3 In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Kind Panama Papers Challenging Pakistani Prime Minister By Hujjatullah Zia owned by the Qatari ruling family. The case harmed PML-N in two ways. First, it triggered a he six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that strong sense of mistrust among Pakistani nation and led probed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to controversial issues. The graph of discontent height- Tfamily’s business dealings in its 10-volume report ened tremendously and the air of acrimony is likely to submitted to the Supreme Court on July 10 recommend- continue unabated especially with the Pakistani media ed that a corruption case should be filed against Sharif pursuing the issue seriously. and his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, as well Second, the opposition parties, which seek to participate July 16, 2017 as daughter Maryam Nawaz, under the National Ac- in Pakistan’s future election, are capitalizing on the issue countability Bureau (NAB) ordinance 1999. and deem it a ripe time to win the public support. There- The leaks in April 2016 revealed that three of Pakistani fore, all major opposition political parties have demand- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children owned offshore ed Sharif step down and stay away from power until his companies and assets not shown on his family’s wealth name was cleared. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chair- Mosul – The Death statement. person Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on Nawaz Sharif The JIT investigated Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz at to step down, until an inquiry into the money launder- Knell for ISIL? the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) in Islamabad set up ing allegations levelled at his family are completed. “As by the Pakistan’s Supreme Court. The JIT said that Mary- long as the investigations into the Panama leaks are on- ushed out from many of its stronghold from Syria and from Mo- am Nawaz, her brothers Hussain and Hassan Nawaz as going, you should resign. You can resume when you are sul city of Iraq, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the well as her husband Captain Mohammad Safdar, had absolved of the charges,” he said, reminding Sharif of PLevant (ISIL) is losing territorial bases in the in the very region signed false documents to mislead the Supreme Court. advice he had imparted for the former Pakistani Prime that once incubated its growth. Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Maryam claimed to be “trustee not the owner” – which Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani when the latter was facing formally declared victory over the ISIL group in Mosul and Iraqis cel- was denied by JIT saying that she was the real and ul- multiple charges in court. ebrated the victory on Monday evening with their eyes sparkling with timate beneficial owner of the Avenfield apartments. It Moreover, With the Panama leaks hitting the headlines, hope. Sustaining heavy casualties and suffering indescribable pain, said that the font used in documents submitted by Mary- the government came under pressure from Pakistan Iraqi nation hope to heave a sigh of relief. am Nawaz suggested that the 2006 declarations were Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which was founded in 1996 by for- However, the fear for terrorist acts still fill the air in Iraq and the bloody fake and called it a federal crime. mer national cricket captain Imran Khan who demanded wounds and debris left in the aftermath of war will remain a nightmare Sharif’s brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Shar- Sharif’s resignation. In brief, many opposition leaders, for Iraqis. Moreover, ISIL destroyed the highly symbolic site before if strongly objected to Maryam’s summoning. “There is including former President Asif Zardari, have suggested Iraqi forces could reach it as they pushed the group from Mosul, where no moral justification of the JIT decision to summon the Sharif should resign as a fair investigation is not possible Iraq’s government declared victory on Monday. daughter of the prime minister,” he is cited as saying. if he remained in power. Wearing a black military uniform and flanked by commanders from The case was first highlighted in 1996 by a UK newspa- However, Sharif said in response to the demands that the security forces, Iraqi Prime Minister thanked troops and the US-led per, which alleged that Sharif laundered money to buy his PML-N party had bagged more votes than the op- coalition that backed the offensive. But he warned that more challenges the apartments in London’s expensive Park Lane area. A position parties combined. “The people of Pakistan have lay ahead. case was registered against him but was shelved when elected me and only they can remove me from this post,” “This victory alone does not eliminate [ISIL] and there is still a tough he came back to power in 1997. he said. Similarly, the court stopped short of removing fight ahead. But the loss of one of its twin capitals and a jewel of their Moreover, in April last year, the prime minister found Sharif from public office. Instead, it ordered investiga- so-called caliphate is a decisive blow,” Lieutenant-General Stephen himself in a precarious position following the “revela- tors drawn from civilian investigation agencies and Townsend is cited as saying. tions” made by the famed Panama Papers. Leaked docu- military intelligence services to examine the money trail, The cost of the nearly nine-month battle to retake the city has been ments showed that three of Sharif’s children had links look at records where available and obtain testimony enormous: much of Mosul in ruins, thousands dead and wounded and with offshore companies that owned properties in Lon- from key players. nearly a million people forced from their homes. The UN says 920,000 don. Sharif denies any wrongdoing. Besides marring Sharif’s reputation, the case has brought civilians have fled their homes since the military campaign began in The Pakistani Prime Minister called the leaks the work serious trouble for him and his political position is at October for recapturing Mosul city and close to 700,000 people are still of people targeting him and his family for their politi- great stake since political figures turned against him. displaced. cal aims. In an address to the nation on 5 April 2016, he Indeed, now Sharif is seeking to do everything in his Emerging in a critical time, ISIL wedged itself into the deepening fur- said those “who use ill-gotten wealth don’t keep assets in power to survive the issue until the 2018 election. But rows between Sunni and Shia Muslims, the group also focused its en- their own names”. it seems that there is a faint chance for survival in this ergies on provoking discord within sects. Demonstrating a savvy for Sharif and his family have denied wrongdoing. In No- terrible ordeal. identifying long-present tensions, it infiltrated Sunni tribal communi- vember, they told the Supreme Court that their London Hujjatullah Zia is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook ties and turned sub-tribes or generations against each other through the property was bought through investments in companies Afghanistan. He can be reached at [email protected] selective backing and funding of groups. ISIL group deepened sectarian anger and distrust towards states in the region. As ISIL loses land, these sentiments will still pose trouble for governments attempting to rule in the aftermath. Equality of Nations in Afghanistan ISIL group violated the rights and dignity of people, including women and children, through killing and violent acts on the grounds of their By: Abdul Hamid Arifi Based on the stress put in Constitution, the principle caste, color and creed. For instance, Yazidi women bore the brunt of the of equality should remain neither an elusive dream in ISIL’s cruelty and radical ideology. They were raped and killed in the he equality of tribes and ethnic groups is a highly Afghan society nor a permanent ambition for citizens. worst possible way. significant issue and one of the fundamental prin- We need not neglect insisting on the implementation of Today, ISIL’s territories are shrinking as its fighters’ face mounting ciples in human rights discourse, which has been constitutional values or sacrifice the fundamental rights pressure from a US-led coalition, as well as Syrian President Assad’s T stressed in international instruments and national laws, of citizens for our personal or factional interests. Claim- regime backers. Many observers have sounded the coalition attack on mainly in Afghanistan. Religious tenets also constantly ing rights and justice is an invaluable issue if it is based Mosul as ISIL’s death knell. However, ISIL will always present tremen- stressed on equality of mankind and lack of discrimina- on law but not means for gaining individual or factional dous problems for state governments – even in its retreat. tion. The differences on the grounds of one’s race, color, interests. However, the fact is that the ISIL group is not only losing ground but gender, language, etc. are stated to be the reason behind also its morale, especially with the news spread about the death of understanding and evolution of human societies that yet Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic country with various race, its Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Syrian Observatory for Human to be changed into reality in Afghanistan. On the con- creed and language and with black record of discrimi- Rights declared on Tuesday it has “confirmed information” that Bagh- trary, tribes sought to deny the rights of one another, nation and claiming racial and ethnic superiority. Ac- dadi was killed.