Why the Pakistan Army makes state policies
It is difficult to assess whether the Pakistan Army is naïve or strategically calculated to step in the Supreme Court on the Memogate scandal. Obvious, however, is the fact that the critical step has brought the Army out in public, where previously only politicians and bureaucrats were mocked and sorted out. The Pandora’s box has popped open and an influx of articles criticising the unlimited power of the armed forces on defense, foreign and domestic political policies of Pakistan have been unleashed. While political pundits have declared the notion that the army makes the foreign, defense and domestic political policies of Pakistan as a ‘fact’– ...
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The Republican threat
Several weeks ago, US presidential candidates from the Republican party descended on Washington to participate in a televised debate on foreign policy. They wasted no time in unleashing a torrent of invective about Pakistan. Michele Bachmann described it as “a nation that lies, that does everything that you could imagine wrong.” Jon Huntsman declared it “a nation-state that is a candidate for failure.” Rick Perry contended that “they’ve showed us time after time that they can’t be trusted.” Some of the nastiest language came from the two frontrunners. “Help us, or get out of the way,” warned Newt Gingrich, “but don’t complain ...
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Why I don’t support Imran Khan
This is not the way a revolution happens – with unquestioning obedience and a blind following; this is how cults are made. That is exactly what we have happening here, much like the cult following of the Bhuttos, Imran Khan is cultivating the image of a one man show (much like his cricketing years I might add). How can he stand out from the rest when he follows the same policies? For those that don’t know, the PTI does not hold internal elections, Imran Khan is the president for life and office bearers are appointed. If we tolerate his pandering now how can we expect ...
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Sino-Pak relations: Beyond the rhetoric
Just a day after the US suspended $800 million aid to Pakistan, a news story appeared in major newspapers of the subcontinent. In Pakistan it read, China has pledged support to Pakistan when US has suspended its assistance. In India it read, Pakistan would be leaning on the Chinese to fill in the gap created by suspension of US aid and the Chinese would acquiesce. What actually happened was that Hong Lei, spokesman of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while answering questions during a routine briefing responded to a US aid suspension question in a very measured way. While avoiding commenting on ...
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What Obama didn’t say to Pakistan
On Wednesday morning at 7AM in Pakistan, all eyes were on America. As I cradled a steamy cup of coffee and willed the morning mental fog to drift away, I eagerly took in an invigorating State of the Union address from President Barack Obama. “In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It’s how we make a living” I was inspired. Had it not been for the morning cobwebs tying me down, I might have belted out a “Yes, we can!” To every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: if you want to make a difference in the life of ...
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Will the real America please stand up?
Here’s an amusing little nugget: “Now a final note: The left blogosphere seems to have wigged out over the suggestion that George W Bush and the successful emergence of a secular, democratic Iraq has anything to do with all this. For starters, it is amusing to see that those voices, fresh from the smear on conservatives regarding the Arizona shooting, are now all about “causation.” But more seriously, had democracy failed in Iraq, had the country descended into chaos, and had Iraqis labouring for a secular, democratic Muslim country been killed and exiled, do we imagine this would have been ...
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I have not sold my soul to America
Many Pakistani Americans were impacted adversely when the twin towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed, on September 11, 2001. Many decided to head back home as they felt their American dream had turned into an American nightmare. There were even ill-founded fears that they would be dispatched to concentration camps. The reality turned out to be the contrary. Many who left for safe harbours in Pakistan or the Middle East ended up returning empty-handed to good old America. The horror they supposedly ran from in the US followed them in those countries. There was a common theme that each ...
Read Full PostWikiLeaks: Democracy undressed
WikiLeaks has now been added to our burgeoning dictionary of new labels of social media but undoubtedly, it is one of the most controversial. The proliferation of different types of social media from Facebook to YouTube is raising deep questions about public discussion, and the workings of democracy itself. It is not so much the content that is released by WikiLeaks that is of concern or indeed of any great surprise, since they merely confirmed what many suspected. Democracy looks like a sham The great concern is how foreign policy is being conducted behind closed doors, in secret corridors of power where only an elite ...
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Blasphemy law: An apparatus to sustain tyranny
In Pakistan, if you have a land dispute, political rivalry, or just personal or professional jealousy or economic rivalry with someone and you are bent on settling your score, then teaching them a lesson is easier than you think. You can make your enemies regret every day they have ever lived, especially if they are non-Muslims, Ahmadis, Zionists or “Hindu Zionists”. Although in Pakistan it may seem convenient to hire an assassin or kill them yourself – but why do things ‘illegally’ when you can destroy their lives ‘legally’ with popular support? All it takes is a false accusation of blasphemy ...
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Was a fourth military coup averted in Pakistan?
Hardly. Better still, there wasn’t a coup to start with. Monday’s well-timed meeting between the so-called ‘troika’ – the President, Prime Minister, and the Army chief – is being widely interpreted as having averted a possible collapse of the elected Zardari-Gilani government. There is no word from the military’s media people on the meeting but the president’s media office took the liberty of releasing a statement renewing the commitment of Gen. Kayani, and that of the President and Prime Minister, to defending democracy. If there’s anyone who created a frenzy about an extra-constitutional [read: military-engineered] change, it is the elected government ...
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