Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

 Mubasher Mir

After the 26th Constitutional Amendment was passed by the National Assembly and the Senate, the President signed it and its implementation began. In this regard, the Chief Justice of Pakistan was appointed, Justice Yahya Afridi became the new Chief Justice of the country. Two petitions have been filed against the 26th constitutional amendment. Constitutional petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court. Tehreek-e-Insaaf has also announced its participation in the Supreme Judicial Commission, while the Chief Justice has also included the two senior judges in the committee. Thus, the situation is turning out to be slightly different from what the government allies thought before the amendment was passed. Both the senior judges have not resigned but are ready to work.

Similarly, when the 27th constitutional amendment was heard, Speaker National Assembly, Sindh Chief Minister and Rana Sanaullah expressed their ignorance of such a program.

In the meantime, PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif left for abroad, so there were various reports about him that he might stay in London for a long time. He did not get the Prime Ministership, but he legally assumed the leadership of the party. He also formed the government of his party. The federal government and the province of Punjab are being governed only by their guidance.

Outgoing Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa also left the country the day after his retirement. His impression was not good in the public, but there are many rumors about him, he had not spoken in this regard in advance.

A constitutional bench will be formed in the Supreme Court, then the hearing will begin on the petitions filed against the 26th constitutional amendment. Constitutional Benches will be formed in the Supreme and High Courts. Former Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani has also said that a resolution should be brought soon to create a constitutional bench in the Sindh High Court.

Agha Siraj Durrani is facing a case of amassing assets beyond  sources. The hearing of his case has been adjourned till November 11.

The Chief Minister of Sindh has proposed to end the caretaker setup from the election. He has said that there is no benefit in the caretaker setup. Chief Minister Sindh is right that till date caretaker set-up has not helped in the election of Pakistan but it is used as political bribe and the caretaker ministers leave the story of this corruption.

A huge wheat import scandal took place in the recent caretaker setup. In which the name of the former caretaker prime minister came up again and again and he was asked many questions in the media, but he could not be satisfied with his answers. In light of the Sindh Chief Minister's proposal, the Election Commission of Pakistan will have to be empowered for the election.  Election Commission must be more independent to keep the government to avoid rigging. In  neighboring country India, and  in many other countries there is no concept of care taker set up before election. This additional burden should be  lifted, Pakistan should also avoid this futile political exercise. And election reforms should be done further,  it is necessary to eliminate political influence from the Election Commission, while other influential institutions and individuals can also influence on election process. The Sindh Chief Minister's proposal should be debated in the House, but the 26th Constitutional Amendment was not given a chance to be debated in the Majlis Shura.

October 27 was observed as Black Day in relation to Kashmir. October 27, 1947 was the dark day when India entered Kashmir after the partition of India.

In order to harm the nascent state of Pakistan, India did many things at the behest of Great Britain, due to which Pakistan remained weak. Non-return of assets, massacring of refugees was a well-thought-out conspiracy.

On October 24, 1947, Kashmiris announced the formation of Azad Jammu and Kashmir state, at that time Sardar Ibrahim was leading the Kashmiris. October 24, was celebrated as Jammu and Kashmir Independence Day.

The problem of Kashmir is unresolved because India wants its monopoly over the waters of Kashmir . India has massacred Kashmiris to control the water of Kashmir. The struggle of Kashmiris has been going on for decades, but India is not ready to give the right of self-determination to Kashmiris.

Pakistan's political parties also did not make a good decision by setting up their party offices in Kashmir, Pakistan is the advocate of Kashmiris. Whichever federal government is in Pakistan, that party is determined to form its own government in Kashmir and undemocratic tactics were used. This was an unfair move. Kashmiris are not getting a good impression from what is being expressed from Islamabad. Pakistan should make a better Kashmir policy than India. India has deployed troops in the occupied valley, but our governments consider it their success to rule in Kashmir.

Pakistan has assured political, moral and diplomatic support for the Kashmir cause. The Kashmir Committee has not been formed in the Parliament yet. This time, suitable people should be selected for the Kashmir Committee so that they can better represent the position of Kashmiris at international forums.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

 Mubasher Mir

The People's Party and especially Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have played an important role in the approval of the 26th Constitutional Amendment by the National Assembly and the Senate. He has also been appreciated in the assembly for his services. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari played a very active role in getting the constitutional amendment passed and at the same time ran the lance of criticism. He used the word black snake for former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry that he was a black snake around the Eighteenth Amendment.

Surprisingly, the Speaker National Assembly did not declare the words spoken regarding the former Chief Justice as unparliamentary words and did not ask to delete them from the proceedings. If the Parliament believes that the former Chief Justice took unconstitutional steps, then he should be impeached. He should be stripped of his title and post-retirement privileges if he is found to have acted unconstitutionally. In this regard, the leadership of the People's Party should not end the matter by simply abusing him, but should bring it to an end. By the way, Mian Nawaz Sharif started a movement for the restoration of Iftikhar Chaudhry, General Pervez Kayani supported this movement behind the scenes because he was trying to  weaken General Pervez Musharraf, this was proved by later events.On These words of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Muslim League-N remained silent.

In the constitutional amendment, Maulana Fazlur Rehman skillfully explained many things to the government, which will indirectly benefit Tehreek-e-Insaf as well. The issue of extending the tenure of the current Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa has ended and instead of the Constitutional Court, the Constitution Bench has been settled. It will help the current coalition government to strengthen its grip on the judiciary. But in the future, if the same government is in the opposition, there will be difficulties for them, so this amendment is only beneficial for the ruling party. Similarly, the 18th amendment also benefits the ruling party in the province even today. The opposition or the people have not reaped its benefits and probably will not.

When it comes to the implementation of the constitution, the current parties and government and the previous governments have also been very weak in this regard. Article 140A of the Constitution which states that the local body system should function like a self-governing system, but no political party has tried to create such a system. In this regard, the credit that can be given to President General Zia-ul-Haq and President General Pervez Musharraf in the past years does not belong to anyone, while President General Ayub Khan established a system of basic democracies in United Pakistan. Political parties had agreed to establish a local government system in the 1973 constitution, but they do not follow it. Similarly, Article 19-A of the Constitution, Right to Know, is also not ready to be given by the government to the people. Information commissions have been formed in the provinces and also in the federal government, but the government and semi-government departments do not accept the orders of these bodies.

The letters written to the departments under Right to Information are not answered and when the Information Commission interrogates them, they do not give importance. Thus, the record of the governments in terms of implementing and implementing the constitution is not very good. There is no other aspect of interest in the 26th constitutional amendment apart from the appointment of the judges. On the suggestion of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the provision of abolition of interest , (RIBA) has been added as if salt had been added to curry. A constitutional amendment has just been passed and the end of interest , ( RIBA) date has been set at 2028. As if its implementation does not seem certain.

Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh protested against the detention of Imran Khan, the supremacy of the judiciary and the constitutional amendment at the Empress Market Saddar. 

Tehreek-e-Insaf has not yet got the right to protest, which is given to every Pakistani citizen in the constitution of Pakistan that they can protest peacefully and can raise their voices for their rights in addition to the struggle for their rights. Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders criticized the Sindh government for not giving them democratic rights. The Sindh government should look into the demand of Tehreek-e-Insaaf in this regard as all other parties and groups are taking out rallies. The People's Party itself has held a public meeting in Hyderabad.

New records of index are being established in Pakistan Stock Exchange. The index has crossed the psychological threshold of 86,000 but surprisingly, the value of the shares in the Pakistan Stock Exchange is 38 billion dollars. While in the past, the market of Pakistan has been around one hundred billion dollars. While the index in 2017 was less than half of that. According to economists, the reason for this is the huge decline in the value of the Pakistani rupee. At the moment, the index is setting a record, which is taking place in Pakistani rupees. But the market value is very low. Pakistan has to emphasize on increasing its foreign exchange reserves so that the value of Pakistani rupee improves. However, business is being done only in the shares of certain companies, unless there is improvement in industry, trade and agriculture, the economy will not improve.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary 

Mubasher Mir

Dr. Shahnawaz of Umarkot, who has been confirmed to have been killed in police custody and the police officers have been suspended, are facing an inquiry as well. In this regard, tolerance march was announced by civil society organizations belonging to Sindh. The participants of the march were supposed to come from Clifton Teen Talwar to Press Club Karachi, but Tehreek Labeik had announced to take out the Namos Risalat Rally and they also asked their workers to reach Clifton Teen Talwar. In this way, two groups with different ideas had given an indication of protest against the killing of Dr. Shahnawaz according to their position.

Dr. Shahnawaz was declared as an insolent apostle and was then handed over to the police but later the police framed him as a police encounter and took his life, but activists of religious groups also interfered in his burial, and his dead body was also desecrated, he was cremated, almost 80% of the burnt body was buried by the family with the help of the administration. According to reliable sources, the workers of the religious groups garlanded the police officers and congratulated them. The police officers should have been careful about this. Now that the civil society was gathering to protest it, activists of religious groups also reached there, surely their protest can be considered in support of the police.

The protestors reached outside the Karachi Press Club, staged a sit-in, and shouted slogans against the Sindh government and the leadership of the People's Party. The police and the district administration failed to handle the matter amicably. The lathi charge by the police worsened the situation and the area began to present a battlefield . Surprisingly, if a political party applies for a protest procession, rally or Jalsa, the Sindh administration rejects it, but for this type of protest, the opponents are also provided an opportunity to protest at the same place. Since police officers were involved in the incident, the attitude of the police was lenient towards activists of religious groups, but the tolerance movement was excessively harsh.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has indicated in his tweet that in 1931, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah kept demanding a constitutional Supreme Court, but the then British government did not accept his demand. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah distrusted the oppressive system of British rule and demanded separate decisions on constitutional matters. Now that we are living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, are our conditions similar to those of the British Empire that we should come up with this solution? We also have a federal Shariah court, if any Shariah problem arises, it can be approached. Do we really need a Constitutional Supreme Court? It should be debated in Parliament. If the public representatives deem it necessary, it should be implemented.

The federal ministers have met the delegation of MQM on the constitutional amendment and also discussed their other demands in which the local government system has been emphasized. After this meeting, it seems that MQM will not make any rhetoric regarding the constitutional amendment but will fully support the government.

There is much ambiguity regarding the final draft of the constitutional amendment. So far no party has been able to claim that it has the final draft. Even now three to four drafts are in circulation. Maulana Fazlur Rahman's party is still facing stiff opposition and a draft has been presented by him which is being discussed with the People's Party.

After the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, the federal government intends to work on this proposed constitutional amendment with full force. Allegations of harassment and pressure have been leveled by Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA's while some members have also alleged that they have been offered huge sums of money. Speaker National Assembly and Chairman Senate should definitely take notice in this regard.

For the improvement of democracy in Pakistan, it is important that political parties get an opportunity to work and that political workers do not face any kind of violence and oppression, otherwise it will be difficult to nurture democratic traditions. Enforced disappearances are already causing a lot of problems, now if the members of the assembly are also falling victim to it, then the image of the state will deteriorate further.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

 Mubasher Mir

Miscreants attacked a convoy of Port Qasim Electric Power Company near Karachi Airport and as a result three persons lost their lives, two of whom have been identified as Chinese nationals. The explosion was very loud, its sound was heard in many areas of Karachi city, vehicles were engulfed in fire at the place of the explosion, an oil tanker was also hit, several people were injured in this explosion, Jinnah Hospital. Accordingly, eleven people were brought to the emergency room in injured condition.

After this severe explosion, the Sindh administration could not clarify the situation until late at night, while the Karachi police failed to determine the explosion. The DIG Police also avoided the final discussion. The media was informed about the death of foreigners. Sindh Governor and Provincial Home Minister visited the scene but even then the government's position was not clear.

In such a situation, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police should have avoided showing ignorance through the media and should have spoken to the media when complete information was available.

Majeed Brigade of Balochistan's separatist organization "Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)" claimed responsibility for the incident. They admitted on Twitter X that they had carried out the attack. BLA operations are increasing day by day and Chinese experts are particularly targeted. BLA has carried out several operations in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. But the intelligence network could not stop their activities.

Although the Chinese government expresses full confidence in Pakistan's security agencies, informed sources say they want to leverage intelligence sharing in the network to protect its citizens and projects. But till now there are different views on it in the institutions of both the countries. Although there is ongoing cooperation between Pakistan's security agency, the Intelligence Bureau, and the Chinese Ministry of Intelligence (Ministry of State Security), there is cooperation in controlling terrorism.

The terrorist attack by BLA is very significant ahead of the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, although the organization's high-level summit will be held in Islamabad, but the attack in Karachi, Pakistan's largest industrial and commercial city, is unlikely to affect the meeting. Security is a special agenda in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes countering terrorism, separatism and extremism.But the outlook of Chinese Govt is related to the Geo Economics thats why their model to deal with friends and foes are different as compared to the US .The United State's polices are related to Geo Political .

Religious scholar Dr. Zakir Naik is currently on a visit to Pakistan. He also gave a lecture at Governor House Sindh on the invitation of the Governor of Sindh and answered the questions of the audience. There has been a lot of discussion in the social media on the question of a girl from KPK to Dr. Zakir Naik, in which she raised her voice on the mistreatment of children in the Pakhtun society, but instead of answering it, Dr. Zakir Naik kept making it a target for criticism. But even that he have been widely accepted as Mentor about Islamic thoughts. Dr. Zakir Abdul Karim Naik  was born on 18 October 1965 in Mumbai, he got MBBS  degree in Medicine. While he  is the founder of  Peace TV which broadcasts programs in Urdu, Bangla and Chinese languages. But it is banned in many countries. Dr. Zakir Naik was on a visit to Malaysia in 2016 when he was accused of money laundering in India and did not return to India. Having settled permanently in Malaysia, he has millions of fans and listeners on social media.

October 7 , has been observed  as Palestine Day. Jamaat-e-Islami organized a big rally on this occasion, which was addressed by the central leader of Jamaat-e-Islami. On October 7 last year, Hamas attacked Israel and then Israel till now killed thousands of people, including Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah figures. Palestinians have been killed and the war does not seem to be over yet.

Amir Jamaat-e-Islami had also met the Prime Minister of Pakistan along with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Islamabad. Why did he meet to  the Prime Minister with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari or on his recommendation? Have Jamaat-e-Islami and People's Party come closer? The two parties did not answer this question, but the Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehreek-e-Insaaf has definitely become indifferent to the protests. A Palestinian conference was held in the President's House in Islamabad, in which Israel's barbaric bombardment was not condemned, which killed thousands of people in Gaza. 

They have been martyred. 

People's Party and Muslim League-N are making strenuous efforts for constitutional amendment, it is possible that People's Party has also taken Jamaat-e-Islami into confidence for constitutional amendment and constitutional Supreme Court.

MQM, from which the allies are not asking anything, Dr. Maqbool Siddiqui has stated that if the constitutional amendment is shown to him, then he will discuss it, since MQM has lost its street power. The negotiating power has also ended. Politically MQM's helplessness is surprising, it is not in a position to do anything even if it wants to, it will have to work on localities in Karachi and Hyderabad  again to improve it.

Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary

. Mubasher Mir

In the Sindh Assembly, the resolution has passed  to pay the tribute to the martyrs of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy MRD. The movement for restoration of democracy started in Sindh and Punjab in 1983. Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged on April 4, 1979. President General Zia-ul-Haq held a referendum in 1984 December 19 and got five years of power for himself as a result of a ridiculous question.

 The People's Party started a movement together with a few other parties, General Zia-ul-Haq took control in Punjab province, many Punjabis were allotted lands in Sindh province, Balochistan was managed by releasing of those people who were arrested during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's regime. Balochistan was prevented from becoming an active part of the MRD by releasing the arrested, while after Russia's intervention in Afghanistan, the Pakhtun people were engaged in Jihad together with the United States. But the movement gained momentum in Sindh province and turned into a civil war. After the failure of the civil administration, General Zia-ul-Haq gave the task to the military. Hundreds of people were killed, many were arrested and many were expelled from the province to crush the MRD rallies.

President General Zia-ul-Haq wisely did not allow GM Syed  the famous Sindhi nationalist Leader, to be a part of this movement. Thus, most of the PPP workers became the fuel of this movement, the migrant community of Karachi was angry with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for his policies based on Sindhi language, thus Karachi also did not support the MRD, and the most intense After the violence, President General Zia-ul-Haq was able to control the MRD.

The current situation in Pakistan is also a reflection of 1983. Currently, Sindh is quiet, Punjab has been heavily crashed after the February 8 election, but this process has been going on for two years. There are security issues in Balochistan and there is ongoing tension and political rhetoric between the Federation and Pakhtunkhwa province.

In 1983 there was no social media, the difference now is that, Social media is influencing beyond borders. Former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged before the time of MRD, while now the symbol of resistance is former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Adiala Jail. After forty years, the people of Pakistan are running a movement to restore the power and dignity of their vote.

The ruling political coalition includes the People's Party, which founded the MRD and today pays tribute to its martyrs, but supports the creation of a new Supreme Court in the ongoing legal battle over the results of the current election.  The People's Party is calling its past glorious, but in the present era, it does not want to let go of power. It is as if the commitment of ideas is now declared under influence to interests.

Dr. Shahnawaz of Umarkot city of Sindh was killed by the police on the grounds that he was a satanist, but after investigation, he was killed as part of a plan, it has been proved. Police officers have been suspended. But the danger is that forgiveness will be obtained by putting pressure on the relatives as before happened in many cases.

In the Standing Committee on Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of the National Assembly, there was a discussion to extend the quota system in Sindh for another 20 years. MQM members Hasan

Sabir and Hafeezuddin rejected and opposed it, after it was put to a vote, PPP's Naveed Qamar, Nafeesa Shah, Wajiha, Abrar Shah along with JUIF's Alia Kamran voted in favor, according to media reports.  PTI member Ali Muhammad Khan also voted in favor of extending the quota system. While other PTI members Chairman Gohar, Latif, Umeer, Chingiz Khan opposed, after which the proposal was postponed. Surprisingly JUIF creates problems for PPP in Larkana in Sindh and PTI member Ali Mohammad Khan presents himself as a very revolutionary leader. He makes emotional speeches in the House but seems to stand in support of the quota system which is being misused.

Army Chief General Asim Munir has met businessmen in Karachi and encouraged them. He has expressed his determination that the economy will be restored, although this is not the department of the Army Chief, but he is paying attention to it. The federal government should not hesitate to take tough decisions to revive the economy but should first reduce its spending.

The federal government has claimed that the rate of inflation has come down, while house rent, transport costs, water, milk, electricity, gas, vegetables, pulses, meat and other household items are on record level. The data released by the federal government is not based on the survey of any independent and impartial organization, along with this, people's income has not increased, unemployment has increased. In this situation, the government's claim seems hollow.

Supporters of Palestine held a rally in Karachi on the news of martyrdom of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon. The participants of the rally wanted to go to the US consulate Karachi but clashed with the police. The participants of the rally were shelled, injuring several people.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also organized a rally for the release of Imran Khan. This time the provincial leadership and other leaders participated in the rally. As if PTI also melted the ice by protesting.

The banking sector in Pakistan has started extorting billions of rupees from account holders in the name of service charges. Annual fees for ATM cards and credit cards have been hiked, much to the charges of consumers. Commercial banks themselves deduct money from the account on an annual basis. The State Bank is turning a blind eye to the rights of consumers in this regard, while the Ministry of Finance has also remained silent.