Ex-DG ISI General Butt appointed as Chairman CMIT

The Punjab government has appointed a Lieutenant General – who gained notoriety for violating the Army’s discipline by towing political line of action – as Chairman Chief Minister’s Inspection Team.
Lieutenant General Ziauddin Butt, who has been appointed as Chairman CMIT on contract, is a retired Pakistan Army engineer officer and the ex-Director General Inter-Services Intelligence. He was later nominated as Chief of the Army Staff in 1999 by then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after dismissing General Pervez Musharraf. The move backfired as Nawaz Sharif government was removed by the military, and Gen Ziauddin sacked and subsequently arrested, and Court-martial for being part of the ‘conspiracy’.
In 1964, Mr Butt was commissioned in Pakistan Army’s Corps of Engineers – a non-fighting arm. It was part of the reason that Army high command sided with Musharraf in ousting Ziauddin as the Army chief, as since 1947 the slot of the COAS had always belonged to the fighting arm (infantry, armoured corps or artillery). It has been maintained by the concerned quarters that he was promoted to Lieutenant General on February 25, 1996 and made the commander of Corps at Gujranwalla on personal request to General Jehangir Karamat by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. After serving as the Corps Commander, Gen Ziauddin was posted as the Adjutant General (AG), where he was serving at the time of promotion of General Musharraf to the Army chief in October 1998. When Lt Generals Ali Kuli Khan and Khalid Nawaz were superseded by Musharraf, Ziauddin moved to number two slot in the seniority list of Lt Gens. He was subsequently assigned to head the ISI by PM Nawaz Sharif, after replacing Lt Gen Naseem Rana.
A year after taking over ISI, Ziauddin was nominated by Sharif to head the Army, while Musharraf was on a foreign trip to Sri Lanka. The army refused to accept this decision, and overthrew Sharif's government in the subsequent coup d'état. Ziauddin was subsequently retired and was placed under house arrest with all the post-retirement privileges taken away. He was found guilty of conspiring against his Chief General Pervez Musharraf. However he still reserved the right to appeal against the decision of the previous authority.
After February 8, 2008 polls, in April the same year PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif reportedly had conveyed a message to Mr Butt and that he would be ‘accommodated at an opportune time’. The same message was communicated to former Inspector General of Police Rana Maqbool Ahmed as well. Last year Rana Maqbool, who had remained an Officer on Special Duty since 1999 when Musharraf took over the government, has been already appointed as Secretary Public Prosecution Department (Punjab) on contract by the PML-N.
In 2009, an attempt to accommodate Mr Butt as Chairman Punjab Public Service Commission was shot down during the initial stages. “Since it is a constitutional post, and the Governor has a role to play, the Punjab government deemed it wise not to act in this regard,” opined an officer, while adding that for the present appointment, pay, perks and privileges are yet to be notified for the General.
Like the General, last year as well, Rana Maqbool was also considered for appointment as Ombudsman Punjab – also a constitutional post – but was later appointed as Secretary Public Prosecution Department. “Seeing these examples of the General and the IGP, and violation of the Punjab government’s own policy of not re-employing the retired, these are hugely blatant violations of the government’s stance taken after April 10, 2008 when hundreds of retired having got reappointed were terminated from all the departments,” observed the officer.

This time, it’s female MPA

This time it is not a male parliamentarian, rather to jump into the already-boiling fray of irregularities and illegalities by elected representatives is a female MPA Shumaila Rana, who was ‘chosen’ on reserved seats to serve the masses.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N has vowed to fulfil all legal formalities in investigating the case. On the other hand, if found guilty, Shumaila Rana will lose her seat, as no convicted can become a parliamentarian, and stands disqualified as conviction as per the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Previously, it were MNA Haji Pervaiz Khan from Rawalpindi and Minister Prisons Ch Abdul Ghafoor of the N-League, who indulged in impersonation and acted highhandedly at the Lahore Airport respectively. Interestingly, the MNA lost his seat after a committee found him guilty, and the Minister was given honourable exit from the charges by the PML-N leadership despite the fact that the committee found him guilty on more than two accounts.

Prior to Shumaila Rana’s case, another N-League’s MPA Munawar Gill was indicted in a rape case. He is said to have been found innocent in the case.

Shumaila is the fourth PML-N parliamentarian, who has been found guilty of indulging in a criminal activity.

The first timer to the Punjab Assembly Shumaila Rana, reportedly found guilty of stealing credit card from another female’s bag, and indulging in ‘illegal’ shopping, is member of the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Auqaf. Moreover, she is also member of Chief Minister’s Coordination Committee for the Internally Displaced People, which is an offshoot of Punjab Chief Minister’s Fund for the IDPs of NWFP.

Unmarried Shumaila Rana is daughter of Hidayat Ali, and she climbed the ladder of becoming an MPA by virtue of her mother Anjum Ara’s services to the Party, as the latter has been worker of the Party for about two decades.

Anjum Rana, a retired schoolteacher of a private institute, was not a graduate, and after her successful canvassing for her daughter, a reserved seat was given to Shumaila Rana, who is said to be in her mid-20s. She is the first MPA from this family, and has nothing tangible to her credit for which she should have been given the slot.

MPA with humble family background, she has been a vociferous supporter of women rights, and their empowerment. She had also promised to lobby for the charter of demands presented by women farmers recently.

A resident of Bedian Road, Lahore, Shumaila Rana had switched off her mobile, while her residence landline phone was kept continuously busy.

Punjab’s Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Rana Sanaullah Khan said all legal formalities would be actualised in investigating the case. “The Punjab government and Chief Minister always ensure rule of law nor matter how influential is the person. Justice will be ensured and action will be taken as per law,” he said, while further adding that the PML-N would take disciplinary action as well if Shumaila Rana would be proven guilty, and she would be given a change to defend herself.

“Even if the PML-N does take action, like it did not do for Ch Ghafoor and Munawwar Gill, Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan does not allow any person to remain member if ‘he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction on a charge of corrupt practice, moral turpitude or misuse of power or authority under any law for the time being in force’” maintained a senior PML-N leader, seeking anonymity, who also opined against the ‘dishing out’ of tickets and nominations sans deep deliberations and scrutiny of the prospective members. “The Sharif brothers came back after about a decade in exile, and were not properly briefed by a few handpicked, who had their own agendas, and family connections to strengthen. Consequently, they indulged in nepotism, and to investigate it, top N-League leadership had already ordered an enquiry,” he said.

To him, Shumaila Rana was also nominated by the Party’s special group of Lahore. About Rana’s future, he was of the opinion that she might lose her seat even if the police did not find her guilty. “To hold the merit-flag high, this lady could be deseated by the PML-N leadership because in cases of Ch Ghafoor and Munawwar Gill, the top leadership seemed to have been hamstrung by unseen circumstances,” he predicted.

Mazari dies on PA floor

Former Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Sardar Shaukat Hussain Mazari breathed his last due to cardiac arrest here on the floor of the Assembly when he had just arrived to attend the 10th session on Friday.
He was rushed to Punjab Institute of Cardiology, but to no avail as he had silently passed away already on the floor of the House where his fellows desperately tried to breathe new life into him through resuscitation.

Shaukat Mazari had just reached the floor only a few minutes prior to his death. He had closed his eyes for good in sitting posture when his fellow tried to wake him up sans knowing that the senior parliamentarian had silently met his Creator. Mr Mazari was moved to be woken up, but his body reclined against the support of the bench.
Attention of the Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan and members was drawn, while many hurried in futility to save Mazari. His body was removed to PIC where he was received dead, as said by Medical Superintendent Dr Riaz Ahmed Chaudhry.

After this, gloom prevailed and silence dawned upon the floor, which is usually running feverish at a fast pace. Everyone was distrusting his eyes though hoping against hope for a good news from the hospital, which never reached the Assembly.
The House was adjourned till 3 pm on Monday (November 17). Ironically, it was the same day when Fateha was offered for former Deputy Speaker PA Sardar Hassan Akhtar Mokal, former Punjab Minister Dr Ashfaq-ur-Rehman, Balochistan earthquake victims and ones dead in various terrorist attacks as well.

An old Ravian and a veteran parliamentarian from one of the leading political families of Pakistan, he was the first MPA since 1947, who died while attending the session. His body will be taken to his native town Rojhan (Rajanpur) where he will be laid to rest after Namaz-e-Janaza at 3pm on Saturday (today).

Son of Sardar Muhammad Hussain Mazari, Shaukat Mazari was born on February 10, 1948 at Rojhan, and graduated in 1967 from Government College, Lahore and obtained the diploma of BCTD in Textile from Black Burn College of Technology & Design UK.
He served as Member District Council, Dera Ghazi Khan during 1979 and Rajanpur during 1982. He represented Pakistan twice in the United Nations General Assembly as a delegate in 1974 and 1995 and also represented Pakistan in an International Conference held at Basil, Switzerland in 1988-89.

He was elected Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly on November 27, 2002. He served as Provincial Minister during 1977, and as Deputy Opposition Leader during 1988-90. He was elected member Punjab assembly for fourth time in polls held on February 18, and later joined the PML-N.

His father-in-law Sardar A.M.K. Mazari was MNA during 1988-90, while his mother-in-law Begum D.S. Mazari was MNA during 1985-88. His cousin Sardar Balakh Sher Mazari was caretaker Prime Minister, and his great grandfather Nawab Sir Imam Bakhsh Khan Mazari was Chief Companion of the Indian Empire, Knighthood of British Empire (1884-1903); and cousin of his grandfather Nawab Sir Bahram Khan Mazari, was Member Privy Council, KBE from 1903 to 1923.

Behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto

"I am what the terrorists most fear," Benazir Bhutto told in an interview.
She was also the figure President Pervez Musharraf most feared as a rival, as expressed to me by the beleaguered leader's close confidant, Humayun Gauhar: "If the Americans can have a government led by Bhutto, they will get what Musharraf has refused them. She will allow NATO boots on the ground in our tribal areas and a chance to neuter our nuclear weapons," said Gauhar. This is exactly why the American government was eager to see Bhutto gain or share power with the Musharraf's highly unpopular regime.
During her campaigning last month through 100 miles of villages in her home district, the Sindh, she stood in a cab atop a truck, her head and torso completely exposed. Her only protection was one female bodyguard – Naheed Khan, an unarmed older woman who has served for years as Bhutto’s personal assistant.
“We must be out on the streets,” she told me, “or the terrorists win.”
Bhutto had survived a large-scale bombing attack only a few weeks before, during the massive parade welcoming her back to Pakistan after more than a decade of self-exile. Musharraf was said to be livid when he heard TV reports that his nemesis was attracting millions. “Do something!” he ordered the army corps commander, according to a journalist who was there.
Nearing midnight on October 18, the streetlights went out. Police didn’t respond to frantic calls from her security people. Benazir’s feet were swollen from standing, she told me. She ducked below into a steel command centre to remove her sandals. Minutes later, a bomb went off. Stoically calm, she told the people with her not to go outside – another blast would likely follow. When an empty car detonated a police van, she lifted the shade. I asked how she had reacted to the carnage.
“I have no feeling,” said this survivor of a lifetime of traumas. “I go into a detachment, I start ticking off steps I have to do next.”
More than 170 of her supporters died. Within an hour, the bodies were removed. Soon after, her caravan and all other evidences were hauled away by police cranes. Tellingly, the Musharraf government has mounted no investigation.
The Musharraf propaganda machine called it a suicide attack by Islamic extremists. Bhutto herself believed it was the dirty work of Musharraf’s political allies. The ISI is infiltrated by ideologically jihadist elements that support al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists in Pakistan's border provinces. Bhutto had tried as prime minister to eject the ISI from politics, but that “country within a country” managed to overthrow her instead. She was well aware the security services were less than enthusiastic about Benazir Bhutto becoming prime minister a third time.
After the October 18 carnage, Bhutto's People's Party asked the Musharraf government for the kind of security arrangements owed to a former prime minister. “We got no cooperation,” says Bhutto's American spokesman, Mark Siegel. “She just kept on without security, she didn't care about the personal danger. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
Bhutto also believed in predestination.
The Musharraf government is again dismissive of the lapse in security by the Army and security services. They allowed a sophisticated assassin to kill her at close range while the crowd was distracted by a suicide bombing – the same scenario attempted in the November attack.
The government holds Bhutto to blame for taking the risk of public campaigning. Musharraf previously had confined her under house arrest. When that produced an international outcry, he warned her to stay out of sight. “We don't want a dead Benazir on our hands,” Humayun Gauhar, Musharraf's confidante, argued in an interview with me. “She'd be just another unlikely martyr that we don't need.” What will happen as Pakistan is again plunged into turmoil? Mark Siegel will release names that she instructed him to hold responsible in the event of her assassination. Musharraf will likely cancel the January 8 election. Bhutto already was prepared to boycott, believing it to be rigged from top to bottom. Musharraf's election commission had announced it would refuse the European Commission to send observers to polling places except those predetermined by the government. Bhutto's supporters expect her assassination to be used as the pretext for an indefinite suspension of political freedoms and free and fair elections.

Adieu Benazir!

When I grew up and gained senses, I saw Zia's military rule when raising a voice could land you either in the trap of death or in an unknown jail.

Then Benazir Bhutto came to Pakistan in 1986 and we considered her as a saviour. She might have disillusioned us owing to both personal, party and above-all those who have been making her make mistakes.

Then she was again 'called back' to hand over death to her. It is the biggest tragedy since her father's hanging on July 5, 1979.

Now uncertainty has been furthered and we have been looped into the air nothing to hang on to!

Benazir Bhutto....We will miss you all, as you were our hero when we grew up.

Cricket legend-turned-politician becomes ‘terrorist’

Few will dispute that Imran Khan was the finest cricketer Pakistan has ever produced, and the biggest heart-throb one can wish to be. But on Wednesday, he was indicted under Anti-Terrorism Act after he was thrashed by those, who once-upon-a-time must have idolised him when he sprinted at the cricket field.

Debonair, articulate and daring in his posture, which Imran Khan has always been through out his life, made a mistake of supporting General Pervez Musharraf in 1999 (for which he begged pardon on numerous occasions). Though considered to be a relative failure on political pitch, he led a virtually hopeless team to win the 1992 World Cup, only once in the history of cricket-frenzy nation.
He was made to ‘opt’ for retirement immediately afterwards even when the celebrations were not over, but was successful in establishing the first-ever cancer hospital in the memory of his mother Shaukat Khanum, who had succumbed to cancer a few years back.
Still a hero, he opted for another pitch to play, that is, politics. Never bowled on bouncy wickets in Pakistan, but he chose to bat against aggressive political pitchers to likes of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto when in 1996 he founded his own party ‘Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’ – ‘only independent judiciary can dispense justice and provide relief to the people’.
Next year, he could not win even a single seat when the legislative elections were held after Benazir Bhutto’s exit as Prime Minister for the second time, as the stories of his previous love escapades were flashed across the media. It could have been one of the reasons of his failure, but he stuck to his stance and kept on working towards his goal.
On October 12, 1999, General Pervez Musharraf took over. Most of the people, including politicians, were jubilant, but nearly no one came to the fore to support Musharraf explicitly except Imran Khan for which he begged pardon when the General ‘treated cancer with Aspirin’, as Khan put it so himself.
He remained a high-profile figure, with his marriage, and subsequent split with the socialite Jemima Khan (Goldsmith) and a not entirely successful move into the labyrinthine world of Pakistan politics.
At the last legislative elections, October 20, 2002, the Party won 0.8 per cent of the popular vote and one out of 272 elected members, that is, Imran Khan became a vocal MNA. Hence he won a phrase ‘Tonga Party’ for the PTI.
However, his following never withered and his popularity graph grew because of his stance against the present dispensation.
Since November 3, after the imposition of the emergency, he was on the run in his hometown till Wednesday, he surfaced to land in Kot Lakhpat jail after humiliation at the hands of the Islami Jamiat Talaba, a youth wing of the Jama’at-e-Islami. For the first time in his life, Imran Khan had spent his first night in jail as a convict of the state under the 7-ATA – promulgated by his past political adversary and now a political supporter exiled Nawaz Sharif, who was tried under the same Act too.