Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: PAK31781 Country: Pakistan Date: 18 May 2007 Keywords: Pakistan – Sialkot – PML (N) This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. 1. Are there any reports of harassment of low level activists in PML(N) by student, or other internal party groups, if they want to discontinue involvement in the party? RESPONSE 1. Are there any reports of harassment of low level activists in PML (N) by student, or other internal party groups, if they want to discontinue involvement in the party? No information could be located on harassment by the MSF of the PML-N members who wanted to leave the party. However, there are reports of violence by members of the student wing of the opposition political party Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) PML-N, the Muslim Students’ Federation (MSF). The PML-N led by politician Nawaz Sharif formed the government in Pakistan following the 1997 general elections. However in 1999, the PML-N government was deposed in a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf. Research Response PAK17747 of 20 January 2006 provides information on the relationship between the PML-N and the MSF. The response highlighted a number of reports that referred to activities of the MSF members in the Pakistani district of Sialkot in Punjab. On 4 November 2004, the Government Murray College in Sialkot was closed for two days after a student was killed by the MSF activists and as a result, the Governor of Punjab, Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool on 10 November announced measures to eliminate political organisations from universities. According to the Dawn website, on 25 May 2005, tensions between the MSF and a rival student organisation Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) flared up after the IJT alleged “that MSF activists with the help of some outsiders attacked their members and injured them seriously. But the police instead of arresting the accused rounded up IJT students which was uncalled for”. The report continues that “Civil Lines police registered a case against 13 MSF activists, including Ishtiaq Alam, Nasir Mahmood, Salak Shahbaz, Sarfraz Janjua, Ibrar Gujjar, Afzal Khan, Wajahat Khan and Rai Khizar, on the report of Aziz Hasan of the IJT. However, none of the nominated accused has so far been arrested”. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada response of 5 May 2004, between September 2001 and March 2004, the MSF participated in a number of protest demonstrations against the military backed government. “In June 2003, the MSF (along with other student organisations) reportedly joined the Sindh Shagrid Alliance, an organisation that promotes education and student rights throughout the province of Sindh”. The response further noted that “several MSF members were arrested and detained in 2000 and 2003” (RRT Country Research 2006, Research Response PAK17747, 20 January – Attachment 1; ‘Murray College observes two-day mourning: Student’s killing’ 2004, Dawn website, 4 November http://www.dawn.com/2004/11/04/local39.htm – Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 2; Gillani, W. 2004, ‘Govt mopping up politics from campuses: Maqbool’, Daily Times, 10 November http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-11-2004_pg7_26 – Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 3; for a chronology on cases of harassment and violence against the PML-N see Question 1 of RRT Country Research 2006, Research Response PAK17768, 24 January – Attachment 4; ‘Tension persists on PMC campus’ 2005, Dawn, 25 May http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/25/nat29.htm – Accessed 14 May 2007 – Attachment 5; for a political history of the PML-N see Questions 1 and 5 of RRT Country Research 2005, Research Response PAK17708, 14 December – Attachment 6; Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2004, PAK42531.E – Pakistan: The treatment/detention of members, activists and workers of the Pakistan Muslim League PML and, its student wing, the Muslim Student Federation (MSF), by the government and other opposition parties (June 2000-March 2004), 5 May – Attachment 7). PML-N – Recent Developments According to Stratfor, the former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in an interview in the British Daily Times Online on 16 May called President General Pervez Musharraf “a gone man”. According to the report: Sharif, who also is leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and was ousted from power by Musharraf in 1999, said Musharraf’s “options are totally exhausted, and starting from today [his fall] is simply a matter of time.” Sharif is not exaggerating -- with each passing day Musharraf appears to be losing his hold on power. Musharraf’s own constituency, the military, is beginning to show signs of concern -- even his close generals are now privately admitting things have gotten out of hand. There also are indications that the United States has begun to gradually move away from the embattled Pakistani leader (‘Geopolitical Diary: Examining a Post-Musharraf Pakistan’ 2007, Stratfor, 16 May – Accessed 17 May 2007 – Attachment 8). On 15 May 2007, PML-N members participated in a demonstration against the Karachi killings of 12 May, alleged by the opposition parties to have been carried out by pro- Musharraf Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and the suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. According to the Business Recorder, “the rally commenced from Alwan-e-Adal and terminated at Governor House. Initially, the police set up hurdles on the way of rally, which were forcefully removed by angry protestors”. The PML-N has accused the military for the continued chaos and political violence in the country and as a result, it formed a broad coalition with the Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) but according to the Asian News International, “the two former Pakistan Prime Ministers [Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto] are apparently headed for a parting of ways in the wake of the reported deal with the Musharraf regime to facilitate Bhutto’s return to Pakistan after a decade of self-exile” (Nawaz, H & Riaz, M. 2007, ‘Lawyers and parties protest over the Karachi killings’, Business Recorder, 15 May – Attachment 9; ‘Sharif ‘pleads’ with Benazir not to tie-up with Musharraf’ 2007, Asian News International, 14 May – Attachment 10; for information on the clash between MQM and the PPP see: ‘Violent clashes hit Pakistan city’ 2007, BBC, 12 May http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6649089.stm – Accessed 15 May 2007 – Attachment 11). On 6 May 2007, Sialkot police released more than one hundred and thirty activists belonging to the PML-N, the PPP and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The activists were arrested in Sialkot and Narowal districts on 2 May during a special crackdown on opposition activities. According to the Pakistan Press International Information Services, “majority of the activists went underground to avert their possible arrests. The police had arrested as many as 10 PML-N and MMA local leaders from Sialkot district late last night [2 May]” (‘130 activists of opposition parties released’ 2007, Pakistan Press International Information Services, 6 May – Attachment 12; ‘25 more activists of PML-N and MMA arrested during a crackdown’ 2007, Pakistan Press International Information Services, 3 May – Attachment 13). In April 2007, the PML-N women activists tore the picture of President Musharraf and attacked a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) PML (Q) during a demonstration against the suspension of the Pakistan’s Chief Justice. On 3 April, lawyer wing of the PML-N in Sialkot “observed complete strike and none of them appeared before the courts”. According to the Frontier Star, “lawyer wings of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and representatives of Non Governmental Organization (NGOs) as a token participated in the march. During the march, the lawyers and demonstrators were holding black flags and banners inscribed with anti Musharraf, government and independence of judiciary slogans” (‘Strict security measures taken during suspended CJ’s hearing’ 2007, Frontier Star, 18 April – Attachment 14; ‘lawyers stage countrywide protests, boycott courts, announce million march on April 19’ 2007, Frontier Star, 3 April – Attachment 15). According to the Pakistan Press International Information Services, a magistrate on 27 February issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against PML-N leaders in Sialkot. The report stated that: The Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate Daska Ilyas Rehan, has issued the non-bailable arrest warrants of PML-Ns central leader, MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif and four other PML-N district leaders including ex-MNA Sahibzada Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah, Idrees Ahmad Bajwa the PML-N Sialkot district president, former MPA Mansha Ullah Butt and Shujaat Ali Pasha for not appearing before this court in a case of Bambaanwala police station. According to FIR [First Information Report] lodged at Bambaanwala police station under section 324 PPC, the accused PML-N leaders had a clash with the police party, as the police had halted the PML-N from going to Lahore Airport upon the arrival of PML-N President Mian Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore during 2004. The police wanted the above-mentioned accused and the case was under trial in the Daska court. The court on Tuesday issued the non-bailable arrest warrants of PML-N leaders including MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif. The court ordered the police to arrest these accused PML-N leaders and produce them before the said court, in this regard on April 04, 2007 for hearing of this case. On the other hand, the police still remain unable to arrest these accused (‘Non-bailable warrants of PML-N leaders’ 2007, Pakistan Press International Information Services, 28 February – Attachment 16).