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Chronology of Pakistan
April 2004
Democrats in bid to block MNNA status for Islamabad
April 1: A legislation has been introduced in the US Congress that will make it difficult for President George Bush to formally designate Pakistan a major non-Nato ally. The legislation has been moved by pro-Indian Congressman Gary Ackerman, a democrat from New York. In his proposed legislation, Mr Ackerman has suggested changing the way the US president can designate a nation a major non-Nato ally. The proposed changes would require two certifications from the US president before making that designation. The first certification deals with democracy and requires the president to certify that the designee is a democracy. The second certification deals with weapons of mass destruction. Under this requirement, the president will have to certify that the designated country participates with the United States in all international agreements and arrangements aimed at preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. This would require a categorical declaration from the US president that the country seeking a major non-Nato ally status works with the US government to prevent the export of chemical, biological, nuclear and other weapons, delivery systems and related dual-use components.
FSC not to be abolished, NA told
April 1: The government is not considering any proposal to abolish or merge the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) with any other judicial institution, said Minister of State for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj in response to a supplementary question of Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan of the PPP during question-hour in the National Assembly.
Pakistan wants more US troops in Afghanistan
April 1: Pakistan called on the United States to reinforce troops in neighboring Afghanistan to defeat Al Qaeda militants and warlords who are thriving on a resurgent opium trade. Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, speaking after Islamabad signed up to an initiative with Afghanistan's other neighbors to combat drugs trafficking, said 19,000 foreign troops was "just not enough" to return the country to stability.
Qazi terms Wana operation a failure
April 1: Acting President Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed said in Islamabad that the Wana operation was a complete failure and the government should learn a lesson from it.
Rally demands end to Wana operation
April 1: Speakers at a protest rally in Peshawar demanded an immediate end to the on-going operation in Wana against people in tribal area. At the rally, organized by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, they said no army operation had ever succeeded in the country, so this one be immediately called off.
Maudoodi's son terms Hudood laws un-Islamic
April 1: Haider Farooq Maudoodi, son of Jamaat-i-Islami founder Maulana Abulala Maudoodi, has emphasized the need for reforming the Hudood Ordinance, which he termed un-Islamic. In a statement issued in Lahore, he appealed to the PML-Q leadership to table a bill in the parliament for reforming the "cruel" Hudood Ordinance without fear of reaction from the religious parties. The chief of his own faction of Jamaat, Mr Farooq, said the ordinance promulgated by Gen Ziaul Haq prosecuted the victim instead of the oppressor. He said since the law required the complainant to produce four witnesses, it made it impossible to punish the rapists. He termed the standard of honesty of witnesses required in the Law of Evidence unrealistic, adding that even pious leaders like Qazi Husain Ahmad and Senator Maulana Samiul Haq could not fulfil these requirements.
644 prosecuted, Rs26.4bn recovered: NAB report
April 1: The National Accountability Bureau prosecuted 644 corruption cases with a conviction rate of 80 per cent besides recovering over Rs26.4 billion from defaulters during the past year, NAB's annual report stated. The report, presented to the media at a press conference in Islamabad, showed that the Bureau recovered Rs24.786 billion from bank defaulters and Rs1.6 billion were collected through plea bargain and voluntary-return deals in 2003.
Lashkar asks foreigners to leave
April 1: The 6,000-member strong Mahsud tribal Lashkar warned tribesmen hosting non-Pakistanis in parts of South Waziristan to expel them or face the consequences.
Treasury’s protest over ‘congratulatory letter’
April 1: The Treasury benches protested against presiding officer of the National Assembly after she set a new precedent by not only paying rich tributes to Qazi Hussain Ahmed on his re-election as Jamaat-e-Islami chief, but also read out a fairly long congratulatory letter in his praise. A defiant Dr Noorjehan Panezai, who was in the chair at the time, instantly dismissed frantic demands from the treasury benches to delete her own "congratulation letter" from the official record of the assembly.
Opening of border with India at Kargil proposed
April 1: Deputy Commissioner Sakrdu Sajid Baloch has recommended opening of border at Kharmang Kargil for the benefit of thousands of divided families, as well as better economic and tourism opportunities and improvement in confidence building measures for both India and Pakistan. In an official letter to the authorities concerned about the proposal of movement of people across the LoC at Olding and Siari points of Baltistan, Baloch said that the local population demanded opining of the border through their elected representatives.
IAEA approached to verify nuke samples report
April 1: Urging that any reference to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors should not be "misconstrued" or "overemphasized", the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog has indicated its decision to continue requesting, through diplomatic channels, for permission for visiting relevant nuclear facilities in Pakistan to take environmental samples required to determine whether the highly enriched uranium contamination found in Iran originated from Pakistan.
Pakistan ranks 56th in scientific publications
April 1: The Higher Education Commission has described it as alarming for Pakistan’s higher education sector, the country’s ranking, currently 56 in the world in terms of scientific research and publication of scientific articles in international journals.
Govt moves NSC bill amid protest
April 2: Amid opposition protests, the government moved a bill in the National Assembly to establish the National Security Council. All opposition parties walked out after being disallowed by Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain to voice their objections to the NSC bill, provoking Prime Minister Jamali to lambaste them for what he called 'most un-parliamentary' conduct and 'blackmail'.
NA panel approves bill in 35 minutes
April 2: The National Assembly's standing committee on law and parliamentary affairs unanimously approved the proposed draft National Security Council (NSC) bill which had been referred to it by the lower house in the morning. The draft bill was approved in only 35 minutes as there was no discussion, nor any opposition, informed sources told Dawn .
Opposition groups join hands
April 2: The opposition parliamentary groups joined hands against the draft National Security Council bill introduced in the National Assembly , terming it a means to perpetuate the control of the military on parliament and other democratic institutions. Two major opposition alliances, the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i -Amal (MMA), which drifted apart after the latter supported the government in getting the 17th amendment bill passed, decided to once again wage a joint struggle against the NSC.
PPP condemns NSC Bill's bulldozing
April 2: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) criticized what it called bulldozing of the National Security Council (NSC) Bill in the National Assembly and vowed to continue to oppose it.
Pakistani boy treated at India's cardiac hospital
April 2: Four-year-old Parvez Iqbal, another beneficiary of the thaw in Pakistan-India relations, became the first Pakistani child to be treated here for cardiac complications. Parvez, who belongs to a family from Rajanpur in Punjab, was operated upon at the Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi, to plug a hole between the lower chambers of his heart.
Indian HC eases visa process for businessmen
April 2: The Indian High Commission in Islamabad has initiated steps aimed at facilitating the process for issuing visas to bona fide business travelers. According to a press release, a drop box service will be available to applicants from April 7. Business visa seekers can now deposit their passports with complete applications with Gerrys/FedEx for their onward submission to the high commission.
NA told 1,048 Pakistanis in foreign jails
April 2: The National Assembly was told that 1,048 Pakistanis were detained in countries like USA, England and Afghanistan but Pakistani missions were providing consular access to the prisoners in the respective countries. Water and Power Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao on behalf of Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said that out of 1,048 detainees, the total number of Pakistanis in the immigration custody of USA was 211.
Hashmi denies sedition charge
April 3: ARD President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi denied charges of sedition and mutiny and said the October 12, 1999, coup had lowered the army's prestige among the people. Mr Hashmi made these observations in a 100-page statement submitted before a court trying him inside the Adiala Jail. Copies of the 100-page statement in Urdu were released by the PML-N. Mr Hashmi is the acting president of the PML-N.
No second thoughts on MNNA status: US
April 3: The US State Department has rejected speculations that President George Bush is having second thoughts about designating Pakistan a major non-Nato ally. We are currently processing the formal request for the designation, said the State Department in a statement.
MMA opposes NSC
April 3: MMA vice-president Prof Sajid Mir says the alliance shall never vote for the National Security Council (NSC) bill, fearing that it will pave the way for dictatorship.
PML-Q senator calls NSC a safety valve
April 3: Q-League senator Kamil Ali Agha says the National Security Council (NSC) will work as a safety valve to avert imposing of martial law and unforeseen dangers to the democratic system. In a statement, he said the politicians opposing the NSC bill were attempting to ignore contemporary political realities.
NSC to hinder vindication of Pak democracy: EU
April 3: Expressing their deep apprehensions on the National Security Council Bill (NSCB) in Pakistan, influential European Parliamentarians, led by Rapporteur John Cushnahan, have decided to vote negatively in voting on April 6 in one of the strongest committees of the European Parliament. The voting is on a proposal seeking to launch fresh move aimed at vindicating Pakistani democracy by taking the issue to the full house of the European Parliament before it is dissolved for fresh election.
Troops, tribesmen exchange fire: Convoy attacked in N. Waziristan
April 3: Pakistan troops and local tribesmen exchanged fire about 20 kilometres to the west of regional headquarters of North Waziristan tribal region. There were no casualties.
Officials in Miramshah were quick to downplay the fire exchange saying misunderstanding triggered the incident.
'PML-N against Wana operation'
April 3: Pakistan Muslim League-N chief organizer Aijaz Shafi has said the country is facing crisis but President Gen Pervez Musharraf is least bothered about integrity and solidarity of the country and his objective is to prolong his rule.
Tribesmen's warning
April 3: The Khyber Union, a political organization of Khyber Agency, has demanded of the government to give decision-making powers to tribal jirgas in the proposed reforms to be carried out in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). In a meeting of Afridi elders held in Bara, the KU resolved to resist any move that violated the tribal customs and traditions while implementing the reforms in the tribal areas.
Chinese to invest $500m in textile sector
April 3: Chinese investors would launch joint projects in the textile sector by investing $500 million in the Punjab. This was stated by Punjab Industries Minister Ajmal Cheema on Saturday after a meeting with an eight-member Chinese trade delegation in Lahore.
MNNA status permits access to sensitive technology: papers
April 3: Designation as a "major non-Nato ally" gives a member state access to commercial satellite technology and allows it to buy depleted uranium from the United States, according to a set of documents Dawn received. The official US introduction to the MNNA status also makes it clear that it "does not entail the same mutual defense and security guarantees afforded to North Atlantic Treaty Organization members."
Huge explosions reported in Azam Warsak
April 1: Gloom and panic again gripped the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan after huge explosions, forcing the people to ran for cover and close their businesses. A number of shops were reported to have been destroyed in the explosions, with no causes immediately known.
Afaq Ahmed arrested in Karachi
April 3: Afaq Ahmed, Chairman of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), was arrested along with two of his colleagues in an early morning raid in a posh locality of Karachi. A Sindh government spokesman said, "Afaq Ahmed, leader of MQM Haqiqi, is arrested on charges of murder, kidnapping, assault on public servants, rioting and others as several cases had been registered against him".
Altaf announces general amnesty for dissidents
April 3: Announcing the general amnesty for those who joined the rival group at gunpoint, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Chief Altaf Hussain has said that the chapter of anti-Muttahida elements and forces has closed. Addressing from London on telephone to the general workers meeting, Altaf Hussain said despite the operations and killings of thousands of workers, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has survived with the support of the people.
NRB chairman contradicts ICG report on devolution system
April 3: Chairman National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) Daniyal Aziz contradicted the report of International Crisis Group on "Devolution in Pakistan" terming it baseless and unfounded. Addressing a press conference at NRB headquarters, he said the arguments stated in the report that Local Government system was designed to hold the referendum or use it to perpetuate the military regime are contrary to the facts.
Jamali for restoring deleted Qur’anic verses from syllabi
April 3: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said that anything that is contrary to the teachings of Islam and ideology of Pakistan should not be made part of syllabi at educational institutions of the country.
Allahyar elected PAC chairman: Muttahida boycotts proceedings
April 10: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) boycotted the election of the public accounts committee (PAC) chairman in its first meeting in Islamabad, sources told Dawn. The sources said the only MQM member in the committee, Kunwar Khalid Younus, attended the meeting and lodged his protest for not taking his party into confidence regarding the election of Malik Allahyar Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q as the PAC chairman.
ARF: India blocking Pakistan's entry
April 10: The Indian Ministry of External Affairs is quietly lobbying against Pakistan's entry into the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). A report in The Hindustan Times said that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has asked all its ambassadors in the 10 ASEAN countries to oppose Pakistan's candidature for the ARF. The ARF, established in 1994, is the principal forum for security dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region.
Two N-scientists released
April 10: The government released two officials of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and one businessman who were detained for 'debriefing' for their possible links in the nuclear proliferation. The released officials are the security in charge of the KRL Brig Tajwar, an engineer Dr Naseemuddin and Aizaz Jaffery, a businessman who was said to be a close associate of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program.
Man linked to Al Qaeda deported
April 10: Pakistan deported to Canada the youngest son of an Egyptian-born Canadian killed by Pakistani forces during a raid on an Al Qaeda hideout in October. An Interior Ministry spokesman said Abdul Karim Khadr, the youngest son of Ahmed Said Khadr, was deported to Canada on the request of the Canadian government.
NSC termed threat to democratic institutions
April 10: The National Security Council poses a serious threat to democratic institutions and the Act under which the NSC has been formed is a contravention of the supremacy of parliament. This was observed by most of the speakers at a seminar organized by the political cell of the Jamaat-i-Islami's women wing at Idara Noor-i-Haq in Karachi. The topic was: The National Security Council Act - its implications and reservation.
Pakistan, UAE sign MoU to set up joint venture: Gas pipeline projects
April 10: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Pakistan and UAE gas companies in Islamabad to establish a joint venture in gas pipelines projects. The MoU was signed by the chairman of Trans Asia Gas of UAE, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Ghurair, and the managing-director of Interest gas company (ISGSL) in Pakistan, Rasheed Loue.
13,763 mosque schools in country
April 10: There are 13,763 mosque schools in Pakistan with Punjab having the highest number of 8,082 schools to cater to the educational needs especially in areas where formal primary schools were not available in the nearby vicinity. An official source told Dawn that out of 13,763 schools, no such school was functioning in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). Tracing history, the source said around 37,000 Masjid/Maktab schools were opened throughout the country under the Masjid/Maktab school concept which was introduced under Education Policy and Implementation Programme (1979). But majority of these schools were converted to regular primary schools or closed down due to availability of regular formal schools in the close vicinity.
Punjab CM orders correction in textbooks
April 10: Punjab Chief Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi has directed the Punjab Textbook Board to include word "Razi-Allah Tala-Unho" and "Rehmat-Ullah-Aleih", with the names of "Sahabas" and other renowned personalities of Islamic history.
ANP blames MMA for 'imposition' of NSC
April 11: The Awami National Party has criticized the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for resorting to what it termed politics of convenience, accusing it of indemnifying Gen Pervez Musharraf's actions by passing the 17th Amendment , which ultimately led to the imposition of the National Security Council. ANP's information secretary Zahid Khan told journalists at a news conference in Islamabd that the MMA was afforded what he called last opportunity to prove its worth as a political entity but the alliance had failed to fare well and had lost support even in NWFP.
Musharraf to shed uniform on time: PM
April 11: President Gen Pervaiz Musharraf is committed to restore true democracy and will do away with uniform according to the agreement signed with MMA, said Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali while talking to journalists at the residence of Ch Asim Nazir MNA in Faisalabad. Commenting on the statement of Federal Interior Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat that president should remain in uniform under the prevailing circumstances, he said that president was a man of principle and would honor his commitment since he and the MMA had signed but would fulfill his commitment at the time agreed.
Sedition: Javed Hashmi jailed for 23 years
April 12: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) acting President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment by a court on sedition charges. Hashmi is the first Muslim Leaguer convicted in an anti-state case in Pakistan. Chaudhry Asad Raza, District & Sessions Judge of Islamabad, announced the judgment against Hashmi at the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, in the presence of the PML-N leader’s close relatives and lawyers. Hashmi had been tried in camera in the Jail for nearly four months. He was charged with spreading hatred against the Army and attempting to cause mutiny in the force by distributing among media men a letter, supposed to have been written by some disgruntled military officers, condemning President General Pervez Musharraf’s policies.
Opposition slams Hashmi’s conviction
April 12: The combined opposition in Senate criticized the decision of the sessions court against the ARD parliamentary leader, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, for granting him imprisonment for 23 years and fine of Rs 42,000 in a sedation case. The opposition members also staged a token walkout from the House.
Patriots ask Musharraf not to doff his uniform
April 12: Minister for Defense Rao Sikandar Iqbal said that it would be in the "best national interest" if President General Pervez Musharraf remained in uniform. "The way President Musharraf has been meeting the challenges it has become imperative that he may not doff his army uniform," Rao Sikandar Iqbal said while addressing a press conference after a meeting with the president in Islamabad.
Musharraf asked not to doff uniform
April 12: Leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Sindh provincial minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, addressing a pressing conference in Karachi, appealed to the President General Pervez Musharraf not to doff his uniform for the next two years keeping in view the national and regional situation.
Afghanistan frees nine Pakistani prisoners
April 12: Afghanistan freed nine Pakistanis jailed for fighting with the Taliban or spying, the latest in a series of releases aimed at easing tense relations between the two countries. Six of the nine who were interviewed by AFP following their release admitted they had come to Afghanistan to fight and support the Taliban.
Rice Mill owners accuse contractors of extortion
April 12: President of Sindh Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association (SBRMTA) Gada Hussain Mahessar has said the growers are being provided no facilities, but the contractors are being facilitated by the government functionaries to extort "goonda tax" from the growers in the name of market committees by setting up "posts" (Nakas) on the roads.
Militants-Jirga talks fail to make headway
April 12: The talks between militants and a grand tribal Jirga in South Waziristan failed to make any headway but the sides agreed to meet again to discuss the contentious issues, The News said.
SHC sets aside conviction of former FIA official
April 12: A Sindh High Court (SHC) appellate bench set aside the convictions of former Deputy-Director, FIA, Chowdhary Muhammad Sharif, constable M Hanif, and driver Mukhtar Ahmed, in an accountability case and remanded the case to the trial court for retrial of the appellant after arraigning them afresh. Appellants were tried by the accountability judge, Dr Qamaruddin on charges of amassing wealth and property through illegal means.
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