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Frequently in their TV appearances (on Geo TV) and newspaper columns (in Jang and The News), agents of anti-democracy establishment, e.g. Shaheen Sehbai, Dr Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi and their cronies, have openly or implicitly invited General Kayani to intervene into political affairs of the country in an ultra-constitutional manner.
In the following op-ed, Talat Hussain condemns all such elements who are trying to derail democracy in Pakistan by encouraging or supporting military intervention into political affairs of the country. Talat Hussain requests General Kayani to pay no heed to such illegitimate voices.
We at Let us build Pakistan agree with Talat Hussain's analysis, and request Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to direct police to arrest all such so-called journalists (black sheep in the journalist community) and also their ruthless owners, and award maximum exemplary punishment to them under the Article 6 of Pakistan's constitution. ..
The Gilgit Baltisan victory comes out to be an eye opener for the pro Taliban Anti democratic Media Persons and Journalists. Pakistan Peoples Party has won an over whelming vote in the region where speculations of the Pro-Taliban Media were opposite. I think it is high time for these elements to re-define their loyalties. Despite the row over the Kerry lugar bill and the NRO episode, the people of Gilgit Baltistan have altogether rejected the one sided propaganda against the PPP and its Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
The landslide victory of the PPP has been due to the leadership of the Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his bold decision to counter the threat of Terrorism. Where two years ago, Swat was a nogo area for a Pakistani today the Army Operation has paved the way for the general public to continue the norms of life. The South Waziristan Operation had been long awaited and the President’s decision to pursue the policy of zero tolerance against these sectarian killers, the people of Pakistan have got a new hope for the future of their country. It has not been a story of today. The menace of terrorism had engulfed Pakistan since 2003. The PPP government accepted the great challenge and has lived to the aspiration of the peole of Pakistan. This is evident from the fact that the recent Elections in Gilgit Baltistan have been taken away by the PPP.
Despite several Media Campaigns by Pro-Taliban Anchors and Journalists, Asif Ali Zardari has emerged to be a very successful President. It was under his Leadership that the PPP fought this elections and came out victorious. It should be noted here that Gilgit Baltistan was given self rule by the sitting PPP government. Earlier too, the only reforms for this region had come about in the times of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. The Presidency had been a target of the Taliban Friendly Elements since Asif Ali Zardari stepped into its walls. All conspiracies ranging for the Kerry lugar to sugar crisis to the NRO were directly blamed at the Presidency one after another. The courage and zeal with which the President has withstood these propagandist elements is sheerly amazing. In face of an opposition that first used the long march to topple the Presidency and then came about with several issues one after another with a single point agenda of damaging the Democratic Set-up, Asif Ali Zardari has emerged victorious once again. The vote of the people has far more outreaching effects than a Television Talk Show defaming the government over non-issues and speculating a Mid Term election in coming days. I think the phase of Mid-Term elections is over and now all the democratic forces will have to assemble under a flag of democracy to save the system and thus benefit Pakistan. It is an open message to the Anti Democratic Forces and Pro-Taliban Elements sitting in the Media and Political Parties and Institutions, the at the people of Pakistan have had enough with violence and the klashincov culture. They see their future in a Pakistan where they have an Elected government that completes its term. The recent Military action against Taliban has given a ray of hope to the people of Pakistan where they saw themselves doomed a year ago.
President Asif Ali Zardari has emerged as the Symbol Of Federation. The ever most popularly elected president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, his daunting decisions in the foreign policy and domestic issues have raised the bar for the stooges of Taliban and Anti Democratic Alliances. The vote of people in Gilgit Baltistan is a clear indicator of the peoples’ trust in the current government and thus its President. Previously the Media Campaigns have proved naught and even in the future it seems the people of Pakistan will altogether reject any Minus-One Formula given a hype by the Media people. The President it seems is living true to his word of Reconciliation and his slogan of “Pakistan Khappay”
This election victory is more of an advice for the Media and its Taliban Spokespersons Hamid Mir, Shaheen Sehbai, Talat Hussain, and of course Dr Shahid Masood: I hope he has now seen everything "Awaam K Mutabiq"..
In English, the dogs of war is a phrase from line 270, scene 1, Act III of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war" referring to releasing the "dog", i.e. the restraining mechanism. In the context of Pakistani politics, it would appear that certain pro-establishment (read anti-democracy and/or pro-Taliban) dogs of war have been unleashed by the civil and military establishment in order to retrain or derail democracy. The current target of the dogs of war (namely Shaheen Sehbai, Shahid Masood, Shireen Mazari, Javed Chaudhry, Talat Hussain, Hamid Mir, Ansar Abbasi and other agents of anti-democracy forces) is indeed the elected president Asif Ali Zardari. Here is an apt analysis by Asadullah Ghalib.
After the way the channels handled the TV appearances of the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, the verdict has to go in favour of the latter. The encounters were arranged as battles. The TV channels lost, and Ms Clinton has gone home satisfied that she has weathered a great storm of orchestrated anti-Americanism with success. The result was foreordained. The anchors aspired to a uniformity of approach and succeeded wonderfully well in achieving it.
Unfortunately, Ms Clinton’s encounter with students was no better. The educational institutions are brainwashed with the one-sided propaganda churned out by the TV channels and the Urdu press. Hence, once the rational answer met an emotional query, the onlookers were bound to be disappointed with the Pakistani performance. At one point she asked if anyone in the auditorium filled with students could tell how much America had donated for the IDPs of Malakand. No one answered. She wanted to know what happened to the $300 million.
Some restraint was shown even by the TV anchors who have been telling the Pakistani audiences that America is in fact funding the Taliban and Al Qaeda to kill Pakistanis so that it could, with the help of Blackwater, grab Pakistan’s nuclear weapons from Kahuta. That was real courtesy. They could have asked her the address of the prison in the US where Osama bin Laden was being kept as the Americans invaded the lands of the Muslim nation looking for him.
Ms Clinton could fault the American diplomats stationed in Pakistan for not spreading the good word about American assistance effectively. But she also should look at her visit in the perspective of the general American image in the world in the aftermath of the Neocons of President George Bush. Considering how queered the pitch was, it was a successful first big outing of the Secretary in Pakistan. (Daily Times)
If anyone needs evidence that Pakistan’s most popular TV anchors just reel off nonsense without checking facts, please watch the interview given by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to a group of Pakistani anchors.
Talat Hussain of Aaj TV, who often speaks as if he knows everything, wanted to embarrass Hillary by “proving” that the U.S, does not give Pakistan enough. In his recent shows he has been mouthing off against the “insulting language” in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid bill, which triples non-military assistance to Pakistan to $ 1.5 billion per year for five years.
Talat claimed that the U.S. was paying Kyrgyzstan $ 700 million as rent for a military base in that country. Hillary corrected the arrogant and self-righteous Aaj TV anchor and said the rent was not that high but was in the range of $ 50 million. Not one to ever digest facts, especially those that prove him wrong, Talat Hussain continued on to say that must be the rent “per month.” The US Secretary of State remained polite and left the Kyrgyzstan base rent figure unresolved.
None of the other “famous and popular” anchors, including Moeed Pirzada, Nasim Zehra, Naveen Naqvi, Mubashir Luqman and others, knew the figure themselves to be able to step in and correct their colleague.
So, what does a simple google search reveal to be the fact?
The US agreed in June 2009 to triple the rent of its base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan to $ 60 million, up from $ 17 million, PER YEAR.
The US also agreed to pay an additional $ 37 million to Kyrgyzstan to build new aircraft parking slots and storage areas, plus another $30 million for new navigation systems. That adds up to a grand total of $ 127 million in the first year and a recurrent payment per year of still $ 60 million only!
Here’s the link to a CBS news story one of many stories on the subject available on the internet, beyond the crazy right-wing dominated Pakistani blogs.
Where did Talat Hussain of Aaj get his figure of $ 700 million per year? Nobody knows. Maybe from his friends Shireen Mazari or Ahmed Quraishi—all purveyors of anti-US opinions with little regard for facts.
LAHORE: Former chief justice of Pakistan Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui’s statement that the Inter Services Intelligence dished out millions of rupees to different politicians during President Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s regime to manipulate the 1990 elections, followed by Asghar Khan’s demand that the present chief justice should re-open the said case which he had filed in 1996 to take it to its logical end, has dusted off an old controversy, which is set to blemish the democratic credentials of many leading politicians of the country.
Chief justice (retd) Siddiqui told a private TV channel that the ISI was an intelligence agency and it should not interfere in national politics, or be used against politicians. Seasoned politician Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan had gone one step ahead in asking Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to reopen the case he had filed with the apex court almost 13 years ago with a view to take the culprits to task. His case is pending with the Supreme Court of Pakistan following the November 1997 unceremonious exit of former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah from his office at the hands of the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The case had originated on June 16, 1996 from a letter by Asghar Khan to the then chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah, asking him to take appropriate action on then interior minister Naseerullah Babar’s statement in the National Assembly. Babar had stated on the floor of the house: “The ISI collected some Rs 140 million from the Habib Bank Ltd and distributed among a number of politicians prior to the 1990 elections with a view to manipulate the results in favour of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad.” Asghar Khan’s letter was subsequently converted into a constitutional petition (19 of 1996) by the chief justice under Article 184(3), envisaging the human rights jurisdiction of the apex court. According to the petitioner, Asghar Khan, he had sent the first letter with the sole purpose of exposing the role of the ISI in manoeuvring the election results and supporting its favourite politicians to fulfil political ends of the establishment. “You never know how many elections have been rigged and manoeuvred by the ISI in the past,” Asghar had stated in his letter to the CJ, adding the ISI moves since 1988 were actually aimed at defeating the PPP and, therefore, the matter be adjudged and action be taken against those found guilty.
The respondents in the said case were former Army chief Mirza Aslam Beg, Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, ex-director-general of the ISI Directorate, and Younis Habib, ex-chief of ex-Mehran Bank Ltd, then confined to Central Jail, Karachi. However, the case could not be decided because of the premature dismissal of chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah. He was followed by CJPs Ajmal Mian, Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, Irshad Hasan Khan, Bashir Jehangiri, Shaikh Riaz Ahmed, Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and now Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Yet, even after a lapse of 13 years, the Human Rights Petition No 19/96 remains shelved as none of the chief justices after Sajjad Shah had dared to invite the wrath of the mighty military and intelligence establishment by reopening the controversial case. In his written reply to the apex court and subsequently reported by the media, Aslam Beg had stated: “More serious damage has been caused to the reputation and the goodwill of the armed forces by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan in bringing the petition before this Honourable Court and raising an issue before the apex court which of course would receive great publicity and would cause greater damage by scandalisation in the media... That dragging the ex-service chief to the courts on a letter may be detrimental to the prestige, honour and dignity of the institution he has once represented. That Asghar Khan has approached this august court with ulterior motives and his representation is based on mala fides.”
Beg had stated in his written reply to the apex court: “That in early September [1990], Mr Younis Habib, then serving in the Habib Bank Ltd as Zonal Chief, had called on the answering respondent [Beg] and informed him that he was under instructions from the President’s [Ghulam Ishaq] Election Cell to make available a sum of Rs 140 million for supporting the elections of 1990.
“That in 1990 the National Assembly of Pakistan was dissolved and the government of Ms Benazir Bhutto was dismissed. A caretaker government was formed to hold elections within 90 days. The then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, had formed an Election Cell directly under him managed by Roedad Khan/Ijlal Haider Zaidi. That later on, the answering respondent was informed by Director-General, ISI, that various accounts were opened and the amount of Rs 140 million was deposited in those accounts directly by Younis Habib. Director-General, Inter Services Intelligence, made arrangements to distribute these amounts amongst the politicians belonging to various political parties and persons as instructed by the Election Cell.”
The petition further stated: “That in 1975, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the then prime minister, had created a Political Cell within the ISI organisation. As a result, the ISI was made responsible to the chief executive, i.e. the prime minister/president for all matters of national and political intelligence. The receipt of this amount by ISI from Younis Habib in 1990 was also under the directions of the Chief Executive. DG ISI also informed the answering respondent that funds so received were properly handled and the accounts were maintained and that Ghulam Ishaq was briefed by him on this matter.
“That during this period, in his meeting with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the answering respondent had informed him about the donations made by Younis Habib and its utilisation by DG ISI under the instructions of the Presidentís Political Cell. That the petitioner has made the following allegations : (a) actions of Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt-Gen Asad Durrani amounted to gross misconduct; (b) both have brought the armed forces of Pakistan into disrepute; (c) both have been guilty of undermining the discipline of the armed forces. That these allegations are false, based on mala fide, and unfounded. That DG had ISI acted within the limits of the ‘lawful command’ received from the President’s Election Cell. Definition of lawful command as interpreted by Pakistan Army Act Section 33 Note b(3) is: ‘A superior can give a command for the purpose of maintaining good order or suppressing a disturbance or for the execution of a military duty or regulation’, and Pakistan Army Act Section 33 Note b(11): ‘A civilian cannot give a ‘lawful command’ under this sub-section to a soldier employed under him; but it may well be the soldier’s duty as such to do the act indicated. That the actions of the respondent and Lt-Gen Asad Durrani did not amount to gross misconduct and the orders were carried out under a lawful command.”
Afterwards, a former ISI DG, Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, had conceded in an affidavit submitted to the FIA that his political cell received Rs 140m from Younis Habib for distribution among the anti-PPP politicians at the behest of Aslam Beg. (The News)
PML-N warns of long march if Musharraf ‘not fixed’
Saturday, August 29, 2009 Says ISI money matters can’t undermine Nawaz’s popularity; threatens protest if vilification against its leader doesn’t stop ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said on Friday it could go for a Long March to ensure former president Pervez Musharraf was punished.
Addressing a news conference, PML-N Secretary Information Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said that character assassination of the party chief Nawaz Sharif could in no way deter the PML-N’s struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution, parliament and Musharraf’s trial under Article 6.
He said: “We succeeded to get the deposed judges reinstated despite the fact that democracy had not yet strengthened its root in the country at that time. This time too, we would make firm efforts to get our constitutional demands fulfilled,” said the information secretary.
He said the issue of Karachi operation was being trumpeted by those who afraid of Nawaz’s increasing popularity, adding that if such malicious campaign was not stopped, the N-League reserved the right to protest in as well as outside the Parliament.
The party leader said the November 3, 2007 steps were not protected under the Constitution, so it was essential that the person who took such steps must be tried. Ahsan Iqbal said the matter of giving money to political leaders by the secret agency could not undermine Nawaz’s popularity and people elected him despite such maligning drive. He told the media that the military operation in Swat got appraisal from all circles and if this operation had been carried out by dictator, it could have never won such praise. (The News)
In the ring
Thursday, August 27, 2009 The hand of the so-called 'establishment', that shadowy entity comprising the army, the bureaucracy and the agencies among other forces, has long been a part of politics in Pakistan. The coming and going of governments, the downfall of individuals and all kinds of other events are attributed to it. But today, we apparently find this powerful entity locked in what appears to be an internal dilemma. According to a report in this newspaper and rumours that drift across Islamabad's leafy avenues, elements within the establishment are engaged in an all-out effort to discredit Nawaz Sharif, a man whose political career is said to have begun with the support of the same lobby. The purpose appears to be to save former president Musharraf from trial – and possibly by exposing or threatening to expose misdeeds from the past – pressurising Sharif to abandon the strident position he has taken on the issue. It has been alleged that key figures have attempted to use the media to advance their stance and that a Karachi-based political party is also being used for the same purpose.
The tussle is a fascinating one in many ways. The PML-N, which insists it will not back down, has for the first time come up directly against those with whom it is said, in the past, to have worked with hand in glove. The accounts also suggest that as many suspect, the army is indeed keen to save a former chief and by doing so keep intact the notion that the men who wear khaki cannot be touched and ride above the law of the land. There have been some suggestions that Nawaz Sharif may still have supporters in powerful places who are willing to back him against Musharraf – thus opening up a distinct divide.
As has happened before, such events also act to throw light on some of the more murky deeds in our history. Sadly these are many. The continued lack of access to information means that truths about corruption rackets or other equally dark deeds rarely surface unless somebody wants to throw back the dust covers and expose such goings-on, to serve their own purposes. As such, there is a possibility, as the power struggle hinged around Musharraf continues, that more facts may emerge from the past. These could help satisfy curiosity and give the public more information about leaders. The risk though of course is that accuracy will be lost amidst the effort to score points. It is impossible for the present to predict who the winner will be in the ongoing tussle. But what it does underscore is the powerful role the establishment still plays in our set-up and how difficult it indeed is to distance the military from events in the political sphere. (The News)
60 MQM men buried in Margalla hills in 1997: Shujaat
Thursday, August 27, 2009 ISLAMABAD: PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Husain has disclosed that at least 60 activists of the MQM were buried in the Margalla Hills of the Federal Capital in 1997.
Talking to a TV channel on Wednesday, he said the said activists, apprehended from Karachi, were shifted to Islamabad, where they were tortured to death and later buried in the Margalla Hills. No investigations of any sort were held regarding the killing of the detainees.”
Chaudhry Shujaat further disclosed: “I was Federal Interior Minister at that time, but Chairman Accountability Bureau Saif-ur-Rahman was more influential than me. The map, which the law-enforcement agencies exposed, has no reality.
Responding to a query, he elucidated that trial for the former dictator Pervez Musharraf would not be held. Shujaat said he was personally not in favour of presenting the resolution in the House. The incumbents, as at this juncture of time, should focus their attention to relieve the masses from prevailing energy and commodity crisis, instead of indulging in dead issues.
The PML chief said the political leadership of the country was taken into confidence in connection with the 1992 military operation in Karachi. The federal cabinet was also not briefed before the military operation in Karachi, he said.
The PML-Q leader expressed his anger that the issues of 1992 military operation and ‘Jinnahpur’ were being aired at this particular time to divert the attention of the masses from prevailing crisis.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the PML-N, Siddiq-ul-Farooq, while refuting the allegations levelled by Chaudhry Shujaat, emphasised that the PML-N chief had nothing to do with any sort of genocide during his both the tenures.
Farooq said Chaudhry Shujaat Husain was federal interior minister in 1997 and should have resigned from his office, if he had any moral courage, over the ëkilling of 60 activists of the MQM in the Federal Capital. (The News)
Chief politicians embezzle donation money in Ishaq era
KARACHI: According to the sworn undertaking of ISI’s former chief Lieutenant General (rtd) Asad Durrani, which he took before Supreme Court (SC) on July 24, 1994, that he was instructed in September 1990 by the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), the former General Mirza Aslam Baig for provision of Logistic Support to embezzle money donated for election preparations from some Karachi traders and use the same donation money for Islami Jamhuri Ittehad (IJI) party.
Asad Durrani was told that the instructions to misappropriate donation money were backed by the then government of Pakistan, according to his affidavit statement before SC.
Subsequently, in pursuit of the instructions he received, he was forced to open some fake bank accounts in Karachi, Quetta and Rawalpindi while one donator from Karachi, by the name Younis Habib, deposited as much as 140 million rupees and the money from all accounts were transferred to other places according to the need for extension of logistic support to IJI party while the remaining money was transferred to a special fund, his sworn statement added.
His statement further added, Rs10 million were given to Mir Afzal in NWFP province, Rs3.5 million to Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in Punjab, Rs5.6 million to Lieutenant General (rtd) Rafaqat for advertisement on media, Rs5 million to Jamat-e-Islami, Rs1 million to Begum Abida Hussain, Rs0.5 million to Altaf Hussain Qureshi and Mustafa Sadiq, Rs3.3 million to small groups, Rs5 million to Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi in Sindh, Rs5 million to Jam Sadiq, Rs2.5 million to Muhammad Khan Junejo, Rs2 million to Pir Pagara, Rs0.3 million to Molana Salahuddin, Rs5.4 million to small parties, Rs1.5 million to Humayun Muree, the son-in-law of Bugti, Rs4 million to Jamali, Rs1 million to Kakar, Rs0.7 million to Jam Yousuf, Rs0.5 million Bazinjo and Rs1 million were given to Nadir Mengal. (The News)
It is pertinent to mention that the value in rupees of 12 grams of gold was Rs33 at the time when money was misappropriated while it stands at Rs29,000 today. (The News)
Nawaz Kush Campaign and Fauji Chooran - By Rashid Murad:
Some relevant comments: Source: pkpolitics
runaway said:
Now NS claiming that 92 operation was done without his permission. What the hell? He was the Prime Minister of PAKISTAN not PUNJAB.
Kargil done without his knowledege..92 operation done without his permission. Was Qarz Utaro Mulk Sanwar and Dollar Freeze also done without his knowledge…bhola !!
Gul said:
I totally disagree the ‘quaidabad’ issue is of headline importance. This was clarified way back in 92 soon after the accusation was made.
Brig. Imtiaz’s bringing it up yet again, at this time, is nothing but a typical red herring to distract from the genuine issue of MQM’s terrorism, and the inquiries it now faces. It is also being used to somehow weaken Nawaz Sharif, who appears unstoppable in gaining popularity. It suits, and has always suited, the establishment not let any one political party or leader become very strong. Keep them all weak, thereby keeping own hold on country.
There can be NO other purpose in bringing up such a non issue at this time, and sending all the talking heads spinning into this rat hole.
Amir Hameed said:
@Gul, Re: your post above, I tend to disagree with you. We need to highlight the role of intelligence agencies in weakening the political structure of this country. Hamid Gul has also issued a statement recently where he has indicated how the agencies were involved in forming IJI. The bottom line is that agencies need to stay out of the political structure, period.
Gul said:
@Amir Hameed
I agree with you a 100% on the need to struggle against agencies’ role in preventing Pakistan from ever acquiring a strong democratic dispensation.
Where I don’t agree is that this dead issue, a red herring, will do that. As I said, the fact that there never was such a map was very much contradicted and clarified very shortly after the claim was made. Beating this idiotic and long failed, long disproven claim, NOW, is meant to serve purposes entirely different form highlighting agencies’ role in the past or the present.
Amir Hameed said:
@sacheebat, …unless politicians or parties are involved in anti-Pakistan or other illegal activities…
That is fine but it is related to treason and not the political structure. Agencies’ role should be to protect the country, both from inside and outside threats, BUT not to interject their influence in the political structure.
@Gul, Re: this being a dead issue; Altaf Hussain’s speech in India should also be a dead issue because we all know that it DID happen but we beat this dead horse every single chance we get. In the context of Jinahpur, I do not see any reason why we should not discus a) who orchestrated it, meaning where did the orders come from? b) why was it done? c) What was the role of the-then government?
These are all legitimate questions and should not be put under the cover. People have the right to ask and to know the truth.
Qadam barhao Nawaz Sharif, hum tumharay saath hain?
Talat Hussain
PML-N’s dangerous gamble
IN a democracy, the right to protest is fundamental and, if conducted peacefully, should not be opposed. From this perspective, the PML-N’s decision to throw its weight behind the lawyers’ protest in Islamabad on March 9 is well within the norms of democracy. Moreover, the PML-N has not reached this point in undue haste: it joined the federal cabinet after signing the Murree Declaration which called for the restoration of the pre-Nov 3, 2007 judiciary and, after the PPP-led government failed to fulfil its promise, the PML-N has lobbied from the opposition for the full restoration of the judiciary for nearly nine months now. The government’s claim that the vast majority of the deposed judges have been reappointed and, therefore, the lawyers’ movement has lost its raison d’être is weak. The central figure in the judges’ issue is deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chau-dhry and until his restoration it is difficult to argue that the lawyers and their supporters have no reason to protest.
Yet, though we accept the justness of the lawyers’ cause and the PML-N’s right to support them, we question whether now is the time to return to the politics of agitation. The transition to democracy which began last February is still at a delicate stage and the challenges facing the country — from militancy to the economy to political stability — are immense. While the principles of democracy are clear, so is the ever-present threat from undemocratic forces in the country. The history of street protests in Pakistan suggests that what begins as a genuine grievance snowballs into a systemic crisis and is exploited by others to undermine a fragile democracy. Tens of thousands of protesters converging on Islamabad and engaging in a stand-off with the government is a situation that has the potential to deteriorate into an ugly confrontation, in which the only winners will be the undemocratic forces. The judicial institution is a key pillar of a democratic state and its integrity and independence must be defended. But Pakistan is one of those unfortunate states in which upping the ante in defence of one institution runs the risk of undermining other institutions. For all its defects, after nearly a decade Pakistan has a parliament that is genuinely elected and includes the representatives of every major party. It is there that the judges’ issue must be pressed, for the sake of the judges, parliament, the people — and democracy itself. (Dawn)
In his op-ed in daily Express, Talat Hussain asks several valid questions exposing the unholy nexus between the (rogue elements in?) Pakistan Army and the Taliban.
Talat asks:
1. Why did not Pakistan Army eliminate/defeat terrorists/militants in its military operation in Swat in December 2007? Why was that task left unaccomplished?
2. Why did the security forces loosen their grip on the Taliban hideout in Peochar. Why were the surrounded militants allowed to freely creep into the streets, villages and towns of Swat?
3. Why despite the military operation, Taliban have been able to maintain and expand their stronghold in Swat? Taliban regularly conduct Shariat courts, lash and behead people; they have maintained check posts on roads and streets? What are our security forces doing?
4. To make the situation less than transparent and worse, certain elements are trying to confound the situation by avoiding to identify the real culprits.
5. Why has the entire force of the State (e.g., army, police) failed to rescue the valley of Swat and its citizens from the ugly clasps of a few dozen or (a few hundred) militants?
6. Why does the Pakistan Army attack and kill ordinary citizens while successfully avoiding the Taliban militants and their hideouts?
In his op-ed today, Talat Hussain poses some important questions which suggest that why despite the so called intensive military operation against militants, not even a single notable command of terrorist organizations has been captured or killed. Talat also questions the doubts about the (intentional?) failure of intelligence agencies in stopping the acts of terrorism in Pakistan including the heart of the federal capital Islamabad.
Short answer: Th rogue elements in ISI do not really want to eliminate jihadi (read terrorist) organization because of ISI's short-sighted focus on: (1) identifying and treating India as Pakistan's eternal enemy at all costs in order to justify heaving spending on Pakistan's defense budget; and (2) treating Afghanistan as Pakistan's legitimate possession in order to gain the so-called strategic depth.
There is therefore an urgent need that Pakistan Army must by force disband all kinds of Jihadi/sectarian/terrorist organizations, their leaders must be arrested and executed after summary judicial inquiry, and their supportes in politics and media must be placed behind bars because of their conspiracies against Pakistan's national security.
A tribute to Pakistani soliders fighting the terrorists of Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Sipah-e-Sahaba
Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto 1953-2007
Ghalib
The rose, with its redolent petals The water lily, with its robe of virgin white These have surely come to us in transmigration Of but a few of those Endowed with sublime beauty and grace. Some embrace death to sprout again But most, forever, in dust remain.
Links to Free Talkshows / Videos on Pakistan Politics
(Only) When love teaches the etiquette of self-knowledge, Are the Imperial Mysteries revealed to the slaves! Whether it be Attar or Rumi, Razi or Ghazali, Nothing comes to hand without supplication in the early dawn Do not lose hope in them, 0' wise guide! Even though the wayfarers are slow-moving, They are not without zeal (to reach the goal)! (Iqbal)
KARACHI: According to the sworn undertaking of ISI’s former chief Lieutenant General (rtd) Asad Durrani, which he took before Supreme Court (SC) on July 24, 1994, that he was instructed in September 1990 by the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), the former General Mirza Aslam Baig for provision of Logistic Support to embezzle money donated for election preparations from some Karachi traders and use the same donation money for Islami Jamhuri Ittehad (IJI) party.
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