#Pakistan - By giving General Bajwa an extension, Imran Khan has lost the leverage he held

GUL BUKHARI 

If Imran Khan is unable to deliver, the military will replace him even before he gets to say ‘what’.

When Imran Khan rode to power on the support of General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his team in July last year, everybody knew that the Pakistan Army chief was here to stay. His tenure extension was a foregone conclusion. Yet for a whole year, much air time and ink were spent on debating a question that was moot.

Now that the extension has been announced, Imran Khan has lost the leverage he held.

Contrary to what most experts and Pakistanis think, and indeed what Imran Khan himself thinks – that Imran Khan is here to stay for nine more years – I believe he has become more dispensable now than ever before and has plausibly shortened his own political life with this extension to General Bajwa.

PM & army chief on same page

In Pakistan’s history, military dictators have often decided their own tenures, be it Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq or Pervez Musharraf. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was the first army chief to get an extension under a civilian government, but only after a tug of war between the civilian president and the military chief.

But this time, the civilian and the military heads were on the ‘same page’ on General Bajwa’s extension. It was a historical first for a prime minister in Pakistan wanting to give an extension to the army chief to assure his own political survival, as he hangs on to power by a thin majority cobbled together for him by the army chief and his team.

Sources close to Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), say that General Bajwa’s extension became a matter of discussion right after the party came to power.

And according to senior journalist Talat Hussain, by March this year, the question was not whether the extension would be given, but for how long.

The General’s hubris

Yet, it wasn’t as linear and straightforward as it may seem now.

Many believed that General Bajwa to an extent was also dependent on Imran Khan. After all, Khan now possessed the ultimate power – he could choose not to extend the General’s tenure.

And the dynamics of this power equation played out interestingly over the last few months.

So, opposition leaders, bureaucrats, and several other people were placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) and charged with corruption, and put away in prison awaiting trial. Many of them had never criticised and resisted the ‘miltablishment’ nor were they caught in its crosshairs. In fact, many of them are even known to be close to the military.

So, what went wrong?

I called up one such person who had ended up on the ECL with ‘trumped up’ corruption charges despite having cordial relations with the military. How did this happen? I asked.

I found his response entirely unbelievable: “Gul, things are not linear. It’s a game of give and take (between military and the PM)”.

Imran Khan was getting to be the playground bully and punching above his weight, being vindictive with the opposition or whoever came in his way, because he held the key to General Bajwa’s extension.

It would be entirely reasonable to ask why the Pakistan Army chief would be so desperate to please Khan to ensure his own extension when he could easily get rid of the puppet and put another less demanding yes man in his place and get the extension.

The answer to that lies in the General’s hubris to prove that his choice of Prime Minister is right – to change him so soon would be an admission of a huge blunder. It’s another matter that all the key positions in the Imran Khan cabinet have now been taken over by military’s men and women.

Puppet and the puppeteer

According to the commonly held belief, with General Bajwa getting a three-year extension and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed being appointed as the ISI chief (he is tipped to be the next army chief), Imran Khan is set to rule for two terms easily.

But I contend ‘ye hava kisi ki nahi’ (this wind belongs to none) – the wind is a metaphor for military loyalty. If Imran Khan is unable to deliver, or if the military takes fancy to another politician-in-the-making, it will replace him before he gets a chance to say ‘what’.

The more important question here is not how long the political puppet will last, but how long will be the political tenure of the puppeteer.

Months before his retirement, the 21-gun salute to the Pakistani General in the US signalled Trump administration’s support for an extension. The US President has clearly put his eggs in General Bajwa’s basket to provide his country a face-saving exit from Afghanistan.

The UK also appears to have bought Bajwa’s pitch, hook, line, and sinker despite history advising against it.

What remains to be seen is whether the General has the will or the capacity to actually deliver on the wild promises he made to the US and the UK that helped bolster his bid for longevity.

A year ago, PM Imran Khan promised Naya Pakistan but gave a series of embarrassments

FARHATULLAH BABAR 

Pakistan PM’s score card on altering the economic, foreign and security policies to usher in a welfare state is dismal.

On August 18, Imran Khan completed one year in office as prime minister. Although a year is not long enough to pass a conclusive judgment, it is enough time to gauge the direction a government has taken and assess whether it will deliver on its promises, and if it is moving in the right direction at all.

Regardless of how the 2018 elections played out and the not-too-secret manipulations of establishment for Imran’s selection for the victory stand, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured nearly 32 percent of the total votes in the general elections and 149 seats in the National Assembly. They then formed a coalition government.

It will be unfair also to not acknowledge Khan’s two decades of political struggle finally culminating in his forming the governments at the centre and in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Even though he was aided in his victory in the elections, Imran had some distinct advantages which entitled him to a fair chance to prove his mettle. Being largely untested in the political arena had created some hope. He was also untainted with any serious charges of corruption and enjoyed complete support of the military. The judiciary also appeared sympathetic and there were no destabilising suo moto notices as before. Having made right noises about issues that resonated with the masses, the youth and the poor wanted him to give him a fair chance. Seldom before has a politician entered office with such a credible reservoir of goodwill of the public as well as of state institutions.

One year down the line, the score card on fulfilling the promise of ushering in a welfare state a la Madina and altering the economic, foreign and security policies for this purpose, however, is dismal.

Claiming to put economy on right track, the government presented three budgets, including two supplementary ones, in one year. After months of indecision and foot-dragging, the government finally knocked the door of IMF- but the damage had been done.

The inappropriate sacking of the finance minister in the middle of international negotiations, sending home of an advisor on the economy on the basis of his faith and repeatedly shuffling the economic team betrayed complete unpreparedness and lack of a solid plan of action. As a result, the economy plunged headlong: the rupee fell from 120 to 160 to a dollar, inflation rose to double digits for the first time in over a decade and interest rates soared phenomenally. All this shrank the space for businesses and contracted job creation. The promise of creating 10 million jobs or building five million houses appeared a farce.

Poverty levels increased. One year ago petrol was available at Rs95 a litre when international prices were over 72 dollars a barrel. As international prices have come down to 67 dollars a barrel, it is at 118 rupees a litre. Foreign debt multiplied as the stock index plunged from 42,500 to under 29,000 in one year. The promise of bringing back 200 billion dollars allegedly stashed abroad by corrupt politicians turned out to be a joke.

China Pakistan Economic Corridor seems to have been put on the back burner ever since the IMF revealed for the first time that it got all the information about CPEC loans from Pakistan that had long been denied to it.

The basic contours of foreign and security polices not only remain unchanged but have been further entrenched. Policies are framed without parliamentary oversight and accountability, Foreign Office is completely side lined and state craft is driven by unaccountable backseat drivers. Non-state actors continue to be admired and eulogised, if not aided and abetted. The recent remarks by a federal minister that the victory of Taliban in Afghanistan is a victory for Pakistan, even with the sword of FATF hanging, say it all about the safe havens for non-state actors.

Pakistan’s international isolation has never been as great as it is today. Make no mistakes about it; Foreign Minister Qureshi’s letter to the United Nations Security Council calling for an emergency meeting of the council was not even considered. Then China urged an informal, closed door meeting of the council to consider whether a formal meeting should be held on Kashmir. The informal gathering of the council members said “no.” Not a word about Kashmir’s annexation.

On the security and foreign policy front, the first year of Imran Khan’s government may be thus summed up: India called the nuclear bluff and annexed Kashmir as Imran remained busy in hounding political opposition, stifling democratic freedoms, legitimising non-political forces, delegitimised political parties and legitimising politicization of state security institutions. How?

Bypassing the constitutional National Economic Council (NEC), a new body National Development Council was set up and the army chief was also put in the economy’s driving seat. The army chief was recently given a three-year extension. Imran went back on his own public pronouncements that extensions ill-served the institution of the army, publicly opposing General Kayani’s extension and declaring that as PM, he would not extend tenures of the army chief or the ISI chief.

When the former army chief General Raheel Shareef announced, 10 months ahead of retirement, that he would not seek an extension, Imran tweeted on January 25, 2016, “The nation’s respect for General Raheel has gone up after his statement refusing to accept extension in service.” What made him think that public respect will be enhanced this time is not explained. It is significant that General Raheel had not been publicly offered any extension and soon after his declaration to reject assumed extension, he went on to become commander of the Islamic coalition forces against Yemen.

The photos of the press conference of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi published on eve of the first anniversary speaks loudly about the militarisation of politics and politicisation of the military. A major general, in uniform occupying centre stage, addressed the press conference jointly by FM Qureshi and Chairman of Kashmir Committee Fakhar Imam. Deserving a place in a national archive of embarrassment, this picture will sum up, even in a distant age and clime, how politicians and political forces were delegitimize and the security establishment legitimised in the promised “Naya Pakistan.”

Bangladesh rules women need not say if virgins on marriage certificates

Bangladesh’s top court has ruled that women need no longer declare if they are virgins on marriage certificates after a five-year legal battle by women’s rights groups trying to protect women’s privacy and potential humiliation.

Marriage laws in the Muslim-majority country in South Asia had required a bride had to state on her marriage certificate if she was a “kumari” - meaning virgin - a widow, or divorced.

But the nation’s High Court on Sunday ordered the government to remove the word “kumari” and replace it with “unmarried”, a move welcomed on Tuesday but women’s rights groups.

According to the ruling, the groom would now also have to disclose if he was unmarried, divorced or a widower.

No one from the government was available to comment about the change or when it was to take effect.

Ainun Nahar Siddiqua, one of two lawyers involved in the case, said the case dated back to 2014 with the filing of a writ petition to change in the form provided under the 1974 Bangladesh Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act.“It’s a ruling that gives us the belief that we can fight and create more changes for women in the future,” Siddiqua, of Bangladesh Legal Aid And Services Trust (BLAST), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“We filed a writ petition because asking whether someone’s a virgin or not is against the person’s right to privacy.”

Mohammad Ali Akbar Sarker, a Muslim marriage registrar from Dhaka, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that registrars like him were waiting for the Ministry of Law and Justice to officially inform them about the changes in the form.

“I have conducted many marriages in Dhaka and I have often been asked why men have the liberty to not disclose their status but women don’t. I always told them this wasn’t in my hands. I guess I won’t be asked that question anymore,” said Sarker.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangladesh-women-marriage/bangladesh-rules-women-need-not-say-if-virgins-on-marriage-certificates-idUSKCN1VH0HB

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Opinion - Mr. Trump, Stop Questioning the Loyalty of American Jews

It’s dangerous to insist they owe allegiance to another nation.

In the bloody history of modern anti-Semitism, one of the most common justifications for violence is the inflammatory canard that the loyalty of Jewish citizens is suspect.

President Trump has repeatedly employed that libel in recent days as part of a verbal assault on the Democratic Party.

Such language is traditionally used to incite anger against Jews. Mr. Trump, surreally, is employing it in an effort to win Jewish votes.“If you want to vote Democrat, you are being very disloyal to Jewish people and very disloyal to Israel,” he said Wednesday.

This is nonsense on several levels. While many American Jews strongly support the Jewish state, such support is a choice, not an obligation. And those who do support Israel may reasonably conclude that there’s not much difference between the Republican Party’s longstanding and vigorous support for Israel and the Democratic Party’s longstanding and vigorous support for Israel — or they may place greater weight on other issues in casting a ballot.

But the president’s words are still dangerous.

His demonization of minority groups and his equivocations about white supremacists has coincided with a sharp rise in hate crimes against Jews.

Gunmen have opened fire on Jewish congregations in Pittsburgh and in Poway, Calif., and the F.B.I. says hate crimes against Jews increased in each of the last three years. By subjecting Jews to a reckoning of loyalties, Mr. Trump toys with fanning those flames. The president has a habit of speaking about Jews as different from other Americans, and specifically of suggesting that their loyalties are divided.In April, addressing a gathering of Republican Jews in Las Vegas, he referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as “your prime minister.”

Responding to criticism of his latest remarks, he said Wednesday that his talk “is only anti-Semitic in your head.” But that’s precisely where anti-Semitism resides: in the minds of people who see Jews as somehow alien. Mr. Trump, who has an undoubted eye for the weaknesses of his political opponents, is seeking to exacerbate emerging divides in the Democratic Party over America’s alliance with Israel. The dangers extend well beyond his recourse to anti-Semitic statements.

Even incremental movement toward polarizing Americans over Israel undermines the long-term security of the Jewish state, which has long rested on the firm foundation of bipartisan American support.Mr. Netanyahu appears blind to this danger. He has chosen to reap the short-term benefits of Mr. Trump’s embrace, delighting in small victories like the decision to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem and, at Mr. Trump’s urging, preventing two Muslim congresswomen, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, from making an official visit to Israel.Mr. Trump is also doing Israel no favors over the long haul by discarding long-running American efforts to address the hopes and grievances of Palestinians and Israelis through a negotiated deal.For Democrats, the challenge is to resist the easy gratification of reflexively opposing what Mr. Trump supports — or supporting what he opposes.

Mr. Trump wants to keep Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib in the spotlight because they are outspoken critics of American support for Israel. Ms. Omar has invoked anti-Semitic language in support of her arguments. Both support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which is silent in its official documents about Israel’s right to exist, and which seeks to use economic pressure to extract concessions from Israel that the United States has long maintained should be negotiated as part of a peace agreement.

Leading Democrats have rightly criticized Israel for barring Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib, while making clear that their views on Israel are not widely shared.

The right road forward is for Democrats, and Republicans, to maintain strong support for democracy and liberal values, both in Israel and in the United States.

Pakistan may not be able to exit FATF grey list, post APG action

MANOJ JOSHI

Preliminary reports – that have not been officially confirmed yet – suggest that Pakistan has been ‘blacklisted’ by the 22nd Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), an affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), that concluded in Canberra on 23 August. This should send alarm bells ringing in Islamabad.

On the eve of the meeting held in Canberra, the Pakistani authorities were allowing it to be known that they would sail through, based on the mutual evaluation report (MER), related to the work they had done in ‘strengthening’ anti-money laundering (AML) exercises, and ‘countering’ financing terror (CFT).

Now, however, they are saying that the MER may not reflect the ‘real’ progress that they had made since October 2018.

The APG and FATF processes are separate, but they have an important bearing on each other.

Has Pakistan Flunked the Test?

As per the reports which have mainly played out in the Indian media without any official confirmation yet, Pakistan seems to have flunked the test royally: the APG reportedly found that Islamabad failed to meet its rules on 32 out of 40 special standards and benchmarks, relating to its legal and financial system, and 10 of 11 ‘effectiveness’ parameters relating to the enforcement of safeguards against terror financing (TF), money laundering, and have effectively ‘blacklisted’ Pakistan by awarding it its lowest “enhanced expedited follow-up” ranking.

The APG and FATF processes are separate, but they have an important bearing on each other. It is clear now that Islamabad will not only find it difficult to extract itself from the FATF’s grey list – also known as “jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies” – but actually have to confront being blacklisted.

Islamabad might find it tough to get going in the FATF meetings – first, a review meeting in Thailand in September, and then the crucial plenary on 18-23 October.

FATF’s To-Do List for Pakistan

Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list in June 2018. A press release  of the FATF at that time, noted that Pakistan had made a “high level political commitment” to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime, and “address its strategic counter-terrorist financing related deficiencies”.

The FATF had given Pakistan a long list of things to do:

• First, to have Islamabad identify terrorism financing (TF) risks, and then assess and deal with them.
• Second, to demonstrate that remedial actions are applied in the case of AML/CFT violations, and that they are complied with by financial institutions.
• Third, to demonstrate that action is being taken against illegal money or value transfer services.
• Fourth, to show that action is being taken to identify cash couriers, and enforcing controls on illicit movement of currency.
• Fifth, improve coordination between the provinces and federal government.
• Sixth, show that the authorities are identifying and investigating terror-financing (TF) activity, and TF investigations and prosecutions are hitting the right persons and entities.
• Seventh, show that TF prosecutions are effective.
• Eighth, demonstrate effective action against all terrorists in the UN’s 1267 and 1373 designation lists.
• Ninth, demonstrate that designated persons are deprived of their resources.

In turn, Pakistan had given the FATF a 27-point Action Plan through which, it hoped, it could exit the grey list. A year later, in June 2019, the FATF said that Pakistan had failed to complete its action plan, and warned that Islamabad could face blacklisting if it did not meet its commitments by October.

Though Imran Khan has accused New Delhi of lobbying the FATF against Pakistan, the real push is coming from its members like UK, Germany, France and the US.

Real Pushback Against Pak from Western Countries

Earlier this month, Islamabad had given the FATF a 450-page compliance document outlining its actions against terror groups in the past 18 months, the changes it had made in laws dealing with terrorism, and so on. Pakistan claimed it had charged Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed with terror financing, and froze all the assets of the Jamaat-ud-dawa and other UN proscribed groups.

In view of the APG ruling, Pakistan’s chances of exiting the grey list look bleak. Indeed, Pakistan’s struggle now will be to stay out of the black list.

Clearly, the APG did not buy this and if its action is any guide, Islamabad is going to find it tough to get going in the FATF meetings – first, a review meeting in Thailand in September, and then the crucial plenary on 18-23 October.

India is a member of both the APG and the FATF, and though Imran Khan has accused New Delhi of lobbying the FATF against Pakistan, the real push is coming from its members like UK, Germany, France and the US, countries which play a key role in the global financial system and can impose restrictions and penalties on Pakistan.

It is more than likely that western countries are squeezing Pakistan where it hurts its pockets.

Potential Impact of Being Blacklisted

In view of the APG ruling, Pakistan’s chances of exiting the grey list look bleak. Indeed, Pakistan’s struggle now will be to stay out of the black list.

This would lead to a financial downgrade and restrictions on its markets. It would find it difficult to get more money from the IMF and other western countries or, for that matter, service its debts which take up a quarter of the government’s revenues currently. It is more than likely that western countries are squeezing Pakistan where it hurts its pockets.

Significance of Action Taken by FATF & Affiliates

The FATF is really about naming and shaming, rather than actually directly fighting terrorism. After all, people like Hafiz Saeed, the Haqqani network, and Masood Azhar are known and already proscribed.

But the importance of the action lies in the fact that like all political parties, insurgencies and terrorist groups require money to function. Squeezing their money supply is sometimes a more efficacious way of dealing with them, than sending in the police or the army. This is the logic that has confronted Pakistan since the Financial Action Task Force got underway.

Article 370 and Pakistan’s false outrage

KRITI M. SHAH

The intention behind removing Article 370 has been to encourage further investment and improve the security in Kashmir.

 The relationship of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India was forever changed this week, as the government in New Delhi removed Article 370. This alters the fundamental nature of Kashmir’s constitutional standing within the Indian Union. Across the border, Pakistan has taken great offense at this supposed ‘mass injustice’ of the Government of India towards Kashmiris. The Pakistan Army has threatened to “exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps taken by India.” Regardless of which side of the political aisle you stand on, the Pakistan hypocrisy and faux outrage over the future of Kashmiris is breathtaking in its chutzpah, given that over the last seven decades they have steadily destroyed, dismembered and dismantled the part of Kashmir that is under their illegal occupation.

Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern most tip of the subcontinent, was forcibly captured by Pakistan weeks before Partition, as a result of treachery of British military officers of the Gilgit Scouts, who revolted with the help of the Pakistan army. While legally, the region would have ascended in its entirety to the Maharaja of J&K and thereby to India, Pakistan was quick to install a political agent in November 1947 as a puppet of the central government and has exercised administrative control over the region ever since.

One of the main arguments propagated by Pakistan is that the removal of Article 370 would lead to changes in Kashmir’s demography. However, in Gilgit-Baltistan this has been steadily happening for decades.

Referred to as the Northern Areas up till ten years ago, the region finds no mention in any of Pakistan’s constitutions. Its political status is neither that of a province, nor an independent region. Until 1994, there were no party-based elections. Its legislative council was upgraded to a legislative assembly only in 2007 and in 2009 anyone who domiciled in the region became a citizen of Gilgit-Baltistan, not Pakistan. Therefore, the sudden anger of Pakistan citizens for Kashmiri Indians, is not only misplaced and misdirected, it is highly hypocritical.

One of the main arguments propagated by Pakistan is that the removal of Article 370 would lead to changes in Kashmir’s demography. However, in Gilgit-Baltistan this has been steadily happening for decades. The state subject rule, which enacted by Dogra rulers barred outsiders from seeking permanent residence in the Princely states, was removed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s, with the deliberate intention of changing the demographic profile of the region. Over the years, the Pakistani state has encouraged the migration and settlement of different groups, especially Pashtuns and Taliban cadre to colonise the Shia and Ismaili dominated region, leading to a rise in sectarianism and religious extremism. The Pakistani establishment has also forced population displacement, masking it as a consequence of development by constructing dams such as the Diamer-Basha and Skardo-Karzura, forcing thousands of local residents to relocate, effectively killing local culture and identity. If Pakistan feels so compelled to speak up for Muslims in Kashmir, it should perhaps first question why its country has been silent towards cultural and religious repression of Muslims in China’s Xinjiangprovince.

Sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunnis are a creation of the Pakistani state. Zia-ul-Haq made numerous attempts to introduce Sunni-Deobandi Islam in the region encouraging radical militant groups such as Sipah-e-Sahaba to suppress the Shias and Ismaili populations. Through the years, clashes between the groups have become an unfortunate regular occurrence, involving the destructionof homes, businesses, lynchings, targeting of Shia clerics, policeman and local representatives.

Sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunnis are a creation of the Pakistani state.

Pakistanis were up in arms lecturing India on democratic principles, after the temporary house arrest of certain Kashmiri politicians. This was while Pakistan has imprisoned Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, two sitting members of parliament for their involvement in the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a non-violent civil rights movement for Pashtuns. The establishment has spun a story, trying to link Wazir and Dawar to an attack on an army check post in Waziristan in a brazen attempt to discredit the Pashtun movement and paint the two lawmakers as aggressors. The government known for its stifling of dissent, arrested opposition leader Maryam Nawaz on charges of money laundering, a day after she spoke up against the Imran Khan government and their handling of the Kashmir issue.

The ‘freedom’ given to the Pakistani media resembles an Orwellian dystopian novel. Within the last year there has been repeated muzzling of the national media. Pakistan’s electronic media regulatory body issued a notice in December 2018 ‘advising’ media houses to avoid excessive coverage of crime reporting, violence, sexual abuse and terrorism so as to not build a negative image of Pakistan around the world. Television anchors who questioned the arrest of Nawaz Sharif and his family or the transparency of the general elections have been asked to leave their jobs. In the last month, Pakistan Broadcasters Association has taken three channels off the air without reason. It has issued notices to 21 TV channels that aired opposition leader Maryam Nawaz’s press conference. Former president Asif Ali Zardari’s interview with a private news channel was pulled off the air minutes after it had begun. Those journalists that have covered the PTM rallies and protests have had cases filed against them.

The ‘freedom’ given to the Pakistani media resembles an Orwellian dystopian novel. Within the last year there has been repeated muzzling of the national media.

This is not to say that the Indian media is absolutely faultless and unbiased, but that they operate in an environment that allows them the opportunity of openly criticise the government. This can be best highlighted by acknowledging the many different voices and opinions that have emerged in the last week over the changes in Kashmir. There have been those that have hailed the government for its actions just as there have been news organisations and journalists who have been equally critical of the move.

The consequences of the removal of Article 370 will only surface in the months and years to come. Whether this will truly be a positive transformation in the lives of Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus, only time will tell. However, the intention behind removing Article 370 has been to encourage further investment and improve the security in Kashmir. In Pakistan unfortunately, the administrative and political reforms in Gilgit-Baltistan over the years have been to ensure the region is adequately prepped for the Chinese to consolidate their foothold. Therefore, before the common Pakistani citizen declares their great disappointment with the Indian government, they should consider that an alternate way of showing solidarity would be to look towards Islamabad and Rawalpindi to correct their own historical wrongs.

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/article-370-pakistan-false-outrage-54344/

#CHRISTIANS DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS IN MUSLIM-MAJORITY #PAKISTAN

Persecuted Christians in Pakistan are demanding recognition of their human rights.

Pakistan is a Muslim-majority country whose governance closely follows Sharia law under Islam. The Pakistani constitution segregates the country along "majority" and "minority" lines. There is no official definition of "minority" in the Pakistani Constitution, but citizens recognize that it discriminates against Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, non-Sunni Muslims and others.

This group of religious minorities drafted and submitted a 10-point memorandum to Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan on Aug. 21. 

The joint resolution seeks the minimum marriage age to be raised from 16 to 18, the creation of a federal ministry for religious minorities; a 5% quota for scholarships; protection for houses of worship; legislation to prevent discrimination in employment, education and society; designated prayer locations in public places; removal of books promoting hate against religious minorities; and criminal justice reforms to protect women from the daily violence they face, including abductions, sexual violence and forced conversions. 

Under current law in Pakistan, any perceived disrespect against the Prophet Muhammad, or the Muslim "holy book," the Quran, can lead to imprisonment or death under "blasphemy laws."

In the case of Asia Bibi, which gained international publicity in November of 2010, Bibi was sentenced to death for what she claims was a false charge made after a dispute over drinking water in a berry field. Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was assassinated in 2011 for publicly defending Bibi, who continued to appeal her innocence in prison until she was finally acquitted by the Pakistani Supreme Court in 2018.

After her acquittal, days of violent protests followed by hundreds of thousands of Muslim men across Pakistan demanding that she be hanged.

Bibi's case is just one of many where Christians are targeted and deprived of property and liberty.

Census data for Pakistan in 1998 suggests Christians make up 1.59% of the Pakistani population, with a rough total consisting of 1–3 million citizens.

It is unknown how the increased violence against Christians since 1998 has affected the total numbers of Christians in Pakistan, but indicators throughout the Middle East in such places as Iraq — where Christians numbered around one and a half million in 2003 — have shown their population has sharply dropped to only 500,000 in 2017, suggesting the threat to Christian communities in Muslim countries is an ongoing response demanded under Sharia law. 

On the reverse end, current politics in Europe and the United States has led to an increase of refugees from the Middle East and Africa into Western countries and has seen a rise in violence by Muslims within the respective communities.

Even Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany and a major advocate of refugee immigration, admits anti-Semitic violence is on the rise as a result of Muslim immigration.

"We now have another phenomenon, as we have refugees or people of Arab origin who bring another form of anti-Semitism into the country," she said in April 2018.

In the United States, programs and policies are being directed across the country to emphasize the "loving" aspect of Islam, while denying the current and historical cases of violence against women and non-Muslims under Sharia law.

These programs also ignore the stated goals of Islamic groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. These Islam-friendly programs offer terms like "Islamophobia" to minimize resistance to policies encouraging a more welcoming attitude toward Sharia law within the United States and Europe.

Muslim refugees tend to be more recent arrivals in America and are seeing immense political protection. Many Christian refugees from the Middle East, however, have been in the United States for decades, after escaping religious persecution from the Muslim majority in their home countries.

With the rise of Islamic violence in America and a policy that would see the United States take Iraq off its travel ban if they allowed Iraqi nationals to be deported back to Iraq, hundreds of Iraqi nationals have been detained and deported by ICE, with the majority being Chaldean Christians, including Jimmy Aldaoud.

Aldaoud had never been to Iraq prior to his deportation. He was born in Greece after his parents fled religious persecution in Iraq and had lived in the United States since infancy.

Aldaoud was a diabetic with a mental handicap. ICE maintains Aldaoud's criminal record was enough to deport him to a country where he could not speak the local language, could not get the necessary medicine he required, nor integrate into society. Aldaoud died in Baghdad the week of Aug. 5. 

Aldaoud's case, along with hundreds of others, has led advocacy groups to lobby for legislative protection and an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit being filed for Chaldean Christians who are being deported to Iraq. The majority of the cases are related to decades old non-violent drug charges. Charges leading to a couple years in jail, at most, for the majority of Americans are a death sentence for Chaldean Christians.

The prospects for Christians sent back to Iraq are grim. Many no longer have family there or a community to call home, and persecution by Muslims has led to torture and death for Christian deportees.

It remains an ongoing battle in order to keep a Christian from being deported. Under the Convention Against Torture, a person cannot merely prove torture is a possibility in the country of destination, but the claimant has to prove that the government actually allows it or participates in it; but Iraqi officials have stated they do not allow torture to be committed. 

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/christians-demand-equal-rights-in-muslim-majority-pakistan

#Pakistan #PPP - Aseefa may contest by-polls in PS-11, Larkana

Pakistan People’s Party leader and daughter of Benazir Bhutto, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, is being considered as a candidate for by-polls in the provincial assembly constituency PS-11. The seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court of Pakistan withheld the decision to disqualify Grand Democratic Alliance leader Moazzam Abbasi from PS-11 seat in Larkana District.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and consisting of Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmad on Thursday declared election tribunal’s decision void and ordered re-election in the provincial constituency.

It is pertinent to mention here that Moazzam Ali Abbasi, the candidate of GDA, defeated the rival PPPP candidate and daughter of Nisar Khuhro, Nida Khuhro in the general elections in PS-11 by a convincing margin. The winning candidate secured over 32,000 votes against the losing PPPP candidate’s over 21,000 votes despite it being a stronghold of the party ruling the province for last 10 years at that time.

Nida Khuhuro was fielded by the party after his father and provincial chief of the party Nisar Khuhro was disqualified during scrutiny of papers for concealing details of his marriage. The name of Aseefa Bhutto started doing rounds as a possible contender from the party for the by-polls after a group of women parliamentarians in the provincial assembly met her on Saturday.

The daughter of Asif Ali Zardari has been taking part in the political activities of the party, but she has yet to take part in the electoral process. Her brother took part in last general elections for the first time and won his seat. Zardari has announced that two of his children, Bilawal Bhutto and Aseefa Bhutto, would take part in political activities, while Bakhtawar Bhutto would manage the family business. General Secretary of Pakistan People’s Party Sindh Chapter Waqar Mehdi has confirmed that Aseefa’s name is doing rounds as the party’s candidate in PS-11, but the final decision would be made by the party leadership.

The party cadre from Larkana is calling for Aseefa’s nomination for by-polls in PS-11, he said. He however said the final decision would be taken by the top party leadership Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Another party leader said on condition of anonymity that Aseefa’s name was doing rounds only in the media and they had no knowledge of it in party. He however said that if name of Aseefa Bhutto comes up and she takes part in the by-elections, all other aspiring candidates would support her. “The party will follow the due process, which includes asking for applications from aspiring candidates after the election commission announces schedule for the by-polls and then a board will finalise name of the candidate and announce it officially,” he said.

The party cadres on ground needed a strong candidate for the seat so that the party could strengthen its numbers and reach three figures in the assembly where it already enjoys support of 99 lawmakers.

On the other hand, the ruling coalition in federal cabinet including GDA would try its best to regain the seat from Larkana and once again dent the PPP in its stronghold Larkana.

https://nation.com.pk/25-Aug-2019/aseefa-may-contest-by-polls-in-ps-11-larkana

#Pakistan #PPP - A democracy-friendly PM can fight better for #Kashmir cause

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday claimed that no "selected prime minister" can fight for the Kashmir cause the way a "democracy friendly" premier can.

Addressing a press conference in Skardu, Bilawal said there was no comparison between the military occupation in occupied Kashmir and the undermining of democracy and human rights in Pakistan.Nonetheless, if Pakistan had been investing in democracy and a third "real [democratically elected] government" was in power, they could fight for the Kashmir cause with moral authority, he said.

"No selected prime minister can fight for the Kashmir cause the way a democracy-friendly prime minister can," he said.

Bilawal said it was important that he raises his voice for Kashmir at every possible opportunity while also seeing the reaction of the people.

He said that Pakistanis know that a "historic injustice" is taking place in occupied Kashmir and that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a murderer. However, he added that people also know that Prime Minister Imran Khan does not have the capability or legitimacy to provide the people of occupied Kashmir or Gilgit Baltistan with their rights.

Bilawal asked how the premier could talk about injustice in occupied Kashmir and about media restrictions in the disputed region if he has imposed "historic media restrictions in his own country".

"How can he speak about restrictions of human rights in occupied Kashmir when he has restricted human rights?" he inquired, adding: "How can he speak about democracy in occupied Kashmir when he has led the funeral of democracy in his is own country?"

Earlier, Bilawal has also raised doubts over the government’s sincerity with the Kashmir cause, saying the government was "not supporting the Kashmiris in an effective way".

Read: Bilawal raises doubts over govt’s sincerity with Kashmir cause

On Wednesday, the PPP leader had promised to wage a struggle for realising the democratic rights of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and to fulfill the commitment made with the region’s people by late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.Bilawal today said that the people of Gilgit Baltistan have seen that the premier is attacking democracy and human rights in the country."How can a person who is snatching democracy and constitutional and human rights away from us get the people of Gilgit Baltistan their rights?"The PPP leader said that people knew that only the democratic and "real leadership" of Pakistan could grant the people of Gilgit Baltistan their rights and raise their voices for Kashmiris.

While responding to a question about India’s top opposition leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, being sent back after they landed in Srinagar on Saturday, Bilawal said that this was very unfortunate.

"What are they hiding from him? If everything is transparent and rights are being granted and they are doing good things [...] then why have you stopped the opposition leader of the country?"

He said that while the politics of Pakistan and India were different there were similarities regarding the democratic and undemocratic approaches used.

The PPP leader said that he had decided to spend Eidul Azha in Muzaffarabad as it was a "very good opportunity to send a message of unity" and after his announcement, the government also announced that they would send someone to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Bilawal added that the night he reached Muzaffarabad, his aunt, Faryal Talpur was "illegally" shifted from a hospital to jail.

"We feel that the government is trying to antagonise us [...] PPP has seen this in the past and knows how to oppose this."

He said that it would very good if the PTI and the rest of the country gave attention to Gilgit Baltistan the way his party (the PPP) was.

"Right now I feel like PPP is leading from the opposition and the government is playing the role of the opposition in the government," the PPP leader remarked.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1501593

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