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Tag: Imran Khan

  • Moeed Pirzada and Justice Katju

    Moeed Pirzada and Justice Katju


    I saw this video of the eminent Pakistani journalist Moeed Pirzada a few hours back on Youtube

    Moeed Pirzada


    Moeed and I share our common support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
    But in the video above I noticed a certain tone of despondency and low spirit in him, like a nervous nellie.


    (1) Moeed laboured on the issue of denial of the same electoral symbol to PTI which it presently has, saying that it would mislead the public, resulting in significant loss of votes to PTI.
    In this Moeed is totally wrong. The people of Pakistan, 80-90% of whom are solid supporters of Imran Khan ( as all opinion polls indicate ), are no fools, and in recent months their political awareness has increased exponentially. Within 24 hours of announcement of a new symbol everyone in Pakistan will know of it, and no one will be befooled.


    (2) Moeed believes the delimitation of constituencies will be done in such a way ( by gerrymandering ) that it will cause significant losses to PTI in the elections.
    Again, Moeed is totally mistaken.
    All opinion polls indicate that 80-90% Pakistanis solidly support Imran Khan, as he is perceived to be honest, while the PDM leaders are regarded as highly corrupt ( as indeed established by the Panama Papers and other strong evidence ). This figure is increasing as time passes, since jailing Imran Khan has generated a wave of sympathy for him, and it will cross 90% shortly.
    So however much gerrymandering is done, the results will be the same, and delaying the elections will only benefit Imran Khan .


    (3) Moeed believes Imran Khan has faith, but lacks strategy or ‘tadbeer’.
    What tadbeer is Moeed talking about ? Imran Khan is bravely leading the democratic forces in Pakistan against the fascist reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistan Establishment ( i.e. the army and the PDM ), and he continues to do so even from inside jail. The spirit of the man is unbroken even when confined in a dingy dirty cell.

    What a man! – says Justice Katju


    Sooner or later parliamentary elections will be held in Pakistan, and then Imran Khan will again become Prime Minister, as I have explained in these articles and video

    U.S. Government’s attitude towards Imran Khan is bound to change

    The future of Imran Khan


    Moeed reminds me of the character Defarge in Charles Dickens’ famous novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.


    In an early part of the novel, a conversation takes place between Defarge, a wine seller, who is also secretly a member of a revolutionary society working for destruction of the feudal monarchy and aristocracy in France, and his wife Madame Defarge.


    Defarge is like Moeed, while Madame Defarge is like me.


    Defarge is despondent and dispirited because he thinks that the revolution for which he has been working for several years may not come about in his lifetime.


    To which Madame Defarge replied :
    ” What of that ? It will come. “
    Defarge says ” But when will it come ? How much time does lightning take to strike the ground ? “
    ” How much time does it take to build that lightning ? ” replied Madame Defarge. ” An earthquake strikes suddenly, causing massive death and destruction. But how much time does it take to build that earthquake ?


    You may not see the end. But you have contributed to it. Let that be your consolation, and be satisfied by it ”.


    Those who get despondent and think that Imran Khan is finished should see this video, where I have said ” Sach aur haq kabhi nahi khatm ho sakta ”.

  • Imran Khan has become an idea which has gripped the masses in Pakistan

    Imran Khan has become an idea which has gripped the masses in Pakistan


    Justice Markandey Katju

    When Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018, and for quite some thereafter too, I was very critical of him.


    He had taken help of religious extremists during his election campaign, and had given PTI tickets to dubious ‘electables’.


    Soon after becoming PM he had dismissed the renowned economist Atif Mian from the Pakistan Economic Advisory Council, just because he was an Ahmadi.


    He had suppressed the press, even getting arrested and imprisoned Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, owner of Jang Group, in a 34 year old land case, because of some criticism by his newspaper.


    https://www.dawn.com/news/1540500


    He constantly spoke of Madina ki Riyasat. Speaking of it a few times would be okay, but making a habit of it is going too far.


    However, all that is in the past, and we should see the present.


    Presently Imran Khan is leading the democratic forces in Pakistan, against the fascist reign of terror unleashed by the corrupt Pakistan Establishment.

    He is basically an honest man, who has repeatedly said he will continue living in Pakistan, and not fly abroad like the corrupt Nawaz Sharif ( who was convicted by the Pakistan Supreme Court ). He has no assets abroad, unlike PDM leaders, whose names appear in the Panama Papers, and other credible material. In my opinion all honest and right thinking people everywhere should support him.
    Earlier, 70% Pakistanis supported him ( according to opinion polls in Pakistan and the bye elections results ). But now the number has drastically risen, and may be between 80 and 90%. This means over 200 million out of the 240 million Pakistanis support Imran Khan.


    Imran Khan is now no longer a person, he has become an idea in Pakistan, representing honesty, truth,and commitment to the people’s welfare.. Even if he is imprisoned or physically eliminated, the idea will live on, like the ghost of Caesar after his assassination.

  • Why are Pakistan Generals so hostile to Imran khan ?

    Why are Pakistan Generals so hostile to Imran khan ?

    I have been wondering why the Pakistan army is so hostile to former Prime Minister Imran Khan ? After all, he has overwhelming popular support in Pakistan, as he is regarded as broadly honest, as compared to the PDM leaders who are perceived by the people of Pakistan to be totally corrupt ( as indeed the Panama Papers and other evidence shows ), and his PTI party will sweep the polls if eletions are held ( as all opinion polls indicate ).


    Also, Imran Khan has repeatedly said that he wants good relations with the army, and has offered to talk with the army chief, but the latter has not shown any willingness or inclination..


    After a lot of thinking I have come to these two conclusions as to the reason for this hostility :


    (1) Almost all senior Pakistan army officers have children or close relatives working on well paid jobs in U.S. Corporations, or are studying in top American Universities like Harvard,Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, etc with full scholarship. These army officers have probably been told by the US Govt authorities that Imran Khan is persona non grata with the US Govt, and must not be allowed to come back to power. The Pak army officers are ingratiated with the favours they have got, and will comply faithfully
    (2) Imran Khan believes that the Pak army must be subordinate to the civilian govt, as in USA, UK, France, Germany, India and other democratic countries, and should not not meddle in politics. This is anathema to the Pak officers, since it will adversely affect their economic interests. The Pak army has penetrated into numerous sectors of the Pakistan economy, and has acquired huge economic vested interests, which it will have to surrender if there is civilian control over it.

    The Pak army officers spend a large part of the budget on themselves for their life style and retirement benefits. They are some of the richest people in Pakistan, and after joining the army and getting promoted as major and above their lifestyle drastically changes, and they live in splendour, having huge houses, big imported cars, and all kinds of luxuries.


    All this will change if there is real civilian control of Pakistan’s army. There will then be accountability, the army officers will then have to live on their pay ( as in all democratic countries ), and some serving and retired officers may even be called upon to return their loot.

    All this will be extremely unpalatable to the army officers, and they will oppose it tooth and nail.
    These are the two reasons why they are so hostile to Imran Khan

  • My contact with Pakistanis

    My contact with Pakistanis

    By Justice Katju

    Although I am an Indian,. I have lots of Pakistani friends and acquaintances, with whom I used to regularly chat on skype and whatsapp.

    Of late, however, these contacts have dried up or snapped, and this seems to be due to recent developments in Pakistan where the military and police have unleashed a reign of terror after the events of 9th May. Thousands of people have been arrested, beaten, ‘disappeared’ or even killed, the media has been largely silenced, military tribunals set up which will dispense kangaroo justice, and fear haunts the land.

    In this situation, my Pakistani contacts, who told me that whatsapp and skype are being closely monitored by intelligence agencies, seem to be scared that if they talk with me or message me they may be arrested on the charge of communicating with an Indian RAW agent ( after all, every Indian is a RAW agent ! ). So now they don’t take my whatsapp calls or respond to my messages. One female Pakistani journalist, with whom I used to chat daily, has even removed her number and name from my whatsapp contact list.

     In my articles and tweets I have been harshly criticising Pakistan army chief Gen Munir and the Corps Commanders, who have imposed fascist rule and a kind of martial law In Pakistan. 

    I have also strongly supported Imran Khan, who has now become persona non grata with the Pakistan Establishment.

    I could do so sitting safely in India, but if I had done so in Pakistan I would have been ‘disappeared’ a long time back. Naturally Pakistanis who communicate with a person critical of that holy institution, the Pakistan army, are themselves suspect, and are in danger of being arrested or ‘disappeared’.

    I can understand all this. Maybe I would have done the same had I been in their place. I remember the lines in Hindi poet Shyam Narain Pandey’s famous poem ‘Haldighati’ :

    ” Tha shor maut se bacho bacho

      Talwaar chali, talwaar chali ”.

    But I have also advised all Pakistanis to silently knit the names of their oppressors, like Madame Defarge in Dickens’ novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’

  • The decision to arrest Imran Khan by Justice Katju

    The decision to arrest Imran Khan by Justice Katju

    Crucial decisions of the Pakistan army, the real rulers of Pakistan, are taken in the Corps Commanders conferences which are held regularly, and in addition whenever the army chief requisitions it. The meetings, which are closed door and highly confidential, are chaired by the army chief, who is a full general, and the participants are the corps commanders and principal staff officers, who are of the rank of lieutenant general. No one else is allowed to attend.

    The decision to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan was almost certainly taken in one of these meetings, but since they are always closed door and highly confidential, no one, apart from the participants, know what actually transpired.

    I have therefore used my imagination and written this fictional and hypothetical account of what occurred in the meeting.

    The Chairman, Gen Asim Munir, opens the proceedings.

    Gen Munir ” Gentlemen, we are meeting today to discuss the prevailing political situation in our country, particularly when it has taken such an ugly turn. I would request you gentleman to speak freely, and suggest what course of action should the army adopt ”

    Lt Gen X  ” Sir, may I have permission to speak ”

    Gen Munir ” Certainly X, say whatever you have in mind ”.
    Lt Gen X ” Sir, I may be pardoned for using strong language, and I want to make it clear that I am not in any way aligned with any political party, but some of the recent utterances of Mr Imran Khan, head of the PTI, about the army are highly objectionable and just not acceptable to anyone with self respect.

     I have discussed this matter with many of the participants in this meeting, and also with several other army officers, who are in agreement with me, and have asked me to be their spokesperson here.

    Mr Imran Khan has made false, baseless, and malicious statements publicly that Maj Gen Faisal Naseer of the ISI twice tried to get him murdered. He has also alleged that Gen Naseer was involved in the brutal killing of TV anchor Arshad Sharif in Kenya, and has said that Gen Naseer stripped Senator Azam Swati naked, and inflicted severe torture on him.

    Sir, we all know Gen Naseer, who has the highest character, and he would never do things like these. We regard allegations against him as allegations against all officers of the Pakistan army. If we do not do anything about this it means we admit being murderers ”

    Lt Gen Y ” Mr Imran Khan has also attacked our former chief Gen Bajwa and accused him of hiring former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqaani, to lobby against him there ”

    Lt Gen Z ” Mr Khan has also claimed that then military establishment was in contact with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif to topple his government and the plot against him became clear following the removal of Lt Gen (retd.) Faiz Hameed as ISI chief in October 2021. He has alleged that Gen Bajwa was playing a double game, and he discovered later that even PTI’s members were being given different messages ”.

    Gen Munir ” Gentlemen, are you suggesting that we bump off Mr Khan ? I personally am not in favour of that ”Lt Gen X ” No sir, all we are suggesting is that Mr Khan be taken care of. Things cannot be allowed to continue like this. We too have our self respect. How long must we hang our heads in shame before the public ? ”

    Gen Munir ” O.K. I think we are all agreed on that. Mr Khan’s insults of Pakistan’s army have now crossed their limits. I suggest Lt.Gen X be made in charge of a task force to sort out Mr Khan ”Everyone agrees.

    Gen Munir  ” X, organise this task force as soon as you can, and take anyone from the army for this. There is already a NAB warrant for arrest of Imran Khan which we had covertly arranged for, but the police seems to be half hearted in executing it. Tell the head of the Rangers to do it within 48 hours. Tell him the army will not tolerate any excuses. 

    Also, tell the Chief Justice of Pakistan to order all judges not to release Imran Khan until the army permits. Tell him failure to do so will have very serious consequences for both him and any judge who orders Mr Khan”s release. 

    Anything further gentlemen ? ”

    No one replies.

    Gen Munir  ” Very well gentlemen, this meeting is closed ”

    Situation after Imran Khan’s arrest: Pakistan mein PTI officials ki dhadaadhad giraftariyan ho rahi hain. Pak fauj ne talwaar nikaal li hai. Ab maidan-e-jang se bhag jaane mein hi aqlmandi hai. Hindi nazm ‘Haldighati’ ka yeh misra yaad aata hai ”Tha shor maut se bacho bacho, talwaar chali talwaar chali”Work is said to be in progress to declare PTI a terrorist organisation. Having assiduously built up PTI from 1996, this moorkh Imran Khan has practically destroyed it within a few months by taking on the Pak army. To save their own skins, there will soon be a largescale exodus of PTI members from the party

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  • Imran Khan Arrested

    Imran Khan Arrested

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    SRINAGAR: The drama continues in Pakistan as the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, was caught off guard and arrested while heading to his court hearing today. The 70-year-old ex-cricket star turned politician was taken into custody by paramilitary forces at the Islamabad High Court.

    The PTI leaders claim that the police went full smash mode, breaking a glass window and forcibly dragging him outside while taking his biometric data. It gets even juicier as this all went down just one day after the army accused Khan of levelling false accusations against a top spy agency officer.

    According to a tweet by the Islamabad Police, Imran Khan has been taken into custody in relation to the Qadir Trust case. This case involves allegations that Bahria Town granted land worth millions to Al-Qadir Trust, which is owned by Mr. Khan and his wife.

    The police mentioned that the situation is currently “normal,” but the manner in which the arrest was carried out has caused many to question whether it was solely based on the merits of the case. The police also cautioned that Section 144 is in effect and violators will face consequences. Meanwhile, PTI has urged its supporters to take to the streets in protest.

    In a tweet, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah stated that Imran Khan had been issued multiple notices but failed to appear in court. Sanaullah also mentioned that the arrest was carried out by the National Accountability Bureau due to allegations of causing losses to the national treasury. Furthermore, he emphasized that no harm or violence was inflicted upon Imran Khan during the arrest.

    Imran Khan’s party tweeted a video of him hours before heading to court, in which he reiterated his accusations against Major-General Faisal Naseer, a high-ranking officer in the ISI. Khan claims that Naseer was involved in the attempted assassination against him in Wazirabad.



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    #Imran #Khan #Arrested

    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Jisko samjha tha khameera woh bhasaaku nikla By Justice Katju

    Jisko samjha tha khameera woh bhasaaku nikla By Justice Katju

    On 4th April the Pakistan Supreme Court boldly passed an order fixing 14th May as the date for holding elections to the Punjab Assembly, 

    However, thereafter an application was filled by the Defence Ministry for changing the date, citing security and financial reasons, and praying that elections should be held simultaneously for the National and Provincial Assemblies.

    This application, which was heard yesterday, 19th April, should have been dismissed in 5 minutes by the Court, as it was clearly frivolous and specious, but instead it was unnecessarily heard the whole day, during which the Court behaved like a village panchayat, mediation centre, or a jirga ( as in Afghanistan ) and delivered homilies and lectures, advising the political parties to sit together and try to come to an agreement about the date for the elections.

    After its boldness shown on 4th April, this pusillanimous behaviour of the Court was deeply disappointing. 

    The Court should have simply asked the Attorney General whether the PDM Govt will comply with the order of the Court of 4th April and release the funds for the elections, and on receiving no clear cut, or an evasive reply, as it happened, 

    should have sacked the Govt, relying on the precedent of the dismissal by the Court of former PM Yusuf Raza Gilani for contempt of Court.

     Instead, the Court blew hot and cold together, by on the one hand hand saying that it cannot backtrack on its order fixing 14th May for the elections, and at the same time saying that the date can be changed if there is consensus among the political parties.

    But how can they say this ? Can the Court say that the Constitution must be followed,but it need not be followed if the parties agree ? That would be ex facie legally untenable and unacceptable.

    The case was adjourned for today, 20th April, but it is obvious this is just a waste of time.

    The PMLN has announced it will boycott the polls if held on 14th May

    Political parties have started arriving in the Court

    So another drama will be enacted in Court today.

    It seems the wind has gone out of the sails of the judges on the bench, who have lost their nerve, and now they are trying to wriggle out somehow from their earlier bold and correct stand.

     There is a proverb :” Jisko samjha tha khameera woh bhasaaku nikla ”

    I regret to say this, but this aptly describes the judges on the bench hearing the case.

  • Imran Khan’s party will sweep the polls whenever elections are held, but army will be the real ruler.

    Imran Khan’s party will sweep the polls whenever elections are held, but army will be the real ruler.

    The News Caravan News Desk

    Justice Markandey Katju

    In my opinion all this talk is irrelevant. The real ruler of Pakistan, was, is, and will remain its army. So even if Imran Khan again becomes the Prime Minister, he will only be a dummy and a puppet.

    It is said that Imran Khan has massive support in Pakistan. That may be true. But if these supporters create any problem, a grape of whiffshot will make them disperse and disappear, like the Paris mob at Vendemiarie in 1795 when faced with Napoleon’s troops.

    Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India.

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