ali Zardari will get justice on December 11, the day the Islamabad High Court will take up Zardari’s bail plea filed on medical grounds.
Bilawal expressed hope that both his father and aunt Faryal Talpur will receive bail in the fake bank accounts case. Both the PPP leaders are facing jail-time due to the ongoing investigation in the fake accounts case.
In his media talk, Bilawal said that Zardari’s medical report will be presented in the court and his father will hopefully be shifted to a hospital in Karachi.
He said that the former president told him that the medical board has done his check-up.
“The selected government’s tactics to pressurize us are continuing, but we will not relinquish our struggle against them,” said the PPP chairman.
He reiterated that this year on his mother, Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary, a gathering will take place at Liaquat Bagh, where he said that the ‘selected government’ will be called out.
“Nawaz Sharif went abroad despite being sentenced, while Zardari is inside prison without being indicted,” remarked Bilawal, adding that there is a difference between the two cases.
On Dec 3, Asif Ali Zardari approached the High Court seeking bail on medical grounds. The PPP leader is currently under treatment at the PIMS.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/580964-bilawal-bhutto-says-zardari-should-receive-facilities-every-citizen-is-entitled-to
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