The Opinion Factory

Change is nigh and the world is watching the US presidential race with increasingn interest. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both managed to stay in the race with considerable grace. Having read the writings of both the leaders it is difficult for me to tell who has promise. Obama’s Audacity of hope and Clinton’s Living history both tell us how safe the world would be if either of the two come to power. But while we still cannot say who would win the race one thing is for sure. We now know that the democratic vote is divided right in the middle. It means that the if the democrats have to tap their vote fully they would have to think beyond this race and focus on the White House instead. It may stupid but is the democratic vote not tell these two leaders what it wants? The need for the two leaders to team up and wage the war for a democratic return? Who wins in the race might be clear in a couple of weeks but what do you do with the one who loses? The one who loses could naturally be the candidate for the vice president. I know to the conservative ears this sounds absurd. A woman teaming up with a black? But honestly of all the people the conservatives need to shut up for the current chaos is their creation. The US today needs not merely a change but a dramatic change to bring things back in order. The American people should know that if this doesn’t happen they themselves are under threat. If you don’t know what the neo-cons and the Fox news culture can do to you please recall Christorpher Reeve (our old super man who died immediately after the last presidential debate, heartbroken).
The prospect of such a synergy however dismays me about one curious loss. I have developed liking for Joe Biden. Until now I had hoped that the front runner would be clear and then Biden could work as his VP candidate but since he has declared that or so I have heard that he would not be the candidate for the VP post, one can hope that a person of such a clibre can be the country’s Secretary of State.
Let us focus now on the Republican candidacy. The outcome is getting clearer and with great hope. McCain is the best candidate one could have hoped to lead the Republicans. But there are still some very important loopholes. Any Republican candidate cannot deny the fact that as long as they win the neo-cons would have ways to reinvent themselves and return to power. McCain could distance himself from the neo-cons by bringing a victim of their conspiracies as his vice president. Let us for a second think who. Hmm if I were an American voter there is one man I would have voted blindly for no matter in which boat he stood: yes, you have guessed it right: General Colin Powell.
The world has become a dangerous village and we need truckloads of hope. The US has a great chance of returning to the mantle of the world’s moral leader by choosing well. And through this note I want to answer those of my critics who think that I am lean on the western analysis of the Pakistani political situation. Folks, the world is a shrinking place and the west also is ready to listen to us in its own domestic matters. Let us then join hands and defeat the reductionist forces of neo-conservatism everwhere. The time to act is now and let us forget all divisions to fight for our collective survival.

Posted by farrukh at 04:33:28

If you think there was any room for conscience in the actions of states, please try to rethink the things through. The establishments of all countries behave in same fashion. While the western leaders pay great lip service to the cause of democracy their hearts remain with the dictators. Take the example of Keith Ryan’s alleged suicide. Do you know what would have happened had it taken place during a democratic government’s time? The US would have made the entire episode a lever to embarass the elected government in Islamabad. But now that their beloved retired general is ruling the country through hook or crook, the entire episode was so hushed up that one is baffled. We know now that the man’s death was violent and that he did not take his own life but no sir no word of caution or suspicion from the state department. Why would there be any? Musharraf is a partner in crime with the high and the mighty of the world.
Likewise, the Scotland Yard team came to Pakistan but what did they do? Honestly in the investigations of Benazir’s death they have shown complacence that the good old Sherlock Holmes used to complain about. The gentlemen who came here were certainly under pressure and the state did not cooperate with them to the necessary level. Yet they are now parrotting the lines given by Islamabad. It seems Musharraf during his European tour has made some serious concessions to the UK government. Otherwise what else was the key purpose of his visit? Why did he have to go to Europe when his Prime Minister could do it. These things indicate that there is little hope in world politics. Please tell me if you had to carry out all the investigation process in such a half hearted fashion why on earth did you come to Pakistan to waste your and our time and state resources. We know it well that the only beneficiary of Benazir’s death was not the Al-Qaeda-Taliban nexus but Musharraf and his coterie of sycophants. As long as there is a war on terror being conducted by the army what purpose Benazir’s death could serve the Al Qaeda after all. However her death would certainly have served the present government by removing the biggest challenger to the throne. Again Benazir’s death can also be seen as Musharraf’s revenge for managing his retirement from the army and ending the emergency. I know there is neo-con complacence too. The name that sticks to my mind is that of Zalmay Khalilzad. He was Benazir’s liaison among the neo-cons and he was the man who made her believe that she would be safe in Pakistan. In reality however he and his cabal also wanted to kill Pakistan’s only hope of survival. Where there is such crime and complacence of states only an international inquiry can unearth the true issues. I believe that Benazir’s death was a conspiracy against Pakistan and Musharraf and his coterie are in league with those who want to dismantle Pakistan. Time has come for him to step down and cooperate with an international inquiry. Otherwise please be warned that we are heading towards another martial law minus Musharraf and not elections. Please note I see more bloodshed and no elections even now.

Posted by farrukh at 05:56:01.

Any conjecture on Keith Ryan would be premature at this hour however his death indeed leaves behind some harrowing questions. Why would a diplomat despite having worked in uncountable stressful places all of a sudden commit suicide? Why such things are only happening in Pakistan? After all, these days you don’t even find diplomats killing themselves even in Iraq or Afghanistan. Why would the US state department keep this sorry incident so low profile and be so gullible to accept the Pakistani version? And could there be possibility of crime in it? Ryan, 37, was an attache for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. His previous assignments included his work with the violent gang task force of the Border Patrol and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It is difficult for a tough guy like him to crumble under the pressure of some unknown pressures. He is said to be without any history of suicidal tendencies. However the country’s secret police essentially has a long history of such crimes in which the victim is shown to have ended his own life. And then of course there is a long history of mysterious murders. From the assassination of Benazir Bhutto to that of Daniel Pearl there is an unimpeachable history and if we can predict one thing with confidence it is that like so many mysterious deaths this riddle will also never be solved.
Another important aspect of the sorry episode is the agency the young man worked for. While these things go unnoticed, his work for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency could be of great explanatory value. The country has huge trade of human smuggling with many influentials involved in it. If you have forgotten please remember that Chaudhry Shujaat’s brother Chaudhry Wajahat was detained a few days ago in London and then deported. The Chaudhries of Gujrat have huge investment in human smuggling and it is fairly well known internationally. Interestingly while Wajahat is not even an MP anymore Pakistan’s foreign office called an office bearer of the British High Commission and scolded him for the episode. This otherwise seldom happens. But you can gauge the influence of the Chaudhries by the fact that when last time Pakistan had to face international pressure instead of throwing out the Chaudhries the poor interior minister had to face the brunt. Even today they have broken all the records of negative political advertising and are found publishing crude language in their ads. In short Keith Ryan’s death could be an attempt to cover up the sad human trafficking business in Pakistan. Maybe his father who works for Boston Globe can put more pressure on the US State Department and the FBI to take the incident more seriously, through his media contacts.
PS: Musharraf has created a culture of insecurity in the country where anyone can be kidnapped by the agencies or killed and the people blamed for such incidents are none other than the terrorists. The only man who stood up against this in the judiciary has been sacked with his fellow judges already. No hope of justice in this country then.

Posted by farrukh at 11:37:54.

Robert Fisk: They don’t blame al-Qa’ida. They blame Musharraf
Published: 29 December 2007
Courtesy: The Independent
Weird, isn’t it, how swiftly the narrative is laid down for us. Benazir Bhutto, the courageous leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, is assassinated in Rawalpindi – attached to the very capital of Islamabad wherein ex-General Pervez Musharraf lives – and we are told by George Bush that her murderers were “extremists” and “terrorists”. Well, you can’t dispute that.
But the implication of the Bush comment was that Islamists were behind the assassination. It was the Taliban madmen again, the al-Qa’ida spider who struck at this lone and brave woman who had dared to call for democracy in her country.
Of course, given the childish coverage of this appalling tragedy – and however corrupt Ms Bhutto may have been, let us be under no illusions that this brave lady is indeed a true martyr – it’s not surprising that the “good-versus-evil” donkey can be trotted out to explain the carnage in Rawalpindi.
Who would have imagined, watching the BBC or CNN on Thursday, that her two brothers, Murtaza and Shahnawaz, hijacked a Pakistani airliner in 1981 and flew it to Kabul where Murtaza demanded the release of political prisoners in Pakistan. Here, a military officer on the plane was murdered. There were Americans aboard the flight – which is probably why the prisoners were indeed released.
Only a few days ago – in one of the most remarkable (but typically unrecognised) scoops of the year – Tariq Ali published a brilliant dissection of Pakistan (and Bhutto) corruption in the London Review of Books, focusing on Benazir and headlined: “Daughter of the West”. In fact, the article was on my desk to photocopy as its subject was being murdered in Rawalpindi.
Towards the end of this report, Tariq Ali dwelt at length on the subsequent murder of Murtaza Bhutto by police close to his home at a time when Benazir was prime minister – and at a time when Benazir was enraged at Murtaza for demanding a return to PPP values and for condemning Benazir’s appointment of her own husband as minister for industry, a highly lucrative post.
In a passage which may yet be applied to the aftermath of Benazir’s murder, the report continues: “The fatal bullet had been fired at close range. The trap had been carefully laid, but, as is the way in Pakistan, the crudeness of the operation – false entries in police log-books, lost evidence, witnesses arrested and intimidated – a policeman killed who they feared might talk – made it obvious that the decision to execute the prime minister’s brother had been taken at a very high level.”
When Murtaza’s 14-year-old daughter, Fatima, rang her aunt Benazir to ask why witnesses were being arrested – rather than her father’s killers – she says Benazir told her: “Look, you’re very young. You don’t understand things.” Or so Tariq Ali’s exposé would have us believe. Over all this, however, looms the shocking power of Pakistan’s ISI, the Inter Services Intelligence.
This vast institution – corrupt, venal and brutal – works for Musharraf.
But it also worked – and still works – for the Taliban. It also works for the Americans. In fact, it works for everybody. But it is the key which Musharraf can use to open talks with America’s enemies when he feels threatened or wants to put pressure on Afghanistan or wants to appease the ” extremists” and “terrorists” who so oppress George Bush. And let us remember, by the way, that Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter beheaded by his Islamist captors in Karachi, actually made his fatal appointment with his future murderers from an ISI commander’s office. Ahmed Rashid’s book Taliban provides riveting proof of the ISI’s web of corruption and violence. Read it, and all of the above makes more sense.
But back to the official narrative. George Bush announced on Thursday he was “looking forward” to talking to his old friend Musharraf. Of course, they would talk about Benazir. They certainly would not talk about the fact that Musharraf continues to protect his old acquaintance – a certain Mr Khan – who supplied all Pakistan’s nuclear secrets to Libya and Iran. No, let’s not bring that bit of the “axis of evil” into this.
So, of course, we were asked to concentrate once more on all those ” extremists” and “terrorists”, not on the logic of questioning which many Pakistanis were feeling their way through in the aftermath of Benazir’s assassination.
It doesn’t, after all, take much to comprehend that the hated elections looming over Musharraf would probably be postponed indefinitely if his principal political opponent happened to be liquidated before polling day.
So let’s run through this logic in the way that Inspector Ian Blair might have done in his policeman’s notebook before he became the top cop in London.
Question: Who forced Benazir Bhutto to stay in London and tried to prevent her return to Pakistan? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who ordered the arrest of thousands of Benazir’s supporters this month? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who placed Benazir under temporary house arrest this month? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who declared martial law this month? Answer General Musharraf.
Question: who killed Benazir Bhutto?
Er. Yes. Well quite.
You see the problem? Yesterday, our television warriors informed us the PPP members shouting that Musharraf was a “murderer” were complaining he had not provided sufficient security for Benazir. Wrong. They were shouting this because they believe he killed her.

Posted by farrukh at 08:37:40

[Candle in the wind I By Farrukh Khan Pitafi I Who killed Benazir Bhutto? I Dated: December 31, 2007]A week before Mohtarma Benazir’s martyrdom, a curious thing happened to me. No it was not any agency threat or anything of the sort (I am not important enough). I was sitting in my office typing something, totally consumed, when I remembered that my cigarettes were lying in the other room. Absentmindedly I rose with full strength and a wall cabinet’s lower edge hit me in the right side of my skull. Believe me I am quite an energetic man with a relatively frail skull and the edge of the cabinet was quite sharp. For a while I thought that it was the end of my world, but then I quickly regained my nerve. My head was bleeding, but there was hardly any dent in the skull. The bleeding continued for a few hours while I returned to my work and kept mopping it. But then the bleeding stopped and my life regained its normalcy. But after listening to the interior ministry’s press conference, I am really astounded that I am alive for Mohtarma also succumbed to a shock caused by her own strength. Granted that I am a man and my skull has to be stronger, but then I certainly have more strength too. I am not out of mourning yet and lack enough emotional strength to pen an obituary of someone I really loved as a leader or my views on her assassination. It is only after such clumsy official theories and equally clumsy analyses by the government’s crony journalists that I had to pick up the pen. We are told to believe that Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack. As a proof we are offered a supposedly intercepted conversation between him and a cohort, which is so ambiguous that it does not even mention proper verbs, what to talk of proper nouns or naming names. How do we know that this conversation actually took place and that the discussants were talking about killing her, not slaying a dozen camels on Eid, killing some local for vengeance or even some local or foreign security official? I do not mean to absolve Baitullah Mehsud of any responsibility. Nor do I imply that he is any lesser evil. I consider him another lethal invention of the establishment who should be crushed with an iron fist. I just want to explain to you the scope of the problem and elaborate to you why the current setup stands to benefit from the execution.
Every crisis has a contingent factor and an underlying cause. Those who want to absolve the establishment of its involvement in such heinous crimes can conveniently point to the contingent factor or the immediate cause. For instance someone can argue that Zulfi Bhutto was hanged because of his own alleged crimes. Shahnawaz must have been poisoned by his own wife. Murtaza was not only an alleged perpetrator of a plane hijack, but was also killed by his own brother-in-law. And hence Benazir Bhutto was killed by fanatics and her own alleged opportunism. But is it not easier to realise that none of them died of a natural death and in mysterious circumstances? Is it not easier to think that the establishment, weary of the Bhutto name tag, of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s legacy, has finally done what it was dying to do now for decades? Who can kill a man, his own sister or a fat establishment, which accepted neither of the two in the first place?
We are told that Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz, Ahsan Saleem Hayat and Sherpao were attacked too. The former prime minister and the former VCOAS both were targeted before they were to be given new and more powerful responsibilities. At least in the latter’s case the terrorists did not know that he was to rise to this eminence. But all of these high profile people not only survived these attacks, they also remained mostly unharmed. Benazir Bhutto did not, hence there is no comparison. And why were Musharraf’s real cohorts, those leading the PML-Q, never attacked let alone killed?
We are talking about an evil force that kills an elected prime minister after establishing a fake case against him, kills a brother and blames his sister, who unfortunately happens to be a powerless premier at that time, and then finally finishes her off too by bringing her back through a deal that turns out to be nothing but deceit. We are also talking about its crony intellectuals who first establish their liberal credentials, support this woman momentarily, then support the man who sacked her by heading investigations against her, then as the power shifts pretend to support her again, invite her back home, switch loyalties again when martial law is imposed once more and when she is killed, rush to write news analyses to absolve the authorities of any responsibility. Those who call her an opportunist should first find a good clear mirror. It is the classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
I am saddened by hypocrisy because my mind is absolutely incapable of processing this eerie brand of civilised humanity.
Those who think that the current setup was bound only to lose from her death need to think again. She was the most potent challenger to Musharraf and he was also losing image in the West owing to the resurgence of terrorism. With one stroke his would-be successor was killed and the West was compelled to think that there was no alternative to him. He and his cronies were hence bound to gain from her death. And what else can be said when the martyr herself identified her would-be assassin in an e-mail that made its way to Wolf Blitzer. But just in case you forget, he had identified not one but two successors in two distinct fields. With one successor dead, the other successor needs to watch his steps carefully and stay safe.
The story behind Benazir’s death is too gruesome and complex. To understand it fully we need a full blown international investigation, but perhaps not now. An impartial inquiry can take place only in the absence of Musharraf and also the absence of the neo-cons from Washington and New York. While we will have to wait for the latter for a few months, the former should materialise immediately, for otherwise precious evidence may get destroyed. If nothing else he should step down taking responsibility for the failure of the state. And meanwhile please beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Courtesy The Post

Dubai certainly is an oasis in the desert. It is certainly not Egypt which could pride itself on the legacy of the Pharaohs or Iraq which could boast about the Mesopotamian splendours. It is an artificially carved state without any original culture or history built painstakingly upon the petrodollars and with a clear view to attract investment. Its free port, stability, pluralist culture and free media city has made it quite attractive to the investors. All was going well when the administration here decided to shut down two eminent Pakistani news channels under pressure from foreign quarters. The UAE authorities may take quite while to understand what they have done to their future. Now no investor will ever feel safe there because the state which thus far has tolerated the presence of international criminals like Dawood Ibrahim has shown that when it comes to tolerating rather more civilised methods of dissent it can succumb to foreign pressures or vested interests. In the coming months I see foreign investment being drained out from here. Alas, one can only wish that the authorities should have thought twice before taking this silly action. This reminds me that about two and a half years ago I had Written an interesting article on the Arab economic interests in Pakistan. Please do read it by continuing this blog entry. The article titled “The Arab impact” was carried by The Nation Lahore on July 4, 2005. So here you go: The Arab Impact By Farrukh Khan Pitafi It is the era of Ayub Khan. A banker is almost begging the President to accompany him to welcome the President of UAE. The President in uniform does not show much interest. The urging banker Agha Hasan Abidi himself has to rush to the airport and after arranging a red carpet on his own, he goes on to welcome the visiting dignitary. That was then. Today situation seems a bit different. There is inauguration of only a branch of UAE’s bank and the Education Minister of the same country is in town. The ceremony witnesses the presence of another Pakistani President in uniform. President Pervez Musharraf has especially come to Lahore to grace the occasion. Something has clearly changed. But what exactly? Why this colossal paradigm shift in the attitudes of Pakistan’s establishment? This huge revolution in the way Pakistan sees the Arab world was essentially necessitated by changing times. There can be no gainsaying that Pakistan’s recent historical experiences can be called much more than just interesting. But there are no short cuts to understanding the complexity and the depth of relations between the Arab world and Pakistan. In such a situation, it seems advisable to study the developments in retrospect and historical context. And this cannot be done without taking into cognisance the history of Arab financial interests in Pakistan as well. If the editors of our academic curricula allow us to say, we may submit that the Arab contacts with the regions in Pakistan today are much older than Muhammad bin Qasim, older perhaps even than the advent of Islam. But the living memory today recalls their presence in a very strange manner. Quite contrary to the today’s images of rich and affluent Arabs those who can recollect the distant memories of late thirties and early forties speak of an eerie phenomenon namely the Arab beggars. No metaphor, no exaggeration but plain and simple beggary. According to such reflections Arabs quite obviously before the discovery of oil wealth and flow of petrodollars used to arrive in these areas during the month of Ramadan and others and used to literally beg. Undoubtedly, this class never did represent the Arabs in absolute term but they at least represented the general impoverishment in the Middle East. All of this changed with the discovery of the oil deposits in commercial quantities in the Arab world in fifties. But the days of this discovery were marked by international strife. Nascent Pakistan was swarmed by its unilateral love for Washington and India was playing its Muslim card quite effectively. Arab capital interests in Pakistan could hardly be of any consequence. The piddling little boring country when compared to the gigantic and vibrant India made choices quite clearer. Situation kept dragging just like that during the Ayubian era and under Yahya. The 1971 fiasco and the demise of the East Pakistan proved to be a catastrophic blow to Pakistan’s Muslim credentials as well as the overall confidence in Pakistan’s future. Bhutto’s Islamic Summit in this context proved to be a fresh breath of hope. With a single event the attention of the Arabs was once again brought back to Pakistan. But it must be remembered that those years were of fierce nationalisation. Private investment could hardly be a serious option as there was no solace for the investor that the new projects would not be nationalised. Seventies hence witnessed Arab investment only in philanthropic and social sector. Sheikh Zayed’s financing of hospital constructions at Lahore, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan and Larkana are its examples. There were umpteen other endowment projects too. It must be noted that Rahimyar Khan is one of the fastest growing cities of the country and this growth can be attributed to the economic activity created by such endowments. Pakistan was also gradually proving itself a good host for its Arab interlocutors who could revel here in convivialities of life like hunting. A Mutual Cooperation Agreement between Pakistan and UAE was also enforced since March 1974. Eighties saw the Arab interests building further on the developments of seventies. For private investment Pakistan was still a jittery place but the scope of state to state investment could not be underestimated. Projects like PARCO and Saudi Pak ventures were hence born. Early eighties were also days of remarkable convergence. Zia’s religious disposition, America’s proxy war against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Arab interest in the struggle all were bringing things together. The end of the cold war however shunted Pakistan to the backburner. This trend would continue till the 9/11 attacks. However during the days of ailing economy Pakistani functionaries would rush to Middle East for help. Another major spoiler was the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a massive blow to the image and integrity of Pakistan in the Arab world. 9/11 however radically transformed the investment geography of the world. The main focus of Arab investment thus far United States of America was turning into a hostile land. The US citizens were failing to forget that an overwhelming majority of the 9/11 attackers were Arab nationals. Intellectuals like Michael Moore were also grilling Bush administration for their alleged relations and business interests with the Arab leaders. The USadministration had also acquired terrible powers to open up and freeze just any account on the suspicion of aid to Osama. Prince Talal was even humiliated by Rudy Juliani while standing on a building owned by the Prince himself. It was certainly time to take money elsewhere. On the other side Pakistan after the demise of the cold war had seen a devastating economic crisis. Every now and then someone had to go abroad and beg for the country’s economic survival. By the time Nawaz Sharif was replaced by General Musharraf the burden of nuclearisation and increasing UShostility towards Pakistan due to Kargil and the Taleban had created even deeper wounds in the country’s economic revival mechanism. With the post 9/11 decisions, the weight of allegations of exporting destabilising ideologies on Pakistan was unburdened. Now it was getting a better place to invest. Fortunately General Musharraf had brought with himself a team of economic experts, leading among whom was a certain Shaukat Aziz. Was it not the same banker who had dealt with numerous Sheikh Families in the Middle East as clients. The trustworthy chap had finally made the task of trusting Pakistan much easier. Meanwhile Pakistan had already learnt the fruits of enterprise through the hard way and was ready to em
brace just anyone who brought investment in the country. The exodus of Arab capital was actually directed towards Europe. But there were certainly other markets too worth investing with the petrodollars. Pakistan hence became a natural choice. And then came the onslaught of the capital that continues to date. The question arises have the Arabs really invested today in any substantial way? The answer which will also be illustrated later is that yes they have. The Arab investments in three key sectors namely finance, telecommunication and real estate are really substantial ones. Just take for instance the recent purchase of the strategic shares of PTCL by UAE’s company Eitesalat. Falletti’s hotel’s purchase, Kanooz al Watan’s momentary investment in KESC, Warid’s mobile service and Orascom’s takeover of Mobilink. But these are projects well known to the common man. There are uncountable others and uncountable already in the pipeline. For example 55 storey Sheikh Zyed Centre being constructed near Ferozpur road with an investment of Rs 15 billion. Bank Alfalah worth an investment of $170m and UBL with $ 104m tag are already no secrets. These and a new project of Warid telecom called Wateen worth a $100m are owned by the renowned Abu Dhabi group. Another joint venture between the Government of Punjab and a Middle Eastern Company Ta’awun called Lakeview Housing Project located near Shadrah across Raviplans to invest $ 3 billion on about 30000 acres of land which is no lesser than a city in scope. Another joint venture with Pakistan by company called Al Ghurair Group has envisaged a huge set of residential towers called Gold Crest worth $ 550m has procured 40 acres of prime land I Phase II of DHA Islamabad and will comprise of 15 towers with 30 storeys and 20 towers of 10 storeys. Another middle Eastern group called Al Habtoor Group known for its contributions like Buruj al Arab plans to build 26 tower enclave in collaboration with Bahria town opposite DHA Lahore with an investment of $2 billion. Meanwhile the Coastal Group of UAE in collaboration with German Daimler Chrysler plans to setup a Hydel Power project worth $ 2 billion and an automobiles project worth $1 billion to build trucks for defence forces. Hilal Hussein Al Tuwairqi, chairman of the Al Tuwairqi Group of Saudi Arabia, signed a memorandum of understanding recently in Islamabad to establish a steel plant in Karachi estimated at $100 million. It is also said that the Saudis are planning an additional investment of $1 billion in defence technology here. These and many more are quite visible investments and if the trend continues to snowball like this we may soon reach a new pinnacle. But a few serious questions are still needed to be asked. Will Pakistan be able to sustain this speed of capital investment? Will Islamabad be able to benefit from these investments too or the returns would once again disappear leaving no trace? And finally, what impact would these have on Pakistan’s body politic? Given the government’s plans to harness the Central Asian resources to the international capital markets, which has quite adroitly been marketed, such a capital inflow can comfortably be sustained and there is good chance they it would increase over time. As for the capacity to benefit, answer to this concern strictly remains with Islamabad. It is the choice of today’s leaders whether they let this wealth of the nation grow or let the corrupt few devour it. And as for the impact on Pakistani society it must be said that it will finally assume the shape which the cartographers of enlightened moderation wanted it to take. If handled carefully these changes can help the government improve the country’s infrastructure, simultaneously strengthening the bonds with the brother countries. But any haste can render any good project as harmful as the final collapse of BCCI. http://nation.com.pk/daily/july-2005/4/bnews7.php

Posted by farrukh at 21:27:17.

(Breathing space - September 28, 2007)

The month of Ramadan usually comes with a spiritual package. To me, at least, it used to promise a host of emotional luxuries. I used to feel that I was only inches away from God from where I could whisper anything in the Almighty’s ears. But that feeling is gone. I do not know whether it is the necessary part of the ageing process or a spiritual drought has swarmed our mortal lives. Or maybe it is mere disillusion over the six years of watching human beings killed so recklessly by their fellow humans quite regularly. Yet I am stuck not in the world of disbelief, but in a quagmire of emotional alienation. As if someone too close has deserted me never to return. I am not faithless, it is just that I have placed my faith in a locker and lost its keys.
Article continues: Click here I submit this for I am more than just a bit enraged at a sad debate. Time magazine recently published a set of letters written by Mother Teresa confessing her lack of religious experience. She seemed mortally distressed by what she called the absence of God in her life. It is a tricky issue now because the Vatican has already launched her name on the fast track to sainthood. If she is given the status of a saint, these letters can embarrass the Holy See considerably. There are already people all too keen to launch a mud-slinging campaign. But they all miss the point.
Mother Teresa was a miracle. Not a prophet who could do miracles, but a proof of God’s miracles and that such things can exist. From the rather privileged part of the world she travelled to India and dedicated her life to the welfare of the poor. Can I or you leave our cosy lives for such a purpose? I think not. I must make no bones that seeing such abysmal poverty and such suffering is a heartrending experience. If watching people being killed by war and nature simply on the idiot box can shake my faith, despite the fact that I have seen some miracles in my life, imagine Mother Teresa’s feelings when she lived in a place where she was the only hope among the impoverished. She was bound to have doubts.
But were that anguish and that distance from the ultimate truth out of some mortal weakness? Far from it. It was out of sheer love for God’s creations. How can those who believe in God misconstrue her pain so badly? Maybe they do not understand that our superficial commendations and titles are quite irrelevant to those who are in the presence of the Almighty all the time due to their sheer love for His creations. To me and to the uncountable healed by her or rightly guided through her example of compassionate life, she is a saint and will always remain on that high pedestal. If there is any regret, however, it is that the spirit of her work is not enduring. We have again resumed our reckless disassociation from the sufferings of the impoverished. We have divided the world into races, colours, nationalities and faiths. A member of each group is allowed to think that it is his/her born right to kill others.
Let me now come back to my original question. Has God really abandoned us? I was just pondering over the little devastations in our so-called civilised world and reflecting how much damage has already been done during the last seven years since the neo-cons rose to power in the US. There used to be a compassionate Pope John Paul and now we have a Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, who believes in the clash of civilisations. We had a Kofi Annan and now we have Ban Ki-moon, who is known as Ban-chusa (an administrative clerk) in Korea. We used to have Gerhard Schröder in Germany and Angela Merkel is there now, whose support for the Iraq war is well known. The moral courage of Jacques Chirac was exemplary in France and his seat has been taken by Nicolas Sarkozy, who is dubbed as the bete noire or at times as its Trojan horse. Just consider his war threats to Iran. And yes, Iran used to have Muhammad Khatemi and behold now this new Dr Strangelove called Ahmadinejad. And in the US the Democrats now sound so similar to the Republicans. All hope is gone. Maybe the only space left in the world for some political dissent is Moscow, but here too change already seems in the offing. One can only hope that the good people of Russia do not commit the same mistake as that of the French and the Germans. Even if the neo-cons are gone in the next elections, the damage done to the world will endure for a while.
Or maybe God has not abandoned us. Maybe we feel like this because it is us that have abandoned our true selves. We have become supremacist and boorish. We have become so self-righteous that all we can do is to keep groaning in self-pity and feel no remorse for what we have done to others. Not to stand up and take charge, but to keep moaning how things are going to the dogs. Maybe God is still there, but we have stopped seeing Him because we have eyes only for ourselves. And none of us want to be a miracle like Mother Teresa any longer.
But to be fair there are still people with a heart out there. India’s Sony Entertainment Television has recently started a drama series called Amber Dhara about the suffering of conjoined or Siamese twins. It is a touching series and even though it reinforces the feeling about the absence of God, it really has the capacity to shock and embarrass us and in this way to create more empathy for those who are either born in this condition or are related to people facing this challenge. Although maybe the author of this play, who has indeed done a commendable job, does not believe in miracles, but he has certainly brought to our mundane world another miracle in the shape of this humane work. But then what would you say about our attitude towards those who suffer from tabooed diseases. Recently a film actress passed away in the land of the pure and speculation was in the air that she was suffering from AIDS. Honestly, when will we learn to treat the people suffering from this disease with compassion? Why do we forget that it can happen to just anybody and when that person is bound to die, why should we make what is left of his/her life more difficult?
If we want some divine inspiration back in our lives, we need to try seeing God in the smiles of those we help. If this world looks like the world of Harry Potter abandoned by JK Rowling after the seventh book, instead of losing hope, we should try to bring it back to His attention through our deeds and not only hollow words or prayers. If our predecessors could return from the brink of destruction, why cannot we?

Courtesy: The Post

The world of espionage and spy-speak needs no introduction. Our fiction, movies, discussions and everyday news all are full of vivid images from this field. The world of secrets that should actually stay out of sight remained visible for about a decade immediately after the end of the Soviet Union and hence the star-crossed Cold War. The apparent reason was the perceived end of history and the lack of an enemy. Then came 9/11 and the secret agencies the world over again ran for cover. Yet thanks to the transparency in the Western world, we have a truckload of declassified documents that help us understand the functioning of this secret community of movers and shakers. From James Jesus Angleton, code named Mother, to John E. McLaughlin also known with his moniker Merlin, there is a secret legacy of paranoia and quest that is eventually becoming visible with every passing day. And then of course there is a treasure trove of knowledge shared with us by people like George Tenet and Michael Sheuer. Our study draws further solace from the works of people like Bob Woodward, whose book titled Bush at War is considered by Sheuer as an act of high treason.

Almost something of the same proportion happened in Pakistan immediately after the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan. Our intelligence community went haywire and we witnessed half-witted works like The Bear Trap, which take too much blame for a war that was never in our interest. Consequent days would prove how effectively the authors of these works had played into the hands of their Western friends and paved the way for Pakistan’s implication in the sordid saga of al Qaeda. After the Soviet demise, we also witnessed the growing role of Pakistani agencies in politics. General Hamid Gul and his successors have confessed this role on record. The formation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI – so close to the acronym ISI) is no secret. This role instead of declining has only increased after 9/11, as the US thus far has supported Musharraf categorically and tolerated all methods employed by him to stay in power. Virtually at the same time, the agencies got deeply engrossed in capturing Pakistanis and other nationals in the country and handing them over to the Americans in the name of the war on terror.

Clandestine operations usually take place under a clearly planned cover. When these covers or fictitious alibis are blown prematurely, the entire operation is exposed. Due to these covers it is the duty of each operative and office bearer in a clandestine service to lie, deceive and to keep secrets even under oath and despite all political and other pressures. That is exactly what is called ‘Counter-Intelligence’ in which Angleton was considered quite adept. Considerable resources of a state go into counter-intelligence and when an alibi or a cover story needs evidence, evidence, if not found, is generated. This makes it difficult to trust the books or statements by any influential office bearer of a spy agency like George Tenet. But where there is no other option, we have to use such material to make sense of the known facts. But there still is a way to tell facts from fiction. Cover development or counter-intelligence is an onerous job and needs great hair splitting. It usually leaves behind traces that can be spotted easily when you keep the overall huge body of intelligence-related works in front of you and when the old traditions are kept in mind. Often one official version contradicts another and given the facts that we know, it is quite easy to spot the weak point in a story. This becomes even easier in the developing world because here details are often neglected, or in case of dissent, some spies deliberately leave traces in the alternative story. Just one recent example. Only a few days back, the Director Generals of the Military Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau submitted their affidavits that certainly try to give some evidence. It is quite natural that these and other affidavits must have passed through the hands of the intelligence experts too. Yet the documents contain glaring contradictions. It is no place to discuss those contradictions in detail here and suffice it to say that it seems quite evident that either these documents were prepared in great haste (which seems improbable), with very little work force or then these mistakes, just like in Musharraf’s book, were consciously embedded just to highlight the fact that the heart of the author was not in his work.

Call it the world of secrets or as Angleton dubbed it the wilderness of mirrors, there is no doubt that the world of intelligence is full of surprises and interesting stories. That is exactly why from James Bond to Austin Powers and Johnny English you find such an open and at times subtle glorification of the profession in the popular media. Likewise, the story of counter-intelligence is equally important. How can I forget the story narrated to me by a retired army officer who during his intelligence test sold off all his father’s religious books as he was pretending to be a street bookseller as part of his cover during his test?

At times counter-intelligence from an unlikely source seems only too powerful. Indian counter-intelligence is considered to be quite classy. The Yanks actually claim that they were caught totally off guard at the time of the Pokharan nuclear tests. This claim seems unbelievable given the power of the US National Reconnaissance Office. Likewise, the US intelligence community hired an Indian citizen to serve as a mole in the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), but it was after ages that it dawned upon them that this man was part of RAW’s counter-intelligence activity and had been feeding details of RAW’s choice.

The world of intelligence is so big that something always keeps happening somewhere. But apart from the romantic portrayal, there is a degree of the fear factor that has crept into the story. People forget that the intelligence operatives of your own country and that of your supposed enemies are also human beings. If books like Tenet’s have made public anything, it is the fact that all intelligence practitioners are also human with equally complicated lives. Nor should it be forgotten that the operations of intelligence are based primarily on the idea of cultural other or even the presence of an enemy. How much is this concept real and how much make-believe is not every intelligence operative’s own choice.

From childhood, this topic has been of great interest to me. But that interest has only remained academic. I have gone through so much literature on this subject that I find it quite interesting to deconstruct each episode in the light of available facts, visible contradictions and personal speculation. I can only boast of being a student of intelligence history, but in the world of intelligence, history often proves to be a Rosetta stone for the unknown future. So let us join hands for this new voyage into the wilderness of mirrors.

Posted by farrukh at 08:44:44.

While the information minister has claimed that the media freedom enjoyed in Pakistan is a role model for the entire region, facts point to a much grimmer reality. Resproduced below is the letter from Publisher/CEO of DAWN Group of Newspapers which speaks volumes about the dire realities of media environment in Pakistan today. We have already seen what happened to the biggest private television enterprise Geo TV, owned by another big newspaper group of the country. I hope my readers get the picture.
—–
The Letter

March 23, 2007
Dear Madam / Sir,
I am writing to draw your attention to an important matter that indicates the rapidly worsening environment for the freedom of press in Pakistan.

It has always been difficult for governments to coexist with a free and independent press in Pakistan. Of late, however, the government headed by President Musharraf has become increasingly intolerant towards criticism in the press and towards the publishing of news that reflects poorly on the performance of his government on security matters.

One of the intended casualties of this swelling hostility between government and press in Pakistan is the DAWN Group of Newspapers, the country’s largest independent English language newspaper and magazines publishing house.

Since December 2006, the DAWN Group is facing massive advertising cuts equivalent to two thirds of total government advertising. This has occurred primarily as a consequence of a decision ostensibly taken by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s government, but in reality ordered by General Musharraf and engineered by several of his advisors that constitute the government’s inner cabinet.

It is clear that objections to the propriety of the DAWN Group’s editorial policies emanate mainly from President Musharraf’s office and his stance is heavily influenced by key advisors who have been entrusted with responsibility for implementing crisis management and conflict control in flashpoint areas. Particularly sensitive for the agreement are the escalating developments in Pakistan’s western province of Baluchistan, and in the tribal agencies of North & South Wazirstan on the Afghan border. Also irksome have been the DAWN Group’s related attempts to monitor a recurring tendency toward covert militancy among responsible decision-makers in government.

While preparing this dossier, I have attempted to include details and supporting documentation wherever possible, to facilitate your assessment as a key practitioner in the press rights movement internationally. Recent events in Pakistan indicate that attempts by the government to curtail the autonomy of the judiciary have been on the increase. This may have facilitated a temporary unintended pause in the government’s relentless campaign to muzzle the press. But such pauses presage a return to more coercive methods by government against the press, once the messy business of the executive - judicial conflict is brought to a successful halt.

If you peruse the documents accompanying this letter, you will find a chronology of events that cover the continuing conflict between the DAWN Group and the Government of Pakistan in the critical years 2004 to 2007. (Refer Appendix A 1.0) and that reflects some of the main causes of the present breakdown of communication between the government and the DAWN Group.

In the first phase, approximating with the years 2004 to 2005, the Government of Pakistan essentially worked by attempting to exert pressure on the Dawn Group by proxy - the proxy in this case being the Provincial Government of Sindh. It is in Sindh’southern metropolis of Karachi, that the headquarters of the DAWN Group of Newspapers are located.

This period first witnessed the government’s exerting of harsh pressures on our daily evening newspaper - The STAR - by attempting to intimidate and harass journalists with false cases and concocted charges, and by a failed attempt to implicate the writer of this letter, as CEO of the Group, in a totally fabricated incident of terrorism and illegal weapons possession. (Refer Appendix A 1.1.1, to, 1.1.4 and 2.1.2)

This attempt culminated with a complete ban on advertising on DAWN Group newspapers and magazines by the Government of Sindh. However, in response to a petition filed by DAWN’s lawyers, the Sindh High Court ruled in DAWN’s favour. The Sindh Government sensing an impeding debacle withdrew the advertising ban in advance of the Court’s final verdict.

The second stage involved the direct exerting of pressure by the Federal Government itself. After a series of fumbling measures and half-hearted advertisement bans by the Federal Government with respect to DAWN in 2005, a turning point was reached when one of our influential current affairs magazines, the HERALD, published a series of controversial stories and articles from June 2005 onwards on topics such as the Pakistan Government’s war against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in North and South Wazirstan; a possible resurgence of covert government support to Kashmiri militants; and also on the mushrooming policy debacle for government with respect to the Bugti insurgency in Baluchistan. (Refer Appendix A 1.2.1, to, 1.2.4 and 2.2.2)

In September 2006 when the government approached DAWN in its attempt to seek a news blackout regarding Baluchistan and the troubled FATA agencies of North and South Wazirstan, the editor of DAWN, Mr. Abbas Nasir, and the Directors of the Board of the DAWN Group, concluded that the government’s ‘request’ was unreasonable and needed to be firmly turned down. (Refer Appendix A 2.2.2 September – December 2006)

As a consequence, the government imposed an almost comprehensive ban on Federal Government advertising. (Refer Appendix A 2.2.2t) with an intent to provoke the financial collapse of the DAWN Group.

The DAWN Group had somewhat anticipated events from the increasingly strident tone of government criticism of its news policies and from the subsequent escalation in unreasonable informational demands from the government. As a precautionary measure aimed at reducing large financial deficits, we were forced to suspend the publication of our newspaper, the STAR, an important, but financial deficit generating newspaper, which has existed for over half a century and had been founded by working journalists of the DAWN Group.

Financial conditions within DAWN now became even more vulnerable to outside pressures as a consequence of our decision to commence work on a new TV channel – DAWN News. The grant of television broadcasting licences by the government towards such end is farmed out to a government organisation - the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) set up courtesy of an Ordinance passed in 2002. The President of Pakistan had on three different occasions in the last three years publicly announced that the controversial cross-media ownership rule (illegally tagged onto the PEMRA Ordinance as a subsequent rule/regulation by the authority) would be withdrawn and the large resource of talent available in the print media would be allowed to participate in the burgeoning electronic media revolution in Pakistan. Public opinion expressed itself in the widely held conviction that with the entry of the mainstream print media in the electronic media profession, discriminatory attitudes and the repressive stance of PEMRA with respect to press freedoms in the electronic media (Refer Appendix B & C) would be rolled back. However, the government’s current position in the courts with respect to DAWN’s application for a television broadcast licence (Refer Appendix A 2.3.2) has forced a rapid reassessment of public opinion with respect to the bonafides of government intention and clearly demonstrates that President Musharraf’s government is bent on pursuing a policy of blatant cronyism vis a vis the inclusion of selected and preferred print media houses in the electronic media revolution, and the rejection of others considered as hostile or non-compliant to government needs.

The government also appears determined to continue the domination of all news content on TV channels and on FM radio through harsh and repressive regulatory directives from PEMRA, evidenced in the grant of temporary uplink permissions in place of valid broadcasting licenses to selected channels of PEMRA’s preference.

The recent spate of programmes banned on television by PEMRA and a physical attack engineered by government on the offices of a prominent TV news channel-cum-newspaper office, clearly demonstrate the prevalence of government’s excesses in this matter.

In early December 2005 when the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Shaukat Aziz summoned the undersigned to a meeting at Governor House (Sindh) to announce the Sindh Government’s decision to withdraw its advertising ban on the DAWN Group, he clearly informed me that the government was keen that DAWN should go ahead and set up a TV channel for the broadcast of English language news. The President’s constant public declarations regarding the withdrawal of the notoriously exclusionary cross-media ownership clause in the PEMRA rules and regulations and Parliament’s decision to finally withdraw this rule have not resulted in the licenses promised to newspaper publishing houses outside of government favour- this despite the passing of the legislation by both houses of Parliament . Such permissions have only been granted arbitrarily to selected groups by the government. This has led to a situation where we, at DAWN, in anticipation of the government decision to implement the new law have set up an entire organisation in Pakistan, employing over 350 journalists, technicians and managerial personnel and are anxiously awaiting the promised government license, all the while being forced to squander large financial outlays in anticipation of this.

The government’s refusal to give us a license mainly stems from our refusal to submit to its unethical pressures while reporting events in Baluchistan and North & South Waziristan. This refusal has become an acute cause of concern for the future financial viability of our publishing group.

Clearly the government would dearly like to see us lay off our journalists as they are viewed as a potential source of unwelcome criticism of government policies, rather than as compliant sheep to be hurriedly shepherded by PEMRA according to government whim.

Our colleagues in organisations devoted to protecting the freedom of the press throughout the world have always been a source of moral inspiration and help to us in our struggle for press freedoms in Pakistan.

We therefore urge you to extend your help in this matter and would appreciate if you address your concerns to the authorities in Pakistan regarding the following areas:

That the advertising ban by the Federal Government on the DAWN Group’s advertising is both unwarranted and unethical and a transparent mechanism to exert pressure on the newspaper group’s policies in contravention of the internationally accepted norms of objective news reporting.
That the decision to withhold a television broadcast license to the DAWN Group by the government is in violation of the judgments of the High Court of Sindh and the consent declarations made by PEMRA and the Federal Minister of Information in the Sindh High Court. Such right should be granted to other applying media groups as well on the same terms .
That the Government of Pakistan continue to submit its policies in Baluchistan and its agreements with the pro Taliban tribesmen of North & South Waziristan to the rigorous assessment of public and media scrutiny.
That the Government of Pakistan desist from abducting and arresting journalists in the judicious performance of their duties, and desist from physically attacking newspaper offices as has occurred last week in Islamabad.
Your concerns in this respect may be addressed to:

The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf,
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Shaukat Aziz,
The Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Rana Bhagwandas,
The Federal Minister for Information Development, Government of Pakistan, Mr Mohammed Ali Durrani.
In addition your concerns should also be expressed to other key decision makers in the Government of Pakistan, urging all of them to desist from repressive, illegal and unethical practices deployed in their effort to subvert press freedoms.

For your ease of communication, I am including relevant fax contact details:

General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan +9251-9221388
Mr Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan +9251-9212866
Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan +9251-9213452
Mr Mohammed Ali Durrani, Federal Minister for Information Development, Government of Pakistan +9251- 9203740
Thank you in anticipation for your much needed support in this matter.

Yours sincerely,Hameed Haroon
CEO & Publisher,
DAWN Group of Newspapers

Annex A: Summary and Chronology 2004-2007
Annex B: Media Control Through PERMA Ordinance
Annex C: Explanatory Note on the PERMA Rule on Cross Media Ownership
Annex D: Supporting Documentation

Posted by farrukh at 14:49:58. Filed under: General - edit

So Anna Nicole Smith is dead. Most of us know her for her court cases and the show named after her. I have seen only half of the first season. It was painful how the producers celebrated her marriage to an octogenarian millionaire. Most of her show was embarrassing to viewers like me. But that is not the point. Most prominent in the show was her attorney friend who went on to become her boyfriend. And he has claimed to be the father of her recently born daughter as well. If we study the case carefully it is third death in the series of unexplained events. First was the demise of her husband’s son and her main challenger. Then very close to her daughter’s birth was her first child’s death who could inherit some of her potential fortune. Does it not appear the case of a well managed conspiracy. Her boyfriend certainly seems the chief suspect. But my hunch is that he’ll go free and something close to OJ Simpson will happen. OJ’s book, excerpts of which have passed my sight, also show the problem with the US justice system. Then don’t forget Michael Jackson’s case. And oh yes, the way Saddam and his step brother were executed. If you don’t know about Qila Jangi then you better google it with the catch phrase ‘war on terror’. Again what about Abu Gharaib and Gitmo. While the US certainly has double standards for its colonies and the other countries of the world, it seems its justice system has developed weakness regarding celebrity issues.
The trouble is that countries like Pakistan have always been places where judiciary serves as prostitute. But the US which is invading countries in the name of human rights and democracy one by one should at least try to come up with a better example. When we see what happened to a capable person like Al Gore in 2000 elections we are forced to ask ourselves is the democracy we are fighting for.