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Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 5th, 2014
As US president Barack Obama looks to mend ties with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh today, the Saudis hope to shore up regional support. Their $1.5 billion gift has raised suspicions among Pakistanis.
By Taha Siddiqui, Correspondent / March 28, 2014
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
News that hasn’t hit the headlines – yet
Pakistan announced last week that it received a $1.5 billion grant from Saudi Arabia, which it termed a “friendly gift” and an “unconditional grant.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long had warm ties, but the no-strings-attached gift sparked immediate concern from Pakistani journalists, security experts, and opposition politicians, who question whether the grant is part of a behind-the-scenes deal for Pakistan to provide weapons for Syrian rebels.
“There are no free lunches in foreign diplomacy,” says Baqir Sajjad, a journalist at Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, which has published articles questioning the deal.
The grant was confirmed at a briefing by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s advisor on national security and foreign affairs, who also said that Saudi Arabia had agreed to purchase weapons from Pakistan.
The Pakistan government declined to specify what kind of weapons the Kingdom was looking for and denied that any arms purchased by Saudi Arabia will be sent to Syria. Pakistan, which has the sixth-largest army in the world, is known as a major arms importer, but it also sells fighter jets, anti-tank missiles, armored personal carriers, and small arms to Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Malaysia.
Ayesha Siddiqa, a defense expert based in Islamabad, says that Saudi Arabia – who is desperate to counter arch-rival Iran’s support for the Syrian regime and has publicly called for arming Syrian rebels – may want to buy weapons from Pakistan rather than other countries because Pakistan cannot enforce an agreement about where the arms end up.
Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 5th, 2014
A nine-month-old boy has appeared in court in Pakistan on charges of planning a murder, threatening police and interfering in state affairs, it appears.
Baby Muhammad Mosa Khan is one of more than 30 people facing charges after a police raid to catch suspected gas thieves in the city of Lahore, The News website reports. Police say the suspects tried to murder security officers by pelting them with stones. But the Times of India newspaper quotes the infant’s father as saying the group was protesting an electricity shortage.
The infant appeared in the courtroom sitting on his father’s lap – who is also accused – and clasping a feeder. He was given bail and the case has been adjourned until 12 April, reports from Lahore say.
The murder charges against a baby have alarmed Punjab’s Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif. He has asked for clarification from the province’s inspector-general of police and demanded “stern action” against the officials who registered the case.
The assistant superintendant who filed the charges has subsequently been suspended, The Nation website says.
Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 5th, 2014
A HINDU & A JEW RUN PAKISTAN FINANCES VIA IMF/USAID/ISHAQ DARJewish IMF Mission Chief in Pakistan Calls the Shots:HINDU USAID CHIEF RAJIV SHAH & JEW JEFFREY FRANK WANTS PAKISTAN TO SELL ITS GOLDONCE THOSE ARE SOLD PAKISTAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM WILL SHUT DOWNNAWAZ SHARIF PUTTING PAKISTAN AT RISK IN NEGOTIATING WITH THESE TWO STEALTH ENEMIESThe Silence of the Lambs (written in October 2013)The Finance Ministry hierarchy is flustered about the IMF’s $6.64 billion loan that will be provided to Pakistan during the next 36 months on a quarterly disbursement of $545 million each. The Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Ahmad and Secretary Economic Affairs Nargis Sethi seem over-exuberant about this loan. They view it as elixir to heal all fiscal maladies Nawaz Sharif’s clueless government is suffering–but the first tranche of $545 million which they are expecting in the next few weeks is a little over what Pakistan has already paid back to the IMF during the first half of FY 2013– i.e. $340 million.
As per SBP the government is doomed to pay back over $3 billion to the IMF before the end of September 2015. This clearly means that half of the promised $6.64 billion loan that they receive from the IMF over the next three years will be used to pay off old debts. As the old debts are cleared the new debts emerge, twice as big.
The Finance Ministry also expects in the next few months $1 billion from the World Bank as its President Dr Jim Yong Kim has recently approved it. The Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao has given a nod for another $500 million loan to Pakistan.
The big picture that shows here is, will the Nawaz Sharif government run country’s economy for the next two years on these loans put together as a little over $8 billion? This amount is not enough to fill even Nawaz Sharif’s own coffer–because he is such a politician that if you make him in-charge of the Sahara Desert it would run out of sand.Ishaq Daar is also over-optimistic about USAID to make some offer to Islamabad. Nawaz Sharif’s elder son Hussain Nawaz has recently approached the head of USAID Rajiv Shah–who studied with him at the London School of Economics in 1996, but Rajiv Shah is a staunch Hindu and is under the influence of Manmohan Singh,Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khursheed.39-year-old Shah is the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration. That said, any monetary offer to Pakistan will be India-tied.
The Secretary Finance Dr Waqar is also naive about UK’s DfID headed by Justine Greening MP but the DfID Select Committee is headed by the Scottish Lib-Dem MP from Aberdeen, Malcolm Bruce, who is friends with Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khursheed and Sonia Gandhi‘s son-in-law Robert Vadra. He visited India for a week (25 September to 02 October 2010) –all expenses (£3,300) were paid by India’s Ministry for External Affairs. Malcolm Bruce informed the author (Ejaz Hussain) in March 2013 that DfID had given to Pakistan over £380 million in 2012, they will give Islamabad £422 million in 2013, £480 million in the year 2014 and over £500 million in 2015. This will make around $2 billion that Britain will give to Pakistan over the next two years. If we add this amount to $8 billion above–Pakistan will have $11 billion by end of 2015. Canada’s CIDA, Japan’s JICA, the Saudi regime, Qatari/Kuwaiti Ameers and UAE monarchs have promised to give under $2 billion (put together) over the next two years–but there are no guarantees.As regards the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER)–Pakistan had a little over $11 billion in April this year (2013). When Ishaq Dar paid Rs 326 billion (of the total Rs 503 circular debt) on 29 June 2013–Pakistan’s FER were just over $5 billion.
The figure of $5 billion will continue to pinch the Pakistani nation for the next five years–whether it was paid to the crony IPPs or the crony bankers. This is the figure that has purportedly disappeared from Pakistan’s FER. The SBP has also printed Rs 850 billion notes during the past few weeks. The Governor State Bank Yaseen Anwar, both Deputy Governors (Qazi Muqtadir and Arshad Wathra) and Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Ahmed are completely silent over this issue–what a Silence of the Lambs?
For the record: IMF blows holes in Ishaq Dar’s claims
By Shahbaz RanaPublished: January 11, 2014Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:The head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission in Pakistan claimed on Friday that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz “unilaterally decided” to reduce the budget deficit – in open contradiction with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s claim that the caretaker government, in conjunction with the Fund, had agreed to a Rs200 billion tax levy.
Speaking with The Express Tribune, IMF mission chief Jeffrey Franks said there had been dialogue about the possibility of measures to raise revenue. “In the end, in the absence of a programme with the IMF, the caretaker government chose not to implement any of the measures,” said Frank by telephone from Washington.
Franks said the IMF accepted the caretaker government’s decision, adding that the PML-N government took measures to reduce the gap between national income and expenditures.
In the last cabinet meeting, the finance minister had admitted that an estimated Rs200 billion in taxes that his government levied was one of the main reasons for skyrocketing inflation. But he blamed the caretaker government for the move, while providing a summary of revenue-increasing measures suggested by the PML-N government. Dar said that after former president Asif Ali Zardari did not approve the measures, the PML-N government was bound to honour the commitment made to the IMF.
Franks statement suggests that the government was trying to pass the buck to its predecessors, particularly as independent economists have criticised the government for levying indirect taxes in the budget for raising revenues instead of widening the tax net. They voiced fear that indirect taxes would fuel inflation – as can currently be witnessed. Analysts also doubt the credibility of Dar’s statement, arguing that if the caretaker government had finalised a decision, why would the PML-N government spend three weeks to finalise the programme?
The IMF chief also appeared dissatisfied with the performance of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). “There has been some progress in the annual growth in revenue collection but it is far from adequate and more needs to be done to improve collection and tax administration,” said Franks.
In six months, the FBR witnessed a 15% growth through the collection of Rs1.020 trillion in taxes — far below the required growth rate of 28% to hit the Rs2.475 trillion tax target.
Franks also maintained that the IMF did not lower the Rs2.475 trillion tax target. “We deliberately pitched the projected collection at Rs2.345 trillion but the government should aim at its original target,” he said. He maintained that improvements in the areas of taxation and energy was a multi-stage process. “It is unrealistic to expect progress in just six months, as it will take a few years to fully implement reforms,” he explained.
Franks said the IMF was neither soft nor hard on Pakistan. “There is a fine line between being too tough or not to being tough enough,” he said, adding that the programme required flexibility in order to take into account the country’s circumstances. He said the adjustments Pakistan is making have to be made with or without the IMF programme.
To a question regarding the relaxation of a target of building foreign currency reserves to $2 billion by State Bank of Pakistan for the second quarter of the fiscal year, Franks said the IMF had to adjust the target after the first review as some of initial projections were not met. He said in the upcoming second review meeting of the programme, the IMF will consider if there is a need to review any targets again.
Franks said there were no specific concerns about data manipulation, either of the fiscal deficit or economic growth. “We have no reason to doubt the data of Pakistan,” he stated. He said the IMF was offering technical assistance to improve the quality of data, adding that the quality of quarterly GDP numbers will gradually improve.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2014.
Boosting forex reserves: Pakistan refuses to sell $2.7b worth of gold says IMF
By Shahbaz RanaPublished: March 29, 2014According to the IMF’s staff report, the State Bank of Pakistan holds over 2 million troy ounces of monetary gold, having $2.7 billion value at market rate. CREATIVE COMMONS
ISLAMABAD:Pakistan has refused to sell gold worth $2.7 billion, citing national security reasons, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pushes Islamabad to convert the precious metal into cash to build foreign currency reserves, revealed the global lender’s report on Friday.
The report, prepared by IMF’s staff led by its Washington-based Mission Chief to Islamabad Jeffrey Franks, also spills the beans on the ‘$1.5 billion gift’ to Pakistan by ‘Saudi Arabia’ – the name Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has so far refused to officially share with parliament.
According to the report, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) holds over 2 million troy ounces of monetary gold, having $2.7 billion value at market rate. It is not counted in gross international reserves as it is not deemed to be liquid by the SBP, says the IMF.
The IMF and Pakistan authorities discussed what steps would be needed to make gold more liquid, the report adds. “However, the (Pakistani) authorities stressed that they have no plans to sell gold and preferred existing arrangements for gold holdings for national security reasons.”
The IMF is pushing Pakistan to sell gold holdings at a time when other countries are buying the commodity as a strategic reserve. The IMF had even sold its surplus gold to India a couple of years ago.
According to analysts, one reason behind the IMF’s insistence could be the country’s inability to build official foreign currency reserves despite being in the $6.7 billion IMF arrangement.
While the IMF hinted in its report that the SBP was not aggressive in building foreign currency reserves, it disclosed that Pakistan’s central bank continued its efforts to build reserves by purchasing dollars from the market.
The SBP purchased $575 million in the last few months till March 17, the report states. The SBP purchases may help stabilise the foreign currency reserves but is considered one of the reasons behind depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar. The rupee started appreciating only after the $1.5 billion grant from Saudi Arabia.
$1.5 billion gift
While the federal government remains reluctant to officially disclose the name of the country that ‘gifted’ Pakistan $1.5 billion despite persistent demand of the opposition, the IMF report identifies it as Saudi Arabia.
A “$750 million grant recently received from Saudi Arabia” will help the Pakistan government in reducing borrowings from the SBP for budget financing, said the IMF.
“Reserve accumulation was also aided by an additional inflow of $750 million from Saudi Arabia,” according to Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), which is attached with the report and is jointly prepared by Pakistan and the IMF.
In a footnote to the MEFP, Pakistan told the IMF that it received an initial inflow of $750 million on February 19, indicating that it would receive more money.
Strong growth forecast
The IMF confirmed its recent forecast of 3.1 per cent growth this year, which was revised up from an earlier 2.8 per cent. “The overall economic situation in Pakistan is gradually improving,” said Jeffrey Franks.
“That 3.1 per cent may still be a bit on the conservative side, so we see indicators of growth that are relatively strong considering the fiscal adjustment that has taken place,” he told reporters on a conference call.
For the 2014-15 fiscal year, the IMF expected Pakistan’s growth to accelerate to around 3.7 per cent.
The IMF report said the growth was boosted by a stronger manufacturing industry thanks to an easing of Pakistan’s chronic electricity shortages, despite weaknesses in agriculture.
It also said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government, despite its commitment to IMF-backed reforms, faced ‘strong’ political resistance to certain structural measures.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2014.
Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 5th, 2014
Myth & Reality about Devaluation of US Dollar
Myth & Reality about Devaluation of US Dollar
The inherent motive behind lowering value of the US dollar against the Pak Rupee.When Nawaz’s younger son Hasan launched Flagship Holdings in London in 2002-03 (it is closed down now)–it also introduced establishment of a ‘hedge fund’ with an investment of £300 million ($500 million). The Flagship thrived unprecedentedly, during the past ten years, on the strengthen of:1) Cash flow of £300 million ($500 million)–which the Sharifs had in 2003–now it may be a cash flow in excess of £3 billion ($5 billion).
2) Easy money transfer protocols through UK, India and Dubai (as the Iranians are doing under international banking sanctions). This money laundering stunt in the West is a complete eyewash–one can bring into UK millions of pounds after paying commission to the UK banks and intermediary financial handlers, who in turn will legalise everything for the fund-bringer. Which is why since 2007–more than 1,000 Pakistani politicians, bureaucrats and dodgy businessmen have purchased properties in the UK worth £5 billion (more than $8 billion), and nothing has precluded them from doing so.
3) Clockwise and anti-clockwise fund-purchasing. The Sharifs and their larcenous munshi Ishaq Dar have divided the financial year into 3-4 revolves. In one revolve (say: June to September 2013)–they increased the value of dollar as $1=Rs 111, and brought home say: $1 billion in cash–which got them Rs 111 billion. If they bring in secretly (which they easily can–having their own bank chiefs) $5 billion–pretending it as a foreign remittance per quarter (revolve), they will get Rs 555 billion. In my understanding–the Sharifs made Rs 50-100 billion ($500 to $900 million) during the first four months of their government (June to October 2013).
During the second revolve–they kept things stable @ $1=Rs 111, and recycled that money within the country for 3/4 months (October 2013 to February 2014), and bought essential commodities (rice, wheat, sugar, lentils, cooking oil, livestock and petrol/diesel). In the next two/three years–the Sharifs (applying the Jewish and Hindus sahukaar monopolistic model) have intend to hijack the commodity sector under fake names. They plan to paralyse the country by hoarding these commodities, if a military takeover occurs or a hostile political group takes over in Pakistan. They are carrying out this commodity monopolisation in partnership with international traders of Britain/EU/India/UAE/Brazil/Australia and so forth–so that the military (or non-friendly political elite) government collapses more quickly after failing to withstand international pressure.
In the third revolve (March to May/June 2014–before the Budget)–as they have hundreds of billions of rupees, say: Rs 100 billion ($900 million) from first revolve (June-September 2013). They also had more than Rs 220 billion ($2 billion), spared/left over from bulk note printing of Rs 850 billion which they did between June and July 2013. By end of February 2014, the Sharifs had more than Rs 320 billion in personal coffer. If they buy dollars for that, by dividing them with 111–they could get $2.882 billion. But by lowering the dollar value to $1= Rs 99 they will now get $3.233 billion. This means that this dollar devaluation will now get them an extra $351 million within nine months of their rule (June 2013 to March 2014). What a satanic business, isn’t it?
With an unparalleled experience of three decades in banking/business frauds–the Sharifs are in a strong position to manipulate the State Bank and other five main Pakistani banks (National, Habib, MCB, Allied and UBL). They have all major stock exchanges under control and SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan) is spineless.
Soon, the Sharifs will print more Pak rupee notes at the Security Printing Press, and will buy the dollars/pounds from every money exchange shop in the country.
Lets see if the dollar sustains at $1= under Rs 100, during the next three months. What I think is–they will devalue Pak rupee again to $1= Rs 111 (even beyond) after the budget.They also intend to pocket $5 billion from sale of 18 major state enterprises. By the end of 2014–they will have made $10 billion from the business of governing Pakistan through a corrupt/rotten system called Mian/Zardari democracy.
They know they can NOT win the next general election–whenever they are. Asif Zardari also knows that PPP will not come to power either, in near future. What Nawaz is doing is–hiding Zardari regime’s brazen malfeasance, and in turn the PPP is supporting the Sharifs’ obnoxious ‘democracy’.———————————————————— —————————— —————————— ————————
Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 4th, 2014
![Captain Hercharn Singh of Pakistan Army Comments? @Side-Winder | @[146828502662:274:Pakistan Defence]](https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Rork-dUubgh1zXxYX4aLtSSb2ZqoOaY6AYhtYfYQM3eDRY7Kl4fne7p652DvfUVhO4fzHOumIQ_cRplGGNDk-XD5v0TXjtCsbBEb4t44LOteI6DsbpQcHYfLdimUdLEIFtkXo-IF_kxMrrYQhcQF3_1IlJ_TcSHkGjECklwaCHIon7nQciW5NA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/s417x417/10173772_10152094338277663_1743401493_n.jpg)
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His mate, however, turned to his own sacred corner, where there were gathered symbols of the Sikh religion. Their prayers over, they returned to their chores, oblivious to the history they had created. It wasn’t that the PMA proscribed other forms of worship; there simply hadn’t been a Sikh cadet till then.
Narrating this story is Hercharn Singh, Pakistan’s first Sikh officer and a symbol of the changing face of its army. Now 23, dressed in a smart khaki uniform and sporting a solitary star on his shoulder, Lieutenant Singh and I are sitting in the posh Officers’ Mess of Malir cantonment, Karachi. Providing us company are Capt Danish in his Rangers uniform and Capt Aneel Kumar, both Hindu and doctors at the Combined Military Hospital. Capt Danish (who says he’s just Danish) is considered the first Hindu officer of the army.
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The others—Hindu and Christian—at least look like ‘ordinary’ cadets.”
For nearly two years now, Outlook has been seeking access to Singh and the two Hindu officers. It took months of persistent lobbying by the Inter Services Public Relations director-general, Gen Athar Abbas, before the army agreed to allow an Indian publication to interview the three officers. As Col Atif coordinated to fly me to Karachi last week, new obstacles kept surfacing. Lt Col Idrees Malik had to implore his superiors to grant permission for Singh to miss a day’s class of the course he’s taking, and bring Capt Danish from interior Sindh.
At the officers’ mess, amidst smiles and a display of palpable pride, Singh begins his story from the day his romance sparked with the Pakistan army. Like all such stories, it was ignited with a chance glimpse and an irrepressible tug at the heartstrings. It was nearly three years ago, and he and his friends had decided to apply to the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore. On the way, they passed an army recruitment centre. Something about it spoke to him, perhaps. “But no one had any idea of a Sikh being allowed entry into Pakistan’s military institutions,” Singh recalls.
Singh got admission to the NCA but he decided to visit the recruitment centre to make inquiries. When told the law didn’t proscribe Sikhs from the army, he promptly submitted an application, apparently arousing curiosity at the centre even then about the “Sikh who wants to join the army”.
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He was selected, in the process grabbing headlines countrywide. But his family was opposed to him joining the army, the elders wanting him to head the business of his deceased father. And then there was Singh’s mother who believed a career in the army would shame the family. Shame? “All our lives our community had been ridiculed. Especially in the electronic media where Sikhs were portrayed as drunks, womanisers and villains. My mother said that I wouldn’t be respected and this would bring shame to the family.”
At the PMA, the callow, sensitive Sardarji was baffled by some insensitive souls asking him to convert to Islam. “I wondered what kind of people are these who are not happy with the way I am, who offered to convert me. I didn’t mind jokes about Sikhs because these are so common,” he says wryly. But at Kakul, with young cadets and their irritating inquisitiveness, it took some chutzpah to ensure his religion or culture was not compromised. But he had his sergeant on his side. As Singh puts it, “My sergeant told me I was free to follow my religion and that everything would be done to make me comfortable.”
Singh now did two things—he told his room-mate if they had to share a room they must show tolerance for each other’s religious codes of living; his second act was daring and sagacious. He approached the commandant to make a presentation about his faith. “With the help of a documentary from the Golden Temple and my own literature I gave a presentation about the Sikh religion and culture. I explained why I looked the way I did, the symbols of faith a Sikh is never found without. Then I asked for questions,” says Singh, bubbling with confidence. “In the next two years at the PMA, no questions were asked.”
But Singh’s glory days didn’t end at the PMA. His excellent drill at Kakul prompted the army to choose him for guard duty at the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar, or the mausoleum of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. “I couldn’t believe it, no Sikh here could even imagine such a thing.” In these days of jehadi intolerance, a new chapter had opened. Of course, it was also a huge PR win-win situation, his duty at the mausoleum invited international media attention, and his family was flooded with calls from Sikhs the world over.
The induction of Singh, Danish and Aneel marks a revolutionary change for the Pakistan army, but then it poses new challenges too. The sheer enormity of this change can be gleaned from a reading of Dr Aneela Zeb Babar’s Texts of War: The Religio-Military Nexus in Pakistan and India. She writes, “In Pakistan, the military officer is not just a professional. Placed on a pedestal, he is glorified as a hero. The public feels he is performing his religious duty…. All advertisements for recruitment in the Pakistan military and all publicity material start with Quranic verses.” Dr Babar quotes junior Muslim officers describing their motivational lectures, “We are taught that in the Quran one Muslim is equal to 10 kafirs and after every lecture, slogans praising God and caliph Ali are raised.” Will the trio’s induction prompt a change now in the army’s ethos, perhaps a dilution of its Islamic orientation or at least some understanding of those officers who belong to minority communities.
Perhaps this is already happening—the three non-Muslim officers, like most others here, wear their religion on their sleeves with a confidence quite remarkable for their age and ambience. Both Danish and Aneel testify to this. “We are very comfortable with our Hindu faith. We too had been assured by the sergeant (during their training) that we were free to worship as we wanted and if there was any way he could help, we shouldn’t hesitate to come to him.” Danish, incidentally, hails from the remote poverty-stricken Tharparkar, and graduated as a doctor before he saw an advertisement for a post in the army. He applied without taking his family into confidence and was selected. “Initially, there were constraints…about how a Hindu could fit in the army but today they are proud of me and I have even been sent to Wana (a tribal area) to deal with patients there. It was a very different experience. The place and people were so different from the desert of Sindh,” he says.
Aneel, who belongs to Hyderabad, says the army’s ignorance about religions other than Islam is matched by the Hindu community’s sketchy knowledge about cantonment life. “People from my community had earlier interacted only with the police…we had no idea what the army was like,” admits Aneel, even as he expresses hope that youth from his community would see Danish and him as role models and strive to join the officer cadre. Singh, however, doubts whether many Sikhs would join the army, largely because his community is engaged in business with their counterparts in India. Army officers who have relatives doing business with Indians would be a major problem, Singh declares.
For Sikhs at least, an army career marks a snapping of the umbilical cord tying them to religious places in India. Singh, for instance, has given up on his dream of visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar. “I am a Pakistani army officer now and I can’t even think of performing my religious duties in India. Even my mother will not be allowed to go, with a son in the army,” he laments.
So what do these three officers think of Pakistan going to war in the future? They reply in unison, “We are now a nuclear power. Besides, there are so many internal threats.” I ask them the question which most insular Pakistanis harbour in their hearts: would they be willing to kill others of their faith in a war? Danish replies, “Of course, we will or else we will be killed. Even our mothers will not ask us why we fired, they will just be glad that we survived.”
Both Danish and Anil don’t nurture lofty ambitions, hoping to negotiate one step at a time in the army. What about Singh? “Well, I have set my sight on wearing red pips, that is become a brigadier,” he says. When I tell him that army rules don’t debar him from the rank of Chief of Army Staff, his eyes glitter and a smile lights up his face.
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