Showing posts with label Published Articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Published Articles. Show all posts

Response to Rigging Article

July 06, 2014 | By Think-Pk |
Just received this article. Going to comment on each point logically. My comments will be separated by two rows of *****

 {
"ACCUSING the PML-N, caretakers, the Election Commission and judiciary of unprecedented rigging against it in 2013, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is threatening a long march. Other parties have also complained of rigging though are not threatening drastic action. So, were these elections rigged?

 Since politicians often employ hyperbole, one must review the reports of neutral election observers — the EU, the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Pakistan-based Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen). While all three identified pre- and election-day flaws, none questioned overall electoral credibility."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
None of them were given the mandate to comment on credibility of elections but rather the procedural requirements needed to be fulfilled so if the author is admitting that all 3 identified pre and election day flaws thats where their role began and thats there it ends. Mind you in this modern age of IT no one dares to do rigging blatantly rather its done discretely and systematically using the loop holes in the system so this argument to declare elections to be fair stands null and void
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 {
"The EU and NDI, having monitored Pakistani elections for decades, actually termed overall election processes significantly improved. None reported systematic rigging against the PTI. The EU and NDI did report that the PPP and Awami National Party were not allowed by the TTP to campaign freely in KP. This ironically benefited the PTI. Thus, inferences from neutral reviews actually paint the PTI as an indirect beneficiary rather than victim of electoral flaws."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
Factual discrepancy: This argument is as valid as the campaign of PML-N that PTI is B team of PPP. Actually all the parties who could not run their campaigns under the threat of terrorism were harmed and every other party was benefited be it PTI or PML-N or JUI(F) etc. Once again such bodies never report rigging directly. They simply hint at procedural mistakes and flaws in the system which they excessively did.
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 {
"Data from a Fafen review of post-election complaint-handling also undermines rigging charges. Out of 410 complaints lodged with the ECP, 301 stood decided by May 31, 2014. While over 100 complaints are pending, election tribunals are not delaying PTI complaints only. If 21 of PTI’s 58 total complaints are still pending, so are 28 of PML-N’s 66. The PTI had zero success rate to-date in its 37 decided complaints; the PML-N only had four successes in 38 decided complaints. Tribunals have de-seated two PTI but also nine PML-N winners to-date. There appears to be little evidence that the tribunals are biased."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
Major problem is not with whether tribunals are biased or no. Major problem is the procedure and the system of these tribunals and the delay they cause in results. 
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{
"Rigging evidence should be submitted to the courts.
Even if the PTI miraculously wins all of its remaining complaints, it would not gain power in Punjab or nationally. Even if the PML-N loses all complaints pending against it, it will retain power in both places. So, the alleged rigging has not tipped things decisively. There is a wide gap between PTI’s massive rigging rhetoric and available evidence. Such limited rigging provides no justification for launching long marches which could topple democracy."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
Sorry to say a very lame argument from a person of caliber of a Doctor. Even if rigging occurred on only one seat of PML-N, it must be reported, identified, the responsible fixed and system improved for future. I will come to the justifications and reasons for long march in my last argument.
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 {
"Even if democracy survives and the PTI forces early elections, there is no guarantee that it will win. Even if it wins, it may reintroduce ruinous 1990s-type politics as the PML-N may then attempt to topple the PTI early. Despite all its faults, the PML-N respected the PTI’s 2013 KP mandate even though it could have cobbled a majority there. The PTI must reciprocate graciously or risk undermining the good things it is planning in KP governance-wise."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
a. We do not want win of PTI or PML-N or any party for that matter
b. We want fair, transparent and free elections which can be challenged and verified by anybody at any time. Such a system should be in place
c. If PML-N had guts, they could accept the most troubled province of Pakistan KPK. Fact is that they avoided direct responsibility in all provinces except Punjab. Its a coward approach and actually harmful for federation.
d. You can not ignore killing of someone by saying "mitti pao", lets don't punish those who killed otherwise they might kill more. You actually need to punish the killers and then ensure that it does not happen again! What kind of twisted logic is being presented in this article?
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 {
"If the party has strong rigging evidence, it should submit it to the courts. If it feels that they are biased against it, before taking drastic measures like quitting assemblies and invading Islamabad, it should convince neutral civil society elements, eg bar associations, human rights groups, media, and other major opposition parties about its stand. It should not appear as judge, jury and executioner all alone."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
They have submitted everything to courts, media, civil society and the writer seems to be living in a world of his own to not know what ACTUALLY is opinion of all the groups mention by this gentleman. The party is not appearing as Judge, Jury and Executioner all alone. In fact they have been disappointed badly by Judge, Jury and Executioner all alone. I will explain in the last comment HOW
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 {
"Democracies allow legitimate protest. But, not even advanced democracies allow protest by people (like Qadri) planning overtly to topple elected governments unconstitutionally. PTI promises legal protests only for achieving poll reforms. But it hints of a premature end to PML-N rule. Such premature end, genuine reforms and constitutionalism are not all possible together given the enormity of required electoral reforms."
}

 *************Answer to Quoted Text*******************
Democracies allow peaceful PROTEST my friend. Nowhere in constitution is written the word legitimate or otherwise else no government will ever allow any kind of protest declaring it to be NOT legitimate. If your legal rights and due demands are not heard then it is government which is to be blamed for outcomes not opposition. Who decides whether protests are legitimate or no? Public opinion. If government is delivering, keeping up its election promises all such protests die down at their own. If however things are fishy at the end of government itself, they die. It is natural in democracies. In fact the right to protest for any reason is given precisely to cater for possibility of armed and bloody struggle otherwise. Winning an election does not give any government a license to kill for 5 years. They still have to listen to public and opposition!
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 These include rules and mechanisms for time-barred disqualification of convicts and government defaulters; better mechanisms for appointing ECP members, interim governments and returning officers; constituency delimitation and voter list re-verification based on a new census, and stronger election day processes like electronic voter identification and voting and associated voter education etc. Poll reforms need two to three years to complete.

 The PTI can only have any two of the three outcomes mentioned above together. If it chooses the early end of PML-N rule and constitutionalism, reforms are not possible since elections will become due in three months under a PML-PPP-appointed interim government. Secondly, if it chooses an early end to PML-N rule and reforms, it would mean an unconstitutional interim government institutes reforms over two to three years. Finally, it could choose reforms and constitutionalism by foregoing an early end of PML-N rule and pressuring it together with other political and civic groups to institute reforms over the next four years.

 This is the sensible choice that genuine democrats should select. The PTI must publicly announce its commitment to assemblies completing their terms. This will help it gain the support of numerous political and civic groups currently wary of its intentions. Even if initially reluctant, the PML-N will be unable to resist their combined reform demands coupled with judicial pressure.

 ************************ Last Comment *********************
Everything else is similar kind of rhetoric of if, then, this, that, else and so on. I will now summarize the situation with simple and proven facts + figures.

 1. 114 returning officers have not yet made form XIV (A primary document) public even after 14 months of elections without which result of any constituency can not be declared.

 2. Magnetic ink was part of the most important rules of Elections 2013. It was NOT used and it was NOT informed or announced until PTI requested for thumb verification. This is a clear case of possible ill intentions.

 3. A total of 93 constituencies were changed just days before elections, why?

 4. If everything is fair, transparent and free, why so much reluctance in opening four constituencies? Why can't PML-N give proof of its maturity, experience and commitment to democracy by opening these constituencies and allow their thumb verification for the sake of democracy?

 5. Last but not the least, no matter how stringent rules and criteria you make, if the offenders of a law know that they will never be questioned or caught later on, no rule, no system and no law can stop the rigging. So for above mentioned anomalies the responsible must be punished. I am not concerned about whether demands of PTI are right or wrong. But I see them as an opportunity to expose the flaws in the system, punish the culprits and block the passage of future violations of law!

 Source Article: http://www.dawn.com/news/1117319/unfair-polls
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Aliph Ailan Education Report - Some Facts

May 29, 2014 | By Think-Pk |
Sources:
1. Report Ratings: http://www.alifailaan.pk/district_education_rankings

2. Data Sources Page # 10: http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/alifailaan/pages/324/attachments/original/1400690777/District_Ranking_Report_Binded_-_comp.compressed.pdf?1400690777

 3. Link of Facebook Post of Mr. Shehbaz Sharif: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=735713846467224
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Tribute to Liberal Express Tribune

January 13, 2014 | By Think-Pk |

A Liberal Tribute to Secular Express Tribune

Express tribune is one of those online forums where I very keenly read articles on a variety of subjects. I do not agree with their Editorial Policy but I respect their right to choose whatever they want to publish and what they do not.

Here is what happened recently and I am myself a witness to it. I hope it was a confusion or misunderstanding. Dear ET please correct me if I am wrong. I am not blaming or accusing you of anything. Just presenting facts with undeniable evidence.

ET today shared a picture on their facebook page of Express  Tribune blogs. The picture they shared is given below;


The link for their facebook post containing this picture is ET Blog Photo Link. They had a link to an article attached with the picture which would redirect to this article The Aam Admi Party: An Indian version of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf?

I myself opened the link and voted for their poll. Results on their page were exactly as they posted in picture and I shared the link. Later on when I tried to refer to that article again to read comments, I was astonished at the results of poll. For the ET's sake, lets assume I had a mirage and my 6/6 eye sight was temporarily "out of order". So what I saw can not be proved. I was having hallucinations as I do not have a way to prove what I saw unless I had taken a screenshot which I obviously did not. Below I am attaching screenshot of polls as well as photo shared by ET Blogs page.


I must have failed in Mathematics as I fail to understand how can these statistics be true and possible. I request ET to provide me a mathematical solution to this "Liberal and Secular Dilemma" of purely mathematical nature. I will be really thankful.

P.S: I never implied that ET is a Pseudo Liberal news paper which thinks that negotiation with terrorists is equal to being sympathizer with them. Or that ET deliberately harms and gives favors to some political parties.

P.P.S: I also did not imply that ET for reasons best known to them did not want PTI of Pakistan being equated or compared with AAP of India.

I honestly feel that ET must have made a mistake or it might be a "secular, mathematical and liberal" misunderstanding. So I am expecting a logical and factual answer to my humble query. Thank you very much in advance.
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Buzdil Commando

January 06, 2014 | By Think-Pk |

بزدل کمانڈو

بھولا: یار یہ مشرف کتنا بزدل ہے نا؟

میں : ہیں وہ کیسے یار؟

بھولا: یار وہ تو پاکستان آ ہی نہیں رہا تھا، انٹر پول گرفتار کر کے اسے پاکستان لے آئی

میں : اچھا؟ وہ سعودیوں کی اجازت سے نہیں آیا واپس؟

بھولا: ہاں نا، مشی جیسا بزدل سعودیوں سے معاہدہ کر کے بھاگ سکتا تھا کیا؟ یہ تو جی صرف شیروں کے کام ہوتے ہیں، شیروں کے

میں : لیکن یار مشی انکل نے اپنے سب کیس بھی بھگتے اور ضمانتیں لیں

بھولا: او چھڈو جی، کیڑھے کیس؟ بزدل کمانڈو، پوری زندگی فوج کی نوکری کر کہ ستر سال کی عمر میں صرف غداری کے الزام پر ہارٹ اٹیک کرا کر بیٹھ گیا؟ ایسے ہوتے ہیں کمانڈو؟ کمانڈو کو تو سو سال کی عمر میں بھی غداری کے کیس پر ہارٹ اٹیک نہیں ہونا چاہیے چاہے وہ جتنا مرضی سموکر ہو

میں : اچھا یار؟ لیکن مشی کے دور میں نوکریوں کی ریل پیل تو تھی نا؟ ڈالر بھی ساٹھ سے اوپر نہیں گیا، لوڈ شیڈنگ بھی نہیں ہوتی تھی

بھولا: یار تم بھی نا، نام میرا بھولا ہے اور باتیں تم بھولے والی کرتے ہو، وہ نوکریاں سیاسی بنیادوں پر تھوڑی ملتی تھیں؟ اور یہ انٹرنیٹ، ٹیلی کام، آزاد میڈیا تو مشرف کی بے غیرتیوں میں سے تھیں، اس کی وجہ سے اب حکومت چلانا آسان نہیں رہا، ایک دو ٹکے کا سرکاری ملازم اور آدھے ٹکے کا عام آدمی بھی اب انٹرنیٹ پر آ کر ہمارے حکمرانوں کے خلاف بکواس کر سکتا ہے

میں : ہاں یار، ویسے مشرف سے کچھ غلطیاں بھی ہوئی ہیں، لال مسجد، بگٹی وغیرہ

بھولا: او یار، تو بھی نا، مشرف کو سزا اس وجہ سے تھوڑی ملے گی؟

میں : یار پھر کیوں ملے گی؟

بھولا: بس کچھ لوگ ہوتے ہیں جن کو اپنے سائے سے بھی ڈر لگتا ہے، کچھ لوگ فوج کو سبق سکھانے کی کوشش کر رہے ہیں، وہ بھی بارہ اکتوبر کو بھول کر اور نومبر کو یاد کر کے اور ان کو یہ نہیں پتا کہ سول حکمران عوام کے محبوب ہو جائیں اپنی کارکردگی اور عوام دوستی کی وجہ سے، اتنے محبوب کہ عوام کسی بھی مارشل لا کی صورت میں سڑکوں پر نکل آئیں، جان کی پرواہ نہ کریں تو فوج کبھی بھی جرات نہیں کرے گی اقتدار میں آنے کی- ورنہ آج آپ چڑھا لیں مشرف کو پھانسی، فوج پھر بھی آئے گی اور زیادہ خونخوار طریقے سے آئے گی

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Why I Left PTI - میں نے تحریک انصاف کیوں چھوڑی؟

October 04, 2013 | By Think-Pk |

میں نے تحریک انصاف  کی سپورٹ  کیوں  چھوڑی ؟

میں قریب قریب سولہ سال سے عمران خان کو سپورٹ کر رہا تھا- الیکشن سے پہلے اور بعد میں بھی تحریک انصاف کے حق میں تھا- کافی دوستوں سے بحث مباحثہ بھی رہتا تھا کہ کون بہتر ہے؟ نون لیگ یا تحریک انصاف؟ آج میں نے تحریک انصاف کو چھوڑ کر نون لیگ کو سپورٹ کرنا شروع کر دیا- میرے سب دوست کافی حیران اور پریشان ہیں میرے اس فیصلے پر- اس لئے سوچا کہ دوستوں کے ساتھ ساتھ ساری دنیا کو بھی بتائیں تحریک انصاف چھوڑنے کی وجہ-

سب سے بڑی وجہ تو یہ ہے کہ تحریک انصاف سے ہمدردی رکھنے والے بیوقوف سمجھے جاتے ہیں اور مجھے شوق ہوا عقلمند بننے کا- دوسری وجہ یہ تھی کہ آج کل کسی بھی اینکر یا کالم نگار کے لئے مشہور ہونے کا سب سے اچھا شارٹ کٹ ہے کہ عمران خان پر تنقید کر دی جائے، عمران خان کے سپورٹر خود ہی آپ کو مشہور کر دیں گے- عمران خان پر تنقید کی وجہ سے آپ کو ذہنی بلوغت اور پختگی کا سرٹیفکیٹ تو خود بخود مل جاتا ہے، چاہے آپ کے گھر میں بھی کوئی آپ کی نہ سنتا ہو، آپ بیٹھے بٹھاۓ فلاسفر بن جاتے ہیں، ہر پروگرام میں آپ کی شرکت لازمی ہو جاتی ہے- ہر انسان کی طرح میں بھی توجہ کا بھوکا ہوں اور مجھے تو آج تک زندگی میں توجہ نہیں ملی، اس لئے اب کم از کم مجھے توجہ تو ملے گی نا؟

پھر کچھ ایسا تھا کہ میرے جاننے والے لوگوں میں پڑھے لکھے اور پاکستان سے باہر رہنے والے لوگوں میں اکثریت تحریک انصاف کو سپورٹ کرتی ہے اور ان لوگوں کو دیکھ کر مجھے ہمیشہ احساس کمتری محسوس ہوتا تھا، بڑا مزہ آتا ہے جب میں ان کو جلاتا ہوں اور پوچھتا ہوں، کدھر گئی سونامی؟ کہاں ہے کے پی کے میں تبدیلی؟ وہ پاگل صفائیاں دینا شروع کر دیتے ہیں اور میں منہ چھپا کر ہنستا ہوں اب- بڑی خوشی محسوس ہوتی ہے ان لوگوں کو پاگل بنا ک- ملک کے لئے ان لوگوں کے خلوص کا مذاق اڑا کر ایک عجیب کمینی سی روحانی تسکین حاصل ہوتی ہے- آپ کو یقین نہیں آ رہا کیا؟ کر کے دیکھیں، آ جاۓ گا یقین-

زندگی میں بھی سکون میں آ گیا ہے- کوئی دوست اب عرفان صدیقی صاحب، عطا الحق قاسمی صاحب، ابصار عالم صاحب، جاوید چوہدری صاحب  یا طلعت حسین صاحب کے کسی کالم یا ویڈیو  کے لنک میں نہ تو ٹیگ کرتا ہے نہ کوئی سوال پوچھتا ہے- جب میں نعرہ لگاتا ہوں دیکھو دیکھو کون آیا ، شیر آیا ، شیر آیا تو یقین کریں مجھے خود یہ یقین آ جاتا ہے کہ میں ایک شیر ہوں- اس کے بعد پٹرول کی قیمت دل میں جو بھی آگ لگائے، بجلی جتنے مرضی جھٹکے مارے، میں کہتا ہوں، اک واری فیر، شیر شیر  اور راوی چین ہی چین لکھنے لگ جاتا ہے-

اور کوئی بھی وجہ نہ ہوتی تو پھر بھی ایک وجہ کافی تھی نون لیگ کو سپورٹ کرنے کی، وہ یہ کہ میرے جتنے بھی شیر دوست تھے سب پر سکتہ سا طاری ہو گیا تھا، بجلی اور پٹرول کی قیمتوں میں تازہ اضافے کے ساتھ اور وہ بہت اکیلا اکیلا سا محسوس کر رہے تھے- آخر وہ بھی ہمارے پاکستانی بھائی ہیں  میں نہیں چاہتا تھا کہ وہ خود کو تنہا محسوس کریں، اس لئے ان کو کمپنی دینے کے لئے میرے ضمیر نے آواز دی کیونکہ مصیبت میں کبھی بھی کسی کو اکیلا نہیں چھوڑنا چاہئے- آخر میں ایک انگریزی فقرہ لکھوں گا ، امید ہے سمجھنے والے سمجھ جائیں گے ...

If you can’t convince them, confuse them.

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KPK Local Government System

September 01, 2013 | By Think-Pk |

A Brief Analysis and Summary of KPK Local Government Proposed System. Please review and comment. We will try to forward your convincing reservations to concerned people.

The Biggest Step Towards Change in KPK. Local Government elections methodology. It is awesome. I have just one reservation that the funds must NOT be given by Tehsil Nazims but directly to Village Nazims from Ministry of Finance. Rest it is quite promising proposal. No harm in experimenting No Pain, No Gain; No Risk, No Game.
Here is the answer from a PTI office Bearer in response to my reservation. So kind of him.
Ali Asghar Khan (Official): The provincial finance commission will allocate funds to all tiers which shall be transferred directly to each tier. It has been proposed that a minimum of 50% of the Annual Development Budget shall be allocated to Local Governments. The criteria for distribution will be established bases on poverty, population, revenue generation, fiscal performance etc
P.S: There are total3 tiers. District Level, Tehsil Level and Village Level. I prepared this data from the following status update of a PTI official mentioned above
"As a member of the working group I am being asked about the draft LG Structure. The Chairman PTI along with coalition partners approved the following structure for the KpK local government system.
It will comprise of 3 fully empowered tiers at the District, Tehsil and village level. These tiers will not only carry out development works but will also hold government functionaries accountable for their actions or inaction.
The village council will be elected on a free list nonparty basis and a village will comprise of a population of 2000 to 10000 persons depending upon population density.
On an average this will devolve the existing UC to 4 to 5 villages.
A village council will comprise of 10 to 15 councillors including reserved seats women 33% labour/ kissan 5% Youth 5% and non muslims 5%
The person getting the max votes on the general seat will be the village nazim and the 2nd highest eill be the village naib nazim.
The same principle will apply in the urban UCs where neighbourhood Councils will be elected and these will be based on a population of 6000 to 15000. There will be no LG tier at the UC level however the UC will act as an electoral constituency for the Tehsil and District members.
It will elect on a party basis one representative for the Tehsil and one for the District Council through direct election.
Rules for floor crossing shall apply and any independents elected will have to join a political party before the election of Nazim and Naib Nazims to the Tehsil and District who shall be elected from within the house.
Reserved seats shall be based on party lists. Hope this is of some help"

Post by Think-Pk.
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My 2 Cents on Anti-Terrorism Policy

August 19, 2013 | By Think-Pk |
We mostly keep on criticizing everyone. Or we keep on spreading rhetoric without even understanding what are we saying. I am going to try sincerely to give my 2 cents at "what should be the policy to tackle terrorism".

1. Round the clock monitoring of sensitive areas using a very cheap option of floating balloons in air at high altitudes with cameras / thermal imagers installed in them. Cameras and balloons should be co-ordinated with GPS system in real time. 

2. Rapid action security force with provision of helicopters / speedy vehicles to reach anywhere within their defined range on information from surveillance teams.

3. Above two steps will not take more than 2 months to implement if done sincerely.

4. Secret courts with secret judges to hear and decide the cases of terrorism.It will ensure speedy justice without any pressure on judges. Ideally 2 judges from civilian background and 1 from military would do the job. A right of review must be provided in which 2 randmoly and secretly selected judges from any high court or supreme court along with a senior military officer should hear the appeals and decide the case. The maximum time for all this should not be more than 60 days.

5. Engage in dialogue with all those who want to and convince them to come in mainstream. Use attacking diplomacy all over the world to stop US from drone strikes. Remember your wife will not respect you if you get beaten by everyone outside your home and demand respect at home.

Above mentioned points were immediate or short term measures. Now coming to long term measures;

1. No Imam of Mosques to be appointed except by government itself after the exams on the pattern of CSS and ISSB etc.

2. No Madrissah to teach anything which encourages hatred or differences among Muslims.

3. Uniform and in line with national interests curriculum at first stage in all schools and all schools to follow same pattern of teaching in 2nd stage thus ensure uniform and free education at all levels.

4. Immediate revamping of Police on the pattern of 1122 or Motorway police of 1990s.

5. Immediate legislation and corrective measures in judiciary system to ensure speedy justice. Make whole system online with automated warning issuance to judges in case of delays.

6. Truly empowered local bodies so that problems of people may be solved by people themselves.

Any differences / disagreements with reasoning will be strongly welcomed.
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