The Daily PakistanPolitics 01-12 Nov, 2012

• Nov12-2012--violence continued in karachi with another 11 killed by various killers obviously belonging to karachis various political groups...many feel that the sindh government should either go for a seperate karachi setup or province as it is unable to control any process barring development...altaf hussein, asif zardari and qaim ali shah can be pinpointed as complete failures in their way of handling karachi which at best amounts to letting any gunmen kill and escape...giving organisations like teh mqm complete immunity is basically teh starting point of teh whole issue...
• Nov12-2012--with the ISI looking increasingly like an organization without oversight and running at tangents to teh government teh PPP regime unable to start a probe into the 1990 funding of PPP, PMLn other politicians...The reasoning of the fundings are unclear and why more than half of teh funds were diverted to teh military...many also point to the nawaz sharif assertion that the Zardaris also received upto 50 million...that also leaves the way open to investigate other ISI chiefs including teh controversial Pasha and teh present army chief general Kiani...Many feel that pakistan now has a plethora of organizations in teh intelligence and investigation related fields and some sort of overall control system is also necessary for organizations like teh ISI which have even apparently attempted to fund nepalese maoist guerrillas...will teh PPP be able to ask the pagara family to return funds or altaf hussein or mustafa khar or abdul hafeez pirzada...one doubts that such an investigation into ISI behaviour will ever take place...many feel that teh ISI too should be bifurcated into its civilian and military components...The ISI theoretically has to appoint undercover people in all major military and civilian deptts...others feel that teh ISI is supposedly very efficent in controlling corruption at lower levels in teh military although it is unable to control corruption including its own at teh top levels in governance and military domains...like the police many feel that teh ISI too takes its cut...others point to how the hameed gul and akhter abdur rehman families attempted to become industrialists...hamid guls family could barely run its askari bank funded buses...
• Nov11-2012--Lesco which runs teh electricity distribution network in teh lahore region announces losses of Rs25 billion...they seem to have no liabilities and it seems that they are just making a financial document based on supposed prices that should be charged to teh consumer...they also have no huge bank loans or government subsidies or funding so one wonders at teh accumulated losses..many feel that the power system operation overall is now literally a joke and unless a wapda like system is recreated its handling will get even worse...despite increasing prices teh government still claims huge subsidies and circular debt...and this is a system which earns around 600 billion annually...plus taxes of around 90 billion...
• Nov11-2012--The karachi war between ethnicists, sects and probably military or sindh government killing squads took off again as twenty were gunned down including six seminary students..The police say it is mostly sectarian retaliation...and they were unable to identify anyone...while another three shiites were shot dead in quetta
• Nov11-2012--CJ changes his tune and suggests that they have transformed politics when this PPP regime is regarded as teh most pathetic in its history which has an apparent inability to deal with the countries known problems...
• Nov11-2012--police intelligence officials inform the anti terrorist court that bombay suspects got training at various LET training camps..the suspects lawyer than asked if they had visited these camps and why they did not take action against them...they said they had only been told by informers...even ajmal kasab said that they had trained in forests and there were only two LET related centers which did not have any apparent training mechanisms..many suggest that the PPP regime has become subjugated to the indians and will do anything to to appease them....The indians now want voice samples of LET leaders when they had earlier said that they had already identified teh voices of the controllers in pakistan...many feel that the PPP is preparing to reach a farcical judgement without any real evidence...The bombay suspects apparently seemed to have little or no training and could not use the supposed bomb making material that they had
• Nov10-2012--PPP's raja which itself does not stop crying about the past suggests that the balochis forget the past...PMLn says the PPP is attempting to muddle judicial and administrative powers and wants the judiciary tobe subordinate to teh government while the president continues to use the presidency for political purposes...he said it is shocking that teh PPP wants the presidents decision to be above that of teh SC...while PTI wants nawaz sharif to quit politics...on teh other hand iftikhar chaudhry has finally realized that teh military distorts teh constitution almost similar to PPP's attempts at turning the constitution into some sort of politician assistance document...The PPP has to realize that criminals whether political or not have to be given exemplary punishments for corruption for it to have any effect...PPP seems to have teh attitude that teh corrupt must be made primeministers and presidents...the PPP has turned murder and corruption into a joke...using both for political gain
• Nov10-2012--mna amongst 12 injured in dera bugti blast
• Nov10-2012--In karachi police teargassed protesting shiites who blocked roads and set vehicles on fire...later a 52 year old advisor to teh ISO was shot dead...pillion riding banned in three sindh cities as violence is possible during shiite processions and majalis
• Nov10-2012--militants attacked the Thowikhula scouts fort in south waziristan claiming to have killed 48 soldiers...authorities however say only one soldier and several militants were killed
• Nov9-2012--a senate comiittee ordered the arrest of teh KESC CEO for not appearing before it who said he was only responsible to the KESC board...The government gave distribution companies police support to stop thefts and force payments on electricity bills which seems a difficult process realistically
• Nov9-2012--In the detailed judgement on the general beg and asad durrani monetary distribution to politicians teh SC has exonerated ishaq khan even though he was seemingly involved and suggested that generals are culpable if they give or follow illegal orders...the hamid saeed statement shows how the MI directly intervened amongst warring factions and parties in karachi at that time and directly threatened the PPP, Ji, JSM, mqm, apmso,PSF,IJT and JSQM who were invoved in arson, riots,killing, abducting and torturing people in teh hundreds on a daily basis...literally a mqm-sindhi war was taking place in karachi...the army also blames Benazir bhutto for blaming them for enriching uranium to bomb making levels...apparently Benazir also supported india in crushing the khalistan movement and she opposed army maneouvres or annual exercises held in sindh...The ISPR suggested that the army chief did not have to follow her orders for training exercise locations...intelligence also were upset over the jobs given to AZO the PPP's terrorist arm...they said that AZO had been trained in india for terrorist activities...an exchange of prisoners took place between karachi's warring factions at the corp hq's...on a day when the army chief, karachi corp commander and primeminister were out of teh country the sindh government launched an operation against lal qila in hyderabad...after reports of killings the army intervened on teh presidents orders and the police withdrew...on return from overseas benazir said that teh army had provided POF weapons to mqm which were stored at lal qilla..the mqm than sought support from india which was very forthcoming even though mqm terrorists had already received trainings in india...that caused the intelligence appraisal of benazir of endangering national security and the eventual removal of her governments...many feel that the killings in karachi have continued to this day barring a brief period of two or three years in the early part of the century...mqm is accused of being backed by india and the pakistani regime asked teh indians to help out in explaining to the mohajirs that karachi was in pakistan and not india and their terrorism was unacceptable...however later many reports sugegsted that even teh mqm was formed by the government under the strategy that a government controlled terrorist organisation is better able to control dissent and secessionist tendencies almost on teh same pattern as east pakistan where it was unsuccessful...
• Nov9-2012--the government inits review petition on teh SC order that the balochistan and federal government are not performing their functions viz balochistans problems suggesting that teh court wants a 58(2b) type toppling of teh governments even though teh courts have not suggested a way to replace teh governments in question...many suggest the recourse to teh federal government and parliament is simply stopping FC activities and possibly replacing the balochistan chief minister and federal interior minister who are not considered tobe acting responsibly...
• Nov9-2012--a truck bomb rammed into an FC auto workshop in north nazimabad probably signalling teh beginning of teh taleban-mqm fight for supremacy killing three...mullah fazlullah group claimed responsibility who are considered tobe afghan based...10 others killed in karachi and two in balochistan...many believe that the attack could have come from any of pakistans terrorist groups such as the mqm given recent statements...others see effects of recent karachi turmoil and the possibility that shiite terrorist organisations could also be involved...however the effects of terrorism have been considerably negated in pakisitan due to their regular occurrence and not much sympathy is generated for any side in teh internal turmoil/conflictgiven
• Nov8-2012--violence continued across teh country with terrorism and military fighting in fata and peshawar and six killed in karachi in ethnic, political and sectarian violence
• Nov8-2012--The PPP and PMLn back away from critisizing the illegal content of teh speeches of teh army chief and chief justice while aitezaz ahsan suggests that the both can not make political speeches...
• Nov8-2012--The government says that teh swiss letter has been despatched...asif zardari hopes that teh swiss will refuse to restart teh cases while others suggest that the swiss will restart the cases and asif zardari's lawyers will ask for a stay in hearings untill his removal from office...many suggest that asif zardari may fight the cases to show a sense of bravado common in pakistan's corrupt community with the inevitable forced return of money that the zardaris took in corruption cases...
• Nov8-2012-- a police SP and five others die in a suicide bomb blast in peshawar...the third police SP killed in peshawar this year..this comes as two fuel tankers crossed over to afghanistan with government protection
• Nov7-2012--three hazaras shot dead in quetta while a passerby shot dead by protesting hazaras...In karachi two shiites shot dead...while two others were shot dead by rangers during protests...In hyderabad another bohra was killed and an AWSJ man imran commando was arrested for the murder of a taluka nazim ...as teh AWSJ protested three armed men opened fire on them...
• Nov7-2012--while the government wants itself tobe considered untouchable by teh judiciary and teh armed forces what to say of teh terrorists and teh people..there are several cases in teh SC which want teh armed forces and intelligence agencies to be regarded as saints too...ie they must not be criticisized or their speeches or actions discussed...the LHC apparently already has issued an order to stop programs meant to scandalize teh juidiciary on television...it is obvious that teh judiciary, armed forces and government are all trying tobe declared untouchables whether they are doing things properly or as seems tobe teh case...the country has the worst set of governing institutions in teh world...the governments as well as teh institutions have been unable to explain their conducts in many controversial circumstances...causing them to be seen as just as bad as the criminal and terrorists in many cases...many feel that a period of one year after removal from top office of CJ, army chief, president, corp commander, primeminister, governor, minister, speaker,war lord (such as altaf hussein) and chief minister should be allowed for all accountability cases tobe initiated...and they should be decided within one year by a seperate constitutional court...as seems almost inevitable teh SC is unable to deal with any case apart from political ones...causing teh country and its government, armed forces and judiciary to come into disrepute...however teh PPP case has been dealt a serious blow by teh sri lankan court whuich has declared unconstitutional several bills and asked for a referendum in one case...a situation very similar to what is happening in pakistan wher eth government is using teh assemblies to override even popular approval and to save its own skin
• Nov6-2012--The top three it seems are feeling teh nearing of their probable elimination from ruling status and have started issuing statements of negativity...the first came from asif zardari who seemed to blame teh military for attacks on the inefficient and unrepresentative parliament...parliament has adopted unpopular and anti punjabi measures and is not in tune with teh problems of the people and has no input in controlling bad governance barring a weak and pathetic PPP anti judiciary effort...even teh judiciary seems to have done more than teh government and parliament to solve peoples problems...The army too has avoided adopting a popular peoples supporting role that it had previously...The chief justice on teh other hand also slated for removal next year also gave an anti military statement suggesting that tanks and missiles did not guarantee security and stability and donot make a country powerful ignoring what teh worlds major powers have achieved...In pakistans case real military power would only be involved in case of a military setback of catastrophic proportions...Pakistan too cannot utilize its military power in teh regional contest with teh weakest afghanistan also propped up by the US and pakistans military power not considered strong enough to either bomb kabul or occupy jalalabad......pakistans military has been embroiled by its neighbours in regional and local infighting and made to look ordinary at times by attacks on military offices and centers by teh taleban and teh US...The attacks on what can be termed as former generals has not made teh PPP or teh judiciary look too good after former and present ISI chiefs were involved in political party management...The PPP has attempted to make nawaz sharifs involvement in teh IJI look embarassing while itself its establisher ZA Bhutto was sitting with ayub khan in initial coup meetings in 1958......those generals being attacked or accused of political involvement include hameed gul, asad durrani and the more recent javaid qazi and pasha who suspposedly met imran khan with teh US ambassador and probably also made available funds to teh PTI while giving the ISI seal of approval...also probably worrying teh military are corruption allegations about those generals involved in NHA and golf clubs also including a former ISI chief...few peopel outside the military even know how to play golf...after all the political attacks on the military and literally being unable to control the taleban terror and military attacks totally teh army chief himself a former ISI chief and involved in the negotiations to bring teh PPP back to power and also slated for removal in 2014 issued a speech since army chiefs rarely make political statements which seems more anti judiciary which regards itself as teh sole determiner of constitutional propriety...the army chiefs speech suggests that isolating teh military in determining governance matters is not acceptable and no institution should individually attempt solutions..that probably also points to the almost slavish unconstitutional role of teh pathetic asif zardari whose only power base seems tobe karachi where he illegally trys to supervise teh mqm and sindh provincial government...having no such role in teh constitution or in any other province...he also points to the attempts by religious groups to create roles for themselves in teh military which he sees as undermining military leadership...while seemingly closer to teh PPP which itself seems to want to go it alone despite being a minority power in teh provincial and national sense...In this light also see NAB attempts at getting explanations why the fauji fertilizers had held board meetings in Brazil and other foreign countries... general Kiani is also facing a case about his being over sixty and unease in teh military for his lack of response in teh abbottabad invasion and also inability to convey to teh government the peoples unease about its policies...many see it in teh light of the military officialdom enjoying perks and privileges...now even majors and colonels travel around in latest corollas and have posh living areas and quarters while the people have to travel in rickety suzukis and live in filth ..a turnaround of teh situation since teh sixties when the military used to be an institution considered praiseworthy...In this scenario also see teh reports on teh meeting of hameed gul with nawaz sharif recently critisized by the PPP's kaira for his involvement in teh IJI and afghan affairs..many also may note that in civilian times no military chief has served for five years and beyond his retirement years which many say is a pointer to general Kiani being teh first civilian times martial law administrator ie de facto...meaning when teh military roars teh politicians look for their mouseholes...many also point to the military even looking for the karachi based mqm's political power to raise support for anti taleban operations in karachi and north waziristan which makes teh PPP regime look like having no real power ...and teh military which had started out as the controller of military operations against teh taleban now looking like a floundering fish looking for support from even ethnic terrorists...
• Nov5-2012--four shot dead in balochistan including three punjabis in turbat as the balochistan chief minister is seen as tumbling around without any proper role amid governance issues...PPP unsure as to what todo and who would replace the chief minister...The PPP has generally resisted replacing its failing ministers and chief ministers...
• Nov5-2012--In what is seen as a changing interesting situation the countries two terrorist organizations the taleban and mqm seem tobe moving towards open confrontation with the mqm having no real support for its policies of duping other nationalities and subjugating karachi to slavery...hyderabad which has been peaceful has seen at least four karachi type shooting deaths including a former mqm nazim and some from minor religious groups...the taleban and mqm have been following similar tactics of eliminating opponents...
• Nov5-2012--Asif Zardari laments the inefficacy of parliament which has generally lost its leadership role as it has become hostage to a few individuals rather than represent teh views of teh people..The SC has taken over what should have rightly been teh role of parliament to control a government going haywire...while Asif zardari thinks that teh situation has changed...there has not been much change apart from teh people being attacked by the peoples party thru price hikes and shortages which are hostage to provincial concerns and industrial patronisation..Asif zardari himself has failed to take on teh role of president and has at best served as sindh's de facto chief minister...In fact he still flies of to sindh at a moments notice...ie almost everyday...
• Nov4-2012--the already corruption linked moonis elahi makes a comeback and takes over punjab leadership of teh PMlq as shujaat and pervez elahi back out of direct dealings with teh PPP in fact trying to avoid the slum dwelling wattoo factor...
• Nov4-2012--blast kills local lashkar chief in buner alongwith five others...
• Nov4-2012--The SC jumps into the mqm corner and urges sindh government out of the blue to tackle the taleban influx in karachi and illegal immigration a generally mqm plank...karachi said to have more problems with local killers of teh sunni, shiite, mohajir variety and some say sindh government death squads than the taleban who want to tackle the mqm too who are an almost unbeatable mob by karachi standards...The SC also says that teh sindh governments lack of committment shows a malafide reluctant nature as killings continue and the situation has not improved over a year...the courts however should realize that in country movements of people are not illegal..many feel that like teh administration which is blinded by its mqm sympathies the Sc too maybe starting to avoid reality ...many suggest the SC should announce immediate elections as the PPP regime is not going to show any improvement at any level...The SC has already charged two provinces with bad governance or maladministration...it was the release of around 300 mqm related desperados that slowly and inevitably turned a relatively peaceful city at that time into a crime imfested paradise of political and ethnic killings coupled with groups trying to eliminated teh AWSJ and obviously the sectarian war...SC says only 35 involved in heinous crimes were paroled without even having beeen sentenced...
• Nov3-2012--The taleban spokesman suggests that the taleban help the suppressed subjugated population of karachi by attacking teh mqm's wadera's who wont even allow karachiites to handle their own goatskins...mqm makes upto half a billion many suggest from collecting qurbani skins and offal and bhatta...while being unable to control its area goons from collecting bhatta, kidnapping and killing people...as well...
• Nov3-2012--with no worthwhile policies for the majority of teh populace the punjab PPP's Wattoo suggests that teh CJ attack teh 70 billion transportation corridor being built in lahore and urges an election platform based on votes from slum areas...most people in urban areas of punjab have started to shun the PPP's negative attitudes, leaders and policies...
• Nov3-2012--about twenty small dams built in the potohar region of punjab irigate a couple of landowners land each and are generally regarded as useless...most small dams usually siltup in a few years
• Nov3-2012--In khuzdar four gunmen opened fire at a van near stalls selling smuggled iranian oil in which 18 people were killed as the area was engulfed in a fire...
• Nov3-2012--The interior minister and teh PPP do not realize that while it is their responsibility to govern it is teh SC that will have to determine whether they are sitting around doing nothing andeh US ambassador and probably also made available funds to teh PTI while giving the ISI seal of approval...also probably worrying teh military are corruption allegations about those generals involved in NHA and golf clubs also including a former ISI chief...few peopel outside the military even know how to play golf...after all the political attacks on the military and literally being unable to control the taleban terror and military attacks totally teh army chief himself a former ISI chief and involved in the negotiations to bring teh PPP back to power and also slated for removal in 2014 issued a speech since army chiefs rarely make political statements which seems more anti judiciary which regards itself as teh sole determiner of constitutional propriety...the army chiefs speech suggests that isolating teh military in determining governance matters is not acceptable and no institution should individually attempt solutions..that probably also points to the almost slavish unconstitutional role of teh pathetic asif zardari whose only power base seems tobe karachi where he ilessed...hafiz pasha has not been able to handle shortages in any sphere nor the private sectors/ donors consistent demand for price hikes...in key areas he has not been able to start teh construction of a major dam or get a gas import pipeline started...higher salaries, uncontrolled price hikes and minor support payments to the poor have not had any effect on the teh countries terror stricken regions or improved working efficiencies or decision making...while the government has tried to replace key personalities in the pathetic power sector it has just flailed away at a program of price hikes and trying to keep teh status quo going...the failure is basically refusing to accept that the ministry of water and power, dismantling of wapda, or donor advised power sector reform have failed miserably and none of teh real issues can be handled by MOP or Nepra...and suddenly we find that having a 40 year service, past retirement wapda water sector engineer as head of wapda and they still need shakil durrani a beaurocrat with provincial expertise as an advisor on teh bhasha dam...many suggest that the wapda chief has been appointed to satisfy altaf hussein and the shiite lobby...just changing minor priorities by replacing emphasis on hydel/ furnace oil and allowing coal, solar and wind power will not effect things much...sindhis have been unable to harvest their coal and teh sindh based steel mills is still based on imported coal...so one can hardly think that replacing one imported fuel by another will make any difference...the government thinks that furnace oil whose price has tripled is the reason for the power sectors failure and coal will solve teh problem...teh country basically does not have adequate coal lying around tobe used on a daily basis...Basically in an overall sense altaf hussein, asif zardari, hafiz pasha and iftikhar chaudhry are complete failures and in a minor sense teh army chief and teh interior minister...most u might notice are sindhis...in fact all problem areas of the government including karachi are handled by sindhis...the primeministers are just orderlies and can hardly be regarded as responsible...many say that even Gilani used to take orders from bilawal and bakhtawar and anyone refusing to follow their orders was usually fired...
• Nov2-2012--Hafiz Pasha who cant run teh economy or the electricity system says entire government responsible for badly run economy and power system...
• Nov2-2012--the controversial ishratul ibad who had flown into karachi in 2002 and become its governor has survived all teh tumult by rarely ever venturing into sindh...the PMLn says his apointment is illegal due to a foreign nationality..ishratul ibad was rumored to have funded teh mqm ethnic war in karachi..a politician has asked teh SC to declare people with foreign nationalities as illegal politicians some of whom run karachi by remote terror control which include altaf hussein and ishratul ibad
• Nov2-2012--rehman malik seems to have turned islamabad into his personal province..the F-7/3 kiosk allottment to rehman malik's brother was further muddied when alleged goons of khalid malik beat up a mansehra mpa and vice admiral(r) tasneem who had protested teh alleged allotment and land grab...The SHO kohsar was apparently holed up in teh interior ministers brothers home for hours...
• Nov2-2012--PPP ran into another crisis as its balochistan party kicked out chief minister raisani from teh party...teh speaker also refused to call an assembly session until the legality of the raisani regime was determined...this after teh SC said the federal and provincial governments had both failed in their duties in balochistan...Raisani enjoying life in islamabad after the provincial government handed over Rs800 million to the tribe said he would appear before teh SC...the SC has typically been frightened of ordering him to appear and explain what he was doing in lieu of governance in balochistan
• Nov1-2012--rehman malik a karachiite who started out as a typist and ended up as an FIA chief now has turned landgrabber...his brother who was allotted a tuck shop kiosk in a F-7/3 park now has turned it into a restaurant and grabbed land around it...!!
• Nov1-2012--The PPP tries to prove that its economy is being run against their own point of views as they try to suggest that after 300-500% price hikes over four and a half years an 8% inflation is an improvement...for an economy that has improved after such hefty price hikes the inflation should theoretically be less than 1% or in negative territory...one wonders what they want to spend teh revenues on when they have no major projects anywhere...spend it on reducing prices in major fields of teh economy ...if imported gas costs 18% than charge the extra cost including construction expenses to teh industrialists and CNG walas that are wasting a valuable resource rather than the literall poverty stricken populace...after literally tripling prices of electricity they still insist that they are giving a subsidy...no reports of any subsidies being received by Pepco, KESC or teh distribution companies...
• Nov1-2012--PPP trying to delay elections to May 2013 when their term ends in April...
• Nov1-2012--In further violence in karachi which is backed by the mqm and sindhi regime three ANP men killed in attack on their office by motorcycle gunmen while four others including two policemen were also killed in robberies and drive by shootings