Category: NATION

Islamabad, Feb 21: Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog has decided to reopen a Rs 2 billion corruption case against four former top army officers, including an ex-chief of the ISI, for allegedly transferring prime railway land to a Malaysian firm at throwaway rates in 2001.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) yesterday decided to proceed with the case which remained dumped for 17 years due to reluctance on its part to act against military officers, the Dawn reported.

The army officers are accused of transferring tens of hundreds of acres of prime railway land in Lahore to a Malaysian firm during Gen Pervej Musharraf regime in 2001 for development of a golf course called Royal Palms Gold and Country Club at throwaway rates, the daily reported.

Last week, the Islamabad High Court held that retired military officers could not hide behind the army’s accountability process.

“The meeting (on Tuesday) authorised filing of a reference against former railways minister retired Lt Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi, former railways chairman retired Lt Gen Saeed Uz Zafar, former GM retired Maj Gen Hamid Hassan Butt, former member railways retired Brig Akhtar Ali Baig and several other civilian officials,” A NAB spokesman was quoted as saying by the daily.

Retired Lt Gen Qazi had served as the director general of the ISI and retired Lt Gen Saeed Uz Zafar was a former Peshawar corps commander.

Military officials were summoned by the NAB in the same case in 2012 for recording their statements but nothing was done against them.

The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly in its meeting on September 14, 2012, had called for the cancellation of the controversial agreement.

It had recommended a fresh bidding for the land and also called for strict disciplinary action against the former bosses of the railways, including the three retired generals, who had endorsed the agreement.

A comprehensive report issued by the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Railways on allotment of land for setting up the club in Lahore had found several financial and administrative irregularities and recommended prosecution of all members of the railways executive committee.

The Federal Investigation Agency had started a separate investigation on the special committee’s instruction and its report said 141 acres had been allotted at a nominal price, causing a loss of Rs 4.82 billion to the national exchequer because the land utilisation charge had been reduced from Rs 52.43 to only Rs 4 per square yard.

Lahore, Feb 21: Kirshna Kumari Kolhi from Thar in Pakistan’s Sindh province will become the first-ever Hindu woman Senator in the Muslim-majority country, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party said today.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has accepted the papers of 39-year-old Kolhi who was nominated by the ruling PPP for a Senate seat on minority from Sindh Assembly. The election will take place on March 3.

“Kolhi will be the first-ever Dalit woman in Pakistan who becomes a Senator,” a PPP spokesman said in a statement today.

Kolhi’s caste is mentioned at No. 23 in the Pakistani Schedule Castes Ordinance-1957.

“The honour to nominate first-ever non-Muslim Senator is also enjoyed by the PPP, which elected a Dalit, Dr Khatumal Jeewan, as Senator in 2009 on a general seat. Likewise, Engineer Gianchand is the second Dalit to be elected as Senator in 2015 by the PPP also on a general seat,” the spokesman said.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led PPP also nominated and got elected Hariram Kishorilal as Senator on seat reserved for non-Muslims from Sindh in 2012.

“With the election of Kirshna Kolhi and Anwar Laldean, a Christian worker of the party, the number of non-Muslims elected so far as Senators by the PPP would grow to six, an unmatched representation in the Upper House for minorities by any other political parties in the 70 years history of Pakistan,” the spokesman added.

Kolhi belongs to a remote village in Nagarparkar district of Thar in Sindh province.

Born to a poor peasant, Jugno Kolhi, in February 1979, Kolhi and her family members spent nearly three years in a private jail owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district. She was a grade 3 student at the time when held captive.

She was married to Lalchand at the age of 16, when she was studying in 9th grade. However, she pursued her studies and in 2013 she did masters in sociology from the Sindh University.

She had joined the PPP as a social activist along with her brother, who was later elected as Chairman of Union Council Berano.

Kolhi also actively participated and worked for the rights of downtrodden people of marginalised  communities living in Thar and other areas.

She is from the family of the valiant freedom fighter Rooplo Kolhi, who had waged a war against the invading British colonialist forces when they had attacked Sindh from Nagarparkar side in 1857. Subsequently, he was arrested and hanged by the Britishers on August 22, 1858.

Jaisalmer, Feb 21:Three Israeli nationals were detained for using a drone to record images without permission over a prohibited area in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district, police said today.

The accused, all aged 20 years, identified as Aloneruch, George Kouzy and Noan Friedstein, were detained yesterday, SHO Derawar Singh said.

He said that the trio were detained for interrogation for filming with a drone without requisite permissions. They would be interrogated by joint interrogation teams, Singh added.

Islamabad, Feb 20 : China has been quietly holding talks with Baloch militants in Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province for over five years to protect its USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative, according to a media report.

The 3,000-km-long CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical cable fiber network. It connects China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar port, providing access to China to the Arabian Sea.

The project, when completed, would enable China to pump its oil supplies from the Middle East through pipelines to Xinjiang cutting considerable distance for Chinese ships to travel to China.

“China had been in direct contact with militants in the south-western province, where many of the scheme’s most important projects are located,” three officials were quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

For more than half a century, Beijing has maintained a policy of non-interference in the domestic politics of other countries. But that has been tested by its desire to protect the billions of dollars it is investing around the world under its Belt and Road Initiative to create a “new Silk Road” of trade routes in Europe, Asia and Africa.

“China’s willingness to get involved in Pakistani politics has fuelled concerns in New Delhi, which is worried about China’s growing political influence in neighbouring countries, including Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka,” the report said.

As it seeks to boost the Chinese economy, China’s plans for a new Silk Road has pitched China  into some of the world’s most complex conflict zones, the report said.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), over which India has conveyed its protests to China.

Pakistan, which is set to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the infrastructure initiative, is one of the riskiest parts of the world in which to do business. Last year, 10 local workers were killed by unidentified gunmen while working near Gwadar port, the linchpin of the economic corridor.

Pakistani officials have welcomed the talks between Baluch rebels and Chinese envoys, even if they do not know the details of what has been discussed.

“Ultimately, if there’s peace in Baluchistan, that will benefit both of us,” the paper quoted an Pakistani official as saying.

Another said the recent decision by the US to suspend security assistance to Pakistan had convinced many in Islamabad that China was a more genuine partner.

One provincial tribal leader who was not identified in the report said many young men had been persuaded to lay down their weapons by the promise of financial benefits.

“Today, young men are not getting attracted to join the insurgents as they did some 10 years ago,” he said. “Many people see prosperity” as a result of the China-Pakistan corridor, he said.

New Delhi, Feb 20: Condemning the alleged manhandling of the Delhi chief secretary by a few AAP MLAs last night, two IAS bodies today met Lt Governor Anil Baijal to lodge their protest over the matter and said the incident appears to be “pre-planned and pre-meditated”.

Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by a few AAP MLAs at the chief minister’s residence in presence of Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia. However, the chief minister’s office dismissed the accusation as “bizarre and baseless”.

According to an official, Prakash was called by Kejriwal regarding the issue of advertisements, which were not being released. But, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that he had been called for a discussion on rations.

IAS, DANICS associations, along with the Delhi Administration Subordinate Services (DASS), alleged that the meeting was called last night to put pressure on the chief secretary to release publicity material regarding achievements of the AAP government, in violation of the Supreme court guidelines.

The meeting was devoid of any emergency or public interest, they claimed.

“The  incident which has happened at the official residence of the chief minister clearly appears to pre-planned, pre-meditated and absolutely without any provocation on the part of the chief secretary in view of the fact that the meeting was called at midnight…

“The meeting had been called to put pressure him to release publicity material regarding achievements of the government,” the associations said in a joint statement.

They stated it was a culmination of a series of incidents of officers being subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation by political authorities from time to time and tend to lead to impairment of the effective functioning of bureaucracy in free and impartial manner.

The associations have in the past, repeatedly urged the political parties to allow the officials to discharge their duties professionally, the statement said.

“The appalling and shocking physical assault meted out to the head of the administration of Delhi, in form of blows on the head, amounting to threat to life and physical safety is deplorable,” they said, adding that in public interest, the officers and staff would continue to work in their offices.

“We request for effective action to be taken against all people behind the incident,” the associations said.

New Delhi, Feb 20: The Home Ministry today sought a report from Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on an alleged assault on the chief secretary of the city government, an official said.

In a communication, the ministry asked the LG to submit a detailed report on the alleged attack on bureaucrat Anshu Prakash at the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last night.

The home minister would also meet a delegation of IAS officers of the Delhi government, a ministry official said.

“The home ministry is aware of the development and closely monitoring the situation,” the official said.

Chief Secretary (CS) Prakash was manhandled by a few AAP MLAs at Kejriwal’s residence, an IAS officer alleged today.

“There was a heated exchange at the meeting last night. During the argument, two or three AAP MLAs manhandled him… The CS’s spectacles also got broken,” the senior IAS officer, who did not wish to be named, claimed.

The chief minister’s office dismissed the accusation as “bizarre and baseless”.

“The allegation of assault is totally bizarre and baseless,” a senior official in the chief minister’s office said.

The incident took place in the presence of Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia , the senior IAS officer claimed.

After the incident, Prakash met Baijal and apprised him of the incident, the IAS officer added.

New Delhi, Feb 20: The BJP today demanded Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation over alleged manhandling of the Delhi chief secretary by a few ruling AAP MLAs, while the Congress termed the incident an “administrative and constitutional crisis”, and sought an apology from the chief minister.

The chief minister’s office, however, has dismissed the accusation of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash being assaulted last night as “bizarre and baseless”.

Describing the last night’s alleged incident in presence of Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia at the former’s residence “an act of Urban Naxalism”, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari sought Kejriwal’s resignation, a high-level inquiry against him and suspension of the legislators concerned.

“ArvindKejriwal and his Goon MLAs misbehaved and threatened the Chief secretary of NCT Delhi Government last night…  another shameful act of @AamAadmiParty Goons… an act of Urban Naxalism… #UrbanNaxaliteKejriwal must Resign (sic),” he tweeted.

Echoing his sentiments, a senior BJP leader claimed that in total, nine AAP MLAs were present at the chief minister’s residence when Prakash was assaulted.

“They represent the people of Delhi but are nothing short of Urban Naxalites. How utterly disgusting behaviour!,” he said.

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken launched a scathing attack on the AAP government, accusing it of being a complete failure and demanded that Chief Minister Kejriwal apologises for this “hooliganism”.

Kejriwal should apologise for this hooliganism which took place before him-AAP Govt is unable to deliver-Beating of Chief Secretary by MLAs in front of CM is another low & is aimed to divert attention from Govt failures! AAP does not know Governance and has failed miserably (sic),” Maken said in a tweet.

Senior Congress leader  J P Agarwal sought L-G’s intervention and said that an all party meeting should be called in this regard.

“We have run Delhi government for 15 years and never has there been such a problem. One should not stoop to such level,” he said.

Islamabad, Feb 20 : Pakistan government has refused to provide details of its decision to send over 1,000 soldiers to its close-ally Saudi Arabia for deployment, prompting Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani to threaten Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir with “contempt of parliament proceedings”.

Pakistan Army announced on February 15 the decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia on a “training and advise mission”.

Making a policy statement in the Senate, the upper house, Defence Minister

Dastagir said that “Pakistani troops are being dispatched to Saudi Arabia and they are only meant for imparting training to Saudi security personnel instead of entangling themselves in Yemen war”.

He told lawmakers that over 1,000 contingent will be dispatched shortly as part of the decision.

Currently, around 1,600 Pakistani troops are on deputation in Saudi Arabia under a bilateral agreement.

The minister said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has approved deputing additional Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia for training and advisory purposes, which is a continuation of an existing bilateral agreement.

He rejected the impression that by sending troops the government had violated April 2015 resolution by parliament which had asked the government to stay away from the Yemen war.

However, the Senate Chairman rejected Dastagir’s briefing to the upper house after the minister said he could not divulge “operational details” of the deployment.

“Why don’t we proceed against you and the prime minister over ‘contempt of parliament’?” Rabbani asked.

He asked why the parliament was not informed by the minister and the prime minister since they knew about the decision to deploy the troops.

“The parliament found out (about the deployment) through a press release,” Rabbani said, adding that the executive has itself “rubbed parliament’s nose in the dirt”.

Rabbani asked the minister to provide all details about the deployment and offered in-camera session for the purpose and urged him “not to give us a lollipop” as “we are not children.”

The minister refused to accept the offer and even refused to share the location where the troops will be deployed in Saudi Arabia.

He told the Senate that the troops will not be deployed outside the Saudi Arabia’s territory, but Rabbani expressed a lack of confidence in his words, saying this information was already known.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing fellow Sunni-majority Pakistan to provide troops since 2015 when it joined Yemen’s civil war but Pakistan steadily refused, saying it would not become party to any regional conflict.

The civil war in Yemen stalemated and the situation has aggravated with the rebels firing missiles at regular intervals towards the oil-rich kingdom.

The alliance of Muslim nations set up by Saudi Arabia and led by former Pakistan Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif is also still in an early stage to play any role in the conflict.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa earlier this month visited Saudi Arabia for three days and met officials including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Commander of Ground Forces Lt Gen Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz.

It was his second visit to the kingdom in two months and reportedly played a role in Pakistan’s decision to deploy troops.

Pakistan is treading a fine line in maintaining relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Qatar and other regional players and the decision of deploying troops may annoy Saudi Arabia’s rivals like Iran and Qatar.

The decision may also create tension in Pakistan’s internal politics as parliament had passed a resolution at the start of the Yemen crisis that said Pakistan would stay neutral in the conflict.