Month: October 2024

More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long insurgency waged by the Naxalite movement, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised indigenous people of India’s remote and resource-rich central regions.

The insurgency has drastically shrunk in recent years and a crackdown by security forces has killed nearly 200 rebels this year, according to government data.

The clash took place Monday in Maharashtra, which holds state elections next month.

“Five Naxalites were killed after they opened fire on security forces,” police superintendent Neelotpal was quoted as saying by local media.

The Times of India newspaper reported that three of those killed were women, and that a commando wounded in the firefight had to be pulled out by helicopter while under fire.

In September, Indian interior minister Amit Shah warned the Maoist rebels to surrender or face an “all-out” assault, saying the government anticipated eradicating the Naxalite movement by early 2026.

The Naxalites, named for the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. They demanded land, jobs and a share of the region’s immense natural resources for local residents, and made inroads in a number of remote communities across India’s east and south.

The movement gained in strength and numbers until the early 2000s when New Delhi deployed tens of thousands of security personnel against the rebels in a stretch of territory known as the “Red Corridor”.

Authorities have pumped in millions of dollars for investments in local infrastructure projects and social spending.

In Pyongyang’s first such deployment overseas, about 1,500 North Korean special forces soldiers are already in Russia acclimatising and likely to head to the front lines after, Seoul’s spy agency said, with additional troops set to depart soon.

South Korea has long claimed the nuclear-armed North is supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, while leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a military deal in June.

 

 

Seoul expressed its “grave concerns regarding North Korea’s recent dispatch of troops to Russia and strongly urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean forces”, vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun told Russian Ambassador Georgiy Zinoviev.

Seoul’s spy agency released detailed satellite images showing the first batch of 1,500 North Korean special forces from the elite “Storm Corps” had arrived in Vladivostok on Russian military vessels. Any military cooperation between the two countries violates multiple Security Council resolutions, Kim said.

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet is set to hold a meeting later today (Saturday) to discuss the much-hyped constitutional amendments following the approval of its draft after month-long deliberations.

After numerous political twists and turns, the government and opposition members unanimously approved the proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The announcement was made after the special committee formed to debate the contentious judicial package met under the chairmanship of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Khursheed Shah.

Leaders from all major political parties, except for Awami National Party’s Aimal Wali Khan, were present in the meeting.

The draft envisages formation constitutional bench, parliamentary role in appointment of chief justice of the Supreme Court from list of three judges, restructuring of Judicial Council as well as Supreme Judicial Council, and fixing the three years tenure of chief justice.

If the cabinet approves the draft of the proposed amendments, it will be presented in Senate for approval.

The meeting of the upper house of parliament is slated to take place at 12:30pm, with govt poised to introduce the constitutional amendments.

As per Shah, everyone including the key opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) agreed on the draft that was put forward point to point, though no one has signed it yet.

However, the Imran Khan-founded party dispelled that the impression that they unanimously approved the draft.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Friday night said that consultation on the fourth draft shared by the government was still underway, adding that they would make final decision on the Constitutional Package after meeting with their party founder, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail in multiple cases.

Responding to PTI’s reservations, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has warned said that he will be compelled to take “controversial path” for the passage of the amendments if the opposition parties refused to support his efforts to pass the judicial package with consensus.

“If the opposition still refuses to support us despite so many compromises then I will be compelled to pass the amendment with the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the extra members,” the PPP chief said.

Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) has said that the rulers cannot force the party’s parliamentarians to vote in favour of the amendment.

“If the government continues to use coercive tactics we will never support the constitutional amendment even if our bodies are cut to pieces,” Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said during the debate on the proposed amendments in the National Assembly.

To pass the constitutional amendments, the government needs two-thirds majority in parliament, with sources claiming that it was short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate.

Last month, the coalition government made a futile attempt to pass the constitutional package. However, the government failed to even table the amendments in parliament after the JUI-F chief refused to support the government’s judicial package, leaving the contentious amendments hanging in the balance.

The PPP leader, last week, said that the government had the option to secure the magic number under “conscience voting”.

“Despite this, efforts are being made to reach a consensus,” Bilawal had added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the top court on October 4 set aside its earlier opinion on Article 63(A) — a clause which deals with defection by lawmakers — as a five-member bench led by CJP Isa unanimously allowed a review petition, filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association.

The move paved the way for defecting votes to be counted.

The amendments’ draft proposes the establishment of constitutional benches of the Supreme Court via an amendment to Article 191 of the Constitution, by virtue of the insertion of new Article 19-A which reads “there shall be as many constitutional benches of the SC, comprising such judges and for such term, as may be determined by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, from time to time”.

The constitutional benches, as per the amendment draft, may comprise an equal number of judges from each province.

Also, only the constitutional bench will have the power to exercise powers under Article 184 of the Constitution; and exercise appellate jurisdiction under clause (3) of Article 185 where a judgement or order of a High Court passed under Article 199 involves the constitutionality of any law or a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution and advisory jurisdiction under Article 186.

Furthermore, the constitutional bench, under clause (2) will include no less than five judges who will nominated by a committee of three most senior judges from amongst the judges determined under clause (1).

On the much important issue of the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), the draft proposes that the country’s top judge will be appointed on the recommendations of the Special Parliamentary Committee which will suggest names from amongst the three most senior judges of the apex court.

The committee, as per the draft, will send the name to the prime minister who will forward the same to the president for appointment and in case of refusal by the nominee to accept his/her appointment, the next most senior judge shall be considered by the committee and so on till the appointment of the CJP.

The committee will comprise 12 members with eight lawmakers from the National Assembly and four from the Senate and will have proportional representation of each parliamentary party based on their strength in Parliament.

With an amendment to Article 179, the draft suggests the addition of provisions including the one limiting the CJP’s tenure to three years or “unless he sooner resigns or attains the age of sixty-five years or is removed from his office in accordance with the Constitution, whichever is earlier”.

“The CJP, on completion term of three years, shall stand retired notwithstanding his age superannuation,” reads the draft.

Moreover, the committee, by majority of its total membership, within 14 days prior to the CJP’s retirement will send the nomination as provided in clause (3): Provided that the first nomination under clause (3), after commencement of the Constitution (26th Amendment) Act 2024, would be sent within three days prior to the retirement of the CJP.

Also, none of the decisions or any action taken by the (judicial) commission or the committee will be invalid or called into question only on the grounds of the existence of a vacancy therein, or of the absence of any member from any meeting thereof.

The draft provisions for the committee’s in-camera meetings and maintaining of its records. However, the committee’s sessions will not be subjected to the provisions of Article 68 and the body will be allowed to make rules for regulating its procedure.

The draft proposes a restructuring of the Judicial Commission — for the appointment of SC judges — which will be headed by the CJP and comprise four senior-most judges of the SC along with the federal Minister for Law and Justice; the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP), a representative of the Pakistan Bar Council for a term of two years; two members from the Senate and two members from the NA — two from the treasury benches, one from each House and two from opposition benches, one from each House.

Meanwhile, the nomination from the treasury benches will be made by the Leader of the House and from the opposition benches by the Leader of the Opposition.

When the National Assembly stands dissolved, the remaining two members for the purpose shall be nominated by the Senate in the aforesaid manner for such period.

Furthermore, a woman or a non-Muslim qualified to be a member of the Senate as a technocrat, will nominated by the National Assembly Speaker for a term of two years in the JC.

The draft also proposes that the Commission would conduct an annual performance evaluation of judges of the high courts and if a judge’s performance is found to be inefficient, the body will grant the said judge a period for improvement and upon culmination of which it will send its report to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) if the performance is found to unsatisfactory.

Additionally, the amendment also includes changes to Article 193 of the Constitution provisioning the substitution of clause (2) which sets out the requirement of at least 40 years of age and Pakistani citizenship for a person to become a judge of a High Court and who (a) has been an advocate of a HC for at least 10 years or (b) has held a judicial office for a minimum of 10 years.

The amendment also proposes a restructuring of the SJC via tweaks to Article 209 of the Constitution and suggests that the body is to comprise the CJP, the two next most senior judges of the SC, and the two most senior chief justices of the high courts.

An SC or a high court judge not be removed from office except as provided by this Article and the Council shall issue a code of conduct to be observed by judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts.

The constitutional tweaks also suggest amending Article 48 and its clause (4) and says: “The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered to the President by the cabinet, or the Prime Minister, shall not be inquired into in, or by any court, tribunal or other authority.”

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has written a letter to the United States President Joe Biden, seeking Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s release as she continues to languish in an American prison for several years.

In his letter, written to Biden on October 13, the premier wrote about seeking the US president’s intervention in the matter that deserves to be viewed with compassion, as Siddiqui remains incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell in Texas.

The FMC Carswell houses female inmates of all security levels, primarily with special needs pertaining to their medical and mental health.

She has been serving an 86-year sentence there, without the possibility of parole, imposed by the Southern District Court of New York.

“Now 52 years old, she has spent approximately sixteen years behind bars in the US,” PM Shehbaz wrote in the letter.

Dr Aafia, a Pakistani neuroscientist, was indicted by a New York federal district court in September 2008 on charges of attempted murder and assault, stemming from an incident during an interview with the US authorities in Ghazni, Afghanistan — charges that she denied.

After 18 months in detention, she was tried and convicted in early 2010 and sentenced to 86 years in prison. She has since been imprisoned in the US.

The premier further mentioned that numerous Pakistani officials have paid consular visits to Siddiqui at the prison facility over the years and have raised “serious concerns about the treatment she has received”.

The treatment meted out to her has severely impacted her “already fragile mental and frail physical health”.

“In fact, they even fear that she could take her own life,” the prime minister mentioned in the letter.

PM Shehbaz further praised Biden for passionately fighting for the rights of US citizens, particularly those stranded or held captive abroad.

Therefore, the premier added, it is his “solemn duty” as Pakistan’s premier to intervene when it becomes absolutely necessary to ensure a citizen’s well-being, particularly when the circumstances are as dire as they are in her case.

“Keeping these facts in view, I request you, Mr President, to kindly exercise your constitutional authority and accept Dr Siddiqui’s clemency petition and order her release, strictly on humanitarian grounds,” he wrote urging the American president to pardon the neuroscientist.

The prime minister added that he trusts Biden to accord the most serious consideration that the request deserves.

“Her family, and millions of my fellow citizens join me in seeking your blessings for a favorable outcome of this request,” the prime minister wrote, concluding the letter.

Reacting to Premier Shahbaz’s letter, Clive Stafford Smith — American human rights lawyer who represents Dr Siddiqui — told Geo.tv that the letter is “very welcome and very heartfelt from the PM”.

“I have been pushing for something like this but it is only the first step,” he said, adding that he hopes to meet the Pakistani delegation in Washington by the middle of November to make the rounds of the White House and other politicians.

Regarding the timing of the letter — which remains crucial as President Biden will soon say goodbye to the White House just a couple of months after the presidential elections in November — Clive said that it was something he had pressed for all along.

“The 10 weeks between the election on November 5th and inauguration on January 20th are the ten weeks when you can get something done in the US as Biden is still president, but he has nothing to lose,” he said.

In June this year, Smith told Geo News that his client was being sexually harassed continuously at a jail in Fort Worth, Texas, adding that a security guard raped her two weeks ago as punishment.

“Sexual abuse of Dr Aafia has not stopped so far. She is being consistently subjected to physical harassment,” he had disclosed after meeting her at the prison facility this summer.