A Letter To President Musharraf

Re: # 11
you are gracious. thank you.

not sure i follow where you disagree? on the whorehouse and alcohol access? honestly, if it were left up to me, i think theres no way of controlling either. i feel whore houses should be regulated in terms of running health screenings of sex workers, std tests etc, and showing med reports to clients who will be putting themselves at risk when they patronize their choice of whorehouse.

alcohol should be put to vote. at the end of the day, people are responsible for their moral choices as well as taking care of themselves.

Re: # 14
thank you arjun. but this was a rhetorical question. Its an unfortunate legacy of army rule. hence the call to democracy.

Re: # 14
also,
you said ``it was a choice not an accident``

EXACTLY! thank you for hitting the nail on the head. There is always a choice. We made a very bad one, and now we have a chapter in our history called ``Operation Silence``. Just what my son needs to learn about!

This is a very passionate plea, but what does one’s passport have to do with it? Is being of a Pakistani origin not enough to comment on the sad situation of affairs? Musharraf did too little and a day too late. The minute the kidnapping of Aunty Shamim took place, the whole place should have been nuked. Musharraf lacks the moral authority as he rose to power himself illegally.

If similar actions were taken by, let’s say, a religious minority (say Christians of Pakistan kidnap a Mulla and make him parade naked), the entire Christian population of Pakistan will be slaughtered and no one will be writing a single letter to Mr. President. There will be no editorials in TV and papers. It’s not the loss of life one is concerned about, it is the life of a certain faith that has consumed the nation of idiots.

Dear Writer,

You forgot to ask for a cookie, some milk and one year free supply of BS.

Being a Pakistani with no dual nationality, residing in Pakistan yet asking for a vote on alcohol in a country that has yet to reverse reprehensible blasphemy laws, what gives?

Khatam Shud: Hmm, this nick sounds familiar..are you the Cornell grad that wrote the article on the Vagina monologues?

Re this article: You say that 500 people aredead. The BBC is saying that the figure is in the lower hudred range. I`m a bit confused.

Anyways, I liked the article in terms of rhetoric but did not understand what your bigger beef is? The Operation should not have been done, it should have been done but with better execution? Or the bigger point is about Musharraf not keeping his word as a leader (about the uniform)?

Khadija-

I read your other articles as well to get a better understanding of your point of view. I appreciate your article better now.

My knee jerk reaction was due to my misreading of what the body count meant, and I thought you were condoning the mullah brigade when you asked the pres if he did not know how many whore houses and alcohol are oeprating in islamabad. Which you are not.

So apologies for assuming things you said.

I agree with most of what you say. I agree that the situation should never have gotten to where it has gotten to. That lal masjid should have been evacuated months ago. Should have been shut down years ago. But just as I do not believe the official numbers, I don`t think the numbers you were given are any more accurate either. We are a nation of exaggaraters. We exaggarate the hell out of everything. But this is not a numbers game either.


So where does Mushy stand? Does he have a strategy?

Here is what I think. I think he is a tactical man, not a strategic leader. His command was challenged by Nawaz Sharif and his forces launched an immediate and effective takeover. Once he overthrew the government, he did not know what to do. He did not make a public statement for the longest time.

I think Musharraf has/had some good ideas. But he has dictatorial ideaology as well. He is not as ruthless as Zia, nor is he as corrupt as BB or Nawaz...but he is in power by force. Unfortunately, there is no credible leadership or candidates in Pakistan at the moment. Not musharraf, not BB, not nawaz, not Imran. None. Zippo.

So we must be vigilant, otherwise extremist ideology will become the viable candidate.

I am curious to know, other than raising our voices, what other tangible action do you think people should take?

-thinking.

Re: # 18Kulharee

That is a very interesting scenario you put forward. Indeed, if a minority religion had done this to a mullah, all hell would have broken loose.

Sad, we are just as hypocritical as the US that we accuse :)

In the article, this paragraph aptly summarizes that the rest of the world is asking Musharraf:

The red mosque is a stones throw away from the ISI headquarters. What is more, a number of ISI staff are said to offer their prayers on its premises regularly. Was our intelligence agency not aware of how these weapons and rockets were procured by the mullahs at the red mosque? Were our intelligence officers really that busy invading the personal life of the CJ and other officials, however corrupt they may be? If mosques and madrassah’s in the CAPITAL that are situated in the shadow of our intelligence force cannot be controlled, how do you hope to control similar monsters across the country?

Azizist (Zeemax),

Do u have smilar coverage in Urdu newspapers in Pakistan?

>>>....... as soldiers tramped across the main hall in army boots - something normally forbidden in Islam - the military said the mosque had lost its sanctity. ``This is not a mosque,`` said Gen Arshad.....<<<

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2125492,00.html


Rgds,
Shamimist

khadijja hassan

Old questions but have never been more relevant than now. EXCELLENT ARTICLE...


P.S. Ladies and Gentlemen(foolio excluded untill he changes his name) with this interact i am going to equal BRIAN LARA`s record of 400*. Lara did it on St. johns antigua and i have done it on khadija hassan board and that too in overseas condition.

One thing I am surprised about is the amount of soul searching going on about this operation. I remember Operation Blue Star in India; there was complete unanimity amogst the chattering classes that ``it had to be done`` and they needed to taught a lesson. Its a different matter that the Sikhs did not agree with the opinions of the chattering classes.

I guess Kulharee is right that if this was a minority group, it would be shrugged of as essential and there may not be soul searching.

Re: # 25

Gaandu,

Folio means page or a book. Why does my ID name bother u?

This name is assumed as I am an avid reader of books b4 Internet came into being.

U are one of the near-2000 Chowkies here. Why shud we hold breath coz u are nearing 400 posts? U think u are Socrates or Plato?

To make it simpler, pl put me on ur ignore list. That solves our problem together. Dont mention my name unncessarily.

Samjhe?

nice article.......

.....this operation should not have been done.......at least not in this manner.......there is absolutely no reason to kill a citizen of pakistan, by the govt., other than in self-defence....in that sense, an operation against mqm should have been done, far before this one.........

.......the lal masjid type problems are social and economic in nature........they are not going to be solved through guns......the usa has bombed the crap out of afghanistan and iraq......has that solved anything, or has it created even more issues for the usa.......the same will happen in pakistan.........

.........these problems tend to solve slowly.........one step at a time.......give people better schools to study in........give them equality.........take them out of poverty..........don`t brainwash them for one task one day and then kill them, the next.......

and most of all, pursue everything through the rule of law......i had suggested earlier the govt. should file a case, under illegal occupation of land and then get a court decision.......after which, it should simply cut off their electricity, water etc. and wait........and wait......and wait........

after which, if it can get a political settlement, without killing anyone, it should agree it......catch one brother and let the other go, if you cannot catch both........that is still some progress..........a lot better than killing so many people.........

people who attack and video shop and burn videos are not evil.......they are brainwashed.......if they were evil, they would be selling the videos for a profit.........the solution isn`t to kill them........

p.s. i think people are unnecessarily blaiming the usa for this one........my guess is its the chinese who must have pushed musharraf........the lal masjid students really over-stepped their boundaries, when they went after chinese citizens......

in any case, pakistanis killing pakistanis is always a sad situation..........and no one should be happy about it, or even be indifferent to it.......if one accepts this, then the day the religious brigade gets power, it will go after the liberal brigade in the same manner.....

stuka #26: ``One thing I am surprised about is the amount of soul searching going on about this operation.``

.....the reason there is so much soul searching going on is because pakistanis don`t know which direction the country is headed........there is chaos and no order.......no one knows where the country will be in ten years........

in addition, the govt. itself is illegitimate and very inconsistent.......it kills tens to hundreds of students in a madrassah one day and defends a political party which is its partner and killed tens of people, another day.......

i have absolutely no sympathy for what the ghazi bros. were doing, however, i don`t think the govt. should have killed so many people.......there were other better ways of handling this situation........

i am working actively in pakistan now, and i can sense a sense of confusion.......people aren`t quite sure what will happen......and people are fed up with the army, feudals and with mullahs, yet the system is such that none can be removed, other than by each other........hence if they carry out an operation against each other, it becomes difficult to side with any party.......other than with those who were killed.....

p.s. i don`t know the details of operation blue star, but i have met more than my share of sikhs, who seem to still view it as a defining moment in their thought process, regarding their identity and where they fit in india........

Re: # 27

Maharaj Folio ji aka page ji

Yaar...tum to naraaz ho gaiy....i was just kidding man....and why would i put you on my ignore list???

Page ji....you are one of my favourite interacters here....chalo shabhash aab mushkaro do...that`s a good page....

p.s. and page ji because of you i am gonna break BRIAN LARA` record. its 401* now......takbeer.