Loud Thinking

Posts Tagged ‘Pakistan’

Proposal for enhancing the prestige and honour of the national awards.

It is proposed that in future, an independent commission may be formed, to scrutinise the deserving cases for the grant of national awards, so that the practise of EVERY government favouring their own toadies & lackeys’ is abolished for ever; and the honour and prestige of the national awards are enhanced: rather than being lowered to the abyss.

After-all national awards are national awards not government awards.

Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon

Greetings.

Pakistan is extremely grateful for your visit, particularly for being the chief guest at our Independence Day celebrations, on 14th August 2013.

As it may be already very well in your knowledge that UN has described the 8,00,000 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, being tortured, displaced, faced travel and trade limitations, murders, now Rohingya Muslims face child-limitation policies as well.

Similarly, over 10 million Kashmiri Muslim population living since 1947 under Indian occupation forces, are the most persecuted MAJORITY in the world. The list of humanly unimaginable atrocities perpetrated for the last almost seven decades, is so long that its compilation will be more voluminous, than the final print edition of 2010 of 32-volume set of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

However, just to refresh the serious human rights violations committed by the Indian military, para military and other forces on the Kashmiri Muslim unarmed children, ladies and men, a very concise but an eye opening report compiled from the wikipedia is submitted as below:

“This article is about Human rights abuses in Indian-administered portion of Kashmir.

Human rights abuses

Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory administered by India, are an ongoing issue. The abuses range from mass killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression offreedom of speech. The Indian central reserve police force, border security personnel and various militant groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. A WikiLeaks issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent wide spread use of torture by Indian police and security forces.

A US state government finding reports that the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir, has carried out extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians.
In 2010, statistics presented to the Indian government’s Cabinet Committee on Security showed that for the first time since the 1980s, the number of civilian deaths attributed to the Indian forces was higher than those attributed to terrorist actions.

Thousands of Kashmiris have reported to be killed by Indian security forces in custody, extradjudicial executions and enforced disappearances and these human right violations are said to be carried out by Indian security forces under total impunity. Civilians including women and children have been killed in “reprisal” attacks by Indian security forces and as a “collective punishment” villages and neighbourhoods have been burn down and women raped.

International NGO’s as well as the US State Department have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India’s counter terrorism operations. United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces.

Human Rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using child soldiers, although the Indian government denies this allegation. Torture, widely used by Indian security, the severity described as beyond comprehension by amnesty international has been responsible for the huge number of deaths in custody.

The Telegraph, citing a WikiLeaks report quotes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Indian security forces were physically abusing detainees by beatings, electrocutions and sexual interference. These detainees weren’t Islamic insurgents or Pakistani-backed insurgents but civilians, in contrast to India’s continual allegations of Pakistani involvement. The detainees were “connected to or believed to have information about the insurgents”. According to ICRC, 681 of the 1296 detainees whom it interviewed claimed torture.

US officials have been quoted reporting “terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or in some cases torture.

Amnesty International accused security forces of exploiting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that enables them to “hold prisoners without trial”. The group argues that the law, which allows security to detain individuals for as many as two years “without presenting charges, violating prisoners’ human rights”.

Indian Army

The soldiers of the 4th Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army on 23 February 1991 launched a search operation in a village Kunan Poshpora, in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir and allegedly gang raped 53 women of all ages. Human Rights organizations including Human Rights Watch have reported that the number of raped women could be as high as 100. The Indian Army is also accused of many massacres such as Bomai Killing, 2009, Gawakadal massacre,2006 Kulgam massacre, Zakoora And Tengpora Massacre, 1990, Sopore massacre. They also didn‘t spared the health care system of the valley. The major hospitals witnessed the crackdowns and army men even entered the operation theatres in search of terrorist patients.

Border Security Force

On 22 October 1993, the 13th Battalion of the Border Security Forces was accused of arbitrarily firing on a crowd and killing 37 civilians in Bijbehara. The number of reported dead and wounded vary by source. Amnesty International reported that at least 51 people died and 200 were wounded on that day.

The Indian government conducted two official enquiries and the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) conducted a third. In March 1994 the government indicted the Border Security Force (BSF) for firing into the crowd “without provocation” and charged 13 BSF officers with murder. In another incident which took place at Handwara on 25 January 1990, 9 protesters where killed by the same unit.

Central Reserve Police Force

During the Amarnath land transfer controversy more than 40 unarmed protesters were killed by the personnels of Central Reserve Police Force. At least 300 were detained under Public Safety Act, including teenagers. The same practice was again repeated by the personnels of the Central Reserve Police Force, during the 2010 Kashmir Unrest, which resulted in 112 deaths, including many teenager protesters at various incidents.

Special Operations Group

The Special Operations Group was raised in 1994 for counter terrorism. A volunteer force, mainly came for promotions and cash rewards, comprising police officers and policemen from the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The group is accused of torture and custodial killings. A Senior Superintendent of this group and his deputy are among the 11 personnels, who were convicted for a fake encounter, which killed a local carpenter, and was labelled as a millitant to get the promotions and rewards.

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

Main article: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

In July 1990 Indian Armed Forces were given special powers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) that gives protection to Indian Armed Forces personnel from being prosecuted. The law provides them a shield, when committing human rights violations and has been criticised by Human Rights Watch as being wrongly used by the forces. This law is widely condemned by human rights groups. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.

“All three special laws in force in the state assist the government in shielding the perpetrators of human rights violations from prosecution, and encourage them to act with impunity. Provisions of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act clearly contravene international human rights standards laid down in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as members of the UN Human Rights Committee have pointed out. One Committee member felt that provisions of the act – including imunity from prosecution – were highly dangerous and encouraged violations of the right to life“.

—A clipping from a report published by the Amnesty International, 1995.
According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as “disturbed”, an officer of the armed forces has powers to:
Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order, after giving such due warning.
Destroy any arms dump, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence
To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.
To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.
Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.
Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.
Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government’s judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.
Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.

Fake encounters

According to the Srinagar-based Association of Parents of Displaced Persons (APDP), a minimum of 8,000 people have disappeared since the insurgency began. In February 2003, the government of India-administered Kashmir, led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, told the state legislative assembly that 3,744 people were missing.

Hundreds of civilian’s including women and children have been reported to be extrajudicially executed by Indian security forces and killings concealed as fake encounters. Despite government denial, Indian security officials have reportedly confessed to human right watch of widespread occurrence of fake encounters and its encouragement for awards and promotions. According to a BBC interview with an anonymous security person, ‘fake encounter’ killings are those in which security personnel kill someone in cold blood while claiming that the casualty occurred in a gun battle. It also asserts that the security personnel are Kashmiris and “even surrendered militants”.

In 2010 three men were reported missing proceeding these missing reports 3 men claimed to be militants were killed in a staged gun battle the army also claimed they had found Pakistani currency among the dead. The major was subsequently suspended and a senior soldier transferred from his post. In 2011, a Special Police Officer and an Indian Army Jawan were charged by the Kashmir police for murder of a civilian whom the duo had killed in an encounter claiming that he was a top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant.

Disappearances

Indian security forces have been implicated in many reports for enforced disappearances of thousands of Kashmiris where the security forces deny having their information and/or custody. This is often in association with torture or extrajudicial killing. The number of men disappeared have been so many to have a new term “half-widows” for their wives who end up impoverished. Human right activists estimate the number of disappeared over eight thousand, last seen in government detention.These are believed to be dumped in thousands of mass graves across Kashmir.

Mass graves

Mass graves have been identified all over Kashmir by human right activists believed to contain bodies of thousands of Kashmiris of enforced disappearances. A state human rights commission inquiry confirmed there are thousands of bullet-ridden bodies buried in unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 2730 bodies uncovered in 4 of the 14 districts, 574 bodies were identified as missing locals in contrast to the Indian governments insistence that all the graves belong to foreign militants. According to a new deposition submitted by Parvez Imroz and his field workers asserted that the total number of unmarked graves were about 6,000. The British parliament commented on the recent discovery and expressed its sadness and regret of over 6,000 unmarked graves. Christof Heyns, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, has warned India that “all of these draconian laws had no place in a functioning democracy and should be scrapped.”

Extrajudicial killings by security personnel

In a 1994 report, Human Rights Watch described summary executions of detainees as a “hallmark” of counter-insurgency operations by Indian security forces in Kashmir. The report further stated that such extrajudicial killings were often administered within hours of arrest, and were carried out not as aberrations but as a “matter of policy”. In a 1995 report, Amnesty International stated that hundred of civilians had been victims of such killings, which were often claimed by officers as occurring during “encounters” or “cross-fire”. A 2010 US state department report cited extrajudicial killings by security forces in areas of conflict such as Kashmir as a major human rights problem in India.

Suicide

According to a report, 17,000 people mostly women have committed suicide during the last 20 years in the Valley. According to a study by the Medecins Sans Frontieres,
“Women in Kashmir have suffered enormously since the separatist struggle became violent in 1989–90. Like the women in other conflict zones, they have been raped, tortured, maimed and killed. A few of them were even jailed for years together. Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world. ‘Sexual violence has been routinely perpetrated on Kashmiri women, with 11.6% of respondents saying they were victims of sexual abuse’,”
At the beginning of the insurgency there were 1200 patients in the valley‘s sole mental hospital. The hospital is now overcrowded with more than 100,000 patients.”

Mr. Secretary General, in view of the above extracts compiled by the International organisations, governments and the UNO, there is no doubt that the entire freedom loving world is witnessing a perpetual worst ever human rights violations (never witnessed by the humanity on this planet on a majority population of an specific area) by the Indian forces facilitated by the Indian government with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), about which the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.

In view of the foregoing your Excellency is urgently requested to advise Indian government to immediately implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 47, adopted on April 21, 1948 and instructed the UN Commission to go to the subcontinent and help the governments of India and Pakistan restore peace and order to the region and prepare for a plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir.

As a first step India must withdraw over 7,00,000 forces personnel from occupied Kashmir. Remember, nowhere in the world repeat nowhere in the world so much troops are posted for just about 12.5 million population.

However, if the Indian government declines your request, the UN must come to the rescue of the most persecuted majority population of an specific area on this planet Earth; and initiate war crimes proceedings, on the pattern of Nuremberg war crimes tribunal, against all the Indian civil, military and other forces personnel, about whom all the crimes of GENOCIDE on Kashmiri people are very well documented in the archives of International Human Rights Organisations, world governments and the United Nations.

YOUR EXCELLENCY, LET NOT THE POSTERITY DOCUMENT THAT YOU SIDED WITH THE HOLOCAUST OFFENDERS OF INDIA AND FAILED TO USE YOUR INFLUENCE TO STOP GENOCIDE OF INNOCENT KIDS, WOMEN AND MEN DEMANDING THEIR LEGAL AND MORAL RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION.

REMEMBER KASHMIRI PEOPLE ARE NOT ASKING FOR THE MOON.

Best regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
+92-3219402157
Lahore – Pakistan
nayyar51@hotmail.com
www.snayyar.com
Twitter: @nayyarahmad

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

Mr. PM the huge Quetta tragedy of today is unparalleled in extremely high loss to our police force in the history of Pakistan.

Kindly declare tomorrow, the Eid day, as a national mourning day, in solidarity with the families of the scores of martyred policemen and as a mark of gratitude to ultimate sacrifice of the sons of Pakistan, who laid down their lives in the way of fighting the terrorism, for our better tomorrow.

For Pakistan’s Intellectuals – A Food for Thought

Pakistan has reached a stage where business as usual will do no good any further. And in order to meet the challenges of the fifth columnists, regional and international politics of intrigue and hegemony, we must rebuild Pakistan inside out. Currently, Pakistan is a patient on drip therapy, which must first stand on its feet, only then the inside and outside challenges can be effectively met. In this regard, the following proposals are submitted, for the overhaul of the entire Pakistani governance system(s), for the consideration of the intellectuals, people at the helm of the affairs and general masses to develop a consensus for taking Pakistan out of the woods.

MAKE EVERY DIVISION A PROVINCE – PAKISTAN’s ONLY PANACEA

Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The division in society is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.

The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least. Hardly any day passes without reports of suicides committed by the poor due to the economic hardships. Children are not dying in dozens, but in scores due to the measles outbreak and, strangely enough, no soul has moved and not even a single person has been held accountable.

Maybe we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription to rise again and build the nation from the ashes because, for the overwhelming majority, a time is coming that they will be forced to think: no life no nation.

The current frame work under which the country is being run will not take Pakistan any forward, even if it is allowed to continue, for another 100 years. All small and big nations in our region and the world have overtaken us, in the basic fields of health, education, justice, law and order and food security.

All stakeholders must wake up, as the nation is moving towards destruction and business as usual can do nothing for Pakistan; our survival is directly linked with the existence of our nationhood. Nationhood means, “the state or quality of having a status as a separate and independent nation”.

Pakistan needs a turnaround, for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China, under Mao Zedong.

Hence, for all Pakistanis, failure is not an option, but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract for the common people of Pakistan, who always pays 100 percent bills and taxes and never defaults on their bank loans, but is deprived of every conceivable civic amenities.

Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.

Changes must be made in the constitution to block corrupt and power hungry mafias from contesting the elections. The current election system should also be radically changed, so that the whole country directly votes for a president/prime minister. However, before the voting, the candidates of all the political parties, for this post of the president/prime minister, must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators, who will be automatically considered elected, according to the percentage of votes cast, in favour of the main candidate, for the top post of the country.

The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised, on which later on, no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan, in each and every field of life after 50 years. This vision should be further divided into ten five years plans.

In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people, to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of the people. from certain large areas over the people of other smaller areas. In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly, any secessionist or separatist activities, currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

nayyar51@hotmail.com
Lahore – Pakistan

My old comments on a TOI news of 21 September, 2012 and latest observations of a senior US army general about the influence of the Indian army over its government.

Greatness of a general doesn’t lie in waging and winning a war. Rather, in avoiding the war.

Indian Army chief opposes PM’s trip to Pak (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Army-chief-opposes-PMs-trip-to-Pak/articleshow/16482507.cms#write )

Here, I Remember what Winston Churchill said about the generals, “war is too serious a business to be left to the generals”. Adding to that I will say “peace is even more serious a business to be left to the generals, who by their training are mostly prone to their myopic and tunnel vision.”

I wonder, if the Berlin wall would ever have been removed, if the decision was left to the generals.

So Gen. Bikram Singh should also know that it’s not Siachin, but the future of 1.5 billion humanity of sub continent which is at stake. If, the blood has been shed on a foolish act in the past, why not take action to stop further shedding of blood, for the noble cause of peace & eradication of ignorance and poverty, in the sub continent.

The thinking of such generals, can delay the emancipation of Indians and Pakistanis, but can never permanently deny the divends of peace to such a large world population, which is no more interested in continued acrimony, between the two neighboring countries.

Now,the peace loving people of both the countries have decided once for ever, that they will no more remain the prisoner of the past.

If any body wants to observe the dividends of peace between the neighbors, just look at Europe, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Now, I invite the attention of all those people towards the following eye opening comments of a senior US army general, reported on 29 July, 2013 by the TOI, who say within and outside Pakistan, that Pak army is very influential in exercising its authority over the civilian governments in Pakistan, with reference to the major policy issues of the country.

WASHINGTON: The Indian Army is by far the most influential in the Asia Pacific region, a top American General said as he stressed on the importance of building military-to-military relationship between the two countries.

“As is in many of the Asia-Pacific countries, the army is the dominant service in those countries. India is a prime example. It is by far the largest service. It is by far the most influential,” US Army chief of staff General Raymond T Odierno said.

Link:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Indian-Army-most-influential-in-Asia-Pacific-region-US-General/articleshow/21465988.cms

A must read for the PM Pakistan, Prof. Ahsan Iqbal and the entire cabinet of wise men and women

“Power policy”

By Dr Farrukh Saleem
Sunday, July 28, 2013
From Print Edition of the daily “The News”.

Capital suggestion

Thirty percent of the new power policy makes sense. Seventy percent of the new power policy is poppycock. The PML-N wants to deliver. Delivery has three pre-requisites: intention, planning and capacity to implement. The PML-N seems well intentioned and is engaged in some sort of planning as well. In my analysis, capacity is the missing link.

Here’s the sensible part of the policy: smart feeders, re-prioritisation of gas allocation, furnace oil priority for efficient plants and performance contracts with Discos. Furthermore, holding the board of directors responsible, energy-saving bulbs and decentralisation are all steps in the right direction. Other sensible elements include a federal adjuster, external collection agencies, prepaid meters, key client managers and time-of-day metering.

Now the poppycock. We will convert to coal. Imagine: we would need 100,000 tons of coal a day while our current production is 8,000 tons. Realistically, Thar coal will need five to eight years plus a few billion dollars. Time we don’t have, billions we don’t have.

Lo and behold, the power policy does not talk about the two elephants in our power sector. First, our IPPs are running some of the most inefficient power plants on the face of the planet. Second, the government has already resolved to jack up the tariff. The truth is that Pakistan’s IPPs have no incentive to become efficient and Pakistan’s IPPs are massively over billing – and still getting paid.

More poppycock. We will import coal. Imagine: we need to import 100,000 tons a day while our ports are currently handling 6,000 tons a day. Plus, a multibillion dollar logistical and supply-chain infrastructure to transport all that imported coal to the power plants day-in-day-out. Time we don’t have, billions we don’t have.

Even more poppycock: the China connection. The truth is that China is converting its own coal plants to LNG and the truth is that the world outside China is no longer willing to finance coal plants.

Amazingly, the power policy does not talk about the two elephants in the room. One, Nepra the abettor not the regulator, and our oil-guzzling, hugely inefficient IPPs. The truth is that our power plants are gulping down anywhere from 24 kg to 46 kg of furnace oil to produce 100 kWh whereby the world outside Pakistan produces 100kWh with 14 kg of oil. Shockingly, the power policy does not talk about the two elephants in the room. One, our IPPs raking in annual returns of 35 percent to 45 percent. Two, the PPP government also jacked up the tariff that sunk the industrial sector, increased the incentive to steal and doubled the circular debt.

The truly sad truth is that the government of Pakistan (GoP) has signed contracts with the IPPs on behalf of the poor residents of Pakistan. And those contracts have produced only two losers – Pakistan and its even poorer residents. Call it incompetence, another case of public money private greed or a little of both.

Why don’t we accept that the GoP and the IPPs are united in an unholy matrimony? Wedded till 2025 (read: sovereign guarantees). And, regardless of what we put in – oil, gas or coal – our IPPs in their current state of affairs are bound to produce expensive electricity.

We need a Nepra on steroids. We need Nepra to hold IPPs by their necks to improve their efficiency and produce cheaper power.

PS: Who has really formulated this policy? The GoP or the IPP lobby? Elite capture of policy is “where resources transferred designated for the benefit of the poor population are usurped by a few individuals of superior status”.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com

Twitter: @saleemfarrukh

An appeal to the PM Pakistan, to make conditional, the grant of the MFN status and the normalisation of relations with India, with the withdrawal of Indian military and para military forces, from the occupied Kashmir and the Siachin.

India kills unarmed protestors (a must read letter published on 21 July, 2013 by the daily “Pakistan Observer”

Professor Kabil Khan

Sunday, July 21, 2013 – This is with reference to the news of six unarmed protestors that were killed when the Indian security forces opened fire upon them. The mindset of the Indian army is evident from its brutal handling of the innocent and unarmed people of Kashmir and the grotesque manner in which they are maimed and killed. It is also reflective of the collective Indian psyche that has legitimized the use of brute force in order to attain and maintain a dominant status in the region.

After acting as a brute force, with full blessings from its government, the Indian army has surelyforgotten how to act as a civilized one. To raid a seminary in the holy month of Ramadan where Muslims are more emotional and sensitized towards religious activity, is nothing but sheer mischief making on the part of the Indian soldiers.

First the Imam of a mosque was harassed and the holy Quar’an desecrated upon which the local people were fired upon indiscriminately when they protested this act of brutal violence. This, manner in which the Indian forces operate is surely nothing new as they are regular customers of HR violations. And all this is being done with the relentless support of the institutional culture of moral, political and juridical impunity. Indian writer and human rights activist Arundhaty Roy states that India will suffer because of what it has done in Kashmir. That the “troops involved in various heinous crimes including custodial killings, disappearances, rapes and declared accused through FIRs and other reports have evaded action which has resulted in making them habitualoffenders. These habitual offenders when deployed in other states will commit the same offences against innocent people.”

—Peshawar

By Nadeem M Qureshi

In 2008 when the PPP government of President Asif Zardari took office Pakistan’s total foreign debt was about $40 billion. Today, at the end of the PPP government’s term, it is $60 billion. Twenty billion dollars of new debt has been added. As the Government of Nawaz Sharif begins negotiations with the IMF to seek more loans, the people of Pakistan need to ask two basic questions. The first is: What happened to this money?

By almost any economic indicator people are worse off today than they were five years ago. Unemployment and inflation are higher. Vital infrastructure – railways, roads, public transport, hospitals, schools, water supply and sewage systems – have deteriorated to unprecedented and unacceptable levels. It is almost as though the $20 billion has vanished into thin air.

Well, some of it has. Consider, for example, the single case of the purchase of Boeing 777 aircraft by Pakistan International Airlines in 2011. Transparency International Pakistan maintains that of the $1.5 billion paid for the aircraft, $500 million were diverted as kickbacks to the government functionaries. Multiply this by dozens of multibillion dollar deals over five years, across different economic sectors, and it is clear that many of the billions taken in the name of the people of Pakistan have disappeared into private bank accounts.
Not all of the $20 billion is unaccounted for. Some of it is on rude display in the fleets of bullet proof luxury vehicles of politicians and bureaucrats. Less visible is the money spent on acquiring and maintaining the fleet of private jets at the disposal of the country’s ‘leaders’ and their acolytes. Also hidden from view but widely reported are the luxurious lifestyles of the people’s ‘servants’. A distasteful example of this was the news that the government planned to spend Rs. 260 million to renovate the President’s kitchen.

The second question that the people of Pakistan are entitled to ask is this: Should they be liable to pay back money taken in their name but used almost exclusively to enrich the ruling coterie? It is clear that the highly paid international bureaucrats who work for the IMF are not stupid. It cannot have escaped them that the money they are doling out is misused, or worse, stolen. Why then should the people of Pakistan pay for their willful negligence? This raises issues of legality and precedent. Is it lawful for a country to refute debt taken on by corrupt politicians? And, are there any precedents for this? The answer to both questions is yes.

The concept of odious debt was established in international law by Alexander Nahum Sack, a Russian born jurisprudence expert, in a paper published in Paris in 1927. Odious debt “is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state.”

The doctrine further suggests that since odious debt is deemed the personal debt of the rulers in power at the time the debt was secured, recovery should be from their personal assets. There are also several precedents in which countries have repudiated national debt. The United States set the first precedent of odious debt when it seized control of Cuba from Spain. Spain insisted that Cuba repay the loans made to them by Spain. The U.S. repudiated that debt, arguing that the debt was imposed on Cuba by force of arms and served Spain’s interest rather than Cuba’s, and that the debt therefore ought not be repaid.
The debt was annulled. In recent times, there is the example of Haiti. When the dictator Jean Claude Duvalier was overthrown in 1986, 66 US senators supported a resolution calling for cancellation of Haiti’s debt on the grounds that the money was misused. In the end, half of Haiti’s debt was written off.

By far the most effective use of the ‘odious debt’ doctrine in recent times is by President Rafael Correa of Ecuador. In 2008 he repudiated Ecuador’s national debt of $ 3 billion and announced the country would default and fight creditors in international courts. He succeeded eventually in getting a 60% write off on Ecuador’s debt.

Sadly, it is doubtful that Pakistan’s current leaders will be able to take the IMF bull by its horns. They lack the competence, integrity and, yes the intelligence, to do so. What a tragedy for the poor people of Pakistan who will continue to pay for their leaders’ larceny.

(The writer is Chairman of Mustaqbil Pakistan)

Moreover, Mr. Naeem Sadiq wrote on 12, July 2013 in the daily “The News” quoted as below.
Quote.”Dear Bank
Naeem Sadiq
TheNews
Friday, July 12, 2013
Many thanks for the $5.3 billion loan. One small step for a bank, a giant leap for a chronic borrower. I can proudly claim that my debt, steadily rising every year, has now reached $66.17 billion. This would mean that every member of my family must cough out $366 to repay this loan. This can only happen if we all stop eating, drinking – in fact living – for the next 10 months. Is that what they also call collective suicide? I made sure not to consult my unenthusiastic family, on whose behalf these loans were taken. They never seem to agree with my lifesaving – or should I say death-delaying? – initiatives. You too must be equally ecstatic. After all you end up gaining the most. You will retain most of this amount as repayment of the earlier loan, while my unflinching yearly debt-servicing will keep you charmed for a long time to come.

You had raised a number of questions before you approved the loans. Why is it that despite such massive borrowing, my family shows no signs of getting any better? Why are 50 percent of the family members illiterate and 60 percent below poverty level? Why are half the children out of school? Why is there no electricity half the time? Why does no one in the family have access to clean tap water?

You also wanted to know the reasons for the striking disparity in the lifestyle of some other members of our family. They move about with armed guards in obscenely large vehicles (often smuggled), live in luxury homes, have properties and cash stacked in foreign lands and drink corporate soda or water only from those neat-looking plastic bottles. It is only this segment of the family that is forever pushing for more loans. They are the ones who justify the bank’s slogan of ‘poverty alleviation’ – since this is the only group whose poverty gets truly alleviated.

My sixth sense tells me that you already know the answers to all these questions. You were merely going through the motions, filling forms, giving an impression of officious formality and appropriateness. The fact that I earn little, waste a lot and pilfer the most, makes me an ideal customer for the sort of business you are in. I have learnt to plead my case by closely studying beggars who flock the streets of Karachi during the holy month of Ramazan every year. I use exactly the same techniques with only three minor variations – dress, language and location.

Now, some bad news for you. My entire family, except those very few who gained the most from your loans, got together last night to say that they would no longer tolerate being pushed into this bottomless cesspool.

When I gave them your message that they needed to tighten their belts, they said they were too poor and did not have any belts to tighten. They said they were fed up of the loans taken on their name – the loans that make the elite of the family get richer and have still more fun. The mounting loans have made them poorer than before and taken away the last shreds of dignity that covered their half-naked bodies. Getting crumbs like 0.8 percent for health and 1.8 percent for education made them still more unhealthy, and yet more uneducated.

In simple words, my family has decided not just to stop seeking any further loans but to also stop any further debt-servicing. An unemployed maths teacher in my family spent some time to calculate that we paid $37.2 billion as debt-servicing alone in the last eight years. This is many times more than the principal amount that we borrowed during this period.

We are absolutely sure that there is no law that can force us to close our schools, starve our children, privatise our resources and abandon our welfare, simply because our selfish elders borrowed huge sums on behalf of those who cannot even spell the word ‘loan’ or have ever seen a bank from the inside.

Having paid off the principal amount several times over, we have a good reason to ask for total debt cancellation and an immediate freeze on any further debt-servicing. Do you realise that discovering a new mode of dying – by getting trampled while struggling to receive free food donations – speaks volumes about the poverty that your loans have been able to alleviate?

Sincerely,

Issac.dare@gmail.com
naeem sadiq
twitter : @saynotoweapons ” Unquote.

A Tribute from Thailand – Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Center, Lahore.

Pakistan Paindabad.

I am a Thai national. While living in my country, I have read various humanity-serving international charity organizations. I had great desire to visit Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital due to its fame all over the world. Fortunately, I got the chance to visit Pakistan. It was a wonderful experience of my life to visit Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital.

I was amazed to see state-of-the-art facilities being provided by Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to the needy and poor, specially the handling of kid patients during chemo procedure. All its departments are fully equipped with modern facilities and offered great care by medical and other staff. The hospital has offered me an unforgettable experience.

Lastly, I hoped that my donation will benefit cancer patients for their free treatment. I congratulate people of Pakistan for establishing such a humanitarian project. VORADA CHAROENSUK Thailand

Link:- http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/07/11/comment/editors-mail/a-thai-take-on-skmt/

Attention Mr. Ishaq Dar, the IMF and the World Bank.

we paid $37.2 billion as debt-servicing alone in the last eight years. This is many times more than the principal amount that we borrowed during this period.

An Eye Opener by Mr. Naeem Sadiq

Dear Bank

Naeem Sadiq
TheNews
Friday, July 12, 2013

Many thanks for the $5.3 billion loan. One small step for a bank, a giant leap for a chronic borrower. I can proudly claim that my debt, steadily rising every year, has now reached $66.17 billion. This would mean that every member of my family must cough out $366 to repay this loan. This can only happen if we all stop eating, drinking – in fact living – for the next 10 months. Is that what they also call collective suicide? I made sure not to consult my unenthusiastic family, on whose behalf these loans were taken. They never seem to agree with my lifesaving – or should I say death-delaying? – initiatives. You too must be equally ecstatic. After all you end up gaining the most. You will retain most of this amount as repayment of the earlier loan, while my unflinching yearly debt-servicing will keep you charmed for a long time to come.

You had raised a number of questions before you approved the loans. Why is it that despite such massive borrowing, my family shows no signs of getting any better? Why are 50 percent of the family members illiterate and 60 percent below poverty level? Why are half the children out of school? Why is there no electricity half the time? Why does no one in the family have access to clean tap water?

You also wanted to know the reasons for the striking disparity in the lifestyle of some other members of our family. They move about with armed guards in obscenely large vehicles (often smuggled), live in luxury homes, have properties and cash stacked in foreign lands and drink corporate soda or water only from those neat-looking plastic bottles. It is only this segment of the family that is forever pushing for more loans. They are the ones who justify the bank’s slogan of ‘poverty alleviation’ – since this is the only group whose poverty gets truly alleviated.

My sixth sense tells me that you already know the answers to all these questions. You were merely going through the motions, filling forms, giving an impression of officious formality and appropriateness. The fact that I earn little, waste a lot and pilfer the most, makes me an ideal customer for the sort of business you are in. I have learnt to plead my case by closely studying beggars who flock the streets of Karachi during the holy month of Ramazan every year. I use exactly the same techniques with only three minor variations – dress, language and location.

Now, some bad news for you. My entire family, except those very few who gained the most from your loans, got together last night to say that they would no longer tolerate being pushed into this bottomless cesspool.

When I gave them your message that they needed to tighten their belts, they said they were too poor and did not have any belts to tighten. They said they were fed up of the loans taken on their name – the loans that make the elite of the family get richer and have still more fun. The mounting loans have made them poorer than before and taken away the last shreds of dignity that covered their half-naked bodies. Getting crumbs like 0.8 percent for health and 1.8 percent for education made them still more unhealthy, and yet more uneducated.

In simple words, my family has decided not just to stop seeking any further loans but to also stop any further debt-servicing. An unemployed maths teacher in my family spent some time to calculate that we paid $37.2 billion as debt-servicing alone in the last eight years. This is many times more than the principal amount that we borrowed during this period.

We are absolutely sure that there is no law that can force us to close our schools, starve our children, privatise our resources and abandon our welfare, simply because our selfish elders borrowed huge sums on behalf of those who cannot even spell the word ‘loan’ or have ever seen a bank from the inside.

Having paid off the principal amount several times over, we have a good reason to ask for total debt cancellation and an immediate freeze on any further debt-servicing. Do you realise that discovering a new mode of dying – by getting trampled while struggling to receive free food donations – speaks volumes about the poverty that your loans have been able to alleviate?

Sincerely,

Issac.dare@gmail.com

naeem sadiq
twitter : @saynotoweapons
———————————————————————
How the state promotes crime and militancy. Look at the yearly average for prohibited bore licenses (PB) and non prohibited bore licenses (NPB) issued in last 10 years to the rich and powerful, to friends and relatives and to party men and criminals.

Yearly average of PB licenses, from 2003 to 2007………361
Yearly average of PB licenses, from 2008 to 2012 ………13895

Yearly average of NPB licenses, from 2003 to 2007………15261
Yearly average of NPB licenses, from 2008 to 2012 ………240494

Ref: official info obtained by using FOI and SC Suo moto case 16/2011