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rah-i-nijat Away
from home, once more debate On
the run
Fighting in the 'black hole' The military has captured around 70 per cent of the TTP-held territory in South Waziristan. Taliban have largely disappeared but expected to stage guerilla attacks to make it costly for the military to hold the captured territory It is now clear that the
Taliban militants opted not to fight the vastly superior and equipped
Pakistan's armed forces in South Waziristan in open battle. Outnumbered and
outgunned, they have been trying instead to employ guerilla tactics to harass
the advancing troops. But their hit-and-run attacks too have until now been
few and far between and largely ineffective. The militants have already lost some of their major strongholds. Srarogha, Kaniguram, Kotkai, Spinkay Raghzai, Sherwangai, Shelwestai, Nawazkot and other villages have fallen and Ladha and Makeen are under threat. In fact, the military claimed on November 4 that its soldiers had entered Ladha town. It was expected that the Taliban would fight on to defend some of these strongholds. It didn't happen and questions are now being asked about the strategy that the militants have adopted to tackle the big offensive launched by the Pakistan Army. It is sometimes dangerous if the enemy's military plans cannot be figured out in advance. The fall of Srarogha, the town where the late Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) founder Baitullah Mahsud signed his first peace accord with the government in February 2005, is a big setback for the militants. It is where he spent most of his time while plotting attacks against the government and its security forces. Zangara, the village where he was killed in a US drone attack on his father-in-law Ikramuddin's house on August 5, 2009 is also in Srarogha tehsil. Baitullah's ancestral village from where his poor family migrated years ago to the Frontier Region of Lakki Marwat and where he was buried in accordance with his will is also located in Srarogha area. By losing Srarogha, the new leadership of TTP could lose the esteem of Taliban fighters and supporters due to its inability to defend the spiritual capital of their movement and the abode of its slain leader Baitullah. Prior to Srarogha's fall, the TTP lost Kotkai, the village of its new head and Baitullah's successor Hakimullah Mahsud. Kotkai is also the village of Hakimullah's cousin Qari Hussain, one of the most dreaded militant commanders known as the "Ustad-i-Fidayeen," or trainer of suicide bombers. If he could, Hakimullah would have defended to the end his own village and also that of Baitullah. Together with Ladha, Makeen, Kaniguram and Kotkai, the town of Srarogha was considered as a major stronghold of the militants. Remote and sited deep in the Mahsud tribal territory, Ladha and Makeen were believed to be strongly defended. The military authorities had stated that most foreign militants, particularly the Uzbeks affiliated to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), were entrenched in Kaniguram. That doesn't seem to be the case because the foreigners supposed to be defending Kaniguram have vanished. No arrests of the foreign militants have been claimed and there aren't any bodies of the slain Uzbek fighters. Earlier, passports of two foreigners were reportedly found by the troops in Shelwestai and Sherwangai villages. One was of Said Bahaji, a national of Germany with a Moroccan father and German mother who was said to be a member of the Hamburg Cell that was involved in the 9/11 attacks on the US. Another was of a woman from Spain who converted to Islam and married a Moroccan, Amer Azizi. Though militants often have a number of passports and names, the recovery of the two passports raised prospects that Said Bahaji and other members of al-Qaeda could be in South Waziristan or the adjacent tribal areas. The US and other Western powers already believe that Osama bin Laden, his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri and other al-Qaeda operatives are hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas, most probably in Waziristan. The Western media and many analysts sometimes refer to Waziristan as the new headquarters of al-Qaeda following its ouster from Afghanistan in December 2001 when the US invasion removed Taliban from power. The military is claiming to have killed 394 militants in 19 days of fighting since launching the three-pronged Operation Rah-i-Nijat in South Waziristan on October 17. It has conceded that some of its troops have been killed and injured in the fighting but the numbers aren't significant. This explains that the intense fighting being predicted between the two sides hasn't taken place. The military authorities had told the media that 30,000 troops were taking part in the Operation Rah-i-Nijat. However, some reports said a total of 60,000 soldiers were involved in the operation including 45,000 in combat and 15,000 in supporting role. The troops are heavily equipped and backed by artillery and mortar guns and other modern weapons. The military also enjoyed air superiority and has been bombing and shelling the militants' strongholds for months. Pakistani authorities have kept mum over the US role in the military action in South Waziristan but the Americans are leaking information to their media about stepped up weapons' supplies to Pakistan to aid its war effort against the TTP. These reports said military helicopters, guns, night-vision goggles and other equipment had been rushed to Pakistan and drone were being flown in the targetted areas to gather intelligence and assist the Pakistani military in the fighting. There have been widely divergent figures about the Taliban strength in South Waziristan. Figures of 7,000 to 17,000 of TTP fighters have been mentioned. The number of foreign militants in the area is an even bigger mystery. Interior Minister Rahman Malik recently said there were 5,000 foreign militants in the tribal areas. He probably meant all the tribal areas and not South Waziristan alone. But his estimate could be wide off the mark as previously lesser figures have been mentioned by government and military authorities. A top army commander rightly pointed out that South Waziristan was like a 'black hole' due to absence of good intelligence information about the areas once controlled by the Pakistani Taliban. The wide divergence in the claims made by the military and the militants could be judged from the figures of Taliban casualties by the two sides. The number of Taliban deaths according to the military authorities was nearing 400, but the TTP spokesman Azam Tariq insisted on November 3 that they had lost only 11 men. He also described as 'tactical retreat' the Taliban withdrawal from their strongholds in South Waziristan and claimed the TTP strength was largely intact. If true, it means the Taliban militants are planning to prolong the battle by launching guerilla-style attacks and disrupting the military's supply lines once the troops moved deeper and spread out into the mountainous terrain in South Waziristan. There were unconfirmed reports that Hakimullah Mahsud had left the area and shifted somewhere else, probably Orakzai Agency where he has bases. It was said the TTP head for South Waziristan, Waliur Rahman, was leading his fighters in the 30 per cent territory still in Taliban hands. The federal government also announced monetary rewards for the capture of 19 Taliban commanders, all from the Mahsud tribe and including Hakimullah, Waliur Rahman and Qari Hussain. This was the second time that such rewards were announced for the capture, alive or dead, of these and other TTP commanders. The earlier offer of rewards didn't net any TTP commander in Waziristan or in Swat. Baitullah had a head-money of $5 million (Rs410 million) from the US and Rs50 million ($600,000) from the Pakistan government but nobody could claim the reward until he was killed in the missile strike by a pilotless American aircraft. The TTP has also been carrying out bombings in Pakistan's urban centres in retaliation and asking its chapters in Bajaur, Hangu, Kurram and elsewhere to launch fresh attacks on the security forces to put pressure on the government and the military and influence public opinion against the military action in South Waziristan. Apart from the attacks on the army and police installations, some of the bombings targetted public places such as the Meena Bazaar, Fakhr-e-Alam Road and Khyber Bazaar in Peshawar in which almost 200 people were killed. Though Hakimullah Mahsud denied TTP is involved in these bombings by arguing that his men had no need to bomb bazaars and kill civilians when they were capable of hitting the Pakistan Army's headquarters, GHQ, in Rawalpindi, there have been attacks claimed by his organisation in the past in which innocent people were killed. The TTP head blamed the private US security firm, Blackwater, now renamed Xe World, and Pakistan's intelligence agencies for the bombings in the bazaars. There is no evidence that his claim is believable. A more likely theory is that such bombings in Pakistan using vehicles stuffed with explosives happen soon after some big attack in Kabul and that the perpetrators could be avenging those terrorist strikes. Having captured around 70 per cent of the TTP-held territory in South Waziristan, the military is now poised to take control of the remaining. The Taliban and foreign militants have largely disappeared. Some could still be in the targetted area, hiding in forests, mountains and ravines. Others could have gone to neighbouring parts of South Waziristan populated by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe or into North Waziristan, Kurram and Orakzai tribal agencies and adjoining districts. They would be expected to stage occasional guerilla attacks to make it costly for the military to hold the captured territory. This could then turn into a long battle in Waziristan and surrounding places having consequences for rest of the NWFP and the country.
Unlike IDPs of Swat, the displaced people of Waziristan are not being facilitated by the government This is not for the first
time the tribesmen of the restive South Waziristan have been forced to leave
their homes and take shelter in the nearby settled districts in search of
peace and security. They have already done this twice in the past, in 2004
and again in 2007 -- perhaps because they were the first victims of the
"War on Terror" since it was launched in the region. Over 325,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the South Waziristan's Laddha, Makeen, Shakai, Badar, Manju, Lathka and other towns had registered their names till Nov 3 at the registration points in two districts: Dera Ismail Khan and Tank. The figure does not include those coming to Bannu, Hangu and Kohat. Unlike IDPs of Swat, who were welcomed when they came down to the settled Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar districts after the government kicked off military operation against the militants in Malakand, the displaced people of Waziristan are not being facilitated. Foreign and local NGOs have yet to come to their rescue. Even the United Nations has pulled out foreign officials from NWFP and FATA due to security concerns. Not one official tent village has been established for IDPs in the settled districts. People coming to register their names at the registration points have been thrashed by police on the pretext of maintaining law and order. The displaced individuals have complained of lack of medical facilities and drinking water. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), over 324, 791 individuals of 44,492 families have been registered so far at the registration points in DI Khan and Tank. These include 243,907 people of 33,412 families that left their hometowns after Oct 13 while 80,500 individuals of 11,080 families were those who registered with the organisation in last August. Among those newly registered families 21,059 have come to D I Khan and 12,353 to Tank. The two districts border North and South Waziristan agencies. The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) claims to cross-check all registered cases to disallow dual registration. Thousands still remain trapped in Waziristan due to curfew and fierce clashes between miscreants and security men. Also, a large number of families and individuals have gone missing after they supposedly left their homes in the worn-torn districts of North and South Waziristan. Some of the foreign NGOs
that were denied access to the troubled agency include the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF) and some
others. "The Though the United Nations has pulled out its foreign staff from NWFP and FATA at this critical stage, the local staff of its subordinate bodies is making efforts for the rehabilitation and support of IDPs. "The UNHCR is distributing relief items like kitchen sets, sleeping mats, quilts and others items to the registered IDPs. Even those who are yet to be verified have been assisted," says Spokesman for the UNHCR Pakistan, Qaisar Khan Afridi, adding the UN body has so far provided relief kits to more than 20,406 families in DI Khan and Tank, living with host communities, including more than 13,957 since Oct 21 when distribution resumed. He adds, the UNHCR also supports the registration of the displaced people which is an important first step in receiving recognition of their status as displaced citizens and leads to the provision of other assistance. The people of Waziristan ask why the government has not come to their rescue. Only Abdul Sattar Edhi, his four daughters and his ten workers have visited IDPs from Waziristan. Edhi distributed five truckloads of relief goods among them. President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani and Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti have so far not visited the affected people. Even top politicians from D I Khan, including JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, his federal minister brother and their rival National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, head of the ruling Awami National Party Asfandyar Wali, PPP-S Chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, JUI-Sami Chief Maulana Samiul Haq and many others have stayed away. "We appreciate the government and public gesture to facilitate IDPs of Swat. But we question: why have we been ignored? We had to leave home thrice," says Mushtaq Ahmad Wazir, President Wana Welfare Association (WaWA), which has dispatched letters to the rulers, top politicians, senior media persons and other concerned officials to seek their attention to miseries of homeless tribesmen of South Waziristan. "We have been suffering since the first military operation carried out in Wana on June 26, 2002. In 2004 people were forced to migrate to safer places when jets shelled the area. Uzbeks and Chechens hiding in the area have played havoc in the area since Dec 2004. Are the people of Waziristan not Pakistanis? Are they not Muslims? Don't they need help? asks Mushtaq. Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed while talking to the media during his visit to an IDP camp in DI Khan assured the people that efforts were underway to reopen roads and lift curfew -- to facilitate the stranded tribesmen of South Waziristan Agency. "The IDPs will be provided ration and Rs 5,000 monthly assistance through ATM cards while those residing with relatives will be provided with tents and other necessary items. Rs2.5 billion has been released to the FATA Secretariat for IDPs of South Waziristan," he says. He assured that steps have been taken to ensure fair distribution of relief goods among the affectees of the military operation. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), a body to take care of IDPs, has established a help-line (09-5278477) which can be contacted in case of any emergency, particularly pertaining to registration. The authority is coordinating efforts of NGOs, UN agencies, government departments and other relief bodies to ensure better service to IDPs. The Special Support Group plans to provide relief items to the trapped people once the security forces move deeper into the agency. Though the operation has been launched in Mahsud-populated areas of South Waziristan, the people of Wana are also stranded as roads have been closed and curfew imposed in maximum parts due to the continuing clashes in the area. "We are ready to face this situation and sacrifice for our future generations. The tribesmen of North and South Waziristan want the menace of Talibanisation to end so we can return home," states Hakim Mehsud, a namesake of the incumbent TTP chief, who is settled in D I Khan after leaving South Waziristan along with his nine-member family.
NRO -- past and closed transaction? "Cases heard after Feb 2008 can be re-opened" Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, retired judge Supreme Court It is important to
understand that the National Reconciliation Ordinance was promulgated in Oct
2007 and As to the question whether the court had the authority on July 31, 2009 to put life into a dead ordinance, the context must be understood. After the emergency was declared on Nov 3, 2007 and before it was withdrawn on Dec 16, 2007, an ordinance was promulgated according to which all ordinances promulgated within that period or before the declaration of emergency were given constitutional protection under 270AAA. So when the court in its July 31 judgement declared the act of Nov 3, 2007 null and void, that also put the article 270AAA under question. There were ordinances which had lapsed – crossed the 4 month period – so the court kept this option open before the government that it can bring the dead ordinances before the parliament. "What the Supreme Court has done amounts to rewriting the constitution" Malik Qayyum, retired judge and former attorney general Whether the cases under NRO
will be re-opened or not is a difficult question to answer. Only the
transactions that are past and closed will not be reopened. What is happening here is unprecedented. Never in the history of Pakistan or elsewhere has the life of an ordinance been extended by the judiciary. After 120 days, an ordinance dies its natural death. With all due respects, what the Supreme Court has done amounts to rewriting the constitution. If the ordinance is valid today, whatever decisions were then taken get a legal cover. It is not the first time that PCO was extended and made part of the constitution. It was done in 270A and 270AA and then the Supreme Court took the view that this provision is valid -- that it will remain a part of the constitution till it is disapproved by the parliament. This time they have taken a different view. The decision has been taken following the age old principle – that welfare of people is the supreme law. In my view they wanted all the 37 or so ordinances to get a validity of the parliament because among these ordinances was the one pertaining to Nuclear Command and Control Authority. This body was constituted as a result of an ordinance. If the ordinance was set aside, the constitution of that Authority would have come to an end and they didn't want that. About the cases presented before the courts during the extended period, after Feb 2008, I can't say with certainty. As for the cases referred in Section 7 of the NRO as "stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect", they were NAB cases and whatever action was taken ended under the operation of law [NRO]. You didn't need a court order for that; they were terminated the moment the Ordinance was promulgated. As for other normal criminal cases, committees were constituted. The NRO was challenged by many petitioners out of which Roedad Khan and Dr Mubashar Hasan's petitions are pending before the Supreme Court. What people understand as "stay" by the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was actually the Supreme Court's view that under the said ordinance whatever benefit accrues to any person, it will be subject to the final decision of the court. If and when the Supreme Court decides in that case, only then the issue of re-opening of cases shall be decided. The ball is back in the Supreme Court. I would only say that their intention was good but by extending the life of an ordinance, they've re-written the constitution. "In the wake of July 31 judgment, the NRO is to be treated as repealed since the 120th day of its promulgation" Muhammad Akram Sheikh, advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan The cases against the beneficiaries of NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) have automatically re-opened in the SC. In the wake of the Supreme
Court's July 31, 2009, detailed judgment, For the first time, it was Feb 15, 2008, when Asif Zardari filed his Constitutional Petition before the Sindh High Court asking that the federal government and the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) be ordered to immediately give him the benefit of the NRO by withdrawing all listed cases against him. On Feb 18, the elections were held. On Feb 28, then acting Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar directed the courts to give the NRO benefit "expeditiously." The very next day, in compliance with the Supreme Court direction, the Sindh High Court issued the required direction to the NAB and federal government. On Feb 15, 2008, just after 40th day of Benazir's murder and three days before elections, Mr Zardari filed a constitutional petition (D-265/2008) in the Sindh High Court seeking a direction to the federal government and to NAB to withdraw all proceedings against him. There was no question of "past and closed transaction" benefit to Asif Ali Zardari as he applied to get benefit from the ordinance after the ordinance had expired. "The SC has jurisdiction to take up a dead ordinance" Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Senator PML-N Technically National
Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) has become a bill after being tabled in the
Senate and National Assembly and approved by the National Assembly's Standing
Committee. The claims of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and federal
minister for parliamentary affairs Babar Awan that the government has
withdrawn the NRO from the House are false. If NRO is not approved or re-promulgated, the beneficiaries would have to defend it in the court. However, President of Pakistan has immunity till the holding of the office. If some person thinks that the case(s) against him were mere political victimisation or false, he or she can defend the case in the courts. According to Article 89 of the constitution, it will remain as a bill in the assembly unless the president withdraws it through a notification or the house passes a resolution in its approval or rejection. The rejection of the house is also constitutionally mandatory now. But apart from all these technicalities, the ordinance had already been challenged in SC taking the plea that it was contradictory to the fundamental rights and constitution, when it was in its original life tenure. In my view, the court first has to decide that petition whether the NRO is contradictory to fundamental rights and constitution or not. Other question and the issues of beneficiaries would come later. As to the question whether the SC could take up a dead ordinance, the SC has jurisdiction given to it in the constitution. Article 184 clause three of the Constitution clearly says that without prejudice to the provisions of Article 199, the Supreme Court shall, if it considers that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II is involved, have the power to make an order of the nature mentioned in the said Article." The issue would severely affect the political atmosphere of the country but it would also be seen how the court takes up the issue and the cases after the deadline to pass such ordinances through the parliament by the end of this November 2009. "Supreme Court's sending NRO to the parliament means there wasn't anything wrong with the ordinance" Muhammad Ali Saif, barrister, former federal minister The requirement of the
judgment of the Supreme Court has already been fulfilled. The parliament is Had the Supreme Court stressed that NRO is a bad law or declared it null and void, just like it did for Nov 3 action on July 31, it could have struck it off; why send it to the parliament. Supreme Court's sending it to the parliament means there wasn't anything wrong with the ordinance. Taking up the NRO before the court again is against the spirit of the judgment of Supreme Court; it is a political statement which tantamounts to using the court for settling personal scores. NRO is a destabilising
factor and the government has now made it clear that it is not going o table
NRO in the parliament. -- Waqar Gillani, Naila Inayat and Farah Zia
Target killing in Balochistan is rising, with more and more non-Baloch officials and Shia Hazaras seeking safe shelter elsewhere in the country Following the killing of three Baloch leaders -- Munir Baloch, Ghulam Mohammad and Sher Mohammad -- in Turbat last April, target killings in Balochistan have risen sharply. The main victims are: non-Baloch officials connected to the field of education and Shia-Hazaras of Quetta. In October, all major incidents of target killings
involved teachers or education officials. On Oct 31, 2009, Secretary
Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education was seriously
injured when unknown armed men shot at him in Quetta's Satellite Town. He was
on his way from his home to the office. He suffered multiple injuries on his
head and other parts of the body. A day earlier, two employees of Cadet
College Mastong, Amjad and Munawwer, Punjabi settlers in Balochistan, were
shot dead. On Oct 25, the Provincial Education Minister Shafiq Ahmed Khan was
shot dead in Quetta near his home. On Aug 7, another Provincial Minister
Rustam Jamali was killed in Karachi. Last year, on Oct 19, the house of
Province's Information Minister Younus Mullazai was attacked with a hand
grenade. The minister was out of town thus escaped the murder attempt. Earlier, according to reports, the principal of Quetta's Commerce College, the vice-principal of Balochistan Residential College in Khuzdar, the principal of Pilot High School in Mastung, the principal of Sariab Mills High School, a professor of Government Degree College and newly-appointed vice-chancellor of Balochistan University in Quetta, Safdar Kiyani, have been victims of target killing in the province. Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other militant Baloch organisations have taken the responsibility of killing at least 238 citizens in Quetta including professors, teachers, surgeons and lawyers. The day the provincial minister, Shafiq Khan, was shot dead, Shehak Baloch, who identified himself as a member of Baloch Liberation United Front, (BLUF) telephoned a news wire agency in Quetta, claiming the responsibility of the murder. Shehak was reported to have told the news agency that Khan was killed to avenge the murder of three Baloch leaders in Turbat. He also said the slain minister was anti-Baloch. Most professors in Balochistan University are from Punjab or Karachi, and have received letters threatening them to leave Balochistan. The letters reads: "We are from Balochistan Liberation Army. You should leave this province." Due to fear, 20 university's teachers have got themselves transferred to Sindh or Punjab; 120 university teachers have requested for the transfer out of Balochistan; 10 professors take classes with gun men guarding them. Most of the teachers have shifted their families to Punjab and other parts of the country. In addition to a sizeable population of Hazara tribe in the Quetta city, there are a large numbers of settlers from Punjab, Sindh and Afghanistan who identify themselves with Balochistan. Many families migrated to and settled in Quetta post-1935 earthquake. Dr Safdar Kiyani was the most senior professor in the Balochistan University and was shot dead the day he was appointed the VC. His two sons have migrated from Quetta. No Baloch political party or leader condemned his killing and none of them attended his funeral prayer. No Pushtoon or Punjabi teacher wants to conduct examinations in Baloch areas. The government has opened new campuses of the University in Turbat and Loralai so that the teachers can continue their work. The business community is also feeling the heat of violence. Muhammad Nadeem Khan, a representative from the Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Quetta says, "the law and order situation is so bad in Quetta that businesses close early evening. " Businessmen say all members of the business community pay extortion money (bhatta) to political groups. A large number of businessmen are migrating from the city for safety reasons. The Hazara community maintains that it is being forced to leave Quetta -- by selling their businesses and property at throw-away prices. They say pamphlets that threaten them to leave and sell their houses are being distributed. Members of the Hazara community are abducted often and the ransom money varies between one to four million rupees. Nearly 22,000 government employees have applied for the transfer out of the province. Due to fear, a large number of educational institutions are closed all over the province and only one boys' college is open in the Quetta city. Ratan Chand of the Teachers' Association says for the last couple of years two to three cases of abduction for ransom take place in Quetta every month. Professor Nawaz Soomro, an office-bearer of the Teachers' Association, says two teachers -- one belonging of the Government Degreee College Saryab Road, Quetta and the other to Government Commerce College Road, Quetta -- were killed but their alleged murderers were not arrested. He said no public official condemned their death. Hazara community representatives say not one government official has condoled the target killing of Hazara people and no compensation money is offered to victims' families. Dawood Agha, the Senior Vice-President of Balochistan Shia Party, has lost six members of his family including his younger brother in sectarian violence. He says, since 2003 more than 260 Hazaras have been murdered and more than 1000 have suffered injuries in the attacks. The community leaders are highly suspect of the role of security agencies. Dawood Agha alleges that security agencies and the government are protecting the perpetrators of the crime. As an example, he cites, the escape of two convicted sectarian criminals -- Usman Saifullah Kurd and Shafeeq Rind -- from the well-guarded jail of Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) in Quetta. They were associated with the anti-Shia organisation, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. Shafeeq Rind was arrested five months later but Usman is still missing. "Another accused terrorist, Daud Badini, is in jail but is said to be enjoying the facilities of a five-star hotel," says Agha. A number of Shia lawyers have been shot dead, including the recent murder of Advocate Wilyata Hussain in Quetta. The victims of target killings also include five and six year old children. Aghai Akbar Hussain Zahedi, a leader of the Shia Ulema Council, says: "Terrorists have become so daring that they openly swear in the courts that after being released from jail they will target more Shias. The accused are arrested in the morning and released in the afternoon." Haji Abdul Qayyum, Chairman of Hazara Qaumi Jirga, say that the accused dare the judges to convict them. A banned sectarian organisation, Sipah-i-Sahaba, is said to have become active with the new name of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat in Balochistan. In Aug 2009, a Shia religious leader, Allama Maqsood Ali Donki, was killed in a grenade attack by two assailants. The police killed two assailants on the spot. Next day, Jamaat Ahle Sunnat brought out a protest demonstration against the killing of the assailants. The distrust of the government runs deep and its inaction makes its role suspicious. Two tribunals were set up on the killing incidents of 2004 and 2008, but their findings have not been made public to date. The conspiracy theories abound involving India, the US and local security agencies responsible for spreading violence. Many Shia leaders in Quetta allege that the sectarian outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and its sister organisation, Jundullah, comprise of Sunni Baloch militants who are also active in Iran. In their conspiracy theory, Jundullah enjoys the patronage of local security agencies and the CIA, as it has been created to destabilise the neighbouring Iran. On the other hand, the Pakistan government has officially blamed India for fomenting violence in Balochistan and funding militant Baloch organisations. For ordinary citizens in Balochistan, affected with the spate of violence since the last six years, with little protection available from the state, survival seems to be the main worry. As a result, an exodus of non-Baloch from the province continues -- for more than 50,000 people have so far left their homes. The writer was member of the fact-finding mission of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that visited Balochistan between Oct 3 and 10, 2009.
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government is not encouraging foreign NGOs to directly assist IDPs from South
Waziristan due to security concerns," argues Chairman Special Support
Programme (SSP) Lt General Nadeem Ahmad.
lapsed in Feb 2008. Only those cases that were decided in these four
months will deem to have
been "past and closed transaction" while the ones that were heard
by the courts after February or where the proceedings are pending shall be
reopened. The wording of the Ordinance is not enough for the cases to
"stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect" as put forth
in Section 7 of NRO; you need a court order.
especially paragraphs 179, 184,
185, 186, 187 and 188, the NRO is to be treated as repealed since the 120th
day of its promulgation--i.e., Feb 2, 2008. It is incumbent on all the courts
of Pakistan now to recall all their acquittal orders, at least those that
were based on NRO.
supreme in a constitutional democracy and whatever it decides should be
respected everyone, which includes the courts of that country.
