ICJ illegal trial vs Pak sovereignty by Senator A. Rehman Malik

International Court of Justice (ICJ) operates under the UN to decide cases of contentious issues between the States on application by one of the parties. It, however, can neither deal with a dispute on its own initiative nor it is permitted under its Statute to investigate and rule on acts of sovereign States as it chooses. The States involved in the dispute ‘must consent to the Court’s considering the dispute in question’.

ICJ has violated sheer violation of its own rules to give relief to India which remained unchallenged by our legal team. Why ?I have examined the matter related to the case of Kulbushan Yadav which was purely a proven crime of espionage against Pakistan, hence, ICJ had no legal jurisdiction to take up this matter.

It was a failure on part of our legal team and foreign office in protecting the sovereign rights of Pakistan. The two nations can go to ICJ with only signed and mutual consent on any matter.Pakistan neither gave consent nor it opposed its trial and it is stated in judgement that Pakistan did not raise their right of objection as stated below in my detailed analysis.

The court, on application by the government of India, took cognizance of the alleged violations of Article 36 Vienna Convention 1963 by Pakistan by denying consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian spy arrested from Balochistan and made a judicial confession for sabotage activities. Briefly, India contended that:

1.     Allegedly Pakistan failed to inform Mr. Jadhav of his rights under Article 36, paragraph 1(b) of Vienna Convention.

2.     Allegedly Pakistan failed to inform India, without delay, of arrest and detention of Mr. Jadhav.

3.     Allegedly Pakistan failed to provide consular access, thus breach its obligations under Article 36 of the convention.

The court assumed its jurisdiction to adjudicate the application of India against Pakistan under Article I of Optional Protocol to Vienna Convention on Consular Relations concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes. It concluded that it had compulsory jurisdiction under the said Article.

Pakistan on the other hand contended that the provisions of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention do not apply to the person arrested on espionage charges, whereas we should have boycotted the proceedings and should have gone to UN and filed a complaint against illegal proceeding in violation of ICJ’s own law.

Although Article 36 VCCR does not expressly state that the right to access consular assistance can be refused where a national is accused of espionage, nevertheless, Pakistan justified its decision to refuse consular access to Mr Jadhav on three grounds:

1.     Pakistan argued that Article 36 VCCR was never intended to apply to spies. Hence, and contrary to what Pakistan had claimed, the failure of the drafters to build an espionage exception into Article 36 does, in fact,indicate that they intended for the protection afforded by this provision to be available to all individuals, including spies.

2.     Pakistan maintained that customary international law permits states to refuse to nationals the right to access consular assistance in the event that they are accused of spying. Pakistan’s central claim was that, because the Preamble to the VCCR affirms that ‘rules of customary international law continue to govern matters not expressly regulated by the provisions of the present Convention’, this agreement does not cover in to all matters pertaining to consular relations.

3.     The 2008 Agreement on Consular Access between Pakistan and India prevails over the VCCR, which allows states to deny consular access where it is necessary to maintain national security yet the ICJ rejected all three of Pakistan’s arguments.

It was the argument of Pakistan that the Agreement of 2008 was meant for case to case basis that this agreement was signed keeping in view the spirit of the Vienna Convention. However, India did not agree to the argument of Pakistan and the court, unfortunately, sided with India and ruled that the agreement of 2008 does not overrule Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.

The court held Pakistan guilty of breach of Vienna Convention by majority votes (by 15 to 1) and ordered as under:

147. To conclude, the Court finds that Pakistan is under an obligation to provide, by means of its own choosing, effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, taking account of paragraphs 139, 145 and 146 of this Judgment.

While delivering the judgment, the court, however, observed that Pakistan never raised objection to the jurisdiction of the court under Article I of Optional Protocol to Vienna Convention on Consular Relations concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes. This observation of the court needs to be thoroughly investigated to find out why and by whom it was chosen not to challenge the jurisdiction of the court under the said article. And the public has the right to know about these legal mishaps

Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani law enforcement agencies from Saravan, Balochistan. After his arrest, the agent admitted to being an ex-Indian Naval officer and working in Balochistan at the behest of RAW. He admitted having carried out several terrorist activities inside Pakistan. At the time of his arrest, he was holding an Indian passport in the name of Hussain Mubarak Patel, with a valid Iranian visa. He, however, identified himself as Kulbhushan Jadhav, an ex-Indian Naval officer, working for RAW. Kulbhushan confessed that he was hired by RAW in 2013 as the head of operations in Balochistan and Karachi and was assigned the tasks of killing Pakistanis, funding Baloch insurgents, planting bombs and destroying sensitive installations in Balochistan.

It is interesting to mention that Kulbhushan’s father Sudhir Jadhav has not denied the allegations leveled against his son.

Pakistani investigators claimed that the arrested Indian spy was running a terrorist financing and training network that used to operate from Chabahar in Iran, Makran in Pakistan, and adjoining districts of Afghanistan. His task was to initiate a series of subversive activities on the Makran coast where not only Chinese are working on Gwadar port, but also Pakistan Navy and Air Force have multiple facilities.

He also confirmed Daesh’s existence in Pakistan and that it is RAW that supports Daesh in Karachi to carry out terrorist activities there. He also revealed about the terrorist activities he carried out himself in Pakistan which include the Mehran Base Attack, murder of Mr. Aslam. He had admitted that he was planning to attack Gwadar Hotel in Gwadar to target Chinese workers. His plan was to target CPEC and Gwadar port directly, and he was supposed to infiltrate 30 to 40 RAW agents in Pakistan. He also wanted to reignite the dying insurgency in Balochistan.

Pakistan military court had sentenced Jadhav to death by hanging in April 2017 on espionage and terrorism charges under Army Act 1952. No date, however, was set for his execution. The delay in his execution by hanging had provided an opportunity to India to invoke the jurisdiction of the ICJ. The judgment of ICJ has not only negatively affected the sovereignty of the state but also weakened the deterrence of punishment to spies working against the interest of the state. Pakistan had been directed to stay the execution until the outcome of the review of the case by Pakistan.

Surprisingly, there was only one ad hoc judge from Pakistan on a bench of 15 judges. The judgment clearly demonstrates a tilt of the court towards the arguments advanced by India and rejected every argument of Pakistan. The court did not accept Pakistan’s stand that the mutual agreement between Pakistan and India in 2008, which deals with consular access, was reflective of the spirit of the Vienna Convention. The question of consular access, under the agreement, to those arrested on espionage charges was clearly separated from those arrested on ordinary charges. The court, however, ruled, by accepting the argument of India, that this agreement does not overrule Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.

In fact, the basic trial of this case was against the law and it was like predetermination to give relief to India. Pakistan has amended the law giving the right of appeal to Kulbhushan Yadav, but that does not qualify him to get himself exonerated. The law and punishment for a spy/person accused of espionage is still intact and let us see if he is hanged for his crimes against innocent Pakistanis or not. I expect that law will come into force to create deterrence and deliver a strong message that there is no mercy for those who are involved in acts of espionage against our people.

The article was published in the News on November 30, 2021. Link to the original article. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/912873-icj-illegal-trial-vs-pak-sovereignty

 

Youm-i-Tasees; gains and losses by PPP by Sen Rehman Malik

 

Today we are celebrating the 54th founding day of the Pakistan People’s Party as on November 30, 1967, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded PPP to work for the suppressed and working classes of the country and to create political awareness among the masses. The first convention was held on November 30, 1967, at the house of Dr Mubashir Hassan in Lahore which was attended by JA Rahim, Dr Mubashir Hassan, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Rafi Raza, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Hayat Sherpao, Sheikh Rashid and among others, the legendary Miraj Muhammad Khan.

PPP is the only political party of the country which exhibits its strength in all four provinces and the northern areas, and offers equal opportunity regardless of class, region, sect, religion and gender. PPP has always been absolutely committed to and will continue to struggle for a society based on social justice, rule of law and human dignity. PPP is the symbol of the federation and started its politics based on federalism. Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a leader with great political wisdom, as a born reformist with the ability to convince and lead the nation with his charismatic personality.

Almost all of the towering political figures of PPP were from Punjab, like the late JA Rahim, the founding secretary-general and the author of PPP’s ‘Basic Document,’ Dr Mubashir Hasan, Sheikh Rasheed (Bab-e-Socialism), Khursheed Hasan Mir, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Malik Meraj Khalid, Sh Rafiq Ahmad or those from the late 70s and 80s generation like Aitzaz Ahsan, the late Jehangir Badr, Dr Ghulam Hussain, Mukhtar Rana and many others. It is noticeable that ZA Bhutto gave more attention to Punjab as it is the largest province and had to be on his side.

Apart from the above mentioned close aides of ZAB, there were many other senior leaders of PPP and close aides of ZAB including Hafeez Pirzada, Sattar Gabol, Qasim Patel, Pyar Ali Allana, Jam Sadiq, Hafeez Cheema, Habib Ullah, and Mustafa Jatoi who switched their loyalties, siding with the military and left Bibi’s leading resistance movement against the hanging of her father. The Zia regime terrorised PPP workers and leaders and hence the mid-level leadership went into hiding.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (Pinky in her father’s words) decided to struggle to save her father but she was locked and her voice was suppressed behind the high walls of Sukkur jail and sometimes house arrests. She fulfilled her promise with her father in jail and emerged as the PM twice. I have had the honour to serve as Director FIA in her first government and Additional DG and DG in her second tenure and then assisted her in exile in her struggle against the dictatorship. PPP is the only political party in Pakistan that has the grassroots support and probably the highest number of diehards. It is also the only major political party that has a successor for party leadership—Bilawal Bhutto. It has a young leadership that can change the future of the party as well as the state.

PPP has a strong bond with the rural populace of Sindh and a few pockets in urban centres. The legacy of Bhutto still stands strong today and PPP has been successfully cashing in on it. The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is another project that won them accolades among the poor masses. The party has a presence in all provinces that if wisely used, by introducing more young leadership, can make them aggressively reach out to masses in other provinces, who would be willing to give more chances to PPP as opposed to any other party.

Some negative elements are pushing the party backward and the areas and provinces where the party once had a strong foothold are losing their strength. The major negative element that has been seen in the party is that they have unchecked propaganda against the party leadership. PPP did not perform actively in its five-year-long regime and took things for granted, which made them lose their hold in their strong support base.

The PPP still has a long way to go, especially in the absence of leaders like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto or his daughter Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and other towering political figures in Punjab like the ones mentioned above. We do not have a leader with stature in Punjab. Historically, PPP was ousted from Punjab through a conspiracy hatched by the establishment through players like the late General Ghulam Jilani under the instruction of Gen Zia. Although PPP always won a good number of seats in both the National and Punjab assemblies from 1988 to 2008, it could not get the top slot after 1977. The PPP finally vanished from Punjab after the 2013 elections and even lost its stronghold in South Punjab. Thus, in the 2013 elections, the PPP thought that the PTI would damage the PML-N but on the contrary, it hurt the PPP and let us not ignore the support by alien factors and a business tycoon.

We need a dedicated, experienced and mature leadership to make proper political moves, though presently everyone is doing their best and let us hope we will navigate the party out of the crisis and manage to form our government in Punjab and the centre.

Interestingly all the three mainstream political parties i.e. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were formed in Punjab’s capital Lahore. The latter, being the oldest among the three, had not won a single seat from the heart of Punjab since long—we need to revisit to rebuild ourselves.

Let me conclude that President Asif Ali Zardari with his core group and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari may have to spend more time in Punjab at the district and tehsil levels with the workers to reenergise the party in Punjab, KP and Balochistan by getting the angry workers back. It is encouraging to see that mid-level and senior leadership cadres along with their workers are joining PPP to strengthen the party. We have to adopt the policies of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to create great confidence among our workers. We need to give a highly attractive agenda for the youth and we must have proper programmes for the unemployed including initiating some schemes of self-employment. We may start from the government of Sindh some doable self-employment projects to be replicated across the country on regaining power.

I would like to congratulate all workers on this day and hope we all will work for the party to make it the real party of ZA Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto party by strengthening Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The Article was published in The Nation on November 30th, 2021 on PPP 54th Founding Day. Link to the original article-- https://nation.com.pk/30-Nov-2021/youm-i-tasees-gains-and-losses-by-ppp

Uncovering the mystery Shahnawaz Bhutto’s murder by Sen Rehman Malik

 

It was mid-afternoon while I was sitting in my office as Director FIA/Immigration and Anti-Smuggling, Islamabad and I received a call from Major General Naseerullah Khan Babar (Retired), the then Minister for Interior, who asked me to visit his residence at 06:00 pm. Upon reaching there, I was told that Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto wanted to see me in connection with some important case.

I met the Prime Minister at her office in the presence of Maj Gen Babar (R) when she asked me to investigate the mystery of the death of her brother Shahnawaz, who died in Cannes in France because the French authorities, when requested, hardly shared any details of his death. We are still unaware of the facts of the case.

She emotionally recalled the final moments, when Shahnawaz Bhutto was with his wife in the early evening on the day before he was found dead. They had a long chat after coming from a picnic on the seaside. She further narrated that Shahnawaz was happily preparing barbeque on the beach in the afternoon and the whole family enjoyed being together after a very long time. He looked very happy and in his usual smiling way said goodbye with the promise to come in the morning to me as we had decided to go for a walk the next morning. She could not reconcile with the proposition that such a jolly and brave young man like him could commit suicide to finish himself.

She asked me to get her the details as she wanted to know the facts and the cause of his death and accordingly, she asked me to proceed immediately to Cannes.

On my way to Cannes, I preferred to travel through Marseilles—the last city of residence of Shahnawaz Bhutto. I wanted to meet my sources for further information relating to the murder of Shahnawaz Bhutto, who was in the same area about 11 years ago. He indeed was very helpful in this matter. Along with my team members, I reached Nice in the night where I met the then Investigating Officer Inspector Decloitt, who was at that time posted in Nice. He narrated the details of the investigation and the circumstances under which the wife of Shahnawaz Bhutto, Ms. Rehana Shahnawaz, one of the daughters of Mr Fasihuddin, a senior officer of Afghan Foreign Office, was released and later flew out of France in a hurry and she was fully facilitated by the local authorities despite knowing fully well that she was the prime suspect in this high-profile murder case. Her elder sister Fauzia was married to Murtaza Bhutto, the elder brother of Shahnawaz Bhutto. After knowing about the alleged involvement of her sister in Shahnawaz’s murder, Murtaza Bhutto divorced his wife Fauzia.

It was a very complicated case as apparently, the French authorities had closed this matter after her departure to the US whereas three deputed magistrates on this case at different times were unable to proceed in this matter—the magistrates in French judicial system are highly educated and are public servants though those maintain a high degree of impartiality and independence from political or any other influence—were transferred on their request. Their transfer requests made the matter more mysterious for me and I grabbed this as a lead for the investigation to get to the facts and secrets which forced these judicial magistrates to opt for transfer rather than being part of the trial. This lead provided us with enough information to work in the right direction and led us to the facts which unfolded more aspects of the case when we examined the available police record and visited the crime scene. The crime scene was his small apartment in Cannes, a resort town on the French Riviera, which is famed for its international film festival.

The apartment was on the hill with a beautiful scene of the sea on the front. It was surprising to see that he was living in a very simple small flat with his wife and daughter, Sassi Bhutto. He used to love his daughter a lot. Shahnawaz Bhutto entered his flat on July 17, 1985 happily but was found dead in that flat on the very next day, where his wife Rehana was also present at the time of death. She, while not calling for any emergency service to save his life, also informed the family of his death on the next day. It was another lead to suspect her, besides being an eye-witness, as privy to the murder of her husband. Undoubtedly, Shahnawaz Bhutto died under mysterious circumstances and the Benazir Bhutto family believed that he was murdered. No one was brought to trial for murder, but Shahnawaz’s wife Rehana was considered as a prime suspect by the French authorities who remained in their custody for some time with substantive leads against her. She was allowed to leave for the US while she was still under trial/investigation against the wish of the investigators. I was told in guarded words that the French authorities were left with no choice except to allow her to leave the country on the request of the US authorities.

We all know that the French law is governed under a foolproof criminal justice system and how could a suspect leave for the USA during the trial? According to our confirmation, this case was still pending on trial hence Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was right to conclude that it was a mysterious murder where there was no trial.

The then French Investigating Officer was fully in agreement with my conclusion of suspicion of murder with the wife as the prime suspect, and he was also not fully convinced on the grounds on why she was allowed to leave the country as the prime suspect. Moreover, the French police charged her only for not helping her dying husband and wanted to proceed further as to why she did this criminal act but the investigation could not proceed further as she got away with the aid of the powerful. It is believed that she allowed her husband to die as she knew that the poison would act fast and he subsequently would be declared dead as a result of a fatal heart attack as per the proven symptoms of this lethal poison.

The police demonstrated the poison by giving it to a cat and it died with the same symptoms as reported in the medical reports. We then discovered that the investigation conducted by the French police had recovered an empty vial of poison, which was, according to experts of toxicology, only produced in Israel and the US in very low quantities, not more than 1 kilogram by these two countries, although it was not elaborated in the investigation report but explained verbally. However, our inquiries revealed that it was only used to eliminate important targets. It is believed that both the brothers managed to get this from Syria during their stay. Another official, when taken into confidence, explained that both the brothers Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz used to keep vials of poison, for their own use in case of capture by Pakistani authorities, which they had obtained from Syria. It was their mutual decision that they would never allow themselves to be arrested by Zia’s secret agents. It was a big lead for us to follow. It was also confirmed by the police that the vials were kept in a briefcase in a small bottle and only his wife Rehana knew about it. It was on the police record that Shahnawaz Bhutto had asked for her help, but she chose to let him die and did not call for any emergency services. The police officer further informed us that there were intelligence reports of Rehana repeatedly meeting a CIA agent in Cannes and we managed to get pictorial evidence, which is now in the case file of FIA.

Beyond this, what we found was shocking; that a war poison vial was mixed secretly in a drink in the kitchen and it was mixed before serving it to Shahnawaz Bhutto as the empty bottle of the drink was found in the kitchen whereas the empty vial was found in the kitchen dustbin. It was quite surprising that the poison produced in Israel eventually landed in the hands of its arch-rival, the then Syrian President Hafiz Al-Assad. No one associated with the investigation could answer the question as to how the Syrian authorities could get hold of that poison but there were some indications that it was passed on via Lebanon to Syria. After returning from France, I contacted Col Riaz, who gave me multiple clues including the background of the two sisters and how they were planted on both the brothers. He further narrated that their father spent a major period of time as an officer of Afghan Foreign Service in the US and was on the payroll of the CIA.

According to Raja Anwar, an author, journalist and former advisor in the ZA Bhutto regime (1971-77), the Al Zulfiqar Organization (AZO) was formed by Bhutto’s sons, Murtaza and Shahnawaz, in 1979. Anwar joined the outfit in 1980. In his 1997 book on the AZO, Anwar wrote that being young, the two brothers decided to instigate a revolutionary movement against Gen Zia’s dictatorship, which had sent their father to the gallows in 1979 through a controversial trial. The execution of Capt. Tariq Rahim by hijackers, considering him to be the son of Gen. Rehimuddin Khan, forced the Zia-ul-Haq regime to accept the demands of the hijackers, releasing dozens of Pakistan People’s Party and other leftist political prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails. This was the time when Benazir Bhutto was also imprisoned in Karachi and she straightaway condemned this hijacking from jail. I could see why she condemned it as she never endorsed AZO and always opposed it and she could foresee it as a conspiracy designed to undermine PPP. She as a true leader had rightly predicted it. An inside investigation later revealed that Mr Tipu was used for the execution of this engineered hijacking plan without the knowledge of both Bhutto brothers.

I prepared a detailed and lengthy investigation report which was personally handed over to the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto with Begum Bhutto present alongside the then Interior Minister. Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto kept weeping during my briefing and it was a very painful sight indeed. PM Benazir Bhutto endorsed the report and appreciated the investigation at depth by unearthing the facts.

The article was published in The Nation on November 23, 2021, Link to the original article. https://nation.com.pk/23-Nov-2021/uncovering-the-mystery-shahnawaz-bhutto-s-murder

Incompetent political system moving towards national govt by Sen Rehman Malik

 Living in such an unstable economy and bad governance is worrisome for all of us because every Pakistani now is forced to think about what is going to happen next.

The people are forced to wonder whether the current system is capable of surviving due to the row between the opposition and the government. It is disappointing that the current political system is moving towards a national government and the parliament looks helpless because it is unable to provide relief to the common man.

Undoubtedly, the unprecedented rise in inflation, the continuous depreciation of Pakistani rupee, constant price-hike of essential commodities, heavy foreign debt, internal political polarisation, distrust expressed by the Supreme Court and the rise in corruption have slipped the country into the hands of various powerful corrupt mafias.

These mafias have equal control over the government dignitaries, wheelers, and opposition dealers. Both the government and the opposition have destroyed the very fabric and spirit of democracy by making the parliament powerless and toothless. I feel that we need to handle our issues objectively and with the collective wisdom and mutual support to avoid the collapse of this system as one can see it slipping from the hands of the present political elite who are mostly tied with various criminal and corruption cases. We need to forget about our internal rifts and should rise above the politics to steer the country out of crises and to save this injured system.

Politicians must know that they need to overcome these crises in Pakistan with collective efforts. The failure of the system is because of the incompetency of the politicians who are not rising above politics because of their vested financial and other interests.

The system is on the verge of collapse due to incompetent political handlers. They are jointly pushing the government towards "national government" as the only option in the eyes of the people though I wish it may not come true. We, at present, are in a political madhouse that has created a mess in every faction of the society resulting in social injustice and disorder.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan, while hearing the public interest petition last week, made some serious observations on the performance of the government, and these observations show the incompetence of our system. With apologies, it seemed as if the Supreme Court had been demanding justice for the people. An in-depth analysis reveals that our institutions responsible for enforcement of law and social justice are on the brink of collapse. The people of Pakistan are fed up with the incompetency of present political system and the situation has unfortunately brought us to a point that now even the Supreme Court had to summon the Prime Minister to ask him for the provision of justice to satisfy the petitioners. This action would have not been required if there was a rule of law as it is a fundamental duty of the government to ensure the safety of life and property of every citizen.

How many such cases would be dealt with at his level? The system is entangled in confusion and is helpless to resolve the issue of hunger. It cannot provide social justice basic needs to the common man. The media is discussing different options for the change and one of these is a “no-confidence vote” against the Prime Minister in coming weeks. And there are threats of long marches and sit-ins (dharnas) also as people are wary of this government and its policies.

Well, the governments are not thrown out with long marches but it is possible through vote of no-confidence which is less likely as the opposition is not on the same page in reality. They have the track record to frustrate their plans at the deciding moments. This will bring the situation back to square one or the pressure of price-hike can force PM to dissolve the assemblies as Imran khan will not hand over the power to any of his opponent party or opposition collation for obvious reasons.

The oozing inflation is affecting the social systems and the economy, common man and the public are running out of patience. Now, it seems the street agitation is the only way for the public to get their rights and due relief as per the third option cited above. The public is annoyed and desperate as there is a huge gap between what this government had committed and what it delivered during the last three years.

Be it the petroleum sector or basic commodities, the PTI government is unable to stop the corrupt mafias who are obliging those close to the corridors of power. They are doing the same to the country what they did to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Rawalpindi Ring Road scandal that is constantly making headlines is supposedly the biggest scandal in this government. Although the project was conceived during the tenure of previous government, the plan was revised under the PTI government. The allegations that are making rounds on media are that the revisions were done to benefit private entities and individuals. Many big names are spared and there is much that remains a mystery about this project since, despite doubts over the transparency of the redesign, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar approved the summary. And it is also unclear why a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister himself approved the funds for the project.

Recently, the LNG bought by the PTI government is more than three times costlier than that was bought by PMLN government and it caused $65 million loss in just one cargo which makes it an exemplary case of epic incompetence. In general, LNG costs Pakistan 13.37 percent of Brent while this spot cargo bought by PTI government costs 42 percent of Brent.

There is a stack of cases of incompetence and poor performance of this government which includes the BRT scandal which has left many in shock. The construction work on the BRT began in October 2017 and was due to complete within six months, close to 2018 general elections. The project, however, faced delays, mismanagement, technical faults, irregularities and blunders turning it into a “shady and shaky” project. This project not only cost the country an unusual initial blow of Rs67.8 billion funded by the Asian Development Bank, but it also paid an extra 25pc as a reward to the contractor to complete the project within the given timeframe. The contractor, however, not only pocketed 25pc extra money but also failed to complete the project even after one year in 2019. The tale of embarrassment does not end here as there are still no signs of completion of that almighty project. Its deadline was extended yet again by the KPK government in June 2021.

There is a stockpile of corruption cases and scandals in the PTI government, yet they do not fail to surprise us with their so-called narrative on accountability, austerity, honesty, and corruption-free society.

The government continues to lose its grip because of the poor handling of affairs. The opposition remained equally incompetent as it is giving a free rein for misgovernance. This is how both the government and the opposition have fallen into the danger zone by drifting the country to uncontrollable misgovernance leaving limited options to survive, and the people are seeing the country inching towards a broad-based national government to ensure the safety of the country through better governance.

This article is based on some authoritative media reports and the latest developments in the country and a few assessments and I have no motive whatsoever. I appeal to all the political parties and the government to rise above political gains and save the country by steering it out from economic and political crises before it is too late as it may cause irreversible damage to our motherland.

The article was published in The News on September 16, 2021, Link to the original article: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/908881-incompetent-political-system-moving-towards-national-govt

Save Pakistan from Bankruptcy by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Pakistan is going through a bad patch of its history due to our inadequate economic policies which have created non-bearable heavy foreign and local loans leaving the country in a dangerous crisis. I was watching political developments in the country since last week, especially the slogans and speeches by the white-collar politicians of our country.

I have been raising my voice against the continuous depreciation of the rupee and increase in prices of basic food commodities, oil, and petroleum products and advising the government to take necessary steps but the government does not seem serious in addressing the country’s serious financial problems and its root causes. I am glad that some political parties gradually decided to take the lead based on my research. The public needs to know if it is a genuine move against price hike or the creation of some political fears/space through ‘fear technology’. This idea was used by me for the first time in one of my reports submitted to the then President Asif Ali Zardari while handling day-to-day statecraft and I will mention its context sometimes later. Briefly, fear technology has multiple uses in the intelligence world.

It is very disappointing to see hollow slogans against price hikes from some of the political elite class whereas no one among the elite political class could be seen on the stage or parliament to tell the world about the daily suffering of the public. Unfortunately, one does not appear to spot any representative of the poor, labour, and middle class around the elite political class who are fond of wearing expensive flashy clothes being covered by TV channels.

I predicted the fall of the Rupee for the first time when it had hit a low of the dollar to Rs115 and based on economic indicators growing currently, Pakistan is witnessing a record low of its currency against the US dollar and has fallen behind other currencies in the region proving to be the worst-performing currency in Asia. The value of the Indian rupee against one dollar is 74, Bangladeshi Taka is 85.65, Bhutanese Ngultrum is 74.27, and Nepalese rupee is 119 while Pakistan rupee is 175. My assessment of the fall of the Rupee was based on economic indicators which are predefined to set the parity of the currency whereas we are already tied with the dollar. It is sad to note that the countries in our neighbourhood have better value, progress and strength in their economy and unfortunately, Pakistan is running behind all.

Despite having less inflation and a better economy than us, the average wage of an unskilled person in India and Bangladesh is double. For instance, if the pay of a labourer in Pakistan is 15000, then in India it would be 34,050 while in Bangladesh it would be 29,700. Is it not high time for us to assess and compare ourselves as to what mistakes we are committing which are keeping us behind our neighbours and we need to revisit our policies which are dragging us into crises day by day. Purchasing power is important because inflation decreases the number of goods or services a common man would be able to purchase. The same is happening in Pakistan, inflation is on the rise, so much so that the purchasing power and capacity of a common man is going down by the day. There is a steep decline in the purchase of basic commodities in a common household in Pakistan due to inflation which means that the purchasing power of every Pakistan has been reduced because of devaluation of the rupee.

Why are government ministers and responsible officials giving statements against the basic principles of economics and well-defined international rules and other internationally recognised parameters? It was hurtful to learn the statement of the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan; that the Pakistani Rupee’s depreciation is benefitting the families of nine million overseas Pakistanis. Such statements are childish, irresponsible and hurtful as overseas Pakistanis are not happy with the depreciation of their national currency. The people of Pakistan are deeply concerned at the rate at which the Pakistani rupee is losing value and inflation is rising rapidly.

The price hike, inflation, and the growth rate are all correlated as inflation decreases purchasing power which affects business, investments and employment negatively. When businesses and investments in a country face regression, the growth rate automatically lowers. During previous regimes, poor people were at least given the liberty and resources to buy basic commodities, now the situation has become so miserable that even breathing has become expensive for them.

During the last three years of the PTI regime, the prices of ghee, oil, sugar, flour, and other basic food items have increased by more than 200 percent and inflation reached 9.5 percent which broke a 70-year record. Meanwhile, electricity rates have also increased by 57 percent from Rs4.06 per unit (in October 2018) to at least Rs6.38 per unit (in October 2021). LPG prices have seen a rise of 51 percent in the past three years and petrol of more than 49 percent. Among food items, the price of sugar increased from Rs54 per kg to over Rs150 per kg witnessing such a drastic increase, and the prices of lentils have also seen a dire increase.

We should commit half of the national budget to the agricultural sector and let the farmers of our country become economic soldiers. We can bring revolutionary changes in pushing our economy in the right direction. The Ministry of Labour and IT should be tasked to increase a hi-tech labourforce and get into the tech industry with export targets.

Instead of making roads, do the proposals outlined above and we will be in a comfortable zone once we get high-yield crops and industrialisation. We certainly do not need sit-ins and power-hungry political moves but relief for the common man which will come with smart moves of right governance to bring the country back on track.

In the end, I advise all political parties and the government to get the motherland out of the crisis for the sake of its survival and future generations.

The article was published in The Nation on November 11, 2021, link to the original article- https://nation.com.pk/11-Nov-2021/save-pakistan-from-bankruptcy

Persistent victimisation of Pakistan by FATF by Senator A. Rehman Malik

 

In a shocking move, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) once again retained Pakistan on the grey list on October 21, 2021, while stating that Pakistan has made good progress in completing the required action items for removal from the list. FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer announced that Pakistan will remain on its increased monitoring list, also called the grey list.

According to the president, Pakistan has two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 action plan items in which 30 of the items are addressed. Against the continuous victimisation of Pakistan, I wrote two letters on November 2, 2021; one to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the other to President FATF. In the letter to Prime Minister, I have urged him to file a petition in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the FATF’s discrimination and continued victimisation of Pakistan since some inimical countries are using FATF as a tool to put Pakistan under pressure with ulterior motives. In my letter to President FATF Dr Marcus Pleyer, I have conveyed grave concerns of the Pakistani nation over the discrimination against Pakistan and stressed to initiate proceedings against India for money-laundering and terror financing and to investigate the Indian foreign minister’s confessional statement of influencing FATF.

The continued victimisation of Pakistan by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is of great concern to the people of Pakistan since it is damaging not only the country’s economy but also its credibility internationally. Pakistan has been on the grey list since June 2018 and in every plenary session, FATF decides that Pakistan will continue to remain on the increased monitoring list-grey list. It is now crystal clear that some inimical countries are using FATF as a tool to put Pakistan under pressure with ulterior motives.

It is discrimination against Pakistan especially when our compliance is more than 88% in fulfilling the demands of FATF. As per the available details, other countries as compared to Pakistan have a higher percentage of non-compliance to FATF yet these are enjoying absolute immunity.

It was astonishing to note that USA has a non-compliance of 22.5%, Georgia 32.5%, Russia 12.5%, France 25%, Israel 12.5%, Japan 27.5%, South Korea 20%, Sri Lanka 22.5% etc. Similarly, India has failed to meet the targets given by the FATF yet no proceeding was initiated against it. Pakistan has the right to know as to why this discrimination is against it when countries with a higher percentage of non-compliance to FATF are not placed in the grey list while Pakistan continues to be victimised without cogent reasons. Moreover, how a country like USA can be entertained as a complainant which is itself non-compliant to FATF? 

I have been urging since day first and once again I strongly urge Prime Minister Imran Khan to direct the ministry of law and the ministry of foreign affairs to file a petition/complaint to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the FATF’s discrimination and continued victimisation of Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistan must adopt an offensive policy instead of remaining defensive as I believe that FATF will continue to place Pakistan on its enhanced monitoring list unless we bring its discrimination to ICJ for justice.

It should be brought in the knowledge of ICJ, UN and the international community that despite fulfilling 88% of the required compliance of the targets given by FATF yet Pakistan has not been removed from the grey list. Pakistan remained short by 12% and yet it was decided not to remove it from the grey list.

I am on record with FATF that India is behind keeping Pakistan in the ‘grey list’ duly complained by the USA. I had earlier apprehended that FATF was not going to take Pakistan out of its grey list due to political pressure and influence by some countries. This secret of keeping Pakistan continuously in the grey list has been unveiled by the Indian foreign minister’s confessional statement wherein he had proudly claimed ‘Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Narendra Modi ensured that Pakistan remained on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Due to us, Pakistan is under the lens of FATF and it was kept on the grey list.’

The Indian foreign minister’s confessional statement vindicates Pakistan’s firm stance that FATF is being influenced politically and has fallen for the negative propaganda by India against Pakistan. The Indian foreign minister’s statement also proves the discrimination of FATF.

The above confession of the Indian foreign minister has put a big question on the integrity and transparency of FATF. This claim of the Indian foreign minister confirms the Indian involvement in pushing Pakistan into the FATF’s grey list. Unfortunately, neither FATF has yet taken any action against the Indian minister to prove its neutrality nor the government of Pakistan has moved any complaint against FATF after the Indian foreign minister’s confessional statement.

It is prejudice at the end of FATF that despite clear evidence of involvement in terror financing, money-laundering and even in heinous crimes of nuclear proliferation, India is being spared and no legal action was being initiated against it by FATF. The FATF should investigate the confessional statement of the Indian minister by its special team to expose the truth and consider taking the name of Pakistan out of the grey list without further loss of time.

Now is the time for Pakistan to abandon its defensive policy and consider implementing viable proposals as the only way to get Pakistan off the grey list is a counter-offensive policy

The article was published in The News on November 8, 2021, Link to the original article: https://e.thenews.com.pk/detail?id=22525

Dharna politics against national interest by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Pakistani politics has taken many ugly turns. The real meaning of a political system is good governance and easing out the life of a common man by providing them a comfortable life with the provision of basic necessities and security of their life and property.

In Pakistan, the dharna tactic was first used in 1958 by the first Chief Minister of the NWFP (now KP) province of independent Pakistan, Abdul Qayyum Khan against Prime Minister Feroze Khan’s administration to remove his President Iskander Mirza. The effective usage of the dharna protest was made by Naeem Siddiqui who proposed to use street politics/dharna for obtaining political objectives but this has never brought desired results for public betterment.

In 2008, General Musharraf deposed the then-Chief Justice Iftekhar Muhammad Chaudhary along with sixty other judges and dissolved the judiciary which led to a nationwide lawyers’ long march, the first of its kind that demanded the restoration of judiciary. The judges were restored for some time until Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in the country and sent the Chief Justice home for a second time. Later in 2009, under the PPP government, Nawaz Sharif along with Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmed planned a sit-in protest against PPP. 

I was the one to handle that potential dharna before it could enter Islamabad whose only purpose was to overthrow our government in the name of restoration of judges. A complete sequence of actions has been fully displayed in one of my books and a few TV interviews. I proposed to then-President Asif Zardari to restore judges to avoid the killings of many leaders which was planned through a suicide bomber. Following the year 2011, the cycle of never-ending fiascos, long marches, sit-ins, and dismay started in 2013 when Dr Tahir ul Qadri of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) organised a sit-in at D-Chowk for some days. He received a devastating blow from the then Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who threw away his petition for electoral reforms, challenging his stand for being a Canadian citizen, as he was not obliged to contest elections in Pakistan for being a dual national.

The history of dharnas and lockdowns in Pakistan have resulted in neither good for politicians nor democracy. The leaders who went for violent street politics have agitated more for violence and the loss of lives for their own political gains. Our country has been under siege by rumours, poor law enforcement, corrupt systems, protests and sit-ins, mainly because of the wedge between the government and institutions for the past few years. Now looking at the details of the above sequence of dharna shows the trend and the desperation of the opposition to get into power is becoming clearer. All dharnas were politically motivated with clear agendas to either topple the government or to pressurise it. Both sides of dharnas cost a financial blow as the money spent to either organise a dharna or to monitor them comes from the government exchequer. Has anyone thought of a commission to investigate the financing of such dharnas which are totally detrimental for our fragile economy? Dharnas do not dismantle the government; rather they bring huge pressure and irreversible loss to the national exchequer.

Two of the dharnas in the history of Pakistan have been highly destructive and most of these dharnas were sponsored ones. The politicians after the formation of a certain government forget their duties for the voters whom they had promised of a peaceful, progressive, and secure country, instead, they start organising dharnas and long marches only to snatch power from their opponents. This game of dharnas and long marches should now come to an end. Also, the longer sit-ins and marches should be completely banned as it stresses the economy.

Instead of playing with the fate of people, politicians should take on the evils of society to enhance the living standards of their public. If the people/political parties want to change the government then let the constitutionally defined course be followed and work for the poor masses. We need to revisit our political system and the bylaws of all our political parties if we want to bring real democracy for the masses whereas the present obsolete system is to empower the elite and privileged class.

We hope one day that the people of Pakistan will have real democracy from those who are involved in horse-trading, lotacracy, and high price-tagged senators and MNAs. Inflation has not only raised the prices of utilities but has also increased the price of senators.

The article was published in The Nation on November 7, 2021, Link to the original article: https://nation.com.pk/07-Nov-2021/dharna-politics-against-national-interest

Pakistan stands alone despite sacrifices by Senator A. Rehman Malik

 

In an attempt to examine why our sacrifices as a country are not recognised, we need to revisit incidences that have isolated us from the rest of the world. Countries that were previously friendly have now drifted away, opening up space for India to inflict damage upon us. For these avenues to be explored, we must go back to our roots.

Pakistan came into being in 1947 as a separate homeland for the residents of this part of India. The country was to be based on the notions of unity, faith and discipline. Unfortunately, this vision was forgotten and Pakistan was plunged into the self-interests of successive governments that also failed to provide basic amenities to the people. Our failures can be attributed to a few factors.

Pakistan lacks the provision of quality education as education has not been formed progressively. The primary role of education has been neglected by all leaders and that has resulted in low developments in all fields of life. Unfortunately, education is awarded the lowest budget, weakening the foundation of the education system from its core. The lack of policy implementation, defective examination system, poor physical facilities, lack of teacher quality, divide between rich and poor, lack of implementation of education policies, directionless education, low enrolment, high scale dropouts, political interference, an outdated curriculum, corruption, poor management and supervision, lack of research, and a lack of uniformity all prevent the provision of a basic standard of education. Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children, representing 44 per cent of the total population of 5-7 years’ age group. The literacy rate of Pakistan is 59.13% since 2017 and has declined further, especially during the pandemic.

The second problem is corruption. Although it is a relative term, corruption is rampant in every segment of our society. The bureaucracy and politicians are hands in gloves in corrupt practices, be it financial or moral. Despite the fact that various institutions have been established to prevent it, it perseveres. One form of corruption in our society strongly rooted in bribery, a phenomenon that the NAB, FBR and FIA have been trying to stop for years. Every established individual is guilty of partaking, whether it is a politician, bureaucrat, civil servant, or a member of the judicial system. Ineffective government bureaucracy together with high levels of corruption create significant barriers for progress in Pakistan. It even creates clear divisions of wealth and power, amplifying the divide between the rich and poor. Due to this trend, even those people who are living outside of Pakistan face criticism. The current government of Pakistan has taken several actions to overcome corruption and has reviewed the processes. Despite this, corruption is more rampant than it was in 2019 as the country now ranks 124 out of 180 countries global corruption list. We slipped four spots on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in 2020 for the second year in a row.

Pakistan also supports a stark undemocratic culture. Ever since 1958, Pakistan had experienced four martial law governments and because of that, a democratic institution and attitude could not be developed. Each institution always remained under the fear of dismissal by the non-democratic forces. Evidently, political instability vastly damaged the development of democracy in Pakistan and tarnished its reputation in front of the international community. The performance of democracy has steadily decreased since it has been overtaken by ill-gotten money, blocking the way for the middle and educated class from rising up. Resultantly you see that the level of input in the assemblies by many officials amounts to little or nothing. This situation of horse trading and the lust for power is endangering democracy as leaders look forward to shift their loyalties not for the cause of the country but the artificially created winning impression for a party. In my personal view, the parliamentary system has crippled us.

When it comes to the rule of law, there is a serious lack of respect shown. The politicisation of the police and judicial system in the country denies justice to the people. The police looks towards the signals of their masters while the judiciary partners with the non-democratic forces. Both the institutions are equally responsible for the implementation of the rule of law, but they fail miserably. Now, the result is that people have lost confidence and trust in both the institutions and in some cases, people have resorted to violence for seeking justice by themselves. Even the judiciary has been releasing culprits regardless of the overwhelming evidence against them.

The National Security system of our country needs a permanent cure. The National Action Plan was injected in January 2015 with the view to improve our national security policies in order to crack down on terrorism. While it was effective for the time being, now the failure of its implementation has brought it back to square one. Routine sit-ins, lockdowns and strikes by every other party after every 2 to 3 months have crippled the standard of national security and discipline in Pakistan. The civilian government must realise that inadequate national security is like a cancer which eats away the peace from society. Where there is no peace, there is no development and hence we need healthy, independent and powerful national security.

A strong economy of any country guarantees stability and prosperity. Pakistan’s economy has never been as strong as it should have been. One of the reasons was that the subject of the economy was handled unprofessionally and, on an ad-hoc basis. The weak economy has thus rendered the country vulnerable to international vested interests. The country is hostage to not only the IMF but also the World Bank and is at the mercy of friendly countries for loans and grants. It is being forced to meet the demands of the IMF, in terms of raising taxes and increasing the prices of basic amenities in return for further loans. How long would we survive under these conditions? Finance is arguably the most important ministry in the federal government and fixing the economy is its primary job. The nation has not yet forgotten that even the man that the PTI had presented as its ‘financial wizard’, Asad Umar, had stepped down from the cabinet out of similar reasons right after returning from Washington after negotiating a deal with the IMF as the conditions were so unrealistic that he would rather choose to step down than to take the responsibility to fulfil demands.

The poor state of the economy attracts immense foreign debts as well. Our external debt servicing is currently over $10 billion a year and will remain the same for the next two years. The above factors derailed us, and certain unwise decisions made us more vulnerable to the pressure of the vested international powers. The West successfully took advantage of our weaknesses and used those to serve their motives.

There is a long list of events as to how the anti-Pakistan strategy was chalked and implemented. It started with the murder of Liaqat Ali Khan, supporting the dictatorial regime of Ayub Khan, handing over power to Yahya khan, the breaking of East Pakistan, toppling the government and the judicial killing of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, supporting the dictatorial regime of Gen Zia ul Haq, and lately the murder of Benazir Bhutto. These are in fact sequences of a well-planned anti-Pakistan Strategy.

The planting of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan during the Afghan-Soviet war was one of the strategies of the West, especially the USA, to turn Pakistan into the turf for sectarian warfare, thus making it weaker and weaker. Without realising the consequence, Pakistan once again became a tool in the hands of the USA by joining the so-called war on terror started by the West.

We were once again used and instead of becoming an independent and thriving nation, we became a poster-boy for the USA by projecting its narratives internationally and locally. Throughout our participation in the war on terror and even after the abrupt withdrawal of the US, we have been trying to convince the global community that Pakistan was the actual victim of the war but still, it is doubted for its intentions. In fact, no country has accepted and appreciated the impacts of the war on Pakistan.

The question is why the world refuses to believe Pakistan and its narrative despite losing thousands of precious lives, hosting millions of Afghan refugees without any external assistance, and at the expense of our economy.

To me, there are other reasons for our failure to sell our narrative to the world. Firstly, the USA had designed the war on terror for its motives and not to benefit Pakistan. The role of Pakistan was predetermined in terms of weakening Pakistan and defaming it for supporting the Taliban. Secondly, Pakistan has failed to frame its narrative to tell the world as to why it has a soft corner for the Taliban. Thirdly, the lack of resources and professionalism within the Foreign Office is another factor that affected the narrative of Pakistan vis-à-vis the Taliban and Afghanistan. Their ability to effectively lobby for the interests of Pakistan has to be upgraded. They need to be given a clear vision and policy to defend our causes at the international level. Ironically, despite our sufferings, we are being dubbed as bad boys and India is being projected as good boys. We have proved the fact that India has been orchestrating terrorist activities in Pakistan. It is important that the country‘s economy should be sound and free of political polarisation. The main issue ahead of us is India, which is fully determined about its agenda to undermine each and every effort of stabilising Pakistan. We can fight our enemy only with a sound and stable system of governance in our country.

Political instability vastly damaged the development of democracy in Pakistan and tarnished its reputation in front of the international community.

The article was published in The Nation on November 2, 2021, Link to the article : https://nation.com.pk/02-Nov-2021/pakistan-stands-alone-despite-sacrifices