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Elections In Pakistan: Why Arresting Pervez Musharraf Is A Mistake
How does removing a candidate from the election fray promote democracy?
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Pakistan Electoral Alliances | Comic Wisdom – by Zahoor on December 3rd, 2012 – The Express Tribune
udicial vengeance is dish that is best served cold. It should never be served hot and steaming.
One Big Mistake
Pakistan‘s judiciary has made this, one fundamental mistake. Especially at a time, when restraint was needed. Remember, Pakistan is living up to the fact that for the first time an elected government has completed a full-term.
All the confusion in Pakistan is best captured by a confusing and ill-thought post in the WSJ.com. By my favorite journalist – Sadanand Dhume.
I especially favor him, because no other journalist of any globally or nationally relevant publication writes from a position of such ignorance and lack of understanding.
For one Dhume has not learnt that …
Well Begun Is Half Done
The post starts off with a contradiction.
How does removing a candidate from the election fray promote democracy?
The lesson from Indian democracy is that any one can stand for election. Dacoits, transgenders, actors, filmstars, mobsters – the full range of social strata.
Unlike most of the world’s democracies, especially in the West, that have just 2 parties.
It is only in India that the 2 main parties tend towards towards an arithmetic mean of 40%-60% of the parliamentary seats. The rest are controlled by various regional and fringe parties. Left, Right, Ruralist (Bharatiya Kisan Union), Urbanist (Shiv Sena)
This trend has become even more accentuated in the last 30 years. Remember that after 1980, no party has won an electoral majority on merit. Rajiv Gandhi’s 1984 electoral victory was clearly a sympathy vote.
This promotes a vibrant clash in ideologies, programs, values, actions. The resultant clamor leaves India’s English speaking urban chatteratti very dis-satisfied. Not to forget foreign observers.
India’s English speaking urban chatteratti would like to replicate 2-party system like the West.
Dhume asserts
Pervez Musharraf’s recent legal setbacks are Pakistan’s gain. Since Saturday, the country’s former military leader has found himself confined by police to a bedroom in his farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.).
What is it that Parvez Musharraf is accused of?
Like how George Bush subverted the SCOTUS which stopped the recount of votes that would have declared Al Gore as the President – and not GWB, Jr. Every Pakistani politicians (and in all other parts of the world) have at some or the other subverted the judiciary.
Appointing pliable judges; cooperative judges who were elevated; ideological conformity, would all count as subversion. Has any politician in any country of the world not done this?
Going by this standard, no politician would be qualify to fight an election.
A smug Dhume continues
He faces charges ranging from complicity in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007 to wrongful dismissal of judges in the waning days of his unpopular rule, which stretched from 1999 to 2008. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
Being practical, since Musharraf was not going to win the election anyway, why not arrest him and throw the rule book at him? A sarcastic Dhume intones
Meanwhile, his quixotic hope of once again leading Pakistan was dashed after courts rejected his attempt to run for parliament. Pundits don’t expect Mr. Musharraf’s political party to claim a single seat in elections scheduled for May 11. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
Have You Thunk Of This?
Is it a crime, for any hack with any US publication to dream of winning the Pulitzer? How is it a crime for Musharraf to dream of winning the election?
Misplaced or otherwise?
Dhume has ‘thunk’ about this. And he determines that
A two-week house arrest is far from the welcome Mr. Musharraf expected on his return to Pakistan last month after more than four years of self-exile. In a stream of tweets and Facebook posts, the former commando had painted a picture of a grateful nation waiting to sweep him back to power with a popular mandate. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
The only delusions that exceed Musharraf’s are those of Western media outlets, who have written anything on Pakistan. All those well-trained, untrained, first-rate, third-grade journalists who have come, few have made sense of Pakistan.
Musharraf is not alone. Dhume repeats.
In addition to serving as a case study in political delusion. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
More than Islam, the problem with elections in the Islamic world is the US of A.
Countless cases of US agencies, NGOs, diplomats have indicted, identified responsible for subverting election processes. Starting with the murder of Mossadegh in Iran to the latest cases where US NGO bureaucrats were arrested in Egypt.
A memory-challenged Dhume pronounces
Should next month’s polls go off as planned, Pakistan will join Turkey, Bangladesh and Indonesia as countries that have defied those who doubt Islam’s compatibility with democracy. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
Does the US select mentally retarded people as generals, bureaucrats or Presidents. After 50 years of propping military dictators in Pakistan, Dhume thinks it is a lesson that US polity is yet to learn?
For the U.S., the general’s arrest should underscore a central lesson of the Musharraf era, that backing military leadership in Islamabad never pays off. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
After stopping Musharaff from electioneering, after fixing the ballot by engineering cases, the Pakistani establishment gets support from Dhume.
Only when Pakistan’s politicians grow confident that they won’t be jailed, exiled or executed for crossing the military will they be able to decisively reorient their country. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
Musharraf is an ex-general – and now a civilian politician. He deserves the same freedom that other politicians have, to contest elections.
House arrest for a once grandstanding general is one large step in this direction. (via Sadanand Dhume: At Home With Pervez Musharraf – WSJ.com.)
And in case, he wins the election, vox-populi, vox dei.(Voice of people is voice of Gods). In case, he loses the election, proceed with the prosecution of the case.
Judiciary Finding Its Feet
Judicial vengeance against Musharraf must wait. Just when Pakistan seemed to making this election work, they have gone ahead and shot themselves in their foot.
Pakistan’s judiciary and establishment must honor the promise of freedom that they gave Musharraf.
Any democracy that does not allow full freedom to contestants, is no democracy.
What is to stop other officials and rivals, tomorrow, from engineering cases against important (or otherwise) candidates.
Dhume seems to be clueless on how democracies are sustained. Instead of teaching, he should sit at the feet of some Indian Election Commission official.
And learn.
Related Articles
- Humiliation of Pervez Musharraf deepens as he is arrested and taken to court (independent.co.uk)
- Pakistani police defuse bomb near Pervez Musharraf house (guardian.co.uk)
- Musharraf does not trust bench hearing treason case: counsel (dawn.com)
- Musharraf’s arrest can jeopardize May elections, analysts fear (nation.com.pk)
- Pakistan’s Musharraf Appears Before Anti-Terrorism Court (voanews.com)
- Musharraf to appeal against arrest order (nation.com.pk)
- Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf arrested (ndtv.com)
Boston Marathon Bombings: Did AQ Khan ‘Celebrate’ The Rise Of ‘Hindu’ Terrorism?
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Did AQ Khan cheer the hoax ‘identification’ of Sunil Tripathi as the Boston Marathon Bomber?.
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Twitter – DrAQ_Khan- @yaqubimmegret @qasimaskari … 2013-04-20 07-58-59
pparently, some who spread the hoax story of Sunil Tripathi as the Boston Bomber are India (+Hindu) haters.
Some like Pakistan’s nuclear scientist, did this for amusement – as he clarified early and clearly.
Some may question AQ Khan’s taste, but it was sarcasm.
Probably, PEW should do a Pakistan study again, using a different questionnaire. The clarifications and questions that came his way, were from Pakistanis.
Probably, this twitter exchange show that as neighbours, it is not essential to love each other.
Civility can be an adequate, even necessary and lone condition.
Related Articles
- ‘Justice Has Won’: Marathon Bombing Suspect Arrested in Watertown (nation.time.com)
- Sunil Tripathi not Boston Marathon bombing suspect (vancouverdesi.com)
- Police Name Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects (businessinsider.com)
- Sunil Tripathi: missing student wrongly identified as Boston Marathon bombing suspect (ndtv.com)
- Live blog: Boston Marathon bombings manhunt (globalnews.ca)
- In Pictures: Bomb disposal crew search car after shoot-out with Boston Marathon bombing suspects (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
- Second Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Is In Custody (people.com)
- AQ Khan not contesting vote: party (dawn.com)
Elections In Pakistan: What Can, What If, What’s Up?
Pakistani media and polity seem to be addressing mostly urban issues. How will the rural voter respond?
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Phuttt, phutt, phut …! This is a make or break election for Pakistan. Probably the best organized | Cartoon by Sabir Nazar on March 30, 2013; image source & courtesy – tribune.com.pk
akistan attracts stereotypes to the mind like a swarm of flies.
Inviting Images
Among others, civil war, terrorism, bomb blasts, fundamentalist Islam are common stereotypes about Pakistan. Some of these stereotypes are valid – and some are downright irrelevant.
For instance, more people die in the US due to gun-related violence compared to Pakistan. For another, it is worthwhile to remember and understand that Pakistan has never (in its limited election history) elected a fundamentalist party.
The different sides of Pakistani Polity | Cartoon by Sabir Nazar on August 25, 2008; image source & courtesy – dailytimes.com.pk
This will be the first time in Pakistan’s troubled history that an election will pave the way for transfer of power – and not a coup or martial law. For the first time in nearly seventy years, Pakistan has evaded the ritualized murder of Pakistani polity by the Pakistani army.
The short-shrift given by Pakistan’s power centres to orderly elections and transfer of power is not a stereotype.
This Sauce is Different
The three most significant differences in this election, compared to previous elections are in the manner that Pakistan’s polity has acted to protect the poll outcome. It seems unlikely that there will be any significant post-poll dissonance due to three measures.
Who will do the electioneering for PPP – with Bilawal out of the country? | Cartoon by Sabir Nazar on March 28, 2013; image source & courtesy – tribune.com.pk
It does seem like this will be an election that Pakistan will be proud of.
One – is the appointment of a non-competitive caretaker administration at national level – headed by retired Justice Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, and at the provincial level in Punjab with the appointment of Najam Sethi.
Two – Voter lists have been rigorously updated. Some 3.5 crore voter records were found invalid and deleted – and some 3.9 crore new voters added.
Three – The centre of debate is Pakistan’s economy. Nawaz Sharif is talking of an economic explosion – unlike the nuclear explosion last time. PPP is depending on an income-support scheme for the poor that they have implemented. Imran Khan’s 6-promises are all about bringing peace back to the nation. It has been speculated that the Iran-Pakistan oil pipeline agreement signed by the ruling-PPParty, is to reassure restive voters that it has a solution for electricity shortages plaguing Pakistan.
Pakistani media and polity seem to be addressing mostly urban issues. | Cartoon by Zahoor on February 03, 2010; image source & courtesy – dailytimes.com.pk
Is Popularity Enough?
Imran Khan is by far ahead of all other leaders in Pakistan in terms of personal popularity. His first rally after elections were notified, attracted 1-lakh people – closer to 1.5-lakh people according to some other estimates.
Will Imran Khan’s popularity convert into votes?
In India, for decades, election rallies by Nehru-Gandhi family, starting with Indira Gandhi could attract voters for election rallies – but after 1989 elections has not been able to convert voter turnout into votes.
Is Imran facing a similar challenge? Equally, many popular leaders have converted their personal popularity to votes – especially in South India.
Look Who’s Talking
Radio Pakistan seems to be giving good coverage to Imran Khan going by these tweets.
https://twitter.com/majorlyp/status/317105962290933761
Print media and Pakistan’s huge satire ‘industry’ however is quite dismissive of Imran Khan. Including the like of MajorlyProfound (now probably under the handle of majorlyp).
https://twitter.com/InvincibleHeart/status/317651280866721792
Many from the English-media are quite dismissive of Imran Khan
Apparently, Musharraf has lived up to his earlier threats. He has returned – to what? A nation that cannot imagine a role for him? | Cartoon by Zahoor on August 15, 2009; image source & courtesy – dailytimes.com.pk
Gear Ratios In A Democracy
PPP may get more women’s votes due to BISP income support scheme. Imran Khan has connected to Pakistan’s youth. Nawaz Sharif is appealing the mature male voter who wants the Pakistan economy to do better. None of these constituencies form a majority.
Finally, the winner may be the party that can get its constituents to come and vote at the polling booth.
The Players
Ex-general Musharraf seems to be n0n-starter and non-entity in Pakistan.
Pakistanis sought to drive home the point that Indians held the former Army chief in greater esteem that his own fellow nationals.
The kind of media coverage his return got in India, and the frequency with which he appears on Indian television channels and gets invited to conclaves organised by the media across the border has raised eyebrows here often enough
Which political unit is connecting to this Pakistani? | Cartoon by Zahoor on March 03, 2006; image source & courtesy – dailytimes.com.pk
Interestingly, Imran Khan’s campaign is well-funded according to some reports.
They were drawn from all over the country through a well-financed and heavily advertised campaign. But they were also drawn, they said, by a simple yet nebulous message. “We want change,”
via Pakistan: Ex-Cricket Star, Ex-President Kick Off Election Campaign | TIME.com.
Imran Khan’s acceptance by Pashtuns, FATA, Pakhtunkhwa makes him a rare leader with acceptance across various segments.
There are concerns among some of Khan’s supporters about his attitude to the Pakistani Taliban – wanting to negotiate with them – and the decision to work with the Jamaat-e-Islami, a hard-line religious party. But the mere fact that he represents a political force that hasn’t been compromised by power works in his favor — as does Khan’s celebrity. “He won us the Cricket World Cup,” says Shah, “he built us a cancer hospital, and he’s really good looking.”
via Pakistan: Ex-Cricket Star, Ex-President Kick Off Election Campaign | TIME.com.
Will this man get taken in shiny projects? | Cartoon by Zahoor on November 22, 2005; image source & courtesy – dailytimes.com.pk
Numbers talk you know …
After 2ndlook called the 2009 Indian election correctly, among many other correct calls, encourages 2ndlook make an attempt at reading Pakistan’s election.
Sixty and seven months ago, when Musharraf was on rampage in Pakistan and Imran Khan was no one in Pakistan’s politics, 2ndlook examined the idea of Imran Khan’s rise in Pakistan.
- It is worthwhile to remember and understand that Pakistan has never (in its limited election history) elected a fundamentalist party – unlike say, Egypt.
- Since none of the three main players are making a fundamentalist Islamic pitch, this factor will affect no one – except some fringe parties.
- What if Imran-PTI consolidate the fringe-parties vote banks – and eat into PPP+PMLN? To me this model of voter behaviour, seems more likely than the static vote bank of PPP+PMLN theory.
- In this election, the main contenders, as per opinion polls in descending order are Nawaz Sharif’s PMLN (32%), Imran Khan’s PTI (18%) and Zardari’s PPP (14%).
- Not many have tried to make a model for opinion polls in Pakistan – which remain unreliable and have limited value. With this caveat made, raw data seems to suggest that PMLN-Nawaz Sharif are in a pole position for this election.
- Most of election analysis stops at Pakistan’s urban centres – while 60% of Pakistani voters are rural. Nawaz Sharif’s Lahore Metro Bus implementation in 11-months has made many political parties nervous. But will the rural Pakistani be impressed?
- Will PPP’s BISP attract more rural voters than Imran’s tsunami? Remember, how Chandrababu Naidu paid a price for ignoring the rural voter.
- After the fresh voter enrollment, nearly half of Pakistani voters now listed, have not voted before. Since most of these young voters are young, they are likely to be drawn towards Imran-PTI.
- Will the Lahore Metro make a difference to Nawaz Sharif? Outside Lahore? Seems unlikely.
Keeping the above factors in mind, what are the likely outcomes.
In the name of the poor and dispossessed … | Cartoon by Zahoor on September 02, 2008; image source & courtesy – dailytimes.com.pk
Scenario-1
Imran-PTI emerge as the single-largest party, with a thin majority – or miss becoming the single largest party by a few seats. Imran dithers. Announces that he will sit in the opposition, as he does not have a clear mandate. PTI MPs defect or PTI splits. Most likely PPP wins over the defector faction. Makes a claim to form government. Zardari agrees. Protests engulf Pakistan.
Scenario-2
As per opinion polls, PMLN emerges as the single largest party. Wins over MPs from PTI-Imran and others. Forms government.
Scenario-3
Opposite of opinion polls, PPP emerges as the single largest party – riding on women’s vote. Wins over MPs from PTI-Imran, PMLN and others. Forms government.
Senario-4
One of the three main parties gets a parliamentary majority – and forms the government. Seems like the most unlikely scenario.
Seemingly, Imran is preparing for a narrow victory. Most importantly, is Imran preparing for a narrow loss?
Related Articles
- Imran Khan: The least bad option? (dawn.com)
- PTI to decide seat adjustment with JI (dawn.com)
- The Return of the General: Why is Musharraf Running for Office in Pakistan? (world.time.com)
- ‘Ideology will beat money in coming elections,’ says Imran Khan (thenewstribe.com)
- US has no favourites in Pakistani political arena (dawn.com)
- Cyber Attack shuts down Election Commission of Pakistan website (ehackingnews.com)
- ECP takes notice of Najam Sethi’s statement (thenewstribe.com)
- Musharraf banned from leaving Pakistan (thehindu.com)
- Najam Sethi to be caretaker chief minister of Punjab (thehindu.com)
- PTI will award tickets to people with good reputation: Imran (dawn.com)
Without Comment: Pakistan general warns civilians not to ‘assume more than one’s due role’
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The Army that ‘owns’ Pakistan has to be weaned away from believing that Pakistan is their fiefdom.
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The Tragedy In Pakistan | by Zahoor (August 2011). – The Express Tribune
Pakistan’s powerful military on Monday issued what analysts said was a warning to the country’s civilian institutions not to push their authority too far, after the country’s high court issued a series of rulings holding the armed forces to account for human rights abuses and political meddling.
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the chief of army staff, issued the warning in a statement that also seemed to be aimed at the government and the news media.
“As a nation, we are passing through a defining phase,” Kayani said. “Weakening of the institutions and trying to assume more than one’s due role will set us back.”
The current civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari has been in power since 2008, when military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf handed authority to it.
The transition from military to civilian rule has not been smooth, with the government, the judiciary and the military all jockeying for the levers of power under the new democratic setup. In particular, the judiciary, led by activist Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, has challenged the authority of both the government and the military and aggressively tried to hold them to account.
Elections are due in the first half of next year, which could see an unprecedented transition of power from one elected government to another.
In a country where the military previously has claimed the right solely to determine the “national interest,” analysts here were unanimous in their assessment that Kayani’s statement, issued by the army’s public relations arm in English and Urdu, the national language, was highly significant, even if its language was indirect and oblique.
“No individual or institution has the monopoly to decide what is right or wrong in defining the ultimate national interest. It should emerge only through a consensus,” said the general, whose term in office ends in November 2013. “Any effort which wittingly or unwittingly draws a wedge between the people and armed forces of Pakistan undermines the larger national interest.”
Last month, the Supreme Court issued a withering judgment on the “illegal” role played in the 1990 elections by the army chief and the head of the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency at the time, who had helped form a political coalition that won that election. The court ruled that the two retired generals must be prosecuted.
In recent hearings on hundreds of citizens who have disappeared into the presumed hands of the armed forces and their spy agencies, the court has humiliated the military, hearing evidence that it was behind the abductions and subsequent extrajudicial killings.
Coincidently (sic), the chief justice also made a speech Monday in which he said that Pakistan was evolving. “Gone are the days when stability and security of the country was defined in terms of number of missiles and tanks as a manifestation of hard power available,” Chaudhry said.
Related Articles
- Pakistan general warns civilians not to assume more than ones due role (miamiherald.com)
- Pakistan Generals and Judges Trade Barbs (nytimes.com)
- Pakistan’s army chief warns judges not to undermine military (ndtv.com)
- You: No individual or institution alone can decide national interest: Kayani (nation.com.pk)
- No individual or institution alone can decide national interest: Kayani (dawn.com)
Saving Private Pakistan: Can it be Saved? Why and for Whom should Pakistan be saved?
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Pakistan has become the private club of the perverse military, conspiring secret police, battling Taliban warlords, scheming politicians and a regressive mullah community. Each wants Pakistan for their own faction. What of the Common Pakistani?
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Back to do what, Parvezbhai? Loot again? | Zahoor cartoon of May 4, 2010; source & courtesy – paksir.blogspot.in | Click for image.
No! Pakistan cannot be saved.
Unless you save Pakistanis first. A Pakistani life is the cheapest in the world today. Every power-centre in Pakistan is waging war against Pakistanis.
To gain control and influence Pakistan for their own benefit.
Why should Pakistan be saved?
- So that its sad military can continue with its fun and games?
- To let mad mullahs drive Pakistanis into a regressive ditch?
- Or, that the Taliban warlords can become modern clones of ancient raiders and looters like Mohammed Ghori or Mahmud of Ghazni?
- Maybe for rich oligarchs to stay feudal, own the land, control the labour and economy for their private benefit?
- At the mercy of rich politicians and bureaucrats who promise a modern state. A modern State that will be able to do deals with Western Masters. Deals that ‘benefit’ Pakistan
i– but not Pakistanis?
Pakistan’s intellectuals, of late have become very protective about social media. See the future of Pakistan in social media. Nothing less than the capacity to ‘save’ Pakistan.
Tied to the West, but is that helping the Common Pakistani? | October 29, 2009, by ZAHOOR; source & courtesy – paksir.blogspot.in | Click for image.
They claim
Social media needs to be protected because it is the only safe space for intellectual discussion in Pakistan.
Imagine that you are a person of independent thought in Pakistan. Now imagine further that you would like to discuss your thoughts with other people. Where can you go?
In the real world, the short answer is ‘nowhere’.
The liberation of the electronic press by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf changed everything. Prior to the advent of cable television, the entire English press in Pakistan probably had a combined readership of less than 100,000. The Urdu press probably accounted for a million people more. Compared with the population of the country, print circulation was nothing. On the other hand, the audience for cable television was in the tens of millions. Suddenly, people were no longer getting their news just from PTV but also from Geo and ARY.
At the same time, the liberation of the electronic press changed very little. The same talking heads that wrote columns in the press started fulminating on talk shows. At the end of the day, the number of people actually involved in public conversation remained very limited. If you weren’t a talk show host or a talk show guest, then your options for expressing or discussing opinions remained nil. It was all extremely parochial and elitist.
The arrival of social media is revolutionary. Back to the example I started with. The young independent thinker out in the virtual world, it’s a different story. As a cartoon in The New Yorker once put it, “On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog”.
Pakistan’s sharpest wit at this time is an anonymous individual who delivers one-liners under the name of “majorlyprofound”. If the good major were to present his one-liners before a physical audience, he would probably require medical attention. But (on) the internet, he is free to deliver his barbs.
More importantly, social media not only provides true freedom of speech but it also allows a public space where people with ideas can not only present their ideas to acclaim but also to criticism. In a country like Pakistan where decision-makers live their lives in cocoons of silence and sycophancy, this is incredibly important.
Obviously, social media is no panacea. Members of the social world are reasonably polite. The result is that people are not just talking to one another in the virtual world, they are getting to know one another as well.
Many people — even people who should know better — think of Facebook and Twitter as time wasting fripperies. That is why periodic efforts to ban either Facebook or Twitter are met normally with a shrug.
Unable to handle either Islam or Westernization, Pakistan’s leadership should think of the people more – and less of the State | Cartoon on March 7, 2004 by Zahoor; source & courtesy – paksir.blogspot.in | Click for image.
We all hear about how Pakistan is sinking into a Talibanised abyss of enforced ignorance. If we are to avoid that awful future, it is vital to preserve intellectual freedom. And at this point, there is nothing more essential to that quest than embracing and protecting social media.(via Saving Pakistan, one tweet at a time – The Express Tribune; original text edited for brevity. Linking text in parenthesis supplied).
Every one is trying to save Pakistan for his own faction.
But where does this leave the Common Pakistani.
As usual Nowhere.
With Nothing!
Related Articles
- Bangladesh: A Step Behind Pakistan or a Step Behind India (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Behind Delhi Car Bomb Blast: Iran? (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Pakistan can solve its problems if it wants to’ (thehindu.com)
- What’s working in Pakistan – CNN (edition.cnn.com)
- Pakistan spy agency chief to tell CIA to end drones (edition.cnn.com)
- Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan threaten Myanmar over Rohingya (dawn.com)
Can Imran Khan Win the Coming Election in Pakistan?
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Four years ago, it may have seemed even silly to talk of Imran Khan as a political force in Pakistan? Any different now?
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Between Imran and the Mullah, who will win?| Cartoon by Zahoor on December 12, 2008; dailytimes.com.pk | Click for image.
Silly notions
Four years ago, when Imran Khan was was a non-starter in Pakistani politics, it seemed foolish to talk about him seriously.
Especially when it came to India-Pakistan relations.
Like this small video excerpt (below, with transcript) from Julian Assange-Imran Khan interview shows, Imran is not wet behind his ears.
And Indian Foreign Policy management now has at least one more admirer.
Imran Khan has got me thinking …
But still …
What can a retired cricketer do? What role could he have? Does he have the intellectual depth? Would the five Pakistan’s accept him?
Death threats
Why is it that there no death threats to Imran Khan?A google search revealed none. Though the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital he established, was blown up.
Is he too small a target? Completely irrelevant, is he? Is it that he is big only outside Pakistan – but is a nothing in Pakistan? Is he a English-language media creation? Maybe the death threats have not trickled down to India? Or google? Was his Karachi rally, which attracted crowds in tens-of-thousands, more of money-and-organization than people power?
But, I am curious … this is nagging me.
Even Jemima Khan, his ex-wife, now in London got threats.
Factions in Pakistan
What do the five Pakistan’s think of him?
Many think that Imran Khan has no ideas. For instance,
his strategy for dealing with the Taliban and other Islamic militants has led to charges that he is soft on extremists. His plan is to order the Army to withdraw from the unruly tribal areas and start a dialogue with the militants. To him the war in Afghanistan and on the Pakistan border conforms to “Einstein’s definition of madness: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result … The Pakistan Army is killing its own people. It’s the most shameful period in our history. We created militants through collateral damage, and we are creating more militants through collateral damage. It’s a ruling elite which sold its soul for dollars.” (via Imran Khan May Become Pakistan’s Next Prime Minister – The Daily Beast).
Among the competing groups in Pakistan are, first the army and the ISI combination. Then there are the popular politicians who participate in elections. Add the third element – mullah-madrasa-mujahhid combine of fundamentalist clergy, various terrorist groups – like JeM, LeT, Al Qaida, various Taliban factions et al.
The economy and wealth is in hands of the fourth element – the 22 families that matter in Pakistan. Mahbub-ul-Haq’s “22 families” speech in Karachi in 1968 highlightedthe power and wealth of a few families in Pakistan.
And bringing up the rear, is the fifth part of Pakistan, who don’t matter.
The Rest of Pakistan.
How do they perceive Imran Khan.
Newsweek’s online edition, The Daily Beast thinks he is going to be the next PM of Pakistan? I have no idea how good the statistical model for opinion polls in Pakistan is? For whatever it is worth, he is sitting on a 68% approval rating. That should make him a shoo-in come March.
Whaddya think?
More importantly, what do Pakistanis think?
Julian Assange: How would you reconfigure the Pakistan relationship with the United States? Would it be a complete severance? What would you do? Permit them (unclear) strikes? What kind of intelligence cooperation? What would you do in practice?
Imran Khan: Eh … Have a relationship based on dignity self respect. So, it should be (thinking) … a relationship like (slight pause) … US has with India. It should not be a relationship about client-master relationship. And even worse here, (pain) Pakistan as a hired gun. Being paid to kill America’s enemies. It’s not … It is a relationship that has failed. It’s niether delivered to the people of Pakistan nor has it delivered to the Americans.
Related Articles
- I take oath on Quran I never received a penny from Malik Riaz: Imran (nation.com.pk)
- Angry Imran: Imran Khan gets his very own smartphone app based on Angry Birds (telegraph.co.uk)
- PTI will form next govt, says Imran (nation.com.pk)
- Imran Khan: Salman Rushdie has the ‘mindset of a small man’ (telegraph.co.uk)
Chicago Summit on Afghanistan
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Chicago summit between Obama, NATO, G8, Afghan stakeholders was seen as a pre-election exercise. NATO passage through Pakistan was one of the items. The inside story.
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Obama needs to show some ‘successes’ before election day | Cartoonist Sabir Nazar; source & courtesy – pakistantoday.com.pk | Click for image.
Probably unprecedented, but 4 of 5 UN-Veto members will go through a government change process in April 2012-March 2012 period. In the same period, of the 8 nuclear powers (P5+India, Pakistan and Israel), 5 will see a government change process. In this process, some amount of uncertainty has been injected in global affairs.
Analysts seem to think that the recent NATO+G8+Afghanistan summit in Chicago, called by Obama was an election exercise. The NATO paasage to Afghanistan through Pakistan was a one of the items on this list. A former Pakistani diplomat ‘reveals’ all.
Pakistan is
a country whose leadership – of any stripes, civil or military – has traditionally taken great pride in being the most steadfast ally of the US. Pakistan’s first military dictator and “Bonaparte”, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, boasted in his autobiography Friends not Masters that Washington would never find a friend more trustworthy than Pakistan.
However, relations between the two “all-weather friends and allies” have been in a deep chill since the fateful US raid and there are few signs of a warming. All the same, being scripted out of Chicago was deemed, in Islamabad’s power corridors, as an ultimate insult that could doom relations forever.
So the Pakistanis went scampering to their Turkish friends – with whom bonds of camaraderie and fraternity pre-date the birth of Pakistan in 1947. The Turks are also cozy with the Americans and have been part of the NATO brigade in Afghanistan. There couldn’t be a more effective and credible middleman than Turkey to bail Pakistan out of the very tight corner in which they seem to have painted themselves.
Frantic phone calls to President Abdullah Gul, who led the Turkish team to Chicago, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Pakistan as these lines are being written and who is receiving a rapturous welcome, melted the ice in Washington and Brussels – Zardari was given the green-light to board a plane for Chicago.
The ice, however, didn’t simply melt because the Turks had waved a magic wand. The Pakistanis assured their Turkish interlocutors – who then relayed the message to Washington – that the Pakistanis were ready to play ball and revive transit facilities for NATO. This was interpreted as a conciliatory gesture and enough for the welcome mat to be rolled out.
It was anticipated that Pakistan would have lifted the ban before Zardari boarded his flight to Chicago. But that wasn’t to be, and he landed without bearing the gift everybody was expecting.
In obvious pique, Obama refused to meet Zardari one-on-one, while he bestowed that favor on Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. That was like rubbing salt into the Pakistani wound.
NATO secretary general added his own insult to the Pakistani injury when he, too, wriggled out of a planned one-on-one meeting with Zardari claiming “scheduling problems”. (via Asia Times Online :: Pakistan hoist by its own petard).
Related Articles
- Perspectives on Pakistan (behind2ndlook.wordpress.com)
- Pakistan: The Hidden Chapter (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Behind Delhi Car Bomb Blast: Iran? (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Indian diplomacy: Heavy Lifting (2ndlook.wordpress.com)
- Superpower China: Emerging From 60 years Of American Shadow? (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Bilderberg: Silly stories …? (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- US-Pakistan tensions deepen as Obama snubs Zardari at Nato summit – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
- You: Nato summit: US-Pakistan rift widens over supply lines into Afghanistan (guardian.co.uk)
- Pakistani president to attend NATO summit on Afghanistan (edition.cnn.com)
- Zardari to attend Nato summit in sign of improving US ties (dawn.com)
- At NATO summit, warm welcome for most leaders, but not Pakistan’s (latimes.com)
- Hopes fading for swift US, Pakistan deal on Afghan supply routes (dawn.com)
- Pakistan aims to reach deal on supply routes: Zardari (dawn.com)
- NATO to handhold Afghanistan post-2014 (thehindu.com)
- US rejects high Pakistan fees for supply routes: official (dawn.com)
True & Tantalizing: The Shakeel Afridi Story
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Save the Children, a British NGO, a recruiting, fronting and shilling agent for CIA in Pakistan delivered Dr.Shakeel Afridi to the CIA.
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Note the deep longing expression in both faces | Cartoon by – by Zahoor (May 2012); source & courtesy – tribune.com.pk | Click for image.
Dr Shakeel Afridi, the Pakistani physician helped the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to track down and kill al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, (by) carrying out a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to obtain DNA samples of Bin Laden’s family members.
Afridi has reportedly told his Pakistani interrogators that he was introduced to the CIA by the United Kingdom-based humanitarian organization Save the Children, an internationally acclaimed non-governmental organization that promotes children’s rights and helps support children in developing countries.
Save the Children has refuted Afridi’s claim, saying the allegation has had a negative impact on its ability to operate inside Pakistan.
What turned him against the Taliban was his 2007 abduction by the henchmen of Mangal Bagh, who thrashed him for charging huge fees from some of the wounded militants. Afridi was kept by the LeI militants for several weeks and released after his family paid a heavy ransom. Since his wife, Imrana Ghafoor (who was headmistress at a government-run girls’ high school) was an American national, Afridi left for the United States along with his family in 2008.
Afridi returned to Pakistan a few months later, but his family stayed in the US. During 2009-2010, Afridi met with American officials in Islamabad and Peshawar many times and agreed to become a CIA mole. The Americans reportedly asked him to spy for them in the Mansehra, Hassan Abdal and Kamrah areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under cover of an anti-polio campaign.
In the beginning of 2011, Afridi managed to collect blood samples from Bin Laden’s compound. On April 28, these samples were reportedly matched through DNA tests from an American laboratory in Washington. Four days later, on May 2, the special forces conducted their clandestine raid.
Afridi’s continued presence in Pakistani custody has clearly become a thorn in the already tense Pakistan-US relationship. Pakistan has turned down two separate requests made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, seeking freedom for the doctor and his extradition to the US.
While their “requests” were clearly aimed at exerting pressure on Pakistan to release Afridi, well-informed sources in the Pakistani security establishment have ruled out any such possibility
As if seeking American citizenship for the detained physician was not enough to tease Pakistan’s security establishment, Rohrabacher announced on February 14 that he would introduce legislation in congress seeking a Congressional Gold Medal for Afridi. (via Asia Times Online :: Fate of Osama informer hangs in balance).
The Man With No Face
The biggest problem with the Climate Change agenda is the huge amounts of funds that would be handed over to NGOs. Faceless, hidden from public view, answerable to none except who fund them, these NGOs are a new species in the jungle of covert war.
In Egypt, the entire ‘Arab-Spring’ campaign was funded and run by US NGOs – who were later banned – and closed down by Egyptian authorities.
Face behind the mask
Faceless NGOs, without accountability to anyone, were able to bring global political leadership, to the very brink of an agreement. The same 25,000 people (25 countries x 1000 powerful people) who rule over the G8/OECD wanted the poor to invite these 25,000 to have undue and illegitimate oversight over our ‘poor’ lives – in the name of climate change.
The message I got … loud and clear
To deliver more than 700 crore (7 billion) of humanity to the feet of these NGOs (and the likes of the Milliband Brothers) to pry into our lives, our affairs and dictate our very existence – with our own consent.
These NGOs would have control of death over us. NGOs that will work …
Without recourse, with no checks and balances. With large amounts of unaccounted money at their disposal. To decide how we live our lives.
Under a system, that would have re-invented colonialism, in a way wholly unknown to us earlier.
Related Articles
- US lawmakers demand withholding of all aid till Afridi’s release (nation.com.pk)
- US cuts Pakistan aid over jailing of bin Laden sting doctor (smh.com.au)
- Shakil Afridi appeals conviction: charity (dawn.com)
- Pakistani doctor who helped US appeals verdict (edition.cnn.com)
- Dr Afridi jailed for 33 years over bin Laden hunt: officials (nation.com.pk)
- You: Why Americans are so worried about a double-agent? (nation.com.pk)
- Pakistani Taliban Vows To “Cut Into Pieces” Doctor Who Helped In Bin Laden Hunt (ibtimes.com)
- Shakil Afridi, Pakistan Doctor In Bin Laden Hunt, Found Guilty Of Militancy, Not CIA Links (huffingtonpost.com)
One ‘Birather’ to Another?
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Back in 70s, the new-found power by the Islāmic Middle East made the Indian Muslim proud about his religious identity? What now …
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The State of Public Policy in Pakistan | Cartoon by Sabir Nazar; Source & courtesy: Pakistan Today | Click for image.
Oil wealth
The oil riches, glitzy infrastructure boom of the Middle East, after the 1973 Oil Embargo, had a profound effect in Indian Muslims. The new-found power by the Islamic Middle East made the Indian Muslim proud about his religious identity.
For the general Indian, the Middle East was the answer to the slow Indian economy. In an economy of shortages, with an over-valued Indian currency, the Dubai allure was irresistible. It was the passport to wealth and abundance.
Jannat lost?
It took another 10-15 years for Indians to discover the underbelly of Dubai.
To an average Indian, the prospect of slow career growth in Dubai, limited growth opportunities, the discrimination between the Western expatriates and Indians (and others) had a telling – and chilling effect. The Indian-Muslim, expecting a warm welcome in sandy climes, found a sneer instead.
The fig leaf of oil riches covered the intellectual bankruptcy of the Middle East. (Cartoon by Bob Gorrell; 2009; source and courtesy – time.com). Click for larger image.
Unfortunate victims in this labour-import by the Middle East, many are in the Saudi Arabia. With a rich Welfare State, high disposable incomes
THE presence of a housemaid in a Saudi house has become inevitable. If this inevitability is not because of her services, then it is because of the need to imitate others. This is a fact that everybody knows. The need for housemaids is connected to the ways Saudis live — women go to work, responsibilities for the social and educational welfare of children, men failing to help with house duties, few day-care facilities for children, large and spacious homes, extended families and increasing numbers of children. The net result is that the majority of families need to have housemaids. The truth of the matter is that some of us need more than one housemaid. (via Saudis and domestic help — ‘maid’ for each other).
This above extract on Middle East does not utter the word India even once – or the abuse of these maids – as another story, from the same publication shows.
But now the 40-year-old woman says her sponsor stopped paying her four months ago and then sold her to a labor placement agency in Riyadh for SR13,000 (about $3,460).
After promising to pay her the back salary, the agency sent her to work for another Saudi family without paying her the promised sum. And she claims her new employer, a Saudi woman, is treating her poorly, such as not paying her a salary, keeping her locked up so she won’t flee and denying her medical attention.
“I’m sick and this woman won’t give me even a Panadol, and she has not given me salary,” Beevi told Arab News.
“There are three other maids here, too: an Indonesian, a Sri Lankan, and one from Morocco. They have not been paid their salaries either.”
If the allegations are true then a number of Saudi labor laws have been violated by Beevi’s first sponsor, the labor placement agent and the new employer.
Besides the obvious illegal practice of not paying a salary, a sponsor cannot sell off an employee to a third party agent. That third party agent is likewise prohibited by law from then hiring out a worker under somebody else’s sponsorship.
The new employer has also broken the law by taking in a worker who is not under her sponsorship. Beevi says she is still under the sponsorship of her first sponsor.
Beevi has complained to the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA), which has filed a petition on her behalf to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. (via Housemaids bought, sold like chattels | ArabNews).
Welcome to the party
But for Pakistanis the story has been different.
Brought up on a history that glorified Mohammed Bin Qasim, Pakistan’s official history hitched itself to Muslim ‘invaders’ and ‘conquerors’ of ‘idol-worshiping’ India. Even invoked on cricket fields, the Mohammed Bin Qasim narrative gained further strength in Pakistan with the Oil Boom in the Middle East.
From 1975-2005, as India slowly and inexorably pulled away and ahead of Pakistan, this narrative started sounding rather tinny. Further, the plateau and decline of the Oil Boom in the Middle East, diluted the power of this narrative.
What of Pakistani perception of treatment of Pakistanis by the Saudis?
Not very complimentary if this report is anything to go by.
RAWALPINDI: Airport Security Force personnel at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport allegedly entered into an altercation with the military attaché of the Saudi embassy on Thursday, after he refused to cooperate during security checks and abused Pakistan and called Pakistani officials his “servants”.
According to officials from the ASF, Colonel Sukhari, who was meant to fly out to Riyadh, refused to get a routine body check and started quarrelling with the security personnel at the airport.
The Saudi embassy official became abusive and attacked the ASF officials, say eye witnesses. He also abused Pakistanis in general and called them “servant class,” said eyewitnesses.
An official from the Airport Police said the Saudi official started the fight by slapping an ASF official, identified as Idrees. (via Refusing to cooperate: ‘ASF men rough up Saudi embassy official’ – The Express Tribune).
Not surprising this ‘official’ history attracts sarcasm and derision in Pakistan.
For instance this tweet.
https://twitter.com/majorlyprofound/status/208440711551524864
Related Articles
- Massive targeted cyber-attack in Middle East uncovered (news.cnet.com)
- Bahrain protests: Shias rally against closer ties with Saudi Arabia (guardian.co.uk)
- Saudi Satire Ignites YouTube’s Massive Growth in Middle East (usnews.com)
- US Troops Imitate Invasion Of Iran With Arab Allies (eurasiareview.com)
India & Bangladesh – A Worried West
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Even as it keeps West at a distance, Bangladesh has got the West worried.
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Muhammad Zahoor (Peshawar, Pakistan)
via Cartoon Competition Winners Announced!.
the squabbling has turned into a crisis (see article) which threatens to make life still worse for the 170m poor Muslims who suffer under one of the world’s worst governments. Since Bangladesh’s political leaders show no interest in their fate, outsiders need to do so.
The outside world is trying to do its bit. The World Bank has scrapped a deal to pay for a big bridge because of its suspicions of corruption. EU ambassadors have denounced the treatment of Mr Yunus and the harassment of activists. Hillary Clinton flew to Dhaka this month to stand by Mr Yunus.
But the government seems unmoved. In a snub to Mrs Clinton, it announced a review into ownership of Grameen, a move to take over (and probably destroy) the bank. The only country to have much influence in Dhaka is India. Until recently the regional superpower tolerated Sheikh Hasina’s excesses, in part because Bangladesh has cracked down on Islamists. India now seems to be hedging its bets between the two parties. But if it still wants to have a functioning democracy next door, it needs to speak out far louder in favour of it. (via Bangladesh’s toxic politics: Hello, Delhi | The Economist).
First …
The Economist is wrong on one count – to start with.
Bangladesh is not exactly the hottest or happening economy in the world – or even the region.
Never was. Can’t get worse for Bangladesh.
In the past, Bangladesh’s political leadership has not displayed the calibre to win anything – except opprobrium. So, the new direction chosen by Bangladeshi leaders can only take Bangladesh up. Is there is a downside.
Talking about ‘political leaders (who) show no interest in their fate, outsiders need to do so’. In a certain part of the world, people have been complaining loudly.
Visibly.
Two …
Across Europe, riots, protests, elections, have only shown that the people of Europe have shown trust or confidence on their leadership.
Looking at Europe’s decline in the last 50 years or even the last 100 years, the lack of trust and confidence is logical. Across the pond, in USA, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) will soon see its first anniversary on September 11, 2012.
Now compare European leadership with India and China. From historic lows, 100 years ago, even 50 years ago, China and India have assumed positions of significant importance in the world. Going by performance between Western leadership, Indian and Chinese leadership wins hands down.
Time for outsiders from China and India to ‘ensure’ that Europe gets its’ act together.
Three …
That brings us to the third point. Why is The Economist so worried about India having a voice in Bangladesh?
Maybe Bangladesh leadership is more intelligent than Western leadership. Maybe Bangladesh has learned lessons from Pakistan! We have seen how Pakistan has descended into incendiary situation on a permanent basis. Bombs, explosions, guns, assassinations, civil war – all the benefits of Western attention.
Still blame Bangladesh for not wanting the Pakistan Experience?
Related Articles
- Politics in Bangladesh: Banged about (economist.com)
- Pakistan: The Hidden Chapter (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Clinton pressures Bangladesh govt in Grameen Bank row (dailystar.com.lb)
- Clinton Warns Bangladesh on Grameen Bank (blogs.voanews.com)
- Bangladesh announces probe into Grameen Bank units (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- MARK TULLY: India must downsize for region (dailymail.co.uk)
- Bangladesh eyes $400 million loan from Indian central bank (dawn.com)
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