Lahore, February 4: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) regrets that the government could not stomach its good act of restoring Aitzaz Ahsan and Tariq Mahmood to freedom for more than 24 hours. The tactic used by the government to evade its obligation to refer their cases to the Review Board reminds one of practices favoured by autocrats of the most contemptible variety. An administration that circumvents its legal and moral duties in this manner undermines the very foundations of an order based on respect for law. What makes the action against these distinguished lawyers reprehensible, from the very first day of their incarceration, is the fact that they have not been accused of any offence, and what they are supported to be prevented from doing is not a crime in any democratic dispensation. Their detention at the moment also amounts to a crude interference with the electoral process. The orders of their detention must be withdrawn forthwith.
Iqbal Haider,
Secretary General
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
HRCP denounces fresh curbs on Aitzaz and Tariq
Tribute to Benazir: From a mother
Dr. Nighat Khan
It was probably a sheer coincidence that I started my married life and career in 1988. The same year when the dark days of the Zia era had come to an end and a young, intelligent, vibrant and beautiful woman was poised to become the first PM of an Islamic country. She had gotten married a year before me and now she was to be a PM and a mother.
Millions of Pakistanis felt hopeful, or rather ecstatic at her sight. She exuded hope and glory this wretched nation deserved for a long time. Expectations mounted. But the mess was too much to clean, with so much to do amid hostility and animosity from all quarters of the establishment. Pakistanis began to grumble as they wanted her to fix all their ills with a magic wand.
By the time my first daughter Myra was born in November 1989, she had already succeeded in the no confidence movement against her. I was in labour when I heard the news. I also juggled my career as a faculty member of Aga , motherhood and the challenges encountered by many a career woman even today but many decades before.
She was dismissed as PM without being given a chance. And then the propaganda machine started churning against her and anyone close to her. I must confess I, along with many Pakistanis, felt disappointed and were perhaps swayed by the mass campaign against her and her husband. You see, we are a strange nation. We give decades to each dictator to mess with our destinies but are so short fused with politicians within 1/4th of that period.
I never met Benazir in person, a regret that I am going to take with me. The only time I saw her in person was when she had come to pick up Bilawal from school, who was a year ahead of Myra. She was already out of power as PM and was there as a mother.
At home time I looked up the Foyer steps one day and there she was. Tall, majestic radiant and towering everyone around her. She was flashing a charming smile. Oh God, how this image of her never left me. I wish I had gone up to her talked to her, befriended her as a mum.
What ever happened in 1990s, with the murder of her brother, what she was enduring many of us have only dreamt of. She was hounded by opinion makers, accused by the press of murdering her own brother. So much so that eventually she was driven out of the country. We celebrated when a “soft dictator” took over. She tried to come back but no one was ready to heed any attention. The upper classes went on about their comfortable living. Democracy, rule of law were perhaps never our priorities.
Her eventual arrival on 18th was preceded by the cacophony of NRO. Her reconciliatory tone was seen as her admission of corruption. On every TV channel, the so called intellectuals were busy dissecting NRO. But the common man had another idea. How she must have felt to see those thousands of human head dancing to her tune. They had no concern for NROs; all they could think was their leader was back. Her image of looking up the heavens with tears rolling down is immortal. She looked determined as well as radiant. But Benazir, the dark forces who killed the first PM of the country did not like what they saw. They were there to finish you. They failed only temporarily. Scores of people were killed and crippled.
My heart sank when she announced Liaqat Bagh as her venue for her next public rally on 27th December. I listened to her speech. She was exceptionally animated. I saw her coming down the stage after her speech, feeling relieved that she was fine now and changed the channel to BBC Food. You see, I come from Pindi and as a young girl, had witnessed the false trial and then tragic assassination of her father. I was worried that she is mother of children of my age and I know what I mean to my girls. I don’t know why I changed the BBC food channel and by mistake I pressed PTV channel number (We only press for PTV channel by mistake these days). I saw the ticker. There was breaking news of a bomb blast in her rally. My heart sank immediately. “Oh my God they got her”, I yelled for my husband who was quietly working at his laptop. I held his hand and said “She is no more”. I know for the next 15-20 minutes, TV channels tried to reassure us that she had left the rally and was safe. But it was her husband’s plea to pray for her life that the gravity of situation became a reality. I knew she was gone.
How could this happen? The shock, despair and horror which took over every Pakistani were by no means unique to me. I was part of a nation grieving. Like many Pakistanis I had broken down and was crying like an inconsolable child for days. Nothing seemed important anymore. My younger daughter would come every 5 minutes and say “your kiss makes me feel better so I will take care of you” She would hug me and give me a kiss. There was a role reversal. I had neglected my children in my grief. But I knew deep down at least I was alive for my daughters. My heart was bleeding for Bakhtawar, Asifa and Bilawal. Myra and Mareeha’s mother was alive but who will console these children? When will their mother give those hugs and kisses? Listen to their squabbling and just smile? How could such cruelty be meted to these children? Who are these heartless people? Don’t they have any children or grand children to plot such medieval murder? No one gave us any answers and the ones who did were so ridiculous that we were outraged even more.
I have been to Garhi Khuda Baksh lately with a group of women from WAF and anyone who visits that place cannot describe the intensity of tragedy striking us. But I went to her father’s grave and 30 years of grieve had come out and I cried and cried the tears I could not shed since April 4, 1979. I felt I was guilty of a terrible slight. I apologised to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for not rising up as a Pakistani at his murder. I apologized to him for being a drawing room talking head, for not meeting his illustrious daughter in person and telling her that she and I one in principle, that we had difference but we had more similarities. Sorry my dear prime ministers, we are ever so sorry for your killers are amongst us. I want to say
Qatal-e- hussain assl mein murg-e yazeed hai
Islam zinda hota hay hur Karbla kay bad
Benazir by taking your assassin head on, you have taught us new meanings of courage. They might have eliminated you physically but you have chosen to live on. Anyone who doubts that should go to Garhi Khuda Baksh and witness flocks of poor, shoeless people pouring in to her burial site after walking for miles.
Email by Masood Sharif Khan to the Youth of Pakistan
Assalam alaikum All,
The younger generation of Pakistan gives me a lot of hope that all may not be lost as yet. I salute Raheem-ul-Haque and Saeeda Diep for their courage and conviction (READ THEIR ORDEAL BELOW). I salute every single one of you striving for Pakistan's freedom.
While I am proud of every single one of you I am quite ashamed of the fact that my generation has more or less failed to provide the younger generation a Pakistan wherein instead of feeling the need of distributing fliers demanding freedom in all respects (which truly is a basic human right that need not be asked for in a civilised society but be ensured by the State on its own) you all should have been striving towards self improvement at this stage of your lives.
There should have been jobs out there for which you all should have been competing knowing that your connections in this haphazard society of ours is not going to improve your lot but your competency will.
My generation should have built a Pakistan for you all which should have been free of guns, drugs, bombs and fighting of all sorts so that all of you could have happily indulged in your career building rather than being beaten by robotic so called security guards and the police itself for trying to salvage Pakistan from going deeper down the pipe.
I feel truly proud of all of you. You are all my sons and daughters. You are all, each one of you, truly the sons and daughters of this unfortunate land i.e. Pakistan that we call our motherland. THE MOTHERLAND IS TRULY PROUD TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE ALL OF YOU OUT THERE FIGHTING THE HEAVY ODDS IN ORDER TO RESCUE PAKISTAN FROM GOING INTO A STATE OF PARALYSIS WHILE MANY ARE JUST WAITING AND WATCHING THE MOTHERLAND SUFFER AND BE FURTHER MAULED.
I believe in the power of one. You all are not one but many. One day those that now watch you suffer at the hands of the guards etc from the sidelines as in this case will be by your side. The struggle must go on if Pakistan is to be saved from the scheming within the country and from the conspiracies being hatched against its very integrity. This beautiful land of Pakistan needs to be salvaged, saved and put on the path of true freedom and has to be done very soon.
Believing in the power of one I recently wrote a letter to President Musharraf to resign giving him an exit strategy after having announced a resignation intent. Some of you may have read that but some may not have. Therefore I am attaching portions relevant to the incident of Raheem and Saeeda below.
EXTRACTS:-
The deplorable law and order situation in the country, in general, and the mishandling of the situation in our erstwhile peaceful tribal areas and other parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) only add to the widespread belief in the country that you and your government have now become a huge part of the problem and are certainly not equal to the task of finding a solution to the gigantic problems faced by Pakistan. These problems have gained unimaginable dimensions through the years of your rule. While the Army and the paramilitary is deployed to fight in many parts of NWFP the police and the rangers etc are busy beating up the civil society in the city streets. Pakistan and Pakistanis are no longer at peace with each other.
.............This is an occasion to set things right. Mr President, the entire Pakistani Nation wants that you should not stand in the way leading to the evolution of a free and independent nation governed by systems, institutions and a free judiciary rather than by the whims of individuals. Pakistanis desire that you should now help bring this about through an announcement that you have, in principle, decided to resign and work for a smooth transition of power in the shortest possible stipulated period.
..............The people of Pakistan cannot now be stopped, through the misuse of State resources and the application of brute force, from achieving THE PAKISTANI DREAM which entails a free Pakistan for us all – from the common man to the President/Prime Minister. Pakistanis now want a Pakistan where law is the protector rather than being the tormentor of its own population.
Have you not, Mr President, seen pictures of those young Pakistanis protesting against your actions against the judiciary being beaten so ruthlessly? It is the State that you are heading that is beating its own children, my children as well as your children, Mr President. Collectively they all belong to us. They are our kith and kin. They are our blood and are also Pakistan's future.
Protests will take place. Protests have to take place in any society. They will always take place and, therefore, governments in Pakistan will have to be more tolerant with dissent and if they cannot be then they should either do only the absolutely unquestionable things so that there is no need for anyone to protest OR they should resign and make way for others to succeed them.
.
.........Make way for the future rather than having respectable people like our lawyers and students beaten up ruthlessly on our streets. These are the truly enlightened people of Pakistan who supported you till you went wrong. These people will never damage a single plant while protesting. So why beat them so brutally? I assure you that there is no way any amount of baton charge can now deter these leaders of tomorrow.
Pakistanis now seek that true freedom that they have longed for in the shape of The PAKISTANI DREAM which envisages us as the proud citizens of a Pakistan governed by systems and the national institutions rather than being ruled by a one man regime. Mr President, make way for The Pakistani Dream and become a part of it too. I urge you, and I am sure millions of Pakistanis would second me on this, to do the following:-
a. Announce that you have decided to resign and that you shall hand over power to a new President as soon as he is elected.
b. Announce that you shall meet all the political leaders within one week and, thereafter, will announce just one person as the consensus Prime Minister who will run the government through the existing bureaucratic structure and will have no Cabinet of useless Ministers. Also add that, thereafter, you shall recede into the background till the new President is elected and you finally hand over to him.
c. At this point, in time, also announce the revival of the judiciary to its 02 November,2007, position because this one step will bring about the lost confidence of the people of Pakistan and will also help give credibility to the whole process of the transition of political power.
d. That the new Prime Minister, independent of you, will appoint a new Election Commission, Chief Ministers and Governors.
e. That this new Prime Minister and the new Chief Election Commissioner will conduct a free, fair and impartial general elections within 90 days of taking office.
f. That during the three months in power the Prime Minister along with the revived judiciary will lay down the methodology for the effectiveness of the existing rules of business for all the government institutions so that once the new government takes charge there is never a transgression of one institution into the working of any other institution, civil or military.
g. That within one week of the new parliament coming into force the schedule for the election of a new President will be announced and once the new President is elected you shall hand over to him. The revived judiciary will give you immunity till this time i.e. when you actually hand over and leave. This can always be worked out amicably if we all put Pakistan ahead of our own selves.
I have suggested this smooth transition as compared to an abrupt transition so that the world starts looking at us as a civilised country and so that the country's chances of plunging into anarchy are avoided. The option of immediately handing over to the Chairman Senate after announcing the new consensus Prime Minister is available for you to consider. However, I will still recommend that work on the smooth transfer of political authority should begin immediately and in right earnest.
The writing on the wall is written in large, capital and bold letters, Mr President. Failing to read the same will be very detrimental for Pakistan.
The moment belongs to you, Mr President, and the choice of bringing about a graceful and historic political change in Pakistan, or an ignominious one, is all yours.
My prayer to ALLAH THE ALMIGHTY is to give you the strength to make the right decision which can only be to make way for the future in the most graceful manner.
Best regards.
Sincerely,
(MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK).
iIEND OF EXTRACTS
If I could somehow do it I would bring about a generational change in Pakistan wherein Pakistan and the shping of it's destiny has a smooth transfer from the present generation to the younger generation in totality so that the stagnancy imposed upon Pakistan in the name of "experience" is done away with and Pakistan becomes that true progressive and welfare State that THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN was always meant to be but never got anywhere near it's goals. 85% of Pakistanis live in deplorable conditions. They need help. Our help.
This is an occasion for the Pakistanis to realise that we are in a make or break situation and there is now nothing but we ourselves that can come to our own rescue.
My salutes and my very sincerest of prayers for all of you who can take injuries on your own bodies so that Pakistan is truly free.
PAKISTAN PAINDABAD
Sincerely and from the innermost core of my heart an admirer of what you young people , the students - and of course the lawyers are doing for Pakistan.
Very humbly yours - and someone ashamed of the fact that his generation has let down our beloved Pakistan.
MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK
Masood Sharif Khan is a former IB Chief of Pakistan who resigned from the PPP when BB refused to take up the stance of the restoration of the judiciary and like us is boycotting the elections. He has already spent many years in jail for voicing up against Musharraf.
Solidarity Rally on the 9th of February
Today Pakistan stands at the crossroads of chaos and instability. The events of November 3rd, and December 27, 2007, have had a devastating affect on our nation, the Balkanization of which is now a very likely future scenario. The gravity of the situation demands that we, the people of Pakistan, stay united and work for the restoration of our judiciary, which can restore order to our nation. In the wake of rising provincial disharmony and the judicial crisis, Hum Logge has organized a plan to rally under the flag of Pakistan for solidarity on February 9th, 2008 from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad, via the G.T. road.
“Hum Logge” consists of organizers, in consultation with the Leaders of the Bars and major political parties, who are advocates of civil rights, the independence of judiciary, and a restoration of democracy. The parties will participate in the rally for a national cause since they too stand as a symbol of the Federation. We will rally with full support and enthusiasm from all classes of people (awam: the real people), the Leaders of the Bars and other participants including WAF (Women Action Forum), HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan), CCP (Concerned Citizens of Pakistan), the members of various NGOs, local civil society groups, SAC (Student Action Committee), and most importantly, the most marginalized citizens of this nation, who are the real voters. Hum Logge- We, the people, ARE the government. United we stand to make our voice heard.
Objectives:
The rally aims to reiterate the people’s demands for the restoration of the judiciary, free and fair elections for democracy, and to show solidarity amongst the four provinces in order to move the country away from the prevailing, vulnerable situation. It’s time to work together for the solidarity of our country.
We will join our brethren in Islamabad and together march towards the Supreme Court so that we can influence the present regime to meet our demands. We aim to show solidarity with judicial leaders who are acting players for the suppressed of the country, and who are fighting for the independence of the judiciary, civil liberties, freedom of democracy, a free media, and a society rid of atrocities and tyranny.
We anticipate everyone’s involvement and request that all individuals and organizations send their delegations as representatives in large numbers to show strength, power and the struggle of the people of Pakistan for their rights and for democracy.
This is for PAKISTAN and for ALL Pakistanis. It does not matter who you are and what your affiliations are. We ONLY want the Pakistani flag here, be it in the form of the flag itself, stickers, banners, etc. We want to focus on unity instead of the minor differences in agenda that we may have. Now is the time to unite.
We would also be obliged if people can donate cars for transportation to Islamabad. Please do register your cars with us and confirm the number of people you will be bringing along with Bina Qureshi.
UNITED WE STAND FOR A SOLID PAKISTAN.
Looking forward,
Bina Qureshi
Team leader
Phone number: 0300-8412435
Email: images_help@yahoo.com
nabihameher@gmail.com
kamilhamid@gmail.com
SHC disposes of May 12 petitions : Five-member bench declines to ‘interfere’
KARACHI: A five-member bench of the "Sindh High Court (SHC)" on Monday disposed of multiple petitions filed in connection with the violence on May 12 here, saying no aggrieved party had filed any cases, and it did not want to “interfere”. The bench, led by SHC Chief Justice Afzal Soomro, and comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan, Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Abdur Rahman Faruq Pirzada and Rana M Shamim, said a few individuals could materially disrupt a law and order situation. This, it said, was likely to adversely impact the economy, and cause insecurity and unrest among citizens. The bench also discussed a suo motu reference moved by the SHC registrar, which was converted into a constitutional petition. It said the preliminary objections raised by Sindh Advocate General (AG) Dr Muhammad Faroogh Naseem, questioning its maintainability had merit. The bench also discussed the argument of the respondents and the State on the blocking of roads and all exit and entry points leading to the SHC. It noted that Naseem had argued that state functionaries were well within their powers to deny access to roads and premises to avert threats to life and property. The bench also noted that 80 FIRs had been lodged and investigations were underway. The contempt-of-court applications against the Sindh home secretary, IGP, CCPO Karachi, TPO Saddar and others, were also rejected. ar qureshi
Monday, February 4, 2008
Amin for Missing Persons' Recovery
Senior Vice Chairman of the PPP, Makhdoom Amin Fahim Monday said his party would take steps for the recovery of all missing persons of the country if voted to power. Talking to newsmen, he said the registration of fake cases against PPP workers and transfer and postings of government officers on the eve of elections were underway, but the Election Commission seemed to be helpless in this regard. He said inflation had broken the back of the poor masses and stressed on the importance of an independent judiciary for the provision of justice to the common man.
Kurd re-arrested in Quetta
Ali Ahmed Kurd, a leading figure in the lawyers’ movement, was re-arrested on Monday after being freed from 3 months of detainment without charge. He was arrested as he attempted to leave Quetta to address lawyers in Lahore. “The rulers are scared that I will create problems for them and under this fear they have again detained me. This detention is illegal,” Kurd said. “Our struggle for the independence of judiciary will continue and such steps cannot deter us,” he said.
Suicide Bomber in Rawalpindi kills six
RAWALPINDI, Feb 4 (Agencies): A suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a bus carrying defence forces personnel, detonating a blast Monday that killed six people and wounded 30 others in Rawalpindi's R.A.Bazar area, police said. The bomb went off during the morning rush hour outside the army's National Logistics Cell, where the army has its headquarters. The bus was destroyed and several people wounded in the explosion, police official Abdul Waheed said. Several vehicles were badly damaged. An eye witness said a bus carrying army medical trainees had been targeted. He said about 25 people had been injured. Television footage showed the mangled wreckage of the vehicle, which troops later covered with a white tent.
Devolution gives too much power to local govts: Arif Hasan
KARACHI, Feb 3: Discussing the major changes that have shaped Pakistan since independence, renowned architect and urban planner Arif Hasan criticised President Musharraf's devolution of power plan, initiated in 2001, saying that it had largely failed and had handed power back to the old elites.
He was speaking at a lecture titled 'Urbanisation, politics, public and national interests,' held at the office of an NGO here on Sunday.
"Civil society organisations – in their romanticism – had opted for this," he said, referring to the devolution plan in his highly informative speech, which was punctuated with statistics and interesting personal anecdotes. "But I had my reservations." He claimed the devolution of power initiative had given too much money and power to the district governments, with no proper checks in place from the central bureaucracy. "The result is the citizen has to go grovelling to the nazim to get his job done."
Mr Hasan said one of the few good things witnessed during the Ziaul Haq era was the entry of traders and entrepreneurs at the level of local politics, whereas today power was back in the hands of the feudals and other traditional wielders of authority.
Along with devolution, the six other major factors that he reckoned had shaped the country since partition were the constitution of pre-partition society, the migration from India, Ayub Khan's 'Green Revolution,' urbanization, the Zia era and globalization.
Mr Hasan intricately wove all the factors together and ably described their inter-connectedness, which was responsible for the present chaos. He said at the time of partition, the major identifier in society was caste affiliation, while society was managed by panchayats, though this system was not uniform,
Describing the massive migration from India at partition, he quoted a study which says that in the early 1950s, 48 per cent of the urban population in Pakistan said that they had come from India. "This caused huge urbanization, whereby the population in some cities increased by 100 per cent. The Hindu traders left while poor, rural Muslims came in. However in the NWFP and Balochistan, de-urbanization was witnessed as there was no one to replace the Hindu middle class," said Arif Hasan.
"The old relationship between the caste and the mohalla disappeared and the old values were replaced by a fiercely upwardly mobile culture. We moved from being a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society into a uni-religious one trying to become uni-lingual," he said.
The Green Revolution, which was initiated in the late '50s but it took off and experienced incredible growth in the '60s, changed rural society, he said. "Before this, the feudal order financed agriculture and also worked with the establishment. With the Green Revolution, new people came into the scenario, such as salesmen, mechanics, etc. Small farms were bought up by larger farmers. This changed the position of the feudals, as the banks and informal sector became the financiers. Cash changed everything. However, the feudals continued to control the politics of the country," observed Mr Hasan.
He said the old system functioned on the basis of clan and tribal affiliations; but the introduction of cash weakened this system. The panchayat and jirga were challenged for the first time.
"Industrialisation in the Ayub era also increased urbanization. Subsistence fishing was replaced by commercial fishing; traditional fishermen had to take loans to keep up. The same happened in the carpet industry. We moved towards a capitalist system without the proper infrastructure," he added.
He said that though there was currently a major construction boom in the country, there was not enough qualified manpower, such as surveyors or equipment operators, to fill these jobs.
"The institutes to train these people do not exist. They have nearly all learnt through the shagirdi system; the polytechnics have no money and have obsolete equipment. We have abandoned middle level education, such as technical colleges. Thus, our universities are castles built on sand," he said.
Changing values
Arif Hasan said that the increase in the number of working women was fuelling immense social change, altering the attitudes of how the relationship between men and women was viewed. He cited a recent survey, which studied the way young couples use public spaces as rendezvous, and said that out of 100 couples surveyed, only 28 were married. "There is a need for new societal values; most people are quite modern but fear tradition," he said.
Coming to the policies of the Zia era and their repercussions today, he said these policies consolidated the religious establishment. Apart from the growing presence of religion in the public sphere, he said Gen Zia's policies "stifled the universities and killed off the youths as extra-curricula activities were banned. The custodians of the religious establishment became the guardians of morality."
This was also the time, he said, when the westernised elite stepped out of public life and built their own world, which resulted in ghettoisation. "People turned to ethnic and clan organisations" due to the political vacuum, he added. "The Zia era coincided with the period of urban consolidation in Pakistan."
As for globalization, he said we had failed to capitalize on the phenomenon and resultantly, Pakistan had turned into an under-developed country from once being a mid-level developing country.
The lecture was organised by the People's Resistance and the Green Economics and Globalisation Initiative in the Shirkat Gah's office.
Punjab College doles out meager apology to SAC
Today as a disappointing conclusion to the battle for justice between the Students Action Committee (Lahore) representatives and the Punjab College establishment, a negotiation was held at the Muslim Town police station.
Mediated by SP Mansoor Haq, the two sides had a face off with five on each panel. The victims were represented by Azhar Siddique, Punjab Bar Council Media Advisor; Firdous Butt, Vice President High court Bar; Advocate Irshad, VP Lahore Bar; Saeeda Diep and Usman Gill, the latter two involved with the earlier altercations.
Punjab College had on their panel: Principal Agha Tahir, Vice President Naveed, Prof. Jameel, Prof. Farooq (Advocate), and Prof. Rasheed. According to the SAC representatives who had been assaulted earlier, all five of the Punjab College personnel present in the panel had been present at the time of the beating and some had been physically involved in the assault itself.
Without pushing for the filing of an FIR on the behalf of the teachers and students calculatedly beaten up, the SP focused for a low key, almost negligible result of a verbal apology.
For the SAC, settling for such a trifling recourse is not a matter of few resources but the futility of pursuing the matter in courts where justice is hard to find, where justices are behind bars with the support of the present judicial system.
When District Nazims and caretaker cabinet Ministers have the might to unleash brute directives, the authenticity of the current regime and its components is obviously brought into question.
The question is, if the current judicial system was impartial or non partisan, would SAC representatives, only armed with words, have to walk away with mere apologies instead of just legal recourse?
Pakistan's Forgotten Man
In the past months, as the crisis in Pakistan has worsened, key figures in the Bush administration, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have spoken out about the need for free and fair elections and have condemned extremism. Yet they've continued through-out to support the man who poll after poll show to be the least popular public figure in Pakistan, less so even than Osama bin Laden: President Pervez Musharraf. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte went so far as to call Musharraf an "indispensable ally" just days after the general declared de facto martial law and suspended Pakistan's Constitution.
All the while, U.S. officials have ignored a man who lives a mere stone's throw from Musharraf. This man's exclusion might seem understandable: barbed wire surrounds his home, the phone lines are cut and the gate is padlocked from the outside. Yet he is no dangerous criminal. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the chief justice of Pakistan. He's also one of the most popular figures in the country, according to recent polls, and its best hope for returning to a democratic path.
Chaudhry was an unlikely figure to become public enemy No. 1. He was appointed chief justice in June 2005 by Musharraf himself. Once on the bench, though Chaudhry proved independent, he was no iconoclast. Yet he acted in ways that made Pakistan's powerful elites nervous. He expanded the jurisdiction of his court in the domain of human rights, refusing to tolerate police abuses. He reached out to victims of forced marriages and Pakistan's unjust rape laws. He blocked a number of land developments that would have harmed the environment. And in the process, he made some powerful enemies: many of the developers he stymied were Musharraf cronies or Army officers.
The chief justice made himself even more unpopular in 2006 when he began to probe into a growing scandal over missing persons. In the years since September 11, Pakistan had suffered a disturbing number of forced disappearances, as individuals were yanked off the streets, allegedly by security personnel. As the number of victims grew, mothers, wives and daughters of the disappeared began to picket the Supreme Court. Finally the justices took notice and in 2006, after several hearings and much prodding by the court, some 200 missing people were released from custody. Musharraf was reportedly angry with the move and told the Americans that Chaudhry had ordered the release of 60 terrorists arrested during the Red Mosque crackdown. In fact, it was three other justices, none of whom were fired, who had released those captives; Chaudhry wasn't even involved in that decision.
It was probably the matter of Musharraf's own future that sealed Chaudhry's fate. Late last year Musharraf began to worry that if the chief justice insisted on following the letter of the law, Musharraf would be barred from running for another term as president (since the Constitution disqualifies anyone in uniform from standing for the office, and Musharraf was still head of the Army). To prevent any objections, on Nov. 3 Musharraf fired the Supreme Court judges, had them arrested and also detained the attorney pleading the case against him: me.
This was not the first time Musharraf had moved against the chief justice. He had first ordered him to resign in March 2007, and when Chaudhry refused, had removed and detained him, though the justice was unanimously reinstated by 13 members of his own bench in July.It was Chaudhry's campaign to get back onto the court that turned him into a national hero. After he was sacked, bar associations across the country invited him to speak. As he traveled the country, millions came out to receive him. Wherever he went, men, women and children poured out to cheer him on for having defied the increasingly unpopular general. Showing solidarity became a way to denounce the president. Ordinary citizens cheered Chaudhry with defiance in their eyes. I know—for I was his driver during this tour.
Chaudhry's brave stance soon won him accolades around the world: Harvard Law School gave him its highest award, the Medal of Freedom, and the New York City Bar Association made him a rare honorary member.
Yet U.S. officials remain unmoved, despite a letter Chaudhry sent to Western leaders last week protesting his treatment. Blind to the overwhelming support Chaudhry enjoys at home and abroad, Washington continues to pay lip service to the need for an independent judiciary in Pakistan while doing nothing to support one. This strategy is dangerously shortsighted. The United States has every reason to worry about terrorism and instability in Pakistan. But allowing Musharraf to continue arresting judges and peaceful protesters will only strengthen the terrorists' hand. If we lock up our judges and subvert the legal process, then those who believe in a more brutal kind of justice will triumph. It's therefore high time to take a stand. From now on no dignitary should visit the president on his hill without making it a point to inquire about the prisoner on the hill nearby. Due process and democratic principles demand nothing less.
Ahsan, a former minister for law, justice and the interior in Pakistan, is currently president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He has been detained without charge since Nov. 3.
With Extreme Prejudice?
On two consecutive days, 1st and 2nd February, the staff (security personnel as well as faculty members) of Punjab College, Muslim Town have tried to deny the rights of free speech and of free association of pro-democracy activists, and members of the Student Action Committee (SAC) Lahore - even going to the extent of brutal, un-restrained physical assault. In the face of this practical demonstration of the fascist attitudes nurtured in the so-called institutes of higher education that constitute the Punjab Group of Colleges, owned and run by the Nazim (Mayor) of Lahore, Mian Amir Mehmood, the activists have shown a remarkable degree of calm and fortitude, refusing to be provoked, and yet refusing to bow down to the dictates of the civilian collaborators of Army rule.
As already reported in some newspapers (e.g. Dawn), on Friday 1st February, Raheem-ul-Haque (adjunct faculty at Punjab University, former Project Manager at Techlogix) and Saeeda Diep (a veteran political, and not merely social, activist) were distributing flyers on the public side-lane in front of the two sections of the segregated Punjab College. The flyers, published by the Students Action Committee, laid out the basic demands of the Committee and also urged students to join hands with other sections of the public in a protest demonstration in Nasser Bagh on Saturday, the 2nd. The two activists were handing out flyers to all the students, boys and girls, consistent with their belief that information and debate are as much the right of women as of men. While Raheem was distributing some flyers outside the girls' section of the college, he leaned over the chain at the exit and handed a few to some students standing there. He then continued distributing the pamphlets to other students as they left for home or arrived for class. It is important to note two things here: at no point did either Raheem or Diep trespass on the private property of the college, unless, of course, in his extraordinary legislative zeal, the President decides to declare into existence a new law against aerial trespassing, "Thou shalt not lean into, or otherwise violate the airspace of, another's property"; not a single student had actually complained against the actions of the pro-democracy campaigners.
Soon thereafter, one of the security guards employed by the College told Raheem to stop handing out the flyers. Raheem defended his acts, saying that he was well within his rights to do as he pleased in a public space and that he was distributing flyers to the girls in the same way that he was distributing them to the boys. The guard slapped Raheem. Instead of hitting back, Raheem asked him why he'd hit him. He got two more punches for his trouble - this time the guard broke his spectacles. Again Raheem tried to reason with the guard, protesting that he was not doing anything wrong. He then walked over to consult with Diep. The guard followed, and the ensuing discussion quickly heated up with the guard pushing Diep and insulting both activists in abusive language. People gathered around them, which prevented the guard from following up his verbal threats with further physical aggression. Realizing that the situation could spiral out of control, some staff members from the College extricated the guard from the crowd.
Incensed and humiliated, the two activists decided to bring this action to the notice of the larger public. Some friends and one reporter arrived on the spot in short order. At this point, the group decided to report the matter to the police. At the nearby Muslim Town police station, which is also the office of the Superintendant Police Saddar Division, the police hummed and hawed for two hours before finally announcing that they needed a medico-legal report from the nearest government hospital. The physician at Jinnah Hospital diagnosed a perforated left ear drum and prescribed some antibiotics. Armed with the report, the group headed back to the police station, where they were informed that such an injury, not visible to the naked eye, was not serious enough to be the subject of their hallowed "First Investigation Report" (FIR)!
That evening, members of the Students Action Committee gathered outside Aitezaz Ahsan's house to celebrate his release, prepared a press release and vowed to go back the following day to the same college to concretely demonstrate the strength of their resolve.
The next day, Hassan Rehman (FAST-NU graduate student) and Umayr Hassan (FAST-NU faculty member) accompanied Raheem-ul-Haque and Saeeda Diep to Punjab College. They arrived at 11.30 AM and started handing out the flyers urging students to attend the protest demonstration that would start in a few hours time. It seemed that they had proven their point and were about to disperse (in fact, Hassan Rehman had already left) when the Principal of the College arrived in his black Mercedes. Some of the security guards (there were at least ten of them in total) called Raheem to meet the Principal. Raheem and Diep - infuriated - argued with him that their guards had no right to tell them what to do on public property and that, in fact, they (the College) was illegally encroaching upon public property (the green belt between the service lane and the main road serves as a parking lot for the College). Raheem mentioned that he had taken several photographs of the encroachment. Another SAC member, Shehryar (software engineer by profession) arrived while the argument was going on.
At some point, as he leaned either to say or after having said something to the Principal, the Principal grabbed Shehryar by his collar and then told the guards to thrash him. All of the guards fell upon Shehryar, punching, slapping, and then picking him up to be taken inside the College premises. Diep and Raheem went to save Shehryar and were similarly assaulted. Diep was dragged along with Shehryar while Raheem and Umayr were slapped and pushed into the premises through another gate.
Inside their offices, the four were forced to sit on the sofa and not allowed to go out. Raheem, infuriated, railed against the teachers present, who either remained silent spectators or told the activists to shut up or taunted their professionalism or called them Indian agents/NGO people. They claimed they were puncturing car tires and instigating students inside the campus. A female teacher suggested that Diep (being a female) could accompany her elsewhere - Diep angrily refused. Shehryar struggled against the goon squad and was beaten again. The other three tried to protect him as Raheem was punched and his nose started bleeding profusely. Diep tried calling Usman Gill (SAC activist and recent graduate from FAST-NU) and while she was talking to him, the guards tried to confiscate her cell phone - Diep refused but could not complete the call. This and more went on for more than an hour, with the College personnel alternating between beating up the activists and apologizing to them. There were twenty or thirty of them in all, some staff, some faculty and some who looked like hired thugs in plain clothes, who attacked and tormented the trapped pro-democracy campaigners.
Suddenly, Shehryar fell on all fours, gasping and indicating that he had difficulty breathing. It was a clever hoax, but no one including friends realised it then and started to panic. They clamoured for an ambulance to be called, warning the administration of the trouble they would bring upon themselves were one of them to die on the premises. As Shehryar lay limp on the floor, Umayr went outside to tell someone to call an ambulance. Usman Gill was outside and Umayr shouted to him telling him to call the ambulance. As he came nearer to the College boundary wall, someone behind Umayr told the guards outside to bring Usman inside. A guard grabbed Usman by the collar and tried to push him toward the gate - Usman resisted and was released just outside the gate as the police had arrived by that time. Usman, Umayr, Raheem and Diep's driver carried Sheryar outside and laid him in Umayr's car as Shehryar and Diep were driven away to safety.
The rest of the SAC members waited for the senior police officer (already aware of the incident the previous day) to arrive while the activist and College administration argued the case with the officer present. In particular, the activists demanded that the College return Shehryar's cell phone and Raheem's camera (used to photograph the College façade as well as the encroachment - hence the reason the guards to grab it from Raheem's car, as witnessed by Umayr's driver. The camera cost approx. $1000.) When the senior police officer arrived, the same argument persisted: the students demanded the retrieval of their property while the college personnel complained that the SAC members had been interfering inside their College. They now also claimed that the activists had damaged their property - a door glass was broken when the guards were scuffling inside with Shehryar. It was not clear who broke it. All parties now went inside the offices and the officer then had a word in private with the Principal. Outside, Umayr narrated their tale to a plainclothes Special Branch (police intelligence) representative. Outside, again, the officer had managed to recover the cell phone and asked the administrators to look for the missing camera asked the activists to come to the police station to lodge a complaint while his junior stayed back to look for the camera. Raheem and Usman went with him in the police mobile car.
By this time, Diep had managed to inform the SAC members attending the big rally at Nasser Bagh. However, once the activists had managed to free themselves, they sent messages to the SAC members to attend the rally which was the more important event, and to come over to the Muslim Town police station afterwards.
Shehryar and Raheem got medical treatment. Shehryar had a broken finger and Raheem had a bloody nose swollen as after a boxing match.
Around 20 - 25 SAC members had gathered at the Muslim Town police station by 4:30 PM. The SP allowed some SAC members to enter his office to take part in the discussion as the SAC lawyers presented their case and pressed for an FIR to be lodged against the staff of Punjab College. After much prevarication, during which he must have realised that SAC had a solid case and that he would have to file a report, he invited the group to go over to the College with him to talk to the College administration. Here a comic twist presented itself: the SP never showed up. He climbed into his official brand new 2.4D Toyota Hilux and disappeared. While the SAC members waited outside the College, they started raising slogans against the military dictatorship, against the Nazim and against oppression. About the same time, students started leaving for home and were quite surprised to encounter the SAC group in full cry. Some of them stopped to ask what had happened - they either knew nothing at all, or had been fed lies by the administration to the effect that the people beaten up earlier that day had been teasing female students. The SAC members disabused them of this fiction and even handed them their new flyers.
Eventually a DSP arrived and started negotiations with the SAC lawyers. At first, it seemed that he merely wanted SAC to leave the College and move to a less "disturbing" location, such as the police station. But the SAC members flatly refused and demanded that some resolution be arrived at, otherwise they were willing to stake out the premises for as long as it took. Eventually, the DSP asked that Diep and Raheem tell him exactly what happened. At this point, Diep started narrating how they were dragged into the premises and beaten by College personnel. As she was showing him the path, the College personnel got infuriated. Banking on the fact that they were employed by Mian Amir Mehmood, they took an aggressive attitude towards the DSP and virtually ordered him off the premises, daring him to challenge their authority. Humbled and humiliated,, the officer left the premises. Some SAC members were enraged at this concrete proof of the adage "he who has the stick, has the buffalo". After a brief verbal altercation with the College personnel, other SAC members intervened and defused the situation. At this point, the SAC and the lawyers conferred and it was decided that while the lawyers negotiated with the police, the SAC members would head to the Lahore Press Club.
At the Press Club, the Students Action Committee staged a small demonstration, prepared a new press release, and informed various media channels (newspapers and television) of the events of the day.
The SAC held a protest demonstration at the Press Club in support of their injured colleagues on Sunday, 3rd February.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Information Minister warns media of 'Nov-3'-like action
HYDERABAD, Feb 2: Federal Information Minister Nisar Memon has warned television channels of a reprise of the Nov 3 action if they 'continue to flout' the Pemra regulations.
"I urge these TV channels to abide by articles of their licence as they have pledged not to violate them. It would have been better had the government stopped on day one the TV channels for violating the rules," he said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of APP's Sindhi service here.
He said around 50 TV channels were working in the country, adding that the elections would not be considered free and fair if they projected any particular party.
The minister said the Election Commission was implementing laws relating to the general election and TV channels should not violate the terms governing their licences. He warned that TV channels violating laws would be taken to task.
(Courtesy DAWN)
SAC protests against brutalization of members
The Students Action Committee (Lahore) held a short but vehement protest against the brutal assault by Punjab College's establishment on four SAC representatives and a bystander driver.
Held outside the Press club today at 1 pm, students and sympathetic citizens stood, braving intermittent rain, raising slogans against the District Nazim Amir Mehmood and Principal Sohail Afzal, a minister for special education in the caretaker government.
They irate crowd chanted slogans against the current regime's support for such barbaric officials, who not only relentlessly brutalized the five victims to the point of one of them losing consciousness but displayed complete disregard of the presence of police investigators at their campus Saturday evening.
The SAC (Lahore) condemns the establishment for encouraging such individuals to act as sham academics and educationists. This encouragement comes in many forms; one such point, the reluctance of the SP Muslim town police station to register an FIR against the Punjab College administration for sending guards on a public road to kidnap and torture the SAC representatives and a bystander driver.
The SAC (Lahore) will persist in working for their representatives, the teachers and students, who were harassed and will not rest till legal action has been implemented. No strong arm will threaten students, the future inheritors of the country.
Verging on Delusions: Inside the mind of a Dictator
Dr Murad Moosa Khan
Delusion: a firm, fixed belief held with great conviction despite evidence to the contrary. Delusion is a symptom of psychosis- mental disorders in which a person loses contact with reality.
In the last eight years of misrule this country has been subjected to, two pictures stand out for me. In August 1999 soon after the Nawaz Sharif government was overthrown, Brig. Rashid Qureishi, the spokesman for the military government came on television and declared 'We don't want sham democracy, we want real democracy. We want a government that is of the people, by the people, for the people'. I found it surreal for a man in military uniform using Abraham Lincoln's (without even acknowledging him) hallowed words and having no qualms about it.
The second picture is of an interview a few weeks ago. Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of PML (Q) was asked whether General Musharraf would give up his uniform. "Yes, he would", he said, adding "General Musharraf looks dashing in uniform and Mr. Musharraf would look dashing in a designer suit".
Although eight years apart the two statements give us an insight of how the minds of dictators and those around him, work. It is important to understand this if we are to break out of this impasse and save the sinking ship of this country.
Today, millions of Pakistanis live in abject poverty teasing out a living for mere existence. Millions are unemployed or underemployed. Millions remain without health care and education. Millions are subjected to the indignity of being treated in government hospitals. They have no security. They have no laws to protect them. Where there are laws it is only to protect the rich and powerful.
In many parts of the country, people are selling their kidneys to pay off their debts. Millions suffer the daily humiliation of hanging from buses to get to work. Millions live and breathe the air whilst surrounded by filth, garbage and overflowing gutters.
What goes through the mind of dictators and the people who hold the real power in Pakistan, as they see the abysmal state of affairs? Quite clearly they see the situation very differently from the way the man in street sees it. From their perspective, the existence of the country is being severely threatened (which everyone sees too) but they feel they are the only ones who know how to save it. They see the politicians as tried and failed, corrupt, greedy people who only have lust for wealth and power. They have examples of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir's experiments in front of them and that feeds their way of thinking.
What are we to make of our rulers who tell us that only they know what is good for the country? That the rest of us- academicians, economists, scholars, lawyers, judges, doctors, engineers, teachers, students, retired senior military officers and other members of the civil society are ignorant mortals who know nothing about the dangers facing this country or how to tackle them? That democracy is not good for us? That they know how much the people love them? And that they will know when the time is right for them to step down?
Or is it that they are suffering from delusions?
A dictator's thinking is severely restricted and he suffers from selective listening. He has a very narrow vision. He cannot live with dissent. Dictators tend to be liberal as long as you agree with them. Any serious opposition and they crush it, never mind the democratic intent. They do not trust anyone beyond a small close group of people who feed them only with the information they want to hear. Their whole perspective is based on this narrow line of information. Hence our (ret) General's reply in the BBC interview recently, when asked if he would resign, 'I will go when I realize the people don't want me'. When asked how would be know that, he replied 'I have my sources of information'. These sources of information are his close aides who feed him the information he wants to hear. He has no idea how unpopular he is and that the vast majority do not want him. But it is important to understand he actually means it when he says the things he does. He is not making them up.
This type of thinking is verging on a 'delusion'. Many dictators also suffer from paranoia- a feeling (beyond the normal opposition one encounters) that others are against them and out to get them and must be eliminated. Hitler showed many traits of paranoia, as did Stalin and Saddam Hussein. It makes them more and more isolated and insular and as they near their demise they become more and more bizarre- both in their thinking and behavior. We have countless examples in history of such dictators and their strange behaviors- Idi Amin of Uganda, Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Duvalier of Haiti, Marcos of Philippines.
One can see it in the General's (ret) responses in interviews recently. Hosing down of Benazir's assassination site was 'inefficiency', Benazir was 'unpopular with the Army', 'I am very popular with the people', the West is 'obsessed with democracy' and the ex-servicemen opposing me are those 'I threw out of the military'. The latest we hear is the statement against the London based senior journalist where he had no misgivings in letting him 'have a couple to fix him' because the journalist dared to ask uncomfortable questions. These are statements of a man whose rational thinking is fast eroding.
A dictator's military background and particularly if he has had commando training makes it difficult for him to think otherwise. It makes him rigid in his approach with a 'never surrender' attitude. To him every encounter is a battle and the enemy must be vanquished. The frequent use of terms such as 'tactical', 'strategic' and 'campaign' while discussing issues that have nothing to do with the military are indicative of this. You can take a man out of the army, you can never take the army out of the man!
Even his physical appearance is important to consider. Observe his walk, with chest out, tummy tucked in, dyed hair, purposeful stride. He tries to look much younger than his 64 years. This also contributes to his self-image and ego. Imagine if he stopped dyeing his hair- a white haired General (ret), which he actually is, would look very different and his whole image and persona- both for himself and others would undergo a drastic change. Mushahid's Hussain statement is a rare glimpse of how the 'yes men' praise the master, making him even more self-centred and in the process, more reckless.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to change this line of flawed thinking as dictators do not think there is anything wrong with their way of thinking. Hence most dictators are forcibly removed- either violently or forced out. This is what history teaches us. Let there be no doubt about it.
The author is a Professor of Psychiatry at Aga Khan University. He can be contacted on muradmk@gmail.com.
Maltreated Justice Tariq advised physiotherapy
Doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) here on Saturday advised physiotherapy to justice Tariq Mehmood (retired), sources told Dawn.
Mr Mehmood accompanied by a magistrate and police personnel was brought from his residence to the hospital for his medical checkup, where doctors suggested physiotherapy to him for 10-15 days on daily basis, the sources said.
They said Mr Mahmood had sever backache and swelling on his knees. After consulting the doctors, he left for his house, which has been declared a sub-jail since December 6.
He was brought to the hospital after a day of his release by the government, but again was detained in his house.
Earlier, the Pims doctors examined him at his besieged house and advised physiotherapy on daily basis for December.
Detained soon after the November-3 emergency, Mr Mahmood continues to be under detention.
He developed pain in the early days of detention, when he was shifted to the Sahiwal jail from Rawalpindi. With the decrease in temperature, the pain worsened.
He was treated with pain killers, as there was no facility of conducting medical tests in the jail.
Later, he was shifted to Kot Lakpat jail Lahore on November 26, when his condition deteriorated and was taken to the Services Hospital for treatment.
There he underwent an MRI and X-rays and doctors found a hair-line fracture on his left knee. Mr Mahmood was asked to undergo a surgery, which he refused.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
SAC Members brutally attacked at Punjab College
Today, the true nature of the establishment was unleashed in full colours. As a sequel to yesterday's assault against a PU teacher and an activist, both senior advisors for the Student Action Committee, by the Punjab College guards, today, the administration of the same university detained and brutally beat up four people, representative of the Student Action Committee (Lahore) including one female.
A Punjab University faculty member, a Fast faculty member, two students and a seasoned female activist returned outside Punjab College in the morning to distribute flyers amongst the students. While engaging with students, none were on college property but were maintaining a distance by remaining on the green belt next to the Canal Road.
More than a dozen private guards, acting on the Principals orders grabbed them and without any hesitation, dragged all four of them, including the lady, and a driver, through the school corridors, where students were witness to this disgraceful act. The female activist was dragged so forcefully that she lost her balance and fell, only to be violently dragged up. These four SAC representatives and the driver were locked in a room, without any justifications.
While in detention, the men were beaten up by the Punjab College faculty members, guards and those who seemed like hired thugs. The assault was so severe that the PU faculty member on the receiving end was bleeding profusely. The other young man who was also detained was mercilessly pounded upon by a dozen men, whereupon he lost consciousness and sustained respiratory loss and had to be rushed to the Sheikh Zahid Hospital emergency.
Their personal belongings: cellphones and a valuable camera were also forcefully snatched from them, only to be returned after external intervention.
While they were kept inside, a SAC member came to Punjab College to rescue them. More than ten guards threatened him, and surrounded him, only to step back when he dialed 15 for police help.
After almost one hour of illegal imprisonment and harsh thrashing, the four were released.
When these SAC (Lahore) representatives were disrespectfully let out, the battered and bruised entourage proceeded to the Muslim Town police station with hopes for legal retribution. At the station, they were interrogated repeatedly, yet no FIR was registered nor was it in the offing.
After much convincing by lawyers and students, the SP decided that everyone should convene at the 'crime scene' for further investigations. By this time, evening had fallen.
At Punjab College, the administration upon noticing the arrival of the four people they had earlier beaten up along with forty SAC (Lahore) members, hid the guards responsible for the brutality earlier as to keep the police from interrogating them.
At the venue, the SAC members raised slogans asking for justice and student freedom when the DSP Rana Azeem showed up, instead of the SP as was promised.
It would seem as Punjab College is owned by the District Nazim, the police was trying to play down the atrocities by the college and its administration. After SAC convinced the police to conduct an investigation as legal procedure would dictate, the DSP accompanied by the female activist who had been harassed at Punjab College earlier, her lawyers and a SAC member who was recording the activist's narrative went inside the college premises to see the room where the four people were detained.
The Punjab College administration ordered the guards to barricade the way to the room, and locked the gates leading up to it. When the lawyers and the female activist demanded to show the DSP the room, the Punjab College administration launched into baseless conspiracy theories against the four SAC representatives they had beaten up.
After the faculty and administration shouted expletives and used extremely foul language, the lawyers, activist and the SAC representative walked out, only to be apprehended at the gate. The SAC representative, a female, was accused of taking photographs inside the college without permission. When she denied this, and showed she had no camera on her, more than a dozen men surrounded her and threatened physically frisk her and confiscate her cell phone.
Finally both the females were let out, to a waiting SAC representation, which dispersed to the press club for further statements.
Nawaz to pursue Missing People's cases
LAHORE, Feb 2 (AP) Former premier Nawaz Sharif pledged Saturday to pursue the cases of hundreds of missing people and prosecute those responsible if his party wins the February 18 parliamentary elections. “No government agency or official has a mandate to keep people in illegal confinement,” Sharif told about 100 relatives of people missing and believed to be held illegally by intelligence agencies. “They are accountable for their misdeeds before the court of law.”
The relatives, including women, children and elderly men, held placards and portraits of their loved ones as they gathered in a tent in front of Sharif's residence in Lahore. Sharif told the relatives he was optimistic about his party’s chances in the February 18 balloting, after which all the judges removed by Musharraf would be returned to the bench. “The first thing would be restoration of the independent judiciary,” he said.
(Courtesy DAWN)
'Get America Out of the Way and We Will be Okay'
Former ISI [Pakistan Army's Inter-Services Intelligence] Chief [Lt. General] Hamid Gul tells HARINDER BAWEJA the troika of army chiefs, politicians and the U.S. has Pakistan on the
verge of civil war.
http://www.tehelka.com
Tehelka: Is Benazir Bhutto's assassination a death knell for Pakistan?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: Accidents and wars don't destroy a country. It is the political process that can damage it. Fortunately, the emerging leadership of the Pakistan People's Party [PPP] has shown solidarity with the federation [of Pakistan].
Tehelka: But the assassination of a former Prime Minister [Benazir Bhutto] indicates the growing threat to Pakistan from the [Muslim] jehadis.
GENERAL HAMID GUL: It is not the [Muslim] jehadis who have killed her. She was rather protective of the [Muslim] jehadis in the past. Benazir was never soft on the Kashmir issue, let me tell you that. I served as the ISI Director-General under her. The 'Taliban' [Afghan students] emerged during her second tenure in office and captured Kabul when she was still the Prime Minister. Her Interior Minister used to patronise them openly. It was not the [Muslim] jehadis but that is what the Americans [Bush-Cheney Junta and the U.S. CIA] would have us believe. They have designs for Pakistan and I strongly believe that the Americans have got her eliminated because this is the way they deal with countries like Pakistan. They either use them or subdue them. In the case of Pakistan, it is both.
The Americans worked out a model during the days of [assassinated General Muhammad] Zia ul Haq. Junejo was brought in to give the label of democracy and to gradually ease Zia-ul-Haq out of office after he had been used but it didn't work out. Zia got wind of it and removed Junejo from office. The Americans got very upset and destroyed Zia-ul-Haq. I make no bones about saying this. I will quote from [U.S. President Dick] Nixon's book, In the Arena (page 109), in which he says when Zia-ul-Haq's plane went down, "instantly it came to my mind that why we Americans destroy our friends after we have used them".
America is a very important player in our domestic politics. They can't be naive to understand that Benazir cannot work with a man like Musharraf and if they were trying to cobble together a dream team comprising Benazir and Musharraf, then either they were very stupid or had other designs. Could the charismatic Benazir work with Musharraf when he could not tolerate even a mild and placid man like former PM Zafar Ullah Khan Jamali?
Tehelka: But she [Benazir Bhutto] apparently came back after a nod from the Americans?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: She came back because she had a sense of history and she wanted this blemish of corruption to be removed from her name. She was pushed into this situation. Benazir had said two things before she landed here - one was about AQ [Abdul Qadeer] Khan (the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb) and the other about 'Al-Qaeda' - that she would permit the Americans to strike 'Al-Qaeda' targets.
These are two things the Americans very badly want. One is a pre-emptive doctrine which has not yet been consummated. Even Musharraf has been resisting a direct ingress, howsoever 'pro-America' he might be. So, how could Benazir do this? How could she hand over AQ Khan to them? But she came and in the 70 days she spent, not once did she mention either AQ Khan or the 'Taliban'. She had drifted from the agenda and no wonder Musharraf said before and after her death that the lady had broken her promises. I have direct knowledge that my name was included in the list of people she felt she was threatened by but immediately after she landed here, she sent me a message and then another just three days before her assassination. She asked a source to tell General Sahib [Hamid Gul] to understand who got my name included. She said she would come to my house soon after the campaigning ended. She also told me through the source that haven't I noticed that she is not talking of AQ Khan. Everyone knows that the
Americans will never accept a populist leader, particularly in a Muslim country.
Tehelka: Isn't it one of Pakistan's essential problems - being willing to be led by the Americans?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: This is one of the fundamental contradictions in Pakistan's governance and political system. Unfortunately, you in India don't realise this. America wants to be the master not a friend.
Tehelka: Pakistan is often referred to as the most dangerous place on Earth. Does this bother you and the Pakistanis a great deal?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: The Americans call it a dangerous place because they have designs for Pakistan. The Israeli lobby will never rest in peace until they have snatched our nuclear weapons. In the 'war against terror', Pakistan is the target.
Tehelka: But the [Muslim] jehadi stranglehold is evident from the increasing number of 'suicide' attacks.
GENERAL HAMID GUL: That is pure and simple revenge. It is in Pashtun blood. It has nothing to do with Islam. These are revenge attacks. The girls who were burnt in Lal Masjid [Red Mosque] were from Swat [Pakistan]. I know that Lal Masjid inmates were ready to surrender.
Tehelka: The [Pakistan] Army and the ISI have not allowed democracy to take root, right?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: Partly the politicians have been responsible for this but it is true that the [Pakistan] Army has not allowed the politicians either. The Army is the strongest organ in the executive branch. Even now, when the judiciary rebelled, see how the Army fell upon it and strangulated it. And when the media started to side with the judiciary, they tried to kill the media too. This is the story of Pakistan.
Tehelka: Being a former [ISI] chief, you are absolving the ISI.
GENERAL HAMID GUL: It is the Army Chief who has had ambitions not the ISI. I have served the institution for 36 years and the ISI never wanted to have anything to do with politics. But the Army chiefs always wanted to enjoy power. He doles out ambassadorial posts after retirement and allocates housing plots, agricultural land.
Tehelka: You are willing to concede the Army's hold over the Pakistan polity. What about the ISI?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: The ISI is a branch related to security. The first line of defence has to be handled by the intelligence agency so it continues to grow in power. The ISI has played an important role and it has in its charter - through a prime ministerial decree signed by [assassinated Prime Minister] Zulfiqar [Ali] Bhutto - a political cell, so the politicians are at fault and the Army Chief and his coterie of generals are at fault.
Tehelka: The Indian Army has never had political ambitions.
GENERAL HAMID GUL: I will not reveal the names now but some Indian generals were seriously thinking of emulating the Pakistani model, especially after Operation Blue Star. I agree, the political leadership of India was far more mature and committed to the idea of democracy than the leadership of Pakistan, after Quaid-e-Azam [Mohammad Ali Jinnah] and [assassinated Prime Minister] Liaquat Ali Khan.
Tehelka: Please reveal the names [of all Indian Army generals who wanted to overthrow the Indian Government and rule India directly through the Indian Army].
GENERAL HAMID GUL: I will not. That's my choice.
Tehelka: The common Pakistani feels let down by its politicians who are willing to go into exile instead of fighting it out. So, the Establishment does dominate?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: This is true because they have been the products of the [Pakistan] Army. The political leadership here is brought up and nurtured by the Army, including Mr. Bhutto. He used to call [dead General Muhammad] Ayub Khan, daddy. They were brought up under the shadow of the military generals and they did not have the guts to stand up to them.
Tehelka: So unless America understands the need for real [civilian] democracy in Pakistan, you don't think that it will happen?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: Understand? They [Bush-Cheney regime] do understand but it does not serve their interest. They know it but they have helped destroy the very institutions on which a democracy is built. When you destroy the judiciary, when you limit the jurisdiction of the
legislation and gag the media then where are the pillars on which the edifice of democracy is going to be built?
Tehelka: How does the future of Pakistan improve?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: By saying no to America. And I believe that is not difficult. America is not being able to handle even a country like Afghanistan. What are they going to do? Attack us? Do they have the troops to attack? At the most they can bomb a few places. Let them, we
will come back to life.
Tehelka: How important is it for Musharraf to step down?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: It is essential for the success of Pakistan because we are otherwise drifting towards a chaotic civil war kind of situation, like the Iranian Revolution. One man is being supported by America against the will of an entire nation.
Tehelka: If he is so unpopular, why is the Pakistani street not more proactive?
GENERAL HAMID GUL: Because the two largest political parties [PPP and PML-N] decided, even after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, not to take on Musharraf. That's my point. Get the America factor out of the way and we will be okay. No one is wiser than the victim and I think we are getting wiser.
Source: Tehelka Magazine - Vol. 5, Issue 4 - Saturday, 2 February 2008 - New Delhi, India.
