A real test coming for new democracy in Pakistan
RELEASE of deposed judges was so easy, but the withdrawal of fake cases against Baluch leaders is becoming difficult for the new government of Pakistan. The new Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered the release of detained judges immediately after getting majority in the National Assembly of Pakistan last month. His orders were implemented by the police within an hour. All Supreme Court judges were released after four months of detention ordered by President Pervez Musharraf in November 2007.
The same Yousaf Raza Gilani has asked for the withdrawal of cases against Baluch leader Akhtar Mengal, but his orders have not been implemented because the army is involved against Baluch leader. Despite his desire, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is finding it difficult to establish his writ in Baluchistan province. The election was nakedly rigged in Baluchistan. Pro-Musharraf Muslim League got a majority only in Baluchistan, but all the Musharraf leaguers extended their support to Gilani's Peoples Party after they were routed in three other provinces.
People's Party formed the government in Baluchistan. The new Chief Minister of Baluchistan, Mr.Raisani, demanded a halt to military operations in his province. He sent flowers to Akhtar Mengal in Karachi central jail. PM Gilani also ordered withdrawal of cases against the well-respected Baluch leader, but the administration has raised some legal excuses in this regard.
A debate is going on within the ruling coalition that if the Sindh government could withdraw its appeal from superior courts in the Major Kaleem case against MQM leaders, then why couldn't the case against the Baluch leader be withdrawn? MQM leader Altaf Hussain was convicted in absentia by an anti-terrorist court in 1994, but the case was withdrawn in 2007 by the Sindh government. This case has become a real litmus test for the new democracy in Pakistan.
The adviser to the prime minister on home affairs, Rehman Malik, met Akhtar Mengal in the central jail Karachi recently and offered him release on bail, but the former chief minister and president of Baluchistan National Party (BNP) refused to come out of jail without his guards and party workers who were arrested and convicted by the previous regime on the complaint of a Pakistan Army Havaldar, Qurban Hussain. Mengal demanded release of his 25 party workers and return of at least 800 missing persons belonging to Baluchistan. These people disappeared after a military operation was started in the province in 2005.
Akhtar Mengal was implicated in many cases, including a treason case that was registered against him due to his public speeches against the military operation.
He was arrested two years ago on the orders of the then Director General Military Intelligence Major General Nadeem Ijaz. He was produced in an anti-terrorist court in an iron cage. He was not arrested under the charges of firing missiles on government installations, rather he was arrested because his guards detained some intelligence officials who were trying to harass him and his school-going children.
On April 5, 2006, while Mengal was taking his son to a school in Karachi, two motorcyclists followed his car. On his way back home, still being followed, Akhtar stopped his car and asked them who they were and why he was being followed, and what they wanted of him. They failed to give any satisfactory answer. Asadullah Mengal, brother of Akhtar Mengal, was kidnapped and killed in Karachi in 1977 when a military operation was being conducted in Baluchistan. Keeping in mind the past experience, Akhtar decided to take some action against the mysterious motorcyclists.
Four of his tribesmen guards picked up the two riders, took them to Akhtar's house and threatened to hand them over to the police. At this stage, the two admitted being army personnel. Almost immediately, a large number of a law enforcement agency men arrived at the house, took away their two companions and laid siege to the house and its occupants.
On April 11, Iqbal Haider, Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), along with a group of fellow commission members, visited Akhtar's house and was allowed entry by the security officials. That same night, all personnel were withdrawn from the house and Akhtar and his family were free to go out.
A Havaldar of the Pakistan army, Qurban Hussain, filed an FIR (170/06) at Darakshan Police Station against Akhtar Mengal and his four guards on April 5, 2006. On the basis of this FIR, a case (8/06) was registered in the Anti-Terrorism Court-V (ATC), Karachi.
When Akhtar's relatives attempted to file an FIR against those who were following school-going children, it was refused. A constitutional petition (D-1917/06) was filed on Akhtar's behalf in the Sindh High Court, asking that the FIR be accepted and registered. On October 13, the court restrained the ATC from pronouncing a judgment against the four accused.
Despite this restraining order, Akhtar's four arrested guards named in the FIR were convicted on December 9, 2006, by the ATC and sentenced to several terms of imprisonment, including life, and each was fined Rs140,000.
Akhtar himself remained free to move, and continued his political activities. He tried to mobilise the Baluch people against the military operation in which former Chief Minister Akbar Bugti was killed. President Pervez Musharraf was chief of the army staff at the time of the operation.
Akhtar Mengal was arrested on November 28, 2006, together with 14 of his party men, by the Baluchistan police and taken to Lassi Farm House in Hub Town, which was declared a sub-jail. He was kept there until December 26, when his arrest was disclosed and he was produced before the ATC. His 14 companions were removed to an undisclosed destination. Their whereabouts remained unknown.
Akhtar's trial in the ATC started in the usual court premises, but it was later decided that he would be tried in Central Prison, Karachi, from January 8.
In the courtroom, he was forced to sit in an iron cage away from his counsel. This treatment was a reflection of the hatred of the establishment for Akhtar Mengal.
Late PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto always demanded withdrawal of cases against Akhtar. Just a few days before her assassination, she addressed a public meeting in Quetta and again demanded his release.
New PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is determined to withdraw all cases against him, but some active components of the old establishment are coming up with a number of legal excuses. Zardari has asked the Interior Ministry to coordinate with the provincial governments of Sindh and Baluchistan for the release of Akhtar Mengal.
The Interior Ministry informed Zardari about some sensitivities involved in cases against Akhtar Mengal. A senior leader of BNP, Abdul Rauf Mengal, confirmed that an offer was made to Akhtar Mengal that he could come out of the jail on bail. Akhtar was assured that the government would not oppose his bail application in the court, but he said he would not come out without his guards and workers who were convicted in 2006. He is demanding withdrawal of cases against him and the return of missing people in Baluchistan.
The new ruling coalition is under immense pressure from the new Baluchistan government to release Akhtar Mengal. A federal minister has reminded his colleagues that a case was registered against pro-Musharraf MQM chief Altaf Hussain and his colleagues in 1991 on the complaint of one Major Kaleem who was kidnapped at gun-point during a military operation in Karachi. Altaf Hussain and Dr Imran Farooq were sentenced for 27 years imprisonment in absentia by an Anti-Terrorist Court of Karachi in 1994.
Later, the Sindh High Court found all defendants innocent in 1998, but the Sindh government filed an appeal against the SHC decision in the Supreme Court. The Sindh government withdrew its appeal from SC on August 13,2007, and the whole case was closed. The government has been advised to act in the same manner, but some legal experts have the view that the Major Kaleem case is different from the Havaldar Qurban case.
The advisor for the interior, Rehman Malik, will meet members of the parliament from Baluchistan soon and will take them into confidence about the cases against Akhtar Mengal. He is trying his level best to meet the demands of Akhtar without annoying the army. Rehman Malik told this correspondent: "We are determined to release Akhtar Mengal and his workers, but we need a few days for our homework."
It is learnt that the government is thinking about a general amnesty for all the Baluch militants except Barahamdagh Bugti, who is reportedly hiding in Afghanistan. Security outfits have reports that a grandson of Akbar Bugti is in contact with Indian authorities and is receiving support from them.
Family sources of late Akbar Bugti have always denied these reports. Some members of the parliament from Baluchistan have advised the prime minister that Barahamdagh Bugti should also be given amnesty. The government is trying to get an assurance from Akhtar Mengal that he will not support Barahmadagh Bugti, but the former chief minister has not given any assurance in this regard.
Akhtar Mengal is waiting for the restoration of the deposed judges. He is confidant that they will give him justice. Very few people know that it was "traitor"Akbar Bugti who appointed Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the advocate general of Baluchistan in 1988 after becoming chief minister of the province. Later on, Chaudhry was made judge of the Baluchistan High Court and then the Supreme Court.
Bugti was killed by the Pakistan army in 2006 when Chaudhry was chief justice. He remained silent, but he should not remain silent after his restoration. The people of Baluchistan expect a lot from him. He will be restored by parliament in the last week of April (may be on April 25th), and it is expected that he will try to establish the writ of the constitution in his own province immediately after restoration. He has to initiate an inquiry into the murder cases of Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto, and he must provide justice to Akhtar Mengal.
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