Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): Dec. 28, 2010

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jan 2011 00:00

So ten percenti is going to US and Kiyani is dismantling the Sui Cntt and Pakjab Governor is shot by his own bodyguard.
Things are getting critical mass.

May be 10% might be going to get backing to crack down on dark greens.

Dismantling Sui Cntt reduces Baloch takleef?

Is it the crackdown time predicted by Forum gray beards?

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 05 Jan 2011 00:02

how would Indian rich liberal would react to this?

Baikul · Post by **Baikul** » 05 Jan 2011 00:10

The fact that his guard shot him combined with the gleeful response of many Pakistanis suggests that a lot of their leaders are likely to be walking on egg shells from here on.

Security to guard against the security that's protecting you from the security onlee.

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 05 Jan 2011 00:10

^ by saying that we are both victims of terror

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 05 Jan 2011 00:37

Ordinarily,one would feel sorry that a liberal has been killed.

These 'liberals' are more dangerous then the out-and-out jihadis. The liberals are the 'friendly face' of the cancer that is Porkistan.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 05 Jan 2011 00:40

From LWJ's Bill Roggio

A witness at the scene said Taseer was stepping out of his car at a shopping area when he was shot.

"The governor fell down and the man who fired at him threw down his gun and raised both hands," said the witness, Ali Imran.

The assassination by Taseer's bodyguard appears to have been timed to achieve maximum shock value; the choice of the location of the killing (perhaps to get some foreign witnesses) coupled with his surrender and immediate statement seem to support this.

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 05 Jan 2011 00:45

For instance, my father’s attitude to Hindu India, to pre-Islamic India couldn’t be explained,” even though Salmaan was not a practising Muslim. “Something bigger had happened in the 20th century to Islam that could be explained by the Partition as a quest for a new Islamic country. That original impulse in 1947 masked in genteel ways what seemed like a refined argument but concealed what an ugly thing it was.”

People who have access to Aaatish's book could perhaps point out quotes about the bigotry he found in Salman Tasheer's extended family. This would be helpful in strengthening RamaY's point.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 05 Jan 2011 00:48

Punjab governor shot dead: Your reaction --- from beeb.

The governor's assassination comes as a shock. Even moderate Muslims know that his statement on the blasphemy law wasn't appropriate. Religion is a very sensitive issue in our part of the world. We all remember how angered the Muslim world got about the blasphemous caricatures in a Danish newspaper. Rehman, Karachi, Pakistan

Although the common perception is that Mr Taseer was assassinated for his outspoken views on the blasphemy law in Pakistan, it would be very short-sighted to assume that a lone gunman decided to execute him for this reason alone. It is much more likely that he was assassinated for more wide-scale political reasons. Nameer Rehman, Karachi, Pakistan

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 05 Jan 2011 01:00

Taseer's murder another sign of the dysfunctional Pakistani state

Salmaan Taseer's alleged murderer is a twenty-six-year-old security guard, named Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. Qadri was hired by the Punjab Constabulary in 2003 as an 18-year-old recruit. In 2008, he joined the "Elite Force," where Punjab's best cops end up, and was working for this elite force on the security detail for the governor of Punjab when he killed Taseer. His motivation was allegedly Taseer's vocal opposition to the provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code that deal with blasphemy.

The state of human and social capital can best be surmised by some of the chilling statements of support for the assassination that were visible on social media like Twitter and Facebook, mere hours after the assassination. Regardless of the normative problems with misguided religiosity, nationalism and deep-set political polarity, it is quite clear that some Pakistanis, those celebrating this kind of horrifying assassination, are fundamentally incapable of engaging with the rest of the rational world.

The Elite Force that Qadri was a member of was established in 1998 to counter, of all things, the wave of extremist violence in the Punjab in the mid and late 1990s. The motto of the Elite Force, according to a Wikipedia entry, is "Kill all the terrorists." Like many other instruments of the Pakistani state, the Punjab Elite Force seems to have a clear and present competence deficit.

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 05 Jan 2011 01:11

Pakistani gunman becomes Facebook folk hero

you'd think that those who supported Taseer's assassination would be relegated to the lunatic fringe -- or at least be reticent about shouting their praise for the act from the rooftops. Not so. Admirers of the gunman, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, have set up a Facebook page to commemorate the killer {Can't get to the facebook page. Seems to have been taken down}. In a few short hours, the page has been flooded with hundreds of posts by supporters lionizing their newfound hero.

"May Allah protect Malik Mumtaz; he has indeed made us very proud as Muslims," reads one representative post written by Kamran Qureshi who, if his Facebook information is to be believed, resides in Lahore. Sounds like the Pakistani security services just got the names of a number of individuals with whom they might want to have a conversation.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 05 Jan 2011 01:19

This murder will perhaps silence all voices of reason (if there are any left)in Pakistan. It will force the liberals to become hardliners in order to survive. Since bodyguards are now suspect, who will protect them?

I pity the common Pakistani!

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 05 Jan 2011 01:22

Photo - Salman Taseer's suspected killer - his security guard {The bugger is so friggin happy for what he did}

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 05 Jan 2011 01:24

Salman Taseer murder throws Pakistan into fresh crisis
more of the same.

Punjab's governor, Salman Taseer, was gunned down by one of his own bodyguards as he stepped from his car in Islamabad's Kohsar market, a favoured haunt of westerners and wealthy Pakistanis.

Two months ago, in defiance of the prevailing political winds, Taseer paid a visit to Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death under the country's harsh blasphemy law.

But religious groups staunchly oppose any change, and extremists preachers have offered a reward for the death of Bibi. Meanwhile most politicians, with the exception of Taseer and Rehman, remained quiet on the issue, even within the ruling PPP.

(Sherry Rehman better watch out for your guards)

Raza Anjum, a young British councillor who recently met Taseer to lobby for Aasia Bibi, said his death was a big blow to "all who are working for an enlightened and progressive Pakistan".

The interior minister, Rehman Malik, said an investigation conducted by police and the ISI intelligence agency would determine whether Qadri was acting alone or in concert with other extremists.

From a small village outside Islamabad, Qadri was a member of the crack Elite Punjab police unit, whose commandos are known for wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "No Fear."

But it also highlighted the number of Pakistanis who celebrated the death as a victory for efforts to defend the blasphemy law. Within hours a Facebook page appeared in support of Qadri; by mid-evening it had over 1,000 followers.

"Religion has become more and more divisive; there is no tolerance," said Talat Masood, a retired general and commentator. "Our society needs to be completely re-orientated."

The 56-year-old Lahore native had long-standing ties to the Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples party, and did stretches in the torture cells of the military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq during the 1980s. His ardour for politics dimmed in the 1990s after several failed attempts to get elected and he turned to making money, where he did better.

Taseer built a small empire including accountancy and management firms, a television station, a newspaper and a telecommunications company. But he was drawn back to politics in 2008 when Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, appointed him governor of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and wealthiest province.

Taseer quickly carved out a role as Zardari's attack dog against the Sharif family, which is also based in Lahore.

More significantly, it signals a worrying reduction in the public space for public figures, who cannot even count on their own police to protect them. The country's liberals have not felt so isolated since the dark years of the Zia dictatorship in the 1980s.

The demon born and fed by RAPES is bent on having its meal.
what about kiyanahi- torn between uncle and his mujahids.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 05 Jan 2011 01:46

Vivek K wrote:...

I pity the common Pakistani!

No no, this is right for Pakistan. pakistan needs more islam. all such liberal voices need to be drowned. only a fight for who is more pious in pakistan will lead to its ultimate disintegration.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 05 Jan 2011 01:53

There were supposedly not 1 but 3 facebook pages felicitating Qadri for his murder of Taseer.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malik-mum ... 952?v=wall

http://www.facebook.com/Malik.Mumtaz.Qa ... mtaz.Qadri

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malik-Mum ... 799?ref=ts

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 05 Jan 2011 01:59

The common Pakistani is different from civilized people....

- he regards Hafeez Sayyed as a social worker and Salman Tasheer as a terrorist - see the reported support on facebook, or the news items on popular support for killing Asiya Bibi.

- he is perfectly OK with wiping out entire populations, in his fervent belief in some seventh century ideology - see the decimation of minorities in Pakistan or the well-planned genocide of 1971

- in any county he inhabits with more than a few thousand of his brethren - he will give rise to the genie of paki-terrorism

- he is unhappy when people try to plug legal loopholes that make rape effectively legal - see the support against modifying Hudood ordinances

No need to feel sorry for the common Pakistani - he probably thinks that this is the right direction.

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 05 Jan 2011 02:01

AN ASSASSINATION IN PAKISTAN - Newyorker

The photograph of Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s accused assassin, credited to photographer Sabir Khan, is a chilling snapshot of where thirty years of state-sponsored Islamism has dragged Pakistan. Qadri’s full beard and trimmed mustache, a cultural adaptation of certain Islamic conservatives, would have been uncommon among the armed and authorized police guards of a secular-minded Pakistani governor a generation ago. The expression on Qadri’s face in the moments after his arrest seems to be one of self-satisfaction—certainly not a portrait of anxiety or distress.

Pakistan’s Personnel Reliability Programs, as they are known in the nuclear security trade, involve not only evaluating the suitability of bodyguards for governors but also the management of the country’s swelling stockpile of fissile materials and nuclear bombs. Taseer’s betrayal should give pause to those officials in Washington who seem regularly to express complacency, or at least satisfaction, about the security of Pakistan’s arsenal.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 05 Jan 2011 02:19

^^^ I dislike Steve Coll's comparison to the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi.

Baikul · Post by **Baikul** » 05 Jan 2011 02:33

A_Gupta wrote:^^^ I dislike Steve Coll's comparison to the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi.

But why let perspective, nuance and facts get in the way of a perfectly convenient equal-equal?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Jan 2011 02:35

Now poor Assia will be hanged for sure. No escape for her . Most probably she will be murdered before she is hanged to death . I have slogan for the Purest of the Purelanders.
Ashiq e Risalat ki Awaz
Agggli Baari.
Assif Zardari

Abhijit · Post by **Abhijit** » 05 Jan 2011 02:59

The Elite Force that Qadri was a member of was established in 1998 to counter, of all things, the wave of extremist violence in the Punjab in the mid and late 1990s. The motto of the Elite Force, according to a Wikipedia entry, is "Kill all the terrorists." Like many other instruments of the Pakistani state, the Punjab Elite Force seems to have a clear and present competence deficit.

The author (linked above in shynee's post) is clueless about the way the so-called extremists work in pakistan. it is obvious that salmaan taseer was the terrorist while his murderer is a glorious gazi who is being awaited by 72 doe-eyed virgins in the jannat. And if you don't think so, then you are jaahil/kufr or worse still an apostate = salmaan taseer = terrorist

pakistan has already redefined the dictionary of civilized human behavior. And this grotesquely modified new dictionary claims the direct sanction of God (who is one and true God as per the definition of the word pakistan). Unless (Islam minus pakistan) unambiguously repudiates this new definition, (world minus Islam) will inevitably equate it with Islam. And that would be a very sad consequence.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jan 2011 03:11

TSp is going through a sever identity angst. Jinnah had split the Indina Muslims into two groups. Then came Mujib Ur Rehman and it got furtehr split. After the nitial losso fway Bangla Desh has finally decided it needs to find its own way. The TSP is seeing its dreams go away and its nightmares becoming reality. Hindu India is ascendindg with out stoppage and soon the TSP will get relegated to the dustbin of history like Somalia hard.

They had taken on the TAP (Turco-Afghan-Persian) and Arab ancestry to move into the Middle East groups and find that it hasn't brought them the expected advantage over the Hindu India.

So they are becoming more Islamist just as Abdul Wahab's answer to the Mongol raid on Baghdad was more hardline Islam.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 05 Jan 2011 04:13

Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2011

last updated on Saturday, January 1, 2011, 3:35 pm GMT

Since 2004, the US has been conducting a covert program to target and kill al Qaeda and Taliban commanders based in Pakistan's lawless northwest. The program has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda's external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters who threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states.

The charts below look at the following: 1) the number of US airstrikes inside Pakistan per year; 2) civilian casualties vs. Taliban/al Qaeda casualties; 3) the distribution of strikes over time by tribal agencies; 4) the overall distribution of strikes, by tribal agencies; 5) the distribution of strikes over time by territories targeted; 6) the overall distribution of strikes, by territories targeted; and 7) the number of high value targets killed in territories managed by individual Taliban commanders.

The data is obtained from press reports from the Pakistani press (Daily Times, Dawn, Geo News, The News, and other outlets), as well as wire reports (AFP, Reuters, etc.), as well as reporting from The Long War Journal. Given the Taliban's control of the areas where strikes occur, and a dearth of reporters in those areas, the exact numbers for casualties are difficult to know.

There are 7 charts about the air strikes
1) No of us airstikes in pakistan 2004-10

The US ramped up the number of strikes in July 2008, and has continued to regularly hit at Taliban and Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan. There have been 218 strikes total since the program began in 2004; 208 of those strikes have taken place since January 2008.

2) civilian vs taliban/al qeda deaths

Since 2006, there have been 1,764 leaders and operatives from Taliban, Al Qaeda, and allied extremist groups killed and 108 civilians killed. Data for 2004 and 2005 are not available at this time.

3) no of us strikes by districts

Over the past six years, the strikes have focused on two regions: North and South Waziristan. Over the past two years, there has been a dramatic shift in the location of the strikes. In 2009, 42% of the strikes took place in North Waziristan and 51% in South Waziristan. In 2010, 89% of the strikes have taken place in North Waziristan and 6% in South Waziristan.

4) no of us strikes in northwest pakistan

Of the 218 strikes since 2004, 71% have hit targets in North Waziristan, and 23% have hit targets in South Waziristan.

5) no of strikes on various taliban factions ( 2charts)

The majority of the attacks have taken place in the tribal areas administered by four powerful Taliban groups: the Mehsuds, Mullah Nazir, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, and the Haqqanis. In 2010, there was a dramatic shift in strikes to tribal areas administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar.

Mullah Nazir and Waliur Rehman are based in South Waziristan; the Haqqanis, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, and Abu Kasha al Iraqi are based in North Waziristan; Hakeemullah Mehsud is based in Arakzai; and Faqir Mohammed is based in Bajaur. Two bases operated by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar were hit in South Waziristan. For five of the strikes, territorial control has not been reported.

6) no of taliban/al qeda leaders killed

The Pakistani government considers Nazir, the Haqqanis, Bahadar, and Hekmatyar to be 'good Taliban' as they do not carry out attacks against the Pakistani state. All of these Taliban factions shelter al Qaeda and various other terror groups.

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 05 Jan 2011 04:43

Colleagues also involved in plot

LAHORE: The killer of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer has revealed that some of his colleagues were also involved in the plan to assassinate the governor, a private TV channel reported on Tuesday. Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri told a joint investigation team that some of his colleagues were aware of his plan and he had asked them to arrest him alive. He told the team during investigation that he had no remorse on killing Taseer and that was why he laid down his weapon after shooting him. The channel reported that he was removed from the Punjab Police Special Branch three years ago for having extremist views. He belongs to the Barelvi sect and is the disciple of Golra Sharif. It is learnt that some former security squad officials would also be questioned. Qadri had joined the Punjab Police five years ago and was inducted into the Elite Force some time ago. After obtaining clearance from the authorities, he was put on the security squad of VVIPs and of the governor.

Assassin linked with Dawat-i-Islami

RAWALPINDI: The Elite Force guard who gunned down Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is said to be associated with ‘Dawat-i-Islami’, a non-political and non-violent religious group with Barelvi leaning.

This was disclosed by a colleague of Mumtaz Qadri, the self confessed assassin.

Qadri, 26, son of Malik Bashir, joined Punjab police and got Elite Force training in 2006-7. He was posted to the Elite Force wing in Rawalpindi in 2008.

Qadri, who has five brothers and four sisters, got married three years ago and his first child, a son, was born four months ago.

A police officer said Qadri had been assigned guard duty with Mr Taseer during the governor’s visits to Islamabad and once with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

On Tuesday, Qadri left the Police Lines at around 7.30am to report for duty. Police took his five brothers and father into custody from their house soon after he had confessed to the crime.

In addition, 25 police officers and a muharar of Elite Force who had prepared the list of personnel, including Qadri, for duty during the governor’s visit were also taken into custody and shifted to Islamabad for investigation.

Investigators also confiscated the cellphones of the security personnel deployed for the governor’s security.

A police party went to the house of Qadri in Muslim Town late in the night and found some religious books in his room.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jan 2011 05:00

Globe Mail reports:

Governor's Killing sets off political powder keg in Pak

....
Marvi Memon, an opposition member of parliament, said the situation leaves her concerned about a bifurcation in the country, as moderates and conservatives grow further apart.

Parliamentarians in the lower house adjourned their session with a prayer to mark the politician's death, and talked nervously with each other about the incident.

“It’s a huge paradigm shift in the way we all look at security now,” Ms. Memon said. “No one seems to be safe from their own security teams.”
...

Looks like many are justifying the killing.

Uncle better worry for the safety of nukes.

Now is the time to listen to KS garu and take them over.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Jan 2011 05:11

PPP 'liberals' might perhaps contact the US consulate about renting teams of Blackwater contractors for personal security

the cool guys with wrap shades, biege bush jackets and FN_SCAR rifles roaming around the dignitarties should drive the local beards into further fits of rage

partha · Post by **partha** » 05 Jan 2011 05:27

Following more public support for the killer than the dead governor , Karachi protest against blasphemy laws has been cancelled.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Jan 2011 06:20

partha wrote:Following more public support for the killer than the dead governor , Karachi protest against blasphemy laws has been cancelled.

Qadri has not committed the greater than murder sin of shirk so he is safe here and there in Ancient Vegas up in Sky.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 05 Jan 2011 06:26

shynee wrote:The Elite Force guard who gunned down Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is said to be associated with ‘Dawat-i-Islami’, a non-political and non-violent religious group with Barelvi leaning.

So now we have Barelvis too joining the fun, despite them being targeted by the Deo/Wahabis...

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 05 Jan 2011 06:37

Now look at this:
The wife and daughter of Salman Taseer actually met with Aasia Bibi in full media glare.

What can I say about what happened.
One member of the family got a fatwa on his head and was dispatched to meet his 72, for those who are left behind, I am sure a few canadian visas are being readied.

How naive can the Taseer family get hain ji?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Jan 2011 06:40

Whats the difference ,
Deobandi, Barelvi, Wahabi , Sarre ke sarre Atanakvadi
Saddiyon se kar rahe hai, kuch nahi buss siraf Barbaadi
In the name of religious Azadi , Paida karre yeh fuddu Jehadi
Kuffar walo , socho aurr Gaurr karo
Wazibul-Qital hai yeh sarre fasadi.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 05 Jan 2011 06:43

Well, this guy has a reason to smile. He is a face book 'herrow' already.
I predict, that he will live his life eating a lot of sarkari biriyani and might even be eventually freed for lack of evidence. Meanwhile he will surely become a hafiz by memorizing the kuran in prison, and becoming a well respected mullah there. And if he can speak publically, he can displace Hazrat Zaid Hamid (PBUH) on TV too.

Harish · Post by **Harish** » 05 Jan 2011 07:10

This SDRE's narow black eyes roll over to the left of the image, where a beautiful doe-eyed TFTA type young thing sits shedding crocodile tears for the blasphemer.

I personally feel the nubile young thing in question, Sherbano Taseer, should be given political asylum in India.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 05 Jan 2011 07:24

Hmm,
The family of the late Salman Taseer, and the gen next wimmen parliamentarians (Our dear Sherry Rehman, Marvi memon etc) must be feeling very insecure right now.

Never worry, the state of pakistan will immediately depute a few security guards from their elite units to protect them.

OH NO!!!

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 05 Jan 2011 07:25

partha wrote:Following more public support for the killer than the dead governor , Karachi protest against blasphemy laws has been cancelled.

That was an IED mubarak waiting to happen.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 05 Jan 2011 07:34

ramana wrote:TSp is going through a sever identity angst. Jinnah had split the Indina Muslims into two groups. Then came Mujib Ur Rehman and it got furtehr split. After the nitial losso fway Bangla Desh has finally decided it needs to find its own way. The TSP is seeing its dreams go away and its nightmares becoming reality. Hindu India is ascendindg with out stoppage and soon the TSP will get relegated to the dustbin of history like Somalia hard.

They had taken on the TAP (Turco-Afghan-Persian) and Arab ancestry to move into the Middle East groups and find that it hasn't brought them the expected advantage over the Hindu India.

So they are becoming more Islamist just as Abdul Wahab's answer to the Mongol raid on Baghdad was more hardline Islam.

And they are right. The solution to all Pakistani problems is more Islam. Unfortunately karma is a biatch and it is secular (all religions are equal) in nature

I hope IM community learns the right lessons from this Paki experiment. Supporting inhumane and monotheistic ideology is like playing with fire and will harm their own children in front of their eyes. Be spiritual in self and live at peace with others (non-muslims) and revere the land that fed your forefathers, and feeds your future generations.

Baikul · Post by **Baikul** » 05 Jan 2011 07:40

ramana wrote:TSp is going through a sever identity angst. Jinnah had split the Indina Muslims into two groups. Then came Mujib Ur Rehman and it got furtehr split. After the nitial losso fway Bangla Desh has finally decided it needs to find its own way. The TSP is seeing its dreams go away and its nightmares becoming reality. Hindu India is ascendindg with out stoppage and soon the TSP will get relegated to the dustbin of history like Somalia hard.

They had taken on the TAP (Turco-Afghan-Persian) and Arab ancestry to move into the Middle East groups and find that it hasn't brought them the expected advantage over the Hindu India.

So they are becoming more Islamist just as Abdul Wahab's answer to the Mongol raid on Baghdad was more hardline Islam.

Apologies for the long post.

IMO, the Pakistani search for identity is not as revealing as the precise manner in which the Pakistani searches for his identity.

Over the years I have a rough and ready paradigm that allows me to predict with reasonable confidence the behavioral patterns of a Pakistani institution, group or an individual. This predictability is regardless of whether it is Mango Abdul shoveling $hit in Sindh, a Pakjabi RAPE-ist claiming descent from the droppings of a Turkish caravan that passed this way in the 1500s, or the unwashed Mullah hoarsely shouting for more IEDS while he scratches his left nut. It also works regardless of whether we are considering the local arm of the LeT, WAPDA or the Pakistani Cricket Board.

In short, regardless of who or what it is, all Pakistani individuals, groups and institutions remarkably similar in their medium to long term response to events and external stimuli.

This response is simply stated – Separation/ Rejection and Divorce. This is my rough and ready tool to predict and analyze Pakistani behavior.

Most peoples assimilate and then absorb external influences and do it peacefully. The Pakistani, especially the Pakjabi, on the other hand, inevitably separates himself from the external world/ stimuli/ events, and then divorces himself from it. He is invariably guaranteed to do it, and the process usually has devastating consequences for everyone around him – friends and enemies.

It is a deep, atavistic and instinctive response. It doesn’t matter whether the external stimuli is: Unkil Sam, the evil Yindoo, or Munni Begum down the street that I’ve always eyed and who’s never got back to me (the b!tch).

Using this paradigm a lot of events in history make more sense (to me), as does their current behavior. The first major example of this is of course 1947, when a group of people Separated/ Rejected and then Divorced themselves from their cultural inheritance, their very Indic identity and roots. Separation/ Rejection and Divorce on a grand scale. Tens of millions died.

They didn’t know it then – perhaps they don’t know it now – but they were behaving predictably.

Cut to the new state of Pakistan. Do we try to build a modern nation state? Do we try to create a flourishing economy? Do we try to create a new utopia for our citizens?

Do we ****.

The Pakistani elites – army and landed class- look around and decide that they don’t really like the unwashed masses and the dirty politicians. So it’s Separation/ Rejection & Divorce time, baby. A PM gets assassinated, the army takes over, the landed class carries on as it did for centuries.

From this perspective the several attempts to write the Pakistani constitution at that time are a classic study in Separation/ Rejection and Divorce – they are more a quest to reject others than to define who they are (Ahmadiyas, anyone?).

Ok, forget that for now. Fast forward a few years and what do we have? We have East Pakistan to Reject and Divorce from! Anyone remember the classic remark that Pakistani elites had for the people who are Bangladeshis today – “a low lying country with low, lying peoples!”

They have already separated and divorced themselves – intellectually, instinctively from half the country (the dirty, black Bangladeshis) and the result is 1971.

Now we’re really rocking, so the next step is to continue developing the question of who’s a Muslim and who’s not, and so we have the Ahmadiyas declared non-Muslim in the mid 70s.

Notice how this evolution is proceeding inwards, from the external to the internal world- from the Hindus, to the external political framework to the Bangladeshis to the Muslim community.

So what’s next? Or, who’s next?

Well, We have seen the enemy and he is us. Here’s the good General Zia to tell you who’s a good Muslim and who’s not, and to create a number of laws to let you know how you’re doing in that regard. Right through the last 30 years, the Pakistani male has defined his identity by saying - I am not you. Resulting in more violence. actually this has the potential for the most violence - because the target is now inner directed, and there's no clear way of defining the enemy as easily as before. So, let's just kill as many people as we can.

From this perspective Afghanistan and the related criminalization of society is just an excuse for Pakistan being what it is today. It would have gone there anyway.

Why did Faizal Shahzad try and plant a car bomb in Times Square? Most immigrants to the US – the Indians for example – are first awed by that society, accept it in part of full, cooperate and try to contribute to it.

But Shahzad separated and divorced himself from America the day he landed off the boat. It was planted in him like a seed, like it is in most Pakistanis, and it flowered a few years later.

Why is the PCB dysfunctional institution? Because its constituents, the players, the coaches, the managers, the board…they are all separated and divorced from each other.

Why was the governor of Punjab gunned down? Because his murderer physically separated and divorced himself from the Governor’s ‘liberal ways’.

In sum, everything and everyone in Pakistani society is at war and everything and everyone can be rejected. Barelvis, Deobandis, Balochis, Punjabis, MQM, PPP, you, me, the family goat. Sometimes they come together against ‘evil India’ or the ‘Yindoos’; at other times they’re too busy loving each pother. But the fundamental , instinctive response is predictably, drearily, always the same.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 05 Jan 2011 07:49

Whatever type of a*hole Salman Taseer was, he stood finally and fatally for something right:

“She is a woman who has been incarcerated for a year-and-a half on a charge trumped up against her five days after an incident where people who gave evidence against her were not even present. So this is a blatant violation against a member of a minority community. I, like a lot of right-minded people, was outraged, and all I did was to show my solidarity. It is the first time in the history of the Punjab that a governor has gone inside a district jail, held a press conference and stated clearly that this is a blatant miscarriage of justice and that the sentence that has been passed is cruel and inhumane. I wanted to take a mercy petition to the president, and he agreed, saying he would pardon Aasiya Bibi if there had indeed been a miscarriage of justice.”

His stance took some courage, and his courage did not wilt in the face of fatwas against him declaring him a blasphemer and apostate, and he did not flinch with the knowledge that he was going against a plurality of Pakistani public opinion.

In the tradition of the Indian jawan respecting a courageous enemy, I believe he and his family who have been bereaved, should be accorded some respect.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jan 2011 07:58

Huh! Where did the last line come from?

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 05 Jan 2011 07:59

partha wrote:Following more public support for the killer than the dead governor , Karachi protest against blasphemy laws has been cancelled.

I wonder if the RAPEness of Taseer compared with the biousness of Bakistan's poor indicates a social split in Pakistan as opposed to merely a religious split. I had speculated in my ebook that Bakistanis were not the types who would easily be provoked into revolution and had compared the use of Islamic extremism in Pakistan with this cartoon of "The Sorcerer's apprentice" (Watch the whole thing - it's a classic)

The RAPEs of Pakistan can afford to appear liberal because they are wealthy and own the land. The non RAPE have nothing to lose but their lives and are unwilling to allow dilution of what is most precious to them - i.e religion. If you look at the SDRE Bakistanis who suddenly appeared in photus during the flood caused by India - you cn imagine their lifestyle - living in a hovel where the woman breeds and cooks and the man does what work he can get. For that sort of agrarian/labor/sharecropper lifestyle blasphemy and so called "Islamic extremism" is not a problem. It is a problem only when you want to live alongside kafirs.

Bakis have eaten grass expecting Kashmir banega Bakistan and things are not getting better and there seems to be rising social anger as a wealth exploitative class whose views and lifestyle are at variance from other Bakis even as kafirs get a stranglehold over the RAPEs. The politicians of Pakistan hav by and large read the writing on the wall and are toeing the Islamist line because they will otherwise be killed. The RAPEs of Bakistan will now be forced to choose sides. it is interesting that the same Facebook that was banned in Bakistan has now sprouted a "support Taseer's killer" page.

Paki RAPE's and army have been closely linked. The officer cadre of the army have invariably been RAPEs while the rank and file have been grass eating bious Bakis. I would personally like Bakistan to get fully Islamic - but it remains to be seen what Yamerika will do. America has, every few years, "topped up" the strength of the Baki army - being hoodwinked by RAPE reassurances of the "moderateness' of Bakistan which is a big lie. Only after Bakistan fails can there be a rapproachemant betwen India and Bakistan. But Yamrika nees to step back for Bakistan to fail.