Ocean, if you were to give, a measure, a ferment, a fruit
of your gifts and destructions, into my hand,
I would choose your far-off repose, your contour of steel,
your vigilant spaces of air and darkness,
and the power of your white tongue,
that shatters and overthrows columns,
breaking them down to your proper purity.
Not the final breaker, heavy with brine,
that thunders onshore, and creates
the silence of sand, that encircles the world,
but the inner spaces of force,
the naked power of the waters,
the immoveable solitude, brimming with lives.
It is Time perhaps, or the vessel filled
with all motion, pure Oneness,
that death cannot touch, the visceral green
of consuming totality.
Only a salt kiss remains of the drowned arm,
that lifts a spray: a humid scent,
of the damp flower, is left,
from the bodies of men. Your energies
form, in a trickle that is not spent,
form, in retreat into silence.
The falling wave,
arch of identity, shattering feathers,
is only spume when it clears,
and returns to its source, unconsumed.
Your whole force heads for its origin.
The husks that your load threshes,
are only the crushed, plundered, deliveries,
that your act of abundance expelled,
all those that take life from your branches.
Your form extends beyond breakers,
vibrant, and rhythmic, like the chest, cloaking
a single being, and its breathings,
that lift into the content of light,
plains raised above waves,
forming the naked surface of earth.
You fill your true self with your substance.
You overflow curve with silence.
The vessel trembles with your salt and sweetness,
the universal cavern of waters,
and nothing is lost from you, as it is
from the desolate crater, or the bay of a hill,
those empty heights, signs, scars,
guarding the wounded air.
Your petals throbbing against the Earth,
trembling your submarine harvests,
your menace thickening the smooth swell,
with pulsations and swarming of schools,
and only the thread of the net raises
the dead lightning of fish-scale,
one wounded millimetre, in the space
of your crystal completeness.
(and yes its not mine its a translation of one of the greatest poets in recent times)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Now or Never: Are We to Live or Perish forever? by Ch Rehmat Ali
3, Huberstoen Road
Cambridge,
28th January, 1933
My Lord,
I am enclosing herewith an appeal on behalf of the thirty million Muslims of PAKSTAN, who live in the five Northern Units of India - Punjab, N.W.F.P (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan, embodying their inexorable demand for the recognition of their separate national status, as distinct from the rest of India, by the grant of a separate Federal Constitution on social, religious, political and historical grounds.
May I venture to request you to acquaint me please with your valuable opinion as to the proposed solution of this great Indian problem as explained herein.
I do hope and trust that, vitally interested as you are in the permanent solution of this problem, the objects outlined in the appeal will meet your fullest approval and active support.
I have the honour to remain, my Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient servant,
RAHMAT ALI,
(Choudhary)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitutions for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN - by which we mean the five Northern units of India, Viz.: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan - for your sympathy and support in our grim and fateful struggle against political crucifixion and complete annihilation.
Our brave but voiceless nation is being sacrificed on the altar of Hindu Nationalism not only by the non-Muslims, but to the lasting disgrace of Islam, by our own so-called leaders, with reckless disregard to our future and in utter contempt of the teachings of history.
The Indian Muslim Delegation at the Round Table Conference have committed an inexcusable and prodigious blunder. They have submitted, in the name of Hindu Nationalism, to the perpetual subjection of the ill-starred Muslim nation. These leader have already agreed, without any protest or demur and without any reservation, to a Constitution based on the principle of an All-India Federation. This, in essence, amounts to nothing less than signing the death-warrant of Islam and its future n India. In doing so, they have taken shelter behind the so-called Mandate from the community. But they forgot that that suicidal Mandate was framed and formulated by their own hands. That Mandate was not the Mandate of the Muslims of India. Nations never give Mandates to their representatives to barter away their very souls; and men of conscience never accept such self-annihilating Mandates, if given - much less execute them. At a time of a crisis of this magnitude, the foremost duty of saving statesmanship is to give a fair, firm and fearless lead, which, alas, has been persistently denied to eighty million of our co-religionists in India by our leader during the last seventy-five years. These have been the years of false issues, of lost opportunities and of utter blindness to the most essential and urgent need of the Muslim interests. Their policy has throughout been nerveless in action and subservient in attitude. They have all along been paralyzed with fear and doubt, and have deliberately, time and again, sacrificed their political principles for the sake of opportunism and expediency. To do so even at this momentous juncture is a policy of Bedlam. It is idle for us not to look this tragic truth in the face. The tighter we shut our eyes, the harder the truth will hit us.
At this critical moment, when this tragedy is being enacted, permit us to appeal to you for your practical sympathy and active support for the demand of a separate Federation - a matter of life and death for the Muslims of India - as outlined and explained below.
India, constituted as it is at present moment, is not the name of one single country; nor the home of one single nation. It is, in fact, the designation of a Stated created for the first time in history, by the British. It includes peoples who have never previously formed part of India at any period in its history; but who have, on the other hand, from the dawn of history till the advent of the British, possessed and retained distinct nationalities of their own.
In the five Northern Provinces of India, out of a total population of about forty millions, we, the Muslims, constitute about thirty millions. Our religion, culture, history, tradition, economic system, laws of inheritance, succession and marriage basically and fundamentally different from those of the people living in the rest of the India. The ideals which move our thirty million brethren-in-faith living in these Provinces to make the highest sacrifices are fundamentally different from those which inspire the Hindus. These differences are not confined to the broad basic principles - far from it. They extend to the minutest details of our lives. We do not inter-dine; we do not inter-marry. Our national customs, calendars, even our diet and dress are different.
It is preposterous to compare, as some superficial observers do, the differences between Muslims and Hindus with those between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Both the Catholics and Protestants are part of parcel of one religious system - Christianity; while the Hindus and Muslims are the followers of two essentially and fundamentally different religious systems. Religion in the case of Muslims and Hindus is not a matter of private opinion as it is in the case of Christians; but on the other hand constitutes a Civic Church which lays down a code of conduct to be observed by their adherents from birth to death.
If we, the Muslims of Pakstan, with our distinct marks of nationality, are deluded into the proposed Indian Federation by friends or foes, we are reduced to a minority of one to four. It is this which sounds the death-knell of the Muslims nation in India for ever. To realise the full magnitude of this impending catastrophe, let us remind you that we thirty millions constitute about on-tenth of the whole Muslim world. The total area of the five unites comprising PAKSTAN, which are our homelands, is four times that of Italy, three times that of Germany and twice that of France; and our population seven times that of the Commonwealth of Australia, four times that of the Dominion of Canada, twice that of Spain , and equal to France and Italy considered individually.
These are facts - hard facts and realities - which we challenge anybody to contradict. It is on the basis of these facts that we make bold to assert without the least fear of contradiction that we, Muslims PAKSTAN, do possess a separate and distinct nationality from the rest of India, where the Hindu nation lives and has every right to live. We, therefore, deserve and must demand the recognition of a separate national status by the grant of a separate Federal Constitution from the rest of India.
In addressing this appeal to the Muslims of India, we are also addressing it to the two other great interests - British and Hindu - involved in the settlement of India's future. They must understand that in our conviction our body and soul are at stake. Our very being and well-being depends upon it. For our five great Northern states to join an All-India Federation would be disastrous, not only to ourselves, but to every other race and interest in India, including the British and the Hindu.
This is more especially true when there is just and reasonable alternative to the proposed settlement, which will lay the foundations of a peaceful future for this great sub-continent; and should certainly allow of the highest development of each of these two peoples without one being subject to another. This alternative is a separate Federation of these five predominantly (sic) Muslim units - Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan. The Muslim Federation of North-West India would provide the bulwark of a buffer state against any invasion either of ideas or arms from outside. The creation of such a Federation would not materially disturb the ratio of the Muslim and Hindu population in the ret of India. It is wholly to the interest of British and Hindu statesmanship to have as an ally a free, powerful and contented Muslim nation having similar but separate Constitution to that which is being enacted for the rest of India. Nothing but a separate Federation of homelands would satisfy us. This demand is basically from the suggestion put forward by Doctor Sir Mohammed Iqbal in his Presidential address to the All-India Muslim League in 1930. While he proposed the amalgamation of the provinces into a single state forming a unit of the All-India Federation, we propose that these Provinces should have a separate Federation of their own. There can be no peace and tranquility in the land if we, the Muslims, are duped into a Hindu-dominated Federation where we cannot be the master of our own destiny and captains of our won souls.
Do the safeguard provided for in the Constitution give us any scope to work for our salvation along our own lines ? Not a bit. Safeguard is the magic word which hold our leaders spellbound , and has dulled their consciences. In the ecstasy of their hallucinations they think that the pills of safeguards can cure nation-annihilating earthquakes. Safeguards asked for by these leaders and agreed to by the makers of the Constitution can never be a substitute for the loss of separate nationality. We, the Muslims, shall have to fight that course of suicidal insanity to death. What safeguards can be devised to prevent our minority of one in four in an All-India Federation from being sacrificed. on every vital issue to the aims and interests of the majority race, which differs from us in every essential of individual and corporate life ? What safeguards can prevent the catastrophe of the Muslim nation smarting and suffering eternally at the frustration of its every social and religious ideal ? What safeguards can compensate our nation awakened to its national consciousness for the destruction of its distinct national status ? However effective and extensive the safeguards may be, the vital organs and proud symbols of our national life, such as army and navy, foreign relations, trade and commerce, communications, posts and telegraphs, taxation and customs, will not be under our control, but will be in the hands of a Federal Government, which is bound to be overwhelmingly Hindu. With all this, how can we, the Muslims, achieve any of our ideals if those ideals conflict - conflict as they must - with the ideals of Hindus ?
The History of the last century, in this respect, is full of unforgettable lessons for us. Even one who runs may read them. To take just one instance: Despite all these safeguards and guarantees we have enjoyed in the past, the very name of our national language - URDU, even now the lingua franca of that great sub-continent - has been wiped out of the list of Indian languages. We have just to open the latest census report to very it. This by itself is a fall. Are we fated to fall farther ? But that too is dust in the scales by comparison with the tremendous national issues involving our whole future as a nation and a power not only in India but also in the whole of Asia.
In the face of these incontrovertible facts, we are entitled to ask for what purpose we are being asked to make the supreme sacrifice of surrendering our nationality and submitting ourselves and our posterity to Non-Muslim domination ? What good is likely to accrue to Islam and Muslims by going into the Federation is a thing which passes our understanding. Are we to be crucified just to save the faces of our leader or to bolster up the preposterous that India can be a single nation ? Is it with a view to achieve a compromise t all costs, or it it to support the the illusion that Hindu nationalism is working in the interests of Muslims as well as Hindus ? Irony is flattered to death by a mental muddle of such a nature and on such a scale. We have suffered in the past without a murmur and faced dangers without demur. The one thing we would never suffer is our own strangulation. We will not crucify ourselves upon the cross of Hindu nationalism in order to make a Hindu-holiday.
May we be permitted to ask of all those statesmen - Muslim or British or Hindu - supporting the Federal Constitution, if it is really desirable to make our nation sacrifice all that Islam has given us during the last fourteen hundred years to make India a nation ? Does humanity really stand to gain by this stupendous sacrifice ? We dare say that still in Islam the ancient fire glows and promises much for the future, if only the leaders would let it live. Whilst in Europe, excluding Russia, in about the same area as that of India and with about the same population, there live and prosper as many as twenty-six nations, with one and the same religion, civilisation and economic system, surely it is not only possible but highly desirable for two fundamentally different and distinct nations, i.e., Muslims and Hindu, to live as friendly neighbours in peace and prosperity in that vast sub-continent. What bitter irony is it that our leaders have not the courage to stand up and demand the minimum for our political salvation.
We are face to face with a first-rate tragedy, the like of which has not been seen even in the long an eventful history of Islam. It is not the question of a sect or of a community going down; but it is the supreme problem which affects the destiny of the whole of Islam and the millions of human being who, till quite recently, were the custodian of the glory of Islam in India and the defenders of its frontiers. We have a still greater future before us, if only our soul can be saved from the perpetual mistake about it. The issue is now or never. Either we live or perish for ever. The future is ours only if we live up to our faith. It does not lie in the lap of the gods, but it rests in our own hands. We can make or mar it. The history of the last century is full of open warnings, and they are as plain as were ever given to any nation. Shall it be said of us that we ignored all these warnings and allowed our ancient heritage to perish in our own hands ?
Our brave but voiceless nation is being sacrificed on the altar of Hindu Nationalism not only by the non-Muslims, but to the lasting disgrace of Islam, by our own so-called leaders, with reckless disregard to our future and in utter contempt of the teachings of history.
The Indian Muslim Delegation at the Round Table Conference have committed an inexcusable and prodigious blunder. They have submitted, in the name of Hindu Nationalism, to the perpetual subjection of the ill-starred Muslim nation. These leader have already agreed, without any protest or demur and without any reservation, to a Constitution based on the principle of an All-India Federation. This, in essence, amounts to nothing less than signing the death-warrant of Islam and its future n India. In doing so, they have taken shelter behind the so-called Mandate from the community. But they forgot that that suicidal Mandate was framed and formulated by their own hands. That Mandate was not the Mandate of the Muslims of India. Nations never give Mandates to their representatives to barter away their very souls; and men of conscience never accept such self-annihilating Mandates, if given - much less execute them. At a time of a crisis of this magnitude, the foremost duty of saving statesmanship is to give a fair, firm and fearless lead, which, alas, has been persistently denied to eighty million of our co-religionists in India by our leader during the last seventy-five years. These have been the years of false issues, of lost opportunities and of utter blindness to the most essential and urgent need of the Muslim interests. Their policy has throughout been nerveless in action and subservient in attitude. They have all along been paralyzed with fear and doubt, and have deliberately, time and again, sacrificed their political principles for the sake of opportunism and expediency. To do so even at this momentous juncture is a policy of Bedlam. It is idle for us not to look this tragic truth in the face. The tighter we shut our eyes, the harder the truth will hit us.
At this critical moment, when this tragedy is being enacted, permit us to appeal to you for your practical sympathy and active support for the demand of a separate Federation - a matter of life and death for the Muslims of India - as outlined and explained below.
India, constituted as it is at present moment, is not the name of one single country; nor the home of one single nation. It is, in fact, the designation of a Stated created for the first time in history, by the British. It includes peoples who have never previously formed part of India at any period in its history; but who have, on the other hand, from the dawn of history till the advent of the British, possessed and retained distinct nationalities of their own.
In the five Northern Provinces of India, out of a total population of about forty millions, we, the Muslims, constitute about thirty millions. Our religion, culture, history, tradition, economic system, laws of inheritance, succession and marriage basically and fundamentally different from those of the people living in the rest of the India. The ideals which move our thirty million brethren-in-faith living in these Provinces to make the highest sacrifices are fundamentally different from those which inspire the Hindus. These differences are not confined to the broad basic principles - far from it. They extend to the minutest details of our lives. We do not inter-dine; we do not inter-marry. Our national customs, calendars, even our diet and dress are different.
It is preposterous to compare, as some superficial observers do, the differences between Muslims and Hindus with those between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Both the Catholics and Protestants are part of parcel of one religious system - Christianity; while the Hindus and Muslims are the followers of two essentially and fundamentally different religious systems. Religion in the case of Muslims and Hindus is not a matter of private opinion as it is in the case of Christians; but on the other hand constitutes a Civic Church which lays down a code of conduct to be observed by their adherents from birth to death.
If we, the Muslims of Pakstan, with our distinct marks of nationality, are deluded into the proposed Indian Federation by friends or foes, we are reduced to a minority of one to four. It is this which sounds the death-knell of the Muslims nation in India for ever. To realise the full magnitude of this impending catastrophe, let us remind you that we thirty millions constitute about on-tenth of the whole Muslim world. The total area of the five unites comprising PAKSTAN, which are our homelands, is four times that of Italy, three times that of Germany and twice that of France; and our population seven times that of the Commonwealth of Australia, four times that of the Dominion of Canada, twice that of Spain , and equal to France and Italy considered individually.
These are facts - hard facts and realities - which we challenge anybody to contradict. It is on the basis of these facts that we make bold to assert without the least fear of contradiction that we, Muslims PAKSTAN, do possess a separate and distinct nationality from the rest of India, where the Hindu nation lives and has every right to live. We, therefore, deserve and must demand the recognition of a separate national status by the grant of a separate Federal Constitution from the rest of India.
In addressing this appeal to the Muslims of India, we are also addressing it to the two other great interests - British and Hindu - involved in the settlement of India's future. They must understand that in our conviction our body and soul are at stake. Our very being and well-being depends upon it. For our five great Northern states to join an All-India Federation would be disastrous, not only to ourselves, but to every other race and interest in India, including the British and the Hindu.
This is more especially true when there is just and reasonable alternative to the proposed settlement, which will lay the foundations of a peaceful future for this great sub-continent; and should certainly allow of the highest development of each of these two peoples without one being subject to another. This alternative is a separate Federation of these five predominantly (sic) Muslim units - Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan. The Muslim Federation of North-West India would provide the bulwark of a buffer state against any invasion either of ideas or arms from outside. The creation of such a Federation would not materially disturb the ratio of the Muslim and Hindu population in the ret of India. It is wholly to the interest of British and Hindu statesmanship to have as an ally a free, powerful and contented Muslim nation having similar but separate Constitution to that which is being enacted for the rest of India. Nothing but a separate Federation of homelands would satisfy us. This demand is basically from the suggestion put forward by Doctor Sir Mohammed Iqbal in his Presidential address to the All-India Muslim League in 1930. While he proposed the amalgamation of the provinces into a single state forming a unit of the All-India Federation, we propose that these Provinces should have a separate Federation of their own. There can be no peace and tranquility in the land if we, the Muslims, are duped into a Hindu-dominated Federation where we cannot be the master of our own destiny and captains of our won souls.
Do the safeguard provided for in the Constitution give us any scope to work for our salvation along our own lines ? Not a bit. Safeguard is the magic word which hold our leaders spellbound , and has dulled their consciences. In the ecstasy of their hallucinations they think that the pills of safeguards can cure nation-annihilating earthquakes. Safeguards asked for by these leaders and agreed to by the makers of the Constitution can never be a substitute for the loss of separate nationality. We, the Muslims, shall have to fight that course of suicidal insanity to death. What safeguards can be devised to prevent our minority of one in four in an All-India Federation from being sacrificed. on every vital issue to the aims and interests of the majority race, which differs from us in every essential of individual and corporate life ? What safeguards can prevent the catastrophe of the Muslim nation smarting and suffering eternally at the frustration of its every social and religious ideal ? What safeguards can compensate our nation awakened to its national consciousness for the destruction of its distinct national status ? However effective and extensive the safeguards may be, the vital organs and proud symbols of our national life, such as army and navy, foreign relations, trade and commerce, communications, posts and telegraphs, taxation and customs, will not be under our control, but will be in the hands of a Federal Government, which is bound to be overwhelmingly Hindu. With all this, how can we, the Muslims, achieve any of our ideals if those ideals conflict - conflict as they must - with the ideals of Hindus ?
The History of the last century, in this respect, is full of unforgettable lessons for us. Even one who runs may read them. To take just one instance: Despite all these safeguards and guarantees we have enjoyed in the past, the very name of our national language - URDU, even now the lingua franca of that great sub-continent - has been wiped out of the list of Indian languages. We have just to open the latest census report to very it. This by itself is a fall. Are we fated to fall farther ? But that too is dust in the scales by comparison with the tremendous national issues involving our whole future as a nation and a power not only in India but also in the whole of Asia.
In the face of these incontrovertible facts, we are entitled to ask for what purpose we are being asked to make the supreme sacrifice of surrendering our nationality and submitting ourselves and our posterity to Non-Muslim domination ? What good is likely to accrue to Islam and Muslims by going into the Federation is a thing which passes our understanding. Are we to be crucified just to save the faces of our leader or to bolster up the preposterous that India can be a single nation ? Is it with a view to achieve a compromise t all costs, or it it to support the the illusion that Hindu nationalism is working in the interests of Muslims as well as Hindus ? Irony is flattered to death by a mental muddle of such a nature and on such a scale. We have suffered in the past without a murmur and faced dangers without demur. The one thing we would never suffer is our own strangulation. We will not crucify ourselves upon the cross of Hindu nationalism in order to make a Hindu-holiday.
May we be permitted to ask of all those statesmen - Muslim or British or Hindu - supporting the Federal Constitution, if it is really desirable to make our nation sacrifice all that Islam has given us during the last fourteen hundred years to make India a nation ? Does humanity really stand to gain by this stupendous sacrifice ? We dare say that still in Islam the ancient fire glows and promises much for the future, if only the leaders would let it live. Whilst in Europe, excluding Russia, in about the same area as that of India and with about the same population, there live and prosper as many as twenty-six nations, with one and the same religion, civilisation and economic system, surely it is not only possible but highly desirable for two fundamentally different and distinct nations, i.e., Muslims and Hindu, to live as friendly neighbours in peace and prosperity in that vast sub-continent. What bitter irony is it that our leaders have not the courage to stand up and demand the minimum for our political salvation.
We are face to face with a first-rate tragedy, the like of which has not been seen even in the long an eventful history of Islam. It is not the question of a sect or of a community going down; but it is the supreme problem which affects the destiny of the whole of Islam and the millions of human being who, till quite recently, were the custodian of the glory of Islam in India and the defenders of its frontiers. We have a still greater future before us, if only our soul can be saved from the perpetual mistake about it. The issue is now or never. Either we live or perish for ever. The future is ours only if we live up to our faith. It does not lie in the lap of the gods, but it rests in our own hands. We can make or mar it. The history of the last century is full of open warnings, and they are as plain as were ever given to any nation. Shall it be said of us that we ignored all these warnings and allowed our ancient heritage to perish in our own hands ?
Mohd Aslma Khan,
(Khattak).
President, Khyber Union.
Rahmat Ali,
(Choudhary).
Secretary, Khyber Union.
Sheikh Mohd Sadiq,
(Sahibzada).
(Sahibzada).
Inayat Ullah Khan,
(of Charsaddah).
(of Charsaddah).
Monday, August 17, 2009
Who Killed General Zia? A mystery in Pakistan's History
Zia Ul Haq, President of Pakistan died on 17th August 1987 in a mysterious airplane crash which leads to the death of not only an era with him but also in that airplane there was the top military bureaucracy except the Vice Chief of Army Staff, American Ambassador, CIA Head to Middle East and South Eastern Region and many other personals die. Still the reason of the crash are unknown to general public which leads to one of the most widely speculations still in Pakistan.
First we will see what was the official conclusion of the investigation, which was separately carried out by USA (as her Ambassador and a top military official also died in crash) and Pakistan.
USA's conclusions
Mrs. Ely-Raphel and Brigadier-General Wassom's widow were both told by US investigators that the crash had been caused by a mechanical problem common with the C-130. Robert Oakley, who replaced Arnold Raphel as US ambassador following the crash and helped to handle the investigation, has also expressed this view. He has pointed out that 20 or 30 C-130s have suffered similar incidents. He has identified the mechanical fault as a problem with the hydraulics in the tail assembly. According to them although USAF pilots had handled similar situation, Pakistani pilots were less well equipped, lacking C-130 experience and also were flying low.
Pakistan's conclusions
According to Pakistani investigators, they found evidence of possible problems with the aircraft's elevator booster package, as well as frayed or snapped control cables. Analysis by a US lab found "extensive contamination" by brass and aluminum particles in the elevator booster package, but the report said "failure of the elevator control system due to a mechanical failure is ruled out". It cited the aircraft maker Lockheed as saying that "even with the level of contamination found in the system, they have not normally experienced any problems other than wear". The report concluded that the contamination of the elevator booster package might at worst have caused sluggish controls leading to over control but not to an accident. In the absence of a mechanical cause, the Pakistani inquiry concluded that the crash was due to an act of sabotage. They found no conclusive evidence of an explosion on the aircraft, but said that chemicals that could be used in small explosives were detected in mango seeds and a piece of rope found on the aircraft. They also added that "the use of a chemical agent to incapacitate the pilots and thus perpetuate the accident therefore remains a distinct possibility".
Cause leading to Speculations
As both investigations also failed to come up with a common cause it spread more rumors about this high profile crash leading to the death of Pakistan's President, top 30 Military Officials including General Akhtar Abdul Rehman, Chairman of the Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan. Due to no single explanation of the crash and opposite views of both sides many theories emerged related to this crash.
Like any other murder case, first it is always seem to look at the benefactors from this murder:
First we will see what was the official conclusion of the investigation, which was separately carried out by USA (as her Ambassador and a top military official also died in crash) and Pakistan.
USA's conclusions
Mrs. Ely-Raphel and Brigadier-General Wassom's widow were both told by US investigators that the crash had been caused by a mechanical problem common with the C-130. Robert Oakley, who replaced Arnold Raphel as US ambassador following the crash and helped to handle the investigation, has also expressed this view. He has pointed out that 20 or 30 C-130s have suffered similar incidents. He has identified the mechanical fault as a problem with the hydraulics in the tail assembly. According to them although USAF pilots had handled similar situation, Pakistani pilots were less well equipped, lacking C-130 experience and also were flying low.
Pakistan's conclusions
According to Pakistani investigators, they found evidence of possible problems with the aircraft's elevator booster package, as well as frayed or snapped control cables. Analysis by a US lab found "extensive contamination" by brass and aluminum particles in the elevator booster package, but the report said "failure of the elevator control system due to a mechanical failure is ruled out". It cited the aircraft maker Lockheed as saying that "even with the level of contamination found in the system, they have not normally experienced any problems other than wear". The report concluded that the contamination of the elevator booster package might at worst have caused sluggish controls leading to over control but not to an accident. In the absence of a mechanical cause, the Pakistani inquiry concluded that the crash was due to an act of sabotage. They found no conclusive evidence of an explosion on the aircraft, but said that chemicals that could be used in small explosives were detected in mango seeds and a piece of rope found on the aircraft. They also added that "the use of a chemical agent to incapacitate the pilots and thus perpetuate the accident therefore remains a distinct possibility".
Cause leading to Speculations
As both investigations also failed to come up with a common cause it spread more rumors about this high profile crash leading to the death of Pakistan's President, top 30 Military Officials including General Akhtar Abdul Rehman, Chairman of the Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan. Due to no single explanation of the crash and opposite views of both sides many theories emerged related to this crash.
Like any other murder case, first it is always seem to look at the benefactors from this murder:
- Al-Zulfiqar
- Russia
- United States of America
- India
- Israel
- General Aslam Baig and other military command
- Iran
- Any other Sectarian or Conspiracy Group
Now let’s see the allegations against these groups and how they were thought to be involved in this regard.
Al-Zulfiqar
When Zia died the first name came to everyone's mind was Al-Zulfiqar. A Terrorist Organization, run by Zulfiqar's Ali Bhutto Son Murtaza Bhutto which was responsible for many terrorist attacks in and outside Pakistan which was working against Zia from the time he hanged Murtaza Bhutto's father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. They were involved in hijacking of planes and many other activities against the Government. Murtaza also had direct benefit from this murder as at that time the most popular leader was his sister Benazir Bhutto and it was widely known that in any free and fair election at that time Pakistan Peoples Party will easily make the Government (which they also did in 1988). Initially, it is also stated that Al-Zulfiqar accepted these allegations claiming it their biggest victory but when they came to know about the high profile deaths and also the killing of two senior USA officials they immediately withdraw from this claim, saying that previously it was a mere misunderstanding. They had a direct motive for this assassination to take revenge from General Zia and his political team to take revenge for the death of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and also Shahnawaz Bhutto (Murtaza's Brother who was also thought to be poisoned by ISI in Paris, France) but it was also true that Al-Zulfiqar also don’t want to take any sort of action against USA and harmful effects it could have on their cause.
Russia
Russia, who was still a super power at that time also, was against Zia and his Generals. Their enmity was due to the support, ammunition and training carried out by Pakistan to Afghanistan's Guerrilla fighters who were fighting against Russia in Afghanistan. As at that time, Russia was withdrawing from Afghanistan after bearing financial and military losses so its bitterness against Zia and his Generals who were the masterminds of their defeat was eminent. KGB was working against Pakistan and had many field agents in Pakistan at that time. But on International Scenario relationship between America and Russia were getting better. Russia knew at that time that to survive at this moment it will need some outside help as Russia was going to be bankrupt at that time due to financial losses it bears in different regions. But still Russia has a prime motive behind this attack which was revenge.
United States of America
United States of America with the help of Zia and his Generals emerged as victorious in the Cold War. After the Cold War importance of Pakistan in World Scenario decreased dramatically. Instead of an ally Pakistan was more then a burden in front of US without any more strategic importance as now America was the lone power of the world and in words of President Bush a New World Order was going to be implemented on the world after the end of bipolar world. After this General Zia and his Generals were, according to many analysts, more liability then useful. They knew too much about the events and inside stories of USA and her agencies. So as USA like all other Imperial Powers is famous to dispose off resources after use so many analysts believes that it was a US plot to get rid of the highest command of Pakistan. General Zia at that time went to saw a demonstration of US Abrams Tanks which didn't get well along with the US officials. So he called the US officials too in his plane who were hesitant to go with him in the beginning. So by looking at the behavior of United States of America in the past it could be a possibility that USA plotted to get rid of all the higher command of Pakistan in one go and was succeeded in doing so. But USA didn’t need to send his two higher officials with it as they usually don’t dispose their own resources like this and also for USA they were not that much liable at that time and still there were many issues for which USA wants Zia. Especially the trade of Drugs which Zia and his Generals were handling for CIA which was providing funds for their many deeds also made it an unlikely option. But still as an emerging Imperial Power USA might still find him as a threat and proffered to dispose him to avoid future complications.
India
India and Pakistan since the partition of 1947 are arch rivals of each other. Due to the presence of Kashmir issue and the unwillingness of political forces and establishment on both sides. During that time Indian Prime Minister was Rajeev Gandhi. He also had a personal enmity with Zia. His mother the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassin by her Sikh body guards and one of them was alleged to get training from a Pakistan based training camp that was alleged to recruit and train Sikhs in order to make them fight against India for the liberation of Khalistan. So Indian Government considered Zia and ISI as the mastermind of the attacks on Indira Gandhi and it is said that Rajeev wanted revenge. So according to many analysts India along with KGB planned the attack on Zia and his top command with their operatives present in Pakistan. This version of the story is still very popular among the armed corps and many peers of establishment still believe that this is the original version of the story.
Israel
Many people don’t know that Israel during the Afghan war was an ally of Pakistan. At the start of the war United States of America made a team of 4 countries who were to operate in the war to defeat Russia. These countries were Pakistan (who was to operate in the main battle and provide direct supports to militants), Saudi Arabia (who was to provide financial support to the cause), Egypt (whose duty was to provide information about the Russian weaponry as Egypt till recently was a Russian ally but after 1974 war turned to USA for support) and Israel (who had to provide intelligence information and was to train the militants against Russian weaponry in which she had long experience due to 1967 and 1974 Arab wars). After and during the war, sensing Pakistan as a threat to its suzerainty due to her nuclear program, Israel was working against the nuclear program of Pakistan but to no vain. Also Israel considered Zia (with whom it is alleged that they had very good off the record relationships) and his generals as a threat due to their dreams of expansion of their borders and in this try to attack Israel as due to their relationships Pakistan was at that much aware about the defense of Israel. So to remove a threat which was they were expected to see in future it is said that Israel removed the top military command of Pakistan and according to some Russia and India were also involved in the plan.
General Aslam Baig and other Military Command
General Aslam Baig at the time of the crash was the only top commander who also went to Sargodha to watch the demonstration and was mysteriously not present on the plane. He later told that he had to go to Multan (an excuse according to many sources he also give to Zia when he asked him to come with him for a mango party on plane) for some classified work but there was no log of such activity and he was after take off from his own Plane was going to Islamabad where all the rest were going. After the attack both the commission appointed by Pakistan and the team of experts came from USA complained publicly that the military was interfering in their work. Military didn’t cooperate with the investigators but instead create problems for them to stop their investigation. The incident site was cleaned by the army much before the investigation and all the evidence was removed from site whose access was also not granted to them which create much difficulties for the investigators. Also pressure was applied by the General to stop the investigation and to consider it as a divine intervention or an Indian ploy. This strange behavior by the army at the death of their high command create much speculations regarding the involvement of General Aslam Baig, General Hamid Gul and others in a plot to remove the unsupportive elements in the top command. The reason was during Zia's era he tried to include extremism in Islam to gain the objective in Afghanistan. This extremist element also penetrated very deeply in the military too. Some top military command after the acquiring of Nuclear Weaponry in 1986 thought that to decrease the influence of USA and Israel in international scenario the best scenario was to arm other “Brotherly Muslim” nations with Nuclear Arsenal and Nuclear technology to be sold to them to make a prosperous Muslim World. But the main hurdle was the higher command which were much pro-American and it was feared that if this idea will be leaked to USA then it will create a lot of problem for them. So to attain this objective, the top Military Command was planned to be removed. General Zia, whose security was Code Red at that time due to reports of assassination threat on him by ISI, was contacted to attend a demonstration of Tanks in which he was first reluctant to go but General Mehmood Durrani (who was considered as a son by General Zia and was very close to USA too due to which involvement of USA is always considered in death of Zia) contacted Mrs. Zia and persuaded the General to come to see the demonstration. Other top commanders were also invited as the President was going to be there and then unauthorized material which includes mangoes (this I think gave the inspiration too Mr. Muhammad Hanif too for his book “The Tale of Exploding Mangoes”) were loaded into the presidential plane. These allegations also were strongly supported as just after the death, then General Aslam Baig became the Chief of Army Staff and then along with some top Politicians, Military Personal and other top bureaucracy elements contacted Iran, Iraq and Libya and try to sell nuclear technology to them according to many allegations on him and other then top military command. Even it is still claimed that Mrs Zia used to say that it was our people who did this.
Iran
Iran is also said to be involved in the death of General Zia and his Generals. Iran being a Shia majority country was getting against General Zia’s regime due to their suppression of Shias in Pakistan. Due to policies of General Zia sectarian violence spreads rapidly in Pakistan. Also it is said that the deal was already done between Iran and the said sections of Government for the transfer of nuclear technology but they considered this top brass as a threat to their cause due to their close contacts with United States so Iran also supported them to remove the claimed threats to their cause. Most of the people died were the strong part of American lobby in Pakistan which reduces the influence of USA in many areas of Pakistan for the time being. As one of the pilots of the unfortunate plane was said to be a Shia so this also add much fuel to these allegations of Iranian involvement to increase her influence in the region.
Other Theories and Conclusion
There were also different other theories presented and are still present about the death of General Zia. One theory is the involvement of Ahmadiya Sect due to their enmity with Zia’s religious policies (Although some religious groups especially Ahrars saw Ahmadies hand in each and every incident happening around the world).
Another theory is that the Neo-Cons after attaining their aim of destabilizing Russia considered Zia as a liability in their long term plans so they removed them from picture to proceed to their implementation of New World Order.
Still there are many theories present regarding this high profile death of Pakistan’s top military brass and no solid investigation is been done in this regard. The silence of Ijaz Ul Haq, son of Zia Ul Haq, is also much suspicious leading to speculations that much high profile people were involved in this incident. Let’s see like many other reports and investigations which had been carried out in Pakistan’s history this will be buried in time or sometime in future we will find out about the actual killers of General Zia and other Generals.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Crackdown in Helmend Province Afghanistan by US Forces
American Forces with help from ISAF has finally started a crackdown in Helmend province against Taliban. Helmend along with Kandahar, Uruzgan and Paktika are consider the stronghold of Taliban where it is also believe their main leadership is also presnet which is controlling the day to day activities. These areas mainly consisting of Pashtuns and being near Pakistan are of main strategic importance and in the past with main Taliban leadership retreating leaving many behind these areas were first easily capture by the Northern Alliance but with easy access to these areas they were easily able to do guerrilla warfare in the region. With Iraq on top priority and Afghanistan being little to no importance in USA agenda this region was left mostly on the mercy of local Warlords and local Taliban groups who restricted the access of the area for Karzai Government. But now with Presidential Elections coming and international pressure mounting on American Military from Obama Administration which is under pressure from International Community to do something as Afghanistan was a back seat issue in Bush Administration for last eight so years. Though it will not a final crackdown as the Taliban fighters can easily sneak into Kandahar, or Uruzgan or most importantly in Pakistan but with this action it can give some credibility to Karzai who will need it badly in the next upcoming elections.
Immediate Power Generation but at what Cost
Due to power shortage in the whole country, Government is inviting and encouraging IPPs to invest and put more power plants in the country which will be mostly running on fossil fuel. Though there are limited number of permits given to companies who will be using renewable energy sources like Solar panels and Wind Turbines but their contribution is and with current scenario will be quite small making us mostly dependent on fossil fuel energy. This means a lot of increase in pollution which already is a threat in Pakistan making it more plausible as no Government policy against pollution is been devised. These toxic gases will be increasingly affecting our atmosphere, human health and crops but will also result in the climate shift which is already in a threatening situation.
Also if we consider economy then in Pakistan we don’t have enough reservoirs for petrol and even the present reservoirs for Gas are not sufficient enough for our needs. With future predictions in view if Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will not be completed in near future we will be facing severe deficiency in Gas reservoirs. Now mostly Natural Gas, LPG, Furnace Oil and Diesel are used in such turbines to run them to produce electricity and we have to import all of these products to produce electricity. This means a lot of burden on our already depleting foreign reserves and more imports creating a lot of burden on the budget and will eventually increase the deficient. Also with fluctuating fossil fuel prices and fear of demands these prices might reach a point where they will be hurting the people much more. Government has already shown interest of increasing the price of electricity to might be Rs12/unit which is required by them as they are already providing subsidity on electricity but due to their commitment with IMF they have to do so to generate revenue. The increase in fossil fuel prices will directly increase the per unit price too and the prices which are already hurting might reach a point where it might be difficult for people to pay their dues.
Right now though for the short time planning one can say that these IPPs will be beneficial to at least minimize and then if able to remove completely the shortage of power in the country but long term planning is urgently required to adopt the sources of energy which will minimize the problems which we are facing. Renewable energy sources are the best solution for us as we don’t want to import constant fuel supply for that which is costing us a fortune and will be preventing our prices to fluctuate much with international prices. Dams are also a good solution but now in this new world dams are not that viable solution due to their own environmental impact, long duration of building and relative to building short duration of operation and after passing their lives they became a huge burden on the nations environment and economy. Though a limited number of dams to regulate the water supply and to produce cheap electricity (hydro power is the cheapest way of producing electricity) and to balance out the burden of energy cost produce by other sources but in near future we have to find ways to minimize our dependency on fossil fuel energy otherwise once the most fertile land of the world might not have a good future.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION ORDINANCE (for Sharing)
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION ORDINANCE
October 5, 2007
AN ORDINANCE to promote national reconciliation
WHEREAS it is expedient to promote national reconciliation, foster mutual trust and confidence amongst holders of public office and remove the vestiges of political vendetta and victimization, to make the election process more transparent and to amend certain laws for that purpose and for matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto;-
AND WHEREAS the National Assembly is not in session and the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action;
NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President is pleased to make and promulgate the following Ordinance;-
1.
Short title and commencement.
(1)
This Ordinance may be called the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007.
(2)
It shall come into force at once.
2.
Amendment of section 494, Act V of 1898. In the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898), section 494 shall be renumbered as sub-section (1) thereof and after sub-section (1) renumbered as aforesaid, the following sub-section (2) and (3) shall be added, namely:-
(2)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in sub-section(1), the Federal Government or a Provincial Government may, before the judgment is pronounced by a trial court, withdraw from the prosecution of any person including an absconding accused who is found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimization in any case initiated between 1st day of January, 1986 to 12th day of October, 1999 and upon such withdrawal clause (a) and clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall apply.
(3)
For the purposes of exercise of powers under sub-section (2) the Federal Government and the Provincial Government may each constitute a Review Board to review the entire record of the case and furnish recommendations as to their withdrawal or otherwise.
(4)
The Review Board in case of Federal Government shall be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court with Attorney-General and Federal Law Secretary as its members and in case of Provincial Government it shall be headed by a retired judge of the High Court with Advocate-General and/or Prosecutor-General and Provincial Law Secretary as its members.
(5)
A review Board undertaking review of a case may direct the Public Prosecutor or any other concerned authority to furnish to it the record of the case.
3.
Amendment of section 39, Act LXXXV of 1976. (1) In the Representation of the People Act, 1976 (LXXXV of 1976), in section 39, after sub-section (6), the following new sub-section (7) shall be added, namely:-
(7)
After consolidation of results the Returning Officer shall give to such contesting candidates and their election agents as are present during the consolidation proceedings, a copy of the result of the count notified to the Commission immediately against proper receipt and shall also post a copy thereof to the other candidates and election agents.
4.
Amendment of section 18, Ordinance XVIII of 1999. In the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 (XVIII of 1999), hereinafter referred to as the said Ordinance, in section 18, in clause (e), for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be added, namely:-
Provided that no sitting member of Parliament or a Provincial Assembly shall be arrested without taking into consideration the recommendations of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics referred to in clause (aa) or Special Committee of the Provincial Assembly on Ethics referred to in clause (aaa) of section 24, respectively.
5.
Amendment of section 24, Ordinance XVIII of 1999. In the said ordinance, in section 24,-
(i)
in clause (a) for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be inserted, namely.-
Provided that no sitting member of Parliament or a Provincial Assembly shall be arrested without taking into consideration the recommendations of Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics or Special Committee of the Provincial Assembly on Ethics referred to in clause (aa) and (aaa), respectively, before which the entire material and evidence shall be placed by the chairman, NAB.; and
(ii)
after clause (a), amended as aforesaid, the following new clauses (aa) and (aaa) shall be inserted, namely;-
(aa)
The Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics referred to in the proviso to clause (a) above shall consist of a chairman who shall be a member of either House of Parliament and eight members each from the National Assembly and Senate to be selected by the Speaker, National Assembly and Chairman Senate, respectively, on the recommendations of Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition of their respective Houses, with equal representation from both sides.
(aaa)
The Special Committee of the provincial Assembly on Ethics shall consist of a Chairman and eight members to be selected by the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly on the recommendation of Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition, with equal representation from both sides.
6.
Amendment of section 31A, Ordinance XVIII of 1999. In the said Ordinance, in section 31A, in clause (a), for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new clause (aa) shall be inserted, namely:-
(aa)
An order or judgment passed by the Court in absentia against an accused is void ab initio and shall not be acted upon.
7.
Insertion of new section, Ordinance, XVIII of 1999. In the said Ordinance, after section 33, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-
33A.
Withdrawal and termination of prolonged pending proceedings initiated prior to 12th October, 1999.
(1)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance or any other law for the time being in force, proceedings under investigation or pending in any court including a High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan initiated by or on a reference by the National Accountability Bureau inside or outside Pakistan including proceedings continued under section 33, requests for mutual assistance and civil party to proceedings initiated by the Federal Government before the 12th day of October, 1999 against holders of public office stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect and such holders of public office shall also not be liable to any action in future as well under this Ordinance for acts having been done in good faith before the said date;
Provided that those proceedings shall not be withdrawn and terminated which relate to cases registered in connection with the cooperative societies and other financial and investment companies or in which no appeal, revision or constitutional petition has been filed against final judgment and order of the Court or in which an appellate or revisional order or an order in constitutional petition has become final or in which voluntary return or plea bargain has been accepted by the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau under section 25 or recommendations of the Conciliation Committee have been accepted by the Governor, State bank of Pakistan under section 25A.
(2)
No action or claim by way of suit, prosecution, complaint or other civil or criminal proceeding shall lie against the Federal, Provincial or Local Government, the National Accountability Bureau or any of their officers and functionaries for any act or thing done or intended to be done in good faith pursuant to the withdrawal and termination of cases under sub-section (1) unless they have deliberately misused authority in violation of law.
October 5, 2007
AN ORDINANCE to promote national reconciliation
WHEREAS it is expedient to promote national reconciliation, foster mutual trust and confidence amongst holders of public office and remove the vestiges of political vendetta and victimization, to make the election process more transparent and to amend certain laws for that purpose and for matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto;-
AND WHEREAS the National Assembly is not in session and the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action;
NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President is pleased to make and promulgate the following Ordinance;-
1.
Short title and commencement.
(1)
This Ordinance may be called the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007.
(2)
It shall come into force at once.
2.
Amendment of section 494, Act V of 1898. In the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898), section 494 shall be renumbered as sub-section (1) thereof and after sub-section (1) renumbered as aforesaid, the following sub-section (2) and (3) shall be added, namely:-
(2)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in sub-section(1), the Federal Government or a Provincial Government may, before the judgment is pronounced by a trial court, withdraw from the prosecution of any person including an absconding accused who is found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimization in any case initiated between 1st day of January, 1986 to 12th day of October, 1999 and upon such withdrawal clause (a) and clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall apply.
(3)
For the purposes of exercise of powers under sub-section (2) the Federal Government and the Provincial Government may each constitute a Review Board to review the entire record of the case and furnish recommendations as to their withdrawal or otherwise.
(4)
The Review Board in case of Federal Government shall be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court with Attorney-General and Federal Law Secretary as its members and in case of Provincial Government it shall be headed by a retired judge of the High Court with Advocate-General and/or Prosecutor-General and Provincial Law Secretary as its members.
(5)
A review Board undertaking review of a case may direct the Public Prosecutor or any other concerned authority to furnish to it the record of the case.
3.
Amendment of section 39, Act LXXXV of 1976. (1) In the Representation of the People Act, 1976 (LXXXV of 1976), in section 39, after sub-section (6), the following new sub-section (7) shall be added, namely:-
(7)
After consolidation of results the Returning Officer shall give to such contesting candidates and their election agents as are present during the consolidation proceedings, a copy of the result of the count notified to the Commission immediately against proper receipt and shall also post a copy thereof to the other candidates and election agents.
4.
Amendment of section 18, Ordinance XVIII of 1999. In the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 (XVIII of 1999), hereinafter referred to as the said Ordinance, in section 18, in clause (e), for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be added, namely:-
Provided that no sitting member of Parliament or a Provincial Assembly shall be arrested without taking into consideration the recommendations of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics referred to in clause (aa) or Special Committee of the Provincial Assembly on Ethics referred to in clause (aaa) of section 24, respectively.
5.
Amendment of section 24, Ordinance XVIII of 1999. In the said ordinance, in section 24,-
(i)
in clause (a) for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be inserted, namely.-
Provided that no sitting member of Parliament or a Provincial Assembly shall be arrested without taking into consideration the recommendations of Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics or Special Committee of the Provincial Assembly on Ethics referred to in clause (aa) and (aaa), respectively, before which the entire material and evidence shall be placed by the chairman, NAB.; and
(ii)
after clause (a), amended as aforesaid, the following new clauses (aa) and (aaa) shall be inserted, namely;-
(aa)
The Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics referred to in the proviso to clause (a) above shall consist of a chairman who shall be a member of either House of Parliament and eight members each from the National Assembly and Senate to be selected by the Speaker, National Assembly and Chairman Senate, respectively, on the recommendations of Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition of their respective Houses, with equal representation from both sides.
(aaa)
The Special Committee of the provincial Assembly on Ethics shall consist of a Chairman and eight members to be selected by the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly on the recommendation of Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition, with equal representation from both sides.
6.
Amendment of section 31A, Ordinance XVIII of 1999. In the said Ordinance, in section 31A, in clause (a), for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new clause (aa) shall be inserted, namely:-
(aa)
An order or judgment passed by the Court in absentia against an accused is void ab initio and shall not be acted upon.
7.
Insertion of new section, Ordinance, XVIII of 1999. In the said Ordinance, after section 33, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-
33A.
Withdrawal and termination of prolonged pending proceedings initiated prior to 12th October, 1999.
(1)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance or any other law for the time being in force, proceedings under investigation or pending in any court including a High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan initiated by or on a reference by the National Accountability Bureau inside or outside Pakistan including proceedings continued under section 33, requests for mutual assistance and civil party to proceedings initiated by the Federal Government before the 12th day of October, 1999 against holders of public office stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect and such holders of public office shall also not be liable to any action in future as well under this Ordinance for acts having been done in good faith before the said date;
Provided that those proceedings shall not be withdrawn and terminated which relate to cases registered in connection with the cooperative societies and other financial and investment companies or in which no appeal, revision or constitutional petition has been filed against final judgment and order of the Court or in which an appellate or revisional order or an order in constitutional petition has become final or in which voluntary return or plea bargain has been accepted by the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau under section 25 or recommendations of the Conciliation Committee have been accepted by the Governor, State bank of Pakistan under section 25A.
(2)
No action or claim by way of suit, prosecution, complaint or other civil or criminal proceeding shall lie against the Federal, Provincial or Local Government, the National Accountability Bureau or any of their officers and functionaries for any act or thing done or intended to be done in good faith pursuant to the withdrawal and termination of cases under sub-section (1) unless they have deliberately misused authority in violation of law.
Disputes in Iran Top Regime
Disputes in top regime in Iran is becoming visible it seems. Right after the famous elections and still the protests are going on in Iran due to the selection of Ahmedinejad as President the clear division among the Islamic Cleric regime was visible when one group of Ulmas were supporting Ahmedinejad while the other Mr. Mousavi. Now the dispute on appointment of ministers and top officials has caused other strains in the top regime. First Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei was briefly appointed as first vice president, but opposed by a number of Majlis members and by the intelligence minister, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei. Mashaei followed orders to resign. Ahmadinejad then appointed Mashaei as chief of staff, and fired Mohseni-Eje'i. The selection of Mashaei was also apposed by the Grand Ayatollah but in the beginning Ahmedinejad was determine to put his candidate on the place which created political issues between the two top leaders. Now Majlis is also waiting to put Ahemdinijad's whole ministerial team under scrutiny if now any one of the minister is change by the President then the whole team will have to get approval from Majlis. The conservatives are already losing numbers in Majlis and the assembly of Experts where moderates are gaining which is putting more political pressure on the Conservatives.
On the last note, what the people who were saying that Mousavi was supporting American agenda will say between the reported tension between Imam Ali Khamenei and President Ahmedinejad that anyone of them is now also working on West's agenda. This is politics and each side have to show their power and numbers to be in the game and if this is too much above your head its better to be silent. Also till the international media is not allowed inside Iran no one can have both sides of the story and it should be leave for the listener to decide which side is right and which is wrong otherwise if the Governement just want the Governmental press to allow reporting then there is just one side of the story which will always show positive news and behavior of the officials.
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