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Chronology of Pakistan
July 2003
Three Sharif family women deported
July 1: The hide-and-seek between police and three women members the Sharif family came to an end on the fifth day as police arrested them from the Model Town residence of Mian Shahbaz Sharif's brother-in-law, took them to Islamabad and deported them to Saudi Arabia by air. They stayed in Pakistan for about three months quietly. However, the press interviews of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif and a protest demonstration by the PML-N workers during President Musharraf's stay in Washington prompted the government to take retaliatory measures, including the deportation of the three women.
Sri Lanka arrests 256 Pakistanis
July 1: Sri Lanka's navy and police surrounded a cargo ship and arrested 256 Pakistanis who were trying to leave illegally for Italy. Navy sailors boarded the ship and arrested 185 Pakistanis while in two other raids onboard a trawler and on shore another 71 Pakistanis were detained, Colombo police said.
Bush lauds role of Pakistan
July 2: During a speech on Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W. Bush told the Americans it was important for them to know that Pakistan was playing a key role in fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In his speech, made exactly a week after his meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Bush also praised the Pakistani government as one of those that understood the threat of terrorism and were fighting to root it out. "Since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, it is important for our fellow citizens to know that Pakistan has apprehended more than 500 terrorists, including hundreds of members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban," Mr Bush said, addressing a reenlistment ceremony of military service members at the White House.
Bush lauds role of Pakistan
July 2: During a speech on Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W. Bush told the Americans it was important for them to know that Pakistan was playing a key role in fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In his speech, made exactly a week after his meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Bush also praised the Pakistani government as one of those that understood the threat of terrorism and were fighting to root it out. "Since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, it is important for our fellow citizens to know that Pakistan has apprehended more than 500 terrorists, including hundreds of members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban," Mr Bush said, addressing a reenlistment ceremony of military service members at the White House.
Pakistan and France agree to deepen economic ties
July 3: France and Pakistan agreed to identify areas of enhancing bilateral trade and economic cooperation. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin told newsmen after an hour-long meeting in Paris that the two countries would work together to strengthen and deepen the bilateral ties.
Musharraf rules out compromise on N-plan, Kashmir
July 3: President Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan's nuclear technology was country's strength and its stance on Kashmir was well-known and anyone even thinking of compromising on either of them would be a traitor. Ruling out any pressure on him from the world community or its leadership, Musharraf told a huge gathering of overseas Pakistanis in France and those living in adjoining European countries that only a traitor could imagine of any sell-out on national achievements and country's honor.
Pakistan has extradition treaty with US, LHC told
July 3: The federal government informed the Lahore High Court that Pakistan has a treaty with the US for extraditing any wanted accused. The deputy attorney-general provided this information in connection with a petition seeking recovery of two accused, Shah Nawaz and Naveed Mujtaba, allegedly arrested by the FBI. "Pakistan can hand over any accused wanted by USA under this treaty with some conditions. The government conducts an inquiry and also gives an opportunity to the accused to defend himself, and if he fails to do so, we extradite him," he further said.
Pagara predicts bad days for Maulvis
July 3: Chief of his own faction of Muslim League (PML-F) Pir Pagara said that there would be no utility and benefit for continuing with the elected parliament if it failed legislating for the good of the people. Addressing a press conference at his residence, Kangri House in Karachi, he said that the elected parliamentarians after raising the slogan of 'go Musharraf go' within the parliament house should now also become ready for their disqualification from the legislatures. Referring to the unseated MMA parliamentarian from Kohat, Pagara believed that the religious lot in the parliament would be minimized with what he called in lighter vein, 'rigorous imprisonment'. "I feel sorry for what is destined to confront the maulvis."
Afrasyab rejoins ANP
July 4: Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Afrasyab Khattak rejoined the Awami National Party after parting ways with the party over a decade ago. Later, speaking at a press conference at the ANP's headquarters in Peshawar, Mr Khattak stressed the need for unity among the ranks of Pukhtuns, saying it was vital following the 9/11 incident.
Tension in Mohmand Agency persists
July 4: With continuous exchange of fire between the forces of Afghan Commander Hazrat Ali and the Pakistani forces at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Mohmand Agency, tension continued in the area over the establishment of checkpoints by Pakistani forces. The tension in the areas situated on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border started a few days back when the Pakistani forces established checkpoints in the hitherto inaccessible areas of Mohmand Agency. The Pakistani flag was hoisted on various checkpoints for the first time since the creation of Pakistan.
'Discriminatory laws adding to women woes'
July 4: The presence of discriminatory laws in the country has been contributing to the continuous deterioration of the status of women. This was observed in the first draft of Gender Reform Action Plans (GRAPs) prepared by the Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADP). The first draft of GRAPs, unveiled only recently observed that "these laws have been deemed un-Islamic by learned Islamic scholars, and counter to Pakistan's constitutional statements on women's equality and international commitments". These laws are Hudood Ordinance 1979 (offence of Zina, offence of Qazaf, execution of punishment of whipping ordinance), the Qanoon-i-Shahadat Order 1984 and Qisas & Diyat Ordinance (Section 306 C) 1991. The document observed that all these discriminatory laws should be repealed including review and amendments in laws with special relevance to women such as Child Marriages Restraint Act 1929, Dowry and Bridal Gifts Act 1976, Family Courts Act 1964, Guardians and Wards Act 1880, Labour Laws of Pakistan, Majority Act 1875, Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961, Muslim Marriage Act 1939, Muslim Personal Laws of Shia and Sunnis, Penal Code of Pakistan.
Pakistan's help sought Russia sends list of missing soldiers
July 4: Russia and Azerbaijan have sought Pakistan's assistance to help trace hundreds of their missing soldiers during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Russia has forwarded a list of 304 Soviet soldiers, who had gone missing in action (MIAs) or had become prisoners of war (POWs) during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The list includes Soviet soldiers of all nationalities that once made up the defunct Soviet Union. It also includes their names, and date and place where they had gone missing.
Police vent anger at newsmen
July 4: The Jhang Union of Journalists and office-bearers of the local press club have strongly condemned the "high-handedness" of police towards newsmen. In a meeting with district police officer Khadim Hussain Bhatti, they urged him to take stern action against the SHOs of the Kotwali and Massan police stations for humiliating journalists, arresting them without any criminal case and implicating them in fake cases, in an attempt to make them refrain from criticizing police for its wrongdoings.
44 killed in Quetta Imambargah attack
July 4: At least 44 faithful were killed and 65 injured, some of them seriously, when three armed persons attacked Jama Masjid-o-Imambargah Kalaan Isna Ashri during Friday prayers in Quetta. Press reports said hundreds of people were offering Friday prayers in the Imambargah when three men attacked with automatic weapons and explosive devices. Over three dozen faithful sustained multiple bullet wounds and died on the spot and several others succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospitals.
MMA holds country-wide rallies
July 4: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leadership sharply criticized the judiciary for playing in the hands of the government and surrendering their independence in exchange for a three-year job extension. The MMA held country-wide protests after Juma prayers against the unseating of its National Assembly member from Kohat by the Peshawar High Court election tribunal.
Pak business delegation arrives in India
July 4: A Pakistani business delegation crossed into India by road as part of a visit aimed at reviving trade ties between the nuclear-armed rival countries. "We are here on a business mission ... we have brought love, affection and harmony for the people of India," said delegation leader Ilyas Ahmed Bilour.
Priest shot dead
July 5: Half a dozen assailants shot dead a 39-year-old Roman Catholic priest in his home in Okara. Father George Ibrahim of the Catholic Church at the Mitchell's Fruit Farms had been sleeping at the time of the incident after returning from the DHQ Hospital in Okara around midnight. He had visited the hospital to inquire about the health of a convalescing member of his congregation.
Quetta death toll rises to 53
July 5: The death toll in Friday's Jama Masjid-o-Imambargah Kalaan Isna Ashri (Quetta) tragedy rose to 53 from 44 as nine more injured persons died in different hospitals here during the last 15 hours, Edhi officials said.
'Osama could be in Pakistan'
July 5: President Pervez Musharraf has said Osama bin Laden could be hiding in Pakistan protected by a small group. In an interview published in Paris, he said: "If he is protected by a big group, I think that bin Laden is on the Afghan side of the border (with Pakistan)... If the group has less than 10 people, he could be in Pakistan," Musharraf told Le Monde newspaper.
2003 declared union councils year
July 5: The National Reconstruction Bureau has decided to declare the current fiscal year as a year of union councils, which will be made focal point for decision-making for the development project. "For this, first time all the provincial governments have allocated financial resources in their budget for local governments from district governments to union council level," said NRB Chairman Daniyal Aziz while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
PPP hostage to corrupt elements: Patriots
July 5: The Pakistan People's Party was a democratic and a vibrant political force in the country before it became hostage to cronies and corrupt elements who are personal servants of its chairperson. This was stated by Syed Asad Murtaza Gilani, Pir Aslam Bodla and Malik Niaz Jakkhar, MNAs of PPP Patriots in a statement in Islamabad. They alleged that cronies like Shah Mehmood Qureshi are opportunists par excellence and the biggest turncoats the country has ever seen.
NWFP's renaming as Pukhtunkhwa urged
July 7: The Awami National Party (ANP) has reiterated its demand that the Frontier province be renamed as "Pukhtunkhwa". The demand was made through a resolution adopted by the working committee of ANP's NWFP chapter which met in Peshawar with the party's provincial chief Nasim Wali Khan in the chair. "The meeting believes that in fulfilment of the unanimously-adopted resolutions (of the provincial assembly), the province should be renamed as 'Pukhtunkhwa', and the controversial Kalabagh dam's construction should not be pursued," says the resolution.
PML-N apologises for helping Gen Zia
July 6: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz apologized to the entire nation for facilitating the dictatorial rule of General Ziaul Haq for 11 years. PML-N leader Khawaja Mohammad Asif, during his speech on a motion to remove the deputy speaker, stirred the House when he said that he came to the House to tell the entire nation that his party and its top leadership including his father were wrong in working with General Zia for 11 years. He said the PML-N was seeking forgiveness from the nation because it was of the firm opinion that the country was passing through a defining moment of its political history. He said he was seeking apology on behalf of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and others.
Pakistan mission attacked; Karzai offers regrets
July 8: Islamabad closed its embassy in Kabul in protest after a 500-strong mob demonstrating against alleged border incursions by Pakistani troops attacked and ransacked the premises, the Pakistani ambassador said. A presidential source in Islamabad said Afghan President Hamid Karzai rang up President Pervez Musharraf in the evening and expressed personal apology during a 25-minute conversation and said such an incident would not happen again.
MMA-government conflict worries Washington
July 8: There is a real concern in the US administration that the MMA-government conflict could lead to an increase in religious fervor in Pakistan, Dawn reports from Washington. The administration, diplomatic sources say, is particularly worried about the steps taken by the MMA-led government in the NWFP. "What's going on in the NWFP harkens back to the things that make people nervous in the United States," said a senior diplomat while commenting on the MMA's Islamization campaign in the Frontier. "The Americans hope that the Talibanization of Pakistan does not happen. They cannot envision a Talibanized Pakistan," the diplomat added.
Draft interim constitution for N. Areas presented
July 8: The draft of the Interim Constitution Act was presented in the Northern Areas Legislative Council in Gilgit. Leader of the opposition Syed Jaffar Shah, while presenting the Interim Constitution Act as a private bill, stressed the need for such a document, saying that the Northern Areas were not covered in the Article 1 of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan while these areas were also not included in the 1974 Interim Constitution Act for Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Shah, the author of the bill, said that the document fulfilled the needs stated in the 1999 verdict of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Presently, the Northern Areas are being governed through Legal Framework Order, 1994, and chief executive of the Area is Federal Minister for Kashmir and Northern Areas affairs.
Pakistan's HDI ranking drops
July 8: Pakistan's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking has dropped to 144, a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in New York.
According to the report Pakistan has been ranked lower than Nepal (143), Bangladesh (139), India (127), the Maldives (86) and Sri Lanka (99).
Half of Pakistanis suffer from malnutrition
July 8: Participants of a course in Peshawar were informed that maternal and infant mortality, micro-nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition in children was the highest in Pakistan as compared to Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, South Korea and the Philippines. In his presentation, the course organizer, Professor Dr Parvez Iqbal Paracha, noted that Pakistan had the highest maternal mortality (340 per 100,000), fertility rate (5.2 children per woman), under-5 mortality (109 per 1,000), and underweight children below 5-year (38 per cent). The country's adult literacy among both males and females was the lowest among the above-mentioned countries and so was its GNP (per capita) at $ 420. Life expectancy at 60 years was the lowest as well.
India asks Pakistan to define views on Kashmir
July 9: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said that Pakistan should define its views about the Jammu and Kashmir when talks begin for the resolution of the issue , including its geographical contours along with the area that was ceded to China. Press Trust of India quoted Mr Sinha as having ruled out an early Pakistan-India summit besides asserting that India was not shy of discussing Kashmir. Pakistan, he said, should emulate the Sino-Indian model of not allowing a single issue to hold "hostage" progress in other key issues, Mr Sinha said.
'11 tenants died, dozens injured in bid to retain land'
July 9: Eleven tenants have died, and dozens have been injured in their attempt to retain the land at Okara Military Farms, said a Sindh delegation at a press conference in Lahore after visiting the area. They said the Rangers have also forced many men to divorce their wives in order to pressurize their in-laws to give up the share system and work on contract basis. The team, headed by Muqtida Mansoor, comprised Sindh PML-N additional secretary general Khwaja Tariq Nazir, People's Labour Bureau vice president Manzoor Badiuni and Latif Mughal, Qaumi Jamhoori Party Karachi Chairman Hasan Athar, Hari Committee representatives Noor Nabi Paleejo and Zulfiqar Ali, Mazdoor Mahaz Amal's Mirza Maqsood and others.
LHC restores PPPP MPA
July 9: A full bench of the Lahore High Court has restored Punjab Assembly membership of Ashraf Kaira of PPPP by setting aside the orders of a single bench of LHC, which cancelled his return on the basis of alleged bogus degree. Tanvir Ashraf Kaira was elected MPA in October 10, 2002 general election from PP-112 Kharian on PPPP ticket. However, single bench cancelled his membership on the basis of a fake BA degree.
Lawyers observe nationwide strike
July 10: The lawyers community observed a country-wide strike to protest against the Supreme Court decision of sealing the bar offices, and the killing of over fifty people in Quetta. The protest call was given on June 9 by the lawyers' community, led by Hamid Khan of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee demands compensation
July 10: The first Pakistani released from the United Statet detention centre known as Camp X-Ray at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba is demanding $10.4 million compensation from the American government, his lawyer said in Islamabad. Mohammad Sagheer is reported to have sent legal papers to the US departments of state, justice and defense with their copies sent to the International Red Cross and the interior ministry in Islamabad, his lawyer said. Mr Sagheer was flown back to Pakistan on Oct 27 last year after several months of detention in the Camp X-Ray over suspicions of having links with the Al Qaeda network. The US authorities had told Mr Sagheer they would compensate him but only gave him $100, he said.
Journalist convicted of blasphemy moves PHC
July 10: A journalist convicted under the blasphemy law, Munawar Mohsin, filed an appeal in the Peshawar High Court. The appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000 by the additional district and sessions judge, Peshawar, on July 8 and was held responsible for publication of a blasphemous letter in The Frontier Post on Jan 29, 2001.
Contempt of court law promulgated
July 10: The president promulgated new law dealing with the contempt of court cases, providing that "fair and healthy comment" on decided case would not constitute contempt of court. The ordinance called Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, has provided four categories of contempt of court by breaking one all-encompassing definition of contempt of court. The new definitions of contempt of court are as follows: civil contempt, criminal contempt, judicial contempt, and contempt at the face of the court.
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