Saturday, March 18, 2017
Are Christians Of Pakistan Living in The Pakistan Jinnah Created?
Numerous cases of the desecration of the Holy Quran have surfaced in recent time. The blame always lands on the Christian of Pakistan. The background of Christians residing in Pakistan is diverse. On top of that they contribute tirelessly to the major health care sector as nurses and to the education sector as teachers.
Under the reign of president Zia ul Haq, Islamisation started in Pakistan this meant the enforcement of Islamic penal code and high restrictions to the rights of non-Muslims. They could not even give evidence in court. This marginalized the Christian minority in Pakistan. It secluded Christians from every walk of life.
Separate electorates, separate representation and a very meager share of the basic human rights the national of a country is supposed to have, Amendments to law were made to suit the Muslims of the country and are still twisted to be against the Christians living in the country. Living examples of this are the hoards of blasphemy cases which surface everyday. There is no escape for a Christian of any other recognized minority in Pakistan.
Recently came the lifting of the ban on death penalty and innocent Christians like Aftab Bahadur Masih were hanged. The fear that resides in us now is that no one knows how many Christians will be hanged? How many will face death penalty as there are hundreds who are in jail and there is no way they can come out.
Even in the small thing in life for instance education and employment, Christians are barred at some point. Opportunities are less and even if a Christian manages to rise to a status he or she becomes a target in the eyes of many.
The question that arises over here is that are we living in the Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah created? Is everyone an equal citizen of this country? Constitutional changes are desperately needed and until this does not happen, there is no hope.
Pakistan - Much ado about Haqqani
An article written by Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the United States, has kicked off a storm in Pakistan. Haqqani’s article states that the Obama Administration managed to place intelligence assets within Pakistan to help track Osama Bin Laden. The civilian government under President Zardari approved the request. These assets may have facilitated the May 2011 operation by US Navy Seals to find and kill Bin Laden without Pakistan’s knowledge.
Almost all the political parties and TV talking heads have construed Haqqani’s narrative as an admission of facilitating CIA thereby harming Pakistan’s security interests. The media rumpus and impending resolutions in the Parliament constitute much ado about nothing. The way Haqqani tells it, this was all done in full knowledge of the then PPP government. The latter’s distancing itself from the comments has not proved sufficient in quelling its opponents’ thirst for political blood. For some in the party, Haqqani may have, perhaps inadvertently, thrown the PPP under the bus. But it really is no biggie. Our politicians need to readjust their focus. There are two issues of import here. Haqqani’s account follows the official line that the hunt for Bin Laden was a CIA go-it-alone adventure conducted without the knowledge of the Pakistani security establishment. This view has been meticulously debunked by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh. Ironically, Haqqani’s comments unwittingly let Pakistan’s security establishment off the proverbial hook. Both complicity and negligence on our part are perturbing scenarios.
Second, and more worrying, is how the conventional line that the Abbottabad raid hurt the national interest is being reinforced. The unsaid flip side of this dictates that holding the Al Qaeda chief prisoner for five year was in the national interest. According to one Hersh source, the then ISI chief was blunt in his explanation of the perceived strategic pay-off. It goes something like this: the ISI were using Bin Laden as leverage against the possibility that Al Qaeda and Taliban activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan took a turn against its diktats. Were this to happen — the spooks would take revenge by handing over Bin Laden to the Americans. Needless to say, Bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan remains an issue of far greater significance than how many visas were granted to Americans and with whose authorisation. Thus instead of wasting time political chest thumping, our parliamentarians would do well to heed the old adage of never looking a gift horse in the mouth. They should, with full support of the media, revisit the Abbottabad Commission Report and demand its immediate declassification. Failure to do this will be far greater a crime than a former ambassador’s momentary bragging.
Pakistan - Myth of accountability
Afrasiab Khattak
The accountability discourse has suffered mutilation and deformation of Himalayan proportions with the expansion of electronic media and its “freedom”. The term media trial is not sufficient to describe what transpires in the prime time talk shows of TV networks. There are many reasons for it. One, the semi-democratic nature of Pakistani state system determines the monopoly of the deep state over defining almost all dimensions of national narrative. ISPR’s word is supposed to be the last word on any issue. As if that isn’t enough, the so called defense analysts don’t lag behind the spokespersons of political parties in projecting the views of the deep state on any issue under the sun which leads to thought control. Two, in other countries of the world, where freedom of expression exists, there are strong and effective laws on defamation and damages. Media outlets or networks involved in publishing or broadcasting lies for maligning other people or inciting violence are taken to task by courts. A recent judgment of a court in London imposing heavy fine on a Pakistani TV channel operating in UK is a case in point. On the contrary Pakistani torts and defamation laws aren’t strong enough to discourage media from indulging in negative practices. Three, although the masses and political workers are struggling for democracy and have rendered heroic sacrifices against dictatorships of all kinds, the political leadership has failed to translate those efforts into the supremacy of the Constitution and elected Parliament. The dominance of a patronage culture has been the major obstacle in gaining a higher moral ground on the part of the political leadership which seems to be content with becoming just a partner in power.
Rampant corruption in most of the state institutions has been eating into the vitals of the democratic system. Unfortunately neither the institutional machinery inherited from the colonial state or new institutions created for fighting corruption have delivered, as they have been confined to selective accountability, witch-hunts and political victimisation. Some powerful institutions have simply refused accountability all together. Consequently substance has been replaced by rhetoric on this issue. Most recently the slogan of accountability has become a stick to beat one’s opponents with.
Be that as it may, the recent uproar over an article of Mr Hussain Haqqani published in the Washington Post has brought to the fore the twisted nature of Pakistani discourse on accountability. With a few noble exceptions the rating hungry electronic media went for the kill without bothering about rationality or fairness of the argument. At least in one Urdu TV channel I saw a ticker purportedly based on a message from a viewer demanding hanging of Mr. Hussain Haqqani. Now we know that there is no FIR or criminal complaint against Mr. Haqqani and he hasn’t been put on any type of court trail. How can someone say such an irresponsible thing against Mr Haqqani or anyone else and get away with it? Interestingly the Abbottabad Commission Report that can clarify most of the controversies involved in the debate about Mr Haqqani’s article remains under wraps. The Publication of the said report can not only put most of the controversies to rest but can also apportion responsibility paving ground for trails. If the aforementioned report finds Mr Haqqani in violation of any law or procedure no one will have any problem with his prosecution. But that doesn’t seem to be a priority. Is it surprising? Haven’t we been here before? The worst thing that has happened to this country during the seven decades of its existence was its disintegration in 1971. A Supreme Court Commission known as Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission investigated the debacle, apportioned responsibility and recommend trails. But the report never saw the light of the day inside Pakistan because the then political government (supposed to be the strongest) didn’t dare putting Generals on trail.
Total failure of the state in prosecuting the abrogators of the country’s Constitution is another instance of the myth of accountability in Pakistan. Article 6 of the 1973 Constitution describes abrogation of the Constitution as high treason punishable with death sentence. Even if we forget about the martial laws imposed by General Ayub Khan and General Agha Mohammad Yahya that happened before the 1973 Constitution, there have been at least four instances of abrogation of the Constitution (with General Musharraf having the dubious distinction of abrogating the Constitution twice). The only serious effort for prosecuting an abrogator was seen when General Musharraf was arraigned before a special tribunal some time ago. But we witnessed the brazen manipulations that led to General Musharraf’s escape from the trail and interestingly he has been bragging about it. Breaking a traffic signal seems to be a more serious offense in Pakistan than breaking the country’s Constitution!
Yet another example of the myth of accountability is the weird debate about banning social media in Pakistan. Like every other medium social media has its pros and cons. It is a powerful medium presenting new and serious challenges to the authoritarian control over media. Curbing dissent in its presence has become impossible. It has empowered the suppressed masses by providing a forum for raising issues that could never find space in the so-called mainstream media. But some criminal elements, including extremists and terrorists have also started using it for promoting their nefarious designs. There aren’t two opinions about legal mechanisms for eliminating cyber crime. But the deep state doesn’t seem to be even inclined to go by the rather draconian Prevention of Cyber Crime Act. The kidnapping of bloggers and the subsequent fascist campaign clearly show that an atmosphere is being created to block all social media instead of weeding out cyber crime. It’s like killing the patient instead of eliminating the disease.
Pakistan needs a robust and effective constitutional system for across the board accountability with no holy cows and no witch-hunts. But the country also needs a truth and reconciliation commission for bringing the painful and troubling issues of the past to a closure.
Pakistan - A Laughing Stock
It seems as if the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the National and Punjab assemblies, investigative bodies and political parties collectively do not have anything better to do, other than finding content that infuriates them, which can easily be avoided if the enraged members of the state just decide to not go out of their way in their search. At the same time, why is the government taking the IHC’s decision so seriously and is in a rush to implement it, when this proactive attitude was nowhere to be found in implementing the National Action Plan (NAP)?
The entire issue of the impossibility of monitoring social media seems lost on the government as well. But even if we ignore that, labelling the suspects as part of a ‘gang’ already presumes guilt where there might be none.
Not only that, but it also makes it sound like the suspected blasphemers have made inflammatory remarks on purpose, with the stakes in mind. As we have seen in the past, the issue of blasphemy and the accusations surrounding it are never this black and white. What one says may be construed as blasphemy even though the meaning behind was entirely different. Looking at public statements on social media and viewing them with this binary lens is not sensible.
Calling the presumed blasphemers a “gang” makes them sound much more sinister than they probably are. Surely there are better things we should be looking into, such as countering the terrorist threat, instead of starting a mass campaign which will only reflects our skewed priorities.
We have already been made an international laughing stock on more than one occasion for attempting to block the unblockable. This second attempt will only make the government look even more foolish. It is in the best interests of the country to allow freedom of speech and look to steer clear of anything that hurts our sentiments, instead of losing our tolerance at every perceived insult.
Former President of Pakistan Zardari hopes US continues to develop Pakistan's economy
Former President of Pakistan and currently PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari penned an article for an international magazine in which he hoped the United States of America continues to develop Pakistan's economy and more cooperation between the two states in fighting against militancy in the country.
In his recent article in Forbes magazine, Zardari stated that US and Pakistan have jointly done well against extremists by dismantling Al-Qaeda's network and rooted out extremists' safe havens. However, he claimed that Pakistan had suffered huge economic losses as a result of directly fighting terrorists.
"These successes come at no small price. Pakistan has lost over 60,000 people, both civilian and military, as a direct result of offensives against terrorist networks. The economic cost to Pakistan is currently above $60 billion and continues to climb," he writes.
He was quite critical of the Congress' initiative to cut down reimbursements to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), claiming that such measure coupled with Congress' decision to block much-needed sales of F-16s to Pakistan have resulted in extremists are 'slipping over the border' to undermine the whole effort. Zardari also warned of the waning community partnerships which are crucial in beating militants.
"Pakistani civilians are war-weary and feel abandoned, their sacrifices undermined. This is perhaps the most dangerous result, as community partnerships are critical in a fight against non-state actors," he stated. "To prevent unnecessary backsliding and the tragic costs that follow, we must renew our common goals and craft a streamlined strategy that galvanizes both the military and civilians in this war of ideas."
Zardari also criticised Nawaz Sharif's current era, claiming that transparency and dramatic values under the current PM have experienced a backslide.
"Today, my party stands as the only organization that is unambiguous in his fight against terrorism and violent extremism—offering a comprehensive strategy that encompasses coordinated civilian leadership and action. And despite a backslide in transparency and democratic values under Nawaz Sharif, foundations built during this early pivot have yielded tangible results," she said.
Pakistan and abuse of religion
Dr. Khurshid Alam
Pakistani ruling elites hold Pakistan acrimonious to Islam and proudly claims that it was the first country which was carved from the belly of India in the name of Islam. Unless one has detailed knowledge of philosophy, one cannot use it for a particular mission. Every mission needs a driving force and the religious scholars were not a driving political force at the time of partition of India. The fathers of the country were liberal folks and the co-sailors were the affluent Muslims and vested interests. The driving force was an abhor for Hindus, which surfaced when a bluff was called by clergy.
Muslim leaguers were more interested in a confederation of India but demanding an equal share in power. The slogan of separate state was used as a “bluff” which bounced back on them; thanks to a section in the Indian national congress led by Mr. Patel & Nehru who refused to accept and allowed them to go ahead for separate country in spite of accepting the proposal of cabinet mission after initial refusal (Bluff). There were multiple reasons:
On congress side it was the unacceptable equal sharing of power, slimming of a huge minority to a manageable size and their profound belief that it would not survive. On Leaguer side, it was the thirst for political power and incompetence of political leadership to compete with battle hardened seasoned political leadership of All India congress.
The same was the case of Muslim industrial magnets to get a protected enclave. Even the logic doesn’t support that with the distribution of Muslim population in India, any sane mind would have gone for a separate state, leaving behind an almost equal population of Muslim behind in India. My narrative is proved by the speech of M.A.Jinnah at Palam (now Indira Gandhi) airport while addressing the “left behind Muslims” and advising them to be the good citizen of their country. Jinnah never abandoned his wish to spend his retirement age in Bombay.
British interest in the creation of Pakistan is understandable that they could not use India for their international interest and secondly to have a ring of Muslim states around the then godless USSR. The last governor of North West Frontier did write to the governor of Bombay to use his good offices and convince the viceroy that a nationalist Afghanistan/ Pakhtunistan will be as effective as a Muslim State but the viceroy refused to heed. This new found love for Pakistan was uncomprehending able. When Gen Raheel says that the partition was incomplete, I say it is flawed as well as it was against the wish of the elected government and recommendation of their own nominated governor and carries more weight than Kashmir.
The Islamists jumped onto the bandwagon when they found that the Congress has slammed the door on the face of the “Bluff”. The League was used as a ship of a Hindu to go for pilgrimage, in the words of Maulana Shabir Usmani. This class did have a quest of the imperial past. Islam was used for the political end. Pakistan was in fact not an Islamic but a precedence of hatred followed by Israel, Timor, and southern Sudan.
From the founding fathers to the subsequent rulers, none of the rulers was practising Muslim, if Islam is not to hate Hindus and Afghans/ Pashtun. Even the father of radicalization, Zia didn’t utter a word about Islam from 77 to 81 when the Russian landed in Afghanistan, in the words of Abdul Wali Khan. How could Zia miss the golden opportunity to legitimise his illegitimate government and get the perks of frontline state and to get rid of Mr Bhutto shadow? His foxy nature apart but he did give free hand to clerics who were in waiting and invited unholy war into our fatherland. The blood let started by him is still going on unabated and has assumed more beastly oddity.
They have erased the infrastructure to the land but the drama is carried to the logical end to weaken the will of destroyed Afghans to accept Durand line and create a strategic depth. Islam was not in danger from a change of regime in Kabul because there were several changes in Pakistan but Kabul never felt a threat perception. The threat to the country was from the rulers of Pakistan. It was Zia to convert Islam into sectarianism and the fortress of Islam was made the safe haven for unholy warriors or terrorists. It was a marathon run for surrogacy and associated perks. An obsession to be at par with India. The rulers really masturbated with the religion if I may be excused for the word but no other word could express the atrociousness of their crime. Even the military commands were changed to religious commands and minorities including Shia Muslims have a rough time in the army.
Islam has become a narrative of crimes, hatred, intolerance and jihad has become synonymous with terrorism. Pakistan has become the flagship of terror. Terrorism is the fifth pillar of the state structure. I am yet to remember in sixty years that state has ever celebrated a day of peace and prosperity but defence day, Kashmir day, Atomic explosion day all signify the genetic coercion in the state structure. It is utter rubbish that the only army is involved. Though they have the dominant narrative but the civilian elites are equally venomous. They share the same constituency which carries precedence over Islam and Pakistan. There is a cultural suffocation as one author said.
The rulers and all establishment are snakiest. As one American diplomat put it that it is the height of hypocrisy that Pakistan is a pathological liar even in conducting foreign diplomacy. {The Envoy) Pakistani state negates all the three official words, Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has lost every logic to exist as a state. Two nation theory has been buried in the slums of Dhaka and Islam is abused for the vested interest of Punjabi elites.
Honestly speaking it is a dark blind tunnel to expect a ray of hope could be schizophrenia but not a sign of healthy mind. All the three hinterlands should mind their way. It is impossible for a liberal democrat in Punjab to be electable. Pashtun must start looking towards West, there they have their holy Kaaba and fatherland, and otherwise they are doomed. And be ready to live in their home on rent or refugees forever.
Pakistani patriotism has been slimmed down to the following:
- Hate India
- Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan. No matter whatever is their wish?
- Support nuclear build up.
- Accept the mastery of the army.
- Foreign, finance and defence is solely the jurisdiction.
- Pakistani nationalism that means to say surrender of our identities.
- The educational syllabus as desired by the army.
Where do we stand in this frame? The recent example is Raddul Fassad in Baitul Fassad and the treatment meted out to Pashtun/Afghans.
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