Loud Thinking

Archive for 2013

Murder case be registered against Musharraf : Lal Masjid Commission Report.

Some excerpts of the report are as below:-

ISLAMABAD: Giving a clean chit to the military leadership, the Lal Masjid commission report holds former president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz and his political allies, responsible for the 2007 operation on the mosque in which 103 people were killed.

The commission, consisting of Justice Shehzada Sheikh of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), recommended that those responsible for the operation should have murder cases registered against them and suggested that the former rulers of the country should be forced to pay compensations to the aggrieved families.

The 304 page report, that was submitted to the Supreme Court by the commission on March 22, 2013, pointed out that after six years it was not easy to condone the lack of accountability that public position holders responsible for execution of this tragic incident have faced. Such an attitude is evidence of their irresponsibility, apathy in attitude and callousness in dealing with this human tragedy, declared the report.

Link:- http://dawn.com/2013/04/21/lal-masjid-operation-report-holds-musharraf-govt-responsible/

India tops global remittances list, received $69 billion in 2012

PTI | Apr 20, 2013, 11.58AM IST

WASHINGTON: India is the largest recipient of remittances in the world, receiving $69 billion in 2012, the World Bank has said.

India topped the list of countries receiving remittances, followed by China ($60 billion), the Philippines ($24 billion), Mexico ($23 billion) and Nigeria and Egypt ($21 billion each), it said on Friday.

Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Lebanon.

According to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries grew by 5.3% to reach an estimated $401 billion in 2012.

Remittances to developing countries are expected to grow by an annual average of 8.8% for the next three years and are forecast to reach $515 billion in 2015, it added.

“Migration and remittances offer a vital lifeline for millions of people and can play a major role in an economy’s take-off. They enable people to partake in the global labour market and create resources that can be leveraged for development and growth.

“But they are also a source of political contention, and for that very reason deserving of dispassionate analysis,” said Kaushik Basu, the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics.

Officially recorded remittance flows to South Asia are estimated to have increased sharply by 12.8% to $109 billion in 2012, the World Bank report said.

This follows growth averaging 13.

8% in each of the previous two years, it added.

As a percentage of GDP, the top recipients of remittances, in 2011, were Tajikistan (47%), Liberia (31%), Kyrgyz Republic (29%), Lesotho (27%), Moldova (23%), Nepal (22%), and Samoa (21%), the report said.

Remittance flows to developing countries have more than quadrupled since 2000.

Global remittances, including those to high-income countries, are estimated to have reached $514 billion in 2012, compared to $132 billion in 2000, the report added.

In addition to large numbers of unskilled migrants working mainly in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, India also has a large skilled diaspora the US and other high-income countries, the World Bank report said.

Flows to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal have also been robust, helped by strong economic growth in the GCC and India.

Remittances to the region are projected to remain buoyant in the coming years, reaching USD 140 billion in 2015, the report said.

The World Bank had on Friday announced the establishment of the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), envisioned to become a global hub of knowledge and policy expertise on migration issues.

KNOMAD was initiated in response to the rapid growth in migration and remittances over the last decade.

Nearly one billion people – that is, one out of every seven persons on the planet — have migrated internally and across international borders in search of better opportunities and living conditions, with profound implications for development.

“The role of remittances in helping lift people out of poverty has always been known, but there is also abundant evidence that migration and remittances are helping countries achieve progress towards other Millennium Development Goals, such as access to education, safe water, sanitation and healthcare,” said Hans Timmer, Director of the Bank’s Development Prospects Group.

Daily Dawn reports:

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday turned down a request filed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for the formation of a larger bench to hear the treason case against him and instead constituted a three member bench to hear the petitions.

LAL Masjid operation commission report

Another charge on Musharraf

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News):-According to the report, ex-president Pervez Musharraf, former prime minister Shoukat Aziz and members of his cabinet were indirectly responsible for Lal Masjid tragic incident.

Daily Ummat Karachi has reported that Musharraf wants to flee the country on the pretext of foreign treatment.

How come a person accused by the Supreme Court on the charges of High Treason, be allowed to go out of the country, even for the treatment?
Look in Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, when je was seriously ill during his court trial, was brought to the court hearings, even on a stretcher and kept in an iron cage.
So, what is special with Pervaiz Musharraf, why he can’t be made to face the process of justice, without any mercy?
For the poor civilian election candidates, government announced that even their scrutiny of documents will be merciless, then why not a merciless trial of an accused of a High Treason charge?

Once a few years ago, I have met Imran Khan personally at his residence.
ALLAH has bestowed him with a very powerful magnetic attraction.
I have a firm belief that ALLAH has ordained that Imran Khan will be the SAVIOUR of PAKISTAN.

What an analogy…. (“All looters are allowed to contest elections—then why not Musharraf?” asked APML Spokesperson Dr Amjad).

Last straw?: APML urges army to intervene

By Our Correspondent Published: April 20, 2013

Rashid Qureshi hopes military ‘will come into action’.

ISLAMABAD:
Close associates of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf have asked top military leadership to intervene in the issue immediately before tensions between state institutions get worse.
“Top military leadership will come into action [as an ex-general is being denied justice],” Major General (Retd) Rashid Qureshi, a close friend of the former president told The Express Tribune.
The Islamabad High Court on Thursday cancelled Musharraf’s bail application in the judges’ detention case and ordered his arrest. On Friday, the former president was transferred from his Chak Shahzad farmhouse to Islamabad Police Headquarters.
“Enough is enough. Judicial activism will not be tolerated anymore,” General Qureshi said, adding Musharraf will continue to face courts until he gets justice.
“We will fight legally, morally and politically against injustice in Pakistan.”
A movement has apparently started by some elements to degrade retired military generals as well as top spymasters, General Qureshi said.
He recalled that earlier this year in Dubai he had told Musharraf not to fly to Pakistan.
“The ground is not plain for you [Musharraf] to pursue political career,” General Qureshi told the former army chief.
A close aide of Musharraf said that the ex-president constantly received calls from some military leaders, both serving and retired, on Thursday.
“The situation shall hopefully improve by next week as Musharraf will get bail,” he said.
A senior official of Inter Services Public Relations, however, did not confirm the development.
“We have not received such request yet,” he said.
Furthermore, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) has announced to kick off a peaceful movement against Musharraf’s arrest.
As the civilian government continues to humiliate Musharraf, we request the top military leadership to support him, said APML Additional Secretary General Chaudhry Shafiq. Senior leaders of APML will hold peaceful rallies across the country, with retired army officials and civil society activists raising their voice against the injustice that took place against Musharraf, he said.
Senior Counsel for Pervez Musharraf Ahmed Raza Kasuri said they may file another petition in the apex court against the inclusion of the 7-Anti Terrorism Act in the First Information Report against his client.
Even the court cannot order Musharraf’s arrest, Kasuri maintained.
Former President Musharraf made history by appearing before a civil court’s judge, he said, adding that a well-planned conspiracy is being hatched against APML to weaken the party in next general elections.
“All looters are allowed to contest elections—then why not Musharraf?” asked APML Spokesperson Dr Amjad.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2013.

“When you blame others, you give up your power for growth and change.”

— Dr. Robert Anthony

Poetic justice

The man (Pervaiz Musharraf) is himself imprisoned in his house, the way he confined the judges in their homes.

In order to maintain and enhance the sanctity and dignity of Pak Armed forces, it is proposed that all its service chiefs and chairman JCOS should not accept, after retirement, any direct or indirect government post, position or ambassadorship.