'Pakistan presumed guilty until proven innocent under KLB'

ISLAMABAD - PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Wednesday said his party did not reject Kerry-Lugar Bill but rather they wanted a detailed debate in the parliament and removal of the controversial clauses of the bill which were contrary to Pakistans national interests.
Flanked by Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Ch. Pervaiz Elahi, Engr. Amir Muqam, Jam Mohammed Yusuf and Sardar Ghous Bakhsh Mehr, Shujaat made these remarks while briefing the media on the parliamentary party meeting of the PML held at his residence.
He said his party was not against relations with the USA, however, no relationship was more important than the national interests. We want good ties with the USA, however, national sovereignty and national integrity could not be compromised.
We dont believe in opposing each and every step taken by the government, rather, we would support positive steps, he added.
Mushahid said it was inappropriate to assume that the bill could not be reviewed, citing the US-India nuclear agreement where the US bill was reviewed in this regard. He said his party has raised five fundamental objections over the Kerry-Lugar Bill.
The Kerry-Lugar Bill has put Pakistan and its people in the dock, presuming the Pakistani State and its institutions to be guilty and insists them to prove innocence before the US administration, he added.
Earlier, Mushahid Hussain Sayed gave a detailed briefing to the party MPs over the bill.
The basic thrust of the Kerry-Lugar Bill is that Pakistan is not given credit for what its Army has done under difficult conditions in fighting the menace of terrorism and performing better this summer in Swat and Malakand than the US/NATO forces in Afghanistan after the surge, he said.
Mushahid said the Secretary of States certificate on the nuclear issue reopens a closed chapter since it talks of 'efforts to dismantle supplier networks when this was already done in 2004.
The bill is intrusive, inviting US intervention when it talks of 'direct access to Pakistani nationals, he added.
The former information minister said this was a clause obviously inserted by the Indian Lobby into the bill.
Pakistan is being held responsible for actions of any non-state actors against the territory and people of neighbouring countries while its military and intelligence agency is also been accused on this count.
Specific references to Quetta and Muridke assuming the existence and functioning of terrorists bases of operations, when no evidence has been cited in this regard in both the cities. In fact, last summer, an Indian journalist visited Muridke and testified to this fact in a story published in an Indian newsmagazine that there was no base for terrorists, he added.
He said the bill also calls for what is called a comprehensive regional security strategy.
The bill provides that President Obama shall develop a comprehensive interagency regional security strategy to eliminate terrorist threats and close safe havens in Pakistan, including by working with the Government of Pakistan and other relevant governments and organizations in the region and elsewhere, as appropriate, to best implement effective counterinsurgency and counter terrorism efforts in and near the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including the FATA, the NWFP, parts of Balochistan and parts of Punjab, he deplored.
The bill also calls for intrusion into professional military matters when it talks of control and oversight over such areas as the military chain of command, and the process of promotion for senior military leaders.
This would be a recipe for civil military cleavage. Moreover, the bill is one-sided since it puts the onus entirely on Pakistan by saying that it is critical to Pakistans long term prosperity and security to strengthen regional relationship among India and Afghanistan, conveniently forgetting the principle of reciprocity, he remarked.
Elaborating his version on the missing issues in the Kerry-Lugar bill, Mushahid said there was no talk of good governance or corruption, which was initially a part of the bill but subsequently was deleted for reasons best known to the Bills authors.
The much talked about Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the FATA seem to have disappeared. While there is talk of regional security, but there is no reference to the ongoing Indian cross-border terrorism to destabilize Pakistan via Afghanistan. There is no appreciation of Pakistans success and sacrifices of the Armed Forces in the ongoing operation in Swat and Malakand or our intelligence agencies role in this regard, he emphasized.
There is no praise for Pakistans pivotal role in helping to crush the most ferocious terrorist outfit in South Asia, namely, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, which their government has publicly appreciated several times. This key Pakistani contribution to the regional stability went unnoticed in Washington, he said adding that Pakistanis are left wondering whether they were actually - friend or foe, after reading the Kerry-Lugar Bill.
Referring to the double standards meted out to Pakistan, Mushahid said the frontline state in the war against terrorism was accused of all sins under the sun including cross-border terrorism and nuclear proliferation, while India is exempted on all counts.
Indian scientists were sanctioned by the US State Department on September 29, 2004 for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) proliferation with Iran and Iraq. The then US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher, even stated that these cases reflected poor Indian commitment to non-proliferation, he added.
Mushahid said this was something unacceptable to Pakistan and its people and detrimental to Pakistans national security since relevant governments and organizations in the region and elsewhere, as appropriate - could include India and the RAW and Israel & Mossad.
The bill is setting the stage for conflict, cleavage and confrontation between the civilian and khaki components of the government by seeking unprecedented monitoring and control of the Armed Forces internal, professional command structure. By including FATA, NWFP, and parts of Balochistan and parts of Punjab in any potential US theatre of military operations in the region, 80 percent of Pakistans territory and population would become vulnerable and this would be an unacceptably high price to pay, he added.
Instead of gratitude to Pakistan, they are being slapped with humiliating conditions. The US is offering $ 10.5 billion in civil and military aid for the next 5 years, when it is spending $ 4 billion every week on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US has spent $ 700 billion on the war in Iraq since2003 and $ 200 billion on the war in Afghanistan since 2001.