State of Pakistan: What Can Pakistanis Do

Musharraf is a sonofabitch.

I think this explains it much better than all this self-flagellation on shortcomings in the national character.

Re: # 19 Do not please may crude remarks about YLH. IF you care out democracy you should pay your respects. He gave straigh criticism of army rule. Can you do that criticism on BBC aginst indian govt being against poor, hungry, backward, dalits, tamils, opporeesed women and ppor student and low or no caste( muslims+christian+ buddha+ Sikh etc all others). Thanks.I am sure Indians will be more than happy if YLH is arrested. Mean kamine indians not all but some kamine

Re: # 18

I can see why you would construe my comments as unfair but here are a few questions?

Why is it that Pakistanis blame all their ills on India?

Why is it during democratic rule of Nawaz Sharif that we almost started a war with India...remember Kargil? And why is it that during President Musharraf's reign, our relations with India have never been better?

Did not Pakistani regimes support terrorists or as we like to call them "Mujahideen" in Indian occupied Kashmir?

Did not Pakistanis recieve support from the Saudis to build thousands of Madrassas to spread their vile fundamentalist version of Islam.

Is it India's fault that we have unfair laws such as the Hudood Ordinance?

Is it India's fault that Pakistan has been hijacked by the religious right who did not even want Pakistan to be created, and now turned it into a painfully disfigured caricature of Jinnah's vision?

When will we Pakistanis wake up and take responsibility for our status in the world today?

Re: # 17 I second your thinking. Insanity is doing thing same way and expecting different results. May be intelluctuals should other different mode than democracy or army rule. Also if army rule not worked democrasy did not work this mule of democracy+ army will not work. Time has come to give also chance to RELIGIOUS minded regime, where things are stark, simple , narrow and straight forward based on more higher principles.

Ahmedmadani sahib,

(This country is not democracy for so many reasons but real culprit is indian attitude)

More specifically it is the influence of the "Hindu racist, casteist, fascist, misogynist, bigoted freak"

Regards

Re: # 14 Very unfair commentry. This country is not democracy for so many reasons but real culprit is indian attitude and last war situation for 60 years. Can you name any country in world which is fighting big nabour for 60 years? nil
We had major wars and always firing bombs on border. And India and A'stan providing military training and money for terroridt specialy in B.Stan specializing in blowing up of rail and electric lines and specially strategic assets of gas pipe lines nearly 2 to 3 attacks per day. This is going by foreign interests. There is no country which is attacked from both sides and war leads to army rule loss democracy.
All our money is wasted on protecting against brutal and shameless enemy so not much left for industry and education etc. Also we have to go through trauma of east pakistan. loss of Nizam state and Junagarh and kashmie valley. Do you know any country which has democracy which has suffered so much. No country.
Why all people go on blaming each other most politicians are ok but situation is not normal due to indian hegemony and constant putting tension and country has to be on war footing. Which country on war footing is democracy. None.
Please blame our neighbour for making democracy impossible. I do not think democracy is any thing better than army rule. Indian democracy has more poverty than Pakistan army state. Hope international community understands this, but pakistanis need to put forward ythis point. Till kashmir probem is solved aggreable to pakaistan democracy is not possible. good day.

and Hamidm is right!

Why should Pakistanis get anything different when they keep doing the same things and expecting different results?

Did not the stellar reigns of Bibi and Shariff teach them a lesson? that Pakistanis are equally divided in their support for these two illustrious leaders!

Hamidm has a point! Think about it!

When Pakistani judiciary cant even do something so basic as repealing the hudood ordinance, then what makes you think that they should even ask for having the rule of the law...

Didnt Pakistanis repeal the eight amendment?

We insist on taking one step forward and 9 steps backwards..

a shame!

I think masadi again banned ? YLH also banned or in jail as he gave harsh comments on BBC ?

Re: # 10 Mr.H Why can you not let young man to be little romantic ? What he feels is not Lufangebazi but real pain.
Have good day.

Whats with the expatriate bashing?

You think we came abroad and starts picking dollars or pounds right off the money tree.

Its shameful that you belittle the sacrifices of expatriates living all over the world...

Just an example, why do you think Israel is so strong today? because of its large expatriate community in the US!

Dont the expatriates remit hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange to Pakistan?

What kind of stupid idea is this that the cream of Pakistan has left Pakistan? Its like insulting the people who live there!

India has a huge expatriate community but why is India progressing in leaps and bounds? Why is India a democracy?
Why did India institute land reforms?

Dear Shiraz, do not be dissuaded by the negative talk from the Hamidm2, the talk that is most likely caused by the simple fact that you express yourself honestly in this piece and your idealism comes through loud and clear - which upsets him immensely as he gets to remember his own (long ago) days of youth!

Absolutely on the dot, Shiraz! I would subscribe to the idea that the 'expats' sitting pretty in their 'downtown' work spaces in various watering-holes of the 'civilised' urban areas of the 'yanqui' and 'cockney' lands, should stand and be counted in the homeland!
Are you listening, hamidm2? And do you utter the same stinking diatribe where you are currently holed-up in the 'gora'-land hole?!!

Keep thinking along these lines Shiraz.

A worthy effort.


Ras

shiraz mian,

"I ask, if the people of this country want the future to be different then they drop their hypocrisy and take on responsibility"

....... i have a better idea : why don't the people of this country drop their pants, bend over and take whatever comes like a man ....... stop whining and, as musharraf told mukhtaran bibi, "if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it"

....... pakis are like whores - they keep on hoping that with the next john they will find true love .......

"ISLAMABAD: The government is considering promulgating an ordinance to reduce the Supreme Court’s (SC) strength, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Malik Qayyum said on Monday, adding that there was no ordinance on the cards to declare President General Pervez Musharraf as a qualified presidential candidate for the second term.

He told reporters outside the Supreme Court that the government wanted an "on-merit" decision on petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s eligibility to run for a second presidential term."(AP)

What Musharraf sahib should do is to issue a PCO to castrate Aie Gee Quyum sahib of both his Lawyerhood and Judgehood -- because the judicio-legal Hoodlum is increasing becoming an unworthy embarrassment to both his Legal and Judicial parents.

Dear Shiraz, I have become a member of Chowk.com only a few days back and I have just submitted an article myself. I intend to submit another article tomorrow,if the editors publish it, then I think you may receive a real-life answer to the question you have raised - about the people who leave the country and seem to perhaps only criticize from a distance without having put in their bit as such. Exactly, what I had complained to a Pakistani/American investment banker based in NY years ago when I was trying to raise finances for a large project in Pakistan. He instead invested in India - and it took me years to understand why...
In any case, after India's success, the sixty years excuse is not quite palatable anymore. This happens to be a leap-frog era. And I think when one insists on putting in place foundations that are contrary to all principles of architecture then one cannot expect a high rise to stand... The problem are the people who would not allow institutions to develop...institutions which in turn keep personal adventurism under check... and keeping any hopes on Musharraf is wrong - nothing will come out of it, except losing another eight years when one would have to start afresh anyway...it is either now or another eight years later - but it will have to be done one day in any case...
Cheers... Amer Nazir