Grief of Pak is our grief: Saudi King

ISLAMABAD – Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani returned home Monday after concluding his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia.

Military sources told that Gen Kayani held a special meeting with Khadim i Haramian Sharifain King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and thanked government and people of Saudi Arabia for extending timely assistance for their flood-stricken brethren in Pakistan.

Sources disclosed that on the occasion King Abdullah said he was much grieved over the devastation caused by worst floods, adding, “he expresses his condolence with the bereaved families on the loss of lives of their dear ones in the floods.”

“Grief of Pakistan is grief of Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding, “we can not leave our Pakistani brethren alone in this hour of trial at any cost.”

Saudi Arab would dispatch the relief goods whatever is required by Pakistan by activating all its resources, he assured.

According to sources, the Army Chief met his Saudi counterpart and key members of the Royal Family and exchanged views on defence and military ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, regional security situation, ways and means for bolstering bilateral ties and other matters of mutual interests.

Lack of easy access to justice spawns militancy

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court Qazi Faez Isa has observed that militant organisations keep on thriving in Pakistan because there has never been easy access to justice.

“Terrorists’ organisations have taken root in Pakistan…when nobody has access to justice in the country,” said Justice Isa in a written letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan.

A three-page letter, a copy of which is with The Express Tribune, reads: “The looming debacle reminds Quaid-e-Azam’s fears that the danger of denial of justice remained dominant over society because of religious disputes among various organisations in the state.

“I remind you (my lord) Quaid’s words in which he (Quaid) pointed out religion, culture and civilisation fighting in Pakistan because there was a danger of denial of these human rights in the subcontinent,” Justice Isa wrote.

He requested Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take notice of unruly laws prevailing in the country as the poor are struggling for justice from pillar to post but they have no access to justice.

He also feared a new judicial crisis when BHC will be virtually blanked after the completion of tenure of additional judges by September 5, 2010.

Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif also sought Supreme Court’s advice in appointment of judges in superior courts. In their written letters, Justices Ejaz and Sharif also made similar requests.

On these requests Chief Justice of Supreme Court passed the following order:

“I am of the opinion that since the matter relating to procedure of appointment of judges is pending adjudication before the full bench. Therefore, on administrative side possibly no action can be taken thus letters be placed before the bench treating as civil miscellaneous application in miscellaneous petition.”

Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq said: “I and President Supreme Court Bar Association will be appearing before the lager bench on Monday regarding (giving) extension to additional judges in the BHC.”

It is also pertinent to mention here that some 32 additional judges will complete their terms after Eid.

DROWNED IN RIVERS OF INCOMPETENCE & GREED

INSIGHT AND FORESIGHT

The destruction caused by the massive flooding from Gilgit-Chitral to Thatta is a tale of destruction wreaked by nature, misery, incompetence and massive corruption. In most places, devastation was avoidable had the water managers of Pakistan not tinkered with nature in exchange for ill gotten wealth, insensitivity to people’s welfare and political mileage.

As I wrote in ‘Drowned in Rivers with no Water’, 70% of Pakistan’s external debt has been consumed in the Water Management Sector with 60% of it going away in incompetent feasibility studies by foreign experts. The net result is that either there is no water or too much of it. Drainage, flood protection bunds, dredging and lining of canal schemes designed to control the fury of rivers have all failed because of shady and ghost civil works. Dredging though an annual budgetary feature was never implemented in letter and spirit neither the height of bunds and shoring through stone and concrete works ever carried out on the supposedly completed projects.

Despite month long floods, administrative reactions in lower reaches of Indus are still slow, inefficient and malafide. The biggest manifestation of this inefficiency, incompetence and vested management is the new course of River Indus to the north. The inundation of the entire productive and fertile plains of Southern Balochistan will neither seep nor have an exit. As a result, lakes will be created on the southern slopes of the Kirthar range that shall hang like a daemon on the towns of Shadadkot, Qambar etc. The flood will continue to flow into this area till the fatal bunds breached on the northern side of Indus are not plugged or the flood waters do not run out.

River Indus and its tributaries have always had a history of fury obliterating civilizations and creating new ones. The lowest depressions of this massive river system still lie in South Eastern Pakistan from Bahawalnagar to Nagar Parkar. This contour of the land also indicates the old course of the lost Nara River called the great Nara depression itself created by the natural forces of earthquakes, tsunamis and flooding.

It was not very long ago that Brigadier Ahsan Tiwana, a nature loving agriculturist had gone from pillar to post suggesting that the extra outflow of Rivers Indus, Jehlum and Chenab should in any emergency be diverted towards this great depression thereby providing water for agriculture, charging of aquifers and reclaiming lands of the Choolistan and Nara Deserts. The wisdom of his proposal is now vindicated. Much of the water could have been diverted to these areas especially when Ali Wan Bund had earlier been made just for diverting water to this untamed desert. As a result the main desert remains dry because its upper fringes irrigated by the canal systems owned by political elites had to be protected. But there is still a heavier cost to be paid by the cities of Kotri, Thatta, Hyderabad and Badin for this act tantamount to criminal intent and complicity to incompetence and vested interests.

25% of Pakistan’s plains including heartland are flooded, infrastructure and cash crops destroyed and over 30% people mostly poor have to start life from scratch after the water has receded. Once the water goes away, the land revenue department will have a field day delineating boundaries and open gateways to massive corruption and bloody feuds. The over centralized response (in reaction to corruption at lower tiers) of NDMA and ERRA-like reconstruction and disaster management organizations and legal issues will slow resettlements.

Many people are now comparing the indigenous national and international response of the 2005 earthquake to these floods. There are three simple explanations for the lack of it.
First, more than 40% of Pakistan’s population has been directly or indirectly affected. Many of the people who responded in 2005 are either victims of this disaster or are helping relatives and friends who are. We are now talking of the entire KPK minus Peshawar, Mardan and Kohat, at least 11 districts of Punjab, 11 of Sindh, over 7 of Balochistan and entire Gilgit-Baltistan. With over 50 million population affected, the scale is just too big for such a response.

Secondly, international donors have been slow to react. They fear that like 2005, much of the aid will fall into the wrong hands. Aid workers are reluctant to travel due to security reasons as the entire Southern Punjab and Northern Sindh has been portrayed as a hotbed of Talibanisation. In fact there is vested interest that would hope that the flood situation breaks up Pakistan.

Thirdly, a country that had the world’s highest Charity to GDP ratio is at a contradiction within itself. They are reluctant to trust their charities in the hands of political and bureaucratic elites that are corrupt and part of the problem. This trust deficit is the biggest cause of delayed national mobilization. People either go and do something directly or are waiting for a GODOT to take charge.

But there are many other scars that will be left on the political and development fabric of Pakistan.

First, and of immediate nature is the misery caused to the fertile plains of Balochistan. Soon the rising poverty, absence of governance and resettlement issues will give rise to crime and centrifugal forces. Much of the area will for times to come become permanent lakes and ponds and a grim reminder of the manipulation of flows by political elites. Ironically, this is also the part of Balochistan that has stood like a rock against forces of secession. Poverty may breed crime at the societal level but one step up, it also breeds sub nationalism.

Notice how a new course of River Indus has been artificially created in an area that has no drainage. We are likely to see lakes and new ponds in some of the most fertile areas of Balochistan. This water will continue to pour in till River Indus does not recede.
Secondly, government’s insensitivity to Atabad Disaster and landslide phenomena since 2002 is a cause of concern. No teams of geologists and hydrologist have been created to study these unprecedented phenomena that have virtually cut off vast areas of Pakistan as also land routes to China.

The third issue relates to dredging of the dams. Warsak has outlived its life and Tarbela is badly silted. It is hoped that these heavy flows may have carried away some of the embedded silt. But more than building new controversial dams, there is a need to study latest technologies and evolve a method to dredge and reclaim these dams not only on continuous basis but also taking advantage of high peak floods and water velocities.

Fourthly, would Kalabagh have averted this disaster? Considering that the dam will be down of KPK that faced the joint brunt of Kabul, Panjkora, Chitral and Swat Rivers the answer is no. If anything, it could have prevented some damages downstream at the cost of submerging Nowshera, Kohat, Chaarsada and some areas of Swabi. So what is the logic of making a dam that inundates the major cities and economic hubs of KPK? Maybe the geologists, hydrologists and engineers consider the option of a smaller storage reservoir at Kalabagh by reducing the height of the dam.

Fifthly, considering that Kohistan and Diamer are beset with mysterious land slide phenomena, very young and loose rock structure and in proximity of major fault lines, would it be prudent to construct Basha at all? With a 300M vertical wall hanging over Tarbela, KKH realigned and memories of Bunji and Atabad still alive, would it be sensible to rush for a Basha that has its own destruction writ large.

All these are very crucial issues at a time when the nation waits for a GODOT. What Mr. Altaf Hussain and Imran Khan are saying is a true reflection of the feelings of majority Pakistanis.

No clue to Gen Tariq’s son-in-law’s whereabouts

By Arshad Dogar

LAHORE: CIA police and other intelligence agencies have failed to recover the son-in-law of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majeed, who was kidnapped by unidentified people on Wednesday evening in Faisal Town police limits.

Senior police investigators told The News that no breakthrough could be made in the kidnapping case. However, a senior police officer, requesting anonymity, said investigation was underway into different aspects. He explained that no call for ransom was received so far and aspects of a monetary dispute and involvement of a militant group were also being considered in the probe to recover Amir Malik, President Anjuman Tajran Barkat Market.

A case No 692/10 has been registered against kidnappers under section 365 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), on the complaint of Naseem Malik, brother-in-law of Amir Malik, at Faisal Town police station. The complainant told police that victim Amir Malik, the son of Aftab Malik, a resident of 26/L, Model Town EXT, reached his house by a car 932167/LXD at around 8:25 p.m on Wednesday. As the main gate of the house was opened by driver Muhammad Arshad, son of Ramazan, some 12 people in a Honda City (silver color) PUK-8192 and on two motorcycles approached him. They pushed the driver and Amir into the car and sped away. However, the driver was dropped at some unknown location.

Police set up pickets at entry and exit points of the provincial metropolis and launched a search operation, but no clue could be found about the kidnappers. The complainant of the FIR told this scribe on phone the number plate of the Honda City car proved bogus in initial investigation. He confirmed that no breakthrough could be made till the filing of the report on Thursday. Amir Malik started his business of jewelry with his father Aftab Malik in Barkat Market in 1998. Later, he opened his own shop. He became president of Anjuman Tajran Barkat Market in 2007. Traders at Barket Market have different views about him. Some said he had been playing a good role in the welfare of businessmen. However, others were of the view that Amir had monetary disputes with many people.

A trader of Qaumi Tajir Ittehad, requesting anonymity, said that though no solid information about the motive behind the kidnapping had been found so far, there was speculation. He alleged that Amir used to resolve issues of people belonging to different walks of life after receiving money and if a job was not done, he was not in habit of returning the amount. The trader charged that he used the name of his father-in-law to resolve issues.

Another trader of Barkat Market, on condition not to be named, said that Amir Malik had become president of Barket Market Anjuman-e-Tajran by using his ‘contacts’ in the army. He claimed that there could be three motives behind the kidnapping.

First, he could have been abducted over some monetary dispute. Second, militants could have kidnapped him for the release of their accomplices. Thirdly, he could have fabricated the incident to avoid payments to his clients. However, a senior police officer said everything was just speculation till his recovery. “Police and intelligence agencies are using all possible resources to recover him,” he maintained.

The great Baloch martyr

By Sanaullah Baloch

The world watched incredulously as Pervez Musharraf declared war on Balochistan, and particularly, on Nawab Bugti. Tanks rolled into Dera Bugti and other parts in January 2005, prior to the so-called attack on Musharraf in December 2005 in Kohlu district.

In March 2005, forces began to smash Bugti’s house and the Dera Bugti town, killing dozens and leaving him besieged in a few rooms. Musharraf then came up with a plan to eliminate Bugti. His associates planned a so-called visit to Kohlu to find an excuse to escalate the military operation against the Baloch people and their leaders.

After the “attack” on Musharraf on December 14, 2005, indiscriminate bombing compelled all Dera Bugti inhabitants to flee their homes. According to an Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre report, 160,000 people were displaced during the conflict.

Bugti moved to the mountains but was killed on August 26, 2006, followed by massive anti-government protests in Pakistan and media coverage worldwide. Musharraf’s government refused to accept responsibility.

No doubt, it was a well-planned murder of a respected Baloch leader. In December 2005, Musharraf had thundered, “There are two or three tribal chiefs and feudal lords behind what’s going on in Balochistan. The past governments have made deals with them and indulged them. My government is determined to establish its writ. It will be a fight to the finish.”

Bugti devoted his life to the Baloch cause and became an undisputed martyr of the Baloch people.

Naturally, as one would expect after decades of tribal, political and public life, there are those who love him and those who criticise him, the praise and slander each creating its own version of the man. Most criticisms were manufactured.

Against overwhelming odds created overtly and covertly by the establishment, Bugti continually had to navigate the shifting sands of intrigue and sabotage.

After his son Salal was killed in June 1992, he chose to remain in Dera Bugti with his people. He was a true victim of Islamabad’s divide-and-rule policy. Instead of playing a more proactive role in unifying and strengthening its political position, Bugti was kept engaged in inter-tribal feuds for decades by the establishment.

He also tried to unite Baloch nationalist parties in 2004, calling for a single nationalist party. But Islamabad’s continued meddling in Balochistan’s affairs and engineered conspiracies and attacks at him slowed down the unification process.

Having immense experience in politics, Bugti never saw armed struggle as the solution to the Baloch question. He began negotiating with Islamabad. He prepared a set of reasonable demands in consultation with veteran Baloch leaders and nationalist parties. He appointed his representatives to the parliamentary committee on Balochistan.

It was a slow process of dialogue with little chance of getting political and economic relief for the Baloch people. For the people of Balochistan, it was a momentous occasion. Many saw the dialogue as the beginning of a new era for Baloch-Islamabad relations. But as expected by Bugti, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Nawab Khair Bux Marri and other Baloch nationalists, Islamabad and its ruling civil-military establishment betrayed the Baloch trust.

During the talks, several political activists ‘disappeared’ and were tortured. There was no let up in intimidation and harassment by the troops. Talking to a journalist, Bugti in January 2005 said, “How can negotiations on political issues continue with the government in this situation? A military operation and negotiations cannot continue side by side. If the authorities launch an operation, with whom will they hold negotiations?”

Bugti pointed out that Nawab Marri had already made it clear that he had nothing to do with this dialogue and Sardar Mengal had also disassociated himself from the process in protest against the arrest of party workers as well as other reasons.

Musharraf and the establishment were unwilling to compromise on Balochistan’s genuine economic and political demands. Instead of addressing Baloch grievances politically, the military government resorted to the brute force. Musharraf added fuel to the fire when he declared, “Don’t push us. It isn’t the 1970s when you can hit and run and hide in the mountains. This time you won’t even know what hit you.”

Bugti was prepared for the consequences. During an interview in April 2006, he had predicted his death at the hands of the armed forces. “They have been given instructions that I and Nawabzada Balach Marri should be wiped out.”

Islamabad’s erroneous policy of suppression has proved to be a failure. The killing of Baloch leaders has dealt a bloody blow to the fragile Baloch-Islamabad relations. Four years after Bugti’s death, Balochistan’s state of affairs represents a worsening scenario. Human rights violations are growing, tensions between Islamabad and the Baloch people have mounted, economic activities are at a lifeless level and poverty has increased manifold.

Afghan girls fall ill after apparent gas poisoning

KABUL, About 40 schoolgirls became ill and were taken to hospital after a suspected gas poisoning in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, another apparent attack by hardline Islamists opposed to female education.

The Taliban banned education for girls during their Afghan rule from 1996-2001, but have condemned similar attacks in the past. They have, however, set fire to dozens of schools, threatened teachers and even attacked schoolgirls in rural areas.

Wednesday’s incident followed a similar pattern to other recent attacks at girls’ schools involving an airborne substance which officials said could be some form of gas.

Asif Nang, a spokesman for the Education Ministry, said the girls, of differing ages from a school in Kabul’s east, were being treated in hospital. Their illnesses were not believed to be serious.

“It looks like it is another case of gas poisoning, but it is being investigated now,” he said.

The Afghan government, however, did not suggest who may have been responsible for the apparent attack.

Help motivate people, Zardari asks bank heads

By Asim Yasin

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday called upon the country’s banking and finance sector to use influence in areas of their operations and participate in flood relief and rehabilitation by sensitising the people and state agencies to the colossal damage and ways to recover the lost ground.

“We hope that the worst floods were caused by freak weather and will not recur. We should also keep in mind that it may have been caused by climatic change and have to brace ourselves for such disasters in future as well,” the president said while addressing the bank heads and banking and financial sector professionals who had been invited to the Presidency for a special emergent meeting on flood relief and rehabilitation and the role the bankers can play in this regard.

Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar briefing the media said the president said that the banks should provide necessary financial services to farmers and small businesses to help them restore their businesses and urged them to play a role in the revival of economic activities in the devastated areas. “A scheme should be devised to provide relief to the existing borrowers of devastated areas and at the same time make provision for fresh financing for revival of economic activities,” he added.

He said 2.6 million acres of cultivated land was affected with a crop loss of Rs200 billion. The president said agriculture and housing were the most seriously impacted areas and banks were saddled with the social responsibility of pressing into service their professional skills for addressing the issues in these two sectors.

He said the government will provide free seeds to farmers to grow canola early next month in the flood affected areas and also distribute first instalment of Rs5,000 of the relief assistance per family before Eid. “These are also areas in which the banks can play a positive and constructive role for speedy implementation,” he said.

Babar said the president directed the House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) that while providing financial services for reconstruction of damaged housing sector, the Corporation should also undertake search for suitable technologies that enabled the rebuilt houses withstand earthquakes and floods.

He called for a separate briefing on rebuilding the destroyed dwelling units using modern technology to make them disaster proof. Later in the interactive session the heads of country’s banks and financial institutions offered several suggestions about their role in mitigating the effects of calamity and assured the president that driven by their sense of social responsibility they will rise to the expectations of the nation.

Those who were present during the meeting included among others President First Women Bank Shafqat Sultana, President NBP Syed Ali Raza, President SME Bank RA Chughtai, President ZTBL Muhammad Zaka Ashraf, President Askari Bank Rafiquddin Mehkari, Group head Bank Alflah SM Talib Rizvi, President HBL R Zakir Mahmood, CE Bank Al-Habib Abbas D Habib, President UBL Atif R Bokhari, VP Citibank Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht, and President ABL Khalid Sherwani.

Kirthar breaches flood 25 villages

* People start evacuating low-lying areas

* Hyderabad, surroundings still under threat

* 77,000 people evacuated as entire katcha area of Thatta submerged

* Indus River embankments in Thatta, Sujawal under extreme pressure

HYDERABAD: As the swollen Indus River continued to inundate more villages and towns in southern Sindh, a breach in the Kirthar Canal on Wednesday threatened Larkana, Rato Dero and Garhi Khuda Bux with flooding.

Under extreme water pressure, the breach in canal near Sheranpur village has widened to 100 feet, unleashing huge torrents that are heading towards Rato Dero and Naudero. So far 25 villages have been inundated.

In Larkana, which is threatened by floodwater from the two directions, the local people have started evacuating low-lying areas.

According to sources in the Irrigation Department, efforts are being made to divert the floodwater towards Shahdadkot. Larkana DCO Hasan Naqvi has issued a warning to the residents of Rato Dero and Naudero to “remain on alert in view of imminent flooding”.

Water is also rapidly entering Haji Khamiso Babbar, Mallan Babbar, Nawaz Ali Barast and Hali Moosa Khaskheli Goth near Jhirk city. Residents of the villages are trying to save the area from flooding on their own. However, the water level is constantly rising.

Hyderabad: On the other hand, the situation has further deteriorated in Hyderabad and Thatta. “Hyderabad and large surrounding districts are still facing a threat,” Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said on Wednesday. “We are working on a war-footing. This is an extraordinary flood and we are at war with the extraordinary floods,” he added.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from flood-threatened areas close to Hyderabad, on the lower reaches of the Indus, where more than 40 nearby villages have been swept away. Barkaat Rizvi, spokesman for the Hyderabad district administration, said that residents were still leaving vulnerable areas. “The danger is still there,” he said. At the nearby Kotri Barrage, the river has swelled from its normal width of 200 to 300 metres to almost 3.5 kilometres. Water lapped at a road in Jamshoro district that is normally six or seven kilometres from the river.

At least 938,438 cusecs of water is passing through the Kotri Barrage. It is only for the second time in the past 55 years that a super-flood (above 900,000 cusecs) is passing through the barrage.

Thatta: In Thatta, the floodwater has changed its direction and is now heading towards the city after submerging katcha areas.

According to the district administration, 77,000 people have been evacuated from katcha areas. Due to a shortage of heavy machinery and stones, authorities are finding it difficult to reinforce the Jannat Sheikh safety embankment. Authorites have said the embankments in Thatta and Sujawal are under extreme pressure. Authorities have safely evacuated people from the nearby flooded town of Qubo Saeed Khan and there were no reports of any casualties.

India needs Azadi from tinted vision

By Khalid Awan

The Kashmiri youth want to get rid of Indian yoke come what may be the cost. Their demonstration of frustration and anger in the face of bullets and curfews bear testimony to this fact. Indian authorities, right from the beginning, have been blaming Pakistan for fomenting trouble in Kashmir and instigating the Kashmiri youth to rise in revolt against the Indian sovereignty. But the facts speak for themselves; the struggle of Kashmiri youth is indigenous.

The Indian Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, repeated the same mantra recently, saying that Pakistan based organisations were behind the ongoing agitation in the Kashmir Valley and the protesting youth were being supported by Pakistan. However, an opinion poll conducted by the Outlook magazine of India, in association with the Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), has totally nullified the Indian propaganda, while exposing some of the hard facts about the Kashmir movement.

The poll conducted in Srinagar revealed that 75 percent of those polled did not see Pakistan behind the protests in the occupied territory and believe that it is an indigenous struggle. A majority of the respondents recorded their anger against the New Delhi government, saying that it was responsible for the whole mess.

A majority has described yearning of liberation amongst the Kashmiri masses as the main factor of the current situation. For how long, India will succeed in hiding the truth and gruesome ground realities by blaming Pakistan for its wrongdoings?

Indian authorities must realise that they are themselves responsible for current deteriorating situation in the IOK, and throwing muck on someone else will neither improve the situation nor let them succeed in achieving their false claims. The opinion poll of the Outlook magazine must serve as an eye opener for India as well as the international community. The writing on the wall is what noted human rights activist and author Arundhati Roy said, “India needs azadi (freedom) from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India.”

US Centcom chief lauds Pak Army sacrifices

General James N. Mattis, Commander United States Central Command called on Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters on Monday. The visiting dignitary remained with him for some time and discussed the matters of professional interest.

According to military sources this is the first visit of General James N. Mattis, Commander United States Central Command to Pakistan after he assumed his responsibilities in place of General Petraeus.

He briefed the Army Chief on host of issues of bilateral issues like defense and military fields in depth.

He said that he would continue from where General Petraeus left the policy towards Pakistan.

Sources say that General James N. Mattis, Commander United States Central Command highly acclaimed the sacrifices and services of Pakistan army adding US will keep on supporting Pakistan.

He expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the loss of numerous lives in one of the devastating floods in the history of Pakistan.

US is with Pakistan in this hour of crises, he said.

General James N. Mattis, Commander United States Central Command again told Army Chief that US cannot win war against terrorism without the sheer cooperation of Pakistan at any cost.

Both the high ups also threw light on strengthening military relations between the two countries, sources added.