Qadri gets death sentence in Salman Taseer’s murderMum

Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri: Murderer of Salman Taseer, Governor Punjab

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) awarded death penalty to Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri on Saturday, DawnNews reported.
Mr Taseer was assassinated by his security guard and personnel of Punjab Elite Force, Mumtaz Qadri, on January 4, 2011 at Kohsar Market in Islamabad.
“The court has awarded my client with death. The court announced the death sentence for him,” Shujaur Rehman, one of Qadri’s lawyers, told AFP by telephone.
Judge Pervez Ali Shah announced the verdict at the court behind closed doors in the high-security Adiyala prison in Rawalpindi, the lawyer said.
Dozens of people rallied outside the prison where the verdict was announced, chanting slogans in support of Qadri, an AFP photographer said.
Qadri had earlier confessed in court that he had killed Punjab governor Salman Taseer for his ‘blasphemous’ statements.


Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/01/atc-awards-death-penalty-mumtaz-qadri.html

One Province Leads To Many

By Asha'ar Rehman: Dawn Op-ed August 9, 2011

THE wish has been expressed, the slogans raised. The people have set off on the road to a new province, which will take some travelling and entail quite a lot of discomfort, not to speak of the pain of those who must view this as a parting.

All historical tours of Pakistan must begin in India. Indian examples abound in all our discussions. It is no surprise then that the new province debate is in part sustained by how the Indians divided their provinces. They divided them in the wake of Partition, chastened by Partition. It was in a way logical for the people of India to demarcate the boundaries when a partition had just happened.

The movements for division — or as it were, a coming together of small British-period states — on a linguistic basis was strong even in the early 1950s, and following the creation of a Telugu-speaking Andhra Pradesh just six years after Partition, a number of new states emerged on the Indian map in 1956. The principles set and constitutional cover given, it later led to the creation of more states. Pakistan, meanwhile, decided to go its own way in nation-building.

Religion was a given, and it used Urdu, in the name of unity of the people who lived in its five provinces. East Pakistan was told by none other than the Quaid himself that Urdu

A bureaucracy trampled

By Cyril Almeida


MEMORIES can be tricky sometimes, so let’s take a trip down memory lane.
“The chief minister was in a strident mood. He made it clear that the agitation launched by the MRD but actually spearheaded by the PPP would not be allowed to succeed. He reminded us (Punjab commissioners) that there was a long queue of officers waiting to become commissioners, DIGs, deputy commissioners and SPs and that anyone found less than enthusiastic about the ‘political’ dimension of his work would be shunted out.”
The chief minister in question? Nawaz Sharif.
Yep, the same Sharif who has been urging bureaucrats to follow their conscience and the letter of the law in recent days wasn’t quite so charitable back when he was chief minister of Punjab in 1986.
Aminullah Chaudhry, a bureaucrat who joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1967 and rose to the senior ranks of the
bureaucracy until his arrest as one of the ‘hijackers’ of the Musharraf plane in 1999 before turning approver and helping secure a conviction against his patron, Nawaz Sharif, has done all of us a favour by putting in black and white how the bureaucracy has, over the decades, been used and abused by politicians and by cunning and conniving bureaucrats to enhance their wealth and status.
At times, it’s difficult to decide whether Chaudhry’s book, Political Administrators (OUP 2011), makes for prosaic or wretched reading.
“Despite my (Chaudhry’s) best efforts to humour him, the behaviour of Chaudhry Sher Ali, mayor of Faisalabad, became increasingly unbearable … I finally had a detailed talk with him in order to ascertain what his problem was … He was quite frank in admitting that he had ‘invested’ considerable sums of money in the process of getting elected as mayor and he now wished to ‘recoup’ his losses by taking a number of administrative initiatives. He made it a point to highlight his family relationship with the chief minister (Nawaz Sharif) and the fact that he meant to exploit it, if I stood in the way,” writes Chaudhry, who was then commissioner of

Pakistan's patchy fight against Islamist violence sows confusion: by Myra MacDonald in Reuters

By Myra MacDonald

MINGORA, Pakistan | Fri Jul 8, 2011 6:50am EDT; Reuters
(Reuters) - At the rehabilitation center for former militants in Pakistan's Swat valley, the psychiatrist speaks for the young man sitting opposite him in silence. "It was terrible. He was unable to escape. The fear is so strong. Still the fear is so strong."

(A man takes a nap next to a poster of Osama bin Laden at the Chauburji monument in Lahore May 13, 2011. The message written on the posters read: "The prayer absentia for martyr of Islamic nation is a duty and a debt"/Mani Rana)

Hundreds of miles away in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, a retired army officer recalls another young man who attacked him while he prayed - his "absolutely expressionless face" as he crouched down robot-like to reload his gun.

Both youths had been sucked into an increasingly fierce campaign of gun and bomb attacks by Islamist militants on military and civilian targets across Pakistan.

But there the similarity stops.

One is now being "de-radicalized" in the rehabilitation center in Swat, the northern region which only two years ago was overrun by the Pakistani Taliban and has since been cleared after a massive military operation.

He will be taught that Islam does not permit violence against the state and that

Pakistan Security Brief – July 11, 2011 : Important Brief by CriticalThreats

U.S. government suspends military aid to Pakistan; Pakistan army downplays effects of aid cuts; Pakistan asks U.S. to share intel on Zawahiri; U.S. troops to shift focus in Afghanistan to Pakistan border; Kurram operation continues; Taliban in North Waziristan deny attacking army; Afghan cell phone operators aid militants; Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to high-level meetings; Afghan traders threaten to close trade route; suicide bomber attacks political rally; army holds de-radicalization conference in Swat; Karachi violence brought under control; U.S. praises Pak nuclear security; General rejects nuclear proliferation charges; Pakistan dissuading Iran from nuke program; Punjab Police terrorism cases floundering; Army rebukes New York Times report; Blast kills one in Islamabad.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• The U.S. government is suspending and cancelling aid to the Pakistani military to the tune of $800 million, according to a report in the New York Times. The amount represents one-third of the more than $2 billion in security assistance disbursed to Pakistan each year, and includes money intended as reimbursement for Pakistani military operations in northwest Pakistan as well as funds for

National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) in post 18th Amendment Scenario

NCHD in post 18th Amendment Scenario

16,000 of NCHD’s employees are at the risk of losing their jobs by 30^th June. Its employees from across Pakistan are demonstrating protests infront of the Parliament House and have given ‘dharna’ for past many days.

National Commission for Human Development was established in the 2003 in follow up to the recommendations of the Task Force on Human Development. The objective of NCHD was to support the efforts of GoP to achieve the Millennium Development Goals which Pakistan has committed to the international community. Initially NCHD established its Human Development Support Units (HDSUs) in 14 districts of Pakistan. Based on its innovative and successful approach, it was eventually expanded to in three phases to 140 districts, covering entire Pakistan.

Its model was focused on increasing and deepening access to education and health facilities and empowering women. The model of feeder schools in far flung areas with strong community ownership is very cost effective with strong community ownership, and has promoted swift achievement of Universal Primary Education (UPE) targets. Adult literacy centers across Pakistan, with their strong and modern curriculum, benefited a significant number of illiterate people. NCHD’s unique program of School Health Program, in partnership with UNESCO, was a great success and is being massively replicated. Integrated Healthcare Model Program in 12 districts of Punjab was a an immense success in provision and strengthening of critical health services. NCHD’s Community Technology Learning Centers (CTLCs) for women in rural areas of 16 districts successfully empowered the graduated women through imparting ICT and employability skills, and contributing to gender equity. The highlight of CTLC project is NCHD’s partnership with Microsoft Corp for highest quality curriculum specifically designed and translated to better serve rural women.

NCHD’s robust model and deep penetration was greatly effective in progress towards achieving many of the MDGs. This is evident from the international and national acclaim that NCHD received. NCHD was even awarded the 2006 Literacy Award by UNESCO.

In 2008, funding to this organization was curtailed, operations halted, and eventually overwhelming number of its employees lost their jobs. In 2009, a 3-year PC-I was approved by the PC. 2-years down the road, the 18^th Amendment again hits the organization. It is maintained that with devolution process, NCHD’s subject areas are no more on federal list, while not all provinces are willing to take NCHD in their fold. Consequently, 16,000 households face catastrophic results. The ongoing protests and continued dharna for many days aim for redressal to this situation. This last Wednesday these protests turned violent, and shelling, beatings and arrests were enforced by the police.

The point to emphasize here is that the enormous numbers of resources and efforts have been made to build such a widespread and in-depth structure. Staff trainings, development of detailed SoPs, crucial partnerships, and other systems take a great deal of efforts and time, and now face complete and abrupt closure, rendering thousands unemployed. With effective restructuring, these systems can be utilized for a greater common good. Learning and resources of NCHD should not simply be let wasted so ruthlessly. Also, while 18^th Amendment is duly respected, a clear process is necessary to     smooth out the transition.