The Inimitable Educator, Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali Passes Away

Anita Ghulamali (Credit: newslinemag.com) — Anita Ghulamali
(Credit: newslinemag.com)

KARACHI, Aug 9: Anita Ghulam Ali, one of the country’s most famous teachers who served twice as education minister of Sindh, died in a hospital here on Friday after protracted heart problems. She was 76.

“She had been in the hospital since July 28 for cardiac problems and breathed her last at about 2.20pm today,” said one of her colleagues at the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) that she had quit a few months ago after a 24-year stint.

Born in Karachi in 1938 in the house of a former judge and a family of intellectuals and linguists, Ms Ghulam Ali was an out-and-out Karachiite, and an athlete who captained her university’s netball team and a champion table tennis and badminton player.

St Lawrence Girls School near what used to be Cincinnatus Town and now is called Garden East was just a stone’s throw away from her grand house and became the first destination of her arduous trek that made her an epitome of education in the country.

Her house was not far from the hilly area where the Quaid-i-Azam was later buried. She told a subordinate how she saw people moaning and beating their chests during the funeral procession of the Father of the Nation.

Ms Ghulam Ali often bunked botany classes in Dayaram Jethamal (DJ) College on Saturday afternoons to watch the movies that cinemas showed at concessional rates to students once a week.

She would rip pages from her college books to create room in her bag to bring her table tennis racquet and shoes.

Her restless soul finally found a niche in the Karachi University where she found pull in microbiology and left the campus as a topper – a fact that put everyone who knew her from the beginning in a pleasant shock.

She was also a popular English newscaster at Radio Pakistan until Islamabad became the federal capital.

“I can’t be shy to say that a third class student can become a first class teacher,” she would often say after joining the Sindh Muslim College in 1961 where she remained a revered faculty member till 1985 despite being a tough taskmaster.

She used to box the ears of her students, pulled their hair, ripped up their pockets. “I think this is the kind of communication skill that develops once you show them that you care for them,” she repeatedly said.

A large number of her students are in government, police and top vocations abroad.

Late Anita was a leader in the teachers’ movement in 1970 during which she was beaten with police batons and briefly put behind bars. The movement was to get the private colleges nationalised to ensure that teachers, who lived pathetically while working for private masters, could receive handsome and uninterrupted salaries.

After leaving the SM College, she headed the Teachers’ Foundation and then became managing director of the SEF after its inception.

She served as a provincial education minister in Mumtaz Ali Bhutto’s interim government in 1996 for three months and then in 1999 after retired Gen Pervez Musharraf seized power.

She quit Gen Musharraf’s government when the military ruler announced a controversial referendum to consolidate his power.

Among various other distinctions, Prof Anita was the recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her lifetime contribution to education and community development.

She refused a further extension in her tenure by the provincial government and retired from the SEF on Jan 23 this year.

She, as she often said, is survived by ‘thousands and thousands’ of her students.

July 8, 2014July 10, 2014

Civil Society Comes to the Aid of North Waziristan IDPs

Khwendo Kor & Omar Asghar Khan Foundation
North Waziristan IDPs – A Humanitarian Response
1. Introduction

On 16th June 2014 a military operation, Zarb-e-Azb, commenced in the North Waziristan
Agency (NWA) of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The exodus of local
people accelerated, with an estimated 450,000 people fleeing their homes by end-June
2014. The numbers continue to rise. Men, women and children covered long distances
on foot to reach safety, carrying only bare essentials. Among the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs), the greatest number has taken refuge in the adjoining town of Bannu in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Rejecting the camps set up by the government on the
grounds that they violate their strict segregation codes, the NWA IDPs have gathered in
whatever serves as temporary shelter: private hujras (part of residence reserved for
guests), public schools, factory stores, and even cattle enclosures.

Government response to this humanitarian crisis is slow, inadequate and ineffective.
After the camps were forsaken by the IDPs, the government set up distribution points
from where they provide cash grants, food and essential non-food items with the help of
the UN and other agencies. But the disbursement mechanism is extremely tedious
resulting in long queues in which old and young men stand for hours under the blazing
sun. Many have to make several trips before they receive any relief. The situation is
worse for women who do not have any male family members. Though separate
arrangements are made for them, they find the paperwork even more difficult.
The government’s key problem appears to be: too many cooks. The federal government
has authorized the military operation, which is being carried out in FATA by the armed
forces, resulting in displacement of people, a large number of whom are taking refuge in
the adjoining settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The federal government, the
military, the FATA administration and the provincial government of KP are all involved.
Limited coordination and shifting blame is common.

The unfolding humanitarian crisis requires prompt action and input from as many
individuals and organizations as possible. To contribute to these efforts, Khwendo Kor
(pushto meaning Women’s Home) and Omar Asghar Khan Foundation initiated: NWA
IDPs – a humanitarian response. They are working collaboratively to reach displaced
families taking refuge outside camps. They will provide food and non-food items, with
special emphasis on the needs of women. Tailored packages for children will also be
provided, helping them deal with the trauma of displacement and conflict.
In the following sections more details are provided. An outline on NWA is provided to
give a context. This is followed by information on: (a) the implementation capacity of KK
and the Foundation, (b) the specific relief packages they have drawn up and their costs,
and, (c) details on how an individual or an organization may send their contributions.

2. Context: North Waziristan

North Waziristan is one of the seven agencies that constitute FATA. The Governor of KP
is FATA’s chief executive, which has a distinct governance structure and an
administration that is independent from the provincial government of KP.

Spread across 4,707 km of rugged and mostly mountainous terrain, NWA borders Afghanistan on the west, South Waziristan on the south, and KP’s districts of Hangu and Bannu on the north and northeast. Government data showing an estimated population of about 400,000 appears unreliable as it is based on the out-of-date 1998 census, which was resisted by local people. Tribal customs reign, with the Wazirs being the dominant clan, and the reason the area is called Waziristan (land of the Wazirs).

NWA like the rest of FATA is poor. Livelihood opportunities are limited to agriculture, offfarm labour and mining. Blood feuds are common, with many lasting for many years,
with multiple generations caught in the conflict. Conditions over the past many years
have worsened. The presence of local and foreign militants has taken its toll, and further
eroded the writ of the state. Public services like education, health, clean drinking water,
or sanitation are poor or non-existent. Failing state control on governance and local
resistance to immunization led to FATA becoming the source of the greatest numbers of
polio cases in the country and the world.

Displacement has further impoverished the already poor, who have endured long
periods of local and foreign militant presence. Their interaction with the state was never
frequent, and became even less common after militants held sway in the area. They are
accustomed to FATA’s distinctive system of governance, but are largely unaware of the
working of provincial or federal governments.

3. Implementation Capacity: about us
KK and the Foundation are non-governmental organizations with demonstrated
experience of responding to disasters. They provided relief and rehabilitation assistance
to hundreds of thousands affected by the 2005 earthquake, the 2009 military action in
Malakand (including Swat) and the 2010 floods. Food and non-food items were
distributed, shelter in the form of tents and later using corrugated sheets were provided.
They initiated programmes for women and children – arranging medical camps, setting
up playgrounds and helping children deal with the trauma of conflict and displacement
with art and games.

3.1 Khwendo Kor
www.khwendokor.org.pk
KK was formed in 1993 and is registered under the Societies Act 1860 (#2614/5/2280).
Its head office is in Peshawar and it has seven regional offices in different districts of KP,
including one in Bannu that is functional since the past 11 years. KK also has a liaison
office in Islamabad. KK strives to empower women, with interventions in education,
health, economic opportunities and civil rights. Their programmes are implemented
across KP and also extend into FATA. They combine policy advocacy and service
delivery, which is effectively integrated in their efforts to build viable villages. Relief and
rehabilitation is considered a social responsibility, and included in all programmes. KK is
also registered as a charity organization in the United Kingdom under the name of UK
Friends of Khwendo Kor (UK-FROK) www.frok.org.uk.

3.2 Omar Asghar Khan Foundation
www.oakdf.org.pk
Established in 1999, the Foundation was registered in April 2000 under the Societies Act
1860 (#768/5/2873). The Foundation’s programme extends across Pakistan, with a
concentrated field presence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It strives for a democratic and
peaceful society based on the values of equity, tolerance and justice in which all people
are assured a life of quality. It works with citizens, particularly the poor and the
vulnerable, to achieve human and livelihood security. The Foundation organizes citizens,
assists them in engaging with the state on policy and institutional reform, and supports
their livelihood strategies through skill-building, credit provision, and community
infrastructure development. The Foundation has a staff of 35 and offices in Islamabad
and Abbottabad.

4. NWA IDPs – A Humanitarian Response
In response to the unfolding human tragedy as hundreds of thousands of people flee the
conflict areas of the NWA, KK and the Foundation decided to work together and initiated
its: NWA IDPs – A Humanitarian Response.

4.1 Who will it reach?
The camps set up by the government are largely rejected by the IDPs, as the forced
close proximity is insensitive to their strict segregation codes. Most of the displaced
families have taken refuge in public schools and other shelters. The KK-Foundation
initiative will reach these off-camp IDPs. Initial assessments are being carried out to
identify schools and other shelters, and the number of displaced, in the town of Bannu,
which will be the programme’s immediate focus. Depending on emerging conditions and
resources, relief will be extended to other towns as well.

4.2 What support will it provide?
In each shelter the Foundation will provide food and other non-food essential items like
floor mats, hand fans, soaps, etc. The following are details of relief items per family
(average family size is 7) and per shelter (estimated 50 families per school):

5. How can you help?
You can donate cash, or give in-kind support, or volunteer your time. Cash contributions
can be made to:
Account Title:   Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation
Current Account #: 0102801010019288
Bank:      MCB Bank (1028), Super Market, Islamabad-Pakistan
SWIFT Code:   MUCBPKKA
IBAN#:     PK11MUCB0102801010019288
All contributions are tax exempt
Tax exemption #6043/RTO/ATD/2008-09 dated 12 May.2009

Click here to Download as PDF

June 27, 2014

Pakistan Enters Defining Moment for Change

Reluctantly but finally, Pakistan has been drawn into an inescapable battle that it ought to have initiated many moons back. The reality is that we have entered a defining battle that would decide if Pakistan will emerge as a strong, tolerant and law-abiding nation or be overrun by a barbaric militia. For both sides, the only acceptable solution would be a complete meltdown of the other party. The government and the people of Pakistan must therefore understand that the long, hot season of ineptness, indecisiveness and deception is over. It may just be the final roll call to stand up and deliver — for history is never kind or forgiving to those who default on this account.

Extraordinary developments place extraordinary expectations on the government and the people of Pakistan. While the army engages the militants, there is simultaneously a need to organise and push for real reforms and accountability within the lifeless body of our trumped-up democratic order. The election commission, a collection of archaic bureaucrats, needs to be replaced with a structure that can prevent the same lot of corrupt, fake and criminal elements from taking turns. All this would not be possible without a massive peoples’ movement for electoral reforms.

Despite persistent demands by members of the civil society, the state has emphatically refused to understand and act upon the deep link between crime, militancy and the instruments that are used to execute these unlawful acts. Weapons, illegal vehicles, untraceable SIMs and a hugely unprofessional and politicised police come together to form a lethal combination that breeds and promotes crimes of all shades. A nationwide programme to forcibly withdraw weapons from all individuals and private militias and cancel all gun licences must be the first logical step in our fight against violence and militancy.

It is heartening to note that the government has designated ‘surrender points’ for the TTP militants who wish to bid farewell to arms. This, however, needs to be massively advertised by newspapers, radio, TV and by dropping pamphlets from air. Also, the ‘surrender points’ should be extended to all towns and cities of Pakistan. Need we remind ourselves that the war against militancy will remain a facade unless we force every urban, rural and tribal militant to lay down weapons.

Pakistan’s police force became dysfunctional a long time back. It has now graduated to being a partner in most crimes. An SSP working in a remote town of Sindh can have five policemen accompany his son in Karachi to go and kill an A-level student — all in the line of duty. An organisation doing more harm than good must be shut down and replaced by a completely new structure.

Finally it is time for Pakistan to take charge and establish its writ uniformly over all territories that constitute the state. All tribal territories must be brought under complete state control and state laws. An effective civilian management system must be in place to take over from the army, once the militants are flushed out. Biometric verification of citizens, telephone SIMs and vehicle owners must be put in place for all territories, including the tribal areas. Pakistan’s thoughtful and committed citizens must come together for change and reform a system that its ruling class is hell-bent to preserve. If there was ever a time to push for change and reform in Pakistan — it is here and now

June 17, 2014

Women cops defy stereotypes, take on terrorists in violence-hit Karachi

SHO Syeda Ghazala (Credit: thenews.pk.com) — SHO Syeda Ghazala
(Credit: thenews.pk.com)

Just days into her job running a police station in Pakistan’s largest city, Syeda Ghazala had to put her training to the test: she opened fire with her .22-caliber pistol at a man who shot at police when they tried to pull him over during a routine traffic stop.

It’s not clear whether it was Ghazala’s shots that wounded the man before he was arrested, but as the first woman to run a police station in Pakistan’s often violent port city of Karachi, she’ll likely have many more chances to hit her mark.

When Ghazala joined the police force two decades ago, she never dreamed that one day she would head a police station staffed by roughly 100 police officers — all men. Her recent promotion is part of efforts by the local police to increase the number of women in the force and in positions of authority. Shortly after she assumed her new job the city appointed a second woman to head another police station.

In a country where women have traditionally not worked outside the home and face widespread discrimination, the appointments represent a significant step for women’s empowerment.

“The mindset of people is changing gradually, and now they (have) started to consider women in leading roles. My husband opposed my decision to join the police force 20 years ago,” said the 44-year-old mother of four. But by the time this job rolled around, he had come full circle and encouraged her to go for it. “It was a big challenge. I was a little bit hesitant to accept it.”

The station house is in Clifton, a posh area home to the elite of this sprawling metropolis of more than 18 million people. Crimes ranging from petty theft and muggings to terrorism or murder are all part of a day’s work, Ghazala says.

Running a station is a high-profile job in the Pakistani police, one that requires the officer to constantly interact with the public and fellow officers. It’s also a key path to advancement. Senior police officer Abdul Khaliq Sheikh, said he and others in the top brass hope Ghazala’s appointment leads to more women joining the force.

“Our society accepts only stereotype roles for women. There is a perception that women are suitable only for particular professions like teaching,” he said.

The police force is also training the first batch of female commandos, a group of 44 women going through a physically intensive course involving rappelling from towers or helicopters and shooting an assortment of weapons.

Currently, the two in Karachi are the only women running police stations in Pakistan. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where women make up less than one per cent of the roughly 75,000-member police force, women only run stations specifically designed to help female crime victims.

In Balochistan, there are only 90 women on the police force and no women station heads. In Punjab, only one woman has ever run a station house, back in 2005, but currently no women hold the position.

Ghazala said most people she has encountered in her new job have been supportive, and she’s become a bit of a celebrity in the neighbourhood.

May 30, 2014

Pakistani man protesting ‘honor killing’ admits strangling first wife

Mohd Iqbal (Credit: theguardian.com) — Mohd Iqbal
(Credit: theguardian.com)

Islamabad, May 29: A Pakistani man demanding justice after his pregnant wife was murdered outside Lahore’s high court this week admitted on Thursday to strangling his first wife, in an admission that is likely to focus even more attention on the prevalence of so-called “honour” killings in the country.

Muhummad Iqbal, the 45-year-old husband of Farzana Parveen, who was beaten to death by 20 male relatives on Tuesday, said he strangled his first wife in order to marry Parveen.

He avoided a prison sentence after his family used Islamic provisions of Pakistan‘s legal system to forgive him, precisely those he has insisted should not be available to his wife’s killers.

“I was in love with Farzana and killed my first wife because of this love,” he told Agence France-Presse.

Police confirmed that the killing had happened six years ago and that he was released after a “compromise” with his family.

Iqbal has also claimed that Parveen’s family killed another one of their daughters some years ago. Speaking to a researcher from the Aurat Foundation, a women’s rights organisation, he claimed that Parveen’s father, Muhammad Azeem, had poisoned the other woman after falling out with her husband-in-law.

The foundation has been unable to confirm Iqbal’s claim about a second killing.

The extraordinary twists to the affair came after Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, ordered an urgent investigation into the killing of Parveen, a woman who had enraged her family after marrying without their consent.

In a statement he said the crime was “totally unacceptable and must be dealt with in accordance with the law promptly”.

He also ordered the chief minister of Punjab province, his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, to take immediate action and launch an urgent investigation.

The deadly attack on Parveen, which reportedly lasted for around 15 minutes, began soon after she and Iqbal arrived at the court where she was due to testify against her father’s claim that she had been kidnapped and coerced into marriage.

Her father, who is the only one of the group to be have been arrested so far, told police that his daughter had been killed because he had dishonoured her family.

Iqbal has claimed that Parveen’s father only withdrew his support for their marriage after demanding more money than had initially been agreed at the start of a long engagement. Sharif’s intervention followed international uproar, including a lengthy and stinging condemnation from the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, who said Pakistan must take “urgent and strong measures to put an end to the continuous stream of so-called ‘honour killings’ and other forms of violence against women”.

She said: “The fact that she was killed on her way to court shows a serious failure by the state to provide security for someone who – given how common such killings are in Pakistan – was obviously at risk.”

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that the media had reported thatnearly 900 women had been killed in “honour” crimes in 2013 alone, but the actual figure is likely to be far higher.

Until Thursday there had been little comment on the case domestically, with newspapers and television stations focussing on other stories.

One journalist, an editor of an Urdu national paper who did not want to be named, said the country’s media reflected its audience.

“Although we have some educated people, most are still living in semi-tribal societies in far-flung rural areas,” he said. “In a country where people are being killed every day by miscreants and militants it is not so important when one woman is killed by one husband.”

Some members of the public in Lahore clearly share the media’s ambivalence.

Muhammad Yaqub, a student at a private university in the city, said he understood the loss of honour for the family but disliked the brutal way the woman had been killed.

“He did some right and some wrong,” he said.

May 9, 2014

Courageous human rights lawyer Rashid Rehman Murdered

Rashid Rahman (Credit: tribune.com.pk) — Rashid Rahman
(Credit: tribune.com.pk)

Thursday, 8 May 2014

He knew the risks he was taking. He knew too, that many others had declined to take on the case.

But Rasheed Rehman believed that every defendant deserved a lawyer, even – or perhaps especially – someone facing perhaps the most serious allegation that can be levelled at you in Pakistan.

At around 8.30pm on Wednesday evening, Mr Rehman, a well-known advocate and a regional coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), was shot dead by two gunmen who entered his office in the city of Multan, apparently posing as prospective clients. The attack came just weeks after he agreed to defend a college lecturer accused of blasphemy and had reportedly received death threats from other lawyers for doing so.

“He was a dedicated activist from the very beginning. All his life he was helping the downtrodden,” senior HRCP official Zaman Khan told The Independent. “He was fearless and never gave any time to the threats. He said he would live for the struggle and die for the struggle.”

Earlier this year, Mr Rehman, who was 53 and married, agreed to take on the case of Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Multan’s Bahauddin Zakariya University who had been accused of defaming the prophet Mohammed on social media last year. Reports said the accusations were levelled by hardline university students who had pushed for him to be charged.

The HRCP said no one was wiling to take on Mr Hafeez’s defence until Mr Rehman stepped forward. After the first hearing inside a prison in March, when he was allegedly threatened, the HRCP issued a statement which said: “During the hearing the lawyers of the complainant told Rehman that he wouldn’t be present at the next hearing as he would not be alive.”

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, introduced under British rule and then tightened during the years of military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, have become increasingly controversial and ever more deadly. Campaigners say that the laws, which carry the death penalty, are routinely used to settle personal scores and grudges that have nothing to do with Islam.

While no-one has ever been executed for blasphemy, many accused have been attacked and killed and lawyers and judges have been threatened. A recent report by a US government advisory panel said there were 14 people on death row in Pakistan and 19 others serving life sentences for insulting Islam.

Among those on death row is a 70-year-old British citizen, Muhammad Asghar, from Edinburgh, who was sentenced in January after being convicted of claiming he was a prophet. His lawyers and family said he has been suffering from mental health issues for several years.

Efforts to reform the laws by Pakistan’s previous government were scrapped in the aftermath of the murder in January 2011 of Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, where Multan is located, who had spoken about the misuse of the laws and the need to reform them. A second politician, the then-minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, who also supported reforming the laws, was murdered two months later.

“This is only a symptom of a deeper malaise [in Pakistan],” said Asma Jahangir, a celebrated advocate who was among those who attended Mr Rehman’s funeral service in Multan. “It is becoming more and more difficult for people who have liberal views to stay alive in this country. And the state sits by like a spectator.”

Today, in an indication of such threats referred to by Ms Jahangir, it was reported that in Multan leaflets had been distributed which claimed Mr Rehman had met his “rightful end”.

“We warn all lawyers to be afraid of god and think twice before engaging in such acts,” the pamphlets said, according to the Reuters news agency.

As Mr Rehman was buried, lawyers in Multan protested over the killing of their colleague. “Every time someone without means approached him for help, he would take his case without considering how mighty the opponent could be,” said Mr Rehman’s junior colleague, Allah Daad. “He was also very fond of reading, but he spent most of his time helping the needy,”

Mr Daad said that after the prosecuting lawyer involved in the blasphemy case had made the threatening comment, Mr Rehman informed the District Bar Association and sought protection from the local police. Yet he said that Mr Rehman received no response from officers. The police in Multan were unavailable for comment.

Mr Rehman was reportedly struck by five bullets. Two other people in his office at the time were badly wounded and taken to hospital.

The lawyer and activist had no children but he lived in an extended family. His nephew, 24-year-old Atir, and his niece, Hareem, who is 25, said he had been like a father to them. The family now has no source of income. Mr Rehman’s traumatised widow, Robina, has been sedated.

“He never used to tell us anything about the work he was doing but still we came to know about the kind of threats he received,” said Mr Rehman’s niece. “He was a man of devotion and spent his entire life working for the poor.”

She added: “I would ask him to do something for me using his contacts but he said he would always use his contacts for the poor.”

April 25, 2014

APNS president calls for restraint

Hameed Haroon (Credit: dawn.com) — Hameed Haroon
(Credit: dawn.com)

Hameed Haroon, the President of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), has expressed concern that the freedom of press envisioned in Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan is now facing the gravest threat it has encountered in the past decade, and if press freedoms are allowed to deteriorate further, an irreversible damage will be inflicted on Pakistan’s democracy and the constitutionally stipulated freedoms associated with it. He has emphasised that apart from the dangers of targeting the lives of journalists by extremist elements in the country, a dangerous drift towards anarchy has reared its ugly head in the past week where unbridled behaviour on the part of certain sections of the security establishment and the media, coupled with confused signals emanating from government, have resulted in damaging the freedom of expression and the freedom of press enshrined in the Constitution.

“The signs on the horizon are clear. The fundamental problem appears to be that every one of the principal players involved in this crisis is responsible for a saddening deterioration of public affairs. The apparent undue haste with which the Independent Media Corporation and the Independent Newspaper Corporation, the twin media firms controlling the Geo-Jang group, pointed an accusatory finger at the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as being complicit in what can only be described as a murderous attack upon television anchor and columnist Hamid Mir, is only one part of the problem. The promptness with which the ISI through its Deputy Director General responded with a complaint through the Defence Ministry to Pemra to seek revocation of the broadcasting licences and the declarations of the GEO-Jang group, has clearly demonstrated that the institution of the armed forces has acted in haste and has not critically examined the validity of their positions nor of subsequent actions that have stemmed from a misconceived interpretation of press laws.

“At first the government appeared to be dealing wisely with the new threat to press freedoms posed by the murderous attacks on Raza Rumi in Lahore and Hamid Mir in Karachi. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Nawaz Sharif, speedily acted to form a judicial commission to investigate the attempt on Mir’s life at the highest level. One would have thought with an appropriate high-level commission of enquiry, composed of the superior judiciary, any investigation of the incident of the attempt on Hamid Mir’s life appeared to be in capable hands. However, within a day of the Prime Minister’s announcement, the ISI through the Defence Ministry called for the revocation of the licences and declarations of the GEO-Jang group, with Pemra officials making suitably supportive statements. Thus despite a wise move by the Prime Minister to constitute a commission immediately, the guilt of the offending party had been prejudged, well in advance of the verdict.

“Clearly the need of the hour is to immediately force a cooling down of tempers in all sections of the state and security apparatus as well as, critically, within the media itself. If we are to speak of ensuring the ‘preservation of the sovereignty, security and integrity of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ then the imperative is for all contending parties to exercise restraint.

“Additionally, the damage in this potentially explosive powder-keg needs to be contained. The judicial Commission of Enquiry should begin work immediately and avail of the services of Hamid Mir, among others, to reach a satisfactory conclusion as to which persons were responsible for engineering this attempt. Only when the findings are made public can it be determined whether the management and journalists of the newspaper (who have both been alleged as complicit in a slander campaign according to the ISI complaint to the Defence Ministry), were justified in levelling their early allegations. Nor would it be just to proceed with any retaliatory actions against this media group, awaiting the results of the high-level judicial enquiry that has been instituted. Such a travesty of justice is not becoming for any credible democracy.

“I appeal on behalf of the APNS, to Gen Raheel Sharif, the Chief of Army Staff, to rein in the knee-jerk retaliatory measures that have been initiated by various segments of the armed forces. This will lessen any public misperceptions with respect to what the security establishment sees as its principled stand in the matter. It is grossly unfair that Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam or any other member of the security establishment be presumed guilty unless the substance of such guilt can be irrefutably proved in a commission of enquiry. If he is found innocent, the media group found guilty of publishing and broadcasting such allegations against him must render an unqualified apology as per the valid international norms that govern such situations.

“In the meantime I also appeal to all sections of the media to exercise credible restraint and desist from publishing or broadcasting any statement which might be considered prima facie as defamatory or slanderous either against the ISI chief or against the media group. Concurrently it is imperative for the Prime Minister and the Federal Minister for Information to immediately commence a formal dialogue with all the major national bodies — the APNS, the CPNE, the PBA and the PFUJ — to attempt to provide a meaningful framework in which journalists can tell the truth and be protected from life-threats while doing so. This alone will ensure the ordered functioning of a nascent democracy and encourage the government to clamp down with unbridled severity on the spiralling incidents of violence against the media.”

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014

Excerpt from `Aboard the Democracy Train’

Pak demo for press freedom (Credit: nation.com.pk) — Pak demo for press freedom
(Credit: nation.com.pk)

1991 will go down as the year in Pakistan when the press united and stopped the attacks on journalists. Several journalists had been attacked before us, but the attack on Kamran and me started a fire.

There was a reason for it. Kamran worked for the Jang group of newspapers, while I was reporter for the Dawn group of newspapers – the two biggest publishing houses which own about half the effective print publications in the country. Their tycoon owner-publishers, the Mir Shakilur Rehman and Haroon families were represented in the highest newspaper bodies, All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) and the Council of Newspaper Editors and Publishers (CPNE) which wield a huge influence on Pakistan’s governments.

The week after I was threatened with knives, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation (APNEC) energized journalist protests in rallies and demonstrations held across Pakistan. PFUJ and APNEC serve as the backbone of the journalist industry and their activism under the harsh dictatorship of Gen. Zia ul Haq has yielded dividents in keeping the media free.

The military backed Nawaz Sharif’s government refused to accept responsibility for the attacks on journalists. Between April 26, 1991 and October 24, 1991, the U.S. based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent four letters to Sharif, protesting against the mounting attacks on the press. It was met with stony silence.

It was left to my journalist colleagues to fight for press freedom. Following the attacks on Kamran and me, journalists walked out of the assembly in the four provinces of Pakistan – Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Northwest Frontier Province – and forced the assemblies to condemn the attacks on the press. Each day the newspapers appeared chock full of statements by politicians, human rights groups, labor leaders, women and civil society to condemn the Sindh government and demand the arrest of our attackers.

From my sanctuary in Islamabad, my mother told me the phone at our Karachi home rang off the hook. Government officials, politicians, journalists and of course friends…called to ask about my welfare. Embarrassed by the negative publicity they received, officials in Jam Sadiq Ali’s cabinet offered to appoint police officials at a security post they proposed from across my house. It was like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop. I rejected their offer.

Knives Were Used to Send a Message

As I lay low in Islamabad, Benazir Bhutto issued a statement from overseas which squarely blamed the federal and Sindh government for the attacks on Kamran and me. It read:

“Both journalists have a distinguished record of investigative journalism, which includes an expose of the MQM and the criminal activities being conducted at the CIA headquarters. There is no doubt that these attacks have been coordinated by the Jam Government on the instructions of Nawaz Sharif and Ghulam Ishaq Khan.”

It was a fair indictment of the perpetrators, except that it cast doubt on the MQM’s role in the attacks. Although the ethnic party used to dictate news coverage, threaten hawkers and burn newspapers considered to be unfriendly, by the fall of 1991, they were themselves victims of the army’s “Operation Clean up.” As such, they were not in a position to conduct the attacks.

The MQM chief Altaf Hussein’s tried to dispel his party’s image. In a statement carried by the press on September 27, 1991 he said:

“We too differ with some of the media contents, but we go to people and ask them to stop reading a particular paper. The MQM has never attacked any newspaper office or resorted to such things.”

I took the MQM statement with a handful of salt. However in the present instance I recognized that I had grown entangled in the war between the intelligence agencies. This was more apparent because Kamran and I had used the same military intelligence (MI) source in exposing the Jam-Marwat combine.

Apparently, the MI, which is the political wing of the military, was then at odds with the techniques used by the ISI and the intelligence bureau (IB) in arm twisting the PPP’s political opponents. The IB, which snooped around locally to guess which journalists appeared to support the PPP, put us on its “hit list.” The office of Chief Minister Jam Sadiq Ali then flanked by a dime a dozen operators who supported his nefarious tactics, apparently directed the CIA to send knife-wielding assailants to warn us not to interfere in their mafia operations.

A Historic Protest

Five days had passed and I watched the national outcry against the knife attacks from my brother Pervez’s place in Islamabad. That weekend my brother’s colleague at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Dr A.H. Nayyar arrived, carrying heavy editions of the newspapers. Dr Nayyar, a physicist like my brother was hugely invested in the political situation inside Pakistan, and had a wry sense of humor.

Apparently tired from the weight of the weekend editions of the English and Urdu newspapers he had been carrying; Nayyar plunked them down on the table in front of us and flopped down himself.

“What’s the news?” my brother Pervez asked.

“Nothing,” Nayyar replied wearily. “They’re full of statements on Nafisa.”

I went through the newspapers. Statements were splashed across every newspaper by political parties, journalist unions, women’s organizations, minority groups, and human rights groups. In several instances they named the influential culprits and demanded punishment for the attacks on myself and my colleague.

Even while the federal government assured the employers and journalist unions that our attackers would be caught and punished, we knew that nothing of that sort would happen. The matter of a free press was inextricably linked with the polarized politics in Sindh and could not be resolved short of dismissing the Sindh government. The newspaper bodies correctly surmised that the media would suffer unless we demonstrated a collective show of strength.

And so, newspapers, magazines, and periodicals announced they planned to suspend publication on September 29, 1991. It was an unprecedented event, designed to shut down 25 million copies for one day to protest the attacks against journalists. The journalist community declared that as a mark of protest no reporter would attend or cover the government functions on that date – which fell on a Sunday.

On the day of the press shut-down, my journalist colleagues from The News took me to the home of their editor Maleeha Lodhi. Lodhi would later serve as Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. – under Benazir Bhutto and then Pervaiz Musharraf. Maleeha looked at me searchingly and said,

“You know, Kamran is associated with the intelligence agencies. But with you we know there is no such association.”

I was glad to hear it.

A journalist friend of mine, Ayoub Shaikh had once asked me, eyes twinkling,

“I sometimes wonder, who does Nafisa work for?”

“No one,” I had said, “I work for myself”.

“I know,” he had said, smiling.

On strike day, the Rawalpindi Union of Journalists organized a national event in Rawalpindi, Islamabad’s twin city, which was addressed by media stalwarts – All Pakistan Newspaper Society President, Farhad Zaidi, veteran journalist turned politician Mushahid Hussain, The News editor Maleeha Lodhi, senior editors, and representatives of journalist unions.

I spoke from a highly charged frame of mind, fired up by my close encounter. Mostly, I told journalists in Islamabad about the incredibly polarized political situation in my southern home province of Sindh.

“If we do not stand together, I am afraid that a journalist may be killed any day now,” I said.

It was a speech I made from the heart, and it appeared in the press on October 1, when the newspapers went back into circulation.

A Pakistan Television team arrived at the press club after I had finished speaking. They had come to film the protests against the attacks on the press nationwide, and needed footage of my speech. I was surprised to see them because the government controlled national television. Their decision to cover the event indicated that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not entirely in charge.

Later, I watched the video footage of the nationwide protests in the districts, towns and cities of the four provinces – with the most impressive march in Karachi from where the attacks had emanated.

March 14, 2014

US Shifts Search for Missing Malaysian airline to Indian Ocean
Kate Hodal in Songkhla, Tania Branigan in Beijing and Gwyn Topham in London

The international search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is likely widen into the Indian Ocean, as authorities moved to debunk a string of theories and apparent leads about the fate of the airliner, six days after it vanished.

With US warships already deployed in the Strait of Malacca, west of the Malay peninsula, the White House said that the search could move into the Indian Ocean after new “possible pieces of information”.

According to a report on the ABC network, a Pentagon official said there was an “indication” that the plane might have crashed into the Indian Ocean. A White House spokesman said the information was not conclusive, adding: “We are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy.”

A US official quoted by the Associated Press said the plane was sending signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing, an indication that it was still flying. The jet had enough fuel to reach deep into the Indian Ocean.

Earlier, Malaysian authorities said reports that more data had been transmitted automatically by the plane after it went missing were inaccurate, adding that the last information received from its engines indicated everything was operating normally.

A report in the Wall Street Journal had claimed US investigators believed the plane had flown for five hours, based on data allegedly transmitted to Rolls-Royce, the British engine manufacturers. The Journal later corrected its report, saying the information from the US was based upon an analysis of signals sent through the plane’s satellite-communication link, designed to automatically transmit the status of onboard systems.

A reporter from China waits by her camera at Kuala Lumpur International airport. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters

Malaysia Airlines’ chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahyain, told reporters: “We have contacted both the possible sources of data – Rolls-Royce and Boeing – and both have said they did not receive data beyond 1.07am. The last transmission at 1.07am stated that everything was operating normally.”

Malaysia Airlines has confirmed its planes use a system that automatically monitors the engines and transmits updates on their performance, altitude and speed. They said one engine maintenance update was received during the flight. Neither Boeing nor Rolls-Royce would comment, citing international conventions on air accident investigations.

Boeing did state that an airworthiness directive about possible fuselage cracks issued by US authorities in November regarding 777s, which had been linked in some theories to flight MH370, did not apply as the missing plane did not have the specific antenna installed.

The aircraft, with 239 people on board, disappeared from civilian radar at 1.30am as it crossed the Gulf of Thailand from Malaysia. Malaysian authorities have also stated that the plane was again caught on radar at 2.30am (later denied), and on military radar at 2.15am near the Malacca strait, indicating that it had turned back from its flight path to Beijing.

A man writes a message for passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on a banner at Kuala Lumpur International airport. Photograph: Mak Remissa/EPA

Officials are still trying to verify whether the radar blip at 2.30am was actually MH370, Malaysia’s defence and acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein reiterated on Thursday, and he refused to answer whether that blip had also dropped off the military radar.

“This is too-sensitive information,” Hussein told reporters. He added that Malaysia was in a “crisis situation” and was doing all it could to find the missing airliner. “There is no real precedent for a situation like this. The plane vanished,” he said.

Malaysian and Vietnamese search teams spent the day scouring waters off Vietnam’s southern tip looking for debris photographed by Chinese satellites. Nothing was found and the Malaysian transport minister said China had said the pictures were released online by accident.

A Vietnamese military official looking out of an air force plane during the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Photograph: Luong Thai Linh/EPA

The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, reiterated that families and friends of more than 150 Chinese passengers on board the missing jet were “burning with anxiety”. He added that the Chinese government had asked Malaysian authorities to co-ordinate their activities and establish the cause of the disappearance.

With trust running low, the state broadcaster CCTV reported on Twitter that families had asked the Malaysian envoy whether the air force had shot down the plane – a suggestion Malaysia denied.

Relatives have also lashed out at Chinese officials for not doing enough to help. “I really want to see President Xi [Jinping] – I don’t know right now what could possibly be more important than the lives of these 200 people,” one young woman, who gave her family name as Wen, told Reuters as she fought back tears.

“I also want to ask Mrs Xi, if your husband, President Xi, was on the plane, just imagine, if it was you, how would your parents feel? My husband was on the plane. Every day my children are asking me about their dad. What am I supposed to do?”

February 7, 2014February 7, 2014

Fifth International Karachi Literature Festival Begins

KLF features book displays (Credit: chowrangi.pk.) — KLF features book displays
(Credit: chowrangi.pk.)

Karachi, Feb 7: The Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) begins in Karachi at the Beach Luxury Hotel till February 9. It will have 100-plus sessions featuring 200 speakers from 11 countries.

Over 180 Pakistani and 34 international authors, poets and academics will grace the Festival.

According to Ameena Sayyid and KLF director Asif Farrukhi awards will be given to authors for three different prize categories: KLF-Coca-Cola Best Non-Fiction Book Prize, KLF-Embassy of France Prize, and KLF Peace Prize.

The panel of judges for the prizes include some of Pakistan’s most eminent critics, writers and scholars, who have short-listed three books for each prize category.

According to the programme, proceedings on the opening day will commence with a discussion with Moni Mohsin; a session titled ‘The Power of the Fourth Estate’; and a session on Faiz. These will be followed by a conversation with Mustansar Hussain Tarar; a session with Bushra Ansari; a session on ‘Literature and Music in Pakistan’ with Tina Sani, Zeb Bangash, and Sarmad Khoosat as panellists; readings by Intizar Hussain with the launch of Silver Jubilee edition of his novel Basti, and a conversation with Rajmohan Gandhi. The first day will end with a Mushaira.

Important sessions on the second day of the festival include ‘Contemporary Fiction at Home and the Diaspora’; New Voices in Sindhi Poetry’; ‘Shayer e Awam: Habib Jalib’; ‘Glitter of the Silver Screen’; ‘Qawwali Music and the Sufi Poetry Tradition’; conversations with Kamila Shamsie, Uzma Aslam Khan, Zehra Nigah, and Raza Ali Abidi; dramatic storytelling by Nadia Jamil; and Dastangoi by Danish Hussain, Darain Shahidi and Mahmood Farooqui.

Highlights of the third day will include sessions on ‘Baloch Literature and Landscapes’; ‘Karachi: From Stone Age to Cyber Age’; ‘Bringing Down the Gender Walls’; ‘Drama and the Small Screen’ with Haseena Moin, Sultana Siddiqui, Shakeel, Seema Taher Khan and Attiya Dawood as speakers; conversations with Ashis Nandy, Navid Shahzad, Mohammed Hanif, Amar Jaleel, and Abdullah Hussain; Readings by Zia Mohyeddin; ‘Chulbuk Chori’ a play by Thespians Theatre; screenings of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s films; kathak performance by Nahid Siddiqui; and a concert by Laal.

The festival will include launches of about 28 books including Dr Rajmohan Gandhi’s book Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten, The Kashmir Dispute 1947 by A.G. Noorani, I’ll Find My Way an anthology of short stories edited by Muniza Naqvi, The Rest is Silence: Zahoor ul Ikhlaq: Art and Society in Pakistan, Jazeera Sukhanwaran by Ghulam Abbas, Delhi by Heart by Raza Rumi, The Prisoner by Omer Shahid Hamid, Urdu Afsanay by Hasan Manzar, and What’s Wrong with Pakistan? By Babar Ayaz.