Omnipotent Musharraf

Other day one of my work colleagues during our lunch break said that she had previously thought Mohammad would be the most popular name in Pakistan. But judging from news coming out from Pakistan she realised that Musharraf is the most popular name in Pakistan, at least among the ruling elites of Pakistan. To explain her comments she said we had chief executive by the name of Musharraf in late nineties. At the same time we had Chief of Army Staff by the name of Musharraf. We also had some one called Musharraf as Joint Chief of Staff Committee at the same time. Our NSC is headed by someone named as Musharraf. Recently a new president has sworn in whose name is Musharraf.

Though facing these comments is one of the most embarrassing realities of any Pakistani working in western democracies yet I could not help admiring biting satire embedded in her comments. Without being flippant her comments helped me understand the true meanings of word omnipotent. Previously I thought omnipotence is an attribute that can only be attributed to God. I thank Musharraf of making us humans realise that we can share some of the attributes of God.

Like an omnipotent god Musharraf is everywhere. He is a soldier, president, prime minister, foreign minister, chief justice or any thing as occasion demands. He breaks laws and then promulgates laws. He offends and then judges his own offences 'in the best interest of his country'. As a self proclaimed saviour of nation he has to perform many task. He showed great 'courage' and 'resolve' to turn constitution into prostitution with the help of pimps like Sharifuddin Pirzada, Ahmed Raza Kasoori, Malik Qayyum and Waseem Sajjad but only for the 'greater interest of his nation'. He is multi-faceted person and has many heads like Medusa.

Like a person who always gives credit where credit is due I for one would like to give credit to Musharraf for his 'courage', 'resolve' and his untiring efforts 'in the best interest of his country' in following words:

Respect to your great place, and let the devil

Be sometime honoured for his burning throne.

(Measure For Measure, 5.1.290-1)

http://uk.360.yahoo/imranbhatt

Topcy-turvy Pakistan

Yesterday I was reading Richard III by Shakespear and there were few lines that depicted a true picture of Pakistan. A society where noble, honest and integral people such as Aitizaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Munir malik, Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary and his fellow judges are either behind bars or put under house arrest and all sycophants, hypocrites, dishonest, corrupt and law breakers are holding the heighest offices in the land of pure. Let me share those line with you to understand the travesty of justice.

The worls is gone so bad
That wrens make pray where eagles dare not perch.
Since every jack became a gentleman
There's many a gentle person made a jack.

(1.3.69-72)

Good Bye! Constitution of Pakistan

December is normally remembered for Christmas however for Pakistanis it brings back dreadful and extremely disappointing memories of dismemberment of Pakistan. But adding insult to their shattered pride this December will be remembered for wholesale constitutional amendments by General (reluctantly retired) Musharraf that completely disfigured the constitution of Pakistan.

After their disgraceful defeat in 1971 Pakistanis regrouped and built their confidence in the shape of standing unanimously behind 1973 constitution. This was a defining moment in the history of Pakistan when world saw a defeated nation showing great resolve and commitment to work together towards democratic goals. This unanimous resolution was the pride of Pakistan that paved the way for first democratically elected government in Pakistan and for the first time Pakistan registered itself on the world map as a constitutional democracy a country otherwise remembered by its despotic and dictatorial rulers.

Like any other dictator General (reluctantly retired) Musharraf introduced new amendments in the constitution while lifting emergency on 15 December, 2007. Among many other damaging amendments introduced by present despotic regime there is one amendment that completely disfigured the spirit of constitution. Constitution basically represents the will of people, it is wishes and aspirations of its citizens. One fatal amendment that changed the basic definition of constitution has been introduced by this ugly and despotic regime requires no parliamentary approval of all extra constitutions actions committed by General (reluctantly retired) Musharraf. It means that instead of representing the will and wishes its citizens now constitution of Pakistan represents will and wishes of General (reluctantly retired) Musharraf and this amendment paves the way for future dictators.

Alas! it is a good bye to constitution of Pakistan. Death of a nation's pride at the hand of a dictator. An early death before it could see its youth in full spring. People of Pakistan you need to understand it very well that no entity or person can guarantee your rights. It is you and only you who can guarantee your rights. Your constitution is the only document that translates your wishes to action. If you allowed a person whoever he/she may be to plagiarise with your constitution your are committing an act of suicide. You have to fight this injustice with your rights. You have to fight for justice with your lives lest you need Justice to defend for your rights.

New business venture by Pakistan Army

After successful intervention in various business projects Pakistan Army now ventured in to lucrative business of cattle trade on the eve of Eid-UL-Adha.

According to BBC Pakistan Army currently managing a very big animal bazaar in the outskirts of Karachi around super highway. They are making most from this venture by charging Rs 250.00 per sheep and Rs 500.00 per cattle head.

I personally believe that Pakistani Army are not going to fail in their new venture as they have experience of trading members of national and provincial assemblies like a herd of sheep. Furthermore, the way they treat civilians in Pakistan is reminiscent of the way farm owner treats his/her stock. So their new business enterprise makes very good business sense as they have all the skills and experience in this type of trade.

O What a goodly outside falsehood hath!

I was reading a news piece other day about Justice (retired) Safdar Shah's daughter's letter to daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB). ZAB forced Justice Safdar Shah to leave his office. Events took a nasty turn on ZAB and ZAB's case appeared before supreme court bench that also included Justice Safdar Shah. Like a professional and honest man Justice Safdar Shah refused to buckle down under pressure from military dictator Zia-UL-Haq and pleaded ZAB not guilty. After that he was dismissed from supreme court and forced to live in exile.

In her letter daughter of Justice Safdar Shah, Ghazala tired to refresh in BB's memory the plight of her beloved father at the hands of enslaved judiciary and asked her to put her political weight behind lawyers movement for the restoration of judiciary in Pakistan. It was no doubt a moving letter but I believe it is a futile effort to rekindle any such memory in the heart of political BB.
To fight for independent judiciary in only important to those people who have no other choice but to live in Pakistan. Politicians like BB come to visit Pakistan to rule over hapless and hopeless Pakistanis. It does not matter to them whether judiciary is free or not because they know that no matter what they do they can very easily leave with their ill gotten assets to places in Dubai, London or USA.

Free judiciary is for people like you and I. People like Atzaz Ahsan, Ali Mohammad Kurd, Munir Malik and all other lawyers, journalists and members of civil society who made a conscious decision to spend rest of their lives in Pakistan. Therefore we need institutions to safe guard our rights. We need a place where we believe that our pleas will be heard. Where you have to pay for your deeds no matter how much strong you are. And we were beginning to witness this happening under the leadership of Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary and all those honourable judges who refused to take oath under PCO.

Reading her articles in various well known newspapers, listening her delivering speeches on democracy and human rights and then analysing her politics one can not but conclude that they are poles apart. What she writes or says and what she does do not make any good sense. She appears well before her audience and strikes the right chords and reminds me of The Merchant of Venice of Shakespeare:

The devil can site scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O What a goodly outside falsehood hath!
(1.3.95-9)

During her self imposed exile BB was most worried about her cases in Switzerland and Spain. Why? Because she knew that courts in Switzerland and Spain are free and she can not do any thing to stop legal proceedings unless Pakistan government stop pursuing these cases against her. She showed her anger towards Pakistani judiciary when supreme court issued a stay order on NRO. Therefore expecting her to demand for an independent judiciary is like a suicide for her. She is only here to rule and once her prime ministership would be in any sorts of doubt she will taking any next available flight to Dubai, London or Washington.

Farcical Transition

Few sections of Pakistani press have been claiming since General (reluctantly retired) Musharraf's decision to shed his skin that it is a transition from a military rule to civilian. But I believe anyone who believes in the originality of this transition either is naive or have no clue about the military politics in Pakistan or he/she is simply living in a fools paradise. Old habits die hard. A wolf in a sheep's cloak will still be a wolf, a wild beast. This so called transition is a farce. Would you call it a transition where General Musharraf transfers his powers to General (reluctantly retired) Musharraf? A general so reluctant to retire that he refused to leave his former residence and decided to keep both Army House and Presidential Palace at the expense of tax payers money.

हस बब गोने इंसाने?

In her recent artical in Christian Science Monitor BB elaboratly explained the electoral engineering by governmnet in forth coming elections for her western audiance. She even went into great lengths to claim that ballot papers have already been distributed among PML(Q) condidates and agencies have allocated quotas of seats for various political parties participating in January, 2008 elections with PML(Q) would be the largest party in next national assembly. Having said all this she still wants to take part in these farcical elections. Now I ask any reader of this blog what would you say about a person who knows the futility of his/her action but still insists upon doing it?

I would call it insanity।

What would you rather say?

ATTA Under Musharaf

ATTA though sounds like TADA, anti-terrorism act, has nothing to do with terrorism or law. Though it is not an anti-terrorism act yet it has same terrorising affects for ordinary citizens of Pakistan.

It is one of the great marketing and economic skills of General (Retired) Musharraf's regime that soon ATTA will be one of the luxury items in Pakistan. Few years back ATTA was consider one of the cheapest commodities in Pakistan. Now a days if you ask the say question the answer would be the constitution of Pakistan, the cheapest commodity in Pakistan. If you a COAS do whatever you want with it nobody cares about. It has become the most worthless piece of document in Pakistan.

Had ATTA had any thing to do with supreme court, lawyers, Constitution or media we would have seen Musharraf regime working over time to arrest its ascendancy by using all its might. S

Winter of Jokes

This winter is different from all other winters in that this is the season of jokes and Pakistan is the only blessed country in the community of two hundred plus where government plays a part of a joker.

we heard the first joke of this winter when COAS General Pervaiz Musharraf delegated the authority of withdrawing emergency rule to President General Musharraf.

Then comes another one this time from General Retired Pervaiz Musharraf when he said Chief Justice tried to block his candidacy "illegally" just like Prime Minister in 1998 sacked then COAS General Pervaiz Musharraf "illegally".

Last but not least comes from the office of new COAS when he said 2008 will be celebrated as Army's year as if since its inception in 1947 people of Pakistan have been living under civilian rule.

I used the government in the first sentence because it is Army that call all shots in Pakistan and its COAS is PM, President, FM, Chief Justice or whatever he wants to be in the land of pure.

Misplaced Hopes

Just like fake and counterfeit medicine that instead of curing a disease makes conditions even worse for a patient same can be said about farce elections of January 2008. I often surprise myself by reading editorials of leading newspapers in Pakistan when almost all of them pinning all their hopes in forth coming elections as if these elections are going to achieve substantial results that can alleviate political turmoil in Pakistan. The scale of disillusionment is gripping this country from ordinary people to so called intelligentsia. This is a classic example of intellectual state of a nation that has been ruled by tin pot dictators since 1947. Instead of encouraging will of the people to be implemented opinion makers are looking towards new COAS to come to their rescue as if he would be any different from previous tin pot dictators. The honourable judges who said NO knew that very well that future of Pakistan lies with breaking the present status quo. In fact civil society in Pakistan have realised that without changing the present power structure in Pakistan nothing substantial can be achieved. Lets be sure without an iota of doubt that we can only secure the future of our coming generations by saying NO to all those forces who working overtime to give life safer to deteriorating status quo.
Lets see who are the main players trying to save this status quo. Military establishment in Pakistan, they would go to any length in order to save the status quo because they have been the biggest beneficiaries of current status quo in Pakistan. Religious parties which serve as political and private militias for military establishment in Pakistan. Feudalism and free democracy can not work together. Feudalism’s survival depends upon restricting free flow of information and free movement of people and that makes them natural partners of all the forces working to preserve the status quo. When I say feudalism I mean state of mind and all those forces who abhor freedom of information and movement are feudalistic in their mind set even if they are based in urban areas of Pakistan. Capitalists always advocate for liberal economic policies because these policies provide them all the freedom to exploit and plunder productive resources for their profit. They provide necessary finance for the forces of status quo to secure their position and in return they get absolute freedom to plunder.
Therefore expecting any thing good come out of the offices of new COAS is like living in a fools’ paradise. He would never commit a suicide not for rule of law and constitution. Religious parties would do every thing to keep masses from taking their political destiny in their own hands. Major politic parties are all part and parcel of status quo. The largest political party Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) can better be called a feudo-political party. Almost all of its top leadership including our daughter of the east hails from feudal background. Hoping that this feudal leadership will bring about radical changes in the power structure is like expecting from wolves to stop preying. As for capitalists represented by like of Nawaz Shrif are the life blood of this status quo. Their whole capitalistic empire depends upon the concessions and discounts granted by autocratic and dictatorial regimes.
Any rescue available now lies with people of Pakistan. They need to come out for their rights because only they have true and honest sensitivities to safe guard their constitutional rights. Feudo-political parties, military dictators, politico-islamic parties and capitalists have vested interested with this status quo and should never ever be entrusted noble cause of civil liberties for masses of Pakistan. Any student of history would tell us any movement that puts personalities in front of their principles will be source of despair and disillusionment. Therefore no one should be trusted and only undiluted implementation of constitution of Pakistan can guarantee their rights and secure the future of Pakistan.

Election Generali Style

With all major political parties in line to take part in forth coming generali elections, Pakistan is getting ready for another military take over in next five to seven years. Pakistan’s political history is replete with such arrangements of political transformation from military to civilian dispensation only to save military’s ugly face and makes things so unworkable for civilian dispensation that military have to take things in their hands only to safeguard national interests.
Pakistan’s army or to be more precise its elites are the most loyal servants of the USA. Peep into history and you will find that whenever the USA wanted an unflinching cooperation from Pakistan there happened to be a military general imposing marshal law on the land of pure. In late 1970s the US wanted to have plaint government in the wake of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and we had Amir-ul-Monineen General Zia-ul-Haq imposing martial law and toeing the American line, making mockery of constitution of Pakistan and leaving behind nation of drug addicts, loads of ammunition in private hands and society divided on ethnic and sectarian lines.
Then comes 1999 and the US wanted a cooperative and friendly Pakistan so that they can take their revenge on war torn Afghanistan’s Taliban and their Osama Bin Laden. The result was an obvious one, military take over and the US has been granted full excess to use land of pure to strike their enemies in Afghanistan. Here I am not putting ideas in your mind to suggest that all military take-overs in Pakistan are the US sponsored but I believe that readers are better judge to make their own mind.
Since the inception of Pakistan military take over in Pakistan and American global agenda go hand in hand. Obviously this courtship is not a futile exercise. It brings forth billions of dollars that go straight in to military coffers and no bloody civilian representative not even their own chaudaries or somoros etc can dare ask the whereabouts of these billions of dollars.
What will follow now? Political parties will take part in generali elections. With careful electoral engineerings we are in for split mandate with no party having decisive majority to form government. For the survival of national assembly, members of legislative assemble will be asked to pass a constitutional amendment to give legality to November 3, 2007 martial law. Every future government will be working under 58(2)b hanging over its head like a sword of Damocles. The most pleasing thing for military is that they do not have to search for the likes of Shoaukat Aziz but the embodiment of political Islam Maulana Fazlul Rehman, our champion of democracy Benazir Bhutto and our man of the heaviest of mandates Nawaz Sharif with be at their service and they will do whatever they are employed for. These faces will give validity to present day dispensation. And if in the future owing to the USA’s global agenda there emerges a situation where there is possibility of making big bucks military junta will destroy their own hand made puppets and become sole rulers of the land of pure.
With every thing falling apart around them it has been very stressful time for civil society and human rights activists in Pakistan. Media have been gagged and plaint judiciary is in place. Those judges who refused to sell their soul have been put under house arrest. Their misplaced confidence in so called democratic parties has proved one thing that when you are fighting for lofty goals this is a cardinal mistake to bring personalities before your principles. People who enthuse crowds with their fiery oratory are now source of bewilderment and desperation. It is shameful to see Barrister Atizaz Ahsan submitting his nomination papers (which I call kaagzatey haramzadgy). Now I wonder how a person who can not stand against the leader of his own party can be entrusted to lead people in their fight against military establishment.
One last thought who owns Pakistan? If it is owned by people of Pakistan then who owns military institutions in Pakistan? Looking at present factual realities it is obvious that military institutions in Pakistan own Pakistan and the logical conclusion that follows makes a very disturbing reading army in Pakistan is army of General Musharif and it should not be misunderstood as Pakistan Army.

Rethinking Priorities

We are at the crossroads. As Mirza Ghalib says in his couplet

Eeman mujay rokay hai jo khenchay hai mujey kufr
Kaaba merey peechay hai kaleesa merey aagay

We are trapped between push of development and pull of traditions. Young generation is confused and bewildered where to get reconciliation. Main stream religious leaders failed to satisfy the post-modern political issues. The situation is further aggravated by the absence of any kind of discussion and dialogue in the society. This absence of dissenting views has led to proliferation of orthodox and violent means to assert ones point of view.

Recent kidnapping of three residents of Islamabad by female students of an Islamic school is nothing but a 'vigilante justice'. The way government took a very soft stance against the occupation of children library by female students of the same school emboldened their courage and now they are threatening to establish an Islamic court in their school. This is blessing of having military power in over society. This is exact opposite what Jinnah had dreamt for, a tolerant, secular society, where everyone would be identified as Pakistani.

But I think one should not to be surprised by these events as a cursory look at the evolution of political economy will reveal the true picture of Pakistani society. It is a society where one can do whatever he wants as long as he has the monopoly of violence. A constitutionally elected prime minister dismisses his Army Chief, but as Army Chief rejects his orders and topples his democratically elected government. Why? Here gun power is more powerful then peoples power in Pakistan.

Have we ever entertained a thought, what if Chief Justice rejects his authority and establishes his own government just like the way General Musharif did to Nawaz Sharif? I know we can not even imagine about it because army as an institution holds the monopoly over violence in our society. By the use of their coercive power they have managed to twist laws in their favour. Why the managed to do this because of our silence. They willfully have twisted the political history of Pakistan under the guise of indispensableness. They are not the guardian of national interest; people of Pakistan are the guardian of national interest. Armed forces in every civilized society are one instrument among many at the disposal of the people to achieve their national interests. Nations are indispensable not the institutions.

Just like in Animal Farm, in our society all institutions are equal but some institutions are more equal then others. Pakistan Army since the inception of Pakistan has been 'the most equal institution' of Pakistan. Now the time has come to put everything in its right order. A place where it belongs

In order to have a balance institutional structure power must to be handed over to the people of Pakistan. This can only be achieved by the way of establishing a tradition of scrutinizing each and every action no matter how sensitive it is. This can only be achieved by revisiting our history and questioning all the values and dogmas. We need to stand up and as Soraya Shahpour-Ulrich writes," we must defend justice with our lives lest we need justice to defend our lives."

The Beginning of an End

After trampling down every democratic institution in Pakistan under his military boots, General Pervaiz Musharif turned his guns towards the last bastion of civil liberties in Pakistan i.e. Supreme Court of Pakistan. After failing to intimidate Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Choudary to resign he then suspended him on false and flimsy accusations. We need to remember he is the same Chief Justice who ruled privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills as illegal. He is the same Chief Justice who directed the government trace disappearance of people by secret agencies of Pakistan.

This could be very important juncture in the political history of Pakistan where judiciary has a dark history of following military orders by providing military rulers ‘legal justifications’ for their unconstitutional acts by legal creativeness of “doctrine of necessity”. Here great care should be taken for not to transform present political struggle in to a fight between two institutions i.e. Supreme Court of Pakistan and Pakistan Army. As it is a norm with all oppressive regimes to first try to intimidate people into submission. If they fail in getting peoples’ unconditional submission they then try to highjack their struggle by describing it as ‘this struggle is nothing but a mere clash of personalities’. That is what General Musharif tried to portray in his recent interview on the same channel which his police force ransacked few days earlier. In this interview he presented himself as a good boy, who always goes by the book and respects the sanctity of the constitution which he abrogated in November, 1999. And obviously Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Choudary was a bad boy in his version of story.

There is no doubt about the democratic nature of this struggle which includes almost every section of society from lawyers to journalists to students to political activists. With the inclusion of mass political parties like Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) this struggle has a potential of becoming a harbinger of new political culture in Pakistan. Though sign are very encouraging, like the case of every rotten and dying military regime anything can be expected from General Musharif. Like the most orthodox advocate of Generak Musharif’s ‘moderate enlightenment’ Mr Shujaat Hussain insulted current democratic struggle by reducing it as a fight between two institutions (Army and Judiciary) for more perks and privileges. Whenever one speaks he speaks from his experiences and Mr Shujaat’s experience tells him that his struggle has always been for political perks and privileges. If people of Pakistan stood fast and did not accept regime’s explanation of events as a last option before using their brute force- they are so familiar with, they will try to create confusion by inviting different political parties to enjoy power-share with them.

We should give this struggle its rightful status which is the struggle of people of Pakistan for their democratic rights and civil liberties. Signs are very ominous of military junta in Pakistan and eventual outcome of this struggle will be the removal army generals from the political scene once and for all. And any group of people or political party tried to come in from back doors in order to restore the status-quo, it would be considered to sabotage peoples’ struggle in the favour of those who kept people of Pakistan away from their democratic rights since 1947. So Benazir Bhutto should be bewared of ‘soft corner’ which General Musharif mentioned in his TV interview for her political party. He is desperate for political support. Supporting him at the present moment means back stabbing peoples’ struggle for democratic rights.

It would be wrong to look at the present unrest in Pakistan without global context. It is part of global trend where more and more people are expressing their unhappiness with the way USA (Bush) uses its military muscles for corporate purposes. It is part of current massive wave of anti neo-liberalism which stretches from South America to Asia. Anyone who is friend of Bush is considered enemy of people. So the present upheaval is rejection of neo-liberal policies by peoples of Pakistan. They broke the seven years long silence by voicing their instance anger at military government of General Pervaiz Musharif, a Bush ally in the so-called fight against terrorism and his suspension of Chief Justice provided only a channel and a way out to express peoples’ disgust for military rule in Pakistan.

Friendships do have impact as General Musharif learnt few tricks from his friend President Bush. He tried to manipulate judiciary the same way Bush administration did to US judiciary. In both the cases judges have been removed from their offices on performance related issues. However on looker know that Bush administration’s actions were politically motivated. In the same way present military regime are going to face two very far-reaching court cases in coming months before elections. One related to General Musharif’s having two offices at the same time i.e. Chief of Army Staff and President of Pakistan. The second related to dual nationality of Prime Minister of Pakistan Shoukat Aziz. Obviously military regime does not want to have an independent Chief Justice hearing both these far-reaching cases. One has to remember that Prime Minister Aziz has been linked with the people responsible with the recent Karachi Stock Exchange crash as well as with privitisation of Pakistan Steel Mills.

Public protest in Pakistan is not just a protest for Chief Justice but it is a protest against Bush’s friend and a mass demonstration against US foreign policy. So here is very ready made remedy for General Musharif from present turmoil. If he denounces US foreign policy and refuses to be a part of Bush’s war for corporate dominance this might mitigate the intensity of current hostile political atmosphere in Pakistan. However this is only a beginning, in fact a beginning of an end. The beginning of the people’s power in Pakistan, the end of military dictatorship. General Musharif has to go sooner or later it would be advisable if he retreats back to his barracks and leave all the institutions to the people of Pakistan. And for army generals they need to reconcile their internal culture with the present changes and ground realities in Pakistani society. They should do what they are paid for, to serve the people of Pakistan not to rule over them. They should stop conquering their own country and turn their attention towards their profession by dismantling all their commercial enterprises in Pakistan for the protection of which they have to invade democracy in Pakistan again and again.

So if people of Pakistan kept their aims and objectives clear then this could be the last nail in the coffin of military rule in Pakistan.