Military, Musharraf and Magic

i got the point......good article.....thought provoking.....above all.....long articles r a big hassle...u r precise yet thought provoking.....a merit worth praise......!!! c u

re:#71 by hari
Hari,
They used to say in old days ``all roads lead to Rome``. Now-a-days, it is popular to say: all terrorist trails lead to Pakistan. Did you read about the bombing in Bali. There are links to al-qaida and Pakistanis to that bombing. The tragedy is that Bali has a Hindu majority and has been a peaceful island for a long time. May be US will finally wake up to the fact that breeding ground for terrorism worlwide is in Pakistan and that is where the battle needs to be fought (and not in Iraq).
As you rightly said, woment will be the victims. Pak may slip into chaos just like Afghanistan did.
Sridhar

#65 Sridhar:

Frankly, the first order of the MMA in coming to power would be something like this:

1. women must wear burqa; they will even select a specific color. perhaps, the afghani blue type
2. women barred from education, jobs.
3. women barred from wearing make ups.
4. women to be accompanied by husband or relatives.
5.more women specific laws...

somehow, these nutcases are fixated about issues demeaning women.
I don`t know why.
They they will turn to this:
201. no interest to be paid. (say bye bye to FDI or any investment)
202, 203.....

say good bye to kashmir quest. no sane person in the western world would ever THINK of equating Kashmir cause with Pakistan anymore; with the recent bombing of Bali tourists, even liberal minded countries will stay away from Pakistan. Even China will be wary of dealing with MMA since NWFP and Balochistan ruled by MMA majority is cutting close to their muslim province.

God help!

Good piece Saima,

We often tend to complicate things more than they need to be and such is the case in Pakistan. Conspiracy theorists are abound in our great land along with pundits and tale weavers. Pakistan truly is a magical place even if for all the wrong reasons.

As one friend of mine pointed out during a heated debate on the pending American action against Iraq: ``If other countries are so passionate about not taking Iraq to war, why are they so muted in their response to the American agenda`` - its very easy to critique from outside, but near impossbile to take a positive stand, commend the good, fix the bad and move on to the next issue.

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Here is a letter from a true pakistani and his idea of what those on chowk are engaged in.



Advice from abroad



Not a single day passes when a letter does not appear in these columns written by an `intellectual` of Pakistani origin now residing in the United States or Canada. These former Pakistanis are hell bent on giving us their valued opinion on all the problems faced by this poor country and its beleaguered population.

Whether it is the blasphemy laws, transport problems or the miserable state of education and health, they have an opinion and a solution for everything.

One may ask them that if they have so much love and concern for Pakistan and its people, then why did they choose to abandon it? Living in a foreign land as second class citizens seems to have somehow galvanized their brains and they are dying to put everything right in this country.

My humble request to them is that sitting thousands of miles away and merely giving sermons from there is not helpful.

I would suggest that they give up their petrol pumps, laundries, corner shops and mini-cab services and come back to Pakistan to bring a real change in this country.

DR SHAHAB JAVID

Karachi

America`s welcome mat with out paki t-shirt



I had the honour of experiencing the new welcome mat offered to Muslims (and the citizens of the `axis of evil` countries) arriving in the United States. This mat has been hand-tailored by Mr Ashcroft to protect US citizens and demean people who are not.

The point is when we got the `are you with us, or against us?` speech; we said `with you`, yet our citizens are being treated like we are enemies of the United States. Why is it that we, who are called `one of America`s closest allies in the war against terror` are being treated like common criminals?

The US government keeps saying that the new policy was created to protect all parties and that it is not a racist policy. I have to say that I, a Pakistani citizen living in New York, recently got the humiliating `follow me sir`. I was finger-printed, photographed, and questioned as if I had committed some horrible crime. This process took two hours, causing me to miss my flight and be stuck in Canada for another day. I was specifically told that the Immigration Department had nothing to offer in the form of reimbursement for the extra night I had to stay in a hotel, the potential income lost because of meetings I missed the next day, and the embarrassment caused to my clients who I was flying with.

I pay my American taxes and I have saved an American life (a stranger`s nonetheless, and almost lost my own in the process), and yet I was made to feel like I am a Taliban foot soldier. I was visited by the Department of Justice and New York Police Department men at home, only to be asked if I was a terrorist.

If Pakistani citizens are being treated like this by the US, why haven`t we lodged a more formal and resentful complaint? We need to be proactive on this issue.

The Saudis have announced that they will subject all Americans to the same process of being photographed and finger-printed upon entry into the kingdom.

I suggest we follow suit, as should all other countries unfairly targeted by an administration that failed to protect its own civilians and is now punishing innocent foreigners for their lack of action before 9/11.

AMMAR HAMDANI

New York, USA

re: MMA is going to be trouble for Mushy boy!
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002101304070100.htm
From The Hindu:
Excerpts:
``The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a conglomerate of six Pakistan religious parties, has fired a salvo against the Musharraf Government by asserting that it would not allow U.S. troops to use Pakistani soil.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami and one of the top leaders of the MMA, told supporters who had gathered to celebrate the MMA`s victory in the election, that the alliance would work to achieve its goal of ensuring that the U.S. vacated its military bases in Pakistan.``
It is already happening as i had predicted. By allowing these elements to contest, Mushy has tried to institutionalise extremism. He may have done this to keep reminding Uncle Sam that he is the best bet still. But the policy is going to backfire.
Sridhar

A word or two about the fairness of the polls:
EU criticises Pakistan poll `flaws`
``International observers from the European Union say Pakistan`s general election was seriously flawed by official interference in favour of parties supporting President Pervez Musharraf. ``
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2322745.stm
These `flaws` were no accident. They were a necessity to increase Musharraf`s relevance to the Americans (by negating the relevance of NS/BB, and by magnifying the threat posed by the fundamentalists). In the future lies a conflict between the military regime (that will still have to comply with American wishes) and the Islamists who will not compromise with Musharraf. In the process, the regime is simply saying to the middle class Pakistanis -- to hell with you.

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Since we are talking about pakistani elections here - how come no paki has so far commented about the highly successful, free and fair elections in Kashmir. After all - we used to hear that Kashmir runs in every paki`s blood. Kashmiris have finally delivered a swift kick in the face of Paki Jihadis and have chosen democracy and peace over discredited ideologies of Pakis. May be that is what have made them shut up.

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Chowk`s chief correspondent hamidm -- your #55 coverage of Musharraf`s 10/10 Election -- beats everybody`s -- thanks for the insiders view.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2322745.stm

International observers from the European Union say Pakistan`s general election was seriously flawed.

re: Elections in Pak versus elections in Jammu and Kashmir (India)
I see a new confidence in Kashmiris following the defeat of NC, particularly the legacy of the Abdullah clan. People have not seen anything like this happen in many decades. May be, just may be, things are turning around and Kashmiris have a real hope for peace. Following is Mehbooba Mufti`s (daughter of erstwhile congress politician from Kashmir) interview:
Mehbooba Mufti`s interview on Aaj Tak
http://images.thenewspapertoday.com/videos/aajtak/mehbooba_56.ram
I am impressed by her quick wit and pleasing demeanour.
While good things are happening in Kashmir, our Mushy boy in Pak is not looking good at the moment. A pseudo-democracy in Pak now has hardliners from NWFP. How will US react? What happens if these hardliners want US troops to leave Pak? Will Mushy then reassert himself by dismissing an elected govt? Interesting times!
Sridhar