Stranded in Saudi: 700 innocent Pakistanis duped by Turkish company

The dreams of earning a decent living for their families back home have been shattered for 700 Pakistani workers. Trapped in Saudi Arabia, deprived of their passports and not allowed to work, these honest and hard working Pakistani citizens have been swindled of their life savings in a fraud case involving a Turkish construction company and its Saudi employees.

Talking to The Express Tribune about their ordeal, the workers revealed that they arrived in Saudi Arabia towards the end of 2011 and since then have not been allowed to work or travel outside the Kingdom.

A Turkish company, MAAPA Construction and Trade had hired these Pakistani workers through different travel and recruiting agencies during 2011 after payment of a hefty sum against visa issuance. The stranded workers revealed that these agencies included Al Jawad recruiting agency and Iqra recruiting agency, among others.

However, once the labourers reached the kingdom, they were informed that the company did not have enough work. “We gave our passports to our respective agents and were issued Iqama (residence permit), but before we could begin work we were informed by a Saudi agent that the company did not have enough work, advising us to wait. He added that the company will call us when they need us,” they revealed.

As it turned out, the visas issued to the Pakistani’s were in fact illegal. As the fraud came to light, a case was registered at Emara (Governor House), Riyadh and the passports of the 700 workers were confiscated by Governor House Police. The case is currently under process.

First in history: Rupee weakens to 100 against dollar

 The Pakistani rupee on Monday sank to an all-time low against the US dollar over forex reserve fears as the country repayed $146 million to the International Monetary Fund.

The rupee fell to 100.1 to the greenback in trading in Karachi, down from 99.30 on the open market Friday, and has now lost 39 per cent of its value against the US currency since March 2008.

“We have traded the dollar at Rs100.1, although there is a slight difference on the open market,” said currency dealer Mohammad Arshad.

The official inter-bank rate for the dollar is Rs98, but Mohammad Sohail, who heads brokerage firm Topline Securities, confirmed it had crossed 100 on the open market.

Pakistan had a $10.7 billion IMF loan until September, but had drawn only about a third of it. The government has indicated it would not seek a new loan.

Pakistan repaid $145.79 million to the IMF on Monday and is scheduled to repay another $375 million on February 26, according to Syed Wasimuddin, spokesman for the country’s central State Bank.

Negotiations with the Taliban

For the first time since its formation in December 2007, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has made an open offer of dialogue through the media. Negotiations have been held with it in the past and a number of peace treaties were inked. However, people — whose identities were not disclosed — held these negotiations in secrecy and the details were not officially released to the media. Peace deals were negotiated by the political administration, assisted in some cases by parliamentarians elected from the area and agreements were approved by serving or retired senior army officers. Now, the TTP has demanded national level political leaders as guarantors to ensure that the government honours any ceasefire deal that is inked.

Foreign militants entered Waziristan after Nato operations in Afghanistan started following the 9/11 attacks. In South Waziristan, they took refuge in the land of Ahmedzai Wazir, in the spring of 2002. Negotiations were held with nine sub-tribes of Wazirs by the political administration for expulsion of these militants. The tribes were not comfortable with the presence of strangers and made a commitment that they would not allow them to operate in their areas. However, foreign terrorists, guided by a few local facilitators, initiated the killing of prominent Maliks who could have led the tribals against them. Subsequently, the Ahmedzai tribe showed its inability to evict the foreigners but assured support to the security forces in case they initiated an operation. A number of targeted operations were conducted in 2002. However, the strength of the militants continued to increase and by mid-2002, Waziristan had become the headquarters of al Qaeda.

Pakistan Taliban 'bans vulgar films, Viagra'

The Tehreek-e-Taliban has warned shopkeepers in Karkhano market, Peshawar to stop selling “obscene films” and Viagra-style male potency pills.

Shopkeepers told AFP Monday that they found handwritten pamphlets containing the warnings on Saturday.

“Selling sex drugs, vulgar films and obscene movies are against Sharia,” said copies of the pamphlet distributed in the name of TTP Khyber.

“All those involved in this business are warned to quit this occupation and start a lawful business or face the consequences,” it said.

Those who received the threatening letter spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals.

Dozens of shops in Karkhano openly sell pornographic films and male potency tablets, according to witnesses.

US tests withdrawing military equipment through Pakistan

 The US military has started to withdraw equipment from Afghanistan through Pakistan ahead of next year’s deadline for combat troops to leave the war against the Taliban, an official said Monday.

The US military has started to withdraw equipment from Afghanistan through Pakistan ahead of next year’s deadline for combat troops to leave the war against the Taliban, an official said Monday.

Two convoys, each hauling 25 shipping containers, entered Pakistan at the Chaman and Torkham border crossings on Sunday as part of the US redeployment of equipment from Afghanistan, US Lieutenant Colonel Les Carroll told AFP.

“The passage of these convoys marks the first US shipments from Afghanistan through Pakistan since July 2012,” Carroll said.

Pakistan in July temporarily stopped NATO traffic after gunmen attacked NATO trucks, killing a driver, in the northwestern border town of Jamrud.

Spiralling violence

Bad news comes our way too often. We all know that violence has grown rapidly in the country, affecting the lives of thousands. But it is only when actual figures are placed before us that we realise just how bad things are — and how quickly they seem to be worsening.

According to a weekly monitoring report compiled by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) and covering the period between January 26 to February 1 this year, at least 73 people were killed across the country in 43 incidents of violence. For a single week, this is a huge number. The report shows that 77 per cent of the victims were civilians, and of course, aside from those who died, many others were injured. For the week covered in the latest Fafen report, target killings claimed the most lives, with 25 people gunned down in Karachi alone. Terrorist activities killed 16 people and injured 18 others. Thirty-eight people were killed in Sindh and 21 in Balochistan as a result of targeted killings, terrorism and tribal conflicts.

In addition, a counter-terrorism operation in the tribal belt killed 13 militants. Sectarian, ethnic and militant forces lay behind the terrorist killings. Attacks on schools were also reported, from the tribal areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Balochistan insurgency: Provincial panel orders ‘tough’ action

A top provincial committee has ordered tough, targeted and indiscriminate action against militants to improve the law and order across the troubled province.

The Provincial Apex Committee was formed late last year on the recommendation of the federal cabinet’s panel on Balochistan to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to law and order matters.

The high-powered committee comprises the governor, corps commander, Frontier Corps and police chiefs, and chief secretary.

In Wednesday’s meeting, the committee called for better coordination and cooperation among the law-enforcement agencies in order to ensure peace in the volatile province.

The committee was told that the government has set aside Rs50 million for the rehabilitation of reconcilable insurgents. Of this amount, Rs5.5 million has already been released and will be given as a stipend to militants who renounce violence and end ties with banned outfits.

Security forces kill 12 suspected militants in Orakzai Agency

Security forces killed 12 suspected militants in an air raid in Orakzai Agency Fighter jets targeted militant hideouts in the Mamozai are of Upper Orakzai.

According to sources, five hideouts were destroyed in the attack.

Earlier on February 6, eight suspected militants were killed in a similar raid. It was the fifth such attack on militants this year. According to security forces, the previous four air raids killed around 38 militants, while 11 hideouts were destroyed. However, the exact figures are difficult to verify.

Strategic importance of Orakzai Agency

Orakzai Agency is strategically an important area. Covering an area of 700 square miles, the agency shares its borders with Kurram and Khyber agencies, Hangu district and Kohat, Darra Adamkhel.

Half of all Afghans paid bribes in 2012: UN report

The cost of corruption in Afghanistan has risen sharply and half of all citizens paid a bribe to public officials last year, a new United Nations study said Thursday.

More than 11 years after a US-led invasion led to billions of dollars in aid flowing into one of the world’s poorest countries, Afghanistan ranks among the most corrupt nations on earth.

And Western nations due to pull their troops out next year have linked future financial support to the aid-dependent nation to a crackdown on graft.

The report by the UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Afghanistan’s anti-corruption unit says that while there has been “some tangible progress”, the total cost of corruption increased to $3.9 billion in 2012 — 40 percent up on 2009.

“The bribes that Afghan citizens paid in 2012 equals double Afghanistan’s domestic revenue or one-fourth of the Tokyo pledge,” the report says, referring to the $16 billion promised by donors at a conference in Japan last year.

Architect of US drone war faces public spotlight

The hard-nosed architect of the US drone war against Al-Qaeda, John Brennan, will face tough questions about secret assassinations Thursday from senators weighing his nomination to lead the CIA.

The confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee promises to focus a rare public spotlight on President Barack Obama’s covert campaign to hunt down Al-Qaeda suspects worldwide in drone bombing raids.

The administration has sought to shroud the raids in secrecy but the threat of lawsuits and frustration from lawmakers has piled pressure on officials to publicly defend the conduct of the drone war.

Although Brennan is expected to be approved as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, some senators see the hearing as a chance to question the legality of the drone campaign and to extract details that the White House has long refused to divulge.

Two days before the hearing, a Justice Department document leaked to news media that outlines the legal justification for killing a US citizen abroad. The document, which says an American can be targeted if he is a senior, “operational” figure in the Al-Qaeda terror network, reportedly had been passed to lawmakers last year.

Scouts vehicles being used to smuggle arms and explosives

Pakistan’s porous western borders, which continue to play host to militancy and terrorism, are now facing a new threat that has developed innovative ways to smuggle arms.

As the country struggles to eliminate terrorism, recent reports suggest that women and children and vehicles used by scouts are now being used to smuggle weapons and explosives in different parts of the country.
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies recently released a report identifying sources of this smuggling mafia. The report states that official scouts vehicles, used as protective cover against authorities, lead the way while a convoy transporting arms and explosives follow them in the northern areas of the country.

 the smuggling mafia operates. Smugglers usually use their privately owned vehicles while transporting arms and explosives but a scouts car now leads the way to ensure clearance from the police force at different check posts.

The report revealed that in some cases women along with infants were also being used to facilitate smuggling. Women clad in the burqas usually accompany the smugglers while they are transporting their consignment from one place to the other.

People versus the pulpit

Both political scientists and historians make a common mistake by concluding that there was a conflict in history over the separation of ‘church’ and ‘state’. In fact, there was never a conflict between these two. Rather, both of them were partners. The real conflict was over the separation of the ‘church’ and ‘politics’. The emperors or kings themselves represented the state as King Louis XIV of France said, “I’m the state.” The kings were the owners of their realm/state as feudal lords owned their fiefs. In addition, three conservative forces — the clergy, the military and feudal lords — supported the kings because they had common interests.

In history, the actual conflict started between church and politics, and not church and state, when new stakeholders or commoners entered the arena, claiming that the rulers had to have the support of the people and not of the pulpit, in order to rule. The basis of this claim was a new idea of ‘majority rule’ or ‘government by consent of the people, i.e., liberal democracy’ promoted by Western political philosophers. From the seventeenth century onwards, religion had problems with democracy and not with the state. Religion did not have space for democracy nor did democracy have any room for religion because both were incompatible. A state could be based on the will of God, as religion suggests, but democracy is based on the will of the people only. Going by this, the whole Christian world, in so far as the government and its institutions are concerned, denies and defies the authority of God by applying democracy in their societies. For example, the Americans, though they trust in God, believe in democracy and follow the Constitution, not the Bible.

On Kashmir day, PM pledges full support

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said on Monday that Pakistan will stand by the people of Kashmir till a peaceful resolution to the dispute is achieved.

In a message issued on the occasion of Kashmir day, Prime Minister Ashraf said: “On behalf of the government, I reaffirm Pakistan’s commitment to a just and peaceful resolution to the Kashmir dispute,”

He said the government will continue to extend its unwavering political, moral and diplomatic support to the cause, which has been on the agenda of the United Nations for the past six decades, however, remains unresolved.

The premier said that the right to self determination of the people of the region will be achieved through a free and impartial plebiscite in line with the UN Charter and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

Ashraf said Pakistan supports dialogue with the Indian government and has introduced confidence building measures (CMB) is this regard.

Eye on transition: New govt in Balochistan ‘within days’, say officials

A new coalition government is likely to take shape in Balochistan within a “few days”, political leaders and government officials said on Monday.

The new set-up will be cobbled together by all coalition partners in the erstwhile Nawab Aslam Raisani administration. Politicians and senior government officials told The Express Tribune that four political parties – Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid – and Balochistan National Party-Awami will form the new government with the help of independent lawmakers.

“A new government will be put in place a few days before the dissolution of the assembles,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity. “Under the Constitution, restoration of the provincial government is essential for the formation of an interim set-up in the province,” the official added.

To be a journalist in Pakistan

It is sometimes a surprise to outsiders — expecting censorship and oppression — that Pakistan has such a free and vibrant media. Speaking in 2010, the political theorist Noam Chomsky remarked that Pakistan’s media was less censored than in neighbouring India, generally described as the world’s largest democracy. “In Pakistan, I listened to and read the media which go to an increasingly large part of the population,” he said. “Apparently, the government is willing to say to the media that you have your fun, we are not going to bother you. So they don’t interfere with it.”

The faults of the current government may be many and various, but it has certainly done a lot to further freedom of expression, a right which is laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan. At times television channels and newspapers have been criticised for behaving unethically, but particularly in the last decade, they have played a significant role in uncovering corruption and acting as a check on power. Embezzlement in the Pakistan Railways, bribery leading to $500m losses at the Pakistan International Airlines, and the rental power projects corruption case were all unveiled by journalists.

Zardari, Karzai commit to peace deal in six months: Statement

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari vowed Monday to achieve a peace settlement for Afghanistan within six months, after talks hosted by Britain.

Following the talks at British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Chequers country retreat near London, the three leaders also said they supported the opening of an office in Qatar for the Taliban to hold talks.

“All sides agreed on the urgency of this work and committed themselves to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace settlement over the next six months,” they said in a joint statement issued by Cameron’s office.

Tourism, Terrorism and Empire

In the life of many white westerners is a chapter devoted to the finding of oneself. This chapter may not occur at any given point in life, although most attach it to a life crisis; a divorce, a bankruptcy perhaps, the lazy end of youth and the horror of a boring, comfortable adulthood. At this point, the subject is expected to challenge one’s own thoughts and beliefs and gain some deep, inner knowledge of oneself that renders the memory of youth/rejection/illness far enough to be forgotten. All of this must be done through the encounter of something inexorably challenging and physically different: and located as far as possible from the new cars and perfect houses of white middle class life, ideally in a land foreign enough and far enough to merit the respect of others either awaiting or nostalgic about their own journeys of discovery

Enter India; the land of the friendly brown people, exotic enough to be sensual, and yet dirty and smelly enough to be real; two essential ingredients in discovery destinations of the wealthy, white seeker. In the world of cheaply bought jet-travel, no other country has been able to harness through clever marketing and strategic imaging; the market made available by the Western search for fulfillment. Be it the old people in the movie Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, or the wry truth speaking slum observing author Katherine Boo of

Balochistan peace hurdles

IF Baloch nationalist leader Akhtar Mengal does return to take part in the next general election as announced, it’ll be a significant development and may help stabilise Balochistan.

The last election was boycotted by all nationalist forces following the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation just over a year earlier and the disastrous consequences of an alienated Baloch nationalist leadership and electorate are there for all to see.

Not only did the last elections see many credible leaders sitting on the sidelines, it also witnessed the coming to power of a coalition government headed by a largely dysfunctional chief minister whose lifestyle and health issues kept him away from his seat of power for long periods.

All this while the province was being ruled by armed bands striving for separation and not shying away from drawing innocent blood; murderous anti-Shia gangs; pro-government thugs run allegedly by the intelligence agencies and a belligerent paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Why so late, General?

Generals in Pakistan excel at showing their dovish side and subjecting their peers to a measure of scrutiny only once they have retired. The latest example of a military man trying to rehabilitate his image now that he is out of uniform is Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz, who is finally ready to spill the beans about the Kargil operation that took place in 1999. Much of what he says was already suspected. Pervez Musharraf, as chief of army staff, kept just about everyone in the dark about Kargil, including everyone save three other people. Aziz himself, as director general of the analysis wing, did not know about the operation till it had already commenced. Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the man who should have had the ultimate authority to order the Kargil operation, was also not consulted on the matter.

What’s truly tragic about the Kargil operation is how we never seem to learn from our follies. Our 1965 war with India was also sparked by a similar incursion into Indian Kashmir, the details of which resided

Pakistan accuses India of 12 beheadings since 1998: Report

Pakistan has accused India of decapitating 12 soldiers in cross-border attacks since 1998 and registered a protest with a UN watchdog, a newspaper reported Wednesday, after deadly army clashes earlier this month.

The accusations are contained in a series of classified documents presented to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) which monitors the disputed Kashmir border, according to The Hindu newspaper.

The report reads, “In classified protests to a United Nations watchdog that have never been disclosed till now, Pakistan has accused Indian soldiers of involvement in the torture and decapitation of at least 12 Pakistani soldiers in cross-Line of Control raids since 1998, as well as the massacre of 29 civilians.”

Polio transmission: India may restrict travel from Pakistan

 India may be the first country to impose travel restrictions on Pakistan because of its polio problem which threatens to become an international headache.

India Today reported on January 28 that the Delhi government has written to its transport and railway authorities to allow screening of children coming from Pakistan or going there. It wants the health department to set up a permanent system at the Ambedkar Stadium and Old Delhi railway station where the Samjhauta Express arrives. Such screening is also carried out in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Munabao, in Rajasthan from where a train goes to Karachi.

Deal in the making: Pakistan Army likely to begin training Afghan forces

Islamabad and Kabul are close to signing a deal that will allow the Pakistan Army to train Afghan national security forces, in the latest sign of improving ties between the neighbouring nations.

The progress was made during talks between visiting Afghan Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.

Pakistan has long been offering Afghanistan to train its army but, until now, Kabul had shown little interest, largely due to the trust deficit between the two countries.

The talks, led by the Afghan defence minister and the Pakistani army chief, proved to be decisive as the two sides agreed to explore the possibility of  “military training exchanges,” a senior military official disclosed to The Express Tribune.

The official said the Afghan delegation would visit military institutions as part of efforts to assess how the two neighbours could enter into an accord to strengthen military-to-military contacts.

Pakistan-India bus, trade resume as tensions ebb

 A cross-border bus service between India and Pakistan, suspended along with trade after deadly army clashes earlier this month, resumed Monday in a sign of easing tension between the neighbours.

Officials said 64 passengers from Pakistan crossed the de facto border in Kashmir into India while 84 went in the other direction on the bus service from Poonch to Rawalakot.

Cross-border trade, which had been encouraged in recent years as a means to improve strained relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, was also set to resume on Tuesday after being frozen for the last two weeks.

“We are assessing losses the traders suffered because they could not send perishable items across on time,” Shant Manu, secretary for industries and commerce in Indian Kashmir, told AFP.

Pakistan-India ties: ‘Dialogue process has not been derailed’

 Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal insisted on Monday that despite recent clashes on the Line of Control (LoC), the process of dialogue between India and Pakistan has not been affected.

“Peace between India and Pakistan is in favour of both the countries,” he said, while addressing the media on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

Sabharwal said India wants good relations with Pakistan and vowed that a peaceful, democratic and stable Pakistan was in the interest of his country.

The high commissioner said that the ceasefire on the LoC was a good and welcoming step, and added that things were now heading towards settlement.

Referring to Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s statements, Sabharwal said that the peace process between Islamabad and New Delhi had not been derailed and no irreversible damage had been made to the process.

The new face of folk music

WHAT I don’t understand,” says Chris Wood, “is why, when young people see so much misery, injustice … around them, they don’t see music as an expression of disgruntlement. Where are the young protest singers? Instead, we get this limp, bedroom ukulele music that keeps turning up on mobile phone ads.”

In 2011, fiddler and folk-singer Wood won the best original song category at the Radio 2 Folk awards for ‘Hollow Point’, his affecting account of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian who was shot dead by London police in 2005. “Awake arise you drowsy sleeper,” the song begins, its title a reference to the type of bullet fired by the police.

For most of the 1980s and ’90s, singer-songwriters barely got house room on the folk scene, as Celtic instrumentalists and traditional singers dominated. But since their inception in 2000, the Folk awards have highlighted changes in the scene — and not just in subject matter. The original song category boasts an especially strong shortlist this year, and all four nominees are women.

Challenge of new provinces

THE debate on creating new provinces in Pakistan is gaining momentum with the proposal approved by the parliamentary commission to create a new province — ‘Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab’.

But the fundamental question which needs to be addressed while considering the demand for new provinces is: should the new provinces be established on an administrative or ethnic basis? The existing four provinces are carved along ethnic lines though the option to redraw provincial boundaries along administrative lines has been presented.

It is not only the rationale behind demanding a change in Pakistan’s federal structure that needs to be addressed; the issue that must also be examined is the potential for violence and conflict if new provinces are created without taking into consideration the interests of ethnic minorities and other stakeholders.

Watch what you eat

The dreaded “C” word is what no ill person ever wants to hear from their doctor – yet there is no family I know of in Pakistan (or abroad) who has been spared from hearing this devastating news. With all the dangerous chemicals and toxins around us (a by-product of the industrial age), it is just a matter of time before they get into the food chain and into our bodies where they bio-accumulate and eventually turn cancerous. While there is still no conclusive evidence on what exactly causes cancer, doctors now say that mounting evidence shows that the foods we eat weigh heavily in the war against cancer.

Doctors say that the easiest and least-expensive way to reduce your risk for cancer is just by eating a healthy diet. When it comes to a diet rich in cancer-fighting substances, most experts agree that it should consist of a predominantly plant-based diet. Living in Pakistan, where various lentils (daals) and freshly cooked vegetables are already a part of our diet, that should not be too difficult. However, we do have to be very careful about what else we eat, given all the adulteration in our food.

A few years ago, I remember interviewing Imran Khan, the politician who as we all know, set up Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital after his mother died from cancer. He told me his typical main meal consisted of a karahi made of desi (free range) chicken, organic wheat chappatis (from flour sent from a friend’s village), fresh vegetable salad from his own kitchen garden and plenty of lassi from the milk of buffaloes kept in his house in Islamabad. He would have freshly made lassi all day, which is high in protein while low in cholesterol.

Army, judiciary in support of democracy, says PM

Pakistan’s military, judiciary and all political forces support a democratic system in the country, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Tuesday, urging all state institutions to continue working within their boundaries.

Speaking at a function of the Gujjar Khan Bar Association in Islamabad, PM Ashraf said that, despite the naysayers and all the challenges faced, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led government had completed its five-year term.

The premier said that the Army and judiciary support a democratic system, and that all political forces are also in agreement that only a democracy could run in the country.

Malik hints seeking spy agencies’ help over Karachi unrest

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday said that intelligence agencies might be contacted to help ease law and order situation in Karachi
Speaking to media representatives, he said that he would write a letter to spy agencies seeking their help to restore peace in the violence-ridden metropolis.
The minister said that all state institutions were working to curb lawlessness in the country, adding that improving law and order situation requires collective efforts.

Military jets bombard militant hideouts in Orakzai

At least 12 suspected militants were killed Monday when Pakistani military jets bombarded militant hideouts in Orakzai tribal region,

According to Assistant Political Agent Mohammad Rafeeq, security forces struck hideouts in upper Orakzai’s Mamozai area, destroying at least five such hideouts.
Security officials claim that up to 92 per cent of Orakzai agency has been cleared of militants in the ongoing military offensive in the restive tribal region.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants are said to have carved out strongholds.
The area was the original base of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud before he moved to South Waziristan to take up the Taliban leadership after the death of his predecessor, Baituallah Mehsud.
Unlike the six other tribal agencies, however, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan. The rugged mountainous territory provides a crucial link for militants operating in other tribal regions, as it borders the regions of

Pakistan seeks sustainable peace, security in Afghanistan: General Kayani

During a meeting with Afghan Defence Minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi on Monday, army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said Pakistan sought sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan, 
On the occasion, the Afghan defence minister said it was important to increase defence cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The meeting that took place at the GHQ in Rawalpindi discussed the situation at the Pak-Afghan border along with other defence cooperation between the two countries.
The Afghan defence minister said Afghanistan would continue to seek guidance from Pakistan in its defence-related matters.

Olson says US favours free, fair elections in Pakistan

US Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, on Monday said the United States was in favour of free, fair and transparent elections in Pakistan so that the country’s democratic system may strengthen, 
Pakistan is expected to hold elections by mid-May with the federal parliament due to disband by mid-March. The polls are expected to mark the first democratic transition between two civilian governments in the country’s history.
Speaking to media representatives in Lahore, Olson said the United States was not biased in favour of or against any political leader or party.
The envoy said the US was very hopeful with regard to the general elections in Pakistan and added that his country was a proponent of democracy.
During his first visit to Lahore since assuming charge as the ambassador, Olson said along with other engagements, he would also be meeting leaders and workers of various political parties in Lahore.

The common capital of India and Pakistan

It was not just the land that was partitioned. Hearts, minds, behaviours and emotions had been partitioned long before so the final division could be made ‘smoothly’, and it went as smoothly as expected. The ground was pulled from underneath someone’s feet, while the sky was pulled away from another’s head! Millions of people neither belonged here nor there, only those who were to lead the new states remained. The new leaders had not only been involved in dividing the state but also dreamt of ruling the new countries in the name of religion and nationalism. A single announcement managed to create a border that cannot be seen anywhere except in books, files and maps.
It was as if a wall was erected in the courtyard of a large, lively house. Those who lived and played together would sulk one moment and reconcile with each other the next. Their hearts beat together as one. If they liked a certain tune, they all sang it together. If they got drunk, they danced in harmony with each other. Their souls were fragrant with the scent of the soil; their breaths were perfumed with the same culture. But the formation of the wall of hate and treachery neither divided nor affected their breaths, their heartbeats.
It doesn’t matter whether the leaders belong to this side of the wall or to that side. They have always sowed seeds of hatred within the divided hearts of their nation in order to prevent the demolition of the wall erected within their hearts and minds so that not only their rule would be established but their sustenance is guaranteed, as well as their luxuries.
What does it matter if the people on this side or that of the wall live below the poverty line? Forget having healthcare and education, what does it matter if the people are deprived of basic needs like ‘roti, kapra aur makan’? Instead, not only did they build mountains of weapons but they also filled their own homes with the money they earned from the sale of weapons.
On one hand, both countries are atomic powers. On the other hand, they have no electricity, water, gas or petrol. We line up for CNG and other fuels; there is no electricity neither here nor there. We say it’s ‘loadshedding’ and they call it ‘katoti’. At night, their footpaths are full of sleeping, homeless people. A similar sight can be seen on our roads at night. We have katchi abadis and they have slums. Piles of rubbish litter our streets and theirs. There are armies of beggar children on both sides of the wall. But we still stand amongst the developed nations with our heads held high, saying that we are atomic powers. They stand in dhotis and we in old, torn shalwars.

Dera Bugti peace force personnel kidnapped in deadly attack

Dozens of armed men raided a tribal peace force post in Dera Bugti on Saturday, killing one man and abducting five, officials said.
“Armed men believed to be several dozens attacked the post and whisked away five members of the tribal force in their vehicles after forcing them to surrender,” provincial chief secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP.
One man who resisted was shot dead by the assailants, he said.
The district is about 400 kilometres southeast of Quetta.
Local administration chief Syed Faisal Shah confirmed the raid, saying security forces had been rushed to the area and a search operation had been launched.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Bin Laden hunt movie not to be shown in Pakistan: Report

Zero Dark Thirty – film depicting the hunt for Osama bin Laden will not be screened in Pakistan, The Telegraph reported.
The movie – which has been nominated for five Oscars – portrays the hunt for bin Laden through the eyes of a young CIA officer, played by Jessica Chastain, and is described by the filmmakers as based on first-hand accounts.
However, according to the report the distributors in Pakistan have decided “not to risk the wrath of the censor board, the military and terrorist groups.”
“Derogatory references to military and intelligence agencies meant any distributor would face awkward questions,” said Mohsin Yaseen – general manager for marketing at Cinepax.
“It’s a touchy subject for the local audience,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Recalling how censor board reacted to the movie Tere Bin Laden, Yaseen said “when Zero Dark Thirty came out, we thought it best just to keep away from it,”

Shahrukh Khan can come to Pakistan if he does not feel safe in India: Hafiz Saeed

 If Shahrukh Khan does not feel safe in India, he can come to Pakistan, said Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.
Saeed was speaking to Express News during an interview.
“I welcome him; I will help him with his stay here,” the JuD chief said, adding that Shahrukh will be respected in Pakistan.
Saeed’s invitation comes in response to Shahrukh’s recent statements about life as a Muslim in India. The Indian superstar – in a first person account – talked about how he became an “inadvertent object of political leaders.”
In the Outlook Turning Points magazine, Shahrukh said “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.”
“There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country — this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return what they refer to my original homeland,” he wrote.

Pakistani diplomats barred from Jaipur literary fest

The long-standing hostility between India and Pakistan has extended to the Jaipur Literary Festival, with New Delhi refusing to allow two Pakistani diplomats from attending the event.  
The two New Delhi-based Pakistani diplomats had sought permission from India’s External Affairs ministry to visit the historic city of Jaipur to attend a popular literary festival held there annually.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Friday that denial of permission did not specifically have anything to do with the festival but was a ”coincidence.”
Several noted Pakistani writers are participating in the five-day festival which brings together tens of thousands of literature enthusiasts and writers.

Militant clash in Khyber tribal region kills 32

An intense gun-battle erupted between two banned militant groups in Khyber Agency’s Tirah Valley on Friday, with at least 32 militants so far killed in the clash.
Intelligence officials said the gun-battle started late Thursday between the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and rival group Ansarul Islam (AI) in Tirah Valley’s Maidan village. The dead included 23 Ansar fighters and nine TTP militants, while several others were also injured.

Officials said the death toll was likely to increase as the fighting had not yet ended.
Speaking to a Dawn.com reporter, Sadat Afridi, a spokesman for the banned Ansarul Islam group, claimed that they had captured over three TTP bases in the valley’s Maidan village, and that the fight was still on for a fourth base.
Afridi said that his group has vowed to flush out TTP militants from Tirah Valley as they “carry out attacks on mosques and public places, which is against Islam.”
Afridi said that they would not allow the TTP to continue “killing innocent Muslims in the name of religion.”
Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and home to religious extremist organisations including the al Qaeda.
The remote Tirah valley holds strategic significance for militant groups. On one side, it shares a border with Afghanistan. On the other it leads to the plains of Bara, which connect the agency to the outskirts of Peshawar.

Indian president issues veiled warning to Pakistan

India’s president told Pakistan on Friday that its hand of friendship should “not be taken for granted” following a string of deadly border clashes between the two sides in the disputed Kashmir region.
President Pranab Mukherjee’s warning comes amid a ceasefire which took hold last week in Kashmir after the Indian and Pakistani armies agreed to halt cross-border firing that has threatened to unravel a fragile peace process.
“We believe in peace on the border and are always ready to offer a hand in the hope of friendship,” Mukherjee said in a televised address on the eve of the country’s Republic Day celebrations.
“But this hand should not be taken for granted,” he added.
Before the ceasefire, Pakistan said three of its soldiers had been killed in firing by Indian troops along a de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two nations that is known as the Line of Control (LoC).
India, in turn, accused Pakistani troops of killing two of its soldiers, one of whom it claimed was beheaded.
Pakistan has denied any responsibility for the violence.
“Neighbours may have disagreements, tension can be a subtext of frontiers,” Mukherjee said. “But sponsorship of terrorism through non-state actors is a matter of deep concern to the entire nation.”
Mukherjee was referring to Indian suspicions that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group that India blames for the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people died may have helped to instigate the hostilities.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since partition in 1947, two of them over the Kashmir region that both nations claim.

India says it is ‘too early’ to normalise relations with Pakistan: Report

Cross-border tensions on the Line of Control (LoC) have eased after talks between India and Pakistan, but it is “too early” for India to normalise relations with its western neighbour, Indian Defence Minister AK Anthony was quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI)  on Wednesday.

According to the report, Anthony said that infiltration attempts from Pakistan into India are continuing despite extreme weather. “If this is the case now, what will be the position (of infiltration) in summers?” he was quoted as saying.

He added, “We have to cross our fingers and after the tragic and inhuman incident, even though Pakistan has assured us certain things, we have to see how this assurance translates into action.”

The minister also said that India should wait and watch and “assess the ground situation,” and assured that no hasty decision will be taken regarding a future course of action.

Tensions between India and Pakistan were heightened earlier this month after a series of cross-border exchanges in the disputed Kashmir region where in which five soldiers were killed on both sides. India claims that one of its soldiers was beheaded.

Gold diggers in Balochistan

The caretakers were expected to take care and the governors were supposed to govern. However, in Reko Diq’s case, governance failed and the care was never provided.

In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared illegal the July 1993 agreement between the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) and Australia’s BHP.  Since the original agreement stands null and void, all subsequent sales and transfers of the exploration rights by BHP to Tethyan Copper Co. (TCC), which is jointly owned by Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation and Chile’s Antofagasta, have been deemed illegal and void.

An interesting debate has ensued in Pakistan since the Supreme Court’s verdict was released earlier in January. Some commentators are critical of the court accusing it of killing another golden goose.  They have argued that foreign investors had sunk over $400 million into the project and thus, they were acting in good faith. Others have accused the Balochistan government of mishandling the project, which has further delayed the development of a goldmine in Pakistan.

I believe that the ongoing debate fails to acknowledge the role of key players who were instrumental in a series of dubious deals, which have finally been declared illegal and void by the Supreme Court. I am of the view that the foreign investors were fully aware of the risks when they signed agreements with government departments that were not authorised to bind the government, especially when caretaker governments were in place in Islamabad and Quetta.  Concomitantly, the caretaker government and the provincial governor should not have exceeded their authority to sign agreements that are the purview of the elected governments. I further contend that the claims of $400 million investment by TCC during 2006 and 2011 appear grossly exaggerated.

Protest announced against army’s absence during voters verification

Different political and religious parties on Wednesday announced a three-day sit-in outside the Sindh Election Commission office against the absence of army personnel during the process of voters verification and not carrying out new delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.

The announcement was made by the political leaders while addressing a protest assembly set up outside the provincial election commission office.

The leaders informed that the sit-in will start from Jan 26 at 3 pm and will continue for three days.

The leaders, while addressing the gathering, said that by avoiding the Supreme Court’s verdict on the issue, the verification process has been made suspicious and unreliable.

Criticising CEC Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, they said that he has committed contempt of court by issuing a statement in which the CEC said that delimitation of constituencies was not possible before the upcoming elections.

Pakistani Taliban vow to attack “BJP-backed terror camps in Kashmir”

 Pakistani Taliban have said the UN bodies and the United States should stop the “BJP-sponsored state terrorism in Kashmir,” otherwise the TTP has the ability to strike inside Indian-administered Kashmir.

Speaking to Dawn.Com on Wednesday, the TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the Indian Home Minister’s statement regarding BJP-backed terrors camps is an open confession that Hindu extremists are being patronized under the state’s authority for killing innocent Kashmiri Muslims.

“The US and UN should also order drone strikes and coalition troops invasion, to target these terror camps, which are mentioned by the Indian minister of fanning Hindu terrorism,” said Ehsan.

“If the US and the UN could not take care of the state-sponsored-terrorism in Kashmir and the BJP/RSS terrorism against Muslims in India, then TTP has the ability to strike and take care of it.”

Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had accused the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday of promoting Hindu terrorism, which in turn was responsible for the fatal bombings of the Samjhauta Express among other Muslim targets.

US, Pakistan are moving out of tense phase

The United States and Pakistan are moving away from the tense phase that marred their relations last year, according to a senior US commander in Afghanistan.

At a Pentagon briefing, Lt Gen. James Terry, Deputy Commander of the US Forces in Afghanistan, also said on Wednesday that after 2014, the United States would focus on providing `right resources’ to the Afghans so that they could hold territory from insurgents.

The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan by December 2014 but plans to maintain a small but effective force there if Kabul grants legal immunity to those deployed in the country.

“From a military perspective, we are moving away from the tense phase with Pakistan,” said Gen Terry when asked about relations with Islamabad which nose-dived after a series of incidents last year put the two allies on a collision course.

The general, however, conceded that a trilateral mechanism, which aims to improve cooperation among the Pakistani, Afghan and US militaries will `take time to get in shape’.

But the US commander also noted that Pakistan and Afghanistan were now talking directly to each other on border issues, which was a good sign.

Collateral damage: Sports, arts pay price of India-Pakistan tensions

The guns may have fallen silent, but the collateral damage from a deadly flare-up between India and Pakistan is still mounting with major sporting and arts events among those hit by the fallout.
Less than a month ago, Pakistan’s cricket team embarked on its first tour to India in nearly five years.

But hopes the trip would herald a wider cultural thaw were soon dashed by tit-for-tat military exchanges in disputed Kashmir that killed five soldiers in nine days.
Although the two armies agreed a ceasefire on January 16, the impact of the violence is being felt far away from the front line.
In the last few days, some of Pakistan’s leading hockey players have been forced to pull out of a new money-spinning competition while its women cricketers have had to rewrite their World Cup plans.
A Lahore-based theatre group had to scrap a performance at a prestigious Delhi venue and a row has broken out over the participation of Pakistani authors in an international literary festival in Rajasthan.
“The arts are always a high-visibility and low-cost target,” said Sanjoy Roy, one of the organisers of this weekend’s Jaipur Literature Festival.
Last year’s festival made headlines when the Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie stayed away in the face of threats by Islamic activists.
Now Hindu nationalists are threatening to disrupt this year’s event to protest the presence of Pakistani authors such as Nadeem Aslam and Mohammad Hanif.

No evidence against Adiala Jail prisoners means no imprisonment: CJ

If there is no evidence, the Adiala Jail prisoners cannot be held captive even for a minute, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Tuesday.

While hearing the missing prisoners case, the chief justice said if the imprisonment is proven illegal, action will be taken against the concerned officials.

In November 2007, 11 men were detained for crimes not known. After spending several years in prison on mere suspicion, the Supreme Court ordered their release in May 2010. However, they disappeared from outside Adiala Jail the day they were set free.

The Supreme Court took up the matter, asking the agencies to present the men. In February 2012, the men, haggard-looking and barely able to stand or talk, appeared before the court. The counsel for the spy agencies claimed that the men were not picked up from outside Adiala Jail – rather they were detained from the war zone.

During today’s hearing, the chief justice remarked that the security agencies possess no proof against the detainees.

Pakistani writers should not attend Jaipur Lit Festival, BJP warns

As India returned Pakistani artists and athletes back home following the Line of Control tension between the two countries, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has warned that Pakistani writers should not Jaipur Literature Festival, Times of India (TOI) reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the work of seven Pakistani authors including Jamil Ahmad and Mohammed Hanif are shortlisted for the 2013 Prize for South Asian Literature.

Ahmad and Hanif had attended the JLF last year but because of the recent cross-border conflict, the BJP has decided to oppose the presence of these writers.

“We will not allow them to enter the festival venue. There is no question of welcoming the Pakistani authors here at a time when their country has disrupted peace at the border,” said BJP Yuva Morcha state president Rishi Bansal.

Attacks on polio workers would not deter us: Bill Gates

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said the recent attacks on polio fieldworkers in Pakistan would not stop his foundation from succeeding in eradicating the crippling virus.

“It’s not going to stop us succeeding,” he said, in an interview with the Telegraph. “It does force us to sit down with the Pakistan government to renew their commitments, see what they’re going to do in security and make changes to protect the women who are doing God’s work and getting out to these children and delivering the vaccine,” he added.
A major focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is eradicating polio in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. “We’re focused on the help of the poorest in the world, which really drives you into vaccination,” he said.

CIA campaign In Pakistan: UK judges block action over drone attacks

LONDON: Judges blocked on Friday a legal action brought by a Pakistani man against Britain over allegations that British intelligence has been used in US drone attacks in the tribal regions.
Lawyers for Noor Khan, 27, launched the action at the High Court in London in March after the death of his father Malik Daud Khan in a drone strike last year in North Waziristan Agency.
They sought to challenge the lawfulness of the help British intelligence gathering agency GCHQ reportedly provides to the CIA, such as information targeting militants, which is then used in drone strikes.
However, lawyers for British Foreign Secretary William Hague had urged the court to block the legal proceedings, saying the case was unarguable. They said it raised issues relating to sovereign foreign states that cannot be determined by English courts, adding that any ruling would have a “significant” impact on British relations with the United States and Pakistan.

Drone strikes go down in Pakistan

US drone strikes against militants decreased in Pakistan’s tribal regions for the second year in a row but intensified in Yemen, according to figures compiled by a Washington think tank.

In Pakistan, 46 strikes were carried out in 2012, compared to 72 in 2011 and 122 in 2010, the New America Foundation said, based on its compilation of reports in international media.

But Yemen saw an equally drastic increase in the clandestine attacks, with strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants rising from 18 in 2011 to 53 in 2012.

This “drone war” is officially classified, and the US does not provide any information on the strikes. US President Barack Obama, who has increased the use of drones compared to his predecessor, George W Bush, only incidentally recognised their existence at the end of January in an online exchange.


The vast majority of the strikes in Pakistan hit North Waziristan, al Qaeda’s main sanctuary and a stronghold for Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Many of the strikes were in and around the regional capital, Miramshah. These strikes, with Reaper or Predator drones, killed between 189 and 308 militants and at least seven civilians, the New America Foundation said.

US targeted killings guidebook allows CIA drones in Pakistan: Report

WASHINGTON: The administration of President Barack Obama is completing a counterterrorism manual that will establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations, The Washington Post reported late Saturday.
But citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the guidebook would contain a major exemption for the CIA’s campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan.
This exemption will allow the Central Intelligence Agency to continue striking al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan for a year or more before the agency is forced to comply with more stringent rules spelled out in the document, the report said.
According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, between 2,627 and 3,457 people have been reportedly killed by US drones in Pakistan since 2004, including between 475 and nearly 900 civilians.
The covert strikes are publicly criticised by the Pakistani government as a violation of sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against militants.
Few of the victims are publicly identified.
The manual is expected to be submitted to Obama for final approval within weeks, the paper said.
The Post said the adoption of a formal guide to targeted killing marks a significant milestone: the institutionalisation of a practice that would have seemed anathema to many before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The subjects covered in the playbook include the process for adding names to kill lists, the legal principles that govern when US citizens can be targeted overseas and the sequence of approvals required when the CIA or US military conduct drone strikes outside war zones, the paper said.

Development plans: Minister backs Pakistan Navy projects

Defence Minister Naveed Qamar on Tuesday assured that the government would support Pakistan Navy (PN), enabling it to materialise developmental plans in time.

During his visit to Naval Headquarters (NHQs), the defence minister appreciated PN’s initiatives to curb the menace of piracy and terrorism. According to a press release, the defence minister also acknowledged PN’s efforts in developing various facilities in coastal areas which is helping in uplifting socio-economic condition of Baloch people.

Joint naval exercise: Seafaring nations urged to team up against piracy

Seafaring nations need to collaborate and assist in protecting each other’s interests to deal with emerging maritime challenges, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila said on Saturday.

Terrorism and piracy were the two challenges that the naval chief singled out while talking to the media onboard a PN ship during a live weapon firing on the concluding day of the Pak-Saudi joint naval exercise Nassem al Bahr.

“Terrorism and piracy, being global challenges, demand a collective and coordinated response, as no single country can deal with this menace in its entirety,” he said.

Sandila said that exercises are critical to access the translation of military strategy into operational plans.

Royal Saudi Naval Force’s Western Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Ibrahim Othman Al Delaijan also witnessed the mega event and the professional display of various other maritime maneuvers at sea where an impressive demonstration of live weapon firing by ships and aircraft was conducted.

Admiral Sandiala stressed that a potent and effective navy is the need of the hour. Despite resource constraints, the government is making all the efforts to equip Pakistan Navy so that it can effectively guard the national maritime interests at Sea, he said.

Security and justice challenges

Based on perception surveys, World Bank analysis suggests that rule of law declined quite sharply in Pakistan between 1996 and 2009 — from 33:100 in 1996 to around 20:100 in 2007-09. In the region, Pakistan’s score was marginally better than that of Nepal and significantly better than Burma’s and Afghanistan’s. Much of this decline predates the dramatic rise in militancy in 2007-10 and indicates an acceleration of perverse incentives within the political economy of the legal and law-enforcement systems.  Women’s access to justice is particularly poor, although legislation from 2006 indicates some progress. Conflicts can arise among the three recognised legal traditions: English common law, British-Indian legislation and Sharia. Customary systems of justice (predominantly based upon tribal practice) provide vital services and are more credible in border areas, indicating alternative dispute resolution systems that have sprung up in response to poor regulatory frameworks.  According to the Supreme Court, unresolved legal cases increased year-on-year from 1995 to 2004, before the current chief justice came into office. By 2006, the number of petitions lodged at the Supreme Court had been reduced by 44 per cent over the previous year. A further decrease was recorded in 2007 (11 per cent) but the backlog has increased, once again, since the 2008 elections (12 per cent in 2008).

Doing the ‘thana-katchery’ rounds — to be caught between district courts and police stations — has become a running joke in Pakistan. The police are paid off to arrest people and the lawyers paid to spring them from prison. Many disputes end in deadlock: never-ending litigation while defendants languish in police cells. Local leaders, who deploy patronage to resolve disputes outside the legal system or help their constituents negotiate the complex system gain political stature, which they can trade for electoral loyalty. One consequence of patronage politics is that people’s direct experience of the state is extremely limited. The public education system, land revenue administration, courts and police remain the primary interfaces. Yet, incorporation of the law and order system into local patronage networks has created a market for a dispute resolution system running parallel to the security and justice sector.

Violation of oath: Supreme Court asked to disqualify PM from assembly

Lawyer Dr Imran Liaquat Hussain has asked the Supreme Court to declare Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf disqualified from membership of the National Assembly due to his alleged involvement in the rental power plants scam.

Hussain filed his petition with the SC Karachi registry on Thursday. He said that the prime minister while taking oath as member of the assembly had pledged to safeguard the solemnity of the country.

Contrary to his pledge, he violated the article 63(1)(g) of the constitution through his involvement in the rental power plants scam. Thus, he is no more a member of the national assembly, he added.