Dr. Asim’s Bail

Dr. Asim Hussain was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 28 November 1953 to Ms. Ejaz Fatima and Mr. Tajammul Hussain, the founding members of the Dr. Ziauddin Group of Hospitals.

Dr. Asim Hussain received his early education from the Karachi Grammar School and later enrolled in the Cadet College, Petaro at about the same time as Asif Zardari. After serving a brief period in the Pakistan Army, Dr. Asim Hussain retired as a Lieutenant and chose to pursue the degree of MBBS. He graduated from Dow Medical College (now, Dow University of Health Sciences) Karachi in 1978 and went to Europe for further studies. He became a member of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPS) in 1981 and continued his studies in Vienna, Austria.

He developed and expanded the hospital he had inherited until it became a teaching hospital and eventually a medical university. However, due to his political affiliation he also held the following positions:

·         Honorary Personal Physician to the President of Pakistan, since December 12, 2009

·         Advisor/Federal Minister Petroleum & Natural Resource from May, 2011 until May, 2013

·         Advisor to the Prime Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources/Federal Minister from November, 2008 until August, 2009

·         Chairman, National Reconstruction Bureau with the status of Federal Minister from May, 2008 until November, 2009

On the 27th of August 2015 Asim Hussain was detained by the Authorities in an ongoing operation within the city of Karachi launched by the Pakistani Army.

The charges against Dr. Asim range from providing protection and treating terrorists to embezzlement and corruption to the tune of Rs. 920 billion in course of his lucrative appointments.

I have never met him but have heard people talk about him. During Benazir’s reign as PM, steel products of Karachi’s Pakistan Steel Mills were sold officially @ Rs. 18,000/ton and in open/black market @ Rs. 30,000 per ton. The explanation given by the traders was that to buy any steel from the mills they first had to get a parchi or prescription form a certain doctor sahib after paying cash @ Rs. 6,000/ton.  The reason why nobody complained about this obvious extortion was that doctor sahib was a close friend of the first gentleman of Pakistan. Not surprisingly, the steel mill is now closed.

On March 29, 2017 Dr. Asim was released on bail, though his passport has been confiscated. For more details read Dawn.

It is interesting to note that whereas PPP leaders have been condemning the arrest and prosecution of Dr. Asim, the medical profession has kept quiet on the issue.

A D Khawaja

The Sindh Police (Sindhi: سنڌ پوليس‎, Urdu: سنده پولیس‎) is a Law enforcement agency established in 1843 under proclamation issued by Sir Charles Naipiar, who became the conqueror of the State of Sindh by defeating the forces of Talpur rules at battle of Miyani near Hyderabad on 20 March 1843. This was the first ever Police force established in the Indian subcontinent.^{[citation needed]} Ever since its inception, the organization raised on the model of Irish Constabulary to maintain law and order and law enforcement in Sindh, Pakistan. The department serves an area of ~140,914 km²., and has about ~105,234 police officers and staff to serve in the department. As of current, Allah Dino (AD) Khawaja is the current Inspector-General who was appointed in 2016.^[2]

In March 2016, A.D. Khawaja took charge as IG Sindh Police. He could retain the post for only nine months, he was sacked by the Sindh government, reinstated by court order and again sacked on 2^nd April, 2017

Khawaja, then AIG, led a three-member fact-finding committee to inquire the allegation of corruption, illegal appointments in the police and a lack of transparency in allocation of cost of investigation to investigation officers. The findings of the reports led to the sacking of former Sindh IGP Gulam Haider Jamali over corruption charges.

The former IG Sindh Police Ghulam Haider Jamali was sacked in March 2016 after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to probe the alleged corruption in Sindh Police.

Some other headlines about Khwaja are as follows:

Court halts Sindh govt’s decision to send IG on forced leave

KARACHI: In a setback to PPP-led Sindh government, the Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued a stay order against sending the provincial Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khawaja on forced leave. The order was issued on a petition filed by seven citizens including Karamat Hussain, the head of an NGO and singer-cum-activist Shehzad Roy….

IGP seeks report on gun attack at PTI’s leaders in Karachi

KARACHI: The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sindh, A.D. Khawaja, has sought an inquiry report from the SSP South regarding the reported firing incident in Karachi’s Delhi Colony on Friday on the vehicle of Faisal Vawda, a leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI). The IGP instructed that all the available evidences should be collected and…

IGP Sindh chairs meeting on upgradation of Madadgar 15

KARACHI: The Inspector General of Police (IGP), A.D. Khawaja, on Saturday chaired a meeting regarding the upgradation of Madadgar 15. A statement said that the meeting also reviewed steps for effectively curbing crimes. It said that the meeting considered issues faced by Madadgar 15 such as response time, call connecting and prank calls etc and…

Sindh Police raising new unit in Counter-Terrorism Department: IGP

KARACHI: The Sindh Police is raising a new unit of 1500 personnel in the Counter-Terrorism Department that was set up after the initiation of the National Action Plan (NAP). This was informed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh, A.D. Khawaja, in an interview with the APP here. He pointed out that the new…

Police encourage citizens to shoot down dacoits with licenced firearm

While rewarding a citizen for shooting a robber, Inspector General Sindh Police A.D Khawaja advised people of Karachi to use their licenced weapons in self-defense. Watch this report…

LEAs very close to Amjad Sabri’s killers: IG Sindh

KARACHI: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh A.D. Khawaja has said that law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are very close to the killers of prominent Qawwal Amjad Sabri.

‘No target-killing in Karachi’

IG Sindh Police, A.D Khawaja claims that law and order situation has improved in Karachi with no sign of target-killing anywhere. Watch this report…

It is a fact that ever since A.D Khwaja took charge of Sindh police, there has been reduction in street crimes in Karachi and oppression of the poor by landlords in interior Sindh. The thing that seems to have broken the camel’s back is his recent order asking thousands of plain clothes men in police service to put on uniform and contribute in normal police service. Although it seems like a very reasonable action it reminds me of a conversation I had with a young Sindhi police officer many years ago. The young man was convinced that anything that happened under the supervision of the Chief Secretary and the IG had to be legal and honorable. So he described how in the small police station where he was posted plain clothes men used to deposit about three lac (300,000) rupees every day by extortion from street hawkers, encroachers gambling den and prostitution centre runners and other wrongdoers. According to him the money was divided into three parts according to some formula, and the Chief Secretary and IG’s representatives collected their shares. Of the money left with SHO, most was spent on delivering groceries and buying plane tickets for the families of “high officials” and “leaders”. Of course, there is also the question of boosting party coffers for the coming elections when votes may cost more than before.