NRO list out, 34 politicians among 8,000 beneficiaries
Nov 22, 2009 News & Events, Pakistan, pakistan politics
ISLAMABAD: A majority of the NRO beneficiaries have been bureaucrats and government officials as a list, released by the government on Saturday, contained names of only 34 politicians out of a total of 8,000.
According to the list, almost 97 per cent of the beneficiaries are from Sindh. The ordinance will lapse on Nov 28 in the light of the Supreme Court’s July 31 verdict in the PCO judges case.
The list shows that a total of 8,041 people — 7,793 from Sindh — have benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf on Oct 5, 2007.
These people have got withdrawn 3,478 cases (3,320 in Sindh) registered against them on charges of corruption, financial bungling, misuse of authority and criminal charges.
Gen (retd) Musharraf promulgated the NRO after striking a deal with PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in order to grant amnesty to all those against whom politically-motivated cases were registered between Jan 1, 1986, and Oct 12, 1999.
Mohammad Afzal Sindhu, the Minister of State for Law and Justice, released the list at a news conference soon after a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
In reply to a question, the minister said the government would not defend or protect any NRO beneficiary.
Earlier this month, the PPP had to withdraw its earlier initiative of presenting the NRO before parliament following a vociferous protest by the opposition and the decision of all its major coalition partners not to support the bill in the legislature.
The NRO is among the 37 ordinances about which the Supreme Court, in its July 31 verdict, had decreed that their fate should be decided by parliament within 120 days.
There are no surprises in the list as most of the prominent names had already appeared in the national press over the past few days.
Interestingly, the list provided by the minister contained the breakdown of only those withdrawn cases that pertained to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. The document is silent about the number of cases registered against other beneficiaries.
The minister said there were only 34 politicians among the NRO beneficiaries, belying the insinuation that it was the politicians who had benefited the most from the amnesty.
Mr Sindhu said President Asif Zardari enjoyed indemnity under Article 248 of the Constitution and no new or old cases could be opened against him as long as he was in the Presidency.
‘In my opinion relief once granted cannot be reversed under the law. However, the government will implement the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter in letter and in spirit.’
He recalled that two petitions challenging the NRO were already pending before the apex court.
According to Mr Sindhu, several cases in Sindh were disposed of on the recommendations of a review board that had been set up under clause 2 of the NRO.
He said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had himself admitted that most of the cases against President Zardari and PPP leaders were politically-motivated.
The two parties had agreed in the Charter of Democracy, signed by Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif in 2006, to withdraw all politically-motivated cases. He said the name of the prime minister’s wife was not there in the list.
The list showed that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had got withdrawn the highest number of cases against him – 72, including 31 on murder and 11 on attempt to murder charges.
Dr Farooq Sattar, the MQM’s parliamentary leader, occupied the second slot. A total of 23 cases were withdrawn against him, including five on charges of murder and four on attempt to murder.
The third biggest beneficiary appeared to be provincial minister Shoaib Bukhari, of the MQM, against whom 21 cases were withdrawn, including 16 on murder and attempt to murder charges.
The Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Babar Ghouri, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, Imran Farooq, Saleem Shahzad, Waseem Akhtar and former MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus are other prominent MQM leaders who benefited from the NRO.
Among the beneficiaries belonging to People’s Party were Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Mir Baz Khetran, Sindh provincial minister Agha Siraj Durrani and Senator Jehangir Badar.
Salman Farooqi, secretary-general to the president, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, were prominent in the section that had names of individuals other than politicians.
Although PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had been claiming that no member of his party had benefited from the NRO, the list showed that at least four PML-N members had got relief.
They are MNA Chaudhry Shaukat Ali, Rana Nazir Ahmed, former MNAs Chaudhry Abdul Hameed and Haji Kabir, and former MPA Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali.
Despite the official release of the list, a number of “beneficiaries” denied that they had taken any relief under the NRO.
The parliamentary leader of the MQM in the National Assembly and Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis announced that his party was ready to face all cases in courts.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan told a private TV channel that he was not an NRO beneficiary and that he would take up the matter with the prime minister.
Hussain Haqqani, the ambassador to Washington, also protested innocence. Senator Jehangir Badar, the PPP secretary-general, also contested the inclusion of his name.
The following is a list of other prominent NRO beneficiaries:
Nusrat Bhutto (PPP); Haji Nawaz Khokhar (former deputy speaker of National Assembly); Malik Mushtaq Awan (PPP); Mian Mohammad Rasheed; Tariq Anees; Anwar Saifullah Khan (MNA); Sardar Mansoor Leghari (ex-MNA); Aftab Sherpao (MNA); Habibullah Kundi (former NWFP minister); and Ahmed Sadiq (ex-principal secretary to PM).
Tags: 000 beneficiaries, 8, Benazir Bhutto, Mohammad Afzal Sindhu, Musharraf, NRO, PPP, Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Point Blank – Musharraf
Oct 19, 2009 News & Events, Pakistan, pakistan politics
Tags: Mubasher Lucman, Musharraf, Pervaiz Musharraf, Pervez Musharraf, Point Blank
Musharraf Parody: Funny
Oct 12, 2009 Pakistan, pakistan politics
A student in an educational institute plays the role of Musharraf. It is very funny and full of humor.
Musharraf interview – Frontline with Kamran Shahid – Express News TV
Sep 16, 2009 News & Events, Pakistan, pakistan politics
Musharraf interview on Frontline with Kamran Shahid on Express News TV – Sept 13, 2009
Tags: Kamran Shahid, Musharraf, Musharraf interview, Pervaiz Musharaf
71 percent Pakistani want Musharraf to pay for crimes Gallup survey
Aug 29, 2009 News & Events, pakistan politics
About 52 per cent favour harsh while 19 per cent support mild punishment to the former president, and 15 per cent favour no punishment and the remaining 14 per cent did not give a view,” says the survey launched by Gilani Research Foundation.
A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the country were asked “recently the Supreme Court has termed the enforcement of emergency on November 3, 2007 illegal”.
Some people believed Musharraf should be punished for this, while some believe he should not. When asked the punishment should be harsh, mild, or none, Majority, 52 per cent, said he (Musharraf) should be punished harshly and 19 per cent believed he should be given a mild punishment for this crime.
Fifteen per cent of the respondents did not support punishing Musharraf for enforcing emergency on November 3, 2007 while 14 per cent did not give any response. The survey findings also showed that while there are no significant differences in views on punishing Gen (retd) Musharraf across gender and age, there are notable differences across political affiliations.Those intending to vote for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the MMA, the JUI and the ANP have higher support for punishing Musharraf, above 80 per cent, followed by the PPP voters and the PML-Q voters (around 60 per cent) and the support is the lowest amongst the MQM voters at only 19 per cent.
Tags: Gallup survey, Musharraf
Musharraf Summoned To Court
Jul 23, 2009 News & Events, Pakistan, pakistan politics
Dawn ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court took an unprecedented step in the country’s judicial history on Wednesday by inviting a former military ruler to defend his extra-constitutional actions in the court.
A notice issued by a 14-judge bench hearing a case relating to two judges of the Sindh High Court asked Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf to defend his proclamation of emergency and replacing the Constitution with a provisional constitution order on Nov 3, 2007.
However, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry made it abundantly clear that the former dictator was not being summoned and it was up to him to defend himself, either by appearing in person or through a lawyer.
The notice was issued after a lot of deliberation during which three of the counsel contended there was no need to call the retired general, but the chief justice and some other judges were of the view that instead of letting the case go against him by default, the general should be given an opportunity to appear or defend his actions through a legal representative.
Three days of proceedings on a petition filed by the Sindh High Court Bar Association against non-confirmation of two SHC judges — Justice Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani and Justice Abdul Rasheed Kalwar — evoked apex court’s interest in looking into the entire gambit of issues, from revisiting the Tikka Iqbal Mohammad case of validating the Nov 3 emergency to deciding the fate of PCO judges to the amendments made to the Constitution by inserting Article 270AAA and other effects of actions taken during the emergency.
The notice was issued after Attorney General Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa refused to defend Gen (retd) Musharraf, who had on Nov 3 sent home 60 superior court judges, including three chief justices.
‘I have not received instructions from the government to defend the actions of Nov 3,’ the attorney general said, adding that the PPP government had always opposed dictatorial/repressive regimes and anti-people forces getting into the corridors of power through backdoor.
‘In terms of Rule 9 of Order XXV of the Supreme Court Rules 1980, let a notice of the instant proceedings be issued to Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf at his residential address (Chak Shahzad) in Islamabad, leaving to him to appear before the court or otherwise,’ the court order said.
Legal experts who expect a judgment that may change the course of democratic order in the country are surprised by what they say lack of interest shown by politicians in the case. They point out that no politician of stature has so far attended the exciting proceeding over the past three days.
Soon after the postponement of hearing for next Wednesday, former attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who had defended Gen (retd) Musharraf’s actions in the Tikka Iqbal Mohammad case, offered to represent Musharraf in the court, saying he would consider becoming his counsel if approached by the general.
However, he told journalists outside the court that as attorney general he was only responsible for the actions of the government and Gen Musharraf, according to him, had proclaimed the emergency in his capacity as the army chief.
The larger bench also noted that both print and electronic media had been publicising widely the court’s observations and proceedings for the past two or three days, but merely on such presumption the principle of allowing opportunity of hearing could not be presumed to have been complied with.
‘It is a cardinal principle of natural justice of universal application that no one should be condemned unheard, also recognised by this court in almost every judgment where an adverse decision is likely to come,’ Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry observed.
Referring to the cases of Malik Feroze Khan Noon, Fauji Foundation and Amanullah Khan, the order said that superior courts stayed their hands off and did not allow the benefit to the opponents of the observations made against a person who was not a party to the proceedings before the court in those cases.
No doubt, the order said, in the Asma Jillani case notice was not issued but the fact remained that the respondent government in that case had not made any categorical statement not to defend the actions of the respondent general.
Musharraf Interview | Frost over the World
May 2, 2009 News & Events
Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, talks about the future of his country, the Pakistani Taliban, relations with the US and the death of Benazir Bhutto.
Part 1
Part 2
Tags: Musharraf
