We at LUBP condemn yet another targeted incitement of vigilante justice Jang Group’s Ahmed Noorani, a notorious journalist belonging to Ansar Abbasi gang and links close to banned organizations like Hizb ut Tahrir and Sipah Sahaba Pakistan against the Human Rights Watch Pakistan’s Director, Ali Dayan Hasan. In its “report” published in The News and Jang on 21st February, 2012, Ahmed Noorani has done his best to castigate Ali Dayan Hasan as nothing but an American agent because he works for a “US Planted NGO”.

Moreover after being unable to get the views of Ali Dayan Hasan, Ahmed Noorani has done what he does best: publish the personal telephone numbers of people in the newspaper which is nothing but a breach of trust and privacy of a person.

We feel bad for Ali Dayan and wonder how many threatening and harassing calls and SMS he may have received till now. In ssence, this boils down to unethical behavior on part of Ahmed Noorani in particular and shows the level of editorial oversight at Jang and The News.

Ali Dayan Hasan has been at the receiving end of harassment and taunts from various sources ever since he came out openly against the role of intelligence agencies in the murder of Saleem Shehzad.

On 31st December, 2011, HRW had issued a press release giving its context of being a “supporter of an independent judiciary in Pakistan and advocated for the restoration of the judiciary ousted by Musharraf in Pakistan and abroad“, but at the same time they expressed their “concern about the fear of judicial over-reach and unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of the legislature and the executive“.

Taking their press release forward, they commented on “memogate” that “All parties to the memogate affair must understand that a legal dispute cannot be made the vehicle for truncating parliamentary or presidential terms through the backdoor or as a mechanism for subverting civilian rule“.

The News in its editorial of the same date had expressed their astonishment at the comment of HRW and a harassment of Ali Dayan Hassan and castigation of HRW began ever since in The News and Jang.

LUBP had expressed solidarity with Ali Dayan Hasan in our post titled Jang Group must stop harassing Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch.

This report by Ahmed Noorani is damning towards the PPP government and not the Military and Intelligence Agencies on whose payroll or whose mouthpiece, he and his mentor are!

While it is sickening to read the report against Ali Dayan Hasan, we further express our support to him and all those who are trying to present the case of Balochistan internationally.

One must ask Jang Group that had you been doing your job of giving impartial reports on the situation in Balochistan, things wouldn’t have reached the international level. Don’t shoot the messenger, decipher the message that is being given!

HRW presented one-sided view on Balochistan to US panel

ISLAMABAD: Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director of a US NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW), was the only Pakistani who appeared as a witness on Balochistan issue during the illegal hearing of US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs and gave testimony against Pakistan by presenting wrong facts and figures.
Leading politicians from government and opposition parties have condemned in the strongest words the conspiracy of some Pakistanis to take the indigenous issue of Balochistan to the American government and US Congress Committee and have demanded strict legal actions against such elements. While the US is all out to balkanise Pakistan initially by supporting independence of Balochistan and by siding with the angry Baloch separatist elements, American planted NGOs and some so-called liberal elements are also all out to implement US agenda to destabilise Pakistan by disintegrating and isolating its social ranks.
All efforts of The News to reach Ali Dayan for his latest versions were failed. Ali Dayan was approached on his Pakistan cell number but it was switched off. There was information that Dayan is still in USA but he was also inaccessible on his US office number 00- 1-(212) 290-4700. Dayan didn’t take the call on his international cell number 00-44-798-333-5221.
Ali Dayan Hasan who recently attacked Pakistan’s superior judiciary for considering a case of alleged treason has started a full campaign to fuel more and more fire on the issue of Balochistan by holding security institutions as solely responsible for the whole crisis. Dayan is narrating a one-sided story before the whole world from the platform of HRW without describing the background of the issue. Dayan in his reports never described as to what the Baloch Sardars, who are now blowing fire against Pakistan’s institutions, have done for their people during their tenures as chief ministers and governors of the province. Cold blooded killings of the Balochs is undoubtedly a big national issue and there is great need of an immediate political solution of the whole situation but Dayan instead of trying to solve the problem is continuously fueling the crisis. Dayan’s reports have little mention of hundreds of killing of settlers in Balochistan whereas he used to glorify killings of Baloch people with the twist that all these were killed by security agencies. Dayan, in his reports never portrays the decades long infighting and quarrels between different Baloch tribes and Baloch Sardars.
While reports of killings of Baloch leaders, Hazara community members and settlers emanate from Balochistan on almost daily basis now, Dayan or his American HRW, interestingly never criticized the PPP’s government in the centre which has completely failed to initiate a political process to bring an end to the endangering crisis. PPP government’s all steps were with regard to pacifying Balochsitan and its development proved mere eyewash. Dayan, who is considered very close to the PPP government has never demanded PPP government to bring political solution for different Baloch disputes and has merely focused on American agenda of army bashing and to further disintegrate Pakistan’s society. Dayan never protested before the Pakistani parliament to press it to bring a political solution to Baloch crisis. Dayan, who claims to be one of the front-runner in lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judiciary never moved a Pakistani court to intervene in Baloch crisis to get some judgment against those who, according to Dayan, are responsible for violation of human rights in Balochistan.
A leading English newspaper questioned Dayan before the US Congress committee hearing that if committee asked him about breaking up of Pakistan and independence of Balochistan, what would be his reaction. They asked whether he would keep quiet. He said. “I have been told that I would only be providing a historical context-based presentation on Balochistan issues in Pakistan. I will therefore limit my comments to my area of expertise – Pakistan.”
After Dayan’s witness before the US Congress committee, Republican senator Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced a House Concurrent Resolution that the Baloch nation has a historic right to self-determination and thus the US should support Balochistan independence.
Wasim Sajjad, member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and a senior leader of ruling alliance party PML-Q while talking to The News said that it is the Interior Ministry which is solely responsible for immediately taking action against those NGOs or persons who are accepting dollars from the US and are pursuing their agenda on the lands of Pakistan and destabilizing Balochistan. Wasim showed his astonishment as to how some people who are Pakistani, living in Pakistan have taken the indigenous issue of Balochistan to US Congress Committee. He said that his committee could consider the issue and can summon such persons but it is the duty of the sitting government and especially the Interior Ministry to swiftly act against such elements who are destabilising Pakistan by presenting wrong picture of the Balochistan issue and have directly attacked the sovereignty of the country by seeking US intervention in Balochistan’s problems.
Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said that first of all issue of Balochistan will have to be analysed in its historical perspective by keeping in view the betrayal of state of its promises during Ayub Khan’s era, the military operations during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Musharraf’s regimes. “Undoubtedly, only army or the agencies currently operating in the province couldn’t be held solely responsible for the whole crisis and major share of responsibility lies with the politicians, especially those who are currently in power in Islamabad and Quetta, for their failure to bring a political solution during all these years,” Khawaja said. These Islamabad and Quetta rulers have willfully abandoned their role for the agencies and are squarely responsible for any wrong step or action taken by the agencies in Balochistan for the reason that primarily maintaining law and order and development in the deprived province is basic duty of these politically elected rulers. He said that he has no hope from the present rulers to bring about any change in the situation of the Balochistan and it is for all other political parties, especially PML-N, to work in the province to create harmony and try to persuade the Baloch people that their problems are genuine and people of all other provinces are with them to sort out their issues. Asif said that issue of Balochistan is a home grown problem and its solution could only be traced by living with in Pakistan and those who are vying for American intervention on the issue of Balochistan want to completely destabilise the country and will further deteriorate the whole situation. He said Balochistan is our issue and we will have to resolve it and those persuading the Americans to intervene are in fact enemies of Pakistan.
Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Federal Defence Minister while talking to The News said that the issue of Balochistan could only be resolved in Pakistan by Pakistanis. He said that seeking foreign intervention or taking the issue to the US government and US Congress is a step against the state. Mukhtar said that it is time for the nation to become united for resolution of the Baloch issue and the Parliamentary Committee on National Security should suggest as to how some action could be taken against those Pakistanis involved in breaching Pakistan’s sovereignty by taking issue of Balochistan to US.

Source: The News

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