Gunmen open fire at police van in Islamabad, one killed

By Sohail Chaudhry

A policeman was killed in Islamabad when gunmen opened fire at a security vehicle in the capital on Friday.

The police van was patrolling 15th street in the I-10 sector area of Islamabad when the attack took place.

Unidentified assailants appeared on two motorcycles and opened fire at the police van. One sub-inspector, Riaz, was killed as a result while another policeman was injured.

Eyewitnesses said that a female passerby was also injured in the attack, but this was not confirmed by authorities.

Yesterday (Thursday), Islamabad police foiled two bids to smuggle weapons including machine guns and sniper rifles into the capital and apprehended four suspects.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that a major terror plot in Islamabad’s Red Zone district had been foiled. The district is home to Western embassies, parliament, the presidency and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) headquarters.

“As a result of strict security measures in the federal capital, some major terrorist plots have been foiled,” he told reporters.

“The terrorists wanted to target certain specific places in the Red Zone (the heavily fortified government district) and the headquarters of an elite agency,” Malik said

A Strong Reaction To America’s Support For Homosexuals & Trans-Genders In Pakistan

A group of conservative Pakistani religious and political leaders has spoken out against a gay rights event held last month at the U.S. Embassy in the capital city, Islamabad, issuing a statement calling LGBT people “social garbage.”

Meanwhile, protesters staged antigay marches Monday in Islamabad and two other major Pakistani cities, Karachi and Lahore. “This meeting shows cruel America has unleashed a storm of immoral values on our great Islamic values, which we’ll resist at all costs,” said Mohammad Hussain Mehnati, one of the leaders of Pakistan’s primary Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, at one of the events, according to Agence France-Presse.

The right-wing group put out the statement Sunday, reports the Associated Press, which also notes that it called the meeting one of the most dangerous U.S. attacks on Pakistan – second only to missiles shot from unmanned drones.

The meeting, held June 26, was hosted by U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Hoagland and cohosted by a gay employee group, Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. It was the first of its kind held by the embassy and was designed to promote the rights of LGBT people in Pakistan. Leaders of Pakistani gay groups attended, along with embassy officials, military representatives, and foreign diplomats. Hoagland assured the gathering that the U.S. and its embassy staff would support gay rights.

The conservative group responded with its statement saying LGBT people “are the curse of society and social garbage. They don’t deserve to be Muslim or Pakistani, and the support and protection announced by the U.S. administration for them is the worst social and cultural terrorism against Pakistan.” The group called for the arrest of participants in the meeting, saying the event was “tantamount to stabbing the Muslim world in the chest.”

Bin Laden’s wife al Sada to return to Yemen

The Yemeni widow of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Aml Ahmed Abdul al Fatah al Sada, will be repatriated back to Yemen from Pakistan after her husband was killed on May 2 by the US Special Forces in an operation in Abbottabad,Yemen Times reported.

This file photo taken in 1988 shows Osama bin Laden smiling as he sits in a cave in the Jalalabad region of Afghanistan.

Pakistani Deputy Ambassador to Yemen Dr Diyar Khan told theYemen Times that the embassy in Sana’a received information from the government in Islamabad that some family members of Bin Laden were held in Pakistan after his assassination.

“They [Pakistani authorities] told us that they are in safe hands and when initial questions are completed, they will be sent to their home countries,” revealed Khan.

Al Sada was with Bin Laden in the room when US Special Forces stormed the house and was shot in the leg while attempting to defend her husband. She is currently being detained in a hospital in Pakistan, but authorities told her family that they will send her back to Yemen soon.

Khan said that the embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, has been told by officials in Islamabad that all of Bin Laden’s relatives held after the raid at the compound would be repatriated to their respective countries of origin after Pakistani authorities complete their initial investigation and questioning of them.

Reclaiming Pakistan’s Lost Space

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan-It is amazing to see the glibness with which the rulers continue to lie to the nation about the drone attacks and the surrender of Pakistan’s sovereignty to the USA. Feigning anger and regret over the drone attacks which have multiplied yearly since the Zardari government came to power, the civil and military leadership continues to give access to the US to kill Pakistanis in Fata through these lethal drone attacks. Even a parliamentary resolution has failed to push the government into acting against these drones and moving to control the free-wheeling, gun-toting and murderous American Rambos in the guise of CIA operatives, US Special Forces and private US mercenaries, who have added to the murder of Pakistani civilians and security personnel. Instead, as the WikiLeaks revealed, Prime Minister Gilani informed the US government that they could continue with their operatives and drones in Pakistan while he made declaratory noises to the contrary for the Pakistani nation’s consumption! Much earlier, Bob Woodward, in his book Obama’s Wars, had put on record how President Zardari, in a revealing cavalier mindset, informed the US leaders that collateral damage in terms of Pakistani lives was of no concern to him. That Pakistani lives are simply irrelevant “collateral damage” shows the utter contempt the “democratic” rulers of Pakistan have for their people.

Meanwhile, despite skilful propaganda to the contrary from Western sources (both through NGOs and officials) and some of their embedded media personnel in Pakistan, the people of Fata are increasingly becoming more vocal and resentful of the drones and therefore more resentful towards the Pakistani state. Even PPP members from Fata have denounced the drone killings as primarily targeting civilians. While only a handful of militants have been known to have died in the drone attacks, the civilian death toll goes beyond 2,000 and includes large numbers of women and children. Beyond those killed, there are hundreds who have been physically disabled and an equal number that is suffering from shell-shock and trauma – with no provision of any medical care and assistance for the entire Fata region. The ratio of militants to civilians killed is around 1:10 – a figure reaffirmed by Gulabat Khan, a Malik from North Waziristan. Reflecting the mainstream tribal view in Fata, he also regretted that no one has bothered to inquire or offer assistance to the locals who have suffered human and material losses as a result of the drones. Worse still, the government has still not inquired into the killing of the 40 Maliks in the recent drone attack against a tribal jirga. Khan vowed revenge against the US and the Pakistani state which would go on for 500 years. Therefore, it is not surprising to find the tribes of Fata announcing a jihad against the US which means more radicalization spreading to the rest of the country.

For Pakistan, the costs of this subservience to the US and surrender of national sovereignty has proven extremely costly and far outweighs any short term gains that may have been made – although that is itself a contentious issue. Terrorism has run riot across the country and President Zardari himself has declared that Pakistan has so far suffered with 33,500 casualties and a $68 billion loss to the economy; hundreds of thousands have been displaced far beyond Fata which has become a devastated region losing its tenuous connection with the rest of Pakistan since the people are now being compelled to acquire food and material from Afghanistan instead. This is how we have destroyed the Fata tribals who were in the forefront of supporting the creation of Pakistan and gave their lives for Kashmir in 1948.

Ironically, Pakistan has also become far more insecure as a result of becoming a surrogate for a US militaristic agenda that is rapidly slipping into a quagmire of confusion and hysteria. By opening up the whole country to the US, our rulers have also allowed all manner of external intruders into conducting low intensity operations in our sensitive areas not only of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also of Balochistan. Add to this the bombings of shrines and mosques and the accentuating of Shia-Sunni and Deobandi-Barelvi divides, and the costs for Pakistan of the present alliance with the US rise even higher. Even Karachi and, increasingly, Punjab are becoming susceptible to militancy and violence as the provincial governments remain unresponsive to the needs of their people and the federal government remains preoccupied in appeasing the US and the destabilizing IMF.

Not that the US has achieved anything from its military-centric approach to fighting terrorism. All that has happened is that a more conducive environment has been created for extremism and militancy post-9/11. The hope that Obama would bring more rationality to a trauma-ridden US policy-making elite was dashed very early on when the generals prevailed on him in connection with the militarist policies in Afghanistan; and just as the Zardari regime has pushed further the detrimental policies of Musharraf, so Obama has done the same in terms of accentuating the neocon militarism.

We feel it is time for all hues of the Pakistani nationalist leadership to put aside its other differences and come together on a singular platform of reclaiming Pakistan’s sovereignty and national dignity so that we can isolate and fight the militants and extremists in our midst more effectively through a strategy of space denial. Since Parliament has failed in pushing the government into taking the necessary steps to end drone attacks and delink from the deadly US militaristic agenda for this region, PTI has been compelled to bring people on to the streets and take direct action against this loss of sovereignty and drone killings. The PAF chief had declared over a year ago that Pakistan had the technical capability to bring down drones but the political decision was lacking.

The US public has to realize a number of points: One, that they have to extricate themselves from this so-called “war on terror” which is causing a loss of $140 billion a year in Afghanistan as well as undermining the US position in the region. Ann Paterson, the previous US ambassador to Pakistan, admitted the adverse impact on the US of the drone policy. Two, the US is violating its own humanitarian laws with the drone attacks by acting as judge, jury and executioner and incinerating the families and neighbors of suspects. Three, in the long term, the US “war on terror” has added to the radicalization of Muslim youth in the US and Europe.

Today we Pakistanis of all shades and convictions need to come together to support our Fata brethren and protest their killing and displacement. We have to show by actions that they are one of us and we will not allow the US, Nato or our own misguided rulers to continue their military policies against the people of Fata. We also want to show that we are sensitive to their developmental needs and the urgency with which Fata needs to be brought into the mainstream of Pakistan. It is not enough to simply issue statements against US policies and drone killings; we need to act so that the voice of the people becomes a force for the rulers to reckon with. Unless we stand up for our rights no one will protect us. As we gather together the multiple strands of the Pakistani nation to reclaim our territorial integrity, sovereignty and national dignity, the message will go out to the rulers and their foreign masters that they are nothing without the support of their own nation.

AFGHAN STALEMATE

Last week Admiral Michael Mullen made rather blunt remarks in Islamabad that ISI’s continued links with the Haqqani network were at the core of Pakistan’s problematic relations with the United States. “The ISI has a rich history of how they operated in this part of the world, to protect their own country…The Haqqani network had fuelled the Afghan insurgency by supporting, training and funding fighters who were killing American and coalition troops in Afghanistan,” said the Admiral. Jockeying between the conflicting strategies of simultaneously wooing and weakening the Haqqani’s, Admiral is often fatigued enough to relapse into Bush era strategic environment. Dynamics of Afghan conflict have moved to new planes; it is an open secret that Admiral’s boys had been intimately negotiating with Haqqanis, both with and without ISI’s facilitation.

Likewise, recently released biannual report of the White House to Congress on Pakistan and Afghanistan, has cast critical aspersions on Pakistan, both in the domain of governance and counter-insurgency operations. This report is an indictment on Pakistan; and it accepts no responsibility regarding deliberate ambiguities in American policies towards Afghanistan and Pakistan. White House is of the view that “There remains no clear path to defeating the insurgency in Pakistan, despite the unprecedented and sustained deployment of over 147,000 forces”.

The latest phase of the Mohmand operations which concluded in March has been cited as an example of Pakistan’s inability to hold and build areas cleared of militants. The fact that 50,000 internally displaced persons has been able to return to their homes in Mohmand agency as a result of “Operation Brekhna” finds no appreciation. Pakistan’s political and military leadership have been assessed harshly. America expects Pakistan to perform a feat single-handed which Americans could not accomplish with the military might of over 40 countries at their disposal.

America’s policy of measured vagueness in the context of troops’ pullout from Afghanistan has begun to haunt it; indeed the bluff has been called. Though tempo of the events in Libya has eclipsed the Afghan issue, it will soon reoccupy the centre stage. Libyan conflict cannot be resolved inline with American blueprints without inducting a large number of land forces into the North African theatre; and such numbers would only be available if and when troops could be de-inducted from Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Though, Defence Secretary Robert Gates had told a recent West Point audience that “any future defence secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined”, he may already be busy in a number crunching exercise; challenges of extricating over 100,000 American troops from Afghanistan without a clear victory are indeed phenomenal.

Morale of the American troops is marred by fatigue, homesickness, weariness and mental disorders. Suicide rate among the American soldiers is on the rise; there were 252 cases in 2010. This trend is linked to drug abuse, brain injuries, depression and back home worries. Apart from numerous cases of indiscipline in Iraq and Afghanistan, several cases of shootings within military establishments have also occurred inside American mainland.

President Karzai has announced the start of the transition process in Afghanistan. Going by the numbers, recruitment of Afghan security forces is expected to achieve its target figure of around 300,000 Afghans by coming October. However, infiltration of security forces by the Taliban is out of the ordinary. There have been a number of recent cases of Afghan security personnel killing foreign soldiers. Earlier this month, two American soldiers on a training mission were killed by a policeman.

Representation of Pushtuns in the security forces remains a challenge. Only 3.7 per cent of recruited Pushtuns are from southern Afghanistan against a target figure of 10 per cent. Tajiks are over represented in the Afghan National Army by about 8 per cent and by more than 15 per cent in the police. With these compositional and Psychological issues at hand, Afghan security forces represent a ticking bomb.

Reconstitution of the upgraded ‘Peace Commission’ radiates a ray of hope. President Karzai has announced that the upgraded commission also enjoyed US support. However, track record of such earlier efforts is not quite enviable. Moreover any concept or terminology that originates from America is not likely to sell well amongst the masses of Afghanistan. Any solution that is not owned and led by Afghans is destined to doom.

Turkey has since long been sincerely trying to play its role to sort out Afghanistan problem and for this purpose it has hosted several rounds of talks between Pakistani and Afghan leadership. Turkish initiative of allowing Taliban to set up their liaison office in Turkey is a positive development. This would bring various factions of Taliban closer to each other; and existence of a formal office would give legitimacy to an otherwise established reality of the political clout of Taliban. It would be appropriate if other countries as well as OIC, NAM, SAARC and the UN also allow such representation to Taliban. However, once again the fundamental error is exclusion of Iran from this process. Sustainable peace cannot be achieved in Afghanistan without taking Iran on board.

If anything could restore normalcy in today’s troubled Afghanistan, it is a comprehensive national reconciliation in which all Afghan have a stake. Fast emerging unfavourable security situation has compelled the US to negotiate with Taliban for a political settlement. Strenuous efforts (read machinations) are being made by the USA to win over Taliban. Initially these contacts were made secretly with India as behind the door facilitator. Later on, secrecy had to be abandoned when the US as well as President Karzai concluded that without active participation of Pakistan no headway could be made. Main stream Taliban entities are still united under Mullah Omar and have rejected pre-conditions of USA. They are aware that the US is no longer in a position to call the shots. Despite two troop surges the balance remains tilted in favour of Taliban. Taliban could not be split up. They are convinced that they have already won the war, and the countdown has started. Hence they are in no mood to compromise on American terms. For them, the US is now like a wounded animal which has transformed from a hunter into a hunted prey.

There are test balloons indicating an American stay up to 2024. President Karzai has recently stated that America intends to establish permanent military bases in Afghanistan. The US has for long been eying on Kabul, Baghram, Kandahar, Shindad and Herat as its military bases. These places are being speedily fortified and modernised. However, resurgence of Taliban, war weariness, haywire economy and uprisings in Middle East and Africa are compelling America to call it a day. Though Lisbon summit extended the tenure of this dead-ended war till 2014, a speedy withdrawal may be in the offing.

Davis CIA’s acting chief in Pakistan?

LAHORE - Raymond Allen Davis, who killed two Pakistanis last month in the provincial capital, is second-in-comm-and to Jonathan Banks, the former station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Islamabad, The Nation has learnt.

Well-placed sources said that the highly-trained operative of the CIA was the second important man of the CIA in Pakistan after ex-station chief Jonathan Banks who left Pakistan after his cover was blown. Banks left Islamabad when Karim Khan, a resident of North Waziristan, submitted an application at the Secretariat Police Station, Islamabad for a FIR against the CIA station chief for the killing of Karim’s brother and son in one of the drone attacks directed by the CIA boss in Pakistan.

The sources said that Davis could be called the deputy station chief of the CIA in Pakistan, or the acting station chief.

They said that after Banks left the federal capital, Davis assumed the charge of his office by carrying out all the tasks previously under the domain of his boss, including gathering information for drone attacks. The sources said that one of the main tasks of Davis was to keep CIA network intact in the tribal agencies as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Establishing their point regarding Davis, the sources said that the detained killer of Pakistanis demanded ‘naswar’ in jail, which reflects he visited the KP frequently. He also speaks the local languages and has complete information about the cultures being practised in all the provinces.

The sources said that monitoring and assisting other operatives gathering information about religious and rightwing organisations, especially those who take a sharp line against the US or India, was also on Davis’ duty list.

The sources said it is believed that the US operative was establishing a local network for the CIA in Pakistan by recruiting the locals through various front organisations, of which some were launched in Pakistan and some from other friendly countries of the US in the western world.

The sources said that Davis was trying to establish a local CIA network in Punjab, mainly in the southern parts of the province.

To a query, the sources said that security services were ready to thwart any conspiracy against the country hatched locally or internationally. The security agencies always exposed the enemies of the state and averted several threats to the security and integrity of the country, the sources added.

Monitoring Desk adds: US national Raymond Davis contacted his family members back in American and talked with them for 12 minutes, reported a private TV channel Sunday.

Davis told them the situation and asked them to pray for his release. He said to his family members not to worry about him but only pray for him. He said, “I have committed a mistake, and I have realized it.”

After talking to his family members on the phone, Davis became sad and didn’t even eat chocolates and drinks the US Consulate sent for him.

National Command Authority meeting: ‘Western capitals need not worry’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday rebuffed ‘scepticism’ in western capitals about the safety of its nuclear arsenal and said it would never accept any ‘discriminatory treatment’ that undermines its strategic deterrence.

At a meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA), the country’s top political and military leadership appeared to be sending across a clear message, rejecting fears that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into ‘wrong hands’.

“As a nuclear weapon state, Pakistan is fully cognisant of its responsibilities and has established effective and robust command and control structures, and comprehensive export control and regulatory regimes,” a statement, issued after the meeting, said.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Gilani and attended by chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee and chiefs of all services.

The NCA huddled days after the Cabinet Committee on Defence decided to add aggression to a policy to pursue Islamabad’s interests ahead of a review by US President Obama of its policy for the region.

In recent weeks, leaked US diplomatic memos suggested that western capitals were worried that al Qaeda-inspired individuals could break through the safety walls to lay their hands on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

Without mentioning any country, the NCA said it would not accept any treatment that was discriminatory in nature.

“Such policies, detrimental as they are to international peace and security, undermine the credibility of the existing non-proliferation regime and are inconsistent with the national laws and international obligations,” the statement said.

“Revisionism based on strategic, political or commercial considerations accentuates asymmetries and would perpetuate instability, especially in South Asia,” it continued.

Though no country was mentioned in the handout, Pakistan has been critical of a US-India civilian nuclear deal and wanted to have a similar arrangement with Washington.

The statement by the NCA comes ahead of the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to India and Pakistan.

“The NCA underscored that peace and security are indivisible and that the goals of non-proliferation could only be advanced by ensuring equal and undiminished security for all states,” the statement said.

In what appeared to be a message for Washington for its objections to its nuclear cooperation with China, the statement said Pakistan would never let anybody undermine its interests.

Baloch insurgency – the centre’s deadly slack

ISLAMABAD: To end insurgency, the federal government needs to take concrete measures to restore its credibility in Balochistan, prominent Baloch leaders said on Sunday.

“The hopes of peace which emerged after the revival of democracy have died and the distance between the province and the center is the greatest,” Lashkari Raisani, Pakistan People’s Party senator, said while talking to Pakistan Today.

“Some ministers have sabotaged the reconciliation process initiated by the PPP and now the provincial and the central leaderships are at distance from each other”, Raisani, who recently resigned as PPP provincial chief, said adding that the situation in Balochistan was beyond the control of the Frontier Corps and police.

“The FC, deployed by Musharraf, were withdrawn immediately as a part of the plan to resolve the issue politically,” he said, claiming that the provincial government was completely redundant. If the federal government shows sincerity and commitment, all Baloch nationalist leaders could be brought into mainstream politics, he said, adding that Agaz-Haqooq-Balochistan (AHB) was a political programme which had been rendered useless because of the use of force alongside.

Certain forces in the country, which he could not name, were working against the interest of the country and were promoting imperialism. “If PPP goes beyond cosmetic measures, things can still be repaired,” Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch said while commenting on Balochistan-center relation. “Balochis are not beggars, they want their political and economic rights,” he said.

Senator of Jamhori Watan Party, Shahid Bugti said the credibility gap between the centre and the province was of an unprecedented nature. “No one in the province trusts the center now and PPP’s provincial leadership admits its powerlessness”, Bugti added, saying that the there was a conflict between the center the provincial government which spoke volumes about the credibility of the government.

Walk RGST talk or lose $1.7 bn, IMF tells Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Adnan Mazarie, chief of the IMF mission for Pakistan, has made it clear to Pakistan that mere tabling of the Reformed GST bill in the National Assembly was not enough and that an integrated Reformed GST had to be implemented across the country for Pakistan to qualify for the fifth review, which in turn was imperative for the release of the 6th tranche of $1.7 billion under the standby arrangement loan of $11.3 billion.

Pakistan needs to get the remaining tranches amounting to $3.4 billion under the ongoing Standby Arrangement loan programme. Mazarie also said the perpetual increase in power tariff was no solution to turn the bleeding power sector into a profit-making entity, rather the solution to power sector ills lies in the true implementation of power sector reforms. The IMF pointman for Pakistan was talking to The News on the sidelines of the Pakistan Development Forum meeting here on Sunday. When asked about the consequences of the provincial governments delaying the tabling and passage of the RGST bills on services, he said: “We are told that provinces are on board.” He said that Pakistan needed to increase its revenue generation base to be able to spend more on health and education sector. Responding to another question, he agreed that the ongoing Standby Arrangement (SBA) loan programme of $11.3 billion would lapse on December 31, 2010. Having said that, he also pointed out that Pakistan had the option to get the programme extended for another three months but emphasised that the remaining two tranches would be released only when the implementation of integrated RGST was started. It is relevant to mention that the IMF programe was virtually under suspension for the last six months as the government has failed to get the Reformed GST on goods passed and the provincial governments have not succeeded in introducing the Reformed GST bills in their respective assemblies.

When Mazarie’s attention was drawn towards the impression of Pakistani masses that the IMF was responsible for the massive raise in power tariff as the Fund had never forced the government to reduce the power theft, line losses and inefficiency, Adnan Mazarie said in clear words that the IMF was not in the driving seat and had no expertise to deal with power sector, rather it was the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, which deal with the power sector and are forcing the government to increase the power tariffs. The IMF chief admitted that in line with the WB and ADB, Pakistan would have to increase power tariff by 2.2 per cent every month till June 2011 despite the fact that 173 million people have already experienced close to 70 per cent increase in power tariff. He said that perpetual increase in power tariff was no solution to turn the bleeding power sector into a profit-making entity. The government, he advised, should focus on the effective implementation of power sector reforms and increase the efficiency, reduce the line losses and power theft as the solution lies in it, not in raising power tariffs. Mazarie said that IMF would, in the interest of the masses, exert pressure on the government to implement the power sector reforms in an effective manner and reduce the line losses and plug the huge power theft so that the government was not compelled to raise power rates.

“If the managerial issues in power sector are addressed and major shift of gas allocation to power sector is ensured apart from reducing the line losses and erasing power theft, then power tariff will tumble to a reasonable level.” Mr Mazarie acknowledged that the business community and traders in the country are totally stressed out due to the incessant increase in power rate. He also mentioned that the government has given huge subsidy (Rs 256b) to the power sector against the budgetary target, which does not align with the power sector reforms. “However, the government placed the cut on education and health which is not commendable”, was another critical jibe that came at the very end and he went on to add, “But it is the choice of the government or the people of Pakistan whether they want subsidies in the power sector or more spending on health and education.” For solution of all economic ills, the IMF mission chief gave the recipe to the government urging it to rationalise and prioritise expenditures and increase the revenue generation base by also including the agriculture and real estate sectors. Commenting upon the newly agreed deficit target of 4.7 per cent with IMF, Mr. Mazarie said the new deficit target needs to be bridged. There are usually two ways to bridge the financing either from foreign sources or from domestic borrowing, he said, adding, “And If the government continues to borrow from the central bank of Pakistan, then the bank will have to go for the printing of currency and this will bring another wave of inflation, that would tax the poor who are already suffering with the existing inflation after the flood-h

Lasbela land may be sold to an Arab family

By Mumtaz Alvi

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of acres of precious land in Lasbela district along the Coastal Highway may be quietly sold out to a noted family of a foreign country, said Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, in an exclusive talk with this correspondent.

Bhootani was elected an MPA from Lasbela. He claimed the provincial government wanted to sell the massive piece of land of his district to some Arabs and formalities were being finalsed. However, an official of the Balochistan government told The News that proceeds of sale of the land would be used for the development of the province.

“If tomorrow someone comes up with an attractive price for entire Balochistan, does this mean we should go after the money,” was the reaction of Bhootani when told about the provincial government’s stance that the money earned by the sale of the land would be used for eradication of poverty and deprivation from the province.

Bhootani is in touch with members of the National Assembly and Senate on the issue and has requested the Prime Minister’s Secretariat to stay away from the matter, as not only he but also, according to him, the entire population of his district was opposed to the sale of their land.

This land, he pointed out, belonged to the poor people of his district and they had strong reservations about the proposed deal. Bhootani added a vast area also had a disputed background and hence it would only lead to further complications.

The provincial speaker cautioned that they would raise the issue at every forum and also bring a resolution in the assembly besides filing a petition in the Supreme Court if the proposed deal was formally okayed.

But he was confident that the land would not be put on sale and interests of the people of Balochistan would not be compromised. He also appealed to the government of the UAE not to allow such a development to take place, as they had been great well-wishers of the people of Pakistan.

A source close to Balochistan Chief Minister Muhammad Aslam Raisani revealed to this correspondent that a summary had been put on hold after the provincial government faced stiff resistance from within the government as well as the people of Lasbela.

“The chief minister is faced with a Catch 20 situation after strong voices against the sale of land were raised but the pressure from the President’s House and Prime Minister’s Secretariat for the deal was also intense,” the source maintained.

During ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime, 70,000-acres of land was given to a federal institution. However, it was retrieved and the money paid back after the Balochistan Assembly and the Raisani-led cabinet had called for the recovery of land in the same district.

Chief Minister Raisani, who is currently in Islamabad, was not available for comments on the matter involving billions of rupees. Provincial Revenue Minister Zmarak Khan was also not around. His ministry is deeply involved in settling the revenue matters with regard to the proposed deal. A source at his ministry confirmed a summary had been prepared for approval of the chief minister.

However, the source privy to the developments explained that the Arab family wanted to turn the proposed land into a hunting tract after being granted the ownership rights. Islamabad was strongly in favour of this deal and wanted its materialisation as early as possible.

This correspondent sought the reaction of the presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar in writing. But he did not respond. Similarly, another senior official at the Presidency, Zafar Iqbal Qadir, was also not available for comments.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Shabbir Anwar said the federal government or the Prime Minister’s Secretariat had nothing to do with any such issue. He denied Islamabad had any part to play in such a deal. “It is a provincial matter and the provincial administration is responsible for this. However, I asked some relevant officials who expressed their ignorance on this count,” he contended.