NEWS

1. One terrorist was killed and three others were arrested in a security op in North Waziristan. A huge quantity of arms and ammunition were also recovered in the op conducted on a tip-off.   More arrests are expected following the revelations of the arrested terrorists. Meanwhile, attack on the Bakhmal Ahmedzai police post in Lakki Marwat was foiled. Twelve terrorists reportedly attacked the post but alert police personnel foiled it. (Jasarat)
2. Leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, has demanded an in-camera briefing from the heads of security agencies about terrorism and security related matters. Taking the floor during the joint parliamentary session, he also demanded an inquiry into the jailbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. How militants returned to Swat should be investigated. Also, the recent attack on the Police Lines, and on the Anti-Terrorism Department personnel at Bannu.  Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan   alleged that KP is being ruled by terrorists now. (Jasarat)
3. Security of all foreigners and various projects in Peshawar and across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been beefed up upon terror threats. All foreigners in the region have been advised to restrict their outdoor activities. (Aeen)
4. Fighting was reportedly broken out between two factions of the TTP over the martyrdom of innocent worshipers and the desecration of the Holy Quran in the Peshawar Mosque Blast, as a result of which 8 terrorists including 4 key commanders were killed. (Jasarat)
5. Amir of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi said that those who are weakening the foundations of the country are planning further destruction. In such circumstances, if the opposition will not highlight the problems faced by the people, then what will be the difference between the government and the opposition? Hafiz Rizvi said that essential commodities have become too expensive and predicted another wave of inflation as a result of the recent negotiations with the IMF. (Jasarat)
6. Law and order situation was discussed in the joint session of Parliament. Member from Balochistan Aslam Bhutani said we are all against terrorism, we also condemn it, but no one talks about its reasons. When we fight for superpower, kill others for dollars, the other will not give us a garland of flowers, it always happened during the regime of dictators. When Nawab Akbar Bugti was martyred, it was said that for a few days’ tyres will burn, the situation will improve, but since 2006, the situation in Balochistan has not returned to normal. Those tyres are still burning. Balochistan is rich in resources, but these resources have become a source of suffering for us. Unfortunately, our region is still backward. I am the elected representative of this House but our hands are raised at the check post. (Jang)
7. Former Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani said   since 2006, the situation in Balochistan has not returned to normal. Balochistan is rich in resources. But alas, our region is backward, the people of Balochistan are called traitors when we demand for their right. Speaking in the joint session of Parliament, he also said   we are being humiliated in the name of CPEC. (Nawai Waqt)
8. A team of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has been attacked by terrorists in North Waziristan. Seven suspects were killed during the encounter. According to the sources, the terrorists attacked the squad that was transporting an accused from Miran Shah to Bannu. The attack took place last night at Mir Ali Bypass, some accomplices of the terrorists escaped in the dark of night. (Jang)
9. A person standing at a government stall to buy cheap flour died of heart attack in Mianwali.  Earlier in the city of Mirpur Khas of Sindh, the father of 6 girls died in the struggle to get cheap flour. (Ummat)
10. Pakistan Flour Mills Association (Sindh Region) Chairman Chaudhry Amir has said that if the demands of the flour mills of Punjab are not accepted, the flour mills of Sindh will also go on strike from February 16. (Jasarat)
11. Chief of Jamaat- e-Islami Siraj Ul Haq has asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to downsize his cabinet  and cut down non-productive expenditure. Scarp the interest-based economy, he thundered.   Saying that Pakistan   does not need IMF loans, he rejected the mini budget and new taxes of 170 billion rupees.  The loans taken by the government of a party should be paid by that party only. They should sell their assets and bring back the money stashed in foreign banks. (Dunay Daily)
12. Quetta city corporation is in the deep red. Sanitary employees are not paid salaries for the last four months. Pensions have not been paid to retired staff.  Petrol pump owners have refused to supply fuel to the corporation vehicles since their dues have touched 30 crore rupees.  As a consequence, sweeping and lifting garbage have stopped for the last 10 days. The administrator of the Corporation Abdul Jabbar Baloch attributed these difficulties to non-release of funds by the federal government. (Intekhab Daily)
13. Speaking in the joint session of Parliament, Federal Minister of Religious Affairs Mufti Abdul Shakoor has said that Imran Khan has insulted the parliament and national institutions. First, Imran Khan has said that an American conspiracy was the cause of the regime change and now he is telling that the Bajwa conspiracy was the cause of it. Should not Imran Khan be held accountable for the dramas he had staged, he asked.   (Dunya Daily)
14. Balochistan Finance Minister of Zamrak Khan said the province is facing grave financial crisis with the federation not releasing funds. Speaking in the provincial assembly, he said, we have to unite to get our rights. We have all the resources but others are reaping benefits. We want to control our resources. The people of Balochistan must get subsidies on gas. He said that the nation cannot develop and progress till it gets out of the grips of the IMF and World Bank. (Dunya Daily, Qudrat)
15. Member of Provincial Assembly of Balochistan National Party Sana Baloch has stated that the Federal Government neglected Balochistan in the negotiations with the IMF and did not include any representative in the negotiation process. The Prime Minister has allowed Sindh to explore oil and gas, but not Balochistan. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are devastated, their disputes should be resolved through dialogue and discussion, Sana Baloch expressed this while speaking in the provincial assembly. (Urdu Point)
16. Justice Raza Qureshi of Lahore High Court ruled that Urdu should be made the official language in all government institutions in one month. He pulled up the government for not enforcing the Supreme Court order in this regard. Implement the order and report compliance to the Deputy Registrar Judicial. Otherwise, contempt proceedings will be launched. (Jang)

EDITORIALS

1. The federal government has given sanction for the arrest of former finance minister Shaukat Tareen. He is facing charges of instigating Punjab and KPK finance ministers and of planning with them to come in the way of pact with the IMF. One audio was also leaked a few months ago in this connection. According to the government, negotiations with the IMF are dragging as a result of obstacles being created by Imran Khan ever since the ouster of the PTI government. Hence, this decision by the government to arrest Shaukat Tareen. Also, after aforesaid audio leak, FIA started investigations, and two days ago it had sought permission from federal government for arrest of Shaukat Tareen; the go ahead with given in yesterday’s cabinet meeting and he can be arrested anytime now.   In these days of economic crisis, and prices shooting up, adding to the burden on the common man, the arrest of a senior political leader  can lead to more chaos. Hence, the government would do well to hold talks with political parties. The government should not hesitate to talk to Imran Khan to resolve the issues. Otherwise, conditions can get worse. (Pahenji Akhbar Edit, Feb.13)
2. Implementation of terms and conditions agreed between IMF and Pakistan authorities is being expedited to get IMF loans soon. In this connection, the cabinet has approved rise in power tariff and withdrawal of power subsidy. Power tariffs will now go up by Rs.7 per unit by June and subsidies will stand withdrawn from next month itself. While accepting IMF terms, the government should consideration to the fallout from such government acts on the common man. A matter of big concern is that despite poor economic conditions facing the country, the government is not considering cutting down its cabinet size. To make matters worse, everyday more and more money is being spent by government despite recommendations from the government committee on austerity that the government should cut down its expenses. This committee has also recommended that the government should withdraw amenities being extended to bureaucrats. If these recommendations are just ignored and the entire burden is passed on to common man, it can lead to unpleasant consequences. (Ibrat Edit)
3. Prices of daily necessities are going up every day. Chicken meat has become costlier by Rs.100 in three days. The going price now is Rs.700 per kg in Karachi and Quetta while in Lahore, it is Rs.620. Flour has more or less disappeared from shop shelves in Lahore. It seems government is hardly bothered about how people live their lives. We see gloomier and darker days ahead. Government should see that people get relief from crisis after crisis being thrust on them. (Sindh Express Edit)  
4. Flour prices in Peshawar are going through the roof. Flour is an item of daily necessity.  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also a part of Pakistan and hence it should get proper flour supply from Punjab with immediate effect. (Aeen Edit)
5. From small traders to wholesalers are setting chicken prices on a daily basis; broiler chicken has almost gone out of the reach of the poor and middle class. The situation can ease if the government agencies concerned step in firstly by clearing poultry containers held up at the ports, and secondly deal with the wholesalers with an iron hand. (Edit Jang)
6. Economists are daily warning that the country is moving rapidly towards default but the rulers, who know nothing about the economy, are assuring people “ Nothing will happen. Friendly countries will save us”. The situation is so grave that our ambassadors have not received their salaries for the last two months, and allowances for the last three months. Why the friendly countries are not coming forward to help us? According to media reports, all friendly countries including Saudi Arabia have said that they will not give unconditional loans. They will put conditions like IMF. It is a fact that as the public treasury goes on depleting the bank accounts of the rulers go on increasing. The first documented proof was the Panama Leaks, with Pakistani rulers’ names in it. The rulers don’t know how to improve the economy of the country by fully utilizing its natural resources and manpower. They have only one solution; go to IMF with the begging bowl. (Edit-Intekhab Daily)
7. Imran Khan has a new narrative. It is that the US had not plotted to throw him out of Prime Minister’s office but General Bajwa and his favourite, Shehbaz Sharif collectively worked for his ouster.  This Imran-speak is a clear refutation of his past statements on a host of issues- from the no-confidence motion that unseated him to the US Cipher allegation and his Russia visit besides several high-level appointments and transfers.  (Jehan Pakistan Edit)
8. The lawlessness is on rise in Sindh. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure law and order by taking effective measures against unruly elements. The authorities also should investigate the reasons behind growing suicides and rising crime rate in Sindh. (Kawish Edit, Feb.13)

COLUMNS

• Can any country’s society afford that much anarchy as much as is being witnessed in our land? In a country, where institutions often confront each other, in a country where people get abducted by unknown people and are kept at undisclosed places for number of days for no obvious reason, in a country where women have to “sell” their “honour” to look after their families, where police stations are nothing but places to “crush” others, where people get their rights only against monetary considerations, in such a country, its rulers must understand that pitiable conditions are end result of the rulers’ misdeeds who often sacrifice country’s interests for their petty little gains. Rulers went in for compromises with the establishment for the sake of power and ultimately rule of law started going down the hill. Our political history is full of scandals and conspiracies in pursuit of power and hence our rulers should admit that it is because of their questionable policies that the country often comes to face survival threats.  We have often said: ‘Country is passing through tough times.’ In that case, the current phase should be the toughest one. Should we not start thinking with all seriousness to come out of this phase and make some new beginning? Whatever one might say, we have reached one such stage of blame-game where no one is prepared to own any responsibility. The establishment and politicians are equally responsible for the country’s current state of affairs. Politicians always talked big but came to power after compromises with the establishment and thus kept betraying people. It is men in uniform who always keep pulling strings of any and every civilian government. Only recently Imran Khan has admitted that in his rein power was with then army chief Bajwa”. Should Imran not get political punishment for such confessions? He came to power with tall claims that he would not take dictation from the army and later paid a price for power. Imran Khan at one stage was even ready to make Bajwa army chief for lifetime! His party, Tehreek-e-Insaf Pakistan (PTI) was literally reduced to Tehreek –e-Iqtedar (Grab Power Movement). Now also Imran Khan’s one point program is: Power and only power. Political parties in our country compete amongst themselves to get closer to the army chief and thus be in his good books. This keeps weakening State machinery. Now, we need a new political charter. All parties must sit together to ponder over how to steer the country out of current chaos. Their charter must agree on one point: It is people who can make a country and who can save  the country. (Aijaz Mungi in Pahenji Akhbar, Feb.13)

• Country’s foreign reserves have now come down from 3 billion dollars to 2.7 billion dollars. This is the lowest level of our foreign reserves since 2014. We need at least 7 billion dollars to repay foreign loans. Our finance minister claims that he has received a draft agreement for loan from the IMF. It remains to be seen as to how rulers use this draft to engage people. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in its report “IMF instalments will not bring any good news for people. On the contrary, people are slated for more worries and woes.” The report adds, “Rulers have pushed crores of countrymen more towards poverty. Peoples’ basic political and social rights have been trampled upon.” Be it PTI followers, ML(N)’s leadership or people from any other political party, the mindsets of their leaders are not free from influence of agro-based society, which are akin to mindsets of dark ages. Ultimate beneficiary in such a society is feudalist, capitalist and political class. People with such mindsets still do not have a clear vision about the future. What kind of democracy can people in such a society get? Our country is seen as very resource rich, but if our political mafia groups keep crediting their accounts in foreign banks from resources in Pakistan, it will be people who will have to ultimately bear brunt of foreign debts of billions of dollars pouring into Pakistan. (Latif Jamal in Kawish, Feb.13)

• As and when population census surveys are undertaken, they become a matter of big concern for Sindh people especially because Karachi population keeps rising. People keep coming into Karachi from other provinces and also from abroad illegally; influx of Afghans and they carrying their own flags are a big concern for both, provincial and federal governments. In such an atmosphere, if census is being undertaken without verifying credentials, nationality and domicile documents, it is sure to add to Sindh’s apprehensions. As per global laws, such census is compulsory after every decade. Except for the first four decades, the census took place almost after every 20 years in our country. Now, these surveys are starting from March 1 and have to be completed by April 1. For the first time, these surveys will be done digitally. This time, this survey is being done before time that is after a gap of five years. Meanwhile, more than one crore people were affected in recent floods in Sindh. About 18 lakh homes were washed away in floods. Some parts of Sindh are still under flood waters. In such conditions, undertaking census survey is a big challenge to authorities. For the first time, foreigners including Chinese, Burmese, Bengalis and Afghans will be counted separately. In the religious column, Sikhs are kept separate. Persons staying in any part for six months will be shown as resident of that area. Enumeration work will be done under supervision of members of provincial and national assemblies. Census officials will be accompanied with police force and if required help of army and rangers will also be taken. Digital surveys will be connected with the NADRA network.  This time’s surveys are being undertaken when several families have left their areas during recent floods in Sindh and several areas are still under flood waters. Hence, there are big question marks over effectiveness of the surveys. There are also doubts about transparency. Unless these apprehensions are addressed, Sindh peoples’ doubts and anxieties will remain unanswered. (Kawish, Ishaq Soomro, Feb.13)

• IMF has reportedly set some conditions for a new loan tranche to Pakistan. The most important of which is to publicize the assets of government employees and establish an accountability system. If any such condition is being imposed by the IMF, it is not completely unjustified. The reason for all the calamities in this country is that there is no accountability system and there is no check on corruption. The fact is that if the IMF had imposed such conditions on Pakistan while giving loans 22 times in the past, the economic decline of this country would not have reached the current level. (Arif Bahar in Jasarat)

• The terrorist attack on a mosque in Peshawar on 30 January 2023 was a reminder of the terrorist attack on a military school in Peshawar on 16 December 2014. The government of Pakistan and the people were happy that the strict actions taken after the 2014 attack have minimized terrorism by up to 85 percent in tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After the establishment of the Taliban government in Kabul, it was hoped that the terrorism would be completely eliminated and that peace would prevail along the Pak-Afghan border. This assumption proved to be wrong. The Kabul government failed to keep its promise that its land will not be used for terrorist activities against neighbouring countries. The Kabul government denied that any organization present in Afghanistan is involved in terrorist attacks. It claims that the causes for these attacks are in Pakistan itself. So far Pakistan has failed to convince Afghanistan that the roots of terrorist activities against Pakistan are in Afghanistan. (Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi in Dunya Daily)   

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