Pak Tea House

This is a passionate and rather heartfelt piece from our young contributor Shaheryar Ali

Re-throne Iftikhar Chaudhry and hang Zardari, and sing all Faiz and Jalib on Geo. It will be the same. That’s the bitter truth…

“What I call middle-class society is any society that becomes rigidified in predetermined forms, forbidding all evolution, all gains, all progress, all discovery. I call middle-class a closed society in which life has no taste, in which the air is tainted, in which ideas and men are corrupt. And I think that a man who takes a stand against this death is in a sense a revolutionary. Fervor is the weapon of choice for the impotent.” Frantz Fannon

The quotes from Frantz Fannon form the basis of my thoughts on the problem of libertarian politics in Pakistan. The problem that has been disguised in the fervor of middle class intelligentsia, civil society and the so called lawyer’s trade union “movement” to reinstate the judges who were “not called” to take oath under the PCO of General Pervez Musharaf.

The first casualty of this movement was “clarity”, quite understandably when middle and petty bourgeois classes and institutions of a post colonial state are the stalwarts of a “libertarian movement”. When I am writing down these lines the “count down” to the end of days is over in Pakistan. The serene voice of Iqbal Bano singing Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s epic revolutionary poem Hum dekhen ge is glorifying the “Judicial Movement.” The day promised by Faiz being the day the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan should and must be “re-throned” in his “Castle of Justice” in Islamabad.

This and this alone is the solution to all Pakistan’s problems. This and this alone was the goal of all libertarian politics of Pakistan, from Syed Sajjad Zaheer to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This and this alone was the meaning of all progressive discourse, from Manto to Faiz, from Jalib to Faraz. Any other view is treason, anyone suggesting an alternate view is a “sell-out.”

Pakistan Peoples Party and its evil leadership, its evil supporters have betrayed the revolution, the Messiah of liberation incarcerated for months in dungeons, the dungeon being official residence of the Chief Justice in Islamabad with his family. Mr Ten Per Cent spent 8 years in jail without conviction and bail, never saw his children growing up, enjoying a “married life”, half of which was spent in friendly imprisonment in the worst of Pakistan’s jails, where his back was broken and his tongue was cut!! (Bol keh lub aazad hein tere). Yea our Messiah of Liberation was manhandled during his long march from his palace to the court, the haircut was destroyed, the black coat martyred. And all in front of cameras.

Mr Aitzaz Ahsan, the Marxist lawyer, who charges six-figure fees and delivers justice to 80% of the people of Pakistan who earn less than 2 dollars a day, speaks, his voice crackling with passion over the fate of the children who were forced to live with their parents in their own house. Has anyone ever heard from him any names other than Balaj and Palwasha? Any names like Bilawal, Asifa, and Bakhtawar who grew up without a father, who were not allowed to see their father for years and years. Who were not allowed to live in their country. When they got their father, their mother was killed. Who killed their mother? Did anyone talk about any “countdown” to start a probe into murder of leader of people of Pakistan? Of course it’s the destiny of Asifa to live half her life without a father and the rest of her life without her mother. Destiny!!

The Glorious Judge:

A military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, imposes martial law, suspends the constitution and takes over. Army surrounds the Chief Justice House, arrests the Chief Justice. Our glorious Judge Iftikhar Ahmad takes oath of personal loyalty to General Musharraf accepting him as the “source of law”

The great Judge sits in 4 benches of the supreme court declaring : (more…)

Early in the morning with blurred looks,
The only clothes,the hardships and fate
In Sahara, where an ocean meets the desert
Sit three with wooden tablets and verses of Quran
Not much to lose, but enough to learn

As this ice melts when viewed from a distance
The only conversation is the old expression
Of wonder and resolve, as faces emerge
One day we will travel far,
From what we have learnt and seen
See you will not us but only the wall
The old protection, the only support

Travel far to this place, only in existence
What a pain this old desire to learn and to give
Far from our village as we make our way
From routines to remember to the needs of hunger
Work now resumes and different tools
The old skies and African deserts

Sit there these three children
With morning friendship and long references
In African sky and with verses of Quran!

Kashkin

By Ishtiaq Ahmed

In a debate article in the Dawn of April 30, 2008, Haider Nizamani seeks to dispel the widely held view that feudalism exists in Pakistan. He asserts that feudalism never existed in South Asia. To consider honour killings and exploitation of peasants by mighty landlords as indicative of feudalism he finds untenable because according to him, by 1999, 88 percent of cultivated land in Pakistan was in farm sizes below 12.5 acres. Just over half the total farms were less than five acres in size. “This would hardly be the hallmark of a feudal society,” he asserts.

This economistic argument is a legitimate one, but too narrow, mechanical and formalistic, because it presupposes that if the economic base changes cultural and ideological changes follow suit. In reality there is never a perfect fit between a mode of production and cultural and ideological forms, otherwise the thoroughly capitalised economies of the Middle East would have no place for tribal norms and behaviour patterns. Marx was acutely aware of the far more complex relationship between the economic base and the superstructure. He famously observed that Christian theology remained the reigning ideology much after classical feudalism had disintegrated and dissolved.

Classical feudalism emerged in Western Europe when the old city-based high cultures of the Greeks and the Romans disintegrated and the locus of social activity moved into local units headed by tiered nobility, which controlled their serfs through a range of economic and extra-economic coercions. The feudal vassals, in turn, rendered services to the superior lords, and that chain of services finally connected to the king, who was named as the “first among the lords.” He claimed a tribute or levy from the lesser nobles, who also provided him with soldiers.

The above description is, of course, an ideal one in the tradition of Max Weber. In reality no two feudalisms anywhere in Europe were the same, except in the essential sense of an agrarian economy providing much of the surplus, as well as the soldiers upon which the ruling classes built their leisured lifestyle.

Christian theology justified social hierarchy, and people knew their place in society – the rule was that the superiors were chosen by God and obeying them was a duty and obligation. (more…)

In a café, at the airport
In the corner
Sits there, Chillchinga
The young US soldier
With cigarettes and an empty look
Tired from those battles
Easily seen, the scars
Gained and given
From confrontations
In a distant land
The only desire now
To go home
To converse few words
In Spanish as he pays the price
For migration and adventure
In the distant time

Sit three in the corner
McMillan and Richardson
Spectacles on their tiny face
Turned away from scenes of horror
Of participation and of discussion
Away from those big monitors
News of Iraq and Afghanistan (more…)

By Ayesha Siddiqa adding to the debate on the changing Pakistan…

IN a recent article titled ‘Another kind of change’ Akbar Zaidi tried to make us believe in changes occurring in Pakistan without properly contextualising them. According to the writer, Pakistan is no longer feudal, traditional and rural nor is its economy agrarian. Although it is not stated in this fashion, the underlying tone of the article is that the country has moved to become a more modern society. Let us see if the arguments hold.

First, do the changes in the land tenure system and the separation between labour and capital, which is how traditionally feudalism is defined, make Pakistan non-feudal? Besides the economic dimension, there is the socio-political dimension as well. The structures of power remain the same. (more…)

By Raza Rumi

An overwhelming majority of Pakistan’s population finds itself hostage to narratives of ‘terror’ that are either alien to its ethos or are constructed by its home-grown theologians and opinion-makers. This is not to say that the issue of suicide bombings is easy to define and understand. They are essentially complex and located in decades of Pakistan’s evolution into a society that is difficult yet again to label: Islamic in name, struggling to be democratic and a republic it is not, well, not yet.

If we take the viewpoint of liberals, it is our war as much as a war of others. If we were to hear the west, it is about countering terror and preserving world peace; and if we listen to Pakistan’s right it is someone else’s battle fought on our land — the land of the pure lest we forget.

Where does this leave the confused, battered citizen who now has to strive for personal security among other daily struggles of existence? There are no clear answers and if one were to probe further, the questions are as murky as their geneses.

One thing is clear though: to identify the recurrent suicide bombings in the name of theological, tribal and imperial grievances is at best a half-truth. The genie is far more complex than a response to the reductionist narrative of “war against terror” and such other imperial phraseology. At the core of this phenomena, if one were to be rather blunt, lies an exclusive, bigoted ‘ideology’ of a few men of holy intentions orchestrating a script written by others. (more…)

By : Beena Sarwar

Just over a year ago, Pakistan’s all-powerful president and chief of the army staff was firmly entrenched at the helm of affairs. He had taken several steps to ensure his absolute power; the ‘corrupt’ politicians were in exile, and their parties were in disarray. Indeed, analysts were predicting that Pervez Musharraf would remain in power until 2015.

Three factors, occurring over a span of two years, changed this course. First, former archrivals Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif, both then in exile, joined hands in May 2006 to sign a ‘Charter of Democracy’, aimed at ousting the military from Pakistani politics. Second, an increasingly independent judiciary began taking on previously taboo issues, including the disappearances that had taken place at the hand of the intelligence agencies since Pakistan’s alliance with the US in the ‘war on terror’. Third, dozens of independent television channels, which had sprung up since 2002, were covering events critically and energetically.

(more…)

By S. Akbar Zaidi,

WHILE Pakistan’s hesitant political transformation falters further, one has to note that developments over the last decade or so have given rise to numerous substantive changes, which have altered social relations and societal structures.

Always undergoing a process of change, many of these developments are affecting our social, economic and political relationships.

Perhaps the most important factor that, sadly, many Pakistani social scientists still do not comprehend is that Pakistan is neither a so-called feudal, agricultural, rural or even a traditional society or economy. Only those social scientists who write their papers on anecdotal evidence still talk of Pakistan as being feudal. Even a cursory examination of any kind of economic data suggests that this is not so. With the share of agriculture as part of the GDP falling drastically from 26 per cent in 2000 to 20 per cent in 2007, agriculture has lost its predominance in the economy. (more…)

This is an engaging piece by Ali Eteraz who writes with much intellectual energy and passion. The views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily subscribed by the Pak Tea House.

Hindus in Pakistan have suffered grievously since the founding of the nation in 1947. Recently, in the southern province of Sindh, a Hindu man was accused of blasphemy and beaten to death by his co-workers. This comes at the heels of the abduction and dismemberment of a Hindu engineer. (more…)

By Beena Sarwar

KARACHI, Apr 2 (IPS) - Pakistan’s new prime minister has announced
what many term a `revolutionary’ agenda: continue the `war on terror’
but on Pakistan’s terms, lift the long standing ban on student and
trade unions, raise minimum wages, revoke `black’ media laws, provide
relief for farmers and observe austerity.

Yousuf Raza Gillani revealed his ambitious initial 100 day plan for
his government after obtaining an unprecedented unanimous vote of
confidence in the National Assembly. The plan has breathed fresh air
into this nuclear-armed South Asian nation where military-dominated
politics has long been marked by acrimony, bitterness and
vengefulness.

A new in-house advertisement on the popular television channel Geo TV
captures the mood: clips of various politicians bantering, smiling
and laughing. The slogan, `Jeo, muskura kar’ (`Live life with a
smile’).

The country that gave the world its first Muslim woman prime
minister, Benazir Bhutto, now boasts the world’s first Muslim woman
Speaker of the Assembly. Dr Fehmida Mirza, 51, thrice elected from
her hometown Badin in Bhutto’s native Sindh province, sometimes looks
startlingly like her slain leader and friend. So Gillani could be
forgiven, in his inaugural speech, for twice inadvertently referring
to her as `Madam Prime Minister” instead of “Madam Speaker”. (more…)

How could we claim to be a democratic country where academics, ostensibly a sacred profession if one were to follow our own rhetoric, are mauled for speaking up?? I am posting a press release from the citizen’s group, People’s Resistance that gives a detailed account of the rotten incident.

KARACHI, April 1: The People’s Resistance, a coalition of pro-democracy individuals and organisations, strongly condemns and demands immediate inquiry into the manhandling and beating up of Dr Riaz Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Applied Chemistry at Karachi University by Pakistan Rangers. (more…)

by Feisal Naqvi

In his first speech as prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani introduced a number of austerity measures. So, the budget of Prime Minister House is going to be cut by 40 percent; all ministers will henceforth travel economy plus on domestic flights, rather than business class; and, no minister will travel in a car of more than 1600 cc.

Frankly, my dear, I couldn’t give a damn.

Actually, I do. This pseudo-austerity is not only irritating but counter-productive. And it is high time we got past our neuroses in this regard.

This hypocritical obsession with ostensible cost-cutting is irritating because it serves no useful purpose. In fact, it is harmful because it reinforces the notion that instead of being normal humans, our elected representatives, judges and bureaucrats should all be exemplars of the human race, some mystical combination between Mother Theresa and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Do such people really exist? Yes, they do. Do some of them work for the Government of Pakistan. Yes, they do. The famous Masood Khaddarposh was one. Justice Cornelius was another. And Justice Jawad Khawaja was most certainly a person who could not give a rodent’s backside about the trappings of his office.

OK, but not every person wants to be a Khaddarposh. Some people want to be Armaniposh. And I think they should be. (more…)

By Raza Rumi 

IT is a truism that media freedom in Pakistan today has been earned after a long struggle which will perhaps continue in the years to come.

Deepening of democratic traditions and their permeation in society are sine qua non for a free media. Whilst there can be no two opinions on the independence of the media, the need for greater responsibility and professionalism has to be articulated in no uncertain terms. Such is the confusion and chaos triggered by an overgrown executive that the issue of responsibility has been sidelined by the overwhelming noises for media freedom especially since the tinkering with the text and application of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Ordinance.

We are now getting used to a television culture that imitates the life of Pakistani tharras, chai-khanas and drawing-rooms where politics is discussed ad nauseum. Rare exceptions include issue oriented talk-shows but they appear bland unless their all knowing hosts inject some political spice into them. Expertise is taken for granted; new-age generalists judge every subject under the sun and occasionally take themselves a bit too seriously. Yes, the commercial imperative of the media dictates programming patterns. But there has to be a method to this disorderliness.

The most recent occasion of electronic media wizardry was the announcement of the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition candidate for the unenviable job of the prime minister. The moment the announcement was made, a leading channel played a popular Indian film song that lamented broken promises. In this case, the fabled promise of the prime ministerial cookie for Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

Admittedly, the party of the people and its allies were secretive about the process. The principle of transparency, ideally, is germane to elected institutions. However, this is neither an ideal world nor is it going to turn into one overnight. The way a momentous decision was trivialised was not in good taste. The news industry forgot that this was a party still recovering from the brutal murder of its omnipresent leader less than three months ago. (more…)

By Adil Zareef

AS the incumbent government gears up to meet myriad
challenges, Mangal Bagh is becoming the new recurring
nightmare in the NWFP. He left a trail of bloodshed,
pillage and mayhem when he attacked unarmed villagers
in Sheikhan, near Peshawar, and demolished a 16th
century shrine. Mangal Bagh later forced the famous
Karkhano market shut for days, causing economic losses
running into millions of rupees.

Recently he attacked another shrine in Khyber Agency
and harassed women who traditionally pray there.
Traffic in adjoining areas was brought to a halt for a
few days as tribals protested against these excesses
committed right under the nose of Pakistan’s mammoth
security apparatus.

For some these incidents produce a sense of déjà vu
given what has happed in Waziristan, Bajaur, Swat,
Darra Adamkhel and now on the outskirts of Peshawar.
The ‘star’ of the story is Mangal Bagh from Bara
tehsil who heads the notorious Lashkar-i-Islam and
preaches extremism on his FM radio stations. Mangal
Bagh’s sudden rise, his swift success in setting up a
parallel administration and the freedom with which his
anti-vice squads challenge the writ of the state has
convinced many of the political administration’s
complicity in this new phenomenon. (more…)

Interview with Husain Haqqani 

Husain Haqqani is back in Pakistan as well as on our television screens. Contrary to common perception, that he is here to become an advisor to the next government, he likes to be introduced as an academic. “I’m much happier being a Professor at Boston University,” he clarifies at the outset. Director of Center for International Relations at Boston University and a senior fellow at Hudson Institute in Washington DC, Haqqani has worked as a journalist, diplomat and former advisor to Pakistani prime ministers. He has maintained close connections with the Bhutto family for the last ten years; Benazir Bhutto in her recent book ‘Reconciliation’ acknowledges him as a ‘loyal friend.’ So will he be speaking as a PPP spokesperson in this interview? “No, I am not in the PPP formally. I don’t have any official position within the party,” he states categorically.

Excerpts of an interview with analyst Haqqani follow:

The News on Sunday: In one of your recent articles, you’ve explained the term ‘Pakistani establishment’ in which apart from military and intelligence agencies, you have included civil servants, executives of multinational corporations, bankers, beneficiaries of World Bank etc. Do you think the establishment in Pakistan is ready to create space for political forces?

Husain Haqqani: An over-extended and domineering establishment never yields space. Space has to be taken from it. I think the political forces in Pakistan have now created circumstances in which they are ready to get more space. Furthermore, there are cracks within the Pakistani establishment. The military as an institution has realised that its primary responsibility of national security simply cannot be fulfilled by just having the establishment on its side. They need the people behind them. That is why the military’s decision to back away from politics is going to weaken the establishment which has always fired its political shots from the shoulders of the military. The civilian segment of the establishment has always framed its interests in terms of national security.
Pakistan is the only country in the world where alleged corruption of politicians has been treated as a national security problem. Elsewhere the problem of civilian corruption is dealt with within the legal and political framework of the country. Only in Pakistan do international bankers like Shaukat Aziz come into power afterx military coup claiming “I’m going to clean up corruption and strengthen the economy etc,” without any political mandate and popular support. I think that the army’s decision to focus only on its professional tasks will diminish this pattern of manipulation, expanding political space.

TNS: Considering its huge influence and vested interest in this system, how much power is the military going to relinquish and how?

HH: The military has a significant role in helping determine national security policy. In any country, the professional military makes inputs and helps the civilians decide the priorities for national security. But the military is never trained to do big picture political analysis. They are trained in tactical matters and in military strategy. I think the military will gradually move in that direction. Of course given Pakistan’s recent history and the residual impact of the military’s deep involvement in politics, there will still be some people in uniform who will continue to think politically. But the global environment — in which Myanmar and Pakistan are the only two countries run by men in uniform until a few weeks ago — is making the Pakistani military rethink its role. (more…)

Email Picture

K.M. Chaudary / Associated Press

Prominent Pakistani opposition lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, center, is greeted by lawyers at a rally against President Pervez Musharraf in Lahore. While under house arrest, he did what many of his compatriots do in times of personal and political crisis: He wrote a poem. When restrictions on his freedom were eased, TV crews besieged him and, one after another, beseeched him to recite his verse for a country that takes its verse seriously.

(more…)

 ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Monday elected PPP’s Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as the new prime minister of the country with thumping majority.

Gilani bagged 264 votes. The rival candidate Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, fielded by the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and its allies secured 42 votes.

In a maiden speech on the floor of National Assembly after he was elected as Prime Minister, he said, “I request the national assembly as my first job to pass a resolution for UN probe into the assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.”

Elaborating the top priorities of the new government, the newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani vowed to take all out efforts for the supremacy of parliament.

He also said the National Assembly should pass another resolution to apologize to the nation for hanging of Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto.

Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani also said that he would issue the immediate directives for release of the held judges.

Gillani also vowed to take efforts for the resolution of multiple problems of people, saying, “ We realize that the people of the country confront several problems including shortage of electrify.”

“Today, democracy has been restored thanks to the great sacrifice of Benazir Bhutto,” the 55-year-old Gilani, wearing a dark suit and tie, said in his first speech to parliament.

“I invite all political forces to join us because the country is facing such a crisis that a single man cannot save it,” he said.

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

A few suggestions to remove ambiguities from the AHRC

History is being made in the National Assembly of Pakistan. The Speaker was elected and the debates have already begun. True to the pledge given to the voters to restore the chief justice and all the other judges who were ousted, a resolution has already been drafted and is being discussed now. The newspapers have published this draft and we reproduce it below in its entirety with just a few suggestions for the strengthening of the resolution and the removal of any ambiguity regarding the intention of the legislature with regard to the restoration of the Constitution of the Republic of Pakistan as it stood in November 2007; that is before the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) was promulgated.

(more…)

by Yasser Hamdani

The great irony for Pakistan, as the country founded by Jinnah, who
was rightly described as one of the greatest constitutional lawyers of
the British Empire by many including former US President Bill Clinton,
himself a lawyer, is that it is still struggling to find its
constitutional heart and soul.  Yet it is fitting that today that the
country’s legal fraternity is up in arms led by another great
constitutional lawyer.   Aitzaz Ahsan’s great feats as a lawyer and a
politician this last year very aptly find parallels in the Jinnah of
1916 who rose to prominence that year with his defence of Tilak as
well as his contribution in bringing the Muslim League and the
Congress together on one platform in Lucknow.   92 years later,
another Muslim League has also forged a common front against tyranny –
this time with the Pakistan People’s Party thanks to the relentless
struggle and effort of Aitzaz Ahsan.  Let us hope the Murree
Declaration fares better than the Lucknow Pact though.

Pitted against it today are a bunch who also claim to be big lawyers
but their expertise at times seems as hollow as Sharifuddin Pirzada’s
dubious and erroneous claims of having known Jinnah personally- claims
which were rejected by both Fatima Jinnah and K H Khurshid, the
Quaid’s personal assistant.    Take for example the circular argument
put up by the new inductee in the President’s team Mr. Abdul Hafiz
Pirzada – the self styled father of Pakistani Constitution- while
speaking to GEO NEWS .  He claims that a simple resolution cannot
restore the judges and that a two thirds majority is required.
Presumably this is based on the premise that Constitutional Amendment
Order of November 21, 2007 was a legal amendment and that article 270
AAA introduced through it stands valid.   One can imagine how the
genius who suggested this to the president would have both shocked and
relieved him by suggesting automatic validation, affirmation and
adoption of the “competent authority’s”  amendments by the incumbent
“competent authority” himself.  Brilliant stuff I suppose in a world
where good old Sharifuddin is the master signifier.  However in the
real world such an attempt is void ab initio.  The presidential power
to remove difficulties cannot extend to an actual amendment. (more…)

The highs and lows of the last year have politicised hitherto indifferent sections of society and created a new impetus for democratisation. This is a welcome development. But a democratic polity is built neither by dictator’s decree nor Supreme Court rulings. Of course, the ouster of the dictator and the restoration of the Supreme Court judges that defied him are both symbolically important, but neither should be confused with democracy and the creation of a rights-respecting society.

By Ali Dayan Hasan

Today’s inauguration of the new National Assembly is being heralded by many as a new dawn in Pakistan’s political history. A grand coalition of the country’s major political forces will assume government shortly and its stated agenda, as enunciated by Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif on March 9, has won national acclaim.

For now, the army appears to have opted for a strategic retreat from the political arena. Its former leader, President Pervez Musharraf, though characteristically unrepentant and unashamed, nevertheless stands humiliated and diminished. It is a rare moment of vindication for the country’s political class, its democrats and its highly mobilised civil society.

But history teaches us that this moment is as fleeting as it is special.

It would be naïve to assume that one general election that threw up a politically credible result despite a massively flawed process has transformed power relations in the country. Pakistan remains a praetorian state structured and geared to service, above all, the needs of a military that remains every bit as convinced as ever that Pakistan’s national interest is synonymous with its institutional priorities and the preservation of its position as the final arbiter of political power and patronage. (more…)

by Junaid

How long will you be the object of pleasure
In the harem of men’s lust?
how long will you bow your proud head at his feet
like a benighted servant?

Last week the world celebrated International Women’s Day. So did Pakistan with a bit of fanfare on the electronic and print media. I thought of writing something but then wondered if at all there was anything to ‘celebrate’?

Are women in Pakistan any better than before? no morning ever brings sunshine in their lives. Their struggle in their homes and outside continues unabated. Discriminatory laws are still there despite tall claims of enlightened moderation and so-called fair representation of women in parliament & governance (for a country having about 50% women population, is it really fair to have 33% (or even less) representation in local and 17% in national and provincial legislature? and that too fairly dormant considering many women spend their parliamentary life in silence).

Crimes against women still go unpunished. Culprits go scotfree while victims continue to suffer. Acid burn incidents continue to happen. Honor killings shamelessly get endorsed by jirgas. Property rights are still denied to daughters. Women are still married off to the Holy book. Young girls are still gifted as compensation by jirgas. The reality that exists beyond few big cities is horrible. This is that unfortunate country whose President proclaimed and I quote him, “This has become a moneymaking concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped”.

(more…)

temporal

credit katsetsuna

‘the heart beat is arrhythmic
pressure erratic
change medication
wait and monitor’

close and distant relatives
crowd, stare and wait
’shukria doctor saheb,
may god bless you’

the night in quiet

death wins arguments
no disinfectant can cleanse
the ghoulish ward odors
ah, well! i will go and
have that tea and samosa
perhaps this splitting headache

‘where is the chart?’
the nurse shuffles from her station
handing the chart, asks
‘why are your hands so cold?’

Marvel at the audacity of hope in Pakistan. But be warned: the hope is not tenable. Mr. Musharraf is out of favour in his own country but not in Pentagon. Mr. Sharif has not won the largest number of seats but he may still want to be king. Mr. Zardari…well, Mr. Zardarai!He has trimmed his feudal moustache and is talking the right talk but how long would he remain this way? Besides, would Pakistan Army never march out of its barracks again? And, don’t forget the suicide-happy volunteers of the Pakistani Taliban.Should we still feel sunny?Perhaps.

They say Mr. Musharraf is almost history. That Pakistan Army would tame its basic instincts. That Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif’s grand coalition would carry Pakistan into the much-coveted category of being just another modern, developed, and boring nation.

(more…)

Lahore: In a statement issued here from his residence, where he is detained, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, President Supreme Court Bar Association, said that a Long March scheduled for March 09 has been postponed to give Parliament time to restore the deposed judges. It has not been cancelled. The lawyers, he said, appreciated the concern of the Parliamentarians and the leadership of the political parties to permit Parliament to meet and take steps for the restoration of the judges in the first instance.

Aitzaz, however, said that two of the most unfortunate days in our history fell in the year 2007. On March 9, none other than the Chief Justice of Pakistan was arrested. On December 27 a much greater and far more enormous tragedy struck. The most important leader of the country Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was martyred. The nation continues to mourn her. Lawyers have decided to commemorate both days with sorrow.

Aitzaz said that presently March 9th to 16th would be commemorated as the BLACK FLAG WEEK in and outside Pakistan. Those opposing Musharraf and seeking the restoration of the deposed judges will fly “Black Flags” through out the week as per the following recommended programme: (more…)