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No takers for General’s Kashmir formula
Hamid Nasir Chattha.
‘Pro-independence’ slogans greet Indian media team
Two more top CIA officials to step down
Seer’s arrest decried
PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to grant protective bail to PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto to help her end her exile and return to the country. |
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Palestinian killed in Israeli operation
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No takers for General’s Kashmir formula
Islamabad, November 25 Powerful sections of the establishment do not seem to approve of the proposal the General made while addressing an Iftar dinner hosted by Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on October 25 last. However, in the company of the same minister, the Chairman of the Kashmir Committee, Mr Hamid Nasir Chattha, told a group of visiting Indian journalists that he did not accept President Musharraf’s regional formula. He felt that Pakistan should not deviate from its core stand on Kashmir which was to ask for a plebiscite. Mr Chattha, who hastened to mention that his committee did not report to the government but to the legislature, said even the Simla agreement did not rule out plebiscite. If the bilateral route did not take the two countries anywhere, they would have to think of the trilateral route. In any case, no solution to the problem was possible if the Kashmiris of all hues were not involved in the talks. He said his committee, which is the most representative body in Pakistan on Kashmir, would have to play a major role in finding a solution. Mr Chattha said Pakistan might have extended support to the militants in Jammu and Kashmir in the past. But today it had nothing to do with militancy in the state which was totally indigenous. Later in an informal chat with The Tribune, the Minister for Religious Affairs, Mr Ejaz-ul-Haq, who is the son of the late General Zia-ul-Haq, also did not seem to be enamoured of the proposal. Sardar Khaled Ibrahim, leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Party, who described his party as more pro-Pakistan than the Pakistanis, too did not attach much importance to the President’s regional formula. He said if plebiscite was not possible, India should go back to the Instrument of Accession the Maharaja signed, which too mandated the government to take the views of the people. It may be recalled that President Musharraf had suggested that if India could not agree to plebiscite, a solution could be debated by identifying, demilitarising and changing the status of the seven regions comprising both parts of Kashmir. While two regions - Northern Areas and “Azad Kashmir” - were with Pakistan, the rest of them were with India. |
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‘Pro-independence’ slogans greet Indian media team
Muzaffarabad (PoK), November 25 “We want independence...open Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road...we will not accept any further division of Jammu and Kashmir,” were some of the slogans that welcomed the Indian journalists. Activists of the JKLF (Yasin faction) distributed sweets to members of the media team when they arrived at Kohalla, the entry point of PoK. Kohalla is known for being the place where Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested on the orders of Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh before Partition. Pandit Nehru was on his way to Jammu and Kashmir to express his solidarity with Kashmiri leader Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. Talking to reporters, JKLF office-bearer Mir Sirajuddin, also known as Mir Dawood, stressed for immediate resumption of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service to enable divided families on both sides of the LoC to meet each other. He also called for unification of the divided Jammu and Kashmir, release of political prisoners and urged both India and Pakistan to withdraw their troops. Mr Sirajuddin said the JKLF had now given up the path of violence and had adopted a peaceful way of ‘struggle for independence’.
— UNI |
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Two more top CIA officials to step down
Washington, November 25 The chiefs of the Europe and Far-East divisions - two critical regions of the world for the spy agency - are retiring, the official told Associated Press last night on condition of anonymity. The departing CIA officials' names were not released because they work undercover. The two officials were at the highest level of clandestine service, the Directorate of Operations, The New York Times reported on its website last night. The retirements come almost two weeks after two other top officials - CIA's Deputy Director for Operations Stephen Kappes and his immediate deputy, Michael Sulick - announced they were leaving the CIA. Earlier this month, the agency's No. 2 official, John McLaughlin, also retired, citing personal reasons. It's unclear whether Kappes and Sulick resigned voluntarily or were asked to step down.
—AP |
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Seer’s arrest decried
Washington, November 25 "We, the Hindus living abroad are disappointed, outraged and concerned with what has happened in the State of Tamil Nadu," they said in a petition to Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen. The petitioners have also planned a peaceful demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy next week. They demanded that the Kanchi seer be released "immediately" from judicial custody.
— PTI |
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Plea to grant protective bail to Benazir
PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to grant protective bail to PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto to help her end her exile and return to the country.
Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club here on Wednesday, Dr Babar Awan, member of the PPP Central Executive Committee, said in the past the Supreme Court had granted protective bails to British journalist Mark Tully, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and others. Benazir Bhutto, he said, was head of one of the biggest parties of the country, but she had been forced to live abroad because her absence suited the running of the country. Dr Awan who is also Mr Zardari’s counsel said the superior court had already set aside the conviction of Ms Bhutto in a case. He said many politicians wanted by the National Accountability Bureau, were now in elected forums and holding cabinet posts, but Mr Zardari had to undergo eight long years of detention because he was the husband of a former Prime Minister who opposed the rule of the violators of the law. Dr Babar said the establishment, which had played havoc with people’s lives and was a party to the disintegration of the country, had realised that genuine political forces could not be kept out of power. Since October 1999, Dr Babar said, the establishment had changed its masks four times in the forms of the chief executive’s government — Zafarullah Jamali-led set-up, Chaudhary Shujat’s 45-day rule and now a political arrangement headed by Shaukat Aziz. He said although Mr Aziz was the Prime Minister, he could not finalise a negotiation agenda with the Opposition. His economic policies had failed and today the Afghan currency was stronger than the Pakistan rupee. He thanked the parties in PONAM, the PML-N and allied parties for extending support to the PPP in struggle for the release of Asif Ali Zardari. He demanded early release of Pir Mukarram, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Yousuf Raza Gilani and others. He declared that the PPP would not compromise on the issue of General Musharraf’s uniform and the Legal Framework Order (LFO), which were a blow to the spirit of real democracy. He said the PPP, which had given a unanimous Constitution to the nation, could never accept the LFO and allow a state employee to hold the office of President in uniform. |
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Bush greets Sikhs
Washington, November 25 The Sikh community is celebrating this auspicious occasion tomorrow. “I send greetings to those celebrating the 535th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism,” Mr Bush said in his message.
— PTI |
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Palestinian killed in Israeli operation
Gaza City, November 25 A group of Palestinians had finished praying at a mosque in the Rafah refugee camp and were walking away when the tank fired at them, Palestinian security officials said. One Palestinian was killed and another wounded.
— AP |
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Islamabad, November 25
