Govt Prepares For Post-MQM Scenario: Suddle, Mirza May Get Top Slots

By Aijaz Ahmed

It is believed that the central government has prepared ‘Plan B’ to deal with any eventuality in case MQM finally refuses to rejoin the coalition and creates any law and order situation. The sources say that the government may resort to strong action, which may be contrary to the so far soft image of President Asif Zardari as the PPP may be losing patience with the ‘my way or highway’ attitude of the relatively immature ex-coalition party.

Teasers are already being sent to MQM, but at the same time, efforts to bring the ex-coalition partner back to the government’s fold are also underway, sources reveal. ‘Indeed Plan 'A' is to bring MQM back in the government’, sources told IH. Ch. Shujaat Hussain, Rehman Malik, and some common friends from UK are assigned the task.

The first priority to bring MQM back in the fold is mainly for two reasons, say insiders in the power corridors. The first reason is very obvious that government wants to avoid any confrontation and thus did not want to create an image that the leading party in the ruling coalition does not have ability to resolve the differences and thus unable to maintain relations with coalition partners.

Second reason is more interesting and strong according to the sources: the leadership of the ruling coalition according to the sources was astonished at the way the PML-N and MQM came closer, and the reaction of Imran Khan and other opposition forces. The inclusion of MQM in the opposition with PML-N and other parties may result in creation of stronger and vibrant opposition.

Grand opposition of PML-N, JUI-F, Jamaat i Islami, PTI, the Sindhi Nationalists and MQM embedded with a section of intelligence agencies can pose threats to the very survival of the elected government and also can assert more pressure on the President. The government - judiciary relations strengthen the view that all may not be well for PPP, Mr. Zardari and his allies if the grand opposition is allowed to come into existence, sources maintain.

There are also clear indications that a section of the intelligence agencies influenced by Hameed Gul mindset is providing some backing to Imran Khan and partly to PML-N as well, and this may lead towards disastrous end to the present set up.

MQM may be offered the seat of deputy speaker in the AJK Assembly along with a slot of advisor in AJK government. These offers will be apart from some concessions the party may be offered in Sindh once again. The MQM, according to the sources, intends to get some of its workers released, closure of few investigations and withdrawal of PPP’s stand on Municipal system in Karachi. The PPP wants to return to the previous system and remove existing 18 towns and restore commissionerate system in Karachi, Hyderabad and rest of Sindh, sources maintain.

Although the hopes of MQM’s return in the government's folds are very slim as according to the assessment of PPP hawks, Altaf Hussain and his party intends to make political inroads in Punjab, Pakhtoonkhwa and Kashmir and to get better results it has to be out of the government, adopt ‘Majha’ (macho) style of politics in Punjab and adopt harsh tone against policies disliked by the people.

Thus the PPP and PML-Q are chalking out the plan B. Functional League, The National peoples Party and few leaders of ‘Hamkhyal’ (like-minded) League are being approached and some new faces from all these forces may be included in the Sindh Cabinet if Ch Shujaat and Rehman Malik failed to get favorable results. However it may take more than 6 weeks.

Sindh Interior Minister 'On Leave", Zulfikar Mirza

 The most important part of the Plan will be the top slots in Sindh. The name of Zulfikar Mirza is being mentioned for the position of CM and everybody is talking about his new role in Karachi and Islamabad. 

Ex-police official, Shoaib Suddle

However the name of the new Governor of Sindh could be a surprise. Although Faisal Raza Abidi is being tipped as new Governor of Sindh for very obvious reasons, in the final count down he may not be the ultimate choice. Although he has abilities to give tough time to his arch rivals in Karachi and MQM, the man who can win the confidence of both the President and the Military Establishment, which is a settled norm when a governor is appointed, former police official Mr. Shoaib Suddle may be the elevated to the job. Mr. Suddle has a background of a successful action against terrorists in Karachi, majority of them was believed to be associated with MQM. He is also known to be honest and impartial but believed to have some grudges against MQM. He is also supposed to be close to the president.

Former IB Chief Mr. Masood Sharif could have been a natural choice for the post but he developed some differences with the president because of Rehman Malik sources said adding that Appointment of Mr. Wajid Durrani as IG Sindh Police is a clear indication in this regard. The Police and Rangers have been asked to mark people from MQM who according to the reports could make trouble in Karachi, but this time a direct action will be avoided only targeted action will be taken and only against all trouble making elements, but elements believed to have MQM connections will be on top of the list for which preparations are being made.

The party sources also maintain that the leadership wants a strong man in the Governor House Karachi having different background from CM Sindh, most probably from the Urdu speaking community, as has been the norm. Any other name may also come up in the race, but Mr. Saddle is the strongest contender for the slot at the moment, sources believe.

Imran Khan: Hidden Hands Behind Him: A Column by Nusrat Javed

Courtesy daily Express

Punjab Will Be The New Battlefield? PPP-PML-Q Moves To Dethrone Shahbaz Sharif

By Aijaz Ahmed

As the political chess board in Pakistan seems to have relatively opened up, the knights of the PPP, the major political stakeholder of the democratic dispensation, are apparently getting ready for the next move, obviously the task to ‘take over’ Punjab, a long awaited dream of PPP since the days of first ZAB government.

The political observers are minutely watching every move of President Zardari and the shrewd Choudhris of Gujrat, and calling Nawaz Sharif a Maulvi in a recent speech by the president himself at Naudero was a clear indication of the future strategy. 

Whistles of change are being blown in the country, and this time the change is to come in Punjab, say party insiders in the power corridors of Islamabad. ‘Kashmir elections were test case for us’, say party insiders adding that every thing moved in right direction for us according to our plan. ‘Observers were indicating a clear victory for PPP in Kashmir and we achieved that task’, insiders say adding that ‘Nawaz Sharif miscalculated the situation and fell in the trap we planned for him’, they added.

Mian Nawaz Sharif rather helped our plan move forward, the party sources said and further maintained that the tone and the words President Zardari adopted in the Naudero speech were calculated and were a strong response to the speeches Mian Nawaz Sharif was delivering during the election campaign for Kashmir. MNS did not unfold PML-N’s election manifesto and future plans for Kashmir. He rather followed the line of Ch. Nisar and his other fellows who in the recent past made Mian sahib politically isolated, and thus the election campaign of PML-N in Kashmir paid us, sources said.

‘Winning two seats from Rawalpindi - Islamabad out of three had been a landmark for us and gives us confidence to move forward’, party sources are claiming. The next move will be against Shahbaz Sharif, sources added. Backdoor political contacts are established with Unification block and the group may be offered assurances for next elections, a sizable number of lucrative ministries and deputy speaker-ship in the Punjab Assembly, sources reveal.

Return of Unification Block to PML-Q fold is a matter of days now, sources claimed. Ch. Wajahat is being tipped as new Governor in case the change occurs and Chief Minister-ship will remain with PPP. Mian Manzoor Wattoo, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Raja Riaz, Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar and Qamar Zaman Kaira are being assigned important roles to finalize the move and get results. Faryal Talpur and Syed Khursheed Shah will be overall in-charge of the move as they were in Kashmir, sources maintained.

Latif Khosa, the sitting Governor of Punjab can be assigned a new and more important role in future in case Ch. Family will be given Governorship, sources said. Setting up PPP led government in Punjab is a long awaited PPP dream as after ZAB government, Punjab was never ruled by the party itself, said party sources adding that the move will preempt political threats to the democratic set up from the present Punjab Government.

We have received information and strong evidence that the PML-N was planning a long march to press for its demand of mid term polls if it had won the Kashmir elections. The victory in the valley could have given legitimacy and strength to its demand, and thus we made counter moves and removing Shahbaz Sharif is part and parcel of the planning to release political pressure from Punjab, sources maintained. The move is planned, but time frame for the change at the moment could not be given, sources maintained adding that the change in Punjab would be the only solution for PPP to implement its manifesto and bring some relief to the common men to ensure victory in next general elections, which may be held next year. 

Nawaz Answered Government’s SOS & Rushed Back to the Country; Osama’s Death & Civil-Military Row; Who Asked Mark Siegel to Publish Write Up by Zardari?

(This was published on May 12th. Due to some problem with the blog, it has been re-posted.) 
By Aijaz Ahmed

Islamabad: The May 2 Abbottabad operation, which resulted in the discovery and murder of world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden at the hands of US Navy SEALs has brought the civil-military relationship in Pakistan to a new low. The mistrust between the two has increased manifold. It is feared that the imbroglio may end up in the pack up of another democratic dispensation.

Observers are unanimous that the country’s civilian leadership was stunned at the news and couldn’t respond quickly to it but they are really surprised at the response or the lack of it by the military leadership. They feel that the military hierarchy’s behavior was quite perplexing. They were remarkably silent and seemed quite oblivious in the first few days after the US operation as if nothing had happened. Later they mishandled the issue in the media and attempted to undermine the political leadership. That raises concerns of the people about junta’s intentions towards the democratic government.

Sources in the power corridors have confided to this scribe that the civilian leadership is taking many questions into account so as to regroup and formulate a counter strategy. Every single move by the army chief and other military top men is being minutely watched and analyzed. The civilian leadership is quite unhappy over the recent statement of top ranking military leadership regarding the government in its post Osama briefing to media and anchorpersons. The address of Army Chief General Kayani to Garrison Officers at three top cantonments has also caused concern amongst the civilian leadership through which an impression was given that the civilians are ineffective and it is they who are making damage control efforts despite a huge understanding on the issue between the President, Prime Minister and the Army Chief, sources maintained.

The civilian leadership sincerely intends to control the damage but for many reasons it is clueless and directionless, sources observed adding that every effort of independent inquiry was thwarted and blocked by the military, thus an inquiry under Adjutant General has been constituted. How come a serving subordinate will be able to conduct an independent inquiry against his immediate bosses, asked a sitting minister however adding that everybody will have to wait for the outcome of the inquiry being conducted by army itself.

On the other hand civilians are trying to get answers of many questions including the one that whether or not they have been ditched by the intelligence networks. The people also want an answer to the question if OBL’s presence in Abbottabad was in the knowledge of the relevant agencies and military leadership.

Meanwhile, sources observed that a sizeable number of the civilians seriously believed that they have been ditched. A serious question is being raised in view of the recent statements by some neighbors pointing out that when they heard the blast after the helicopter crash, they tried to approach OBL’s compound but they were stopped by some guards speaking Urdu.

These statements, in view of some sources, clearly indicate that an earlier report carried by Indus Herald that some soldiers were provided for outer cordon was correct. This also indicates that a section of Pakistani establishment knew about a US strike, but they might not be privy to the details of the proceedings.

A section of media and politicians are also looking for an answer to the question that if the operation was done in total dark and without a prior information of Pakistan, then how come the people who have been arrested after the operation from the compound did not escape although they got at least 15 minutes before the arrival of any Pakistani security personnel? Hamza bin Laden is believed to have taken the advantage of the time gap and ran away from the scene as reported by the British media is quite a good evidence in support of the above argument.

The president and the other PPP leaders wanted an independent inquiry to be held, but they had to accept the decision by military leadership as desired by Army Chief sources said adding that the powers that be asked civilians to stay away from the damage control efforts and they will be the ones who will be responsible to take on the situation and control the damage, but the situation deteriorated with every passing day. However, the military leadership was not happy with the way some TV channels sparked debate and took them to task with strong words and allegations of incompetence and negligence.

It is also said that the president has been advised that besides the inquiry announced by the military leadership, an independent parliamentary inquiry commission with presence of opposition leader Ch. Nisar, and some of the top retired judges must be set up. However, the sources observed that the government would be packed up if such an inquiry were established. It is also believed that the president is willing to set up such an inquiry with Army Chief and other military leadership on board.

Meanwhile, a section of media is probing an allegation that the officers in KPK were asked not to leave their station and stay in before the operation and all mobile phones of the uniformed officers were blocked on May 01. However this story has not been confirmed by any reliable source.

On the other hand, sources in the PML-N have confided to this scribe that Mian Nawaz Sharif responded to a May-Day call by the government through unconventional means and rushed to Pakistan. The government wanted to block Ch. Nisar’s cynical criticism. Mian Nawaz Sharif on the first day of his top leadership meeting strongly supported the idea of a demand of resignation of both Army Chief and the ISI Chief, a demand that didn’t get much response earlier.  He according to the sources has assured the PPP that any attempt to subvert the Constitution and dislodge the civilian rule will be resisted with full force. At a press conference after the two-day PML-N meeting Mian Nawaz Sharif rejected the inquiry set up by military and demanded a Judicial Commission to look in the matter. He severely criticized the military establishment.

An interesting information has also come from the sources at the presidency that an internal inquiry is being conducted to identify the person who asked PPP’s lobbyist Mark Siegel to publish an article in the name of President Zardari, praising Osama’s death just few hours after the killing. The sources claim that the president didn’t write that good English. The sources say the president did not write the article in the Washington Post but he is in a fix and could not remove Mr. Siegel because of his previous support.

President, according to sources is also not happy with the statement of COAS regarding his advice to the government for calling a joint in-camera sitting of both the houses of the parliament, but he is waiting for the outcome and briefing points to the legislators before moving further, sources maintain.      

Plight of Sindhi Women: Another View

Photo taken from internet. Original source unknown

A comment by Ashfaque Nizamani

Some Sindhi writers / intellectuals are claiming that Sindhi society is a feminist society (as per a BBC Urdu news report). Well, it may be true for some individuals on micro level but the idea of equality between Sindhi males and females seems to be absurd on macro level. In Sindhi society, males and females do not have, and never have had equal rights and opportunities. Male dominance is so much, that, females are considered worth less then cattle. Daily abuse and beating of women in houses is very common. They are also killed by males on petty issues, which are not even reported to police. Women killed as Kari is a well-known subject in Sindh. People kill their own daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. Women are even left to die when sick by ignoring them and denying them proper treatment.

Killing of females apart from declaring them kari (accused of “illicit” relations), on petty issues is very common; even young sons thrash/beat/abuse, and cause physical/mental/psychological injuries, which sometimes become the cause of death of their mothers.
 

Marriages of old, married, divorced and widowed males with younger females are very common but these opportunities are almost non-existent for divorced, widowed, half-aged or old females. This situation is same in all the classes of Sindhi society, whether an elite, middle class or a peasant class female.

Males can marry females of their own choice, but for females this opportunity is rare.

In the case of a divorce, the burden of keeping children falls on females. Males are considered free from raising and feeding their own kids from former spouses. Males can easily get new younger female wives, and enjoy their sexual life with them; but their former wives, live their entire life, barren from pleasures of life.

Females even cannot listen to love songs (Jalal Chandio, Umrani and others), which males can publicly listen, sing and enjoy.

Sindhi society, like any less-civilized society has not developed any mechanism to protect the weaker sections of their society, which includes females. Might is right in such societies.

At macro level, a female, whether it belongs to a rich family or a poor family has no at par rights with males in Sindh.

The situation in general is very grave and alarming. By engaging in self-deceptive rhetoric, one will not be able to help improve the condition of females in Sindh. There should be an awakening movement in Sindh for protecting the rights of weaker sections of the society, and to give it a posture of a true civilized society.

Author

A note on the Budget of Pakistan

Ashfaque Nizamani, Canada

By Ashfaque Nizamani, Canada

A country's budget represents an annual income and expense account of a country (society/region/ nation). Direct taxes, indirect taxes, and deficit financing are the options available with a government to fund its expenses. When first and second options fail, then governments adopt the third option (deficit financing). Under direct taxation higher earning people pay more taxes; and generally, under higher indirect taxation, higher spending people (usually people with higher income) pay higher portion of the taxes. As, indirect taxes are usually levied on sales/consumption of the products, and people with higher incomes consume more products, hence, they pay higher portion of indirect taxes.

Under deficit financing, usually, governments borrow or print and float more currency in the economy, hence causing inflation, and reduction in the purchasing power of the currency. It hits hard the people with lower amounts of income. Poor becomes poorer, and the gap between rich and poor increases. This is the problem of Pakistan. The gap between rich and poor is increasing.

In developed countries, like Canada, every person files tax return. People with higher earnings are taxed at higher tax rates, and people with lower income are taxed at the lower tax rates. And people with very low-level incomes, receive various forms of aids (GST tax credit refund, child tax benefit grants, etc). Government collects more money from higher earning people, and keeps some money for its expenses, and distributes some money among the poor and needy as GST Credit, Canada Child Tax Credit Benefit, etc. Health coverage is free for all. Education is made affordable to all. Entire health system and education system is owned and managed by government in Canada. Poor and rich people get same level of health care and education. This is actually the concept of a welfare state, where, government takes care of the poor. This is, in fact, the philosophy of Islam, which is practiced in most of the Western countries, including Canada, but not in Pakistan.

Pakistan Finance Minister, Dr Hafeez Shaikh presenting 2011-2012 budget

In collecting taxes, the tax department, even goes after criminals and collects taxes from them on their earnings (tax on theft or looted / black money). Anyone earning, by whatever means, has to pay share (taxes) to the government.

In the scenario of Pakistan, it is in the interest of poor masses, that, government should go for direct taxation. This is what Americans and other donor countries/institutions are telling the Pakistanis.

A nation, where, its rich people do not want to contribute, and still want benefits, how long, that system will survive? Not for long, I guess. A rich person cannot survive for a longer period, while living among the poor hungry people. This is what Islam told its adherents 1400 years ago and imposed on Muslims a tax (Zakat), which Pakistanis refuse to pay, and still want to teach Islam to others. In Sindhi, they say: “Black buffalo taunts red cow, because, red cow has a black tail”.

Murder of Wali Khan Babar: Mystery Resolved; Investigations Reveal the Identity of Murderers & Also Point to Internal Dynamics Within GEO News

Sources tell IH, Wali Khan Babar had some critical information on criminal links between political parties and the criminal elements and he was about to reveal some criminal links between MQM activists and the criminal elements.

GEO News reporter Wali Khan Babar gunned down on January 13, 2011

By IH Staff Reporter

He was killed in broad daylight. The administration, the police, the home department and the Interior Ministry assured speedy justice, finding some clue and nabbing the culprits behind the murder shortly, but nothing is done so far despite the eye opening revelations by the investigators. The government is aware of the identity of the culprits, but who will arrest them and how will it be possible is a million dollar question for the people in Sindh and elsewhere.

I am talking about the reporter at GEO News, a Karachi based Satellite TV Network, Wali Khan Babar, who was murdered in Karachi early this year. The young reporter belonged to Pakhtoon community. Very few people may be aware of the fact that he was working with a religious TV channel as a news anchor before joining the English language channel of the same network and was well aware of some of the top crime dens in the city of Karachi being supported by political figures or groups.

Wali Khan Babar was killed while on his way home from office. He was shot dead in front of Liaqatabad (famous as Laloo Khait) police station. The car carrying the gunmen who opened fire on him was traced as someone from police on duty noted its number and then was traced with the help of engine, chassis and registration numbers.

Initially it looked like a routine crime and an attempt to undermine media men chasing news and newsworthy people day and night, but suddenly it turned into a mystery when the policeman who noted the car number, a brother of the investigation officer and certain other people linked with the case were murdered.

The series of murders and follow up incidents and the campaign launched by the channel prompted the agencies and the interior ministry to conduct an independent inquiry, thus a high powered investigating team was set up that moved swiftly to complete the task.

Sources in the interior ministry have shown some parts of the report to this scribe, which are eye openers and a clear indication that the murder is not as simple as was initially considered and had some internal dynamics as well.

The report is based on certain statements recorded by the people arrested in connection of the murder and follow up incidents. One of the reported killers is said to be among the people who are in the safe custody of the Police and are being kept at a secret place in Karachi.

The details provided in the report suggest that the murder is or said to be linked with the MQM - ANP row in Karachi, besides the internal rivalries at the channel. It is observed in the report that both external and internal factors also show the interests of the rival MQM groups engaged in a battle for the control over the city of Karachi as well as in the TV channels.

The details mentioned in the report indicate that Babar Wali was not on good terms with some of the colleagues in the channel who wanted to safeguard the interests of MQM in the organization. He was a crime reporter and was working on criminal links between political parties and the criminal elements. He was reported to have some critical information. With increase of tension between the ANP and MQM, Babar was under huge pressure as he was connected with anti group of local pro-MQM journalists and also had a family link with ANP.

The feud erupted among the rival groups reportedly belonging to MQM and ANP and it prompted the rival group to keep him away from crime reporting as according to the sources, he was about to reveal some criminal links between few MQM activists and the criminal elements, sources confided. Meanwhile Shahid Motu (a code name) approached an MQM sector office with the complaints that “Pani Ser se guzar gia hai, ab isay khamosh krna goga” (water is over the head and ‘he’ would have to be ‘silenced’ now), sources added. He also informed the MQM sector office that Babar is the main source of ANP in Karachi journalism and he is about to reveal some sensitive information.

The complaint of Shahid Motu (actual name is not mentioned) was then sent to London Secretariat and on the arrival of a go-ahead signal, the next move was planned. The car belonged to a colleague who was actually not aware of the plan, the report suggests according to the sources. The execution was perfect; the victim was chased from I. I. Chundrigar road and was shot in front of Liaqatabad police station as the whole Police Station was considered to be apna (own).

Former Sindh Interior Minister Zulfiqar Mirza

The investigators are scared of a backlash from the Karachi based organization trying to enter in Punjab; however they suggested a prompt action. Sindh Interior Minister, Zulfiqar Mirza was reportedly about to order action against the murderers, but information was leaked thus pressure was exerted on the weak central government for his removal and for the sake of his own survival the Minister was asked to resign and go on leave.

Meanwhile, sources in the interior ministry have confided that Rehman Malik and some other top government officials have informed MQM chief Altaf Hussain about the findings and he is asked by the government to handover the real executors.

It is quite an interesting fact that the channel was running a campaign on the murder of Wali Babar, but immediately after the completion of the report, the campaign is intriguingly stopped and no single promo was aired in favor of justice to the family of Wali Babar.

The development has a clear link with the report as some parts were also leaked to the Channel administration, indicating that some people at the channel may be arrested which will defame the organization, thus a criminal silence is being maintained, sources observed.

Pakistan’s Defense Needs Protection! Own Policies Make Defense Establishment Insecure!

By Aijaz Ahmed

Military Headquarters around the world are considered to be the symbol of their military might.  These power centers particularly in societies like ours, which remains in search of strategic depth and happens to be the ‘security state’, becomes more significant as it plays the role of the saviors as well as masters of the all policies. The bloody civilians whenever put in the power remain subservient to the military leadership be it is Pakistan, Thailand, Egypt or any other such state.

Pakistan has further significance and unique situation from its inception, because from the day one it entangled in war like situation with India, and for last thirty years it has been searching strategic depth in its West, thus a nexus has developed between the military Establishment and the civilian jihadi brigades in the name of Afghan Jihad, and war in the name of Kashmir, with the GHQ becoming a source of inspiration and support for such outfits taking the role of a policy framer, which normally is the domain of the elected parliament.

Also the nexus, developed between the jihadis, a section of politicians, traders and industrialists, demanded more orthodox approach for the security of the military installations and headquarters of the corps, the air force, the navy and the intelligence establishments and their buildings have been put on stake.

Terrorists attacked GHQ in the center of large city, Rawalpindi in October, 2009

The brazen attacks on GHQ in Rawalpindi in 2009 and PNS Mehran in Karachi recently in which senior and very efficient officers were killed and two PC-3 Orion aircrafts were completely destroyed have exposed how our military installations and the whole security apparatus is vulnerable. The lately developed nexus between the builders’ mafia and the commercialism in the forces has made these installations more vulnerable and further endangered them.

If one visits the area around the GHQ, he will encounter very busy markets in a radius of just one kilometer around the military headquarters. High-rise buildings are an added phenomenon around the GHQ. The next important place in military terms is ISI headquarters in Islamabad; it is situated on the busiest road of Islamabad near Aabpara. Again it is next to a high-rise building belonging to an Islamic organization, and also exposed to the certain tall buildings of blue area just in the radius of one kilometer. Naval headquarters in Islamabad was also situated at melody up till few years back, but fortunately was shifted towards Margalla Hills and thus maintaining security is bit easier.

Situation in other cities is also not different; a tall commercial plaza is built in front of Corps Commanders House in Lahore. As far as Karachi is concerned, either deliberate or an innocent mistake has been made especially at Shahrah e Faisal. Overheads have been built to ease out traffic, but all overheads have exposed very sensitive installations including the PNS Mehran.

Courtesy, STRATFOR

In addition, all cantonments at Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Bahawalpur, Multan and other major cities are surrounded by civilian and thickly populated localities. It is noteworthy that the Lahore Cantonment was built during the British rule and at that time it was 15 miles away from the walled city.  

In the modern day world technological advancement has made such buildings of very high significance just one hand away from the terrorist organizations, says Munir Baloch, senior writer and analyst. These buildings and military installations are under serious threat and thus emergency steps are needed to shift them at secure place, he added.

It is to remind that the Ayub Khan Government planned sifting of GHQ at Sector D-11 and E-10. The first Bhutto government marked 2400 acres of land at D-11 and 870 acres at E-10 and an initial report was prepared in 1987 to construct GHQ, JSHQ, and defense Ministry at the marked land. This project also included construction of residence, schools and other facilities for 17,000 employees of these organizations.

General Musharraf in 2004 planed to start construction of proposed buildings and facilities which was to be completed in 2007, but civil society, political parties including PPP, PMLN, ANP, MMA and MQM raised strong voice against this project in view of the financial crisis, thus the project was delayed and lately was cancelled by General Kayani.

Similarly Admiral Yastoor ul Haq planned to build a naval port at Ormara Balochistan, as present Karachi port and Port Qasim are exposed to commercial traffic and are adjacent to the city of Karachi. The project was delayed due to unknown reasons. In 2007, Pak Navy made a request to Balochistan government for purchase of 11,000 acres of land in Koh e Imam near Turbat airport, acting on which the provincial government through its order No 14/LU-2007, 10,095 acres of land was handed over to the Navy. Another 2500 acres of land was also acquired in Tehsil Dasht of District Kaich against relatively high price, but still navy is anchored around Shahrah e Faisal and Karsaz.

The situation Pakistan is passing through and in view of the war on terror, the sensitive military and intelligence installations need to be shifted to safer places away from population centers. This will also help in reducing threats to the civilian population around them at present.