In our childhood, whenever we told a lie and were caught, our elders gave us a piece of advice “Aik jhoot sabit karnay kay liye 100 jhoot bolnay partay hayn” or “To prove one lie, you need to tell 100 more lies”. Off course, how we act on this piece of advice depends on the circumstances, but it seems our media which is hell bent on creating storms in a teacup has already exceeded more than 100 lies. Jang Group’s fiction writer or Group Editor, Mr. Shaheen Sehbai and Apex Investigator or Editor Investigations, Ansar Abbasi are two such characters who come up with their stories every now and then with a view to taint and destabilize the political and civilian set up in the country. Both gentlemen are known for their hatred for the PPP which is very evident from what they write or what they say in various talk shows as “Intellectuals” or “Analysts”.

 

In  The News and Jang of March 5, 2012, Shaheen Sehbai and Ansar Abbasi have written two pieces which are based on yet another piece of fiction and skills of investigation and interpretation, which these two think they are masters of.

 

Shaheen Sehbai has written a piece called “A sinister plan that needs to be shot down” wherein he has presented his fiction that the elections will be delayed in order to see General Kayani and Iftikhar Chaudhry retire from their posts and then hold elections in order to see them through the elections and also stop the “Imran Khan phenomenon”. Off course after having given dates, possible demise of the party, revolutions in the country etc, this is yet another attempt to create doubts in the minds of people, who we wonder even read Shaheen Sehbai anymore? In the end of his fiction, Shaheen Sehbai writes that in case Kayani and Chaudhry retire and elections are not held and President Zardari remains the President, then Tahrir Square will be the option for “others”. Great writing Mr. Sehbai.  You should start a series of Nancy Drew and syndicate its comics as well to be played on Geo with “Ool-Jhalool”.

 

Ansar Abbasi still can’t get over the Memogate and has come up today with “Ansar’s 9 points” that support the proceedings and tell that Mansoor Ijaz is a truthful person. We wonder till when will this charade go on? Some of the points he has mentioned tell half facts and do not present the full story. For example in point 6 he says that Mansoor welcomed the formation of a high level commission but the government opposed it. Yes the government opposed it because it had already constituted a parliamentary probe body for the same. He also writes that Mansoor Ijaz gave his BB pin and gave up his rights for privacy but Husain Haqqani hasn’t. We all know that service providers do not keep records of texts for ever on their servers. RIM has apparently informed that the data of more than three months is deleted. Can it not be the case that give evidence to prove you are right but that evidence cannot be admitted because it doesn’t exist? Mansoor knew that even if he gave up his rights, RIM will neither give the data because it doesn’t do so in any case and that the data will not exist because it is automatically discarded.

Piece of advice for Shaheen and Ansar, please leave us alone and concentrate on a ayat-e-kareema as that is the only way you can be rid of your pains caused by incessant mindlessness!!!

 

A sinister plan that needs to be shot down

The News, March 5, 2012 (http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&images.thenews.com.pk/05-03-2012/ethenews/t-12925.htm)

DUBAI: A completely new and extremely dangerous plan is being discussed in the higher PPP circles to extend the present conglomerate of power-sharing at the Centre and in the provinces for so long that all threats, including General Kayani and Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, retire and get out of their way.

The plan is ingenious and has been quietly discussed by the top PPP leaders with their coalition partners and has the tacit and almost complete support of the Raiwind leaders as it helps both the PPP and PML-N to save themselves from not only the ever-threatening Chief Justice of Pakistan, an all powerful though reluctant and yet under extreme internal pressure army chief General Kayani and the ever-rising fame and fortunes of the Imran Khan phenomenon.

That the PML-N will continue to carry on shadow boxing in and outside the ring with the PPP, without really hurting it, as has been done in the last four years, is a basic part of the plan. An indication of the plan has already been given by Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who has candidly admitted that he saw no prospects of a general elections in 2012, meaning that the present assemblies will complete their five-year term and the pressure for early polls was no longer being felt. The Constitution provides for only 60 days after the term is completed for new polls, which takes the date to mid-April, 2013.

Prime Minister Gilani confirmed these views in his own style on Saturday when he told the media that there will be: “No caretakers and no chair-takers, the PM will not go up, or go out or go in, everything will stay as we are.”

But the plan, which some analysts describe as building castles in the air or daydreaming, is a twisted scheme the top PPP leadership is famous for. The only difference is that this time the PML-N leaders, who in the past had been the victim of these petty tricks (Chalakian), have now become a silent partner as they also see a lot of promise and hope if the plan succeeds.

According to the outlines of the plan, the present set-up will be dragged on at least for six to eight months after the April cut-off date. Then the two big parties, the PPP and PML-N will agree to a caretaker set-up at the centre and in the provinces which suits them, ignoring all other players as this has been jointly passed by them in the shape of the 20th Amendment in the Constitution.

Although there are three steps for bringing in a caretaker set-up, if it is agreed at the very first stage, there is no need for the second or the third stage in which powers to decide were given to the Chief Election Commissioner. But if the government and opposition agree in the very first stage, he can do nothing.

So agreed set-ups will take over the governments supposedly to hold elections in 60 days. But then the tricky part of the plan begins. The caretakers can demand that elections were not possible on one pretext or the other, supposedly for any “valid reason” as provided in Article 254 of the Constitution which says: “Failure to comply with requirement as to time does not render an act invalid: When any act or thing is required by the Constitution to be done within a particular period and it is not done within that period, the doing of the act or thing shall not be invalid or otherwise ineffective by reason only that it was not done within that period.”

Senior constitutional lawyer SM Zafar says that for any valid reason the holding of elections could be delayed. More importantly when this constitutional provision is used, or in fact misused, to delay the polls, and when not just the two big parties but all other smaller coalition partners also join hands and the present assembly, before it expires, passes an almost unanimous resolution, then those left out will have to build public pressure and go to the courts.

Courts can give judgments, as they have been doing, but once all the partners with vested interest join hands, they can collectively, and through more specialised tricks in their bag, refuse to implement even the new judgments, the country will be stuck.

And in this whole very dangerous exercise if the political class gets its way and gains time, both Chief Justice of Pakistan and General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani could reach their retirement dates in 2013.

Another key factor would be that until fresh elections are held, the election for the new president of Pakistan will remain on hold and the incumbent will stay in his seat, a perfect option for Mr Zardari.

If that happens the big Trick Brigade would win, all hands down. Then the only way left for others will be to show street power and create some Egyptian style Tahrir Square.

Where would the military stand then is a big question mark but if enough trouble is created and the running of the state affairs become impossible, the army can repeat its performance and take over. So then the Tahrir Square could turn into Square No 1 and everybody together can start a new struggle against the army.

 

 

The nine points that strengthen Mansoor Ijaz’s stand

The News, March 5, 2012 (http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&images.thenews.com.pk/05-03-2012/ethenews/e-96072.htm)

Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Mansoor Ijaz, the prime witness in the memogate, has won the battle so far by offering loads of evidence he had in his possession to Justice Qazi Faez Isa Commission while his opponents have yet to show their cards and have been relying, even now, squarely on Mansoor’s media trial.

Despite warnings and threats by different government players, Mansoor Ijaz concluded his five-day long testimony. Now it is the turn for Husain Haqqani to prove Ijaz wrong and challenge the latter’s proofs already presented to the commission.

As the government and its supporters, both in media and politics, have failed to thwart the all crucial testimony of Ijaz; it’s now time for the other side to come up with concrete evidence to show to the world what they have been saying in public or private i.e. Ijaz had schemed the memo, manipulated with the Blackberry and e-mail record, or produced fake British phone company’s certification.

In this regard the first and foremost opportunity is with Husain Haqqani, who is now expected to hand over his Blackberry sets, laptop, telephone call record, BBMs and email details to the commission. If he does all this and cooperate with the commission, he would come clean. If he does not, Ijaz’s stance would further strengthen. Time for picking up holes in the working of the commission or in what Ijaz has been doing or writing in the past is perhaps over for Haqqani.

All sorts of negative propaganda against Ijaz’s apart but this man has proved his opponents wrong time and again. How? Here is the answer.

Point one: In October last year when Mansoor Ijaz wrote his piece in The Financial Times and briefly hinted about the memo, he was largely ignored and there came a belated denial from the Presidency. The issue, however, could not be pushed under the rug.

Point two: After the memo issue got media attention and the transcript of the memo had even been published, everyone in the government denied it and treated it as a pack of lies. Mansoor Ijaz’s credentials were questioned and a concerted campaign against his person was launched. Ijaz got a serious blow when Admiral Mike Mullen denied knowing him or receiving any memo from him in May last year.

Mullen’s denial allowed his opponents to discredit Ijaz, who instead insisted that the memo was handed over to Mullen through an interlocutor, who later turned out to be General James Jones. But within a few days time, Mullen issued another statement confirming that he did receive a memo but could not recall it earlier.

Point three: After Mullen’s U-turn and his admission that the memo did exist, the government and its supporters started the mantra i.e. memo is a non-issue, and opposed tooth and nail any fair investigation into this matter. But as soon as the issue was taken up before the Supreme Court, it ruled that memo is a reality and that the contents of the memo are treasonous.

Point four: The government remained adamant not to probe the matter but no less than the Army Chief and the DG ISI gave the apex court in writing that the memo is a reality and a conspiracy against Pakistan Army and country’s national security.

Point five: Mansoor Ijaz was nothing but a liar, a fraud and conspirator for the regime but the top spymaster of the country Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha told the Supreme Court of Pakistan as well as the Parliamentary Committee on National Security that Ijaz has convincing evidence to prove his version.

Point six: Mansoor Ijaz welcomed the setting up of high-level commission to probe the matter but the government opposed the same.

Point seven: Mansoor Ijaz volunteered to withdraw his privacy to retrieve BBM data from RIM but Haqqani did not. Ijaz offered his Blackberry sets, emails and BBMs record, phone records etc. but the government has been found dithering in its cooperation with the commission.

Point eight: To pre-empt Ijaz’s testimony and to ensure that he does not appear before the commission, no less than the prime minister and interior minister issued the kind of statements, which were threatening and haunting for the prime witness. He was even warned that if he comes to Pakistan he might face a high treason case. However, Ijaz succeeded to get the commission convinced that his testimony is recorded outside Pakistan.

Point nine: Ijaz was blasted when Haqqani’s counsel presented before the apex court General James Jones affidavit stating that Ijaz had contacted him a few days before May 9 thus showed that the Ijaz’s facts on memo were wrong. But on the request of Ijaz an extremely vital and independent piece of evidence was presented before the commission by the concerned British telephone company — Red Rock — proving Mansoor Ijaz right and General James Jones wrong. The British telecommunication company authenticated to the commission that the telephone and mobile phone exchanges between Husain Haqqani, General James Jones and Mansoor Ijaz did taken place on May 9, May 10 and May 12, 2011 and not before as claimed by Jones.

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