The 'poor' neighbour

The launching of the mission to moon by India upset me a lot. Like why can't we do it? And I've always believed that India is way ahead of us particularly in science and technology. All WE are good at is arts. We have the greatest geniuses in music, singing, dancing, acting and writing. Why do we lack the science and the maths geniuses and the scientific minds, I still don't understand.

This article by William Dalrymple, entitled "The 'poor' neighbour", published on 14th August 2007 in Guardian was a teeny weeny little relief. I cannot help but posting all of it:

Amid all the hoopla surrounding the 60th anniversary of Indian independence, almost nothing has been heard from Pakistan, which turns 60 today. Nothing, that is, if you discount the low rumble of suicide bombings, the noise of automatic weapons storming the Red Mosque and the creak of slowly collapsing dictatorships.
In the world's media, never has the contrast between the two countries appeared so stark: one is widely perceived as the next great superpower; the other written off as a failed state, a world centre of Islamic radicalism, the hiding place of Osama bin Laden and the only US ally that Washington appears ready to bomb.

On the ground, of course, the reality is different and first-time visitors to Pakistan are almost always surprised by the country's visible prosperity. There is far less poverty on show in Pakistan than in India, fewer beggars, and much less desperation. In many ways the infrastructure of Pakistan is much more advanced: there are better roads and airports, and more reliable electricity. Middle-class Pakistani houses are often bigger and better appointed than their equivalents in India.

Moreover, the Pakistani economy is undergoing a construction and consumer boom similar to India's, with growth rates of 7%, and what is currently the fastest-rising stock market in Asia. You can see the effects everywhere: in new shopping centres and restaurant complexes, in the hoardings for the latest laptops and iPods, in the cranes and building sites, in the endless stores selling mobile phones: in 2003 the country had fewer than three million cellphone users; today there are almost 50 million.

Mohsin Hamid, author of the Booker long-listed novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, wrote about this change after a recent visit: having lived abroad as a banker in New York and London, he returned home to find the country unrecognisable. He was particularly struck by "the incredible new world of media that had sprung up, a world of music videos, fashion programmes, independent news networks, cross-dressing talkshow hosts, religious debates, and stock-market analysis".

I knew, of course, that the government of Pervez Musharraf had opened the media to private operators. But I had not until then realised how profoundly things had changed. Not just television, but private radio stations and newspapers have also flourished in Pakistan over the past few years. The result is an unprecedented openness. Young people are speaking and dressing differently. Views both critical and supportive of the government are voiced with breathtaking frankness in an atmosphere remarkably lacking in censorship. Public space, the common area for culture and expression that had been so circumscribed in my childhood, has now been vastly expanded. The Vagina Monologues was recently performed on stage to standing ovations.

Little of this is reported in the western press, which prefers its sterotypes simple: India-successful; Pakistan-failure. Nevertheless, despite the economic boom, there are three serious problems that Pakistan will have to sort out if it is to continue to keep up with its giant neighbour - or indeed continue as a coherent state at all.

One is the fundamental flaw in Pakistan's political system. Democracy has never thrived here, at least in part because landowning remains almost the only social base from which politicians can emerge. In general, the educated middle class - which in India seized control in 1947, emasculating the power of its landowners - is in Pakistan still largely excluded from the political process. As a result, in many of the more backward parts of Pakistan the local feudal zamindar can expect his people to vote for his chosen candidate. Such loyalty can be enforced. Many of the biggest zamindars have private prisons and most have private armies.

In such an environment, politicians tend to come to power more through deals done within Pakistan's small elite than through the will of the people. Behind Pakistan's swings between military governments and democracy lies a surprising continuity of interests: to some extent, the industrial, military, landowning and bureaucratic elites are now all related and look after one another. The current rumours of secret negotiations going on between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, the exiled former prime minister, are typical of the way that the civil and military elites have shared power with relatively little recourse to the electorate.

The second major problem that the country faces is linked with the absence of real democracy, and that is the many burgeoning jihadi and Islamist groups. For 25 years, the military and Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have been the paymasters of myriad mujahideen groups. These were intended for selective deployment first in Afghanistan and then Kashmir, where they were intended to fight proxy wars for the army, at low cost and low risk. Twenty-eight years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, however, the results have been disastrous, filling the country with thousands of armed but now largely unemployed jihadis, millions of modern weapons, and a proliferation of militant groups.

While the military and intelligence community in Pakistan may have once believed that it could use jihadis for its own ends, the Islamists have followed their own agendas. As the recent upheavals in Islamabad have dramatically shown, they have now brought their struggle on to the streets and into the heart of the country's politics.

The third major issue facing the country is its desperate education crisis. No problem in Pakistan casts such a long shadow over its future as the abject failure of the government to educate more than a fraction of its own people: at the moment, a mere 1.8% of Pakistan's GDP is spent on government schools. The statistics are dire: 15% of these government schools are without a proper building; 52% without a boundary wall; 71% without electricity.

This was graphically confirmed by a survey conducted two years ago by the former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician, Imran Khan, in his own constituency of Mianwali. His research showed that 20% of government schools supposed to be functioning in his constituency did not exist at all, a quarter had no teachers and 70% were closed. No school had more than half of the teachers it was meant to have. Of those that were just about functioning, many had children of all grades crammed into a single room, often sitting on the floor in the absence of desks.

This education gap is the most striking way in which Pakistan is lagging behind India: in India, 65% of the population is literate and the number rises every year: only last year, the Indian education system received a substantial boost of state funds.

But in Pakistan, the literacy figure is under half (it is currently 49%) and falling: instead of investing in education, Musharraf's military government is spending money on a cripplingly expensive fleet of American F-16s for its air force. As a result, out of 162 million Pakistanis, 83 million adults of 15 years and above are illiterate. Among women the problem is worse still: 65% of all female adults are illiterate. As the population rockets, the problem gets worse.

The virtual collapse of government schooling has meant that many of the country's poorest people have no option but to place their children in the madrasa system, where they are guaranteed an ultra-conservative but free education, often subsidised by religious endowments provided by the Wahhabi Saudis.

Altogether there are now an estimated 800,000 to one million students enrolled in Pakistan's madrasas. Though the link between the madrasas and al-Qaida is often exaggerated, it is true that madrasa students have been closely involved in the rise of the Taliban and the growth of sectarian violence; it is also true that the education provided by many madrasas is often wholly inadequate to equip children for modern life in a civil society.

Sixty years after its birth, India faces a number of serious problems - not least the growing gap between rich and poor, the criminalisation of politics, and the flourishing Maoist and Naxalite groups that have recently proliferated in the east of the country. But Pakistan's problems are on a different scale; indeed, the country finds itself at a crossroads. As Jugnu Mohsin, the publisher of the Lahore-based Friday Times, put it recently, "After a period of relative quiet, for the first time in a decade, we are back to the old question: it is not just whether Pakistan, but will Pakistan survive?" On the country's 60th birthday, the answer is by no means clear.

A 'great' leader

Taliban part 2?

According to a news report the Americans with the Pakistani officials are going to provide ammunitions to the anti-Taliban forces in the tribal areas to help eliminate the Taliban.

It is now a well established fact that the Taliban were trained by the CIA with the help of ISI in order to defeat the Soviets and now they are providing arms to the anti-Taliban forces to defeat the Taliban and then they will create another group to defeat the anti-Taliban forces?

Colgate Smile

I dont like his teeth. I dont like his colgate smile, I dont like his hyena laugh. What reason has he got to smile like that? He has got 16 billion people to look after, a failing economy to tend to, the American forces to combat. He has got the blood on his face of so many people dying daily in his country. He has got people spending their days in nights in candle light, people not getting flour, dying of hunger. He has got a neighbouring country violating the Sindh Water Treaty by building dam on and blocking the water of Chenab. The same country is establishing its intelligence roots in Afghanistan, doing war practices with America in the Arabian sea. What reason has he got to smile? Why does he laugh? Provided the circumstances he should be suffering from insomnia. He should have indigestions, he should be reduced to skin and bone due to worries and tensions and pressure. But no...there he is flourishing and growing blatantly. But then, the people of this country chose him themselves!

Benazir Bhutto

With all those French, Polish, Spanish and Swiss charges of money laundering against her, her 1.5 billion dollar assets and statements like "We will hand over AQ Khan to America" and "We will allow Americal troops to find Osama in Pakistan", Benazir was never my favourite. I never liked her coming back, I hated the NRO. But what happened yesterday never ever crossed my mind. The news had me moved quite a lot. Its another national tragedy in the history of Pakistani politics. Her father was hanged in the same city. The first Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated in the same place as where she was addressing people, hence the name Liaqat Bagh (formerly it was called Company Bagh). And its not just her, so many other innocent lives that have gone waste, so many other lives that will be wasted in the coming days in protests. Pakistan has never been stable politically since its creation. Will it ever be? Its all a game of gaining power. Leaders killing, sacking, sending to exile each other. They shouldnt be called leaders by the way if it is just power that they strive for. And the common people, well they have never been a matter of interest at higher levels.

People responsible for her assassination can possibly be:

*The Chaudhrys and the remains of Zia ul Haq as she had said herself that they wanted her removed. (In which the government administration stands responsible too...how did the assassin manage to get through the security gates with weapons and bomb unnoticed? In that case it all seems pre planned)

*The family of her brother Mir Murtaza, who believed that she was responsible for Murtaza's killing.

*Islamic millitants who might have wanted her removed because of her pro American views.

*Other anti Pakistani forces who wanted to destabilise the country even more.

Will we ever be able to stop this blood shed? Will the transfer of power be ever smooth in Pakistan? I think Pakistan needs a complete revolution. Thats the only solution. A strong dedicated person taking over everything and putting the country on the right path.

Her feudal lord

I am totally dazzled by Tehmina Durrani's My feudal lord. What a brave woman she is! She suffered before writing the book and even more after it. Her honesty about the book can be doubted but how her own people turned a cold shoulder to her after its publication is a proof that most part of the book is truth. This book revolves around love and politics. I saw very different aspects of both these areas, both areas of my interest :) First Il describe love.

When Tehmina met Ghulam Mustafa Khar (the famous PPP leader, called the Lion of Punjab and notorious for seven marriages) for the first time she was married and had a daughter and so was Mustafa(with her fifth wife). They fell in love, divorced their previous spouses and got married. Ghulam Mustafa Khar belongs to a feudal family who have strict rules and traditions and who cannot break them. Parties, dinners, cigars, dogs, hunting were his particulars. Having a feudal mind, Mustafa's love for Tehmina was very intense. He was owerpowered by jealousy. He had strict rules for her, she couldnt go anywhere without his permission. He even used to beat her, sometimes so violently that she bled, that too on trivial matters. He wouldnt allow her to go to a male gynecologist. But every time he beat her he used to repent afterwards. He would know his tyranny instantly and would beg her to forgive him. He would even cry sometimes in her lap. Tehmina says that it was very strange to see the Lion of Punjab shattered to pieces like that. Love can reduce such a strong man to an intimidated mouse. She left him several times but he used to become pathetic after her. He used to beg her to return, admitting all his mistakes. But he would never give up his violence too. Once Mustafa kidnapped her children and sent them to Pakistan while they were in London, conditioning their retrun with her return only. She had to cave in. She suffered it for eleven years. Just to give an example of a feudal mind below is a picture of Fakhra Younas, wife of Mustafa's son from previous marriage. He threw acid on his wife's face. This just one of the women in our society who suffered the same fate. Poor women. Along with her is Tehmina.

It was due to continued efforts of Tehmina that Mustafa was released after spending three years of incarceration. The differences continued and she finally got a divorce after eleven years of marriage. The conclusion I drew, Mustafa wrote himself to Tehmina while in prison, 'All the great legends of love end in tragedy...their love was intenst, NOT PRACTICAL AND BALANCED. You cannot find balance in love, which is why you have to be prepared to carry its burden if you want love.' Well....thats right I guess. Intense love is not practical(at least in our social setup) but if is practical, conditioned to rules then I dont think its love. Its nothing more than a commitment ;) Here I remember a verse of Daagh Dehelvi

Lutf woh ishq main paaye hain ke ji janta hai

Ranj bhi aisay uthaye hain ke ji janta hai

I think that Tehmina must admit to this :) Its not that im supporting violence on women. I cannot even think of that. In our society women are victims. They suffer a lot of injustice. Tehmina did too. But she fought back for which she had to pay a heavy price. Her father disinherited her, she lost all her assets to Mustafa, she was charged for treason and adultery. Why did God have to make women weaker? Mustafa now has a seventh wife and Tehmina is married to Shehbaz Sharif (brother of Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N leader)

Now comes politics. A common man never comes to know what games are played by politicians for power. Many things would not have become public had Tehmina not written this book. In order to remove Zia from power, Mustafa and Bhutto's sons had decided to assassinate him. Mustafa met the Indian Prime Mininster who decided to help them achieve this purpose. Indian intelligence was involved thus. They helped transfer a lot of ammunition to Pakistan through Indian border. But on the day of operation the whole conspiracy was caught by Pakistani officials and the plan failed. The nation never knew that.

Emergency

The constitution gives President the power to proclaim emergency in a province or in the whole country if

the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security of Pakistan, or any part is threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond the power of a Provincial Government to control (who reads the conditions anyways; the president has the power to proclaim emergency thats enough)

The president issues a Provisional Constitutional Order which enumerates the details of emergency


The Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) is not known yet but the effects of emergency and the powers confered to the government are following:

*The parliment gets the power to make any kind of laws, even those not enlisted in the Federal Legislative List. (i.e. it can make un-constitutional laws)

*Such a law would cease to have effect six months after the proclamation of emergency.

*The parliment can extend the term of National Assembly for one year.

*The following fundamental rights are suspended:
Freedom of movement
Freedom of assembly
Freedom to form associations/unions
Freedom of trade, business or profession
Freedom of speech
Protection of property rights

(i.e. the government can do anything to you, if you move, if you talk against them. They can scatch your property. They can put you in jail for no reason and they can not be held accountable for that)

*Any courts working for the enforcement of fundamental rights shall remain suspended.

*If the National Assembly stands dissolved at the time when a Proclamation is issued, the Proclamation shall continue in force for a period of three months but, if a general election to the Assembly is not held before the expiration or that period, it shall cease to be in force at the expiration of that period unless it has earlier been approved by a resolution of the Senate.

*The validity of Proclamation or any order made under proclamation can not be called in question in any court.

Under such powers what they have done first is to kick out the Chief Justice(their ultimate rival) from the supreme court building. He was verbally said that his services are not required any more (geo tv web site). Secondly the media was taking too much advantage of a general's leniency. It had to be taught a lesson. And I should better stop writing lest the officials drop by my blog and give me some hard time.

The NRO: injustice, fraud

The National Reconciliation Ordinance 2007 contains seven sections most of which are an amendment of National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999. Subsection 2 of section 2 says

'The Federal Government or a Provincial Government may, before the judgment is pronounced by a trial court, withdraw from the prosecution of any person including an absconding accused who is found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimization in any case initiated between 1st day of January, 1986 to 12th day of October, 1999.'

Subsection 3 says

'For the purposes of exercise of powers under sub-section (2) the Federal Government and the Provincial Government may each constitute a Review Board to review the entire record of the case and furnish recommendations as to their withdrawal or otherwise.'

After reading these two provisions one must think about the role of judiciary itself. The federal and the provincial governments are being given the power to withdraw any case pending in the court if they find the accused to be falsely involved for political reasons. Now this is exactly what the role of judiciary is. Wether the accused is falsely involved or otherwise will be decided by the court and this is why the accused were tried. Why does the federal and the provincial governments have to intervene? What is the role of judiciary then? And secondly why specifically from the period of 1986 to 1999? Were people falsely involved only in this period? Before 1986 and after 1999 the crimes were genuine crimes? Then the federal and the provincial governments can constitute a Review Board to review the entire record of the case. Again this is the job of the courts. The federal and the provincial governments have more important things to do.

Section 7 says:

Withdrawal and termination of prolonged pending proceedings initiated prior to 12th October, 1999.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance or any other law for the time being in force, proceedings under investigation or pending in any court including a High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan initiated by or on a reference by the National Accountability Bureau inside or outside Pakistan, requests for mutual assistance and civil party to proceedings initiated by the Federal Government before the 12th day of October, 1999 against holders of public office stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect and such holders of public office shall also not be liable to any action in future as well under this Ordinance for acts having been done in good faith before the said date;
Provided that those proceedings shall not be withdrawn and terminated which relate to cases registered in connection with the cooperative societies and other financial and investment companies or in which no appeal, revision or constitutional petition has been filed against final judgment and order of the Court or in which an appellate or revisional order or an order in constitutional petition has become final or in which voluntary return or plea bargain has been accepted by the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau.

(2) No action or claim by way of suit, prosecution, complaint or other civil or criminal proceeding shall lie against the Federal, Provincial or Local Government, the National Accountability Bureau or any of their officers and functionaries for any act or thing done or intended to be done in good faith pursuant to the withdrawal and termination of cases under sub-section (1) unless they have deliberately misused authority in violation of law.

Look what we are doing in the name of national reconciliation. It is a humiliation of the judiciary and NAB. It means the courts have been wasting their time for so long hearing those cases? And why in the first place should the cases be withdrawn and that too against holders of public office. Before october 1999 if any one was murdered, if money was laundered, if corruption was done, are we going to give liberty to people responsible of such acts that easy? We are giving freedom to the obvious beneficiary of this ordinance, the chairperson PPP against whom there are charges of corruption and money laundering in the courts of not only Pakistan but also Switzerland, Poland, France and Middle East. According to this ordinance that was all done in good faith? For a split second if we believe that they are sorry for what they did, what is the guarantee that they will not do it again? Not only this, the government has also exempted itself from any possible trouble by making another provision that no action can be made against the government for withdrawing and terminating such cases.
The minister for information confessed yerterday that it was all done on the demands of the United States. (Nawa-e-waqt) Pakistan is America's.