Farrukh Khan Pitafi's Official Website

It is 1 o’clock in the morning and my car breaks down in the cantonment area. With me sitting in the lap of my wife on the front seat are my five-months-old daughter and 20-months-old niece. I find myself in serious jeopardy. If I call anyone from among my relatives or friends for help, it may take ages in this hot summer night. If I leave them in the car, I know I will be really worried about their safety. This is the way things are these days. You never feel safe. All of a sudden, I spot a military police mobile patrolling the deserted road. I rush towards it since the driver has seen my plight and pulled up. I approach the soldiers inside to keep an eye on the car against the miscreants, especially if they are patrolling on the same road while I go and fetch some help. They ask me not to worry and park their vehicle at a short distance from my car. It takes me 15 minutes to find some solace and when I return I find them responsibly taking care of the situation. I thank them, mend my car and leave. While doing so, I am thinking hard. Could I show equal trust in the civilian police or passersby? Are you kidding me? Of course not. It has been the army’s stature that people still find it worth trusting with their life and property. But a sad trend has developed in the country for quite sometime. This trust has been misconstrued as being political in nature. This politically motivated impression is false at best. The Pakistan Army was raised by the British. At least its generals should respect the Western democratic revolution. They should hence be aware that the army has no place in politics even when it is invited so convincingly into the power echelons. Since a horrible attempt to rationalise and institutionalise the army’s role in politics is underway, as evident from Jamali’s statement, it is high time to understand some lessons of history.
Lesson number one: administration in a third world country is a dirty vessel. Even angels cannot emerge out of it without being diminished considerably. Thanks to the army’s prolonged stay in power, it has attracted too much censure that is counter-productive for the national interest it claims to protect. For instance, take the issue of Milbus. We know the army is involved in various businesses. One could rationalise this through the example of the Ottoman Empire where the civil and military bureaucracy was not allowed to own property. As a result, the army got involved in micromanagement and dirty politicking, which finally led to the implosion of the empire. Mustafa Kemal was hence a product of such policies. Yet we see that despite the tolerance of Milbus here, the army leadership today talks a lot of the Turkish political model where the army was granted formal representation in the legislature because it had played such a pivotal role in the freedom of the country from a hopeless post-World War I situation. Now such an attitude has made it prone to criticism. The critics have a right to say that it is with a view to protect Milbus that the army wants to stay in power. Why we sided with the Mujahideen during the Afghan war against the Soviets and why we are hunting them in the war on terror is seen against the same backdrop. Is it wise then to stay in power for long?
The second lesson is: what has to happen will happen. Benazir and Nawaz Sharif were destabilised by their sitting army chiefs and their civilian toadies because it was thought that they would short-sell the national interest. For instance, it was believed that Benazir would compromise the nuclear programme and the Kashmir policy of the country, hence she was shown the door. Not only was this impression false, as she did not compromise any of this, it was our current army regime that substantially compromised both. Likewise, Nawaz Sharif was thrown out of power because it was believed that he was ready to sell off the Taliban and was trying to become a totalitarian ruler. Now we have General Musharraf, a totalitarian ruler and the Pakistan Army is fighting the Taliban everywhere. It should not be forgotten that the fall of East Pakistan took place during army rule.
Lesson number three: when in a story the heroes go wrong, the rest of the characters have a right to be even worse. Our army was considered a class of heroes. If I remember any heroes from my childhood textbooks apart from Quaid-e-Azam and a few others, they are the martyrs decorated with the Nishan-e-Haider. But since today people see army officers indulging in politics and above all a president in uniform against the essence of the constitution, they show no respect for the law. Similarly, when in his affidavit a Military Intelligence (MI) chief confesses in a court of law that he spied on senior judges upon instructions of the Chief Justice (CJ), one is really baffled. While it is still to be judged whether the CJ really asked for it or not, the affidavit proves that a senior army officer did spy on the judges against his brief. Do you know this affidavit should have led to the court martial of the MI chief?
Lesson four (with emphasis): the army has no place in politics. The ultimate agent of change and the contingent factor should be the people’s voice and not the army’s involvement. The people of this country will find themselves more sensitised when they know that they, and not the army, are responsible for political change.
Lesson five: the army’s own justified interests and the needs of national defence and security are better protected under civilian regimes.
Lesson six: the worst political leaders have always been those that have been nurtured by the army itself in this country.
Lesson seven: if the army wants to stay away from political ambition, it will have to start from the beginning to the top. The trainees in the military academy and the army institutions will have to be taught the constitutional history of the world and how in the most civilised and progressive countries the army operates within the constitutional framework rather than damaging it. They should also be taught the efficacy of a constitution.
Lesson eight: when the army wants to leave the corridors of power, no one – not even its own leadership – can stop it. If all army officers heading civilian institutions decide to resign from their posts, no one will stop them and they will earn a better name for the army. Likewise, if the services chiefs stop going to the National Security Council (NSC), there will be no use of this ignoble body. The army after all has to make a choice between ruling this country and ruling the hearts of its people.
Lesson nine: all economic development under military rule is usually a mirage. When any military rule ends, the country finds itself highly indebted.
Lesson ten: the army should know it is not a good lobbyist or image-builder abroad. This task can be done by a democratic government and free media.
Lesson eleven: when under civilian rule our generals should show patience and try to study the difference between the US as depicted in the Gangs of New York and the America of today.
Lesson twelve: the 1973 Constitution was not engineered by one man, but was the product of a broad consensus that is not possible for a new constitution today.
We all know change is in the air, but it does not essentially have to be violent. I know it for sure that if another coup takes place in this country, Musharraf’s neo-con allies will encourage him to wage a civil war because it will help them achieve their goal of dismantling Pakistan better. Keeping in view this sense of foreboding, what is important is not a half-baked military attempt at political change but the change of heart at military headquarters. This country is too precious to lose and things may have to get worse before getting better. All that should matter to the army is the restoration of its image in its citizens’ eyes for they alone are its long-term allies.
Courtesy The Post - June 21, 2007

Posted by farrukh at 17:58:25

The world of espionage and spy-speak needs no introduction. Our fiction, movies, discussions and everyday news all are full of vivid images from this field. The world of secrets that should actually stay out of sight remained visible for about a decade immediately after the end of the Soviet Union and hence the star-crossed Cold War. The apparent reason was the perceived end of history and the lack of an enemy. Then came 9/11 and the secret agencies the world over again ran for cover. Yet thanks to the transparency in the Western world, we have a truckload of declassified documents that help us understand the functioning of this secret community of movers and shakers. From James Jesus Angleton, code named Mother, to John E. McLaughlin also known with his moniker Merlin, there is a secret legacy of paranoia and quest that is eventually becoming visible with every passing day. And then of course there is a treasure trove of knowledge shared with us by people like George Tenet and Michael Sheuer. Our study draws further solace from the works of people like Bob Woodward, whose book titled Bush at War is considered by Sheuer as an act of high treason.

Almost something of the same proportion happened in Pakistan immediately after the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan. Our intelligence community went haywire and we witnessed half-witted works like The Bear Trap, which take too much blame for a war that was never in our interest. Consequent days would prove how effectively the authors of these works had played into the hands of their Western friends and paved the way for Pakistan’s implication in the sordid saga of al Qaeda. After the Soviet demise, we also witnessed the growing role of Pakistani agencies in politics. General Hamid Gul and his successors have confessed this role on record. The formation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI – so close to the acronym ISI) is no secret. This role instead of declining has only increased after 9/11, as the US thus far has supported Musharraf categorically and tolerated all methods employed by him to stay in power. Virtually at the same time, the agencies got deeply engrossed in capturing Pakistanis and other nationals in the country and handing them over to the Americans in the name of the war on terror.

Clandestine operations usually take place under a clearly planned cover. When these covers or fictitious alibis are blown prematurely, the entire operation is exposed. Due to these covers it is the duty of each operative and office bearer in a clandestine service to lie, deceive and to keep secrets even under oath and despite all political and other pressures. That is exactly what is called ‘Counter-Intelligence’ in which Angleton was considered quite adept. Considerable resources of a state go into counter-intelligence and when an alibi or a cover story needs evidence, evidence, if not found, is generated. This makes it difficult to trust the books or statements by any influential office bearer of a spy agency like George Tenet. But where there is no other option, we have to use such material to make sense of the known facts. But there still is a way to tell facts from fiction. Cover development or counter-intelligence is an onerous job and needs great hair splitting. It usually leaves behind traces that can be spotted easily when you keep the overall huge body of intelligence-related works in front of you and when the old traditions are kept in mind. Often one official version contradicts another and given the facts that we know, it is quite easy to spot the weak point in a story. This becomes even easier in the developing world because here details are often neglected, or in case of dissent, some spies deliberately leave traces in the alternative story. Just one recent example. Only a few days back, the Director Generals of the Military Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau submitted their affidavits that certainly try to give some evidence. It is quite natural that these and other affidavits must have passed through the hands of the intelligence experts too. Yet the documents contain glaring contradictions. It is no place to discuss those contradictions in detail here and suffice it to say that it seems quite evident that either these documents were prepared in great haste (which seems improbable), with very little work force or then these mistakes, just like in Musharraf’s book, were consciously embedded just to highlight the fact that the heart of the author was not in his work.

Call it the world of secrets or as Angleton dubbed it the wilderness of mirrors, there is no doubt that the world of intelligence is full of surprises and interesting stories. That is exactly why from James Bond to Austin Powers and Johnny English you find such an open and at times subtle glorification of the profession in the popular media. Likewise, the story of counter-intelligence is equally important. How can I forget the story narrated to me by a retired army officer who during his intelligence test sold off all his father’s religious books as he was pretending to be a street bookseller as part of his cover during his test?

At times counter-intelligence from an unlikely source seems only too powerful. Indian counter-intelligence is considered to be quite classy. The Yanks actually claim that they were caught totally off guard at the time of the Pokharan nuclear tests. This claim seems unbelievable given the power of the US National Reconnaissance Office. Likewise, the US intelligence community hired an Indian citizen to serve as a mole in the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), but it was after ages that it dawned upon them that this man was part of RAW’s counter-intelligence activity and had been feeding details of RAW’s choice.

The world of intelligence is so big that something always keeps happening somewhere. But apart from the romantic portrayal, there is a degree of the fear factor that has crept into the story. People forget that the intelligence operatives of your own country and that of your supposed enemies are also human beings. If books like Tenet’s have made public anything, it is the fact that all intelligence practitioners are also human with equally complicated lives. Nor should it be forgotten that the operations of intelligence are based primarily on the idea of cultural other or even the presence of an enemy. How much is this concept real and how much make-believe is not every intelligence operative’s own choice.

From childhood, this topic has been of great interest to me. But that interest has only remained academic. I have gone through so much literature on this subject that I find it quite interesting to deconstruct each episode in the light of available facts, visible contradictions and personal speculation. I can only boast of being a student of intelligence history, but in the world of intelligence, history often proves to be a Rosetta stone for the unknown future. So let us join hands for this new voyage into the wilderness of mirrors.

Posted by farrukh at 08:44:44.

This piece is a milestone in my writing career. Apart from its content, what distinguishes it is the fact that almost at will I am not using the crude language that I so emotionally want to use against some of the powerful in this country. I am an ordinary man and reserve the right to vent my anger against the ones who are ruling this golden land. In the past, I managed to get away with my emotional outbursts several times. It might have been possible to get away with it this time as well, but honestly what is the point? My anger will only contribute to the already existing culture of intolerance. And this realisation makes me feel as if I have just come of age. It is a wonderful feeling and I suggest that our rulers should try exploring the virtues of anger management. I insist because it is simply nauseating to see the rulers going bananas and losing touch with good old maturity.

The events of the last three weeks have simply been heartrending because two things closest to my heart are so vociferously being assailed. Control freaks are now swarming the echelons of power and this country’s integrity and freedom of expression seem in serious jeopardy now.

It is thus very difficult to stay sane and calm. But before I proceed any further, I must apologise to my readers for praising an unworthy person in a past piece. In my column titled ‘Change of winds?’ (The Post, May 4, 2006) I had written about Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, “I have not met Muhammad Ali Durrani more than twice and that too in a state of flux. Yet I share many of his friends and former colleagues in Jamaat-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Insaaf and late Millat Party. All of them speak highly of him and remember him as a person keen to experiment with fresh ideas and committed to carrying out most difficult tasks.” Now when I go through these lines, I feel ashamed. To be fair, I could never have imagined that this man could wreak so much havoc for the media and insult the sensibilities of the common man so blatantly. He now advises us on the best ways through which media can exercise self-censorship and that too on the record! Can you believe this?

Now coming back to the tale of the control freaks. I find McCarthyism prevalent in this country with two methods. The first speaks too much of media ethics while forgetting about the responsibility of the other segments of society. The other as usual believes in banning everything that challenges the ways of the rulers. Only a few days before the May 12 tragedy, I found myself emphatically debating with my colleagues how best to cover an event of genocide or a humungous tragedy for television. I was advocating that the media should broadcast all the images that it could gather to highlight the proportion of the tragedy or massacre without thinking twice about the gravity of the scenes. Honestly touch your heart and tell me, would anybody from the ruling elite have accepted that anyone actually perished had the live footage of someone being killed in Karachi or dying in the Kashmir earthquake not be available through the media? I think not. The talk of media ethics is a double-edged sword. It is usually used when there is need for censorship. Otherwise, the media persons are also human beings and have very human values, hence thin chance of exploitation. And unlike public services like governance and health service, the media is clearly a business. People pay to watch television and read a copy of the newspaper. If the media does something irresponsible, people can comfortably switch the channel or the newspaper. You do not need PEMRA or cable operators to do the censorship for you. Times have changed and it is practically impossible to hold anything back from the people. And when confidential things like the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report appear first in the Indian papers before making their way to our hands, what is the purpose of all this secrecy? Banning or censoring a book or work means that you have made it popular enough without it actually being perused.

Take for instance the book of Dr Ayesha Siddiqa Agha. I usually do not try to obtain a book till the time it is not conveniently available in the market. But the fact that it has simply vanished from the market forced me to go an extra mile to secure a copy of Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy. It is now with me and I have only read the introduction. I have found the conceptual framework of ‘Milbus’ almost as charming as that of Nora Hamilton’s ‘rentier states’. It is a well-researched book and if you think that the common man is or can be kept oblivious of such issues, then you are grossly mistaken. The army’s prolonged stay in power has made it prone to criticism. The anti-Musharraf sentiments are now finding refuge in the anti-military slogans and I fret about the time when this anger would take the shape of anti-state wrath. Banning the book in this way, hounding its author and the related ISPR statement regarding the corps commanders’ meeting are all too ill-advised. The latter is more deadly because it drags the military back into the limelight for more criticism and if my information is correct, the response of the participants in that meeting was at best ambivalent and not as categorical as the statement maintained. These are the signs of a weakening dictatorship and a cry for the presence of a Plan B just in case things start falling apart too soon.

Now a few words on the crux of the matter. Do we think that a change is in sight? I believe yes. I cannot comment on the exact nature of the change, but the deadline for a change seems as close as the end of June. The budget session has usually proven to be quite onerous in the past for our rulers. Then see the global trends in the month of June. From Blair and Wolfowitz to Scooter Libby, the US administration is quickly losing all liabilities, both local and foreign in the very month of June. Then there are some other signals that I will not discuss until they are as clear as a day. All I can say is that the final time of reckoning is approaching very fast and all I know is the next government would be an unelected but popular civilian transition government meant to stay in office for at least a year. After all, when you see that all you are left with in the camp of your allies is folks like Ahmad Raza Kasuri, Sarfraz Nawaz, Sharifuddin Pirzada and Altaf Bhai, you must already know it is time to go. Better go in a civilised manner than otherwise. I believe in this context the current constitutional and media struggle will play a crucial role. We are all waiting for one magic word then: enough!
Courtesy The Post

Posted by farrukh at 08:24:07.

George Tenet in his book, At the Centre of the Storm, describes the CIA at the time of his joining as the burning platform. “If we did not work quickly to extinguish the blaze, the organisation and all of us in it would sink into the sea.” While I promise to do full justice to this book in my future pieces, as it was in my most anticipated books list, this vivid description seems pretty germane to the realities of Pakistan today. And that is exactly what I am about to discuss in the ensuing lines.

This country is indeed passing through the most defining moments of its history. Change is in the air, but it is no ordinary change. It is the first time that we are witnessing an ever-growing movement in support of constitutionalism and the rule of law. So overwhelming is the appeal of this struggle and so rational the basis that despite being rich in resources, the government opposing it appears nothing more than a weak league of pygmies. And since this league is ready to risk everything, including this country’s integrity in order to survive for a few more days, the case is that of a burning but critically important platform.

The events of recent months prove that the government is really blinking hard. Its writ has not only been challenged in practically all spheres of administration, but it has also decided to turn a blind eye to the excesses of its own supporters. Otherwise, how would you explain the sad happenings of Karachi? First it was the Chief Justice whose visit to Karachi could destabilise the country and now it is Imran Khan who can rock the province of Sindh. The question arises whether the government has lost all its marbles? Can a General who swore to protect the lives and property of his fellow citizens with his own life, allow the manslaughter of so many just to ensure his stay in the power echelons?

One evident casualty of this situation is the promise of elections. Musharraf and his coterie of sycophants keep parroting that the elections will take place soon, but please rest assured no such thing seems visible or even remotely possible in the coming months. This is true despite the solace that Musharraf has found in the company of Farooq Leghari. Leghari by the way also came to my mind when I read the details of Aimal Kasi’s arrest and execution in Tenet’s book. Is it not the same gentleman under whose careful watch a citizen of Pakistan was unceremoniously apprehended from his own constituency and sent to the US without any extradition treaty? Don’t they say, ‘Birds of a feather flock together’? A precursor of a grand elitist alliance against the people of this poor country?

The biggest disappointments of the recent days however are none other than Musharraf and the MQM. Despite his poor political image, I still had some respect for Musharraf as a brave and conscientious human being, strong enough to face himself when he was weak. However, his blind pursuit of power and this horrible appeasement of those who support him to ensure their own reign of terror have shaken my faith in humanity. And the MQM leadership has made it manifest that brute force and not democracy is close to its heart. The cheap tactics MQM has started using against Imran Khan and those who challenge its methods are downright shameful. First you kill people and expect people to succumb to your terror, and when people refuse to do that you start resorting to mudslinging. What did Imran Khan say wrong? Why else is Altaf Hussain so openly called Altaf Bhai or simply ‘Bhai’ hiding in London? Why does he not return to the country? Because he is wanted for crimes against humanity. I am sure by now the establishment of this country should be feeling proud of its inventions.

There are people who are really worried because there is no alternative leadership in sight. They fear that if Musharraf goes without a whimper, there would be utter chaos as if we are not living in chaotic times already. Nothing can be further from the truth. No doubt there are freeloaders like the Lal Masjid squad visible in the field who could wreak havoc. I hope you remember Asia 2025. And there is no gainsaying that in the coming days, the justice movement is bound to attain new intensity and hence may have serious repercussions for the government, but the answer to the question of alternative leadership is just a matter of connecting some dots. Initially I was expecting that Benazir would return to the country and take decisions to steer it out of crises, but that seems unlikely. On the contrary she has proven that she is oblivious to the ground realities of Pakistan. She still thinks that the future lies in a deal between her party and Musharraf. This is untrue. People are simply tired of all faces in the current dispensation. They want complete change and since she is not ready to return home immediately, she is unlikely to be our next ruler. But who else then is to be the source of our hope?

I was myself perturbed on this question until I watched a documentary on CNN on May 14 on the life of Imran Khan. Unlike Benazir and Nawaz Sharif, Justice Chaudhry, Aitzaz Ahsan and Imran Khan are prepared to face the music and to support the ongoing struggle. I foresee a pivotal role for them along with many other leaders in the next dispensation. The reason I believe that the next dispensation will be civilian and not military is partially due to the very nature of the movement and partly owing to the fact that Musharraf’s machinations have left the army without a clear successor. Is it not easy for all generals to agree on one civilian name rather than electing a new leader from among themselves? The result can be different too, but I see this to be the more likely outcome.

Those who think Imran Khan does not have enough electoral support should look again. The next dispensation will not be born as a result of elections, but a popular uprising. What matters today is the fact that the current movement is all about justice and that Imran’s party for a decade is called the movement for justice. Perhaps people have finally started understanding how important Imran’s message was when he started his political journey. As the captain of the Pakistan cricket team and the founder of the first cancer hospital of the country, he has already proven his administrative skills. Can he be the future of this country? As for the MQM propaganda regarding the daughter of Sita White and other such issues, let me assure you it is absolutely immaterial and irrelevant. Imran is not leading a religious party and other politicians in this country are also no angels. What matters the most is the fact that unlike the other secular leadership, Imran Khan is in this country and ready to face persecution. Benazir can of course restore her position if she decides to return to her country at once. But please remember that on this burning platform, the one who extinguishes the fire will be the leader.
Courtesy The Post

Posted by farrukh at 08:22:32.

As the PIA flight PK 334 took off from Karachi on May 15, we thought we were finally leaving the mayhem in the city behind. Many must have thought that they were finally out of danger of a sudden death caused by the administration’s ineptitude. After all, who could forget the sordid details of the bloody Saturday, May 12, and the television footage of people actually dying on the street? But such optimism was indeed very misplaced.
The plane was facing turbulence and the cabin crew was anxious to impress upon us, the ones sitting next to emergency exits, the effectual ways to manage any unforeseen crisis. Then we learnt through an announcement that the plane was taking a U-turn and returning to Karachi due to some technical reasons. Thanks to the evident emotional intelligence of the captain and his crew, nobody actually got a clue what a close brush to death it was. Upon landing, we learnt, not from any formal source of course, that the engine of the plane had stopped working midair, and the chamber containing it had developed a gap that could essentially lead to a crash. Despite being unaware of the gravity of the situation, something was telling me we were awfully close to a sudden demise. The immediate question that comes to my mind in such a situation is one: am I ready to die? Do not get me wrong. I am not talking about the choice of leaving this world, if at all we had a choice. I mean the readiness to face the irreversible process of the cosmic accountability that comes after death. I asked the very question and to my great amusement, the answer came that I was ready. I prayed for forgiveness and then relaxed with a broad grin. As long as my heart is pure, I have absolutely no reason to fear death, which often proves to be our best friend and willingly plays dice with us.
The story is not complete without mention of the evident heroism of the pilots and the cabin crew. Thanks to their effective crisis management, so many precious lives were rescued from danger. What happened next was more perturbing, as we had to wait for quite sometime and the journey cost us eight precious hours of our lives. But the condition of these aeroplanes is a huge cause for concern. This is important also because our government hardly cares about the value of human lives.
It is only obsessed with ensuring the inflow of foreign money into the country. Just consider the fact that when the plane crashed near Multan, the PIA chief was not asked to resign, yet when PIA was banned in Europe, he had to go.
In a way, Pakistan’s condition is more or less like the above mentioned plane. Its masonry is coming off from uncountable places. And despite such a vulnerable condition, it is exposed to the high altitude and the atmospheric pressure. But there is a difference too. Its crew is totally oblivious to the needs of the hour. Just take the recent episode in Karachi for instance. Is it not evident that it was MQM’s fault through and through? The Chief Justice’s schedule to visit Karachi was well known for ages. It was the MQM’s decision that came abruptly and out of the blue. Somehow the group was trying to warn the protesting lawyers not to come near its fiefdom. Is it not simply nerve-wracking that a political party in the government and the general in charge are both blaming only one man for his decision to exercise his freedom of movement and visit a city, when they themselves could be seen aiding and abetting the violence? Were the law enforcing agencies simply not invisible that day? Was it not clear that the rulers themselves wanted such a thing to happen? The question arises: who really wanted this to happen and why?
There are uncountable theories meant to answer this. First, that MQM played in the hands of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat who wanted to damage its image and by doing so, reduce the political competition in the field. If MQM is accepted finally as a horde of gangsters rather than a political group, the Chaudhrys certainly seem a much better option after all. The other theory is a bit more troublesome. Since a number of senior generals are ethnically Mohajirs, it was decided in some conspiratorial corner of the power echelons that if the MQM confronted the CJ and got violent, there would be a lukewarm reaction at best. While I did not find any proof to substantiate this claim, there is no doubt that there was not even a lukewarm reaction visible in the army. And then see how the CJ’s confidante was killed the next day. If you cannot see the method in this madness, you might even be ready to think that these lines are being written by a computer bug.
The MQM leaders tried to implicate their opponents in an alleged conspiracy. It is typical. Absolve yourself of all responsibility by blaming aliens for everything. I can say it with confidence that in most cases, there actually was no gun battle in Karachi. What we had was unprovoked firing by the MQM activists, in most cases. Again it is wrong to believe that even one MQM activist was killed that day. None of the tall tales are true. Those who died in Karachi were either from the opposition groups or poor pedestrians killed in the gunfire. If you still read names of the MQM activists killed in the newspapers, you have to understand it is nothing but the journalism of insecurity and fear.
And see how shamefully our federal rulers behaved on that fateful day. Could this man in uniform not even show more compassion towards the poor citizens killed? Could he for a few minutes pretend that he really cares about human life in this country? What would have gone wrong if he had tried? Alas, the captain of that plane was much more responsible than the captain of this sinking ship called Pakistan.

Courtesy The Post

Posted by farrukh at 18:39:19.

There is an eerie thing about the movement of important organisations in this country that they take time to get mobilised. It took our lawyers community and the judges quite some time to react to the threat posed by the presidential reference. Is the army is then about to be mobilised soon? We all agree that the situation will not help Musharraf. But this brinkmanship? I believe that the situation is being closely being monitored at GHQ in Rawalpindi and if the law and order situation worsens you may finally find some observable movement in the military quarters. Otherwise the situation may pose serious threat to federation. In other case it would be construed that the defence quarters of the country have given up the idea of defending the homeland and are prepared to let the country go to dogs.

Posted by farrukh at 04:17:16.

Meanwhile I am wondering is it the same army (the same government) which had displaced the previous democratically elected government just to save a few hundred human lives in an aeroplane that is now proving so reckless about human life in the country’s biggest city. While the CJ’s schedule was quite well known for some time, MQM announced its rally pretty late. Announcing the rally at such point in time and the government’s tolerance of such announcement reveals a blatant complacence. It seems the government really wanted people to die for some unknown reasons.

Posted by farrukh at 04:05:18.

Folks,
I know my readers have been clicking on this website with such frequency that the site went out of the bandwidth. And I have not been able to update the website regularly. Reason was simple. I had to switch between two jobs meanwhile. I resigned from Internews Pakistan and then joined an upcoming vernacular Channel called Rohi. And then I switched to Geo Television’s upcoming English news venture Geo English. While I remain the same reckless analyst I must submit here that all of my observations published here are absolutely my personal views and my employer should not be held responsible for any of my opinions.
Having said that I must update you that presently I am in Karachi owing to training reasons and could not find any time to update this space. However I will now start doing that. Meanwhile I am working to increase my bandwidth limit.
Karachi as you know today is burning. We are locked in our hotel and have been advised not to go out. But I am trying to maneuovre my space out of it.

Posted by farrukh at 03:55:28.

The General perspective

By Farrukh Khan Pitafi

As the end of the term for the incumbent assemblies approaches, a strange kind of muted chaos swarms the power corridors. The proverbial echelons of power indeed remain divorced from the dynamics on the street and an eerie lack of connection between the rulers and the ruled is getting only too visible. Whereas to the common man on the street hunger and abysmal impoverishment appear to be the most pressing problems, our rulers seem concerned only about one man’s prolonged stay in power. Details

Posted by farrukh at 14:44:56.

Breathing space | Future of dissent

27/04/2007

“Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognising it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. Details