Bash thy army the right way
Bashing the military is a favourite past time of the ones who feel they have been enlightened. Following this trend, an increasing number of people want to join this enlightened group, so they have taken to bashing the army too. The tool is a laptop; the location is a cosy house in Defence. The new army bashers however, in my humble view, need to know a thing or two before launching into a gallant bayonet charge. So I have decided to help them out and will now try to explain how to effectively bash the malicious military, or how to ...
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Zaid Hamid: Treason against reason
Two statements have been circulating in my head for the last few days. The first one is by George Orwell: In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act. The second is a piece of poetry by revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz: Nisar teri galiyo pe ae watan kay jahan, Chali hai Rasm kay koi na sarr utha kay chalay. Jo Koi Chahnay Wala Tawaaf ko Niklay, Nazar Jhuka kay Chalay, Jism o Jaan Bacha Kay Chalay. (My salutations to thy sacred streets, O beloved nation! Where a tradition has been invented- that none shall walk with his head held high, If at all one takes ...
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Is Gilani’s indictment good for democracy?
With the news that the Pakistani Supreme Court, in a widely expected hearing, indicted Prime Minister Gilani yesterday morning, it is becoming increasingly clear that the two national institutions, the judiciary and the civilian government, are headed for a full-on collision. Despite statements over the weekend, where the Prime Minister seemed resigned to losing office, there is little indication that a resignation from the PPP stalwart is coming any time soon. If Gilani is indeed destined to cede power, it will likely come at the behest of the Chief Justice Chaudhry and his court. As chaotic and unpleasant as the ...
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The rights and wrongs of Imran Khan’s politics
With the Arab Spring sweeping away dictators world over, Pakistanis too are looking for a revolution to get rid of its democratically elected government. Interestingly, they have found new hope in the Niazi from Mianwali. Former cricketer turned philanthropist turned politician, Imran Khan, is probably the most popular politician in Pakistan today. While Pakistan will never get its Arab Spring, a change in the political landscape is definitely a looming reality. Previously naive Khan has learnt some vital lessons from his mistakes, and has started to mature. He is careful to not criticize the military and its top brass – apparently he has ...
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Who is the ISI reporting to?
You know the game is up when even Asma Jahangir walks off in a huff with the ball mid-match. The indefatigable human-rights lawyer threw a tantrum after the Supreme Court decided that the charges against her client, Husain Haqqani, in the Memogate casewarranted investigation by a commission. Jahangir decided she could no longer represent Haqqani after accusing the judiciary of working in league with the ‘establishment’, a term that means ‘everyone I disagree with in Pakistan’. In this case, she seemed to be referring to the ISI. Earlier, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani more or less admitted that he had no ...
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Who will save democracy now?
I was 15 when Musharraf toppled the elected government in Pakistan. I’m a middle class guy who grew up reading Urdu dailies. I grew up thinking that our politicians are incapable of doing anything good and that the military should govern the country exactly like it does in Myanmar. I grew up thinking that Pakistan and India can never be friends. With time, I started reading publications from different parts of the world. This made me rethink my perceptions regarding democracy. When the elected government of the Peoples’ Party returned to power in 2008, I was as happy as any other ...
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Double standards and the infallible military hierarchy
US President Harry Truman famously placed a sign on his desk in the Oval Office that said “The buck stops here”. Thousands of miles away and some 60 years later, the only message on anyone’s desk appears to be “The buck stops anywhere but here”. Memogate has been an embarrassment for the sitting government, even though the credibility of the memo seems to be shrinking day by day. Meanwhile, the ever-reliable Mansoor Ijaz has become a media darling for his incessant, single-source (at best) allegations that have essentially revealed that everyone in power, elected, selected or promoted, just wants to rubbish ...
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Shouldn’t intelligence be smarter?
It is imperative and a pre-requisite of a sound counter-terrorism (CT) strategy that a country’s intelligence community is held together by a central coordinating body. The rules of engagement have drastically changed as well as the characteristic of current and potential adversaries. Presently, the adversary is a non-state entity which cannot be contained and countered with conventional military tactics and regular intelligence processes. Pakistan is not battling a country with a visible infrastructure nor a proper command and control structure that takes orders after much strategic analysis and threat assessments. We are confronting a terrorist network. And in order to disrupt and ...
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Caught between US and Haqqanis
The US has publicly said that the Haqqani network targeted their embassy in Kabul with the assistance of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. This is perhaps the strongest accusation of double-dealing in the ten years since Pakistan chose to side with the US in its war on terror. The charge that Pakistan is not fully on board in this conflict is somewhat unfair. After all it is Pakistan, a relatively poor country, which has lost over 35,000 innocent citizens and security personnel in this period. The US, the world’s sole superpower, has not suffered anywhere near this number of casualties. ...
Read Full PostIslamabad Diary: Socialite ambassador and diplospeak
The US embassy held a preview performance of the Neil Simon play ‘The Odd Couple’ last week and made sure that there would be no couples, odd or otherwise. The invitation for the play, which was directed by the US cultural attaché and featured an inaugural speech by Ambassador Cameron Munter, expressly forbade any plus-ones. Predictably enough, Munter had lots of fun comparing the title of the play to the relationship between Pakistan and the US. Munter’s other big outing for the week was the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of the Hardees’ fast-food restaurant near Jinnah Super Market. The ...
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