معلوم ہوا ہے کہ امریکہ نے اسامہ بن لادن کی جاسوسی کرنے والے ڈاکٹر شکیل آفریدی کی رہائی اور ان کے متلعق تمام اُمور کا ٹاسک سابق چیف سیکرٹری خیبرپی کے خالد عزیز اور سابق آئی جی پولیس فیاض احمد خان طورو کو سونپ دیا ھے، امریکی سی آئی اے کے اہلکاروں نے اس سلسلے میں گزشتہ روز دونوں سابق بیوروکریٹس سے علیحدہ علیحدہ ملاقاتیں کیں، اور دونوں اعلی افسروں کو جیل میں شکیل آفریدی اور اُن کی فیملی کو درپش تمام مسائل حل کرنے اور ان کے بارے میں امریکی سی آئی اے کو پل پل کی اطلاع دینے کی ہداہت کی ھے۔ واضع رھے کہ مذکورہ دونوں بیورو کریٹ ریٹائرڈمنٹ کے بعد امریکی انٹیلی جنس کی جانب سے بنائی جانے والی این جی اوز کے لیئے بھاری تنخواہوں پر کام کر رھے ہیں۔

Fawad Ali Shah
Journalist.
Office# 00673-222-5293
 Mobile# 0060163264403

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
Editor,
Tariq Khattak.
0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
.

__,_._,___
 

S,
 
Thanks. When I was in Pakistan recently, I saw a lot of this on TV, the papers and the inter-net.
 
Najam I first met when he had, along with a group of other rascals (I mean that in a funny way), returned from Cambridge University after completing his studies in the 60s? I have known him "since long" as we say in our bad English. I have always had and will continue to have great admiration and respect for his intellect, his excellent grasp of the political economy, security issues, foreign policy, and when he writes about it, he is an accomplished economist as well. Perhaps not with an advanced degree in the subject, but so what? 
 
He is a "Liberal" that is a label in Pakistan that has become dangerous and I suspect they (whoever "they" may be) are going to pick them off one-by-one. It has already happened, most prominently in the case of Salmaan Taseer, shot 24 times by his own security detail at point blank rage while other members of his security watched, and whom I had also known for 30+ years, and Saleem Shezad (perhaps not a liberal but let us say -- "out-spoken").
 
If you are a liberal AND outspoken then people like Najam, and you and I as well, are in the cross-hairs and in mortal-danger. A danger that we, our women-folk, and even our children, can choose to ignore at our peril.
 
I have no idea if Najam is corrupt or not -- and frankly, it is none of my f-ing business. But having an apartment in NY is NOT a crime. One thing for sure: NY is NOT Pakistan and Najam must have paid all his taxes to the state and county. If the apartment is rented out and there is income, you can be sure he is being taxed on that as well (including federal income tax). So I don't see the problem. If he is paying his taxes on his US properties/income, he cannot be taxed again in Pakistan -- you know this avoidance of double-taxation thing better than I, being a fully-qualified ACA.
 
But you can ask me anytime about my own experience. I am taxed on my home here, a small town-house 50 miles away from DC, by the state government and the county and my income/pension from the IMF is of course taxed by the federal government. Hell, I even pay tax HERE on my Pakistani pension! -- even though my friends urged me to "forget about and don't tell them about your Pakistani pension". I am simply too old now to run afoul of the IRS. And with only a "Green Card", if I should be caught mis-declaring my GLOBAL income (I know the consequences because my niece is an immigration attorney) they will cuff me, walk me through Dulles Airport and deport me immediately. And make sure my children are watching for effect.
 
Of course, tomorrow they will say I am corrupt too (if I took up any assignment in Pakistan) if they find out that I bought this place for $350,000, forgetting I may have a $320,000 30-year mortgage on it, AFTER I had "separated" (there is no age restriction for those working on the Executive Board) from the IMF since long. I have told you the story of my 500 sq. yd. plot in G-13 Islamabad, that government gave me many years ago on my retirement from government service and how and when I sold it, brought the money here bank-to-bank (and since it was more than $10,000 my credit union is required by law to report it immediately to the IRS and Homeland Security) and how the IRS clobbered me with  "capital-gains" on my 2010 tax return. I will not repeat it here.     
 
What is Najam's mortgage? The "evidence" purports to give the price. It does not say anything about what mortgage he may be carrying. We are actually quite ill-informed, and this "student" (we know he is NOT a student) is a dim-wit. 
 
Where did Najam get the money from? Najam is an extremely well-paid media person and has been at this business for decades. I think he even worked for a time outside Pakistan, earning our much coveted and loved dollars (or DAALARS, as pronounce it in Pakistan). Our capital account is fully open and our currency de-facto convertible. It is not a big deal anymore if you take money out bank-to-bank; nor is it illegal to do so! In the US you only need 10% down, otherwise you have to pay private-mortgage-insurance which is what I was paying when I was in the IMF! -- until my equity rose to around 20%, as I recall which seemd like 100 years later.
 
If those rupees had been earned in an illegal fashion and were not taxed in Pakistan, that is an entirely different issue. I have no way to establish the facts on the matter and nor does anyone else. We need to see the documentary evidence and that does NOT mean a blurred scanned copy on the f-ing inter-net and/or U-Tube. That is NOT acceptable evidence.    
 
About these other accusations/"evidence" of Riaz Malick having bribed all the usual suspects, this  "information" was revealed when I was in Islamabad.  I did see Najam's name and I immediately sent it to him even if I have been taken-to-task by my friends before for not clarifying that the information is being passed along WITHOUT ENDORSEMENT! I hope -- and most certainly pray -- that Najam knows me just enough to know that I would never do that. 
 
I am amused that our people, and especially our so-called intelligentsia, the "talking-heads", all "foreign-educated", or "FAARIN"-educated, as we pronounce it, are so shocked at someone like Riaz Malick and what he is purported to have done. Why is this such a surprise? Or it is the salacious part that we are enjoying? 
 
But where is the SEX? It is something which I have been waiting for with bated-breath and great anticipation and excitement! And on U-Tube! 
 
But sex in PAKISTAN??
 
NO WAY!!
 
We don't have sex in Pakistan, "YAAR"!! [brother to my "farangi" friends reading this]. So are we going to feign shock and surprise if that comes out too? I am fully confident -- and certainly more confident than the economic projections that economists make about the Pakistan economy -- including myself --that we will.
 
No sex but great hypocrites. 
 
But I digress.
 
This is not the place and time to talk of corruption in Pakistan -- a subject on which you and I have had many stimulating discussions on over the years.  
 
And I know that you know all the things I have already said. You have to "put food on the table" as you told me so you must be busy. Besides, since you know all this stuff and I have added nothing to the story (not even sex), I must be boring you so I will "quit while I am ahead" -- even though I did not think I ever got that far either this time -- nor  certainly ever with you, knowing you since-long. 
 
All the best as always,
 
 


Sent: 6/29/2012 10:16:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: Corruption of Najam Sethi Exposed by a Pakistani Student in New York

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
Editor,
Tariq Khattak.
0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
.

__,_._,___
 



Press Release


KCEU Host India UPR 2012 - A Kashmir Perspective

at the United Nations in Geneva



Thursday, 28 June 2012 - ICHR Kashmir Centre.EU, in association with IHRAAM, today hosted a side event at the 20th session of the Human Rights Council entitled India UPR 2012 - A Kashmir Perspective.


Speakers included Barrister A. Majid Tramboo, Chairman of Kashmir Centre.EU Brussels, Prof. Alfred de Zayas, United Nations Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Dr. Karen Parker, Geneve representative for International Educational Development, Prof. Krishna Ahoojapatel, Geneva representative for Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Prof. Nazir Shawl, Chairman Kashmir Centre London, Mr. Altaf Hussain Wani, Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations and Mr. Ronald Barnes, reprenetative for Indigenous Peoples and Nations Coalition.

pastedGraphic.pdf


Barrister A. Majid Tramboo opened by outlining the current position of the Indian UPR and discussed the 169 recommendations that were submitted to India by the Human Rights Council regarding its second UPR.


He noted that there were numerous recommendations to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Ratify the Convention Against Torture and the Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Disappearance along with their optional protocols, to abolish the death penalty, to end immunity for the armed forces, to better train the police in their human rights obligations and to repeal other draconian laws.


Tramboo gave prominence to the statements made by the United States, Norway, Belgium and the United Kingdom which were very critical of the aforementioned human rights abuses carried out by India.


However, he noted, states failed in their obligation to raise the issue of mass graves in Kashmir; the first of which were discovered in mid 2008.  He offered his commitment to continue to pursue the issue with the Human Rights Council and to persist in advocacy to have it raised in the current UPR of India.


On the mass graves Mr. Tramboo called it one of the most disturbing human rights violations of modern times.  He said that it was unfortunate to see that the Indian Government had not taken heed of the 2008 European Parliament Urgency Resolution on Mass Graves in Kashmir.  He further noted that while the mass graves issue has only marginally made it onto the agenda of the Human Rights Council the Kashmiri diaspora will continue to lobby for justice at the highest levels with both states and the mechanisms of the Office of the HIgh Commissioner for Human Rights.


Prof. Alfred de Zayas Said that aiming and shaming has an impact, that is the point of the UPR process.  He said that civil society should continue to lobby hard on the UPR of states that commit human rights abuses as it was a very visible mechanism by which to attempt to force change.


Dr. Karen Parker argued that Kashmir should not come under the remit of the India UPR as Kashmir does not belong to India.  Had the UN resolutions been implemented and the people have Kashmir had chosen to a part of India then this would be a different matter. 


Furthermore, Dr. Parker said that due to the situation in Kashmir being an occupation all cases of serious human rights abuse should be treated as a war crime but this was not the case.


Dr. Parker then raised the Jalil Andrabi case in which a human rights defender was murdered by an Indian army officer on his return from a session of the  Human Rights Council.  His body was found floating in a river having been bound by the hands and feet.  Under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act the officer was given immunity for the crime.


Discussing self-determination Dr. Parker said that five criteria must be met in order for a people to be able to claim their right to self-determination.  Those are an identifiable land, a distinguishing element such as language or culture, a history of self-governance, the will to exercise the right to self-determination and the capacity to govern. She said that Kashmir undoubtedly met all of the relevant criteria.


Prof. Krishna Ahoojapatel noted that the number of recommendations was very high for India in its second cycle of UPR and many of them focussed on serious human rights abuses such as disappearance, torture, immunity as little progress had been made on these matters.


Discussing the UPR process as a whole Prof. Ahoojapatel said that it was the most powerful mechanism available in order to name an shame those states who do not follow their human rights obligations.  She further noted that civil society has to play a considerable role in the UPR process as states are often not willing to be critical of other states unless they are historical enemies.


Prof. Ahoojapatel further discussed the rights of women and the rights of children noting that India is making no progress or very little progress in improving the conditions as recommended in the first round of UPR.


Prof Nazir Shawl focussed on the points of disappearance, the AFSPA, and torture.  On disappearance he once again called upon the Government of India to first sign the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Disappearance and also to investigate the mass graves in order to ascertain if the bodies there can be reunited with their families as is proper.  He noted a number of cases, particularly the Pathribal case, in which the Indian military and para-military forces had recevied immunity for murder, torture and all other manner of human rights abuses. 


Prof. Shawl further noted that the reason the Government of India had not yet ratified the Convention Against Torture had to be two fold.  Firstly, they simply did not have the will to stamp out torture as they see it as a useful tool that is available to the police despite this being illegal under international law.  Secondly, he noted that torture is so widespread that to sign the CAT would put India in a position where tens of thousands of their own officers would have to face prosecution every year and this was a pill they would be unlikely to swallow on the international stage.


Altaf Hussain Wani described the Kashmir conflict as the longest running case of severe human rights abuse in the world.  He said that the 700,000 Indian troops stationed in Kashmir amount to almost one soldier for every ten citizens.  Calling upon the international community and the offices of the OHCHR to increase pressure on the Government of India to put an end to the cycle of violence he offered his hope that the people of Indian Held Kashmir would not have to suffer for very much longer.


Mr. Ronald Barnes outlined the principles of self-determination as laid out in the UN Charter and numerous other international treaties.  Relating it to the issue of Kashmir he said that it was of grave concern that the issue of self-determination had not been raised by a single state with reference to Kashmir.


Concluding the interactive dialogue Mr. Tramboo thanked the panelists and audience and assured all of them that the suggestions and ideas floated in the debate would be strategised and eventually advocated before the member states of UNHRC.


KCEU has also been hosting a week long exhibition outside the United Nations to raise awareness of the human rights tragedy in Kashmir.




-END-


Unsubscribe from this mailing list
Direct Mail for Mac
This email is powered by Direct Mail for Mac. Learn More Report Spam

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
Editor,
Tariq Khattak.
0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
.

__,_._,___
 

Fawad Ali Shah
Correspondent
CNN TV Brunei darussalam
Office# 00673-222-5293
Mobile# 0060163264403

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
Editor,
Tariq Khattak.
0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
.

__,_._,___