Men in Khaki

Also, if I remember correctly,

(1) Didn`t the Mushy take power in a clear violation of the Pakistani constitution?

(2) Didn`t the Pakistani Supreme Court validate his self-elevation to the post? So why this charade of an ``independent`` judiciary?!!

(3) Didn`t the voters of Pakistan confirm his appointment by over 90 percent majority? How many votes can the Supreme Court judges gather?

Undemocratic? Yes. But what IS democratic over there?!

I have no position on this whole CJP issue of who is right and who is wrong and whether justice is being suppressed or whether the real power center is simply being reaffirmed. I wish the Justice Chaudhry the best, as I do the country at large, and perhaps as I do even mian Mushy – who is after all, only a benign dictator.

Irrespective of the personal honesty of the CJP, the fact is that every one of those Supreme Court judges has taken an oath of loyalty – to the army. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong – but does not that mean that the army IS the boss – and if you disagree with the boss, aren’t you supposed to quit rather than try sneaky moves – legislating from the bench and the like?! At least that is how it works in the corporate world – so why would the Chief Executive-e-Pakistan settle for any less?

In all of this commotion, somehow the sight is being lost of the fact that the average Pakistani has NO say in any of this stuff. He or she continues with the daily grind and struggle. And the sad truth is that the average Pakistani is now highly apathetic – he or she does not even care any more!

On a lighter note, even I have written “open letters” to the General Mushy, right here on this web-site (a bit risky, but poor Yasser has often needed to be bailed out after what he has written of the General’s allegedly canine lineage in the past)! Now I know why the General never paid any attention to my open letters – apparently he gets quite a few of these.

On a “brighter” note – at least certain chowkies got some international media attention out of this whole sorry episode.

See, even dark clouds have silver linings.

Mr. Ghori:
If you criticise Pakistan Govt at this rate, your pension might get stopped. So be careful

Kamath

Re: # 25

salim mian,

........... even though i am one of your most ardent admirers and supporters, i think this is one of the stoopidist posts i have read on the chowk - and god knows there is no dearth of stupidity on this forum .............. you are loosing it - please come back

THANK YOUR SELF THAT YOU LIVE In PAKISTAN AND NOT IN BENGAL OF BUDDHA(HITLER)


The Gestapo of modern day – the communist controlled cops of West Bengal butchered innocent farmers of Nandigarm. The killings were unprovoked. It was planned massacre the same way Chinese kill their own farmers. The style was that of fascist. Guess who led all that – the contemporary Buddha of India!

What happened in Nadigram requires United Nations intervention. Government of India and Indian Army will not stop the Gestapo of West Bengal. The cops in West Bengal on the order from Communists to protect oligarchs of India did the same all across the state. They killed and injured countless innocent farmers who want their land back that was snatched illegally from them. Tata wants to build $2250 car in Singur for the Asian markets! The communists want a Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Nandigram for more tax revenues from export to the West. Tata and communists joined hands to illegally steal lands from the poor farmers. Boeing Corporation of America was thrilled to have Tata fly the F18!

The massacre was typical the way the fascists controlled the crowd and opposition in Hitler’s Germany. Buddhadev Bhattacharya, the communist Chief Minister of West Bengal (known as Buddha of modern day!) is still indifferent about the cold-blooded murder of the farmers in West Bengal. Tata says he wants his cars fast from Singur so that he can buy another ‘Corus’ from Europe. The communists want money from SEZ in Nadigram - they care nothing for the farmers.

If Bush can use his powers why should not Musharaff is he more unique than his boss...

White House backtracks in row over U.S. attorneys
POSTED: 12:07 p.m. EDT, March 12, 2007
Story Highlights• Bill would end attorney general`s power to appoint prosecutors minus Senate OK
• Fired U.S. attorneys allege pressure from Justice Department, lawmakers
• Alberto Gonzales agrees to let aides testify about dismissals without subpoenas
• Reversal abrupt for administration known for standing firm despite opposition
Adjust font size:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Slapped even by GOP allies, the Bush administration is beating an abrupt retreat on eight federal prosecutors it fired and then publicly pilloried.

Just hours after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed the hubbub as an ``overblown personnel matter,`` a Republican senator Thursday mused that Gonzales might soon suffer the same fate as the canned U.S. attorneys.

A short time later, Gonzales and his security detail shuttled to the Capitol for a private meeting on Democratic turf, bearing two offerings:


President Bush would not stand in the way of a Democratic-sponsored bill that would cancel the attorney general`s power to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation. Gonzales` Justice Department previously had dismissed the legislation as unreasonable.


There would be no need for subpoenas to compel testimony by five of Gonzales` aides involved in the firings, as the Democrats had threatened. Cloistered in the stately hideaway of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vermont, the attorney general assured those present that he would permit the aides to tell their stories.

It was a striking reversal for an administration noted for standing its ground even in the face of overwhelming opposition.

Gone were the department`s biting assertions that the prosecutors were a bunch of ``disgruntled employees grandstanding before Congress.``

And the department no longer tried to shrug off the uproar as ``an overblown personnel matter,`` as Gonzales had written in an opinion piece published Thursday in USA Today.

Agency officials also ceased describing majority Democrats as lawmakers who would ``would rather play politics`` than deal with facts.

The shift from offense to silence was so abrupt that one of Bush`s chief advisers who was speaking out of town apparently missed the memo.

``My view is this is unfortunately a very big attempt by some in the Congress to make a political stink about it,`` presidential adviser Karl Rove said Thursday during a speech at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

Back in Washington, a consensus was emerging among senators of both parties, and Gonzales himself, that the firings had been botched chiefly because the prosecutors had not been told the reasons for their dismissals.

The matter snowballed -- some of those fired complained publicly, and a senior Justice Department official warned one that further complaints in the press would force the agency to defend itself, according to an e-mail made public this week.

On Tuesday, during an eight-hour marathon of congressional hearings, the Justice Department followed through. William Moschella, principal associate deputy attorney general, publicly enumerated the reasons each prosecutor was fired, one by one.

Flash forward two days, to Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, reading Gonzales` USA Today column into the record. He paused.

``One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later,`` he mused. ``But these [prosecutors] who were plastered across the newspapers all across the country, they will never recover their reputations.``

Two staunch White House allies, Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, lamented the damage to the prosecutors` resumes -- adding, however, that the uproar had been the result of poor execution rather than a political purge.

The prosecutors weren`t the only ones whose reputations suffered. One, New Mexico`s David Iglesias, said the dismissals followed calls from members of Congress -- Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, New Mexico Republicans -- concerning sensitive political corruption investigations.

Still unclear is whether Gonzales will allow his aides to speak with the Senate panel in private or at a public hearing. The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday also demanded to speak with the officials.

They are: Michael Elston, Kyle Sampson, Monica Goodling, Bill Mercer and Mike Battle.

Sampson is Gonzales` chief of staff, Elston is staff chief to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and Mercer is associate attorney general. Goodling is Gonzales` senior counsel and White House liaison, and Battle is the departing director of the office that oversees the 93 U.S. attorneys.

Chauhan sahib:

You have been very angry the past few days, but do try to calm down. The lawyers in Pakistan are doing nothing wrong. They are protesting. It is good to see a section of the upper class register their annoyance. They should have done so a long time back, especially when children were bombed by the US. Pakistanis need to fight for democracy. Now this may mean that the clergy comes to power (I doubt that though) and rights are further curtailed. But so what, if people do not like them then they ought to fight again. The fight for democracy should not be detered by the threat of fundamentalists comming to power. If people choose the fundamentalists then so be it. I strongly believe that Iranians are more politicized than Pakistanis and Iran is more democratic than Pakistan. As far as India is concerned, it is better for her to deal with real Pakistanis than with the `brown-sahibs` who claim to represent the people of Pakistan.

For a country that has no fricking law, there sure are a lot of screaming, shouting, misbehaving lawyers in the Land of the Pure. Can anyone buy a black and white outfit and start to riot?

``He came to power through the back door by toppling a popularly elected PM in a macabre drama in which he was painted as a ‘victim’. ...``

and all of Pakistan celebrated..Pakista ni intelligentsia is 100% complicit in the overthrowing of democracy on a regular basis.

Re: # 18

yaar zee, salim and all other stupid old chowkies like me,

I am scared ......

I was in the other board and all of a sudden it got infested with caucasian (6`6`` tall, blue eyed and blond haired) grandchildren of gopinath. No they aren`t from bollywood .... one seems to be from India, another from Pakistan and another - a recent edition from London. Heck are you guys also caucasian? Am I the only guy who looks like Rajnikant and wears yellow shoes with green trousers? If so, then I need to get out of chowk. Heck I do not care about Mushy et. al. (though come to think of it, he too looks like Rajnikant) - I care about my looks and I thought I was in the company of similar looking people. I should have known better - FP is a caucasian club. At least on UP, pokershark looks like me ...... so I retreat.

Reaction in Sindh - obviously there are far more important matters than misbehaving and terrorist lawyers. The treasonous liars are getting no sympathy other than in Poonzab.


SHIKARPUR: CM threatens to dissolve Sindh Assembly

By Our Correspondent

SHIKARPUR, March 15: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that the agitation launched by the lawyers and the opposition on the issue of the action against the chief justice can be considered as a conspiracy against national interests

He warned that if the opposition did not change its attitude, he had the right to dissolve the Sindh Assembly.

He was talking to journalists after prize distribution ceremony of Shikarpur Festival in Wazirabad on Thursday.

Dr Rahim said that the lawyers and the opposition leaders were trying to destroy peaceful atmosphere in the country and particularly in Sindh.

Answering a question about a statement made by Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, the chief minister said that he wanted to serve the people well hence how could he (chief minister) hurl threats to the people. However, he said if Mr Khuhro was taking his very statement as a threat then ‘my threat to him is to avoid unfair attitude of creating confusion between the people and the government.”

Earlier Dr Rahim visited Shikarpur Festival, witnessed the horse and cattle show and sports festival organized by the district government.

District Nazim Mohammad Arif Mahar presented a shield, an Ajrak and a Sindhi cap to the chief minister.

The chief minister gave away shields to Mr Mahar, DCO Khwaja Shafiq Ahmed, festival coordinator Zahid Memon, convenor Dr Abdullah Sethar and deputy convener Abdul Karim Sehto.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that district governments would be encouraged to hold cultural festivals and horse and cattle shows throughout the province.

Courtesy - Dawn, March 16, 2007 Friday Safar 26, 1428 (T)

what the heck is the big deal here..optics of democratic freedoms don;t mean that there are institutions of democracy in place. Pakistan is a political basketcase. in a country of 160 million people, there is not one leader that can be produced. What is the reason? Punjoos, islam, weak stomach for political pain among the populace, need for a prophet, cousin marriages..etc etc..

Now it`s all becoming clear. The Paki Mahapunju ex-PM is calling the shots via remote control and the PPPs are all responding:

Nawaz backs protests

By Our Special Correspondent

LONDON, March 15: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has appealed to the nation to participate in protests being held across Pakistan on Friday. In a statement issued here on Thursday, the PML-N chief said that the time had come for the people to ensure that those who dared to subjugate the judiciary were held accountable.

Mr Sharif said that after destroying the constitution and subjugating parliament, Gen Musharraf had now launched an attack on the institution responsible for providing justice to the people.

He said that the action against the chief justice had proven that the general was capable of going to any length in violating the tenets of law, civilised norms and morality to safeguard his “unconstitutional, illegal, undemocratic and immoral rule”.

The PML-N leader appealed to the youth, intellectuals, traders, labourers, students, elders and other sections of society to join lawyers in their protest to rid the country of those who had put the very existence of the country at risk.

Mr Sharif pledged to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people in this struggle and to render every sacrifice required.

Courtesy - Dawn March 16, 2007 Friday Safar 26, 1428

#21 Zeemax {``As long as you`re a Pakistani (or claim to be), Punjaibis are the majority and they will always have the last say in major decisions, as you`re seeing right now. There`s not even been a stir in your Karachi. ``}

Ghazeemax Niazeemax,
There you go again with your PPP concept of ``democracy.`` True democracy does not mean mob rule, throwing bricks, or getting fondled by your fellow PPPs in black and white. Yes, I am an American citizen of Pakistani origin and I don`t have to convince you or any other PPPs - many of your cohorts have called me an Indian Muslim once they fail to counter my arguments.

PPPs may be the majority, but there is such a thing known as local government. Right now Karachi is enjoying a renaissance thank to limited self-rule and wise leadership. Therefore, no stir in Karachi in sympathy for the corrupt CJ or for the crazy PPP brick-throwing liars.

As for numbers, don`t forget that Saraikis don`t want to be included in the PPP numbers. They want self-determination for themselves. There are 15 million Urdu-speaking Pakis and another 100 million or more Urdu-speaking Muslims in the neighborhood. Don`t force us to get together with our own cousins. If those numbers are not convincing enough for you, perhaps another 400 - 500 million Hindi speakers may convince you about majority rule. :)

#22, {``The manhandling of the CJ was wrong (it`s being investigated by the Supreme Court), but sending a reference against him to the Supreme Judicial Council is absolutely legal and proper. ...Nobody is above the law, not even the CJ. ``}

Your Excellency,
Very mature viewpoint and certainly more appealing than the swarms of liars marching up and down the province of Punjab trying to use this as an excuse to commit excesses again. Thanks.

#21 Zeemax,
Zeemax,
I love Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists, Shia Muslims, Hanafi Muslims, Ahmedi Muslims, and most other Muslims - all except for Wahaboobies like you, you pathetic racist loser and a PPP type. I have seen the picture of yourself that you have posted, and believe me, you ain`t purty, just barely human. Being descended from Persian, Turkish, and Rajput ancestors, I have nothing to brag about or be ashmed of. In the end, our own thoughts and deeds on this earth determine our pecking order - so you better go borrow a pecker.