Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday ordered Ahsan Jameel Gujjar, Advocate General for Punjab (AGP) Ahmed Awais and former inspector general of Punjab Kaleem Imam to submit an "unconditional apology" in the case regarding transfer of former Pakpattan district police officer (DPO) Rizwan Gondal.

The chief justice criticised the response issued by the Punjab chief minister to an inquiry report of the incident that was written by the chief of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta) Maher Khaliq Dad Lak, and said that "instead of being ashamed [at his involvement in the DPO's transfer], he showed his arrogance".

The Nacta chief had concluded in his report that the orders for Gondal's transfer in the middle of the night "flowed" from the chief minister's office. CM Usman Buzdar had released a formal response to the report, terming Lak's report as a "figment of the imagination of a fertile mind".

During today's hearing of the case, the AGP ended up retracting Buzdar's response and apologised on the CM's behalf. The apology, however, was not accepted by the CJP, who told the AGP to submit a written apology.

The hearing was adjourned for a recess.

ISLAMABAD: Nearly three weeks after his release from jail, the supreme leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to resume political activities from Monday (today) by presiding over an “emergency meeting” of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Lahore.

The decision to hold the CEC meeting was taken by the party leadership a day after an accountability court in Lahore remanded PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif in 10-day custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for investigation into the Rs14 billion Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing project scam.

Nawaz Sharif will be seen holding a formal party meeting after a gap of over four months — including the two months he spent in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail with his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law retired Capt Mohammad Safdar following their conviction in the Avenfield properties reference.

Convenes ‘emergency meeting’ of CEC in Lahore today to discuss future strategy

The Sharifs were first released on a five-day parole by the Punjab government after the death of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz on Sept 11 to allow them to attend her funeral. And on Sept 19, the Islamabad High Court suspended their sentences and granted them bail till the disposal of their appeals.

Since then, Mr Sharif stayed away from media and political activities and the party leaders defended him by claiming that presently he was in a state of mourning over the death of his wife and that he would soon start his political activities.

However, the PML-N leaders now claim that due to the “sudden arrest” of his younger brother and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, the elder Sharif has been forced to jump into the political arena in order to boost the morale of the party workers.

Mr Sharif had previously held a number of informal and formal meetings with the party leaders at his Jati Umra residence in Raiwind before leaving for the United Kingdom with his daughter Maryam on June 14 to look after his ailing wife who had been under treatment at a London hospital.

On July 6, the accountability court had announced the verdict in the Avenfield reference, sentencing Mr Sharif to 10 years in prison for owning assets beyond known source income and to one year for not cooperating with NAB. His daughter Maryam was awarded seven years and Capt Safdar one year sentence for abetment.

However, Mr Sharif and Maryam dared to return to the country on July 13 — two weeks before the general elections — and were arrested in Lahore and later shifted to Adiala jail.

According to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, the party leadership has convened the meeting at Model Town in Lahore at 11am to discuss the situation after the arrest of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif by NAB and devise the party’s future strategy.

Ms Aurangzeb, who served as information minister in the previous PML-N government, said the party believed that Shahbaz Sharif had been arrested as part of the ongoing policy of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to victimise its political opponents. “Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest just before by-elections is unacceptable,” she said. “Such actions will no more be tolerated.”

Talking to Dawn, she said that after in-house consultation and discussion, the PML-N would consult other opposition parties to take them into confidence as well.

Sources in the PML-N said the party had decided to lodge a strong protest inside parliament over Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest and for that purpose it had already submitted a requisition notice to the National Assembly Secretariat.

A delegation of opposition leaders comprising PML-N chairman and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, former NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and PML-N lawmaker Rana Tanvir had met Speaker Asad Qaiser at his residence on Saturday and urged him to immediately summon the NA session, where they wanted to forcefully raise the issue of Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest.

The opposition members also urged the speaker to issue production order for Shahbaz Sharif under rules to enable him to attend the assembly session. They informed the speaker that a requisition for convening the session had already been submitted to the NA Secretariat. The speaker reportedly assured them that the session would be called within 14 days.

The sources said the PML-N leaders were also in contact with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and were hopeful of getting a positive response.

Only last week, the two parties had announced their decision to field joint candidates in the Oct 14 by-elections.

During an informal chat with reporters on Saturday, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had said the procedure adopted for the arrest of the opposition leader was improper, adding that it appeared prima facie that the law had not been followed in the matter. The PPP chairman said his party had no issues with accountability, but there must be no political victimisation in the name of accountability.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will try to convince on Monday a nine-member visiting team of global experts through its legal and institutional systems and framework to establish that it has done enough to block terror financing through money laundering and illegal remittances, including Hundi and Hawala.

The team of the Asia Pacific Group (APG) — an arm of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force — arrived here on Sunday to begin a 12-day “on-site inspection” of the country. The team will review systems, networks and mechanisms of various institutions and agencies to ascertain if Pakistan was following through on its global commitment to get out of the FATF grey list.

The on-site inspection will verify actions taken and progress made by Islamabad.

The APG delegation comprises experts from British Scotland Yard, US Department of Treasury, Financial Intelligence Unit of Maldives, Indonesian Ministry of Finance, Peoples’ Bank of China, Justice Department of Turkey and three members of the APG will stay here and review progress made by authorities on a 10-point action plan it was given in June this year to address global concerns.

The FATF decided in February to place Pakistan on its grey list in June on a campaign pushed through by the United States and its European allies for allegedly not doing enough to ban UN- and US-designated religious organisations and rein in their activities.

The ministries of interior, finance, foreign affairs and law besides the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), Central Directorate of National Savings and provincial counter-terrorism departments would remain available for briefings and explanations.

Last week, the government announced that it had finalised amendments to relevant laws — Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Act, 1974, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947(FERA), Customs Act, 1969, and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, that would be presented to the prime minister and his cabinet for approval.

Under the proposed changes, punishments on account of illegal financial transactions at home and abroad have been increased to a minimum of three years imprisonment and up to 10 years along with fines going up to Rs50 million each and attachment of properties for up to six months instead of 90 days. The proposed changes also allow access of bank accounts to FIA and other law-enforcement agencies.

The then government negotiated a 10-point action plan to meet about 40 standards of the FATF by September 2019 to get out of the grey list.

In August this year, the APG as part of the pre-site mutual evaluation identified a series of deficiencies in Pakistan’s anti-money laundering/counter-terror financing laws and mechanisms.

The two sides would jointly go through technical compliance through various legislative, administrative and regulatory instruments. There are some tough tasks also relating to extradition treaties Pakistan has signed with other countries or where these treaties do not exist at all so far and how these could be revised to include AML/CFT offences.

The APG had explained to Pakistan deficiencies in its systems, agencies and laws to meet its global obligations against money laundering and terror financing and said that that legal mechanisms governing non-profit and charitable organisations, transparency in the beneficial ownership regime and counter-terror financing mechanisms to handle suspicious transaction reports (STRs) were not enough.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2018

Former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Dawn Assistant Editor Cyril Almeida appeared before a full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday for hearing of a petition seeking treason proceedings against the two ex-PMs and journalist.

As the hearing commenced, the three-judge bench comprising justices Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Atir Mahmood and Chaudhry Masood Jahangir ─ which had in the last hearing placed Almeida's name on the Exit Control List and issued non-bailable warrants for his arrest for not attending previous court proceedings ─ ordered that the journalist's name be removed from the no-fly list and the warrants withdrawn.

The newspaper editor, Zaffar Abbas, had already announced that Almeida is a law-abiding citizen and would definitely appear before the court on Oct 8. He said that the notice served on Almeida was delivered at Dawn’s Islamabad bureau in the middle of last week, and journalists and officials at the bureau said the earlier two notices were never delivered. Abbas is also in court today.

Sharif, who was recently released from jail after receiving bail in the Avenfield case, had also been absent from previous hearings as he had been receiving condolences over the death of his wife.

Sharif, Abbasi and Almeida's attendance was noted and all three respondents were ordered to submit written replies to the court.

"What action has the government taken with respect to Article 6?" Justice Jahangir asked.

"This case is related to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra)," Deputy Attorney General Mian Tariq responded.

"Pemra's job is to prevent broadcasts of speech. Taking action under Article 6 is the government's job," Justice Jahangir noted. He added: "This is a sensitive issue."

Justice Naqvi ordered that the attorney general, who was not present today, attend the next hearing on Oct 22 and submit a complete report on the matter.

A local lawyer Afaq Ahmed today filed a petition requesting that the treason case be set aside, arguing that it was not in accordance with law, and did not hold the signature of the petitioner but instead of her lawyer. High court rolls do not allow action on such petitions, Ahmed maintained.

Ahmed asked the court to make him party to the treason petition and scrap the case against Sharif. The maintainability of the petition must be assessed. It was not taken up by the court today.

Security was tight around LHC premises, with a contingent of Rangers and police officials deployed outside the court, and greater vigilance at the entry and exit points of the court.

The controversy

Civil society member Amina Malik, had filed the petition on the basis of an interview given by Sharif to Dawn on May 11. According to the petition, the former PM spoke about cross-border militancy and the need to end it.

After the publication of the interview, the National Security Council held a meeting to deliberate on the matter. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was prime minister at the time, called on Sharif to take him into confidence about the deliberations.

According to the petitioner, Abbasi’s action amounted to sedition as he had violated his oath of office.

Kurram tribal leaders at a press conference on Monday alleged that the local administration, including Assistant Commissioner Akbar Iftikhar, had issued executive orders on several land dispute verdicts in the absence of all parties after the AC's transfer.

The tribal elders including Mohsin Rashid, Haji Asghar Hussain, retired Maj Syed Mosher Hussain, Safar Ali and Mujahid Hussain — claimed that the AC, after issuing his transfer summary, violated rules and regulations.

They said that the commissioner passed executive orders on various local land dispute verdicts in the absence of the other parties.

They alleged that AC Iftikhar had taken large bribes from their opponents to issue the executive orders on the verdicts in their absence and that the AC had "victimised them with injustice". The tribal leaders added that they would take legal action against him.

Speaking to DawnNewsTV, Salman Ali, one of those negatively affected by the executive orders, claimed that the land that he had purchased 20 years ago was taken from him and given to the other party in the verdict.

Another of those affected, Mohsin Rashed alleged that his six-bedroom residence worth billions of rupees had been allotted to an opposing party through the executive orders because they had given millions of rupees in bribes to the assistant commissioner.

A social activist, Shahid Kazmi, demanded that an inquiry committee of top officials investigate the matter which could lead to a tribal conflict in the district.

According to Ashiq Hussain, the AC's reader, the executive orders were not passed late at night. He added that they had done a lot of work, and that the decisions were made on the basis of merit.

The tribal elders asked authorities to establish an inquiry committee against "the injustice being done with them" which was a "clear violation of rules".

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday mulled how to determine the boundaries of the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) as the latter — while being a vital part of the project — does not legally constitute a part of Pakistan.

The chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) issued notices to all parties of the case, including the governments of GB, KP and the Centre, ordering them to submit a response on the matter within 15 days.

Total land required for the project is 37,419 acres which included 19,062 acres of state and 18,357 acres of private land under cultivation, barren and other uses. About 14,325 acres of the total 18,357 acres of private land has already been transferred to the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority.

The location is 40 km downstream of Chilas, the district headquarters of Diamer in Gilgit Baltistan. It will displace 30,350 people living in 4,266 households of 32 villages, situated above the dam site on both left and right banks of river Indus.

During today's hearing, Justice Nisar asked the deputy attorney general (DAG) of GB, who appeared before the court, why the matter was not being resolved through talks. The AG responded that Article 1 of the Constitution [The Republic and its territories] did not determine the boundaries of GB and the region did not fall under the boundaries of Pakistan.

The DAG clarified that the GB government had no objections to the construction of the dam; however, due to the constitutional limitation, the issue of royalties had also risen. He also claimed that the SC's jurisdiction did not extend to GB.

CJP Mian Saqib Nisar, however, dismissed the last point, saying that GB had "complete right over Pakistan" and added: "Who will listen to this case if not [the SC]? Will an international forum decide this matter?"

Justice Ejazul Ahsan, who is a member of the bench, said that the main issue at the moment was that of royalties. He said that one of the turbines of the dam would be installed in GB and another in KP. Justice Nisar said that GB could challenge the matter of royalties in SC.

A Karachi police constable was gunned down on Monday near the Karwan-e-Hyderi Imambargha in New Karachi.

Syed Ahmed Abbas Rizvi, son of Syed Ghazanfer Mehdi, was posted at the New Karachi Police Station. Investigation is underway.

This is the second such incident to take place in Karachi over the span of a week. Last week, a traffic police official was gunned down at Karachi's Matka Chowk by unidentified assailants.

The assailants fled the scene towards Surjani Town after opening fire at Gulzar-i-Hijri Traffic Police Officer Muhammad Rafiq, son of Ahmed Khan.

"Another police official, Abdul Hakeem, saved his life by hiding himself in bushes," said SSP Malir Sheeraz Nazeer at the time while adding that investigators collected 18 spent bullet casings fired from 9mm pistols from the crime scene.

More to follow

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced that the 'Clean and Green Pakistan' campaign will be launched on October 13.

While speaking in Islamabad, the premier said the countrywide five-year campaign includes "changing mindsets" towards cleanliness, creating dumping sites for waste, provision of public toilets, and starting a volunteer scouts programme to help support the campaign.

PM Khan said that the nationwide call to action would be launched on the coming Saturday and that the chief ministers, ministers, president, as well as governors from around Pakistan will take part. Members of the civil society, including students, will also be encouraged to take part.

During the announcement on Monday, PM Khan said that the country seemed to have "accepted and become resigned to" general uncleanliness.

"People with money make sure their houses are clean but don’t look at the conditions outside the house," the prime minister said, adding that the government cannot achieve its cleanliness goals until all segments of the country become involved in the process.

"For a new Pakistan, a new mindset is required," he said, reiterating his mantra since taking power as the chief executive.

As a part of the campaign, cleanliness will be taught to children from an early stage. The importance of cleanliness, as well as the environment, will be included in the syllabus of children from Class 1 up till Class 5.

The other efforts will be monitored through a team of volunteers around Pakistan as well as by the government.

PM Khan added that monitoring would be done at the district level every two months, following which rewards would be announced every six months.

He said that the districts performing well will be given cash awards and those that are falling behind will be penalised.

"One of the reasons behind low tourism in Pakistan is that there are no [public] toilets [to facilitate travelers]," PM Khan said, adding that this was an issue that worried people when travelling to far and remote areas.

Through the initiative, public toilets will be built across the country. Immediate steps will include making sure that by 2023, there should be no shortage of public toilets across Pakistan.

PM Khan added that as of today, petrol pumps and CNG stations across the country had been issued orders to keep their toilets clean.

He added that a telephone complaint number would be placed outside each toilet to which pictures could be sent, which will be used to fine petrol pumps found not in compliance with the orders.

A 'Clean and Green Pakistan' scouts volunteer program will be launched for which registration will take place through a website. PM Khan believed that this will eventually create monitoring jobs as well.

He said celebrities, sports and media personalities will be selected as ambassadors for the project.

At the ceremony on Monday, PM Khan also requested the media to support this campaign and emphasised its importance for the future of Pakistan.

The prime minister said that he was convinced that as cleanliness across the country increased, the movement will continue to grow.

Sindh Minister of Education and Literacy Syed Sardar Ali Shah on Monday terminated a government college clerk in Matiari for misbehaving with the father of a girl seeking admission at the college.

A video of the father, grovelling at the feet of a clerk at Tariqul Maula College in the Saeedabad area of Matiari, had gone viral on social media on Sunday.

According to DawnNewsTV, the clerk had been dismissive towards the father when he asked him about the college's admission procedure for his daughter.

After an exchange of hot words, the father was seen touching the clerk's feet, "begging to secure his daughter's future," said DawnNewsTV

The Sindh education minister took notice of the video and summoned the clerk and the father to his office, where the clerk was made to apologise to the girl's father — by grovelling at the latter's feet.

Later, in a press conference, Shah told the media that the clerk — Janib Kerio — was terminated from his position, while the other clerk present in the college premises, Kamran Khanzada, was suspended.

"We terminated the misbehaving clerk from his position after he apologised to the girl's father in the same manner. We terminated the other clerk so that others are also careful [in their conduct] in the future," the education minister, adding that the principal of the college is also being changed.

"The principal of the college is also to be held responsible if such a ghunda (goon) was [stationed] in that college," he said.

A Karachi police constable was shot dead on Monday near the Karwan-e-Hyderi Imambargah in New Karachi.

Syed Ahmed Abbas Rizvi, son of Syed Ghazanfer Mehdi, was posted at the New Karachi Police Station. An investigation into the incident is underway.

“Police are investigating the murder from three different angles,” Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) official Raja Umar Khattab told Dawn.

Police officials who visited the crime scene said the victim had drawn money from a bank and was travelling in a rickshaw with his father when armed men riding a motorcycle fired a single shot at him from close range. The constable was martyed on the spot.

Apart from a possible robbery, investigators are also looking at the case from the angle of targeted killing of the police official.

The possibility of the attack being a sectarian killing has not been ruled out either, the official told Dawn.

“Initial probe of the case revealed that there was no sign of resistance, therefore we are focusing more on terror and sectarian aspects behind the murder,” Khattab said.

This is the second such incident to take place in Karachi over the span of a week. Last week, a traffic police official was gunned down at Karachi's Matka Chowk by unidentified assailants.

The assailants had fled the scene towards Surjani Town after opening fire at Gulzar-i-Hijri Traffic Police Officer Muhammad Rafiq.

Discussing last week's killing, Khattab revealed that a newly established terrorist outfit "Hizbul Ahrar" had claimed responsibility for the murder but the police is not giving credence to such claims.

"This is partly because Hizbul Ahrar — in the same statement — had also claimed responsibility for terrorist activity in Sakran area of Balochistan on Oct 2. However, no such incident had occurred there," Khattab said.

Khattab further told Dawn that while this outfit had also claimed responsibility for some terrorist incidents in Punjab, the law enforcement agencies there were also not giving much importance to these claims.

The CTD official claimed that while Hizbul Ahrar had surfaced around two years ago, "there is no evidence that it exists in Karachi."

A special three-member bench of the Supreme Court on Monday reserved its judgement on the final appeal against the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel were hearing Bibi's 2014 appeal against the capital punishment handed to her.

While reserving its verdict on the appeal, the chief justice warned media against commenting on or discussing the case until the apex court's detailed judgement has been issued.

No date has been announced by the court for when the verdict will be announced.

Allegations against Asia Bibi

Asia Bibi was convicted for blasphemy under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly defaming Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). The offence carries the mandatory death penalty under Pakistani law.

Read: What you need to know about Asia Bibi's trial

The allegations against Bibi are that she made three “defamatory and sarcastic” statements about the Holy Prophet on June 14, 2009 during an argument with three Muslim women while the four of them were picking fruit in a field.

The prosecution had claimed that Bibi “admitted” making these statements at a “public gathering” on June 19, 2009 "while asking for forgiveness".

A trial court had convicted Bibi for blasphemy in November 2010 and sentenced her to death. The Lahore High Court (LHC) had upheld her conviction and confirmed her death sentence in October 2014.

The Supreme Court had admitted her appeal for hearing in July 2015.

Lawyer says witnesses lied in statements

Bibi's lawyer, Saiful Mulook, today questioned why the June 14, 2009 incident had been reported on June 19.

He also recalled that a case was filed against Bibi by a prayer leader in the village of Katanwala in Nankana Sahib, according to which Asia Bibi had confessed to committing blasphemy.

"Are these things on the record?" the chief justice asked the counsel.

"What we can conclude from your statements is that the prayer leader himself did not witness the incident as it happened," Justice Khosa observed during the hearing. "No blasphemous language was uttered in the presence of the prayer leader."

The lawyer also said that, "No permission to file the FIR was taken from the district coordination officer or the district police officer."

Asia Bibi and the two Muslim women had had a heated exchange when the argument broke out, the lawyer told the court. The reason behind it was that the women had refused to drink water from the same bowl as Asia.

The statements of the Muslim women, Asma and Isma, were found to be contradictory, the lawyer pointed out.

At this, the CJP asked the lawyer why he had not given arguments regarding the contradictions when the case was being heard by lower courts.

Justice Nisar also observed that the witnesses had not testified to Bibi disrespecting the Holy Prophet, but instead had described the incident that had taken place in the agricultural field.

The lawyer recalled that, according to a witness statement, the owner of the land where the incident took place had also claimed to be present when Asia 'confessed'.

"All the witnesses were trying their best to ensure Asia does not get away," he added.

The investigation was faulty and grounded in malicious intent. In such a situation, Section 295-C is inapplicable, the lawyer argued.

The CJP also wondered whether the assistant superintendent police's probe into the matter could be relied upon, to which the lawyer replied that police had wrongfully registered the case.

"The witness testimonies did not state that she had used blasphemous language for the Holy Quran," he said. "No blasphemous words were used at all. Asia, in her statement, said that she could not even conceive of committing blasphemy," Saiful Mulook stated for the court.

He added that she respects Islamic education and the Holy Prophet "with all her heart".

"She simply had an argument with two women. During that argument, they exchanged harsh words," the lawyer said.

"What kind of incident is this? That you were argued with, harsh words were used for you, and then the case was also filed against you?" the CJP wondered.

"Are you suggesting that it is possible that the person who filed the case — the prayer leader — is acting on someone else's behest?" Justice Khosa asked. "That he is a frontman and someone else is behind him?"

"It is possible that this is the case," the lawyer said. He went on to reiterate that the witnesses were "lying".

The lawyer also informed the bench that Bibi, who is an illiterate woman, was referred to as a Christian preacher in the FIR, when she cannot be considered so.

"This reflects ill-intention [on the part of the complainant]," he added.

Complainant's arguments

Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer representing complainant Qari Islam, argued that Bibi had used blasphemous words regarding the Prophet.

"These [blasphemous statements] are the same words that Christians usually use," he said.

Chaudhry also asked why the appeal against the trial court's verdict was filed after a delay of 11 days. He also claimed that neither the incident [during which the alleged blasphemous remarks were uttered] nor the presence of the accused and the witnesses was denied in that appeal.

"The accused has confessed to her crime," he further stated.

However, Justice Khosa remarked that it was possible that the blasphemous words that Bibi was accused of uttering were actually made by the lawyer who drafted the complaint against her.

Justice Khosa then repeated his observation that the imam of the mosque had not been a direct witness to the incident.

"[However,] he [the imam] later became a crusader [seeking justice]," he said, noting that a mosque imam's word would be generally respected by locals due to social conventions.

Justice Khosa also wondered why each witness had given a different statement on the panchayat.

"The reverence for the Prophet (PBUH) is part of our faith," the judge remarked, asking the complainant's lawyer to support his arguments with evidence.

"It hurts the entire nation when an accused is acquitted due to technicalities," he said, ostensibly pointing at the weaknesses in the evidence brought forth.

Justice Khosa also took notice of two of the prosecution witnesses' statements, which alleged that Bibi had uttered the blasphemous remarks after her own religion was attacked.

"You cannot attack another person's religion. God has forbidden insulting others' religion or their gods," he noted.

"Our own faith [as Muslims] is not complete without a declaration of faith in all messengers [of God] and all the divine books," he further noted.

"There is a lot of contradiction between statements given by the people [involved in this case]," the CJP concurred.

"Blasphemy is a heinous crime," he observed. "[But] it remains to be seen whether the allegations [against Bibi] were proven."

The judge directed the complainant's lawyer to present evidence based on testimonies. "A lot is being done to defame Islam," the chief justice said, "[And it seems that] all this is being done to incite us."

Asia Bibi's case

The allegations against Asia Bibi date back to June 2009, when she was labouring in a field and a row broke out with some Muslim women she was working with.

She was asked to fetch water, but the Muslim women objected, saying that as a non-Muslim she was unfit to touch the water bowl.

The women later went to a local cleric and accused Bibi of blasphemy against the Holy Prophet, a charge punishable by death under legislation that rights groups say is routinely abused to settle personal vendettas.

In 2011, former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who spoke out in support of Bibi, was gunned down in broad daylight in Islamabad. His assassin Mumtaz Qadri was executed in 2016 after the court found him guilty of murder.

Bibi's supporters maintain her innocence and insist it was a personal dispute, and the Vatican has called for her release.

The top court had last taken up the appeal in October 2016, but had to adjourn the matter without hearing after one of the judges recused himself from the SC bench.

Successive appeals had been rejected.

If the bench eventually upholds Bibi's conviction, her only recourse will be a direct appeal to the president for clemency.

If that fails, she could become the first person in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.

Khanewal police on Monday booked and imprisoned a fake pir on charges of committing blasphemy.

The man — who had claimed to be the "eleventh caliph of Islam" in a private gathering — was booked under Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance at the Thattha Sadiqabad Police Station in District Khanewal.

According to details in the first investigation report (FIR), police had carried out an intelligence-based operation against the accused after a video of him making the controversial claim in a private gathering went viral on social media.

According to the FIR, the accused had claimed in the video that news of his arrival had already given by Sufi saints and that the prime minister and army chief should take swear their allegiance to him.

It is not clear why the man made the claim, or if he suffers from any mental impairment.

According to the police, he has been arrested and sent to the Multan Central Prison.

PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah on Monday demanded that Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, who is currently in the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody, should be brought to parliament so he can present his case before the people of the country.

Sharif has been arrested on the charge that he tried to influence the transfer of a contract for the Ashiana Housing Scheme from one contractor to another.

“The truth is that the said contract was cancelled on the recommendation of the then provincial finance secretary,” Sanaullah claimed.

“The actual reason behind Shahbaz’s arrest was to carry out 'political victimisation’ to affect the outcome of the October 14 by-polls,” claimed Sanaullah.

Talking to media following the PML-N’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting in Lahore, Sanaullah announced the PML-N will submit requisitions for sessions of the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday (tomorrow).

“If our demand is not met, then from Wednesday we will stage protests outside the respective assemblies,” he said.

The PML-N leader accused the PTI government of implementing "anti-people policies" since coming into power.

He warned the incumbent government that if it doesn’t take their protest seriously, the PML-N will extend its agitation.

The decision to hold the CEC meeting had been taken by the party leadership a day after an accountability court in Lahore remanded PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif to 10-day custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for an investigation into the Rs14 billion Ashiyana-i-Iqbal housing project 'scam'.

Nawaz Sharif chaired the formal party meeting after a gap of over four months — including the two months he spent in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail with his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law retired Capt Mohammad Safdar following their conviction in the Avenfield properties reference.

According to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, the meeting was convened to discuss the situation after the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif by NAB and devise the party’s future strategy.

Aurangzeb said the party believed that Shahbaz Sharif had been arrested as part of the ongoing policy of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to victimise its political opponents.

“Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest just before by-elections is unacceptable,” she said. “Such actions will no more be tolerated.”

Pakistan on Monday successfully conducted the training launch of Ghauri Missile System having a range of up to 1,300 kilometres, Radio Pakistan reported.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations, the launch was conducted by Army Strategic Forces Command and was aimed at testing the operational and technical readiness of the command.

Ghauri Ballistic Missile can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.

The commander of Army Strategic Forces Command, Lt Gen Hilal Hussain, appreciated the standard of training and operational preparedness of the military’s strategic division.

“The launch consolidates Pakistan’s nuclear capability which is aimed at peace and stability through a credible deterrence regime,” read a statement issued by the military’s media wing.

The government has decided to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout to address the mounting balance of payments crisis faced by Pakistan, Finance Minister Asad Umar announced on Monday.

In a video message, the minister revealed that Prime Minister Imran Khan had given the go-ahead to open talks with the Fund for a bailout programme after consulting economic experts and stakeholders.

"The prime minister... after consulting everyone decided today that we should open talks with the IMF," Umar said.

Read: Fresh engagement with IMF is important for Pakistan to attain credibility

The negotiations will be aimed at reaching a "stabilisation recovery programme" which can be used to tackle the economic crisis, the minister said.

With the IMF programme, the government will aim to have a "minimum impact" on low-income classes, while passing on the burden to wealthy citizens, he said.

Umar said everyone is aware of the difficult economic conditions left by the previous PML-N government for the country, which was why the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led (PTI) government had decided to take measures to take the country out of the crisis.

"And for that, we [had decided] to look for more than one resource, simultaneously," he added.

He said discussions regarding such economic measures had been taking place for a few weeks before deciding on approaching the IMF. Decisions were taken internally and consultations were held, and are still being held, with friendly countries as well, he added.

Prime Minister Khan had on Sunday hinted at approaching the IMF for “bridging loans” during the critical phase the country is passing through, besides exercising options like seeking help from friendly countries to deposit funds in the State Bank to boost reserves.

The government decision to seek a bailout programme comes at a time when the IMF has concluded that the country faces significant economic challenges, with declining growth, high fiscal and current account deficits, and low levels of international reserves. It has found recent policy measures to be in the right direction, but not yet sufficient. It wants decisive policy action and significant external financing to stabilise the economy.

According to data released last week, State Bank of Pakistan’s reserves suffered one of their sharpest drops, hitting its lowest level in four years following a decline of $627.7 million to $8.4 billion during the week ending September 28 due to external debt servicing.

The delay by the government in announcing its policy direction to tackle the worsening external crisis has perturbed the financial sector, which has been criticising the government’s inaction to deal with the situation.

QUETTA: Balochistan Natio­nal Party-Mengal (BNP-M) president Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal said on Monday that his party could withdraw its support for the federal government led by Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) if the ruling party would continue igno­ring it while taking decisions abo­ut Balochistan, including matters related to Gwadar and Reko Diq.

Addressing an election rally in Khuzdar, he said BNP-M legislators voted for the PTI candidates in the elections for prime minister and president after signing a six-point accord with it.

Mr Mengal said the BNP-M would not betray the people of Balochistan who had reposed their confidence in it in the July election, adding they had supported this party’s candidates in the election on the promise that they would protect the province’s natural resources and its coast. He said no one would be allowed to sell Balochistan’s natural resources.

The BNP-M and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have boosted the campaign for their joint candidate in by-election on provincial assembly seat PB-40 (Khuzdar).

Mr Mengal said that the BNP-M and JUI-F would work together for protecting the rights of Balochistan and that no one could force them to withdraw from their struggle for the rights of the province’s deprived people.

“We will welcome development projects in Balochistan, but moves for turning the Baloch majority into a minority will not be accepted,” he said.

“We have no greed for ministries,” he said, adding what his party wanted was only the rights of Balochistan’s people.

Mr Mengal said the BNP-M would not compromise on Balochistan’s shares in development projects, including those being launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018

MUZAFFARABAD: People in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) sombrely observed the 13th anniversary of the devastating 2005 earthquake on Monday.

The main ceremony to mark the anniversary was held at K. H. Khurshid Foot­ball Stadium here, with AJK minister for education Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani and minister for trade and industries Noreen Arif among the attendees.

At about 8.52am, sirens were sounded and a one-minute silence was observed, following which wreaths were laid at the memorial to the earthquake victims along the playground and Fateha was offered for the departed souls.

Remembering Oct 8, 2005: The day the earth shook

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gillani said: “The earthquake was a catastrophe that none of us had imagined even in our wildest dreams but our people faced it with strong and unmatched determination which is a golden chapter of our history.”

He paid tribute to the international community, friendly countries and Pakistani nation that came rushing to help out the affected people.

Mr Gillani stressed the need for creating awareness as much as possible among the masses to combat natural and man-made calamities systematically and scientifically so as to ensure minimal damages.

Similar events were held in the towns of Bagh and Rawalakot, which were also affected by the earthquake.

A rally was organised in Mirpur, the city which remained unaffected in the 2005 earthquake, to mark the day. Its participants were holding banners and placards, inscribed with awareness slogans.

In a briefing on the eve of the earthquake anniversary, Sardar Farooq Tabassum, secretary of the State Earth­quake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (Serra), informed journalists that about Rs39 billion was required to complete all reconstruction projects in quake-affected areas.

“The reconstruction programme in quake-hit areas has been going through difficulties, particularly after 2010 when Pakistan was hit by devastating floods,” he said.

According to him, 1,385 projects were under construction, adding that 903 projects could not be initiated altogether due to shortage of funds.

“If the requisite funds are provided to us by the government of Pakistan, we are capable enough to complete all pending projects within two years,” he claimed.

Mr Tabassum said that majority of under-construction or yet-to-be initiated projects — 1300 — were in the education sector.

In the current fiscal year, he said, Serra had set out a target of completing 265 projects, depending on smooth cash flow.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Construction work on two major dams — Mohmand and Diamer-Bhasha — is all set to begin in the first and second quarters of 2019 with a total approved cost of about Rs883 billion.

Mohammad Faisal Vawda, the newly appointed Minister for Water Resources, was given a briefing by Muzammil Hussain, the chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), about the building of the dams. The retired lieutenant general assured the minister that everything was on course and that construction is going to commence in 2019.

An official said construction work on the Rs309bn Mohmand dam would start in the first quarter of 2019. He added that the process of hiring consultants was in the final stages, who would evaluate the bids for the project and also monitor implementation.

The official said the authorities had invited consultancy firms to submit proposals for the Rs478bn Diamer-Bhasha dam. He added that several companies had submitted applications for the pre-qualification process and their offers were being evaluated to be included in the bidding stage.

Wapda chairman briefs minister the work will cost Rs883bn

The authorities have already divided the Diamer-Bhasha dam into two components — the main dam and other sub-structures. The first stage of the multi-purpose project will begin latest by June 2019, and will be followed by the electro-mechanical phase power house some time later, which is estimated to cost Rs751bn.

The meeting was informed that the fund created by the chief justice of Pakistan, which was later joined by the prime minister, had seen a total donation inflow of Rs4.6bn. Already, Rs23.8bn for the Diamer-Bhasha dam and Rs2bn for the Mohmand dam had been allocated in the Public Sector Development Programme 2018-19.

The Wapda chairman also explained the various factors that were causing the water crisis in the country. He said that building new dams and adopting water conservation strategies were critical for the future.

The minister was also briefed on recently completed Wapda projects and the status of other ongoing water and hydropower projects, including Dasu and Keyal Khwar hydropower plant and Kurram Tangi and Nai Gaj dams.

The briefing also touched on the ready-for-construction projects, which include Kachhi Canal Phase-II and III, Kurram Tangi dam, Tarbela’s 5th extension and Harpo and Bunji hydropower plants.

The minister assured the Wapda team that the government was fully committed to constructing hydropower projects to improve water availability for domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors, while at the same time add low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The last prosecution witness in the Al-Azizia reference admitted before the accountability court on Monday that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) provided ‘incorrect’ information to the Saudi government about Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment (HME) owned by Hussain Nawaz, son of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

During the cross-examination, the ex-premier’s lead counsel Khawaja Haris asked investigation officer Mehboob Alam about a letter of credit related to transport of scrap of machinery of Ahli Steel Mills from Sharjah to Jeddah that was submitted by Hussain Nawaz before the Supreme Court.

The JIT, in its request seeking mutual legal assistance from the Saudi government, mentioned the wrong place of origin as instead of Sharjah, the investigators sought information about the machinery transported from Dubai.

Moreover, he admitted that the description of goods as given in the exhibited document was different from description of goods transported from Ahli Steel Mills as given in the letter of credit.

Mr Alam said that he had neither recorded the statement of any witness nor issued notice to any witness to ascertain the cost at which Al-Azizia Steel Company and HME had been set up. “It did not come to my notice during investigation that Hill Metals Establishment was not established in one go rather it was established gradually over a period from 2006 to 2014,” he admitted.

He accepted before the court that he had gone through the statement of Hussain Nawaz recorded by the JIT which probed the Panama Papers scandal.

“Even after going through that statement it had not come to my notice that accused Hussain Nawaz Sharif had stated that the Steel Mill was not established all at once rather initially HME was set up as a Scrap Processing Plant,” said the witness.

During the cross-examination, Mr Alam admitted that no witness who had appeared before him stated that any money was sent by accused Nawaz Sharif to accused Hussain and Hassan Nawaz to fund their expenses while they were studying in the UK.

He said: “No witness had stated before me that accused Nawaz Sharif had been sending money to accused Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz for meeting their day-to-day expenditure from the year 1995 to 1999 or thereafter.”

He added that during investigation he had not come across any bank account of Nawaz Sharif through which any money was sent by him to his sons for any of the aforesaid purposes.

Mr Alam revealed that he had recorded the statement of a witness — Jahangir Ahmed — who had produced Mr Sharif’s tax record, adding that the witness had not produced the tax record of any company wherein Mr Sharif was a shareholder.

Moreover, the investigation officer admitted that he had not collected record from the SECP regarding any company in which Mr Sharif was a shareholder.

The proceedings in the Al-Azizia reference were adjourned till Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Barbs flew in the Senate on Monday with the opposition members accusing the government of witch-hunt in the name of accountability and the treasury members claiming that the slogan of ‘political victimisation’ was being used as a shield against a transparent process of accountability.

Members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) termed the arrest of PML-N president and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif contempt of parliament and a step directed at attempts to rig Oct 14 by-elections and criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for what they called his threatening tone at a press conference he addressed in Lahore on Sunday.

Rumpus ruled the house when Attaur Rehman of the JUI-F in his speech accused Imran Khan of behaving like a vagabond and terrorist. After the chair expunged the words and asked him not to use such language, he said the prime minister looked more like an opposition leader.

On strong objection raised from the treasury benches, Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani asked Mr Rehman to apologise for the inappropriate words used by him, but he refused, saying the words had already been expunged.

Opposition stages walkout after Fawad Chaudhry was allowed to take part in debate

When the chairman asked him not to vitiate the atmosphere of the house, Mr Rehman said the government was cankering environment of the entire country by its irresponsible behavior. He said the threats would not work as the opposition won’t care about them.

“Enough is enough,” said Leader of the House in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz, while objecting to Mr Rehman’s remarks. He said other opposition members also spoke over the issue, but they did not cross the limits of decency.

Even after the time was over and his mike was switched off, Attaur Rehman kept on criticising the government amidst demands from the treasury benches for an apology. He kept on insisting that the government withdraw its threats given to the opposition.

Retired Gen Abdul Qayyum of the PML-N observed that a corruption-free Pakistan could be given to the posterity only if it was kept in mind that financial corruption is only one facet of this cancer. “Other dimensions of this disease which are equally if not more lethal are judicial, moral and intellectual corruption and misuse of political authority for political gains,” he observed.

He said the opposition leader’s arrest was a glaring example of political victimisation, witch-hunt and selective justice for political ends, which would erode public confidence in the viability of democratic system. He demanded immediate release of the PML-N president.

Saadia Abbasi of the PML-N said the prime minister at his press conference said he was shocked to see the evidence of corruption presented to him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Intelligence Bureau. “Is it for NAB to share evidence with the chief executive?” she asked and said that collusion was evident from it.

“Did he not receive intelligence reports over Babar Awan’s involvement in the Nandipur power project corruption scam and that of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in a murder case?” she asked.

She also criticised Imran Khan for saying that those protesting against Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest would soon land in jail. She warned that the entire country would be paralysed if a call for protest was given by her party.

Talha Mahmood of the JUI-F accused the prime minister of behaving like Hitler. He said Imran Khan hinted that the IB and FIA — the two institutions under him — might be fully used (against the opposition).

Ayesha Raza Farooq of the PML-N said Shahbaz Sharif had been cheated into arrest without fulfilling the basic rules of justice. “It smacks of political vendetta and is nothing but sham accountability,” she said and asked as to what evidence had surfaced from investigations which required his arrest.

The opposition protested when Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tried to take part in the discussion, saying only a member of the house could speak and a minister could just wind up the debate. After the chair allowed the minister to speak, the opposition staged a walkout.

In opposition’s absence, the information minister said he wondered why the opposition was so worried over the prime minister’s remarks that thieves and dacoits would not be spared. “You have looted the nation’s wealth and we will bring it back,” he remarked.

Azam Moosakhel of the PkMAP pointed out the lack of quorum after the opposition’s walkout. Treasury members tried to bring the opposition back to the house, but to no avail.

The house was adjourned to meet again at 3pm on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018