ISLAMABAD: Implementa­tion of the mobile registration system has been postponed till Jan 25 on the directive of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Techno­logy issued to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on Tuesday.

“This system is too confusing for the literate to wrap their heads around. We cannot imagine how the illiterate will understand it,” said Senator Rubina Khalid, chairperson of the parliamentary committee that met here for a briefing on the Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).

The DIRBS launched by the PTA was scheduled to come into effect from Jan 15. After the implementation of the system all unregistered mobile phones will become unusable.

Senate committee expresses shock over PTA’s move to monitor international calls

The Senate committee believed that the implementation of the system would only add to the problems of people coming from abroad. “Passengers cannot afford to be delayed at our unfriendly airports and forced to stand in queues just to register their phones,” said Senator Khalid, while directing the PTA to extend the period to register phones from 30 to 60 days for people coming to Pakistan from abroad.

The PTA had launched the DIRBS mechanism in May last year to counter the spread of substandard phones being smuggled into the country. The new registration system was developed using indigenous technology with the goal to curtail the sale and use of counterfeit, substandard mobile phones.

While the Senate committee had directed the PTA in October as well to postpone the implementation of the phone registration system, the authority announced that it would still go ahead with the mobile registration system from Dec 1.

The Senate committee members on Tuesday took strong notice of the matter and asked why the PTA had implemented DIRBS despite its directive to postpone it until the members fully understood its functioning.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Shaikh, who had warned in previous meetings that he would ask the Supreme Court to take suo motu action on the issue if the registration deadline was not extended, proposed to the committee to hold relevant officials accountable for going ahead with the implementation plan despite Senate committee’s directive.

Senator Shaikh believed that the system favoured the telecom industry more than consumers.

While PTA Chairman Mohammad Naveed said that the mobile registration system would be fully functional after Jan 15, the chairperson of the Senate committee insisted that its implementation be postponed for another 10 days to ensure that consumers did not have to suffer and mechanism was made simple.

Monitoring mechanism

The parliamentary committee also expressed displeasure over the grant of permission by the PTA to mobile phone operators for installation of a mechanism to monitor international calls.

“This news has shocked us that international calls will be monitored. Who will monitor the calls and who will have access to such data is a matter of concern and possible threat to national security,” said Senator Khalid.

While a representative from the cellular phone industry informed the committee that the new monitoring system was being placed under a licence agreement signed with the PTA to check incoming international calls through illegal channels, also known as grey traffic, the senators directed the PTA to look into the matter and demanded a separate briefing on the issue.

PTA Chairman Naveed informed the Senate committee that the security agencies were on board and assessing the feasibility of the new monitoring mechanism.

Pension

The IT ministry informed the Senate committee that it could not pay the colossal Rs39 billion pension to 40,000 retired employees of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) upfront. There are roughly 5,000 widows among the pensioners. “We are moving in the right direction by trying to figure out a way to pay the pensioners,” said IT Secretary Maroof Afzal while briefing the Senate standing committee.

The federal IT minister believed that the 20 per cent increase in pensions announced by the then PPP government eight years ago had been passed on to the new government. “Nonetheless, we have written to the prime minister to look into the matter on compassionate grounds,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Internat­ional Airlines (PIA) will submit a five-year ‘Strategic Business Plan 2019-2023’ to the government by March.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik said the plan, currently being developed, consists of cost-cutting and revenue generation through detailed analysis of the market, right sizing operations, work centre, flights and routes for the revival of the national carrier.

PIA’s financial restructuring will be carried out through government support and at the same time the current fleet will be reviewed and purchase of new aircrafts will be decided, he said.

Explaining PIA’s financial health, he said the current operational losses are at Rs3 billion per month but this bleeding would be successfully plugged. The accumulated losses have risen to Rs431.1bn, while loans/borrowings have touched Rs247.7bn.

The government will announce a new aviation policy in February to boost PIA’s business, he said. Prime Minister Imran Khan has assigned the task of drafting a new aviation policy to Privatisation Minister Mohammad Mian Soomro and the Secretary Aviation.

The Open Skies policy of the previous governments brought losses to the national carrier, Mr Malik said. The government has already decided in principle to end the open skies policy.

“PIA’s 550 weekly international flights were brought down to 101 flights. Foreign carriers took away the business from 101 flights per week to 555 flights per week. These airlines are supported by their respective governments, particularly the Gulf carriers which get fuel subsidy whereas PIA does not get any subsidy. How can PIA compete with other airlines in the market,” he questioned.

He claimed to have taken “bold steps” for cost cutting. Duration of flights to Europe will now be reduced by an hour as a result of flying over the territories of Iran and Turkmenistan. Previously, all Europe-bound PIA flights avoided flying over these two countries just to avoid payment of fee to the civil aviation agencies of Iran and Turkmenistan, resulting in extra consumption of fuel. However, the matter has been resolved with the intervention of Army and PAF chiefs, he said.

On route economics, Mr Malik said PIA is under compulsion to operate flights to Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur and Saidu Sharif routes whether or not these routes make a profit. “The annual loss on operating flights on socio-economic routes amounts to Rs452 million,” he said.

Sharing details, Mr Malik said that in addition to the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, there are another 23 properties owned by PIA in Tashkent, Tehran, New Delhi, Bombay, New York, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

“These properties have been abandoned and virtually forgotten,” he said. “Assistance of the Foreign Office has been sought to engage ambassadors in these cities to evaluate these properties. Either these properties would be disposed off or will continue as source of income,” the CEO added.

At the press conference, the CEO said that flights on seven international routes have been stopped since these were costing Rs500m to the airline. “PIA had been facing losses on these routes for a long period,” he said. Citing the example of Islamabad-Beij­ing-Tokyo-Beijing-Islamabad route, he said an aircraft would be blocked for five days, with resting of crew members for equal number of days. Moreover, on the Tokyo-Beijing flight, PIA was allowed to pick only 80 passengers on a 350-seat aircraft, he added.

As part of cost-saving operations, PIA has now introduced five new international routes including Islamabad-Doha-Isla­mabad, Karachi-Jeddah-Karachi, Multan-Muscat-Multan, Sialkot-Sharjah-Sialkot, Peshawar-Al Ain-Peshawar and Lahore-Bang­kok-Kuala Lumpur-Karachi.

“In these routes, PIA is getting 95pc seat occupancy. Aircraft from loss-making routes have been shifted to profitable ones.”

On the occasion, the privatisation minister announced that PIA will start Peshawar-Kuala Lumpur flights from April.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Senior US official Lisa Curtis on Tuesday opened her visit to Pakistan with meetings amidst reports that the process of engagement with the Taliban for restarting the Afghan peace process had stalled.

US Special Envoy for Afghan Peace and Reconciliation Amb Zalmay Khalilzad, who too was due in Islamabad, could not reach here because of changes in his itinerary. Amb Khalilzad in his latest trip to the region has faced several unexpected changes. He is currently in Afghanistan.

“His schedule has been fluid all week,” a diplomatic source said, adding that the special envoy was likely to visit Islamabad in the next few days.

No details about Ms Curtis’ meetings were publicly available. She is believed to be here to push for resumption of engagement with the Taliban in addition to certain bilateral issues.

Senior US official Lisa Curtis arrives in Islamabad for meetings

Pakistan last month facilitated a meeting between the US special envoy and Taliban representatives in Abu Dhabi. UAE and Saudi officials attended the meeting as observers. It was agreed at the Abu Dhabi meeting that the process would continue and another meeting would be convened, but no date and venue for the next interaction has been set so far.

A diplomatic source said: “The Taliban are refusing to talk to the Afghan government. The US wants Pakistan to pressure Pakistan-based Taliban leadership to accept direct negotiations with the Afghan government.” The Pakistani government, he further said, was insisting that it had little control over the Taliban.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, meanwhile, talking to president of the East-West Institute and former US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said: “Pakistan fully supports a political settlement in Afghanistan which is the only viable option to end this conflict.”

Mr Khan emphasised the need for ensuring regional security so that economic progress could take place.

Mr Munter said he continued to advocate strong relationship between Islamabad and Washington as Pakistan was an important country of the region and critical to US national security objectives.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2019

HARIPUR: A schoolteacher secured bail from a local court to prevent arrest by the police in a corporal punishment case.

The development comes as the police registered a criminal case under Section 34 of the KP Child Protection Welfare Act, 2010, against teacher Ahmad Shahzad for beating up a 10th grader in Khanpur tehsil here.

Mushtaq Ahmad of Khanpur told the police that his son, Faizan Ali, was enrolled in Tameer-i-Millat Public School, whose administration informed him on Tuesday about the son’s hospitalisation after fainting on campus. He added that he found his son to be unconsciousness in the hospital with marks of torture visible on body.

The complaint said his son was later referred to the District Headquarters Hospital, where he regained consciousness and disclosed that he’d collapsed after teacher Ahmad Shahzad repeatedly hit his head with a bamboo stick over a minor mistake.

SMUGGLING BID FOILED: The Khanpur police on Tuesday claimed to have foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs to Khanpur area and arrested a man.

SHO of Khanpur police station Ejaz Khan said on a tip-off, he stopped a car near Sultanpur village and seized 2,000 grammes of charas and thee containers full of locally-made liquor during the search of the car’s hidden cavities. He said the police registered a case against the suspected drug pusher, Mohammad Yasir of Mohra Ghazan village.

FIVE INJURED IN ACCIDENT: At least five passengers, including three women, were injured when their van hit a motorcycle head-on near Sera-i-Saleh area here on Tuesday.

The police and witnesses said a van bound for Rehana village carried women, who were returning after attending a marriage ceremony in Haripur city.

The accident injured van passengers Zeenat Bibi, Fakhri Bibi and Zubaiba and motorcyclists Ahsan Javed andAmmad Ahmad.

The rescuers shifted the injured to the DHQ Hospital, whose doctors referred Ahsan Javed to the Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad, due to critical condition. The rest remained under treatment at the DHQ.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2019

Lahore-based transgender rights activist Hina Shahzadi on Wednesday moved a sessions court against the harassment and torture of the transgender community in the city as members of the community also staged a silent protest against mistreatment.

Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Bashir Ahmed Nasir and Station House Officer Mohammad Javed of Misri Shah Police Station were made a party in the petition which sought protection for members of the transgender community in Lahore.

Take a look: Footprints: Hoping for a new lease on life

Shahzadi contended that trans people are teased and subjected to torture without any reason. She alleged that a prime suspect, along with others, subjected trans people to sexual harassment and torture.

The petitioner also said that members of the community often receive death threats. Shahzadi asked the court to provide security to trans people and order action against Goli Butt.

The sessions court has received the petition, which is yet to be marked to a judge for hearing.

Last year, the National Assembly passed the landmark Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2017. The law enables trans people to be recognised as they perceive themselves and register with the government institutions as transgenders.

It also provides them basic rights such as obtaining driver's licences and passports. The bill was presented by PPP lawmaker Naveed Qamar. It was unanimously approved by Senate in March 2018.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Sindh government's request for ownership of three major Karachi hospitals, and wrapped up a dispute between the provincial government and the Centre over the control of the hospitals.

The Sindh government had approached the Supreme Court with the claim that since the subject of health had been devolved to provinces under the 18th Amendment, the management of the hospitals ─ namely the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College (JPMC), National Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases (NICVD) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) ─ should rest with it.

A five-member bench headed by the chief justice had taken up a set of appeals by the Sindh government against the July 4, 2016 verdict of the Sindh High Court, declaring that these institutions fell within the scope of the Entry 16 of the federal legislative list and, therefore, within the exclusive federal domain.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar who was heading the three-judge bench hearing the case read out the verdict in court today. The reasons behind the ruling would be listed in a detailed judgement later.

The court in its verdict rejected the Sindh government's request and said that control of all three hospitals would remain with the Centre.

The Lahore High Court on Wednesday gave Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz one-time permission to leave the country for a period of 10 days.

Hamza along with his father Shahbaz Sharif and brother Salman Shahbaz is facing multiple National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiries, including those into Ramzan Sugar Mills road construction and assets beyond means.

The MPA had on Tuesday petitioned the court through Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar that the interior ministry had placed his name on the exit control list arbitrarily as no opportunity of hearing had been afforded to him before the impugned action.

The opposition leader had stated that he on Nov 27, 2018, intended to travel abroad to see his ailing wife, undergoing medical treatment in the United Kingdom. However, he said, he was informed by the authorities that his name had been included in the list on NAB's advice.

He pleaded that the right to travel and free movement was guaranteed under the Constitution, however, the impugned memorandum issued by the interior ministry was in utter violation of his fundamental rights.

The MPA contended that a bare perusal of the ministry’s memorandum showed that it had been issued in an unfair exercise of executive powers and failed to give any valid reason. He further pleaded that the act of placing his name on the ECL was in violation of Articles 2-A, 4, 9, 15, and 25 of the Constitution.

The petitioner asked the court to set aside the impugned memorandum for being unlawful and order the ministry to remove his name from the ECL. As an immediate relief, he urged the court to suspend the memorandum and grant him one-time permission to travel abroad till a final decision on the petition.

"I am the representative of the people of the largest province and have been taking regular part in all the NAB inquiries [against myself]. However, pending NAB cases have been made the reason for the inclusion of my name in the ECL," the petitioner argued.

Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan took up the petition in court today and allowed Hamza to leave the country once for a 10-day span.

"I belong to a political family and my name has been placed ECL dishonestly," he claimed.

"Does being a public representative mean that a person enjoys complete freedom?" retorted Additional Attorney General Ashfaq A Khan, who represented the federal government in court.

"These courts are based on the premise that the law is equal for all citizens," Justice Irfan said.

The additional attorney general said that a high court judgement itself had laid down the rules for the restriction of movement for any citizen.

"If someone has caused monetary losses to the national exchequer they can be stopped from leaving the country," the advocate general told the court.

"Remember, those who are in the government today may be sitting in the opposition tomorrow," the judge said during the hearing, adding that the chief justice and SC judges are unhappy with the way NAB is conducting itself.

"Is the country going to be run by NAB? Should the courts and the parliament stop functioning?" Justice Irfan wondered.

The interior ministry, passport and immigration personnel, and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were made respondents in the petition, and the court issued the interior ministry a notice seeking its reply in the matter.

The additional attorney general pointed out that the respondents of the petition are currently in Islamabad, which is why the case cannot be heard currently.

British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, a day after Parliament rejected her Brexit deal by an historic margin.

May is battling to save her job after staking her political reputation on a last-ditch effort to win support for the divorce agreement she negotiated with the European Union.

Though defeat was widely expected, the scale of the rout — 432-202 — was devastating for May’s leadership.

Immediately after the vote, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a no-confidence motion, saying it will give Parliament a chance to give its verdict “on the sheer incompetence of this government.”

Still, most analysts predict May will survive because lawmakers from her Conservative Party are unlikely to vote against her, and the Democratic Unionist Party, which supports the government, has said it will continue to back the prime minister. If the government were to lose, it would have 14 days to overturn the result or face a national election.

After the biggest defeat for any British government since the 1920s, May promised to consult with senior lawmakers on future moves, but gave little indication of what she plans to do next. Parliament has given the government until Monday to come up with a new plan for leaving the EU.

“The House has spoken and the government will listen,” May said after the vote, which leaves her Brexit plan on life support just 10 weeks before Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued its detailed judgement regarding the rejection of a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeal against the Islamabad High Court decision to suspend the prison sentences awarded to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz in the Avenfield corruption reference.

A five-member larger bench of the SC had on Monday thrown out the accountability watchdog's appeal challenging the September 19, 2018, IHC order under which Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law retired captain Mohammad Safdar were granted bail after suspension of their jail terms.

The five-page SC written judgement, penned by Chief Justice-designate Asif Saeed Khosa, while detailing the reasons for dismissal of NAB's appeal has pointed out several flaws in the IHC judgement for suspension of the Sharifs' sentences.

The verdict notes that "instead of adhering to the guidelines issued and recommendations made" by the SC in an earlier case regarding shorter formats of orders to be passed in matters of bail, the high court had issued a 41-page judgement while deciding the Sharif's bail petitions.

According to the judgement, it is a settled principle of law that while deciding an application for bail or the suspension of sentence, the merits of the case are not commented upon in detail. However, the IHC in its impugned judgement "had not only undertaken a detailed assessment of the merits of the case but had also recorded some categorical conclusions regarding the same".

Besides, the Sharifs' writ petitions for suspension of their sentences were taken up at a time when their main appeals challenging the accountability court's verdict in the Avenfield case had already been fixed for hearing. This is in contrast to judicial norms, the judgement said, because sentences are usually suspended considering that a convict "may not be kept in custody till his appeal is fixed for hearing".

Citing previous cases, the written verdict says that the SC has clarified that in cases under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 a high court may exercise its constitutional jurisdiction to grant bail "only in extraordinary circumstances and in cases of extreme hardship". But in the cases concerning the Sharifs, "no such extraordinary circumstance or hardship had been referred to" by the IHC in its judgement.

Additionally, the judgement says that by adverting to some deficiencies in the evidence that led to the Sharif's conviction under Section 9(a)(v) of NAO 1999, the high court had failed to consider that conclusions in that regard at the bail stage were "premature" as additional evidence could have been adduced or procured during the pendency of their appeals.

"Despite the above-mentioned deficiencies found by us in the impugned judgments," the verdict reads, "we are cognisant of the legal position that considerations for grant of bail and those for its cancellation are entirely different".

Detailing reasons for the dismissal of NAB's appeal, the SC judgement noted that the bureau had not levelled any allegations of misuse or abuse of the concession of bail by the Sharifs.

In addition, one of the three respondents (Nawaz Sharif) is already in jail after being convicted in another case; a second respondent (Maryam) is a woman and "the law envisages concession for her in the matter of bail"; and the prison sentenced awarded by the trial court to the third respondent (Safdar) was quite short.

In these "peculiar circumstances", the SC bench did not feel persuaded to interfere with the jurisdiction exercised by the IHC in deciding the bail applications. NAB's appeal was thus dismissed.

On July 6, 2018, Judge Mohammad Bashir of the accountability court while deciding the Avenfield apartments reference had awarded 10-year imprisonment to Nawaz Sharif, seven years to his daughter Maryam and one year to his son-in-law Safdar.

Two months later, a division bench of the IHC had accepted their petitions seeking suspension of the sentence and set them free on Sept 19. The judgement was subsequently challenged in the apex court by NAB.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday suspended the memberships of 332 members of the parliament and provincial assemblies for failing to submit details of their assets, according to a notification issued by the commission.

The suspended lawmakers include Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, National Health Services Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Housing Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema PML-N's Ahsan Iqbal and BNP-M's Akhtar Mengal.

No salary or benefits shall be accrued by the suspended lawmakers, beginning January 16, until the submission of the statements of assets and liabilities, DawnNewsTV reported.

As per the ECP notification, 72 members of the National Assembly and 20 members of the Senate now stand suspended. It further states that the statement of assets and liabilities of 115 members of the Punjab Assembly, 52 members of the Sindh Assembly, 54 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 19 members of the Balochistan Assembly is also awaited.

The ECP in its notification said that the Elections Act 2017 requires that "every Member of an Assembly and Senate shall submit to the Commission, on or before 31st December each year, a copy of his statement of assets and liabilities including assets and liabilities of his spouse and dependent children".

Those who have failed to submit the details "shall cease to function as members with immediate effect till such statements are submitted by them", the ECP has informed the suspended lawmakers.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's official spokesperson Nadeem Afzal Gondal has also been appointed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Coordination, it emerged on Wednesday.

A notification dated Jan 15 issued by the Cabinet Division states that Gondal's appointment "shall be in honorary capacity" and with immediate effect.

Read more: A politician finds his lost voice

Gondal, a former PPP leader and a political heavyweight, had joined the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf last year. He was appointed as the prime minister's official spokesperson yesterday ─ a move that came as a surprise because he is a newcomer to the party and there are several senior PTI leaders who could have been considered potentials for the slot but were not.

The prime minister's hefty media team already comprised Iftikhar Durrani, the PM’s Special Assistant on Media with the status of a minister of state; Yousuf Baig Mirza, the PM’s Special Assistant on Media Affairs; Muhammad Sarfaraz, a deputy secretary and head of the PM’s official media cell; and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, the government spokesman.

However, despite the presence of these heavyweights, prime minister Khan has in the past tended not to rely on them and expressed his views directly through tweets.

Read more: Gondal appointed prime minister's spokesperson

A source in the Prime Minister's Office said that Gondal would be working as the premier's spokesman on an honorary basis without a salary or other perks.

Gondal, also known as Nadeem Afzal Chan, joined the PTI in April last year, shortly before the July 25 general elections.

Before this, he was counted as one of the main leaders of the PPP in Punjab and was fairly vocal in the media in defending the policies of his party, presently in opposition.

He served as the chairman of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee for nearly a year, from April 25, 2012, to March 16, 2013.

He began his political career as a tehsil nazim from Malakwal in 2001. Subsequently, he was elected MNA from NA-64 (Sargodha-I) as a PPP candidate in the 2008 general election. During the next election, in 2013, he contested again from the same constituency and platform, but was defeated by Muhammad Aminul Hasnat Shah.

In October 2017, he resigned from the post of PPP Punjab secretary general, going on to quit the party itself in April 2018, and joined the PTI.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa — who will take oath as the next chief justice of Pakistan on Friday — while hearing a case regarding lawyers' strikes observed that judges are waiting to dispense justice but lawyers have "stopped working".

District judiciary lawyers in Islamabad have been on strike since December 2018 over the issue of rotation of judges of the sessions court. They are demanding rotation i.e. transfer of the judges of the lower courts to the subordinate judiciary of four provincial high courts and posting of judges from these high courts to Islamabad on deputation.

The government has proposed that instead of posting judges to other provinces, they may be transferred to federal government departments and ministries in Islamabad. But the Islamabad Bar Association president deems the proposal unacceptable since a well-connected judge may rejoin the district judiciary any time after his posting in any government department. He said that the lawyers would continue their strike till their demand for rotation of judges was accepted.

Justice Khosa while hearing the case on Wednesday remarked: "It is the lawyers that have stopped working; judges [in the district sessions courts of Islamabad] are sitting there waiting for people to come to them so that they dispense justice."

The to-be top judge said he had read in a newspaper that the strike takes place every Tuesday and Friday. "Two other days are already off," he noted.

Justice Khosa subsequently referred the matter to the Islamabad High Court.

According to recent data issued by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP), there is a backlog of 38,291 cases and, on average, over 1,000 cases are added to this pendency every month.

In a major development, the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) on Wednesday announced it has temporarily ended its protest camp after nearly 10 years following assurances from the Balochistan government regarding the recovery of missing persons hailing from the province.

The protest camp set up outside the Quetta Press Club has been suspended after 3,464 days for a period of two months on the assurance of Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani and his cabinet members, VBMP chairman Nasrullah Baloch told a news conference in the provincial capital today.

"We have taken the issue of missing persons seriously and are committed to sort this problem out," Alyani said at the press conference held at the Chief Minister's Secretariat. Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zia Langove, VBMP vice chairman Mama Qadeer and others were also present on the occasion.

Editorial: Little progress on missing persons

The chief minister said they had "sought two months" time from the protesters, and reiterated his government's sincerity to resolve the issue of missing persons.

He claimed that some political parties had made the missing persons issue a part of their political agenda. "We will speak to all the stakeholders to ensure the safe recovery of missing persons," he promised.

VBMP chairman Baloch revealed that more than 250 missing persons have returned to their homes since the new government took office in Balochistan last year.

Mama Qadeer said 11 missing persons had recently returned home in Balochistan after VBMP established contact with the provincial government. Qadeer cautioned, however, that the protest camp would be resumed if the government failed to recover the missing persons as promised.

Read: Enforced disappearance a heinous offence: Islamabad High Court

He also demanded that the issue of recovery of mutilated bodies in the province "must end once and for all".

The VBMP had set up its protest and hunger strike camp in 2009 in the aftermath of unrest in Balochistan to mount pressure on the authorities to ensure the safe recovery of missing Baloch political workers.

The Pakistan Internat­ional Airlines (PIA) has decided to welcome passengers on board with the Qaseeda Burda Sharif playing in the background, instead of soft music.

A rendition of the Qaseeda Burda Sharif, a popular Islamic hymn, will be played while passengers board PIA airplanes for all domestic and international flights, PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar told Dawn.com on Wednesday.

The hymn will also be played during taxiing — but only on flights heading to the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Madina.

The PIA spokesperson denied reports that the national flag-carrier had banned all sorts of music on its flights, saying passengers will have access to the inflight entertainment system available on the aircraft.

PIA flights traditionally also commence with a recitation of the Islamic prayer said at the start of a journey.

A day after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for what he implied was leniency on part of the watchdog, the bureau clarified on Wednesday that it would never arrest anyone merely at the whim of a minister.

On Tuesday, the minister had told reporters at the residence of PTI’s Haleem Adil Shaikh in Karachi that he was surprised as to why NAB was not arresting Asif Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah despite the fact that their names had appeared in the joint investigation team (JIT) report as “key suspects”.

Take a look: NAB chairman should appear before parliament, demands Zardari

“It’s quite unfortunate that the performance of NAB is not satisfactory and moving at a slow pace,” he had said, adding that, “Zardari and Faryal Talpur have held the people of Sindh hostage while Murad Ali Shah facilitated all their wrongdoings despite holding a key office in the province and all this is documented in the JIT report. Despite all these facts [they] have not been arrested yet, which is quite surprising.”

NAB in today's press release rejected the impression that it was moving at a slow pace. In a statement, the watchdog said it has so far not received written orders from the Supreme Court in this regard and that it will devise its strategy as per the apex court's orders.

Moreover, the bureau announced it has decided to write to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to acquire content of news items pertaining to the "statements of a minister regarding a case being followed by NAB".

The watchdog was referring to Fawad Chaudhry as he had said on multiple occasions that NAB should withdraw the case against Prime Minister Imran Khan and that it should also apologise in this regard.

The statement read that NAB would examine the entire issue as to why it was being asked to shut and withdraw the case. The anti-corruption watchdog will also examine the issue under the NAB law if the statements were tantamount to attempts to manipulate NAB proceedings, it added.

"NAB rejects all types of pressures and assures that all investigations are carried out as per the law and the Constitution to uphold the requisites of justice," the statement read.

A Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) delegation on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at PM House in Islamabad to discuss issues pertaining to their coalition in the Centre.

The meeting came in the backdrop of rising tensions between the PTI-led coalition government and the opposition.

The PPP and the PML-N were reportedly forming an alliance in order to give 'tough time' to the incumbent government.

In wake of the rising tension between the government and the major opposition parties, the PTI’s coalition partners were pushing the ruling party to fulfil the promises made at the time of forming the coalition.

The MQM delegation talked about the challenges faced by people living in the megacities in Sindh. The premier responded by saying that he was aware of aware of the challenges faced by the people of Sindh. "The federal government will play its role to resolve these problems," he said.

It was decided during the meeting that a committee will be constituted under the chairmanship of Sindh Governor Imran Ismail to strengthen the coordination between the two parties in connection with development projects on the provincial level.

The two sides also decided that obstacles in the restoration of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) will be removed on a priority basis. It was also decided that the premier will lay the foundation stone of a university in Hyderabad.

Besides the Minister for Information Technology Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Minister for Law and Justice Dr Farogh Naseem and MNA Syed Ameenul Haq, the meeting was also attended by Minister for Finance Asad Umar, Special Assistant to PM Naeemul Haq and MNA Malik Mohammad Amir Dogar.

On Monday, Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) leader Sanaullah Baloch said his party had decided to review its relations with the ruling PTI government in Islamabad following the by-election on a Senate seat in Balochistan.

On Tuesday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry visited the temporary headquarters of the MQM in Bahadurabad, where he discussed implementation on several decisions made between the two coalition partners a few months ago.

On the occasion, the federal minister had brushed aside the impression of any dispute or disagreement between the two sides. The minister had told reporters, “In today’s meeting, we have discussed and reviewed the memorandum of understanding which we signed at the time of formation of the government. Several points of the MoU have already been executed while others will also meet the same fate soon.”

Earlier in the same meeting, MQM's deputy convener Kanwar Naveed Jameel reminded the federal minister of promises of funds from the Centre for a public university in Hyderabad and other development schemes in urban Sindh.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday regretted that the government had shown haste in placing the names of 172 people — who were named in an investigation report in a case pertaining to fake accounts — on the Exit Control List (ECL).

"We showed haste in placing the names on the ECL," the foreign minister said. "The government does not want to do anything in a rush now."

Qureshi was responding to criticism from the PPP over the "government's failure" to act upon the Supreme Court's directives to remove the names of the people from the ECL. During today's National Assembly sitting, the PPP protested over the delay by the government to take the names off ECL despite a Supreme Court order in this regard.

On the recommendations of the joint investigation team (JIT) tasked with probing the case, the federal cabinet had in its meeting on December 27 last year decided to place the names of 172 individuals on the ECL, including Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Murad Ali Shah, Farooq H. Naek and several other leaders and provincial ministers belonging to the PPP.

Last week, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had grilled the state prosecutor over why the government had decided to place names of Bilawal and Sindh CM on the no-fly list based on JIT's recommendation, ordering the federal cabinet to reconsider its “hasty decision”.

"How long will this government commit contempt of court?" asked PPP leader Shazia Marri in today's session.

Attempting to placate the opposition party, Qureshi said that the matter was discussed in a federal cabinet meeting and the government had decided to wait until the detailed verdict is released. According to Qureshi, the top court had ordered the government to consider the removal of travel ban, not to take the names off the list immediately.

"The government has not refused to remove the names from the ECL; it has only sought time," he insisted.

PPP MNA Naveed Qamar pointed out that Chief Justice Nisar — who is heading the bench hearing the suo motu case regarding a delay into a 2015 probe into money laundering via fake bank accounts — was retiring on Jan 17, questioning if the government was waiting for him to leave office.

The foreign minister assured the lawmaker that the government "has great respect for the chief justice and his orders will be implemented even after his retirement".

PPP leaders accused the government of "using the ECL as a tool for political victimisation".

"Names of PTI members are removed from the ECL within 24 hours," Qamar claimed, adding that Liaquat Jatoi, a PTI leader, was also placed on the no-fly list; however, he was travelling with "impunity".

Qamar and Yousuf Talpur, another PPP MNA, demanded that the attorney general be summoned to the parliament to give his view on the matter.

Qureshi urged the opposition to "show patience" on the matter.

PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also backed PPP, saying that if the PML-N believed the government's motive behind placing Bilawal's name on the ECL was to serve democracy, it would have supported the move.

"Bilawal has never been in the government," the former premier pointed out. "The government should have removed his name from the ECL to show generosity, without waiting for written orders."

'No justification for extrajudicial killings'

Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar raised the issue of enforced disappearances in the assembly, saying that a young man, who had allegedly been picked up from North Waziristan, was found dead.

"Does the state have the power to provide justice to the family of the murdered man?" he asked.

He regretted that former Malir SSP Rao Anwar — accused of killing four innocent men in a fake encounter — had been "set free" by the court.

Mohsin also demanded to know if the joint investigation team, formed to probe police officer Tahir Dawar's brutal murder in November last year, had made any progress.

He seconded Abbasi's demand that Bilawal's name be removed from the ECL, adding that a 'black list' was also maintained which had no legal status.

Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said that the government was working on the issue of enforced disappearances and hoped that the opposition will support the legislation in this regard.

She said Shehryar Afridi, the state minister for interior, should brief the parliament on the developments in Tahir Dawar's murder investigation, adding: "We also want to know about [the progress in investigation]."

"Government is trying to rectify the issue of maintaining a black list as there is no logic behind it, the minister said.

She agreed that Rao Anwar should be punished for his crimes. "The government should look into this matter; at how he [Anwar] is enjoying privileges," she stated.

After his arrest in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case, the former SSP was confined for a few months to his home, declared a sub-jail, but subsequently granted bail by an anti-terrorism court in July last year.

KARACHI: In less than six months of its existence, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government seems to be moving towards being mired in numbers game as one of its key supporters in the parliament, the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), has hinted at parting ways with the ruling party while complaining of its “non-seriousness” over the points both sides agreed when their partnership began.

Though BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal assured that no anti-government move would come from his party, he sounded impressed with the fresh political development in the country when the opposition parties agreed on formation of a committee to finalise a joint strategy to give tough time to the government, saying such moves “always bring political stability in Pakistan.”

“Let me make it very clear that we are not part of the government,” he said while responding to questions by reporters outside his DHA residence before a meeting of his party’s central executive committee. “We have provided them support while sitting on independent benches. We support their every positive move and oppose negative ones. But the fact is that we have not witnessed seriousness at the government’s end over our agreed points, which convinces us to review our strategy.”

PTI is non-serious over mutually agreed agenda, says Mengal

Sharing his experiences with the PTI government and Prime Minister Imran Khan, Mr Mengal said that after every meeting between the two sides, a committee was formed “for nothing,” which only suggested another meeting leaving the real issues stagnant at the same level where they were some six months ago.

“We agreed on the six-point agenda at the time of the presidential elections and earlier after the general elections we developed consensus on nine points. But unfortunately, not one of these points has been taken up. I think there is sheer lack of seriousness [on part of the PTI] and unfortunately there’s no change in its attitude despite several reminders,” the BNP-M leader said.

Days after the PTI secured majority in the July 25 elections, it reached an agreement with the BNP-M and the two parties signed a six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) after a marathon session between Mr Mengal and Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Under the MoU signed by Mr Mengal and Mr Qureshi, the BNP-M — having four seats in the National Assembly — had supported the PTI candidates for the office of prime minister and speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

However, cracks started emerging in the parliamentary partnership within a couple of months and Mr Mengal on record warned the PTI leadership that his party could withdraw its support for the federal government if the ruling party continued ignoring it while taking decisions about Balochistan. The warning, it appears, has now turned into action from Mr Mengal who is mulling it over before making a key decision about his party’s future strategy in the parliament while acknowledging the alliance of the opposition parties.

“We are not going to make any move against the government and if they review their strategy we would continue to support it,” he replied to a question about possible role of his party, after withdrawing support for the government, in the opposition alliance that had emerged recently. “The meeting of [Pakistan Peoples’ Party leader] Asif Zardari and [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief] Shahbaz Sharif is a good omen. The political forces always move together for strong democracy despite differences. I think it would bring political stability in the country.”

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday sought the opposition’s support on the ‘mini-budget’ to be announced on Jan 23.

In this regard, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser facilitated two meetings between the government and opposition in which the issues of the mini-budget and formation of committees of the National Assembly were discussed.

Meanwhile, some TV channels reported that the government has also sought support of the opposition on the issue of extension of military courts, whose two-year term is set to expire on March 30.

Speaker facilitates two meetings between the two sides which also discussed formation of house committees

In the morning, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Ayaz Sadiq and Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Khursheed Shah and Naveed Qamar met in the speaker’s chamber.

Later, the speaker hosted a dinner in which the opposition was asked to support the mini-budget. Finance Minister Asad Umar, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, Ghulam Mustafa Shah of the PPP and Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N also attended the dinner.

Sources told Dawn that Speaker Qaiser urged the opposition to help him in running the house smoothly and avoid agitation and protest so that the legislation work could be done.

Meanwhile, the speaker announced 93 friendship committees to liaise with different countries on parliamentary affairs. The PML-N will head 17 committees and the PPP 14.

Mr Qaiser also announced formation of a 20-member committee on National Assembly’s five-year strategic plans and legislation business. Opposition parties will also get representation in this committee.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held the system of jirgas and panchayats in violation of Pakistan’s international commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

These commitments placed a responsibility on Pakistan to ensure that everyone had access to courts or tribunals and is treated equally before the law, a verdict authored by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said.

The decision came on a petition moved by the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) as well as the government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The genesis of the issue raised in the case lies in the reality that in today’s age, informal custom-driven parallel legal systems in the form of ‘council of elders’ or ‘kangaroo courts’ exist in tribal areas, particularly in the north of KP and in some rural areas of KP, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

The NCSW, through its petition, had sought a declaration from the Supreme Court on the legality of jirgas/panchayats prevalent in the country, thereby challenging their operation as adjudicating bodies awarding judgements, executing punishments and deciding family, civil, criminal and other disputes.

A key question arising from the petition was whether to the extent that these informal village or tribal gatherings acted as courts in the form of jirgas or panchayats, they were illegal under the law in place read with international commitments made by Pakistan under various treaties/conventions.

National Commission on Status of Women had sought a declaration on the legality of jirgas, panchayats prevalent in the country

In response, the verdict held that the manner in which jirgas or panchayats functioned in the country was violative of Articles 4, 8, 10-A, 25 and 175(3) of the Constitution and explained that this practice of parallel judicial system did not fall under the constitution or any other law, because this system attempted to adjudicate on civil or criminal matters.

But jirgas or panchayats could operate within the permissible limits of the law to the extent of arbitration, mediation, negotiation or reconciliation forums between parties involved in a civil dispute who willingly consented to the same, the judgment said.

The verdict also declared as illegal and against the spirit of the constitution any order, decision or a directive issued by any such individual or group of persons, since no individual or persons in the name of a jirga/panchayat or under any other name could assume the jurisdiction of a civil or criminal court without any lawful authority.

The judgment also provided guidelines by holding that the law-enforcement agencies all over Pakistan were duty-bound to be vigilant and ensure that if any crime had gone unreported, they of their own accord filed FIR(s) with regard to the same and initiated the process of investigation, the verdict said.

If as a consequence of any illegal decision, order, directive or inducement of such self-appointed adjudicatory bodies any crime was committed, the offender as well as the individual or group of persons involved in aiding such jirga/panchayat shall be jointly held responsible for the offence and must be proceeded against in accordance with the law, the judgement said.

Moreover the police must ensure compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) which should be introduced by them within two months from the date of announcement of this judgement which should be circulated throughout the country with a compliance report to be submitted to the Supreme Court at the end of the two-month period.

The judgement also highlighted that after the 25th Amendment, there was no rationale on which the people of Fata could be distinguished from the people of the rest of the province of KP and thus the application of Fata Interim Regulation to one part of KP while the rest of the province enjoyed the protection of the provincial laws was absolutely unjustified, grossly discriminatory and in contravention of the fundamental right to equal protection.

On grounds of discrimination which cannot be justified under any reasonable classification and the law, the Fata Interim Regulation is declared as ultra vires on the touchstone of Articles 4, 8, 25, 175 and 203 of the Constitution.

The judgement also asked the KP government to develop infrastructure for taking steps in six months from the date of announcement of this judgement for a uniform system of courts of ordinary jurisdiction in KP, mandating the local law-enforcement agencies to ensure that the rule of law was observed by reducing jirgas/panchayats to arbitration forums which might be approached voluntarily by local residents to the extent of civil disputes only.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2019