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 This
column is out after a self-imposed silence of more than two months,
all spent in assessing the pros and cons of telling the truth. I am
sorry that I didn’t inform most of my well wishers for the simple
reason that I felt embarrassed to say that I am leaving the country
because the government of my motherland does not want me to live in
peace any more.
A lot has
happened in - and to - Pakistan during this period of my silence. A
lot has happened with me, too. I see my ordeal as a reflection of much
that is wrong with the way our nation is being governed. For months, I
went through the mental torture planned for me by the government
agents and finally I experienced for 50 hours, the pain caused by
unidentified officials, operating in secrecy, accountable to no one.
This is the
story that I didn’t even tell my close friends and relatives because
I thought it would soon be over and because until recently I
couldn’t link it up to my 4-part investigative report, “Exposing
the Tip of Corruption Iceberg,” which was published in Peshawar
Daily Frontier Post on January 9, 10, 11 and 12. Those who refer back
to that report would know the top ranking government officials who
were involved in the biggest ever scam in the development sector.
Interestingly the corruption iceberg still exists and my exposing its
tip has only cost me my career.
The high
ranking officials who were part of the story that I exposed included
personalities such as the additional Chief Secretary NWFP, Director
General Sustainable Development Unit, PE&D NWFP, Project Director
Mansehra Village Support Program (MVSP), etc. More interestingly, the
governor was the chief supporter of the corrupt officials in the
government and office bearers of the NGO, now called Sarhad Rural
Support Program (SRSP). Their respective role is clearly outlined in
my original 2001 report.
Despite the
Chief Secretary NWFP, Abdullah’s remarks on the report that it was a
“fit case for National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the governor
forced Chairman of Governor Inspection Team (GIT) to change his report
in favour of SRSP. On his refusal, he was moved to another sub-Section
of Forest Department and Ms. Ali Begum was appointed in his place to
carryout the dirty job.
She did
exactly what she was expected to do. In her ten page report, she
rejected all the charges against SRSC despite the overwhelming
evidence and the report was accepted despite refusal of the rest of
GIT members to sign it. The story did not stop there. DFID, British
Department for international development, came to the rescue of SRSP
at this crucial juncture. Despite the fact that DFID coordinator,
Steve Jones was provided with the first hand evidence of SRSP’s
corruption and witnesses from the community invited him to verify the
evidence for himself, funds were released to SRSP to further alleviate
poverty of the poorest of the poor.
Governor NWFP
gave public statements that those who write and speak negative about
NGOs would be treated accordingly. I was harassed to the maximum
possible extent. Letters to various donors were sent so that they do
not fund my organization: Integrated Regional Support Program (IRSP).
As a carrot, I was offered jobs and as a stick, I was threatened to
force me into publicly stating that the evidence presented in the
report was biased and incorrect. Interestingly all this official
support was extended to the government established NGO -- SRSP -- at a
time when a smaller NGO, RISE in Swabi, was closed down by the same
GIT even before any investigations.
All the
Bangush family members: Governor, Iftikhar Bangush; DG SDU, Masood
Bangush; SRSP Program Chief, Palwasha Bangush and finally Editor
Statesman, Arif Bangush, played active role in their respective
positions to exact revenge for my exposing the filth and then
forcefully following it up with rejoinders and even cartoons.
The governor
used military personals in a skilful way. Initially they used to come
and harass me in the form of asking financial reports and legal status
of my organization They would ask for illegal experience certificates
for their family members so that they could frame me with that later
on. Even civilians in the ISI would come to ask for the best available
vehicles in my organization for taking their guests to Swat, etc.
Nothing
worked. Finally, they got the right opportunity in the form of my
anti-Musharraf articles. After appearance of my book “A war on
Islam?” and my pro-democracy articles in Pakistan Weekly and SA
Tribune in US, ISI got a golden opportunity to interrogate and
threaten my and my family on almost weekly basis.
They spent
huge amounts of public funds on an enterprise, which brought no gain
to the country and failed even in securing its mean and limited
objective. If the purpose of spying on my activities, phone tapping,
kidnapping, and detaining me was to secure my silence, the government
has failed (once again) to achieve its target. Here I am, totally
unrepentant, voicing my opinions again.
I was
kidnapped on November 24 from my home in Peshawar at around 10:00 a.m.
We were just around to begin our day when our house was surrounded by
several vehicles. I was dragged out of my house, wrapped in a blanket
and taken to an unknown place. My kidnappers refused to identify
themselves or to tell me what they wanted. I was blind-folded and my
face was covered with a black hood. The blindfold did not come off for
the 12 hours when I was taken to a basement where
I was tied to
a chair but mercifully not beaten up. 'Why do you want to be a
leader', my chief tormentor asked me without giving me a chance to
reply. I was told where I had been during the past week and references
were made to recent telephone conversations of mine. My captors wanted
me to know that they had followed me and listened to my telephone
conversations. I knew they were well-informed.
I was kept up
all night and moved to another location in the early hours of the
morning. All day long I was questioned about Shaheen Sehbai, Khwaja
Ashraf, General Hamid Gul, Imran (aka Abu Abdullah), who published my
book, and a few names which I didn’t know but they were associating
these with former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. After much
questioning, I was left alone for the next 12 hours. I was set free on
November 26, after being threatened to the maximum possible degree and
showing the maximum respect in the form of repeatedly calling me
“Sir.”
From the
moment of my publishing the initial report about massive corruption in
the name of poverty alleviation – which the Governor NWFP took
personal – till my abduction, dozens of government functionaries
performed the tasks of visiting my office, chasing me around,
“investigating,” etc. How secure can a government be if it has to
deploy so many people to deal with an "insignificant"
columnist? Before dropping me at Hayat Abad, one of my kidnappers had
whispered to me "Remember, we took only a few seconds to nab you.
That should instil some fear in you and make you act in your own
interest". I must confess I am very scared. But I fear more for
my country and my innocent family members than for myself.
This
report was written on February 23, 2003 and the Dawn report of
March 01, 2003 (http://www.dawn.com/2003/03/01/local18.htm)
vindicates not only what was written on February 23, 2003, but also
the investigative reports that were published in January 2001 in
Frontier Post.
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