Hype is synonymous with any official Indo-Pak engagement. So was the case before this weeks foreign minister-level meeting. Expectations ran high in the beginning and tempers ran high towards the end.
A prophetic article in Dawn on July 15 forewarned: Mumbai will continue to cast its long shadow over Pakistan-India ties as their foreign ministers get together to rebuild trust. The sanguinity being expressed by both sides aside,expectations of a dramatic turnaround in the knotty relations were rather slim and both could at best agree on a schedule of meetings to sustain the engagement.
Endless forgery
The ghost of fake university degrees refuses to leave Pakistan. Rather,its need has now been felt in other professions also as the government has demanded a similar verification for the staff of all 132 universities of the country and bureaucrats,too. The law minister himself is complicit,reports Dawn on July 12: The university from where law minister Babar Awan claims to have done his Ph. D is banned in the US from issuing any degree and cannot even claim it is a legal educational institution…
An intimidation tactic was reportedly employed to straighten out the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chief,tasked to validate parliamentary membership of tainted legislators. Dawn reported on July 13: Former DCO of Tando Mohammad Khan,Dr Farooq Leghari,who is the brother of HEC chairman Dr Javed Leghari,was picked up by plain-clothed policemen and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) officials… Daily Times added on July 14: The HEC declared 29 degrees of public representatives fake.
Anti-media resolution
Last week,the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution calling for cross-party crackdown on the media. Journalists were termed blackmailers in a resolution moved by PMLN member Sana Ullah Mastikhel. The News reported on July 12: The next plan was to stop official advertisements to the media and to issue them only on the Internet in addition to asking the federal government to bring in stringent laws to tighten the noose around the uncontrolled media through PEMRA. Protests by journalists erupted across the country. Assessing the damage,the Assembly began warming up to the media again,reported Daily Times on July 14: The Punjab Assembly has passed a resolution in favour of the media and lawyers despite a lack of quorum in the House,assuring the two communities that the House had no interest in restraining the rights of both pillars of the society. After being a party to the resolution,PPP also went into damage control mode,reported Daily Times on July 16: PPP has decided to act as a friendly political party to the media and focus on Punjab to tell the people the truth about their achievements regarding services provided for the nation… It was decided all forums would be mobilised,not only to build a better relationship with the media,but also to get due space in both the electronic and print media.
The PMLN leadership pinned the blame of this controversial resolution on poor monitoring of legislative work in the Punjab Assembly, reported Dawn on July 16.
Baloch nationalist murdered
It was the murder of Akbar Bugti redux, Daily Times reported on July 15: Habib Jalib Baloch,secretary general of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal,was gunned down outside his residence early by unidentified men on a motorcycle… Violence erupted across Balochistan as soon as the news was confirmed… Reactions came in thick and fast,as former Balochistan CM and Balochs party chief,Akhtar Mengal said: Government functionaries are responsible for the assassination… Security forces had re-established violent organisations on the pattern of al Shams and al Badar,which assassinated Bengalis during the Bangladeshi struggle for independence,for killing the political opponents of the government… He said his party didnt expect good things from a government of fake degree holders.
On July 16,the paper reported: Life remained paralysed across Balochistan for the second consecutive day… all major commercial establishments,business centres and shops remained closed,while streets in the commercial districts remained deserted.
