Pakistan’s ‘lack of efforts’ blamed for Aafia’s incarceration

KARACHI: The US does not care about Dr Aafia Siddiqui and if the Pakistani government wanted to bring her back, she would be here in the country, a prominent human rights lawyer said on Tuesday.

Clive Stafford Smith is the lawyer who paved way for the return of two Pakistani brothers — Abdul Rabbani and Ahmed Rabbani — who were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison for the last 20 years. They were released and returned to Pakistan last week.

Addressing the press conference along with Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, Mr Smith said Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was ‘abducted’ in 2003, “holds no special importance for the US” and it’s the government of Pakistan that didn’t do enough to bring her back.

Responding to a question, he said if Dr Shakeel Afridi had to be traded for Dr Siddiqui’s release, the Pakistani authorities should do it.

Dr Afridi has been incarcerated for more than a decade after he was accused of helping the US in tracing the Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden who was killed in Abbottabad in 2012.

Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith calls on govt to consider ‘prisoner swap’ for her release, reveals horrific details of torture endured by Gitmo detainees

“If the Rabbani brothers [Abdul and Ahmed Rabbani] can be brought back, why not her,” he reiterated.

Mr Smith said he had visited Dr Siddiqui in January at the Federal Medical Centre, Carswell in Texas where she was being detained.

“I have engaged with over 80 Guantanamo Bay prisoners, but not one was in the condition as bad as her,” he said.

He added that although the facility was a “medical centre”, in reality, it was as “ghastly as the other prisons in the US.”

He said that commitment from the government and media support was needed to bring the incarcerated doctor back.

He said 546 prisoners had been released from Guantanamo Bay, of which only one was released by courts. “The remaining 545 got their freedom through the pressure exerted by the media and journalists,” he said.

Dr Fauzia said the last time she ever heard any report about her imprisoned sister was in 2016.

“Since then, we have had no contact with her. We used to hear that she had died, but it was finally this year in January when Clive met her, we came to know that she is alive.”

She added that Dr Siddiqui was subjected to many types of torture but the brutal act of “taking children away from a mother” was the worst of all.

She also said that her six-month-old nephew had gone missing and to this day he hadn’t been found.

“We want to make this a movement with a momentum that does not end until Aafia is back.”

Nothing but apology for Rabbani brothers Mr Smith said “sorry” was the best he could offer the Rabbani brothers on behalf of the US government since they would never apologise for imprisoning them for over 20 years.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Smith said Ahmed Rabbani was a skilled artist and an adept chef, the skills he learnt during his detention.

The lawyer added that he is planning to hold an exhibition of Ahmed Rabbani’s artwork depicting his time in detention.

“He made an imaginary Guantanamo Bay as he never saw it since they always kept him blindfolded,” he said.

“We also have a great Guantanamo Cook Book coming along based on Ahmed’s recipes. The recipes are named after 62 torture methods he went through.”

Mr Smith also revealed horrific details about the torture inflicted upon the two brothers which left them with inexplicable physical and psychological trauma.

He said the brothers were getting therapy which they would need for a long time to normally integrate into society.

Detailing one of the torture techniques, Mr Smith said the inmates were subjected to the strappado — a medieval punishment in which a person is tied from shoulders and left hanging on tiptoes.

“This was one of the 62 torture techniques the Rabbanis faced,” he said. “They were left hanging like that for weeks.”

He added that Eminem’s song White America used to be blared at full volume for days to torture the inmates.

Mr Smith, who was the brothers’ lawyer for the last 15 years, said Ahmed Rabbani’s son Jawwad, who is now 20 years old, was born seven months after his father was abducted. “At that time, Ahmed Rabbani didn’t even know his wife was pregnant.”

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023

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Dozens of Iranian schoolgirls treated after new poisoning

TEHRAN: Dozens of Iranian schoolgirls needed hospital treatment on Tuesday after another mysterious poisoning, a news agency reported, the latest in a spate of suspected attacks in the Islamic republic.

Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among schoolgirls mainly in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospitalisation.

A government official said on Sunday that the attacks were believed to be a deliberate attempt to force the closure of girls’ schools.

“Today (Tuesday) at noon, a number of students were poisoned at the Khayyam Girls’ School in the city of Pardis, Tehran province,” Tasnim news agency reported. It said 35 students had been taken to hospital so far, adding to hundreds of cases of reported poisoning since November in at least two other cities, including Qom.

Official terms attacks a deliberate attempt to force closure of girls’ schools

The poisonings come more than five months into protests that spread across Iran after the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini following her arrest for an alleged violation of the country’s strict dress code for women.

Tehran says hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested in connection with the protests, which the authorities generally describe as “riots”.

On Sunday, students at a girls’ school in Borujerd were rushed to hospital after a poisoning incident, the fourth in the western city within the past week.

Parliament held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the suspected attacks. The session was attended by Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi, the official IRNA news agency reported.

IRNA quoted speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as saying that both Qom and Borujerd were “dealing with student poisonings”.

The suspected poisonings were being investigated, Iran’s police chief told Tasnim news agency on Tuesday.

“Our priority is to find the origin of this case, and until then we will not judge whether it was intentional or not,” it quoted Ahmad-Reza Radan as saying.

Nationwide outrage

“We have not yet arrested anyone in this case and we are identifying possible suspects,” the police chief added.

On Sunday, the deputy health minister, Younes Panahi, said some people had been poisoned at a girls’ school in Qom, in a bid to shut down education for girls.

“After the poisoning of several students in Qom schools, it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed,” IRNA quoted him as saying at the time. Panahi did not elaborate.

Similar such incidents since November have sparked outrage across the nation.

Activists have compared those responsible for the attacks on schools to the Taliban in Afghan­istan and Boko Haram in the Sahel, who oppose education for girls.

On February 14, parents of students who had been ill gathered outside Qom’s governorate to “demand an explanation” from the authorities, IRNA reported.

The following day, government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said the intelligence and education ministries were trying to find the cause of the poisonings.

Last week, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ordered a judicial probe into the incidents.

Qom lawmaker Ahmad Amiri Farahani denounced the attack on the schoolgirls as an “irrational act”, stressing that residents of the holy city “support girls’ education”.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023

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Govt unhappy as IMF ‘shifts goalposts’

• Authorities say lender ‘changed its mind’ on at least four prior actions
• Officials hint at ‘1998-like situation’, say foreign capitals working for Pakistan’s ‘meltdown’
• Despite its pro-poor mantra, sources claim Fund pushing measures that may hit low-income groups

ISLAMABAD: The government has been trying to put on a brave face in its struggle to unlock critical funding from the IMF, but background discussions with officials reveal the administration is quite nervous beneath its confident exterior, as it finds it increasingly difficult to convince the Fund to release a loan instalment.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has changed interpretations of at least four prior actions ahead of rea­ching a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the direly needed economic bailout.

Sources say the authorities are extremely annoyed at the latest situation, describing it as ‘maltreatment’.

“We are members of the IMF, not beggars or else our membership be discarded,” commented a disgruntled senior official.

Another official even likened the situation to that in 1998, when Pakistan’s economic difficulties worsened in the wake of nuclear tests, and default seemed imminent.

Officials have also suggested that the IMF wanted to support the poor publicly, but had been insisting on some measures that would ultimately hit the low-income segments.

Despite this disappointment, however, the authorities anticipate — at least officially — the conclusion of the SLA next week and the materialisation of financing support from friendly nations — some of which took more time than anticipated because of signals from the Fund.

They, however, concede that a gap in Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts, combined with Pakistan’s credibility gap and trust deficit following the reversal of agreed policy actions in the past, were key factors that pushed some capitals to work for Pakistan’s “meltdown”.

The IMF is reported to have estimated an all-inclusive financing gap of about $7bn for the current fiscal year against Pakistan’s projection of $5bn. However, one official hoped that the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves would go beyond $10bn by the end of June from little over $3.1bn at present.

As per the sources, authorities have secured $1.3bn inflows in three tranches from Chinese banks, on top of the $700 million that has already been received. This would flow in two equal instalments of $500m and then $300m with a gap of a few days. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would also be made available over $3bn.

The four items on the unfinished IMF loan programme agenda include an early hike in the central bank’s interest rate to represent general inflation, exchange rate movement to cater for outflow to war-ravaged and sanction-hit Afghanistan, written assurances for external financing gap from friendly nations, and the continuation of Rs3.39 per unit financing cost surcharge on electricity consumers for coming years through the finance bill, rather than for four months already announced by the government.

However, one official described this last condition as ‘unreasonable’, since the argument is that such a surcharge would help meet the power sector’s financing gap in the years to come and how this could be done for future years in the presence of the parliament and the judiciary.

There are also objections over the government-SBP deadline given to exporters to bring their proceeds immediately or face conversion at old exchange rates.

As a result, the State Bank of Pakistan had been compelled to advance its monetary policy committee’s meeting to March 2 after publicly insisting on following the original schedule set for March 16.

The exchange rate adjustment also led to a 0.6pc fall in the rupee’s value on Tuesday to close at Rs261.50 against the dollar. This is strange because there had to be a difference between the market-based exchange rate and the one in the grey market, where people from the sanctioned nation across the border would in any case offer higher rate for their needs.

“This is an illegal activity and should be addressed accordingly. Even corrective measures in the market are opposed,” another source said.

Officials suggest all matters had been settled before the IMF mission concluded its visit to Pakistan on the night of Feb 9 and even a concluding statement from the Fund was supposed to report “comprehensive dialogue and positive outcome of the talks”, which got watered down during the approval process abroad, where some influential quarters were said to be “more political than politicians”.

The coercive situation is no different than in 1998 when the West wanted “Pakistan’s denuclearisation” and moved behind the scenes to punish the nation for nuclear tests, an official said, adding that this time some powers had Pakistan’s missile programme in mind.

The sources said the IMF publicly wanted taxes on the rich and support to the poor but insisted on increasing general sales tax rates that were inflationary and impacted the poor, while taxes on high earners like banks through foreign exchange transactions were opposed. Likewise, the flood levy on high-end groups were opposed on the premise that these were not quality measures.

Sources said the draft Memorandum of Economic and Fiscal Policies (MEFP) was first shared with Pakistan in February and had since been going through changes in agreed steps that Pakistan had already complied with by increasing gas and electricity prices and passing a Rs170bn mini-budget at a fast pace.

The prior actions are always set to be completed before the executive board meeting of the IMF for approval of quarterly review but this time this had been linked to the staff-level agreement. “This is also unusual,” an official said.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023

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England to stick with ‘Bazball’ in Ashes despite stunning New Zealand loss

Brendon McCullum has promised that England will keep faith with their attacking game during the Ashes despite Tuesday’s extraordinary one-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington.

The hosts levelled a two-match series by becoming just the fourth side in 146 years of Test cricket to win after following on.

The Basin Reserve contest will go down as an all-time classic, with England asking New Zealand to follow on 226 runs behind, only to struggle in pursuit of a target of 258.

England, despite being denied a seventh successive victory, has won 10 out of 12 Tests since captain Ben Stokes and coach McCullum, himself a former New Zealand skipper, joined forces last year following a woeful run of one win in 17 matches at this level.

McCullum, while disliking the ‘Bazball’ reference to his nickname, was adamant there would be no let-up in England’s aggressive approach during a five-match series at home to arch-rivals Australia.

“We’ll try to play the cricket that we want,” McCullum told the BBC. “If winning is the outcome at the end, fantastic. We’re going into it with a squad that believes in one another and has a style of play which we will uphold throughout.

“If Australia is too good for us, then so be it. If they’re not, we’ll have the urn,” he added.

Stephen Harmison, commentating for Talksport radio, insisted England’s mindset was good for Test cricket as a whole given fears that fans worldwide are losing interest in the five-day game.

The former England fast bowler, a key figure in a dramatic two-run win over Australia at Edgbaston during the 2005 Ashes, said: “New Zealand may have won this Test match, but I think cricket was a winner, close second.”

Great for test cricket

There was even approval of England’s new approach from across the fence.

“It’s great for Test cricket the way England is playing, and it’s good for Test cricket going forward,” said New Zealand’s winning captain Tim Southee after the game.

But given how quickly Stokes’ men score their runs — their first innings total of 435-8 declared was compiled in fewer than 88 overs — they could have batted again after dismissing New Zealand for 209 without compromising their beliefs.

That way England would have likely made the game safe and still given their bowlers time to take 10 second-inning wickets.

By enforcing the follow-on they provided New Zealand with their only way, however slim, back into the match.

Another question mark over making the hosts bat again was whether England was a bowler ‘light’, with Stokes — an effective medium-pacer when fit — only delivering two overs in New Zealand’s second innings due to a persistent knee problem.

“I have a four-month period now to get it better before the Ashes because I want to be turning up in Birmingham ready to fulfil my role properly,” said Stokes.

The 31-year-old all-rounder added: “I’m not going to lie. It’s incredibly frustrating to know something is holding me back.” As it was, a partnership of 121 between first-innings century-maker Joe Root and Stokes almost saw England to victory.

But the pair might reflect on how they each succumbed to a short-ball ploy from the admirable Neil Wagner, who also ended the match by having No 11 James Anderson caught behind, that could scarcely have been clearer had the left-arm quick signalled his intention in neon lights.

Even so, England might still have won had not the in-form Harry Brook, fresh from his brilliant first-innings 186, been run out without facing a ball — a freak dismissal the 24-year-old is unlikely to suffer again in his career.

Nevertheless, games such as this are rare and given England’s approach, a loss was always likely to be as spectacular as many of their recent wins.

“I just think everyone is appreciating this for what it is,” said Stokes. “That doesn’t mean for a second we’re not fussed about winning or losing.

“We love winning, but if it doesn’t work out that way, we’ll hold our hands up and say the opposition was better than us.”

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Podcast: How da Costa pulled off remarkable Cape Town pass

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Four injured in attack on Turbat FC post

GWADAR: Four people, including a security man and three civilians, were injured in a grande and rocket attack on an FC checkpoint in Turbat area, late on Monday night.

Police officials said miscreants riding a motorcycle hurled a grenade at a checkpoint of Frontier Corps at Jusak Board area. The armed men later fired RPGs at the post, leaving an FC soldier and three others wounded.

The injured were immediately shifted to hospital. Police, counter-terrorism department and FC personnel later launched a search operation in the area.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023

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‘Eating, travelling less’: how Pakistanis are coping with killer inflation

KARACHI: With weekly inflation surging above 40 per cent, millions of Pakistanis have found their purchasing power further eroded, with many struggling to cover even the most basic necessities. Meanwhile, those at the helm of power scramble to put in stop-gap measures by imposing more taxes and blocking imports to shore up the country’s foreign reserves.

The worst hit by this are the poor, who cannot even afford two full meals a day.

Hailing from a small village near Nawabshah, Imam Ali lost most of his livestock and crops in 2020 due to floods, forcing him to come to Karachi to find a job. Ever since, he has been working as a security guard in Karachi’s FB Area, earning a meagre Rs15,000 a month. However, the minimum wage in Sindh is mandated at Rs25,000.

“We are solely reliant on God, we cannot make ends meet in this inflation,” said 55-year-old Ali. “If our children ask for food, we simply make excuses. If we eat one time, the second meal is hard to manage … we tell the children to just sleep.”

For Ali, who relocated to a temporary shelter near Nawabshah after his village was flooded again in the 2022 floods, the surge in petrol prices has made it difficult for him to even travel to his village to meet his family.

According to economists, the floods are one of the major reasons behind the current inflationary trend.

Another key reason is the additional tax measures announced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented an IMF-dictated ‘mini-budget’ that increased the GST along with another hike in natural gas and fuel prices.

Meanwhile, the government already raised fuel prices earlier this year, including a Rs22.20 jump in petrol and a Rs17.20 hike in diesel rates.

“They [the government] have made our lives impossible. We are barely surviving,” complained Ali.

His income has not changed in the last three years despite the exponential rise in prices. He cannot afford to send his eight children to school and they stay with their mother at the shelter.

Constant struggle and compromise

Rukhsana Bibi, 41, who works as a domestic helper, paints a picture of constant struggles and compromises in her life.

“Earlier, I would come [to my place of work] for Rs100 but now I have to spend Rs300,” she said.

Bibi earns a meagre Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 from every home she works at. Like Ali, she has to compromise on the number of meals she and her family can have every day.

“We used to eat three times, but now we compromise on one meal,” she said.

Dilshad Begum, another domestic helper complained of similar issues. “It’s become very difficult to eat … we cook once and eat it thrice,” she said. “We are eating less, travelling less,” she said, listing ways she, like millions of other working-class persons, is trying to minimise expenses.

Fuelling problems

Fuel prices, meanwhile, have a direct impact on every sector of the economy, as is evident in the sharp spike in the prices of consumer goods and those with small businesses are also struggling.

Nadeemuddin Siddique, 60, who owns a small shop, said small businesses have been impacted the most by inflation.

“My life’s savings have been consumed due to this inflation. We are limiting ourselves. If we had four cups of tea before, now we have one,” he said.

A 22-year-old MBBS student at a private university, Hania Waseem, said that inflation has made her daily commute quite difficult.

“Earlier, we had to spend Rs15,000 per month but now it’s Rs30,000 per month. If you travel daily and were paying Rs300, now have to pay at least Rs500.”

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023

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The law enforcers ‘standing in TTP’s way’

BARA: Atop a police outpost in northwest Pakistan, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Faizanullah Khan stands behind a stack of sandbags and peers through the sights of an anti-aircraft gun, scanning the terrain along the unofficial boundary with the tribal districts.

On this cold and rainy February morning, he is not looking for aircraft, but for the militants behind the attacks against his force, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police.

It is daytime so he could relax a bit, but night was a different story, the ASI said, pointing to the marks left by bullets fired at the Manzoor Shaheed outpost.

The outpost is one of dozens that provide defence against the militants waging a fresh assault on the country’s law enforcers from hideouts in the border region adjoining Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The threat the insurgency poses to Pakistan was illustrated last month when a bombing at a mosque inside Peshawar’s police compound killed more than 80 police personnel. Jamaatul Ahrar, a faction of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), had claimed responsibility.

Reuters visited police outposts across northern Pakistan and spoke to more than a dozen people, including senior police officials, many of whom described how the force is suffering increasing losses as it bears the brunt of insurgent attacks while contending with resourcing and logistical constraints.

Police here have fought militants for years — more than 2,100 personnel have been killed and 7,000 injured since 2001 — but today they seem to be the sole focus of militants’ operations.

“We’ve stopped their way to Peshawar,” ASI Jameel Shah of Sarband police station, which controls the Manzoor Shaheed outpost, said of the militants.

Sarband and its eight outposts have suffered four major attacks in recent months and faced sniper fire with unprecedented frequency, according to police based there.

Elsewhere, militants stormed a police head office in Karachi on Feb 17, killing four before security forces retook the premises and killed three assailants.

Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the banned TTP, told Reuters their main target was the military, but the police were standing in the way.

“The police have been told many times not to obstruct our way, and instead of paying heed to this the police have started martyring our comrades,” he said. “This is why we are targeting them.”

The military has conducted operations alongside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police and faced TTP attacks, but the military’s public relations wing did not address questions from Reuters about casualties.

The TTP wants to show that its fighters can strike outside their current areas of influence, said Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies. While their ability may be limited, he said, “propaganda is a big part of this war and the TTP are getting good at it”.

Zahid Hussain, a journalist and author of books on Islamist militancy, said the police were more vulnerable than the military, given their resources and training.

“I mean, they’re sitting ducks there,” Hussain said.

Moazzam Jah Ansari, the former chief of KP police, told Reuters earlier this month that militant strategies had been evolving.

“They try and find more effective ways to conduct military operations, more lethal weapons,” he said in an interview before being replaced.

Militants have procured US-made M4 rifles and other sophisticated weapons from stocks left by Western forces that exited Afghanistan in 2021, police officials said. Some police guards told Reuters they had seen small reconnaissance drones flying over their outposts.

The TTP spokesman also confirmed that the group was using drones for surveillance.

Several police officials at Sarband station said the provincial government and military provided them and other outposts with thermal goggles in late January to aid the fight, but that posed another problem.

“About 22 hours of the day we have power outages... there’s no electricity to charge our goggles,” Shah told Reuters at Sarband.

The station has one rooftop solar panel, which officers paid out of their own pockets to install, according to station chief Qayyum Khan.

One policeman said they use their vehicles or go to a petrol station equipped with a back-up generator to charge their goggles.

Officers also said they had taken other protection measures, including erecting rudimentary walls to guard against sniper fire, and procuring bulletproof glass from a market that sells equipment left behind by US-led forces.

At the Manzoor Shaheed post, Faizanullah Khan says that on some nights, militants call out to him or his fellow guards.

“They say ‘we see you; lay down your arms’,” he said.

He and his fellow guards sometimes reply, he said, by firing their guns into the darkness.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023

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‘No time for trivialities’: CJP lauds judges’ exit as suo motu verdict looms

• Slimmer SC bench to take up matter of Punjab, KP poll delay today
• Four judges leave bench; Justices Afridi, Minallah stick to stance on maintainability, Justices Ahsan, Naqvi bow out ‘amid allegations’

ISLAMABAD: After deli­b­e­rations in an anteroom that lasted around ninety minutes, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in a surprise move on Monday, split a larger bench into a five-member bench to conduct suo motu proceedings on a delay in elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

Earlier, a nine-judge bench — visibly polarised at its first hearing — was scheduled to commence the hearing at 11:30am, but proceedings eventually resumed at 1:30pm after the reconstitution of the bench.

The Supreme Court also issued a written order, which was dictated in the open court on Feb 23 when Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail objected to the initiation of the proceedings under Article 184(3). The CJP also hinted that they would like to conclude the matter by Tuesday (today) and closed Monday’s proceedings around 5:25pm.

Signed by nine judges, the written order of the bench stated that keeping in view the Feb 23 order, the additio­nal notes attached by four jud­ges, the CJP’s direction to add questions raised by Jus­tice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mando­khail and Justice Athar Minallah, as well as discussions/deliberations made in the anteroom of the apex court, the matter was referred back to the top judge.

In response, the CJP recon­s­ti­tuted the bench comprising himself, Justice Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Mandokhail, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. Those who dissociated themselves from the hearing include Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Justice Minallah.

During the hearing, Attorney General Shehzad Ata Elahi cited Article 254 and said the elections in the two provinces cannot be held before May 2 because the deadline to hold the elections within 90 days has lapsed.

As per Article 254, failure to co­m­ply with the requirement as to time does not render an act invalid.

‘Trivial matters’

At the outset when the court commenced the hearing, Justice Bandial observed that four judges graciously disassociated themselves from the bench to avoid wasting time on trivial matters, so that the case could proceed strictly in accordance with the Constitution.

The CJP also regretted that scurrilous allegations have been hurled, but two members said they would not sit on the bench whereas two judges expressed their opinion on the maintainability of the case. About Justice Mandokhail’s note, the CJP regretted that the note was forwarded before the court order was signed and uploaded on the website.

Justice Shah opposed to recusal

In his additional note, Justice Shah mentioned the controversy in the public domain generated by the audio leaks relating to one of the members of the bench and, despite requests from within and outside the court, he noted there had been no institutional response to the allegations by this court or by the constitutional forum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). Furthermore, there is news of references being filed against the member before SJC by the bar councils.

In this background and before these allegations could be probed into and put to rest, inclusion of the member on the bench in the present matter of public importance appears inappropriate and this inclusion becomes more nuanced when other senior judges were not included on the bench, Justice Shah observed.

Justice Shah observed that the court’s impartiality, including the public perception of transparency and openness in dispensing justice, must at all times be undisputed and beyond reproach. In the absence of any lawful justification, Justice Shah observed, mere recusal from the bench may amount to abdication of the constitutional and legal duty, therefore he would not recuse himself.

Judicially ‘inappropriate’

Justice Yahya Afridi observed it would not be judicially appropriate to exercise the power under Article 184(3) to make an order given that the matters raised in the petitions before the court were also pending adjudication at the Lahore and Peshawar high courts.

The jurisdiction of the apex court under Article 184(3) is an independent original jurisdiction that is not affected by the pendency of any matter on the same subject matter before any other court or forum, Justice Afridi said, adding the decision already rendered by LHC and the peculiarly charged and unflinching contested political stances taken by the parties, warrant the Supreme Court to show judicial restraint to bolster the principle of propriety.

This is to avoid any adverse reflection on apex court’s judicial pre-emptive eagerness to decide, he observed.

Therefore, passing any finding or remarks during the proceeding of the present petitions by this court would not only prejudice the contested claims of the parties in the cases before high courts but more importantly, offend the hierarchical judicial domain of the high court as envisaged under the constitution.

‘Order not consistent’

Justice Minallah regretted that the written order does not appear to be consistent with the proceedings held on Feb 23 and the order dictated in the open court and that the questions raised before the court cannot be considered in isolation.

He added that questions regarding the constitutional legality of the dissolution of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cannot be ignored.

Were the assemblies dissolved in violation of the scheme and principles of constitutional democracy before completion of the term prescribed under the Constitution, Justice Minallah observed and added that the questions regarding the legality of the dissolution involve far more serious violations of fundamental rights. The matter before us, Justice Minallah observed, definitely was premature, because it was pending before a constitutional court of a province.

Justice Minallah said he was of the opinion that it was implicit in the language of Article 184(3) that the conferred extraordinary original jurisdiction must be entertained and heard by the full court.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023

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16 of 20 Pakistani survivors of Italian shipwreck in ‘good physical condition’: FO

Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Monday confirmed that 16 Pakistani survivors seemed to be in “good physical condition” after a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast over the weekend.

The vessel had set sail from Turkiye several days ago with migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries, and crashed in stormy weather near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, with bodies, shoes, and debris washing up along a long stretch of shoreline.

The death toll rose on Monday to 62 people, a coast guard official told AFP — and that number looked likely to increase.

The FO spokesperson said that a senior embassy official today met the 16 Pakistani survivors of the capsised vessel. “They seemed in good physical edition,” she added.

“According to them there were 20 Pakistanis on the ship,” the FO spokesperson said.

“Embassy is in close contact with Italian authorities to verify the status of the four missing Pakistanis.”

Baloch added that the Pakistani embassy in Italy continued to “vigorously follow the case”.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said reports about the drowning of Pakistani citizens were “deeply concerning and worrying”.

He directed the FO to ascertain facts as “early as possible and take the nation into confidence”.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also said he was “deeply saddened” by the news reports of the shipwreck.

“My sympathies and condolence to the families of the deceased,” he said, highlighting that the Pakistani embassy in Rome was ascertaining facts from the Italian authorities.

Italy beaches combed for bodies

Italy’s coastguard searched the sea and beaches for bodies today following the shipwreck off Calabria, as authorities tried to identify the dead and the Italian government’s migrant policy came under scrutiny.

Sergio di Dato, head of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team offering psychological support to the survivors, said there were cases of children orphaned in the disaster.

“One Afghan 12-year-old boy lost his entire family, all nine of them — four siblings, his parents, and other very close relatives,” he told journalists.

At Le Castella, where a 15th-century fortress dominates the shoreline, an AFP journalist witnessed the coastguard recovering the body of a woman who looked to be in her early 20s.

Many missing minors

Local officials said the search was ongoing for around 20 people believed to be still missing, though survivors have given differing versions as to how many people were originally on the boat.

Forensic police set about identifying the victims, issuing an email address to which relatives searching for loved ones could send distinguishing details, from eye and hair colour to tattoos or piercings.

Save the Children charity said on Twitter it was supporting survivors from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria, including 10 minors who had been travelling with their families.

“There are many missing minors,” it wrote.

The charity said survivors described how “during the night, near the coast, they heard a loud boom, the boat broke and they all fell into the water”. The survivors were “in shock … some say they saw relatives fall into the water and disappear, or die”.

The boat was reported to have set sail from Izmir in Turkey last week. Three suspected human traffickers were arrested and police were searching for a fourth, media reports said on Monday.

David Morabito, a rescue diver in Calabria, told Rai state broadcaster he had recovered the bodies of young twins from the water.

“When you see the little, lifeless bodies of children, those images pierce your heart,” Morabito said.

“So many children dead. A tragedy,” he added.

Must not set sail

The disaster has further fuelled the debate in Italy over search and rescue measures for saving migrants who run into trouble on the Central Mediterranean route, which is the world’s deadliest.

Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, elected in September, has pledged to curb migrant arrivals.

She said on Sunday the government was “committed to preventing [migrant boat] departures and, with them, this type of tragedy”, while her interior minister Matteo Paintedosi simply said, “they must not set sail”.

Their reactions were “a sad buck-passing, yet another slap in the face of the victims and survivors of this tragedy”, MSF Italy’s programmes director Marco Bertotto said Monday.

“Sea rescue must not be confused with illegal immigration. We need patrolling on the high seas and coordination,” he told journalists.

Meloni’s government pushed through a controversial law last week that forces migrant aid charities to perform only one life-saving rescue mission at a time before heading directly to ports, which are often far away.

Critics say the measure violates international law and will result in more people drowning.

According to the interior ministry, nearly 14,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year, up from 5,200 over the same period last year.

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From heavyweights to outsiders: 2023 IndyCar title contenders

Chevrolet stole a march on its IndyCar rival in 2022. Whether Honda can respond this year will be among the factors that influence the title hopes of its main drivers - which are assessed here [...]

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Old, but not gold — traditional stoves linked to pulmonary diseases in GB

GILGIT: Every year, from October to April, residents of Gilgit-Baltistan spend most part of their day sitting in front of fireplaces in large, but poorly ventilated halls, to brave the frigid weather.

As the region lacks clean energy sources, the primary mode of heating is traditional stoves called ‘Bukhari’. These wood-burning metal heaters are made up of three parts — a fire chamber, a chimney, and a cooking surface — and are used throughout the year.

It is not just the firewood, cow dung, or coal that is used as fuel. People in urban parts of the region burn plastic bags and similar synthetic waste in addition to rubber acquired from tyres to keep these stoves running amid freezing temperatures. These stoves are tried-and-tested heaters — meeting the needs of the populace for centuries.

But there is a major downside to their use — the impact on the pulmonary system of people huddling around them, chiefly children and elderly people. Gohar Balti, a resident of Skardu, tells Dawn that the dependence on these stoves increases significantly during the winter — a time of the year which coincides with a surge in respiratory diseases across the region.

These stoves, usually installed in closed spaces without proper ventilation, are to be blamed, he said, highlighting the impacts of these heaters on the air quality inside the houses. “People are not aware of the risks these stoves pose to their health and the environment, so the practice continues unchanged,” he added.

‘Inefficient’ heaters have adverse impact on indoor air quality, experts say

The claims made by Balti and other residents are corroborated by a study conducted by the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency to assess indoor air quality and its impact on health.

The environmental agency said the existing design and construction practices in GB and the poor manufacturing of ‘Bukhari’ and their flawed installation are mainly responsible for the acute respiratory infections among people, particularly the elderly and infants.

In closed spaces — at least every house has one big room to trap the heat — high concentrations of PM2.5 and carbon monoxide were recorded, especially at the time of cooking due to the use of wood and cow dung, as per the study.

It also linked the rise in respiratory diseases — wheezing cough, bronchitis, and chest tightness — in winters with the use of inefficient stoves; chronic respiratory obstruction, asthma, eye-stinging, hypertension, and heart diseases are also a by-product.

The environmental agency said that as opposed to traditional modes of heating, households that have separate kitchens and a proper ventilation system and use electric stoves and heaters do not report a high frequency of pulmonary diseases; their indoor air quality is also healthy.

Dawn tried to get the latest data from government-owned hospitals on patients suffering from pulmonary diseases. However, despite multiple reminders, the hospitals failed to provide relevant data about the patients’ influx in winter. However, they did agree that traditional stoves posed risks to human health.

But why do people turn to these stoves despite the health risks; mostly because of financial constraints and a lack of alternatives. As most parts of the region face up to 20-hour outages, the only source of heating widely available is these ‘traditional stoves’. Locals said these stoves are “efficient and affordable” making them widely popular among the majority of the population. “Marginalised communities in GB are highly dependent on wood, animal dung, and agricultural remains as a primary source of energy which is neither efficient nor clean,” the study by GBEPA concurred.

GBEPA Director Shahzad Shigri told Dawn that the traditional stoves used throughout the winter pose risks to the environment as well, especially in the form of deforestation.

He added that these stoves do not have “controlled emissions” [inefficient installation of chimneys results in some of the smoke dispersing inside the house], unlike modern electrical appliances.

Dr Sharif Astori, executive director of Kuwait Medical Complex in Skardu, told Dawn that GB residents face a shortage of oxygen at high altitudes already and the use of these stoves compounds their problems.

Sharif Astori said the emissions of smoke cause asthma, eye-stinging, hypertension, and heart diseases — ailments common among the GB residents. Dr Astori said the only solution is to provide alternative clean energy to the people of the region through hydropower.

Meanwhile, the study by the GB environmental agency, while drawing the attention of policymakers towards this “grave issue”, asked the government to implement existent “effective and efficient energy solutions”. These steps would reduce the burden on the healthcare system of the region as well as mitigate the impact of traditional heating methods on the environment.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023

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Gary Anderson’s verdict on each F1 team’s testing pace

Using laptimes adjusted for conditions, tyres and fuel load, Gary Anderson gives his ranking of the Formula 1 teams after pre-season testing, and assesses what's going on in the garages [...]

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Gearing up for Ramazan woes

This year Ramazan will definitely be tougher than previous years for many low and middle-income group people, especially in terms of skyrocketing prices in the last year.

After over 12 hours of fasting, people try to enjoy lavish iftar by arranging many items. But many people with mediocre wages and salaries are likely to limit their purchases this year.

All responsibility lies on the government to ensure the availability of edible items at cheaper rates not only throughout the year but especially in the holy month. As the government is more occupied in political and economic chaos besides pinning hopes on approval of the International Monetary Fund loan (IMF), it is hard to expect any special measures that could bring any impressive price relief.

While consumers have witnessed a price spiral in the last year, the government is not in a position to offer any huge subsidies or duty/taxes relaxations to lower prices. Any efforts to curtail prices by lowering taxes and duties may irk the IMF ahead of loan approval.

As prices spiral upwards, Sehri and Iftar will be difficult for many low-income families

And a price fall of 10-20 per cent will not appease consumers unless they plummet by at least 30-40pc.

Instead of giving any benefit, the government has recently raised the general sales tax (GST) on many items to 18pc from 17pc and 10pc federal excise duty on fruit juices, making ghee/cooking oil and packed juices costlier.

The government has hardly moved in taking any serious notice of the frequent price hike in food items, thus giving a free hand to the manufacturers and market players to jack up prices at their whims.

Manufacturers blame various reasons like the rupee devaluation against the dollar and the soaring cost of production on account of rising raw material prices and transportation costs owing to rising diesel rates and high gas and power rates.

About Rs1,000-1,500 is required daily for a family of five, an exorbitant amount for a household earning Rs25,000-40,000

The rupee has gained ground from February 3 to February 23, as one dollar is now at Rs262, thus bringing down the cost of imported raw materials and finished items. However, no manufacturers pass on the benefit of the lower cost to inflation-hit consumers. They have continued to raise prices by trumpeting the same old tune of rupee depreciation against the dollar and high input cost in their price increase notices.

The government has not forced the manufacturers of various food items to give any solid evidence for justifying soaring prices on the claim of high production cost and rupee fall.

In a price comparison from the first week of Ramazan in April 2022 to the third week of February 2023, the most notable price shock came in 20 kg flour bags to Rs1,295-2,720 in various parts of the country from Rs800-1,500 per bag.

Flour prices spiralled continuously despite heavy imports of wheat and the presence of the country’s wheat crop, while issues of grain smuggling and non-release of wheat to the millers remain in media headlines.

How can a person with monthly earnings of Rs25,000-40,000 with a wife and two to three kids arrange Iftari and Sehri? Assuming daily consumption of a litre of milk, fruits, basin, yoghurt, ghee, and confectionary items, an estimated Rs1,000-1,500 is required daily. And that does not include gram, juices, cold drinks and vegetables.

General Secretary Karachi Retail Grocers Group Farid Qureishi said “I am making two types of ration packs for charity distribution for Ramazan in the holy month: one bag costs Rs4,000 and carries flour, sugar, rice, pulses, tea, salt, oil and ghee, gram and vermicelli. The other ration bag costs Rs6,000 and has more quantity of products.

“Last Ramazan, we managed these items at 40-50pc lower rates,” he said, adding that “we could not add rice as good quality basmati rice sells between Rs300-500 per kg now as compared to Rs150-300 per kg last year.”

A chicken dealer in Federal B Area said, “I am putting only four crates carrying 40 live birds as compared to eight crates when prices were low. Due to high prices, many of our regular customers just buy only one bird for the entire week’s consumption from two to three birds previously.”

A grocery retailer in a residential area offers products on credit on the condition that the bill is cleared in a month.

“I have witnessed at least 20-30 per cent jump in my register in the last year as more new people are coming up to get included in the list,” he said, adding that due to the cash flow situation, he cannot add more people. Many also default and seek extra time to clear dues. He said there are many people whose salaries fade away in the middle of the month.

The intensity of price increases in food items may push many low-income people towards long queues of welfare organisations’ arrangements of free Iftari and Sehri. However, a white-collar person may find it difficult to sacrifice his self-respect and opt for limiting Iftar.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023

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PTI-backed Mohsin wins Rajanpur by-election

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Mohsin Leghari of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the by-election to NA-193 (Rajanpur) with a huge margin on Sunday, unofficial result shows.

According to the unofficial result, Mr Mohsin bagged 90,392 votes as compared to 55,218 and 20,074 votes secured by Ammar Awais Khan Leghari of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Akhtar Hassan Khan Gorchani of Pakistan Peo­ples Party, respectively.

While congratulating Mr Mohsin, PTI Chairman Imran Khan expressed the fear that the victory would “scare” the government and its “handlers”.

“Congratulations to Mohsin Leghari, Meena Leghari, PTI workers & voters for the NA 193 emphatic victory despite govt machinery, neutrals & ECP all working against PTI,” he tweeted.

“My only worry is that this will scare PDM & its handlers more. Therefore, expect greater pressure on SC judges,” he said.

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PTI MNA Jafar Khan Leghari.

The result was not unexpected as Jafar Khan was quite popular in the area. Jafar Khan had so much influence that even PML-N leaders, sitting Leghari tribe chief Jamal Khan Leghari and his brother Awais Leghari, used his photo during the election campaign.

At the time of picking his ‘political successor’ after Mr Jafar’s death, his widow and former MNA Dr Meena Jafar Khan Leghari had placed the traditional turban on Mr Mohsin’s head amid a boycott of the decision by Mr Awais and Mr Jamal.

There were 237 polling stations for 379,204 registered voters in the NA-193 constituency.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023

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Graft laws must cover judges, says Bilawal

• Plans to propose amendment to NAB law
• Accuses judiciary of penalising one leader, protecting another
• Sindh CM counts 16 reasons that can lead to a lawmaker’s disqualification

KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday accused the judiciary of double standard, alleging it penalised one leader but protected another, and called for expanding accountability laws to cover both past and present judges.

In a hard-hitting speech, which came two days after a similar address by PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz Sharif in which she called for accountability in the judiciary, Mr Bhutto-Zardari warned that his party would not let this “system of holy cows” run this country.

The foreign minister, speaking at a seminar organised by the PPP’s Sindh chapter to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the 1973 Constitution, was particularly critical of the judiciary’s treat­ment of PTI chief Imran Khan.

“I am very sorry to say that the way our apex court is going with double standards, it’s so difficult for parties like us to defend its actions,” he said.

“This isn’t tolerable that one prime minister hailing from Lar­kana is executed and the other from Zaman Park is granted a week’s time [to appear before the court] due to pain in his leg,” he said, adding, “This dual system wouldn’t work, nor would we let it do.”

Referring to history, Mr Bhutto-Zardari criticised the judiciary for what he said was its role in bringing down governments of some parties and protecting others and stressed that this must stop.

“For how long would we go with this concept of holy cows?” he asked. “We must stop this. For the judiciary or any other institution, there should be the same law which applies to the common man. Every Pakistani, under the law, deserves the same treatment,” he added.

“How is it possible that to bring down the BB’s [Benazir Bhutto’s] government, you just need an editorial of a newspaper, but to save the government of Khan Sahib [Imran Khan], you can even amend and rewrite the Constitution?” he wondered.

He said the concept of “holy cows” was against the spirit of the Constitution and democracy as it held a common person responsible for wrongdoing but couldn’t put a check on the judiciary for the same reason.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he would himself propose an amendment to the accountability laws to hold judges, whether serving or retired, accountable for “wrongdoing”.

Referring to the National Accountability Bureau, he said, “We believe that NAB was formed for political engineering. We want this institution shut down. We aren’t even interested in what reforms the parties want to bring to this law.”

Wondering why judges were interested in accountability laws, he said the reason was “quite visible”, and it was that these laws didn’t apply to them.

“If it’s about corruption, it can be everywhere, whether it’s parliament or judiciary. So whatever reforms are proposed for this law, one amendment I would present myself that this law should also be implemented on the judges whether they are serving or retired.”

It may be recalled that on Feb 23, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz in a speech at Sargodha came down hard on a “cabal of five”, among which were former and serving members of the judiciary, whom she accused of “conspiring” against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

On her cue, a video screen showed a combo picture of the five people she held responsible, saying: “The people of Sargodha should also see the ones behind the conspiracy”. The pictures included ex-ISI chief retired Gen Faiz Hameed, former chief justices Asif Khosa and Saqib Nisar, and two Supreme Court judges, who are currently part of the SC bench holding suo motu proceedings in the case about provincial elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

‘Gigantic challenges’

Earlier, Mr Bhutto-Zardari addressed the variety of challenges being faced by Pakistan and called political dialogue the only way forward to bring the country out of the multiple crises. From economy to terrorism and political stability to social reforms, he said the implementation of the Constitution in true spirit could lead the nation to past glory.

“I sometimes wonder how gigantic challenges we are facing which I have never seen or heard about before,” he said. “I sometimes think about how we would meet these approaching challenges. Above all is our economy. And when I talk about the economy, I don’t mean to mention our deal with the IMF or [dwindling] forex reserves. My challenge is that the poor man must feed his kids and send them to school. I firmly believe that these issues can be addressed through dialogue and consensus.”

He said the former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto initiated political dialogue and brought the consensual Constitution, which was a social contract between the state and the people of Pakistan allowing them equal rights and every protection under the law.

“Then Benazir Bhutto decided to bring the country out of the crisis and restore democracy by convincing all political stakeholders over the Charter of Democracy. And when we came to power in 2008, President Asif Ali Zardari revived this tradition through the 18th Amendment, which guarantees the country’s survival and integrity,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said.

‘Fears of disqualification’

Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the threat of disqualification had damaged the system of governance. He mentioned the amendments to the Constitution by non-democratic forces and how these amendments were exploited against the politicians.

“It’s not the job of a common man to protect the Constitution,” he said. “His job is to follow the Constitution. The protection of the Constitution is actually the job of the legislature, executive and judiciary. And that’s why they are given powers.

Mr Shah added, “As a legislator, I take the oath to protect the Constitution and so do our judges. But over the years, my role as a legislator was weakened through different moves. And today, as a legislator, I feel threatened to get disqualified on any ground anytime.”

The Constitution actually described only four grounds to disqualify a legislator, he said, but regretted that “interventions by dictators” had now increased the number of such conditions to 16 that could disqualify an elected member of parliament anytime.

“After 2010, we have seen how the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution were exploited and the judiciary used them to weaken the legislature,” he alleged. “How will the legislature work if it always feels threatened?”

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023

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Israelis, Palestinians pledge to curb violence in Jordan meeting

Israel committed to stopping authorisation of any settler outposts in the occupied West Bank for six months during a meeting on Sunday with Palestinian officials in Jordan when the sides pledged to de-escalate surging violence.

In a joint statement at the end of a meeting in the city of Aqaba, Israel, and Palestinian officials said they would work closely to prevent “further violence” and “reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground”.

Host nation Jordan, along with Egypt and the United States, considered “these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides”, the statement said.

The meeting was held as anxiety mounted of escalation in the run-up to the holy month of Ramazan that begins in late March.

Palestinian factions, including the Hamas group, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for taking part in the meeting.

The meeting brought together top Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs for the first time in many years, officials said and aimed to restore calm in Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority “confirmed their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of three-six months”, the statement said.

“This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for four months and to stop authorisation of any outposts for six months,” the statement said.

The participants also agreed to meet again in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in March. “The participants stressed the importance of the Aqaba meeting, the first of its kind in years,” the statement said.

“They agreed to continue meeting under this formulae, maintain the positive momentum and expand this agreement towards wider political process leading to a just and lasting peace.”

US President Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk is attending, along with Jordanian and Egyptian officials.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power at the head of one of the most right-wing coalitions in Israeli history has added to Arab concerns about escalation.

Israel on Feb 12 granted retroactive authorisation to nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and announced mass construction of new homes within established settlements.

The UN Security Council issued a formal statement denouncing Israel’s plan to expand settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, the first action the United States has allowed the body to take against its ally Israel in six years.

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Rajanpur by-poll today despite ‘security concerns’

ISLAMABAD: The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) has rej­e­c­ted the Punjab government’s request and decided to hold the by-election in Rajanpur on Sunday (today).

The by-election will take place on the seat, NA-193 (Rajanpur), which had fallen vacant following the death of PTI’s Sardar Jaffar Khan Leghari in December 2022.

Two days before the polling, the interim government of Punjab on Friday requested the commission to postpone the by-election.

The government said that the Dera Ghazi Khan division commissioner has raised security concerns in a letter to the home department.

The commissioner also wrote to the ECP requesting postponement over security concerns.

The ECP, in a statement, said the Punjab government’s requested couldn’t be entertained as all arrangements for the by-election were already in place.

It added that the deputy commissioner, Punjab Police, Army and Rangers would be present in the monitoring room and respond to any untoward situation.

The ECP said that central and provincial monitoring rooms would work round the clock to monitor the electoral process.

It said that under Article 220 of the Constitution, every institution was obliged to support the ECP in holding free and fair elections.

The election commission warned that non-cooperation on part of any institution or official would result in action according to the law.

A tough contest is expected between Mohsin Leghari and Ammar Leghari, who are contesting on the tickets of PTI and PML-N, respectively.

Earlier, the PTI had nominated its chairman Imran Khan as a candidate. However, earlier this month, Mr Khan withdrew his candidature in an apparent bid to avert possible disqualification in the Tyrian White case.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023

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Punjab, PCB wrangling overshadows PSL glitz

• Matches from Tuesday may be shifted to Karachi if deadlock persists
• Govt agrees to light up teams’ route to stadium, says no further talks until board commits funds
• PCB accuses provincial govt of ‘changing its stance’ on budget

LAHORE: The Punjab government may have agreed to light up the route from the team hotels to the Gaddafi Stadium, but its sta­ndoff with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues to drag on, making it seem like the Pakistan Super League would be shifted from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Karachi after an agreement on security expenditure eluded the two sides, on Saturday.

The Punjab government has lowered its demand for security funds — from Rs450 million to Rs250m — but the PCB is refusing to flinch, stating that it is the obligation of the government to provide protection to the teams, as per the agreements signed in 2014 for the restoration of international cricket in Pakistan.

The PCB has taken its patron-in-chief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the loop as well but as it stands, Lahore will host only two matches this season — both featuring the home team Lahore Qalandars, on Sunday and Monday (today and tomorrow).

Mansoor Qadir, focal person for the Punjab government ministerial committee, told Dawn that the lights would remain installed as the government does not want to snatch the glitzy T20 extravaganza away from the citizens of Lahore. However, he maintained that the provincial cabinet would not enter into further negotiations with the PCB until the latter committed to pay Rs250m for the purchase of security lights, for future use.

After the Punjab cabinet met on Saturday to formalise its stance over the issue, the PCB held a meeting of its own to discuss the issue. Sources in the board confirmed that it had received a verbal offer from the government to reduce the amount to Rs250m but the board did not agree.

Sources said the PCB was clear in its stance, but the government was not. “First, it sent a budget asking the PCB to pay Rs 900million, then gradually reduced it and has now come down to Rs 250million,” the source said, adding: “We will hold two matches of the PSL in Lahore on Sunday and Monday as per schedule before shifting the PSL to Karachi on Tuesday if the government will not withdraw its demand.”

‘Fingers crossed’

Mr Qadir, the Punjab focal person, confirmed that the bill had been reduced to Rs370million, but stressed that it needed the payment from the PCB so that it could purchase the lights in collaboration with the board, for use in tournaments in the coming years. “They would become an asset for the PCB, which can rent them out to the government when there’s a need.

“I, being the focal person, conveyed the offer to the PCB chief executive about the amount that we need and he has informed me that he will give me a final answer by [Saturday night] or Sunday morning,” he said, adding that the PCB had so far consented to contribute a maximum of Rs100 million. “We are waiting for the PCB’s response with our fingers crossed.”

Mr Mansoor, who holds the portfolio of education in the interim cabinet, said the procurement of security lights after the tournament would help curtail the bill of Rs370 million every year — being paid to one permanent vendor, who is also facing audit issues.

“The Punjab government will use PCB’s Rs250 million to pay the rent of the security lights that stands at Rs370 million, and afterwards ensure that security lights worth Rs250 million be purchased for future use by the PCB,” he said.

Potential pullout

The focal person added that the PCB had initially been given an expenditure estimate to the tune of Rs1.2 billion, and that the provincial government had made efforts to cut the bill to Rs700 million, finally bringing it down to Rs500 million.

“Cutting this cost further will mean compromising the security of the PSL teams for which no one wants to take the responsibility,” he said.

Sources in the PCB, meanwhile, stated that the stance of the Punjab government could potentially see foreign players pulling out from their respective franchises.

“The message has been given to the government in clarity that if the government will not provide presidential level security to the foreign players, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) will call back all the foreign players,” the sources said.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023

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Mercedes overcomes F1 testing wobble, but W14’s still lacking

Mercedes feels it got back on track on the final day of 2023 pre-season F1 testing - but is aware there's almost certainly still a deficit [...]

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Imran alleges Punjab govt tortured watchman in bid to obtain statement against Usman Dar

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday alleged that the Punjab caretaker government had tortured a watchman to force him into giving a statement against party leader Usman Dar in a corruption case.

In a video message alongside Dar and a man named Javed Ali, Imran said he wanted to deliver the “emergency video talk” since it was about such a “painful and frightening” matter that it could not be delayed further.

“Javed Ali is only one man who has come to the front. They have tried with so many people to give [forced] confessions against our senior leaders or ministers ever since our government fell,” Imran said.

The PTI chief said Dar had got Ali employed as a watchman in Sialkot. “He was picked up by the police and after that ‘namaloom afraad’ (unknown people) … “ he added, before telling Ali to narrate his alleged ordeal.

“This whole statement under [section] 164 [of the Criminal Procedure Code] that was forced from him was to trap Usman Dar and incriminate him in corruption cases.

“After bringing his wife and children to a nearby room, they said they would strip her, photograph her and put them up on Facebook,” the former prime minister said.

Addressing the chief justice of Pakistan, Imran asked, “Who will protect our fundamental rights?”

He referred to the alleged treatment meted out to PTI leaders Shahbaz Gill and Azam Swati under custody, adding that Gill was told to give a statement against the PTI chief — noting that it was the same as the situation between Ali and Dar.

Imran said he had told the chief justice that incidents of custodial torture and the Wazirabad assassination attempt on him had begun since “[former army chief] Gen (r) [Qamar Javed] Bajwa brought ‘Dirty Harry’”.

The PTI chairman said he had asked other people, as he asked Ali, to come forward and narrate their ordeals of alleged abductions and custodial torture but “they are all afraid of the namaloom afraad because they are above the law and can do whatever they want”.

Imran said that Ali was also threatened to not share his ordeal with anyone or he would be killed.

“There is an attack [being launched] on the judiciary by this mafia. These are not politicians but a mafia which makes tapes of judges and do every kind of blackmailing,” he said, referring to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s recent criticism of the judiciary.

Imran called on the chief justice to take suo motu notice on Ali’s ordeal, adding that the namaloom afraad had also threatened Ali to put the entire blame on the police and say nothing else or he would be killed.

“A watchman was picked up and he was treated in such a manner to give evidence against him (Dar) … so they could tarnish PTI’s Sialkot district president and somehow disqualify him or embroil him in anti-corruption [proceedings].

“This is the Punjab caretaker government … a neutral caretaker [chief minister] is committing these actions? This is happening under the neutral caretaker [chief minister],” Imran said.

Javed Ali’s account

Describing his alleged ordeal, Ali said: “I was working as a watchman in the education department. I was called there and told to come and apply for my salary … when I went there I was kept waiting from 11am to 3:30pm and at around 4pm, seven to eight policemen came and handcuffed me, blindfolded me as if I were a terrorist.

“I was then forced into a private car and taken to an unknown location where seven to eight people lay me down and started beating me and [asked] ‘how much money did Usman Dar take to get you employed?’”

He added that he had denied having received any money, following which he was hung upside down and told to confess that he had paid Dar for his job.

Ali said when he resisted giving the statement, his captors threatened him that they would also pick up his family.

‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’

The PTI is currently in the midst of a ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ (court arrest drive) which Imran has said is aimed at countering the “attack” on the party’s fundamental rights and the economic “meltdown”.

Earlier in the day, Imran condemned the government’s “fascist approach” towards PTI members detained during the movement.

“Refusing to abide by prison rules for political detainees reflects a desperate and dictatorial mindset, which makes our people even more determined to stand up for Haqeeqi Azadi,” he tweeted.

Before the drive commenced from Lahore on Wednesday, Imran had said there were two main reasons for it.

“One, it is a peaceful, non-violent protest against the attack on our constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights. We are facing sham first information reports and National Accountability Bureau cases, custodial torture, attacks on journalists and social media people.”

Second, Imran went on, the drive was against economic meltdown “brought on by cabal of crooks who have money laundered billions in looted wealth and gotten NROs for themselves while crushing the people, especially the poor and middle class, under the burden of spiralling inflation and rising unemployment”.

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Govt seeks judges’ recusal from SC bench hearing elections case

ISLAMABAD: Taking a stand, three parties from the ruling coalition stated before the Supreme Court on Friday that two members of its nine-judge bench, hearing the suo motu case about delay in the announcement of a date for elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies, should recuse themselves from the case.

The PML-N, JUI-F and PPP further said that the two judges should never be part of any bench hearing any case involving these three parties and their leadership.

“At the very outset, [the] PPPP, PML-N and JUI-Pakistan with utmost respect submit that it is apparent from the Feb 16, 2023 [order] passed by two-member bench, comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan [and] Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, that they have already disclosed their mind,” said a signed document furnished by senior counsel Farooq H. Naek, Mansoor Usman Awan and Kamran Murtaza, respectively, with the court.

The counsel, however, hastened to add that the ruling parties did not have any personal reason or grievance against any of the two judges, but it would be befitting they should not hear the matter.

• PML-N, PPP, JUI-F say Justice Ijaz and Justice Naqvi ‘must never hear their cases’ • SCBA picks Bhoon in place of Zuberi to attend proceedings

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, who heads the larger bench, observed that though ordinarily citizens approached the court, this time the one knocking at the doors of the Supreme Court was the Constitution itself.

Would it not be appropriate if the case under Article 184(3) of the constitution be heard by a full court consisting of all the judges of the Supreme Court, observed Justice Athar Minallah, a member of the bench.

“I bow before the observation,” Mr Naek replied.

Mr Naek said he would also request for the same, but wondered “couldn’t we wait for a while in view of the present political and economic uncertainty”.

While talking to the media after the hearing, he said that even if the full court was constituted, PDM and PPPP would be sticking to their demand that the two judges should not be part of the larger bench.

During the proceedings, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel observed as to why the matter may not be taken to parliament where political parties themselves can resolve it and find out a solution.

The counsel said he would convey the observations to the parties’ leadership.

After the hearing, Chaudhry Faisal Fareed told reporters that PTI was happy with the present constitution of the bench since it respects all the judges as well as the institution of the judiciary as a whole.

‘Alarming note’

The joint statement, which was read out by Mr Naek, highlighted Justice Mandokhel’s note by descri­bing it as an “alarming note” in which the judge during the hearing on Thursday had described the initiation of suo motu notice as “not justified”.

The counsel said the leadership of the three political parties was of the view that in the interest of justice, fair play and to protect the fundamental right to fair trial and due process as guaranteed under Article 10A of the constitution, Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi may kindly abstain themselves from hearing the suo motu case as well as the connected petitions.

Mr Naek also read out the order of the two-judge bench as well as the CJP’s order on initiating the suo motu jurisdiction.

When the counsel tried to read Justice Mandokhel’s note, the CJP wondered how he had got the note when he (the CJP) himself did not have it.

The counsel explained that when Justice Mandokhel was reading his note on Thursday, the same was noted by his fellow colleagues present in the Courtroom No 1.

The chief justice, however, observed that the court would hear the parties on the maintainability of the case when the hearing would be resumed on Monday since Friday’s proceedings were only concerned with recording the presence of the parties before it.

Mansoor Usman Awan reminded the court that under Article 176, the definition of Supreme Court includes the CJP and all other judges of the apex court, adding the question before the court should be heard by the full court.

SCBA Meeting

Meanwhile, in a significant development, the SCBA in its fifth meeting of 25th executive committee at Lahore, attended by nine members out of a total of 17, approved a resolution that Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon instead of SCBA President Abid Zuberi would represent the association before the court in the suo motu hearing.

The resolution deplored that the president and Secretary Muqtedir Akhtar Shabbir had ignored the executive committee on many occasions when their presence was necessary, especially when the delegations of China and Turkiye visited the SCBA. Besides, it said, a meeting was arranged with former chief minister Punjab in the absence of the executive committee which showed a clear pick and choose policy adopted by the SCBA president.

SBC’s objection to bench

Similar to the PBC’s demand, Sindh Bar Council Vice Chairman Zulfikar Ali Khan Jalbani expressed reservation over the constitution of the nine-judge bench by excluding senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood.

He said the power of fixation of roaster and cases should not rest exclusively with the CJP.

In a statement, Mr Jalbani and chairman executive committee Inayatullah Morio said that Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Naqvi should rescue themselves from the bench as clear lack of confidence has been shown in them by the different parties.

The SBC urged the CJP to take concrete steps to redress the impression of recent practice of constitution of benches of his choice, especially in political cases.

Ishaq Tanoli in Karachi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2023

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ECP yet to ‘vacate’ NA seats won by Imran

ISLAMABAD: Despite the lapse of the constitutionally mandated 30-day period, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is yet to declare vacant six of the seven National Assembly seats won by PTI chief Imran Khan in October last year.

These by-polls were held on nine seats after the National Assembly speaker accepted the resignations of some PTI lawmakers who resigned en masse in April, following Mr Khan’s ouster as prime minister through a no-confidence vote in parliament.

When Mr Khan won the seven seats in October, he was already holding a National Assembly seat from Mianwali. He won six seats on October 16 and bagged another seat from NA-45 (Kurram) on October 30.

Mr Khan then contested eight of those vacant seats and emerged victorious on seven of them after losing one seat to PPP’s Abdul Hakeem Baloch in Karachi’s Malir area.

If PTI chief does not indicate preference within 30 days, he automatically retains only the last seat contested, i.e. NA-45 (Kurram)

Under the law, the time of one month for Mr Khan to decide which seat he wants to keep expired last week, and all seven seats, except for the last one he won from Kurram, were supposed to be declared vacant by the ECP days ago.

Although no ECP official would comment on the development, background interviews suggest that the commission — preoccupied at the moment with the question of general elections in Punjab and KP — may have forgotten to make an announcement in this regard. In fact, sources suggest that there is “no mala fide intention behind it, rather an oversight”.

Under Article 223 (1) of the constitution, no individual can hold more than one seat in any house of parliament at the same time.

The article in question states: “Nothing in clause (1) shall prevent a person from being a candidate for two or more seats at the same time, whether in the same body or in different bodies, but if he is elected to more than one seat he shall, within a period of thirty days after the declaration of the result for the last such seat, resign all but one of his seats, and if he does not so resign, all the seats to which he has been elected shall become vacant at the expiration of the said period of thirty days except the seat to which he has been elected last or, if he has been elected to more than one seat on the same day, the seat for election to which his nomination was filed last.”

On Jan 19, ECP had notified Mr Khan’s victory in seven National Assembly constituencies in by-polls held in October, taking a lenient view of the delay he incurred in submitting election expense details.

This happened at a time when Mr Khan was aiming to break his own record by contesting by-polls on all 33 National Assembly seats that fell vacant after Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted the long-pending resignations of PTI lawmakers.

The notification — earlier withheld after Mr Khan failed to submit details of by-poll expenses within the stipulated time — was issued hours after the commission announced a reserved verdict condoning the delay.

Under the law, contesting candidates should submit details of election expenses to the ECP within 10 days after the polling day, and a failure may lead to disqualification. The ECP, however, is empowered to condone the delay.

A three-member ECP panel, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, had noted at the time that contesting an election was a fundamental right in terms of Article 17(2) of the Constitution and court judgements. The seven constituencies bagged by the PTI chief are: NA-22 (Mardan), NA-24 (Charsadda), NA-31 (Peshawar), NA-108 (Faisalabad), NA-118 (Nankana Sahib), NA-239 (Korangi), and NA-45 (Kurram). The ninth seat — NA-157 (Multan) — was contested by PTI’s Meher Bano Qureshi, daughter of party leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi. However, she was defeated by PPP’s Ali Musa Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2023

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PSL 8: Azam’s dazzling fireworks for United leave Gladiators shellshocked

The attendance in Karachi’s National Stadium stands was sparse for a Friday night HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) encounter. But when Azam Khan played for Islamabad United, the sparse crowd chanted his name in unison. Their chants were loud enough to make the venue seem jam-packed.

After all, what was happening in front of their eyes, was exhilarating, exciting and worth every penny of the ticket price.

For Quetta Gladiators, Azam’s show was nothing less than shocking. After Sarfaraz Ahmed’s bowlers reduced United to 71-4 by the halfway stage, the burly right-hander went on to prove he was one of the best power-hitters in Pakistan, plundering the Quetta bowlers for 97 runs off 42 balls — an innings studded with nine fours and eight jaw-dropping sixes.

He got the perfect support from another power-hitter in Asif Ali, who hit a four and four sixes in his 24-ball knock for 42, which added to the duo’s partnership of 98 off 45 balls for the fifth wicket as United posted 220-6.

It was too much for Quetta to deal with as they saw themselves fall short by 63 runs, registering their fourth defeat in five matches.

Barring Colin Munro’s 38 off 22 before the New Zealander was castled by emerging pacer Aimal Khan, the United top order failed to deliver.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who had scored a blistering half-century against Peshawar Zalmi a day earlier fell early to a brilliant fielding effort by Iftikhar Ahmed while Rassie van der Dussen also failed to stay for long at the crease.

United captain Shadab Khan, who himself was cleaned up by Odean Smith, must have been questioning his decision of batting first after winning the toss.

But as soon as Azam arrived on the crease, Shadab’s doubts must have vanished. After Asif commenced his fireworks with a pull for six off Aimal, Azam caressed Mohammad Nawaz’s left-arm spin past extra cover for his first boundary.

Azam hit the first of his sixes with a stylish shot off Smith to wrap up the 13th over. The powerful batter executed an even better hit when he exposed his stumps to loft Nawaz to make the ball travel the distance over the long-off boundary after Asif had swept the spinner for a four.

The 24-year-old Azam was hardly differentiating between the Quetta spinners and pacers.

He squeezed Naseem Shah past point before smashing the pacer over his head for two fours in the 15th over. He brought up his 50 in 29 balls with a guided shot past short third man for another boundary off Aimal before Asif slashed the quick over cover for a six. Azam finished the over with an uppercut for another six.

The 17th over saw Asif and Azam hit three sixes off Mohammad Hasnain’s pace before the former finally faltered and fell to Shah, who saw himself punished by Azam for bowling a shorter one as the batter found the gap between short third man and point. He pulled Hasnain for two huge sixes before going down on his knees and sweeping for another audacious maximum as United crossed the 200 mark.

After Faheem Ashraf had played his part with two fours and a six, Azam thrashed Smith for another boundary and a maximum before getting castles by the West Indies all-rounder, narrowly missing out on the record for the fastest century in PSL history. Nonetheless, Quetta were already under piles of misery.

The Gladiators’ response was far from satisfactory. And if they showed signs of posing a fight, it was when Mohammad Hafeez (48 off 26) and Sarfraz Ahmed (41 off 35) were playing.

After the pair’s fourth-wicket partnership of 69 off 45 balls ended with Hafeez’s dismissal by Afghan pacer Fazal Haq Farooqi, Quetta never really got going.

After Farooqi had cleaned up opener Martin Guptill with a sharp in-swinger and spinner Abrar Ahmed had sent Will Smeed — playing his first match this season — and Jason Roy back to the dugout early, Hafeez counter-attacked by smashing pacer Hasan Ali over the covers before scooping him for a six.

The veteran batter guided Faheem’s medium pace behind for another boundary in the sixth over before Sarfraz pulled the pacer for a flat six over square leg with 61-3 on the board by the end of the powerplay.

Hafeez hit another four and a big six over long on off Hasan in the ninth over as Quetta looked for the first time threatened to snatch the game from United, but the right-hander’s stay at the crease ended two overs later, with the Gladiators reeling at 94-4.

The incoming Iftikhar’s 39 off 27, which saw the muscular batter hit three fours and two sixes, only played damage control for the Quetta outfit before Hasan took two more wickets and Farooqi and Shadab took one more each to bowl out their opponents for 157 with five balls to spare.

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