Javed Hashmi
Makhdoom Muhammad Javed Hashmi (Urdu: مخدوم
محمد جاوید ہاشمی; born 1 January 1948), is a
Pakistani politician, political realist, and a senior conservative thinker on
the platform of Pakistan Muslim League (N).
After serving as a cabinet minister in the Sharif's administrations in
the 1990s, Hashmi aligned himself on the realist school of international
relations and was a proponent of supporting the civilian control on the federal
government and the military. After the military takeover of the government in 1999,
Hashmi reportedly exposed the Pakistan Army's misadventure in Kashmir with the
Indian Army when he demanded to constitute the Commission to investigate the
events implicated front role of the President Pervez Musharraf in 2003. Briefly
sentenced to the solitary confinement by the session court in 2004 over the
allegations of treason, Hashmi's sentence was overturn by the Supreme Court
when it declared his case hearings as mistrial on 4 August 2007. Initially
supporting the impeachment movement against Pervez Musharraf with Nawaz Sharif,
he drifted apart from the PML(N) to join the Imran Khan's PTI in 2011 but was
ousted after disagreeing with the demonstration against the elected government,
which he viewed that it had the support from the military to destabilized the
elected Sharif administration in 2014.
Without political support, Hashmi lost the byelection and went on to
join the PML(N) after reconciling his differences on the policy matters with
the Nawaz Sharif in 2018. Besides his political career, Hashmi is a prolific
writer on geopolitics and geostrategy, and is an author of geopolitical book,
"Yes! I'm a Rebel, where he successfully calculated the danger of the
foreign supported homegrown terrorism in Pakistan and precisely placing a
prediction on Musharraf government's weakening the state of Pakistan.
Early life, education, and student politics
Javed Hashmi was born into an agriculturist family on 1 January 1948
in Multan, Punjab in Pakistan. Other sources noted his birthplace in Lahore
with same date and year of birth;though, he confirmed his date of birth and
year as well as birthplace on 1 January 1948 in Multan. His family was known
for their participation in the Pakistan Movement and was part of the Muslim
League since its inception in 1906.
After his matriculation in 1968, Hashmi went to attend the Emerson
College in Multan but made a transfer to the Punjab University in Lahore in
1970, where he became involved in student politics on the platform of the
Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami– a far right
party. In 1969, he secured his graduation from the Punjab University with BSc.
in Political Science. In 1971, he graduated with MSc in political science, and
later attained MPhil in same discipline from the same institution.
In 1972, he gained public notice when he led his student organization,
the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, in protest of government minister involved in
kidnapping of two girls at the Governor's House when Governor of Punjab, Ghulam
Mustafa Khar, was hosting a state dinner in honor of President Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto and the visiting British minister. In 1974, he ultimately led strong
protests in Lahore against the decision of international recognition of
Bangladesh and reportedly breached all security arrangements, to appear right
in front of the motorcade of the then Saudi King Shah Faisal. During this time,
Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto offered him to be appointed on political
post at the High Commission of Pakistan in London but he denied the political
appointment.
In 1978, Hashmi was taken in the Zia administration as the Minister of
State for Youth and Student Affairs, and was the youngest minister at the age
of 29.:460 However, he later expressed his uncomfortableness with working with
the uniform officials and soon departed from the administration where he began
practicing law at the Lahore High Court while filling the role of agriculturist
at his family farms.
Politics and ministries in Sharif administrations: 1985–1999
During the nationwide general elections held in 1985, Hashmi returned
to the national politics and successfully participated for NA-149 (Multan-II)
constituency on the platform of Pakistan Muslim League (PML). In 1988, he sided
with the conservative faction led by its President Fida Mohammad as opposed to
nationalist faction led by then-Prime Minister Mohammad Junejo. Hashmi
successfully defended his NA-149 (Multan-II) constituency during the general
elections held in 1988 and 1990.During this time, Hashmi was elevated as the
Minister of State for Youth Affairs in the first administration of Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In 1993, his name was subsequently reported in the financial scandal
revealed by the Federal Investigation Agency when the agency interrogated
Younis Habib, the accountant with the Ministry of Defence.He later expressed
his regret and grief when he testified his acceptance of financial endowment
from accountant Younis Habib in 1993.
During the general elections held in 1997, Hashmi again defended his
NA-149 (Multan-II) constituency and was elevated as the Minister of Health and
Minister for Environment in the second administration of Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, and paid the state visit to Morocco in 1999. In 1998, he visited
Switzerland to attend the environmental and climate change conference but
immediately return to Pakistan after learning of India's nuclear tests in
Rajasthan. In an attendance NSC meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
Hashmi became a war hawk and greatly spoke in favor of decision-making process
of authorizing the nuclear weapons-testing, which eventually, Pakistan
conducted out six nuclear weapons-testing in May 1998. At the session at the
Parliament, Hashmi reportedly led a celebration while loudly chairing and
tapping from his parliament desk: "Yes! Yes!.... We have done it.!"
His tenure was abruptly ended when then-Chairman joint chiefs General
Pervez Musharraf went onto impose martial law against Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif in 1999, and was appointed as Party President of Pakistan Muslim League
(N), which he tenured until 2005.
PML(N)'s presidency, dissenting, and imprisonment: 1999–2008
Afghanistan (2001–2014)
After the martial law against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999,
Hashmi became a vocal critic of former President Pervez Musharraf and strongly
advocated for the strong civilian control of the military. In 2001–04, Hashmi
reportedly appealed to the Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union to
play a significant political role to restore the civilian control of the
federal government in Pakistan. In 2001, an inquiry against his role in the
Mehrangate scandal was opened by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) but
was unable to produce any substantial evidence against him in the
accountability courts.
In 2001, Hashmi led the strong conservative demonstration against
President Pervez Musharraf's geostrategy on the War on Terror that led to the
U.S. invasion in Afghanistan. During this time, Shuja'at Hussain, the head of
the PML (Q) supporting President Musharraf, made an unsuccessful attempt to
recruiting him and Nisar Ali Khan into his faction to provide political
advocacy for President Musharraf in 2002. In 2002, the PML(N) announced to
participate in the nationwide general elections with Hashmi earning the
combined nomination from the Opposition alliance in the Parliament for the
Prime Ministership against Mir Zafarullah Jamali of the PML(Q); Hashmi later
conceded his defeat in the elections due to counting of the electoral college.
On 20 October 2003, Hashmi reportedly exposed the ethical and monetary
corruption in the Pakistani military when he read the letter signed by several
active-duty military officers in the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.:192 He immediately
demanded for an active criminal investigations against the chief of army staff
and criticisized President Pervez Musharraf for his presidential campaign while
in the military uniform. On 29 October 2003, Lt-Gen. Shahid Aziz ordered the
NAB agents to detained him from the Parliament Building, and was later taken in
to custody by the Military Police on charges of inciting mutiny leveled by President
Pervez Musharraf. Hearings of his trials were held in the Adiala Prison and the
session court at the Lahore High Court, which raised doubts among human rights
groups about its fairness. On 12 April 2004, he was sentenced to 23 years in
prison for inciting mutiny in the military, forgery, and defamation.
The verdict was widely criticized in Pakistan and was considered as a
wilful miscarriage of justice by the Musharraf administration, and the ARD and
the MMA termed this verdict to be politically motivated by the ruling junta
with malicious intent, declaring him to be a political prisoner. He was
transferred and held in the Central Jail Lahore where he penned and authored a
critically acclaimed political book, Haan Mein Baghi Hun! (lit. Yes, I am
Rebel!) where he exposed the military's intervention in the politics and the
foreign relations with the United States. He also authored the Takhtaey-e-Daar
Kay Saaey Talay (lit. Under the shadow of Hanging board).
On 3 August 2007, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court of
Pakistan under Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry granted him bail after serving
approximately three and a half years in prison. On 4 August 2007, Hashmi, with
among PML(N) leaders, were released but again placed under arrest at the
declaration of a state of emergency on 3 November 2007.
Parliamentary politics, joining and dismissal from PTI (2008–13)
Main articles: Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009,
Memogate (Pakistan), Tsunami March, and Pakistan–United States skirmishes
During the general elections held in 2008, Hashmi successfully
defended the NA-55 (Rawalpindi-VI) constituency where he notably defeated PML (Q)'s
Rashid Ahmed but decided to retain his NA-148 Constituency against the wishes
of Nawaz Sharif. He spoke against of the strategic partnership act offered by
the United States, and released a very strong reaction on Inter Services Public
Relations, which he termed the Kerry-Lugar Bill, an interference on part of
Americans in country's intelligence community. He reported quoted: "if there
is anything that needs to be corrected, Pakistan will do it herself. Pakistan
Army should stay within its limits,... We will protect our military if it
ensures playing the role assigned to it."Over the issue of the Memogate
scandal that implicated the former President Asif Ali Zardari and Parliament's
failure for its investigation, Hashmi reportedly Hashmi submitted his
resignation from Parliament, claiming that "this parliament is a dummy and
not passing real legislation" on 7 May 2011.
On 24 December 2011, Hashmi reportedly cut his tied from the PML(N)
and joined the PTI and addressed a rally in support of Imran Khan in Karachi on
25 December 2011. Though, he also warned Imran Khan of his dissenting approach
if Imran Khan did not deliver his party's manifesto as promised to the voters.
During the general elections held in 2013, Hashmi successfully defended the
NA-48 in Islamabad, and NA-149 in Multan on PTI's platform but later
relinquished the NA-48 in favor of PTI's worker. He stood against Nawaz
Sharif's candidacy in the National Assembly when the vote of confidence measure
took place, and reportedly spoke in favor of Nawaz Sharif where he reportedly
quoted in the televised conference: "Political differences aside, Nawaz is
my political leader and will remain so." His views subsequently
blacklashed the party and was said to be at odds with core of the leadership of
the PTI, Imran Khan, the Chairman, Mehmood Qureshi, Vice-chairman, and Jehangir
Tarin, the Secretary-General.
On 14 August 2014, Hashmi voiced serious and irreconcilable concerns
when Imran Khan decided to lead a massive protests against alleged rigging in
the general elections when the decision towards the Dharna at the Constitution
Avenue in Islamabad; though he decided to address the march on Khan's request.
On 31 August 2014, Hashmi left the party in distraught and in anger when the
Imran Khan's march attacked the media reporters and was violently moved towards
the Prime Minister's Secretariat under Khan's orders. On 1 September 2014,
Hashmi accused the Pakistan Army of destabilizing the civilian writ of Sharif
administration and wasn't well received by Imran Khan who later issued the show
cause notice which results in Hashmi leaving the PTI. The PTI later refused to
accept his resignation instead Imran Khan ousted him from the party on 26
September 2014.
Joining PML(N) and political positions
On 12 May 2018, Hashmi, alongside with his daughter, met with Nawaz
Sharif and announced to rejoin the PML(N) after reconciling the party policy
differences with Nawaz Sharif. At this meeting, Hashmi spoke very high of Nawaz
Sharif's services done to the country, and reportedly praised his elder
daughter, Momoona, and Sharif's daughter, Mary'am, of supporting the political
program of the party.
In 1987, Hashmi successfully predicted the Russian troops retreat from
Afghanistan and warming of the Indo-U.S. relations at the expense of Pakistan.
He reportedly disagreed with the Pakistan's policy on the Soviet Union, and
called for strengthening relations with Russia.
In his book, I'm a Rebel, Hashmi is of the view towards the national
conservatism and wrote a critical view on the performance military governments
in Pakistan which have harmed the solidarity of his country and over dependence
towards the United States for the political support for their regimes— in
desperate for political legitimacy without public approvals, (military)
presidents often desperately negotiate with India without formal agenda to seek
peace in the region. After learning the news of the terrorist attacks in New
York in 2001, Hashmi successfully calculated of imprisonment of PML(N)'s
leadership and Musharraf's providing military bases to the United States
invasion of Afghanistan, and calculated precisely of Indian support for
terrorist organizations in the Western Pakistan. While he sided and agreed with
Prime Minister Sharif's policy on India, Hashmi demanded an investigative commission
against Chairman joint chiefs Gen. Pervez Musharraf over the Kargil debacle and
the self-coup staged by the latter and gave strong criticism to the Lt-Gen.
Ehsan ul Haq for his attempts to control the democracy.
Personal life and health
Javed Hashmi's elder daughter, Mamoona Hashmi, is a senior leader and
currently serving as the member of parliament on the PML(N)'s platform. His
younger daughter, Bushra, is not active in politics.[39] On 20 July 2010,
Hashmi was hospitalised at Nishtar Hospital after he suffered Brain Hemorrhage,
and his body also suffered stroke due to internal bleeding. He was later
admitted at the General Hospital for minor fever. Though, his CT
angiography reports came out normal.
Authorship
Hashmi, Javed (2005). ىاں! ميں باغىى
ہوں (Yes! I am Rebel).
Hashmi, Javed (2007), تختہ دار کے
سائے تلے (Under the Shadows of Gallows).
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