FATA Research Centre (FRC) released the report following detailed research, departmental reviews, media reports and policy evaluation. It concluded that the PTI government has managed to reduce corruption, give the public access to government departments and the right to information.

The report was made public during a programme titled ‘Interpreting the Change – Perceptions versus Reality’ at a hotel and revealed that most people were aware that jobs were on sale during the previous government’s tenure. However, it adds, the PTI-led government took necessary measures to eradicate corruption soon after assuming office.

Quoting different sources, including the media, it states that the provincial government has been doing much more for the education and health sectors, while working to reduce poverty levels by 50% in 2015.

“The government has not launched an economic policy as yet, but has introduced a number of financial reforms to increase the province’s own resources and tax to gross domestic product ratio,” the report reads, adding that reforms are still far from any realisation.

The government was lauded for the establishment of the K-P Revenue Authority, as it has been tasked to increase provincial revenues from Rs4.3 billion to Rs10 billion in the next couple of years. Moreover, the health budget has been increased from Rs7.5 billion to Rs19.1 billion in the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

“The most important step by the PTI government was the approval of a uniform education policy,” reads the report. “This is a crucial move to end the ‘education apartheid’ in the province.”

The report also states that PTI has not played a considerable role in public administration, except refraining influence in certain day-to-day matters, which also led to differences between the K-P chief minister and chief secretary.

Opposition members, including Bushra Gohar of Awami National Party expressed dissatisfaction over the report and termed it a ‘misconception’.

“The current government does not know what to do with available funds, because of which 80% of K-P’s budget will go to waste,” Gohar said, adding that the province had been plunged into darkness, while Punjab has taken over its resources.

Qaumi Watan Party’s Mairaj Humayun said they had been expecting a change, but the provincial government has not delivered, due to clashes within the leadership and with the bureaucracy, leading to the formation of the forward bloc.

“PTI had announced that they will not distribute development funds among parliamentarians, but now they are doing it,” said Mairaj, questioning how many standing committees were functional.

PTI MNA Shehryar Afridi said they will always welcome positive criticism, adding that the Sehat ka Insaf programme, Right to Information Act and soon-expected Ehtisab Commission have been widely admired by the whole country.

“In the past, the commissioner, deputy commissioner, district police officer and many other bureaucrats would never allow public in their offices,” said Afridi. “Today that has changed and everyone will see more visible changes in the next five years.”

“The most important thing PTI introduced is the Right to Public Service Act. It has panicked the bureaucracy, however, the government still lacks skilled people,” said Vice Chancellor Islamia College University Professor Qibla Ayaz. He pointed out that the police chief has admitted there is no political interference in his department and added that the University of Peshawar is also free of political influence.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2014.

PESHAWAR: The handling of a recent rape case in Kohat where Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Qureshi’s brother was one of the accused brought fissures in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ranks to the fore in the provincial assembly on Wednesday.

The issue has become a rallying point for the party’s ‘forward bloc’, which has been silent for some time.

The pressure group was formed earlier this year, reportedly headed by the deputy speaker, to force the party leadership into removing corrupt elements from the provincial cabinet and halting central leaders’ interference in the province.

The issue cropped up when the house was about to start a discussion on law and order as requested by the opposition. The pressure group members entered the assembly together, donning  black armbands.

Two of the members, Qurban Khan and Javed Nasim, stood up and asked Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to be allowed to speak on a point of order to which the speaker agreed. Qurban, in his speech, said the issue at hand was a matter of concern for the whole house. He said he had joined PTI after being impressed with its rhetoric of justice and truth, adding he was presently acting according to the party’s manifesto and will face the chief minister, his advisers and assistants if they come in the way of justice.

After emphatically quoting Pashto poet Ghani Khan, Qurban said the levelling of rape charges against the deputy speaker’s brother has made the speaker’s chair controversial. He said news channels ran the story for two days, causing the deputy speaker to suffer a stroke.

He said if the issue was not resolved immediately, they would not attend the budget session. After making this declaration, the MPA from Nowshera, along with other group members, staged a walkout from the house with opposition members following suit.

Minister for Information Shah Farman told the house there were no eyewitnesses in the rape case nor any circumstantial evidence or medical report to establish guilt, saying the entire episode seems to be based on mala fide intentions.

He asked the speaker to form a special committee to stem such incidents from happening in the future.

The speaker sent the house on a recess for tea break and asked that the disgruntled members be brought back to the house. The pressure group members then huddled in front of journalists where the deputy speaker alleged that a senior government figure was behind the incident.

The members then met the speaker inside his chambers to discuss the issue. Talking to reporters following the meeting, Qurban said they have agreed to investigate the issue through a 10-member committee comprising two members of their group and parliamentary leaders of all the parties. He said the committee will investigate and present its report before the budget, warning they would otherwise boycott the budget session.

Qurban said some senior government officials may be behind the rape incident in a bid to counter their group, adding they will boycott the present session to establish their seriousness.

On May 6, the deputy speaker’s brother Imtiaz Qureshi and his cousin Asmatullah Qureshi allegedly raped a young woman in Kohat after which the victim and her husband lodged an FIR against them at the Shakardara police station.

On May 10, the victim’s mother, Tajwar Sultana, told journalists that her son-in-law was forcing his wife to withdraw the case and settle the matter outside court. She alleged he had been influenced by the deputy speaker and thrashed his wife, forcing her to miss the court hearing on that day.

Meanwhile, the house adopted two resolutions, including one from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl lawmaker Zareen Gul asking the federal government to pay outstanding amounts payable in lieu of the province’s share of water being used by other provinces since the Water Apportionment Accord of 1991. The session had not started three hours after the recess and till this report was filed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2014.

It appears that apart from being a great cricketer and philanthropist, two of his sides beyond question, Imran Khan is also a phenomenal actor. One is increasingly convinced that should he decide to take acting up formally as a profession, he will put Oscar winners to the blush. Professional actors learn scripts, practice expressions, gestures and maneuvers and still have the option to do multi-takes before the perfect shot is immortalized in film. Theatre artists have the benefit of countless rehearsals, though they perform to live audiences. But Mr. Khan performs almost every day, almost extempore and almost to perfection. He performs to television audience, and to live audiences. He has no time to rehearse or to learn dialogue by heart, yet he is peerless in the art of drama. Thus, I wouldn’t choose him to lead me or my country, but I would certainly choose him for the lead role of any film I were producing.
Consider: He thunders like the Lyssa, the goddess of raging madness, about the Jang/ Geo group having rigged the elections against him. And when he foams at the mouth, one can almost see the foam flying. It helps that his eyes remain pink almost all the time anyway. And in this spectacle he looks sincerely angry, and genuinely seething with rage. But of course, he knows, and you know, and I know that he cannot conceivably believe it possible for a television channel to conduct electoral rigging on any scale, leave alone on a scale to change results. What a media group, a newspaper or a TV channel can do however, is to report with consistent bias – in favour of, or against, a candidate. And that is unfortunately neither illegal nor ‘rigging’. And Geo/ Jang group certainly happens to be guilty of that, as do other media groups. And Mr. Khan knows it. And he also knows, that Geo consistently (and odiously for Khan’s detractors) favoured him over others for years – till he actually became a force to reckon with. Oh, and who knows which script or cue cards those Jang Group anchors and journalists were singing from when Imran was their darling. But you see, Imran Khan KNOWS all of this. He knows better than anyone else what this media group, amongst others, did for him. Yet, like Enyo, the goddess of destruction, he lashes out. He is so angry, because he is so wronged, that he wants to huff and he wants to puff, and wants to bring the entire house down. And eat up all the little piggies quaking inside the house. And my, oh my, is his ‘anger-act’ convincing, or is it convincing? Except, the cue cards, the talking points, give it all away. But that cannot be his fault, can it? He is still a brilliant actor.
He talks about speeches at 11.23 p.m or 11.26 p.m that cost him the PMship. And he does it with a straight face, rather a spittle-flying-in-your-face face. And the followers scream with hysteria; he probably marvels at his own ingenuity. Inside, one is sure, he chuckles because he knows. How can he not? A year on after the elections, and he suddenly dreams up that he lost the PMship because Geo ‘rigged’ the election. That is the script. It is just a tad interesting that he woke up to the fact only a couple of days after the Geo-ISI disaster broke loose. And just a tad stale that Mr. Khan actually thought, yet again, that he’d like to play Molly the Pretty Mare, in Animal Farm.
Those poor souls not aware of the grand puppet show on show, fall for the anger bit hook, line and sinker. But those who’ve been watching the scene for some decades like Orwell’s old donkey Benjamin, become die-hard fans of the next acting legend. They just wish they had the millions of dollars they are supposed to be “khoring” to produce the next box office hit starring the next big star after Marilyn Monroe. Except for his disciples, everyone knows the score; everyone knows the genius of his talent.
Mr. Khan must sit back and laugh heartily in his leisure and pleasure hours at his own artful accomplishments. He has managed to put on the back foot an entire organization (no saint itself) for leveling what he calls lowly, below the belt, personal attacks against him. He must have slapped his own shoulder red congratulating himself at putting them in the hot seat, all the while leveling far more
serious allegations of ‘treason’ at them, and lending credence to allegations of blasphemy by sitting in one-to-one interviews with every vulture in the media that has cast aspersions of blasphemy at Geo staff. It would be so funny if it weren’t so frightening: Mr. Khan fooling the masses with his straight-faced mantra of religion, morality, honesty and decency – when his own personal life stands up to not the shallowest scrutiny on these standards.
One has a choice: one can be bitter, or one can be hardy. One can cry, or one can admire. For the moment, Mr. Khan has the last laugh. And so do his puppeteers.

The writer is a human rights worker and freelance columnist.

Email:gulnbukhari@gmail.com

Tweets at:@gulbukhari

SWAT: At least 30 children fell ill in Swat after receiving vaccinations for measles on Saturday, Express News reported.

A team of health officials had gone to their school, MR Model School in Mingora, where they were given injections of the vaccines. After which, the children fell ill and were taken to Saidu Sharif Hospital for medical treatment.

According to sources at the hospital, the children are out of danger.

The reason of the adverse reaction to the vaccinations is not known as yet.

On May 21, six children had fallen unconscious after being administered measles vaccines in Kohat district. A team of health officials went to a private school in Jangal Khel to vaccinate children against measles after which the students fell unconscious and were rushed to the Liaqat Memorial Hospital.

Two days earlier, at least 23 students of Government Girls Primary School in Dalan union council of Thal, Hangu had fallen unconscious after they were administered anti-measles injections.

The commonly known side-effects of measles vaccines range from the common ones which are fever, rash to the very rare ones such as mild seizures and deafness.

کپتان نے عدلیہ اوراپنے آئیڈیل منصف جسٹس(ر)افتخارمحمد چوہدری سے وارفتگی وشیفتگی کا جام توڑا اورایک مرتبہ پھر توبہ کر لی۔ کپتان ٹاپ کا کھلاڑی ،غضب کا شکاری ،بے لوث ،سماجی کارکن ،اعلیٰ درجے کا منصف ،ہزاروں نہیں لاکھوں دلوں میں دھڑکن کی طرح بساہواسیاسی لیڈرہے،اس کے باوجود ان کا مزاج شناس ہونے کا دعوی ہے نہ قربت کا ۔البتہ ان کے نت نئے فیصلوں ،ان فیصلوں میں تیزرفتاری تبدیلی دیکھ کروہ مے خوریاد آتاہے۔قصہ کہانیوں کا وہ کردارسر شام ساقی گل فام کی محفل میں جابیٹھتا۔رات ساغرومینا کے ساتھ اٹھکیلیاں کرتے ،شغل بادہ نوشی میں گزرجاتی ۔دن چڑھتا تو خوف خدا غالب آجاتا۔ضمیرکچوکے لگاتا توآئندہ کیلئے دخترانگورسے دور رہنے کا پیمان کرتا اورتوبہ کرکے شام تک میٹھی نیند سو جاتا۔ سرشام جب خمارکا عادی بدن ٹوٹتا توتوبہ ٹوٹ جاتی ۔ویسے ہی جیسے صبح اٹھ کرمارے ندامت کے جام ٹوٹا۔ہرروزکی توبہ اورجام شکنی کی اس مشق کے نتیجہ میں ان گنت مرتبہ توبہ ٹوٹی اوردریدہ جاموں کی تعدادکا توشمارہی ممکن نہ تھا۔شعرشناسی میں توخیرواجبی سی شدبد ہے،لیکن شعراکرام کے نام اکثرذہن میں گڈمڈہوکررہ جاتے ہیں۔کپتان کی سیاست کودیکھ کروہ بھولا بسراشعریاد آتاہے۔
جام مے توبہ شکن ،توبہ میری جام شکن
سامنے ڈھیرہے ٹوٹے ہوئے پیمانوں کا
کپتان نے کرکٹ کے کھیل میں توبے شمارریکارڈ بنائے ۔تھوڑے ٹیسٹ کھیل کرزیادہ وکٹیں حاصل کیں۔اپنے وقت میں تیزرفتارترین فاسٹ باؤلرکا ریکارڈ ،اپنی کپتانی میں ٹیسٹ اورون ڈے میچ جیتنے کا ریکارڈ، 1992ء میں پہلی اور تاحال آخری دفعہ ورلڈکپ جتنے کا عالمی ریکارڈ۔ کھیل میں لیکن مسئلہ یہ ہوتاہے کہ ایک وقت ایسا بھی آتاہے،جب قوی مضمحل ہوجاتے ہیں۔بھریا میلہ چھوڑکرریٹائرمنٹ لینی پڑتی ہے،ایک مرتبہ کھیل کے میدان کوالوداع کہہ دیا جائے تو پھر تیزی سے بنتے،ٹوٹتے ،ریکارڈ کے آگے’’ختم شد‘‘کا سائن بورڈ لگ جاتاہے۔آخرکارنئے آنے والے تازہ دم کھلاڑی، پرانے ریکارڈ توڑ ڈالتے اورپرانے ریکارڈ محض کھیل کی کتابوں میں ریفرنس کے طودرپرباقی رہ جاتے ہیں۔ کپتان البتہ خوش نصیب رہا کہ کھیل سے سبکدوشی کے بعد ،سماجی خدمت کے شعبہ میں چندے کے انباراکٹھے کرنے اوراس خطیررقم کی مدد سے پاکستان کا پہلا خیراتی اہسپتال قائم کرنے کا موقع بھی ملااوراس شعبے میں بھی کپتان نے کامیابی کے جھنڈے گاڑے۔ ان سب کامیابیوں کے باوجودکپتان کی زندگی اس شاعرکے شعرکی عملی تصویرہے،جس میں توبہ اورجام مساوی رفتار اور تعدادمیں مسلسل ٹوٹتے نظرآتے ہیں۔
اب سال اورتاریخیں تویادنہیں،البتہ یہ امیر المومنین ضیاء الحق کا زمانہ بادشاہی تھا۔کپتان نے اچانک ایک روز کرکٹ سے ریٹائرمنٹ لے لی۔دنیا بھرمیں کرکٹ کے دیوانوں بالخصوص خواتین پرستاروں کے دل بیٹھ گئے۔ایک روز کپتان کی مردمومن سے ملاقات ہوئی توکپتان نے کرکٹ کھیلنے سے کی گئی توبہ واپس لے لی۔شوکت خانم ہسپتال کیلئے فنڈز اکٹھا کرنے کی مہم چلائی توغریب امیر،خاص وعام ،دیہاتی ،شہری سب نے طورخم سے گوادرتک دل کھول کرچندہ دیا،اپنی محبتیں نچھاورکیں،سکولوں کے بچوں نے اپنا جیب خرچ تک جھولی میں ڈال دیا۔مقبولیت کی بلندیوں پرفائزکپتان نے ایک روز اعلان کیا کہ سیاست منفی عمل ہے ،لہذا وہ کبھی اس شعبہ کی طرف آنکھ اٹھا کربھی نہ دیکھیں گے۔کپتان اس بات پر زیادہ عرصہ قائم نہ رہ سکا۔1996میں بے نظیرحکومت برطرفی سے قبل کپتان میدان سیاست میں بہ نفس نفیس جگمگارہے تھے۔ ایک زمانے میں نوازشریف سے گہری دوستی تھی۔باغ جناح میں اکٹھے کرکٹ کھیلی۔پھردوستی چھوڑی اورسیاسی مخالفت کا راستہ اپنا لیا۔کپتان کوپہلے الیکشن میں بری طرح مات ہوئی۔الیکشن سے پہلے اس کی مقبولیت سے نفسیاتی طور پر خائف نوازشریف نے اتحاد کی آفرکی۔لیکن کپتان نے قبول نہ کی۔12اکتوبرکوپرویزمشرف نے اقتدار پر غیر قانونی قبضہ کیا توجناب خان ایک مرتبہ پھرامید سے ہوگئے۔وزارت عظمی کا پرانا خواب ایک مرتبہ آنکھوں میں بسالیا۔موصوف اولین ملاقاتیوں میں شامل تھے۔مشرف نے اپنے جعلی اقتدارکوجوازاوردوام بخشنے کیلئے ریفرنڈم کا ڈرامہ رچایا تو ’’خان‘‘ لیڈ سٹار بن کرسامنے آئے۔2002ء کے عام انتخابات میں یوں لگ رہاتھاکہ بس وزارت عظمیٰ تک رسائی میں بس ایک آنچ کی کمی باقی ہے۔شومئی قسمت صرف ایک نشست ہاتھ آئی ۔ظفراللہ جمالی ایک نشست کی اکثریت سے اسی منصب جلیلہ پرفائز ہوگئے ،جس کوعمران اپنا حق سمجھ بیٹھے تھے۔ وزارت عظمیٰ نہ ملی توجناب نے اپنے ٹریک ریکارڈ کے مطابق مشرف کی حمایت پرقوم سے معافی مانگی اورآئندہ کیلئے فوجی سرپرستی سے توبہ کرلی۔اس دوران نوابزادہ نصراللہ مرحوم نے اے آرڈی قائم کرلی توعمران خان بھی اس نوح کی کشتی میں سوارہوگئے۔اس سے پہلے وہ اعلان فرماچکے تھے کہ نوازشریف اور بینظیر بھٹو کے ساتھ مل کرکبھی سیاست میں حصہ نہیں لیں گے۔لیکن بیانات کا کیاہوتاہے وہ توہوتے ہی بھول جانے کیلئے ہیں۔ 2007ء کے انتخابات ہوئے تواچانک کپتان نے انتخابات کا بائیکاٹ کردیا۔اے آرڈی سے بھی الگ ہو گئے۔ ایم کیوایم کے ساتھ اٹ کھڑکاہواتوالطاف حسین کوکیفرکردارپہنچانے کا اعلان کرڈالا۔نہایت جوش وخروش سے ثبوتوں بھرااٹیچی کیس لے کرسکاٹ لینڈیارڈجاپہنچنے ۔کچھ عرصہ بعداس جہادکوبھول گئے۔ایم کیوایم نے جوابی کا روائی کی تو توبہ کرکے پیچھے ہٹ گئے۔اپنے دورسیاست میں ایک مرتبہ چوہدری برادران کوکرپٹ ٹولہ قراردے کران کو ایکسپوزکرنے کو اپنا مشن اول قراردیدیا۔
حسب معمول اس پربھی قائم نہ رہ سکے۔میاں نوازشریف نے عدلیہ بچاؤمہم کا اعلان کیا تواس کی حمایت میں کھڑے ہوگئے۔نوازشریف نے میلہ لوٹ لیا اورعمران خان ڈی چوک میں لانگ مارچ کا انتظارہی کرتے رہ گئے۔کسی زمانے میں ٹی وی پروگرام میں ہاتھ اٹھا کردعامانگی کہ اللہ ان کوشیخ رشید ایسے سیاستدانوں سے بچائے۔2013کے الیکشن میں یہی شیخ رشید ان کے سب سے بڑے اتحادی بن گئے۔کسی سعد لمحے میں اعلان فرمایاکہ وہ ایجنسیوں کی مددسے کبھی سیاست میں آئیں گے نہ اقتدارلیں گے۔پھران کے اورپاشاکے سمبھند کا گواہ ایک زمانہ بنا۔
پیپلزپارٹی کے پانچ سالہ دور اقتدار میں کپتان چیف جسٹس کے ساتھ کھڑے ہوگئے۔2013ء کے انتخابات ہوئے توامیدوں کے برعکس بہت کم سیٹیں ملیں۔وزارت عظمی کا خواب توپورانہ ہوا۔البتہ ایک صوبہ کی حکومت مل گئی۔ کپتان نے انتخابی نتائج کوتسلیم کیا۔
اعلان کیا کہ وہ مینڈیٹ تسلیم کرتے ہیں اوریہ کہ منتخب حکومتوں کو مدت اقتدارپوری کرنے کا موقع ملنا چاہیے لیکن اب انتخابات کے صرف ایک سال کے اندرانتخابات دھاندلی زدہ ،ٹی وی چینل ،نوازشریف اوران کے آئیڈیل جج افتخار چوہدری اس دھاندلی کے ذمہ دارنکل آئے۔وہی افتخارمحمدچوہدری جن کی بحالی کیلئے کپتان نے عدلیہ بچاؤمہم میں بھرپور کردار اداکیا۔
توبہ شکن کپتان ،حلقہ ارادت مندان پرویزمشرف ،طاہرالقادری ،جناب شیخ رشید ،جماعت اسلامی کے ہمراہ گیارہ مئی کو تخت اسلام آباد الٹانے تشریف لارہے ہیں۔ مسلم لیگ ق بھی سرگرم تو ہے، لیکن ابھی حتمی فیصلہ پر نہیں پہنچی۔ چوہدری برادران نے فیصلہ کر لیا تو اصحاب (ق)کے سارے نگ ایک ہی میگا سائز انگوٹھی میں جڑے نظر آئیں گے۔ یہ اتحاد سیاست میں کوئی طوفان برپا کر پاتا ہے یا نہیں، لیکن کپتان کے سامنے ٹوٹے ہوئے پیمانوں کے ڈھیرمیں ایک اورکا اضافہ ہو گیا ہے۔ ڈھیر مزید بلند ہو گیا۔

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