Pakistani chameleon cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri’s art of deception

By West one way, by East another

Qadri, who espouses an admirable brand of moderate Islam in the West has claimed that it was he who, in the Zia-ul-Haq regime, helped incorporate section 295-C to the Pakistan Penal Code, adding the death penalty to the blasphemy law.

With the Supreme Court set to announce the verdict in the Panama-gate case soon, Tahir-ul-Qadri was always going to spring back into the news. For, at least one party in question looks set to utilise his services as a seasonal revolutionary. But Tahir-ul-Qadri was in the news over the weekend for his other specialisation: jihadist deception.

On Up Front on Al-Jazeera with Mehdi Hasan, Qadri gave his latest fatwa against ISIS. “They are distorting Islam. They are exploiting the name of Islam. They are misusing the name of Ummah. They are misusing the name of Islamic caliphate”, he said.

Fair enough, what the Islamic State has been doing includes some acts that even the most radical interpretations of orthodox Islam don’t allow. And of course the more scholars call out ISIS and any forms of jihadism, the better it is for Islamic reformation and indeed the Muslim world.

Two years ago, Qadri’s Minhaaj-ul Quran International (MQI) announced the launch of the first Islamic ‘counter-terrorism curriculum’ in the UK, amidst rise of European Muslims – especially British – joining ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Qadri’s counter-terrorism curricula was an offshoot of his fatwa against terrorism and suicide bombings. And it absolutely cannot be stressed enough, just how much the Muslim world needs such edicts.

So far so good then? Not quite.

Notwithstanding the imprudent theological apologia that forms the entirety of the ‘counter-terror’ curricula, completely negating any ideological influence over acts of terror – which Qadri loves to give sweeping fatwas over – it is the MQI Chief’s duplicity that is the most damaging for reformism.

For, the honest cleric that upholds the literal interpretations of the scripture can be shunned as outmoded, it is the mullah that sells different arguments to different audiences that is significantly more dangerous than the hardliner.

Qadri, who espouses an admirable brand of moderate Islam in the West is the self-professed scribe of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. He has claimed on multiple occasions that it was he who, in the Zia-ul-Haq regime, helped incorporate section 295-C to the Pakistan Penal Code, adding the death penalty to the blasphemy law.

He is on record saying that “blasphemers should be killed like dogs” (YouTube it) and hence has a stake in responsibility for all those extra-judicially killed, tortured or imprisoned in the past three decades since 295-C was added to the Penal Code.

This art of deception isn’t exclusive to Tahir-ul-Qadri. It isn’t uncommon for those representing the Muslims in the West to adhere to doublespeak – selling moderation to the others, while fanning extremism in mosques and other Islamic organisations.

What is truly astounding, however, is the fact that the likes of Qadri manage to play this double game in the digital era, where anything and everything that is on the web can be – and will be – dug out.

The persona the Qadri dons when he’s in the middle of one of his seasonal revolutions in Pakistan is in complete contrast to what he depicts on international channels. For instance, he has said on multiple Western channels that no one should be killed for blasphemy, claiming that Islam doesn’t endorse capital punishment for it.

In Pakistan he extols martyrdom, using the word Shaheed to such a frequency that it has been immortalised through memes and satirical videos. But in the West he talks about valuing life and give importance to this world.

The best part is that all of this is on record, easily verifiable on the internet. But not only does Qadri continue to play the double role of a moderate reformist and a jihad-monger, seemingly no one in Pakistan – let alone his faithful – is interested in asking him questions over his duplicitous ideological positions.

Whenever Qadri comes to Pakistan next – and it should be very soon, not only due to the Panama Case verdict in the apex court, but also because of the looming elections – someone from the media should compile a package with all of Qadri’s statements endorsing a tolerant brand of Islam, condemning jihad and delegitimising the blasphemy law.

He should then be asked, in front of the local audiences, whether the blasphemy law is a farce or if it’s a bona fide legislation spearheaded by Qadri himself.

For, more than the West it is Muslim states like Pakistan where “revisionism” on the blasphemy law and radical Islam is most needed.

Pakistan - Sindh girl becomes world's youngest Chartered Accountant

18-year-old Aqsa Majeed Memon has become the youngest Chartered Accountant in the world.

Aqsa belongs to Sakrand town of Sindh province.

Aqsa, a daughter of shopkeeper Majeed Ahmed Memon, became world's youngest Chartered Accountant.

She got her early education from her hometown and was born in 1999.

She took admission in FIA course in September 2014 and completed it in August 2015.

After the completion of FIA course, she enrolled herself in ACCA and passed it in July 2017 at the age of 18.

Generally candidates of ACCA get enrolled at the age of 18 while Memon completed it at the age of 18.

ACCA examinations comprised three levels the knowledge module, skills module and professional module.

ACCA examinations contain 14 papers which require time span of three years to complete.

After passing the examination at the age of 18 years and four months she became the world's youngest Chartered Accountant.

Earlier in 2015, Ramkumar Raman from India completed his ACCA at the age of 18 years and eight months.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/219386-Sindh-girl-becomes-worlds-youngest-Chartered-Accountant

Pakistan - Panamagate verdict to be announced by Supreme Court on Friday

Haseeb Bhatti

The Supreme Court will announce its decision on the Panamagate case around 11:30am on Friday, according to a notification issued by the registrar of the Supreme Court.

The landmark verdict will be announced in Courtroom 1 of the Supreme Court building in Islamabad.

A three-member implementation bench of the apex court had concluded hearing the petitioners and defendants on July 21, giving them time to respond to the Supreme Court-sanctioned joint investigation team's (JIT) report on the Sharif family's financial dealings, submitted on July 10.

The original five-member bench of the Supreme Court which heard the Panama Papers case is going to issue the final verdict. Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Ejaz Afzal Khan, Gulzar Ahmed, Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Ijazul Ahsan will be present for the hearing.

Special security arrangements have been made. Besides police from the Security Division and Operations Division, Rangers and FC personnel will also deployed.

Entry to the court premises will only be allowed through passes being issued by the Supreme Court Registrar. The media will be issued passes through the Supreme Court's public relations officer. No unauthorised person will be allowed to enter the capital's Red Zone.

April 20 order and JIT investigation

The April 20 judgement issued by the larger bench in the Panama Papers case had been split 3-2 among the five judges, with two dissenting notes from Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed. Justice Ejaz Afzal authored the majority opinion in the 540-page judgement.

The two judges who ruled against PM Nawaz Sharif had said he should be disqualified as he could not be considered 'honest' and 'truthful' (ameen and sadiq), whereas the other three were in favour of forming a JIT to definitively answer the question of whether the allegations against the prime minister were true or not. A special bench of the Supreme Court was constituted to examine the case under Section 184/3 of the Constitution. The bench comprised the three judges who had prevailed.

The court had further said that: "upon receipt of the reports, periodic or final of the JIT, as the case may be, the matter of disqualification of respondent No. 1 [Nawaz Sharif] shall be considered. If found necessary for passing an appropriate order in this behalf, [Nawaz Sharif or any other person may be summoned and examined."

The Sup­reme Court had on May 6 formed the JIT, putting a senior officer of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in charge. After considering the background and antecedents of the officer, FIA’s Additional Director General Wajid Zia, a grade 21 officer, was appointed head of the probe team.

Amer Aziz of the State Bank of Pakistan, Executive Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Bilal Rasool, National Accountability Bureau Director Irfan Naeem Mangi, Brig Muha­mmad Nauman Saeed of Inter-Services Intelligence and Brig Kamran Khurshid of the Military Intelligence were appointed as the remaining members of the team.

The six-member JIT's damning report, submitted after a 60-day investigation that sought answers to 13 questions raised by the Supreme Court's larger bench, had maintained that Prime Minister’s family owned assets beyond its known sources of income. It declared that both Hussain and Hassan Nawaz were used as proxies to build family assets.

Consequently, the six-man JIT concluded that it was compelled to refer to sections 9(a)(v) and 14(c) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, which deal with corruption and corrupt practices, though such charges are yet to be proven in an accountability court.

The JIT report also highlighted Articles 122, 117, 129 and other sections of the Qanoon-i-Shahadat Order 1984 (Law of Evidence), which places the burden of disproving the allegations on the person facing accusations.

The JIT pointed out failure on the part of the Sharifs to produce the required information that would confirm their “known sources of income”, saying that prima facie, it amounted to saying that they were not able to reconcile their assets with their means of income.

The prime minister's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, had on the same evening issued a strongly-worded statement on behalf of the PML-N, saying:

"JIT report REJECTED. Every contradiction will not only be contested but decimated in SC. NOT a penny of public exchequer involved: PMLN."

Her tweet followed a press conference conducted by four senior PML-N leaders, who had taken turns to criticise the JIT report as 'serving Imran Khan's agenda'.

The Sharif family's legal team's strategy in subsequent hearings had focused on discrediting the report, the evidence collected and the means used to do so, and raising questions about the impartiality and capability of the six men who had comprised the JIT.

How Pakistan's Panama Papers probe unfolded

https://www.dawn.com/news/1316531/how-pakistans-panama-papers-probe-unfolded

Pakistan’s conscience and Yemen?

Kenneth Roth is a man who talks truth to power. The Human Rights Watch chief outdid himself this week. If Saudi Arabia is so concerned about state-sponsored terrorism in its backyard, he intimated, it would do well to stop fixating on Qatar and instead look at its own military intervention in Yemen, the Middle East’s poorest nation.

Or words to that effect.

We applaud Roth. We also understand the dynamic at play when organisations like HRW issue such statements. Meaning that they are not responsible for policymaking, per se, at either the national or international level. But they are gradually replacing the role of traditional lobby groups that rely on partisan support. For this reason — words such as spoken by Roth are heard loud and clear.

Yemen is home to 27 million people. The Riyadh-led military intervention has left 3 million internally displaced and 10,000 dead. In addition, 17 million have access to barely sufficient food to ensure sustenance; 7 million suffer chronic hunger; and a staggering 10 million children have no kind of access to basic medical care, clean drinking water, sanitation and education. According to those who know — Yemen is now facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

If Qatar sponsors terrorism, then what should we call the effects of the Saudi-led war?

Pakistan, for its p art, is regularly on hand to shed crocodile tears for the Palestinians, with the odd few harsh words for Israel; a shortcut to reconsolidating its imagined importance within the Muslim world that challenges not the status quo. We still trade with the US, the Jewish state’s largest financial contributor, and take its aid. All dressed up in the latest shade of realpolitik. Sadly, Pakistan is not alone in this.

But here’s where Pakistan can make a meaningful albeit symbolic difference.

Two words: Saudi Arabia.

The time has come for our establishment to stop eyeing the Kingdom as time-share arrangement to sit out disgraced and disqualified exile conditions. Given Riyadh’s current military aggression in Yemen, the ongoing belligerence towards Qatar and the ever-present behind-the-scenes manoeuvring against Iran – Islamabad should seriously rethink its position on the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance, including the commander-in-chief role of Gen Raheel.

This is unlikely to happen. Given that money talks in this rich man’s world. Which casts Pakistan as the perpetual listener and bidder.

Thus responsibility predictably falls on the shoulders of civil society here to build strong linkages to the anti-Saudi activism found across the Muslim world. In this current climate of accelerated globalisation — it is no longer sufficient to pay vocal tokenism to the Palestinian issue as evidence of a one-size-fits-all liberalism. Nevertheless, this could include taking a leaf out of the Palestinian-led Boycott Divest Sanction initiative. Though this would mean that Pakistan’s elite would be encouraged to give up American imports — from expensive foodstuffs, to clothing to cars to education systems — or perhaps Saudi Islamic Banking schemes.

The horror.

#Pakistan Abducts Own Citizens, Muzzles Rights Watchdog - U.N.

Pakistan must address a catalog of human rights failings including state-sponsored abductions and a death penalty that amounts to torture, but its national watchdog is muzzled, the U.N. Human Rights Committee said on Thursday.

Human Rights Minister Kamran Michael defended Pakistan's record before the committee earlier this month, but members of the committee said his delegation had given few responses to their questions and very general answers.

They were also concerned at a no-show by the chairman of Pakistan's National Commission for Human Rights, who was allegedly barred from traveling to Geneva to meet them and was not able to probe wrongdoing, they said.

"The Commission is prevented from fully cooperating with United Nations human rights mechanisms, cannot inquire into the practices of the intelligence agencies, and is not authorized to undertake full inquiries into reports of human rights violations by members of the armed forces," the U.N. committee report said.

Pakistani officials in Islamabad could not immediately be reached for comment on the committee's findings.

At the top of a long list of human rights concerns were Pakistan's renewed use of the death penalty, its blasphemy laws, and "enforced disappearances" and extrajudicial killings.

Enforced disappearances, seen in tribal areas and Baluchistan for the past 15 years, have become widespread across Pakistan, committee member Olivier de Frouville told reporters.

"This is an admitted fact even within the country that this is carried out by agents of the state," he said, adding that the government's own investigations were insufficient.

A high number of people were allegedly in secret detention in military internment centers, the committee's report said. Killings were allegedly perpetrated by the police, military and security forces but there was no law explicitly against such practices.

The committee also lambasted Pakistan's widespread use of hanging since it lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in 2014, following an attack on a school in which more than 150 people, mainly children, were killed.

Death sentences were passed on mentally disabled people and suspects who were minors at the time of the crime, and the method of execution amounted to torture.

"There have been reports of botched executions, failed executions, with grave consequences on physical integrity," de Frouville said.

Pakistan has executed 468 prisoners since 2014 and has 1,500 people on death row, the report said.

Capital punishment was mandatory under blasphemy laws, which often led to false accusations and "mob vengeance", the committee said, calling for those laws to be repealed.

Arab Music Video - ''Hermosa música árabe y danza'' (Aamir Kangda) Aaja Bahon Me

Fourteen men at imminent risk of beheading as Saudi Arabia continues bloody execution spree

The Saudi Arabian Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the death sentences of 14 men after a grossly unfair mass trial is a worrying reminder of the country’s lethal crackdown on dissent, said Amnesty International today. The men who were found guilty of protest-related crimes now face imminent execution.

“By confirming these sentences Saudi Arabia’s authorities have displayed their ruthless commitment to the use of the death penalty as a weapon to crush dissent and neutralize political opponents,” said Samah Hadid, Director of campaigns for the Middle-East at Amnesty international.

“King Salman’s signature is now all that stands between them and their execution. He must immediately quash these death sentences which are a result of sham court proceedings that brazenly flout international fair trial standards,"

At least 66 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia since the start of 2017, including 26 in the past three weeks alone - more than one execution per day. Hussein al-Rabi’, Abdullah al-Tureif, Hussein al-Mosallem, Mohamed al-Naser, Mustafa al-Darwish, Fadel Labbad, Sa’id al-Sakafi, Salman al-Qureish, Mujtaba al-Suweyket, Munir al-Adam, Abdullah al-Asreeh, Ahmad al-Darwish, Abdulaziz al-Sahwi, Ahmad al-Rab’i were transferred from Dammam in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province to the capital, Riyadh on 15 July 2017 without prior notice.

Now that their sentences have been upheld by the Supreme Court the 14 men are at risk of execution as soon as the King ratifies their sentences. Due to the secrecy surrounding the Saudi Arabia judicial process, the families are given very little information, if any, about the current state of the case and usually not told about the scheduled execution of their relatives.

Yesterday, families of the 14 men learned that the death sentences were upheld after contacting the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) and they fear that the executions will take place imminently. The 14 men were initially sentenced to death on 1 June 2016 by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh, following a grosslyunfair mass trial. They were convicted of a range of charges that included “armed rebellion against the ruler” by, among other things “participating in shooting at security personnel, security vehicles”, “preparing and using Molotov Cocktail bombs”, “theft and armed robbery” and “inciting chaos, organizing and participating in riots”. Court documents show that the 14 men told the court they were subjected to prolonged pre-trial detention and had been tortured and otherwise ill-treated during their interrogation to extract their “confessions”, however the judge failed to order investigations into their allegations. The SCC appears to have largely based its decision on these forced “confessions”.

Background:

Amnesty International has recorded a worrying increase in death sentences against political dissidents in Saudi Arabia since 2013, including the Shia Muslim minority.

Amnesty International also learned on 23 July 2017 that the SCC court of appeal has upheld the death sentences of 15 men accused of spying for Iran and the case was transferred to the Supreme Court on 20 July 2017. The men were initially sentenced to death on 6 December 2016.

Amnesty International has documented the cases of at least 34 members of Saudi Arabia’s Shia community – making up 10 to 15 percent of the population – who are currently facing the death penalty. All were accused of activities deemed a risk to national security.

Saudi warplanes destroyed school, mosque, agricultural nursery in Yemen

American-Backed Saudi Aggression Warplanes on Sunday destroyed a mosque and a school in Amran province, as well as a number of raids on an agricultural nursery in Saadah province.

A local source confirmed that the Air forces of US-Saudi coalition targeted a Mosque and school in the Bait-ul-Thaliah district Madan with five brutal air raids which led to the complete destruction. 

The source added that the aggression targeted three raids on Nursery of the Agriculture office in the area of Al-Anad of Sehaar district of Saadah province, which also destroyed the nursery completely. 

This comes in the context of the systematic destruction of the infrastructure of Yemen, which has been carrying out aggression for more than two and a half years, along with hundreds of crimes committees against civilians and their properties almost daily in criminal silence of Arab and International community.

http://en.abna24.com/news/middle-east/saudi-warplanes-destroyed-school-mosque-agricultural-nursery-in-yemen_844018.html

War in Yemen Kills or Wounds 4,000 Children

BY JESSE CHASE-LUBITZ, BETHANY ALLEN-EBRAHIMIAN

More than 90 civilians, including 25 children, died in a March 2016 Saudi airstrike on a market in Yemen. Months later, ten more children perished in another strike on a school in Saada. The next day, five children were killed when a bomb smashed into a hospital in Hajjah.

These are just three of the 23 “grave violations” that have been committed against children in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, according to a new report by Save the Children and Watchlist. Released on Thursday, the report puts the total number of children killed or wounded by all sides in the conflict at around 4,000.

The grinding civil war in Yemen already had claimed civilian victims by the time the Saudis intervened with several other regional governments in March 2015 to back Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

The Saudi-led intervention has added a new dimension to the conflict, turning it into a proxy war between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. Since the intervention kicked off in March 2015, 7,600 people have been killed and 42,000 injured in the bombings. The U.S. has supplied Saudi Arabia with many of the lethal munitions dropped by Saudi and Emirati jets, in 2015 approving over $20 billion in military sales, Human Rights Watch reported.

In addition to the massive casualties, the war has led to an outbreak of cholera. More than 1,614 people have died, with about 96,000 cases since 2014. Children are especially susceptible to the disease. Last year, the UN Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict initially included the Saudi-led coalition on its annual child rights blacklist, which lists countries that have committed crimes or violations against children, citing the deaths of 510 children. But U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon removed the coalition from the list after Saudi Arabia complained — a move which earned him fierce criticism from human rights groups.

This is not the first time human rights advocates have pushed for the coalition’s inclusion on the blacklist, which comes in response to documented cases of air strikes on funerals and markets.

Humanitarian aid such as food and medical supplies are funnelled mostly through a single port, Hodeida, which the Saudi coalition has threatened to take by force. The entire conflict has forced millions from their homes on a vast scale, with an estimated 3.27 million people displaced by 2016, according to a report published by Amnesty International. This year’s UN child rights blacklist is expected to be released in August. The report by Save the Children and Watchlist urges the United Nations to include the Saudi-led coalition on the list, as well as the Islamic State, al-Shabaab, and Boko Haram.

Apart from Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition is now comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan. Qatar was expelled last month amid a feud with other Gulf powers.

Don't whitewash Saudi crimes against Yemen's children

Saudi Arabia is accused of 'grave violations' against children in Yemen

The United Nations has been urged by charities not to whitewash a report on violations of children's human rights, by omitting any mention of deaths and suffering caused by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

The call by Save the Children and Watchlist follows the release of research that showed that the military coalition could have killed or maimed over 120 children in airstrikes last year. 

A briefing released by both charities accused the alliance of "grave violations against children" during a series of 23 attacks last year. Each attack listed involved the bombing of a school or hospital, or the killing and maiming of children.

The warning comes ahead of the release of a report next month by the UN that will blacklist violators of children's rights.

"[Children] are facing threats from all sides, they've got the threat of airstrikes from above, which are continuous – just in the past few weeks we've seen [bombs] landing on marketplaces where civilians have been killed," Caroline Anning, senior adviser at Save the Children, was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

The UN's last report into violations against children named Saudi Arabia on the blacklist, only to be removed a few days later after pressure from Riyadh.

The report said that the Saudi-led alliance was accountable for 60 percent of child deaths and injuries in Yemen in 2015 - a claim that Riyadh described as "wildly exaggerated".

Riyadh threatened to withdraw funding for the UN and urged its allies to do the same, causing the international body to backtrack on its report.

Save the Children say that the UN will set a dangerous precedent if it fails to blacklist the Saudi-led alliance in this year's report.

"If there is no accountability, if groups that are fighting think they can use their political influence - and if they're powerful enough and rich enough, then they can get away with killing and injuring children, or bombing schools and hospitals - it sets a really dangerous precedent not just for Yemen but for conflicts around the world," said Anning.

Human rights groups also say that by blacklisting the Saudi-led coalition, states will find it harder to sell arms to the oil-rich Gulf state.

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen's civil war in March 2015 in a bid to restore the authority of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The war has been in stalemate for much of the last two years, with more than 10,000 civilians killed and three million displaced.

Over 4,000 children have been killed or injured in the conflict.

The fighting has pushed the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine, and a cholera outbreak in recent months has killed more than 1,700 people.

The West On Brink Of Failing In Afghanistan – OpEd

By Zabihullah Noori

The US and NATO mission in Afghanistan was to eliminate the Al Qaeda terrorist network, dismantle the hardline Taliban, and ensure some important Western values such as democracy, women’s rights and women’s education in the country.

Sixteen years on, the country still is in turmoil. According to US intelligence reports about 20 terrorist groups including Al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS are active in Afghanistan.

The Afghan forces are losing grounds to insurgents. Taliban fighters have reached the doorsteps of Kabul. The Afghan government is dysfunctional with all its three branches of power acting illegally and against the Afghan Constitution.

The international community’s financial and military efforts in Afghanistan will go into vain if it does not engage fully and impartially in resolving the current political dispute among different parties. The dissatisfaction of major players within the government can lead to a civil war and the collapse of political system, which will only pave the way for the Taliban and ISIS to gain more territory.

The current system of government—a coalition government—was not foreseen in the constitution, and is therefore in contrast with it. The base of this coalition government, as prescribed by the US Secretary of State John Kerry, is a political agreement between the two front runners in the 2014 presidential election run off – both of whom publicly accused each other of orchestrating massive fraud in the elections. The truth is that former Secretary Kerry destroyed the very democratic system of the government in which the US and other international community invested men and money.

Three years down the road from the establishment of the National Unity Government (NUG), the government has failed to fulfill any of the three major articles of the agreement: reforming the electoral system and the electoral commission, distributing the long awaited electronic or digital national ID cards and convening a grand assembly to amend the Constitution to legalize the position of the Chief Executive Officer.

Even putting these failures to one side, the government is three years into its five-year term yet still needs to appoint all its cabinet ministers. Eleven ministries, nearly 45 percent of Afghan cabinet, are run by acting ministers, seven of whom were given no confidence votes by the MPs last November for their failure in spending the development budgets in their ministries.

By law, those ministers should have been out of office within a couple of weeks, but the president ordered them all to continue in their positions to date. An order that is in complete contrast with the Afghan Constitution. The acting ministers’ limited authority has added to the already corrupt system and has slowed down the public services even more.

The president appeared in a press conference on 11 July 2017 and told reporters that he plans to introduce the new candidate ministers to the Afghan Parliament in the next six months.

The parliament, which in a real democratic government is a check on the executive branch, also lacks the legitimacy to stand against the president, because their paychecks are dependent on the president issued decree.

The parliamentary election is nearly three years overdue. The MPs sitting in House of Representatives are illegal and against the law, while the Senate is one-third short of its members because the district council election never took place in the past 16 years.

Putting the corruption aside, the judiciary system is incomplete with three judges in the Supreme Court yet to be appointed by the president.

A major turn back to democracy in the formation of National Unity Government (NUG) was the demolition of true political opposition. Since both front-runners running the government, there’s no real opposition to hold them accountable to the people.

The only opposition the government has is the civil society with its very limited resources. When the civil society raise the people’s voices through organizing demonstrations and public gatherings, the government suppress them in a completely totalitarian method.

Instead of taking measures to improve security, the government continued to cover up the shortcomings of the security officials, partly for ethnic and partisan biases. The government’s culture of impunity to officials made the security officials even more irresponsible and indifferent to the situation. While this foul approach encouraged the Taliban and ISIS to become even more proactive.

The oppositions became so courageous that they went inside a fortified military corps in relatively safe and secure province of Balkh in northern Afghanistan. Ten Taliban insurgents wearing the Afghan security forces uniform and using the Afghan defense ministry vehicle managed to enter the 209 Shaheen Military Corps and carry out an unprecedented attack where they killed more than 150 military personnel and wounded about 250 more.

The outburst of public frustration forced the government to take action. But to public surprise, the government disappointed them even more. After severe criticism of the public in mainstream and social media the Afghan Defense Minister and his Joints Chief of Staff appeared in a press conference and announced their resignations. But just two days after the announcement, the president appointed both men as Afghan ambassadors to Jordan and Kazakhstan.

Following a deadly blast in the heart of Kabul in May that according to Afghan media killed more than 230 and injured more than 800 others the people came to streets and demanded the resignation of security ministers. To disperse the protesters, the Afghan police opened fire on the protesters and killed six people. No government ministers were fired or brought to justice for failure in the job or incompetence.

The Afghan president, an economist with delusion, trusts a finger counted number of people in the government who are all Pashtoon—the same ethnic background as president Ghani. The president’s dictatorship approach and his way of bypassing all players except people in his close circle have created lots of political opponents, including the first vice-president.

Recently the top government players such as first Vice President General Abdul Rashi Dostum, the Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, the deputy to Afghan CEO Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq and the Provincial Governor of Balkh Atta Mohammad Noor created a coalition in Turkey calling for reform in the government and inclusion of political players from other ethnic backgrounds in decision making processes. Upon return to the country governor Noor spoke among his supporters. Warning the Afghan government and the international community, governor Noor said that if the government doesn’t bring reform and if the international community continues to side with one group while ignoring all parties involved, he will seek and accept “any support, from anyone”.

The first vice-president who is in exile in Turkey, because of the accusation of abuse of authority and sexual harassment, wanted to come back to country, but his plane was not granted permission to land in the Afghan territory. His plane was forced to return back to Turkey. Afghans across the country worry that the vice-president will definitely show serious reaction.

The president still runs the office his way and the West continues to back him politically and financially. President Ghani measures success with obtaining funds from international community. Enjoying the unconditional backing international community, the US specifically, having no powerful political opposition, and having no legal parliament to impeach him, president Ghani has his luckiest days in office.

However, the recent statements by the UN, US and NATO high-ranking officials indicate that the West has come to a realization that it will fail in Afghanistan and will fail badly unless it changes course and takes some serious actions to resolve the matters soon.

In a briefing to the United Nations Security Council on 21 June 2017, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto said, “Political fault-lines that emerged are increasingly along an ethnic basis, which is particularly worrying at a time when the Islamic State (Daesh) is attempting to provoke sectarian strife in the country through attacks against Shia Muslims.”

Expressing concerns over deteriorating political situation Mr. Yamamoto said, “I remain concerned, however, that without changes in governance practices we are likely to face future crises that might be more difficult to contain.”

Speaking to reporters ahead of defense ministerial meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted lack of success in Afghanistan. Emphasizing on the complexity of war in Afghanistan he said, “We don’t think this operation in Afghanistan is going to be easy and we don’t think its going to be peaceful … this year or next year or in the near future.” In contrast to the Afghan government’s approach for peace talk with the Taliban, he said, “As long as the Taliban believe they can win the war they will not negotiate. We need to break the stalemate and to enable the Afghans to make advances.”

NATO pledged more troops to Afghanistan and 15 nations have shown green light. It is said that NATO will deploy about 3000 more troops to Afghanistan. Currently NATO has 5000 men on the ground to train and support the Afghan troops under the organization’s Resolute Mission.

Unlike Obama administration officials who often boasted about winning in Afghanistan, the new US administration officials are careful with their words and analysis of the situation in Afghanistan. Learning from the imperfect and nearsighted policies of Obama administration, the Trump administration officials admit their defeat in Afghanistan, while promising a workable and thorough strategy for the Afghan war.

Testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the US Defense Secretary James Mattis said, “We’re not winning in Afghanistan right now and we will correct this as soon as possible.”

The US is currently considering sending around 3,900 troops to Afghanistan, which will bring the total number of American troops in the country to 12,400.

All in all, if approved the total number of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan could rise to 20,400. It is worth noting that at the height of war in Afghanistan US had more than 100,000 troops there.

While the US is focused on a military win in Afghanistan, the truth is that there won’t be any long lasting peace or security in country unless the international community gets involved thoroughly in the Afghan situation. Providing funding to corrupt officials with no or little oversight will do no good to Afghan citizens.

To win in Afghanistan, in addition to training the Afghan security forces, the international community must put pressure on Pakistan to close down the terrorist training camps inside Pakistan and to act honestly in targeting terrorists inside its territory. But perhaps most importantly, the international community needs to engage in stabilizing the country politically by listening to all Afghans, making sure that equal distribution of power takes place among all ethnic groups and by holding the government accountable to its citizens.

Pakistan - A corruption crisis rocks the most dangerous country in the world

Bruce Riedel

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is in deep political trouble arising from a corruption scandal over his family fortune. The 67-year-old Sharif is in his third term as prime minister, having served twice in the 1990s before a decade in exile in Saudi Arabia. He has struggled to keep the army under civilian control throughout and unsuccessfully sought to reduce tensions with India. Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world, where terrorists and nuclear weapons overlap.

CORRUPTION CONTROVERSY

The corruption scandal emerged more than a year ago, when the so-called Panama Papers were leaked from an offshore law firm in Panama. Investigators found that Sharif’s family had sizable amounts of money and assets in London, including four luxury flats that allegedly had been purchased with illegal proceeds. This week, a Joint Investigation Tribunal concluded that the family had assets far beyond their income and recommended the case to Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Sharif’s daughter, Maryam, is accused of producing fraudulent documents as well, including one that allegedly uses a type font that was only available after the date on the document. His sons are also under a cloud of suspicion.

A key part of Sharif’s defense rests on the testimony of the former Qatari prime minister, Hamid bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani (HBJ). HBJ was a business partner of Sharif and has provided written evidence to corroborate Sharif’s claims about how he legitimately acquired the London properties. But the tribunal has rejected the Qatari’s letters.

Opposition parties and influential media outlets are now calling for Sharif to resign. So far the family is refusing, instead demanding their day in court. A decision could come soon. The prime minister’s term in office expires next year, but he can call for early elections.

ENTER THE ARMY?

The army is the most powerful institution in Pakistan and has a long history of removing prime ministers its leadership dislikes. Sharif has been in the army’s crosshairs since he accepted President Bill Clinton’s call for a unilateral cease fire during the 1999 Kargil war with India. When Sharif pulled back Pakistani troops in the ceasefire, he set the stage for the coup that ousted him months later and resulted in his exile to Saudi Arabia. He was able to return only after the 2007 collapse of General Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorship. His 2013 election was the first time in the country’s history that one elected government turned over power to another elected government.

There has been an uneasy accommodation between the army and Sharif.

In the last four years, there has been an uneasy accommodation between the army and Sharif. The generals have stayed on the sidelines in the Panama Papers scandal, although several of the members of the tribunal are army appointees. There is little doubt, however, that the army would like to see the civilian administration weakened and its old foe ousted.

Sharif’s fitful attempts to improve Pakistan’s troubled relations with India since the 1990s lie at the core of the army’s dislike for him. He has also sought to persuade the Afghan Taliban to negotiate with the government in Kabul, a stance that the army opposes as well. Sharif has kept Pakistan out of the Saudi war in Yemen for over two years, producing serious strains in Pakistan’s ties to Riyadh, and more recently he has been neutral in the Qatari dispute with the Kingdom.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

If Nawaz did step down, he could be replaced by his brother Shahbaz Sharif, who is currently the chief minister of Punjab—Pakistan’s most important province and the family’s power base. Shahbaz is a capable and experienced leader who would govern with continuity. He has so far largely escaped the taint of the scandal and he is popular among the ruling party. However, he would be inheriting an ongoing scandal and crisis.

Instability in Pakistan is dangerous for the United States and the world. Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear weapons program in the world, along with intermediate-range ballistic missiles, American supplied F16 jets, and efforts to develop tactical nuclear weapons. It is also home to numerous terrorist organizations, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, the Haqqani network, and al-Qaida’s emir Ayman al-Zawahiri. It has been the target of dozens of terrorist attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. The border with India is tense after a series of violent incidents. It is also China’s closest ally, and Sharif is responsible for negotiating an enormous $50 billion development deal with Beijing.

The Trump administration is still reviewing U.S. policy toward Pakistan. The president avoided a bilateral meeting with Sharif when they both were in Saudi Arabia in May, which has been interpreted in Islamabad as a signal of cooling ties. The corruption scandal is outside of Washington’s influence, but how it plays out will have significant consequences for South Asia and beyond.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2017/07/13/a-corruption-crisis-rocks-the-most-dangerous-country-in-the-world/?utm_campaign=Brookings%20Brief&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=54256802

Pakistan - ‘Sharif family made botched attempts to subvert judiciary’, says Bilawal

Inaugurating Drigh Road underpass, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday said that he anticipates a ‘fair judgment’ by Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Panama Papers case, ARY News reported.

Speaking to party workers on the occasion, Bilawal said that the Sharif family has made several botched attempts to subvert the judiciary. “They have committed forgery and perjury besides corruption. I am hopeful for a verdict upholding justice,” he added.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan reserved its judgment in the Panama Papers implementation case with the bench observing that matters related to the prime minister’s disqualification would be evaluated.

The PPP is expected to announce its future course of action after the verdict of the Supreme Court.

He was accompanied by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Local Bodies Minister Jam Khan Shoro and Chairman District Council Salman Abdullah Murad.

The construction work of Drigh Road underpass took four months and completed with the total cost of Rs660 million.

Early today,  Opposition Leader in the National Assemby, Khursheed Shah called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down by tonight and replace himself with a new prime minister from the party.

“We want Parliament to complete its tenure and resignation of the premier will be in the best interest of democracy,” remarked Shah.

Cautioning PM Sharif, he said that the premier should act smart and select a new premier to lead the country.

He conceded objections concerning Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar with regard to Panama Papers case and PM’s resignation as he said: “Despite my differences with Nisar, I see his objections justified over PM Sharif consulting with the junior members of his party and ignoring the senior leadership.”