HomoFOBia

Rumors abound of Musharraf's imminent departure

2008-05-29T13:22:00.002-04:00

Islamabad and indeed all of Pakistan is abuzz with rumors of Musharraf's imminent departure from the country on a "safe passage" deal with the PPP government. There have been late-night clandestine meetings, the commander of the crack 111 brigade - which provides security to Musharraf - has been changed, and maybe most importantly Nawaz is loudly claiming that he and Zardari have come to an agreement to push Musharraf out.

Wonder where he will end up? I know that the most obvious - and long-standing - guess is Turkey, but my money is on the United States.

Saudi Arabia in a nutshell

2008-05-07T14:43:00.003-04:00

Things that make you go "humm"

2008-04-22T17:02:00.001-04:00

Black Flag Week March 9-15

2008-03-03T04:26:00.003-05:00

Now that the long march has been called off - under pressure from the PPP - Aitzaz has announced a different plan. This time it's a week-long schedule of activities, under the rubric of a "Black Flag Week." The idea is to plaster the place with black flags. I have to say that Aitzaz is a clever man because if we can pull this idea off, the visual impact will be stunning. It will also be interesting because all the party flags are still fresh from the elections, so the juxtaposition with the black flags might be very interesting indeed.

Of course in Karachi this will all be difficult to pull off - because of the MQM. This fascist party has held the city hostage for years now, and they remain probably the most loyal allies of Musharraf. As a result, Karachi has been a laggard in the pro-democracy movement, even though it's the largest city and it SHOULD lead the country in this regard. Nevertheless, let's hope that next week is an exception and Karachi performs with flying colors.

Musharraf on his way out?

2008-02-29T17:36:00.002-05:00

Things have gotten very interesting since the election on Feb. 18th. The good news is that some sane parties won, namely the PPP, PML-N, and ANP. The bad news is that these said parties are trying their best to forget about the judiciary and the lawyers' movement that put them in power in the first place. Of course they're political parties, and they will grasp for power above all else. But what is especially frustrating is that in this case, doing the right thing also means extending their hold on power - and saying a big fat 'fuck you' to Musharraf at the same time.

In March 2007, I had predicted that Musharraf would be gone within a year. Well, we're coming up on March 9, the anniversary of the Chief Justice's sacking, and it might not happen that soon, but Musharraf doesn't have much longer to stay in the Army House that he's been squatting in and thereby refusing to let Kayani occupy it. Word is that he's already trying to make deals for a 'safe exit.' What should happen is that the bastard gets tried for treason and humanitarian crimes. Let's see. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting.

So THAT'S why he lost

2008-02-29T01:21:00.002-05:00

This has got to be the best excuse for losing an election. From Leader (Karachi):

CANDIDATE BLAMES 'LOTA' FOR LOSING ELECTION

A candidate in the elections from NA constituency 79, Chaudhry Mohammed Naveed Iqbal from Samundri Tehsil in Faisalabad who lost in the elections, has said that he was defeated because his election symbol was a 'lota.'

He has urged upon the Pakistan Election Commission to remove the election symbol of 'Lota' from the list of election symbols that are given to the political parties and independents in the general elections. This is the first time that a defeated candidate has blamed his election symbol for his defeat. 'Lota' is used in day-to-day conversation in Pakistan to refer to turncoats.

Those dumb Arab governments

2008-01-21T04:51:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken in Abu Dhabi airport - incidentally, a truly awful airport - while browsing the MSN website. I was trying to read a very innocuous article, something about relationships, you know the kind of silly article that is pure fluff but nevertheless catches your attention with a provocative title. And it has been a long flight, and I wanted to be entertained. So despite the fact that I knew better, I clicked on it, and instead of loading up on my computer in its glorious silliness, I was confronted with... this.

The warning reads: "We apologize the site you have been attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates."

It's truly absurd that governments censor what their citizens can see. But what's really ridiculous about this particular experience is the kind of content that the UAE government was censoring, I had just finished reading the New York Times, BBC News, and Dawn, and had no problems at all. So the idiots in Abu Dhabi don't realize that all sorts of bad press coverage about worker revolts and mistreatment of labor and lack of development planning are being consumed happily by their population. But yes, they're being prevented from reading about anything of a romantic nature. Way to go, UAE. I have always believed that the dumbest government officials are Pakistani, but I think you UAE folks have us beat.

So far, so good

2008-01-20T01:45:00.000-05:00

There was peace and calm yesterday on 9th Muharram. Some processions were smaller than they usually are, but for the most part, everything was "normal" - if it can be considered normal to have Muharram processions with heavy police and army presence, and with virtual curfew imposed in many cities (Karachi included). One can only hope that this peace continues into today, Ashura (10th Muharram). We desperately need at least one major event to go off peacefully in Pakistan, for our sanity if nothing else.

By the way, the entire country is in the grip of a cold wave. It snowed in Islamabad today, and while Karachi is warm during the day, it becomes very cold at night. That fabulous weather I praised a few weeks ago is no more.

Bomb blast in Peshawar

2008-01-18T04:29:00.000-05:00

There was a bomb blast in Peshawar last night at a Shia imambargah. Approximately 12 people have died. This follows a bomb blast in Karachi on Monday night in which approximately 40 people died. These are all part of the "expected" violence that is supposed to accompany Muharram. And it's ridiculous and absurd that we have become not only accustomed to this violence but have actually come to expect it. Actually, in some ways, we're all relieved these blasts haven't been worse.

Pakistan has become the new Iraq.

Dude, leave already

2008-01-17T08:17:00.000-05:00

Note: This is snark, not an actual letter

Karach Megacity Development Project

2008-01-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

Karachi's powers that be have been talking about embarking on a number of huge development projects over the last few years. Of course the city has already seen a lot of "development" projects including a number of overpasses, the infamous underpass ("Asia's longest!") which flooded in the 2006 rains, and the tragic Northern Bypass bridge which collapsed within a week of its inauguration leading to many deaths.

Now the city is embarking on yet another set of "megacity development projects" - and its taking an $800 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to do so. The projects will mostly focus on the Shahrah-e-Faisal signal-free corridor and various other road projects, and there is only a trivial mention of a bus system and light rail. The problem with this "development" is that it benefits only rich people - those who own cars - and neglects the needs of the vast majority who desperately need public transportation. Indeed, all development in Pakistan has been taking place this way over the last 8 years - to serve the interests of the rich. One of the realities we will have to reckon with once this government is gone is its legacy, that is, the mess we'll have to clean up. And one of the most terrifying aspects of the Musharraf era is that we've lost 8 years to develop real infrastructure, spur industry, put into place basic human development such as education and healthcare, and we've lost ground to the jehadis at the same time.

Civil society members arrested at Bhagwandas vigil

2008-01-15T02:43:00.000-05:00

This is the man who organized the police crackdown on vigil attendees yesterday in Karachi. But I have to start at the beginning.

Yesterday, a small group of citizens held a candle-light vigil outside the residence of Justice Bhagwandas. Bhagwandas is one of the Supreme Court judge who refused to take the PCO oath and had been under house arrest in Islamabad. Sometime in December, he officially reached retirement age, and reckoned that he could now "give up" his official post as Supreme Court judge. So he left his official residence in Islamabad and moved back to Karachi where his home is. Now you would think that the government would leave the poor guy alone, since he was now a private citizen. But that was not the case. Instead, on Friday, Bhagwandas was placed under house arrest again, this time in his personal home in Karachi, and this time in his capacity as a... citizen.

Of course the government claims that the house arrest was for "his own security" but the more likely reason is that they are scared. Bhagwandas addressed the Karachi Bar Association on Friday, at their induction ceremony. The tradition is that the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court addresses this ceremony, but for the first time, someone other than the Chief Justice was asked to speak (since the current Chief Justice is a PCO judge and is persona non grata in the legal community). Such symbolism is terrifying to those who are desperately clinging on to power. So Bhagwandas had to be stopped.

Back to the vigil. A small group of no more than 20 people were attending a peaceful vigil outside the Bhagwandas residence. There were several police vans and policemen gathered outside, plus several security people in plainclothes including the guy above. Soon a few members of the media arrived, and the police began getting very unhappy, first trying to intimidate the media and then harassing the vigil attendees. The guy above kept making calls on his mobile phone, and in between would come up and ask questions of the group. Eventually they decided to act. First, the police picked on a young middle-class man, by grabbing him from behind and dragging him off to the police van. The small group realized what was happening and immediately rushed to the defense of the man and managed to free him from police hands. About 5 minutes later or so, the electricity was cut and the entire block was plunged into darkness. That's when things turned really ugly. The police started going after the men in the group. One of the more seasoned activists in the group yelled out that the women should hold on to the men to try and prevent arrest. People started running around to get away from the cops. I held on to a young man desperately, while the man above yelled at me to let him go, otherwise he'd bring in the women's police and lock me up too. When I didn't let go, three other men joined the man and pulled the young man out of my arms. Like this, they arrested 8 men in total. The rest of the group managed to get away.

After much confusion, a crowd of people began gathering at the local thana to try and get these 8 released. Thus began the second vigil of the night. The police started telling their lies; first, that there were no people arrested at that thana, then that their hands were tied and we had to go to another thana to start negotiations, and finally after many other prevarications, negotiations began for the release of the detained. Finally the group was released after about 5 hours (they were charged and released on bail).

What was most interesting was the class angle in all of this. The arrested included middle-class young men - the "easy targets" for police - but there were also some rich and high-profile men as well. And it was the presence of the these rich and well-connected men in the group that secured the release of everyone in the end. It confirmed for me even more that what might change things in Pakistan is if the elite class mobilizes, because it is the elite class that can actually have an impact right now. Poor and middle-class people are all too easy to dismiss and harass and threaten, but at least for the time being, rich people are not. Of course there will come a time when the elite class too will be helpless in the face of dictatorship, but judging from last night, that time is a long way away.

Meanwhile I find myself thinking about two men - the young man pulled away from me, and the man above (his name is Asif Jakhrani, by the way; apparently he's the SHO of Defence/Clifton). What makes someone turn out to be a good guy and what makes someone else a bad guy? What does Mr. SHO think in his heart of hearts? Does he really want us to fail?

Update: Bhagwandas was released from house arrest on Tuesday. Many believe this is due to the bad publicity the government got from the arrests. Score one for our side!

Bhagwandas under house arrest

2008-01-13T02:28:00.000-05:00

Justice Rana Bhagwandas, former Supreme Court judge, has been placed under house arrest. The government is insisting that it is for his own protection, but of course that's absurd. What's not clear to me is why he has been arrested given that he has already retired. Bhagwandas was one of the non-PCO judges who held out to Musharraf. However, he reached retirement age sometime in December and decided to leave his official residence in Islamabad only after doing so. So, this is a person who is not even claiming his official status anymore. Is the government that scared?

2008-01-10T09:38:00.001-05:00

An ad in Karachi airport advertising a housing development in Islamabad. Yet another housing development that only the very rich can afford, while everything goes to shit around them. But they have their private security guards and their high walls, so they won't notice.

(By the way, who is that lady? I want to get to know her, if you know what I mean. Wink wink.)

Suicide bomber strikes in Lahore

2008-01-10T07:27:00.000-05:00

As the madness has engulfed Pakistan over the last few years, Lahore has remained the only major city safe from suicide bombings. That is no longer true, as a suicide bomber struck today in the heart of the provincial capital. The bomber targeted police who had assembled for the weekly lawyers' rally. 23 people have died (20 of them police).

Pakistan has become a crisis society, stumbling from one awful and shocking event to another. All we know how to do anymore is to respond to crises. The crisis of the moment gets our attention. We work on that issue, and then another crisis comes along to distract us and throw us off course completely. I was thinking this yesterday as I attended an activist meeting in which we debated whether to focus on the aata crisis, or the mass arrests in Sindh crisis, or the ethnic tension/interprovincial harmony crisis, or the upcoming Shia-Sunni crisis (which has been predicted by all due to the start of Muharram tomorrow). The longer I stay in Pakistan, the more and more I think that these crises are a way to keep us busy and dissipate our energies. It's hard not to be a conspiracy theorist here! And I used to disdain those types...

Musharraf: Benazir responsible for own death

2008-01-08T10:31:00.000-05:00

In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Musharraf has said that Benazir was responsible for her own death:

"For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone. Nobody else. Responsibility is hers," Musharraf says.

"Don't you think it will make her supporters crazy to hear you say that?" [60 Minutes reporter] Logan asks.

"Well, I don't think so. I mean, that's the fact. She shouldn't have stood up," Musharraf says.

I wonder if Musharraf also agrees that he himself is to blame for the attacks on his life. After all, if he had never taken over in a coup, no one would be wanting his death.

The idea that people are responsible for their own deaths is so absurd, but in this case it's an even more ridiculous argument. Benazir was a political leader, she was at a political rally, and she was engaging the crowd as she should have done in her capacity as a popular leader. If you follow Musharraf's argument to its logical conclusion, you will end up at the point where we must all stop doing politics. No rallies, no disagreements, no making anyone else angry, no speaking up, just keep your head down and shut up and no one gets hurt. Which is not true, of course, because that's exactly when people get hurt, when dictators think they can get away with murder because no one speaks up against them.

To me, this sounds a lot like people telling us not to be gay. If you feel society's derision, or face discrimination, or have to suffer social ostracism, well then just stop being gay already. You can have sex, you know, but just do it quietly, just don't talk about it, just don't ask that your partner be recognized and accepted. And if you behave like a straight person, well then no one gets hurt.

So I can never accept this argument, that people are responsible for the pain and suffering that is caused to them. Benazir didn't ask for it. The killers who fired the bullet and who detonated the bomb are the real culprits.

Idiots in other countries

2008-01-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

A reminder that there are idiots in other countries too (sometimes it's easy to forget). This is at the expense of Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas in the US, and current Republican presidential candidate, and at the expense of Arkansans in general. Note that this is old, it's from April 2001, but still fucking hilarious.

Irrational defense of the PPP

2008-01-06T13:14:00.000-05:00

I'm still in shock over Benazir's death, and I'm shakily trying to figure out what the next steps should be. But even if much is uncertain, one thing is very clear which is that Zardari taking over the PPP is the worst possible step for the party and for the country. Zardari belongs to the group of party leaders that is the most traditional and feudal-minded, and seeks power simply to extract personal material gain, not to enact policies to help the poor, or to enact any kind of policies at all. Of course he sees nothing wrong in the party being "passed" to him in Benazir's will, as if it were personal property - because he really does believe that the party is personal property.

What is even more astonishing than the coronation of Prince Bilawal and the seizure of party control by the Regent Zardari is the number of people who are actually defending this move and the utter lack of internal democracy in the party. And I don't mean conservatives, military types, anti-democrats, feudals, and the like. I'm talking about the left. That includes friends, acquaintances, Communist Party members, long-time feminist activists, even fricking Ayesha Siddiqa!

What gives? Well, it's obvious that these folks have a very visceral and emotional connection to Benazir (and to Zulfikar). But why does this connection exist? Well, I have two theories. One is that these folks are really really dumb. Since I don't want to believe that, I prefer to go with a second theory. The second possibility is that all of us in Pakistan have become conditioned to look for individual saviors, and this conditioning is so deep that it has affected even the most intellectual and cerebral among us - that is, even those folks who know that political change is not about individuals but about systems. And so these folks continue to look for saviors. The problem is that things in Pakistan have become so bad, and so hopeless, that the only straw worth clutching at is the feudal-laden shell that is PPP. So despite Benazir's awful track record, proven over not one but two terms in office, and despite many other indications that she was going to give us the same old, same old, these folks continue to keep hope. Hope that, despite everything, she was a changed person and was going to deliver us to the promised land, to good progressive policies, to true social justice and equality. It's a lot like a cheating lover - every time they promise to change, and every time you believe it, thinking this time they really mean it. But things never do change.

Ethnic tensions running high

2008-01-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

There have apparently been mass arrests in Sindh targeting PPP workers. Some are citing the figure of 300,000, Babar Awan of PPP cited 200,000, while another source gave the figure of 98,000. There's no independent confirmation of this yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the government was using the Benazir violence as an excuse to generally crack down on activists. All this has been done using heavy Army deployment in Sindh (there's also very visible police and Rangers deployment in Karachi - all the units that were missing on Dec. 27).

Meanwhile the PML-Q put out huge newspaper ads yesterday asking for non-Sindhis to step forward and register the financial damage they have suffered. The text was: “The Rs 100 billion losses within three days is neither politics nor mourning but is lawlessness...All party candidates for national and provincial assembly seats and Punjabi, Pathan, Mohajir and Baloch settlers of Sindh who have been affected by the recent violence can contact [us] at these telephone numbers...” In Karachi, the MQM has established 30 cells to register financial damage.

Understandably this has upset Sindhis considerably. It's difficult to perceive these actions as anything else but a ploy to stoke sentiments against Sindhis. A Sindhi PML-Q candidate angrily noted that the Punjab wing of the PML-Q has decided to maximize its vote in Punjab at the expense of its vote in Sindh (since it considers Sindh a lost cause anyway). Meanwhile, anti-Punjabi sentiment in Sindh is extremely high. The imagery of another dead Bhutto's body being flown back from Punjab is bound to touch raw nerves. The Sindhis have been marginalized long enough, and at a moment like this, these actions will resonate. In social science terminology, people like Altaf Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi are ethnic entrepreneurs who take advantage of existing tensions and stoke them to gain personal political power. The PPP has been accused of playing the "Sindh" card but it's people like Altaf and the Chaudhrys who are really playing the "Sindh" card. Actually surprisingly Zardari has been fairly restrained in this regard (and I can't believe I found something positive to say about him).

The unfortunate outcome of all this is that ethnic tensions are very high in Pakistan right now. The only party that was capable of playing any kind of national unifying role, the PPP, is in crisis and is headed towards even greater moral bankruptcy. One wonders what might have been if Aitzaz Ahsan - a Punjabi - had been named party head instead of Bilawal? As it is, the post-Benazir succession might well have set up the demise of the PPP as a national party; I suspect we will see its slow slide towards factionalism and irrelevance. And the country will continue to suffer, as it is well on its way to dismembership. After all, which groups want to remain in the federation? Only Punjabis and Muhajirs, and if you think about it, that says a lot about who's in charge.

The biggest challenge of Pakistan has always been, in my opinion, finding a way to make the federation work despite ethnic diversity. Punjab has been the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, dominating all political and civic life, while Muhajirs have dominated culturally (using Urdu). Elites from these two groups have maintained a stranglehold on Pakistan, while all other ethnic groups have continued to be marginalized. Of course the Bengalis never really fit, and were treated so oppressively that they soon figured out where their future lay. But it's been more difficult for the Sindhis, Baluchis, and Pathans to find a way out (geography, among other things, plays a factor). The reaction of the state to any restiveness among these groups has been to clamp down harder. In fact, the establishment learned the exact wrong lesson after the independence of Bangladesh. It clamped down even harder under a brutal military regime, this time using Islamization as a way to unite the provinces. But of course that was never going to work. The only solution to the problem is a genuine federalism in which there is equality and true power-sharing among all ethnic groups. Only then will all groups feel a genuine stake in Pakistan. But until the powers that be realize that simple truth, the country is headed for disintegration - fast.

Bilawal, the new heartthrob

2008-01-04T17:37:00.000-05:00

Bilawal is fast turning into the next regional heartthrob. There is now a Facebook group called "Let's not kill Bilawal because he's hot, ok?" And the Daily Times had a story today about young women in college who are totally crushing on the boy. Finally, from across the border, I got news that Bilawal is also the new hottie for the Bombay gay boys. Ok, so the guy seems to be hot. I guess we always have that, even if the country goes to shit.

Shashi Tharoor gets it wrong

2008-01-04T07:16:00.000-05:00

Shashi Tharoor writes a piece in today's Guardian that is actually typical of what's wrong with the post-BB analysis in the West. For one, Shashi notes that "most people assume her killers were religious fundamentalists." But, accurately or not, most Pakistanis believe the military is responsible for Benazir's death, not religious fundamentalists. Shashi goes on to conclude:

The great danger in Pakistan has always been in the risk of a mullah-military coalition. The prospect of the uniformed rulers of this nuclear-armed state being infused with the zealotry of the Islamic fanatics among their compatriots has always sent shudders down the spines of the world's chancelleries. The death of Benazir Bhutto, and the backlash it has engendered, has made that less likely for now, and that may remain her most significant legacy.

Here's the problem, Shashi - the mullah-military coalition already exists. It is at least 30 years old, dating back to Zia's embrace of the jehadis under the tutelage of the Americans, but likely goes back further, perhaps to the Bangladesh war, perhaps earlier. And Benazir's death has actually strengthened the military in Pakistan, by giving it an excuse to clamp down even harder, for even longer. And, a strengthening of the military (as Shashi argues for) necessarily means a strengthening of the mullahs, and this is what Western observers can't or don't want to grasp. The fantasy that the military will be a force against the jehadis is a fantasy only in the minds of those who don't know Pakistan well.

Here's one thing Shashi gets absolutely right:

The central fact of Pakistani politics has always been the power of the military, which has ruled the country for 32 of its 60 years of existence. In other countries, the state has an army; in Pakistan, the army has a state. The military can be found not only in all the key offices of government but also running real estate and import-export ventures and petrol pumps and factories. Retired generals head most of the country's universities and thinktanks. The proportion of national resources devoted to the military is perhaps the highest in the world.

What we really need is to push for an end for military aid from the West. It's time to shut down the source that feeds the beast.

If you're really desperate...

2008-01-04T06:13:00.000-05:00

...give them a call:

"Contact us for marriage proposals"

Elections on February 18

2008-01-04T05:40:00.000-05:00

Elections will now be held on February 18 (40 days from the original date - a coincidence?). The major parties have all said that they will participate, although they have also criticized the decision to postpone elections. The PPP loses most from the delay, since they would have gotten a massive sympathy vote and big turnout due to BB's death.

What frustrates me is the refusal of the major parties to ask for a real election - one that is held without Musharraf as president, and which is held under a restored judiciary. Otherwise this election will be as big a farce as the original one was meant to be.

Who Did It

2008-01-03T07:25:00.000-05:00

Who killed Benazir? The main suspects are as follows:

Al Qaeda/ Taliban fundamentalists, who were enraged at Benazir for supporting the US and for becoming closely aligned with it in the "war on terror"
Military/ military agencies, who were threatened by Benazir because was the true champion of democracy and thus their hold on power
Asif Zardari, Benazir's husband, who wants a position in the party so he could continue to loot and pillage Pakistan as he has done before
The CIA, RAW, and various other international intelligence agencies that have motives to destabilize Pakistan

The most popular theories are the first two. Interestingly, it seems that most in the West have subscribed to the Al Qaeda/ Taliban theory, while within Pakistan, almost no one buys that explanation. Instead they believe the military is somehow behind it. And I agree with them.

First, there is the issue of method. Jehadis like to blow up things. And the initial blame was put on a suicide bomber, which is a classic jehadi method of assassination. But it's now been shown conclusively that Benazir was shot by a gunman before the bomb went off. The government's ham-handed and incompetent explanations for Benazir's death didn't help build trust for its explanations either. (At one point, the government actually argued that Benazir had literally killed herself by hitting her head on the sunroof lever when she ducked inside the vehicle. That explanation has since been retracted.) In any case, I suspect that there was no suicide bomber, only a planted bomb that was designed to take out the shooter and destroy any evidence.

What was the motive? I think the army's motive was two-fold. First, it simply wants to stay in power. Yes, Benazir was no champion of democracy and was willing to make a deal with Musharraf for "table scraps" as Tariq Ali put it. But she did represent the hopes of millions for true change. And at the end of the day, the army didn't even want to give up a little bit of its power, even the very little bit it was being forced to share with Benazir. Some might think this seems very short-sighted and dumb and venal. Yes, the Pakistani military is all of those things.

Second, and more importantly, I think the army needed a big event to gin up emotions against the fundamentalists, to be able to continue doing whatever they want (especially in Swat), and to be able to continue to receive funding from the USA for the "war on terror." These funds have been in some jeopardy recently, and the Pakistani government knows it. There has been unprecedented criticism of Pakistan's role and actions this year as never before. Many public figures and presidential candidates in the USA have spoken explicitly about cutting off the country from aid, and of ending the US's reliance on Musharraf. Just last week, the New York Times revealed in an investigation that $5 billion of the $9 billion of military aid that Pakistan has received from the US since 2001 has been spent on non-war-on-terror items (it's gone instead to weapons systems targeting India). And then there is the lesson of history. To those who argue that Pakistan's position as US ally is secure, all one has to do is to look at our last great dance with the Americans, the Afghanistan war of the 1980s. Then too Pakistan was one of the largest recipients of US military aid, getting about $4 billion total by the end of the decade. No one thought the party would stop. And then 1990 came and Bush Sr. failed to certify Pakistan as a non-nuclear state as the Pressler amendment required, and that was that. The party was over, sanctions were slapped on Pakistan, and the 1990s were a grim decade spent trying to come to terms with what had happened. Interestingly, in a little-noticed congressional bill passed in December 2007, Pakistan is now required to show progress towards democracy - otherwise its aid gets cut. So far only $50 million of non-military aid has been cut, but I believe this is the harbinger of things to come.

So what better way to keep the gravy train flowing than to orchestrate a spectacular attack on a popular leader and then blame it on the fundoos? After all, ginning up fear of the fundoos has worked for the Americans, so why wouldn't it work for the Pakistani establishment? And the West is left stuck in a most visible mess, wanting to dump their old boyfriend Musharraf but unable to because Benazir's dead and they still think he's their best defense against the big bad jehadis.

Benazir's death

2008-01-03T06:25:00.001-05:00

I've been off the blog for a while, pulled away by internet outages, trips out of town, and general busy-ness. But Benazir's death has prompted a return to cyberspace for me.

We're all still in shock, even a week later. Here in Karachi, it wasn't just the assassination itself but also the awful violent paroxysm that followed, which shut the city down for 3 solid days and a fourth measured one. I was out when news of her death broke, and immediately around me the shutters of shops started slamming shut. The shopkeepers aren't dumb; they know how this goes. They were well aware that the violence was about to erupt and they needed to get themselves and their wares out of sight. So we were blocked unceremoniously from entering a shop and left standing on the street while chaos and panic erupted all around us.

Thus began the long journey home, a journey that normally would have taken only 5-7 minutes at most, but ended up taking over an hour. Traffic was backed up on each and every road, small and big. Karachi had been turned into a massive parking lot, with everyone who was out trying desperately to get back home to loved ones and to relative safety. As I sat in the traffic jam, I looked around at the people in the vehicles around me and saw stunned faces. Some were crying openly. No one was smiling except for a man and woman in an expensive car who seemed to be having the time of their lives. Maybe they just react to bad news in a really strange way, but maybe it was that they're so disconnected with the country that this too was just a big joke to them (along with the dictatorship, the crackdown on civil society, the failing economy, and the daily violence of the jehadis and the army).

I later learned that cars had been smashed and burned at the end of the street we'd been stuck on. As we neared home, we drove up to an intersection where several men were setting fires. One of them looked up angrily from his task at me, arm raised. I wasn't sure what to do so I just gunned the engine, and for some reason he let me pass. One of those crazy random chances one gets in life. The worst thing by far I saw that night, though, was a long line of domestic workers (men and women) at a bus stop, trying to find a way to get home. Buses and other public transport had stopped running, since they had become one of the first targets of mass violence. But these workers were in an elite neighborhood, far from home, and there was no way for them to get back. The fear and worry on those faces, especially of the women, is something I will never forget.

In Karachi, there were deaths caused by gunfire and one factory fire. The factory fire was apparently accidental. The workers inside were Muhajir and Pathan, and feared the mostly-Sindhi mob outside, so they didn't come out when the warning to vacate was given. For the most part though, deaths were few, and the targets of the violence was mostly property. In any case, anyone who had a home was hunkered down in it until Sunday. We were all under house arrest.

Benazir's death shut down the whole country - no other leader could have had this kind of nation-wide impact. No corner of Pakistan was untouched. Karachi, however, was clearly hit the hardest. According to news reports, between Thursday evening and Sunday evening, there were more than 700 vehicles burnt, and approximately 20 banks torched. The most common target was any building or vehicle that was visibly government property, such as post offices, railway bogies, KESC trucks, and other government offices. The targeting of elite symbols such as banks (and at least one cafe) was also interesting. It could either be that people were just looking for cash, or that this is a sign of the brewing revolution. I don't know. It's also the case that there was a lot of opportunistic looting, much of it by MQM ghundas.

I don't know how Karachi keeps taking body blows like this repeatedly and keeps bouncing back. I wish I could be so resilient, but I'm afraid I'm still not quite back to normal.

Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

2007-12-28T13:02:00.000-05:00

Nawaz to contest elections

2007-12-09T15:17:00.000-05:00

Nawaz has decided to contest the elections after all, proving that the political parties cannot be counted on to have any principle whatsoever. I don't understand why he would do this, frankly, even from just sheer pragmatism. What's the point of playing along in a sham election in which the result has already been predetermined, only to play the part of the loser? But in his infinite wisdom, Nawaz has decided that it's worth it. So he too has fallen victim to the arm-twisting of the Americans and the Saudis as well as the deals offered by Musharraf, not to mention his own sheer greed and stupidity.

Saudi ambassador, Mr. Tough Guy

2007-12-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

So now it's come to this. The Saudi ambassador is playing the role of a mafioso, a tough guy, someone who makes you an offer you can't refuse - and if you do, he'll break your legs or maybe put you in permanent exile.

The Saudi ambassador has been making the social rounds in Pakistan. First, he visited Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind to explain to him that he needs to behave himself and stop creating "hurdles" for Musharraf (by refusing to play along with the farce of an election?). Next, the ambassador pays a visit to Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. You know, the man that everyone and their mother have been trying to visit but keep getting denied. Most recently, a group of retired judges had attempted to visit the CJ, and then it was the CODEPINK activists. But inexlicably, the CJ didn't want to see them. I guess now we know why - he was waiting for someone to come along and offer him a haj trip. Duh.

The Saudi embassy is insisting that there is nothing nefarious behind the offer. It's just a nice offer to make to a man who is only the biggest thorn in the side of Musharraf right now. Why anyone would think it's at all suspicious that the Saudis would want to get the CJ out of the country is just bizarre. There's nothing unusual at all about the offer. The Saudis even scolded the local media here and warned them not to

mislead and misguide the public mind and generate unfavorable responses regarding the intent and purpose of a brotherly sovereign state, its leadership and its people.

Now, I don't mean to go on a rant here, but I must confess that it REALLY bugs me that Pakistanis will talk ad nauseam about US imperialism but never talk about Saudi imperialism. The manner in which the Saudis have interfered in Pakistani affairs over the last 30 years is disgusting - they have played a very big part in ruining the country. And now their latest role in Pakistan's current debacle takes their heavy-handedness to a new level altogether.

Hey Saudis, leave us the fuck alone. And take the Americans with you.

Spectacular weather

2007-12-07T11:31:00.001-05:00

A few years ago, I resolved to try to always look on the bright side. This isn't easy, especially when the country is under martial law, the constitution has been suspended, there are no fundamental freedoms such as free speech and free assembly, the economy is tanking, violence and misogyny are higher than ever, and there's a civil war going on in the country to boot. And oh yes, you might get blown up any second just going about your business.

But I've worked on this for the last few days, and I've finally found a great silver lining to this mess: the weather. Yes, Karachi is enjoying spectacular weather these days. The days are warm but not hot - usually one doesn't even need a fan to keep comfortable. The evenings are amazing, cool and breezy, and the nights have just a hint of chill in them to consider breaking out the shawl or sweater. In short, it's just perfect weather.

Female suicide bomber in Peshawar

2007-12-06T06:11:00.000-05:00

In what seems to be a first, a female suicide bomber blew herself up yesterday at a military checkpost in Peshawar. Maybe this is the twisted Pakistani version of "progress."

Enabling the bad guys

2007-12-06T06:02:00.001-05:00

The sign says:
Political Rally
Everyone must pass through the scanner
Note: Persons with bombs should wait until there's a power blackout. Thanks.

Permanent military base in Swat

2007-12-06T05:52:00.000-05:00

The government announced yesterday that there will be a permanent troop presence in Swat from now on. This station will likely be in Matta town, which is now infamous for having been captured by the Taliban and its police station been renamed "Taliban station."

This permanent troop presence is a terrifying idea. It is a permanent occupation of Swat, and by extension of the surrounding areas of FATA. It is of course a violation of the existing treaties between the people of FATA and the GoP. And finally and most crucially, it will solve nothing and will only make matters worse. If you're not sure why, just think of how the permanent basing of US troops in Iraq will help matters there. And actually, even though the analogy isn't perfect, it works well because frankly, this new base is most likely to be used by the US in the future.

Geo petition dismissed

2007-12-05T15:53:00.000-05:00

Geo's petition to come back on air has been dismissed by the Sindh High Court. What else can one expect from PCO judges? This, however, was somewhat unexpected since everyone had believed that there was an imminent deal between Geo and the government. So it's not clear anymore how and when Geo will come back on air now. It has been able to resume broadcast from Dubai and therefore is viewable in the rest of the world but not in Pakistan. (Don't forget that this is Pakistan's largest private channel.)

A student movement?

2007-12-05T15:34:00.000-05:00

There's a great piece on the current student movement in Pakistan by Faheem Hussain, who notes that it is an exciting development despite the fact that it is not a broad-based movement (notably, it has failed to address issues of poverty and social justice). Excerpt below:

It is not yet a student movement, but at least the student community is in motion and ferment again after a lapse of a couple of decades. Whether this will develop into a movement is still to be seen. Students who had been absent during the period from March to November in the struggle for the rule of law and for the freedom of the press were suddenly galvanised by the events of November 3rd and the subsequent destruction of the Constitution and the judiciary by General Musharraf.

Read the full piece here.

No agreement yet on boycotting elections

2007-12-05T15:19:00.000-05:00

The APDM (basically, PML-N) and the ARD (basically, PPP) have been meeting to try and resolve differences between them on the election boycott. The only outstanding issue left? Restoration of the judiciary. Yes, Benazir can't decide how she feels about the ONLY issue that has united all opposition in Pakistan and is responsible for galvanizing a real movement against the military for the first time in the country's history.

Benazir's position is that any restoration of the judiciary must be an issue for the next parliament to decide. We all know how that will go. It will be a forgotten issue along with all the rest of the many promises made by parties before elections.

I fail to understand how anyone thinks that participating in these elections will serve anything other than the interests of the U.S., Musharraf, and Benazir.

CODEPINK activists deported; LUMS faculty charged

2007-12-05T01:56:00.000-05:00

The CODEPINK activists who've been visiting have been arrested and will be deported today (they've been given the choice of either leaving or facing sedition charges).

Meanwhile, LUMS faculty have also been charged, under the Maintainance of Public Order regulation. The faculty charged are Rasul Bakhsh Rais, Farhat Haq, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, and Osama Siddique. These charges are less serious than the sedition charges against the Punjab University faculty but are are another way of cracking down on the student movement.

Eviction of non-PCO judges (the good guys)

2007-12-04T11:08:00.000-05:00

According to Government of Pakistan rules, government employees who have been assigned government housing can retain that housing for up to 6 months after retirement. This is presumably done so that employees have some breathing room to find new accommodations after leaving public service (and yes, it's a very nice perk). Six months seems reasonable given that finding housing under any circumstances is a hellish task, let alone when done during a major life transition such as retirement and all that comes with it. But moving after retirement seems like a piece of cake compared to having to move when, say, the dictator of your country has summarily and suddenly fired you from your job because you refused to budge from your principles.

This is the situation that the non-PCO judges now find themselves in. The GoP has issued eviction notices to all the non-PCO judges who are in government housing. It's just one more way to humiliate those who dared stand up to Mister General. It's also a sign that he thinks he will get away with this, as he continues to consolidate his latest plan for remaining in power.

More crackdowns on protests

2007-12-04T11:05:00.001-05:00

There were at least two brutal crackdowns on protesters today.

A rally at the Islamabad Press Club was brutally attacked by police (lathi-charge etc.). Many injuries have been reported.

In Lahore, police have surrounded the LUMS campus (another sign that the student movement is ruffling feathers and creating a threat). Police also attacked protesters at the Lahore Press Club (including the CODEPINK people).

More boycott news

2007-12-04T10:18:00.000-05:00

Benazir and Nawaz met yesterday to discuss the boycott but there was no specific deal. Benazir is sticking to her "I'm contesting this election under protest" line, and Nawaz says he's for a boycott but also argues at the same time that boycotting elections will only make the pro-Musharraf government party PML(Q) stronger. Incidentally, there is a term in Pakistan for such parties as PML(Q) that will support whoever is in power: "lota" - so termed because the lota will turn whichever way you will turn it, without regard to principle.

So the lotas will get stronger, it is feared, if the opposition parties boycott the election. Of course at some level Nawaz's hand-wringing about the matter in particular is sort of pointless, since he doesn't have much of a chance anyway. The powers that be have decided that Benazir is their girl, and the rest will participate just for window-dressing. The parliament will, according to this plan, be fragmented and the PPP will have only a small majority so that governing will be difficult and therefore power will remain in Musharraf's hands even though he's changed clothes.

Today's front page of the Daily Times was a good visual reminder that Nawaz is basically irrelevant to this whole affair. One front-page story reported on the fact that Nawaz Sharif's nomination papers for the National Assembly have been rejected (because of objections arising from his actions in response to Musharraf's 1999 coup, believe it or not). Meanwhile, immediately below that, a story reported that the US ambassador, Anne Patterson, was exhorting Nawaz not to boycott the election. Well, honey, it's not as if he has a choice in the matter, really - not when you don't allow him to run in the election to begin with! Yes, of course, his party can still run, but how ridiculous will it be that the party will be participating in elections when its top leadership, Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif (also rejected by the Election Commission), are barred from doing so?

CODEPINK stages hunger strike at Aitzaz Ahsan's house

2007-12-02T14:10:00.000-05:00

CODEPINK head Medea Benjamin is in Pakistan right now and has been meeting with some activists (incidentally, David Barsamian has also shown up and is giving a series of talks this week). Benjamin and her contingent staged a 24-hour hunger strike outside Aitzaz Ahsan's home in Lahore where he is under house arrest. From their press release:

Medea Benjamin and Tighe Barry, members of the U.S. human rights group Global Exchange and the women¹s peace group CODEPINK, came to Pakistan to learn about the political situation since emergency rule was declared on November 3. One of the people they are most anxious to meet with is prominent lawyer/politician Aitzaz Ahsan, who was jailed by the Musharraf government from November 3 to 25, when he was then placed under house arrest.

Pakistan government representatives in the US have said that the lawyers arrested under the emergency law have been released. But when the visiting human rights activists tried to meet with Aitzaz Ahsan on December 1, they discovered that his home is still designated a "sub jail" and he remains hostage in his own home, unable to go out or to receive visitors. For that reason the U.S. activists decided to stage a vigil outside his home.

"Pervez Musharraf is telling the world that he is committed to democracy. So it is outrageous that the head of the nation's Supreme Court Bar Association, Aitzaz Ahsan, remains under house arrest," said Tighe Barry.

"We have come a long way to meet this man who we have heard is one of the great heroes of the struggle for democracy in Pakistan," said Medea Benjamin. "We will sit patiently in front of his door and sleep overnight in front of his door, asking his jailers to allow us in."

I know, I know - Western activists poking their noses in Pakistani problems. But they can shine light on the situation in a way that no one else can. Actually, I have very high expectations of progressive activists in the U.S. I hope that they can finally come to their senses and pressure their government to stop supporting the military.

Let's call their bluff

2007-12-01T01:02:00.000-05:00

Musharraf and Benazir must be two of the biggest cry-babies. First, Musharraf gives an interview in which he says that if the Jan. 8 election creates a situation that is "unacceptable" to him, he will resign. Then Benazir announces that, poor thing, she really doesn't want to participate in the elections, rather she is doing so "under protest."

Well, I say we call their bluff. Listen, you two. We don't really want you both around. Why can't you get a hobby, or go on that round-the-world trip you've always wanted to take? Or perhaps you need some time in an ashram to "find yourselves." You could even just do us the courtesy of fading away ingloriously. But this foot-stomping hysterical tantrumy drama is just unbearable. So just go away already. We don't want you. Really.

Huge student protest in Lahore on Friday

2007-12-01T00:44:00.000-05:00

There was a huge student protest in Lahore yesterday (Friday). This was the first time that the student movement has taken to the streets (as opposed to staying within their campuses), and by all accounts it was a huge success. There were no arrests but plenty of harassment and intimidation from the police. But the students prevailed and I think this is a huge and bold step by the students.

Students rally in Lahore against military rule

Unfortunately in Karachi there was no turnout to speak of, but Karachi's problem remains an old and unique one - students are basically caught between the MQM and the Jamaat-i-Islami student wings, and paralysis on campus ensues. Plus, the administrations of the Karachi-area universities have been unequivocally pro-Musharraf and have enforced his will through force. So I'm not sure what it will take for Karachi's students to rise up and break the strangleholds on them. I do know that there is a lot working against them.

Meanwhile, it seems that the protest yesterday might become a regular event (I certainly hope so). The demands of the students, by the way, are quite clear: no elections until there is complete restoration of the pre-martial law judiciary, and the removal of the military from the political arena. We could all learn a lot from these students.

To boycott or not to boycott?

2007-11-30T12:58:00.000-05:00

The latest debate raging within political circles is whether or not to boycott the upcoming sham elections on January 8. Here is how I feel about the whole election exercise:

To those who argue for participating in the sham election, this is what I have to say: enough is enough. This is the least we can do, to not give legitimacy to this dictator and to fake elections engineered by the army, to produce an outcome that is desirable for the army, the general Pakistani establishment, and last but not least the USA.

Boycotting the Jan. 8 election is more than past due. We should have boycotted the 2002 elections, which were also engineered to produce a parliament that has helped enable every one of Musharraf's moves, as well as establish the bogeyman of fundamentalism, originally constructed to scare Westerners and Pakistani liberals but now real entities to themselves. Any new parliament emerging from Jan. 8 will be an even bigger joke. We can expect nothing from such a parliament, and we should demand nothing less than a real election in which there is meaningful choice and true debate. Nothing less.

Terrorism to be finished by December 16

2007-11-30T12:43:00.000-05:00

Good news, folks. Terrorism will be vanquished, erased, defeated, eliminated, and stamped out in Pakistan by December 16. That's because that is the day that General... er, I mean Mister... Musharraf has vowed to end the "emergency" by. And of course the great rationale for imposing "emergency" was to combat terrorism. So we can deduce that the fight against terrorism will be over by December 16. Only about two more weeks. Cool.

Now, there are those who might cynically think that Musharraf's timing has more to do with his sham of an election on January 8. See, the thing is that December 15 is the last date for candidates to withdraw their nomination papers from the Fake Election Commission. So by ending martial law a day later, he's keeping the parties guessing, and even if they did want to boycott any elections held under martial law, they won't be able to do so anymore since they will be officially on the ballot by then. Psyche! Who's the clever one now?!? Wow, Mush, no one can see through this one. You've fooled everyone.

Musharraf takes off his uniform

2007-11-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

Finally, the day has come. Musharraf has taken off his uniform. This long-standing, slightly-obscene-sounding demand of both the opposition in Pakistan as well as Western allies, is finally being met. And now that we are in the moment, it's actually become very clear to me just how apt the "take off the uniform" metaphor is - because it's a completely superficial step. Musharraf may have "taken off his uniform, but he's still as firmly in charge as ever. Perhaps even more so, since the devastation that his latest martial law has caused has really put the nail in the coffin that is Pakistan.

"Peace Initiative" Event in Karachi tonight

2007-11-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

There was a "peace initiative" event in Karachi tonight, which was meant to be a protest of martial law (with a focus on the media ban). What it turned into is an entirely different matter. Will blog about that soon. But it was a very interesting experience, and I'm very glad I went.

Ali Saleem to marry in reality show

2007-11-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

Nawaz Sharif is back in Pakistan (along with Shahbaz and Kulsoom). His plane has landed at Lahore airport, and his supporters are eagerly waiting for him to emerge from inside. His return, brokered by the Saudis and the Americans, doesn't have the same frenzy that Benazir's return did, but many people are excited. Meanwhile, the sham of the election - an election to be held during martial law - continues. The period for filing nomination papers has begun, and the parties are agonizing over whether to boycott the election or not. Actually, they're not agonizing as much as tripping over each other to file papers. Yes, the boycott has failed. The sham of the election will gain legitimacy because of the greedy and selfish politicians, and Nawaz's return only furthers this legitimacy.

But today, this is not what troubles me most. I am upset about something else altogether: a new reality show entitled Kon Teri Dulhaniya. The premise of the show is to find a bride for none other than Ali Saleem aka Begum Nawazish. The ads for the show say: "Intelligent, Educated, Famous and Rich - Any girl will choose him, who will he pick?" The show would make more sense if he was the bride. This desperate and cheap attempt at publicity on Ali Saleem's part is very sad, but it speaks volumes about how Pakistani society is so anxious to get him married off. After all, what better way to kill Begum Nawazish than to condemn her to marriage??!

Crackdown on Karachi journalists

2007-11-22T02:52:00.000-05:00

The crackdown on Karachi journalists on Tuesday was awful:

Police brutality at Karachi Press Club on Nov. 20, 2007

Of course the police were as incompetent as they were brutal. It seems that the police were rather clueless about what to do with the many people they had arrested (more than 200). They had no room at any of the thanas and apparently drove around the city checking at various thanas for space! One of the cops even lost his way.

Musharraf and Bush, two peas in a pod

2007-11-22T01:42:00.000-05:00

The similarities between the political strategies of Musharraf and Bush are striking. Below is a humorous take on the resemblance:

Many activists still in jail

2007-11-22T01:07:00.000-05:00

The government released thousands of prisoners with much fanfare over the last two days, but the fact is that many activists still remain in jail. These include Farid Awan (trade union leader), Aitzaz Ahsan (president of the Supreme Court Bar Association), Nisar Shah (Labour Party of Pakistan), Liaqat Shah, Ayub Qureishi, Yousuf Mastikhan (National Worker's Party), and Hasil Bizenjo (National Party).

These activists remain locked up and many are charged with sedition, punishable by death. We must demand the release of all political prisoners, including these remaining listed here.

Imran Khan freed from jail

2007-11-21T13:11:00.000-05:00

Imran Khan has just been released from jail. His hunger strike is still apparently on, and he has also announced a plan to return to Punjab University, from where he was earlier arrested.

Geo TV may be available on satellite

2007-11-21T07:30:00.001-05:00

There's a rumor that GeoTV may be available on satellite on an "unscheduled" frequency. Unfortunately I have no way of verifying this personally but perhaps some of you could give it a try:

Frequency 4154
SR 4410
Polarity H
FEC 3/4

New code of conduct for media

2007-11-21T07:13:00.000-05:00

We've all heard about the new and controversial code of conduct for the electronic media, which all broadcasters have to agree to if they are to continue to operate. This new code of conduct is actually an amendment to the existing PEMRA Ordinance of 2002. The amendments call for severe new restrictions on the freedom of speech. Some of the more egregious stipulations of the new code of conduct are that broadcasters:

(j) not broadcast video footage of suicide bombers, terrorists, bodies of victims of terrorism, statements and pronouncements of militants and extremist elements and any other act which may, in any way, promote, aid or abet terrorists activities or terrorism;

(k) ensure that no anchor person, moderator or host propagates any opinion or acts in any manner prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan or sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan.

(l) not broadcast any programme inciting violence or hatred or any action prejudicial to maintenance of law and order;

(m) not broadcast anything which defames or brings into ridicule the Head of State, or members of the armed forces, or executive, legislative or judicial organs of the state;

(n) not broadcast any programme or discussion on a matter which is sub-judice; and

(o) not broadcast anything which is known to be false or baseless or is malafide or for which there exist sufficient reasons to believe that the same may be false, baseless or malafide.

The penalty for violating these stipulations are up to three years in jail and Rs. 10 million in fines. Note that the ordinance also allows for penalties for cable providers, for up to one year in jail and Rs. 1 million in fines.

This new code of conduct effectively eliminates freedom of speech, because it prohibits any speech that is at all critical of the government (defined in its broadest sense, including of course the military as well).

Legal fund to assist lawyers and judges

2007-11-21T06:25:00.001-05:00

A fund has been set up to assist those lawyers and judges who have been arrested and/or find themselves in dire straits due to their non-compliance with the PCO. Details:

"Legal Relief"
Account number 0606-7900027203 at
Habib Bank Limited
High Court Branch, Karachi

Intimidation of students

2007-11-21T05:15:00.001-05:00

We've all been lamenting that, compared to Lahore and even Islamabad, students in Karachi seem to be very quiescent. It's true that there are many reasons for their inaction (including middle class apathy and even support for the military, the control of MQM and JI of student activity, and the lack of politicization of Karachiites). But one major reason is that the university administrations in Karachi are very hostile to student protests.

IBA students were told unequivocally that protest activity (including wearing black armbands) will be met with immediate expulsion, no questions asked. Now Bahria University has taken it a step further. From a LUMS blog:

A piece of paper titled FLASH, literally threatening students involved in demonstrations and political activities was pasted to walls and passed through the corridors of Bahria University. It stated that those involved would be subject to strict disciplinary actions including but not limited to expulsion, cancellation of degrees as well as legal action. These ‘punishments’ would be for all those wearing black bands and protesting on as well as outside campus. The administration made an even more obvious show of their insecurity as they closed the university on Monday, the day on which a protest organized by Bahria and Air University students was scheduled.

Under these circumstances, trying to mobilize the student body is extremely difficult.

BREAKING: Mass arrests at rally for Geo/ARYOne

2007-11-20T07:06:00.000-05:00

As many as 180 people have just been arrested at a Karachi rally at the Karachi Press Club organized by a journalists' union on behalf of Geo and ARYOne.

Update: All journalists were released by late Tuesday night. The crackdown was apparently triggered by the plan of the journalists to march to Governor House, which of course the authorities will never tolerate. (And I have fantasies of protesting outside military bases!)

3400 prisoners freed, 2000 remain

2007-11-20T04:47:00.000-05:00

According to Dawn, the Interior Ministry has freed 3400 political prisoners who had been arrested since martial law. This leaves approximately 2000 which the Ministry claims will be released soon as well. That will mean that only a handful will remain under arrest - those who have been formally charged with crimes such as sedition and treason. According to the Ministry, these people must apply for bail through the courts (those sad subverted things).

I suspect that this is the result of US pressure on Musharraf. If it is true, hopefully it will mean that the movement will gain some more oxygen and momentum, with the release of hundreds of activists, lawyers, and party workers.

Speaking of US pressure, last night I was stuck in a massive traffic jam in the Clifton area. I learned later that it was due to the visit of the US ambassador to see Benazir Bhutto (Bilawal House, Benazir's residence, is in Clifton). Under any other circumstances, it would be odd that the US ambassador is in Karachi to see Benazir, an opposition politician who has no official standing. But as some friends of mine keep saying, This Is Pakistan.

Anne and Benazir, sitting in a tree...

Imran Khan on hunger strike

2007-11-20T04:11:00.000-05:00

Imran Khan has begun a hunger strike for the restoration of the judiciary and the constitution. He's being held in the Dera Ghazi Khan jail (in NWFP), and has been charged with treason and terrorism, offenses which carry the death penalty.

Imran may be the last principled person in Pakistan. I may not agree with everything he believes, but I have to give him credit for that.

Shift in US strategy in FATA

2007-11-19T04:57:00.000-05:00

The New York Times is reporting that the U.S. is planning a new strategy for FATA, which would mean greater and more direct U.S. involvement. This includes $350 million in military aid for the Frontier Corps, the main military unit fighting in FATA (the Frontier Corps is slowly absorbing the Frontier Constabulary, blogged about earlier). It also involves many more U.S. troops stationed in Pakistan.

I see this as a frightening new development, and a repeat of the Afghan war strategy of the 1980s with perhaps similarly devastating results. The difference will be that this time, the main backlash will affect Pakistan instead of the West.

Supreme Court stooges clear way for Musharraf

2007-11-19T04:30:00.000-05:00

The Supreme Court has now officially cleared the way for Musharraf to continue as president for another 5 years. It gave its ruling on 5 of the 6 petitions that were challenging his election. The last petition, filed by Fakhdoom Amin Fahim of the PPP, will be heard on Thursday. We all remain in great suspense as to what that last ruling will be.

Musharraf is just misunderstood

2007-11-18T16:35:00.000-05:00

In another interview, Musharraf has claimed that he considered quitting. He claims that he changed his mind after he realized that he was the only person who could lead Pakistan to democracy.

Well, that sounds about right to me. A military dictator does sound like the perfect person to democratize a country, especially since he was the one to un-democratize it in the first place. And his life in the military has trained him well to deal with complex political and economic decision-making, and he's ideally equipped to develop institutions that can accommodate varied and conflicting demands from myriad social groups to produce a coherent national policy.

And of course, who best to decide on Musharraf's suitability to remain in power? Why, Musharraf himself, of course. Who else could be as unbiased and neutral as him? It's a good thing Musharraf was around so that Musharraf could present this complex dilemma to him - and we're all so relieved that Musharraf advised Musharraf to stay on. After all, how else will we ever get to democracy?

How Musharraf thinks

2007-11-18T16:09:00.000-05:00

Musharraf has tried to go on the public relations offensive in the last few days, giving interviews to a number of international media outlets to try and salvage whatever is left of his image in the West (he shouldn't have bothered).

In interviews given to various news organizations, Musharraf delivered some real gems. Here is a sampling:

"I am disappointed and let down by the media." [Poor guy - why won't the media just let him be? Why does it insist on asking him tough questions and making fun of him?]
"Mentally and in my heart I am not a dictator. I have never run the army in a dictatorial manner wherever I've commanded." [That's right, militaries are always extremely democratic organizations and have absolutely no hierarchy in them whatsoever.]
"Have I done anything constitutionally illegal? Yes, I did it on 3 November. But did I do it before? Not once." [Oh, except for that coup back in 1999. I guess that wasn't exactly constitutional.]

Pakistan Army takes charge of the war in Swat

2007-11-18T15:44:00.000-05:00

A little-noticed development occurred in Swat last Thursday, just as the assemblies were expiring and speculation swirled that Musharraf was taking his uniform off that day. It was quietly announced that the Pakistan Army was taking official control of the war in Swat. You see, until now, it was actually an auxiliary army wing that was leading the fight: the Frontier Constabulary (FC). This is the descendant of a British creation that was to keep the restive population of NWFP and Afghanistan under control. It was a separate entity from the Indian Army, and generally had less training but also less restraints placed on it. The FC also relied heavily on arming locals so they could police themselves.

Today's FC is a weak and underfunded agency. It has historically been given very little training and resources, because the philosophy of the Pakistani government has been to keep these regions autonomous in exchange for some nominal accession to the Pakistani state. Thus, the FC didn't really have much of a job, since the tribal areas were mostly self-governing and didn't really pose a military threat. Of course things are different now, due to the Afghan war of the 1980s, the CIA training and infusions of cash and drugs, and the emergence of militant Islam a la Osama coincident with the rise of Wahabism. So now, FATA is a big big problem. And who does Musharraf send in to deal with it? The good old FC, woefully unprepared to tackle the military threat.

All this while, then, the FC has been used as cannon fodder, sent in to be killed and maimed and taken hostage, while the real army does nothing. And all the while, the militants grow stronger, innocent villagers get pushed out of their homes because of the fighting, more and more of FATA becomes lost to fundamentalism, and Musharraf can turn to the U.S. and use the situation as a way of remaining in power (that is, projecting himself as the only thing that stands between NYC and a crazy fundamentalist Swati).

Of course, military action in Swat is not the path to a lasting resolution of the conflict - just as military action is not the answer in Iraq or Kashmir or anywhere else. But martial law makes the possibility of meaningful engagement even more remote.

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa leaves Pakistan out of fear

2007-11-18T15:32:00.000-05:00

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa has reportedly left Pakistan today due to fear for her own safety. Dr. Siddiqa is the author of a brilliant book entitled Military, Inc., which is about the Pakistani military's expanding commercial and financial empire (it is, according to her, the largest business enterprise in the country). Her book has been threatened with a ban many times, and she and her family have been threatened and harassed by the military.

Geo and ARYOne bite the dust

2007-11-17T05:07:00.001-05:00

The saving grace for GeoTV and ARYOne was that they were based in Dubai. They uplink from there, so that even though they were unable to broadcast in Pakistan, they could still be seen all over the world.

However, Musharraf has been able to apply enough pressure on the UAE government to actually kick GeoTV and ARYOne off the airwaves in Dubai! This is truly demoralizing, and a huge setback for the two networks. There is at least one protest planned today in Karachi in solidarity with these two journalistic outlets. This is also a setback for Dubai, I think, because the city-state's philosophy has always been live and let live, and to focus on business. This is a signal that the rulers there are willing to play politics, which is generally unsettling to business types. So it's a pretty dumb move on multiples counts.

Update

2007-11-17T04:41:00.000-05:00

I haven't updated for a couple of days due to internet access problems. Here's a quick update that gives you a sense of how surreal Pakistan is these days:

-Assemblies completed their term on Thursday, Nov. 15 and were dissolved at midnight. On Friday, a caretaker PM, Soomro, took oath in which he pledged to uphold the constitution. Of course Pakistan does not have a constitution right now, thanks to the man who administered the oath, Gen. Musharraf (he was wearing a sherwani, by the way, not a uniform).

-An financial analysis of parliamentarians found that Shaukat Aziz, the former PM, holds 93% of his assets in the U.S. and the U.K.

-John Negroponte, U.S. diplomat, arrived in Pakistan today to have talks with various actors to try to salvage the deal that the U.S. had hoped to put in place. This is the same Negroponte who oversaw the massacre and torture of thousands of people in Honduras and Nicaragua during the 1980s. Most recently, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. So he should fit right in in Islamabad.

-On Thursday, the chief of the army staff, Pervez Musharraf, gave the authority to lift "emergency" to the president, Pervez Musharraf. I know it sounds like they're the same person, but there's an easy way to tell the two people apart. The chief of the army staff has a General before his name. Also, he wears an army uniform. If he's in a sherwani or a suit and tie, it's the president you're dealing with. See, it's easy. By the way, this bizzaro-world transfer of authority is actually a very sly act on Musharraf's part because it means that he keeps his current powers even after he leaves his military post.

Musharraf to quit army by end of November

2007-11-14T15:25:00.000-05:00

Musharraf has announced that he will quit his army post by the end of November. This is big news in a way but also quite predictable, given the pressure the US is putting on him. The question now is whether the protest movement can sustain momentum and continue working towards a genuinely progressive society. One of the concerns among activists has been that if we restrict our demands to ending of martial law/emergency, the government might actually meet the condition and then we'd be adrift. So when this happens, I think we have to be mindful to keep our eyes on the bigger prize.

Imran Khan arrested

2007-11-14T05:33:00.000-05:00

Imran Khan has been arrested, as he appeared at a student protest in Lahore (at Punjab University). Sky News, which had been allowed back on briefly, has now been taken off the air because it broadcast an interview with Imran just before he was arrested.

I think this will give the student movement a lot of energy. They love Imran.

Update: The drama behind Imran's arrest is truly revolting. It was the Jamaati students of Punjab University who first captured Imran and kept him in custody on campus (and beat him and his associates up), and then turned him over on a platter to the police. What is more ironic is that just last night I was listening to a radio show (on VOA) in which Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmed were the guests, and Imran was agreeing quite wholeheartedly with Mr. Jamaat-i-Islami. If nothing else, perhaps this will cure Imran of his mullahism.

Jesus loves you... in Pakistan

2007-11-13T16:04:00.001-05:00

This car was parked in front of me at a restaurant.

A surreal moment, especially since I've been "trained" to react to such phrases with suspicion in the U.S. But here, in Karachi, I didn't quite know what to make of it...

Lawyers' movement leaders arrested

2007-11-13T06:38:00.000-05:00

Lawyers Akhter Hussain and Abdul Hafeez Lakho have been arrested for 90 days and detained in Karachi Central Jail. This is most significant because the two are former presidents of the Sindh High Court Bar Association and have been managing the lawyers' movement after the current president, Abrar Hassan, was arrested.

Ridiculous media blackout continues

2007-11-13T02:34:00.000-05:00

The ridiculous media blackout continues. Channels can only come back on the air if they agree to sign and abide by the "new rules" that PEMRA has put forth - what journalists are describing as a "PCO for the media."

The absurdity of the situation is that these channels can be seen outside Pakistan, so that often news is being relayed by overseas Pakistanis to their relatives INSIDE Pakistan. By one estimate, more than 500 million text messages have been exchanged internationally in one week (making the mobile phone companies very rich).

Many of the Pakistani channels can be seen in India as well, so that Indians are more informed about events in Pakistan - and they are seeing news about Pakistan from a Pakistani point of view (for the first time). And the current cricket series between India and Pakistan is being broadcast on Geo Super - except that we can't watch Geo Super so no one in Pakistan is being able to watch the matches!

The channels are losing something like Rs. 10 million per day, which leads me to wonder just how long they will be able to hold out against the regime. But they have been admirable thus far.

Benazir under house arrest

2007-11-13T02:32:00.001-05:00

Benazir is officially under house arrest for seven days. As far as I know, none of this is helping to rehabilitate her image among intellectual circles.

Benazir's long march not so long?

2007-11-12T16:48:00.001-05:00

Benazir is due to start her "long march" tomorrow from Lahore to Islamabad. This is frankly a bold move, because she's taking the fight to Musharraf, in the heart of Punjab. And she has also announced that she wants not only martial law to be lifted, but also insists on the complete restoration of the judiciary, as well as all curbs on media to be lifted. It almost sounds like she is a genuine activist! Of course we know that's not true. This is just a case of Benazir playing catch-up with the genuine democrats of Pakistan - the lawyers, judges, and other activists who have been making sacrifices with their lives for the cause.

Meanwhile the Punjab government has announced late tonight that it will arrest Benazir and detain her for a week if she attempts to go on her long march tomorrow, which means the march may not be very long at all. It also announced that she should put off her long march because intelligence had been received that a suicide bomber has entered Lahore in order to target Benazir. Man, those intelligence people are so very good. One has to admire how, time after time, they are able to ascertain exactly when suicide bombers are going to attack. If only they could find a way to muster resources to actually catch these guys before they carried out their attacks. But what can they do - it's not as if they work for the military or anything.

KHI students finally waking up?

2007-11-12T16:45:00.000-05:00

It looks like Karachi students might finally be waking up from their political slumber. Students at Karachi University and IBA have attempted to organize protests. Meanwhile, the enlightened administration at IBA has decreed that - forget protests - even wearing black armbands will lead to immediate expulsion from the institution.

Geo network sues government

2007-11-12T16:39:00.000-05:00

The Geo network (comprising of Geo TV, Geo News, Geo Super, and Aag) has sued the government for prohibiting it from broadcasting its channels. The government has disallowed all of Geo's channels from being broadcast, despite the fact that only one of them, Geo News, is the "problematic" one. The government has also targeted the Jang group of newspapers (owned by the same family - by the way, yes, it is disturbing that one family/group owns so much of the media). In a preliminary ruling, the Sindh High Court (composed of the new PCO crony judges) has directed PEMRA to allow the non-news channels to be allowed on the air. A final ruling is expected at the end of the week.

"Emergency" to continue despite January elections

2007-11-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

Musharraf has announced that martial law will continue even though elections will be held in January. He doesn't seem to think that there is anything strange about having elections while basic constitutional rights and freedoms are suspended, while civilians can be court-martialed due to an amendment of the Army Act of 1952 (trials of civilians in military courts, without legal representation and without the right to appeal), and while the media remains muzzled. Poor guy. He just can't understand what all the fuss is about, when all he wants to do is to continue ruling Pakistan in order to save it. Because, you know, he's been doing such a great job for the last eight years.

PPP workers arrested in Sindh

2007-11-11T12:27:00.001-05:00

Approximately 2000 PPP workers have been arrested across Sindh, in connection with protests held across the province today. PPP workers were protesting the house arrest of Benazir as well as the mass arrests of PPP workers in Punjab on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, Benazir continues the enjoy the good life. A New York Times article notes today that on Friday, Benazir moved seamlessly from playing the martyr in her attempt to hold the public rally in Pindi, to an upscale and glamorous evening dinner with diplomats at Parliament House in Islamabad. It's nice to know that her social life isn't being affected by all this yucky protesting stuff.

Elections to be held on time, apparently

2007-11-11T06:17:00.000-05:00

Musharraf is apparently now agreeing to elections on the original date, i.e., mid-January. This is obviously the result of pressure from the West, especially the US. They are extremely frustrated that, having agreed to the previous farce of "transition to democracy" under which elections would be held and Benazir would be essentially anointed prime minister, they have been betrayed and Musharraf has reneged on the deal. My guess is that the West hopes that the same setup can still be installed - Musharraf as "civilian" president and Benazir as PM providing the veneer of popular legitimacy to the whole sick farce. Of course, things have changed since the entire setup was arranged, and I'm not sure all will go as the West wants. Meanwhile, of course, the "war on terror" becomes less and less likely to succeed. And the civil wars that are raging in Pakistan won't go away, Benazir or not.

Interestingly, Mush's latest announcement goes against his earlier defense of delayed elections. Ostensibly, elections had been delayed because the various assembly sessions were ending on different dates, and the Supreme Court too had been "dragging its feet" in giving a decision. Now that Mush is planning for January elections, the earlier problems have mysteriously gone away.

"Pakistan TV fights back"

2007-11-10T02:51:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press has a story on how Pakistani TV channels have fought back against the crackdown, by continuing to go after the stories and finding new ways to broadcast (through internet and satellite). See full story here.

The story also notes something that I have been saying for a long time - that the decision of Geo TV and ARYOne to base their operations in Dubai (especially the decision to uplink from Dubai) was a brilliant one. This has allowed these two channels to really be free of government control and as a result they have emerged as the leaders in getting news out during this time. The head of GeoTV notes that a major reason for basing operations in Dubai was out of fear that there might precisely be a time a like now, when there is martial law and a crackdown on the media (this being Pakistan, it's pretty likely something like this will happen every ten years or so). It's ironic that a tightly controlled kingdom like Dubai provides more freedom to the media than does Pakistan.

Indus News back on

2007-11-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

Indus News is back on, but none of the other local channels are. It may be that Indus News has offered some kind of guarantee to the government (like, pretending black is white and vice versa). So far, they seem to be playing it safe.

LUMS protest in New York Times

2007-11-09T17:32:00.000-05:00

A picture of the beautiful LUMS protest made it to the front page of the New York Times today (at least for now):

The New York Times is asking for more photos, videos, and text from eyewitnesses of protest activity, so PLEASE send along anything you have!

TV media blackout continues

2007-11-09T09:08:00.000-05:00

Even though BBC News and CNN are back on, local news channels are not. Apparently there was a 45 minute meeting on the matter in Islamabad yesterday, and media owners were "consulted," but the government was not able to get the "guarantees" that they wanted. So the blackout continues.

This has meant that the news channels are turning increasingly to the internet to broadcast their programming. You can see clips of all the major channels on YouTube and other online forums, and on JumpTV. The blackout has also caused the sale of satellite dishes to jump dramatically (since the ban is being enforced through cable operators). Interestingly, Dawn has posted detailed satellite viewing instructions on its home page:

Satellite: Intelsat 10, Band -C
Downlink Frequency: 4126.05 Mhz
Symbol rate: 3255 Kbps
FEC: 3/4
Polarization: Horizontal

Blogs are also emerging as a major source of news, as well as SMS messages. Apparently in the last few days, there have been an astounding number of text messages flying around.

Bhutto under "house arrest"

2007-11-09T04:08:00.000-05:00

The PPP rally in Pindi today has been shut down, and Benazir has been placed under virtual house arrest. Police have surrounded her home in Islamabad, and won't let her go to the Pindi rally site (they say that she is free to go anywhere else, however). Several hundred PPP workers have also been arrested since yesterday.

This is now shaping up to be a showdown between BB and Mushy. Of course Benazir is trying to salvage some credibility as a democrat and just as a person with any kind of conviction whatsoever. She also announced that she wants the restoration of the judiciary as it was before martial law, and that all cases including the NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance, which grants her immunity from all corruption charges] should be decided by the previous Supreme Court.

The PPP also has plans to have a "long march" between Lahore and Islamabad on November 13. Obviously that looks increasingly unlikely now.

Update: Apparently BB has been released, but no word on whether the "long march" will go on. It's also come out now that Benazir met with US ambassador Anne Patterson on Wednesday. BB continues to have the blessing of the US. The question for them now is, can she deliver?

Update 2: Approximately 3500 PPP workers and activists have been arrested in the crackdown since yesterday.

Treason charges against Karachi activists

2007-11-09T04:03:00.000-05:00

A number of prominent leaders and activists arrested in the Karachi Press Club demonstration are being charged with treason and sedition, the maximum penalty for which is death. This is a chilling development. Those charged are National Party leaders Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Yusuf Mustikhan, and Ayub Qureshi; trade union leader and president of the People's Movement for Justice Farid Awan; and trade union leader Liaquat Sahi.

Student protests at LUMS

2007-11-09T03:58:00.000-05:00

LUMS has emerged as the vanguard in a nascent student movement against martial law. As many as 1500 students have been protesting on campus. Many have arrest warrants issued against them but thankfully the LUMS administration is refusing to turn the students over thus far. See a video report of the protests at CNN.

I think it's only a matter of time before other students join them. Student politics have been dead ever since Zia wiped out the movement in brutal crackdowns across Pakistan. Students have been quiet since then but I don't think it's because they approve of what's going on. Young people are disturbed and angry and they feel hopeless, but I think they just need some direction on how to channel their frustrations with the political situation. And I think the brave students at LUMS are showing the way.

Appeal to lawyers everywhere

2007-11-08T12:10:00.001-05:00

An appeal from Asma Jahangir to lawyers everywhere [Asma Jahangir is the chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan]:

Appeal for support to lawyers and judges in Pakistan

I am fortunate to be under house arrest while my colleagues are
suffering. The Musharaf government has declared martial law to
settle scores with lawyers and judges. While the terrorists
remain on the loose and continue to occupy more space in Pakistan,
senior lawyers are being tortured. The civil society of Pakistan
urges bar associations all over the world to mobilize public opinion
in favor of the judges and lawyers in Pakistan . A large number of
judges of superior courts are under arrest. Thousands of lawyers
are imprisoned, beaten and tortured.

In particular the cases of Muneer A Malik, Aitzaz Ahsan, Tariq
Mahmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd are serious. Muneer A Malik, the former
President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and leader of the
lawyers’ movement has been shifted to the notorious Attack Fort.
He is being tortured and is under the custody of the military
intelligence. Tariq Mahmood, former President of the Supreme Court
Bar Association, was imprisoned in Adiala jail. No one was allowed
to see him and it is reported that he has been shifted to an unknown
place. Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurd, former Vice Chair of the Pakistan Bar
Council is in the custody of military intelligence and being kept
at an undisclosed place. Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, President of the Supreme
Court Bar is being kept in Adiayala jail in solitary confinement.

Representatives of bar associations should approach their
governments to pressure the government of Pakistan to release
all lawyers and judges and immediately provide access to Muneer
A Malik, Tariq Mahmood, Ali Ahmed Kurd and Aitzaz Ahsan. The bars
are also urged to hold press conferences in their country and
express their solidarity with the lawyers of Pakistan who are
struggling to establish the rule of law.

NYC lawyers protest in solidarity

2007-11-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

Lawyers in NYC protest in solidarity with Pakistani lawyers. See here for the letter written by the NYC Bar Association president.

Protest in Karachi

2007-11-08T06:51:00.000-05:00

There was a protest in Karachi yesterday (Wednesday). From DAWN:

KARACHI: Anti-govt demo
KARACHI, Nov 7: Activists of several civil society organisations and student groups from different colleges and universities gathered at an intersection near the Agha's Super Market, Clifton, on Wednesday and staged a demonstration against the imposition of emergency rule and the ongoing crackdown on lawyers, political activists and media people.

According to a statement issued by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Karachi, the demonstrators holding placards and banners, raised slogans against Gen Pervez Musharraf and the imposition of emergency. They were demanding restoration of fundamental rights and release of all those arrested after the emergency was declared.—Staff Reporter

A pic of the protest:

There's coverage of the grassroots protests all over Pakistan in New York Newsday (of all papers) as well. Update: Here's a pic of some of the protesters from the Karachi event.

Elections not before February 15

2007-11-08T06:30:00.000-05:00

Musharraf has just announced that elections will definitely not be held before February 15th. This announcement must surely be the result of George Bush's personal phone call today. At least it's better than the year's delay we were informed of earlier. My guess is that he will be forced to schedule elections for sometime in late February or perhaps March (a year from the judicial crisis). So I think my prediction earlier this year, that he won't last more than 12 months, will probably come true. Whether he leaves of his own volition, or is forced out through constitutional means, or a counter-coup of sorts, or some violent means, is anyone's guess.

Imran Khan on the run

2007-11-08T06:25:00.000-05:00

Imran Khan is alive and on the run from intelligence agencies. According to a fascinating article from BBC, he jumped a wall as soon as police came to his house, which is why he's one of the few who got away. I don't know how much longer he can manage this, since he's still in the country (apparently in the Lahore area). This is one of the most recognizable faces we're talking about here, so it won't be easy to move around. You can read the rest of the article here.

Perhaps, in addition to "Go Musharraf Go," the new slogan of martial law resistance can be "Run Imran Run"!

BBC News and CNN back on

2007-11-08T06:24:00.000-05:00

BBC News and CNN are back on, at least in Karachi.

Update: Both channels are off air again since Friday afternoon.

Benazir going for an Oscar

2007-11-07T17:10:00.001-05:00

Benazir has an article in today's New York Times. It says all the right things, of course, and she really sounds like she's a person who believes in democratic principles, but we know it's just an act. If only she'd thought of standing up for democratic principles when she was busy making deals with the same dictator she's lambasting now. Of course she has absolutely no credibility with anyone I have talked to since I've been here, now almost a month. Anyway, you can read the piece and decide for yourself:

Musharraf’s Martial Plan
By BENAZIR BHUTTO

NOV. 3, 2007, will be remembered as the blackest day in the history of Pakistan. Let us be perfectly clear: Pakistan is a military dictatorship. Last Saturday, Gen. Pervez Musharraf removed all pretense of a transition to democracy by conducting what was in effect yet another extraconstitutional coup.
In doing so he endangered the viability of Pakistan as an independent state. He presented the country’s democratic forces with a tough decision — acquiesce to the brutality of the dictatorship or take over the streets and show the world where the people of Pakistan really stand.
General Musharraf also presented the democratic world — and especially the countries of the West — with a question. Will they back up their democratic rhetoric with concrete action, or will they once again back down in the face of his bluff?
In my view, General Musharraf’s ruling party understood that it would be trounced in any free elections and, together with its allies within the intelligence services, contrived to have the Constitution suspended and elections indefinitely postponed. Very conveniently, the assassination attempt against me last month that resulted in the deaths of at least 140 people is being used as the rationale to stop the democratic process by which my party would most likely have swept parliamentary elections. Maybe this explains why the government refuses to allow the F.B.I. and Scotland Yard to assist in a forensic investigation of the bombings.
As I write, demonstrations are taking place across Pakistan. Opposition party members, lawyers, judges, human rights advocates and journalists have been rounded up by the police without charge. The press has been seriously constrained. The chief justice of the Supreme Court and many other judges are believed to be under house arrest.
The United States, Britain and much of the West have always said the right things about democracy in Pakistan and around the world. I recall the words of President Bush in his second inaugural address when he said: “All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”
The United States alone has given the Musharraf government more than $10 billion in aid since 2001. We do not know exactly where or how this money has been spent, but it is clear that it has not brought about the defeat of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, nor succeeded in capturing Osama bin Laden, nor has it broken the opium trade. It certainly has not succeeded in improving the quality of life of the children and families of Pakistan.
The United States can promote democracy — which is the only way to truly contain extremism and terrorism — by telling General Musharraf that it does not accept martial law, and that it expects him to conduct free, fair, impartial and internationally monitored elections within 60 days under a reconstituted election commission. He should be given that choice: democracy or dictatorship with isolation.
While the world must do its part to confront tyranny, the primary responsibility rests in the hands of the people of Pakistan. It is incumbent on Pakistanis to tell General Musharraf that martial law will not stand. The overwhelming majority of Pakistanis are moderate; it is my hope that they will unite in a coalition of moderation to marginalize both the dictators and the extremists, to restore civilian rule to the presidency and to shut down political madrassas, the Islamic schools that stock weapons and preach violence.
It is dangerous to stand up to a military dictatorship, but more dangerous not to. The moment has come for the Western democracies to show us in their actions, and not just in their rhetoric, which side they are on.
Benazir Bhutto, the prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, is the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party.

Business channels back on

2007-11-07T16:52:00.000-05:00

The business channels, Business Plus and CNBC Pakistan, are both back on the air. It is a surreal experience to watch them though, because while they are fairly openly discussing the effects of "Nov. 3rd" on business, they aren't being able to discuss the actual martial law itself. And of course there is no mention of the protests, the condemnations, the sheer idiocy of the act for business activity.

Another surreal moment occurred when one of the channels did a news roundup at the beginning of the hour, and mentioned a story out of Palestine in which a number of Palestinians had been arrested by the Israeli government. But the channel couldn't cover the close to 3000 people arrested by our own government!

Copycat Georgia

2007-11-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

The president of Georgia has declared an emergency. Arey yaar, I know that imitation is the best form of flattery, but really, a nice card would have sufficed. P.S. I hate dictators.

Protests

2007-11-07T07:19:00.000-05:00

There have been student protests today at LUMS in Lahore. There appears to be much more protest activity in Punjab generally than in Sindh (and Karachi specifically). See pics of the LUMS protest here.

There are moves to organize more protest activity in Karachi, but the fear is real and its deserved. However, expect to see something soon. I am realizing, however, that there is a huge difference in organizing dissent in the U.S. and in Pakistan. In addition to the usual class and ethnic conflicts that plague all protest movements, there is also the atmosphere of fear and paranoia that can be quite paralyzing. There is also somewhat of a split between the "old" and the "new" activists - the former are used to doing things a certain way, while the latter want to try new strategies and are often more confrontational and radical in their approach. Perhaps it is that the young folks have never faced the danda. I continue to have enormous respect for the activists who have been around and continue to fight the good fight. They are inspiring.

Meanwhile, Benazir announced that she will go ahead with her rally on Friday the 9th in Pindi. This is not quite the call to arms one would have expected the party of Zulfikar to issue but it is something. And already the police have announced that they will stop it. So I think a showdown of sorts is coming.

The news channels remain off the air for a fourth day. The courts in Karachi were deserted as no lawyers showed up. And no news on Imran Khan's whereabouts yet.

Update

2007-11-06T08:15:00.000-05:00

A few updates:

Approximately 60 of the lawyers arrested yesterday in Lahore will be tried in the Anti-Terrorism Courts. This is a deeply chilling indication of the venality of this regime. I suppose it's also a way for Musharraf to pretend that this really is about terrorism (as announced in his speech).
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry addressed lawyers and media today by telephone. About four minutes into the speech, the government cut mobile phone service in Islamabad. A spokespeson said that "The government has closed the mobile service in some sectors (of Islamabad) and they have said it was just a temporary measure.” How kind of them.
Benazir has flown to Islamabad where she'll be having discussions with govt. respresentatives (but not Musharraf).
Karachi was calm today and business is "normal" but that's a sign that the demands of daily life must be met no matter what, not that people are happy with martial law.
A symbol of protest has emerged which is a black armband. Please wear it wherever you go.
The "new" fake Supreme Court has set aside the Court's judgment on emergency/martial law. You may recall that the Supreme Court, on Saturday evening, hurriedly put together a judgment on the emergency and declared it illegal and unconstitutional. The petitioner was Aitzaz Ahsan and the Court was scheduled to take up the matter before a full court on Monday. Of course this was not to be. However, the judgment stands for the record, despite what these lackeys have said.
There's still no word on the whereabouts of Imran Khan.
News TV channels remain off the air. This is a stunning sign that Musharraf still hasn't been able to consolidate this coup 72 hours into the affair. This, after military rule by the same government for 8 years. He's really in trouble.

Pakistan Redefined (cartoon)

2007-11-06T05:01:00.001-05:00

Cartoon by MAXIM in today's Nation:

Moody rating changed to negative

2007-11-06T04:17:00.000-05:00

Moody changed its credit rating for Pakistan to "negative" from "stable":

Moody's believes that the imposition of emergency rule represents a further erosion in Pakistan's governing capacity and underscores Pakistan's heightened political instability.

President Musharraf's narrowing domestic support base and shakier relations with the U.S. and other key international allies now appear to be a greater threat to investor confidence than was true in the past.
Political turbulence in Pakistan since the beginning of this year had been shrugged off by foreign investors and domestic market participants, who remained confident that the country could muddle through. "However the balance of risks now appears to be shifting to the downside," said the analyst.

"Ghaddar" judges

2007-11-06T03:12:00.000-05:00

Borrowing terminology used at protests, here's a list of the "ghaddar" judges who have agreed to take a fresh oath under the new PCO:

Saiyed Saeed Ashhad
M. Javed Buttar
Faqir Muhammad Khokhar
Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi
Qaim Jan Khan
Ejaz-ul-Hassan
Chaudhry Ejaz Yousuf
Moosa K. Leghari

The last four were just brought on board today; if you go to the Supreme Court website, you'll see that their names have been hastily added to the website but a link to their profile doesn't exist yet.

Multan has a sense of humor - who knew?

2007-11-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

This made me laugh (from New York Times):

In Multan, another city in the province of Punjab, two new judges who had taken the oath of office under emergency rule Sunday were forced to leave the courtroom by hundreds of angry lawyers.
"We threatened them, saying: ‘You’ve taken an unconstitutional oath, if you don’t go we will throw eggs at you.’ They left,” said a lawyer from Multan, Riaz Gilani.