15 October 2016 Issue: 01

FORTNIGHTLY 01 - 15 October 2016 Issue: 01

WATCHING OUT FOR PAKISTAN

Pg. 123

Taking on militants: A fight for the soul Pakistani Americans place all their Magazine By: of Pakistan bets on Hillary.

By: James M. Dorsey By: Tehmina Qureshi

Pg. 06 Pg. 09

www.truthtracker.com.pk Truth Tracker offers an in-depth look at Pakistan’s governance following the 2013 general elections.

The team has four goals:

1. We track the promises made by politicians and parties during the national election campaign of 2013, to hold them accountable on the fulfillment of these promises. See our explanation of the progress of promises.

2. We fact-check statements made by and about public figures in politics and governance at all levels, to check the spread of rumours and falsehood and to give credit for truthful statements. See our explanation of the rulings.

3. We give citizens a way to directly question the words and actions of their elected representatives, by providing a forum for requests, comments and queries. Comment on any post, or submit a question to us on the Contact page, via Twitter, or on Facebook.

4. We offer a model of professional public service reporting to help improve the quality of Pakistani journalism.

Truth Tracker in 2013-14 had trained around 500 journalists across Pakistan and developed a team of 60 Pakistani journalists in collaboration with UPI Next, the media development division of United Press International.

Articles here may be reprinted with permission and credit to TruthTracker. Please contact us for details.

Some content on this site is republished from the work of our pre-election team on the PakPolWiki, a resource of background information about the elections. Articles on PakPolWiki are available freely under a Creative Commons license.

As the site grows, we will allow other professional contributors to join in creating and verifying the content.

Email: [email protected] Web: www.truthtracker.pk Content

05. Editor’s Note NO justice for slain journalists Tracking down truth, wherever it leads 06. Taking on militants: A fight for Welcome to the first issue of Truth Tracker, a fortnightly magazine the soul of Pakistan established by a team of highly professional local and international journalists. We’ve decided to take this initiative despite a myriad of 08. obstacles, because we all believe strongly in the need for this type of Too late: Apex court acquits three reporting. death row inmates already dead

09. Truth Tracker is being launched at a crucial juncture, as Pakistan is Pakistani Americans place all going through trying times both internally and externally. The state their bets on Hillary is struggling under confused policies with little or no implementation. The media, which is supposed to be a vital instrument for raising unbiased awareness regarding the government’s performance, 10. has chosen to compromise the ethics of journalism and professional- Pak-India peaceniks see youth- ism in lieu of top ratings for news channels and government ads for led Track II diplomacy as vehicle newspapers. for sustainable peace

The media houses of Pakistan are stratified into groups. If a particular group supports the government, another one opposes it to please 11. rival forces. The media, which should be a saviour of democracy, Pakistani right-wing parties re- tries to topple the democratic government by predicting the ouster ject new laws to register of the elected rulers and resorting to petty tactics such as character seminaries assassination.

We live in strange times as a piece of news is considered a con- 12. spiracy theory, and a conspiracy theory is perceived to be news. Our No reforms for street-level seniors instilled unadulterated journalistic values in us: fearlessness officials and credibility. These days, most of the so-called newspersons tend to lack both and yet they claim to be genuine journalists. The people 13. of Pakistan have witnessed several torch-bearers of journalism ac- With Taliban vanquished, song cepting favours from the government in various forms. and poetry rise again in All this has given rise to bad governance, zero accountability, cor- Waziristan’s valleys ruption, and various forms of intolerance in society. News of accountability makes no difference when the strings are actually being 14. pulled by unseen, clandestine hands. The majority of the journalists Promise Tracking want to shake hands with one or the other of these parties, and that is what stops them from following professional practices in bringing genuine issues to light. 16. Truth Tracker is an attempt to revive the ethics of journalism in mass Statement Fact Checking media, an attempt to revive the culture of accountability in government offices, and most importantly an attempt to safeguard the 17. rights of the people. Surge in online harassment of Truth Tracker will focus on four areas, as does its online sister news women outlet, News Lens Pakistan (NewsLens.pk): accountability, security, human rights and economic development. We will introduce innova- tion in journalism in Pakistan through the techniques of fact-check- 18. ing statements – calling out what’s truth or lies – and tracking prom- Deweaponisation leaves farmers ises that are flung about so casually by politicians. This approach vulnerable and relieved pushes aside opinion in favour of facts and transparent reporting. 19. We offer our best work in Truth Tracker to bring out the best in Paki- Transgender community at high stani citizens and government. risk of HIV Mubasher Bukhari Content

21. Editor’s Note Gemstone business collapses Democracy and media rise together as afghan traders forced home

I’ve worked with journalists in 22 countries, and there’s an essential 22. skill that we all use, every day: sorting out what’s fact and what’s opinion. Finding and using facts distinguishes professional journal- Afghan repatriation ism from propaganda and commentary that poses as news. strains mixed marriages

The mark of a professional is skills and hard work - to verify the real- 23. ity of an issue or event, to present the facts in a clear, accurate way. Waziri refugees in Afghanistan des- Untrained and unprofessional journalists passively receive and pass perate to come home on what officials say, offer personal viewpoints, or report without attribution what “everybody knows.” 25. In this year’s U.S. presidential and Congressional elections, rumours Women fear reporting workplace and lies were carefully checked and refuted by top professional sexual harassment news organizations - notably the New York Times, Washington Post, and Politifact. Fact-checking is essential in helping American voters make decisions in a very contentious race. 26. Global Warming: Creating awareness In Pakistan, our team has been working together on election fact- is religious obligation of clerics, checking since the beginning of 2013 when Truth Tracker was born say scholars (www.TruthTracker.pk). Our reporters and editors together learned the techniques of fact-checking, and the related skills of promise- tracking to follow up on what action candidates took once they 27. were elected. Terror-weary youth set up first-ever library in tribal agency Pakistan’s peaceful transfer of power in 2013 was historic, but the real work of democracy goes on every single day. Our news coop- erative News Lens Pakistan (www.NewsLens.pk), founded in 2014, carried forward the work of Truth Tracker with its focus on account- 29. ability, human rights, security and economic development reporting. Afghan woman fighting We work with citizens, organizations and officials to hold account- against Taliban is ready to able those who hold public office. face ISIS too

Democracy isn’t for lazy people. In these pages, you’ll see the hard work of a team devoted to tracking down the truth. We hope you will use this information to keep building democracy in Pakistan - and support Truth Tracker journalists as they carry on. Lisa Schnellinger

Truth Tracker Team: Designer: Ahmad Fraz Executive Editor: Photographer: Mubasher Bukhari Mohsin Raza

Consultant Editors: Assistant Editor: Ameera Mehmood Lisa Schnellinger Michelle Betz GM Operations: Masim Temar International Mentors: Manager Circulation: Bronwyn Curran Alizer Naheed Mustafa Manager Logistics: Editors: Azhar Khan Aurangzaib Khan Legal Advisor: Fatima ALi Adv. Fahim Abbas

Publisher Mubasher Hussain Bukhari got the periodical printed from Modcons Printers, Lahore and issued it from 4-A/1 Race View, Jail Road, Lahore. 01-15 October 2016 Accountability No justice for slain journalists

Details of violence against media since 2001 are given below. PPF MEDIA VIOLENCE INDEX 2001-2016 Lala M. Hassan Year Killed Murdered Injured Assaulted Abducted Detained Total Karachi: Of the scores of journalists that have been killed in Pakistan since the 2016 02 0 0 0 0 0 year 2002 only five deaths have been 2015 0 1 1 19 0 2 23 prosecuted. The vast majority have gone 2014 0 7 41 6 0 2 56 unpunished, due to a culture of fear and impunity, according to senior media pro- 2013 4 5 12 0 1 0 22 fessionals. 2012 2 5 25 3 1 0 36 In 2014, when 14 journalists were killed, 2011 2 4 10 0 2 0 18 the International Federation of Journal- ists declared Pakistan the most dangerous 2010 8 5 15 7 2 5 42 place to practice journalism. 2009 2 3 14 4 5 5 33 The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), an 2008 1 5 11 2 4 2 25 independent media development or- 2007 3 3 6 43 0 0 55 ganization, says 72 journalists and media professionals have been killed in the line 2006 1 2 14 3 2 5 27 of duty since 2002. 2005 1 2 5 0 1 4 13 The figure is more than double that, ac- 2004 0 1 3 1 1 2 8 cording to the Pakistan Federal Union of 2003 0 2 0 0 1 10 13 Journalists (PFUJ), which believes more than 135 journalists have been killed over 2002 0 2 3 0 1 1 7 the same period. 2001 0 0 4 0 0 2 6 One of the five cases to be prosecuted Total 26 47 167 88 21 40 384 was that of Geo News TV reporter Wali Khan Babar who was murdered in Karachi in 2011 by activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political organisation. Pakistan: dismal rankings on freedom of expression and media freedoms “We were committed to bringing the kill- Year Press Freedom Index Freedom house ers of my brother to justice at all cost,” (Reporters Without Border) Murtaza Khan Babar, Wali’s elder brother, 2015 158th out of 180 Not-free told Truth Tracker. 2014 158th out of 180 Not-free When Wali was assassinated, nobody 2013 159th out of 178 Not-free dared to file charges against the MQM workers who were suspected of the crime. 2012 159th out of 178 Not-free 2011 Not-free “Most Karachiites were afraid of the two ‘As’ - Allah (God) and Altaf, the top leader 2010 151st out of 173 Not-free Truth Tracker 5 01-15 October 2016 of MQM. The scenario has changed now “Providing justice to the heirs is the prime According to senior journalists and ex- since the Rangers’ operation in the city,” responsibility of the state. But many cases perts, one of the main contributors to the Babar said. of murdered journalists are not being prop- prevailing situation of impunity in Pakistan erly pursued by the government,” Kokhar is the traditional, informal jirga system of “We decided to pursue the case even at told Truth Tracker. justice administered by tribal elders. the cost of our lives as we are Pakhtuns and we have deep-rooted traditions of “Only five cases of slain journalists have Four cases of murdered journalists were honourable fighting and revenge against successfully gone through the tedious pro- resolved through jirgas; Shahid Soomro in those who have wronged us.” cess of gaining justice in Pakistan.” 2002, Ameer Bukhsh Brohi in 2003, Sajid Tanoli in 2004, and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman The killers of Wali Babar were arrested The prosecuted cases include the 2002 in 2010. The heirs of the journalists were by the Sindh Police under the supervision murder of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street pressured to reach unfair settlements. of the then provincial Home Minister Dr Journal’s correspondent, Karachi’s Wali Zulfiqar Mirza. They were convicted in Khan Babar, Nisar Ahmed Solangi who According to United Nations Educa- March 2014. was killed in June 2007 and whose kill- tional, Scientific and Cultural organization ers were convicted in 2012, Ayoub Khan (UNESCO), over 700 journalists have been Two of the convicted men were sentenced Khattak, who was killed in October 2013 killed worldwide over the past decade. to death and four were sentenced to life and whose killers were convicted in 2016, in prison. Their appeal against the convic- and Abdul Razaq Johra, who was killed in The International Freedom of Expression tions is pending in the Sindh High Court. November 2008. Exchange (IFEX) has launched a global campaign titled “No Impunity”. The MQM leadership had initially denied The United Nations General Assembly affiliation with the accused, but later- de adopted a resolution in 2013 which pro- Owing to the sensitivity of the issue, clared it a case of ‘political victimization.’ claimed November 2 as the ‘International United Nations Secretary-General Ban Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Ki-moon said on November 2, 2014, in his Khalid Khokhar, president of Hyderabad Journalists’. The resolution urged the im- address, “No journalist anywhere should Union of Journalists and leader of the plementation of measures to counter the have to risk their life to report pertinent PFUJ said police and the government have culture of impunity surrounding the killing news. Together, let us stand for journalists not been supportive in dealing with the of journalists. – and stand for justice.” cases of slain journalists.

Security Taking on militants: A fight for the soul of Pakistan

Dr. James M. Dorsey Two high-level meetings in recent months involving senior military commanders and intelligence officials and/or top-level government representatives spotlight Pakistan’s difficulty in coming to grips with domestic and regional political violence resulting from decades of support of militant Islamist and jihadist groups for foreign policy and ideological reasons. Overcom- ing those difficulties could determine Pakistan’s future, the nature of its society and its place in the world.

The first of those meeting was a gathering in August of Pakistani military commanders in the wake of a massive bombing in Quetta that killed some 70 people and wiped out a generation of lawyers in the province of Baluchistan. The commanders concluded that the attack constituted a sinister foreign-inspired plot that aimed to thwart their effort to root out political violence. Their analysis stroked with their selective military campaign aimed at con- fronting specific groups like the Pakistani Taliban and the Sunni-Muslim Lashkar-e- Jhangvi rather than any organization that engages in political violence and/or targets minorities.

The commanders’ approach failed to acknowledge the real lesson of Quetta: decades of Pakistani military and intel-

6 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 ligence support underwritten by fund- The State Bank of Pakistan announced fering in Pakistan,” Ludhyvani said over a ing from Saudi Arabia for sectarian and barely two weeks after the meeting an- lunch of chicken, vegetables and rice. ultra-conservative groups and religious nounced that it was freezing the accounts schools in Pakistan that has divided the of more than 2,000 people associated The soft-spoken politician defended his country almost irreversibly. Generations of with political violence, including the lead- group’s efforts in Parliament to get a law religious students have their critical facul- ers of anti-Shiite and anti-Ahmadi groups passed that would uphold the dignity of ties stymied by rote learning and curricula supported by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s the Prophet Mohammed and his compan- dominated by memorization of exclusion- military and intelligence agency. Not men- ions. The law would effectively serve as a ary beliefs and prejudice resulting in big- tioned in the bank’s list of targeted people stepping stone for institutionalization of otry and misogyny woven into the fabric of were those associated with groups such as anti-Shiite sentiment much like a Saudi- Pakistani society. Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Jaish-e-Mohammad inspired Pakistani constitutional amend- (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen (HuM), ment in 1974 that declared Ahmadis “The enemy within is not a fringe... Large whose main focus is Kashmir. non-Muslim. As a result, all applicants for sections of society sympathize with these a Pakistani passport are forced to sign an groups. They fund them, directly and in- The absence of those groups signalled the anti-Ahmadi oath. directly. They provide them recruits. They military and intelligence’s ability to safe- reject the Constitution and the system. guard the fundamentals of their strategic Sipah officials said a Pakistani cleric They don’t just live in the ‘bad lands’ but support of militant groups and the inability resident in Makkah who heads the in- could be our neighbours. The forces have of the civilian government to impose its ternational arm of Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz not only to operate in areas in the periph- will. The government moreover is divided Khatm-e-Nubuwwat (AMTKN), a militant ery, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with some ministers being more sup- anti-Ahmadi Pakistan-based group, closely but have also to operate in the cities portive of links to militants. And even if affiliated with Sipah, acts as a major fund- where hundreds, perhaps thousands form there were a unified will to crack down on raiser for the group. sleeper cells, awaiting orders or planning militants, the bank’s measure would at best Sipah put Pakistani and Saudi support on to strike,” said Pakistani columnist Ejaz be a drop in a bucket. Most of the funds public display when it last year hosted a Haider in a recent commentary. available to militant groups are either not dinner in Islamabad’s prestigious Marriot in bank deposits or, if they are, not in ac- Hotel for Abdallah Ben Abdel Mohsen Top Pakistani political leaders echoed Mr. counts belonging to the groups’ leaders. Haider’s sentiment in a second meeting Al-Turki, a former Saudi religious affairs in October that gathered the country’s Leaders of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, the minister and general secretary of the civilian and military leadership around the latest guise of the banned anti-Shiite Muslim World League, a major Saudi ve- table. Reporting in Dawn, Pakistan’s fore- group, Sipah-e-Sabaha, in a rare set of hicle for the funding of ultra-conservative most English-language newspaper, on dif- lengthy interviews prior to the bank’s an- and militant groups. Hundreds of guests, ferences between the civilian and military nouncement, had little compunction about including Pakistani ministers and religious components of the state, united politicians detailing their close ties to Pakistani state leaders designated as terrorists by the and officers in their denials of differences institutions and Saudi Arabia. They were United States attended the event at the and prompted a government investigation also happy to discuss the fact that both expense of the Saudi embassy in the Paki- into what it alleged was a false and inac- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were pushing stani capital. curate story. them to repackage their sectarian policies The corrosive impact of such support for in a public relations effort rather than a groups preaching intolerance and sectar- Dawn, standing by the accuracy of its fundamental shift that would steer Paki- ian hatred is mirrored in recent contro- story, reported that Prime Minister Nawaz stan towards a more tolerant, inclusive versy over the Council of Islamic Ideology, Sharif and other government ministers society. had warned their military and intelligence whose offices are ironically located on counterparts that key elements of the “The Saudis sent huge amounts often Islamabad’s Ataturk Avenue, that was cre- country’s two-year old national action through Pakistani tycoons who had a long- ated to ensure that Pakistani legislation plan to eradicate political violence and standing presence in Saudi Arabia as well complies with Islamic Law. The Council sectarianism, including enforcing bans on as operations in the UK and Canada and has condemned coeducation in a coun- designated groups, reforming madrassas, maintained close relations with the Al Saud try whose non-religious public education and empowering the National Counter family and the Saudi business community. system fails to impose mandatory school Terrorism Authority (NACTA) had not One of them gave 100 million rupees a attendance and produces uncritical minds been implemented. The 20-point plan was year. We had so much money, it didn’t similar to those emerging from thousands adopted after militants had attacked a matter what things cost,” said a co-founder of madrasahs run by ultra-conservatives military school in Peshawar in December of Sipah. and those advocating jihadist thinking. 2014, killing 141 people, including 132 The Council declared in 2014 that a man students. Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leader Ahmad Ludhyvani, a meticulously dressed Muslim did not need his wife’s consent to marry a In a blunt statement during the meeting, scholar whose accounts are among those second, third or fourth wife and that DNA Foreign Minister Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry blocked, speaking in his headquarters of a rape victim did not constitute conclu- charged, according to Dawn, that Pakistan protected by Pakistani security forces in sive evidence. This year, it defended the risked international isolation if it failed to the city of Jhang, noted that Sipah as the right of a husband to “lightly beat” his wife. crack down on militant groups, including group is still commonly referred to and It also forced the withdrawal of a proposal Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba; and Saudi Arabia both opposed Shiite Muslim to ban child marriages, declaring the draft the Haqqani network – all designated as proselytization even if Sipah served Paki- bill un-Islamic and blasphemous. terrorist groups by the United Nations. Mr. stani rather than Saudi national interests. Continued official acquiescence and open Chaudhry noted that Pakistan’s closest support for intolerance, misogyny and sec- ally, China, with its massive $46 billion “Some things are natural. It’s like when two tarianism calls into question the sincerity investment in Pakistani infrastructure, con- Pakistanis meet abroad or someone from of government and military efforts to curb tinued to block UN sanctioning of Jaish-i- Jhang meets another person from Jhang without exception intolerance and politi- Mohammed leader Masood Azhar, but was in Karachi. It’s natural to be closest to the cal violence. The result is a country whose increasingly questioning the wisdom of people with whom we have similarities… social fabric and tradition of tolerance is doing so. We are the biggest anti-Shia movement in Pakistan. We don’t see Saudi Arabia inter- being fundamentally altered in ways that could take a generation to reverse. Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a recently published book with the same title, and also just published Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-au- thored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario Truth Tracker 7 01-15 October 2016 Accountability Too late: apex court acquits three death row inmates already dead

Waqar Gillani ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court suburb of Islamabad. of the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League this month acquitted a man of murder he Nawazsaid. Another acquittal announced had been jailed for 19 years ago, unaware In 2015, country’s National Assembly was by the Supreme Court in October was of that he had died in custody two years told that there are 1.7 million cases pend- two inmates who had, unbeknownst to previously. ing before the Supreme Court and lower the Supreme Court, already been hanged courts. The number of pending cases in in 2015 for a separate murder case. “We have no words for how to return the Supreme Court as on December 31, 2013 19 years of his life he spent in jail,” the was 20,480 and the total designated Their appeal had been rejected by the Su- judge Asif Saeed Khosa said as the judg- strength of the judges in the apex court is preme Court and their mercy petition had ment was handed down on October 6. 17 including chief justice. been turned down by the President.

Khawaja Mazhar Hussain had lodged an The Supreme Court is currently hearing Their lawyers had moved the court against appeal after he was convicted of murder appeals against death sentences con- their 2015 execution. sentenced to death in 2010. He had been firmed by high courts in 2010 and 2011. charged and arrested in 1997. “The prison department has nothing to do “The responsibility of this death waiting with these issues. Every death warrant is “We have been fighting this case in the for his appeal in jail falls on the judiciary,” issued by the court and we just implement court since 1997 when my cousin Mazhar the former president of Supreme Court it. The local court issues a black warrant was accused of this murder,” Khawaja Bar Association (SCBA) of Pakistan Qazi after seeing the whole legal record and Saghir told Truth Tracker. Anwar said. communication of the case,” Farooq Nazir, head of the department of jails for Punjab “A lot of money was spent and case hear- “We have to have case management to province, told Truth Tracker. ings continued to prolong.” dispose of this backlog,” he urged. Only inmates who are on trial are taken to In the years waiting for the appeal, the “There are some lacunas in the legal and the courts, he said. main complainant and witness passed justice system but overall it is not bad. away, as did Mazhar’s father and two There are administrative loopholes and “We have lost our brother who is declared uncles. every stakeholder including government, innocent by the top court,” Khawaja judiciary, lawyers, and administration have Mazhar Hussein’s cousin Saghir said. “We Mazhar was arrested in 1997 when his to pay serious attention to these issues blame the country’s justice system for this eldest child was eight years old and his to help reduce the burden on courts and tragedy,” youngest was a six month old baby. His end this years’ long backlog to dispense wife was living in Dhok Haider Ali, a speedy justice,” Zafar Ali Shah, a lawmaker

8 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 Accountability Pakistani Americans place all their bets on Hillary

Tehmina Qureshi The antagonizing remarks of Republican constitute about 0.8 percent of the total an amount of up to a billion dollars. presidential candidate Donald Trump has U.S. population. incited the Pakistani community in the Opposition to Donald Trump has also U.S. to get involved in politics and actively The son of a sub-inspector from Mandi spiked voter registration by members of campaign for his rival, Hillary Clinton. Bahauddin, Amjad (a pseudonym) came to the Pakistani diaspora. Javed, a resident of the U.S. a couple of years after 9/11. Since Houston, a city with a significant popu- In fact, for the past 15 months Clinton has then, he has made his way up to become lation of Pakistani immigrants, said he enjoyed the support of affluent Pakistani the first Pakistani police captain in the had never before seen voter registration Americans who have helped her raise sev- U.S.. camps in mosques and people waiting to eral million dollars for her campaign. get signed up. “This is a country where people come and “The stakes are high. It’s a question of take ownership, of him or herself and also “In Houston only, more than a 100 our children’s future,” said Tahir Javed, a of the country. America is a country of mosques held events for voter registration. Pakistani businessman from Texas who has immigrants,” he said. “But like it or not, my I have been living here for more than two helped raised several million dollars for the identity is of a Pakistani Muslim living in decades and I have never seen this level of Clinton campaign since last year. Javed is America.” involvement for an election,” he said. also a “Hillblazer” – a member of the campaign’s National Finance Committee. A recent poll by Council of American- The owner and publisher of the oldest Islamic Relations showed that 86 percent Urdu weekly in the U.S., Khalilur Rehman, “During the past 15 months I have of American Muslims intended to vote in said that Trump had spurred mass support headed or co-headed at least 60 fund- the upcoming election. Around 72 percent from the Pakistani community towards raising events in Oklahoma, New Mexico, said they will vote for Hillary while only Hillary Clinton. Colorado, Texas and Arkansas,” he said, 4 percent said they will vote for Donald as he got off the plane in Houston after a Trump. There may be a handful who will remain meeting with Clinton. loyal to the Republican Party but they Even in a glance at the list of donors to will be people whose business interests Javed also hosted the largest primary the Clinton campaign on hillaryclinton. directly align with that of its disowned fund-raiser at his house in Beaumont, com, more than a dozen South Asian candidate, he said. Houston, that netted about half a million Muslim names jump out, from states dollars. including California, Texas and New York “The definition of hate and bigotry were which are significant Pakistani immigrant different in America and Trump changed According to a 2015 report of Migration hubs. that. But the damage has been done and Policy Institute, there are some 453,000 perhaps a section of his supporters will Pakistani immigrants and their children in According to Javed, Pakistani Muslims never be the same,” said Rehman. the U.S., including first and second genera- have contributed more than one percent tions. The children of Pakistani immigrants of the total funds to the Clinton campaign,

Truth Tracker 9 01-15 October 2016 Human Rights Pak-India peaceniks see youth-led Track II diplomacy as vehicle for sustainable peace

Sana Ejaz

Peshawar: In September, India and Pa- a main irritant to peaceful relations. ments and officials – has been an active kistan seemed on the brink of a war with conflict-resolution framework followed by clashes on the border, India claiming surgi- Post 9/11, the military standoffs be- pro-peace individuals and groups in the cal strikes and Pakistan taking evidence of tween the two countries have taken on protracted and complex Indo-Pak context. Indian oppression in Kashmir to the UN an alarming frequency, raising the specter General Assembly. of nuclear war in the region. India and According to Track-Two Diplomacy be- Pakistan have come close to war on at tween India and Pakistan: A Study in Dip- Yet a group of Pakistani youth were in least three occasions – in 2002 after lomatic Overture, the first prominent Track India to make peace. militants attacked the Indian Parliament Two initiative between India and Pakistan on 13 December, 2001; in 2008 after the was the Neemaran dialogue that took “Youth are fed up with the old and con- Mumbai attacks and now in September, place under the auspices of the United structed narratives of hatred [existing in after militants attacked Indian army at Uri States Information Services (USIS) in 1990 the two countries],” said Alia Harir, head in Indian Administered Kashmir. India has and was later joined by American foun- of the Aghazdosti programme, a youth-led blamed Pakistan for these attacks. dations and German nongovernmental Indo-Pak friendship initiative. “The narra- organizations (NGOs). Its first meeting was tives of war and hate can be replaced by Ram Subramanian, an Indian peace cam- held in Neemrana Fort in Rajhasthan, India narratives of peace and harmony among paigner, is of the view that the youth of in October 1991. The group was com- the two nuclear-armed nations.” Pakistan and India that are out to push prised of former diplomats, former military for peace today would be leaders in their personnel, media persons, NGO workers Harir, one of 19 women and 1 man in the respective countries tomorrow. He said he and academics from India and Pakistan. group visiting India, said youth campaigns didn’t believe in “media injected narra- and people-to-people initiatives had re- tives” in both the countries. Since then, there has been a significant inforced her belief that the young people increase in the number of Track Two initia- wished to go beyond popular narratives, Speaking of the saber-rattling in the wake tives between India and Pakistan, says the beyond the sentiment of war, and make of Uri attacks that created mutual paranoia study. “Of late, some new such initiatives their voices for peace heard. and mistrust, he told News Lens: “I don’t have started, such as the Chaophraya want others to tell me who to love and Dialogue, the WISCOMP annual work- Since the Partition of British India in 1947 who to hate. These are colored views.” shop, the Pugwash Conferences, Ottawa that led to the creation of Pakistan and Dialogue, and so on. There exist more India, the two South Asian countries have Like the Aghazdosti initiative, Track II than twelve highly institutionalised Track gone to war four times – 3 active and one diplomacy or people to people contacts Two groups, as well as over twenty other undeclared in 1999. The history of their - allowing non-governmental, informal, people-to-people exchange programmes mutual ties is complicated by frequent unofficial contacts and activities between operating between the two nuclear border skirmishes and military stand-offs, private citizens or groups of individuals, as powers, with both external and internal with Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan state, opposed to Track I which involved govern- funding.”

10 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 Human Rights Continued from page 10 Pakistani right-wing parties Three conflict resolution frameworks are actively creating effective relationship reject new laws to register between India and Pakistan, says Khadim Hussain, a political analyst based in Pesha- seminaries war. “These are people to people contact, diplomatic contacts and political contacts. In case of Pakistan and India, there is a dire need to involve marginalized groups in these three frameworks [youth, women, academia and artisans].”

The bitter relations between the two countries have affected people from all walks of life, said Gurmeher, 20, who lost her father in border clashes during the undeclared Kargil war in 1999.

“Youth campaigns are the way to go because 10 years down the line, ours will be the generation dictating the course of things,” said Gurmeher, who is now an active peace campaigner in India. “We will be adults. This is the age we form opinions and act on them.”

Gurmeher sees youth as dynamic, ambi- tious and global: “It is this that sets us [youth] apart from our ancestors.” Shaukat Korai

Ediola Pashollari, the Secretary General Karachi: Pakistan’s religious parties are resisting the Sindh Government’s proposed bill of World Assembly of Youth, is a strong for registration of religious seminaries after law enforcement agencies named 53 semi- proponent of Track II diplomacy involv- naries linked to militant groups and closed down another 167 unregistered ones. ing youth because “we cannot change neighbors, and the only way to restore Sanaullah Abassi, a senior official of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Sindh, told good relations is to use people-to-people Truth Tracker, “Since implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) in December 2014, contact and youth to pressure their states the Sindh Police have shut down and sealed 167 unregistered seminaries.” Police will to go for dialogue.” continue operations until the elimination of terrorist elements from the seminaries, he said. The census 2011 data shows that around 41 percent of India’s population is below The province needs to reform rules for seminary registration in order to block the facili- the age of 20. According to the Times of tation of terrorism, he said. India, half the population is in the 20-59 age group while 9 percent is above the age “Sindh Police has completed geo-tagging of 7,724 seminaries in the province recently, of 60. with 3,110 of them in Karachi alone,” said Abassi. He went on to say the process would help law enforcement keep an eye on the seminaries and their funding. “We intend to The Pakistan Institute of Development find all the seminaries that have links to militancy,” he said. Economics’ population estimates for the year 2009 show that there are about Statistics obtained from the CTD Sindh reveal that 30 seminaries of Karachi have links 40.32 million children aged 5-14 years and to terrorist organizations. Meanwhile 12 seminaries in Hyderabad, six in Sukkur, four in about 36 million youth population aged Larkana and one seminary in Ghotki also have links to militant outfits. 15-24 years who, together, account for The CTD in coordination with other law enforcement agencies is closely monitoring 33 about 45 percent of the population. seminaries in the province. According to Chanchal Manohar Singh, On August 20th, the Government of Sindh announced the Cabinet had approved the Chairman Society for Promotion of Peace draft for a proposed bill for seminaries. in South Asia, youth has greater exposure given their use of technology and social “The move for legislation is made in compliance with the NAP, a counter-terrorism policy media. “They are important part of the that Islamabad enacted in December 2014,” said Barrister Murtaza Wahab Siddique, peace diplomacy among the two neigh- Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh for Law. “The bill encompasses all issues concerning the bouring states.” seminaries in Sindh that require to be taken care of by the National Action Plan (NAP).”

Asma Jehangir, a leading human rights Right-wing religious parties have objections regarding the proposed bill and have an- activist, says Pakistan should lift the ban nounced that they will not go through the registration process under this new law. from student unions and participation of Jamiat Ulma e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh has announced a series of protests against the youth in political process to make Track II proposed law and held a protest rally against the bill on September 1, 2016 in Karachi. diplomacy more fruitful. “We will not accept any conditions regarding the registration of seminaries. Meanwhile, “Both countries should realize that youth we are ready to register our seminaries unconditionally,” said Rashid Mehmood Soomro, involvement is necessary because they General Secretary of JUF-F Sindh Chapter. have sharp ideas and they can think out of the box to bring about sustainable peace,” The central issue is seminaries that have already been registered under an existing law says Jehangir. are being asked to re-do the procedure. The new proposed legislation would require seminaries to first obtain a No Objection Certificate from the Provincial Secretary of Truth Tracker 11 01-15 October 2016

Home Department, Sindh Building Control zations. “All such allegations are baseless. Soviet occupiers. Authority and Deputy Commissioner of We are not supporting extremism or ter- the concerned district. rorism,” he said. The report says that every attempt to reform seminaries in Pakistan failed due Obtaining the NOC would require semi- The bill was tabled in the Sindh Assembly to incomplete investigation and unrealistic nary management to give details about a year ago, but could not be passed due to and inapplicable legislation. the construction of seminaries; details of strong opposition by the religious parties. foreign students will be shared with the “Meanwhile, the government held several According to the research report, the provincial authorities; foreign students will rounds of dialogues with religious parties number of seminaries has grown from 245 need a separate NOC from their native and clerics but failed to reach a consen- at the time of Independence to close to countries; and the management of the sus,” said former provincial minister for re- 50,000 across Pakistan today. seminary will also be required to disclose ligious affairs, Dr. Abdul Qayoom Soomro. Registered seminaries are affiliated with their sources of funding. Statistics obtained from the Department five boards that help determine syllabi, Soomro categorically refused to partici- of Commerce and Industry Sindh indicate control exams, and set fees. pate in the process. “We do not need spe- that 16,000 seminaries are operating in Muhammad Hanif Jalandari, Chief of Wa- cial permission to teach or preach religion,” the province and half of them are unregis- faqul Madaris (Federation of Seminaries) he said. tered. also rejected the proposed law. He said “The Sindh Government promised us that Findings of research conducted by the the Government of Pakistan had promised the legislation will be finalized after -con Department of Media Studies at Islamia in 2004 and 2010 that seminaries which sultation with religious parties and clerics.” University of Bahawalpur Pakistan in 2012 are already registered under existing leg- shows the proliferation of seminaries islation would not be asked to re-register. However, Soomro warned, “If the Govern- can be directly traced back to the era of The Sindh Government has also promised ment of Sindh fails to keep its words, we former military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq, to discuss the matter with the Wafaq on will protest again.” when the students of these seminaries this issue, he added. were indoctrinated with extremist ideolo- Soomro denied that the seminaries are gies and sent to Afghanistan to fight the linked to banned outfits or militant organi-

Accountability No reforms for street-level officials

Durdana Najam Most visits to public hospitals, police sta- lar jobs fall into this category. The report nurses. She told News Lens that the nurses tions, and schools turns into a nightmare. defines them as the ‘Faces of the State’ and are easily angered. This is the argument the Centre for Public argues that no policy initiative could ever Policy and Governance at the Forman be successful unless these public officials When News Lens Pakistan consulted Christian College Lahore made in its report are consulted or taken into account at the with the nurse, who would only speak on, “Improving Governance, Reforming policy formulation stage. It is these people, anonymously, she said that due to excess Provincial Civil Services in Punjab.” says the report, who implement policies. workload and bad behaviour of the senior nurses and, at times, of doctors, they lose According to the report, 80 percent of the Alia Butt is a housewife. Her mother has the spirit to work selflessly. public service officials are employed from been hospitalized for the last month in Ser- grade 1 to16. Nurses, elementary teach- vices Hospital Lahore suffering from a renal According to the CPPG survey, normally ers, lady health workers, Station Head Of- problem. Butt says their worst experience one nurse should serve 11 patients. In re- ficer, Patwari (Land Record Clerk), and simi- starts when they have to interact with the ality, however, in a single ward, one nurse

12 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 is serving 40 patients. Researchers noted of time and hinder their work, he said. had to handle 50 children at one time. “How a general apathy of policy makers in terms is it expected that I would perform profes- of capacity building and developing human The report also talks about the lack of work- sionally?” resource capacity of the supporting health force at the police station. According to care staff. the Police Rule 1879, there should be one She lamented that since she teaches four constable to 456 people. In reality, there is subjects, checking the copies and papers of News Lens Pakistan went to Punjab Health one constable to 1,000 people. The officer so many children becomes an endless chore. Commission and met Dr Riaz Tasneem, the further said that when Dolphin force was “When I entered this profession, I had the senior consultant and program director at made, instead of recruiting new police offic- spirit to serve the community, but now it is PHC. Talking about the behaviour of the ers, officers from the current force had been all about managing workload and keeping doctors and nurses, he said it was unfortu- drawn and converted into the Dolphin force, my job intact,” she said. nate that a profession as noble as the doctor a special squad to control street crimes. It had become a source of distress for the gen- created a further shortage. When Truth Tracker asked Mian Mujtaba eral public. When the government left medi- Shuja-ur-Rehman, Punjab Excise and Taxa- cal treatment at the mercy of the private When News Lens Pakistan talked to the tion and Higher Education Minister, about sector, greed, indifference, and amateurism Deputy Inspector General of Police (Opera- the grievances of the teachers, he said the became the norm, Tasneem said. tions) Lahore Haider Ashraf, he acknowl- government is doing its best to spread edu- edged that there was a severe shortage of cation among the masses. Another area that holds equal importance in constables and other police officers at the the lives of the general public is the police junior level. However, because of lack of According to the research report, 36 per- department. The first encounter of any funds new officers could not be recruited, cent children in Punjab are out of school and complainant usually takes place with the he said. 69 percent drop out of school by the age of Station Head Officer (SHO). New Lens Paki- five. The reasons given for such a dismal stan contacted an SHO of a local police sta- When asked about long working hours, re- state vary from lack of trained teachers to tion in Lahore who wished go unnamed to sulting in fatigue and unprofessionalism, deficient teaching material to poor infra- avoid the wrath of his higher-ups. Ashraf stated that Pakistan is not in Europe structure. and that police should not expect an eight- Talking about the behaviour of the consta- hour shift. “The officers have to work for at Saeed Shafqat, the originator of the idea bles and a general complaint that police in least for 12 hours on duty,” said Ashraf. behind the research, said that the govern- Punjab are too brutal and headstrong, the ment had been emphasizing reform of the SHO said that long duty hours and lack of The ratio of police officers to citizens in higher bureaucracy. However, there is a dire resources had made their professional lives Punjab is 1:529. The ‘Punjab Police Rules need to reform the street-level bureaucrats. a burden. (1934) limit it at 1:450. The ‘Police Act “It is here that the general public receives 1861’, which remains the guiding frame- redress to their problems and issues,” said For example, if the police van breaks down, work for lawmaking in the police, had man- Shafqat. they have to arrange resources from among dated 1:6 ratio. themselves to get the van fixed, because if they waited for the administrative depart- Amna Mushtaq works in a local government ment to send the money, it would take a lot school. Narrating her ordeal, she said she Accountability With Taliban vanquished, song and poetry rise again in Waziristan’s valleys

Saud Mehsud D.I.Khan: Shaukat Wazir, a Pashto folk singer from the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, gives voice to a child’s long- ing for school and learning with his lyrics: “Father give me an environment where I can learn, father take me to school.”

Wazir had to abandon his passion for poetry and music after the Taliban’s dominance in South Waziristan.

Wazir, from the Wana district of South Waziristan, started singing and writing poetry in 2006.

Due to the influence of terrorism and the Taliban’s dominance over the region, his art was subdued and could not flourish. Since military operations drove the Taliban away, Wazir has taken up his passion for music and poetry once again.

“I have recorded 34 audio songs in Pashto so far. Most of them are very popular,” he told Truth Tracker. Shaukat Wazir, Pashto folk singer

Truth Tracker 13 01-15 October 2016

Wazir writes Pashto poetry alongside his From 2000 to 2011, 14 people were killed, “Our culture is not violent but the society musical endeavours. Two of his books of 15 injured and 121 were abducted in the and government have ruined our image. poems have already been published. tribal areas of Pakistan and KPK due to In fact, we are a music and culture-loving their association with music and cultural nation. Our cultural dance is an integral “We teach the importance of love and activities, according to the Pakistan Press part of marriages and religious festivals peace and invite those who hate to love. Foundation like Eid,” Mahmand told Truth Tracker. Parents instil these values in tribal children, and the community adopts those During the same period, 580 CD shops Sailab Mehsud, a tribal writer, said the cir- children whose parents died in wars, in and music centres were destroyed while cumstances endured by artists in the tribal order to discourage inequality and hate- 13 musicians and singers from different areas were tragic. mongering,” he said. areas were threatened. “No attention is being paid to the fre- Cultural activities have faced severe According to the Free Music Institute, quency of war and bomb attacks which restrictions in South Waziristan and other over a dozen CD shops were bombed in have affected tribal society,” he told Truth tribal areas for the past 15 years. These Swabi and Miranshah in November 2011, Tracker. sanctions had an adverse effect on the while Pashto singer Ghazala Javed and her musical and poetic fraternities. Most father were shot dead by unknown assail- “While poets and artists are free to people who were associated with this pro- ants in Peshawar in June 2012. express themselves in other parts of the fession were forced to leave their art and country, freedom of expression is non-ex- look for a different means of livelihood. Wazir begged several people for help in istent here. The Academy of Letters should Some migrated and settled elsewhere in recording his songs because he did not pay attention to this.” Pakistan. have access to a studio. He accused KP authorities of turning a According to a report by Art Freedom “Due to the government’s negligence blind eye to the plight of the poor and Institute in 2016, local authorities banned and poor security conditions, I had con- tribal poets and singers. all events that had dance and music due to templated leaving this profession several Sohail Mehsud, another tribal youth, a terrorist threat in a suburban village of times. But the love of the people and their believes local people should help and Peshawar, bordering Khyber Agency. overwhelming response stopped me,” he told Truth Tracker. encourage new singers. According to the Art Freedom Institute, a “It is necessary to establish an academy drum beater was shot and killed in Swabi “I would to travel all the way to Peshawar for young singers. Some people continue in April 2015. to record a song, and then would wait for a month. We managed to form two small to stigmatize singing, and that barrier can In March and June 2014, the local Pashto poetry organizations, through self-funding, be removed by providing such facilities,” singer Wazir Khan was kidnapped by which hold small events for the entertain- Mehsud told Truth Tracker. terrorists thrice and released each time ment of tribesmen.” A poem (ghazal in Urdu) has the potential on the condition that he would not sing. to bring about a revolution, Wazir believes. In Peshawar, Pashto singer Gul Naz was Young people in the tribal areas who have lived through the violence of militancy are killed by unidentified gunmen who barged “Peace is not possible without education, suffering depression, local resident Irfan into her house. and it is peace that helps preserve the es- Mahmand believes. sence of a culture.”

Promise Tracking Government will lower exchange rate to Rs 98 per US dollar – Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

Amir Saeed

(Note: This promise tracking commenced in June 2013 and ended on October 2016)

The Promise. Pakistan’s Federal Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, had promised to rein in the soaring price of the US dollar back to 98 rupees (Rs) per dollar.

Background When Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz assumed charge of the government in June 2013, the US dollar was priced at Rs 98. However, within six months of the PML-N Government, the value of the US dollar peaked at Rs 109 per dollar. The steep rise in the dollar exchange rate hit the Pakistani economy hard, leading to an unprecedented rise in the prices of essential everyday commodities.

Check To track the progress of the Finance Minister’s promise, Truth Tracker had contacted Shafqat Jalil, then Media Director of

14 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016

Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, regarding until the government takes steps to widen a balance of payment on account of trade, the much-needed government plans to the tax net. further elaborating: “With decreasing bring the dollar exchange rate down to the foreign reserves, the demand for the dollar pre-budget level. (Jalil is now posted with Umar had predicted that the government is on the rise, leading to a sharp increase President of Pakistan) would not be able bring down the dollar in the rate of the green buck against the exchange rate under the prevailing circum- Pakistani currency.” “Multiple plans are being devised at the stances. moment to control the rising exchange Another noted economic expert and Dean rate of the US dollar,” Jalil had told Truth “This is the crucial moment for Pakistan’s of the Business School of the National Tracker, noting that the government was economy, which can be improved only if University of Science and Technology, Dr. hopeful about their success with these the government creates a hospitable envi- Ashfaq Hassan Khan, agrees with Sherani. plans. ronment to encourage foreign investment in the country,” he added. “The government cannot improve dollar- He had explained that the government is rupee parity unless a huge amount is also expecting the World Bank and Asian injected into the national kitty through an Development Bank to provide a consider- Independent Viewpoints influx of foreign investment,” Khan told able amount in the fiscal year 2013-14, Truth Tracker. which would enable the government to A leading economic expert, Dr Qais Aslam, overcome the currency crisis and boost said that the government cannot bring the He said that foreign investment in Pakistan foreign reserves. Additionally, Jalil said, dollar down to 98 rupees due to nega- had almost shrunk to zero due to poor “The government had reached an agree- tive indicators, as there is a balance of the security and acts of terrorism. “It is not ment with a consortium of banks for bor- trade deficit which amounts up to 20 bil- possible for the government to bring the rowing $625 million for oil payments and lion. In such a scenario, the price of the US dollar exchange rate down to the 2013 financing of the budget deficit.” dollar is likely to hike rather than coming level of Rs 98,” Khan said. According to down. Khan, the government had an understand- “The government has already received ing with the International Monetary Fund $200 million from the [banks] consortium He added that it is not the domain of (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility and the remaining amount would be avail- the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to make Program that the Pakistani rupee would be able as and when needed for oil payments,” such promises. “It was only a signal for allowed to depreciate until it reached Rs Jalil said. “Some friendly countries would his friends to buy and sell the US dollar in 110 against the US dollar. “It would be a also provide soft loans and aid to Pakistan order to make billions of rupees through major achievement even if the government in the coming months,” he added. the dollar trade,” Aslam told Truth Tracker. succeeds in keeping the dollar rate at Rs Aslam added that the finance minister 105…as bringing the rate down to Rs 98 is Jalil had further explained that the dollar mere fantasy,” Khan said. exchange rate could be easily brought made a similar statement in 2015, in which down to Rs 98 if all the proposed meas- he promised to bring the dollar down to Truth Tracker closely monitored fluctuating ures were carried out as planned by the 85 rupees which only acted as a cue for his rates of dollars against Pak Rupee and ob- Finance Ministry and the government. friends and businessmen involved in the served that US dollar’s exchange rate had dollar trade. started declining in March 2014 to April Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf leader and Member 2014 and reached 97.50 Rs/dollar. In May of National Assembly, Asad Umar, in 2013, A leading economic expert, Sakib Sherani said that the US dollar exchange rate is 2014, it again started going up and never had said that the government had deval- came back to below Rs 100. ued the rupee as per an agreement with directly linked to demand and supply, just the IMF. like other commodities.

“The situation (devaluation of rupee) has “Besides demand and supply, the dollar Ruling exchange rate is also linked to the coun- resulted in skyrocketing inflation and Considering the government’s position on try’s foreign reserves,” Sherani told Truth rampant unemployment,” Umar told Truth the dollar exchange rate against the views Tracker. Tracker. “A fall of one rupee against the presented by a lawmaker from an opposi- dollar costs 70 billion rupees to Pakistan’s Sherani warned that Pakistan’s foreign re- tion party and independent economic ex- economy,” he said, and noted that the serves were continuously shrinking due to perts, Truth Tracker rules that the PML-N country’s economy cannot be improved has compromised the promise.

What the rulings mean Many times reporters only shake their heads at the statements that politicians make. Yet we print those statements and quote them.

Truth Tracker is attempting to go beyond the he-said, she-said style of passive reporting. We’re fact-checking the statements that are in the news. Based on our reporting, we make a ruling about the degree of truth in statements.

For the six levels of truth that we use in rulings, we decided to use the symbol of a crow. There’s an expression, “a white crow” - a bird that can only ever be black has been painted white. So a black, flying crow signifies a statement that is totally true, a statement that’s half-true is medium-gray, and an outright falsehood is a white crow.

Those statements that are maliciously false, with no possible basis in fact, are labeled as “flaming crows.”

Truth Tracker 15 01-15 October 2016 Statement Fact Checking

Imran Khan’s sons are churchgoers’ - Fazlur Rehman

Amir Saeed

(Note: This article was produced in June 2013 by TruthTracker.pk)

The Statement While speaking at an election rally in Lakki Marwat earlier this year, Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman asked how a person like Imran Khan could be prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan when his sons attend church. In the past, he made such statements on television.

Background In October last year, Imran Khan led a peace march to South Waziristan against the U.S. drone strikes, striding into the political territory of Fazlur Rehman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the tribal region of the country bordering Afghanistan. Subse- quently Fazlur Rehman and his party have leveled personal accu- sations against Imran Khan and his sons, who are living in London with their mother Jemima Khan.

Check To confirm the statement, Truth Tracker contacted Fazlur Rehman party’s spokesman Jan Achakzai by telephone and asked about hasn’t worked out, as he has formed government in Khyber Pakh- his sources of the information. He insisted that Imran Khan’s sons tunkhwa.” are Christians as they live with their mother who is a Protestant Syed Munawar Hassan, chief of Jamat-e-Islami and religious Christian. cleric, rebuffed the allegations leveled against Imran Khan’s sons, “We have got authentic information from our friends in London saying, “Certain elements in Pakistan love to label people as Jews, that Imran’s sons are being brought up as Christians,” Achakzai Christians and agents of spying agencies, and Imran Khan and his said. “Therefore, he doesn’t have any right to do politics here in sons are victims of the same mentality.” the Muslim majority country and aspire for slot of the premier- ship.” He declined to give any details on what this “authentic information” was. Details

Achakzai said that his party is opposed to Imran Khan’s politics After Fazlur Rehman accused Imran Khan’s sons of being Jews in because he is a hypocrite: “He made his credentials doubtful after a TV talkshow on January 3, 2012, Jemima Khan replied to it in contracting marriage with Jemima Khan who was an infidel.” one of her tweets next day.

Naeemul Haq, a trusted confidant of Imran Khan, told Truth Tracker that people like Rehman had been propagating rumours against Imran Khan since he began his career in politics. “This is nothing but a mudslinging campaign to call Khan’s sons Christians and Jews.”

Haq claimed that everybody in London knows Imran Khan’s sons, Qasim and Suleman, are Muslims for they have been taught the Quran by clerics and attend mosque in London. “If anybody has had doubts about Qasim and Suleman’s religion, he can check with [people in] the UK.” Our Ruling Independent Viewpoints After listening to Jemima Khan on Islam and her children, and looking at the overall approach of Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam toward Kamran Rehmant, editor at Pique magazine, told Truth Tracker Imran Khan’s and his party, Truth Tracker staff ruled that the that religious scholars like Fazlur Rehman have been using propa- statement made by Fazlur Rehman about Imran Khan’s sons a ganda against Imran Khan’s sons and branding them Christians Flaming Lie. It is a false, personal attack that is meant to provoke and Jews because they feel threatened by Imran Khan’s political divisive feelings around religion. His spokesman’s remarks show standing. the depth of the party’s animosity. An “infidel” is someone who does not believe in God; terming Imran Khan’s Christian wife as “I’m sure Imran’s sons are Muslims - but even if they were Chris- an “infidel” is a false and provocative use of the term. tians or Jews, it has got nothing to do with politics of Imran Khan,” he said. “This sort of propaganda campaign against Khan

16 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016

Security Surge in online harassment of women

Maria Laraib

Lahore: Cultural patriarchy and ongoing lawlessness has driven a surge in the harassment of women online in Pakistan, say digital rights activists.

Data compiled by the National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C) run by the Federal Investigation Agency indicates that 3,000 cyber-crime complaints were lodged between January and August this year. The number of complaints is likely to increase to 5,000, according to NR3C hierarchy of law enforcement structure. lodged by women. The majority were projections. In 2015, a total of 1,500 com- This makes seeking legal help for a female filed by women in the ultra-conservative plaints were made. as the last and least favourable option,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Nighat Daad, head of the Digital Rights Irshad told News Lens. “In the year 2014-2015, we were receiving Foundation (DRF), said women experienc- Ahmed Ali’s sister is a recent victim of two to three complaints per week. Now ing harassment rarely report it. cyber harassment by her former fiancé. the foundation deals with two cases daily “Women are bearing online harassment The ex-fiancé became angry when she on average,” Daad said. and blackmailing, but seldom turn to returned her engagement ring to him after DRF research records show that hacking, external sources especially law enforcing their engagement was called off. phishing, impersonation and doxing to agencies,” Daad told News Lens Pakistan. “He demanded Rs 50,000 from her, as he blackmail, harass and bully are the most She sees shortcomings in the present claimed that the ring’s price at the time of frequently used cyber-crime tactics. mechanisms to counter cyber-crime devel- purchase was more than its present selling One of the women who sought help from oped by the law agencies. price in the market,” Ali told News Lens. DRF had been attacked with acid after “In 2007, the FIA launched the National “My poor family couldn’t manage such a declining a relative’s marriage proposal. Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C), big amount. In revenge, her ex-fiancé cir- The girl fought back by filing a case against a complaint procedure that requires the culated her morphed pictures and personal the acid attacker. Her family is under complainant to disclose their details details including her mobile number, and severe pressure as the accused relative has including name, CNIC number, home defamed her as a prostitute,” Ali recount- threatened to circulate her private pictures address and contact details. We receive ed. and videos online if she does not drop the online applications, emails and complaints Attempts to lodge a police report were case. submitted by hand,” the unit’s deputy thwarted. director Shahid Hassan told News Lens Syeda from the KP region of Lower Dir Pakistan. “I went to the nearby police station to turned to NR3C to complain about online report it. Instead of lodging a report, the harassment. He said sexually motivated cyber harass- inspector covertly asked for my sister’s pic- ment has surpassed every other type of tures and phone number. What’s more, Rs “After 10 days, I was asked to visit the cyber-crime over the last two years. 25,000 bribe was also demanded to lodge NR3C office in Peshawar. But I could not go there,” she told News Lens. “The record shows an 80 per cent pros- the complaint,” Ali said. ecution ratio of cases registered with His sister has been confined to her home Syeda’s elder sister Meher is the only one NR3C. However, there is no yardstick to by her extended family. To avoid further who knows about the harassment. measure the percentage of unreported defamation, she no longer uses her mobile cases of cyber-crimes,” Hassan added. “There should be a women-friendly com- phone. plaint mechanism because we cannot even Another study by Bytes for All Pakistan on Sidra Humayun, a women’s rights activist tell our family that someone is abusing us,” Pakistan’s internet landscape, published in from the Lahore-based campaign group Syeda said. July 2016, found the gradual increase in War Against Rape, estimates nine out of online usage by Pakistani women under 30 “If we dare to do so or step out of home ten women face cyber harassment by cur- has been discouraged due to the increase even for our rights we will be taken advan- rent or former partners. in digital harassment of women. tage of.” “Sexualized slurs, sexual remarks on body, “Digital harassment has had a grave real A report released by NR3C in 2011 shows sex life, character, seduction-based con- life impact on more than 95 per cent of a consistent increase in online crimes versation, and rape threats are the major females who consulted DRF,” Daad said. as 62 cases were recorded in 2007, 287 complaints War Against Rape deals with in cases in 2008 and 312 cases in 2010. Hamza Irshad, Digital Security Trainer at cyber harassment cases of women aged 16 DRF, blames a pervasive culture of mi- to 30,” Humayun told News Lens. “These cases comprise only 10 per cent sogyny. of cyber-crimes in Pakistan,” the report During the last six months DRF received states. “It is because of the presence of common more than 250 complaints of profound misogyny and sexist elements in every cyber bullying, 95 per cent of which were Truth Tracker 17 01-15 October 2016

Security Deweaponisation leaves farmers vulnerable and relieved

Ihsan Dawar

Bannu: The love of weapons runs in the Haji Toor Khan. They had fought a bloody billion would be distributed to the clerics blood of tribesmen. It is reinforced by a dispute with the family of Malik Suleman waging jihad,” writes Shuja Nawaz in the traditional justice system that upholds Khan for 30 years. The feud has claimed research paper “FATA – A Most Dangerous an “eye for an eye” law. In the absence of 12 lives. Toor Khan has yet to take re- Place” published by the Washington based government writ and courts, the culture of venge – or badal, as the custom is locally Centre for Strategic and International revenge serves as a deterrence to crimes known – against Malik Suleman Khan for Studies. and misdemeanours. the killing of two of his kinsmen. “Once again, outside funding that was in- But government security forces seem to Now both maliks (tribal chiefs) can sit tended for a particular short-term political have achieved what authorities in the together peacefully, without showing any purpose provoked lasting and unintended tribal areas could not, despite several pre- signs of enmity or desire for vendetta. social consequences that undercut the vious deweaponization campaigns: They intentions of its original financiers.” have taken away the tribesmen’s weap- The case of the two maliks burying the ons; and with them, the unwritten rule of hatchet is not an isolated one. In North Tribal areas, Waziristan in particular, revenge. Waziristan where every village has families turned into an international bazaar for waging endless violent disputes on petty arms and ammunitions provided to the “I feel quite relaxed in this environment, issues, sworn enemies have had to learn Afghan Mujahideen and local tribesmen to as our life before the military operation to live with each other under the steady fight against the Soviet Army. Arms mar- was no life at all,” Shaukat Ali, a resident gaze of military. kets sprung up in Mirali and Miranshah, of Khaddi village in NWA, told News Lens the two main towns of North Waziristan. Pakistan. While local tribal customs and a culture In the absence of a local economy, indus- of honour and badal has promoted the try and employment, the arms business “We were totally at the mercy of militants, prevalence of guns as deterrence in the boomed in the region, becoming a lucra- living under constant fear. If the current absence of government writ, in 1979 that tive source for earning. drive of deweaponization continues, it will the region became awash with weapons. revive prospects for peace in the region.” Kalashnikov culture arrived in Pakistan “Lethal weapons like AK 47s, heavy in the wake of the Afghan mujahideen’s machine guns, missiles of short and long Security forces collected weapons from resistance to Russian intervention in range and even rocket launchers were the houses and arms bazaars of Waziristan Afghanistan, supported by Pakistan, the easily available for affordable prices in Agency during Operation Zarb-E-Azb, a United States and Saudi Arabia. Arms the local markets,” Malik Pazeer Gul*, an military operation conducted against mili- proliferated in the border region, where elderly tribal chief, told News Lens. tants. A strict ban on weapons has been the mujahideen were trained and armed to imposed since the army declared the area fight the Red Army. “Heaps of explosives could be seen in the “clear” and displaced residents poured markets and in the houses of the arms and back into the agency. “Pakistan’s efforts were supported by ammunition dealers.” huge influxes of money from Saudi Arabia Among the returnees are the family of and the United States; eventually $6–$8 Before Kalashnikov was introduced to the 18 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 tribal region, the tribesmen used locally figure was in the hundreds of thousands. News Lens. manufactured guns called Daraywall guns – made in Darra Adam Khel, a semi tribal When repatriation started earlier this However, local tribesmen expressed area situated between Kohat and Pesha- year, people returned to a totally different concern that there might be tribes with war. environment. Now not a single person is weapons in their possession still, creating seen with a weapon on his body or inside an imbalance of power in a tribal society “When the Kalashnikov was adopted the house. and making others vulnerable. as “the jewellery of the tribesmen” and heavy weapons were stored in each and “Due to the arms culture, we have long “I fear this state of partial deweaponisation every house, the state of tribal feuds also lived in a hell,” resident Hameed Khan told will create severe imbalance of power in changed alarmingly,” Pazeer Gul said. News Lens. the area,” says Abdul Qayum Khan, a local of NWA. “In absence of proper laws and “Where once light weapons were used to “We have so many orphans and widows law enforcing agencies in the tribal region, settle scores, people took to using heavy in our area due to feuds and gun violence. one cannot guaranty peace.” weapons against opponent tribes and This is not the age of arms. We must focus whole tribes were forced to migrate to on educating our next generation.” Irfan Burki, a youth from neighbouring safer places after they started targeting South Waziristan Agency, favours deweap- Before the operation, people used to enjoy each other.” onisation but insists it must be effected festive firing in the air on the occasion of without any discrimination. When the army announced a military of- marriages, circumcisions and Eid celebra- fensive in North Waziristan in June 2014, tions. Many valuable lives were lost to this “You have to disarm across the board, or people left all their belongings behind, trend that had become something of a weaponise all, to ensure balance of power,” including weapons. According to military local custom, with the killers often going Burki told News Lens. Selective deweap- sources, many hid their weapons in deep unidentified and unpunished when bullets onisation would have serious implications trenches dug inside their houses. Using falling from the sky killed someone. for the inhabitants, he added. metal detectors, the army combed the “If we get rid of the curse of aerial firing, “It is not fair to give arms to maliks and in- area for weapons and took away arms and I think it would be a great achievement,” fluential people while leaving the common ammunition. In absence of official data, it Sharifullah Khan Dawar, a resident of NWA man without any protection,” Burki said. is hard to know the number of weapons who works as Director Audit for Fata, told confiscated. Local tribesmen estimate the

Human Rights Transgender community at high risk of HIV

Attaullah Khan Peshawar: Transgender woman Paro, 24, has been performing at weddings for nearly 12 years. Dancing at festive occasions is the only job she could find when her family threw her out for being transgender. It was also the only job she had the skill for when she left her home in Mansehra in Pakistan’s conservative northwest and moved to the provincial capital Peshawar to live with the transgender community.

Like most Hijras – a one-word-fits-all ap- pellation widely used for cross-dressers, transsexuals, eunuchs, hermaphrodites, and transvestites in South Asia – Paro could dance. Peshawar’s Hijra community became Paro’s family. The community is tight-knit in the face of widespread discrimination. the Hijras’ main sources of income, according to LEAD Pakistan. Paro was trained by a transgender guru, Paro described herself to News Lens Pakistan as a “professional wedding dancer”. a guardian-teacher who “imparts singing, dancing and other skills to his chelas Prostitution is common among members of the transgender community, Paro said. High [young disciples] to enable them to earn rates of prostitution expose the community to HIV/AIDS. But Paro’s knowledge of the their own living,” according to a study by disease is scant. LEAD Pakistan, a non-profit organisation that works with young leaders. “I have heard it’s a serious disease that kills,” she said, adding that she does not know how it is transferred between people. Singing and dancing at weddings, birth celebrations and other auspicious occa- Paro said that every member of her community has a permanent boyfriend with whom sions, begging for alms and sex work are they are in a “continuous physical relationship”. They are not necessarily monogamous relationships. Truth Tracker 19 01-15 October 2016

Peshawar : Transgender waiting for the clients.

“If the boyfriend fulfils her economic and “Most men don’t use condoms. To them stigma attach to it,” Khan told News Lens social needs, she sticks to him; but if not, it is only a contraceptive, and if they are Pakistan. then she is compelled to have sexual rela- going to have sexual intercourse with a tions with many others for survival,” Paro same sex person, then there is no need According to Dr Khan, 70 per cent of told News Lens. to use condom. Transgender people, male those infected in KP are Pakistani migrant sex workers, female sex workers and their workers who have been deported home “None of them use condoms for safe sex. customers are also of the view that using a from Gulf states where they were work- Either the customer or the boyfriend condom minimizes pleasure.” ing. Some 72 per cent of the total number refuses to use it. The transgender com- of people living with HIV/AIDS in Khyber munity has little knowledge to make use of “Ignorance about HIV/AIDS, and the fact Pakhtunkhwa are men. condoms necessary for sexual relations or that transgender have no professional sex work,” she said. skills to earn a livelihood, means they keep Subhan Ali, Site Manager for the Com- quiet despite infection,” Naseem said. munity and Home Based Care Centre of According to Blue Veins, a non-govern- Khwendo Kor, a women’s rights organiza- ment organization that works on sexual Naseem said the younger members of the tion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, and gender-based violence in Khyber transgender community use condoms but said seven transgender persons with HIV Pakhtunkhwa province, there are 1,800 the older generation avoid it. infection had registered with his organisa- transgender people are registered as resid- tion for home care. These patients vis- ing in Peshawar. Paro, however, said transgender sex ited Peshawar to collect medicine, have workers never use condoms because their psychotherapy and access other facilities Nearly a third of people living with HIV in customers don’t like it. offered under the project, Ali said. Pakistan are injectable drug users, Qamar Naseem, who founded Blue Veins, told She said nobody had approached her or “We only work with high risk groups like News Lens. Transgender people make up other members of her community to edu- female sex workers, male sex workers, the second largest group, said Naseem, cate them about HIV/AIDS. transgender people, injectable drug users citing data from the National AIDS Control and migrants,” Ali told News Lens Pakistan. While ignorance and commercial consid- Program. erations keep high risk groups from test- “They are exposed to HIV infection and “Just over five per cent of AIDS patients ing and revealing their HIV/AIDS status, can be a primary source of transmission to across Pakistan come from the transgen- access is another challenge. There are many others. We hold counselling sessions der community,” Naseem said. Male sex only two treatment centres for a province with these groups and they agree to be workers make up 1 per cent, while female of 29.9 million people, with an estimated screened for the virus on site after they sex workers constitute 0.6 per cent. 16,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. are convinced that it is for their safety and health.” Migrants deported from Gulf countries Around 2,600 patients are registered at are a major source of HIV transmission in the two treatment centres, in Peshawar Ali said the transgender community were Pakistan, Naseem added. and Kohat, said Dr. Attaullah Khan, Assis- particularly vulnerable to sexually trans- tant Director of Public Health and Deputy mitted diseases. “The religious sections of our society Programme Manager HIV/AIDS for Khyber remain in denial of extra-marital rela- Pakhtunkhwa province. “They are hospitable and kind-hearted, but tions or male sex with males even, though society’s behaviour pushes them to social Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is vulnerable to HIV/ “This is just tip of the iceberg. The rest isolation where they are reluctant even to AIDS due to the prevalence of homosexu- of the population living with the disease share their personal pain and experiences,” ality,” Naseem said. remains hidden because of the prevailing he said. 20 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 Economic Development Gemstone business collapses as Afghan traders forced home

Abdul Mateen PESHAWAR: The gemstones and antique as Afghan refugees are being pushed to have to look for other sources of living.” jewellery businesses depend on imports leave for their country under an aggressive from Afghanistan and Afghan traders who repatriation drive. A far greater setback is repatriation for dominate the industry in Peshawar, but the Afghan traders themselves, who have the ongoing repatriation of Afghan refu- “Just as the gems market suffered due to suffered huge losses closing down estab- gees has hit the sector hard, say gemstone conflict and security threats a few years lished businesses and relocating. dealers. back, it faces an uncertain time once again with the repatriation of Afghans,” Khan “It was a hard decision for me to close Peshawar’s Namak Mandi bazaar, known said. my business in Namak Mandi,” said Abdul for its sizzling, delectable mutton karahi, Sami, an Afghan gemstone trader who just is also famous for traders that deal in pre- “It will take time for the market to recover wrapped up business in Peshawar. cious stones. from this crisis and be profitable again.” “For the last 17 years, I have been living This busy bazaar in the old city and the According to the UNHCR, Pakistan is and working here. Here we got connected nearby Shinwari Market is where Afghan home to 1.5 million registered refugees. to international businessmen. I don’t know traders first opened their shops when they whether my business will be as successful In recent years, the authorities’ stance on became refugees after the Russian inva- in Kabul or not.” refugee repatriation has toughened as re- sion of Afghanistan in 1979. It is here in lations between Pakistan and Afghanistan Before the security environment in the the narrow streets and the bazaars that have soured. Neighbours regularly blame region became shaky – after the Sep- they started the trade in precious gems, each other for fomenting trouble inside tember 2001 terror attacks in the United opening small stalls and shops. their borders and providing safe havens to States - gemstone traders in the province Abdul Jalil Khan, who heads an organisa- terrorists. The government has revised the drew tourists from Canada, America, tion of gemstone dealers in Namak Mandi, deadline for repatriation several times in Australia and Europe. Now only Chinese said the bulk of gems for sale in the Pesha- the past with the latest being 31 March, traders visit the market. According to the war bazaars – emerald, ruby, tourmaline, 2017. gemstone dealers union, the industry has aquamarine, kunzite, clinohumite, sphene, brought home more than $27 million in Jamal Shah, a small scale gemstone trader spinel, and peridot – came from Afghani- foreign exchange in the last five years. in Namal Mandi, finds this state of affairs stan. detrimental to his business that depends At the Shinwari Market in Andher Sher, “The precious stones come to market in on supply of precious stones from Af- prospects for business look equally dim. raw form and are cut and polished here,” ghanistan. Once the market was a bustling place he told News Lens Pakistan. frequented by buyers and sellers of “Minor businesses like mine depend on antique jewellery, with more than 90 per Rough gemstones are cut by a dealer in gems from the local markets in Pesha- cent of traders belonging to Afghanistan. Namak Mandi. war that are fed by raw material from They sold garments, glassware, jewellery Afghanistan,” Shah told News Lens. “I buy and antiques and became suppliers of the For a business that depends on Afghan gems here and sell them in Islamabad and same throughout the country and abroad. traders for imports and retail and whole- Karachi. It will be difficult for me to go Now, one by one, the shops in the multi- sale transaction, the prognosis looks bad to Afghanistan as supplies dwindle. I will storied market are closing down, with Truth Tracker 21 01-15 October 2016 traders shifting businesses back home to dealer in antique jewellery at the Shinwari stan’s export to other countries. With the Afghanistan. Market. Afghans closing shop here, he is concerned that repatriation will badly affect both the The few shopkeepers that remain open “The authorities have cracked down on local market and exports. here foresee a complete end to the an- Afghan refugees and as a result local busi- tique jewellery market and business in the ness and dealers have suffered.” “We cannot say exactly about the extent coming days. of damage this has done already but things According to Meher Mohammad, Secretary will become clearer by the end of the year “We appeal to the provincial govern- of the All Pakistan Commercial Export- [as the repatriation deadline approaches],” ment to make an alternative policy for ers Association (APCEA), gemstones Mohammad told News Lens. the Afghan traders,” said Shah Khan, a constitute a considerable part of Paki-

Human Rights Afghan repatriation strains mixed marriages

Asad Khan Peshawar: The ongoing repatriation vasion of Afghanistan. She has three sons UNHCR. and deportation of Afghan refugees from and two daughters. Pakistan has not only compelled them to According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sell valuable property and businesses for “I never thought there would be time Home and Tribal Affairs Department, 1 very little but also abandon spouses with when my husband would want to leave million Afghan refugees live without regis- Pakistani nationality. this home for Afghanistan,” said Gul. Their tration in KP and FATA. children study in a local government Pakistani women married to Afghan men school and her husband runs a shoe shop An official at the department, who wished are in a fix as they don’t want to leave in the Charssadda bazaar. “We have a very to stay anonymous because he was not their families in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa happy life here.” authorized to speak to media, said the province and the tribal areas along Paki- long stay of Afghan refugees generally in stan-Afghanistan border by moving to a According to the United Nations High Pakistan and particularly in Khyber Pakh- new country. Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), tunkhwa had changed their refugee status with over 1.5 million registered Afghan into family relations with locals. “I have my family here and we have never refugees, Pakistan hosts 10.5 percent of visited Afghanistan,” Bano Gul, 40, told the global refugee population which also “The ratio of inter-marriages between News Lens Pakistan. “There is nothing in constitutes the world’s largest protracted Pakistanis and Afghans is high, especially Afghanistan for my husband to do. How refugee situation under UNHCR’s man- between the Pashtuns who live on both would we live if we go there?” date. sides of the border,” the official told News Lens. Gul belongs to a poor family in Kolad- Originating mainly from the provinces in her, Charssadda. She is married to an the eastern border areas, the majority of He said the majority of cases of intermar- Afghan whose family got settled in the registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan are riages were reported in Mardan, Charssa- Charssadda district 35 years ago when the ethnic Pashtun (85 percent) with smaller da, Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi, Upper first wave of refugees entered Pakistan in numbers from other ethnic groups, includ- and Lower Dir in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa the early 1980s, in the wake of Russian in- ing Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik and Hazara, says province and some parts of the Federally

22 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016

Administered Tribal Area (FATA). live according to the country rules for Earlier this month, federal Interior Minister foreigners,” the KP Home and Tribal Affairs Chaudhary Nisar said the children of an In the past, federal governments have Department official said. Afghan man married to a Pakistani woman extended the legal residency deadline for would be treated as Afghan nationals, not registered Afghans multiple times. How- Nazakat Bibi said her Afghan husband Pakistanis. ever in June 2016, the federal government Raza Haroon Usami was born in Pakistan extended the stay for registered Afghan after his family sought refuge in Peshawar Amina Rafiq, a legal expert and senior refugees for six months – till the end of 30 years ago. He and his relatives owned lawyer in Peshawar High Court, said 2016 with no intent of further extension. business and property here. that according to the UNHCR Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees formulated Under the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951, Bibi, who has three sons, said she didn’t by Afghan Management and Repatriation Afghan refugees were not given Pakistani want to leave Pakistan. Strategy Cell of Home Department, Afghan nationality, even those born in Pakistan. refugees married to Pakistani women “When I resisted the idea of leaving for He said Pakistani women married to would not be given Pakistani nationality. Afghan nationals could go with their hus- Afghanistan, my husband said he would go bands to Afghanistan through a proper visa with my sons and I could live here alone if She said there were many cases where procedure. I wish to. I cannot live without my children Pakistani women didn’t want to go to Af- so I have to leave for Afghanistan,” she told ghanistan with their Afghan spouses. “If their husbands want to live in Pakistan, News Lens. they could come here through visa and Human Rights Waziri refugees in Afghanistan desperate to come home

Ihsan Dawar

Bannu: When the Pakistan government in Afghanistan). Another 2,000 families ized to speak to media. However, refugees announced a military operation against live in Mirsapar and Patha Mela in Paktika from NWA living close to the border said militants in North Waziristan on 15th province of Afghanistan.” there were more than 10,000 families still June, 2014, over a million people left the living in various parts of southeast Af- tribal district helter-skelter to keep up Other tribes like Dawars, Saidgee, Toori ghanistan. with the deadline for evacuation. Khel and Manzar Khel of NWA had also migrated to Khost province in Afghanistan, “Most of them came back through the Thousands of the displaced found refuge said Khan, where they live in a camp set Kurram Agency while some came through in the neighbouring cities of Bannu, Lakki up by the Afghan government with help Khyber Pass after they learnt about the Marwat and Dera Ismail khan. Others from UNHCR – the UN refugee agency. food grant and cash awarded to those wandered further afield, to Peshawar and displaced by Zarb-e-Azb,” said an official other towns of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “They are properly facilitated but the of FDMA who wanted to stay anonymous province. harsh cold winter of Afghanistan causes because he was not authorized to speak to a lot of health problems and they wish to media. But Abid Khan, a resident of the Mama come back like others,” Khan said. Zyarat village in Tehsil Datta Khel, chose a But with NWA declared “clear” of mili- different direction. His family lived right on According to the FATA Disaster Manage- tants, those who are still in Afghanistan the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, so Khan ment Authority (FDMA), nearly 60 per await a signal from the government to and his tribe crossed over to Afghanistan. cent of the displaced population has return. The decision made sense because south- repatriated to North Waziristan Agency. east Afghanistan was nearer; compared More than 30,000 families crossed over “We have heard that the government is to the long and arduous track in blistering to the Khost and Paktika in Afghanistan, planning to bring us back but nobody heat to safety in cities in Pakistan. provinces bordering Pakistan, when the has contacted us so far,” Malik Umar Din military operation in NWA started in 2014. Wazir, a tribal elder, told News Lens on the Now with the military operation Zarb-e- phone, from Khost province in Afghani- Azb complete, Khan says his family, along The same year, some of the homeless stan. “We want to go back to our homes as with 6,000 others living in Afghanistan, displaced chose to come to Pakistan along soon as possible because others displaced want to return home before the harsh with their families when the weather from our area have been rehabilitated so Afghan winter. “They all belong to the turned cold. The harsh winters in Afghani- why not we.” Mada Khel tribe of NWA, who live on stan are unbearable for people from North lands they own inside Afghanistan,” Khan Waziristan who are used to warm weather Wazir and other Pakistani refugees in told News Lens Pakistan. in the plains, said Khan. Khost in Afghanistan live in tent houses set up by UNHCR while those still living The tribes living on the porous border Some of the families who sought refuge on the border, he said, have no basic between the two countries share ethnic in Khost Province of Afghanistan have yet amenities provided to them. and blood ties with those across in Af- to get travel assistance and permission ghanistan. They own land, engage in trade from the government of Pakistan to return “In Laman and Mirsapar areas [in Afghani- and are married into families living on both home. stan], the Mada Khel tribe has dwellings in sides of the border. a dry mountainous region where they have “We have approximately 10,000 families no access to health, education, potable Khan said the entire Mada Khel went over still residing in Khost,” said an official of water and other facilities,” said Abid Khan to Afghanistan in the wake of Zarb-e- the political administration in Miranshah, Wazir from the border area of Mama Azab. “There are more than 4,000 families the agency headquarters in NWA, on con- Zyarat who has seen the refugee dwell- living in tents in the area of Laman (Bermal dition of anonymity as he was not author- ings while coming to Bannu in Pakistan Truth Tracker 23 01-15 October 2016

through Kurram Agency. shah have also completed preparations to Mukhtar Khan, a refugee in Khost told receive refugees at Ghulam Khan Pass at a News Lens on the phone that they had “I cannot describe the abysmal conditions seven days’ notice.” suffered a lot in the past three years and these people live in,” said Khan Wazir. now wished to go back home. He said they Afridi said a review meeting was held at 7 had completed preparations for departure, Tribal elders say that a Jirga – a council HQ at Miranshah two months ago with the to move on a short notice if the govern- of elders – of the displaced people have corps commander giving a “go ahead” for ment asks them to. demanded of the Pakistan government repatriation of refugees. time and again to help bring back those “It seems that the issue of the Pakistanis stranded in Afghanistan. “But still there In Phase One of the repatriation process, displaced in Afghanistan has fallen prey are issues between the two governments he said, data was collected about NWA to internal politics of both states in view when it comes to facilitating the return refugees in Afghanistan. “On the basis of of the recent tension between the two process for the displaced,” said Khan Wazir. this data, it was decided that 200 families countries,” said Malik Ghulam Khan, would be rehabilitated a day and provided General Secretary of the Committee of the The Political Agent North Waziristan the same facilities as we did in case of the Displaced. Agency, Kamran Khan Afridi, claims the internally displaced.” local administration in NWA has made He said they had committed no crime by all arrangements to bring refugees back He also blamed the Afghan forces for not choosing to migrate to Afghanistan at the through the Ghulam Khan Pass. He, how- allowing elders of NWA to meet Pakistani time when the military operation was -an ever, accused the Afghan authorities of authorities to finalize arrangements for nounced. neglecting their repatriation. their repatriation. “They were close to the border and unable “We have raised the issue with the Afghan “They were manhandled twice and [the to travel to Bannu or elsewhere on a short government and with the Coalition Forces Afghan forces] also destroyed the refugee notice, so they chose to go to Afghanistan for cooperation but with zero results,” said data they were bringing with them,” said instead,” he said. Afridi. “Not just the civil administration Afridi. but the military headquarters at Miran-

24 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 Human Rights Women fear reporting workplace sexual harassment

Rameez Anjum Bannu: When the Pakistan government live in Mirsapar and Patha Mela in Paktika there were more than 10,000 families still announced a military operation against province of Afghanistan.” living in various parts of southeast Af- militants in North Waziristan on 15th ghanistan. June, 2014, over a million people left the Other tribes like Dawars, Saidgee, Toori tribal district helter-skelter to keep up Khel and Manzar Khel of NWA had also “Most of them came back through the with the deadline for evacuation. migrated to Khost province in Afghanistan, Kurram Agency while some came through said Khan, where they live in a camp set Khyber Pass after they learnt about the Thousands of the displaced found refuge up by the Afghan government with help food grant and cash awarded to those in the neighbouring cities of Bannu, Lakki from UNHCR – the UN refugee agency. displaced by Zarb-e-Azb,” said an official Marwat and Dera Ismail khan. Others of FDMA who wanted to stay anonymous wandered further afield, to Peshawar and “They are properly facilitated but the because he was not authorized to speak to other towns of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa harsh cold winter of Afghanistan causes media. province. a lot of health problems and they wish to come back like others,” Khan said. But with NWA declared “clear” of mili- But Abid Khan, a resident of the Mama tants, those who are still in Afghanistan Zyarat village in Tehsil Datta Khel, chose a According to the FATA Disaster Manage- await a signal from the government to different direction. His family lived right on ment Authority (FDMA), nearly 60 per return. the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, so Khan cent of the displaced population has and his tribe crossed over to Afghanistan. repatriated to North Waziristan Agency. “We have heard that the government is The decision made sense because south- More than 30,000 families crossed over planning to bring us back but nobody east Afghanistan was nearer; compared to the Khost and Paktika in Afghanistan, has contacted us so far,” Malik Umar Din to the long and arduous track in blistering provinces bordering Pakistan, when the Wazir, a tribal elder, told News Lens on the heat to safety in cities in Pakistan. military operation in NWA started in 2014. phone, from Khost province in Afghani- stan. “We want to go back to our homes as Now with the military operation Zarb-e- The same year, some of the homeless soon as possible because others displaced Azb complete, Khan says his family, along displaced chose to come to Pakistan along from our area have been rehabilitated so with 6,000 others living in Afghanistan, with their families when the weather why not we.” want to return home before the harsh turned cold. The harsh winters in Afghani- Afghan winter. “They all belong to the stan are unbearable for people from North Wazir and other Pakistani refugees in Mada Khel tribe of NWA, who live on Waziristan who are used to warm weather Khost in Afghanistan live in tent houses lands they own inside Afghanistan,” Khan in the plains, said Khan. set up by UNHCR while those still living told News Lens Pakistan. on the border, he said, have no basic Some of the families who sought refuge amenities provided to them. The tribes living on the porous border in Khost Province of Afghanistan have yet between the two countries share ethnic to get travel assistance and permission “In Laman and Mirsapar areas [in Afghani- and blood ties with those across in Af- from the government of Pakistan to return stan], the Mada Khel tribe has dwellings in ghanistan. They own land, engage in trade home. a dry mountainous region where they have and are married into families living on both no access to health, education, potable “We have approximately 10,000 families sides of the border. water and other facilities,” said Abid Khan still residing in Khost,” said an official of Wazir from the border area of Mama Khan said the entire Mada Khel went over the political administration in Miranshah, Zyarat who has seen the refugee dwell- to Afghanistan in the wake of Zarb-e- the agency headquarters in NWA, on con- ings while coming to Bannu in Pakistan Azab. “There are more than 4,000 families dition of anonymity as he was not author- through Kurram Agency. living in tents in the area of Laman (Bermal ized to speak to media. However, refugees in Afghanistan). Another 2,000 families from NWA living close to the border said

Truth Tracker 25 01-15 October 2016

Human Rights Global Warming: Creating awareness is religious obligation of clerics, say scholars

Durdana Najam

Lahore: Religious leaders have failed in that God created the Earth and humans, ing its duty of creating awareness among their moral obligation to create awareness who have a unique and privileged position Muslims about the changes taking places about climate change, scholars in a wide but have also been entrusted with the role in climate, Dr Lakhvi said that our religious range of religions say. of stewards. Care for God’s creation does scholars are detached from the changing not allow them to exploit the earth for social issues in society. He stated that they Pakistan was awakened to the adverse economic self-interest.” had restricted themselves to the mosque. effects of climate change in 2011 when What is happening beyond the precincts a massive flood drowned nearly half of “Rather than having dominion over the of a mosque or seminary is none of their the country. Last year 1,200 people died earth, the believers are called to partner business, Lakhvi said. in a heat wave in Karachi. Over the years, with God in taking the responsibility to Pakistan’s agriculture products have suf- care for their home.” Haroon Sarab Diyal, Chairman of All fered enormously due to erratic monsoon Pakistan Hindu Religious Movement, told rains and weather conditions. According Bhajan says that the Pakistani church has News Lens Pakistan that even though Hin- to German Watch Index, a German-based largely failed to take this issue seriously duism talks exclusively and in detail about think-tank on climate change the floods of within the church walls, and neither has vegetation and its impact in the universe, 2010 resulted in six percent loss in GDP. it entered in the public square to address Hindu religious scholars are not perform- the situation. Religious leaders have the ing their role for awareness about climate The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan moral standing to call people to consider change, adds Diyal. (WWF-Pakistan), in collaboration with how their lives and activities are having an the London School of Economics-Political impact on the environment, she added. “Our holy books Vedas instructs us to Sciences and Lahore University of Man- plant trees and if a tree is cut down agement Sciences, prepared a report The religious leaders, she said, are ill- replace it with a new one. We are doing highlighting the impact of climate change equipped, and before they lead by ex- exactly the opposite. Whatever knowledge on agriculture and food security. Accord- ample, they need to be trained in how to about climate change has reached us it is ing to the report, by 2040, an increase in address this issue. “Sadly, there is exces- through researches by international organ- average temperature of 0.5 degree Celsius sive stress on spirituality and very less talk izations, religious groups or scholars have is expected nationwide, with 8-10 percent about how to live on this earth.” made no contribution to it,” said Diyal. He said that the Hindu scholars are not loss in all crops corresponding to Pakistani Dr Muhammad Hammad Lakhvi, Professor harmonious with the new developments rupees 30,000 per acre. of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab taking place in the world and their knowl- Lahore, said that Quran has explicitly said News Lens Pakistan talked to the repre- edge about climate change is rudimentary, human beings themselves would destroy sentatives of different religious groups he added. to find out if they are doing enough to the climate of this earth. He quoted a contribute in what has become world’s verse from a chapter called Ar-Rum: “Cor- Sardar Charanjeet Singh, representative of number one concern: Climate Change. ruption has appeared throughout the land Pakistan Council of World Religions and and sea by [reason of] what the hands of Sikhism, also lamented the sorry state of Reverend Evelyn R. Bhajan, Diocese of people have earned so He may let them affairs of Sikh religious scholars. He said, Raiwind Church of Pakistan, said, “The taste part of [the consequence of] what “We spend millions in building vast and Holy Bible provides us with numerous they have done that perhaps they will beautiful Gurdwaras, but when it comes to references which compel believers to return [to righteousness].” preserving nature, we become callous and work towards conservation of earth and poor, both materially and aesthetically.” its resources. Genesis 1 presents the idea On explaining if the pulpit in Islam is fulfill- 26 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016

“Guru Granth Sahib is very clear about pro- in a heat wave in Karachi. Over the years, Sciences and Lahore University of Man- tecting nature and its elements and guides Pakistan’s agriculture products have suf- agement Sciences, prepared a report its followers to keep the world clean and fered enormously due to erratic monsoon highlighting the impact of climate change free of nasty practices, but our religious rains and weather conditions. According on agriculture and food security. Accord- scholars have been unable to get this to German Watch Index, a German-based ing to the report, by 2040, an increase in teaching translated into action,” said Singh. think-tank on climate change the floods of average temperature of 0.5 degree Celsius 2010 resulted in six percent loss in GDP. is expected nationwide, with 8-10 percent Pakistan was awakened to the adverse loss in all crops corresponding to Pakistani effects of climate change in 2011 when The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan rupees 30,000 per acre. a massive flood drowned nearly half of (WWF-Pakistan), in collaboration with the country. Last year 1,200 people died the London School of Economics-Political

Human Rights Terror-weary youth set up first-ever library in tribal agency

Masooma Mudasser Peshawar: Khyber Agency: After nearly a The library was established with help Dozens of the schools, including those for decade of turmoil, conflict, and displace- from the Rehmat Memorial Trust and has girls, were destroyed in bombing claimed ment that robbed the region of culture a capacity of 10 000 volumes. It currently by militants or operations carried out by and education, a group of young people holds 1700 books donated by locals. Afridi the security forces against Taliban and in Khyber Agency have started a public said the library is run on a volunteer basis other anti-state elements in the area. library at Jamrud – the first in the agency. by the local youth. According to the agency education The youth say this is a significant develop- Afridi said setting up the library was also authorities, a total of 102 schools out ment because of the threats to education- a sign that local people were getting past of a total of 400 have been destroyed al institutions at the hands of militants. their fear of terrorism as they were now during the ten-year-long militancy in the willing to gather in a public place like the Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency alone. According to the Ministry of States and library. Around 64,000 students have abandoned Frontier Regions, 360 schools were education, either fleeing to safer places or destroyed in three agencies of the Fed- Khyber Agency, one of the seven tribal because their village schools in Bara were erally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) agencies along the Pakistan-Afghanistan destroyed. during 2015. Of that, 139 were in Khyber border, has remained volatile since 2001. Agency. Along with conflict, thousands of people After a decade of debilitating militancy have been displaced from the agency in that destroyed most of the infrastructure “If we want literacy to grow, we cannot recent months in the wake of military in the Khyber Agency, government run just depend on schools and colleges,” said operations against militants. schools and colleges gradually reopened in Asmat Afridi, the librarian. the restive tribal district along the Paki- Truth Tracker 27 01-15 October 2016 stan-Afghanistan border in 2015.

About the people’s interest in the library and member criteria, Asmat Afridi said before September, the library only had 20 members but right after the library was formally opened the number of members increased to 180, mostly students from educational institutions in the Khyber Agency.

The library is divided into several sections with books available on diverse disciplines including history, medicine, literature, general knowledge, culture, and Islamic history. There are also books for primary level children.

In the spirit of providing equal opportunity to all, the library is open to women only on Saturdays in an agency that still has a very conservative outlook on female education.

Asmat Afridi said the step was taken to en- the struggles of the students. He appreci- girls in Bara Tehsil to continue education,” courage women to come to library without ated the help of those who contributed said Malik. “We have an exclusive day for fear or inhibitions. books and volunteer services to establish women which is very good in that it helps the library. us avail the facility comfortably.” Attaullah Afridi, President of Rehmat Memorial Trust, said the library aimed He mentioned that the place where the Aziz Ullah Khan, a student of 2nd year, at providing an opportunity to the tribal library is now was once famous for shops is an avid reader of general knowledge students to become aware about develop- selling drugs. He said they were looking books. “I daily visit the library and read ments in the rest of the world, to educate for sponsorship to upgrade this library by books here right after the college classes,” themselves and read. introducing e-library services that would said Khan. “It really helped me improve my help students to access knowledge and general knowledge and other information,” “The conflict in the region has undermined books easily. he said. the culture of seeking knowledge and education and we have been planning for the Saima Malik, 19, a student of Bachelor’s in Khan said he lived in a place where they past 8 years about how to counter this,” English told News Lens Pakistan she was didn’t have media or television to access said Afridi. “With this library, we have fi- a member of the library since last month. information. “The opening of library is a nally hit upon an idea that would help raise The membership gave her access to books ray of hope for me. I am very happy that literacy and create intellectual curiosity that helped her study, she said. the library will help us in every stage of among the people.” education.” “I am very happy with the library that has He said the library was possible because of provided the first ever opportunity to

28 Truth Tracker 01-15 October 2016 Security Afghan woman fighting against Taliban is ready to face ISIS too...

Rehmat Mehsud Kabul: Firoza, a woman commonly known schools, health centres and extort money vehicles and other kinds of assistance as Hajani, is an Afghan Local Police (ALP) and food from locals,” she told News Lens to fight back militants. “I’ve my sister-in- commander in Sistani, a small town on the Pakistan. laws and nieces and nephews armed. I’m outskirts of Marjah. Though the district leading an unbelievably tough life and I’ve was once considered a Taliban stronghold Earlier, she was under the command of even armed my 12 year old grandson. I for southern Helmand province, Firoza has her husband, Ewaz Mohammad Khan taught him how to fight.” been fighting the Taliban for years. who couldn’t be reached for comments because of communication problems. But Education has been impossible amidst the People of her locality call her Hajani to she said:” I replaced him as ALP command- fighting. Firoza aims to make it possible for show her respect but like many Afghans er because he had a lack of confidence women to have a modern education and she goes by one name. and decision-making power.” serve their nation’s future.

In Pashtun society, people call elderly Firoza’s two sons who were serving in the The saga of terrorism continued to plague women Hajani, a word for women who ALP were killed in a Taliban attack in 2012. Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan where have performed Hajj (pilgrimage) to “Since then, I pledged to myself to carry women and children suffered the most, Makkah and Madina. forward the noble cause of my sons. I will security experts say. stand firm to defend my area and people,” She didn’t know exactly about her age she said. “Hajani has been playing a decisive and because the people of her locality didn’t matchless role against growing insurgency have record of their age. She thinks she is She lost 25 of her people in the fight and the woman is widely appreciated here about 55 years old. against rebels. “I’ve been serving in the in Afghanistan,” Painda Hikmat, an Afghan- ALP for the last four years without getting istan based freelance journalist told News Firoza is of medium build and often wears any remuneration or other perks. I’ve a Lens Pakistan. a black shawl. She has piercing eyes and number of fighters under my command,” a steely voice, and slings an automatic she added. She is the only known example among assault rifle over a shoulder before strid- women fighting openly on the ground ing off, walking ahead of a group of male Afghanistan is widely regarded as a dan- in a very dangerous part of the country, colleagues. gerous country specifically for women but Hikmat added. still the country has 1,531 women in the “Almost four years back, I joined the ranks Afghan National Police (ANP). It noted An official at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) – an ill- that the ALP force was established back requesting for anonymity because he is equipped anti-militant force that hardly in 2010, which is village-focused and has not authorized to speak to media said withstand insurgents’ onslaught. I was defence purposes only. there is no recorded example of harass- forced to take up arms against the Tali- ment of women working in the security ban because they used to torch homes, She said that she direly needed weapons, forces.

Truth Tracker 29 01-15 October 2016

She has informers among Taliban’s ranks Most of her near and dear ones have been sons involved in the killings. and the militants have their men among asking her to shun fight against Taliban. “I the villagers, she said, adding when mili- could not sleep well in the night. I sleep Hikmat said that Firoza was really a source tants plan to storm her village her men with my loaded gun,” she added. of encouragement and strength for all convey her message in advance about the Afghans. “The government should sup- looming onslaught. She said that now there were rumours of port people like Firoza to ensure peace in Daesh (ISIS) to replace Taliban. She said remote areas, which are under militants’ “We then take positions in our trenches. that she neither accept Taliban nor Daesh. sway,” he added. My men had about a dozen time offered They are two sides of the same coin, she, stout resistance to attacks by rebels. Tali- said, pledging to carry on fighting against “I neither have money nor enough influ- ban never succeeded to enter Sistani and both. ence to get my detained sons released but we have inflicted heavy casualties on them I demand President Mohammad Ashraf almost in every engagement,” she recalled. “I really regret the departure of NATO/ Ghani to look into their case on compas- ISAF forces. The withdrawal of foreign sionate grounds and set them free,” she She led several expeditions against Taliban forces created a big security vacuum,” she added. and the militants know her well and send recalled. her threatening messages to quit her The Small War Journal and Institute for struggle against them. She said though she never fought along- the Study of War report that in 2010, side foreign forces but their presence was during a military Operation ‘Moshtarak’ She said Taliban would even torch her a source of strength and security for them. led by US forces in Marjah district in which body if they captured her. She was fight- 15,000- security forces backed by air ing with her head in her hands, she, said, They have helped trained Afghan forces power captured the Marjah district where adding that she would never surrender to well. She recalled she fought alongside they formed the ALP to sustain peace and them. “I only have two options: I’ll either Afghan forces against the Taliban. Together stability in the area. die fighting them or will give peace to my they pushed back the Taliban several times people,” she pledged. and made them on the run. It estimated the total population of the dusty Sistani locality ranging from 50,000 Her men spend their times in trenches, “I demand Afghan government to better to 80,000 people. turn by turn at night. The aim of her entire equip and arm us so we can fight back family, she said was to fight “these buggers militants efficiently. I am patrolling from Recently, Interior Minister Noor-ul-Haq and her last grandson or granddaughter morning to evening to keep rebels at bay Ulumi traveled to the province and award- would carry on this noble cause.” from my village,” she said. ed Firoza a medal for bravery.

She lamented she had no reinforcements At the end, she demanded the Afghan gov- However, when contacted, the Ministry or assistance from the government be- ernment to release two of her sons who of Interior’s spokesman didn’t return call cause the government itself was in trouble are in detention for the last four years. despite repeated attempts. from militants. Firoza’s sons were blamed to be directly Fida Mohammad, 38, is an immediate sub- She said that the people of her village were involved in the killing of their brother-in- ordinate and has all praise for his boss who happy with her role and the villagers spend law but they have not been sentenced by he said was a “constant source of consola- peaceful nights because “I spend sleepless any court till date. tion and morale booster for them.” nights guarding them. However, she vehemently denied her two

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Contact: 4-A/1, Race View, Jail Road, Lahore. [email protected] Phone: 042-35408403 www.newslens.pk 30 Truth Tracker What the promise fulfillment levels mean But Truth Tracker is going to watch as the winners unfold their plans to fulfill those promises. We’ll write about the Promises, promises, promises. That’s the sum of much cam- key promises and then check in occasionally to see how it’s paigning, but then we hear little until the next election rolls going. When a promise is broken, fulfilled, or compromised, around. Then we hear that the party fulfilled all its promises. we’ll let you know.

It is easy to lose track of these promises, when there are We used the party symbols for our icons portraying the so many - and they sound so great in a rousing campaign stages. PML-N, holding the Centre and Punjab, is a tiger. speech. They make colorful, catchy quotes as well. PTI, ruling in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is a cricket bat. And PPP, which rules in Sindh, is the arrow.

These are the five stages of promise fulfillment: Not Started

PTI, PML-N and PPP not started

If a promise is just hanging there, with no action at all, we label it as Not Started. No action, just talk. Underway

PTI, PML-N and PPP UNDERWAY

Once the party has taken some action or positive steps, we label the promise as Underway. This means there is visible progress toward fulfillment. Compromise PTI, PML-N and PPP Compromise

The reality of politics is that you can’t always get what you want. Promises that can’t be fulfilled, but lead to an action that goes partway to fulfillment, are labeled Compromise. Broken PTI, PML-N and PPP broken

When the promise is clearly not going to be fulfilled, we label it Broken. A promise can stagnate for a long time, but we won’t call it broken until there is a decision by the ruling party or a defeat in legislation. Fulfilled

PTI, PML-N and PPP Fulfilled On those happy occasions when a promise is actually carried out, we will mark it Fulfilled. As a part of journalism profession we, at Media Foun- dation 360, have been seeing the problems and pres- sures journalists face within the organization and out in the field regarding their rights and security ranges from salary payment issues to murders and kidnap- pings. This is when we decided to be their voice and stand up for their rights.

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