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"Let us build Pakistan" has moved.
30 November 2009

All archives and posts have been transferred to the new location, which is: http://criticalppp.com

We encourage you to visit our new site. Please don't leave your comments here because this site is obsolete. You may also like to update your RSS feeds or Google Friend Connect (Follow the Blog) to the new location. Thank you.


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Friday, 27 November 2009

In defense of Nawaz Sharif: Are our politicians corrupt? Is Pakistan Army a sacred cow?



Rauf Klasra reveals some interesting details of the alleged 60 million dollar corruption by Nawaz Sharif.


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Blackwater, bloody civilians and our holy cows in uniform: A tale of two stories


While the pro-Taliban and anti-democracy anchors and journalists want the Pakistani nation to believe that the democratic government (President Zardari et al) are responsible for the alleged Blackwater rule in Pakistan, Cyril Almeida offers an alternative, critical perspective highlighting the connection between ISI, MI and Blackwater.

A tale of two stories
By Cyril Almeida
Friday, 27 Nov, 2009 (Dawn)

‘In real terms, there is virtually nothing that can be done to stop Blackwater and its ilk from operating here. Secret military operations are the blackest of black holes, and if the media and the public kick up a fuss over Blackwater, the army will quietly switch to some other opaque tactic.’

Military men have been up to some very bad things, we’ve learned this week. But the very different reactions to two seemingly unrelated stories in the media tell us at least one thing: things aren’t going to get better any time soon.

First, over to Jeremy Scahill, writing in The Nation, US: ‘At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the centre of a secret programme in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, ‘snatch and grabs’ of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan.’

Before you reach for your pitchfork to skewer evil Americans up to no good inside Pakistan without our leadership’s knowledge — military or civilian — consider what else Scahill has reported: ‘He [a former senior Blackwater executive] said that Blackwater is also working for the Pakistani government on a subcontract with an Islamabad-based security firm that puts US Blackwater operatives on the ground with Pakistani forces in counter-terrorism operations, including house raids and border interdictions, in the North West Frontier Province and elsewhere in Pakistan.’

‘Government’ can be misleading since it implies the civilian side of the state, but the story makes it clear elsewhere who inside Pakistan is really working with Blackwater: ‘According to the executive, Blackwater works on a subcontract for Kestral Logistics, a powerful Pakistani firm, which specialises in military logistical support, private security and intelligence consulting. It is staffed with former high-ranking Pakistani army and government officials.’

The reaction to these revelations should be severe; we don’t need America’s version of non-state actors, mercenaries, really, running around our country, whatever their purpose or utility. The fact that the Pakistan Army — that so-called bastion of professionalism and custodian of our national security — has acquiesced in or enabled the activities of these non-state actors as opposed to elected representatives — the so-called ‘bloody civilians’, aka politicians — doesn’t make it any better or well-thought-out an idea.

But here’s the problem: the selective outrage of the media and the public enables military men to remain immune from accountability.

On Tuesday, a front-page headline in Dawn proclaimed: ‘Intelligence agencies looking into oil, gas deals’. The accompanying article goes on to report: ‘According to sources, a team of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) has collected record of the proposed transactions and interviewed the managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and some senior officials of the petroleum ministry.’

Who authorised agencies run by the military to investigate commercial affairs? To whom is the ISI/MI team going to present its findings? To what purpose will the findings be applied? None of these questions have appeared to worry many here.

Fixated as the media and the public are on the corruption allegations that are churning the political waters at the moment, it seems to matter little who is probing corruption and why — just as long as someone is, there’s hope that the ‘dirty’ politicians can be drained from the swamp. It’s a simple, visceral reaction in a messy place where there are few good options: corruption, bad; those fighting corruption, good.

But bad as corruption may be, the revelation of the ISI/MI probe is, or ought to be, equally, if not more, unsettling. It is yet another piece of evidence that the transition to democracy, already shaky because of the political sins of the politicians, is headed in the wrong direction, and that the military is perhaps quietly working to nudge it in that wrong direction.

A bold pronouncement? Consider this. It is an open secret by now that President Zardari and the army high command have rocky relations. Neither really likes the other and some of that dislike is personal and some policy-driven. But the publicly known disagreements so far have been about policy issues: who controls the ISI, what is our declared nuclear posture, what conditions attached to US aid are acceptable.

Inserting the ISI and MI into the civilian domain to probe corruption, however, is not about policy, it is about politics. Only the incorrigibly naïve would believe that the intelligence team was sent over to fight corruption in the system.

But the point here is larger than the fate of Zardari or the government. The point is this: a law unto itself, the army’s actions remain frighteningly immune from accountability — and the lack of public and media opposition to its ‘good’ but possibly illegal actions (such as sending its intelligence operatives to investigate a very narrow, specific case of alleged corruption that could affect the presidential camp) means that there is absolutely no chance that the army’s bad and possibly illegal actions can ever be stopped.

In real terms, there is virtually nothing that can be done to stop Blackwater and its ilk from operating here. Secret military operations are the blackest of black holes, and if the media and the public kick up a fuss over Blackwater, the army will quietly switch to some other opaque tactic. And if that is subsequently exposed, too, the army will switch to a third.

Meaningful civilian oversight of the army is obviously a distant goal, but it will remain a chimera — an impossible idea — if the public and the media and the politicians never push back against the army on the smallest of issues.

That’s exactly what the corruption probe by the ISI/MI team should be: a relatively small matter on which there should be no ambiguity in denouncing it and demanding it be shut down at once.

There is, of course, no straight line between the army’s corruption probe and its murky arrangements with Blackwater. But the two stories fit into a bigger picture of the army setting and playing by its own rules. And unless the army gets its knuckles rapped for minor misdemeanours, why should it ever worry about being held accountable for its major sins?

cyril.a@gmail.com



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Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman: Do some soul searching please!

As to the media group [Jang Group / Geo TV] in question, they too need to do some soul searching to establish whether their practices of recent days are in conformity with best practice in journalism. Personalised vitriol may vent anger, but does not meet the test of impartiality, accuracy and restraint in recognition of the respect due to the head of state and high government functionaries. After all, the exchange should not degenerate to the level of a street brawl. None of the parties would come out of such a fracas smelling like roses.

Editorial in Daily Times, 27 Nov 2009

President Asif Ali Zardari delivered a hard-hitting speech at the PPP’s foundation day rally in Karachi, albeit from the presidency in Islamabad. Breaking his silence over what he termed were conspiracies being hatched to weaken his presidency and the PPP government, he vowed to fight all the “political actors” out to destabilise the democratic system. One media group in particular, which has for some time now has been waging what some have described as a concerted, motivated, vitriolic (at times bordering on the indecent) campaign against the incumbent in the presidency and the government led by the party of which he is the co-chairperson, came in for some harsh stick in the president’s address. Labelling them “pranksters masquerading as political actors”, he singled out the group’s editor and some TV anchorpersons for his harshest comments. He argued that neither the political parties nor the establishment were involved in trying to derail the system, only some “political jokers” were responsible for what he said was a vicious campaign to destabilise the government. He advised all such aspirants to a role in politics and those parties that had boycotted the last elections to wait their turn at the next elections, since the PPP and he had a mandate for five years and would see it through. Only the masses had the right to decide the fate of the PPP at the next elections, the president asserted.

It should not perhaps come as a surprise that the president has finally responded in like fashion to the heaps of calumny some media persons, and one group in particular, have been throwing at his person and the government for many months now. Pakistani politics is not known for civilised restraint, and the president may be forgiven for being all too human and succumbing to resentment after admirably holding his peace for all this time. Having said that, even if some concession is made to the fact that it was a political rally and the president was speaking in the avatar of the party co-chairperson, perhaps dignifying the visceral campaign against him and the government in mocking terms was not the right way to counter the one-sided tide. The PPP continues to suffer from a dearth of good media managers and spokespeople who can effectively counter criticism in an age of free media. Having vented his spleen, perhaps the co-chairperson should consider this weakness in the ranks of his party and government and take steps to bring forward people who do their homework diligently and are therefore well prepared against any onslaught, no matter from what quarter it emanates.

As to the media group in question, they too need to do some soul searching to establish whether their practices of recent days are in conformity with best practice in journalism. Personalised vitriol may vent anger, but does not meet the test of impartiality, accuracy and restraint in recognition of the respect due to the head of state and high government functionaries. After all, the exchange should not degenerate to the level of a street brawl. None of the parties would come out of such a fracas smelling like roses.

Restraint is advised to all sides in this controversy. The media group should revisit its policies and attitudes. The government and the presidency should also find better ways to counter what they regard as the spin against them in the media, fighting unacceptable arguments with better ones. On no account should the authorities indulge in heavy-handed tactics to try and intimidate the media or any part of it, as that will, in present-day Pakistan, have the opposite effect to that intended. Now that all is in the open, perhaps a truce or cooling off period on all sides should be the order of the day.

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Democrats, beware! - Article By Nadeem Paracha

In the following article, Nadeem Paracha offers a critical analysis of certain (pro-establishment, pro-Taliban and anti-democracy)elements in Pakistani media (e.g. Dr Shahid Masood, Shaheen Sehbai, Geo TV, and The News) who are dismantling the institution of democracy in Pakistan on various pretexts such as the anti-NRO and anti-politicians campaign.

The criticism against the PPP and PML (N) has very little to do with any constructive assessment, as such. On the contrary, quite like in the 1990s, some high profile newspaper reporters (and now also TV anchors) have yet again suddenly managed to get hold of ‘vital facts and figures on corruption,’ that have otherwise eluded even the most astute investigative reporters. Exactly where these facts and figures suddenly appear from, I’ll leave that to your own discretion. But the truth is these ‘reports’ read and sound more like anti-democracy indoctrination speeches than a crusading case of journalism, really. Have some columnists and TV personalities gotten down to once again preparing the ground for democracy’s disgrace? The alarming phenomenon is, that this time around these ‘forces’ (with their own tainted pasts) can now be seen on popular TV channels as well; meaning that this time the mantra against the ‘corrupt’ abomination called democracy is set to influence a much larger number of people.

Democrats, beware!
Ever since Field Martial Ayub Khan toppled a blundering conglomerate of civil servants and politicians in a military coup in 1958, as a culture, Pakistan was moulded into a desperate group of people to whom democracy was akin to corruption and chaos.

But compared to the 1950s, corruption scaled unprecedented heights during the Ayub dictatorship, and it was this corruption that generated a fresh interest in democracy among a new generation of politicians and youth in the 1960s.

Between 1967 and 1970, a movement led by progressive students and fiery politicians opened a new window of opportunity for democracy.

However, with the tragic dismemberment of the country in 1971 that saw East Pakistan become Bangladesh, this gave various politico-religious parties and conservative ‘pro-establishment’ politicians and intellectuals the fodder they needed to at once term the 1971 debacle as a demonic consequence of democracy.

In the 1970s this meant two things: first, that in spite of the exploitative ways the establishment had treated its Eastern wing, Bengalis were termed as ‘traitors.’ Secondly, some rightwing journalists and parties like the Jamaat-i-Islami started to claim that it was Bhutto who was responsible for the East Pakistan debacle.

Though a much loved leader, as Prime Minister, Bhutto awkwardly bounced between populist democracy and autocracy, in a way preparing his own downfall at the hands of forces that had been rejected by the electorate in the 1970 elections

Some suggest that Bhutto’s erratic behaviour in this context was mostly due to a concerted smear campaign against his personality (by the ‘rightwing press’) and against democracy itself that was said to be ‘undermining Islam’s place in Pakistan.’

Not surprisingly, during the 1977 elections, the anti-Bhutto coalition, the Pakistan National Alliance’s slogan became, ‘Nizam-i-Mustafa’ (a system based on Shariah).

Though Bhutto blundered by doctoring an election he could have won on his own, this gave his opponents the chance to pounce upon him like never before. But some opposition leaders panicked when Bhutto rallies once again started attracting large numbers of people.

A number of respected historians have claimed that the Alliance’s leadership then ‘requested’ the military (under General Ziaul Haq), to intervene, and which it gladly did.

Thus, in the next eleven years, state-owned media, politico-religious parties, anti-Bhutto politicians and educationists were used by the Zia dictatorship to engrave in the people’s minds the supposed incompatibility between Pakistan and democracy.

In the chaotic midst of rampant corruption, ethnic and sectarian violence, and the imposition of brutal laws (in the name of Islam) by the dictatorship, it continued to accuse democracy as a system that produced ‘monsters’ like Bhutto and divorced Islam from the political and social fabric of Pakistan.

The anti-democracy mantra and mindset cultivated during the dictatorship was now so well entrenched that even the revival of democracy after Zia’s death in 1988 failed to exorcise it.

Despite Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif’s own obvious shortcomings, it would not be far-fetched to suggest that at every turn during the 1990s, those associated with various intelligence agencies and politico-religious parties used a large section of the popular press to continue portraying democracy and democrats as abominations ‘planted by anti-Pakistan forces’ to ‘compromise Pakistan’s strategic victory in Afghanistan,’ and ‘work against Pakistan’s Islamic credentials’.

Another thing that was clearly exaggerated was the way democracy bred corruption because during the 1990s politicians weren’t any more or less corrupt than what they had been — along with a number of military men, bankers and businessmen — during the Zia dictatorship.

Today, some two years after the dramatic revival of democracy after the PPP, PML(N) and the lawyers’ movement successfully dislodged the Musharraf dictatorship, we are once again hearing the same mantra of ‘corruption’ and ‘incompetence’ coming from sections of the popular press and the private electronic media.

The criticism against the PPP and PML (N) has very little to do with any constructive assessment, as such. On the contrary, quite like in the 1990s, some high profile newspaper reporters (and now also TV anchors) have yet again suddenly managed to get hold of ‘vital facts and figures on corruption,’ that have otherwise eluded even the most astute investigative reporters. Exactly where these facts and figures suddenly appear from, I’ll leave that to your own discretion. But the truth is these ‘reports’ read and sound more like anti-democracy indoctrination speeches than a crusading case of journalism, really.

Have some columnists and TV personalities gotten down to once again preparing the ground for democracy’s disgrace?

The alarming phenomenon is, that this time around these ‘forces’ (with their own tainted pasts) can now be seen on popular TV channels as well; meaning that this time the mantra against the ‘corrupt’ abomination called democracy is set to influence a much larger number of people.

No wonder then, according to a recent British Council survey, a very small percentage of young Pakistanis have any faith in democracy; but up to 60 per cent of these young men and women trust the Army and, more alarmingly, up to 50 per cent exhibit faith in the madressahs — the very institutions that have been behind some of the messiest political, economic and cultural blunders that have continued to haunt Pakistan till this day. Source

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The desperation of Dr Shahid Masood to reveal his own evil designs


Frustrated by the fact that as a failed journalist and as a man of dubious integrity, he is abhorred and mistrusted by masses, journalists, politicians and establishment alike, Dr Shahid Masood has written a column titled "The desperation of PPP to shoot the messenger" in The News on 27 November 2009. Here is an analysis of some of his confessions and frustrations in his own words:

Topi drama of fake ban on Meray Mutabiq
"What has he gained by asking the Dubai government to ban my show, the denials by the Presidency or the Islamabad government notwithstanding? That the ban was imposed by Dubai on the specific request of Pakistani president was confirmed by the major newspaper ‘Khaleej Times’ where it is universally known that all local news, especially about the government, are published after they are officially cleared. So while the show was banned in Dubai, it was still on air on Geo from a different location, and it will continue to be aired."

I am a proud Sindhi but I hate Sindhis
"I am a proud Pakistani and also a proud Sindhi, but I don’t believe in the Sindh card. I am sure that such a card does not exist anymore...This is the final showdown the PPP is trying to start so that if President Zardari is disqualified, the Sindh Card, as it is generally known, could be played effectively."

I am frustrated with the anti-establishment role of Nawaz Sharif
"The PML-N is waiting in the wings for the PPP to collapse under the weight of its own follies. This is not a sane approach because as a responsible party leader Mian Nawaz Sharif should start talking to all the political leaders and discuss these issues in an effort to bring some sanity to the PPP thinking. No one wants the system to go down, but if Mr Zardari is prepared to blackmail the country with the Sindh and Karachi Cards, he must be stopped now, by political means."

I want to see an ethnic riot in Karachi
The role of the Awami National Party is also crucial in this situation as its role in any clash between the PPP and the MQM in Karachi will be pivotal as thousands of Pathans, with arms, could play havoc.

Benazir Bhutto was my best friend and I have some secrets against Zardari
Benazir Bhutto, had she been alive, would never have gone this route. The amount of respect and affection shown by her to me is my valuable asset as a journalist, and the lengthy meetings with the late lady in which she used to share with me her personal miseries are sacred trust of her that I would resist to divulge at least for the time being.

Supreme Court is my last hope to derail the democratic system
The fact is that Nov 28 is approaching fast, and it would bury the notorious NRO forever. Then the Supreme Court will hear the petitions of Roedad Khan and Dr Mubashir Hasan to determine whether the NRO was ever a good law.

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Zardari directs not to issue statements against MQM. Altaf appreciates President’s statement.

Agents of the anti-democracy establishment, i.e., Shaheen Sehbai and Shahid Masood, must be really unhappy on this development. Long live democracy. Down with yellow journalism!


Friday, November 27, 2009 (Geo TV)

Zardari directs not to issue statements against MQM

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has directed his party leaders not to issue statements against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) amid the rising tension between MQM and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP).

According to sources, President Zardari telephoned Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Qaim Ali Shah and Provincial Interior Minister Zulfiqar Mirza directing them not to issue statements against MQM.

Altaf appreciates President’s statement
Friday, November 27, 2009

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Quaid Altaf Hussain has highly appreciated the statement of the President, Asif Ali Zardari directing the leaders of the People’s Party not to issue statement against MQM.

In a statement issued here, Altaf Hussain said President’s statement augured well. He also advised MQM leaders that they should also be highly cautious in this context, while issuing statements and act wisely for a turnaround from the present acerbic environment.

MQM information office in a statement said that Quaid-e-Tahrik Altaf Hussain has expressed his displeasure over the latest poem of a member of Rabita Committee, Mustafa Azizabadi, which was based on his personal views and his own act. Rabita Committee has directed Syed Mustafa Azizabadi that he should refrain from publishing any of his poems based on political themes without consulting the Rabita Committee.
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Thursday, 26 November 2009

Shame on PPP and MQM. Sort out your differences before Taliban terrorists take over Karachi



Guest blog by Aamir Mughal

Both PPP AND MQM seem to have no shame because since the day this NRO debate started, both parties have been screaming loudly, levelling allegations against each other of loot, plunder and killing etc. Both have no worries and they are least bothered about the miseries of creeping Talibanisation, back breaking poverty, lawlessness, joblessness, unemployment, 45% living below poverty line and what not and now in 2009 they are back to the DIRTY, FILTHY AND TREACHEROUS POLITICS OF the 1990s. Shame on both of these parties.

It seems that secret hands of establishment are once again successful in creating a conflict between the two largest political parties in Sindh. It seems that the secret protectors and promoters of Taliban and extremism in the establishment and the media want these two secular parties to fight each other so that the ground is levelled for fascists of Jamaat-e-Islami, Taliban and Dr Shahid Masood mafia.

پاکستان کے صوبہ سندھ کے صوبائی وزیر برائے داخلہ ڈاکٹر ذوالفقار مرزا نے کہا ہے کہ متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے کارکنوں اور رہنماؤں پر دائر ساڑھے تین ہزار مقدمات فراڈ کے ذریعےختم کیے گئے ہیں اور چیف جسٹس افتخار محمد چودھری اس کا از خود نوٹس لیں۔

’متحدہ کے مقدمات فراڈ سے ختم کیے گئے‘

ریاض سہیل
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، کراچ


Nominations filed for president
August 27, 2008

Scrutiny of the nomination papers would be conducted on Thursday August 28 at the election commission secretariat by the returning officer Justice (eetd) Qazi Muhammad Farooq. Talking to the media outside the election commission office, MQM deputy convener Farooq Sattar said his party has supported PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s candidature for office of the president unconditionally.

Farooq Sattar said the MQM has supported Zardari just for the cause of democracy and wanted same backing from its former government ally the PML-Q. “A decision on our participation in the ruling coalition is up to the discretion of the allies,” he added. The MQM leader said the political and economic stability should be major priority of all democratic forces as the country was passing through defining circumstances. “MQM chief Altaf Hussain has also appealed to our old ally Mian Nawaz Sharif to review his decision,” Farooq Sattar said.

Source: http://elections.com.pk/newsdetails.php?id=657

MQM to support Zardari for presidential slot: Altaf

Monday, August 25, 2008
By our correspondent

Karachi

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/print1.asp?id=131868

The coordination committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee will support Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari for the presidential slot, MQM Founder and Chief Altaf Hussain said Sunday. Addressing a general workers’ meeting at the office of the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF), Altaf asked workers whether they approved the decision of the Rabita Committee. The huge gathering endorsed the decision. He also appealed to the Haq Parast people of Punjab to support Zardari and urged Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif to support Zardari for his presidential election and avoid confrontation.

Hussain said that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) and the Awami National Party (ANP) had also announced to support Zardari, who was at the moment the most suitable candidate as his wife had given her life for the restoration of democracy. Benazir Bhutto’s father and brother also sacrificed their lives for democracy, Hussain said. He asked Sharif to avoid any kind of crisis as the need of the hour at the moment was to remain united. Hussain said that after he had extended support to Zardari it was being given an ethnic colour and the PML-N had started opposing the idea.

Referring to sectarian clashes in D.I. Khan and Parachinar, Hussain said that the MQM could play the role of mediator and bring closer various religious scholars for creating harmony among different sects. He paid tribute to the law-enforcement agencies who are trying to control the highly tense situation in D.I. Khan and Parachinar. He lauded the role of the Adviser to the Prime Minister for Interior Rehman Malik for arranging food and shelter for those people who had migrated. Hussain referred to his past speeches and said they were given a wrong impression and said the MQM was neither against the Pakhtoons nor the ANP. The MQM is against Talibanisation, Hussain said. He stressed that the party would never allow Talibanisation in Sindh, including Karachi as Sindh was the land of Sufis and citizens of this province were peace-loving. He said the people of Karachi were against extremism and any kind of terrorism. He asked the Pakhtoons and the ANP to not get provoked as the MQM was not against them.He also appealed to the well-to-do people to donate generously zakat, fitra and other donations in Ramazan to Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) as this organisation was helping the needy. Hussain’s address from London was simultaneously telecast in 19 cities of Pakistan. A KKF board of trustees was also formed and Dr Farooq Sattar was named its Secretary
General.


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Shoaib Bhutta: Geo TV bribes judiciary to suppress the voice of an independent journalist



By Abdul Nishapuri

Shoaib Bhutta is the name of a courageous journalist who tried to expose the evil designs of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his commerical empire known as Geo TV / Jang Group. He was the one who revealed a few weeks ago that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman has demanded 400 crore rupees from President Zardari in order to stop the anti-democracy propaganda by Jang and Geo TV.

Additional Sessions Judge, Islamabad, Muhammad Tanvir Mir, has been bribed ten million rupees (one crore) by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman to issue an arrest warrnat of a serving journalist. Independent journalists have protested against this act of Geo TV/Jang group / Judiciary as an attack on freedom of press.

Here is a history of Shoaib Bhutta:

Pakistan media freedom report 2002
On 5 August, Shoaib Bhutta, journalist with the weekly Capital, was severely beaten by armed individuals in a street of Faisalabad (centre of the country). The attackers were wearing security guard uniforms. Shoaib Bhutta suffered a broken leg. He was one of the rare journalists who had ignored the governmental directive inciting journalists to actively cover the trial of Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Source

Reporters wihtout Borders: 2008 Report on Pakistan
Serious police brutality
Brutality and raids against the media also accompanied the imposition of emergency rule [of General Musharraf in 2007]. The secret services also went after journalists, and even more aggressively. Eight agents arrested Shoaib Bhutta, editor of the Urdu-language Daily Tulou at his office in Islamabad in November 2007. In two days of questioning, during which he was kept chained up and deprived of sleep, they quizzed him about why he was critical of the authorities. Source

Newspaper editor released
By Our Staff Reporter (Dawn, November 20, 2007)

ISLAMABAD, Nov 19: An Urdu newspaper editor, who was picked up by the personnel of law enforcement agencies at the weekend, was released here on Monday evening.

Shoaib Bhutta, the editor of Daily Tulou, was handed over to a group of journalists some 500 meters away from the Cantonment police station at around 6:30pm.

Mr Bhutta was picked up by a group of eight people believed to be personnel of a security agency from his office last Saturday night.

Mr Bhutta, when contacted, said he was picked up from his office, blindfolded and taken to an unidentified place where he was kept in the same condition till Monday morning.

During the period he was not allowed to sleep and was fettered too.

The personnel informed him that he was detained allegedly on the orders of the Punjab chief minister and the inspector general of police.

The personnel also asked him why he wrote against the president and the chief minister, but they did not produce any material in this regard on his request.

The captors also inquired about people who assist the journalists in their ongoing movement, he added.

Mr Bhutta quoted the personnel as saying that their high-ups directed them to arrest him, besides checking his record.

Sohail Iqbal, the chief editor of Online news agency, told Dawn that the president of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club Mushtaq Minhas asked him to contact the station house officer of the Cantonment police station and get the editor released.

He said that the SHO told him that Mr Bhutta was handed over to him on Sunday night. This was a very high-level matter and Deputy Inspector General of Police Rawalpindi himself supervised it, Mr Iqbal quoted the SHO as saying.

“He (Mr Bhutta) was released as he was cleared during investigation,” the SHO told Mr Iqbal.

Meanwhile, a group of five personnel wearing Punjab Constabulary uniform stormed the office of Daily Tulou located at G-7/1 Monday morning and seized all the office record and computer.

They also searched the office from top to bottom. However, the record and computer were also handed over to the journalists in the evening. Source

Court [bribed by Geo TV] issues arrest warrant for Bhutta
Thursday, November 26, 2009 (The News)

ISLAMABAD: Additional Sessions Judge, Islamabad, Muhammad Tanvir Mir, has issued an arrest warrant for Muhammad Shoaib Bhutta, publisher of a daily in Islamabad.

The judge summoned him on December 4 to ensure his presence in the court. The court issued an arrest warrant for Bhutta on the complaint of Abdul Aziz Mohmand, resident editor the Jang, The News and Geo editorial management, and on the basis of arguments and evidence presented before the court.

Abdul Aziz Mohmand in his application stated that in the best national interests, the Jang Group had played a leading role in the movement for an independent judiciary and rightly represented the masses. Besides, the Jang Group and Geo TV raised the issues of governance and corruption among the masses, due to which the group has to face serious challenges, he added.

He stated that the said person published defamatory, unfounded, false and baseless reports and financial charges in his newspaper against the Jang Group to damage its popularity and reputation among the masses.

The daily alleged that the head of the Jang Group editorial had sent a message to important personalities of the government that if they wanted end to one-sided campaign against them and personnel of the judiciary in the group newspapers, editorials and electronic media, they have to accept their demands. After the government refusal the group editorial head gave go-ahead to his workers and said that if the government is facing difficulties, then it should cut advertisements of other newspapers and electronic media to fulfil their shortage.

Abdul Aziz Mohmand maintained that the said publisher republished such baseless materials twice, and damaged the reputation of the group and tried to weaken its commitment.

The petitioner said that besides publishing baseless news against Geo TV, Daily Jang and The News the publisher Malik Shoaib Bhutta also printed posters and panaflex banners with logos of Geo TV, Jang and The News. The posters contained extremely contemptuous sentences against the Jang Group of Newspapers and Geo TV. When the workers of the Jang and well-wisher readers removed those banners and posters after the city administration failed to do so despite repeated complaints, the said publisher reported the next day, “the Jang Group could not tolerate few banners and posters against it”.

The same person also levelled baseless allegations against Jang Group during a talkshow on official TV channel. The petitioner requested the police to register an FIR against the accused, but the police neither responded positively nor registered an FIR.

Abdul Aziz Mohmand pleaded in his petition that this act was crime under section 499, 5000, 501, 502 and 502A of the Pakistan Penal Code. Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Tanvir Mir accepted the petition for regular hearing on the basis of arguments and evidences and said it seemed that Mohammad Shoaib Bhutta had intentionally committed defamation, hence his arrest warrant were being issued. The court adjourned the hearing till December 4, 2009 and ordered to appear before the court. Source

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Sultani Gawah: Have a heart, you are a 'crown witness', Mr Sehbai.


By Abdul Nishapuri

'Sultani Gawah' is an Urdu word meaning 'crown witness of the prosecution'. Those who understand the nature of power politics in Pakistan know where exactly crown (power) lies in Pakistan. Not very long ago, in 2002, Shaheen Sehbai was forced to leave the country because of his anti-ISI and anti-Pakistan Army columns. However, after a few years in exile (in which he wrote scores of articles defaming not only Pakistan Army but also declaring Pakistan as a terrorist state), he was allowed to return to the country in 2005. However, this time his role was a bit different. He was a "Sultani Gawah" of the establishment against the political class of Pakistan. This "Sultani Gawah" has nevertheless more than one masters, within and outside Pakistan.

In his words (The News, 26 November 2009): "Zardari's political colleagues are easy for him to handle because many of them are in the same boat of looted wealth and plundered resources." Source

Here is a brief historical overview which will help understand Shaheen Sehbai's current manoeuvres and manipulations.

Sehbai exposes ISI's connections with terrorists 2002

Mr Shaheen Sehbai (veteran journalist; currently resident editor of The News), escaped from Pakistan in 2002 to save himself from the so-called wrath of the establishment (Pakistan Army / ISI), after the controversy surrounding his story about the murder of Daniel Pearl. It was apparently simply to obtain the Green Card for himself, and his family in the United States. The Sehbai family dream came true when they finally got the USA passports.

On February 16, 2002, Sehbai let a story run that "exposed" Pakistan Army's ties with terrorist bombings in India (a story that also ran in The Washington Post and The International Herald Tribune). The government immediately stopped its advertisements in The News International, and asked The News to take action against those involved in the creation and publishing of the false story defaming the country and Pakistan Army.

Sehbai fired by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman 2002

Because of the Daniel Pearl situation at the time, the Pakistani government was anxious to crush any rumors of connections to terrorism, and made a great deal of effort to reform its image. After the February 16th, 2002 article, The News CEO, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman asked Sehbai to resign because of his violation of the newspaper policy.

International smear campaign against Pakistan 2002-2005

In the USA, Mr Sehbai then started to run a web based news service, i.e., South Asia Tribune, funded through dubious sources (most probably by Mossad and CIA), in which he reported many cases of government and military corruption in Pakistan.

In 2005 he announced that he was closing The South Asian Tribune after three years of service. It is understood that he negotiated a deal with the establishment (Pakistan Army) and agreed to be a sultani gawah (crown witness for the prosecution) to promote establishment's interests in Pakistan.

During his self-imposed exile in the USA, he used to raise hue and cry against the military establishment that he and his family members’ life was in danger, but the so-called danger apparently vanished after the whole family getting the Green Cards.

Sultani Gawah 2005 - present

He then returned to Pakistan and that too under the same Musharraf regime, and joined ARY TV channel, then GEO, and then the News, where he is presently working. However, the secret deal struck between Sehbai and the ISI revolved around his role as a Sultani Gawah, an agents of the establishment against the political class in Pakistan.

Upon Zardari coming to power, he suddenly became active, and started writing almost a daily column in order to be noticed by Zardari. He was hoping to be appointed High Commissioner to Canada as he was competing with Haqqani. When this could not materialize, he became more bitter and along with other tools of the establishment (the pro-Taliban lobby including but not limited to Dr Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi etc) started yelping against the democratic government of Pakistan.

Invitation for a martial law 2008


Not only this Mr. Sehbai also tried to drag Pakistan Amry and wrote a letter to the Chief of Army Staff General Kayani urging him to intervene before the installation of political set up. The situation would be quite different if Mr. Sehbai was made ambassador to Canada, he would be praising Govt but alas the greedy dog could not get and now woofing madly.

Why is Sehbai unhappy with President Zardari?

Here is the list of various demands by Shaheen Sehbai and his cronies presented to President Zardari:

1. Removal of a criminal case against Shaheen Sehbai which was registered against Sehbai in 2001. The person who filed the complaint with the Rawalpindi police on 21 August is Khalid Hijazi, who is the former husband of a cousin of Sehbai. The complaint alleges that Sehbai carried out an “armed robbery” in his home on 22 February 2001. Sehbai was told by President Zardari that he must face these charges in a court of law.

2. Sehbai tried to approach Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar for ’settlement’ of this case but his request was turned down.

3. Shaheen Sehbai’s team members (Ansar Abbasi and Shahid Masood in particular) are vehement supporters of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. They are upset with President Zardari because of his decision to fight terrorist of Taliban and Al Qaeda.

4. On February 16, 2002, Sehbai let a story run that “exposed” government Pakistani ties with terrorist bombings in India (a story that also ran in The Washington Post and The International Herald Tribune by the work of the reporter, not Sehbai). The government immediately stopped its advertisements in The News, and put inordinate pressure on the company to fire those involved in the creation and publishing of the story.

5. Mr. Sehbai returned to America and started a web based newspaper, The South Asian Tribune, in which he produced many false stories against Pakistan. Obviously he became bitter towards Musharraf because of Musharraf’s tough stance on war on terror and also because Musharraf had decided to weaken ties between ISI and Jihadis/Talibans. In 2005, Sehbai, announced that he was closing The South Asian Tribune after three years of service.

6. Invitation to the Army Chief General Kayani to intervene in politics: In his highly controversial article in Daily The News on 2 September 2008, Shaheen Sehbai states that the very fact that Asif Zardari is about to become the head of the state of Pakistan proves how big a mess Musharraf made. He says thus it is the army’s duty to fix it as the political parties certainly are not capable of doing it. “Risking the charge that will instantly be thrown at me that I am inviting the Army to intervene again”, he offers a seven-step plan for General Kiyani.Extremely shameful articles by Shaheen Sehbai. He is asking for a new Martial Law. What a shame

7. In 2009, Sehbai approached Zardari to be appointed as a High Commissioner to Canada. Apparently, the military establishment declined to approve this nomination because of Sehbai's previous hate speech and anti-Pakistan Army campaign in the international media.

Source

Here is an excerpt of Shaheen Sehbai's interview with the Times of India (dated 18 March 2002):

Exposing the Pakistani establishment's links with terrorists can be a hazardous job. It cost Daniel Pearl his life, and Shaheen Sehbai, former editor of 'The News', a widely-read English daily in Pakistan his job. Fearing for his life, Sehbai is now in the US He speaks to Shobha John about the pressure on journalists from the powers-that-be in Pakistan:

Q. Is it true you had to quit because a news report angered the government?
A. On February 16, our Karachi reporter, Kamran Khan, filed a story quoting Omar Sheikh as saying that he was behind the attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, the Kashmir assembly attack and other terrorist acts in India. Shortly after I am, I got a call on my cellphone from Ashfaq Gondal, the principal information officer of the government, telling me that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had intercepted the story and I should stop its publication.

I told him I was not prepared to do so. He then called my newspaper group owner/editor-in-chief, Mir Shakil ur Rehman in London and asked him to stop the story. Rehman stopped it in the Jang, the sister newspaper in Urdu but could not do so in The News as I was unavailable.

The next day, all editions of The News carried the story. It was also carried by The Washington Post and The International Herald Tribune the same day, as Kamran also reports for The Post. On February 18, all government advertising for the entire group was stopped.

On February 22, Rehman rushed to Karachi and called a meeting at 10 p m. He told me the government was 'very angry' at the story. He said he had been told to sack four journalists, including myself, if the ads were to be restored. He asked me to proceed to Islamabad to pacify the officials. Sham informed us that he had contacted the officials and was told by Anwar Mahmood, the information secretary that 'the matter was now beyond his capacity and we will have to see the ISI high-ups to resolve it'. I was told to go and see the ISI chief in Islamabad and also to call Anwar Mahmood on Eid and improve my 'public relations' with him.

I left the meeting with the firm resolve that I would neither call nor meet anyone, even at gunpoint. Sham, however, left for Islamabad to meet the officials. His meetings were unsuccessful. From my sources, I learned that the ISI and the government were not prepared to lift the ban unless I gave them specific assurances. If I refused, there may be trouble for me as the owner was already under pressure to fire me and the other three journalists.

On February 27, I took a flight out of Karachi to New York. On February 28, I received a memo from my owner accusing me of policy violations. In reply, on March 1, I sent in my resignation.

Q. Is the ISI still keeping a close watch on journalists after Daniel Pearl's killing?
A. The ISI has been a major player in domestic politics and continues to be so. That means it has to control the media and right now, it is actively involved in doing so. Pearl's murder has given them more reasons to activate the national interest excuse.

Q. Is there a sense of desperation within the Pakistan government that it should not be linked in any way to events in India?
A. Yes. That's why when our story quoted Omar Sheikh claiming such links, the government came down hard on us.

Q. Has there been any pressure on the staff of 'The News' to 'conform'?
A. Yes. The News was under constant pressure to stop its aggressive reporting on the corruption of the present government. A few months back, Pakistan International Airlines stopped all ads to The News as we ran a couple of exposes. A major story on the government owned United Bank was blocked when we sought the official version. Intelligence agencies were deputed to tail our reporters in Islamabad.

Q. This is not the first time you and your family have been under pressure, is it?
A. I have been the target of physical attacks in the past too for stories against the government. The first was in August 1990 when I was arrested and detained for 36 hours and falsely charged for drinking, before a judge gave bail. The second time, in December 1991, three masked men broke into my house in Islamabad, ransacked it, pulled guns on my two sons, beat them up and told them, "Tell your father to write against the government again and see what happens". In 1995, I was threatened once again and I had to take my entire family away. My newspaper then, Dawn, decided to post me to Washington as their correspondent. This time, I feared that I could be physically targeted again. So I decided to leave the country.

Q. What do you propose to do now?
A. I will be writing out of Washington for some time and will return to Pakistan around the October polls. My days in Pakistan were very exciting as I maintained a completely independent editorial policy and pursued it to the last day. In the memos written by the owner, he repeatedly complains that I was not consulting him on policies. I had no need to, as he watches his own commercial interests. Source


Oath of citizenship (United States)

The United States Oath of Allegiance (officially referred to as the "Oath of Allegiance," 8 C.F.R. Part 337 (2008)) is an oath that must be taken by all immigrants who wish to become United States citizens. The first officially recorded Oaths of Allegiance were made on May 30th, 1778 at Valley Forge, during the Revolutionary War.

The current oath is as follows:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

In acknowledgement whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.
Shaheen Sehbai 15 October 2004.

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Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Pakistani People's Action against Geo TV and Jang Group

’اسٹیبلشمنٹ نہیں کچھ اداکار حکومت ہٹانا چاہتے ہیں ‘

کراچی میں پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے تینتالیسواں یومِ تاسیس کے جلسہ عام سے ایوان صدر اسلام آباد سے بذریعہ سیٹلائیٹ خطاب کرتے ہوئے صدر آصف علی زرداری نےکہا کہ پارلیمنٹ اور اپوزیشن بالغ ہوچکی ہے، اس لیے اپوزیشن اور نہ ہی اسٹیبلمشنٹ چاہتی ہے کہ یہ جمہوری نظام پٹڑی سے اترے۔ صدر زرداری نے کہا ’صرف سیاسی اداکاروں کی یہ خواہش ہے۔‘

انہوں نے کہا کہ سندھ نے پاکستان بنایا اور پیپلز پارٹی نے آج تک اسے قائم و دائم رکھا ہے اور آئندہ بھی رکھیں گے۔’چند لوگ یہ سمجھتے ہیں کہ اداکاری کرکے ان سے ان کا حق چھین لیں گے۔‘

صدر زرداری نے پاکستان کے ایک بڑے میڈیا گروپ کا نام لیے بغیر کہا کہ ایک چینل کی اجارہ داری قائم ہوگئی ہے ’وہ اپنا ریٹ لینا چاہتے ہیں مگر ہم اس کے ریٹ دیئے بغیر یہاں پہنچے تھے، ان کے ریٹ دیئے بغیر یہاں بیٹھے ہیں اور ان کا ریٹ دیئے بغیر آنے والے انتخابات میں کامیاب ہوں گے ۔‘

By Abdul Nishapuri

Pakistani People's response to blackmailing by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his slaves at Geo TV / Jang Group


The informed and politically aware people of Pakistan will not succumb to the blackmailing of Geo TV / Jang Group (Jang / The News).

This is our message to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his anti-democracy propaganda team, namely Dr Shahid Masood (President of Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists), Ansar Abbsi (Taliban agent), Shaheen Sehbai (the Zionist mouthpiece against ISI, the USA passport holder), Muhammad Saleh Zaafir (Taliban apologist) and others.

DO NOT act as pawns of the establishment in trying to derail democracy. Do not weaken the already fragile institution of constitutional government in Pakistan.

DO NOT defame politicians while remaining criminally silent over corruption and mismanagement by the holy cows of the military and civil establishment in Pakistan.

DO NOT exploit the innocent people of Pakistan by creating an artificial Islam versus USA hype. Don't defame the war on terror; don't eulogize Taliban butchers.

If Geo TV, Jang and The News do not refrain from yellow journalism, and do not refrain from hatching conspiracies against the people's government, then we, the people of Pakistan, will be entitled to use the following legal means to express our displeasure:

  1. We will stop buying Jang, The News and other newspapers published by the Jang Group.
  2. We will stop subscribing to Geo TV and other TV channels of the Jang Group in Pakistan and abroad.
  3. As owners and managers of private and multinational companies, we will not seek to advertise our products and services through Geo TV, Jang, The News and other publications and outlets of the Jang Group.
  4. We will ask cable operators in our cities, towns and local communities to stop transmitting Geo TV to our homes and businesses.
  5. We will put public pressure on federal, provincial and local governments to refrain from pumping the public advertising revenue to the media outlets, newspapers and TV channels of the Jang Group.
  6. We will file cases in the courts of law in all the four provinces as well as in FATA, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan against the administrators and owners of Geo TV and the Jang Group for trying to subvert the legal and constitutional government of Pakistan through unconstitutional means.
List of publications and TV channels by the Jang Group:
  • Daily Jang
  • The News
  • Geo TV
  • Daily News
  • Daily Awam
  • Weekly Akhbar-e-Jahan
  • Weekly The Mag
  • Geo News
  • Geo TV (entertainment)
  • Geo Super
  • Aag TV
Request to our visitors and contributors:

We at 'Let us build Pakistan' request you to provide us with substantial legal evidence and documents against the wrongdoings of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his team so that these blackmailers could be dragged in a court of law in due course of time. We assure you of complete confidentiality and anonymity. Please write to us at: pakistanteam@gmail.com

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Rhetoric of constitution and the dubious role of the Lahore High Court

Guest blog by: Aminah Bhutto
Posted by: Jarri Mirza

President Asif Ali Zardari's address today (25 November 2009) to the party workers brought a new debate on electronic media. This new debate is part of the smear campaign against Asif Ali Zardari which was started since PPP came into power last year.

Media's new rhetoric is that the President of Pakistan can't address a public procession . As a party worker I want to ask them why this sacred constitution is forgotten when judges and military generals make political statements . Here is an example of the misconduct by Chief Justice of Lahore High Court (an ex-servant of Nawaz Sharif, not very much different from another servant Rafiq Tarar). Chief (Cheap) Justice Lahore High Court in an address in July 2009 pointed towards Asif Ali Zardari as a murderer of his late wife and our beloved leader Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. He suggested that government of the day is not interested in finding her murderers!. CJ Sharif's statement is not only unconstitutional but also unethical but nobody cared. Not at least the so called guardians of law and justice in our electronic media.

Govt. knows Bhutto’s assassins: Lahore High Court CJ

Lahore, 18 July 2009 : While the UN commission is in the country to probe former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif’s shocking claims that the government is aware about all the facts regarding the murder, has raised questions over the PPP-led government’s intentions.

Addressing the members of the Islamabad District Bar Association, Sharif said the government is aware about the facts behind the killing, and that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) should quiz the government rather than making an appeal before the Chief Justice.

“Everyone knows who is responsible for the Karsaz tragedy and the killers of Benazir. The Chief Justice cannot do everything,” The Daily Times quoted Sharif, as saying.

The three-member UN Inquiry Commission arrived in Islamabad earlier this week and met President Asif Ali Zardari to begin a sixth-month investigation into Bhutto’s killing.

The UN probe team includes Chilean Ambassador to UN, Heraldo Munoz, former attorney general of Indonesia, Marzuki Darusman, and a veteran of the Irish National Police, Peter Fitzgerald. (ANI) Source

Tailpiece

LHC rejects by- polls petitions
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) has rejected the intra court petitions requesting to organize by-polls in Punjab.

A Division Bench of LHC rejected the petition filed by President Awami Muslim League Shiekh Rasheed Ahmed and other candidates running in the by-polls on the seats of National and Punjab assemblies lying vacant in the province, endorsing the earlier-given verdict given by a single member bench of the same court, of delaying bye-election in the province.

The bench also directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to consult Punjab government on rescheduling the bye-polls in the province in the light of single bench’s verdict.

Meanwhile, Shiekh Rasheed has announced to challenge the verdict of Lahore High Court and rejection of his petition against it in Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Talking to newsmen here after the hearing, AML chief claimed that the by-polls would be held in 2010. Source

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"We are in government because we have got people's mandate" - President Zardari



KARACHI: Following weeks of sharp criticism, President Asif Ali Zardari assured PPP supporters that his government would complete its five year term in a televised address, DawnNews reported.

In an address to PPP supporters in Karachi via video link from the Presidency, the President lashed out at critics for painting a grim picture of his government.

Addressing a rally of thousands of party loyalists at Shahra-e-Faisal in Karachi, Zardari marked the PPP’s 43rd anniversary by hitting out at what he called ‘certain forces’ and ‘sections of the media’ for increasing criticism over the government and casting doubt over its future.

‘Parties criticizing the government should wait for next elections to prove their point, as that would strengthen democracy,’ said the President, adding that ‘the PPP will not be blackmailed by few political actors.’

Highlighting the PPPs successes and national appeal, Zardari highlighted that his party was ‘the first to apologise to the people of Balochistan,’ and that winning elections in ‘Gilgit-Baltistan was a tremendous achievement.’

The President went on to say that he had returned to Pakistan to ‘fight for democracy’ despite knowing that he would ‘be sent to jail.’

He went on to add that his party was fulfilling their promises to the people, and that ‘it is the PPP’s right to rule for five years.’— DawnNews

live.jpg

PPP to remain strong, complete its term: President Zardari

KARACHI, Nov 25 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday said the PPP remains strong and committed to defend democracy, will complete its term and foil the “attempts of political actors” to de-rail the system.“We will foil all conspiracies against the party. We are not afraid of conspiracies and if there are any, we will fight,” the President said in an address to the party workers and leaders gathered here at Peoples Chowrangi on PPP’s Founding Day.

“It is the right of PPP government to complete its tenure. I can say proudly that the parliament and the opposition do not want the system to get derailed.”

“Neither the political parties, nor the establishment want it either, but it is only a handful of political actors. They should wait for their turn till the next election,” he added.

President described those critical of the party as “political actors” and said the party was not afraid of any “dates” being given by some.

“We are here because we have got a mandate.”

The event held next to the Mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was addressed live by the President from the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad, and attended by thousands of party workers who waved the tri-colour party flags and raised slogans of ‘jeay Bhutto’ and “aik Zardari sab pey bhari’ - one Zardari is superior to all others, throughout the event.

The event was also addressed by various tiers of party leaders including Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Minister Labour Syed Khurshid Shah.

The President said once again a campaign to tarnish image of the party was being carried out.

“The people of Pakistan elected us through democratic vote and gave it a mandate and it is the democratic right of the party to complete its term.”

The President expressed complete confidence in the party and its workers and said “courageous and devoted workers of PPP are the strength of the party.”

“You have never, and will never give up the struggle against anti people forces,” the President said and added “the dream of democracy has survived only because you have shed your blood and rendered numerous sacrifices.”

He said Sindh has played a key role in the creation of Pakistan and will render every sacrifice for the country. “We have to save Pakistan,” he added.

The President said some other political parties were not seeing what he was foreseeing and said “we want that the party of Mian Nawaz Sharif succeeds while other smaller parties also succeed.”

He said the PPP won a huge mandate in Gilgit Baltistan which was a proof of its popularity.

The President said the PPP draws its strength from Shaheeds Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. It was the party that decided who will hold which post.

It was the PPP that called upon Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, in the name of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to become the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, he said and recalled the same was done for him.

“Bhuttoism is now in the President House and that is what causes fear amongst some,” he said.

“It was the same President House that echoed that late Benazir Bhutto was a security risk. Today it echoes with slogans of ‘Jeay Bhutto’ and the credit goes to the sacrifices of its leaders and workers.

“Now I can say with confidence that Bhuttoism lives and will continue to live in the hearts and minds of the people,” the President Zardari said as the venue reverberated with resounding slogans of ‘Jeay Bhutto’.

He said it was the PPP that gave rights to people of Balochistan, FATA and Gilgit Baltistan.

He said the world today knows that Pakistan was serious and was waging a struggle to eliminate extremists and terrorists from its soil. He also mentioned the return of 2.5 million IDPs to their homes in an unprecedented short period of time.

The President also paid rich tributes to the hundreds of martyrs of democracy, to valiant soldiers, policemen and members of the law enforcing agencies who laid down their lives in fight against terrorism and militancy.

He described terrorism and militancy as a cancer that “took away Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto from us.” He said the PPP government got “political ownership” to this war through the parliament, and the nation, along with their armed forces stand united to fight it till the end.

The world today has acknowledged the role of Pakistan in the war against terror.

“Now they do not tell us to do more. Rather we ask them to do more [for us].”

The President said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto formed this Party 42 years ago and gave a voice to the people.

He recounted the several achievements of the party and said “we have served our country and not done a favour to our people.”

The President recalled the statement of Bilawal Bhutto who termed “democracy as best revenge” and said the next generation of the party has risen from its sacrifices.

The President described the founding of the party as “a day of people empowerment and a reminder that all power belongs to the people.”


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NRO and the media hype: What is the real issue? An analysis by Amir Ahmed Khan

Here is an article by BBC Urdu's Amir Ahmed Khan highlighting that NRO has nothing to do with the real life issues of the majority of Pakistanis, nor are they interested in it. In a nutshell, NRO is a media created storm in a cup of tea.

این آر آو کس کا مسئلہ ہے؟

این آر او ایک وسیع ترقومی مفاہمتی فسلفے کا حصہ ہے

اگر پاکستانی میڈیا اور خصوصاً پاکستان کے نجی ٹیلیوژن چینلز کو کسی نے پچھلے چند دنوں باقاعدگی سے دیکھا ہو تو وہ یقیناً اس نتیجے پر پہنچا ہو گا کہ اس وقت ملک میں قومی مفاہمتی آرڈیننس یا این آر او سے بڑا مسلہء اور کوئی نہیں۔

لیکن اگر یہی شخص اپنے ڈرائینگ روم سے باہر نکل کر عوام سے بات کرے تو شاید اس نتیجے پر پہنچے کہ این آر او سے نہ تو عوام کو کوئی دلچسپی ہے اور نہ ہی عوام کی نظر میں اس کی کوئی اہمیت۔

میں نے حال ہی میں اپنے چند ساتھیوں کے ساتھ کراچی سے اسلام آباد تک نیشنل ہائی وے اور انڈس ہائی وے پر سفر کیا۔ لگ بھگ بارہ سو میل کے اس سفر میں کئی پڑاؤ کیے۔ کراچی، شہید بینظیر آباد، نواب شاہ، مورو، لاڑکانہ، کشمور، راجن پور، ڈیرہ غازی خان، ملتان اور جھنگ کے راستے اسلام آباد پہنچے۔

اگر پاکستانی میڈیا اپنا کردار صرف خبروں، اطلاعات، تجزیوں اور تبصروں تک ہی محدود رکھ پائے تو شاید اس مسئلہ پر جاری بحث مباحثے کا رخ ایک بار پھر شخصی سیاست سے قومی مفاہمت کے عمل کی جانب مڑ جائے۔

بہت سے لوگوں سے ملاقات ہوئی، بات ہوئی، ہر طرح کا ذکر سنا۔ غربت، مہنگائی، بے روزگاری، تعلیم، انتہا پسندی، قوم پرستی حتٰی کہ سرائیکی صوبے کا بھی ذکر سنا لیکن اگر کسی ایک چیز کا کہیں بھی ذکر نہ آیا تو وہ این آر او تھا۔

آخر ایسا کیوں ہے کہ جو مسئلہ آجکل پاکستانی میڈیا کے لیے اولین ترجیح رکھتا ہے اس کی عوام کے دل و دماغ میں رائی برابر جگہ بھی نہیں؟

شاید اس کی ایک وجہ یہ ہو کہ پاکستانی سیاست نے جس دھاگے میں این آر او اور عوامی امنگوں کو اکٹھا پرونے کی کوشش کی ہے وہ دھاگہ ہی وقت کی لہروں میں بہہ گیا ہے۔

اسے یوں سمجھنے کی کوشش کیجیے۔ این آر او بذات خود ایک بے معنی قانون ہے۔ یہ ماننا مشکل ہے کہ جن سیاستدانوں پر برسہا برس مخالف حکومتوں کی جانب سے ایڑی چوٹی کا زور لگانے کے باوجود کسی کیس کو ثابت نہیں کیا جا سکا، انہیں یکایک اپنی سیاسی یا ذاتی بقا کے لیے این آر او کی ضرورت پڑ جائے۔

این آر او لوگوں کے لیے کوئی مسئلہ نہیں ہے

این آر او دراصل ایک بہت جامع اور اہم سیاسی فلسفے یعنی قومی مفاہمت کے فلسفے کا ایک چھوٹا سا حصہ ہے۔ قومی مفاہمت کا یہ فلسفہ پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کی رہنما بے نظیر بھٹو نے کئی برس کی تگ ودو کے بعد دنیا سے منوایا اور دنیا کو پاکستان کے لیے اس کی ضرورت پر قائل کیا۔

این آر او نامی قانون نے جس سیاسی فلسفے کو پاکستان میں نافذ کرنا تھا اس کے تحت ایک طرف تو ملک کی سیاسی جماعتوں کے بیچ اور دوسری طرف سیاسی اور عسکری قیادت کے بیچ ایک ایسی مفاہمت ہونی تھی جس کے بعد پاکستان میں سیاسی بنیادوں پر مقدمے بازی کی روایت ہمیشہ کے لیے ختم کی جا سکے۔

بے نظیر بھٹو تو اس فلسفے کو اور بھی آگے لے جانے کی خواہشمند تھیں۔ وہ کئی سال تک جنوبی افریقہ کی طرز پر حقائق اور مفاہمت کمیشن بنانے پر زور دیتی رہیں جس کے سامنے سب سیاستدان، جرنیل، کاروباری حضرات اور بیوروکریٹس اپنے جرائم کا اعتراف کرتے، آئندہ قانون کی پاسداری کا عہد کرتے، سیاستدان ایک دوسرے کی ٹانگ نہ کھینچنے کا عزم کرتے اور فوجی قیادت سیاسی حکومتوں کے خلاف سازش کرنے سے توبہ کرتی۔

بے نظیر بھٹو کی رائے میں یہ وہ واحد راستہ تھا جو پاکستان کو ماضی کے دلدل سے نکال کر ایک بہتر سیاسی مستقبل کی جانب دھکیل سکتا تھا۔ لیکن ان کی رائے چند سیاستدانوں اور جرنیلوں کی انا پرستی کی نظر ہوئی۔ قومی مفاہمت کا خواب سکڑ کر سیاسی مفاہمت تک محدود ہوا اور یوں بینظیر بھٹو اور میاں نواز شریف کی وطن واپسی کا راستہ کھلا۔

راولپنڈی کے آخری جلسۂ سے قبل بھی بینظیر نے نواز شریف سے بات کی تھی

آجکل پاکستان مسلم لیگ نواز کا یہ کہنا کہ میاں نواز شریف کی وطن واپسی کا این آر او سے کوئی تعلق نہیں تھا محض سیاسی بیان بازی ہے۔ پاکستانی عسکری ذرائع کے مطابق بینظیر بھٹو اور جنرل پرویز مشرف میں ہونے والی ڈیل میں دبئی کے حکمران خاندان کا رول اہم تھا۔ لیکن اس وقت جنرل مشرف کو شاید اس بات کا اندازہ نہیں تھا کہ اگر وہ ایک جلا وطن رہنما کی واپسی پر دبئی کے شیخ کی بات مان لیں تو دوسرے کی واپسی سے متعلق سعودی عرب کے شیخ کو انکار ان کے لیے نا ممکن ہو جائے گا۔

لہٰذا یہ کہنا غلط نہ ہو گا کہ گو میاں نواز شریف این آر او پر ہونے والے مذاکرات کا براہ راست حصہ تو نہ تھے لیکن ان کی واپسی اس قانون سے اتنی ہی جڑی ہوئی تھی جتنی بینظیر بھٹو کی۔

بینظیر بھٹو کی واپسی کے فوراً بعد ہونے والی سیاست عوام میں این آر او کی مقبولیت کا منہ بولتا ثبوت تھی۔ اس وقت پاکستان مسلم لیگ قاف نے بہت شور مچایا کہ بی بی جنرل مشرف کے ساتھ ڈیل کر کے واپس آ رہی ہے لیکن اس کے باوجود لاکھوں لوگوں نے انہیں کراچی میں خوش آمدید کہا۔

وطن واپسی کے بعد بینظیر بھٹو نے ایک دانستہ حکمت عملی کے تحت میاں نواز شریف سے مسلسل رابطہ رکھا۔ ان کے قریبی ساتھیوں کا کہنا ہے کہ قتل ہونے سے کچھ دیر پہلے ہی انہوں نے میاں نواز شریف سے ٹیلیفون پر بات کی تھی۔ بینظیر بھٹو کی ہر بات اور ہر حرکت سے واضح تھا کہ وہ اپنے مفاہمتی فلسفے کو محض ایک قانون تک ہی محدود نہیں رکھنا چاہتی تھیں۔ ان کی یہ واضح خواہش تھی کہ وہ اپنے ناقدین پر ثابت کریں کہ این آر او ان کی ذاتی سیاست کی بقا نہیں بلکہ پاکستان میں مفاہمت کے مستقبل کے لیے مشعل راہ ثابت ہو سکتا ہے۔

دہشت گردی بھی عوام کو درپیش مسائل میں شامل ایک بڑا مسئلہ ہے

بینظیر بھٹو کا اصرار تھا کہ جب سیاسی دشمنی کی دیواروں کو قانونی سہارا دے کر کھڑا کیا ہو تو انہیں گرا کر ان کی جگہ سیاسی مفاہمت کی بنیادیں ڈالنا بھی قانونی سہارے کے بغیر ممکن نہیں۔ ان کی نظر میں این آر او کے بغیر چارٹر آف ڈیموکریسی پر عمل درآمد ناممکن تھا اور اس معاملے میں پاکستان مسلم لیگ نواز کے سربراہ میاں نواز شریف نے کبھی ان سے اختلاف نہیں کیا۔

ستائیس دسمبر دو ہزار سات کو بینظیر بھٹو کو قتل کر دیا گیا۔ ان کی موت کے ساتھ ہی پاکستان میں تیزی سے پنپتی ہوئی سیاسی مفاہمت نے بھی دم توڑ دیا۔ سیاسی مفاہمت کے اس کھیل میں میاں نواز شریف اس وقت تک بینظیر بھٹو کے جونئیر پارٹنر بنے رہنے پر آمادہ تھے۔ لیکن بینظیر بھٹو کی موت سے پیدا ہونے والے سیاسی خلا نے انہیں نئی راہیں دکھائیں۔

دوسری جانب بینظیر بھٹو کے شوہر آصف زرداری کی سیاست نے بھی ایک نئی کروٹ لی۔ بینظیر بھٹو یہ طے کر کے وطن لوٹیں تھیں کہ آصف زرداری دبئی میں رہتے ہوئے بچوں کا خیال رکھیں گے۔ لیکن ان کی موت نے پارٹی کی ذمہ داری آصف زرداری پر ڈال دی جو نہ تو بینظیر بھٹو کے سیاسی مفاہمت کے فلسفے سے پوری طرح واقف تھے اور نہ ہی اسے عملی جامہ پہنانے کا سیاسی قد کاٹھ رکھتے تھے۔

نتیجتاً صورتحال ججوں کی بحالی پر جھگڑے سے ہوتی ہوئی پنجاب حکومت کی برطرفی تک جا پہنچی۔ فوج نے کیری لوگر بل پر اعتراض کیا تو مسلم لیگ نواز کے رہنماؤں اور عسکری قیادت کے بیچ رات گئے ملاقاتوں کا سلسلہ شروع ہو گیا۔ سنہ دو ہزار نو پر انیس سو نوے کا گماں ہونے لگا۔ وہ سیاسی مفاہمت جو این آر او کی روح تھی، دم توڑ گئی۔

لیکن حیرانگی کی بات یہ ہے کہ پاکستان میں این آر او پر موجودہ بحث صرف اور صرف صدر آصف علی زرداری کی شخصیت پر مرکوز نظر آتی ہے۔ پاکستانی میڈیا میں صدر مخالف دھڑا یہ ماننے کو تیار ہی نظر نہیں آتا کہ این آر او کی موت دشمن کی نہیں دوست کی موت ہے۔

وہی این آر او جس نے پاکستانی سیاست کو مفاہمت کے ایک نئے دور میں لے جانا تھا چند گنے چنے لوگوں کی ذاتی سیاست کا پہرے دار نظر آنے لگا۔ ایسے میں پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے پاس دو راستے بچے۔ یا تو وہ بینظیر بھٹو کے مفاہمتی فلسفے کو پھر سے زندہ کر کے این آر او پر ویسا ہی اتفاق رائے پیدا کر لیتی جو اس کی مقتول رہنما کی زندگی میں تھا۔ اور یا اس بن روح کے پتلے کو مردہ جان کر فوراً دفنا دیتی۔

ایسا نہ کر کے پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی نے پیاز بھی کھائے اور جوتے بھی۔

لیکن حیرانگی کی بات یہ ہے کہ پاکستان میں این آر او پر موجودہ بحث صرف اور صرف صدر آصف علی زرداری کی شخصیت پر مرکوز نظر آتی ہے۔ پاکستانی میڈیا میں صدر مخالف دھڑا یہ ماننے کو تیار ہی نظر نہیں آتا کہ این آر او کی موت دشمن کی نہیں دوست کی موت ہے۔

اگر پاکستانی میڈیا اپنا کردار صرف خبروں، اطلاعات، تجزیوں اور تبصروں تک ہی محدود رکھ پائے تو شاید اس مسئلہ پر جاری بحث مباحثے کا رخ ایک بار پھر شخصی سیاست سے قومی مفاہمت کے عمل کی جانب مڑ جائے۔

لیکن فی الوقت میڈیا میں صدر مخالف دھڑا سخت بھنایا ہوا نظر آتا ہے۔ این آر او اچھا ہے یا برا، اس سے قطع نظر لگتا یہی ہے کہ اٹھائیس نومبر کے بعد این آر او کی قبر میں اس قانون کے ساتھ ساتھ قومی مفاہمت کا مردہ بھی لیٹے گا۔

اس وقت پاکستان میں میاں نواز شریف وہ واحد سیاستدان ہیں جو اس قبر کی کھدائی روک سکتے ہیں۔

میاں نواز شریف اور صدر زرداری میں کشیدگی اپنی جگہ لیکن این آر او پر ایک سلجھا ہوا اور جامع موقف اختیار کر کے وہ بینظیر بھٹو کے اس سیاسی فلسفے کو پھر سے زندہ کر سکتے ہیں جو ستائیس دسمبر دو ہزار سات کو راولپنڈی کے لیاقت باغ کے باہر ایک گمنام قاتل کے ہاتھوں غارت ہوا تھا



Destabilising the democratic system —Dr Manzur Ejaz
No one has any idea how the NRO is going to play out in the courts. But everyone knows that corruption is rampant in Pakistan and there are no effective means to check it. Ousting Zardari will neither fix the system nor validate the continuation of democracy in Pakistan

During the 1990s Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif took turns serving as prime ministers. Both did not complete their terms. What would have been wrong with Bhutto and Sharif completing their terms? The total number of years they ruled would have been the same number, except that the democratic system would have been consolidated. The purpose of replacing one with the other was not to improve governance but to keep the democratic system unstable. When it was clear that both the PPP and the PML-N can win elections with the same personalities and same functionaries, why was the democratic system continuously subverted?

To understand this better, we can look at the current situation where President Asif Ali Zardari is being pressurised to resign. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is also being pushed around to quit. Whoever is playing this game either has no idea of the consequences or is determined to keep destabilising the democratic system in Pakistan. Zardari’s replacement will probably be treated the same way.

All of Zardari’s drawbacks now being highlighted were known to the constituency that elected him. Everyone knew that he and many of his close associates have been protected by the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). This means that a majority of the electorate, wrongly or rightly, discounted this factor. Now according to the established democratic principles, either he has to be allowed to complete his term or be impeached according to the provisions of the Constitution. Any other method would be a violation of the essential democratic rules.

Zardari was kept in jail for eight years without any verdict on the corruption charges for which he was booked. If he was bailed out in one case the government would register another case to keep him behind bars. Primarily, he was incarcerated as a political bargaining chip. The circumstances helped him and the same game of bargaining in which he was a mere chip eventually elevated him to the seat of the president. The whole game, starting with his incarceration to the presidency, is bizarre. The campaign of ousting him is also part of the same bizarre manipulation.

Like most Pakistanis I too believe that Zardari and his cohorts have used their positions to accumulate illegal money. They siphoned off billions of dollars to foreign banks. They may be doing the same right now. But the question is: how do they do it single-handedly? Many institutions must be involved in this loot and plunder. Why can the system not stop such thefts while they are happening?

Most Pakistanis who have become rich in the last three decades — about 10 percent of the population — have not accumulated wealth through industry, trade or other legal means. An overwhelming majority of the new rich has used illegal means to gain wealth. But the proportionately much higher number of PPP leaders covered by the NRO indicates that the establishment and their proxies had a vendetta against them. Otherwise, hordes of the rich would have been in that list.

No one has any idea how the NRO is going to play out in the courts. But everyone knows that corruption is rampant in Pakistan and there are no effective means to check it. Ousting Zardari will neither fix the system nor validate the continuation of democracy in Pakistan.

Zardari may have been the worst choice as a president but a constituency elected him with full knowledge of his shortcomings. The same constituency has the right to dislodge him according to the provisions of Pakistan’s Constitution. Any other method employed to dismiss him will mean the failure of the democratic system in Pakistan. And the architect of such an illegal ouster should be ready to suggest not just Zardari’s replacement but also an alternative to democracy.

The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com Source

The campaign against the president —Munir Attaullah

It is true that the president can do no right as far as our media is concerned. It is uniformly hostile. And that, to some extent, has been the case even since those early days of 2008 when Mr Zardari first unexpectedly rose to political power

Like most of us when travelling abroad, I try hard to keep up with what is going on in Pakistan. But the many rich and mysterious flavours of the bouillabaisse that is Pakistani politics are best appreciated by local tasting. Experts say that the sense of smell has a pre-eminent role in influencing our sense of taste. Could that be the reason why, when asking the question ‘what’s cooking?’ we find the many delicious aromas of congenial rumours so irresistible to our political palette?

(I assume most readers are sufficiently cosmopolitan to understand that reference to bouillabaisse. With apologies to them, here is an explanatory note for the few who might be a little bemused by my simile. Bouillabaisse is the much beloved fish stew from the south of France, wherein many kinds of fish — including shellfish — are simmered and cooked along with a variety of vegetables, and flavoured with many kinds of herbs.)

I return to Lahore from holiday to discover that all the talk in fashionable social circles, and our opinionated media, is about how the writing is now on the wall for Mr Zardari. Apparently, his days in the Presidency are ‘numbered’. Of course this is nothing new. For the past six months at least, many an all-knowing media pundit has, on more than one occasion, confidently predicted his ‘imminent’ exit.

Like the religious junkie at Hyde Park corner, carrying a placard with the message, ‘repent, for the end is nigh’, it is mighty convenient to leave your predictions vague and not tied to an actual date. But why go as far as Britain? Did our own incomparable Dr D&G, in his monumental documentary of a few years ago, ‘The End of Time’, not work out from various mysterious signs that the one and only real Day of Judgment is also ‘imminent’?

This time round, some of these geniuses have been brave enough to set a date: November 28th, the day the NRO is finally buried. Will the president then fall on his proverbial sword? Don’t bet on it, I say. But what I can do is to make a prediction of my own: their refrain then will conveniently switch from ‘he is going’ to ‘he ought to go because, blah blah blah...’

My past reaction to such nonsense has usually been a bored yawn. For none of these geniuses ever satisfactorily answer the two questions any sane person will ask: “Will the president volunteer to resign, or will he be forced to do so? And, if the latter, who is going to do the forcing, and what will be the successful mechanism? Is it any different this time round? I do not think so. Those two questions still remain valid.

It is true that the president can do no right as far as our media is concerned. It is uniformly hostile. And that, to some extent, has been the case even since those early days of 2008 when Mr Zardari first unexpectedly rose to political power. Then it largely took the form of sullen silence or sceptical reticence. Today, the knives are out quite openly. Indeed, I sometimes get the impression — and it is a powerful one — that one particular media group is consciously embarked on a deliberate and sustained campaign to whip up public sentiment against the president, in whatever way it can.

This has two serious consequences. Firstly, there is the ‘follow the leader’ syndrome. When the most powerful media group in the country by far, takes up cudgels in this manner, the lesser players cannot afford to be left behind. For, there is nothing our public loves more than juicy political gossip. Secondly, when the result is that everyone ends up singing the same tune, our people, largely disinclined to use their own grey matter, treat as a fact what at best is media speculation and at worst wish fulfilling orchestrated rumour mongering. The recent furore over the Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB) is a good example of what I am talking about here.

Serious consequences or not, politicians and others — and even the public — have to live stoically with this other side of the coin that is the precious democratic right of everyone to free speech. And that right extends to media groups, who have the freedom to air whatever politically partisan or otherwise biased and prejudiced views they choose to project.

That it is possible this freedom (like many others) is liable to abuse is never an argument to curtail it, except in so far as it is regulated by law. Nor is the fact that in our country anti-defamation laws against allegations and charges (often without due diligence), by individuals and state institutions, have proved ineffective, a good argument for using unorthodox means against this menace. Incidentally why are the defamation laws in our country so ineffective? Will the new judiciary do anything about this social evil now?

There is no option but to use sophisticated political means to counter those out to discredit you. But let us admit this is not either easy or simple. We all know the media thrives commercially on controversy and political and social campaigns that help boost audience ratings. If those choices are freely made I have no quibble, even though I may strongly disagree with the views projected. But sometimes the prima facie circumstantial evidence is too powerful and coincidental for a sane person to believe that that indeed is the case. Sometimes there is a powerful odour in the air of something more sinister afoot.

Media ethics is supposed to distinguish between paid advertisement and ‘news’ (and I include ‘opinion’ in the latter category). That, at least, is the theory, even though there is no escaping, anywhere, the phenomena of planted stories and ‘advertorials’ (for pay, or as a favour, or for a purpose). That our media today is freer than ever in our history is true enough, but has it completely shrugged off its past close affiliations with certain all-powerful elements of our permanent establishment? Of that the most charitable thing I will say is, “I am not so sure”.

One thing is for certain: the president will leave office only if he so wishes. And I see little evidence for that eventuality. Can he be forced out of office? On the past evidence we have of his implacable resolve in resisting pressure, only the alternatives of a military coup or impeachment will suffice. And neither is a realistic possibility at the moment.

What is more, it is my opinion that even a totally voluntary relinquishing of his office (let alone through any other method) will, for many obvious reasons, be a disastrous setback for the country’s fledgling democratic experiment. Heard the one about throwing the baby out along with the bathwater?

The writer is a businessman. A selection of his columns is now available in book form. Visit munirattaullah.com
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