A special conference of corps commanders, chaired by Army Chief General Asim Munir, on Monday night decided that those involved in the May 9 attack on Army installations would now be prosecuted under the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. The commanders said, the army was aware of the planners, instigators, instigators and perpetrators of the attacks. A few hours before this, the leaders of the ruling PDM (Pakistan Democracy Movement) coalition in Pakistan on Monday openly insulted and condemned the judiciary in the presence of thousands of workers from 13 parties. Large containers were brought outside the Supreme Court, where leaders including Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Sharif and Jamiat leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman demanded the resignation of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial. The leaders challenged the Chief Justice to resign and contest the elections. A member inside the National Assembly demanded that former PM Imran Khan be publicly hanged for the violence on May 9. Imran Khan, on the other hand, alleged that his party Tehreek-e-Insaf is plotting to imprison and ban his wife Bushra Bibi. The Lahore High Court granted protective bail to Bushra Bibi till May 23, while the High Court reserved orders on Imran’s bail plea. Imran Khan alleged that the script of whatever is happening in Pakistan has been written by former PM Nawaz Sharif sitting in London. The army, he said, was preparing to imprison him for at least ten years and bar him from contesting elections. The army and the government are on a collision course against the judiciary and Imran Khan’s party. It seems that today not a single institution in Pakistan is going to get respect from the people. One by one the Parliament, the Government, the Army and now the Supreme Court are being insulted. The abuses against the judges outside the Supreme Court are really worrying. Incidents in Pakistan are not new. In 1997, when the Supreme Court ruled against Nawaz Sharif, Sajjad Ali Shah was the chief justice. At that time Nawaz Sharif’s supporters stormed the Supreme Court and reached the judges’ chamber. He also threatened to kill the judges if the verdict was not overturned. Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah locked himself inside his cell and sent phone calls to the army pleading for help. The judges were driven out with the help of the army. At that time Maulana Fazlur Rehman had condemned the attack on the Supreme Court judges, but on Monday it was Maulana who, along with other PML(N) leaders, stood on top of a container, and roundly condemned the judges. That’s why I say that what is happening in Pakistan is nothing new. Such incidents have happened in the past. Only the players have changed, the tasks remain the same.
Suspense about CM in Karnataka
Suspense continues over who will become the next chief minister of Karnataka with both former CM Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar not ready to budge from their stand. The three central observers who met all the Congress MLAs have submitted their report to party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Both DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are now in Delhi for consultations with the party leadership. Rahul Gandhi reached Kharge’s residence and discussed. There are many compulsions in front of the party high command. Siddaramaiah is an old, experienced leader and most of the MLAs are supporting him. The leadership cannot afford to make him unhappy. DK Shivakumar is right in his argument when he says that when the party was in deep trouble, he worked hard at the behest of Sonia Gandhi and brought the party back to power. DK Shivakumar is missing late Ahmed Patel, who used to respect him a lot. It was Shivakumar who financed Ahmed Patel’s election to the Rajya Sabha and subsequent raids against him, his relatives and business partners. Shivakumar, it seems, suffered extreme humiliation, spent time in jail and later rebuilt the party in Karnataka. He considers himself the best candidate for the post of Chief Minister. He feels that it was he who took Karnataka to Sonia Gandhi and now it was Sonia Gandhi’s turn to give him the chief minister’s post. The Congress wants a middle way without harming either of them. Siddaramaiah was offered the chief ministership for the first two years and then Shivakumar as the chief minister for the remaining three years, but the latter was unwilling to accept it. Shivkumar has already seen what happened in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. He says let the high command decide, he will speak when the time comes. Shivakumar’s silence is worrying the party leadership. The end game is clear: Shivakumar doesn’t want to be another Sachin Pilot.
Sachin Pilot’s ultimatum to Congress
A strange sight is being seen in Rajasthan of a senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot taking out a padyatra against his own government. On Monday, the last day of his padayatra, Pilot gave an ultimatum to the government that his demands should be accepted by May 30, otherwise he would abandon the Gandhian path and start the movement. Their demands: set up a commission to probe corruption charges against former CM Vasundhara Raje, reconstitute the Rajasthan Services Selection Commission, whose question paper was leaked recently, and compensate candidates who faced losses . While Pilot leveled corruption charges against the former BJP CM, his supporters leveled corruption charges against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his ministers. A minister Rajendra Singh Gudha alleged that corruption had crossed all limits under the Congress rule. He claimed, he has evidence to prove that Gehlot had paid Rs 20 crore to each BJP MLA to save his government. The question is that Rajendra Singh Gudha is a senior minister and he is making allegations of corruption. Then why was the allegation not investigated? Why is Gudha not giving evidence to the investigating agencies? Why is he not resigning? The fact is that most of the allegations are political in nature and are meant to ‘weaken’ Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. This appears to be part of a strategy to corner Gehlot ahead of the elections later this year. Sachin Pilot wants him to be projected as the CM candidate in the elections, but Gehlot has convinced the party high command that Pilot is playing into the hands of the BJP. The pilot may not get his hopes up. Then what will happen to the pilot? It seems that once the Chief Minister of Karnataka is selected, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will take a call on Pilot. All indicators point to the possibility of the party taking action against Pilot, who may then float a new party to contest the elections. While the Congress is embroiled in infighting, the BJP has started preparations for assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.