Invisible technocrat’s government in the making by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Senator A. Rehman Malik Author of "Modi's War Doctrine"

The international definition of technocrat’s government is defined as: “It is a form of government wherein decision-makers are chosen for a governing office based on their technical expertise and background. Basically it is by product of Presidential system but is often used as stop gap arrangements in Parliamentary debacles”.

Technocracy differs from a traditional democracy in that individuals elected to a leadership role are chosen through a process that emphasizes their relevant skills and proven performance, as opposed to whether or not they fit the majority interests of a population. Decisions made by technocrats are based on information derived from methodology rather than opinion or will of the people.

Since independence, Pakistan has been ruled thrice by military for over 3 decades and the rest of the time it has been ruled by a weak and controlled democracy. Although Pakistan is now being run through a democratic government yet the elections have always remained disputed with counter allegations from both the sides. All stakeholders have their own well-defined agendas.

Although the past governments always remained under attack and every incoming government rather than bringing stability to the democratic system remained busy in blaming the outgoing governments for their perceived blunders made by the later thus further eroding the stability in the governance and the democratic institutions.

The nation is completely confused as to why present government policies are going towards failure especially the economic policies. We are being governed by a government without having a proper plan and agenda for the people. The success of a government is judged by a common man and not by an elite class.

In my recent article namely “Will the economic tsunami engulf the government? “I had given my assessment on economic instability predicting that the economic tsunami will engulf the government as well as the system but the word system was omitted by my Editor from the article.

We have witnessed how within less than 48 hours of my article, seven important ministries were reshuffled including the key players Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhary, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Amir Kiyani and Shehryar Afridi.

I will not go into details as to how they got sacked but if we closely look into the re-shuffle, we would come to know that all of the newly appointed ministers were used to be the members of other parties like PPP. PMLN and PMLQ. It is surprising to see that despite Imran Khan’s tall claims of selection on merit he has lost his true and rightful members, who stood by him and only belonged to PTI, by inducting cross-party technocrats in to his cabinet.

When we have an overall picture of the newly reshuffled cabinet, we see an unconsented and invisible technocrat government in place with Imran Khan as its figurehead. Kindly allow me to say that it is the first phase for nation to witness the government run by technocrat, which would lately emerge as a strong and visible technocratic government as this system cannot run on ad-hoc basis.

Currently, we have a weak semi technocratic government, which will continue to go weaker and weaker by every passing day as it is not performing on both external and internal fronts like diplomacy and financial sectors.

We spoiled our relations with Afghanistan with recent undiplomatic statements and also Iran is becoming hostile towards us as both are visibly going closer to India.

I hope that Imran Khan would have reminded Iran as to how we smashed Jandullah group fighting against Iran in the recent past rather than shifting the blames on his own country. Pakistan assisted them in fighting the group as we had captured and arrested Jandallah’s leader. Despite Pakistan’s support, they have always castigated Pakistan’s efforts in tackling the insurgency in Iran.

The situation seems to be getting out of hands of government in controlling the terrorism, as there have been 12 plus attacks in different parts of the country since PTI took over, because it completely lacks policies to tackle the menace of the terrorism. The success of any government in the field of counter terrorism can be judged from its policies, yet this government is trying to take the credit of work done by previous government or things, which are happening due to the policies of the previous government. This contributes as major failure of this Government as “look busy do nothing” is their only policy.

The Tsunami slogan having been enchanted for decades looks to be the tsunami of troubled economy coupled with growing inflation. Middle, lower, salaried and millions of people living below poverty line are facing acute difficulties to meet their daily ends. Within less than 9 months, the governance of the PTI government has generated anger in the public and it is likely that this anger may take shape of tsunami, which could wipe out the PTI and its regime from the political fabric of the country. It is assumed that the growing inflation and declining growth with constant devaluation of rupee have forced the present Government to reshuffle the portfolios of its Cabinet members. These disastrous situations might pave the way for the ouster of this government.

The system being run by PM’s invisible national government may not be able to overcome the political crises / economic crises and security inability.

The present government neither looks fully democratic nor a National Government. It is an unholy mixture of deserted political fugitives from other parties taking political asylum to get indemnity.

The Article was published by "The Nation" on April 26, 2019, The link to the article is https://nation.com.pk/26-Apr-2019/invisible-technocrat-s-government-in-the-making

Russia, a fast- emerging friend of Pakistan by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Following our independence, Pakistan and Russia first established bilateral and diplomatic ties on 1st May 1948. Pakistan also celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations with Russia on 1st May 2018.

Things changed in 1959, however, when Ayub Khan gave permission to USA to use its Peshawar Air Base, for which he got deceived by the USA when it sent its spy plane from the Peshawar Base to USSR without informing PAF authorities. The plane was shot down there by Russia and unfortunately Pakistan was blamed for sending the plane since it was Pakistan’s soil from where it had come. This made Russia turn against Pakistan and eventually the Soviets paid back their revenge on Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

India took full advantage of the clash and signed the August 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship for Peace and Cooperation which made Russia support India. Subsequent Soviet support to India, in terms of arms and financial aid, further deteriorated relations between Pakistan and Russia. Russia was right to turn against Pakistan and India took full advantage of the situation and we saw Pakistan disintegrated. USSR not only supported the creation of Bangladesh but also kept vetoing every resolution brought from Pakistan to the United Nations against the separation of East Pakistan.

USA, the so called best friend of Pakistan, played a diplomatic trick. While it apparently seemed to be supporting Pakistan against USSR and India, it made to spend its seventh fleet to the Bay of Bengal in order to threaten India and show off its support towards Pakistan. Yet it never sent the 8th fleet, which could have made Pakistan prevent East Pakistan from separating. As per the forever ill intentions of the USA, it wanted to create another never-ending conflict between India and Pakistan in the name of East Pakistan’s separation. This can be seen as the first betrayal of the USA as we paid heavenly by allowing the USA to use the airbase against Russia.

Later in 1979, when the USSR was intending to occupy Afghanistan, Pakistan made another mistake by helping USA against USSR efforts to invade Afghanistan. The USSR got disintegrated after defeat in the Afghan - USSR War, but still the Russian leadership was very much in a position to handle the situation and Russia of today has emerged even stronger. Russia has demonstrated to the world that it is still a great nation and a superpower.

The history of diplomatic relations of Pakistan & Russia has seen various ups and downs but most of the times, their perception about each other has been negative; Pakistan’s through the prism of western intentions and Russia’s through the Indian eyes. The last few years, however, have opened a new corridor for both countries to forget past deeds. In the recent decade, Russia has also started to take an interest in good bilateral relations with Pakistan. Both countries know that the potential threats emanating from South Asia will directly challenge the security of both countries. The cross- border issues of terrorism and the ongoing Afghan conflict guarantee a long-term engagement between Russia and Pakistan.

The signs of an improved relationship between Pakistan and Russia was seen in September 2016, when 70 Russian and 130 Pakistani Special Forces held their first joint military exercises in Cherat, Northern Pakistan. India opposed the meeting and tried its best to convince Russia to call off the exercise following the 18 September militant attack on an Indian army base which New Delhi blamed as usual on Pakistan, but the Russians declined.

We Pakistanis are happy to see that our diplomatic and the military relationships with Russia have improved. I hope Russia will take advantage of the offer now given by Pakistan for the use of Gwadar port. It is also great development that Russia has lifted the decade long arms embargo against Pakistan by agreeing to sell its helicopters to Pakistan despite the opposition of India.

It is only because of the exceptional leadership of Mr. Vladimir Putin that Moscow is now moving away from its years of hostility against Pakistan for which the Pakistan People’s Party Government had played a great role. I remember the first meeting of President Asif Ali Zardari with Mr. Putin where I was also present. In fact, this meeting and discussions cleared many miscommunications. This was the turning point and gave a window of opportunity to reconnect both diplomatically and to share intelligence on security matters.

I had the honour of meeting Mr Putin twice and I found him very positive about Pakistan. I would like to say that he has proven to be a great leader and a reformer who has outsmarted the western leadership. He has led Russians into a great nation with all the indicators of a successful nation.

It is unfortunate to note that no Russian President has ever visited Pakistan, but as long as the Taliban threat is there in the region, it is unlikely that a Russian leader will do so in future as well. The key to further enhancement of relations between both countries is an end to the continuing civil war in Afghanistan. China and Russia both feel threatened by this war, as well as by the increasing number of young men from their Muslim populations who are joining militant groups. Both Pakistan and Russia have a common threat in the form of ISIS now, which is recruiting youngsters from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia make it a long way for the two nations to go before the relations actually gets warmed up. Russia has emerged as an important player and he is playing a vital role in the international community.

Russia and Pakistan have passed through various ups and down and now they have decided to march towards better relationships and more cooperation in the interest of both countries. Russia and Pakistan are two very important countries of this region and I foresee a great role of Pakistan, China and Russia as a nuclear block to work for international peace and common growth of the economy.

My discussion at a recent meeting with H.E Alexey Y. Dedov Russian Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan based in Islamabad was very encouraging as the Russian changed policy towards Pakistan will benefit both the countries.

Let us wait and see how Russia plays a balancing role in keeping the region peaceful.

The Article was Published on April 22, 2019 in Daily "The Nation", link to the original article is Russia, a fast- emerging friend of Pakistan by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Daesh replaces al-Qaeda in South Asia — Quetta victims calling for justice by Senator A. Rehman Malik

It was nearly a year back when I drafted a book on Daesh, while it was about to go for publication I held it, considering that let the nation remain on one page as the then government in Pakistan was not ready to accept the presence of Daesh/ISIS in the country openly however, government ministers were privately confessed.

Though it is still semi-confession of its presence, but I feel that the world must know the foundational facts about Daesh, how it was created and what was the purpose and motives behind its creation. Now is the time that I have decided to launch this book in a couple of weeks, which will explain its evolution and financing. The group is, in fact, replacing Al-Qaeda.

Daesh has so far claimed the following acts of terrorism in Pakistan:

• An attack on a bus in Karachi in May 2015 that killed 46 people, was the first major incident officially claimed by IS in Pakistan.

• A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 70 people and wounded more than 100 in August 2016 in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in the southwestern city of Quetta, and Daesh claimed responsibility of it.

• In October 2016, Three ISIS terrorists carried out a mass shooting at police cadets at a training center in Quetta kills 61 cadets and wounded 160. The two of them had bombed themselves while one was killed during the operation.

• In February 2017, a suicide bomber killed 100 people at the Sehwan Sharif; a Shrine in Sindh. ISIS claimed responsibility.

• In May 2017, Daesh targeted the ex- deputy chairman of Senate Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in a bomb attack in Mastung District.

• In August 2017, a suicide blast carried out by ISIS in Quetta killed 15 people including 8 Pakistani soldiers.

• In July 2018, Daesh carried out the deadliest attack in the history of Pakistan after APS attack in Mastung in which Siraj Raisani was about to address an election rally when a suicide bomber, carrying around 16–20 kg of explosive material in his vest, blew himself up among a crowd of more than 1000 people. Along with Raisani, the explosion killed 128 people. Two days after the attack, on 15 July 2018, the number of dead increased to 149, while 186 other people were injured.

• The most recent act of terrorism in Quetta in a fruit market, which killed over 20 people and around 48 got injured, has also been claimed by Daesh.

It is very clear that Daesh is now fully present in Pakistan and its training camps are in Afghanistan, where the Daesh recruits from all over the world, including Pakistan, China and Russia. Individuals are trained and then launched in the respective countries on preselected targets.

There are strong indicators that this region will be destabilised through Daesh. The above major incidents are now a testimony of the presence of Daesh in Pakistan but operating from Afghanistan.

Let us see what actions are taken to smash it before it grows into a bigger monster like Al-Qaeda.

Worldwide attacks of Daesh

ISIS claimed 14 attacks alone in Iraq in 2013, 1 in Pakistan and 7 in Europe in 2014. They claimed 5 in Europe, 3 in Turkey and 1 in Iraq in 2015. In 2016, ISIS held 10 attacks in Europe, 1 in Afghanistan, 2 in Pakistan, 4 in Turkey and 5 in Iraq. In 2017, they carried out 9 attacks in Europe, 4 in Afghanistan, 3 in Pakistan, 1 in Turkey and 1 in Iraq. In 2018, Europe has been attacked by ISIS and Afghanistan twice. Pakistan has recently been attacked this year.

Abu Musab Al Zarqawi with Daesh Flag

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant was the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and founder of Daesh (ISIS). He formed the group to conduct terrorist activities against US forces in Iraq in the aftermath of toppling Saddam Hussain around 2003. Initially, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi called his group Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

He was killed on June 2006 by an American airstrike on an isolated safe house in north of Baghdad. Total six people were killed in that airstrike including Al Zarqawi, his spiritual adviser and four other people including a woman and a child. The strike had been accompanied by a ground assault involving American and Iraqi troops.

It was an important killing as Al Zarqawi had an American bounty of $25 million over his head for being the most-wanted man in Iraq for his leadership of terrorist groups. His group under his leadership carried out many of the most brutal attacks, including suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. In his late 30's, he was titled as "Prince of Al-Qaeda" in Iraq by Osama bin Laden.

Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi

He is declared the present leader of ISIS and is based in Syria. Al-Baghdadi was detained in a US-run prison in southern Iraq for several months and was later released in 2004. After ISIS declared the creation of the so-called "Islamic State," he started calling himself as Al-Khalifah Ibrahim.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is apparently the most wanted target of the US. He was reportedly targeted in Oct 15, but it is not sure if he has been killed yet. He was wounded on 18 March 2015 during a US airstrike on the Al-Baaj District, near the Syrian border. He had serious wounds so much so that the top ISIS leaders had started discussing who would replace him if he died. Nobody knows if it was a truth or merely a disinformation.

Since then, the US State Department has offered a reward of up to $25 million for information or intelligence leading to his capture or death, after his further use.

According to the latest reports he has found his way to Turkey and I can foresee his end like Osama Bin Laden as he is the custodian of many secrets of his masters and he will prove to be dangerous for western creators. Hence his end is going to be like Osama Bin Laden.

His utility in Middle-East has almost come to end and many of his followers and trained Daesh infected terrorists have found their way now towards many Muslim countries including Pakistan. The sub Head Quarter of Daesh is now in Afghanistan and Afghan Intelligence knows exactly where their training centers are located. These camps cannot function without the patronage of Afghan government and their ultimate masters.

Daesh outfit conceived by west and energised in the Middle East is now being used in Pakistan and is likely to increase its influence in South Asia soon.

Let us hope that the government takes serious steps against it after Quetta incident and takes all the possible measures to expose this network and smash it. I also propose that Daesh should also be banned in Pakistan and action should be taken to eliminate their members and associates promoting it here.

Let us keep our minds and eyes open and the government should either prove the claims of Daesh or declare its presence and take strict action by not allowing it to grow by default.

It is never too late to accept the reality and the reality is that Daesh is actually hurting us and we should smash its head before it grows a monster like Al-Qaeda. It is high time for the government and Parliament to get the National Action Plan revised and implemented.

The article was published in "The News" on April 20, 2019 and the link to original link is Daesh replaces al-Qaeda in South Asia — Quetta victims calling for justice

Will the economic tsunami engulf the government? by Senator A. Rehman Malik

It is that period of the time when the people are really uncertain about whether the government will survive of this upcoming Economic crunch that is going to bring unbeatable price hike or not?

The people want economic relief, as they are not interested in the game of counter blames of politicians. Can this debacle be averted? The entire society is worried about the deteriorating economic situation and rule of law.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan gave a very meaningful statement, which had a built-in light warning to the Parliament as under:

“It is unfortunate that parliament has not been paying attention to legislative matters. Up till now, we have already sent 70 reports to parliament and the law ministry. Provision of justice is not just the judiciary’s job — the legislature has to do its part,”

I as a legislator myself feel that our Parliament is failing to bring an updated legislation to meet the changing requirements and we are following the same old laws which were made to rule us. We now need to reform our laws to come up to the expectations of the nation by giving the country a proper criminal justice system to ensure the rule of law.

The selected application of laws has created polarization within the society. The elite class considers itself above the law as they think that they can beat the entire criminal justice processes and the nation has witnessed this happening. Here in this country, the law acts and takes its course as per the worth of the accused. People come in power and still remain powerless as power of rule of law rests somewhere else.

The governments are not run as per the law or mandate but it runs as per the desires of an individual. Presently the government is passing through the confused and almost powerless situation where it has failed to contain the fast deteriorating situation.

The fall of Pak rupees against US dollar, decrease in growth rate, sharp rise of inflation has negatively impacted on our growth in almost every sector. It is estimated that construction development sector will have to increase the prices of the houses up to minimum 20 per cent with already risen inflation rate.

Power sector will further demand to increase the prices with steep rise of the dollar.

I am sorry to point out that if with the fall of only one rupee our debt could rise by $ 1 billion then automatically the fall of Rs. 20 to dollar must have increased our debt by $20 billion. IMF has already played a trick with our Economic team right under the nose of the PM by putting its condition of getting Pak currency down before actually giving firm commitment. It is unfortunate that the confused government team is yet running after the colourful and deceptive lollipop by IMF. It is treating the Pak Economic team like a child by handling it with daily changing non-doable demands. Now IMF has linked the IMF loan with FATF and it may back out on the pretext of any likely worst decision against Pakistan.

Now keeping in view the reservations of President Donald Trump regarding CPEC, one belt one road project and questions of IMF on CPEC loan repayments by Pakistan we can rightly guess their intentions.

Let us hope that Pakistan gets this loan from IMF and God-forbid if IMF declines this tranche then what alternate do we have as the Middle East’s well-advertised financial package has not worked to meet with the tall claims of the government.

We as a nation are inching slowly towards bankruptcy as the government will be forced to further devalue the Rupee and further printing of currency will increase the burden on a common man.

PTI government’s favourite exercise of putting “price hike” into 3rd gear will adversely affect the common man. It was rightly stated that the common will cry with agony and the cries of common might echo collectively in the entire country. Eventually, the government may not be able to counter this collective hungry public, which may engulf the government.

The government must now be wise enough to take the Parliament into confidence and come up with some collective Economic Strategy to give relief to the common man before it is too late.

Since the biggest problem of our country is the rule of law as such the government must learn to deal adequately with the endangering situation of law and order. When in the past, if the strong government of Ayub khan could fall consequent to a tiny issue of increase in sugar price then how can this fragile government expects to survive of the many crisis it has created in every sector of economy including energy sector, petroleum sector, real estate development sector as well as the basic amenities of life due to the incompetency of the every department of the government.

The wheelers & dealers of this government need to halt this fast moving Economic Tsunami before it engulfs the government and the whole system.

We as a nation are inching slowly towards bankruptcy as the government will be forced to further devalue the Rupee and further printing of currency will increase the burden on a common man.

The article was published in “THE NATION” on April 16, 2019 and the link to the original article: https://nation.com.pk/16-Apr-2019/will-the-economic-tsunami-engulf-the-government

12 reasons blocking PM Modi to attack now- Senator A. Rehman Malik

Senator A. Rehman Malik Author of "Modi's War Doctrine"

The world has seen how the situation of Indo-Pak region has changed when Modi's War Doctrine saw failure after his post Pulwama planning got badly exposed. I have reasons to say that PM Modi has now turned into a miserable person after his failure to achieve pre-set targets planned with his darling RSS, anti-Pakistan RAW and Charlie Chaplin fame Indian Army Chief.

There can be no doubt about RSS or RAW to keep planning terrorists acts like Samjhauta attack against Pakistan in the future as well; but for the time being, India cannot afford to take a chance. We can expect anything from India being a cunning enemy, but I am of the firm view that PM Modi has lost his chance to implement his war and political doctrine.

PM Modi is fuming like an injured Cobra but it is too late as he has lost his stinging power. I however feel that some of his advisors might plan some other Samjhauta or Pulwama like incident again in order to make last ditch efforts to have some face saving before his own party, RSS and some of his foreign masters.

Let us see how the Indian opposition blocks him from doing a self-infecting act. In the present situation, I feel that following are the reasons that are enough to prevent him from ordering any further attack on Pakistan:-

1. He has been exposed fully in Pulwama as per disclosures in my book “Modi’s War Doctrine” which is now a well-documented reference book on the misdeeds of PM Modi & RSS including Indian brutalities in IHK.

2. The International human rights Organisations have taken serious notice of more killings and aggression against Kashmiris post Pulwama.

3. India has declined the request of International Amnesty to visit Indian Held Kashmir after Pulwama making the world watch it closely, due to which cause of Kashmir has now attained more prominence.

4. The leadership of Kashmir, i.e. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have reacted against PM Modi raising serious allegations against him being the mastermind behind Pulwama attack to gain victory in elections. This has made him further vulnerable to make any stupid move again in the future.

5. PM Modi is no more a regular PM as he is day to day PM for disposing of routine work and hence any war, act by him will not be announced by the people of India and veteran politicians who have already been opposing the unwise policies of PM Modi made under influence of RSS pre-motivation for militancy and violence.

6. Another strong reason is the befitting response by Pak Army & the Air Force in case of Wing Commander Abhinandan as to how he was launched against Pakistan, encountered defeat and was sent back to India as a living agony and humiliation; generally for Indian public and particularly for PM Modi.

7. The defence muscles got more weakened when Modi confessed to the world that Pakistan air power/ capability could not be matched by India. He blamed that he could not buy Rafale fighters as this deal was prematurely exposed. I feel honored to have exposed this deal through a press conference which is also documented in my Book “Modi‘s War doctrine” for which I receive threats and abuses from RSS and pro-Modi social media brigade but these threatens and abuses will not be able to deter me to protect my motherland.

8. Modi’s RSS-RAW brigade has been unsuccessful in selling Pulwama propaganda as they have failed to produce any evidence against Masood Azhar as well as Pakistan.

9. India basically follows the model of violence and terrorism the way it did in East Pakistan by creating and financing Mukhti Bahini and took the advantage of its isolation as it was planned and managed long before by them to break the country. This time Modi tried the same model in Balochistan with financial and weaponry support to the militants through Brahamdagh Bugti. The following statement given by him is a testimony to his deeds:-

“India could covertly support separatist groups in the Pakistan province of Balochistan and cause trouble in the regions of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan”.

Modi's doctrine and planning to build another force like Mukhti Bahini in shape of BLFA and ethnic elites in Karachi and parts of Sindh; have badly smashed. India has failed to recreate a team of internal traitors like there were in East Pakistan who not only assisted the Indian Army, but also welcome alien terrorists like PM Modi who confessed asunder:-

“We fought for Bangladesh’s ‘swabhimaan’ (honor), alongside Mukti Jodha (Mukti Bahini) for Bangladesh”.

And that:-

“Indian soldiers fought alongside Bengali guerrillas trained & supported by India.”

10. This time there was no inside traitor, but a united voice of courage and unity against India demonstrated through the joint Parliament session that’s why Modi knows that he cannot repeat the history or else he will have to face humiliation.

11. The Greatest Gift of Defence Doctrine by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the nation in the form of creation of nuclear capability which has made our forces invincible by the enemy and our capability of destroying any defence city of India is another reason for them to be careful.

12. Since Pakistan is playing a role of intermediary between USA and Taliban and without Pakistan the dialogue process cannot reach to an end, USA would never like India to attack Pakistan at any cost.

Any war escalation between India and Pakistan can lead to countless adversities. China is a major stake in Pakistan in the form of CPEC; China would also never support war between the two countries. I would like to state that China did play a positive role in reducing the border escalation.

I would advise to my nation to just relax, stay calm and have sound sleep as their defence forces are not sleeping and they have the ability to keep watch on our enemies by fraction of second and protect the motherland fearlessly and professionally.

The Article was published in “The News” on April 10, 2019 and the link to the orignal article is 12 reasons blocking PM Modi to attack now