What Lies Beneath: Dispatch from the Frontlines of the Burqa Brigades

oh and ZEE a women shyly wearing the head scarf (like your photo) is perhaps sweet ....but people forcing a woman to wear a head scarf is heinous.

Zee are you seriously asking me whats the diff between afghanistan and north pakistan?pushtoons are ethnically more afghani than paki as you well know . Other similarities

1. illiteracy is high
2. misogyny is high
3. intolerance for religious minorities is high
4. as a direct result of the above economically backward even by our low standards
5. both support taliban and OBL

infact there is only one important difference...the only reasons why the nutters of the north west havent self inflicted holocaust on themselves and innocent pushtoons is because of the govt of pakistan ...the same govt they hate incidently. Yes there is some crap going on in the north west but its nothing compared to the shit that would fly if we hadnt cooperated.
BTW Iran, another crazy ass country had years of education and social progress before the ayatollah which is why their ``islamic`` revelotion was not as inhumane as the talibans. Pakistan has no such luck.

APC - London

At this sad juncture in our history I could not help but remember a joke, which as painful it may be fits the occasion. It goes lke this:


At the time when the city of London was being planned to be established the King of England called a world wide conference inviting delegates from all nations on the earth to name the new city. There were hundereds of delegates from around the world who would gather in a conference room all day long for several days in a row to deliberate on the name of the new city; but they could not agree on the name. The press was running out of patience by then when they had to wait outside everyday without much avail. Among the delegates there was a sikh who was representing Hindustan. One day, he got so frustrated that he stepped out of the conference room to breath fresh air (or for potty break). Outside, the members of press surrounded him. One of the reporter asked the sikh:

``Sardar Ji what`s done?``

Sarda Ji waved his arm, made a vulgar jesture and said ``Lun Done``

The press named the city thus by the afternoon even when the deliberations in the conference room were still going on.

ALL PARTIES CONFERENCE IN LONDON

It is sad that while citizens of Pakistan who are nothing but school children and their teachers are being butchered in Islamabad by the dictator, these vassal minded politicians belonging to the corrupt ruling elite are only bothered by how this dictator should hand over government to them on a platter. They could not even utter one single word of symapthy for the school children who are being butchered right now, as one of the greatest tragedy in the history of Pakistan is being unfolded.



tha jo na-khoob, b`tadreej wohi khoob hoa
keh ghulami maiN badal jata hay quomoN ka zameer

.......Allama Iqbal

tr: vassalage changes the mindset of vassal nations slowly,
the (perception of) good turns into bad and bad turns into good



Text of London APC declaration

The opposition’s all parties conference (APC) was held on July 7 and 8, 2007, at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London. The meeting adopted the following declaration called “The APC Declaration, 2007.”

We the political parties assembled here together declare that military dictatorship has brought Pakistan to the edge of a precipice, leading to strife, chaos and the threat of disintegration. The Musharraf regime uses brute state force against its peoples to perpetuate its illegitimate rule and suppress dissent. Innocent citizens are kidnapped by the state as militancy and sectarianism thrive. Provincial autonomy has been denied, leading to further strains in the federation. From Khyber to Karachi, the regime is unable to maintain the writ of the state, and as a consequence there is a total breakdown of law and order.

Parliament has been marginalised, and stripped of all its powers. It has no access to information, nor can it legislate or hold the regime accountable. Both houses have been reduced to a rubber stamp for the chief of army staff who unconstitutionally occupies the office of the president. The cabinet too is subject to the whims of an individual.

Instead of resolving the crisis, the regime muzzled the media to black out ground realities and block live coverage of the turbulence on the streets. Working journalists have been murdered, kidnapped, tortured, detained and harassed. Today, Pakistan has been declared the third most dangerous country for journalists. Having failed to suppress the truth, the regime on June 5, 2007, promulgated an ordinance while the senate was in session and the National Assembly was to meet the next day.

On May 12, 2007, at Karachi, an engineered massacre of opposition workers was orchestrated, unarmed political workers were at the mercy of gun-toting Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers while the police and rangers watched. The Sindh High Court was laid siege and judges had to run to save themselves. The district courts were surrounded by MQM activists and lawyers including women were beaten. While the federal and provincial regimes watched 48 innocent people lost their lives and over 200 were injured; yet General Musharraf says there is no need for an inquiry.

Today Balochistan bleeds under the heels of an army operation, where gunship helicopters are used for silencing dissenting political voices. The murder of Sardar Akbar Bugti on instructions of General Musharraf is most condemnable.

The Musharraf regime is responsible for the highest unemployment in the country. Low grade employees have been axed, trade unions banned, and anti-labour laws have been promulgated and enacted. This, coupled with the cartelisation of the economy has allowed big businesses to reap huge profits at the cost of the common man. It has resulted in unprecedented price hike. Today wealth is concentrated in a few big business houses and the market manipulators are in control of political offices

The regime continues to spend billions of rupees on a political witch-hunt against the opposition. It continues to institute concocted cases under laws that fail the test of international norms of justice or judicial review. No institution is safe. The due process of law is subverted with impunity and the violation of fundamental rights is the norm. The assault on the judiciary reflects the regime’s contempt for law, justice and institutional autonomy. The summoning of the chief justice of Pakistan to the Army House, meeting him in uniform along with heads of intelligence agencies and using coercive measures for his resignation amounts to a total desecration of the office of the chief justice of Pakistan. This is General Musharraf’s attempt at creating a pliant court in a year when his quest for the presidency is going to be riddled with inherent constitutional disqualifications. The resistance by the bar is unprecedented, it has involved members of the bench, political parties and civil society.

The Musharraf regime is in the process of rewriting the civil military equation, to the advantage of the latter. There is a deliberate attempt at militarisation of civil society which is evident from the large scale induction at all levels of serving or retired army personal in the civil bureaucracy, police, autonomous and semi autonomous corporations and bodies.

The national wealth has been plundered through the use of ministerial offices, cartels, stock exchanges, misuse of official information and non-transparent privatisation. The mega scams to mention only a few are: the Pakistan Steel Mills, oil pricing, sugar prices, cement prices, Habib Bank, Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, Pakistan Telecommunication Limited, railway engines and locomotives, sale of islands in Sindh, railway golf course, black cabs, purchase of defence lands and the Defence Housing Authority, loan write offs from the banks and not to mention the scandals that have been exposed by the public accounts committee of the National Assembly.

The APC notes that the Charter of Democracy initiative ratified by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy is a positive step toward the restoration of the supremacy of civil society and democratic governance.

Since the unconstitutional take over on October 12, 1999, the state and its institutions have been used to perpetuate General Musharraf’s rule. After creating laws that were aimed only to serve one man, the regime now seeks to elect General Musharraf in uniform as the president of Pakistan through the existing assemblies. This act is unconstitutional, morally unjustifiable and smacks of political bankruptcy. Assemblies whose terms are to expire in one month have no moral justification to elect a person for a term of five years. This will constitute “the mother” of all pre- poll rigging.

It is clear that the Musharraf regime is incapable of holding free, fair and honest elections. The strings of bye-elections held by the regime have exposed its nefarious motives. The election commission has been reduced to a hand-maiden of the executive, the electoral rolls prepared by them are seriously flawed, wherein; the number of voters in various districts has been reduced from the rolls of 2002. The orders to the election commissioner chief are flouted and ignored by the federal and provincial functionaries. Polling stations are changed, ballot boxes stuffed, law enforcement agencies used to prevent opposition voters from coming to the poll stations, polling staff impersonated, false ID cards used, in short the opposition is contesting the election against the state apparatus. The recent bye-elections in Sindh clearly demonstrated the intent of the regime.

Robbing the people of their democratic right to bring about a peaceful change of government is fraught with dangerous consequences not only for the region, but the federation itself.

Therefore, we the parties assembled here together pledge, in order to make Pakistan a truly democratic state express our utmost joint commitment towards establishing supremacy of constitution & rule of law, independence of judiciary, ensuring fair and free election, protecting freedom of media, and depoliticising military:

1) To carry on the struggle within and outside parliament for the restoration of the 1973 Constitution as on the October 12, 1999, before the military coup with the provisions of joint electorate, minorities and women reserved seats on closed party list in parliament, the lowering of the voting age, and the increase in seats in parliament. The Legal Framework Order 2000 and the Seventeenth Constitution Amendment shall be repealed.

2) The APC demands the immediate resignation of General Musharraf to pave way for holding of fair and free elections under a neutral caretaker government in the country. The APC is of the view no fair and free election is possible under General Musharraf. If an attempt is made to hold rigged election, as is likely, it further resolves that it shall prevent the rigging of the electoral process at all costs through a coordinated democratic popular movement.

3) To strongly resist the election by the incumbent assemblies of General Musharraf for the office of the president of Pakistan through a consensus collective action including the option of resignations from parliament and the provincial assemblies.

4) To jointly struggle for:

a) The formation of a caretaker government of national consensus, in consultation with the opposition parties to hold free, fair and honest elections. Its members will not contest the elections.

b) The appointment of a neutral chief election commissioner and members of the election commission in consultation with the opposition parties.

c) The dissolution of the local governments three months prior to the holding of the general elections.

d) The caretaker government of national consensus shall appoint officers with no political affiliation in the election commission, federal, provincial, and district governments.

e) Repeal of all discriminatory election laws, to ensure even playing fields and the implementation of fair election proposals.

f) Implementation of the jointly agreed criteria for holding of fair and free elections as in the annexure.

g) To keep under review the steps being taken to ensure free, fair and honest elections and to collectively through consensus take any decision, which may include a boycott of elections in the extreme case at the appropriate time.

h) To firmly resist collectively the machinations of the regime to postpone the general elections by imposing emergency or under any other pretext.

5) To struggle collectively for the removal of dictatorship from Pakistan and confine the role of the armed forces to that prescribed in the Constitution of 1973. It demands immediate withdrawal of military personal from all civilian departments and posts. It demands closure of the political cells of all the military, security and intelligence agencies.

6)

i) The APC demands in Balochistan are the following. That the army operation against innocent people of Balochistan is stopped immediately. That all political workers and leaders be released immediately. The construction of cantonments and the deployment of police instead of the levies are stopped. The practice of enforced abductions should be stopped immediately.

ii) The APC further resolves that the army operation against innocent people of tribal areas is stopped immediately. Tribal areas should be cleared of all outside elements, pressures, and influences.

7) To review the current quantum of provincial autonomy and to develop a national consensus on the basis of federal principle to remove grievances of smaller provinces through a consensus.

8) To ensure the return of Benazir Bhutto and Mohammed Nawaz Sharif and will resist any attempt on the part of the regime to prevent or take into custody the popular leadership on their return.

9) We demand that the state stop with immediate effect the kidnapping of its citizens, and release immediately all those kidnapped by or through the state. In case of any substantive offence to charge them before a competent court of jurisdiction, allowing defence counsel of their choice and access to family members. It should release all political prisoners including Javed Hashmi, Akhtar Mengal, Afaq Ahmad, Amir Khan, Allama Shabbir Hashmi, Mian Aslam and others.

10) We reject the construction of new GHQ in Islamabad because a country mired with poverty, unemployment and illiteracy can’t afford such mega housing and real estate project costing over $4 billion in market value.

11) We demand the immediate withdrawal of the presidential reference and the reinstatement of the chief justice of Pakistan. We further pledge to carry on the movement for the independence of the judiciary while wholeheartedly supporting the legal fraternity and civil society in its struggle for rule of law.

12) We reject the PEMRA Ordinance dated June 4, 2007, while assuring all forms of the media in Pakistan of our fullest support in their struggle for freedom of media and reaffirm our commitment to the freedom of expression.

13) The APC holds General Musharraf, the Sindh governor and the provincial government, and the MQM responsible for the carnage carried out in Karachi on May 12, 2007, and demands an independent judicial enquiry by a judge of the Supreme Court to ascertain and identify the persons involved.

14) The APC condemns recent acts of terrorism in UK. It further resolves to write a joint memorandum to the UK government for initiating necessary legal proceedings against MQM chief Altaf Hussain for his alleged role in incidents of terrorism in Pakistan.

15) The APC resolves that independent and sovereign foreign policy based on national interests should be pursued. The solution of Kashmir dispute should be found according to wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.

#511 Mantolives {``This exchange of pictures is sick (with the exception of Urstruly`s picture which is historic). ``}
Manto Payee,
For you and your ``friends,`` in Lahore, that picutre could be historic. But for many Urdu-speaking Mohajirs and our Hindu friends and descendants of Tantya Topi, Ahmadullah Shah, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mirza Mughal, Nana Sahib, Jhansi ki Raani, and other great Indians, this picture represents a cruel testimony to the failed struggle for independence and the ensuing barbarism of the gora masters. BTW, what were your esteemed ancestors doing while those in UP, Bihar, Bengal, MP, and Delhi were struggling against these colonizers and oppressors?

... I mean ... I see nothing wrong with wearing a head-scarf ... that`s all they want ... really ...

...contd...#514

And Pakistan is NOT Afghanistan ... is it too tough to comprehend my Dear? How do you equate Islamic rule in Pakistan with Afghanistan. What is common in the two countries?

#512 by cliftonbridge,

I`m only wondering how come they changed their mind overnight when till yesterday they were howling for an all-out assault (head scratching).

Latest from Dawn News (great news channel, still in test transmission):

Tribal Jirga of Bajaur announces Civil War if Lal Masjid issue is not resolved peacefully.

Zee if MQM people want to do something right you think its automatically pointless because of MAY 12th. Meanwhile if the talibanists want to do something wrong you think its automatically poignant because they are talibanists. Thats pretty hardcore fundamentalism and irrational to boot.
Anyway i think you are very misguided about religious extremists. I wish you would admit sometimes that the mullahs may be right about some things but the sum total of their rule would be pit and the pendulum style disregard for human life and subhuman treatment for women and minorities.
As for the FATA voting taliban .....they are the stupidest people in the world. Neighboroing taliban land has already had their asses handed to them on a plate ....its easy to be part of pakistan and talk big about the taliban. How many of these fools or any fools anywhere would want to go live in afghanistan?
Thanks to the frikkin taliban afghanistan has been reduced to rubble and instead of learning from that a bunch of God damn fools want to play the same loosing game in Pakistan? boggles the mind. Must be darwinism.

This exchange of pictures is sick (with the exception of Urstruly`s picture which is historic).

For god`s sake... please grow up everyone.

#508 zeemax {``Didn`t we see their `sharafat` on 12 May? ``}

Maalox,
You mean the Cinco de Mayo celebration that was delayed by a week in Karachi, when the PPI and other armed thugs went out looking for a gunfight and found one?

Re: # 507

bubba((((you desrve something sensational....just wait)))

((({...with their asses up in the air. } You mean more than 5 times a day?)))))


NO...Only on Karwa chauth....

#505 by bubba,

Yeah. This is the good one. And some idiot here is saying it is because of their `sharafat`. Didn`t we see their `sharafat` on 12 May?

Re: # 475 by rf786 on July 9, 2007 9:51am PT

{...with their asses up in the air. } You mean more than 5 times a day?

Urstruly writes <<< But this time the resistance has emerged from the grass roots among the young and students - the necessary ingredient for an popular revolution. >>>

This mullah is not part of the grassroots in any way, his types are very expedient for the ``neo colonials`` when they decide their adjustments to control things in the colonized country, read the history where those whom you call ``sell outs`` were doing something real but were ruined by the Mullah who, just like this mullah, were given support and authority by the powers that be, i.e. the Neo colonial elite, from Pakistan, to Afghanistan to Iran, to Iraq to Egypt to Palestine this has been their strategy and never has any good come to the ``grassroots`` by these distractions of the mullahs.....only someone biased to the highest degree can ignore these facts, the mullah serves the neo-colonials moreso than any apparent confrontation which only serves to strenghten the grip of the enslavers...