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Chapter X

Nawaz Sharif's second stint in office - II

Nawaz Sharif government continued to tighten its grip over all levers of power, during 1998 and the first half of 1999, by using the accountability process for political purposes by harassing and arresting a number of prominent politicians and bureaucrats connected with the main opposition party; intimidating the press and forcing the Army Chief of Staff to seek early retirement.

The government, in May 1998, imposed a state of emergency after Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests in response to Indian nuclear blasts earlier that month. Fundamental rights were suspended in an apparent move aimed at freezing the foreign currency accounts of the people that shook confidence of masses in government's credibility.

In a bid to assume absolute powers, the government introduced the 15th Constitutional Amendment in the name of making the Quran and Sunnah as the Supreme law of the country. Imposed Governor rule on the Sindh province after Nawaz Sharif himself held the MQM responsible for the murder of Hakeem Mohammad Saeed. He also named the killers that included a sitting MPA.

The mental gulf between Punjab and the three smaller provinces widened and the nationalists from Sindh, the NWFP, Balochistan and the Seraiki belt of Punjab formed an alliance, named Pakistan's Oppressed Nations Movement (PONAM) to wage a struggle to attain provincial autonomy.

Human rights situation remained critical with frequent extra-judicial killings and arbitrary arrests.

The Nawaz Sharif government increased the country's debt burden by a whopping 25 per cent in its tenure of two-and -a-half years. The Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told the National Assembly on June 25 1999 that the total foreign and domestic debts in December 1998 stood at Rs. 2.5 trillion. The figures of Rs. 25 trillion include foreign debt of $28.6 billion, which is equivalent of Rs. 1.47 trillion at the current rate of exchange. In 1996-97, when Nawaz Sharif government assumed the powers, the country owed a total of Rs. 2.15 trillion in domestic and foreign debts.

PAKISTAN CONDUCTS NUCLEAR TESTS

When the Bhartia Janta Party government of Atal Bihari Vajpai decided to press for the global status of a great power by testing five devices on May 11 and 13 1998, Pakistan was compelled to demonstrate its own capability two weeks later, to silence the threats that started emanating from the Indian side. With the pressure generated at home to match India's nuclear tests, there was little choice left for a government, which in any case was hoping to bask in the glory of becoming a nuclear power.

In May 28 1998, Pakistan conducted five nuclear tests at Chagai, Balochistan in response to Indian nuclear tests. On the same day President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar imposed a state of emergency under Article 232 and froze all foreign currency accounts (FCAs). There were about 13 billion dollars in the FCAs, which included three billion dollars of the Overseas Pakistanis. Some influential people were able to transfer millions of dollars abroad from their accounts despite the ban and no action was taken against those bank officials who were involved in these illegal transfers. Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz told a joint sitting of parliament in June 1998 that 200 million-dollar had been withdrawn from private foreign currency accounts despite a freeze announced by the government.

Two days later, Pakistan conducted its sixth nuclear test. The United States, Japan and European countries imposed economic sanctions on Pakistan for conducting nuclear tests. US blacklisted Qadeer Khan's Kahuta laboratories.

When Pakistan carried out its own nuclear tests, there was a sense of euphoria across the country, which could have been harnessed, had the right effort been made, to create a spirit of national defiance and self-sacrifice. But this mood soon evaporated as the government made a series of ill-judged announcements which battered its credibility and dashed the hopes that the Pakistani community across the globe would with its money come to the nation's rescue in its hour of need. Of these decisions the most fateful was the one taken to freeze domestic foreign currency accounts.

The declaration of a state of emergency was seen as another challenge to the autonomy of the provinces. The action gave to the federal government powers of intervention in the provinces in respect of administration and law making, and of suspending the justice-ability of fundamental right. On July 28, 1998, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the imposition of emergency. However, it set aside the fundamental rights' suspension order of the same date but the other powers remained.

But perhaps nothing provoked the nationalist sentiment in the smaller provinces more than the Prime Minister's sudden decision to go ahead with the construction of the highly controversial Kalabagh Dam. Punjab saw the dam as the ultimate source of bounty for it, while it was feared by at least two of the other three provinces as a certain harbinger of devastation. NWFP believed that it would totally inundate parts of its inhabited area, and downstream Sindh thought that by heavily uppercutting the Indus it would turn some of its fertile lands into veritable deserts.

The announcement brought the divided ranks of the nationalists together as perhaps nothing else could have. There were massive public marches from both sides to the borders with Punjab, and expressions of anxiety and agitation continued until finally the government shed its posture of immovability and the project was in effect shelved. It would await a consensus being reached among all the provinces; it was finally conceded. It was a development of possible significance for the future that the notable nationalistic parties joined together to form what they call the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONAM).

On Sept. 24, 1998, the National assembly passed Foreign Exchange (Temporary Restriction) Bill 1998 to provide legal cover to the freezing of the foreign currency accounts following nuclear detonation. The Senate was by-passed as the bill was treated as a money bill. The bill was passed in the absence of the PPP members who walked out in protest.

The foreign currency accounts foul-up has blown to pieces whatever credibility the ruling coalition even had. On Jan. 27, 1999, Lahore High Court declared void Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1998, freezing foreign currency accounts and ordered their immediate restoration. The court was told that the federal government had consumed all foreign currency deposits much before that May 28 nuclear explosions and the May 29 accounts freeze order, the fixation of an arbitrary exchange rate, the issuance of dollar bonds and the liquidation of FCAs as loan security were all intended to provide legal cover to its misappropriation and to evade its obligations. Lahore High Court Justice Mian Allah Nawaz observed that any declaration in favor of foreign currency account holders would be futile if the government has already utilized the deposits. The FCA were not restored and the government filed an appeal against the LHC verdict.

In an appeal filed by the State against the LHC judgment, Attorney General Chaudhry Mohammad Farooq told the Supreme Court on June 8, 1999 that the government acted according to constitution in seizing the FCAs. He said that according to sub-section 2 of Article 24 of the Constitution even landed property could be acquired for public purpose. In reply to a query by the bench, he said that the government could not pay the account holders in foreign currency but it could pay in Pakistan currency.

On June 18, 1999, the Supreme Court accepted the government's plea that the country is not in a position now to honor its legal obligation of allowing free operation of FCAs. The Court held that Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1998 was lawful of the constitution, subject to the declaration that the same did not confer any power on the federation or the State Bank to compel FCA holders to convert their foreign exchange holdings into Pakistani rupees at the officially notified rate of exchange, or to compel the said account holders to liquidate their FCA accounts in Pakistani rupees which foreign exchange holdings had been accepted by the respective banks as security against any loan or other facilities extended to them. The court expressed its concern on the improper utilization of foreign exchange deposits of the FCA holders by the successive government in breach of the solemn commitment given by the legislature. The court also said that the State Bank of Pakistan also failed to perform its statutory duty to protect the interests of the FCA holders. But the court said that in order to restore confidence, the government should evolve a scheme within a 'reasonable period' to gradually lift all restrictions on the operation of these accounts and make a reasonable provision for this purpose in annual budgets. The apex court directed the federation to start payment of interest on the FCAs in foreign exchange. It also allowed the non-resident Pakistanis and foreign FCA holders to remit the interest abroad.

15^TH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT OR SHARIAT BILL

The government introduced the 15th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the National Assembly, on August 28, 1998,   that was immediately passed by the NA body concerned. The original version that was placed before the parliament in August was a virtual outline for establishment of theocratic fascism. It would have given the prime minister powers, first, to enforce what he thought was right and to prohibit what he considered was wrong in Islam and Shariat, irrespective of what the constitution or any judgment of the courts said; secondly, to make future amendments to the constitution with unprecedented ease, by a simple parliamentary majority of those present and voting; and, thirdly, to punish any state official (which obviously included any member of the judiciary or the armed forces) for what he regarded as dereliction of duty in that respect. A revised draft, since passed by the Lower House by the requisite two-thirds majority, dropped the latter two provisions. But even the first one that it retains provisions that would give the prime minister all the powers he needs to do his will.

The CA-15 adds a new Article 2B in the constitution: (1) The Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBH) shall be the supreme law of Pakistan. Explanation: In the application of this clause to the personal law of any Muslim set, the expression "Quran and Sunnah" shall mean the Quran and Sunnah as interpreted by that sect. (2) The Federal Government shall be under an obligation to take steps to enforce the Shariat, to establish Salat, to administer Zakat, to promote amr bil ma'roof and nahi anil munkar (to prescribe what is right and to forbid what is wrong), to eradicate corruption at all levels and to provide substantial socio-economic justice, in accordance with the principles of Islam, as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah. (3) Nothing contained in the Article shall affect the personal law, religious freedom, traditions or customs of non-Muslims and their status as citizens. (4) The provisions of this Article shall be effective notwithstanding anything contained in the constitution, any law or judgment of any court.

The addition of Article 2B in the constitution which says that Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBH) shall be the "supreme law" of Pakistan, overrides all law. The clause (2) will give the federal government wide executive powers. Under clause (4) whatever the government wants to do, it will do in the grab of Shariat which cannot be challenged. What alarmed wide sections of public opinion was the fear that with no consensus amongst even the religious parties as to what the supremacy of the Shariat implied, the government was opening a Pandora's box which would lead to further schisms in a society already reeling under the pressure of sectarian strife.

Nawaz Sharif flew to London from New York, on Sept. 26, 1998,   to meet the MQM leader Altaf Hussain in a bid to muster his support for the Shariat bill.. It was reported after a 90-minute meeting that the MQM will not support the government on the bill and called for its withdrawal.(This was one of the reasons that Nawaz Sharif ended PML coalition government with the MQM in Sindh.)

The National Assembly, on Oct. 9, 1998, passed the 15^th Constitutional Amendment bill with 151 votes. 16 votes were cast against it while the main ally of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), remained absent from the session. Though the government managed to scuttle the dissent from within the ruling party by brining an amended draft, it could not win over the support of independents, Jamiat-I-Ulema Islam and five minority members. The house voted a revised draft, delivered to the opposition parties only one day before the vote, hence it was not properly debated neither by the National Assembly nor by the people at large. The concession offered by the government, by deleting the proposal to rewrite Article 239, regarding constitutional amendments through simple majority, is seen an eyewash. There will be no need to go through the process of constitutional amendments when the new Article 2-B will place the entire constitution at the mercy of religious courts and the judiciary will be bound to interpret it solely in the light of the new provision.

With its overwhelming majority in the National Assembly, it was not a problem for the government to have the amendment passed there but it was another matter in the Senate where the ruling party lacks the requisite majority and where the bill is still pending. The Senate resolved not to accord to the bill when presented for vote. The prime minister responded by going about castigating that body, urging people to force the hands of the senators, and calling on mullahs to run all critics of the bill to earth. Nawaz Sharif called at public forums that it was the duty of the public to force the erring members of the Senate to pass the so-called Shariat Bill. The Prime Minister argued that the Senate, an indirectly elected house, had no justification for opposing the Shariat bill and that the passage of the bill by the National Assembly, elected directly, reflected the national aspirations.

RELIGIOUS LEADERS OPPOSE THE BILL

The Shariat Bill was even criticized by major religious parties. Jamat-e-Islami Amir, Qazi Hussain Ahmad was of the view that the government was not sincere in introducing the Islamic law and the Shariat bill was aimed at diverting people's attention from its follies and anti-Pakistan actions at internal and external fronts. "The Shariat bill had been tabled to make people forget government's complicity in the US attack on Afghanistan, its intentions to sign the CTBT and accept the World Bank and the IMF conditions and the problems created by inflation and lawlessness in the country." He said Nawaz Sharif wanted to make directives and actions of the federal government superior to the constitution and judgment of courts through the Shariat bill. [1]

Minhajul Quran chief, Dr. Tahirul Qadri opined that the 15^th amendment had been moved to divert public attention from the CTBT, which the government wanted to sign. He said the amendment gave all powers to the federal government to interpret, determine and enforce good and bad according to Islam. This single provision of the bill meant suspension of the entire constitution and the law. It also made the Council of the Islamic Ideology redundant. [2]

Senior most member of the Council of Islamic Ideology Syed Afzal Haider asserted that no existing civil and criminal laws are in conflict with Islamic injunctions and the government's move to introduce a constitutional amendment bill to enforce Shariat seems to be motivated by considerations other than bringing about a social order as ordained by Islam. Afzal Haider, a CII member since 1989, said that the task of transforming all laws in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah has been completed and the Council has since submitted its report to the government under Article 230 of the constitution which is now available in book form. According to him, not only the CII has completed its task, the Federal Shariat Court has been making a judicial examination of the laws for about 15 years, civil and criminal administration is already applicable within the Shariat confines and the 1973 constitution itself stands guarantee to complete Islamization of all walks of life. The PML government, too, has committed itself to the task by a National Assembly legislation in 1991 within similar provisions. [3]

Although the amendment was yet to become law, one part of the damage was already done. It made fundamentalism a central issue of national polity. It gave to bigotry a seal of denunciatory authority. It set about unleashing sanctimoniousness on to the streets and in the neighborhoods. Groups enforcing their own 'Shariat' threatened to gain momentum. With the first instant 'trial' and public execution early in December 1998, the Orakzai tribe blazed the trial of the Taliban-like system of justice that the Prime Minister had said he yearned for. The clock seemed suddenly to have been put way back.

The Muttahida Shariat Mahaz (MSM), announced that it would institute cases of treachery and revolt with police stations against those MNAs who had voted against the 15^th Amendment Bill in the National Assembly. [Dawn - 26.12.1998] Senator Maulana Abdul Sattar Niazi holds the view that the members of the National Assembly who voted against the Shariat Bill stand expelled from the pale of Islam. Action should be taken against them under article 2 and 30-A of the constitution. He suggested that these MNAs should not be given a Muslim burial. The chief of the Jamiat Ahlehadith contended that the Senators opposing the bill should be stoned to death. [4]
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THE SHARIAT ENFORCEMENT ACT 1991

As the National Assembly passed the 15^th constitutional amendment, or the so-called the Shariat Bill, an Act for the enforcement of Shariat has already been in force in the country since June 18, 1991 with almost similar provisions except that the Act does not amend the Constitution whereas the CA-15 seeks to amend the Constitution by adding Article 2B in it. The Shariat Enforcement Act was introduced as a bill by the then government of Nawaz Sharif in 1991 in the two houses of parliament and was passed with a simple majority.

Earlier, the Senate had passed another Shariat Bill called "The Enforcement of Shariat" as a private members bill on May 13, 1990 during the first government of Benazir Bhutto with two-thirds majority in the Upper House with the aim of maintaining law and order and Islamic equality in the society. The Bill, as an ordinary bill, was moved by Qazi Abdul Latif and Maulana Samiul Haq in the Senate. After its adoption by two-thirds majority in the Senate, the bill was transmitted to the National Assembly for adoption. But President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the then National Assembly and the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the assembly.

After the lapse of the Shariat Bill of Qazi Abdul Latif and Maulana Samiul Haq, the then government of Nawaz Sharif introduced the Enforcement of Shariat Bill in the two houses of parliament in 1991. The bill was adopted by simple majority and it duly became an Act after its assent by the president. The Shariat Act was notified in the Gazette of Pakistan on June 18, 1991 and since then it has been in force. Section 4 of the Act seeks interpretation of all laws in the light of Shariat. Section 5 puts parliament under obligation to formulate a code of conduct for the government. The Act also seeks establishment of commissions for Islamization of educational and economic systems and media in addition to elimination of corruption, bribery and obscenity and ensuring an order based on "Amr Bil Ma'roof and Nahi Anil Munkar."

CONSTITUTIONAL ARTICLES RELATED TO ISLAM

Besides the Shariat Act of 1991, the following articles of the constitution are related to the implementation of Islamic principles in the country:

Preamble: "It is will of the people of Pakistan to establish an order wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance, and social justice as enumerated by Islam shall be fully observed and wherein Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah"'

Article 2: Islam shall be the state religion of Pakistan.

Article 2A: The principles and provisions set out in the Objectives Resolution are made a substantive part of the Constitution and shall have effect accordingly.

Article 31: Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan individually and collectively to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and to provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

The State shall take steps to make teaching of the Holy Quran compulsory and to promote unity and observance of Islamic moral standards and secure the proper organization of Zakat, Ushr, Auqaf and Mosques.

Article 227: Provides that all existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah and no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to such injunctions of Islam.

Article 228: Provides for the constitution of the Council of Islamic Ideology while Article 230 prescribes the functions of the Islamic Council. This council has been functioning since 1985.

The main objection against the 15^th Amendment is that it is totally unnecessary. There is nothing in the constitution, which forbids any government from enforcing true Islamic principles or spreading the true spirit of Islam. The so-called Shariat Bill 1998 has only deepened the religious divide and brought an already fragile federation under further strain.

ISLAMIZATION

The NWFP government, on Jan. 16, 1999, promulgated Islamic laws in the Malakand Division and Kohistan districts of Hazara Division. Malakand Division consists of Swat, Buner, Chitral and Dir districts. The Islamic laws were introduced through the Nifaz-i-Nizam-i-Shariat Regulation and Nizam-i-Adl Ordinance 1999 by Lt. Gen. Arif Bangash, the Governor of NWFP. The new regulation will replace the Provincial Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) regulations that were introduced in the area at the time of these areas at the time of merger with Pakistan. The Ismaeli community of Chitral, that forms about 35 per cent of the total population, has vigorously protested against the introduction of Islamic regulations.

Tanzeem-I-Islam chief Dr. Israr Ahmad resigns (April 13, 1999) from the chairmanship of the Ulema Committee set up by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to restore sectarian peace to the country. His resignation came in the wake of a rift in the committee after its meetings. The 10-member committee suggested two bills to combat sectarian violence. On of the proposed laws envisaged severe punishment to any person or sect, which publishes or propagates anything against the Khulfai Rshideen and Ahle Bait.

The Council of Islamic Ideology declares (May 11, 1999) lucrative prize schemes launched by major nationalized and private banks as un-Islamic and said these schemes fell into the category of Riba and gambling. The CII informed the Ministry of Finance that the Crorepati Scheme of the Habib Bank and the Maala Maal Price Scheme of the Muslim Commercial Bank were un-Islamic and instigated the people to become millionaires overnight.

Nineteen years after the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance was promulgated by General Ziaul Haq and nine years after the Sindh High Court had struck down its Zakat provisions as manifestly discriminatory, the Supreme Court upheld (March 9, 1999) the Sindh High Court judgement and rejected the appeal of the federal government. The Supreme Court ruled that members of all "Fiqhs" were entitled to exemption from Zakat deduction from their holdings, and the government had no power to reject the declaration on the ground that he/she did not belong to Fiqh-e-Jafria.

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) decides (May 6, 1999) to submit a reference to the president to direct the Supreme Judicial Council for removal of a Sindh High Court judge for passing remarks against a Quranic law of inheritance. In an inheritance dispute case, Justice Shafiq Usmani remarked that law of inheritance as pronounced in verses No. 11-14 of Al Nisa was mutable and liable to amendment. According to the judge, the reason behind the concept of immutability of these laws was only male chauvinistic attitudes.

A man condemned to death for murder by an 'Islamic Court' in Orakzai Agency was publicly executed by his brother and uncle on Dec. 13, 1998.

RIBA OR INTEREST

The Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court, on Feb. 24, 1999, dismissed the application of the government to withdraw its appeal against the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) judgment on Riba. The government had filed an application in the Supreme Court in June 1997 seeking withdrawal of its appeal against FSC judgment declaring interest-based banking as un-Islamic.

The government informed the Shariat Appellate Bench that it had already approached the FSC for seeking its guidelines to modify the existing banking system on the Islamic lines. The five-member bench, headed by Justice Khalilur Rehman Khan, observed that the court could not delay the proceedings any more as the appeals were pending in the Supreme Court since 1992. Justice Khan said: "We have to see what is Riba. The matter of concern not only to Pakistan but to the whole of Muslim Ummah." The court directed the Foreign Office to make arrangements for inviting six experts on Islamic banking from different Islamic countries.

During the hearing, the SC was informed that even if it upheld the verdict of the FSC, declaring interest as Riba, it could not eliminate interest-based transactions from the country as there were a number of laws, which were not considered by the court. Dr. Waqar Masood, an economist, who was invited to assist the court on the complex economic issues, presented a list of 25 laws, which were not considered by the FSC judgment.

Justice Khaliflur Rehman Khan observed that time had come to change the system and those mere discussions on its failure would not help. He said no body wanted to pay taxes and it was high time to change the system. "We cannot go on clamoring that the system has failed; we have to change it."

GOVERNOR'S RULE IN SINDH

On October 28, 1998, it suddenly dawned upon Mian Nawaz Sharif that his erstwhile partners in power were terrorists. At his press conference, he directly accused the MQM of involvement in the assassination of Hakeem Saeed. He even named certain people, among them that of a sitting MPA. It was unprecedented by any account. Nobody holding the post of Prime Minister had ever made such a flagrant indictment of a political party during the 50 years' history of Pakistan. Two days after the Prime Minister's public indictment, governor's rule was imposed in Sindh, but the assembly was neither dissolved nor suspended. [5]

The Sindh government was dismissed only because the MQM had distanced itself from the coalition. There was a genuine belief that the PPP could form the government in Sindh. Only this fear motivated the dismissal of the coalition government of which the PML was not the dominant partner. Muslim League depended on this party far more for ruling in Sindh than it did on ANP for staying in power in NWFP. The League's political presence in Sindh, let alone its ability to form a government there and keep the PPP out, would have been close to zilch but for the party's urban solid strength. Granted this wholly unmerited pre-eminence in the province, the Prime Minister was ready to give whatever the other asked for in return. Thus, for instance, after his meeting with Altaf Hussain in London in February 1998, the MP's spokesman Chaudhry Nisar Ali came out and announced in absolute terms that a complete identity of views and consensus was found in all the matters raised and discussed.. [6]

What all those matters were needed no guesswork: Altaf Hussain had been talking of them all the time. They included withdrawal of all cases registered against him and other MQM leaders and workers; freedom for all his party men in jail, including release on parole of those who were under trial for serious offences and speedy conclusion of their cases; compensation to those or the families of those who had suffered under the army operation and afterwards; and end to the so-called no-go areas held by MQM's break-away faction called the Haqiqis. [7]

The Prime Minister started delivering on each of these promises. But there apparently came a point were others in the establishment put their foot down. The message was that those with several murder cases against their name could not be freed even on parole and secondly, the Haqiqis had to survive even if they had demonstrated no popular support they could not be allowed to be overwhelmed by the main party. A sort of cold war then ensued between the coalition partners and as MQM's own men began increasingly to fall in the periodic terrorist mayhem the relations turned abrasively chilly with each such episode. MQM also around this time decided that its political support should not always be taken for granted. It made strong reservations on the population census, it boycotted the parliamentary vote on the declaration of the state of emergency following the nuclear tests, and perhaps, most annoyingly of all, it refused to back Mian Nawaz Sharif's 15th Constitutional Amendment. [8]

Hakeem Saeed's murder on Oct. 17, 1998 proved to be an opportunity for Mian Nawaz Sharif, on the one hand, to pacify growing resentment in certain sections within his party over what they thought was his bending over backwards to appease and pamper the MQM, and on the other hand, to control Sindh directly without any shaky intermediaries and with an iron fist. [9]

After a couple of weeks later, the armed forces were given powers under section 245 of the Constitution with the avowed objective of weeding out terrorism and restoring law and order in a city that had defied all previous attempts at doing so. The forces were supposed to set up military courts soon afterwards, but the GHQ took up to December 7 to do so. The initial plan had given just three days to decide a case, but the military authorities apparently felt the period was too short. Military courts had sentenced seven people to death within a couple of weeks, among them a thirteen-year-old boy. Hundreds of other political workers, supporters and even common men were arrested. Nearly all of them belong to Muttahida, two of whose top leaders, Shoaib Bukhari and Wakil Jamali, were among the first to be picked up, beaten up and interrogated in an unbelievable number of cases. Mr. Bokhari alone faces around 150 cases on an assortment of charges. [10]

One of the prime suspects arrested in connection with the Hakeem Saeed murder case in the first round, Fasih Ahmad alias Fasih Jugnu, died in CIA custody apparently from police brutality, on Oct. 23, 1998. He was in his mid-20s and was believed to have been taken into custody at least two days before the CIA confirmed the arrest. The police claimed that Jugnu had died of poison he had taken while in custody. However, the medico-legal report identified as many as 27 injury marks on various parts of his body. A month later, 35-year old Mubashir died in police custody. He too had been arrested in connection with the Hakeem Saeed murder case. The police claimed that Mubashir had died of heart failure. [11]

After the army stepped in, there was an initial ebbing of the most common of the crimes that has plagued Karachi and other cities of Sindh for years -- extortion of bhatta by the so-called activists of political parties. But the menace soon reappeared in the form of roadside loot by the police and rangers. [12]

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had accused an MPA and seven other activists of his coalition partners, MQM, of being involved in the murder of Hakeem Saeed, and gave them three days to hand over the accused, failing which there would be a parting of ways. He told a news conference in Karachi, that he had "credible and incontrovertible evidence based on the statements of Aamirullah and others. However, on Nov. 4, the Advocate General, M. Iqbal Raad, told the Sindh High Court that Sheikh Mohammad Aamirullah, accused in the murder of Hakeem Mohammad Saeed, has not so far given his confessional statement which is required to be given before a magistrate under Section 164 CrPC. He added that the accused has only confessed to having had a part in the murder before the police and notables. Qazi Khalid, a former minister, told the court that there were contradictory versions of Aamirullah's "confessional statement" given by the Prime Minister and the advocate general. He said the Prime Minister had been on record as having told a countrywide audience that Aamirullah had confessed to murdering Hakeem Saeed. He then observed that the prime minister has misled the nation on the television network by claiming that Aamirullah had confessed to the whole thing, thus maligning the MQM in the eyes of the public throughout the country through print and electronic media.

GOVERNOR REPLACED

President of Karachi Chmaber of Commerce & Industry, Mamnoon Hussain was appointed, on June 17, 1999, the Governor of Sindh to replace Lt. General Moinuddin Haider. At the same time, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, the Federal Education Minister, was appointed as adviser to the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sindh affairs, with the powers of the chief minister. He has been asked to muster support of the disgruntled elements in the PPP and independent MPAs in the Sindh Assembly in order to establish a Muslim League government.   The PML has only 15 seats in the 105-seat Sindh Assembly. General Haider was replaced because of differences with the federal government on providing the PML an opportunity to set up its government in the province.

The federal government, on June 23, 1999, suspended five articles ( 120, 122, 123, 124 and 125) of the constitution pertaining to the presentation of a provincial budget so that the Sindh Province budget could be announced outside the Sindh Assembly. This brought to 12 the number of articles suspended by the federation government after the imposition of the governor's rule in Sindh. Earlier the government had suspended articles 130 and 136 regarding the powers of the speaker.

In a flagrant disregard of the principles of federalism, democracy and provincial autonomy that are explicitly enshrined in the constitution, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, on June 23, 1999, announced the Sindh budget at a press conference and by passed the Sindh Provincial Assembly. However, legal experts said that under this arrangement, when the budgeted expenditure will not be sanctioned by the provincial assembly, effectively all expenditure that will be incurred from July 1, 1999, will be ultra vires of the constitution. Interestingly, in 1996, while reviewing the accounts of the Government of Sindh for the year 1994-95, it was discovered that a huge amount of expenditure of around Rs. 850 million was incurred beyond the expenditure sanctioned by the provincial assembly in its original budget as well as supplementary budget. The federal government launched an inquiry since this expenditure was unconstitutional, and the then Governor of Sindh, Kamaluddin Azfar used the ground to dissolve the provincial assembly in November 1996. Now, under the present arrangement, the entire expenditure incurred in excess of the budget of 98-99 and the entire expenditure that will be incurred from July 1, 1999, will be unconstitutional, as no sanction was obtained from the National Assembly.

According to former the Sindh Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Asad Ali Shah, General Ziaul Haq, the benefactor of the present prime minister and his advisor on Sindh affairs once said that "constitution is nothing more than a piece of paper which he can tear any time he wishes." For eleven years he ruled by keeping 1973 constitution suspended through Martial Law Regulations, Martial Law Orders and the Provisional Constitutional Order of 1981. Now, his proteges and the remnants of the martial law again suspended as many as 14 articles of the constitution exactly in the same fashion the general did, nothing more than a waste paper. It is no longer secret that all this is being done with the sole objective of perpetuating their undemocratic rule over the province of Sindh, where their party enjoys the support of barely 15 members in the house of 109. [13]

HAKEEM SAEED'S ASSASSINATION

The most distressing happening of the year 1998 was the assassination of Hakeem Mohammad Saeed, a person of unique commitment to human and Islamic values, every moment of whose personal life was dedicated to the services of others, both at the individual and collective level. He was murdered in a terrorist outrage just as he was going to his clinic after Fajr prayers to see patients, whom he invariably treated free. That day, October 17, was marked by a similar outrage at Islamabad, where Maulana Abdullah, the leading Muslim cleric of the nation's capital, was also shot dead by terrorists.

Hakeem Sahib stood for all the decent values and treated his personal resources as well as his knowledge as a trust to be utilized for the service of humanity. The most outstanding memorial to his life of dedication to the cause of social progress and welfare is the Madinat-ul-Hikmat, the city of learning he established almost all by himself, outside Karachi, to give practical shape to his ideals in the fields of education and medicine.

After 50 years of unstinted service, Hakeem Saeed was becoming increasingly concerned about the negative role of many prominent people, whose names he was supposed to be at the point of divulging. This could have been the reason why he was eliminated. Another story making the rounds was that the terrorist gangs had demanded a sum of two crore rupees from him, which he had refused to pay, so that he fell foul of the terrorists Mafia.

The assassination of Hakeem Saeed highlighted the extent to which institutions and values in Pakistan had deteriorated. The state apparatus was neither successful in providing security of life and property which was its basic function, nor was it effective in collecting taxes that furnished the means of running the administration and of maintaining the social services the state was supposed to provide. Indeed, there was a tendency among foreign observers to describe Pakistan as being on the verge of becoming a "failed state." [14]

The Anti-Terrorism Court, on June 4, 1999, sentenced all the nine accused in custody belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to death in the Hakeem Mohammad Saeed murder case. According to prosecution, the accused riding in three vehicles on Oct 17, 1998, morning opened fire on Hakeem Saeed in front of his Hamdard Matab at Arambagh Road. As a result, Hakeem Saeed, Hakeem Abdul Qadir and a peon of the Matab Wali Mohammad, died while three other people were injured.

The convicts were identified as Mohammad Amirullah Shaikh, Mohammad Asif, Ezazul Hasan alias Wazir, Mohammad Zubair Hassan, Nadeem Ahmed alias Nadeem Mota, Mohammad Shakir alias Shakir Langra, Mohammad Faisal, Muqarrab Ali alias Nazar and Mohammad Abu Imran Pasha. There were 13 more accused in the case who have been shown as absconders. The absconders include MQM chief, Altaf Hussain, MPA Zulfiqar Haider.

The next day, seven of the nine convicts filed appeals in the High Court of Sindh, challenging the death sentences. In a single appeal, the counsel of the seven submitted that the judgment of the ATC is based on misreading/non-reading of evidence and in fact the judgement is palpably erroneous and is a glaring and classic example of miscarriage of justice wherein the trial court failed to appreciate the law and facts in their true perspectives. It was further stated that the eyewitnesses, Hakim Manzoor Ali, Wahid Bux and Sarwar Bai, failed to prove their presence at the time of incident on October 17, 1998, when the murders of the three took place. The appeal said one of the appellants, Muqarrab Ai alias Nazar, was in central prison on the date of incident and full evidence was produced before the court about that. From the perusal of the record and the suggestion put up by the defense it is amply demonstrated that the present case against the appellants is a sinister conspiracy to blackmail and to eliminate the MQM from the map of Pakistan. [15]

ONE SIDED ACCOUNTABILITY

The government of Nawaz Sharif has used the accountability process -- which supposedly was designed to expose previous wrong-doing, recoup ill-gotten gains, and restore public confidence in government institutions -- for political purposes by harassing and arresting a number of prominent politicians and bureaucrats connected with the main opposition party.

On April 15, 1999, an Ehtesab Bench of Lahore High Court convicted Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari and sentenced them to undergo five years' imprisonment each, and to pay a fine of $8.6 million. The court also ordered their disqualification as members of the parliament, as well as confiscation of their property. The Ehtesab Bench, comprising Justice Malik Qayyum and Justice Najmul Hasan Kazmi, held that the pre-shipment contract to the Swiss company, SGS, was awarded by the former Prime Minister "alone" at the behest of and in abatement with Zardari.

The prosecution case was that the pre-shipment inspection contract was awarded to SGS in consideration of 6 per cent commission on the total amount received by the company from the government of Pakistan. The commission was paid to an offshore company, Bomer Finance Inc. owned by Mr. Zardari through his fiduciary agent Jens Schlegelmilch. The ultimate beneficiaries of the commission were Mr. Zardari and Ms Bhutto, the prosecution had contended.

The court accepted the prosecution's case and held: "The prosecution has proved its case against Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto and Senator Asif Ali Zardari beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt. They are, therefore, guilty of having committed corruption and corrupt practices within the meaning of section 3(1)(a), Section 3(1)(d) and section 4(2) of the Ehtesab Act 1997."

The court's order said: "Accordingly, Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto and Senator Asif Ali Zardari are convicted and sentenced to undergo 5 years imprisonment each and to pay a fine of 8.6 million dollars or equivalent amount in Pakistani currency. They are further disqualified under section 9 of the Ehtesab Act, 1997 from holding any public office. Their property shall also be confiscated."

Under section 4 of the Ehtesab Act a person who is found guilty of acts of corruption could be sentenced to up to a term of seven years or fine or both. The same section further provides that the property of the convict, in his name or in the name of his dependent or benamidar, obtained through such offence during the tenure of his office, should be forfeited. [16] The Supreme Court Deputy Registrar rejected the appeal of Benazir against her conviction on the plea that she should appear in person to file the appeal. However, later a Supreme Court judge accepted the appeal on the plea that if she could be convicted in her absence why could she not be permitted to file an appeal in her absence.

While the Ehtesab Bench of the High Court convicted Benazir and Zardari, Chief Ehtesab Commissioner Justice Ghulam Mujaddi Mirza, on April 25, 1999, dropped three references against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying that they have either no substance and merit or they don't pertain to the period with which the Ehtesab Act deals. In a fourth reference the CEC excluded the Prime Minister as respondent but referred the matter for inquiry and investigation to the Ehtesab Bureau. The other respondent in the case was NWFP Chief Minister Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi.

The Chief Ehtesab Commissioner, Justice Ghulam Mujaddad Mirza, on May 16, 1999, rejected two identical complaint made jointly against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Ehtesab Bureau Chairman Senator Saifur Rehman on charges of causing the exchequer a loss of Rs. 13.697 million by evading duties and taxes in import of BMW cars. It was alleged that the Estesab Bureau Chairman Senator Seifur Rehman (whose company, REDCO Pakistan Ltd is the sole agents for BMW cars in Pakistan), in connivance with the-then prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had imported 25 BMW cars in September 1992 at a lower value in a bid to evade customs duty amounting to Rs. 1.369 million.

Observer report on Nawaz Sharif

The British newspaper, Observer, on Sept. 27, 1998, published a report revealing that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has amassed a personal fortune siphoning off millions of dollars from his country's coffers. The Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency report, revealed to the paper by the FIA's suspended second in command Rahman Malik, was also sent to President Rafiq Tarar. The Observer said that the 200-page report was begun while Sharif was out of power but effectively stifled after he and his Islamic Democratic Alliance party returned to lead the country in February 1997. It said the investigation reveled how Sharif's assets included four flats in London's exclusive Mayfair, worth more than $5 million. More than $70 million was also said to have been traced to accounts and companies controlled by the family. The inquiry was focused on Sharif's Ittefaq group of companies, which grew rapidly during his first term in power in 1990-93. It was alleged that the group received billions of rupees in loans, which were not repaid. Around $8 million is said to be held offshore, and another $50 million in Switzerland.

Explaining the modus operandi for money laundering by Sharif family, the report of Rehman Malik stated that Rs. 140 million were siphoned in collusion with Hawala group of Peshawar using the Bank of Oman. The money was repatriated in the form of FEBCs in the name of 43 family members, which include the mother, brother, sister and other close relatives of Mr. Nawaz Sharif. The report stated that a large amount in dollars, DBC and travellers cheques were transferred into three accounts of fake persons namely Salman Zia, Mohammad Ramzan and Ashgar Ali (who never existed) by Mr. Javed Keyani, an industrialist and business partner of Mr. Nawaz Sharif. The amount were transferred to three new accounts again opened by Javed Keyani in the names of Kashif Masood Qazi, Nuzhat Gohar Qazi and Sikindra Masood Qazi -- relatives of Ishaq Dar, the present Commerce Minister. These accounts were utilized as collateral security for setting up loans to Hudabiya Engineering Ltd and Hudabiya Paper Mills Ltd by Sharif family, the report stated.

On Sept. 28, the government denies the Observer report and lodges complaint with Britain's Press watchdog over the report. However, on Oct. 14, the management of the Observer says that it stood by its Sept 27 story about Nawaz Sharif. On Nov. 4, 1998, Britain rejected a request from Pakistan government for the arrest and extradition of former additional director general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Rehman Malik, who was living in self-imposed exile in London.

The London High Court, on March 19, 1999, orders Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his brother Abbas Sharif and father Mian Mohammad Sharif to jointly pay a sum of $32.5 million to Al Towfeek Company for Funds Ltd., the investment Company from which they had taken a loan for Hudabiya Paper Mills Ltd. The Queen's Division Bench of the London High Court passed the ex-parte order , as the defendants had not defended themselves in the court. The defendants were also ordered to pay the costs of the case The court on Sept 7, 1998 had issued writ of summons to the defendants and given 23 days after the service of writ to return the loan as claimed by the plaintiff company or give their intention to contest the case.

Al Towfeek Investment Funds Ltd., a company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman islands, which provides banking facilities and finance for industrial development in Pakistan, had entered into a lease agreement with Hudabiya Paper Mills Ltd, one of the companies owned by Sharif family, on February 15, 1995 under which the plaintiff leased certain machinery to Hudabiya Mills for the manufacture of paper and paper board for six months. At the time of the lease contract, Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif, his father Mian Mohammad Sharif and his brother Abbas Sharif, had given written guarantees to pay to Al Towfeek Investment all loans taken up to $10 million by Hudabiya Paper Mills together with all profits, charges and other related expenses. While the actual loan was $12 million, almost $20 million was accrued as interest.

When the Sharif's company failed to return the loan, Al Towfeek served notices to the guarantors namely Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his brother Abbas Sharif and father Mohammad Sharif to repay the loan but they failed to honor their guarantees and make payment to the plaintiff. Finally, the investment company went to the London high Court to recover the loan from the Sharif family.   Shahbaz Sharif, during a visit to London had tried to make an out of court settlement but did not succeed. [17]

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REFERENCES

1. Dawn 4.9.1998
2. Dawn 19.11.1998
3. Dawn 31.8.1998
4. Dawn 15.11.1998
5. Saleem Asemi, Theatre of the absurd, Dawn 1.1.1999
6. Aziz Siddiqi, Mashroom and the Meltdown, 1998 Overview, 1.1.1999
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Saleem Asemi, Op. Cite.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid
13. Syed Asad Ali Shah, Financial mess-up in Sindh, Dawn 29.6.1999
14. Dr. Maqbool Ahmad Bhatty, Looking back at the old year, Dawn 5.1.999
15. Dawn 6.6.1999
16. Dawn 16.4.1999
17.Dawn 14.4.1999