Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman: The most reliable tool of Pakistani establishment

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Geo TV involved in running anti-Zardari campaign

November 20, 2009

Lahore: Leaders of the ruling Pakistan People's Party have accused two TV anchors of running a vilification campaign against President Asif Ali Zardari at the behest of "anti-democratic" forces.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, a close aide of PPP chief Zardari, said: "Two anchors of a popular private channel are running a malicious campaign against the President but they will not succeed in their designs."

Though Kaira did not name the two anchors, other PPP leaders said they are Hamid Mir and Shahid Masood of Geo News channel. "It seems that there are no other issues in the country but the President for this TV channel," Kaira said.

However, he made it clear the government has no intention to impose curbs on the anchors or on their channel.

In private meetings, PPP leaders have accused the Geo media group of working on an agenda to topple their government at the centre. They have suggested to the party leadership that the government should either ban anti-Zardari programmes or boycott the Geo group.

However, these suggestions have not been heeded by the leadership.

A PPP insider said to a news agency that Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, the owner of the Geo media group, had conveyed a party leader that there is "no place for Mr Zardari in the presidency" and his group would create such hype that he would have to quit "within three months".

"This is outrageous. Something will have to be done to check this media militancy," the PPP leader said.

Besides Geo News channel, the group owns the popular Urdu daily Jang and the English daily The News. Source

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Mir Shakil ur Rahman (MSR) is the owner of the Independent Media Corporation and Group Chief Executive and Group Editor in Chief of Jang Group of Companies of Pakistan. This media group publishes a number of Newspapers and Magazines in Urdu and English. IMC also owns the Geo TV network.

Pakistan's second richest family
Islamabad, Nov. 16: The number of mega-rich families with huge business empires has risen to 40 in Pakistan over the last few years. The holders of these empires include at least three leading newspaper groups and the Hashwani group of companies, which enjoys a monopoly in the hotel industry.

According to a recent survey, The Nishat Group of Mian Muhammad Mansha is the captain of this splendid ship, having around 30 companies on board.

Mansha, who owns the Muslim Commercial Bank as well as several textile, leasing, investment, cement and insurance companies, is now setting up a Rs 1-billion ($17 m) paper sack project. The Nishat Group was the country’s 15th-richest family in 1970, sixth in 1990 and number one in 1997.

The Jang group of newspapers comes second. Its huge media empire was founded by the late Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman some six decades ago.

Today, around 10 top newspapers and the multi-billion-rupee GEO TV project are being run by Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Mir Khalil’s brainy son, who has a lot of projects relating to real estate under his belt, too.


The Jang Group
This huge media empire was founded by late Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman some six decades ago. Today, around 10 top newspapers and the multi-billion rupee GEO TV project are being run by Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Mir Khalil's brainy son, who has a lot of projects pertaining to real estate under his belt too. Though he can be very modest, Shakeel is known to have taken country's Prime Ministers head-on. His tussle with Nawaz Sharif in 1999 spoke volumes of his unmatched influence in all domestic and international quarters which matter. Shakeel is one of Asia's most well known media barons, whose newspapers have served to be the breeding nurseries for country's top journalists. He invests massively in stocks business regularly. His elder brother Mir Javed ur Rehman and tender son Mir Ibrahim also assist him in business. Such magnificent has been his influence that at times, a few governments have opted to take a few of his employees as ministers. The Group, as most politicians agree, has been instrumental in both toppling and building governments in Pakistan for decades now. Limelight is the product that he sells but doesn't like tasting the fruits of his own garden.


Do you think that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is a liberal fascist or that his media empire (Geo TV/Jang Group) is pro neo-Cons? Both speculations are not correct. In fact, sons of Mir Khalil ur Rahman are not fool to side with any ideology openly, it is their history that they remain subservient to the interests of the civil and military establishment. They take extreme care not to violate the interests of military rulers (with the exception of a fair amount of face saving criticism); while they are always critical of democratic governments (e.g. Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto), they take extreme care to sign any NROs with military dictators (e.g. with General Musharraf) in order to save their commercial interests. They are thus every ready to jump into the ruling boat no sooner any military ruler grabs power and both sons start to itch palm of the hand, with an aim to loot as much as possible through exploitation of public sentiments, while also enjoying a grand share in the Government sponsored advertisements (to the tune of 60% of all ads in the public sector), for which they are ready to bulldoze their competitors without any sympathy.

Who are the people behind Geo TV. Just think. They telecast a false news and stock market crashes in Pakistan…

· Do you know Shahid Masood and Hamid Mir, each of them gets RS 25 lakh per month ,
· Such huge amount? Is it possible and justifiable in this poor country? Where is all that money coming from?

Geo did not show any good news, e.g. Islamabad Peshwar motorway, Gilgit Baltistan reforms, Balochistan package, Success of military operations in Swat and Waziristan. Instead Geo TV shows dead people in Peshawar and Karachi. Instead of condemning Taliban's terrorist activities, their anchors are busy in spreading cheap pro-Taliban and anti-USA propaganda. Why?

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Jang Group versus Nawaz Sharif: A page from the past:

The Jang Group--empire would be a more appropriate term to use--became big by playing handmaiden to every regime in Pakistan. It has seldom taken an adversarial position in the past. In fact, Jang London was launched with seed money provided by the late general Zia ul-Haq. The string of newspapers and magazines it has launched are all the result not so much of talent but of government largesse.

If the government says the Group is in default of two billion rupees in tax arrears, there may be some truth to it. In fact, most newspapers and magazines as well as businesses in Pakistan are tax cheaters. In addition, they get preferential treatment in newsprint allocation if they toe the government line. Similarly, their largest source of revenue is government advertising.

This last is incidentally not confined to Pakistan. Even in a largely free and democratic society like Canada, government advertising is used to keep some media outlets in line. The Crescent International for instance, used to get Canadian government advertising until it turned itself into the newsmagazine of the Islamic Movement in 1980. Government advertising immediately stopped. Our advertising agent told us that we were becoming 'too serious' about our work.

It was alright to talk about bhangra and songs, or praise the lord and pass the bacon but getting serious about issues was not. Even today, scores of rags--what pass for community papers--get substantial Canadian government advertising because they are non-serious and nonsensical. Discussing issues in-depth and giving a clear perspective exposing government wrongdoing--in this case western hypocrisy in matters of international affairs--lands one in trouble.

We did not complain. We simply got on with the job relying on Allah for help. He is the best of providers. We have not become an empire but we have acquired a global readership that is committed to sustaining us. The owners of Jang Group do not think this way. They have made their fortune by piggybacking on successive governments. Newspapers are a source of moneymaking in Pakistan. Most journalists, too, are not concerned about truth, barring a few notable exceptions.

In the seventies and early eighties, Dawn newspaper was bought in large numbers by the Pakistan government and distributed free among expatriate communities abroad through its embassies and missions. Mahmoud Haroon, owner of the Dawn Group, was at the time interior minister in general Zia's cabinet.

Most newspapers and magazines in Pakistan cheat on their tax returns. The government is well within its right to go after these business, but in the proper manner. It is the job of the tax department to assess tax revenues and a defaulter must be given the right to challenge what is assessed against him.

In October 1998, thegovernment served the group with tax notices totallingover 720 million rupees (about $13 million). Soon afterthe group's bank accounts were frozen.

Between Nov. 25 and Dec. 22, 1998, 25 notices were served on theGroup for various offences. On Dec. 22, a demand for 2 billion rupees in tax arrears wasmade against the group.

Source


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جیو ٹی وی ؟ کڑوا سچ !

نصر ملک۔۔ کوپن ہیگن

پاکستان کے اندر اور بیرون پاکستان “ جیو ٹیلیویژن “ کی نشریات پاکستانیوں میں خوب دیکھی جاتی ہیں لیکن “ جیو ٹی وی “ کی ان نشریات میں پیش کِیا کیا جاتا ہے اور اس کے پیچھے کیا محرکات ہوتے ہیں یہ اندازہ شاید ہی کسی نے لگایا ہو ۔ اندرون پاکستان ‘ جیو ٹی وی کی نشریات پر حساس ناظرین اپنے خدشات کا اظہار تو کرتے ہی رہتے ہیں اب بیرون ملک بھی “ جیو ٹی وی “ کی نشریات پر “ پاکستانی ناظرین “ کے تحفظات میں اضافہ ہوتا جا رہا ہے ۔ لیکن کیوں؟

آئیے دیکھتے ہیں کہ جیو ٹی وی کی ابتدا کیسے ہوئی اور اس کی وہ نشریات جنہیں یہ ادارہ “ قومی مفادات اور شعور ملی کی بیداری کے لیے پیش کرنے “ کا دعویٰ کرتا ہے ‘ اِن نشریات کا دوسرے ٹی وی اداروں کی نشریات سے موازنہ کیا جائے کہ جیو ٹی وی ‘ کہاں تک “ ملی مفادات اور قومی شعور کی بیداری کے لیے متحرک ہے ۔“

یہ بات تو بالکل ڈھکی چھپی نہیں کہ جیو ٹی وی‘ امریکی امداد سے شروع کیا گیا تھا اور اس کا بنیادی مقصد مایوسیوں ‘ ناکامیوں اور محرومیوں کو یوں سامنے لانا تھا کہ عوام بحیثت پاکستانی قوم خود کو اور اپنے ملک کو “ ناکامیوں ‘ مایوسیوں اور محرومیوں کے گرداب سے کبھی باہر ہی نہ نکال پائیں ۔ پاکستان کی پچاس فیصد ان پڑھ آبادی جیو ٹی وی کی ان نشریات کو “ انکشافات “ سمجھتے ہوئے اپنی بے خبری کی وجہ سے انہیں حقیقت مان لیتی ہے ۔

اب سوال یہ پیدا ہوتا ہے کہ امریکی عہدیدار یہاں تک کہ امریکی ٹی وی نشریاتی ادارے پاکستان کے بارے میں صرف ‘ جیو ٹی وی ہی کا حوالہ دیتے ہیں دوسرے آزاد ٹی وی اداروں کا ذکر کیوں نہیں کیا جاتا ؟

جیو ٹی وی کی نشریات ہی میں لوگوں کے سر کٹے دھڑ ‘ بموں میں مرتے ہوتے ہوئے ملبوں میں دبے ہوئے لوگوں کو دکھایا جاتا ہے ۔ کیا دنیا کا کوئی اور ٹی وی ‘ ایسے مناظر اتنے تسلسل سے دکھاتا ہے ؟

ذرا سوچیئے بھارت میں کم و بیش دو ہزار مسلمانوں کو گجرات میں تین ماہ کے اندر قتل کردیا گیا ان کی املاک تباہ اور نذر آتش کردی گئیں لیکن وہاں کے ٹیلیویژن اداروں نے ان وارداتوں کی دستاویزی نشریات کہاں دکھائیں ۔ کیا مسلمانوں کے اس قتل عام کے بارے میں ذی ٹی وی ‘ سونی ٹی وی اور دیگر انڈین ٹی وی چینلز نے کوئی نشریات پیش کیں ؟

بھارت میں اس وقت آسام و بہار سے لے کر پنجاب اور کشمیر تک کم سے کم اٹھانوے علیحدگی پسند تحریک متحرک ہیں کیا کبھی ذی ٹی وی ‘ سونی ٹی وی نے ان کی لڑائیوں اور مارے جانے والے بھارتی فوجیوں اور سیکورٹی والوں کی کوریج کی ہے ؟ کیا کبھی بھارتی چینلوں نے بھارت کے ڈھائی سو ملین لوگوں کو گلیوں میں فٹ پاتھوں پر ریلوے کی لائینوں کے اردگرد سوتے دکھایا ہے ؟

اسلام آباد میں لال مسجد کاواقعہ جیو ٹی وی کے نشریاتی پروگراموں میں اب تک سر فہرست ‘ بینر کے طور پر دکھایا جاتا ہے۔ کتنے بھارتی ٹی وی ہر روز ‘ گولڈن ٹمپل پر حملے ‘ اندرا گاندھی کے قتل ‘ بابری مسجد کے انہدام ‘ گجرات و بہار کے مسلمانوں کے قتل عام ‘ راجیو گاند ھی کے قتل اور اسی طرح کے دوسرے واقعات کی کلپ فملیں اپنےآغاز پروگرام میں دکھاتے ہیں ؟

کیا آپ نے کبھی بھارتی سیاستدانوں کو ‘ اختلاف رکھنے کے باوجود اپنے صدر یا وزیر اعظم کے خلاف ‘ ٹی وی پینلز پر ‘ نازیبا زبان استعمال کرتے ‘ گالیاں دیتے اور کھلم کھلا اُن کے لیے موت ‘ پھانسی اور جلاوطنی جیسی سزائیں تجویز کرتے سنا ہے ؟ جیو ٹی وی پاکستان میں پاکستانی سیاستدانوں کے ایسے بیانات سنا رہا ہے آخر کیوں ؟ صحافت کا اپنا ضابطہ اخلاق کس گنگا میں بہا دیا گیا ہے ؟

جیو ٹی وی ‘ بے نظیر بھٹو‘ آصف زرداری اور ان جیسے دوسروں کی اس دولت کے بارے میں دستاویزی پروگرام نشر کیوں نہیں کرتا بحث مباحثے کیوں نہیں کراتا‘ جو دولت انہوں نے اپنے دور میں قومی خزانے سے لوٹی ۔ بیرون ملک بنک بیلنس بنائے ‘ محل خریدے ؟ نواز شریف اور خود سابق چیف جسٹس کی کارستانیوں سے پردہ کیوں نہیں اٹھایا؟

اب کچھ جیو ٹی وی کی مزید “ قومی خدمات “ کے بارے میں ۔

جیو ٹی وی نے نام نہاد ایمرجنسی کی جعلی خبریں یوں نشر کیں کہ ملک بھر میں سٹاک مارکیٹ کا جنازہ نکل گیا کیونکہ جیو کے نام نہاد اقتصادی ماہرین کو ہدایات ہی یہی تھیں کہ کیا کہنا ہے اور ملک میں اقتصادی افراتفری کو ہوا کیسے دینی ہے۔

کامران خالد ‘ پچیس لاکھروپے ماہانہ جیو ٹی وی سے کس بات کے وصول کرتے تھے ۔

ڈاکٹر شاھد مسعود ‘ “ این ایس ایف “ کے باقاعدہ رکن تھے ۔ این ایس ایف پاکستان کی بنیادی نظریئے اور اس کی سالمیت کے ساتھ ساتھ جماعت اسلامی کی کٹر مخالف ہے ۔ یہ صاحب بائیس لاکھ روپیہ ماہانہ لیتے ‘ اور کراچی و دوبئی میں شاندار مکانات رکھتے ہیں ۔

حامد میر جیسے نام نہاد مبصر ‘ روزنامہ اوصاف کے مدیر کو بھی بھاری رقوم ادا کی گئیں اور نادیہ خان نے بھی پیسے بنائے ۔ مل ملا کر چھ لاکھ روپے ان آزاد صحافیوں کو دیئے گئے ۔ کیوں ؟

سوچا جا سکتا ہے کہ کرکٹ کا میچ نہ دکھا کر جیو ٹی وی نے خود بتایا کہ اسے ایک ملین روپے کا خسارہ ہوا ہے تو سوال یہ پیدا ہوتا ہے کہ اب چوبیس گھنٹے سابق جسٹس افتخار کی جو کوریج نشر کی جا رہی ہے اس کے اخراجات جیو والے کیسے اور کہاں سے پورے کر رہے ہیں ؟ ان اخراجات کا ذرا تخمینہ تو لگا کر دیکھئے ۔ یہ تو سی این این ‘ بی بی سی بھی برداشت نہیں کر سکتے ۔

پچاس فیصد بھارتی ڈرامے اور باقی کی ثقافتی نشریات میں پاکستانی و بھارتی فلموں کا مشترکہ طور پر نشریاتی وقت ـ کیا معنی رکھتا ہے اور کس دیس کی خدمت کر رہا ہے اور کیوں؟

القصہ مختصر “ جیو‘ جدید استعماری آقاؤں کے اشاروں پر “ اتنا جھوٹ بولو کہ سچ ہو جائے “ کی پالیسی پر عمل کرتے ہوئے “ اتنا جھوٹ بول چکا ہے اور بول رہا ہے کہ پاکستانی قوم اندرون وطن اور بیرون وطن ‘ جیو کی ہر خبر کو “ جھوٹ “ جانتے ہوئے بھی “ سچ “ ماننے پر مجبور ہو جاتی ہے ۔ کیا آپ اس سے متفق نہیں ہیں؟ اور متفق نہیں تو ‘ کیوں؟؟

( القمر آن لائن بلاگ

What is the political agenda of Geo TV?
Published by TV Explore on November 5, 2009

Stung by an avalanche of criticism from the leading Jang media group, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to take action against it by imposing some curbs on the electronic media or by boycotting the organisation.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who also heads the PPP, has called a meeting of the party’s central executive committee at the presidency on November 9 to discuss this issue, party sources said. Zardari and his party believe the Jang media group has been working on a “special agenda” to topple the PPP-led government at the centre, they said.

“The way the Jang group, especially its Geo News channel, created hype by twisting the statement of Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain about asking the President to offer a sacrifice on Monday has annoyed all in the PPP, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani,” a senior PPP leader who did not want to be named said to a news agency.

Geo News had reported on Monday that the MQM chief had asked Zardari to quit the post of President over the issue of the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a controversial law passed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to grant PPP leaders immunity in graft cases.

Several MQM leaders had made similar claims to other reporters but the party later changed its stance. However, PPP leaders believe Geo News had implied that “Zardari is a product of the NRO” and he should face corruption cases in courts after resigning.

Major parties like the PML-N, PML-Q and MQM said they would not back a move to get parliament to endorse the NRO in line with a ruling from the Supreme Court. The PPP then decided to go back on its decision to present the NRO in parliament for ratification.

“The owner of the Jang group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, has conveyed to one of our party leaders that he will throw Zardari out of the presidency within three months. How can we sit idle after receiving such a warning from the owner of a major media group?” asked the PPP leader, who is a close aide of Zardari.

He said the PPP’s opponents, acting in connivance with the Jang group, want to install a government led by former premier Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party.

“We have already received suggestions from some senior party leaders who are unanimous that putting curbs on the media as a whole may backfire and instead the PPP should boycott the Jang group,” he said.

“By doing so, we will register not only our protest but force it to set aside its hostility to the PPP government and President Zardari,” he added.

Meanwhile, the parliament’s standing committee on information and broadcasting has decided that laws enforced by Musharraf to bridle the electronic media should be incorporated in the proposed Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Act. (Source)

qaisanwar said:
source
بہت اچھا پروگرام تھا آپ اپنے طے شدہ ایجنڈے سے ایک انچ بھی نہیں ہٹے۔ چلیے ہم بھی ایک کہانی
سے آغاز کرکے آپ کے آج کے پروگرام پر تبصرہ کرتے ہیں
۔۔۔۔ جمہوریت کا منظر بمعہ جمہوریت کے ساتھ کیا ہوگا ۔۔۔۔۔۔ بروزن ۔۔۔۔۔ موت کا منظر بمعہ مرنے کے بعد کیا ہوگا ۔۔۔

کچھ بیس تیس سال پہلے ؛ دیواروں پر؛ جنسی معالجوں کے اشتہاروں کے درمیان ایک کتاب کا اشتہار
بھی لکھا ہوتا تھا۔۔۔۔ موت کا منظر معہ مرنے کے بعد کیا ہو گا۔۔۔۔ کتاب میں مصنف نے قبر کے عذاب کا
ایک ہیبت ناک نقشہ کھینچا ہے ۔کتاب پڑھنے کے بعد قاری کے پاس دو ہی راستے ہوتے ہیں یا تو قبر
کے عذاب سے اتنا ڈر جاءے کہ مبلغین کے گروہ میں شامل ہو جاءے یا سرے سے موت کے بعد کے عقیدوں
سے ہی انکاری ہو جاءے ۔ اس کتاب نے اس گروہ کے فروغ میں بڑا اہم کردار ادا کیا۔ اس گروہ کے
ارکان اکثر جب تبلیغ کے لیے نکلتے ہیں تو اپنے ساتھیوں کا تعارف اس طرح کراتے ہیں بھاءی ۔۔۔۔۔۔
ہمارے ساتھ شامل ہونے سے پہلے ایک بدکردار اور رشوت خور افسر تھے۔ ہماری تبلیغ سے متاثر
ہونے کے بعد انہوں نے سب کام چھوڑ دءے ہیں اور آجکل سارا وقت اللہ کی راہ میں لگاتے ہیں۔ نیکی
کی راہ میں نکلنے والے ان نءے مسافروں کی عمر عمومآ ساٹھ سے زیادہ ہوتی ہے اور صاف پتہ
چلتا ہے کہ بلی نو سو چوہے کھا چکی ہے۔ مجھے یاد ہے کہ اس گروہ کے لوگ جب کبھی ہماری
یونیورسٹی کے ہاسٹل میں آیا کرتے تھےتو طلبہ کو کہانیاں سنا یا کرتے تھے کہ ایک بھاءی امتحان
کی رات بھی پہلا پہر تبلیغ کرتے رہے خدا کی قدرت کہ رات کے آخری پہر انہیں خواب میں پورا
امتحانی پرچہ نظر آگیا۔
میرے ممدوح ڈاکٹر شاہد مسعود کا بھی ایک ایسے ہی قبیل سے تعلق ہے ۔ ان کی کتاب کا نام ہے
۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ جمہوریت کا منظر بمعہ جمہوریت کے ساتھ کیا ہو گا ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ یہ کتاب بھی جمہوریت کا کچھ ایسا
ہیبت ناک نقشہ کھینچتی ہے کہ نوجوان ذہن یا تو جمہوریت سے ڈرنے لگتا ہے یا جمہوریت کے تصور
سے ہی باغی ہو جاتا ہے۔ اس گروہ کے مبلغین میں کثیر تعداد ان بزرگوں کی ہے جن کی جوانی
جمہوریت دشمنی میں گزری۔ اس میں روءیداد خان جیسے اسی سالہ تجربہ کار بابے بھی شامل ہیں
یہ وہ پہنچے ہوءے بزرگ ہیں کہ پندرہ بیس سال پہلے جب کسی نوآموز سیاسی کارکن کو سمجھانا
ہوتا تھا کہ اسٹبلشمنٹ کیا ہے تو یوں شروع کیا جاتا تھا کہ یہ پاکستان میں ایک نہ نظر آنے والی قوت
ہے جس میں روءیداد خاں ؛ غلام اسحاق خان اور ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔جیسے عہدے دار شامل ہوتے ہیں۔ اسی تبلیغی
گروہ میں ہارون ارشید جیسے جہاں دیدہ بھی شامل ہیں جنہوں نے اپنی بھٹو دشمنی کا خواب کبھی
مرنے نہیں دیا اور مولانا مودودی؛ جنرل ضیا ءا لحق اور پھر عمران خان کا ہاتھ مضبوطی سے
تھامے رکھا۔ اس گروہ میں شامل ہو نے والے ایک بزرگ کا نام حمید گل ہے۔ وہ ساری عمر امریکہ
کی خدمت کرتے رہے لیکن آخر کار قدرت نے ان کی راہنماءی کی اور وہ آخری عمر میں بہت بڑے
امریکہ دشمن ہو گءے ۔
میرے محترم شاہد مسعود ہر جمعہ ؛ ہفتہ اور اتوار کی رات صراط مستقیم اختیار کرنے والے ان
بزرگوں کے ساتھ سہ روزہ تبلیغ پر نکلتے ہیں۔ اس تبلیغ میں سب سے پہلے جمہوریت کے تاریک
مناظر دکھاءے جاتے ہیں ۔ اس کے بعد سارے بزرگ باری باری بتاتے ہیں کہ اگر جمہوریت جاری
رہی تو لوگوں کا کیا انجام ہو گا۔
ڈاکٹر شاہد مسعود اس امید پرزندہ ہیں کہ جس طرح طالب علم کو تبلیغ کے صلے میں آخر شب پرچہ خواب
میں نظر آگیا تھاانہیں بھی اس تبلیغ کے صلے میں نءے بندوبست میں ارشاد حقانی؛ مبشر لقمان
اور نجم سیٹھی کی طرح ایک نگران وزارت مل جاءے گی۔
آج کے پروگرام میں بھی میرے ہیرو نے اپنے مخصوص انداز سے نہیں ہٹے ۔ آغاز حسب معمول
دھوکا دہی کی منطق) ڈیسیپٹو لاجک(کو استعمال کرتے ہوءے ماءیکل جیکسن اورپاکستانی سیا ست دانوں
کی امیج بلڈنگ کی کوششوں کے تقابلی جاءزے سے کیا ۔
دور حاضر کے عظیم دانشور ڈاکٹر شاہد مسعود نے حسب معمول اپنے خاص انداز میں فیاضی کے تصور کو
اپنی بیان کردہ تعریف تک محدود کر دیا۔ حالانکہ فیاضی کی تشہیر موجودہ معاشرے کا ہی ایک عمل نہیں
بلکہ دولت کی نا منصفانہ تقسیم اور فیاضی پہلو بہ پہلو ظہور پزیر ہوءے۔ سلطنتوں کی توسیع اور لگان
کی وصولی کے دوران لاکھوں افراد کو قتل کرنے والوں کی فیاضی کی داستانیں درباری مورخوں نے بڑی
تفصیل سے بیان کی ہیں۔ان میں سے بہت سے وہ ہیں جن کو میرے محترم شاہد مسعود جیسے لوگ
ہیرو کے طور پر پوجتے ہیں ۔
پھر میرے عظیم میزبان نے اپنے پسندیدہ افراد کو بلایا ۔امیج بلڈنگ کی ایک تعریف متعین
کی اور پھر اس محدود تعریف کے اندر ہی لوگوں سے سوال پوچھنا شروع کیے۔ امیج بلڈنگ کو صرف اخباری
اشتہاروں اور تصویروں کے ساتھ مشروط کردینا ہی کافی نہیں ہے۔یہ ایک وسیع تصور ہے اس میں پس پردہ لابنگ
سب سے بڑا کردار ادا کرتی ہے یہ وہ کام ہے جس میں میڈیا میں میرے محترم شاہد مسعود جیسے لوگ بھی
سرانجام دیتے ہیں ۔۔
ہر سوال سے پہلے یا سوال کے دوران میرے عظیم میزبان نے اس کا تعلق آصف زرداری یا پیپلز پارٹی سے بنانے
کی بھی بھر پور کوشش کی۔ جیسے ڈاکٹر صفدر محمود سے بات سے پہلے امیج بلڈنگ کی تعریف ایسے متعین کی
’میرے دوروں کو بڑھا چڑھا کر پیش کرو’ ۔ مزے کی بات یہ تھی ڈاکٹر صفدر محمود بھی بڑے واضح طور
پر کرپشن کے سکینڈل کو اور پیپلز پارٹی کے ووٹرکے رویے کو ہی اپنے تجز یے کی بنیاد بنا رہے تھے ۔
اور پھر آخر میں حسب توقع اور حسب معمول عمران خان کو بلا کر امیج بلڈنگ اور این آر او میں ایک تعلق بناتے ہوءے
پروگرام ختم کیا ۔
آ ءیے دیکھتے ہیں کہ اگر میرا عظیم دانش ور ایک دو رخی زندگی نہ گزار رہا ہو تا تو امیج بلڈنگ پر کیسا پروگرام کرتا ۔ اس
کے پروگرام کا موضوع سرمایہ دارانہ نظام اور میڈیا ہو تا ۔ وہ اس پروگرام میں ناظرین کو بتا تا کہ کس طرح سرمایہ
دار اشتہاری مہموں کے ذریعے صارفین سے پیسہ بٹورتا ہے ۔ وہ ناظرین کو بتا تا کہ جس پیپسی اور کوکا کولا کے اشتہار
اس کے ٹی وی پر دکھاءے جاتے ہیں وہ صحت کے لیے کتنے نقصان دہ ہیں ۔ وہ تحقیق کرکے ناظرین کو بتا تا کہ
پاکستان کے لوگ روزانہ سافٹ ڈرنک کی کتنی بوتلیں پیتے ہیں اور ہر بوتل سے کتنا پیسہ با ہر کے ملک کا سرمایہ دار
لے جاتا ہے ۔ میرا دانش ورناظرین کو موباءل فون کمنیوں کا روزانہ منفع بھی بتاتا ۔ وہ لوگوں کی امریکہ کے ساتھ
نفرت کو امریکی مصنوعات کے باءیکاٹ کے ساتھ جوڑتا اور منافع کے بیرونی انخلا کو روک دیتا جس سے ملک کی
حالت مہینوں میں تبدیل ہونا شروع ہو جاتی ۔
لیکن میرا ہیرو شاہد مسعود ایسا نہیں کرے گا ۔ وہ ایسا کر ہی نہیں سکتا کیونکہ اس کا ٹی وی اسے تنخواہ ہی اس رقم
سے دیتا ہے جو اسے کثیر القومی کمپنیوں کے اشتہاروں سے ملتی ہے۔ یہ میرے ہیرو کی مجبوری بھی ہے اور ذمہ داری
بھی کہ وہ عوام کی توجہ سرمایہ دارانہ نظام کی قباحتوں سے ہٹا کر سطحی مساءل کی پر مرکوز کردے ۔اسے یہ بتاءے
کہ تمہارے مساءل کی اصل جڑ تمہارے لیڈر ہیں ۔ یہ بھی میرے ہیرو کی ذمہ داری ہے کہ وہ ریاست کو بدنام اور کمزور
کرے ۔ اگر ریاست کمزور ہوگی تو کثیر الاقوامی کمپنیوں کا راستہ کوءی نہیں روکے گا۔ میرا ہیرو کتنا ذہین ہے کہ
بین الاقوامی سرمایہ دار کے پیسے پر پلتا ہے اور لوگوں کو کامیابی کے ساتھ باور کراتا ہے کہ وہ امریکہ کا دشمن ہے


sajjad bufat Says:

Geo is a westren propaganda, it is the biggest and badest thing happen to pakistan since fall of Dacca, all these people are paid by westrens atleast in the beginning, now this has become a cancer, at times it is more powerful than anything else, and do you why, it is because Mir Shakeel ur Rahman (owner of Geo)is a blackmailer, he got some tapes of some key people and he is using it for his own advantage, he is earning millions of dollar a day, yes millions of dollars a day, no buddy is save from Geo, we all watch it and people think what ever Geo is broadcasting is true, all the anchors are agents…. be careful guys, this is not the end, they are up to something much larger than this,….. just watch your backs and save pakistan, Pakistan Zindabad.
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Pakistan’s internal dynamics and security

POSTED BY: JARRI MIRZA

This column by Ismail Khan originally appeared in The Times on November 20, 2009.

In a diverse country like ours, parliamentary democracies largely settle these things. With institutions like the Senate, where there is equal representation of all the provinces, consensus and shared threats emerge. Without consensus, the state is hardly monolithic in terms of its direction.

These days, news from Pakistan is full of rumours, accusations, and counter-accusations. It is speculated that the days of Mr. Zardari, if not the PPP government, are numbered; that Mr. Zardari is thinking to play the Sindh card; that Clinton has winked at a change in Pakistan’s setup, etc. The source of this speculation is the media, which when asked, calls itself an impartial observer.

On top of it, despite the severity, this news is full of innuendoes. Worst of all, there is excessive usage of labelling. So many commentaries on the news from Pakistan have become a dirty affair insinuating that at the end of the day, you are either an agent of the ISI or of the CIA, either a covert jiyala or on the payroll of the agencies, either a flag-waving patriot or trying to divide the country.

In the midst of all of this, the debate over the content of discontent gets lost. Imagine, even if someone is a full-time employee of any agency, forget being on contract, does that bury the content? Not at all. Then why not address the content? Maybe it can offer answers to our accusations against one another.

Although bad governance has recently been quoted as a concern for the masses, which it is, the list of entries in the charge sheet against Mr. Zardari has hardly anything to do with governance. Here is the list that haunts Mr. Zardari: the PPP government tried to bring the ISI under the Ministry of Information; the president announced the no-first use of nuclear weapons in the context of India; the rulers appeased India after the Mumbai attacks; the civilian government signalled ‘yes’ to the Kerry-Lugar Bill, so on and so forth. On all these issues, the media has largely stood with the PPP’s critics in the power corridors.

The common theme in all these issues is security. Of the many fallouts of the military’s prominence in Pakistani politics, the lack of consensus on security issues arguably occupies the top post. Remember how Sharif and Beg disagreed over sending troops to Iraq or how Sharif distanced himself from Kargil, despite the level of his involvement. Benazir Bhutto also never identified herself with the Kashmir jihadist movements.

Although it can be rightly said that irrespective of factors, the threat identification of a state remains the same, but in Pakistan’s case, the threat was not the same because our internal dynamics were not addressed properly.

The civil-military imbalance is one such dynamic; due to the deep imprint of the military on the security paradigm, civilians have tried to distance themselves from it. This is because security is a dividing line between the two groups; in fact, it would not be wrong to argue that the security paradigm overrides Pakistan’s national policies. The present debate over Mr. Zardari’s fate too finds its roots in the security issue.

There are other dynamics too. In the traditional sense, security is against an enemy state, which in Pakistan’s case remained India. The Pakistani narrative owes the genesis of this threat identification to partition; however, as scholars have argued recently, the threat was more extreme with those identities that experienced the ‘threat’. In Pakistan’s case, Punjabis and Urdu-speaking people can be identified as such groups, who would still recall the suffering of their ancestors at the time of partition.

Back then both the groups were well-represented in the institutions of state, which is why the nation-building task was done more by them. However, concerns change with time. Even in Punjab and among the Urdu-speakers, the local threat may not necessarily be India’s acquisition of resources. This change is clearly seen in the concerns of MQM, for which it has been disliked by many.

The paradigm remained fixated on India. This is not to suggest that with the involvement of other groups’ concerns, the paradigm would have remained the same or not. What did not happen was the representation of the variability of security of all the identities in the state’s identification of the threat.

Examples are abundant. A person living in Waziristan has been in a state of war since 2002, but it was only recently that the state went for its help. Worst of all, his or her message is being relayed just recently, which is why they are extremely frustrated over being left alone. Similarly, while Pushtun nationalists wanted to take on the militants early on, they had to relent because some groups in Islamabad were dissatisfied, until the militants were found making headlines of being “sixty miles away from Islamabad”.

Concerns of identities in Pakistan are economic and about acquisition of resources for the self. The Baloch, for instance, dislike their rapidly-changing equation with the Pushtuns, not least after the influx of Afghans into Pakistan; in Sindh, different groups want to secure their interests amidst all the groups. Thus while Pakistan has its finger pointing against India for blocking water, Sindh has levelled the same charges against Punjab for stealing water. Worst of all, the best way to get rid of an issue is to dub the person raising an issue as being a sympathiser of India.

Recently, this has been amplified by the commentaries on the electronic media; it must be noted that popular electronic media in Pakistan is Urdu-medium in nature. For their perceptions on historical experiences, many anchorpersons believe in the Indo-centric security paradigm. The Mumbai attack is a prime example, where there was a sense of madness by the media over the government’s alleged appeasement of India. Hardly anyone knew about Swat. Now they have expressed surprise over discontent in Balochistan or in Sindh. The media’s concern over security is questionable because of its ignorance of the debates within; it would not be wrong to imagine that had the same media existed in 1999, Sharif would have gone much earlier than October 1999.

In a diverse country like ours, parliamentary democracies largely settle these things. With institutions like the Senate, where there is equal representation of all the provinces, consensus and shared threats emerge. Without consensus, the state is hardly monolithic in terms of its direction.

Like it or not, the military has to equally face embarrassment as it is left in the wilderness every time it fights. Worst of all, the state’s security policies are hardly defended by all actors; that in itself is a cause for confusion within the military.

Today when there is an elected government, it finds itself grilled whenever it takes a security decision. Even if faces get changed, the underlying factors will once again re-emerge, raising the concerns with more severity. It would be much better if we read correctly the relationship between security and the internal dynamics in Pakistan. Calling someone a covert agent and blaming the whole course of history on this is hardly what a serious academic would find time to read. Today, everyone is busy making the same mistake.

Muhammad Ismail Khan is a graduate student of International Relations at Boston University.

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The real conspirators - By Ahsan Iqbal

Article suggested by Syed Ali Raza: Although the author may not align himself with the political views of "Let us build Pakistan", he offers a valuable perspective on present deferring and escapist tendencies in our society.


The real conspirators
By Ahsan Iqbal

There are so many conspiracy theories for what is happening to us that at times it becomes difficult to keep track of them. USA, West, Israel, and India most commonly get referred to in those conspiracy theories. The conspiracy syndrome isn’t just limited to uneducated, very often educated and elite are also vocal champions of such theories. If we analyze the psychology of conspiracy theory syndrome, it can be safely said that it provides a safe refuge for finding an explanation for all the negative events and outcomes, which we don’t like and about which we are not willing to do anything in order to bring a positive change.

These theories are escapists’ heaven providing comfort, catharses, and solace to the pain of mind and soul. What they conceal and block is the path of introspection. The believers in conspiracy theories find all the faults and responsibilities with conspirators, who are villains, and view themselves as victims of treachery, who are innocent, hence throwing all the blame on the conspirators for their sufferings.

The first cardinal principle of diplomacy is that each nation is entitled to act in its own best national interest. Therefore, to expect that any other nation will watch some other nation’s interest is contrary to this basic axiom of international politics. The nations may cooperate but they do so to the extent that their national interests converge. Therefore, what is a national interest for one nation may well look like a conspiracy to another nation or society beyond its shared interest. In Pakistan, thanks to a long history of dictatorships, we have developed a strong culture for conspiracy theories, as lack of information and disempowerment, become key drivers of this culture. We seldom try to analyze the root causes of our problems. After 62 years, if we are still mired in poverty, under development, and political instability with little sovereignty, who has afflicted these wounds on our soul and body? Before we fix responsibility, we should draw wisdom from history of rise and fall of nations and societies.

The literature on this subject throws many explanations for development and decline of nations. Some of these factors are unique while others are general in nature. The law of history is that sovereignty, prosperity, and development have neither been bestowed upon nations in charity nor in aid. Dignity, prosperity and progress are earned and manufactured by the nations through the work of the following seven factors; i) leadership and vision, ii) knowledge and skills, iii) justice and peace, iv) governance and merit, v) enterprise and hard work, vi) integrity and trust vii) team work and synergy. No matter what circumstances nations may face or resources they are gifted with, it is the work of the above seven factors that determines their prospects and rendezvous with destiny.

Where Pakistan is today and where it will be tomorrow, it only reflects the choices we make as a nation. The difference between a successful person or a nation and an unsuccessful person or nation is in its belief and outlook. Successful individuals and groups take responsibility for what they are while unsuccessful individuals and groups try to blame circumstances and others for their failures. The public discourse in any society plays very important role. It helps in understanding its agenda and also drives its future. Therefore, it should be of paramount concern to any society how the agenda of its public discourse is shaped. If we believe that all our problems are due to some sinister conspiracies being hatched against us by others then the logical implication of this thinking is that others are being unfair and devilish with us. This argument shuts the lens for introspection and objectivity in analyzing the past, present, and future. In order to understand why we are where we are, it is important that we analyze our situation in the light of the seven above mentioned factors of progress and development. The first factor is vision and leadership. Both vision and leadership are part and parcel of each other. Leadership without vision is a journey in circles and vision without leadership remains an abstract reality. All small and big success stories are born out of a compelling and a shared vision and a committed and a competent leadership. Vision is what determines what an organization or society is going to try to accomplish. Without a clear vision any society will be pulled in many different directions and nullify its effort.

The story of Pakistan’s creation is itself a proof of this principle. It was the vision of freedom, democracy, prosperity, and social justice in accordance with the principles of Islam that galvanized the Muslims of South Asia to launch Pakistan movement, and the dynamic and competent leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam made this dream come true. Unfortunately, after early death of Mr Jinnah, strong civil and military bureaucracy hijacked the state as political institutions were weak and in early formative stage. This led to blurring of our founding vision, giving rise to parochial thinking and politics.

Our military dictators ruled for over thirty three years playing havoc with rule of law and institutional governance in the country, which led to weakening to federation and unequal distribution of wealth across regions and groups further denting the founding vision of state. Our judges granted legitimacy to the dictators, our bureaucrats served them, and there were always willing politicians to join them while the people accepted it as their destiny. Was this some conspiracy against us or our collective failure to resist most glaring deviations from our founding vision? The second factor is knowledge and skills. Societies, which understood the importance of human resources and invested in developing strong intellectual and human capital, have always performed well. Development is the process by which human beings become aware of opportunities and challenges, formulate responses, make decisions, and initiate organized actions. This process follows the sequence from knowledge to inspiration to action. Human beings acquire knowledge, they become aware of opportunities and challenges. When that knowledge matures, they acquire a motivation or inspiration to translate that knowledge into action. No matter how great the opportunity or how dire the necessity, without that knowledge no adaptive response occurs. In earlier stages of development, land and minerals constituted the principle resources for development. Knowledge was rudimentary. Human beings were valued mainly for their physical labour. Today, information and knowledge have become increasingly important inputs to the development process. All economic activities are becoming more knowledge-intensive. In this context, where do we stand, we are rated at 141st position in the Human Development Index out of 172 nations and sixth out of seven South Asian countries. Our education system from primary to tertiary levels is in a mess with multi-class system with lowest budgetary allocations in the world. Has any country ever stopped us from providing our children best education and from producing quality scientific research in our universities? If almost half of our population is illiterate and we have worst form of class based education apartheid with purposeless education without offering the marketable skills then who is to be blamed?

The third factor is justice and peace. Martin Luther King said, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” Justice and peace are preconditions for an enabling environment that can attract investments and talent for the development of any society. Absence of justice means no rule of law and without rule of law societies become jungles in which might is right, leading to chaos and anarchy. Under such circumstances, society fails to produce stability and order as necessary conditions of progress. If we are mired with inequality, injustice, and strife today whose fault is it? In all those countries, which we call as conspirators, sitting heads of governments can be put to trial but we are finding it difficult to initiate legal proceedings against former president General Musharraf.

The fourth factor is governance and merit. Governance can be described as the process and capability of a society to set and achieve its goals. Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, merit based, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, and the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. While good governance helps build confidence of local and foreign investors in the economy merit recognition guarantees best standards of performance. According to World Governance Indicators Pakistan’s ranking is 162 out of 179 countries even behind Afghanistan. If we have failed to establish good governance in our country, according to the above criteria, is it not entirely our own doing and choice. There is no evidence of any foreign hand involved in enforcing poor governance on us.

The fifth factor is enterprise and hard work. Strong and stable societies are built on successful economies and no economy can prosper without entrepreneurial spirit and hard work. There is enough empirical evidence to suggest that societies that exhibit higher levels of entrepreneurial effort are more innovative and successful. Likewise, there is no substitute for hard work. In Quran, Allah says, “Man will only get for which he strives”. Has any foreign country ever asked us not to harness entrepreneurial skills of our people and to not work harder in our offices, educational institutions, factories, and professions?

The sixth factor is integrity and trust. Development has two dimensions, hardware and software. While physical infrastructure lays the foundation it is ethics and values infrastructure of any society, shaping social attitudes and social capital, which determines its level of success.

Following Fukuyama, this social capital can be defined as the “set of informal values or norms shared among members of a group that permits them to cooperate with one another”. Obviously the level of trust capital is key for fostering cooperation and comfort. Trust is developed among members of group through mutual respect, honest transactions and tolerance. How much integrity and honesty is there in our work and dealings? Has any conspiring nation ever asked us to indulge in adulteration, be unfair in measures, and not be honest in our dealings and transactions?

The seventh factor is teamwork and synergy. As Henry Ford said, “coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” High performing organizations and societies are good at transforming individual excellence of their members into collective competence in a way that combined effect is greater than sum of individual effort, which means there is harmony and positive synergy in the system. It is said that in the new economy the basic unit of work is team rather an individual, which means group dynamics of nations have become critical for their success. How good are we in collaborative modes? Has any foreign power forced us to be divided on parochial lines and not to work together as a united nation and communities?

If we look at the above seven factors, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to find out that we alone are responsible for our failures. No one is conspiring against us as we are guilty of conspiring against ourselves. Instead of blaming others we need to focus on our shortcomings and take responsibility for our destiny. This is the only way forward to become a dignified, a strong, and a prosperous nation. Source

The writer is an MNA and former minister of education. Email:betterpakistan@gmail.com

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Baitullah Mehsud Shaheed

Baitullah Mehsud is shaheed: a claim by Mullah Fazlur-Rehman dehshat gard.

http://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/E-Paper/Lahore/2009-11-20/page-12/detail-10

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We need to support Police in our war against Taliban terrorists

Perils of policing
By Ayesha Siddiqa
Friday, 20 Nov, 2009 (Dawn)

IT doesn’t take a genius to notice the mounting pressure on the PPP government and President Zardari, especially after former partner PML-N decided to adopt an aggressive policy towards the ruling party. This approach includes criticism of everything that happens under the PPP watch.

Recently, even the Islamabad police seem to have been dragged into the fray when the PML-N leadership in parliament reacted sharply to the story of the killing of a potential suicide attacker by the police at a security picket in the capital earlier this month. It is claimed that it was actually a fake encounter staged to improve the IG’s reputation.

A hue and cry continues to be raised despite the fact that the police was exonerated by an inquiry conducted by the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration. The police also say that no one came forward to claim the body before it was finally buried after two days of waiting.

However, the PML-N leadership in parliament continues to raise the issue. Perhaps the government needs to take them seriously since the party leadership is quite familiar with extrajudicial killings, which have always been common in Punjab. They would probably know better how judicial inquiries are managed in such cases. Given a chance to hold an inquiry themselves the said parliamentarians might have revealed more as some might have greater knowledge of extrajudicial killings. After all, it was about six months ago that Nanu Goraya lost his life in a fake encounter in Gujranwala.

The Punjab government had kept violent militant outfits like Sipah-i-Sahaba-i-Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in check during the late 1990s reportedly through extrajudicial killings with the objective of controlling crime and violence in the largest province. It was the use of this methodology which resulted in the SSP’s retaliation in the form of an assassination attempt on then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Policing in our peculiar socio-cultural environment — particularly the capital city — is not easy. Islamabad is a mini-Pakistan where one can find a concentration of power, cliques, opposing forces, and all those socio-cultural vices that put additional burden on the law-enforcers. The IG police and his staff have to cater to approximately 1.5 million people. Given our VIP culture it is probably easier to take care of ordinary people than cater to hundreds of parliamentarians who constantly go in and out of the city and would be least forgiving if there was any letup in their personal security.

Besides, there are about 81 embassies, 76 ambassadors’ residences, 22 UN offices, 14 hospitals, 20 universities, 1,044 schools and colleges, 77 markets and 305 madressahs which have to be guarded with a police force of 10,332. The police also have to run around protecting the head of state and government and other dignitaries that visit the capital.

The presence of diplomats and foreigners does not make things any easier. What adds to the burden is the government’s indecision on other related issues such as the placement and management of 305 madressahs located within different sectors. The Lal Masjid incident indicated the dangers that could emanate from these seminaries. There is no system or policy to monitor people who come and stay in these madressahs from outside the city. While it is the government and parliament’s responsibility to decide on this critical issue, it is the police which face the consequences due to being placed on the front line.

The police force, which generally has a bad reputation and represents the authoritarian and barbaric face of the state, is also the force which has played a vital role in the past couple of years in the war against terror. While people eulogise the hard work and commitment of soldiers who have laid down their lives in the fight against terror, it is unfair not to remember the unsung heroes from the police who are often the first ones to lose their lives during a terrorist attack. Approximately 22 police officials have lost their lives in terrorist attacks in Islamabad. There have been five attacks in 2009 alone.

It is heartening to see lower-ranking police officials in Islamabad doing their duty in such tough times without the necessary wherewithal for their personal protection. These men don’t have bullet-proof jackets, sniffer-dogs, or explosive detection equipment. The police do not have equipment for communication intercepts, which is critical for tracking both criminals and terrorists and homing in on a potential suicide attacker. The ability to track mobile phone calls alone helps tremendously in tracking down criminal and terror networks.

Given the level of communication and competition amongst various government agencies, the police remain uncertain of the cooperation provided by various intelligence agencies. The fact that terrorists manage to attack the capital, move around with large amounts of explosive material and even sneak inside GHQ and the adjoining areas indicates a breakdown of intelligence. Parliament would benefit by probing the issue of the dearth of actionable intelligence. The police and ordinary citizens face the consequences of the failure of actionable intelligence. Better intelligence would also help sort out the problem of multiple pickets in Islamabad or other cities which are meant mainly to impede the movement of a potential terrorist towards a high-value target. But the cost is borne by ordinary people who are frustrated due to long queues.

The judicial system does not help either in cleaning up the current mess. The fact that there are today 13,000 criminal cases pending in the lower courts in Islamabad speaks volumes about the slackness of the judicial system. This is not just the case in the capital but throughout the country. It is a major burden on law-enforcement if criminals and terrorists continue to walk free due to the slackness of the judicial system. The case of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Malik Ishaq getting acquitted by the courts from cases in which he was accused of committing over 80 murders is a prime example of the sorry state of affairs.

Not to mention the fact that the top brass of the police — unlike that of the intelligence agencies or other official outfits — also has to deal with the consequences of proactive higher courts and present themselves before the various parliamentary committees almost on a daily basis. While it is good to hold the police accountable, it also raises the issue of cutting into time which could be spent on improving security.

We know that we do not have the ideal police force. But due encouragement and appreciation of what the law-enforcers face could add to better security.

The writer is an independent strategic and political analyst.

ayesha.ibd@gmail.com

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Zardari responsible for corruption in Pakistan?

In the following op-ed, Nazir Najis argues that it is not politicians but the civil and military establishment which is the biggest thief in Pakistan.

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Goebbels eleven, minus-one brigade and Nawaz Sharif

Here are three columns on this topic: The first one is by Ayaz Amir (a PML-N MNA) who terms the minus-one brigade (Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi, Shaheen Sehabi etc) as media galdiators. The second column is by Asadullah Ghalib in defence of democracy (President Asif Zardari and Opposition Leader Nawaz Sharif), and in defiance of the anti-democracy and pro-Taliban agenda of the Mullah Media Alliance also known as Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists. Finally, the third column is by Abbas Ather who highlights the frustration of Goebbels Eleven because of Nawaz Sharif's refusal to be a part of the Establishment's game against democracy.

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The charge of the minus-one brigade

Friday, November 20, 2009
Ayaz Amir

A week is indeed a long time in politics. Just last week the get-Zardari campaign was in full swing. Media gladiators — now very much the media’s vanguard — and assorted weather prophets were convinced (they had certainly convinced themselves) that he had to go. Indeed, that his departure was inevitable. They only differed about the timing.

Their first self-imposed deadline was September. When that passed — President Zardari, spending most of that month on a never-ending series of foreign visits — the deadline shifted to October. Then it was November, then December, some optimists being so specific as to propose Dec 7 as D-Day. But just in a few days all this feverish speculation, some of it accompanied by near-foaming at the mouth, has suddenly died down, all because of two developments:

(1) The note of defiance struck by Zardari at a meeting of the PPP Central Executive at which he declared that no matter what his enemies said, the PPP would not succumb to pressure and would continue its “forward march”; and

(2) Nawaz Sharif’s clear affirmation, leaving nothing to doubt, that if there were any threats to the democratic system he would stand in the way.

Nothing has fundamentally changed. We could do with a more effective government at the centre, and it would be in everyone’s interests if fewer skeletons rattled in Mr Zardari’s many cupboards. But the dark clouds massed on the horizon have receded, revealing an open sky.

And media gladiators have gone silent. Which doesn’t mean their gloomy prognostications will cease: that’s hoping for too much. But having received a rude shock in the form of the two aforementioned developments, it will be some time before they can work up vitriolic anger to the levels we saw in recent days.

True, they can no more abide Zardari now than they did before. But their hopes have been dashed and before the outline of things becomes clearer, perforce they have to rein in their enthusiasm.

The PPP’s defiance has played its part in this process. But the man of the hour is Nawaz Sharif, whose clear stance against any extra-constitutional move has been the decisive factor in halting the headlong charge of the minus-one brigade.

Once upon a time his detractors — of whom there was never a shortage — dubbed him as the quintessential man of confrontation. And to think that now he is the principal bulwark of the present democratic order. Which I suppose only goes to show the extent to which his political outlook has matured.

Zardari alone would be vulnerable — was vulnerable — to the array of forces ranged against him. Much as he and his camp may hate the thought, it is Nawaz Sharif who is holding him up — not, it goes without saying, for Zardari’s person but for democracy’s sake. Having gone through the mill and learning from bitter experience, Nawaz Sharif, more than most politicians, is not only aware but feels it in his bones that once extra-constitutional moves are afoot there is no knowing how and where they will end.

Minus-one, then, remains confined to not one number but acquires wider and wider dimensions. So it has been always in our history, not once but four times, each successive intervention leaving behind a richer crop of disaster than the one before. Why should it be any different this time?

But we remain slow learners. Even though the memory of Musharraf remains alive and fresh, here we were seeing a fresh army of enthusiasts hoping for some kind of miracle that, in their eyes, would cleanse the presidential stables. How precisely this was to be achieved they weren’t quite sure, but they were convinced that it would somehow happen.

Would Triple One Brigade move? No, no, that wasn’t an option. So what, then? Oh, bereft of all support, Zardari just couldn’t go on. His position was untenable. It was in his best interest if he stepped down himself; otherwise, he would be made to quit. But how? Oh, it would happen. This was mumbo-jumbo, more an articulation of belief and faith than any attempt at political analysis.

But it had Islamabad in its grip even if there was something completely surrealistic about these angry mutterings. The party was solidly behind Zardari, all too aware that even if his name was mired in controversy, as the keeper of the Bhutto flame he was the unlikely cement holding the party together. It was all calm and peaceful in the National Assembly, with not the slightest hint of discord. So, coming down to the technicalities of it, how would the get-Zardari operation proceed?

One expected scenario, of course, was that the NRO would be the bomb to explode in Zardari’s face. But sensing the mood in the National Assembly — which would have erupted in revolt if there had been an attempt to force the law down its throat — the Presidency, for once, acted sensibly, choosing discretion over valour and withdrawing the bill. This had a double effect. It rescued Zardari from the pit into which he was walking and it seriously confounded his enemies, who were hoping he would hang himself with this rope.

In a sense, therefore, if the tabling of the NRO in the National Assembly was the high watermark of Zardari’s troubles, the decision to withdraw it — under pressure, let us not forget — may be the starting point from where the pressure on him begins to ease. We shouldn’t find this mystifying. Zardari’s fortunes had hit rock bottom. From there the only way forward was up.

I think the political class as a whole and the media need to go through a refresher course in politics after the debacle of the minus-one brigade. Do we believe in democracy or not? If we do, we must abide by democracy’s rules. Zardari is elected president of the Republic and if his transgressions are so great that they are considered a threat to the country, there is a procedure under the Constitution for presidential impeachment.

That is the only choice anyone has, and if there are objections to it, then the only alternatives are: (1) the Iskander Mirza formula, whereby a group of generals, pistols in holsters, tramp up to the Presidency and demand and obtain Zardari’s resignation; or (2) the march of the Triple One Brigade. In either event we will end up with another general on horseback riding the nation’s back. Haven’t we had enough of such experiments? Have we forgotten Musharraf so soon and the disasters he brought in his train?

The Republicans hated Clinton and tried to impeach him. When the numbers in Congress did not support them they had no choice but to put aside their hatchets. If Zardari is impeachable — meaning that Parliament turns against him — that’s another matter. Barring that, time and history should take their course.

But the nation won’t survive Zardari, anguished voices proclaim. Please, let us have done with this self-serving argument used time and again to justify coups and adventurism.

When Bhutto was in power, the rightwing parties up in arms against him said the same thing. Bhutto for them was evil personified and his elimination — not just political but physical — they considered more pressing than the survival of democracy. The same argument was deployed by Ghulam Ishaq Khan, first against Benazir Bhutto in 1990, then Nawaz Sharif in 1993. Farooq Leghari invoked it against Benazir Bhutto in 1996, Musharraf against Nawaz Sharif in 1999. High time we overcame this passion for listening to the same old broken records.

Which doesn’t mean things shouldn’t change. Zardari would be doing everyone a favour — it would also be in his enlightened self-interest — if he learnt to check his horses and exercise some control over his itching fingers. If the nation is to regard him with patience — and this will test all the nation’s fortitude — he should also learn to show some consideration to the nation’s feelings.

There are enough skeletons in his cupboard. Having risen to the Presidency — a dizzying ascent not even Macbeth’s witches could have foretold — there’s no need why he should be adding to this collection.

Email: winlust@yahoo.com (The News)

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A PSF perspective on Pakistani politics

POSTED BY: JARRI MIRZA
GUEST BLOG :AHSAN ABBAS SHAH (A PSF LAHORE ACTIVIST)

Who are the Talib-e-Ilm and who are the Taliban of Pakistani politics?

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Kidhray naan paindiyan dassaan: In memory of Faiz Ahmed Faiz

vs

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (February 13, 1911-November 20, 1984)

Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

The poem Meray dil meray musafir ("My heart, my traveller") was written in 1977 when Faiz left Pakistan after the overthrow of Bhutto. He was to stay in exile for many years. The poem Kya Karain ("What should we do") was written when Faiz was in Beirut, where he missed his friends and family terribly. He was in distress about the repressive rule of Zia-ul-Haq. This poem, which I have in Faiz's hand, was written at the end of a letter he sent me from Beirut to Vienna: Meri teri nigha mein/jo laakh intizar hain ("Countless yearnings/ Petrified/In your eyes and mine"). Faiz was still in exile when Bhutto was executed, plunging him in grief. Faiz was a man of few words but when he was mourning, he would become very, very quiet, something I witnessed myself when I told him in London that his beloved teacher and friend Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabussum had died in Lahore.

The ghazal he wrote over Bhutto's death contains the verse: Aabad kar kai sheher-e-khamoshaan hur aik soo; Kis khoj mein hai tegh-e-sitmgar laggi hui ("In every direction, there now lies the city of silence/So who does the sword of the oppressor seek now?"). Another of Faiz's celebrated couplets was written during Zia's dark rule: Challo aao tum ko dikhayain hum jo bachha hai maqtil-e-sheher mein/Ye mazar ahl-e-safa kai hain ye hain ahl-e-sidq ki turbatain ("Let me show you what has survived in the murder yard of the city/Here lie those who were pure of heart and there are the graves of the truthful ones").

But I would like to end this with one of the most beautiful love poems that can be said to exist in any language. Agha Nasir, quoting the late Dr Aftab Ahmed Khan, a close Faiz friend, also lifts the veil on the one who inspired the poem. It was a woman Faiz was smitten with in his youth and years later, when she was married and living in Karachi, Faiz went to see her. This poem immortalises that meeting with all its longing and sadness. It begins " Gulshan-e-yaad mein gar aaj dum-e-baad-e-saba. " This is how I translated it: "If the breeze wants to blow today in the garden of memories/If it wants the flowers to bloom again, let it do so/The pain that lies in a forgotten corner of days past/If it wants to rise again, let it do so."

We who have lived in the times of Faiz should forever be grateful for that privilege.
(Khalid Hasan, Friday Times, 12 Sep 2008)

Faiz is and remains the most outstanding Urdu poet of the second half of the last century. During the last few years of his life, however, he wrote some Punjabi poetry as well which can be found in his last two books namely Shaam-e-Shehryaraan and Mairay Dil Mairay Musaafir. The following is one of his most famous Punjabi poems, which is the lamentation of a beloved for her lover who had become a prisoner of war in India:

Kidhray naan paindiyan dassaan
Pardesia vay tairian

(I don't hear anything about you
My lover, living far away)

These very simple lines reflect the agony and suffering of the Punjabi woman in the most effective words possible.

Shaam udikaan, fajarudikaan
Aakhain tay sari umar udikaan
Ahand gawandi deevay balday
Rabba sada chanan ghalday
Jug vasda ay main vi vassaan

(I am waiting in the evenings and mornings
If you so desire I can wait the whole of my life
There are lights everywhere in the neighborhood
O God, Send my light also
The whole world is living and I might also live)
(Source)

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Where are all the KLB bashers?

Ibrahim Sajid Malick

Do you wonder why have the Pakistani pundits stopped complaining about imperialist tyranny and exposing the onerous conditions of Kerry-Lugar Bill? Why all of a sudden KLB is a non-issue? I was curious and I spend last several days in Washington DC trying to understand how Obama administration managed the PR fiasco.

Conversations with several insiders and subject matter experts point to a set of meetings on October 19^th in Islamabad. General David Petraeus and US Senator John Kerry reached Islamabad on Sunday (October 18^th). It was reported in local media that the meetings were about Waziristan operations but in reality talks with top Pakistani General were limited to the $7.5 billion dollar aid package. “They wanted to understand how this aid package violates Pakistan’s sovereignty. And, they wanted to hear it from the horses mouth,” said a diplomatic source.

Gen. Patreause and Sen. Kerry were sent to Pakistan after US President Barack Obama signed a record 7.5 billion dollar package tripling non-military aid to the nuclear-armed Muslim nation to boost its campaign against a virulent Islamist insurgency. Although the Zaradari government defended the package, Pakistan’s powerful military sparked a domestic showdown, expressing grave reservations about conditions that hinge some of the funds on efforts to battle Islamist extremism. The bill prevents the funding from being used for nuclear proliferation, to support militants or to attack neighboring countries — namely India — and calls for a cut-off in aid if Pakistan fails to crack down on extremists.

United States Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus and Chairman Senate Foreign Affairs committee Senator John Kerry on Monday October 19^th held separate meetings with the Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashraf Kayani and the outcome of those meetings were an immediate yanking of the anti-KLB campaign from Pakistani private TV channels. When Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus went to the GHQ he categorically told Gen Kayani to halt anti-KLB campaign. “Gen. Kayani was told in absolutely clear terms that the Obama administration will not tolerate another Honduras,” said a source very close to this conversation.

It is interesting that three of my sources mentioned Honduras while talking about the possible outcome of anti-KLB campaign in Pakistan.

On June 28th Honduran soldiers roused democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya from his bed at gunpoint and flew him to Costa Rica. The coup d’etat was the first in Central America in over a quarter century. The coup, led by the Honduran Gen. Romeo Vasquez, was condemned by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and all of Honduras’ immediate national neighbors.

The Obama administration initially did not legally classify Zelaya’s ouster as a coup, which would automatically trigger a suspension of aid. However the administration subsequently suspended military cooperation with the country. Honduran controversy has been extremely embarrassing for the Obama administration which had come to power on the rhetoric that America should seize supporting tyrants and military dictators.

In Pakistan, Zardari administration was portrayed by the media as too deferential to the United States. Pakistani journalists who unconditionally support their Army started the campaign against KLB and coalesced anti-Western politicians, and Muslim fundamentalists — implausibly claiming that Pakistan’s sovereignty was undermined and the country could end up as a U.S. neo-colony. Some of it is untrue!

To begin with, Pakistan has been an American neo-colony for last six decades and most of that time it was under a military dictorship. And, most importantly Pakistan has been an American satellite state because of it’s army. Pakistan’s military operates on the U.S. financial and technological assistance and it will receive even more support in the near future as it targets Taliban strongholds. Therefore conditions placed by the U.S. Congress on $7.5 billion in economic aid to Pakistan over the next five years should not have been of major consequence to Pakistani generals.

Sen. Kerry brought the carrot while Gen. Patreus had the stick. Gen. Kayani was assured that his military will get monies and equipment that he has asked for but if he pulled a fast one, the Obama administration would at once severe its ties with Pakistan army.

Sen. Kerry’s meeting was held earlier in the day and Gen. Patreaus arrived at the GHQ in the afternoon. General Kayani counseled his peers and advisors and by the end of October 19^th and it was decided that Kerry-Lugar Bill will not be publicly condemned. Five Pakistani journalists were contacted the very same night and told not beat the dead horse.

It is undoubtedly true that Pakistani government is too deferential to the Americans. Not that I condone it but this is not new. Bone of contention here was the ‘non-military’ aid. This aid package was historic because it earmarked monies for health, education, infrastructure and civil society. Pakistan army felt left-out. Although Pakistan army has backed out of KLB but democratic government is still hanging on the balance. NRO, food security, energy crisis all loom over Zardari’s head.

Pakistani media is packed with stories of corruption – same TV anchors who had become Hugo Chavez of Pakistan on army’s behest opposing Kerry-Lugar bill have now launched vociferous campaign against Zaradri government exposing corruption of ruling politicians. Not a single anchor has ever asked what happened to corrupt Generals. Why are corrupt army officials beyond criticism?

From trafficking heroin to grabbing precious land; from taking kick-back on purchase of equipment (sub-marines included) Pakistan army has looted everything we have ever had. Why then, I wonder, Pakistanis only discuss civilian corruption? Managing PR fiasco was easy for the Obama administration. They had to remind the source of opposition of an old proverb: you can’t bite the hand that feeds you. Pakistani Generals understood and complied.

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Laal's meeting in Islamabad: War against the Taliban terrorists

LAAL BRIGADE MEETING IN ISLAMABAD

Dear comrades and friends,

Laal Salaam!

Pakistan has been rocked by a spate of terrorist activities in the past few months.The Taliban have spared no one, suicide bombers have hit the Bazar's and the educational institutes, killing hundreds of children and women. The heinous and cowardly suicide attack at Islamic University was aimed at the student body in Pakistan.It is high time that the students and the youth of Pakistan unite against these fundamentalists.

The Laal Brigade stands for peace at this critical juncture of our history and will actively try to achieve this goal.Every person who stands for peace is invited to this meeting. The meeting will be conducted by Shahram Azhar.

The agenda of the meeting will be the following:
--The war against the Taliban
--How the students and youth of Pakistan can positively contribute to ensure lasting peace in Pakistan

The meeting of the Laal Brigade will take place this Saturday at 5 pm. The venue for the meeting will be:

OLIVE GARDENS,
Near Gellatto Affair,
Gol Market,
F-7/3,
Islamabad.
TIMINGS:- 5:00 p.m onwards.

Down with the Taliban!!!
PEACE AT ALL COSTS!!!!

Comradely,
Sikandar

For details contact
Badeel : 03075512970
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Fazail-e-martial law wa khabais-e-jamhooriat

Here is a column by the unofficial spokesperson of the Ziaist (military) establishment in Pakistan, Haroon-ur-Rasheed in defence of the military establishment and against democracy. Mr Haroon-ur-Rasheed has in the past written an official history of Islam, titled 'Fateh', a biography of General Akhtar Abdur Rehman.

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Why are Taliban attacking innocent civilians in Pakistan?

Suicide attack in Peshawar leaves at least 19 dead
By Ismail Khan (Dawn)
Thursday, 19 Nov, 2009

PESHAWAR: At least 19 people were killed and 50 wounded when a suicide bomber struck the district judicial complex on Thursday morning, city administration officials and doctors said.

'The bomber was on foot and tried to get into the Judicial Complex through its main entry gate. He blew himself up, when he was stopped,' deputy coordination officer, Peshawar, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis said.

A doctor at the city’s main Lady Reading Hospital put the death toll at seventeen. Amongst those killed were the three policemen who tried to stop the bomber from getting in, Anis said.

Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province, has borne the major brunt of terrorist attacks since the deadly bombing in a busy shopping area on October 28 that left 121 people dead.

Chief Minister NWFP, Ameer Haider Khan vowed to continue the fight against terrorism but warned that Thursday's bombing would not be the last one.

'This is not going to be the last bombing,' Mr. Hoti warned.

A senior minister in his cabinet said the government would not succumb to pressure from militants' bombings and would not negotiate with them.

'We will not negotiate with these animals,' Bashir Ahmad Bilour said.

A total of 185 people have died in terrorist attacks since then including the latest bombing at the Judicial Complex.

Analysis

By Abdul Nishapuri

In Pakistan, Taliban seem to be implementing what they have been long practising in Afghanistan. i.e. the broader Taliban strategy of killing and harassing ordinary civilians.

Amnesty International spokeswoman Saria Rees-Roberts told RFE/RL that the tactic is part of a wider strategy -- the systematic targeting of Afghan civilians by the Taliban.

"These reports are very concerning, and they link up with what we have observed," Rees-Robers said. "The Taliban is using practices like abductions and killings in order to exert fear and exert control over the local population.

Here is a most recent analysis of the Taliban strategy in Pakistan by Abdul Haye Kakar of BBC Urdu dot com.

عسکریت پسند دو حکمت عملیوں پر عمل پیرا

عبدالحئی کاکڑ

بی بی سی اردوڈاٹ کام، کراچی

شہریوں کو اس لیے ٹارگٹ کیا جارہا ہے تاکہ عوام کی رائے پر کھڑی جمہوری حکومت پر دباؤ بڑھایا جاسکے

صوبہ سرحد بالخصوص پشاور میں کسی زمانے میں دو دھماکوں کے درمیان عموماً ایک ہفتے کا وقفہ ہوا کرتا تھا یعنی صرف جمعہ کو لوگ دھماکے کا خدشہ ظاہر کرتے تھے مگر اب اگر کسی دن دھماکہ نہ ہو تو لوگوں کو اگلا دھماکہ ہونے کا ڈر لگا رہتا ہے۔

گزشتہ گیارہ دنوں میں آٹھ دھماکے ہوئے ہیں جس میں ایک سو تیس سے زیادہ افراد ہلاک ہوچکے ہیں۔جوں جوں پاکستانی فوج جنوبی وزیرستان میں طالبان سے علاقہ حاصل کررہی ہے ویسے ویسے شہروں میں پرتشدد کارروائیاں بڑھتی نظر آرہی ہیں۔

طالبان جنوبی وزیرستان سے نکل کر خیبر، اورکزئی، کُرم ایجنسی ، بکاخیل بنوں، شمالی وزیرستان پہنچ چکے ہیں تاہم با اعتماد حکومتی اور طالبان ذرائع کے مطابق انہوں نے پشاور کے تین اطراف میں بھی ڈیرہ ڈال رکھا ہے جس کی وجہ یہ ہے کہ شہر تک فاصلہ کم ہونے کی وجہ سے وہ ہدف کا انتخاب کرنے اور اس تک پہنچنے میں قدرے آسانی محسوس کرتے ہیں۔

پچھلی اور حالیہ فوجی کارروائی میں ایک بڑا فرق یہ ہے کہ جنرل ریٹائرڈ مشرف کے دورِ حکومت میں زیادہ تر حملوں میں حکومتی مقامات اور سکیورٹی فورسز کو نشانہ بنانے کی کوشش کی جاتی رہی البتہ اس بار عسکریت پسند بیک وقت دو حکمت عملیوں پر عمل پیرا ہیں۔ ایک تو وہ ماضی کی طرح سکیورٹی فورسز اور سرکاری املاک کو نشانہ بنا رہے ہیں لیکن اس بار شہریوں کو بھی خصوصی طور پر نشانہ بنانے کی کوشش کی جارہی ہے۔

طالبان اور ان کے غیر ملکی جنگجوؤں کی نظر میں شہری بے گناہ نہیں ہیں اور ان کی خاموشی انہیں’منافقین‘ کے خانے میں ڈال رہی ہے لہٰذا ان کی سخت گیر سوچ کے مطابق ’منافقین‘ کو مارنا گناہ نہیں بلکہ الٹا ’ثواب‘ کے زمرے میں آتا ہے۔

طالبان کے اندرونی حلقوں سے حاصل ہونے والی معلومات کے مطابق شہریوں کو اس لیے ٹارگٹ کیا جا رہا ہے تاکہ عوام کی رائے پر کھڑی جمہوری حکومت پر دباؤ بڑھایا جاسکے۔ ان کی نظر میں عوام اس لیے بھی قصور وار ہیں کہ وہ فوجی کارروائی پر کیوں خاموش تماشائی بیھٹے ہوئے ہیں اور انہیں اپنے منتخب نمائندوں کو اس بات پر مجبور کرنا چاہیئے کہ وہ طالبان کے ساتھ مذاکرات کرکے مسئلے کو ایک بار پھر معاہدے کے ذریعے حل کروایا جائے۔

طالبان اور ان کے غیر ملکی جنگجوؤں کی نظر میں شہری بے گناہ نہیں ہیں اور ان کی خاموشی انہیں’منافقین‘ کے خانے میں ڈال رہی ہے لہٰذا ان کی سخت گیر سوچ کے مطابق ’منافقین‘ کو مارنا گناہ نہیں بلکہ الٹا ’ثواب‘ کے زمرے میں آتا ہے۔

اس سے قطع نظر کہ شہریوں کو نشانہ بنانے سے طالبان کو کوئی فائدہ ہوتا ہے یا نہیں لیکن اس کا ایک فائدہ پاکستان میں حکومت مخالف سیاسی جماعتوں اور قوتوں کو بھی بظاہر پہنچ رہا ہے کیونکہ عوام کو یہ باور کرایا جارہا ہے کہ حکومت ان کے تحفظ میں ناکام ہوچکی ہے۔

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People's Republic of Pakistan?

vs

By Abdul Nishapuri

According to the vision of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan was to be country in which everyone including Muslims and non-Muslims would be free to exercise their beliefs and practices and where the state had nothing to do with any one's religious beliefs.

In his presidential address to the first constituent assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, Jinnah said:

"I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and independence and but for this we would have been free people long long ago. No power can hold another nation, and specially a nation of 400 million souls in subjection; nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody could have continued its hold on you for any length of time, but for this. Therefore, we must learn a lesson from this. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State." Source

The founder of Pakistan, Jinnah and later his successor, Liaqat Ali Khan, were sincere to the cause of a progressive Pakistan free of religious theocratic elements. Thus, they did not resort to exploiting the name of Islam for short-termed political expediency. From 1947 until 1956, the official title of the country was "Pakistan".

It was only in the era of civil and military dictatorship in Pakistan, when a dictator Major General Iskandar Mirza, helped by General Ayub Khan, proclaimed Pakistan as an Islamic Republic in the 1956 constitution. That was the official proclamation and institutionalization of the Mullah-Military Alliance in Pakistan.

vs

While it is a fact that Pakistan is a Muslim majority country, it is not an Islamic country because it is not governed by Islamic sharia. The reason is quite obvious; there are numerous schools of thought and sects in Islam. In Pakistan, Muslims are divided into Barelvi, Deobandi, Shia, Ahl-e-Hadith and other numerous groups. All of these groups and sub-groups have different interpretations in terms of principles and practices of Islamic sharia. Also, many Pakistanis do not want to be governed by theocracy or Mullahs.

Therefore, it will be well advised that Pakistan should dissociate itself from the Talibanic legacy of the first military dictatorship in Pakistan, and instead of its official title "Islamic Republic of Pakistan", it must adopt "Pakistan" as its name. This step will be consistent with the vision and the legacy of Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan.

From Islamic to Peoples Republic of Pakistan?

ISLAMABAD (The Nation) – Awami National Party (ANP) during the deliberations of Parliamentary Reforms Committee had proposed to change the name of Islamic Republic of Pakistan as Peoples Republic of Pakistan, while Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supported the move, the sources close to these political parties disclosed to The Nation.

The idea was, however, dropped due to strong opposition from the rest of the members of the committee, the sources added.

MQM Deputy Convener and Federal Minister Dr. Farooq Sattar confirmed it to the media in an informal chat on Wednesday and said that MQM along with PPP members of the committee supported the idea of renaming Islamic Republic of Pakistan as Peoples Republic of Pakistan.

On the other hand, ANP member of the committee Haji Adeel denied having proposed the name of Peoples Republic of Pakistan to replace Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, some members of the committee on condition of anonymity confirmed it to TheNation that ANP had proposed the said change in the name of the country and MQM and PPP members had supported it.

During chat with media, Dr. Farooq Sattar also proposed making Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of the country and its chief minister should also be included in the National Finance Commission (NFC). The government should take appropriate steps in this regard to remove the constitutional and international hurdles, he added. He said if the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms would finish with its deliberation on provincial autonomy by mid of December, they would be in a position to give the nation a new year’s gift in the shape of constitutional reforms package.

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From Zion Hamid to Wali Azmat to Insaaf-e-Khan: The Pakistani extras of conspiracy theory

Extra! Extra!
By Nadeem F. Paracha

19 November 2009

Islamabad, November 18: Famous anti-India TV personality, Zion Hamid, was caught yesterday watching Shakuntali, a popular Indian TV soap opera. The discovery was made by one of his fans who Hamid thought was his milkman.

When Hamid opened his door, the fan heard and saw the TV in the background where episode No. 5, 904 of Shakuntali was running. Talking to this reporter, the fan said that he first thought it was a conspiracy, but after noticing the genuine red cap of Hamid, he was astonished.

Shaken, the fan, 23-year-old Abdul Karim, said: ‘I couldn’t believe it! What would Muhammad Bin Qasim think when he gets to hear about this?’

When told by this reporter that Qasim died hundreds of years ago, the fan accused him and his newspaper for working for Blackwater.

‘What you think you fool Mossad, CIA, Raw agent Qasim alive in our minds, hearts and lungs so oh you shut up!’ he added.

Talking to the media after the episode, Hamid accepted that he sometimes watches Indian soaps and that even though he is of the opinion that Hindus are paleed (dirty), there is no harm in watching them on TV because they can’t touch you and can’t cast their shadow over you.

He added that he also watches Indian soaps to decode the hidden plots of the Hindus to destroy Pakistan and Islam.

‘It was by decoding the dialogue of one such Indian TV soap that I was able to discover that the Mumbai attacks were actually planned and executed by Raw and Mossad,’ he explained.

He also said that he predicted the 9/11 attacks as a Zionist conspiracy back in 1996 by watching Dil Walay Dullaniya Lay Jain Gey on his VCD player over and over again.

‘It’s all there,’ he claimed. ‘And the songs aren’t all that bad either.’

Hamid was surrounded by a vocal group of fans at the press conference.

One Barkat Ali told the reporters: ‘What this happening? Attacking great man Zion, oh so brilliant genius zindabad, zindabad you kafir Western conspiracy US agent traitors fool, fool, fool!’

Another, Sharmeen Khan, a 25-year-old university student added: ‘What this nonsense of democracy because it only Hindu, American, Zionist, Papua New Guinnean plot to destroy beloved Pakistian zindabad, zindabad, zindabad!’

Kamran Ghani, a seven-month-old toddler also addressed the press conference. He said, ‘Goo goo gagagaga goo goo … burp!’

The fans then lifted Hamid on their shoulders and carried him to a nearby McDonald’s outlet where they all chanted slogans like ‘Amreeka ki ghulami namazoor’ over a couple of Big Macs, large Cokes and a romantic song sung by Wali Azmat called, ‘I hate Jews Yea, Yea, Yea,’ a song from Azmat’s forthcoming album, ‘Zionists ate my Homework.’

The album is dedicated to all the Taliban who died in American drone attacks. When asked why didn’t he also dedicate the album to all those who’ve died from Taliban’s suicide attacks, Azmat said, that there were no suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan and that all those people we see slaughtered and dismembered on our TV screens actually died from dengue fever. When asked how he can prove this, he said that one should watch the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

‘It’s all there,’ he claimed. ‘And the chicks aren’t all that bad either.’

Meanwhile in Lahore, Tehrik-e-Imran chief, Insaaf-e-Khan lauded Zion Hamid’s efforts for decoding vital truths about Hindu conspiracies from Indian soap operas.

Talking to a group of rabid rightwing columnists at his residence, the great Khan said that Pakistan was in great danger from all kinds of plots being hatched by its enemies, especially Asif Zardari Bhutto Zardari Bhutto, Bilawal Zardari Bhutto Zardari, and the ghost of late Benazir Bhutto.

‘This government is sucking the blood of poor Pakistanis,’ he told the rabid rightwing communists all of whom then started to sing the national anthem in unison.

‘This government has sold Pakistan’s strategic and political interests to America!’ Khan added, to which the rabid rightwing columnists started burning George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s effigies.

Praising the columnists’ bravery, Khan promised them to meet again after he returned from New York where he will undergo a cheekbone operation.

The columnists informed him that they too will be in New York for sightseeing, except for one, who got up and started burning Henry Truman’s effigy. He was the one who failed to secure an American visa.

Khan termed this to be racial discrimination and a CIA conspiracy.

Later in the day, the issue was discussed on a famous TV talk show on a local news channel.

Participating in the show were the incensed columnist, a rabid rightwing reporter, a PPP Minster, and a woman in a burqa.

‘This is an outrage!’ said the reporter. ‘Blackwater is behind this,’ he announced.

When asked how he knew, he picked up a Class One children’s nursery rhymes book and claimed: ‘It’s all here. And the rhymes aren’t all that bad either.’

The PPP Minister, Rehman Malika Zardari Bhutto Zardari, promised that his government will look into the issue, to which the reporter landed a swift punch on Malika’s face.

When Malika’s bodyguards tried to stop the reporter, the talk show’s host accused the government of curbing the freedom of the press.

‘This is an outrage!’ he said. ‘I implore the Army to intervene, overthrow this incompetent government and impose martial law!’

Mr. Malika apologised and started to land punches on his own face saying that the government too believed in the freedom of the press.

This made the reporter very happy who asked Malika to raid book stores and confiscate all secular literature because solutions to Pakistan’s problems lie in jihadi literature.

‘It’s all there!’ he claimed. ‘And the topics aren’t all that bad either.’

Turning to the woman in a burqa, the show’s host asked if she agreed.

‘The real problem lies in women wearing jeans,’ she said.

The host asked her to elaborate, to which she said: ‘The real problem is in women wearing jeans.’

‘Yes, but can you please elaborate?’ asked the host.

‘The real problem lies in women wearing jeans!’ she said again.

‘Please elaborate,’ the host insisted.

‘But that’s all I was asked to say,’ she said.

‘By whom?’ inquired the host.

‘By you!’ she said.

‘This is an outrage!’ said Mr. Malika, and in response, the host punched him and proceeded to burn an American flag. He burned half of it and announced that the other half will be burnt later because he had to catch a flight.

‘To where?’ asked Mr. Malika.

‘California,’ said the host. ‘I have to attend my son’s graduation ceremony.’

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com.
http://blog.dawn.com/2009/11/19/extra-extra/
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The Zionist prism of Zaid Hamid and Ahmed Quraishi

It's the stupidity, stupid

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Zafar Khalid Farooq

Whilst it is common to hear, or read, the unenlightened ramblings of various 'experts' in the media these days, it's strange to find examples of anti-intellectualism in a bookshop. One would hope that these establishments would attract people interested in expanding their minds and developing critical thinking. But, not so in Pakistan.

I was in Liberty Books when I spied a comment card nestling inside the Perspex comment box. The angry opinion read as follows: "'Mother of God' by Miri Rubin. I don't think that this book should be sold or displayed in a prestigious store like yours. You have a social responsibility."

Yes, they do have a social (and financial) responsibility to sell books. What could be so odious about this book that it could produce such an angry tirade, I wondered? So I did what any normal person would do, I immediately asked for a copy of the book. Sadly, it had sold out. However, a quick Google search showed that this book was a history of the perceptions of Mary, mother of Jesus, in European societies from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, and how these perceptions varied from country to country. Different countries used the role of Mary in differing ways to make sense of a range of human experience -- virginity, motherhood, family life, poverty and humility. What aspects these societies focused on in their representation of Mary, in turn, reflected the broader concerns of that society.

It sounded like a serious and interesting work. So what could have caused someone to question the book store's social responsibility for carrying it? In fact, wasn't it being socially responsible by offering this book for public consumption? Then it struck me. It was the title: Mother of God. That had been the objection. They had simply disliked the association of mother with God. Now you and I may not believe that Mary was the mother of God, and probably the Jewish sounding author, Miri Rubin, doesn't believe she is either, but that's not the point. This was a serious historical study of the continuing evolution of Mary in those Christian societies where they consider her the mother of God.

Would it be fair for a western bookshop to ban a biography on the Prophet (PBUH) called The Last Prophet? Of course not. Muslims would be rightly angry. So too would many non-Muslims be upset, for they would be interested in a scholarly work on the Prophet (PBUH). So why do we Muslims demand tolerance and plurality of beliefs when it comes to the west, but become intolerant when it comes to our societies?

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise to see this reaction in a bookshop. After all, we are a nation that kowtows to the ignorant and plain stupid. Yes, let's revel in our ignorance. We are a nation where our city centres are inundated with jewelry and clothes shops, but lack a single decent Urdu bookshop. We are a nation whose middle class, although in possession of a disposable income, will only have one book in their house -- and that too on a very high shelf, and often unread. Bigotry prospers over intellectual rigour, innuendo over fact, and conspiracy theory over credible reporting.

After all we have become a nation where a national newspaper can endanger the life of a Wall Street Journal journalist, Matthew Rosenberg, by claiming that he is an Israeli agent, an American agent, and a contractor for Blackwater. Either he is a busy man, or this is bunkum. The report in the newspaper provided no credible sources.

We are a nation that unquestionably swallows the unsubstantiated rants of Zaid Hamid, Ahmed Quraishi and their ilk. Zaid Hamid sees the world through a Zionist prism, while I advise you to check out ahmedquraishi.com to check out the quality of his 'photo journalism'.

We are a nation where pop stars like Ali Azmat believe that "we know for a fact that all this turbulation (not a world, Ali) in Pakistan it's not us, but outside hand" and who says that the Taliban is not responsible for blowing up 200 girls schools, but it's the work of an unidentified foreign hand. Show me the evidence, Ali? Where are the 'facts' you talk about?

Ironically, it is these very people who hark back the loudest, and bemoan the most, the loss of the Islamic world's glory days -- when Muslims were pioneers at the forefront of scientific, architectural, astronomical, and mathematical advances in the world. But you only can be pioneers when using knowledge, reason, logic and a factually supporting argument. The Taj Mahal was not built on a conspiracy theory or by obtaining a forged website doctoral degree. Yet, we listen to and follow the stupid?

Please note, I am not talking about education here. The stupid are often so called 'educated' people. Nor am I attacking right-wing commentators, per se. There are some who use the supporting evidence to reach a conclusion that could be described as right wing, which is perfectly acceptable. No, I am attacking those who make accusations using the flimsiest evidence, that's if they provide evidence at all, to back their claims. A mere cursory look at the 'proof' and it quickly disintegrates upon inspection. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, indeed.

How's this for a conspiracy theory: Perhaps, the Jews, Americans and Indians are funding all these cranks, right-wing conspiracy theorists, hyper nationalist and loonies that populate the airwaves in Pakistan. By listening to their claptrap and proportioning blame to hidden hands, the Pakistani people remain in perpetual denial about the encroaching problems in their country, therefore causing further erosion of the state. Maybe, THIS IS the evil Zionist, Capitalist, Hindu plot to destroy Pakistan. They are keeping us dumb and stupid. Pappu yaar, have you thought about that?

Email: zkfarooq@gmail.com and www.zafarkhalidfarooq.blogspot.com
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A conspiracy against democracy?

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Posted by: Jarri Mirza
Guest blogger : Ahmed Nadeem Gehla

First published in The News

This is with reference to Charles Ferndale’s article titled “Allowed to be damaged” (November 16). The views expressed by the writer reflect his ignorance with regard to the political system in Pakistan and the Asian region. President Zardari was unanimously elected as co-chairman of the PPP in a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Larkana. Later at the time of his election as president he was once again unanimously nominated as a candidate by the CEC and the Federal Council, the two most powerful decision-making bodies of the PPP.

This is to be remembered that members of these bodies were never selected or handpicked by Mr Zardari. Most of them have been there since the time of Zia’s dictatorship and belong to different parts of the country. He was elected as president of Pakistan with an overwhelming majority from all the four provincial assemblies, the Senate and the National Assembly of Pakistan.

I humbly suggest that the writer should spend sometime studying the social and political culture of South Asia to have a better understanding of political organisations in the region. Here politics is invariably dominated by political successors, be it India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia or Indonesia.

The Pakistani establishment has time and again tried to carve out a PPP which is not Bhutto-centred, but all its efforts failed. Any such attempt in future is going to be another exercise in futility. If one cannot imagine the Nawaz League without the Sharifs, the MQM without Altaf Husain and the Indian Congress without Sonia Gandhi then there is little choice but to accept Mr Zardari as a reality in the PPP.

No doubt Aitzaz Ahsan is a popular and respected figure in the PPP but his popularity inside the party is subject to his faithfulness with the Bhuttos. In the past, Mustafa Khar, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Meraj Mohammad Khan and Farooq Leghari were equally popular but were abandoned by PPP workers the moment they abandoned the Bhuttos. Like it or not, even today the PPP is the only party which represents all federating units – and Mr Zardari is its head.

Ahmad Nadeem Gehla.....

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NRO, Supreme Court and Dr Shahid Masood's Naani

By Qais Anwar

تیری نانی چھالیہ کاٹ رہی ہے

بہت عرصہ ہواہم گھوڑا گلی کے سکاوٹ کیمپ میں کیمپ فا۶ر میں بیٹھے تھے ۔ ساہیوال کےایک سکول کے
لڑکوں نے قوالی کے آمیزے کے ساتھ ایک لطیفہ سنایا ۔ پرانے وقتوں میں دلی کے ایک ر۶یس گھرانے نے
گھر پر قوالی کی محفل کا اہتمام کیا ۔ حسب رواج خواتین ایک باریک پردے کے پیچھے بیٹھی ہو۶ی تھیں۔ قوالی
شروع ہو۶ی۔۔۔۔۔۔ پردے کے پیچھے یہ کیا ہو رہا ہے ۔۔۔ میزبان نے محسوس کیا کہ جب بھی قوال اس مصرعے
پر آتے ہیں تو منہ اس پردے کی طرف کر لیتے ہیں جس کے پیچھے خواتین بیٹھی ہو ۶ی ہیں ۔ بہت بھناءے
دیکھا کہ قوالی عروج کی طرف بڑھ رہی ہے اور قوالوں کی ٹولی لہک لہک کر صرف یہی گاءے جا رہی ہے
پردے کے پیچھے یہ کیا ہو رہا ہے ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ رہا نہ گیا اٹھے اور جاکر پردہ اوپر اٹھا دیا اور بولے دیکھو پردے
کے پیچھے تمہاری نانی چھالیہ کاٹ رہی ہے۔

ہمارے ہاں قوالی آصف زرداری کے الیکشن کے وقت ہی شروع ہو گءی تھی۔ آصف زرداری کے جیتنے کی خبر
انصار عباسی نے اس طرح سناءی کہ الیکشن سے کچھ پہلے آنے والا زلزلہ بھی اسمبلیوں اور سینیٹ کے ارکان
کو نہ بتا سکا کہ آصف زرداری کو ووٹ نہیں دینا چاہہیے ۔ پھر باقاعدہ قوالی شروع ہوءی ۔ شاہین صھباءی صاحب
نے پس پردہ قوتوں کے ارادے بیان کرنا شروع کردیے ۔ پھر جناب شاہد مسعود بھی میدان میں آءے اور کیا ہو رہا
ہے کا الاپ شروع کیا۔ پردے کے پیچھے کیا ہے کی وہ تشریحات کیں کہ خدا پناہ۔ کرپشن؛ ذاتی الزامات؛ این آر او۔۔
سب گا چکے لیکن پردے کے پیچھے کچھ بھی نہ ہوا ۔ اب ساری امیدیں عدالت سے ہیں ۔ ہر ایک سے پوچھتے ہیں
عدالت کیا کر رہی ہے۔ پردے کے پیچھے کیا ہو رہا ہے۔ آخر میں عدالت کے خاص آدمی اعتزاز احسن سے
رہا نہ گیا اوروہ اٹھ کھڑے ہوءے کہ کچھ نہیں پو رہا تمہاری نانی چھالیہ کاٹ رہی ہے۔ ایسے لگتا ہے جیسے مقابلہ
چل نکلا ہے ڈاکٹر صاحب قوالی کرتے جا رہے ہیں پردے کے پیچھے یہ کیا ہو رہا ہے؟ اعتزاز احسن پردہ اٹھا
کر کھڑے ہیں کہے جا رہے ہیں تمہاری نانی چھالیہ کاٹ رہی ہے ۔ آ۶یے آ۶ندہ ہفتے کا انتظار کرتے ہیں کہ کیا
ہوتا ہے ۔ ویسے اب جواب دینے والے بڑھ رہے ہیں اب تو حامد میر اور حسن نثار بھی کہہ رہے ہیں
تمہاری نانی ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔

Dr Shahid Masood - Tayyab Ali Pyar (Democracy) Ka Dushman Hai Hai

Related article: Friends of Taliban planning to pressurize the Supreme Court of Pakistan

Read more...

Transparency, Corruption and Nawaz Sharif

Special interview of Nawaz Sharif with Hamid Mir and Sohail Warraich
Geo TV: 17 November 2009

A column in defence of Nawaz Sharif - by Ataul Haq Qasimi

What do oridnary Pakistanis thinks?
Source: friendskorners; pkpolitics

http://www.siasat.pk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=12687

taffembank said:
nawaz sharif avoiding hamid mir questions,hamid mir tried to ask him 4 times about his factories but he was not answring n talking to suhail warriach,

listen at 6.00 hamid mir was trying to ask him about the mills but nawaz sharif ignored him.

fanstasticman said:
Nawaz reply to Hamid Mir question of setting up a mill in Saudi arabia : "kya bhookay marjatay, bheek mangtay saudia jakar, kuch tu karna tha na"

hahahahaha.

shkanjabeen said:
he didnt answer so many questions.for example,he didnt explain the details of his assets shown to the election commission.

if you put him to a LIE DETECTOR,90% of his discussions are just LIES.
you can see his body language.he gets so uncomfortable while answering.
his political drama is also coming to an end Inshallah.

Graang2 said:

Saala kitna ghareeb ban raha hai...awam ka paisa loot kar saala bhikari banne ki koshish kar raha hai.

thetruepal said:
He is doing better than many politicians and have positively influenced PPP Govt. in many matters including Judges restoration, NRO and reverting Musharaf's constitution amendments. Overall, his approach is positive and constructive but he need to come up with a solid vision and action plan rather than status quo among PPP and Punjab Govt. He needs to show leadership and vision and be more intellectual; he should try eating lots of Almonds everyday in the morning and have head message with warm oil :-). Well, I still respect him because I believe he is sincere with nation and trustworthy politician.


haaji007 said:

buhat halaat kharab hai iss becharay kay.....

"Benazir Income Support Program" say issay bhi kuch milna chahiya

aftab said:
After listening to his conversation in the beginning of the show it came as cross that he did do corruption to make up for the loss of his assets and was hiding something when HM tried to cross question him and NS avoided answering those questions.


Waqar ur Rehman said:
I am supporter of PML N but unfortuanetly NS couldnt satisfay me on the first question asked by Hamid Mir……………he was clean bowled……….

Instance over war on terror and relations with India was also shaky………..no clear cut apporach………

rest interveiw was just ok…………..look like an interview from ordinary man………….

sorry Nawaz sb u disappoint me today……..

Dilsher Nawaz said:
I am not a great supporter of his, and he clearly was evasive. But for a businessman to shelter his taxes under a corporate entities and family foundation is not without reason. He does not pay a lot of personal income tax but probably pays a significant amount of corporate tax.
In any case when it comes to overt corruption any comparison between Zardari and Nawaz is a no contest, Zardari by a gazzilion miles

Masood Ahmad said:
I don’t know why we wish to have angels as our leaders, and we ourselves don’t even stop our cards on red lights.

In such a crisis of morals, i think even people like Nawaz Sharif are good for the country. Well if nothing else, atleast they have courage to stand up to some matters.

I don’t even want to discuss the replacements available …. you know it very well.

So for God’s sake, let somebody be there for the time being, until we grow higher as a nation.

rafay79 said:
…and to think this nincampoop is going to be at the helm of affairs when the government changes now. Zardari may be many things but an absolute idiot he aint!

NS is so lucky he had Zia to take him through the development phase and as with all guys who are willing throw their money around and share ‘awaam ka paisa’ with the ‘awaam kay khaadim’, managed to get a team around him which served him well. Even now, he has got very good people like Ahsan Iqbal, Kh. Asif, Saad Rafique etc. who make him and his party look good. On his own, he is an absolute waste of space!

جناب! شکر کریں پاکستان میں امریکا کی طرح صدارتی سیسٹم نہی ہے انتخابات میں. کبھی خدا نہ کرے آپ کا کسی سیاست دان کے ساتھ مباحثہ ہو جاتا تو جس طرح کے سہانے جواب آپ نے اس انٹرویو میں دے ہیں اس کے بعد تو آپ کے ووٹر منہ چھپاتے پھر رہے ہوتے. باقی رہ گیئ جناب کی بات، تو پہلے کب شرم آی ہے جو اب آ جائے گے.

بات کرتے ہیں ہم اس کے سٹانس کی؟
آرٹیکل ٦ کرتا کرتا نہی تھکتا تھا. ایک چکّر سعودی عرب کا لگا اور ساری ہوا نکل گیے غبارے میں سے.
ایسے ہوتے ہیں لیڈر؟
ایسی پتا نہی کتنی باتیں ہیں جو لکھنے بیٹھو تو صبح سے شام ہو جائے.
خواتین و حضرات! یے ہیں آپ کے ملک کے اگلے پی ایم. اور اگر ہمیں پھر بھی عقل نا آی تو اگلی باری بلاول بھتو زرداری (المعروف پارک لین اسٹیٹ والے) اور اس کے بعد حمزہ شہباز یا حسین نواز اور اس کے بعد پھرمحترم بلاول بھتو زرادری صاحب اور پھر کوئی میاں اور پھر کوئی بھتو. بیچ میں ایک آدھا جرنیل بھی ڈال لیں منہ کا ذائقہ بدلنے کے لیے.

rafay79 said:
@Dilsher Nawaz
Dude! Corp tax and personal tax are two totally different things. A company is an entity on its own. It pays corporation tax on its earnings. The directors pay personal tax on their income, perks and drawings from the company. To say a person doenst pay personal tax cos he pays lots of corp tax is therefore incorrect.

And remember, this guy is someone who spends 3.5 million rupees a day. Or thats what his spokesman Siddiq-ul-Farooq would like us to think anyway.

Shujaat Ali said:
1) very fuzzy answer about self tax, question was very straight but he was just trying to fool nation and gave very lenghty answer without any logic
2) currently the most important issue is war on terror and again on this, he did not give straight answer infact no answer…may be he dosn’t want….becuase he is not sure current govt policy will work or not…and he knows this will be the hot issue in next election..so her again showing his real character
3) doesn’t want to destablize current system, he was trying to project that he has principal stand but in fact he is saving his own govt…and if mid term election will happen then he knows in current situation he popularity is down….

block said:
I am convinced that Nawaz Sharief is a very poor man and need our financial help.

Parvez said:
NS and his family has made money from business and he is not easy to buy with a few million dollars. He is pragmatic, seen the ups and downs of politics. If he gets to be a leader, you will see growth in economy and social stability. He needs to spend more time organizing his part at grass roots.

Bawa said:
نہایت ہی فضول انٹرویو، حامد میر اور سہیل وڑائچ نے اسی قسم کا انٹرویو کیا جیسا نجم سیٹھی نے پرویز مشرف اور الطاف حسین کا کیا تھا. سر آپکی بیگم کیسی ہیں، بچوں کا سیاست میں آنے کا ارادہ ھے کیا، حمزہ شہباز تو سیاست میں آپکے شاگرد ہیں وغیرہ وغیرہ. ان نام نہاد انکر پرسنز کو یہ نہیں پتہ یہ اس لیول کے لیڈر سے ان حالات میں کس طرح کے سوالات کرنے ضروری تھے. صاف دکھائی دے رہا تھا کہ نواز شریف کو سوالات پہلے سے تیاری کے لیے دیے گئے تھے

نواز شریف نے اس انٹرویو سے ان لوگوں کی امیدوں پر پانی پھیر دیا ھے جو سمجھتے تھے کہ نواز شریف نے ماضی سے بہت کچھ سیکھا ھے. وہ ابھی تک عوام کو بیوقوف بنانے کی ناکام کوشش کر رہے ہیں. سو دفعہ یہ اقرار کرنے کے باوجود کہ میں نے دس سال نہیں بلکہ پانچ سال کا معاہدہ کیا تھا. اب کہ رھے ہیں کہ ہم اپنی مرضی سے نہیں گئے تھے بلکہ ہمیں زبردستی بھیجا گیا تھا. سعودی عرب کے بارے میں کہ سعودی عرب کو پاکستان کی سیاست میں نہ گھسیٹیں تو بہتر ہوگا اور ہمیں سعودی عرب کا احترام کرنا چاہئیے اور انہیں پاکستان کے اندرونی معاملات میں ملوث نہیں کرنا چاہئیے، جو ملک ہماری اعَلیٰ ترین عدالت کے منہ پر تھپڑ مار کر ہمارے شہری کو ہمارے ہی ملک سے اغوا کر لے جائے کیا وہ ملک ہمارے لیے قابل احترام ہو سکتا ھے؟ جنرل کیانی کی شہباز شریف اور چوہدری نثار سے رات کے اندھیرے میں خفیہ ملاقاتوں کے سوال کا جواب بھی بچگانہ تھا. جنرل کیانی مسلح افاج کے سپریم کمانڈر اور وزیر دفاع کی اجازت کے بغیر سیاستدانوں سے رات کی تاریکی میں کیونکر ملاقات کر سکتے ہیں؟ کیا انکا یہ قدم فوج کو دوبارہ سیاست میں ملوث کرنے کے مترادف نہیں ھے؟ .

غرض انٹرویو انتہائی مایوس کن تھا. نہ تو ملکی صورتحال پر گفتگو کی گئی اور ان ہی موجودہ مسائل کو حل کرنے کے لیے نواز شریف نے اپنا کوئی پلان بتایا. ہاں البتہ یہ بتانا بہت ضروری سمجھا کہ شہباز شریف ہمارے خاندان کا نوجوان سیاستداں ھے میری بیگم نے ملکی مفاد کے لیے بہت کام کیا ھے اور میں اسکا شکریہ ادا کرتا رہتا ہوں. وہ جن لوگوں نے اسکی عدم موجودگی میں پارٹی کو زندہ رکھا انکا کوئی ذکر نہیں کیا. پارٹی کے اندر جمہوریت کے بارے میں سوال کا جواب تک نہ دیا. اپنے کاروبار کا نقصان گنواتے ہوئے ضیاء الحق کے دور میں اٹھائے جانے والے فوائد چھپانے کی مجرمانہ کوشش کی

Faarigh Jazbati said:
@ Bawa and all

السلام و علیکم
جیسے کے ہارون رشید نے کئی دفعہ کہا اور لکھا ہے کہ یہ سیاستدان ابھی تک ٨٠ اور ٩٠ کے دہائی میں رہ رہے ہیں اور ان کو پتا ہی نہیں کہ دنیا بدل چکی ہے زمانہ بدل چکا ہے . یہ لوگ خیالوں اور خوابوں کی دنیا میں رہتے ہیں. یہ نرگسیت کے مارے لوگ ہیں اور ان کا سواۓ اس کے اور کوئی علاج نہیں کہ ان کو اٹھا کر تاریخ کے کوڑے دن میں پھینک دیا جاۓ . ہمیں ایک نئی قیادت کی ضرورت ہے جو ہم میں سے ہی ہو . جو ہمارے مسائل اور مشکلات کو سمجھتی ہو ، ان کا ادراک کرتی ہو ، جو عصر حاضر سے آگاہ ہو ، جو عالمی سیاست کی باریکیوں اور نزاکتوں سے واقف ہو اور ان کی چالوں کا جواب دینے کی اہلیت رکھتی ہو ، جو عوام کو حکومتی معاملات میں شریک کرے اور انکو اپنے جیسا ہی سمجھے . جن کے بچے اور کاروبار پاکستان میں ہی ہوں. جو اداروں کا احترام کرنا جانتی ہو ، جو اپنے آپ کو قانون کے سامنے پیش کرنی سے نہ ہچکچاتی ہو اور قانون سب کے لئے یکساں پر ایمان رکھتی ہو . جو کاروباری ذہنیت نہ رکھتی ہو اور جن کے کوئی کاروباری مفادات نہ ہوں . موجودہ سیاسی قیادت چاہے وہ مسلم لیگ ن ق ع ف ہو یا پیپلز پارٹی، چاہے وہ مذہبی سیاسی جما عتیں ہوں یا
so called لسانی /علاقائی سیکولر جما عتیں ، سب کی سب اپنے اپنے مفادات کی اسیر ہیں .
ہمیں ایک نئی سیاسی جماعت اور ایک نئی سیاسی سوچ کی ضرورت ہے ، ایک نئے سیاسی نظریے کی ضرورت ہے ، ایک نئی
سیاسی ثقافت کی ضرورت ہے . ایسا سیاسی نظریہ اور ثقافت جس میں افراد کی بجاۓ اصولوں کی بات ہو ، جس میں افراد کی بجاۓ اداروں کی بات ہو، جس میں سیاسی خانوادے نہ ہوں ، جس میں سیاسی میراث کا کوئی تصوّر نہ ہو ، جس میں سیاسی جانشینی کا کوئی تصوّر نہ ہو ، جس میں سیاسی مزار نہ ہوں جس میں سیاسی بندر بانٹ نہ ہو ، جس میں جرنیلوں کی جوتیاں چاٹنے والے نہ ہوں . جس میں جرنیلوں کو سرکاری ملازم سے زیادہ اہمیت نہ ہو ، جس میں پلاٹوں کی سیاست کی کوئی گنجائش نہ ہو ،

کیا کروں آج دل بہت ہی دکھا ہوا ہے اور بھڑاس نکالنے پر تلا ہوا ہے. یہ جو اپنے آپ کو رہنما اور نہ جانے کیا کیا لکھتے اور سمجھتے ہیں اور سمجھتے ہیں کے ہمارے عقل و شعور کی توہین کریں میں ان سے بیزاری اوربغاوت کا اعلان کرتا ہوں اور ان کو اپنا رہنما ماننے سے انکار کرتا ہوں

FJ

mujtaba-ali said:
باوا جی
اور دوستو…
میرے خیال میں اس کو بات نہیں کرنی آیی آج تک … پی پی پی والے اسی بات پر اتنی آرام سے نکل جاتے ہیں .. یہ تو سادہ سا مسلہ تھا .. لیکن بھایی صاحب نے سیدھا جواب دیا ہی نہیں …. مثلا اگر میں آپ ہوتے تو یہ کہ سکتے تھے … کہ ….. بھایی ایکشن کمیشن کی جو ضرورت تھی اس کے حساب سے جو بنتا تھا بتا دیا … وہ ٹیکس پوچھتے ہیں میں نے بتا دیا … ذاتی دولت کا پوچھتے ہیں بتا دی … اب جو دولت خاندان ک نام ہے یعنی بزنسس کے نام ہے … اس کا نہ وہ پوچھتے ہیں نہ بتانے کے ضرورت ہے ….
اور بھایی جان نے ایک اور بات کی جو ذرا اچھی تھی … کہ ٥ پانچ ہزار بھی زیادہ ہیں ایک سیاست دن کا ان چیزوں سے کوئی لینا دینا نہیں ہونا چاہیے …

hafizmughal said:
A popular pakistan leader but when he will know to make a difference between public speeches and talking on tvs?

Even he is not clear about his directions. Sorry.

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Transparency International 2009 Report on Pakistan: An Analysis

In its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, the TI said Pakistan’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index Score is 2.4, and of the 180 countries and in its ranking as the most corrupt country it has slipped five ranks, from 47 in 2008 to the 42nd most corrupt country in 2009. (In Nawaz Sharif's government in 1999, Pakistan was 13th most corrupt country in the world.)

TI Pakistan Chairman Syed Adil Gilani said TI Pakistan was of the view that terrorism was the direct result of poverty, which had resulted due to corruption, especially the illegal direct, or indirect, rule of armed forces in Pakistan since 1951 to 2007. The endorsements provided to military regimes by a corrupt judiciary were also to be blamed.

Adil said positive impact of the few good governance steps taken by the government would be visible by the next year.

He mentioned the reinstatement of sacked judges by the Prime Minister through an executive order on March 16, declaration by the Supreme Court chief justice of zero tolerance for corruption and the withdrawal of the National Reconciliation Ordinance from the National Assembly as positive steps.

He said TI Pakistan also congratulated the Pakistan Army, which had proved to the world that Pakistan’s military were among the best in the world.

“The elimination of terrorists in Swat in two months is what the US and NATO forces have failed to achieve in 8 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has made Pakistan a proud nation,” TI Pakistan said. (Daily Times, 17 Nov 09)

Here is a critical and realistic analysis by Abbas Ather:

Here is another critical analysis by Rauf Klasra in which he compares politicians' corruption with the military rule's corruption in Pakistan:

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