PML-N has linkages with terrorists and everyone knows this says Pervez Musharraf

Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf disclosed that he had received millions of US dollars from Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia back in 2009 to purchase apartments in London and Dubai.

In an interview with Nadeem Malik on Samaa TV, he claimed that he had received "financial assistance" from King Abdul Aziz back in 2009. However, Musharraf avoided to disclose the details, saying that it was a "private affair" so he would not go into details.

"Shah Abdullah was like a brother to me," Musharraf said, adding that they had family relations and he even had access to the residence of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

"I was the only one with whom he used to smoke," said Musharraf while trying to cement his claim.

"King Abdullah himself had invited me to the holy Khana Kaaba and in one instance he brought me forward in Jumma prayers," he said while explaining his relations with the late king.

Musharraf claimed that no one can prove that he had purchased any property abroad while enjoying power in Pakistan. The former military ruler said that he used to deliver lectures abroad and receive payments ranging between $100,000 to $150,000 per lecture.

“I would be held accountable, if I had make property while being in power. But I went abroad in 2009 and then established the property in my individual capacity, so it is my private matter,” he said.

Musharraf suggests operation in Punjab

Talking about the current scenario in Pakistan, he said “Punjab has become the stronghold of militancy”. The former military ruler suggested that an operation should be carried out in the province.

“The problem is that there is a political over tone in Punjab, politicians are involved with them [terrorists]. People associated with the main party are involved (with terrorists) here, so they do not allow an operation there. They are not thinking for Pakistan but for their party and their individual benefits.”

He alleged that an important personality in the ruling PML-N has “linkages with terrorists” and everyone knows this.

‘Hafiz Saeed should be set free’

When asked about recent developments regarding Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), he said, “We (as a nation) remain confused on terrorism, like we are confused in respect to JuD and Hafiz Saeed.”

“India is against them because their supporters go voluntarily to India-held Kashmir to fight with the Indian army.”

He added, “In my opinion they are against Taliban (in Pakistan), they did not commit any terrorism in Pakistan or anywhere in the world. So they should be dealt separately.”

They were banned through United Nations by India and we are following the same line, he said adding that Indian army have been committing terrorism in the held Kashmir and freedom fighters were confronting the Indian army.

“Hafiz Saeed should definitely be freed. They are not terrorists, they are running a very fine NGO, they contributed in relief activities in post earthquake and post floods periods in Pakistan. They are running a great welfare organisation.”

They [JuD] have been engaging the religious youth in relief and welfare activities and if we push them against wall and call them terrorist, the religious youth could incline to Taliban and terrorists, said Musharraf.

Source: Dawn

Ch Parvez Elahi Says Shehbaz Sharif Has Not Been Able to Start Our Established 1122 Service Even After Ruling The Punjab for 15 years

Entire nation should offer collective prayer like for rain for ouster of the rulers, patients are told to come to hospital bringing cot, bed, medicine from home: Address at enthusiastic workers convention

Pakistan Muslim League (PML) senior central leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ch Parvez Elahi has said the nation will get riddance of incompetent rulers if whole of opposition is united, for their ouster entire nation needs to arrange for offering collective “dua” like was done for rain. Addressing a very big quite enthusiastic Workers Convention in Gujranwala today, he said that during our tenure even poor patient was taken to the hospital on ambulance where free medicines were provided to him even injecting costing up to Rs 10 thousand was also given free, but now the patient is told to come to the hospital along with cot, bed and medicines from home. He said that there are neither beds nor medicines in the hospitals now, patients are breathing last lying on cold floor, Shehbaz Sharif has not been able to start our established 1122 Service even after ruling the Punjab for 15 years, we had provided free education up to matric, undertaken unparalleled works for welfare and well-being of the people of all fields including farmers and workers and provided revolutionary facilities, our established Wazirabad Cardiology Hospital is not being allowed to become functional due to personal ego by Shehbaz Sharif due to which so far more than 8 thousand persons hailing from Gujranwala and adjoining areas have died due to heart attacks, Shehbaz Sharif “suffers from blood pressure on seeing plaques of my tenure, he should remove plaques of my name but should not block projects of peoples’ welfare because our plaque is in the heart of the people”, if overhead bridge was being constructed in Lahore instead of Gujranwala it would have been completed long ago, Punjab allocated budget is being spent on show off and dollars making projects in Lahore.   Continuing, he said that N-League has the greatest enmity with the farmers, Kisan Package was announced in the name of Patwari Package, “I earnestly appeal to every Pakistan to stay away from N-League in the next election otherwise even future generations will not forgive them.” Ch Parvez Elahi asked the opposition to brush aside personal ego and go together unitedly and Almighty Allah will bless them with “barkat in their work”, N-League will run away and prestige of opposition will be enhanced. He pointedly stated that whichever scheme was started during our tenure is still functional, we were providing job opportunities to ten lakhs people every year, Shehbaz Sharif had started 9 schemes all of which have failed, Nandipur power Project, Bahawalpur Solar Power Project and Sahiwal projects all have failed, what other cities of Punjab will get from Orange Line, people do not need show off projects like jangla bus, they need medicines in hospitals and education in schools, N-League people are involved in Panama Case, all those who were mentioned in this case had resigned but they are sticking to the chair for last six months. He said that we had started Sialkot-Lahore Motorway on which two foreign universities were also to be established which were shifted to India because of their incompetency, incompetent Chief Minister has put Punjab under heavy debt of Rs 2000 billion. Paying rich tributes to active colleagues, he said that our party needs workers like Zain Ali Bhatti. The Convention was also addressed by Tariq Bashir Cheema, Ch Zaheeruddin and Khawaja Waqarul Hassan while those seated on the stage on this occasion included Muhammad Basharat Raja, Zain Ali Bhatti, Bao Rizwan, Mian Imran Masood, Tanveer Azam Cheema, Col (R) Abbas, Hussain Elahi, Zubeida Ehsan, Irfan Ehsan, Ch Zulfiqar Pappan, Haji Shakir Mobeen, Ch Nasir Inayat Sira advocate, Engineer Shehzad Ali and other party leaders. Earlier on arrival at the venue Ch Parvez Elahi was enthusiastically welcome by chanting of loud slogans and showering on flower petals. Convention participants kept raising repeatedly slogans of Ch Shujat Hussain, Moonis Elahi, Pakistan Muslim League Zindabad and Go Nawaz Go. Venue of the convention was packed to capacity and large number of women were also seated on nearby houses roofs

Om Puri Tribute by Moonis Elahi, Meesha Shafi, Fahad Mustafa and Others

Om Puri, a veteran Bollywood actor passed away on 6th January 2017 after a massive heart attack which proved to be fatal for the 66 years old. His close friend and film maker Ashoke Pandit was the first to announce the sad news on Twitter.
The new year 2017 proved to be a woeful start for the family and actors from both sides of the border mourned the great loss. The social media site Twitter was flooded with his admirers both Indians and Pakistani expressing grief over the news of the demise of the legendary actor. He was a versatile actor who had played many roles during his career and became liked by everyone who watched his movies.
According to Times of India, Om Puri has returned yesterday from a film shooting and in the morning, when he didn't answer the door bell, the driver became curious and raised the alarm. Puri's body was taken to Cooper Hospital where he was announced dead and a postmortem revealed the cause of his untimely death. According to his friends, his funeral will be held at 6 PM.
His versatility knew no boundaries and he had worked with many Pakistani actors and actresses. The Actor In Law co-star Fahad Mustafa said — remembered him for his work and "humble and loving nature", it was a Pakistani film and OM Puri was a catalyst for its success. Others within the industry also poured in their love for the veteran saying he was a role model for spreading love and peace between the two countries.
 Aside from his Bollywood activities, he is also known to have raised his voice against the ongoing brutalities in Kashmir at the hands of Indian Army. His statement in the favor of innocent Kashmiris and contradicting state policies left him in hot waters. It wasn't taken lightly and people from all walks of life started condemning him saying he had spoken ill against the Indian army. His brave move to speak up the truth landed him in a miserable condition.
Moonis Elahi had appreciated his remarks and had said he had spoken for the unheard voices. He said the actor gave their media a frenzy and the Hindu extremists had a hay day over it. Nevertheless, a single person cannot fight against his nation and he had to apologize for it. The demise of the actor has caused grief on both sides of the border and people are paying tribute to the legend who not only did well in the movies, but also tried to be helpful to the helpless Kashmiris.

Moonis Elahi Hails UN Resolution while Netanyahu Sizzles

The speech made by outgoing secretary of state John Kerry on Israel - Palestine issues wasn't taken lightly by Benjamin Netanyahu. He claimed it was biased and Mr. Kerry only saw one side of the coin while he totally ignored the Israel's problems. Moonis Elahi hailed the speech saying it wasn't unjust but Kerry had spoken the truth. While Israeli settlements which are totally against the law, are the epicenter of the ongoing conflict in the region, Israel must abide by the UN resolution and must halt its activities at once said Kerry. Netanyahu wasn't pleased with it but Trump jumped to the rescue and asked Israel to stay strong until he resumed office.

Moonis Elahi said John Kerry addressed an important issue in his speech and he should do one of the same for Kashmir also. India's atrocities in the region aren't hidden from the media or the world. While India tries to put the lid on its evil and cruel behavior against the Kashmiris, the world at large knows the suffering of the people who are butchered at the hands of the oppressor. If a similar speech could have been done on the India - Pakistan - Kashmir issue, the chances for a peaceful resolution would brighten. It is high time the Kashmiris got their right to freedom.

Women safety app to be launched today 2016

LAHORE: The Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit, in collaboration with the Punjab Safe Cities Authority and the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), will launch the Women Safety Smart Phone Application on Wednesday (tomorrow).

The application will allow women to notify the Police Integrated Command, Control and Communication (PPIC3) officials regarding the kind of harassment they are subjected to along with their exact geographic location.

The law enforcement agencies will dispatch a team of first responders to immediately tackle the situation upon receiving the notification.

The application has been comprehensively designed to allow women to report any experiences that renders the public space unsafe for them.

Published in Dawn January

US initiates process for resolving Pakistan-India water dispute

WASHINGTON: The US administration has initiated the process for peacefully resolving the current water dispute between India and Pakistan without waiting for an invitation to do so, official sources told Dawn.

The latest dispute concerns two hydroelectric power plants — Kishanganga and Ratle — that India is building on the Indus rivers system. Pakistan believes that the projects violate the design parameters of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which provides specific criteria for such plants.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry called Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and discussed with him different options for an amicable settlement of the dispute. After the call, US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale also met Mr Dar in Islamabad at the finance ministry for further talks.

Read: US wants amicable solution to water row

The initiative stems from the fear the US administration shares with the World Bank that the dispute, if dragged, may harm the treaty that has effectively resolved water disputes between India and Pakistan for more than half a century.

The IWT is a water-distribution agreement between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank and signed in Karachi on Sept 19, 1960. It recognises the bank as the main arbitrator and suggests appointing neutral experts and a court of arbitration for resolving disputes.

Pakistan has asked the World Bank to appoint chairman of the court of arbitration while India has demanded appointment of a neutral expert.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim wrote to the finance ministers of India and Pakistan, informing them that he has ‘paused’ the requested arbitration and asked them to decide by the end of January how they wanted to settle the dispute.

On Dec 23, Finance Minister Dar told the bank that Pakistan was not withdrawing its request and since the process had already been “inordinately delayed,” the bank should appoint chairman of the court of arbitration as soon as possible.

Two days later, Dr Kim called Mr Dar for further talks, followed by Secretary Kerry who called the finance minister during the Christmas holidays.

It is unusual for a US official to do so, particularly because the Obama administration completes its final tenure on Jan 20.

Usually, the outgoing administration leaves such issues for the incoming administration to tackle.

“But seriousness of this dispute, particularly the fear that it may harm the treaty, forced Mr. Kerry to make this call,” an official source told Dawn.

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that since the United States has facilitated the Indus Waters Treaty, it feels obliged to take a proactive role in this matter.

The treaty requires appointment of chairman of the court of arbitration and its three members within 60 days after a disputing party asks for arbitration.

If the two countries fail to appoint umpires, the two parties prepare a draw of lots and request a “person” mentioned in the treaty to select the umpire.

While the chairman can be selected by either the secretary general of the United Nations or president of the World Bank, technical members can be selected from a draw of lots by president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or rector of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London.

The legal umpire can be selected from a draw of lots by either chief justice of the United States or lord chief justice of England.

Pakistan took its case to the World Bank in Sept 2016, urging the bank to prevent India from making illegal constructions on Neelum and Chenab rivers.

The differences on the designs of the two plants were discussed but could not be resolved in the 108th, 109th, 110th, 111th and 112th meetings of the Permanent Commission for Indus Waters, comprising one commissioner from each country, which is responsible for the implementation of the treaty.

Secretary-level talks followed but they also failed.

On Aug 19, Pakistan formally requested the government of India to refer the dispute to the court of arbitration, as provided in Article IX of the treaty.

The Indian media reported in September that New Delhi had decided to suspend water talks until “Pakistan-sponsored terror” in India ends.

And last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also threatened to choke the flow of water into Pakistan if it does not stop terrorists. This caused Islamabad to fear that India was determined to complete the two plants and was buying time to do so by dragging the talks.

Pakistan wants a court of arbitration, instead of a neutral expert, because only the court can take a decision that’s legally binding.

An expert can only give a technical opinion, giving India more time to complete the projects.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2017

Why Fridays were my worst nightmare as a child abuse story

It happened on Fridays for three years straight. I remember the kids in my fourth grade class being so happy for the weekend. From 7am to 3pm, all I would hear is them screaming “TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday).” But for me, this day was my worst nightmare.

I would do whatever I could to go home late. Sometimes I was the last one to leave, even after all the staff members. I would call home to inform my parents that I had extra schoolwork in order to delay my father picking me up.

Every Friday after getting back home from school, my father would lock me in his room and beat me up. I wasn't allowed to cry. If I did, I would get hit harder.

My mother and sister would try to control my father by saying, “She’s just a kid”. It never worked. They would bang on the locked door as he took swings at me. After he was done, he would unlock the door, and my mother would rush in with tears in her eyes to find me on the floor. It was as though she felt the exact pain I did.

She would hug me, and I would ask, “Why is he doing this to me?” She never had an answer, but she always reassured me that it wasn't my fault.

I would walk out the door limping, trying to get support from a table, the railing, or anything around me.

After getting thrashed, I would have two days for the bruises to heal before I could go back to school on Monday.

I would spend hours crying in my bed, refusing to speak to anyone. My mother would come to my room to check up on me, but I always pretended I was asleep so as to avoid any conversation. She would sit by me on the bed and trace the bruises with her fingers, as if that would make them magically heal.

At school, I would laugh and be normal with my friends, acting as if nothing had happened.

At first, my father apologised for what he was doing. I resisted, but I forgave him and even felt relieved as I thought he would not touch me again. Yet, the beatings didn’t stop. He apologised for a second time, and I forgave him again. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that it was becoming a pattern.

Soon, he started denying what was happening. As I tried to avoid him everytime he beat me, he would ask me why I wasn’t talking to him.

I was told that he had high blood pressure and needed to take his rage out somehow – as if it was right to do that by beating up a child. I also wondered why not my other siblings? Why just me?

Once, when I was in fifth grade, the bruises remained for longer than usual. I had school the next morning and didn’t have a choice but to wear a long sleeved shirt in 54°C.

My family warned me not to tell anyone about the abuse. When a classmate spotted the bruises and asked what happened, I told her that I was hit by a car.

I got away with it the first time, but as the beatings went on, it became difficult to hide the marks on my body. My classmates kept asking, and I confessed to one of the girls about it. She told me to go to the teacher, but I was afraid that my father would find out and things would get worse.

A few weeks later, my counsellor asked me if everything was okay at home. I nodded yes, but she could tell I was holding back my tears. I told her the truth, but I knew there was nothing she could do about it.

At the end of every school year, students would count down the days left until summer. As they would do that, I would just sit on my chair and cry.

My vacation would start very differently. As we would get home, my father would demand that I go straight to his room. Before going, I would try to hide the three-foot-long cane he used to beat me with. But if it wasn't the cane, it was the metal or plastic hangers, or my mother's heels. He would hit me right on the head with them.

But after three years, he suddenly stopped. I never knew how or why. Did he get tired of hitting me, or was there something else? I never found out.

It has been seven years since he last hit me, but my relationship with my father will forever be scarred. I still fear him and when he’s around me, I try not to say or do anything that will trigger those impulses in him again.

The bruises may have faded, but the pain still remains. He put his hands on someone who thought he loved her. And because of that, I am scared to let anyone love me again.

Source

blog@dawn.com