Country held hostage to protect allegedly errant Princes-in-Waiting - or so it seems!

Remember the time, some 3 years ago, when Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan was advising the likes of Rehman Malik and Babar Awan to resign from their high government perches, face charges against them in courts of law and resume their duties in the cabinet after they were cleared of the charges against them as the only honourable way.
We appear to have come (down) a long way from that high moral ground which had never been reached in practice in this country anyway! The only tangible result for Aitzaz for the moral pains he took and the free advice he gave was that he was made a Pariah in the PPP of President Zardari and has since not been seen participating in party decisions.
Run amok executive We have a situation today of an Executive run amok (how else could I describe what it is doing) against the Judiciary in a marathon, no-holds-barred effort to thwart the course of justice allegedly to save highly connected but also allegedly highly corrupt young men apparently being groomed to rule the country in the same corrupt, feudal style in which their own elders are ruling the country today. The current focus by the Executive is on two cases in the Supreme Court involving corruption of several billion Rupees allegedly by those born with a silver spoon in the mouths as they say.
The namesake One is the Hajj case now lying dormant for months because the investigator in charge Director FIA Hussain Asghar, who was pursuing the case effectively, was getting closer to the truth, but alas, at the same time getting closer to the scion of a very high family - allegedly Abdul Qadir Gilani - son of the first executive of this hapless country.
He dared to call the young Gilani for questioning and was transferred out of his department to a new function and therefore out of the case! Remember whose namesake the young Gilani is? Over a thousand years ago a very young boy - not yet in his teens - was travelling alone with a caravan, which was waylaid by robbers. No money was found on him but when the robbers' Chieftain asked the boy if he carried any money on him, the boy replied: "yes gold coins are sewed securely in the hem of my robe". Previous ransacking by the robbers had failed to reveal the gold. Hugely intrigued by the fact that the boy voluntarily revealed his well-kept secret, the Chieftain asked him why did he not say he had no money on him? Because, the boy replied, I had promised my mother before leaving on this journey that I would always speak the truth! The Chieftain was stunned and the course of his life was changed forever, starting then and there! As of today, allow me to repeat, we have come a still longer way from that - much, much longer way!
The Hajj case The case is simple enough. It seems in the accommodation arrangements of the Hajj last year, billions were siphoned away by the simple ploy of renting cheap, uncomfortable and relatively distantly located (from Harem) accommodation and charging much more from the Hajis and siphoning off the difference. An unprecedented letter sent by a Saudi Prince directly to the Supreme Court of Pakistan complained of big corruption by Pakistani Hajj officials in charge of hiring accommodation for the Hajis in the latest Hajj. The Federal Minister for Science and Technology Azam Khan Swati levelled charges in the scam against fellow Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi (hailing from Multan) for alleged corruption in Hajj arrangements. Both were sacked: One, for alleged corruption and the other, for accusing a cabinet colleague of corruption on Media instead of taking up the matter within the Cabinet. As the Supreme Court pointed out, perhaps as a reminder and in reaction to the apparent intention of the Executive to line up Parliament support against the Judiciary, the suo motu action by the Supreme Court also factored in the complaint by several parliamentarians themselves for court action in the scam.
The beneficiaries The beneficiaries of the disgraceful scam and those responsible for allowing it to happen are alleged to include the then Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Kazmi (presently in jail facing trial) whose Ministry is responsible overall for Hajj arrangements each year. Two corrupt officials who were the main instruments involved in the actual accommodation renting arrangements are also facing trial. One of them is no other than former DG Hajj Rao Shakil who was appointed by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as Director General (DG) Hajj in Jeddah in 2009-10, despite his being under investigation on other corruption charges and despite his name being on the ECL at the time. But his name was removed from the ECL reportedly following an SMS from Interior Minister Rehman Malik and he was again free to loot Hajis this time. The other gentleman was Zain Sukhera, a former consultant to the Ministry of Information Technology and allegedly a close friend of PM Gilani's son. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had filed a case of fraud and fake documents against him. Sukhera was accused by MNA Imran Shah of passing on ill-gotten money received from the then DG Hajj Rao Shakil to his alleged friend, Abdul Qadir Gilani, the PM's son.
Political games With such 'linkages' in the air it is important that the case should be allowed to run its course so that the names of those allegedly involved could be cleared up if they have done nothing wrong. The FBI official in charge of the case Hussain Asghar Director FIA was pursuing the case honestly and rigorously and the results were coming through. His troubles allegedly started when he dared to call the Junior Gilani for questioning in connection with the case. He was removed from the FIA and posted as Inspector General of Gilgit-Baltistan in April this year. Asghar is known for his dedication and success in unmasking several high ups allegedly involved in the Hajj scandal. Under orders of the Supreme Court on the pain of handcuffing and imprisonment, the Secretary Establishment Division, Sohail Ahmed, transferred Hussain Asghar back to his previous post of Senior Director FIA, so that he could continue the stalled investigations in the Hajj scam. The PM promptly punished Sohail Ahmed for taking action in a matter which is normally the PM's prerogative by making him an OSD. But in this case the PM in effect appeared to dispute the overriding nature of Supreme Court's orders and to ignore the order's obvious implications. The Supreme Court on Friday declared the order to make Sohail an OSD as "unsustainable" but in what is seen as a concession to the Executive, allowed the PM to place Ahmed on an office of PM's choice within 7 days. There was even considerable foot dragging in the matter of returning Hussain Asghar to his former function. The gentleman was made to disappear for two full days and no one in the Government would admit to know where he was! Political games appear to be more fascinating than plays and dramas we see on screens.
NICL case Speaking of games the Executive has been playing there is probably none more interesting the NILC case in which a scion if the Chaudhry family is one of the main accused. Former Additional Director General FIA Zafar Qureshi was highly successful in bringing back huge sums of looted money in what has come to be known as the NILC scam. In the process massive evidence implicating Moonis Elahi son of senior PML-Q leader and former Chief Minister Punjab, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi was gathered by Qureshi which appeared to be his undoing since the present PPP-PMLQ coalition allegedly came about as the result of a deal to save Moonis. Zafar Qureshi was transferred out of the case. When he was reinstated under Supreme Court's orders four officers who were assisting him in the case were transferred to different functions and Qureshi himself was promptly suspended on what appeared to be trumped up charges. The Executive appears determined to while away the time without obeying the Supreme Court's order till 30 September 2011 when Zafar Qureshi retires. Like the Hajj case the NILC case has also become a landmark in Judiciary, Executive and Bureaucracy standings.
Parliament versus judiciary A desperate attempt appears to be underway by the Executive to seek Parliament's support in its defiance of Judiciary's orders and a session has been called by the Government reportedly to decide which of the two pillars of the State - Judiciary and Executive - was overstepping its area of responsibility. The idea appears to be to censure Judiciary in the matter. Thus a moth-eaten Parliament which has come into being on the strength of over 35 million bogus votes and carrying the burden of 300 fake degrees is to take on the most upright Judiciary Pakistan has ever had.
A political hype Babar Awan (Doctor?) originated hype last Sunday evening about "the next 24 hours" being crucial for democracy in the country. One wonders what the wily PPP strategist and mastermind behind much political mischief, is up to this time. Well may be the cat is out of the bag as you read this!
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