The Dirty Tricks Brigade Tries to Spoil a Party

Re: # 202

TK

Under normal circumstances and fair political process Aitezaz would have been elected by any party. But for obvious reasons he is being sidelined:

1. He is not a Bhutto and PPP dynastic legacy demands Bhutto name and Aitezaz is well aware of that fact but had embraced it in the past.

2. Aitezaz violated party discipline when he chose to side with the lawyers and boycott elections.

3. Most worrying aspect, Aitezaz hails from Punjab and PPP cannot afford to offend its Sindhi vote bank by having a Punjabi party leader.

Re: # 195

Dear tahmed32

I totally endorse and second these thoughts. Everyone deserves a second chance, particularly those who have paid their dues to society or demonstrate signs of change. I totally agree with your thesis, BB had her shortcomings and made many mistakes in the past, but the way she carried herself against military dictatorship and their extremist cyborgs, she had earned the admiration of millions who had doubted her in the past.

Let me also add, generally speaking you have conducted yourself with utmost civility and restraint with the odd exception here and there. Certainly mark of a gentleman and deserving of respect. If I have wavered and offended it has been only because of your simplistic approach towards life, there are no good guys and bad guys in this world, like u rightfully said everyone deserves a second chance, then why not accord the same axiom to MQM? Any how, that is your prerogative, and like someone said, "I may disagree with you, but will give my life to protect your right to disagree". Thanks.

Tahmed sahib,

If indeed PPP/PML-N (who I have no doubt will corner the bulk of the seats if free and fair elections are held) can come together post elections (irrespective of who wins) and have Mushy impeached and subjected to a FREE, FAIR and OPEN trial for treason, they may well have put Pakistan on a one-way road to true democracy. Here's hoping that's what wud happen.

Regards

Sorry for getting a bit off track on this discussion.. but I can't help thinking... Where is Aitzaz Ahsan in this PPP leadership struggle and why is he not being acknowledged?I think he is a statesman with a vote bank and a refined gentleman (and he understands the Pakisani political environment)....combination of qualities not found in any other Pakistani politician..He should have been the PPP chairman!!!

T.K
Sydney, Australia

majumdar #200 True. Regardless of whether it is PPP or PML-N that gets the most votes, they will no doubt see the impeachment of Musharraf as being Job 1. And they will be united in that. Musharraf is now struggling to avoid that by trying to get one of them to his side and thus avoid impeachment, which could very well result in not just his removal from office but also having the criminal law book thrown at him. So, how this all plays out is anyone's guess at this stage.

Tahmed sahib,

It is not necessary for a leader to have personal following in all states. For instance if either PPP or PML-N could cobble together a pre-election alliance of regional parties (and then win it) as is common in India since 1996, they could create the same impact as that of a nation-wide alliance.

Regards

zeemax #197 True. Benazir seems to have united Pakistanis in her death. All except Musharraf - who, true to form, made stupid and gratuitous remarks about how her death was her "own fault", forgetting that what he saw as a "fault" the rest of her countrymen, and indeed the rest of the world, sees quite rightly as a strength - namely, physical courage.

the article i mention in #196 is

Beyond Elections: Searching for Leadership in Pakistan
by Shuja Nawaz, Huffingtonpost.com

Excerpts:

...Pakistan is desperately searching for a new leadership that could set the agenda for a return to national unity and democracy. ...Bhutto, with her support in all four provinces, promised them that transnational leadership. That is why her loss will be a major blow to Pakistan's political development and survival. ...... General Kayani, a professional soldier, has hinted at the power of the people to influence events in Pakistan when he told his senior-most generals recently that "Ultimately it is the will of the people and their support that is decisive."...He may have to give a clearer public statement of the army's support for whatever government emerges in post-election Pakistan...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shuja-nawaz/beyond-elections-searchi_b_81886.h tml

#195 Posted by tahmed32,

Ref your remark as well as Beena's eulogy, if Benazir had been so brave, she shold have come back before the NRO was signed and sealed. After all, she was never in any forced exile.

She was brave in death though ... I admire that.

pavocavalry #191 That is a great write-up you provided along with your post. As the attached article indicates, Kiyani seems to be making the right but cautious moves by reminding generals verbally that they any army needs popular support to be effective. Even more significantly, he has reminded his generals - in writing - that as military officers they may not communicate directly with the President without requesting his permission. Has the army finally learnt something? Let us hope so.

beenasarwar #193 you write "Even if all the allegations about her corruption and arrogance are true, one should keep in mind that she was active in politics for thirty years, out of which she was in power only for four and a half years. The rest of the time she struggled against two of the most well entrenched military dictators in the region."

While Benazir had serious shortcomings, she has more than paid the nation back for these with her bold step in returning to Pakistan to face Musharraf backed by a mighty force of a large standing army and police, the ISI (whose main task seems to be to crush any attempts by the Pakistani people to breathe free), and global terrorists like ben laden and zawahiri. This bold step to move Pakistan out of Musharraf's clutches was (for me, and no doubt for millions of Pakistanis) more than enough to redeem her. In losing her life in the process after making the beautiful Last Speech that called for all Pakistanis to unite as one, Benazir has not just redeemed herself, she has become a figure of historical proportions, loved and remembered by Pakistanis in the years and decades and centuries to come.

And her husband may have been Mr. 10%, the fact is that he did spend 11 years or so in prison. He too has paid his debt to society for his shenanigans, and like any citizen who has done his time he too deserves a second chance. Even though he started off on the wrong foot in his haste to take over the party chairmanship, he has matched that by coming out loud and clear in his opposition to Musharraf.

Enclosed is a pertinent piece on the Sharif's, a little outdated yet worth reading.

{Shahbaz Sharif: back to future?
Shahid Anwar

Sharifs are neither a revolutionary stuff like Imam Khomeini nor democrats. They can play any card to get in power corridors, however. From commercialization of politics (through bribes and horse-trading) to Punjabism and Islamism, they have used every thing that served their political interests.

Shahbaz Sharif’s likely return to Pakistan is talk of the town. Has he got the ‘signal’ from the powers that be or he has mustered enough courage and strength to defy them? Would his return herald a new democratic era? Answer to these futuristic questions may lie in the past.

The story of Sharifs rise to power in1980s and fall in1999, followed by their exile, is conspicuously marked with clandestine deals with the establishment. The big brother emerged to political scene as blue eyed boy of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after General Jilani ‘picked’ him as finance minister of Punjab. He became chief minister of Punjab thanks to active and obvious support of his mentor—General Zia. In the wake of tug of war between GHQ and Parliament, instead of strengthening the position of his own party leader Muhammad Khan Jonejo, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz turned against him and allied with his true masters in Khaki. As the chief minister of Punjab during the first Benazir government in Islamabad, he never accepted and honored her democratic mandate. For the first time in history, he played the ‘Punjab card’ and tried to arouse ‘Punjabi chauvinism’ against a Sindhi Prime minister—Benazir Bhutto. To buy the loyalties of MNA’s during No-trust move against Benazir, he indulged in horse-trading at massive scale.

During the days of his hyper activity to dislodge Ms Bhutto, he was decoyed to a rest house in Murree to final the deed with some PPP’s leaders—apparently for sale. Had Mian Zahid Sarfraz not prevented him to reach the site, he would have been arrested red handed by the Intelligence Bureau in operation named ‘midnight jackal’. During both of his terms as PM, he misruled the country, shattered economy and financial institutions with populist gimmicks, and victimized opposition. The husband of his ‘political sister’, now, remained in Jail during his rule. Sharifs effectively undermined the freedom of press and independence of judiciary. To the shame of nation, they masterminded and executed a successful physical assault of the highest court of Pakistan. Encouraged by getting the superior judiciary humiliated, apparently subordinated army, and docile presidency, Nawaz Sharif did attempt to become ‘Ameer-ul-Momineen’ through abortive fifteenth amendment to the constitution.

All this is now a dark and sad part of our checkered history but probably not the part of our collective memory. Therefore now we are told day after day that Sharifs are getting increasingly impatient to ‘serve’ us again. The impressions created by the current media hype on possibility of Sharifs’ come back portray an amusing picture. A section of media wants us to believe that all the ills of polity and democracy are caused by ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ exile of ‘genuine leaders of people’. These ailments will be cured the moment Sharifs and Ms. Bhutto land on the soil of Pakistan. No one seems ready to recall the state of affairs during their rule. As if all were milk and honey when they had been in the helm of affairs. Of course nothing can be farther from truth than these rosy assumptions.

Sharifs are neither a revolutionary stuff like Imam Khomeini nor democrats. They can play any card to get in power corridors, however. From commercialization of politics (through bribes and horse-trading) to Punjabism and Islamism, they have used every thing that served their political interests. They had been discredited much before they lost power largely due to their own follies. The only thing goes to their credit is that people are short on memory. So they can expect a hero’s welcome if and when they are back home. We are ready to give them a free ride once again, this time in the name of democracy and grand reconciliation.

Still the misdeeds of anyone do not disqualify him or her from having a fair treatment under the law of the land. The principle of rule of law demands equal treatment for any one irrespective of his or her status. Islam also strictly stands for the same. In this regard the very deal under which the Sharifs were allowed to leave was (favorably) discriminatory unconstitutional and illegal. No common man charged with terrorist acts like hijacking, and also convicted by a court, can be awarded with such a ‘punishment’ of safe exit to foreign country. No Sharifs-sympathizer then questioned this violation of law of land. Rather it was then interpreted as sign of divine blessing that Sharifs were ‘called’ into the Holy Land.

But now in the changed circumstances Sharifs seemingly want to test the political waters. The current media frenzy will not go along for to far. If Mr. Shahbaz Sharif finally decides to come back, he will have to face some hard realities on ground. It is naïve to believe that he can break into power corridors without reaching some ‘understanding’ with the military. If he comes to terms with army he will lose much of his populist appeal. Anyway, his return is not going to be an earth-shaking event. No revolution is in offing. }

Here's an excellent piece by Mohammed Hanif, a gifted writer who has worked as a reporter with Newsline, scripted a feature film, and heads the BBC Urdu Service – `My Benazir
Murder Fantasy'. The entire article is worth reading but this part jumped out at me:
"…Any sudden death can tinge one's memory and judgment but there are certain facts about her which are conveniently ignored. Even if all the allegations about her corruption and arrogance are true, one should keep in mind that she was active in politics for thirty years, out of which she was in power only for four and a half years. The rest of the time she struggled against two of the most well
entrenched military dictators in the region. The reason we don't see very many dossiers on the financial corruption during General Zia and General Musharraf's regimes is that when Bhutto was in power the intelligence agencies went into over drive documenting or sometimes inventing her misdemeanours. When the generals or their cronies are
in power all the intelligence leaks just dry up…"
Full text at: http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=1012.
Also see Editor The Nation, Arif Nizami's piece on the ground realities that have drastically changed in recent months, and Benazir's will that Zardari's opponents have been insisting is forged - "Need for a breather: Benazir Bhutto's will is genuine", The Nation, Thursday, 17 Jan 2008 - http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jan-2008/17/index1.php
Nizami has a credible reputation and there is further significance in the fact that this article was published in a paper from an ideologically driven (right-wing) media group that has traditionall supported the 'establishment'.

Ms. Beena, and I quote
"Is Bilawal about to run the country? Aren’t there other more important issues at hand than who heads the PPP? "

Important issues PPP is supposedly the largest political party in Pakistan and you have the audacity to say there are more important issues... It's the captain of a ship that steers the course not the other way round...

A 19 year old as the head of a political party of a nation as volatile as Pakistan!!!!!! It's not the middle ages or for that matter we are not having Mohammad Bin Qasim reincarnation.... so please stick to facts and not emotional rhetoric...

Believe you me I am also saddend by Ms. Bhutto's death but that does not excuse the fact that there a 140 million people's life at stake...

So get down from your high horse and see the reality...

M/s Beena :-- What you are saying is right but the great tragedy and irony is that the USA has consistently supported the " Dirty Tricks Brigade" . Another great tragedy is that another " Dirty Tricks Brigade" assasinated the great Murtaza Bhutto.

The second fact is that the political forces of Pakistan have consistently failed to launch an armed insurrection or a revolution to remove the tinpot Paki generals who usurped power.

Below is an article I wrote and was published in NATION,Lahore in December 2003.

29 DEC 2003

NATION


WHY PAKISTAN DOES NOT NEED GENERALS

A.H Amin


While pessimism is not the right attitude , what can a country exploited for more than half its history by self styled field marshals , military usurpers , ex political agents and windbag spineless prime ministers kicked upwards by military intelligence agencies,have any other attitude than pessimism !

While the Khalsa was Sikh by religion and driven by an anti Muslim legacy , the supposed army of the post 1947 land of pure was created not to make defence housing authorities but to defend the country ! Not to assasinate constitutions but to draft a sound military strategy to defend the first major ideological state of modern Islamic world ! While the soldiers miserably failed in strategy in both 1965 and 1971 they did brilliantly well in usurping power and in conspiring against elected prime ministers , whether it was subverting the 1956 or 1973 constitution or launching a Quixotic military manouvre propelled by personal ambition , as was the case in Kargil !


For those sycophants who cite Pakistan's success in facing the Indian mobilisation of 2001-2 as a success of Musharrafs great so called strategic insight , one may safely state that Pakistan was saved because of the Nuclear programme initiated by Mr Bhutto and finalised by Nawaz Sharif rather than by any other conventional non nuclear deterrrent !

As far as Pakistan's raised so called international profile in international forums is concerned , all thanks go to the planners of the 9/11 attacks rather than any diplomatic insight on part of Musharraf or his team , since the same Musharraf before 9/11 was regarded as a liability in Western diplomatic eyes !


The so called cowardly assasination attempt on Musharraf is too complicated an affair and may have been planned by intelligence sleuths as an ulterior event in order to get more anti terrorism aid from USA and to further project Mushharraf as the West's blue eyed man in Pakistan !


As far as leadership producing institutions in Pakistan are concernede it is debatable to state that there are three institutions in the country that can produce leadership: The political class, the bureaucracy, and the armed forces. Firtsly the army did not produce first rate higher leadership and the 1965 and 1971 and even kargil wars were fought by motivated majors and colonels led by phenomenally barren generals! In 1965 Pakistan Army failed to achieve any breakthrough despite massive numerical and material superiority in Khem karan ! Chawinda ,Chamb etc were basically cases of unit level daring and confusion rather than cases of triumph of higher strategic leadership ! Indian historian gurcharan Singh admitted that only 25 Cavalry alone saved Pakistan in 1965 ! As far as the political class's potential to produce leadership is concerned the army and the bureaucracy never allowed this class to fully realise its potential thanks to repeated military interventions and bureaucratic Byzantine manoeuvres !

As far as feudal politics is concerned researches of various notable analysts like Hamza Alavi and qbal Ahmed prove that the military junta and the feudals were natural allies since 1947 and the same state persists to date !

Again it would be a fallacy to equate Musharraf with degaulle or Mustafa Kemal ! Degaulle did not usurp power but won elections ! Kemal won his laurels at gallipoli in battle and was acknowledged by Briti9sh official history as the man who changed the course of history ! On the other hand musharraf won his laurels in syndicate rooms of staff college and defence college and did not see action in both 1965 and 1971 war .


What is happening is that the Pakistani military junta aided by US experts and US citizens like Shaukat Aziz are agents of change implementing the new US grand strategic agenda of creating strategic meekness and docility in the Third worlds leadership and finally denuclearising [Pakistanh at some stage ! All that was created since 1947 may be very subtly reduced to insignificance if the Musharraf regime continues at its present pace ! A state manipulated by CIA ,FBI NSA and Pentagon and acting as USA 's tactical garbage collector in West Asia.

"FLOUR TESTS: Taking notice of sale of substandard flour in the market, the FFC has asked paramilitary forces to collect flour samples from their respective areas and send them to laboratories for quality tests."

The above is from Dawn of today. As the para military are surrendering to the jihadis, the pak govt has found an alternate job for them.

There is no free lunch for any one in pakistan. Surrender is no more an option for pak paramilitary, they have to collect samples.

Long live pakistan.