Taraqqi Pasand Musannifeen, Angrezi Navel Aur Media

Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog - Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below:

Taraqqi Pasand Musannifeen, Angrezi Navel Aur Media

Pakistan Ne Hamain Kya Diya?

Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog - Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below:

Pakistan Ne Hamain Kya Diya?

State Aristocracy’s Pakistan – 16: Make a fake project and plunder the tax money of the citizens

Enver Baig’s 2008 report on ‘Tawana Pakistan’ still not implemented

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took almost four years to probe multi-billion scam of Tawana Pakistan Project and is still probing, but a Senate sub-committee headed by former Senator Enver Baig in September 2008 had investigated the scam and identified all the accused involved in it. However, the findings were dumped in the Senate Secretariat since 2008 and government did not touch it. During his tenure as a senator, Enver Baig continued to raise hue and cry for taking action against all accused on the basis of his report, but all proved to be a cry in the wilderness.

The sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Social Welfare headed by former Senator Enver Baig had recommended to the government to take stern action to recover the embezzled public money which was spent on purchase through fictitious bills and by violating the rules, regulations, procedure and law.

Tawana Pakistan Project of Rs3.6 billion was launched during Musharraf regime to provide nutrient milk to schools of the least developed areas but it was turned into mega scandal in which billions were siphoned off by the top officials. Baig, who headed the Senate sub-committee and conducted the probe in 2008, and found out that the project money was siphoned off to the refurbishment of ministry’s offices, ministers’ residence, fictitious billing on car maintenances, bogus TA/DAs, inflated telephone bills, unauthorised medical treatment, refurbishments of rented office accommodations at prohibitive high prices.

In its report Enver Baig committee had recommended in September 2008, that the FIA should take immediate and stern action to recover the embezzled Public money which was spent on purchase through fictitious bills and by violating the rules, regulations, procedures and law. Enver Baig’s sub committee had also recommended that the advances extended to the officers / officials working in the project may also be recovered without further waste of time.

The sub committee had also recommended that the role of Zubeda Jalal, who was Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education, needs to be investigated without which the objectives of the whole exercise would not be met.  According to minutes of the sub-committee headed by Enver Baig available to The News, Managing Director Pakistan Baitul Mall Zamurrad Khan had also appeared before the committee and criticised this project and said that this project remained in existence for about 20 months and Rs600 million were spent out of which Rs180 million were utilised for the real purpose and the balance of Rs420 million were embezzled by 20 to 25 persons.

Zamurrad Khan had informed the committee that millions of rupees were illegally paid in cash to individuals ignoring all government rules and regulations and Rs200 million in cash was granted to M/s Vita Bread (EMS) and M/s Maza.

Former Secretary Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education G M Sikandar had told the sub-committee that M/s Vita Bread (EMS) was approved by former Secretary Naeem Khan whereas Maza was approved by the Project Director Irfanullah Khan.  The main accused in the Tawana Pakistan Project Irfanullah Khan is still an absconder and NAB had failed to arrest him so far.

While giving the background of Project Director of the TPP Irfanullah Khan to the sub-committee headed by Enver Baig in 2008, Dr Aleem Mehmood, former Secretary, had told the committee that a post of grade-20 was created for which the minimum criteria was PHD degree or its equivalent but Irfanullah Khan was appointed though he did not fulfil the requirement and even he was not fit for job as per medical report of Brig Moadat Rana, Psychiatrist, MH Rawalpindi. But this person had many high-level contacts and bout 60 percent cases are still pending against him,” Dr Aleem had told the Enver Baig’s committee.

It is to be mentioned that the NAB Rawalpindi arrested Tanveer Hussain Manji Director, Vita Pakistan Ltd, who had caused a loss of Rs160 million approximately to the public exchequer in Tawana Pakistan Project of defunct ministry of social welfare in the award of contract of milk to M/s EM-5 Nutraceutical Pvt Ltd. Illegal grain was provided to M/S Vita Pakistan Limited and M/s Chen 

Foundation.

Link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-20709-Enver-Baigs-2008-report-on-Tawana-Pakistan-still-not-implemented

[The News, February 3, 2013] 

Karachi Baldia factory fire – revengeful bias, elitist clout, or lawful justice?

On the one side are the victims’ families, Leftist groups, and NGOs, and the sympathizers of the victims of the Baldia factory fire, who demand that the owners of Baldia garment factory be tried for planned murder of the workers. Finally they have come to demand that the said factory be converted into a rehabilitation center for the victims’ families.

Looking for a way out? - SHC reserves order on Baldia factory owners’ bail plea

[The photo published in The News on January 29, 2013]

“Several NGOs had gone to court on Saturday (Jan 26) against Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for his alleged interference. They also asked the court to order conversion of the factory into a rehabilitation centre for the victims’ families. The division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqir issued notices to the respondents to file their respective comments by February 14.”

Link: http://tribune.com.pk/story/500055/looking-for-a-way-out-shc-reserves-order-on-baldia-factory-owners-bail-plea/

[The Express Tribune, January 29, 2013]

And on the other side are the factory owners, industrialists, their organizations, and their allies, who have the following to demand:

KCCI demands withdrawal of charges

[The photo published in The Express Tribune on January 29, 2013]

KARACHI: In a bid to apply pressure on behalf of the owners of the Baldia Town factory, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has demanded that authorities withdraw the charges of planned murder that have been leveled against the owners. 

In a press statement issued on Monday (Jan 28), the KCCI said: “KCCI has been agitating against the application of Pakistan Penal Code 302 (premeditated murder) in an industrial accident case as KCCI believes no industrialists or businessmen would purposely destroy their own factory and murder their own workers,” said the statement.

The factory caught fire in September last year and 259 workers were killed. On December 29, 2012, the KCCI pushed the Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to get charges of murder against the owners removed from the FIR. However, the prime minister merely instructed the chief secretary of Sindh to revisit the case along with the police and home department of Sindh. The supplementary challan was accordingly submitted in the court, which is currently possessed of the matter.

Link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-156798-KCCI-demands-withdrawal-of-charges

[The News, January 29, 2013]

The question is: how to proceed in this matter?

Let the both groups, so-called Pro-Baldia-factory-victims and Anti-Baldia-factory-victims, exert pressure to get what they demand, and whoever is stronger will win this tug-of-war!

Is that what’s the purpose of Law?

In case there exist a constitution, rule of law, and law-enforcing agencies, such as police, etc, and there are courts applying the law of the land and dispensing justice, should there be allowed to prevail a revengeful bias, or the elitist clout, or the matter be dealt with in accordance with the dictates of the lawful justice?

In a country like Pakistan, where law and justice do not take their course on their own, various pressure groups, influential personalities, elitist clout come in to play their games.

However, what the lawful course demands is an impartial investigation into all of the aspects of the case and then dispensing justice according to the dictates of the law!

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State Aristocracy’s Pakistan – 15: Government waived Rs.360 billion in taxes, duties in 5 years

Senate question hour: ‘Govt waived Rs360b in taxes, duties in 5 years’

ISLAMABAD: The government waived taxes and duties worth Rs.360 billion to various entities in the last five years through official orders, State Minister for Finance, Saleem Mandviwalla informed the Senate on Tuesday.

The Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs), official paperwork without which the bureaucratic machinery does not move, were issued to accommodate the waivers and by-pass existing laws that could not be changed overnight, Mandviwalla said, replying to a question posed by Pakistan Muslim League-N Senator Nuzhat Sadiq.

During its tenure the government waived around Rs.298.1 billion worth of inland revenues, including income tax and sales tax, and Rs.61.3 billion worth of customs duties.

The SROs on tax collection from export-oriented sectors, including textile, could not be changed under the existing circumstances. “The exporting sectors enjoy a zero-rate tax to provide them a competitive edge in the international market and help them earn foreign exchange for the country,” Mandviwalla said.

[The Express Tribune, January 30, 2013]

Kya Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) Badal Gaye Hain?

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Kya Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) Badal Gaye Hain?

Has Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) now changed?

It was back in the days when the lawyers’ movement for the rule of law was at its zenith. On the 9^th of March, 2007, a word of NO uttered by a man representing the law before a man representing the might had acquired the status of a catchword. The same NO had come to symbolize a movement for the supremacy of the law in Pakistan. Such a moral strength was latent in that NO that it had awakened the consciences dead in slumber for decades. Endorsement for the rule of the constitution and the law in Pakistan came from such unexpected quarters where voices supporting the military dictatorships used to come from heretofore. Surprisingly they were the same people who gave finishing touches to the past military takeovers. That was the greatest moral victory of this movement!

Then, came the day all bright with the restoration of Iftikahr Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan. However, the state aristocracy of Pakistan was too revengeful to fight back, and on November 3, 2007, an emergency-cum-martial law was clamped down deposing all the judges of the higher courts. As the heat and the resolve of the earlier movement was still burning, the movement for the restoration of the deposed judges got reignited. Meanwhile, on November 3, 2008, in the The News an article by Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) appeared. Its title was: Pakistan’s real civil war. It was a marvel of brevity and meaningfulness. Quite strange was it that a man trained in the science of war was making how correct a diagnosis of the malaise Pakistan was afflicted with. Only a few differences one could afford with the opinions expressed in Admiral Fasih’s article; mostly it provided for an intellectual direction succinct and convincing to understand the crisis of Pakistan. I promoted that article to the best of my reach. I spread its photocopies far and wide.  To remove the intellectual confusion was my aim, so that the malaise devouring the existence of Pakistani citizens could be cured.

Let us have a look at the article. Admiral Fasih writes:

“Qabza, or trespassing has become a way of life in Pakistan. We have at the top of the ladder, politicians who have qabza over their political parties: Bonapartist generals who once appointed army chief take qabza of the service and then the country: Bureaucrats who serve on and on, and on: businessmen who form cartels; and tenants who don’t pay rent. There are such people in both the public and private sector. The qabza mentality divides our nation down to the bottom of the social ladder where we have the poor who squat on land they don’t own, and then demand ownership rights! There are those who voluntarily abide by the law, and those who openly break the law, knowing that its enforcement is weak.”

Further to this:

“The real civil war is between those who want justice and law enforcement, and those who thrive in its absence. It is not about the rich versus the poor. It is not about the religious versus the secular. It is about the law abiding versus those with a qabza mentality.”

Also:

“Pakistan is not the only country with this problem. It exists in most countries. In America we have the Democrats and the Republicans both crawling over each other in subservience to Zionist and corporate money, just to gain or retain power. America is now the greatest democracy of corporate interests! In Russia Putin survives with the support of mafias. China’s Communist party has enriched itself beyond belief, by serving the interests of big business.

The problem with governance in the post-monarchy era has been the convergence of state power and the corporate power that finances the continued election of politicians who serve its interests. This is classic Fascism. The power of fascism is then unleashed on the people who oppose the power of government.”

How Pakistan is different from other countries:

“The difference between Pakistani society and society in non-fascist countries is the apathy and resignation to fate amongst Pakistanis. In other countries there is continued awareness and infighting to keep the state machinery in check. In other countries people fight for ownership of their country. But there is now an awakening in Pakistan led by the lawyers, and the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the most honourable Mohammed Iftikhar Chaudhry. He is the first chief justice of Pakistan to have opposed Fascism and be supported by the people. Others like him were not supported by the people because of apathy, and peoples conditioned belief that military rulers and people’s representatives will look after their interests.”

Then, he is quite apt to expose how fascism works:

“Fascism works by strengthening the executive, weakening the judiciary, de-fanging parliament, and controlling the media to keep the focus away from the real issue of how the people’s money is being spent. The executive is strengthened by appeasement of, or alignment with militant forces, and through distortion of the Constitution. Parliament becomes a rubber stamp because members who support the executive are allowed freedom of fascist action in their constituencies. The media moguls are appeased and their journalists coerced, or bought. The judiciary is weakened by coercion, denial of infra-structural support, and total executive control over appointments.”

And, here is the concluding paragraph:

“The first Tehreek-e-Azadi won freedom from external oppressors. The second Tehreek-e-Azadi against internal oppressors, the people with Qabza mentality, can only be won after the judiciary becomes independent. This will only happen with the support of all the people of Pakistan. That is why it is important for all Pakistanis to come out and support the lawyers’ movement for restoration of the judiciary to its pre-November 3, 2007 position. That is the judiciary that will look to the people as their source of power, and not to the executive as their source of power. That will be the judiciary that will establish the independence of the judiciary. That will be the first blow to the qabza mentality trespassers of power and money and land in Pakistan.”

{“[The writer is a former admiral and chief of the Pakistan navy.]”}

That is Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) of 2008. Today’s Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) is the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). At that time, he was exposing the fascism of the oppressors. At that time how intricately he was telling that how the fascism of Qabza mentality strengthens the executive; weakens the judiciary; defangs the parliament; and controls the media. At that time, in how precise a manner he was telling that how there was an awakening led by lawyers and the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the most honorable Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. At that time in how inspiring a tone he was telling that how this judiciary will establish the independence of the judiciary, and how this judiciary will strike the first blow to the qabza mentality trespassers of power and money and land in Pakistan.

Today’s Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) is lodging complaints against the same judiciary with the same executive which is weakening it, the same judiciary. He is casting doubts on the integrity of the same judiciary which is the only institution still opposing the fascism of the oppressors. Today’s Admiral Fasih Bokhari (Retired) is expressing reservations and raising objections against the same media, such as it is obstructing the working of the NAB, which proved to be an invincible ally of the movement for the independence of the judiciary. Has there been a change? Are there no more the internal oppressors hounding the ordinary Pakistanis? Is there no more the Qabza fascism alive in Pakistan eating out the wealth of the ordinary Pakistanis? Or, Admiral Fasih Bokhari has changed?

How difficult it is to untie this knot in Pakistan - a country always conducive to such shifts of commitments?

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