Articles of the year 2017

Arson As A Political Weapon
Published on January 30th 2017

The shocking story of the Baldia Factory blaze is now slowly emerging. The tale is mind numbing in its savagery, and in brutality. The facts are very simple.
The factory was working successfully with more than 300 workers. It is alleged that a political activist approached the owners of the factory and made a demand of 20 Crores, ( two hundred million rupees.) equal to two million dollars. While the negotiations between the owners and the political party were ongoing, the owners made a part payment of fifty million rupees was made to the political party. Declaring this as insufficient the political party gave a final call, and set fire to the factory first locking the doors from the outside, and stood outside the factory, with no one allowed to escape. The fire blazed for 36hours, and no fire tenders were allowed, to rescue the burning workers. When finally the fire was extinguished, 279 workers had died.

These are the bare facts. This was the culmination of democracy in Pakistan. The main political parties were in Power. In Karachi where the factory was located, the MQM was part of the coalition with PMLN, and the PPP, of Sindh. All these parties were involved and the negotiations of the ‘ cover -up’ were conducted in Governor House, overseen by the Governor Ishratul Ibad the longest serving Governor of. Sind who has stepped down last month after serving for fourteen years. A record for Sind.
The crime itself is unmatched in Pakistan’s history and implicates the political parties the MQM PPP and the police in the coverup.
The Army conducted an investigation, and the detailed report has not been published. It does implicate the three main political parties– the MQM PPP and the PMLN. However no case has been initiated against the FIR which was lodged by the relatives of the victims.

The people of Pakistan are astonished that the political parties, who have made such a drama about the excesses of the Army in their martial law takeovers, have demonstrated that their crimes are as serious or more than any military dictator. And are as savage as any in our short history.
The people have realised that the Pakistani politicians have already established that they have by their behaviour demonstrated that their criminality has removed them from any position of responsibility. It appears that Imran is up against an impossible task, for other than Imran himself, all the political parties are thoroughly corrupted. And from this crime the three major parties are involved in this crime of multiple murder and extortion.
This also involved people of the MQM at the highest level worse the nature of the crime and the callous manner of the culprits carried out their mission. The details of the crime and the negotiations in the presence of senior MQM office bearers, and PPP officials does bring forth the picture of a power drunk political group. It also shows an absolute contempt of the law. It is surprising that there is not total anarchy. On the contrary the lawbreakers are tightly controlled by their political masters, and the country is near bankruptcy. All three parties are in total control, and even the Army is too scared of taking on these corrupt politics. Some five years ago the PPP and th PMLN came to an agreement where they made sure that they would support each other in Parliament and so a ‘friendly ‘ opposition was formed to keep the assembly intact.

That is how the last eight years the PPP, and the PMLN, and MQM have ruled the country. With no hindrance. This unholy alliance was cobbled together by the US and the UK as the God parents, keeping in place a corrupt an criminal power group in place, who were allowed a free run of crime. over their declared areas. Narcotics and terror export were not allowed, as that would affect the Godparents. In the meanwhile the economy of Pakistan went to pieces, and today Pakistan is at its lowest level of exports. All the economic indicators are at their lowest,the railways, and PIA, are near bankrupt. The schools are empty, for there are no teachers, the salary is drawn but divided amongst the education officers of the government. Even the streets of Larkana are worse than ever before, Pakistan is at the lowest point in its governance and is falling lower economically. While the country is being stripped of it assets. The last few years have seen the Sind province of leasing land to political bigwigs headed by Zardar’s sister and the money rapidly transferred to Dubai, where visitors are driven past skyscrapers belonging to Amin Fahim, Faryal Talpur, Asif Zardari, and the other PPP stalwarts. None of these politicians have made an effort to build factories in their own land, but have invested in plots/buildings in safe Dubai. Stripping the assets from their own country making Pakistan poorer, and Dubai richer. All this has been achieved by the Pakistani politicians, helping themselves to the pot of plenty, as they took control of the government, by first ignoring the laws governing the country.

It is indeed a pity that the Army of Gen. Raheel Shareef did not address the staggering corruption that has strangled Pakistan. After a three stint COAS Gen Raheel did a good job in cleaning up the Northern Areas. But he did not address the major problem facing the country. The endemic corruption that is gnawing away at the roots of the country. At all levels.
Gen Raheel should have decided in his own mind that all the other institutions had stopped functioning, and as the Supreme Court pointed out today NAB, FBR are not doing their job, and therefore they should be wound up.