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Chronology of Pakistan
February 2003
Qadir's appointment triggers debate
Feb. 2: The nomination of Lt-Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch by President General Pervez Musharraf as governor Balochistan has triggered a constitutional debate about the validity of this appointment. Constitutional experts term the appointment as ultra vires of the Constitution. However, the government's spokesman believes that the president has the authority to grant a waiver or exemption to get a government servant appointed as governor within two years of his/her retirement. The president on Jan. 31 named Corps Commander Quetta Lt-Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch as governor Balochistan replacing Justice (retd) Amirul Mulk Mengal. According to government's spokesman, the governor-designate has been granted exemption of the condition that no government official can hold any public office within two years of his retirement. Constitutional expert, Barrister Akram Sheikh, however, finds this appointment as unconstitutional. He explained while talking to The News from Lahore that the appointment was contrary to Article 101 of the Constitution, which deals with the governor's appointment.
PM orders crackdown on Bugtis, Mazaris
Feb. 3: The Jamali government gave a go-ahead to the law-enforcement agencies for a grand operation against Bugti and Mazari tribes, involved in disruption of gas supply to the various parts of the country in order to establish the writ of the law in the troubled areas of Balochistan. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, presided over by the prime minister and attended by federal and provincial government authorities, in Islamabad, sources said. However, they added, the Balochistan government asked the Centre not to launch any operation in the troubled areas unless cleared by the provincial government.
Container blast kills 17 near Sialkot
Feb 4: At least 17 people, including schoolchildren and a customs inspector, were killed and 35 others injured in a heavy explosion in two large-sized containers full of firecrackers, at Sialkot dryport in at Sambrial in Daska tehsil.
Pakistan situation not good for pipeline
Feb 4: India has not foreclosed its options for a gas pipeline from Iran running through Pakistan, but New Delhi is concerned about the political situation in Pakistan , junior minister for foreign affairs Dignivay Singh said. He told rediff.com that India was keener on a road project that would link the Iranian port of Chahbahar to Central Asia and eventually to Afghanistan and even Russia. "If this project comes through we can go to Central Asia without entering Pakistan."
Investigation against Akram dropped
Feb 4: The District Attorney's office in New York has dropped investigation against Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram on assault charges. The sources said that the DA's office informed lawyers for Mr Akram that they had decided not to pursue the case. The prosecutors wanted to investigate Akram on assault charges made in a telephone call by a woman friend, Marijana Mihic, 35, who has since recanted on her story.
Qalandar Momand passes away
Feb 4: Qalandar Momand, progressive poet, journalist, trade unionist, teacher and linguist, died in Peshawar. He was 73. Mr Momand was editor of the daily Shahbaz , the official organ of the defunct National Awami Party (NAP), and chief editor of the daily Anjam. He was imprisoned several times for his radical views. Momand was detained in a cell at Lahore Fort next to that of Hasan Nasir, secretary-general of the Communist Party of Pakistan, and was the sole witness to the latter's death by torture during the Ayub dictatorship. He is survived by two sons, Jalawan Momand and Zalan Momand, and a daughter, Durre Nayab Sahibzadah, all three of whom are journalists.
Musharraf arrives in Moscow with 'big hopes'
Feb. 4: President General Pervez Musharraf arrived in Moscow for a landmark visit aimed in part at trying to shift Russia away from its decades-long alliance with India. President Musharraf, the first Pakistani president to visit Russia in 33 years, said on his arrival in Moscow that he "had big hopes for the visit."
India agrees to Baglihar inspection
Feb 5: India agreed to arrange a visit of Pakistani officials to occupied Kashmir for inspection of the controversial Baglihar hydropower project site. "They have agreed to arrange a visit as soon as possible," said Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Jamaat Ali Shah in reply to a question after a nine-hour marathon session in Islamabad of the Permanent Indus Commission.
US wants Pakistan to give India MFN status
Feb 5: The United States is persuading Islamabad to give India "Most Favoured Nations (MFN)" status as required under the WTO regime, reliable sources told Dawn. The commercial secretary of the US embassy in Islamabad has initiated contact with the ministry of commerce to convince the Pakistani government that the decision would help increase trade between the two countries.
Talks-enabling climate stressed: Pakistan-Russia joint statement
Feb 6: Pakistan and Russia stressed the need for continuous sincere efforts by the parties concerned of South Asia to create conditions for resuming the dialogue between Pakistan and India in order to resolve all outstanding issues between them on the basis of equity and justice. In a joint statement issued on the eve of the departure of President Pervez Musharraf after his three-day visit to Russian Federation, Moscow appreciated the withdrawal of Pakistani and Indian troops from the border to peacetime locations. The first ever document of its kind to be issued jointly by the two countries discussed almost all the bilateral, regional and international problems and condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Indus water talks fail
Feb 6: The Pakistan-India talks on the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 ended in failure in Islamabad, with Pakistan announcing referring the dispute over construction of Baglihar Power project on river Chenab by India to a neutral expert for resolution. "Due to the reluctance of India to resolve the issue at the level of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), in accordance with article IX(1) of the treaty, Pakistan will be left with no option but to invoke article IX(2)(a) of the treaty for the appointment of a neutral expert for the resolution of the issue," an official announcement issued at the end of the talks said.
This would be the first time since the ratification of the treaty 43 years ago that a dispute on river waters would be referred to a neutral expert for resolution.
First Urdu education CD launched
Feb 6: The first multi-media bilingual program in the form of a CD to educate pre-school children about different body parts was launched in Karachi at a local hotel. The package has been prepared by the software house, Enabling Technologies under the title 'Know your body'. The software program has been especially designed to educate children from the ages of two to four and can be run in both English and Urdu languages.
New Delhi expels diplomat, four aides: Tit-for-tat response by Pakistan
Feb 8: India ordered the expulsion of Pakistan's acting High Commissioner Jaleel Abbas Jilani and four other officials, giving them 48 hours to leave and their families a week, as a fresh round of diplomatic bludgeoning touched a new low by their own ordinary standards.
Selection for UN tribunal irks judges
Feb 9: The appointment of Law Secretary Justice Mansoor Ahmad as member of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for four years has created resentment among the members of judiciary , who feel that the official took advantage of his being close to the executive authorities. A source told Dawn that high-ups in the judiciary were upset at the appointment of Justice Ahmad as member of the ICT for Rwanda. Sources in the judiciary say that Justice Ahmad, on receiving information from the United Nations through the foreign affairs ministry, got his name approved from the president, without sharing it with any judicial functionary or those responsible for keeping liaison with the judiciary.
Blast at gas plant kills one
Feb 9: One person died and another was injured in a blast which occurred in liquid nitrogen gas plant on the premises of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Nilore, 20kms east of the federal capital. The blast, however, was not related to any nuclear activity.
SC allows losers to contest Senate polls: Article 8AA declared discriminatory
Feb 10: A Supreme Court bench declared the law which had prohibited defeated politicians from contesting Senate elections as discriminatory and violative of Article 25 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court said: "We hold that Article 8AA is discriminatory in nature and as such violative of Article 25 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan."
Japan resumes loans to Pakistan
Feb 10: Japan said it had agreed to provide a 26-million-dollar loan to Pakistan, the first fresh lending since Tokyo lifted its sanctions in 2001. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed a loan agreement totalling 26 million dollars with Pakistan in Islamabad last week, a bank official said. The loan is part of Japan's support for construction of a 1,885-metre tunnel and its approach road in the North West Frontier Province, the government-run bank said.
Poverty on the rise in rural areas, says report
Feb 10: With ever-declining production in agriculture sector, poverty is increasing in rural areas of the country, says a report. According to the report prepared by Centre for Research on Poverty Reduction and Income Distribution (CRPRID), poor marketing facilities, inadequate farm-to-market roads, warehouses, cold storage facilities, grading and processing facilities are responsible for squeezing incomes in the rural areas.
NAB cannot check horse-trading
Feb 11: National Accountability Bureau Chairman (NAB) Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez said that the NAB Ordinance do not empower the bureau to check horse-trading in parliament, and corruption of judges and army generals. "Horse-trading in the parliament do not come under the definition of corruption to be checked by the National Accountability Bureau ," he said while speaking to reporters at a briefing on launching of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy at a five star hotel.
Durrani moves ahead on renaming NWFP
Feb 11: The provincial government is considering setting up a committee to deliberate on a new name for the North West Frontier Province, said Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani. Talking to various delegations at the Frontier House, he said it was important to give the province a proper identity, adding that all sections of society would be consulted in the choosing of a name. Mr Durrani said it was sad to note that the NWFP had remained without a proper name since 1947. He regretted that political players in the past had made the issue controversial by treating it as an opportunity to score points.
India tests cruise missile that can strike key Pakistani cities
Feb 12: India conducted its fourth missile test this year, firing a supersonic cruise missile capable of hitting major cities in Pakistan. Islamabad denounced the test as a sign of New Delhi's "massive militarization."
US official warns of coup in Pakistan
Feb 14: Head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency has warned that a coup against President Pervez Musharraf could result in an "extremist Pakistan". Testifying on global threats before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this week, Vice-Admiral Lowell Jacoby said President Musharraf's Islamist opponents were not happy with his policies and they could try to instigate a political crisis through violent means. "This could result in an extremist Pakistan," he warned.
Court exempts Faisal from appearance
Feb 14: An accountability court in Lahore exempted Federal Interior Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat from personal appearance in a reference against him.
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