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Posted by zohaib_baqi in THE FORGOTTEN WAR on July 27th, 2013
The Forgotten War
Not only it is thought provoking but it hints at the core issue. Pakistanis at large are unaware that a war is going on and fierce battles are being fought in the country. Our Media is more concerned about newly born prince and his royal parents Prince WILLIAM and Catherine, the princess.
Some one has to tell the people of Pakistan that soldiers are dying, everyday. How sad but our Nation doesn’t even know. Both electronic and print media has to be woken up by some one or the ISPR who are themselves in deep slumber.
I really appreciate the writer’s concern and the way he has analyzed the subject….
mh.
THE FORGOTTEN WAR
( Rizwan Qureshi )
It’s the eyes that you notice there the most. Wide, apparently bereft of emotion and sometimes all hope, and above all questioning. Questioning visitors whether the sacrifices that they made were worth it and whether they can ever lead a life that you and me take for granted. They do not talk much, each of them immersed in his personal thoughts and worries, yet a ready smile and a V sign is there for the visitor who dares to strike up a conversation; not easy when you realize the youthful hopes and aspirations wasted and years of suffering foretold.
These young men are the relatively fortunate ones who survived, while many of their comrades did not, but they lost limbs – sometimes multiple – or received horrendous combat injuries which have left them unable to lead a normal life.
And now they find themselves at the Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine ( AFIRM ), where its dedicated staff toil hard and with compassion to provide a modicum of healing and dignity to them.
Then there are the thousands of soldiers and officers who did not survive this war. Fortunate amongst them finding instant oblivion through an Improvised Explosive Device ( IED ) while others finding death in ambushes and raids, and the least fortunate taken captive and subsequently butchered in cold blood, the act caught on camera for all to see.
They are stark and desolate the marches of our Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA ) wherein a vicious war is being fought with no quarter given or sought. On one side are the Pakistan Army, the Frontier Corps, the Frontier Constabulary, the Khassadars, diverse levees and sundry civil servants who are endeavoring to impose the writ of the state of Pakistan, while on the other side are newly minted tribal warlords, foreign fighters, foreign money, foreign interference and most distressing of all a foreign religious creed that espouses extreme violence against those who dare to disagree.
Perhaps, this was not our war a decade ago and why we entered the fray can be debated thread bare. But it is now very much our war. Almost a hundred and fifty thousands of our soldiers – regular and civil armed forces – are fighting this war and suffering casualties. These men are volunteers, who go into harms way because duty calls them.
And they leave behind old parents, young wives and small children. Their days spent in prayers and anxious viewing of TV news as they go about their daily lives. Occasionally, some receive the dreaded phone call or a visitor and the nightmare be. There are thousands of such tales of sacrifice and tragedy known to but a few.
This war started many years ago and one does not know how long it will last. Perhaps, another decade or even longer; the bane of a deadly mix of geography and history hard to fathom. But this war is undoubtedly being fought for the very soul of Pakistan. It is being fought for the future of our children, so that they can go forward as citizens of a confident and progressive Muslim nation, proud of itself and all that it holds dear. This war has to be won.
But there is something amiss. The state and people of Pakistan do not own this war. It appears as if they have deliberately consigned it to the farthest corner of their consciousness. Perhaps, it is the distance of the war zone from the heartland of Pakistan? Or the ideological grey zone so cleverly created by the enemy; there is still a significant minority of Pakistanis who do not believe it is a just war. The army could also be blamed for its repeated political interventions and follies of dictators, which has muddied the cause. Public fatigue in pursuit of a half decent living could also be the reason.
Explain this to the soldier, who every week physically clears the route for military convoys, removing dozens of IEDs in the process, and remembering the one that exploded last week killing two of his comrades. Or to the detachment manning a checkpoint in an intensely hot stony wasteland for weeks on end, in imminent danger of a suicide bombing, a rocket attack or an enemy raid. Or to the soldier in his freezing bunker peering into the darkness for the lurking enemy. Undoubtedly, all explanations are lame and fall flat; a challenge to the youthful leaders who command them and share their dangers and hardships. No wonder the officer to soldier casualty ratio in this war remains amongst the highest in the world.
They also ask why has the nation’s civilian leadership forsaken them? Musharraf never visited the troops in the battle zone; a shame since he was also the COAS. Those who followed him were too busy looting the country to bother, while they delegated policy making to the army high command. And they wonder, why did not the President or the Prime Minister ever attend the annual Martyrs Day ceremonies? The new Prime Minister on assumption of office would have dignified himself by paying his respects at the Martyrs Memorial in Rawalpindi. He would have also done well by visiting the AFIRM. But alas the soldiers under treatment there are of no political significance.
And what of the public. Historically, information media has been the engine for motivating the citizens of nations at war. Today, cable TV with a reported access to 64% of Pakistanis plays a pivotal role in this. Alas, our ratings driven mercenary channels have failed to realize the magnitude of the challenge faced by their army in particular and the Pakistani state In general. Coverage of the war is desultory at best and clearly lacks empathy with the soldiers on the front line. Unversed talk show hosts and diverse participants regularly make fools of themselves on prime time. Perhaps, the over staffed Directorate of Inter Services Public Relations and the army high command have also faltered in selling this war to the people.
The fact is that if this long and forgotten war is to be won, the people and our rulers will have to stand shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces. Pious statements bordering on foolishness made in the air conditioned luxury of parliamentary halls will not do. Nor will ridiculous unanimous resolutions passed by a largely semi-literate parliament help. With the gulf between world views of the protagonists being as wide as it is, no negotiations will work unless,of course, the state holds the upper hand through strong and effective military action. Is Pakistan ready for this Herculean effort? The portents are at best murky.
As one leaves the AFIRM, a middle aged couple – obviously of moderate means – enters. They carry some fruit for the patients and have come to visit a young officer who lost both legs in an IED blast. Their son was also wounded in the blast; he died two days later.
THE PHOTO GALLERY OF OUR SHAHEED HEROS & THEIR FAMILIES & THEIR COMMANDERS
If You Want Us To Dig Your Grave,
Come Attack Us. We’ll Show You The Picture Of Hell With Your Open Eyes. …
Remember We Are A Nation Of 180 Million Soldiers
Who Will Fight Against You
Till Last Person, Last Drop Of Blood.
If You Want Us To Dig Your Grave,
Come Attack Us. We’ll Show You The Picture Of Hell With Your Open Eyes. …
Remember We Are A Nation Of 180 Million Soldiers
Who Will Fight Against You
Till Last Person, Last Drop Of Blood.
Posted by Rana Tanveer in GEO TV - DOORDARSHAN & VOA AGENT, GEO-THE TROJAN HORSE OF INDIA on July 27th, 2013
Dear Pakistanis at home and abroad, please send a copy of this article to Indophile Jang Group and Hamid Mir, the Voice of India in Pakistan at the e-mail addresses given below.
FROM: N.Malik, address removed
To: [email protected];
Bashing Zaid Hamid by GEO & Hamid Mir Or Shooting the Messenger
Yesterday in the Capital talk it was most unusual that you discussed a person Mr Zaid Hamid instead of discussing a subject or a topic afflicting our nation now days. I wish I could type in Urdu to be able to express myself in a better way especially when I Know that English is not one of your strong points. However that you reacted to Mr Zaids previous talk shows reflects that there is something that really worries you and your owners – now well known to be the Indians. You are always lambasting Army and the ISI – never the RAW or India. Ur TV channel was the first one to discover the ghost story of Ajmal Kasab and Farid kot. It was but the lonely Zaid who had pointed out the loopholes of the claimed indian story and confirmed that Kasab was a Hindu. U are a Punjabi Kashmiri. In your Mohalla are the butchers called with the alias of “Kasai” or “Kasab”? Further the manner the operation was carried out was the most idiotic which no commando would ever so do and is never done the manner it was claimed. The initial report of finding two rubber boats in the channel ( and which was quickly back tracked) was a small part of a forty five years old plan, now wasted out, which must have been with the Indians intelligence and in a haste that was thrown in. I was ever more surprised to hear Saleem Safi who I always considered to be a balanced reporter and anaylist, he was also apparently blown in with the winds. Now read below and look into yourself who are you? Are u serving the interests of ur Mother land or her enemies. You should thank Allah who made you some one important from a small time reporter later propped up by Mark Telly. “The proverbial cat is out of the bag and Pakistan’s populist Supreme Court has announced its decision on the *Report of Media Commission*. As expected, the court in its ruling made public on its website has chosen not to touch the sensitive parts of the report. The most sensitive is *dubious interest of foreigners in Pakistan’s electronic media*.**** There are two most sensitive issues mentioned in the report:**** – Media watchdog, PEMRA informed the commission a couple of media houses are reported to have received large grants in the form of advertising contracts from overseas sources. It is said that one such grant is *20 million British pounds.* Any attempt by PEMRA to probe such matters immediately leads to claims that there is an attempt to curb freedom of the media and there is always the recourse to obtaining a stay order if an inquiry is held. Most of the funds are channeled through the cover of a *Norwegian nongovernmental organization* named *“Friends without Borders”* but it was found the footprints of this funding lead to *Indian sponsors* including the Indian state television, the *Doordarshan* .
Who is Keith Rupert Murdoch ?
< http://www.allvoice s.com/people/ rupert_murdoch and why the Indians send their money to one Pakistani channel? If the influence of Murdoch and Indians was not checked in Pakistan, then PEMRA was in breach of trust and an accomplice in the crime of allowing foreigners making inroads into Pakistani airwaves through their money.**** Keith Rupert Murdoch is an Australian American media mogul. In July 2011, he faced allegations that his companies, including the News of the World<https://en.wikipedi a.org/wiki/ News_of_the_ World, owned by News Corporation, had been regularly hacking the phones of celebrities, royalty and public citizens. He faces police and government investigations into bribery and corruption by the British government and FBI<https://en.wikipedi a.org/wiki/ Federal_Bureau_ of_Investigation investigations in the US. On July 21, 2012, Murdoch resigned as a director of News International. **** The allegation of PEMRA that one channel (GeoTV) received huge amounts in the name of sponsorship is most disturbing. That the amounts were actually sent by Indians should have rung alarm bells in the courtroom and media watchdog taken to task but the Supreme Court did not utter a single word in its order. The Supreme Court could do was to order an investigation. But this very serious breach of trust on the part of PEMRA escaped the attention of the court which strengthens the perception that the said channel is enjoying strong influence in the courtroom.** ** What are the services that Geo is delivering for India? Numerous.
Indian Content and ISI Bashing
From showing excessive Indian contents to bashing Pakistan’s ISI and armed forces for anything happening anywhere in the world. This was the first channel which blamed in unison with Indian media that Mumbai Attacks in November 2008 were perpetrated by ISI. Not only that, it helped Indian establishment’ s line that Pakistanis were involved in the attacks when it prepared a package and informed the world that Ajmal Kassab belonged to a Pakistani town Faridkot. Now when this line of propaganda has been questioned in India with Indian security officials blaming their own government, the cover of this channel has been blown off.
Indian Propaganda and Pakistan Armed Forces Bashing by GEO
Why this channel bashes ISI and armed forces? Because ISI and armed forces must be weakened at the point in time when they are fighting India’s proxies in FATA, Balochistan and even in Karachi. This is something enemy does to pressurize the security establishment of the rivals and break their resolve to fight. The Pakistani channel is doing exactly the same and earning millions of dollars of Indian money it has received. The security establishment should realize that even this channel is an Indian proxy and needs to be fought. The Supreme Court owes its popularity to this channel and may not take any action or utter any word to displease it.
Posted by mzaidi in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on July 27th, 2013
Bhutto Legend Myth and Reality
“I feel that your services to Pakistan are indispensable. When the history of our country is written by objective historians, your name will be placed even before that of Mr. Jinnah.” The writer of this infamous piece of consummate flattery was a young Z.A. Bhutto, and the recipient, Sikander Mirza, who should be in the political hall of shame, if one were ever to be erected in Pakistan.
Balawal Zardari has recently made a lot of noise about Z.A. Bhutto’s trial and demanded apology for the unjust verdict handed out to his grandfather. It has become very fashionable lately to call it a “judicial murder”. This writer is not a lawyer nor am I a politician; I do, however, belong to the unfortunate generation that witnessed the events of his grandfather’s time in power, and fall from it. It is said that legends ossify over time; in Bhutto’s case, certainly that appears to be so. Bhutto worship has become a relentless train that shows no signs of slowing down; instead, it keeps gathering speed. In the process, the established historical facts are being denied or distorted, and myths are being created. KK Aziz may easily write another volume of Murder of history based upon what we have seen recently.
Z.A. Bhutto was widely admired for his genius. Henry Kissinger may not have been way off the mark when he remarked, “Elegant, eloquent, subtle. . . .I found him brilliant, charming, of global stature in his perceptions. . . .He did not suffer fools gladly.”It is however, the other side of ZAB—the dark one—that needs to be revisited. In the process, perhaps we, as a nation, may learn some lessons and see things in the right perspective. Khalid Hasan, a life long admirer, who knew ZAB first hand, and worked as his press secretary, may have written the most balanced and insightful short biography of ZAB. He has summed it up eloquently: “ZAB had all the makings of a classical hero, carrying the seeds of self destruction in him—he was a flawed genius, a god who turned out to have feet of clay. . . .ZAB had many personal failings, including an inability to trust others, a congenital suspicion of friends and high sensitivity to personal criticism.”
With rare insight and objectivity, KH writes: “There is no evidence that US government or any of his agencies played a role in the overthrow of Bhutto—the time has come for us to accept that much of what has happened to our country and our leaders has been the result of our own mistakes. . . .ZAB believed that a country should have only one central figure as leader and all power should flow from him. It is a tragedy that a man of Bhutto’s intelligence, education and sense of history did not appreciate that Pakistan could only survive as a federal state with the provinces enjoying the maximum autonomy. Bhutto could not abide rival claimants to power even if they were elected to their office. He could not work with the opposition run provincial governments in Quetta and Peshawar and squeezed them out; that was his undoing. Bhutto forgot that power in order to be kept, must be dispersed.” KH also notes that it was Bhutto who revised ISI’s charter to include domestic political intelligence.
It is widely believed that Bhutto was hanged for a crime that he did not commit. It is rarely, if ever, asked, who then was the real perpetrator? Mohammad Ahmad Kasuri was murdered in Lahore; the crime scene was found to have shells used by FSF—Bhutto’s elite security force. And yet, the investigation was not extended to FSF. I recall a statement by Hanif Ramay of PPP, then the CM of Punjab, that Kasuri family had many enemies. This was despite Ahmez Raza Kasuri’s contention that there was no suspect but one—ZAB. This was not the first attempt on Kasuri’s life; he had escaped one ambush in Islamabad earlier. These episodes had followed an angry exchange between ZAB and Kasuri in the NA when ZAB called Kasuri a poison and threatened to fix him up. Ch Sardar, former IG Police, Punjab, has provided the firsthand account of this case in his biography, The Ultimate Crime; so read on: “FSF was created by a notorious dismissed police officer, Haq Nawaz Tiwana, and was headed ultimately by another infamous police officer, Masood Mahmood—-The FSF did not bother about any law, assuming the role of Bhutto’s private army—- Soon after the imposition of martial law, an elaborate enquiry in to the affairs of FSF was initiated. The FSF had gained a reputation of being, Bhutto’s gang of goons, for dirty works. During the enquiry, ASI M. Arshad of FSF, appeared before Ch. Abdul Khaliq, Dep. Director, FIA, Lahore and promised to tell everything truthfully if he were not tortured. He disclosed that he was a member of a special cell in the FSF headquarters, which had the most trusted officers for secret and sensitive missions—then he threw a bombshell. He said he was one of the FSF men who had fired on the car in which MNA Ahmad Raza Kasuri was ambushed.” So, this was the first solid lead in to the infamous murder case that led Bhutto to the gallows; legal intricacies aside, one is hard pressed not to see a connection here. Ch Sardar discusses the dubious character of the infamous trio of Masood Mahmood (DG FSF), Saeed Ahmad Khan(Chief Sec Officer to Bhutto) and Sardar Abdul Wakeel, DIG Lahore; they all had been among the most trusted police officers of Bhutto and would commit criminal and illegal acts to show him their ‘devotion and loyalty’. After his overthrow, they all were among the star prosecution witnesses in the case that led to his conviction. Sardar also, confirms the widely believed rumor of the time that a procession of opposition women in 1977, was mal-handled near Wapda House, Lahore by the “Nath Force”—a large number of prostitutes, recruited temporarily as police women, specifically for this purpose.
Kasuri’s murder may have been the most famous one, but was by no means the only one; this is a list that includes Dr. Nazir Ahmed of JI, MNA from Dera Ghazi Khan who was gunned down in his clinic weeks after provincial chief of his party, Syed Asad Gilani, had been warned by Khar (Us ka anjaam acha naheen ho ga). Kh Rafiq was gunned down behind Punjab assembly while leading a procession; Abdus Samad Achakzai was killed in his house in a grenade attack while Maulvi Shamsuddin, MPA and deputy speaker of Balochistan assembly, was shot in his car. Those who escaped attempts at their lives included Wali Khan, who lost his driver and personal body guard in the ambush; this was fourth attempt on his life. Years later, Wali Khan was to warn Zia of Bhutto’s vengeance (there are two dead bodies and one grave; make sure Bhutto goes in first, otherwise, you may be the one). Ch. Zahur Elahi, whose political heirs sit happily with Zardari at present, suffered more than most; Amnesty international once reported that there were 117 cases against him; this included a case of buffalo stealing. He survived in jail in Balochistan, courtesy of Governor Akbar Bugti, who refused to do him harm. Small wonder that after Bhutto’s hanging, Zahoor Elahi requested and received the pen that Zia had used to reject the mercy petitions for Bhutto. Mian Tufail, was scandalously manhandled in jail, writes Sher Baz Mazari in his autobiography, AJourney to Disillusionment; it was rumored at the time, that a naked prostitute was sent in to his cell to humiliate the Amir of JI. At the height of crises that eventually toppled him, Bhutto rushed in to see Maudoodi in Ichra; one wonders whether the founder of JI reminded ZAB of the treatment given out to his successor. Barrister F. Ibrahim, who was later to become chief justice of Supreme Court, used to share the legal chamber with Bhutto in Karachi, in the 50’s. “Bhutto was very generous, but I sensed a streak of violence in him, a certain mean or vindictive quality,” he told Stanley Wolpert, the author of Zulfi Bhuttoof Pakistan.
Mukhtar Rana, a PPP MNA from Lyallpur, had earned the wrath of his leader by his divergent views. He was deposed as MNA, arrested, and after being subjected to severe physical abuse—according to one report, he almost died under torture—was convicted in a military court and sentenced to five-year term of imprisonment, all in a matter of days. Ustad Daman, dervish Punjabi poet, made the cardinal error of writing an anti-Bhutto poem; he had a case registered against him—he was accused of being in possession of a hand grenade.
Kaswar Gardezi, was one of many to suffer vicious brutality; here is Mazari’s narrative: “In a voice breaking with emotion, Gardezi related his horrifying experience to me. The police presented him with an egg, a potato and an onion, he said, and then asked which of these will he prefer to be inserted in to his anus. After undergoing this humiliation and barbaric ordeal, he was then threatened with sodomy; to his good fortune, this threat was never carried out. Instead, he was badly beaten with a stout cane, after which he was forced to lie naked on a solid slab of ice.”At the time, Gardezi was Secretary General of the NAP, one of the leading opposition parties. Some people have been accused of going to irrational lengths in their hatred of Bhutto; incidents like above, are perhaps, the explanation for this.
One has to remember that Bhutto’s own associates were not spared his wrath; J.A. Rahim, a senior member of the cabinet, learned this lesson the hard way. He annoyed Bhutto once by leaving early from a dinner hosted by the PM. Rahim also made the mistake of showing his resentment by calling Bhutto, ‘Raja of Larkana’. What follows is how Rahim described this horrifying experience to Wolpert: “On reaching home, I went to bed. . . . About 1 A.M., I was woken up by my servant who said that there was a crowd of people before the house. . . . Some men of the FSF were climbing up the front balcony for the purpose of entering my bedroom. . . . I went to the front door downstairs. . . . Saeed Ahmad Khan, Chief of PM’s Security, who was at the head of that mob of armed FSF thugs, answered that he had come to deliver a message from the PM. . . . As the door opened, they rushed in . . . . Besides being beaten by fists, I was hit by rifle butts. I was thrown to the ground and hit while prostrate. . . . I lost consciousness. . . . I was dragged by my legs, then thrown in to a jeep. . . . bleeding profusely.” Intellectually brilliant, Rahim had retired as Pakistan’s ambassador to France, had been one of the founding members of PPP, and had written its manifesto.
Khalid Hasan was once asked by Bhutto to check out a certain person in Lahore. “I found out that the man was saying bad things about Bhutto all over the place,” Khalid writes. “I came back and told Bhutto. His brow furrowed. “His credit in my book has not quite run out yet,” he said. “I shuddered to think what would happen when the man’s credit did run out.”
Malik Meraj Khalid, in his biography, Merajnama, describes the extent to which Bhutto and Khar could go to harass their political opponents. Meraj Khalid once received a phone call from Zahoor Elahi’s daughter, whose admission to Lahore College of Home Economics had been blocked by Khar. By nature a decent man, Meraj had to call Bhutto personally to rectify this. On another occasion, Meraj had to call ZAB again to stop Khar’s plans to set on fire the house on Davis Road, Lahore where Asghar Khan was staying. Asghar Khan was not so lucky with his house in Abbotabad though; it did burn to the ground in very suspicious circumstances.
No account of Bhutto’s Awami Raj is complete without Dalai Camp. It will be fair to call it Bhutto’s Gotanamo Bay. It was used to secretly detain, three political dissidents (Iftikhar Tari, Ch. Irshad and Mian Aslam). These individuals were former PPP members, who had fallen out with Bhutto and left PPP along with Khar. As I recall, two of them had been former provincial ministers. Fearing arrest, some of them had been granted bail before arrest by the high court. They vanished without trace one day, having been picked up by FSF and were only recovered when Bhutto was deposed. Iftikhar Tari, who had the reputation of a goon, appeared broken after release. He narrated his ordeal on TV and could not stop crying in a program called, Zulm ki dastanay.
Bhutto could not forgive. Mazari recounts the following in his memoirs: “Back in the 50’s, Sir Shah Nawaz (Bhutto’s father) went to see Ayub Khuro, who was then CM of Sindh. Bhutto went along. Khuro slighted them by making them wait for half an hour in the verandah, and then drinking tea without offering them any. Swallowing his pride, elder Bhutto requested the Sindhi politician for a job for his son in the foreign service. Khuro listened to the request and asked the elder Bhutto to submit an application in writing to him. He then dismissed them cursorily with a wave of his hand. Later in 1972, as soon as Bhutto achieved power, one of his first acts was to humiliate Khuro by having the walls to his home in Larkana razed to the ground.”At times, Bhutto’s sensitivity reached absurd levels. Mazari notes: “In the mid 50’s, Ahmed Nawaz Bugti was hosting a table for some foreign ladies at Le Gourmet. Bhutto, who was present at the restaurant, spotted him and asked if he could join the group. Knowing his reputation with women, Bugti declined. Years later, Bhutto visited Quetta as President, to attend a formal dinner held by Governor Bazinjo for Princess Ashraf of Iran. Seated at the high table, he sighted Bugti, who was then Balochistan’s finance minister, dining at a less august table than his. Bhutto asked his ADC to bring Bugti to his table, looked at him and said, ‘Do you remember the time when you would not let me sit at your table? Well this time, I won’t let you sit at mine’.”
Here is another eye opener for Bhutto fans; this is again written in Mazari’s autobiography: “Over dinner at the Governor’s House, Arbab Sikander Khalil, related a rather strange and unsettling story to me. It seemed that Bhutto had recently visited Peshawar and while staying at the Government House, had requested Arbab Sikander for a supply of whisky. The Governor politely informed ZAB that as he did not imbibe alcohol, he was unable to provide the President with liquor. Bhutto then sent his airplane to Islamabad to fetch whisky. When the plane returned that evening, it not only brought alcohol but also, a Federal Minister’s wife too, to keep Bhutto company.”
Here is an excerpt from Stanley Wolpert’s book, Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: “One of the women Zulfi met at a cocktail party that fall (1963) was Rita Dhar, daughter of V. Lakshmi Pandit, the first woman president of the General Assembly. Mrs. Dhar recalled how immediately after meeting her, Zulfi eyed her lasciviously, inviting her to his apartment.” Nehru’s niece apparently declined to Bhutto’s chagrin. Pakistan’s young foreign minister was in NY to attend the annual session of General Assembly. Ardsher Cowasjee told Wolper that Nusrat Bhutto had once attempted suicide and was hospitalized in Parsi hospital, Karachi with a drug overdose; on another occasion, she approached Ayub Khan, through Nancy Cowasjee, after “having been thrown out of her own house by her faithless husband.” She was staying in Mrs. Davies Private Hotel in Rawalpindi. It is to her credit that she stuck to her husband as he continued his love affairs.
A myth that refuses to go away is that opposition and Bhutto had reached an agreement and army sabotaged it; the facts speak quite otherwise. Here is Mazari’s account: “At 10 P.M., on July 3 rd,Mufti Mahmood, Prof Ghafoor and Nawabzada Nasrullah, handed over the additional nine points to Bhutto. Having consulted Pirzada and Niazi, Bhutto returned to the PNA team and told them that he needed time for further consultation. According to Prof. Ghafoor, Bhutto’s attitude appeared accommodating; but only two hours later, his stance hardened dramatically. Addressing a press conference at midnight July 3rd, he lambasted the PNA negotiating team for ‘repudiating their earlier agreement’. It was clear to all that the PPP-PNA talks had broken down once again.” Gen K.M. Arif gives a very similar account of events in his book, Working with Zia. Arif quotes General Gilani, ISI chief at the time, that both him as well as Rao Rashid, newly appointed Director of Intelligence, had warned Bhutto repeatedly that the army’s patience had been exhausted and it was planning to act very soon. KH has also, devoted many pages of his book to crises of 1977. Here is an excerpt: “Tikka Khan (Bhutto’s adviser at the time) told the PM, in the presence of Zia and Corps commanders, ‘Sir, I would say we wipe out five or six thousand of their(PNA’s)men. That will cool them off’. Tikka Khan’s mindless remark convinced Zia and his Corps Commanders that Bhutto and his men were bent upon doing just some such thing.”
Gen. Gul Hasan and Air Marshal Rahim Khan had played a key role in bringing Bhutto to power. They were both dismissed in a most humiliating way, having been forced to sign their resignations, taken hostage and then driven to Lahore in the company of pistol packing Jatoi, Mumtaz Bhutto and Khar. Years later, while awaiting his fate in jail, Bhutto accused Zia of ‘biting the hand that fed him’. He had conveniently forgotten his own treatment of Ayub, Gul Hasan and Rahim.
“Bhutto trusted nobody,” KH notes. “He was troubled by what he considered unrealistic and idealistic liberal approach to press freedom, basic rights and government by law. Long before his overthrow, he had deprived himself of those who were capable of honest and wise advice. . . .and chosen to exercise power through civilian and military bureaucracy that he had once denounced. After his overthrow, he told Inam Aziz—Bhutto’s last interview—that he now understood where he might have gone wrong. He said he wanted to start all over again, back to the real fountainhead of power.” But history is merciless, Khalid laments, and had moved on.
Mazari’s assessment is similar to KH’s: “The press had to bear ZAB’s determined onslaught. As soon as he attained power, he dismissed the chairman of National Press Trust (that he had vowed to abolish) and the editor of Pakistan Times. His rival from the Ayub days, Altaf Gauhar, who was then the editor of Dawn, was placed under arrest. The printer, editor and publisher of Urdu Digest, Zindgi and Punjab Punch were arrested for protesting against ZAB’s martial law, were convicted and sentenced even before the writ petitions challenging their arrests could be heard in the Lahore High Court. Shorish Kashmiri of Chataan was also sent to jail;Hurreyet and Jasarat were banned and their editors imprisoned. Mehranwas banned while Iqbal Burni’s weekly Outlook was forced in to shutting down its publication.”This is by no means an all inclusive list of the journals and newspapers that suffered.
KH has analyzed the issue of rigging in 1977 elections: “As far the rigging, it was so unnecessary because he was going to win big anyway. There is no evidence that he ordered the rigging, but he did not exercise the vigilance that it was his duty to do as PM and chairman of the ruling party. His own unopposed election from Larkana encouraged the lesser figures in the party to use the muscle of the state wherever possible to ensure their individual victory. The first angled brick that Bhutto built was laid by the unanimous and unopposed election of the PM himself. This less than laudable example was followed by his CM’s and some other PPP leaders in the four provinces. His rival Jan M. Abbasi of JI had -been kidnapped earlier, to keep him from filing his papers.” Wolpert traces this back to highly unexpected defeat of Bhutto’s father Sir Shah Nawaz in 1937, at the hands of Sh. Majid Sindhi. “Young Zulfi may have taken too much to heart, the lesson of his father’s election defeat, resolving even at his tender age, never to risk losing an election, no matter how high a price need to be paid to insure victory.”
ZAB’s intolerance had no limits. On 23rd March 1973, an opposition rally at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi was disrupted. Here is the eye witness account by Ch. Sardar, who was SP Police at the time: “It was in the air that armed workers would be present in the public meeting. . . .then came reports that that armed PPP workers were also coming to the same public meeting. . . .by midday, we received information that large conveys of PPP crowds were coming from Punjab and some of them were armed as well. . . .DSP City told me that he saw some FSF men in plain clothes and suspected their involvement—On the FSF involvement, I was really shocked.”The violence at Liaquat Bagh led to eleven deaths and hundreds of serious injuries. Almost four decades later, BB was assassinated at the gate of the same Liaquat Bagh; was this divine retribution? One has to wonder.
Arthur Kessler once wrote that nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion. Many of Bhutto admirers never knew him first hand; one wonders what their reaction would have been, had they seen their leader’s behavior at close quarters. Back to the apology, demanded by Balawal, I am not sure if the Bhutto family deserves an apology for his hanging. One should certainly ask whether the Oxford educated Balawal has the moral strength to offer one to the families of those who suffered his esteemed grandfather’s vengeance.
(The writer is a physician, based in Williamsport, PA, and may be reached at [email protected] )
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Posted by Hassaan Charolia in GHADAAR on July 25th, 2013
Anchorperson and columnist of a large media group Hamid Mir, in his recent column titled ‘Pachtaway’ (repentances) has apprised the audience about details of ceremony held to honor friends of Bangladesh on 24th March 2013. He had gone to Dhaka to receive the award of his father Late Professor Waris Mir, who stood for freedom of speech and enjoyed respect in literary circles and in media.
Hamid Mir had every right to accept this award, but the way he commented negatively in his column has brought disgrace to Pakistan. Anticipating the reaction, Hamid Mir wrote: “Some people lacking intelligence may dub them as traitors, yet 13 Pakistanis decided to accept the award”. It is true that some people had genuinely felt that Awami League having a clear majority in the national assembly should have been given the right to form the government. And Professor Mir was one of them. But one would not know that if Professor Waris Mir were alive, whether he would have gone to Bangladesh to receive such award.
Some writers had opposed Bangladesh government for its decision to honor friends of Bangladesh and opined that only unconscionable Pakistanis would accept such award. In December 2012, when the names of ‘Friends of Bangladesh’ were announced, Sheikh Hasina had refused to attend D-8 conference in Pakistan unless Pakistan tendered apology for, what she said, genocide of Bengalis. Mst Asma Jahangir also received award on behalf of his late father Malik Ghulam Jilani, who was Vice President West Pakistan Awami League, it was understood that he was awarded. Otherwise also people know Asma Jahangir’s views about Pakistan and its military. Salima Hashmi, who received the award on behalf of his father late Faiz Ahmed Faiz by the Bangladesh government on 24th March 2013, said: “The Pakistan government should formally apologise to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities committed by Pakistan occupation army during the War of Independence in 1971”. This is exactly the same language that Sh. Hasina Wajid speaks.
Late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo was posthumously given ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award’, which was received by his son Mir Hasil Bizenjo. Tahira Jalib received the award declared for Habib Jalib. Begum Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, Ahmed Salim, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Sindhi poet Inwar Pirzada and Qazi Faez Isa were also given awards for opposing military operation in then East Pakistan. One should differentiate between opposing the military action in the then East Pakistan and those receiving awards for being friends of Bangladesh.
If Bangladesh government is pro-India and continues Pakistan-bashing, then those who received awards are not sincere with Pakistan. They do not feel qualms in condemning and blaming Pakistan while turning a blind against the horrors of Mukti Bahini and India’s role; hence they are not patriots. Pakistan had formed Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission to investigate into the causes of the tragedy of disintegration of Pakistan, and the excesses perpetrated in then East Pakistan, of course by the rebels and the military that was trying to quell the rebellion.
Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report observed that formation of One-unit, principle of parity, unitary form of government and system of basic democracies were the reasons for alienating the people of smaller provinces that led to disintegration of Pakistan. Whereas the commission criticized the then military and politicos for their ineptness, it had debunked the propaganda by India that two to three million Bengalis had been killed by the Pakistan army. The Commission had put the figure of casualties at twenty six thousand including the killings of West Pakistanis, members of Pakistan’s security personnel and Biharis that were butchered by Mukti Bahini guerillas. Anyhow, former prime minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia is on record having said that figure of three million dead was highly exaggerated. Many books have been written calling the genocide of Bengalis farce; however those under the influence of India or writers with anti-Pakistani streak put the figure as high as 3 million.
It has to be mentioned that people have not forgotten the genocide of non-Bengalis during the civil war and afterwards at the hands of Bengali nationalists. However, Pakistan considered the matter settled, as Sheikh Mujib had made no demand for apology during his visit to Lahore to attend Islamic Summit or even after that. But Sheikh Hasina has shown complete obedience towards Indian masters, be it humiliating Pakistan or be it providing and unwavering support to India, which has deprived Bangladesh of its right over river Barak when India unilaterally decided to build a Tipaimukh dam on this site with huge reservoir. This means that River Barak, which flows into Bangladesh from the Indian state of Manipur, will go dry completely. India is also concentrating small rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh to make a mainstream in India to use water for its domestic needs; thus depriving Bangladeshi farmers of water by diverting its rivers. There was also dispute between India and Bangladesh on the matter of fencing the border by India.
Many writers hold the view that on 16th December 1971, Pakistan was dismembered as a result of international terrorism. India was, of course, on the forefront whereby the former USSR helped India in implementing the insidious plan to disintegrate Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s so-called friends – America and the West – acted as silent spectators. A lot many books, theses and reviews have been written on the causes of fall of Dacca and disintegration of Pakistan. It was unfortunate that in 1971 the UN and the big powers did nothing to stop India to dismember independent country with recognized international boundaries.
After the break-up of Pakistan, India declared that two-nation theory had sunk in the Bay of Bengal. But eidetic reality was that Bangladesh became an independent country with Muslim identity, and in general Bengladeshis are not willing to accept India’s hegemony. Bangladesh had also refused to send its troops to Afghanistan, which seems to be the result of the fact that Bangladeshis guard their freedom very jealously, despite Sheikh Hasina’s appeasement policy towards India.
Reference
Posted by Dr. Salman in " RIAZ THE SHAITAN OF PAKISTAN, Asif Zardari Crook Par Excellance on July 25th, 2013
Islamabad, July 23 (IANS) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has given a property magnate a clean chit in a suspected tax evasion of Rs.119.4 billion (over $1.185 bn) while dismissing the report submitted by a Supreme Court-constituted investigating commission in the Arsalan Iftikhar case, the Dawn reported.
A Suddle Commission had been formed by the Supreme Court to probe an alleged Rs.342 million business deal between property magnate Malik Riaz Hussain and Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Moojan!Tey! Ballay!Ballay
The commission had indicted Hussain in a colossal tax evasion that amounted to Rs.119.4 billion, and proposed in its interim report that a penalty for concealment of assets in wealth statements filed with income tax returns be enforced on the property tycoon.
Accepting Hussain’s representation, President Zardari dismissed the much questioned Dec 4, 2012 decision made by the federal tax ombudsman (FTO), the daily reported citing reports containing references to official Presidency documents.
The documents also stated that a joint representation questioning a suo motu order passed by the FTO had been filed by Hussain and the principal officer of Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd.
This was concurrently corroborated by the presidential order, which suggested that the representation had indeed been filed.
The notice and the representation explained that the suo motu case concerning an alleged business deal between Hussain and Arsalan Iftikhar – an attempt to influence the judicial process – was disposed of by the Supreme Court June 14, 2012.
The attorney general of Pakistan was subsequently directed to set the state machinery in motion in order to ensure that “all those who may have committed any illegal acts, including Malik Riaz, Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and Salman Ali Khan, are pursued and brought to book with full force and rigour of the law”.
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