The Daily PakistanPolitics Nov 15-30, 2016

• Nov30-2016—the first day with no Raheel Shareef and the possibility of a coup many say...General Bajwa many thought was an after-thought by Nawaz Sharif when the other senior Lt.generals supported hanging onto Raheel Shareef...looking visibly older than Raheel...Bajwa suggested without logic that the Indians may soon stop firing along the LOC...Raheel suggested the continuation of his CPEc doctrine of attacking the nexus between terrorism, crime, politics and corruption...while General Kayani had been reluctant to intrude into north Waziristan considering it a hornets nest Raheel immediately ordered an invasion of north Waziristan which forced the Taliban into Afghanistan leaving a vast arsenal of terrorist ammunition...while the north Waziristan was not difficult it did involve the removal of its entire population given the intertwining of the populace and the terrorists...for the last three years he has been fighting Zarb e Azb, a rangers operation in Karachi, browbeating Cpec and an insurgency in Balochistan on a daily basis as well as trying to emulate a globe-trotting foreign minister...! while he had totally subjugated Nawaz Sharif in policy matters he had people deeply worried at his propaganda campaigns against the government, personal self-propagation and blowing up military handling of terrorism...In the end he was flabbergasted by a continuous violent Indian army campaign in occupied Kashmir and the resultant attack on an Indian army check post and then the wild inane Indian firing across the LOC...he like the pro-Indian Nawaz Sharif were literally unable to even utter a comprehensive statement on the issue and started to fall under the Indian thumb... while Bajwa has been away from the fight for terrorism he has some experience of the LOC and Siachen and might handle the Indians sternly and more appropriately... Bajwa's first line of duty might be the difficult situation on the LOC and appointing a couple of new deputies...given the change most top commanders are reaching their two-year limit and with at least two vacant top slots and possible retirement of superseded officers...so a reshuffle is the first likely step as the appointment of one of the senior Lt Generals as CGS is almost a diehard necessity...army chiefs usually start out with a junior CGS and then appoint a senior one many suggest...the position of CGS is like a right-hand man who is almost running army operations...possibly a new ISI chief, new promotions if the superseded retire and reshuffling senior Lt generals from the corps to PSO positions...!
  
• Nov30-2016—eight killed in Tirah airstrikes
  
• Nov30-2016—The foreign ministry is trying to sneak Sartaj Aziz into India despite the strained relations suggesting that the Indians may be ready for talks...talks with the Indians are at most a useless exercise given their reluctance to accept solutions of any sort...The Indian position seems to be that water has already been given in lieu of their occupation of Muslim Kashmir and the Pakistanis should not insist on a Kashmir solution or criticise their brutality on the hapless Kashmiris...The failed Pakistani negotiators have been trying to resolve peripheral issues hoping to force India to start talking about the main issue...however things have stuck on the LOC and samjotha express since the 1970's...every time talks are held in different governments...Pakistanis come away with another transport scheme and no actual solution...to the issue...Pakistan should insist on talks on the main issue rather than peripheral matters...Pakistan's peripheral issues policy makes them look pathetic and the Indians think they won't come back on Kashmir again...without upping teh ante and pressurizing the Indians no hopes of a solution thru talks is possible
  
• Nov30-2016—Imran Khan explains Banigala and the sale of his London apartment...a suspicious activity report about Maryam Sharif's being the head of the Sharifs Panama properties emerges...
  
• Nov30-2016—The Karachi police ask court to close the biggest arms seizure case from a place near 90 Azizabad as they have no clues as to who had stored the weapons...there are only a few people involved in arms or gun running in Pakistan and the police should use their sources in Balochistan, KP and the tribal areas...military men have also been involved in gun running
  
• Nov30-2016—five suspected militants killed in Sibi area
• Nov28-2016--Shah Mahmood Qureshi suggests that elections may occur before 2018...usually a change occurs somehow with a change in army chief...!!The SC could also determine that the previous elections were faulty in the panamagate probe and order a new election...!
  
• Nov28-2016--JUI opposes sindh law on forced conversions to islam
  
• Nov28-2016--DSP and ahmedi man shot dead in karachi
  
• Nov28-2016--PTI lawmakers to return to national assembly committees but not parliament
  
• Nov28-2016--Defense minister says no change in military policies envisaged with appointment of new army chief...Nawaz Sharif probably heaving a sigh of relief and probably picked Bajwa for anti-PTI stance...PTI probably hoping for a change from Raheel Shareef's strict opposition...some Lt Generals have been known to have some sympathies for the PTI chief...!Bajwa the new army chief has no facebook account...while such accounts are usually run by the ISPR they only serve a propaganda purpose...Bajwa's are a tribal people originating in the Kashmir borderland of Sialkot and Narowal and are found amongst Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims...It is rumoured that the army chief could belong to a minority Muslim sect but that has not been confirmed...he is apparently against terrorism and sectarianism despite having avoided a posting to the tribal and sectarian conflict areas...his experience of fighting the Indians is greater than others since he worked on Siachen and the LOC...atmost that amounts to firing back at Indian insurgents along the border either with mortars, small arms or artillery...he has worked with a former Indian army chief in the Congo and has training in the USA and Canada...with his position at DG EVT he must have worked on studying Nawaz Sharifs politics and advising Raheel Shareef on terrorism handling, political interference, sectarianism, Indian hostilities and evaluating the armies current policies, personnel and weapons...he might also be the man behind suggestions of handling anti-Indian religious oriented militants roughly as projected in a Dawn article...most of the opposition to anti-Indian militant groups comes from US/Indian advocacy groups and Muslim minorities while others find them a handy tool in handling Indian troublemaking...
  
• Nov27-2016--In what can be termed an unpopular choice at best Nawaz Sharif has appointed General Qamar Bajwa as army chief and General Zubair Hayat as CJC's...with the outgoing Raheel Shareef suffering in popularity towards the end mainly due to publicity campaigns run by the army and the Indian aggression along the LOC/ working boundary and stoppage of water in the Ravi...one has rarely seen the Lahore canal dry during this time apart from the January canal closures...with Modi showing his true Hindu nationalist face Nawaz Sharif has been unable to even utter a word after his Indian friendly antics of the recent past...PMLn wala's say that Modi could not accept the Nawaz Sharif mild urgings for a Kashmir solution...given the situation one doubts that Bajwa can eke out a living on the Raheel Shareef agenda of CPEC, CPEC, Zarb e Arab and Rangers operation in Karachi which are at best dead in the water or have been played out to the limit...one doubts that the Balochistan terrorism can also die like the Karachi terrorism as it also has other aspects...Raheel Shareef had no solution to the firings across the LOC and one doubts that Nawaz Sharif has the guts to up the ante in the situation...The Indians are sitting pretty and Pakistan seemingly seems to have no options apart from mumbling about talks and world opinion...with the dour faced Bajwa coming off his military analyst desk job one doubts that he can even utter aggressive words on the LOC situation...while Raheel Shareef did have some planning for north Waziristan and an aggressive political posture which kicked Zardari out of the country and troubled Altaf Hussein into relinquishing his ethnic warfare leadership role to lesser elements... there does not seem to be much for Bajwa to even imagine apart from approving death sentences to militants...! Raheel Shareef was best at traveling all over the place and probably making a lot of TA/DA...that aspect will probably be followed by Bajwa until he gets some sort of agenda of his own going...verbal warfare is the only thing left if the army has no way to stop the Indians on the LOC...Raheel Shareef also had no answer to the Afghanistan situation barring closing the borders...The army is now more a commercial concern and Bajwa will have to learn how to sell frozen french fries and milk many say...!!!in general these seem to be two most unlikely deskbound/Rawalpindi-based generals to succeed...the paunchy slouching Bajwa probably does not even exercise...Raheel Shareef probably did not recommend the new army chief...Bajwa has made his career at Rawalpindi's 10 corp and his experience of the LOC and Siachen(northern areas) probably gave him the advantage...he is also said to avoid political confrontation...surprisingly he has also worked with an Indian army chief in Congo under the UN...most generals are not listeners and are usually telling the prime minister what to do..with his position as DG(Evaluation) he might be the one advising the army chief on political interference...!while Zubair Hayat was the early choice many shifted to Javed Ramday as the most likely appointee...however the militaries choice seemed to be Ishfaq Nadeem with some voices for Bajwa who seemed more appropriate for the post of CJC's...Zubair Hayat was dragged to the post of CJS from the Strategic Division which Pakistanis feel is the only defense that Pakistan has against an overwhelming adversary and being in a difficult region...as for 10 corp it looks after the capital and the LOC and nothing else...so Bajwa must be a keen adherent of firing back at least on the LOC...for some reason he has avoided being involved in the fight against terrorism...Nawaz Shareef probably got tired of Raheel Shareef who was touted as a good leader compared to his corrupt ways and campaigns for his taking over one way or another were almost rampant...however in the end they compromised in suggesting that he make his own political party to fight the almost overbearing Sharif's...but few have managed that since Ayub Khan...That leaves two desk-bound generals to transition from an era interlaced with continuous terrorism to a more peaceful political era...however given his LOC and Soiachen experience Bajwa could devise a strategy to outwit the Indians...many however doubt that the Indians will suddenly want to solve the Kashmir issue unless Pakistan somehow beats them up on the military field...!however one must insist despite contrary voices from fauji officialdom that the country is larger than the military and the military on its own is nothing...military officers must focus on their job rather than challenge the politicos good or bad...The only contrast that i saw between dealing with Raheel Shareef and Bajwa was that with Raheel Shareef,Nawaz Shareef sat on a chair next to him...he had Bajwa sit across a huge desk...!
  
• Nov22-2016--According to a Jasmeen Manzoor tweet the government might be trying to make all serious army appointments in one go...she has Ishfaq Nadeem as COAS, Zubair Hayat as CJC's, Amer Riaz as CGS and Sarfaraz Sattar as ISI chief...Amer Riaz has not been that successful at Quetta in stamping out terrorism...however all three seem to be close to Raheel Shareef, in fact, u might think of them as Raheel Shareef proteges..some suggest that Amer Riaz had been superseded before Raheel Shareef made him a Lt. General...that will probably leave several Lt Generals fuming and contemplating retirement...Sarfaraz Sattar is the juniormost Lt general...two seniormost Maj generals are now also listed as having been superseded including ISI's Ahmed Hayat and army aviation's Anwer Anjum...!!adding to the armies growing list of superseded major generals...there are now almost 41 of them amongst about 160-170 major generals...there are at the moment two generals and 28 Lt generals..just the AMC has 26 major generals and two Lt. generals...a new maj general rank posting has been created recently for a northern KP FC
  
• Nov21-2016--Donald Trump is now trying to moderate his views and some suggest that he might actually be a socialist...his views are usually based on who is advising him at that juncture...he has already appointed the three with the most controversial extreme advice on Hilary Clinton, immigrants and Muslims...he now wants only to expel criminal immigrants who he suggests will be about 2-3 million...that too would be difficult as would building a wall along the Mexico border...he might just go with a fence he says...he also now says Clinton is a good people..before he wanted to jail her...he has also been advised that he can't play Iran against the Saudis and support them as well as Putin...!...apparently one of his earlier choices Rudy Giuliani has been hobnobbing with mujahideen Khalq... who are opponents of the Iranian government...the Obama regime had been trying to normalize relations with Iran while the republicans did not agree...after feigning with the extreme right he is now trying to show that he is looking for capable people as well and is not unwilling to jump over the fence...he is also mending fences with his party on a fast-tracked basis...some suggest that he may have outlived his blond hair and is turning to white to look more distinguished...!
  
• Nov20-2016--Pakistan to have flag lowering and hoisting ceremony at Torkham too
  
• Nov20-2016--SC rejects Din TV's attempt to malign the SC suggesting that a SC judge had met a PMLn leader to reassure him on the Panama corruption case against Nawaz Sharif..The court says it was a completely concocted story in which the back of a Supreme Court judge is shown talking to Senator Nihal Hashmi of the PMLn
  
• Nov20-2016--Faisal Raza Abidi who was allegedly involved in sectarian murders to get off scot free after police said that they had asked the court to cancel the case of having an unlicensed weapon...many weapons allegedly found in the former PPP leader's home
  
• Nov16-2016--NICVD, Karachi to provide free treatments...at the moment angioplasties to cost Rs80000 and they will be free soon...
  
• Nov20-2016--Principal and housemaster beat up a student in Cadet College Larkana leaving him severely injured and unconscious
  
• Nov20-2016--FC arrests two TTP men in Hub and six militants in Kech
  
• Nov20-2016--PMLn to increase LNG terminals to six as they increase dependence on imported LNG
  
• Nov20-2016--gunmen on motorbike bike attack police in Quetta...one policeman and three FC men killed
  
• Nov20-2016--The USA seems to have a pathetic view about Pakistan and wants to just stay engaged because they are frightened of the supposed terrorist potential...The USA probably is unaware that Pakistan is in a conflict or war like situation with the Indians and would have to go to war without the nonstate actors...The USA introduced the concept of nonstate actors in the region during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan and it is the remnants of that era that still are out there...politically/public opinion wise the Pakistanis appreciate the nonstate actors as they frighten the Indians more than the Pakistan army or ISI or the USA... Pakistanis who were initially shocked at the Trump rudeness towards Muslims now think that they can have a better relationship during the Trump era..Trump supports being a mediator on the India-Pakistan situation which is close to the Pakistani position...The USA administration has usually distanced itself from mediation and whenever the Pakistanis have tried to talk them into it, they start supporting the Indian attitudes or projecting the Indian views...The USA at the moment has a pro-India policy...Trump on the other hand also wants to stay engaged and keep 10000 troops in Afghanistan to deal with any nuclear flare-up...more dangerous to Pakistan but Pakistan supports their keeping troops in Afghanistan due to the unbalanced unstable situation...Trump should realize that it is the Indians that are able to strike at the USA and are developing long distance over 8000-kilometer ballistic nuclear missiles...
  
• Nov20-2016--Indians are using ordinary quadcopter drones on the LOC...The Pakistan army shot down one in Rawalakot area as another four were killed in firing along the LOC...
  
• Nov19-2016--two alleged militants killed in a clash in Dera Bugti
  
• Nov19-2016--The PMLN presents a frivolous 24the constitution amendment bill which envisages right of appeal in suomoto cases...such cases are usually only taken up when a problem is recognized by the court...the right to appeal SC judgements already exists but the SC rarely changes its judgement and the government is tampering with something that is a prerogative of the court itself...theoretically the court could reject the amendment as the court rarely allows interference with its powers or jurisdiction
  
• Nov19-2016--Pakistan Navy says that they forced an Indian submarine out of Pakistan waters...while that does sound comical the waters near Gwadar are far away from the submarines home area...one wonders why the Pakistanis did not attempt to attack the submarine as it could have dangerous intentions...it shows a weakness on the part of the Pakistan Navy
  
• Nov19-2016--The Pakistan government has banned two more outfits based in the tribal areas...one the Jamaat ul Ahrar is considered to be a successor to the Taliban...the other organization banned is the LJ al-Alami..both banned probably for their anti-Shiite activities in Balochistan and Karachi
  
• Nov19-2016--PTI's lawyer skids out of the Panama trial as the SC started to criticise the PTI presentation unnecessarily...the lawyer termed the judges as having turned hostile...the judges have probably already formed an opinion and now are trying to turn negative public opinion their way...!the judges should realize that the Sharifs have been involved in financial shenanigans for almost five decades including trying to import a complete sugar mill as scrap...the material might be dreary and longwinded but history always is...The judges should realize that this is not unique in current circumstances...The prime minister of Ireland had to step down while France is investing over 600 for Panama gate involvement...the judges should handle such corruption with courage and bravery and not bow to personal allies
  
• Nov18-2016--students of Turkish schools protest the expulsion of Turkish teachers from Pakistan...The Turk president wanted them to be expelled as according to him they are similar to alqaeda..theoretically they are opposed to the Turk ruling party and are supposed to have been sympathetic to the Turkish coup plotters...the government should realize that there is a personal enmity involved and the teachers would not even be able to go back to Turkey
  
• Nov18-2016--the sharifs want to be considered victimized for the nationalization of the seventies and their Musharraf era exile but that should no longer stand in the way of judges trying them for financial corruption...the judges criticize PTI lawyers for a long debatable presentation and want them to concentrate on the London flats only while there are other aspects of the Panama corruption case...the sharifs want the courts to charge a Qatari prince rather than the beneficiaries of such shenanigans ie the sharifs...the seventies nationalization was a no hold barred exercise and there were compelling reasons for it and was not meant only for the sharifs...and they must best know themselves why their army chief couped and threw them out of the country with suitcases full of dollars...!
  
• Nov18-2016--The Dawn suggests that Shiites go to Iran as pilgrims and are hired by Qom a Shiite seminary in Iran as terrorists or mercenaries and are shipped to Syria to fight for the Syrian dictator Assad...apparently they lose their passports and identities and only wear a number tag around their neck...while the Sunnis have long being accused of participation in rebellions this is the first time that a report has been seen on Shiite terrorists...many also claim that Shiites are trained at militant training centers in Pakistan to use guns, pistols and other ammunition...even ordinary Shiites are said to be armed, many say...Syrians have intercepted messages in Urdu, Seraiki and Pushto they say. Sunnis are usually airlifted from Punjab sometimes along with their families...The government works against ISIS followers but not adherents of Qom...!
  
• Nov17-2016--The SC which as it stands is generally pro-government seems to have been unnerved by the arguments and history of the sharifs continuous financial wheeling and dealing...The court apparently not used to hear long cases ab initio had thought that they would have done a run around to the pleasure of their supposed ally Nawaz Sharif by now...the court many feels should concentrate on Nawaz Sharif and family so that a precedent is created for people in government and their financial chakarbaazi...The court if, it cannot reach a conclusion, should obviously form a commission
  
• Nov17-2016--In Faisalabad police shot dead a culprit who escaped after shooting and killing an ASI
  
• Nov16-2016--as gas supplies to domestic users almost went out the SNGPL says it has reduced supplies to industrial consumers who can use LNG if they want
  
• Nov17-2016--five volunteers of the Zakhakhel peace committee gunned down
  
• Nov17-2016--Karachi mayor released after getting bail in 39 cases
  
• Nov17-2016--mayor of a tiny town Clay, west Virginia resigns over a facebook post calling the first lady an "ape in heels"...he had just applauded the post
  
• Nov17-2016--Musharaf's farmhouse in Islamabad attached in the case as he now is an absconder
  
• Nov16-2016--PMLN bags all the reserved seats in the Rawalpindi LG after PMLn controlled voting to the extent of telling voters who to vote for in fact reports suggested the voters showed their votes to a PMLn leader before voting...!
  
• Nov16-2016--The SC would be pretty childish and unaware of the situation if it expects evidence to be formulated into legal terms by political parties..given the submissions by the Nawaz Sharif family who have changed almost their entire viewpoint with the Qatari version...now they have Nawaz Sharifs father giving the Qatari's $12million to buy property for him in 1980...however the property was used by Hussein Nawaz as collateral and personal residence by the sharifs during the entire period...however the property was given to Hussein Nawaz in 2006 after some sort of settlements...?pretty strange one must say...all the earlier stories of loans now should be considered hogwash...either the loan was given by the Qatari rulers which though strange can be seen in quixotic terms...however the Qatari's also supposedly gave Nawaz Sharif a helicopter for personal use too...and are also considered to have backed the Syrian resistance. ISIS and Taleban until they backed out...!!The SC has to realize that the financial quackery of the sharifs is for them to judge whether it can be considered illegal and despotic...If they can not make any head and tail of the stuff they should initiate an investigation not form a commission...The Sharifs obviously are crooked and the SC should make it clear to all politicians that they have to give up their financial empire dreams and become people oriented politicians when they enter politics...obviously at the least the sharifs look like fronting for the Qatari rulers...from Mariam Safdar to Hussein Nawaz now the sharifs have the Qatari rulers/Mian sharif setting up Panama companies for them...The Qatari rulers also supposedly acted as a conduit and estate agent as well holding the will of Mian Sharif...Seems at best an extreme act of disservice to pakistan