Conspiracy Theories and Hate Mongering Tariq,

ZH only asks you to read Iqbal and know your history so you may shovel away the psychological rubbish that your neighbor is pouring on your mind through its controlled media and movies.

His audience is educated, urban men and women from the middle class. He has never incited violence in any of his lectures.

People have every right (indeed a duty) to examine 9/11, holocaust, Mumbai and other recent incidents because of their historical significance and political fallout.

Stop living in darkness...Contribute to a healthy debate instead of hurling accusations and insults.

Who Killed Hakeem Muhammad Saeed? Khalid Khawaja is probably right about Nawaz meeting OBL. But this meeting had more to do with the business of politics, than ideology.

Nawaz Sharif may be a conservative Muslim, but he is not an ideological man. He is a business man... and conducts politics like business.

Nawaz "loved" Jehad because the billionaire OBL loved Jehad. If OBL was a Pink Floyd fan, Nawaz would probably tell him "Dark Side of the Moon" was his favorite album.

But Nawaz is no murderer, extortionist or gang leader. This honor belongs solely to Altaf.

Who Killed Hakeem Muhammad Saeed? The author is obviously trying to reinvent history and whitewash MQM's role by pointing fingers at Nawaz. Hakim Saeed was murdered because he refused to give "bhatta" (extortion money) to MQM.

MQM is a basically a glorified "Dawood company" which believes in Mohajir-particularism with zero tolerance for dissent. While most parties raise their funds through contributions from party members, this criminal outfit raises its funds through kidnapping for ransom, extortion, sale of animal hides after Eidul Azha and dealings in underground car and mobile phone markets.

Nawaz Sharif already enjoyed 75% majority in National Assembly. In the Senate elections due in March 2000, his party would have easily won a majority. He could then control both houses of parliament and pass any Shariah laws. He did not need Altaf for passing Shariah bill.

The Jang group had disclosed some details of Nawaz corruption in 1998. But even this disclosure did not hurt Nawaz. His popularity in 1999 was even more than what it was the year before... which is why he felt confident to invite Vajpayee for bus journey to Lahore.

What harm could Hakim Saeed's (so-called) disclosure do to Nawaz when Jang Group's disclosures had failed?

Can one man's statements do more harm than the news stories published in Pakistan's most widely read newspaper??

The truth is Hakim Saeed never planned to malign Nawaz in the first place. The author is manufacturing "facts" in a vain attempt to portray MQM as a normal political party...

I am sure next the author will also claim that the violence in Karachi on May 12th was hatched by Nawaz... or that it was Chaudhry Nisar (and not Mustafa Kamal) who helped kill Azeem Tariq !

NRO Is Just a Name Today the man standing in the way of clean, better governance is neither a Fauji nor Punjabi. He virtually faces no formidable opposition. All his former foes are now pliable allies. Army has quietly withdrawn from the scene.

Only his own greed and deceitfulness stand in his way.

NRO Is Just a Name i agree corruption has been our malaise... which is why i disagree with the author's ethnic angle. lets break the vicious circle now... otherwise 3 yrs from now, we will be watching Nawaz or Shahbaz as PM making the same inaugral speech they were making 10 yrs ago... "Aziz humwatanon, pichli hakoomat nay iss mulk ko loot kar deewalaya kar diya. Muslim League phir se taraqqi ka safar shuroo karey gi..."

Lets get rid of NRO now.
Does the PPP really want this issue to stay around for another 3 yrs?

NRO Is Just a Name AZ mole diesel.. just curious, how many billions do you think he will ever bring back to sindh, balochistan or NWFP?

NRO Is Just a Name re: Agha Amin wrote:

"NRO game is basically to make Pakistani a Punjabi dominated state"

Do you mean to say NRO actually helps Sindhis, Pashtuns, Balochis and Urdu-speaking citizens of Pakistan?

Some of the biggest NRO fish (in dollar amounts) are actually Punjabis (Ahmed Mukhtar, Wattoo, Pervez Ashraf, Rehman Malik). Prosecuting these Punjabi chors is in the interest of smaller provinces.

But lets assume all NRO beneficiaries were Sindhis, Pashtuns and Balochis.... How much of their looted wealth was reinvested in their provinces? I suspect most of their loot money is stashed in US, Europe or Dubai.

An Open Letter to Mian Nawaz Sharif re: #37

Sharifs blundered by going to Saudi Arabia in 2000... they faced criticism in media and lost heavily in 2002 elections. But they have turned a chapter since then... they shook hands with Benazir, signed COD... joined lawyers movement and have taken a principled pro-Democracy, pro-judiciary, nationalist stance. This is why they came back so strongly in 2007 elections.. are probably going to sweep the next one.

Moral of the story: Criticism is not a bad thing. And only stupid people don't change their minds.

Altaf can learn a lesson or two from the Sharifs and expand his political clout by aligning his politics with rest of Pakistan.

An Open Letter to Mian Nawaz Sharif Ali Chishti,

If you are so confident of Nawaz's involvement in Midnight Jackal and 1992 Operation (based on the highly dubious statements of Brig.Imtiaz)... then why are you writing open letters to Nawaz Sharif? Why don't you draft a petition and send it to Lahore High Court seeking disqualification and imprisonment of Nawaz Sharif?

Let the courts decide who is a traitor and who is not.

Nawaz is ready to face courts. He appeared in court even when he was Prime Minister, an unprecedented event in Pakistan's history.

Altaf Hussain should learn a lesson from Nawaz in leadership and prove that he respects laws and institutions. That is the only way he can win legitimacy and respect from the non-Urdu speaking majority of Pakistan.

How To Improve ISI\'s Image Let's also include India's RAW and Israel's MOSSAD in this discussion. I am sure if ISI can benefit from some constructive criticism, then RAW and MOSSAD shall also be able to improve their image, especially amongst Kashmiris, Palestinians and rest of the Muslim world.

The New Face of the Pakistani Discourse on Balochistan re: #41

Would any zamindar sacrifice his land in Punjab and Sindh?

This already happened in 1960s and 70s, especially in Punjab. Land reforms, education and development projects have uprooted feudalism from most parts of Punjab.

Separatist sentiment is strong only in those areas of Sind and Balochistan where feudalism is strong. This is not a coincidence.

The New Face of the Pakistani Discourse on Balochistan re: #41

160 years after Pottinger wrote that diary, there was a certain Ghous Bux "Bizunja" who led a separatist campaign in Balochistan. Now his son has accepted Pakistan and is campaigning for greater rights and development. Unlike the Mengals, Marris and Bugtis, the Bizenjos have never been in power... which is why they enjoy greater credibility with not just the Balochis, but also the Pashtu speaking people of Balochistan.

The New Face of the Pakistani Discourse on Balochistan re: #41

" Pl remember that ISI has put many ppl on EC lists just because they happened to be the family members of some active politicians"

Correction: ISI does not control the EC list. This list is issued by the federal govt. Popular politicians usually prefer to stay in their country (even if that means going to jail), instead of taking refuge in foreign capitols.

The New Face of the Pakistani Discourse on Balochistan re: #41
He's dismissed & Islamabad was so clever to use that one sardar against the other.

President's Rule is a constitutional measure... It has been numerous times in India (in Kerala, in Bihar, etc) The very fact other sardars didnt support Mengal establishes that this was a power struggle, not a separatist movement.

The New Face of the Pakistani Discourse on Balochistan re: #41
"It's widespread and spread all over the province"

Separatism is acute only in tribal areas controlled by Marris, Bugtis and Mengals. This constitutes less than 20% of Balochistan.

The New Face of the Pakistani Discourse on Balochistan re: #37
The nature of resistance in 48, 70s is that it's a guerilla war. Now it's a mass, grassroots movement

Mengal tribe took up arms in 70s when their sardar lost power. The same sardar had accepted 1972 constitution so obviously he didnt have any issues with being Pakistani. When he lost power, he tried to stoke Baloch nationalism in order to regain power... but failed because other Balochis saw through the game. This was not a Baloch insurgency.

It was again loss of power that sparked the so-called resistance in 1999. Humayun Marri, Akhtar Mengal and Akbar Bugti enjoyed power in most of 90s. They didnt care about Baloch nationalism as long as they were given a free hand in perpetuating their personal fiefdom over their tribes and the entire province.

Even today, the Hasil Bizenjo's National Party represents Balochis better than all the Bugtis, Marris and Mengals combined. And National Party is not a separatist party. It is a middle class party that truly wants to change the socio-economic conditions of Balochistan... If Mengal/Marri/Bugti are indeed natioanlists, why can't they form an alliance with National Party? Why do they have to threaten Bizenjo and Abdul Hayee Baloch? Why can't they sacrifice their sardari system for the sake of greater good of their own people? Why don't they lead the struggle on the streets, instead of planning abductions from London, Kabul and New Delhi?

Facts like these are bitter pills to swallow for those unaccustomed to the new age of open media and 24x7 news coverage. Disinformation campaigns won't fly any more.