Megalomaniac

General elections in Pakistan are just around the corner. Everyone is waiting to see which party will be able to form the next government. Chances of a hung parliament are quite high as no political party is in a position to win a simple majority. While the real battle is between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), all eyes are on Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to see how much of an impact PTI’s recent rise in popularity will have on election results. Most political pundits are of the view that Mian Nawaz Sharif can become the next prime minister of Pakistan but it largely depends on voter turnout as well as how voters in Punjab, especially in urban Punjab, choose to vote. PTI is expected to cut into PML-N’s traditional vote, i.e. centre-right and rightwing vote but another factor that goes in Khan’s favour is the youth vote. There is a large section of population under 35 years of age in Pakistan. At least 20 percent are between t...

In the aftermath of the disastrous implementation of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan by the Election Commission’s returning officers (ROs), many are asking why the political parties did not remove General Zia-ul-Haq’s amendments from the Constitution when they had a chance during the previous democratic government’s tenure. It is indeed an omission for which they are now paying heavily but, predictably, the opposition to these amendments came from the religious and rightwing parties. In a country like ours, getting an ‘anti-Islam’ label can be quite damaging and dangerous so the previous parliament was cautious enough to let these articles remain in the Constitution. Journalist Iftikhar Ahmad (@jawabdeyh) tweeted, “Height of McCarthyism”, after news broke out that noted columnist and PML-N leader Ayaz Amir’s nomination papers were rejected by the Election Commission for writing columns against the ‘ideology of Pakistan’ and Islam. Iftikhar Ahmad is right. The ROs p...

Differences between President Zardari and his son Bilawal underline tensions within Pakistan's largest political party ahead of a historic election On April 4, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was to kick-start its election campaign at a rally in the village of Garhi Khuda Baksh to mark the death anniversary of founder-leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Security threats had turned it into a small meeting, to be held in the district town of Naudero, in the presence of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, 24. Less than a week after news filtered out of his departure from Pakistan in the aftermath of an alleged tiff with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, 57, the PPP scion flew back into Pakistan. According to reports, denied by PPP, Bilawal had an argument with his father over the party's performance in power, and his aunt Faryal Talpur's refusal to accommodate Bilawal's recommendations for tickets in Sindh. Faryal's claim to fame is that she is Zardari's sister and runs the day...

On March 27, renowned journalist Najam Sethi was sworn in as the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab. Sethi’s name was nominated by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) but was agreed on by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as well after deliberations at the parliamentary committee level. Thus, he emerged as the consensus candidate to lead the caretaker setup of the most populous province of Pakistan, which is an honour in itself for our journalist community. The overwhelming support from all political parties and the public at Sethi’s appointment is a testament to the fact that people have full faith in him. Of course there are a few naysayers but that was inevitable. When Sethi was taking oath as the caretaker CM Punjab, it was an emotional moment for many of us, especially those who want Pakistan to be a democratic and secular country. As someone who has known and worked with Najam Sethi, it gave me hope in Pakistan that a man who fought for his Marxist ideals, who has been la...

A news agency headline read: “Parliament makes history by completing tenure”. Many papers carried similar headlines regarding the Pakistani parliament’s tenure. It is indeed a historic moment and nothing short of a huge achievement. The Friday Times ’ editor-in-chief and Geo TV anchor, Najam Sethi, said: “Despite acute hiccups, it is an unprecedented historical achievement that immeasurably strengthens the bond between political parties and civil society in quest of a consensus in the rules of democracy. That also explains why many people are still incredulous about a smooth transition via genuinely free elections.” Sethi’s remark regarding a smooth transition is extremely important. Parliaments in the past have completed their tenures twice — once under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the last one under Gen. Pervez Musharraf — but the conditions were quite different under both regimes. Bhutto completed his tenure but the announced polls were never held. The transition was disrupted and ...

There is little to celebrate in Pakistan. Every day you hear one depressing news report after another. There was another Shia massacre, this time in Abbas Town, Karachi. Hundreds of houses belonging to the Christian community were burnt in Joseph Colony, Lahore, right in front of the police. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has held the police and the provincial administration equally responsible for this grave injustice. On Wednesday, social worker par excellence Parveen Rehman was murdered in Karachi. A senior journalist in Lahore is being openly threatened by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) just because he belongs to the Shia Muslim community. All we do is express our anger and frustration till another tragedy occurs … and another … again and again. The horrible news cycle continues in Pakistan. Amidst all this doom and gloom, one news item should lift the spirit of Pakistanis, which is: “Pakistan’s parliament made history Thursday by becoming the first National Assembly in ...

Last month, two literature festivals were held in Karachi and Lahore respectively. The Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) and Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) were quite successful at attracting huge crowds. Mohammed Hanif's new book, ‘ The Baloch Who is Not Missing & Others Who Are ’, published by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on the ‘missing persons’ issue in Balochistan was launched both at the KLF and the LLF. I missed Mohd Hanif's book launch session in Lahore but was fortunate enough to attend it in Karachi. Hanif’s KLF session was moderated by Baloch nationalist and columnist Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur. Other panellists included Director HRCP I A Rehman and Farzana Majeed, sister of a missing Baloch nationalist. This particular session was so powerful that many in the audience were literally in tears while others were struggling hard to control their emotions. A few years ago, such an open and frank discussion on the role of the military and its age...

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...