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Boys shot during Pakistan protest: police


Karachi - Two boys were killed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Thursday when gunfire erupted during a protest by supporters of former premier Benazir Bhutto, police said.

"There was a demonstration against the house arrest of Benazir Bhutto. Somebody among the demonstrators opened fire and two boys aged around 11 or 12 were killed," police official Fayyaz Khan told AFP.

The protest deaths were the first since President Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency on November 3. Bhutto has been under house arrest since Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore.

Khan said there had been gunfire for the past three days during rallies by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the slum neighbourhood of Lyari, a party stronghold.

"They have also been firing at police stations, my office also came under attack, but this is the first time that there have been casualties," Khan said.

Bhutto party spokesperson Ijaz Durrani denied that any of its supporters had opened fire.

"We do not believe in gun culture. Our people were peaceful, they never indulge in such incidents," he said.

He blamed a local drug mafia for the shooting, as he did when gunfire broke out on Tuesday, adding: "They are doing this to defame the PPP." - Sapa-AFP



Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-11-15 13:46:27

Indian lawyers protest crackdown in Pakistan
Posted on : 2007-11-15 | Author : IANS
News Category : India


New Delhi, Nov 15- A group of lawyers here Thursday marched to the Pakistan High Commission condemning the arrest of judges and advocates in that country following the imposition of emergency.

The lawyers, under the banner of the Delhi Bar Council, walked from near the Chanakyapuri police station in the diplomatic enclave in the heart of the city to the Pakistani mission holding placards and banners and shouting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf.

Leading the protestors were advocates K.K. Manan and Pinky Anand. The marchers wanted to submit a memorandum condemning 'atrocities on the lawyers in Pakistan' but no mission official came out to accept it.

Musharraf's emergency rule announced earlier this month has led to the jailing of hundreds of opposition activists, lawyers and rights advocates. Several judges are also facing house arrest.

Pakistan SC hearing: 3 judges refuse to sit on bench
Islamabad, Nov 16: Three judges of Pakistan`s Supreme Court have refused to sit on the bench that is hearing petitions challenging the Emergency.

Justices Nawaz Abbasi, Javed Bhuttar and Faqir Khokhar, who were sworn in under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PC after President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency on November 3, have declined to be part of the bench, a local channel reported.

However, no reason was given for their refusal to be part of the bench.

The petitions, filed by Tikka Iqbal Muhammad Khan and Watan Party, argues that General Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as Chief of Army Staff has no legal or constitutional authority to impose emergency, which can only be done according to the provisions of the constitution.

The petition further states that the President could declare emergency in accordance with the relevant constitutional provisions.

The strength of the Supreme Court was reduced from 17 to 12 by the government after the emergency. Eleven judges have been sworn in so far.

In the face of judges and lawyers refusing to endorse the emergency, the military regime has had to rope in retired provincial judges to fill in vacancies in the apex court.

Bureau Report

Pakistan: Musharraf amends law giving president power to lift emergency


Islamabad, 16 Nov. (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf, as head of the army, has given the president the power to lift the emergency.

He made the amendment to the provisional constitution on Wednesday but the order wil be deemed to have taken effect from the moment emergency was declared on 3 November.

"The importance of the amendment is that the power to lift the emergency is now vested in the office of the president," Pakistan's attorney general Malik Qayyum told the Pakistani daily Dawn on Thursday.

Political observers, however, say the amendment reflects Gen Musharraf’s desire to rule with the powers of emergency even after hanging up his uniform.

Qayyum claimed that Musharraf would quit his army post before December 1.

“It is very simple to understand that the president wants to keep this power of lifting the emergency with him when he will no more be the army chief,” Qayyum said.

He said the emergency was expected to be lifted within two months and that it had been imposed primarily to deal with extremists.

Former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif both deplored the announcement saying that it indicated that the emergency rule might not be lifted even after Gen Musharraf removed his uniform.

“It is sad,” said Sharif. “See, what they have done to the country! Who is the chief of staff to delegate powers to the president? Sad. Very sad,” said Sharif.

By ASMA JAHANGIR
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan -- It was close to midnight last Saturday when Gen. Pervez Musharraf finally appeared on state-run television. That's when police vans surrounded my house. I was warned not to leave, and hours later I learned I would be detained for 90 days.

At least I have the luxury of staying at home, though I cannot see anyone. But I can only watch, helpless, as this horror unfolds.

The Musharraf government has declared martial law to settle scores with lawyers and judges. Hundreds of innocent Pakistanis have been rounded up. Human-rights activists, including women and senior citizens, have been beaten by police. Judges have been arrested, and lawyers battered in their offices and the streets.

These citizens are our true assets: young, progressive and full of spirit. Many of them were trained to uphold the rule of law. They are being brutalized for seeking justice.

Musharraf justified his Draconian measures by saying he needed to be able to use all his might to fight the terrorists infecting our country. Yet the day after he declared an emergency, the Dawn newspaper reported that scores of terrorists were released by the government.

While tyranny was being unleashed on peaceful citizens, the notorious militant Fazalullah (also known as Maulana Radio) had seized the beautiful town of Madyan, according to the Daily Times, and hoisted his ''Islamic'' flag over buildings while the security forces surrendered.

Musharraf has implied that militancy increased in Pakistan because of judicial interference in governance. But until this past March, the judiciary had yielded to all executive demands. Five years ago, the general dismissed the then-chief justice and his colleagues, charging that they were obstructing his process of democratization. What is democratic about a judiciary that's not independent?

In recent days police have raided the home of the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association -- his wife has gone into hiding -- and the law chambers of two former presidents of the bar. Their clerks have been harassed. Military intelligence officers are interrogating leading attorneys. Meanwhile, unknown lawyers are being elevated to the bench.

Since Nov. 3, police officers have barged into my house twice after receiving (false) warnings that I had escaped. On seeing me, they sheepishly admitted they were misled.

I have tried to make them understand the difference between people such as myself and terrorists. ''If I did run away, how far would I go?'' I asked them. ''In any event, I am not likely to blow myself up around the corner.'' One police officer said that he agreed but that his job was at greater risk if I got away than if a terrorist escaped the law. Terrorists, he pointed out, outnumber rights activists in our country.

The officer argued that lawyers and judges hamper law enforcement. ''How can we bring law and order if we cannot torture criminals? We must be given a free hand to deal with terrorists, and the chief justice has no business to ask us to produce them in courts. We are itching to lay our hands on all those judges who humiliated us for carrying out our duties,'' he told me. When I asked how he knew who the terrorists were, he insisted that the intelligence was infallible.

Yet he didn't know I hadn't escaped from my house.

The international community is alarmed at Musharraf's actions, but Pakistanis expected this. The Bush administration had built up the general as moderate and benign, but the true face of this regime has been exposed.

A balanced picture of Pakistan had begun to emerge in recent weeks. Thousands turned out to greet Benazir Bhutto upon her return last month; Pakistanis were progressive-minded enough to elect a female political leader years ago. Hundreds of progressive-minded lawyers have rallied for democratic values. I welcome Bhutto's call for the Pakistan People's Party to join the demonstrations.

But Pakistan is threatened by Islamist militants, and our civil society suffers the worst of this creeping Talibanization. Woefully, the Musharraf regime is neither inclined to reverse this trend nor capable of doing so.

No one has exact solutions, but there is virtual unanimity that Pakistan's political leadership must take charge and that the military must cooperate with an elected civilian government.

Musharraf's promises to hold elections by Feb. 15 or to resign from the army are a red herring. He has pledged before to give up his uniform and failed to follow through. Any election held under these circumstances will not be free and will only put the crisis on hold. Furthermore, militarization will kill the spirit of the progressive forces while boosting the terrorists' morale.

A transition to democracy is crucial, but unless freedom of the press and the judiciary's independence are restored, any changes will remain toothless. It will be difficult to put Pakistan on the path to democracy, but we must begin now, before it is too late.

Asma Jahangir, a lawyer and chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was placed under house arrest in Lahore on Nov. 3.

©2007 The Washington Post

Lahore, Nov 15: Imran Khan, after being handed over to the police by IJT activists yesterday, was moved overnight to Kot Lakhpat jail, Lahore's biggest prison early Thursday. Police officials say he is being charged under anti-terror laws. Police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal told AFP that Imran Khan was charged late Wednesday and moved overnight to Kot Lakhpat jail.









Lahore, Nov 15: Around 4000 students rallied at Lahore’s Punjab University Thursday, a day after Imran Khan was handed over to the authorities by the Islami- Jamiat – Talaba (IJT). The flag-waving protesters chanted “We love you, Imran Khan” and shouted slogans against the IJT, which is the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami party. “Our protest is against the high handedness of IJT and the police. We have gathered to express solidarity with Imran Khan, he is our national hero,” demonstrator Sarida Asghar told AFP.




KARACHI (Reuters) - Two Pakistani boys were killed on Thursday when police and gunmen exchanged fire in Karachi during protests by supporters of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, police said. "Two children have been killed in firing by unidentified men in the Lyari area," said senior city police official Fayyaz Khan, referring to an impoverished city neighborhood well known as a Bhutto stronghold. The firing occurred as police chased small groups of young men protesting over President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency on November 3, he said.






Islamabad, Wednesday: Around 200 protestors, all exuberant and passionate, carried posters, wore black ribbons and waved the black flags as a sign of utter disappointment and despair in their Government's policies. The protestors, mostly students from various universities of the capital chanted anti-Musharraf slogans. They demanded a free judicial system, lifting of curbs on media and a democratically elected head of the state. A minor of 5 carried a poster on his tender shoulders saying ' GO , UNCLE MUSHARRAF GO! ' which showed that even the younger lot of pakistans population is starting to speak up against the tyrannical rule of Musharraf and his dictator-like mindset. More student protests are planned at various universities of Islamabad, and a unified massive student movement will be launched very soon with-in the capital.



Hopelessness and despondency seem to have an air of inevitability in the current national ambience. The slightest good that materializes has to come tumbling down. We had a judiciary that was finally asserting itself as a bastion of civil rights only to be unceremoniously sabotaged, sacked and sent packing to Neverland. The more foolhardy amongst found solace in the embryonic student movement that has revitalized campuses across the country. Even before it can assume some form and substance, it has been undermined by the most moronic of behavior by the PU’s Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT). As per reports circulating across the blogosphere, they apprehended Imran Khan, detained him and then bundled him off to the custody of the same state authorities IJT is protesting against.

Let us first see the beef that students have with Imran Khan. Imran has been prancing about masquerading as the unitary champion and the chief-instigator of the students' movement. One can see why he might be under such an illusion. The emergency and the subsequent student agitation had coincided with a scheduled speaking engagement that Imran Khan had at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). It would stand Imran in good stead to abstain from such a light weight dismissal of the students' initiative. This initiative is grounded in much academic deliberation and has been motivated by a multitude of past and present constitutional experts, civil right advocates and members of civil society who dwarf Imran Khan in comparison. On a personal note, my animus against the incumbent regime had gestated four years ago during a guest lecture during a course in Constitutional Law four years ago delivered by Hamid Khan, ironically a member of Khan's party, in his capacity as a Supreme Court lawyer. It is true that it is the sacking of the Supreme court that has triggered the gestation of the students' initiative from an exclusively academic to a more participatory and agitative form. Students are in the process of collaborating to build a grass-roots organization that would be able to challenge the regime and fight for civil rights. Khan's efforts are welcome, and I am sure he has an eager audience amidst Pakistani students and hence stands to make a significant contribution. The problem arises when Imran tries to assume ownership of an initiative that is so much bigger than him. Many see it as an underhanded tactic to derive cheap political mileage at their expense. Claiming that he has inaugurated the movement and that he is organizing it may actually fetch him the ridicule that such an assertion deserves. It would stand Imran in good stead to qualify his statements. Something along the lines of "his seeing the students' movement as a positive and heartening development and ensuring that he does his bit to contribute in whatever way he can" is something that will be perfectly acceptable.
So now we come to the case in point. Imran Khan thought that the PU rally will be a perfect venue for him to make an appearance. I am not sure whether he sought permission from the organizers of the rally. IJT had certainly issued a statement asking him not to come. However, I am not sure how representative is IJT of the PU student body. Apparently there were PU students who welcomed his presence as well. In a place like LUMS even if a minuscule fraction of the student body want to have someone over, they can and their views are respected as a significant constituent of the diverse perspectives present on campus. I have a hunch that IJT might not espouse such egalitarian principles. However, I am not privy to PU's internal organizational structure, as well as university policy about having politicians. So whether Imran was entitled to be on campus is a moot point. The more important concern is how did IJT choose to act once Imran made his appearance. IJT activists lynched and man-handled him. What in the earth gives them the right to do so? They might not approve of his being on campus and there are ways of asserting their disapproval. University security could have escorted him outside. They could have raised slogans against him, protested against his presence, exposed his claims in front of the media. Yet they chose to physically assault him and hold him hostage. Isn't that sort of high-handedness exactly what IJT was supposed to be protesting against? IJT's actions have smeared students' movements all over. Their behavior reeks of a bigotry that is becoming of the class-act we currently have at the helm of our country's affairs. Seems their grumble against our autocrat isn't that he is what the Daily Telegraph called him. It's just that he isn't 'their' whatever the Daily Telegraph called him.
IJT ought to seriously introspect their modus operandi. Perhaps a leaf out of LUMS' book wouldn't be out of order. They had voiced their annoyance at Imran Khan's eagerness to advertise his prominence vis-à-vis their movement. Benazir the astute politician that she is had invited a group of students to visit her, a master stroke geared towards leveraging the student's initiative to gain personal political mileage. The LUMS student community being all the wiser to it, politely declined to meet with her in any official capacity, instead relaying to her that she is welcome to come and lecture at LUMS and intellectually interact with the student body at large. The PU student community (which may or may not be synonymous with IJT) are certainly at liberty to let out a clear signal that they would not let their movement be hijacked by political leaders. Preserving the non-partisan identity of student movements is certainly advisable. They could debunk any politician who tries to compromise such an identity, expose her, and let their disdain for such tactics be known in no unclear terms. What they cannot do is man-handle and kidnap someone like they did with Imran Khan. IJT has disgraced student movements at all campuses. One hopes that an apology might be forthcoming and we can actually have a student-led civil rights movement that lives up to the principles it preaches.



I am really proud of our youth, especially students of LUMS, who have been active while we are kept in illegal captivity. Please let them know that I am with them. I can not help them in person. If they need any contact emails let me know.

Regards.

Asma Jahangir


Today a peaceful protest demonstration was held in the National College of Arts organized by the student body of the campus. Around 150 students participated in this peaceful protest. They were holding placards and banners on which different anti-martial law slogans were written, condemning the arrest of the students, lawyers, Human Rights activists and all others arrested after the proclamation of martial law (Emergency).

A large section of the faculty members were present in this protest, side by side with the protesting students. Differents speakers gave their speeches including the faculty members. They condemned the imposition of Martial law, suspention and house arrests of the senior judiciary, suspension of our basic rights, arrest of civil society members, lawyers, human rights activists, including Salima Hashmi, our ex-principal, and demanded that free and fair elections under an impartial election commission should be held as soon as possible and the restoration of 1973 Constitution.
This protest continued for 1 hour. It was the first protest held in the NCA after the proclamation of emergency even though we had been active since the first day and had been discussing this matter on a daily basis. We have decided to organize such protest meetings daily.
In the end, I would like to convey a message from the student society of the NCA to all the active student community members, especially those from LUMS, that we are with you, we should unite together and raise our voice till the restoration of democracy and Basic rights in Pakistan is complete.


My father, Barrister Baachaa, Barrister at law of the Inner Temple London, ex-Vice President Supreme Court Bar Association and member executive committee Supreme Court Bar Association, a prominent lawyer and human rights activist was arrested from his residence in Peshawar past midnight Sunday 04th November.

A police force of more than 20 officers and constables accompanied by women police raided our house past midnight between Sunday 04th November and Monday 05th November. Barrister Baachaa was taken to the local police station in Hayatabad Peshawar. We came to know later, that the same night he was shifted to CIA Police station and on Monday morning together with five other lawyer colleagues to Central Jail Haripur. Ever since he was kept till this date as an ordinary prisoner suffering as much as his colleagues in prison with him.

My family has not been in direct communication with our father ever since his arrest but only through those lawyers who had visited him in Haripur Jail where he was facing all the hardships with dignity and courage. We have also come to know that Barrister Baachaa has impressed upon his imprisoned colleagues not to approach any court for their release till such time that the emergency was lifted and normal conditions returned to the country. In the absence of any male member, my family is facing many difficulties and we miss our beloved and brave father; nevertheless, the family and friends are proud and support Barrister Baachaa on his principled stand and sacrifices for democracy, rule of law, independence of Judiciary and restoration of 1973 Constitution without mutilation.



Student Protesters in LUMS are disturbed to see the turn of events at the Punjab University today. We do not think that the way some people at the campus behaved is worthy of educated university students. Violence of any form in student movements is abhorrent and students all over the country should unite to protest emergency rule in a peaceful manner. If students use violence against security forces, public property and rival organizations, what difference remains between their conduct and the violent and uncivilized manner in which police forces are quelling protesters? A non-violent, civilized code of conduct should apply to all students, protesting anywhere in the country, even those groups of students who espouse particular political ideals or form student wings of specific political parties. In this respect, we condemn the violent actions of the Islami Jamiat-e-Tuleba today and appeal to their members and all other students in Pakistan to avoid resorting to uncivilised conduct, such as using brute force to intimidate perceived rivals and burning tires, smashing windows or damaging public property. Students should express their opinions and conduct their dealings in more humane, peaceful ways. Members of the LUMS Student Movement condemn the unwarranted and illegal arrest of Mr. Imran Khan and express disappointment at the role the IJT has played in it.