Overcoming Learned Helplessness and Apathy

Is this criticsm or.....We wonder how somebody can be so indifferent and sensless!

The 'change' going to take place on 29th November will be just an eyewash. The 'military complex' will keep on ruling and will never allow supremacy of people's rule and independence of judiciary. People will have to stand and liberate themselves.

This is one of the best article, I ever read on chowk.com

Very profound, to the point diagnosis of complex social and political ailments of Pakistani society.

Questions which come to my mind are..

How can we build self esteem of masses..and how can we educate them about their rights and power of collective and informed actions ...??

How can we produce some empathy and sense of social justice and collective national honor in our ruling elite...??

Which kind of electric or literary shocks are required to break such emotional and intellectual jams of society...??

We hope that esteemed writers of this wonderful piece of literature will keep on sharing with us such enlightening articles in future as well.

Many thanks and regards,

#55 You can do whatever exercises you want, GDP growth in Pakistan has not resulted in a smaller external debt, netiher has it resulted in poverty reduction or a higher HDI standing for Pakistan. That is all I am concerned with. Even compared to Sub Saharan Africa, Pakistan during this period of global economic upsurge has done worse, in foreign exchange accumulation as well as debt repayment.....

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Here is an interesting article for you:


External debt: a false sense of achievement
By Yousuf Nazar


PAKISTAN’s official external debt has not gone down since 1999 although it has received record aid, investments, and remittances flows. It has gone up to $36.9 billion from $33.6 billion in 1999 despite receiving at least $10 billion in economic, military and development aid from the United States, over $6 billion in privatisation proceeds, and a relief of $1.6 billion in loan write-offs by foreign governments during the last seven years.

The rescheduling of Paris Club debts provided an additional relief of $ 1.2 to $1.5 billion annually in terms of debt service payments. Is the government’s debt management policy as sound and successful as it claims or a historic opportunity to restructure country’s high debt levels has fallen victim to political expediency or a false sense of achievement?

Even after having received such generous assistance, Pakistan external debt to GDP ratio is 28 per cent - slightly worse than Africa’s 26.2 per cent, which also happens to be the average for all the developing countries. The average external debt to GDP ratio of all emerging markets declined from 42.1 in 1999 to 26.2 per cent in 2006, underpinned by strong growth in the global economy and record investment flows into the developing countries.

It is argued that the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sahrif left a heavy external debt burden at 53 per cent of the GDP and the current levels represent a substantial improvement. The net debt flows (disbursements minus repayments) into Pakistan during 1990-1999 aggregated $5.4 billion compared to $1.1 billion during 2000-2006.

Hence, the growth in the debt slowed down during the last seven years. However, post-9/11, Pakistan received generous foreign aid as well as much higher levels of foreign direct investment. Remittances averaged around $4 billion a year during 2003-2006 compared to an average of $1.5 billion in the 1990s.

Nevertheless, Pakistan’s liquid foreign exchange reserves, after jumping to $10 billion-level in 2002-03, have more or less stayed around that level on average. The foreign exchange reserves of even Sub-Saharan countries (excluding South Africa and Nigeria) doubled to $50 billion during the same period. Brazil and Argentina repaid all of their $25 billion debt - by utilising their foreign exchange reserves - to the IMF in early 2006 to rid their countries of its influence.....The present government has criticised the previous governments for the accumulation of almost $18 billion debt in the 1990s and increasing Pakistan’s debt burden. While it is true that the debt accumulation in the 1990s was large, critics of the civilian governments conveniently overlook a key statistic: 77.2 per cent of the gross disbursements during 1990-1999 were utilised to repay the old debts. The debt-service to gross disbursement ratio jumped to 82.8 per cent during 2005-2006. The continuing increase in this key ratio throughout the 1990s and even during 2000-2006 indicates that more and more of new loan disbursements were used to repay the past debts; a significant percentage relating to the borrowings during the previous military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq.

Pakistan’s total external debt that stood at $8.7 billion in 1978, reached about $22 billion (50 per cent of the GDP) by the end of the 1980s. That Pakistan had to borrow more later in the 1990s just to service some of the old debts indicates that the loans were not properly utilised as they did not contribute to the development and therefore to the debt servicing capacity. This raises serious questions about the whole wisdom of politically motivated borrowings from the foreign governments and the institutions under their control.

It is therefore fair to ask whether any cut in aid from the foreign governments would be of real significance from a development perspective and particularly in a global economic environment when the private capital flows (through foreign direct investments and international capital markets) have become the dominant source of financing to the developing countries. As a group, they reduced their total external debt to the foreign governments and multilateral institutions (WB, IMF, ADB, etc.) through net repayments of $48 billion in 2006 whilst attracting a staggering $502 billion in net private capital flows.

Pakistan’s vicious cycle of borrowings from foreign governments and multilateral institutions, graft, waste, and accumulation of more debt to repay the old debts leads one to believe that the rulers have been putting excessive burden on the people and mortgaging their future by borrowing more and more while indulging in wasteful and unproductive spending while the ‘big fish’ get away with not only benefiting from the “development projects” financed by external borrowings but also with paying no taxes.

Pakistan’s foreign (or hard currency) debt to total debt (that is, including domestic debt) ratio of 47 per cent is high compared to an average of 28 per cent for emerging economies. Given our long-term track record of using foreign debt to indulge in wasteful expenditure, it would be in the best national interest to set up a special fund (in a hard currency, be it dollar or euro) to accumulate all the privatisation proceeds and use that for the early retirement of our external debt. Some countries, like Russia, have set up hard currency stabilization funds to provide for the rainy days.

However, this would be just one among a series of measures needed to reduce dependence on foreign debt. We must cut imports and reduce the rapidly deteriorating current account deficit that has prevented a build-up of foreign exchange reserves since 2003. We must also strive to increase the tax- to- GDP ratio from 10 per cent (one of the lowest) to 17 per cent within the next five years instead of making far-fetched 10-year plans.

The writer is a former head of Emerging Markets Equity Investments, Citigroup.

Dawn

Masadi sahib,

It may be a useful exercise to compare the net external debt of Pakistan as on date and on 12/10/99 and also the ratio of the net ext debt/GDP and net ext. debt/Exports for the respective dates/years.*-)

(GDP, over 99% of which lands in the pockets of less than 1% of the population)

I am not sure of the authenticity of this number. Can you quote some reliable source.

Thanks in advance

Regards

clifton writes "My question is by what objective figures is the economy worse off now?"

In the poverty percent, given the large increase in the population which translates into a lot more people poor now. In the rate of inflation. In the total outstanding debt, and finally in the HDI ranking which has barely improved since 1999, and don't forget 1999 was when the Banana Republic economy of dicatorship, had not kicked in and Pakistan was under sanctions, and the US dirty billions had not started flowing in, neither had the government concenssions for kickbacks by whoring the country to foreign investors. Of course you don't see any of this because for you economic indicators are just growth in GDP, over 99% of which lands in the pockets of less than 1% of the population, that is why the indicators in Pakistan today that measure social progess are among the worst anywhere in the world.

Re: # 50 Romair idea's are fine but there things need to thought by intelluctuals regarding water rights and most importantly who will "control national assets like nuclear weapons". Till these things are not thought idea of union is premature.

Masadi it doesnt matter if you support BB/NS or not and it shouldnt matter that i dont. Thats not my question. I also wasnt asking you to explain the "source of the problem" or the tinpot banana republic theory of economic booms which i sort of agree with anyway.

My question is by what objective figures is the economy worse off now? (besides inflation which i grant you)

Re: # 49 As usual Masadi straight direct and factual , no fluff or useless stuff.
Thanks for that

Re: # 40 Romair has resonable idea. It will solve problems as then Sindhis will not feel dominated by MQM and Karachians ( MQM) do need to come down socially when social conditions are averaged. But with conditions of no too much Indian things we should watch Indian actions "Muh me ram Bagal me chhuri".
Same way Baloachistan need separate state for poor baloachstan and powerful pathans with pathanistan with quatta as capital and big G as capital for Baloach people. Also same in punjab. I remember once/few times Romair had mentioned Pakistan is only country with over 50% of one tribe of Punjab,. You add to that indian Punjabis its big domination. Actually nothing is that bad but illusions are more powerful than truth. All minority proninces are obessesed with so called "punjabi" domination etc. Same with india, most movements based on racial or tribal hatred end up in serving elites of west and we are example of that, that 60 years journey from someting to nothing. Balochi people are not bad but they are greedy to have all money from gas found there. They did not do to have gas there just allah blessed that land. Now poor punjabi , poor balochi feels he does not need cheap gas, he should pay international price. Idea of brotherhood is lost in greed.
Once romair said is right when many provinces then no domination and integrity is assured. All things are going down, white nice loking punjabi and sindhi women marrying dark MQM man as they are smart and educated. This is vertical integration and already horizontal integration taking place abd weathering of "people" taking place not good to some extent but one has to expect all bad good things I guess. Now india is also in mess, with tamil war and bhai loks going all over , it happening all over world even in bradford and just people are killing specialities marrying anybody. Imaran and rajiv are examples, their children kind of no culture like beef eater gandi family and pork feasting imrans children. It just mess now day people without morality and bad influence and hormone filled young people dancing and listening to bad music/ not even bad music but chaos music it like slow poison. It is better be be nonreligious so you are devoid of stupid , outdated dogmas and do not have to believe on stupid not probale things of angles flying and animal talking , or yoga stuff which hurts your body and brainwashes for particular religion. But you see so stupid and morbit secular people I have chaned thinging about god and religion and all stuff. IT is better to have some belief than no belief for most people as their mind is pollulated by modern things. Any way it going late so need to depart. Today my mind is not working fine honestly but one has to be modest and honest so thia tirade against young people. Good night.

#48, I have already answered your questions, let me reiterate:

1. The military was still firmly in charge through the stop-gap "democracy" period. I am no supporter of BB/NS but unlike your myopic self, I go to the source of the problem, a problem that creates individuals and politicians that are corrupt and that is the military gun under which they have to operate- same thing as the chain of corruption started among the locals by the colonizers in order to keep the masses in check. The Pakistan Army has taken over the role of the colonizers and the product are corrupt politicians managing the masses whose voices have been coopted on behalf of the US elite....

2. Regarding the economy, Pakistan has been progressively sliding down due in part to rising population and runaway inflation as a direct conseqence of military interference and policies regarding the economy. Short term speculative gain, that has occurred after every military coup- a "gain" which does not affect any part of the mass population, is the hallmark of all banana republics. When institutions geared to serve externals have not been allowed to restructure to serve the locals (attempts were made during the ZAB era), you cannot talk about any "gains"-

masadi i have 2 serious qu's for you from our prior convo, i actually agree with alot of what you say...but

1. Was BB not a spawn of the western elite?
2. By what stats did the economy look better under her/NS ? I did a quick search and couldnt find any support of your contention, what am i missing?

Bulleya there are some problems with your analysis. I agree that a piece of land should not be worshipped and who cares if a land that existed for 35 years is redefined.

But the issues are water, food and nukes. If the provinces are at war with each other , and belive me there are no bloodless partitions ...we are all doomed. I favour greater provincial autonomy but not partition.

As individuals Pakistanis are only strongly divided along lines of class and religious rigidity. As much as we all mouth off on the internet ethnicity is a very secondary factor in day to day life amongst liberals and fundos alike.

It has played a big part in politics because most pakis are illiterate and cant follow intellectual positions very well. They can follow blood lines though , like lemmings. But tell me how much opposition is there to say intermarriages between ethnicities? Even altaph the face of ethnic bigotry believe's in dullha's without borders.

In addition to #45, that is the reason why the US admn talks about "taking the uniform off" in every discussion with him, and the "uniform" was the major contention point in the BB/Musharraf discussion and the main reason why the emergency was declared (even though Imran Khan doesnt get it): to save the uniform and remain COAS, and not to remove threats to his "civilian" presidency.

HP writes "to preserve the people and institutions that the US intends to utilize to preserve long term control over the society."

Your points are good, especially about the NGOs, don't know much about the lawyers except for their unintended "movement" which has gained momentum- the US is not for legal challenges to its supported government(s) or dictators, and the lawyers in Pakistan (unlike the NGOs, especially foreign ones) have been quite helpless faced by a Supreme Court that until recently was doing the bidding of the powers that be.

That said, Benazir's role is a different one in my opinion, that of not fragmenting the US occupation force (the Pak Army). Musharraf is out of favor and was pushed to the point of declaring emergency by the US manufactured crisis post February. They want him gone because of external ulterior motive, involving Iran. A military coup that overthrows a established COAS has not happened yet in Pakistan's history simply because the risks involved are too great. Fragmenting this military with such a coup would not be to the interest of the US for its long term plans for control of Pakistan. Now, Benazir as a stop gap, takes care of that dilemma....and that is what will happen when the new COAS gets rid of her at the heels of the Iran expedition....

SC writes "he walks like, quacks like a Punju"

It is unbecoming of you to condemn an entire ethnicity because some a-holes have condemned yours. If Kulharee marries dumbo doesn't mean you should do the same out of spite. Let him suffer alone because of his perversions, don't be so eager to join him

bulleya writes "United Emirate of Pakistan"

Man, people here are worried about the more immediate things, how to get rid of the person the Daily Telegraph described as a sonofabitch. And here we have you, an Army supporter trying to jump the gun and legitimize the Pakistan Army's eventual breakup of Pakistan. Why do you give fuel and fodder to damn fools like hamid to poke fun at you with. You are a smart guy, think before you put your fingers to the keyboard.....

bulleya writes "United Emirate of Pakistan"

Man, people here are worried about the more immediate things, how to get rid of the person the Daily Telegraph described as a sonofabitch. And here we have you, an Army supporter trying to jump the gun and legitimize the Pakistan Army's eventual breakup of Pakistan. Why do you give fuel and fodder to damn fools like hamid to poke fun at you with. You are a smart guy, think before you put your fingers to the keyboard.....

Hamid writes "......... do we wait for jemima ?"

Get over your damn inferiority complex, and worship of all things white. The Jemima protest was mere tamashabazi, and the idiot in hiding is a pathetic fool who is dying to get her back because his mind is still enslaved. He should get over that before he tries to be a part of the political muck hole of Pakistan....thanks to people like you, you little .......

Bulleya #34 {"……and karachi and hyderabad can be off on their own…….the muhajirs can then set up their singapore and utlize their education to generate taxes for themselves and not for the rest of pakistan……..they can legalize drinking and dancing like the rest of the civilized world, without worrying about stupid punjabis and pathans dictating to them…
...
…….altaf bhai of jinnahpur...and if a muhajir general and a muhajir political party have gone nuts and have joined hands to become dictators, give them a jinnahpur, where they can do it, without trying to rule over the rest of us......"}

Romair,
A lot of good logic in your sound idea. Thank you for including Mohajirs in your scheme of things. Some exceptions - we don't want to call it Jinnahpur - in fact, you can take the old man and his bones up north, just give us Jehangir from Lahore (not Asma, but Salim). Also, you can keep Perv - he walks like, quacks like a Punju.

hamidm #37 What do I want you to think? That is not for me to say. All I ask is that you look at the facts - it is not just a handful of lawyers and lums students who are onto Musharraf's games. Here is a start on looking at some facts, and article in the Washington Post today, which basically says what majumdar in #32 is saying, e.g.:

The Answer in Pakistan
By Thomas R. Pickering, Carla Hills and Morton Abramowitz
Tuesday, November 13, 2007;

Excerpts:

Today, the alternative to Musharraf's military rule is not a mob of radical Islamists -- this is not Iran in the 1970s. The alternative, as in the Philippines, is a moderate, secular political opposition organized into political parties. Both the Pakistan People's Party under Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Muslim League under Nawaz Sharif are opposed to the jihadi movements. They have publicly committed themselves to combating not only al-Qaeda but also the political and military leadership of the Taliban living in Pakistan, a point on which Musharraf has been notably reluctant to act.


Poll after poll has found that if fair and free elections were held under constitutional protections and monitored by national and international observers, the result would be a moderate, pro-Western, anti-extremist government in Pakistan. A September survey by the International Republican Institute forecast the two moderate opposition parties winning 64 percent of the vote. The conservative Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid would get 16 percent, it found. All the religious parties combined would get barely 15 percent of the vote.

Musharraf has relied on an alliance with the religious parties, some of which have clear ties to jihadi groups that are themselves linked to Taliban terrorists. After the 1999 military coup installing Musharraf, they achieved their parliamentary majority only through a rigged election in 2002. In a free vote, extremists don't stand a chance. It is only Musharraf who props them up -- out of fear of what a democratic election would bring.

Indeed, the same Republican Institute poll showed that 74 percent oppose Musharraf's reelection.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201 417.html

majumdar #32 That was a good point you made ("I would have readily swallowed the havayoons winning control of much of the countryside there but there is something fishy about the ease with which they are taking over the towns.").
And if this seems fishy if the towns are single-khoka towns in swat, then it is smells like a downright fishmarket if the town is the capital of the nation, and the islamists are allowed to roam free kidnapping and harrassing ordinary citizens for months on end (as Musharraf did at lal masjid) until they overstep and have a foreign power (China in this case) tell Musharraf to stop being overclever and punish the criminals.

Re: # 31

okay tahmed, who do you want me to thank ?........ the 2000 lawyers and the 20 students from lums ?..... done! .... now what? ......... do we wait for jemima ?

Now if Pakistan splits along the lines Romair mian suggests, what would happen to folks of Kashmiri descent like him? Will they be kicked out of the autonomous provinces? If so, where would they go? "Azad" Kashmir? Now if all the provinces split and become smaller units, wouldn't it be easy for India to retake Azad Kashmir?

Umm....looks like the great military mind of Pakistan on Chowk, Romair mian has already given up on the country's prospect of surviving in its present form. Now if only the serving generals took a leaf from his book.

United Emirate of Pakistan:
---------------------------

.......countries come and countries go……it is, basically, ethnicities, religions, languages and cultures that survive…..concepts that are far more ingrained into geographic areas than the artificial boundaries of a nation-state…..during the past decade or two, many countries have split…….ussr, yugoslavia, czec republic and slaviks……..now there are talks of the belgium splitting…….as long as the breakup is peaceful, on occasion it can actually benefit the population……….

……..one spends most of one’s time in one’s home, workplace and at most, in one’s city…….as long as things are ok there, what difference does it make if someone 1000 miles breaks away……if lahore turns into dubai or paris, then do lahorites care that peshawar is in a different country……..and vice-versa……..

……….pakistan is far larger than the average country-size of the world……..just the population of punjab alone is greater than that of nearly every european country……..in addition, pakistan is totally artificial entity created due to the military conquests of young british armymen……it is very difficult for such an entity to grow organically under a centralized govt…….

…so perhaps the time has come for it to be turned into autonomously ruled independent entities……kind of like the uae……where all the emirates have their own laws and govts., yet they are, at least theoretically one country…….this seems to be what is happening in pakistan, anways…….

…….so maybe it is time for nwfp to drift off, and have its own govt…..which can declare shariah and its residents can start marrying their afghan cousins, without worrying about indivduals from pindi and michigan, like hamidm mian jumping up and down…….at which point urstruly can migrate to peshawar, painlessly, without bothering the rest of the provinces about shariah….and they can then go fight the americans, without being bombed by foolish punjabi and muhajir army genrerals…….

and lahore and the rest of punjab can become an entity of its own, which can open up is borders with indian punjab, and return the area to what it traditionally was………a large independent geographic area between hindustan and afghans……the punjabis have always been hated by those around them, and they have always hated those around them……..this area can go back to its sufiana islam, and declare punjabi its national language, without worrying about fazlullah and fazlurrahman invading it………

……and karachi and hyderabad can be off on their own…….the muhajirs can then set up their singapore and utlize their education to generate taxes for themselves and not for the rest of pakistan……..they can legalize drinking and dancing like the rest of the civilized world, without worrying about stupid punjabis and pathans dictating to them…

sindhis can form their sindhudesh and print their sindhi newspapers and speak sindhi, without blaming muhajirs for all their problems……..

baluchistan can be off on its own……its tribal chiefs can sell their gas to punjab and live in luxury……..

benazir can be the pm of sind…….altaf bhai of jinnahpur……..qazi hussein of nwfp……nawaz sharif of punjab……..some tribal of Baluchistan……..

the country can be called the UEP – United Emirates of Pakistan………the borders, within the autonomous lands can be open, the currency can be the same……no licenses required to do business in any area……..most importantly, the cricket team can be the same……..and once a year, these prime ministers can meet in Islamabad, say hello and then go back to their own lands to rule over their own people, their own police force, army, universities etc…….

basically, for someone like me, who, when in Pakistan, spends nearly all his time in Islamabad, it doesn’t really matter what is happening in peshawar, karachi, or even lahore – what to talk of quetta and tank, rahim yar khan and multan……

....if fazlullah and swatis wants shariah in swat, let them have it......what difference does it make to those in islamabad?......it will make swatis happy, as they can have lal masjids in swat, and it will make islamabadis happy, as the lal masjid will move to swat.......and vice-versa.....

...and if a muhajir general and a muhajir political party have gone nuts and have joined hands to become dictators, give them a jinnahpur, where they can do it, without trying to rule over the rest of us......

nationalistic affection (bordering on fanaticism) to geographical lands and cities, which one has never even visited must be one of the most stupidest human behaviors……

There are no variations of the basic gripe or grouse or cribbing or diatribe or balderdash or humbug or ........!!
Can someone talk the cause and walk the remedy?
From what I can discern in the multitude of cursing or polemic in the many write-ups on this forum [chowk.com], there seems to be a total lack of clarity on WHAT is wrong and WHAT needs to be done: how about starting from the premise that we require a total re-evaluation of the concept that 'parliamentary democracy' is what the doctor ordered for Pakistan? How about giving a shot at understanding what Jinnah wanted for Pakistan?
Can we suggest Chowk Editors to invite comments / views from: Janab Sharif al Mujahid , Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy, Janab Qazi Faez al Issa, Prof Anwar Syed [his write-up, "Dealing with an emergency", DAWN, 11th November 2007, is a sort of sequel to a long list of revealing/suggestive political frame-work for Pakistan], and many other apolitical commentators

Tahmed sahib,

Re:#30

(If the taliban are a convenient "Willie Horton" that Musharraf flashes as a kind of a ticket to keep his dictatorship)

Here is waht I posted to Zee sahib on UP.

{{{I am having my doubts about the havayoon campaign in Swat. I would have readily swallowed the havayoons winning control of much of the countryside there but there is something fishy about the ease with which they are taking over the towns. Towns can readily be identified from air and it is inconceivable that the army would lose control of towns and allow them to fly Talib flags there UNLESS they wanted to do so on their own. Now you would want to know why the kanjaroon army would want that- simply to convince their Yank mentors that Mush is indispensable and that emergency is justified.

IMHO the moment the army wants they can chuck the havayoons out of the towns at least (given their recourse to white phosphorus and helicopter gunships and disreagrd for civilain casulties). Yes they wont be able to get control or countryside very easily and suicide bombing, sniping will remain constant menace but havayoon control of urband centres may be very short-lived.}}}

Regards

#30 has some confusing typos. Pl ignore and read this instead:

hamidm #26 you wrote "unfortunately we are headed for another ten years or so of the same old stuff:

There you go predicting the future again. Like I said, you are catching this dreaded disease, Nostrodamusitis from Romair.

you added "- actually, now with the new taliban factor, things could get a lot worse ..."

If the taliban have actually grown to become a real menace, then this happened under Musharraf's military rule, and it is time to give someone else a chance. If the taliban are a convenient "Willie Horton" that Musharraf flashes as a kind of a ticket to keep his dictatorship (which is what I think it basically is), then get rid of Musharraf and military rule and the taliban are no longer a problem.

So: whether you think the taliban are a real threat or a bogeyman maintained by musharraf, you should be thanking those trying to end military rule in Pakistan for trying to solve your problem for you. Instead of ridiculing them and betting on a demonstrated loser.

hamidm #26 you wrote "unfortunately we are headed for another ten years or so of the same old stuff:

There you go predicting the future again. Like I said, you are catching this dreaded disease, Nostrodamusitis from Romair.

you added "- actually, now with the new taliban factor, things could get a lot worse ..."

If the taliban have actually grown, then this happened under Musharraf's military rule, and it is time to give someone else a chance. If the taliban are a convenient "Willie Horton" that Musharraf flashes as a kind of a ticket to keep his dictatorship (which is what it basically is), then get rid of Musharraf and military rule and the taliban are no longer a problem.

So: whether you think the taliban are a real threat of a bogeyman maintained by musharraf, you should be thanking them for trying to solve your problem for you. Instead of ridiculing them.

HP sain,

(even as the economic policies eviscerate public services for much of the populace through loss of housing, education and medical care)

As if pre-" structural reform" Pakistan (and India and other third world countries) had provided universal housing, education and health services to everyone.

(not to mention employment under sweatshop conditions.)

People who are working in sweatshops today may well have been working as bonded labour on some farms or some such stuff had those sweatshops not been around.

Regards

One aspect that does not appear to have elicited much comment is that the opposition to Musharraf, the attorneys and the NGOs, are precisely the people and institutions normally relied upon by the US to legitimize policies, primarily by reducing broad social needs to legal rights and privileges.

Hence, the attorneys and NGOs emphasize due process and human rights (such as freedom of speech, the right to travel, women's rights, the right to judicial due process) even as the economic policies eviscerate public services for much of the populace through loss of housing, education and medical care, not to mention employment under sweatshop conditions.

Thus, the US faces a serious dilemma: support Musharraf over the short to medium term, at the price of allowing him to destroy the "civil society" that serves as the foundation of the neo-liberal order, to permit the ongoing prosecution of the "war on terror", or push Musharraf out, to preserve the people and institutions that the US intends to utilize to preserve long term control over the society.

Bhutto, naturally, is a lynch pin of this second approach.

My guess is that the US and Britain have started gently pushing Musharraf to stand aside, and permit younger military leader with a reformist image to take charge, a person who then proceeds to make a deal with Bhutto, containing the pressures for radical change that bubble beneath the surface.

Washington's fears about the future of this geopolitically vital, yet combustible, area are unlikely to be allayed by a prolonged crackdown by Musharraf.

Learned Helplessness is not a collective behavior. Pakistanis as nation don't suffer from helplessness. The political apathy is the result of years of anti politics and anti social propaganda unleashed by the army thorough the controlled media.

Unfortunately, the intelligentsia that these two learned professors are a part of, has no idea what is taking place in Pakistan. I never expected two historians to write such a childish article. Hiring standards at LUMS must be pretty low.

It would not be bad idea however to correct these gentlemen

“the West applies double standards while dealing with despotic Muslim rulers, which creates hatred amongst the masses..”

Double standard line is oxymoron. The West or the US specifically had supported many tin pot generals in Asia, South America, Africa. The policy is not Muslim specific. I would also point out that only repressive ruler in the so called Muslim world was perhaps Saddam Hussein. The Rest of them are dictatorial but repressive is a wrong political term to use for them.

Musharaf regime or for that matter any other military regime in Pakistan were never repressive. (Exception: 9 months in e. pak) Compared to Ayub Khan and Zia ul Haq, Musharaf regime is actually benign. Neither Musharaf nor any other regime in the Muslim world is playing havoc with the peoples’ lives as the authors claim. They are all run-of-the-mill third world regimes that can be compared to the South American dictators of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Both “legal Historians” don’t show any understanding of the political-legal terms and that must not bode well for their students.

The issue really is how much we can blame the US for the situation in Pakistan.

The US certainly has a lot riding in Pakistan and there is no denying the fact that it has not hesitated to interfere in Pakistani affairs. Though the US interference is not the only cause of the miserable situation Pakistan is in.

However, in the current circumstances the simple fact is that it is vanishingly unlikely that the US will permit any form of democracy to take root in Pakistan. Keeping the Pakistani military sweet is vitally important for American. The Pakistani people are well aware that they have been turned into American puppets themselves, given free elections; they would almost certainly express against this via the ballot box. Of course Bhutto is an opportunist, but given the strength of anti-American/pro-democracy feeling in Pakistan even she might have to bend to the prevailing winds, and that's a risk the US will not be willing to take.

So the US will not support free and fair elections in Pakistan. Instead, it would prefer controlled elections where its fave Bhutto is the only one with a chance to form the government.

tahmed mian,

..... if it weren't so sad, it would be funny ....... unfortunately we are headed for another ten years or so of the same old stuff - actually, now with the new taliban factor, things could get a lot worse ...... it is enough to drive a man to drink or bang his head against the floor six times a day (i am counting tahajjud) - it is either death by cirrhosis or concussion ....... take your pick

#24 Kulharee,
As a member of a despised minority in Punjab, it is not wise for you to piss off egalitarian Mojos in Karachi.

This public safety message was brought to you by MQM. :)

#23 Chuhay, where is Tafoo basterd in all of this? Is he also looking for some opening?

Hamidumdum Sahib,
If Dubya ran the US as deftly as he runs Pakistan, Hillary would don a burka and Nancy would join a nunnery.

Hamidumdum Sahib,
Aunt Jemima without her syrup is like Urstruly without his beer. I think that for the sake of Pakistan, she should ditch Huge Grant and marry Zardari, freeing Bezamir Bhutni for the Dick Traitor. The Sharif bros have a better chance of bringing their brand of "kleptocracy" to Soodi Arabia with much greater rewards than keep getting turned around at Lahore airport. Auntie Sehba can join Moola Fazloola on a permanent Swati honeymoon.

hamidm: the situation in Pakistan is so hilarious, even the scores of Pakistani killed the past few months are laughing their heads off in the grave (those who had their heads taken off in Swat while they were still living are also laughing); not to mention the thousands of pakistanis in jail who are rolling over the grave floor laughing at your joke. Pervez "Napoleon-Lincoln" Musharraf promises to give you a Gold Star for getting everyone to lighten up!!

see what i mean! ... you throw a whoopie cushion out there and they will jump on it ....

Get the Americans out of our affairs, which means get the military out of our affairs and its excrement (also known as sh**) and by products i.e. dictators that have outlived their usefulness to the Americans, and you will see what kind of leaders emerge. The best clowns in town are the ones who are myopically dumb like our friend h2.

Re: # 17

salim mian,

..... i think we should elect the troika of masadi, urstruly and romair - if we are going to have a circus, we might as well have the best clowns .....

.... personally, i would vote for the sharif brothers - they seem to be well fed, have new hairdos, and nice wadrobes .... shahbaz has been looking particularly sharp since he stole khar's wife - khar still looks damn sharp for a seventy two year old guy ..... if jemima takes back imran kahn, we could also vote for him - she would still make a fine first lady after she comes out of rehab .....

.... like i said,we dont have too many choices ........ you have to dance with the ugly gal you brung to the dance .......

Hamidumdum Sahib,
After a long long time, I have to agree with you. Pretty crooks (only if she loses 10-15 pounds and gets rid of the bags) and psychopathic killers (wearing Paki Army uniforms to discredit our Jawans) seem to be the only choice here. Things are so bad, that I suggest a "Draft Urstruly" movement.

salim mian,

.... i feel your pain, but there really are no honest people in pakistan .... even kids in kindergarten are cheating on their nursery rhymes and sums ....

......you will have to choose from the avaiable cast of known thieves, knaves and rascals ..... it is either them or maulvi fazlullah ....... petty crooks or psychopathic killers - take your pick

.... and don't be fooled by these looney lums luminaries - they are a just trying to get their picture taken with imran khan and 'rebelling' against their parents ........ they will quickly fall in line if musharraf threatens to shut down pizza hut and mcdonalds .........

Haq Sahib,
Is it any wonder that the silent majority of Pakistanis doesn't care about this comedy circus?

If we get rid of Mushy the Dick Traitor, we will have a Paki version of Bonnie & Clyde taking turns looting Pakistan.

Bezamir Bhootni - If she and her husband are that corrupt, is it any wonder that most Pakis are basically ignoring her attempt to hijack the Lawyers' campaign.

Is Perv better than the kleptomaniacs?
Why can't Shortcut Aziz mount his own coup?

At least the guy is somewhat better for Pakistan.


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Trail of corruption and kickback charges still in wings for opposition leader


David Pallister
Monday November 12, 2007
The Guardian


Hopes for a third term for Benazir Bhutto, twice kicked out of government for corruption and incompetence, have been thrown into turmoil by the emergency rule. But her ambitions ultimately still depend on whether the amnesty on her corruption charges, granted to her last month by the national reconciliation ordinance, will be upheld in the new supreme court.
Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari - nicknamed Mr 10% over alleged extortion - faced eight counts of taking tens of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks. But whatever decision the court arrives at, the couple also have to contend with money laundering proceedings in Switzerland and Spain, and a civil case in London involving an expensive Surrey mansion.


Article continues

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As the president's ordinance only deals with offences up to 1999, investigations in Pakistan could continue into allegations that the pair paid about $2m in illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein under the oil-for-food programme.
The controversy surrounding Bhutto's financial affairs has been compounded by reports showing she and her family have worldwide assets worth about 90bn Pakistan rupees ($1.5bn). Despite voluminous evidence, some from the British government, the Bhuttos deny all the charges.

The charges

Among the charges in Pakistan are allegations that the Bhuttos skimmed $2m in commissions from a 1990s deal to buy thousands of duty-free Ursus tractors from Poland. The money went into a Swiss bank account. Christine Junod, a Geneva magistrate, says documentary evidence "establishes beyond doubt that these commissions, under the cover of alleged consultancy fees, were meant to remunerate the illicit advantages obtained by Ursus from the Pakistani administration, thanks to the interventions of Asif Zardari".

A second case involves a Dubai-based Pakistani gold bullion dealer who allegedly paid $10m to a Bhutto company in the British Virgin Islands for the exclusive right to import gold, again losing the country millions of dollar in duties. Zardari, who has served six years on corruption charges, is also accused of evading duties on the import of a £55,000 armoured BMW.

A fourth case, involving Swiss banks, is moving towards a trial in Geneva. In this the couple are accused of taking kickbacks for the award of contracts to two Swiss firms employed to stop customs fraud. In 2003 a Swiss magistrate found the couple guilty, sentenced them to six months in prison and ordered them to pay $12m back to the Pakistan government.

The paper trail connecting Benazir Bhutto to the case started with a moment of extravagance. Five years before, she had bought a £117,000 diamond necklace in London; part of that was paid for by one of the Swiss firms identified in the investigation. Lawyers for the Bhuttos challenged the judgment, a move that required the case be reopened. Last month the Swiss authorities said they would go ahead.

Oil-for-food scandal

The authoritative Volker report into the oil-for-food scandal identified the company Petroline FZC as having received oil contracts worth £145m in return for paying illicit surcharges to Iraq of $2m. Pakistan's national accountability bureau has produced documents which show that Bhutto was the company chairwoman. Some of the profits went to firms in Spain, where another criminal investigation into money laundering is still active.

Rockwood House

The Surrey mansion, Rockwood House, was bought in 1995, apparently owned through a chain of firms and trusts, involving addresses in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Liechtenstein. Zardari denied, for eight years, that he was the owner despite instructing a builder with plans for a helipad, nine-hole golf course and polo pony paddock. Crates of valuable artefacts were shipped from Karachi. In 2004, when creditors forced the property into a liquidation sale, the Pakistani government claimed the proceeds. Lawyers for Zardari then appeared, claiming he was the beneficial owner.

The money from the sale is still in the liquidators' bank account, though a high court judge said the Pakistani government had a reasonable case, stating the money came via corruption. The case continues through the courts with Zardari repeatedly claiming to be too ill to mount a rebuttal.

Courtesy, The Guardian, Monday November 12, 2007

Stuff happens

Stuff happens

AS the elite of pakistan are discussing the constittution and the chief justice, the pak army is siezing control from the courts. Now one need not worry about the supreme court, the court martials will take care.

The pathetic pakistanis are discussing checks and balances, wake up, stop the pretenses, pakistan is a jihadic army state.

from dawn of today.

Civilians can be court-martialled : Army Act amended



By Nasir Iqbal


ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The government on Saturday amended the Army Act of 1952 to give wide-ranging powers to the Army to court-martial civilians.

Under the amended act, the Army can now try civilians on charges ranging from treason, sedition and attack on army personnel to “assaulting the president with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power” and “giving statements conducive to public mischief”.

T

Trained surrenders - not learned

WAT, Nov 10: Militants took a major, a captain and five soldiers hostage in Kabbal tehsil on Saturday.

A militant commander, Akbar Hussain, who is in charge of the tehsil, said the soldiers were traveling in an army vehicle when they were intercepted at a checkpoint near Kabbal and taken hostage. He said a major, a captain, two lance naiks and three sepoys had been taken hostage.

He said that a secret file and a map marking militants’ positions had been seized from the soldiers and they had been taken to Imam Dheri, the headquarters of Maulana Fazalullah’s movement.

It is a good take and intelligently argued case. There is literature which tries to justify the opposite opinion by actually making the case for US support for autocratic regimes. Farid Zakira’s “Future of Freedom” is the first book which comes to my mind. The central argument is that if democracy is allowed on western pattern it would lead to reign of militant forces through popular forces.
There is apprently some merit in Mr Zakria’s case but if we scrututinize the situation closely, the rise of populist conservatism, i.e. which comes through vote, is it itself a possible outcome (I am stressing the word possible because I believe that complex phenomneon like extremism are an outcome of many interelated and self reinforcing factors) of US support to autocratic and oppressive regimes and its own international policies…
Moreover, the authors of this article are requesting the political parties to actually mobilize common man to rise.. Well there is a debate right on whether all of this is a common man’s problem at all. Mr NFP has raised the stakes by openly mocking those who are talking of things like independent judiciary as drawing room intellectuals suffering from middle class morality and divorced from the reality and hardships which the “un washed” masses face. For the masses the issues are different.
I will say some things here:

1. Independent Judiciary though not of immediate concern to masses or at least percieved as such is nevertheless an extremely important organ for the preservation of the right of recourse to law whenever fundamental rights are usurped. Judical recourse is contigent as it comes into play when actually our rights are violated. Consider a black law such as Hudood ordinance. It potentially affected all women, but its actuall brunt was on those who were actually raped. It was not therefore percieved by large majority of lower class women and their families to be of relevance. In the first place they were not even aware of its existence. It was then neccessarry for the civil society and educated women to actually muster popular support for its repealment by first creating awareness and then going for some kind of political persuation. The point is that certain things whether percieved by a large majority as important or not are nevertheless important and Judicial independence is important following the same argument
2. Secondly, lack of apprent “public protest” should not be used as endorsement for purging judiciary. Particulalrly, when you have actually imposed an emergency and are breaking the lawyers and journalists heads to prevent any kind of collective political protest. The reality is that in a country like Pakistan, at least in recent times, collective political action can be easily subdued through force and by simply house arresting the leaders which are the focal point for launching such agitation. A strange argument was made by citing the presence of millions turning out to support BB on 18th October 2007, as evidence that Judicial independence, NRO etc are not at all worth calling as an issue. Let me assure you that if state wanted, it would have been able to prevent even one tenth of those people from being in Karachi on that fateful day. So these banal comparisons of people turning out to greet BB and not turning out to protest emergency should be avoided as due to emergency and violent tactics used by police, the comparison of the later with the former is not a fair comparison in the first place.
3. I also think that we should grow out of this BB,NS and Musharraf comparisons. I keep on hearing that if not Musharraf who is the alternative. The central argument should have been whether Musharraf’s dictatorship is worth sacrifying your institutions who only recently have started to show some signs of becoming independent. Remember Mr Musharraf, even if he is “necessary” has few years of his “natural” health left. He will be gone but the legacy would be of an extremely weak judiciary which would subsequently be abused by not so “benevolent” dictator or even elected executive.

Extremism will keep happily marching on, with or without militarism, as long as this endless game of beating around the bush by liberals, like the authors of this article, continues.

They are clueless.

Re: # 2 Lums graduates are asking hundreds of thousand of rupees/ year and employer are happy to have them. Even western compinies consider them as assets. As IIT grads are valued in engg, LUMS grads are equivalent to IIT grad in Engg. Many of teachers at LUMS are foreign trained and worked and just they like to live in pakistan otherwise they will be accepting big jobs from western companies. Aramco recruits many grads from here

[‘main illness of Pakistan is not Islamism, but militarism’]

Does it matter who came first – the chicken or the egg? The country is the one which ends up becoming omelet. It is not the US support which brings up dictators in Pakistan – the Mushy was very much a fact of life prior to 9/11. The greed of Pakistani politicos and its khakis is not a fault of the US. It is very domestic, it is very endemic and it merely the present day extension of the greed for power of Mahomed Ali Jinnah. The problem with Pakistan is not leaned helplessness – it is the helplessness to learn from repeated mistakes – by the “learned”!

Useless LUMS, is this the best you can do? What a waste of time? The only politician that has made a wrong turn is Alt-F and his MQM. The rest of the country is united behind the grass roots movement to get this regime out, including NS. These recent events are just political theater that you are seeing between PPP and PML-NS, namely, pehle aap, pehle aap.

["The main illness of Pakistan is not Islamism, but militarism "]

Actually, it is both. All you can argue about is: which is dominant?

Remove militarism and Pakistan will out-Afghan the Afghans.

LUMS folks,

am I mistaken or are you guys trying to gain social relevance?

.... i take that back, there are actually three authors! ..... masadi seems to be at work here : "blame must also be shared by the US administration and its Western allies"

....... i guess the US elite has been sleeping with the mothers of our politicians, generals and academics to produce the idiots we see all around us .........

.......... it took two people to write this ?... i am beginning to have serious doubts about lums !

"The shackles of “learned helplessness” can only be broken if all the political parties and intelligentsia join hands to restore rule of democracy and the independence of judiciary."

Are you guys for real?

Hello Duh!