[From Beena Sarwar ]
Dec 21 - Eid-ul Azha today, but the festivities, if there were any, have been marred by the Charsadda mosque bomb blast and the horrific loss of lives. If there was any evidence of electoral politics, it was in this area - Charsadda and Mardan - where the people are highly politicised and the ANP is gearing up to trounce MMA in the elections. Meanwhile, police roughed up Aitzaz Ahsan and prevented the CJ from offering Eid prayers at the mosque (the emergency has been lifted??) - and educational institutions in Kurram Agency have been shut since Nov 16...
1. PFUJ Islamabad Eid Protest
2. Kurram Agency Students Against Taliban
3. Baloch Nationalists Threatened With Deportation, Torture
4. Civilian Vs Military Rule
5. Police Rough Up Aitzaz
6. The CJ’s Eid Prayers
PFUJ ISLAMABAD EID PROTEST: The PFUJ (www.pfuj.info) holds a daily protest camp against media restrictions and for the restoration of the judiciary 2.00-4.00 pm at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists press club camp office. Today (Friday) Eidul Azha was announced as a special event to commemorate the completion of 50 days of the PFUJ’s protest movement. There were balloons and the CJ’s portrait stuck on trees. About a hundred people turned up, some dressed in their eid finery, along with their families and children, against curbs on the media and removal of the judges. Ahmed Faraz was expected to also attend, but he didn’t make it. Others read out some stirring poetry though.
KURRAM AGENCY STUDENTS AGAINST TALIBAN: As the PFUJ camp ended for the day, several charged Islamabad-based students from Kurram Agency held a demonstration, demanding that schools and colleges in their area be re-opened ˆ apparently they have been shut down since Nov 16 (the day after the lifting of the emergency). The students said that Taliban have blocked all the roads, causing great difficulties to the local people - shortages of food, petrol and diesel. The students passionately chanted anti-Taliban slogans and demanded peace in their area and for schools to be re-opened, especially for girls. Aliya Amirali, convenor of the Student Action Committee addressed the Kurram students and assured them that the SAC stood with them.
CIVILIAN vs MILITARY RULE: Here’s a comment from Dr Ghazala Kazi, posted to the CRDP list that I’d like to share: “Don’t forget that retired general Musharraf has been working for the financial interest of Pakistani military. Unless we reduce military power, we will not be able to rid Pakistan of next generations of many generals like Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif knew this and he wanted to reduce military power but he came to know who was really in charge of Pakistan pretty quickly. He made one mistake, though, he did not take the senate and people of Pakistan in confidence before his big decisions. He was also into khilafat ul muslamine. I hope he learned a lesson from his past mistakes and current popularity does not go into his head like last time. And I still believe in civilian rule no matter how bad it is because people can get rid of the bad one after 4 years.”
Remember what happened when Nawaz Sharif’s government took on the
Jang group in 1999, preventing them from opening Geo? Here’s
something I wrote about this recently ˆ ‘Media: The more things
change...’ - http://www.chowk.com/articles/13066
POLICE ROUGH UP AITZAZ: Police intercepted the car of SCBA President Aitzaz Ahsan on the motorway enroute to Islamabad early this morning, beat him up, broke his glasses, tore his shirt, and brought back to Lahore in a police bus. When he asked for a detention order or warrant, they shoved a gun in his face and said - this is your order. He suffered from bruises and developed a fever. Lawyers & activists held a vigil outside his house at 6 pm Friday; there was also a vigil at Karachi Press Club.
THE CJ’S EID PRAYERS: (From A.H. Nayyar): Activists, mainly lawyers, gathered at the entrance to the judges colony at 7:30 this morning. The police had completely blocked the way to the Chief Justice’s residence with concrete blocks and barbed wires. The protesters gathered at the police barrier which happened to be at the entrance to the ministers’ enclave also. After the police refused to let them through into the judges’ colony, the protesters arranged an Eid congregation right there on the road, and offered prayers with Khutba and all.
Interestingly, some ministers emerged from their enclave to go for prayers, and found their way blocked by the protesters’ congregation. They pleaded hard for a passage, but did not get any. Apparently there is only one access to their enclave. Serves them right. They remained deprived of the opportunity to kiss the hands (?) of their benefactor.
After the prayers, which was also attended by some policemen, the protesters remained at the barrier and chanted slogans. They then all drove to the residence of Justice® Tariq Mahmood in sector I-8, some 8 kilometers away. Tariq Mahmood was under house arrest with a heavy police presence outside his house. He came to the boundary wall and accepted flowers and greetings from his lawyer colleagues and other activists.
BALOCH NATIONALISTS THREATENED WITH DEPORTATION, TORTURE: If deported
to Pakistan, the two Baloch nationalists, Faiz Baloch and Hyrbyair Marri arrested in London on 4 December 2007 would be put at risk of torture, in violation of the British government’s obligations under the Convention against Torture (CAT), warns the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Hyrbyair Marri’s older brother Balach Marri was killed in Naushki, Balochistan during a military operation on November 21. The two men were reportedly being sent back to Pakistan in exchange for a prisoner, Rashid Rauf, accused in plotting to blow up transatlantic aircrafts in August 2006 who escaped ten days ago.
Detailed statement and links to appeal letters at:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2007/2705/
