Dawn Editorials & Opinions
The judgement by Sir Anthony Evans
Broadsheet judgement - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
Editorial 20 January 2021
THE PTI government has taken a
welcome step in making public the
judgement of arbitration ‫ثالثی کا فیصلہ‬
between Broadsheet and
Pakistan/National Accountability
Bureau that was handed down ‫دیا گیا تھا۔‬
in 2016. Kaveh Moussavi, the head of
Broadsheet, an asset recovery company,
had been saying on public forums that
he was giving permission to the
government of Pakistan to make the
document public and that the judgement
would clarify ‫ وضاحت کرے گی‬confusion
‫ الجھاؤ‬about the issue at hand. On
Monday, the prime minister’s
accountability adviser Shahzad Akbar
said in a press conference that the
government had received written
permission ‫ تحریری اجازت مل گئی تھی‬from
Mr Moussavi to make the judgement
public and that Prime Minister Imran
Khan had ordered ‫ حکم دیا تھا‬that it be
shared with the people of Pakistan
without delay. The adviser said that the
judgement clearly showed the cost that
Pakistan had to pay for giving an NRO
to those who had indulged ‫ ملوث تھا‬.. in
corrupt practices..
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spells out in great detail the follies
committed ‫ ارتکاب کیا‬since 2000 by NAB
and its lawyers. It shows clearly how
shoddy contracts ‫ ناقص معاہدے‬and shady
decision-making ‫ مشکوک فیصلہ سازی‬led
to Pakistan cutting a sorry figure in
court. This incompetence ‫ نااہلیت‬laced
with political expediency ‫ مصلحت‬has
cost ‫ نقصان اٹھانا پڑا ہے‬the Pakistani
taxpayer $28m in addition to a loss of
face. According to the judgement, the
contract that NAB signed ‫دستخط کیے تھے‬
with Broadsheet in 2000 included a
clause ‫ دفع‬that allowed Broadsheet to
claim a 20pc commission on all NAB
recoveries outside Pakistan and also
domestically, including such cases that
Broadsheet may not have been involved
in. ‫ شامل نہ ہو‬At the hearing, a former
NAB chairman has been quoted as
saying ‫ حوالے سے کہا گیا ہے۔‬that he
thought the contract was only for
Broadsheet work outside of
Pakistan. Such was the level of
incompetence. ‫ نااہلی کی سطح‬This trend
continued and later it transpired ‫وقوع‬
‫پذیر ہوا‬, as listed in the judgement, that
Pakistan agreed to settle with
Broadsheet but ended up ‫ ختم ہوگئی‬giving
$1.5m to the wrong person. The
judgement says the fault was clearly that
of NAB and its lawyers who should
have known that the person they were
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 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

making the payment to was not the legal Unequal justice - Newspaper -
recipient ‫ قانونی وصول کنندہ نہیں تھا‬of the DAWN.COM
money.. Editorial 20 January 2021

Prime Minister Imran Khan has done

IT seems no one wants to testify ‫گواہی‬
well to constitute a committee ‫ایک کمیٹی‬
‫ دینا چاہتا ہے‬against former SSP Malir,
‫ تشکیل دینا‬to recommend ‫ تجویز کرنا‬a line
Rao Anwar. At least five prosecution
of action on the findings of the
witnesses ‫ استغاثہ کے گواہ‬،, all police
judgement, including those pertaining
officers, have retracted ‫پیچھے ہٹ گئے ہیں‬
‫ متعلق‬to former prime minister Nawaz
their statements in the Naqeebullah
Sharif. Those who are responsible for
Mehsud murder case ‫ قتل کیس‬in which
decisions and actions that have cost
the retired ‫ ریٹائرڈ‬police official is
Pakistan dearly ‫ بڑی‬must be identified,
standing trial. Even the prosecution,
‫ شناخت کرنی ہوگی‬، investigated and taken
which represents the state, scarcely ‫شاذ و‬
to task. At the same time, this committee
‫ نادر ہی‬seems interested in pursuing the
should also look into the disclosures
case ‫مقدمہ کی پیروی کرنا۔‬. Little wonder
‫ انکشافات‬made by Mr Moussavi after the
then, that the slain ‫ مقتول‬man’s family,
judgement, including the allegation that
their lawyer and a PTI MNA on Sunday
some people during this government’s
expressed ‫ اظہارکیا‬their fear that a path is
stint ‫ دورانیہ‬had asked him for
being cleared for Rao Anwar to be
bribes. ‫ رشوت‬There are plenty ‫ بہت کچھ‬of
acquitted ‫بری کیا جائے‬. The proceedings
skeletons ‫ ڈھانچے‬in the Broadsheet
in the case are a chilling case study of
cupboard and they must be brought out
the impunity ‫ استثنی‬enjoyed by some
into the open. The PTI government must
extremely ‫ انتہائی‬powerful individuals in
ensure full transparency ‫ مکمل شفافیت‬in
this country. So unaccountable ‫ناقابل‬
the matter so that no facts are allowed to
‫ حساب‬are they that even the vicissitudes
be obscured ‫ غیر واضح ہونے‬at the altar
‫ مضحکہ خیز‬of politics do not affect them;
‫ قربان گاہ‬of political expediency ‫سیاسی‬
the pomp ‫ دالل‬and circumstance that
‫مصلحت‬..
accompanies ‫ همراہ هونا‬them remains
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021. intact..

Naqeebullah, a 27-year-old aspiring

model ‫خواہش مند ماڈل‬, was gunned down
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 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

‫ گولی مار دی گئی تھی‬، on Jan 13, 2018,
along with three others in a fake
encounter, allegedly ‫ مبینہ طور پر‬on the
orders of Rao Anwar, infamously ‫بدنام‬
known as an ‘encounter specialist’. The
record of the Karachi police itself
implicates ‫ ملوث‬the senior official in no
less than 444 deaths in such
operations. No action had been taken
against him for this gruesome ‫لرزہ خیز‬
run of murders until the death of
Naqeebullah, who was described by Rao
Anwar as a terrorist. ‫ دہشت گرد‬Perhaps it
was the young man’s presence ‫موجودگی‬
on social media and his obviously ‫ظاہر‬
‫ ہے‬harmless preoccupations ‫کوئی نقصان‬
‫ نہیں پہنچاتی‬that struck a chord in civil
society. ‫ راگ االپ گئی۔‬A police inquiry
also soon established that neither he nor
the others killed with him even had
criminal records, let alone terrorist
profiles. Protests broke out ‫احتجاج شروع‬
‫ ہوا۔‬demanding that Rao Anwar be
brought to book ‫قانون کے کٹہرے میں‬
‫النا‬. At this point, the state had a golden
opportunity ‫ سنہری موقع‬to turn the page
on police brutality ‫ بربریت‬and
extrajudicial ‫ ماورائے عدالت‬killings, and
demonstrate ‫ مظاہرہ‬that no one,
absolutely ‫ بالکل‬no one, is above the
law. Instead, for five months the former
SSP successfully evaded ‫ بچ گیا‬the law
— with assistance from state elements
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with Urdu meanings of difficult words
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— until he was finally arrested. Even
that was a mere inconvenience ‫محض‬
‫ ;تکلیف‬his Karachi residence was
declared a sub-jail, from the comfort ‫آرام‬
of which he could appear for his court
hearings. When he did so, it was without
handcuffs ‫ہتھکڑیاں‬, surrounded ‫گھیر لیا ہوا‬
by police officers treating him with
deference‫ عزت‬،‫ تکریم‬, and sporting the
demeanour ‫ برتاؤ کھیل‬of a man who knew
he had nothing to fear. It was a mockery
of justice ‫ انصاف کا مذاق اڑانا‬in every
sense of the word, an affront ‫ سامنا کرنا‬to
the most basic civic values ‫شہری‬
‫اقدار‬. Impunity ‫ استثناء‬، ‫ معافی‬on this scale
destroys nations from within..
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021.
Schools reopening - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
Editorial 20 January 2021
THE disruptive ‫ خلل ڈالنے واال‬impact of
Covid-19 on education will be felt
‫ محسوس کیا جائے گا‬for years to come. For
countries like Pakistan, where 44pc of
the children were out of school even
before ‫ اس سے پہلے کہ‬the pandemic
struck, ‫ وبائی امراض پھیل گئے‬the
consequences will be devastating ‫نتائج‬
‫تباہ کن ہوں گے۔‬. In Pakistan, the extended
closure of schools and colleges paints a
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 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

bleak picture ‫ تاریک تصویر‬of the
future. A recent World Bank report on
education poverty had predicted ‫پیش‬
‫ گوئی کی تھی‬that the pandemic could end
up ‫ خاتمہ ہوسکتا ہے‬seeing at least 930,000
children out of primary and secondary
schools in the country. This
development, the report estimated ‫اندازہ‬
‫لگایا‬, could cause losses of up to $155bn
to the national economy over the next 20
years. It is in light of this challenge that
the federal government’s decision to
reopen educational institutions in phases
must be viewed. At present, classes have
resumed ‫ دوبارہ شروع ہوگئی ہیں‬for classes
nine through 12, while classes one
through eight and university are set to
resume from Feb 1. However, the
federal education ministry has said it
would reassess ‫ دوبارہ جائزہ لے گی‬the
situation after analysing the latest
trajectory ‫ رفتار‬of Covid-19 cases in the
country, and cities with high infection
rates might be allowed to not reopen
school for students of classes one
through eight for some more time..
many private schools opted ‫ انتخاب کیا‬for
online classes, students of public
schools, where having a desk to oneself
is often a luxury ‫ عیش و آرام کی‬let alone
owning a laptop, were left to their own
devices. Moreover, how will proper
handwashing ‫ ہاتھ دهونا‬and social
distancing ‫ لوگوں سے دور رہنا‬be ensured
in thousands of public schools that have
no walls and potable water ‫?پینے کا پانی‬
These are only some of the problems
that will need to be addressed
immediately ‫توجہ دینے کی ضرورت‬
‫ہوگی‬. The situation is unprecedented
‫ صورتحال بے مثال ہے‬،, and requires
innovative ‫ جدید‬and urgent solutions
concerning compliance ‫ تعمیل‬with
SOPs. The education authorities must be
prepared to think on their feet to ensure
that schools, colleges and universities do
not contribute to the infection rate in the
country..
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021.

No doubt, while education has to be

resumed, given Pakistan’s problematic
‫ پریشان کن‬schooling landscape ‫زمین کی‬
‫ تزئین‬the enforcement ‫ نافذ کرنے والے‬of
SOPs will be a Herculean task ‫انتہائی‬
‫مشکل کام ہے‬. During the lockdown, while
Page 4 of 4
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