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Baloch Long March Advances

The Baloch Long March is being orgainsed by the Baloch people who have called for an end to state terrorism and massacres in Balochistan….reports Asian Lite News

The Balochistan Yakjehti Committee’s extensive march protesting the alleged Balochi genocide has departed from Dera Ghazi Khan and is presently on its way to Taunsa Sharif.

The Balochistan Yakjehti committee shared images and videos of people taking part in the ongoing long march en route to Taunsa Sharif.

While sharing the videos and images on X, the Balochistan Yakjehti Committee wrote, “The caravan of the ongoing long march against the Baloch genocide has left Dera Ghazi Khan, the next stop will be Taunsa Sharif!

Mehrang Baloch, a political worker, said that their long march has left from Dera Ghazi Khan. She urged people of Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa and Dera Ismail Khan to participate in the march.

In a post on X, Mehrang Baloch wrote, “Despite all the threats and conspiracies of the state, our long march has now left from DG Khan, we strongly appeal to the people of DG Khan, Taunsa and DI Khan to be a part of this caravan in maximum numbers. No power in the world can defeat people power.”

Earlier, the Balochistan Yakjehti Committee said that the administration was forced to remove the obstacles in front of the transport vehicles before the long march starts. It further said that the long march will now be held as per schedule.

In a post on X, Balochistan Yakjehti Committee stated, “The administration has been forced to remove the obstacles in front of the transport vehicles before the long foot march begins. Now the long march will go back to Taunsa today according to its schedule. Today there will be a meeting in Taunsa where the brave Baloch people of Taunsa are requested to participate fully. After Dera Ghazi Khan, the Ghayors of Taunsa appeal to the Balochs to fully participate in the long march.”

Earlier, the Balochistan Yakjehti Committee said that the long march against the blocking of transport across Dera Ghazi Khan and threats to travellers has left Dera Ghazi Khan on foot towards Islamabad.

In a post on X, the Balochistan Yakjehti Committee stated, “The long march against the blocking of transport across Dera Ghazi Khan, threats to travelers and state conspiracies has left DG Khan on foot towards Islamabad.”

“The state cannot stop the long march by stopping the transport, the long march will in any case go ahead for the recovery of their loved ones and against the ongoing genocide and state terrorism in Balochistan. Dera Ghazi Khan, on a long march from the Ghayur Baloch of Taunsa We invite you to actively participate and be a part of it,” it added.

Notably, four students from Ghazi University were detained by police two days prior for setting up a welcome camp for the protesters. Shaukat Ali, Asif Leghari, Miraj Leghari, Abdullah Saleh, and ten other people–including women–were taken into custody due to their alleged violations of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which forbade public meetings and was enforced by the district government, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

The Baloch Long March is being orgainsed by the Baloch people who have called for an end to state terrorism and massacres in Balochistan.

Earlier, in Turbat, Balochistan, the Long March faced resistance as at least 20 participants, including women, were detained as the Baloch Yakjehti Council’s (BYC) long march reached Dera Ghazi Khan, Dawn reported.

Led by Mohammad Asif Laghari, the BYC’s long march was intercepted on Shah Sikander Road. The police claimed the participants resisted, leading to the detention of several men and women, although the women were later released.”

Baloch Solidarity Committee’s Dharna is continuing at DG Khan, Gadai Changi, but the police have blocked the road from all sides and are continuously harassing and harassing the Baloch people participating in the dharna,” posted the Baloch Yakjahti Committee on X.

ASP City Rehmatullah Durrani informed protesters of the imposition of Section 144, prohibiting processions or rallies, a directive the participants defied.Legal proceedings have been initiated under Section 144, with police warning of action against violators until December 19, according to police. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Massive Turnout in Baloch March Against Genocide

ALSO READ: Rights Activist Arif Aajikia Sounds Alarm on Heritage Erosion in PoK

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TTP’s safe haven in Afghanistan worries Pak military

The ISPR has voiced “serious concerns on the safe havens and liberty of action available to TTP [Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan] in Afghan­istan.”

The Pakistan military has deplored the convenience and freedom with which militants have been launching attacks in Pakistan from Afghanistan and has said it expects the Taliban to take action. It has also highlighted the involvement of Afghan nationals in “acts of terrorism” in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

The military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement on Friday said, “Armed Forces of Pakistan have serious concerns on the safe havens and liberty of action available to TTP [Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan] in Afghan­istan.”

The statement comes two days after 12 soldiers lost their lives in militant attacks in Zhob and Sui districts of Balochistan.

“It is expected that Taliban would not allow the use of its soil to perpetrate terror against any country, in the real sense and in line with commitments made in Doha Agreement,” the ISPR said referring to the US-Taliban deal signed in the Qatari capital in 2020 to bring an end to the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan.

The peace agreement ultimately led to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The ISPR’s statement came after Pakistan Chief of the Army Staff, General Asim Munir, on Friday visited Quetta Garrison where he was briefed on the attack on a military installation in Zhob cantonment, as per Dawn.

General Asim Munir Chief of Army Staff Pakistan

Nine soldiers were killed on Wednesday at the base which the militants stormed into armed with guns, hand grenades and rockets. The army said all five militants who stormed the base in the early hours were killed in retaliatory fire.

On the same day, militants also attacked security forces in Sui. Three soldiers were killed in the exchange of fire, whereas two militants were killed.

The combined deaths of 12 soldiers from attacks is the military’s highest single-day death toll from militant attacks reported this year.

The army chief also visited the soldiers injured in the attack at the Combined Military Hospital and appreciated their services and resolve. He also paid tribute to those killed, the military said. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Parachinar: Pakistan’s new conflict hotspot

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Imran blames General Munir for arrest

PTI chief Imran Khan said “Army Chief General Asim Munir is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him.”

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has blamed the army chief for his “abduction” on May 9 and distanced himself from violence that took place in several cities after his arrest.

He expressed these views while having brief conversation with media persons on the premises of the Islamabad High Court on Friday, reports Dawn.

“It’s not the security agencies. It’s one man, the army chief. There is no democracy in the army. The army is getting maligned with what is happening,” the PTI chief replied when asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring him.

“And he (the army chief) is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him. Which, I tried my best to send him a message, I will not. All this is happening is direct orders from him. He is the one who is convinced that if I win, he will be de-notified,” alleged Khan.

The former premier also talked about “victimisation” of his party by the government, alleging that “5,000 people have been arrested during the last one year”, Dawn reported.

Khan said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation, regretting that his demand had been rejected.

Reiterating his position which he took in the Supreme Court on Thursday evening, the PTI chair said he was totally unaware of the developments which took place after his arrest and claimed that he had learnt that 40 people had lost their lives during the two-day protests.

Expressing “sadness” over the events that took place when he was in the custody of NAB, Khan stated that “the army is getting maligned because of just one man”, Dawn reported.

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Is Chaudhry’s arrest a clear warning for Imran?

Pic credits Twitter @PakPMO

Will former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan go to jail after Fawad Chaudhry’s dramatic arrest? – writes Rana Banerji

A clear message has been conveyed to former Prime Minister Imran Khan with the dramatic arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI)’s former Information Minister, Fawad Chaudhry earlier this week. The arrest was made from outside his Lahore house in the early hours of Wednesday, January 25 by a posse from Kohsar Police Station, Islamabad represented a sharp rap on the knuckles of former Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

It signifies that with the PTI- Pakistan Muslim League (Q) coalition government of former Chief Minister Pervez Elahi dissolved in Punjab, and the Caretaker regime under Syed Mohsin Naqvi firmly in the saddle, outspoken PTI leaders would no longer have leeway to keep lambasting the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government at the Centre or senior government officials discharging their official duties.

52-year-old Fawad Chaudhry hails from a prominent political family from Dina, Jhelum district with old moorings in the Pakistan Muslim League. His uncle, Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain served as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court from 2002 to 2007. Himself a lawyer, Fawad had developed typical political ambitions during a career which saw him peregrinating from various ruling dispensations in quest of perks of office.

Starting from contesting the Member Provincial Assembly seat from Dina (MP-25) as an independent candidate, he joined the All-Pakistan Muslim League floated by sycophants of former President Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2011. He then moved to the People’s Party of Pakistan in January, 2012 and was inducted as Special Assistant to Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani for Information. In 2016, he contested the National Assembly NA-63 seat from Jhelum on a Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e Azam) party ticket but lost.

Fawad Chaudhry. (Photo: Twitter/@fawadchaudhry)

In 2018, he joined the PTI and won from both the NA -67 Jhelum National Assembly and the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat PP-27 Jhelum, becoming in the process an articulate loyalist of emerging Prime Ministerial aspirant, Imran Khan and even an aspirant for the post of CM Punjab.

Possessing the gift of the gab, he supplicated Imran in earnest, holding the prestigious Information Ministry at the Centre briefly (Aug 2018) before being shafted, for a temporary gaffe, to the less important Ministry of Science and Technology (April, 2019). He made a comeback, however, to the Information Ministry (April, 2021). Especially after Imran’ ouster from power in April, 2022, Fawad Chaudhry came to the forefront echoing his master’s vituperations against Federal Government Ministers, officials and even Army Generals.

In recent times, as cases for violation of rules in the Toshakhana (false declaration/concealment of assets) and illegal foreign funding were taken up in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), making Imran’s disqualification and possible arrest imminent, both Imran and Fawad Chaudhry had become very offensive in their criticism of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan, Sikandar Sultan Raja and his team of officials. Raja is a former bureaucrat appointed, ironically enough, by Imran Khan himself when he was Prime Minister.

According to the FIR filed by a senior ECP office Chaudhry called the ECP a ‘munshi’ and threatened the CEC, ECP members and their families that they will pay back in kind (read ‘violence’) if anything ‘unjust’ happened to the PTI.

On his way to National Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stops by D-Chowk to appreciate the efforts of Police, Rangers, Administration and other law enforcing agencies. (Photo: Twitter@PakPMO)

The charges in the FIR against Fawad Chaudhry include Section 124-A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc.), 505 (statements conducive to public mischief) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).

Chaudhry’s arrest on Jan 25 morning was likened, by his wife, Hiba to a ‘kidnapping’.

Another PTI politician, Farrukh Habib tried to jump before the police cars whisking him away.

The Islamabad Police took transit remand from a Lahore judicial magistrate before taking him away. Despite this, PTI supporters moved a habeas corpus petition before the Court of Justice Tariq Saleem of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

It may be noted in this context, that recent judgements of the LHC were perceived to be one-sided and partial to the PTI.

Predictably, Justice Saleem demanded immediate return and production before him of Fawad Chaudhry.

He summoned the newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Punjab, Usman Anwar as well as the IGP, Islamabad to appear before him in person by 6 p.m. the same evening.

However, after a quick medical examination and production of Fawad Chaudhry in the court of Islamabad judicial magistrate, Naveed Khan on January 25 afternoon, the case petered out.

IGP, Punjab, Dr Anwar appeared before Justice Saleem, explaining that the Punjab Police no longer had jurisdiction.
Thereafter, the habeas corpus petition was dismissed.

After an initial 2-day police remand, Fawad Chaudhry has been given 12-days’ judicial remand by Judge Raja Waqas Ahmed and lodged in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

After Chaudhry’s arrest, Imran Khan held a press conference alleging this was an attempt to silence him and scuttle his election agenda.

He also asked President Arif Alvi to help. The latter came down to Lahore, this time staying only at the Governor’s house but apparently explained his limitations in this regard.

Fawad Chaudhry resorted to bravado during his arrest, claiming to have been victimized like Nelson Mandela, but later toned down his defiance by stating during court deposition that as party spokesperson, he was opining what was the party’s policy, not his personal opinion.

Media personnel in Pakistan criticised his arrest as an attempt to muzzle freedom of opinion.

The Supreme Court Bar Association also took up cudgels on his behalf.

However, protests on the streets of Lahore and Islamabad, called for by Imran Khan’s supporters fizzled out.

The perception predominantly prevails in Pakistani public opinion now that Chaudhry is paying for the wild oats he sowed in his recent attacks on Army Generals by name and he is likely to cool his heels in custody for a while.

The message has clearly been conveyed to Imran Khan by the new military establishment that he better behave in a more civil manner, eschew unparliamentary language and curtail frequent press appearances to sustain his narrative of unfair ouster and conspiracy, which has started to wear thin.

(Rana Banerji was Special Secretary (Retd.) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative)

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Fawad Chaudhry alleges Gen Bajwa involved in ousting of Imran Khan

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The rot within the Pakistani Army

The recent revelations only reinforce the view of the rot within the Pakistan Army. Senior Generals and officers have been at the receiving end of state largesse in the form of fat salaries and other perks and yet, they have acted in a corrupt fashion that does not behove a military force. Sadly, that is the reality of the Pak military today … writes Dr Sakariya Kareem

Lt. Gen. A.K.K. Niazi, the general who commanded Pakistani forces in East Pakistan and surrendered to Indian forces in Dhaka on 16 December 1971 was known for many other things than his military service. He was a well-known womanizer and rapist, as highlighted in the supplementary report to the Hamoodor Commission Report (1974).

General Bajwa

Moral lapses of this kind have been common in the Pakistan Army. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to read reports that leaked tax records of General Bajwa’s family show that all of them became billionaires during his tenure as Pakistan’s Army Chief. Corruption runs deep in the Pakistan Army and Gen. Bajwa is no exception. The recent revelations only reinforce the view of the rot within the Pakistan Army. Senior Generals and officers have been at the receiving end of state largesse in the form of fat salaries and other perks and yet, they have acted in a corrupt fashion that does not behove a military force. Sadly, that is the reality of the Pak military today.

The Pakistani website FactFocus revealed details of financial dealings of various members of Bajwa’s family, including his wife Ayesha Amjad and his daughter-in-law Mahnoor Sabir. The report, written by a journalist by the name of Ahmed Noorani, claimed that family members of Bajwa had acquired assets amounting to PKR 12.7 billion during Bajwa’s term. The leaked tax records of the family also revealed the assets of Ayesha Amjad went from zero in 2016 to PKR 2.2 billion (declared and known) in six years. As noted Pakistani scholar, Ayesha Siddiqa writes Bajwa’s family also benefitted in other ways.

“From getting his sister-in-law Asma Bajwa the position of a highly paid human resource consultant for the national airline to helping his 70-year-old brother retain a cushy Pakistan International Airline (PIA) job in the UK, there is so much that Bajwa must answer for”, writes Siddiqa.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar ordered a probe into the ‘illegal, unwarranted’ leak of the COAS’ family tax records and directed the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, Tariq Mehmood Pasha to personally lead the probe, affix responsibility, and submit a report within 24 hours. Following the announcement of the probe into the leak, Ahmed Noorani posted on his Twitter account that the government had confirmed the accuracy of his article. This news of military officials amassing this kind of wealth and acquiring capital is however, not new to Pakistan.

In August 2020, journalist Ahmad Noorani had investigated the alleged offshore properties and businesses of Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa (Retd), former head of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority. Usman Manzoor, also an investigative journalist from FactFocus, had previously published a report showing the tax records of former PM Imran Khan and alleged that he and his wife hadn’t declared the value of the foreign gifts they had retained at ‘throwaway prices’.

“The growth of the Bajwa family’s business empire in the United States, and later in Pakistan, directly matches the rise in power of General Asim Saleem Bajwa, who is now chairman of the country’s massive China-financed infrastructure project and a special assistant to the Prime Minister,” the report published on Fact Focus stated. General Bajwa’s family becoming wealthy under his watch as Army Chief has to be seen in the context of the role that the Pakistani military plays in the nation’s economy. It runs a huge commercial empire, an internal economy estimated to be billions of dollars, all outside the purview of the formal economy.

Siddiqa, in her book Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, identifies two of the military’s biggest business conglomerates in the country: The Fauji Foundation and the Army Welfare Trust. This kind of ‘military capital’ does not follow protocols and norms of accountability that government institutions follow or even a military project or programme financed by the public sector. The corruption reaches the highest levels of the army with former Army Chief General Ashfaq Kiyani’s brothers being reportedly involved in a multi-billion Rupee housing scandal in Islamabad. Similarly, a Quetta Corps Commander Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa gained notoriety as “General Papa Jones” or “General Pizza” after an expose of how his family had invested tens of millions of dollars in the Papa Jones Pizza chain in the US and his sons were given lucrative contracts when this General was serving as the head of the ISPR.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets Chinese President Xi Jinping.(photo:facebook.com/ShehbazSharif)

Despite the furore, no action, not even an inquiry was ordered. Just a few months ago, data leak from Credit Suisse, (Economic Times, 5 March 2022) an investment banking firm registered in Switzerland implicated General Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan, a former ISI chief for having diverted funds for the CIA/ISI war against Russia to his sons (The Dawn, 21 February 2022). This again brought to light the extent to which greed and corruption run amok in the Pakistan Army, especially among its Generals. The report lists several examples of scandals and corrupt deals that Pakistani Generals have been involved in over the past few years, including running extortion networks, and protecting and partaking in smuggling networks in Balochistan, leasing out government properties at extremely low prices and even taking bribes in defence deals. The rot within the Pakistani Army is thus deep.

Little do people realise that more than their fighting capability, the military machine has become an expert in siphoning off money from multiple sources. The latest instance of General Bajwa is thus no exception and one can find several such instances in the past. A reading of his recent farewell speech at GHQ and suggestion to the ranks to remain out of politics is well taken. However, the timing of the leak showing his family’s wealth showed that the political war between the army and politicians could well go deeper in the months to come as Pakistan approaches elections.

One aspect of Pakistan’s current situation is corruption within the Army. As Lord Acton once said, “Power corrupts and corrupts absolutely”. That is the lesson learnt from General Bajwa’s family story becoming wealthy overnight.

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LEGACY OF A GENERAL: Bajwa leaves country and army divided

General Qamar javed Bajwa

General Bajwa should take the responsibility for much of the political mess the country had witnessed of late. In fact, Bajwa is leaving the country deeply divided with Imran Khan stoking up political ire over the army at every given opportunity–rarely has been the most powerful institution in the country riddled with criticism and humiliation since the 1971 war … a special comment by Dr Sakariya Kareem

General Qamar Javed Bajwa is leaving a nation and its army divided, a division which he is equally responsible since he took over as the Chief of Army Staff in 2016. In his last address, Bajwa struck a confessional note by admitting that much of the public ire against the army was due to its political role. It could perhaps be a rare statement from a serving COAS of Pakistan, but it does not offer any confidence that the army has learnt any lessons from the recent months of turmoil and public humiliation. Bajwa’s own record is highly disappointing in this matter.

It was Bajwa, and his predecessor, Raheel Sharif, who conspired to bring Imran Khan to replace Nawaz Sharif. Sharif was literally hounded out of the country by Bajwa and his men. Bajwa was also instrumental in keeping afloat a hybrid regime run by Imran Khan till both of them fell out over many things, perhaps the most critical being the replacement of the ISI chief, Lt. General Syed Asim Munir. Munir is now the new COAS-select.

Imran Khan, in many ways, was the bogeyman created by Bajwa and his men and should therefore accept his responsibility in the muck which the army had to face in the past few months. Bajwa dodges the issue by putting the blame for `false narratives` on political parties, more so on Imran Khan and his party, PTI.

Bajwa’s singular failure has been to keep the army together on the most challenging task of safeguarding the force from public anger. Imran Khan’s twitter war had ransacked the military fortress to such an extent that a division among the Generals and other officers became public.  Imran Khan had managed to elicit support from the military families in Punjab of all places. Bajwa had to employ all his experience and men to stem the tide of dissent among the rank and file.

Bajwa’s promise to let go of the army’s political obsession is hard to believe given its long history dating back to the Ayub Khan era. The history of Pakistan is littered with coups and failed coups. Of the 75 years of independence, almost 33 years Pakistan has been under the direct rule of Generals. For several more years, the army has been running the government from behind the scenes. Politics has been an integral part of the Pakistan Army. Bajwa has only promoted this aberration as much as other Generals. To turn around at the fag end of his career in the army is at best disingenuous.

Bajwa should take the responsibility for much of the political mess the country had witnessed of late. In fact, Bajwa is leaving the country deeply divided with Imran Khan stoking up political ire over the army at every given opportunity–rarely has been the most powerful institution in the country riddled with criticism and humiliation since the 1971 war.

It is not surprising that Bajwa mentioned the 71 war and called it a `political failure` and not a military failing, another claim which can easily be countered. There are countless narratives, most of them backed up by hard evidence, it was the greed, lust and inefficiency of Generals which led to the Pakistan Army’s ignominious defeat. There will be few takers for Bajwa’s claim of bravery even in Pakistan.

Bajwa’s exit, coming as it did with the news of ill gotten wealth his family members managed to create during his extended tenure, does not offer any hope but only a short pause to the Pakistan Army’s stranglehold over the country.

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Pakistan Army asks govt to take legal action against Imran Khan

Pak's DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar (https://www.facebook.com/DGISPRofficial1)

Imran Khan alleged that three people — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior officer of the Pakistan Army — were involved in plotting his assassination bid on Thursday, reports Asian Lite News

 The Pakistan Army has reacted strongly to allegations made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the institution and requested the federal government to initiate legal action against those responsible for defaming the institution and its officials without any evidence.

On Friday, Khan alleged that three people — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior officer of the Pakistan Army — were involved in plotting his assassination bid on Thursday, The News reported.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, said: “Keeping this in view, the government of Pakistan has been requested to investigate the matter and initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officials without any evidence whatsoever.”

The statement said that no one would be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity.

“Baseless and irresponsible allegations by chairman PTI against the institution and particularly a senior army officer are absolutely unacceptable and uncalled-for,” it added.

The military’s media wing said the Pakistan Army prides itself on being an extremely professional and well-disciplined organisation with a robust and highly effective internal accountability system applicable across-the-board for unlawful acts, if any, committed by uniformed personnel, The News reported.

“However, if the honour, safety and prestige of its rank and file are being tarnished by vested interests through frivolous allegations, the institution will safeguard its officers and soldiers no matter what.”

It added that the “baseless allegations hurled at the institution/ officials are highly regrettable and strongly condemned. No one will be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity”.

ALSO READ: Four people plotted to kill me, claims Imran

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New York protest demands recognition of 1971 Bangladesh genocide

Led by activist Priya Saha, the group estimated that nearly three million people were killed in a span of nine months at that time, reports Asian Lite News

Protesters representing ethnic and religious minorities on Friday protested outside the United Nations in New York, demanding recognition of the genocide committed by the Pakistani Army in 1971 in Bangladesh.

Led by activist Priya Saha, the group estimated that nearly three million people were killed in a span of nine months at that time.

On March 25, 1971, Pakistan Army launched ‘Operation Searchlight’, wherein a planned military operation was carried out by the Pakistani Army and its military deliberately harmed hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens.

According to the rights groups, the horrors of 1971 are considered one of the worst mass atrocities in history.

Protesters were also carrying placards “calling for help” for women from Hindu, Christian and Sikh communities in Pakistan.

Religious minority women and girls are abducted, forcibly converted, forcibly married and abused, and their families are unsuccessful in their attempts to challenge these crimes using legal avenues.

Representational Image

A 2015 report by the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan in collaboration with Aurat Foundation found that at least 1,000 girls are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan every year. In a recent case in September 2022, Bhagwanti, a Hindu teenage flood victim girl from Shahadapur, Sanghar, Sindh, was raped for two days while she went out to get a paltry ration, reported IFFRAS.

While the abductions, forced conversions, forced marriages and abuse are perpetrated by individuals, the fate of religious minority women and girls is often sealed as the existing laws or handling of such cases deem any legal recourse unavailable or ineffective.

Human rights groups have documented the plight of Pakistan’s religious minorities for years, but it is only recently that these minorities have become the focus of popular discourse because of revelations on social media regarding their treatment, reported IFFRAS. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Peace possible if Pakistan comes clean, ends terror: India

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Pakistan Army targets critical journalists

 After registering nine cases of intimidation of Pakistani journalists by army-related agencies since Shehbaz Sharif took over as Prime Minister in late April, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has cautioned the army high command against further harassment of the media, which would seriously undermine Pakistani democracy.

“The many cases of harassment that RSF has registered in the past two months have one thing in common – all the journalists concerned had, in one way or another, criticised the army’s role in Pakistani politics,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“It is clear from the data that the armed forces have launched a major campaign to intimidate critical journalists. This kind of interference, which is absolutely intolerable, must stop at once or else the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, will be held directly responsible for the decline in press freedom in Pakistan.”

The latest case of violence registered by RSF was on July 9, when BOL News anchor Sami Ibrahim was attacked by three people outside the TV channel’s studios in Melody, a district in Islamabad, the capital.

In a video, Ibrahim said they were waiting for him outside the TV channel in order to harass him while filming the scene. They then left in a car with green licence plates, the sign of a state-owned vehicle.

The incident comes six weeks after judicial proceedings were opened against Ibrahim under articles 499, 505 and 131 of the penal code, which penalise defamation, statements conducive to public mischief and “abetting mutiny”, respectively. The latter charge carries a possible life sentence.

By way of mutiny, Ibrahim simply questioned the internal mechanisms of the Pakistani state apparatus and, in particular, the army’s role in politics. The proceedings were initiated as a result of complaints filed with the police in Attock, a city in Punjab province that is 70 km west of Islamabad

It was in Attock that another well-known TV journalist, Express News TV anchor Imran Riaz Khan, was intercepted and arrested by a dozen policemen accompanied by members of a Punjab special elite force on the evening of July 5 at a toll plaza on the road to Islamabad, where he had planned to obtain pre-arrest bail to avoid the arrest he knew was imminent if he remained in Punjab.

ALSO READ: Ethnic tensions rise in Pakistan after Sindhi youth murder

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Pak Army’s ‘No dollars, No Jihad’ Policy

Pic credits Wikipedia

Many secrets of the corrupt ways of Pakistan’s military rulers during the decade-long United States-led Jihad in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 remain buried, but those revealed are shocking, more so because, it would appear, the holy war against the Soviets could not proceed without the allowance of unfettered freedom to Pak Generals, to collect dollars. That is, no dollars, no Jihad … writes Samuel Baid

The war was against the Soviet troops’ invasion into Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military dictator Gen Zia ul Haq had benefited from this war in at least three ways: (1) the US blessings to his illegal power, (2) US connivance at Pakistan’s clandestine nuclear activity, and (3) maintaining a holy face while poisoning with drudge his own country, the US and other benefactors.

An organisation called “the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has quoted a South Asian intelligence source to say that during Gen Zia’s dictatorship, his close friend, then ISI Chief Akhtar Abdur Rehman Khan, was responsible for laying a network of madarsas with CIA funding to fight Soviet troops in Afghanistan. The CIA took control of American and the Middle Eastern equal donations in dollars and put them in its Swiss bank account. The CIA trusted Khan with millions of dollars which he used for filling his own pockets. He siphoned off lot of money from the Afghan war into his account.

According OCCRP, a second account was opened in 1986 in Khan’s name. It was worth more than $ 9.2 million. Khan died along with his master Gen Zia in an air crash in August 1988.

Pic credits Wikipedia

Gen Zia, although engaged in supposedly a holy war, was not a holy man himself. The Pakistan people’s Party (PPP)’s Urdu Daily Musawwat wrote that before going to United Nations, he carried lamps to be gifted to important people in New York. The empty bottoms of the lamps hid ‘unholy stuffs’.\

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The blast in the Ojhri Camp in 1988 badly exposed General’s gun running activities. Then Zia’s hand-picked Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo, a follower of Pir of Pagaro, was worked up. He ordered an inquiry into the blast and found out that Generals hid for selling in black market the weapons given to Pakistan by the US to fight the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. When Junejo was going to make this report public, Zia dismissed him as Prime Minister. The dismissal was very cruel and humiliating. Junejo was still on the plane at the Islamabad Airport on return from East Asia (where he told his hosts democracy had taken roots in Pakistan) when General called all journalists from the Airport for an important announcement.  He told them that he had dismissed the Prime Minister. Junejo alighted from the plane without knowing he was no more Prime Minister. This cruel joke showed how sensitive were Generals to the Ojhri Camp inquiry.

Pic credits Wikipedia

Among the political parties Jamaat-i-Islami was the dearest to Zia. The Chief of this party Miantufail Mohammad was said to be his Mamoo (mother’s borther). Zia allowed his party to travel abroad to collect money for the Afghan’s jihad.

The Jamaat-i-Islami was not bound to give accounts of its collection of money to any authority so they filled their own coffers like Generals were doing. Afghans, who participated in the Jihad were angry with the Jamaat. They came to Peshawar to expose it to the Press. But it did not affect the Jamaat. It became a rich party. Its members who could hardly travel by train or inter-province buses earlier, now frequently travelled by air.

Now the question is: could the Americans fight this Jihad in Afghanistan had they not overlooked Pakistani Army Generals’ looting the dollars meant for jihad? Or, had Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehaman Khan taken interest in laying the networks of madarsas if he did not have the unrestricted freedom to fill his bank accounts?

Though then US President Ronald Reagan wondered in 1985 where all the money was going, the Americans never showed the courage to expose these Generals. As a result, they suffered more after Oct 2001 when they took Pakistan as a coalition partner in the war against global terrorism in Afghanistan.

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