Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

Nawaz to contest elections

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.