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Posts Tagged Anti-Pakistan Armed Forces Nawaz Sharif

NAWAZ SHARIF & HIS KANGAROO COURT JUDGES : BAN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST HERO MUBASHIR LUCMAN FOR LIFE

EXPOSING CORRUPTION IN PAKISTAN IS A SIN, SPECIALLY IF JUDGES ARE INVOLVED THEN SUO- MOTO

 

 

 

 

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Why Is This Man Banned For Life From Pakistani TV? 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 17 of this year, investigative journalist Mubasher Lucman was banned for life from television in Pakistan. The case was taken up suo motu by the judiciary and found that Mr. Lucman maligned the judiciary egregiously enough to merit a lifetime ban from appearing in any capacity on television. As he says, “I cannot even host a game show.”


Mr. Lucman has covered many topics since entering televised journalism in 2006. He has become well known for investigating government corruption despite reprisals including three untimely visits to his home by the police, threats against his 14 year-old son and 12 year-old daughter, as well as having a gun fired in his general direction.

Mr. Lucman, age 52, is a graduate of Aitchison College Lahore and Government College, both esteemed institutions in Pakistan. He has had many careers before entering the field of journalism. He has served in a government ministry position, been part of the first fiberoptic network installation in Pakistan and worked in advertising. Along his largely business career, he occasionally wrote columns for newspapers in both Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

In 2006, his boss suggested he move to a different part of the conglomerated business to try life as a journalist on television because, “he thought I would be good at it.” Since then, Mr. Lucman estimates he has done more than 2,500 shows, the majority of which involved investigative reporting. He has changed stations many times and up until his recent ban was at ARY News where his investigative show was called Khara Sach.

286827d0fae372901780afd7585c1eb1_1024Initially, all programming from ARY was also banned from the airwaves for the first 15 days of Mr. Lucman’s ban but the decision to suspend ARY from the airwaves for half a month was subsequently reversed. ARY has continued to be supportive of Mr. Lucman in social media and as otherwise possible. Salman Iqbal, President & CEO of ARY Digital Network, states:

Since our inception ARY has always stood for the freedom of press, speech and to always bring out the facts and the truth. Mubasher stands for these same principles. We may have been quieted temporarily but the truth can never be buried for good.We know we will face a backlash for these ideals, but ARY, Mubasher and its supporters will continue to bring to the public the truth and face this political turmoil.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) is ostensibly in charge of regulating all media in Pakistan. Mr. Lucman relates that the suo motu judgment was taken without his own presence in court and that PEMRA has subsequently been informed by the judiciary that they must enforce this ruling. Attempts to contact PEMRA for this story were not responded to prior to publication.

1601319_10151983488425069_41144247_nThe principal judge involved in this case is Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court. Justice Naqvi has additionally put Mr. Lucman on Pakistan’s Exit Control List (ECL) which essentially bans Mr. Lucman from traveling outside the country. The ECL is typically reserved for persons committing corruption, misusing power, trafficking drugs, in significant violation of tax law, known terrorists or people who are dangerous criminals.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international non-profit, hasquestioned the treatment of Mr. Lucman and ARY. Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator says:

Basically, we see Lucman’s case as part of a broader anti-media attitude on the part of the judiciary. They have often taken on the media for criticizing courts and judges as if they were somehow above reproof. It’s a problem that has saddled most of Pakistan’s governments over the years. Though they have often been on the same side in political issues, the press and the judiciary are not natural allies. The overkill of the lifetime broadcast ban meted out to Lucman is typical of the courts’ sense of being beyond the give and take in modern society, that they still have an imperial sense of their role in a democratic government.

Benjamin Ismaïl, Head of the Asia-Pacific Desk for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) agrees with Mr. Dietz’s sentiment:

It is not exceptional for the PEMRA to take repressive measures such as ordering a ban on a media, especially in such a period of political tensions. However, a lifetime ban, which is the equivalent of a permanent shutdown of a media, on an individual, I haven’t ever heard of such case in Pakistan… [T]his ban seems to be a ban on appearing in television in any capacity, which is absolutely disproportionate and illegal in regard to the laws of Pakistan. RSF strongly condemns this decision, as well as the raid on the home of the journalist by the police, in an attempt to arrest him. All these judiciary and police actions constitute blatant and shocking violations of press freedom and are counter-productive in the sense that they will not help cool down the political debate… We ask for an immediate annulation of this decision.

I spoke with Mr. Lucman to find out what he did to earn a complete censorship from television, a suspension of income from his livelihood and a ban from leaving the country so that he might earn a livelihood elsewhere.

Jon Springer: What is the basis for the case against you?

Mubasher Lucman: I never criticized the judiciary in this case. I was investigating a businessman [Asim Malik] who ran off from Pakistan with 11 billion rupees [approximately U.S. $183 million at the time] fourteen years ago. We tracked him down and went abroad to interview him. He agreed to provide his point of view if I would meet his request that I do not edit his interview to ensure his side of the story would get out. He relayed information that part of conducting his business was more than half a dozen ministers taking bribes from him. He accused members of the judiciary of taking bribes as well. We showed a video that this businessman provided that he says shows the son-in-law of one said judge accepting a bribe of 40,000 British pounds as a ‘scholarship’ from him in exchange for a ruling in his favor.

Springer: Is it against the law in Pakistan to interview people who say such things? or to interview criminals wanted by the government?

Lucman: It isn’t against the law to interview anyone, even someone evading the law. People interviewed Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri.

Springer: Do you think it is political?

Lucman: I did vote for the [opposition] PTI and Imran Khan in the last election. I was open and said so prior to the election. There is tons of evidence of wrong doing in that election. Yes, I think the mandate of the people was stolen in the last election. However, as far as I know, my case emanates solely from the judiciary that took it up suo motu.

The problem with Pakistan when you go beyond a certain level is that everyone is connected. You never know who is backing who. It is difficult to say a particular party is behind the scenes of this or that.

Springer: There have been other reports that have been negative on you. For example, there was a recent article that accused you of saying some journalists were receiving money from government officials.

Lucman: I know some of those journalists and I can vouch for them that this report was not true. I never made this accusation. I have defended those journalists against these wrongful accusations.

People love me or hate me. I am opinionated and people are opinionated about me. People have made up fake accounts with my name on Twitter and Facebook. Refuting things falsely attributed to me is part of my job.

Springer: What is PEMRA’s role in this case?

Lucman: PEMRA is being ordered by the judge to ban me. This ban is beyond their regulatory mandate.

Springer: Have you appealed the ruling?

Lucman: I have appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. I do not know if I can make my appeal. I think I am the only journalist to have this type of persecution except one in Swaziland [who, along with his lawyer, have been sentenced to two years in jail this year].

Springer: What is the exact charge against you?

Lucman: I have been charged with contempt of court. They could charge me for defamation perhaps, but how is this contempt?

Springer: How does this ban reflect on Pakistan’s democracy?

Lucman: Many times I have filed police reports of incidents however they have not materialised in formal FIR reports by police and I can only attribute that to the interference of the government. For instance when the police illegally raided my home a few weeks back and harassed my children taking their snaps, they had come in full uniform and police vehicles. When I reported the matter, the Deputy Inspector General of operations said ‘These are not our people….’ I urged him to lodge a formal complaint if that was the case. My written complaint is at the police station and to-date no formal report has been lodged by the police. This is a usual practice here for those who are perceived to be not supportive of the government.

I have been fired upon. My home has been invaded. My children have been threatened. No one makes these types of sacrifices unless they believe that things can be better than they are.

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DR.TAHIR-UL-QADRI & IMRAN KHAN WHY ARE YOU SILENT ON DRUG AB– — USE & 300 PROSTITUTION DENS UNDER “ISLAM”…ABAD MNAs PATRONAGE?

300 PROSTITUTION DENS IN ISLAMABAD: MNAS HOSTEL-A PROSTITUTES PARADISE, PEDOPHILIA,WHISKEY & BEER — — USED FREELY,SADO-MASOCHISM

PAKISTAN IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM INVOLVED IN CENTRAL ASIAN PROSTITUTES SMUGGLING

HUGE BRIBES BEING PAID BY ISLAMABAD PIMPS & MADAMS

CENTRAL ASIAN WOMEN SUPPLIED TO ZARDARI PRESIDENCY AND PPP MNAs

References

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/foreign-prostitutes-go-to-work-as-pakistan-closes-for-ramadan-1046222.html

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/04/02/national/central-asian-girls-being-trafficked-to-pakistan-for-prostitution/

http://www.thenewstribe.com/2014/02/04/central-asian-women-imported-to-pakistan-for-prostitution-as-official-eyes-closed/

http://weeklypresspakistan.com/2012/04/2102

 

Central Asian girls being trafficked to Pakistan for prostitution

 

 

The Central Asian Prostitution Rates

 

WHERE IS FBR?DO ISLAMABAD MADAMS PAY TAXES?WHAT DEFENCE SECRETS THESE WOMEN FERRET OUT FROM ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL?

MAJOR NEWS CHANNELS LIKE ARY,AAJ,DUNYA HAVE A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE

The cost of fantasy

CIS girls now dominate the high-end ISLAMABAD sex market offering sexual pleasure as leisure

SERVICES 

TIME IN HOURS 

RATE IN RUPEES/per head 

One trip (sexual intercourse) 

Two 

8,000 

Two trips 

Two 

10,000 

Two trips 

Four 

15,000 

Unlimited trips 

Eight or overnight 

25,000 

Orgy (at least one girl per person) 

Eight or overnight 

25,000 

Escort service (travel outstation with the client, all expenses are met) 

Per day 

25,000 

Play hostess at a stag party 

Four hours 

15,000 

Posing as nude model for photography and sketching 

One hour 

5,000 

Payment is in advance/all credit cards accepted, cash is preferred. The websites guarantee confidentiality. 

Human trafficking from Central Asian Countries to Pakistan is going on and highly educated girls from Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan are forced to prostitutions, the trafficking victims have said.
At least six girls, trafficked from Central Asian region, say they are doctors by profession and were offered jobs in their field in Pakistan. “But we were deceived on fake jobs offer with high incentives. We were deprived of traveling documents and passports once we arrived in Pakistan so that we could not contact law enforcement agencies,” they told Online. The girls from Uzbekistan said on condition of anonymity that they were persuaded to apply to a job in the health sector of Pakistan that apparently offered high incentives, 10 times greater than a doctor earns in their home country. “But after arriving here the person who was presenting himself as a recruiting agent snatched our documents,” they said. Uzbekistan’s embassy confirmed that they had complains of human trafficking from the country and then using them as prostitute. “Yes it is an open secret, human trafficking causes several other crimes, but we remain unaware of their identities and whereabouts,” said Lutfullah, First Secretary at Uzbekistan’s embassy said.
The Central Asian girls declined to give details of the person, who brought them to Pakistan fraudulently and then handed over to two females forcing them for prostitution.
A girl in a guest house in the capital’s F-8/3 sector told Online, “Now, I cannot go to a police station as I have no document and they (the characters involved in the crime) have threatened us of losing life if I or five others girls, two of them from Azerbaijan, cross the limits of uncovering the network”.
Three of the girls from Uzbekistan and one from Azerbaijan said that they have contacted their respective embassies to have new passports and documents but they are also delaying provision of support.
When asked for his version over the issue of helping in re-issuance of passports and documents, Lutfullah said, “Yes, usually females come to the embassy in routine claiming that their passports and travelling documents were lost. Basically the passports are being issued by Uzbekistan’s Interior Ministry and not the embassy. We deal here only in travelling documents, but we need certain proofs for issuing such documents.”
Online tried to contact the press attaché of the Azerbaijani embassy but he was not available to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the FIA who was not authorised to speak to the media said that human trafficking to Pakistan is continuing from CARs and China but some time it become hard to take a step or fully stop it due to legal complexities.
“For example the immigration department is careful about issuing visas to girls from China but still human trafficking is continuing. The reason is that some Chinese workers in Pakistan show prostitutes as their wives and smuggled them here,” he further said. According to an official of FIA’s Anti Human Trafficking Cell more than 400 human traffickers involved in the heinous crime using air, land and sea routes for their activities. According to certain media reports every day 75-100 illegal immigrants are reached the country airports. There are reports that Pakistan is a destination for men, women and children from Central Asian Countries, Bangladesh and Iran who are subjected to forced labor and prostitution. According to FIA officials investigation from members of this kind of groups revealed that the three main frequent routes used by traffickers in Pakistan include Makran coast, Thar and porous border with Afghanistan, the sea routes of Karachi, Ormara, Pasni Gawadar and Jiwani are easy routes of the trafficking. Reports suggest that trafficked women are sold into brothels for $1,000 to $2,000 depending on age, beauty, race and their virginity.

Central Asian women “imported” to Pakistan for prostitution as official eyes closed

HT

ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has busted a four-member gang involved in trafficking of foreign women for sex trade and has arrested a member, sources said.

The Racket was headed by a former assistant director immigration and son of a former legislator from Faisalabad.

According to details, two women from Central Asian countries had arrived at Islamabad Airport from Turkish Airline on 30th January. They were cleared from the airport’s International lounge without due immigration procedure with alleged support of FIA officials.

Out of two, one of the lady passed through lounge reserved for special personalities and the other one got out of airport from common lounge.

It was astonishing that other agencies personnel were providing protocol to these ladies, seemingly as per designs of gang.

When contacted, FIA Islamabad Zone director Captain (Retd) Zafar Iqbal Awan confirmed the report and said they sent anti-smuggling personnel to the airport after the information.

Initial investigation stated that gang comprises of an ex assistant director immigration, Bahram Baloch, and Mustafa, who tells himself as a secret agency personnel.

Whereas trafficking women were used as prostitutes in Islamabad. The gang had allegedly paid Rs. 1 lac to immigration personnel to skip immigration procedure.

Bahram Balooch resides in I-8 Area of the capital.

On a query, Director FIA informed that names of women and others had been kept secret to arrest other members of these gang.

On the directions of the FIA director, anti-smuggling cell has registered case against the gang member.

 

THREAT TO PAKISTAN ARMED FORCES & NUCLEAR DEFENCE SECRETS

PAKISTAN’S LEGISLATORS ARE INTO DRUGS AND PROSTITUTION AS DISCLOSED BY JAMSHED DASTI, ONE OF THE FEW HONEST POLITICIANS IN PAKISTAN’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
PROSTITUTES ARE FOUND EARLY MORNING LEAVING ROOMS ALLOCATED TO MNAs.
SOME MNAs ARE PEDOPHILES AND AB– — USE YOUNG BOYS & GIRLS in MNA HOSTELS
RIGHT UNDER THE NOSE OF ISLAMABAD POLICE.
THEY ARE PMLN UNTOUCHABLES. POLICE’S HANDS ARE TIED. IF ARRESTED, THEY ARE RELEASED IN HOURS, AFTER CALLS ARE RECEIVED FROM PRIME MINISTERS SECRETARY
THE SAME POLITICIANS ARE ALSO ON COCAINE, HEROIN, ECSTASY & LSD
PAKISTAN IS BEING LOOTED & ENJOYED FOR PERSONAL CARNAL PLEASURE BY NAWAZ SHARIF’S PMLN POLITICIANS
F,G,& H BLOCKS IN ISLAMABAD ARE INFESTED WITH HO– — USES OF PROSTITUTION. WOMEN FROM CENTRAL ASIA, UZBEKISTAN, TAJIKISTAN,TURKMENISTAN, KAZAKHISTAN,
THAILAND, PHILIPINES, MYANMAR ARE FOUND UNDER PAKISTANI PIMPS & MADAMS. 
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN EACH MNAs JURISDICTION ARE SPENT ON ALCOHOL & WOMEN
THIS IS QUAID-I-AZAM PAKISTAN UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF KIM BARKER FAME SEXUAL HARASSER NAWAZ SHARIF, WHOSE WIFE HAS GROWN TOO FAT TO SERVICE HIS SEXUAL ADDICTION.
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS ARE USING THESE PROSTITUTES TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE ON PAKISTAN’S  STRATEGIC & NUCLEAR SITES

300 PROSTITUTION PLACES FOUND IN ISLAMABAD

December 23, 2013 in News insightPakistan

Prostitution
Islamabad: It is a very shameful news for all the Pakistani Nation who calls themselves as the believer of Islam and proud to have the name tag of Islamic Republic of Pakistan should lay down their heads because 300 Prostitution places are found in the Federal Capital Islamabad. All the high commands designated persons hold their offices in the capital but how come it is possible that they are unknown of this fact.

According to the report published in the newspaper some Police officers have react to this news immediately and raided on the mentioned places in the various areas of Islamabad. The police have also arrest many persons and took them in their custody.

The Islamabad police is continuously working on this and it is also conducting out the raids at constant interval on the mentioned places. While this is very shameful that all these types or centers are operating in Islamabad.

The allegedly mention places where these centers found are G-11, G-10, Shahzad Town, Ghauri Town, Alipur, Burma Town, Pakistan town and others.

– See more at: http://www.desitvonline.org/300-prostitution-places-found-in-islamabad/#sthash.OKNM01tT.dpuf

 

At 15, Shiny was the brightest student and scored straight A’s in her O-Level Examinations. Her parents were busy doctors minting a fortune and wanted her to score straight A’s in A-Levels to join a medical college in the UK. Pressures on her to perform were very high and parental care nonexistent. Browsing on the internet, she found names of anti-sleeping pills to stay awake. She used them, but fell into a depression. Within a year through friends on Facebook, she progressed to charas, heroin injections and amphetamines. Her parents, too busy with their routine, attributed dark circles around her eyes and loss of hair to over work, but never bothered to check her arms for punctures. She fell back in class and died of drug overdose before she was 17.
Adnan’s mother is a widow with two sons and a daughter. She has worked hard to educate her two elder children who are now employed aboard with hefty salaries. Five years ago, they moved to Baharia Town. With no supervision, Adnan got hooked to sheesha, hash and ecstasy. He started becoming violent and would often injure himself or cut his wrists. He was expelled from the college. He reacted by bringing gangsters outside the schools and colleges where his friends studied and involved in fights with firearms. He has abandoned education and operates a gang of drug addicts, who are involved in fights outside schools and colleges. The mother, who once defended him stoutly, is now helpless. For Adnan, it is a matter of time.
Meena is a foreign educated business developer. Working in a BPO, she got hooked on to drugs through young executives working at night at call centres. Out of job due to drug abuse, she now heads a gang of young addicts and peddles for the elites of Islamabad and Bharia in heroin and crack. Two of her friends have died of overdose.
These are alarming events and tip of the iceberg. It is a devil that haunts the urban elite education centres and call centres where youngsters are vulnerable and the nouveaux riches, who have no time for their children.

A decade back, hash and heroin was deemed to be a poor man’s refuge due to the prohibitive cost of imported liquor. However, the trends are now changing. Hash, heroin, amphetamines, hallucinogens, ecstasy and Ketamine compounds have proliferated into the urban elites of Pakistan. The route of entry is invariably private education institutions and BPOs operating night shift of youngsters, who attend school or college at day. Invariably, it always begins with efforts to keep awake and ends in tragedy. Outside the premises of these institutions, peddlers and criminals operate with impunity to befriend new customers. Rave parties, dancing events and attractive satanic captions splash pages on the social media. Sheesha centres in urban malls and posh localities located in farm houses are the high points of the nouveaux riches addicts where ecstasy, syringes and crack are a token of status. Once hooked there is no return.
Pakistan’s drug statistics are shocking. According to one report, over eight million Pakistanis are using drugs. The numbers are likely to touch 15 million in the next few years. Over 57 percent amongst these use heroin. According to another report amongst the women, 47 percent are college or university educated professionals. Nearly half of all urban addicts are school/college going students studying in private institutions and live in posh upcoming housings. According to DG Narcotics, private educational institutions are more vulnerable than the government educational institutions to attract the students towards drug addiction, mainly because the elites can spend more. He also expressed the opinion that addiction rate was proportional to tuition rates, where both parents were working and where parents don’t have enough time for their children. The drug of choice for the rich urban elites is not heroin but crack, a derivative of cocaine traded in dollars and euros.
Private education institutions from schools to universities have failed to check this rising menace within and outside their bounds. Most hostels of boys and girls also have dens from where this trade is run. In hostels, students experiment with chemicals to manufacture stimulants and hallucinogens in which Ephedrine and Ketamine are the basic drugs of choice. Recently, a hostel in Islamabad was found to be both a drug and prostitution den. In street corners, Garda, a lethal mix of tobacco, charas and stimulants in readymade cigarette rolls is available to anyone across the counters; usually the high school students.
In Pakistan’s urban centres, no one seems willing to take on the challenge. The district and municipal administrations despite tremendous civic powers at their disposal prefer looking the other way. Action by police is usually to extort more money from the peddlers and addicts. Private educational institutions in their desire to earn money prefer to keep their eyes closed, even to galas and dinners held in their own premises. Academicians lack the administrative fist and the leader’s prowess to deter, cajole or convince students. Nobody cares to inspect the hostel premises or why students have dropped semesters. Tutorial and social care groups are nonexistent. Visiting faculties consider having their hands washed of all responsibility and accountability. Cases instead of being reported to police and ANF are hushed up by disciplinary committees. There is a total absence of any dissuasive or punitive policy.
The time for holding ceremonial seminars on drug abuse as a compulsive expenditure should now be over. It is time to act. Detecting and preventing drug abuse is a social, civic and collective responsibility and not confined to police and ANF. Urban administrators, cantonment boards, institutional administrations and civil society groups need to wake up to this challenge and evolve aggressive action plans to combat this menace before we lose more youngsters to this social evil.

The writer is a retired officer of Pakistan Army and a political economist.
    Email: [email protected]

IMAG0258 (2)
 

Islamabad: The country’s capital Islamabad, has become a hub of drug addicts.

Saach.TV, after receiving complaints from the people, visited several areas and found shocking incidents that involve also the premises of a fast-food chain. The areas also include parking lots.

Youth of Islamabad often come around here to enjoy their evenings and conduct social gatherings.

However, this recreation now involves drug use, besides sale and purchase.

A visit by the scribe revealed the amount of drug consumption in the parking lot as well as the adjacent park near the restaurant.

Unfortunately, there are no checks and balances, though there are check posts of police round these corners.

There is no police present inside the premises as the restaurant has its own security outside to inspect the vehicles for any security-threatening object.

Such activities are also taking part in different areas of Islamabad including prominent universities.

A student of Quaid-e-Azam University disclosed to the scribe that weed is very much open in university premises and there is no check from the police.

An ex-addict told the scribe that the weed is easily available in Islamabad. He said, “Mostly people take drugs to relax themselves. The culture has been imported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and most of the weed comes from that place.”

Talking about the suppliers of weed, he said, “The suppliers of weed are easily available at different places and they work on a small scale. Main handlers of the suppliers operate from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”

Giving his expert opinion on the matter, Dr. Wahab Yusufzai, a Consultant Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at Shifa College of Medicine told Saach.TV that it is very unfortunate that this epidemic has spread in our society.

He praised the role of media in identifying the issue and urged the government to run an awareness campaign.

He strictly criticized the increasing culture of Sheesha among the youth and termed it as a catalyst to take youth at the verge of drugs.

Talking about the technicalities and solutions to eradicate this menace from the society, he emphasized, “Police has to take measure in controlling the supply and trafficking being done. Stopping the supply will surely decrease the addiction.”

He also asked the parents and universities to play their part in monitoring the youth. He said, “There should be a strong liaison among the parents and teachers and they should keep a watchful eye over the children. Parents must scrutinize the behaviour of children and also put a full stop on the increasing habit of youth to stay awake at night and sleep all day.”

Saach.TV tried to contact the Inspector General of Police, Islamabad but he was unavailable. His Public Relations Officer (PRO) said, “Islamabad Police has been cracking down on these elements daily and it is evident from their daily press releases.”

– See more at: http://www.saach.tv/2012/05/18/islamabad-an-easy-drug-place/#sthash.2VrHmAUd.dpuf

Who is this Pakistani Spy?

Posted on January 18, 2010 by alaiwah

About two years ago, a British military attaché in Islamabad was dismissed after he “lost the confidence of the British High Commission” following what London called his “inappropriate relationship” with a Pakistani female ‘spy’.

Brigadier Andrew Durcan, 56, was recalled in January 2007.

All hell broke loose after Aroosa Alam of an Islamabad daily, Pakistan Observer, ventured with what she claimed was an expose on how the drama involving the British military attache and the female spy played out.

Alam pointed to a certain research fellow, who happens to work for the ISS as the spy in question. This infuriated Dr Shireen Mazari, the ISS boss, who then went to town with a rejoinder that attempted to cut Alam down to size, but which in turn, drew the fury of the offended daily. Credibility was at stake, after all.

It is no secret that in diplomatic missions, some officials serve time for work other than their stated job-description. It is quite probable that Brigadier Durcan had a few skeletons in his cupboard, which is, in part explained by his rather secretive dismissal following a “loss of confidence” at the High Commission. Islamabad’s statement that it was never informed of the decision is, again, a pointer.

British Ministry of Defence, which seconds senior officers to the Foreign Office as military attaches in embassies around the world, confirmed the dismissal but declined to discuss the disgraced official’s future postings or whereabouts.

“The High Commissioner in Islamabad considered his platonic friendship with a Pakistani national inappropriate and, as a result, lost confidence in him. He has been investigated and cleared over potential breaches of security,” is what a statement from the ministry said following the revelation.

The married Durcan is a former commander of the Gordon Highlanders, 52nd Lowland Brigade and deputy inspector-general of the Territorial Army. He was nicknamed “the tartan barrel” by officers under his command in Scotland because of his girth.

But to most Pakistanis, it is the alleged involvement of their compatriot, a female at that, which is the most intriguing element of the soap opera.

Aroosa Alam, the daredevil reporter, decided to put them out of their misery with this expose:

“Careful and thorough investigation and a number of background interviews with military diplomats close to Brigadier Durcan revealed that a research fellow from Institute of Strategic Studies is the lady behind the whole affair.

“Holding dual nationality, one Pakistani and other British, Ms M K, has been associated with the Institute for many years. She deals with a number of defence-related issues and has written many research papers particularly on conflict resolution, non-proliferation, and EU.

“She frequently travelled between England and Pakistan. In Pakistan, she sought many interviews with various high-level defence officials even in Pakistani military hierarchy. She came under suspicion by M16 undercovers in Islamabad mission when she sought interviews with defence officials of the High Commission to be used in her research papers.

“According to sources, she would ask some very pointed and pertinent questions. But when she went back she never used these interviews and wrote nothing on these issues. Intelligence authorities in the High Commission were then alarmed and started suspecting that these questions were asked by her for not her own research papers but for the consumption of some one else. This was some time last fall. The girl and the Brigadier were monitored. Phones were bugged. Even the room and the house of the British Military Attache were bugged.

“Some sources claimed that some filming was also done to prepare incriminating evidence. Both were also spotted intimately together at some social functions. Sources claimed that the Brigadier also travelled to England many times to spend time with her and his engagements in England were also watched and closely monitored.

“A team arrived from London in early January this year after Christmas holidays and the Brigadier was confronted for the first time about the status of his relations with the young lady. He was asked to report back to London where, according to sources, he appeared before a three-member military tribunal along with the internal inquiry report, and evidence based on phonic conversations and perhaps with some pictures”.

Aroosa Alam drew a swift riposte from Mazari, who called a press conference the very next day, refuting the allegations point-by-point. She said although the research fellow mentioned in Alam’s report did work for ISS, all references to her subordinate’s name – right from the work specifics to foreign travel and dangerous liaisons with the disgraced British official – were factually wrong.

Mazari was clinical in her assertion and rounded off the rearguard by demanding an apology from both the reporter and her paper, failing which she threatened to seek legal redress.

However, her charge that the paper was undermining national interests and becoming a tool for vested interests, drew a scathing rejoinder from the paper, which made no secret of its displeasure by stating that it did not need a sermon from someone under the microscope.

In fact, it went on to suggest that it had done a favour to Mazari by publishing what it did since that “put an end to wild guesses being made in the city about some of the known media-related female academics, including Dr Mazari herself, for being the lady in question”.

The prime time battle was apparently, won by Mazari, when the paper finally, issued a front-paged “clarification” by its editor, regretting the “inadvertent” nomination of the ‘spy’ (MK) in the story, which it denied was true.

It has now emerged that the alleged ‘spy’ is, indeed, not the one named in Alam’s controversial story but someone else. However, some contents of her story, apparently, do hold ground.

For instance, the incriminating evidence one got to see clearly belies London’s claim that its official did not have the kind of relations with the ‘spy’ that a certain Bill Clinton allegedly had with the most known intern in history.

 

Trafficked|By Demand

Palwasha*, 18-year old Afghani girl, has been a commercial sex-worker since she was 14. A year later, she was forced to marry her rapist, who was also addicted to drugs. Then she was taken to Iran and forced into commercial sex work to make money for her husband. “He used to beat me up very badly every day besides forcing me to make money for him,” she was quoted as saying in the AIHRC report. “After a year or so he sold me to an Iranian drug seller for a huge amount of money before my family found out about it in Afghanistan and my mother came to Iran to rescue me.”

The cause of the prevailing international trafficking on all continents, stems from the demand. Like others trades, be it arm-dealing, drug trafficking, the human trafficking is also an illicit market and is controlled by the basic economic theories of supply and demand. As is common knowledge in the field of economics, once the demand lowers so does the supply.

Unfortunately, no one wants to go anywhere near the sensitive, controversial topic of “demand.” There are very few international organizations, government programs or NGOs that even touch on the topic of demand in human trafficking and the organizations that do focus on demand tend to center their efforts on abolishing sex trafficking. Amongst the handful of organizations that are unanimously in agreement to eradicate the demand and are concentrating their efforts for countering the demand side of human-sex-trafficking are the STOP DEMAND, THE Sage Project and Global Centurion. 

It’s essential to truly change the mindset of the slave buyer to eradicate modern-day slavery and end the demand for slaves. And to end demand, involved people  (men and women both) need to be held accountable for their participation in buying women and children for sex.

Understanding patterns of organized criminal networks are also important to consider. The situational context is vital to also develop awareness of the recruitment practices. Many girls like Palwasha” and others fall into the hands of human-traffickers due to their vulnerable conditions such as poverty, illiteracy and impoverished house-holds.

Their recruitment usually takes place by “agents” or middle-persons (more than 65% are women) that lure their victims through girls through force (drugging/kidnapping); or coercion via promises of fake opportunities or boyfriends who trick young girls in to running away with them.

In starkly poor villages of Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries, the women agents visit houses and speak face-to-face with parents, elderly establishing a trust within a  community. This helps in getting significant large number of children, sometimes an extortion fee is also taken from the victim’s family to make think that their children will get better rewards after reaching their destinations or this amount will cover their basic needs.

Being a woman, it disgusts me to observe that more than often “women” are working as trust agents that engage to establish themselves quickly within communities.

At Islamabad, in the previous years, the dark side of diplomacy has also come to the surface. When media broke out the story that consular staff at the Switzerland Embassy was involved in a human trafficking racket. Switzerland immediately replaced all its embassy and consular staff in Pakistan. It also shut down its visa-section at Islamabad, that followed a Pakistani investigation into the illegal Swiss visas that has led to a number of arrests.

Switzerland also launched visa fraud investigations in countries  Oman, Peru, Russia, Nigeria, Serbia and Eritrea.  These issues came to the surface after local media started highlighting the plight of Pakistani visa applicants complaining about the various forms of harassment by Swiss embassy officials.

A few weeks ago, Pakistan Embassy in Libya sent the Foreign Ministry  an official letter that alleged that Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Immigration department in Islamabad, is involved in human trafficking. The embassy provided sustainable evidence to back its claims that travel documents were being used for opening bogus vacancies in fake companies, and added that the officials at FIA Immigration department in Islamabad are charging between Rs25,000-50,000 (150-350 EURO) per person to smuggle them abroad.

The letter added that hundreds of Pakistanis contact the embassy every day saying that they have no money to eat and appeal to be sent back to Pakistan. This is why, the letter urged, a ban should be imposed immediately on all people traveling to Libya and action should be taken against FIA officials involved in the fraud. Further more, the report claims that thousands of  Pakistanis sent illegally to various places across the world are dwelling in jails, fallen into hands of trafficking networks and being meted out inhumanly treatment. It adds that countless have already died in the dire conditions.

On one-hand the human-flesh trade continues, but inside Pakistan, the prominent internationally recognized campaigner of human rights, Ansar Burney continues to serve are a whistle-blower.

Burney is a man with a mission. The mission that is not so impossible includes crimes against humanity, degradation, child abuse, sex-slavery, human trafficking and other more subtle forms of human and civil rights violations without any discrimination or affiliation.

He has been working on issues of sexual slavery in Pakistan, the Middle East and Africa for two decades now. During this time, with assistance from the various governments and authorities, through his organization the Ansar Burney Trust, he has secured the release of thousands of persons from false imprisonment and slavery across the world; these have included young girls sold in the sex trade and young children used for modern-day slavery.

In 2005, the Ansar Burney Trust was involved in the release and repatriation of 13,967 victims(under-age) from the Middle East alone. A shocking case came to light, when Burney rescued a group of under-age trafficked girls sold into prostitution in Middle Eastern countries.

During the investigations, it was revealed that the greater demand of “under-age virgin” girls continues to rise in the Middle East.  The traffickers used the horrible method of blood capsules on the girls’ bodies in order to “prove”  their virginity.

In an interview with local media, Burney denounced this inhumane practice  and warned that “use of such blood packed in capsules used by human traffickers to show that girls are virgin, may contain viruses that can spread AIDS or other contagious diseases.”

The issue of children both boys and girls being trafficked into sexual slavery highlights other dimensions within the demand chain. As young boys too fall prey to such traffickers for sexual exploitation. A a non-governmental organization Modar (working in Tajikistan) says said there was a growing trend in the abduction and sale of Tajik boys for sexual exploitation abroad.  It reports that s groups in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Pakistan and other countries were prepared to pay as much as $70 000 for a Tajik boy between the ages of 10 and 12.

Unfortunately, human trafficking is one of the longest established, yet most neglected problems in all continents. Palwasha’s* story is a tip on the iceberg of the many cases of human trafficking which happen, literally under our noses, every day.

She may be lucky to be rescued but the scars inflicted upon her soul may not perish. Others many not be teeny-weeny bit lucky as her to get rescued at all.

Reference

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READ & WEEP: HOW US PLANTED PM NAWAZ SHARIF & ASIF ZARDARI SOLD PAKISTAN FOR $8 BILLION?

Pakistan Sold for $8 billion?

By Dr Shahid Qureshi

One can safely say that current ruling Pakistani elite including political, civil, business and military have sold Pakistan as much as for roughly $8 billion worth of assets abroad. This rough estimate is based on the available figures of two leading figures in Pakistani politics Nawaz Sharif & Brothers Limited and Zardari & Co Limited who have properties and assets abroad mainly in the USA, UK, Europe and else where.

The others are Chaudhry brothers of PML-Q, ANP leader Asfandyar Wali, Rehman Malik and others also have assets abroad. British national and self exiled MQM-A leader Altaf Hussain is also part of political sharks in terms of assets abroad.

The foreign assets of other politicians like Imran Khan and religious parties are not yet reported. But one can not rule anything out. One thing is common among almost all Pakistani politicians and Generals is that all of them have their children or grand children living, studying abroad with foreign nationalities or married to foreign nationals. Hypercritically those who shout the loudest against the US have send their sons and daughters their too.

There is another class who has assets abroad and that is members of civil, military establishments and corrupt business elite. They are the protectors of the assets of these politicians. They teach them the tricks of ‘sophisticated bank robberies’, wiping out their bank loans, taking commissions from international firms and safely depositing them abroad. There is a tiny minority in Karachi, who is ready to serve any one and every one in terms of money laundering, playing with the currency exchange rates and provides help in the flight of capital out of Pakistan. They place their members on high positions in the disguise of ‘great community workers’ but in actual fact these people are responsible for funding terrorism and gang warfare in Karachi to all sides. They act as a bank for enemies of Pakistan. Their media channels follow the lines of the enemies of Pakistan in media and psychological warfare. They are the champions of flourishing of ‘black economy’ in Pakistan. That is why we find them in almost each and every financial scandal in the known memory of Pakistani corruption.

Most of the above got these properties and assets by robbing Pakistan and selling its sovereignty. The so called business community of Karachi is at the fore front in facilitating the flight of capital abroad and later investments in their projects. They are in the ‘gold circle’ of the current regime and so called elite.

They are the real gangsters and worst than target killers. After reading most of JIT (Joint Investigation Team) reports of target killers from Karachi one can safely say these are the poor people living in deprived areas killing around innocent people on the orders of shady elite living in posh areas with guards in big mansions. One can find this so called business community in all shady deals and working as bank for any one and every one especially the nasty neighbours.

In London they have readymade business plans for Pakistani crooks and cons with money. Some of them regularly attend religious gatherings and give large sums in charity to get credibility among the clerics. Without knowing the source of the money some clerics do special prayers for them. Some of them are notorious for frequently doing ‘bankruptcies’, insolvencies as well as running special religious TV channels. Well money can buy you anything? That is how they get their people placed on the influential positions with access to sensitive information.

This is the small minority of people has held Pakistan hostage to the foreigners just to protect their assets, properties, foreign nationalities and green cards. The freezing of assets of Arab leaders after the Arab spring in the past few months should be a wake up call and lesson for others? The lesson is your money is safer in your own country than a foreign plastic platinum card in your back pockets.   

Bashing of Pakistan’s military both as an institution and its generals for both right and wrong reasons is quite fashionable. Pakistan’s military and nuclear assets are the main target of the enemies and so called friends. Pakistan’s army is a voluntary force; everybody can join the army and may be after the 30 years of service an officer become a general, others retires as they go along their careers.

“The personal wealth of Pakistani generals is estimated at £3.5m a head’, according to The Guardian’s report, “The plot to bring back Benazir” published on 21st July 2007. 

The musical chair of politicians and military is harming the existence of Pakistan. The elite of Pakistan are institutionally corrupt and now become an organised ‘mafia’. Scandals of ‘steel mills’, sugar mills, cement; stock exchange has broken the records of previous corruptions. The culprits are from both opposition and ruling party.

Few years ago Zardari – Benazir Bhutto assets worth more than $ 2 billion according to Saifurahman and according to NAB figure are around $1.2bn [£ 830m]. Raja Bashir of The Pakistani National Accountability Bureau told The Guardian that, “Ms Bhutto has 26 bank accounts, 14 properties and total assets of one billion sterling pounds abroad. We are very glad that other countries are cooperating with us.”

On March 2, 2006, The Dawn newspaper reported that Benazir’s assets in Spain ‘unearthed’, The National Accountability Bureau claimed to have unearthed two more offshore companies and a villa in Spain owned by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. A spokesman of the bureau said that judicial authorities of Spain had frozen assets of two Sharjah-based companies, Petroline and Tempo Global Gains, as well as their six bank accounts.

The villa worth half million Euros, allegedly owned by Ms Bhutto and her three children, Bilawal Zardari, Bakhtawar Zardari and Aseefa Zardari in Playas Del Arenal, Marbella, had also been seized by the High Court of the Valencia province, the NAB claimed. The NAB official said the Petroline Company was owned by Ms Bhutto, former FIA director-general Rehman Malik and Hassan Ali Jafferi and was established in 2000.

Unknown-49Nawaz Sharif had no connection with the feudal elite. His family moved from Jati Umra near Amirtasr and by 1960 they owned a few modest size factories – iron foundry, ice making, and water pump factory.

Some how Mian Sharif managed to reach General Jill, as General Ghulam Jilani Governor of Punjab in General Zia’s regime He literally begged to give a break in politics to Nawaz Sharif. That is how he got into the military’s chicken farm and his factories started laying golden eggs.  Nawaz Sharif was appointed as finance minister of Punjab in 1983.  

In 1981 the family business group Ittefaq’s turnover was Rs. 337 million, but by 1987 it had soared to at least Rs. 2,500 million, that is according to the group’s own accounts. Within four years Ittefaq had become one of the wealthiest private industrial groups in Pakistan. ‘Hard work and grace of Allah’ explained Shabaz Sharif. One can imagine the miraculous growth in the assets of billions now. Investing in politics is not bad business at all in Pakistan.

According to Asia Week, Rehman Malik current Interior minister and key holder of Zardari’s safe produced 200-page report of MNS’s corruption. The secret document was leaked to the London-based Observer newspaper published details of alleged corruption involving the MNS and his family. According to the report, the Sharif family obtained loans from Pakistani state banks for business purposes and illegally converted the money into foreign exchange worth at least $66 million.

According to the report, the Sharif family acquired properties in London through two companies, Nescoll and Nielson Enterprises, registered in the British Virgin Islands and linked to a bank account in Lahore in the name of a fictitious person: Sulman Zia. The four flats in Avendale House in Park Lane are said to be worth at least £ 750,000, which worth millions of pounds keeping in view the current housing market in London. Not a bad deal!

What clinched the appointment for Nawaz Sharif as PM was a word to the presidency by the then ISI chief Lt. Gen Hamid Gull, that the army believed he was a better choice. General Hamid Gull now regrets his misjudgement. Subsequently the President also dismissed him. Nawaz Sharif’s problem was power: a pathological crass compounded by crass incompetence. Nawaz Sharif also seemed to be an ungrateful person. He did not feel any obligation towards president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, nor did he ever say ‘thank you’ to General Hamid Gull’.

The smart business minded ‘Abbaji’ late father of Nawaz Sharif invited General Asif Nawaz to his Lahore residence. After a fatherly ‘tête-à-tête’, Abbaji told the new army chief that he was like his son and requested him to take his two sons Nawaz and Shabaz under his wings: and also told the ‘children’ that they must follow and never disregard the General Sahib’s advice. And one last thing Abbaji said to the General Sahib, as he came to see him out off at the porch of his house, ‘my both children have a Mercedes each, and here is the key to yours; you are like a son to me.’

It didn’t work with General Asif Nawaz, he felt offended and therefore, instead of being able to buy the General, Nawaz Sharif had instead lost his respect too.

“I sent Ghaus Ali Shah to gave a lift home to General Musharaf and inform him that he has been deposed in absence said Nawaz Sharif while addressing a meeting in Manchester in July 2007. How intelligent was to promote engineering corp’s, Kashmiri, General Zia and decorate him with the badges purchased from Sadar Bazar Rawalpindi, MNS must be thinking in his spare time? 

Majeed Nizami editor of the Nawa-e-waqat a closest ally of Nawaz Sharif had to remark that they used to regard Benazir Bhutto as a ‘security risk’, it seemed Nawaz Sharif was a greater security risk. He was indeed the worst thing that had happened to Pakistan since independence. Whether it was money, morals or security, the nation found it difficult to trust him. His recent speech at SAFMA attracted lot of controversies. MNS don’t believe in reading and learning?

It is interesting that when Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri freedom fighters were battling against the Indian army on the freezing heights of Kargil, Nawaz Sharif’s business proxies were selling sugar to India . India did not need to import any sugar and yet if Vajpayee had accepted to buy Pakistani sugar it was only to sweeten his relationship with Nawaz Sharif.

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More recently angry and sarcastic attitude of Nawaz Sharif against the military is deplorable, when thousands of soldiers have lost their lives while his sons and nephews are doing multi million dollar businesses abroad. Pakistani politicians including Nawaz Sharif can only have moral high ground on others once they prove themselves. That they look after Pakistan’s national interests more than their personal wealth hidden abroad. They don’t take decisions which harm the interests of Pakistan just because their assets could be frozen abroad.

The US aid to Pakistan has actually proven to be a ‘rip off and fraud’ by financial terrorists of Wall Steers.  There is no doubt that US has caused more than $70 billion losses to Pakistan since 2001. On the other hand only aided/lend or both $22.87 billion from 1950 to 2010. Most part of that aid actually never arrived in Pakistan as it was paid to your defence and military complexes back in the USA.  This rip off could only be possible if people mentioned above have prostituted themselves for personal interests.  

Breakdown of US aid as reported:

Total US Aid: $22.87 billion in 60 years & losses to Pakistan: $60 billion
1950-1964     2.5bn economic and 500 m military aid
1965-1979     2.55 billion economic and 26 million military
1980-1990     5 billion military and economic aid
1991-2000     429 million economic and $5.2 million military
2001-2009     3.6 billion economic and 9 billion military
2009-2015     7.5 billion approved under Kerry Lugar Bill aid mostly non military ($1.5 billion per year)

Almost all the regimes of Pakistan have been prostituting with the enemies by deliberately harming the state of Pakistan and following IMF agenda e.g. gas and electric shortages to destroy the industrial infrastructure, Railways and Pakistan Steel. They have ignored the risks and challenges concerning the US lead military occupation of Afghanistan and drone attacks on Pakistan. Unknown-6Pakistan has suffered approximately $70 billion economic, human losses, structural damages to roads and bridges deployed more than 147,800 troops conducting combat operations in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. The Pakistan armed forces has lost more than 3,200 soldiers, with another 6,400 injured. They sustain an average of 10 casualties each day, and approximately 35,000 Pakistani civilians killed by suicide bombers and terrorism.  

US policies around the world and especially in Pakistan created refugees and approximately 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in SWAT and FATA to further destabilize the country. Millions of people in Pakistan are waiting to be fully rehabilitated; 2.5 million Afghan refugees are a burden on the economy of Pakistan as well as causing social problems. They can’t go back to Afghanistan as US and NATO have occupied Afghanistan and fighting an unwinnable war.

One can assume that Pakistani nation suffered both human and financial losses only because this small minority of people have their few billion dollars worth assets in USA, UK, Dubai, Malaysia and Europe. If current regime and political stake holders in government really sincere with Pakistan, they should bring their money back to Pakistan. They can enjoy their wealth and it will be safe and unfrozen.

A bird (dollar) in the hand is much better than two (dollars) in the Bush(land).  

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