The Daily PakistanPolitics Oct1-15, 2010

• Oct15-2010--The SC appoints two new consultees on the orange line project...An SC spokesman also explained that the CJ was not inciting the people to rise up against the government but to use their right to vote prudently...!
  
• Oct15-2010--Cyril almeida's name has been struck off the ECL...however the corp commanders have expressed concern how he wrote such a story about a meeting in the primeministers house...he had said that the primeminister warned the army that they faced international isolation if hafiz saeed was not handled...pakistan being mostly concerned about internal affairs these days seems tobe losing ground with known friends and allies in the world due to its ineffective policies on various problems in the world... due to its shrinking away from involvement in the world the pakistanis are generally being considered an ordinary power with no effect on any issue...that is causing it to become effectively isolated worldwide and is seen as only closeted with the chinese who themselves are said tobe distancing themselves from pakistan...however nafees zakaria of the foreign office says that it is just propaganda...!!
  
• Oct15-2010--Raheel Sharif has been worried over the past year that the indians were trying to undermine CPEC generally a road with little usage...meaning that the CPEC was being reversed...he now worries that the Zarb e Azb might be reversed...his politics has not worried anyone however he continues to hammer on in the same theme...to reverse zarb e azb u would have to allow the taleban to again gather in north waziristan and again setup a massive military depot...pretty difficult one must say...
  
• Oct15-2010--The SC to takeup numerous petitions on Panamagate on October20...the petitioners want nawaz Sharif , ishaq dar and safdar disqualified and looted money recovered...Nawaz Sharif in his response had laid out a lifetime of illegal financial actions and suggested that his father was the countries first money launderer to illegally shift funds abroad...!to keep a reasonable facade the SC would have to suggest that it investigates the allegations of financial misconduct and appoint at best honest financial regulators or individuals to conduct the investigation...The PMLn has at the first stage avoided formation of an authentic and empowered commission and said that it was framing laws for overseas companies as legitimate overseas companies registered in panama do have bussinesses in pakistan...The pakistanis over 400 of them have individual companies in panama for reasons that are not entirely bussiness oriented...!
  
• Oct14-2010--Rangers shoot and kill four suspected militants in karachi
  
• Oct14-2010--A dawn columnist Cyril Almeida has been put on the ECL after he attempted to book a ticket to Dubai...he was under investigation for a report he wrote on the countries internal security...he had insinuated that the iSI chief and the punjab chief minister had a dustup and nawaz sharif had told the army chief to handle the terrorists or face international isolation...The pMLN generally considered pro indian is getting fed up with hafiz saeed and many suggest it is conniving with the indian government to get rid of mullah masood azhar of the jaish mohammed...the military however has said that they have no favorites and handle everyone on the basis of investigations...or what they do in pakistan...the US suggests that they favor the haqqani group which is largely afghan based
  
• Oct14-2010--SC chief justices seen as turning against Nawaz Sharif in the handling of the Orange Line metro case of preserving heritage sites...the court wanted new experts to advise it on technicalities rather than those that advised the provincial government
  
• Oct14-2010--SC judge backs out of christian womans blasphemy case associated with qadri murder of taseer
  
• Oct14-2010--army chief confirms death sentences in another 10 cases
  
• Oct14-2010--a three member bench of the LHC to hear panamagate pleas..The PMLn has delayed the handling of the Panamapapers by trying to shift blame as well as circumvent any direct accusations against the PMLn family in charge...The FBR issued notices to 400 of the panama companies but without progress...many had thought that it was a fit case for the NAB but petitioners say that it is too much in the control of the primeminister...The LHC is generally in the control of the provincial government to a large extent and is usually not expected to give a judgement damaging the sharifs
  
• Oct14-2010--In a surprise change of direction scotland yard wound up the money laundering charges against the mqm and altaf hussein...it is now the conclusion that money can be laundered into the UK thru any means possible...It also shows that kingpins in pakistan might have had a change of heart about altaf hussein...The PPP has probably got cold feet about other parties worming their way into sindh and have indicated that they prefer uncle altaf hussein to the others...while the interior minister probably feels that he has achieved his aims by showing that altaf hussein had gathered upto almost half a million pounds in the UK thru at best unknown donations or collections in karachi...It has also probably been shown that most of the controversies about the mqm were in grown and various mqm groups had various ideas...altaf hussein has recently failed to get the mqm mna's to resign...The change of course could also have been initiated by the GHQ where a change in leadership is imminent in November...that could cause a wholesale change in corp/rangers leadership in karachi and possibly at the ISI with a possible promotion of an ISI director...The change of heart in the PPP was also demonstrated in the senate where Raza Rabbani refused a reference against mqm senators for listening to speeches of a seditious nature...
  
• Oct8-2010--Nine alqaeda and LJ militants held in karachi including the AQIS leader in karachi
  
• Oct8-2010--The PPP rejects getting rid of Asif Ali Zardari as it tries to woo the support of Mullah Fazlur Rehman who has considerable support in KP as well as in the rest of the country...The PPP could do well in the next elections if they could rally the support of the religious segment which amounts to almost 30% of the vote and who could be uneasy with Nawaz Sharifs behaviour and attitudes in matters such as women laws and saudi specifically as well as how they have been handling internal insurgencies and kashmir...!
  
• Oct8-2010--seven killed in twin bomb attack on Pindi bound Jaffer Express...the bombs were planted on the rail track near Bolan...attack claimed by BLA
  
• Oct8-2010--The BLF claims to have killed the Zikris leader Mullah Akhter Mullai
  
• Oct7-2010--Altaf Hussein continues to pressurize the relatively weak Farook Sattar to force mna's to resign which they have refused to do so..!
  
• Oct7-2010--Imran Khan to lay seige of islamabad from Oct30 until Nawaz Sharif resigns...
  
• Oct7-2010--The SC has formed a single judge bench or commission to probe the Aug8 blast in quetta since there has been no revelations from the investigation as yet...
  
• Oct7-2010--Raheel Shareef who is more used to retaliating on internal insurgencies now says that if india deliberately attacks paksitan than such aggression will not go unpunished...obviously how and who is going to decide whether india is being deliberate and doing things with intent...given pakistans lukewarm handling of indian border violations one doubts the army can go around punishing a huge enemy
  
• Oct7-2010--looking for a scapegoat the PMLn has suddenly started to turn on hafiz saeed who started out as an islamiat teacher in i think punjab university...obviously a man under constant monitoring and not even having access to a seminary he would hardly be able to devize a team of terrorists and organize their crossing over with guns and ammo...!so when a Pmln Mna Rana afzal says that he has never even met hafiz saeed and still is on the foreign affairs committee than one is sadly aware of the PMLn's inexperience and amateur behaviour...
  
• Oct7-2010--The debate in the national assembly turned acrimonious and the PPP accused the PMLn of being unwary about foreign affairs...Nawaz Sharif is used to handling issues afterwards rather than before and his foreign office team is amateurish at best...many called Nawaz Sharif a ghaddar for being a friend of Modi...one wonders how friendly Modi would be if Nawaz Sharif suddenly landed in Delhi tommorrow...he obviously would not lead him around a marriage chakar...!many regard Nawaz Sharifs attitude of being Modi's pet frog...
  
• Oct6-2010--huge cache of arms found from an abandoned house near nine-zero in karachi...mostly foreign rifles and anti aircraft type guns they donot seem tobe standard terrorist material...although there are some kalashnikov type guns , hand grenades and possibly bomb material
  
• Oct6-2010--while the army chief is banking on being prepared it seems that the PMLn regime of Nawaz Sharif is walking into the Modi trap...poverty in india is so widespread that the Modi regime has not being able todo much...In pakistan visible poverty is less and now even domestic servants earn more than government officers fifty years ago...just in my colony of a hundred homes the punjab government has distributed 30 locally made pickups for a small down payment...so nawaz Sharif should realize that Modi just wants to distract him from kashmir...after such a longtime the pakistanis should realize that the indians dont want to talk front channel or back...after having fooled literally everybody zulfikar ali bhutto, benazir, zia ul haq, nawaz sharif and musharraf do the pakistanis think that talks can produce results...everywhere in the world liberation struggles are won thru an armed struggle and war...talks are only possible with an educated people...indians are barely different from...just roaring away is not talks and nor can just minor diplomatic engagement be considered tobe talks...
  
• Oct6-2010--after literally deciding not to take any action on the LOC the army chief still is looking at how prepared they are...two corps look after kashmir 10 and mangla...mangla being a strike corp would have tobe at the forefront immediately if a war breaks out...it would have tobe heavily mechanized and have attack helicopters and mounted fast artillery plus tanks that move in behind them...since a war is a serious bussiness it would take some time to move the corps into position...the army must be ready to move in its mounted artillery immediately as well as attack helicopters...!10 corp can move in behind them with men and artillery...The army seems tobe heavily logjammed and moving a couple of corps forward could take weeks with the punjab corps having to move into defensive positions as well quickly..a war in punjab would be land based and that is not easy these days...therefore if a war breaksout the airforce would have to move in and break any indian formations...In kashmir with mountains , rivers and forests the war would be slow and helicopters would have to play a major role in attacking and destroying forward positions..Given the costs and possible losses to human resources pakistani politicians seem extremely reluctant to challenge the status quo as opposed to india which is willing to disrupt the status quo but also will find the pakistani defences in artillery-field nuclear and missiles coupled with air attacks and helicopter sorties a difficult proposition...
  
• Oct6-2010--The Scotland yard seems unclear that the money recovered from the mqm in london is basically a criminal offtake from their politics in pakistan...The huge amounts are much more than previously thought...Dawn states that pounds 167525.92 were found in mqm's london offices while another pound 289785.32 were found in altaf husseins home and around pound 30000 in merchant's home...!since none of them were paying any taxes so it was money laundered and could be confiscated...
  
• Oct6-2010--Nawaz Sharif and the foreign office both seem to have accepted defeat and seem to accept the growing world isolation orchestrated by India and the USA and partially afghanistan and iran..The failure of their saudi policy has caused them to lose diehard arab friends...many see the influence of Nawaz Sharifs pro shiite policy in the debacle...the foreign secretary said that the USA wanted an anti haqqani policy while the indians wanted an anti Jaish and and anti LT/hafiz saeed policy...significantly the recent indian events suggest an attempt to isolate Mullah Azhar whether he was involved or not...The foreign secretary also indicated that the chinese are not too friendly when their economic world war is interrupted in any way...The military which apparently means the ISI was told to get on with it or pakistan faces world isolation...That was a shock for Raheel/rizwan akhter/nasir Janjua whose suggestions are that the anti terrorism world war has been successful in pakistan...anyway the Rizwan akhter plus janjua duo will visit provincial capitals to urge further actions against terrorist groups and urge apex groups to provide the action...Shahbaz sharif suggested that when they had taken actions they were pulled up roughly by the military establishement...however Nawaz Sharif suggested that it is not a direct indictment for the pro US Rizwan Akhter who would be a senior general in the new post Raheel establishment...nawaz sharif however has to realize that it his policy and these are his successes and failures and not the failure of ordinary individuals or other governmental organisations...Lt Gen Rizwan akhter questioned why the government did not arrest the supposed individuals since no one was stopping them from doing so...many however question nawaz Sharifs assertions that it is the military that is responsible for these matters...others suggest that the main policy maker is Nawaz Sharif and not Raheel shareef or Rizwan akhter...however the ISI can offer for sacrifice the real characters behind some events..the pakistan policy has been to sacrifice anyone whose utility has outlived his work...many others suggest that the failures might be more closer to home than what Nawaz Sharif thinks...many think punjab is being dragged under by shahbaz sharif with electricity shortages and his pickups policy...almost everyone has been given a green pickup or dabba but there has been no job creation or jobs for the underprivileged...nawaz Sharifs original idea that the chinese will develop pakistan does not seem to have materialized to any great extent apart from the doling out of anything with a trifle of technicalities to the chinese...!
  
• Oct5-2010--The PPP which again indicated that they are in the PMLn camp seems stunned at Imran Khans boycott of parliament as he thinks that Nawaz Sharif has no moral right too rule
  
• Oct5-2010--Nawaz Sharif who is an unmitigated coward for not retaliating against indian attacks across the LOC wants others to do his job...achieving closure on NAP by 2018 and controlling the indian aggressiveness is his responsibility and not that of the opposition...The NSC chief however made fun of his assertions by stating that much had been achieved in reducing terrorism...both now accuse the provincial chief ministers for not doing their jobs...
  
• Oct5-2010--four shiite women killed in a motorcycle attack on a bus in quetta...no particular reasons for attack since the LJ group leaders in balochistan were eliminated...many suggest that such attacks encourage the government to provide more police protection
  
• Oct4-2010--after the complete failure of the pakistan army and Nawaz Sharif to handle the indian intransigence on kashmir the political parties showed their ignorance about indian attitudes and behaviour and still thought that talks would bring about a kashmir solution...!One day they hug the pathetic Modi and another day they seek the protection of other politicos against some military adventurism...
  
• Oct4-2010--On the other hand pakistan armies eastern commanders met at Mangla...It was i think another admission of failure for some real fighting over kashmir as the bravado prone Raheel Shareef was seen as doing nothing realistically against the Modi histrionics...
  
• Oct4-2010--Dawn suggests that most CPEC energy projects have run into trouble while the Gadani projects and one at Kallar Kahar have already been scrapped while some solar and thar projects have run into trouble...The chinese too seeking extravagantly high rates with a rupee per unit for transmitting electricity over a transmission line from matiaro to lahore
  
• Oct4-2010--The CJ of the SC says that the SJC proceedings especially against errant judges need not be publisized
  
• Oct3-2010--Modi after several days of suggesting that they had carried out surgical strikes against pakistan now says that he has never ordered any attacks against any country despite making dirty speeches attacking pakistan country
  
• Oct3-2010--Mqm London expels Farook sattar after he appoints himself the convener of mqm pakistan which in effect was the former altaf husseins coordination committee..nadeem nusrat the head of the coordination committee refused to come back from exile
  
• Oct2-2010--pakistan army backs out of a fight saying escalating the conflict is in no ones interest...since they are not talking to india they are again assuming responsibility for the indian viewpoint too...many are supposing that no one could be anyone...
  
• Oct4-2010--The London coordination committee dissolves the mqm pakistan coordination committee as they have refused to accept altaf husseins orders...the karachi coordination committee fired nadeem nusrat and two others from the karachi committee
  
• Oct1-2010--In what can at best be construed as a funny indian movie the indians claimed to have carried out surgical strikes on launching pads across the LOC...india also claimed that the pakistanis had nabbed one of their soldiers...nawaz sharifs bonhomie with modi however has ended and the two seem pathetically insecure and unable to communicate...
  
• Oct1-2010--six shot dead in panjgur
  
• Oct4-2010--Imran Khan also backs out of his raiwind crusade and says he will holdoff till after muharram