Political and moral bankruptcy by Senator A. Rehman Malik

We read a lot about our Economic bankruptcy, adversely affecting the life of every Pakistani. I feel bad to say is it not a big question mark on our present political system to note that former five Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, Yousaf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nawaz Sharif, and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, have become subject of NAB/NAB courts for alleged corrupt practices etc.

Is it not political bankruptcy? The Parliament should revisit our governance & accountability systems. In the given dark shadows of present political culture who would opt in future to be Prime Minister of Pakistan as this, every incumbent is bound to become a subject of investigation and NAB court trial. Regardless of whether this phenomenon was right or wrong, it has left many question marks on our present system and a common man is feeling low to watch these developments.

In fact, we are heading towards more bankruptcy as our national customary “moral reserve” of respect and care for each other are fast depleting. This great treasure of love and care for each other as one nation in fact was the real bond as to why our forefathers were able to get us an independent state in order to get out of the hate and discrimination experienced in the hands of Hindu majority and wanted the future generations to live with respect and honour in their newly born own country.

There was a thirst for a separate homeland which was created to give equivalent rights to minority Muslims, which were subjugated by Hindu majority of India, as the world witnessed in 1937, 1944-45 elections. Hindus of India never accepted Muslims as their brothers and fellow citizen and kept degrading them for they were smaller in number with their caste system.

Islam gives a very comprehensive concept of brotherhood that is based upon good behaviour with others and treating others nicely. And Allah said: “Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. Remember the favour of Allah upon you, when you were enemies and he brought your hearts together and you became brothers by his favour. Surah Ali Imran 3:103”.

Gradually after getting independence, the clutches of greed and power hunger took hold of us and soon the factor of care and respect started vaporising making us forget our commitment to our forefathers and to our State. We have become least accountable to our country’s responsibilities, as the lust of personal gains has taken over our conscience.

Our Quid taught us the lesson of “Unity, Faith, and Discipline” and these three words are the complete national way forward for us and in fact it leads to the path of respect, honour & for rule of law. Unfortunately, we as a nation never followed the true spirit of these three words. He also said:

“The great majority of us are Muslims. We follow the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon him). We are members of the brotherhood of Islam in which all are equal in rights, dignity, and self-respect. Consequently, we have a special and very deep sense of unity. But make no mistake: Pakistan is not a theocracy or anything like it.”

After getting a separate nation for Muslims he said the following words in an address:

“We have undoubtedly achieved Pakistan, and that too without a bloody war, practically peacefully, by moral and intellectual force, and with the power of the pen, which is no less mighty than that of the sword and so our righteous cause has triumphed. Are we now going to besmear and tarnish this greatest achievement for which there is no parallel in the history of the world? Pakistan is now a fait accompli and it can never be undone, besides, it was the only just, honourable, and practical solution of the most complex constitutional problem of this great subcontinent. Let us now plan to build and reconstruct and regenerate our great nation...”

It was the wisdom of Quaid e Azam who summed up his great observations both at the national and international level into his motive of Unity, Faith, and Discipline”.

We have lost the unity our forefathers laid down their lives for because of the cancer of blame games and hurtful abusive street language, which have dwindled our national traits and “reserves” of care and sincerity faster than our water reserves. This bankruptcy of our thoughts and sense of lake of unity is driving us to a point of no return.

The sense of care for each other is the real bond of unity and the nations have emerged as world powers having the same sense of care and concern for their nation by giving preference to their country and prioritizing their nation. Unfortunately, we lost one part of the country because ethnic wedge and this monster of ethnicity broke us into parts.

We are at present going through both ethnic and sectarian divide. The sectarian divide is successfully being used by our enemies and we witness the emergence of sponsored terrorists based on our religious divide. Why I gave the name of the Taliban as Zalman was because those so-called Muslims were cruel not only to Pakistan but also to Islam.

Can any Islamic scholar body guide us on how to finish this religious divide and how can we achieve our future national goals in the presence of this ethnic and religious divide?

Where is our national spirit of before 1947? Who will guide us towards our national preferences when most of the leadership instead of creating unity is busy in creating a wedge for own political gains for their votes and political point scoring is further deteriorating and destroying the fibre of unity and nationalism.

We as a nation, instead of providing relief to our fellow countrymen and brothers, causing more miseries and create the situations even worse for them. Our respect and honour for someone are now dependent on his social status and his bank balance. The central and middle leadership of our country are only committed to outsmart their opponents. They are not even a bit concerned to contribute to taking the country out of present crises.

As a nation, we have developed the habit of acting regularly against a respective opponent at all level and irrespective of their status. Let alone the cabinet, even the successive Prime Ministers of our country have been practicing to start to their day with media reports with a brief from bureaucracy accordingly as to how to punch hard his opponents for the rest of the day. It’s a total waste of his time, as his prime focus should have for better governance to resolve bigger issues.

The leaders who attempt to glorify their leadership with abusive language towards opponents must now put this practice to end. The responsible political code of conduct would not only reduce the ratio of political bankruptcy both in the public speeches but also foster the public holder of good character as per the injunctions of the Islam having adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practices obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins; he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and Ameen.

It is need of the hour that the articles of the Constitution dealing with the qualification and disqualification of a candidate/member for the Parliament may be appropriately amended to incorporate the use of abusive language by any holder of a public office as one of the grounds of his/her disqualification.

It is unfortunate that political and moral bankruptcy is pushing the political fabric in a dangerous zone and perhaps heading towards worse than the economic bankruptcy but contrary to the economic bankruptcy there is no recovery from the irreversible moral and political bankruptcy.

I pray that May Allah guide us to remain on the right path and keep my Pakistan safe and sound with our unity, faith, and discipline coupled with a sense of respect for our fellow citizens.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The Nation’’ on February 11^th, 2019

The Link to Article is: https://nation.com.pk/11-Feb-2019/political-and-moral-bankruptcy

Watch out - Afghan Taliban rule of 1994 striking back by Senator A. Rehman Malik

I was posted as Director FIA at Peshawar in 1992, during the regime of Nawaz Sharif. At the same time, Anwar Zahid being the Principal Secretary to the PM was playing political and administrative shots. As a result of which the government of Gulbadin Hekmatyar as PM, and Mullah Rabbani as President was installed to run the national government in Afghanistan. Anwar Zahid remained in contact with me during this transition in Afghanistan. I had the chance to meet both (Hekmatyar and Mullah Rabbani) and I realised that both were not on one page.

This coalition government, however, could not work well because of political friction between both of them. The government was failing and it was like civil disobedience in whole Afghanistan. In the meanwhile, Mullah Umar became more active with his groups in Kandahar.

A militant group called Taliban under the leadership of Mullah Umar emerged by taking advantage of this friction between both the prime minister and the president. By that time, I was already transferred to the FIA HQ by the caretaker government of Mr Moeen Qureshi. I was posted as Director Immigration & Anti- Smuggling with additional special assignments of probing into white collar crimes to control the illegal emigration from Pakistan.

Consequent to general elections, Gen Naseerullah Babar took over as interior minister and he attached me to his office in addition to my official duties. By virtue of my official associations with the interior minister, I noticed that he had a special interest in resolving the Afghan issue. Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Ahmed Shah Masood, Mullah Razzaq, Mullah Burjan, Mullah Omer were close to Gen Naseerullah Babar. I met Hekmatyar and Mullah Rabbani in Peshawar and knew some background and undercurrents within the Afghan leadership.

In the meantime, Hekmatyar found his way of friendship with Osama bin Laden in early 1990s, but later on fall apart when he noticed Osama bin Laden has gone close to the emerging faction of Mullah Umar. On the other hand, Gen. Babar had also developed a fine association with the Mullah Umar group with the help of the then intelligence wheeler and dealers which made him closer to the founder of Taliban; Mullah Umar.

One evening, I received a call of Gen. Babar asking me to be in a special meeting being arranged in the Narcotics Division in Blue area. I attended the said meeting and met Mullah Umar with Gen Babar, thereafter the Taliban under Mullah Umar gave their first appearance in Kandahar. When Gen. Babar took diplomats from Islamabad in C-130 to Kandahar in order to introduce the newly formed group of Afghan Taliban. A USA Ambassador was also present in the said visit/Introduction. The logistics for the meeting were arranged from Karachi and it was great lunch served to the visitors in Kandahar and then the world saw the emergence of the rule of Mullah Umar under Taliban.

I also experienced a strict grip of Taliban in Jalalabad and Kabul while going in exile via Afghanistan under disguise after a serious attempt on my life in Islamabad. I travelled with a well-known journalist from Peshawar.

Mullah Umar despite being a leader of small faction had declared himself as the founder of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996. The Taliban chose him as “Amir ul Momineen” (Commander of the Faithful/the Supreme Leader of the Muslims).

I would like to give a brief history of Mullah Omer for the readers. He was born in a poor family and had absolutely no political connections. His father died when he as was too young, his uncles raised him. After the 1978 Soviet Revolution in Afghanistan, he was sent to Karachi in 1979 to study at the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia along with other children. After the Soviet invasion, the family moved to Tarinkot in Urozgan province and young Umar was left to feed the family. He was unemployed so he became the mullah and established his own madrassa in a mud hut with few cows.

In the very beginning, he fought as a rebel soldier with the anti-Soviet Mujahedeen under the command of Naek Mohammad of the Hizb-e-Islami (Khalis). He later moved again back to a mosque in Karachi where he used to lead prayers. Soon after the Soviet left Afghanistan, he started his movement with less than 50-armed madrassa students from Afghanistan and subsequently raised 12000 recruits under his command.

I had never thought that this simple man I was meeting in a black turban would emerge as Emir of Taliban and even powerful Haqqani Network will also become subservient to him.

Osama bin Laden met Mullah Umar on return from Sudan and pledged his loyalty to him and created a point strategy between al-Qaeda and Taliban. Umar became a top wanted leader of Taliban by the US government after being accused of providing shelter to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda militants after the September 11 attacks whereas Mullah Umar continued his rule through his following cabinet members Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as (Deputy leader), Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as (Deputy leader), Maulavi Abdul Kabir as (Governor of Nangarhar), Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa as (Governor of Herat province and Minister of the Interior), Mullah Ubaidullah as (Defence Minister, Deputy Chief), Maulavi Ahmad Jan as (Governor of Zabul province). His rule was recognised by UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The Afghan Taliban remained organised and continued to fight with Americans and even with their installed Afghan government. Even the most equipped international armies could not eliminate them. Many of the cabinet members of Mullah Umar were arrested after the USA attack on Afghanistan. Most of them were taken blindfolded to Guantanamo Bay where they were tortured to the core but the determination of Taliban could not be shaken.

The USA was forced to decide to come on the table and Pakistan played its role in bringing the Taliban on the table on various locations including Jeddah, Germany, China, Pakistan, UAE and then finally Qatar. The latest dialogues were held between USA and Taliban in Abu Dhabi followed by a well-published meeting in Qatar. The US delegation headed by Khalil Zalmay met Taliban delegation headed by Mullah Baradar and Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef who had earlier been tortured in the USA torture cell in Guantanamo Bay.

In the said meeting, they discussed a potential prisoner exchange and a ceasefire that will eventually lead to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. It is pertinent to note that the Taliban were less flexible in their demands and approach sensing that the USA was in hurry to stuck a deal with them at the earliest. The Taliban deliberately exploited the weaknesses of the USA in their favour in terms of taking a tough stance.

It seems US is now inching closer to accepting the Taliban’s main demand which is focused on withdrawal of US troops as the Trump Administration has decided to withdraw half of its 14000 troops from Afghanistan.

The second and third rounds of the talks were held in January to work out the transition of power following by yet another meeting in April 2019. Taliban did not offer anything in return so far to American except insisting on their demand to expedite the early exit of USA Army. They even refused to talk to the Afghan government.

Pakistan has played its laudable and highly appreciable role in getting these negotiations to move forward to a conclusion. The credit of this impossible task goes to Gen Bajwa & his team for providing help and support to both USA and Taliban in pushing the situation converging for a doable solution for the peace agreement, which is likely to become a reality very soon.

We are feeling a positive change in the tone of the American administration and President Donald Trump for Pakistan and the success of this peace process will enhance Pak image worldwide.

I have been advocating in all the local & international forums for the last many years that Afghanistan will become peaceful only once American Army leaves Afghanistan once and for all. I have stated on record that the USA will have no choice except to leave Afghanistan one day.

Now Donald Trump can be actually seen under terrible pressure of withdrawal of US Army because of his own growing issue vis-a-vis Mueller enquiry including outcry of the general public over wasteful expenditure in this clueless war without any achievement. The US administration is making efforts to bring an interim government in Afghanistan, which is not up to the liking of the present government of Afghanistan. The entry of former president Karzai in this process with Afghan Taliban could be strong indicator for future coalition government between Karzai and the Taliban. Karzai had been trying for this coalition with good Taliban while he was the president of Afghanistan.

It looks that President Ashraf Ghani might be isolated whereas the lead may be taken by ex-president Karzai with some other factions including Gen Dostam.

In this scenario, Russia may get some role to reach over to some arrangements of a power-sharing formula. It will all depend on how much support Karzai has from Americans as he had lost the American support in the last days of his government.

This war crept in our country too via TTP and this American war had caused a heavy loss to our economy of over $120 billion. Our mosques, schools, colleges, universities and public and private institutions were attacked. Almost one hundred and fifty children were butchered in a single attack at army public school in Peshawar. Minorities have been targeted several times and it also deteriorated our country image at the global level.

Pakistan has suffered both with blame game and drones as it has been supporting the Americans in this war yet it had to keep on justifying its position vis-a-vis alleged backing of factions of Taliban. We have always returned from Washington along with a pile of these allegations and do more demands. I hope the peace in Afghanistan will give a sigh of relief to the people of Pakistan.

The USA has been able to convince the Taliban to accept its demand of retaining at least two military bases, Bagram and Shorabak to continue under the control of the USA, which is a strong indicator that Americans have decided to hand over the control of Afghanistan to Taliban on 'give and take' basis. On the other hand, however, the Taliban have been firm on its demands of complete withdrawal of USA forces from Afghanistan to bring back Taliban rule in their country following Mullah Umar's ideology.

The world is still confused as to why the USA attacked Afghanistan in the first place when the majority of the international community had advised American not to attack Afghanistan. I am witness to these efforts while being in exile. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was also not in favour of the attack on Afghanistan and I on her advice took initiative through an ambassador (a prominent leader) and close Saudi leadership in this context. He was also close to many cabinet members of Mullah Umar.

The said friend and representatives of Europe and America met in Bahrain where I was also present. Europe was against the attack and even Saudi Arabia was not in favour of this attack where a sufficient room was created for negotiation to block the attack.

We both were told after 48 hrs in the evening by European representative that the USA has declined the offer of Taliban and USA has decided to attack Afghanistan what come may. I can say with authority that the USA was predetermined to attack exactly the same way it attacked on Iraq on false intelligence. I am a personal witness to many developments during the said period too.

I wish the USA had agreed to the proposal of negotiation with Afghan Taliban before attacking Afghanistan as it would have saved them from these non-ending sufferings. Next day, I went to Dubai and briefed Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto about the decision of Americans attack on Afghanistan and she was equally disappointed to learn about it. One week later, the world witnessed the USA attack on Afghanistan.

The world powers had some other motives and thereafter we saw the entire Muslim world in trouble with Arab spring, Libyan fall, Egyptian debacle and finally the fall of Iraq and then civil war in Syria.

I see now the same stakeholders and same countries have entered in this game of mediating between Taliban and world powers. I see replication of abrupt withdrawal of USA Army again in this region. Let us see how the same old script written a long time ago by CIA, is implemented this time. President Donald Trump is apparently looking determined to pull out the forces after loss of 7000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as the American public will not allow more deaths of American soldiers abroad.

The world will soon witness the recognition of coalition Taliban government where the major stakeholder/winners will be those Taliban who have remained under the custody of American soldiers in the past.

Unfortunately, despite the expected Taliban coalition government, the biggest challenge for the Taliban government would be to contain the influence and presence of Daesh, which has already been planted in Afghanistan. Unlike past, this time a well-established, comparatively more powerful and well-energised Daesh is going to be left behind which may emerge in this region as a more lethal power than al-Qaeda.

This phenomenon would not only be dangerous for Pakistan, but for the whole region including China. It is yet to be seen whether the Taliban would join hands with Daesh or there may be yet another guerrilla war to be initiated by Daesh.

Coming to the role of Pakistan in establishing peace, I have been watching the developments in this peace process very closely and let us admit that General Qamar Javed Bajwa has played a role of silent mediator behind the scene & it was his skillful management which has brought the ever irked Taliban to the negotiation table.

It looks that General Bajwa has been successful in convincing all the stake holders including the USA that peace in Afghanistan is important for Pakistan.

I also happen to know Zalmay Khalilzad personally who is a capable diplomat and I feel that he is on the same page with Pakistan on this issue as he knows this region well and he has on record appreciated the role of Pakistan. I wish him success in his noble peace mission.

Pakistan strongly believes that, wars bring “death, destruction and misery” for the people. Ultimately, all issues are to be resolved on the table through negotiations and all the appreciation goes to Gen Bajwa for bringing the Taliban on the table with hope to have peace in this region.

Pakistan is fighting against militancy at different fronts therefore, let us not forget India, which is always there to use cold doctrine against Pakistan and partly against China. Let us hope that we also adopt a doable strategy to convince TTP to give up violence and join in the mainstream & work for our lovely Pakistan to make it peaceful and prosperous.

These are my personal views and do not necessarily represent the views of my party.

More over Let us hope and pray to see this region free of any further “American Doctrine”.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The News’’ on February 10^th, 2019

The Link to Article is: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/430073-watch-out-afghan-taliban-rule-of-1994-striking-back

Indian Rafale Gate and PM Modi by Senator A. Rehman Malik

The delivery of 36 Rafale Aircraft to India is scheduled in September 2019. The Twin engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft is manufactured by Dassault Aviation from France. Rafale deal controversy in India is related to the purchase of said aircrafts in the year 2015 costing 58,000 crores i.e. 7.8 Billion Euros.

In the year 2012, Rafale Aviation was chosen out of two companies recommended by Indian Air force after detailed trials. Soon it was declared that India would purchase 18 off-the-shelf Rafale MMRC Aircrafts from Dassault Aviation France along with 108 Aircrafts to be assembled in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Purchase could not be finalised due to prolonged dialogues between the parties on related contexts.

After the general elections in India, The Modi led BJP Government stepped back from the commitment made by the predecessor UPA Government apparently on the pretext of expensive price of the Aircraft but in fact this move was motivated by his preferred business tycoon of India, namely Reliance Defence Limited. However, in September 2016, India signed an inter-government agreement with France dubbed as “Rafale Deal” for purchase of 36 off-the-shelf Rafale aircrafts from Dassault Aviation followed by a joint statement on 3 October 2016 announcing the creation of a joint venture named Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) to focus on aero structures, electronics and engine components and establishing a DRAL facility in Nagpur.

In September 2016, Congress Party raised the questions on the Rafale Deal and declared it controversial on financial grounds and on the favouritism basis. The most controversial part of the Rafale deal was the favouritism of Modi Government extended to Reliance Defence group owned by Mr. Anil Ambani. Narendra Modi preferred Anil Ambani’s Reliance group over state-led Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. In financial terms, PM Modi has been caught red handed of theft of jet manufacturing contract of 30 thousand crores rupees from France through newly registered company of his friend Anil Ambani.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, an Indian businessman, is the Chairman of Reliance Group (also referred to Reliance ADA Group), which came into existence in June 2005 following a demerger from Reliance Industries Limited. He leads number of stock listed corporations including Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power and Reliance Communications. In 2008, Anil Ambani was also credited with India’s largest IPO of Reliance Power, which was subscribed in less than 60-second on offer, fastest in the history of Indian capital markets till date.

His elder brother, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, an Indian business magnate, is the Chairman, Managing Director, and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a Fortune Global 500 company and India’s most valuable company by its market value.

Rafale deal was not the only favour, which PM Modi had extended to Ambanis. Between 1980 and 1998, one Madhav Patel and his father Motilal Baghubhai Patel pulled off the world’s biggest credit fraud in the international banking history conning 45 banks of US$ 360 million. The timing of rise of Ambanis and the bank fraud committed by Madhav Patel in UAE of $360 Million coincides with each other.

Madhav Patel is wanted in various countries including UK and UAE besides having red warrant issued by the Interpol. Interestingly when Madhav Patel was once arrested in India, neither of the countries seeking his extradition including SFO of UK was intimated of his arrest. The question is as to why the arrest of Madhav Patel was kept secret from other countries? The answer could be found from his relations with Ambanis. Madhav Patel is married to Ms Nita, the daughter of Mr. Ramnikbhai Ambani, elder brother of Dhirubhai Ambani, father of Mukesh and Anil Ambani. Reportedly he is still wanted by UAE authorities but he has been given shelter by PM Modi due to his links with Ambanis. PM Modi knows it well that Madhav Patel is fugitive for his credit frauds with banks in UAE and money laundering.

Two elder Ambani and collective efforts of junior Ambanis and their first cousin Nita have made their mark to this level that even PM Modi is in their pocket. Ignoring the concerns raised by the Opposition over the deal, the vocal PM is silent over the question of his relations with Ambanis and his financial benefits. He has to tell his nation in particular and the world in general whether the said deal was between his RSS and Ambanis to bring lifetime rule of RSS or between PM Modi and Ambani. People of India have a genuine question for PM Modi as to why the husband of Nita (first cousin of Anil Ambani) is being protected by PM Modi and RSS and apart from this protection of fugitive what is the other secret understanding between PM Modi and Ambani.

Interestingly, another daughter of Mr. Ramnikbhai Ambani, Ila Patel, is married to Mr Saurabh Patel, once MLA (2012-17) of Gujarat Assembly on the ticket of BJP. He had been very powerful minister under Modi Government in Gujarat and was once considered as the replacement of Mr. Modi after his elevation to Lok Sabah.

Another favour the Ambani’s are enjoying from Modi Government relates to the namesake Modi, son in law of Ambani’s Sister. Anil Ambani’s sister Deepti Salgaonkar has two kids namely Vikram Salgaonkar and Isheta Salgaonkar. In December 2016, Ishita got married to Neeshal Modi, brother of wanted fraud jeweller Nirav Modi. Since August 2018, her brother in law Nirav Modi, an Indian businessman is wanted by the Interpol for criminal conspiracy, corruption, money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and breach of contract.

He appeared on the international headlines in early October 2018 when Los Angeles entrepreneur, Paul Alfonso, filed a US$4.2 million lawsuit in Los Angeles against him and two of his now dis-functional companies namely Firestar Diamond Inc. and A. Jaffe Inc. According to court records from the Superior Court of California, he fraudulently has been dealing in lab diamonds and selling these as real one. His younger brother and Deepti Ambani’s son-in-law Neeshal Deepak Modi and manager and close aide Parab Subhash Shankar are also wanted by Interpol since August 2018 in connection with the same crimes as Nirav Modi. Nirav Modi is being investigated in a $2 billion fraud case of Punjab National Bank (PNB) also.

In February 2018, the Indian government’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started an investigation on junior Modi, acting on a complaint from the Punjab National Bank that alleged him. All these cases have been put under the carpet and obviously who can dare in India including CBI & RAW to touch the Ambanis and their relatives/family members.

In the light of the above mentioned blatant protection of fugitives of money laundering and robbery of money of the poor Indians, PM Modi owes an explanation to justify to the Indian people and the international community about misuse of his public office to benefit only one family and the RSS. Actually, Narendra Modi is strengthening RSS by such kind of money, which is being generated through governmental contracts. I propose to the Indian media to re-verify these facts, which is whole truth. PM Modi is obliged to tell the world that how is he supporting the terrorist group and openly financing a terrorist organisation namely RSS, which is too dear to PM Modi. He is the only star PM who is a member of terrorist organisation RSS and yet both the Indian opposition and international community are tolerating him as Prime Minister.

Mr PM Modi, I was impressed when I heard your speeches during my official trip to India as interior Minister. I saw a hope in you for poor Indians and some hope of peace between Pakistan & India but as PM you have disappointed not only people of India but you have become high risk for the stability of South Asia while you are riding the back of RSS.

I think Mr. Rahul Ghandi has asked very genuine questions from PM Modi and Indian journalistic circles are of the view that this Modi Gate is proving to be as his Waterloo.

Let me very clearly state that I have written it not as PPP parliamentarian but as analyst and thought the Indian people must know these facts about their PM.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The Nation’’ on January 31^st, 2019

The Link to Article is: https://nation.com.pk/31-Jan-2019/indian-rafale-gate-and-pm-modi

Business as usual at halt — fear technology and state by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Governments around the world derive respect from their citizens through good governance and fear and deterrence of law, which they implement indiscriminately. While the governments enforce rule of law through state functionaries, it also provides for due indemnity to the relevant officials who perform their functions within the parameters of law and in good faith.

Every state has evolved a system of punishment to ensure respect for the law and harmony in society. This system instils the belief that fear of punishment would deter crimes in the future.

The prompt and indiscriminate dispensation of justice law not only generates respect for the law but also creates deterrence against breaking of the law.

It is the fear of the law, which creates deterrence to stop the people committing a crime and this deterrence, in turn, becomes an invisible cop to control the crime. In other words, fear and respect of law are correlated in the criminal judicial system. At the same time, the fear carries negative fallout in the society if this fear of law takes the shape of a tool of victimisation based on vendetta, extraction, humiliation and fear of losing their belongings & job and fear of non-protection of their investment and protection of life. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm whereas deterrence is the act of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.

The history of various countries speaks of their efforts to address the challenges faced by those countries, including fighting wars, to stand higher in the world community.

On the contrary, it is ironic that our national leaders are themselves demonising the country portraying it as the most corrupt country on the international forums as well as in the media. They are portraying every Pakistani as money launder, drug supplier and rape criminal etc.

The revengeful attitude of the government towards the opposition is never going to benefit the country. The rhetoric of corruption without indiscriminate accountability is not creating any deterrence or fear of law rather supporting the narratives of the criminals.

The ICJ, which leaked the Panama Papers, hit the 140 well-known politicians from around 50 countries of the world. The Panama Leaks within a few hours shook the foundations of power around the world. It triggered the resignation of Iceland’s Prime Minister while President Mauricio Macri of Argentina started getting calls to resign. If we look closely into the names, all of those were regarded as the great or respectful leaders.

I am a great supporter of accountability through courts of law and not through media trial or through publicised investigation and propaganda, which not only negates the maxim of law that “every person is innocent unless proven otherwise” but also brings disrepute to the accused person as well as to the country. The accountability of politicians and bureaucrats through media has, on one hand, caused embarrassment to our own country as well as the countrymen, but on the other hand, we also rant about lack of investment in the country because the investors are fearful of their security and life as well as the fear of loss of their investment due to frauds or unstable investment environment. The fear of the investors is the product of non-existence of any legal deterrence against violation of laws. When the investor feels insecure in terms of his security to life and investment, he takes his investment to other countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Canada, and Thailand rather investing in his own country.

For God sake! The government must undertake the accountability of all the corrupt elements through the application of relevant laws by the competent courts but not through social media propaganda, press conferences or electronic media. The extra-judicial accountability of any person accused of corruption or corrupt practices is having negative effects on the relevant state institutions, which ultimately fail in their duties to protect the rights of the citizen against any injustice.

The bureaucrats, bankers and other officials are now scared, and they are not ready to give their honest input in the files, as they are scared of Interrogation and implication in any case in future.

We, as a state, have only promoted the fear rather than promoting the idea of accountability in our business community and investment sectors through the indiscriminate application of laws. Let me call it as “fear technology” in the name of accountability to terrorise various factions of society, including businessmen and the potential investors. This fear technology is eating away comfort zone for general public and investors, including government officials.

This fear technology has almost paralyzed our bureaucrats with fear of humiliation even in performing their normal duties. The present government has so far also failed to give confidence to the officials and business community to work fearlessly. I have a firm belief that the government is almost at halt at present because of the fear of insecurity induced in the minds of official functionaries. The government has to enhance the sense of security to all the stakeholders for better governance and transparent accountability through accountability reforms. We as a nation have to halt the use of fear technology, which is highly detrimental to the entire governance system. Let us be accountable as a nation for our every act and let the State ensure not to promote or adopt the use of fear technology to overpower the opponents to run the government.

I fully appreciate and endorse the views expressed by CJP Mr Saeed Khosa that “let us also discuss how the legislature can be restricted to its legislative domain and how the legislators can be held back to their legislative role rather than encroaching upon the executive domain through development funds and through interference in appointment, posting, transfer or promotion of public servants which is the main breeding ground for misuse of authority, corruption, lack of merit, inefficiency and the resultant bad governance”.

The bureaucrats need constitutional protection for their legal and honest actions taken in good faith whereas politicians need to be treated with respect rather are subjected to media trial. Similarly, the business community needs to be respected and protected for their services to the country and any action against above all should be initiated only once a crime is established. The accountability laws should be reformed to put an end to the victimisation and accountability agencies should follow the law strictly and should be liable to accountability and punishment in cases of false prosecution.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The News’’ on January 22^nd, 2019

The Link to Article is: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/421969-business-as-usual-at-halt-fear-technology-and-state

NTRC via new enactment or referendum on national failures and way forward by Senator A. Rehman Malik

The country is passing through unprecedented turmoil where the economy is falling day by day, the adverse effects of which are now visibly seen in the form of price hike and this deteriorating economy will further affect common men's security.

The political history of Pakistan is full of political deals, wheeling and dealing, sacking of democratically elected governments, economic disasters and dictatorial policies imposed on the people of Pakistan.

There has been propaganda of accountability covering a minor portion of corruption with built-in tools to keep the power in hand whereas nobody demands the accountability of intellectual dishonesty/corruption in this country taking place since its independence, which remained a major factor of a stumbling block for the prosperity and development of the country in the hands of the rulers.

Time has come to expose those hidden hands and the faces, which have brought our country to this worst level in almost all walks of life. The country is continuing to move on a slow pace with the main motto of rulers to remain in power. Unfortunately, the ruling elites failed to impose the rule of law including the present government. The in-depth study of law enforcement shows that most of the laws were made to rule the public and not to serve the public in defiance of rule of law. These laws have failed to create real deterrence to block those who take the law in their hands to use in their favour. Pakistan is not the first nation, which is facing this kind of dilemma of internal dissatisfaction and wedge within various segments of the society including political polarisation.

The nations do not progress unless the people are made the real and the only stakeholders in the decision-making. The elite class always remained the main governing power in the government whereas the common man continued to face the same turmoil, which he was facing during the colonial time through exercise of same colonial laws. The Parliament, partially representing a common man, is being totally ignored. The government is making its major decisions without taking the parliaments into confidence, which in fact is a sign of distrust in the public wisdom.

The blunders committed at the national level by all the stakeholders, particularly the rulers who are needed to be identified not for the sake of court or media trial but to learn a lesson from the mistakes and to find a way forward for our future generations. The model of South Africa given by Nelson Mandela is still applicable in many countries like us where National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (NTRC) has successfully performed in their national interest.

It is high time to review our blunders and on the basis of our past mistakes, we should find the way forward for long term solution. The way forward is now a real deal with the people of Pakistan, which can only take place if middle and lower middle classes are considered as main stakeholders of the country and their participation is ensured at all levels.

The concept of National Reconciliation was conceived by Nelson Mandela and implemented in South Africa to create harmony within the ethnic groups emerged over a long period. We have also got similar issues in our country and people of Pakistan now want intellectual accountability besides addressing the menace of financial corruption.

The need of the hour is the National Truth & Reconciliation Commission (NTRC) to highlight the real factors and causes of intellectual corruption and to name and shame those who had been responsible for polarisation in the country and the society. Mr. Mandela decided that the best thing for his nation was reconciliation at the national level wherein he took some political parties on board to bring about some political solution to the disharmony and distrust amongst the different factions/segments of the society.

Admittedly, there is no provision in the Constitution to have such broad-based powerful and independent commission, which could undertake the national task to expose and dissect all those blunders done by powerful and influential bureaucrats, politician and dictators in the past. Hence, I propose that nation must consider a referendum on National Truth and Reconciliation Commission to take the opinion of a common man, as it is very important for profiling the blunders, errors, lack of responsibilities by many actors in the arena of bureaucracy and politics.

This is not with the intention of criminal prosecutions but an exercise of a national assessment of our lapses and national failures. People of Pakistan want the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which should be based on the following objectives and TORs of national importance:

1. The Commission to collect all the authentic national archive highlighting the causes, factors and actors, which has brought the country to this level of what is happening today.

2. To provide a platform for the general public to tell their stories and facts to put the national record straight.

3. Failure to provide the full basic right of education, health and easy justice.

4. Failure of implementation of rule of law and non-implementation of many provisions of Constitution of Pakistan including the 18th Amendment.

5. To recommend legislative, structural or other changes to avoid a repetition of past abuses and amendments for speedy justice for a common man.

6. Establishment of a superior court for constitutional matters.

7.To name those who were responsible for providing shelter to those who had extracted huge banks loans besides those who had written those off at the cost of national economy.

Our history is full of record where many understandings were created to accommodate each other for political benefits by ignoring the main stakeholders, which were common men. These were, in fact, marriages of conveniences between the dictators and political parties and sometimes between political rivals to advance a common agenda and all such compromises need to be identified for a proper consolidation to be part of Pak history.

I was wondering as to why the people of Pakistan were totally kept in dark in such processes of deals and indoor decisions sometimes in the assemblies and the governments avoided placing important decisions before the Parliament. I am also worried as to why there is no provision in the Constitution which prevent deals between vested political and non-political entities to grab and prolong their power with mutual protection?

Similarly, there is no provision to regulate and watch the behaviour of our economy besides foreign and internal security, which is presently managed by the bureaucracy alone. Why could the successive governments not devise and implement an inbuilt system to keep a check and balance on the behaviour of the economy and other matters of greater national interests at all stages of its process? It is another issue, which needs deep analysis and probe to find out as to how the political polarisations and political wheeling-dealing by vested interests had contributed to the decline of the economy and crippled other vital organs of the state.

We are in trouble because our present system is failing to manage the ever-increasing issues. The concept of the National Truth & Reconciliation Commission is not new to bring the truth of the polarisation and "political deals" to the people of Pakistan - the actual stakeholders - to understand the background and factors behind such indoor deals ultimately compromising national interests. The PPP under the leadership of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had proposed the establishment of such commission in the historic Charter of Democracy and she had been advocating for it till her last breath and she wanted this concept to be transformed into reality.

Let us not shut our eyes and allow the country to slide into irreversible troubles zone and work collectively to halt it by playing our role to save the future of our generation instead. We must also find a collective and workable solution to drag the nation out of these deep multiple crises as the government alone will not be able to pull out the nation out of this coming economic tsunami and external political pressures.

I propose that either a joint Parliament session be considered to undertake these discussions and proposals to take upon this national duty of National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the form of a broad based parliamentary commission from all political parties with the above proposed TOR’s. Alternatively, the Parliament may allow a referendum through a resolution to allow a common man to give direct opinion on the above multiple crises via referendum for the formation of an independent and transparent NTRC as earlier proposed by many senior leaders. The TORs can be formulated with the collective wisdom of all the parliamentarians through votes and not by a selective group within the Parliament.

I hope the government will take the initiative by taking the opposition into confidence and perhaps bring a special draft enactment on the constitution of NTRC if not through referendum

N.B: These are my personal views and not necessarily represent the views of my party.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The News’’ on January 16^th, 2019

The Link to Article is: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/419581-ntrc-via-new-enactment-or-referendum-on-national-failures-and-way-forward