My Tweets Jan, 2018

‏ @99_nasim Feb 2

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پاکستان میں جب بھی کوئ فوجی آمر آیا مسلم لیگ کے کسی دھڑے نے اس کی پذیرائ کی اور دستور میں ترمیم کر کے اسے بچایا ۔ جیسے ایوب خان، ضیا الحق اور پرویز مشرف ۔

@99_nasim Feb 1

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سیاستدانوں کی سزائوں میں عوامی شرکت ضروری ہے ۔ جیسے انہیں چوراہے پر کھمبے سے باندھ دیا جائے اور عوام الناس حسب توفیق ان کی تواضع کریں ۔

@99_nasim Feb 1

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Nawaz Sharif has finally got the point. If jail is inevitable, why not relax and have fun while freedom lasts.

@99_nasim Jan 12

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How come families of the victims of wanton police firing in Kasoor are being paid compensation (blood money) on behalf of the murderers from public (tax payers') funds by the horrible rulers of Punjab. What can be a greater conspiracy to oppress and rob the people?

@99_nasim Jan 12

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Criminal elements seem to have become a privileged group in Punjab. Are they mostly members of the extended families of the Sharifs and Rana Sanaullah?

@99_nasim Jan 10

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سندھ کے لوگ دکھی تھے کہ انپر کتّا حکومت کرتا ہے ۔ لیکن پنجاب کی حکومت پر تو خونی بھیڑیوں کا مکمل قبضہ ہے جو انسانیت کا خون چوسنے کے بعد اسکی ہڈیاں بھی چبانا چاہتے ہیں ۔

@99_nasim Jan 6

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Nature's revenge. Cowboy being dragged on Indians' leash.

‏ @99_nasim Jan 3

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Mr. Nawaz Sharif in his press statement today threatened to expose state secrets acquired in PM office which is violation of oath and treason. Nobody will sympathise with him if he ends up in protective custody. Luckily both brothers escaped narrowly in Saudi Arabia.

@99_nasim Jan 3

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The plain fact is that US has defaulted on the promised payment of 255 million US dollars to Pakistan and trying to hide the embarrassment by making ludicrous allegations. It is an old trick of conmen.

Article 62(1)(f)

The Supreme Court of Pakistan is now deliberating requests by those disqualified from holding Pakistan Parliamentary seats under Article 62(1)(f) to ascertain the period of their disqualification whether it is for life or a fixed term as in the case of other laws. The matter is of such public importance that every citizen of Pakistan should be considered a party to it and should be allowed to participate in the debate in any way he can. I hope that my observations below will reach the attention of the court.

The text of Article 62(1)(f) is as follows:

29[62. Qualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).- (1)

A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlise-

Shoora (Parliament) unless—

(f) he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen,

there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law; and

The word “ameen” is not in the English dictionary, but in Pakistan it generally signifies an individual who returns to its rightful owner what is kept in his or her trust or safe custody.

In my humble opinion the above sub-clause (f) simply means that a person can not apply for election to the Parliament if he or she is judged by a court of law (anywhere) to have acted in a manner that is not sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest or ameen.

In ordinary cases it would mean that this person would not qualify for election in future, but if the disqualifying act is committed in the process of an election due to which he or she currently holds office, the person would be disqualified from such office.

Excerpt  from Supreme Court judgment on Nawaz Sharif dated 21 July 2017:

i) It is hereby declared that having failed to disclose his un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from Capital FZE, Jebel Ali, UAE in his nomination papers filed for the General Elections held in 2013 in terms of Section 12(2)(f) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 (ROPA), and having furnished a false declaration under solemn affirmation respondent No. 1 Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is not honest in terms of Section 99(f) of ROPA and Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, therefore, he is disqualified to be a Member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament);

In the light of the above analysis Mr. Nawaz Sharif, obviously, stand disqualified for all future elections to the Parliament of Pakistan.

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Nawaz Sharif and Biharis

Those who have been following the history of South Asia must be familiar with the harrowing facts about the genocide and persecution of Urdu speaking Biharis in the wake of the formation of Bangladesh. Out of a population of around 800,000 about 200,000 are reported to have been killed, about 300,000 are understood to have come to Pakistan through various routes between 1971 and 1988 according to UNHCR records. In July 1988, it was estimated that there were 260,000 Biharis in Bangladesh.  Ehtesham Shahid of Al Arabia English reported in April, 2017 that there were still 300,000 Biharis suffering in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

From the following chronological record it is evident that during his two terms in office, Mr. Nawaz Sharif managed to get about half a billion dollars from the World Muslim League for the noble cause of resettling the Biharis in Pakistan. A recent survey of Google maps shows at least half a dozen Bihari Colonies in different parts of Punjab, but less than 500 Biharis were actually repatriated under the scheme before it was abandoned due to alleged violent reaction from Sindhi nationalists. Nobody knows how the half billion dollars were spent or how many houses were built and who lives in them? Could this be one of the ways how the Sharif family got so rich? The times of the WML donation of USD 300 million and the purchase of Mayfare flat and again the 200 million dollars and the Hyde Park house seem to be quite close.

http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=printdoc&docid=469f3868c

Refworld | Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh

Jul 9, 1988 It was announced that the Pakistani government had reached agreement with Rabita al-Alam al-Islami, a Mecca-based humanitarian group, to assist in the repatriation of an estimated 260,000 Biharis in Bangladesh.

Nov 12, 1991 Pakistani officials announced that their government had decided to expedite the repatriation of the Biharis stranded in Bangladesh.

Nov 17, 1991 The Muslim World League urged Muslims around the world to fund the return of the Biharis to Pakistan (estimated US $300 million).

Jan 10, 1993 The resettlement of Bihari refugees began with the arrival of 325 people in Lahore, Pakistan.

Jan 11, 1993 A bomb exploded in the southern Pakistan town of Kotri, killing 13 people. The bomb was planted in a Bihari colony in Kotri (Sindhis are alleged to be involved in the bombing).

(A small contingent of Biharis had also arrived on ship by sea and they were allegedly butchered by Sindhi nationalists while travelling in a railway train from Karachi to Punjab through interior Sindh.  As a result of this incident, the program of repatriation was halted.)

July 18, 1993, Nawaz Sharif was sacked.

Jul 16, 1994 The leader of the SPGRC (Nasim), Nasim Khan demanded the early repatriation of 3000 families as per the joint declaration issued in August 1992 by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Khan stated that 3000 housing units had already been built in Punjab to accommodate the stranded Pakistanis. So far, only 321 Biharis have been repatriated (Xinhua News Agency, 07/16/94).

Nov 14, 1995 Around 130 Bangladeshis have been deported from Pakistan (and arrested on their arrival in Dhaka) as part of the Pakistani government's campaign to remove alleged illegal immigrants (Reuters, 11/14/95).

Jan 27, 1998 Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif gives his firm commitment to repatriate the Biharis once the necessary funds are raised. Since 1988, a joint Pakistani-Saudi Arabian NGO, the Rabita Alam Al-Islami (World Muslim League), has been providing funds to run the camps in Bangladesh (Agence France Presse, 01/27/98).

Oct 14, 1998 Pakistan says that it is working on the repatriation issue and that it has approached the Rabita Alam Al-Islami for US $200 million. Pakistan would match the funds which would be used to build housing and resettle the Biharis (The Independent, 10/14/98).

Oct 12, 1999, Nawaz Sharif was sacked.

http://english.alarabiya.net/authors/Ehtesham-Shahid.html

Al Arabia English: Ehtesham Shahid Wednesday, 19 April 2017

Even in today’s turbulent times, it is difficult to imagine a population of over 300,000 virtually stateless and abandoned. This has been the tragic state of Biharis or Urdu-speaking people stranded in Bangladesh for more than 45 years. Unfortunately, little is being done to change their condition.

Russian Revenge

It seems that Russia has avenged the breakup of Soviet Union resulting from American assisted Afghan Islamic war by getting Donald Trump elected president who has declared war on the entire Muslim world by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital or Israel. With proper Russian help this war will result in the dismemberment of USA. 

Pak Election 2018

The term of the current National and provincial Assemblies of Pakistan expires in June 2018, when a caretaker government is to be formed which should conduct elections for all the assemblies within 3 months and transfer power to them.

As usual, this routine matter has been made an object of controversy by the delay in holding census by the federal and provincial governments and criticism of the recently concluded and announced census results.

The ruling PMLN wants to bring a constitutional amendment but other parties are not prepared to vote with them. In the recently passed Electoral reforms bill they cheated them by inserting a clause to enable their disgraced leader Nawaz Sharif who was disqualified for misrepresentation to become party leader again and forcing a vote while many opposition senators had gone to say their Friday prayers. They fear something worse this time.

Since the urban population of Sindh has increased substantially, the Peoples party is playing tricks to ensure that the elections are held on 20 year old census results and delimitations which place about 70 percent seats in rural areas where PP wins by virtue of its affiliated landlord oppression.

The relevant clause of the Pakistan Constitution post 18^th amendment is as follows:

25[51. National Assembly.- (1) There shall be three hundred and forty-two

seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for

women and non-Muslims.

(2) A person shall be entitled to vote if-

(a) he is a citizen of Pakistan;

(b) he is not less than eighteen years of age;

(c) his name appears on the electoral roll; and

(d) he is not declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind.

(3) The seats in the National Assembly referred to in clause (1),

except as provided in clause (4), shall be allocated to each Province, the

Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital as under:–

                                                General Seats Women Total

Balochistan                                             14       3             17

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa                              35       8             43

Punjab                                                   148     35           183

Sindh                                                       61     14             75

Federally Administered Tribal Areas       12       -              12

Federal Capital                                          2                        2

Total                                                      272     60           332

(4) In addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (3), there

shall be, in the National Assembly, ten seats reserved for non-Muslims.

(5) The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each

Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital on

the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially

published.

In para 1 the total number of NA seats has been fixed at 342. In para 2 the qualification voters has been defined. In para 3 the regional distribution of seats as per census data available at the time of 18^th amendment has been given. In para 4 the reserved seats of non-Muslim population have been defined. In para 5 the need for redistribution of seats among regions according to latest census has been stipulated.

The requirements for the provincial assemblies have been given in article 106 of the Constitution and there seems no problem in their delimitation.

The relevant institutions for census and electoral management are the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and Election Commission of Pakistan respectively.

The results of 2017 Census in Pakistan have been published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on its website:

http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/

The Tehsil wise results are published by PBS on their website:

http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/PAKISTAN%20TEHSIL%20WISE%20FOR%20WEB%20CENSUS_2017.pdf

This is the data required by the Election Commission to carry out fresh distribution of constituencies according to constitution para 5 above and their delimitation.

If the results of the census are placed on the official website for public reference, they are published for all intents and purposes and there seems no logical reason why they should need additional verification by the prime minister or his cabinet or any other group of politicians.

Similarly, the Election Commission is an independent constitutional institution and should not require any instructions from the prime minister or other political element to do its work. It should obtain an authenticated copy of the census results from the PBS and get on with fulfilling the constitutional requirement of updating the distribution of NA seats and their delimitation according to the latest census results so that it may hold the General Elections 2018 in time.

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Whither Pakistan?

Wording of the April 20 judgment clearly shows the utter frustration and chagrin of the three judges who seem to have been forced to change their concurrence with the other two who declared Nawaz Sharif unfit for premiership and membership of parliament. Next time round they managed to find the straw that breaks the camel's back. Bravo!  Justice could not have been done in the Panama leaks instigated corruption, fraud and misdemeanor cases which are still continuing if Mr. Sharif had remained in office and machinating tampering of records about his past misdeeds. The Chairman of SECP is already facing trial on that account.

Ironically, Nawaz Sharif missed completing his term for the third time by nearly a year keeping intact the record that no prime minister in Pakistan has completed his term. It is interesting that none of the parties whose governments were sacked by the president under section 58-2B of the constitution failed miserably in the follow-up elections, which means that they had lost their popularity and right to rule when they were sacked. Even this time every politician and educated member of the civil society had been asking Nawaz Sharif to resign but he clung to power like a leech until his sins took him down.

Areticle 58-2B was deleted in the 18^th amendment and now voices are being heard from some quarters that Mr. Sharif who was disqualified under article 62-1F of the constitution is trying to muster the support of other corrupt politicians to abolish this law that requires the aspirant of a seat in the parliament to be just, honest and truthful. Indeed the constitutional provisions are inadequate as the Quranic standard of uprightness is given in Chapter 4 (An-nissa) verse 135 as below:

Although he owes his rise in politics and attendant accumulation of wealth to army generals, Mr. Sharif has been quick to forget favors and failed to get over the trauma of the death cell after a mutual overthrow dogfight which Gen. Musharraf won. This man, his family and his cronies simply hate the national army and seem to be prepared to compromise national security in a bid to discredit the army and establish his absolute monarchy.

Mr. Sharif’s animosity of the judiciary and judges dates back to his second stint as prime minister when he tried to amend the constitution to make MNAs totally subservient to him and the supreme court struck it down as bad law. According to Wikipedia “Chief Justice Sajad Ali Shah, however, continued to assert his authority and persisted in hearing Sharif's case.^[85] On 30 November 1997, while the hearing was in progress, Sharif's cabinet ministers and a large number of his supporters entered the Supreme Court building, disrupting the proceedings.^[85] The chief justice asked the military to send the military police, and subsequently struck down the Thirteenth (XIII) Amendment thereby restoring the power of the president.^[85] But, this move back fired on the chief justice when the military backed the prime minister and refused to obey the president's orders to remove Sharif.^[85] The prime minister forced President Farooq Leghari to resign, and appointed Wasim Sajjad as acting president.^[85] After the president's removal, Sharif ousted Chief Justice Sajad Ali Shah to end the constitutional crisis once and for all.^[85]” This created severe sense of insecurity among the judges.

However, a couple of years later when Mr. Sharif tried to stage a coup against his own appointed COAS and CJCOSC Gen. Pervez Musharraf while he was on a flight back from Sri Lanka, the army turned against him and not only staged a counter coup but also tried him for attempted hijacking of Musharraf’s plane and sentenced him to death.

The judiciary took a sigh of relief and when Gen. Musharraf sought their blessing for a plan to rule the country for three years as military dictator keeping the constitution suspended, they willingly gave him a free hand which helped him to remain president until 2008. Looking back, it seems that Gen. Musharraf was not as brave or as smart as he thought himself to be. When asked by the Saudi King he surrendered Nawaz Sharif on condition that he would not interfere in Pakistani politics for 10 years.

In 2007 he was outwitted by Benazir Bhutto who after making a deal with the Americans that they would be allowed to bring personnel and equipment and have the use of Shamsi airbase to carry out drone attacks within Pakistan, promised to let him remain president if she was allowed to return to Pakistan and contest and win the elections in 2008. Nawaz Sharif was also allowed to return prematurely and his main function was to lead all honest and patriotic parties away from the election.

The 2013 general elections though certified by everyone to have been free and fair were actually heavily rigged. The rigging mainly took place in the secluded women’s polling centers. With poor security, weak administration and low turnover, these polling stations that were not very strictly monitored, provided ideal opportunity for bogus voting. In fact, Khwaja Rafique was caught on camera casting bogus votes in a women’s booth.

As of now both PMLN and PPP are anti-army, anti-judiciary and mired in corruption. It is imperative that a third political party with clean and patriotic leaders forms government in the next general elections which need to be really fair. To achieve this Imran Khan needs to recruit and train at least two polling agents for each polling booth in every constituency. Women polling agents need special training and should be in adequate numbers to ensure that rigging is prevented. Imran Khan also needs to have support of local vernacular TV and radio channels that have a lot of weight in forming public opinion in rural areas.

New Definitions August 2017

Surgeon: One who is a mixture of butcher and tailor with learned mind and noble heart.

Engineer: One who provides ease and comfort in defiance of nature.

Plumbing: Moving water against gravity.

Electricity: Lightning pumped through metal wire.

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A Dozen Gifts of 20th Century

1. Realization that we are moving without knowing our direction or speed.
2. Relativity to predict illusions of a moving observer.
3. Cinema to enjoy the illusion of motion.
4. Atomic bomb and ability to destroy all mankind, creating a prpetual sense of insecurity.
4. Removal of difference between art and obscenity.
5. Air transport.
6. Transistors, integrated circuits and electronic devices.
7. Television and passive enjoyment of sport.
8. Satellite communication and conquest of distance.
9. Internet and unlimited instant uncensored information.
10. Prevalence of virtual reality and adultration of truth.
11. Erosion of gender uniqueness.
12. Spectre of Israel and growth of religious extremism and intolerance.

The Great Bluff

As the judicial probe of impropriety against prime minister Nawaz Sharif approaches its logical conclusion, there is a crescendo of noises by the ruling party that the imminent disqualification of their leader would apply brakes to the wheels of progress in the country. It is true that the motorcade of the prime minister’s daughter has grown from 3 to 15 vehicles and some highly cosmetic infrastructure development projects have emerged in Lahore which are of little use to the general public. There has been no improvement in education, health or water, gas and power supplies services. Crimes are as prevalent, roads are as unsafe and jobs are as scarce as before the PML(N) government came into power.

Let us look at some of the statistics.

1.       Power Supply: The government has been claiming that there has been tremendous economic and industrial progress as in the following tweet of the Defense and Power minister:

If you add the average generation and shortfall you get the total electrical power demand for the year in question. Simple arithmetic giver the average demand figures as follows:

Year                                         June 2012            June 2013            June 2016            June 2017

Total Power Demand               17070                   19742                 19684                  20841

This shows that there has been a growth of only 5.57 percent in 4 years ie less than 1.4 % annually which is even less than population growth rate. Thus there has been no growth in either industry or people’s standard of living. Actually there has been perceptible deterioration.

2.       Trade: The following trade data has been taken from the government website and tells a sad story of the utter failure of the businessman prime minister:

There has been a steady fall in the volume and value of exports over the last 4 year period and the government has done nothing to arrest the decline.  The textile and garment manufacturers have been running from pillar to post but have not had any success.

3.       Stock Exchange:  The success of Karachi Stock Exchange now Pakistan Stock Exchange has been told as the great achievement of the incumbent government. Here is the 5 year progress report taken from their own website:

Above chart shows that although the 100 index has been blown out of proportion, the number of listed companies has remained stagnant and a meager increase in base capital has taken place. The only IPO in 2017 so far was for an iron works owned by Sharif family.  During this period there have been about half a dozen upheaval and mini-crashes in which more than 4% market capitalization was lost in one day causing heavy losses to small investors.

4.       Currency Parity: When the present govt. came to power in 2013, the PKR-USD parity stood at Rs. 108. Mr. Dar played some quick tricks and brought it down to Rs.98 and touted it as a financial miracle. Soon afterwards heavy borrowings were made from WB and others and the parity was maintained at on average at Rs. 104 against the demands of exporters. Recently it jumped back to Rs. 108 and SBP declared that it reflects the current economic situation. The result of maintaining low parity is that Pakistani families that depend on remittances from family members working abroad have lost nearly 400 billion rupees in money exchange and textile and garments have become uncompetitive and reduced production and cut jobs. The only beneficiaries of this policy are those who have been sending their money abroad for buying properties in Dubai, Qatar and UK etc as they got more dollars for their Rupees.  It has also helped to show higher GDP in dollar terms to fool the world.

If one takes all above facts into consideration, it seems that the government of Mr. Nawaz Sharif has been working intentionally to harm national interests and the people of Pakistan. Take into account the Dawn story plant against the armed forces, the tirades against the judiciary and the family friendship with pm Modi and other Indians with deteriorating border situation and silence on the arrest of Indian terror mastermind one can’t help but wonder if the stage is being set for something like the French Revolution.

Swift justice and early elections may avert a disaster, I hope and pray.

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Literal Islam

Sometime in early 1970s I watched the Shakespeare play Richard III in a theatre in his home town of

Stratford upon Avon. At the very opening, a character walked on the stage and facing the audience said, "I have chosen to be the villain." I was shocked. It was beyond my comprehension that someone would

voluntarily choose to be a villain. Now I know better.

Urdu translations of the Holy Quran I read in my childhood had marginal notes telling about the

circumstances in which verses were revealed or the incidents to which they referred. It created Awareness of Circumstantial implications of the Quranic injunctions. It was understood that you cannot pick a line from the Quran in isolation and assume it to be a universal statement. If you quote the Quran you should quote the whole passage with the background and explanations. The verse "kill in the path of Allah" has been used by opponents of Islam to propagate that Islam preaches violence and even some misguided Muslims believe that killing the opponents of Islam leads to the path of divine glory. That is a totally wrong impression and a sure way to lose the path of Allah.

The verse was revealed in a situation when Muslims, led by Prophet Muhammad, were travelling towards Makkah to perform a pilgrimage and were stopped by the infidels. It should be noted that the companions of the Prophet were restrained from violence and bloodshed unless allowed by him after receiving a divine revelation. As it happened on that occasion, nobody got killed as a peace formula was found.  In fact, even today all Muslims are restrained from violence and bloodshed unless faced with a situation similar to one for which the exception was made by the Prophet under divine guidance.

Unfortunately many translations of the Holy Quran, especially those in English now in circulation give the literal meaning of the verses without the necessary explanation leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions. Even worse is the case of Islamic madrassas and other organizations established mainly for financial considerations teach their students Arabic language so that they can understand what the Quran says literally without knowing the background and the historical significance of the texts. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are being led astray.