Exposed!
Saturday, November 14, 2009 (The News)
Anjum Niaz
Today President Zardari and the Sharif brothers stand exposed. The moment of reckoning is upon them. Proof of their allegedly stealing billions, from what rightfully belonged to the people of Pakistan, is before us in black and white. Washington and London, with the blessings of our establishment, have finally decided to let the skeletons in the politicians' cupboards come out. The politicians tried to outsmart the military by flirting with the Kerry-Lugar Bill cleverly scripted by our ambassador in Washington. The army threw in a monkey wrench and thwarted it. Husain Haqqani has since gone into hiding while his boss in Islamabad is hunkered down in the Presidency.
Folks, the army is not going to topple the government through a coup. It is going to pull the plug on our leaders charged with corruption. Democracy will not be disturbed; we will only witness a change of guards. Faces like Aitzaz Ahsan, newly returned from Washington DC (maybe with an important message from the White House?), can well be our future rulers.
The toothless NAB is leaking like a sieve. Or is it the agencies that whisked away classified files from the basement of its Islamabad office, fearing that the present government may tinker with the proof; even destroy it? The damning documents of alleged kickbacks received by Zardari from the sale of three submarines have wormed their way to the French daily Liberation, courtesy the NAB. It's just one small piece of the larger picture.
In Washington, the chased-out Pervez Musharraf called Zardari a "criminal," a "fraud" and a "third-rater." Halleluiah! Musharraf has now seen the sinister side of a man with whom he negotiated the NRO and left him in charge of 180 million Pakistanis. My educated guess is that the Americans gave the nod and a wink to the general to go ahead and abuse Zardari.
The NAB, or make it the secret agencies, have also the Sharif brothers trapped today. Stabbed by their own man, Ishaq Dar, the brothers' alleged corruption is out in the open. In a 43-page confessional statement by Dar recorded on April 25, 2000, before the district magistrate of Lahore, Dar admits to handling the Sharif's finances, alleging that Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif were involved in money laundering worth at least $14.886 million.
Meanwhile Musharraf awaits the return of the three with impatient glee.
But Zardari's appointee in Washington too may be moving. "The [Pakistani] military clearly has decided that it would like to have him removed," says The Boston Globe, citing a congressional aide not authorised to speak to the media. "If he returned home, friends say, his safety could be threatened," reports the Globe. "Haqqani hasn't returned to Islamabad for eight months." One "friend" describes Haqqani-bashing as "brutal." Michael Krepon of the Henry L Stimson Center, who has penned many Pakistan-centric articles lambasting our security agencies, has known Haqqani for long.
The ambassador has already received a "welcome back" message from Boston University's spokesman Colin Riley. Haqqani currently wears two hats: Pakistan's ambassador to Washington and Boston University's professor. According to the Globe, he has "maintained ties with BU" and "continues to advise a student pursuing a doctorate who is defending her dissertation this month." Can an envoy of a country serve two masters? Well, Haqqani is blatantly doing it, and also drawing two salaries?
I have great news for the NRO dirty dozens soon to become political fugitives. It's safe to make New York your home. Thanksgiving and Christmas is here, guys. The shopping is great; the deals amazing. The godfather who likes to wear $17,000-a-pair shoes will feel right at home in Manhattan. The New York Stock Exchange is up. Go grab another penthouse on Fifth Avenue, or buy yourself a 2nd, a 3rd mansion. Buy a dog and name him Maximilian.
Email: aniaz@fas.harvard.edu & www.anjumniaz.com
4 comments:
these are all the same speculations expressed during the two terms of benazir bhutto too. either she as personally targetted by the military and the establishment or her office beares were hounded up in NAB cases. Most of all her husband asif ali zardari was being targeted. despite these wishes of bringing down the public opinion about her and her husband, all they could do was remove her from office, while the true sentiments remained with the peole and they expressed them when they elected her again. despite the most severe rigging in 2002 elections, ppp clinged a clear cut victory in the house. moreover, the feburary elections once again prooved ppp to be the only uniting force opf pakistan and federation of pakistan. NRO was being made more of an issue by the opposing parties yet the peole of pakistan rejected them in the polls and ppp clinged a landslide victory in 2008 elections. not only that, but the people elected asif ali zardari unanimously as their president too. it was the ppp that brought about the change in presidency.
mr hussain huqqani has been a very successfula dn diligent ambassador we got in years. it was due to his efforts that today pakistan has got 3 times as much aid and taht too under a democratic set-up. this is an achievement that cannot be ignored. furthermore, the kerry lugar bill was being used by the right wing media and pro taliban supporters to defame the ppp govt and the ambassador alike. where were these peole when musharraf signed a aid package declaring azad kashmir as pakistani occupied kashmir?
i think if true, our army and establishment are aunder a very serious misconception. the victory in gilgit baltistan polls has been due to the achievement of president zardari and ppp govt. sawat operation once seemed an uphill taks, yet president pursued it and we got a victory there. the SWA operation is underway successfully.
if the ppp govt is now threatened, then i think it will be a fatal blow to the federation. balochistan is already in trouble and we cannot afford another insurgency in sindh as well
HOW THE FIRST PPP GOVT WAS TOPPLED?
Details:BACKGROUND OF CORRUPTION STORIES:NOTE: On August 9, 1990, another one of the country’s short-lived experiments with democracy came to an end. While “The Empire Strikes Back” published in the August 1990 issue of the Herald describes the events that took place on the day of Benazir Bhutto’s ouster, “The Invisible War (See Herald Monthly Issue of January 2008, page 87), printed in the same issue, provides an analysis of the factors that led to the sacking of her government. [Courtesy Monthly Herald Pakistan January 2008, page 84-85-86]
The Invisible War by Abbas Nasir [Monthly Herald January 2008]
Read complete article:
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/11/after-benazir-bhuttos-death-11.html
I don’t know why some elements have death wish of Pakistani political class. For the army and intelligence agencies to conspire against democracy is easy to understand as their aim is easy to understand that is to reclaim lost glory. It is somewhat harder to fathom why some elements become willing player in the games whose aim is to rundown and discredit the democracy. These elements are the worst enemies of Pakistan.
Media is the one of the major supporter of these elements because it is willing part of campaigns against democracy and democratic leadership.
I feel pity for those who think themselves intellectual by delivering their so called philosophy and maligning image of Zardari. He is elected president of Pakistan and did a lot for the country.
There could be lots of shortcomings in Zardari he is not angel but it is fact that Zardari became a leader when he refused to compromise with those who wanted to sign a confession and leave the country, just like Nawaz Sharif and his family did after reaching a deal with Musharraf and fled the country.
One should not forget that Zardari stop those who were shouting anti Pakistan and anti Punjab slogans after Benazir’s body was flown to Sindh for burial. Everyone was crying, the emotions were high, but Zardari stepped forward and directly confronted people from his own province, Sindh and snubbed those who were blaming Punjabi elements in establishment for Benazir’s death. Zardari’s courageous decision to confront those angry workers told me, and millions of other skeptics that Zardari is a man of courage and conviction.
@Darvaisbaba: "I don’t know why some elements have death wish of Pakistani political class." I think such elements many be divided into three groups, i.e., the manufacturers, the marketers and the consumers. The manufacturers of the death wish of Pakistani political class are firmly seated in the civil and military establishment in Pakistan. The marketers are variably selected from media, madrassah, technocracy and bureaucracy. The consumers are the majority of semi-literate Pakistanis who think they know but are in reality as oblivious to the whole picture as it could be.
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