If November comes (the promised column on the US invasion of Pakistan)
A war is being fought at the heart of every establishment of the world. Traditionally the establishment is the force of inertia and conservatism in any group or society. Yet the rise of neo-conservatives everywhere during the outgoing decade has taught many a lesson. Osama bin Laden, the US neo-cons and the Fox News phenomenon have all shown us to which extent blood-thirst and selfishness can lead some groups to demolish everything precious and humane. I name Osama and Bush’s clique in the same breath because if you see carefully they are two sides of the same coin. All we know is that thanks to al Qaeda and the neo-cons the world has lost trust in the multilateral concepts of collective security. The so-called war on terror was perhaps the crudest attempt at engineering a false clash that would have ruined the human race for generations. The attempt seems to have failed and now the neo-con cabal seems to be passing silently into history. Or is it really?
It is true that Dick Cheney, perhaps understanding his unpopularity and bad health, never showed interest in entering into the presidential race. This decision ensured that his neo-con friends would never get a serious chance of regaining power at the centre. But that is not where the real damage has been done. The radicalisation of politics is not a great issue for in a democracy that is always reversible. The actual threat of such deformation is usually to the state institutions which in nature are already quite hostile namely the bureaucracy and the armed forces. I am sure when the American armed forces have produced men like FDR, Colin Powell and Senator McCain there should be some lofty tradition in place yet soldiers the world over usually are taught to be supremacist both in profession and in nationalism. And that is not all. When you have Fox in media and neo-cons in power it is easy to open up to more radicalisation. It is Pavlovian really. When every kind of commendation and promotion for eight years is possible through reiterating the neo-con values it really takes quite a while to undo the damage. Two examples are already in front of us. One of the Indian establishment under the BJP and the Pakistani establishment under Musharraf.
Those who look at the Congress rule in India cannot understand the paradigm shift that has taken place already owing to the BJP rule. Bureaucracy during those days was stuffed with saffron clad bonkers who further radicalised the establishment. How can we forget that in uncountable public gatherings cow’s urine was served instead of water? Even after Congress rose to power the space it has lost to the extremists like Narendra Modi seems impossible to reclaim even though it has to pose radical contestants.
Likewise in Pakistan, the establishment under Musharraf lost all self-esteem and became almost a vessel of the US belligerence. When we pointed that Pakistan should calculate each and every concession made to the Yanks based on the national interest we were reminded that Washington was our paymaster. The slant we had to endure was almost obnoxious. The same retired army officers who are ready to gouge our eyes for advocating some patience towards Musharraf, used to skin us alive whenever we suggested that the army was enduring huge losses owing to its prolonged stay in politics. Unfortunately today when it is proven the same folks are over the top without paying any heed to what we say. The damage done to our establishment during the last military rule may not pose any serious threat to any of our neighbours but it has ensured a permanent risk to democracy in the country. For almost nine years now supporting Musharraf could take you to any coveted post. That ensured that quite a few servicemen inhaled the official propaganda of their chief being the promised Messiah and then regurgitated it whenever they got a chance. Now apparently the state of things have changed a bit and these men have stopped chanting pro-Musharraf slogans but almost a decade of service is quite a long time and the middle tier of the officers corps has to live with the same biases for its entire service life. The facts that the circumstances are daunting and that the democratic government is being pressured not to make fast paced changes are not helping even a bit.
We then cannot be too hopeful about the change in the US establishment. Those endowed with wisdom who have seen the peril without any spin are already fighting the establishments the world over. Again the fact that except for a lunatic fringe no one is averse to Senator Obama’s election to the coveted throne purely on racial basis shows that there might be some hopeful sparks in the air already. Obama’s own talk is also very impressive and promises hope and change. But I am afraid that whosoever is brought to power in November will have to endure almost an instant propaganda that the People’s Party had to face in Pakistan or the Congress in India. While we can tolerate the neo-cons, the BJP and in our case a dictator for almost a decade we are not ready to give the true standard bearers of democracy, moderation and humanity any chance to survive. Senator Obama my prayers are with you but you need to be please just as good as you seem for otherwise the future of the species hangs truly in balance.
As for the neo-cons I have this to say. It is wrong to consider them a group of psychopathic Dr Strangeloves. They are not mental. They are opportunistic and mean. I don’t know whether this contagious political disease of taking things to the very brink for personal gains has spread from India during the BJP rule or has evolved from Enron. Yet I have no problem in believing that all this global reign of terror is not merely for psychological issues alone. They are the prophets of crony capitalism. They want the world to be restructured so that the business on whose board they sit next may not have any problem in rising to the top. Their purpose of entering Iraq, Afghanistan and quite soon it seems Pakistan is not to crush some rising radical cult but to restructure the entire resource rich region. If you view carefully Osama bin Laden is equally an ambassador of the Saudi BinLadin Group as are Bush and company the standard bearers of the crony capitalism. If you can trust my drift it is Pakistan which should fear a likely invasion from the US in the coming days rather than Iran. They have not forgotten that a poor country like Pakistan equipped with the nukes and a professional standing army can really become a mid range power once it succeeds in establishing trade and strategic ties with the Central Asian Republics. This is where Musharraf and Karzai figure in. Musharraf during his rule paid considerable lip service to the idea but always vetoed anything practical that could give Pakistan some alternative breathing space. Karzai’s presence in Kabul has ensured that the Taliban insurgency never dies down and Pak-Afghan border is never peaceful. While I do not see how Pakistan, an almost slavish US ally, could pose any serious threat to the US had it succeeded in establishing strategic ties with the CARS, I am deeply concerned that the US establishment cannot see the most probable fallout of its blind policies in the coming days. The fear now is that the two band brothers across this border are now ready to stage a drama in the coming days which will lead to the annexation of Pakistan even before November. Before November because it will be far easier for the new administration to tolerate another foreign colony because then it becomes a management problem and not imperialistic. If not removed as soon as possible or his powers truly curtailed our man can prove to be another Gorbachev. You have already been warned.
(Courtesy The Post)
Wow!
What a warning!
Please define “establishment” in the context of Pakistan as you use it in this piece. Is it just the military and the “agencies”? Or does it include the narrow elite (including PML, PPP, Feudal zamindars, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the military, etc.) who have ruled Pakistan since its inception? Do you think any members of this elite have ever been held accountable to the people for their misrule and corruption? Do you think the “establishment” in US is in any way comparable to the Pakistani “establishment”?
If there is “annexation” with Afghanistan (which makes no sense to me), are the beneficiaries going to be any different? How would the US benefit by annexing Pakistan? Or would it just be a merger of the tribals with the feudals to serve the interests of both rather th the US? How would the middle class (the backbone of any democracy) fare under this or any other possible arrangement?
Thank you very much Mr Haq,
I don’t know whether this wow from you is a routine jeer from you that I often receive or true appreciation. However from your later statement “which makes no sense to me”, I deduce that it is pretty much routine.
I think in the second line of the article I have given most precise definition of establishment as is possible. Do yourself some good and read the definition again in any of the internet dictionaries or encyclopedia.
Tell me who do you think is conservative in this country and who not? If you consider the People’s Party, perhaps the only progressive political force in the country which does it on its own accord and not out of sycophancy for any dictators, conservative then our conversation is already over. However if you do not then I have problems with your observation regarding the establishment. You certainly are viewing everything with an erroneous elitist model.
Tell me have you heard or read about Milbus? Have you been through Dr Ayesha Siddiqua Agha’s tome Military Inc.? I know what conservatives would say but I really respect that work. If you have you should do so again to know that the civil military and judicial bureaucracy comprise the most powerful element of the Pakistani establishment. But I do not deny that the political elements, the land owning class or the entrepreneurs do not have anything to do with it. They sure do. But since the first element has more control over the state resources that the latter can only work as a vessel in order to preserve selfish interests. How many years in power have politicians actually been successful in setting the agenda of the state, no matter in power or not? Who has ruled this country in most of the years? Who were Ghulam Muhammad, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali Bogra, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, Ishaq Khan, Moeen Qureshi, Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz? Do you get my point? Yet I do not discount your views absolutely. My concern is that the People’s Party has never been a conservative force of the country and never part of the establishment.
As for the invasion of annexation of Pakistan I daresay you are not using your imagination. I gather that you have just been offended by my criticism of Musharraf and hence not bothered to see reason in any argument. Sir, I can also say tally ho on most of points you are making in your weird blog which always takes the wrong direction in argument. But I do not. I know that since my views are principle centered rather than whims or personality cult centered people will get what they need from mine.
Pakistan is endowed with quite a few gifts including its geopolitics. From Gwadar to Wakhan corridor and our presence in such an important theater to our rock structure and nuclear prowess, while most of what we have got may not be of use to us but it is to many others. No matter what we say about collective security the world right now is operating on the good old balance of power. While we may not have it in us (evident from your case), there are many who view us a threat. Hence Balkanization or annexation of the country is quite a convincing option. Whether such elements can succeed in doing so or not is besides the point. My only concern is that it can weaken two good countries, which could have played quite benign role, further. If truth be told Pakistan is the most loyal ally of the US after Israel as time has proved time and again. But that doesn’t qualify us for the mercy of the neocons who do not see the world through anything but an insecurity paradigm. You seem to think that the elite other than the establishment would benefit from such an annexation in Pakistan. The problem again is with your judgment. The elite will be replaced with higher and distant elites or suzerains and owing to the zero sum game our political elite is only bound to lose not gain anything.
And let me also settle an old point here. Apparently in another post you wasted your breath in apparently suggesting that the existing US basis in Pakistan are normal while an international inquiry into Benazir’s murder is wrong. I don’t know what kind of self serving and blind notion is that? Either you are stupid or downright hypocrite to suggest that. If there are US bases in Europe that is because in World Wars the US has fought their battles and preserved them from their fellow Europeans from whom many still feel threatened. Whom has the US fought for us? Nobody. It is us that have repeatedly sacrificed ourselves. Again in the Western Europe and the US there is no historical or pronounced mistrust. It is a relevant concern in our case though. The US studies have never indicated that they desire or plan to seize the European nuclear asset in case of any eventuality. There are countless US research/thought papers from prestigious think tanks which recommend that their administration should do just that.
Meanwhile there is no harm in investigating Benazir’s assassination through any international organization. What harm can it do? We all pay lip service to the IGOs like the UN. We all say that collective security is the only way. Then why not seek help of someone who cannot influenced at least by any Pakistani. Kindly think and read again before speaking. Otherwise I am weary of your hollow rants.
First of all plz..dont eat the (Congress/Left)propaganda without chewing. BJP is a very secular party with Muslims(though few) at its helm. And BJP was not in power, NDA(National Democratic Alliance) was in power with BJP as a major coalition partner(with over 28 other parties i guess). Once of the major thrust of BJP is “uniform civil code”, i.e. total separation of church and state. No religious party anywhere in the world will try to implement uniform civil code. BJP comes to power in Gujarat and with coalition in Center on basis of stability,development(bijali-sadak-pani),corruption-free governance. And the “Hinduvta” agenda is called “cultural nationalism”. its not about throwing Muslims to the sea. Congress and Communist parties try to propagate that India is a 1857+ culture and tries to discredit everything before it. BJP contests that India is a 10,000+ years of culture and the cultural identity should be preserved.
Now some random course for paki newbies:
BJP never had the plan to demolish Babri structure (and its not a mosque..though a mugal structure on Ram Janmabhumi). BJP wanted construction by consensus not by demolition may be near it. It was VHP+ Naga swamis(naked and very violent sadhus) demolished in presence of LKAdvani(he cried at spot fully knowing the consequences). Compare it to Mecca, if any non-Muslim enters the city they could be sentenced to death. They just want a temple in birth place of Ram(though i am not interested). What happened in Gujarat was riots not genocide, nearly a 1000 ppl were killed in street to street rioting(790 Muslims and 254 Hindus). It was started by burning alive of RSS affiliated men,women and children in a train(Godhra Massacre).
by some 3000 muslim crowd( SIMI group with ISI support..normal muslims won’t dare to touch RSS people coz that is the most stupid thing to do..only ppl who want things boil at right temperatures do). Now i will give example of genocide..i.e. Sikh riots 1984..around 3000 Sikhs were slaughtered around india by Congress workers(0 casualities on Congress side..)
my hands’ aching so..i am stopping for now!
p.s.:For all these clarifications that i did..i know u will laugh to death..but i just want to do it anyway.
The following link is a great site to know about “Hindu” related Indian politics(very objective..he is belgium catholic christian..and expert on Hindu revivalist poltics etc)
http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/
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