PPP party of masses-sacrifices and tragedies — II By Senator A. Rehman Malik

Just months after her second tenure in power in August 1990, Mr Zardari was arrested on October 10, on the allegations of attempted murder of Pakistani Businessman Murtaza Hussain Bukhari and extortion allegations. However, Mr Asif Ali Zardari was released in mid-February 1993, with nothing proved against him and charges were eventually dropped as it was proven that the charges were politically motivated. Three years later, Mohtarma rose to power again with the same opposition, the same manipulation, and the same results.

Next time, I saw both mother and daughter crying over the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto on September 20, 1996 when he along with his six party workers was shot dead in a suspected police encounter in Karachi. This was the third tragedy for her.

Again in October 1998, the Government of the time indicted Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Bhutto for the Mehran Gate scandal. Instead Asif Ali Zardari was sentenced to five years in prison, fined $8.6 million and disqualified from holding public office. He was also accused of murdering his brother-in-law Mir Murtaza Bhutto but Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who was living in London at that time, denounced the decision.

In May 1999, Asif Ali Zardari was brought to a police interrogation center in Karachi, where he was kept awake for four days, beaten, and cut with knives. He was tortured yet he bore the hardship with fortitude. Despite no charge ever being proven against him, he spent eleven and a half years in prison in conditions often unacceptable by human rights standards. He contested parliamentary elections twice while in prison and won both as MNA and as senator. Despite many offers from the government of the time to become approver against Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or to go abroad under a negotiated political exit but he remained committed to his fight for justice and party goals. He remained in jail from November 5, 1996 to November 22, 2004 for over eight years before being granted bail by the court and hence set free, as not a single accusation against him has been proven till date. I want to ask who is going to bring those 12 years of his youth back to him. He spent 52 percent of his married life in prison upon politically motivated accusations.

The heir of the legacy of Gen Zia kept on chasing both Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and her husband Mr Asif Ali Zardari and kept implicating them in false cases, which was later proved through taped conversations between the judges and the Ministers of PML-N government.

My association has been with the three generations of Bhutto clan and I sincerely hope to see Bilawal as PM in my lifetime. I pray that God gives him the wisdom and strength to continue to take the mission of his elders forward to bring back the glory of the party being a political party representing the federation

The struggle by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the restoration of democracy in the country bore fruit in 2008, at the cost of life of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated by terrorists on the fateful day of 27 December 2007. After her assassination there were potential threats of turmoil in the country but the wise and timely decision taken by her husband averted the likelihood of these incidents.

He upheld the sovereignty and integrity of the country by raising slogan of Pakistan Khappay. By following the philosophy of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto that “democracy is the best revenge”, Mr Asif Ali Zardari worked for the restoration of complete democracy and thus obliged Gen Pervez Musharraf to resign as President of Pakistan. Mr Asif Ali Zardari was the first democratically elected President who had completed his constitutional tenure of five years. He will stand out in history as the first president who strengthened the federation and stabilized democracy in Pakistan.

His achievements and services to the country and the people as President of Pakistan, inter alia, included restoration of 1973 Constitution through 18th Amendment, transfer of his powers to the Parliament, empowerment of Gilgit-Baltistan through assignment of special status to it, consensus approval of the 7th NFC Award, financial and administrative empowerment of the provinces, initiation of Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package, financial protection of 75 lac poor families through Benazir Income Support Programme and distribution of 12 percent share of 80 government institutions among 50 lac workers through BESOS. It is he only who increased Balochistan’s share from 5.1 percent to 9.1 percent in the 7th NFC Award. Allocation of 90 percent quota in all jobs at the Gwadar Port is another contribution to the welfare of Baloch masses.

His major economic reforms include payment of Rs.2 billions as the first installment of Rs.10 billions out of Rs. 120 billion outstanding provincial dues by the federal government, setting up a new record of US $ 17 billion foreign exchange reserves, transfer of 30 percent shareholding out of the federal government’s 50 percent shareholding in Sindak Project to Balochistan, leveling of 10,000 acres of land to be irrigated with Mirani Dam, construction of canals and such several other measures. Conclusion of Pak-Iran gas pipeline agreement and agreement with the People’s Republic of China on Gwadar Project also deserves due credit and appreciation. President Zardari took many concrete measures to help improve the economy and ameliorate the lot of common man. His developmental projects also include the Faisalabad-Multan Motorway, besides construction of thousand miles of roads in different areas. The commencement of CPEC Project with China will forever remain the greatest achievement of his regime.

When I look at Bilawal Bhutto Zardari I see in him a brave leader with wisdom of his mother and courageous political skills from his father. He can be seen taking up the legacy and wisdom of his mother, grandfather and his father Asif Zardari.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s intellect has been a breath of fresh air for Pakistan’s Politics. Right from the onset of his political life, he has touched on several important issues, such as terrorism and the army’s role in Pakistan, amongst others. Bilawal’s politics is a far cry from the political mudslinging that takes place in our country’s politics every other day.

The sacrifices of Bhutto family and the workers of PPP are unprecedented and PPP has emerged and grown with the tragedies.

I have had the honor of serving with Great ZAB as a Junior Civil servant, with Begum Nusrat Bhutto, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, and President Zardari and now with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. My association has been with the three generations of Bhutto clan and I sincerely hope to see Bilawal as PM in my lifetime. I pray that God gives him the wisdom and strength to continue to take the mission of his elders forward to bring back the glory of the party being a political party representing the federation.

The Article has been Published ‘’Daily Times’’ on November 30^th, 2018

The Link to Article is: https://dailytimes.com.pk/327739/ppp-party-of-masses-sacrifices-and-tragedies-ii/

PPP party of masses-sacrifices and tragedies — I By Senator A. Rehman Malik

November 30, is a day for all of us, all the senior leadership and workers included, to celebrate as part of a political party, which was formed to represent the federation throughout the country. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — the founding father of Pakistan Peoples Party — was a leader with great political wisdom being a born politician and reformer with charming personality and intellect to influence his contemporaries. The PPP over time, under the leadership of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and then Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, grew bigger with the efforts and sacrifices of the leadership and its workers.

Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto left the government of FM Ayub Khan as Foreign Minister over Tashkent Agreement and formed his political party — Pakistan Peoples Party — on 30th November 1967, to give voice to the poor, labourers and peasants alike, to make them aware of their rights and how to secure their future. The wave of support of the masses for Mr. Bhutto scared the military junta resultantly a civil-military wedge was ignited by Ayub Khan, when he was going to announce his party by openly firing on him. Though he survived the attack but a rift and inimical mind set was put in motion.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was sworn in as the PM of Pakistan in 1973, and then as Prime Minister consequent to promulgation of the 1973 Constitution, emerged as the most popular leader not only of Pakistan but also as a leader of the Muslim Ummah. He was the man who put us on the road to development, which was shattered by successive military governments. He was the one to lay the foundation of true democracy and paid the price for it heavily. It was he who gave a unanimously approved Constitution to the country, which provided and ensured the autonomy to federating units of the country.

His wisdom and foresight, made him realize the importance of the strong defense of the country against the hegemonic posture of India and the US in the region. In the background of potential nuclear threats from India, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto conceived and put in motion a nuclear program. His remarkable declaration about nuclear power is still remembered by the nation: “We (Pakistan) will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own (Atom bomb)…. We have no other choice!”

On the diplomatic front, he realized the importance of neighbours of Pakistan and further strengthened the alliance with China as Prime Minister of Pakistan, which he had already forged as Foreign Minister of the country. China became a strong ally for Pakistan during his regime as Prime Minister. He even facilitated the US to improve its relations with China.

He Introduced social reforms in Pakistan and stood up against capitalism. Unfortunately, Gen. Zia — a right-wing General of that time — overthrew his government with the backing and support of the US that was bent upon containing socialist leaders of Muslim countries whereas non-Muslim countries following socialist policies, India included, at that time of point were never touched or countered

He Introduced social reforms in Pakistan and stood up against capitalism. Unfortunately, Gen. Zia — a right-wing General of that time — overthrew his government with the backing and support of the US that was bent upon containing socialist leaders of Muslim countries whereas non-Muslim countries following socialist policies, India included, at that time of point were never touched or countered. The then US Secretary of State, Mr. Henry Kissinger, on record threatened him of dire consequences if he did not roll back the nuclear programme.

It was Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who restored the moral of the people of Pakistan by bringing back 93000 POWs from India besides securing back vast areas of Pakistani territory under Indian occupation after the 1971 Indo-Pak war through an agreement with India under the Simla Agreement of 1972. He stood up as a leader and secured the release of POWs and Pakistani territory, even he was representing a defeated country.

His support amongst the poor, labourers, students, landless and women was incomparable to any other politician of Pakistan. It was this love of people and his love for the people, which rightfully earned him title of Quaid-e-Awam. He served the people of the country till the last day in office and beyond that.

Finally in order to eliminate ZAB from the political scene for once and all, he was falsely implicated in the murder case of Nawab Muhammad Ahmed Kasuri. I having gone through each file pertaining to the investigation of ZAB can confidently say that it was a tutored case to finally execute him in 1979. Even Justice Nasim Hasan Shah confessed that it was not a fair trial. Even the former Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry — a staunch opponent of PPP — also remarked that the trial of ZAB was “not a good trial” while hearing the Reference filed by the then President of Pakistan.

People were still hoping that Zia would not hang Bhutto but 5th April 1979, was a black day in Pakistan’s history; a PM from Sindh was hanged to death and was shipped through a cargo plane to Mohenjo Daro under the cover of darkness.

His beloved daughter, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto could not even hug her father for the last time, as she wasn’t allowed to step inside the cell. This judicial murder of her father made her undertake a journey to put the country back on the road to democracy to avenge the takeover of the government by the military. She had always professed that, “Democracy is the best revenge”, which proved to be a valid way of revenge when she took the oath of office for the Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 1988, becoming the first Muslim lady to hold the title.

The family suffered a lot when Begum Nusrat Bhutto was tortured; Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was put in jail as a young girl and finally the family was put into exile. The sacrifice of Begum Nusrat Bhutto as a political victim of Gen Zia remains unquestioned. She began to lose her memory after she suffered a head injury during a PPP procession, when the police lathi charged in Karachi. She was a brave lady.

Soon after this, another tragedy came their way when Shah Nawaz Bhutto was murdered in 1985 in Nice, France. I was ordered as the Director of FIA to investigate and report back about his murder. I returned and gave a full briefing on the murder of Shah Nawaz and I disclosed to BB as that he was given war poison and how he was left alone in his sitting room. The French authorities charged his Afghani wife for leaving her husband dying. Why was he killed and who was behind this murder; I will unveil the facts soon.

Shaheed Benazir Bhutto made historic and comprehensive policy measures and initiatives to set the country and the people on the path of development. Some of the major unprecedented reforms of her being the PM of Pakistan included establishment of First Women Bank, establishment of world’s first all women police station, holding of SAARC conference in Pakistan, eradication of poppy plantation in the country and establishment of the new Ministry for Anti-Narcotics, distribution of free sewing machines among widows/needy women to enable them to earn their own livelihood, establishment of a separate Ministry for Youth Affairs for the first time in the country and establishment of a Women’s Ministry for the first time for gender development and to address women specific issues.

On August 2, 1990, charging official corruption, nepotism, the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, exercising his powers under infamous Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution, dismissed her government by dissolving the national and provincial assemblies.

He also scheduled new elections for October 1990. Over the next three years Bhutto constantly pressed for new elections despite the fact that she and her husband faced false charges of corruption. Her persistence led to repeated clashes with government forces amid charges of intimidation and partisan violence but she never gave up.

During both regimes she faced politically motivated allegations of corruption by her political opponents from Islamist parties and the military made certain plans to destabilize her inexperienced administration as both of the governments led by her were dismissed amid allegations of corruption and incompetence. In between the two Bhutto administrations, Mr. Asif Zardari was consistently victimized and also arrested in 1990 and 1991, on charges of corruption; the charges were eventually dropped as it was proven that the charges were politically motivated. Most of those arrested were subsequently released.

The Article has been Published in ‘’Daily Times’’ on November 29^th, 2018

The Link to Article is: https://dailytimes.com.pk/327289/ppp-party-of-masses-sacrifices-and-tragedies-i/

Senator A. Rehman Malik befitting response to US President Donald Trump

November 9, 2018

PRESS STATEMENT

SENATOR A. REHMAN MALIK CONDEMNED INDIAN AGGRESSION ACROSS LOC, EXPRESSED GRAVE CONCERNS OVER PRICE HIKE, ASKED GOVERNMENT TO DEVICE A MECHANISM TO CONTROL PRICE.

Senator A. Rehman Malik lauded the efforts of Chairman Senate, Secretary Senate and Senate staff for hosting Asian Parliament Assembly in Gwadar Balochistan. He said by hosting representatives of 26 countries, message of peaceful and progressive Balochistan was conveyed to the rest of the world.

While speaking during matters of public importance, Senator A. Rehman Malik expressed grave concerns over unannounced hike in price and sought reply from the government as how the prices are being controlled. He said that the entire country has a dire need of setting up mechanism and a specific system to control the prices. He said unfortunately manufacturers, vendors and distributors fix the prices according to own will after every hike in petroleum price and fall of Pakistani rupee. He said there is no check and balance on the increase of the price and this failure on the part of the provincial and federal government needs to be rectified. He asked the government to bring an enactment to make a national price regulator act as law by Price Regulatory Commission (PRC) to ensure price control.  He insisted that unfortunately we could not draw any mechanism or formula for price control when currency value declines and petrol price increases.

He said “the government must inform the house whether any such mechanism is followed to fix the prices of petrol as far as I know before the 18th Amendment magistrate used to set the criteria for evaluating the prices”. He said that when government increases the petrol price it leads to increase in inflation across the country.

Senator A. Rehman Malik strongly condemned the unprovoked fire across the Line of Control (LoC) by Indian Forces. He asked the government of Pakistan to go in United Nations against Indian brutalities against poor Kashmiris and unprovoked fire across the Line of Control (LoC).

Senator A. Rehman Malik said that he has demanded to discuss the letter Prime Minister Imran Khan had written to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that he is astonished how the letter which circulated across the world and published in every paper cannot be discussed in this august house of Parliament. 

Pak cyber security and cyber crime by Senator A. Rehman Malik

The present era has now become dependent of IT based facilities. It is an amazing fast and continuous development in multidimensional communication both in audio and video. The international community has become highly dependent of this new technology but at the same time the criminals have also invented the faster technique of hacking to commit crimes.

Pak nation witnessed the most recent Cyber-attack on the banking data where many have been deprived of millions of rupees by online transfer of money from one account to the other. In addition to it, the fast growing use of “apps” has totally changed the way of life and it is taking over almost everything one does. An app is a software that can be executed as you can download it or have direct access to it by using your mobile phone or any other internet device. The first ever app was created by Apple App Store launched in July 2008, a year after the first iPhone was released as it launched 500 apps after its release.

The IT business progressed rapidly as the software development has produced countless millionaires. Bill Gate happened to be the pioneer of the IT industry. The Silicon Valley is a main trading and promoting hub of Cyber industries. The growing IT and Cyber industries have brought a revolution in the field of electronics, which is becoming the integral part of almost every growing industry.

The word cyber means “virtual Reality”. It technically is a connection with electronic communication networks, especially the internet mother of media connectivity. The cyber technology revolves around the internet technology involving the flow of information in cellular phones, computers and video game consoles etc. The internet has taken our world by storm as it plays a huge role in our lives today. Even the car we drive or TV we watch today is a part of cyber technology because they have access to internet.

The revolution and advancement of cyber-technology have both positive and negative effects on our daily lives. We are able to get information at our fingertips through cyber technology. These elements of Cyber technology revolution may seem to be as exceedingly amazing but they also bring about certain problems such as cyber-bullying, identity theft and loss of private data etc. All of these threats are known as Cyber-attack, Cyber-crime or Cyber-theft in the internet world and all of us are familiar with the terms.

Cybercrime is a crime done over the web using a computer, or a networked device. Any crime committed using a computer or automated system including Identity theft, harassing, phishing, impersonating or maligning someone on social network sites, stealing money from accounts online, hacking into someone’s computer, ATM or mobile data, developing fake websites, posting someone’s personal content or data without their permission in order to harm their reputation or relationships and ransom etc. are some of the many examples of cyber-crimes.

Cyber security wall is a virtual wall created to protect information on main gateways of telecom hardware, computer, networks, programmes, content and data from unauthorised access, cyber-attacks or threats that are aimed for exploitation or theft. Cyber security covers four major areas of involving Cyber-crime; Application Security, Information security, Disaster security and Network security etc.

There are several hacking tools and softwares that are designed to assist with hacking for hacking purposes. For example: Nmap, Nessus, John the Ripper, p0f, Winzapper, mSpy, Bribes, ActiveX and iKeyMonitor etc.

Apparently, there has not yet been any foolproof security tool designed to keep your networks and computers safe from cyber-attacks but there are different measures we can take to keep our online life safe and secure i.e. By turning on firewall feature of your router. Use a good anti-virus software. Shop only from secure online websites. Keep your credit cards and bank account details to yourself as the major scams are on stolen data.

You need to set up strong passwords on your social accounts. Turn on spam blockers and keep your information secure by encrypting your data.

Following are 5 of the biggest and most significant international cyber-crimes and data breaches of all times that pose threat to our business, privacy and governments.

In 2000, a 15 year old guy, Micheal Calce caused a mischief in Cyberspace. He was a high-school student in Canada when he carried out a cyber-attack on number of high profile commercial websites including CNN, Amazon, eBay and Yahoo, which resulted in $1.2 billion damage. For being underage, he was sentenced to only eight months of open custody and his online access also got limited by the court.

The most infamous than famous cyber-crime is the tragic case of Aaron Schwartz, the brilliant and young American Internet hacktivist who was arrested in 2011 for unlawfully downloading and publishing academic journals at MIT. He was wildly overcharged by federal prosecutors and 35 years of imprisonment resulting in his suicide in 2013.

Another most widespread cyber-attack ever hit the NHS computer systems in mid-2017. The hackers managed to gain access to the UK's medical system. The virus named “WannaCry” was spread through email in the form of attachments as once a user clicked on it, all files would be locked spreading the virus through computers and demanding money in order to gain access again. Around 300,000 computers were infected by “WannaCry” and the NHS remained down for a number of days, when a 22 year old security researcher from Devon managed to find the kill switch and regained access to the system.

In 2015, for a period of two years around 650 million euros were stolen from banks around the world when Russian based hackers used malware to infiltrate banks' computer systems and gathered personal data. They successfully impersonated online bank staff to authorise fraudulent transfers, and also dispensed cash from ATM machines without a bank card.

In 2014, famous entertainment company Sony Pictures were hit with a crippling virus by Cyber-crime group Guardians of Peace (GOP) in a blackmail attempt. Around 100 terabytes of sensitive data got stolen in the attack. It was alleged that the attack was carried out after North Korea's disapproval of the film 'The Interview'.

The film characterised the President Kim Jong-un and contained a plot where main characters plotted to assassinate him. The case was investigated by US agencies, which claimed that North Korea had authorised the cyber-attack in order to prevent the film from releasing.

In 2017 January, a number of UK high street banks, including Lloyds Bank faced a denial-of-service (DoS) attack by the hackers. During the attack, more than 20 million UK accounts were blocked and as a result, customers were unable to send payments or check their balance online.

Incidents of cyber-hacking on Govt’s data:

China is known to be the home to cyber spies and hackers, which more than any other country in the world has stolen more secrets from businesses and governments. The primary cyber-aggression of China has always been towards the US making it a serious threat of espionage to US, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

The first operation that Chinese hackers conducted against the US was in 1999 during the Kosovo conflict, when the US bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade accidentally killing three Chinese reporters. In retaliation, the patriotic hackers planted messages denouncing “Nato’s brutal action” on a number of US government websites.

Despite India’s reputation for being an IT and software powerhouse, around 13,301 cyber security breaches were reported in 2011. The biggest cyber-attack that the country had faced took place on July 12, 2012 in which hackers broke into the email accounts of 12,000 people including high officials from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of External Affairs.

On June 2010, Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz was infected by Stuxnet, a cyber worm, as it was subjected to cyber-attack. However, it was believed that it was a combined effort of Israel and the United States but no one claimed responsibility for it. The worm had destroyed Tehran’s 1000 nuclear centrifuges and set the country’s atomic ability back to at least two years.

The virus infected over 60,000 computers as it was spread beyond the plant.

On March 7, WikiLeaks published a data cache, which contained 8,761 documents that have been allegedly stolen from the CIA. The documents involved alleged spying operations and hacking tools. Revelations included bugs in Windows, iOS and Android vulnerabilities, and the ability to turn some smart TVs into listening devices.

Some hackers consistently keep forcing their entry into any Cyber/IT based hardware by cloning it or breaking the password. The incidents in the past show that most of the professional hackers have been produced by India both at private and official level. Second most expert hackers are from Russia.

The most recent indicators and incidents show that Israel is now taking the lead in hacking and spying. We are at present extending Cyber dependence but without proper counter measures against the Cyber-attack.

In recent past our country has faced various cyber breaches on individual as well as on state level and we do not yet have an efficient countering measure. The major attack of the year began in mid-October with Bank Islami, now it has taken a rapid pace across the whole country. Individuals continue to lose money from their bank accounts of different banks and the major cause for concern is that banks are hiding the information about these cyber robberies. A total of 19,864 cards of 22 Pakistan banks have been compromised in this attack till now. People have also been receiving scam calls by hackers impersonating bank staff to make reveal their bank account details.

Unfortunately, there is no law on Cyber security, which needs to be brought in to safeguard the firewalls of our organisations which are prone to cyber-attacks. Ironically, the first ever Cyber Crime bill that was passed on August 11, 2016 by Pakistan’s lower house, the National Assembly, as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, is controversial in its terms. The law has worried human rights and pro-democracy activists through its over broad language against the freedom of speech.

The law also allows the authorised officers to have access to anyone’s computer and personal data whenever they want during investigation. It also gives unlimited authorities to the PTA to decide as to what is legal or illegal.

The law has provided 7 years of imprisonment sentence to those planning, recruiting or funding terrorism or propaganda online against the state. Hence, the sections of the Bill prove that the law only gives unfair prosecutions to the handlers of the state as no provisions have been set up to protect the privacy and sensitive data of the individuals.

Hence, the above discussions entail that all the above networks and data systems are unsecured unless they are secured through foolproof security.

There is no law in Pakistan against those who break the security firewalls to steal the import data including the bank record. It is theft and its trial needs substantial digital evidence including attempt to enter in the database. It is, therefore, need of the time that Parliament bring new law only on Cyber security for the protection of national and private data including the bank database.

Although we do have a Cyber Act but we may bring a separate act on Cyber security or add another Cyber security chapter relating to proper Cyber security in the act to cope with the issues. Pakistan definitely needs an effective “National Cyber Security Act “to protect its people from local and alien Cyber hackers.

The article was published by The News on November 19, 2018 and the link to the original article is: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/395551-pak-cyber-security-and-cyber-crime

Vision of Iqbal for Pakistan by Senator A. Rehman Malik

I feel lucky to have done my B.Sc. from the same college where our great poet and Mohsin-e-Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal had studied. I also had the chance to hear about his quick and witty responses from the teachers and professors of the college while studying.

My English Professor Dr. Khair Ullah once narrated that; one day Allama Iqbal arrived late in the class and the teacher asked him “ Iqbal why are you late”? To which he responded: “Sir Iqbal hamesha late hi ata hai”.

I once went to Spain and there I visited the famous Mosque of Cordoba (Masjid E Qurtuba), which was converted to a Cathedral after the fall of Muslims in Spain in around 1246. The beauty of the place is splendid and is mentioned by Iqbal in his poetry as I was told by the priest of the Cathedral upon my visit. This eight-stanza Urdu poem by Iqbal was written in 1932 and published in his Bāl-e Jibrīl collection. It is regarded as “one of his most famous pieces” and a “masterpiece”. In the poem, he has resembled the beauty of pillars of the mosque with the line of trees in Syrian Desert.“Your foundations are lasting, your columns countlessLike a cluster of palms in the desert of Syria”I had similar experience at Tashkent where I found many fans of Iqbal and a singer sung his verses making us feel proud.

Since I was born in Sialkot and was brought up there, one of my class fellows used to live where Iqbal’s ancestral house was located near Mohalla Imam Sahib. I used to get a chance to see the house every now and then. The last time I had visited the place, I ordered the repair of the house through the local PWD.

My father used to narrate very interesting things about Iqbal like; he used to love travelling in a Tanga and was friendly with locals. He preferred to wear white shirt and Tehmad at home. He had very simple living as the house was small connected with other houses of the locality.

Although he led a very simple life yet he used to dream big for Muslims of the Sub–Continent. His intellect was as great and big as the meaning of his name was. He was the first to have suggested the idea of creation of separate country for the Muslims of India.

The Muslims world has not produced any thinker of Iqbal’s stature. He was a lawyer, philosopher, poet, politician and in short, the dreamer of Pakistan. He gave the idea of a separate homeland for Muslims in North-West of India in his presidential address of All India Muslim League annual meeting held at Allahabad in 1930, where they can practice their religion and live freely.

If we say that he was the conceptual founder of Pakistan it wouldn’t be wrong. He not only proposed a homeland for the Muslims of Sub-continent but also tried to wake up the whole Muslim Ummah through his visionary and philosophical ideas depicted in his poetry.

He represented his own interpretation of Islam, which is not only representation of true spirit of Islam but also at the same time synchronized with the modern age.

One of the basic ideas of Iqbal is “self-actualisation”, which means to know about the purpose of your existence in this world. He also complements this idea with the answer of this question. He says: “Truly purpose of the every Muslim’s life is to please the Allah Almighty”. Now, the way he pleases may differ for everyone.

His poetry was full of motivation that one of the Indonesian politicians says: “We lead our freedom movement through the poetry of Iqbal”.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal devoted his life to make Muslims rise above sectarian divides as he writes about it in the Jawab-e-Shikwa poem in which there is “answer to the complaint”, God addresses him with a reply to some of his own lamentations in a previous and related poem, “Shikwa”. So as such, he was ideologically above sectarian divides and sought to bring all Muslims under the banner of the Prophet (PBUH) and the earliest Companions.

He kept stressing on the spiritual and moral emptiness of Western culture and introduced a term of “Momin” - a true Muslim follower of Islam in both faith as well as practice. He compared a non-Muslim with a Muslim as under: “A non-Muslims identity is that he always runs for universe while a Muslim identification is that the whole universes run towards him”

Unfortunately we as Sub-continent Muslims have failed to pursue his vision for Muslims and despite having a separate State for our religious livelihood, no Islam is implemented in it and we have destroyed Allama Iqbal’s dream. We run after lust, wealth and worldly matters. We never try to implement his idea of unity. We assume about ourselves as a nation who leads the Muslim world but we have failed to create unity among us. We have not been able to lead Muslim Ummah.

While Allama Iqbal was processing thought of a separate country he had thought of a separate country for Muslim, which would become a great Islamic State to lead the Muslim Ummah.

The Article was published by "The Nation" on November 9, 2018 and the link to the article : Vision of Iqbal for Pakistan by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Saudi-Yemen mediation or Pak military support by Senator A. Rehman Malik

It was mid-2004 when I landed in Aden in connection with signing of an oil contract for our oil company with Aden refinery.

I met the CEO of the company over there that probably looked like an Indian and after the meeting he confirmed me that his forefathers like many Indians came here and settled here. Later on, he took me to the town near the port which looked like as if I was in Layari or Chakiwara. I found the Indo-Pak culture there.

My host added to my knowledge that the most of the oil concessions in Yemen are done in their tribal areas under Houthi control. These are the same tribes which are now fighting against the Government and Saudi Arabia

The tribal culture on the mountains of Yemen along the Saudi border looked to be the same as of FATA in our country. I saw it during my visit that even the children had guns in their hands in tribal areas of Yemen the way I used to see children with weapons in FATA as director FIA for more than three years. They have almost the same eating habits and their favourite food is meat like ours. Interestingly I found everyone in the evening enjoyed their bite of “ghat- green leaves “like our most of the Tribesmen enjoy the bite of “Naswar”.

I am privy to the fact that the operation going on in FATA forced the Afro-Arab terrorists to move towards Yemen which were duly supported by CIA.

In ancient times, Yemen was known as Arabia Felix, Latin for “happy” or “fortunate”. Today, Yemen is neither happy nor fortunate but it acquired the name because its high mountains attracted rain, making it more fertile than most of the Arabian Peninsula. The history of the Yemen stretches back over 3,000 years. From about 1000 BC this region of the Southern Arabian Peninsula was ruled by three successive civilisations -- Minean, Sabaean (Shabean) and Himyarite.

Yemen is claimed to be the ancient homeland of the Queen of Sheba (Balqis or Bilqis in Arabic). Her dealings with Hazrat Suleman are mentioned in the Bible and the Qur’an. The Story of him converting the Queen to Islam by influencing her through his deeds of morality by not accepting bribe and being strict when it came to shirk and kufr, is mentioned in Surah An-Naml of Quran. He later married her and let her rule Yemen.

This historically rich country Yemen has people mainly of Arab origin, many of which is Saudi nationals and is still a largely tribal society. In the northern, mountainous parts of the country, there are some 400 Zaidi tribes.

Even Osama bin Laden’s family lived in Wadi Doan in southern Yemen before immigrating to Saudi Arabia. In the early 1990s, Muslim volunteers who had fought against Soviet troops in Afghanistan moved to Yemen and the country has had a jihadist presence ever since.

There was a time when Yemen and Saudi Arabia used to have close ties. It was the West, which didn’t like the idea of friendly ties between them so it decided to destabilise Middle East especially through Yemen.

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Yemen became tense when Abdullah Hassan al-Asiri; a member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula attempted to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of the Interior, Muhammad bin Nayef in 2009, in a suicide bombing. The attempt however had failed as the prince was only slightly injured but the bomber had died on the spot. The attack became the initial cause of wedge between the two countries as this was the first assassination attempt against a royal family member since 2003.

Yemen was ruled for a millennium by Zaydi Shia imams until 1962, and the Houthis were founded as a Zaydi Shia revivalist movement. However, the Houthis have not called for restoring the imamate. Rather; their demands have been primarily economic and political in nature. Houthi rebels are always seeking to over throw the Government as they did before as well by executing their former President. They are willing to retain control of Yemen as they do not want a Sunni to be the head of the State. Currently a Civil war is going on in Yemen between the Government and Houthis have now control much of northern Yemen, having taken over the capital Sanaa in September 2014 and pushed the Hadi government into exile in November 2015.They want total control over the Yemen as the globally-important Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal of Yemen sits on the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait through which much of the world’s oil shipments pass. This is why in 2015; Saudi Arabia formed a coalition of Arab states to defeat the Houthis in Yemen. The coalition now includes Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan and Senegal. Several of these countries have sent troops to fight on the ground in Yemen.

This tug of war is still continued between Saudi and Yemen where Iran has become a party. The tension has been growing rapidly and it clearly has become the replica of Afghan vs. Taliban war like the situation in FATA.

Saudi Arabia suspects that Iran is funding this Houthi movement and training these subversive activists to take control of the long, porous border which it shares with Yemen. Due to this on-going war, from March 2015 to December 2017, 8,670–13,600 people have been killed in Yemen, including more than 5,200 civilians, as well as estimates of more than 50,000 dead as a result of an ongoing famine due to the war.

Saudi Arabia has been dragged with an agenda in this Yemen War whereas Iran is also tricked into it by using religious card. USA has also jumped in the war leaving un-finished agenda in Syria to protect its own economic agenda to have his share in oil and defense sale but also simultaneously oblige Israel as Iran continues to threat Israel.

It has been decided by the leadership of Middle East including Saudi Arabia to rehabilitate the displaced persons and reconstruction of Yemen.

The Saudi backed President Abdullah Saleh was killed by Houthis and now only a city in the radius of 32 kilometer is under the control of the Yemeni Government, whereas the rest of the country is with the rebels.

The reconstruction by a non-Muslim force is not being accepted by the rebels. According to inside reports the rebels may agree to have Pak Army to play its role in construction and rehabilitation of the country.

I think it is right to say that Saudi Arabia at present does not need Pak political or diplomatic support but rather it has dire need of our unmatched abilities of Pakistan Army which was earlier declined because of our internal unrest caused by terrorism.

I think this is high time that Pakistan should fully support Saudi Arabia to counter their internal and external threats. We should help our Saudi brothers unconditionally without anything in return.

Middle East looks to be in continued troubles because of Daesh and other pressing internal & external developments after the murder of a Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The international pressure may increase more in coming weeks and is likely to add to the problems of Saudi Arabia. If USA withdraws its forces from Saudi Arabia, it will create huge unbalance of power in the region. In this emerging crisis situation, only Pakistan can help in countering these internal and external pressures and in the meantime Pakistan should play its role to bring Iran & Saudi on the table to sort out their issues respectively. Pakistan must take the leadership of UAE into confidence as one of the major player and supporter of global peace.

In other words, Mr Prime Minister, I suppose that it is not mediation which is required between Saudi Arabia & Yemen but the military and political support of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia is needed to resolve and to protect their interests. Moreover, it is our duty to protect our holy places at any cost making it an opportunity for Pakistan to create peace and harmony in Middle East. Pakistan can also make Iran realize about the devastating effects of armed conflict between Iran and Middle East as this is what I wanted President Nijad and the then Supreme leader of Iran to understand when I acted as mediator.

I propose a debate on camera over this issue and if Pakistan receives any such offer, let there be support for our Saudi brothers. Let us not sell this support rather lend it as a token of friendship towards Saudis the way they supported us in the past in our difficult times.

The above views are personal and do not necessarily represent my party’s policy.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The Nation’’ on November 8^th, 2018

The Link to Article is: https://nation.com.pk/08-Nov-2018/saudi-yemen-mediation-or-pak-military-support