Megalomaniac

In a national security state, those who raise their voice against oppression and injustice are constantly hounded by state and non-state actors. Thus it was not surprising to see the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issue an extremely critical press release regarding the annual Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. According to the ISPR, the HRW’s annual report is “a pack of lies, propaganda driven and totally biased” and “seems to be a clear attempt to further fuel already ongoing scectarian violence and to create chaos and disorder in Pakistan (sic).” Two things first: 1) ISPR should do a spell check before issuing press releases, and 2) it also needs to do a ‘logic check’ for its logic is flawed. How can the HRW “further fuel” an “already ongoing sectarian violence” just by reporting that “at least 325 members of the Shia Muslim population were killed in targeted attacks that took place across Pakistan"? In fact, 325 is a conservative estimate by most accounts. If anything, HR...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and its Pakistan Director Ali Dayan Hasan are once again under fire, this time for the chapter on Pakistan in HRW’s World Report 2013. The military’s public relations department issued a scathing press release denouncing HRW. It said, “A spokesman of ISPR [Inter Services Public Relations] has termed the Human Rights Watch (HRW) recent report a pack of lies, propaganda driven and totally biased. He said it is yet another attempt to malign Pakistan and its institutions through fabricated and unverified reports, completely favouring an anti Pakistan agenda.” The military’s anger at HRW was due to the fact that its annual report mentioned how the military has turned a blind eye to Shia genocide in the country. As per HRW’s report, “The government was unable or unwilling to break the links between Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies with extremist groups. Sunni militant groups, including those with known links to the Pakistani military, its intelligence ...

A maverick cleric, a proactive judiciary and a belligerent Pakistan Army throw democracy into a tailspin again There is never a dull moment in Pakistan, but the political temperature was unusually high this week; with January 15-17 being most eventful. Sitting inside a special bullet-proof container, a cleric dressed in long, flowing fashionable robes and even more fashionable headgear addressed thousands of people in the heart of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. The cleric, who gave the government "time till tonight" to quit and dissolve the national and provincial assemblies, could clearly not count properly for he kept referring to the crowd as a "million-man march". In any other country, if a dual-national cleric had turned up out of the blue, demanded the ouster of a democratically elected government mere months before forthcoming General Elections, given an ultimatum to elected parliamentarians, and led a 'long march' to the capital, he would hav...

Asma Jahangir, former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President, noted lawyer and human rights activist, is being hounded by the Pakistani Urdu press these days. The reason for another malicious campaign against Ms Jahangir is simply the fact that her name was included in the list of nominees for the next caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Just because the PML-N has included her name in a list does not mean she will actually become the caretaker PM but her detractors cannot even digest the fact that her name is being considered for this post. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has also rejected the appointment of Ms Jahangir as caretaker PM because of her objective views on the Supreme Court and her supposed attachment with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Mr Khan is ignoring the fact that the same Asma Jahangir has fought for the independence of judiciary all her life. Just because she has been objective about the ju...

This week, Pakistan was on the verge of losing its hard-won, albeit weak, democracy. A series of events unfolded from January 15-17 at such a hectic pace that it was hard to keep up. “What next?” was a question being asked by all and sundry. Everyone was on the edge. Finally, the democrats in Pakistan are celebrating. They have won, at least for the time being. What the future has in store for them is anybody’s guess but at the moment it looks like their efforts have finally paid off. Now the powerful military establishment will have to go back to the drawing board to come up with another plan to derail democracy. The independent but highly biased judiciary has a few tricks up its sleeve but whether or not it can help the military establishment weaken democracy remains to be seen. Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, a dual national cleric, is the founding leader of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) and chairman of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). Despite his brief stint in Pakistani politics, he is mo...

General elections in Pakistan are months away. While all political parties are gearing up for a new democratic government, the anti-democratic forces are back to their old tricks. Fixated with the idea of a technocratic government, the military establishment is trying to derail the democratic process. On top of that, the judiciary is out to discredit the government. Our current parliament has evolved an electoral process for foolproof transition with bipartisan consensus in order to stop the mighty military from influencing the elections as it has done in the past. A consensus had emerged across all political divides on holding the elections on time with the induction of a unanimously nominated chief election commissioner and to agree on a caretaker setup that does not go beyond its mandatory limits. Against this backdrop, Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri made his grand entry in the country last month and since then has created quite a stir in the political circles. Bunked in a bullet-proof contain...

If there is one thing for certain when it comes to Pakistan, it is the fact that the military establishment will never stop meddling in politics. Political circles are abuzz with talk of an impending coup, albeit an indirect one in the form of the ‘Bangladesh Model’; an idea our military has been salivating at ever since a democratically elected government came to power five years ago. The entry of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, a cleric with dual nationality, into the public arena in an election year gives credence to this conspiracy theory. Qadri’s call for a long march on January 14 to Islamabad and his belief that it will be turned into ‘Tahrir Square’ is an ambitious project but it reeks of a khaki plan to pack up the democratic process. Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has reportedly denied the military’s involvement in the re-emergence of Dr Qadri. Such a ‘denial’ makes it all the more suspicious. Add to it the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM’s) outright suppor...

Rehman Malik is in the news again. This time, too, for the wrong reasons. A petition has been filed against him for misuse of taxpayers' money during his recent trip to India while the Indian media is still perplexed at various statements made during the visit. India wanted the visa accord signed at the secretary level but Malik, realising this was a major confidence-building measure by Pakistan, wanted to flaunt it before the international community. Never one to miss a photo-op, he flew to India to sign the accord between the two countries. Malik is possibly the most powerful minister in Pakistan right now. As interior minister, he has at his disposal the Intelligence Bureau (IB); the Rangers, the biggest paramilitary force after the army; and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which he once headed. He is Pakistan's most colourful character; somebody everyone loves to hate. Some hate him because he has clawed his way to the top while others hate him because he is rich....

It seems that there is no respect for human life anymore in Pakistan. Sister Bargeeta Almby, a 70-year-old Swedish charity worker who spent four decades in Pakistan, was shot in Lahore earlier this month. She passed away a few days later. Even in times of war, women, children and older citizens are spared. Not so in the ‘land of the pure’. Over here, terrorists are free to kill and maim whosoever they want to while the government shirks away from its responsibility to protect its citizens, religious minorities, ethnic minorities, aid workers and countless others. Shias, Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians, foreign and local aid workers, health workers, ordinary citizens – nobody is safe. Everyone is a target; some more so than others. The culprits are hardly ever caught and punished. A culture of impunity prevails, leading to more threats, more murders, more fear. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only three countries remain polio-endemic in 2012: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pak...

William Butler Yeats said: “Once you attempt legislation upon religious grounds, you open the way for every kind of intolerance and religious persecution.” These wise words were certainly not heeded by Pakistan’s rulers. In 1974, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government declared the Ahmadis ‘non-Muslims’ under the Constitution of Pakistan. General Zia-ul-Haq’s dictatorial regime made it even worse for Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya community when it promulgated the draconian Ordinance XX, which restricts religious freedom of the Ahmadis. The Ahmadiyya community has suffered at the hands of religious extremists for decades now due to successive governments’ (both civilian and military) criminal apathy. Mr Bhutto and his government made a criminal mistake by passing the Second Amendment; what makes it even worse is the fact that no government has had the guts to repeal it. Nobody dares (or cares). In 2010, terrorists carried out simultaneous attacks on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore. More than 90 Ahmadi...

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is also the month when Muslims, especially Shia Muslims, mourn the death of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson Hazrat Imam Hussein and members of his family during the battle of Karbala. The followers of Saudi Wahabiism are historically anti-Shia. With Saudi brand of Wahabiism spreading in Pakistan through Saudi-funded seminaries and the resultant Arabisation of Pakistani society, Shia lives are in grave danger. This year alone, hundreds of Shias have been target-killed. Pakistani Shias are facing the wrath of local Yazids, turning the country into another Karbala for Imam Hussein’s followers. The holy month of Muharram has already seen targeted attacks against the Shia community. On November 21, the Shia community was targeted in Karachi and Rawalpindi. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attacks and threatened that in the days to come, more such attacks will follow. Shias are bearing the brunt o...

On November 2, there was an attack on two of my very dear friends: Marvi Sirmed and her husband Sirmed Manzoor. Bullets were fired at their car when they were on their way home but thankfully they were not hurt. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. It seems as if this was more of a scare tactic than an assassination attempt. Such attacks take place as a ‘warning shot’ to send a clear message: we can kill you whenever we want to. So back down now or else you will not get a second chance. Marvi works as a democratic-governance professional but she is also a human rights activist and columnist while Sirmed is a journalist and the Secretary-General of South Asian Free Media Association’s (SAFMA’s) Pakistan chapter. Marvi is a very vocal supporter of a democratic, liberal, secular and pluralistic Pakistan. She has had threats from several quarters, be it the military establishment, militant organisations or extremists. Marvi believes that this attack was not just aimed...

“ Dartey hain bandooqon waalay ek nehatti larki se , Phailay hain himmat ke ujaalay ek nehatti larki se .” When I first heard about the brutal attack on Malala Yousufzai, these lines from a poem by Habib Jalib haunted me. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility for shooting this young girl. Their justification for shooting an unarmed child: Malala was “pro-west”, “promoting western culture in Pashtun areas” and “speaking against the Taliban”. It should come as no surprise that an unarmed, harmless young girl is capable of terrifying monsters who are armed to their teeth. What terrified these monsters was a young girl who could read and write, who could speak up for her rights, who could raise her voice for girls’ right to education, who denounced violence in the name of religion, who could call out the Taliban’s bluff. It should put to shame our military, those politicians, those journalists and hundreds of thousands of those Pakistanis who are terrified of saying an...

Last Friday was a public holiday in Pakistan – a government-declared ‘Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool’ so that the people of Pakistan could show their love for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and ‘peacefully’ protest against the anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims . Cellular services were suspended in 15 cities for a few hours to somehow ‘protect’ the citizens. YouTube is still blocked in the country so that people don’t get riled up by watching the blasphemous film’s trailer. Despite all these so-called ‘protective measures’, Pakistanis demonstrated their ‘love’ for the Prophet (PBUH) by torching vehicles, damaging private property, looting, burning several cinemas across the country and a church in Mardan. While at least 23 Pakistanis lost their lives during the violent protests on Friday and hundreds others were injured, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira proudly stated that ours was the only country that protested against the film at the state level. Mr Kaira belo...

India’s External Affairs Minister S M Krishna recently visited Pakistan to meet with his Pakistani counterpart Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. The atmosphere was indeed relaxed during the joint press conference and fortunately there were no visible tensions between the two dignitaries as was the case in the recent past (read Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s ‘more loyal than the king’ overtures two years ago when Mr Krishna visited Pakistan). Foreign Minister Khar managed to steal the show as some Indian journalists covering the press conference noted. Ms Khar reiterated the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP’s) commitment to peace with our neighbours, especially India and Afghanistan – two nations with whom Pakistan has had a difficult relationship. Ms Khar talked about lost opportunities in case of Indo-Pak relations and gave the recent example of the Gyari tragedy in Siachen. Pakistan is sending a message that the country is willing to move ahead “without being held hostage to past positions”...

“There are many Mumtaz Qadris in this country and we will support them.” Chilling but true words. There are indeed many more Mumtaz Qadris in Pakistan who are willing to kill anyone and everyone who has merely been accused of committing blasphemy and/or supporting an alleged blasphemer. These threatening words were spoken by none other than a lawyer representing those who have accused Rimsha Masih, a minor Christian girl with Down’s syndrome, of committing blasphemy. Who in their right mind would accuse a minor girl with a disability of committing a crime? As the lawyer reminded us, there is no dearth of fanatics in our country. For a change, Pakistan’s Islamic leaders have come out in support of a blasphemy accused. “The chairman of the All Pakistan Ulema Council warned that the ‘law of the jungle’ was gripping Pakistan, with police routinely pressured by baying mobs to register blasphemy charges … Among the other unlikely Islamist groups rallying round Rimsha is Khatm-e-Nubuwwat, w...

PAF Minhas airbase at Kamra, one of Pakistan’s most important military airbases, was attacked by terrorists around 2am yesterday. After almost five hours of fierce fighting, the military commandos were able to kill all nine terrorists. One Pakistani soldier was martyred and many others injured. It is beyond comprehension how these terrorists – armed with suicide vests, grenades and automatic weapons were able to enter a high security zone with such ease despite intelligence reports suggesting that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was planning an attack on s PAF base before Eid. According to a report published in The Express Tribune on August 10: “TTP is planning attacks on the Pakistan Air Force Base and other military and security establishments in Lahore before Eid…Another [report] stated that a team[…]was also planning terrorist attacks towards the end of Ramzan. Their main target was likely to be the PAF base, or other security establishments like the offices of the Inter-Servi...

In its annual report on international religious freedom, the US State Department painted a bleak – but true – picture of how religious freedom in Pakistan is deteriorating. The report says: “Violence against religious minorities and between Muslim sects continued. While a small number of persons were involved in violent attacks, discriminatory laws and lack of reform of these laws, the teaching of religious intolerance, and the lack of police protection of minorities and prosecution of perpetrators created a permissive environment for such attacks … Forced and coerced conversions of religious minorities to Islam occurred at the hands of societal actors. Media, particularly the vernacular press, published derogatory reports of minorities.” The intolerant role played by both the Pakistani state and society is indeed shameful. Add to it the media’s race for ratings and it becomes a combustible mix. Recently, a private television channel (ARY Digital) aired a Ramazan transmission where a...

When I first heard about the resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan, I was ecstatic. Plans were made with my Pakistani friends to go to India in December-January to watch the upcoming Indo-Pak series (three ODIs and two T20s). For a Pakistani cricket fan, this was a wonderful piece of news but for some Indians, it was simply unacceptable. On July 17, this newspaper [MiD DAY] carried a hard-hitting editorial titled: ‘ It can’t just be fun and games with Pakistan ’. It was written, “India suspended all cricketing ties with Pakistan following the horrific attack by Pakistan-trained terrorists on November 26, 2008 across various, carefully chosen targets in Mumbai. The attack claimed 169 lives, and India should never forget that … Even if India and Pakistan would want to restart playing against each other (and it is indeed a noble sporting cause), the symbolism of suspended ties cannot be discounted.” MiD DAY is not alone in voicing this criticism. Many Indian twitterati...

July 5, 1977, will be remembered as the darkest day in Pakistan’s history. General Zia-ul-Haq overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto through a coup d'état and imposed martial law in Pakistan. He announced that new elections would be held soon but, as we all know, military dictators are not to be trusted. For the next 11 years, General Zia tormented the people of Pakistan through his brutal rule. Public floggings were held to put fear in the hearts of the dissident voices. Political opponents were jailed and brutally tortured. Religious zealots were let loose on the public. Sectarianism flourished. As a consequence of the Afghan jihad , violence was glorified in the name of Islam. Draconian laws such as the blasphemy laws and Hudood Ordinances were introduced. The Ahmadiyya community, having already been declared non-Muslims in 1974, were further ostracised from society by the promulgation of Ordinance XX. Weaponisation of society, gl...