The Daily PakistanPolitics March 1-15, 2015

• Mar15-2015--PTA says eleven million SIM's blocked while more than 70 million reverified thru thumb imprints...while in other countries only criminals get their thumb imprints stored...In pakistan literally every person is considered a criminal until found innocent...many think it would be much easier to search for those involved rather than carry out such countrywide exercizes...the telecom companies had no problems with thumb imprints that have bedeviled NADRA, the election commission and the PTI...The Pakistan Election commission should also think of using biometric machines to verify thumb imprints before voting...
  
• Mar15-2015--The shiite leaning pakistani government is wary of siding with the milder saudi led sunni grouping in the middle east as shiite iran strongarms sunni and militant moves in the area...for the sunnis the Huthis who have divided yemen once again and the IS which attempted to divide iraq are similar in nature...not taking sides in this shiite-sunni divide means pakistan is hedging its economic bets which are also linked with iran reemerging as an accepted nuclear power...most of pakistans petroleum interests lie with kuwait, qatar and saudia...pakistan would have liked to see turkey emerging stronger at the expense of syria but there again nawaz sharif changed earlier pakistan policy...pakistan is just following the jelly like US policy which changes each week...pakistan should take a strong stance on the issues or it will be seen as a weak country and a shiite sympathiser in most middle east barring sanaa, iraq, syria and lebanon...pakistan is wary of iran fomenting more trouble in unstable balochistan as its own control is seen as weak and its known inability to control internal divisions as well as anti iran tensions...mostly pakistan has tagged alongwith USA on iran attempting to have some say on irans militant tactics in the entire region...playing with fire on both sides of a dispute but still trying to keep its interests foremost is a tactic that can easily backfire and throw pakistan into no man's land...
  
• Mar15-2015--The QWP says three mpa's voted against party in KP
  
• Mar15-2015--Bomb blast in Orangi kills one
  
• Mar15-2015--Rangers bring another mqm killer to ATC court who they say has killed over 120...mqm informants say that mqm has been target killing in enhanced mode since 2008 under Anis QaimKhani...most of the mqm's 200-300 killers live in azizabad and they had acquired weapons from Quetta...
  
• Mar14-2015--Another 26 suspects rounded up during the mqm raid remanded into police custody...many believe that a maze of houses in azizabad are controlled by mqm's militants...others suggest that the houses should be destroyed and a park be constructed there...the JI asks for action against the mqm since they are directly involved in terrorism
  
• Mar14-2015--Army claims that it has developed its own armed drone and tested its firing capability...since pakistan does not have any military sattelites control would have tobe from ground based radars and the range would be limited...Dawn reports suggest that the system is a mix of italian and chinese technology...
  
• Mar13-2015--The SC cancels several sindh government procurement orders including a Rs 1.23 billion order for APC's from Serbia...other orders declared illegal are one for the purchase of a helicopter and another for 86 fire tenders...
  
• Mar13-2015--After the rangers raided the mqm headquarters they put 28 of their men under preventive detention for three months...The mqm said that they were not against the Rangers despite several statements to the contrary...many believe that the mqm has been involved in karachi violence for the last 27 years...they have killed and subdued sindhi's, punjabis, pukhtuns and nowadays apparently they go around killing ASWJ and taleban men...The Rangers believe that they are behind most of the criminal activities in karachi...The action has been taken after the Army chief strongly condemned what is happening in karachi...Amir Khan is being called the mqm's army chief and has a long history of ethnic, political and religious violence...many also believe that activities were being controlled from 90...many politicians including shahbaz sharif praised the mqm style of violent politics and it is believed that the ISI and many politicians were frightened of taking action against mqm terrorists/troublemakers giving them a sort of immunity not enjoyed by anyone else in the country...That era might be coming to an end as without policing powers no area can be controlled...thus the karachi area has seen almost continuous strife since the mqm inception...The mqm political power is seen as marginalised and sidelined as other groups also willing to make deals with political opponents like the mqm...that has been their downfall as they have no principles and joined each and every government that was in power in sindh and at the center...if the military/rangers/isi and the political governments in sindh and at the center can consistently act against politically violent individuals and political groups than pakistan can once again achieve a peace which had seen karachi thrive and become a center of activity for everyone in the country...while altaf hussain is regarded as the mastermind of karachi violence his era is coming to an end as he is frightened of coming back and facing the music...the 90 scenario according to Dawn shows people attempting to occupy the street and people have to go thru four checkposts to get to 90...the mqm said that Rangers had picked up 106 people from the area...while things are not as troubled as they were in mqm's early days the government is still mindful of the mqm methods of closing down karachi whenever they feel they are threatened...obviously the mqm will have to surrender to police and military methods if they are to coexist with the system...The USA in a strange statement says that no Nato arms passed thru pakistan and none should theoretically be available in Karachi however with Nato containers known to have disappeared and arms continuously moving over the afghan border availaibility of nato arms and equipment is known inside pakistan...The mqm in another statement suggests that they have a utility as a bulwark against the Taleban which theoretically cannot be contained by political means and needs the countries armed forces to contain their spread...many feel that the mqm can only have a future if they work for the pakistani political system and become normal politicians and join all available political parties to bring karachi back to normal...!!!
  
• Mar13-2015--In what can be said tobe a strange coalition the rainbow minded asif zardari installs Raza Rabbani and maulana abdul ghafoor haideri as senate chairman and deputy...
  
• Mar12-2015--seven militants killed in Dera Bugti clash with FC
  
• Mar12-2015--Rangers raided the nine zero mqm headquarters in karachi and recovered numerous illegal weapons and arrested Amir Khan who in altaf husseins heydays was known as a key hitman for altaf hussein...they also arrested an escaped convict...an mqm worker who according to television and mqm reports took out a pistol was shot dead although Rangers denied any involvement...a lot of fun was being made of Asif Zardari who called for "tuqadas" a religious term for a political parties office which is known to take part in all sorts of criminal activities...The weapons did not look like normal recoveries that police make from places that they raid...the Rangers suggest that many of the weapons seemed tobe of Nato origin...Altaf Hussein suggested that the Rangers had brought the weapons with them although he did suggest that party criminals like him should not have stayed at 90...many suggest that the raid came after the mqm rejected overtures from the PMLn...the government suggested that they had authorisation for such a raid...mqm sources suggest that other places of altaf hussein's family were also raided...coming on the heels of the baldia factory fire revelations mqm does not have a clean face to put on the negative aspects of the raid...the weapons also paint a negative picture of the supposedly middle class facade of the mqm many of whose workers seem to have unknown suspect sources of income...Chaudhry Nisar defended the raid and suggested that altaf hussein had been informed...karachi was as usual shutdown to avoid further trouble from mqm workers
  
• Mar11-2015--four sunni parties citing the Raymond Davis case in which the punjab government set free an american after payments...offered to pay blood money to the heirs of salman taseer and accused the punjab government specifically of anti sunni militant acts
  
• Mar11-2015--four policemen shot dead in karachi supposedly as retaliation for the killing of seven militants over the last two days
  
• Mar11-2015--In some side interest a PTI dissident said he could form a 30 mpa aam admi party in a challenge to the elitist imran khan...!
  
• Mar11-2015--With the two chakarbaz pukhtuns asfandyar wali and maulana fazlur rehmann joining them a supposedly reluctant nawaz sharif and asif zardari presented a core majority of over sixty-six senators apart from the baloch/mqm/pmlq in support of the seemingly pathetic Raza Rabbani as senate chairman...The PMLn tried to get the support of the mqm but the baldia factory killers refused because of their complicated terrorist/killer/bhatta politics which is under threat from the PPP/Rangers...That left the PMLn at the mercy of the PPP and had to bank on a coalition of sorts with the anti PTI pukhtuns...The PMLn is wary of having to order a 2015 election with the punjab/pukhtun based PTI raring to go if another election is announced...
  
• Mar11-2015--three militants and police man killed in Swabi clash
  
• Mar10-2015--The IHC upheld the death sentence of Mumtaz Qadri saying that people or policemen cannot have the powers of a prophet or islamic government although a government can order a hit...Qadri supporters say that the killer was executing the victim over blasphemy...!others point to the killing by policemen in areas of conflict such as karachi...police can however use guns in self defence or puls muqabila's...
  
• Mar10-2015--pakistan had gone into the world cup selecting sarfraz for his batting and wicketkeeping skills however controversy has been raised as the pakistani coach Waqar Younis says he was unaware of the karachiites talents and thus played the recalled discarded Nasir Jamshed/Younis Khan as the opener who failed alongwith the standin wicketkeeper umar akmal...? many have pointed out that Waqar Younis does not know much about batting although the lacklustre bowlers in the team have improved over the last four matches...!
  
• Mar10-2015--PPP announces Raza Rabbani as its senate candidate but cannot agree to a deputy chairman candidate...a baloch from the PMLq could end up losing to the PMLn candidate...PPP claiming support of 52 ...that leaves about 42 for the PMLn..The PMLn could work on the independents and after the fata elections claim 49...an unstable senate at best
  
• Mar9-2015--eight shot dead by police in karachi who claim that they were militants, killers/extortionists and kidnappers
  
• Mar9-2015--no candidates for senate top jobs yet ...if PPP and PMLn contest seperately than the smaller groups can gang up on them although with numerous small groups agreeing on two candidates would be difficult...!!
• Mar8-2015--five killed in lyari in Rangers encounters
• Mar7-2015--ECP tells SC bench that itis ready for LG polls on Sept 20
  
• Mar6-2015--The SC also crept back into the election scenario by announcing LG election dates for KP and cantonments...the SC had an option to declare the current premier as in contempt for refusing to arrange local body elections as per its previous orders but backed out blaming the ECP instead
  
• Mar6-2015--Senate elections literally climbed over a hump with no strange results...PTI came away with six and the mqm probably got an extra seat from the PPP with one mqm member looking like a musharaf agent...the KP elections were suspended and ended in the middle of the night while the PMLn issued new rules for Fata also in the middle of the night and the election for Fata's four seats could not be held...three groups emerged in the senate..The PPP leading due to previous seats and a generalized support group of around 42 with the PMLn group having 41+6 independents and a possible PTI group with 11...If the independents all support the governing party than the PMLn can get the senate chairman with possibly a deputy from the PTI group or the other way around...The PPP and PMLn could also get together given the present strange Asif Zardari behaviour...The PMLn could also get some more votes if they could expedite the Fata elections..The PTI/mqm(never on the same side for very long) could also join any bigger group for the senate chairmanship...The PMLn which got two outsiders elected from islamabad and three sindhis from punjab will not be able to use their services until a court decides whether it is illegal to get elected people from another province in the senate elections which are basically meant to protect the area interests of provinces, islamabad and Fata...!
  
• Mar5-2015--IG punjab tells the senate that most seminaries receive foreign funding since the pakistani government or rich people donot fund them...most mosques also have a surprisingly large collection on fridays...however it must be realized that most of the sources of foreign funding are usually above board...most shiite members of parliament and the PMLn should realize that such foreign donations are not illegal...The IG also suggested that the government should ban individuals rather than sectarian and problematic organisations...both shiites and sunnis and liberation organisations usually reemerge as differently named organisations...sectarianism is still rampant from both sides especially in karachi where shiites and ASWJ workers are regularly knocked out apart from terrorist related sectarianism aspects that can be more easily controlled...
  
• Mar5-2015--In what almost certainly will result in a byelection the election tribunal ordered a thumb verification in NA122 and PP147 constituencies of lahore...since Nadra has problems verifying the thumbs imprints anyway the PTI which lost in both constituencies would get a chance to get elected in the by election
  
• Mar5-2015--Raheela Magsi swept back into the senate race as the IHC did not regard a 10000 pound unpaid loan as sufficient reason for her removal or that she had linkages to another party or that she came from another province and had illegaly had her vote shifted to islamabad despite not being a resident...both PMLn's islamabad candidates are now total outsiders...
• Mar4-2015--three policemen killed in an ambush in Loralai
  
• Mar3-2015--470 parents arrested in KP for refusing polio vaccinations
  
• Mar3-2015--Imran Khan blames Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman as crooked in senate elections as he kicks out a PTI mpa
  
• Mar3-2015--FC men amongst eleven killed in rain related incidents
  
• Mar3-2015--Shehryar Khan the PCB chief tries to fool the people about Moeen Khans casino visit while Moeen Khan opens casinos's in all australian restaurants...if the world cup ends in a fiasco than both should resign or be kicked out of the PCB...
  
• Mar2-2015--two pipelines blownup in Loti and Pirkoh
  
• Mar2-2015--Pakistan barely survive in the worldcup as Zimbabwe stumbles after nearly winning
  
• Mar1-2015--The Saudis invite Nawaz Sharif for a visit after showing irritation at his anti saudi shiite(pro iran) behaviours...the pakistanis who were once a power tobe reckoned with in the islamic world are now literally a bedraggled shadow of their former selves and the saudi's now regard them as little more than worthy of their charity..The iranians have literally taken over many middleast states and even turkey is regarded as a greater military power tobe depended upon with the pakistanis barely able to defend their own borders...pakistan cannot project any of its power under is present dependent subordinate nature...many point to the hezbollah /hamas militant groups which care little about being banned or opposed by the americans compared to the puny LeT which gets banned every few days...The saudi power too has waned and they are now dependent on the pro israeli countries like egypt and turkey as pan arabism has collapsed after saddam and the iranian support/opposition to various regional insurgencies...The syrian fiasco and failure of islamic groups in many of the emerging democracies is seen in the same light as the IS/Huthi scenario's...The iranians are literally attacking the saudi's on their door steps...given the change in US attitudes on iran and the nuclear talks the saudi's are clearly worried as they are dependent on US power which is literally hobnobbing with their next door opponents...The saudis to project power will probably have to develop militant power as well as develop the ability to fight dirty wars like the iranians and also develop as a nuclear power...their is no point in being embarassed about supporting a liberation struggle or fighting to protect a lackey's government in this day and age...The pakistanis are a spineless power embroiled in regional and internal wars which they have trouble acknowledging or standing up to...The saudis also realised that there was no point in protecting the price of oil which the iranians wanted them to do...many of the pro iran groups had surmised that the saudis would have pressed pakistan to oppose the iranian oil pipeline...although others regard it as doomed due to US opposition and sanctions...