PML (N) Corruption Expoed by MNA Chudary Abid Sher Ali

Nawaz’s security fears after Benazir attack

At the request of Nawaz Sharif, RSO Islamabad met January 03, 2008 in Lahore, with three individuals empowered by Nawaz Sharif to discuss his security. RSO duplicated the discussion he had with the security representatives of Benazir Bhutto (see Reftel) and also provided the same names of the three most capable and comprehensively equipped local security contractors who can provide security assessment and protective security services. The RSO made it clear that the success of protective security services is based on appropriate layers of security to include armored vehicles, thoroughly trained protective services (PRS) personnel, strong police support between the protectee and the crowd,and perhaps most of all, a protectee who is willing to listen to and cooperate with the advice of the security professionals regarding all aspects of his personal security.
The three representatives seemed to comprehend what was being conveyed, were receptive to it, and left stating that now they were more concerned about proper security than when they arrived. They stated that now they understood the nature of the specialized operational skills of personal protective services.

source : http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/11/2008-nawazs-security-fears-after-benazir-attack.html

Punjab stuffing PML-N men in govt jobs illegally

 ISLAMABAD: Despite a public rhetoric, the Punjab government, too, has informally allowed MPs belonging to the PML-N and the Unification Block of the PML-Q to get their choice candidates appointed to government jobs.
Though officially this is denied both at political and bureaucratic levels, information retrieved from a computer of one of provincial departments reflects how almost 110 favourites of lawmakers have been short-listed for appointments in just one office.
These appointments are sought in the low scale jobs in BS-1 to BS-5. As per the government rules, these posts are required to be filled through a transparent procedure, but in the case of Agriculture Department, everything has been finalised even before the final interviews of the candidates.
In the first week of February 2011, the Punjab Agriculture Research Department advertised almost 133 low scale (BS-1 to BS-5) posts for Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad. It is not clear how many thousands have applied for these jobs, but the computer managed by the institute’s deputy director administration and accounts Malik Hayat Azad has already finalised a list of almost 110 candidates, all recommended by the local PML-N MPs, against each advertised post.
The completion of appointment process though awaits the final interviews is being delayed because of the unavailability of concerned directions, sources in the department insist the list as reflected in the institute’s computer is final.
The institute’s director general, Dr Noorul Islam Khan, when contacted, categorically denied this and assured that all appointments would be made on merit. He said he was not aware of any computer list of final candidates, but explained the public representatives all over the world, even in the United States, do write recommendatory letters. He said parliamentarians in Pakistan do have to take care of their electorate, but it should be ensured that the deserving candidates are not denied their right.
His administration officer Malik Hayat Azad, when contacted, also denied that there exists any final list of the candidates for appointments in his computer.
However, some credible sources in the department provided The News both soft and hard copies of the list, which contain all the relevant details, including the names of the MPs on whose recommendations the favourites are being appointed. Since the jobs relate to Faisalabad, therefore, the share of these jobs is also distributed among the PML-N and pro-government PML-Q MPs from the same area.
The News is also in possession of some of the letters of recommendations sent by the ruling MPs of Punjab to the Ayub Agriculture Research Institute. In one such case, the PML-N MNA and chairman Standing Committee on Textile Industry, Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari, formally sent the list of seven of his favourites to the institute. Most of the recommended candidates are reflected in the final list.
According to details, MPs from Faisalabad division include Rana Sanullah, Sardar Dildar Cheema, Akram Ansari, Ajmal Asif, Abid Sher Ali, Raza Nasrullah Ghuman, Zafar Iqbal Nagra, Shafique Gujjar, Kh Muhammad Islam, Rai Muhammad Ijaz, Malik M Nawaz, Shahid Khalil Noor, Rao Kashif Raheem and Dr Khalid Imtiaz Khan Baloch.
The names of the recommended candidates include Rustam Ali, Gohar Ali, Arif Hussain, Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Asif, Akbar Ali, Makhdoom Sabir, Awais Ashraf, Muhammad Ilyas, Intisarul Hassan, Mehran Maqsood, Muhammad Asif Nadeem, Ashiq Ali, Khalida Bibi, Shamoon Masih, Khalid Iqbal, Munawar Hussain Muhammad Tayyab, Mahmood Tahir Khan, Muhammad Usman Akbar, Sanaullah, Asif s/o Ghulam Jillani, Gulam Mustafa, Sajad Hussain, Faisalur Rehman, Muhammad Awais, Asghar Ali Shah, Habib Ahmad, Mubashar Iqbal, Muhammad Jabar, Pawal Francis, Hamad Ali, Khyzar Hayat, Amjad Hussain, M Tahir Saleem, Javed Iqbal, Sakhawat Ali, Muhammad Dilshad Bajwa, Shahid Mehmood, Rafaqat Ali, Navid Anjum, Tayyab Kamran, Asif Mahmood, Mauhammad Irfan, Muhammad Ashfaq, Muhammad Ilyas, Sarfraz, Imran Aleem, Ghazanfar Ali, Muhammad Nadeem Akhtar, Shujat Ali, Shah Behram, Hafiz Sajad Jahangir, Asif Masih, Aamar Jamshed, Sajjad Karim, Bismillah Shah, Umar Hayat Ghoori, Muhammad Iqbal, Muhmmad Siddiqi, Ehsanul Haq, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Imran, Faisal Shahzad, Shahzad Imran, Muhammad Qasim, Sohail Ahmad, Muhammad Sufayan, M Ishaq, Amar Mahmood, Muhammad Asif, Qurban Ali, Navid Ahmad, Muhammad Afzal, Mumtaz Ali, Usman Tariq, Liaqat Ali, Ikramul Haq, Muhammad Qurban, Wasim Saleem, Zulfiqar Ali, Aftab Alam, Sarfraz Ahmad, Muhammad Navid, Umer Rashid, Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Sajjad, Naeen Gohar, Muhammad Imran, Tariq Hussain and Muhammad Arif.

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=6602&Cat=13&dt=6/10/2011

NAWAZ SHARIF’S CORRUPTION

NAWAZ SHARIF’S CORRUPTION

All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) strongly rejects PML-N’s charge sheet against Pervez Musharraf, declaring it frivolous and baseless. PML-N’s charge sheet is full of lies and is in fact a futile effort to divert attention from Nawaz Sharif’s misdeeds, his corruption, loot, plunder, nepotism, and economic turmoil during his tenures. For this he must be held accountable.

The following depicts PML-N’s performance:-
1. 1. CORRUPTION CASES

Nawaz Sharif and his cronies have always been working to plunder Pakistan’s wealth as their sole agenda. He expanded his business empire by misusing his authority as Chief Minister Punjab and Prime Minister Pakistan. And in order to gain financial benefits, he manipulated laws and changed policies. Likewise, in a bid to avoid accountability, the Nawaz Sharif Government amended “The Ehtasaab Act” and made it effective from “1990” instead of “1985” as proposed in the original text of the “Ehtasaab Act” prepared by the interim government of caretaker Prime Minister (Late) Mairaj Khalid (1996-97). And by bringing this change he cunningly saved his tenure of Chief Minister Punjab (1985-88) from accountability.
Despite all maneuvering following references were filed against the Sharifs:-

1. Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and others misused official resources causing a loss to the national exchequer of Rs 620million by developing 1800 acres of land in Raiwind at state expense.
2. Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are accused of whitening black money during their first tenure (1990-93) and causing a loss of Rs 180 million to the national exchequer by evading income/wealth tax.
3. Nawaz Sharif, Saif-ur-Rehman and others reduced import duty from 325% to 125% on import of luxury cars (BMW), causing a huge loss of Rs1.98 billion to the national exchequer.
4. On the imposition of emergency and freezing of foreign currency accounts, Nawaz Sharif and Saif-ur-Rehman removed 11 billion US dollars from Pakistani Banks illegally. Without the consent of account holders, Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates (FEBC) accounts were frozen and foreign exchange was misappropriated.
5. Illegal appointments in Pakistan International Airlines (Nawaz Sharif and Saeed Mehdi).
6. Abbotabad land purchase scam (Nawaz Sharif and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi).
7. Availing bank loan for Ittefaq Foundries and Brothers Steel Mills without fulfilling legal requirements (Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif).
8. Concealment of property in the US (Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif).
9. Illegal appointments and promotions in Federal Investigation Agency (Nawaz Sharif).
10. US wheat purchase scam (Nawaz Sharif and Syeda Abida Hussain).
11. Murree land purchase scam (Nawaz Sharif and Saif-ur-Rehman)
12. Tax evasion (Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif).
13. Forging of passports and money laundering (Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar).
14. Concealment of private helicopter purchase while filing assets’ detail (Nawaz Sharif).
15. Favoring Kohinoor Energy Co, causing loss of Rs. 450 millions (Nawaz Sharif and Others).
16. Illegal cash finance facility given to Brothers Sugar Mills (Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif).
17. Bribe offered to ANP’s Senator Qazi Mohammad Anwer (Nawaz Sharif and Others).
18. Hudaibiya Paper Mills Reference against Sharif brothers and Ishaq Dar.
19. Illegally appointing Chairman Central Board of Revenue (Nawaz Sharif)
20. Whitening of black money by amending laws (Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif). 
21. Causing Rs. 35 billion loss by writing off/rescheduling bank loans (Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar).
22. Bribing (late) Maulana Sattar Niazi from National Exchequer (Nawaz Sharif and Others).
23. Plundering Rs. 200 million from Jahez and Baitul Maal funds (Nawaz Sharif & Others)
24. Opening fictitious foreign currency accounts (Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar).
25. Making 130 political appointments in federal departments (Nawaz Sharif).
26. Relaxing export duty and rebate to transport sugar to India (Nawaz Sharif).
27. Whitening of money through FEBC (Nawaz Sharif).
28. Wealth Tax evasion (Nawaz Sharif).
29. Concealment of facts to evade property tax (Nawaz Sharif).
30. Withdrawal of case against Senator Islamuddin Sheikh (Nawaz Sharif, & Ishaq Dar).

1. 2. FINANCIAL GAINS BY USING HIS AUTHORITY AS PRIME MINISTER

The first tenure of Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister in the year 1990 saw another reign of loot and plunder. During this period Mian Nawaz Shairf obtained loans amounting to more than Rs.614 billion from Banks through his influence against inadequate guarantees. According to the details of loans obtained by Sharifs include Rs.1556 million  for Ittefaq Foundries, Rs. 543 million for Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills, Rs.455 million for Mehran Ramzan Textile Mills, Rs.373 million for Ramzan Bukhsh Textile Mills, Rs.339 millions for Ch. Sugar Mills, Rs.226 millions for Ittefaq brothers, Rs. 205  million for Sandalbar Textile Mills, Rs.182 million for Hudaibiya Engineering Mills, Rs.153 million for Hamza Board Mills Ltd, Rs.134 million for Hudaibiya paper Mills, Rs.351 Million for Brothers Sugar Mills, Rs.174 million for Brothers Textile Mills, Rs.159 million for Brothers Steel Mills, Rs.623 million for Ramzan Sugar Mills, Rs. 191 million Khalid Siraj Textiles, Rs.313 million for Ittefaq Sugar Mills, Rs.164 million for Ittefaq Textile Mills, and Rs.239 million were obtained for Ittefaq Brothers. Due to the malpractice the national wealth was used for establishing personal empire while the country’s economy was facing disaster. This loan was equivalent to the total internal loan obtained by the government of Pakistan! These so called patriotic politicians ruthlessly plundered the national exchequer and used national wealth for personal financial gains. In addition money laundering worth billions of dollars through illegal means, wheat import scam, awarding motorway’s contract to an internationally black listed company, receiving heavy loans despite of being defaulter, secret businesses in UK (Evidence attached), Sugar mills in Kenya and four flats in the most expensive area of London and huge commissions in privatization of Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) are also a few “achievements” of Nawaz Sharif and family.

1. 3. THE AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT

The Auditor General Report released in the year 1988-89 reported that Nawaz Sharif, misusing his authority as Chief Minister Punjab, issued directives which resulted into direct malpractice of Rs. 35 billion.
The report said that the Chief Minister Secretariat had been turned into a hub of corrupt practices and Nawaz Sharif used public money like an emperor that resulted into huge fiscal deficit of the province.
The Auditor General Report released in the year 1986-87 said that the then Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif had used Rs. 1200 million for malpractices in only one year.
Nawaz Sharif allotted 3000 precious Lahore Development Authority (LDA) plots among his favourites due to which the province suffered loss of billions of rupees.
Nawaz Sharif was the lead character of the Cooperative and Financial Institutions Scam, which deprived the retired employees, orphans, widows, and poor of their total assets amounting to Rs. 17 billion.
Nawaz Sharif released Rs. 1200 million from his discretionary grant in the year 1985-86 while Rs. 1895 million were released in 1986-87, Rs. 1899 million were used in 1987-88 while another Rs. 1887 million were distributed among his cronies.

1. 4. RELATIONS WITH THE TERRORISTS

Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and other party leaders practically share and proudly identify commonalities between PML-N and Taliban and they have very close ties and cordial relations with terrorists and banned terrorist outfits. In early 90s Nawaz Sharif received huge sums of money from Osama Bin Laden to overthrow former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s Government. Even now PML-N’s cabinet members and spokespersons are commonly seen hanging around with members of those banned outfits, reportedly involved in managing terrorist attacks on thousands of innocent Pakistanis including soldiers, police officials and members of other law enforcement agencies.
Due to compromising attitude of PML-N’s leadership and their mild will to fight against the menace of terrorism the members of law enforcement agencies are completely demoralized. That is one of the reasons that the investigations against terrorists are not carried out in a proper manner and proof against arrested terrorists usually is not available. Due to the incapability of the Punjab Government terrible terrorist attacks took place in the province including suicide attack on Police Training School Bedian Road, blast in Moon Market Lahore, car bomb blast in the Rescue 15 building, car bomb blast in F.I.A building, suicide attack on Munawan Police Training Center, Model Town link road bomb blast, suicide attack on Jamia Naemia, terrorist attack on Ahmedi’s worship places, blasts in Imam Bargahs including Karbla Gammay Shah and suicide bomb blasts in the sacred shrine of Hazrat Data Gunj Buksh along with many others. After these attacks PML-N has morally lost its right of government in Punjab.
Further, it was Shahbaz Sharif, who instead of showing courage and political and moral will to fight against the enemies of Pakistan, in his speech in Jamia Naemia Lahore, begged for mercy from the terrorists. He, in a very disgraceful manner, requested them not to attack Punjab as they are likeminded and standing on the same side. This statement of Shahbaz Sharif reflects his mindset !

1. 5. CONSPIRACIES AGAINST DEMOCRACY

Nawaz Sharif and Co. has always been involved in destabilizing the democratic system by one way or the other and did not even hesitate to take bribes to grab power. Lt. General (R) Naseerullah Babar, the former Interior Minister had disclosed in the National Assembly in 1994, that the ISI had disbursed money to purchase the loyalty of various right wing politicians, including that of Nawaz Sharif, in order to manipulate the 1990 elections, for the Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI- Pakistan democratic alliance), and bring about the defeat of the PPP. As proof Lt. General (R) Naseerullah Babar, Lt. General (R) Asad Durrani and others have filed affidavits supported by copies of various documents. In Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s human rights petition (HRC 19/96) in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the former Chief of Army Staff Mirza Aslam Baig and the former Chief of the ISI and a banker concerning the criminal distribution of the people’s money for political purposes. The case is pending adjudication in the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the last 14 years.
1. 6. DECEIT AND LYING

Nawaz Sharif’s politics is based on the philosophy “lie repeatedly till it seems as the truth”. He has based his politics on deceit and lies. Nawaz Sharif and his “chellaz” believe in lying repeatedly and religiously follow their convictions in this regard. They are masters in the art of manipulation and alteration and use their wealth to achieve their goals. One example is enough to expose their hideous character. After conviction in the hijacking case, Nawaz Sharif and his family approached foreign friends who persuaded President Pervez Musharraf to have mercy and forgive them. Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif  and family sought pardon and signed agreements including a commitment not to participate in politics for a period of  ten years but they kept lying and hid the existence of these agreements from the nation until the head of Saudi Arabian Secret Agency, Prince Miqran Bin Abdul Aziz and Prime Minister of Lebanon Mr. Saad Hariri’s unveiled the existence of these agreements and Ch. Nisar had to admit the existence of these agreements during the press conference of Javed Hashmi. Sharif brothers in return of Pervez Musharraf’s “Ehsaan” (generosity) have not only crossed all limits of hostility but also lied to the nation. Would Nawaz Sharif and his “chellaz” ever tender apology to the Pakistani Nation, for lying to them for so many years?      

1. 7. POLICE STATE

Under the horrible times of Shahbaz Sharif’s Government the Punjab province has been virtually converted in to a “Badmaash” (rogue) province. Here police officials get involved in heinous and brutal criminal activities like one in Sialkot. The administration did not take any action against the shameful and atrocious lynching of two young brothers until the footage was telecast on electronic channels. It is believed that only in Gujranwala Division, where a brother of PML (N) MNA was deputed as head of police department, more than two hundred extra judicial killings have taken place.  The record shows that in Punjab, police force has been continuously used to harass and insult political rivals. An endless campaign of lodging false FIRs against political opponents has also been initiated. Use of brutal police force and baton-charge has become a routine. Every segment of society including journalists, doctors, teachers, students, nurses, Government employees, semi Government and private institutions and lawyers have faced the brutality of police while protesting for their demands.

1. 8. POOR GOVERNANCE & MALADMINISTRATION

It is a hard fact that poor governance & maladministration is trade mark of Sharif brothers. Shahbaz Sharif is an attention-seeker and likes to show off. For the sake of “cheap publicity” he has started calling himself “Khadam-e-Ala” but miserably failed to meet the challenges of governance and administration. It’s a harsh reality that during his tenure in Punjab all institutions deteriorated conspicuously. In order to achieve their motives, Sharifs always appoint their blue eyed personnel on key posts by completely ignoring merit. Almost all districts of Punjab are being run by grade 19 officers who are incapable hence a basic reason for poor governance. Due to his dictatorial approach Shahbaz Sharif himself heads 12 provincial ministries and he seldom holds cabinet meeting. He takes decisions over ruling, the cabinet. His obstinate behavior is the prime reason for the maladministration in the province. It would be just and appropriate to suggest that Sharifs have failed to establish a democratic spirit in their government and have completely overlooked the norms of democratic political setups.

1. 9. CRIMINAL ASSAULT ON THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN

In order to consolidate and attain more power, ‘the champion of democracy and independent judiciary’, Nawaz Sharif attacked every individual and institution, he felt could get in the way and challenge his authority. In order to get rid of Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who Nawaz Sharif despised, the latter created divisions amongst the judges using the humble services of a former judge, Rafique Tarrar (later President of Pakistan) to make life difficult for the Chief Justice. A group of judges refused to acknowledge CJ Sajjad Ali Shah as the Chief Justice and things got so bad that a number of junior judges made it difficult for him to carry out his duties. Eventually, Sharif ordered his thugs to attack the Supreme Court in order to prevent the Chief Justice from giving a ruling against him.
The police did nothing to stop Sharif’s thugs as they attacked and entered the Supreme Court premises. The judges inside the building barely managed to escape. The thugs, led by Sajjad Naseem and Mushtaq Tahir Kheli, Nawaz Sharif’s political secretaries, entered the court chanting anti-CJ Sajjad slogans and destroyed the Court Room.
1. 10. CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE PRESS AND JOURNALISTS

A number of incidents during 1998-99 indicated a pattern of harassment and intimidation of individual journalists as the government was increasingly becoming intolerant. Imtiaz Alam, a Lahore-based journalist, complains of threats over the telephone and then of his car being set on fire in a mysterious manner the next day. Another Lahore journalist, Mahmud Lodhi, was picked up and held in illegal custody for two days. He was questioned about his involvement with a BBC team filming a documentary on the rise and wealth of the Sharif family. Present Pakistani ambassador in USA Mr. Hussain Haqqani was picked up in a cloak-and-dagger fashion and interrogated at a FIA Center for money embezzlement while he held government office.
The residence of Idrees Bakhtiar, a senior staff reporter of monthly Herald and BBC correspondent in Karachi was raided by CIA police on Nov. 26, 1998. The police harassed the family and also arrested his 28-year old son, Moonis, who was later released.  On Feb. 13, 1999, three persons, including Senator Abdul Hayee Baloch and a lady worker from Lahore, were injured when the police baton-charged, used water cannons and threw  bricks on a peaceful procession of the Pakistan Awami Ittehad in front of the parliament house in Islamabad. The march, organized by the PAI for the freedom of the press, was led by PAI president Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan (late), the then opposition leader Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and secretary general of the alliance Hamid Nasir Chatta, besides a number of sitting and former PPP MNAs and senators.
The owner of the Frontier Post, Rehmat Shah Afridi, was arrested in Lahore on April 2, 1999, by the Anti-narcotics Force. The Peshawar-based Frontier Post was critical of government policies. Afridi’s arrest was seen by journalists and others as another attempt to gag the Press. On May 8, 1999, Najam Sethi, Editor of The Friday Times, was arrested on the orders of Nawaz Sharif. Police stormed into his house in Lahore and dragged him out of his bed room. After brutal torture and breaking furniture of the house he was shifted to some unknown place. And before leaving the house with Mr. Sethi, they tied his wife Jugnoo’s hands with a rope and locked her up in a dressing room. Later, Nawaz Sharif asked COAS Gen. Musharraf to charge Mr. Sethi under the Pakistan Army Act for being a traitor and give him maximum punishment (maximum punishment is death!).
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press freedom organization, said on June 1, 1999 that it was conducting an investigation into a “hit list” prepared by the Pakistan government that contains 35 prominent journalists of Pakistan. According to reports received by the CPJ, the federal government had decided to establish a special media cell comprising officials from the police, Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency to punish the journalists, who had been writing against the government. Ehtesab Bureau Chairman, Senator Saifur Rehman Khan was to head this cell which would function from Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Peshawar with its head office in Islamabad.
According to the CPJ, the journalists were: Irshad Ahmed Haqqani (late), Rehmat Ali Razi, Anjum Rasheed, (writer and anchor person) Suhail Warraich, Sohaib Marghoob and (late) Roman Ehsan (Jang Lahore), M. Ziauddin (Dawn Islamabad), Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, Javed Jaidi, Nusrat Javeed, Mariana Babar and Ansaar Abbassi (The News, Islamabad), Rehana Hakeem and Zahid Hussain (Newsline), Ejaz Haider, Khalid Ahmed, Jugnu Mohsin and Adnan Adil (The Friday Times, Lahore), Mahmood Sham (Jang, Karachi), Rashed Rehman (The Nation, Lahore), Amir Ahmed Khan (Herald, Karachi), Imtiaz Aalam, Beena Sarwar, Shafiq Awan, Kamila Hyat and Amir Mir (The News Lahore), Abbas Athar (Nawa-e-Waqt, Lahore), Kamran Khan and Shehzad Amjad (The News Karachi), Azam Khalil (Pulse), Mohammad Malik (Tribune), Imtiaz Ahmed (The Frontier Post, Peshawar), Ilyas Chaudhry (Jang Rawalpindi), Naveed Meraj (The Frontier Post, Islamabad) and Syed Talat Hussain (The Nation, Islamabad).
The Government of Nawaz Sharif started a campaign against the Jang group in July 1998 when it refused to sack a number of journalists critical of Government policies. The government objected to the Jang group newspapers’ reporting about the law and order situation in the country and put a ban on advertisement. On August 13, a report was published about non-payment of Rs. 700 million to farmers by the sugar mills owned by the Nawaz Sharif family. Three days later, the government sent notices to Jang for non payment of taxes and the case was shifted to the Ehtesab cell. On September 27, 1998, the Government asked the Jang group not to publish a report of ‘The Observer London’ that Nawaz Sharif had siphoned off millions of rupees. The report was not published by the Jang but it was published by its sister English newspaper The News. On November 5, bank accounts of the Jang group were frozen and FIA raided the Jang and the News offices in Rawalpindi and customs authorities stopped delivery of newsprint to the Jang.
On Jan 28 1999, a sedition case was registered against Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman for publishing an advertisement of Muttahida’s Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation on January 1, which according to the police, was aimed at inciting people against the state.
Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman revealed that Senator Saif-ur-Rehman asked him to sack a number of Jang employees who should be replaced in consultation with the Government. He released to the press audio-tapes of conversation with Saif-ur-Rehman on this issue. Saif-ur-Rehman accused Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman for evading tax and customs duty to the tune of Rs. 2.6 billion.
The hostility of Sharifs towards media is also evident from the fact that in the parliamentary history of Pakistan for the first time a resolution, condemning the media, was tabled (by a group of MPAs belonging to Nawaz League) and passed in the Punjab Assembly.
1. 11. DESTABILIZATION OF INSTITUTIONS

There is probably no institution in Pakistan which Nawaz Sharif did not aggressively confront in order to make them comply with his wishes. Besides picking a fight with the President, the Judiciary and the restricted/limited media of that time, Sharif also decided to have a confrontation with the army, the only viable institution left in Pakistan. Due to his hostile and dumb approach in Nawaz Sharif’s first term as prime minister, he fell out with three successive army chiefs:  General Mirza Aslam Beg, General Asif Nawaz and General Abdul Waheed Kakar.  During his second tenure, he fell out with two other Generals, General Karamat and later with General Pervez Musharraf. General Karamat became the first Chief of Army Staff in the history of Pakistan to have been prematurely retired!
One by one all challenges and potential obstacles to his dictatorial mindset were removed from his way by Nawaz Sharif. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Farooq Leghari, Sajjad Ali Shah, and General Jehangir Karamat were all removed from the scene by Nawaz Sharif.
1. 12. Ill-CONSIDERED  ECONOMIC DECISIONS

Nawaz Sharif’s ill-considered economic decisions cost Pakistan dearly! But the Sharif family’s personal business empire grew exponentially through questionable means.
Nawaz Sharif, during his tenure as Chief Minister Punjab from 1988-90, deprived the provincial departments of Rs. 15.35 billion. In addition in 1997-99 he caused huge loss amounting in 11 billion US dollars to private account holders by freezing foreign currency accounts contrary to the law and constitution wherein he and his cronies managed to get away with huge sums even after the freeze. Billions of dollars were removed from the banks without the permission/consent of the account holders but the accounts of common Pakistanis were withheld.
In last two and half years, Shahbaz Sharif wasted more than 40 billion rupees in “Sasti Roti” and other subsidized food schemes that had been initiated to earn cheap popularity and to benefit their political supporters. Admittedly these funds have been distributed amongst their own supporters without any audit just to gain political mileage. A huge chunk of these funds has been disbursed by the ghost “Tandurs” (burners) owners. Inflation and un-employment is rocketing day by day due to the ill-conceived decisions of the provincial government. This is one of the reasons that Punjab could not help flood victims at the time because they had utilized their funds in senseless politically motivated schemes and now have an overdraft amounting Rs. 80 billion.

1. 13. SELLING KASHMIR CAUSE TO VAJPAYEE IN 1999 AND HUMILATING ARMED FORCES IN USA, DURING KARGIL

The so called son of soil Nawaz Sharif virtually sold Kashmir in 1999 during Indian PM’s visit to Lahore. Nawaz Sharif deleted the word Kashmir from the joint declaration to please Indian counterpart. By crossing all the limits of treachery and falsehood Nawaz Sharif and his cronies claim that Pakistan armed forces lost the Kargil war. In fact, due to the decisions of Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan lost this war in the drawing room of the American President after wining it in the battlefield.
1. 14. ATOMIC EXPLOSIONS

It is a proven fact that in 1998 Nawaz Sharif was double-minded about the atomic explosions. While the nation waited breathlessly for a befitting reply to India, Nawaz Sharif was busy in negotiating economic packages with US Government. Gohar Ayub Khan, who was foreign minister at that time, has also corroborated this fact in his book.

Sharifs Use Courts To Avoid Paying Fair Share of Taxes

A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday barred the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from recovering “Special Excise Duty” from three sugar mills of the Sharif family and directed it to file a reply till June 14.
The bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Asad Munir, issued the order on an intra court appeal filed by Ittefaq Brothers and Ramzan sugar mills challenging an order of a single bench wherein their writ petition challenging the special excise duty was dismissed. All the three sugar mills belong to Sharif family.

Source: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=50346&Cat=2&dt=6/2/2011

Sharifs Double Game With CJ Restoration Exposed

 KARACHI: Even as PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was rallying street support by publicly refusing to back down from demands for the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in February and March 2009, the party was privately telling American diplomats that the future of the then-non-functional chief justice was up for negotiation.
“Shahbaz stated that following the restoration, the PML-N was prepared to end the issue and remove Chaudhry once and for all,” reported Lahore Consulate Principal Officer Bryan Hunt in a secret American diplomatic cable describing his meeting with the younger Sharif on March 14, 2009.
“On the issue of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Shahbaz claimed that the PML-N was open to negotiation, provided that Chaudhry was symbolically restored.”
The conversation took place just a day before Nawaz Sharif would join a lawyers’ long march in a dramatic public protest for the reinstatement of judges deposed by Gen Musharraf, a demand that President Zardari had been resisting. In private, however, a different story was being told.
“Shahbaz stressed that his party could not afford the political humiliation of abandoning what had become a long-standing principle in favour of Chaudhry’s restoration,” Mr Hunt reported. “At the same time, Shahbaz claimed to understand that Chaudhry was a problematic jurist, whose powers would need to be carefully curtailed.”
Shahbaz Sharif strategised that as a judge who had taken oath under Gen Musharraf’s first provisional constitutional order, Chaudhry could be removed – once “some sort of face-saving restoration” had been carried out – “by adopting legislation proposed in the Charter of Democracy that would ban all judges who had taken an oath under a PCO from serving.”
A week earlier, in another meeting at the Lahore consulate, Shahbaz Sharif hadproposed an alternative solution: creating the Constitutional Court envisioned in the Charter of Democracy and ensuring that “it be made superior to the Supreme Court. Iftikhar Chaudhry’s restoration … would then have little measurable impact, as the Constitutional Court, staffed by appointees from both parties, could nullify his decisions.”
Even before the restoration, Shahbaz Sharif confided, the PML-N leadership would agree to any constraints President Zardari might want placed on Chaudhry, “including curtailment of his powers to create judicial benches, removal of his suo motu jurisdiction, and/or establishment of a constitutional court as a check on the Supreme Court.”
“Although Nawaz publicly has said Chaudhry’s restoration is also a red line,”commented US Ambassador Anne Patterson in a separate report, “no leader in Pakistan really wants an activist and unpredictable Chief Justice. … Nawaz emerges stronger in the public eye and retains the ‘high moral ground’ by defending the judiciary.”
As late as January 22, in fact, PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique had told Mr Hunt that a minimum requirement for saving the coalition with the PPP in Punjab was “full retirement of Chief Justice Hameed Dogar and appointment of Justice Sardar Raza in his place.” Chaudhry did not seem to have been a concern.
But by March 2009 he had become the PML-N’s rallying cry, and the timing clearly had to do with political developments at the time: a February 25 Supreme Court decision had declared the Sharif brothers ineligible for office, and the president had imposed governor’s rule in Punjab.
“Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif told Principal Officer Lahore that the decision [to declare them ineligible to hold public office], which they claimed was entirely Zardari’s, was a declaration of war; they would … take their battle to the streets. Following the decision, PML-N certainly will participate in the lawyers’ march,” reported a February 2009 cable previously published in the media.
“Before the Court ruling, ‘95 per cent of the party’ had opposed joining the lawyers’ March 16 sit-in because it might lead to violence,” Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan revealed privately in a separate conversation at the US embassy.
“Now, the party had little choice but to support them.”
Cables referenced: WikiLeaks # 196903, 195758, 196939, 188203, 193807, 194540. All cables are available on Dawn.com.
SOURCE: http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/20/shahbaz-was-willing-to-have-cj-removed-after-face-saving-restoration.html

N-League Refuses To Pay Proper Taxes For Billboards

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Punjab government is causing a loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer, as all political billboards of the party are installed without paying a single penny to the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) and most of them violate the PHA Outdoor Publicity Policy framed to regularise outdoor advertisement in 2008, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Since the PML-N, led by Shahbaz Sharif, assumed power in Punjab in 2008, outsized billboards bearing big pictures of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, ministers and parliamentarians were installed on roads, rooftops and even in residential areas while all of them are untaxed and defy rules.
According to Punjab Gazette, copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, PHA laid down regulations in exercise of the power conferred under Section 44 of the Punjab Development of Cities Act 1976 with government notification No SO (P)-3-4/98 on September 21, 1998 when Shahbaz was enjoying his first stint as Punjab CM. The regulations ban all sort of billboards on roadside areas and rooftops that could disturb the skyline. They also prohibit installation of billboards in residential localities.
But a political billboard is placed on one side of the residence of Punjab Excise and Taxation Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman at Cooper Store Locality near GT Road. Some hoardings carrying pictures of the PML-N leadership are affixed on an iron-made gate at the Garhi Shahu Bridge. Some billboards showcasing snaps of PML-N Member of the National Assembly (MNA) and Shahbaz’s son Hamza Shahbaz are installed on the rooftop at a building near the Lahore Hotel. Adding insult to injury, all of them were installed without the formal permission of PHA.
“Their presence in different parts of the city is mocking the Punjab government, which loves to talk about merit, impartiality, good governance and treating everyone, including itself, equal in compliance of law,” a senior PHA official told Pakistan Today. PHA Additional Director General Captain (r) Usman Younis said that he did not know anything about the issue, as he recently assumed office. Now, he has been tasked to renovate and establish parks on directions of PHA Director General (DG) Abdul Jabbar Shaheen. Younis said that he would look into the matter.
A senior PHA official told Pakistan Today that the Punjab government had deliberately kept the issue of political advertisement out of PHA regulations. “Although there are other political billboards of various political parties, including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), but the real beneficiary is the PML-N, which has spread the billboards for blitz publicity,” he added. At the time of outlining the outdoor publicity policy, PHA officials suggested to tax political outdoor advertisement including billboards, hoardings, streamers and banners, another official said. “They opined that inclusion of recommendations had to rack up bumper revenue. But the issue was put on the backburner on the plea that it would open a new pandora box,” he added.
An official of the marketing department said that political parties, including the PML-N and the PPP, were not paying advertisement charges to the PHA for displaying billboards and other publicity stuff, as the outdoor publicity policy was silent in this regard. “Political parities put up billboards and banners whenever they have to welcome their leaders in their areas, sing praises of leadership steps, celebrate special occasions and stage protests. They spend huge money on preparation and installation of advertisement stuff but never pay a single penny to PHA to help increase revenue,” he added.
“We also cannot pull down outdoor publicity stuff of lawyers and journalists. We requested a private TV channel to remove rooftop billboards but had to face threats,” the official said. Some months ago, Shahbaz ordered to launch a campaign to remove all billboards from the city. The CM had instructed the PHA to get all billboards removed considering them a threat to the beauty and life of the people. PHA also planned to convert Mall Road into a free-board zone by removing all advertisement billboards erected on either side of the road to restore its original beauty.
The numbers of billboards were also reduced to maintain skyline of the city. PHA claimed to have removed all billboards installed in violation of the publicity policy but political hoardings remained untouched.

Source: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/05/it%E2%80%99s-free-publicity-for-the-sharifs/ 

Nawaz Sharif Love Scandal With American Journalist

I was actually going to put up a different post, on Pak-US relations, tonight but some last minute technical glitches mean that post will have to wait another day at least. Meanwhile, the next big political scandal is about to hit the headlines so I thought we could give you all a bit of a heads-up.

Video clip from Mubashar Lucman’s Show:

Musharraf Terms Nawaz Sharif ‘Closet Taliban’

“I call Nawaz Sharif a closet Taliban. He’s a man who is — who has been — in contact with Taliban. He is a man who, today, appeases the clerics and mawlawis [Sunni Islamic scholars] — the extremists,” ‘Foreign Policy’ quoted Musharraf, as saying in an exclusive interview. “Moreover, he (Sharif) has tried [his hand at leadership as prime minister] twice in the past — and he has failed. Why are we giving him a third chance to destroy Pakistan”
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/musharraf-calls-nawaz-sharif-closet-taliban/734685/