The Daily PakistanPolitics Jan1-15, 2017

• Jan15-2017--The Chinese provide two ordinary boats for Gawader patrolling...the boats which look like converted models of pleasure boats have two mounted machine guns...The Pakistan Navy said that they had never before seen such boats...!
  
• Jan15-2017--The interior minister again tries his sleigh of hand at declaring sectarianists of the MWM, TNFJ and ASWJ as harmless compared to the real terrorists who have run of to afghanistan...The interior minister says he can meet anybody who is not in jail...as far as meeting anyone is concerned he can even meet people in jail however sectarianists are all led by terrorists and it hardly matters whether they are sunni's or shiite...The PPP seems to be on the shiite side of sectarianism...!
  
• Jan14-2017--while Khosa has argued that declaring the owners of the panama flats and panama companies ie. the sharif family as having malafide intentions and not truthful and honest would prove tobe detrimental...the government lawyer said that khosa had earlier attacked the constitution viz articles 62 and 63 as too difficult to understand by the court...! however the government lawyer than argued that though the court is not empowered it can determine whether the incumbent primeminister is honest and sagacious...!both Khosa and the government lawyer have argued that the primeminister can lie to parliament...many feel that the court which has to defend the constitution seems uncertain what to do when faced by open lies of the primeminister...at least two judges have made errors and attacked the constitutions articles 62 and 63 and another has said that a political question can not be decided by the court...both these judges who seem to have a poor understanding of honesty and the articles 62 and 63 many feel should stand down from the panama case...!
  
• Jan13-2017--The government lawyer tells panamagate court that the primeminister may have lied to parliament
  
• Jan13-2017--The new chairman of PIA has started to obfuscate the downing of the PIA ATR aircraft near hazara...he says that one engine was working fine even when the plane crashed however there are some indications that the plane changed direction suddenly suggesting control failure or pilot collapse in case of a hijacking...others suggest that the pilot deliberately shut of one engine to practice landing a plane with one engine...if the engines were fine than it can only mean pilot error or control system failure...
  
• Jan12-2017--Sheikh Rashid who is a classic wit as well as a loudmouth suggested that the court wanted to act as a rescue 1122 for the Sharifs in panamagate...while Justice Khosa in his own classical serve the master philosophy issued an edict that no law in the constitution could touch the sharifs...and they could lie or be completely fraudulent...! The judge was reminded of the caliph Umer who was asked why he got more than the slaves from the war bounty and apparently according to some clerical wits used to personally deliver atta to the poor in their homes...!The judge should have the courage to ask "was one flat not enough for the sharifs in london...!" The story making the rounds is that the flats were well hidden as a hiding place for the sharifs after they would one day luckily for pakistan quit the government and escape to London...!however as they say Nawaz Sharif refused to die...!
  
• Jan12-2017--The saudi defence alliance controversy continues with the PPP showing its sectarian preferences and taking umbrage at the general taking a saudi job without approval...!While the people were generally happy the PPP and khawaja asif seemed miffed as well as some junior generals who started airing their pro iranian views...however the defence minister finally cleared the air saying that no request for NOC has been applied for by the general and he was just trying his hand at performing an Umrah...!The PPP seems unaware that the iranians already have their shiite alliance headed by general Khameinai...!many think that after the pakistani generals and government started putting up pictures of General Khameinai the saudi's said no pictures please...!many believe that the generals quibbling at dealing a decisive blow to the iranian backed rebels and also backing off dealing with the indians decisively caused the saudi's to think that he was a weak livered rubber stamp rather than a tough nononsense general...so according to reports from the generals camp the saudi's were no longer interested...the pakistani's sectarian and pro iranian quibbling was obviously a big hazard for the saudis's and they decided that they could deal with the iranian-russian monster themselves and decided to ease up on the iranians allowing them to do hajj again and attempting to raise oil prices...! also the saudi's seemed generally satisfied with their own defence forces...they also probably realized how sectarianism works in pakistan and how they are frightened of iran and india...!
  
• Jan11-2017--The PMLn regime has started to work on another two years for military courts as the karachiites need more straightening out...while there has been no brilliance in outcome of military trials many suggest that the military used it to get their undercover operatives out of the way...the military is very enthusiastic about death sentences and early on even sent military vehicles to deliver the coffins...however the overall system still seems to have stalled and one does know if the sentences can be even be applied without the military courts law...!
  
• Jan11-2017--The interior minister creates a distinction between sectarianists and terrorists...while shiite members of parliament only see one side of the issue...The MWM and ASWJ are both cut from the same type of cloth and maybe the interior minister does not see that..no sectarian organisation is a religious organisation
  
• Jan11-2017--exports have fallen to $20.8 billion from around $24.5 billion in 2012-2013...most of the export debacles are due to increased competition from similar exporters like the efficient low cost chinese and pakistanis not being able to improve quality...the attempts to further provide rebates and cash supports wont really effect the quantities or the monetary total...the government had better add exports to CPEC too...
  
• Jan11-2017--how a judge describes the nawaz sharif address to parliament as offhand remarks of a doubtful veracity seems something that one judge cannot see beyond...the judges seem tobe applying their USAID training but not their minds...how can a judge want accuracy but will stand for dishonesty...! justice Khosa has no idea about the meaning of being honest...and why politicians need tobe honest at least...!Nawaz Sharif started out as a military contractor in 1969 and soon he was attempting to defraud the country by importing a whole sugar plant and describing it as scrap...!...he was also involved alongwith his father in attempting at least two coups in the 1970's...he also made the most noise on nationalization when it was across the board and meant to increase payments in massive loans by industrialists...for Nawaz Sharif lying to make money and fooling authorities and judges is a harmless passtime...Justice Khosa would only believe it if Nawaz Sharif arrived in court and shouted..."Khosa khosa i lie all the time you nitwit..."The Panama gate case started by trying to identify which panama companies were owned by the sharifs...after that the judges want to know about the money trail and how and which sharifs are linked to what...the sharif brothers receiving money from Hussain Nawaz means nothing ...what else can the PTI tell them...the basic premise that the sharifs are a family of liars bears/needs no further evidence...!!The lawyer should start to explain sahih bukhari and quran and hadees on corruption and honesty...maybe the judge being a lawyer knows how to hide the truth but needs to identify whether someone is a canny liar as the sharif's...it does not matter if all those wanting to be elected are declared liars...!that will only improve the assemblies...depending on liars and the fraudulent to run the government is a dangerous system and the judges should start to realize that...!!
  
• Jan9-2017--Can due process be carried out in the hiding of military garrisons...The ISPR suggests that due process is carried out in military courts and JAG does not decide how a case is tobe decided
  
• Jan9-2017--four unknown social media activists disappear...two had arrived from singapore and netherlands...The PMLn embroiled inits panamagate is leaving no media untouched from their uneducated repression...!the SC refuses to recognize a Kulsoom Nawaz statement that they had bought the london flats in the early 1990's to serve as hostels for their homeless children...!...The interior ministry which is tasked with tackling illegal acts has appointed a minister of state for the interior just to comment on Imran Khans reactions in the panama gate case...!
  
• Jan8-2017--while the pakistan government is frightened of shiite iran and not willing to challenge it in the international arena many in pakistan regard the possibility of Raheel Shareef becoming the head of a 39 country muslim military country alliance as an honor...while building up a so called islamic Nato may not be easy or quick it could eventually become some sort of equivalent of the african military alliance which has stationed troops in troubled african countries...while most of the opponents seemed shiite inspired they seem to think that the alliance will come up against interventionist forces of shiite iran...iran has openly intervened or provided military guerrillas to iraq and syria...while lebanese soldiers and even pakistanis are said tobe fighting on both sides in syria...turkey and saudi arabia also have support groups in syria and iraq...! while saudi arabia has funded the lebanese army and also backed afghans fighting the russian invasion of afghanistan...however only the russians could make any real difference in syria by bombing the ISIS...the difference between iranian and saudi views is quite clear...others fear that retired shiite pakistani generals might come into conflict with the saudi run alliance in various conflicts if they were hired by iran...that possibility is considered false as iran has its own well trained army and revolutionary guards and retired shiite pakistani generals would generally not apply for a job in iran...!...obviously the saudis will use the force to defend the alliance and obviously they cannot go into a country that does not approve...obviously no one is going to the hire the likes of kayyani or musharaf...!when the saudis initially raised the issue Nawaz Sharif apparently asked for $6 billion for a corp and a general...?however the army given the nature of the yemen, syria and iraq conflicts realized they were hardly capable of fighting a really dirty hand to hand war and declined to participate...at that time Raheel shareef had said that it was the governments decision...however the situation has changed with the russian and saudi bombardments and Raheel Shareef could become a deskbound builder of a military alliance with a sizable airforce and ground forces..the pakistani government participation obviously is their own decision...however the world has been willing to fight for their causes while the pakistanis barely able to get out of their neighbourhood conflicts...which also they handle with utmost fright...the pakistanis are generally regarde as a puny nation while iran is at best a handmaiden for the US and Russia despite its known power to muscle into revolutionary conflicts in shiite nations...the saudis who while not being a real military power are a preeminent leader in islamic countries and also a wealthy oil power...however their venture into the yemen conflict probably might have given them a taste of bomb and control methodolgy adopted by the US and Russia...while the Russians and Syrians have literally bombed their cities into almost total destruction it does end the taste for even the revolutionaries to fight for a desolated destroyed area...!
  
• Jan7-2017--US has built a tactical military operations center in pakistan...!
  
• Jan7-2017--pistol and grenade attack on a police crossing post in north nazimabad...police fire back...one rickshaw wala killed as attackers escape...
  
• Jan7-2017--In what are becoming punjabs famous escape from police custody and die...mostly high profile terrorist types...!two gulshan iqbal terrorists were being taken somewhere by the police as usual in sheikhupura when they were freed by another six and they escaped...the police at night raided a place and killed six including the two who had escaped...!...efficient and quick ...something not associated with the pakistan police...!
  
• Jan7-2017--The concept of Guantanamo bay style military courts come to an end...according to Dawn only twelve have yet been hanged out of almost 161 death sentences..The death sentences have been challenged in the SC that the convicts have not been given a fair trial...after two years and the retirement of Raheel Shareef...the results are not so drastic although terrorism has been slowed down as some serious terrorists were being tried...!
  
• Jan7-2017--The SC quibbles about being a trial court and the vagaries of what evidence they need to start a real trial...!everything is almost known to the court...the Panama companies of the chief crook Mariam safdar...!...the payments to Nawaz and Shabaz by the children...the purchase of flats in early 1990's...and what the courts do not know they say the source of the illegal funds since they were'nt legal...it is almost enough to ban the entire sharif family from politics many think...!if nothing else there is at least tax evasion...!The courts are almost considering Panama companies a legal entity which at best is a quandary of sorts...There is also evidence of contrasting attitudes of judges eg. Khosa wants the primeminister and mariam to answer the charges...! while the other judges say this is not a trial court and why are we hearing this case anyway...since there is no trial what is the point of discusssing the evidence...
  
• Jan7-2017--Dawn speculates on ex army chief Raheel Shareef becoming the head of the 39 nation Islamic Military Alliance...while pakistan is part of the alliance it has not decided onits level of participation..giving its reluctance to participate in warfare on its borders or abroad..other countries who did not join are the anti Saudi Iraq, Iran and Syria...!while lately Saudia has agreed to limit oil output to attempt raising oil prices..no concrete force has been created and no specific policies on how to police islamic countries at war/terrorism and whether that includes methods adopted by the saudi's and Iran in various countries such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and whether that includes supporting/stabilizing governments as in yemen and syria or even pakistan or supporting a particular ruler or not...The saudis have eg. tried to fund military supplies to Lebanon and have in the past regulated saudi participation in al qaeda and have also subdued groups participating in the syrian war..however they supported al qaeda in afghanistan and even smaller groups in syria...The US reluctance to police the larger war in the middleeast has caused most of the problem along with sunni/shiite issues and the iranian muscling in on arab states...because with the US in play the saudis can play a quieter financial or end game role according to the situation...with the mild Obama almost gone the pro israel jewish natured Trump might be very difficult for the muslims to stomach...but how policing is tobe done is a pretty difficult issue...The iranian methods of providing direct guerrilla support and saudi and russian bombardments in syria and yemen are case in points...and whether that includes moderating both iranian and saudi influences...!Nawaz Sharif wanted Raheel Shareef to play the larger role in 2015 however at the the time the pakistan army was reluctant to play an out of country role...with retirement Raheel Shareef became an independent agent and thus could accept the saudi offer...the pakistan defence minister showed his aversion to the alliance because three shiite states had not agreed to participate...however Raheel Shareef who here was dominating Nawaz Shareef may find it difficult in the saudi situation and creating an effective islamic Nato with say bases and an active airforce and armed strike/interventionist force would take some sort of work..apparently the saudis still want a 100 airforce pilots and Raheel Shareef wanted at least eight major generals...nawaz shareef wanted the alliance to lead thru negotiations something that is difficult in any wartorn area or country...there are also some indications that the saudis might have asked for russian intervention in syria however with Obama going home and saudi's agreeing to limit oil outputs it might bring the russians, iran and saudi's closer...as for Raheel Shareef he likes to fight terrorism but things in the islamic world also have other forms or associations and terrorism is a but a small part of the situation...whether he would like to say go in and fight wars such as those in syria and yemen is yet tobe seen..he was seen as trying to advise the Turks when they ran into terrorists from various sides but there was no solution there too...however the turks and iranians agreed to some sort of truce in syria to end russian involvement and might now be more amenable to a central role for an Islamic nato..however many countries like syria, turkey and even raheel shareef like to fight terrorism with terrorism rather than go in and dominate a situation militarily...that might not work in an islamic Nato...!!
  
• Jan4-2017--China begins a freight train service from Yiwu to London thru seven countries and 12000 miles...!
  
• Jan4-2017--The ECP has started a new trend of disqualifying winning candidates who flaunt their votes before putting them in the ballot box...a muslim league passtime many suggest...Sumaeira Malik a district chairperson from khushab was disqualified for that...she has challenged that in court suggesting that the ECP cannot do that and the problem should be referred to an election tribunal...!!
  
• Jan4-2017--british politicians critisize the funding for BISP upto pounds 200 million...british government says that they would never support corruption or fraud...!however the british upto now used to fund health, education, police training and poverty alleviation thru small programs...funding direct social security payments definitely looks odd as in pakistan corruption is never something that can be totally avoided and there are a huge group of people who benefit from government programs in various ways...the program BISP has been seen as technically innovative but despite good data it supposedly funds politically motivated people and people have been sending emails to suggest that they can arrange BISP payments...however many note the very small number of people benefiting...235000 families could at best be just 2 million people a very small fraction of pakistans 24% underprivileged or economically poor...some accuse the program of funding a political mindset and if the british are funding BISp they should think about its benefits..mostly it is said tobe funded by the world bank...!whether the small amounts distributed help or not has not been documented...!
  
• Jan4-2017--Panama case judges try to show Nawaz Sharif as non involved...even though he has been shown tobe a dependent of his son Hussain Nawaz..in that case would revolve around mariam safdar and she would be the owner of the London flats...upto now the Sharif seniors have utilized the flats...it hardly matters if the Qatari's made the investment...many suggest that it was the father of the sharifs who was into money laundering...since the money according to sharifs came from the sale of the sharif seniors steel mills the ownership becomes a complicated two or three way split...however hussein has only paid money to the two political sharif brothers and not to the third or the sharifs sister...which suggests that the owners are the two political brothers and not the children...
  
• Jan4-2017--Nawaz Sharif who has turned out tobe a pathetically weak leader wants an economically integrated region and a peaceful coexistence with generally hostile natured neighbouring countries...pakistan has nothing in common with the neighbouring countries and any conflict never gets resolved...The indians and afghans have blamed pakistan for everything over the last fifty years with no major change in their thinking..even iran wants tobe aloof with a seperate type of economy and strategic interests...pakistan should look after its interests and hit back where countries like india become obnoxious in any way...Nawaz Sharif has been unable to interpret regional and strategic interests or thinking and has been steadily isolated in the region and the world...he has turned pakistan into a chinese puppet
  
• Jan2-2017--Indian army chief foolishly wants to continue muscle flexing on the border..many feel that the pakistan army should use new strategies to cut the indians down to size...attacking pakistans borders is an illegimate exersize and pakistan must respond with full force to stop indian shenanigans..while pakistans response to indian terrorism has been weak they should be able to fight back on the border..
  
• Jan2-2017--retired generals and imran khan react with apparent bad taste to allegations of armies supposed alleged intervention allegations by javed hashmi...javed hashmi who had come to the PTI from the PMLn after Nawaz Sharif decided tobe primeminister again had seemed against the dharna and the alleged involvement of some generals...one general attributed javed hashmis's allegations to his stroke while Imran Khan said it was due to his old age...The Dharna came to a close after raheel shareef told imran khan that nawaz shareef would not resign and they reached an arrangement for some facilitation to the KP government and election reforms...one retired general and javed hashmi both want investigation to reveal behind the scenes characters..at the time it was aired that shah mahmood qureshi who stayed at a askari rest house was regularly meeting at least three generals while a former ISI chief is alleged tobe behind the PTI's hardline approach...what ended the dharna...raheel shareef met imran khan and asked him what do u want...he said he only wants nawaz sharif to resign..he went to nawaz sharif and said imran khan wants u to resign...nawaz sharif refused and raheel shareef informed Imran Khan that he wont resign...that was literally theh end of the dharna...!
  
• Jan2-2017--while retired CJ's get almost 4-5 lakhs in pensions poor PMLn president Tarrar has to make do on 48000 while a secretary to the president gets almost 80000 as pension...salaries have quadrupled since his day...!pensions are strange in pakistan...with different levels in different deptts...eg an army officer who retires as a captain could in theory be receiving pension for around 30-40 years...!just military pensions are said tobe more than Rs.50 billion
  
• Jan1-2017-- an interned mqm mpa belonging to the mqm-pakistan says Dr Farook Sattar was present when the decision to perpretrate the May12 violence was made...he says the party ;eadership had ordered sector incharges to prevent anyone reaching the airrport to meet the exCJ so they blocked many thoroughfares and fired on workers of other parties from overhead bridges...!
  
• Jan1 -2017--Mian Saqib Nisar assumes the position of CJ...he and justice Amir Hani muslim have not been included in the Panama case bench tobe headed by asif khosa from Jan4...certain controversies about saqib nisar and Hani muslim had surfaced...the judges on the Panama case are now asif khosa, ejaz afzal, gulzar ahmed, sheikh azmat saeed and ijazul ahsan...