Well, well. I wonder if the author would care to read Rauf Klasra’s column in today’s Jang? Here is the link:
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jan2010-daily/27-01-2010/col9.htm

Kamran Khan, Rauf Klasra, The News, GEO TV & Plots.
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/08/kamran-khan-rauf-klasra-news-geo-tv.html
Kamran Khan the Investigative Tout of GEO/THE NEWS/JANG GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS files a story about Government Corruption – Rampant corruption causing collapse of govt organisations – Saturday, August 01, 2009 – Reign of kickbacks, commissions, back room deals cost nation billions of dollars – By Kamran Khan http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23611

but fails to mention Corruption in Print and Electronic Media
Rauf Klasra

Mr. Rauf Kalsara is a Pakistani journalist working for Jang group at the Rawalpindi office. He is well known in Pakistan for his investigations into the murder of five innocent girls in Nasirabad, Balochistan Province. He usually wrote columns in the daily Jang twice a week and has a reputation of criticising Pakistani political figures. He is a graduate from Multan University and Gold Smith College/University of London. Courtesy: http://pakistanherald.com/Profile/Rauf-Klasra-601

“QUOTE”

Rauf Klasra Corruption Scandal By Sabeen Hafeez, Dated 20 JULY, 2009, 1:38 PM

Courtesy: http://thecurrentaffairs.com/

URL: http://thecurrentaffairs.com/rauf-klasra-corruption-scandal.html

Jang News & The News Group Sr. Reporter,Journalist Rauf Klasra’s standard gripe with Pakistani political class is its inability to learn from mistakes. Writing in the Urdu edition of Jang, in column after column. Rauf Klasra is at pains to point out the disparity between word and deed exhibited by Pakistani politicians depending upon their geographic presence at the time. According to Klasra, while located in Western capitals like London or Washington, Pakistani politicians convincingly play at being democrats, reformers and revolutionaries but once back in Pakistan, they reveal their true colors. Klasra likes to lament the unwillingness of our politicians to learn from the moral superiority of Western political classes. Needless to say, his emotional and loaded articles strike a chord with the common Pakistani who is sick of the decadence and lack of sensitivity displayed by his MNA and Nazim.

What comes as a surprise though is evidence of the same moral failing in Klasra himself, the self-anointed gadfly of the upper classes. Evidence that is presented below reveals the ironic and tragic dissonance between words and deeds of Rauf Klasra. PkPolitics.com has investigated his case and has discovered that he has used his influence to amass wealth and has never relinquished any opportunity to use his connections in the power circles of Islamabad to receive undue favors and patronage, not least with Prime Minister Gillani himself. The tragedy of the whole thing is that Rauf Klasra, the “morally upright” journalist and “exposer” of fraud everywhere, has been continuously parroting his theme song about corruption, looking up and whistling innocently, while doing exactly the opposite with his hands. A truly classic case of Ram Ram japna, praya maal apna, if there ever was one.

The eternal question remains: Is the Faustian bargain with the devil worth it? All the plot allotments, flats, land, houses and illegal appointments of his relatives worth it? For it profits a man nothing to lose his very soul for all the riches of the world, but to lose it for worthless patches of dirt in Islamabad? Klasra has sold his soul cheap, even though he thinks he made a profit.

But one should always be thankful for small mercies. Looking at Klasra’s countless karnaamay, we should thank the gods he is not in a position of power. He would have left even Zardari biting the dust if the priestly columnist of Jang who writes with the tagline: “Aakhir Kyon?” had been our president. With all his corrupt habits, Klasra has not risen to the pinnacles of political power and seems to ask complainingly: “Aakhir Kyon”?

Dearest Klasra, it’s because Pakistan still has a small store of luck.

Here are a few examples that show the difference between what he preaches and what he has actually been up to. The Tareeqa-e-Wardaat of such black sheep in the media has always been to create vast networks of PR and patronage for reciprocal back scratching with corrupt politicians and blackmailing anyone who stands in their way.

Plot in G-14 Islamabad

The execrable practice of using plot allotments to journalists is a tried and tested method of buying loyalties and hiring those willing to prostitute themselves for their words. The story of Muhammad Malick is a case in point. It goes without saying that in a misruled country with a long history of abuse of power, such practices should cease immediately. Now having said that, even this ethical minefield of a system has a few rules and regulations that purport to uphold a quota-system to ensure transparency and equality. It must take a man completely bereft of decency and a sense of fair play to try to game this system which is unjust and unfair to begin with.

The G-14 plots drama has many other wily and unsavory characters (who are going to be exposed at PKPolitics when their turn comes). The sheer complexity of the drama requires that the background and rules and regulations for allotments be explained thoroughly:

1- The present PPP government has made eight (8) plot allotments to journalists recently. These were all illegal and were made secretly unlike in the past when the process was more transparent. The rules of procedure, followed in the past, call for advertisements, allotments to be made under a devised policy and the final list being posted on the website of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. All of these standard procedures were not followed in the 8 cases recently. It is important to point out that these 8 illegal plot allotments to journalists were made in the last ONE year alone. Last allotment was made to Zardari’s close friend Sohaib Bhutta. Zardari’s Lahori friend Nazir Naji was also given a plot in the same way.

2- Allotments were made to federal government employees and journalists in 2004-05 in Phase-IV of Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) in sector G-14. According to the brochure of this scheme http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-policy-brochure.pdf 3 % quota was fixed for the journalists. Applications were invited from the Islamabad/Rawalpindi based journalists through an advertisement followed by another advertisement for some changes in criteria etc. http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-advertise.pdf . A total 168 journalists were allotted plots in five different categories as defined in the advertisement of Feb 2nd and Feb 21st 2004 http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-allotments.pdf and this list is also available on the link of official http://www.infopak.gov.pk/plots/plotsindex.htm

After allotment to these 168 journalists, some journalists who had also applied, failed to get a plot because the 3% quota fixed for journalists in sector G-14 had been filled. As a result, according to devised policy (Devised Policy- Which was completely and clearly announced and given in the advertisement published in national newspapers on Feb 2nd and Feb 21st 2004 – copies already attached) a waiting list was issued with category-I as NIL, according to seniority based on the date of birth from all the five categories http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-waiting-list.pdf It is also important to mention here that, even at that time, three or four journalists managed to get a plot allotted despite that the fact that they were in the Waiting List until even 2005.

3- Five journalists who were in the waiting list are:

1- Rauf Klasra, Cat-II, Seniority Number-29

2- Amir Mateen, Cat-II, Seniority Number-14

3- Kiani Khaleeq Ahmad Khan, Cat-II, Seniority Number-25

4- Javed Chaudhry, Cat-II, Seniority Number-20

5- Shaukat Mehmood Paracha, Cat-III, Seniority No-18 (Mr. Paracha clarified that he did not avail this offer of Plot).

These journalists jointly filed a petition with the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench and challenged the process of allotment on purely technical grounds http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-lhc-petition.pdf The petition was disposed off in March 2006 with no order http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/Kalasra-lhc-decision.pdf and the court directed the Housing Foundation to dispose of grievances within fifteen days of their being raised. In fact, court never authorized any public institution to allot plots to these or any other journalists as a result of the rejected petition.

4- After the present government took charge in Feb 2008, it was well-known in Islamabad that Rauf Klasra is a close friend of PM Gilani. Both of them not only come from the same area but have been close friends even before Gilani became Prime Minister. Rauf Klasra has even alluded to the fact in some of his columns for the Daily Jang. Credible sources claim that Klasra had raised the issue of his not getting a plot allotted in 2005 with the Prime Minister who had promised to look into allotting Klasra the plot. Things moved quickly, however, after Imran Gardezi, the present Press Secretary to the PM took the charge of his office in December 2008. Suddenly, the Housing Ministry was asked to allot a plot to Rauf Klasra immediately. The ministry directed the Director General of FGEHF, the notorious Sher Afzal to accommodate Klasra. Sher Afzal wrote in response to the Housing Ministry that a recommendation from the Ministry of Information is mandatory for allotment to journalists http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-fgehf-letter.pdf Rauf Klasra was apprised of the new situation. The DG-FGEHF, Sher Afzal, received the recommendation letter from the Ministry of Information within two days http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-info-ministy-letter.pdf The recommendation letter asked the FGEHF to allot Rauf Klasra a category-I plot, which was allotted to him subsequently in sector G-14.

5- After the category-I plot allotment to Rauf Klasra, the other original petitioner journalists like Kiani Khaleeq found out that the allotment had been carried out by mentioning the LHC petition (dismissed in March 2006), they approached Secretary Information Ashfaq Gondal and DG-FGEHF Sher Afzal seeking a review of their own cases.

The four remaining petitioner journalists then plotted with the disgraced DG-FGEHF, Sher Afzal, who happens to be close friends to some of these journalists. They decided that instead of seeking the Ministry of Information’s recommendation directly, DG-FGEHF, Sher Afzal would write to the Minstry of Information on their behalf and demand recommendation letters for the remaining four petitioner journalists. This letter by Sher Afzal was illegal to begin with as the DG-FGEHF does not have such powers and functions in his job description. In any case, the Information Ministry sent the recommendation letters to FGEHF in blatant violation of its own waiting list and the defined category. According to the previously devised policy, the category was to be assigned as it existed on the day of applying. This policy was obviously violated.

Today, Rauf Klasra and the other journalists (Amir Mateen, Khaleeq Kiyani, Shaukat Mehmood Paracha and Javed Chaudhry) claim that they were alloted plots as the result of a judgment by Lahore High Cour’s Rawalpindi bench. This judgment was delivered in March 2006 while the plots were allotted in 2009. Klasra’s case was not a matter of devised policy and there was no scheme or program under which plots could be given to other journalists.

The actual situation is that only Rauf Klasra was allotted plots in compliance with Prime Minister’s orders by Sher Afzal, DG FGEHF, on January22, 2009. On February 6th 2009, a story with the title ‘Judges get plots of their choice’ was published in daily The News and daily Jang by Ansar Abbasi, in which an illegal allotment of plot to a journalist was mentioned. This story is available on http://www.thenews.com.pk in the link ‘Back Issues’ in the date February 6th 2009. At this point of time, Rauf in his attempt to cover up his illegal allotment, in connivance with Sher Afzal conspired to have plots allotted to his co-petitioners i.e. Amir Mateen, Khaleeq Kiyani, Shaukat Paracha and Javed Chaudhry. So, on February 14, Sher Afzal wrote a letter to information ministry recommending allotment to rest of the petitioners in the same petition on the basis of which Rauf was recommended for a plot.Rauf Klasra in his column published in Daily Jang Islamabad Edition May 28th 2009 http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-sher-afzal-column.pdf wrote that it was Sher Afzal’s interpretation that he and his co-petitioners could be given plots.

This could mean only two things: either Rauf Klasra and Sher Afzal were being economical with the truth (lying through their teeth) or were exceedingly naïve (and bhola). The reality is, there were a total of 6 petitions who were taken care of through the same order. A petition No 2149 filed by seven journalists were decided before Rauf’s petition with the same order. It is mentioned in the court orders of Rauf’s petition that his petition is being disposed off on the grounds as were given in the decision of petition No 2149.

This is indeed a great mystery. We suspect Mr. Klasra will soon come up with a ‘filmi’ column, beginning with some anecdote, a chance meeting with some politician, whose integrity stands naked and exposed after Mr. Rauf Klasra, the murderously honest journalist, dissects the said politician’s life with his mighty pen.

Perhaps Mr. Klasra, instead of writing one of his Lollywood columns, should answer honestly to straight questions like this: Why was Rauf Klasra, the extremely honest journalist, the only one to be rewarded? Other journalists who had moved the original petition before Klasra, and had gotten the same judgment as Klasra, were not allotted the plots. Why was Sher Afzal’s “interpretation” only applicable to Klasra, the viciously and brutally honest journalist, and not to other petitioner journalists?

The point to be noticed here is that according to legal experts, even if LHC would have given its judgment in favor of petitioner journalists (which it did not), the following would have been necessary:

a. They could be given plots only when some new sector of FGEHF opened and in accordance with the policy and quota as would be defined for the new sector. In case of sector G-14, 3 % quota was fixed for journalists. According to reports three new sectors would soon be opened by CDA and FGEHF.

b. In this case plots were created in G-14 by elimination of green belts and children’s parks. Now according to legal experts, even if these plots were created, the FGEHF and Information Ministry were supposed to properly announce it and allot plots in accordance with the seniority-based waiting list. According to the waiting list, Rauf Klasra, falling in category-II had a seniority number of 29, Amir Mateen, in category-II was on seniority number 14, Khaleeq Kiyani, in category-II was on seniority number 25, Shaukat Mehmood Paracha in category-III was on seniority number 18, and Javed Chaudhry in category-II was on seniority number 18. So, even if allotments had to be made, they should have been made according to the seniority numbers. But the way it actually happened, Rauf Klasra and others usurped the rights of senior journalists who, according to the seniority list, had a better claim.

c. The technical grounds on which these journalists challenged the court judgment was that the original 3% plot allotment had unfairly favored print media journalists from government corporations (PTV, APP), and these five journalists, being primarily in the print-media, had been discriminated against. The court, however, DISMISSED this petition. It never directed the FGEHF to allot plots to these journalists, and that too by violating the seniority list.

___________________

Flats and Houses in Islamabad

1- Rauf Klasra’s wife Shahwar Faryal, now APS to Chairman Senate (BPS-17) had been allotted Quarter No. 10-C, Block-72, Gulshan-e-Jinnah, F-5/1 some eight years back when she was a contract employee in some other government organization [Download Allotment Letter PDF 0.5MB]. Since the current government took office, she has been allotted a G-Type house, which is meant only for grade-19 government employees, in sector G-6/3 (House-103-G, F-6/3) in violation of all rules and regulations http://vid09.pkpolitics.com/files/kalasra-wife-allotment.jpg

2- Later on, this G-Type house was alloted to some other officer and Klasra’s wife was instead allotted House # 6, Street # 9, F-6/3. This was an I-Type government house and was in use of Dr. Zawar Zaidi, who was chairman Pakistan Papers. I-Type houses are only for federal secretaries and additional secretaries level officers in either grade-21 or 22. The house was forcibly vacated from Dr. Zaidi and subsequently, the 81 year old Dr Zaidi, who had to leave for Lahore in shock and disbelief, died after three months. This house was allotted to Klasra’s wife, Shahwar Faryal, but was vacated when the issue of illegal and non-entitled allotment was taken up by the media and comprehensively discussed in famous AAJ TV program Bolta Pakistan by Mushtaq Minhas and Nusrat Javed of 15th December 2008. After Aaj TV highlighted this scam, within one night the house was allotted to the wife of another influential journalist Saleh Zafir of Jang Group (by coincidence ???) and Shahwar Faryal was allotted yet another government house. For all these allotments, the Prime Minister Secretariat wrote three different letters letters to the housing ministry, two of them bearing signatures of Nargis Sethi, present acting principal secretary to the Prime Minister.

Daily Times Monitor

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

LAHORE: Quaid-e-Azam Papers Project chief Dr Zawar Hussain Zaidi passed away in Lahore of a cardiac arrest on Tuesday, a private TV channel reported.

According to the channel, 81-year-old Zawar was also the chairman of the Quaid-e-Azam Academy. He authored 20 books; 13 in English; six in Urdu; and one in Persian; on the Quaid’s sayings. The channel said his funeral would be held at 4pm today (Wednesday) in Model Town. He was an excellent teacher and research scholar. He also served as the History Department head in the FC College.

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed their grief on his demise and termed it an irreparable loss for the country.

3- The original home allotted to Shahwar Faryal (No. 10-C, Block-72, Gulshan-e-Jinnah, F-5/1) was not given to anyone else but was immediately and coincidentally allotted to “Khyzer Klasra”, younger brother of Rauf Klasra.

It is important to mention here that these government flats at prime locations of Gulshan-e-Jinnah (next to Marriott Islamabad) have been given to journalists on throw-away prices (RS 4000 to RS 4500 per month) because of their influence and without any entitlement. The government needs to get these houses evacuated to allot them to deserving government employees due to a shortfall of residential facilities in the capital. As it is, the government has to pay large amounts as house rent from the public exchequer to thousands of government employees.

If this wasn’t enough, some more lifafa journalists have managed to allot themselves these prime location houses in addition to the almost free-of-cost flats in their wives’ names. This subterfuge of using their wives’ names for cheap rental flats is employed to hide their identities as journalists after their activities have been probed and brought to light by the media. Recently, a Senate committee has also taken notice of these allotments to journalists and other influential people who are not entitled to such flats/houses. Names of these journalists will be revealed in coming stories on PKPolitics.

4- Rauf Klasra has also got some rooms and family suite in his possession in the federal government lodges. One of the Federal Lodges family suites is “Family Suite # 17, Federal Lodges # 1”, and has been allotted in the name of Samia Naureen, who is a close relative of Rauf Klasra, however, the actual allottee didn’t live there and it is in use of Klasra and his guests according to the staff looking after these government residences.

Interestingly, one of the senior government officers was allotted the same family suite in the Federal lodge, but to his shock, he was denied entry to the property by the staff and was told to talk to Rauf Klasra instead.

Knowing Klasra’s reputation for blackmail and revenge, the officer silently backed off and asked the security staff never to mention his name to Klasra. This shows the troubling emergence of a small clique of journalists, acting as a feudal mafia, peddling influence and patronage through selling their ethics for land, flats and houses.

Sources in the National Assembly (NA) secretariat also reveal that Rauf Klasra, the allotment Magarmach, has taken control of yet another lodge in the old assembly lodges and is not willing to vacate the premises despite repeated requests from the NA secretariat.

“Opinions expressed in these comments are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of “The Current Affairs Information Center. http://thecurrentaffairs.com/

“UNQUOTE”

MORE ON KAMRAN KHAN – Kamran Khan is, was and will be the agent of agencies. He trapped Murtaza Bhutto on the orders of Brigadier Imtiaz and pursued Murtaza Bhutto to return to Pakistan [Benazir wasn’t in favour of Late. Murtaza’s immediate return]

Read Kamran Khan’s history:

Nawaz Sharif, Kamran Khan & National Interest

http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/nawaz-sharif-kamran-khan-national-interest/#

GEO TV, Kamran Khan and Yellow Journalism – 1

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/03/geo-tv-kamran-khan-and-yellow.html

GEO TV, Kamran Khan and Yellow Journalism – 2

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/03/geo-tv-kamran-khan-and-yellow_19.html

GEO TV, Kamran Khan and Yellow Journalism – 3

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/03/geo-tv-kamran-khan-and-yellow_6719.html

GEO TV, Kamran Khan and Yellow Journalism – 4

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/03/geo-tv-kamran-khan-and-yellow_6556.html

Intelligence Unit of News International and its background

Nawaz Sharif, GEO TV and Jang Group of Newspapers

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/12/nawaz-sharif-geo-tv-and-jang-group-of.html

BACKGROUND OF CORRUPTION STORIES

NOTE: On August 9, 1990, another one of the country’s short-lived experiments with democracy came to an end. While “The Empire Strikes Back” published in the August 1990 issue of the Herald describes the events that took place on the day of Benazir Bhutto’s ouster, “The Invisible War (See Herald Monthly Issue of January 2008, page 87), printed in the same issue, provides an analysis of the factors that led to the sacking of her government. [Courtesy Monthly Herald Pakistan January 2008, page 84-85-86]

The Invisible War by Abbas Nasir [Monthly Herald January 2008]

Read complete article:

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/11/after-benazir-bhuttos-death-11.html

Dear Shakib Sahab,

I also respect their right to disagree but lately they have become holier than thou. On one hand Shaheen Sehabi says that Brigadier Imtiaz is a creation of President House Cell whereas two of his subordinate reporters Rauf and Ansar and Salim Safi have re-introduced him to the world.??? Who is lying and where is that Secret Cell??? Is it in Presidency or Jang Group.

@Sakib Ahmad

Human Memory is weak and when one is prejudiced then it is more detrimental and that is the case of Mr. Kamran Khan, Senior Correspondent Jang Group of Newspapers/The News International and GEO TV [Judge, Jury & Executioner]. Read contradictions in Mr Kamran Khan Reports wherein in one report he takes credit that Late. Benazir Bhutto praised his “Reporting”, in another report he condemns Zardari whereas in his own report he filed in the year 2000 he completely forgets the “Role of Zardari in Submarine Case”. Read and Enjoy Mr Kamran Khan’s “Excellent Investigative Report” which he filed in The News International/Jang in the year 2000.
Kamran Khan, French Submarine Deal & NAB under Army.
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/01/kamran-khan-french-submarine-deal-nab.html

Now read as to how Kamran Khan with malafide intent involves Pakistan Army/ISI with Militants while giving an Interview to FRONTLINE PBS an American Public Affairs News Organization.

What was [Abu Zubaydah] doing in Faisalabad?

He was just hiding there. They were having a very low profile there. They didn’t have weapons, a lot of weapons, with them. They why they wanted to just stay cool there and waiting for their chance to react. …

They’ve also come to Karachi, and we had an event here [on Sept. 11. 2002]. What happened?

There were many, many incidents there. The incident two days ago in Karachi, there was an information from neighborhood to the police that there are some suspicious people living here. Police did some reconnaissance, and then they went for a raid early morning Sept. 11. They faced fierce resistance from these guys. They are all definite Al Qaedas in the sense that they are Tajiks and they are Central Asians and two Arabs and all.

The ISI is in the Binori Madrassa?

Yes, yes, yes. They know what’s going on there. But at the same time, you must understand that some of the key people are already with the ISI. I mean, they report back to the ISI. Maybe they are in the forefront of the anti-U.S. campaign or whatever–

So some of the Islamists are inside the ISI? And the ISI is looking–

And they report back to the ISI, yes, yes.

How does that work?

It works quite good, yes. I think that they have a very reliable penetration source of information. The bottom line here is that, “Look. Whatever you are doing, whatever you do, we understand. But mind you, we cannot afford to harbor Arabs here. We cannot afford to harbor non-Pakistanis here. So please, please cooperate with us on that count.” There is a very deep connections between the religious madrassas, and the key religious scholars, and the establishment. …

Doesn’t President Musharraf need the Islamists in order to prosecute the Indians? Doesn’t he need them to keep pressure on the Indians in Kashmir?

Absolutely.

So he can’t offend these groups that are akin to Al Qaeda in their sympathies?

By all means. … It’s also because there are 50,000 strong, militant, armed people. That most of these people have deep connections with the establishment, with the security–

Security — ISI?

–operators of Pakistan, the security operators, yes. The intelligence agencies. And they just can’t do things which may provoke them, and which may create an internal rebellion of sorts. Not only that. Of course, these people have devoted themselves to jihad in India, at least, to jihad in Kashmir. …

A lot of Pakistani security people say that no country has such a tremendous fifth column. You have 50,000 armed people who are ready to give their lives without asking for any favor or anything. These motivated people are an asset for any country with such a massive, such a big enemy. And with such a major problem boiling there. Of course, yes.

So can Americans trust Musharraf to crack down on his own people to rat out terrorists in Pakistan?

I don’t know, because my perception is the Americans are basically interested in Al Qaeda — people who were in Afghanistan, who have an anti-West, anti-America agenda. I’m not sure if the U.S. is really terribly interested about the people who were fighting in Kashmir. …

IN SEARCH OF AL-QAEDA -INTERVIEW KAMRAN KHAN

URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/search/interviews/khan.html

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/01/kamran-khan-jang-groups-malicious.html

@Sakib Ahmad

I have tried to reply but my replies are stuck on this site’s spam program. You may agree with Mr Rauf’s Article because it is his opinion and by the way he was planning to take legal action against that site above so where is the Legal Notice or any clarification in Newspaper. These reporters instead are of those kind who enjoy the “Limited Press Freedom” given to them by their owners. Ask any other reporter about the Freedom of Expression within their own Newspaper.

Reality of Hamid Mir is as under:

Hamid Mir Calamity & Geo TV.
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/12/hamid-mir-calamity-geo-tv.html

Military Dictators particularly in Pakistan always survive through exploiting imaginary and concocted fears. General Zia ul Haq had survived by exploiting the fear “Islam is in Danger” and Maudoodi’s Jamat-e-Islami and other Deobandi-Wahabi-Barelvi Mullahs helped General Zia in his every dirty effort to exploit Islam for the sake of perpetuating his Ruthless Rule to achieve a bigger goal for the Americans that was routing Communist USSR in Afghanistan once and for all. The day the Communists left Afghanistan General Zia and lackeys in Religious Mafia of Afghanistan and Pakistan lost all viability in the eyes of US Military Industrial Complex and came ‘Divine Intervention’ of 17 August 1988. Now almost after 16 years the Pakistan is again under the Military Dictatorship courtesy USA and again imaginary Fear and Terror threat from so-called Al-Qaeda. Musharraf had said somewhere between 12 October 1999 to 2005 that Pakistan was about to be declared ‘Terrorist Rogue State’ and allegations were all over the place that Pakistan is not a responsible state and believed to be involved in Nuclear Proliferation to other Rogue States around the world. Whereas such rogue States like Iraq and Iran amongst those nations who received Weapons from USA in their time of ‘distress’ Iraq {during Iran-Iraq War from USA, Europe and Saudi Arabia} and Iran {during the same war from USA remember Iran-Contra Affair}.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed [Former Federal Information Minister and Ex Federal Minister for Railway under General Musharraf’s Martial Law Regime]

In 2005 the then Pakistan’s Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid had said in an interview that;

“Pakistan: Khan Gave Nuke Material to Iran Thursday, March 10, 2005

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149995,00.html

“Dr. Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran,” the minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “He helped Iran in his personal capacity, and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it.”

In a seminar arranged by Mir Khalil ur Rehman, the federal Information Minister Sh. Rasheed said:

Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed says that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, disgraced scientist dubbed the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, provided Iran with centrifuges that can be used to purify uranium for nuclear weapons.

In the same seminar the Minister said Qadeer did this without the involvement of Pakistani govt, means govt. is not involved but Qadeer did on his own. Isn’t it strange after all Nations top scientist is always under tight security. Who is Rasheed trying to fool or save? Is this technology like a peanut, which you can sell anywhere you want. If the govt. doesnot know about this then these Security Agencies in Pakistan must be taken to task for the security lapse. These Security Agencies never fail to break any elected popular government through cloak and dagger, yes they never failed in doing so since the ‘death’ of General Ziaul Haq through a divine intervention. Since 1990 till 12 Oct 1999, these very Security Agencies conspired against every Civilian Government of Pakistan elected by the people but it is amazing the real job which they were responsible for was not done et all. I am not buying the Ranting of Sheikh Rasheed.

A very senior journalist from Karachi, Late. Mr. Shabbir Durrani , had once said to me; “do whatever you want but don’t ever try to work with Jang Groups of Newspapers, Pakistan {Owners of GEO TV and The News International}”, he had further advised that it would be much better for you to do labour at dockyards as Jang Groups and their Executives are worse than [no offence to Jews and Hindus] Shylocks {more crudely Baniya (Hindu) Money Lenders}. That was his statement about Daily Jang and their owners, the sad thing is that Daily Dawn {sometimes} and its management is not far behind in this dirty game. Daily Dawn Pakistan which otherwise is least sensational and scandalous but sometime plays to the tunes of Vested Interests even without checking the credentials of the Journalists filing the story. In November 2001 a reporter cum analyst cum biographer i.e. Mr Hamid Mir {Now in GEO TV of Jang Group of Newspapers Pakistan} filed a story in Daily Dawn that “Osama Bin Laden said he had nuclear and chemical weapons and was ready to use them” [For complete story click the links below]. The most pathetic thing is that nowadays nobody questions the story, you can file anything you like anywhere.

People have short memory because after 4 years in the same Daily Dawn one of the most serious and senior journalist and that too amongst the senior editors Ms. Zubeida Mustafa opined in her columns that “Stephen Hess and Marvin Kalb write in their book The Media and the War on Terrorism about the “CNN effect” (a term now applied for all television channels), “In 1992, President George H.W. Bush saw television images of starving children in Somalia and he felt obliged to send US troops there to distribute food.”

They add, “Less than a year, later President Bill Clinton saw television images of Somali fighters dragging the desecrated body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu and he felt obliged to withdraw the troops.” She further wrotes, “With more serious implications has been the media’s propensity to project an image which may actually misrepresent the truth. The images could be positive or negative, but not accurate.” Since there is no professional check – an editor for websites, a code of ethics for television and radio – just about anyone can acquire a medium and put anything up there. All the information so released becomes an article of faith because it has been well presented and is believed by the gullible reader/viewer/listener.” I wonder was there any professional check on Mr. Hamid Mir (now in GEO TV) when he filed that story in one of the most ‘prestigious’ newspaper of the country and shamelessly the editorial executives are now advising all and sundry to check and cross check before filing any story. Did they ask from that reporter that Atomic/Nuclear devices are not that kind of devices, which can be carried away easily like .22 caliber pistol? Yet they published Hamid Mir’s story as headline in Daily Dawn as a gospel truth.

It’s a separate debate whether Al-Qaeda/Taliban was involved in 9/11 or not but still after thoroughly bombed and destroyed Afghanistan, the most high tech US Intelligence apparatus couldn’t ‘succeed’ in nabbing the Bearded Bandits i.e. Osama, Zawahiri and Omar {seems to be the disciples of Hassan Bin Sabbah of Nazari Community of Qila Al Amut, Khorasan} but isn’t it strange that these wanted persons are being sought after by CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI etc.etc. but a petty reporter of Pakistan not only knows where he was right after 9/11 and that was not the end, the reporter also declared himself as an un-official biographer of Osama Bin Laden.

Mr Hamid Mir, Geo TV Host/The News International Correspondent

Osama claims he has nukes: If US uses N-arms it will get same response By Hamid Mir

November 10, 2001 Saturday Shaba’an 23, 1422

http://www.dawn.com/2001/11/10/top1.htm

KABUL, Nov 9: Osama bin Laden has said that “we have chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent and if America used them against us we reserve the right to use them”.

He said this in a special interview with Hamid Mir, the editor of Ausaf, for Dawn and Ausaf, at an undisclosed location near Kabul.

This was the first interview given by Osama to any journalist after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

The correspondent was taken blindfolded in a jeep from Kabul on the night of Nov 7 to a place where it was extremely cold and one could hear the sound of anti-aircraft guns firing away. After a wait of some time , Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and Dr Ayman Al-Zuwahiri and answered questions.

Hamid Mir: After American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told the Al-Jazeera TV that the Sept 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were Muslims ?

Osama bin Laden: The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the Sept 11 attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers.Fateha was held for them in their homes. But America said they were hijackers.

HM: In your statement of Oct 7, you expressed satisfaction over the Sept 11 attacks, although a large number of innocent people perished in them, hundreds among them were Muslims. Can you justify the killing of innocent men in the light of Islamic teachings ?

OBL: This is a major point in jurisprudence. In my view, if an enemy occupies a Muslim territory and uses common people as human shield, then it is permitted to attack that enemy. For instance, if bandits barge into a home and hold a child hostage, then the child’s father can attack the bandits and in that attack even the child may get hurt.

America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechenya, Kashmir and Iraq. The Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. The Islamic Shariat says Muslims should not live in the land of the infidel for long. The Sept 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America’s icons of military and economic power.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was against killing women and children. When he saw a dead woman during a war, he asked why was she killed ? If a child is above 13 and wields a weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him.

The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their government, they elect their president, their government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them to massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims. The entire America, because they elect the Congress.

I ask the American people to force their government to give up anti-Muslim policies. The American people had risen against their government’s war in Vietnam. They must do the same today. The American people should stop the massacre of Muslims by their government.

HM: Can it be said that you are against the American government, not the American people ?

OSB: Yes! We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). The mission is to spread the word of God, not to indulge massacring people. We ourselves are the target of killings, destruction and atrocities. We are only defending ourselves. This is defensive Jihad. We want to defend our people and our land. That is why I say that if we don’t get security, the Americans, too would not get security.

This is a simple formula that even an American child can understand. This is the formula of live and let live.

HM: The head of Egypt’s Jamia Al-Azhar has issued a fatwa (edict) against you, saying that the views and beliefs of Osama bin Laden have nothing to do with Islam. What do you have to say about that ?

OSB: The fatwa of any official Aalim has no value for me. History is full of such Ulema who justify Riba, who justify the occupation of Palestine by the Jews, who justify the presence of American troops around Harmain Sharifain. These people support the infidels for their personal gain.The true Ulema support the Jihad against America. Tell me if Indian forces invaded Pakistan what would you do? The Israeli forces occupy our land and the American troops are on our territory. We have no other option but to launch Jihad.

HM: Some Western media claim that you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. How much truth is there in such reports?

OSB: I heard the speech of American President Bush yesterday (Oct 7). He was scaring the European countries that Osama wanted to attack with weapons of mass destruction. I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.

HM: Where did you get these weapons from ?

OSB: Go to the next question.

HM: Demonstrations are being held in many European countries against American attacks on Afghanistan. Thousands of the protesters were non-Muslims. What is your opinion about those non-Muslim protesters ?

OSB: There are many innocent and good-hearted people in the West. American media instigates them against Muslims. However, some good-hearted people are protesting against American attacks because human nature abhors injustice.

The Muslims were massacred under the UN patronage in Bosnia. I am ware that some officers of the State Department had resigned in protest. Many years ago the US ambassador in Egypt had resigned in protest against the policies of President Jimmy Carter. Nice and civilized are everywhere. The Jewish lobby has taken America and the West hostage.

HM: Some people say that war is no solution to any issue. Do you think that some political formula could be found to stop the present war ?

OSB: You should put this question to those who have started this war. We are only defending ourselves.

HM: If America got out of Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque was liberated, would you then present yourself for trial in some Muslim country ?

OSB: Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan follows the English law. I don’t consider Saudi Arabia an Islamic country. If the Americans have charges against me, we too have a charge sheet against them.

HM: Pakistan government decided to cooperate with America after Sept 11, which you don’t consider right. What do you think Pakistan should have done but to cooperate with America ?

OSB: The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view. It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on the basis of those surmises.

HM: Had America decided to attack Pakistan with the help of India and Israel, what would have we done ?

OSB: What has America achieved by attacking Afghanistan ? We will not leave the Pakistani people and the Pakistani territory at anybody’s mercy.

We will defend Pakistan. But we have been disappointed by Gen Pervez Musharraf. He says that the majority is with him. I say the majority is against him.

Bush has used the word crusade. This is a crusade declared by Bush. It is no wisdom to barter off blood of Afghan brethren to improve Pakistan’s economy. He will be punished by the Pakistani people and Allah.

Right now a great war of Islamic history is being fought in Afghanistan. All the big powers are united against Muslims. It is ‘ sawab ‘ to participate in this war.

HM: A French newspaper has claimed that you had kidney problem and had secretly gone to Dubai for treatment last year. Is that correct ?

OSB: My kidneys are all right. I did not go to Dubai last year. One British newspaper has published an imaginary interview with Islamabad dateline with one of my sons who lives in Saudi Arabia. All this is false.

HM: Is it correct that a daughter of Mulla Omar is your wife or your daughter is Mulla Omar’s wife ?

OSB: (Laughs). All my wives are Arabs ( and all my daughters are married to Arab Mujahideen). I have spiritual relationship with Mulla Omar. He is a great and brave Muslim of this age. He does not fear anyone but Allah. He is not under any personal relationship or obligation to me. He is only discharging his religious duty. I, too, have not chosen this life out of any personal consideration.

Notes:

The flip side of information By Zubeida Mustafa

http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/16/op.htm#2

Seven years ago Mr Shaheen Sehbai was also quoted in The New York Times as well his Editor in Chief i.e. Mir Shakil ur Rehman, and do note what Mir Shakil ur Rehman had to say about the Patriotism and Loyalty of Shaheen Sehbai with Pakistan. Should we believe Mr Shaheen Sehbai or his Editor in Chief Mir Shakil ur Rahman’s Letter Addressed to Mr Shaheen Sehbai asking for his resign on filing Concocted Stories in The News International that ANTI-PAKISTAN ARMY/ISI Story [Kamran and Shaheen involved Pakistan Army in Daniel Murder] on Daniel Pearl went very well in Times of India [story was filed by Kamran Khan in Washington Post, The News and Jang with the consent of Shaheen Sehbai], read the background. Shaheen Sehbai VS Mir Shakil ur Rahman on Daniel Pearl. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/11/shaheen-sehbai-vs-mir-shakil-ur-rehman.html
Credibility of Shaheen Sehbai, Mir Shakil ur Rahman and Jang Group of Newspapers. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/11/credibility-of-shaheen-sehbai-mir.html

@Sakib Ahmad

Dear Shakib Sahab,

Shaheen Sehbai had written this in 2000.

Every one in the present morally, intellectually and financially depleted Pakistan –the print media and its well-entrenched “gurus” among the foremost — is shouting from the roof top for accountability of every one else.Yet no one has seriously demanded, nor does any one appear to be contemplating, any accountability of the media itself. [Shaheen Sehbai in 2000] Shaheen Sehabi on the Accountability of Media/Press.
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/10/shaheen-sehabi-on-accountability-of.html

Group Editor of The News International, Mr Shaheen Sehbai [Founding Editor/Owner of South Asia Tribune – USA]Shaheen Sehbai is allegedly famous for investigative reporting and his anti government stance had once joined ARY TV Channel where he had taken over from another fraud Dr Shahid Masood as the Director Of ARY. Shaheen Sehabi, Jang Group & Definition of National Interest.

Spin doctors Ardeshir Cowasjee Week Ending : 20 September 1997 Issue : 03/38

http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1997/20Sep97.html#spin

A SPIN doctor, in the language of the lexicon: “A senior political
spokesperson employed to promote a favourable interpretation of events” to
the press and to the people. He is a politician’s flak. Not an easy job, as
he has to be endowed with a highly retentive memory and the capacity to lie
consistently and unashamedly whilst keeping a straight face.

In the foreground during the past decade have been our two spinners,
Mushahid Hussain and Hussain Haqqani. In the beginning, Mushahid was
ostensibly batting for the opponents as the editor of The Muslim whilst
Hussain was spinning in the Zia-Nawaz team.

Hussain Haqqani was born in Karachi on October 1, 1956. He did his Masters
in international relations from Karachi University, obtaining a first-class
first in 1980. He was the elected president of the students’ union and one
of his contemporaries at KU was Altaf Bhai now of London town. From 1980 to
1984 he was based in Hong Kong as a correspondent for the Far Eastern
Economic Review and Arabia – The Islamic World Review, and later returned
to Pakistan doing the same job.

In 1988, he became Punjab Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif’s spin doctor, with
the rank of a provincial minister, a flag-flyer, spinning against Benazir
and her government. In 1989 he was sent to Karachi to negotiate with Altaf
Bhai on behalf of Nawaz Sharif who was getting ready to move to Islamabad.
When Jatoi became caretaker PM, Hussain Haqqani was appointed his press
adviser and when Nawaz Sharif took over, he went to him in the same
position. In 1992, when Nawaz Sharif decided to get rid of him (for
whatever reasons) rather than sacking him, he prudently appointed him our
high commissioner to Sri Lanka, from which post he resigned when Nawaz
Sharif’s government was dismissed.

Benazir Bhutto, on taking over in 1993, realized that Hussain’s services
might help her on her way and took him on as her press adviser. In July
1994 she made him information secretary, in which post he remained until
June 1995, when Benazir Bhutto decided that it was time for him to go.
Prudence again was exercised, and he was ‘expelled’ to Karachi to head the
HBFC. Again, when Benazir Bhutto was sacked for the second time, he resigned.

Shrewd and clever as he is, Haqqani knows what the three young self-serving
leaders (now monopolizing the political scene in this unfortunate country)
do not know. He has taught himself much, continues to teach himself, has
read more than the three have, continues to read, and is amusing company.

Is this genuine? I asked him the last time he came calling, handing him a
photocopy of a page with a remark scrawled upon it by Benazir Bhutto. In
February 1995, Haqqani managed to get CNN Delhi correspondent Ashish Ray to
agree to interview his prime minister and show her on the screen prior to
her US visit, and had accordingly addressed a note on the subject to her.

Benazir Bhutto’s reaction: “The last time H.H. asked me to give Ashish Ray
an interview it was a disaster. He was an Indian and kept asking /
provoking and gave a v. nasty report. Ask for all questions on record and
arrange to switch off the electricity plug if they ask any beyond the
approved questions – or any other remedial method. I don’t want to repeat
past experience so the interview should be sorted out properly.”

Hussain Haqqani looked at it, and put on his spin doctor smile which
indicated the affirmative. With sadness, he said that neither Nawaz Sharif
nor Benazir Bhutto are ever receptive to advice.

Was it worth doing what you did, all the bowing and scraping, I asked him,
showing him a copy of another letter, this time from the PM’s principal
secretary, Ahmed Sadik, to federal secretary Haqqani: “It has been observed
that you were not in office between 09.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. today when
the Prime Minister had wanted to talk to you. The office hours being 09.00
a.m. to 05.00 p.m. you may like to explain the reasons for your absence
from office for a whole hour and that too without having indicated your
whereabouts. You are also advised to ensure your availability in office in
future and avoid recurrence of such a situation.”

There are times in one’s life, he replied, when one has to suffer fools
gladly, as you must have done on many an occasion.

I then produced a copy of a note dated January 26, 1994, from the
information ministry’s file advising that a sum of Rs 5 million had been
“paid to the Frontier Post as per instructions given by Mr Asif Ali Zardari
in the presence of PIO and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.” This
amount came from the Special Service Expenses Account. From the same
account, nine payments between February and December 1994 of varying
amounts totalling Rs 4.9 million were made to Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain of
the publications Facts and Siasi Log of Lahore.

How does one justify this disbursement of Rs 10 million of public funds to
publications for their support for the party in power? I asked Haqqani. It
is just a matter of following instructions, he told me. Such payments have
been made since the days of Ayub Khan and Altaf Gauhar. Obviously, in
Haqqani’s book many wrongs make a right. But he rightly countered, if
people do not object to the way their money is squandered why should the
callous all-powerful bother?

Benazir Bhutto’s information minister Khalid Ahmad Kharal was paid from the
same account a total of Rs 2.2 million in eleven payments between April
1994 and September 1995. Then from October 1995 to October 1996, he was
paid a monthly sum of Rs 50,000. In between, in August 1996, he was given
Rs 78,000 (USD 2,000) for “special external publicity purposes,” making a
grand total of some Rs 3 million. What did he do with it? He has not
accounted for it.

The same goes for Zia Khokhar of the PM’s secretariat who was handed out
sums totalling Rs 780,000.

As for the ministry’s Special Service Expenses (SSE) and Special Publicity
Fund (SPF), these are disbursed according to the secret service funds rules
under which the interior ministry operates, in the supreme national
interest, to pay off spies, spooks, informers, toadies, etc. The givers
give and the receivers receive without having to render any explanation. In
the case of this redundant ministry of information, a receipt of sorts is
given.

For instance, Kharal was required, as “the undersigned”, to put his
signature to: “This is to certify that Rs. (amount) from S.S.E. Account
drawn on (date) were spent in the public interest under directions of the
undersigned.”

Millions of rupees have been spent over the years by this redundant
ministry from these special secret SSE and SPF accounts. Random examples:
August 10, 1992, cheque no. 280657 for Rs 500,000 issued to “PIO PID loan
for Independence Day celebrations” (Nawaz); November 14, 1992, for “Special
Publicity Programme of the Prime Minister,” cheque no. 280659 for Rs
200,000 (Nawaz); May 31, 1993, Abdul Khaliq of NNI was paid Rs 200,000 by
cheque no. 280665 (Nawaz); June 17, 1993, cheque no. 280666 for Rs 270,000
was “paid to PIO PID” (Nawaz); on September 23, 1993, cheque no. 280671 in
the amount of Rs 768,750 was issued to Tayab Automobiles, Karachi (Moeen
Qureshi); and on August 1, 1994, Honda Atlas, Lahore, received cheque no.
543102 for Rs 664,700 (Benazir). Between November 1994 and March 1995,
Worldwide Media Communications was paid Rs 1.35 million in connection with
Benazir Bhutto’s visit to the US. On June 29, 1996, a cash payment of Rs
600,000 was made to an unnamed person for “entertainment to journalists.”
(Benazir). What sort of entertainment? we ask.

All that each secretary of the information ministry is required to do is to
list all such payments and certify at the end of his term: “I declare that
the interests of the public service required that the above payments should
be made out of Special Grant, and that they were properly made.”
Apparently, the secretaries feel that the longevity of the party in power
is synonymous with the interests of the state.

Now, clever Mushahid Hussain is flying the flag and moves around with a
posse of twelve. He, too, no doubt in “the interests of the public
service”, will spend our money to keep Nawaz Sharif and his Chaudhrys
healthy, wealthy, and wise. Such ministries in the West went out with
Hitler’s Third Reich. It is time we eliminated ours.

Weavers of lies Ardeshir Cowasjee http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1999/03jul99.html#weav

THE profession of weavers of facts into fiction, and fiction into
facts, gained prominence in this country in the good old days of
Ayub Khan, back in the ’60s.

To emphasize their super-loyalty to their masters they adopted
stereotype measures such as the nationalization of newspapers,
promulgation of oppressive ordinances, imposition of black laws,
planting of informers in press offices, retaining columnists and
letters-to-the-editor-writers (the count today is 80), purchasing
journalists (commonly known as ‘lifafas’), purchasing editors and

thus control of a publication. The unpurchasable are harassed and
persecuted in various ways, one favourite being the filing of false
cases against them. In Punjab the current saying is ‘Kharido nahi
to kaso’ (if you cannot buy, beat). Recommended reading for those
interested is Zamir Niazi’s trilogy : ‘The Press in Chains,’ ‘The
Press Under Siege,’ ‘The Web of Censorship.’ What he has recorded
has never been contradicted.

The maximum harm done by our weavers of lies is the bolstering of
our leaders’ euphoria by convincing them that they are the be-all
and end-all, the state embodied. They encourage these megalomaniacs
to destroy, to rob, even to maim and murder.

Our roll of honour of notable weavers includes, but is not limited
to, Altaf Gauhar (Ayub), Maulana Kausar Niazi and Nasim Ahmed
(Bhutto) Lieutenant-General Mujibur Rahman (Zia), Husain Haqqani
(Nawaz I and Benazir II), and now Mushahid Hussain.

Altaf, a civil servant, in the service of Ayub Khan, dealt with his
master’s challenger, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, so nastily that one of
the first things that Bhutto did when he managed to grab power was
to arrest Altaf on the charge of possessing an old copy of
‘Playboy,’ a forged passport, and half a bottle of whisky. He was
unduly harassed for months on end.

The Maulana was used by Bhutto to appease and pacify his brethren,
the maulanas and maulvis. He bought and sold. He was most useful
when the Arab Sheikhs visited. He made their stays comfortable,
provided them with the recreation they sought, and conversed with
them in their own language. Maulana Sahib was a relatively poor man
when he joined Zulfikar, but when he left office he had managed to
amass a small fortune.

Nasim Ahmed was a proficient flatterer, good at buttering up those
that needed verbal buttering. He also constantly sought
approbation. On one of my Islamabad visits, he invited me to a
party he hosted in honour of local, foreign, and visiting
journalists. Taking me aside, he asked how I thought he was doing,
how I rated his performance. Keeping a straight face, I told him he
was doing brilliantly. Happy to hear it, he beckoned some of those
around us to join us. Come and listen to this, he told them. This
man is no flatterer, hear what he has to say about me. And he
handed the floor to me.

Brilliant, yes, I said to Nasim. You have welded the nation into
one No one, just no one, believes one word uttered on PTV or on
Radio Pakistan, or printed in one of the government newspapers, or
uttered in public by Bhutto. Infuriated, he addressed me in Urdu. I
had no business to say what I had said in the presence of foreign
journalists. It was traitorous. I had ridiculed the state. Soon
after this incident I was arrested without any charge, sent to jail
for 72 days, and released still not knowing why I had been
arrested. There was some speculation by men who had been at Nasim’s
party that I had to be taught a lesson for my ‘traitorous’
utterances.

Mujibur Rahman was a good harasser of publications that displeased
his master Zia. ‘Musawat,’ the PPP mouthpiece, was his particular

target. He had 140 newspaper men arrested and jailed, including
Nisar Osmani and Mazhar Ali Khan. He also encouraged Zia to change
the penal code, making the writing of truth an offence.

After Zia’s heavenly flight, democracy was reborn in Pakistan and
we had Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif
alternating at the top, both adding to our woes. During Nawaz I and
Benazir II the most prominent weaver and damage-doer was Husain
Haqqani. From 1988 to 1990, Husain was Punjab Chief Minister Nawaz
Sharif’s special assistant, becoming his press assistant when Nawaz
became prime minister in 1990, until in 1992 he was sent off to Sri
Lanka as high commissioner. As soon as Nawaz was forced to step
down, Husain joined Benazir’s camp and from 1993 to 1994 was
Secretary to the ministry of information and broadcasting, until
Benazir also shunted him out to head the House Building Finance
Corporation.

Husain was born and schooled in Karachi, went to Karachi University
where he was a Jamaat student leader. He then became a professional
journalist and for some years was with the ‘Far Eastern Economic
Review,’ both in Hong Kong and here in Pakistan, until he was
picked up by Nawaz. After his experiences with both ‘leaders’ he
claims he is a chastened man, who has learnt a lot and who now
recognizes both as being marginally as bad as each other. He writes
columns for various newspapers, both in English and in Urdu and all
largely critical of this government. He has formed his own
political party, the Urban Democratic Front. He considers himself
capable, with the necessary help, of climbing up the greasy pole
and leading the 140 millions to glory.

Brittle and paranoiac as it is, this government for some mad reason
considers Haqqani to be a threat, possibly because it thinks he has
armed himself with copies of compromising documents picked up
during his days of officialdom. He is now tied to the rack. The
government has not denied that its dirty-tricks brigade kidnapped
him in the middle of the night, had him beaten up, kept in solitary
confinement, initially incommunicado, but now under judicial
custody in a safe house near the Rawal Lake. His cuts and bruises
have been brought on record, his bail applications have been
rejected. Ostensibly he has been charged with corruption,
embezzlement, and the squandering of government wealth. Could he
even remotely have squandered one-hundreth of what has been
squandered by Benazir or Nawaz?

Governments in our country are known to be vicious and Husain can
expect little help from our ‘independent judiciary,’ many members
of which are ignorant of the value and importance of liberty, of
the fact that a writ of habeas corpus cannot be rejected, and that
every man is due his rights. If there is an understanding judge
around, who has suo motu powers, he should help, give him bail and
get him out.

Mushahid Hussain claims to be a profoundly educated man, but his
association with Nawaz Sharif seems to have washed away all his
qualifications. He is responsible for Haqqani’s predicament and for

all the troubles faced by Najam Sethi. The government has also not
denied that Sethi was abducted in the middle of the night by its
dirty-tricks men, beaten up and kept in solitary confinement. He at
least has been released, without any charges having been made
against him as none could be proved. Now free, he has been banned
from leaving the country and is facing 28 income tax cases. The
systematic income-tax-cases harassment is a hangover from the
Bhutto days. Sethi would do well to refer to the White Papers
compiled by Burney, ‘Misuse of the Instruments of State Power’ and
‘Misuse of the Media.’ With this vicious government, Najam may
suffer. All we can do is to stand by him and help as much as we
can.

One of the worst mistakes cocky Mushahid has made is to have sought
to stand trial in the BBC televized court of ‘Hard Talk’. He cut a
sorry figure in front of his griller, Tim Sebastian, and managed to
successfully disgrace our nation. We have him on tape, and this is
one tape he will never be able to claim is doctored.

In the service of his master, he makes a pretence of believing what
the world does not believe about the present Kashmir situation. His
performance may have made us lose whatever residual sympathy we had
from a few quarters in the world. Mushahid further disgraced our
judiciary with the lies he told about the storming of the Supreme
Court. He told the world that the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Sajjad
Ali Shah, was not sacked by his government but by his fellow
judges. He omitted to say what the government’s role was in this
affair.

Having done such a tremendous job on ‘Hard Talk,’ we can only hope
and expect that in appreciation of his service to the nation, his
tool, the valiant PTV, will show to the people how well its wielder
performed.