Memogate: Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry Should Not Judge In The Case; He Should Stand In Witness Box & Answer Questions; Barrister Aitzaz Had Approached US To Seek Help For CJ’s Restoration in 2007. Barrister Aitzaz Should Stand In Witness Box too.

By Aziz Narejo

[Click here to watch a video that  how Aitzaz seeks U.S. help for Iftikhar Choudhry - Aitzaz Ahsan in washington withMark Mazzetti and David Rohde]

Memogate is certain to open can of worms in Pakistan. The legal battle is going to be stinky & very dirty. It has been pointed out that in case such memo was actually written to US officials, it had been done so in the response to a real threat of a coup by the military establishment. The whistle-blower, Mansoor Ijaz has pointed out in his black berry messages that a certain Mr. P (generally recognized as general Pasha, chief of Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI) had toured certain Arab countries, Saudi Arabia included, to pave the way for the overthrow of Zardari government.

It has also been said that the United States was approached even on the behalf of ex-prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, who is the petitioner in the case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Several other political leaders and even generals are said to have approached the US officials for help in the past. The present Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry is not an exception. It is said that leader of the lawyers’ movement, Choudhry Aitzaz Ahsan had visited United States in 2007 to garner support for the deposed Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry. Hence it is demanded that the Chief Justice should recuse himself in the case & answer questions in this regards. So should do barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.

Courtesy: Indus Herald

http://indusherald.blogspot.com/2011/12/memogate-chief-justice-iftikhar-coudhry.html

via » adopted from facebook (social media)

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Watch video – a discussion to seek U.S. help for Iftikhar choudhry – Aitzaz Ahsan in washington, Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde

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More details » Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s Meeting with Richard Holbrooke

» The Secretary General PTI says the people of Pakistan, do not appreciate the meeting of Iftikhar Chaudhry  with Mr Richard Holbrooke in his chambers

CPP urged to Supreme Court for removal of DG (ISI) General Pasha

(ISLAMABAD – December 19) The Central Chairman of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), Engineer Jameel Ahmad Malik as a citizen has today prayed the Supreme Court (SC) on the ongoing controversy of memo gate scandal for immediate removal of Lt. General Pasha from the post of Director General, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

He filed the Constitutional Petition under the Articles 184(3) and 244 of the Constitution. He stressed that after memogate scandal, Lt. General Pasha is not now eligible to remain on the post of DG (ISI) under Article 244 of the Constitution.

For interim relief, Engineer Jameel prayed the Supreme Court for immediate direction to Federation for suspension of Gen. Pasha from DG (ISI) till the disposal of this petition. ….

Read more » Aboriginal Humanity

http://aboriginalhumanity.blogspot.com/2011/12/cpp-urged-to-supreme-court-for-removal.html

Memogate and surrogates – By Dr Mohammad Taqi

In his submission to the SC, Mansoor Ijaz stated that he has maintained relations with the military and intelligence services in scores of countries, including Pakistan. He claims to have interacted extensively with the then DG ISI General Ehsan-ul-Haq during 2003-2004

This newspaper of record reported on December 20, 2011 that during the so-called Memogate case hearing at the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan, one member of the bench, Justice Saqib Nisar “while referring to the former US president Bill Clinton’s book, asked about the people who had contacted American administrators on Kargil issue”. The reference, ostensibly, was to Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s appeal, on behalf of the then Pakistani federal government, to the US authorities to save their skin in face of a potential coup d’état in the aftermath of the Pakistan Army’s Kargil debacle.

Jim Jones is not Uncle but Mansoor Ijaz is?

Courtesy: ARY News Tv (Off The Record 21st December 2011 – p3)

Via » Aamir Mughal’s Facebook page

Pakistan – Government formally admits before the Supreme Court that it has no control over Army and the ISI

MoD reply: We only handle administrative matters of ISI, not operational

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General Shuja Ahmed Pasha filed their written replies to the Supreme Court over the Memogate scandal late on Wednesday night, Express News reported.

According to details, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in its written reply said that it was not in a position to comment on the operational details of either the army or its intelligence wing since it had no control over the army or ISI. It further added that the MoD only tended to the administrative matters of the armed forces. Attorney General of Pakistan confirmed the submission of the replies. ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

For more details » BBC

675 Pakistan ‘honour killing’ victims: commission

By AFP

ISLAMABAD — At least 675 Pakistani women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of the year for allegedly defaming their family’s honour, a leading human rights group said ….

Read more » Google

Solve the Pakistan problem by redrawing the map – By M. CHRIS MASON – Globe and Mail

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have reached an all-time low. The Khyber Pass is closed to NATO cargo, U.S. personnel were evicted from Shamsi airbase and Pakistani observers have been recalled from joint co-operation centres.

Much more importantly, senior officials in Washington now know that Pakistan has been playing them false since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and understand that Pakistan was sheltering Osama bin Laden a few hundred yards from its version of West Point. The recent shelling of Afghan troops inside Afghanistan by the Pakistani army, and the NATO counterstrike, cleared in error by Pakistan, has further embarrassed the Pakistani military.

What is VAASTU?

By Pardiep Jain, ROHINI, DELHI

VAASTU shastra is an ancient (old) science which is completely based on nature and helps one to get the natural benefits freely offered by the five basic elements of the universe in which we all are living. These basic elements are Akash (SKY), Prithvi (EARTH), Paani (WATER), Agni (FIRE), and Vayu (WIND). VAASTU Shastra can be applied by keeping in harmony with these basic five elements of nature. VAASTU Shastra is a science that was developed by learned people (Rishi-Muni) thousand of years ago. Today its application is purely architectural and its principles are based on the nature…

Imran Khan: a very Punjabi takedown in Kasur

By Omar

In his hurry to reach the prime minister’s chair, great cricketer and philanthropist Imran Khan has recently started acquiring every lota available on the Pakistani political scene (Lota, or ablution vessel, is the colloquial term for political opportunists who switch parties, frequently at a signal from our master strategists in Aabpara). His latest acquisition is Mr Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, formerly foreign minister under Pervez Musharraf (and therefore part and parcel of the foreign policy that IK always describes as treacherous, anti-Muslim, sellout, disastrous, CIA-inspired, etc etc). Mr Kasuri, an otherwise respectable elder statesman from kasur, joined IK at a rally there. But somehow, the crowd spoiled the glorious occasion by running away with the chairs after the public meeting ended.

Hilarious video:

Who knows, maybe it was spontaneous, but I suspect that the fix was in…IK is remarkably disconnected from everyday Punjabi life and I think someone in the PMLN had the bright idea of teaching him “aatey daal ka bhao” (the price of flour and lentils…ie the state of affairs on the ground as opposed to how it looks from his evacuee property in Zaman Park). It wouldnt have taken much. A wink and a nod and a few professional saboteurs (the kind who are available in any village to “spoil” a rival’s wedding feast or other big occasion) would have started the free for all…after that, its a self-catalytic process. ….

Read more » Brown Pundits

Sharif brothers: The pot calling the kettle black

By Iqbal Tareen

The alleged “Memo-Gate” controversy has sucked air out of Pakistan and has stolen attention from the real problems facing unfortunate common men and women of the country. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the corrupt, opportunistic, and power hungry politicians are busy jump-starting their otherwise hopeless political careers.

Although the charges against PPP look pale in comparison to what Sharifs had previously enacted but the spineless PPP leadership has neither courage nor an ability to fight back the pack of wolves, which is after the remains of its slimy body politics.

The paper written by Bruce Riedel – a former Bill Clinton White House official, reveals how Sharif brothers had sought American help against a potential coup by then Army Chief Pervez Musharraf.

I really wonder why this act of Sharifs has never been considered treason by Pakistani military, media, politicians, pundits and even the judge of the highest court – Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.!!!!?

Courtesy » Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, 19 Dec 2011.

Why Pakistan Lost 1965 war?

A man of steel

By Sajjad Haider

Excerpt;

….. The day he took over the PAF in July 1965, he discovered much to his chagrin and more so for Asghar Khan that neither had been told by president Ayub Khan or Gen Musa that thousands of mujahideen including Pakistan army commandoes had been launched to take Kashmir. He shot off to GHQ to confront Gen Musa, the army chief, asking why the PAF had been kept in the dark. Musa told him that the president did not want to escalate the limited operation and the PAF had to stay out.

Nur Khan had anxious moments knowing that the ill-conceived action would inevitably conflagrate. What would he say to the nation if the Indian Air Force (IAF) was to pre-empt and ground the PAF in a relentless air operation? The rest is history. But for his alacrity and strategic perception the PAF would been devastated by a numerically preponderant IAF.

Nur Khan put the PAF on red alert on Sept 1 as the army’s Operation Gibraltar came to a grinding halt and the Indians began a massive assault against Pakistan. In those moments Nur Khan was deeply concerned about the survival of the mujahideen force in the Kashmir valley with no hope for supply reinforcements. …..

To read complete article » DAWN.COM

http://www.dawn.com/2011/12/18/a-man-of-steel.html

Who Controls Pakistan’s Security Forces?

By Shuja Nawaz

Internal militancy and insurgency are the immediate threats to Pakistan’s security.

Pakistan’s polity is fractured and dysfunctional, allowing the military to assert greater control over Pakistan’s response to this growing internal threat.

Civilian authorities have missed numerous opportunities to assert control over security matters. Miscalculation by the current civilian government in its attempt in 2008 to exert control over the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate soured civil-military relations at a time when the new army chief favored keeping the army out of politics.

The military’s interests are expanding to newer sectors, including economic policymaking, since a shrinking economy could hurt military interests and lifestyles.

An opportunity to improve security sector governance exists in the proposed National Counter Terrorism Authority, which the government has unduly delayed.

This report reflects the views expressed during a conference entitled “Who Controls Pakistan’s Security Forces?” hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Security Sector Governance Center on April 19, 2011. Speakers at the event included the author, Professor Hassan Abbas of Columbia University, and Moeed Yusuf of the U.S. Institute of Peace. The report discusses the complex political landscape in which Pakistan’s civilian and military authorities operate, often vying for power and supremacy; identifies the challenges facing Pakistan’s civilian government in the face of the military’s expanding role; and suggests a realignment of roles, increased expertise for civilian officials in security matters, and better civilian-military coordination. …

Read more » U.S. Institute of Peace

No wonder no fighter jets were scrambled when US aircraft bombed a Pakistan military outpost killing 24 Pak soldiers?

via – Adopted from Tarek Fatah’s facebook page » YouTube

Laal – Umeed-e-Sahar kee baat suno: Poet: Faiz Ahmed Faiz

» YouTube

If you wondered why the Pakistan Army is only good at killing Pakistanis, toppling democratically elected government and losing every war they ever fought, here might be the reason – they’ve got dandruff!

Dandruff: does it afflict Pakistan’s army?

Researchers take a comprehensive look at the incidence of dandruff among Pakistani soldiers

By Marc Abrahams

Public knowledge about dandruff in Pakistan‘s army comes mainly from a study called Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Dandruff Among Soldiers, written by Naeem Raza, Amer Ejaz and Muhammad Khurram Ahmed, published in 2007 in the Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan. …

Read more » Guardian.co.uk

via » [News adopted from Tarek Fatah's facebook page]

Questions raised, Asma said she was baffled by Pasha’s meeting with Ijaz. “I don’t understand his interest in the Memogate affair,” “Under whose authority did he go abroad?” referring to the permission Pasha had required from the prime minister? Pasha must have resigned after 2nd May incident. Supreme Court must take action against Pasha.”

- Questions raised: Pressure on Pasha

ISLAMABAD: The rhetoric against country’s top spymaster has increased in recent days – that too from a number of quarters.

Asma Jahangir, the counsel for former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, said on Monday that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Shuja Ahmed Pasha “should have resigned immediately” after the May 2 raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden.

Speaking to the media after the Memogate case hearing, Jahangir said she did not understand why the DG ISI felt the need to travel abroad in order to investigate the matter. Jehangir also questioned Pasha’s meeting with Mansoor Ijaz.

Asma said she was baffled by Pasha’s meeting with Ijaz. “I don’t understand his interest in the Memogate affair,” she added.

“Under whose authority did he go abroad?” she said, referring to the permission Pasha had required from the prime minister. Ijaz, in his reply, had stated that Pasha told him that he was meeting him with the knowledge of the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Petition against Pasha

Communist Party Chairman Engineer Jamil Ahmed Malik has also applied pressure on General Pasha. On Monday he pleaded with the Supreme Court to take action against the ISI chief for allegedly meeting Arab rulers.

Filing a petition in the SC on Monday, Jameel asked the court to remove Pasha, claiming he has lost the right to remain in service after his involvement in the Memogate affair.

Jamil said that, although reports regarding Pasha’s meeting with senior Arab leaders were carried in the press, neither ISPR (Inter Services Public Relations) nor Pasha had contradicted them. In the ‘Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto versus President of Pakistan’ case, the SC had decided that “facts given in newspapers, having not been denied, would be considered as undisputed fact”, Jamil said.

Jamil’s argument, therefore, is that news on the meeting indicated that Pasha and the army were involved in politics, which was contrary to their oath under Article 244 of the Constitution. He added that the SC in a 2004 case had barred all government employees from taking part in politics during service. “…the ISI chief has hatched a conspiracy against an elected government and the president and he deserves a court martial under the Pakistan Army Act, 152,” Jamil said. ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

DG ISI, Shuja Ahmed Pasha “should have resigned immediately”

- DG ISI should have resigned after May 2 incident: Asma Jehangir

By Faisal Shakeel

ISLAMABAD: The counsel for former Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani, Asma Jehangir said on Monday that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Shuja Ahmed Pasha “should have resigned immediately” after the May 2 raid in Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Speaking to the media after the hearing of the Memogate case, Jehangir said that she did not understand why the DG ISI felt the need to travel abroad in order to investigate the matter.

“Who gave him the authority to do it?” she asked. “I hope our politicians realize where they are taking the country by blindly pursuing the Memogate case.” …

Read more »  The Express Tribune

So they find a way!?

- Pakistan’s chief justice keeps up pressure on beleaguered Zardari

By Simon Denyer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan’s chief justice kept the pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday, demanding he respond to charges of undermining national security, in a Supreme Court inquiry into the “Memogate” controversy.

Zardari returned to Pakistan early Monday from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he had been receiving medical treatment for a heart condition.

His sudden departure nearly two weeks ago had sparked rumors he was fleeing the country, being ousted by the nation’s powerful military or trying to wait out the inquiry. However, his return has neither silenced the rumor mill nor ended the sense of mounting crisis surrounding his presidency.

“He will continue to face pressure from the Supreme Court and the military,” said Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad. “The suspense will continue for quite some time.”

Zardari’s immediate troubles revolve around a secret, unsigned memo that surfaced last month, which solicited Washington’s help to rein in the Pakistani military and prevent a possible coup after the U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden in May.

The memo was sent by Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who alleged that he was following the instructions of the Pakistani ambassador to Washington to convey a message from Zardari.

The government has denied having anything to do with the memo, but the ambassador, Husain Haqqani, has resigned and is trying to clear his name.

The opposition alleged that treason had been committed, and the Supreme Court took on the inquiry, collecting depositions from government and military officials last week.

During the opening hearing Monday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, a longtime foe of Zardari’s, was clearly unhappy that the president had failed to respond to a request that he submit a sworn statement about the affair, saying it could be taken as acceptance of the charges.

“This is what happens in civil cases,” Chaudhry said. “When you don’t reply, then charges are deemed as accepted by you.”

Although the president can be impeached only by a two-thirds majority of parliament on the grounds of violating the constitution or gross misconduct, a Supreme Court verdict of wrongdoing in the Memogate affair would put significant pressure on Zardari.

Last week, the military appeared to be at loggerheads with the government, arguing in its depositions that evidence showed the memo did lead back to Haqqani and demanding a full investigation.

Read more » The Washington Post

Balochistan will not remain with Pakistan: Top Baloch leader

ISLAMABAD: A senior Baloch nationalist leader warned that Balochistan would not “remain with” Pakistan if extra-judicial killings and excesses by security forces in the restive province were not stopped immediately.

If steps were not taken immediately to halt the extra-judicial killing of Baloch nationalists and to engage them in a dialogue, then “Balochistan will not remain with you” (Pakistan), said Sardar Ataullah Mengal, a senior leader of the Balochistan National Party.

He made the remarks while addressing a televised news conference with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in Karachi. Sharif said he met Mengal to discuss ways to address the grievances of the Baloch people and to strengthen democracy in the province.

In unusually blunt remarks, Mengal said the violence and killings by security forces had taken “Balochistan to the point of no return” and steps have to be taken to engage youths “who have been driven into the mountains by the army“.

Criticising the powerful Pakistan Army, Mengal question why the security forces only acted in response to killings and political violence in Balochistan and not in places like Karachi and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“I don’t understand why our beloved army doesn’t react to killings in those places as it does in Balochistan,” he said. “This army only takes up the issues of Punjabis. This is Punjab’s army and not Pakistan’s army,” he said. ….

Read more » TOI

PAKISTAN: ISI Head must be prosecuted for hatching conspiracy against democracy – AHRC

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – AHRC-UAC-248-2011

19 December 2011 – The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Director General of the Inter Services Intelligence Agency, the country’s foremost intelligence agency, has hatched a conspiracy to overthrow the democratically elected government and parliament by taking help from some Arab monarchies who have strong influence in the affairs of the country. The Pakistan Army has been trying for two years to overthrow the civilian government and it is alleged that in the month of May 2011, Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha, the chief of the ISI, visited several Arab monarchies in a personal capacity and sought clearance for the army to take over the country. It is also alleged that he was given the ‘OK’ by these monarchies. He also visited China, without taking permission from the prime minister, but apparently did not get any formal assistance.

President Back in Pakistan as Tensions With Army Rise

- Pakistani Crisis Prompts Leader to Race Home

By ERIC SCHMITT and SALMAN MASOOD

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A tense showdown between Pakistan’s powerful army and its besieged civilian government brought President Asif Ali Zardari hurrying back from Dubai early on Monday, after weeks of growing concerns by his supporters that the military has been moving to strengthen its role in the country’s governance.

Pushed by the army, a Pakistani Supreme Court hearing set to begin on Monday will investigate whether Mr. Zardari’s government was behind an unsigned memorandum that surfaced in October, purportedly asking the Obama administration’s help to curb the military’s influence and avert a possible coup in the wake of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

The case has brought tensions between Pakistan’s military and its civilian leaders to perhaps its highest pitch since Mr. Zardari was elected three years ago. And it may also complicate America’s efforts to bring its relationship with Pakistan out of crisis after the Bin Laden raid and American airstrikes last month that killed 26 on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan. That roiling period of dispute has also strengthened the military’s hand in the country’s affairs.

“The military and civilian leadership are on a collision course,” said Talat Masood, a political analyst and retired lieutenant general.  ….

Read more » The New York Times

Beautiful and unique PAKISTAN

» YouTube

Czech statesman Vaclav Havel dies

Vaclav Havel, Czech leader and playwright, dies at 75

Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic’s first president after the Velvet Revolution against communist rule, has died at the age of 75. ….

Read more » BBC

Shocking: Unconscious girl brutally beaten by Egypt military

The blog-o-sphere is boiling at the cruel beating of a female protester by Egyptian military police, who continued battling protesters in Tahrir Square on Sunday. The clashes, into their third day now, have left 10 people dead and hundreds injured. ­The video uploaded on YouTube Sunday reveals the extreme cruelty of the country’s law enforcers during the crackdown. The army soldiers in full riot gear have been savagely beating a seemingly unconscious female protester with big sticks, kicking her and stomping on her chest. Security forces lashed out ruthlessly on armless civilians and burned down tents that had been put up by activists outside the parliament building to camp in protest against the military rule. The internet community therefore questions the methods of the military regime who took over power after the ousting of the ex-President Hosni Mubarak in February.

» YouTube

 

Pakistan’s president returns home: “Pakistan is our homeland that is where we will live and that is where we will die” I stand by this.

President Zardari

By Bolta Pakistan

This is the tweet by Asifa Zardari she wrote only a while ago: “Pakistan is our homeland that is where we will live and that is where we will die” “Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, President Asif Zardari , PPP & I stand by this.”

Courtesy: Bolta Pakistan, Facebook page (credit goes to Nusrat Javed)

‘Crimes’ of Asif Zardari – By Shiraz Paracha

President Asif Zardari

The military eliminated all Bhuttos because Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Murtaza and Shah Nawaz Bhutto did not accept dictation but Asif Zardari, a non-Bhutto, is no different than Bhuttos and this is the reason of generals’ annoyance with Zardari.

Generals are desperate to remove President Zardari through the Supreme Court as they believe that independent civilians cannot govern the land of the pure.

The military is after President Asif Zardari’s head because in him generals see a challenger. They want to punish the President because he is not a puppet. The military’s indignation at Zardari is rooted in the paranoia that only the military can save Pakistan and also it is the sole right of generals to set the contours of Pakistan’s foreign and defence policies.

Devious military minds have played the Imran Card to blackmail the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. As expected the Sharif brothers panicked after leaks that the military was behind Imran Khan and that Khan would hurt Muslim League (N) vote bank, particularly in the Punjab Province.

Read more » LUBP

http://criticalppp.com/archives/66558

What American Think-Tank thinkers think about how Pakistan will evolve in future? Part 2

By Khalid Hashmani

Stephen Cohen said that a group of international scholars that included authors and ambassadors were simply asked to provide their insight in the following two questions:

How did they see Pakistan in the medium-term (5-7 years)? What were key factors that may shape Pakistan’s future?

Their answers became the chapters of the book.

Panel Two – 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM (Moderator: John R. Schmidt)

We have to win them over; we cannot destroy them with drones!

Pamela Constable, Staff Writer for Washington Post remarked that situation in Pakistan had been so fluid that she had to revise her recent books six times in the past few months. She also remarked that she struck by the extra-ordinary commonality of diagnosis, She continued that every contributor to the book seems to agree the bleakness about the future of Pakistan. Constable said that hope is always desirable but at the same time there are some bothersome developments. Media for one had shown extra-ordinary potential for bringing positive changes to Pakistan but it has not been as forward-looking and is paddling the most common denominator such as anti-Americanism and mute criticism of extremist attitudes. Similarly, the “judiciary” and the “Lawyer’s Movement” that had once shown that it would help bring positive changes has been a terrible disappointment as too have been backward looking and unwilling to bring about positive changes. Constable remarked, ” yes, most Pakistanis do not support terrorism, but have never been so anti-American”. Some of reasons for the worsening attitudes – emotional defense of Islamism, confusing messages from their leaders, and rise of growth of radical movement as seen in Punjab University. She concluded by saying “We have to win them over, we cannot destroy them with drones”.

Replying to a question, Constable said that the public opinion in Pakistan is getting more conservative and that will further impact the military. The newly recruited crop of officers is more militant and increasingly they will have more influence on decision-makers.

Army will decide National Security and Allocation of Resources!

Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy focused on the immediate (3-5 years) future of Pakistan. He said that we are seeing a creeping military dictatorship underway right now. It is not going to like Musharraf or Zia eras, but more settled, where decisions would be made by a collective leadership of few military men who will make all critical decisions against what broad population wants. The civilian façade will also go on with positions of President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other showcases of a parliamentary form of government. Media will be active and alive as long as they do not seriously criticize military. Those who do will be eliminated. Judiciary will be able to do what they want as long as they don’t challenge military. Army will decide the key decisions on the matters of national security and allocation of resources.

Riedel said that many would say that this has been the case all along any way, however, at least in the last three years, the civilian government did attempt to take some decisions. He saw the current situation where the current civilian government including President is truly scared and intimidated. He said that the “Memogate” is another example of this. It is ironic that the “memo” that was supposed to prevent dictatorship is now being used to facilitate the arrival of military dictatorship. He said he hoped that the person who wrote the memo and wrote about it in the “Financial Times” could live with conscience in what they have done to Pakistan.

Talking about the settled way of military dictatorship in Pakistan, Riedel said it would be a South Asian model of how military rules Algeria. There, the military rules behind curtains and very few people who are key military officers who make decisions. It is not a single person who dictates but rather a collection of few senior officers. He further said that good news is that this in-progress event can still be reversed if Pakistanis want. However, if this is left on its steady drift it is going to be 5th military dictatorship in Pakistan.

Commenting on the War, Riedel said that NATO and the US are fighting a proxy war in Afghanistan. This is not a new phenomenon but has been since 2002. It is just that veils are now taken off. Riedel continued that the assassination of President Rabbani was a key milestone sending the message that they are in no mood to compromise. He said that Pakistan’s absence at the Bonn conference is the message from Pakistan that it is backing Taliban and does not want negotiations. The US/NATO and Pakistan are heading towards a collision. Riedel added that there are some built-in “breaks” but it is to seen if these “breaks” are strong enough to stop rapture.

No respite: Pakistanis have a long way to go – the Evil Quad does not seem to learn from mistakes. Obsessive self-interest has made them lose touch with reality.

No respite – By Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The establishment and the armed forces here do not seem to learn from their mistakes. Obsessive self-interest has made them lose touch with reality

Establishments never tire of exploring ways and means to perpetuate their rule. Interestingly, the word ‘establishment’ is generally used in Pakistan to refer to those who exercise de facto power; it includes the military high command and the intelligence agencies, together with the top leadership of certain political parties, high-level members of the bureaucracy and business persons that work in alliance with them. The military high command and the intelligence agencies form the core of the establishment and are its most permanent and influential components. The real power rests with its ‘most permanent and influential components’, i.e. the armed forces. All is not hunky-dory within the establishment as struggles occur, but the most organised and powerful part is invariably the winner. The media dutifully paves the way by creating hysteria or gloom.

Their think tanks search suitable candidates for implementing their policy aims. The only hitch is that their skewed ideas do not quite correspond to reality and always backfire; yet, unfortunately, they remain unaccountable and all powerful. Unaccountability and de facto power allows them to continue experimenting while the masses pay the price of their follies.

The fact that people, in spite of resentment, do not resist injustices gives the decision-makers a free hand in creating an irresolvable mess. Mumia Abu Jamal’s quote unequivocally illustrates the situation here: “When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it — at that moment you begin to die. And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about justice.” Hoping for the ‘Arab Spring’ here is a fantasy.

People and institutions create problems by setting themselves delusional goals. While individuals pay with personal losses, the adverse consequences of institutional delusions are permanent, colossal and harsh for the people. The establishment and the armed forces here do not seem to learn from their mistakes. Obsessive self-interest has made them lose touch with reality.

Delusional thinking, however, is not new here; the civilian rulers in the initial days were obsessed with India and acquiring evacuee property and paid no heed to people’s welfare. They were then replaced by the army obsessed with the idea that ‘Mumlikat-e-Khudadad’ was an end in itself and there was no need to bother about people’s rights and welfare. Naturally the people suffered and continue to suffer. ….

Read more » Daily Times

Memogate: an attempt to thwart democracy, and threatening the representative system is an attack on sovereignty of the people of Pakistan

Civil Society of Pakistan’s stand on So-called Memogate

Civil society terms memogate scandal an attempt to thwart democracy; Says threatening the representative system tantamount to attack on sovereignty of people.

Karachi, Sindh – 17 December 2011: We, the representatives of the Civil Society including non governmental organisations, labour organisations, academia, women’s rights bodies, and media persons express deep concern over the current political situation in the country where a crisis is being manufactured on frivolous grounds, and is being referred as the so-called Memogate. This has the potential of subverting democratically elected Parliament and the Constitution.

It is time all conspirators against democracy and the sovereignty of the people be called to account. Sovereignty belongs to the people who have agreed to exercise it through their representatives in a federal, parliamentary, and a democratic system. Any attempt at arbitrarily altering this arrangement is tantamount to an attack on the sovereignty of the people. Various institutions of the state are supposed to function within their defined constitutional parameters and complement each other but they seem to be working at cross-purposes, to the determent of public interest.

We emphasise that the role of political parties and political leaders is to represent their constituents’ interests and arrive at negotiated agreements to differences in agreed political forums.

The role of state’s security organizations is to serve the people through stipulated constitutional arrangements, under the command of the executive, and not to define what is or is not in the national interest.

The role of the judiciary is to protect the rights of the citizens from arbitrary abuse of executive power, and not to itself become a source of arbitrary executive power.

The role of the mass media is to help citizens hold powerful interests groups within and outside the state to promote their legitimate interests and hold violators of rights accountable, and not to itself act as an unaccountable interest group.

In our opinion, parliament is the appropriate forum to discuss and investigate this issue and come up with findings.

We believe that any attack on the sovereignty of the people will be unjust. It will necessarily lead to conflict and must be resisted.

We appeal to the people of Pakistan to stand united and firm in support of democracy and to resist all attempts aimed at its subversion. The people of Pakistan have made great many sacrifices for the cause of democracy and they should not let any vested interests trample their right to have a democratic and an elected representative system run the country.

Dirty talk

By Saroop Ijaz

Excerpt;

…. The terrorists are fanatics who wish to destroy society and life as we have known it. The cliché “one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist” is overrated and in any event they are nobody’s freedom fighter. If all this sounds as dreary sentimental nonsense and hollow distant bravado to you, remember it is in our self-interest to fight and defeat them. Any capitulation or one-sided peace deal with them is by its nature doomed to fail and once it does, they will come back with a vengeance as they did after Swat. The precedent of negotiating and ceding to the edicts of people threatening to kill is one which is susceptible to permeate and will be applicable to your local gangster before you know it.

Read more » The Express Tribune, December 18th, 2011.

Punjab PPP to counter ‘hard times’

Faryal mobilises Punjab PPP to counter ‘hard times’

LAHORE – The Pakistan People’s party (PPP) Punjab has activated itself against what it called conspiracies against democracy and the democratic government and reposed complete confidence in President Asif Zardari.

In this regard, President Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur held a party meeting at the Punjab Governor’s House on Saturday. The party meeting passed a resolution against undemocratic elements. Addressing the parliamentary party meeting, she asked the PPP leaders to prepare themselves for hard times and urged them to increase mass contact …

Read more » Pakistan Today

Sindhis meet in Ahmedabad to instil culture among youths

Jhulelal

By DNA Correspondent

Gujarat chief minister inaugurated the three-day International Sindhi Sammelan that began on Friday at Karnavati Club.

Sindhi personalities from the field of politics, industry, banking, arts, and education were present on the occasion. They included Sindhis from USA, Europe, Middle East and other countries. Sindh (in Pakistan) and Gujarat have been neighbours that share a 5000-year-old heritage of the Harappan Civilisation that began in the Indus Valley of Sindh and spread to sites in Gujarat like Dholavira in Kutch and Lothal in Ahmedabad. ….

Read more » DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS (DNA)

1985 – Sindhi Kafi by Qamar Soomro

» YouTube

Defeat in the West

by Waseem Altaf

Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its air force and a third of its army. Pakistan suffered most, with 8,000 killed and 25,000 wounded while India lost 3,000 lives and 12,000 wounded.14000 square kilometers of land was captured by the Indian army on the Western front

In most of our narratives, the Eastern Theatre during the 1971 Indo-Pak war remains the focus of our attention. This is primarily due to the magnitude and complexity of war in the East and the far-reaching consequences it had on the geo-political developments in the region. However, little has been written and known on our side as to the conduct of war on the Western front.

Apart from political factors, the Pak Army generally puts the blame of its defeat in East Pakistan to large scale Indian involvement and the role Mukti Bahini played as a guerilla force supporting the invading Indian army. However, it would be enlightening as to how it performed in the Western Theatre of operations where Pakistan army existed as an integrated military force with no threat of any sabotage or clandestine acts of hostility by an invisible enemy. ….

Read more » ViewPoint

Fishy & dramatic overdrive on the basis of a letter – Will Kamran Shafi’s letter also be converted into a petition?

Memogate: New notices issued to President, Prime Minister, DG ISI

By Faisal Shakeel

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday issued notices to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha on a letter – which has been converted into a petition – expressing concern over the security of the citizens of Pakistan on the presumption that the government and the president were involved in the Memogate affair.

A Canada-based Pakistani, Shafqat Ullah in his letter said: “If contents of the letter are true then each and every Pakistani is at security threat because of the present government. This government is not safeguarding the interest of its own people and departments but it is securing the interest of other nations or enemies of Pakistan.”

“This is an anti-state act and how come a person involved in this matter is sitting on the key post of Pakistan and is supreme commander of Pakistan forces,” Shafqat wrote.

“As this (Memogate affair) is directly related to the security of Pakistan and armed forces of Pakistan… so it is a matter of national security and national interest. Our national security is at stake now and politicians are just making fun of each other by asking so called committees to probe the Memogate affair,” the letter said.

“The committees will delay the outcome rather than (doing) justice.”

“My family members are in Army and all family members are in Pakistan so I feel insecure from this government as they can invite our enemies to kill us,” the letter stated.

The chief justice converted the letter into a petition and listed it for hearing along with the Memogate case.

Read more » The Express Tribune

Civilian Govt. vs Generals : No hope of justice in memo case: Chandio

- No hope of justice in memo case: Chandio

Federal Law Minister Maula Bukhsh Chandio has said he knows justice will not be done in memo case, a private TV channel reported. …

Read more » PakistanToday

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/12/no-hope-of-justice-in-memo-case-chandio/