Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): 29th May 2012

[Anujan]

And BTW apparently the courts want Groper to pack up. The attorney general has said that the Parliament has the right to reject the court's decision. The Court said that its job is to interpret the law and will not stop.

All in all a set up for some nice tamasha pretty soon.

[SSridhar]

The Judiciary is fighting a two-front war. It will not succeed. It will have to quickly cut a deal with one of them, most probably the PA.

As I said already, Mr. Malik Riyaz has not much time left. I hate to say that but the PA is very predictable.

[Kanishka]

Pakistan's spy agency moves toward open defiance of U.S.

Earlier this month Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta sent perhaps his strongest warning to Islamabad since the start of the war.

"It is difficult to achieve peace in Afghanistan as long as there is safe haven for terrorists in Pakistan," he told reporters during his visit to the country's capital, Kabul. "We are reaching the limits of our patience for that reason. It is extremely important for Pakistan to take action to prevent [giving] the Haqqanis safe havens, and for terrorists to use their country as a safety net to conduct attacks on our forces."

Panetta's sharp words should be taken as a grim warning to all Americans. What provoked the warning, according to U.S. and Pakistani insiders, is a growing fear that the Pakistan spy agency and a large clan of Islamic extremists are working more closely together than at any time in the past to create a post-American haven for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

A U.S. military official, with extensive knowledge of the region, said the Haqqani clan, which has been responsible for a large number of the attacks on American troops in Afghanistan, has developed an intricate working relationship with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency. And, increasingly, Pakistan's military is siding with the ISI over the civilian government.

Jim Phillips, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation and expert on terror-related issues, said that alliance is a critical threat to any democratically elected government in Afghanistan. The most likely outcome of the Afghan war, he said, is that Pakistan's spy agency and military will use both the Taliban and the Haqqani clan, "to bide their time and push to overthrow the Afghan government after 2014."

"The war is likely to get a lot more bloody and confusing" for U.S. Special Forces, trainers and diplomats left behind to aid the Afghan government after the bulk of U.S. forces withdraw by 2014, he said.

Lt. Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the U.S-led coalition, said, "Over the past several months we took a large numbers of Haqqani, al Qaeda and Taliban leadership and facilitators off of the battlefield here in Afghanistan."

That however, has not stopped the Haqqanis from conducting coordinated attacks throughout the country.

Panetta's remarks came a week after an attack by the Haqqanis on troops at U.S. Forward Operating Base Salerno, in eastern Khost Province. Two Americans and five Afghan soldiers were killed. More than three-dozen U.S. troops were seriously injured in the attack when a truck bomb flattened the dining hall and an adjoining building. Another 100 U.S. troops were given medical treatment for minor injuries. Fourteen insurgents wearing suicide vests were killed in the attack.

Recent "multi-pronged" attacks in Afghanistan are evidence that the Haqqanis have developed more tactical sophistication, another strong indicator of the group's ties to Pakistan's ISI.

"Everyone knows that Pakistan maintains ties to some proxy groups operating in Afghanistan," according to a U.S. intelligence official with knowledge of the region. "The Haqqanis have a long-standing relationship with Islamabad and there isn't much to suggest that Pakistan's strategic calculus has changed."

Pakistan's democratic government has little control over its powerful military and spy apparatus, experts said.

That country's former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, said "hardliners are pushing Pakistan into an adversarial relationship with the U.S." Haqqani was forced to resign over what the U.S. State Department has called a trumped-up treason allegation aimed at eliminating a diplomat seen as pro-American.

Pakistan's stance toward the United States has grown openly hostile, say some officials. Last week the Islamabad government surprised the Obama administration by demanding once again that the U.S. apologize for the November cross border attack that led to the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.

That torpedoed a deal that appeared imminent, after six months of negotiations, to open supply routes through Pakistan and into Afghanistan for the U.S.

There is a growing concern among American military and diplomatic officials that the Pakistani civilian government appears to have less and less control over the country's military and intelligence agency. Those groups have become committed to installing a pro-Taliban government in Afghanistan.

There is "the very real possibility that a civil war after we withdraw will lead once again to a fanatical government in Afghanistan," another U.S. military official said.

If enough American forces are left behind after 2014 it may be possible to prevent that result.

But the greatly reduced U.S. forces faced with that task after the end of next year could see some of the worst fighting in the region since the war began in 2001, Phillips said.

[Kanishka]

Pakistan ranks 13 in failed states index

Pakistan, a country which is run by a military obsessed with India and by a civilian elite that steals all it can and pay almost no taxes, has been ranked 13th in the latest ranking of failed states.

The unique ranking compiled by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine is topped by African countries Somalia (114.9 points), Congo (111.2), Sudan (109.4), Chad (107.6) and Zimbabwe (106.3).

Afghanistan with 106 points is ranked at number 6, followed by Haiti, Yemen, Iraq and Central African Republic.

Pakistan with 101.6 points, the magazine said, is ranked 13, a slight improvement from the previous two years.

In 2011 it was ranked 12th in the list of failed states, while in 2010 and 2009 it was ranked 10th.

"The country is run by a military obsessed with - and, for decades, invested in - the conflict with India, and by a civilian elite that steals all it can and pays almost no taxes," Robert D Kaplan, the chief geopolitical analyst at Stratfor, wrote for the Foreign Policy.

But despite an overbearing military, tribes "defined by a near-universal male participation in organized violence," as the late European anthropologist Ernest Gellner put it, dominate massive swaths of territory. The absence of the state makes for 20-hour daily electricity blackouts and an almost nonexistent education system in many areas," he wrote.

Explaining the reasons for Pakistan being in the list of a failed state, Kaplan said the root cause of these manifold failures, in many minds, is the very artificiality of Pakistan itself: a cartographic puzzle piece sandwiched between India and Central Asia that splits apart what the British Empire ruled as one indivisible subcontinent.

[ManuT]

Ceasefire violation: Pak continues firing for seventh day
NDTV Correspondent, Updated: June 19, 2012 15:59 IST

Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir:  After a period of brief lull, Pakistani troops resumed firing at Indian posts situated at the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district in Jammu & Kashmir today, forcing the Indian side to retaliate in defence.

 

[sum]

^^ Think its time to stop tolerating the non-sense and bring out the bring guns to bear upon these $%@^, atleast in that sector! ( whatever big guns we have remaining )
Enough of this showing the other cheek and misguided brother to be forgiven cr@p.

[SSridhar]

The Pakistani SC disqualifies Gilani as a Member of National Assembly. He is sent packing. Interesting developments to follow.

[Rajdeep]

The parliament will make sure he stays. Then a fight ensues between the courts and the parliament and who swoops in to save the day ?? The TSPA.

[Lalmohan]

the penny's finally begining to drop in washington that the civil government of pakistan is a non-state-actor

[SSridhar]

PPP accepts SC's decision and decides to choose a new PM tonight.

[Rajdeep]

^ so now how does the TSPA get to oust the civvies and put in their munna ,Im the Dim ?

[ManuT]

^ No PM for the last 2 months.

Current Pakistani PM: Elected but disqualified OTOH current Indian PM: Qualified but unelected.

[Dilbu]

Unkil always used to deal with TSPA directly. Only recently did they try to bring up dus percenti and geelanahi to squeeze TSPA and that ploy is falling flat on its face. TSPA successfully played judiciary against the civilian govt. They are still the top dogs in TSP.

[Brad Goodman]

Pakistan singer who fled Taliban gunned down

A popular Pakistani singer who fled the Taliban to pursue her music career away from their repressive dictats was shot dead in the northwestern city of Peshawar, police said Tuesday.

Ghazala Javed, 24, was shot six times by gunmen as she left a beauty salon, although police do not believe the Taliban was responsible for her murder and said her ex-husband was a suspect in the case.

Her father, who was with her, was also killed, police said.

"Two men on a motorbike sprayed bullets and fled leaving them in a pool of blood," senior police officer Dilawar Bangash told AFP.

She was shot six times and her father once in the head, Bangash said.

"We have registered a case and launched an investigation. The murder seems to be result of some internal dispute," he added.

Police official Imtiaz Khan said the ex-husband was suspected of involvement in the murders.

The singer had fled to Peshawar in 2009 to escape the then Taliban-dominated northwestern district of Swat as the army launched a sweeping offensive.

From 2007 to 2009, Taliban fighters controlled by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah effectively seized control of the district, terrorising people with murders, beheadings, attacks on girls' schools and music shops.

Singers and dancers were singled out in particular until the army reasserted control in July 2009, winning praise from the United States for eliminating an Islamist threat 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital Islamabad.

Javed sung in her native Pashto language and released more than two dozen albums that were popular among Pashto speakers in the northwest.

[Dipanker]

MNA guard open fire on power protesters, three killed

At least three persons were killed while eight others were injured in gunfire opened by the guards of Riaz Fatyana, MNA, when the enraged people protesting against prolonged durations of load shedding headed towards his residence located in Kamalia.
The incident occurred when the protesters gathered outside the MNA’s house while his guards opened fire. As a result, one person was killed while eight others were injured. It should be mentioned here that the power outages triggered massive level demonstrations across the province of Punjab. Police registered cases against at least 2600 demonstrators who ran amok in Faisalabad and Sargodha in protest against the widespread spans of load shedding. The infuriated demonstrators, running berserk, set two police mobile vans on fire.

[Dipanker]

Six more killed in Karachi violence

At least six persons, including a worker of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and a cleric, were killed here in Karachi on Tuesday, police said.

[Dipanker]

Six killed, 20 injured in separate incidents in Quetta

At least six persons including a teacher were killed and 20 others injured in separate incidents in various areas of Quetta on Tuesday.

[Dipanker]

Power-starved protesters turn violent

RAWALPINDI - Infuriated by hours long and unannounced power outages, tens of hundreds of citizens staged violent protest demonstrations against loadshedding in various parts of the city on Monday.
The areas where a large number of residents agitated against loadshedding included Rawal Road, Defence Housing Society (DHA) Phase I, Dhoke Gangal, Sadiqabad, Kuri Road, Dhoke Hassu, Bangash Colony, Sir Syed Chowk, Waris Khan and Arya Mohalla. The traders also observed a complete shutter-down at Chah Sultan, Kuri Road and Khanna Road and held demos against loadshedding.

[abhijitm]

How come pakistani biradars despite their arab roots are not invited in Arab Got Talent??

[RajeshA]

Pakistan singer who fled Taliban gunned down

I do think that music touches people. If Taliban were observing Pushtun youth listening to her songs everywhere, they must have been pretty pissed off at her.

It would be a advisable that these Pushto singers move and record their songs elsewhere and then distribute their music in Pushto areas.

It is in India's core interest, that Paki Establishment does not get full control over the Pushtuns through their crazy Taliban proxies.

[arun]

X Posted from the Oppression of Minorities in Pakistan thread.

Green on Green Intra-Mohammadden sectarian violence in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a country claimed to have been created as a safe haven for the Mohammaddens of the Indian Sub-Continent.

Cleric belonging to the minority Shia sect of Mohammaddenism is targeted and killed by his co-religionists in Karachi. Here it may be noted that, though Dawn remains mum about it, the Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, which is reported in the article as having condemned the killing and termed it the continuation of ‘persistent violence against a particular community’, is a Shia / Shiite religious outfit :

Prayer leader

After sunset, a prayer leader was gunned down in Nazimabad.

Though the area police showed unawareness about the people behind the killing of Allama Ghulam Amini, they were sure that the motive for the killing was sectarian.

“He was targeted near Gol Maidan in Nazimabad No 3,” said DSP Shahid Abbas, the area’s sub-divisional police officer (SDPO). “Scheduled loadshedding was under way in the area when he was targeted. We are not very sure about the number of attackers and their mode of transport, but multiple accounts suggest that two men on a motorbike targeted him when he was going somewhere.”

He said the victim suffered three bullet wounds and died on the spot. The body was later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where a large number of area people converged.

“In his mid-50s, he was Pesh Imam of Jama Masjid Noor-i-Iman in Nazimabad No 3 and resident of Gulbahar,” said DSP Abbas. “Apparently there is no motive other than sectarian behind his killing. The family also denies his personal enmity with any individual or group.”

His assessment echoed in the reaction that came shortly after the incident from the Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, which condemned the killing and termed it the continuation of ‘persistent violence against a particular community’.

“The government has failed to stem violence and no credible action is seen on ground against the banned outfits, which are involved in these killings and openly claim responsibility for acts of terror,” said Maulana Hasan Zafar Naqvi.

Dawn

[Lalmohan]

How come pakistani biradars despite their arab roots are not invited in Arab Got Talent??

they are, they can be spotted in the background doing jhaRu poCHa of arab marble floored studios and serving khana to their birathers_from_four_fathers

[arun]

X Posted from the ISI-History and Discussions thread.

Afghan Attorney General Eshaq Aloko says that the suicide attack targeting Shia Muslims which killed more than 80 people in Kabul in December last year was planned by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s Army controlled intelligence agency the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI / ISID):

Kabul accuses Pakistan over suicide attack

AFP | 2 hours ago

KABUL: Afghan authorities on Tuesday said “regional spy agencies” were behind a rare suicide attack targeting Shia Muslims that killed more than 80 people in a veiled reference to Pakistani intelligence. ………………….

Aloko said the attack was planned in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, by “regional spy agencies” aimed at “provoking sectarian violence”.

“Although the Jhangvi group claimed responsibility, it was masterminded by some spy agencies in our neighbouring countries,” Aloko said. …………………….

Dawn

[Singha]

the bus blast in Quetta yesterday was in a vehicle marked as "Quetta institute of information technology" per TV footage.

I guess IT is no longer kosher.

[rahulm]

Enemies gather as Supreme Court dismisses Gilani as Prime Minister

[ramana]

The Pakistani SC disqualifies Gilani as a Member of National Assembly. He is sent packing. Interesting developments to follow.

I wrote on June 14th:

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 1#p1296561

We need to keep an eye on Justice Iftikhar Chaudahry's efforts. The TSPA image is taking a beating on corruption charges. The kabila guards cant be seen to be corrupt. So expect a purge or sacrificing the old corpse commanders either tried or suicided. And this could lead to a reform of political process by creating a small clean group while the larger group under the guards will be allowed to function. The clean group is needed for international image.
We might also see some of the thrown out military stumble into India instead of Gulf or West.

If WKKs really care for TSP survival they should go in and start a Gandhian non-violent political movement inside TSP.

The CJ has Army backing for this new formation being created. Gilani is first goat to be thrown out. Next will be some Army officers using Riaz's links.
Next will be some judges.
So this will go on for sometime.

[Prem]

edited

[svinayak]

http://www.alternet.org/world/155919/ho ... ce_?page=3

How the US is Pressuring India to Enlist in its Quest for Global Dominance
The US has sought an alliance with India to pressure China and to isolate Iran.
June 18, 2012 |

A mid-level officer of the Indian Foreign Ministry told me that he was startled by the language used by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta during his visit to India on June 6. India, Panetta said, is the "lynchpin" in US plans to "rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific region". The officer said that at one point Panetta had said India is the US "doorway into Asia". At least two of the Indian officials in the room later joked that he should have said that India is the US's doormat into Asia.

Panetta had come to Delhi with a brief that was uncomplicated but not conducive to peace. Panetta's objectives, and that of the third India-US Strategic Dialogue (which began on June 13), seem obliged to isolate three major actors in Asia: China, Iran and Pakistan. The "rebalancing" is not intended to bring these crucial countries to the table to discuss areas of common interest, such as the imbroglio in Afghanistan, the question of energy security and the unsettled border and security disputes between these countries.

The US has sought an alliance with India for the past decade with the aim of putting pressure on China, of balancing out its reliance upon Pakistan's geographic location, and of isolating Iran in the forums of the non-aligned world (as well as enhancing access for US firms into the Indian market). These are not pathways to peace. They are precisely the opposite.

Afghanistan

Panetta's short-term objective in Delhi was to bring India more firmly into its Afghan operations. He came to India seeking Indian monetary and military assistance for the Afghan mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Indian tanks are not going to be airlifted into Kabul anytime soon, although this remains on the agenda. As a precursor, the Indians were asked to increase their reconstruction commitments.

Whether Panetta's goal is to actually have Indian tanks in Afghanistan seems unclear. What is obvious, however, is that this is an unsubtle way to put pressure on Islamabad to desist from its refusal to allow NATO material to transit from Karachi's port through Torkham into Afghanistan. The US is currently spending upwards of $100 million per day more than beforehand to get its goods into Afghanistan through Central Asia. During Panetta's Delhi visit, the US fired its drones for the ninth time since the Chicago North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in May, killing three people. The continuation of the drone program has soured the relationship between Islamabad and Washington. Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari is locked into his presidential residence, afraid of his people and terrified of their reaction if he gives in, once more, to the US.

[partha]

Ali Musa Gilani for next PM
Bilawal Bhutto for next President
Arsalan Ithikar for next CJ

AoA!

[Kamal_raj]

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,, ... 652,0.html

The imposition of the Hudood Ordinances, an exclusively Islamic code, on non-Muslims is also discriminatory in the manner of its application. As a prerequisite for the application of Hadd punishment, strict evidential requirements must be satisfied. In most cases this means a number of adult Muslim witnesses. In accordance with evidentiary requirements, while Muslims can give evidence against non-Muslims, non-Muslims are barred from giving evidence against an accused who happens to be a Muslim.

Wiki doesnt provide this kind of information on Hudood please can somebody who have updated Wiki before do so? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudood_Ordinance


Regds.......Kamalraj

[SBajwa]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120620/main1.htm

naPak SC disqualifies PM Gilani
President Zardari weighs options on electing new premier; House may meet today
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday declared that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stood disqualified since April 26 and ceased to be the premier since that date. The court also asked President Asif Ali Zardari to take steps for continuity of the democratic process, an apparent reference to the election of a new prime minister. Gilani was elected Prime Minister in March 2008 and has remained in that office longer than any other elected leader in the country’s history.

Capping nearly 30 months of bitter feud between the judiciary and the government, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry held that Gilani, 60, “ceased” to be the Prime Minister from April 26 this year.

Gilani was then convicted and sentenced for not obeying court orders to reopen graft charges in Switzerland against President Zardari.

Contrary to expectations that the PPP will back him to the hilt, the ruling party said it would abide by the verdict and set in motion the process of selecting Gilani’s successor.

The Election Commission also issued a formal notice disqualifying Gilani as a Member of Parliament, hours after the Supreme Court ordered it to do so.

A session of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament is likely to be convened on Wednesday for the formal election of the new premier.

Today’s verdict came in response to several petitions that had challenged National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s decision not to disqualify Gilani following his conviction.

“Since no appeal was filed against this (April 26) judgment, the conviction has attained finality. Therefore, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani has become disqualified from being a Member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in terms of Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution on and from the date and time of pronouncement of the judgment of this court dated April 26, 2012, with all consequences,” the court said.

It added, “He (Gilani) has also ceased to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan with effect from the said date and the office of the Prime Minister shall be deemed to be vacant accordingly”.

The bench directed the Election Commission to issue a notification stating that Gilani was no longer a member of Parliament.

Amid intense activity in the capital following Supreme Court’s decision disqualifying PM Yousaf Raza Gilani, President Asif Zardari remained huddled with senior PPP leaders to discuss his options and convened another meeting of coalition partners.

There was no official words from the Presidency after party meeting but media reports said the party leadership authorized Zardari to take final decision after due consultation with allies. A predominant view within the PPP and coalition, however, appeared to be favouring acceptance of the court’s judgment.
What next?

Federal ministers Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Khursheed Shah and Hina Rabbani Khar are among those being considered for the post of premier
Legal experts said the new PM would face the same challenge of implementing the court’s directive to write to Swiss authorities for reopening the money-laundering case against President Zardari or be disqualified in case of refusal to do so

[SBajwa]

No headway on Sir Creek; India, Pak to continue talks
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, June 19
Though they did not make much headway at their two-day talks on the Sir Creek issue, the delegations of both India and Pakistan today expressed confidence that they could resolve the maritime dispute given the current state of relationship between the two countries.

“We have understood each other better and are certainly one step ahead. The meeting was held in a very positive and conducive environment,” a source said.

The Indian delegation at the meeting was led by Surveyor General of India Swarna Subba Rao while the Pakistani team was headed by Rear Admiral Farrokh Ahmad, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defence.

Even as the two sides reiterated their stated positions, they agreed that they were now in a position to discuss what they could offer each other for finding an amicable settlement of the issue.

Among all the disputes between India and Pakistan, Sir Creek is perhaps the only issue which the two sides consider as 'do-able'.

Sir Creek is a 96-km-long disputed territory between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands, which opens up into the Arabian Sea. Sir Creek divides the Kutch region of Gujarat in India and the Sindh province of Pakistan.

The creek, which opens up to the Arabian Sea, has been one of the several points of contentions between the neighbours. India has long held that the creek boundary should be in the middle of the estuary while Pakistan claims that the border should lie on the southeast bank.

A joint statement issued at the end of today's talks said: “The two sides discussed the land boundary in the Sir Creek area and also delimitation of the International Maritime Boundary between India and Pakistan.

“They reiterated their desire to find an amicable solution to the Sir Creek issue through sustained and result-oriented dialogue.”

They agreed to hold the next round of the talks on the issue in Pakistan at mutually convenient dates, to be determined through diplomatic channels, the statement added.

[Mahendra]

Groper took oath on the HoKo. The al supreme bin court disqualified him
There are only 2 conclusions
1 Groper insulted the HoKo so is therefore wajibul cutlet
2 Al Supreme Court insulted the HoKo so is therefore wajibul cutlet

It is the duty of the momeen to pervent/avenge the insult to HoKo. After watching a video posted on this thread today, where I saw hapless elderly shias being gunned down by g-hadi yahoos chanting "shia kaffir hain", I have no doubt that this whole disqualification imbroglio must be viewed from the prism of shariat kanoon and appropriate fatwa of cutlet must be issued.

[Prem]

Najam Sethi Aapas Ki Baat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQYWp8O9 ... re=related

Hajjam Saahib farma rahen hai ki it wont be easy to have new PM. Pinnoqiostan keep cutting its nose to increase its length. The Govt will be nominated/made by the CEC under the current Judge Sleeping Beautiullah .
Z is as good as gone. Onward to Jiye Sindh .

[arun]

X Posted from the Pakistani Economic Stress Watch thread.

Protests over electricity shortages turn violent and results in deaths:

Two killed, 50 injured in Pakistan riots

[partha]

A fine analysis and summing up of the craziness going on in Pakistan. Please read it in full.

Things Fall Apart

The Chief Justice has now dismissed the prime minister of Pakistan. Punditry cannot possibly keep up with this stuff. Last week, Pakistan was in the middle of “Bahriagate”, a scandal involving one of the country’s richest men and the same Chief Justice . Malik Riaz, who rose from minor defence contractor to the position of richest and most powerful real estate magnate in Pakistan, claimed to some journalists that he gave 340 million rupees and several luxurious free trips (including one to Monaco with an unidentified woman) to the son of the chief justice of Pakistan, and he had kept the reciepts. His motives for revealing this self-incriminating information remains unclear at this time. The Chief Justice, who had apparently been informed of some of these accusations at least six months ago (and whose unemployed son had been taking the extended family on some rather fancy vacations for the last 3 years), decided to take suo-moto notice of these accusations once they became public. After a somewhat theatrical public hearing in which the Chief Justice came to the Supreme Court with a copy of the Koran and quoted liberally from the hadith and sunna, he recused himself from the hearing and two of his fellow judges took over the case. Quoting again from the Koran and hadith, as is now the norm in Supreme Court judgments, the two judges recommended that the competent authorities should investigate and register cases against anyone who may have given or taken any bribes in this matter.

Meanwhile, Malik Riaz held his own theatrical press conference complete with a small copy of the Koran and hinted at improper contacts between himself and the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The next day he also appeared on a television program to tell his story, but the program itself became the story when someone in the TV station released video of the two anchors and Mr. Riaz Malik chatting with each other before the program and in various commercial breaks. While some of the conversation was mundane and some at the level of farce, with the anchors childishly fighting with each other over who gets more air time, some of it seems to indicate that the interview had more than the usual element of pre-planning and media manipulation. This has led to another firestorm of conspiracy theories and wild accusations and another televised full court meeting in which the Chief Justice harangued the chairman of the Pakistan electronic media regulating authority as if he was a minor clerk and ordered him to take action against media organs that were “defaming the judiciary”. Various bar associations have passed resolutions banning the entry of Mr. Riaz Malik’s lawyer and the Prime Minister’s lawyer (who happens to have been the most prominent leader of the lawyers movement that restored the Chief Justice to his position) into their premises. Prominent anchor persons are accusing each other on the record of being in the pay of various domestic and foreign agencies. Fake lists of journalists who got money from Malik Riaz are circulating and are being countered by fake lists of journalists who are paid by the ISI. And now the CJ has struck and the rumor mills are working overtime trying to figure out what the army wants. In the midst of 18 hours a day of load shedding and deteriorating law and order, the nation is at least being entertained if not enlightened.

What all of this means and where it will lead I will leave to better informed people to tell us. But this is not the only example of the Pakistani ruling elite tearing at each other in public and waving the quran at each other. Various organs of the state have been working at cross purposes and publicly accusing each other of treason for several years now. And the theatrics are not confined to domestic affairs; A few weeks ago, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United Nations, senior diplomat Munir Akram, explicitly suggested that the US may face an “asymmetrical nuclear war” with Pakistan if it pushes Pakistan too far; a former director general of the ISI, Lieut. Gen. Assad Durrani, wrote a bellicose piece a few days earlier in which he suggested giving Aafia Siddiqui the Nishan e Haider, Pakistan’s highest award for gallantry. Earlier, famed “deep state” intellectual Humayun Gohar wrote an exposition on the rules of Jihad in which he argued that siding with the US in 2001 was “good Jihad”, but opening NATO supplies now would be a violation of the proper rules of Jihad. Websites and newspapers close to the security establishment regularly suggest that the present elected government of Pakistan and the President of Pakistan in particular are traitors and CIA agents, and so on and so forth.

All of this has probably happened in other Third World countries at one time or the other, and some of this has probably happened in so-called first world countries as well. But taken together these examples do point to an unusual and dangerous degree of “transparency” in the affairs of the state. The hidden dimensions of power politics are probably unpleasant and nauseating in every state, but the sausage factory can withstand only so much exposure before the credibility of the state becomes shaky and anarchy threatens. No state, not even Somalia, can withstand a vacuum for too long; someone, somewhere has to take control. What will take control if the current corruptocracy finally falls apart? Pakistan’s rmy and its remaining supporters like to think that they are always there as the institution of last resort (in fact, they are reputed to help some of the chaos along in order to pave the way for the next takeover). But after several bouts of military rule, It is clear that the Army itself does not have the ability to administer the country or its institutions in any detail. Whenever it does take over, it continues to rely on the karma of the British Raj to operate the rickety apparatus of the state; the various institutions of the state, like the judiciary and the legislative branch, continue to be based on oft-modified versions of the 1935 Government of India Act, and no matter how outrageously the limits of Western style parliamentary democracy and rule of law have to be stretched, they still have to be kept in place. Mr Sharifuddin Pirzada has been called in by every Pakistani military ruler to provide a fig-leaf of constitutionality and legitimacy to military rule, and every episode of martial law has eventually been forced to revert to a civilian facade . But remember, even Pirzada sahib is getting old.

Every successive military intervention has undermined this system a little further. And the current circus is rapidly eating away at what is left. If this process continues and the system finally collapses, especially if it transitions without American blessing (something always available, before or after the coup, to past dictators), the country and its people will have to find a new basis for the distribution of power under very adverse circumstances. If modern Western-style democracy and its institutions are no more, then the next stop is not likely to be the great proletarian cultural Revolution or Noam Chomsky style enlightened peaceful anarchy; the next common denominator is almost certainly going to be an attempt at “Islamic government”, thought there may be a short and disastrous hypernationalist episode between the collapse of modern constitutional rule and the emergence of sincere Islamism.

To many people in Pakistan and outside of it, this seems to be a good idea. In principle why can’t the 180 million Muslims of Pakistan finally live under an “Islamic system of government”? But the problem is, there is no there there; no workable blueprint for such a system actually exists or is even half way to creation in the Sunni world. What the middle class regards as an Islamic system is little more than the vague promises of 6th grade social studies textbooks. To be sure, there is are countless versions of medieval Islamic law texts that are available in Urdu bazar, but nobody has worked out a political or economic system beyond the well-known rules about women and the cutting off of thieving hands. Various thinkers like Maulana Maudoodi have claimed to update the system while remaining true to its spirit, but his own organizational innovations were mostly Leninist in origin and the generation trained by him remains clueless about political science beyond local gangsterism and the bullying of women and minorities. More than 100 years after these attempts were started, no workable blueprint has actually emerged in the Sunni world. What exists are various versions of modern democracy with a few Islamic personal laws and prejudices grafted on to them in the some cases, and plain and simple dynastic rule in all others.

Pakistan’s corrupt ruling elite may one day, not too far in the future, find itself in the uncomfortable and unexpected position of getting what they asked for. Quoting hadith texts and waving the Koran in a Western-style Supreme Court is one thing, actually creating an “Islamic system of government” based purely on these texts from the ground up is quite another. It may be doable in principle, but it is not a task for which our ruling elite is in any way prepared. In a nation with a rather confused creation myth and many divisive problems, this experiment sometimes appears inevitable, but the fact that it has not been put in practice for 65 years should tell us that the real-life exigencies of 21st-century existence are not easily compatible with it. In fact members of the ruling elite are not even capable of agreeing whether the partition of India was based on entirely “secular” or religious notions. To expect them to agree on some sort of modern, competent Islamic rule is a bridge too far. The best of several bad options would be continue to stagger along with the existing system as economic development and social change gradually transform it and widen its base. But if present behavior continues they may discover that they have finally got what they wanted. And it will not be what they wanted at all.

“Everywhere we seek the Absolute, and always we find only things.” (Novalis).

CAVEAT: The blessed CIA may have things under control. Maybe they really DO run the world and they know what they are doing. (Fat chance).

[Prem]

Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya?????
Djinna, Ham Sandwitch, Whiskey, Masishi and Salariat etc!! Muslim can demand jewlery or Jameen or face the Blasphemy+ Certain death.

A must watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FBikPpC ... re=related

[SSridhar]

A fine analysis and summing up of the craziness going on in Pakistan. Please read it in full.
Things Fall Apart

Indeed.

I can only recall how Perico, the Duke of Amalfi so presciently described Pakistan way back in 1960: “. . . this country [Pakistan] will drift from crisis to calamity, from calamity to catastrophe, and from catastrophe to disaster.” It is all in a day's play in the Great Islamic Republic,

And yet, Pakistan continues to survive to fight India one more day.

[AdityaM]

Why are they playing and dancing in Kremlin!

[kenop]

A fine analysis and summing up of the craziness going on in Pakistan. Please read it in full.

Things Fall Apart

All of this has probably happened in other Third World countries at one time or the other, and some of this has probably happened in so-called first world countries as well.

Examples?
Pakiness still reared its head in spite of the evidence of some good sense.