Pakistan’s Efforts to Silence Dissenters Amplifies Their Causes

By Daud Khattak

The colonial-era relic of “sedition” is being used in present-day Pakistan to whip dissenting politicians, outspoken journalists, writers, poets, artists, lawyers and rights activists. 

The offense is defined in section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code that charges citizens with jeopardizing safety and stability of the state, spreading hatred and feelings of disloyalty among the people, and creating public disorder. 

This section, which India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had once termed “highly objectionable and obnoxious,” should have been scrapped after the end of the colonial era that paved way for the emergence of two independent states of India and Pakistan out of British India in 1947. But the legacy, among many others, lingers on to silence opponents and tame the forthright and undaunted.

Charging political opponents with “sedition” by labeling them “ghaddar” (traitor), anti-state, and foreign agents to suppress their voices is an old tactic in Pakistan. But it has touched new heights over the past year due to its arbitrary use to silence the critics and opponents. 

Fatima Jinah, sister of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinah, who is officially known is Quaid-e-Azam or the greatest leader, was among the first who was labelled as a threat to Pakistan. She was then labeled as a foreign agent when she challenged the then -military dictator Ayub Khan. Her death is shrouded in mystery, many believe she did not die a natural death.  

Also standing in the long row of ghaddars, anti-state and foreign agents are the leaders who suffered years in prisons and lost their wealth and properties before and after the independence of Pakistan. They include Bengali politician and briefly Pakistan’s prime minister, Huseyn Suhrawardy, ethnic Pashtun leaders Ghaffar Khan and Samad Khan, Baloch leaders Ataullah Mengal and Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, and Sindhi politician Ghulam Murtaza Syed. 

“How could you question someone’s patriotism” was the key question raised by a Pakistani court while hearing a case concerning the arrest of civil rights activists in the country’s federal capital Islamabad on January 28.

Justice Athar Minallah, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, then granted post-arrest bail to 23 activists who were protesting the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, leader of the two-year-old civil rights movement PTM or Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement. Pashteen was arrested in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on January 27 under five different charges, including conspiracy and sedition.

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In what seems to be Pakistan’s new normal, those following the state narrative on national, regional and international issues in toto are the true patriots, while those challenging the official line are reckoned among the ranks of traitors, anti-state, foreign agents. 

This standard of patriotism encompasses a wide range of issues including national politics, regional conflicts, relations with other states, and militant proxies with the fresh addition of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the much-multibillion project involving Chinese investment in infrastructure development. 

It is as easy to understand as this: When former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif questioned the military’s role in supporting proxies, he was loathed as sympathetic toward India and was targeted with a vicious campaign of “Modi Ka Jo Yar Hai, Ghaddar Hai” which means whoever is Modi’s friend, is a traitor. Cyril Almeida, the journalist who reported the 2016 story linked above had to temporarily leave Pakistan. In October 2019, Almeida announced his resignation from Dawn and the end of his Sunday column.  

On the contrary, no feathers were ruffled when Prime Minister Imran Khan told the audience at a think tank event in New York in September 2019 that Pakistan’s army and military spy agency trained al-Qaeda and then maintained links with the militants afterwards. Moreover, it was Imran Khan who wished victory for Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the hope that his  victory will pave way for “some kind of settlement” in Kashmir.  

In fact, traitor, foreign agent and infidel are the time-tested tools being used in Pakistan to silence and vilify opponents. Many of the Taliban who conduct suicidal missions that target individuals, places and political parties have been brainwashed about the faith and religious views of their targets. For them, politicians like Benazir Bhutto, Bashir Bilour, Salmaan Taseer and many others were infidels, out of the ambit of Islam. 

Similarly, once declared as traitor, anti-state or a foreign agent, and that too by the state-backed propaganda machine, an individual or group of individuals not only lose due standing in the society, but also face dire threats to their lives. 

For example, former spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan military’s media wing, Major General Asif Ghafoor warned the PTM leadership that “their time is up” during a wide-ranging news conference at the military’s general headquarters in April 2019, he accused them of getting money from Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). There were times when some nationalist leaders used to be accused of working for and getting money from the Russian KGB. 

The reasons behind leveling such charges, coupled with raids on houses and offices, abductions and enforced disappearances, is to restrict free speech ranging from individuals to groups and political parties, forums, discussions and debates, opinions and comments, conventional as well as social media. 

The charges and arrests, threats and abductions, taking television shows and interviews off the air and blocking social media accounts are most likely intended to inspire self-censorship. But unlike the past, such measures seem to be proving counterproductive in the age of social media. 

Filmmaker and actor Sarmad Khoosat’s movie Zindagi Tamasha got more publicity on social media when Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors advised him against its release. A radical Islamic group had called for protests against the film, which was scheduled to be released on January 24. 

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The same month, authorities raided the offices of a Pakistani publisher and confiscated Urdu translation copies of author Mohammed Hanif’s book. Published in 2008 in English language, A Case of Exploding Mangoes is a satire about the mystery surrounding the death of Pakistan military dictator General Zia ul Haq in a plane crash in 1988. News about the raid, with widespread condemnations and people’s quest to get more information about the Urdu-translated version of the book, were everywhere on social media within no time. 

Pashteen’s January 27 arrest, apparently meant to suppress his voice, triggered a debate on social media in Pakistan besides attracting wide coverage internationally. It may have taken him months, if not years, to get such attention had he not been arrested.

Like Pashteen, a majority of the leaders accused of sedition or labeled as anti-state and foreign agents demanded their political and social rights guaranteed under the constitution. “We are not seeking a violent revolution, but we are determined to push Pakistan back toward a constitutional order,” Pashteen wrote in a New York Times op-ed in February 2019. 

Then and now, the struggle is the same. Only time has changed. And the changing times demand a change in the approach. Instead of silencing the lawful demands of the peaceful citizens, it is time for the state to accept and recognize their lawful rights. 

https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/pakistans-efforts-to-silence-dissenters-amplifies-their-causes/

Pakistan’s Army Continues to Mollycoddle Terrorists and Hound its Critics

Mohammad Taqi

There are enough reasons to be skeptical about the recent sentencing of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed.

Pakistan’s all-powerful army has a long history of siring, pampering and letting loose jihadi terrorists, at home and across borders. It has also sold-out or shunned certain jihadis when they have spun out of its orbit, and occasionally fought them when they bucked its diktat. It has signed scores of agreements with the jihadis, feted and garlanded their leaders, and appeased them when it wanted. No civilian leader or government has had any say in this project nor the ability to curtail its blowback.

The recent news that Ehsanullah Ehsan, the ex-spokesman of the infamous terrorist group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – who was in the Pakistani army’s custody for over two years – has fled to Turkey, shows that the top khaki brass continues to mollycoddle terrorists of assorted hues. The army has many problems, but poor discipline is certainly not one of them. It is an extremely organized outfit with a top-down, well-knit and well-defined command and control structure. A most-wanted, high-profile terrorist escaping from its detention is unimaginable. The army’s coyness about Ehsan’s escape and its friendly media rationalizing Ehsan’s “contributions” to the army’s effort to neutralise the TTP smacks of collusion, not incompetence on the part of the captors. And there is no way in hell that the army has cut a deal with a top TTP operative, without the knowledge and approval of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa in the current instance.

Regardless of whether Ehsan made good his escape on his own or was allowed to flee, the buck stops with General Bajwa. That the man who, on behalf of the TTP and later its breakaway incarnation Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), had gleefully claimed the slaughter of thousands of Pakistanis and the maiming of others, including Nobel-laureate Malala Yousufzai went scot-free on General Bajwa’s watch is a disgrace in its own right. But a bigger humiliation is the Pakistani army’s criminal silence over this matter. After all, among the TTP’s most heinous crimes were the wholesale killings of schoolchildren at the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar, murderous attacks on the army itself and desecration of servicemen’s corpses by playing football with their severed heads.

The outgoing Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor had boasted in April 2017: “I want to take this opportunity to announce that Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesperson of the TTP and a leader of the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, has turned himself in to our security agencies.” Ehsan was never brought to book or faced any trial.

Now he has walked away, without as much as a rap on the knuckles, right out of the Pakistan army’s safehouse. After the parent of a child killed in the APS attack filed a petition, the authorities had, however, told the Peshawar high court that they “would continue to keep him under custody and investigation”. Ehsan has claimed in an audio clip attributed to him that he had opted to flee as the army didn’t keep its end of the bargain. He had clearly been cut a deal, otherwise two years is more than enough time to indict, prosecute and punish a terrorist who loudly and repeatedly owned the murders of thousands of innocents, on behalf of his outfit(s).

The army had paraded him before the cameras and then sat him down – clad in a crisp salwar-kameez suit and waistcoat—with a chosen television anchor for an ostensibly confessional statement. However, Ehsan – appearing extremely comfortable – essentially had indicted the Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies for propping up the TTP. The TTP’s baby-faced butcher, who had gleefully claimed scores of attacks and threatened many more, was being housed in a villa in Peshawar’s suburban Hayatabad Township, in the midst of civilians, indicating that there wasn’t even an intention of bringing him to justice. Ehsan also sired a child during this sham custody.

Kid-glove treatment of terrorists

The Pakistani army’s kid-glove treatment of its favourite terrorists isn’t anything new. The author Arif Jamal had noted that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives had lived largely under custody, enjoyed conjugal visit privileges and while in jail, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, “Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi even fathered a son who is being raised as an LeT jihadist”. Jamal wrote that the jihadists had nicknamed the boy Maulana Adialavi, after Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison, where he had been conceived.

One, therefore, has to look at the just-announced conviction of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the chief of the LeT’s parent outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), on terror-financing and organiSing charges, with industrial-strength suspicion. The verdict was perfectly timed before a key meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in Paris on February 16. In its October 2019 review, the FATF had kept Pakistan on its grey list and given it till this February to take more measures to avoid being placed on the blacklist. Blacklisting by the FATF, a powerful inter-governmental body that monitors terror-financing, and makes policy recommendations to financial entities and governments about threats to the international financing systems, could be a major blow to Pakistan’s sagging economy, which got an International Monetary Fund (IMF) lifeline just last year.

It is not just that the Pakistan army continues to hug its terrorist proxies tight but also that it is systematically and constantly hounding the critics of its jihadist project, which indicates that those policies and practices are very much in place.

 The latest target

The latest target of the army’s war on dissent is Gul Bukhari, a fearless human rights activist and opinion writer. Bukhari – who happens to be the daughter of a retired general and daughter-in-law of another one – has been a fierce critic of the army’s anti-democratic policies and its jihadist practices, for years. She had to flee Pakistan after she was abducted by the army’s operatives in June 2018. This time around, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has apparently issued notice for Bukhari to appear before it. The charge against her is – wait for it – terrorist activities by virtue of criticizing the army on social media. And if she fails to appear before the FIA, her property can be confiscated. Everyone and their aunt knows in Pakistan that the FIA’s anti-terrorism wing would not have initiated such frivolous and malicious proceedings without the army twisting its tail.

Pakistan is under virtual martial law, with Prime Minister Imran Khan merely serving as a civilian fig leaf under General Bajwa.

Gul Bukhari is not the first journalist to face the army’s wrath and she won’t be the last. In fact, one of the first actions of the Pakistan army was to muzzle the independent media, when the first military dictator, General Ayub Khan, clamped martial law. A respected left-liberal publishing house, the Progressive Papers Limited (PPL) was taken over at gunpoint by Ayub Khan’s regime in April 1959. The PPL ran the English daily, Pakistan Times, the Urdu daily Imroze, and an Urdu periodical Lail-o-Nahar. The Pakistan Times had been brought out by the veteran Marxist Mian Iftikharuddin, who had joined the Muslim League, at the prodding of none other than the country’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Not only were the publications taken over but the printing press was appropriated and the properties of Mian Iftikharuddin threatened. In an article titled ‘Ayub’s attack on Progressive Papers’, the venerable editor of the Pakistan Times, Mazhar Ali Khan was to write in 1972:

“Many will probably conclude that the dictatorship’s gravest crime was its deliberate destruction of press freedom because so many other evils flowed from this act of denying to the people of Pakistan one of their fundamental rights”.

This was true then and remains truer now. I have been one of the earliest causalities of the Pakistan army’s present war on dissent, along with the respected Baloch rights champion Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur and veteran editor Rashed Rahman. The noose continued to tighten from there on, with prominent writers, journalists, and even former parliamentarians getting purged out of the publications that had carried their work for years. The common denominator was that all of the sanctioned media personalities were critical either of the Pakistani army’s domestic encroachment into the political domain or its policy to prosecute foreign policy goals through the use of jihadi proxies or both.

Believing its own lies and half-truths

The Pakistani army, for its part, seems to believe its own lies and half-truths, the most pernicious one of which is that it is the guardian of Pakistan’s geographical and ideological frontiers. Nothing can be farther than truth. The army in Pakistan remains a colonial construct in its mindset and actions. It was nothing but a continuation of the British Indian Army, through the regiments, which Pakistan had inherited at the 1947 Partition of India.

It anointed itself as the praetorian guard over the new state in just over a decade but never developed a national character. In its theory and practice, the Pakistani army has maintained a disdain for free speech and dissenting opinions, just like its precursors did during the British Raj. Even the harassment of journalists and targeting their possessions is a direct continuation of the colonial era. One of the first actions of the British Raj after seizing Delhi in 1857 was to hang Maulvi Muhammad Baqir, the owner-publisher of Delhi Urdu Akhbar, and burn his property to ground. Later on, the British seized – at gunpoint – the press and even personal library of the Communist Party of India’s leader Maulana Hasrat Mohani. Mohani had refused to divulge the real name and identity of a contributor who had written an article critical of the British colonial power, in his paper Urdu-e-Mua’lla.

Activists and media persons aren’t the only ones facing the army’s wrath. In the inglorious colonial tradition of jailing politicians and arresting leaders, the army has, through its civilian façade, orchestrated the arrest of two former PMs, Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, one ex-president Asif Zardari, assorted parliamentarians on trumped-up graft allegations, and political leaders like Manzur Pashteen on cooked-up law and order charges. All of them have opposed the army’s political ambitions, to a varying degree. Pashteen also flayed the army’s double game of showcasing to the world that it is fighting jihadi terror, while harbouring the same terrorists.

Pakistan’s army is unlikely to change its ambitions, strategy and tactics to subdue the Pakistani people without political forces closing ranks to confront it. Civil society activists, rights defenders and advocates, journalists and media persons can certainly raise awareness about what the Pakistan army’s role and goal is, but only organised political parties can do the heavy lifting.

The army has succeeded thus far by playing political parties, or groups within them, against each other. The only way forward is for the parties to close rank on a minimum common program to push the army back towards borders and barracks. Pakistan’s major political parties had signed, what they called a Charter of Democracy (CoD), nearly 15 years ago with the intent to forge unity to push and keep the army out of the country’s political arena. The former PMs, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, were the prime movers of the process.

An updated CoD is the need of the hour but with Nawaz Sharif facing serious health issues and Benazir Bhutto tragically gone, does the available political leadership have the will and wherewithal to pull off something like that? One seriously doubts that, but politics is the art of the possible. And that is where the dissident voices, writers, activists have a role to play – by prodding, nudging and cajoling the politicians to rise to the occasion.

In the most recent development, Pakistani authorities are now seeking to implement laws to gag social media. This ominous move is patterned after China, where the authoritarian state controls social media with an iron fist. In Pakistan, social media has played a vibrant role as a vehicle for dissent. After the traditional media was muzzled, social media platforms have so far been the firewall that the Bajwa-Imran hybrid regime hasn’t been able to cross successfully. Defending these last vestiges of freedom of expression would be imperative for political leaders and cadres, as well as the rights activists.

https://thewire.in/south-asia/pakistan-army-terrorists-critics-handling

We’re peacefully demanding change in Pakistan. The military says we’re ‘traitors.’

By Mohsin Dawar

For two years now, the Pashtun Protection Movement (known as the PTM) has been taking to the streets to demand the observance of our constitutional rights. Above all we have been demanding accountability from the military, which has used the war on terrorism as an excuse to kidnap, kill and intimidate citizens living in the northwest, most of them ethnic Pashtuns. At 35 million, we are the largest single ethnic group in the country.

Throughout our campaign for change we have observed strict principles of nonviolence, and we have worked to keep our actions rigorously within the framework of Pakistan’s constitution, which explicitly allows for freedom of speech and assembly. Yet our activists have faced censorship, arrest, and in some cases death.

On Jan. 27, the government arrested our leader, Manzoor Pashteen, on charges of “sedition,” the same excuse the British once used to enforce colonialism. The next day, I was arrested during a demonstration against his detention — though I can’t say I was terribly surprised. (Last year I spent four months in prison for my political activity.)

I am now free again (for the moment); Manzoor is still in custody. But the campaign against us continues.

It is not the elected government of Prime Minister Imran Khan that is behind this crackdown. It is the real government of the country — namely, the military.

All of which raises the question: What are the generals so afraid of?

Current army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has made it clear that he has a problem with the constitution. In early 2018, Bajwa criticized the 18th Amendment, which was passed by a unanimous vote of parliament in 2010. It was designed to prevent any further military dictatorships and strengthened the federal nature of the country by increasing provincial autonomy and removing anti-democratic clauses. Any other democracy would have sacked a top soldier for daring to blatantly criticize the constitution. Instead, he was granted a new term in office.

Our insistence on the observance of constitutional norms and demands for greater democracy clearly is not to his taste.

The generals also regard us a threat because we stand in the way of their larger plans. They are eagerly awaiting the final U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which allow them to welcome the Taliban back into power. Yet our movement, which denounces the military’s support for the Taliban, apparently presents a challenge that they cannot abide. The only Pakistan Pashtuns the generals can tolerate are those who support the Afghan Taliban.

Our demands for accountability undermine the destructive status quo, one in which the military selects and cultivates terrorist groups that show a willingness to submit to its instructions. We demand an end to military operations that failed to root out terrorists and indiscriminately targeted civilian populations. We demand the end of extrajudicial killings, so that those who havesuffered can finally feel safe about speaking out. We demand that those who engineered the abductions of innocent people be brought to court to face responsibility for their actions. Above all, we demand an end to the Pakistani military’s support for the terrorists, who are now regrouping again. The recent escape from custody of Ehsanullah Ehsan, a former spokesman for the notorious Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan jihadist group, is a case in point. The scandal has raised fresh questions about authorities’ readiness to give leeway to religious extremists while reserving repression for pro-democracy protesters like the PTM.

Those who wish to air extremist ideology still have many opportunities to express their views in the Pakistani media. Our movement, by contrast, faced an almost complete blackout on mainstream media. These days it is at least possible to mention the existence of the PTM, though almost always in conjunction with propaganda and lies directed at us. Even reporters in the English-language media, which usually enjoys greater freedom than its Urdu-language counterparts, find themselves under pressure to limit their commentary or reporting on the PTM.To get our message out, we rely mainly on social media. Even there we face continuous harassment, allowed by the country’s loosely defined cyber-crime laws. Meanwhile, our supporters who are brave enough to take part in public protests face arrest or worse. Those who organize or take part in our political gatherings known that are likely to face sedition charges.

The Pakistani establishment, led by the military, has gone to extraordinary lengths to demonize our movement. As the police shoved me into their van after arresting me last month, one of the constables started chanting anti-Indian slogans, as if he thought that this would anger me. This is because the official media routinely accuse us of collaborating with Delhi, an absurd effort to discredit us as “foreign agents.”

When the Pakistani regime recruits Pashtuns for war and terrorism, it considers us patriots. But when we ask for our rights, we are no longer even considered Pakistanis.

These crackdowns merely reinforce our determination to demand justice. The writing is on the wall for our tormentors. Our people want to live as citizens of Pakistan, not as its subjects.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/14/were-peacefully-demanding-change-pakistan-military-says-were-traitors/#comments-wrapper

Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly condemns the murder of PPP MPA Shehnaz Ansari

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned the murder of PPP MPA Shehnaz Ansari in Naushehro Feroz and expressed deep grief and sorrow over the incident.

In a statement issued here, the PPP Chairman said that Shehnaz Ansari was a committed Party worker whose killing should be investigated properly and culprits punished.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed solidarity with the members of the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/2020/02/15/chairman-ppp-bilawal-bhutto-zardari-strongly-condemns-the-murder-of-ppp-mpa-shehnaz-ansari/

د میرلي ړنګ سکولونو ماشومان له خواشینۍ پر سړک سبقونه وايي

په میرلي کې د ړنګو سکولونو زدهکونکیو ځوانانو تنظیم تر سیوري لاندې لاریون وشو او له خواشینۍ/خپګانه یې د سړک پر سر خپل کتابونه واز کړل او سبقونه ویل یې پیل کړل. دوی ویل لا یې هم ړنګ سکولونه نه دي ودان شوي او سرکار ته یې غږ کاوه تعلیمي ادارې دې ورته فعاله کړي. عمر وزیر پرې رپورټ لري.

NAB notices won’t stop Bilawal from launching movement against government

By NAVEED BUTT 

Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, spokesperson for Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, has said that whenever his party chairman declares intention to launch an anti-government movement, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) starts sending him notices. Talking to the media outside the Parliament House on Thursday, he said, “these notices will not stop PPP from launching a movement against the government.

The NAB chairperson should clarify why federal ministers were representing the NAB instead of the NAB's spokesman, the senator asked. He said that Bilawal had never held a public office until recently. Khokhar said the NAB should summon those who had created flour and sugar crises and the people who embezzled public money in the BRT, Malam Jabba, Billion Tree Tsunami and other projects in the KP.

The senator said that the government did not have anything to show as its performance. Khokhar said that the response given by Firdous Ashiq Awan and Shahzad Akbar on Thursday to Bilawal Bhutto's media talk carried no relevance to facts.

Why have these ministers come out in support of the NAB? he asked. “Former chief justice of Pakistan is on the record to have said that the NAB is no more impartial. Bilawal is innocent and the chief justice had said so but the government ministers are misguiding people," Khokhar said. He said the government had brought inflation to its peak by striking a deal with the International Monitory fund (IMF).

Khokhar further sais that now even international institutions were reporting that there was political victimisation in Pakistan. The senator said that when press could not be crushed during martial law regimes how could this government succeed in strangling the voice of the media. “We condemn the ban on advertisements for the newspaper founded by Quaid-e-Azam and PPP will continue to raise its voice for the media," he concluded.

https://www.brecorder.com/2020/02/14/570953/nab-notices-wont-stop-bilawal-from-launching-movement-against-government-khokhar/

پاکستان: نئے ضوابط سوشل میڈیا کا ’گلہ گھونٹنے‘ کے لیے ہیں؟

سول سوسائٹی، سیاست دانوں اور صحافتی تنظیموں نے حکومت کی طرف سے سوشل میڈیا کو کنٹرول کرنے کے لیے متعارف کروائے گئے نئے قواعد و ضوابط کی شدید مذمت کی ہے اور انہیں ’جمہوریت دشمن‘ قرار دیا ہے۔

جمعرات کو وزیر اطلاعات و نشریات ڈاکٹر فردوس عاشق اعوان نے اس تاثر کو غلط قرار دیا کہ حکومت سوشل میڈیا کا 'گلہ گھونٹنا‘ چاہتی ہے لیکن کابینہ کی طرف سے جاری کردہ ضوابط کو ناقدین 'آزادی اظہار رائے کا گلہ گھوٹنے‘ کے مترادف قرار دے رہے ہیں۔ حال ہی میں منظور کیے جانے والے ان قواعد کے مطابق سوشل میڈیا کمپنیوں پر یہ لازم ہو گا کہ وہ حکومت کی طرف سے متعین کردہ تحقیقاتی ادارے کو کسی بھی طرح کی انفارمیشن یا ڈیٹا فراہم کریں۔ ایسا نہ کرنے پر کمپنیوں کو پچاس کروڑ کا جرمانہ ادا کرنا ہو گا۔ ان کمپنیوں کو قابل اعتراض مواد کو چوبیس گھنٹے میں ہٹانا پڑے گا اور ایمرجنسی کی صورت میں ایسے مواد کو چھ گھنٹے میں ہٹانا ہوگا۔ ایسے مواد کی اطلاع متعلقہ ادارے کا افسر کسی بھی کمپنی کو خود یا ای میل کے ذریعے دے گا۔ سوشل میڈیا کمپنیز کو پاکستان میں تین ماہ کے اندر اپنے دفاتر بھی قائم کرنا پڑیں گے اور ایک ترجمان بھی مقرر کرنا ہو گا۔

پاکستان میں آزادی اظہار رائے کو قابو میں کرنے کے لیے اس سے پہلے بھی بہت سے قوانین بنائے گئے ہیں یا انگریز دور کے قوانین کا سہارا  لے کر آزادیِ صحافت  کو محدود بنایا گیا۔ پاکستان کے ابتدائی برسوں میں انگریز کے بنائے ہوئے سیکرٹ ایکٹ، سکیورٹی ایکٹ اور ڈیفینس آف انڈیا ایکٹ کا سہارا لیا گیا۔ ڈیفینس آف انڈیا کا بعد میں نام تبدیل کر دیا گیا۔ ان میں سے کچھ قوانین کو ایوب خان کے دور تک استعمال کیا گیا۔ ایوب خان کے دور میں پریس اینڈ پبلیکیشنز اور مارشل ریگولیشنز کا سہارا لیا گیا۔ اس کے علاوہ سیفٹی ایکٹ کو بھی صحافت کو دبانے کے لئے استعمال کیا گیا۔ ذوالفقار علی بھٹو نے ان قوانین کو ختم کرنے کا وعدہ کیا  جنرل ضیاء کا دور صحافت اور آزادی اظہار رائے کے لیے بد ترین کہا جاتا ہے، جب نہ صرف صحافیوں کو بے روزگار کیا گیا بلکہ انہیں جیلوں میں بھی ڈالا گیا اور انہیں کوڑے بھی مارے گئے۔ اس وقت پاکستان پینل کوڈ کی شق چارسو ننانوے اور پانچ سو میں بھی ترامیم کی گئیں اور اس کا ٹارگٹ بھی آزادی اظہار رائے تھا۔ اس کے علاوہ مارشل لاء ریگولیشنز کو بھی استعمال کیا گیا۔ جمہوریت کی بحالی کے بعد نواز شریف کے دو ادوار میں پریس پر قدغنیں لگائی گئیں۔ موجودہ قواعد دو ایسے ایکٹس کی روشنی میں بنائے گئے ہیں، جو نواز شریف اور ن لیگ کے ادوار میں بنائے گئے۔ ایک ایکٹ پاکستان ٹیلی کمیونیکیشن ایکٹ انیس سو ستانوے سے انیس سو ننانوے کے دوران بنایا گیا اور دوسرا پاکستان الیکڑانک کرائمز ایکٹ دو ہزار تیرہ سے اٹھارہ کے دوران بنایا گیا۔

بلوچستان کے سابق وزیر اعلی اور نیشنل پارٹی کے صدر ڈاکٹر عبدالمالک بلوچ کے خیال میں یہ قواعد جمہوریت کے خاتمے کا اعلان ہیں، ''کسی جمہوری ملک میں آزاد میڈیا کے بغیر جمہوریت کا تصور نہیں۔ پاکستان میں میڈیا پر پہلے ہی قدغنیں ہیں۔ ہم نے پہلے بھی ان پابندیوں کے خلاف پارلیمنٹ میں آواز اٹھائی ہے اور ہم اب بھی اٹھائیں گے۔‘‘

ڈاکٹر مالک کا مزید کہنا تھا کہ وہ پی ٹی آئی کو ہی اس کا ذمے دار ٹھہرائیں گے، ''پی ٹی آئی کسی کے بھی اشارے پر یہ قواعد لائی ہو لیکن منظر پر تو وہ ہی ہیں۔ اس لیے ہم انہی کو مورد الزام ٹھہرائیں گے۔‘‘ ان قواعد پر پاکستان کی فیڈرل یونین آف جرنلسٹس بھی چراغ پا ہیں۔ یونین کے مرکزی جنرل سیکریٹری ناصر زیدی کا کہنا ہے کہ ان کی تنظیم ان قواعد کی بھر پور مزاحمت کرے گی، ''یہ قواعد آئین کی آرٹیکل انیس کی کھلی خلاف ورزی ہے، جو آزادی اظہار رائے کی ضمانت دیتی ہے۔ جب سے یہ حکومت وجود میں آئی ہوئی ہے، یہ میڈیا، سوشل میڈیا اور آزادی اظہار رائے کو دبانے پر تلی ہوئی ہے۔ ان قواعد سے یہ لگتا ہے کہ حکومت میں آمرانہ رجحانات ہیں، جن کی ہر سطح پر مزاحمت کی جانی چاہیے۔‘‘

کئی ناقدین کا خیال ہے کہ یہ قواعد پی ٹی آئی نے نہیں بلکہ ملک کی طاقتور اسٹیبلشمنٹ نے نافذ کرائے ہیں۔ کراچی سے تعلق رکھنے والے تجزیہ نگار ڈاکٹر توصیف احمد خان کا کہنا ہے کہ حکومت ان قواعد کے ذریعے ان عناصر کو ٹارگٹ کرنا چاہتی ہے، جو ریاستی اداروں کو ناپسند ہیں، ''کئی ایسے افراد ہیں، جیسے کہ گل بخاری، وقاص گورایہ اور سندھی و بلوچ قوم پرست، جو سوشل میڈیا پر ریاستی اداروں پر تنقید کرتے ہیں۔ تو یہ قواعد فوج کی فرمائش پر بنائیں گئے ہیں تاکہ ایسے افراد کو ٹارگٹ کیا جا سکے۔‘‘

تجزیہ کاروں کے مطابق حکومت کی طرف سے پاکستانی ذرائع ابلاغ پر 'غیراعلانیہ پابندی‘ بھی بہت موثر رہی ہے اور مولانا فضل الرحمان کے جلسوں سے لے کر مریم نواز شریف کی ریلیوں تک 'میڈیا ملک کے طاقتور اداروں کا تابع دار‘  ہی رہا ہے۔ بعض مرتبہ تو سابق وزیر اعظم نواز شریف، سابق صدر زرداری اور سابق وزیر برائے اطلاعات و نشریات پرویز رشید کے انٹرویوز سمیت کئی انٹرویوز اور تقریروں کا میڈیا نے 'غیر اعلانیہ بائیکاٹ‘ کیا۔

 پی ٹی ایم کے بڑے بڑے جلسے پاکستان کے چوبیس گھنٹے چلنے والے ٹی وی چینلز پر کوئی جگہ نہ بنا سکے۔ ان پابندیوں کے باعث سیاسی جماعتوں، اسٹیبلشمنٹ مخالف میڈیا شخصیات اور ناقدین نے سوشل میڈیا کا بھر پور استعمال کیا، جسے اب حکومت کنٹرول کرنا چاہتی ہے۔ تاہم اسلام آباد سے تعلق رکھنے والے معروف صحافی فرمان علی کا کہنا ہے کہ یہ پابندی موثر نہیں ہوگی، ''پہلے بھی حکومت نے یو ٹیوب پر پابندی لگائی تھی اور یہ موثر ثابت نہیں ہوئی۔ لوگوں نے پراکسی سرور استعمال کرنے شروع کر دیے تھے۔ چین جیسے طاقتور ملک میں، جہاں صرف وی چیٹ ہے، لوگ پراکسی سرور کے ذریعے واٹس ایپ استعمال کر رہے ہیں۔ تو یہاں بھی ایسا ہی ہو گا۔‘‘

https://www.dw.com/ur

New social-media bill takes Pakistan another step backward

By IMAD ZAFAR

In 2014, Estonia became the first country to offer virtual residency (e-residency) to foreigners. E-residency enables any person in any country to operate a company in Estonia remotely. Not only can someone operating under this system generate business for his company by providing information-technology enabled services (ITeS), Estonia can generate revenue by collecting taxes from foreigners who operate remotely from their own homelands.

This can be viewed as the future of the world, where expanding technology and digital media will create the concept of “electronic citizens” of the entire globe. Developing economies will definitely benefit from this just as Estonia has. However, in Pakistan the government is incapable of thinking of ways to use technology for the betterment of the economy and to attract foreign investment. To the contrary: All the energies of the current Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime are spent curbing the freedom of expression and shrinking the digital space, without realizing its impact on the country’s global image and economy.

In a recent move to curb the of freedom of expression in digital space, the PTI government approved a new rule requiring social-media companies to open offices in Pakistan. This rule is to be added to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016.

Under the new regulation, all social-media companies based outside the country will need to register in Pakistan within three months, and should open offices in Islamabad. The rule requires them to appoint representatives to deal with a national coordination authority, which will regulate the content on social-media platforms. These companies will be asked to set up their data servers in Pakistan within a year, and they will be required to provide data of accounts found guilty of targeting state institutions, spreading fake news or harassment, and issuing statements that harm national security or with blasphemous content, to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The PTI regime has already silenced dissent on mainstream media by banning dissident journalists from appearing on television channels or writing for local newspapers. However, social-media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn provide space for such people to share their views and their work with local and global viewers and reader. This new law, concocted in the name of regulating social media, actually is directed toward suppressing the growing dissent on social media that gradually is becoming a platform of catharsis and expression for the educated masses in Pakistan. Those who do not agree with the policies of the government can express their dissenting opinions through a tweet or a Facebook post, while the journalists who are banned from mainstream media share the links of their publications and videos on these platforms, which has given the masses a new platform not only to see or hear alternative perspectives but also to interact with the senior journalists and intellectuals.

Since social media play an important role in shaping public opinions, the PTI government, already weakened by its inability to govern the country and steer it out of the economic crisis, has decided to put restrictions on these platforms. But it seems that whoever advised the government to pass this bill does not have a clue about how the digital space works and how social-media companies operate.

People usually trust social-media companies because they know that their privacy will be protected. For instance, WhatsApp is being used more often for messaging than mobile-phone SMS (short messaging service) as WhatsApp is considered more secure thanks to its encrypted messages. Likewise Twitter many times in the past has refused the requests of Pakistani officials to provide data on its users. So any company providing a social-media platform that operates globally will never agree to leak user data to government officials as it could damage its credibility all over the world.

This means that companies like Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp will not accept the illegitimate demands of the current Pakistani government. So either the government has to take a step back and repeal this new bill or social media will be banned in Pakistan.

It seems that this government is more interested in imposing a regressive Chinese model of control over the digital space so it can influence its citizens with propaganda and keep them in ignorance. But even in terms of attracting foreign investment, this move is disastrous, as no investor in the modern age chooses a country where the digital space is shrunk and controlled. China is an exception because its economy is dependent on low-cost manufacturing. In any case, irrespective of whether this new law will work or not, the question remains: Why are Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet are so afraid of dissent?

Khan could have never thought about curbing social media if the powers that be had not given him the nod. In fact, the blame also lies with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), as both voted in favor of the controversial electronic crime act of 2016 in parliament without consulting the stakeholders or keeping in view the consequences of such a law on freedom of expression.

So in a century where the world is thinking about such innovations as Estonia’s virtual residency and even the repressive regimes in the Persian Gulf region are opening up their digital spaces to generate business and to invite freelancers and journalists from all over the globe, Pakistan’s invisible forces with the help of a puppet prime minister are trying to take the country back to the era of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and Ayub Khan when freedom of expression was suppressed.

However, with the invention of digital platforms and social media, it is almost impossible to silence dissenting voices. If the draconian laws of Ayub Khan and Zia were not enough to silence dissent, this new law to curb social media will not work either. It will only make Pakistan a laughing-stock, while IT entrepreneurs and digital platforms will hesitate to invest in the country because of its regressive laws and curbs on cyberspace.

If the intention of the government was to regulate social and digital media, it could have initiated a debate in parliament and all stakeholders, especially the digital platforms and journalists, would have been taken into confidence. However, the government preferred to act like a martial-law regime by not allowing any debate in parliament or including input from the digital and social-media providers and journalists.

Then there is another problem: Who will decide which content is or is not against national security? Up to now even the term “national security” is vague and keeps changing according to the requirements of the security establishment.

It seems we will witness another year of regression, where more sedition charges will be framed against the dissenting voices and where instead of inviting the world through digital space to contribute to the country’s economy, the government will make sure that Pakistan remains in the stone age, where the masses should believe what the government and the establishment decide or say and keep worshipping the gods created by this hybrid regime.

https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/02/opinion/new-social-media-bill-takes-pakistan-another-step-backward/

#Pakistan government's new social media rules draw criticism

Digital-rights activists say the new rules will give the authorities unflinching powers to stifle social media.

Pakistan's government has approved new rules for regulating cyberspace which opponents say could be used to stifle dissent and free speech.

Under regulations that were approved by the cabinet late last month but were not immediately made public, social media companies will be obliged to help law enforcement agencies access data and to remove online content deemed unlawful.

Companies that do not comply with the rules risk being blocked online, according to a copy of the regulations seen by Reuters news agency.The approval of the new rules follows accusations by opposition parties that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has sought to intimidate and silence its opponents and allegations of media censorship. Pakistan's military has also faced accusations of cracking down on media and free speech.

But Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, the top official at the Ministry of Information Technology that wrote the regulations, said the new rules would help "identify and weed out unwanted and slanderous online content."

"We needed to do it to uphold the integrity, decency, and respect of individuals and sanctity of institutions," he said.

The new rules on social media are described by the authors as intended to prevent the live streaming of online content relating to "terrorism, extremism, hate speech, defamation, fake news, incitement to violence and national security."

Social media companies will be obliged within 24 hours to respond to a request to remove "unlawful" material or six hours in emergency cases. They will have three months to register with authorities in Pakistan and must have a physical presence in Pakistan. When demanded, the companies will be required to provide subscriber information, traffic data, content data and any other information or data that is sought, the regulations stipulate.The rules also state that interpretations of the regulations by the authorities in Pakistan "shall take precedence over any community standards or rules or community guidelines or policies or any other instruments devised by a social media company."

'Overreach'

Nighat Dad, who runs the not-for-profit Digital Rights Foundation in Pakistan says the new rules will give the authorities unflinching powers to stifle social media."The worrying part for me is that the definition around extremism, religion or culture is so wide and ambiguous and that means they have these unfettered power to call any online content illegal or extremist or anti-state," she told Reuters. Dad told Al Jazeera that the social media policy proposed by the government would likely mean that women, ethnic and religious minorities were going to be the most vulnerable under the new rules.

Farieha Aziz, the founder of Bolo Bhi a digital rights advocacy group, also voiced concern.

"This is the kind of overreach we were worried about," she said. "They're trying to go beyond the ambit of the law, trying to go above and beyond what the law allows them to do."

Pakistani lawyer and an advocate of the Supreme Court Anees Jillani told Al Jazeera the policy was an "infringement on freedom of speech".

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Damage caused by Valentine’s Day to Pakistani ideology is bigger than any existential threat

NAILA INAYAT 

Red roses, balloons, and stuffed toys have become a symbol of defiance in Pakistan. The bans against Valentine’s Day celebration cause unwarranted turmoil.

It is that time of the year when anything but love is allowed in the air of Pakistan. The dangerous Valentine’s Day is upon us. The day that will destroy our future generations, take us away from our cultural and religious tenets. Truth be told, the damage caused by 14 February to the ideology of Pakistan is greater than any existential threat the country has ever faced.

So, let the annual Valentine denouncing begin: It is Haya (shame or honour) Day, no it is Sisters’ Day. How about it being a Black Day? It is anything but Valentine’s Day. Can we at least agree that it is a day? This day is a western sazish (conspiracy) against our ancient tradition of celebrating birthdays. The infidel west is conspiring against us to take away the sharam (shame) and haya (decency) of our women. Brace yourself with this and much more this Valentine’s Day.

No time for love

Over the years, red roses, red balloons and stuffed toys have become a symbol of defiance in Pakistan. The bans, protests and court orders against celebrating Valentine’s Day by cultural thekedars has only caused unwarranted turmoil, with religious and political sections of the society using it to their benefit. Jamaat-e-Islami being the frontrunner with its Haya Day. Then there are those progressive types who fight back and denounce the anti-Valentine propaganda.Slain human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud in 2013 came out in support of Valentine’s Day, with one of the posters that said “Pyaar hone dein” or let there be love, in clear defiance of the religious Right, which was stopping people from any such celebration. She received threats and had to go into hiding. Two years later, Sabeen Mahmud was murdered. Her killer Saad Aziz said in his confession that he shot Sabeen for holding a un-Islamic Valentine’s Day rally.

Against Muslim tradition

The government of Pakistan has played an active role in the weaponization of Valentine’s Day. In 2016, Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain, who hardly spoke on any serious issue during his stay in office, got on the anti-Valentine bandwagon and urged the youngsters to not celebrate Valentine’s Day calling it a part of the western culture, and not of the Muslim tradition. He asked the students to maintain their religious and national identity. Same year, Chauhry Nisar, the interior minister in Pakistan Muslim League (N) government banned all kinds of Valentine’s Day celebrations in Islamabad. Why should have the Sindh government stayed behind? It banned swimming at Seaview beach in Karachi on Valentine’s Day. We don’t know if there was any forecast about couples going out for swimming.

In 2017, the Islamabad High Court banned the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Justice Shaukat Siddiqui prohibited any festivity in public spaces and government offices across the country. He also directed the media to not air any love — as “coverage (by media) of the spread of love was (promoting) immorality, nudity and indecency, which goes against our rich culture.” Asma Jahangir criticized the judgement saying it wasn’t based on any law and that Siddiqui wasn’t fit to be a judge, rather he should have become a Khatib at a local mosque. Again, in 2018, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority reminded the television channels to not promote the Valentine’s Day.

Celebrating Sisters’ Day

Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of a far-Right religious party Tehrik-e-Labbaik, has expressed his disdain over boys giving red roses to girls: Phool dene wale pe bhi lanaat aur phool lene wale pe bhi lanaat. There you have your Valentine’s Day decree.Last year, the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad celebrated Sisters’ Day on 14 February. In a rather idiotic ceremony at its campus, the chancellor of the university distributed 800 headscarves or abayas to female students as a “gesture of respect” and not love. Though it should well have been called Daughters’ Day as the chancellor was giving away tokens of honour to young girls, who could well be his daughters, and not sisters. Relationship between a man and a woman does exist. Celebrating Sisters’ Day doesn’t mean these relationships don’t exist. Yes, Pakistan is awkward when it comes to love and asking for a day to celebrate love is a bit too much. Those who vehemently oppose the idea forget that Pakistan is no island. It will get influenced by the happenings in the rest of the world. Those who want to celebrate Valentine’s Day will go ahead without anyone’s approval. But those who don’t want to be part of it have no business of imposing their views on others. Valentinegardi is still better than deshatgardi.

https://theprint.in/opinion/letter-from-pakistan/damage-caused-by-valentines-day-to-pakistani-ideology-is-bigger-than-any-existential-threat/364465/

Is Pakistan still under military rule? Pakistan's Government Approves New Social Media Rules

BY ASIF SHAHZAD Pakistan's government has approved new rules for regulating cyber space which opponents say could be used to stifle dissent and free speech.

Under regulations that were approved by the cabinet late last month but were not immediately made public, social media companies will be obliged to help law enforcement agencies access data and to remove online content deemed unlawful.

Companies that do not comply with the rules risk being blocked online, according to a copy of the regulations seen by Reuters.

The approval of the new rules follows accusations by opposition parties that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has sought to intimidate and silence its opponents and allegations of media censorship. Pakistan's military has also faced accusations of cracking down on media and free speech.

But Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqi, the top official at the ministry of information technology that authored the regulations, said the new rules would help "identify and weed out unwanted and slanderous online content."

"We needed to do it to uphold the integrity, decency and respect of individuals and sanctity of institutions," he said.

The new rules on social media are described by the authors as intended to prevent live streaming of online content relating to "terrorism, extremism, hate speech, defamation, fake news, incitement to violence and national security."

Social media companies will be obliged within 24 hours to respond to a request to remove "unlawful" material, or six hours in emergency cases. They will have three months to register with authorities in Pakistan, and must have a physical presence in Pakistan.

When required, the companies will be required to provide subscriber information, traffic data, content data and any other information or data that is sought, the regulations stipulate.

The rules also state that interpretations of the regulations by the authorities in Pakistan "shall take precedence over any community standards or rules or community guidelines or policies or any other instruments devised by a social media company."

"OVERREACH"

Nighat Dad, who runs the not-for-profit Digital Rights Foundation in Pakistan, says the new rules will give the authorities unflinching powers to stifle social media.

"The worrying part for me is that the definition around extremism, religion or culture is so wide and ambiguous and that means they have these unfettered power to call any online content illegal or extremist or anti-state," she told Reuters.

"I do fear that this will be used against dissent, free speech and for political gains."

Farieha Aziz, founder of Bolo Bhi, a digital rights advocacy group, also voiced concern.

"This is the kind of overreach we were worried about," she said. "They're trying to go beyond the ambit of the law, trying to go above and beyond what the law allows them to do."

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-02-13/pakistans-government-approves-new-social-media-rules-opponents-cry-foul

'Please evacuate us': 800 Pakistan students plead for help to escape Wuhan

Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch

The group have been confined to a hostel for three weeks and want their government to help them fly back home.

Hundreds of Pakistani students trapped in the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak have said they are going through “mental torture” and pleaded with their government to help get them out.

Rehan Rasheed, who has been studying medicine in Wuhan since 2015, criticized the Pakistan government and prime minister Imran Khan for refusing to bring back the more than 800 students who have been trapped in the city since it was locked down by the Chinese authorities in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

He also said five Pakistani students studying at Wuhan’s university of science and technology had contracted the virus.

“We are not being evacuated and we are not being supported,” said Rasheed, speaking on the phone from China. “We are all very scared, this is a terrible situation. We have been imprisoned in a hostel room for more than 20 days. For the past three days, we have not been allowed to leave at all, even for food, and are surrounded by fear.”

The students have witnessed their counterparts from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the US, UK and other countries board evacuation flights provided by their governments. Officials in the Pakistan government urged the group to “remain calm”. Pakistan has close ties to China and government figures have repeatedly congratulated the Chinese government for their handling of the outbreak.

The refusal to evacuate the students back to Pakistan is also thought to be due to fears that the country does not have the medical facilities or capabilities to safely quarantine the returnees or handle a coronavirus outbreak on Pakistani soil. Pakistan has a poor record of handling disease outbreaks and is one of only two countries in the world that has failed to eliminate polio.

Imran Khan said in a tweet: “I have issued instructions to our Foreign Office and Overseas Ministry to do everything possible for our students who are stuck in Wuhan city.”

By Thursday, the number of people in China who had died from coronavirus had risen to 1,368 and the number infected is 59,805.

Rasheen added: “It is clear that our government don’t want to take us out from this situation. We met with people from the Wuhan authorities and they told us they have no problem with us leaving but that ‘your government is not willing to accept you or to receive you back home’.

‘‘It is mental torture here every morning. We appreciate what Chinese authorities are doing but they are not sure we will survive this, so we are asking our state to help us. Please evacuate us.”

His plea was echoed by Amjad Hussain, a PhD student at China University of Geoscience, who has been studying in Wuhan for three years. “There is panic here,” said Hussain. “Definitely there is anger among students against Pakistani state for doing nothing. We just want to know why is Pakistan not helping us and evacuating us? I want to go back home and want my country to help.”

The anger and pain was also felt by the students’ relatives back in Pakistan. Abdul Rasheed Baloch, Rasheed’s father, who lives in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, said: “I’m more than concerned. I feel like I have no soul. My heart and mind is there, with my son.”

Baloch said he was speaking to his son daily to keep the hope alive. “Talking to him everyday keeps me going or else I feel I’m dead,” he added. “There is no help from the government of Pakistan. Nothing at all.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/13/800-pakistani-students-plead-for-help-to-escape-wuhan-coronavirus

گرفتار ہوا تو آصفہ بھٹو میری آواز ہوگی، بلاول

پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا ہے کہ ہم سیاسی رہنماؤں

کی گرفتاری کے خلاف ہیں، میں اگر گرفتار ہوا تو آصفہ بھٹو میری آواز ہوگی۔

جے وی اوپل کیس کے سلسلے میں نیب راولپنڈی میں پیشی کے بعد میڈیا سے بات کرتے ہوئے بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ چیف جسٹس صاحب نے خود کہا تھا کہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری بے گناہ ہیں، پھر بھی دسمبر میں اچانک پتہ نہیں کیا ہوا کہ مجھے پہلا نوٹس بھیجا گیا۔

اس کے بعد جب ہم نے اعلان کیا کہ پی ٹی آئی ایم ایف کے خلاف جدوجہد کریں گے، ہم اس معاہدے کو مسترد کرتے ہیں تو ایک اور نوٹس آیا۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ جس الزام میں آج نیب میں مجھے بلایا گیا سب کو معلوم ہے،  میں کسی کاروباری سرگرمی میں ملوث نہیں رہا، جب میں پبلک آفس ہولڈر نہیں تو نیب کا نوٹس جاری کرنے کا کیا تک بنتا ہے۔

بلاول نے بتایا کہ میں جب کمپنی کا شیئر ہولڈر بنا 7 سال کا تھا، میرا مؤقف کل بھی وہی تھا، آج بھی وہی ہے کہ میں بے گناہ ہوں۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومت کی جانب سے غریبوں کے معاشی قتل کو مزید ایک دن بھی برداشت نہیں کریں گے، ملک کی وکلاء برادری جمہوریت اور قانون کے ساتھ ہے۔

بلاول نے کہا کہ قومی اسمبلی کے اجلاس میں قائد ایوان ہوتے ہیں نہ قائد حزب اختلاف ہوتے ہیں جبکہ دونوں کا کردار اہم ہوتا ہے،امید کرتا ہوں اپوزیشن لیڈر جلد ایوان میں آئیں گے۔

ذرائع کے مطابق بلاول بھٹو زرداری کو نیب راولپنڈی کی جانب سے 30 سوالات پر مشتمل سوالنامہ دیا گیا ہے جس کا انہیں 2 ہفتے میں جواب جمع کرانے کا کہا گیا ہے۔

ذرائع کا کہنا ہے کہ نیب سوالنامے میں کہا گیا ہے کہ بلاول بھٹو کے الیکشن کمیشن میں جمع دستاویزات کے مطابق جےوی اوپل کے 2011 تا 2017 شیئر ہولڈر ہیں، جبکہ ان کے دستخط 2011 سے 2017 تک دستاویزات پر موجود ہیں۔

اس پر بلاول بھٹونے نیب ٹیم کو کہا کہ انہیں کاروباری معاملات کا علم نہیں ہے۔

اس سے قبل بلاول بھٹو کی پیشی کے موقع پر قمر زمان کائرہ، سینیٹر شیری رحمان ، نیئر بخاری سمیت دیگر پارٹی رہنما نیب راولپنڈی کے باہر موجود ہیں۔

اس موقع پر میڈیا سے بات کرتے ہوئے پیپلز پارٹی کے رہنما قمر زمان کائرہ کا کہنا ہے کہ حکومت کے پاس کوئی ثبوت ہیں تو عدالتوں کو دیں ، حکومت کی ناکامی سے معاشی بحران بڑھتا جارہا ہے اور یہ سیاسی انتظامی بحران سے توجہ ہٹانے کے لیے کیس ڈالنا چاہتی ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ نیب، ایف آئی اے سمیت تمام تحقیقاتی اداروں کے جواب دے رہے ہیں، ہمارے خلاف کیسز خواہشات پر مبنی ہیں، ہم نیب کو کیا ان کی مرضی کے جواب دیں؟ ہم نے حقائق بیان کردیئے ہیں۔

پی پی رہنما نے کہا کہ عدالتوں سے ہمارے اختلافات رہے لیکن پھر بھی ہم عدالتوں میں جائیں گے، جبکہ حکومتی جماعت میں بھی دراڑیں پڑ رہی ہیں ،اتحادی اسے چھوڑ کر جارہے ہیں، حکومت کا جانا ٹھہر گیا ہے۔

قمر زمان کائرہ نے شہزاد اکبر پر تنقید کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ شہزاد اکبر کدھر چھپ گئے ہو کہا گئے تمہارے دعوے اور ثبوت؟

انہوں نے کہا کہ عمران خان کل تک میڈیا کے داعی تھے، اب آپ سوشل میڈیا کو کنٹرول کرنا چاہتے ہیں، جو آپ کا بڑا ہتھیار ہے، ان کا مزید کہنا تھا کہ سوشل میڈیا کنٹرول سے پہلے اپنی گالی گلوچ بریگیڈ کو کنٹرول کریں ۔

پیپلز پارٹی پیشیوں سے نہیں گھبراتی، شیری رحمان

شیری رحمان کا کہنا تھا کہ پیپلز پارٹی پیشیوں سے نہیں گھبراتی ، عدالتوں کا احترام کرتی ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومت کہتی ہے ریکوڈک سے قرض اتاریں گے، عوام کے ساتھ یہ مذاق بند کیا جائے۔

حکومتی ناکامی پر بات کرنے پر نوٹس آجاتا ہے، نیئر بخاری

پی پی رہنما نیئر بخاری نے کہا کہ حکومتی ناکامی پر بات کرنے پر نوٹس آجاتا ہے، جبکہ حکومتی وزراء کے خلاف بھی ریفرنسز ہیں ان کے خلاف کوئی کارروائی نہیں ہورہی۔

واضح رہے کہ نیب کی جانب سے بلاول کو زرداری گروپ آف کمپنیزکا2008تا 2019 کا ریکارڈ ساتھ لانے کے ساتھ ساتھ بورڈ آف ڈائریکٹرز کی لسٹ بھی طلب کی ہوئی ہے۔

نیب کا نوٹس سیاسی انتقام ہے، مصطفیٰ نواز کھوکھر

دوسری جانب بلاول بھٹوکے ترجمان مصطفیٰ نواز کھوکھر کا گزشتہ روز کہنا تھا کہ چیف جسٹس کے بلاول بھٹو کو معصوم قرار دینے کے باوجود نیب کا نوٹس سیاسی انتقام ہے، بلاول بھٹو قانون کی پاسداری وانصاف کے لیے پیش ہونگے۔

 https://jang.com.pk/news/733406-bilawal-appear-in-nab-rawalpindi