President Parvez Elahi

PTI Prez Sent To Jail On Judicial Remand

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi on Sunday was sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in illegal appointments case, reported Geo News.

On Sunday, a Lahore anti-corruption court denied the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment’s (ACE) request for physical detention of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in the Punjab Assembly unlawful recruitments case.
Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk sentenced the former Punjab chief minister to 14 days in prison.

Earlier today, the former Punjab chief minister, who was arrested by ACE authorities for allegedly making unlawful appointments in the Punjab Assembly, appeared in court in Lahore under tight security, Geo News.

Elahi was detained for the third time by the Punjab ACE on Saturday after a local court in Gujranwala awarded him relief in two corruption allegations.

According to an ACE spokeswoman, Elahi illegally recruited 12 people for grade 17 jobs in the Punjab Assembly.

By manipulating the documents, the candidates were recruited in the provincial legislature. “The illegal recruitments were made through fake testing services,” claimed the spokesperson reported Geo News. (ANI)

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Buffoons imran

Dangerous Ruling Buffoons Making A Mockery Of Pak: Imran

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday expressed his concern about the government’s actions, stating that they are making a mockery of Pakistan abroad.

“The dangerous ruling buffoons don’t realise the damage they are doing to Pak’s image abroad by sham FIRs & absurd sedition charges against a former PM for using terms ‘Dirty Harry’ & ‘psycopath’! They are making a mockery of Pakistan,” tweeted Khan.
He also warned that foreign investors may be getting a troubling message after the Pakistani government’s decision to not accept the Supreme Court’s decision in the Punjab polls delay case.

“Also, what msg is being sent to foreign investors when govt itself is not accepting SC decisions? Investors need security of contracts & that means faith in judicial system. What confidence can they have when govt itself casting aside SC orders? This happens in a banana republic,” he tweeted.

Khan’s comments came after the federal government demanded that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial step down, claiming that his position had become “controversial” after Justice Athar Minallah’s note in the case.

Justice Minallah stated that the Supreme Court’s suo motu notice over the delay in the announcement of provincial assembly elections was dismissed by a majority 4-3 ruling.

A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar had announced the verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) move to postpone the Punjab Assembly polls till October 8.

This ruling was rejected by the government, who labeled it a “minority verdict”, with the National Assembly also passing a resolution against the top court.

The government’s refusal to accept the Supreme Court’s decision has raised concerns about the state of country’s democracy and judicial system.

The PTI chief also claimed that the sedition cases filed against him and the imprisonment of senior party leader Ali Amin Gandapur are attempts to undermine their party’s ability to contest elections.

“Sedition cases against me – this is 144th case against me- and our senior ldr Ali Amin along with his imprisonment, are simply attempts to undermine our Party’s ability to fight elections. This is all part of London Plan in which Nawaz Sharif was given assurances that PTI would be crushed before elections through fake cases & imprisonment of its leadership,” he tweeted.

Imran Khan has been pushing for assembly elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces as part of a campaign to force an early general election that he has waged since being forced from office a year ago after losing a vote of confidence, reported The Express Tribune.

However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected Imran Khan’s call for an early general election and his government had backed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delay in the votes in the two provinces to Oct 8.

The commission cited a lack of resources and the government agreed, saying it was not possible to organise the provincial elections while the country was struggling with an economic crisis and with a general election due around early October anyway.

But the Supreme Court ruled that the delay was illegal and voting in the two provinces should be held between April 30 and May 15, reported The Express Tribune. (ANI)

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Farce Elections In Pak Occupied Kashmir

Dr Misfar Hassan

The recent elections in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) are over now. How were these elections conducted and how have the previous elections been conducted. I will be presenting a brief overview for those who just observe these elections from outside, never having been a part of it but they make analysis based on hearsay or by reading newspaper reports and currently the social media information/misinformation.
A simple example is as one cannot learn how to swim without taking a dive in a pool one cannot understand how these elections are conducted without contesting or without being part of a team with a contesting candidate.

A brief overview of the history of the recent election in past years the elections in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) were held in 1985 after a gap of about eight years due to martial law being imposed in Pakistan by General Zia ul Haq.

The elections were contested by the Muslim Conference with the backing of General Zia while the four political parties including Jammu Kashmir Liberation League, Tehreek I Amal Azad Muslim conference of Sultan Mehmood formed an alliance and contested the elections.

No one got the absolute majority as about six independent candidates won elections who later on through intervention General Zia joined Muslim Conference apart from one member Farooq Shah who joined Jammu Kashmir Liberation League.

This is how Muslim Conference formed the government.

The next elections of 1990 were held with the JKLL and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in alliance; the government formed as a result lasted only nine months and Mumtaz Hussain Rathore who was prime minister dissolved the assembly that paved the way for another election in 1991.

At that time it was the Pakistan Muslim League (N) government in Pakistan and Mian Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister. He made a public statement that he would present the 12 seats of the refugees living in Pakistan on a plate to Sardar Abdul Qyyum.

Of the 12 seats, 10 were won by candidates of the Muslim Conference (MC). I was a candidate from the Rawalpindi constituency. The local district management facilitated the MC candidate apart from funds given to each candidate for elections to win the seats.

Similarly, in 1996 elections, it was the PPP government in Pakistan with Benazir Bhutto as prime minister her party won elections. I was again a candidate from the same constituency as the candidate I was not given a chance to vote for as local PPP activists took over the polling stations in collaboration with district management and they got favourable results.

This has been a broad daylight robbery and calling them elections carried no meaning.

This drama was repeated every five years. I would now describe the recent elections. For the first time in the 73 years of history, the region became a political battleground between three political parties of Pakistan namely Ruling PTI, Pakistan Peoples’ Party and PML-N.

All three parties held large public meetings. In these meetings the young political leaders reverted to discussing their own political differences using bad language, often verbally abusing each other in public.

The federal minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur who hails from a rural area of Punjab used extremely derogatory language during public meetings. The Chief Election Commissioner ordered him to leave the area but he disobeyed the orders and Imran Khan supported this illegal act.

This minister announced development schemes worth billions and even offered cash to those who will vote for PTI candidates. Using these tactics as well as poll rigging the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf bagged 26 seats.

These are the facts with plenty of evidence that Imran Khan and his minster neither had a shame for its coercive tactics nor did they show any respect for law.

During the elections, people across the region raised voices about what had the local government done in their five years of rule. There are no roads in vast areas. People do not have access to clean drinking water; the treatment facilities are minimal while the majority of rural areas children do not have access to decent schools.

Social media was flooded with development on Jammu and Kashmir showing good highways, rail connections and airport facilities, while health and education facilities are remarkably better in the areas under Indian administration.

Recently local body elections were also held in Jammu and Kashmir in which the people and political parties participated fully. There were no accusations of involvement of the Indian government as per media reports.

This indicates a political maturity on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) as in India no one has ever imposed martial law or suspended elected government.

Coming back to recent elections in PoK, there were many skirmishes at various polling stations but in one of the constituencies from where the sitting opposition leader was contesting there was an incident of firing with loss of lives.

On the next day of elections in the Neelum Valley area, there was another sad incident when the paramilitary forces from Pakistan opened fire on people resulting in the killing of one person and wounding of several.

Strong protests broke out; roads were blocked as a result paramilitary persons on election duty from Pakistan were arrested. We will have to wait and see if justice would be done as in the case of military generals General Musharraf was convicted by the court for treason for suspending the constitution and imposing Martial Law but the military establishment facilitated him to run away from the court.

He is now absconding from living in England. People have no faith left in the judicial system like many others aforementioned.

In such scenarios, these elections, like many previous, carry no meaning for people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir as well as in Gilgit Baltistan where similar elections were conducted a year ago.

(Dr Misfar Hassan is a Kashmiri political activist living in the United Kingdom. He is a medical doctor by profession – ANI)

Pakistan Military Won Elections In PoK

July 25, 2021, will be remembered as the day when elections held for the so-called legislative assembly of Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were marred with rigging, violence and murder under the watchful eye of the Pakistani military establishment itself.

So far 25 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and 11 Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidates allegedly approved by none other than Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa have been officially declared winners taking first and second place respectively.

Ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has only been able to bag six seats. This clearly demonstrates that for the first time in the history of PoK, the Pakistani military establishment will not only be able to form a government but also have a pro-Bajwa opposition. Hence, Pakistan’s Army Chief will be able to play one against the other whenever he finds it beneficial to his political ambitions in the region.

The aforementioned elections have also proved to be a money-grabbing event. Prior to July 25, sector commander of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan Brigadier Naeem Malik was caught red-handed accepting bribes from PTI candidates. It was reported that Malik has offered PTI candidate billionaire Ilyas Tanvir the position of the prime minister of the occupied territory for a cash lump sum of one billion rupees of which one million was taken as token money.

Brigadier Naeem has likewise been accused of selling tickets to PTI candidates and promised them a victory. He has been accused of manipulating the appointment of Judges of both the High and Supreme courts and issuing favour to selected construction companies in PoK.

The Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Ali Ameen Gandapur was barred by the Election Commission from entering PoK after he gave five lakh rupees to a PTI candidate. The money was confiscated.

But Gandapur refused to abide by the orders of EC and continued to visit several constituencies in PoK. On one occasion when confronted by the youth he got out of his motor, pulled out his pistol and began firing!

Besides the above-mentioned tactics by means of which the outcome of the current elections has been controlled, there are other factors involved as well such.

The role of Lent officers, head of the revenue department, the patwari, and the tehsildar. Their role is to ensure that people living in their area vote for the candidate who is favored by the Pakistan military. During the last week of the election campaign, they start to pay visits to families of those who they consider are still in doubt about who to cast their vote for.

All sorts of pressures are applied to motivate them to fall in line for a meager monetary favour. And they do fall in line since they know that the price they will be paying in form of extortion and requisition of their lands by the patwari on behalf of the Pakistan army will be too much to bear.

The most important document for a government servant, serving in PoK, is his or her Annual Confidential Report commonly referred to as ACR that is prepared by senior bureaucrats. It is this ACR on which all government servants depend for promotions and any disobedience of one’s superiors means that one is side-lined for the rest of one’s life.

Here is when they become the most effective tool that is applied to bully hundreds of thousands of government servants to cast their votes in accordance with the dictates of their supervisors.

PoK is run by a troika composed of the Minister of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Chief Secretary and the Inspector General of police. All three are non-resident Pakistanis appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Hence they are referred to as Lent officers. The accomplishment of the election result desired by the military establishment is fulfilled by them.

It is therefore not surprising that despite the crowd-puller public meetings held all over POK by Maryam Nawaz, PTI has managed to secure a ‘convincing’ victory pushing the ruling PML-N to third place.

Forty thousand extra troops were deployed at polling stations on July 25 to maintain peace. However, it was the very military that stood by as silent spectators as PTI goons carried on with violence and occupied the polling station where they uninterruptedly marked PTI candidates.

The hypocrisy of PPP and PML-N is now evident. Although both parties have accused PTI of applying a combination of violence, bullying and rigging yet, according to reliable inner circles who spoke to this scribe, they refuse to launch a wider protest campaign for fear of India using it as a pretext to exposing the plight of the subjugated people of PoK to those living in the valley.

(Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in PoK. He currently lives in exile in the UK. – ANI)