Articles of the year 2007

The people of Pakistan are very angry at being treated like fools, by a Government that is completely unconcerned about the effect on the masses, of the deals being struck, and the manner of the deals. To be 'pushed' by the Americans, into accepting Benazir, is an insult to all Pakistanis. No Nation in the world has allowed its corrupt leadership to walk away from its crimes. The Bangladeshis are laughing at us for both their ex PMs are languishing in jail, while our leadership lives in opulent exile!

How can our Government follow such instructions, which fly in the face of any moral decency, and is such a brazen impingement on our internal affairs, that the mind boggles at our capacity, to absorb, such crude and shameless interference, and the ability of our rulers to show such servility to the Anglo-Americans, the proud brokers of the deal. There should have been an outpouring of people on the streets, our intelligentsia on every street corner. Have our legal torchbearers lost their will for real justice, or have they succumbed to the call of their political masters into following their agendas, and keeping count of their clients who will benefit from the cleansing bath of the NRO.

Surely the Supreme Court is aware of the stench that permeates the land, and the anger of the people that stretches from the Khyber to the beaches of Baluchistan. What is even worse is the likening of the NRO to the South African model. This is such a ludicrous claim, that the many supporters of the beneficiaries under the NRO should be taken to South Africa to see how the South African Black was treated in his country, and for how long. We in Pakistan have not felt the whip, nor the dehumanizing segregation suffered by the Blacks. Funnily enough the corrupt and the criminal amongst the politicos is being given the blanket of Mandela with which to walk through to his cleansing. Gentlemen please spare us from your insane comparisons. Mandela --- no less. Perhaps the PPP hierarchy and the N and Q league should be nominated for the Nobel also.

I had written over a year ago, that the extremist element in the region spread between Afghanistan and Pakistan had shifted their focus towards Pakistan, which was a softer target, and far more lucrative in terms of available body counts. The PPP has proved me right in providing the opportunity and the crowds for the Extremists to lay on a lavish show, which has set records for a body count, and with the number of cameras and media present, has shown how Pakistan is indeed in the heartland of terror. And can compete with Baghdad for deaths in one day, -- not the best of Baghdad, but equal to a good day! The point in the analogy is to draw attention to the fact that a large public reception was highly irresponsible, as it would be in Baghdad and could not have been controlled by any Government. Pakistan is not the Pakistan of eleven years ago, the dangers are far more acute, for the entire region Iraq, Baluchistan,Wana, Afghanistan –Islamabad, is today a hotbed of extremists armed with sophisticated weapons, and, far far worse, large numbers of suicide bombers, as the new weapon, for which there is no known counter, except for extreme care, which was discarded on Thursday, in the desire to 'show' political street power of the PPP. The outcome was sad indeed, and could, should have been avoided. Will someone come forward and take the blame? 142 dead, over 500 injured. These are horrific numbers, and the PPP is behaving as if it was a strategic victory that will now propel the party to greater heights. The people show is being displayed as the strength of the Party. For the two brokers of the deal, it is indeed sad that they would take these figures for anything other than stupidity on the part of the organizers. If anything the Brokers who guaranteed the deal, certainly must share the deadly blame with their protégé.

This Black Thursday, coupled with the Black NRO has brought nothing but shame to the bulk of our people, with the few benefiting at a huge cost to the many. The resultant anger is widespread, and the uneasy silence should not be misread. The people are desperately unhappy, and angry. This cannot continue, and it needs just a small trigger, to destroy the semblance of Peace that exists here. The NRO has already set off rumblings in the Extremist elements, that the looters will not go free, and the Taliban will be welcomed. A refrain that is being echoed by the rest of the country. Can Islamabad be so deaf?--- or the American think tanks so stupid?Today, Newsweek has in its cover Story declared that Iraq is not the most dangerous place in the world—Pakistan is. Will Condoleeza Rice still advise Benazir to lead Public rallies?