[ The Critique Aggregator ]

Enjoy a new set of American puppets in Pakistan.

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:43:00 +0000

This video shows how American Government deceives its own people. If this is the case, why would the American government not support Musharraf?

Musharraf cornered, politicians unclear

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:31:00 +0000

We are back! The whole group was in Pakistan for some time. We will publish our observations here soon.

Nobody knows what Musharraf will do and how politicians will try to get the unfairly dismissed judges restored. Pakistan is as predictable a country as it was 60 years ago. Fasten your seat belts and hold on.

The Price of Votes

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:16:00 +0000

A resident of Gulberg, Lahore (Pakistan) has reported that in Gulberg area the postmen are going around giving Rs. 1500 per house on behalf of the ruling party. In return they ask for a copy of N.I.C as verification that they have paid the money.

Question 1. They couldn't do pre-poll rigging more shamelessly. But Who is funding this ? Does it belong to the ruling party or is it some proportion of the taxes that we have paid (i.e. the government money?

Question 2 . what are they going to do with photocopies of N.I.C?

This is perhaps the most clear case of vote rigging and it should be highlighted in the press and to the election commission.

The Bhutto Dynasty Must End Now

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:06:00 +0000

Courtesy: Foreign Policy In Focus.

What becomes ever more clear in the aftermath of the tragic killing of Benazir Bhutto is that there is little if any internal democratic structure left in the Pakistan People’s Party, the one political party in Pakistan which was built on a populist grassroots foundation by Bhutto’s father in the late 60s.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was an intellectual who brought Western-style electioneering to Pakistan, campaigning up and down the country, holding political rallies in small villages and towns. But it was not all just fiery oratory and sloganeering (“Roti, kapra, aur Makan!”--Bread, clothing, and shelter!); there was a well-structured platform for poverty reduction, education, medical care, housing. And while campaigning, Bhutto also laid out his vision for an independent non-aligned foreign policy for Pakistan in his 1969 book The Myth of Independence. Though somewhat autocratic and manipulative, Bhutto showed himself as president and then prime minister from 1971-1977 to be the most effective civilian leader in Pakistan’s history.

Living up to his campaign promises, he changed labor policy to strengthen trade unions and increase workers’ rights. Despite severe opposition from powerful feudal landlords (of whom he himself was one), he managed to push through limits on land ownership. A proper constitution was adopted by the parliament under his leadership. He negotiated important treaties with India and China, particularly strengthening Sino-Pak relations and industrial cooperation. And he stepped up Pakistan’s nuclear program, foreseeing Pakistan’s need to counter a nuclear threat from India. But most importantly, by basing the foundation of his party on the poor and the illiterate, on farmers and peasants and laborers and the youth, he gave these groups not only a voice, but a dignity and hope they had never enjoyed.

Though it must be admitted that not everything he did turned out well--his nationalization of large parts of Pakistan’s industry resulted in a severe slowdown of the economy in the 70s--his was overall a record of remarkable efficacy. Despite her personal bravery and fortitude in the face of imprisonment and exile, Benazir Bhutto’s two eventual stints as Prime Minister were marked by a completely opposite inefficacy. No significant legislation was passed. No reforms were enacted. Political action was replaced by a weak and empty rhetoric, and the energies of the party her father had started were squandered on desperate efforts to stay in power. The prime minister’s office was weakened to the point that when Benazir Bhutto asked to be given a tour of Pakistan’s nuclear facilities, the army brass simply refused. The army did not even consult with her when implementing its ruinous policy of support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Disastrous political compromises were made and the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party was purged of intellectuals and filled instead with feudal landowning thugs who had to be appeased in exchange for their support. And all the while, the Prime Minister’s husband was raiding the treasury, eventually being indicted for his crimes in at least four countries.

Despite all this, Benazir Bhutto would probably have won the upcoming elections, because the desperate people of Pakistan were willing to give her one more chance, a measure of how severely limited their choices are. She seemed even to have distanced herself from her disgraced husband. And she was bravely opposing the Jihadi forces of Islamic extremism, by far the greatest present threat to the security and integrity of the nation. People thought that with a team of the moderate Musharraf as President and the equally anti-fundamentalist Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister, there was a chance that law and order could be restored to the country. Those hopes are now dashed. (Suggestions that Musharraf was behind her killing are ludicrous. Musharraf needed Benazir Bhutto desperately to give his own regime legitimacy and stability, and is now in a much shakier situation than when she was alive.)

And now, in a final, tragic, coup de grace for democracy in Pakistan, it has been announced that Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto will eventually become chairman-for-life of the PPP, and worse, while we wait for him to grow up, the party will be co-chaired by Asif Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s corrupt playboy husband who still faces charges in several countries. What hope can there be for democracy in the country when its largest, most populist political party completely lacks even a semblance of internal democracy, choosing instead a cult of personality in its abhorrent, dynastic succession? This foul decision cannot--it must not--stand.

S. Abbas Raza is the founding editor of 3quarksdaily.com and is a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

Daughters of Asma Jehangir assaulted and threatened by gunmen of the ruling party

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:51:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-002-2008
January 2, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: Daughters of Asma Jehangir assaulted and threatened by gunmen of the ruling party

The two daughters of Ms. Asma Jehangir, a well known lawyer, human rights activist and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of religion or belief, were assaulted and illegally held for several hours along with their friends by armed persons of the Pakistan Muslim League Q (PML-Q); they were beaten severely and threatened to be killed. One of the girls was pushed into a room and this was only prevented due to the intervention of their mother. Ms. Asma. Ms. Asma herself was also threatened by the gunmen who used very filthy language against her. When police were called to the scene they took the side of the gunmen who claimed to be police officers. However, only two out of this group were policemen and the 20 other gunmen belonged to the PML-Q.

This incident happened at 1.30am when Ms. Muneeza Jehangir, Asma's eldest daughter along with her younger sister Ms. Sulema Jehangir and other friends, were making a video clip for her television channel, the Geo TV. She was filming the ripped posters and banners of the political parties in Lahore city, Punjab province, after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former premier who was killed on December 27.

When they were filming the torn posters of the ruling party, which contained photographs of President Musharraf and other party leaders, some armed men arrived and held the two sisters and their companions at gun point. They were then ordered to follow the gunmen and when they resisted the gunmen beat them in public and dragged them to the PML-Q main election office of the province. At the office they were once again beaten and the men trained their guns on them. Someone then told the gunmen that the girls were the daughters of Asma Jehangir. The leader revealed that he was aware of their identities and then four of the gunmen started dragging the youngest one into a small room.

When she heard about this incident Ms. Asma Jehangir reached the party office but was refused entry as they physically restrained her and threatened her with their guns. Fortunately she managed to climb the iron gate of the party office and she saw that her eldest daughter and her friends were detained by more than ten armed persons and her youngest daughter was being carried by some other persons to a separate room. She immediately informed the Ghalib police station who reached the scene after some time. The police took the side of the armed men and pressurized the parents of the friends of her daughters to hand over the video tape which they did. The police then threatened the parents that they should not report this incident otherwise the girls would be kidnapped, raped and killed. The police also pressured the parents to stop Ms. Asma Jehangir from making this incident know and claimed that she would bear the responsibility for whatever might happen in the future.

The Asian Human Rights condemns this incident of kidnapping, the illegal holding and threats of violence against the daughters of Ms. Asma Jehangir by the armed elements of the PML-Q. This incident is an attempt to harass human rights activists and their family members for speaking out against the military regime.

The AHRC condemns this attack and calls upon the government of Pakistan to conduct an inquiry into this matter and to arrest the culprits. However, at the same time the AHRC is quite skeptical as to whether any inquiry will be made into this matter unless there is pressure from the civil rights movement in the country and the international community. In the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto it is quite likely that the military regime and the ruling party will attempt to silence the human rights and democratic activists. As the judges who defied the imposition of the state of emergency have been virtually dismissed from their posts there is little to be expected from the present judiciary of Pakistan by way of protection to citizens against acts of the regime and the ruling party. The AHRC calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to cause an inquiry into this incident and to take other appropriate action.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Try to Have a Happy New Year with Musharraf Still There

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:52:00 +0000

جنرل سید پرویز مشرف کے کارنامے

جنرل مشرف 28 نومبر 2007 کو فوج کی 44 سالہ نوکری کے بعد ریٹائر ہوئے اور اگلے دن انہوں نے سول صدر کی حيثیت سے حلف اٹھا لیا۔ صدر جنرل مشرف نو سال تک چیف آف سٹاف کے عہدے پر قائم رہے۔

1۔ جنرل مشرف جنرل ضیاء کے بعد سب سے زیادہ عرصہ چیف آف سٹاف کے عہدے پر قائم رہے اور بغیر مارشل لاء کے آٹھ سال تک فوجی حکومت قائم رکھی۔

2۔ وہ پہلے فوجی ہیں جنہوں نے برملا اپنی کتاب میں پاکستانیوں کو امریکہ کے ہاتھوں بیچ کرڈالر کمانے کا اعتراف کیا

3۔ جنرل مشرف نے اپنی آمریت کا آغاز سات نکاتی ایجینڈے سے کیا ان میں سے ایک کرپشن کا خاتمہ تھا۔ انہوں نے کرپشن ختم کرنے کی بجائے چن چن کرپٹ لوگ اپنی حکومت ميں شامل کرلیے۔

4۔ وہ پہلے آمر ہیں جنہوں نے ملک میں دوبار ایمرجنسی لگائی اور دوبار آئیں توڑا۔

5۔ وہ پہلے حکمران ہیں جنہوں نے ججوں سے دوبار پی سی او کے تحت حلف لیا۔

6۔ انہوں نے سترہویں ترمیم کی جادوگری سے پارلیمانی نظام کو صدارتی نظام میں بدل دیا۔

7۔ ان کی آمریت تلے اسلمبلیوں نے پہلی بار اپنی مدت پوری کی مگر اس دوران تین وزیراعظم بدلے گئے۔

8۔ انہوں نے پہلی دفعہ چیف جسٹس سپریم کورٹ کو دوبار معزول کیا۔

9۔ انہوں نے 2007 میں ایک ایسے شخص کو اٹارنی جنرل مقرر کیا جو بطور جج ہائی کورٹ ایک سکینڈل کے بعد برطرف ہوا اور پھر ان کا مقدمہ سپریم کورٹ میں بری طرح ہارا جس میں چیف جسٹس سپریم کورٹ کو بحال کیا گیا۔

10۔ انہوں نے دہشت گردی اور انتہا پسندی کو ختم کرنے کا نعرہ لگا کر آٹھ سال تک حکومت کی مگر پھر بھی وہ یہ بیماری ختم نہ کرسکے۔

11۔ ان کی حکومت نے پاکستان کی تاریخ میں پہلی دفعہ کسی مسجد پر فوجی حملہ اس طرح کیا جیسے دشمن کیخلاف جنگ لڑ رہے ہوں۔

12۔ بقول تجزیہ نگار عائشہ صدیقہ جنرل مشرف نے فوج کے ادارے کو پاکستانیوں کے درمیان بٹھا دیا اور اس کو سیاسی، سماجی اور معاشي مفادات سے وابستہ کردیا۔

13۔ بقول ایئرمارشل ریٹائرڈ نورخان، ان سے زیادہ غیرمعروف لیڈر قوم نے نہیں دیکھا۔ ان کے دور میں فوج جتنی بدنام ہوئی پہلے کبھی نہیں ہوئی۔

14۔ جنرل مشرف نے پاکستان کی تاریخ میں پہلی بار وردی اتارنے کے وعدے کی دوبار وعدہ خلافی کی۔

15۔ جنرل مشرف نے اس معاشی ترقی کا کریڈٹ لینے کی کوشش کی جو ۹۱۱ کی مرہون منت تھی۔

16۔ جنرل مشرف نے کامیاب سیاست کرتے ہوئے پہلے پی پی پی کے ارکان اسمبلی توڑ کر مسلم لیگ ق کی حکومت بنوائی اور پھر فضل الرحمان کو حزب اختلاف کا لیڈر بنا کر اور اسے سرحد میں حکومت سازی اور بلوچستان میں حکومت میں شرکت سے اس کے ذریعے سترہویں ترمیم پاس کروائی۔

17۔ جنرل مشرف نے جس بے ضرر میڈیا کی آزادی کا ڈھنڈورا پیٹا جب وہ ان کیخلاف بولنے لگا تو اس کی زبان بند کردی۔

18۔ جنرل مشرف کے دور میں اسلام آباد میں قحبہ خانے، مساج پارلر اور کلب کھولے گئے۔

19۔ جنرل مشرف کے دور میں لوگوں کو اسلام آباد میں فارم ہاؤس کی شکل میں اربوں کی زمین کوڑیوں کے بھاؤ بیچ دی گئی۔ جنرل مشرف نے خود بھی اپنا ایک فارم ہاؤس بنوایا۔

20۔ جنرل مشرف کے دور میں سب سے زیادہ پاکستانی غائب کردیے گئے۔

21۔ جنرل مشرف نے کراچی کے فسادات کو طاقت کا مظاہرہ قرار دیا۔

22۔ جنرل مشرف نے صدارت کا عہدہ رکھنے کے باوجود تاریخ میں پہلی بار بطور چیف آف سٹاف ملک میں ایمرجنسی لگائی اور پھر بعد میں ایمرجنسی اٹھانے کا اختیار صدر کو منتقل کردیا کیونکہ وہ فوج سے ریٹائر ہو کر بطور سویلین صدر بننے جارہے تھے۔

23۔ صدر مشرف بینظیر اور نواز شریف کو کرپٹ کہ کر پاکستان واپس نہ آنے کی رٹ لگاتے رہے لیکن آخرمیں انہیں واپس آنے کی اجازت دے کر اپنے ایک اور عہد کو توڑا۔

24۔ جنرل مشرف کشکول توڑنے کا جھوٹ تواتر سے بولتے رہے کیونکہ ان کے دور میں پاکستان پر قرضوں کا بوجھ بڑھتا ہی گیا کم نہیں ہوا۔

25۔ جنرل مشرف پہلے سربراہ ہیں جنہوں نے اپنے غیرملکی آقاؤں کے کہنے پر پاکستان کے نصاب تعلیم کو مکمل بدل کر رکھ دیا۔

26۔ ان کے دور میں پاکستان میں بہت سارے پرائیویٹ کالجز اور یونیورسٹیاں کھلیں مگر تعلیم تک رسائی عام آدمی کی نہ ہوسکی۔ اوسط کے حساب سے تعلیم اور صحت پر بجٹ کا سب سے کم حصہ مختص کیا گیا مگرٹوٹل رقم کی بنیاد پر وہ تعلیم کی ترقی کا کریڈٹ لینے کی کوشش کرتےرہے۔

27۔ ان کے وزیرتعلیم پاکستان کے پہلے وزیر تعلیم تھے جن کو قرآن کے سپاروں کی تعداد کا علم نہیں تھا اور جو تیس کی بجائے چالیس سپارے سمجھتے رہے۔

28۔ ان کی حکومت میں امیروں نے سٹاک مارکیٹ اور پراپرٹی کے کاروبار سے خوب منافع کمایا مگر دوسری طرف غریبوں کی تعداد میں اضافہ ہی ہوا کمی نہیں۔

29۔ ان کے دور میں پہلی بار بلوچستان، شمالی علاقہ جات بشمول سوات میں اتنے طویل عرصے تک فوجی کاروائی جاری رہی بلکہ اب بھی جاری ہے۔

30۔ جنرل مشرف کے دور میں پہلی بار غیرملکی افواج نے پاکستانی سرزمین پر بم برسا کر پاکستانیوں کو شہید کیا اور بعد میں انہوں نے سارا الزام اپنے سرلے لیا۔

31۔ جنرل مشرف کے دور میں سب سے زیادہ صحافی قتل ہوئے۔

32۔مشرف صاحب نے پہلی دفعہ فوج کی بحیثیت ادارہ عزت و احترام کو ایک عام اور محب وطن پاکستانیوں کی نظر میں کوڑیوں کا کر دیا ہے ۔۔ اور اب ایک عام رائے یہ ہے کہ یہ فوج سوائے اپنا ملک فتح کرنے اور منافع کمانے کے کچھ اور نہیں کرسکتی۔۔

33۔انہوں نے سترہویں ترمیم کی جادوگری سے پارلیمانی نظام کو صدارتی نظام میں بدل دیا۔

34۔ان کی حکومت نے پاکستان کی تاریخ میں پہلی دفعہ کسی مسجد پر فوجی حملہ اس طرح کیا جیسے دشمن کیخلاف جنگ لڑ رہے ہوں۔

35۔جنرل مشرف نے پاکستان کی تاریخ میں پہلی بار وردی اتارنے کے وعدے کی دوبار وعدہ خلافی کی۔

36۔۔ جنرل مشرف نے کامیاب سیاست کرتے ہوئے پہلے پی پی پی کے ارکان اسمبلی توڑ کر مسلم لیگ ق کی حکومت بنوائی اور پھر فضل الرحمان کو حزب اختلاف کا لیڈر بنا کر اور اسے سرحد میں حکومت سازی اور بلوچستان میں حکومت میں شرکت سے اس کے ذریعے سترہویں ترمیم پاس کروائی۔

37۔جنرل مشرف نے جس بے ضرر میڈیا کی آزادی کا ڈھنڈورا پیٹا جب وہ ان کیخلاف بولنے لگا تو اس کی زبان بند کردی۔

38۔جنرل مشرف پہلے سربراہ ہیں جنہوں نے اپنے غیرملکی آقاؤں کے کہنے پر پاکستان کے نصاب تعلیم کو مکمل بدل کر رکھ دیا،

Present Tense, Future Imperfect

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 01:59:00 +0000

Pakistan’s Future Is Extremely Uncertain

December 28, 2007 By Amitabh Pal

Courtesy: The Progressive Magazine

Whither Pakistan?

This question has been asked many times since the country’s birth sixty years ago: at the time of the first military coup in 1958, after the 1971 split-up of the nation into current-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, and during the 1977 takeover by the vile General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, who hanged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir’s father. Now the assassination of Benazir places a further question mark on the future of the nation.

At the very least, the Pakistani security agencies have proven to be thoroughly incompetent. That an assassin was able to come close enough to Benazir to first shoot her and then blow himself up is by itself appalling enough.

But there may be more to the story. Were elements of Pakistan’s gargantuan intelligence apparatus, the ISI, involved? Did General Pervez Musharraf himself have prior knowledge of the plot? Here, I’m getting into the realm of conjecture. (I don’t know how seriously to take reports that Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility, since the organization also asserted a few years ago that it caused the massive power outage in parts of the United States and Canada.)

Enough members of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party believe in the government’s involvement for there to be extensive anti-government rioting. And on PBS’s “NewsHour,” a Bhutto confidant and adviser, Mark Siegel, revealed that Benazir had sent him an e-mail stating that Musharraf should be personally held responsible if she were killed. Here’s the exchange that Siegel had with the NewsHour’s Margaret Warner:

WARNER: And, Mark Siegel, when—just before she returned, she sent a letter to Musharraf naming three people she said were a threat to her. And they were all people tied to the government.

SIEGEL: Yes.

WARNER: But she sent you a follow-up e-mail. And I would just like to read the first two lines to you and to our viewers: "Mark, nothing will, God willing, happen. Just wanted you to know that if it does, in addition to the names in my letter to Musharraf of October 16, I would hold Musharraf responsible."

Did—did she really think that?

SIEGEL: She did, and she had reason to believe that was the case. She had asked for security for October 18 and 19. It was denied to her. The only protection she had on those days were from the PPP workers that surrounded her. She also asked that there be a thorough investigation. There was not. There was not. And there still has not been. And she continued to ask for security arrangements that were continually denied. She did believe that, ultimately, these things could not be happening if it wasn't for Musharraf directly.

And, amazingly, the Bush Administration blithely continues to support Musharraf’s regime! In fact, the first reaction that President Bush had to Bhutto’s assassination was that the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8 should go forward as a tribute to her. This is in spite of the tiny detail that Musharraf’s regime, not exactly an impartial umpire, is presiding over the elections. And never mind that there is no judicial recourse in the case of a fraud due to all the independent-minded supreme court justices being under house arrest. (Even Bush, with all his shenanigans during the 2000 Florida recount, couldn’t get close to that one.) In fact, veteran Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid has speculated on Terry Gross’s “Fresh Air” that the election results will be tampered with electronically to give the pro-Musharraf party (derisively nicknamed the King’s Party in Pakistan) a clear margin of victory.

The very holding of the election now seems in doubt. The Pakistan People’s Party has no clear leader in the absence of Benazir (a result of her troubling attempts at total control over the organization). And the only other politician with a national following, ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has announced in the wake of Bhutto’s killing that his party is withdrawing from the contest.

If elements of Musharraf’s government had anything to do with Bhutto’s murder, it may have been due to the realization that the regime’s supporters were heading for a massive defeat in the election. In a poll earlier this month, an astonishing 67 percent of Pakistanis wanted Musharraf to immediately say goodbye. Fifty-eight percent of the population favored an alliance of Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. An almost equal number wanted the Pakistani army to have no role in civilian politics.

If these numbers forced the regime to scheme to get rid of Bhutto (or, at the very least, to let the plan go ahead), it has engaged in a colossal blunder. Anger at Musharraf has already caused widespread rioting and may cause the country to become pretty much ungovernable in the coming weeks and months. Will the army, under a new chief, continue to back Musharraf?

Also unraveling is the Bush Administration’s Pakistan policy. Washington has given as much as $20 billion (according to Center for Strategic and International Studies figures) to a regime that is headed by a self-aggrandizing bully intent on perpetuating his power. Bush’s notion of bringing about democracy in Pakistan has consisted of encouraging Musharraf and Bhutto (via Condi Rice’s late-night phone calls) to share power, a strategy that is obviously defunct now. Instead of nurturing civil institutions and mending Pakistan’s pathetic human and physical infrastructure, the Bush Administration has ladled out money to an institution that has gleefully taken the United States for a ride. (See a recent New York Times story on misuse of funds by the Pakistan military.ll)

The Bush Administration deserves its Pakistan policy to be in a mess, but the Pakistani people don’t merit this fate. Benazir Bhutto, for all her myriad faults, had broad support in Pakistan, and, in that sense, represented the country’s democratic aspirations. She was also extremely smart and, relatively speaking, secular. There’s no doubt that a huge void has been created by her departure. The country will need all the luck it can gather to get out of this one.

Pakistan is hell, designed in America.

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:32:00 +0000

A friend is stuck at home with his sick child because most of the medical stores are closed in his neighbourhood of Lahore. Another is not talking on the phone because he is afraid someone may be taping his conversation. Another thinks that by giving the Rangers the license to "shoot to kill," the government will unleash a new wave of fury by the supporters of PPP, who may be joined by "the wretched of the earth" because they are disillusioned and disenfranchised anyway.

Eventually, the fault lines between different ideological forces within Pakistan have erupted with volcanic anger.

Stock markets are tumbling. The value of the rupee has declined. The government is trying all its sources to do some damage control.

The Islamists of the Cold War era were financed by America.

The secularists and neo-liberals of the Musharraf regime are financed by America.

Pakistan is hell, designed in America.

Benazir Bhutto Killed

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:26:00 +0000

The forces of despotism have struck a serious blow to the electoral process by killing Benazir Bhutto today. One major player in Pakistani politics is out of the picture.

This is the beginning of Iraqization of Pakistan.

A Lot of News - Almost All Bad

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:18:00 +0000

First The New York Times reported here that the Pak Army had been "misusing" funds received from the USA. Then the Real Chief Justice stated Pakistan was passing through the darkest period of its history. And then, The Age, a major Australian newspaper, reported that the road to democracy in Pakistan may be a dead end.

On top of all that, A. Pakistani, one of our regular contributers, came up with an interesting but quite insightful way of looking at what the Musharraf regime has been doing lately. According to A. Pakistani, the real aim of the government was to actually imprison about 100 to 200 key resistant figures but it arrested more than 6000 people so that it could release 5900 or so after a week or two and give the impression of a "relenting" or "benign" or even a "vulnerable" regime. In his analysis, the same strategy was at work in the announcement that the emergency would be lifted on Dec. 16 and then it was lifted on Dec. 15. The government has not relented on any front and has not released any of the lawyers or judges but it is engineering a "soft" front. This is the same image-maintenance technique that Musharraf used in the early years of his coup against a civilian government. He was carefully hiring public relations firms to portray a "soft" image of his "enlightened" martial law.

We will have more of the same on every important front, it seems. Only nominal and simulated "retreat" and a lot of strategically important "captures" and "gains" by the Retired Commando and his strategists. A. Pakistani says we should look at the Real Chief Justice and other key lawyers as Prisoners of War -- the war against the people of Pakistan by its own "overfed on tax-rupees" army.

Aitzan Ahsan's Op-Ed Column in The New York Times

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:36:00 +0000

December 23, 2007

Op-Ed Contributor
Pakistan's Tyranny Continues
By AITZAZ AHSAN

Lahore, Pakistan

THE chief justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and his family have been detained in their house, barricaded in with barbed wire and surrounded by police officers in riot gear since Nov. 3. Phone lines have been cut and jammers have been installed all around the house to disable cellphones. And the United States doesn’t seem to care about any of that.

The chief justice is not the only person who has been detained. All of his colleagues who, having sworn to protect, uphold and defend the Constitution, refused to take a new oath prescribed by President Pervez Musharraf as chief of the army remain confined to their homes with their family members. The chief justice’s lawyers are also in detention, initially in such medieval conditions that two of them were hospitalized, one with renal failure.

As the chief justice’s lead counsel, I, too, was held without charge — first in solitary confinement for three weeks and subsequently under house arrest. Last Thursday morning, I was released to celebrate the Id holidays. But that evening, driving to Islamabad to say prayers at Faisal Mosque, my family and I were surrounded at a rest stop by policemen with guns cocked and I was dragged off and thrown into the back of a police van. After a long and harrowing drive along back roads, I was returned home and to house arrest.

Every day, thousands of lawyers and members of the civil society striving for a liberal and tolerant society in Pakistan demonstrate on the streets. They are bludgeoned by the regime’s brutal police and paramilitary units. Yet they come out again the next day.

People in the United States wonder why extremist militants in Pakistan are winning. What they should ask is why does President Musharraf have so little respect for civil society — and why does he essentially have the backing of American officials?

The White House and State Department briefings on Pakistan ignore the removal of the justices and all these detentions. Meanwhile, lawyers, bar associations and institutes of law around the world have taken note of this brave movement for due process and constitutionalism. They have displayed their solidarity for the lawyers of Pakistan. These include, in the United States alone, the American Bar Association, state and local bars stretching from New York and New Jersey to Louisiana, Ohio and California, and citadels of legal education like Harvard and Yale Law Schools.

The detained chief justice continues to receive enormous recognition and acknowledgment. Harvard Law School has conferred on him its highest award, placing him on the same pedestal as Nelson Mandela and the legal team that argued Brown v. Board of Education. The National Law Journal has anointed him its lawyer of the year. The New York City Bar Association has admitted him as a rare honorary member. Despite all this, the Musharraf regime shows no sign of relenting.

But for how long? How long can the chief justice and his colleagues be kept in confinement? How long can the leaders of the lawyers’ movement be detained? They will all be out one day. And they will neither be silent nor still.

They will recount the brutal treatment meted out to them for seeking the establishment of a tolerant, democratic, liberal and plural political system in Pakistan. They will state how the writ of habeas corpus was denied to them by the arbitrary and unconstitutional firing of Supreme and High Court justices. They will spell out precisely how one man set aside a Constitution under the pretext of an “emergency,” arrested the judges, packed the judiciary, “amended” the Constitution by a personal decree and then “restored” it to the acclaim of London and Washington.

They will, of course, speak then. But others are speaking now. The parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8 have already been rigged, they are saying. The election commission and the caretaker cabinet are overtly partisan. The judiciary is entirely hand-picked. State resources are being spent on preselected candidates. There is a deafening uproar even though the independent news media in Pakistan are completely gagged. Can there even be an election in this environment?

Are they being heard? I’m afraid not.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a former minister of the interior and of law and justice, is the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.

Aitzaz Arrested Again

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:04:00 +0000

Aitzaz was travelling to Islamabad on motorway to offer the Eid Prayer with the Chief Justice. He was arrested and manhandled by the police on the way in a very brutal manner. Interestingly enough, President Musharraf was able to offer his prayers in the Faisal mosque where both Aitzaz Ahsan and Chaudhry Iftikhar also wanted to pray.

"Aitzaz Ahsan was picked up on the motorway enroute to Islamabad, beaten up,glasses broken and brought back to Lahore in a police bus. Is now suffering from bruises and fever.When he asked for a detention order, they shoved a gun in his face and said - this is your order."

Chief Justice Stopped from Offering Eid Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:38:00 +0000

Say hello to a new kind of fundamentalism in Pakistan. Now if they government does not like you, it can stop you from going to a mosque of your choice. If it can happen to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Eid Ul Adha, it can happen to anyone. Welcome to the Private Republic of Musharrafistan.

Unfairly Dismissed Supreme Court Judge Loses Official Residence

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:28:00 +0000

Justice Raja Fayyaz has lost his official residence in Islamabad. He has said that he was not even informed that his residence was going to be taken over. He also said that he has no idea where the authorities have removed his belongings to because he was not present at his residence when the usurpation took place. Check out the report from the Daily Jang by clicking on the Urdu image.

Servants are Disposable People in Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:40:00 +0000

Every newspaper in Pakistan is reporting the murder of the very "respected", "well-known" artist named Gulgee. But, along with him, his wife and maid were also murdered and in the same brutal manner as he. The maid got killed because she was working as a live-in servant with the family of the "respected" artist.

We would like to see the day when the media reports the triple murder in the following order:

"First of all, we regret the death of another servant in one of the elite homes of Pakistan. Servants are not "disposable people," we think she was victimized because she was helping with the household chores of a busy and famous person. Not a fault of her own. The government of Pakistan should try to catch her murderers.

Then we condemn the murder of the wife who was also living with someone who had become famous because of his Islamization of the fine arts in the Zia ul Haq era.

Then we condemn the murder of the very famous artist Gulgee because he was a human being and every human being has the sovereign right to live which nobody can take away. Not even the government."

An Elaborate Secret Detention System in Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:36:00 +0000

"Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies, apparently trying to avoid acknowledging an elaborate secret detention system, have quietly set free nearly 100 men suspected of links to terrorism, few of whom were charged, human rights groups and lawyers say.

Those released, they say, are some of the nearly 500 Pakistanis presumed to have disappeared into the hands of the Pakistani intelligence agencies cooperating with the United States' fight against terrorism since 2001......"

San Fransisco Chronicle reports here.

Human Rights Watch Asks to End Persecution of Lawyers and Judges

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:27:00 +0000

Here Human Rights Watch reports the following incidents and urges the Government of Pakistan to End Persecution of Lawyers and Judges:

“At the police station, the station house officer started beating me and telling me to shout slogans in support of Musharraf. I refused. So he punched me and kicked me and beat me with a stick and something else. Other police officers present also joined in… They kept taunting me and telling me to call [Chief Justice] Iftikhar Chaudhry for help and ordering me to shout slogans in support of Musharraf. They kept beating me like this until I passed out.”
—Hassan Tariq, District Bar Association executive committee member in Nawabshah, Sindh province, describing his arrest on November 8.

“From the Bar Rooms [lawyers’ lounges], the library, the study and the news room – lawyers were arrested from everywhere. And no one was arrested without being beaten up and humiliated. The senior lawyers – elderly individuals – were the worst affected. They were having breathing problems because the air was filled with teargas. Some of them were lying on the ground and were gasping for air. Even they were hauled up.”
—Abid Saqi, a lawyer describing the police raid on the Lahore High Court on November 5.

Things we still have to do / Some Signs of Success

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:23:00 +0000

Things we still have to do:

We have to reveal the locations of secret prisons being built in Pakistan to house prisoners that America does not want on its own soil because there these prisoners will have access to the American judicial system and that is why Bush never asked Musharraf to restore the dismissed Judges of Pakistan's Superior Courts,

We have to bring the unfairly dismissed Judges back,

We have to try and make Pakistan a socially just and independent country,

We have to ensure the freedom of the media,

We have to produce a sustained critique of ongoing authoritarianism,

We have to write books on how America's friendship has harmed the rule of civility in Pakistan,

We have to make documentaries on the effects of the Emergency,

We have to document the effects of skyrocketing prices of staple foods,

We have to resist the rule of one person's tempering with the Constitution according to his whims,

We have to produce poetry against oppression in Pakistan,

We have to introduce basic health care, unemployment benefits, social security for all people regardless of ethnicity, class, gender, provincial identity,

We have to have independently functional state institutions, free of nepotism, corruption and personal vendetta,

We have to produce an informed and passionate critique of hierarchical social structures in Pakistan,

We have to stop Pakistan from becoming another Guantanamo Bay because of its friendship with America.

Some signs of success emerging:

Today the Government of Pakistan has quietly released about 100 missing persons from its secret prisons. It means that all those who raised their voice against the use of brutal power of the jackboot have something to celebrate. It also means that we have to keep the pressure up, steadily and consistently.

Read the reports on the release of "Missing Persons" here and here.

Report from Islamabad Protest

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:14:00 +0000

"I apologize for not being able to write more details or in better language. Have 2 fractured fingers and back got real bad thrashing. I am still amongst the luckier ones. We still don't have details on the number but many got beaten up with cracked skulls, bleeding noses, and in broken bones. Many are still in jail and the whereabouts of a few are still unknown.

Our peaceful rally was once again stormed by the police. After being beaten up thrice by these policemen students had brought sticks for their own self defense. We were first charged at when we were trying to go to the CJ's house to show solidarity. Due to the traffic on the street and our numbers (about 1000 protesters with 200 odd with flags) we retaliated and got the police running back.

The second time they charged at us on the orders of ASP Nasir Aftab the students were able to push the police back. Nasir Aftab himself was seen beating up women on which a few students beat him up. He was eventually sent to a hospital after a special ambulance came to take the injured policemen. Please note that when one of the female students tried to go the ambulance to get her brother taken to the hospital she was charged on by 6 policemen. We have no news of her whereabouts as of this point.

Once the police failed to stop the students from going to the CJ's house an armored vehicle fired 30 odd tear gas shells. One shell hit a lawyer and exploded on his leg. He fainted there and was rushed to the hospital in a cab. The police also fired rubber bullets and pelted stones as well.

Because of the tear gas people dispersed and riot police in their gas masks charged at us. The students were already in terrible condition due to the tear gas and the police showed no concern for the injured lying on the ground. They became easy targets and were beaten up indiscriminately.

Even with all this, a group of 50 students still made it to the CJ's house. They were eventually surrounded by 600 odd policemen who treated them terribly even after they were already handing themselves over to the uthorities. There were numerous arrests made and many different news papers are reporting different numbers. At the time of writing this report the female prisoners have been released and the males were charged under so many different offenses that it was difficult to keep track.

The two bullies responsible for today's action are:
Nasir Aftab: 0300-8505563
Kamran Cheema: 9261163

The students urge you all to call these bullies and tell them about your sentiments. One student said she had no one to go to for justice. Had the CJ been there he would have taken a suo moto notice against these policemen but without him there was no one to go to for help. She said this while being unable to move after the beating she got from the police and waiting for help from somewhere.

Please forward this to everyone and let the world know that students of Pakistan will not be affected by these minor skirmishes. They may have broken bones and aching bodies but their spirit is alive and will fight till our heroes are restored.

In total solidarity (and pain)"

Bash!

US lawyers urge return of judges

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:44:00 +0000

US lawyers urge return of judges

WASHINGTON: A petition requesting the restoration of sacked judges and removal of restrictions on media has been sent to the government of Pakistan after being signed by hundreds of American lawyers. The petition, initiated by lawyers of the District of Columbia Bar, requests that sacked chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his fellow justices of the Supreme Court are restored to their posts. “We strongly recommend that the present government of Pakistan abolish all measures which impede the independence of the news media,” the lawyers state. The petition requests President Bush and Congress use their influence with President Pervez Musharraf to persuade him to reinstate the judges. The lawyers have so far received no response to their request. khalid hasan

Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk

More of the same

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:15:00 +0000

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has said that the media is still not free as it was before the declaration of Emergency.

The only major difference in pre-Emergency and post-Emergency Pakistan is that the country's constitution -- or whatever was left of it -- is even weaker. One man's whims and personal actions have played havoc with the principles which different institutions of the state are supposed to protect.

All the independent judges, the real targets of the emergency, are out of their courts and under house arrest. Even on Monday, two days after the end of the Emergency, the pro-democracy activists demanded the release of the Chief Justice and clashed with the police.

The suicide attacks on the army, which were cited as a reason to impose the emergency, are still continuing while Musharraf is saying that the objectives of the Emergency have been achieved, which basically translates as the Judges and the media have been silenced.

Bhutto Peddling Mush Propaganda against Judges!

noreply@blogger.com (A. Pakistani) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:39:00 +0000

Of late, Benazir Bhutto has been at pains shamelessly to slight and disparage the principled stand taken by My Lord the Chief Justice and his honourable colleagues. Her most recent tirade against Our Lordships has been reported by BBC Urdu, and Dawn.

To be sure, the demagogue of Larkana has motives to malign the heroic Pakistan’s heroic rise, as Haroon-ur-Rashid points out in this column in the Urdu Daily Express; and as Tariq Ali so eloquently argues in this write-up, aptly titled Daughter of the West”.

Has anybody realised yet, though, that the deceptive argument (“they took oath under PCO earlier...”), is not Bhutto’s own? The same argument has been repeatedly aired by Fazlur Rehman of JUI-F, Musharraf’s Attorney General Abdul Qayum, and various other heavies from the dictator’s court.

What a fall, Bhutto! You have become just another petty mouthpiece of the Pakistani Hitler, broadcasting propaganda messages designed by some dark Goebbels to confuse public opinion! What a fall, indeed, and what a calling!

Brazen Pirzada Has No Use for Conscience

noreply@blogger.com (A. Pakistani) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:29:00 +0000

“At 84, Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, mysterious, influential and scorned by Pakistan’s protesters, fixes things when military rulers take over here, scripting temporary charters and new oaths of office as constitutions are shredded and judges dismissed.”

Thus starts the New York Time profile of the man who has been on the beck and call of every single military dictator of Pakistan; and it quotes the old vulture as saying:

“The question of conscience in law hardly matters as long as you influence the authorities to be moderate and exercise restraint. Otherwise they take extreme steps.”

Presumably, he believes to be doing much good to the nation by saving us from the “extreme steps”. (As if confinement of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and 60 superior court judges, and beatings and arrests all over the country were mere indulgences!)

So the rulers he helps into power must be better than those you help out of power? On the contrary:

“Half the time there has been military rule, and half civilian rule. Both were alike in despotism and corruption.”

So what good is your conscience-proof existence, Mr Pirzada, if one may ask?

Jane Perlez, who wrote the profile titled “On Retainer in Pakistan, to Ease Military Rulers’ Path”, serves Pirzada right by providing anecdotal evidence of him being a pathological liar and a climber.

“Mr. Pirzada stresses his early pedigree as an assistant to the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the lawyer-politician who insisted on a separate country for the Muslims of British-ruled India. He often mentions his association, and plays up a 1944 photograph he says was taken of him standing between Mr. Jinnah and Gandhi, even though his friends insist the photo is a fake.”

Martial Law No More, Will Mush Stay On?

noreply@blogger.com (A. Pakistani) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:30:00 +0000

Forty-two days after he unleashed his second martial law, Tyrant Musharraf has ‘issued a presidential order to lift the emergency and to restore the constitution by ending the PCO’, the New International says in this newsflash.

The state-run APP reporting the development said Musharraf “will address the nation at 8.00 pm today” over radio and television.

More Bad Luck for Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (The Accusers) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:01:00 +0000

Musharraf has passed an ordinance to make himself the Chairman of the Command Authority. This authority controls Pakistan's nuclear assets. In the context of Musharraf's desire to keep himself the most powerful man in Pakistan, this is the most powerful authority he can legally possess. Now he officially controls the buttons that make the Western nerves jittery. It means he can negotiate with the West on his own terms, on the familiar "without me, the nukes will go astray" rhetoric. It also means bad luck to the system of justice in Pakistan because the West will try to appease Musharraf.

Before this legal step was taken, Musharraf's bargaining with the West appeared only superficial. Now he has tied the Nukes to his body with a legal step. This is the mind of a power hungry maniac lusting after even more power than the present General, Chief of the Army Staff, Prime Minister combined. Legally, the Prime Minister will be the Deputy Chairman of the Command Authority from now on in the official documents.

It seems bad luck has descended on all institutions of Pakistan since Musharraf became drunk on power.

Ironically, Musharraf got this dangerous bargaining power because of Nawaz Sharif's decision to go nuclear.