May 16, 2007
A lively time in Pakistan
I seem to have arrived in Pakistan at a lively time. On Sunday more than 40 demonstrators were shot and killed at an anti-government rally in Karachi. On Monday there was a general strike and the mysterious murder of a senior official of the Supreme Court. Yesterday there was a suicide bombing in Peshawar and 25 people were killed. I wonder what will happen today?
The Pakistani opposition seem convinced that this is beginning of the end for President Musharraf. One of the people I called on yesterday was Avida Hussein, an ebullient woman who is a former ambassador to Washington and now a leading opponent of the president. She was caught up in the shootings in Karachi on Sunday and says – “I’ve been mucking around in politics for over 30 years and the first time I saw a human being shot dead in front of me was on Sunday in Karachi.”
The official line is that the people killed were caught in crossfire between pro and anti-government demonstrators. Mrs Hussein insists that all the shooting was being done by members of a pro-government party – “It was the MQM, I saw their flags. I’m not blind”. As her servant brought us ice cream – (“I hope you don’t mind, I’ve just had some dental work done”), she said that the demonstration had been festive in atmosphere. But then the shooting had started.
The demonstrations in Karachi were in support of Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, the chief justice of the Supreme Court who was recently sacked by President Musharraf. The day after the Karachi killings, a senior official at the court and close aide to Mr Chaudhary was murdered in his home in Islamabad. His widow and members of the opposition are openly suggesting that his murder – he was shot in the head at close range – is linked to the government’s dispute with Mr Chaudhary. “It’s a very clear message of intimidation”, says one opposition politician. “This is mafia stuff and it’s new for Pakistan.”
Despite opposition predictions that President Musharraf will have to step down, there is no sign that the president has any intention of going. He intends to put himself forward for another term in office, later this year. Since the president is elected by parliament where the government has a clear majority, his re-appointment seems inevitable.
But some in the opposition hope that the army might decide that General Musharraf is now damaged goods and persuade him to step down. A vain hope – perhaps. But there are certainly some senior former military men who are openly critical of the president. One of them is Talat Masood, a retired general, who argues that – “The government is losing control of the situation – and very rapidly. There are several fires now burning out of control.”
Mr Masood believes that the Americans are deluding themselves if they believe that General Musharraf is still essential to the war on terror. He says that there are elements in the Pakistani establishment that continue to support the Taliban – and that the Musharraf government has done very little to crack down on home-grown extremism. That extremism is growing all the time, according to General Masood – “Pakistan has changed completely over the last 20 years. Every day it becomes more radicalised and intolerant.”
Opinion polls regularly reveal attitudes that seem bizarre to outsiders. One recent poll (www.worldpublicopinion.org) suggested that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that al Qaeda was behind 9/11.
General Masood is one of that 3 per cent. But he says that received opinion in Pakistan is that the attacks were a deliberate provocation to provide America with an excuse to attack the Muslim world and seize control of the world’s oil supplies. General Masood says – “I said to one of these fellows who believes this. OK, if America invaded Iraq to gain control of the world’s oil, why did they invade Afghanistan? And do you know what he said – “to control the world supply of lapus lazuli.”
those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind!pakistan was created by the imperialists and their grandchildren are facing the consequences, after all what is 7/7 and 9/11.civil norms hardly exist today in pakistani society and India and the world should brace themselves for a huge outpouring of taliban angst in the coming months.the viability of the country as a homogenous whole is increasingly in question and i think the american study of 2006 foreseeing a split into 5 ‘Stans will occur sooner than later!Imagine the CJI of your country being prevented from entering the commercial capital of the nation and greeted with sniper fire!!that’s the present situation in pakistan!!a visit to karachi a while back was astonishing and a culture has evolved wherein the feudalism of the 19th century is reverred!!!no wonder britain is a mess today, and they have themselves to blame only.having cuddled half wits for 60 years they are now realising what they have done to the british way of life and british values of hard work,education and the ability to take the good with the bad.
Posted by: devindra sethi | May 18th, 2007 at 6:32 pm | Report this commentdevindra’s right… India will have to brace itself for a surge in Talibanization and everyone fighting everyone else in Pakistan.
That said, Pakistan maybe India’s troublesome neighbor, but it is now the world’s nightmarish problem.
Gesundheit
Posted by: gesundheit | May 18th, 2007 at 7:55 pm | Report this commentThe problem is that US administration tries to take a short cut to its policies overseas. During 1980s it developed close ties with military dictatorship in Pakistan. After 911 that was also the knee jerk reaction of US administration. Such policies which sustain and promote dictatorships in Pakistan result in creating negative impact on the general perception of the population within the country. No wonder documentaries like Loose Chance find more believable for Pakistani public and middle class then reports by international financial institutions which depict rosy picture of state of economy when the man on street feel the pain of rising inflation and concentration of wealth in fewer hands.
Posted by: Fahim | May 21st, 2007 at 11:45 am | Report this commentYes, yes, Fahim… go attack the Americans! Blame them for all your ills, 1980s yadayadayada! Or else… or else… or else…your supply of Lapis Lazuli will be taken over by the infidel Americans!!! Hahahahaha.
Posted by: Gesundheit | May 25th, 2007 at 8:20 pm | Report this commentI just happen to read through this blog for the first time and I must agree, its amusing, if not hilarious. “India will have to brace itself for a surge in Talibanization”?!?! hahaha.. why dont the indians muscle up their defence against an attack similar to 9/11 (probably qutub minar or some other monument might be under threat of a terrorist attack) I will recommend Gesundeit to go and hide in his closet with his computer so that he could “safely” keep feeding the readers with his hatred filled criticism. Infact criticism is one thing and ridiculing is another. Poor Gesundeit needs to learn the difference here.
Take it easy Gesundeit… and as others have already suggested you, get a life. I think life has been troublesome for you… Thats why this bitterness is there.
As far as the conditions in Pakistan are concerned, i agree that blaming others have been the only strategy that is adopted by the majority there and complacency is achieved by relating to similar mishappenings in other parts of the world. I feel unfortunate to observe that the government is either too busy chasing talibans, looking for scape goats that they are not able to concenrate on factors for economic development that is one of the main reasons for increasing frustration amongst the masses who come on to the streets, protesting and damaging public & private property, without even knowing the real cause of protest. They protest not because they support the cause but because they dont have anything better to do. Private sector industries are improving at some level but then income disparity also give rise to further frustration amongst the unfortunate ones.
Pakistan will have to find a way out of this Talibanization or whatever it is, which is taking away most of the resources and energies of the Government. I would not talk about whether Musharraf is deliberately doing this to buy more time or US has some itch for which it is pushing Musharraf to channel all his resources there, but I would like to add (and no apologies to our frustrated friend Gusendheit since I am just talking about a very elementary cause) that US is a major cause of the mess that is there in Pakistan since it is sneaking too much in the country’s affairs and almost dictating what it wants from the Pakistani government, which is bound to listen to US. So, I can clearly see US in the picture there besides the already disoriented government and masses who have no clue what to do and who do not even seem to struggle to look for the end of thread from where they could start untangling the mess.
The situation does not look good at the moment and the sad part is that no easy solution exists there. If these Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) mullahs have not been set up by Musharraf himself, then I fail to understand why such (who are shamelessly threatening of suicide bombing) kind of people even exist. Although it might sound very radical, but such people should be caught and executed publically for others to learn a lesson. We do not - and i repeat, we do not need such psychos in our society who make life terrible for us and give outsiders the excuse to ridicule us.
I think I have already invested a lot fo time on this. I feel bad to realize that I did nothing to ease the misery, itch and excruciating pain of our Gesundheit… But on a very insightful note, the solution to this problem require efforts on lots of front and it is not as easy as just forgeting about everything and moving on the path of progress. You cannot ask a person to jog when you have chained and choked him. But yes i agree, that after you unchain and unchoke the person, the person will jog only if he has the will. Pakistanis need to develop that will to work towards economic and social prosperity albeit unfavorable conditions since they cannot afford to wait and see now.
Posted by: Ali | June 7th, 2007 at 6:05 am | Report this commentAnd yes… i forgot to do a favor to rachman… i have another hot topic for you to take up in Pakistan… A schmuck, quite similar to you in calibre and intellect, of some Singapore television channel covered a story of illegal kidney trading in Pakistan and informed us that Pakistan is a very lucrative market for illegal Human kidneys trading. Why dont you cover that as well? It would help to taint the picture even further.
I have lived in Pakistan for 25 years but these stories are as novel to me as family values and collectivism for Americans.
Posted by: Ali | June 7th, 2007 at 6:57 am | Report this commentFamily values in the USA are stronger than you think Ali, I would probably say stronger than in Pakistan. I have been in both places and I can say it. In Pakistan people don’t divorce not because they like their marriage but because they don’t have a choice even if the husband beats his wife. Fathers choosing hubbies for their daughters - its 8th century.
Posted by: John Lee | June 7th, 2007 at 1:26 pm | Report this commentThese bad things are novel to you because people in Pakistan got used to bad conditions and sad life. So if another bad things happens, you don’t think its a big deal.
There is either something wrong with your reasoning abilities my friends or your comprehension capabilities, besides having atypical American perception of the state of affairs. I dont blame you john.
I dont even feel like writing something for you since i fear i might be wasting my time because there is a high probability that you would not get what i write.
Anywayz, i`ll go ahead for the little odds and tell you something. “Fathers choosing hubbies for their daughters” - yes that is a common thing there. and No… it is not 8th century..hahahh.. my friend you would agree that it is better than teenage pregancies that you people have in america and all the complications there against. Do you think the vast majority of people with single parents in your society love their life?? do they even know who their father is?? would you call that a family?? where two teenagers got doped and drunk, had sex for pleasure and ended up giving birth to another american?? hahahah… is that how you people operate??
I have quite a few american friends and majority of them call their parents with bad names. Some complain that their parents never supported them emotionally & financially since mid teens, some say that dont bother about their parents & refuse to give reason as to why they dont like them. And believe me, I am not quoting the exact things words here else you would have known about what american family values are.
Posted by: Ali | June 11th, 2007 at 4:45 am | Report this commentThere is one certain thing we are all aware: in Muslim countries islamists parties represent Democracy while the USA represents Dictatorship.
In Pakistan while islamists claim for a free press the US and Israel support a bloody Dictator who is hated by the People.
In Turkey the islamist party wins the free Elections and twice the pro-American Army uses its power to establish a Dictatorship or establish limits to the elected representatives of the People.
In Morocco and Egypt, islamists parties have the support of the majority of the population but their election is severely restricted. A Dictator like Mohamed VI acts against the will of the People.
In Gaza and Cisjordan, the islamist party wins the election and the US supports a coup détat to establish a Dictatorhsip against the will of the People.
In Latin America the US has always supported Dictatorships, coups and genocides to defend its interests…now in Muslim countries the USA is doing the same.
For how long can the USA go against the will of the People? For how long?
Posted by: Enrique | June 11th, 2007 at 5:55 am | Report this comment