The Severely Retarded

By Aik Awaz - One Voice

A columnist known for her humor coined the epithet ‘Im the Dim’ for the Kaptaan’ who is currently swaying the masses with his oratory and regaling them with personal anecdotes and revelations about those in the government or those opposing him and his revolutionary ideas for a ‘new Pakistan’. There is no doubt that his charisma and the catchy tunes and slogans are pulling in the crowds but so far there has been nothing said that could indicate that the title of Im the Dim was inappropriate and that actually a great intellect is at work. In fact the talk is of bulldozers tearing down walls, masses confronting those in authority, billions coming back to the country and so on ad nauseum. Except for two or three the other faces on the stage with the kaptaan do not inspire confidence.

   

Fortunately for the Kaptaan those he is railing against are beyond dim. They seem to be retarded. Instead of choosing a team that could govern and gain them credibility they opted to sideline the few talented people they had and brought in mouth pieces to trumpet their nonexistent achievements. No one was surprised when these morons talked themselves and their leader into ridiculous situations. Instead of delivering on governance they totally ignored the grievances of the masses and set about mega projects that boggled the mind. Neither the declining economy nor the precarious security situation fazed these people and nor did they deem it necessary to consult with others-- even ignoring the voices being raised against them and highlighting their follies. Into this widening breach between the government and the people stepped the gallant kaptaan and the result is before us. 

Unfortunately what is visible to all is still not understood by the retarded. Their minions make fools of themselves when they call a clearly visible crowd of hundreds of thousands something ten times less. They raise themselves to foolish levels when a scion of their dynastic political ambitions keeps a crowd of young people waiting for three hours and then starts talking about irrelevant things. Is it any wonder that he was booed off the stage and had to beat a retreat via a back door? How can the leader of a country go abroad without an agenda to justify the expense of his visit? Instead of muzzling their mouthpieces and pushing those into the wood work where they should be, these three nightmares are still doing everything possible to destroy their leader. Not learning from their disastrous intervention in Model Town they let loose a bloated Neanderthal in Islamabad whose fat red face and bulging neck veins will be forever imprinted on the mind as the image of the police top leadership. 

Neither the military nor anyone else needs to move a muscle. The dim and the retarded are exposing the political institution as never before. In fact everyone needs to lie low and let the drama unfold. The trouble is that a nuclear power is getting the image of a politically and economically unstable country with a massive security problem. Many are working to maintain and magnify this image to the world. The feeling on the street is that between the dim and the retarded something has to give and they hope and pray that it is not Pakistan. There are, of course, the optimists who think that democracy is being strengthened without pausing to consider why no one ever took this road to a strong democracy before.

Military Coup Not On The Cards

Pakistan has been abuzz with speculations regarding a military takeover amidst the current political deadlock, spanning over more than a month now. Recently, a well renowned news channel reported Army Chief’s advice to the PM to resign, while on the same day, another news channel claimed that government is likely to ask the COAS to resign, both denied by officials later. The revelations by Javed Hashmi, shedding light on the alleged role of former army officials in the prevailing crisis only added to the various discussions in media circles about covert support of a script writer/ third umpire for the two protesting parties.

To be fair, this profound paranoia concerning military intervention has legitimate roots in the history, starting from the first military takeover in 1958 followed by three successful coups. This fear of coup is deeply entrenched not only within the government entities but also the general public, all of whom have witnessed at least one military takeover in their lives.

However, this time around military as an institution has evolved like other key institutions of the state and these speculations seem a bit overstretched. As Talat Masood writes in his article: “The military today like other institutions in the country is clearly in a state of transition and to expect that it would replicate its past political interventions of the late 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s would be misreading the situation.” The numerous statements by DG ISPR categorically denying such speculations and upholding army’s loyalty to the supremacy of the constitution clearly point towards the army’s relatively newfound apolitical approach. Many would agree that it is rather the incompetence of the elected government to handle the situation and inflexibility on PTI’s part which created a vacuum, paving way for greater political space for the military as a ‘mediator’.

To put matters into perspective directly, army has a lot on its plate right now with an ongoing operation at western front and border skirmishes with India. It is also leading the relief efforts for flood victims and internally displaced persons. Under these circumstances, it not only needs a political government to own the armed offensive in North Waziristan but to back these efforts by the military. Hence, overthrowing the current government is not a suitable option for them.

The military also understands the changing dynamics of South Asia with India progressing at all fronts; economic deal with China and India’s heavy record high donation in Afghanistan whereas Pakistan is lagging behind in all aspects. Furthermore, during and post US withdrawal, the role of Pakistan along with India will be of critical importance. A destabilized government especially considering the asymmetry with India will neither go in favor of the country nor the military.

There is a possibility of some element of truth to the allegations put forth by Javed Hashmi regarding the involvement of retired officers; however it needs to be investigated. It should be duly noted that the role and scope of other state institutions have also changed with time. While the pervious military coups were legalized by the Judiciary which not only facilitated General Pervaiz Musharraf by giving him a three year mandate and powers to amend the Constitution, the current judicial system is considered far more apolitical and independent. Similarly, unlike in the past where opposition parties made alliances to overthrow the government- PNA movement being prime example, the parliament this time has emerged as a strong democratic block with all elected parties on the same page except PTI.

With regards to civil-military relations, the government needs to understand that army has a viewpoint on defence and security of the country and rightly so. Instead of focusing on past confrontations, the government should work with the military in greater capacity and address their legitimate concerns. The need of the hour is to focus on a greater institutional accord for an internally stable Pakistan; military coup is certainly not an option.

ZoneAsia-Pk

The Cost of Azaadi

By Saman Tariq
ZoneAsia-Pk

There is a famous saying that everything comes with a price; the recent political crisis has already cost Pakistan more than could be bargained for.  Expanded over almost 10 days, the deadlock between two major political forces PTI and PML (N) still continues without any foreseeable resolution.  Where PTI is adamant on their demands, PML (N) has also made it clear that resignation of the PM and midterm elections are out of question.

Amid calls for resignation of the PM and speculations concerning a military coup; political uncertainty is looming over country’s economy. The economic brunt of this political crisis is evident by reports of a 222 points fall in Karachi stock market. In addition to that, traders have also shown concern over the prolonged sit-ins in the Capital and their likelihood to paralyze trade and business activities.  A Business Recorder report highlights the losses of Rs. 30 billion in local trade and businesses over 12 days following the political turmoil. Where PML (N) has claimed a loss of around Rs. 500 billion to the national economy due to these ongoing protests, other projects such as establishing ten coal fired power plants have also been stalled due to disinterest of the investors for the time being.

On international front, with an ongoing military operation in North Waziristan following terrorism allegations by Afghanistan, it is indeed a crucial time for Pakistan. The diplomatic efforts over the past few months and subsequent progress with another neighboring country India have also been halted after India canceled talks with Pakistan, accusing it of meddling in internal affairs of the former. Under these circumstances, when any international support for Pakistan is of high significance, particularly a SAARC member, Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa had to cancel his trip in the wake of current political situation of Pakistan.  Keeping in mind the current international standing of Pakistan, the harsh criticism of the U.S. Ambassador by Imran Khan for meddling into internal affairs of Pakistan is unlikely to have positive repercussions in the long term for Pak-US relations.

This confrontational politics is not free of cost even for the two major parties involved in this crisis. From the decision to carry on the with the march even after announcement of formation of an independent Judicial Commission to probe rigging allegations to their refusal to compromise on any of the six demands put forth , resignation of the PM being the top priority, PTI is on the point of no return .  The pressure of the crowd present at the sit-in to take concentrate actions for ousting of the PM is an added disadvantage as these supporters are also not willing to settle for anything less now, after days of sit-in. The sit-in might be gaining moment; depending on how one perceives it, however people have started raising questions over PTI’s perplexed rhetoric (http://www.zoneasia-pk.com/perplexed-rhetoric-pti/). Their abandonment of KPK is being cashed upon by other political forces in the province, with displaced families and floods taking a toll over other issues.

The government, on the other hand, is at the brink of losing credibility over allegations put forth by PTI, due to their reluctance towards the initial demand of PTI to probe into four allegedly rigged constituencies. The decision to probe into the matter through formation of an independent Judicial Commission is perhaps seen by many as a step too little too late. PML (N) with the baggage of 14 PAT workers killed by police in Lahore is being openly criticized for their dictatorial tactics. Out of other pressing issues, the pressure over federal government to facilitate displaced families is also worth mentioning.  The elders of North Waziristan Agency have shown discontent over the shelter provided in KPK, threatening to stage a protest outside the parliament if they are forced to vacate school buildings.

In the end, both parties are being blamed for negligence particularly in their respective provinces and needless to say, gaining from the loss of both PTI and PML (N), parties such as PPP, MQM and JI have emerged as rational mediating forces in current political crisis.

Another considerable downside of this turmoil has been the plausible space created for the military to exercise their influence, following the political deadlock. Perhaps both parties are relying on the army to exert pressure on the other political force to back down in their favor. Even as the ISPR issued statements over seeking a political solution by the parties involved, there were reports of an agreement between the PM and the military over a shared political space. If history is anything to go by, in civil-military relations, superseding of institutions by any single entity is unlikely to go in favor of the system.

While the talks between PTI and PML (N) have resumed after a standstill, the clash of egos between the two parties needs to discontinue in greater interest of the country. In sincere efforts to end this deadlock, a compromise should be agreed upon between the two, where legitimate demands such as resignation of CM Punjab, electoral reforms, probe over rigging and accountability if proved guilty should be accepted by the government; in return, PTI should withdraw the demand of PM’s resignation and let the due process take its course.  After all, it is high time that some amount of normalcy returns in the country.

What has Imran Khan actually done by declaring Civil Disobedience

As soon as Imran Khan announced his Civil Disobedience movement the entire opposition and twitterati erupted into a tirade of jokes asking questions such as, how would PTI supporters not pay GST on milk, bread and other groceries. Or that if they wont pay the utility bills the utility services would be disconnected and so on.

However, none of these so-called intellectuals were able to understand that what this Civil Disobedience movement is aiming to do is declare Nawaz regime a dictatorial regime and hence render all foreign debts that the regime would contract as unenforceable. As, I have already explained that a debt becomes illegitimate if a) the regime that contracts it is despotic and/or dictatorial and b) it was not spent on the betterment of the nation.

The entire long march is based on the premise that Nawaz Sharif and his party rigged the 2013 General elections and hence the regime is dictatorial and illegitimate. Before announcing the Civil Disobedience movement Imran Khan went into elaborate details of how the Sharif has previously used foreign debt to fill his coffers. What Imran was trying to do here was to establish a case that the foreign debts which this regime would incur would not be spent on the nation but would rather be laundered out of the country to power the business of the Sharif dynasty.

In simpler words Imran has told the entire world and specially the foreign lenders aka (IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank) that any loans incurred by the Sharif regime would not be enforceable on the future governments of Pakistan. To make it abundantly clear to our intellectual elite, Imran is telling the foreign lenders that if he ever came to power, he wont pay back the loans that the Sharif regime would borrow. This means that the foreign lenders has only one option left before them and that is to decline all future loans to the Sharif regime. Since, the Sharif regime relies heavily on foreign lending to finance its budget, the move would cripple the government and will bring it down to its knees without any bloodletting on the streets.

I once read a quotation that Brilliance hits a target that no one can hit, Genius hits a target that no one can see.

Imran’s masterstroke against Sharif is such an act of genius that the entire nation is unable to see the target that it has hit. All that PTI and its horde of social media jihadi’s now need to do is explain this to the entire nation that:

Since, we consider the Sharif regime as illegitimate, all foreign debts that it would incur would be illegitimate odious debt and hence would not be paid by the future Pakistani governments.

Imran Khan himself needs to do a better job and explain this to the foreign lenders that since the Sharifs always loot and plunder these loans for their personal gains, future PTI/Pakistani government would consider the foreign loans received by the Sharif regime as illegitimate. Once this is made abundantly clear to both the national and international audiences, it does not matter an iota if the civil disobedience movement fails to reduce the amount of taxes collected at the National level. 

FOR PAKISTAN

On A Long March To Nowhere

Imprisoned for refusing to pay poll tax for the Mexican-American War, Henry David Thoreau, in his essay Resistance to Civil Government says: All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to and to resist the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.

Thoreau’s work today is considered foundational in providing the ideological basis for almost all revolutions over the past century. Leo Tolstoy, famous for his letters advocating non-violence, cites Thoreau’s work as the grounds for non-violent struggle.  Civil disobedience as a means of protest has been successfully used to force the government into acquiescence. From the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Singing Revolution in the Baltics, to Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha campaign in South Africa to Nelson Mandela’s movement against apartheid. Civil disobedience as a form of protest cuts at the very heart of a government – by refusing to fulfill the duties of a law abiding citizen, the protester relinquishes any responsibility or acceptance of the government. It registers the citizen’s protest and in most cases the citizen is dealt with the way Thoreau was when he refused to pay poll tax – through imprisonment. But when the ranks of protesters swell, when more and more people surrender the social contract and refuse to acknowledge the government’s right to override their collective consciousness is when the government is brought to its knees.

When the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf convoy set out to shake things up in the capital, most of them truly believed that they were going to bring the government down with righteous and moral indignation against election rigging that took place on May 11, 2013. However, the convoy couldn’t boast the same numbers as their revolutionary counterpart, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek – imbued with the feeling of divine retribution against the violence against their fellow workers in the June 17 police operation – did. The rest of the 1.8 billion citizens of Pakistan felt relieved that this would all soon be over.

But then something strange happened that could have stopped the PTI in its tracks enroute to the long march – the government acquiesced. By announcing a judicial inquiry to probe rigging allegations, the government swept the carpet from under this party that had by now spent millions of rupees on its campaigns that had culminated in a camp at Zaman Park.

As PTI lawyer Ahsan Awais explained to the Lahore High Court a day before the march was to be carried out: It wasn’t enough that the government had given into their demands, all the preparations were complete and calling off the march at this junction would be a terrible blow to the party’s morale.

The government tried its best to stave off the protest, from cordoning off Model Town to playing PTI’s ally in KP against it, the government had its political tracks covered. What it wasn’t prepared for was Imran Khan’s call for civil disobedience.

The Kaptaan’s Sunday evening speech gave pause to many who had thus far maintained a neutral stance on the long march race.

Before his speech had even ended, Twitter was abuzz with talk of what Khan’s civil disobedience movement would entail.

Khan urged citizens to stop paying their bills and the business community to not pay their taxes. While these indeed are modes of civil disobedience, Khan seems to have missed the heart of what Thoreau meant when he urged people to regain their conscience and take direct action against an oppressive regime.

Khan bases his call on the need to deny the government flow of funds that he said are misappropriated and used for corrupt ends. Once the government is denied its cache of funds, it would eventually be brought to its knees begging for bounty from the populace.

But Khan doesn’t seek reform within the government. His civil disobedience movement aims to overthrow the government, not limit expediency through the government. This is a stark departure from what Thoreau aimed to achieve from civil disobedience.

None of the revolutions quoted earlier adopted civil disobedience as a means towards midterm elections, which is what Khan is gearing for. Using the term revolution as a means to gain political power is not unheard of – just abhorred. Democracy for Thoreau was an enabler of political expediency which ultimately led to the oppression of citizens. In other cases, civil disobedience was called as a means to achieve social justice and political emancipation. The underlying theme in all forms of revolution is emancipation – a concept the PTI’s politics is far removed from.

Khan found himself in a difficult position behind the podium on Sunday evening. He had a fifty thousand strong crowd to control and keep entertained. Four people lost their lives on the way to Islamabad and several fainted from standing for hours in the sweltering heat. Khan had the duty to make it appear that their sacrifices were not in vain. But Khan bumbled. Merely two hours after announcing his civil disobedience campaign, he backtracked on his previous stance of sitting to talks with the government and allowing a judicial commission to conduct an impartial probe into rigging allegations. He announced that Nawaz Sharif would have to step down.

There is a very personal flavour to Khan’s politics. He believes in himself, and himself foremost. He can decry the Sharifs for all their nepotism, but has to answer for the sheer narcissism with which he conducts his own party.

After his abrupt departure from Zaman Park, Javed Hashmi was brought back to the PTI fold not on bald-faced threats about not being able to control party workers but the guarantee that the PTI would consider negotiations with the sitting government. Hashmi’s solitary protest fell on deaf ears as Khan seems to have started a bushfire that does not appear to bode well for his civil disobedience.

PTI’s politics lacks the ideological bent civil disobedience movements are impossible without. For Martin Luther King Jr it was the emancipation of African Americans, for Estonians in the Baltics it was the idea of breaking free from state-sponsored strictures of the Soviet Union, for Mandela it was the apartheid. In this case, its the call for premiership. Not even the Islamic Revolution in Iran, which many look down upon as an oppressive rabble-rousing, saw the Ayatollah mobilise people to earn him the top slot.

There have been serious ideological basis to all revolutions and civil disobediences that Khan has grossly overlooked.

Moeed Peerzada, a political analyst, said this was a tactic to gain international traction for his movement, whereby international agencies would believe that this call would cripple the economy and force the government to give into his demands. Peerzada says that civil disobedience is a tactic that holds much sway in western countries. That Khan’s movement will now gain momentum and shake things.

By giving the ominous warning that two days from now Khan would not be responsible for his workers’ actions, Khan has stacked all of his chips on hoping for a violent confrontation from the state. A bid to gain even more sympathy from international quarters, it would seem.

Unfortunately for the rest of the apolitical populace glued to its TV screens for the next thrilling round of speeches, Khan’s call has come as a letdown. From a man who promised the moon, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ended up receiving a moon walk. His tactics reveal themselves to be naive and ignorant of how Pakistan’s economy works. The long march might just end up with a long walk back home for Khan and especially his party leaders now left wondering whether they were pulling the cart for the wrong horse. The possibility of a civil disobedience movement in Pakistan has the potential to shake the very grounds of the state. Yet the lackadaisical call to stop paying your bills is only going end up in severed meter connections for citizens already leading miserable lives.

This calls for a rethinking of the role of opposition parties in Pakistan and maybe the possibility of reining in the odd loose cannon.

By Sarah Eleazar
ZoneAsia-Pk

Clueless, Confused and In The Dark

Tacstrat Analysis

The Islamabad Police and Administration do not – as of yet – have any clear orders on how to deal with the upcoming Azadi March; and seem positioned (unwillingly or deliberately) to repeat the mistakes made by the Punjab Police since June 2014…

When the 2009 Long March took place, Lahore turned into a veritable battlefield. The current incumbents – the PML-N and the PTI – were engaged in pitched street battles with the Punjab Police just days after the Shahbaz Sharif government was removed from power and Governor’s Rule imposed in the province. Though it had been two years since the judiciary was dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf, and the PPP had come into power in the Presidency as well as the PM’s office, the dismissal of the PML-N provincial government was seen as “the right time” to launch a protest movement along with the lawyers and other democratic forces to pressure the-then government to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to his office. During the pitched battles between party workers – most of them from the youth – and the police, the former ultimately overwhelmed the latter, and the DCO Lahore arrived at GPO Chowk (the scene of the most brutal showdowns) in person and “surrendered”. The rest, as they say, is history. The CJP, as well as the Shahbaz Sharif government, was restored; and five years on, the PML-N now holds the reins of the federal government as well as the Punjab government.

This time, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are planning an “Azadi March” (freedom march) and “Inqilabi March” (revolutionary march), respectively, on the federal capital. The main differences between 2009 and now? In 2009, the Long March dissipated halfway – with the PML-N turning back from Gujranwala while other parties had already reached Islamabad – on the alleged intervention and guarantee of the-then COAS, wherein the PML-N government and the “de jure” CJP were restored. This time, both Imran Khan of the PTI and Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri of the PAT have said that if either of these leaders stop halfway or return without achieving their goal(s) – of overthrowing the PML-N government and/or an overhaul of the entire governance system – then they should be “martyred”. Needless to say, after all this hype, if any of these march leaders do not follow through with their plans, they will have dug their own political graves at the very least.

Since June 16-17, the Punjab Police has been engaged with PAT workers in confrontations of various degrees: in June, the police and provincial government acknowledged their heavyhandedness which cost the lives of over a dozen people and resulted in bullet wounds to almost 90 other people. Since the end of the month of Ramadan, the police effectively sealed off the Model Town locality of Lahore – where the PAT chief and the Minhaj-ul-Quran secretariat are located – by putting containers and barbed wires along with police contingents at various edges of the locality. Electricity and water supplies were also allegedly cut off, adding to the ire of the local people who took the fight to the police and law enforcers on Friday. Confrontations erupted between PAT workers and the police near Faisal Town and Jinnah Hospital: the police fired teargas shells but was forced to retreat as people removed the barricades and containers which they claimed had turned Model Town into Gaza (a part of the Occupied Territories of Palestine which have been under Israeli blockade since 2007).

The PAT upped the ante by announcing on August 10 (when they observed “Youm-e-Shuhada”, a day of martyrs, as they offered prayers and recited the Holy Quran – before returning to their political messaging) that they would be joining forces with the PTI and will march on the federal capital together (or simultaneously if not together) on August 14.

The question in everyone’s – especially the PML-N’s – mind is as follows: if the police was unable to “handle” a few hundred PAT workers, how will it be able to deal with thousands of PTI workers (the part received the second largest number of votes in the May 2013 elections) if they become aggressive and agitate against the police and their barricades? Punjab Police officials, on condition of anonymity, said that before June 17, the-then Law Minister had authorized use of force against unarmed protesters despite the reservations of the Lahore city administration officials – the Minister had the support of the provincial chief executive in this matter, and this is why live rounds were fired: on the permission if not orders of the Chief Minister. Even more revealing is the fact that – true to his style of governance – the Punjab CM refused to own up to his share of the blame and sacrificed his Law Minister instead; in addition, during subsequent police shakeups in the province that are still ongoing, the Chief Minister is not promoting or appointing capable, efficacious, responsible, dedicated and dutiful officers who know how to do their job – he continues to promote “yes-men” one above the other, obviously oblivious to the fact that he needs competent law enforcers guided by effective police leadership instead of his own personal henchmen and yes-men for the mission at hand. Another police official confided that, “instead of understanding that use of force will not succeed and will also damage the government’s public image in terms of perception and optics, the order for use of force was issued to police throughout the province, along with orders to arrest protesters and PAT workers by any means necessary – this led to more police brutality and barbarism, which has been captured by the media’s eye and has become ammunition for the PML-N’s opponents”. Even the rank and file of the Punjab Police was disgusted when the provincial government engaged the PAT in the race to see who has more “martyrs”: by claiming that the PAT had murdered two policemen, the Punjab government was unable to cover the fact that one policeman was killed while resisting robbers in Mughalpura area (far away from Model Town) whereas the other “martyr” was not even a policeman – he was the private driver of a judicial officer who was killed in crossfire, and was already dead and buried before the funeral for the “police martyrs” was arranged. News media openly questioned government and police officials that they had been told of two police deaths, while only one dead body was present at the funeral prayers for the police martyrs (this being the body of the policeman who was not even deployed at Model Town, and was killed in a completely different and unrelated incident of crime). When asked if they would respond on or off the record to claims by the PAT chief that Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif had recruited “terrorists” within the ranks of the police, who would don plainclothes and would kill policemen so that the government could say that protesters were responsible for the murder of law enforcers, they refused to comment on the government’s methods and policies for recruitment over the last seven years or over the issue/allegation that “terrorists” were employed by the Punjab Police and enjoyed the status of plainclothes officers like the elite CID or intelligence or Special Branch personnel. In all, police officials as senior as the rank of SSP and DIG appeared to be depressed and dismayed at being reprimanded and transferred on not being able to do a job that they were not supposed to do in the first place, and are prohibited by law and the penal code to do so in any case. Yet, the provincial government and its autocratic leader have yet to see the fault in themselves, and add to that list the demoralization of the Punjab Police that is their only real contribution to the force since the last seven years.

In the recently held Corps Commanders Conference, formation commanders and principal staff officers of the Pakistan Army have categorically declared that they will not allow terrorists to return to Pakistan or establish a foothold anywhere in the country. This is a strictly professional remark coming just a few days after the military was seemingly dragged into national politics when the PM addressed the media after holding a National Security Conference (in which he also discussed protests by opposition political parties and groups). It is obvious that when the military took stock of the internal security situation, it would have also considered various scenarios that could be witnessed in the federal capital, along with the associated outcomes and the military’s role in all of these conditions. The general public is obviously not privy to these discussions – however, it has been made clear by a number of politicians and mediapersons that the military was “not happy” at being made to sit and watch at what was supposed to be a professional, administrative meeting regarding national security which turned into a forum for the Prime Minister to send political messages to his opponents.

As the PML-N tries different ways and means to deal with the situation and stay in power, it has been taking a variety of uniquely odd and excessive security measures throughout the Punjab province for over one week now. The GT Road and Lahore-Islamabad Motorway have been blocked for all kinds of traffic; routes in and out of Lahore, and even from other parts of Punjab to Lahore, are being forcibly shut down by heavy contingents of Punjab Police; the city of Islamabad resembles a wartorn city from the tribal areas, as almost all major and minor roads have been dug up to prevent commuters from using them. More than 700 containers have been brought into the federal capital to “seal” the city, while 500 Army personnel (acting in aid of civil power under Article 245 – a move condemned by many political parties) in addition to thousands of policemen and an unknown number of paramilitary Rangers have been called in for securing the federal capital.

At the end of the day, the fact remains that civilian law enforcers in Islamabad are unaware regarding their exact mandate on August 14: so far, the Interior Ministry has issued no guidelines or SOPs to the cops regarding what to do and what not to do – partly because the government thinks it can still prevent the protest marches, which is akin to avoiding the unavoidable as the PTI has staked its entire political capital and political future on the August 14 “azadi march”. Apparently, this reflects the PML-N’s continued state of panic, and the bureaucracy’s uncertainty on how to deal with civilian protesters who have not asked for the capital city administration’s permission, nor have agreed to any terms setting the limits and boundaries of the protest march and/or the sit-in. The PTI chief and other party leaders have emphatically said that their march and sit-in will be peaceful, and that neither the police nor the bureaucracy should try to control the protesters or impose their (or the government’s) will on them, implying that the backlash will be uncontrollable. And since no clear policy or guidelines have been issued to the deployed forces, it is extremely likely that unwarranted and catastrophic incidents might take place. It will be a testament to the PML-N’s continued ineffective governance and sheer incapability at maintaining law and order if the mayhem, ruckus, disorder and police brutality unleashed in Punjab finds its way into Islamabad; over and above the measures taken by the government and administration which are making even the citizens of Islamabad angry, since the protest or march or sit-in hasn’t even begun, but the roads and transport links have already been destroyed, the city has already been sealed with containers, and the shortage of petrol is becoming more and more acute as each day passes. This confirms the impression presented by opposition politicians that the PML-N is its own worst enemy.

Even till Tuesday (today) evening, senior police officials in the Punjab Police were being shuffled around, reflecting the same state of panic at the echelons of the PML-N’s decisionmaking process (i.e. the Sharif brothers) that was witnessed after June 17, when the IG Police was transferred and the Law Minister tendered his resignation. That, however, did nothing to quell the situation or the anger of the public, and perhaps only added fuel to the fire by giving the PAT the impression that it had scored a victory. The more the police tried to “control” the angry PAT workers, the more opportunities the latter were given (or they forcibly took) to go out of control. Ultimately, during the last weekend, even as Model Town remained under siege and even the most basic of food items could not find their way in (while shortages of essential items are driving food prices through the roof all over the city of Lahore and the province of Punjab), the PAT was able to create its own “protective force” armed with batons, shields, helmets and gas masks. This capability raises more problems for law enforcers in Punjab as well as Islamabad, who appear to be stuck between a rock and a very hard place: on one side, the protesters promising a tsunami of people that nobody would be able to control; and the jittery PML-N on the other side, which is resorting to desperate tactics in terms of defensive security policies that have made life hell for the general public (like digging up roads, and the unavailability of fuel for the past few days) as well as political machinations and contacting anyone and everyone who would support them in the name of democracy. The federal government and Interior Ministry must immediately develop a robust policy framework to deal with the upcoming protest marches, lest they deliberately want the situation to go out of control and be forced out of government after bloody battles between police and protesters take place in the federal capital while a military operation is ongoing in North Waziristan.

If the PML-N has decided that it will neither quit nor resign, then it must take a few pages out former President Zardari’s book – who faced more than his fair share of protest marches but neither lost his cool nor lost the capacity to complete the full five years of his government’s tenure – and act accordingly. If police or other security forces, who will be armed with live ammunition (and have already used it against unarmed citizens in Lahore and elsewhere in Punjab), engage protesters (who will be determined to sit-in at D-Chowk, the edge of the Islamabad “Red Zone”, which is the most secure area of the federal capital) in a disproportionate and heavy handed manner, then there will be no guarantee as to what the angry protesters from the PTI and PAT will end up doing. Other political parties will be content by sitting on the sidelines and by condemning police brutality which will in fact be cutting short the PML-N government’s lifespan. By not clarifying the rules of engagement for the police and the paramilitary in Islamabad, the PML-N seems destined to repeat the mistakes made in Lahore instead of learning from them and developing a policy framework for public security even when protesters refuse to talk to or negotiate with the police and/or administration.

Instead of being a victim of sheer panic and anxiety, the PML-N should take some fresh breaths, drink a cold glass of “lassi”, and talk to both the PPP and the Army as to what policies they should adopt – since they have failed at establishing their writ or supremacy by use of force – in order to defeat the protesters without playing into their hands and losing their government: which is exactly what President Zardari was able to do. The PTI chairman foresees elections in December 2014, while the PAT chief says that the present government (and perhaps “system” too) will not exist beyond the month of August. At the rate things are going, the PML-N seems to be its own worst enemy by unwillingly fulfilling the aspirations of these opponents. Though it may definitely be too late for it, but the PML-N government needs to improve its bargaining position as well as its image in the eyes of the people of Punjab and Islamabad. The citizens of Lahore and Islamabad definitely need relief, and the PML-N will be adding to its enemies if it continues to impose hurdles and inconveniences in the name of public security. A novel, thoroughly conceptualized, well thought-out plan is the need of the hour if the PML-N (read: the Sharif brothers) want to save their government and complete their five year tenure. Otherwise they will continue to be their own worst enemy and do more for the cause of their undoing than anyone else: the PTI and PAT will only be hammering in the final nail to a coffin that has already been cemented shut by the PML-N itself, its nepotistic way of (ineffective) governance, and its policies which make sense neither to the layman in the general public, nor to a professor of political science and how politics works in the Third World today.

Of beasts and men

There is news of blasphemy and then there are the stories behind that news. If one gets embroiled in the hullaballoo of it all, it becomes easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Maybe that is why Sections 295-A, B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code are so instrumental and crucial to curbing the volcanic umbrage of the majority in the country. Maybe that is why the deaths of a few Ahmedis at the hands of a Deobandi mob in Gujranwala, on the eve of Eidul Fitr, are necessary to keep the king’s peace.

The only updates one has of the incident in Gujranwala, July 28 – chaand raat for most people – is through unnamed officials via unsourced channels. The day of the incident, no TV channel wanted to interrupt its costly Eid transmission to show a bunch of Ahmadi nobodies burning in their houses. That would’ve put a damper on everyone’s Eid and the chief minister would have had to issue a press release condemning the attack.

Thankfully, none of that happened. Eid passed, the entire week passed, the story of an elderly woman, two children and an unborn child dying in sanctified conflagration died with them. Three of the Ahmadis the mob killed weren’t even old enough to understand why they had to burn. Their deaths were celebrated far and wide in their hometown while the rest of the country sighed in relief, thankful, for not having been born Ahmadi.

According to the Peoples Colony Circle police, a Deobandi Muslim boy Sadam Hussain, resident of Arafat Colony, Gujranwala, the saintly creature who sparked the massacre, accused an Ahmadi boy of the area of posting something blasphemous on Facebook. Hussain claimed that he and some friends went to the boy’s house and he shot at them. This led to a series of fatwas issued from local mosques in the area and two mobs marched to take the matter into their hands. One mob went to the police station to demand a blasphemy case be registered against the boy while the other mob set fire to eight houses where Ahmadis lived. Two children and a 55-year-old woman died and a pregnant woman miscarried due to suffocation. The mobs rejoiced over saving Islam.

After all was said and done and the blasphemy case was registered, police began investigation in the case which revealed that the Ahmadi boy and Hussain had both commented ‘lanti’ on a Facebook post that appeared blasphemous. Hussain saw the Ahmadi boy’s comment and told his friends and family that he had in fact posted the picture. Police said that Hussain later confessed that he had lied about the incident. Charges against the Ahmadi boy were not dropped fearing more mob love, while Hussain confessed and walked scot free. There were no arrests. Not because the police couldn’t identify the culprits. They need only see this video to identify the culprits behind killing the unmerited murder of children.

Post by Irfan Qadri.

But this is not about dispensing justice because justice doesn’t work that way for minorities in Pakistan. What happened in Gujranwala is a form of collective justice dished out by the majority community of the area.

What followed this was not public outcry, not even hollow statements by politicians condemning the attack. There was silence. Not the horrified ‘stunned into silence’ silence, but pure apathy. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif couldn’t spare an ounce of sympathy for what can only be called brutal murder. PTI chief Imran Khan spared no time in informing the United Nations that Israel was a terrorist state and publicly condemned aggression in Gaza, but on the issue of Ahmadi massacre in Gujranwala, there was silence – no Mr Khan, a tweet does not count.

And neither does calling the event Muslim-Ahmadi clashes, which is what various media outlets have dubbed it as. Pakistan Ulema Council chairman Tahirul Ashrafi took to Twitter and raised concerns over why the incident took place – Qadianis (a derogatory term for Ahmadis) should have been careful in not hurting the sentiments of Muslims, he says. Oh the delicious sanctimony of it all.

But where was the nation? How is it that so many student organisations, NGOs and human rights organisations took to the streets every day while they were fasting to express solidarity with the people of Gaza while no one – not a single one of them – marched on Peoples Colony police station and demanded they drop blasphemy charges against the accused. Not a single student body held up placards and banners at Liberty Chowk, demanding justice for victims of Gujranwala. Why is our compassion so selective in that some humans get venerated as gods while others we burn like garbage?

In cases like these each and every citizen of Pakistan gets their share of the blame. By crying out for babies in Gaza while staying quiet over the murder of babies in Gujranwala, we have effectively proven that humanity is dead. What remains is the charred remains of human rights and rule of law. What the government has failed to uphold, the nation has trampled to the ground and migrated to Palestine.