Islamabad, Pakistan: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the son of “Eik Zardari Sab pay Bhari” (Only Zardari can influence everybody). He is also the son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and grandson of Zulifqar Ali Bhutto. He represents over 55 years’ legacy of Pakistani politics but nowadays behaves like a loser.
Bilawal who is an integral part of the led government in the Centre is facing an existentialist crisis in Punjab and it looks like his party is ‘thrown and condemned’ and the person who defeated Bilawal Bhutto in Lahore is the face of Pakistani politics as the Federal Minister of Information while PMLN leadership in Punjab is becoming habitual of taunting PPP’s Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan whenever it deems fit to PMLN. Even so, Information Minister Punjab Azma Bokhari categorically said that Sardar Saleem Haider Khan should leave the Governorship and join PTI. Cracking jokes over the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is the norm in Punjab’s cabinet while his Sindh government is not receiving any share of promotion at state-run media under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rather a slow by a steady campaign against PPP could be smelled in the media allegedly planned by PMLN government. In all these circumstances, the PPP is taking a position that it would not support banning any political party such as PTI that is habitual of attacking the capital city of Islamabad and abusing national institutions. This position of PPP may help it to portray itself as a ‘champion of parliamentary politics’ but compromising parliamentary politics as reckless conduct of the PTI-led provincial government of KPK is raising the question that power conferred to provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment is too daring to enable provincial governments to physically attack the Federation. PPP’s position against any attempt to clamp the Governor’s Rule in KPK and criticizing a possible ban on PTI is serving those who have been against the 18th Amendment from the very day it was introduced. No the conduct of Chief Minister KPK Ali Amin Gandapur confirms that criticism against extraordinary administrative powers delegated to provinces under the 18th Amendment is practically weakening the Federation.
Whatever PTI has been doing since it was voted out from power in April 2022 cannot be accepted in any Parliamentary democratic country. Using Afghan nationals to disrupt law and order in Pakistan, creating chaos and disorder when foreign delegates are in the country (Belarusian President was in Islamabad when PTI attacked Islamabad while using provincial administration of KPK), attacking military installations (May 9, 2023), killing Rangers and policemen (On November 24-25-26, 2024), running campaigns against the state of Pakistan, writing letters to the UN to penalize the country on human rights issues, writing letters to IMF to stop payments to Pakistan, writing letters to US Congressmen and UK lawmakers to ask their countries to take punitive actions against Pakistan are some of ‘services’ of PTI against Pakistan and banning such party should be a service to the country instead of let this party to play havoc with country. Why the PPP is taking a position against the possible banning of PTI is a question that should be answered by Bilawal Bhutto because PTI’s act justifies to review 18th Constitutional Amendment that has provided exceptional powers to provinces and these powers (economic as well as administration) are now used by PTI against Federation.
Political analysts believe that Bilawal Bhutto is losing politically by not responding to what his party is facing in Punjab taking an absurd position in favor of PTI and actually putting the 18th Amendment in danger. Who knows what PTI and Gandapur are doing by designed to harm the 18th Amendment?
Pakistani politics represents dirty and abusive language, hatred, vulgarity, and anti-state narratives and protests. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1950s and 60s introduced practically the strategy of nonviolent protest in the US and secured a marvelous acceptability in the US society and state circles. On the other hand, Malcolm X adopted the violent strategy of protest by chanting the slogan, ‘ballet or bullet’ and was discarded by the majority of the US people.
We, the Pakistani or third-world nations, learned nothing from such brilliant movements and philosophies. God shakes conscience, again and again, to educate people to adopt a new positive direction in political affairs. A new wave of this great message came to Pakistan from the New Zealand Parliament to convince the political leadership to mend their ways and create an environment of peace and harmony in Pakistan. This protest also teaches the Pakistani people to embrace their cultural ethos and do sincere politics with their voters. Maori people are original and Indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand making up 20 percent of New Zealand’s 5.3 million population who fought against the Colonists but ultimately concluded a treaty with the Britishers in 1840 and became part of the new social order. The new psyche, traditions, food, system, and attitudes had a grievous impact on the Maori people and reduced their numerical strength. The lawmakers decided to bring changes in the Treaty of Waitangi and sought opinions from different parties on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. As the Speaker asked Hana Rawhiti for the opinion of her party, Te Pāti Māori on the bill she stood up and started performing Haka and tore the paper of the legislation on 14 November 2024.
Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, a 22-year-old author, a politician by the family tradition, and an elected parliamentarian of the New Zealand assembly, made a ceremonial Haka dance with loud and melodious chant in the Parliament to show a fierce resentment on a controversial bill being discussed in the Parliament to redefine the treaty between the British and Maori leaders in 1840. This bill was to damage the identity and rights already recognized in the Treaty of Waitangi as the conservative coalition government moved the bill on the ideology that no special status can be given on the ethnic basis and the government wanted equal status of all the New Zealanders. The other Maori members also joined Hana and expressed their defiance on the intriguing changes in the Treaty. This is the ever-best protest in the world that was nonviolent and based on cultural ethos. After this protest, the Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, was forced to suspend the session temporarily on Thursday.
Haka dance in the Parliament of New Zealand by a young Hana Rawhiti is popularly viral throughout the world. Her facial impressions show sincerity, commitment, purity, and unremitting enthusiasm for the cause of her community rights. Adopting the cultural style of protest popularized her. Her speech in the public gathering testified that her commitment to the Maori cause is unshakable. We in Pakistan always seem critical of our regional cultures and languages but the movement by the Maori tribe exposed how much culturist the factions are living in Western societies. They love their language, dress, traditions, and customs. Even the modern Pakistani section and political parties are sharing this video correlating it with their own cause and rights struggle although they hate the local cultures and languages. Most of the private modern schools and Colleges in the Punjab take the Punjabi language and local dress as a symbol of derogation and ignorance. Can they learn something from this young girl? The Maori people have been on the roads wearing the traditional dress or chanting the traditional Haka dance and songs which show the fury against the bill. We take Western societies as revolutionary and modern but still they honor the cultures, traditions, and customs. Once they concluded that violence is subversive and detrimental to the country and its people, they abandoned it as the Maori people are doing but in Pakistan the political parties especially the youth have been protesting violently. Even the top political leaders impart hatred and detestation in the minds of their followers. Religio-political parties are going in the same direction. Once a Maori member was interrupted for not wearing a tie in the Parliament which infuriated the Maori tribe. Haka dance translates to the strength, anger, and unity of the Maori people on the cause. This dance is also observed at some special events or festivals but with full reverence and spirit and it has a big impact on the audience and viewers because of the genuine enthusiasm. The Maori dance was done to show unity and adherence to the aggrieved when the Muslims were killed by an extremist New Zealander in the Mosques.
Note: The article was first published in Pakistan Observer. Dr Akhtar Hussain Sandhu is a Professor of History and Principal of Govt Islamia College Civil Lines Lahore. He did his Postdoc in the UK and is the author of several books. He is considered an authority on Muslim-Sikh Politics and their relationship. He writes for national newspapers and appears as an analyst on state-run television as well as on international television channels in the UK, Canada, and the United States.
Peshawar, Pakistan: Over 80 persons dead in one week in tribal cum sectarian conflicts in Kurram district but Chief Minister Amin Ali Gandapur is dancing and leading a protest to the capital to subjugate the federal government.
A question arises here is it not a senseless and inhuman act of Gandapur to lead a protest while 80 dead bodies in clashes in Kurram district? Another unfortunate situation is that the provincial administration of KPK is busy supporting Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to make his protest a success despite clear orders from the Establishment Division of the Federal Government to stay away from the political facilitation of the provincial government.
The maximum that CM Gandapur did to maintain order in Parachinar was to send a delegation to the area on Saturday to negotiate a ceasefire between rival tribes following armed clashes that resulted in nearly 80 deaths this week. The tribal cum sectarian conflict in Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, had a long history where one sect always got physical support and fighters from Afghanistan. On Thursday armed men from the Sunni tribe ambushed multiple passenger vehicles and killed at least 45 Shi’ites, including men, women, and children.
Is it not a sheer shameless act of Gandapur to lead a protest leaving 80 dead bodies in clashes in Kurram district?
On Friday, Shi’ite community members conducted revenge attacks against the Sunni-dominated village where the ambush had taken place, killing at least 33 people and wounding dozens of others. The attackers set petrol stations on fire and damaged markets as well as homes.
Bloody tribal cum sectarian clashes also took place in September 2024 in upper Kurram that lasted over 10 days costing 46 deaths and 96 injured persons and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government kept away from the clash and did not take any administrative action to stop tribes from killing each other by using military grade weapons against each other.
Maintaining law and order is a provincial subject, however, instead of taking provincial subjects as a priority, the KP government is more interested in trespassing into federal subjects such as foreign affairs and has virtually left the province at the mercy of terrorists and radical forces.
Intense attacks in areas of Balishkhel, Sadda, Khar Kallay, Peewar, and Maqbal were reported in past also and ongoing violence in Kurram highlights the deep-rooted sectarian tensions among tribes and sometimes this tautness got support from terrorists from Afghanistan. This time a land dispute was converted into sectarian violence that underscores the fragile peace in regions.
Kurram district has a history of bloody confrontations that have claimed hundreds of lives over the years and terrorist outfits such as TTP have been using sectarian divide to get harbors as they got active support of one of the sects that had been active in Afghan Jihad in since the 1980s. The Kurram district, formerly a semi-autonomous area had been a launching pad of terrorists in the last three decades against the state of Pakistan. A major conflict that began in 2007 continued for years before being resolved with the help of a jirga, (a council of tribal elders), in 2011. This was the same era when TTP was formed and started its activities against the Pakistan Army. The year 2024 had been a bloody year for this area as another round of clashes broke out over a property dispute in July, leaving 38 dead and 158 injured in the same district.
Out of a new wave of terrorism (2024), so far over 400 personnel and civilians have been martyred while over 800 have been injured in various attacks by outlawed terror outfits across the KP in 2024
The overall security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become alarming this year and the provincial government is not taking responsibility for the situation because this government invited TTP terrorists back to Pakistan from Afghanistan through a deal with the Afghan Taliban. PTI government announced a presidential pardon for top terrorists who were convicted and got death sentences from courts of law. The local people of Swat, Parachinar, Peshawar, and other districts hold former prime minister Imran Khan and former DG ISI who also served as Corp Commander Peshawar responsible for whatever killings are going on in the province. They claim that the Imran-
In the new wave of terrorism, till September 2024 as many as 337 state personnel and civilians have been martyred while 616 have been injured in various attacks by outlawed terror outfits across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2024 (figures are official and compiled by the provincial police).
Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), confirmed that this year alone, 103 police personnel have been martyred while 154 have been injured. Similarly, 103 civilians have also been martyred, and 159 people have been injured in various attacks.
According to another report prepared by a law enforcement agency and released in September 2024, Dera Ismail Khan, the hometown of Chief Minister Amin Ali Gandapur has seen the highest number of police casualties with 63 personnel martyred followed by Bannu with 58, North Waziristan with 50, South Waziristan with 38, Bajaur with 29, Khyber with 22, Peshawar with 18, Kurram with 16, Mardan and Malakand with 11 each, Kohat with 10, Dir with 8, Hazara with 1, and Mohmand with 2 personnel martyred.
The report further reveals that 49 Frontier Corps (FC) personnel have been martyred this year while 124 have been injured
The report also highlights that terrorists have targeted and martyred four politicians in Bajaur and North Waziristan while two were injured. In Dera Ismail Khan, 25 police personnel have been martyred while 23 have been injured, and in Bannu, 23 police personnel have been martyred with 20 injured. Moreover, there has been a surge in extortion incidents across the province including in Peshawar with 98 cases registered so far. The report reveals that a total of 98 extortion cases have been reported so far, with 242 suspects involved, of whom 99 have been arrested. The report indicates that the highest number of extortion cases, 50, were reported in Peshawar followed by 11 cases in the Khyber District and 6 cases in Dera Ismail Khan. The report further shows that in Dera Ismail Khan, 41 suspects, in Upper Dir, 27, in Khyber, 26, in Mardan, 16, and in Kohat, 12 suspects have been named in extortion cases. The police officials mentioned that many people do not report extortion calls, leading to several cases going unreported.
According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s CTD statistics, there were 806 incidents of terrorism in 2023 with 1,404 people losing their lives. In the seven former tribal districts merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 342 incidents of terrorism were recorded while 464 incidents were recorded in other districts. There were 243 attacks on the police and 563 attacks on public gatherings and other security personnel. In those incidents, 74 police personnel were martyred, 401 were injured, 51 military personnel were martyred, and 144 civilians also lost their lives. Dera Ismail Khan topped the list with 132 incidents of terrorism in 2023.
According to the CTD, most of the individuals involved in the attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been Afghans. These terrorists and suicide bombers were fully trained in Afghanistan before being sent to Pakistan for terrorist activities.
A senior police official believes the Police are losing morale in its fight against terrorists because the Chief Minister shows no interest in security issues of the province and is always found busy with his political issues and spends much of his time in Islamabad
The CTD investigations reveal that the masterminds behind major attacks are Afghans who plan the operations from Afghanistan, hampering progress in investigations. It’s worth noting that there has been an increase in operations against terrorists in 2023. Last year, more than 1,000 cases were registered, resulting in the arrest of over 700 terrorists. More than 250 terrorists were killed during the CTD operations.
In August 2024 alone, 11 police stations in Peshawar were targeted with four attacks on police stations and mobile teams on Warsak Road in just one week
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most terrorist attacks carried out throughout the province have targeted the police. The police stations in the suburban areas of Peshawar have been particularly targeted. In August 2024 alone, 11 police stations in Peshawar were targeted with four attacks on police stations and mobile teams on Warsak Road in just one week.
The provincial government claims that it is working to enhance the capacity of the police, especially the Counter-Terrorism Department. In the current fiscal year’s budget, the government has allocated Rs 140 billion to the police. Between 2019 and 2023, the provincial government also set bounties for the capture of terrorists, allocating Rs 3.31 billion for this purpose. It was claimed that 2,251 terrorists were present in 28 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Monitoring Desk: The language that Chief Minister KPK used in the provincial assembly on November 29, not only exposed him as nothing more than a street vandal but once again showed his political and moral defeat by making a very vile, false, and poisonous speech – such a speech by the Chief Minister of such an unfortunate province in which the worst insults were made against the Pakistan Army at a time when the Pakistan Army is paying a heavy price in blood in the war on terror daily due to the failures of the same Chief Minister in the province of the weakest governance.
Journalists from Peshawar claim that CM Gandapur used extremely objectionable language against state institutions because his hire guns have been arrested who mostly belong to Afghanistan and their confessional statements are enough to try Amin Gandapur for criminal charges such as murder, attempt of murder, violence against state abetment for attacking state institutions and conspiracy against the Central government. Now Gandapur plans to instigate the Federal government to clamp the operations of the provincial government and establish Governor’s Rule so he would become a ‘political martyr’
Standing on the floor of the provincial assembly, Gandapur made the vilest and completely baseless accusation of firing bullets by the Pakistan Army against protesters.
The confessional statements of Afghans hired by Gandapur confirm that CM was directly involved in hiring criminals to kill personnel of law enforcement agencies.
Evidence of the presence of illegal Afghans was revealed during the PTI protest. Arrested illegal Afghan miscreants said;
I belong to Afghanistan, our people were firing on police and Rangers personnel—Beitullah
I belong to Afghanistan, Ali Amin Gandapur lured us with two to three thousand and fired on us. Abrarul.
Islamabad police personnel were injured in our firing. My duty was with a vehicle in which weapons were being transported. Abrarul Haq
I belong to the Kandahar province of Afghanistan and was hired by PTI. Aman Khan
They gave us two thousand rupees and tied us up here and then they ran away. Oh Allah, protect us, I am poor and helpless and I became a victim of the cunningness of PTI people. Pervez Khan
I belong to Kunduz province of Afghanistan; my duty was with a vehicle. Fazal Haq
PTI workers were carrying weapons in their vehicles. 25 to 30 Kalashnikovs were distributed among the people from this vehicle. Fazal Haq
Monitoring Desk: General Syed Asim Munir, NI(M), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), visited the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), Pabbi today and interacted with the participants of Pak – China Joint Exercise Warrior-VIII between Pakistan Army and Peoples’ Liberation Army of China.
COAS was briefed on the scope and conduct of the exercise. COAS also interacted with participants of the exercise. He appreciated the professionalism and high morale of participants being displayed during the Joint Exercise.
Pak – China Joint Exercise Warrior-VIII commenced on 19 November 2024. The weeks-long Exercise in the Counter Terrorism domain is the 8th in a series of bilateral exercises being conducted annually. Earlier upon arrival at NCTC Pabbi, COAS was received by Commander Rawalpindi Corps.
Islamabad, Pakistan: There is a phrase “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” This phrase is most appropriate when expressing who deals with foreign media in Pakistan because foreign media behaves as if it is not accountable and answerable to anybody in Pakistan.
The reporting of foreign media for the last three days confirmed that nobody from them was present at the scene of the alleged firing of security forces on protesters of PTI on the night of November 26, 2024. Still, foreign media reported that shotguns were used by the police, 45 or 55 (there is a difference of 10 numbers and they are talking about humans, not cucumbers) protesters were wounded and transferred to Poly Clinic Hospital and some of them were received dead at hospitals however, foreign media has no identities of these 45 or 55 persons and have no footage of their dead bodies nor their addresses from where they belonged. Foreign media provides just ‘sources requesting anonymity’ and eye ‘witnesses’ who are faceless, nameless, and without any identity. The allegations of killing people by the security forces are in foreign media and Aljazeera claimed that the Police used AK-47s but without providing footage of such scenes. BBC report had audio files of ‘eyewitnesses’ and claimed that hospital authorities were not sharing data and files of injured but same time claimed it had audios of some hospital authorities. DW’s claims are similar.
Foreign media also claimed that ‘some injured at hospitals denied to show their identities in fear of their arrest. According to the procedure, no injured person can be provided the facilities of operation and even first aid if the case is Medico Legal (gunshots, etc) and he is alive but does not want to share an identity. It is also claimed that postmortem of dead persons was not allowed and bodies were taken away by relatives but where these bodies were sent and buried has not been investigated by the foreign media.
The dissection of reports of foreign media categorically indicates that this coverage cannot be called ‘storytelling’ but a news report.
The government had been claiming that police were not armed with shooting weapons but entire reporting of foreign media tried to establish that police had guns and they shot people some of them to death. In all reports of foreign media, it was not pointed out that PTI rioters were using tear gas guns, they had AK-47s (shown in many clips available in social media) and they were ransacking cars (also shown in social media clips) when PTI leadership ran away from the spot leaving protesters behind.
Are they TTP terrorists or PTI followers
There is a dire need for a thorough review of reporting of foreign media and asking journalists to justify allegations they have raised in their reports otherwise such kind of irresponsible reporting would continue to harm the country because law enforcement agencies such as Police and Rangers lose their lives in quest of not using bullets against zombies like protesters but their sacrifices have been ruined by the irresponsible reporting of the media and Police and Rangers who were the victim of vandalism of protesters have been portrayed as ‘killers’. The IGP Islamabad Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, IGP Punjab Dr. Usman, Interrorir Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar were available for media quires all the time during three days of chaos but foreign media deliberately avoided contacting them to get their version before making detail reports and all reports showed how media can manipulate events with a one-sided version of the story. This is now the responsibility of all authorities who deal with foreign media to contact foreign journalists invite them and ask them to justify with facts and figures what they have claimed in their reporting. One can claim that Foreign media defeated the Rangers and Police at D-Chowk morally after the Police and Rangers successfully defeated those who attacked on capital with all kinds of weapons and heavy machinery with the administrative support of KP province.
Islamabad, Pakistan: Once again the Federal government confirmed that PTI used Afghan nationals to disrupt law and order in Pakistan, once again the public experienced the chaos and disorder PTI injected when the Belarusian President was in Islamabad and once again it has been confirmed that PTI and Pakistan cannot move on together. The last one-week melodrama testified that PTI does the politics of corpses then why this group of miscreants is not being banned in Pakistan. Pakistan recently banned a political party whose impact on the law and order situation was limited to one area while PTI spreads anarchy all over the country.
In October 2024, the government banned the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), citing security concerns. A government notification labeled the PTM as a “proscribed organization,” for engaging in activities deemed prejudicial to the peace and stability of the country. PTM was not involved in attacking military installations as PTI did on May 9, 2023. PTM was not involved in killing Rangers and policemen as PTI had been and again did it on November 24-25-26, 2024. PTM had no known links with the Zionist lobby as PTI has and PTM did not run a huge campaign against the state of Pakistan as PTI did while writing letters to the UN to penalize the country on human rights issues, writing letters to IMF to stop payments to Pakistan, writing letters to US Congressmen and UK lawmakers to ask their countries to take punitive actions against Pakistan. PTM had no huge resources for running campaigns against the Pakistan Army and the State of Pakistan as the PTI has and runs such campaigns.
I understand that the state of Pakistan had reasons to ban PTM then the whole nation has reasons to believe that PTI is more dangerous than PTM and not banning this party would not serve anything good to the country. Like PTM, recently PTI has started playing the card of ethnicity and provincialism and all speeches of former First Lady Bushra Bibi categorically stated that Pushtuns are brave and they must stand with her to attack the capital city of Islamabad. She had been indicating that except for Pushtuns nobody is brave in Pakistan. What else does the state of Pakistan need to ban this party? In July 2024, Federal Minister for Information Atta Tarar indicated that PTI would be banned soon but this soon is yet to be realized.
Would we wait for something more dangerous than May 9, 2023, and November 24 before taking punitive action against the Cult of PTI?
Former prime minister Imran Khan since he was voted out from power in April 2022, is pitching his followers against the State of Pakistan and creating a gap between the State and the Public. This situation remembers what happened in East Pakistan and he had been citing the “East Pakistan Model” his party launched a massive campaign in the past to incite the public to stand against Pakistan as was done by Bangalis in 1971. November 24-25-26 events such as crushing Rangers to death confirm that his attempt to create a divide between the State and his followers is successful and his followers consider State symbols (Rangers/Police/monuments of martyrs etc) as ‘enemies”.
PTI slur brigade had been targeting military and law enforcement agencies by abusing them with unimaginable diction even during the November 24 protest but no such action has ever taken place against Imran Khan or his party leaders and workers. Today the majority of Pakistanis believe that Imran Khan and his party leaders are enjoying the greatest respect and leniency from State institutions that have never been enjoyed by any political leader and any political party in the entire history of Pakistan. Is this leniency is a strategic move of the government that needs the survival of PTI that threatens state institutions or is it a failure of the government to ban PTI due to foreign pressures or political compromises, these questions need answers from the government.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
Monitoring Desk: A petition has been accepted for review demanding that Ajmer Sharif Dargah be declared as the “Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple.
Ajmer Sharif Dargah Tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti, is located at Ajmer Shareef, Rajasthan, India. Chishti also known as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz was a Persian Islamic scholar and mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontinent in the early 13th century, where he promulgated the Chishtiyya order of Sunni mysticism.
A Rajasthan court accepted a petition filed by Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta, claiming that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah is a Shiva temple. The Ajmer lower court issued notices to three entities in response to a lawsuit claiming that a Shiva temple exists within the premises of the revered dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti.
The petition said:
“We demanded that the Ajmer dargah should be declared as Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple and if the dargah has any kind of registration, then it should be canceled. Its survey should be done through ASI and Hindus should be given the right to worship there,”. The next hearing is on December 20.
Islamabad, Pakistan: The 26th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan introduced reforms to address deficiencies in judicial appointments and processes. Specifically:
Article 175A(4): This provision emphasizes the formation of rules by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to ensure transparent, objective, and merit-based judicial appointments to the superior judiciary.
Article 191A(6): This provision mandates that the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench frame rules to regulate its functioning.
These constitutional provisions were meant to institutionalize fairness and transparency in the judicial system. However, the failure of both the JCP and the constitutional bench to frame the requisite rules undermines the constitutional intent, leaving critical judicial processes subject to ambiguity and potentially arbitrary decision-making.
Implications of Non-Compliance:
Judicial Appointments Without Clear Criteria:
Without rules under Article 175A(4), the Chief Justice retains unchecked discretion in proposing names for judicial appointments. This undermines the collective decision-making envisioned by the Constitution and fuels allegations of favoritism and lack of meritocracy.
It contradicts the constitutional principle of institutional checks and balances.
Constitutional Bench Hearings Without Defined Rules:
The failure of the constitutional bench to frame its own rules under Article 191A(6) creates procedural uncertainty. This affects the predictability, fairness, and efficiency of constitutional adjudication.
Such a vacuum may lead to inconsistent practices or ad hoc rulings, compromising the judiciary’s credibility.
Erosion of Public Trust:
The inaction of the legal leadership signals a lack of accountability and a possible disconnect from constitutional responsibilities.
Public confidence in the judiciary suffers, as citizens expect judicial institutions to uphold the Constitution rigorously.
Legal Fraternity’s Silence:
The legal community’s apparent inaction or silence—especially bar associations and senior advocates—reflects either a lack of awareness, political complacency, or incapacity to address constitutional deficiencies.
This exacerbates the situation, as meaningful reform often requires active advocacy and pressure from the legal fraternity.
Responsibility of Legal Fraternity:
Leaders of the legal fraternity are traditionally seen as custodians of constitutional values. Their silence in this matter may suggest:
A lack of consensus or understanding regarding the constitutional amendments.
Fear of challenging entrenched judicial authorities or political influence.
A broader culture of complacency within the legal profession.
Pressure political and judicial stakeholders to prioritize these issues.
Islamabad, Pakistan: Islamabad Capital Police have confiscated 200 vehicles, 39 automatic weapons, and 600 slings, 200 bottles filled with carnosine and petroleum products in areas around the D-Chowk area that were left by PTI protestors when they ran away from the destination early morning of November 27.
According to the Interior Ministry, 70 plus the personnel of law enforcement agencies got bullet injuries as protestors had been firing at police and rangers. Around 39 Afghan citizens were arrested along with 600 protestors while running away from the spot of protest.
DND ReportPeshawar, Pakistan: Over 80 persons dead in one week in tribal cum sectarian conflicts in Kurram district but Chief Minister Amin Ali Gandapur...
Monitoring Desk: General Syed Asim Munir, NI(M), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), visited the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), Pabbi today and interacted with...
Islamabad, Pakistan: There is a phrase “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” This phrase is most appropriate when expressing who deals with foreign media...
By Agha Iqrar Haroon Islamabad, Pakistan: Once again the Federal government confirmed that PTI used Afghan nationals to disrupt law and order in Pakistan,...
Note: The article was first published in Pakistan Observer. Dr Akhtar Hussain Sandhu is a Professor of History and Principal of Govt Islamia College Civil Lines Lahore. He did his Postdoc in the UK and is the author of several books. He is considered an authority on Muslim-Sikh Politics and their relationship. He writes for national newspapers and appears as an analyst on state-run television as well as on international television channels in the UK, Canada, and the United States.
