Long March farce

If Mr. Aitizaz Ahsan, chief proponent of independent judiciary by which he primarily means Ch. Iftikhar, the former CJ of Pakistan, wishes to save his face he needs to concentrate on the idea that Mr. Nawaz Sharif is salable and is a useless drum beater. On one side Mr. Nawaz acts as if he is a Islamist and on the other he becomes quite a liberal by asking for a free justice system. Therefore, Mr. Ahsan, who is now no more part of PPP's central committee, should think about the financial constraints this long march will cause him and his poorer supporters.

I cannot imagine for my life that Nawaz Sharif, ever so changing, would be able to finance the entire operation. I also cannot imagine a shrewder younger brother, Shehbaz, to allow his big brother to finance such a futile thing. For one, USA does not want Mr. Iftikhar on the hot seat. They cannot afford to have him on a place from where they cannot fulfil their ambitions. USA wants general anarchy in the country and Zardari and his team mates are capable of achieving that. Long march and its future repercussions would be disastrous for the country. If CJ comes along on the hot seat, Zardari would be the first one to be sent to jail for good. His corrupt brothers, MQM and Chaudry brothers, who helped Musharraf storm Lal masjid and kill hundreds of innocent women and children studying inside, would follow.

Steel Mill, ever so in debt, would be audited heavily. CJ will also take up the case of hundreds of Baluch missing since war on Terror began along with many innocent men and women whom Musharraf either sold to USA for billions of Dollars or kept in dingy prisons countrywide.

So Long March should not achieve what it intends to do. It should be a face saving activity for American citizen, Zardari; it should help Nawaz become a puppet of USA. But it should not help the likes of Mr. Ahsan to come up and get CJ reinstated. That would jolt the entire program of USA govt. and thwart its global ambitions.

But marchers are out shouting slogans. If Nawaz sells at this time, and somehow he cannot be trusted, then the entire responsibility would fall on the lawyers. We know they are serious but would they be able to hold on to this sloganeering for good? And what shall be the outcome of all this mess when we are told that Sherry Rehman, Information Minister, has resigned. So have the DCO and DGP Lahore? We are also told that Zardari is being increasingly cornered by his own fellows at home. And Mr. Gilani, a very slow moving PM, is now flexing his muscles and asking questions.

NOTE: Gilani is a Punjabi and so are Mr. Ahsan and Mr. Nawaz Sharif. Chaudry brothers, although they hate Nawab group, are still Punjabis at heart. Pakistan Army Chief, General Kiyani is also a Punjabi. But Mr. Zardari is a Sindhi and has a serious dis-advantage. Will a mentally challenged Sindhi President survive this all Punjabi game ? BB would have certainly handled the situation much better but USA had other designs.

Long March and state of Pakistan

Much awaited - and dreaded - long march kick started, in fact, butt started, today from Karachi and Quetta simultaneously. The plan was to gather momentum as cities and towns got covered. Primarily, Karachi and Lahore were to be the basic stronghold of men and muscle. Zardari had other ideas.

In Karachi, I witnessed low traffic and almost no customers today. And lots of jammed areas around old city like Regal chowk and High Court. That is the sad part. These old parts of Karachi earn most in terms of revenues. Wholesale markets, as a matter of fact, are the engine of any economic society. If they are hit so is the basic business of the place.

Today, I also heard sporadic news of arrests and beatings as day passed in relative tension. People back in Karachi really fear 16th March. I was personally not expecting such robust action by our Zardari knickers, The MQM. But I am sure MQM and other side kicks will be in full show. And why not. Their arch rivals, Sunni Tehrik and Jamat-e-Islami are part of this long march.

Unfortunately, Zardari and his cohorts don't understand the point. By making all the noises, beating men on the streets, putting containers to stop the marchers, and by creating fear among common Pakistanis, he is doing harm to himself and to the party's image as a democratic force of the country. He could easily earn for himself a severe punishment from Punjabi-led Pakistan Army. In any case, Punjabis don't tolerate, or have ever tolerated, Sindhis or Baluch to rule them. So he is only giving them a good reason to show their antipathy towards him and his ethnic community by kicking him off. [USA seems to be sticking with Zardari].

Long March, if seen on a larger spectrum, makes Pakistan look like a failed state. No matter what we as Pakistanis have to say on the subject, international media led by the likes of Jewish CNN and Hindu India have been proved right once again by our misdeeds and a series of misfortunes. By beating and shutting down hundreds of black-coats (and black sheep) we are doing no good to our image and Zardari, as President of Pakistan, should shoulder most of the responsibility. And by failing to bring to Justice those 13 men (or were they less?) who specifically targeted Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore we have proven without doubt that the worst form of democracy is actually not better than the best form of dictatorship. Both are either equal or in our case, dictatorship happens to be much better than the likes of Zardari and Nawaz Sharif (Amir-ul-Momineen and Shia'-teen)> By hitting on this movement with so much force (one report in press puts it at 600 containers for stopping marchers from reaching Islamabad) Zardari-led govt. has proven that he is no better than Musharraf, though he came here by votes.

So where do we go from here? Is Long March going to change anything on political and social level? Will it end up in a blood bath? Will Zardari succeed in stopping angry looking protestors from reaching Islamabad? Only time will tell.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that our luck and the luck of the country doesn't fall out fast.

NOTE: India's RAW could have a field day on 16th March. Killers won't be blamed. Victims won't get justice.

Parrot says..............

Points to be noted my lord:

Zardari, President of Pakistan and former husband of BB, has split from his son, Bilawal and his daughters.

Bilawal plans to marry Fatima Bhutto, niece of BB.

Fatima Bhutto was always angry with Zardari and BB over the killing of her father, Murtuza Bhutto. Now she is only angry with Zardari and not with Bilawal.

Pakistan Army wants to arrest and put on trial Zardari for multiple murder cases. That might happen this March (2009) or next April (2010).

One daughter of Zardari might marry a son or relative of PM Gilani. (Against the wishes of her father).

Pakistan Army fully supports Gilani for he is easy to handle and not a nuisance like Zardari.

Nawaz Sharif has gained full support of Lawyers across Pakistan by standing up with them. He has been a lazy man all his life with lots of lassi, cricket and good food. Now he understands that good work alone will help him become the next President of Pakistan.

USA govt. is not so sure they want Nawaz in place of Zardari for Nawaz has always been a rightest and supports militants.

Months between March and June are crucial for Pakistan and for its neighbours.

Zardari supports Iran because Zardari is a Shia. USA is crossed over it. So are many Baluch who understand that Shias have been pouring into the country and have helped, in recent years, fighting b/w Shias and Sunnis.

India is finding it good to have Baluch on their side. They have already managed to take Pakistan away from Dam issue as well as from Kashmir.

India has got another front that of Mumbai drama. Indians of all shades are happy about the U-turn.

How Pakistan fares in months to come only time will tell.

Religious self torture

I went to Bhit Shah for the annual Urs of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1689–1752), Sufi poet of Sindhi language. His language, like his life, is unique and it tells a story of love, passion, and integrity. It tells you that love is the mainstream blood and when it cancels out life can become unbearable. I am no expert on him or his poetry but I can tell you that his kalaam (sayings) is full of love and energy and single minded devotion to the being you love.

Unfortunately, as with so many Sufi Tombs across Pakistan, this tomb has been taken hostage by the Shia pilgrims, who come here, make lot of noise (and drama), and perform violent ma'tam. That's unfair to the hundreds and thousands of Muslims and Hindus who come here to pay respects to the man who was exact opposite to what these men wish to do here. I was really surprised that no one ever bothered to point out to these men that such violence in the vicinty of a Mazar is not only ridiculous, it gives Islam a bad name.

I was there at Bhit Shah to listen to the most wonderful music one could ever imagine. And I was really saddened - and sadness turned to anger soon - when I saw men, wearing jet black and then taking off these shirts, turned into a demolition team. They chanted slogans, thumped their palms against their bare chests, and said 'Ya Hussain, Ya Hussain'.

This bit of self torture, off course part of Shia religion but not - thankfully - part of Sunni Islam, teaches what? I think it promotes violent culture and helps bring bad name to entire Muslim ummah. Such ma'tam is not on display in Iran. There may be ma'tam or a form of it, but this violence-prone, street-smart one is clearly a Pakistan-India invention.

I hope administration will take proper steps and stop this extreme form of devotion from entering the door of the Mazar.

Perils of Blogging

I have been threatened with dire consequences.

Well, that is good enough.

It tells you that you are important and that you are read somewhere. And that someone has the feeling about you. And that someone wants to hang you or kill you or burn you.

Fair enough.

Perils of blogging are many but not so many as compared to real journalism. We can argue what is real and what is fake, but let's leave that alone.

Once, someone wrote to me that he knew where I lived and that he wanted to kill me. I welcomed him. He never turned up despite the fact that I have my phone numbers and my address on web.

Very good, if someone wants to shoot.

Obituary: Demise of Dawn's Review

Obituaries are usually written for men or for good organizations, or popular restaurant joints. Or maybe for papers which have lasted 50 or so years, a long time by any measurement. Seldom, if ever, are they written for parts of national paper. I am breaking the tradition.

For me Review has been much more that a simple, A-4 sized mid-week, mag. In fact, first it was Tuesday Review and since that time I have been associated with it. My best memories of The Review are of a time when it carried my photographs of Karakoram Highway, my first ever photographs to be published in any paper. And I didn't knew that until I searched my name at google.com, which returned my article on 1st page. That was Thursday, 17th Feb, 2005, and interestingly that day's Dawn to my home did not carry Review copy. Perhaps it had been stolen mid-way; perhaps my akhbar-walla (newspaper man) had forgotten to insert it. Perhaps. But as luck would have it, I got to know it before the paper went to dustbins - of my friend Syed Taha Ahmed. I later went to his home and brought the copy. It was a proud moment and my good mother commented that the photographs really looked good. I reminded her that she had in fact viewed them many times over. On which she told me that photographs published in paper look drastically better than when viewed on computer screen.

Dawn announced today (must I say suddenly) in its front page that it is finally closing down Review and hashing it with Sunday Images. Which effectively means that the edition of 22nd January, 2009, was the last of its kind - and that it must be preserved for posterity. It is fitting then that my feature on Kunri titled, 'SPICE CITY: Hot and happening', was published in this issue. Four days ago (25th Jan, 2009) when I had emailed Review editor why the emails were being returned, I was give the following reply, 'Thank you for your contribution, however we're discontinuing the photo feature for a while.' The bombshell about the demise of Review would fall today, or so it was destined.

As a measure of protest, I am cancelling my subscription of Thursday's Dawn to my house. No need for Dawn if Review is dead.