Who Grins While Pakistan Burns?

[thorosius]

Who Grins While Pakistan Burns?

By Muhammad Bilal Qureshi

Daily.pk


In the aftermath of Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has emerged as the new Bogeyman for the people living in the West.
While Delhi has been blaming Pakistan for sponsoring a mass murder, a vicious campaign has been launched by the Western media against Pakistan. Accusations are also made by the US and her allies by condemning Pakistan in the context of the Mumbai attacks. And once again Pakistan is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

And while this melodrama of Indian and western media continues, a very basic and simple question that a reasonable man would think of has never been answered: Why ISI or Pakistan based militant organisation would be interested in face saving of Indian army by murdering ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who had already exposed links between right wing Hindu groups and the Malegaon and Samjhuta express incidents, and was in middle of the investigation that was set to expose the secret links between the Hindu terrorists and Indian Army?

A sinister game is being played here that is reaffirmed as Delhi’s claims were fully endorsed by the United States and Britain. A carefully orchestrated and well formulated strategy is practised to shape the international opinion regarding Pakistan. Ignoble mention of Pakistani nukes, defamatory statements regarding Pakistan army and her premier spy agency ISI and declaration of Pakistan as the biggest threat to the world security are just a few examples of how well the script written in Washington DC is being executed.

The reality is that Indian accusations are nothing but a pathetic attempt to deflect attention from the plain and obvious failure of the Indian system in looking after its own citizens. India is a country that is beset by ethnic and sectarian strife which has the potential to implode in to a serious threat to India’s territorial integrity.

But Pakistan government’s decision to clamp down on Jamat ut Dawaa without any evidence only strengthens the Indian claims and plays into the hands of the anti Pakistan propaganda machines.

Gen. David Petraeus, head of CENTCOM, recently said Mumbai attacks were of more significance for Pakistan than India as these attacks comprehended the magnitude of challenges confronting Pakistan. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also blindly accepted India’s version of events and showed absolute support for the Indian position by blaming Pakistan for not clamping down on extremism. US senator John Kerry said this Monday that ISI must be tightly controlled and not allowed to act independently.

It is quite clear now that America, together with India and Britain, is building up a case against Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, used the Mumbai incident as a pre-text to accuse Pakistan being the epicentre of terrorism and demanded that Pakistan must close down the terror camps. US Senator John McCain during his recent visit to Pakistan is believed to have threatened Pakistan with the surgical air strikes if Pakistan did not comply to New Delhi’s demands.

There were also reports linked with unnamed Indian officials that India is considering a move to launch punitive air strikes to target terror camps in MureedKeh and Muzaffarabad. On 13/12/2008 it was witnessed that two Indian jets entered Pakistan from eastern Lahore and Kashmir Sector. These violations of air space by Indian Air Force were confirmed by the Pakistan Air Force and PAF spokesman stated that the Indian aircrafts intruded up to 4 Km inside Pakistan territory. These stunts were performed by the Indian Air Force to test the readiness and preparations of PAF, according to PAF Air Commodore (Retd.) Jamal Hussein. But according to President Zardari, these violations were a technical mistake on part of IAF to fly jets loaded with weapons and explosives inside Pakistan. One can only feel pity for Mr. Zardari who has lost the sense of generating thinking and reaching to obvious conclusions.

Some weeks ago, Mr. Zardari also labelled Kashmiris who are opposed to Indian rule as terrorists. This outrageous move was aimed to distance Pakistan from the 70,000 Muslims of Kashmir who gave away their life for the cause of freedom and many more who are still living with a hope that one day they will be liberated from Indian aggression. This statement from Mr. Zardari sparked mammoth rallies throughout held-Kashmir and for the first time in the history of Kashmiri struggle, it was witnessed that the effigies of a Pakistani leader were burned.

On the geopolitical front, it is now quite evident that for the US, the focal point and the real war is not in Iraq but along the Durrand line in sub-continent as noted by Obama and his strategic gurus. Right wing Hindu parties are gaining popularity in India as a result of Mumbai attacks. BJP, a party of radical Hindu secularists, which cashed in the Kargil incident after 1999 in the general elections, is now again busy in raising the stakes so that it can capitalize on Mumbai attacks. America is overstretched in Iraq and failing in Afghanistan and the economic downturn at home only complicates the situation for her. Now the new circumstances will compel America to hasten the process of making India a regional power. But that requires settlement of Kashmir issue in such a way that favours India. Indian dominance in the region in the short run will help US to ease financial and military burden by the arrival of 100,000 troops that India is ready to despatch to Afghanistan. In the long term, for America the Indian dominance means combating China’s rising influence in the global politics. Indian Military presence in Afghanistan will also help America to pressurise Pakistan to maintain its involvement in the unpopular war on terror.

But for America to proceed with her plans for India, a strong Pakistan army is the biggest hurdle. The Islamic elements within Pakistan army are continuously resisting America’s attempts to give away Kashmir to India. And India cannot in any situation afford to lock horns with Pakistan militarily. Even America knows that without Pakistan’s cooperation, she cannot stay in Afghanistan. So America and India have resorted to other means to malign Pakistan army to make it weak and for past several months they have paced up their efforts in this regard. Tactics employed by Delhi and Washington includes accusing Pakistan of playing double game and supporting Jihadi organisations, and moving of a resolution in the UN to label retired High Ups from Pakistan Army as terrorist to disgrace Pakistan military on the international forum. Indian agencies involvement in Baluchistan is also well known where they are working to weaken Pakistan from inside. Whereas, America has waged an undeclared war on Pakistan as it continues to launch hell fire missiles from CIA controlled unmanned aircrafts inside Pakistan. It is in the interest of both America and India to keep the fire alive in Pakistan and they are doing pretty well.

Instead of Pakistan, it is Washington and Delhi that is playing double game. War mongering propaganda machines have sharpened their knives for Pakistan that exposes the mindset of policy makers in the West. The same pattern was followed when America waged a war on Iraq on the basis of fabricated evidence. Now yet again the notorious terms such as weapons of mass destruction are floated in the media but this time the target is Pakistan. And in recent days Pakistan has also been given titles once reserved for Iraq, like a rogue and failed state by many a think tanks.

And now after Mumbai incident, as the events are unfolding, it is like déjà vu. Just some years ago, after 9/11 a call from Washington DC changed the fortune of hundreds of thousands of people living in the South Asia. But this time around in 2008, it is Delhi that is exerting pressure on Pakistan to bow down. The Democratic regime of Zardari has performed exceptionally well in continuing the policies of the Musharraf and this suggests that Zardari’s response to the mounting pressure is easily and accurately predictable. The truth is that NRO beneficiary leadership is impotent and is on the same page with Washington and her cronies. It is the failure of Pakistan’s political leadership to address growing problems that have left Pakistan in a catastrophic situation as it continues its slide into further chaos.

The situation is continuously deteriorating for Pakistan and the leadership of Pakistan has done nothing to change the course. Rather the PPP led government is singing the mantra that there is nothing we can do except act as we are told by the Washington and accept the US hegemony.

Whereas, the reality is such that Pakistan can change her fortune in matter of days provided there is a sincere leadership that has vision and a ruling system that is in accordance to the whims and desires of ordinary residents and that emanates from the creed that they carry. Now is the time for Pakistan to adopt a firm and dignified approach to counter the existential threats it faces today.

Pakistan is providing 80% of the fuel used by American war machine in Afghanistan. The US is using almost 575,000 gallons of fuel every day. And if Pakistan halts this supply from her refineries then the only alternative source would be a precarious supply route through rugged Central Asia thus effectively crippling the US military. There is no doubt that once Pakistan decides to abandon America it would only be a matter of days that America would have to pack up and leave from Afghanistan. This would enable Pakistan to regain the strategic advantage she had before 9/11.

Pakistan is also self-sufficient on natural gas and has huge reservoirs of coal and minerals. According to Pakistan Economy Watch, only the coal deposits in Thar can change the fate of the country if utilized in a proper way. Dr Murtaza Mughal president of Pakistan Economy Watch in a statement said that 185 billion tonnes of coal worth USD 25 trillion can not only cater the electricity requirements of the country for next 100 years but also save almost four billion dollars in staggering oil import bill annually, reduce unemployment and help strengthen the economy. This amount of coal would equal 615 billion barrels of oil. Changes are also required to be made at the macro and micro level of economic policies if woes of the masses are to be answered.

All Pakistan needs is a new leadership and a new system that has a political will to bring about the change. And that new system is none other than the very reason Pakistan was created for. Pakistan must realise her true potential and rise up to the occasion by realising the dream of becoming a true Islamic state i.e. Khilafah, A Khilafah that lead the world for more than 12 centuries and brought prosperity not only to Muslims but to humanity in general.
---

Who Grins While Pakistan Burns? Pak Alert Press

 

[muse]

Pakistanis have once again trusted politicians - these politicians have betrayed Pakistan since day one, and yet..... how much longer must this lunacy these politicians call "democracy", which in reality a curse upon Pakistan, be allowed to spread like a cancer inthe body of noble Pakistan??




Politicians, please wake up

Sunday, December 28, 2008
by Dr Farrukh Saleem

On November 27, Mumbai was just coming out of its worst night of terror. The fourth largest urban agglomeration in the world, with 19 million residents, had been shocked like never before (Tokyo is the largest followed by New York and Mexico City). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came out roaring: “It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country. We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts.”

What was the PPP government doing exactly when the prime minister of India was howling about taking the ‘strongest possible measures’ against Pakistan? Imagine; the entire government machinery was busy blocking the parliamentary probe into the Farah Hameed Dogar case.

On December 13, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed informed Prime Minister Syed Makhdoom Yousuf Raza Gilani that two Indian fighter aircraft had violated Pakistan airspace. What was the top leadership at our National Assembly doing when India’s multi-role, Mach 2 strike fighters were violating Pakistani airspace? Imagine; Dr Fehmida Mirza, the speaker of the National Assembly, was busy drawing up artful schemes to thwart all the rightful efforts of National Assembly’s own Standing Committee on Education.

On February 25, Nawaz Sharif told newsmen: ”There was no reason not to engage in a dialogue with those involved in terrorist activities.” Guess what were terrorists planning when Nawaz Sharif was advocating a dialogue? They were planning to murder the surgeon-general of the Pakistan army. Guess what happened on February 26? Lieutenant-General Hafiz Muhammad Mushtag Baig was killed by a suicide bomber.

On September 20, my office colleague, my son’s classmates and my friends were breaking their fasts inside the Marriott Islamabad. And then, these death worshippers showed up with a thousand kilograms of explosives. Guess what Shahbaz Sharif said on October 1? In an Eid message, Shahbaz Sharif said: “The government should shun someone else’s war.”

Guess what the PPP hierarchy was doing when Air Chief Marshal Fali Major, Air Marshal Barbora of Western Air Command and Air Marshall Singh of South Western Air Command were all planning to send multi-role, air superiority and ground-attack strike fighters into Pakistan? Amazingly, the PPP was busy weaving sinister cobwebs to allure Nawaz Sharif into giving up his stance on Farah Dogar in exchange for his disqualification case.

On December 20, Prime Minister Singh held a secret meeting of Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). Guess what the PPP leadership was doing when India was holding a meeting of NCA? Well, Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman were busy denying rumours of a rift between President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani.

On December 22, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), defenders of Pakistani airspace, was busy enhancing vigilance over Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Muzaffarabad. Guess what was Nawaz Sharif doing? He was telling PML-N office-bearers from Japan that there was a “plot to undermine the sovereignty of parliament.” Yes, there may indeed be a ‘plot’ against the sovereignty of parliament but there is a much, much bigger plot challenging our very existence as a sovereign state.

On December 22, Geo TV reported the “strengthening of Indian troop deployments along the Rajasthan border.” Guess what the PPP was doing on December 22? Answer: busy bulldozing its nefarious designs, keeping the Standing Committee on Education from doing what is right. Guess what was our Foreign Office doing? Busy sending Maliha Makhdoom, Makhdoom Amin Fahim’s daughter, to Ailesbury Road as First Secretary Embassy of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dublin, Ireland.

Look what the two prime ministers are doing: On December 25, Prime Minister Gilani told reporters in Garhi Khuda Baksh that it was Shaheed Benazir’s demand that her ‘assassination be investigated by the UN’ (whatever that means!). On December 26, Prime Minister Singh called in the three services chiefs to brief him on the ‘latest security situation.’

Pakistan faces an existential threat from within and a serious challenge from India. Lo and behold, our politicians seem to have absolutely no sense of the gravity of our national tribulation. The PPP is staking its entire stock of political inertia — or whatever is left of it — to rescue its de facto chief justice and the PML-N is bent upon repudiating the global consensus against terrorism.

Politicians, please wake up and smell the coffee.

The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com

 

[muse]

Editorial from todays' "The News"


Denying the obvious



Saturday, January 03, 2009

The remarks by a Foreign Office spokesman on Jan 1 that Pakistan has no terrorist infrastructure on its soil is going to be taken with a very big pinch of salt – by even many Pakistanis. But before more from us, let's summarise what the FO spokesman said. He said that the Pakistan government was committed to the war against terror and to fighting terrorism, which is good for the simple reason that Pakistan has been one of the countries hit hardest by this scourge. He also said that talk that 'rogue elements' of the ISI were involved in such acts was incorrect and baseless. While this may be true, the fact remains that it was none other than General Pervez Musharraf who as president and army chief had publicly said that the possibility that some former members of the intelligence services were sympathetic to the extremists and the Taliban and were helping them in material and moral terms could not be ruled out.

However, the main bone of contention should be the FO's remarks on the existence of terrorist infrastructure since its spokesman seems to believe that there is none on Pakistani soil. To that one would question whether FATA, specifically the two Waziristan agencies and whether the Northern Areas are part of Pakistan or not. The reason for asking this is that in the case of Waziristan various high officials of the government and state, including General Musharraf, at some point in time since Sept 2001, have publicly said that there exist facilities where those fighting the state of Pakistan and committing terrorist acts receive training and other assistance. Members of the government have in fact also said on record -- and this has been proudly proclaimed by the extremists themselves -- that there exist even some places where suicide bombers are 'produced', through a regimen of indoctrination and training in the use of weapons, suicide vests and so on. In addition to this, several independent media reports have strongly suggested that such camps exist not only in FATA but also in parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir where proxies sent to India to fight the 'jihad' were trained. Perhaps, these camps may have closed down or more likely assumed a lower profile. However, following the Mumbai attacks and India's accusation against the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jamaat-ud-Daawa a facility outside Muzaffarabad was closed down.

And if this is not enough to convince the FO, and the establishment since policy statements on such issues do not come without the approval and/or guidance of the establishment, it could be asked where the suicide bombings and other instances of terrorism that have hit Pakistan with a vengeance in the past two years or so originated from. And what about the existence of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and the stranglehold it enjoys over large swathes of FATA, what about the Swat Taliban and their grip over the once peaceful valley – indeed what about the reach of the extremists even in settled NWFP districts like Bannu, Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan? Are the extremists, who seem to be clearly in control in such areas and to whom most if not all acts of terrorism inside Pakistan are traced to, foreign aliens who train in other countries and are teleported to Pakistani soil to carry out their nefarious activities? Such claims do nothing but undermine the already low credibility that the government (or at least sections of it) has on such matters. The Foreign Office statement may have been made for domestic consumption but it should remember that most Pakistanis -- and certainly the rest of the world looking and scrutinizing our every move -- are not fools.

 

[muse]

Why I miss Musharraf



Part I

Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Salman K Chima

When General Musharraf seized power, I was not among those who welcomed him – although with Justice Tarrar as the President and Shariat Amendment Bill to the Constitution awaiting approval by the Senate, Pakistan was on the verge of being a theocratic state. Why did I oppose Musharraf? Because his rule was undemocratic and unconstitutional.

Yet, today I willingly acknowledge Musharraf. The choice of his successor in the Presidency is reason enough to remember him. But I praise him for the freedom Pakistan breathed under him; for the fact that he did not feel entitled to extra reward for his services. Even his worst detractors do not accuse him of personal corruption. This in a country where rulers have chosen to place their hard earned money in Swiss accounts.

Despite my initial opposition, I would have set the following agenda for the general: 1 . Cleanse the army of the jihadi elements inducted by General Zia. 2. Free the media. 3. Initiate meaningful steps to emancipate women. 4. Bring the minorities into the mainstream of politics. 5. Implement balanced and across the board accountability.

Before we address whether the general delivered, there is an important preliminary matter that needs to be sorted out.

My initial opposition to Musharraf was based on his takeover being unconstitutional and undemocratic. These are of course compelling arguments to oppose a regime, but one must not forget that even Adolph Hitler was popularly elected and had a constitution of sorts. So there is surely a higher principle by which to judge a government - constitution and democracy cannot be the decisive benchmarks.

The decisive benchmark to me is the freedom a regime is prepared to extend to its subjects. Constitutions and democracies represent good forms of government only insofar as they are able to preserve the inherent right of all citizens to be free.

It is against this yardstick that 19th century America fails; as does Hitler's Third Reich - despite being blessed with constitutional and democratic rule. Paradoxically, it is against this higher principle that Musharraf wins.

Reverting to his performance, my first agenda point was the cleansing of the Pakistan Army of jihadi elements. While the 'war on terror' was not visible in 1999, however Pakistanis were acutely aware of the growing Talibanisation around them. The Taliban were ruling Afghanistan and one could predict that a war would have to be fought with their way of thinking within Pakistan.

This war against Talibanisation could scarcely be fought without Pakistan Army. It is also axiomatic that the Pakistan Army inherited from General Zia and his successors was ill equipped to fight this war. So, the first agenda item: to rinse out the Taliban elements from the institution. This may sound an easy task, but remember that the generals who brought Musharraf to power were differently inclined.

Was the task accomplished? Consider: From the first day of Musharraf's rule, General Hameed Gul has been his most vocal critic. Could this be attributed to Gul's love for democracy and constitution or simply resentment at the restructuring of Pakistan Army -- contrary to Gul's desire? Could the present fighting in Bajaur and elsewhere have been possible without deep structural changes in the army? Do not the terrorist attacks afflicting Pakistan indicate the Taliban elements are no longer reacting to Musharraf but to the restructuring put in place by him? The profile of the Pakistan Army's top leadership has been reformed in the last nine years but, the restructuring has virtually gone unappreciated since it took shape away from public eye.

Moving on to freedom of media, one should not have to recount evidence to establish how truly free media was under Musharraf. So let me address some unfair commentaries offered by the General's critics. First, that he did not have a choice; with the advent of satellite TV (which can be beamed from outside the jurisdiction) Musharraf could not have shielded himself from media scrutiny. True, but why is the same freedom not witnessed in Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Iran etc. The government has many ways of curbing media freedom, for instance, not only is the government an important client of all the media houses in terms of advertisement but also runs its own TV channels which can make lucrative offers to the more vocal critics.

Second, the aftermath of Nov 3, 2007: Critics allege if Musharraf believed in media freedom, he would not have curbed it after Nov 3. The argument is fair, but needs to be put in perspective. The period between November 3 and 13, 2007 is admittedly the 'darkest period' of Musharraf's regime from the media freedom perspective. It would perhaps be unfair to judge Musharraf by reference to this period alone.

But how bad was this period really? Let us do a litmus test. Pick a day and newspaper of our choice during this period. Go through this newspaper and select one article which we feel is most critical of Musharraf. Now go through every publication in Pakistan between August 14, 1947 and October 12, 1999 to ascertain how many articles in this period match up to the one we just identified. What are the odds we will find even one?! Does that tell us something about Musharraf's 'darkest period'?

Coming next to emancipation of women, unlike media freedom it must be acknowledged that this did not witness any giant leaps during Musharraf's time. But this task is going to require many generations – such being the state of affairs. Yet, one was entitled to ask for some acts (even if symbolic) to set the direction right. It is in this perspective that the following steps may be recounted.

There was a substantial increase in women's representation in the assemblies. Women not only add value in the assemblies but also their representation gradually changes the society's mindset. The 'Sword of Honor' was awarded by the Pakistan Air Force Academy to a lady cadet. The Women's Protection Act - a long overdue amendment to soften a retrogressive law legislated by Zia- was passed as well.

One does regret the General's statement before the American press regarding Mukhtar Mai case. But even here one must not be cruel in judging him.

A detailed study of the LHC judgement reveals that there is indeed another side to the story: Mukhtar Mai may have willingly married the main accused. She at least admitted before the court that she would have been prepared to marry him, in exchange for the main accused's sister marrying her own brother. According to the defense version, this is exactly what happened and she only recorded the FIR once the main accused's sister (contrary to the agreement) was married to someone else. The record also shows that no visible injuries (except a relatively minor abrasion) were seen on Mukhtar Mai during medical examination – which took place about eight days after the alleged incident. Mukhtar Mai also admitted that the accused were financially weaker than her own family. Fortunately the matter is before the Supreme Court, and they will put this controversy to rest.

Was not Musharraf advised that the defence version was not entirely baseless? As the country's president, he may have felt agitated by the adverse publicity this case was getting outside Pakistan.

The next agenda point, the minorities: They have been relegated to second class citizenship, particularly since the times of General Zia. Musharraf introduced joint and yet separate electorates for minorities - giving them two votes, one in the general election and one for their own reserved seats. However, after the 17th Amendment, the minorities now only vote in the general election, and their reserved seats are filled by political parties according to their representation in the assembly.

Minorities are also particularly hard done by the Blasphemy Law. A person convicted of blasphemy must suffer (often the death penalty) because he has hurt the deepest feelings of the Muslim majority. But how can people's feelings take priority over a man's right to life or liberty. Musharraf only considered amending the procedural aspects of the law. He backtracked but only a person with the right orientation would even begin to conceive such a move. The other mentionable change (though subsequently reversed) was the removal of the religious column on the passport. He backtracked on this – but who else even made an effort.



(To be continued)

The writer is a Lahore-based lawyer.

 

[donrahul]

I dunno whether this could be offtopic or in sync with the articles posted here. But let me put my thoughts.

India as a country has a billion population and a million problems, probably more. The Major external problem is the Kashmir Issue. Kashmir which is contested by Pakistan as theirs.

Firstly, Pakistan has Azad Kashmir under its control and it is not independant. The Very cause which Pakistani's claim to be fighting for. Its an open secret that Pakistan does this support for the Kashmir "Cause" thru proxies! Sponsoring and providing financial and arms support for the Seperatists and sheltering them when they are on the retreat.

Now, I wanna skip this portion about Pakistan's involvement in Kashmir and Go back to India. India is filled with imperfections. Wealth distribution is very much unequal. Rural pockets still suffer from Caste discrimination. and Urban people suffer from reverse Caste discrimination. All these are acknowledged by several section of the population and highlighted in national and international media.

But Why arent there any such independant thinkers and writers in Pakistan, who have highlighted this issue of the country aiding seperatists(not terrorists, which would be a political suicide) and the proxy war with India, although the internal situation of the country is in shambles
Pakistan

 

[thorosius]

Firstly, Pakistan has Azad Kashmir under its control and it is not independant. The Very cause which Pakistani's claim to be fighting for. Its an open secret that Pakistan does this support for the Kashmir "Cause" thru proxies! Sponsoring and providing financial and arms support for the Seperatists and sheltering them when they are on the retreat.

Azad Kashmir has a separate parliment so they are pretty much independent.

But Why arent there any such independant thinkers and writers in Pakistan, who have highlighted this issue of the country aiding seperatists(not terrorists, which would be a political suicide) and the proxy war with India, although the internal situation of the country is in shambles

Without going into the history, it is our moral duty to help our bros in Occupied Kashmir and Pakistan Gov has time and time again stated that they only provide moral support to the Mujahdeen. If your huge troop deployment can't control a bunch of guerillas, don't blame Pakistan.