The Daily PakistanPolitics Dec16-31, 2014

• Dec31-2014--The governments careless constitutional reforms were set for a senate rejection even if they got thru the national assembly...The government started hanging without thought those convicted for attempts on coupplotter musharaf...if that was not enough they riled up the PTI by blocking a dhandli commission...they also created doubts on what they meant by ethnic and sectarian as key sectarian groupings like the MWM were lined up with the opposition...earlier they had said that only mass murderer's and those who attacked troops would be brought before military tribunals...even the PTI started too feel that military courts were unconstitutional and the PMLn could easily refere cases such as Tahir ul qadris attempt to occupy the national assembly to them in theory and whether they would help in detering or ending terrorism was always up in theair...they further riled up the people by increasing petroleum sale taxes without any reference to parliament...this all proved that the nawaz sharif regime was truly chakar baaz in intent and purpose and was bent upon creating problems for the people and the opposition...while opposition to military courts was minimal the attitudes of the PMLn were shown tobe negative and anti constitutional...with the PPP already riled up with the zardari clique a complicated constitutional change had little chance of even getting thru the national assembly...the government could however amend the Army act which cannot be challenged in any court...
• Dec30-2015--Fire in a lahore watch plaza in Anarkali kills 13
• Dec30-2015--senators say they are wary of military courts
• Dec30-2015--IHC orders release of Zaki ur Reman Lakhvi
  
• Dec29-2014--The governments attempt to legislate military courts into the constitution is bound to throw up a number of legal challenges as the constitution literally forbids military courts...The Dawn suggests that the government is going to amend articles 212 a, b and article 8-1 in an attempt to make military courts acceptable to fundamental rights provisions and the right to a free trial...however the government expects the courts to humbly accept the changes as a temporary provision for two years...many think that the government position is unconstitutional...but its habit of avoiding taking responsibility and handing over major tasks to the armed forces or the chinese might not work in this regard as the SC is not known to brook any interference inits domain in a civilian era...The government is developing a disdain for people problems such as high prices, availaibility of gas and electricity and internal security...The sindh government has no problems in this regard as police and Rangers gun down everyone and take no prisoners...
• Dec28-2014--terrorism retains center stage as Nawaz Sharif refuses teh EU and UN on suspending death sentences while Asif Zardari says military courts have a bad history...while 20 militants are killed in Orakzai in clashes
• Dec28-2014--a soldier and eight militanst are killed in teh Sui area
  
• Dec26-2014--price gouging by LPG retailers is getting out of hand...many say that LPG supplies may also be dwindling just like gas...LPG being sold at as high a price as Rs.220 per kilo in lahore
  
• Dec26-2014--The SNGPL warns of a collapse in the gas distribution network if adequate gas is not supplied to it by SNGPL...in most areas in the north gas is only available for a few hours to domestic consumers
  
• Dec26-2014--while jet black may not be racist in intent that is what the COAS told reluctant politicos to convince them that only jet black terrorists will be convicted by his military courts...the military also has to aid reconciliation in balochistan...raise ten new companies of the FC...train law enforcement officials and intensify the karachi operation..obviously many who are already considered jet black amongst the politicos will have heaved a sigh of relief..! That is why military justice is usually considered a sham...that basically means if they look and feel like terrorists than to the gallows they go...military courts are usually headed by officers and they usually follow the line given by the prosecutors or JAG...theoretically since terrorists are not military men even a lieutenant can head a military court though usually they have tobe colonels or above depending on the grade of the military accused...!The military with their ordered ways can set up as many courts as the government wants within days of a constitutional amendment...many are looking at a 1999 SC judgement which declared military courts unconstitutional...at the moment terrorist cases are handled by ATC's but those also include cases of mischief mongers including some politicians who wanted to spread terror rather than terrorism...one lawyer suggests an amendment in the Army Act to include adjudication of cases referred to the military by the executive...That is the easy way out or a constitutional amendment eg. in article 245 could allow the army to dispense justice as well in areas that they are asked to assist the government...
  
• Dec25-2014--another round of pakistani politicians/parties gathering has ended...this time not with a resolve to talk and fight it out but try militants quickly and hang them as fast as they can...the major change seems to be that military courts will handle terrorists for the next two years...that requires a constitutional amendment...earlier rounds did not achieve the desired results...it made no difference to the taleban and other groups whether the government wanted to fight or talk...the last time Nawaz Sharif insisted that he be allowed to start talks...after several rounds no desired result was achieved and the government went back to fighting it out...however the terrorists resolve to terrorize pakistan into submission has not altered...they have continued to terrorize at regular intervals with greater effect...The last two incidents being the wagah attack and the army public school massacre in peshawar...The army has continued to fight it out even forcing north waziristan tobe vacated and attempting to clear the ammunition dumps and militants left behind despite the consequences of another million or two of internally displaced people...they have even created some sort of friendly military relations with afghanistan...while the militants have been subdued to an extent they have not lost their firepower and use it to even more horrendous effect...other after effects are the spreading of the militant phsyche to every corner of the country with almost a continuous stream of incidents in various parts of the country...the militants have dispersed to every place in the country and the afghan border areas...at least three taleban chiefs have died in drone and military attacks...however the current one is hiding in some remote place inside afghanistan..most rounds of political gatherings have seen the elimination of a taleban chief...the matter of military courts trying militants has been opposed mutely by organisations that have a history of fighting military governance...the government now wants to quickly hang those on death row as well as shifting cases to military courts for disposal...how that works out is yet tobe seen...however the government seems happy at the hoopla without much opposition to what they want to do...as one politician put it we really donot know what to do to end terrorism...terrorism however seems to save governments like nothing else and the unhappy people have to suffer further under the governments economic reign of terror...nobody in the government seems responsible for the countries travails witnessed recently in the PTI Dharna and internal security failures...and the military and nawaz sharif probably hide their smiles as almost all politicians and the media have been turned into submissive(deaf and dumb) ants by the aggressiveness of the terrorists...
  
• Dec24-2014--while schools barely get any security anywhere else around 600 FC men have been given the task of protecting islamabads 900 schools
  
• Dec24-2014--The IHC suspends the musharaf treason court from proceeding as it hears appeals from abettors...This seems tobe in line with government policies of appointing people who were associated with musharaf and coup... plotters
  
• Dec24-2014--two die as trucks carrying urea to karachi attacked near gwader killing two...as a pipeline near pirkoh is blown up
  
• Dec24-2014--The PMLn regimes suspect understanding of economics come to the fore as LPG cylinder prices are hacked up by Rs.100 pere kg...the government has refused to reduce oil, electricity and LP tariffs as international prices fall to $60 a barrel...
  
• Dec24-2014--The government trying to tamper with justice by trying to create speedy courts for terrorism and harass supporters of the Taleban..The US and afghans try to help by suggesting that they will go after pakistani taleban ensconced there...the pak afghan border is one of the most infested regions...The PMln suggestion that terrorists be tried in military courts has been shot down for the present...many believe that both shiite and sunni seminaries are terror infected...The government can only solve most of such problems by nationalizing mosques, imambargah's and allied seminaries...the government should try to end ownership of mosques and imambargah's by individuals...all such places should be run by citizen committees...The government however refuses to send back afghan refugees
  
• Dec23-2014-- The karachi police kill another 13 militants
  
• Dec23-2014--The LHC and SHC have stayed the hangings of several convicts...The SHC wants new death warrants tobe issued...!!
  
• Dec23-2014--Imran Khan returning to peshawar after the dharna asks the federal government to return the FC to KP and hire 5000 IDP's in the police deptt...he also asked for more funds for security and more control over afghan refugees and afghan border crossers...of the 23000 FC men only 155 are stationed in peshawar and the rest are all over pakistan...
  
• Dec22-2014--gas pipeline blownup in pirkoh
  
• Dec22-2014--another 55 convicts tobe hanged in the next few days
  
• Dec22-2014--another eight bullet riddled bodies were found in sanjavi and pishin in balochistan
  
• Dec22-2014--another four hanged in faisalabad jail...!!! the PMLn government is encouraging a wave of vigilantism akin to Mcarthyism in the USA...we have terrorists blaming terrorists in the form of arch ethnic terrorist Altaf Hussein blaming Lal masjid seige leader mullah aziz of supporting terrorism...or we can say minorities targeting minorities...we also have some sort of civil soceity( origins unknown) protesting against the mullah in islamabad...an odd bunch in coats and trousers...universities including islamabads quaideazam university are being closed in the face of threats although some suggest that these are just winter vacations...Others joke that now Malala cannot be a future primeminister and a peshawar army school boy will have tobe nominated...the situation many say even in the terrorist domain is gender specific...apart from the malala incident only one other woman was thrashed ie apart from the women dying in terrorist blasts and those too in peshawar mostly...The interior minister who should have resigned and lords over an entire intelligence and police beaurocracy is calling for responsible citizens to help the intelligence agencies who are known to exist in every nook and corner and every organisation...how responsible people can be associated with guttersnipe terrorists is difficult to believe...on the other hand they are going on a hanging spree of over 500 terrorists and killers some of whom are said tobe extreme natured servants of democracy and peoples rule...The military is said tobe behind this wave of inhumane(considered an abomination by human rights activists outside pakistan)hangings...while the government has the infrastructure to investigate it has failed abominally to control major terrorism incidences...many believe the fault lies squarely with the political class who have literally neutralized the police ...The tragic and brutal nature of the latest incident cannot absolve the governments failure to control such acts of extreme violence...the interior minister has removed security available to mullah aziz given to him since 2011...While the mullah has survived numerous cases the government and previous army coup plotters apparently handed over a government mosque to his family...That is also something that the government can undo if it thinks that the mullah is seriously involved in terrorism...others suggest that the government should take over all mosques, imambargahs and minority places of worship and run them in a civilized manner...similarly is the sentiment against organized religious or religiosly run schools whether run by the minority or the majority...as opposed to mullah aziz altaf hussain involved in over 30 murder cases has not faced a single trial and and has lived in government supported exile for almost twenty years...The PTI which not long ago was threatening to kill Nawaz Sharif is now also opposing all terror groups including the taleban...The governments pick and choose policy on which terrorist to support is almost appalling and destructive...similarly we have the violence natured PAT again on the streets to oppose terrorism...?many suggest that the street is not the place for religios gatherings as well as meaningless protests and simple statements from politicians should suffice...
  
• Dec20-2014--protests and counter protests took place in islamabad against and for mullah aziz of the lal masjid whose opponents said that he supported the violent massacre in peshawar...two were arrested in peshawar connected with a mobile found on one of the attackers while Umar Narey who is apprently the man behind the peshawar attacks and is the peshawar taleban commander threatened more attacks from his hideout in Nangarhar...seven bullet riddled taleban bodies were found in sanjavi, ziarat apaprently killed in an FC operation while two taleban killed in gujerat which is emerging as another taleban center...a drone attack killing five has taken place in an area said to be the hideout of Umar Narey on the afghan side of the border..The wagah suicide bomber came from bajaur while the rangers killed three militants in karachi
  
• Dec20-2014--62 killed in military assaults in the khyber and kurram regions
  
• Dec20-2014--The KP government has urged the federal government to take action against afghanistan immediately...The taleban leaders are said tobe in the afghanistan border regions but what has happened in Fata is impossible to do in afghanistan even to the extent of bombing hideouts and the pakistan military does not seem to have the ability to extend its power and courage into a neighbouring country...despite a weak afghan system there seems little possibility of any immediate assault on areas even near our borders...
  
• Dec20-2014--In what many see as a flawed judicial-military-governmental system the army chief ordered the hanging of six convicted by military court martials..on death row for some time they had appeals pending in the SC...The most famous amongst them was Mohammed Aqeel alias Dr. Usman a former military paramedic who led a daring assault on the GHQ which appeared tobe poorly defended...the other hanged was Arshad Mahmood who was convicted of trying to assassinate musharaf a military coupplotter...the country had suspended death sentences for the last six years...The attack on the peshawar army school caused a severe loss of authority to the nawaz sharif regime and the army chief reacted pushing pakistan into a quasi dictatorship once again...That also saw the rearrest of zakiur rehman lakhvi who had been released on bail by an anti terrorism court...pakistan is thus again at the mercy of acting on the demands of foreign regional opponents and personal whims...such events as the peshawar school massacre have occurred in many places but the countries sectarian, regional and religious sentiments have allowed the governments not to take actions against neighbouring countries apart from the militarily formidable internal threats the taleban and other organisations with terrorist skills...The government is unable to decide how and what actions to take...The government tries agin and again to dent the divisions in the country but has been unable to make headway against a more formidable enemy which despite anti people actions retains the support of a large cross section of the populace...That is also blamed on the rich poor divide or the powerful-weak people divide...others point to the pathetic governmental policies which makes peoples lives more difficult thus making it difficult for them to support any sort of governance...the government should make it clear that it is making clear cut actions military and otehrwise to handle the situation but many donot expect much from a government unable to control peoples popularity and support...earlier the military and ISI were said to be the main stumbling blocks but despite the ISI being a mere shadow of its popular and powerful heydays and the military almost in the governments pocket no major solution has been arrived at...The country keeps stumbling from one terrorist incident to the next without achieving any sort of internal peace...the opponents of terror are relatively weak and have no voice or power in government which is filled with the remnants of the countries last twenty years of violent politics...They are all part and parcel of the military-intelligence-ethnic complex who turn violent one day and mock the governments failures the next...
  
• Dec17-2014--In a major terror strike the Taleban struck from afghanistan the Army Public School in peshawar killing over 140 mostly children in gun and suicide attacks...a huge school with over 2500 children it was unable to avoid tremendous casaulties...the taleban have not previously conducted such an inhumane attack on children and many point to the ethnic, racist, military and regional attitudes and animosities that could be behind the attack ..The attack occurred days after an indian government terrorist threat...A taleban commander from afghanistan apparently controlled the attack...there were nine attackers including six suicide bombers...threats against pakistan have also been issued by anti kalabagh politicians...Imran Khan also announced an end to his long running anti Nawaz Sharif protests and agitation...The army run school caters to the military and peshawar elite...reports suggest that it is in retaliation for the ongoing military operations...The Nawaz Sharif regime is particularly blind to regional animosities while the military has shown little regard for the consequences with most politicians mired in their own inane politics...Mullah Fazluulah the apparently afghan based Taleban head has been against westernized education systems...The taleban have blown up hundreds of schools in Fata and KP...The afghan taleban have expressed a distaste for attacking children...the army chief has flown to kabul for initiating action against the taleban...while kabul has been behind drone attacks on Fata it has taken no action against the pakistani taleban hiding there...many believe kabul should allow pakistan to bomb and capture Mullah Fazlullah and his men...however most believe that while pakistan tacitly accepts drone attacks from afghanistan it has not yet initiated any action againt the Taleban hiding in afghanistan probably due to paucity of information or a reluctance of the military to actively invade or bomb afghanistan areas which once started would have no end until a complete end to militancy and terror attacks...peshawar has seen several serious terrorist attacks while smaller attacks had become almost routine..The PTI government had gradually created an atmosphere some say of almost congeniality to reduce attacks..however the violence in Fata particularly in the nearby agencies like khyber was constant with the north waziristan operation and IDP's causing further concerns and problems
  
• Dec17-2014--In the ongoing election dhandli battles the LHC rejected the speaker national assemblies attempt to stop the reopening of his constituences vote recount