Megalomaniac

“ Maye sah inth Balochistan, maye jaan inth Balochistan, Maye zind-e-hamok dard-o-darmaan inth Balochistan. Percha man naban bandeeg, percha man naban koleeg, k zahr-en-teer ani dhem paan inth Balochistan ” — G R Mulla. (Balochistan is my heart, my soul, A cure for all conceivable pains of life. Why should I not sacrifice, Or hesitate to suffer indignities of confinement, When my motherland is facing poisonous bullets.) Balochistan: a land so beautiful and a people so brave. A land full of hope, a people inspired. But today the soil of Balochistan is soaked with the blood of its children, its mountains reverberate with the harrowing wails of its women, its air haunted by the distraught cries of the older men, its plains full of orphans. The culprit is none other than the Pakistani military. One shudders at the thought of the bloody massacre being carried out in Balochistan by the same military that is supposed to protect its citizens. No wonder the Baloch are asking for fr...

Difa-i-Pakistan Council (Defence of Pakistan Council) is at it again. The group staged another rally, this time in Islamabad, despite the ban imposed on three of its main leaders — Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) President Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, Secretary General Maulana Khalid Dhillon and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed — from entering Islamabad. Due to the ban, these three men did not attend the rally but the question is: what happened to Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s ‘promise’ that banned outfits would not be allowed to hold a rally in the federal capital? Would the SHO of Aabpara be suspended for this rally? There are speculations that a compromise between the government and the powers that be was struck to allow the Difa-i-Pakistan Council to hold the rally in Islamabad. Instead of holding it in front of parliament, the rally was held in Aabpara, quite close to the ISI headquarters. It seems that the Difa-i-Pakistan Council has the backing of our military establ...

‘Empowered Women, Strong Pakistan’ was the theme of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM’s) rally in Karachi the other day. It was quite heartening to see thousands of women at a rally in Pakistan, one of the largest gatherings of women in the country. The MQM must be commended for its efforts to support the empowerment of women. MQM chief Altaf Hussain said, “The world over women are considered equals in every sense. Unfortunately and sadly in Pakistan they continue to be treated worse than animals. They are subjected to treatment meted out to second-or-third-class citizens.” A patriarchal mindset still prevails in our country as if we are living in medieval times. In some parts of Pakistan, women are not even allowed to vote and in others their vote is decided by the men in their families. Pakistan’s founding father, Mr Jinnah, laid great stress on women’s empowerment. Unfortunately, his words were not heeded. To the credit of this PPP-led coalition government, many pro-women bills ha...

Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, who first chaired a US Congressional hearing on Balochistan, has now introduced a resolution calling for self-determination for Balochistan. Pakistan has taken a strong exception to this resolution, with Prime Minister Gilani, the Foreign Office, Pakistan Embassy in the US and the Pakistani media all condemning it in unison. The US Embassy in Islamabad issued a statement saying that the US respected Pakistan’s sovereignty and Balochistan was an internal matter of the country. The Obama administration may have distanced itself from the resolution but there are three factors behind this development. One, the Republicans are surely annoyed with Pakistan and its double dealing in the war on terror. It began in General Musharraf’s time and the army has continued with his policies to date. Tabling a resolution on Balochistan’s freedom from Pakistan could also be a way for the Republicans to embarrass the Democrats and the Obama administration. What...

“Now dreams are not available, To the dreamers, Nor songs to the singers. In some lands, Dark night and cold steel prevail, But the dream will come back, And the song break its jail” (‘Oppression’ by Langston Hughes) Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, announced this week that the government will soon convene an All-Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan. “There is a law and order situation in Balochistan, which has to be addressed,” said PM Gilani. His announcement comes days after a US Congressional hearing on Balochistan took place on February 8, 2012. While the Baloch leadership welcomed the hearing, the Obama administration distanced itself from it and Pakistan expressed its displeasure. The Baloch are hailing this as a big achievement because their voice is finally being heard at an important international platform. The Obama administration does not want to further alienate the Pakistani security establishment. The relations between the two ‘allies’ have hit r...

Last month, PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif urged all political parties to call an All-Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has finally decided to convene an APC to discuss the Balochistan issue. Mr Gilani said that even though the government tried to reach out to the Baloch through the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package, the deteriorating law and order situation overshadowed the initiative. When the package was announced, we had cautioned in this space that “bringing normalcy to Balochistan may not be as easy a task as may appear because the people of Balochistan carry a history of neglect, exploitation and repression” (‘Balochistan package’, Daily Times, November 25, 2009). The penny has finally dropped for the government that addressing the woes of the Baloch is not so simple. Since then, there has been a lot of bloodshed in the province, mostly carried out by our intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces; the damage has already been done. B...

Finally the seven missing detainees were produced before the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday after the apex court flexed its muscles. Eleven prisoners went missing in 2010 from Adiala Jail despite being freed by the courts. It was later revealed that they had been picked up by the intelligence agencies as they were accused of committing terrorist attacks against the military. Four prisoners died while in the custody of the intelligence agencies. Had the SC not been stringent, there was no way that the remaining seven prisoners would have been produced before the court. Four of them were brought from Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar and the other three from the internment centre in Parachinar. It was harrowing to see their condition — some carrying urine bags while all of them were hardly able to walk properly. One of them said that they did not have “proper food and (were) never offered a doctor while in custody” while another said that he has severe pain in his chest and his shoulders are...

Difa-i-Pakistan Council (Pakistan Defence Council), a conglomerate of religious parties — predominantly banned militant outfits — held a rally in Karachi on Sunday. That they were able to hold a rally in the port city without any hitch was surprising given that the ruling party in Sindh, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has been quite critical of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for allowing banned outfits to stage rallies in Punjab. Difa-i-Pakistan Council is said to be the initiative of Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), who is not just the moving spirit behind this ‘defence council’ but is also said to be its chief financier. The JuD is ostensibly a front for the banned terrorist organisation, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT). Thanks to General Musharraf turning a blind eye to terrorist organisations renaming themselves and posing as welfare organisations, we now have a plethora of terrorist outfits operating freely on Pakistani soil. Apart from spewing venom against t...

The third Test between England and Pakistan came to an end on Monday when Pakistan won the match by 71 runs, completing its momentous 3-0 victory against the world’s number one Test side. According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), “Pakistan, who were bowled out for 99 in their first innings, became the first team to win a Test after being dismissed for under 100 since England, dismissed for 76 in the first innings, beat South Africa by 53 runs at Leeds in 1907.” It is not a surprise therefore that Pakistani cricket fans all over the world celebrated this whitewash, also termed as a ‘Greenwash’ on Twitter. England could not adjust to the conditions in the UAE and the Pakistani bowlers, particularly the spinners, took full advantage. Once a batting side loses confidence in being able to address and attack the opposing bowling side, it psychologically allows itself to be dominated by its opponents. The tentativeness and defensiveness of the English batsmen proved to be the down...

Banned terrorist organisations are freely operating all over Pakistan without risking the ire of the law enforcement agencies. Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was banned but changed its name to Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) was banned but changed its name to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and now both these terrorist outfits are carrying on with their activities with impunity. Even if a banned organisation does not change its name, like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) that still operates under its own name, their activities are not stopped. Interior Minister Rehman Malik blames a delay in the approval of an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act for banned organisations’ holding rallies across the country. Apparently the amendment bill is still with the Senate Standing Committee despite the passage of two years. Mr Malik also said that if a banned organisation holds a rally in the capital, the SHO of the concerned police station would be suspended. Now that is a ludicrous idea t...

“In Satellite Town Rawalpindi, ‘Ewan-e-Tawheed’ is in place for the last 17 years. It is the property of Jama’at Ahmadiyya and is used as a place for prayers ever since. Some adventurists have decided to make it an issue and have started a false, baseless campaign of hatred to create problems. There are no concrete issues as such as the miscreants keep coming with new allegations one after another. The bottom line is that miscreants want to deprive the Ahmadis of their right to pray and congregate. The miscreants gave an open warning to demolish the ‘Ewan-e-Tawheed’ on January 29, 2012, also they will not allow this Friday prayers at ‘Ewan-e-Tawheed’. The [Ahmadiyya] community is under attack and there are known security threats to community members from these miscreants. Yet innocent and peaceful Ahmadis are not even allowed to defend or protect themselves,” read a press release from the Ahmadiyya community. January 29 is also the date of birth of Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate, Dr ...

The Balochistan Assembly passed a resolution against the brutal murder of MPA Nawabzada Bakhtiar Khan Domki’s wife and daughter in Karachi. A complete shutter-down strike was observed all over Balochistan to condemn their murders. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for a retaliatory attack on four Frontier Corps (FC) checkposts near Margat coalmine area in which at least 15 FC personnel were killed and a dozen sustained injuries. This attack, according to the BLA spokesman, was in reaction to the murders of the Domki women. Karachi is no stranger to target killings and it seems that this horrible trend along with bhatta (extortion) activities have started again after a brief lull. But the murder of Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) chief Brahamdagh Bugti’s sister and niece in Karachi was unlike any other target killing. The claim by the Karachi police that this could be the result of a ‘tribal feud’ could not be further from the truth. It is highly unlikely that w...

Pakistan beat England, the number one Test side, in the second Test match by 72 runs. It would not be wrong to say that England snatched defeat from the jaws of victory because 145 runs was by no means a daunting target given England’s batting depth. The wickets in the UAE, similar to the ones in the South Asian region, give an edge to spinners. In the first Test match, also won by Pakistan, it can be said that England did not read the wicket right. Fortunately, better sense prevailed selection-wise in the second Test and Monty Panesar was included in the English side. Monty did his job well and proved to be an asset. The English bowlers, much to their credit, managed to restrict the Pakistani batsmen in both innings. Thus, it was expected that even on that turning pitch on the fourth day, England would manage to get 145 as it was a doable task. Unfortunately for England, as has been noted by some experts, their batsmen are not technically on top when it comes to spin bowling and have ...

The Supreme Court (SC) has started focusing on the Balochistan issue after a long hiatus. Between 2007 and now, the SC has either been in disarray or distracted by other cases. It is good to see that it has finally taken up this issue in earnest once again. The SC expressed its dissatisfaction over the Intelligence Bureau (IB) report on the law and order situation in the country’s largest province and has sought reports from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). The court also wishes to talk to the prime minister in this regard. What is happening in Balochistan is no secret, yet our military and political leadership keep denying that there is a military operation going on in the province. Extrajudicial killings and a general breakdown of the law and order situation is not something that can be swept under the rug. The SC may have taken up the issue again partly because the situation has gone from bad to worse and partly because of the longstanding and in...

On the call of the Sindhi nationalists, a province-wide strike was observed in protest against the 20th Amendment bill tabled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the National Assembly. The Sindhi nationalists consider it ‘unconstitutional’ as it violates Article 239 (4) of the constitution. We have noted in the past in this very space that, “The constitution’s Article 239 (4) lays down that no bill to amend the constitution that would have the effect of altering the limits of a province can be presented to the president for assent unless it has been passed by the provincial assembly of that province by a two-thirds majority. It then also requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament in order to pass muster. The conceptual and ground complications of creating or redrawing provinces are forbidding enough. The legislative route could be even more tricky and difficult” (‘The issue of new provinces’, Daily Times , January 5, 2012). The MQM has a presence in the urban ce...

Eleven prisoners went missing in 2010 from Adiala Jail. They were suspected terrorists who were arrested on charges of an attack on former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, attacks on Kamra and Hamza Camps, GHQ, and possession of suicide jackets, but were acquitted by an Anti-Terrorist Court. However, they were not released. The Lahore High Court (LHC) then ordered their release but they were allegedly picked up by the intelligence agencies following their release. There was speculation that they were ‘handed over’ to the intelligence agencies by the Adiala Jail authorities. When the Supreme Court (SC) directed the Punjab chief secretary to recover them, the apex court was told by the Punjab Home Secretary that he was helpless. This was in 2010. In 2011, a senior law officer of the GHQ admitted that the prisoners were in their custody. The advocate general explained that they were formally arrested in April 2011 and a case had been registered against them under the Pakistan Ar...

On Tuesday, the Punjab Assembly ‘unanimously’ passed a resolution seeking a ban on ‘objectionable’ musical concerts in public and private educational institutions. The original resolution, moved by PML-Q’s Seemal Kamran, was against all concerts, as they were somehow considered ‘unethical’ and ‘immoral’. At first the treasury opposed a blanket ban but later acquiesced after the insertion of the word ‘objectionable’ instead of all musical concerts on the insistence of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah. The redoubtable minister then tried to justify the ban in the light of the stampede that took place at a concert recently without explaining how that concert was ‘objectionable’. Once the resolution came under fire from the media and civil society, the Punjab government distanced itself from it as an afterthought. PPP parliamentarians claimed that only a handful of parliamentarians were present in the assembly, thus the passage of such a resolution should not be a blot on the entire Punj...

Pakistan cricket team was in the depth of despair following the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. The impact of losing a good batsman and two top bowlers could have hurt any team in the world but despite that Pakistan went on to reach the World Cup semi-final last year. Our cricket team’s record since then has been quite good. Coming close to defeating the world’s number one Test team — England — by an innings and actually managing to win the match in three days is no mean feat. Saeed Ajmal — who ranks 1, 2 and 3 in the ICC bowling rankings in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Twenty20 (T20) and Tests respectively — is now being hailed as one of the best spinners in the world. He took seven wickets in the first innings and three in the second. Individual performances flourish when a team is playing in a cohesive manner and all players are supporting each other. Cricket is as much a psychological and mental game as it is physical. As far as this Test was concerned, England was a bit rusty as...

Mansoor Ijaz made headlines in Pakistan and all over the world not just for his role in the Memogate scandal but also for appearing in a music video where he was seen as a commentator using double entendre during a women’s wrestling match. It seems that Mr Ijaz is a fan of wrestling, be it between wrestlers in a music video or between state institutions. He was instrumental in creating a hype surrounding a memo that was sent to Admiral Mike Mullen allegedly written at the behest of former ambassador Husain Haqqani who, according to Ijaz, had the full backing of President Zardari. The Pakistani military has fallen for Ijaz’s claims hook, line and sinker. In the process, the military has conveniently forgotten that this is the same man who is an avowed enemy of Pakistan’s army and the ISI. Ijaz was supposed to visit Pakistan this month to provide evidence in the memo issue but so far he has not shown up on one pretext or another. He has cited ‘security concerns’ as the foremost reason ...

The National Commission on the Status of Women Bill, 2012, was finally passed by the National Assembly on Thursday. After many a hiccup due to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N’s) obstructionist stance, through the efforts of National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza and other women parliamentarians, the bill finally passed into law. It now has to negotiate the Senate to become an Act. It is hoped that enlightened views will prevail in the Upper House. Being a signatory of many covenants related to women’s rights, Pakistan needs to act responsibly in this regard. The procedures and powers in the bill were discussed and finally it was approved by the National Assembly. It seems that the appointment of a chairperson would be a consensus figure enjoying the support of both sides of the House — the treasury and the opposition. The National Commission on the Status of Women would be tasked with the promotion of the social, economic, political and legal rights of women as enshrined in ...