ISLAMABAD: Parents of the victims of the terrorist attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School (APS) have urged President Mamnoon Hussain to order a judicial inquiry and grant highest civil awards for the children and teachers who lost their lives in the incident.

“We have handed over our demands in writing to the president during the meeting,” Ajoon Khan, secretary general of the APS Shuhada Forum, said after an eight-member delegation met the president here on Monday.

The delegation also met Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Senator Mushahid Hussain, chief of the Standing Committee on Defence, and apprised them of their grievances. They alleged that a discriminatory treatment had been meted out to them by the civil and military authorities.

Take a look: Parents of APS attack victims hail SC verdict on military courts

Ajoon Khan told Dawn that the parents wanted a judicial commission to investigate the attack so that the officials responsible for the huge security lapse should be punished.

Terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan attacked the APS on Dec 16, 2014, killing 145 people, including 132 children.

Mr Khan said the government had awarded Tamgha-i-Shujaat to the children in March, which they had received ‘under protest’ because it had no match with the sacrifice they had rendered in the war against terrorism. He alleged that two schoolteachers who were wives of military officials had been awarded Sitara-i-Shujaat although they were in the same auditorium where the others were killed. “We want to see an end to such discrimination,” he said.

He called for announcement of the highest official award or a new, unique award for the martyred children and teachers to recognise their sacrifice.

He said the delegation had asked the president to allot land in Islamabad to set up a Shuhada university in memory of the victims.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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GENEVA: Pakistan and Afghanistan must intensify efforts to halt spread of the crippling poliovirus, including better screening of travellers heading abroad, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The WHO emergency committee of experts warned in a statement that vaccinations of international air travellers in Afghanistan are not being tracked “and no exit screening and restriction of unvaccinated travellers has been implemented at international airports."

“The increasing risk of international spread associated with the ongoing suspension of mass vaccination campaigns in Kandahar province was another major source of concern,” the UN agency said, referring to Taliban factions that have halted vaccination campaigns.

Pakistan and Afghanistan - the only two countries where the poliovirus remains endemic - have reported 29 and seven cases, respectively, so far this year, against 108 and eight at this time in 2014, WHO spokeswoman Sona Bari said.

The experts, while recognising progress in Pakistan, said that Afghan and Pakistani residents lacking documentation of recent polio vaccination should be restricted “at the point of departure”, whether travelling by road, air or sea.

“The committee recommended that coordination and quality of cross-border vaccination and surveillance activities should be further strengthened to reduce the risk of this international spread. Both countries must achieve interruption of poliovirus transmission simultaneously in order to prevent such international spread from repeatedly setting back progress," said Bari.

India, which had its last case in 2011, was certified polio-free three years later.

The poliomyelitis virus attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours of infection. It often spreads among young children and in areas with poor sanitation.

In Africa, no cases of wild poliovirus have been reported since Somalia on August 11, 2014, Bari said.

Nigeria marked its first year without a single case on July 24, reaching a milestone many experts had thought would elude it as internal conflict hampered the battle against the disease.

Hot spots in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and central Africa, particularly the Lake Chad region bordering Nigeria, remain vulnerable to polio, the WHO said: “The hard-earned gains can be quickly lost if there is continued disruption of health systems.” Madagascar has had nine cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus this year, against one in 2014, Bari said.

The outbreak stems from a “very rare mutation” of the virus into a paralytic form after passing through the stool of a person who has had the oral vaccine, usually into an environment with low immunity, she said.

PESHAWAR: The 10-year-old son of PPP Central Executive Committee member Syed Akhunzada Chattan was kidnapped early Monday morning by unidentified persons as he was leaving for school in Bajaur tribal region.

The former MNA from Bajaur Agency told DawnNews that his youngest son, Shah Hussain, had stepped out of the house to go to school when some unidentified people whisked him away in a vehicle.

Akhundzada said he had been receiving threats from the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group. He mentioned that he often received threats and was also attacked recently.

"My children do have security," he said, "But he got out of the house before his brothers ... Our house is on the main road ... The guards fired at the kidnappers but they were out of range," the Pakistan Peoples Party leader said.

Akhundzada Chattan said there had been no contact with the kidnappers as yet.

The former MNA was the purported target of a roadside bomb blast in the Mandal area near Khar earlier this year. Chattan has a security detail of around 17 levies personnel who have been with him for several years, police officials had said.

Akhuzada told that his war ready on deer step for school that some armed persons abducted him. He said the security guard also opened fire but they went way. Akhunzad told continuously he received threats from banned TTP.

Also read: Former MNA survives bomb blast

PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari expresses concern over abduction

Former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has expressed grave concern over the kidnapping of the son of former MNA and PPP Fata president Akhunzada Chattan this morning and called for the quick and secure recovery of the boy.

Condemning the incident, Zardari said he was gravely concerned about the safety of the boy and demanded the Bajaur Agency administration to recover him and bring the culprits to book.

Earlier in 2013, Ali Haider Gilani, a son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and a candidate for the Punjab Assembly, was kidnapped by gunmen. His two associates were also killed in the process.

in 2011, Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain governor Punjab Salman Taseer, was kidnapped from Lahore. in the morning near his company’s head office. Taseer was driving towards the offices of the First Capital Group off M.M. Alam Road in Gulberg when he was intercepted by the kidnappers.

─ With additional reporting from Irfan Haider and Ali Akbar.

BANNU: At least 65 militants were killed and their ammunition dump destroyed Monday in air strikes on hideouts in the country's tribal belt near the Afghan border, the military said.

The strikes targeted hideouts in the Gharlamai and Shawal areas of the lawless North Waziristan tribal region, where the army has been waging an offensive against Taliban militants since June last year.

“At least 50 terrorists were killed in precise air strikes in Shawal and Gharlamai this afternoon. There are reports that the terrorists' infrastructure in the area, including their ammunition dump, is badly damaged,” the military said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, two intelligence officials, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak on the record, told Reuters that air strikes on Monday morning killed at least 24 suspected militants in the Zoi Nari, Lataka, Mizer Madakhel and Shawal areas of North Waziristan.

“Jet air shelling destroyed six militant hideouts and killed 24 militants hiding in this area,” said one of the officials, adding that the dead included some foreigners.

A second official confirmed the deaths but declined to comment when asked if the strikes were in retaliation for Sunday's attack in Punjab, which killed nine people, including the provincial security chief.

According to Radio Pakistan, air raids were also conducted in Rajgal area of Khyber Agency, where 15 terrorists were targeted including two suicide bombers.

These areas are generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.

The deeply forested ravines of Shawal Valley and Datta Khel are a smuggling route between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, and are dotted with militant bases used as launch pads for attacks on country's security forces.

The Pakistani wing of the hard-line Taliban used to control all of mountainous North Waziristan, which includes the Shawal Valley and Datta Khel, and runs along the Afghan border. But the Pakistani military recaptured most of the region in a major armed operation launched last June.

Security forces had on Sunday carried out aerial strikes in Shawal Valley that killed 40 terrorists.

Nato forces had long urged Pakistan for such an offensive, saying Taliban safe havens in the country were being used to attack Nato and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Since May, the military has stepped up operations in Shawal Valley, where the Taliban still operates freely.

Also read: 40 ‘terrorists’ killed in N. Waziristan air strikes

The area is a stronghold of Khan “Sajna” Said, the leader of a Taliban faction whose name the United States last year put on a sanctions list of “specially designated global terrorists”.

Most phone lines to the area have been cut and military roadblocks limit civilian movement. It is not possible to independently verify security forces' claims of attacks and deaths.

The Pakistani Taliban mainly fight against the government in Islamabad and are separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban that ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s before being expelled in a U.S.-led military intervention.

Both groups send fighters against Afghanistan's Western-backed government. Afghan officials have said the army offensive has driven large numbers of fighters over the border, complicating the war in Afghanistan's east and north.

KARACHI: The chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – F (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, reached Karachi Monday evening where he is scheduled to hold talks with the disgruntled Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders who resigned from Parliament last week in protest over excesses committed during the Rangers-led security operation in Karachi.

Fazl has been tasked to sooth the MQM lawmakers and convince them to take back their resignations. He is expected to hold a meeting with MQM officials tomorrow at Nine Zero.

Read: JUI-F chief tasked to woo MQM lawmakers back to parliament.

The JUI-F chief had earlier said MQM’s actions could cause a political crisis and that he will make efforts to defuse the situation, and will consult constitutional experts before approaching MQM.

Talking to reporters after arriving in Karachi on Monday, the JUI-F chief said he was hopeful that the MQM would take back its decision of leaving assemblies.

“I wouldn’t have come to Karachi if I had lost hope,” said Fazlur Rehman at the Jinnah International Airport.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain had earlier invited Fazl to the party's headquarters in Karachi over a telephonic conversation Saturday. Both leaders had agreed to begin a process of dialogue to thrash out a solution to the crisis that has resulted in light of MQM lawmakers' resignations.

“The MQM leader has accepted Maulana Fazl as a negotiator to resolve this issue,” Jan Achakzai, a spokesman for the JUI-F, had said earlier.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also requested the JUI-F chief to hold talks with MQM's leadership in an attempt to bring them back to Parliament and the Sindh Assembly.

After arriving in Karachi, Fazl said it was important for political stability in the country that MQM legislators return to assemblies. The Maulana also said that the operation in Karachi should be “impartial,” adding that MQM's reservations should be removed.

MQM lawmakers had simultaneously submitted their resignations in the National Assembly, Senate and the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday, citing reservations over the Rangers-led operation in Karachi. The party claims its workers are being illegally detained and killed under the garb of Karachi's security operation.

Take a look: MQM lawmakers tender resignations.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court observed on Monday that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished thousands of houses in a katchi abadi overnight but was powerless against the rich.

“The CDA is the worst run organisation in the world,” said Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the member of a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja.

The bench was hearing a case against the use of residential houses for commercial purposes and encroachments and road blockades erected by government offices, embassies and the citizens.

The observations came against the backdrop of a separate case filed against the construction of farmhouses on leased farmlands and the demolition of an informal settlement in Sector I-11 on July 30.

Justice Isa observed that the CDA should have ensured that its officers were vigilant against encroachments.

When CDA Chairman Maroof Afzal was summoned, he told the court that the authority had 15,000 employees, including 3,000 officers.

Judge says civic agency should ensure its officers remain vigilant against encroachments

Justice Isa suggested to the CDA chief to take back official cars from his officers and ask them to walk around the city so that they can perhaps notice scores of building violations, heaps of garbage and natural streams choked with filth. He said the CDA never capitalised on the violations by collecting fines from the violators of the law or the encroachers.

Justice Dost Mohammad Khan, another member of the bench, asked why the CDA had turned a blind eye to the blatant violation of its master plan. He regretted that even natural ravines and beds of rain-fed streams had been sold for the construction of bungalows.

The CDA chairman informed the court that the civic agency had developed a draft policy framework to ensure that residential property was not used for commercial purposes and the violators were penalised.

In the proposed policy, he added, the number of buildings in residential areas being used for commercial purposes had been reduced from 2,262 to 1,695. He said commercial use of residential areas was a chronic problem which had developed over the last 20 to 30 years. The framework stated that considerable time and effort was required to resolve the ‘complex issue’, especially keeping the available resources in mind.

According to the regulations laid out in the draft policy, six months would be given to the owners of shops, showrooms and restaurants to move out of residential areas. Government offices, hostels, guest houses and beauty parlours would be given one year to vacate the buildings while schools, academies, hospitals and clinics would have two years to relocate.

The CDA also informed the court that the authority was planning to allocate more land for educational institutions and a number of meetings had been held with the Private Schools Association for the formulation of a policy for the allotment of the plots.

The school owners can also buy land in Zone IV and V of Islamabad for the establishment of the educational institutions.

According to the rules laid out in the policy, cases of those establishments which are under trial in the court of the CDA deputy commissioner would continue. The cases which are yet to be forwarded to the deputy commissioner would also be sent for trial.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Sunday’s terror attack in Attock, which killed Punjab’s home minister retired Colonel Shuja Khanzada and a number of others, jolted the federal capital police into taking precautionary measures.

Police sources confirmed that senior officers of the force met on Monday and decided to ensure stricter surveillance and carry out a fresh survey of seminaries in the federal capital area.

A senior police officer, talking to Dawn on the condition of anonymity, recalled that the last such survey was carried out in January.

“Eight months is a long time during which some teachers and students may have left and new ones would have joined,” he said.

He said no specific tip-off or intelligence report regarding suspected elements has been received.

But when reminded that a joint team of the police and paramilitary forces had inspected some seminaries, including the Lal Masjid-affiliated Jamia Fareedia as part of security measures taken for the Independence Day celebrations, the officer said “Surveillance and intelligence gathering are sometimes scaled down because of other demands,”.

According to another police officer, it has been decided that the Special Branch of the police will carry out “fresh and effective” surveillance of the seminaries.

Senior officers of the force will also be identifying around 20 political and religious leaders, considered to be in danger and the security around them would be beefed up.

“Their private security guards will be scrutinised and guided and their residences checked for possible loopholes in security,” said an official.

The official said there are also threats against over 50 senior bureaucrats. “But it is difficult for the police to provide the same kind of security to everyone,” he said, declining to name those in danger.

Meanwhile, the Station House Officers of police stations will be conducting a survey of the seminaries located in their jurisdiction. Representatives of the Special Branch, the Crime Investigation Department and the Special Investigation Unit will assist them in verifying the “status” of the students and teachers at the seminaries. This status will be cross-checked with the police of their native town.

Moreover, the Special Branch has been asked to mount effective intelligence and surveillance ‘in and around the seminaries’, according to a police officer. “Fresh undercover manpower will be deputed there,” he said.

There are 329 seminaries in the federal capital territory, with more than 28,000 students on their rolls.

Out of these the Deobandi school of thought administers 207, the Barelvis 105, the Ahle Hadith nine and the Ahle Tashii (Shia) eight.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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ATTOCK: The terrorist attack on Punjab Home Minister retired Col Shuja Khanzada has left the whole village of Shadi Khan in shock.

According to the minister’s personal staff, the attackers – whoever they were – had intimate knowledge of his movements and police say that circumstantial evidence points towards the attackers having strong connections in the locality.

This is shocking and frightening for residents of this small village, since most of them belong to the same clan. Nearly everyone Dawn spoke to seemed visibly shaken by Sunday’s attack and expressed a similar sentiment: they had never been under threat and did not expect that terrorists could strike so close to home.

Shadi Khan is a small settlement of around 250 houses and there are no shops or restaurants in the village square, so it is unlikely that an outsider can know the ins and outs of the area without local support. The family compound is a sprawling gated community located off the main road and houses nearly all members of the Khanzada clan, including former lawmaker Taj Muhammad Khanzada.

The minister’s house is a five-minute drive from the location where the attack took place.

“[Col] Khanzada came out of his house at around 10:30am and reached this dera at around 10:35am,” the late minister’s secretary Khawaja Shakeel said, pointing in the general direction of Col Khanzada’s residence. “He quickly reached as he had to attend a meeting with the general public. People began to come up to him and greeted him one by one, and that’s when the blast occurred; between 10:45am and 10:48am.”

Late home minister’s staff, investigators agree attack was not possible without local support

He acknowledged that clerics from various banned outfits had been unhappy with the slain minister of late and there were a large number of seminaries, said to have links with extremist groups, in the adjoining villages. Their imprint is visible upon entering the village; the flag of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) flies proudly on top of the main roundabout.

“[The minister] had given strong statements against rising religious extremism in the area after a suicide vest-making factory was discovered in Hazro,” Mr Shakeel added.

Sheikh Javed, another aide of the former home minister, said that Col Khanzada had received several threats, but never insisted on added security for visitors at his dera.

“This is why the bomber could reach him so easily,” he said, adding, “The main problem is that there are too many seminaries in the Waisa village, just 2 kilometres from here.”

A police official confirmed that the Counter Terrorism Department had raided many of the seminaries several times over the past two to three months in coordination with the local police, and had made some arrests.

Unusual MO

Initial investigations into the attack on the Punjab home minister have revealed that ball-bearings or nails – which are a hallmark of suicide vests and are used to maximise the damage inflicted in a suicide bombing – were not used in the attack. However, investigators say that the chemical composition of the explosive material used had caused severe burns to victims.

“Apart from injuries sustained due to the impact of the blast and broken bones from the falling debris, all the bodies bore severe burn marks,” Rango Police Station House Officer (SHO) Ghulam Shabbir told Dawn.

A Punjab police official told Dawn that 16 of the deceased had been identified, whereas the two unidentified corpses possibly belonged to the attackers.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The en masses resignation of MQM lawmakers from both houses of parliament as well as the Sindh Assembly led to the institution of two petitions on Monday — the first in the Supreme Court and the second in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The petition filed in the Supreme Court by former PML-N senator Zafar Ali Shah pleaded that the seats of MQM lawmakers, including the party’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar, be declared vacant from the date they tendered their resignations before the National Assembly speaker, Senate chairman and Sindh Assembly speaker because these were genuine and voluntary.

Take a look: MQM lawmakers tender resignations

The other petition filed by political activist Mohammad Dawood Ghazanavi requested the IHC to set a time limit for the Senate chairman and speakers of the National and Sindh assemblies to decide the matter.

The high court should also restrain the custodians of the houses from playing politics and toeing the government line and ask them to decide the matter in accordance with the law, the petition said. The MQM legislators had submitted their resignations on Aug 12 while expressing their reservations over the Rangers-led operation in Karachi.

In his petition, Zafar Ali Shah has named as respondents MQM chief Altaf Hussain and all 83 Muttahida lawmakers, including 24 members of the National Assembly, eight senators and 51 members of the Sindh Assembly, in addition to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah, Senator Aitzaz Ahsan and Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq and others.

The petitioner requested the Supreme Court to declare the MQM lawmakers as ex-MNAs, ex-senators and ex-MPAs because they had lost their right to sit in the houses. And any attempt to allow the MQM members to retain their seats in view of any understanding between the party and the government would amount to violation of the constitution and election rules, he said.

Mr Shah also sought a court direction for the Senate chairman and speakers of the two assemblies to send notifications to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by declaring the seats held by the MQM members as vacant. They should also be restrained from issuing salaries, allowances and other fringe benefits to the MQM lawmakers.

Likewise, the ECP should be directed to announce by-elections for the vacant seats. Mr Shah also sought an order for the offices concerned to immediately furnish complete record of the resignations before the court.

In his petition, Mr Ghazanavi contended that the people of the constituencies represented by the MQM lawmakers had been deprived of having fair and equitable representation in parliament and the Sindh Assembly.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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RAWALPINDI: The Metro Bus Service was suspended for three hours on Monday after security guards went on a strike claiming they had not been paid their wages on time.

More than 200 security guards observed the strike between 1:45pm and 5pm. Each bus station employs approximately eight security guards, all of whom went on strike against the administration, claiming they had yet to receive their salary for July.

The service was first suspended between Pakistan Secretariat and Centaurus stations after which the suspension was extended to Saddar, Rawalpindi. The guards also chanted slogans against the Metro Bus Authority (MBA).

Service suspended by fourth strike in two months

The MBA officials then directed the commissioner’s office and the security company, Security 2000, to resolve the matter. Following a meeting between the representatives of Security 2000 and the guards during which it was decided that the salaries would be released, the strike was called off.

This was the fourth strike observed by the Metro Bus employees in the last two months. Drivers and other metro bus staff went on a strike and suspended the bus service for a day. Security guards also announced strikes in June and July over the same issue.

Metro buses are parked at the Secretariat station in Islamabad following a protest by employees on Monday against non-payment of salaries. — INP

Commuters have criticised the suspension of the bus service and asked the government to improve the administrative structure of the MBA. “Due to the strike, I wasted two hours finding out that the metro bus service was suspended between 9th Avenue and Saddar. The government claims to provide a non-stop service but it is suspended again and again,” said Mohammad Javed, a government official who travels daily from Peshawar Mor to Saddar.

Sidra Janzeb said she waited for the bus at Shamsabad bus station for two hours. She said it was very strange that a state bus service was suspended for several hours and the government did not take notice.

Iqbal Malik, a commuter from Saddar, said in the past the government transport service was suspended due to strikes by drivers and staff and that the metro bus service will meet the same fate if the government fails to improve the administrative structure behind the service.

He added that the government should also ensure a level-playing field for private transport on the same routes so that commuters can travel in the event of a strike, or any other suspension of the metro bus service. He said that the government had changed the route for public transport on Murree Road which made it difficult for commuters to find alternative transport during the strike.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: At least 16 suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the child pornography ring at the heart of the Kasur child abuse scandal, have been arrested. But on Monday, the officer responsible for the investigation into the scandal told the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights that the incident should not be treated as “organised crime” because those involved were youngsters, all in their mid-20s.

In addition, the committee also summoned the Sindh chief secretary and the Rangers Sindh director-general to address complaints regarding extrajudicial killings during the Karachi operation.

Take a look: Kasur scandal: 'I thought of killing myself everyday'

The child abuse scandal came to light last month, with media reports claiming that around 400 videos of 280 victims were made by the gang in Husain Khanwala, Kasur.

However, briefing the committee, Sheikhupura Regional Police Officer (RPO) Shehzad Sultan disagreed with those figures and said that only 30 video clips were available on police record.

“Initially, only eight cases were reported. But on Aug 13, another 10 victims filed applications, bringing the total number of victims to 18,” he said. He also confirmed that a woman from the area had also filed an application alleging that she had been raped by the suspects in question.

“Of the 16 suspects, 12 have been formally charged and police have obtained their physical remand. We are trying to secure the remand of the four remaining suspects as well,” he said.

“The mastermind — who confessed to the crime — is 25 years old, which suggests that he became involved with this while he was still a teenager; therefore it should not be considered an organised crime. The suspects are all young friends and demanded small payouts, such as mobile phone credit and easyload,” he said.

When asked by Senator Farhatullah Babar why the police remained unaware of such a heinous crime for over six years, the RPO said that since the crime centred around a social taboo, most victims did not tell their parents, and parents who were aware about the abuse did not inform the police for fear of losing face.

“Moreover, the police is usually busy with security arrangements and countering terrorist attacks such as the one in Attock, so such crimes are not a priority,” he said.

PML-N lawmaker Nisar Mohammad, who was chairing the committee meeting in the absence of MQM’s Nasreen Jalil, said that the police should focus on rooting out such crimes to ensure law and order.

“It is responsibility of intelligence agencies to stop terrorism. We have been embarrassed at the national and international level by this incident,” he said, adding that there may well be more victims because the 280 figure had been circulating for quite some time.

The RPO said that a joint investigation team had been formed and that victims were being provided free transport to come and record their statements. At the suggestion of Senator Samina Abid, committee members decided to visit the village in question and instructed the police to keep the members informed about progress in the investigation.

Karachi operation: During discussion on the Karachi operation, members decided to summon the Sindh chief secretary and the Rangers DG to address concerns regarding extrajudicial killings.

After agenda items were completed, Senator Babar said there was a need to evolve a mechanism to monitor the Karachi operation and address the complaints regarding extrajudicial killings.

Balochistan National Party-Mengal Senator Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini was of the view that extrajudicial killings cannot be tolerated because if the state partook in such action, political parties would also follow suit.

“There are complaints of extrajudicial killings from all over the country so the issue should be addressed,” he said.

However, the acting chairman of the committee seemed reluctant to give any direct recommendations.

Senator Babar proposed a draft for the ruling of the committee, but Senator Samina Abid said that the operation had reduced the crime rate and incidents of target-killing had also declined. Then, Senator Babar read out another draft for the ruling, which praised the operation but said that extrajudicial killings should be stopped.

The chairman, however, after consulting with the members, decided to summon the Rangers DG and the Sindh chief secretary to the next committee meeting to discuss the issue.

“Committee Chairperson Nasreen Jalil may also be present during the next meeting so it would be better to take a collective decision,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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LAHORE: The Punjab Human Organs Transplant Authority (HOTA) has barred a private facility, the Doctors Hospital and its liver transplant surgeon from conducting further surgeries because of “failure” of the first such procedure carried out there a couple of weeks ago.

The surgery that reportedly went wrong was the first liver transplant procedure performed at the hospital, on 48-year-old Faizaul Haq of Bahawalnagar district. The patient was brought to the hospital with liver failure.

The doctors performed liver transplant procedure on the patient twice (on August 2 and then August 4) at the hospital. However, despite undergoing the surgery twice the patient died during post-operative care last Sunday.

In the first surgery, the donor was a close relative of the recipient, while during the second attempt an unrelated organ donor was arranged after getting HOTA nod in this regard.

Comprising anesthesiologists and doctors of other relevant disciplines, the surgical team was headed by liver transplant surgeon Dr Abdul Wahab Dogar.

Surgeon also barred from surgeries

An official who is privy to the information told Dawn the condition of the patient got critical shortly after first hours-long surgery. He said the doctors asked the patient’s attendant to arrange a second donor hurriedly to avoid further complications.

The re-transplantation was done two days after the first surgery. The patient was later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital for follow-up care.

The official said a team headed by Lahore commissioner had inspected the Doctors Hospital for the liver transplant surgery and later granted it permission to start the sensitive procedure.

“The HOTA prohibited the Doctors Hospital from performing liver transplant surgery shortly after it learnt that the patient’s condition got critical due to failure of the surgery”, authority’s administrator, Prof Dr Faisal Masood, told Dawn.

He said it had also barred Dr Wahab from performing any further liver transplant procedure till the directions by the authority.

Dr Masood said an inquiry had been launched into the factors behind the patient’s death and added a committee would dig out whether the safety measures were adopted or not during the highly sophisticated surgical procedure.

He said the authority had already inspected the hospital in accordance with the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 2010. He said it had also verified the surgical skills and qualification of the liver transplant surgeon (Dr Dogar).

However, after the patients’ death the authority became more cautious and would neither allow the private health facility nor its surgeon to get involved in any other transplant surgery till hospital’s re-inspection, he said.

To a question about organ donation by unrelated person, he said the Act clearly provided for such arrangement but most of the people were unaware of the provision.

“In case of non-availability of a donor as explained under sub-section (1), the Evaluation Committee may allow donation by a non-close blood relative, after satisfying itself that such donation is voluntary”, Dr Faisal Masood said.

Dr Dogar said it was quite unfortunate that the patient died despite “best possible efforts”. He said the patient had started recovering after the second liver transplant surgery. However, his condition got critical on Sunday shortly after he vomited blood, he added.

He said the authority had barred him from further surgical procedure and he would obey the decision in its letter and spirit.

“I am a qualified and certified liver transplant surgeon and accordingly registered by HOTA for the organ transplantation”, Dr Dogar said, adding that he was hopeful that the authority would allow him to resume surgeries after completion of inquiry.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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KARACHI: A delegation of PPP leaders from the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter, led by its president Senator Khanzada Khan, called on Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at his residence here on Monday.

The delegation, including Senator Rubina Khalid, Zahir Shah, Humayoon Khan, Liaquat Shabab and Farzand Ali apart from Senator Khan, briefed Mr Bilawal on the political and law and order situation and the party’s organisational affairs in the province.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Bilawal said that incidents like Sunday’s suicide attack in Attock and kidnapping of the son of PPP lawmaker Akhundzada Chattan highlighted the need for stronger action against terrorists.

PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rahman and Jameel Soomro also attended the meeting.

A delegation of PPP leaders from Multan district also met the party chief at Bilawal House.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court directed the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau on Monday to submit an explanation about the utilisation of NAB’s resources.

The directive was issued by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja during the hearing of a case pertaining to making recovery by NAB for a private bank. The bureau sought cancellation of the bail of a defaulter of the bank, Mohammad Tariq.

The chief justice said that as per Section 51-D of the NAB Ordinance, the bureau could not conduct recovery operations for a private bank without approval of the governor of the State Bank. A case could be made against NAB if it had not sought the required approval, he warned.

He said NAB did not lay hands on defaulters involved in corruption of billions of rupees.—APP

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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LANDI KOTAL: Unidentified persons blew up a government school in Bara on Monday, officials said.

They said that miscreants planted explosive material in a school in Waliabad locality of Bar Qambarkhel at mid night. The explosion caused partial damage to the school building, they added.

The Khasadar Force later arrested at least five suspected men during a search operation. According to official figures, militants had destroyed 150 government schools in different parts of Bara during the last six years.

Meanwhile, the elders of Sipah tribe on Monday handed over at least 20 wanted tribesmen to the Khyber Agency political administration. 

The administration had earlier asked the tribe to hand it over 118 Sipah tribesmen, wanted to the authorities in different cases.

A jirga member of Sipah tribe told Dawn that the surrendered men included schoolteachers, khasadars and ordinary tribesmen.

He said that Bara assistant political agent assured them that all the surrendered men would be treated well.

They would be investigated by a joint investigating team, he added. 

The jirga members were assured by the administration that the surrendered men, if found guilty of any crime, would be kept at Al-Haj Market Internment Centre instead of sending them to jail.

CHILDREN DIE: Two children died of gastroenteritis and two others were killed when roof of a house collapsed in Landi Kotal.

Health officials said that three-year-old Marwa and two-year-old Qasim died of gastroenteritis after consuming some contaminated food. Agency Surgeon Dr Niaz Afridi told Dawn that he immediately sent health teams to Pasedkhel area where the two children had died and provided necessary medicines to at least 35 other patients , mostly children.

He said that drinking water in most of Pasedkhel houses was not clean and safe while the local people were also not following properly the hygienic ways of living.

Khasadar officials said that two minor boys were killed when roof of their house collapsed due to torrential rain in Loe Shalman area late on Sunday night.

They said several other houses were also partially damaged in different localities of Loe Shalman.

Published in Dawn August 18th, 2015

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SWABI: Farmers have to guard their maize crops throughout the night to protect them from the attacks of increasing number of pigs.

Talking to Dawn here on Monday, they said the pigs had been damaging maize fields during search for food at night. As the dark spreads, pigs start search for food in the fields and the grown maize crop is their target, they added.

The growers said it was during construction of Tarbela Dam in 1970s that foreigners brought pigs along with them, and since then their population has increased manifold.

“They were left in the Tarbela forest and now their number has reached to thousands,” Shad Khan, who retired as a watchman from Tarbela Dam, recalled.

Nur Gul, a farmer who has grown maize crop in front of the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, said last night he fired three shots, but couldn’t kill any pig prowling around his fields.

“Herds of pigs each night come to my agriculture fields in search of food,” he said.

Asif Khan, another farmer, said he had earlier planned to spread the barbed wire around the crop field and electrify it at night to thwart pigs, but he gave up the idea as any human might hit the live wire.

Published in Dawn August 18th, 2015

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LANDI KOTAL: The Khyber Agency political administration has dissolved the Malagori peace committee, saying the body has achieved its objectives.

However, the chief of the peace committee said that they were not taken into confidence about dissolving the body.

Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah told Dawn that Malagori peace committee achieved most of its objectives so there was no justification to keep it intact.

“The peace committee was for a purpose and for a particular period of time. The political administration, with assistance of the committee, established peace in Malagori sub-tehsil of Jamrud, which was duly acknowledged on a number of occasions,” he said. Such committees were for a particular period and not for an indefinite time, he added.

Chief of committee says members were not taken into confidence about the decision

Formed in 2008 after Bara-based militant organisation Lashkar-i-Islam and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan tried to establish their foothold in Malagori territory, the committee was consisted of 4,000 tribesmen. The political administration pledged to provide financial support to the committee as most of its members were paid monthly remuneration.

Malak Abdul Manan, the chairman of the committee, told Dawn that the committee successfully thwarted efforts by LI and TTP to establish their bases in Malagori. He claimed that they also cleared their area of all the anti-state and anti-social elements during the last seven years of its existence.

Mr Manan claimed that they arrested more than 12 members of militant groups and handed them over to administration. He said that they also destroyed narcotics dens and helped khasadars to recover abducted men in different localities of Malagori area.

Expressing his displeasure over the official decision to dissolve the peace committee, he said that political administration did not take the members of the body into confidence nor they were given any reason about its abrupt dissolution.

“We were always at the forefront to take on the dangerous militant groups when the committee was active,” Mr Manan said. He added that most of the committee’s members felt threatened and insecure as they were a prime target of militant groups.

Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah, however, told this scribe that the administration had never asked Malagori peace committee members to dismantle their own security mechanism as the same was done by most of them prior to the formation of the committee in 2008.

He pledged to provide security escort to those, who felt threatened from outlawed groups. He said that he would also recommend issuance of arms licences for their personal security.

The committee chief, Malak Abdul Manan, and his deputy Malak Fazal Maula also held a detailed meeting with the political agent on Monday at Khyber House but they were not satisfied with official assurances.

The two elders were also not happy with the suspension of monthly stipend to the committee members and demanded of the administration to issue them two months pending payment before a formal announcement of the dissolution of their committee.

Published in Dawn August 18th, 2015

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KARACHI: Traffic police authorities have approached the Sindh government seeking incentives for the public transport sector to overcome the transport crisis that emerged after the Sindh High Court imposed a ban on motorcycle-rickshaws, better known as Qingqis, in the city that has only 8,000 buses, minibuses and coaches catering to millions of people.

In a recent meeting between top officials of the Karachi traffic police and transport ministry, it was demanded that the transport sector be given industry status. “Moreover, it was suggested that transporters may also be given soft bank loans and subsidy to bring international-based transport facilities for the citizens of Pakistan’s most populous city,” said an official privy to details of the meeting and recent correspondence between the transport secretary and the deputy inspector general of traffic.

In a detailed proposal, the Karachi traffic police pleaded that the gap caused by a decrease in number of buses over the past decade was filled by illegal Qingis. Criticism against the ban on the illegal mode of transport was actually due to non-availability of public transport, the DIG said.

The meeting, he said, was told that there were 20,000 buses, minibuses and coaches in the city till 2000 but only 8,000 were operational at present. Also, the operational routes of public transport buses and minibuses reduced from 200 to 80 over the past decade, the officer said.

While imposing a ban on Qingqis across the province, the Sindh High Court earlier this month directed the provincial and city authorities, including traffic police, to ensure immediate legal action against the illegal vehicles.

The court noted in the judgement that the deteriorating traffic conditions in major cities of the province, particularly in Karachi, was because of unauthorised and illegal public transport, “particularly, the large number of Qingqi motorcycle rickshaws, which are being allowed on the roads with the connivance of the public functionaries, including traffic police, who appear to be either the beneficiaries or co-sharers of such illegal and illegitimate income.”

An immediate blanket ban further aggravated the city’s public transport crisis that pushed the Karachi traffic police to realise the severity of the situation and they managed to “convince” the authorities concerned for some immediate moves to address the public transport issues.

“The meeting went well,” said the official. “The authorities assured the transporters of support and also shared a plan to invite Chinese investors to collaborate with local players to increase number of buses and routes on city roads. Another meeting is likely to be called shortly to further discuss the particular subject.”

The meeting also discussed transporters’ point who shared their concerns over increase in fuel and vehicle prices, lack of incentives and insurance cover for the vehicles burnt in violence, and government apathy towards these issues that discouraged transporters to bring in new buses, minibuses or coaches in the city.

Published in Dawn August 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The sacked chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Chaudhry Rashid Ahmed, on Monday challenged before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the proceedings initiated against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

He alleged before the court that the government had lodged a case against him to harass him after he challenged the termination of his contract.

Mr Rashid, former secretary ministry of information and broadcasting, was appointed as the Pemra chairman for four years by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government on January 26, 2013.

On December 15, 2013, however, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government terminated his contract. On December 26, 2013, the

IHC restored him on the post.

The court, however, allowed the government to probe if there was any illegality with regards to Mr Rashid’s appointment.

The government in April 2014 again sacked Mr Rashid but the latter reappeared in his office on May 25 in pursuance of the IHC’s order of the same date.

On June 10, he was sent home as the court temporarily suspended his restoration after the government produced some new facts before the court.

In the latest petition, Mr Rashid challenged the registration of an FIR against him by the FIA in connection with the release of payment to an advertising agency which the investigation agency claimed was unlawful.

The petitioner contended that the case was registered against him while he was working as the principal information officer (PIO) in the information ministry in BPS-21.

“Under the rules of the FIA, no inquiry can be conducted against an officer in BPS-21 nor can the officer be arrested without prior permission of the competent authority.”

The petition claimed that the FIA did not obtain any permission from the authorities concerned before registering the case against the petitioner.

It added that under the FIA rules, the petitioner had the right to give a written explanation to any allegation made against him in a fortnight.

But no explanation was sought against him and the FIR was registered against him to pressure him to withdraw the case the petitioner had filed with the IHC against his sacking.

The petition cited the director general FIA, the investigating officer of the agency and the secretary ministry of information and broadcasting as the respondents.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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DERA GHAZI KHAN: Unidentified people put up posters, purportedly by Daesh (Khurasani group), on the walls of schools in Phugla, Fazla Kachh and Barthi in the tribal areas of Dera Ghazi Khan. Border military police (BMP) registered a case against unidentified people.

The posters carried messages against co-education.

BMP commandant Shahid Mehboob told Dawn they had removed the posters. — Correspondent

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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