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Posts tagged Politics
Fate of Pak democracy – Promised column – Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (Come Off It, Folks)
Apr 6th
It is astounding how we mortals often take our own selves more seriously than what we are. A clear example is the struggle going on within Pakistan. Perhaps it is because we take up a principle and weave our lives and often our businesses around it. Once that principle is out of vogue or has changed beyond trace (oh yes, the principles that we prefer to call ‘universal truths’ or deep rooted principles also change with time), we find ourselves really in a fix. More >
The Great Mandate Robbery – Machinations of Musharraf Regime
Mar 20th
As soon as the popular verdict was known the incumbent government’s moles with the aid of some foreign diplomats moved with a clear view to sabotage the popular choices. The first attempt made was to cajole and coax the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to form a government without the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). That attempt as evident on March 19 blew up in their faces. But they did not give up. This is strange because a day before the elections, the PML(Q) leadership published a full page advertisement in the papers asking that had the 1970 election results been accepted by all, would Bangladesh have been created? It was a shrewd, albeit cruel, ploy to keep the opposition parties away from pre-empting the probable electoral rigging through protests. However, the league of the general has forgotten its own message. The inaugural sessions of the Provincial Assemblies have not yet been convened, which given the federal nature of the mandate seems a terrible risk. Is it that those who ruled the Islamic Republic for the last eight years are signalling us that if they do not stay in power, there would be no need for the federation itself? More >
The Roots of Anti-Islamism
Mar 18th
On March 16, 2001 several youths allegedly attacked two Muslims who were standing outside their mosque in
Friday column on the restoration of judiciary: Whither radical agenda?
Mar 13th
Only recently the US Ambassador to Pakistan was quoted by the national press, pressing Shahbaz Sharif to give up his radical position on the restoration of judges. This report, regardless of its veracity, sums up the essence of the US attitude towards the problem. Unfortunately, things do not end here. Apparently some Western intellectuals have also joined the bandwagon. On March 11, I received an e-mail from a Thomas Houlahan who, apart from mentioning that he was the Director of the Military Assessment Programme, Centre for Security and Science, Washington DC, also drew my attention to his report on the judicial crisis in Pakistan. More >
Who is afraid of Asif Ali Zardari?
Mar 11th
Over last two days Makhdoom Amin Fahim, has shed all pretense and come out blackmailing the party exactly on the lines of the notoriously dubbed Operation Goodnight Plan. He is repeatedly reminding us that he is the President of the PML-Q (oh sorry I meant Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians). Since I am neither member of any party nor a stakeholder I am not keen to mince my words. However I also have no interest in blaming a man that I have respected thus far. Yet I cannot forget that the entire Operation Goodnight Plan (OGP) was meant to hijack the popular mandate with the help of Amin Fahim, the Election Commission and Musharraf’s cronies. More >
Musharraf’s game plan: Is Pakistan preparing war with India?
Mar 11th
Pakistanis might be weary of Pervez Musharraf, yet many a foreigners are not. Yesterday, a Turk general, what knowledge does a Turk general have I ask you, claimed that Pakistan would Talibanize if Musharraf goes. I have long started believing that our foreign Muslim friends are nothing but a liability for us. Not only do they not seize to drag us into international moral dilemmas where we have to take a clearly partisan approach, damaging our own diplomacy in return, but also actively their own politics inside Pakistan. The sectarian wars of 1990s were brought to us courtesy the proxy struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Tell me why should we pay any heed to the Muslim causes when almost all Muslim countries brandish the credentials of a butcher when it comes to Pakistan. More >
