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Qazi Mansoor Hassan 
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Articles
NGO Sector and FrustrationNGO Sector and Frustration “Greetings to all, I read your email and I am agreed with you, there are same problem, which I am facing last four years, I worked with different so-called NGOs, which are only making money. We get funds for communities, but doing nothing for their communities. The upper and middle level management are interesting in drinks, sex and other pleasures. They are just thinking that how they get funds from donor agencies, they developed their personal relations with staff of donor agencies and give them commission (service Charges) for awarding projects. We, the people of NGO sector are going to hell. We are not sincere with us, our communities, our nation even our country” A- from Lahore .... (Full Details)
‘AT LAST’
Its show time and 2007 is a year of felicitation as the order of the day is that no one will be missing, no one will be deprived of justice and basic human rights and none will be supra constitution and nation is congratulating each other every other day as we have reborn in Pakistan after 60 years .... (Full Details)
Pakistans Presidential Elections 2007
Pakistans Presidential Elections 2007 Constitution must be implemented in letter and spirit not in mere words By Amjad Malik 2007 in Pakistan is an election year General election as well as Presidential. History tells us that military rulers translated, exploited and manipulated the voice of silent majority who remain mostly uninvolved in political business until 9th of March when all the bookies lost their bet and a new leaf in the state of Pakistan emerged which resulted in a struggle for rule of law in the country and as a result Judges delivered a land mark judgment on 20th July 2007 restoring the Chief Justice thus inaugurating the road towards independence of judiciary. That judgement for the time being broke the knot of the nexus between military rulers and judiciary which on the common objective of law of necessity legalised military coup de tats and in return render themselves unaccountable to public, NAB or courts. .... (Full Details)
Press freedom roundup
Press freedom roundup A glance at media threat around the world. In Afghanistan, 35 year-old Zakia Zaki, a reporter and presenter at a private radio station funded by the US Media Group, was murdered in her own home while her 18 month-old son slept by her side. She was killed on 6 June in the Afghan capital, Kabul. In the Democratic Republic of Congo two unidentified armed men in plain-clothes killed Serge Maheshe, the head of UN funded Radio Okapi based in the town of Bukavu, on the south coast of Lake Kivu. The street killing happened on 13 June. The death toll has been rising relentlessly in Iraq. Unidentified gunmen killed Raad Mutashar, a 43-year-old journalist, writer and a poet on 9 May, outside the northern city of Kirkuk. Mutashar was also director of a company that publishes the weekly newspaper Al-Iraq Ghadan. Two journalists working for ABC News in Iraq were killed by gunmen on 17 May. Alaa Uldeen Aziz, 33, a cameraman, and Saif Laith Yousuf, 26, a soundman, were killed on their way home from work in Baghdad. Aziz is survived by his wife and two young daughters, while Yousaf was just about to get married. Journalist Nazar Abdulwahid al-Radhi, 38, who was working for an independent news agency Aswat al-Iraq and Radio Free Iraq, was murdered in southern city of Al-Amarah on 30 May. Meanwhile, 44 year-old Sahar Hussein Ali al-Haydari, a reporter for the National Iraqi News Agency and Aswat al-Iraq was shot dead on 7 June in Mosul. She had been abducted in 2006 and was rescued. This was followed by another failed attempt to abduct her. In August 2006 gunmen killed her daughters fianc. Another employee of Aswat al-Iraq, 32 year-old Aref Ali Filaih was killed by a bomb during an assignment on 11 June in Diyala province. Filaih Wuday Mijthab, 53, who worked for the government-run daily Al-Sabah was abducted and killed. His body was found on 17 June in Baghdad. In the Philippines, Vicente Sumalpong was killed on 25 June in the southern town of Bongao. He was an announcer at Government-run Radyo ng Bayan. Mansoor Hassan(August2007) .... (Full Details)
We were dragged out of bed, detained and then starved for 36 hours
We were dragged out of bed, detained and then starved for 36 hours' MANSOOR HASSAN reports on one familys ordeal at the hands of the immigration service Masood Khans children are still terrified by the ordeal that they suffered at the hands of the Home Offices immigration removal unit. Ten-year-old Zarrar says: We were treated as if we are thieves. The childrens only crime was that their parents were victims of prejudice in Pakistan. Dad Masood and mum Shazia were persecuted and ostracised from their communities in Pakistan after they defied cultural conventions that forbid women from marrying someone considered to be from an inferior ethnic group. Masood says: My wife brought dishonour to her family, and the only mistake she made was that she married me. His 27 year old wife, Shazia is the daughter of a powerful ethnic leader of the Pushtoon in Pakistans Mohmand Agency area. Masood, 33, is a Pathan from Peshawar, and considered by the Pushtoon to be socially inferior. Their marriage resulted in death threats which forced the couple into hiding in Islamabad. My office was set on fire and I narrowly escaped death, says Masood, showing the scars on his body from the arson attack. They were constantly on the run, moving from one city to another to escape their pursuers, who were working for Shazias powerful family. The children were victims of the persecution too. They were saved by school staff when their relatives tried to kidnap them from school. The family finally fled to the UK in December 2006 after Masood paid an agent to organise their safe escape. They settled in Manchester, but were refused asylum in January this year. Masood says their asylum claim failed because they had no legal aid or representation. After they were prevented from appealing, he sought help from his MP, Tony Lloyd. But it was too late, and the family home was raided by one of the immigration services notorious removal squads early in the morning of 4 June. Shazia, who was pregnant at that time, says: It was terrible for us. The door was knocked in a terrible way. I saw police cars and other vans in the street, and many people, some in uniform and some in plain clothes. It is a day she says she does not want to remember. Masood says the squad members were very aggressive. As I opened the door without my shirt on, they grabbed me, put me on sofa, and ordered me not to move, he says. Two male and two female officers went upstairs and dragged Shazia out of the bedroom. Shazia says: The room door was knocked very loudly and as I opened, two women pulled me out. They held me tightly and said do not move. They ordered her to hurry up and pack some clothes. At this point, Shazia felt sick and asked to speak with her doctor. She says her mobile phone was grabbed and she was told she could contact her doctor while in detention. As I came downstairs, I saw Masood was in bad condition, and I screamed, she says, adding that one of the female officers referred to her as disgusting. She says: They did not let me go to the bathroom even though I begged them to. She wanted to take her children for a routine morning wash. Zarrar says: They didnt let us go into the bathroom and they took us in sleeping clothes. Masood says they were bundled into a van and driven to Dallas Court, Manchester, where their photographs and fingerprints were taken. They were later taken to the Pakistan Consulate in Manchester where they were met by the Community Welfare Counsel Saif Ur Rehman. Masood says: I recognised him as Pushtoon, which is the same ethnic group as my wife. This set alarm bells ringing for both Masood and Shazia. Masood alleges that Saif failed to provide them with consular assistance and even accused them of paying the price for marrying against their familys wishes. Saif denies these allegations. They were put in the van again and were told they were being taken to Yarls Wood detention centre in Bedford. I did not know that Bedford is very far from Manchester, The van was not well ventilated and Shazia was feeling suffocated, Masood says. His desperate knocks on the van mirror and shouts for the guards to allow Shazia fresh air went unheeded. He feared that his pregnant wife might collapse. He says the guards just turned up the radio . Fizzar, aged 9, says they were frightened, terrified and were crying throughout their ordeal. He adds: It was very difficult to breathe. The van was like a cage. Masood complained about their horrendous journey when they finally arrived at Yarls Wood at about 6pm. He says: I told them that they treated us as if we are animals and that my wife is pregnant, and my children are terrified. He says he was shouted at and told to shut up by one of the officers. By the time they went through the official checks at the detention centre it was 7:30pm. The children started crying because they were hungry and they had not eaten for 24 hours, he says. But they were told by the detention centre staff that the caf was closed. We had to wait till morning, and all night my boys were hungry. By the time they got food at 9am it had been 36 hours since their last meal he says. Their ordeal was not over. Masood says: My wife could not get any medical treatment or checks because the detention centres doctor refused to talk with my wifes doctor. They promised that a midwife would come and check her in two days time, but this never happened. They were released after three days in detention and are now awaiting a judicial review. However, for the whole family, the trauma of removal and fear of what the future might bring lingers on. .... (Full Details)
Justice Delayed is Justice denied
I was quite amused to read that those who are following Presidents reference have filed a request to Acting Chief Justice to form a full court reference to adjudicate Chief Justices legal questions which he posed by his petition which has a massive public and organisational support. I remember that British Pakistani lawyers wrote to Acting Chief Justice(s) who then was Mr. justice Javed Iqbal on 15 March 2007 and further to current Acting CJ Mr. Justice Rana Bhagwan Das on 24 March 2007 requesting them to convene a larger bench ideally a full court reference to determine the true interpretation of Article 209, and 180. As the requested larger bench was not constituted therefore British Lawyers on 5th of April moved the petition under ref 15/2007 to Supreme Court asking the SC to determine whether the term non functional Chief Justice of Pakistan is Constitutional and requested true interpretation of the relevant article(s). I think Government is out of shock now which they had after hearing no resignation from Chief Justice and they are returning to sanity. Even then and now full court reference is the only way forward to pre determine the procedure to be adopted if a reference is filed against sitting Chief Justice and to answer the question(s) whether a reference is filed against the Chief justice in Council at all and if the answer is positive, then what would be the construction of Supreme Judicial Council if it is to adjudicate the complainant against its own boss. Its ironic that in Pakistan a Colonel can not hear a complaint amounting to court martial along with corpse Commander(s) against their own chief even if he is involved in politics directly, addresses daringly public political one sided gatherings whilst being a chief of armed forces, sends a sitting Chief Justice (Siddiqui) home, allegedly imprison an other Chief Justice (Choudhary), forces sitting President to resign(tarar) and topple the system of Government(sharifs) but no army finds it offensive and or ultra vires looking at article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan. I thought world armed forces are bound to follow only legal orders, can an army officer follow an order of military coup if it is ultra vires is a question yet to be determined by our top brass of army. Even Bangladesh is coming out of this anomaly and their army has proven their professionalism by allowing the system of civil governance to run despite of its inherent weaknesses. Our judicial system is victimised in a way that rulers have made redundant its chief and the whole body is running like a headless chicken whose head is cut. Its a mockery of justice when chief justice asks in fact begs for justice from his own court and his applications are rejected and political pressure is mounting every day. Justice delayed is justice denied and chances are that the more time goes by the lesser chances are that there will be any justice with sitting Chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary. Judge and generals must not be above law. When no one is above the law in the constitution then it must be translated in letter and spirit . Independent accountability across the board including generals and Judges must be ensured to root out black sheeps out of system on demand of public. Judges and generals do make mistakes and the whole nation suffers. Corruption is not attached to one man its whole system which has a virus of corruption and accountability covering all will be a desire which will not be achieved without independence of judiciary. Justice Choudhary is remediless as no stay order against orders of making him paralysed whilst his petition is pending and it may take a year for his reference to finish which supports my contention that delayed justice will rule out justice at all with sitting Chief. Judges must sit together and form a view quickly in a week or so. Otherwise either the historian will write that it was not one judge who stood up but the whole judiciary along with legal fraternity and civil society along with justice Choudhary stood up against brute force and illegal attempt of tyranny to tame the high office of judiciary or was it a lone voice in a huge gathering calling for sanity. Nation pray that justice choudharys voice may not remain lone in the huge procession of masses. S M Zafar, Fakhuruddin G Ibrahim, Sharif Uddin Pirzada and Bars top brass must play their role to assist restoring common sense and reference must be withdrawn at once to rid the nation of more misery and let the judges decide the future course and procedure of such references. Amjad Malik is a Solicitor-Advocate of the Supreme Court (England) and a life member of Supreme Court Bar Association as well as Chair of Association of Pakistani Lawyers (UK). .... (Full Details)
NATION NEEDS ORDERS NOT OBSEVEATIONS
NATION NEEDS ORDERS NOT OBSEVEATIONS By: Amjad Malik Sharifs are approaching Superior Courts for a verdict yet again for relief for which one does not need permission in West i.e right to free movement in the country of birth & nationality as free citizens. The early hearing is expected this week where well respected lawyer Fakhuruddin G Ibrahim will open the case and Attorney General to oppose his own arguments. Younger brother of the exiled Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif who is also President of Pakistan Muslim League (N) was deported from Lahore Airport to Jeddah on Monday 11, May 2004 when he attempted to return to his homeland thinking that he be will be allowed to enter after Supreme Court judgement . Government of the day in defiance of the observation by the Superior Court actually deported Shehbaz Sharif without judicial oversight as exactly as he feared in his court case in Supreme Court. In that Judgement of Supreme Court: 55/2003 the following is worth noting that no document was produced to confirm there is a contract and there was no denial to freedom of movement rights by Federation, Judgement at para 15 & 28 says, 15. It is significant to note that neither in the comments nor during the course of arguments the Federal Government/ Government of Punjab has disputed the right of the petitioner being a citizen of Pakistan to come back to the country nor referred nor brought on record any agreement/document permitting the government to force the petitioner to live in exile. And at para 28. It is not denied by learned Attorney General for Pakistan and Advocate General Punjab nor so could be denied that Article 15 of the Constitution bestows a right on every citizen of Pakistan to enter or move freely throughout the country and to reside and settle in any part thereof. It is a settled proposition of law that the right to enter in the country cannot be denied but a citizen can be restrained from going out of the country. The petitioner is a citizen of Pakistan and has a constitutional right to enter and remain in the country. Still after this judgement he was deported back to Jeddah and that proves the following points: i) The government does not care for rule of law and they found him guilty without trial of unknown charges and deported him under a contract which is unknown and unseen by judiciary and no access to court was provided; Post deportation, 9th March 07 reference against Chief Justice proves that point; ii) The government did not respect the Supreme Court observation that no restriction can be put on citizens on their entry and every citizen has inborn right to enter and remain in their country of birth; iii) the deportation of Mr. Sharif thus amounts to contemptuous behaviour of defying court which continued till 20 July 2007. Legally, he should have been allowed to wait till his petitions were decided. Most important of all, current regime does not wish to see any opposition leader carrying a political profile like Nawaz Sharif & Shehbaz outside on the streets telling the masses what is going on. That is a clear example of weakness on part of the government. Why Sharifs are in exile is that Nawaz & Shahbaz held the position of Prime Minister & Chief Minister respectively in Pakistan until 12th October 1999, when General Musharraf removed Mian Nawaz Sharifs elected government by imposing military rule and all his family imprisoned while the old and the young of his family were put under house arrest for months. On the 9th of December 2000, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with his family were exiled to Saudi Arabia. His brother Sheba Sharif resisted the extreme emotional blackmail and refused to leave his prison cell in Landhi jail in Karachi. Despite his resistance, he was forced to board the aircraft by the brutal force of the military authority and even remarks of General Musharaf supported this contention in his book In the line of fire at page 166, where he wrote, It must be said that Shahbaz Sharif initially refused to sign and did not want to leave Pakistan. But we could not have this partial acceptance. Thus the family were sent into exile. They always maintained that there can not be a contract between a jailor and a prisoner and tried to attempt their return but Govt of the day always created hurdles sometimes by delay in issuing their passports, or putting restrictions when they wish to attend funeral of their father or when after judgement Nawaz Sharif was forewarned by his brothers deportation. Its worth noting as to what the Govt have been saying about Sharifs and why Sharifs had to go to court(s) which in fact proved right even after Supreme Court judgement. The following are few statements which were before SC: (1) Faisal Saleh Hayat, Then Federal Minister for Interior (The Daily Dawn dated 17.01.2002): Sharifs wont be allowed to return. (2) General Pervez Musharraf (The Daily Jang dated 21.8.2002): If they come back, Shahbaz will have to go back to Saudi Arabia and Benazir Bhutto to jail. (3) Nisar A. Memon, then Information Minister (The Daily Jang dated 9.8.2002): We will not let Shahbaz Sharif come back. And that what they did in May 2004. Sharifs desired to return but feared removal and on 11th May, when as a result of Supreme Court observation and his two petitions to the Supreme Court where Court ruled that every citizen has a right to enter and remain in the country of his origin and there can not be any restriction put on his entry, Shehbaz Sharif tried to go back to his country of origin unsuccessfully. Now Sharifs realising that Chief Justice himself has realised the pain and sufferings at the hands of the regime by standing in the dock and after 20 July 2007 decision there is a glimmer of hope to secure justice where justice is seen to be done and not delayed so that it seems denied. Sharifs have contacted the door of Superior Courts once again and a clear verdict is required this time to prevent any unlawful deportation without judicial oversight. These questions are circling in Pakistanis mind today and only the Supreme Court now can save the future of the political leadership in Pakistan by allowing them a remedy this time to enter and remain in order to practise their constitutional right of taking part in political decision making and if there are any cases on them, they may defend in courts freely. If they (Sharifs & Bhuttoos) are not allowed to participate elections being the top two party leaders who will and what repercussions it will have on Federation is alarming. I remember during French revolution General Charles-de-Gaulle of France was asked to exile his opponent a fiery poet Jean Paul Sartre and De-Gaulle said these historic remarks that Sartre is France and how can we exile France. Nawaz Sharif is Pakistan, how can rulers keep him in exile forever so time has come to allow him to breathe freely in the air he belongs. Nation needs clear orders from Supreme Court that From now onwards no one will be deported and handed over to West for few hundred dollars and none will be refused to return to their homeland without judicial oversight. Amjad Malik is a Solicitor-Advocate of the Supreme Court (England), a life member of Supreme Court Bar Association and a Chair of Association of Pakistani Lawyers (UK). .... (Full Details)
Death dance has begun
In Pakistan internal war between institutions such as legislatures who are standing for parliamentary sovereignty, lawyers in street for judicial independence and journalists for free press & media are all against one institution and the whole commotion is taking a final shape. Whilst on the other hand American and European press and institutions have started sorting their ranks and have started friendly fire whether its New York Times, BBC or British Press towards a military man who has enjoyed the lusty position since 1999 in particular after providing an unstinted support to United States in their war against terrorism. Now the same man is causing distress and bringing the name of sacred into disrepute as now people are hitting at those behind this man. Whether its Chief Justice issue, MQM counter rally resulting in Killings, media bashing or political arrests all has at once started going against General Pervez Musharraf who has an easy ride in his solo flight towards political kingdom after ousting a historys most power Prime Minister in the Parliament. His own given freedom to media has turned out to be a thorn in his throat as he did not know that freedom though does not come easy but once attained can not be taken away, salve is a slave unless he is released as Pakistan is no longer same old country where Prime Minister can be hanged over night silently. Now the people of Pakistan are not ready to sacrifice their chief justice on the alter of military slaughterhouse without ensuring him a fair trial and nation for the first time in the short history is demanding reasons of such hasty action and justice with the man of law. Media has played an enormous role to awaken this long slept jinni of people which has a bigger role in shelving and shuffling any government at the hands of military. Media freedom was not a favour to nation, it was inevitable to counter bordering propaganda and to remain part of the international community which is knit into a global village with the communication revolution. There is not a shred of doubt that 75% establishment and bureaucracy as well as public representation is all under control of our powerful military might and some even say that it has crept in peoples blood, but when institutions start crumbling and regionalism start taking shape, then loyalists always keep an eye on the wider national supreme interest of the state and call out loud that If wisdom is not preached and practised at this sensitive time country may suffer a great damage. General public love military if it remains at borders or delivers when it assumes the role of a messiah and peoples happiness turns into a sour dream if their presence in govt cause the national structure and Federation a blood cancer. Now every one knows the root cause of this problem so who will bell the cat is the key question. We have not left any national figure or leader or even elderly senior citizen carrying federation support alive or present in this danger to call it a day or initiate a credible national reconciliation, all are either dead or exiled. When power becomes uncontrollable then certain measures are taken to either bring that power in line with the norms or under any legal control, if those measures are not successful then elimination process takes place instead of peaceful transition. We are silent witness to the making of history. Army men are not made for politics and they are devoid of political wisdom to secure settlement of disputes which are core to the Federation by negotiations. They never have the will to come forward and try to save whats left. Their training is such that turning back is not an option readily considered and or available to them and consultation is not they practice but orders they follow. Its like an elephant force which if turns back will take the whole clan down with it. This is the time that a national reconciliatory efforts must initiate at a round table talk in order to consider holding a free and fair elections, return of exiled, and freedom of judiciary coupled with fully armed chief election commissioner to save the federation. Pakistan is going through its worst crisis and we do not afford an incident like 71 where we lost Dhaka. We still have time to save if we allow the political process to work the way founder intended and the way people mandated in the form of 1973 constitution. Let people of Pakistan decide who they want and what they want. We need to respect the sanctity of vote upon which people obtained this country from colonial powers in 1947 without any army, fight and battle and we must respect those lonely main few political parties who have roots in the whole country as they represent the Federation and we must preserve them as our national asset. Strong system of governance is much better than sham slogans to kill or be killed. Only free and fair elections can save the man, the gun & the Federation and rulers must consider this sane voice which is shared by millions here and abroad. No one is above the law and none is the wisest, its people who are wise its nation who is supreme and its public who vote. If common sense is not followed and any ultra constitutional mechanism is experimented, I am afraid then death dance will start and who knows what does it take with it. Amjad Malik is a life member of Supreme Court Bar Association and & a Solicitor-Advocate of the Supreme Court (England) and chair of Association of Pakistani Lawyers (UK .... (Full Details)