The Fascist Army Pdf

Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid The Fascist Army The story of Pakistan is the story of ambitious and adventurist Generals denying the people their rights. -Former Air Force Chief, Mohammad Asghar Khan Nations take great pride in their armed forces. Nations cherish them and protected by them. In contrast to this general phenomenon, people of Pakistan have only suffered hardships and traumas by its own army. The dream of Pakistan that was visioned by Allama Iqbal and turned into a reality by the hard work and democratic struggle of Mr. Jinnah has gone sour because of all the mafia hood generals of Pakistan’s fascist and rogue Army. The country suffered a great loss in 1971 when its own Army surrendered in shame after committing one of the worst human right crimes in history and perpetrating the holocaust of three million people who were the citizens of Pakistan. According to Article 6 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan "Any person or persons who commit the act of mutiny against the parliament, judiciary and/or the elected members and officials of parliament is/are guilty of committing the highest treason. This person or persons committing such an act must be charged and prosecuted in the court of law and sentenced to death if found guilty" Article 243.1 of the constitution of Pakistan states that 'The Federal Government shall have control and command of the Armed Forces' and when a person is commissioned as a member of the Armed Forces, takes the following oath "I ------, do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan and uphold the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which embodies the will of the people, that I will not engage myself in any political activities whatsoever and that I will honestly and faithfully serve Pakistan Army (or Navy or Air Force) as required by and under the law." In the last six decades Pakistan Army under the command of Fascist Generals has betrayed the nation four times by defying their oath and constitution. Moreover these fascist Generals used their political influence and transformed military into an organized crime syndicate and a business mafia. This organization is the biggest stake holder and stock holder in every big business of Pakistan. They have biggest share in Pakistan’s stock exchange, operate commercial bank, airline, steel, cement, telecom, petroleum and energy, education, sports, health care and even grocery shops chains and bakeries. In short their monopoly is present in every sector of Pakistan’s economy. On the contrary their performance at their profession is nil. Pakistan army being ranked as the seventh biggest army in the world has not conquered a single inch in fact it has only brought embarrassment to the nation in the battle fields of Kargil and Dhaka. This website is a platform to investigate the 'Supremo Syndrome' of this fascist and rogue regime of Pakistan. Moreover, it is an attempt to discover the true democratic Pakistan that was visioned by its founders. Any student of history will tell us that dictatorships are like games of Russian Roulette, with each ending either in the demise of the country, or the dictator. Pakistan’s short history is filled with such examples. Ayub/Yahya’s rule ended with the demise of Pakistan, as it was created by its founding fathers. Zia’s regime ended in his own

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death in mid air. Musharraf's dictatorship came close to following the Zia example many times but he survived. Dr. Maqbool Halepota: An outsider's disturbing report Human rights ignored in the ‘war on terror’ Amnesty International Report: The Pakistani government has committed numerous human rights violations as a result of its cooperation in the US-led "war on terror". Hundreds of people have been arbitrarily detained. Many have been subjected to enforced disappearance - held secretly, incommunicado and in undisclosed locations, with the government refusing to provide information about their fate and whereabouts. Many have been tortured or illtreated. Their families, distressed about lack of information about fate or whereabouts of their loved ones, have been harassed and threatened when seeking information. The right to habeas corpus(1) has been systematically undermined: state agents have refused to comply with court directions to provide information about the whereabouts of detainees or have denied any knowledge in court. Many detainees have been unlawfully transferred to the custody of other countries, notably the USA. Moazzam Begg, a British national, was abducted on 31 January 2002 from his home in Islamabad by Pakistani and US agents: "the first thing I knew was a gun at my head.…my peaceful evening had just ended in shock and rising fear… They put a cloth hood over my head,… handcuffed me and …carried [me] to the vehicle …I’d been kidnapped with full government approval." He was transferred to US detention in Kandahar (Afghanistan), Bagram (Afghanistan) and Guantánamo Bay (Cuba) where he suffered long periods of solitary confinement and torture. He was returned to the UK in January 2005. At no stage was he charged with an offence. In the "war on terror", Pakistan has violated a wide array of human rights, including the right to life, to the security of the person, to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, to freedom from torture, other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance, and to legal remedies and reparations. All these rights are protected in the Constitution of Pakistan and international human rights law. Victims of human rights violations in the "war on terror" include Pakistani and nonPakistani terror suspects, men, women, and children, journalists who have reported on the "war on terror" and medical personnel who allegedly treated terror suspects. A few detainees, some held for prolonged periods, have simply been released without charge, reportedly after being warned to keep quiet about their experience. Others have been charged with criminal offences unrelated to terrorism. Many have been unlawfully transferred to other countries, without any legal procedures, and in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits people being sent to countries where they are at risk of serious human rights violations. Hundreds have been transferred to US custody and ended up in Guantánamo Bay, Bagram Airbase or secret detention centres elsewhere. However, many detainees remain unaccounted for – their fate and whereabouts are unknown. The clandestine nature of the "war on terror" makes it impossible to ascertain exactly how many people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, forcibly disappeared, tortured or ill-treated, or extrajudicially executed. Pakistani military spokesman MajorGeneral Shaukat Sultan said in June 2006 that since 2001 some 500 "terrorists" had been killed, and over 1,000 had been arrested, including both foreign fighters and their local facilitators.(2) Mamdouh Habib, an Australian national, told Amnesty International that on 5 October 2001 he was travelling on the same bus as two German men who were ordered off the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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bus by several men in civilian clothing. He volunteered to stay with them as they had little English. The three men were handcuffed, blindfolded and driven to a house where they were held for three days, then to a detention centre. After 12 days Mamdouh Habib was flown to Islamabad where he was threatened and beaten. About two weeks later, he was shackled, blindfolded and taken to the airport with the promise of being flown home. Instead, he was handed over to US officials, stripped of his clothes, sedated and flown to Egypt. In a Cairo prison he was hung from hooks in the ceiling, given electric shocks and threatened with electrocution. After six months he was taken to Afghanistan, then Guantánamo Bay. He was released without charge in January 2005. Amnesty International is concerned that there has been very limited protest in Pakistan against the hundreds of enforced disappearances and other violations in the "war on terror". Civil society, political parties and the media have by and large ignored the issue. Meanwhile the practice of enforced disappearance, rare before 2001, has become common even outside the context of the "war on terror". People from different backgrounds have been subjected to enforced disappearance including Baloch nationalists and Sindhi leaders. Dealing with terrorism lawfully Amnesty International has consistently denounced indiscriminate attacks and attacks targeting civilians carried out by armed groups such as al-Qai’da. Specifically, the organisation has condemned the attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001 as crimes against humanity. All those responsible for these and similar crimes must be brought to justice. Pakistan has the duty to prevent and punish crimes, especially violent crimes such as acts of terrorism. At the same time, measures taken to combat terrorism must respect national and international human rights law. Secret detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, indefinite detention without charge and unlawful transfers to other countries are all prohibited under national and international law. In May 2006, Pakistan was elected to the newly established UN Human Rights Council which, in June, unanimously adopted the draft International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.(3) The draft Convention bans enforced disappearances and declares widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearances a crime against humanity. Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani government to uphold the standard that it has contributed to developing. Under international law, torture and other ill-treatment are prohibited absolutely and under all circumstances, without exception. They are morally abhorrent and in addition to the pain inflicted on the victim, demean the perpetrator. They are not only unlawful but also, ultimately, counterproductive. Confessions extracted under torture have often proved unreliable, as detainees may "confess" to anything to end their suffering. International law prohibits the use of statements obtained through torture or illtreatment in any proceedings therefore forcibly extracted "confessions" can not in a fair trial contribute to criminal convictions of terror suspects. Amnesty International’s research over many years has shown that human rights violations sanctioned by the state in "exceptional circumstances" have also led to more pervasive repression and disregard for the rule of law. While recognizing that some of the human rights violations perpetrated in the context of the "war on terror" may have been carried out at the behest of US officials, as a sovereign state Pakistan bears full responsibility for all human rights violations committed on its territory and with its knowledge and consent.

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Arbitrary arrests and detentions People held in Pakistan for alleged links to al-Qa’ida or the Taleban have been arrested and detained without reference to national or international human rights law. Custodial safeguards have been blatantly ignored and the protection of law has been routinely denied. Pakistani law requires arrests to be carried out, in most cases, by police presenting a valid arrest warrant; most of the terror suspects were not arrested in this way. Few were charged with a recognizable criminal offence. In most cases, no official record of detention was kept. They were not given access to a lawyer or to their family. They were not brought promptly before a magistrate. Terror suspects have been captured in a range of circumstances. A large number were seized and subjected to arbitrary detention and even enforced disappearance when fleeing Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in October 2001. Many terror suspects were detained in mass arrests after bomb attacks in Pakistan and abroad. A few Pakistani terror suspects were arrested by Pakistani officials in other countries and have since been subjected to enforced disappearance. While information is scarce about all arrests in the "war on terror", even less is known about arrests in the designated tribal areas. As threats and violence by tribal fighters and government agents increased, journalists have withdrawn and ceased to report events there and no independent human rights investigators have been allowed to visit the area. The routine practice of offering large rewards for unidentified terror suspects has facilitated arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. Many individuals were arrested by Pakistani police or border officials, army personnel, or captured by local people, and handed over to US law enforcement or intelligence personnel in exchange for a reward. Adel Kamil Abdallah a Bahraini national, fled Afghanistan in December 2001. He reported: "we saw from afar a border post of the Pakistani army. … we had valid and legal travel documents… The Pakistani officials received us rather well …Whilst waiting for the car in the morning, we were surprised to see, instead of a car, a military helicopter…[It] landed at the Peshawar airport. … From the airport we were taken in trucks with a number of escort soldiers to a police station … They put us in prison cells … located somewhere underground with doors made of steel. The cell was very dirty … We stayed in this cell for about a week. The treatment in this prison was awful." Adel Kamil Abdallah further reported that US guards later told him that "we got you cheap, for only $5,000". He was flown by US forces to Kandahar and then to Guantánamo Bay. He was released after four years in detention in November 2005 and returned to Bahrain. More than 85 per cent of detainees at Guantánamo Bay were arrested, not on the battlefield by US forces, but by the Afghan Northern Alliance and in Pakistan at a time when rewards of up to US$5,000 were paid for every "terrorist" turned over to the USA.(4) Often, the only grounds for keeping them in detention as "enemy combatants" were the scant and unreliable evidence provided by their captors. Many detainees do not know where they were held as they were routinely blind-folded or hooded during detention and transferred to different places, apparently for the purpose of interrogation. Some have reported that they were held in private houses, others that they were detained in prisons. Journalists and human rights activists have told Amnesty International that most terror suspects deemed important by Pakistani intelligence were held in "safe houses" run by "the agencies" – Pakistan’s intelligence agencies including the Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Children Several children of varying ages have been detained in the "war on terror" and denied necessary safeguards contained in international and national law. Some were arrested alongside their adult relatives, some were themselves alleged to be terror suspects and some were held as hostages to make relatives give themselves up or confess. When Tanzanian terror suspect Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in Gujrat, Punjab province on 25 July 2004, three women and five children were also arrested. They reportedly included a baby and a 13-year-old Saudi boy, Talha. Nothing is known about the fate and whereabouts of the women and children. Involvement of US personnel There have been numerous reports from former detainees, journalists, human rights activists and others that US intelligence agents have interrogated or were present at the interrogation of terror suspects held in secret places of detention in Pakistan. The USA is alleged to have maintained secret detention facilities in Pakistan at Kohat and Alizai.(5) US intelligence agents are also alleged to have held and interrogated detainees in private houses and regular detention centres. They are alleged to have been aware of or have actually participated in torture or other ill-treatment, and to have moved detainees to other undeclared detention centres, including in Afghanistan. Torture Torture and other ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty are endemic (6) in Pakistan. Lacking training and forensic and other facilities, law enforcement and security services rely almost exclusively on confessions, routinely extracted through torture. Torture is also used to intimidate, humiliate, frighten and punish detainees and prisoners. The secrecy surrounding the detention of terror suspects provides conditions in which torture and ill-treatment flourish. Forms of torture reported by detainees include: being beaten; being hung upside down and beaten, including on the soles of the feet; sleep and food deprivation; hooding; prolonged solitary confinement; and threats to the detainee and their families. These methods are often used in combination. Torture was reportedly inflicted in many places of detention; some former detainees reported seeing rooms apparently specifically set up for torture. Benyam Mohamed al-Habashi, an Ethiopian arrested in April 2002 at Karachi airport and held until mid-July in Karachi, reported that he was hung up by his wrists, allowed to go to the toilet only twice a day, given food only every other day, beaten with a leather strap and subjected to a mock execution by a guard holding a loaded gun to his chest. He said in his testimony, "I knew I was going to die … I looked into his eyes and saw my own fear reflected there." Enforced disappearances Hundreds of people have been subjected to enforced disappearance since Pakistan joined the "war on terror" in late 2001. The government has failed to acknowledge that enforced disappearances have occurred. In habeas corpus proceedings before provincial high courts, state representatives have consistently denied knowledge of the fate and whereabouts of detainees, despite eyewitness accounts of arrests and even in cases where the individuals have subsequently reappeared. In some instances of enforced disappearance, the individuals have been released after a period of weeks or months in detention. Sisters Arifa and Saba Baloch, and Arifa’s mother-in-law Gul Hamdana, were reportedly arrested with other terror suspects on 4 June 2005 in Swat. The two young women were widely described as potential suicide bombers. When all state agents denied knowledge of their whereabouts, the habeas corpus petition filed on their Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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behalf, was dismissed. In September 2005 Gul Hamdana was left at a bus stop in Peshawar but was too frightened to reveal where she had been held. In January 2006, the sisters were released. Several other persons subjected to enforced disappearance have subsequently been charged with criminal offences under a variety of laws. At least one person has been discovered dead. The body of journalist Hayatullah Khan, a 32-year-old father of four, was found on 16 June 2006 near Mirali, North Waziristan, more than six months after he had been forcibly disappeared. His body was reportedly emaciated, he was hand-cuffed and had apparently been shot in the back of the head. He had reportedly been abducted by armed men in civilian clothing on 5 December 2005 after photographing evidence of US involvement in a missile attack on 1 December 2005. Family members told reporters that Hayatullah Khan had received anonymous threats for several months. After the body was found, his brother said that officials had previously been assured him that the family would soon get "good news" about Hayatullah. Official inquiries have been conducted after widespread protests but their findings have not been made public. Unlawful transfers to the USA Pakistani officials have stated that some 700 terror suspects have been arrested and handed over to the USA. Many were not formally handed over after due legal process, but were sold into US custody, sometimes by local police or border officials. Pakistani authorities have not only failed to take measures to stop such transfers in return for money but have also denied that they have taken place. Swedish national Mehdi Ghezali told Amnesty International: "I was captured in a village near Peshawar. The villagers sold me to the Pakistani army who in turn sold me to the Americans in December 2001. … As we were about to take off, the Americans hooded the prisoners. The hood was made of some kind of sackcloth and it was compact. It was hard to breathe through it. One prisoner was asthmatic and the Americans pulled down his hood even further and tightened it." Mehdi Ghezali was held in Guantánamo from January 2002 until July 2004. Most of the detainees unlawfully transferred to US custody were taken to Guantánamo Bay. Of over 750 detainees held there, only 10 have so far been charged and face a trial. Of these four were arrested in Pakistan. Abdur Sayed Rahman was arrested in January 2002 from his village home near the Afghan border. During 36 days in Pakistani detention, he was asked by Pakistani officials if there was anyone in his village with the same name. He answered that he was not aware of anyone by the same name and was told that police "were looking for someone else, but now they had me. So they were going to throw me in jail to make the report look right." He was transferred to Kandahar and then to Guantánamo Bay where he was told that he was Abdur Rahman Zahid, Taleban Deputy Foreign Minister. He was subsequently accused of being a military judge under the Taleban, responsible for torturing, maiming and killing Afghan nationals. Abdul Sayed Rahman said he was a poor and uneducated Pakistani chicken farmer and concluded: "I have no idea why someone would make this accusation as it is not true. I can only speculate that it was someone from a rival village close to my village in Pakistan. However, I have no proof because I am here at Guantánamo Bay." Many of the detainees in Guantánamo Bay face an uncertain fate once released from detention. In April 2006, 141 men were cleared for release but a number of them would be at risk of human rights violations if they were returned to their home countries.

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An unknown number of persons handed over by Pakistan to US custody continue to be held in secret places of detention where they have had no access to legal counsel, to visits by their families or to the courts. While the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has had access to detainees in Guantánamo Bay and Bagram airbase, it has no access to those held in secret detention in so-called "black sites" run by the USA’s CIA. On 16 September 2006, US President Bush acknowledged the existence of secret CIA detention centres. He announced the transfer of 14 detainees so far held in secret CIA custody to military custody at Guantánamo Bay. He said that they would be tried by military tribunals if the US Congress passes relevant legislation. Of the 14 detainees, the majority has been arrested in Pakistan. Unlawful transfers to other countries Some individuals were transferred to their home countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, and Afghanistan – in circumvention of Pakistan’s Extradition Act and often in violation of the principle of non-refoulement. Some became the subject of "rendition" – they were unlawfully transferred by the US from Pakistan to third countries where they were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Effects on families: The enforced disappearance of hundreds of people has taken a heavy toll on their families, friends and associates. Relatives of those subjected to enforced disappearance have told Amnesty International that they experienced extreme anxiety about their loved ones, frustration in the face of official denials and contradictions, harassment when pursuing their search, social exclusion because of their association with alleged terror suspects and economic hardship. To be unaware of the fate or whereabouts of a family member for a prolonged period of time and to fear for his or her life and safety has been found by human rights monitoring bodies to amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The knowledge that torture is routinely used in Pakistan adds to the fear of those whose loved ones have disappeared in custody. The families of the disappeared are therefore also victims of enforced disappearance. An elderly cleric in a village near Peshawar told Amnesty International that he now has to provide for the two wives and nine children of his sons-in-law, Mauritanian nationals Mustafa Abu Abdullah and Adil Amin. The men were arrested in late 2001/early 2002, subjected to enforced disappearance and are now in Guantánamo Bay. He said, "I am too old now to do any other work in addition to my work in the mosque. How will I look after the children once all of them go to school? Ineffective remedies Relatives of persons subjected to enforced disappearance can either file a complaint with the police, who are then obliged to investigate, or assert their right to habeas corpus by filing petitions in provincial high courts. In the context of Pakistan’s cooperation with the "war on terror", both options have proved ineffective in tackling the violations. Many relatives have turned to informal mechanisms for tracing victims of enforced disappearances, usually without success. Police have in virtually all the cases monitored by Amnesty International refused to register First Information Reports (FIR) on the basis of which a police investigation begins. In some cases police have said that they have no competence to do so as the individuals were reportedly captured by intelligence agencies. Samiullah Khan approached the local police station after his sons, Faisal and Fahad Sami, and a friend were seized on 10 November 2005 from a shop in Karachi by plain Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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clothes intelligence personnel. He was told that police could not register a criminal complaint if the young men had been picked up by an intelligence agency. While two of the young men were released the next day, Faisal Sami remains missing. The right to be brought before a court and be able to challenge the legality of one’s detention (habeas corpus) is crucial to the rule of law and the prohibition of arbitrary detention. The right to habeas corpus has been gravely undermined both by state agencies and by the unwillingness of high courts to insist on the realization of that right. While many relatives seeking information on the whereabouts of detainees in the "war on terror" have filed habeas corpus petitions in the provincial high courts, Amnesty International is not aware of a single case in which this process has led to the recovery of a person. Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, a computer specialist, left his home in Lahore on 13 July 2004, telling his wife that he was going to collect an air conditioning unit sent by his father and would return shortly. He has not been seen since. On 17 August 2004, his father filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court. The petition remains pending; the respondents did not appear in the first two hearings and then requested more time to respond. His family told Amnesty International in March 2006 that no date for another hearing had been set. State agencies called by provincial high courts to provide information have routinely denied holding the person or knowing of his or her whereabouts. As a result, habeas corpus petitions have been dismissed in dozens of cases. In some cases in which state agents have denied detaining a person, senior government officials have acknowledged their detention. In other cases, people whose detention had been denied by state agents in the high court were later released. Shafiq Ahmed was seized by intelligence personnel and police in the crowded market of Swat on 28 September 2004. Over a dozen witnesses testified in court, but when the officials of the concerned agency denied the arrest, the habeas corpus petition was dismissed. In many instances the judiciary has failed to enforce the right to habeas corpus, and appear reluctant to use more compelling methods to obtain the truth, such as ordering state agents to make their statements in the form of sworn affidavits, or using contempt of court legislation in case of refusal to obey the writ of habeas corpus. Extrajudicial executions Amnesty International is also concerned that the clandestine nature of the conduct of the "war on terror", particularly in the tribal areas of Pakistan, may conceal widespread and systematic human rights violations. In particular, the organization is concerned about reports that Pakistani and US law enforcement and security forces may have used force, including lethal force, unnecessarily and excessively, and have extrajudicially executed a number of individuals, some suspected of links with al Qa’ida and others unconnected with any terrorist activities. Under international law, extrajudicial executions are prohibited at all times. In none of the cases reported do Pakistani or US forces appear to have made any attempt to arrest the suspects before using lethal force. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told the press in April 2006 that since July 2005, some 324 militants, including 76 foreigners and "a small number of civilians" had been killed in 39 major operations in North Waziristan where 31,000 regular troops and 14,000 paramilitary soldiers were deployed. Local people have challenged the official characterization of victims as "militants", often claiming that they were in fact tribal people, including women and children, unconnected to any terrorist activities or groups. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Recently, there has been an increase in the use of missiles fired from helicopter gunships by Pakistani security forces against terror suspects in the tribal areas, which appears to suggest that resort to intentional lethal force has been made in these cases without consideration as to whether it was unavoidable and less extreme measures could be applied in the circumstances. Hundreds of families from the tribal areas have left the area in fear of the shelling by security forces. Although Pakistani officials have consistently denied that foreign forces are allowed to operate in Pakistan either in "hot pursuit" or in planned operations, there is evidence that US forces have on several occasions conducted armed operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan, at times using lethal force as a first resort, and possibly carrying out extrajudicial executions. Missiles fired from unmanned US Predator aircraft have on several occasions killed and injured people in the border areas of Pakistan. Recommendations Amnesty International calls on the Government of Pakistan to apply its constitutional and domestic legal safeguards and to honour its international commitments by urgently addressing human rights violations committed in the "war on terror". In particular it calls on the Government of Pakistan to: End the practice of arbitrary arrests and detention; incommunicado detention, detention in secret locations and enforced disappearances; Stop the use of torture and other ill-treatment; End extrajudicial executions and excessive use of force; Stop unlawful transfers of detainees to other countries in violation of the principle of non-refoulement and in circumvention of Pakistan’s extradition law; Stop undermining the rule of law, in particular by failing to obey court orders in habeas corpus cases and by refusing to reveal information to courts; Bring to justice in a fair trial all those responsible for committing, ordering or authorizing torture and ill-treatment or enforced disappearance; Ensure reparations for all victims of human rights violations. (1) Habeas corpus is the right to be brought before a court and to be able to challenge the legality of one’s detention. (2) Talk at Chatham House, London, by Major-General Shaukat Sultan, 28 June 2006. (3) Due to be adopted by the UN General Assembly later this year. (4) Mark Denbeaux and Joshua Denbeaux, Report of Guantánamo detainees: A profile of 517 detainees through analysis of Department of Defense data, 2006. (5) Human Rights First, Ending Secret Detentions, June 2004. (6) The non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a February 2006 press release accompanying the release of its annual report for 2005, "Torture was endemic, with many deaths caused by brutality …" Wanted: al-Qa'ida suspects. $5000 reward The way to fight this is for people to stand up and for the Pakistani government and for the people within the intelligence wings to stand up and to recognize that what they are doing is just simply and totally wrong. Amnesty International Report The road to Guantánamo starts in Pakistan. More than 85 percent of detainees unlawfully held at the US detention centre in Cuba were arrested by the Afghan Northern Alliance and in Pakistan at a time when rewards Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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of up to US$5,000 were paid for every unidentified terror suspect handed over to the USA. Bounty hunters – including police officers and local people – took advantage of this routine practice that facilitated illegal detention and enforced disappearance, almost unheard in Pakistan before the US-led "war on terror". The Pakistani courts have failed to offer protection. Hundreds of Pakistani and foreign nationals have been picked up in mass arrests in Pakistan since 2001, many have been “sold” to the USA as ‘terrorists’ simply on the word of their captor, and hundreds have been transferred to Guantánamo Bay, Bagram Airbase or secret detention centres run by the USA. Some 300 people have since been released from Guantánamo Bay without charge. Many detainees remain unaccounted for, their fate and whereabouts unknown. They are at risk of torture and "rendition". Victims include terror suspects - men, women and children -, journalists who have reported on the "war on terror" and medical personnel who allegedly treated terror suspects. Family members, lawyers and other activists are gathering in Islamabad, Pakistan (29 to 30 September) to exchange information and encourage action against Pakistan’s abuses in the "war on terror". The Government of Pakistan is directly responsible for the fate of many Guantánamo detainees and the “disappearance” of many others, and the suffering of their loved ones. The Pakistani government must set up a central register of detainees and publish regular lists of all recognised places of detention so that in future nobody can be secretly imprisoned and face the risk of torture and other ill-treatment. The meeting, hosted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Amnesty International, will be a first step for Pakistani politicians, media and civil society to stand up and hold the government to account for the abuses committed. You can also make a difference. Spread the word. Pakistan: The Worsening Conflict in Balochistan The military government should recognise that it faces conflict not with a handful of sardars but with a broad-based movement for political, economic and social empowerment. The only one way out is to end all military action, release political prisoners and respect constitutionally guaranteed political freedoms. International Crisis Group President Pervez Musharraf and the military are responsible for the worsening of the conflict in Balochistan. Tensions between the government and its Baloch opposition have grown because of Islamabad’s heavy-handed armed response to Baloch militancy and its refusal to negotiate demands for political and economic autonomy. The killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in August 2006 sparked riots and will likely lead to more confrontation. The conflict could escalate if the government insists on seeking a military solution to what is a political problem and the international community, especially the U.S., fails to recognise the price that is involved for security in neighbouring Afghanistan. Tensions with the central government are not new to Balochistan, given the uneven distribution of power, which favors the federation at the cost of the federal units. The Baloch have long demanded a restructured relationship Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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that would transfer powers from what is seen as an exploitative central government to the provinces. But Musharraf’s authoritarian rule has deprived them of participatory, representative avenues to articulate demands and to voice grievances. Politically and economically marginalised, many Baloch see the insurgency as a defensive response to the perceived colonisation of their province by the Punjabi-dominated military. Although regional parties still seek provincial autonomy within a federal parliamentary democratic framework, and there is, as yet, little support for secession, militant sentiments could grow if Islamabad does not reverse ill-advised policies that include: exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources without giving the province its due share; construction of further military garrisons to strengthen an already extensive network of military bases; and centrally driven and controlled economic projects, such as the Gwadar deep sea port, that do not benefit locals but raise fears that the resulting influx of economic migrants could make the Baloch a minority in their homeland. While Baloch alienation is widespread, crossing tribal, regional and class lines, the military government insists that a few sardars (tribal leaders) are challenging the centre’s writ, concerned that their power base would be eroded by Islamabad’s plans to develop Balochistan; the state therefore has little option but to meet the challenge head on. This failure to accept the legitimacy of grievances lies at the heart of an increasingly intractable conflict, as does Islamabad’s reliance on coercion and indiscriminate force to silence dissent. The military government should recognize that it faces conflict not with a handful of sardars but with a broad-based movement for political, economic and social empowerment. The only one way out is to end all military action, release political prisoners and respect constitutionally guaranteed political freedoms. As a preliminary confidence-building measure, Islamabad should implement recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan, which have local support. But a sustainable solution requires implementation, in spirit and substance, of constitutional provisions for political, administrative and economic autonomy. The federation would also be strengthened if the national parliament were to amend the constitution, to shift powers from an overbearing centre to the provinces. However, centralized rule is the hallmark of authoritarianism. Like its predecessors, this military government is averse to democratic engagement and power sharing, preferring to retain and consolidate power through patron-client relations and divide-and-rule strategies. Reliance on the Pashtun religious parties to counter its Baloch opposition has strengthened Pashtun Islamist forces at the cost of the moderate Baloch. With their chief Pakistani patron, Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam running the Balochistan government in alliance with Musharraf’s Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam), a reinvigorated Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are attacking international forces and the Kabul government across Balochistan’s border with Afghanistan. But the international community, particularly the U.S. and its Western allies, seem to ignore the domestic and regional implications of the Balochistan conflict, instead placing their faith in a military government that is targeting the anti-Taliban Baloch and Pashtuns and rewarding pro-Taliban Pashtun parties. With the federal government refusing to compromise with its Baloch opponents, intent on a military solution to a political problem and ignoring local stakeholders in framing political and economic policies, the directions of the conflict are clear. The military can retain control over Balochistan’s territory through sheer force, but it cannot defeat an insurgency that has local support.

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Still, the conflict could be resolved easily. Free and fair elections in 2007 would restore participatory representative institutions, reducing tensions between the centre and the province, empowering moderate forces and marginalising extremists in Balochistan. In the absence of a democratic transition, however, the militancy is unlikely to subside. The longer the conflict continues, the higher the costs – political, social and economic for a fragile polity. RECOMMENDATIONS: To the Government of Pakistan: 1. End reliance on a military solution in Balochistan and quickly take the following steps to deescalate: (a) cease military action, send the armed forces back to the barracks and restrict their role to guarding the province’s land and nautical borders; (b) withdraw the Frontier Corps, replacing it with provincial security forces that are firmly under provincial control; (c) Dismantle all check posts manned by paramilitary and other federal security agencies; and (d) Halt construction of military bases (cantonments) and end plans to construct additional military or paramilitary facilities. 2. Respect democratic freedoms by: (a) Producing immediately all detainees before the courts and releasing political prisoners; (b) Ending the political role of intelligence agencies, military and civil, and barring them from detaining prisoners; (c) Withdrawing travel restrictions, internal and external, on Baloch opposition leaders and activists; (d) Ending intimidation, torture, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and extra-judicial killings; (e) Allowing all political parties to function freely, respecting the constitutionally guaranteed rights of speech and expression, assembly, association and movement; and (f) Respecting the constitutional obligation to preserve and promote distinct language and culture. 3. Entrust the Baloch with more responsibility for their own security by: (a) Accepting provincial jurisdiction over law and order and policing; (b) retaining Balochistan Levies, re-establishing those that have been disbanded, reforming them into a professional force accountable to provincial authority and replacing them by the police only once police reform has been enacted countrywide; (c) ensuring that locals are recruited to the police force and Levies in Balochistan; and (d) meeting the quota for Baloch recruitment in the armed forces and federal security agencies. 4. Allow local and international media unhindered access to all districts in Balochistan, including the conflict zones. 5. Begin immediately a dialogue with all regional and national-level political parties on ways of solving the crisis and create a favorable environment for such a dialogue by: (a) implementing at once recommendations of the Mushahid Hussain parliamentary subcommittee, particularly those that pertain to revised gas royalties, social sector expenditure by the federation as well as oil and gas companies, and jobs for Baloch in the federal government and its institutions;

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(b) Establishing and empowering the special task force proposed by the Mushahid Hussain subcommittee to monitor and implement these recommendations; (c) revising the distribution criteria for National Finance Commission awards to account for backwardness, level of development, geographic size, and revenue levels of the provinces; and (d) Reviving the moribund Council of Common Interests, accepting parliamentary authority over the body, and accepting and implementing its decisions. 6. Ensure sustainable development with local ownership by: (a) meeting Baloch concerns about Gwadar Port by placing the project under provincial government control; ending the practice of allocating coastal lands to security agencies; giving local fishermen unimpeded access to their fishing grounds; revising the “master plan” so locals are not dislocated; addressing pressing health and education needs, with an emphasis on new technical institutes and colleges; and implementing job quotas for locals at the port and related projects; (b) ensuring in Sui and other oil and gas extraction projects that the well head value and natural gas rates are on par with other provinces; renegotiating natural gas rates and the royalty formula; encouraging oil and gas companies to hire and train Baloch workers and allocate funds for social development; and consulting with the province on privatisation of the oil and gas industry and other state-owned enterprises; and (c) Making the provincial government a party to all investment and development projects. 7. Refocus policies towards human development by: (a) Allocating an annual financial package for social sector development pursuant to district level recommendations; (b) Granting specific funds for hospitals, technical institutions, medical colleges and universities, as well as high schools in all districts; and (c) developing irrigation schemes, including small dams, for rural Balochistan, on the recommendation of the provincial government. To the National Assembly: 8. Enhance provincial autonomy and strengthen the federation by: (a) Eliminating the Concurrent Legislative List and devolving all its subjects to the provinces; (b) constituting a bipartisan parliamentary committee to recommend, within a fixed timeframe, the transfer of subjects from the Federal Legislative List to the provinces, beginning with subjects in Part II of the list; (c) enacting legislation to regulate and monitor land allotment, sales and transfers in Gwadar; and (d) Constituting a parliamentary committee, with an equal number of members from the ruling and opposition benches, to examine cases of abuse of power by security agencies. To the Supreme Court: 9. Form a high-level judicial commission to enquire into the 26 August 2006 killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. To the International Community: 10. Urge the Pakistan government to immediately end military action in Balochistan. 11. Press the Pakistan government to end all practices that violate international human rights standards, including torture, arbitrary arrests, detentions, and extrajudicial killings.

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The Massacre at Bajaur It is unfortunate that a national institution has lost its professionalism to a great extent. The obvious reason being the heavy involvement of the generals in politicking and their greed for wealth and other undue privileges. S. Farooq Hasnat On October 3oth, the Pakistan army, as according to its own admission, wittingly killed scores of Pakistanis in the Khar village, located in Bajaur Agency, near the Afghan border. The army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan, gloating over the “success” claimed that in this operation gunship helicopters and precision weapons were used. Some eyewitnesses claimed that it was the American Predator Drone that fired missiles at the site, while the Pakistani official said that the Americans only provided intelligence. The Bajaur political officials barred local and representatives of foreign news agencies from entering the vicinity where this massacre took place. A noted newspaper editorial remarked that “the decision to ban journalists’ entry into the Bajaur agency is not prudent. It suggests that the government may have much to hide.” In the first week of October, Foreign Minister Kasuri was reported to have said that Pakistan has made clear (to the U.S.) that it would not kill its own people in the tribal areas. He said that “use of military force is not the solution of problems and political matters are resolved through talks.” A CNN interview quoted his saying that “…there’s a time when not just brawn but brains are also needed,” Foreign Minister told CNN’s Late Edition. “Sometimes what happens is that when you have acts of violence you end up alienating the local population.” The attack at Khar came as a surprise and as a tragic incident, for the people of Pakistan. The residents of Bajaur were shocked as they were gearing up for a North Waziristan type peace agreement. The signing ceremony was to take place after few hours. It should be pointed out that the American officials have been critical of the previous peace deal between the government of Pakistan and the residents of the tribal areas, in North Waziristan. Apparently, the Bush administration demands the Pakistan government to use high handed methods against its own people. No matter, why and how it happened, there is no excuse for killing more than 80 Pakistanis. The manner in which this attack was conducted and the approach through which the government spokesmen justified it, raises lots of questions and doubts. A renowned Human Rights Organization Amnesty International issued a statement saying that “if these killings were deliberate and took place without first attempting to arrest suspected offenders, without warning, without the suspects offering armed resistance, and in circumstances in which suspects posed no immediate risk to security forces, the killings are considered extrajudicial executions in violation of international human rights law.” There is enough evidence by the foreign and Pakistani journalists that there were children at the premises and that the air attack was more than from the Pakistani air force. As mentioned earlier just after few hours a peace treaty was going to be signed with the tribal elders, on the same pattern as that of Waziristan. Part of the North Waziristan deal read, “There will be no target killing and no parallel administration in the agency. The writ of the state will prevail in the area”. Those who carried out December 30 Bajaur killings did so to sabotage peace in the tribal areas and as a consequence the unity of Pakistan is undermined and Army’s image is further tarnished. Some analysts like Hassan Abbas argue that a high percentage of Pashtoon representation in the Army led to the Waziristan agreement. While others agree that in Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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reality the Army suffered a “defeat” at the battle ground. According to government’s own admission more than 700 of its men lost their lives. The Army just fled as they have done before, in East Pakistan and Kargil. This was in spite of the fact that more than 80,000 Pakistani military troops are deployed along the tribal areas of the Afghan border. It was believed at that time that the best option for the establishment was to talk to the tribesmen through their representatives. Another category of arguments goes that it was a pro Taliban faction with which the government entered into an agreement in Waziristan. The Taliban of the 1990s were prompted and encouraged by the Army and the tribes were made to believe that by supporting the Taliban they were helping the Pakistan Army, if not Pakistan, itself. Then, came that famous somersault in 2001. Any expert on human psychology would agree that it’s not an easy matter for the groups with conviction (instilled or otherwise) to turnaround and change their opinion, overnight. The change in attitudes comes through dialogue and persuasion. The use of force in such circumstances is counter productive and harmful for the unity and strength of the country. There have been so many blames as well as blunders assigned to the Pakistan Army that it has become indefensible even for a relentless ally of the establishment to validate their performance. It is unfortunate that a national institution has lost its professionalism to a great extent. The obvious reason being the heavy involvement of the generals in politicking and their greed for wealth and other undue privileges (See the findings of Hamood ur Rehman Commission Report).They have too many stakes to guard – strict adherence to professionalism becomes the last option. The crux of the matter is that one person is playing havoc with the civil, military and social institutions of Pakistan. His most serious crime in the eyes of many Pakistanis is that apart from tearing down the national institutions he is also deforming the language, culture, heritage and above all the sovereignty of Pakistan Pakistan: Over 80 people victims of possible extrajudicial execution in Bajaur Amnesty International Statement Public Statement: November 1, 2006 Amnesty International is concerned that at least 82 people in a madrassa (religious school) may have been extrajudicially executed in an aerial attack at dawn of 30 October in Bajaur, a designated tribal area near the border with Afghanistan. No attempt appears to have been made to arrest the victims who were described by army spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan as some 70 to 80 “militants” who were “training and learning terrorist tactics” in the madrassa. Local people said the victims were clerics and students of the school, many of them under 18. Correspondents said that amongst the dead were children as young as six years old. Local people have stated that the initial attack was carried out by drones. Villagers have reported hearing loud explosions and observing the destruction of the madrassa. This was followed some 20 minutes later by the appearance of two helicopter gunships which also fired rockets into the area. The villagers reportedly said that they had observed drones in the days before the attack flying over the village. Pakistan Army spokesman Shaukat Sultan denied US involvement in the aerial attack which, he said, had been carried out by Pakistani helicopter gunships targeting the

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madrassa compound which had been under surveillance for some time. A US military spokesman in Afghanistan denied, too, any US involvement in the air strike. Amnesty International would like to remind the Pakistani authorities that if these killings were deliberate and took place without first attempting to arrest suspected offenders, without warning, without the suspects offering armed resistance, and in circumstances in which suspects posed no immediate risk to security forces, the killings are considered extrajudicial executions in violation of international human rights law. Under international human rights law and standards, every human being has the inherent right to life. Arbitrary deprivation of life, including extrajudicial executions, is always unlawful and no circumstances – war or any public emergency – may be invoked as a justification of such executions. All allegations of extrajudicial executions must be immediately and impartially investigated with the view to bringing to justice those responsible for ordering and carrying them out. Under international human rights standards, security forces may only use firearms when a suspected offender offers armed resistance or otherwise jeopardizes the lives of others and less extreme measures are not sufficient to restrain or apprehend the suspected offender. In has been reported that journalists seeking access to the area were turned back by the army. This has resulted in an absence of independent reporting from the area affected. Background Since 2003, the Pakistani army has been engaged, with some 80,000 troops, in a security operation in the border area with Afghanistan. The operation seeks to remove fighters who have crossed from Afghanistan and to win over their local supporters. Pakistani government officials have in the past stated that the ongoing operation in the tribal areas of Pakistan is a security operation supported by the army, not a military operation. In a recent report, Pakistan: Human rights ignored in the “war on terror”, Amnesty International expressed its concern about the use of excessive and lethal force in the security operation and called on the government to ensure that all cases of possible extrajudicial execution are promptly and independently investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. Bajaur elders were ready to rein in militants Five undertakings listed in draft; missile attack sabotaged agreement Rahimullah Yusufzai PESHAWAR: On the day missiles hit the Zia-ul-Uloom seminary in Bajaur agency, killing 80 people, who were mostly students, tribal elders from Mamond area where the Madrassa was located were scheduled to hold a meeting to finalise an undertaking with the government not to harbour local or foreign militants and pay a fine of Rs 5 million in case of any violation of the agreement. The undertaking had already been drafted by aides to the NWFP Governor, Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai, and was ready to be signed by the elders of tribes inhabiting Mamond Tehsil in Bajaur. A copy of the draft in Urdu was made available to The News. The five conditions listed in the draft would have tied the hands of the tribal militants in Mamond area and made their Maliks and other elders accountable for any violations Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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of the undertaking. Issues such as existence of military training camps run by militants, misuse of Madrassas or presence of wanted foreigners in the area would have been effectively tackled had the undertaking been signed on the day of the aerial strike on the Madrassa in Chenagai village. There would have been no need for such missile attacks and bombings, which invariably cause collateral damage and contribute to the intensity of hatred against the attackers. The issue of finalisation of the undertakings by Mamond tribal elders was pushed into the background, following the missile strikes. It is intriguing that the Pakistan Army by claiming to have struck the seminary and killed 80 people made it even more difficult to secure the undertakings from the Mamond tribes. That is the reason that almost everyone in Bajaur is refusing to believe the Pakistan Army’s claim and is instead convinced that the missiles strikes were launched by the US military through its pilotless Predator spy plane. They have no doubt that the US is opposed to peace agreements with militants, whether in North Waziristan or Bajaur. The five undertakings that the government wanted the Mamond tribes to accept were as follows: 1) We, the tribes of Mamond in Bajaur agency, undertake in writing that we would neither give refuge to any Pakistani or foreign terrorist or criminal nor establish contacts with them. We undertake to cooperate with the government of Pakistan and the political administration of Bajaur in taking action against local or foreign militants in case information becomes available about presence of suspects in the area. 2) We undertake to accept and follow all decisions and agreements already made or likely to be made at the national and local levels between us and Pakistan government and political administration of Bajaur for maintaining law and order and pursuing development activities. 3) We agree to cooperate with government and non-government organisations and protect the life and property of their members for the sake of Bajaur’s progress and prosperity and for ensuring law and order. 4) We also undertake not to take part in any militant activity or acts of sabotage in or outside Pakistan that would bring a bad name to the country. 5) As patriotic Pakistanis, we would not hesitate to offer sacrifices for the country, whenever called upon to do so by the government of Pakistan and the political administration of Bajaur. In conclusion, the draft states that the Mamond tribes would be responsible for any violation of the above-mentioned five undertakings and would be liable to be made accountable by the government of Pakistan and the political authorities of Bajaur. “We undertake to pay fine of Rs 5 million in case of violation of the undertaking and accept other forms of punishment, which include demolition of home of the accused and expulsion from the area. Reached in Bajaur, political figures and commoners said they were anticipating the signing of the undertaking on October 30 and were happy that it would herald peace in the area. They felt the missile attack on the seminary had shed innocent blood and shattered their hopes for a peaceful Bajaur. Surprisingly, the leader of the tribal militants Maulana Faqir Mohammad said he still wanted to conclude a peace agreement with the authorities and contribute his bit for a peaceful and prosperous Bajaur. Though critical of the missile strikes for which he blamed both the US and Pakistan government, he told The News from an undisclosed location in Bajaur that his men would not be drawn into a fight with the Pakistan Army or other national institutions.

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However, he said the draft of the undertaking had not been shown to him or his representatives and he wasn’t aware of all its contents. He said he would not object to all the five undertakings which the government wanted the Mamond tribes to accept but some of points listed there needed to be elaborated, clarified and discussed to make them acceptable to his supporters. “We told mediators that we wanted a peace agreement on the lines of the one signed in North Waziristan,” he stressed. War an Peace, Army Style Ayaz Amir ONLY the Pakistan army could have created the Waziristan mess. No other force had the ability to put together the extraordinary combination of arrogance and lack of judgment which went into its making. Only the Pakistan army could have executed the extraordinary somersault which is the essence of the North Waziristan agreement: a virtual instrument of surrender effectively ceding Waziristan to the neo-Taliban. A civilian government would have had its ears cropped had it even suggested, far less attempted, anything of the kind. Call this the higher gymnastics: first starting a needless fire, then rushing in with the fire engines when the flames prove more destructive than anyone had thought. Firelighting and firefighting rolled into one, versatility of which any army would be proud. This agreement commits the army to a set of concrete measures: abandoning checkposts, releasing prisoners, returning seized weaponry and, something dear to the heart of every Pakhtoon, paying compensation. A Pakhtoon is decent and honourable and a man of his word. But he also has a keen sense of money. Indeed, a Pakhtoon moneylender’s idea of interest would make Shylock blush. How much ‘compensation’ the army ends up paying for this agreement we won’t know, or it won’t be disclosed — no doubt out of embarrassment — but we can rest assured it will be ‘adequate’. Having taken on the army and worsted it in combat, the Waziri and Mahsud Taliban are on a roll. They would settle for nothing less. In return for these concrete measures, the Taliban have committed themselves to a set of promises: end to cross-border militant activity in Afghanistan, “...no parallel administration in the agency” and the pious hope that “the writ of the state will prevail in the area.” This at a time when militants are in full command of both North and South Waziristan and the army has withdrawn to its defensive positions. A more complete reversal of positions is hard to imagine. But this is a volte face dictated by ground realities. Although deployed in heavy numbers, the army found itself in a quagmire, Taliban resistance proving more than General Headquarters had bargained for. Casualties were high, perhaps unsustainable, although we’ll never know the exact figures, the Pakistan army not given to embarrassing disclosures. If we still don’t have precise casualty figures for Kargil — Gen Musharraf’s maiden and only venture into actual, as opposed to armchair, war-making.... against an external combatant, I hasten to add, internal combatants being an entirely different matter — it will be some time before we know how many fighting men actually died or were wounded in Waziristan. Not the least of the ironies surrounding this conflict, however, lies in the fact that the man who led the army into Waziristan, Lt Gen Aurakzai when he was corps commander Peshawar, is the same man who as governor of the Frontier province is behind the present agreement. (The actual operation and the bungling accompanying it were the handiwork of Aurakzai’s successor as corps commander, Lt Gen Safdar Hussein, famous for making tall claims.)

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Aurakzai has proved to be a better diplomat than he was a general. This is the story of the Pakistan army these days, generals unsure at their own game but veritable experts in other fields. Even so, better late than never although if the blinkers on at the time had been fewer, we might have been spared much slaughter and discomfiture — unless GHQ, hardened by experience and inured to disasters and u-turns, is in the happy position of being beyond embarrassment and discomfiture. But, weighing pros and cons, is this agreement good or bad? Overall good, because the army was fighting an unwinnable war and there was no point, as war colleges never tire of emphasising, in reinforcing failure. When mired in something stupid, as the Americans are in Iraq and as they once were in Vietnam, it is best to declare victory and get out. This in effect is what Gen Musharraf has done and this is what the Americans, if they had any sense, should do in Iraq, always remembering, however, that given a choice, it is preferable to avoid the march of folly right from the beginning than don the mantle of statesmanship later on. It pays to remember that the situation in Waziristan was a holdover from the past when this area was one of the staging posts for the anti-Soviet resistance in Afghanistan during the 1980s. When that war — sweet revenge for Vietnam, as the Americans considered it — was over, many of the Arab and other ‘mujahideen’ had nowhere to go, their own countries — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc — being wary of ‘Islamic radicalism’. So they remained behind in Waziristan, some of them even marrying into the local tribes. It wasn’t the fault of these Arabs or Chechens or Uzbeks if the Americans were being less than successful in bringing peace to Afghanistan once the Taliban were toppled and Hamid Karzai installed as a puppet ruler. The Taliban were supposed to have been licked. But they weren’t and they have since made a comeback, threatening to turn Afghanistan once more into the kind of country which proved a graveyard for the Soviet army. Don’t blame these retired ‘jihadis’ for being drawn to another ‘jihad’. Who or what has created the setting for this ‘jihad’? After all, where the sea is voyagers will go. The Pakistanis, with their better local knowledge, should have been left to handle the Waziristan problem... in line with history and tradition. Instead, the Americans — living up to de Gaulle’s taunt, “You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination” — prevailed upon the Pakistan army to adopt sledgehammer tactics which, far from doing any good, inflamed tribal sentiments and brought wider support to the Taliban cause. This was Iraq in microcosm, the “war on terror” not quelling violence but giving birth to more of it. Mercifully, better sense has ultimately prevailed but after paying a heavy price. Old tribal structures which had withstood the test of time stand demolished. Pro-government tribal figures have been killed. The army is licking its wounds. Moderate sentiment has been crushed while the Taliban are stronger than ever. Ever the inventive spirit, Gen Musharraf has woken up to a new refrain, warning western audiences that the Taliban were now a more serious threat than Al Qaeda, conveniently forgetting his own role in making the Taliban powerful in the two Waziristans. Amidst this confusion Karzai apologists and western sympathisers make matters worse by suggesting that the Taliban are being supported by Pakistani intelligence. If that were so, there would have been no need for the army to lose hundreds of its men fighting them in Waziristan.

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There is a militant problem in Pakistan, no denying this. But it has been made worse by the wrong tactics. The sledgehammer hasn’t worked in Iraq. It isn’t working in Afghanistan. And it has just suffered a serious reverse in our own backyard. The Waziristani tribes have stood guard on the Frontier for over fifty years. They went to Kashmir in 1947 and what we have of Kashmir we owe largely to their enterprise and valour. We need a period of reflection in which inflamed passions can be cooled and lost trust restored. Hopefully, the old mistakes will not be repeated. Although as I was writing these lines there was a news item quoting a general as saying that the army can still carry out ‘surgical strikes’ if there is ‘militant activity’ in North Waziristan. That’s the mantra the army chanted when it first moved into the area: surgical strikes. We know how surgical such strikes are and what effect they leave behind. On Waziristan we should now learn to do our own thinking and be able to tell the Americans where to get off. Musharraf's Biggest Quandary: The Ongoing Waziristan Resistance Muhammad Shehzad ISLAMABAD, November 15: The biggest quandary at present in Pakistan is not Musharraf's uniform but the ongoing military operation in South Waziristan against al-Qaeda suspects and their supporters. Nobody knows what is actually going on in South Waziristan - journalists' entry into the region is banned. On October 15, a fact-finding group of seven Parliamentarians from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA, an alliance of six pro-Taliban religious parties) was stopped from entering the tribal region at Jandola (near Tank, about 290 kilometers from Peshawar) citing a law that bans political activities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas [FATA]. The only source of information is Director General Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] Major General Shaukat Sultan, whose information is contested by the opposition and the media in public, and by the diplomatic community in private. The first military operation in FATA was launched on October 2, 2003, at Angor Ada. The first operation in Wana was launched on January 8, 2004; the second on February 24, 2004; the third between March 18-30, 2004; that was followed by a series of operations from June 11 to the present date. According to the official sources, the October 2 operation, in which eight suspects were killed and 18 were captured alive, was the most successful. 'But the military never presented the 'foreign' militants before us!' complains Rahimullah Yusufzai, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) analyst on Afghan affairs. The jihadists, independent journalists, and opposition Parliamentarians have been challenging the military's viewpoint - i.e., that the operations had been initiated to flush out foreign terrorists hiding in the tribal areas - asserting that there were no foreign terrorists in South Waziristan, and if there are any, the Government should present them before the public. Yusufzai asserts, "The military might have arrested or killed the foreign terrorists, but it is hesitant to present them before the media. In fact, it arranged our meeting with a 14-year old Tajik terrorist. The military is afraid to make such things public because in that case the US could mount pressure on Pakistan. The US is against the military's talking to the militants. It wants the military to use force'. "It is an outrageous lie if someone claims that there are no foreign terrorists in South Waziristan," Sultan counters, "It is absolutely true that the foreign militants have been arrested and we have not presented them before the public in the larger national interest." Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The military has been fighting the 'invisible' enemies in South Waziristan for more than a year without much success. Often times, it gives an impression that it has failed. Some analysts believe that a section of the Army is pro-militant, but both Sultan and Yusufzai dismiss such notions. Yusufzai argues: "If you are thinking why Abdullah Mehsud has not been arrested, then the answer is, he is familiar with the terrain. He has local support. He comes from the same tribe. He can flee to North Waziristan or Afghanistan. I am dead sure that there is no support to him from any section of the military. Mehsud has killed the Chinese. It is a very serious thing. No Pakistani Government can afford to annoy China. So, rule it out that military could support him. Mehsud enjoys a lot of support from his own people that has really made the task difficult for the military." Sultan concedes several hitches in the operations. "The militants are mixed up with the civilians. The military cannot target them in such a situation. Certain people, to further their vested interests, portray the killings of the militants as the killings of civilians. They glorify militants as 'heroes.'" The Government is upset with publications such as Nawa-i-Waqt, Ummat, Jasarat, Friday Special, Takbeer, Nida-i-Millat, Islam, which portray the militants as heroes. These publications act as 'unofficial' mouthpieces of the jihadists, and see the hand of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) behind the events in South Waziristan. Takbeer [Nov 3] has written that the US, India and Israel are the real masterminds of the incidents in South Waziristan, and that they want the tribal people to rise up against the Army. India, the article claimed, is supplying weapons to the tribal people and the US is very cleverly dividing the two united groups of mujahideen, i.e., the Pakistani Army and the civilian mujahideen [tribal people]. Friday Special [Oct 7, Zafar Mahmood Sheikh] views the lifting of the economic blockade on South Waziristan as a humiliating defeat for the Army. "The relief has been announced to silence the voices of such people who had been protesting the military crackdown in Wana. In fact, the killing in Wana was masterminded by Musharraf on the orders of Bush. The latter wanted it for his election campaign and Musharraf wanted it to protect his uniform." "The Army is repeating 1971 in Wana. God forbid, Wana may not prove to be another Bangladesh. Bangla Bandhu was first declared as traitor and this time the tribes of Waziristan have been declared terrorists... Wana will prove to be the last nail in the country's coffin if better sense did not prevail on Musharraf. He should stop arranging official visits to Wana and allow independent journalists access to the area. Only then the people of Pakistan will know about the atrocities of Pak army in South Waziristan." Disagreeing patiently with such views, Sultan claims, "There is no ban on journalists' entry in South Waziristan." However, he insists that journalists should not "expect that ISPR would provide you vehicles or helicopters for your travel." There is, nevertheless, a growing perception that the military operations are creating a sense of hatred among the tribal people against the Armed Forces. On Saturday night (November 13), at an Iftaar dinner in Rawalpindi, a local MMA leader Hanif Abbasi, told this writer, "The Pak Army is committing state terrorism in South Waziristan, exactly the way the Indian Army is doing the same in Kashmir. It is targeting innocent civilians." Yusufzai echoes the growing concern: "The military operations have displaced thousands of people in South Waziristan. But the Army does not want it to be reported. The Pashtuns are severely independent people. They never forgive their enemies. The coming generations of the tribal people will be full of hate against the Army and they will take revenge." Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Prof. Ishtiaq, a professor of Islamic Studies, adds: "The military can never win this battle. It might be able to contain them [the tribal people] temporarily but it will lose ultimately. The tribals never forgive and they never forget. The present generation of the tribal people has grown up during the Afghan jihad. They can forget their religious duties but they can never forget their enemies. Sometimes, injustice committed against the great grandfather is avenged by the great grandson!" Ishtiaq also sees a conspiracy in the Wana Operations: "The Pak Army has been pitched against the tribal people under a plot. The West knows that the tribal people are highly motivated and ideological. They have the capability to defend the country. They are the right-hand of the Army. The West wants to cut off this right hand." Lashing out at the Government, Mohammad Usman Qazi, a civil society activist adds: "All the terrorists and criminals have been arrested from Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi. None of them was arrested from South Waziristan. Could the military launch air attacks on these cities? Could the military stop their water and food supplies? The military has done so in South Waziristan because it treats it as an 'occupied area'. South Waziristan is part of Afghanistan. The military crackdown is sharpening the sense of alienation of the tribal people. The blood of the Pashtun has always been very cheap in Pakistan." Contesting such feelings strongly, General Sultan asserts, "The operation has been deeply appreciated by the local people. They want to get rid of the terrorists. There is no sense of hatred against the Army among the local people." A diplomat in Islamabad endorses Sultan's views, "The Government has found that some recently arrested terrorists in Karachi had links with what's going on in South Waziristan. The domestic violence in Pakistan has strong links with international terrorism masterminded by the al-Qaeda. The US is very happy with Pakistan's performance on terrorism and fully supports Musharraf in this effort." This diplomat also remarked that there was little chance of a repeat of 1971 in the present circumstances. "There is no evidence of a 1971-like situation in Pakistan. The terrorism has not spread out of South Waziristan-not even to other agencies of the tribal areas. It is limited to South Waziristan.' There is, nevertheless, a unanimous view among civil society activists and organizations, that only a political solution, rather than present efforts at military domination, can help resolve the situation in South Waziristan. Yusufzai argues: "There is no military solution to any political dispute. The Army committed atrocities against Balochistan for more than 30 years, but the same problems are re-emerging in the province. As long as the US forces will remain present in Afghanistan and the country will face political instability, the situation in South Waziristan is not going to change. The military launches fresh offensive in South Waziristan under the US pressure. Whenever, Karzai would make some noise, Armitage or Khalilzad will twist Pakistan's Army and the result is another military operation." He adds: "Jirga is the only solution to this dispute. Recently, the military has forged another agreement... that the tribal people will not be asked to present the foreign militants before the authorities. They will only ensure that the militants do not create any law and order situation for Pakistan. This could have been accepted in the Shakai agreement. But God knows what happened that the Corps Commander Peshawar, Lieutenant General Safdar, announced that Nek Mohammad would present the militants before the authorities. Nek Mohammad denied this and he was killed." Usman Qazi also argues for a political solution: "The military is not trained to resolve conflicts... We need civilian leadership, not military dictators to resolve conflicts like 1971 or South Waziristan. And the military should not forget that the tribals are not Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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timid like unarmed Bengalis. They are armed to teeth and nails (sic). Fighting them is not an easy task. They have already killed more than 200 soldiers and they are quite capable to further resistance." Diplomatic observers add that the Pakistan Army is not trained to fight the insurgency, but to fight a conventional war, and that too, only with India. This, however, leads them to underline the need to enhance the capacities of the Army. General Sultan insists that events in South Waziristan need to be seen in the context of global injustice. "As long as the issues like Kashmir and Palestine will not be resolved, global peace is impossible. Global injustice is the root-cause of terrorism that is badly affecting Pakistan." Clearly, before any solution can be arrived at in South Waziristan - and such a solution would need to be political - two of Pakistan's major problems would need to be addressed: the first is that the military dictatorship refuses to accept its mistakes or to learn from them. It continues to regard the Army as the panacea for all problems. The second is that the military regime is under US control. The latter wants the Army to solve the problem only through the exercise of force, rather than through efforts of conflict resolution. In combination, this can only mean that the prospects of peace in the country remain bleak. Musharraf's Newest American Badge Means Deeper Trouble Punyapriya Dasgupta NEW DELHI: Two days before Colin Powell flew in to Islamabad, this time to deliver an ultimatum on how Pakistan’s efforts to catch the top leaders of al Qaeda should proceed, General Pervez Musharraf looked a worried man before 500 invited tribal leaders at the Governor’s House in Peshawar. The soldier-president waved a foreign news magazine which had a story about Pakistan’s not doing enough to track down al Qaeda leaders, allegedly hiding in the tribal areas of the North West Frontier Province. The general told the tribal jirga that the foreign militants must be expelled from Pakistani territory and failure to do so would have “very serious repercussions for the country”. What kind of repercussions, he did not say. But bold words that there were no foreign forces hunting for al Qaeda on Pakistani soil and that he would rather resign than allow American troops to operate inside his country carried insufficient conviction. He himself admitted before the tribal elders that over two dozen Americans were already inside NWFP, searching for clues to the whereabouts of al Qaeda’s top guns. Add this to the US Secretary of State’s conferring on Pakistan the status of a Major Non-NATO Ally and the follow-up proclamation by President Bush ending the sanctions that had so long signified American disapproval of General Musharraf’s coming to power by a coup. The earlier reports in the international media that American and British forces were ready to jump into Waziristan make the picture complete. What General Musharraf is worried about gets clear enough? India is understandably incensed that Mr. Powell stopped here on his way to Pakistan, talked about many things but did not utter a word about the new MNNA badge he was going to pin on General Musharraf’s chest. New Delhi had a right to be told beforehand what Pakistan’s new international military status might mean for India. BJP-led India has done much to please America but is not prepared to be taken for granted, especially when a significant upgrading of Pakistan’s strategic resources is engineered.

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Nor is New Delhi ready yet to wear the livery of the kind bestowed on Pakistan. The expressions of Indian unhappiness have had some effect and Washington appears to be anxious now to offer some compensation acceptable to New Delhi. India may soon be offered assurances that the US will treat Pakistan as an MNNA only in the context of al Qaeda and the Taliban in NWFP. For General Musharraf his newest American badge means deeper trouble. The MNNA status is a double-edged sword. The unilaterally imposed alliance is a goad Washington will use to force General Musharraf to prosecute a total war on the tribals of NWFP until they are cured of all tendencies towards hospitality to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Such a war may have disastrous consequences for Pakistan. The British were the last in a long line of foreign conquerors to learn that the fiercely self-willed tribes like the Waziris, Mehsuds, Mohmands and Afridis were best left to their own medieval lives in their mountain fastnesses on the border between Afghanistan and pre-partition India with the minimum possible interference from outside. Lord Curzon discovered a hundred years ago that the “forward” policy of his predecessors was a waste of men and money. He withdrew British forces from most of the tribal areas and retained only a few strong points which could be connected by road or railway. Yet the British had to cope with many tribal rebellions until a few years before the handing over of power in that area to Pakistan. And then Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan decided to abandon even the handful of fortresses the British had retained and hope for Islam and economic development to integrate the tribals of NWFP with the rest of the country at an unhurried pace. Pakistani policy was actuated not so much by magnanimity as the wisdom of averting costly recurrent wars with truculent tribes which could inflame the then flickering passion for a Pashtunistan — independent or as a part of Afghanistan. There are warnings already of another Bangladesh in the making in NWFP. The opposition to General Musharraf is uniting against the Pakistan army’s operations in South Waziristan. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the Islamic alliance now in power in NWFP and Balochistan, is bitterly complaining that under American pressure Pakistani troops are killing Pakistani citizens. The army says on the other hand that foreign terrorists, sheltered by a few of the tribes, are killing in cold blood captured Pakistani soldiers and therefore there must be collective punishment according to an old tribal tradition dictating mass demolition of homes. A rebellion in NWFP’s tribal areas broadening into a civil war looks likely . General Musharraf has little hope of freeing himself from the trap he is now in. Faced with a 48-hour ultimatum after 9/11, he placed his Pakistan at the American Bushmen’s disposal and has been forced into acting as an anvil to a US hammer. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confessed last weekend that the Pakistani army operation in South Waziristan was “to avoid any external interference”. The taped call by Ayman Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s No. 2, for General Musharraf’s overthrow added, in a curious way, to the compulsion for the present leader in Islamabad to do against his own people as Washington wants. He cannot pause to consider the opposition’s advice that the campaign against al Qaeda calls for more tact than force since the Pakistani tribesmen are traditionally against surrendering themselves or their guests. America, now dressed as a Major Non-Nato Ally, is breathing impatiently down General Musharraf’s neck. “Non-Nato” is a strange reminder of the Nato treaty provision for one ally rendering military assistance to another after “mutual consultations” in certain security situations. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Balochistan Insurgency: Musharraf's Snowball, Spinning Out of Control Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, February 4: The Balochistan situation is rapidly spinning out of control of Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf, partly because of his naivety, mainly because of his arrogance. The insurgency is snowballing beyond speed limits. Six bomb and landmine blasts targeting key transport, communications and power facilities on Wednesday caused widespread damage. Militants blew up a major electricity transmission line on Tuesday night suspending power supplies to two thirds of the troubled province, including the capital city of Quetta where two bombs went off early on Sunday. Two out of the five explosions ripped up the main railway line between Quetta, the capital of Balochistan and Zahidan in neighboring Iran. The track was blown up at Mustung where a powerful bomb ripped through the wall of a police station. In the other rail blast a passenger train escaped a possible accident when a pilot engine found part of the track missing at Dera Ghazi Khan, in Punjab province. A 1.2 meter stretch had been blown up by a bomb leaving a 60 cms deep crater and halting the Chiltan express traveling from Quetta to Islamabad. In Kohlu, Balochistan militants blew up two microwave telephone masts. Multiple blasts destroyed an electricity transmission line tower in Naushki. On Saturday, three power towers were blown up in Nasirabad district, 220 km southeast of Quetta, suspending electricity supply to parts of the province. Two weeks back gas supply was stopped to most of Pakistan. In just two short weeks the country’s gas and power infrastructure have been disrupted like never before, railway lines have been blown up and bomb blasts have become a routine occurrence. While it all started with a totally unnecessary cover up of a doctor’s rape, just because Musharraf feared the Army may feel humiliated if he took action, even against a rapist junior Captain, real anger and fury was unleashed when Musharraf uttered the “youwill-not-know-what-hit-you” remark. That politically incorrect outburst stunned the country but galvanized the Opposition spurring even Musharraf supporters to loudly proclaim their opposition to any military action. Parliamentarians from the troubled province declared war, almost. On Wednesday young Senator Sanaullah Baloch, a nationalist, elaborated, in these words: “Islamabad has missed the chance of appeasing us… Our suggestions were turned down with all the arrogance. Now my people would only want their recognition as equal partners of the Federation of Pakistan. Take it or leave it.” The mysterious, but now world famous, Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for all the actions, ignoring all warnings and threats by Pakistan Army, including the ill timed declarations to set up Army Garrisons at Sui and in other parts of the province. The nationalist leaders, openly conceding they would be outgunned if attacked, joined hands forgetting their centuries old tribal rivalries. They were also able to use the media to win sympathies countrywide, and abroad. A report published by the World Socialist Web said the tribal insurgency will become a "major headache" for Musharraf. The Army arrogance did not stop from complicating the situation. While some politicians, fearing they would become irrelevant as soon as Army action began, tried to make some conciliatory noises, Musharraf and his men continued to ignore and humiliate them by their actions.

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The situation has reached a point where Army is now ready to displace thousands of Balochis from their homes and colonies near the gas installations, bulldozing and demolishing their houses, in the name of securing these assets. The BLA has declared a Red Alert and has warned they would retaliate furiously if Army demolished any of the residential homes. The powerless politicians, mainly those supporting Musharraf, are in sheer panic and their head honcho, Choudhry Shujaat Hussain is talking of constitutional amendments to give more autonomy to Balochistan. Analysts see these moves as too little and too late since the Army is not conceding any ground as it prepares for action. Thousands of troops, tanks and artillery, have been moved to the Sui battleground. Nationalist leaders are talking of the ultimate sacrifice and everybody is recalling the 1971 East Pakistan debacle, comparing Musharraf to General Yahya Khan and his actions to the military operations that broke up the country. Fears of foreign hands are being publicly expressed. The bankruptcy of the Army strategy has been fully exposed. Even Baloch supporters of Musharraf like Mahim Khan and Sarwar Kakar on Wednesday joined Sanaullah Baloch, Aslam Buledi and others in the Opposition, to denounce it. The demand now is not of more autonomy but apparent humiliation of the Army. While talking in separatist tones, these leaders are asking not just for political and economic freedom, they have almost put the precondition that troops must be withdrawn from the province and plans for building more cantonments be abandoned for any political dialogue to begin. Sanaullah Baloch gave revealing statistics in the Senate on Wednesday calling it the “economic, political and psychological rape of Balochistan.” “The province produces 40 per cent of gas but consumes only two per cent. Gas was discovered in 1952 but provincial capital Quetta had first gas connection in 1986 after establishment of the Army Corps Headquarters. Power consumption is only half a percent. Eight per cent of sea coast is located in Balochistan but the coast guards are 100 per cent non-Baloch.” But the ground situation, as he narrated it, means neither the Army will concede anything nor they are looking for any face saving formula. “The Frontier Constabulary (FC) has set up 580 check posts across the length and breadth of the province, manned mostly by non-Balochs. These posts have become a source of extortion and harassment. The officers supervising them have become fabulously rich,” Baloch told the Senate. It was, in fact, typical conduct of an occupying army. “I have counted a total of 28 sardars in the province of which 24 are with the government,” he said. The provincial government is a pack of jokers, or almost so. “An Army Brigade was already on the march before the cabinet met to ask for Center’s help. The day Choudhry Shujaat was talking about an autonomy package recommended by his parliamentary committee, Army had flown journalists especially from Islamabad to Sui, to announce plans for building the cantonment and acquisition of 400 acres of Baloch land.” Nothing could be more arrogant and insulting. Locals say this land has been forcibly taken over and no Baloch has sold it to the Army. The charges are familiar to what the Army has been accused of doing all over the country – grab the land. While everybody else is hearing fire alarms blaring, Musharraf and his Generals are pretending to be deaf and looking busy in politicking. A pathetic sight was Musharraf wearing a Sindhi cap and an Ajrak on top of his commando jacket at an Armysponsored public meeting in Sindh. His outfit was an insult to both the Army Uniform and the Sindhi cap. When an all powerful General has to use crutches borrowed from political nobodies, it is the clearest sign that he has no clue where he is headed. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Surely, as he predicted, he would not know what hit him, as it certainly is not the era of the 70s. Balochistan: Musharraf's Diagnosis, Treatment Destined to Kill the Patient Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, February 5: Events in Balochistan are a manifestation of unfolding changes in the region in and around west of Pakistan. Pakistani rulers have been repeatedly urged to wake up from their deep slumber and sickening apathy towards a situation that was advertently developing into rendering our beloved homeland into a failed state on the verge of becoming yet another Yugoslavia. All the saner warnings, appeals and protestations seem to have fallen on the stony ground and Pakistan under military heels is sliding towards a tragic denouement, especially when General Pervez Musharraf instead of curing the disease wants to kill the patient. As the head of the institution that should have learnt a lesson from the tragedy of former East Pakistan on the basis of once bitten twice shy, he seems to be more power drunk than General Yahya Khan when he warned Pakistani Baloch compatriots that they would not know "what hit them" in offering solutions to their piled up grievances that include military cantonmentisation of the province and a sense of deprivation emanating from continued step-motherly treatment by Islamabad. Any student of history should be able to tell the Pakistani rulers that when a country ceases to manage itself, its borders also cease to exist. Islamabad's supposedly allwise and all-knowing military establishment has rendered Pakistan into the "sick man" of the region, its waters are perpetually troubled and offer open invitation to all who want to catch the fish or claim their pound of flesh. We being one of the most strategic pieces of the 21st century jigsaw of the great game as being packaged in the new gift wrap of Pax Americana, we are naturally getting embroiled in ominous circumstances that tempt many other powers in the region to seek some piece of territorial share that an ultimate Balkanization in our region would offer them as well. Our independence has been rendered into a myth once again much in the same manner as it was done in the days of Ayub Khan allowing the United States to have bases in northern Pakistan that were used to fly its spy planes over the erstwhile Soviet Union or for that matter Pakistan under Zia when he sold the country for American "peanuts" to become Washington's frontline state in its Jihad against the Russians. Now we are a frontline state for American jihad against those very jihadis who were waging Jihad for them in the eighties. In the process our own writ has ceased to exist, American agents man country's entry and exit points, our land has become a big base for their American military operations. Pakistani troops directly help US military fire at suspected terrorists hideouts inside Pakistan - a fact loudly appreciated and acknowledged in Washington by Colonel Cardon B. Crawford, the Director of Operations for the US military command in Afghanistan. Pakistan letting its troops help American fire has been described as "a huge step forward" in the fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects hiding along the AfghanPakistan border. While Washington has minced no bones about this "huge stepforward", Pakistan's Interior Minister has maintained Pakistan would only share information with the US relating to terror targets in tribal areas of the country but the

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US forces deployed in Afghanistan would never be allowed to hunt terrorists inside Pakistan. Talking to reporters recently, the minister said as a leading partner of international alliance against terrorism, Pakistan had to share all information with the US-led peace force to destroy terrorist network in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas. In the worsening situation when one does not know whether one is coming or going and in the light of various observations made by Pakistani and foreign geo-strategic experts about the lengthening shadow on Pakistan's future, one had expected that our military rulers who have been a parasite to the country, would realize sooner than later, that if something God forbid happens to Pakistan, they would lose the body on which they gloatingly feed themselves. Being best attuned to the commando-instinct of survival as they are, they should grasp the gravity of the lethal Balochistan situation and get down to serious business of resolving it before it gets beyond them. They must know that they can buy some time for themselves by being pawn in the new great game but once their utility is over, they would be deposed to the dustbin of history as General Ziaul Haq was. For the time being they are much needed since Iran has to be sorted out, Afghanistan has a long way to go to stabilize, Iraq and Middle East continue to be on the boil. Islamabad's failure to handle Balochistan as a domestic problem emanating from its sense of deprivation and exploitation has converted it into a bigger bone of multination contention. Leading Pakistani analyst Dr Jaffer Hussain believes that the United States is latently opposed to "significant Chinese presence" in Balochistan and in future if an operation is conducted by the United States against Iran, (inevitable in the recent observation of Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker January 24, 2005), it would have a safe haven back line in Balochistan. In the other view Pakistani scholar Zia Haider currently at the Stimson Center in Washington, believes that both Iran and India look at the Gwadar Port with disfavor and suspicion. They see it as a rival to Iran's Chahbahar Port that was built with Indian assistance and was meant to serve as Central Asia's conduit to warm waters. Gwadar would be a gateway to making Pakistan a new Center of trading activity among the energy-rich Gulf, Central Asia, Afghanistan and China, as well as provide the Pakistan Navy with strategic depth along its coastline. It will also enable China to diversify its crude oil import routes and extend its presence in the Indian Ocean. Besides that, Haider believes Gwadar port fuels bitter discontent among local Baloch nationalists who believe that the benefits of the project will bypass them and who maintain longstanding grievances against Pakistan's federal government. The port also presents a potentially irresistible target to Al Qaeda as payback for Pakistan's cooperation in the US-led war on terror. While Pakistan and China believe that the port will deliver significant economic and military gains, India, Iran, and the local Baloch view it as a potential threat to their economic interests and security, and Al Qaeda presumably rejects it as Pakistan's steppingstone to becoming a stronger, more prosperous state. This reminds me of the days of late Shah of Iran when Iran-Pakistan enjoyed extraordinary relations since the inception of the country. They got consolidated during General Ayub's time to the extent that Iran served as Pakistan's strategic depth in those days. It is said that Pakistan Air Force's F-104s had found bases in Iran as a safe haven during 1965 war with India. We also received lot of spare for our planes from Teheran when Washington had imposed an embargo on supplies. However, Shah was believed to be wary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's ambitions to make Pakistan self-sufficient in oil and other resources. He did not like Bhutto signing oil Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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exploration deals with the Soviet Union to explore oil and gas reservoirs in Balochistan. Besides, he did not support Bhutto's idea of stronger OIC and ZAB's historic advice to the Oil producing Arab states to use oil as a weapon. This led to the absence of the American policeman in the region at the famous historic Islamic Summit held in Lahore in 1974. Later his support to General Ziaul Haq following Bhutto's overthrow showed how annoyed he had been with ZAB. This fitted in the overall conspiracy against Bhutto who had staked his life to make Pakistan nuclear powerful and self-sufficient in oil etc. Obviously a province as strategically placed as Balochistan with abundance in untapped natural resources, Islamabad's attitude towards it should not have been colonial and imperialistic. There is a consensus among commentators on the affairs in Balochistan that its alienation has entirely been to the fact that it was not only treated as step-motherly but also kept out of the decision making process. Indeed, no other province has been subjected to so many ruthless military inventions as Balochistan. The Balochs have reasons and past as a proof, to believe that they are being exploited, that they are being denied full economic benefits of their explored resources and that they are kept backward by design and policy. In the Senate debate even Treasury Senator Munim Khan Baloch reiterated that harmony between the Center and provinces had never existed as Islamabad had always been imposing its decisions on the federating units. Such policies, he recalled, had resulted in the dismemberment of East Pakistan. Time and again voices were raised to implore Islamabad to do something that could heal the Baloch wounds before it was too late. The fire was simmering over the years and now it has exploded into an inferno that threatens not only Balochistan but also the entire country. It is in the grip of an armed insurgency. Pakistani newspapers are full of headlines every day of the bomb blasts, attacks on trains, military and other vital installations. Pakistan military is also out there to prove the warning of General Musharraf-hitting the people hard with its firepower. The Baloch rag tag self-styled Balochistan Liberation Army, so far treated as a big joke by the Pakistani military, is gaining in sinews of war and firepower. Analysts commenting on their successful acts of subversion apprehend that they must be having some support from somewhere to make them stronger and more effective by the day. Dr Shirin Mazari believes that their "acts of sabotage are clearly not random but have careful planning behind them -- as well as a certain level of technical sophistication. And of course there is the very important financial aspect. All these indicators prove the strong external linkages to what is happening in Balochistan." Her views can also be taken as the views prevailing in Islamabad's corridor of power. National consensus is bitterly opposed to military action; dialogue and reconciliation are supported as the best exit routes. This was also the considered view expressed in the Senate when a debate was initiated on Balochistan on Thursday (Feb. 3). No doubt the Opposition senators lashed out at Islamabad's handling of the Balochistan crisis, they also showed the way out through political dialogue for conceding greater provincial autonomy and handing over of all provincial resources to the government of the province. Notwithstanding the efforts of the parliamentary committee for reconciliation and solution of the Balochistan crisis, the main hurdle seems to be lack of trust and confidence between General Musharraf's government and the Baloch representatives. Latter have reservations. They charge that while there is little progress towards

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dialogue, every move is being countered by more emphasis for seeking a military solution. If the General was sincere, he should stop blowing hot and stop accumulating troops in Balochistan. The consensus view among the Senators is that the claims made by the President, the prime minister or the military spokesperson that no military operation had been launched in Balochistan are false. In fact, Balochistan is being subjected to a full-scale military operation. Obduracy needs to be buried deep down. Balochs are our brothers and they should not be treated step-motherly. In their prosperity lies greater national prosperity. They are too few in number and their needs can be satisfied fully with honesty of purpose. And it can be said with confidence that whatever is in excess of their needs can be used for the good of the rest of the country. In conclusion, if something untowardly happens to Balochistan, it would be a fatal blow to Pakistan. Let the people understand that by saving Balochistan they are actually saving Pakistan. Will Pakistan Army Invade Balochistan as per the NIC-CIA Plan Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, January 29: It seems that our rulers, having learnt no lesson, stand condemned to repeat the same criminal blunders that converted Pakistan's most populated province into an independent state following the surrender of the Pakistani generals to the Indian army. That was December 1971. Now 34 years later Pakistan has drifted into a similar situation in its biggest province. We had then, as now, a power drunk general heading an equally obdurate military coterie that would not listen to voices of reason, pleadings of political and saner elements for a democratic settlement according to the electoral verdict of the majority. Rest is history. Balochistan today is facing a similar military operation as of erstwhile East Pakistan. President General Musharraf has cast the die. Not only a full-fledged military operation with all its fire and fury has been launched though denied by his media minions, the most deplorable rape of a doctor allegedly by army personnel, seems to have plunged a proud people into an irreparable and irreversible grief and a struggle that would be bloody with horrendous consequences. Just when I sat down to write this piece I had before me four disturbing but relevant news items. The first one was the blasting of gas pipelines taking natural gas from Sui to the city of Lahore and many more around it. It was the second major blow to the infrastructure after the bombing of the plant in Balochistan. The second item was regarding bombing of a rail track by terrorists near the Mushkaf Railway Station, about 85 kilometers from Quetta on Thursday, delaying all trains to and from Quetta. The latest attack came a day after the military authorities announced a plan to set up a cantonment in the area to protect gas installations. Earlier, the railway authorities had stopped all train movements at night in the Balochistan after a railway bridge was blown up. An explosion on Saturday had hit the same track. According to the official version, some terrorists had initially opened indiscriminate firing to create panic and harassment in the area and then exploded the bomb. Now the authorities have also deployed armed personnel at all important bridges and tunnels to protect train tracks and to ensure a safe train travel in the province. In a related development, a rocket landed near an electrical grid station in Sibi, about 150 kilometers from Quetta late Wednesday, but there was no damage. However, independent sources claimed that they had heard three blasts.

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The third news item relates to the statement of the Chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. He has ruled out any possibility of talks on the Sui crisis unless the issue of assault on a lady doctor is sorted out since, according to him, the atmosphere is not conducive for talks at that hour. Nawab Bugti told newsmen: "Such incidents do not take place in our land. It has become a matter of deep concern for the Baloch people." Bugti also accused the authorities of making attempts at various levels to hush up the rape probe while not registering the FIR against those involved. He pointed out that it was only after the ugly incident, which angered the local people, that the Sui gas field was attacked. In return, Nawab Bugti alleged, the government bombed the area, killing five people including women and children and leaving 32 wounded. Bugti does not hope much of truth to come out of the government inquiry. Bugti disclosed that he and his people were in "a semi-war like situation imposed on us by the center". When asked if other local tribes would side with the Bugtis in case hostilities broke out, the Baloch leader said: "Only time will tell". As regards government's move to set up a military cantonment in the Sui area, Nawab Bugti believes that the people would resist such an 'occupation' of their land. He said that like the people of Kashmir and Palestine, the Baloch people were seeking their legitimate rights. The fourth news items, in the same context, is the statement of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani. He has demanded convening of a joint session of the Parliament to discuss what he said the 'grim and volatile situation' in Balochistan. In his statement Mian Raza Rabbani asked the ruler to heed the writing on the wall and not take the situation in Balochistan lightly. The regime must find a political solution through dialogue rather than hurling threats and warnings like it is not 70's. "Brute force has never solved complex political issues. Hurling threats will only exacerbate an already volatile situation." Besides demanding a debate before the Joint Session of the Parliament both the major political parties, the PPP and PML-N, have conveyed their refusal to attend the socalled all parties conference convened by the MQM. They believe that it is a veiled attempt by a government coalition party to subvert independent movement to save Balochistan from becoming yet another victim of the oppressive military rulers. The writing on the wall is crystal clear. It spells doom and disaster especially when the military establishment is hell-bent on creating a law and order situation to enable it to establish army cantonments in a province that is being described by it as the last of terrorist outposts. The Pakistani generals religiously believe that by setting up new cantonments they can get a foothold for their operations in a particular territory. Besides that, they get an excuse to acquire local expensive lands to establish the cantonments that include housing complexes for the generals and officers doled out to them at throw away prices. Setting up new cantonments obviously is the part of military establishment's brainchild of converting Pakistan into a garrison state. Recent developments including increasing acts of sabotage owned by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has confirmed military plans to build one of three new bases in Balochistan at the massive Sui gas fields. This decision has added fuel to the already simmering fire of discontent in the province and its tribal leaders and militant nationalists are reacting angrily. They have been forewarning that the inferno that is being ignited by the military will spread and become a bigger conflagration. The bombing of railway tracks and other growing acts of subversion in which the insurgents have been using rockets and heavy gunfire, targeting the Pakistan Army and strategic installations, are attempts at Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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disrupting infrastructures in the area and to warn Islamabad of their capacity to indulge in more serious violence. Besides that, Balochi militants want to convey to General Musharraf that they are not "Bingos" (Bengali Muslims) who had no traditions of taking up arms or knew using them as compared to them when their child learns to wield the gun much before he gets his teeth. It may be recalled that just three weeks ago Pakistan's overconfident President General Musharraf had warned them much in the similar jingoistic language that General Yahya had used when declaring war against the Bengali population in East Pakistan. Musharraf had warned the Baloch militants they would not know "what hit them" unless they stopped fighting. This warning has seen a chain reaction starting with the ferocious mortar attack on the security forces at the Sui Gas fields/installations. These clashes lasted several days and led to massive disruption of supplies to industries and homes. Many areas in Pakistan still have rationed supply of Sui gas despite the fact that the army was immediately moved in to secure supplies and protect installations. Some political elements in the Musharraf government are seized of the gravity of the situation and they have tried to hold sort of talks with the recognized Baloch leadership, of course without success. The Baloch leaders do not like the way Islamabad wants to militarily handle the situation. They would like to sit across the table and hold dialogue with the government but not at the cost of their own interests or pride. They are absolutely justified in demanding that the military posing as an occupation force should withdraw from their area, cancel and cease building the planned cantonments. Only then, tribal leaders say, can both sides discuss the Balochi nationalists' demands for more autonomy, a greater share of the wealth from the province's rich mineral reserves and more investment in development and employment. As a student of history what is disturbing me is the adoption of that diction for discussing Balochistan by the columnists and media commentators in Pakistan that is used mostly in dealing issues such Kashmir and Palestine. I find the term "confidence building measures" now being excessively used to urge for a dialogue between Islamabad and Balochi leaders, conceding by implication, that the two parties represent two independent states. I used to get some feedback on the war in 1971 from a friend working in a senior position in Rawalpindi's Inter Services Public Relations Department. His answer to my "how is the situation" question used to be "Don't worry, everything is going according to plan". When it was over, I realised that everything had happened "according to the plan". The Generals had planned it that way and so it happened. It is another story that my friend in the ISPR who was definitely more honorable than others, could not take the humiliation. He died soon after Dhaka's fall. This brings out of me the apprehension: are our military rulers working on an a similar agenda or something that has been laid out for them in the various assessment reports over the years by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in joint collaboration with CIA. It was poor Miraj Khalid who as interim prime minister in early 1997 had dared to confide to the Pakistanis that CIA had forecast Pakistan's denouement by the year 2015. In the previous edition of its Global Futures assessment the NIC report cast a dark shadow on Pakistan's future five years ago. It said that by the year 2015 Pakistan would be a failed state, ripe with civil war, bloodshed, inter-provincial rivalries and a struggle for control of its nuclear weapons and its complete Talibanization. It had Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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predicted, "Pakistan will not recover easily from decades of political and economic mismanagement, divisive policies, lawlessness, corruption and ethnic friction. Nascent democratic reforms will produce little change in the face of opposition from an entrenched political elite and radical Islamic parties. Further domestic decline would benefit Islamic political activists, who may significantly increase their role in national politics and alter the makeup and cohesion of the military, once Pakistan's most capable institution. In a climate of continuing domestic turmoil, the central government's control probably will be reduced to the Punjabi heartland and the economic hub of Karachi." Indeed, General Musharraf's "good governance", his "democracy", his "achievements", his war against Islamic terrorists, his handling of Kashmir issue, his voluntary surrender of the UN granted right of self-determination and his packing off Dr AQ Khan and Pakistan's nuclear program for which Zulfikar Ali Bhutto preferred martyrdom, his support to Mullas to become a formidable parliamentary force, are feats performed by him in his line of duty as blueprinted in above quotation from NIC Report. Never before in the history of Pakistan did we have so much of sectarian violence as during the last five years. Inter-provincial rivalries are bursting at their seams on the water issue. There is widespread discontent in Sindh. Now Balochistan is asking for its fair share in the revenues from its natural gas and the Praetorian establishment is about to launch a genocidal operation to teach the proud Balochs a lesson. The NIC has released its new report recently. It devotes to the global threat posed by terrorism and the dangers associated with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It, perhaps, has a role for Osama Bin Laden since in one of its future scenarios it seriously discusses the possibilities of the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah Hizb Tehrir-style. It has forecast the possibility of the next Indo-Pakistan war and probable use of nuclear weapons in that conflict from boom to doom. It has made interesting observations about the future growth of both India and China and their global role. In the context of Balochistan, one would like to refer back to the 2015 NIC report. It forecast a Yugoslavia-like fate for Pakistan. The military operation that has been put in motion would further distance Baloch people from rest of the country. That perhaps is the plan. This brings me to an interesting observation in a book by Abul Maali Syed "The Twin Era of Pakistan-Democracy and Dictatorship" (1992). The caption of his First Chapter is 2006 and its opening para is as follows: "Who would have believed that Balochistan, once the least-populated and poorest province of Pakistan, would become independent and the third richest oil-producing country after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait". One cannot but appreciate and acknowledge the insight of AM Syed and his premonitory observation. The entire chapter is devoted to what he describes as an independent state of Balochistan. In the light of his detached view (Syed was in Canada at the time of writing his book and I believe his book is banned in Pakistan) and the events that have taken place in the country since 1992 and what is being unleashed on Balochistan by the military, one can only pray, with no disrespect to Syed, that his academic premonition does not come true. Although there are many observers who look confident in predicting Pakistan's future as a foregone conclusion but being a proverbial optimist I believe that though late the situation can still be retrieved. The ongoing crisis of identity confounded by the Mullah interpretations, need to be buried deep down by reverting back to Quaid's dream of a secular, democratic and federal Pakistan.

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The Praetorian establishment shall have to be told enough is enough, its concept of unity of command can be good for the military ranks but not for the working of a democratic society with complete freedom for dissent and socio-economic justice for all. The Balochistan issue must be debated in a joint session of the Parliament. There is the utmost urgency to sort it out through negotiations and dialogue and at no stage should the military be used. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto could resolve the tricky issue of the quantum of provincial autonomy in 1973 and give the country a consensus constitution, why cannot it be done again? That being the least, relations with Iran heating up and with Pakistani military likely to get a substantive role in Bush's future anti-Iran operations, General Musharraf needs to be advised to seek broad based national consensus with genuine political leaders like Benazir Bhutto to collectively steer the country minimally scathed from a situation where even angels shall fear to tread. To meet outside challenges, we have to forge internal unity. The writer is a former Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Pakistan Army Captain Declared Not Guilty of Rape in Dubious DNA Test Declan Walsh KARACHI, February 22: Visitors are not welcome at the house in Karachi where Dr. Shazia Khalid is living; not even with an invitation. A police team is posted at the gate and army rangers prowl the grounds inside. "You need the permission from the bosses at the top," says a moustached officer firmly. "The very top." Hours later Dr Shazia picks up the phone inside. Her strained voice crumbles into sobs. "We are very scared," she says, her husband at her side. "In Pakistan there is no law, no protection, nothing. Who can we trust? Nobody." She has good reason to worry. Until six weeks ago the 31-year-old was a company doctor at the Sui gas plant, at the farthest reaches of remote Baluchistan province. On January 3 she was raped in her bed. Normally in Pakistan, where crimes against women are rife, such an act would barely raise an eyebrow. In her case, it nearly started a war. Members of the local Bugti clan saw a rape in their heartland as being a breach of their code of honor - especially when the alleged rapist was a captain in the despised national army. They attacked the gas field with rockets, mortars and thousands of AK47 rounds. President Pervez Musharraf sent an uncompromising response: tanks, helicopters and an extra 4,500 soldiers to guard the installation. If the tribesmen failed to stop shooting, he warned on television, "they will not know what hit them". But the guerrilla attacks have escalated, propelling a long-ignored province into the headlines and threatening civil war. Every day sees a new attack on military and government targets across the province. Insurgents have blown up railway tracks, toppled pylons and fired rockets into army camps. Sui supplies 45% of Pakistan's gas, so supplies to Karachi, Lahore and other cities have been cut. The fighting is motivated by more than the rape. For decades the Baluch tribes have demanded a greater share of profits from their resource-rich but cash-poor province. The Islamabad government ignored them, and a year ago Baluch nationalists started bombing police stations, courthouses and checkpoints. Since the violence sparked by the rape, their demands are being taken more seriously. President Musharraf's belligerence has given way to softer political promises. Envoys Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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have been dispatched, and there is talk of increased profit-sharing and greater autonomy. But tension remains high. Government officials accuse Iran and India of helping to arm the rebels. They say there are about 50 training camps, each with between 20 and 200 militants, in the province. The army has announced plans to establish a permanent garrison in Sui. The attacks continue. The Bugti leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, says the question of Dr Shazia's rape comes first. "As long as the perpetrators of this heinous crime are not dealt with, there can be no talks," he said. The explosive case is a matter of extreme sensitivity for the government. Only a handful of family visitors may enter the house where Dr Shazia and her husband are living. A senior police officer said: "You have to understand that in this matter we answer to the president." That is small consolation to the confused and frightened couple. Speaking publicly for the first time since the rape, Dr Shazia told the Guardian that officials from Pakistan Petroleum (PPL), which runs the plant, at first drugged her to cover up the case. "Before the police came to take a statement, the [company's] chief medical officer said: 'Don't give them any information.' Then they injected me with a tranquillizer that made me drowsy," she said. At the time PPL officials said Dr Shazia was unable to file a statement because she was unconscious. Despite her injuries, Dr Shazia was offered no medical treatment by PPL and she had no contact with her family for two days. Then the company flew her to Karachi and checked her into a private psychiatric hospital. Three PPL doctors have since been arrested on charges of obstructing justice. But despite weeks of police investigation, Dr Shazia's rapist remains at large. She said she did not know his identity. "He tied my hands with a telephone wire and blindfolded me with a dupatta [scarf]. But I could feel that he had a moustache and curly hair. And I know his voice." Early this week President Musharraf's spokesman said an army captain was "under investigation" but had not been arrested. Meanwhile Baluch police have re-interviewed Dr Shazia - this time insinuating she was engaged in prostitution. "They asked me where I got the 25,000 rupees [£225] that was stolen and when I wore my jewellery. And they said that a cleaner had found used condoms in my room," she said. Since then the police have announced that DNA tests on the main suspect did not match that found at the scene, heightening fears of a cover-up. Weeks ago Dr Shazia's husband's grandfather said the rape had rendered her kari - a disgrace to the family honor - and so she must be divorced, and preferably killed. Such "honor killings" remain common in rural Pakistan. But her husband, a pipeline engineer, says he is standing by his wife. His grandfather, he said, "is just a bad man, and this has made my wife even more scared. She cannot sleep at night, so I sit by her bed to take care of her." For human rights campaigners, the kari rubs salt in the wound of a case combining politics, violence and regressive traditions. "In this country a woman has no status," said Shershah Syed, of the Pakistan Medical Association. "She is an object, like a cow or a bucket." Having lost their jobs and fearing for their lives, the couple want to leave Pakistan. "They are politicizing this issue, the whole country, everyone," Dr Shazia said through tears before hanging up. "How can I face anyone any more? We have to get out." How Balochs Celebrated the Independence Day, With Bombs, Violence Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Nizamuddin Nizamani QUETTA, August 21: This year Pakistan’s’ Independence Day on August 14 was celebrated and de-celebrated simultaneously by a divided Balochistan in and outside the country. In Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar the day began with official artillery salutes, colorful flags and fireworks, patriotic songs and large expensive official and unofficial feasts and congregations. Flag ceremony and artillery fire was organized in Quetta too, but those who attended these gatherings had some disturbing news about the activities of the resistance groups who marked the day few hours back differently with militant and subversive activities that rocked almost all the important cities and towns including Quetta. The people of Quetta had already received seven grim and demoralizing reports on that day, largely censored out by the Pakistani media: 1. Five heavy explosions in posh localities in Quetta including Satellite Town, Jinnah Town, Ayub Stadium, Askari Park and Sariab Road rocked the city. 2. Railway Station Mucch came under attack and the railway track was blown up, hindering the traffic for five hours until alternative route was arranged. 3. Airport building and Frontier Constabulary posts in Turbat were attacked with rocket fires. This fresh attack reportedly created panic in the administration as it was fifth consecutive subversive activity in one week. 4. About a dozen rockets were fired on government installations around Kohlu. 5. Gas pipe line in Sibi was blown up disrupting gas supply to Khujak area. 6. FC check posts in Mundh were attacked with heavy weapons. Few days back the house of Federal Minister Ms Zubaida Jalal came under rocket fire. 7. On August 17 high tension power transformer was blown up near Khuzdar. Although the Mundh attack was reported by the national press conservatively, word spread through the internet that t the losses and causalities were far more than reported. The Press also reported that a large cache of arms was seized on the way to Gwadar a few days back.According to press reports, activists of BSO Alliance and BNM observed August 14 as a black day and organized protest with black bands on arms in many towns including Hub and Lasbela, the home towns of Chief Minister Jam Yousuf. The echoes of the Baloch agitation reverberated on the international scene as well. Sindh TV in its August 15 and 16 bulletins reported that scholars and activists of Baloch Society of North America and Baloch Human Rights jointly with Sindhi activists organized demonstration to mark the Independence Day in front of Pakistani High Commission in Washington DC. The speakers mostly PhD scholars alleged that the Establishment was violating the human rights of their nationalities back home. They condemned the Establishment policies against Balochs and Sindhis. They denounced that smaller nationalities have no incentive to celebrate but many reasons to protest on the day. While most of the above activities were blacked out by the national press and electronic media it is worth considering that the recent wave of terror and violence occurred only a few days after Chief Minister Jam Yousuf’s declaration that the government had purged the militant and resistance groups and that their network had been wiped-out. It is another story that his own home in Kalat was attacked within a few days after the statement.

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These subversive activities may also be the natural reaction or results of recent provocative statements by Jam Yousuf and his accomplices, wherein he sarcastically commented that those who struggled in the past were so desperate they could not afford even one meal a day. It appears that the traditional center of militant activities is shifting from difficult mountainous and tribal areas of Kohlu, Barkhan, Marri and Bugti areas to comparatively peaceful plane lands of Sibbi, Much, Mundh, Kalat, Khuzdar and Turbat. These areas are mostly outside the tribal areas controlled by the Sardars so the traditional culprits cannot be blamed. Instead most of these areas are under the control of parliamentarians in the present government. Given the present scenario in Balochistan, it will be in the fitness of things that Establishment in Islamabad reconsiders its strategy towards Balochistan, find out real factors compelling people to resort to join such violence risking their own as well as others lives. Traditional charges and accusations against the nationalists that they are working for foreign elements for money will not suffice as the last 58 years prove these charges are not holding. Federal government must form a committee of credible persons including members of the Establishment, nationalist parties and observers from NWFP and Sindh with adequate powers to take decisions, that must start with the accountability of the present government in the province. The committee must listen to the grievances of the people with an emphatic ear, sort out the issues and make short and long term plans for Balochistan. The worsening situation in Balochistan makes the proposed gas pipeline project with Iran and India highly impractical to implement. The nationalists have already expressed their reservations about this project. It is high time to come forward with tangible results so that our Independence day for 2006 is not marred with such wave of terror. When Balochistan bleeds, Why Pakistan Doesn’t Feel the Pain? Aziz Narejo Please search your soul and say how many of us felt The hurt, the heartache, the grief and the loss when Police killed Tabassum Javed Kalyar in ‘Baway Di Kutya’ village in Sheikhupura district (Aug 4) as he and other Villagers protested the dumping of industrial waste in Their water by paper mills? Please search your soul and say how many of us - the 150 Million citizens of this country - are angered when Okara farmers are killed, harassed and denied Ownership to lands that they have been cultivating for Generations? Please search your soul and say if you understood the Concerns of the parliamentarians from the Siraiki belt when they spoke in the National Assembly recently Against the injustices their people are suffering in Every sphere of life? Please search your soul and say if you hear the cries From Sindh against the denial of basic human rights, Economic genocide and other atrocities? Please say if you mourn the deaths of innocent Tribesmen in South Waziristan and victims of sectarian And ethnic clashes if they belonged to the ‘other’ Side? And then please see what present we are sending to the People of Balochistan on the 57th anniversary of the ‘Independence’ of the country? Military action against Our own! Why can’t we talk to them? Listen to them? And solve their problems peacefully and amicably. Why Are we treating them as enemies? Why do we build so Many

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cantonments when we should be building Institutions of learning to educate our youth and the Hospitals to treat and take care of the ill and the Unwell of us? Please search your soul and say if we are on a right Path to build a country? Becoming a nation may still Be farther away. It may even be beyond us. Terror in Okara The bitter struggle between the peasants of Okara and the Pakistan Army Rangers, is now into its third year Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy On 11 May 2003, Amer Ali, a 60-year old peasant of Chak 4-L of Okara district, made his last good-neighbourly visit to the adjoining village, Chak 5-L. As the old man hobbled out of his hosts` house to see what was going on, he was cut down by a hail of bullets. Amir Ali was the seventh to have died in recent months in the bitter struggle between the peasants of Okara and the Pakistan Army Rangers, now into its third year. Coincidentally, just hours earlier, a group of journalists from the Urdu press and concerned citizens, including myself, had set out from Islamabad on a fact-finding mission. As I stood by the blood-spattered earth next to a wall pock-marked with bullets, grim-faced villagers indicated to me the field from where they said the Rangers had ceaselessly machine-gunned the village for over an hour. A tour around Chak 5-L followed. It is a fairly typical village with visible signs of poverty - mud covered huts, open drains, bare-footed children, and scrawny chickens. Branches of trees felled in the shooting lay all around. Many houses, as well as the village mosque, had bricks broken or chipped by the impact of heavy bullets. They are there for the next visitors to village 5-L to see - but only if they can successfully navigate through the siege imposed upon the seventy odd villages in the area. Roadblocks are everywhere, manned by soldiers with automatic weapons as well the lighter-armed police. Four-wheelers with mounted machine-guns prowl menacingly upon the dirt roads next to the irrigation canals, raising huge clouds of dust as they move between villages. For all practical purposes, the nearly one million people of Okara are under military occupation but Pakistan`s political parties, which vociferously scream at being denied their share of the pie, are yet to take note of this. Why are they doing this, I asked one villager from the crowd that was now swarming around me. "They want to put us on contract, pay rent to them, take away our rights to the land, and then throw us out", he replied, "but this land is ours because our forefathers have tilled it and we have nowhere else to go". And then, as if the floodgates had broken, villagers came to show us wounds upon their bodies, some now turning septic. One, who led me aside, broke down sobbing and told a tale that cannot be related here for reasons of propriety. A visit to the neighbouring village, Chak 4-L, showed the situation there to be virtually identical. Broken limbs, hollow faces, sunken eyes, and marks of beatings were in abundant evidence there too. Appalled by what we had seen, we felt it absolutely necessary to see the point of view of those in authority and therefore drove to the Okara Rangers Headquarters, at whose entrance we were stopped by heavily armed guards. After some hesitation they conveyed by telephone our request to meet with Colonel Saleem, the head of the Rangers in Okara. Permission was eventually granted and we drove into the huge complex, spread over many acres, containing residences and offices. The beautifully manicured lawns and flower-beds, gravelled paths, and ornate structures from colonial times stood in stark contrast with the brick and mud hovels we had just left behind. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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We were received by all who matter in the Okara administration. Apart from Colonel Saleem, we met Major Tahir Malik who looks after the military aspects and is greatly feared by the villagers, the senior superintendent of police, and the district commissioner. Each had a closely similar point of view to the other. They spoke good English, the meeting was civil and polite, and we were offered tea and sandwiches. But there was to be no meeting of minds. In response to my question of who killed Amir Ali, the administration officials said that he had been caught in the crossfire between Sindhis and Machis, two groups at loggerheads over some local dispute. However, my offer to transport Amir Ali`s decaying corpse, which at the moment was lying in his relatives house in Chak 5-L, to Islamabad for a post-mortem was summarily dismissed. And where did the torture marks on the bodies of so many villagers come from, of which we now have photographic proof? The answer given was that these had been self-inflicted with the intent of defaming the authorities, or else they were wounds inflicted by one group upon the other. Finding the answers to be less than satisfactory, we sought permission to return to Chak 5-L. After some hesitation this was granted. Negotiating through the roadblocks required further delays, as each confirmed by radio whether we were indeed permitted to visit the village. In my conversations with the soldiers manning the positions, I learned that they too were disturbed about what they were being asked to do to the Okara villagers but had no real choice. Upon eventually reaching the village, we conveyed to the villagers what the authorities claimed as the cause of Amir Ali`s death. They laughed bitterly and said that there are no Sindhis or Machis in Chak 5-L, much less a fight between them. The siege of Okara is a blot on Pakistan`s collective conscience and must be lifted immediately and unconditionally. Further, the incidents of torture and beatings that have occurred there over the last three years should be immediately investigated at the highest level and the guilty punished. We cannot plausibly demand that India end the military occupation of Kashmir while employing similar brutal means and tactics at home. Peasants have no political agenda - land is about livelihood and physical survival. Pakistan cannot bear the shock of nearly a million of its own people being dispossessed of the lands they have tilled for over a century. The Pakistan Army’s Repression of the Punjab Farmers’ Movement A Summary of Human Rights Watch Report on Human Rights Violation in Okara by Pakistan Army Human Rights Watch We were produced before Major Tahir Malik. He asked why we had not made the contract payments. We answered that we had no money. They took us to the torture cell and Jallad [“tormentor”] Munir started thrashing us with a leather whip. He made us all strip naked and whipped us till we bled. Major Tahir Malik would personally supervise the whippings, abuse us, laugh at us, and punch us…. We were produced before officers again in the morning. They would insist that we pay the contract money. Upon our refusal, it would begin again. —Interview with Mohammad Iqbal, Okara, October 23, 2003. They snatched our milk and our bicycles. Gomi, the informer, took away the milk and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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bicycles. They blindfolded us and took us to Rangers Headquarters. As soon as we got there, they started beating us with sticks. After a while we even stopped crying or screaming… There were sixteen [adult] farmers [already present when] we arrived there. [We saw them being] beaten badly with a flat leather whip by Munir ”Jallad” and Inspector Aashiq Ali in the presence of Major Tahir Malik. The farmers were bleeding and crying in pain. Some were weeping out of fear and sitting with their heads bowed. —Interview with Abid Ali, age ten, Okara, October 24, 2003 Approximately 68,000 acres of state-owned agricultural land in Punjab are now the site of the most significant popular protest movement that Pakistan has witnessed in recent times. Spread out over ten districts, this land is tilled by the almost one million descendants of migrants settled in the area by the British Raj a century ago. The problems in the affected districts result from a straightforward disagreement. Traditionally, farmers have been sharecroppers, handing over part of their produce as rent to the military, which acts as landlord through military-run farms. In 2000, the military unilaterally tried to change the rules, demanding that the farmers sign new rental contracts requiring them to pay rent in cash. The farmers have refused, fearing that cash rents would, when times were lean, place them at risk of being evicted from land that their families have lived on for generations. Instead, as the situation has grown more polarized, they have begun demanding outright ownership of the land. This dispute––over some of Pakistan’s most fertile land––has led to an extraordinarily tense standoff between the Pakistani army, paramilitary and police forces, and the tenant farmers. Since 2002, tenant farmers resisting efforts by the military to undercut their legal rights to the land—especially those from the movement’s epicenter in the Okara district, where the military claims to own at least 17,000 acres and where farmers are in direct confrontation with military authorities—have been subjected to a campaign of killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, “forced divorces,” and summary dismissals from employment. Twice, paramilitary forces literally besieged villages in the area of dispute, preventing people, food and public services from entering or leaving for extended periods of time. Based on over one hundred interviews with tenant farmers, their children, and some of the alleged perpetrators in Okara district, this report details the abuses committed by Pakistani security forces in the course of the dispute. Particularly egregious violations include claims of widespread torture including that of children. Human Rights Watch interviewed thirty children, among many more, who claimed to have been beaten and tortured by paramilitary forces in the course of the dispute. The emergence and persistence of such a movement remains particularly unusual in the Pakistani context and the lengths the military has gone to crush the farmers’ movement highlights just how important the land is to the military. However, given the massive scope of the Pakistan Army’s economic interests, it would be misleading to suggest that it is avoiding a compromise for purely economic reasons. The Pakistan Army is one of the largest and quite possibly the largest landholder in the country. Urban land is publicly used by the military to dispense patronage to civilians and perks to its own officers. Similarly, agricultural land is a resonant and enduring symbol of the powerful status of the military. The army likely fears the potential knock-on effects of a compromise in Okara for its land operations nationwide and the damage that any compromise might do to its status as Pakistan’s most powerful and feared institution. The army’s evident fear is that such a revolt, if allowed to fester or be accommodated, may lead to a reworking of the patron-client relationships carefully nurtured by the military establishment

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between itself and traditional landed elites, between itself and the tenant farmers and, between the traditional landed elites and peasant farmers. The location of the dispute is also problematic for the Pakistan Army. The Punjab is the power-base of the military. It has traditionally drawn the overwhelming majority of its rank and file from the province and particularly from the districts that are now offering resistance. Historically, the army has viewed the area as its backyard and the local people as subservient allies, given the latter’s role as laborers in a military-dominated economy. Hence, many in the military are outraged that peasant farmers would dare to revolt against any tenancy system that it saw fit to impose upon them. This is a dispute that both sides believe they cannot afford to lose. For the Pakistani military establishment, control of land is essential for maintaining its position within the Pakistani political structure –– it believes that it cannot allow tenant farmers to challenge this position. For tenant farmers, access to land is often the difference between economic survival and abject poverty, between a full belly and hunger, between a viable future and complete marginalization. The armed group responsible for most of the abuses against the farmers is the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary force normally used for border security. In some cases the Rangers have been assisted by the police in perpetrating abuses. Though the Pakistan Rangers are nominally under the jurisdiction of Pakistan’s federal interior ministry, they draw their cadres from military personnel and work in close conjunction with, and often at the behest of, the Pakistan Army. The Rangers have set up “torture cells”—a term commonly used in Pakistan by officials and citizens alike to describe areas within detention centers that are used for coercive interrogations of suspects—to coerce the tenant farmers into signing the tenancy agreements. Schools in the affected areas have periodically closed down as the Rangers have targeted children for kidnapping and torture. In several cases, Pakistani security forces have targeted the sons-in-law of tenants who refused to consent to the new contracts, torturing them until they agreed to divorce their wives. Divorce, though sanctioned by Islam, remains taboo in much of Pakistan. The objective of such “forced divorces” is thus to publicly shame the fathers-in-law (divorce is deeply frowned upon in rural Pakistani society and it is the reputation of the bride’s father and his family that suffers most when a couple divorces). In many instances, employees at military farms who are related to farmers who have refused to sign the new contracts have been barred from work until their relatives signed. They have been threatened with arrest and torture if they attempted to go to work. And many who have persisted in going to work have been illegally detained and tortured as punishment for not forcing their relatives into signing. In many cases, such individuals have been fired from employment. Relatives of farmers were issued “showcause” notices from their state employers warning of disciplinary action if they did not convince the tenants to cooperate. Some of these employees were subsequently fired. In sum, much of the violence––unprecedented and now routine in this dispute–– appears to be aimed at intimidating farmers into compliance or silence. The dispute reached its peak between May 5, 2003 and June 12, 2003, when Okara Military Farms––and the 150,000 people who live in eighteen villages there––were besieged for over a month by police and the Pakistan Rangers. The siege, which involved the imposition of a curfew, severe restrictions on movement within and into the district, and the disconnection of water, electricity and telephone lines, ended only when farmers were forced to sign contracts. In an interview with Human Rights Watch, Federal Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hyat “categorically” denied that the Pakistan Rangers have “ever been involved in human Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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rights violations in Okara.” The interior minister added that the farmers were simply “greedy” and that local “NGOs [non-governmental organizations] have acted as trouble-makers in the dispute.” When Human Rights Watch noted that there was clear evidence of the Rangers’ involvement in serious human rights violations, he responded: “I don’t agree that the Rangers can commit abuses. They are an extremely well-trained and professional force. There are no rogue elements in the Pakistan Rangers.” At the end of the discussion, he acknowledged that discipline was not perfect within the Rangers, but claimed that: “The occasional case of indiscipline has nothing to do with Okara.” In a separate meeting, however, Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Ilahi acknowledged to Human Rights Watch that some serious “human rights violations had taken place during this conflict.” Ironically, the Pakistani military does not actually have legal title to land at the heart of the dispute—the Okara Military Farms. Although the military has had long-term leases to the land in the past and has exerted effective control over it, in some cases for decades, formal title to the land continues to rest with the government of Punjab province. Repeated attempts by the military to effect a permanent transfer of the land to the federal ministry of defense have been rebuffed by the Punjab provincial body that holds title to the land. This point was emphasized to Human Rights Watch by Chief Minister Ilahi. In his government’s view, the land belongs to Punjab province and not to the army. However, he indicated that this was a “sensitive issue” given the “transition” from military to civilian rule currently underway in Pakistan. When presented with this claim, the Federal Interior Minister disagreed: “The Punjab Chief Minister is wrong,” he said flatly, neither offering nor suggesting proof. “I know that the army owns this land.” Officers of the Pakistan Rangers interviewed by Human Rights Watch in Okara take a similar line. They are adamant that the farmers are ready and willing to cooperate with the authorities in signing new contracts and that it is only a handful of troublemakers, including outside parties, who have incited the otherwise peaceful tenants into conflict. Some also suggested that these outside influences had links to RAW, the Indian intelligence agency. “Its nothing we cannot deal with. These people only understand the language of the stick” explained an army major serving with the Rangers on promise of anonymity. The dispute appears to be nowhere near resolution. Reflecting the military’s entrenched power and continuing impunity, senior military and political officials in Pakistan have either participated in or allowed violations to occur. The determination of the Pakistani Army and some local civilian political leaders (themselves members of the landed elite), to subdue the farmers’ rebellion and to set an example for other tenant farmers in Punjab and the rest of Pakistan has ensured that the people of Okara and other Punjabi districts live in fear for their lives and personal security. Protesting tenant farmers continue to be subject to ongoing threats to life, liberty, and movement. Fighting the Army, for farm land At Okara in Pakistan's Punjab province, a peaceful movement by peasants frustrates the Army's attempts, often violent, to assume ownership of the land they cultivate. Muhammad Shehzad Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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PEASANTS spearheading a peaceful land rights movement at Okara in southern Punjab, 100 km from Lahore, fear that their struggle could take a violent turn if the Pakistan military continues to suppress it. The latest brutal act by the military, they alleged, was the gunning down of a farmer, Mohammad Amir. "For the last three years, the Pakistani Army has been terrorising us in the same manner that it terrorised Bengalis in 1971. So far our movement has been peaceful. But if the military does not end its atrocities, we may take up arms or resort to suicide attacks for our rights," said Anwar Javed Dogar, chief organiser of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP). Okara has been under siege since August 2002. More than 20,000 military men have cordoned off the area in an attempt to force the peasants to give up their demand for the "ownership" of the land they till and sign a contract which the peasants say would push them into servitude under the military. "The Army is torturing our women, children and elders. So far, 11 of our people have been killed. The Army has been usurping our land since 1947. We want malki ya maut (death or ownership)," said Dogar, who had been detained by the military. He faces several cases of murder and terrorism, allegedly fabricated against him for his bold stance on the movement. "The Army will have either to end its illegal occupation of our land or kill all of us. I foresee our youth clashing with the Army... . We are in millions and the Army is in thousands. It will not be difficult for us to overpower the Army," said Dogar. The military, the AMP claims, uses blackmail to obtain the signatures of the peasants on the contract papers. "The Army and the Rangers take away our women to private detention centres and torture them. Soldiers would ask us to sign the contracts, if we refuse they threaten to rape our daughters and sisters," said AMP chairman Liaquat Ali. The peasants have been cultivating the land under the batai (sharing) system under the Punjab Tenancy Act, but are being coerced to change over to a contract system. Said Dogar: "We had raised the issue of ownership with the former Governor of Punjab, Lt.-Gen. (retired) Mohammad Safdar. He constituted a three-member committee to ascertain how we could be awarded ownership rights. The Punjab Revenue Board refused to recognise us as tenants. It said the land was under the Army's illegal occupation and therefore the Army wasn't authorised to let it for tenancy. Moreover, the Army has no records of the share of produce it has received from us since 1947 under batai. Thus, it has embezzled a huge amount of money, around Rs.20 billion per farm [there are 25 such farms across Punjab], according to the Board's estimate. The peasants established their right to tenancy by producing documents. Thus a big scam was exposed, in which the Army was involved." The Revenue Board, according to Dogar, challenged the Army's authority to receive a share of the produce from the peasants under the tenancy laws and claimed that such a share solely belonged to the Board. The Board raised the issue with the Army, but the Army refused to entertain it. When the peasants came to know that the Army had misappropriated the income, they stopped paying their share. But the Army insisted on its share. Thus, the Pakistan Rangers besieged Okara under an order signed by General Pervez Musharraf. The peasants had a meeting with the Rangers' head, Major-General Hussain Mehdi. "It was a meeting at gunpoint," said Dogar. "Mehdi told us categorically that if we did not sign the contract papers, we would be handed over to a firing squad at the border and gunned down like Indian agents or Al Qaeda terrorists." According to Dogar, Mehdi told the peasants that the contract system had been introduced to counter the corruption and embezzlement that the Army had committed. "He admitted that the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Army was corrupt. He reminded the peasants that they could not challenge the Army's occupation of the Okara land because the entire country had already been subjugated by the Army," Dogar added. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervez Ellahi is helpless in the matter of providing relief to Okara's peasants. "We urged the Chief Minister to pursue the Okara case because the land belonged to the Punjab government, but he expressed his helplessness," said Liaquat Ali. OKARA'S peasants are more aware about their rights now than they were before the land rights movement took shape. They are not intimidated anymore by the military's use of force. They have refused to sign the documents that would put in place the contract system and they no longer share their produce with the Army. Their children chant the slogan malki ya maut and their illiterate women run the rights campaign. "Recently our women snatched the rifles of the Rangers and beat them up when they tried to misbehave with them," said Dogar. The AMP has emerged as a political entity, even winning a few seats in the local bodies elections. It wanted to contest the national and provincial elections in 2002 but the Army and the Rangers allegedly abducted all its leaders and detained them in private cells. "I was tortured for six months. The torture has badly impaired my eyesight. I have been implicated in several fake murder and terrorism cases and declared a proclaimed offender," said Dogar. "The police are chasing me. But I am ready to give my life for our cause," he added. The peasants want Musharraf to intervene and hold talks with them. They want him to make the Army accountable to the National Accountability Bureau for the corruption it has committed; lift the siege of the village; release all the detainees; withdraw all the cases against them; and provide them the ownership rights guaranteed by the law. The long siege has had its effect on the civic conditions in Okara. "The Army has cut off our electricity, phone and water supplies. Food can't reach us. We are really in a war-like situation," said Dogar. The outbreak of several diseases has also been reported. The Army holds the `miscreants' in the AMP responsible for the situation in Okara. "There is a massive distortion of facts about Okara," said Maj-Gen. Mehmood, Director-General, Military Land and Cantonment. "Eleven persons, including some national leaders, have been identified to be patronising this movement with the support of some non-government organisations. People provoking unrest are nonlessees, who have nothing to do with the situation. `AMP & co.' are exploiting the people through their strategy of instilling `fear and hope' - the fear of eviction and loss of rights under the Punjab Tenancy Act, and false hopes of getting them proprietary rights," said Mehmood. He denies the AMP claim that the Rangers killed 11 peasants. "So far there have been only four deaths. None of them was in firing by the law-enforcing agencies. One of the four was hired for Rs.150 to take part in a protest. He was killed in firing by the mob." The AMP contradicts Mehmood. The country's largest political party, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), supports the peasants' movement. The party's chairperson, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has condemned the military action in Okara and asked the government to give ownership rights to the tenants as promised by Musharraf during his referendum campaign. "The military high command should recognise the changing ground realities and intervene urgently with a view to preventing a clash with the poor people," Benazir said. Ayesha Siddiqa, Islamabad correspondent of Jane's Defence Weekly, says: "The tragedy is, the land belongs to the Punjab government, which is in no mood to challenge the Army's illegal occupation. It has become a tradition to treat the Army as a holy cow and not challenge its misdeeds. The Punjab government should take this Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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matter to a court of law and thus a new precedent could be set in Pakistan's history that would lead to improving the peasants' plight." Afrasiab Khattak, chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said: "The peasants have demonstrated enormous courage. They are fighting the most organised and highly armed force of the country, that is, the Pakistan Army. They are fighting its repression with empty hands, peacefully. This is a rare phenomenon in the history of Pakistan. If they succeed, a revolution could come in Pakistan that will end the feudalism." THE Okara farms (17,013 acres, or 6,805 hectares) were dense forests when they were given to the peasants in 1908 by the British government. The land was under the Punjab Revenue Board's administrative control. The peasants were asked to cultivate it and promised ownership rights by 1914. In 1913, the Army took control of the land under a lease agreement with the Punjab government. This lease expired in 1933 and was renewed for another five years. At the end of this period the lease was not renewed. The land was occupied by the Pakistan Army in 1947. Since then the Army has not sought a renewal of the lease and under the law it is a trespasser and illegal occupant. It has not paid the Punjab government for the share of the produce it has received from the peasants under the batai system. Some three years ago, the Army asked the peasants to cultivate the land under a contract system instead of the batai system. The peasants fear that under the contract system they could be deprived of their tenancy within hours and have refused to sign despite the siege of the village by the Army and the Rangers. According to human rights activists, the situation in Okara is serious. Amnesty International has raised the Okara issue with the Pakistani government but to no avail. Unfortunately, Okara has not come under the media's spotlight either. Even the people of Pakistan know very little about it. On the Military Farms, Okara The Government’s inaction in the face of the reported brutalities carried out by the Military authorities and Pakistan Rangers in forcing the tenants of the Military Farms, Okara to execute the new “cash rent” system is criminal. Rafay Alam In his celebrated essay “The Path of the Law”, published in 1897 (but originally delivered as a speech to the students of Harvard Law School), the great American jurist and judge of its Supreme Court, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., declared that “It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simple persists from blind imitation of the past . . .” No better words can be employed to describe the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887. This Act governs the legal relationship between the landlords who own and the peasants who occupy rural land in the Punjab. However, given the well publicized goings on at the Military Farms, Okara and the reportedly heavy-handed treatment meted out by the Pakistan Rangers to the mizareen peasants occupying and tilling the land for the Military authorities, it is surprising that there has been very little has been little debate on the subject. Without going into the provisions of the Tenancy Act (which was amended, once, in 1952), it is clear that the framers of this legislation sought to enforce a regime of tenancy control over a society which, at the time (1887), knew nothing of ideas such a democracy, universal franchise and the right to self determination. Certainly, rural Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Punjabi society at the time did not have any inkling about other 20th century ideas, now accepted as a minimum norm, like Fundamental Rights and the power of judicial review. One can only wonder at the wisdom of a state which seeks to enforce an archaic law and the equally archaic social equations it creates. After all, the function of any legislation creating enforceable rights is to recognize the norms prevalent in society and then to regulate the way society behaves or ought to behave. The fact that no one has objected to the regime of property rights the Act perpetuates speaks volumes of our ignorance. Essentially, the Tenancy Act divides the peasants who occupied lands in the Punjab, and divides them into two categories on the basis of whether or not such peasants (referred to in the Act as “tenants”) have a statutorily conferred right to occupy the land. Tenants who do not have a statutory right to occupy the land they till occupy the land on the basis of a contract with their landlord (technically, their rights stem from the contract and do not attach themselves to the land), and therefore do not have any enforceable right or interest in the land. On the other hand, tenants who do have a statutorily conferred right to occupy the land they till (referred to in the Act as “occupancy tenants”) have the benefit of an enforceable right to occupy their land. On the basis of this distinction between simple tenants and occupancy tenants, the Tenancy Act proceeds to set out the rights and obligations the peasants and their landlords in the Punjab. Most crucially, a simple tenant can be evicted from land when his contract with his landlord expires or for other reasons (set out in the Act). On the other hand, occupancy tenants – and peasants must pass a stringent test laid out in the Act before they can claim such a status – can only be evicted by a decree passed by a court of law. For a 19th century quasi-feudal Colonial government, such a distinction seems unremarkable. But to declare today that a man who has lived on and tilled certain land all of his life for an absentee landlord has nothing more, if he is lucky, than a claim to remain on the land is to stand in ignorance of the Constitutionally protected rights to life, property and profession. The existence of the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 in today’s statute’s books is nothing but an indictment of the Pakistani State’s view on the concept of private ownership of land. The decision to unilaterally implement a “cash rent” system for all classes of tenants occupying the 17,013 acres of land which comprise the Military Farms, Okara, was made by GHQ in Rawalpindi some time in early 2000. Till then, most of the mizareen peasants (who have been tilling land for the Ministry of Defence for generations) paid their rent in kind, known as the bittai system. This system of rent payment, recognized in the Tenancy Act, envisions a division of the produce of land in a predetermined ratio, with the landlord taking the a portion of the harvest and the tenant keeping the remainder for his own use. The Act also lays down the stipulation that during such divisions, which are to be carried out in the presence of the tenant and his landlord, the landlord cannot collect more than 43% of the produce. I mentioned this because, in practice, the Military authorities were (and are) extracting a percentage as high as 60% and have been (and are) carrying out divisions without the tenants present. The new “cash rent” system does away the Tenancy Act and with rent paid in kind, and envisions cash payments of rent, imposed on the basis of contracts, at fixed intervals throughout a year. No doubt, such a system is more streamlined and suffers from far less red tape than the bittai system of rent. What is interesting to note here is that the Tenancy Act already allows for and deals with rent paid on the same “cash rent” basis the Military authorities are attempting to impose. The question then becomes: what has motivated the Military authorities to impose a “cash rent” system independent of the Tenancy Act amidst well-publicized protests and controversy? They could have done the same quietly under the Tenancy Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Act. The answer is this: Under the Tenancy Act, “cash rent” can only be levied against occupancy tenants (who cannot be removed except by the decree of a competent court). The new contractual “cash rent” system sought to be imposed seeks to relieve the Military Farms, Okara from the tedium of dividing produce, but does not provide their tenants with the occupancy rights they would be deemed to have had such a “cash rent” system been implemented under the Tenancy Act. In other words, the Military authorities are trying to impose of streamlined system of rent collection without the nuisance of giving tenants a right to occupy the land they till. Talk about trying to have your cake and eating it as well. The motivation behind the Military authorities decision to impose the “cash rent” system is made clear by a memorandum written by the Executive District Office, Okara to the Board of Revenue, Punjab (letter No. 45/DOR/TSC dated 22.09.01) after the mizareen peasants in Okara first raised their voices in protest over the imposition of the new agreements they were being forced to sign. The EDO summarized the Ministry of Defence’s position as follows: “The Military Farm Authorities explained that the decision of switching over from previous ‘Bittai System’ to ‘Cash Rent System’ was taken by the GHQ at the best interest of both the parties. It would not only generate more funds for the Govt. but also save the management and the tenants from many corrupt practices. It would be rather more beneficial for the present tenants as they would be able to get more yield by using more inputs and more labor.” The Military authorities’ reasoning is flawed on several grounds. To begin with, it does not take a genius to figure out that the productivity of land cannot be increased by changing the way rent is collected on it. Also, it is more or less accepted that incentive-based systems (like the bittai system), wherever they are implemented, usually yield better results. Furthermore, to suggest that the “cash rent” system will “save the management and the tenants from many corrupt practices” is to ignore realities: One of the complaints the mizareen peasants have been repeatedly making is that the division of produce has been carried out by the Military authorities behind their backs. If this is the case, then any “corrupt practices” would be the sole responsibility of the Military authorities. It seems that the Military authorities are attempting to remove their own corrupt practices at the expense of mizareen peasants’ rights. To put this whole picture into perspective, one must not be unmindful of the quantities of money involved (which would give an idea of the magnitude of the revenue which the Military authorities are so concerned about). In 2000, the Tehsildar for the area comprising of Military Farms, Okara reported that a sum of Rs. 12,237,000/- was collected from the receipt of 16,316 bags of wheat collected from the mizareen peasants who tilled the land. That’s roughly 10 new Toyota Corolla cars. And to think that scores of people have already lost their lives in the violence which has followed in the wake of the Military authority’s new policy. The Government’s inaction in the face of the reported brutalities carried out by the Military authorities and Pakistan Rangers in forcing the tenants of the Military Farms, Okara to execute the new “cash rent” system is criminal. (Is it a coincidence that the Rt. Hon. Member of the National Assembly from Okara is none other than Rao Sikandar, the Defence Minister?). To quote from Justice Brandies, dissenting in Olmstead v. United States (1928), “Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by its example . . . To declare that, in the administration of the . . . law, the end justifies the means . . . would bring terrible retribution.” The EDO writing to the Board of Revenue, Punjab must have had similar auguries of retribution, for he ended his memorandum thus: “As regards stern/drastic action against such a large number of tenants would create serious law & Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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order situation, chaos and unrest among the tenants at large as the District Administration will have to face the reaction of about 50 to 60 thousand inhabitants of [the lands belonging to the Military Farms, Okara].” Pakistan A US-Financed Military Dictatorship Pakistan has Long, Bloody History as Terrorist Arm of U.S. Asad Ismi The United States' choice of Pakistan as an ally in its "war on terrorism" provides the spectacle of the two leading terrorist states on Earth "fighting terrorism." The U.S. has killed more than eight million people in the Third World since 1945, while Pakistan slaughtered almost three million Bengalis in the Eastern wing of the country in 1971. This caused the break-up of the state, with East Pakistan separating and becoming Bangladesh. Since 1951, Pakistan's main purpose has been to act as the U.S. government's South Asian terrorist arm, serving to destabilize the former Soviet Union, India and Afghanistan, and crushing all attempts at domestic democracy. Washington's instrument has been the Pakistan army, which U.S. officials have called "the greatest single stabilizing force in the country." Its major "military" campaigns have been launched against its own unarmed people. Soon after Pakistan's independence in 1947, the U.S. provided $411 million to establish its armed forces. When the country's first democratic elections scheduled for 1958 threatened to reduce the army's power, General Mohammed Ayub Khan, the commander-in-chief, cancelled them and took over the government in a coup. This created a military dictatorship that continues to this day. Pakistan became a U.S.-financed garrison state, spending 80% of its budget on the military, which massacred thousands of people and ensured that most of those not killed continued to be mired in poverty and illiteracy. Ayub was an actual employee of the U.S. State Department, which paid him an annual salary of U.S.$16,000. There is little doubt that the U.S. government was "fully aware" that the Pakistan army was planning a coup. A few years after the 1958 coup, Sardar Bahadur, Ayub's brother, alleged that the CIA had "been fully involved" in the coup. Ayub declared Pakistan to be Washington's "most allied ally," and explained his takeover by claiming that "Democracy cannot work in a hot climate." Ayub allowed the U.S. to use Pakistani air bases for the CIA's U-2 spy flights over the Soviet Union. The U.S. also controlled a signals intelligence facility near Peshawar which monitored Soviet military activity. Such servility prompted John Foster Dulles, the U.S. Secretary of State (during the 1950s), to call Pakistan "a bulwark of freedom in Asia." As Milton Bearden, a former CIA station chief in Pakistan, recently put it, "[Pakistan is] the only country in South Asia that always did what we asked." The Pakistan government's terrorism has mainly been perpetrated against its own people, with the U.S.-armed and trained military unleashing genocidal wars on all those who dared oppose its dictatorship. With U.S. arms, training, military aid, and encouragement, the Pakistan army butchered half a million to three million Bengalis in 1971 when their popular, elected, left-wing leadership had the temerity to demand provincial autonomy. U.S. officials reacted to this slaughter by thanking General Yahya Khan, the Pakistani military dictator, for his "delicacy and tact." As one eye witness described it, the army in East Pakistan was "like a pack of wild dogs," killing "on a scale not seen since the Third Reich." One thousand intellectuals were murdered in a single day at Dhaka

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University alone. "Women were raped or had their breasts torn out with specially fashioned knives," one journalist (who fled) reported. "Children did not escape the horror: the lucky ones were killed with their parents; but many thousands of others must go through what life remains for them with eyes gouged out and limbs roughly amputated." Losing East Pakistan (which constituted half the country) did not prevent the army from attacking another province only two years later. In 1973, four Pakistan army divisions assaulted Baluch tribal communities in the province of Baluchistan, wiping out "mountain villages and nomad caravans." Like the Bengalis, the Baluchi political leadership was elected, popular, leftwing, and also wanted autonomy. Mirage fighter-bombers and U.S. Cobra helicopter gunships pummeled unarmed Baluch civilians for five years. Of the 5,000 Baluch men, women and children captured by the army in 1977, 95% were "brutally tortured." As one account put it: "Apart from the standard practice of severe beatings, limbs are broken or cut off; eyes gouged out; electric shocks are applied, especially to the genitals; beards and hair are torn out; fingernails ripped; water and food are withheld." The Pakistan army has provided Washington with an instrument for crushing or hindering progressive social movements, not just inside Pakistan, but also in South Asia. India's nonalignment and the good relations of both India and Afghanistan with the Soviet Union were anathema to Washington, which deployed Pakistan against both countries. When a left-wing government came to power in Afghanistan in 1978, the U.S. decided to overthrow it, using Pakistan as a conduit. The New York Times described the main objectives of this government as being the implementation of land reform and the expansion of education for women. Afghan Islamic fundamentalist groups (known as Mujahideen) in exile in Pakistan were covertly armed by the CIA and Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI) and sent into Afghanistan. Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser in the Carter administration, knew that this policy would, as he put it, "induce a Soviet intervention in Afghanistan." Brzezinski stated in a recent interview: "That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap." Once the Soviets invaded in December 1979, the U.S. poured $6 billion in military aid to the Mujahideen through Pakistan. The ensuing war destroyed Afghanistan, ending all hope of progressive reforms. With the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989, Afghanistan became a centre for U.S. and Pakistani backed international terrorism. Islamist fighters trained there poured into Central Asia and India, aiming to create a pan-Islamic state stretching from Kashmir to Kazakhstan. The Taliban was a CIA-ISI creation as well, and its relations with Washington only soured when the two failed to reach an accord on sharing the oil riches of Central Asia. According to Prof. Michel Chossudovsky at the University of Ottawa, "Since the SovietAfghan war, recruiting Mujahedin to fight covert wars on Washington's behest has become an integral part of U.S. foreign policy. A 1997 document of the U.S. Congress reveals how the Clinton administration had "helped turn Bosnia into a militant Islamic base," leading to the recruitment through the so-called "Militant Islamic Network" of thousands of Mujahedin from the Muslim world. "The 'Bosnian pattern' has since been replicated in Kosovo, Southern Serbia and Macedonia." India has long been the kind of Third World state that Washington detested. It had close relations with the Soviet Union, followed an independent foreign policy, opposed Western imperialist adventures, and created a significant public sector industrial base and a protected domestic economy which included two communist states (West Bengal Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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and Kerala). The U.S. response has been to "bleed India" through Pak-istan's support for secessionist insurgencies in order to open up the Indian economy to American penetration. In the 1980s, Pakistan trained and armed Sikh militants who fought for a separate homeland in Indian Punjab. Today, in the disputed state of Indian Kashmir, Pakistan has been "sponsoring terrorism" for more than a decade. Islamic militants trained and armed in Pakistan and Afghanistan has been fighting for Kashmir's integration with Pakistan, leading to about 60,000 deaths. On October 1, 2001, these groups exploded a car bomb that killed 38 people (most of them civilians) near the state legislature building in Srinagar. On December 13, 2001, two Pakistan based terrorist groups attacked the Indian parliament in New Delhi. Fourteen people were killed, including five of the terrorists. India moved half a million troops to its border with Pakistan and the two armies--both possessing nuclear weapons--still stand on the brink of war. No doubt heavy-handed Indian policies have alienated Sikhs and Kashmiris, and India is guilty of massive human rights violations in Kashmir; but, as The New York Times put it, "Since 1994, the role of native Kashmiris in the insurgency has diminished as heavily-armed outsiders from Pakistan and Afghanistan have stepped up the violence." These insurgencies have sapped India's ability to build its economic infrastucture. This, according to one observer, has "slowed the pace of growth and development, and precipitated demands for rapid privatization and reliance on foreign investment." The rewards for being a U.S. terrorist arm in South Asia have been lucrative for the Pakistan military's officer corps. During the war against the Soviets, Afghanistan supplied 60% of the U.S.'s heroin. Pakistani generals "were deeply involved" in this drug trade and three of them were counted amongst the twelve richest generals in the world. The most prominent was General Fazle Haq, known as "Pakistan's Noriega." Haq was appointed governor of the Northwest Frontier Province (bordering Afghanistan) by General Ziaul Haq, Pakistan's military dictator during 1977-1988. As governor, Fazle Haq was in charge of Mujahideen military operations. He also protected the production of 200 heroin labs near the border. In 1982, Interpol identified Haq as "a key player in the Afghan-Pakistani opium trade." Haq. who had $3 million in his bank account, was protected from drug investigations by Zia and the CIA. In 1993, Raoof Ali Khan, Pakistan's representative to the UN Commission on Narcotics, said that "there is no branch of government where drug corruption does not pervade." The CIA reported to the U.S. Congress in 1994 that heroin had become "the life-blood of the Pakistani economy and political system." Drug trafficking is just one part of the Pakistani military's parasitism. The armed forces own an airline, sugar mills, chemical plants, a cereal factory, and several hospitals. Officers and their families are supplied with free servants, education, and medical care, and the best real estate in large cities is reserved for them. The price for their country's being a U.S. terrorist base has been paid by the Pakistani people, who for 55 years have been massacred, tortured, denied education (the illiteracy rate in Pakistan is 90%), medical care, housing, adequate nutrition, and political rights. Pakistan ranks near the bottom of the UN's list of countries by every measure of human development, including infant mortality, life expectancy, the poverty rate, and the population growth rate. With India and Pakistan almost perpetually on the brink of nuclear war, continued subservience by Pakistan to U.S. dictates exposes its oppressed people to total eradication.

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Musharraf’s Coup - Seven Years Later Musharraf and his generals are determined to stay in power. They will protect the source of their power – the army. They will accommodate those they must – the Americans. They will pander to the mullahs. They will crush those who threaten their power and privilege, and ignore the rest. No price is too high for them. They are the reason Pakistan fails. Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy Some had feared – while others had hoped – that General Pervez Musharraf’s coup of October 12, 1999, would bring the revolution of Kemal Ataturk to a Pakistan firmly in the iron grip of mullahs. But years later a definitive truth has emerged. Like the other insecure governments before it, both military and civilian, the present regime also has a single point agenda – to stay in power at all costs. It therefore does whatever it must and Pakistan falls further from any prospect of acquiring modern values, and of building and strengthening democratic institutions. The requirements for survival of the present regime are clear: on the one hand the Army leadership knows that its critical dependence upon the West requires that it be perceived abroad as a liberal regime pitted against radical Islamists. But, on the other hand, in actual fact, to preserve and extend its grip on power, it must preserve the status quo. The staged conflicts between General Musharraf and the mullahs are therefore a regular part of Pakistani politics. This September, nearly seven years later, the religious parties needed no demonstration of muscle power for winning two major victories in less than a fortnight; just a few noisy threats sufficed. From experience they knew that the Pakistan Army and its sagacious leader – of “enlightened moderation” fame – would stick to their predictable pattern of dealing with Islamists. In a nutshell: provoke a fight, get the excitement going, let diplomatic missions in Islamabad make their notes and CNN and BBC get their clips – and then beat a retreat. At the end of it all the mullahs would get what they want, but so would the General. Examples abound. On 21st April 2000, General Musharraf announced a new administrative procedure for registration of cases under the Blasphemy Law. This law, under which the minimum penalty is death, has frequently been used to harass personal and political opponents. To reduce such occurrences, Musharraf’s modified procedure would have required the local district magistrate’s approval for registration of a blasphemy case. It would have been an improvement, albeit a modest one. But 25 days later – on the 16th of May 2000 – under the watchful glare of the mullahs, Musharraf hastily climbed down: “As it was the unanimous demand of the ulema, mashaikh and the people, therefore, I have decided to do away with the procedural change in the registration of FIR under the Blasphemy Law”. Another example. In October 2004, as a new system for issuing machine readable passports was being installed, Musharraf’s government declared that henceforth it would not be necessary for passport holders to specify their religion. Expectedly this was denounced by the Islamic parties as a grand conspiracy aimed at secularizing Pakistan and destroying its Islamic character. But even before the mullahs actually took to the streets, the government lost nerve and the volte-face was announced on 24 March, 2005. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said the decision to revive the religion column was made else, “Qadianis and apostates would be able to pose as Muslims and perform pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia”. But even these climb downs – significant as they are – are less dramatic than the astonishing recent retreat over reforming the Hudood Ordinance, a grotesque

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imposition of General Zia-ul-Haq’s government unparalleled both for its cruelty and irrationality. Enacted into the law in 1979, it was conceived as part of a more comprehensive process for converting Pakistan into a theocracy governed by Sharia laws. These laws prescribe death by stoning for married Muslims who are found guilty of extra-marital sex (for unmarried couples or non-Muslims, the penalty is 100 lashes). The law is exact in stating how the death penalty is to be administered: “Such of the witnesses who deposed against the convict as may be available shall start stoning him and, while stoning is being carried on, he may be shot dead, whereupon stoning and shooting shall be stopped”. Rape is still more problematic. A woman who fails to prove that she has been raped is automatically charged with fornication and adultery. Under the Hudood Law, she is considered guilty unless she can prove her innocence. Proof of innocence requires that the rape victim must produce “at least four Muslim adult male witnesses, about whom the Court is satisfied” who saw the actual act of penetration. Inability to do so may result in her being jailed, or perhaps even sentenced to death for adultery. President and Chief of Army Staff General Musharraf, and his Citibank Prime Minister, Shuakat Aziz, proposed amending the Hudood Ordinance. They sent a draft for parliamentary discussion in early September, 2006. As expected, it outraged the fundamentalists of the MMA, the main Islamic parliamentary opposition. MMA members tore up copies of the proposed amendments on the floor of the National Assembly and threatened to resign en masse. The government cowered abjectly and withdrew. Musharraf’s government proved no more enlightened, or more moderate or more resolute and behaved no differently from the more than half a dozen civilian administrations, including two terms of Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister and several ‘technocrat’ regimes. None made a serious effort to confront or reform these laws. But the pattern is broader then deference to the mullahs. General Musharraf has been willing to use the iron fist in other circumstances. Two examples stand out: Waziristan and Balochistan. Each offers instruction. In 2002, presumably on Washington’s instructions, the Pakistan Army established military bases in South Waziristan which had become a refuge for Taliban and Al Qaeda fleeing Afghanistan. It unleashed artillery and US-supplied Cobra gunships. By 2005 heavy fighting had spread to North Waziristan and the army was bogged down. The generals, safely removed from combat areas, and busy in building their personal financial empires, ascribed the resistance to “a few hundred foreign militants and terrorists”. But the Army was taking losses (how serious is suggested by the fact that casualty figures were not revealed), soldiers rarely ventured out from their forts, morale collapsed as junior officers wondered why they were being asked to attack their ideological comrades – the Taliban – at American instruction. Reportedly, local clerics refused to conduct funeral prayers for soldiers killed in action. In 2004, the army made peace with the militants in South Waziristan. It conceded the territory to them, which had made the militants immensely stronger. A similar “peace treaty” was signed on 1 September 2006 in the town of Miramshah, in North Waziristan, now firmly in the grip of the Pakistani Taliban. The Miramshah treaty met all demands made by the militants: the release of all jailed militants; dismantling of army checkpoints; return of seized weapons and vehicles; the right of the Taliban to display weapons (except heavy weapons); and residence rights for fellow fighters from other Islamic countries. As for “foreign militants” – who Musharraf had blamed exclusively for the resistance, the militants were nonchalant: we will let you know if we find any! The financial compensation demanded by the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Taliban for loss of property and life has not been revealed, but some officials have remarked that it is “astronomical”. In turn they promised to cease their attacks on civil and military installations, and give the army a safe passage out. While the army has extricated itself, the locals have been left to pay the price. The militants have closed girls’ schools and are enforcing harsh Sharia laws in all of Waziristan, both North and South. Barbers have been told ‘shave and die’. Taliban vigilante groups patrol the streets of Miramshah. They check such things as the length of beards, whether the “shalwars” are worn at an appropriate height above the ankles, and attendance of individuals in the mosques. And then there is Balochistan. Eight years ago when the army seized power, there was no visible separatist movement in Balochistan, which makes nearly 44% of Pakistan’s land mass and is the repository of its gas and oil. Now there is a full blown insurgency built upon Baloch grievances, most of which arise from a perception of being ruled from Islamabad and of being denied a fair share of the benefits of the natural resources extracted from their land. The army has spurned negotiations. Force is the only answer: “They won’t know what hit them”, boasted Musharraf, after threatening to crush the insurgency. The Army has used everything it can, including its American supplied F-16 jet fighters. The crisis worsened when the charismatic 80-year old Baloch chieftain and former governor of Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was killed by army bombs. Musharraf outraged the Baloch by calling it “a great victory”. Reconciliation in Balochistan now seems, at best, a distant dream. Musharraf and his generals are determined to stay in power. They will protect the source of their power – the army. They will accommodate those they must – the Americans. They will pander to the mullahs. They will crush those who threaten their power and privilege, and ignore the rest. No price is too high for them. They are the reason Pakistan fails. Emperors and Dictators As long as the Emperor is happy and the rulers are ready to take U-turns, mango seasons will keep passing uninterrupted. Another U-turn on Iran and we maybe lucky enough to receive yet another emperor. Meantime, the masses will remain in chains. Farooq Sulehria Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistan belongs to me Both of these, however, are under American hegemony American aid gave us wheat, as also their deceit Do not ask me how long we've suffered their conceit And yet the bayonets are all around this flowering valley Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistan belongs to me --Habib Jalib Regardless of how one views the recent visit of George W Bush to Pakistan --- a success or a failure --- one thing is praiseworthy. He kept the American presidents' tradition of paying visits to Pakistan only when a khaki man is at the helm. Last time, it was William J Clinton, back in 2000 (March 25 to be exact), meeting General Musharraf in Islamabad. Since the 'war on terror' had not begun, William Clinton therefore was reluctant in providing a photo-session opportunity to the Empire's satrap in Islamabad.

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The first US president to visit Pakistan was Dwight Eisenhower landing in Karachi in 1959. He stayed for two days (December 7-9) and during this informal visit, he met General Ayub Khan. Like General Pervez Musharraf, 'Field Marshal' Ayub Khan was a lucky man. He received two US presidents. Second time it was L B Johnson landing in Karachi on December 23, 1967. Ayub Khan's immediate successor, General Yahya Khan played host to Richard Nixon when President Nixon visited Pakistan (August 1-2, 1969) on a state visit. Despite all the valuable services, General Ziaul Haq, however, was denied the pleasure to host any Emperor. True, the 'Father of the Nation' Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself set the pro-US line even before Pakistan was born. In May 1947, he was telling US diplomat Raymond Hare that Pakistan would be oriented towards the Muslim countries of the Middle East. Since they were weak, 'Muslim countries would stand together against possible Russian aggression and would look to the US assistance'. By declaring that 'communism [does] not flourish in the soil of Islam', Jinnah dispatched his representative Mir Laik Ali to obtain $2billion from Washington. Jinnah must have been disappointed by the near total turndown since only $10 million was approved. Dollars were showered upon Pakistan only when a khaki man had been put in place. The first khaki ruler the US imposed on Pakistan was a political genius by the way. He told the democracy-hungry nation: 'Democracy cannot work in a hot climate. To have democracy we must have a cold climate as in Britain.' What Pakistan got during the ten years (June 1950-December 1959) as US aid ($ 1119 million) was granted for its second Five Year Plan (1960-65) when a military dictator was in power. Pakistan received $1818.7 million for the second Five Year Plan. The generous US aid was a reward for a country that, as Ayub Khan describes in his biography, had become the 'most allied ally in Asia'. The 'most allied ally in Asia' was a bulwark against communism. It also had put its military at the service of the Empire to safeguard her oil interests in Middle East. Ayub Khanwas consigned to the dustbin of history meant for Empires satraps by a mass democracy movement. The GHQ learnt nothing from the anti-Ayub movement. General Yahya Khan told his GHQ colleagues: 'The army will have to take over'. It took over and refused to respect the democratic verdict from East Pakistan. Instead, East Pakistan was taught a lesson for not voting for the approved parties: Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami. The bloodshed unleashed by Yahya was making even the US embassy staff in Dacca nervous. The US embassy staff sent a collective 'dissent channel' telegram. But President Nixon's advice was 'Don't squeeze Yahya at this time'. Yahya was squeezed anyway. Not by the Nixon administration but by the Pakistani masses. Finally, democracy. Since 'democracy cannot work in a hot climate', the Empire made an example out of Bhutto to prove 'we must have a cold climate as in Britain' and must never think of a nuclear programme. Yet another dictator was imposed and was generously showered upon by US aid. Pakistan became the third largest recipient of US aid after Israel and Egypt. And the nuclear programme? Afghanistan had gone through the 'Saur Revolution', therefore the US secretary of state Alexander Haig told Foreign Minister Agha Shahi: 'we will not make your nuclear programme the centrepiece of our relations'. A six-year waiver was granted in 1981. In October 1986, President Reagan certified again that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear device even if the US media were warning that Pakistan was 'two screwdriver turn' from possessing a fully assembled weapon. As soon as democracy was restored viceroy Robert Oklay was warning: 'If you take any action on the nuclear programme and you go past that line ....[Bush] will blow the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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whistle and invoke Pressler'. The Pressler amendment was indeed invoked. The year 1990 passed without any certification and Pakistan was denied $564 million meant for 1991. It took another military coup in Pakistan and another war in Afghanistan to get rid of amendments, waivers and certifications. On September 24, 2001, the Bush administration lifted all sanctions against Pakistan under the Glen, Pressler and Symington Amendments. Colin Powell was telling NBC television that the US had no concern over Pakistan's nuclear programme and the Musharraf government was stable. A new package worth $3.2 billion was offered for the 'non-NATO ally' to combat al-Qaeda terrorists. The generals at GHQ are all smiles since. The Emperor is happy. As long as the Emperor is happy and the rulers are ready to take U-turns, mango seasons will keep passing uninterrupted. Another U-turn on Iran and we maybe lucky enough to receive yet another emperor. Meantime, the masses will remain in chains. Democracy will remain an elusive dawn. Habib Jalib mourns: If the dacoit had not had the village guard as his ally our feet would not be in chains our victory would not defeat imply Mourn with turbans round your necks crawling on your bellies, comply An Outsider's Disturbing Report on Ground Situation Inside Pakistan Dr. Maqbool Halepota, MD Special to the South Asia Tribune ARIZONA, USA, July 14: I recently visited Pakistan, the country of my birth, a country which has been under the spotlight for the last few years. Here are my impressions of the current situation in Pakistan, as seen from the inside through the eyes of a common person on the street and what he thinks about the future of the country. Any student of history will tell us that dictatorships are like games of Russian Roulette, with each ending either in the demise of the country, or the dictator. Pakistan’s short history is filled with such examples. Ayub/Yahya’s rule ended with the demise of Pakistan, as it was created by its founding fathers. Zia’s regime ended in his own death in mid air. Musharraf's dictatorship came close to following the Zia example many times but he survived. This phenomenon is not unique to Pakistan. History is filled with similar examples. The most recent being that of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, along with countless military dictators, all over the Third World, who have been used and then disposed off, since the end of the colonial period. So the next logical question would be: Who is going to be the victim of next round of this perennial Russian roulette being played between Pakistan and its army? Unless there is a drastic change in the international geo-political conditions, as had happened in the case of Zia, it seems very unlikely that the powers that be will want to eliminate General Musharraf in the near future because he has time and again proven to be more loyal than his masters and has been quite willing to do all of their dirty work whenever asked or told. Thus the odds are that the loser at the end of the next round, in all probability, will be the country itself, early signs of which are already visible in what is happening in Balochistan. An extension of the current setup will only further increase the deep sense of deprivation prevalent among the smaller provinces and ethnic minorities of the country. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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But, before predicting about the future of the country, one needs to look at the ethnic make-up of the country to better predict how each of these groups is likely to react to the continuation of current autocratic setup, and in case of a flare-up of ethnic rioting in the country. Pakistan consists of many ethnic groups, many of these actually meet the criteria for being recognized as nations, as defined by the UN. These nationalities share nothing other than religion with each other. This was the basis of the two nation theory, behind the carving out of Pakistan in the mid 20th century. These nations had been in existence thousands of years before the very idea of Pakistan was conjured up by the British bureaucracy. These nationalities include Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtuns, Balochs, Seraikis, Kashmiris and Mohajirs. One can easily predict how each one of them will behave by evaluating the kind of relationship they have enjoyed with the Pakistan Army over the last 50 years. Balochs and Sindhis have always been treated by the Army as nothing more than conquered and enslaved aborigines, with no rights or privileges. Thus they are already completely alienated, making both of these provinces volcanoes which are ready to erupt any time. This is where the trouble is most likely to start in the next few years. When this happens it will lead to further unrest among the Seraikis, who have been relatively calm, but still totally dissatisfied with the situation. Army’s relations with Pashtuns and Kashmiris have also soured completely over the last few years, due to General Musharraf's U-turns on Afghanistan and Kashmir. Although in the past they were the favorite blue eyed boys of the establishment. At present Musharraf’s strongest support base is among the Mohajirs, because he himself is a Mohajir. This is the name given to individuals who had migrated from India at the time of creation of Pakistan and their descendents. As a matter of fact General Musharraf himself was born in India and migrated with his family when he was a young child. He has never made any secret of his affection for his place of birth and desire to go back to his roots. During his last visit to his motherland he had openly expressed a desire to come back and settle in his ancestral house - the Neharwali Haveli in Old Delhi, India. He has thus been called a proud son of the soil by some Indian think tanks. This also explains Indian Governments love affair with Musharraf and his regime, as he is considered one of their own, and rightly so. After all, he single handedly has achieved for India what their whole army could not do in last 50 years, conquer Pakistan. But the million dollar question still is: Will he continue to enjoy the same level of support when things reach the boiling point in Balochistan and Sindh. I personally do not think so, I believe that at that time the Mohajirs of the urban areas of the Sindh will also be left with no choice but to abandon him. Signs of which are visible even today by MQM’s radically changed rhetoric. MQM is the organization which represents 99 per cent of mohajirs all over the world. Altaf Hussain the dynamic and able leader of MQM has openly started asking for a United States of Pakistan, because he can clearly see the writing on the wall. Like any dictatorial government the current economic policies are primarily being framed to appease and buy the loyalties of the few who can provide support to this artificially erected system. Therefore although benefiting a few fat cats, mostly Army Generals at the top, the current economy has failed to trickle down to the masses whose lives are getting more miserable by the day, due to the skyrocketing prices of daily commodities, giving rise to a sense of resignation and helplessness among the masses, even in Punjab and urban Sindh. Thus, if and when, there is turmoil in the country, even these traditionally pro army areas are not likely to support the Musharraf set up. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Therefore when there is widespread unrest, which is most likely to start in either Balochistan or Sindh and then spread to the Seraiki belt, the General will use his army’s overwhelming power to crush it. This will only result in further hatred against the army and create further disharmony among the provinces because the Army and bureaucracy in Pakistan is composed almost solely of Punjabis at lower ranks and Mohajirs at the top. It has almost no representation of other nationalities and is actually perceived as an occupying force by most them. When can we expect all of the above to start? Keeping all of the above facts and figures in mind, one can safely predict that this modern day Bonaparte of Pakistan will continue with his autocratic rule for a little while longer. He will do so with the full blessing, backing and support of the champions of democracy and freedom of the world. But like all dictators he will outlive his utility in the next few years. This will be the time when things will be reaching a point of no return internally also. Thus one does not have to be a visionary to foresee some definite changes in the setup over the next five to ten years. This should be of grave concern to the people of Pakistan, United States and the whole free world. If left unchecked this dictatorship is going to breed genuine anger against the General and the Pakistan Army. Resulting in further chaos in an already unstable country, which as it is, has already lost all internal cohesiveness and is only being kept together by external forces and favorable geo-political conditions! And when these conditions change it is most likely to crash like a house of cards. Therefore I sincerely believe that the time has come for the country of my birth to take stock of the gathering dark clouds and realize that unadulterated democracy is the only way of salvation for them. Because continuing to rely on self proclaimed and military appointed saviors will bring nothing except more death and destruction to the country. It is time the inhabitants of this “Mumlikate-Khudadad”, name given to Pakistan by its well wishers, which translated into English means “Country Granted by God”, end their perennial wait for divine intervention and start relying on their God given talents. It is time for Pakistanis, as a nation to get their heads out of the sand and face the harsh realities of the 21st century. The need of the hour is for Pakistanis to bring true democracy to their country before it is brought to them by someone else, as is being currently done in Iraq. Extra Judicial Abductions and Arrests Dictators’ old wine in a new bottle Naveed Butt Tyrant rulers have always adopted hostile methods to choke the voices against them. Any person who protests against their totalitarian regime is singled out as a lesson for others. The protestor thus becomes a victim of naked aggression of state governed and institutionalized terrorism. This principle of dictatorial regimes still serves as a ruling foundation in Pakistan with its blatant malice, despite all the claims of unchecked, chieftain to supporting freedom of expression and safeguarding human rights. However this time around, the application of this gagging principle is done in a different fashion by the Musharraf regime. General Musharraf has invented and pioneered a new method of cruelty. Besides the sham reverse engineering he did to produce the fascist versions of “enlighten moderation” and “liberalism” in the laboratory of GHQ. This contemporary method of

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gagging is a practice to magically disappear a person from the scene of commonality who objects to the illegitimate rule and struggles for human rights. Before the year 2001, this was not the usual method used to suppress the rising voices. This technique, along with other pretentious reforms was implemented in Pakistan by the military governments as a result of the so called war on terrorism by the U.S. This method of abductions has succeeded like the sham version of enlighten moderation of General Musharraf. Because people can point fingers to the government, however, they cannot produce empirical evidence that these mysterious abductions are done on the orders of the government and government easily avoids the burning questions by giving a lame excuse of judicial inquiry in this issue. In the beginning, rulers adopted this approach to increase its revenues. According to the report of Amnesty International hundreds of Pakistani citizens and foreigners were abducted from different regions of Pakistan and sent to Guantanamo Bay. Many people were arrested without warrant, declared terrorists without investigation and sold to the Unites States for US$5000 each. Furthermore, Amnesty International adds that human rights were badly abused while making these arrests. Detainees were transferred to the torture cells of Guantanamo from Bagram airbase and no information was released to their families and relatives. Families of many detainees still have no clue concerning the whereabouts of their beloved ones. Amnesty International also argues that Pakistani government is responsible for the imprisonment of these detainees at Guantanamo without any charge, concrete evidence and due process of law. The common people affected by the US war against terrorism are not the only category among the detainees at Guantanamo. In fact, the critics of government, journalists, scholars, political workers and even the students have become the prey of this savage cannibalism and man hunt. Some of these abducted people, who were released, appeared on the public forum after few months and then they were stopped from giving statements by additional torture and threats of government agencies. However, majority recorded their statements and confirmed that they were kidnapped by the government investigation agencies, interrogated at unknown locations and tortured physically and mentally in the most inhumane and despicable ways. Muhammad Saleem Baloch, Senior Vice President of Jamhori Watan Party was arrested in March, 2006 at the charge of protesting against the military operation in Balochistan, outside Karachi Press Club, and then kept in detention at an unknown location. Saleem Baloch was released from Rawalpindi after eight months of illegal detention. After release Saleem Baloch issued a statement that he was detained by the government law enforcement agencies and was tortured in a brutal manner. According to Saleem Baloch these agencies have many other people in their custody who are ostensibly known as missing. The operation which is being carried out in Balochistan has been used as a justification by the government to restrict the exercise of basic rights by the people to obtain information. Neither a Pakistani newspaper nor a TV channel can air the news about the plight of the people of Balochistan. As a result outsiders do not have any idea about Balochistan’s internal turmoil. Munir Mengal who lived in Bahrain had decided to start a television transmission from Bahrain to expose the plight of Balochistan to the outside world. Revealing the crimes of the government is itself considered an unforgivable sin. Mengal was taken in custody by the investigation agencies upon his arrival in Pakistan, right from the airport on 7th April, 2006 and since then his family members are waiting to see him. A young journalist Hayat Ullah-Khan who dared to go to the tribal border areas for the news reporting of American activities was also accused of committing the crime Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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because his reports were in contradiction with the reports released by the government. This young journalist was kidnapped by the agencies in December, 2005 and then his dead body was discovered months after he went missing. According to the eye witnesses who discovered the body, Hayat was savagely tortured to death and such torture could only be carried out by Pakistani investigation agencies. Saleem Baloch, Munir Mengal and Hayat Ullah Khan are just the very few examples. The circle of this state bedevil is expanding with each passing day. Whether it is a journalist or political worker, critic of the government or student of Islamic school, anyone can be declared as Islamic militant and legitimate target for kidnapping by the government agencies. There is no need for a warrant, investigation or evidence or due process of law because being a critical of the government Pakistani citizen is more than enough of a reason to be held guilty. According to the report of Human Rights Watch more than four hundred people became the target of this extra judicial arrest routine. More than seventy people were abducted from Karachi only. Among these people are included journalists, political workers, scholars, doctors, students and people struggling for their basic rights. These four hundred missing people are not among those who became the direct prey of the war against terrorism. There is no information available regarding the whereabouts of these people. Eye witnesses stated in majority of these cases of “forced disappearances” that the victims were kidnapped by the government agency officials. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organization have condemned this attitude of Pakistani government. Human rights agencies demand the Government of Pakistan to pay attention to the deteriorating situation of human rights. Pakistani officials respond to these requests in the form of baton charge over the peaceful protest rallies of the families of the detainees. Family members of these missing people have been protesting for the release of their beloved ones for a very long period. The participants of the protest rally of 28th December, 2005 among which the majority were children and female relatives of these detainees were treated with the baton charge and welcomed with tear gas. The pictures of this savageness, which were published in the newspapers around the world, sent shivering waves down the spinal of everyone man and woman with the slightest regard for humanity. One picture in particular gained lofty reputation for Pakistani police. In this picture a fifteen year old boy demanding the release of his father is shown. He was punished for this disobedience when he was stripped naked right on the road and received cans of police on bare buttocks. Moreover, this picture also illustrates a young, twelve year old girl who is helplessly crying for mercy from concept dictator who doesn’t know the concept of mercy. The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a warning to the government after the publication of these pictures. However, will any warning be ever effective on a dictatorial regime like this? According to the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Charter of Human Rights the security of the public is the responsibility of the government. However, when a regime becomes the enemy of its own people, when it sells its citizens for US$5000 each, when the criticism on government policies becomes an unforgivable crime how then can one protest and to whom? Given the fact that the very existence of such government contradicts with the constitution, how can it be expected that this government will respect the constitution? These mysterious, “forced disappearances” is a grave problem and its severity is soaring with each passing day. This dilemma does not only concern the detainees but it is also a crisis for their family members who have been waiting for their beloved ones since ages. The family members of the detainees are also doomed to suffer the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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state of torture every day. It is the responsibility of all Pakistani citizens to carry out an organized protest before government targets another citizen for abduction, torture and possible murder. How a Dictator Reduced Pakistan to His Will Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, July 7: In a democratic Pakistan, General Musharraf has only one place to go to: Prison. Since his coup on October 12, 1999, his every move has been aimed at evading that fate. The very day he gunned his way to power, he was quaking in his boots at the thought of having been carted off in cuffs. All day, on October 12, his fellow Bonapartes in the General Headquarters (GHQ) kept pleading with him to have him get down to slamabad right away. Instead, he sat cowering in Karachi, awaiting an “all clear.” So much so that he had his first speech recorded in the port city for fear of life in Islamabad. Like Gen. Musharraf, all dictators are cowards. His predecessor Gen. Zia-ul-Haq set up his command post in the GHQ to topple the Government of the day. His biggestI headache was to find someone who would “safely” tie down the “wolf,” a reference to Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. His top comrade, Gen. Faiz Ali Chishti, took upon himself to “do the job.” When he stepped out of the “war room” to hunt down Prime Minister Bhutto, Gen. Zia called out after him: “Murshud KIthey Merva Na Dayeen” (Lest you saint have us all killed). Prime Minister Bhutto was asleep with his arms folded on his chest, but his wakeful generals were trembling at “what if scenarios.” So was Gen. Musharraf, who survived to this day by having been missing in action (MIA), even on the day a coup was being staged in his behalf. Over the past nearly six years now, he has been living from day to day. He has never been sure of tomorrow. This abiding uncertainty is anchored in his distrust of everyone around him. Which is why he has chosen to be his own bodyguard, i.e., staying in military fatigues. He knows that the day he quits the army command, he will be history. The very constituency of corps commanders that he flamboyantly claims stands solidly behind his power-grab does not keep his faith. Every corps commander is a “suspect conspirator” until the day he doffs his uniform. On the lonely planet that Gen. Musharraf has now come to inhabit, there is only one person that he trusts: himself. This is true of every dictator. Gen. Zia-ul-Haq never went to sleep without calling each of his corps commanders and making sure that they are tucked away in homes, especially after midnight. According to his Chief of Staff, Gen. KM Arif, he would stick to this routine even on his overseas trips. It was not enough for Gen. Zia to find his commanders, after midnight, in the safe confines of their bedrooms. He could still be rattled if, in the wee hours, a general would answer his call at the first ring. He once called a general well past midnight. The general answered his phone at the first ring. Startled, Gen. Zia greeted him with a nervous quiz: “Aap Abhi Tak Jaag Rahey Hein.” “Saab, Hum Gunah-garoon Ko Neend Kub Aatee Hey,” defensively retorted the general. Gen. Musharraf is no different. Unlike Gen. Zia, he is favorite of the few among “men and men” in uniform. And even those few are ready to stab him should he turn his back. If anyone got lucky with his ambitions, he would find the “free world” with its arms and heart wide open to take him into an ever tighter embrace. This is because the international community believes that no dictator in Pakistan can survive without its blessing. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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So any soldier who is adventurer enough to make it to the top is welcome into the “free world.” This saddest of all facts further places Gen. Musharraf on an even shakier ground. To hedge his bets, he already has named a co-ethnic as his Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS). Yet even the co-ethnic is not trusted. He has been assigned to oversee the work of “boy scouts” in the army. He is kept light years apart from the real work of the command. A case in point is the MS (military secretary) branch, which is believed to be the nerve center of the GHQ. Nothing moves there without a nod from the COAS, i.e., Gen. Musharraf. As a matter of fact, VCOASs are set up as straw men to show who actually wields power. To understand how haplessly hopeless their job is, look no further than Gen. Zia’s model. One of his Vice Chief of Staffs, Gen. Sawar Khan, a four-star general, sent out a request for purchasing a computer, only to be turned down by his subordinates! Such exercises in humiliation are well-calibrated to keep the stay within his shoes. In addition to a co-ethnic VCOAS, Gen. Musharraf has appointed his cousin as corps commander of Lahore, a city that is credited with making and unmaking governments. His cousin takes the court of politicians, publicly advises on running the affairs of the Quaid-i-Azam Muslim League, and watches over the Chief Minister and Governor of Punjab. Where cousins are in short supply, Gen. Musharraf has substituted them with layers after layers of authority. All provincial governments are overseen by his self-appointed governors. They in turn are overseen by respective corps commanders, who in turn are watched by the ISI (Inter-services Intelligence) and MI (Military Intelligence), and the latter are pitted against one another. This Byzantine way of governing does not make things easy for the COAS either. As a result, the balance of power has now shifted in favor of intelligence agencies. It is no wonder that every attempt on Gen. Musharraf’s life was traced back to one or more than one of such agencies. The hand that shields him is more tempted do him in also. One of the most dangerous outcomes of this “hound-after-hound approach” is mutual distrust that has risen to unmanageable extremes since his coup. After surviving a succession of assassination bids, Gen. Musharraf has now come to accept that no one in the military will pass up an opportunity to bump him off. This sense has further deepened by the opposition’s demand for his head under Article 6 of the Constitution. He thinks he may survive intra-military scheming with counterscheming of his own; but he cannot survive the opposition’s accountability should he be overthrown. His predecessor dictators – right from Sikandar Mirza down to Gen. Zia – however could not survive even internal conspiracies to have a day in court. Like all dictators, Gen. Musharraf, too, thinks that his end will be different from his predecessors. With this belief, he has hitched his star to his co-ethnic Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to escape the opposition’s demand for justice. He believes the MQM can and will “blackmail” any government in Islamabad into leaving him alone. History speaks to the contrary, somehow. What is, however, evident is that his wayward ways of ethnicizing, personalizing, and politicizing the military already are proving divisive. As a result, the enlisted base of the military stands opposed to the officer corps; the officer corps to the general officers, and the general officers to the corps commanders. It is this split that has different inspiration for the enlisted men and members of the officer corps who have mounted several attempts on his life; and for the general officers and especially the corps commanders who he claims are firmly lined up behind him.

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A senior military officer told The Nation, a Lahore-based centrist broadsheet, that colonels, and not generals, would be the future makers of coups in Pakistan. It comes, then, as no surprise that opposition leaders were barraged with letters from dissenting middle-ranking officers who urged them to try Gen. Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution. When the opposition leader Javed Hashmi articulated their concerns, Gen. Musharraf had him sentenced to 23 years in prison. A man who divides the military rules; one who questions his divisive ways gets 23 years! The democratic opposition has a chance to undo such paradoxes once and for all. In doing so, it will stem the tide of downward spiral of the military. Opposition can take the first step toward this goal by sticking to its demand for trying Gen. Musharraf for sedition, which is punishable with death, under Article 6 of the constitution. Talks of “deals” and “dialogues” with a felon do not inspire faith in democracy. It is, however, heartening for all democratic forces in Pakistan that both Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had nixed such options. Leaders of democracy must understand that no general will second guess his decision to force his way into Islamabad, unless Gen. Musharraf is brought to justice and made into a “price tag” for future seditions. Leaders of democracy must live up to the immortal pledge of the ultimate democrat, late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan: “Gen. Musharraf will be the last dictator Pakistan ever had; and he will be the first one Pakistan ever tried.” Business as usual Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Since October 8th, nothing seems to happen in Pakistan except for relief work. Even drawing room discussions are restricted to debate about relief and reconstruction. One had even begun to wonder if life would ever get back to a normal pace. However, with the latest news of Pakistan finalising negotiations for the purchase of a few military aircraft days after the quake, one heaved a sigh of relief. At least, somewhere it is business as usual. Interestingly, the government did not disclose the news of the purchase of six Saab 2000 surveillance aircraft fitted with Erickson Erieye radar. The deal is worth 8.3 billion SEK. Converted in Pak rupees this amounts to Rs 66.4 billion. The news of the deal was brought to light by some insignificant Swedish newspaper. The Swedish manufacturer claimed that the aircraft were being purchased by the PAF to contribute to the earthquake relief effort. The aircraft can also perform search and rescue mission. According to the Director Public Relations (PAF), who confirmed the news, the deal is culmination of more than a yearlong series of negotiations. It must be mentioned that the General-President Musharraf had gone to Sweden in July last year to discuss the purchase of these aircraft along with JAS-39 Grippen fighter aircraft. One of the reasons for the delay in finalising of negotiations was the PAF's indecision regarding the selection of the platform for the Erickson radar. Islamabad is keen to acquire this technology for better surveillance across the border. The Erieye radar is considered comparable to the American Airborne Early Warning Aircraft (AWAC). The aircraft would give advance information regarding any enemy troop movement or threatening military regrouping. Such information, the readers must be reminded, is essential for the security of the people of Pakistan, especially Kashmiris. Pakistan has fought numerous wars for the rights of the Kashmiri people, and this purchase is another indicator of Islamabad's commitment to national security. The objective of this deal is primarily to beef up military security. So, one would like to challenge the assertion made by the Swedish manufacturer regarding the focus of the deal being search and rescue in Kashmir. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Such a suggestion is absolutely ridiculous due to the simple fact that the aircraft are not likely to be delivered before a year and a half. The helpless people that are stuck in high mountains and unfriendly terrain need help in the next 48 hours rather than the coming 356-547 days. Also, these are fixed-wing aircraft that can detect movement in hazardous terrain, but will be completely useless in retrieving people stuck in the mountains. Thus, it will be difficult to convince these people of the logic of national security as envisioned by the GHQ, the AHQ or the NHQ. For these people, what is paramount is to save their lives and have food and shelter. At best, Islamabad urgently needs to hire helicopters to reach to the people that have not received any help as yet. The UN's predictions about the disaster about to strike Pakistan are horrifying. According to the World Food Program, there is a threat of starvation of approximately 2.3 million people. In addition, there is the threat of the outbreak of epidemics. Irrespective of the World Bank calculations the fact is that poverty has multiplied in the country due to the loss of assets and opportunities. Providing relief to these hungry and destitute people, and reconstructing their lives is a Herculean task requiring both efforts and resources. Musharraf himself has spoken about the cost of reconstruction exceeding US $5 billion. Surely, things would be better if the international community were to provide a helping hand. The comity of nations, especially the developed countries have not proved to be generous. They merely coughed out about US $500 million that will probably be divided between relief and reconstruction. This is hardly the amount that would put the lives of these homeless people back on track. While castigating the international community, one cannot but feel a sense of anger and frustration over Stockholm's decision to offer these aircraft. One wonders if the Swedish government, otherwise known for flagging human rights issues, would shamelessly sell aircraft to a country where millions of people face death, starvation and destitution. Referring to the international community, one suddenly understands the lack of enthusiasm regarding relief aid for Pakistan. After all, why should the world take the tab for Kashmir's reconstruction while Islamabad is busy buying modern military aircraft? Moreover, is the world morally obligated to provide aid to a nuclear weapon state that can produce various types of short and long-range missiles? The negotiations for the aircraft have just been finalised and it will take some days before a contract is drawn. From a financial standpoint, Pakistan will not have to pay the lump sum but deposit around 10 percent of the amount that itself amounts to Rs 7.2 billion. This will further drain foreign exchange reserve that has depleted from US $12 billion to US$ 11.2 billion. One would like to put the onus of this decision on the World Bank and the financial gurus according to whom the economic conditions of the country will not worsen after the quake. The planes of Punjab and Sindh that are the breadbasket have not been affected from the earthquake. Furthermore, with resources pouring into the country from abroad and collected within, the economy will get a boost, especially in the short to medium term. Considering such projections, one can conclude that the decision-makers were tonguetied and hypnotised into not appreciating the broader implications of making expensive military hardware purchases, particularly at this juncture. How else could the President and his cabal appreciate the fact that the destruction in Kashmir will enhance the overall poverty in the country? It is even sadder to realise that this is a 'sneak decision.' Despite that the negotiations were concluded with the intent of finalising a deal a few days after the earthquake, the news was kept a secret. It is assumed that people will not come to know of the purchase and the parliamentarians will gloss over the increase in the defense budget. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Even if some hue and cry is raised, all criticism will be brushed aside in the name of national security. After all, it is highly important to provide security to the Kashmiris that otherwise cannot be delivered from cold and starvation due to lack of resources. A pragmatist or strategic-realist will surely argue in favour of purchasing the aircraft. The earthquake has not changed certain realities such as a nuclear Pakistan's need to beef up its conventional weapons capabilities, or the threat from India. Nonetheless, the sad reality is that the people that are the object of this security are out in the cold feeling helpless and insecure because they do not have shelter, warm clothing, medicine and food. There are hundreds and thousands of people, especially youngsters that have been amputated and will be crippled for life. Such people need facilities to be able to live. Moreover, thousands of children have become orphans. Kids need rehabilitation including shelter and education. Whatever the nature of military threat, the top decision-makers have to realise the need for reorienting the state's policies. Indubitably, it is important to be pragmatic, but then pragmatism has varied perspectives: policies could be driven either by the concern for an organisation or the betterment of the masses. Today, more than ever, there is the need for the state to remain relevant for the common man in the country. Perhaps, reconsidering the decision to purchase the aircraft would be a signal that the people on top are sensitive towards the needs of the man on the street. Data on Army's Golf Courses Released in Senate Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD, July 13: The latest craze of Pakistan’s military Generals is to play Golf and convert State lands into Golf Courses all over the country. Data released in the Parliament proves this shocking reality. Army authorities have converted hundreds of acres of military farm lands into golf courses for pleasure and leisure activities of senior uniformed officials since 1999. These golf courses are in addition to those made on Railway lands, especially in Lahore where the cost was an unbelievable Rs 25 billion. The information about turning military farm lands into golf courses, housing schemes and commercial projects since 1999 was brought on public record in the Senate when Senator Rukhsana Zuberi asked pointed questions. Information provided by the Defence Minister, Rao Sikander Iqbal, confirmed that 307 acres of military farms lands were so converted. The minister embarrassingly did not reveal the maintenance cost of each golf course and thousands of gallons of water used daily to maintain the lush green grass for the Generals to tee off, while people die of water shortages or drinking contaminated water in various parts of the country. Similarly Auditor General's reports have also identified similar undertakings of the army for pleasure of senior officers. Information provided by the Defence Ministry to the Senate showed that since 1999, 24.5 acres of military land was converted into golf course in Attock. In Sargodha 60 acres of military land was converted into a golf course. The Defense Minister also informed the House that army housing schemes were launched on military farm lands on an area measuring 222 acres. The Senate was told that 36.96 acres of military dairy farm Chaklala in Rawalpindi was converted into a housing scheme. In Lahore, 133.96 acres of land belonging to military dairy farms were converted into housing schemes since 1999. In Sialkot, the authorities converted 51.2 acres of military dairy farm land into a housing society. Shockingly enough the shameful plunder of Pakistan's resources by the generals does not stop here. The Defence Minister in response to a question by Senator Dr. Nighat Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Agha said that the record pertaining to the terms and conditions on which the Varan Bus Service was given a terminal in the Cantonment Area of Rawalpindi on a land measuring 2.42 acres "was not available in the Military Estate Office Rawalpindi." The Defence Minister also told the Senate that Varan Bus Service, owned by the daughter of Lt Gen (Retd) Hamid Gul, a self-proclaimed ideologue of the Right, was causing environmental pollution in the area for which no effective measures have been adopted by the owners of the terminals. Perhaps to avoid accountability of such nature where the facts are revealed before the public, the defence forces do not allow the democratic system to flourish in Pakistan. If democracy flourishes, how would the generals justify the expenditure of millions of rupees on golf courses to the public representatives when millions are burdened by abject poverty and hundreds committing suicides due to hopelessness. While the government run by Gen Musharraf has spent millions on leisure and pleasure activities of the senior uniformed officials since 1999, their own Finance Minister admitted in the latest Economic Survey that 50 million people, some 32 per cent of the population, were living on just Rs848 per month or almost $14 per month. Ironically when the poor babies in millions of households of Pakistan cry for a piece of bread or a glass of milk, the Generals play golf on the lush green lawns. The disparity is glaring and provocative.

Pakistan goes defence shopping again Farooq Sulehria Pakistan goes defence shopping again; this time to Sweden SUMIR KAUL LONDON, NOV 7 (PTI) Pakistan is finalising a USD one billion defence deal with a Swedish firm for delivery of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) surveillance system. According to a report in the latest issue of 'Janes Defence Weekly', Pakistan, which is struggling to provide aid to survivors in all of its quake-hit areas, moved a step closer to adopting a Saab-Ericcson AEW system after signing a provisional contract, which envisages replacing of F-27 Fokker planes from the Pakistan Air Force. This was announced by the Swedish company on October 18, 10 days after the killer quake struck Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), the weekly said. The deal was believed to be for seven aircraft but a final step had to be taken as the company was going to seek a final nod from the US. The contract is worth USD one billion with two-third going to Saab company for providing Turboprop aircraft and the rest to Ericsson which would be providing Erieye airborne radar. Saab Chief Executive Ake Svenson was quoted by the weekly as saying that a number of outstanding issues remained to be resolved but the Janes said that it is understood that the deal was now close to being finalised. On the hurdles, a spokesman of the Saab company Peter Larsson said "we are not disclosing what exactly these issues are..." All of the integration work attached to the contract will be carried out in Sweden, he said. In the past Swedish industry sources had noted that a Saab 200 AEW conversion would take 43 months from the contract signature. Importantly, the deal could lead to the selection of Saab's multi-role fighter aircraft, the weekly said, adding the purchase of these aircraft would provide access to datalink and command, control, computers and communication capability. The AEW systems to be supplied to Pakistan are to be primarily used for continuous surveillance of the air territory, borders and the sea. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The Saab's 2000 turbo propel would be ex-lease aircraft. It was orgiinally planned that 14 aircraft would be sold to Pakistan with the extra seven aircraft going to Pakistan International Aiirways, which has, however, since opted for Dash-8 planes. Powered by two Allison or Rolls-Royce AE2100 engines, the Saab 2000 can remain airborne for nine hours at 30,000 feet and Ericsson's Erieye radar can effectively spot a fighter-sized target about 330 kilometres away. Seaborne targets can be detected 320 kilometres away when the aircraft is at optimum cruising height. Pakistan government had recenly postponed purchasing F-16 fighter jets from the US in the wake of the quake that killed over 73,000 people. The decision followed criticism from the opposition parties and human rights groups which demanded a cut in military spending after the quake. A Matter of Great Shame, But No Surprise Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON, July 11: What happened to Ahmed Faraz is a matter of great shame but it should not have surprised us because from the day Pakistan was born to the present era of “enlightened moderation” (Thank you Dr Kissinger), that is exactly the sort of thing that has been happening to our best and the brightest. Writers and artists, except those who sell their soul to the devil that every ruling order in Pakistan is, have always been suspect in our country. The oligarchy that has wielded power from the beginning, sometimes in civvies, at other times in bemedalled uniforms, has disliked both ideas and intellectuals. The ruling class has an intrinsic, if not genetic, dislike, indeed ill-hidden contempt, for writers, poets and journalists. In its book, they are lowest of the low. Some members of these so-called elite may pretend to have a literary taste but it is utterly insincere as it has little use either for poetry or for art or for serious music. It never fails to amuse me that the very people who would sway their heads as if they had been transported to another world when Iqbal Bano sings Faiz’s stirring lines about how the mighty will one day fall (Hum dekhain ge/Woh din ke jiska vahda hai) were the very tyrants whose fall Faiz had so confidently predicted. The first victims of official wrath just weeks after Pakistan’s birth were members of the Progressive Writers Movement. In the Government’s eyes, the final seal on their treachery was set when a large delegation from the Soviet Union came to Lahore to attend the first major writers’ conference. Anyone and everyone who was involved with that conference, whether he was a communist, a fellow traveler or a mere attendee, was now seen as a “security risk.” His mail was opened, his movements were tailed by plainclothesmen, he was blacklisted for employment under Government and every now and then, when the usual suspects had to be picked up and put into jail, he was picked up and put into jail. They were even blacklisted from appearing on the radio or freelancing for any official agency. The old colonial assumption that the greatest danger to India came from the Soviet Union became the official credo of independent Pakistan. Every writer of note – and they were all “progressive” in one sense or another – was put on the list of actual or potential enemies of the state. Every black law that the British had made – to their great shame, I should add – was not only made part of the penal code but new laws that gave the state machinery meta-judicial powers and made nonsense of the rule of law were promulgated, mostly through executive decree. People were picked up under one emergency law or another. The principal target always remained the writers and intellectuals of Pakistan. If Ahmed Faraz has been thrown on the street today, he should know – and he does know – that he is in august Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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company. After all, was it not one of his spiritual predecessors, Hasan Nasir, who was tortured to death in the infamous Lahore Fort’s chamber of horrors? In passing, it should be noted that Nawaz Sharif’s one great act in office was the abolition of that medieval prison run by the Punjab Police and the country’s despicable intelligence agencies. Faiz was hounded till the day he died. What can be a matter of greater shame to us as a nation and a state is that a man who inhabits the same immortal hall of fame as Ghalib and Iqbal was shadowed all the days of his life because he was viewed an “enemy of the state.” The Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, in which Faiz was embroiled, sentenced and imprisoned, was a lie because all the “conspirators” had really done was talk about taking over the morally corrupt and anti-people Government. When they were caught, the “conspiracy” had long been abandoned. And yet, during Zia’s time, most of which he spent in exile, he was detained while in transit through Karachi. Wherever he went, he was tailed by the regime’s intelligence. Habib Jalib remained a suspect. Government after Government kept him under watch throughout his turbulent life, spent in conditions of near poverty. In another country, he would have been celebrated and honored as a national hero. Here he was disgraced – from being “found” with illicit liquor to being roughed up on the streets of Lahore in a Women’s Action Forum rally (what happened to those magnificent protesters led by such fearless fighters as Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan!). And what about the greatest of Pakistan’s Punjabi poets, the inimitable Ustad Daman? He was hounded and watched. Once he was booked on that timeless Punjab Police specialty: possession of illicit liquor. One of his poems ends with the couplet: Ais wastay bolda nahin Daman: Mataan lug jaye meri zubaan te tax. (Why Daman no longer speaks is for fear that if he opens his mouth, they will tax his voice). In Pakistan, every poet who stood for something and who spoke in the name of the people, found himself on the wrong side of the law. Ahmed Faraz is a national treasure and although he does not believe in the succession system, either in politics or in poetry, the fact is that if there is to be a successor to Faiz, it is none other than Faraz. This is not the first time Faraz has been persecuted by the establishment. He was sent home by Maulana Kausar Niazi, a misstep that was soon rectified. Faraz lost his job under the Zia regime and he spent many years in exile in Europe and America, quite a few of them in London. His great poem Mohasra (The Siege) remains one of the most powerful indictments of military rule. Who else but Faraz could have written: Pesha var qatilo tum sipahi nahin (You are no soldiers, you professional assassins). There can be no question that Faraz is also the greatest romantic Urdu poet of our times. Such a man should be placed on a pedestal so high that one should have to crane one’s neck to see him. But what is the reality of Pakistan? Some time last year, he and his family were evicted from their house and the family belongings thrown on the street. There was a nationwide uproar and the Government had to eat humble pie. This time he has been dismissed from his post on the orders of Shaukat “Shortcut” Aziz, the City Bank’s gift to Pakistan. This crass and tasteless act is all Aziz will be remembered by after he returns to where he came from. But let me end this by quoting to Faraz one of his own lines: Dost hota nahin har haath milanay wala (Not everyone who shakes your hand is a friend).

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A Despicable Check List of Musharraf's Pakistan Visionary LAHORE, May 31: Does it matter that the American Consulate in Karachi can kidnap any citizen, have him hauled inside, beat him black and blue and than deposit him at a police station with threats of dire consequences if he squeals about the matter, just because his vehicle scraped the Consulate boundary. I hope Justice Osmani and Justice Memon realize that Diplomatic immunity is not a licence of 007 (James Bond) to kill, kidnap, rape or harass citizens of the country. (And while I'm at it, could the Consulate withdraw from the land it has encroached upon, making life miserable for the citizens of Karachi, and instead strengthen their own walls within their legal premises.) Does it matter that on the date when freedom of press is celebrated all over the world, journalists were beaten up by the police in Islamabad and a week or so later a renounced daily was threatened to shut-up by withdrawing official ads. Does it matter that a project of national importance “Raising of the Mangla Dam” has been delayed and nearly jeopardized just because minions fronting for the Chief Executive of the province who through backdoor methods seem to have acquired the leases of most of the deposits of limestone in the vicinity of the dam and hiked the prices so high that the contractor nearly ran away. Does it matter that in this land of once five flowing rivers we have private armies that barge into factories with guns and tractors and remove goods without any fear of the police or concern for the stays of the courts and are bent upon harassing foreign investors so that no new foreign investor dare invest a penny in the country. Does it matter that in the world of Pakistani politics a husband is about to cheat on a wife and a brother is about to stab a brother so that they could wield political power under the watchful eye of the Khaki. Does it matter that all the political parties asking for return of democracy are the least democratic within their own setups. They have no elections. Their allegiance is to a personality who is elected Chairman for life and even if they have an election it is pure sham. The only people who are content to remain stagnant in any setup, may it be corporate or political, are those who are either very poor/weak or those who have personal agenda of making a buck through the position they are in. Otherwise how can the likes of Amin Faheem, Aitzaz Ehsan, Sardar Khoso and other men of substance just sit by and watch the shenanigans taking place. The whole sham is about creating personality cults and creating dynasties for their respective families. If that be so than why fault the incumbent, who as it is, thinks there is no one better than him. Does it matter that to register the purchase of land, the lower echelon of the tehsil still takes an amount equal to the official registration fee. Does it matter that an area which has a river flowing 10 kms from it and a mountain with huge water reserves of less than 3 kms away and still the womenfolk have to go on donkeys for 5-8 kms to fetch water. Does it matter that the steel pipes which were laid in the 40s were removed and sold for scrap worth millions and replaced by low quality cement pipes which collapsed within a month of replacement and the people are without water and no one has been hauled up for questioning. Does it matter that an honorable retired bureaucrat who has achieved a status of a pious man and to whom all and sundry flock for advice and to whom came for advice one of his retired chaprasis who had four daughters who were constantly harassed by

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the goons of the neighborhood and who had used all his resources of police contacts etc. All that this pious man could advise was to sacrifice one of the daughters? Does it matter that Imtiaz Sheikh against whom the Sindh Chief Minister has made allegations of corruption galore and who is now wanted for collusion in murder has been promoted to Senior Vice President of the official PML. And may well become the Chief Minister of Sindh. Does it matter that after the bursting of the land and stock exchange bubble and the hauling up of the officials of DHA Lahore, no one has been booked for any crime. Does it matter that with all the hue and cry for the promotion of SMEs even now the loans by banks are being given to the haves and the right-offs are for chronic defaulters like Ch Qasim. Try setting up a small or medium industrial enterprise without 300 percent collateral and you would be shown the door. Does it matter that everyone is raising a voice against the feudals, even the Chief of MQM lays fault at the doors of feudalism, without once realizing that where it has been done away with without a proper replacement, the vacuum has been filled by anarchism and terrorism The methods and tactics of some ethnic and religious groups in urban areas, and of the vacuum fillers in those rural areas where the local landlords have been sidelined, are clear references for study. Does it matter that when one comes across senior bureaucrats or members of the PMs team one is told that what one is writing about and much more. Well if they know and still don’t do anything about it then what right they have to strut around like proud peacocks. Does it matter that all those who previously stood for elections as MNAs and MPAs are all proudly vying to be demoted to the district and tehsil nazim slots. Why? Because that is where the buck stops. Does it matter that no one in the entire country takes out a procession against the Baglihar and Wullar but you have a huge march against the Kalabagh. The only people who took it on themselves as per news item were a group of Kashmiri freedom fighters who were on their way to blow up Baglihar but apparently got caught by the Indians, a typical case of bad planning and execution. Well so was Kargil anyway. Does it matter that both our allies (referring probably to US and China) have abandoned us and left us high and dry and are wooing Miss India? Does it matter that some one has advised the President to have his illustrious mother come on screen and voice her thoughts about her son who presently rules the country. I had a chance to watch one of her earlier interviews. The lady came across as an educated, soft spoken, kind and above all elegant – an aspect of upbringing fast eroding from our society. I also had an opportunity to meet Mr Zardari’s mother and found her to be a woman of strong character, substance and immense presence. But what better way to show love and respect to these souls than by doing what is right … and by improving the lot of the millions of sons of other mothers of this country. Does it matter that an individual who is now 50 plus and has fought the urge to make a quick buck and accept bribe may be on the verge of breaking his life long principle just to bring bread to the table. Yes it matters! It matters because one man of principles down is a great victory for the corrupt, evil and manipulative Holy Trinity. In this era where consumerism, materialism, individualism is breaking the very fiber of societies and religions and is further being strengthened by the grip of corruption and nepotism which has been unleashed by the media moguls of the New World Order.

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It matters that individuals who stand by values and principles and what is right by society and religion who are presently dispersed like straw need to be baled and looped. It matters because they are the hope for the millions in this country and billions in the world who are crawling below the line of inhumanity and poverty. It matters because throughout history it has been the individual fighter, Mard-eMomin, man of faith, man of vision who has changed the course of history and has been the rallying factor for the downfall of tyrants. To all those on the verge of collapse or who are in the grip of momentary weakness stand tall and matter. An Angry Column: 'We are All Dead Inside' Masood Hasan LAHORE, July 25: The recent train disaster that has already killed 135 innocent people and maimed and injured hundreds others is another sorry chapter in our sorry history. Those who died can be faulted for having chosen to travel by the archaic and disorderly Pakistan rail network that is as reliable as quicksand. What this has once again proven is that those in authority are compulsive liars and have absolutely no moral scruples when it comes to saving their own hides. Integrity, a commodity in perpetual and increasingly short supply, enjoys the status of a fullblown famine in their perk-infested lives. The Minister for Railways -- always ill qualified for the job (which was why he got it in the first place) and the Chairman should have resigned immediately. That would have happened on another planet. Here, where morality is rammed down our throats and pushed up our behinds daily, they both chose to ride out the storm. The Minister, in what one can only term a grave loss of judgment, immediately cottoned on to the terrorism ploy, terming the accident the work of saboteurs. In proof he likened the Sarhad Station crash to an earlier one at Sanghi that claimed 307 lives. What the terrorist link in this bizarre connection is, he chose not to divulge. This far fetched, red herring theory was quickly abandoned as the blame was next put on the failure of the conductor of the Karachi Express who failed to read the signal. Blame was then shifted to the driver of the ill-fated train, which was very convenient since dead men tell no tales. Thereafter, to further confound the issue and sidetrack the truth, the personnel responsible for changing the tracks were declared the culprits. This followed soon after the announcement that the signals at Sarhad Station were malfunctioning. Why Minister Shamim Haider has not held the Mossad responsible, of course remains a mystery. If aliens indeed triggered the multiple crashes, he is keeping mum on that score. What these twists and turns and pathetic attempts at hiding the truth reveal is a complete absence of any knowledge worth the name about the ministry of which he is the head. It also reflects dereliction of duty and an inability to do the honorable thing. But then, he is not the only one. No public official, sans a precious few, has ever accepted responsibility when things go wrong. Those guilty of the highest crimes and acts of gross negligence have, contrary to foolish expectations, gone on to greater glories. Recently, the Indian Railways Minister resigned after a horrific train crash, but that is India, where one can still find many decent people.

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The five PR men that have been suspended are now rumored to be the convenient scapegoats, and those actually responsible for this criminal negligence are sitting it out waiting for the buzz to die down -- which it will soon enough. This is now a hallowed tradition in the Pakistan Railways. Suspend a few men, make a few announcements, express deep shock and grief, ferry over the President, the Prime Minister and any other factotum not on another foreign junket, announce cash compensations -- a great favorite that one -- make noble resolves, threaten fast action, pray for those who are dead and then simply carry on. Probes never materialize; reports never see the light of day -- and why should they? They are only decoys to keep the axe of responsibility from severing a few fat heads. Instead of taking action against the General Manager of Operations, Chief Operating Officer and Divisional Superintendent of Sukkur, some lowly ones are sent off into the night with a firm understanding that they will soon be back. The glorious traditions of the Railways cannot be allowed to wither and die. The relieving Station Master of Sarhad Station, who was having a well-deserved slumber while the three express trains ploughed into one another, has now been packed off. But make no mistake, he will be back soon; if not at Sarhad then at one of the many other stations; no blame attached, no enquiry report to sully his ACR and no punishment whatsoever. Accountability is for those idiots who have no connections. Everyone from here to Timbuktu is asking for an enquiry, but if there is to be one, why have five men been already suspended? Note, suspended, not dismissed. What's the hurry folks? The dead are dead; most buried in nameless mass graves. In all this turmoil, the railway authorities have quietly removed the driver and conductor of the Tezgam, two men who might have been able to give an authentic account of what happened. Removing them to a secret location while they are grilled and made to kowtow to the official safe line. Certainly, they haven't been heard from, and no one can access them. Some other things remain. First is the callous and instant announcement of cash compensation that the government wastes no time in announcing. Coming as it does on the heels of such an awful tragedy – lives rent asunder horribly –, it reflects the mind set of the rulers who believe that when all else fails, rely on cash. There is even a slab system of monetary awards versus limbs lost. Such is the mathematics of a nation that has lost all feeling for humanity. Unlike London, and elsewhere in Europe, where flags flew at half-mast, where a twominute silence swept cities and countries into one serene and sad reflective moment, there was nothing here. Flags fluttered as before, VIPs went here and there, sirens screaming and the President and later the freshly imported from Europe PM, Shaukat Aziz, arrived at the scene of the crime – security apparatus and all. The President's arrival led to throwing out the relief workers, deranged relatives, paramedics and volunteers digging for bodies and clearing the debris. Well before he arrived, the area was clinically cleaned and made as antiseptic as an operating theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. Did it help the relief operations? No. But it was a good photo-op with somber-faced minions hanging on to each other to be as near the big man as physically possible. The truth is that not only are we dead inside; so is Pakistan Railways. And it's not the only institution we have managed to murder quite effortlessly. It is well-known that the rail system is more or less what the British infidels left us over half a century back. Of the 70,000 odd bridges almost 90 percent are now well past their design life, and therefore unsafe. The track is unsafe and in shambles, the switching systems in disrepair, the equipment falling apart, the men worthless and elevated to positions and perks they do not deserve, the leadership in undeserving and unaccountable Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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hands, the infrastructure in smithereens, the systems long abandoned and the whole edifice corrupt, tainted and putrid from top to bottom. In this terrible world, people travel out of necessity. Nothing the Railways do will return the dead to life but although it is late and it will not happen, Mr. Haider, the Railways Minister should still resign before he barters his soul further. It won't mean a thing, but it might shame some others to do their jobs inefficiently -- that may be too much to expect. Above all, all the VIPs must make a public apology to us, the people, who have to suffer, day in and day out, both them and the burden of their sins that we carry painfully on our breaking backs. Corrupt Musharraf's Generals, Exposed by Musharraf's Generals Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, April 29: General Pervez Musharraf cannot, and does not, publicly claim that he has eliminated corruption altogether in Pakistan but he frequently boasts about cleaning up the top levels of his military cum civil administration. Now his own trusted men are exposing these tall claims by pointing fingers and naming the military regime’s big guns who are turning out to be the really big thieves. A few most glaring examples: When a prominent cabinet minister who was visiting Washington a few months back, revealed quietly to me and a friend, the horrifyingly ugly scale of land grabbing and fake land sale scams going on in Pakistan, especially in Punjab, we frankly did not believe him. We thought the minister was trying to get even with his uniformed masters for not fulfilling the tall political promises made to him. But the magnitude of the scams was such that the minister genuinely felt concerned and wanted us to write about them, although as a politician he was not going to raise his voice publicly and was prepared to serve those very Generals in every top position. The minister has now been proved right. Thanks to one of the more upright Generals in the present lot, the Corps Commander of Lahore, Lt. General Shahid Aziz, details of the massive land scams are emerging. Our ministerial source says Corps Commander Aziz, has started a serious investigation against his predecessor, the last Corps Commander of Lahore, currently posted in the GHQ, Lt. General Zarrar Azim, known in the real estate world of Lahore as General Zarrar Zamin (land). Early results of this fight between the top military bulls has revealed that General Zarrar was so deeply involved in the scam of Lahore Defence Society that in the price of every plot of land allotted in the society, a fee of Rs 600,000 (US$10,000) had to be built-in, almost automatically, meant for the Corps Commander’s office. In this scam, it is now being found by the detectives of the new Corps Commander, that not only the out-going CC was involved, he was using a junior officer, Major Lodhi as a front man. This major is related to General Musharraf’s coup partner and now retired General Aziz of Kargil fame. The details of these Defence Society scams are mind boggling. Thousands of plots of lands are designated in official files as Defence Society land and these plots are then sold and re-sold on files. More paper Housing Societies are registered and approved and they claim vast tracts of land without owning a square yard. According to our source, in Lahore alone there are 12,000 files of plots for Sectors 7, 8, 9 and 10 for which there is no land actually available on the ground. How many

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thousands of more such plots have been sold is not yet known but the probe ordered by Lt. Gen. Aziz will bring out some facts. According to a going joke in the Army Mess Circuit, the last request General Musharraf made to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi was to give him 8,000 acres of land from the Indian territory across the Wagah-Atari border, 30 miles from Lahore, in return for Kashmir and Siachin, because “my boys have already sold this land in the files.” Lahore is not the only Land of Land Scams. What has happened in Gwadar and Rawalpindi is of no less import. The ministerial source said in the Bahria Town of Rawalpindi and Lahore, thousands of non-existent plots have been sold by the scheme managers. In Bahria Town of Lahore for 7,000 available plots 28,000 applications were accepted with deposits. But in Bahria Town Islamabad/Rawalpindi 77,000 plots have been sold which require land equivalent to 16 built-up sectors of Islamabad. “What we are getting into is the Mother of all Scams because billions upon billions of people’s money has been collected by these project sponsors while there is no land to be allotted. How many of these buyers get back their deposits and when, is the 50 billion rupees question,” the source said. Incidentally official records of the Ministry of Defence presented before the National Assembly show that Pakistan Army has Defence Housing Societies in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on an area of only 179,308 Kanals, or 22,500 acres. Pakistan Navy and Air Force have two housing societies each covering an area of 712 and 536 acres of land respectively. Another of Musharraf’s top commanders, Lt Gen. Tariq Wasim Ghazi, former Corps Commander of Karachi became notoriously famous in Karachi for similar land scams in Defence Society, Karachi, including Creek City and allotment to two special people, Humayun Butt and Fareed Veerani. Who are these specials and what is their involvement is being investigated by South Asia Tribune and will be revealed soon. The Gwadar land scam has already infuriated the Baloch leadership and one reason why they are so violent and non-compromising is how their mother land is being sold and resold to outsiders after it was fraudulently bought from them for peanuts. In Gwadar the Generals and their front men were quietly told to buy the land from locals much in advance of announcement of mega projects. Once this mopping up operation was completed, the projects were announced and trading of this real estate began, multiplying the prices by 20 or even 40 times. The ministerial source said the bigger scandal in Gwadar has started just recently when Government has ordered all its banks and State-owned Corporations to buy land in Gwadar at market prices. Middlemen have already sold and resold these plots many times over to different parties to perk up the market price. “The tax payer will now end up paying the premium to these land mafias,” the source said. In a much quieter operation in Lahore the City Government of Nazim (Mayor) Mian Amer Mahmood claimed on Sunday, April 24, that it had succeeded in vacating 3,000 kanals (375 acres) of land belonging to schools from a land mafia, but interestingly he did not name the mafia. Most of those who read the small story or who were present when the announcement was made understood who was involved. While Corps Commanders of Musharraf are involved in perpetuating or dismantling these land scams, one of his pillars of accountability, the former head of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Lt. General (Retd) Amjad Hussain was himself accused of massive corruption in the corporation he has been heading.

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This charge of corruption was leveled in the National Assembly of Pakistan and involved the Fauji Foundation, undeniably the largest corporate body of Pakistan, now waiting to take over the largest public sector company, Pakistan State Oil. The National Assembly was told last week that a high-level inquiry had been ordered against the management of the Fauji Foundation after detection of huge financial bunglings. General Amjad was facing the inquiry for selling a sugar mills in a nontransparent manner at less than the highest bid to a business enterprise which did not even participate in the bidding process. The Assembly was told that the Khoski Sugar Mills was sold at Rs300 million against a previous bid of Rs387 million offered by a private party. Defence Minister Rao Sikandar ordered the inquiry to fix responsibility on those who violated the financial procedures and rules by going out of the way to benefit a favorite firm. While the above details show that in-service Generals and Corps Commanders were being investigated for corruption, another officially announced corruption case was against the management of the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, interestingly consisting of all military officers headed by Lt. General Arif Hassan. The management of SAF Games has been found involved in financial irregularities to the tune of Rs201 million, which among other charges, include giving undue benefit to private organizations through "verbal agreements," Daily Dawn said quoting an audit report. The ninth SAF Games management included Chairman Lt. Gen. Arif Hassan, Chief of staff and chief coordinating officer Brig. Amjad Javaid, Information and media director Lt. Col. Syed Mujtaba Tirmizi, Administration Director Brig. Ahmad Riza Siddiqi, Communications Director Brig Abid Hussain Bhatti, Technical Director Lt. Col. (retired) Muhammad Yahya, Procurement Director Lt. Col. Mansoor Abbas, Information Technology Director Lt. Col. Umer Farooq, Finance and Marketing Director Lt. Col. Azhar Dean, Ceremonies Director Brig. Arif Rasul Qureshi, Protocol Director Brig. Khalid Rasheed Lodhi and Chief Engineer Lt. Col. Usman Saeed. The question being asked in all relevant circles was that even to organize an sporting event, none of the very well qualified civilians was found to be suitable and from top to bottom all army men had been inducted as if it SAF Games were military exercises. And now these sacred cows have been found to be involved in irregularities and corruption. In a military regime, obviously the Corps Commanders and senior Generals are the top level of Government and if scams and scandals involving these top men are officially exposed, some in the National Assembly and others by leaks to the media by his own people, how would General Musharraf explain his claims of eliminating top level corruption.

How Pakistan Army Blatantly Covered up Huge Frauds Shahwar Faryal ISLAMABAD: How the Pakistan Army bulldozes the civilians whenever any financial fraud is detected, even if it is years old, has become evident from what happened with some of the files of military purchases which came to the Auditor General of Pakistan. These files were provided to the AGP office when it conducted a special audit on Defense Procurements for the five-year period 1990-95. The concerned military authorities first provided the secret files containing the details of military purchases from different countries including France, USA, Germany, UK and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Sweden. But within hours these secret files were physically snatched from the auditors. They were forced to evaluate the deals based only on what they could remember after they had a look at the details for a very brief time. This audit of major deals was done in 1996 and its report was never made public nor it was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee for examination. This important report, which found huge irregularities, was dumped. The Directorate General of Defense Procurement (DGDP) is a joint venture organization under the Ministry of Defense and the Defense Production Division, responsible for the procurement of Defense stores from local and overseas resources. It is also responsible for formulation of policies for the procurement of Defense services. According to one report obtained by SA Tribune the DGDP concluded a Contract no 1341/63/DGDP/PC 3 c with MS Land Rover Exports Ltd., UK on June 30, 1996 for procurement of 1,047 Land Rover Defender 90GS Jeeps at the rate of $20,889 plus 5 per cent for spares and 15 per cent for freight charges. But it was observed from the United Field Motors vehicles catalogue, issued by the manufacturers in April 1996, that the same Land Rover Defender 90 was being sold at the rate of £9,675 each. For large orders of 100 units or more, quantity discount was also to be considered by the suppliers on case to case basis. Thus, it appeared that DGDP purchased the vehicles at a rate much higher involving an extra expenditure of $6.856 million. The scandalous part of the entire case is that the case file of this deal was first supplied to auditors but withdrawn after a few hours and never produced again despite several requests. Non production of record to auditors was in itself a serious irregularity. Similarly a much higher rate was paid in May 1993 to an authorized agent of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus. The seller offered a price of US$ 825 but the Army paid $1,199 per piece of equipment to the firm. In another case, three old Cessna aircraft were purchased while a much better offer was available from Learjet for 1993 models. The AGP has asked the government to constitute an inquiry committee to look into these serious irregularities in the Defense purchases. The Land Scams in the Name of the Sacred Soldiers M Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, August 24: Land scams that are proliferating across the country, specially in the name of our Armed Forces, have come into sharp focus, sadly because of murder of two guards of a high profile housing society in the federal capital. First it was the National Assembly last night and next morning the Senate, where members from both sides of the isle voiced their outrage over the blatant manner in which this housing society used the name of Pakistan Navy to generate massive public interest and money in its highly publicized schemes. Lawmakers of the area said the developer purchased the land from poor villagers around Islamabad cheaply and sold plots at hugely inflated price. The violence reported in the press was attributed to allegation by some of these sellers that they have been cheated. In the end two innocent guards were caught in the fray and killed. The developer has shown ingenuity and innovation both in designs and marketing. These have made his various offerings one of the most attractive in the country, after the defence housing schemes. Few, perhaps, would grudge that, had it all been a fair

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and clean affair. But many lawmakers pointed accusing fingers at top political, civil and military figures whose patronage has gone along with it. Former law minister Sen. Dr. Khalid Ranjha pointed out that it was a criminal offence to use for any private commercial venture, the name of an official organization, more so an arm of the military. “Bahria Town“ was originally purported to be a project of the Pakistan Navy. But a former navy chief allegedly allowed the present developer for unknown reasons and consideration. On a number of occasions the developer has been running into trouble with the top government functionaries, including the NAB. He was even jailed. But in the end he escaped unscathed and expanded his business to incredible proportions. In private sector, he is, perhaps, the top-most real estate tycoon in the country. The lawmakers particularly took note of the latest offer in what was called Bahria Town-Phase 9. The publicity preceding the offering had set about a week for the people to file prescribed forms. The forms were available in some selected banks. But on the first day it was announced that within first six hours, 40,000 forms were distributed by banks to the applicants exhausting all supplies. Many bank branches witnessed virtual riots and damage to buildings caused by dejected prospective buyers who were unable to get any form. To top it all, the developer announced that all the 40,000 applicants would be given plots if they deposited the down payment within the due date. Apparently, it was inconceivable that the developer actually owned 40,000 plots. The two announcements sent the market in a tail spin. The frenzy that ensued led to black market sale and resale of forms at exorbitant prices ranging from Rs15,000 to Rs60,000. The lawmakers were intrigued by the way the forms were distributed. Influential people were given scores of these forms before sending them to the banks. This writer overheard two people in an escalator talking about the forms two days after the event. “Sir, you had promised to get me some forms,” one gentleman said. “Don’t you worry. An FIA director has been given 20 and has promised to share five with me.” Many lawmakers were perturbed that the real estate craze has overtaken the society and widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots to a vulgar level. You go to any office – private, public, civil, military - the most favorite topic is the housing schemes. The prices in all major cities, including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have skyrocketed. While the lucky ones with money and connections have made windfall profits in buying and selling, the less fortunate have nothing but to curse their luck. For most of the middle and lower class strata of the society, the price of land to build houses has gone out of their reach. A reasonably employed and paid person cannot even think of buying a servant quarter sized plot of land in Islamabad for his entire lifelong savings. Building a house has become a fantasy. In other major cities, things are no different. The most coveted societies, of course, are the defence housing societies in major cities. The President last week felt peeved by the fact that “pseudo intellectuals” feel jealous about these societies. According to him these are best developed and managed. If some army officer sells a plot for hundred times the cost at which he was allotted, so argued the President, why should people grudge or feel jealous about it. The President says only the retired military officers are looking after these societies which also provide employment and generate development activity. He conveniently ignores the fact of the involvement of officer corps in allotment, sale and resale of plots. Untold stories about higher echelons overseeing these schemes have tainted the image of the institution.

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Moreover the defence housing societies have become an obscene feature of our elite culture that is far removed from the rest of the populace. It generates, not just the” jealousy” which the President has referred to, but irrepressible rage and revulsion among the less privileged. There are reports of a new town being planned in Bedian between Lahore and Wagah, where only eight-acre plots for mansions and estates would be developed. For the country, investment in real estate from within and abroad, has replaced capital formation for productive use in the economy. Pakistan’s economy has more or less become a real estate economy. Huge capital has been invested in this unproductive sector. Little is thus available for investment in genuine economic activity. The land grab mafia has sprouted in every town and city, boosting all sorts of crimes and corruption. President Musharraf set a noble example in 1999 when he declared his assets after taking over. Eye brows were, however, raised, why he had to have seven or eight plots, including commercial plots, in different defence housing societies across the country. Asfandyar Wali Khan was intrigued by the revelation that the President owns a plot in Gwadar as well. "Is he going to build a house and live there," he had asked. Recently when he purchased a five-acre farm in Islamabad which is worth crores, it was stated that he sold one of his commercial plots in Lahore to pay for that. It is argued that the President had done nothing illegal as the rules permit an army officer to get more than one plot. The point is how far this is ethically correct. If he surrenders his other plots and makes the rule that only one plot can be allotted to any officer in the country for building a house, the President would radically change the entire environment of “jealousy”. Instead, he would create tremendous goodwill for himself and the institution. In this context an encounter with another military dictator is instructive. When in 1976, Gen. Zia was named COAS, this writer and another dear friend who also knew Zia since he was Lt. Colonel, invited him to a cup of tea at the Multan Press Club. This friend was building a house but had not been able to complete it. Zia asked him:” Masood Sahib, have you been able to build your house?” Zia was told that it is as yet not even half complete. “Masood Sahib, I am sure you will be able to build it now that you have started it. Look at me. I am at the fag end of my career, and I cannot even think of building a house.” How many generals, nay even captains and majors of today can repeat those words? Musharraf's unhappy new year Troubles are piling up for Pakistan's president The Economist FOR Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, troubles are coming not as single spies but in battalions. An American rocket attack on January 13th on a remote mountain village in Bajaur, a tribal agency near the border with Afghanistan, provoked angry nation-wide protests. Army action in Baluchistan province against rebellious tribesmen continues to take a toll of soldiers and civilians, and this week anonymous threats prompted foreign aid organisations to suspend operations there. Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, devastated by an earthquake in October, is suffering the misery of a Himalayan winter. Many Pakistanis fear the peace process with India is going nowhere (see article). To cap it all, the president has faced a political rebellion in Sindh province. The strike in Bajaur was aimed at Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, mistakenly thought to be there. It is reported to have killed three or four al-Qaeda Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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terrorists—including an explosives expert on the most-wanted list—but also 18 civilians, including women and children. Pakistan has complained, but not over-loudly, given the presumed existence of secret agreements allowing America to wage war on Pakistani soil in certain extreme circumstances. For the past three years, Pakistan's army has faced an uphill task in this mountainous area. It is infested with heavily armed Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants, bent on making trouble in Afghanistan. Hardly a day goes by without killings by both sides. On January 10th, for instance, seven soldiers and 14 terrorists died in clashes in the tribal areas. Locals sympathise with the militants and see the army as an intruder, there at the behest of the Americans. The army commanders say they have killed hundreds of foreign fighters, and frequently claim that the job is almost done. But that is not the case. As if his troubles in the tribal areas and Baluchistan were not enough, General Musharraf has antagonised Sindh province by promoting the construction of a dam on the Indus river at a place called Kalabagh in Punjab. Sindh, further downstream, is bitterly opposed to the project. Such is the lack of trust that Sindhis suspect Punjabis will steal the waters of their Indus. They fear that new canals from the dam's reservoir will reduce the flow of water and leave the fertile Indus delta in Sindh vulnerable to the encroachments of the Arabian Sea. In Sindh, even members of General Musharraf's own ruling coalition are afraid of openly supporting him. In early January the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which controls Karachi and the urban areas of Sindh, threatened to quit the Sindh government unless the Kalabagh project was ditched, and military action in Baluchistan halted. It took Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, and General Musharraf an hour each on the phone to placate Altaf Hussain, the MQM's leader, who lives in self-imposed exile in London. This week, General Musharraf was forced into an embarrassing retreat. Instead of Kalabagh, he said on national television, two other dams would be built first. MQM workers celebrated by dancing on the streets of Karachi. Yet delay in building a string of big dams, including Kalabagh (the most feasible one), could seriously impair agricultural productivity and energy supplies. According to a World Bank study, Pakistan is already one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, a situation which is going to degrade into outright water scarcity. Pakistan has only 150 cubic metres (33,000 gallons) of water storage per person compared with over 5,000 cubic metres in America and Australia and 2,200 in China. Many Pakistanis criticise General Musharraf for making his own life difficult by picking fights on so many controversial fronts. He seems rattled by the opposition he has provoked, and has resorted to bluster. In December he thundered against the rebellious Baluch tribesmen: I will sort them out they won't know what hit them. In the event, the insurgents almost downed an army helicopter carrying the top military commander in Baluchistan. The rebels also had the audacity to lob rockets at General Musharraf himself when he visited the area last month. If unchecked, the Baluch insurgency could destabilise the region and jeopardise oil and gas exploration, which are critical to Pakistan's economy. Similarly, any laxity in prosecuting the war against militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan would hurt relations with America, Pakistan's most important benefactor. As it is, the Americans are still pressing for a chance to interrogate the disgraced scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, outside Pakistan about help he is alleged to have provided for Iran's nuclear programme. Handing the father of Pakistan's nuclear deterrent over would infuriate nationalists at home.

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Besieged as he seems to be, General Musharraf still shows no inclination to broaden his political base by making friends with the parties of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, two exiled former prime ministers. Rather, he seems to see the presidential elections due next year as a chance to weaken them further, and consolidate his own power. Ruling Pakistan is not at all easy, even for an all-powerful dictator who, most observers reckon, sincerely wants to do well by the country. Musharraf: Islam's man of action Like his predecessor, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, he is a shrewd operator, skilful at manipulating his political opponents, congenial, is fond of lecturing his nation, and has a short fuse. New Statesman Ziauddin Sardar President Pervez Musharraf does not see himself as a dictator. On the contrary, he projects himself as a modern, tolerant, enlightened man tirelessly working to restore democracy to Pakistan. This country needs my leadership, he has declared on numerous occasions. Musharraf came to power in 1999 after ousting the civilian government of Nawaz Sharif. Sharif had brought the country to its knees: corruption was endemic, ethnic warfare was tearing Pakistan apart, the economy was near collapse. The army had to take over, Musharraf told the country, "as a last resort to prevent any further destabilisation". Since then, he has ruled Pakistan with as much cunning as brute power. Musharraf is the third of the great military dictators who have ruled Pakistan, on and off, for more than 30 years. Like his predecessor, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, he is a shrewd operator, skilful at manipulating his political opponents, congenial, is fond of lecturing his nation, and has a short fuse. Like Ayyub Khan, the first military dictator of Pakistan, he believes in "guided democracy", a historically established euphemism for army rule. After coming to power, Musharraf began implementing an elaborate plan to introduce grassroots democracy. He established regional and city assemblies, promoted the participation of women and peasants, and held elections. He went on to introduce parliamentary democracy and set up a National Assembly. But all this was done, in the true Pakistani military tradition, after he had introduced a few notable constitut ional changes. Musharraf's constitutional amend ments, the Legal Framework Order (LFO), give him the power to sack prime ministers, dissolve parliaments and make him both head of the army and head of state.Not surprisingly, the National Assembly refused to endorse his amendment. So Musharraf went directly to the voters, who had, by now, warmed to him. A referendum in April 2002 extended his rule for five years. There is little doubt that the "war on terror" has given Musharraf added respectability. Wash ington loves him because he is just the kind of authoritarian leader they like to do business with. He is not only a vital ally but someone with deep inside knowledge of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the jihadi movements - indeed, his army and intelligence services helped to create them in the first place. Musharraf has used his privileged position to gain considerable benefits. He had sanctions against Pakistan, imposed because of its nuclear programme, lifted; secured a $1bn aid package; and negotiated the purchase of new weapons.

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But Musharraf is aware that his supporters in Washington and London are embarrassed by the fact that he is, after all is said and done, an unelected, military ruler. He is about to put that right too, by holding presidential elections when his current term ends next year. Given the make-up of national and regional assemblies, he is assured of re-election; and he can then announce his democratic credentials to the world. There's only one problem. Both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the disposed and discredited leaders living in exile, are plotting against him. The two heads of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League are the only grass-roots politicians who can stand against Musharraf. They have now put their differences aside and signed a "Charter for Democracy" calling for the repeal of the LFO, the return of the army to the barracks and the restoration of full democracy to Pakistan. Bhutto and Sharif also want an independent election commission to be set up to ensure free and fair polls. Proud-to-be-Pakistani Musharraf has threatened both leaders with dire consequences if they return to Pakistan. Sharif has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and there are numerous warrants against Bhutto. But in all probability, he will call their bluff. He could call an election in April, leaving Bhutto and Sharif unprepared to participate in a full-blown election. Even if he allows them time to prepare, he will find some way to short-change them. The champion of "enlightened moderation" is determined to be around for some time. Musharraf may be a dictator, but he is strictly not of the tin-pot variety. He has survived two assassination attempts and numerous political upheavals. Under him, Pakistan has achieved high rates of economic growth but he has not accumulated any personal wealth, something that ordinary Pakistanis appreciate. He has also not muzzled the press, which aggressively maintains its independence. The leaders of other Muslim states hold him in high esteem. He is seen by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (the Muslim world's counterpart to the UN) as a "man of action" who gets things moving. And he is one of the few leaders in the world who has a finger on the nuclear button. Last year, I bumped into him in the restaurant of the Intercontinental Hotel in Islamabad. He came over to my table and patted me on the back. "I am very interested," he said, "in the opinions of learned Pakistanis like you." "I am British," I replied. "And I think Pakistan is a failed state." "We will change your mind," he shot back. "We will make you proud to be a Pakistani." The only way he can do that is to hang up his military uniform. WSJournal Reprimands Musharraf on Balochistan Crisis A timely opinion from US capitalism’s watchdog – The Wall Street Journal. It calls for the democratization of Pakistan and not surprisingly accuses the military of fudging the real issues behind Balochistan’s discontent, as well as noting the similarities between the Khaki stupidities of Wall Street Journal Frederic Grare If you can’t find Balochistan on a map, you’re not alone. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Here are some clues: It’s next to Iran and Afghanistan. It’s the biggest province in Pakistan, the one where the most of the oil and gas rigs are. Lots of Chinese can be found there, because they are building an enormous commercial and military port in Gwadar, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. There are two military bases from which US forces fight the war on terrorism. Don’t plan a trip to Balochistan any time soon, though. It’s recently come under fire from troops, helicopter gunships and fighter bombers – sent by the West’s favourite military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf. Balochistan, which has a literacy rate of 25 percent (3 percent for women), has never been integrated into Pakistan. Neither Balochistan’s rough tribal leaders nor the Punjabi-dominated elites of Pakistan have been able to rise beyond an uneasy colonial relationship. The current Baloch insurgency is the fourth in 67 years. Since 9/11, the US government has downplayed the importance of democratic reform in Pakistan, and Balochistan shows why this is a dangerous mistake. Repression by the military-dominated central government will only exacerbate Pakistan’s instability and economic problems. The two US bases in Balochistan – and cooperation needed in combating terrorism in Afghanistan – could be compromised. Chaos in Balochistan could also aggravate competitive Sino-US relations in the region. The Baloch have three main grievances that all reflect a general sense of being exploited as a colony by Punjab, the most powerful and populated province of Pakistan. They demand a fairer share of royalties generated by the production of natural gas in their province. The federal government pays a much lower price for each unit of gas produced in Balochistan than it does for gas produced in other provinces. Moreover, Balochistan receives no more that 12.4 percent of the royalties generated for supplying gas. The people of Balochistan want to be included, rather than marginalized, in the huge development projects the central government has brought to the coast, particularly the Gwadar port. There is no technical school or college in the area to train locals for future participation in the development projects. Those employed so far have been only daily wage laborers. They also reject the Punjabi-dominated army’s establishment of new military cantonments in their province, and the selling at nominal prices by the central government of choice coastal property to out-of-province developers. In other words, the Baloch want Balochistan for Balochis, not for others. The government replies that Balochistan’s resources are national property and has made only nominal concessions. The conflict, it says, is the fault of a few greedy obscurantist tribal leaders opposed to the development of the province. This argument resembles that which the Punjabi-dominated central government made in the early 1970s towards East Pakistan before massive violence and war with India erupted, leading to the creation of Bangladesh. Similarly the Musharraf regime has responded with military force, air strikes, and – according to some reports – the use of napalm. The military rulers are more fearful of the situation than they admit, and have tried to conceal the real nature of the conflict in different ways. Balochistan is an anti-clerical province whose tribes have nothing to do with the sort of Islamism of the Taliban or Al Qaeda. Yet the Pakistani government has tried to tar the Baloch with the Islamist brush, in part to keep the international community from paying more attention to the real problems in the province. The central government in Islamabad also has sought to blame the unrest on ‘foreign hands’, with the main culprits being India, Iran and the US, depending on who the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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audience is. Lately, the government says ‘criminal elements’ lay behind the insurgency. The truth is that the development level is abysmal throughout the province. Many of the Balochis’ claims could have been satisfied without jeopardizing the country’s territorial integrity. The leaders of the Baloch nationalist movement have made it known that they would be satisfied with a generous version of autonomy. Instead, the conflict is now spreading. Reconciling conflicting interests and seeking fair allocations of the costs and benefits of development is what governments are supposed to do. And history suggests that democratic governments, for all their drawbacks, tend to produce fairer allocations that dictatorships do. By contrast, the manipulation of the 2002 elections, which gave the provincial government to a coalition of conservatives and Islamists, deprived the Baloch nationalists of any say in the allocation of resources. Balochistan is yet another example of the risks of postponing democratization in Pakistan. The outcome could be a major civil war, whose consequences on regional stability and the war against terrorism are likely to be unpredictable – and anything but positive. Musharraf and the Business of Getting Raped Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, September 19: Pakistan's commando president General Pervez Musharraf has ceased to enjoy the concession often extended to him that most of his off-the-cuff utterances do not mean what he says since he is a military man and all men in uniform are not gifted with virtues of wisdom. Since they belong to the trigger-happy clan of sons-of-a-gun, they believe that their might is right. On top of many issues of national importance that form the much ambitious agenda taken upon by him to seek, is to paint "softer" image of Pakistan so that the world has a better and more positive view of a country run by a military dictator. One cannot blame him for it since slang is the normal lexicon with the soldiers; perhaps he cannot grasp the difference between softer image and soft porn and has got mixed up with it as shown by his defence of the rape of Mukhtaran Mai. In short, in his interview to Washington Post, he justified as to how and why Pakistan under his so-called rule of "enlightened moderation" has become "Rapistan" where a woman is raped every two-and-half hour -- described by him as the on-going lucrative business among Pakistani women to seek "Canadian passport" and to make money. Thank Allah for His generous mercies, that our Don Quixote spared some respect for our female folk by not putting it bluntly that they enjoy "it" too. To add insult and injury to the national honor, his propagandists claim that traumatic victims such as Mukhtaran Mai, Dr Shazia Khalid and Sonia Naz, who have bravely dared to expose the rapacious crime against female dignity, are nothing but pawns in the hands of NGOs with foreign links who allegedly receive enormous funds from abroad and quite a few of them are accused to be working for the "enemies" of Pakistan to give the country a bad name. Obviously, in this allegation, either direct or indirect, inference was towards the socalled "Hunood-and-Yahud" (Hindu-Jewish) conspiracy. Now the government sponsored "Hunood-and-Yahud" inference orchestration will go out of fashion since the General is out there, hands folded on bended knees, tooth-paste ad smile running berserk on his face, seeking good relations with India and Israel at all costs and mostly for his personal gains.

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He must have understood the message latent in President Bush's special praise for Indiain his UN address while there was no mention of the country that has become the front line state for American war of terror under its Knight Templar. He had sanguine reasons to go out of the way to grab the "historic" handshake opportunity with Israeli Prime Minister Aerial Sharon since he has the key to many vitally important doors in Washington. The General also explained to Washington Post it was vital for both national and international interests not to denude himself of his Khaki. It facilitated him in successfully conducting the affairs of the state and that "he had not ruled out keeping it on past 2007". In a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement that "a president cannot be a president in uniform, and should not be", he said his keeping it on was imperative for meeting challenges of both domestic and international environment confronting Pakistan. Ominous conditions such as that within and outside Pakistan dictate that: "I keep it on until 2007 ... the regional and international environment demands that I keep it on. So why should I be bothered to remove it now?" Moreover, it was of least concern for him that the majority of the people in Pakistan wanted to see him without his uniform, what mattered most with him was what Bush Sahib wanted of him. The man whose uniform prior to 9/11 had made him a pariah military dictator, boasted openly that never in any of his meetings, private or official, President Bush on any occasion asked to see him without his Khaki. I am sure the man in White House allegedly and reputedly fighting a life-long battle with ignorance, has enough of Texan wisdom not to demand of his man Friday to be without clothes when it is known all over that Khaki to him is like hair were to Samson. His critics at home have corrected the impression that he had an insatiable lust for the office of the Presidency. They are now convinced that given a choice between the Presidency and Chief Of Army Staff his preference would be for the latter. He will like to have the cake and eat it too, best of the two worlds and make most of it while the sun of absolute power shines on him. Coming back to Musharraf's "Rapistan", I agree with the vast public reaction in Pakistan to his Washington Post interview that whatever the General said about getting raped is a most brazen and sickening manifestation of a degenerated male mind. Musharraf told WP correspondent: 'You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This (rape) has become a money making concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada and citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped.' Since the WP interview many innocent, naive Pakistanis and columnists have asked the question why General Musharraf thought it fit to make such a horrendous statement. They must realize that it is typical of the Praetorian mind set. Musharraf's explanation reminds me of late General "Tiger" Niazi who broke all previous records in genocide and massive rapes in erstwhile East Pakistan. He indulged, patronized, encouraged and defended rape of Muslim women (since majority of people in East Pakistan were more religious Muslims than their West Pakistani counterparts) with the view to changing the ethnic complexion of the population. It is part of the method in the madness that military dictators employ to terrorize and subdue the civil population. Remember General Zia's time when tik-tikis, a wooden structure raised from ground to expose the posterior of a man to be administered lashes in public. To make its impact more gruesomely effective, whipping was done in a public place-mostly in sports stadiums. Besides public lashing to thousands of political dissidents, General Zia also indulged in execution by hanging to mute democratic voices. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Our present General, more of a macho man popularly described by his critics as YK2 (Yahya Khan 2), has sent his spine-chilling message to every home in Pakistan that he has given carte blanche for the rape of women in Pakistan. Although under tremendous international pressure, the General has tried to go back on his words and blamed the Washington Post, his supporters cannot describe such horrific and sadist utterances as slip of his tongue. Instead of sympathizing with the rape victims and leaving no stone unturned to provide them justice, he has been going out of the way to prove that they themselves were the villains of the sordid piece. Much before investigations are started in rape cases, the rapists are given a clean bill of health. Not only in Mukhtaran Mai's case who was stopped traveling abroad by Musharraf himself since he feared that she would bad mouth Pakistan in foreign lands, he showed indecent haste to rush to issue a public statement in Dr Shazia Khalid's rape case where an army Captain Hammad was allegedly the principal accused. The General said he was sure the accused was innocent. He had subverted and jackbooted justice by declaring Hammad above board even before investigations could start. Gang-rapes, parading of women in the nude in public and increasing number of karokari cases spread like epidemics during military rule when the dictators talk of good governance but practically do the opposite. The reason being very simple. Military rule provide all sort of feudal, lustful and excessive privileges to its personnel and to its civilian collaborators, including police, since it is the two that have to play the tango while the country and its people suffer. Moreover, since dictators are not accountable to any one, it is the free for all sponsored by them that becomes the order of the day. Sonia Naz's case highlights over indulgence of police personnel in heinous crimes including rape. It is a sordid story of rape and extortion by a police officer that is protected by the high ups in Musharraf regime and it shows what happens to a society where poachers become gamekeepers. Indeed, Pakistan had never sunk so low morally as now. The deepening apathy, social degeneration and decadence, breakdown of law and order machinery, all are sure signs of a state tethering on the verge of collapse. And with rulers like Musharraf around any longer, it could, may Allah forbid, mean swan song for Pakistan. In the Line of Fire or In the Line of Embarrassment Line of fire’ suggests standing up to fire. We see precious little standing up, a lot of falling down. But we are expected to believe it was all worth it because Pakistan was ‘saved' Ayaz Amir HEADS of state are usually not into the business of ghost-writing their memoirs while in office, much less hawking them in the course of leisurely foreign visits. But stranger things have happened in Pakistan where it is not unusual for the bizarre to become the norm. There is the precedent of Field Marshal (self-appointed) Ayub Khan’s ghost-written attempt at autobiography, ‘Friends Not Masters’. It made a splash as long as he was president. But it ended on the footpaths where second-hand books are sold when he left office. In time it was sold as raddi, the more evocative Urdu word for rubbish, for wrapping meat, fruit and other items of daily use. So we shouldn’t be too surprised if another soldier-president has fallen for the same temptation although as patriotic Pakistanis we should hope that Gen Musharraf’s book, ‘In the Line of Fire’, doesn’t meet a fate similar to that of Ayub’s unfortunate memoirs.

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Understandably, the general’s American trip has been divided almost equally between diplomacy and book-promotion. Accompanying him was an entourage of about seventy, including a clutch of cabinet ministers, only going to show that in the matter of foreign travel Pakistani leaders like to do things in style. The title, In the Line of Fire, evokes the image of a leader surrounded by danger, battling huge odds and coming out on top. But it is not beyond the usual cynics to think that more than the leader it is the people of Pakistan who have been in the line of fire for the last seven years that the general has been in power. After all, the general consulted no one when he came to power. He has since done things much his own way, consulting his convenience rather than anyone else’s. Even now if there is any roadmap for Pakistan’s future, it revolves around his wishes. But this is not a great problem. The people of Pakistan are used to uninvited rulers. What rubs them the wrong way is something else: the constant insulting of their intelligence when they are expected to believe that night is day and darkness incandescent light. Not only that, they are also expected to applaud the fiction. The attitude of our American friends, however, is instructive. They know how to drive a hard bargain. Simon and Schuster, the publishers, are said to be paying Gen Musharraf upwards of a million dollars for his literary labours. Impressive perhaps in Pakistan but not a huge sum by American standards where presidential memoirs — ask Bill Clinton — fetch much more. Even so, the general has been more than loyal to his side of the bargain, not allowing false modesty to come in the way of book promotion. On CBS’s “60 Minutes” (CBS being a sister company of Simon and Schuster) the general set off a minor explosion when he said that then US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, had threatened to bomb Pakistan into the Stone Age unless it cooperated in the “war on terror”. Asked about this revelation at a joint press appearance with Bush, Musharraf famously replied: “I am launching my book on the 25th and I am honour-bound to Simon and Schuster not to comment on the book before that day.” A book promo can’t get any better than this. As for the substance of the book, it is an extended tribute to the art of spin, the inconvenient filtered out, the rest seen through rose-tinted glasses. Understandably we hear nothing about broken promises, such as the general’s public pledge to take off his uniform by this and this date. Kargil of course figures but as victory not defeat. Or at least it is presented as a military victory which turned into a political defeat when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the army to vacate the heights it had captured. This is self-serving history, the awkward truth being slightly different. As even unbiased Indians admit, our troops showed great valour but by end June ‘99 they were getting no supplies and were not being relieved. Pushed into the jaws of death (this not being a melodramatic statement), they were left to fend for themselves. They did not flinch. The army high command lost its nerve, realising belatedly it had taken on more than it could handle. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the Indian army had started retaking the lost heights one by one. The expected masterstroke turning into a fiasco, the high command more than the political leadership was desperate for a way out. Nawaz Sharif dashed to Washington for a meeting with Clinton on July 4, American Independence Day. Withdrawal had become unavoidable but he wanted to put a respectable face on it by giving an impression of American involvement. This was not undermining the army. It was covering up for it. (How Sharif was repaid for his pains is another story.)

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It takes some audacity to put such a spin on events. But it is wholly in character and hardly surprising, no one yet accusing Gen Musharraf of timidity when it has come to giving his version of history. The Stone Age remark (since denied by Armitage) presents a problem of its own. Was it because of that threat that Pakistan changed direction and decided to become a US satellite as the US prepared to attack Afghanistan? Perish the thought. “I wargamed the US as an adversary,” we are assured. “The question was: if we do not join them, can we confront them and withstand the onslaught? The answer was no...our military forces would be destroyed....” This is strong stuff because no one has ever suggested Pakistan should have taken on the US. That wasn’t the question at all. It was, and still is, whether Pakistan should have swung to the other extreme and bowed to US pressure so completely. There was a middle way. Without incurring the risk of being bombed into the Stone Age, we could have turned our backs on the Taliban, cut all ties with them, but excused ourselves from providing military bases and becoming a pawn in American hands. This would have required some courage. What we were getting was a meltdown. Maleeha, our ambassador in Washington, and Lt Gen Mahmood, the ISI chief, who happened to be visiting the US, went to meet Armitage, little realising that an elephant likely to go on the rampage was best avoided. They got a rough handling, Armitage, by his own account, telling them, “...for Americans this was a black and white issue. Pakistan was either with us or against us, that US-Pakistan relations would begin on that day...if they agreed to help, I would give them a list of requirements that were not negotiable... So it was a strong presentation.” Strong? A Mafiosi would have been proud of it. Maleeha can be tough as nails when she wants. Mahmood (one year my senior in Lawrence College) was the person who, at the head of an army contingent, marched into the Prime Minister’s house on October 12, ‘99, and spoke in a threatening tone to Nawaz Sharif. Neither showed much toughness in Armitage’s presence, in fact crumpling in the line of fire. When their panic was transmitted to Islamabad, Army House was ready to crumple. Colin Powell didn’t have to do much persuading when he made his famous telephone call to Gen Musharraf. The pitch had already been queered. ‘Line of fire’ suggests standing up to fire. We see precious little standing up, a lot of falling down. But we are expected to believe it was all worth it because Pakistan was ‘saved’. On “60 Minutes” Musharraf says Armitage made a very “rude remark”. That he may have but it did not prevent him from being warmly welcomed during his several trips to Pakistan, each time being received by the president. The A. Q. Khan nuclear proliferation saga is regurgitated. It may sell the book but it is a moot point how Pakistan’s interests are served by reminding the world once more of our reputed irresponsibility in this field? Or how national honour is enhanced when the President of Pakistan says that his country has received millions of dollars (in bounty money) from the CIA in return for handing over Al Qaeda suspects? The book may be good for the president’s image but out of its pages Pakistan comes out looking poorly. After reading it the average American may come away thinking that Pervez Musharraf is a hell of a guy standing up to all these dangers but he is likely to take a dim view of a country which has so many dangerous people running around. Samuel-Baid Special to the South Asia Tribune

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NEW DELHI, September 24: No head of a country, no matter how backward, has ever fouled the image of his own country’s fair sex like General Musharraf has done in the eyes of the American public through the Washington Post this month. He shocked the people at large when he told the newspaper, and later denied that women in Pakistan get themselves raped to make money and go abroad. His exact words, when asked about the safety of women in Pakistan, were: “You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This has become a money spinning 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.” When faced with hostile reaction to this statement, he coolly denied he ever made it. “I am not a so silly and stupid to make comments of this sort,” he told CNN. General Musharraf should have known that Washington Post could not have taken this interview without recording it. It, therefore, countered his denial by saying that the Head of Pakistan made this statement about his country’s women in front of three other journalists and all that was recorded. General Musharraf also made a puzzling statement to the effect that he gave $50,000 to Dr. Shazia Khalid to leave Pakistan for Canada. She was raped while on duty in the Sui Gas Plant in Balochistan by an Army officer. Before an inquiry commission could give its verdict General Musharraf pronounced the Army officer innocent. While she was crying for justice intelligence agencies forced her to leave the country. She forcefully denies having received money from General Musharraf. But if we accept General Musharraf’s claim that he gave her 50,000 dollars to leave the country, the question arises why on earth the Head of State should pay a wronged person to disappear from the country when she and her sympathizers were demanding justice for her. Baloch nationalists said dishonoring a woman on the soil of Balochistan violated their social norms. When they became violent demanding action against the rapists, the Head of State warned his Baloch countrymen that it was not 1973 when they went up the hills. This time they would not know what hit them, he said. Was he hinting at testing the efficacy of his missiles on Baluchis? In the past 58 years they have already faced twice the air power of the Army. In 1973 armed Baluchis had taken positions on mountains when the military began a crackdown on them on orders from then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Recently, General Musharraf told an international women conference in Islamabad that Pakistan should not be singled out for the crime of rape. This was happening in other countries including European countries as well. But only Pakistan was accused of it by NGOs, he bemoaned. He had told Washington Post “rape is happening everywhere.” He had seen figures about rape in the US, Canada, France and Britain, he said. One cannot contest this statement. But what make Pakistan different from other countries are the virtual institutionalization of rape through the controversial Hudood Ordinance and the indifference of the authorities to the victim’s plea for justice. Hudood Ordinance makes it near impossible for a raped woman to get the rapist punished because she is asked to produce four pious eyewitnesses. Worse, she is herself punished for this rape because she cannot find four pious eyewitnesses. Since General Zia-ul-Haq’s rule, when this Ordinance was promulgated, thousands of women have suffered long jail terms for complaining to police about their rape. General Musharraf cannot name any other country where the gang rape of an innocent woman (here Mukhtaran Mai) is ordered by a Panchayat. There is no civilized society in the world where (in Sahiwal) a woman’s leg is amputated on charges of illicit sex. Can General Musharraf name a country where a girl of a minority community is Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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kidnapped and forcibly made a Muslim and married to an old man – as happened in Jacobabad in Sindh. Sapna is not the only non-Muslim girl to have been so snatched away from her helpless wailing parents and community. One may not find another example of a case like that of Sonia Naz. This young lady entered the National Assembly to seek justice when she exhausted all efforts to get her husband released from the clutches of the police. The National Assembly called her a “stranger” and handed her to police. The police ravished her. The rapists were led by an SP who has a bad record but enjoys the patronage of Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi. Sonia’s trauma didn’t end there: her husband, for whom she underwent all this trouble, divorced her saying it was shameful for him to live with a gang-raped wife. But Sonia alleged the police forced him to divorce her. Woman organizations have persistently demanded that General Musharraf prove his adherence to his highly publicized call for “enlightened moderation” by freeing women from the Hudood Ordinance. But even if he wants he cannot for the fear of Mullahs. On the contrary, by his statement to Washington Post he has betrayed a mind set typical of male chauvinist semi-literate, anti-feminist tribal chiefs and feudals, who are responsible for killing of hundreds of women every year in the name of family honor. Back home General Musharraf will have to do a lot of damage control. The best course will be an honest apology to the women of Pakistan.

The Fascist Army Pakistan: A dream gone sour by fascist army Naveed Butt Nations take great pride in their armed forces. Nations cherish them and protected by them. In contrast, people of Pakistan have only suffered hardships and traumas at the hands of its own armed forces. The dream of an independent Pakistan has gone sour because of all the military generals who are acting no less than like a mafia or gang at national level. Imagine a mafia “legally” consuming more than 80% of the national resources and armed to the teeth with all kinds of weapons. The country suffered a great loss in 1971 when its own Army surrendered in shame after committing one of the worst human right crimes in history and perpetrating the holocaust of three million people who were the citizens of Pakistan. That was just the beginning. In the last six decades Pakistan Army has transformed into an organized crime syndicate and a business mafia that occupies the country it proclaims to defend. This criminal organization is the biggest stake holder and stock holder in every big business of Pakistan by virtue of the power it has. Pakistan military has the biggest share in Pakistan's stock exchange. It operates commercial bank, airline, steel, cement, telecom, petroleum and energy, education, sports, health care and even chains of grocery shops and bakeries. In short, the military’s monopoly is present in every sector of Pakistan economy. To the contrary, its performance at the professional level is zero. Instead of defending Pakistan, it has undermined the very foundations of this country. Particularly, under General Musharraf, it has bankrupted Pakistan of its ideological grounds for existence. Instead of defending its physical borders, the army that is being ranked as the seventh biggest army in the world has only brought embarrassment to the nation in the battle fields of Kargil and Dhaka. On top of that, since 2001, it has started acting

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like occupation force in many parts of the country. Bombing homes, mosques and schools has become a routine. Although the military permanently remained very active behind the political scene, the criminal Generals of Pakistan betrayed the nation four times by breaking their oath and constitution and overthrowing civilian governments. They over threw elected government and captured the power to fulfill their evil desires and to protect the interests of their imperialist masters. The Pakistani Army has played an evil role in mainstream politics throughout the history with the objective to manipulate everything to their advantage. Even though Pakistan is a republic, the military Generals have ruled the country more than public representatives. It is because of these Generals that a people’s government could not take root in Pakistan. The Generals of Pakistan consider themselves above every law and they take pride in disobeying orders from civilian government. It has been their practice since 1947. General Douglas Gracey, the first commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army started this tradition by disobeying orders from founder and Governor General of Pakistan, Mr. Jinnah during the first Kashmir War. Instead, Gracey sought instructions by telephone from his superior, Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, in New Delhi. Since then it has been a rule in Pakistan Army to break their oath and to take orders from outside. From Gracey to Musharraf, every last one of them used power to sabotage political process that could lead to self-rule and stability of the country. They have been serving their outsider masters instead of defending the physical and ideological borders of Pakistan. Pakistan came into being in August 1947 but partition plan of India had been announced in June 1947. British divided national resources between two newly formed states. British army had been divided and according to this division six armored, eight artillery and eight infantry regiments formed Pakistan's army. Division of armed forces was according to demographic division of states and 4000 officers and 15,000 soldiers, 2332 Air Force personnel and 74 air crafts were given to Pakistan that was approximately 36% of total resources. General Douglas Gracey was acting Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army and Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, was still Commander-in-Chief of the armies of both India and Pakistan. Soon after the independence, US started investing in Pakistan Army to prepare an agent in South Asia to thwart Soviet ambitions and use Pakistan like a South Asian Israel. US backed every criminal act of Army Generals to crush people’s rule in the country. Since the inception, this army has been serving as a tool in Washington’s strategic planning for the region. The US granted $400 million to establish and strengthen Pakistan’s armed forces initially. The US needed a terrorist arm in the region to play its strategic game against the Soviet Union. For this purpose, Washington backed successive dictatorships in Pakistan, and also throw them out of power when they outlived their utility. Indo-Pakistan War of 1947 The first war between India and Pakistan began in October 1947 and ended in December 1948. At that time, both Pakistan and India were trying diplomatic process for the merger of Jammu and Kashmir. To sabotage diplomatic process, Pakistan Army played a cowardice game. Pakistan Army prepared armed tribesmen to infiltrate into Kashmir and upraise anarchy. This act of cowardice led to signing an instrument of accession with India in October 1947. Pakistan Army then joined infiltrators and a war broke out.

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Initially Pakistani Army fought with armed forces of Kashmir and they gained significant successes. Maharajah of Kashmir thus requested Indian government for help and Indian government deployed its forces in November 1947. So far Pakistani forces had been facing resistance only from Kashmiri forces. That enabled them to enter far into Kashmir. After the deployment of India forces, Pakistan Army and Armybacked tribesman faced fierce resistance. Though Indian Army was facing serious logistic problems, it thwarted the advancement of Pakistan Army. Indian Army suffered setbacks due to logistic problems and also that it was not prepared for a war just two months after partition, especially for a high altitude combat. Whereas Pakistan Army had planned and conducted this operation with the help of tribesman of NWFP, who were able to face extreme weather and mountain range. Still Indian army had been successful in regaining most of the area. In 1948, United Nation entered into conflict and broke a ceasefire in January 1949. The cease- fire agreement formalized the military status quo, leaving about 30 percent of Kashmir under Pakistani control. Apparently it was a major success but in reality, it brought such a disaster to the Kashmir cause that it can still be witnessed. Pakistan lost 70 percent of the Kashmir territory in the process. This created reluctance and hatred among Kashmiris for Pakistan and Pro-Indian Kashmiri political parties gained significant strength in Kashmir. First Coup Pakistan's first democratic elections were scheduled in 1958. But a democratic government and a strong parliament was not in the interest of US foreign policy. General Mohammed Ayub Khan, the commander-in-chief, took over the government in a coup and cancelled the elections that were a threat for military’s blind power. Ayub Khan imposed Martial Law in the country and seized constitution. Under Ayub Khan rule, Pakistan became a US garrison state in South Asia. During this period, US granted $630 million directly and $670 million indirectly to purchase military equipment. US also paid salary of General Ayub Khan. General Ayub Khan, with the support of US, made every effort to thwart peoples’ selfrule in the country. He used every dictatorial method to shut voices against his brutal attacks on democratic process. In this period, Ms. Fatima Jinnah, sister of the Founder of Pakistan, who was at that time most respected woman in Pakistan, raised voice against military dictatorship and criminal acts of the Generals. Ayub Khan and his companions played their dirty games to defame this respected lady. War of 1965 During Ayub period, Pakistan army planned an operation against India after a green signal from Washington. Operation Giberaltar was planned to infiltrate and start rebellion in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani soldiers trained guerillas for infiltrating into Kashmir and starting an insurgency among local Kashmiris. This plan failed as locals did not respond as expected by the puppet military of Pakistan. Infiltrators were soon exposed and it resulted in a counterattack by Indian forces. After the shameful failure of Operation Giberaltar, the coward army planned another Operation, called Grand Slam, to cover-up its embarrassment. The plan was to capture Akhnur, a north-eastern town of Jammu that was a key region for communication between Kashmir and the rest of India. This however resulted in more problems for Pakistan as India countered by crossing the international border further south in Punjab. As a result, a large scale war started between the two neighbors. The war lasted five weeks, resulting in thousands of casualties on both sides and ended in a Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire. The war remained largely inconclusive despite Pakistan suffering relatively more losses. Though the war was indecisive, Pakistan suffered much heavier material and personnel casualties compared to India. Many war historians believe that had the war continued, with growing losses and decreasing supplies, Pakistan would have been eventually defeated. The Pakistani Army's failures was apparent right from the beginning as Pakistan Army had expectations that local Kashmiri will support insurgency started by Pakistani soldiers. But the people of Kashmir, for whatever reason, did not revolt against Indian government. On the contrary they provided Indian army with information about Pakistani intruders. Under the influence of controlled propaganda, many Pakistanis rated the performance of military positively and September 6 is celebrated as 'Defence Day' in Pakistan in commemoration of the successful defense of Sailkot against the Indian army. However facts are not always based upon emotions. This war left a lot to desire as Pakistan lost more ground than gained and more importantly Pakistan army did not achieve what was planned. War also imposed a huge burden on Pakistan's economy. It took a sever decline after witnessing some progress earlier. The war also created a tense state of affairs between the two neighbors and both countries increased their defense budgets. Pakistan's spending on defense reached its height as Pakistan was spending 70% of its budget on defense needs in 1973. This extra burden brought negative impact on Pakistan's social and economic progress. Another negative consequence of the war was the growing resentment against the Pakistani government in East Pakistan. Bengali leaders accused the government for not providing adequate security for East Pakistan during the war even though large sums of money were taken from the east to finance the war. Yehya Khan After the war, Genral Ayub Khan handed over the power to General Yehya Khan violating the constitution instead of holding general elections. General Yehya Khan was a butcher in his nature and because of his incompetence Pakistan faced the greatest loss in its history. After the 1965 war, a strong resistance against military dictatorship and exploitation of Bengalis had started and Yehya Khan used his dictatorial method to solve political problems. Under the orders of Yehya Khan, Pakistan army acted in fascist ways against it won people and committed worst crimes in East Pakistan. To control the voices of protestors, the fascist army performed genocide on its own land. With American Support and military aid, Pakistan Army butchered three million Bengalis and raped Bengali women in 1971 only because Bengali leaders were asking for provincial autonomy and an end to exploitation of the people of East Pakistan. That is the Army way to handle political problems. That is the policy of every dictator to slaughter everyone who dares to speak against dictatorship. Every dictatorship in the world practices the same policy. But Pakistan Army is unique in this matter that Pakistani soldiers killed their own people. They did not spare anyone. They massacred innocent unarmed citizens in colleges, schools, roads and even in mosques. Atrocities by Pakistani soldiers in East Pakistan shocked the world and conscientious people from around the world condemned crimes of Pakistan Army. Genocide in East Pakistan and human rights crimes led to another war with India in 1971. As a consequence of this war and atrocities of Pakistani soldiers, Pakistan had to loose a large part of its territory which became an independent state, called Bangladesh today. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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War of 1971 To control the protests against exploitation and dictatorship in East Pakistan, in March 1971, Pakistani Army started a planned genocide in East Pakistan called 'Operation Searchlight' to curb Bengali nationalist movement. This operation ended in December 1971 and resulted in deaths of three million Bengali people. Indian Government at this time expressed full support for the people of East Pakistan. America was providing full support and military aid to fascist Pakistani soldiers. Indian government launched a successful diplomatic campaign against Pakistani military's crime on a grand scale. To cover their embarrassment in international forums, Pakistan's military rulers launched offensive air strikes on north-western Indian border. However, the Indians had anticipated such a move and the raid was not successful. The Indian Air Force launched a counter-attack and quickly achieved air superiority. Pakistan Army counter-attacked India in the West in an attempt to capture territory which might have been used to bargain for territory they expected to lose in the east. The land battle in the West was crucial for any hope of preserving a united Pakistan. The Indian Army quickly responded to the Pakistan Army's movements in the west and made some initial gains, including capturing around 5,500 sq miles of Pakistan territory. At sea, the Indian Navy proved its superiority by the success of Operation Trident, the name given to the attack on Karachi's port. It also resulted in the destruction of 2 destroyers and one minesweeper, and was followed by the successful Operation Python. In every field, Pakistan Army faced heavy losses. The war ended in a crushing defeat for Pakistan military in just a fortnight. Pakistan's general Niazi, who was titled as 'Tiger Niazi' for killing innocent un-armed civilians appealed for a cease-fire and surrendered in extremely shameful manner. As a result, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Pakistan lost a half of its navy, a quarter of it Air-Force and a third of its army. India captured 93000 Pakistani soldiers as prisoners of war. India wanted to put them on trials for their war crimes in East Pakistan but eventually released them as a gesture of reconciliation. After this shameful defeat, General Yehya Khan resigned and handed over power to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, an elected leader and thus democracy started being restored eventually. It was against the Interest of foreign policy of US, who had spent a huge amount in Pakistan Army. Bhutto's policies were leaning towards Soviet Union while US has established a fascist terrorist arm in the form of Pakistan Army. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto remained in power from 1971 to 1977. Zia-ul-Haq In July 1977 the military, led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, staged a coup. Zia removed Bhutto from power, held him in detention and later persecuted and hanged him. Zia pledged that new elections would be held in 90 days. He kept postponing the elections and eventually took all power in his hand. He ruled the country for 11 years that is the longest period in Pakistan's history till date. General Zia imposed Martial Law in 1977 and assumed the post of president in 1978. He secured his position by a rigged referendum in 1984 and in 1985 he eased Martial Law and announced nonpartisan election. Zia handpicked a dummy Prime Minister to show the world that he is restoring democracy. Muhammad Khan Junejo who could not breathe without the General’s permission was sacked in 1988. Zia’s period is not only longest but darkest too as during this time, historical places were turned into prisons for those who raised voice against military dictatorship and it became a routine to arrest, punish and persecute intellectuals who dared to speak. This period was full of brutality, suppression and fear. A number of intellectuals fled Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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from Pakistan and many were sent to specially set up torture cells. He imposed his policies in the name of Islamization to get support from religious schools. This Islamization was directly imported from Washington and was based on violence for serving American interest in the name of Islam and Jihad in Afghanistan. Results of his Islamization are clearer after nine years. General Zia was an actual employee of US. After holding the power, he started a proxy war on the orders from his US masters against Soviet Union. He proved himself as the most reliable instrument for his imperialist masters. In his period, Pakistan was flooded with military aids from US. Zia was performing as a middleman between US and tribesman of Afghanistan who were fighting against Soviet Union. General Zia did everything to serve his Washington-based masters from training of Afghan fighters to sending Pakistanis to Afghan war. In his period, religious schools became training camps for militants. Whole country was flooded with arms and ammunitions and it resulted in a continuous state of violence in the country that is present to date. Zia's rule witnessed heightened tensions with neighboring states. He was instrumental in providing military assistance to Mujahideen fighting in Afghanistan against Soviet Occupation and then later diverting them to the Kashmir cause in the late 1980s. During his time as President, Zia was also accused several times by Indian premier Indira Gandhi (and later Rajiv Gandhi) of training Sikh insurgents and sending them to destabilize India. Under the orders from Washington, Zia provided logistic support to Afghan Mujahedeen and opened Pakistani borders for Afghanistan. A great number of refugees fled into Pakistan and the country faced a huge burden on its economy. Zia’s era is also remembered as the golden age for drug trafficking. This period was also golden for criminals as all sorts of arms and ammunition became easily available throughout the country. Zia’s greed for more and more power led him to introduce theocratic laws without the broader context and without fulfilling other basic requirements for implementing those lasws. It was a show to win support in the name of Islam. He imposed total censorship on media and he introduced a controversial Hudood Ordinance to win support from religious fundamentalist groups. Human rights Organizations have been criticising the implementation of this law and they accuse that this law has been being abused to suppress half of the population of Pakistan. This infamous ordinance was introduced to control adultery but in itself this ordinance protected rapists. Under this ordinance many rape-victims were arrested and sent to prison because they could not produce witness to meet the standard of this ordinance. Zia also banned women from participating in sports activities. With continuous support of the US, General Zia became the most powerful and cruel ruler of the country. He declared Pakistani constitution as a 'rag of paper'. The person who polluted the soil of Pakistan with drugs, arms and corruption died in an air crash in 1988. Officially his death remains a mystery as no one dares to point a finger towards the actual mastermind behind the plot. General Zia also militarized the bureaucracy systematically. By the order of his government, 5% of all new posts in the higher civil service were to be filled by army officers who, consequently, occupied important civilian positions. Successive democratically elected governments did not rescind this order due to the power wielded by Pakistan Army. Under Pakistan's current military government, militarizing the bureaucracy is again pursued. Fragile Democracy

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After the death of General Zia-ul-Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan became caretaker president of Pakistan and he held elections in the country to restore democracy. Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zufiqar Ali Bhuto, former Prime Minister who was persecuted by Zia-ulHaq won with heavy majority and her victory proved how much hatred Zia-ul-Haq had earned. Military supported president Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved National Assembly just after twenty months and forced new elections. In fact fascist military Generals could not tolerate the popularity of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was still alive in the hearts of people of Pakistan even after an 11 years long period of suppression. In upcoming elections of 1990, Nawaz Shareef became Prime Minister. Elections of 1990 were fully controlled by Military and Nawaz Shareef was actually a hand-picked Prime Minister. But Nawaz Shareef soon demanded for restoration for real democracy that could never be tolerated by Generals. Nawaz Shareef's started standing against Army mafia. However, Ghulam Ishaq Khan was still president of Pakistan and was acting as a front-man of the military Generals. He removed Nawaz and dissolved National Assembly. In the 1993 elections, the Generals did not have any dummy to appoint and Benazir Bhutto won with a heavy majority again. This time Benazir came in office with more power and she removed Ghulam Ishaq Khan from office. In 1996 she was removed from office again on the charges of corruption and bad governance. This time again Nawaz Shareef who had become a national level leader by now won with such a huge majority and popularity that the Generals felt threatened. Nawaz Shareef had now understood politics of the fascist Generals and he wanted to control their games. Nawaz Shareef had been doing his best to restore democracy in the country and in his second tenure he secured extreme popularity in the country. He was the second leader in Pakistan who became so popular in a short period after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Nawaz Shareef proved himself a sensible leader and he did not give any chance to US to support Pakistan Military to destabilize democracy. Kargil War In 1999, Generals played another nasty game to weaken democracy in the country. At this time Nawaz Shareef was working for the peace with Indian Government which could jeopardize the status quo which the military wanted to maintain. The Generals found it a golden opportunity and launched a plan to infiltrate Kashmir. They started an operation in Kargil with the help of some fundamentalist militant organizations. The situation was embarrassing for Nawaz Shareef. He came under pressure from the whole world especially from the USA. In furious state, Nawaz Shareef used his constitutional power and dismissed General Parvez Musharraf who was the mastermind behind Kargil operation. Kargil war started after military operation code named Operation Badar in 1999. In the beginning Pakistan Army supported intruders and provided logistic support. As a result, they captured Indian Positions at a time when Indian forces had left positions due to cold weather. Due to extreme weather, it was a common practice in both militaries to leave such positions in winter and re-occupy them in spring. Pakistani paramilitary forces took control of Indian positions but Indian forces responded and forced them back to the line of control. Pakistan Military tried to capture Kargil posts with the help of intruders but Indian forces responded with mobilization of 20,000 troops to the line of control. Indian troops soon secured most of their territories and India also launched a diplomatic campaigned on international level that had been successful and this rogue misadventure by a fascist Army brought embarrassment to the nation. International Media titled Pakistan Army as 'The Rogue Army' for its coward act. Pakistan has been Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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criticized for the criminal activities of its Military and “international community” forced Pakistan to withdraw its troops from Kargil. Pakistan faced the loss of approximately 4000 troops and extreme damage to the morale of Military. As a result of this fascist act of violating the Line of Control by Pakistan Army, Pakistan faced the possibility of isolation and Pakistan's economy tumbled. Image of Pakistan shattered in international community. The ongoing peace process with India stopped. Prime Minister who was under pressure from international community tried to constitute a committee to investigate. Nawaz Shareef wanted to bring Parvez Musharaf under charge for such irresponsible action. Tension between Prime Minister and Army chief arose on the issue of investigation. the Army chief, according to the traditions of Generals, started acting arrogantly. Army Chief, who was responsible for the loss, was afraid of investigations and under such fears he started ignoring constitutional orders from Prime Minister. He challenged the writ of democratic government and as a result, Nawaz Shareef issued the orders of dismissal of Army Chief to maintain the writ of parliament. General Pervez Musharraf As it had been the policy of Fascist Generals to never perform their constitutional duty and accept orders from Federal Government, General Musharraf refused to accept orders and captured the capital in a military coup in 1999. Generals once again murdered the democracy. General Musharraf arrested the elected Prime Minister and later exiled him. Musharraf charged Nawaz Shareef with accusations of corruption and bad governance. Such charges of corruptions and bad governance always had been a lame excuse for military coups. Politicians all over the world are charged with such accusations but they do not solve such problems with military coups. It is only Pakistan's fascist army that uses its power to destabilize democracy and over-throw civilian government. It is evident that generals of Pakistan are more corrupt than politicians. Their only problem is that they cannot let democracy be strengthened. General Parvez Musharraf hijacked power and illegally held the office of president of Pakistan. He followed the footsteps of his predecessor General Zia-ul-Haq and used every dictatorial method to sabotage democratic process in the country. He used every brutal tactic to control voices of protest. He crossed every limit in serving his US master in order to remain in power. He is the first dictator of Pakistan who follows every command from Washington keeping aside national integrity. General Parvez Musharraf started Military operation in his own land to control protests against his dictatorship and repeated the story of East Pakistan. Pakistan Army started brutal operations in Waziristan and Balochistan to control the people who are demanding their basic rights. General Musharraf recently killed a nationalist leader from Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who had been a strong voice against Military dictatorship and the due rights of his people. Conditions in Balochistan are being worsened and the exploited people are feeling insecure and frightened. Under the Musharraf rule, the whole country has become a cantonment. Military is dominating the life in Pakistan. Fascist Army has captured every civil institution including schools, universities, factories, hospitals, public offices and public utility services. Pakistan Army has grabbed a large area of state owned land and it is being allotted to Military officers. They are looting all resources of the nation. Musharraf government is also selling profitable national assets at throw-away prices and getting huge kickbacks. Such corruption cases have been exposed before the Supreme Court but Musharraf is misusing his power and using every dictatorial method to control protests against his corruptions. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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People of Pakistan are under a continuous state of fear under Musharraf rule. People are afraid to speak as they have seen how Military rulers killed Nawab Bugti for raising voice against dictatorship. Even international media is silent because Musharraf is being supported by his Washington based masters. Price for the fascist acts of Generals is being paid by common Pakistanis who are suffering poverty and humility. General Mushararf, following the footsteps of his predecessor generals, forced censorship on media. Government banned websites and newspaper in Balochistan who were reporting the atrocities of Pakistan Army in Balochistan. At some occasions, the government also blocked a reputable news resource 'South Asia tribune' that published the reports of corruption of Generals. They have also blocked some other websites that publish reports on military operation in Balochistan. Many journalists and activists were kidnapped by agencies and a large number of citizens have disappeared in the past few years. Reporters Sans Frontiers, International Organization of journalists ranked Pakistan as No. 12 in world’s most restricted press in 2006 because of Musharraf’s continuous attacks on the freedom of press. More recently Pakistan Army raided a religious school in NWFP, killing more than 83 students, accusing them of terrorism. Most of these students were under 14 years of age and no evidence of any weapon or suspicious activity was found. Government also banned journalist to enter in the premises of bombed school. This act of Mushararf is extra-judicial murder and human rights organizations condemned Musharraf regime for such operation without investigation. International Fund for Peace declared Pakistan a failed state in 2006 because of the policies of General Musharraf. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the criminal policies of the fascist General. Transparency International ranked his government as most corrupt in the history of Pakistan. But he is not willing to leave the office, ignoring protests going on in the country, condemnation worldwide and worsening situations of homeland security, national economy and human rights. Land of Pakistan has been suffering the rule of these ambitious and opportunist military Generals denying people their right to self-determination and dancing at the tunes from Washington and London. It is the responsibility of conscientious people from around the world to raise voice against this cruel dictatorship and show support and solidarity with the people of Pakistan who had been a victim of cruelty of its Fascist Army sine 1952. Hypocrisy of Musharraf Lovers A general who took Pakistan almost to the brink of destruction now sits merrily in Islamabad proclaiming he to be the greatest savior of Pakistan and no one questions him. In my view this is the biggest irony. Mukhlis T I have closely observed some people who have been supporting Musharraf since he took over power and have studied their general behavior. I have been troubled by what I see as blatant hypocrisy on their side. Their favorite word and excuse to run away from any difficult argument is the word “choice”. Whenever anyone criticizes Musharraf or his policies the word “choice” is the one that I hear most frequently. Simply put, their argument in most cases is that “he had no choice” but to take such and such step otherwise we would all have been doomed. Tired of Musharraf Lovers’ (henceforth known as MLs) use of the word “choice” and their hypocrisy, I have taken up just a few issues where I think MLs use double standards.

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As they say that change should come from within and our leaders are only a reflection of what we are. So in order to have a better Pakistan we should first do soul searching ourselves, analyze our own behavior, and see whether what we say and do makes any sense. This attempt of mine is not a profound or deep study of any scholarly level. It is just a simple cobbling together of a few issues that I think exist both during elected governments’ and dictators’ time and compare how people react differently to these issues depending on who is in power. Argument-1 It was so bad of Nawaz Sharif to have the Supreme Court’s sanctity trampled by an illiterate & uncouth crowd to save his premiership, but it was fine for Musharraf to fire half the Supreme Court over fears that the majority of judges will give a verdict against him or his PCO. The purpose of both Nawaz & Musharraf was the same; to hold on to power. In Nawaz’s case Musharraf supporters turn red with fury. But in the General’s case they are much more understanding, saying that he had no “choice”. To me, this “choice” thing was true for Nawaz too. He also had no “choice”, otherwise the wise Sajjad Ali Shah would have put him behind bars. Or is the fact that Nawaz physically sent people over to the Supreme Court what irks MLs the most? Trying to get rid of judges by physically threatening them is not acceptable but doing the same through an executive order is fine? Should the way in which the crime is committed lessen the degree of punishment? Killing by poisoning is acceptable but murdering with a bullet is not? Argument-2 It was totally unacceptable of NAWAZ & BB to put their own favorites & relatives e.g. Asif Zardari, Nahid Khan, Shahbaz Sharif at top positions in Pakistan and it was all due to favoritism, nepotism, and all other “isms” in the same category. But Musharraf giving hundreds of juicy civilian posts to his favorite generals, brigadiers et al, all over Pakistan is absolutely fine. When BB/NS deploy their own people at important positions then it is corruption and they are just trying to keep their favorites happy. But if any post is given to Generals it is only because they are ultra competent and really deserve the job, and not because Musharraf is trying to keep his own constituency and top lieutenants happy. A fine example in this regard is of our omni present for-life PCB Cricket Chairman, Gen. (now retired) Tauqir Zia. If what has happened to cricket in Pakistan in the last three years had ever happened in a democratic dispensation, the PCB Chairman would not have been able to hold on to his job for very long. At least not as long as our current Chairman has. There would have been so much pressure on the elected Prime Minister to relieve him of his duties, especially if the Prime Minister had made one of his own men the Chairman of PCB. Our cricket in the last three years has gone to the dogs. The whole nation has been crying at this state of affairs and what does Musharraf do? He wholeheartedly praises this general (Musharraf’s own man) in a recent interview saying that he’s done a fine job. Makes me shudder if this is our CE’s idea of a fine job. Going from finalists in the ’99 World Cup to not even being able to enter the second round in `03 WC is doing a fine job in Musharraf’s opinion???!!! This sorry episode of our cricketing history also exposes the myth of accountability in the Armed Forces. If being virtually made the PCB Chairman for life is punishment for being an incompetent Chairman then we can say bye bye to accountability forever. And don’t even mention Ojhri Camp.

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Argument-3 Have MLs, who never tire of reminding us of what a visionary Musharraf is and how he has saved Pakistan from certain destruction, ever thought of what propelled him to come up with Kargil? What prompted these Generals, who imply that they are so well educated in the affairs of strategy and global issues, to take up an action like Kargil? Especially when Pakistan had recently conducted nuclear tests, had sanctions slammed on it, and was out of favour with both Europe and the U.S. Any idiot in those days would tell you that there would be no support for the Pakistani cause no matter how true we ourselves might believe the cause to be. Musharraf launched the Kargil Operation knowing very well what the international reaction to this operation will be. But he still went ahead with it. Why? Wasn’t this action against the interests of Pakistan? What prompted him to do this, especially in such an inhospitable international political environment? A general who took Pakistan almost to the brink of destruction now sits merrily in Islamabad proclaiming he to be the greatest savior of Pakistan and no one questions him. In my view this is the biggest irony. Is it that our Generals are warrior-like only when they are not in power and will do anything to discredit the elected government? But in the blink of an eye they become the embodiment of wisdom and rationality when they illegally take over power and then bend over backwards to avoid wars in order to save their plots, cushy jobs, and their iron grip on power. Musharraf could not come to Wahgah to salute the Indian PM. But all of a sudden he become statesman-like and was happy to salute every Tom, Dick & Harry during his visit to India. MLs never tire of reminding us - at least a thousand times a day - how Musharraf has saved Pakistan from utter destruction by making a U-turn on Afghanistan and siding with the U.S. It would be so very nice of them if they can also remind us-even if only once a day- how he brought us perilously close to an unnecessary all out war with India and had hundreds of innocent Pak Army soldiers killed in vain. Soldiers who were brothers, husbands, sons of ordinary Pakistanis. All this at a time when his own son was sitting pretty in Boston. It would be interesting to hear from MLs why their favorite general took up Kargil action and why he had “no choice” but to go ahead with that operation? Can MLs please explain to us what type of a “selfless visionary” would take such an unnecessary step? What was the great hurry to start a useless mini war? And can a man who happily sent hundreds of soldiers under his command to their deaths for his personal objectives and ulterior political motives ever be true and loyal to Pakistan and act in a selfless way? Argument-4 MLs constantly refer to Asif Zardari as an example of corruption in Pakistan and are always asking for severer punishment for him even though the guy is already in jail for a few years now. But when it is pointed out to them that dozens of people as corrupt as Zardari have entered the NA/PA/cabinet under Musharraf’s watchful eyes, their answer is simple; he had “no choice” but to let these people in so that he could himself hold on to power. What MLs are effectively saying is that elected prime ministers “have a choice” and it is their mistake if corrupt people enter their cabinets and the assemblies. On the other hand poor, helpless army generals “don’t have any choice” but to let these corrupt people get elected to the assemblies so that our fine generals can hold on to power! This baffles me!

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Corruption during an elected government’s time is reason enough to overthrow the assemblies, but the same type of corruption is quite acceptable as long as it ensures that Musharraf stays in power! Argument-5 Musharraf lovers used to demand resignation from NS/BB after every bomb blast or sectarian killing. But since Oct. 99 they have become so much more understanding and come up with statements like “give him more time” or “law and order cannot be improved in a day - be patient” etc etc. It is amazing to see how all of a sudden their patience level is now hitting the skies. The question is, aren’t the same statements that are now being offered in Musharraf’s defense also true when elected governments are in power? But the demands from elected governments are quite different. They should resign at once when people get killed. But when the same happens during an all-powerful dictator’s rule, we should give him more time. If BB/NS could not control law and order situation it was because their administrations were incompetent. When generals can’t improve the situation, it is not because their admins. are corrupt. It is because law and order is such a difficult issue to deal with that it takes ages to bring about any change. Amazing how the criteria change with the change of government from civilian to Army and how general lovers all of a sudden become so patient and see the light. Argument-6 Nawaz Sharif donating LDA plots to his favorites when he was the Punjab Chief Minister was ultimate corruption but generals grabbing prime land whenever they feel like is not protested against. Generals have distributed thousands of acres of my country’s land to each other and not even a whimper of protest from MLs. Rangers have killed more than a dozen Pakistanis in Okara on the issue of land and most MLs are not even aware of this. The bullets that the Rangers fire on my people are paid through my taxes and the taxes my fellow Pakistanis pay. I do not want to pay for a bullet that will ultimately find me as a target. I would rather that the Army turn the barrels of their guns for a change and point them to the place towards which we actually pay them to point their guns to. A hint: That place is towards the East of our borders. Argument-7 BB should be hanged for treason for exposing General Musharraf’s plan to take over Sri-Nagar but Musharraf should not be punished for taking over the country. I believe the same laws that MLs quote in order to make a case of treason against BB and the same constitution that spells out punishment for traitors also tells us how to deal with ambitious army generals who take over power. Why insist on only the selective use of laws? Argument-8 And one last thing that MLs never tire of mentioning i.e. Nawaz & BB are cowards because they have left the country. If they are brave enough they should come back and face charges in the courts. How naïve can MLs be? The question to them is: Are our courts independent enough to give impartial verdicts free of any pressure from the Army? NS & BB are cowards because they don’t come back to face charges in the courts that rubber-stamped Musharraf’s - and till date every tin-pot dictator’s - usurpation of power? It is like having a trap set up for a lion and then labeling the lion as a coward because he does not want to put his foot inside and become easy prey for his hunters. I am sure NS & BB will get some “real” & “pure” Army style justice if they ever come

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back to face charges. BB & Nawaz might be stupid but they are not as stupid as some MLs think. I have seen MLs change their views as soon as Musharraf changes his. Their mind-set seems to work like this; “We have to support Musharraf in everything he does and every action he takes. So whenever he makes a U-turn we will invariably do the same. And even if we ever have to criticize him we will always end our conversation on the note that he is the best choice we have and is the best thing ever to happen to Pakistan since Quaid-e-Azam, and of course he had no choice”. And these statements come from the same people who label PPP Jiyalaas as fools and idiots for following and accepting whatever BB says! I rest my case. Human rights ignored in the ‘war on terror’ Amnesty International Report The Pakistani government has committed numerous human rights violations as a result of its cooperation in the US-led "war on terror". Hundreds of people have been arbitrarily detained. Many have been subjected to enforced disappearance - held secretly, incommunicado and in undisclosed locations, with the government refusing to provide information about their fate and whereabouts. Many have been tortured or illtreated. Their families, distressed about lack of information about fate or whereabouts of their loved ones, have been harassed and threatened when seeking information. The right to habeas corpus(1) has been systematically undermined: state agents have refused to comply with court directions to provide information about the whereabouts of detainees or have denied any knowledge in court. Many detainees have been unlawfully transferred to the custody of other countries, notably the USA. Moazzam Begg, a British national, was abducted on 31 January 2002 from his home in Islamabad by Pakistani and US agents: "the first thing I knew was a gun at my head.…my peaceful evening had just ended in shock and rising fear… They put a cloth hood over my head,… handcuffed me and …carried [me] to the vehicle …I’d been kidnapped with full government approval." He was transferred to US detention in Kandahar (Afghanistan), Bagram (Afghanistan) and Guantánamo Bay (Cuba) where he suffered long periods of solitary confinement and torture. He was returned to the UK in January 2005. At no stage was he charged with an offence. In the "war on terror", Pakistan has violated a wide array of human rights, including the right to life, to the security of the person, to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, to freedom from torture, other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance, and to legal remedies and reparations. All these rights are protected in the Constitution of Pakistan and international human rights law. Victims of human rights violations in the "war on terror" include Pakistani and nonPakistani terror suspects, men, women, and children, journalists who have reported on the "war on terror" and medical personnel who allegedly treated terror suspects. A few detainees, some held for prolonged periods, have simply been released without charge, reportedly after being warned to keep quiet about their experience. Others have been charged with criminal offences unrelated to terrorism. Many have been unlawfully transferred to other countries, without any legal procedures, and in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits people being sent to countries where they are at risk of serious human rights violations. Hundreds have been transferred to US custody and ended up in Guantánamo Bay, Bagram Airbase or

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secret detention centres elsewhere. However, many detainees remain unaccounted for – their fate and whereabouts are unknown. The clandestine nature of the "war on terror" makes it impossible to ascertain exactly how many people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, forcibly disappeared, tortured or ill-treated, or extrajudicially executed. Pakistani military spokesman MajorGeneral Shaukat Sultan said in June 2006 that since 2001 some 500 "terrorists" had been killed, and over 1,000 had been arrested, including both foreign fighters and their local facilitators.(2) Mamdouh Habib, an Australian national, told Amnesty International that on 5 October 2001 he was travelling on the same bus as two German men who were ordered off the bus by several men in civilian clothing. He volunteered to stay with them as they had little English. The three men were handcuffed, blindfolded and driven to a house where they were held for three days, then to a detention centre. After 12 days Mamdouh Habib was flown to Islamabad where he was threatened and beaten. About two weeks later, he was shackled, blindfolded and taken to the airport with the promise of being flown home. Instead, he was handed over to US officials, stripped of his clothes, sedated and flown to Egypt. In a Cairo prison he was hung from hooks in the ceiling, given electric shocks and threatened with electrocution. After six months he was taken to Afghanistan, then Guantánamo Bay. He was released without charge in January 2005. Amnesty International is concerned that there has been very limited protest in Pakistan against the hundreds of enforced disappearances and other violations in the "war on terror". Civil society, political parties and the media have by and large ignored the issue. Meanwhile the practice of enforced disappearance, rare before 2001, has become common even outside the context of the "war on terror". People from different backgrounds have been subjected to enforced disappearance including Baloch nationalists and Sindhi leaders. Dealing-with-terrorism-lawfully: Amnesty International has consistently denounced indiscriminate attacks and attacks targeting civilians carried out by armed groups such as al-Qai’da. Specifically, the organization has condemned the attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001 as crimes against humanity. All those responsible for these and similar crimes must be brought to justice. Pakistan has the duty to prevent and punish crimes, especially violent crimes such as acts of terrorism. At the same time, measures taken to combat terrorism must respect national and international human rights law. Secret detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, indefinite detention without charge and unlawful transfers to other countries are all prohibited under national and international law. In May 2006, Pakistan was elected to the newly established UN Human Rights Council which, in June, unanimously adopted the draft International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.(3) The draft Convention bans enforced disappearances and declares widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearances a crime against humanity. Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani government to uphold the standard that it has contributed to developing. Under international law, torture and other ill-treatment are prohibited absolutely and under all circumstances, without exception. They are morally abhorrent and in addition to the pain inflicted on the victim, demean the perpetrator. They are not only unlawful but also, ultimately, counterproductive. Confessions extracted under torture have often proved unreliable, as detainees may "confess" to anything to end their suffering. International law prohibits the use of statements obtained through torture or illFascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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treatment in any proceedings therefore forcibly extracted "confessions" can not in a fair trial contribute to criminal convictions of terror suspects. Amnesty International’s research over many years has shown that human rights violations sanctioned by the state in "exceptional circumstances" have also led to more pervasive repression and disregard for the rule of law. While recognizing that some of the human rights violations perpetrated in the context of the "war on terror" may have been carried out at the behest of US officials, as a sovereign state Pakistan bears full responsibility for all human rights violations committed on its territory and with its knowledge and consent. Arbitrary-arrests-and-detentions: People held in Pakistan for alleged links to al-Qa’ida or the Taleban have been arrested and detained without reference to national or international human rights law. Custodial safeguards have been blatantly ignored and the protection of law has been routinely denied. Pakistani law requires arrests to be carried out, in most cases, by police presenting a valid arrest warrant; most of the terror suspects were not arrested in this way. Few were charged with a recognizable criminal offence. In most cases, no official record of detention was kept. They were not given access to a lawyer or to their family. They were not brought promptly before a magistrate. Terror suspects have been captured in a range of circumstances. A large number were seized and subjected to arbitrary detention and even enforced disappearance when fleeing Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in October 2001. Many terror suspects were detained in mass arrests after bomb attacks in Pakistan and abroad. A few Pakistani terror suspects were arrested by Pakistani officials in other countries and have since been subjected to enforced disappearance. While information is scarce about all arrests in the "war on terror", even less is known about arrests in the designated tribal areas. As threats and violence by tribal fighters and government agents increased, journalists have withdrawn and ceased to report events there and no independent human rights investigators have been allowed to visit the area. The routine practice of offering large rewards for unidentified terror suspects has facilitated arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. Many individuals were arrested by Pakistani police or border officials, army personnel, or captured by local people, and handed over to US law enforcement or intelligence personnel in exchange for a reward. Adel Kamil Abdallah a Bahraini national fled Afghanistan in December 2001. He reported: "we saw from afar a border post of the Pakistani army. … We had valid and legal travel documents… The Pakistani officials received us rather well …Whilst waiting for the car in the morning; we were surprised to see, instead of a car, a military helicopter… [It] landed at the Peshawar airport. … From the airport we were taken in trucks with a number of escort soldiers to a police station … They put us in prison cells … located somewhere underground with doors made of steel. The cell was very dirty … We stayed in this cell for about a week. The treatment in this prison was awful." Adel Kamil Abdallah further reported that US guards later told him that "we got you cheap, for only $5,000". He was flown by US forces to Kandahar and then to Guantánamo Bay. He was released after four years in detention in November 2005 and returned to Bahrain. More than 85 per cent of detainees at Guantánamo Bay were arrested, not on the battlefield by US forces, but by the Afghan Northern Alliance and in Pakistan at a time when rewards of up to US$5,000 were paid for every "terrorist" turned over to the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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USA. (4) Often, the only grounds for keeping them in detention as "enemy combatants" were the scant and unreliable evidence provided by their captors. Many detainees do not know where they were held as they were routinely blind-folded or hooded during detention and transferred to different places, apparently for the purpose of interrogation. Some have reported that they were held in private houses, others that they were detained in prisons. Journalists and human rights activists have told Amnesty International that most terror suspects deemed important by Pakistani intelligence were held in "safe houses" run by "the agencies" – Pakistan’s intelligence agencies including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). Children Several children of varying ages have been detained in the "war on terror" and denied necessary safeguards contained in international and national law. Some were arrested alongside their adult relatives, some were themselves alleged to be terror suspects and some were held as hostages to make relatives give themselves up or confess. When Tanzanian terror suspect Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in Gujrat, Punjab province on 25 July 2004, three women and five children were also arrested. They reportedly included a baby and a 13-year-old Saudi boy, Talha. Nothing is known about the fate and whereabouts of the women and children. Involvement-of-US-personnel There have been numerous reports from former detainees, journalists, human rights activists and others that US intelligence agents have interrogated or were present at the interrogation of terror suspects held in secret places of detention in Pakistan. The USA is alleged to have maintained secret detention facilities in Pakistan at Kohat and Alizai.(5) US intelligence agents are also alleged to have held and interrogated detainees in private houses and regular detention centres. They are alleged to have been aware of or have actually participated in torture or other ill-treatment, and to have moved detainees to other undeclared detention centres, including in Afghanistan. Torture Torture and other ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty are endemic (6) in Pakistan. Lacking training and forensic and other facilities, law enforcement and security services rely almost exclusively on confessions, routinely extracted through torture. Torture is also used to intimidate, humiliate, frighten and punish detainees and prisoners. The secrecy surrounding the detention of terror suspects provides conditions in which torture and ill-treatment flourish. Forms of torture reported by detainees include: being beaten; being hung upside down and beaten, including on the soles of the feet; sleep and food deprivation; hooding; prolonged solitary confinement; and threats to the detainee and their families. These methods are often used in combination. Torture was reportedly inflicted in many places of detention; some former detainees reported seeing rooms apparently specifically set up for torture. Benyam Mohamed al-Habashi, an Ethiopian arrested in April 2002 at Karachi airport and held until mid-July in Karachi, reported that he was hung up by his wrists, allowed to goto the toilet only twice a day, given food only every other day, beaten with a leather strap and subjected to a mock execution by a guard holding a loaded gun to his chest. He said in his testimony, "I knew I was going to die … I looked into his eyes and saw my own fear reflected there." Enforced-disappearances Hundreds of people have been subjected to enforced disappearance since Pakistan joined the "war on terror" in late 2001. The government has failed to acknowledge Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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that enforced disappearances have occurred. In habeas corpus proceedings before provincial high courts, state representatives have consistently denied knowledge of the fate and whereabouts of detainees, despite eyewitness accounts of arrests and even in cases where the individuals have subsequently reappeared. In some instances of enforced disappearance, the individuals have been released after a period of weeks or months in detention. Sisters Arifa and Saba Baloch, and Arifa’s mother-in-law Gul Hamdana, were reportedly arrested with other terror suspects on 4 June 2005 in Swat. The two young women were widely described as potential suicide bombers. When all state agents denied knowledge of their whereabouts, the habeas corpus petition filed on their behalf, was dismissed. In September 2005 Gul Hamdana was left at a bus stop in Peshawar but was too frightened to reveal where she had been held. In January 2006, the sisters were released. Several other persons subjected to enforced disappearance have subsequently been charged with criminal offences under a variety of laws. At least one person has been discovered dead. The body of journalist Hayatullah Khan, a 32-year-old father of four, was found on 16 June 2006 near Mirali, North Waziristan, more than six months after he had been forcibly disappeared. His body was reportedly emaciated, he was hand-cuffed and had apparently been shot in the back of the head. He had reportedly been abducted by armed men in civilian clothing on 5 December 2005 after photographing evidence of US involvement in a missile attack on 1 December 2005. Family members told reporters that Hayatullah Khan had received anonymous threats for several months. After the body was found, his brother said that officials had previously been assured him that the family would soon get "good news" about Hayatullah. Official inquiries have been conducted after widespread protests but their findings have not been made public. Unlawful-transfers-to-the-USA Pakistani officials have stated that some 700 terror suspects have been arrested and handed over to the USA. Many were not formally handed over after due legal process, but were sold into US custody, sometimes by local police or border officials. Pakistani authorities have not only failed to take measures to stop such transfers in return for money but have also denied that they have taken place. Swedish national Mehdi Ghezali told Amnesty International: "I was captured in a village near Peshawar. The villagers sold me to the Pakistani army who in turn sold me to the Americans in December 2001. … As we were about to take off, the Americans hooded the prisoners. The hood was made of some kind of sackcloth and it was compact. It was hard to breathe through it. One prisoner was asthmatic and the Americans pulled down his hood even further and tightened it." Mehdi Ghezali was held in Guantánamo from January 2002 until July 2004. Most of the detainees unlawfully transferred to US custody were taken to Guantánamo Bay. Of over 750 detainees held there, only 10 have so far been charged and face a trial. Of these four were arrested in Pakistan. Abdur Sayed Rahman was arrested in January 2002 from his village home near the Afghan border. During 36 days in Pakistani detention, he was asked by Pakistani officials if there was anyone in his village with the same name. He answered that he was not aware of anyone by the same name and was told that police "were looking for someone else, but now they had me. So they were going to throw me in jail to make the report look right." He was transferred to Kandahar and then to Guantánamo Bay where he was told that he was Abdur Rahman Zahid, Taleban Deputy Foreign Minister. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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He was subsequently accused of being a military judge under the Taleban, responsible for torturing, maiming and killing Afghan nationals. Abdul Sayed Rahman said he was a poor and uneducated Pakistani chicken farmer and concluded: "I have no idea why someone would make this accusation as it is not true. I can only speculate that it was someone from a rival village close to my village in Pakistan. However, I have no proof because I am here at Guantánamo Bay." Many of the detainees in Guantánamo Bay face an uncertain fate once released from detention. In April 2006, 141 men were cleared for release but a number of them would be at risk of human rights violations if they were returned to their home countries. An unknown number of persons handed over by Pakistan to US custody continue to be held in secret places of detention where they have had no access to legal counsel, to visits by their families or to the courts. While the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has had access to detainees in Guantánamo Bay and Bagram airbase, it has no access to those held in secret detention in so-called "black sites" run by the USA’s CIA. On 16 September 2006, US President Bush acknowledged the existence of secret CIA detention centres. He announced the transfer of 14 detainees so far held in secret CIA custody to military custody at Guantánamo Bay. He said that they would be tried by military tribunals if the US Congress passes relevant legislation. Of the 14 detainees, the majority has been arrested in Pakistan. Unlawful transfers to other countries Some individuals were transferred to their home countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, and Afghanistan – in circumvention of Pakistan’s Extradition Act and often in violation of the principle of non-refoulement. Some became the subject of "rendition" – they were unlawfully transferred by the US from Pakistan to third countries where they were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Effects-on-families: The enforced disappearance of hundreds of people has taken a heavy toll on their families, friends and associates. Relatives of those subjected to enforced disappearance have told Amnesty International that they experienced extreme anxiety about their loved ones, frustration in the face of official denials and contradictions, harassment when pursuing their search, social exclusion because of their association with alleged terror suspects and economic hardship. To be unaware of the fate or whereabouts of a family member for a prolonged period of time and to fear for his or her life and safety has been found by human rights monitoring bodies to amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The knowledge that torture is routinely used in Pakistan adds to the fear of those whose loved ones have disappeared in custody. The families of the disappeared are therefore also victims of enforced disappearance. An elderly cleric in a village near Peshawar told Amnesty International that he now has to provide for the two wives and nine children of his sons-in-law, Mauritanian nationals Mustafa Abu Abdullah and Adil Amin. The men were arrested in late 2001/early 2002, subjected to enforced disappearance and are now in Guantánamo Bay. He said, "I am too old now to do any other work in addition to my work in the mosque. How will I look after the children once all of them go to school? Ineffective-remedies Relatives of persons subjected to enforced disappearance can either file a complaint Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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with the police, who are then obliged to investigate, or assert their right to habeas corpus by filing petitions in provincial high courts. In the context of Pakistan’s cooperation with the "war on terror", both options have proved ineffective in tackling the violations. Many relatives have turned to informal mechanisms for tracing victims of enforced disappearances, usually without success. Police have in virtually all the cases monitored by Amnesty International refused to register First Information Reports (FIR) on the basis of which a police investigation begins. In some cases police have said that they have no competence to do so as the individuals were reportedly captured by intelligence agencies. Samiullah Khan approached the local police station after his sons, Faisal and Fahad Sami, and a friend were seized on 10 November 2005 from a shop in Karachi by plain clothes intelligence personnel. He was told that police could not register a criminal complaint if the young men had been picked up by an intelligence agency. While two of the young men were released the next day, Faisal Sami remains missing. The right to be brought before a court and be able to challenge the legality of one’s detention (habeas corpus) is crucial to the rule of law and the prohibition of arbitrary detention. The right to habeas corpus has been gravely undermined both by state agencies and by the unwillingness of high courts to insist on the realization of that right. While many relatives seeking information on the whereabouts of detainees in the "war on terror" have filed habeas corpus petitions in the provincial high courts, Amnesty International is not aware of a single case in which this process has led to the recovery of a person. Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, a computer specialist, left his home in Lahore on 13 July 2004, telling his wife that he was going to collect an air conditioning unit sent by his father and would return shortly. He has not been seen since. On 17 August 2004, his father filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court. The petition remains pending; the respondents did not appear in the first two hearings and then requested more time to respond. His family told Amnesty International in March 2006 that no date for another hearing had been set. State agencies called by provincial high courts to provide information have routinely denied holding the person or knowing of his or her whereabouts. As a result, habeas corpus petitions have been dismissed in dozens of cases. In some cases in which state agents have denied detaining a person, senior government officials have acknowledged their detention. In other cases, people whose detention had been denied by state agents in the high court were later released. Shafiq Ahmed was seized by intelligence personnel and police in the crowded market of Swat on 28 September 2004. Over a dozen witnesses testified in court, but when the officials of the concerned agency denied the arrest, the habeas corpus petition was dismissed. In many instances the judiciary has failed to enforce the right to habeas corpus, and appear reluctant to use more compelling methods to obtain the truth, such as ordering state agents to make their statements in the form of sworn affidavits, or using contempt of court legislation in case of refusal to obey the writ of habeas corpus. Extrajudicial-executions: Amnesty International is also concerned that the clandestine nature of the conduct of the "war on terror", particularly in the tribal areas of Pakistan, may conceal widespread and systematic human rights violations. In particular, the organization is concerned about reports that Pakistani and US law enforcement and security forces may have used force, including lethal force, unnecessarily and excessively, and have extrajudicially executed a number of individuals, some suspected of links with al Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Qa’ida and others unconnected with any terrorist activities. Under international law, extrajudicial executions are prohibited at all times. In none of the cases reported do Pakistani or US forces appear to have made any attempt to arrest the suspects before using lethal force. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told the press in April 2006 that since July 2005, some 324 militants, including 76 foreigners and "a small number of civilians" had been killed in 39 major operations in North Waziristan where 31,000 regular troops and 14,000 paramilitary soldiers were deployed. Local people have challenged the official characterization of victims as "militants", often claiming that they were in fact tribal people, including women and children, unconnected to any terrorist activities or groups. Recently, there has been an increase in the use of missiles fired from helicopter gunships by Pakistani security forces against terror suspects in the tribal areas, which appears to suggest that resort to intentional lethal force has been made in these cases without consideration as to whether it was unavoidable and less extreme measures could be applied in the circumstances. Hundreds of families from the tribal areas have left the area in fear of the shelling by security forces. Although Pakistani officials have consistently denied that foreign forces are allowed to operate in Pakistan either in "hot pursuit" or in planned operations, there is evidence that US forces have on several occasions conducted armed operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan, at times using lethal force as a first resort, and possibly carrying out extrajudicial executions. Missiles fired from unmanned US Predator aircraft have on several occasions killed and injured people in the border areas of Pakistan. Recommendations: Amnesty International calls on the Government of Pakistan to apply its constitutional and domestic legal safeguards and to honour its international commitments by urgently addressing human rights violations committed in the "war on terror". In particular it calls on the Government of Pakistan to: End the practice of arbitrary arrests and detention; incommunicado detention, detention in secret locations and enforced disappearances; Stop the use of torture and other ill-treatment; End extrajudicial executions and excessive use of force; Stop unlawful transfers of detainees to other countries in violation of the principle of non-refoulement and in circumvention of Pakistan’s extradition law; Stop undermining the rule of law, in particular by failing to obey court orders in habeas corpus cases and by refusing to reveal information to courts; Bring to justice in a fair trial all those responsible for committing, ordering or authorizing torture and ill-treatment or enforced disappearance; Ensure reparations for all victims of human rights violations. (1) Habeas corpus is the right to be brought before a court and to be able to challenge the legality of one’s detention. (2) Talk at Chatham House, London, by Major-General Shaukat Sultan, 28 June 2006. (3) Due to be adopted by the UN General Assembly later this year. (4) Mark Denbeaux and Joshua Denbeaux, Report of Guantánamo detainees: A profile of 517 detainees through analysis of Department of Defense data, 2006. (5) Human Rights First, Ending Secret Detentions, June 2004. (6) The non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a February 2006 press release accompanying the release of its annual report for 2005, "Torture was endemic, with many deaths caused by brutality …"

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Human rights: How Guantanamo's prisoners were sold Musharraf admits to detaining more than 600 suspects; US sources suggest the true figure may be twice as high. Recent official data shows that only 5 per cent of prisoners at Guantanamo were captured by US forces. The rest were sold by Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clive Stafford Smith: New Statesman World leaders should take their cue from Pakistan's self-appointed president, General Pervez Musharraf, and publish memoirs while still in office. It is good to know what is really going on. Last month he went to America, partly to meet with President Bush, and partly to hawk his book, In the Line of Fire, on TV talk shows. The published extracts show that Musharraf has done some kissing and telling. He describes how the US threatened to bomb Pakistan immediately after the 11 September 2001 attacks if his government did not co-operate in the war on terror ("Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age!" exclaimed the then US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage). He also spills the beans about shipping centrifuges to North Korea, and how his country's nuclear deterrent was not even operational when Pakistan threatened India in 1999. One interesting nugget involves Pakistan's sale of hundreds of stray Arabs to the Americans, for shipment to Bagram air force base and on to Guantanamo Bay. Many of my clients in Cuba insist that, far from being captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, they were grabbed in Pakistan and flogged to the Americans, like slaves at auction. Predictably enough, for five years the Bush administration has remained very quiet on this issue, but Musharraf's book sheds new light. "Many members of al-Qaeda fled Afghanistan and crossed the border into Pakistan," he writes. "We have played cat and mouse with them . . . We have captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States. We have earned bounties totalling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of 'not doing enough' in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the government of Pakistan." As his revelations set people arguing, so more truths came out. Rather than condemning or denying the bounty programme, the US department of justice complained about who had received the loot. "We didn't know about this," said a justice official. "It should not happen. These bounty payments are for private individuals who help to trace terrorists on the FBI's most wanted list, not foreign governments." Musharraf backed down, agreeing that the money be given to individuals rather than the government. So, that makes it OK? The payments help us see why so many innocent prisoners ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Musharraf writes that "millions" were paid for 369 prisoners - the minimum rate was apparently $5,00 0, enough to tempt a poor Pakistani to shop an unwanted Arab to the Americans, gift-wrapped with a story that he was up to no good in Afghanistan. Value for money At the start of his interrogation, the prisoner would deny that he had anything to do with the fighting, but, in pursuit of value for money spent, the American authorities would then get to work. Donald Rumsfeld had authorized use of his "enhanced interrogation techniques", and after a few days of "mild non-injurious physical contact" and "exploiting individual phobias" (such as setting on of dogs), the prisoner would inevitably confess to whatever was asked of him - generally, to confirm the story fabricated by the Pakistani bounty hunter. The US agents felt they were extracting Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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only the truth, and this "truth" was worth a ticket to Cuba, where each man's coerced confession would also earn him the label "enemy combatant" at a military tribunal. Now he cannot even challenge his status in court because the Bush administration has just rushed a law through Congress eviscerating habeas corpus. Musharraf admits to detaining more than 600 suspects; US sources suggest the true figure may be twice as high. Recent official data shows that only 5 per cent of prisoners at Guantanamo were captured by US forces. The rest were sold by Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, in all likelihood, the president is none too concerned where the bounty dollars will go, as he has reportedly been paid an advance of more than $1m by his publishers, Simon & Schuster. One lesson of Musharraf's book is that the disastrous US bounty programme itself should come "in the line of fire". If you go to the market place and buy everything that glitters, you will end up with very little gold, but a whole heap of worthless iron pyrites. Full of Revenge, Musharraf Attacks Struggling Islamabad Journalist, Shuts Paper M T Butt ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: General Pervez Musharraf hardly forgets and never forgives a journalist who asks him a tough question and embarrasses him publicly. An Islamabad-based journalist who had asked him such a question three years ago has just been reminded of this black side of the General’s personality. In the latest case, journalist Masood Malik is the target of Musharraf’s unending vengeance. Malik had put Musharraf an honest question when he had returned empty handed from the failed the failed Agra Summit with Vajpayee in 2001. Why is it General, asked Malik who then worked with the Nation-Nawai Waqt Newspaper Group, owned by the Nizamis, that whenever civilian leaders of India and Pakistan meet they reach an agreement and whenever a military ruler is in power, there is no headway in Indo-Pak talks. Musharraf was visibly irritated and annoyed by the question and immediately after the press conference the Nizamis were pressurized so much that they first demoted Malik from his position of Chief Reporter and then sacked him from the newspaper. Masood Malik would not be hired by any other newspaper because all newspaper owners knew that Musharraf did not like the journalist and would retaliate if he was hired. So after two years in wilderness Malik decided to start his own newspaper and completed the paperwork in May 2003 to launch “Islamabad Times” in Urdu language. But he could not do so for financial or other reasons. When one year elapsed and Malik’s newspaper did not start publication, the local administration recently sent him a letter asking him to start publishing it or the permission would expire. Malik decided to take the plunge and mobilized all his resources to launch the paper on September 6, 2004 the national Defence Day, when Pakistan celebrates or remembers the start of the 1965 war with India, although there was nothing achieved in the war to celebrate. Musharraf’s intelligence agencies informed the General that Malik was now going to become an Editor and his newspaper will start appearing on news stands within a week. Dummy runs of the paper have started in Rawalpindi’s T.S. Printing Press, he was told.

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Unable to forget his embarrassment and displaying the vindictiveness which is the hallmark of small minds, Musharraf ordered that the newspaper should be stopped, no matter what the excuse. Intelligence goons raided the Printing Press in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, August 31, and asked the press to stop printing. When the printer demanded an explanation, the intelligence men, who brought some police officials with them as well, took away all the newspaper pages and related material leaving the printer no choice. Masood Malik went to the police but he was told that they had “orders from the top”. Malik held a news conference in Islamabad to condemn the action and waits for an explanation by the administration. The Information Secretary, Anwar Mahmood, told the BBC Urdu Service that he had no knowledge of the raid on the printer and he was also trying to find out who had ordered the press to stop printing the dummy of “Islamabad Times”. There have been many such cases when courageous journalists asked direct, though embarrassing questions and paid the price, both career wise and physically. One such young journalist was Faraz Hashmi of Dawn who had also asked a similar question at a televised Press conference. Just a couple of days later, Hashmi’s car was hit by an Army officer near his office and the Major came out and started throwing punches. He was badly hurt. When Hashmi went to the police to lodge a report, the police refused to do that. Hashmi persisted and went to the High Court which did order the police to register an FIR. But he continued to receive threats and nothing happened on his report until the BBC offered him a job in London and he moved with his family to UK. Two similar episodes were encountered by Shaheen Sehbai, the Editor of the South Asia Tribune, when he was senior correspondent of Dawn in September 2000 and as Editor of The News in December of the same year. Sehbai had asked Musharraf in New York what was he doing about the fugitives, exNavy Chief Admiral Mansurul Haq and Amer Lodhi, the businessman brother of the then Pakistan Ambassador to US, Maleeha Lodhi. Musharraf was annoyed and directly attacked Sehbai by asking him to check his facts before writing. Sehbai retaliated by asking him to state whatever facts he was talking about and do it now. Musharraf was embarrassed as he could not give one single example of misreporting. The second incident took place in December when at a briefing of editors of major newspapers, Sehbai asked Musharraf why should he be trusted by the nation when previous generals had lied about their political ambitions. Again Musharraf was so irritated he never invited Sehbai to any Editors briefings. In 2002 Sehbai had to leave Pakistan amid a huge controversy. But when he started his web newspaper from Washington in August 2002, Musharraf’s vindictiveness emerged with full force and distant relatives of Sehbai were harassed, arrested and persecuted by his regime. That is why, when Musharraf appears before the journalists and writers these days, in closely monitored and secured briefings, no one dares to put him an embarrassing question or no one follows up if he refuses to answer any question. Many journalists are scared of their lives but most of them fear that they will not receive an invitation again. Now the axe has fallen on the still-born “Islamabad Times” of Masood Malik, even though three years have gone by. In this latest act of vengeance, new Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be the man who will face public embarrassment as he would be helpless in providing justice to the

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aggrieved journalist and his administration will look like a dummy, trying to silence a newspaper which was still in its embryonic dummy stage. RSF Condemns The Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders on Friday, Sept 3, issued the following statement on the ban on Islamabad Times: "Reporters without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) called today on the federal government and Punjab provincial authorities to publicly explain why they had banned a new daily paper, the Islamabad Times, before it could bring out its first issue. It demanded the release of its printer, his son and two employees who were arrested. It said it suspected it was a new move against the editor Masood Malik who had angered President Pervez Musharraf three years ago. Plainclothes officials went on 31 August to the printing works in Rawalpindi where the Urdu-language paper was being put together for its launch on 6 September and ordered work on it to stop. When printer Malik Abdul Aziz asked why, the officials left and returned with police who arrested the four, closed the works and seized equipment. Editor Masood Malik told Reporters without Borders he had obtained all necessary official permission to start the paper. Officials refused to comment on the ban. Malik said he suspected the federal government was involved. In its 2002 Annual report, Reporters without Borders wrote: "On 20 July 2001, Masood Malik, chief reporter of the right-wing Urdu daily Nawa-iWaqt, was sanctioned by the newspaper's editors only a few hours after asking the Pakistani President a question during a press conference. The journalist asked General Musharraf, who had just returned from the Indo-Pakistani summit in Agra (India), if it wouldn't have been easier for a democratically elected head of state to obtain an agreement with the Indian president. General Musharraf replied by asking the journalist if "he was joking". A few hours later, Masood Malik learned that he had been removed from the newspaper's investigation desk. According to the private newspaper Dawn, this sanction could be due to pressure from the authorities, especially the Press Information Department in charge of regulating the Pakistani press. The Department denied putting pressure on the editors of Nawa-i-Waqt." Musharraf Looks Two Ways in Extremist Fight Aamer Ahmed Khan KARACHI, August 5: President Pervez Musharraf's latest crackdown on extremism, outlined in his July address to the nation, appears to have been aimed in two directions, inwards to his fellow Pakistanis and also to the rest of the world. Most of his time was taken up with painting a picture of the country's contemporary realities - not all of which may be visible from the outside. Perhaps what is most significant was the subtext that strongly suggests that there is little Pakistan can do to tackle its problem of extremism without active assistance and support from the outside world. One significant departure from President Musharraf's earlier references to extremism relates to his candid admission of Pakistan's "direct or indirect" linkages to the scourge of extremism. "No matter where something happens, we end up being directly or indirectly involved," he said. Involved, he said, and not blamed. "It turns out that they [extremists] have either visited Pakistan or passed through it on their way to Afghanistan."

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This is a marked departure from the country's existing policy of flatly denying any linkage with Islamist extremism. Gen Musharraf then elaborated on the extremism-related realities within the country. Between 20,000 to 30,000 Muslim militants, he said, flocked to Pakistan from all over the world during the US-backed war against the Soviets in Afghanistan through the 1980s. He said all their finances and logistics were routed through Pakistan. "Where are they now?" he asked. "Not all could have stayed on in Afghanistan." The president let the question hang there. If one were to assume - even if purely for the sake of argument - that many of these subsequently found their base in Pakistan, then what was the environment that greeted them? According to President Musharraf, the fallout from the Afghan war has divided Pakistani society into roughly three categories. There are those who subscribe to what he called orthodox Islamic thought. Then there are those that are enlightened and educated and finally there is the vast majority who have been left terribly confused about Islam by the Afghan war. The president said that the orthodox group had for 26 years been raising funds, recruiting manpower, providing military training and spreading hate literature in aid of the extremists. At times the extremists also draw support from Pakistan's mainstream religious parties, he said. It is hard to avoid concluding from his remarks that the country has been providing an ideal sanctuary for Islamic extremists. Not many are likely to find fault with the picture of Pakistan painted by General Musharraf in his address to the nation. As the head of the Pakistan Army - an institution credited with crafting and carrying Pakistan's pro-jihad policy in Afghanistan - few know more about what goes on in Pakistan than the army chief. What is important is how the world reacts to the problems outlined by the president. His own prescription is multi-pronged. Gen Musharraf wants a far more dynamic role for the Organization of Islamic Conference in the affairs of the Muslim world. He also wants active assistance and support from the West - not only in tackling extremism but also in helping many Muslim nations in the developing world out of their vicious cycles of public poverty. But lastly, and perhaps most importantly, President Musharraf wants the West to give a deep think to the festering disputes that involve the Muslim world. The subtext of all that he said seemed to indicate his conviction that only after the West and the Muslim world are able to resolve their disputes can the latest measures he has announced against extremism be expected to bear fruit. Military Land Grab The armed forces are once again taking over prime real estate at throwaway prices - this time for a 1400 acre GHQ complex in Islamabad. Ayaz Amir The Pakistani military high-command is going ahead with its ambitious plan of shifting the Army General Headquarters from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, despite widespread criticism from opposition circles, who maintain that the country's security or interservices' coordination are unlikely to benefit by moving the GHQ 20 kilometers away from its present location.

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The GHQ is moving from the garrison town of Rawalpindi to a sprawling Pentagonstyle headquarters in Islamabad. Scheduled to be completed by September 2007, the GHQ Headquarters is being set up in E-10 and E-11 sectors, considered to be the most expensive and exclusive urban real estate in the country, worth billions of rupees. Sprawling over more than 1400 acres of land, the GHQ complex will house the Ministry of Defence, the Army Headquarters, the office of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, hundreds of residences for army officers and generals and a huge golf course. The Capital Development Authority was made to give 1400 acres at the foot of the Margalla hills at a throwaway price of 180 rupees per square yard, as against the market rate of 110,000 rupees to 120,000 rupees per square yard. The construction of the new GHQ Complex started on September 6, 2004, when General Pervez Musharraf laid the foundation stone, saying the relocation of the headquarters of all three services at one place would ensure an efficient and smooth working environment, leading to better planning at all tiers of the armed forces. Critics of the move, however, recall that it was actually the Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission report that had recommended that the three service headquarters should be in one place at a time when communication technology was in its infancy. However, 35 years down the road, with the advent of IT, the move seems wasteful and unnecessary and will turn Islamabad into an army cantonment. Though the army is allegedly acquiring hundreds of acres of land ostensibly for the GHQ shift, critics maintain the real purpose was to dish out plots to the men-in-khaki at dirt cheap prices. Opposition circles in Islamabad are demanding a review of the decision to construct the new GHQ in the federal capital on prime real estate. The ambitious GHQ project has already come under sharp criticism by civilians after the army's recent demand for the provision of an additional 315 acres at a similar throwaway price, which would cause the CDA a staggering loss of billions of rupees, besides causing the dislocation of around 3,500 families living in Chauntra village. Reliable sources say in addition to the 1,400 acres already allotted for the GHQ Complex, the CDA was made to transfer another 870 acres at a stingy 200 rupees per square yard in November 2004, though the market rate of land in adjacent sectors is at least 120,000 rupees per square yard. The additional land was allotted to the GHQ despite some serious objections raised by the opposition parties. Two PPP senators, Farhatullah Babar and Enver Baig, submitted an adjournment motion in the Senate on November 29, 2004 against the move, stating that the additional land was being sold at 200 rupees per square yard against the market value of over 110,000 rupees per square yard. They further stated that the market rate of 870 acres is 505.296 billion rupees, while it was being provided to the military authorities for just 842 million rupees, causing a 500 billion rupee loss to the CDA. The motion added: "The land falls in the area of the national park zone-III, which under the master plan cannot be sold or purchased or used for construction purposes." The two senators were of the view that any construction in the national park zone would damage the environment. They also maintained that the CDA land, being public property, could not be sold in a manner which caused such a colossal loss to the state. The Pakistan Muslim League Chief Coordinator and former Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Ahsan Iqbal, claims that the additional land is being acquired to construct a massive golf course and hundreds of palatial houses for the army generals. He feels that if the GHQ Complex is to be built at all, it should be built on the land originally ear-marked for the project. Otherwise, according to Iqbal, an army command structure in the heart of the federal capital would make the city a prime military target Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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and put the civilian population at great risk. "The General Headquarters should remain at its present location and only if there is a compelling need for constructing a new GHQ on the pattern of the Malaysian Putrajaya, should it be constructed on either the Islamabad-Lahore motorway, or some other suitable location away from the federal capital. Establishing an army complex in the heart of Islamabad, will destroy its civil character and turn it into a cantonment," says Ahsan Iqbal. However, refuting the apprehensions expressed by the PML-N leader, Director General Inter Services Public Relations, Major General Shaukat Sultan, claimed that all expenses for the construction of the new GHQ are being incurred by the Pakistan Army from its own resources. He said the perception that the GHQ project would cause a 500 billion rupee loss to the CDA was incorrect. "The property owned by the army in Rawalpindi and other cities is being sold to generate finances for the construction of the GHQ Complex." He refuted reports that the shifting of GHQ was decided after the assassination attempts on General Musharraf. According to GHQ sources, it was former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had actually decided to shift the GHQ Headquarters to Islamabad[ in a cabinet meeting on March 29, 1972]. The shifting of the GHQ to Islamabad was first discussed after the 1965 Indo-Pak war, during which proper communication could not be established between the three services - the army, the navy and the air force - especially during Indian attacks. Therefore, it was decided to relocate the headquarters of the three military services to Islamabad. The Pakistan Navy was given top priority as it had to shift from Karachi, followed by the Pakistan Air Force that had to move from Peshawar. The GHQ delayed its shifting due to the enormous cost involved. Hi, My Name is Musharraf: Which Way Is Israel? Dr. Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, September 11: General Pervez Musharraf’s outreach to Israel is a tactical diversion from a mounting strategic domestic challenge to his military dictatorship. As he stands stripped of democratic legitimacy at home, he desperately seeks it abroad. So, the September 2 meeting in Istanbul between his Foreign Minister and his Israeli counterpart is no more than deflecting attention from a brewing storm within the country. This diversion coincides with his past pattern as well. Soon after the back-to-back failed assassination bids in December 2003 and a constitutional challenge to his hold on power, he had the Indian Prime Minister visit Pakistan which led to the signing of the Declaration of Islamabad on January 6, 2004. This move painted him as a “statesman” abroad, overshadowing his dictatorship. Such diversions are also his stratagems to divide the democratic opposition that is made up of two popular liberal and conservative alliances. He believes that if liberal leaders of democracy, who dominate his democratic opposition, go along with him on his overtures to Israel, their conservative allies and the average Pakistani who are not yet ready for such a grand leap in diplomacy, would split from them. If liberal democrats oppose his move, he will have them bracketed with the forces of “extremism and fundamentalism,” who want to keep Pakistan imprisoned in the past. He can then walk tall to the western world as “the only leader” who is unafraid of taking on tough issues. In either case, he will benefit: If the opposition cracks up, it will defuse the democratic challenge at home. If it opposes him, he will gain the much-needed traction overseas, which has of late been on the wane because of his “double-crossing on the war on terror.” Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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While externalizing the problem of the lack of his democratic legitimacy, he intends to follow the Egyptian model. He knows that the Western world has willingly swallowed a military leader in Hosni Mobarak, who has governed Egypt for 24 years, without even caring about a fig leaf for democracy. Nor has it lifted a finger, when he sought and secured this month the fifth six-year term as “President!” What is it that is sustaining him into power? The answer is obvious: His supporters in the western world, who accentuate his “statesmanship” abroad to downplay the nagging issue of the lack of his democratic legitimacy at home. Ironically, it is his supporters in the West who are shamed by their electorate for supporting a dictator in Cairo, while Mobarak and his cronies continue to wallow in illgotten power and wealth. As a matter of fact, each year they accumulate billions of dollars of US largess -- $2 billion a year -- as Egypt has been the second largest recipient, after Israel, of American aid since 1978; while the poor in Africa, Egypt’s backyard, go on dying of hunger. Like Musharraf, the Egyptian has no popular base of support at home. It is his continuation of diplomatic outreach to Israel that is keeping him both in cash and power. This is the lesson that Musharraf has learned to beat the democratic opposition in Pakistan and stem the rapid fall-off in his support by the US that is increasingly becoming unsure of his willingness as well as ability to fight terror. To counter Washington’s growing suspicions of his intentions and actions, he has invoked the long-held anti-Semitic charade that “road to Washington goes through Tel Aviv.” This invocation was led from a series of events that signal Washington’s flagging support for him. He has recently seen that Americans have refused to receive a “state visit” from his “Prime Minister” on his terms, a visit that was scheduled 10 days apart from that of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July this year. Musharraf wanted his Prime Minister, like his Indian counterpart, to address the US Congress, have a 19-gun salute, and a state banquet in the White House. The US, having found such riddles ridiculous, hung up on him. This humiliating “nothing-doing” response from the US was further worsened by the CIA director’s implicit recognition that Pakistan is a “weak link” in the hunt for Osama, which shook Musharraf to the core. Above all, the US’s growing insistence that Pakistan open up to democracy is further diluting the will of his military commanders to stand by him. To combat all these gathering clouds over his already slipping hold on power, he set out to enlist Israel into fighting for him in Washington. Will the rank and file of the predominantly conservative military go along with his planned overtures to Tel Aviv? He has sop for the military as well, especially its top brass. Military leaders have long been wary of Israel on two counts: First, Israel, in their estimation, has moved dangerously close to India, especially since the late 1980s when then President Bush refused to certify to the US Congress that Pakistan was not on the path to building a nuclear bomb. That was a red flag for Israel that has long been restless over the possibility of nuclear weapons falling into Muslim hands, especially in the hands of a nation that has coziest relationship with its Arab antagonists. For the Pakistani military, an Israel increasingly concerned with its bomb-making had meant a preemptive strike against its nuclear facilities like the one Tel Aviv launched against Iraq in 1981 to knock down its nuclear program. Second, Israel had since forged close military and strategic ties with India, which were seen in Islamabad as “doubling” of the threat to its “strategic assets” and thereby the possibility of a collusive Indo-Israeli strike against those assets. This perception was alive and well even when Pakistan was just hours away from conducting nuclear tests Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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on May 22, 1998. It was still gripped by the apprehension that Israel was waiting in the wings to bomb out its nuclear hardware. All day that day, the sky over Islamabad was dotted with the flight paths made by roaring F-16s in anticipation of an Israeli offensive. If Israel and Pakistan fall into a diplomatic embrace, Musharraf thinks, it will put both sides at ease. More importantly, Israel will have to do a balancing act to befriend two “adversaries” – India and Pakistan – at once. These advantages, to Musharraf, will make it easy for him to sell his diplomacy with Israel to his reluctant comrades-inarm. Israel’s pull out of Gaza, however, was a godsend for Musharraf to initiate such diplomacy. He immediately timed his diversionary tactics to balance the future of his dictatorship on the back of Gaza’s 9,000 weeping, wailing Jewish settlers, who were evicted from their settlements. He, accordingly, swapped the dried out blood of the 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks for the freshly-shed tears of the 9,000 Jewish evacuees to recast his “military dictatorship” as “statesmanship.” This is what led to a public handshake between Musharraf’s and Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom on September 2. The democratic opposition in Pakistan stands opposed to any dictator living off the misery of the innocent either at home or abroad. It is time the West, too, healed its way out of its self-inflicted wounds, i.e., babying pro-west dictators while bombing wayward ones. They all deserved equal treatment: A giant kick in the rear. It, however, must be remembered that the democratic opposition in Pakistan is not averse to diplomacy with Israel. It rather goes all the way to recognize Israel in “substance” as the “only democracy in the Muslim world,” and demands that Musharraf do the same and immediately step down. Musharraf’s opposition takes heart from Israel’s abiding faith in democracy that never wavered even in the event of war. Israel has been at war since its founding in 1948, yet it has never made it a pretext to impose Martial Law, or shut down democracy. Every Israeli citizen is obligated to serve the military and defend their country, yet they never accepted a military dictatorship for a day. Its generals win the wars, yet they do not gun their way into power. Instead, they go to their electorate to seek their vote. Its Election Commission has never been accomplice in stuffing ballot-boxes, tampering ballots, rigging elections, undercounting the opposition’s vote, over-counting the government’s ballot, or holding fraudulent “Presidential Referenda” to garb dictators as democrats. Its multiparty democracy has been thriving right in the middle of crises; its governments rise and fall right in the middle of war; its judiciary asserts its independence to hold to account anyone anywhere; its press does not live in the shadow of government; its peace movement is not dubbed as the enemy of the state; its opposition is not shipped out of country to live in exile. Not only do the leaders of democracy and the people of Pakistan recognize the “democratic Israel,” they are fighting Musharraf’s dictatorship to become an Israel-like democracy. On the contrary, Musharraf wants to use the “only democracy” in the Muslim world to prop up his “dictatorship.” Israelis need not be reminded that the Holocaust occurred on the watch of a “dictator.” More Outrageous Lies From MQM's Fake Aalim Online Special SAT Report

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WASHINGTON, May 8: General Musharraf’s and MQM’s comedian in the Pakistani cabinet, Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain, cannot keep his mouth shut even on such incriminating issues as obtaining bogus Internet degrees for his 2002 election. For the second time in a week he has blurted out some more confessions and again, as it happens with people who have to concoct more lies to cover up their old lies, the funny doctor has contradicted his own statements and released a new set of facts about his shameful conduct. The interesting part of this on-going comic opera is that he makes up facts while he is speaking and does not remember what he had cooked up last time. On Saturday, May 7, Aamir Liaquat Hussain (ALH) spoke to the Daily Times of Lahore, basically on political subjects, but he could not escape being asked about his fake degrees and he could not resist giving convoluted self-contradicting explanations, which make him look like a hardened liar instead of a soft spoken religious preacher that he portrays himself to be. On Sunday, May 1, he had given an interview to Daily Dawn which was mostly about his degrees and his unethical conduct. But in the Daily Times interview now ALH blatantly reverses the facts he gave to Daily Dawn just 7 days ago, making almost a fool of both the leading newspapers because the interviewers of both dailies were either not properly briefed or were deliberately soft on the otherwise charming young Minister, a TV celebrity who has made his own life miserable by getting caught in a scandal which he honestly cannot defend. Here are some of the statements he made to The Daily Times, contradicting his own words in Daily Dawn: He told Dawn: “My PhD degree has nothing to do with my becoming eligible for elections since my medical degree was sufficient for that. True, I attached my honorary PhD degrees along with my other medical degree when I filed my nomination papers.” He now tells DT: “When I came to Karachi from Dubai to file my nomination for the general elections in 2002, I needed a degree to become eligible. I first went to Jamshoro to get my MBBS degree from the University of Sindh but they made delays. Then I applied to the University of Karachi for a certificate of equivalence to the honorary Bachelor’s degree so that I could file my nomination papers.” The Big Lie: He told Dawn he attached his Honorary PhD degree with his MBBS degree. Now he says he could not get his MBBS degree from Jamshoro and got equivalence of his Bachelor’s degree for his nomination paper. He told Dawn: "I got it (PhD) for free and as an honorary degree.” He now tells DT: "The Trinity College and University awarded me three honorary degrees; BA, MA and PhD way before the elections." The Big Lie: His BA degree is dated March 17, 1995, five years before the Trinity College started selling its degrees on the Internet in 2000. He says he was given this in one package in 2002. How can a College issue a degree for a year when it was not even there. See copy of BA degree He told Dawn: "I have never said that I have pursued a proper education program for my PhD degrees, which are just honorary entities awarded to me." He now tells DT: “The (Trinity College and) University doesn’t award degrees on payment of fees alone. It also seeks evidence of your ability and qualification before awarding a degree.” The Big Lie: How can any University worth its name award an Honorary degree when the candidate himself says he has never pursued a proper education program. And this University offers him not only one but three degrees, all at once, one of them even back dated to 1995. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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He told Dawn: “I contacted all the universities I could find on the net and sent my thesis to them.” He now tells DT: “I had written a 1,500-page thesis on Islam and Terrorism, which I mailed to various online universities." The Big Lie: Finding a university on the Internet is something mind boggling. On Google, if a search is made for "universities", in 0.08 seconds a list of 118 million universities appears. If one looks for "Online Universities" in 0.13 second a list of 181 million universities is available. Search for "Top Online Universities" and in 0.74 seconds 62.4 million universities are listed. Sending 1,500 pages to all these universities, as ALH claims, is simply hogwash. Just lgoing through the lists would need years for a man like ALH. He would need all his life’s income and savings just to mail 1,500 pages to these universities. His statement is simply preposterous. He tells DT: "The Trinity College and University has a faculty of Islamic Studies and those who contradict this are liars." The Big Lie: Not once on the web site of Trinity College has 'Islam' or 'Islamic Studies' been mentioned and the closest degree they offer for such studies is of Doctor of Divinity (DD) not a BA, MA or PhD. He tells DT: “My opponents claimed that they were responded to by the online university within 20 minutes, when they asked them about the credibility of my honorary degrees. This is the age of the Internet and online response comes within minutes.” Big Lie Caught: South Asia Tribune E-mailed questions to the Trinity College about “Honorary Degrees” they offer. Their response was they DO NOT offer any Honorary Degree but they could give an “Honoris Causa” Degree if someone wanted it, but that too would not be free of charge. The full text of Emails exchanged between SAT and Trinity College is as follows: The Land Scams in the Name of the Sacred Soldiers M Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, August 24: Land scams that are proliferating across the country, specially in the name of our Armed Forces, have come into sharp focus, sadly because of murder of two guards of a high profile housing society in the federal capital. First it was the National Assembly last night and next morning the Senate, where members from both sides of the isle voiced their outrage over the blatant manner in which this housing society used the name of Pakistan Navy to generate massive public interest and money in its highly publicized schemes. Lawmakers of the area said the developer purchased the land from poor villagers around Islamabad cheaply and sold plots at hugely inflated price. The violence reported in the press was attributed to allegation by some of these sellers that they have been cheated. In the end two innocent guards were caught in the fray and killed. The developer has shown ingenuity and innovation both in designs and marketing. These have made his various offerings one of the most attractive in the country, after the defence housing schemes. Few, perhaps, would grudge that, had it all been a fair and clean affair. But many lawmakers pointed accusing fingers at top political, civil and military figures whose patronage has gone along with it. Former law minister Sen. Dr. Khalid Ranjha pointed out that it was a criminal offence to use for any private commercial venture, the name of an official organization, more so an arm of the military. “Bahria Town“ was originally purported to be a project of the Pakistan Navy. But a former navy chief allegedly allowed the present developer for unknown reasons and consideration.

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On a number of occasions the developer has been running into trouble with the top government functionaries, including the NAB. He was even jailed. But in the end he escaped unscathed and expanded his business to incredible proportions. In private sector, he is, perhaps, the top-most real estate tycoon in the country. The lawmakers particularly took note of the latest offer in what was called Bahria Town-Phase 9. The publicity preceding the offering had set about a week for the people to file prescribed forms. The forms were available in some selected banks. But on the first day it was announced that within first six hours, 40,000 forms were distributed by banks to the applicants exhausting all supplies. Many bank branches witnessed virtual riots and damage to buildings caused by dejected prospective buyers who were unable to get any form. To top it all, the developer announced that all the 40,000 applicants would be given plots if they deposited the down payment within the due date. Apparently, it was inconceivable that the developer actually owned 40,000 plots. The two announcements sent the market in a tail spin. The frenzy that ensued led to black market sale and resale of forms at exorbitant prices ranging from Rs.15, 000 to Rs.60, 000. The lawmakers were intrigued by the way the forms were distributed. Influential people were given scores of these forms before sending them to the banks. This writer overheard two people in an escalator talking about the forms two days after the event. “Sir, you had promised to get me some forms,” one gentleman said. “Don’t you worry? An FIA director has been given 20 and has promised to share five with me.” Many lawmakers were perturbed that the real estate craze has overtaken the society and widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots to a vulgar level. You go to any office – private, public, civil, military - the most favorite topic is the housing schemes. The prices in all major cities, including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have skyrocketed. While the lucky ones with money and connections have made windfall profits in buying and selling, the less fortunate have nothing but to curse their luck. For most of the middle and lower class strata of the society, the price of land to build houses has gone out of their reach. A reasonably employed and paid person cannot even think of buying a servant quarter sized plot of land in Islamabad for his entire lifelong savings. Building a house has become a fantasy. In other major cities, things are no different. The most coveted societies, of course, are the defence housing societies in major cities. The President last week felt peeved by the fact that “pseudo intellectuals” feel jealous about these societies. According to him these are best developed and managed. If some army officer sells a plot for hundred times the cost at which he was allotted, so argued the President, why should people grudge or feel jealous about it. The President says only the retired military officers are looking after these societies which also provide employment and generate development activity. He conveniently ignores the fact of the involvement of officer corps in allotment, sale and resale of plots. Untold stories about higher echelons overseeing these schemes have tainted the image of the institution. Moreover the defence housing societies have become an obscene feature of our elite culture that is far removed from the rest of the populace. It generates, not just the” jealousy” which the President has referred to, but irrepressible rage and revulsion among the less privileged. There are reports of a new town being planned in Bedian between Lahore and Wagah, where only eight-acre plots for mansions and estates would be developed. For the country, investment in real estate from within and abroad, has replaced capital formation for productive use in the economy. Pakistan’s economy has more or less Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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become a real estate economy. Huge capital has been invested in this unproductive sector. Little is thus available for investment in genuine economic activity. The land grab mafia has sprouted in every town and city, boosting all sorts of crimes and corruption. President Musharraf set a noble example in 1999 when he declared his assets after taking over. Eye brows were, however, raised, why he had to have seven or eight plots, including commercial plots, in different defence housing societies across the country. Asfandyar Wali Khan was intrigued by the revelation that the President owns a plot in Gwadar as well. "Is he going to build a house and live there," he had asked. Recently when he purchased a five-acre farm in Islamabad which is worth crores, it was stated that he sold one of his commercial plots in Lahore to pay for that. It is argued that the President had done nothing illegal as the rules permit an army officer to get more than one plot. The point is, how far is this ethically correct. If he surrenders his other plots and makes the rule that only one plot can be allotted to any officer in the country for building a house, the President would radically change the entire environment of “jealousy”. Instead, he would create tremendous goodwill for himself and the institution. In this context an encounter with another military dictator is instructive. When in 1976, Gen. Zia was named COAS, this writer and another dear friend who also knew Zia since he was Lt. Colonel, invited him to a cup of tea at the Multan Press Club. This friend was building a house but had not been able to complete it. Zia asked him:” Masood Sahib, have you been able to build your house?” Zia was told that it is as yet not even half complete. “Masood Sahib, I am sure you will be able to build it now that you have started it. Look at me. I am at the fag end of my career, and I cannot even think of building a house.” How many generals, nay even captains and majors of today can repeat those words? In the Line of Fire or In the Line of Embarrassment Line of fire’ suggests standing up to fire. We see precious little standing up, a lot of falling down. But we are expected to believe it was all worth it because Pakistan was ‘saved' Ayaz Amir HEADS of state are usually not into the business of ghost-writing their memoirs while in office, much less hawking them in the course of leisurely foreign visits. But stranger things have happened in Pakistan where it is not unusual for the bizarre to become the norm. There is the precedent of Field Marshal (self-appointed) Ayub Khan’s ghost-written attempt at autobiography, ‘Friends Not Masters’. It made a splash as long as he was president. But it ended on the footpaths where second-hand books are sold when he left office. In time it was sold as raddi, the more evocative Urdu word for rubbish, for wrapping meat, fruit and other items of daily use. So we shouldn’t be too surprised if another soldier-president has fallen for the same temptation although as patriotic Pakistanis we should hope that Gen Musharraf’s book, ‘In the Line of Fire’, doesn’t meet a fate similar to that of Ayub’s unfortunate memoirs. Understandably, the general’s American trip has been divided almost equally between diplomacy and book-promotion. Accompanying him was an entourage of about seventy, including a clutch of cabinet ministers, only going to show that in the matter of foreign travel Pakistani leaders like to do things in style.

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The title, In the Line of Fire, evokes the image of a leader surrounded by danger, battling huge odds and coming out on top. But it is not beyond the usual cynics to think that more than the leader it is the people of Pakistan who have been in the line of fire for the last seven years that the general has been in power. After all, the general consulted no one when he came to power. He has since done things much his own way, consulting his convenience rather than anyone else’s. Evennow if there is any roadmap for Pakistan’s future, it revolves around his wishes. But this is not a great problem. The people of Pakistan are used to uninvited rulers. What rubs them the wrong way is something else: the constant insulting of their intelligence when they are expected to believe that night is day and darkness incandescent light. Not only that, they are also expected to applaud the fiction. The attitude of our American friends, however, is instructive. They know how to drive a hard bargain. Simon and Schuster, the publishers, are said to be paying Gen Musharraf upwards of a million dollars for his literary labours. Impressive perhaps in Pakistan but not a huge sum by American standards where presidential memoirs — ask Bill Clinton — fetch much more. Even so, the general has been more than loyal to his side of the bargain, not allowing false modesty to come in the way of book promotion. On CBS’s “60 Minutes” (CBS being a sister company of Simon and Schuster) the general set off a minor explosion when he said that then US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, had threatened to bomb Pakistan into the Stone Age unless it cooperated in the “war on terror”. Asked about this revelation at a joint press appearance with Bush, Musharraf famously replied: “I am launching my book on the 25th and I am honour-bound to Simon and Schuster not to comment on the book before that day.” A book promo can’t get any better than this. As for the substance of the book, it is an extended tribute to the art of spin, the inconvenient filtered out, the rest seen through rose-tinted glasses. Understandably we hear nothing about broken promises, such as the general’s public pledge to take off his uniform by this and this date. Kargil of course figures but as victory not defeat. Or at least it is presented as a military victory which turned into a political defeat when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the army to vacate the heights it had captured. This is self-serving history, the awkward truth being slightly different. As even unbiased Indians admit, our troops showed great valour but by end June ‘99 they were getting no supplies and were not being relieved. Pushed into the jaws of death (this not being a melodramatic statement), they were left to fend for themselves. They did not flinch. The army high command lost its nerve, realising belatedly it had taken on more than it could handle. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the Indian army had started retaking the lost heights one by one. The expected masterstroke turning into a fiasco, the high command more than the political leadership was desperate for a way out. Nawaz Sharif dashed to Washington for a meeting with Clinton on July 4, American Independence Day. Withdrawal had become unavoidable but he wanted to put a respectable face on it by giving an impression of American involvement. This was not undermining the army. It was covering up for it. (How Sharif was repaid for his pains is another story.) It takes some audacity to put such a spin on events. But it is wholly in character and hardly surprising, no one yet accusing Gen Musharraf of timidity when it has come to giving his version of history. The Stone Age remark (since denied by Armitage) presents a problem of its own. Was it because of that threat that Pakistan changed direction and decided to become a US satellite as the US prepared to attack Afghanistan? Perish the thought. “I wargamed Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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the US as an adversary,” we are assured. “The question was: if we do not join them, can we confront them and withstand the onslaught? The answer was no...our military forces would be destroyed....” This is strong stuff because no one has ever suggested Pakistan should have taken on the US. That wasn’t the question at all. It was, and still is, whether Pakistan should have swung to the other extreme and bowed to US pressure so completely. There was a middle way. Without incurring the risk of being bombed into the Stone Age, we could have turned our backs on the Taliban, cut all ties with them, but excused ourselves from providing military bases and becoming a pawn in American hands. This would have required some courage. What we were getting was a meltdown. Maleeha, our ambassador in Washington, and Lt Gen Mahmood, the ISI chief, who happened to be visiting the US, went to meet Armitage, little realising that an elephant likely to go on the rampage was best avoided. They got a rough handling, Armitage, by his own account, telling them, “...for Americans this was a black and white issue. Pakistan was either with us or against us, that US-Pakistan relations would begin on that day...if they agreed to help, I would give them a list of requirements that were not negotiable... So it was a strong presentation.” Strong? A Mafiosi would have been proud of it. Maleeha can be tough as nails when she wants. Mahmood (one year my senior in Lawrence College) was the person who, at the head of an army contingent, marched into the Prime Minister’s house on October 12, ‘99, and spoke in a threatening tone to Nawaz Sharif. Neither showed much toughness in Armitage’s presence, in fact crumpling in the line of fire. When their panic was transmitted to Islamabad, Army House was ready to crumple. Colin Powell didn’t have to do much persuading when he made his famous telephone call to Gen Musharraf. The pitch had already been queered. ‘Line of fire’ suggests standing up to fire. We see precious little standing up, a lot of falling down. But we are expected to believe it was all worth it because Pakistan was ‘saved’. On “60 Minutes” Musharraf says Armitage made a very “rude remark”. That he may have but it did not prevent him from being warmly welcomed during his several trips to Pakistan, each time being received by the president. The A. Q. Khan nuclear proliferation saga is regurgitated. It may sell the book but it is a moot point how Pakistan’s interests are served by reminding the world once more of ou r reputed irresponsibility in this field? Or how national honour is enhanced when the President of Pakistan says that his country has received millions of dollars (in bounty money) from the CIA in return for handing over Al Qaeda suspects? The book may be good for the president’s image but out of its pages Pakistan comes out looking poorly. After reading it the average American may come away thinking that Pervez Musharraf is a hell of a guy standing up to all these dangers but he is likely to take a dim view of a country which has so many dangerous people running around. In the Line of Fire is actually " In the line of a Liar and fear 'In the Line of fire' is a plethora of lies, says Nawaz Shareef. Dr. Khalid Luqman Chaudhry NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Online): Terming the book of President Musharaf as "In the Line of Liar and Fear", Former Prime Minister and Quaid Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, Mian Nawaz Sharif have declared it plethora of lies.

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Mian Nawaz Sharif in a telephonic address on the residence of PML-N Vice President, Javed Siddiqui on the occasion of second anniversary of Mian Sharif, said that his first priority is to bring back real democracy in the country. Nawaz Sharif has said that Gen Musharaf has no ideology and stand and agreed all the demands by the United States after 9/11 on one call, adding that the post-9/11 challenge could have to be dealt in a respected manner if an elected government was in power. PML-N Quaid said that the country faced humiliation only during the tenure of military rulers and Nawaz Sharif in this regard cited the examples of Indus Basin Treaty, East Pakistan tragedy and war on terrorism. Nawaz Sharif on the occasion alleged that people are dying in the country due to hunger and poverty and Rs. 700 million is being spent on the construction of President House. PML-Quaid while criticizing the reconstruction and rehabilitation policies of the government in the quake-affected areas said that quake-ravaged people still living in a miserable condition without proper shelters. Mian Nawaz Sharif in a question said that the picture in which he was seen as giving briefing by Army on Kargil issue was taken on the occasion of inauguration of a road in Balakot. Avoid expressing his views regarding news related to deal between Benazir Bhutto and the government, former Prime Minister said that he will meet with Benazir Bhutto in the current month and Charter of Democracy would move forward. Nawaz Sharif said that without the presence of real democracy, the country cannot get respect in the comity of nations, adding that India has respect in the international community as it has real democracy. Commending the role of Javed Hashmi and other PML-N leaders, Mian Nawaz Sharif said that there would be no compromise with Gen Musharaf. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan while appreciating the role of workers of PML-N in organizing forceful demonstrations against Gen Musharaf on the occasion of his arrival has directed to intensify their efforts to make successful the protest demonstration to be held on October 12 in front of the United Nations. Responding to a question about Kargil War, Nawaz Sharif said that the picture shown in the book of Gen. Musharaf that he was being briefed on Kargil, was actually about a briefing about a Balakot road project. I need not to say more about Kargil, now people like General Ali Quli Khan and other important colleagues of Gen. Musharaf and speaking the truth. In the book, the people of Pakistan was also misguided as Gen. Musharaf mislead us in the Kargil war, he said and added that the book is full of lies. General Musharaf neither believes in any ideology nor he has any school of thought. It is known about him that he uses to surrender at a telephone call. He further said that whenever, the country suffered and paid a price, the decisions were made by the military rulers. On the contrary, all the progress including the county became the atomic power in the democratic eras. There was a democracy in Pakistan when Indian prime minister Atal Bahari Vajpayee visited Pakistan and signed Lahore Declaration. So the people of Pakistan should know the difference between democratic and military governments now, he added. PML(N) exiled leader said to his party workers that be ready to go to Pakistan along with him, as his time has come to go back home . He also appreciated PML (N) USA workers and office bearers for staging a demonstration against Gen. Musharaf in front of UNO and said that I salute your efforts and contributions.

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Pakistan is our homeland, not an ancestral property of any military ruler or Gen. Musharaf ' he added. Earlier the second death anniversary of Mian Sharif (late) was observed at the residence of Javed Siddiqui and Nawaz Sharif participated telephonically in Dua. Rohail Dar, Dr Khalid Luqman, Mian Fayyaz, Rana Saeed, Amjad Nawaz, Javed Siddiqui, Abdul Khaliq Awan, Chaudary Salah-ud-Din, Imran Igra, Asif Dar, Dr Akram, Hajji Jamil, Begum Shakila Chaudhry, Begum Salma Nazli, Imtiaz Warraich, Chaudhry Tanveer, Mir Syed Hussain Shah, Saajid Chaudhry, Chaudhry Mohammad Razzaq, Yasin Bhatti, Babar Hashmi, Hajji Mansha Khokhar, Farooque Siddiqui and Capt (retd) Khalid Shaheen Butt participated. Truth - In the Line of Fire Kargil-Fact Sheet 1 Ahsan Iqbal General Musharaf chose to write a book in violation of his constitutional oath and laws of the land to secure extension from foreign masters and to make money but at cost of the truth, national dignity, and interest. This was done at the expense of toiling taxpayers’ money, who are battling poverty and unemployment at home and committing suicide in extreme helplessness and despair while General Musharaf undertook lavish self & book promotional international tour with bandwagon of half a dozen Ministers and scores of journalists. The book is a megalomaniac account of Pakistan’s history according to which in fiftynine years of nation’s history except for the leadership of General Musharaf and his seven years of rule nothing right happened. It is an account of self-praise and selfdeception that makes belittles all past leaders and national institutions to make General Musharaf look taller. There are several aspects of the book, which relate to various aspects of our national life that require correction and explanation. PML-N will bring out series of fact sheets to present facts before the nation so that it may judge for itself what the truth is and that it is truth itself which has been the principal victim of this book. Kargil – In Line of Fire Kargil was one of the most controversial chapters of our national history. General Musharaf has admitted in his book that it was the major reason of his differences with elected PM Nawaz Sharif and usurping power. “The Kargil episode created the biggest divide between the Prime Minister and myself”. (Page 136) The centerpiece of the controversy is whether the General undertook this adventure with some ulterior motives without the approval of the lawful government of the day or the operation was formally authorized by the PM, the competent authority in this case. General Musharaf has narrated this fact in the book in following words: “One myth is that the operation was launched without the army’s taking the political leadership into confidence…The army briefed the PM in Skardu on January 29, 1999 and in Kel on February 5, 1999. During these briefings our defensive maneuver was explained as response to all that was happening on the Indian side. Subsequently, the PM was also briefed on March 12 at the Directorate general ISI which included a detailed survey on the situation inside occupied Jammu & Kashmir and also along the LOC. As the operation developed he was briefed in detail by the DGMO on May 17. Later briefings were also arranged on June 2 and June 22”. (Page 95-96) According to his account, he gave the PM briefings on following occasions. But even a cursory look at his narration of facts will show the inaccuracies of the facts and the fallacies of the analysis. Let’s examine his account of briefings:

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a) January 29, 1999 at Skardu b) February 5, 1999 at Kel c) March 12, 1999 at Directorate General, ISI d) May 17, 1999 by Director General, Military Operations. e) June 2 and 22, 1999. As regards first two briefings, he states “During these briefings our defensive maneuver was explained as response to all that was happening on the Indian side”. How does Kargil Operation, which according to him involved occupying 800 sq kilometers (Page 91) across LOC fall within the ambit of defensive maneuver. The fact is that the briefing at Skardu was on tourism promotion in Northern Areas of Pakistan whereas the Kel briefing was to give approval on site for the Mansehra-BalakotKaghan-Batakundi-Kel road in which Kargil figured nowhere. The third briefing according to his account was at Directorate General, ISI that was a survey of the situation inside occupied Jammu & Kashmir and also along the LOC. How can this be construed to be a briefing on Kargil adventure. The fourth briefing on May 17, 1999 is, according to him, the first briefing when he admits that PM was briefed in detail about the operation by DGMO. Even the junior most officers know that DGMO is the competent office to brief on any operational matter like Kargil. According to his version the briefing on May 17, 1999 was the first ever briefing by DGMO to the PM. Now let’s look at the chronology of events according to his narration in the book, which categorically demonstrate that action in Kargil theatre had started much earlier: “A plan calling for plugging the gaps-ranging from 9 to 28 miles- between our positions was formally presented and approved towards the middle of January, 1999”. (Page 90) It is more than evident that Kargil Operation was under execution in January, 1999. “By the end of April the unoccupied gaps along 75 miles of the LOC had been secured by over 100 new posts of 10-20 persons each”. (Page 90) By end of April over 100 posts had already been established committing up to two thousand troops. “The first confrontation between the two armies took place on May 2, when Indian troops bumped into our position in Shyok sector. The second encounter took place with freedom fighters in the Battalik sector on May 7. (Page 90). “Another skirmish took place with the freedom fighters in Dras sector on May 10,1999”. (Page 91) If there were Mujahideen controlling the heights, how General Musharaf justifies describing confrontation between armies which took place according to him on May 2,7, and 10, 1999. It is amply clear that when the war had broken out between armies of two nuclear states only then General Musharaf panicked and decided to brief the Prime Minister for soliciting his support. This briefing on May 17, 1999 was not complete eithe r as it became evident later from the recorded conversations between General Musharraf and General Aziz on the May 26, 1999 and May 29, 1999, which came to light in the first week of June 1999. It was only then the PM came to know that our troops were involved in the Kargil conflict. “On May 15, I ordered FCNA to improve our defensive positions in coordination with the freedom fighters to deny access to the water shed by India. By now the freedom fighters occupied over 800 sq kilometers of Indian occupied territory.” (Page 91) It is ridiculous to assert that defensive positions were improved while nearly 800 sq kilometers territory across LOC was occupied. This refutes his earlier assertion that it was improving defensive positions and also Mujahideen were occupying the posts as he claims: “The positions held by our troops on July 4 are shown in Map 3-Page 92” (Page 93) Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The map 3 shows that our troops were deployed across the LOC. “The briefing given by me personally to the Defence Committee of the cabinet on July 2, 1999 actually laid out the entire military picture…That the Indians were in no position to launch an all out offensive on land, sea, and the air…That the Indians forces despite their massive strength, would never be able to dislodge the freedom fighters and NLI from the ingresses and positions held by them” (Page 96) He clearly admits that the first comprehensive military picture of the operation was presented to the civilian leadership through Defence Committee on July 2, 1999 when in reality pressure had started mounting in the war zone with high casualities. This became evident later from the fall of Tiger Hill, the most strategic and fortified position, on July 4, 1999. Imagine the assessment of General Musharaf assuring the PM that India is not in a position to launch an all out offensive on land sea and the air after losing 800 sq kilometers of land showing that they learnt no lesson from Operation Gibralter, preceding September, 1965 war when GHQ had made similar plan and assessments. An average student of military history without attending any staff course and studying Klausweitz and Liddlehart can understand that an aspiring regional power with nuclear arsenal in election year will not pocket the insult of losing 800 sq kilometers under its control without fully stretching its military muscles on international borders. This narration also shows how General Musharaf was guilty of giving wrong assessment of the ground situation, which was markedly different from what he was presenting before the Defence Committee of the Cabinet as the later events would prove. “At the briefing (July 2, 1999) the Prime Minister asked me several times whether we should accept a ceasefire and withdraw…Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, the Interior Minister at that time,…said that whatever we did, we must stress that Kargil was “our joint effort and collective responsibility” (Page 97) Even the trusted friend and saviour of General Musharaf, Ch Shujaat concedes here that General Musharaf had acted unilaterally without taking into confidence the elected government. When the PM showed his annoyance he tried to calm the situation by suggesting “Meetti Pao”. In the words “whatever we did, we must stress that Kargil was our joint effort” and suggesting that now the PM should bail out the military leadership by assuming collective responsibility it is abundantly clear that there was dissent. It was in the spirit of national interest and defending the honour of the national institution, that then the PM undertook initiatives to find a suitable exit strategy while there were calls to take disciplinary action against General Musharaf from within his Parliamentary Party. “The other commanders were informed immediately on the unreasonably escalated Indian response…The foregoing should also explain why the naval and Air Force chiefs were ignorant about it until the Indian response bordered on war hysteria”. (Page 97) It clearly shows lack of appreciation and imagination on the part of general Musharaf who saw no role for Corp Commanders and other forces in the operation but soon was desperately seeking support of air force to withstand the onslaught of Indian air force in Kargil. It was also too naïve on his part to rule out the possibility of this conflict escalating to a full scale war, which events proved was a near possibility, in which case our two main forces were neither in knowledge of nor prepared for such an emergency. Any strike by Indian Air Force and navy could have caught us totally by surprise like it happened on 6 September, 1965 at Lahore front. “International pressure had a demoralizing effect on PM Nawaz Sharif” (Page 93) It is absurd and a joke to allege that a Prime Minister who didn’t succumb to international pressure at the time of nuclear detonations in May, 1998 would now come under international pressure. It was not demoralizing effect of international Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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pressure but thanks to General Musharaf, Pakistan faced isolation and was not finding the required international support even from its closest friends for this misadventure. The anxiety of the international community was understandable as two one of the largest armies of the world, with demonstrated nuclear capability, were eye ball to eye ball in Kargil. This fact was admitted by Lt General Asad Durrani in a recent TV talk show. “I can also say with authority that in 1999 our nuclear capability was not yet operational”. (Page 97-98) In any country with rule of law, any senior member of the security making such an irresponsible statement would face court martial and treason charges. What more can be said as it is universally believed that ambiguity is one of the fundamental pillars of the nuclear doctrine. This statement is factually incorrect as former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former Army Chief General Aslam Baig have rebutted this in their recent statements and have asserted that Pakistan’s nuclear capability was operational much before General Musharaf became Army Chief. “I went with all my family and some friends to the hill resort of Murree to relax over the weekend. At about 9 pm on Saturday, July 3, I received an urgent call from the prime Minister informing me to my consternation that he was flying to the US and that I should meet him at Islamabad airport immediately”. (Page 97) It is unfortunate to note that while our soldiers were being subjected to ruthless and incessant bombing by India in Kargil, their Commander had time for relaxation in the company of family and friends at a hill resort just one day before the fall of Tiger Hill on July 4,1999. It reminds us of Neru of Rome. It is most shameful that General Musharaf has conveniently distorted the facts of Prime Minister’s visit to US and suggested to the readers that he came to know about it on July 3, 1999 when the PM called him. Here is an account of the events as narrated by his “close” friend General (Retd) Anthony Zinni of the United States Marine Corps in his book Battle Ready who has testified to this fact. Here is what the American General has written about the withdrawal from Kargil: “I was directed by the Administration to head a presidential mission to Pakistan to convince Prime Minister Sharif and General Musharraf to withdraw their forces from Kargil. I met the Pakistani leadership in Islamabad on June 24 and 25 and put forth a simple rationale for withdrawing: If you don’t pull back, you’re going to bring war and nuclear annihilation down on your country. That’s going to be very bad news for everybody. Nobody actually quarreled with this rationale. The problem for the Pakistani leadership was the apparent loss of face. Backing down and pulling back to the Line of Control looked like political suicide. We needed to come up with a face-saving way out of this mess. What we were able to offer was a meeting with President Clinton, which would end the isolation that had long been the state of affairs between our two countries, but we would announce the meeting only after a withdrawal of forces. That got Musharraf’s attention; and he encouraged Prime Minister Sharif to hear me out. Sharif was reluctant to withdraw before the meeting with Clinton was announced (again, his problem was maintaining face)…We set up a meeting with Clinton in July”. This is General Musharraf’s friend, whom he calls Tony by his first name, testifying to the fact that it was General Musharraf who sought the withdrawal and the PM was reluctant as the honour of his army was at stake. On June 27, 1999 General Musharraf told the Pakistani press that the Kargil conflict would be discussed in the meeting between President Clinton and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. This was the first time any one had announced the PM was to meet President Clinton. General Zinni clearly writes that nobody quarreled with his argument that if Pakistan didn’t withdraw troops it will bring full war to the country. When General Musharaf didn’t challenge General Zinni’s Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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assessment of the possibility of full scale war how could he present the analysis that there was no chance of India attacking Pakistan a few days later to the Defence Cabinet Committee on July 2, 1999, if he did then he was certainly misleading. “I would like to state emphatically that whatever movement has taken place so far in the direction of finding the solution to Kashmir is due considerably to Kargil conflict”. (Page 98) The fact of the matter is that this misadventure resulted into irreparable loss to the Kashmir cause on the following facts: a) we were isolated on Kashmir issue. b) Kashmir freedom struggle got linked with cross border terrorism issue, which General Musharaf himself conceded in Islamabad Declaration signed with PM Vajpayee making a promise to not to allow cross border terrorism either from Pakistan or any territory under control of Pakistan and accepted it to be a bilateral matter. c) It sabotaged the honourable peace process between India and Pakistan set in motion by PM Nawaz Sharif in Feb 1999 resulting in Lahore declaration. d) General Musharaf abandoned the historic position of Pakistan on Kashmir in respect of UN resolutions on plebiscite. e) He has given unilateral concessions in the name of CBMs without getting anything in quid pro quo. f) LOC has been allowed to be fenced changing its character. “I am ashamed to say, our political leadership insinuated that the achievements of our troops amounted to a “debacle”.” (Page 95) General Musharaf blames political leadership of insinuation while several senior retired military generals have pointed out to this effect that this operation was politically unsustainable, ill-conceived, and the worst debacle. According to Lt Gen Ali Kuli Khan, during East Pakistan war we still had some friends but in Kargil we were left friendless. It was a disaster bigger than East Pakistan tragedy (Oct 3, 2006) It is abundantly clear from the above that General Musharaf falsified and concocted the facts to serve his personal interests at the cost of national interest. Not to speak of his violation of his constitutional oath prohibiting divulging any sensitive information which he comes to know during discharge of his office. Therefore, it is imperative to appoint an independent, neutral, and trustworthy national commission consisting of retired Judges of Supreme Court, eminent experts, and members from civil society to thoroughly probe into the Kargil Operation to fix the liability of all the actors involved leading to due process of Law so that history doesn’t repeat itself. Musharraf is 'Silly and Stupid' says Washington Post SAT Report WASHINGTON, October 1: In a stinging editorial that is part of an ongoing feud between Pakistan Government and the Washington Post, the US paper on Saturday slammed Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf saying he actually was "silly and stupid". Entitled "Gen Musharraf's lies" the Post says the General's claim that his country was being portrayed unfairly on rape was incorrect. Islamabad has been claiming that the paper wrongfully quoted Musharraf following an editorial board meeting he had early September. But Washington Post nailed his lie when it posted the voice of Musharraf on its web site in which he is clearly saying what he has denied. Click to hear Musharraf's voice

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The editorial of the Post on October 1 said: "Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf complains that his country is unfairly portrayed as a place where rape and other violence against women are rampant and frequently condoned. In fact, it deserves such a reputation. According to Pakistani human rights groups, thousands of attacks are reported every year, including gang rapes and "honor killings" of women who are accused of having affairs or who refuse an arranged marriage. Most of these attacks go unpunished. So retrograde are Pakistan's laws that there are more than 1,500 women in prison as a result of rapes -- they were prosecuted for adultery -- while arrests of men occur in only about 15 percent of reported cases. "Gen. Musharraf, too, deserves the reputation he is earning as a ruler who cares more about how he is perceived in the West than in implementing the policies he claims to espouse, or even in speaking the truth. "The general, who seized power in a coup six years ago, has reneged on promises to retire from the army or restore democracy. He has not carried out the reform of Islamic religious schools that he promised in 2001. He has allowed the extremist Afghan Taliban movement to base itself in Pakistan's western provinces with virtual impunity. "He has repeatedly insisted, almost certainly falsely, that Osama bin Laden is not in Pakistan. All the while he has gone on collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year from the Bush administration, which accepts his words and ignores most of his actions. "Gen. Musharraf claims to champion a "moderate Islam" that respects the rights of women. But when Mukhtar Mai, a victim of a gang rape whose attackers have not been punished, tried to visit the United States earlier this year, the President barred her from leaving the country. "In an interview with The Post last month, he claimed that he had relented. But then he said this: "You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This has become a money-making 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." "This statement was, as Pakistani activists and the Canadian government soon pointed out, an outrageous lie. There is only one known case of a rape victim moving to Canada, a doctor who was assaulted by a military officer. A far more common outcome for rape victims is to be ostracized by their communities or jailed. "When Gen. Musharraf's statement provoked an uproar, he responded with another lie: He claimed that he had never made it. In fact, a recording of him speaking is available on The Post's Web site, washingtonpost.com. "His words are quite clear. "These are not my words, and I would go to the extent of saying I am not so silly and stupid to make comments of this sort," the General said. Well, yes, he is.

The Suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chudhry was, “Suspended” on 9th of March, 2007 on the charges of abusing his powers. The fascinating and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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attention grabbing fact in this regard is that the allegations have been put forward by a ruler who is globally known for his notorious practice of abusing power and exploiting his authority. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chudhry was sworn in the office of Chief Justice of Pakistan in June, 2005. Justice Chudhry gained the national reputation because of those cases in which he passed the verdict against the spirit of government of Pakistan. These rulings became undesirable to the rulers and resulted in his suspension. Freezing the privatization of Pakistan’s steel mills was not the only intolerable decision for the rulers. In fact the hurling denunciation he did to the government during the hearings of illegal and forceful abductions was also an unpopular step in the courtyard of dictatorship. It is also noticeable that a day before his suspension he attended the hearing of the case of forceful abductions. During this hearing Asma Jahangir and Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim demanded from the platform of Human Right Commission to assign a commission for the release of detainees, to which, witnesses can be represented and suitable investigation can take place to uncover that how those people were kidnapped and where they were kept. In this hearing Justice Chudhry issued a notice to Attorney General. The fact is that the steps taken by the Chief Justice in solving the case of these mysterious abductions were creating unacceptable circumstances for the rulers. Thus justice Chudhry emerged as a hurdle in the path of rulers’ wicked objectives. General Musharraf has put up the show of his power by sacking the chief justice and trying to deliver a message that he is an authoritative ruler and whosoever attempts to become a hurdle in path of his malevolence goals, will not be tolerated. General Musharraf called the Justice for the explanation of the charges against him at Army House instead of the Presidency and kept him there for five hours to show his martial supremacy. This act on the part of General Musharraf is a proclamation that he is a military dictator and he can do anything he wants on the base of his power. Suspension of Justice Chudhry has exposed the tyranny that was behind the smoke screens of Pseudo-Democracy and so called Enlighten Moderation. Moreover, General Musharraf has proved that he is only a military dictator, ruling at gun point. According to Hussein Haqani, “The reason for the suspension of Chief Justice is not his weaknesses; in fact it was the actions he took in cases which were unwanted for the rulers. He passed such judgments that became the source of mortification for the military dictator. Naeem Bukhari’s controversial open letter to the Chief Justice gained lofty identification in this issue. Bukhari targeted the character of Chief Justice in this letter. The objections raised against the Chief Justice in this letter are ludicrous. For instance the objection rose against his protocol. In the country like Pakistan where the protocol of high officials and ministers is not considered something out of normal; upon the arrival of Prime Minister, President and Chief Ministers the traffic is ordered to be jammed; even an ambulance is not permitted to pass; life of all the citizens of that city is ordered to stand at still for the sake of the locomotion of VIPs. There the objection on the protocol of three cars and the order of judicial hearing on such protocol by a President with thirty protocol cars, if does not seem comical then what else does it seem? Second big objection against Justice Chudhry is the abuse of his power for the appointment of his son in the department of police; again the reference against this objection is filed by the President against whom the evidence is published in South Asia Tribune for rewarding the contracts of billions of rupees to his son and son’s father in law. The ratio of authenticity in the charges against Chief Justice is still unknown, however, according to BBC not a single charge against him is considered out of normal practice Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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in Pakistan. Many such charges have been raised against various judges and high officials but no action has ever been taken. Justice Chudhry is the first judge who became the target of such inquiry and this reflects that the goals of this action taken by the President are unusually unique. The Chief justice was suspended by using similar charges filed in a reference against him. Surprisingly, General Musharraf has observed the (ab)use of authority by the Chief Justice for the appointment of his son but he is incapable to take notice of his companions of PML-Q, about whom, it is mentioned in the survey of Immensity International that they are the most corrupt ruling partners, to come in the government, in the entire history of Pakistan. General Musharraf has taken the support of such feeble charges to suspend the Chief Justice that are not acceptable to anyone. The objection about the abuse of power is raised by a person whose very appearance in the government is an exploitation of power. This action of General Musharraf has faced intense confrontation on the public forum, even the columnist of daily express whose only reason of popularity is to pay tribute to General has also declared this action a “blunder” by General Musharraf. Asma Jahangir, while giving review, in her exclusive conversation with Laborers Struggle Movement said that this reference was not filed on the base of a letter by some advocate. Many such letters were written and roamed around back and forth. The reality was that His Excellency King had started to feel unsafe. He was even afraid of an aunt and justice Chudhry was a Chief Justice. One of the objections in the letter written by Naeem Bukhari was that Chief Justice had harsh attitude towards the advocates of Supreme Court. The protest is being carried out by the advocates of Supreme Court in the whole country against the suspension of justice Chudhry and this act of General Musharraf is being declared unconstitutional. The show of this solidarity with Chief Justice of Pakistan has exposed the fallacy of Naeem Bukhari’s objection. Responding to this act of General Musharraf Punjab Bar Council has suspended the membership of advocate Naeem Bukhari and banned his entry in the bar offices of the whole province. According to the press release of bar, advocate Naeem Bukhari has become a handy tool of dictatorship thus violating his professional responsibilities. The bar council announced, boycott of the courts on 12th and 13th March, protest processions in the whole country and hailing of black flags in the offices of bar. Moreover, the day of 9th March will be mourned every year as the black day by the bar. One reason for the fame of Justice Chudhry was his Suo-Motto actions (on its own motion) in different cases that revived the confidence of public on judiciary. He came forward on public forum, as a well-wisher of common man by using his power of SuoMotto action for the security of basic rights. (Naeem Bukhari has an objection on these actions as well. In Bukhari’s opinion such inquiries are inferior to the standards of Supreme Court and Supreme Court should not get itself involved in “less important” issues like basic rights). Justice Chudhry set a record of finalizing cases in a short period of time. The decision he passed in the favor of kiln workers and forced labor became the cause of judiciary’s improved reputation in the heart of public. According to BBC he had many critics. However, his critics, admirers and everyone else agree that he ran the Supreme Court with accelerated efficiency; he formed maximum number of benches, worked day and night to reduce the burden of the Supreme Court by finalizing maximum number of cases in the shortest possible time frame. It is because of these steps of him that the honor of judiciary was restored. The act of General Musharraf and filing of a judicial reference to defame Chief Justice is nothing else than a conspiracy to jeopardize the respect of judiciary in the hearts of public. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Justice Chudhry also finalized the cases of illegal occupation of armed forces on private real estate, in which he did not only pass a verdict against the martial institutions but also scolded the army officers. Other than low ranking officers he also rebuked the high officials of armed forces for their reckless behavior towards the duty and gave an ultimatum to Punjab Police to control the soaring graph of street crime. Justice Chudhry took an independent action on many occasions about the injustices done to people and provided a relief to possible extent. Another important case of him is regarding the ban on commemoration of Basant carnival. The Government of Punjab overlooked the ban of the Supreme Court and allowed the celebration of Basant, which resulted in more than ten casualties only in Lahore. Justice Chudhry held Punjab Government responsible for the casualties on Basant; perhaps these remarks of justice also became the source of discomfort for the President who is an enthusiastic fan of basant partying. Justice Chudhry’s popularity was increasing with every passing day because of his public friendly rulings and oppressed public, look towards him as a hope against the dictatorial tyranny. These specific steps of justice turned him disobedient in the opinion of government. His decisions became the source of embarrassment for rulers; in particular his exceptional interest in the case of mysterious abductions was the source of fears for the rulers. During the case of abductions he scolded the government agencies, engaged in such brutal practice and took a notice of torture of the police over the procession of the families of detainees. These actions for the security of basic human rights were unacceptable for the government at any cost. The reasons behind the suspension of Chief Justice are very profound. The charges against him do not carry any sense in a country like Pakistan where roots of VIP culture are deep and every official takes the disadvantage of his authority. This act of General Musharraf expresses his dictatorial approach and delivers a message that he will not tolerate any voice against his opinion and he can descend to any shallow point to sustain his power. This act of General Musharraf carries a special meaning at the time when elections are just around the corner. General Musharraf who wants to get him elected from the same parliament will not endure any hurdle in the passage of this unconstitutional and unlawful goal. It can be said after reviewing the record of Justice Chudhry that he could have given a decision against this will of General Musharraf. Secondly, by sacking Justice Chudhry, General Musharraf has been trying to deliver this message to the Chief Election Commissioner and Judiciary that he will execute any action to have his champions won the election and no one, better not dare to act against his will. It has been exposed by this act of General Musharraf that the expectation for independent and prudent election cannot be kept intact in his presence. Moreover, he is incapable to stand any opposition. According to one comment of BBC, “Nevertheless, what was the fault committed by Justice Chudhry that General Musharraf had to take an action which was not liked to be carried out by totalitarian rulers before him. During the year of 2007, General Musharraf has to prolong his rule by using his rooks and pawns and perhaps he will not bear anyone, about whom he has the slightest element of doubt for executing an independent decision.” It is also worth to notice here that this is not the first invasion of General Pervez Musharraf on judiciary. Earlier than that, Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui who refused to take oath to testify loyalty with General’s martial government was fired from his appointment along with five other judges in March 2000. The reality is that General Pervez Musharraf, like every dictator is not capable to tolerate the opposing view, and believes in removing his contenders by the use of muscle. Mysterious abductions of political workers, assassinations of journalists, extra judicial killing of Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Akbar Bugti, bombardment on religious schools and current assault on the highest judiciary is the continuity of his atrocious policies that reflect the image of his autocratic mindset. According to the information, Justice Chudhry has been put into house arrest at his residence in Islamabad and no one is allowed to see him. Neither, any journalist is allowed to meet him to solicit his point of view, nor Justice Chudhry is permitted to seek the advice of anyone for the advocacy of his case. According to some sources he is being pressurized to resign and not to pursue the defense against the filed judicial reference. From snatching the office of President to the sacking Chief Justice, every step taken by General Pervez Musharraf is unlawful and unconstitutional, and cannot be supported in any situation. The necessity of the time demands the commonalty to organize and chase a countrywide campaign against this savage step. The Fascist Army Pakistan: A dream gone sour by fascist army Naveed Butt Nations take great pride in their armed forces. Nations cherish them and protected by them. In contrast, people of Pakistan have only suffered hardships and traumas at the hands of its own armed forces. The dream of an independent Pakistan has gone sour because of all the military generals who are acting no less than like a mafia or gang at national level. Imagine a mafia “legally” consuming more than 80% of the national resources and armed to the teeth with all kinds of weapons. The country suffered a great loss in 1971 when its own Army surrendered in shame after committing one of the worst human right crimes in history and perpetrating the holocaust of three million people who were the citizens of Pakistan. That was just the beginning. In the last six decades Pakistan Army has transformed into an organized crime syndicate and a business mafia that occupies the country it proclaims to defend. This criminal organization is the biggest stake holder and stock holder in every big business of Pakistan by virtue of the power it has. Pakistan military has the biggest share in Pakistan's stock exchange. It operates commercial bank, airline, steel, cement, telecom, petroleum and energy, education, sports, health care and even chains of grocery shops and bakeries. In short, the military’s monopoly is present in every sector of Pakistan economy. To the contrary, its performance at the professional level is zero. Instead of defending Pakistan, it has undermined the very foundations of this country. Particularly, under General Musharraf, it has bankrupted Pakistan of its ideological grounds for existence. Instead of defending its physical borders, the army that is being ranked as the seventh biggest army in the world has only brought embarrassment to the nation in the battle fields of Kargil and Dhaka. On top of that, since 2001, it has started acting like occupation force in many parts of the country. Bombing homes, mosques and schools has become a routine. Although the military permanently remained very active behind the political scene, the criminal Generals of Pakistan betrayed the nation four times by breaking their oath and constitution and overthrowing civilian governments. They over threw elected government and captured the power to fulfill their evil desires and to protect the interests of their imperialist masters. The Pakistani Army has played an evil role in mainstream politics throughout the history with the objective to manipulate everything to their advantage. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Even though Pakistan is a republic, the military Generals have ruled the country more than public representatives. It is because of these Generals that a people’s government could not take root in Pakistan. The Generals of Pakistan consider themselves above every law and they take pride in disobeying orders from civilian government. It has been their practice since 1947. General Douglas Gracey, the first commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army started this tradition by disobeying orders from founder and Governor General of Pakistan, Mr. Jinnah during the first Kashmir War. Instead, Gracey sought instructions by telephone from his superior, Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, in New Delhi. Since then it has been a rule in Pakistan Army to break their oath and to take orders from outside. From Gracey to Musharraf, every last one of them used power to sabotage political process that could lead to self-rule and stability of the country. They have been serving their outsider masters instead of defending the physical and ideological borders of Pakistan. Pakistan came into being in August 1947 but partition plan of India had been announced in June 1947. British divided national resources between two newly formed states. British army had been divided and according to this division six armored, eight artillery and eight infantry regiments formed Pakistan's army. Division of armed forces was according to demographic division of states and 4000 officers and 15,000 soldiers, 2332 Air Force personnel and 74 air crafts were given to Pakistan that was approximately 36% of total resources. General Douglas Gracey was acting Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army and Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, was still Commander-in-Chief of the armies of both India and Pakistan. Soon after the independence, US started investing in Pakistan Army to prepare an agent in South Asia to thwart Soviet ambitions and use Pakistan like a South Asian Israel. US backed every criminal act of Army Generals to crush people’s rule in the country. Since the inception, this army has been serving as a tool in Washington’s strategic planning for the region. The US granted $400 million to establish and strengthen Pakistan’s armed forces initially. The US needed a terrorist arm in the region to play its strategic game against the Soviet Union. For this purpose, Washington backed successive dictatorships in Pakistan, and also throw them out of power when they outlived their utility. Indo-Pakistan War of 1947 The first war between India and Pakistan began in October 1947 and ended in December 1948. At that time, both Pakistan and India were trying diplomatic process for the merger of Jammu and Kashmir. To sabotage diplomatic process, Pakistan Army played a cowardice game. Pakistan Army prepared armed tribesmen to infiltrate into Kashmir and upraise anarchy. This act of cowardice led to signing an instrument of accession with India in October 1947. Pakistan Army then joined infiltrators and a war broke out. Initially Pakistani Army fought with armed forces of Kashmir and they gained significant successes. Maharajah of Kashmir thus requested Indian government for help and Indian government deployed its forces in November 1947. So far Pakistani forces had been facing resistance only from Kashmiri forces. That enabled them to enter far into Kashmir. After the deployment of India forces, Pakistan Army and Armybacked tribesman faced fierce resistance. Though Indian Army was facing serious logistic problems, it thwarted the advancement of Pakistan Army. Indian Army suffered setbacks due to logistic problems and also that it was not prepared for a war just two months after partition, especially for a high altitude combat. Whereas Pakistan Army had planned and conducted this operation with the help of tribesman of NWFP, who were able to face extreme weather and mountain Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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range. Still Indian army had been successful in regaining most of the area. In 1948, United Nation entered into conflict and broke a ceasefire in January 1949. The cease- fire agreement formalized the military status quo, leaving about 30 percent of Kashmir under Pakistani control. Apparently it was a major success but in reality, it brought such a disaster to the Kashmir cause that it can still be witnessed. Pakistan lost 70 percent of the Kashmir territory in the process. This created reluctance and hatred among Kashmiris for Pakistan and Pro-Indian Kashmiri political parties gained significant strength in Kashmir. First Coup Pakistan's first democratic elections were scheduled in 1958. But a democratic government and a strong parliament was not in the interest of US foreign policy. General Mohammed Ayub Khan, the commander-in-chief, took over the government in a coup and cancelled the elections that were a threat for military’s blind power. Ayub Khan imposed Martial Law in the country and seized constitution. Under Ayub Khan rule, Pakistan became a US garrison state in South Asia. During this period, US granted $630 million directly and $670 million indirectly to purchase military equipment. US also paid salary of General Ayub Khan. General Ayub Khan, with the support of US, made every effort to thwart peoples’ selfrule in the country. He used every dictatorial method to shut voices against his brutal attacks on democratic process. In this period, Ms. Fatima Jinnah, sister of the Founder of Pakistan, who was at that time most respected woman in Pakistan, raised voice against military dictatorship and criminal acts of the Generals. Ayub Khan and his companions played their dirty games to defame this respected lady. War of 1965 During Ayub period, Pakistan army planned an operation against India after a green signal from Washington. Operation Giberaltar was planned to infiltrate and start rebellion in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani soldiers trained guerillas for infiltrating into Kashmir and starting an insurgency among local Kashmiris. This plan failed as locals did not respond as expected by the puppet military of Pakistan. Infiltrators were soon exposed and it resulted in a counterattack by Indian forces. After the shameful failure of Operation Giberaltar, the coward army planned another Operation, called Grand Slam, to cover-up its embarrassment. The plan was to capture Akhnur, a north-eastern town of Jammu that was a key region for communication between Kashmir and the rest of India. This however resulted in more problems for Pakistan as India countered by crossing the international border further south in Punjab. As a result, a large scale war started between the two neighbors. The war lasted five weeks, resulting in thousands of casualties on both sides and ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire. The war remained largely inconclusive despite Pakistan suffering relatively more losses. Though the war was indecisive, Pakistan suffered much heavier material and personnel casualties compared to India. Many war historians believe that had the war continued, with growing losses and decreasing supplies, Pakistan would have been eventually defeated. The Pakistani Army's failures was apparent right from the beginning as Pakistan Army had expectations that local Kashmiri will support insurgency started by Pakistani soldiers. But the people of Kashmir, for whatever reason, did not revolt against Indian government. On the contrary they provided Indian army with information about Pakistani intruders. Under the influence of controlled propaganda, many Pakistanis rated the performance of military positively and September 6 is celebrated as 'Defence Day' in Pakistan in Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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commemoration of the successful defense of Sailkot against the Indian army. However facts are not always based upon emotions. This war left a lot to desire as Pakistan lost more ground than gained and more importantly Pakistan army did not achieve what was planned. War also imposed a huge burden on Pakistan's economy. It took a sever decline after witnessing some progress earlier. The war also created a tense state of affairs between the two neighbors and both countries increased their defense budgets. Pakistan's spending on defense reached its height as Pakistan was spending 70% of its budget on defense needs in 1973. This extra burden brought negative impact on Pakistan's social and economic progress. Another negative consequence of the war was the growing resentment against the Pakistani government in East Pakistan. Bengali leaders accused the government for not providing adequate security for East Pakistan during the war even though large sums of money were taken from the east to finance the war. Yehya Khan After the war, Genral Ayub Khan handed over the power to General Yehya Khan violating the constitution instead of holding general elections. General Yehya Khan was a butcher in his nature and because of his incompetence Pakistan faced the greatest loss in its history. After the 1965 war, a strong resistance against military dictatorship and exploitation of Bengalis had started and Yehya Khan used his dictatorial method to solve political problems. Under the orders of Yehya Khan, Pakistan army acted in fascist ways against it won people and committed worst crimes in East Pakistan. To control the voices of protestors, the fascist army performed genocide on its own land. With American Support and military aid, Pakistan Army butchered three million Bengalis and raped Bengali women in 1971 only because Bengali leaders were asking for provincial autonomy and an end to exploitation of the people of East Pakistan. That is the Army way to handle political problems. That is the policy of every dictator to slaughter everyone who dares to speak against dictatorship. Every dictatorship in the world practices the same policy. But Pakistan Army is unique in this matter that Pakistani soldiers killed their own people. They did not spare anyone. They massacred innocent unarmed citizens in colleges, schools, roads and even in mosques. Atrocities by Pakistani soldiers in East Pakistan shocked the world and conscientious people from around the world condemned crimes of Pakistan Army. Genocide in East Pakistan and human rights crimes led to another war with India in 1971. As a consequence of this war and atrocities of Pakistani soldiers, Pakistan had to loose a large part of its territory which became an independent state, called Bangladesh today. War of 1971 To control the protests against exploitation and dictatorship in East Pakistan, in March 1971, Pakistani Army started a planned genocide in East Pakistan called 'Operation Searchlight' to curb Bengali nationalist movement. This operation ended in December 1971 and resulted in deaths of three million Bengali people. Indian Government at this time expressed full support for the people of East Pakistan. America was providing full support and military aid to fascist Pakistani soldiers. Indian government launched a successful diplomatic campaign against Pakistani military's crime on a grand scale. To cover their embarrassment in international forums, Pakistan's military rulers launched offensive air strikes on north-western Indian border. However, the Indians had anticipated such a move and the raid was not successful. The Indian Air Force launched a counter-attack and quickly achieved air superiority. Pakistan Army Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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counter-attacked India in the West in an attempt to capture territory which might have been used to bargain for territory they expected to lose in the east. The land battle in the West was crucial for any hope of preserving a united Pakistan. The Indian Army quickly responded to the Pakistan Army's movements in the west and made some initial gains, including capturing around 5,500 sq miles of Pakistan territory. At sea, the Indian Navy proved its superiority by the success of Operation Trident, the name given to the attack on Karachi's port. It also resulted in the destruction of 2 destroyers and one minesweeper, and was followed by the successful Operation Python. In every field, Pakistan Army faced heavy losses. The war ended in a crushing defeat for Pakistan military in just a fortnight. Pakistan's general Niazi, who was titled as 'Tiger Niazi' for killing innocent un-armed civilians appealed for a cease-fire and surrendered in extremely shameful manner. As a result, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Pakistan lost a half of its navy, a quarter of it Air-Force and a third of its army. India captured 93000 Pakistani soldiers as prisoners of war. India wanted to put them on trials for their war crimes in East Pakistan but eventually released them as a gesture of reconciliation. After this shameful defeat, General Yehya Khan resigned and handed over power to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, an elected leader and thus democracy started being restored eventually. It was against the Interest of foreign policy of US, who had spent a huge amount in Pakistan Army. Bhutto's policies were leaning towards Soviet Union while US has established a fascist terrorist arm in the form of Pakistan Army. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto remained in power from 1971 to 1977. Zia-ul-Haq In July 1977 the military, led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, staged a coup. Zia removed Bhutto from power, held him in detention and later persecuted and hanged him. Zia pledged that new elections would be held in 90 days. He kept postponing the elections and eventually took all power in his hand. He ruled the country for 11 years that is the longest period in Pakistan's history till date. General Zia imposed Martial Law in 1977 and assumed the post of president in 1978. He secured his position by a rigged referendum in 1984 and in 1985 he eased Martial Law and announced nonpartisan election. Zia handpicked a dummy Prime Minister to show the world that he is restoring democracy. Muhammad Khan Junejo who could not breathe without the General’s permission was sacked in 1988. Zia’s period is not only longest but darkest too as during this time, historical places were turned into prisons for those who raised voice against military dictatorship and it became a routine to arrest, punish and persecute intellectuals who dared to speak. This period was full of brutality, suppression and fear. A number of intellectuals fled from Pakistan and many were sent to specially set up torture cells. He imposed his policies in the name of Islamization to get support from religious schools. This Islamization was directly imported from Washington and was based on violence for serving American interest in the name of Islam and Jihad in Afghanistan. Results of his Islamization are clearer after nine years. General Zia was an actual employee of US. After holding the power, he started a proxy war on the orders from his US masters against Soviet Union. He proved himself as the most reliable instrument for his imperialist masters. In his period, Pakistan was flooded with military aids from US. Zia was performing as a middleman between US and tribesman of Afghanistan who were fighting against Soviet Union. General Zia did everything to serve his Washington-based masters from training of Afghan fighters to sending Pakistanis to Afghan war. In his period, religious schools became training

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camps for militants. Whole country was flooded with arms and ammunitions and it resulted in a continuous state of violence in the country that is present to date. Zia's rule witnessed heightened tensions with neighboring states. He was instrumental in providing military assistance to Mujahideen fighting in Afghanistan against Soviet Occupation and then later diverting them to the Kashmir cause in the late 1980s. During his time as President, Zia was also accused several times by Indian premier Indira Gandhi (and later Rajiv Gandhi) of training Sikh insurgents and sending them to destabilize India. Under the orders from Washington, Zia provided logistic support to Afghan Mujahedeen and opened Pakistani borders for Afghanistan. A great number of refugees fled into Pakistan and the country faced a huge burden on its economy. Zia’s era is also remembered as the golden age for drug trafficking. This period was also golden for criminals as all sorts of arms and ammunition became easily available throughout the country. Zia’s greed for more and more power led him to introduce theocratic laws without the broader context and without fulfilling other basic requirements for implementing those lasws. It was a show to win support in the name of Islam. He imposed total censorship on media and he introduced a controversial Hudood Ordinance to win support from religious fundamentalist groups. Human rights Organizations have been criticising the implementation of this law and they accuse that this law has been being abused to suppress half of the population of Pakistan. This infamous ordinance was introduced to control adultery but in itself this ordinance protected rapists. Under this ordinance many rape-victims were arrested and sent to prison because they could not produce witness to meet the standard of this ordinance. Zia also banned women from participating in sports activities. With continuous support of the US, General Zia became the most powerful and cruel ruler of the country. He declared Pakistani constitution as a 'rag of paper'. The person who polluted the soil of Pakistan with drugs, arms and corruption died in an air crash in 1988. Officially his death remains a mystery as no one dares to point a finger towards the actual mastermind behind the plot. General Zia also militarized the bureaucracy systematically. By the order of his government, 5% of all new posts in the higher civil service were to be filled by army officers who, consequently, occupied important civilian positions. Successive democratically elected governments did not rescind this order due to the power wielded by Pakistan Army. Under Pakistan's current military government, militarizing the bureaucracy is again pursued. Fragile Democracy After the death of General Zia-ul-Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan became caretaker president of Pakistan and he held elections in the country to restore democracy. Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zufiqar Ali Bhuto, former Prime Minister who was persecuted by Zia-ulHaq won with heavy majority and her victory proved how much hatred Zia-ul-Haq had earned. Military supported president Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved National Assembly just after twenty months and forced new elections. In fact fascist military Generals could not tolerate the popularity of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was still alive in the hearts of people of Pakistan even after an 11 years long period of suppression. In upcoming elections of 1990, Nawaz Shareef became Prime Minister. Elections of 1990 were fully controlled by Military and Nawaz Shareef was actually a hand-picked Prime Minister. But Nawaz Shareef soon demanded for restoration for real democracy that could never be tolerated by Generals. Nawaz Shareef's started standing against Army mafia. However, Ghulam Ishaq Khan was still president of Pakistan and was Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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acting as a front-man of the military Generals. He removed Nawaz and dissolved National Assembly. In the 1993 elections, the Generals did not have any dummy to appoint and Benazir Bhutto won with a heavy majority again. This time Benazir came in office with more power and she removed Ghulam Ishaq Khan from office. In 1996 she was removed from office again on the charges of corruption and bad governance. This time again Nawaz Shareef who had become a national level leader by now won with such a huge majority and popularity that the Generals felt threatened. Nawaz Shareef had now understood politics of the fascist Generals and he wanted to control their games. Nawaz Shareef had been doing his best to restore democracy in the country and in his second tenure he secured extreme popularity in the country. He was the second leader in Pakistan who became so popular in a short period after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Nawaz Shareef proved himself a sensible leader and he did not give any chance to US to support Pakistan Military to destabilize democracy. Kargil War In 1999, Generals played another nasty game to weaken democracy in the country. At this time Nawaz Shareef was working for the peace with Indian Government which could jeopardize the status quo which the military wanted to maintain. The Generals found it a golden opportunity and launched a plan to infiltrate Kashmir. They started an operation in Kargil with the help of some fundamentalist militant organizations. The situation was embarrassing for Nawaz Shareef. He came under pressure from the whole world especially from the USA. In furious state, Nawaz Shareef used his constitutional power and dismissed General Parvez Musharraf who was the mastermind behind Kargil operation. Kargil war started after military operation code named Operation Badar in 1999. In the beginning Pakistan Army supported intruders and provided logistic support. As a result, they captured Indian Positions at a time when Indian forces had left positions due to cold weather. Due to extreme weather, it was a common practice in both militaries to leave such positions in winter and re-occupy them in spring. Pakistani paramilitary forces took control of Indian positions but Indian forces responded and forced them back to the line of control. Pakistan Military tried to capture Kargil posts with the help of intruders but Indian forces responded with mobilization of 20,000 troops to the line of control. Indian troops soon secured most of their territories and India also launched a diplomatic campaigned on international level that had been successful and this rogue misadventure by a fascist Army brought embarrassment to the nation. International Media titled Pakistan Army as 'The Rogue Army' for its coward act. Pakistan has been criticized for the criminal activities of its Military and “international community” forced Pakistan to withdraw its troops from Kargil. Pakistan faced the loss of approximately 4000 troops and extreme damage to the morale of Military. As a result of this fascist act of violating the Line of Control by Pakistan Army, Pakistan faced the possibility of isolation and Pakistan's economy tumbled. Image of Pakistan shattered in international community. The ongoing peace process with India stopped. Prime Minister who was under pressure from international community tried to constitute a committee to investigate. Nawaz Shareef wanted to bring Parvez Musharaf under charge for such irresponsible action. Tension between Prime Minister and Army chief arose on the issue of investigation. the Army chief, according to the traditions of Generals, started acting arrogantly. Army Chief, who was responsible for the loss, was afraid of investigations and under such fears he started ignoring constitutional orders from Prime Minister. He challenged the

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writ of democratic government and as a result, Nawaz Shareef issued the orders of dismissal of Army Chief to maintain the writ of parliament. General Pervez Musharraf As it had been the policy of Fascist Generals to never perform their constitutional duty and accept orders from Federal Government, General Musharraf refused to accept orders and captured the capital in a military coup in 1999. Generals once again murdered the democracy. General Musharraf arrested the elected Prime Minister and later exiled him. Musharraf charged Nawaz Shareef with accusations of corruption and bad governance. Such charges of corruptions and bad governance always had been a lame excuse for military coups. Politicians all over the world are charged with such accusations but they do not solve such problems with military coups. It is only Pakistan's fascist army that uses its power to destabilize democracy and over-throw civilian government. It is evident that generals of Pakistan are more corrupt than politicians. Their only problem is that they cannot let democracy be strengthened. General Parvez Musharraf hijacked power and illegally held the office of president. of Pakistan. He followed the footsteps of his predecessor General Zia-ul-Haq and used every dictatorial method to sabotage democratic process in the country. He used every brutal tactic to control voices of protest. He crossed every limit in serving his US master in order to remain in power. He is the first dictator of Pakistan who follows every command from Washington keeping aside national integrity. General Parvez Musharraf started Military operation in his own land to control protests against his dictatorship and repeated the story of East Pakistan. Pakistan Army started brutal operations in Waziristan and Balochistan to control the people who are demanding their basic rights. General Musharraf recently killed a nationalist leader from Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who had been a strong voice against Military dictatorship and the due rights of his people. Conditions in Balochistan are being worsened and the exploited people are feeling insecure and frightened. Under the Musharraf rule, the whole country has become a cantonment. Military is dominating the life in Pakistan. Fascist Army has captured every civil institution including schools, universities, factories, hospitals, public offices and public utility services. Pakistan Army has grabbed a large area of state owned land and it is being allotted to Military officers. They are looting all resources of the nation. Musharraf government is also selling profitable national assets at throw-away prices and getting huge kickbacks. Such corruption cases have been exposed before the Supreme Court but Musharraf is misusing his power and using every dictatorial method to control protests against his corruptions. People of Pakistan are under a continuous state of fear under Musharraf rule. People are afraid to speak as they have seen how Military rulers killed Nawab Bugti for raising voice against dictatorship. Even international media is silent because Musharraf is being supported by his Washington based masters. Price for the fascist acts of Generals is being paid by common Pakistanis who are suffering poverty and humility. General Mushararf, following the footsteps of his predecessor generals, forced censorship on media. Government banned websites and newspaper in Balochistan who were reporting the atrocities of Pakistan Army in Balochistan. At some occasions, the government also blocked a reputable news resource 'South Asia tribune' that published the reports of corruption of Generals. They have also blocked some other websites that publish reports on military operation in Balochistan. Many journalists and activists were kidnapped by agencies and a large number of citizens have disappeared in the past few years. Reporters Sans Frontiers, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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International Organization of journalists ranked Pakistan as No. 12 in world’s most restricted press in 2006 because of Musharraf’s continuous attacks on the freedom of press. More recently Pakistan Army raided a religious school in NWFP, killing more than 83 students, accusing them of terrorism. Most of these students were under 14 years of age and no evidence of any weapon or suspicious activity was found. Government also banned journalist to enter in the premises of bombed school. This act of Mushararf is extra-judicial murder and human rights organizations condemned Musharraf regime for such operation without investigation. International Fund for Peace declared Pakistan a failed state in 2006 because of the policies of General Musharraf. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the criminal policies of the fascist General. Transparency International ranked his government as most corrupt in the history of Pakistan. But he is not willing to leave the office, ignoring protests going on in the country, condemnation worldwide and worsening situations of homeland security, national economy and human rights. Land of Pakistan has been suffering the rule of these ambitious and opportunist military Generals denying people their right to self-determination and dancing at the tunes from Washington and London. It is the responsibility of conscientious people from around the world to raise voice against this cruel dictatorship and show support and solidarity with the people of Pakistan who had been a victim of cruelty of its Fascist Army sine 1952. The Color Khaki Now each day is fair and balmy, Everywhere you look, the army. Ustad Daman (1959) Tariq Ali On 19 September 2001, General Pervaiz Musharraf went on TV to inform the people of Pakistan that their country would be standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States in its bombardment of Afghanistan. Visibly pale, blinking and sweating, he looked like a man who had just signed his own death warrant. The installation of the Taliban regime in Kabul had been the Pakistan Army’s only foreign-policy success. In 1978, the US had famously turned to the country’s military dictator General Zia-ulHaq when it needed a proxy to manage its jihad against the radical pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan. In what followed, the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence became an army within an army, with much of its budget supplied directly from Washington. It was the ISI that supervised the Taliban’s sweep to power during Benazir Bhutto’s premiership of the mid-nineties; that controlled the infiltration of skilled saboteurs and assassins into Indian-held Kashmir; and that maintained a direct connexion with Osama bin Laden. Zia’s successors could congratulate themselves that their new province in the north-west almost made up for the defection of Bangladesh in 1971. Now it was time to unravel the gains of the victory: the Taliban protectorate had to be dismantled and bin Laden captured, ‘dead or alive’. But having played such a frontline role in installing fundamentalism in Afghanistan, would the Pakistan Army and the ISI accept the reverse command from their foreign masters, and put themselves in the forefront of the brutal attempt to root it out? Musharraf was clearly nervous but the US Defence Intelligence Agency had not erred. In the final analysis, Pakistan’s generals have always remained loyal to the institution that produced them—and to its international backers—rather than to abstract ideas like democracy, Islam or even Pakistan.

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The country’s fifty-five year history has been a series of lengthy duels between general and politician, with civil servants acting as seconds for both sides. Statistics reveal the winner: while elected representatives have run the country for fifteen years, and unaccountable bureaucrats and their tame front men for eleven, the Army has been in power for twenty-nine—leading some to suggest that the green-and-white national flag might be re-coloured khaki. [1] It is a dismal record, but the Pakistan high command has never tolerated interference from civilian politicians for too long. The last elected leader to believe he had the Army firmly under his control, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had to be disabused of the notion. In 1977, on the orders of General Zia—an erstwhile favourite whom Bhutto had promoted over the heads of five, more deserving, superior officers—the prime minister was removed from power and hanged two years later. [2] After Zia’s sudden death in 1988, power alternated between Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (1988–90; 1993–96) and Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League (1990–93; 1997–99). By 1998 it looked as if Nawaz Sharif—probably the country’s most venal politician—was forgetting the lessons of Bhutto’s fall. The rickety economy was facing collapse as the Southeast Asian financial crisis swept the region, exacerbated by US sanctions imposed after the 1998 Indo-Pak nuclear tests (Clinton later intervened to soften these on the grounds of US national-security interests). The Chief of Army Staff, General Karamat, called for a National Security Council to be set up to take charge of the situation, with the Army playing a major role. Nawaz Sharif sacked him in October 1998 and installed Musharraf as COAS instead. Six months later, under Musharraf’s command, the Pakistan Army launched its Kargil offensive, capturing strategic heights in Indian-held Kashmir. Nawaz Sharif came under immediate US pressure and, in July 1999, ordered the troops to withdraw— snatching diplomatic defeat from the jaws of military victory, in the eyes of the high command. Nawaz Sharif, clearly counting on Washington’s support, tried to instigate moves against Musharraf within the Army, while complaining in public that he had not been consulted about the Kargil move. The following October, while Musharraf was on a visit to Sri Lanka, Pakistan TV announced that the COAS had been sacked. Flying home, his plane was denied permission to land. Either while circling Pakistan airspace with dwindling fuel supplies, or after his final touch-down, Musharraf gave the order for Nawaz Sharif to be put under arrest. Announcing that he had been ‘compelled to act, to prevent the further destabilization of the military’, Musharraf suspended parliament and the constitution, appointed himself the country’s ‘Chief Executive’ and established a governing National Security Council. (The Clinton administration ensured a smoother fate for Nawaz Sharif than Bhutto had endured, whisking him out of prison to enjoy a comfortable exile in Saudi Arabia.) Liberal applause Initially, there was some rejoicing both at home and abroad at the Pakistan Army’s fourth coup in as many decades. To the popular delight at getting rid of Nawaz Sharif was added the innovation of a military take-over in the face of apparent White House displeasure. This, coupled with the pseudo-modernist rhetoric of the new ruler, encouraged a wave of amnesia. It was as if the institution that had dominated the country’s political life for so many decades had ceased to exist—or undergone a miraculous transformation. Liberal pundits in New York and Lahore lost their bearings, while in the London Review of Books Anatol Lieven decribed Musharraf’s administration as being ‘the most progressive Pakistan has had in a generation’. [3] The bulk of the citizens were more sceptical—indifferent to the fate of their politicians, and with few illusions as to the character or role of the Army. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Like his uniformed predecessors, Musharraf immediately promised to end corruption, reform the countryside, tax the middle-classes, eradicate poverty, educate the poor and restore real democracy. The Pakistani road to absolutism is always paved with such intentions. Why were so many liberal commentators deceived? Partially it was sheer desperation. In the face of the appalling performance of elected politicians during the nineties, they were ready to grasp at straws. They were also taken in by Musharraf’s rhetoric, replete with admiring references to Kemal Atatürk, and by his relatively untypical socio-cultural background. Unlike most of the military high command, Musharraf was not of Punjabi stock. He had no links with the traditional landed elite that has dominated the country, nor was he on the payroll of a heroin millionaire or close to some tainted industrialist. His family, educated and secular, had left Uttar Pradesh during the Partition of 1947 to find shelter in the Land of the Pure. After her son’s rise to fame, his mother had casually revealed in the course of a newspaper interview that, in the fifties, she had been greatly influenced by progressive intellectuals such as Sajjad Zaheer and Sibte Hassan. [4] She never said that her views had been genetically transmitted to her boy, but desperate people will put their hopes in anything. Within a few months of Musharraf’s seizure of power, however, there was already a strong indication that nothing substantial would change. The Chief Executive had appointed a friend and colleague, General Amjad, as head of the National Accountability Bureau, charged with rooting out and punishing corrupt officials, politicians and businessmen. Amjad was one of the few senior officers in the Army rumoured to have unpolluted hands. His reputation for ‘playing by the rules’ had made him a maverick, even as a junior officer. One story has it that he refused to allow a general to borrow the mess silver for a private dinner party, despite insistent requests. His colleagues, taken aback at his stuffiness, laughed at him in public while privately according him some grudging respect. Musharraf’s decision to put him in charge of the NAB had potentially serious consequences. Within a fortnight, Amjad had hired the services of a reputable nonestablishment American lawyer, William Pepper, to track down the money spirited abroad by Benazir Bhutto and husband Asif Zardari. Simultaneously, Amjad ordered the arrest of industrialists who had borrowed money from the banks and failed to pay even the interest on it. A list of politicians who had done the same was published in every newspaper. The naming and shaming was punishing psychologically but was insufficient to deal with the cancer. Amjad reportedly told the Chief Executive that, to tackle the problem seriously, it would be necessary to create at least one completely clean institution in the country; only then would civil servants and politicians take notice. But any thorough purge of the Augean stables would have required the arrest of dozens of serving and former generals, admirals and air marshals, long rewarded for services to their country by the chance to engage in large-scale corruption. Musharaf naturally baulked at any such prospect, fearing it would divide and demoralize the top brass and could lead to a break-down in discipline. Once discipline went, the Pakistani military risked becoming little different from a Middle-Eastern or Latin American army where any Johnny, regardless of rank, thought he could seize power. Amjad was quietly shifted sideways, first as a Corps Commander and then as head of the Fauji Foundation, a military honey-pot where his own scruples will certainly be tested. The imprisoned capitalists were released, the shamed politicians heaved a collective sigh of relief and it was, in every sense of the phrase, back to business as usual. A listing economy If the removal of Amjad had pleased local capitalism, the appointment of New York Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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banker Shaukat Aziz as Finance Minister endeared Musharraf to the IMF. Pakistan’s economy has long been crippled by exorbitant defence expenditure which, amplified by inadequate tax revenues, has led to sky-rocketing debt-service costs. By 2001, debt and defence amounted to two-thirds of public spending—257bn rupees ($4.2bn) and 149.6bn rupees ($2.5bn) respectively, compared to total tax revenues of 414.2bn rupees ($6.9bn). In a country with one of the worst public education systems in Asia— 70 per cent of women, and 41 per cent of men, are officially classified as illiterate— and with health care virtually non-existent for over half the population, a mere 105.1bn rupees ($1.75bn) was left for overall development. Throughout the nineties, the IMF had scolded civilian governments for failing to keep their restructuring promises. Musharraf’s regime, by contrast, won admiring praise from 1999 onwards for sticking to IMF guidelines ‘despite the hardships imposed on the public by austerity measures’. [5] Impoverishment and desperation in the burgeoning city slums and the countryside—still home to 67.5 per cent of the population—were exacerbated further. Some 56 million Pakistanis, nearly 40 per cent of the population, now live below the poverty line; the number has increased by 15 million since Musharraf seized power. Of Pakistan’s four provinces the Punjab, with around 60 per cent of the population, has continued to dominate economically and politically, with Punjabis filling the upper echelons of the Army and bureaucracy and channelling what development there is to local projects. Sind, with 23 per cent of the population, and Baluchistan (5 per cent) remain starved of funds, water and power supplies, while the North West Frontier’s fortunes have been increasingly tied to the heroin economy. The problem is structural. The economy rests on a narrow production base, heavily dependent on the fallible cotton crop and the low-value-added textile industry; irrigation supplies are deficient, and soil erosion and salinity widespread. More damaging still are the crippling social relations in the countryside. Low productivity in agriculture can only be reversed through the implementation of serious land reforms, but the alliance between khaki state and local landlords makes this virtually impossible. As a recent Economist Intelligence Unit report on Pakistan noted: Change is hindered not least because the status quo suits the wealthy landowners who dominate the sector, as well as federal and provincial parliaments. Large landowners own 40 per cent of the arable land and control most of the irrigation system. Yet assessments by independent agencies, including the World Bank, show them to be less productive than smallholders. They are also poor taxpayers, heavy borrowers and bad debtors. [6] The weak economy has been further skewed for decades now by Pakistan’s vast military apparatus. For ‘security reasons’, its costs are never itemized in official statements: a single line records the overall sum. In Pakistan, the power of any elected body to probe into military affairs has always been strictly curtailed. The citizenry remains unaware of how the annual $2.5bn is distributed between the Army (550,000-strong, with two-thousand-plus tanks and two armoured divisions); the Air Force (ten fighter squadrons of forty combat planes each, as well as French and USmade missile systems); and the Navy (ten submarines, eight frigates); let alone what is spent on nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Military Keynesianism This lack of transparency is extended to the maze of loss-making business enterprises run by the Army. The oldest of these is the Fauji Foundation, established as a charity for retired military personnel in 1889. It has since become a giant conglomerate in its own right with controlling shares in sugar mills, energy, fertilizer, cereals, cement and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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other industries—combined assets worth 9.8bn rupees. The Army Welfare Trust, set up in 1977 under General Zia’s dictatorship, controls real estate, rice mills, stud farms, pharmaceutical industries, travel agencies, fish farms, six different housing schemes, insurance companies, an aviation outfit and the highly accommodating Askari Commercial Bank, many of whose senior functionaries had earlier served at the discredited Bank of Credit and Commerce International; the AWT’s assets have been valued at 17bn rupees. The Air Force and Navy chiefs also have their own troughs: the Shaheen and Bahria Foundations. Many of these enterprises have been engaged in corruption, although scandals usually erupt only when civilian businessmen have become too greedy in exploiting the opportunities they offer, or where the fall of a government has exposed its shady deals. Benazir Bhutto’s spouse Asif Zardari was implicated, via an intermediary, in short-changing the Air Force’s Shaheen Foundation in a dubious media venture. In another case, it emerged that a private businessman had bribed senior naval personnel in the process of defrauding the Bahria Foundation over a land-development deal. A lawyer petitioned the Supreme Court to outlaw all use of Army, Navy and Air Force insignia in private enterprise. He demonstrated how the foundations were contravening the Companies Ordinance of 1984, accused them and their partners of collusion and corruption, and pleaded with the Court to outlaw all commercial activities by the armed services. Unable to contest his arguments, the judges dismissed the case on a technicality—thereby revealing their own subordination to the colour khaki. Contrary to the widely propagated myth that the Army can at least run things efficiently (‘probably the only successful modern institution Pakistan possesses’, according to an admirer in the London Review of Books), a detailed investigation by Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha has recently revealed that most of these businesses are run at a loss, with the generals siphoning off funds from the bloated defence budget to make up the difference. [7] The military are also entirely innocent of modern accounting systems: their books tend to ignore such factors as personnel and utilities costs, and in any case government auditors are warned not to examine them too closely. Meanwhile, their stranglehold over many areas of the economy stifles normal development. In the construction and transport sectors especially, the ability of Armyrun companies such as the National Logistics Cell and the Frontier Works Organization to monopolize government contracts, whether under civilian or military regimes, forces smaller companies out of business. Musharraf’s war on terror By 2001, as a result of skewed spending, stagnating agricultural and industrial sectors and grotesque military mismanagement, the country was groaning under a burden of a $27bn external public debt. Then came September 11. Mercifully for Washington, the Army was already in power in Pakistan. The Pentagon and the CIA were spared the time and energy needed to organize a new military coup. At such a moment of tension, institutional continuity must have been reassuring. [8] As the B52s roared into the newly won bases in Kyrgyzstan, and secret sites along the Baluchistan border were reactivated for Special Service use, the IMF approved a three-year povertyreduction loan of $1.3bn and helped reschedule over $12bn in debt—resulting in massive budgetary relief for Pakistan, and allowing its State Bank to build unprecedented foreign-exchange reserves (some $7bn by July 2002). By this time, the IMF had also disbursed soft loans totalling around $400m. Overnight, Musharraf had become halal in the West and was being fêted by Bush and Blair in the same venues in which Reagan and Thatcher had welcomed Zia and Osama’s friends. For its part, the Army high command was united in the view that the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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born-again alliance with Washington was a severe blow against the Indian enemy. Pakistan’s civilian elite, too, was in jubilant mood. Now at least they were no longer pariahs. A new imperial war, with their very own Army as the principal proxy and the whole country as a base of operations, meant they were needed once again. The more liberal wing of the elite dreamt of a permanent Pentagon–Musharraf axis that would destroy the hold of Pakistan’s dreaded Islamists forever. Overlooking how many times their illusions had been betrayed in the past, its representatives now travelled to Washington to plead that the region never be left unprotected again. For their part, emissaries from the disgraced politicians Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto became familiar if pathetic figures at Foggy Bottom, pleading endlessly with junior functionaries of the State Department not to trust the Army. The exact role of the ISI during this period remains unclear. In his 19 September broadcast, Musharraf had hinted that his loyalty to Washington’s war on terror would be rewarded not just with cash but with an American wink at Pakistan’s nuclear and Kashmiri aspirations—‘our critical concerns’, as he put it. [9] As early as November 2001, India was protesting at increased Pakistani-backed infiltration into Kashmir. On 13 December, armed gunmen allegedly linked to the ISI-funded Jaish-e-Mohammad attacked the Indian parliament building in Delhi, killing nine people. With tension rapidly escalating, the two countries mobilized close to a million troops along their common border—a mass militarization that served retrograde political interests on both sides. Khaki democracy By this stage, Musharraf’s own popularity had begun to list asymmetrically: the more he was appreciated by the State Department the less inclined he felt to undertake any serious measures at home—leave alone implementing the ‘true democracy’ he had promised. Instead, like Generals Ayub and Zia before him, the Chief Executive now attempted to make himself impregnable. Temporarily discarding his uniform, he dressed up in native gear, complete with a particularly stupid turban, and launched his political career at a ‘public’ rally, consisting of peasant-serfs bussed into a large field by a friendly landlord in Sind. The referendum is a time-honoured weapon of dictators in search of legitimacy; Musharraf’s decision to rig the April 2002 plebiscite in his favor disillusioned even his most ardent liberal supporters. The majority of the electorate stayed at home while government employees, soldiers and serfs trooped to the polls and transformed the CE into the country’s elected President. The next step was equally predictable. The one thing every dictator needs in order to provide his regime with a civilian façade is a political party. Not a problem, Musharraf’s sycophants assured him: a handy instrument could easily be fashioned from the debris of the past. Like an out-of-work courtesan, the Muslim League—the country’s foundational party—was given a shower, dusted with powder and provided with a new wig, before being displayed to the growing queue of potential suitors. Ayub’s pet name for his party was the Convention Muslim League; Zia preferred the Pakistan Muslim League, and allowed the Sharif family to manage it on his behalf. Musharraf, having ditched the Sharifs, needed a new name. A timeserver suggested the Quaid-i-Azam Muslim League and so it came about that this old-new entity entered the lists as the General’s Party, in the General’s Election of October 2002. [10] Its personnel were hardly unfamiliar, consisting of bandwagon careerists of every stripe. In the countryside, these were still the old landed gentry, eager to please the new ruler; in the towns, local notables who had accrued vast sums of money, often through illegal means, and become procurers of power and influence. Where in the past a father or uncle had supported Ayub or Zia, now the son or son-in-law was eager to act as a Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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prop for Musharraf. In the face of mass apathy the bureaucracy, past masters in the art of electoral manipulation, set about ensuring the required outcome. The results of the October election were much closer than anticipated. Despite the low turnout—under 20 per cent, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan— and skilful ballot-rigging, the official Muslim League (Q) failed to secure an overall majority in the National Assembly, winning 115 seats out of 324, mainly in its traditional bastion of the Punjab. Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party secured eighty seats—again, largely in their Sindhi heartland—and the rump of the Muslim League that had remained loyal to Nawaz Sharif took nineteen. It was the Islamists who scored a really big hit. With 66 seats, their united front Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA—Unified Action Conference) gained the highest ever complement that Islamist parliamentarians had ever achieved in the history of this Islamic Republic, sweeping the Pashto-speaking regions along the Afghan border. Their colourful turbans and long beards literally changed the complexion of the National Assembly. True, they were helped by the first-past-the-post system inherited from the mother of parliaments; but Thatcher and Blair had both benefited from this without too many complaints. The MMA also emerged as the largest political force at provincial level in the North West Frontier, and a dominant influence in Baluchistan: the provincial Governments in Peshawar and Quetta are currently presided over by Islamist Chief Ministers. Power brokers acting on Musharraf’s behalf finally managed to confect a federal coalition that would exclude the MMA. A block of PPP members was detached from the parent organization with the inducement of senior cabinet posts. A Baluch landlord and hockey enthusiast, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who had been responsible for the brutal repression of peasants in 1977—ten were killed in clashes with the police—was anointed as Musharraf’s new Prime Minister. Two decades before, Jamali had slaved to achieve the same position under General Zia, but the latter was not keen on hockey and preferred to employ the cricket-loving Nawaz Sharif as his factotum. Given that 70 per cent of Musharraf’s new Cabinet, including Jamali, had featured prominently on General Amjad’s list of corrupt politicians, the widespread public cynicism was hardly a surprise. Far from regenerating democracy, the khaki election has bared the sordid reality of Pakistani politics; a large majority feels both disenfranchised and alienated from those who govern on its behalf. The election campaign itself had been largely lacklustre, if not totally apolitical. The mainstream parties had no differences on ideological or policy grounds, either on the domestic or the international level. The People’s Party had long abandoned its populism. Benazir Bhutto, wanted in Pakistan on charges of corruption, attempted to rule from her base in Dubai via her chosen proxy, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a Pir-cumlandlord from Sind. Politician and religious divine rolled into one, Fahim is hardly a social liberal. Uniquely, even for Pakistan, all his four brothers-in-law are the Koran. [11] Like the different Muslim Leagues on offer, the PPP was concerned with power solely as a means to offer patronage and enlarge its clientele. Maulana Diesel The Islamist alliance, for its part, had no disagreements with the other parties on the IMF prescriptions for the economy—there is, after all, a neoliberal reading of the Koran—but campaigned vigorously in defence of Islamic laws and against the US presence in the region. There was hardly a day without a newspaper headline highlighting MMA leader Maulana Fazl ur Rehman’s hostility to the American troops: ‘Fazl Demands Expulsion of US Commandos from Tribal Areas’, ‘West Bent on Initiating Civilizations Clash: Fazl’, ‘Fazl Says Sovereignty Mortgaged to US’, ‘Fazl Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Demands Halt to US Army Operations’, ‘Fazl Urges US Troops Withdrawal’, ‘MMA Vows to Block Hunt for al-Qaeda’, etc. [12] Much of this was pure bluster, but it proved helpful electorally. The Maulana himself admitted that it was not religion that won him new support, but his foreign-policy stance. In discussions with Musharraf, he declared his willingness to establish a coalition with himself as prime minister. When the General pointed out that his anti-Americanism posed a serious problem, the cleric is reported to have replied: ‘Don’t worry about that now. We’ve worked with the Americans in the past. Make me Prime Minister and I’ll sort everything out.’ The offer was declined. The MMA is a six-party alliance, with the Jamaat-Ulema-Islam—Party of Islamic Scholars—and the Jamaat-i-Islami, or Islamist Party, its two main pillars. Both JUI and JI have been active for decades, mainly in the frontier regions of the NWFP and Baluchistan. Traditionally, the JUI considered itself anti-imperialist and was involved in coalition governments with radical secular parties during the seventies, under the leadership of Maulana Mufti Mahmood, Fazl’s father. It had always been hostile to the JI—regarding it as an instrument of the US and Saudi Embassies in Islamabad—and had opposed the military dictatorships of both Ayub and Zia; Mufti Mahmood had attended Peace Conferences in both Moscow and Beijing. His own death came just a few years before the collapse of the Communist world, and his son inherited the party. As a student Fazl had dabbled in poetry, writing verses in both Pashto and Urdu, and publicly declaring that the leftist Faiz Ahmed Faiz was his favourite poet. After his father’s death he continued the old man’s policies, working closely with Benazir Bhutto’s government in the mid-nineties. But whereas the farthest old Mufti had gone was to collect his dollar per diems at international conferences, the son, as befitted the new times, was more market-oriented. In return for his active support for Ms Bhutto he succeeded in procuring a lucrative diesel franchise, which covered large parts of the country—and, after the Pak-Taliban victory, most of Afghanistan as well; it earned him the sobriquet of Maulana Diesel. The bearded, rotund Diesel soon became a great favourite of Benazir’s Interior Minister General Naseerullah Babar, architect of the Taliban triumph in Kabul. Fazl’s political, ideological and commercial links with the Taliban leadership always remained strong, enabling him to outflank his local JI rivals, whose pawn Gulbuddin Hekmatyar—much fêted by Reagan and Thatcher in the eighties—had been effectively sidelined by the new student clerics in Kabul. After the US assault on Afghanistan, the bulk of the Taliban melted into the hills along the Pakistani border. There many of the returnees swelled the ranks of the JUI and other Islamist parties, and the JUI took the lead in organizing mass rallies against the ‘foreign occupiers’. It was Fazl who realized that, given the first-past-the-post system, the Islamists could be wiped out electorally if they remained divided. The Alliance was his initiative and he was duly elected its Secretary-General even though, at 49, he is fifteen years younger than his main coalition rival, Qazi Hussain Ahmed. Zia’s orphans Qazi Hussain’s election as Amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami marked a generational shift in an organization that had remained under the control of its founder Maulana Maudoodi and his deputy, Mian Tufail, since its origin in 1941. [13] Where the JUI was populist, had support in the villages and collaborated with the Left, the JI was built on the Leninist-cadre model. Its recruits were literate and carefully vetted, most of them students from urban petty-bourgeois backgrounds. Many had been tested in the campus struggles of the sixties and seventies. During the semi-insurrection of 1968– 69 that had toppled the Ayub dictatorship, the Left had dominated the action Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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committees that led the fight. To support the JI in those days required a real commitment to the cause. Its motto: religion is our politics and politics our religion. Qazi Hussain, a leader of the JI student faction at Islamia College in Peshawar, spent his formative years in battles—some of them physical—against the Left. He joined the parent body in 1970, when the JI’s branch in East Pakistan collaborated fully with the Army in its attempt to destroy the Bengali nation. Their cadres in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet compiled lists of ‘undesirables’ for military intelligence, which were then used to eliminate the opposition. ‘Chairman Mao supports us, not you’, was a taunt they regularly hurled at the Bengali Left of the time. China and the US both supported the Pakistan Army’s brutal assault on its own people, aimed at nullifying the dramatic 1970 election victory by the Bengali-nationalist Awami League. The Army’s onslaught backfired badly. Bangladesh is the direct outcome of a military refusal to recognize the will of the electorate. In the circumstances, the Army’s self-image as the only institution that holds the country together is somewhat grotesque. The JI’s role in the 1971 break up of Pakistan had the effect of drawing it closer to the intelligence apparatuses of the rump state. When Zia seized power six years later and joined the US jihad in Afghanistan, the JI became the main ideological prop of the military regime. Qazi Hussain defended the new turn; his skills were noted and he began his rise through the JI apparatus. A former geography lecturer, he now abandoned the low-paid chores of the academy to open a Popular Medical Store in Peshawar’s Soekarno Square. The shop was not just an informal meeting place for local JI cadres but a successful commercial operation, soon to be joined by a Popular Medical Laboratory and a Popular X-Ray Clinic. [14] It now became clear that he also aspired to a more popular Jamaat-i-Islami. Hussein knew that it was not easy for a vanguard party that had always prided itself on its elite character to re-brand and market itself in a more accessible style; in politics, as in business, there is always an element of risk when you decide to expand. His decision to join the 2002 Islamist alliance must have been as carefully calculated as the trim of his pure-white regulation beard (in marked contrast to the wilder salt-and-pepper variety sported by Maulana Diesel). A rhetorical shift? Incapable of serious opposition to either Musharraf or his Washington backers, the MMA concentrates its fire against women. It has declared its intention to ban cable-TV channels and co-education, and to institute the shari‘a in the provinces under its control. Given the disaster that befell a more extreme version of this programme in Afghanistan, this could be mere rhetoric designed to keep their followers inebriated while embarrassing the occupant of President’s House. The MMA’s triumph may or may not have been aided by some independent campaigning from sections of the ISI but it has undoubtedly put pressure on the regime to release more of the Islamist militants imprisoned when Musharraf joined the ‘war on terror’; some of the diehard Sunni terrorists responsible for appalling atrocities against minority Shia and Christian communities had already been freed before the election. More striking was the MMA’s success, in November 2002, in dragooning virtually the entire National Assembly—there were two exceptions—to observe a minute’s silence in memory of the ‘martyred Aimal Kansi’, whose body had been returned to Pakistan after his execution in a US Federal penitentiary for the murder of two CIA officials in Langley, Virginia in 1993. [15] Earlier, some 70,000 people had attended Kansi’s funeral prayers in Quetta, also organized by the MMA. Why did the National Assembly agree to mourn him? Pakistan has not outlawed capital punishment, so it could hardly be seen as a liberal protest. The simple answer is that the MMA’s success has worried Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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its opponents and they are hoping to defeat the Islamists on their own ground. Bhutto père made a similar error in the seventies and paid the price. Rural intifada A striking example of the political parties’ unwillingness to defend even the most elementary needs of the population can be seen in their reaction to the two-year struggle that has been waged by tenants working on state farms leased to the Army. Rarely has an event spotlighted the bankruptcy of traditional politics in Pakistan so vividly. The British colonial administration had first leased what were then known as ‘Crown lands’ in 1908, setting up military farms to produce subsidized grain and dairy products for the British Indian Army. After Partition, management of the farms— scattered around Lahore, Okara, Sahiwal, Khanewal, Sargodha and Multan, mainly in the Southern Punjab—passed to the Ministry of Defence and the provincial government. The Army controlled 26,274 acres, the remaining 32,000 acres were leased to the Punjab Seed Corporation. The tenant families who work the farms are the direct descendants of those first taken there in 1908. Forty per cent of them are Christians: mosques and churches function side by side. The religious parties have failed miserably in these regions and the peasants have, since the seventies, tended to vote for the People’s Party. No longer. The de facto merger of Army and state on virtually every level has meant that the generals act here as a collective landlord, the largest in the country, determining the living conditions of just under a million tenants. The functionaries of the khaki state regularly bullied and cheated their tenants: they were denied permission to build brick homes; the women were molested; and management approval had to be obtained— and paid for—to get electrification for the villages or build schools and roads. Bribery was institutionalized, and the tenants suffered growing debt burdens. The unconcealed purpose of this ruthless exploitation was to drive the tenants off the land so it could be divided into private landholdings for serving and retired generals and brigadiers. The rationale of the prospective new owners was that, when the time came, they would reemploy the evicted tenants as farm-serfs: it would be better for everyone. The aim of such ‘modernization’—in Okara and Sargodha as in Rio Grande do Sul—was, of course, deregulation, privatization and the destruction of tenant solidarity. The authorities, khaki and civilian, had been attempting to loosen the grip of the tenants over the land by offering short-term contracts and replacing battai—sharecropping arrangements that allowed tenants to keep half of what they produce—by cash-rents. Till now, the colonial administration’s Punjab Tenancy Act of 1887 has safeguarded their rights: male tenants and their direct descendants who had cultivated the land for more than two generations had the right of permanent occupancy. It was illegal to eject them from the land. Despite the misery inflicted on their families, the tenants defied all attempts to divide them along religious lines and remained united in a single body: the Anjuman-i-Muzaireen Punjab, or Punjab Tenants Organization, set up in 1996. In June 2000, without any consultations, the khaki landlords announced the conversion from a system of shared-produce to cash-rents. The tenants were outraged. Every evening there were informal assemblies to discuss the resistance, involving the entire village—women and children were to play a leading role in this rural intifada. Angered by the daily harassment, the tenants refused merely to defend the status quo and retaliated by demanding complete ownership of the land that their families had worked for decades. Their slogan, Malkiyat ya Maut—‘Ownership or Death’—echoed that of similar struggles in other continents. The first public protest took place on 7 October 2000: a four-hour sit-in on the lawn in front of the Deputy Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Commissioner’s office in Okara—the second most-powerful post-colonial bureaucrat in the city—by a thousand tenants protesting against the new scheme. Two days later, the Deputy Director of the military farms rang the local police chief and informed him that the tenants were threatening violence and had, in some villages, prevented the managers from removing (i.e. pilfering) wood. The Frontier Constabulary and Elite Force Rangers—their main function to prevent smuggling over the Indian border— arrived in the village and began roughing up the tenants. As women and children saw their fathers, brothers and husbands abused and kicked, they poured out of their homes to hurl stones at the police. A number of tenant activists were arrested. As news of the confrontation spread to neighbouring villages, the protests began to grow. Attempts by the authorities to divide or buy off tenants were a failure. In the spring of 2002 the Rangers opened fire on protesting tenants: some were killed. Organizers were arrested and beaten up in full view of their families. Women— Christian and Muslim—marched to Okara, carrying the wooden bats they use to beat the clothes as they wash them in the river, and surrounded the police station. Nothing like this had been seen before. The Army realized that, short of a massacre, this could be a protracted struggle. Ironically, the large presence of Christians excluded a bloodbath; it might annoy their co-religionist in the White House. On 9 June 2002, a thousand armed police and rangers surrounded the village of Pirowal. The siege lasted for seven hours, but the police failed to capture the organizers, despite threats to burn the entire cotton crop of the village. They had underestimated the power of peasant solidarity. In a sharply worded editorial the Karachi daily, Dawn, commented on 24 June 2002: To win back the confidence of the restive and distraught farmers, the police force sent to harass and terrorize them should be withdrawn immediately and any ill-conceived notion of teaching them a ‘lesson’ must be abandoned. Cases should be registered against government and farm management officials who ordered the police action that led to deaths . . . Once these confidence-building measures have been taken, the government should sit down and negotiate with the tenants, perhaps through the Punjab Tenants Organization, on how to grant the ownership rights due to them. The generals ignored the advice of a newspaper that has usually been sympathetic to their needs. Instead, Musharraf’s new status as the trusted ally of the West was used against the PTO, and its non-violent leaders charged under the new ‘anti-terrorist’ legislation—just as the real terrorists, most of whom have, at one time or another, been on the payroll of the military intelligence services, were being released. Despite the fact that Pakistan has been a regular port of call for Western media pundits over the last year—the New York Times’s Thomas Friedman preening himself on his intimate knowledge of frontier conditions—none of the visiting journalists deemed this struggle worthy of attention. It distracted from the only story they wanted to tell: fundamentalism. In fact, of course, mullahs are most effectively marginalized when people see them as irrelevant to their real needs—as the PTO farmers have shown. During the campaign of the last two years, church and mosque have alternated as their meeting places. In a discussion with two of their leaders—Dr Christopher John, the PTO senior vice-president, and Younis Iqbal, general secretary—in Lahore in December 2002, both stressed that religious divisions had played no part whatsoever in their conflict with the state. At their meetings, Iqbal said, ‘You couldn’t tell the Muslims and the Christians apart’. Heroin economy The only serious breach in the wall dividing an English-educated civilian and military elite—with access to Western universities, medical schools and military academies— Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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from the rest of the population, illiterate or semi-literate (largely, but not exclusively, the product of the madrassahs), has been the one made by the ‘black economy’. Over the last two decades, the cultivation of poppy orchards in Afghanistan and the NWFP has produced a fine crop of heroin millionaires. Many are of peasant or urban pettybourgeois stock, but their money has funded every political party and thoroughly penetrated the armed forces: cash, kalashnikovs and Pajeros—Japanese Range Rovers—have been distributed in all directions. In return, the humble heroin merchants have been loaded with honours and public displays of affection. As good fathers, they made sure their children were properly educated and became part of the elite. The upward mobility of this layer has slightly altered the composition of the property-owning fraction, without changing much else. Money remains the great leveller in the upper reaches of society, while the price of urban land has reached astronomical heights: the price of an apartment in the Defence Colony of Karachi or the fashionable Parade Ground in Lahore does not compare badly with New York or Berlin. During the nineties, heroin had been despatched to Europe and North America via two routes. The first led along the Grand Trunk Road from Peshawar down to Karachi and thence in container ships to Mediterranean ports. The second, policed by the Russian mafia, went from Afghanistan via Central Asia and Russia to the Balkans, and then to the capitals of the West. The defeat of the Taliban after 9.11 has brought about the virtual collapse of the Pakistani heroin networks. The Northern Alliance now monopolizes the trade and it is their Old Russian friends who prosper, while Kosovo has become the main distribution point for most of the world. [16] The Pakistani economy has only withstood the blow because of the cash that has smoothed the path of the American troops. Since the country’s foundation in 1947, the Pakistan Army has been the spinal chord of the state apparatus. The weakness of political institutions as the state emerged from British rule, the absence of a bourgeoisie and domination by a rural elite—a parasitical excrescence of the worst sort—led to an over-reliance on the civilian bureaucracy and the Army. Since there was no real consent for landlord rule, force— both direct and indirect—had to be brought into play. Both institutions had been created by the colonial power, which formed them in its mold. [17] Whereas the civil service was soon mired in corruption, the Army held out for a little longer. The impression was created that, while individual officers might be susceptible to bribes— they were, after all, human—the institution itself was clean. Two long periods of martial law destroyed that image. General Ayub Khan’s family became extremely wealthy during his rule from 1958 to 1969, as did some of his collaborators. And between 1977 and 1989, at least two of General Zia’s Corps Commanders were centrally involved in the heroin trade and gun-running. Corruption on a lesser scale spread through the junior ranks. The failure to crack down on these practices was hardly accidental. The generals adopted a materialist approach to the problem, seeing it as an easy way to preserve the unity of the Army. The loot could not be shared equally since that might promote egalitarian tendencies among the colonels and majors; but at the same time, the subalterns could not be denied some protection money for their crucial role in ‘protecting’ Pakistan. Military threat? Does Pakistan really need such a large defence establishment? The khaki ideologues insist that ever since Partition there has been a permanent military threat from India. The notion, as I have argued elsewhere, is ludicrous. [18] On all three occasions on which the two countries have gone to war—twice over Kashmir, and Bangladesh—the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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initiative was taken by Pakistan. The Indian Army could have taken West Pakistan in 1971, but was not allowed to cross the international border by its political leaders. Today, with both countries in possession of nuclear delivery systems, it is obvious that neither the Kashmir issue nor any other dispute can be resolved through war. Even an India dominated by Hindu chauvinism and saffron demagogues is hardly likely to attempt a conquest of Pakistan. Who would it benefit? It might be different if Pakistan had limitless quantities of oil lying just beneath the surface. In fact, there is no rationale behind the fear of India. It serves only one purpose: the maintenance of the huge military-industrial complex that sprawls across the country and sustains khaki hegemony. In truth, the threat to the Army’s predominance has always come from its own people. The only time the old Pakistan was genuinely united was during the 1969 uprising from below that saw students and workers in Dhaka and Karachi, Chittagong and Lahore, topple the dictatorship of Field Marshal Ayub Khan. The Army never forgave its Bengali citizens this act of treachery, and embarked on a bloodbath when they proceeded to elect the leaders of their choice. It is worth stressing the point, glossed over in so many recent accounts, that the Army which demands such vast sums to preserve the state actually provoked its break-up in 1971. The Army is now the only ruling institution; its domination of the country is complete. How long can this be sustained? Till now it has managed to preserve the command structure inherited from the British: Pakistani generals often boast of its inviolability when compared to the Middle East or Latin America. But a great deal has changed since the sixties. The officer corps is no longer the exclusive domain of the landed gentry—a majority of officers come from urban backgrounds and are subject to the same influences and pressures as their civilian peers. Privileges have kept them loyal, but the processes that destroy politicians are already at work. Whereas in the recent past it was Nawaz Sharif and his brother, or Benazir Bhutto and her husband, who demanded kickbacks before making deals, it is now General Musharraf’s office that sanctions key projects. Of course, high—even stratospheric—levels of corruption are no bar to longevity, if a military regime has sufficiently intimidated its population and enjoys solid enough support in Washington, as the Suharto regime in Indonesia testifies. Can Musharraf look forward to this sort of reign? The fate of his dictatorship is likely to depend on the interaction of three main forces. First will be the degree of internal cohesion of the Army itself. Historically, it has never split—vertically or horizontally—and its discipline in following a 180-degree turn in policy towards Afghanistan, whatever the sweeteners that have accompanied it, has so far been impressive. It is not impossible that one day some patriotic officer might deliver the country of its latest tyrant, as Zia was once mysteriously sent on his way to Gehenna; but for the minute, such an ending appears improbable. Having weathered the humiliation of its abandonment of the Taliban, the high command looks capable of brazening out any further acts of obeisance to orders from the Pentagon. What of parliamentary opposition to military rule? Vexing though the upshot of October’s election, for all its fraud, proved to be for Musharraf, the parties that dominate the political landscape in Pakistan offer little hope of rebellion against him. The cringing opportunism of the Bhutto and Sharif clans knows few limits. The Islamist front ensconced in Peshawar and Quetta is noisier, but not more principled—cash and perquisites quickly stilling most of its protests. Popular discontent remains massive, but lacks any effective channels of national expression. It would be good to think that their performances in office had discredited the PPP and Sharif’s clique forever, but experience suggests that should the regime at any point start to crack, there is little to Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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prevent these phoenixes of sleaze from arising once more, in the absence of any more progressive alternatives. Finally, there is the American overlord itself. The Musharraf regime cannot aspire to play the same role as regional satrap that Zia once enjoyed. Pakistan has been ousted as imperial instrument in Afghanistan, and checked from compensating with renewed incursions in Kashmir. But if Islamabad has been forced into a more passive posture along its northern borders, its strategic importance for the US has, if anything, increased. For Washington has now made a huge political investment in the creation of a puppet regime in Kabul, to be guarded by US troops ‘for years to come’, in the words of General Tommy Franks—not to speak of its continuing hunt for Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants. Pakistan is a vital flank in the pursuit of both objectives, and its top brass can look forward to the kind of lavish emoluments, public and private, that the Thai military received for their decades of collusion with the American war in Indochina. Still, Washington is pragmatic and knows that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were just as serviceable agents of its designs in Kabul as Zia himself. Should he falter domestically, Musharraf will be ditched without sentiment by the suzerain. The Pax Americana can wage war with any number of proxies. It will take an uprising on the scale of 1969 to shake Pakistan free of them. Pakistan's Narcissistic Army The fact is, the Army itself has a disastrous record of incompetence that goes far beyond the present crisis, and many a Pakistani commentator has noted that each spell of military rule in the country has culminated in a national catastrophe. KPS Gill Fascist apologists would notoriously boast that Mussolini made the trains run on time in Italy (itself a dubious claim), and this, in substantial measure, has been the perennial justification for dictatorships, military rule and other authoritarian forms of government. It is an argument that has, in different forms, been advanced in support of General Pervez Musharraf's junta in Pakistan as well; champions - both domestic and foreign - have argued that the General is the only one who 'can deliver' in the country, and hence the only one Western governments can 'do business' with. But the Musharraf regime's, and the Pakistani Army's 'capacity to deliver' -certainly to its own people - has been found to be entirely lacking in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that has rocked parts of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), killing tens of thousands, and flattening out entire townships and villages at a stroke. As one Pakistani commentator noted, the Army, "the avowed vanguard of Pakistani society - was leaden on its feet and seemed overwhelmed by the catastrophe." Three weeks after the quake, while hundreds of non-governmental entities - including, prominently, several jihadi groups (which, according to Pakistan's official position, do not, in fact, exist, have been 'banned', and have had their infrastructure 'dismantled') - have made their presence felt in relief efforts in some of the remotest areas of the affected region, the Army and governmental apparatus is still to come to grips with the basics. Even in Muzzafarabad - the town most easily accessed - heavy machinery for the clearance of the debris of collapsed buildings is still to be delivered, and a large number of bodies remain trapped under rubble, with people using spades and shovels and whatever primitive equipment they can get their hands on to clean up the mess. The bulk of official efforts, in any event, remain concentrated in the main towns such as Muzzafarabad, Bagh and Rawalkot; but entire villages in wide areas have been flattened by the earthquake, and access and relief to these remains acutely inadequate. Sources in PoK complain bitterly of the 'complete human failure' and fear Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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that it will result in a second tragedy, potentially greater than the earthquake itself, as the bitter Kashmiri winter sets in on a people without shelter. In the meanwhile, international organisations have criticised government agencies for obstructing relief efforts and for discriminatory and selective distribution of relief material - including, crucially, a large number of tents that have been brought in by many donor agencies. Stories of a black market in tents - run by Army officials - have been doing the rounds in the media, and one prominent observer has noted that the distribution of tents is "being used for power and patronage by military and civilian authorities that control the territory". These are all matters of detail - and evidence of the Army's incompetence, bias and corruption will continue to pile up as more light is brought to bear upon the course of relief efforts and the utilisation of the millions of dollars for relief and rehabilitation that have poured into the Government's coffer's since the earthquake. What is crucial, however, is an attitude of mind. The Pakistan Army has never regarded PoK or the NWFP as anything more than an area of strategic importance. The people of these regions have always been of little consequence. Unsurprisingly, in the wake of the earthquake, there was hardly any effort to rush immediate help to the victims - rather, tens of thousands of troops were moved up to reinforce the LoC, with convoys driving through and past devastated towns and villages, indifferent to the enveloping suffering of the people. This reveals a deep pathology in the Pakistani military mind, and it is fairly certain that, if the scale of devastation and dislocation experience in PoK had rather occurred across the LoC, in J&K, Pakistan would have sent in its Forces - no doubt masquerading as 'irregulars' - to grab as much territory as was possible. It is beyond the capacities of this mindset to imagine that India would not do the same. The competence of the military regime to bring relief to the victims of the earthquake is undermined further by the chronic inadequacies of institutional development and the state's outreach in the affected regions. When entire areas are held with an exclusive focus on grand strategy, military tactics and political power play, without thinking of the human beings, there is, naturally, no planning for the people. This, of course, is happening in some measure all over Pakistan - and is characteristic of all dictatorships - but it is a chronic problem in PoK and the NWFP, where institutional development has been systematically crippled in a perverse policy to keep the people in thraldom in the pursuit of Islamabad's inchoate quest for 'strategic depth'. The communities of PoK and NWFP have been entirely dehumanised, and Islamabad has never had much interest in their daily lives; these territories, however, have been integral to the Pakistani (overwhelmingly Punjabi) military leadership's concept of their 'interests of state'. Pakistan's narcissistic Army has heaped limitless contempt on civilian rule and institutions, and on democratic politics. It is now time to challenge and extinguish this myth. The fact is, the Army itself has a disastrous record of incompetence that goes far beyond the present crisis, and many a Pakistani commentator has noted that each spell of military rule in the country has culminated in a national catastrophe: "Dictators took the country into foolish and unnecessary wars, dictators who sowed the seeds of Pakistan's break-up, dictators and shortsighted intelligence chiefs who danced to America's tune and turned Pakistan into a crossroads of international jihad. The Pakistani dream, if ever there was one, has been betrayed at the altar of this tradition." Pakistan's Army is, in fact, at the heart of the country's problems; it is no part of their solutions. Claims that the Musharraf regime will bring back democracy to Pakistan and remove corruption now stand totally discredited - the Army has systematically undermined democratic institutions and processes and weakened mainstream political parties, and is itself the country's most corrupt organisation, "and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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an unchallenged holder of country's resources and wealth". The enormous humanitarian tragedy brought about by the earthquake - and the visible pattern of the Army's response - has simply reiterated these long-standing realities. As an aside, within this context, it is useful to note that some Pakistani writers are plaintively asking why India is "dragging its feet" on Gen Musharraf's proposal to turn the Line of Control into a soft border. Perhaps they have not noticed the nearly 40,000 killed in J&K by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists over the last 17 years, and the continuing spate of terrorist attacks and assassinations in the State by groups headquartered in Pakistan. And while many in Pakistan are today celebrating the 'humanity', generosity and efficiency of the jihadi groups involved in relief work, they will live to rue the day, when these terrorist entities call their debt, and a grateful and deeply indebted people respond in large numbers by enlisting in the future armies of terror. Pakistan A US-Financed Military Dictatorship Pakistan has Long, Bloody History as Terrorist Arm of U.S. Asad Ismi The United States' choice of Pakistan as an ally in its "war on terrorism" provides the spectacle of the two leading terrorist states on Earth "fighting terrorism." The U.S. has killed more than eight million people in the Third World since 1945, while Pakistan slaughtered almost three million Bengalis in the Eastern wing of the country in 1971. This caused the break-up of the state, with East Pakistan separating and becoming Bangladesh. Since 1951, Pakistan's main purpose has been to act as the U.S. government's South Asian terrorist arm, serving to destabilize the former Soviet Union, India and Afghanistan, and crushing all attempts at domestic democracy. Washington's instrument has been the Pakistan army, which U.S. officials have called "the greatest single stabilizing force in the country." Its major "military" campaigns have been launched against its own unarmed people. Soon after Pakistan's independence in 1947, the U.S. provided $411 million to establish its armed forces. When the country's first democratic elections scheduled for 1958 threatened to reduce the army's power, General Mohammed Ayub Khan, the commander-in-chief, cancelled them and took over the government in a coup. This created a military dictatorship that continues to this day. Pakistan became a U.S.-financed garrison state, spending 80% of its budget on the military, which massacred thousands of people and ensured that most of those not killed continued to be mired in poverty and illiteracy. Ayub was an actual employee of the U.S. State Department, which paid him an annual salary of U.S.$16,000. There is little doubt that the U.S. government was "fully aware" that the Pakistan army was planning a coup. A few years after the 1958 coup, Sardar Bahadur, Ayub's brother, alleged that the CIA had "been fully involved" in the coup. Ayub declared Pakistan to be Washington's "most allied ally," and explained his takeover by claiming that "Democracy cannot work in a hot climate." Ayub allowed the U.S. to use Pakistani air bases for the CIA's U-2 spy flights over the Soviet Union. The U.S. also controlled a signals intelligence facility near Peshawar which monitored Soviet military activity. Such servility prompted John Foster Dulles, the U.S. Secretary of State (during the 1950s), to call Pakistan "a bulwark of freedom in Asia." As Milton Bearden, a former CIA station chief in Pakistan, recently put it, "[Pakistan is] the only country in South Asia that always did what we asked." Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The Pakistan government's terrorism has mainly been perpetrated against its own people, with the U.S.-armed and trained military unleashing genocidal wars on all those who dared oppose its dictatorship. With U.S. arms, training, military aid, and encouragement, the Pakistan army butchered half a million to three million Bengalis in 1971 when their popular, elected, left-wing leadership had the temerity to demand provincial autonomy. U.S. officials reacted to this slaughter by thanking General Yahya Khan, the Pakistani military dictator, for his "delicacy and tact." As one eye witness described it, the army in East Pakistan was "like a pack of wild dogs," killing "on a scale not seen since the Third Reich." One thousand intellectuals were murdered in a single day at Dhaka University alone. "Women were raped or had their breasts torn out with specially fashioned knives," one journalist (who fled) reported. "Children did not escape the horror: the lucky ones were killed with their parents; but many thousands of others must go through what life remains for them with eyes gouged out and limbs roughly amputated." Losing East Pakistan (which constituted half the country) did not prevent the army from attacking another province only two years later. In 1973, four Pakistan army divisions assaulted Baluch tribal communities in the province of Baluchistan, wiping out "mountain villages and nomad caravans." Like the Bengalis, the Baluchi political leadership was elected, popular, leftwing, and also wanted autonomy. Mirage fighter-bombers and U.S. Cobra helicopter gunships pummeled unarmed Baluch civilians for five years. Of the 5,000 Baluch men, women and children captured by the army in 1977, 95% were "brutally tortured." As one account put it: "Apart from the standard practice of severe beatings, limbs are broken or cut off; eyes gouged out; electric shocks are applied, especially to the genitals; beards and hair are torn out; fingernails ripped; water and food are withheld." The Pakistan army has provided Washington with an instrument for crushing or hindering progressive social movements, not just inside Pakistan, but also in South Asia. India's nonalignment and the good relations of both India and Afghanistan with the Soviet Union were anathema to Washington, which deployed Pakistan against both countries. When a left-wing government came to power in Afghanistan in 1978, the U.S. decided to overthrow it, using Pakistan as a conduit. The New York Times described the main objectives of this government as being the implementation of land reform and the expansion of education for women. Afghan Islamic fundamentalist groups (known as Mujahideen) in exile in Pakistan were covertly armed by the CIA and Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI) and sent into Afghanistan. Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser in the Carter administration, knew that this policy would, as he put it, "induce a Soviet intervention in Afghanistan." Brzezinski stated in a recent interview: "That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap." Once the Soviets invaded in December 1979, the U.S. poured $6 billion in military aid to the Mujahideen through Pakistan. The ensuing war destroyed Afghanistan, ending all hope of progressive reforms. With the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989, Afghanistan became a centre for U.S. and Pakistani backed international terrorism. Islamist fighters trained there poured into Central Asia and India, aiming to create a pan-Islamic state stretching from Kashmir to Kazakhstan. The Taliban was a CIA-ISI creation as well, and its relations with Washington only soured when the two failed to reach an accord on sharing the oil riches of Central Asia.

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According to Prof. Michel Chossudovsky at the University of Ottawa, "Since the SovietAfghan war, recruiting Mujahedin to fight covert wars on Washington's behest has become an integral part of U.S. foreign policy. A 1997 document of the U.S. Congress reveals how the Clinton administration had "helped turn Bosnia into a militant Islamic base," leading to the recruitment through the so-called "Militant Islamic Network" of thousands of Mujahedin from the Muslim world. "The 'Bosnian pattern' has since been replicated in Kosovo, Southern Serbia and Macedonia." India has long been the kind of Third World state that Washington detested. It had close relations with the Soviet Union, followed an independent foreign policy, opposed Western imperialist adventures, and created a significant public sector industrial base and a protected domestic economy which included two communist states (West Bengal and Kerala). The U.S. response has been to "bleed India" through Pak-istan's support for secessionist insurgencies in order to open up the Indian economy to American penetration. In the 1980s, Pakistan trained and armed Sikh militants who fought for a separate homeland in Indian Punjab. Today, in the disputed state of Indian Kashmir, Pakistan has been "sponsoring terrorism" for more than a decade. Islamic militants trained and armed in Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fighting for Kashmir's integration with Pakistan, leading to about 60,000 deaths. On October 1, 2001, these groups exploded a car bomb that killed 38 people (most of them civilians) near the state legislature building in Srinagar. On December 13, 2001, two Pakistan based terrorist groups attacked the Indian parliament in New Delhi. Fourteen people were killed, including five of the terrorists. India moved half a million troops to its border with Pakistan and the two armies--both possessing nuclear weapons--still stand on the brink of war. No doubt heavy-handed Indian policies have alienated Sikhs and Kashmiris, and India is guilty of massive human rights violations in Kashmir; but, as The New York Times put it, "Since 1994, the role of native Kashmiris in the insurgency has diminished as heavily-armed outsiders from Pakistan and Afghanistan have stepped up the violence." These insurgencies have sapped India's ability to build its economic infrastucture. This, according to one observer, has "slowed the pace of growth and development, and precipitated demands for rapid privatization and reliance on foreign investment." The rewards for being a U.S. terrorist arm in South Asia have been lucrative for the Pakistan military's officer corps. During the war against the Soviets, Afghanistan supplied 60% of the U.S.'s heroin. Pakistani generals "were deeply involved" in this drug trade and three of them were counted amongst the twelve richest generals in the world. The most prominent was General Fazle Haq, known as "Pakistan's Noriega." Haq was appointed governor of the Northwest Frontier Province (bordering Afghanistan) by General Ziaul Haq, Pakistan's military dictator during 1977-1988. As governor, Fazle Haq was in charge of Mujahideen military operations. He also protected the production of 200 heroin labs near the border. In 1982, Interpol identified Haq as "a key player in the Afghan-Pakistani opium trade." Haq. who had $3 million in his bank account, was protected from drug investigations by Zia and the CIA. In 1993, Raoof Ali Khan, Pakistan's representative to the UN Commission on Narcotics, said that "there is no branch of government where drug corruption does not pervade." The CIA reported to the U.S. Congress in 1994 that heroin had become "the life-blood of the Pakistani economy and political system." Drug trafficking is just one part of the Pakistani military's parasitism. The armed forces own an airline, sugar mills, chemical plants, a cereal factory, and several hospitals.

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Officers and their families are supplied with free servants, education, and medical care, and the best real estate in large cities is reserved for them. The price for their country's being a U.S. terrorist base has been paid by the Pakistani people, who for 55 years have been massacred, tortured, denied education (the illiteracy rate in Pakistan is 90%), medical care, housing, adequate nutrition, and political rights. Pakistan ranks near the bottom of the UN's list of countries by every measure of human development, including infant mortality, life expectancy, the poverty rate, and the population growth rate. With India and Pakistan almost perpetually on the brink of nuclear war, continued subservience by Pakistan to U.S. dictates exposes its oppressed people to total eradication. Pakistan and Democracy There are many things that don’t work in Pakistan, but all evidence suggests that democracy is not one of them. Dr. Adil Najam Of all the travesties that are now the staple of what goes as ‘political commentary’ on Pakistan, there is none as venomous or as dangerous to the future of Pakistan than the claim that Pakistan and democracy are somehow incompatible. It is venomous because it is patently wrong as well as deeply insulting. It is dangerous because once accepted it can (and nearly has) become a self-fulfilling prophecy. What is most hurtful is that we make this claim, most often, Pakistanis ourselves. Such a claim can mean only one of two things. Either it implies that Pakistan, and therefore Pakistanis, are unworthy and incapable of democracy. Or it suggests that somehow democracy is unworthy or inappropriate for Pakistan. The first is an outright insult to Pakistan and Pakistanis and implies that we are somehow genetically, sociologically or historically (and, according to some commentators, religiously) unfit for democracy. That we, as a people, are so inept and incompetent that we cannot be entrusted with determining the course of our own future. The second interpretation is more common, and also more troubling. It stems from a disturbing combination of hubris, disdain and inertia. Let us first look at hubris. Hubris manifests itself in the assumption that democracy is just not good enough for us or the even more arrogant suggestion that we can do better than democracy. That we can — despite all the evidence to the contrary — devise a ‘new and different’ form of governance that is more suited to our national, social and religious temper. The details of what this ‘new and different’ governance might look like are never divulged, expect as someone telling us that we should just trust them to work out these details because they ‘know better’. Such logic is a favourite of apologists for authoritarianism as well as proponents of fundamentalism. However, as soon as you peel away the misconceived nationalism or the misguided religiosity of such proposals what you find lurking in the dark is the very same lack of confidence in the ability of the Pakistani public to be entrusted with their own future. Indeed, the real hubris of such arguments lies in the arrogance of those who make these arguments. One of the curious aspects of this argument is that, nearly always, those who make this argument believe that while the rest of Pakistan is incapable of making reasonable decisions through a democratic process, they themselves are more than qualified to do so for the entirety of the country. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Then, of course, there are those who believe that democracy is inappropriate for Pakistan because, allegedly, it has not worked in the past. This argument stems partly from the disdain that has set in as a result of Pakistan’s bitter experiences with elected politicians and the unselected generals who repeatedly replace them. It also flows from a strong belief in inertia — that is, since elections have not worked in the past, they are destined to fail in the future. The big problem with such arguments is that they confuse the failures of our politicians (and the ambitions of our generals) with the failures of democracy. More than that, they confuse the ritual of elections with the substance of democracy. A detailed discussion of what we mean by democracy must wait for a later occasion. At its roots, however, it is a fairly simple idea. It is the notion that people can, and should, decide how and by whom they are to be governed. Some mechanism that gives the entirety of the citizenry a direct say in how that choice is made is a necessary condition for meaningful democracy, but it is certainly not a sufficient condition. Moreover, democracy doesn’t just ‘happen’ because elections are held. It has to be carefully nurtured and steadfastly defended in all institutions of society. This is because there will always be those who will seek to undermine the democratic process. In Pakistan’s case, unfortunately, those who should have been custodians of democracy have often been bent on undermining it. This has included politicians who have tried to co-opt the electoral process as well as military and civil bureaucrats who have tried to circumvent it. However, the corruption of our ruling elites does not prove that democracy is a bad idea. It merely proves that our ruling elites are corrupt. And therein lies the great irony. Those who have been most responsible for corrupting, co-opting and circumventing the democratic process in Pakistan are the very same who make the loudest noise about democracy being inconsistent with Pakistan. Military and civil bureaucrats make these arguments by posing as ‘super-patriots’ — they ‘know best’ because it is their duty to do so. Religious zealots do the same by painting themselves as ‘super-pious’ — they ‘know best’ because they speak on behalf of powers greater than any of us. And, worst of all, the so called intelligence (especially the technocratic classes) chimes in by posing as ‘super-democrats’ — they ‘know best’ because they are the educated few and, obviously, the uneducated many cannot be trusted with the future of the country. Finally, there is the much-maligned argument that Pakistan’s history proves that democracy has not worked in Pakistan. This is total nonsense. If one looks at Pakistan’s history, all one finds is vast periods of non-democracy — mostly under nonelected rule, but often also under elected rule. Empirically, the only thing that one can say on the basis of this history is that non-democracy does not work in Pakistan. As one surveys the socio-political landscape one finds the country in the grips of poverty, disease, despair, sectarianism, extremism, violence, and much more. But none of these can be blamed on democracy, simply because we have never really allowed meaningful democracy for any meaningful period of time. There are many things that don’t work in Pakistan, but all evidence suggests that democracy is not one of them. At least, not yet Emperors and Dictators As long as the Emperor is happy and the rulers are ready to take U-turns, mango seasons will keep passing uninterrupted. Another U-turn on Iran and we maybe lucky enough to receive yet another emperor. Meantime, the masses will remain in chains. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Farooq Sulehria Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistan belongs to me Both of these, however, are under American hegemony American aid gave us wheat, as also their deceit Do not ask me how long we've suffered their conceit And yet the bayonets are all around this flowering valley Hindustan belongs to me and Pakistan belongs to me --Habib Jalib Regardless of how one views the recent visit of George W Bush to Pakistan --- a success or a failure --- one thing is praiseworthy. He kept the American presidents' tradition of paying visits to Pakistan only when a khaki man is at the helm. Last time, it was William J Clinton, back in 2000 (March 25 to be exact), meeting General Musharraf in Islamabad. Since the 'war on terror' had not begun, William Clinton therefore was reluctant in providing a photo-session opportunity to the Empire's satrap in Islamabad. The first US president to visit Pakistan was Dwight Eisenhower landing in Karachi in 1959. He stayed for two days (December 7-9) and during this informal visit, he met General Ayub Khan. Like General Pervez Musharraf, 'Field Marshal' Ayub Khan was a lucky man. He received two US presidents. Second time it was L B Johnson landing in Karachi on December 23, 1967. Ayub Khan's immediate successor, General Yahya Khan played host to Richard Nixon when President Nixon visited Pakistan (August 1-2, 1969) on a state visit. Despite all the valuable services, General Ziaul Haq, however, was denied the pleasure to host any Emperor. True, the 'Father of the Nation' Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself set the pro-US line even before Pakistan was born. In May 1947, he was telling US diplomat Raymond Hare that Pakistan would be oriented towards the Muslim countries of the Middle East. Since they were weak, 'Muslim countries would stand together against possible Russian aggression and would look to the US assistance'. By declaring that 'communism [does] not flourish in the soil of Islam', Jinnah dispatched his representative Mir Laik Ali to obtain $2billion from Washington. Jinnah must have been disappointed by the near total turndown since only $10 million was approved. Dollars were showered upon Pakistan only when a khaki man had been put in place. The first khaki ruler the US imposed on Pakistan was a political genius by the way. He told the democracy-hungry nation: 'Democracy cannot work in a hot climate. To have democracy we must have a cold climate as in Britain.' What Pakistan got during the ten years (June 1950-December 1959) as US aid ($ 1119 million) was granted for its second Five Year Plan (1960-65) when a military dictator was in power. Pakistan received $1818.7 million for the second Five Year Plan. The generous US aid was a reward for a country that, as Ayub Khan describes in his biography, had become the 'most allied ally in Asia'. The 'most allied ally in Asia' was a bulwark against communism. It also had put its military at the service of the Empire to safeguard her oil interests in Middle East. Ayub Khanwas consigned to the dustbin of history meant for Empires satraps by a mass democracy movement. The GHQ learnt nothing from the anti-Ayub movement. General Yahya Khan told his GHQ colleagues: 'The army will have to take over'. It took over and refused to respect the democratic verdict from East Pakistan. Instead, East Pakistan was taught a lesson for not voting for the approved parties: Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami. The bloodshed unleashed by Yahya was making even the US embassy staff in Dacca nervous. The US embassy staff sent a collective 'dissent

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channel' telegram. But President Nixon's advice was 'Don't squeeze Yahya at this time'. Yahya was squeezed anyway. Not by the Nixon administration but by the Pakistani masses. Finally, democracy. Since 'democracy cannot work in a hot climate', the Empire made an example out of Bhutto to prove 'we must have a cold climate as in Britain' and must never think of a nuclear programme. Yet another dictator was imposed and was generously showered upon by US aid. Pakistan became the third largest recipient of US aid after Israel and Egypt. And the nuclear programme? Afghanistan had gone through the 'Saur Revolution', therefore the US secretary of state Alexander Haig told Foreign Minister Agha Shahi: 'we will not make your nuclear programme the centrepiece of our relations'. A six-year waiver was granted in 1981. In October 1986, President Reagan certified again that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear device even if the US media were warning that Pakistan was 'two screwdriver turn' from possessing a fully assembled weapon. As soon as democracy was restored viceroy Robert Oklay was warning: 'If you take any action on the nuclear programme and you go past that line .... [Bush] will blow the whistle and invoke Pressler'. The Pressler amendment was indeed invoked. The year 1990 passed without any certification and Pakistan was denied $564 million meant for 1991. It took another military coup in Pakistan and another war in Afghanistan to get rid of amendments, waivers and certifications. On September 24, 2001, the Bush administration lifted all sanctions against Pakistan under the Glen, Pressler and Symington Amendments. Colin Powell was telling NBC television that the US had no concern over Pakistan's nuclear programme and the Musharraf government was stable. A new package worth $3.2 billion was offered for the 'non-NATO ally' to combat al-Qaeda terrorists. The generals at GHQ are all smiles since. The Emperor is happy. As long as the Emperor is happy and the rulers are ready to take U-turns, mango seasons will keep passing uninterrupted. Another U-turn on Iran and we maybe lucky enough to receive yet another emperor. Meantime, the masses will remain in chains. Democracy will remain an elusive dawn. Habib Jalib mourns: Struggle for Democracy Why it should be the fate of this country to linger under military dictatorships? Why can’t its people have the right to choose their government? Aziz Narejo Recent mails by Dr. Gul Agha on some lists criticizing struggle for democracy in Pakistan is incredible. It tells us that it is not only the military establishment, terrorists-cum-politicians, fundamentalist-cum-politicians and the pirs, feudals and the so-called sardars (that don’t see any hope to be in the government other than hanging on to the coat-tails of the military establishment) that oppose democracy in Pakistan. Here we have a seemingly learned person, living in a democracy, opposing democratic form of government for the people of Pakistan! It is truly mind-boggling! Why it should be the fate of this country to linger under military dictatorships? Why can’t its people have the right to choose their government? Dr. Agha quotes Thomas Jefferson that democracy was not a panacea. Yes, it is true. Democracy is not the panacea but what is the alternate? Monarchy? Autocracy? Military or civilian dictatorship? He might have seen Winston Churchill’s famous quote on the democracy that: "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed, it has been said Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time." (1947) Dr. Agha’s suggestion that "Democracy is a good organizational principle for nation states" is even more fantastic. Look around and see how many multi-ethnic or multinationality states are prospering under democracy. Don’t go too far. India, our neighbor in the east, is a multi-ethnic and multi-nationality country. If it can have democracy, why can’t the wretched people in its west have the same? There are several multi-ethnic countries in Europe. They have democracy and they are prosperous. The greatest example is Switzerland. And Canada in the North America. Isn’t it a multi-ethnic country and also a great democracy? It would also be worthwhile to quote a few lines from a page of the "World Conference on Racism": "In today's world, multi-ethnic states are the norm. The traditional nation-state, where a distinct national group corresponds to a territorial unit, has become an endangered species. Globalization and the increasing movement of people across borders threaten to kill off the nation state once and for all." There is also some misconception in some circles that the struggle for democracy and the struggle for the right of self-determination are opposed to each other. They are not. They are actually complimentary to each other. Try it, you may agree. Democracy is Like Virginity ---you either have it or you don’t Abrar Akbar Once, a Russian diplomat, posted at the UN Headquarters at New York, amusingly compared diplomatic immunity with virginity while commenting his refusal to settle several outstanding traffic violation tickets. He meant that either he was not liable to legal actions altogether by the virtue of his diplomatic status or his ambassadorial shield was of no use. According to his premise, a notion of “selected” diplomatic immunity is equally inane as that of half-virginity. Convincingly, the same analogy can be applied to democracy as well. Either there is a rule of the law, and the will of people runs supreme or there is despotism. There is no midway. In fact, whenever as “controlled”, “sustainable”, “basic” or “true”, are being appended to democracy, regardless by whom, the history demands from us to be suspicious of the integrity and underlying objectives of the marketing team. Observe yourself: 29 constitutional amendments in one go. Almost all of them designed exclusively to appease the lust for absolute power of an individual. “This is part of the Constitution," General Musharraf declared at one point, waving his hand in the air. At another stage, he proclaimed, "I am hereby making it part of the Constitution, I do not need Assembly’s consent.” And this is what they call a sustainable and true democracy. What a joke, what an insult. “The majority of people spoke against it. Some also spoke in favour, but honestly, I think this (council) is very important and this will be done". Exactly so, General Musharraf justified the formation of National Security Council. This “I am the state” attitude is breathtaking, to say the least. And if that was not enough, adding insult to injury General Musharraf decreed, "If there is any necessity for any further amendments to the Constitution or any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the provisions of this order, the chief executive may Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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make such provisions and pass or promulgate such orders for amending the Constitution or for removing any difficulty as he may deem fit." In simple words, the fate of 140 million Pakistanis hangs entirely on the will, wish and whim of a single omnipotent fellow. As the legal basis for his sweeping actions, the general cited a May 2000 Supreme Court ruling granting him the right to amend the Constitution. The blatant inconsistency doesn’t bother him that an institution not entitled to alter the constitution itself, logically cannot confer that authority upon someone else either. If truth be told, that ridiculous validation of the military coup corroborates the incapacity of the courts at best and the appalling rot of the judicial system in Pakistan at worst. Then regarding General Musharraf`s bizarre contention that his presence is necessary for the continuation of his policies to make them irreversible, the World Bank recently observed that such claims could never be fully credible: the nature of democracy requires that an elected government should be able to alter course. The bank furthermore added that the most convincing way to make changes irreversible is for them to yield sufficiently positive results. In that way, a reversal of them would become tantamount to political suicide. In reality, the much-hyped “continuity” is merely a codeword for the perpetuation of the hegemony of the military. The real aim of this propaganda is to prolong the status quo, in addition to preserve power, perks and privileges of the military high command, and keep on holding the country hostage to the whims of few self-styled “saviours”. Features, General Musharraf eagerly wants to safeguard in person, for a long time to come. One doesn’t require a doctorate in political sciences to understand that General Musharraf’s foremost tasks will be to hinder every move to curtail the encroachment of the military in civilian domain, to thwart every effort to net thousands of senior military officers who have looted this poor nation with full impunity. To guard that defence deals “continue” to remain effectively beyond any sort of accountability and ensure that a dozen prime residential plots each keep on doling upon star officers. As someone said, even the will of the majority must be subjected to checks and balances if an elected dictatorship is to be avoided. In our country, tragically, our top gun insists on running the show all alone, without any curbs, whatsoever. With such an obvious sham, only morons can be conned. However, one cannot avoid wondering, if the future course of action has already spiked by the NRB in tandem with the GHQ, leaving virtually no manoeuvrability for incoming political actors, than why having the formality of elections? If the forthcoming quasi civilian set-up is only meant to provide “democratic” façade to the dispensation already well-entrenched by the “overwhelming approval” of the “silent majority”, through the referendum, and now even by “irreversible”, “unchallengeable” amendments, then is it rational, let alone justifiable, to squander billions on (futile) electioneering -- once again? It appears that the top brass is well aware of the fact that a stable civilian government would definitely demand transparency in defence spending and thereby deprive them of their precious goldmines. A painful scenario that is understandably least acceptable to the khakis. Hence, in fact, it is sheer selfishness and pure self-interest of the brass that don’t let democracy take root in the country. To tell the truth, the moment, a mode of government, dubbed as “democracy”, needs a prefix/postfix for its justification; no matter how pious sounding, it can be plausibly assumed that it is a fraud, a spoof solely meant to camouflage the perverseness of the system and malevolent intentions of its top administrators.

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According to General Musharraf, “If you want to keep the army out, you have to bring it in.” A perfectly correct analysis, except the delusion of the end destination. No doubt, you have to bring them in – IN the ambit of statute book. Absolutely, we need to prosecute all those who meddle in the affairs of government for high treason and put them IN jails. Anyhow, by any measure, the hotchpotch being marketed by the messiahs is not conducive to running a state, which meets the just rights of the citizens and civilized standards of governing. Neither khaki’s pretended sincerity nor proclaimed intentions square with the historical facts and empirical evidence. I am tempted to paraphrase an expression from General Musharraf’s own speech delivered on August 14, 2002. … “ A handful of individuals have held the entire nation hostage with their misguided view of politics”. Therefore, fellow countrymen, it is our moral, democratic and not least religious duty to stand up to the tyrants. Patsies who eagerly trot after the usurpers are themselves responsible for the tragic outcome. What is at the stake is not just the military-civilian power sharing but also the very survival of the civil society. Our apathy will become our death. Or murder. There is an old Bedouin legend that goes like this: An elderly Bedouin leader thought that by eating turkey he could restore his virility. So he bought a turkey, kept it by his tent and stuffed it with food every day. One day someone stole his turkey. The Bedouin elder called his sons together and told them: "Boys, we are in great danger. Someone has stolen my turkey." "Father," the sons answered, "what do you need a turkey for?" "Never mind," he answered, "just get me back my turkey." But the sons ignored him and a month later someone stole the old man`s camel. "What should we do?" the sons asked. "Find my turkey," said the father. But the sons did nothing, and a few weeks later the man`s daughter was raped. The father said to his sons: "It is all because of the turkey. When they saw that they could take my turkey, we lost everything." Please, for God sake, try to realize that a Khmer Rouge ala Musharaf is in making. A failure to unambiguously denounce these attempts and hinder such a sinister development AT THIS TIME will make us regret bitterly afterwards. The military has already stolen the camel, in West Pakistan too. What will be their next step …..? Need not to elaborate any further, I guess. The rule of seniority God alone can prevent a coup d'état if an Army Chief decides to take over.-President Ayub Khan told his Intelligence Chief on reading the daily situation report in 1969. Kamal Azfar God alone can prevent a coup d'état if an Army Chief decides to take over.-President Ayub Khan told his Intelligence Chief on reading the daily situation report in 1969. This anecdote was recounted by Raza Kuli Khan Khattak as we were driving to Wali Bagh for condolence on a spring afternoon late last month. He is the eldest grandson of the legendary Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, one of the founders and guardians of Pakistan. Raza was a contemporary at Government College Lahore and Oxford in the second half of the 1950s. This makes us, and fellow residents of New Hostel Ahad Bux Khan of Khetran, Shahnawaz Khan of Isakhel, Choudhry Habibullah Tarar of Vanike Tarar the first generation Pakistanis who have lived through the first half century and more of Pakistan and bear witness to the troubled history of the promised land, the title of my first editorial as Editor-in-Chief of the Ravi, the Magazine of Government College. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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This series of Articles (The Discovery of Pakistan) is inspired by Syed Fakhr Imam and Syeda Abida 'Chandi Bibi' Hussain who, along with Tarar, Isakhel, Raza Kuli and Shahbaz Hussain, son of class fellow Syed Qalandar Hussain ,displayed much generosity and forbearance which is the hallmark of Muslim civilization in the Subcontinent during my driving tour of Pakistan from Karachi to Khyber last winter. Perhaps Ayub Khan was subconsciously echoing Aristotle who famously said "Even God cannot change the past". One can only cherish the fond hope that, on reading 'The Discovery of Pakistan' some potential usurper will think twice and help save democracy and federalism which are part of the genesis of Pakistan. Democracy and federalism are integral to the genesis of our nation state as the foundation of Pakistan was laid by the Indian Independence Act of 1947 ,which in turn empowered the Muslim majority areas of British India to exercise the power of self determination by democratic means, the votes of the majority of the members of the provincial assemblies from the Muslim majority districts of Punjab and Bengal , the entire Provincial Assembly of Sindh and by Referendum in the NWFP which had a Congress oriented Majority. Thus Pakistan was created by the provinces exercising the power of democracy and hence the true destiny of our nation state is a federal democracy. Pakistan did not grow from the barrel of a gun but from the ballot box.. Though dictatorship, in any form, is a negation of the concept of Pakistan, it is recorded in the Twelve-Volume Transfer of Power Documents, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, that the Punjab's Unionist Premier, Khizar Hayat Tiwana, predicted to the Wartime Viceroy Lord Wavell, that Pakistan was inevitable yet power would pass to dictators, civilian or military. Shah Jewana, is the shrine of Syeda Abida Hussain's ancestors, and hanging on the walls of the sumptuous guesthouse, is a photograph of the 30 members elected to the Constituent Assembly of India in the fateful elections of the Winter of 1945-46 in which all the seats reserved for Muslims were won by the Muslim League. It is worth noting that the Muslim League did not enjoy a majority in any of the provinces of present day Pakistan in the wake of the elections of 1937. Colonel Abid Hussain, Chandi Bibi's father ,the youngest Member of the Muslim League Parliamentary Party ,is standing in the second row sporting a Chiefs College turban and Mr Jinnah is seated in the middle of the front row with his successor as Governor General of Pakistan, Khwaja Nazimuddin ,to His right. Among other prominent people in the photograph are those disqualified from public office by the infamous Electoral Bodies Disqualification Order(EBDO) promulgated by Ayub Khan as Chief Martial Law Administrator and self-proclaimed President. They include Pirzada Abdul Sattar, Yusuf Haroon and Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan ,the first Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Liaquat Ali Khan survived EBDO as he had been killed earlier in mysterious c circumstances. EBDO was a weapon which decapitated the founding fathers of Pakistan in one blow including Prime Ministers Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, Malik Feroze Khan Noon ,three Chief Ministers of Punjab, Iftikhar Hussain Mamdot, Mian Mumtaz Muhammad Khan Daultana and Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qazilbash. Qazi Muhammad Isa ,who single-handedly brought Balochistan into Pakistan, Khan Bahadur Ayub Khuro, the first Chief Minister of Sindh and Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, whom the Quaid anointed as the Chief Minister of NWFP after dismissing the Congress Ministry headed by DR Khan Sahib, the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan. One may well ponder how the history of the United Sates would have shaped if George Washington, Jefferson and Madison were disqualified or whether the USA would have Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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survived if Abraham Lincoln had fallen prey to the likes of EBDO.The history of Pakistan may well have been different if the rule of seniority had been observed. Let us remember and honour those Chiefs of the Pakistan Army who did not take over: General Mohammed Musa Khan, General Tikka Khan, General Jehangir Karamat and above all General Abdul Waheed Kakar, who even declined an extension as it would block Army promotions. At least Ayub Khan did not block the careers of Officer Corps of the Pakistan Army because he immediately appointed Musa Khan, the senior most General as his successor. When Ayub Khan departed from this precedent he paid the price. The daily situation report that spring morning informed President Ayub Khan that his chosen Cin-C Yahya Khan was planning a Coup detat and Ayub's. His reply was that if an Army Chief decides to take over there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Ayub himself was appointed out of turn. Secretary to the Governor of Sindh Mr. Hashim Raza was present at the farewell lunch given by Governor Francis Mudie in honour of the outgoing C-in-C General Sir Douglas Gracey." Who is your successor "inquired the host ."Major General Ayub Khan "was the reply" Is he the senior most "asked Mudie." No, he is number four on the seniority list, but he is being appointed “replied Gracey as he is a Sandhurst graduate and is the least ambitious" The course of history may well have been different if Generals Sharif and Ali Kuli Khan, the senior most officers of the Pakistan Army had been appointed instead of Generals Zia and Musharraff. The only way to prevent a Coup d'etat is that the person who is appointed is free of Bonapartist impulses .Napoleon too was a junior officer who, in his own words, found the crown of France lying in the dust and picked it up with his sword. Those appointed out of turn "Ayub, Yahya, Zia and Musharraf have all betrayed their mentors and the Constitution sending their benefactors in exile or to the gallows. One day when Zia was waiting upon Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the White House in Multan, the residence of the Qureshis, Zia stubbed out his cigarette in his pocket as he was summoned by the Prime Minister .The smoke emanated from Zia's pocket symbolizing his subservience .It is better to appoint the Senior rather than the Sycophant. The rule of Seniority would protect Federalism and Democracy and also the right of promotion along the chain of command. Thus the rule of seniority is best for the officer corps of the Pakistan Army. Dictator and Democracy Five years after seizing power in a bloodless coup, Pakistan’s military Dictator, and self-appointed President Pervez Musharraf remains Pakistan's most powerful man. Aftab Hassan Khan Shortly after the 1999 coup, General Musharraf told the nation: "I shall not allow the people to be taken back to the era of sham democracy." Five years later, the people realized that Musharraf has truly kept his word. He did not allow anyone to take people back to the era of shame democracy. He did it himself. The lesson General Musharraf and his Western backers are leaving behind for other coup leaders in this process is: If the constitution does not legitimize your actions, delegitimize the constitution. That you can do by virtue of holding it in abeyance. In the meanwhile, instead of mending your ways, amend the constitution to legitimize both your actions and the "sacred" document. It might sound odd and impossible but not for someone backed up by absolute power.The former shame Pakistani democracies now seem far better by comparison when looked at in the perspective of all the crusaders of democracy fully approving and supporting a people's living under a systematically legalized dictatorship. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The move by Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s military ruler, to legitimize and cement his grip on power through a passing awkward bill, ‘The Bill to Enable the President of Pakistan to Hold Another Office’ in the national assembly on October 14th, 2004 to extend his self-declared Presidency is as clear a manifestation of the absurdity of the exercise to legitimize General Pervez Musharraf and to remain in uniform as Chief of Army staff for unspecified period is likely to see him emerge far weaker politically and more vulnerable on the legitimacy question. In reneging on his pledge to return Pakistan to democracy, General Musharraf has attacked the main political parties and their leaders and he alienated the very constituency that supported his bloodless coup. The reality is that without the military’s grip on power being loosened and the rogue Inter-Services Intelligence agency being cut to size, there can be no real, sustained movement in Pakistan toward democracy. The fact that in Pakistan holding public meetings and taking part in public demonstrations and processions are offenses under military decree is overshadowed by the General's rhetoric of "containing militancy". Musharraf plans to continue his military dictatorship through a manufactured political party PML-Q (Pakistan Muslim League-Q), shutting out from the contest the legitimate political parties and leaders of Pakistan. Two of Pakistan's ex-prime ministers are living in exile, and plenty of political workers are disqualified from taking part in the Pakistani politics. Political parties fear that the secrete dealing between General Musharraf and a coalition of Islamist political parties would play into the long-term goals of Pakistani Islamic fundamentalism (The dictator, and the coalition of Islamist hardliners, the MMA (MULLAH MILITARY ALLIANCE) has already a deal and MMA has supported a bill in parliament by which the president can dismiss the prime minister - the move would have to be ratified by the Supreme court). To them, failure to return to democracy means that extremist allies remaining within Pakistan's security services cannot be effectively rooted out. "Civilian control of all aspects of national policy, including security matters, is the only way to ensure that Pakistan does not become a haven for extremists again," one political analyst remarked. "Let us remember the lessons of Iran," writes Benazir Bhutto. "The Shah of Iran was the West's surrogate regional policeman for decades. His policies of choking and victimizing democratic forces led to the fundamentalist revolution from which the world has yet to recover." She continues, "For the moment, some might find Musharraf's dictatorship useful. But the United States must proceed with great caution and wisdom. In the words of John F. Kennedy, 'Foreign policy requires the long view.' Ultimately, the West's blind eye to democracy and human rights can have unintended, unforeseen, and deadly consequences, not just in Pakistan, but for regional and world peace." No two opinions are the same about the time-tested notion that what appears to be convenient in the short-term is likely to be catastrophic in the long term. Who knows this better than the US, which is being blamed for its past patronage of today's rascals and past "freedom fighters"--the Muslim fundamentalist? A key lesson of September 11 is that terrorism springs from religious and political extremism nurtured by autocracy and the suppression of democratic voices. Before September 11, Pervez Musharraf was more shunned than sought after by world leaders. Today, the opposite is true. The General himself, when he was army chief, was seen as an instigator of dangerous Pakistani provocations in Indian-administered Kashmir in 1999, a period best remembered as the "Kargil crisis." Later that year, he seized power in a bloodless coup and named himself president in 2001, kicking out the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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civilian Prime Minister by accusing him of selling the national interest to US and India by agreeing to withdraw from the Kargil area in Indian Kashmir--an agreement Musharraf characterized as compromising national security. General Musharraf is lucky as he is riding high internationally, having transformed his image from a virtual pariah to an ally of the West following his post-September 11 desertion of the Taliban. He has used that American-compelled turnabout in Pakistani policy and his assistance in the anti-terror war to reap major benefits, including significant Western aid and legitimizing his dictatorship. He has also kept Washington happy through certain concessions, like giving permission to the US forces to join Pakistani troops in hunting in the Pakistani territory. In turn, General Musharraf has taken advantage of the friendly attitudes of the West not only to break his democracy pledge but also to shrink back from promises he made in when he took power. General Musharraf oils his dictatorship with American aid, as did the previous Pakistani dictator, General Zia ul-Haq, who spurred on the rise of the forces of jihad and Islamisation campaign are still being felt today. The militant groups remain wellorganised, well-armed and well- financed. Yet General Musharraf continues to place limits on American anti-terrorist operations, barring American forces from making independent hot-pursuit raids from Afghanistan into Pakistan. It is becoming more certain with every passing moment that the international community--read as 'USA'-is going to repeat the mistakes of the past--the mistake of supporting and nurturing Suhartos, Pinochets, Marcos and Zias. The perpetrators of "Operation Enduring Freedom" are collaborating with Pakistan's generals to snatch the very freedom from the people of Pakistan that they claim to be fighting for. The country’s fifty-five year history has been a series of lengthy duels between general and politician, with civil servants acting as seconds for both sides. Statistics reveal the winner: while elected representatives have run the country for fifteen years, and unaccountable bureaucrats and their tame front men for eleven, the Army has been in power for Thirty Five—leading some to suggest that the green-and-white national flag might be re-coloured khaki. It is a dismal record, but the Pakistan high command has never tolerated interference from civilian politicians for too long. The last elected leader to believe he had the Army firmly under his control, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had to be disabused of the notion. In 1977, on the orders of General Zia—an erstwhile favourite whom Bhutto had promoted over the heads of five, more deserving, superior officers—the prime minister was removed from power and hanged two years later. No dictator believes in a short tenure. If Musharraf had any plans of turning over power to a civilian, he wouldn't have given the Sharif family its one-way ticket to Riyadh. Of the four dictators Pakistan has had, two have been assassinated; another two were removed in disgrace. There should be no reason for Musharraf to believe he would buck the trend. Musharraf’s Coup - Seven Years Later Musharraf and his generals are determined to stay in power. They will protect the source of their power – the army. They will accommodate those they must – the Americans. They will pander to the mullahs. They will crush those who threaten their power and privilege, and ignore the rest. No price is too high for them. They are the reason Pakistan fails. Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy

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Some had feared – while others had hoped – that General Pervez Musharraf’s coup of October 12, 1999, would bring the revolution of Kemal Ataturk to a Pakistan firmly in the iron grip of mullahs. But years later a definitive truth has emerged. Like the other insecure governments before it, both military and civilian, the present regime also has a single point agenda – to stay in power at all costs. It therefore does whatever it must and Pakistan falls further from any prospect of acquiring modern values, and of building and strengthening democratic institutions. The requirements for survival of the present regime are clear: on the one hand the Army leadership knows that its critical dependence upon the West requires that it be perceived abroad as a liberal regime pitted against radical Islamists. But, on the other hand, in actual fact, to preserve and extend its grip on power, it must preserve the status quo. The staged conflicts between General Musharraf and the mullahs are therefore a regular part of Pakistani politics. This September, nearly seven years later, the religious parties needed no demonstration of muscle power for winning two major victories in less than a fortnight; just a few noisy threats sufficed. From experience they knew that the Pakistan Army and its sagacious leader – of “enlightened moderation” fame – would stick to their predictable pattern of dealing with Islamists. In a nutshell: provoke a fight, get the excitement going, let diplomatic missions in Islamabad make their notes and CNN and BBC get their clips – and then beat a retreat. At the end of it all the mullahs would get what they want, but so would the General. Examples abound. On 21st April 2000, General Musharraf announced a new administrative procedure for registration of cases under the Blasphemy Law. This law, under which the minimum penalty is death, has frequently been used to harass personal and political opponents. To reduce such occurrences, Musharraf’s modified procedure would have required the local district magistrate’s approval for registration of a blasphemy case. It would have been an improvement, albeit a modest one. But 25 days later – on the 16th of May 2000 – under the watchful glare of the mullahs, Musharraf hastily climbed down: “As it was the unanimous demand of the ulema, mashaikh and the people, therefore, I have decided to do away with the procedural change in the registration of FIR under the Blasphemy Law”. Another example. In October 2004, as a new system for issuing machine readable passports was being installed, Musharraf’s government declared that henceforth it would not be necessary for passport holders to specify their religion. Expectedly this was denounced by the Islamic parties as a grand conspiracy aimed at secularizing Pakistan and destroying its Islamic character. But even before the mullahs actually took to the streets, the government lost nerve and the volte-face was announced on 24 March, 2005. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said the decision to revive the religion column was made else, “Qadianis and apostates would be able to pose as Muslims and perform pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia”. But even these climb downs – significant as they are – are less dramatic than the astonishing recent retreat over reforming the Hudood Ordinance, a grotesque imposition of General Zia-ul-Haq’s government unparalleled both for its cruelty and irrationality. Enacted into the law in 1979, it was conceived as part of a more comprehensive process for converting Pakistan into a theocracy governed by Sharia laws. These laws prescribe death by stoning for married Muslims who are found guilty of extra-marital sex (for unmarried couples or non-Muslims, the penalty is 100 lashes). The law is exact in stating how the death penalty is to be administered: “Such of the witnesses who deposed against the convict as may be available shall start stoning him and, while Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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stoning is being carried on, he may be shot dead, whereupon stoning and shooting shall be stopped”. Rape is still more problematic. A woman who fails to prove that she has been raped is automatically charged with fornication and adultery. Under the Hudood Law, she is considered guilty unless she can prove her innocence. Proof of innocence requires that the rape victim must produce “at least four Muslim adult male witnesses, about whom the Court is satisfied” who saw the actual act of penetration. Inability to do so may result in her being jailed, or perhaps even sentenced to death for adultery. President and Chief of Army Staff General Musharraf, and his Citibank Prime Minister, Shuakat Aziz, proposed amending the Hudood Ordinance. They sent a draft for parliamentary discussion in early September, 2006. As expected, it outraged the fundamentalists of the MMA, the main Islamic parliamentary opposition. MMA members tore up copies of the proposed amendments on the floor of the National Assembly and threatened to resign en masse. The government cowered abjectly and withdrew. Musharraf’s government proved no more enlightened, or more moderate or more resolute and behaved no differently from the more than half a dozen civilian administrations, including two terms of Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister and several ‘technocrat’ regimes. None made a serious effort to confront or reform these laws. But the pattern is broader then deference to the mullahs. General Musharraf has been willing to use the iron fist in other circumstances. Two examples stand out: Waziristan and Balochistan. Each offers instruction. In 2002, presumably on Washington’s instructions, the Pakistan Army established military bases in South Waziristan which had become a refuge for Taliban and Al Qaeda fleeing Afghanistan. It unleashed artillery and US-supplied Cobra gunships. By 2005 heavy fighting had spread to North Waziristan and the army was bogged down. The generals, safely removed from combat areas, and busy in building their personal financial empires, ascribed the resistance to “a few hundred foreign militants and terrorists”. But the Army was taking losses (how serious is suggested by the fact that casualty figures were not revealed), soldiers rarely ventured out from their forts, morale collapsed as junior officers wondered why they were being asked to attack their ideological comrades – the Taliban – at American instruction. Reportedly, local clerics refused to conduct funeral prayers for soldiers killed in action. In 2004, the army made peace with the militants in South Waziristan. It conceded the territory to them, which had made the militants immensely stronger. A similar “peace treaty” was signed on 1 September 2006 in the town of Miramshah, in North Waziristan, now firmly in the grip of the Pakistani Taliban. The Miramshah treaty met all demands made by the militants: the release of all jailed militants; dismantling of army checkpoints; return of seized weapons and vehicles; the right of the Taliban to display weapons (except heavy weapons); and residence rights for fellow fighters from other Islamic countries. As for “foreign militants” – who Musharraf had blamed exclusively for the resistance, the militants were nonchalant: we will let you know if we find any! The financial compensation demanded by the Taliban for loss of property and life has not been revealed, but some officials have remarked that it is “astronomical”. In turn they promised to cease their attacks on civil and military installations, and give the army a safe passage out. While the army has extricated itself, the locals have been left to pay the price. The militants have closed girls’ schools and are enforcing harsh Sharia laws in all of Waziristan, both North and South. Barbers have been told ‘shave and die’. Taliban vigilante groups patrol the streets of Miramshah. They check such things as the length

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of beards, whether the “shalwars” are worn at an appropriate height above the ankles, and attendance of individuals in the mosques. And then there is Balochistan. Eight years ago when the army seized power, there was no visible separatist movement in Balochistan, which makes nearly 44% of Pakistan’s land mass and is the repository of its gas and oil. Now there is a full blown insurgency built upon Baloch grievances, most of which arise from a perception of being ruled from Islamabad and of being denied a fair share of the benefits of the natural resources extracted from their land. The army has spurned negotiations. Force is the only answer: “They won’t know what hit them”, boasted Musharraf, after threatening to crush the insurgency. The Army has used everything it can, including its American supplied F-16 jet fighters. The crisis worsened when the charismatic 80-year old Baloch chieftain and former governor of Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was killed by army bombs. Musharraf outraged the Baloch by calling it “a great victory”. Reconciliation in Balochistan now seems, at best, a distant dream. Musharraf and his generals are determined to stay in power. They will protect the source of their power – the army. They will accommodate those they must – the Americans. They will pander to the mullahs. They will crush those who threaten their power and privilege, and ignore the rest. No price is too high for them. They are the reason Pakistan fails. A Despicable Check List of Musharraf's Pakistan Visionary LAHORE, May 31: Does it matter that the American Consulate in Karachi can kidnap any citizen, have him hauled inside, beat him black and blue and than deposit him at a police station with threats of dire consequences if he squeals about the matter, just because his vehicle scraped the Consulate boundary. I hope Justice Osmani and Justice Memon realize that Diplomatic immunity is not a licence of 007 (James Bond) to kill, kidnap, rape or harass citizens of the country. (And while I'm at it, could the Consulate withdraw from the land it has encroached upon, making life miserable for the citizens of Karachi, and instead strengthen their own walls within their legal premises.) Does it matter that on the date when freedom of press is celebrated all over the world, journalists were beaten up by the police in Islamabad and a week or so later a renounced daily was threatened to shut-up by withdrawing official ads. Does it matter that a project of national importance “Raising of the Mangla Dam” has been delayed and nearly jeopardized just because minions fronting for the Chief Executive of the province who through backdoor methods seem to have acquired the leases of most of the deposits of limestone in the vicinity of the dam and hiked the prices so high that the contractor nearly ran away. Does it matter that in this land of once five flowing rivers we have private armies that barge into factories with guns and tractors and remove goods without any fear of the police or concern for the stays of the courts and are bent upon harassing foreign investors so that no new foreign investor dare invest a penny in the country. Does it matter that in the world of Pakistani politics a husband is about to cheat on a wife and a brother is about to stab a brother so that they could wield political power under the watchful eye of the Khaki. Does it matter that all the political parties asking for return of democracy are the least democratic within their own setups. They have no elections. Their allegiance is to a personality who is elected Chairman for life and even if they have an election it is pure sham. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The only people who are content to remain stagnant in any setup, may it be corporate or political, are those who are either very poor/weak or those who have personal agenda of making a buck through the position they are in. Otherwise how can the likes of Amin Faheem, Aitzaz Ehsan, Sardar Khoso and other men of substance just sit by and watch the shenanigans taking place. The whole sham is about creating personality cults and creating dynasties for their respective families. If that be so than why fault the incumbent, who as it is, thinks there is no one better than him. Does it matter that to register the purchase of land, the lower echelon of the tehsil still takes an amount equal to the official registration fee. Does it matter that an area which has a river flowing 10 kms from it and a mountain with huge water reserves of less than 3 kms away and still the womenfolk have to go on donkeys for 5-8 kms to fetch water. Does it matter that the steel pipes which were laid in the 40s were removed and sold for scrap worth millions and replaced by low quality cement pipes which collapsed within a month of replacement and the people are without water and no one has been hauled up for questioning. Does it matter that an honorable retired bureaucrat who has achieved a status of a pious man and to whom all and sundry flock for advice and to whom came for advice one of his retired chaprasis who had four daughters who were constantly harassed by the goons of the neighborhood and who had used all his resources of police contacts etc. All that this pious man could advise was to sacrifice one of the daughters? Does it matter that Imtiaz Sheikh against whom the Sindh Chief Minister has made allegations of corruption galore and who is now wanted for collusion in murder has been promoted to Senior Vice President of the official PML. And may well become the Chief Minister of Sindh. Does it matter that after the bursting of the land and stock exchange bubble and the hauling up of the officials of DHA Lahore, no one has been booked for any crime. Does it matter that with all the hue and cry for the promotion of SMEs even now the loans by banks are being given to the haves and the right-offs are for chronic defaulters like Ch Qasim. Try setting up a small or medium industrial enterprise without 300 percent collateral and you would be shown the door. Does it matter that everyone is raising a voice against the feudals, even the Chief of MQM lays fault at the doors of feudalism, without once realizing that where it has been done away with without a proper replacement, the vacuum has been filled by anarchism and terrorism The methods and tactics of some ethnic and religious groups in urban areas, and of the vacuum fillers in those rural areas where the local landlords have been sidelined, are clear references for study. Does it matter that when one comes across senior bureaucrats or members of the PMs team one is told that what one is writing about and much more. Well if they know and still don’t do anything about it then what right they have to strut around like proud peacocks. Does it matter that all those who previously stood for elections as MNAs and MPAs are all proudly vying to be demoted to the district and tehsil nazim slots. Why? Because that is where the buck stops. Does it matter that no one in the entire country takes out a procession against the Baglihar and Wullar but you have a huge march against the Kalabagh. The only people who took it on themselves as per news item were a group of Kashmiri freedom fighters who were on their way to blow up Baglihar but apparently got caught by the Indians, a typical case of bad planning and execution. Well so was Kargil anyway. Does it matter that both our allies (referring probably to US and China) have abandoned us and left us high and dry and are wooing Miss India? Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Does it matter that some one has advised the President to have his illustrious mother come on screen and voice her thoughts about her son who presently rules the country. I had a chance to watch one of her earlier interviews. The lady came across as an educated, soft spoken, kind and above all elegant – an aspect of upbringing fast eroding from our society. I also had an opportunity to meet Mr Zardari’s mother and found her to be a woman of strong character, substance and immense presence. But what better way to show love and respect to these souls than by doing what is right … and by improving the lot of the millions of sons of other mothers of this country. Does it matter that an individual who is now 50 plus and has fought the urge to make a quick buck and accept bribe may be on the verge of breaking his life long principle just to bring bread to the table. Yes it matters! It matters because one man of principles down is a great victory for the corrupt, evil and manipulative Holy Trinity. In this era where consumerism, materialism, individualism is breaking the very fiber of societies and religions and is further being strengthened by the grip of corruption and nepotism which has been unleashed by the media moguls of the New World Order. It matters that individuals who stand by values and principles and what is right by society and religion who are presently dispersed like straw need to be baled and looped. It matters because they are the hope for the millions in this country and billions in the world who are crawling below the line of inhumanity and poverty. It matters because throughout history it has been the individual fighter, Mard-eMomin, man of faith, man of vision who has changed the course of history and has been the rallying factor for the downfall of tyrants. To all those on the verge of collapse or who are in the grip of momentary weakness stand tall and matter An Outsider's Disturbing Report on Ground Situation inside Pakistan Dr. Maqbool Halepota, MD Special to the South Asia Tribune ARIZONA, USA, July 14: I recently visited Pakistan, the country of my birth, a country which has been under the spotlight for the last few years. Here are my impressions of the current situation in Pakistan, as seen from the inside through the eyes of a common person on the street and what he thinks about the future of the country. Any student of history will tell us that dictatorships are like games of Russian Roulette, with each ending either in the demise of the country, or the dictator. Pakistan’s short history is filled with such examples. Ayub/Yahya’s rule ended with the demise of Pakistan, as it was created by its founding fathers. Zia’s regime ended in his own death in mid air. Musharraf's dictatorship came close to following the Zia example many times but he survived. This phenomenon is not unique to Pakistan. History is filled with similar examples. The most recent being that of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, along with countless military dictators, all over the Third World, who have been used and then disposed off, since the end of the colonial period. So the next logical question would be: Who is going to be the victim of next round of this perennial Russian Roulette being played between Pakistan and its army? Unless there is a drastic change in the international geo-political conditions, as had happened in the case of Zia, it seems very unlikely that the powers that be will want to eliminate General Musharraf in the near future because he has time and again Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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proven to be more loyal than his masters and has been quite willing to do all of their dirty work whenever asked or told. Thus the odds are that the loser at the end of the next round, in all probability, will be the country itself, early signs of which are already visible in what is happening in Balochistan. An extension of the current setup will only further increase the deep sense of deprivation prevalent among the smaller provinces and ethnic minorities of the country. But, before predicting about the future of the country, one needs to look at the ethnic make-up of the country to better predict how each of these groups is likely to react to the continuation of current autocratic setup, and in case of a flare-up of ethnic rioting in the country. Pakistan consists of many ethnic groups, many of these actually meet the criteria for being recognized as nations, as defined by the UN. These nationalities share nothing other than religion with each other. This was the basis of the two nation theory, behind the carving out of Pakistan in the mid 20th century. These nations had been in existence thousands of years before the very idea of Pakistan was conjured up by the British bureaucracy. These nationalities include Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtuns, Balochs, Seraikis, Kashmiris and Mohajirs. One can easily predict how each one of them will behave by evaluating the kind of relationship they have enjoyed with the Pakistan Army over the last 50 years. Balochs and Sindhis have always been treated by the Army as nothing more than conquered and enslaved aborigines, with no rights or privileges. Thus they are already completely alienated, making both of these provinces volcanoes which are ready to erupt any time. This is where the trouble is most likely to start in the next few years. When this happens it will lead to further unrest among the Seraikis, who have been relatively calm, but still totally dissatisfied with the situation. Army’s relations with Pashtuns and Kashmiris have also soured completely over the last few years, due to General Musharraf's U-turns on Afghanistan and Kashmir. Although in the past they were the favorite blue eyed boys of the establishment. At present Musharraf’s strongest support base is among the Mohajirs, because he himself is a Mohajir. This is the name given to individuals who had migrated from India at the time of creation of Pakistan and their descendents. As a matter of fact General Musharraf himself was born in India and migrated with his family when he was a young child. He has never made any secret of his affection for his place of birth and desire to go back to his roots. During his last visit to his motherland he had openly expressed a desire to come back and settle in his ancestral house - the Neharwali Haveli in Old Delhi, India. He has thus been called a proud son of the soil by some Indian think tanks. This also explains Indian Governments love affair with Musharraf and his regime, as he is considered one of their own, and rightly so. After all, he single handedly has achieved for India what their whole army could not do in last 50 years, conquer Pakistan. But the million dollar question still is: Will he continue to enjoy the same level of support when things reach the boiling point in Balochistan and Sindh. I personally do not think so, I believe that at that time the Mohajirs of the urban areas of the Sindh will also be left with no choice but to abandon him. Signs of which are visible even today by MQM’s radically changed rhetoric. MQM is the organization which represents 99 per cent of mohajirs all over the world. Altaf Hussain the dynamic and able leader of MQM has openly started asking for a United States of Pakistan, because he can clearly see the writing on the wall. Like any dictatorial government the current economic policies are primarily being framed to appease and buy the loyalties of the few who can provide support to this Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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artificially erected system. Therefore although benefiting a few fat cats, mostly Army Generals at the top, the current economy has failed to trickle down to the masses whose lives are getting more miserable by the day, due to the skyrocketing prices of daily commodities, giving rise to a sense of resignation and helplessness among the masses, even in Punjab and urban Sindh. Thus, if and when, there is turmoil in the country, even these traditionally pro army areas are not likely to support the Musharraf set up. Therefore when there is widespread unrest, which is most likely to start in either Balochistan or Sindh and then spread to the Seraiki belt, the General will use his army’s overwhelming power to crush it. This will only result in further hatred against the army and create further disharmony among the provinces because the Army and bureaucracy in Pakistan is composed almost solely of Punjabis at lower ranks and Mohajirs at the top. It has almost no representation of other nationalities and is actually perceived as an occupying force by most them. When can we expect all of the above to start? Keeping all of the above facts and figures in mind, one can safely predict that this modern day Bonaparte of Pakistan will continue with his autocratic rule for a little while longer. He will do so with the full blessing, backing and support of the champions of democracy and freedom of the world. But like all dictators he will outlive his utility in the next few years. This will be the time when things will be reaching a point of no return internally also. Thus one does not have to be a visionary to foresee some definite changes in the setup over the next five to ten years. This should be of grave concern to the people of Pakistan, United States and the whole free world. If left unchecked this dictatorship is going to breed genuine anger against the General and the Pakistan Army. Resulting in further chaos in an already unstable country, which as it is, has already lost all internal cohesiveness and is only being kept together by external forces and favorable geo-political conditions! And when these conditions change it is most likely to crash like a house of cards. Therefore I sincerely believe that the time has come for the country of my birth to take stock of the gathering dark clouds and realize that unadulterated democracy is the only way of salvation for them. Because continuing to rely on self proclaimed and military appointed saviors will bring nothing except more death and destruction to the country. It is time the inhabitants of this “Mumlikate-Khudadad”, name given to Pakistan by its well wishers, which translated into English means “Country Granted by God”, end their perennial wait for divine intervention and start relying on their God given talents. It is time for Pakistanis, as a nation to get their heads out of the sand and face the harsh realities of the 21st century. The need of the hour is for Pakistanis to bring true democracy to their country before it is brought to them by someone else, as is being currently done in Iraq. Book Reveals ISI was involved in 1990 Murder of Iranian Diplomat in Lahore Special SAT Report WASHINGTON, Sept 15: A former Pakistani police official has disclosed that Pakistan's infamous Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) operatives were directly involved in the 1990 murder of a senior Iranian diplomat in Lahore, an event which he claims, changed the course of Shia-Sunni confrontation in Pakistan, for the worse. In his just released book, Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, The Army, And America's War On Terror, published by M.E. Sharpe, Hassan Abbas, currently Research Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Fellow at the Harvard Law School and a PhD. candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, reveals that while Iranian Consul General Sadiq Ganji was shot by notorious terrorist Riaz Basra, “the other person on the motorcycle with Basra conducting the Ganji murder operation was an ISI official named Athar, a lowlevel official from the Pakistan Air Force..” This is the first time that any Establishment insider has revealed the direct involvement of the ISI in important political murders in Pakistan although Hassan Abbas has tried to dilute his disclosures by adding: “However, it is not known whether the (Ganji) assassination was an act approved by the military and the ISI command, or if some rogue element in the ISI had given a go-ahead on his own..” It is interesting to note that instead of Riaz Basra, who the book says killed Sadiq Ganji, another Sunni activist Sheikh Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, was convicted and hanged on March 1, 2001 for Sadeq Ganji’s assassination. This fact is, however, not mentioned in the book. The book reveals deep foreign links, specially Iranian and Saudi funded operations in Pakistan to further their own sectarian supporters and gives names of officials and details of how Pakistan was turned into a battle ground between Shia and Wahabi militant wings. It also throws light on how political governments tried to curtail the ISI role and influence in sectarian violence but all such attempts were foiled by the ISI, including even an abortive attempt to assassinate former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif because he was pushing too hard. The following excerpts of the book deal with the Ganji murder and related sectarian issues, including the rise of Riaz Basra as an international terrorist who, the book claims, had also developed close links with Osama ben Laden and Al-Qaeda. Basra was killed in May 2002 in an encounter with the Punjab police after years of staying successfully on the run. Excerpts: “ While Ganji was leaving his hotel premises on Lahore’s Mall Road, two assailants riding on a motorcycle emerged on the scene and shot him dead. A twentythree-year-old SSP activist, Riaz Basra, was the man who delivered for the SSP. After accomplishing the task, he conveniently ran away as police were nowhere near the crime scene. This feat ensured a promising career for Basra as a terrorist. He belonged to a poor family and had studied in a Madrasa, Darul Uloom-e-Islamia based in Allama Iqbal town, (Lahore Memorizing Quran), but as it turned out, Jhangvi’s philosophy sounded more attractive to him. He had joined the SSP in 1988 as an ordinary member, but killing Ganji made him a hero among the party sympathizers, who encouraged him to repeat the performance. There was no shortage of targets, but Iran was angry and the political leadership in Pakistan was quite embarrassed, resulting in increased pressure on the police to arrest the culprits. Basra was arrested on June 5, 1992, bringing some respite for the political government, but he had influential “friends” who wanted to see him in action rather than languishing in jail. They were powerful enough to ensure that they got what they wanted, or perhaps they owed him a favor. In either case, a successful rescue operation helped Basra escape from police custody while he was being taken from the jail to a special court hearing on April 30, 1994. No credible information has come to light yet as to the exact identity of his “friends,” but most probably they were the same on whose behalf he had eliminated the Iranian diplomat. A former Pakistani intelligence operator reveals that Basra was operating in league with some junior ISI agents.

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According to his information the other person on the motorcycle with Basra conducting the Ganji murder operation was an ISI official named Athar, a low-level official from the Pakistan Air Force serving with the agency. However, it is not known whether the assassination was an act approved by the military and the ISI command, or if some rogue element in the ISI had given a go-ahead on his own, which was possible as some disgruntled elements in the ISI had started operating independently. However, the 1979 Iranian revolution changed the character and magnitude of sectarian politics in Pakistan. It emboldened Pakistani Shias, who in turn became politicized and started asserting their rights. The zealous emissaries of the Iranian revolutionary regime started financing their organization Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Fiqa-i-Jaferia (TNFJ—Movement for the Implementation of Jafaria Religious Law) and providing scholarships for Pakistani students to study in Iranian religious seminaries. For the Zia regime though, the problematic issue was Shia activism leading to a strong reaction to his attempts to impose Hanafi Islam (a branch of the Sunni sect). For this he winked to the hardliners among the Sunni religious groups in order to establish a front to squeeze the Shias. It was in this context that Jhangvi was selected by the intelligence community to do the needful. It is also believed that the JUI recommendation played the decisive part in this choice. The adherents of the Deobandi school were worried about the Shia activism for religious reasons anyhow. State patronage came as an additional incentive. Consequently, in a well-designed effort, Shia assertiveness was projected as their disloyalty to Pakistan and its Islamic ideology. In a few months, Saudi funds started pouring in, making the project feasible. For Saudi Arabia, the Iranian revolution was quite scary, for its ideals conflicted with that of a Wahabi monarchy. More so, with an approximately 10 percent Shia population, Saudi Arabia was concerned about the expansion of Shia activism in any Muslim country. Hence, it was more than willing to curb such trends in Pakistan by making a financial investment to bolster its Wahabi agenda. According to Vali Raza Nasr, a leading expert on the sectarian groups of Pakistan, the flow of these funds was primarily routed through the Pakistan military and the ISI. It is not known whether American support for this scheme was readily available, but the Zia regime knew well that the United States would be glad to acquiesce, given the rising US-Iran hostility. However, some analysts believe that CIA funds were involved in the venture. The campaign started in Jhang, Jhangvi’s hometown, in the form of a movement against the Shia feudal lords of the area - an anti-Shia program in this region was politically an attractive slogan to win public support. The SSP’s formal goals were well defined: to combat the Shias at all levels, to strive to have them declared a nonMuslim minority, and to make Sunni Islam the official religion of the state. Though undermining Shias was the immediate target, the creation of a theocratic state was the ultimate aim. To begin with, Jhangvi in his public speeches argued that keeping religion and state apart was a conspiracy hatched by the enemies of Islam, with the outcome that the political sphere was in the hands of corrupt and ungodly politicians. Another critical repercussion of this movement was a gradual rise of the Deobandis to prominence as against other Sunni groups, most notably at the expense of the Barelvis. This was to have long-term consequences for Pakistan because the Deobandi view of jihad is arguably narrow-minded and violence-prone compared to that of any other Sunni sect. For the SSP leadership, murdering Shias was pure jihad, but implementation of this agenda was yet some time off. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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In the early days (late 1980s), the SSP confined its activities to publicly abusing Shias and producing jihadi literature declaring them Kafir (infidels) implicitly issuing their death warrants. They needed some time to motivate, groom, and train jihadis who would physically eliminate Shias, so in the meantime local criminals and thugs were hired to do the “needful.” Criminal elements soon realized that this was a mutually beneficial deal—coming under the umbrella of religious outfits provided a perfect cover for their own activities. Over time, the drug traders also developed their ties with sectarian groups, especially the SSP, reproducing in Pakistan relationships between militant groups and drug traffickers that had already evolved in Afghanistan. While Shia activists were following these developing trends closely and making themselves ready to counter the SSP propaganda effectively, the leader of TNFJ, Arif Hussaini, was assassinated in August 1988, serving a severe blow to the Shias. Hussaini had lived in Iran for a while and had a close working relationship with the Iranian regime. The ISI hand was suspected in the murder, as a serving army officer, Majid Raza Gillani, had participated in this “operation.” Soon it was Jhangvi’s turn - he was murdered within a year of Hussaini’s elimination, though the SSP suspected a Jhangbased Sunni political leader, Shaikh Iqbal. Iqbal was believed to be the main beneficiary of the rise in Shia-Sunni hostility, as the Sunni majority of Jhang was certain to believe that the murder was perpetrated by Shias, thus creating sympathy for Iqbal and increasing his prospects in the coming elections. A few SSP activists who had inside information thus attacked Iqbal’s house in Jhang and brutally murdered his brother in broad daylight, though the message conveyed to the SSP cadres and sympathizers was that Shias killed Jhangvi so as to gain maximum benefit by encouraging hatred against Shias. This was not without consequences. A few incidents of physical attacks on Shias had taken place in 1988–89, but the event that changed the course of Shia-Sunni confrontation for the worse was the murder of Sadiq Ganji, the Iranian consul general in Lahore in 1990. While Ganji was leaving his hotel premises on Lahore’s Mall Road, two assailants riding on a motorcycle emerged on the scene and shot him dead. A twenty-three-year-old SSP activist, Riaz Basra, was the man who delivered for the SSP. After accomplishing the task, he conveniently ran away as police were nowhere near the crime scene. This feat ensured a promising career for Basra as a terrorist. He belonged to a poor family and had studied in a Madrasa, Darul Uloom-e-Islamia based in Allama Iqbal town, (Lahore Memorizing Quran), but as it turned out, Jhangvi’s philosophy sounded more attractive to him. He had joined the SSP in 1988 as an ordinary member, but killing Ganji made him a hero among the party sympathizers, who encouraged him to repeat the performance. There was no shortage of targets, but Iran was angry and the political leadership in Pakistan was quite embarrassed, resulting in increased pressure on the police to arrest the culprits. Basra was arrested on June 5, 1992, bringing some respite for the political government, but he had influential “friends” who wanted to see him in action rather than languishing in jail. They were powerful enough to ensure that they got what they wanted, or perhaps they owed him a favor. In either case, a successful rescue operation helped Basra escape from police custody while he was being taken from the jail to a special court hearing on April 30, 1994. No credible information has come to light yet as to the exact identity of his “friends,” but most probably they were the same on whose behalf he had eliminated the Iranian Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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diplomat. A former Pakistani intelligence operator reveals that Basra was operating in league with some junior ISI agents. According to his information the other person on the motorcycle with Basra conducting the Ganji murder operation was an ISI official named Athar, a low-level official from the Pakistan Air Force serving with the agency. However, it is not known whether the assassination was an act approved by the military and the ISI command, or if some rogue element in the ISI had given a go-ahead on his own, which was possible as some disgruntled elements in the ISI had started operating independently. These were the times when the financial endowment of the SSP-run Madrassas increased manifold, with the repercussion that factional disputes over the control of the purse also surged. Prospects of a financial bonanza attracted many other religious extremists to jump into this theater and vie for rewards. In the ensuing competition among such scoundrels, sectarian killings in Pakistan increased in the 1990s. Meanwhile, Iranian funding to Shia organizations also increased, making Pakistan a battleground for Saudi Arabia and Iran to settle their scores. No effective measures were taken by the Pakistan government to halt this slide into chaos. Realizing that sectarian outfits were untouchable entities, professional criminals hastened to join these groups and benefit from this window of opportunity. For instance, when around 500 trained gunmen belonging to MQM were abandoned by their masters, they tentatively turned to the SSP in search of a job. They found it to be a promising career. All they had to do was grow beards and learn a few anti-Shia lessons. The rest they were already accustomed to - butchering people. During the 1990s the SSP spawned many splinter groups, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (Army of Jhangvi, hereafter called Lashkar) being the most deadly and prominent one, whereas other small outfits were mainly “personal mafias of influential feudals, led by local mullahs.” Many of the leaders of the SSP, including Israr ul Haq Qasmi and Zia ur Rahman Farooqi, were murdered by extremists belonging to Sipah-i-Mohammad (Army of Mohammad), a Shia militant outfit formed in 1994. To tackle such attacks on its leadership, the SSP in a planned move largely confined its activities to the political arena under a felon, Azam Tariq, while Lashkar, led by the notorious Riaz Basra, started operating in 1995–96 as a terrorist group. Basra’s direct links with Arab financiers and the Taliban helped him establish his base camp in Afghanistan. Before Lashkar’s emergence, sectarian killings were mainly restricted to leaders and activists of both the Shia and Sunnis, but Basra expanded the battlefield by targeting Shia government officials, lawyers, doctors, and traders, giving a new twist to the confrontation. Even Shia mosques came under attack, resulting in random killings of innocent people. By virtue of such terrorist operations, Lashkar distinguished itself as the most violent sectarian force in Pakistan. It also openly admitted to its acts of terror, informing newspapers through telephone calls and its publication Intiqam-i-Haq (dual meaning Revenge of Truth, or Revenge of Jhangvi). It also started operating in Indiancontrolled Kashmir but, keeping in line with its philosophy, it embarked on this journey by starting to murder Kashmiri Shia leaders before targeting the Indian forces. By early 1997, Lashkar was ready for even bigger operations - Iranian cultural centers in Lahore and Multan were burned down, and Iranian diplomat Mohammad Ali Rahimi was killed in cold blood. Basra immediately escaped to Afghanistan after orchestrating this operation, where a HUA guest house was ready for him, but Ashraf Marth, a senior police official, apprehended the other Lashkar terrorists involved in the crime.

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Marth had the competence as well as political support to carry on his investigation. In a few months he was able to track the funding sources of Lashkar and, to everyone’s amazement, evidence of foreign financing and records of funds transfers through US banks were on the table of the prime minister. One of the men accused of the attacks was found with a credit card issued from New York. This was enough to cause the prime minister to jump in his seat. He immediately passed the information on to the Army Chief. Before any action could be taken on the information, Ashraf Marth was assassinated right in front of his official residence, and the inquiry came to an abrupt closure. The attack was so well planned that half a dozen armed guards of Marth could not move and the attackers vanished from the scene. Pakistani intelligence agencies were thunderstruck, and police officials were scared to get involved in such investigations. It is ironic why the military intelligence agencies remained a silent witness to such developments. Basra had now become a legend among the religious hard-liners in the country. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif finally decided to target some sectarian groups, including Lashkar, through civilian law enforcement agencies, as he was not expecting much support from military intelligence agencies. Tariq Pervez, an accomplished counter terrorism expert in the police service, was tasked to trace out the Lashkar terrorists and bring them to justice. Tariq’s hard work and commitment paid off when his special team was able to trace Basra, though there was a problem. Basra was in Kabul, and that was beyond Tariq’s jurisdiction. On getting the report, Nawaz Sharif personally requested the ISI chief to get hold of him, knowing that they had close links with the Taliban and HUA. He was told not to worry and that Basra would be taken care of soon. Ironically, instead of Basra being apprehended, Lashkar stepped up its activities and attempted to assassinate the prime minister on January 3, 1999. The plot failed because a remote-control bomb placed under a bridge that the prime minister had to pass over detonated an hour too early. How the assassination plan was botched is indeed an interesting story. Gul Khan, Lashkar’s top bomb-making expert, was hiding near the location with a remote control device, waiting for the prime minister’s vehicle to approach the bridge. Due to a lack of access to sophisticated equipment, he was using an ordinary cordless telephone as a gadget to send the signal. This telephone set was on a VHC frequency, and he was not aware that some police vehicles in the city were also using the same frequency for their wireless communications. Meanwhile, the driver of a police patrol vehicle surveying the prime minister’s travel route, by pure coincidence, parked very close to the point where the bomb was planted. As soon as the vehicle’s wireless set received a call, the bomb detonator caught the signal too and the bomb exploded. Nawaz Sharif was lucky - Gul Khan’s planning was perfect but the technology he was using was outmoded. When he was arrested later, the interrogations led police to connect the dots. Prior to this, the police were of the view that one of the terrorist groups had only sent a warning to Nawaz Sharif, telling him that they were capable of eliminating him. In reaction, Punjab’s chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, gave the go-ahead to the Punjab police to eliminate the Lashkar terrorists through all means possible. Around three dozen operators belonging to SSP and LEJ were gunned down in staged police encounters, but extra judicial killings, besides being obviously contrary to the due process of law, were not the solution to the simmering problem. With no sign of abating, Lashkar activities witnessed an upsurge in 1999 when close to a hundred innocent people became victims of its horrendous campaign. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to curb this menace during 1998–99 had failed miserably because Lashkar activists were using Afghanistan as a sanctuary courtesy of the Taliban, who were known to be hospitable to their guests. Another means of support was HUA’s logistic backing, but the factor that really turned the scales in favor of Lashkar was that Basra had developed a close working relationship with Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. This was so lethal a combination that only an event like 9/11 could trigger events that would lead to this conglomerate’s dismemberment. Controlling Army-led Democracy through Manipulated Vote Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, August 23: Pakistan's founder Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah was a democrat par excellence. If he had known that the ideals that he had lived for, struggled all his life and fought for, would be raped so blatantly, as has been done repeatedly by its military establishment and Bonapartist generals, he would have thought twice before opting for an independent state. He did not have, nor did he seek, help from more than a 100,000 Muslim army officers and other men in uniform serving as the most loyal servants in the British imperial armed forces with quite a few of them at the top licking the boots of their Gora (white) higher ups for promotions. He believed in the power of the ballot over the bullet and hence restricted his struggle for freedom within the democratic parameters. In his first speech to the Legislative Assembly of Pakistan (11 August 1947) he had laid bare categorically his magna carta for the democratic management of the country. In his Pakistan all citizens were to be equal irrespective of their caste, creed or color and that religion had nothing to do with the business of the state. His subsequent emphasis, as long as he lived, was that since it was to be a people's government, responsible to the people and none else but the people, it was the sole prerogative of the masses to change the government in Pakistan and its policies. It also rested within the powers of the people to vote in and vote out a government when it failed to perform in the largest interest of the greatest numbers. He had also warned the civil and military bureaucrats and told them: "Make the people feel that you are servants and friends" and that they should maintain the "highest standard of honor, integrity, justice and fair play." It goes to the credit of the people of Pakistan that despite subversion of democracy by frequent military interventions, they have stood by their commitment to the democratic ideals bequeathed to the nation by the Quaid. However, now we have come to a crucial pass after many constitutional and electoral dislocations, especially following the farce in the name of local bodies elections that were inflicted on us on Thursday, August 18, that a stage has been reached for the entire nation and its political leadership to evolve a new strategy to meet the Praetorian challenges. Away from home, thank goodness to the number of Pakistani TV channels, we could see with our own eyes the most shameless mockery of vote. It seemed to be in continuation of the policy of the militarization of the state by the present regime to further disenchanting the masses away from the power of vote, thereby to weaken the democratic forces that don't give up challenging its absolute authority. State sponsored rigging; fraudulent results and installation of military's favorites in the government have disheartened the voters to the extent that they feel discouraged to vote since they have been denied their right to elect their representatives. This is one major reason for the gradual decline in the voting pattern and the regime feels Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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confident that it can hoodwink international opinion by jacking up falsely the figures of voting turnout. General Pervez Musharraf's Local Government Ordinance of 2001 drafted painstakingly by the best Praetorian brains, aided by their civilian experts, had an overall objective of not promoting democracy at the grass root level but to control it so that managing of local affairs remains at the mercy and sweet will of the Center. It was perennially designed to convert the real rulers, the people, into serfs and power sharing in it was so devised that on paper it seemed to be devolution but in fact it meant more of overwhelming control of Islamabad. In short, it has been the most deplorable recipe for controlled democracy in the country. It has been rightly alleged that instead of devolving power in three tiers, by moving power down the provinces and reducing the load of federal ministries, the President has become the reservoir of all power. General Musharraf has had the cake and has been gulping it too. He has used local bodies not for empowering the people at the grass root level but as an institution for extending semblance of civil legitimacy to it, much in the pattern of General Ayub Khan's basic democracy and General Zia's party less local body politics. Like Musharraf's they also had one objective to further fracture and fragment Pakistani society so that instead of national cohesion, there should be more of local biradari lords with the sole purpose of reducing and minimizing the power of the collective vote. Especially from General Zia's time to this day, calculated attempts are being made to fragment the society into ethnic, feudal and sectarian groups to divide and reduce the democratic power of the people to change a government through their collective vote. This has been real reason for holding non-party local body elections rather than the empowerment of the people. As usual the regime's propaganda machinery is busy orchestrating that Thursday's local polls were the most transparent and peacefully held ever with more than 50 cent of registered voters turning out. Contrary was the view of various panels of experts who were invited by the private TV channels to comment and analyze the daylong proceedings punctuated by bloody violence, 11 deaths with scores wounded. It was also a sad commentary on the performance of the Election Commission. It is understandable since an Acting Chief Election Commissioner heads it. It did not take cognizance of pile of complaints lodged at its doors from the day elections were announced. The blatant transfers and postings of officers by the Chief Ministers and for other bandobast (management) it did not have spine good and strong enough to take a stand. Rather, the President and his Chief Ministers who did not feel shy for lobbying openly for their favorite candidates did it most obtrusively in gross violation of its code of conduct. Back to TV discussions. Some panelists had a point that needs to be answered by the political leaders. They were of the view that since General Zia's time the political parties had been opposing non-party elections and yet they have been participating in them knowing well that the very concept of non-party elections is tendentiously undemocratic, especially when it is inherently designed to divide the political power of the masses. It is time a consensus decision was taken by the ARD and APC and get over with their contradiction of demanding party-based elections and yet surrendering themselves to a party less contraption designed entirely for the service and perpetuation of the military regime. One, therefore, expects that having had the bitter and nightmarish experience of the first phase of local bodies elections, ARD and APC parties should get together to tell Musharraf enough is enough, that they cannot be a party to his shameless electoral Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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farce. It needs to be noted that he is already under pressure and he is no more in a position to shrug off lightly any united protest by the Opposition parties. It is time they corrected their stand on non-party polls. Double Standards Followed by Pakistan Supreme Court Fauzia Wahab ISLAMABAD: During the 2002 General Election, the Election Cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party had duly raised the issue of massive ballot rigging and the state protection given to the collaborators of the army. It was the Army’s rule that promulgated the Conduct of General Election Order 2002, under which every contester had to be a graduate to qualify for contesting the elections. Perhaps the purpose of the ordinance was more aimed at eliminating their opponents rather than serving the cause of democracy, little realizing, that the clauses of graduation would affect their own henchmen more than their opponents. The whole nation watched unbelievingly the up-gradation of those who were known for being under-graduate or who had never visited a college. To accommodate them, the law-makers had to violate their own laws to achieve the desired results. The recent unseating of declared winners on account of possessing fake degrees from three constituencies by the Election Tribunals of the Lahore High Court and the Sindh Election Tribunals confirms our reservation which we had been expressing over the highly rigged elections results of 2002. But at the same time, it is shocking to know that our judiciary failed to observe uniformity in their judgments in the three cases. There are two distinct sets of rule: one for the king’s party, the PML-Q and one for the opposition party, the PPP. Fida Hussain Dero of NA-236 and Shaukat Ali Rajper of PS-31, ticket-holders of PPP, who lost by a slim margin, had filed petitions against the winners of the two above mentioned constituencies. Both of them contended that their opponent's degrees were fake and that they were never enrolled in any university. Within a month of the elections, Sindh University publicly confirmed that they had no record of the given roll numbers of the degrees. But it took the Election Tribunals of Sindh more than a year to reach the conclusion of disqualifying the winners. The cases went to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, where the full bench comprising the Chief Justice Nizam Hussain Siddiqui, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Javed Iqbal, upheld the judgment of the Sindh Election Tribunal. The winners Mohammed Khan Junejo and Bashir Ahmad Bhabhan of the PML-F (one of the king’s party) were declared as disqualified “for possessing fake BA degrees and ordered re-election.” (Dawn 28/2/04) But in a similar case, where the petitioner was a ticket holder of the PML-Q (The main king’s party) Mr. Haroon Akhtar, brother of Humayun Akhtar the powerful Commerce Minister, was declared the winner. The incumbent had filed a petition in the election tribunal of the Lahore High Court for unseating a PML-N's MPA from Lahore, Sheikh Amjad Aziz. He was accused of submitting a bogus B.Sc. degree to the returning officer at the time of the 2002 elections. University's officials, summoned by the tribunal, could not recognize their signatures on the slip, while the PML-N candidate failed to present his degree and the registration number issued by the Punjab University during the process of the petition, although the tribunal's presiding officer time and again asked him to do so. Justice Mian Hamid Farooq said in the judgment that all the findings rendered and evidence given on the election of Sheikh Amjad Aziz from PP-156 to the Punjab Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Assembly had established that he did not possess necessary qualification to contest. (Dawn 17/2/04) The judge set aside the Oct 20, 2002, notification of the Election Commission of Pakistan and declared Haroon Akhtar Khan as having validly been returned from the Lahore constituency. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court allowed the brother of the minister, the second highest scorer, to take oath as MPA saying that a constituency can not be left unrepresented, while in the case of the other two petitioners of the PPP, re-elections have been ordered. Same, or some, standard of justice? From Abbaji's Direct Rule to the Soft Reign of Ammaji M T Butt ISLAMABAD, July 11: Nawaz Sharif and his two tenures as prime minister were dominated by one non-political personality who called all the critical shots, his father: Abbaji. General Pervez Musharraf has his own dominating family influence, his mother: Ammaji. As with Abbaji, who was consulted on all key State matters and whose opinion and advice was the final decisive factor, Ammaji, or Begum Zarrin Musharrafuddin, Barri Amma (Grand Mama) as she is called in the family, has been given almost the same role. Islamabad drawing rooms keep discussing many juicy stories of who was using the Ammaji route to get close to the military ruler, how old acquaintances of the old lady are winding their way to the good books of Palloo, the kid days nick name of General Musharraf. For instance, banker Shaukat Aziz was always a favorite of Ammaji, years before he was destined to emerge on the Pakistani scene, first as Finance Minister and in a few weeks as the Prime Minister. “Aziz was always addressed by first son Bilal Musharraf as ‘Uncle’ and I am witness to this,” a journalist based on New York said. Aziz has been an old friend of Naveed Musharraf, the cardiologist brother of General Musharraf based in Chicago. He played a key role in buying some prime property for Naveed. Of course that role was part of making friends with important people in Pakistan, as he was an international banker. His job description as top Citibank executive handling money laundering included such high level contacts with Generals and their families. In a sense Aziz was lucky. It is known to all that he had excellent relations with both Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif and both were, at some stage of their two governments, considering bringing him in an important position in Pakistan. It was reported in the last few months of the Nawaz Government that he could be inducted at any time as Finance Minister. For Aziz luckily it did not happen because that would have shut him out from Musharraf’s team, at least until he could clear his name and restore his credibility. Another Ammaji favorite is the Secretary of Information Anwar Mahmood whose wife and the first mother have very close friendly ties. These kitchen-bed room woman-towoman talks between the two ladies brought Mr Mahmood close to the General, although he was very close to Mian Nawaz Sharif at one stage. It is thus no surprise that Mr Mahmood enjoys more powers now than many ministers in the cabinet, even his own Minister. Islamabad insiders know of the big battle fought recently inside the Ministry of Information over who will head the State-controlled Pakistan Television. Information Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Secretary Mahmood wanted to throw Akhtar Waqar Azeem, a long time PTV staffer and professional, out of PTV but it was not easy. “Both had a big fight and ultimately Mahmood and Akhtar were both called to the Presidency to settle the issue. Ammaji weighed in for Mahmood in a big way and Akhtar was thrown out of PTV,” a PTV source said. Akhtar then went on record to say that he was thrown out because he refused to hand over PTV’s Channel-III to a favorite of Mr Mahmood, Jabbar Thekedar (Contractor), an active media player on the European-US scene for Asian satellite channels. Mahmood is one of the few bureaucrats to accompany General Musharraf on his current Scandinavian and Central Asian tours. Ammaji has always been a working woman and was last employed by the International Labor Organization (ILO). She was associated with ILO for 17 years till a car accident on Sept 13, 1986 forced her to quit. The accident rendered her bedridden for over half a year. She then retired and lives with Musharraf, the middle son who she has been describing as naughty and not studious in his younger years. “I forced him to join the Pakistan Army as he was fond of sports and not studies,” she says. Her most detailed recorded interview was in February 2003 when international Magazine ‘Motherhood' correspondent Saadia Haseeb talked to her in Rawalpindi. Meet “Badi Ammi”, the cover page of the Magazine said. Of course “Badi” was misspelled for “Barri” which means big or grand. Badi means evil. But the cover story began with a solemn statement: “A hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. This is not just an inspiring quote but also a very valid statement, which holds absolutely true for Begum Zarrin Musharrafuddin.” Seeking interviews with VIPs is always tough, Saadia Haseeb wrote but added: “We found the path to the Army House in Rawalpindi was surprisingly not difficult at all. Just a couple of phone calls and a few days later, there we were sitting face to face with the lady who molded the personality of our President General Pervez Musharraf.” How close is Ammaji’s relationship with Musharraf? ‘Motherhood’ answered the question: She takes breakfast with President Musharraf and says goodbye to him when he leaves for office. “I see him off to work without fail,” she says. “And after office, he comes straight to me. He is very caring and very, very loving.” During the day she watches all TV channels and reads all newspapers and when Musharraf returns, reports to him what negative stories were published by which newspaper against him. She in a way acts as his private eyes and ears on the media and her observations and advice becomes the final word on how to deal with the rogue elements, circles close to the Presidency say. While Anwar Mahmood has established his ties with Ammaji, another Information Minister high up to go through that route is Masoom Abidi who is said to be a regular visitor to the Presidency, almost twice a week. His strategy is to let everyone know that he was regularly meeting Ammaji and was in her good books. That keeps many prospective competitors away and many attacks are pre-empted. Abidi was a nobody until a few years ago when he was pushed by friends to become editor of a Lahore English newspaper. It was the Sharif era and Abidi is said to have made millions first through supporting Shahbaz Sharif and then Chief Minister Manzur Watoo, using the newspaper. He even got famous for the headline: “Babri Masjid killed” which was put out in his newspaper. Secretary Anwar Mahmood introduced him to Ammaji and got him to interview her for TV. Abidi asked an innocent question: “Can I call you Ammaji.” “Why not” was the response and thereafter his fortunes started changing. Abidi is now on a very high package in Ministry of Information's Academy and may also soon become its chief. He Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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is well on his way to become the next Information Secretary, should anything happen to Mr Anwar Mahmood. The most high profile beneficiary of close ties with Ammaji is Senator Mushahid Hussain who had long back reached her through his mother-in-law, mother of wife Dushka Syed, a friend of Ammaji. Mushahid was helped by Ammaji through the connection while he was in Musharraf’s jail, his image and credibility was slowly restored until he was back in the good books of the man who rules the kingdom. Slowly from prison to a free man, to a member of the Kashmir Committee, to freedom of movement to go abroad, to election as a Senator, to top leader of King’s Party and then its Secretary General, Mushahid has traveled a long way. Help on much of this path to success was provided by the network working with Ammaji. Just recently another of the Mushahid family members, young Fahd Hussain of Geo TV, won enough credits with those who matter to get an exclusive interview with General Musharraf. Geo TV has many senior journalists and producers and it was Fahd Hussain who got away with the scoop, thanks partly to the network. The first mom has given few interviews to the media but in some of her comments she has thrown a bit of a light on the personality of her son, now in charge of the country’s destiny. Those comments, if put into the current perspective, would make him responsible for much of what is going on today on the national and international political scene. For example in her Motherhood Magazine interview, Ammaji remembered her son “as a youth who was a leader among his friends -- and at times a bit of a troublemaker. He used to be the center of attention of his peers even at a very young age. No mischief would take place before he arrived. He used to tell everyone what to do." Old habits die hard. What was Musharraf’s nick name in his childhood? “It was only for some time that he was called 'palloo' by his family members but the term could not go along with him as he grew up and was forgotten. It was my idea that Pervez should join the army vis-àvis his fondness for sports and his physical appearance. During his career in the army, I had been praying for his progress and promotion I wished he reaches the rank of Chief of Army Staff. I never thought or dreamt that my son would become the country's President. It is a gift from Almighty Allah that he attained this status.” Full of Revenge, Musharraf Attacks Struggling Islamabad Journalist, Shuts Paper M T Butt ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: General Pervez Musharraf hardly forgets and never forgives a journalist who asks him a tough question and embarrasses him publicly. An Islamabad-based journalist who had asked him such a question three years ago has just been reminded of this black side of the General’s personality. In the latest case, journalist Masood Malik is the target of Musharraf’s unending vengeance. Malik had put Musharraf an honest question when he had returned empty handed from the failed the failed Agra Summit with Vajpayee in 2001. Why is it General, asked Malik who then worked with the Nation-Nawai Waqt Newspaper Group, owned by the Nizamis, that whenever civilian leaders of India and Pakistan meet they reach an agreement and whenever a military ruler is in power, there is no headway in Indo-Pak talks. Musharraf was visibly irritated and annoyed by the question and immediately after the press conference the Nizamis were pressurized so much that they first demoted Malik from his position of Chief Reporter and then sacked him from the newspaper.

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Masood Malik would not be hired by any other newspaper because all newspaper owners knew that Musharraf did not like the journalist and would retaliate if he was hired. So after two years in wilderness Malik decided to start his own newspaper and completed the paperwork in May 2003 to launch “Islamabad Times” in Urdu language. But he could not do so for financial or other reasons. When one year elapsed and Malik’s newspaper did not start publication, the local administration recently sent him a letter asking him to start publishing it or the permission would expire. Malik decided to take the plunge and mobilized all his resources to launch the paper on September 6, 2004 the national Defence Day, when Pakistan celebrates or remembers the start of the 1965 war with India, although there was nothing achieved in the war to celebrate. Musharraf’s intelligence agencies informed the General that Malik was now going to become an Editor and his newspaper will start appearing on news stands within a week. Dummy runs of the paper have started in Rawalpindi’s T.S. Printing Press, he was told. Unable to forget his embarrassment and displaying the vindictiveness which is the hallmark of small minds, Musharraf ordered that the newspaper should be stopped, no matter what the excuse. Intelligence goons raided the Printing Press in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, August 31, and asked the press to stop printing. When the printer demanded an explanation, the intelligence men, who brought some police officials with them as well, took away all the newspaper pages and related material leaving the printer no choice. Masood Malik went to the police but he was told that they had “orders from the top”. Malik held a news conference in Islamabad to condemn the action and waits for an explanation by the administration. The Information Secretary, Anwar Mahmood, told the BBC Urdu Service that he had no knowledge of the raid on the printer and he was also trying to find out who had ordered the press to stop printing the dummy of “Islamabad Times”. There have been many such cases when courageous journalists asked direct, though embarrassing questions and paid the price, both career wise and physically. One such young journalist was Faraz Hashmi of Dawn who had also asked a similar question at a televised Press conference. Just a couple of days later, Hashmi’s car were hit by an Army officer near his office and the Major came out and started throwing punches. He was badly hurt. When Hashmi went to the police to lodge a report, the police refused to do that. Hashmi persisted and went to the High Court which did order the police to register an FIR. But he continued to receive threats and nothing happened on his report until the BBC offered him a job in London and he moved with his family to UK. Two similar episodes were encountered by Shaheen Sehbai, the Editor of the South Asia Tribune, when he was senior correspondent of Dawn in September 2000 and as Editor of The News in December of the same year. Sehbai had asked Musharraf in New York what was he doing about the fugitives, exNavy Chief Admiral Mansurul Haq and Amer Lodhi, the businessman brother of the then Pakistan Ambassador to US, Maleeha Lodhi. Musharraf was annoyed and directly attacked Sehbai by asking him to check his facts before writing. Sehbai retaliated by asking him to state whatever facts he was talking about and do it now. Musharraf was embarrassed as he could not give one single example of misreporting. The second incident took place in December when at a briefing of editors of major newspapers, Sehbai asked Musharraf why should he be trusted by the nation when previous generals had lied about their political ambitions. Again Musharraf was so Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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irritated he never invited Sehbai to any Editors briefings. In 2002 Sehbai had to leave Pakistan amid a huge controversy. But when he started his web newspaper from Washington in August 2002, Musharraf’s vindictiveness emerged with full force and distant relatives of Sehbai were harassed, arrested and persecuted by his regime. That is why, when Musharraf appears before the journalists and writers these days, in closely monitored and secured briefings, no one dares to put him an embarrassing question or no one follows up if he refuses to answer any question. Many journalists are scared of their lives but most of them fear that they will not receive an invitation again. Now the axe has fallen on the still-born “Islamabad Times” of Masood Malik, even though three years have gone by. In this latest act of vengeance, new Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be the man who will face public embarrassment as he would be helpless in providing justice to the aggrieved journalist and his administration will look like a dummy, trying to silence a newspaper which was still in its embryonic dummy stage. RSF Condemns The Paris-based international organization Reporters without Borders on Friday, Sept 3, issued the following statement on the ban on Islamabad Times: "Reporters without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) called today on the federal government and Punjab provincial authorities to publicly explain why they had banned a new daily paper, the Islamabad Times, before it could bring out its first issue. It demanded the release of its printer, his son and two employees who were arrested. It said it suspected it was a new move against the editor Masood Malik who had angered President Pervez Musharraf three years ago. Plainclothes officials went on 31 August to the printing works in Rawalpindi where the Urdu-language paper was being put together for its launch on 6 September and ordered work on it to stop. When printer Malik Abdul Aziz asked why, the officials left and returned with police who arrested the four, closed the works and seized equipment. Editor Masood Malik told Reporters without Borders he had obtained all necessary official permission to start the paper. Officials refused to comment on the ban. Malik said he suspected the federal government was involved. In its 2002 Annual report, Reporters without Borders wrote: "On 20 July 2001, Masood Malik, chief reporter of the right-wing Urdu daily Nawa-iWaqt, was sanctioned by the newspaper's editors only a few hours after asking the Pakistani President a question during a press conference. The journalist asked General Musharraf, who had just returned from the Indo-Pakistani summit in Agra (India), if it wouldn't have been easier for a democratically elected head of state to obtain an agreement with the Indian president. General Musharraf replied by asking the journalist if "he was joking". A few hours later, Masood Malik learned that he had been removed from the newspaper's investigation desk. According to the private newspaper Dawn, this sanction could be due to pressure from the authorities, especially the Press Information Department in charge of regulating the Pakistani press. The Department denied putting pressure on the editors of Nawa-i-Waqt." Hanging Military Court Victims is Judicial, or Simply Plain Murder Gull Rukh Khan PESHAWAR, August 31: Killing an incapacitated individual without having secured the utmost legal cover, even in a quasi-civilized society, is deemed murder and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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manslaughter. Civilized societies have ceased to implement capital punishment since long time back. On Friday, August 26, a military court sentenced five men to death for their alleged roles in a 2003 suicide plot to kill General Pervez Musharraf. Four of them are civilians. Questions are: What jurisdiction that military court has to adjudicate criminal cases? Since when do we have parallel military courts? Didn’t the Supreme Court explicitly struck down Nawaz Sharif’s attempts to establish anti-terrorism courts manned by military personnel? What else if this episode not illustrates the reprehensible supra-constitutional mind set of our military elite? Thus, withholding of the death sentence by the highest judicial venue of the country is the minimum most prerequisite for the state for taking human life. Failure to do so is plain homicide which in turn carries the death penalty for all responsible and involved in Pakistan. Violence must be condemned in all its forms and manifestations. I have no sympathies at all for anyone who kills or attempts to kill fellow human beings regardless of political inclinations and so-called religious justifications. But, it must be stated explicitly that judicial murders are as reprehensible, if not more, as mayhem wreaked by contract killers. As far as I know General Field Court Martial is authorized to hand out death penalty only during the very limited period of ongoing war - a provision that is still highly controversial and in many legal circles considered akin to extra-judicial killing. Owing to the haste with which all the affairs are conducted before the Courts Martial, setting aside all inbuilt safety valves of the civil courts, judicial errors are much frequent than is usually the case. Therefore, execution of the soldier Islam Siddiqui, 35, in Multan jail on August 20, accused of involvement in a plot to kill General Pervez Musharraf two years ago without letting him to appeal against the verdict handed down by the Field Court Martial in superior courts of the country was unlawful by any legal interpretation. Every decision, action of the state affecting the fundamental rights of a citizen, what else can be more fundamental than the right to exist, is open to the scrutiny of the courts. To be noted, I am least interested in discussing his guilt or motives. The moot point is not his culpability over here. Difference between justice and cold-blooded assassination is just the accepted norms of judicial verdict. I have always thought that we are past such summary executions. Alas, I was wrong. In simple words, hanging of Siddiqui is nothing but a GHQ-sanctioned murder, COASimposed homicide. This is murder and is as much legally and morally right (or wrong) as Siddiqui’s and his accomplices’ alleged attempt to blow Musharraf up, Musharraf’s illegal status and commitment of high treason notwithstanding. Interestingly, the accused was reportedly hanged in the case where there was not a single minor human casualty and the whole spoof was winded up in less than 18 months – must be a record in Pakistan’s checkered judicial history. Obviously, in civilian courts, the capital punishment was almost out of question in the absence of ready-made decision from the GHQ and extreme external pressure. Judges may validate unlawful coups but issuing a death warrant without solid legal grounds takes much more than that. As a result, it wouldn’t be off the mark to claim that this execution has been taken place by simple administrative orders of the COAS, and the Field Court Martial rubber stamping the orders from the top. Of course, a petty NCO, a paltry foot soldier daring not only to defy the mighty general(s) but attacking them literally cannot be spared no matter what may come. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Law enforcement powers must remain behind, and not get ahead of the law is the foundation of any society aspiring to survive in long term. Bulldozing the Constitution for a political gain is one thing, blowing it apart for criminal cases is altogether different story. If we start mangling the Constitution for settling personal scores where would it end? If all this be taken into account, one can easily see how it happens that, the action of the regular laws being suspended, military justice, designed exclusively for time of war, has taken the place of the civil administration and will start covering Pakistan with gallows. The demoralizing effect of such a substitution upon the habits and life of the country needs no commentary. The ideas so forcibly developed by Leo Tolstoy in his pamphlet, "I Cannot be Silent" can be paraphrased as follows: That the death penalty especially by a field court martial with no right of appeal, is an evil and a murder in itself which does not allow the offender time to reform and realize his or her mistake. If the death penalty were to be followed religiously, then most of the current leaders would have been put to death a long time ago because of their heinous crimes against humanity. That such a murder is merely an act of treating symptoms of a wider national political problem which can be solved peacefully without a single shot being fired. The problem in our country is lack of democracy and tolerance of each other's views. The execution of Siddiqui was apparently meant to serve a message to all and sundry that in Musharraf's Pakistan, disregarding the top brass is an unforgivable blasphemous sin carrying fatal consequences. Quite simple, if duly elected prime ministers are hanged for being insufficiently docile, ordinary souls stand nowhere. How A Dictator Reduced Pakistan To His Will Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, July 7: In a democratic Pakistan, General Musharraf has only one place to go to: Prison. Since his coup on October 12, 1999, his every move has been aimed at evading that fate. The very day he gunned his way to power, he was quaking in his boots at the thought of having been carted off in cuffs. All day, on October 12, his fellow Bonapartes in the General Headquarters (GHQ) kept pleading with him to have him get down to Islamabad right away. Instead, he sat cowering in Karachi, awaiting an “all clear.” So much so that he had his first speech recorded in the port city for fear of life in Islamabad. Like Gen. Musharraf, all dictators are cowards. His predecessor Gen. Zia-ul-Haq set up his command post in the GHQ to topple the Government of the day. His biggest headache was to find someone who would “safely” tie down the “wolf,” a reference to Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. His top comrade, Gen. Faiz Ali Chishti, took upon himself to “do the job.” When he stepped out of the “war room” to hunt down Prime Minister Bhutto, Gen. Zia called out after him: “Murshud KIthey Merva Na Dayeen” (Lest you saint have us all killed). Prime Minister Bhutto was asleep with his arms folded on his chest, but his wakeful generals were trembling at “what if scenarios.” So was Gen. Musharraf, who survived to this day by having been missing in action (MIA), even on the day a coup was being staged in his behalf. Over the past nearly six years now, he has been living from day to day. He has never been sure of tomorrow. This abiding uncertainty is anchored in his distrust of everyone

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around him. Which is why he has chosen to be his own bodyguard, i.e., staying in military fatigues. He knows that the day he quits the army command, he will be history. The very constituency of corps commanders that he flamboyantly claims stands solidly behind his power-grab does not keep his faith. Every corps commander is a “suspect conspirator” until the day he doffs his uniform. On the lonely planet that Gen. Musharraf has now come to inhabit, there is only one person that he trusts: himself. This is true of every dictator. Gen. Zia-ul-Haq never went to sleep without calling each of his corps commanders and making sure that they are tucked away in homes, especially after midnight. According to his Chief of Staff, Gen. KM Arif, he would stick to this routine even on his overseas trips. It was not enough for Gen. Zia to find his commanders, after midnight, in the safe confines of their bedrooms. He could still be rattled if, in the wee hours, a general would answer his call at the first ring. He once called a general well past midnight. The general answered his phone at the first ring. Startled, Gen. Zia greeted him with a nervous quiz: “Aap Abhi Tak Jaag Rahey Hein.” “Saab, Hum Gunah-garoon Ko Neend Kub Aatee Hey,” defensively retorted the general. Gen. Musharraf is no different. Unlike Gen. Zia, he is favorite of the few among “men and men” in uniform. And even those few are ready to stab him should he turn his back. If anyone got lucky with his ambitions, he would find the “free world” with its arms and heart wide open to take him into an ever tighter embrace. This is because the international community believes that no dictator in Pakistan can survive without its blessing. So any soldier who is adventurer enough to make it to the top is welcome into the “free world.” This saddest of all facts further places Gen. Musharraf on an even shakier ground. To hedge his bets, he already has named a co-ethnic as his Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS). Yet even the co-ethnic is not trusted. He has been assigned to oversee the work of “boy scouts” in the army. He is kept light years apart from the real work of the command. A case in point is the MS (military secretary) branch, which is believed to be the nerve center of the GHQ. Nothing moves there without a nod from the COAS, i.e., Gen. Musharraf. As a matter of fact, VCOASs are set up as straw men to show who actually wields power. To understand how haplessly hopeless their job is, look no further than Gen. Zia’s model. One of his Vice Chief of Staffs, Gen. Sawar Khan, a four-star general, sent out a request for purchasing a computer, only to be turned down by his subordinates! Such exercises in humiliation are well-calibrated to keep the stay within his shoes. In addition to a co-ethnic VCOAS, Gen. Musharraf has appointed his cousin as corps commander of Lahore, a city that is credited with making and unmaking governments. His cousin takes the court of politicians, publicly advises on running the affairs of the Quaid-i-Azam Muslim League, and watches over the Chief Minister and Governor of Punjab. Where cousins are in short supply, Gen. Musharraf has substituted them with layers after layers of authority. All provincial governments are overseen by his self-appointed governors. They in turn are overseen by respective corps commanders, who in turn are watched by the ISI (Inter-services Intelligence) and MI (Military Intelligence), and the latter are pitted against one another. This Byzantine way of governing does not make things easy for the COAS either. As a result, the balance of power has now shifted in favor of intelligence agencies. It is no wonder that every attempt on Gen. Musharraf’s life was traced back to one or more than one of such agencies. The hand that shields him is more tempted do him in also. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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One of the most dangerous outcomes of this “hound-after-hound approach” is mutual distrust that has risen to unmanageable extremes since his coup. After surviving a succession of assassination bids, Gen. Musharraf has now come to accept that no one in the military will pass up an opportunity to bump him off. This sense has further deepened by the opposition’s demand for his head under Article 6 of the Constitution. He thinks he may survive intra-military scheming with counterscheming of his own; but he cannot survive the opposition’s accountability should he be overthrown. His predecessor dictators – right from Sikandar Mirza down to Gen. Zia – however could not survive even internal conspiracies to have a day in court. Like all dictators, Gen. Musharraf, too, thinks that his end will be different from his predecessors. With this belief, he has hitched his star to his co-ethnic Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to escape the opposition’s demand for justice. He believes the MQM can and will “blackmail” any government in Islamabad into leaving him alone. History speaks to the contrary, somehow. What is, however, evident is that his wayward ways of ethnicizing, personalizing, and politicizing the military already are proving divisive. As a result, the enlisted base of the military stands opposed to the officer corps; the officer corps to the general officers, and the general officers to the corps commanders. It is this split that has different inspiration for the enlisted men and members of the officer corps who have mounted several attempts on his life; and for the general officers and especially the corps commanders who he claims are firmly lined up behind him. A senior military officer told The Nation, a Lahore-based centrist broadsheet, that colonels, and not generals, would be the future makers of coups in Pakistan. It comes, then, as no surprise that opposition leaders were barraged with letters from dissenting middle-ranking officers who urged them to try Gen. Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution. When the opposition leader Javed Hashmi articulated their concerns, Gen. Musharraf had him sentenced to 23 years in prison. A man, who divides the military rules; one who questions his divisive ways gets 23 years! The democratic opposition has a chance to undo such paradoxes once and for all. In doing so, it will stem the tide of downward spiral of the military. Opposition can take the first step toward this goal by sticking to its demand for trying Gen. Musharraf for sedition, which is punishable with death, under Article 6 of the constitution. Talks of “deals” and “dialogues” with a felon do not inspire faith in democracy. It is, however, heartening for all democratic forces in Pakistan that both Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had nixed such options. Leaders of democracy must understand that no general will second guess his decision to force his way into Islamabad, unless Gen. Musharraf is brought to justice and made into a “price tag” for future seditions. Leaders of democracy must live up to the immortal pledge of the ultimate democrat, late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan: “Gen. Musharraf will be the last dictator Pakistan ever had; and he will be the first one Pakistan ever tried.” In Pakistan it’s Not Rule of Law But Law of the Ruler That Matters Husain Haqqani WASHINGTON, July 13: The hesitation of the Pakistani authorities in issuing a new passport to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif highlights Pakistan’s greatest weakness. Pakistan is a country run on the whims of its rulers rather than on the basis of its constitution and laws enacted by elected legislatures. Under Pakistani law, every citizen is entitled to a passport upon presentation of proof of citizenship, usually a national identity card. There is no dispute that Mr. Sharif is a Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Pakistani citizen. The Government’s claim that he agreed on December 9, 2000, under a deal brokered by Saudi Arabia, to live in exile for an unspecified period is irrelevant to his right to a passport as a citizen. How can an unlawful deal between a captor and a captive trump one’s citizenship rights? In any case, the Government has failed to produce the agreement it claims was reached between the Sharif family at the time Mr. Sharif was released from prison and sent into exile. Mr. Sharif was toppled in a coup d’etat in 1999 and imprisoned, later to be charged with several “crimes.” If he was, as the military Government claimed, a criminal, General Musharraf had no right to release and pardon him without completing the due process of law. If, however, he was innocent, there was no justification in imprisoning him simply because the military found him to be unworthy of running the country. In either case, where does Pakistan’s constitution (even after its many mutilations) empower the Chief of Army Staff to deprive a Pakistani of the right to return to his country or to secure a passport for travel abroad? Even if General Musharraf’s claim is right and Mr. Sharif went into exile voluntarily, the alleged agreement was political rather than a legally binding one. If General Musharraf can go back on his political agreement with the Opposition regarding relinquishing his military uniform at the end of 2004 due to changed circumstances, what prevents Mr. Sharif from backing out of his unwritten commitment not to return to Pakistan? In any case, what does any of this have to do with Mr. Sharif’s right to possess a Pakistani passport? Not long ago, Pakistani authorities appeared to link renewing Ms. Benazir Bhutto’s passport to knowing her travel plans. Ms Bhutto and Mr. Sharif’s are General Musharraf’s political challengers. The General has a political interest in keeping them in exile. But the question of when and how a Pakistani citizenship gets his or her passport should be a matter of law not of political expediency. One has read several news stories about how different branches of Pakistan’s Government, from the intelligence services to the Interior Ministry and the Foreign office, are waiting for General Musharraf’s decision on whether or not a passport is to be issued to Mr. Sharif. This leads to a question that would best be answered by the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sir Mark Lyall-Grant, who recently took it upon himself to declare that the current system of governance in Pakistan cannot be called a dictatorship. What other word in the English language describes a system of governance where basic decisions such as whether a citizen gets his passport or not are made by one man and not on the basis of well-defined laws? Not long ago, General Musharraf acknowledged that he had ordered the inclusion of rape victim Mukhtaran Mai’s on the Exit Control List (ECL). Mukhtaran Mai’s passport was also taken away by officials, only to be returned to her after intervention by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. General Musharraf claimed he took these steps to prevent Mukhtaran Mai being manipulated by some NGOs into spoiling Pakistan’s image. Ironically, the Exit Control List is meant to prevent criminals and those under investigation for crimes from leaving the country. Nothing in the law gives the country’s ruler the right to put a rape victim on the ECL even if the purpose of such restrictions is to protect the country’s image. Once again, Her Britannic Majesty’s High Commissioner might care to introduce us to the political science term in the English language that describes an unelected ruler whose word becomes law and whose definition of national interest can only be changed by him. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The reluctance of the Government to issue Mr. Nawaz Sharif his passport is not the first time in Pakistan’s history that citizenship rights have been arbitrarily determined by the country’s rulers. In 1971, after the creation of Bangladesh, several hundred thousand Pakistani citizens were stranded in their country’s former Eastern wing. These people and their families had migrated from India to Pakistan at the time of the 1947 partition to become Pakistani citizens. When the country was torn into two, they chose to remain Pakistanis and demanded the right to come to the remaining part of Pakistan. Any other country would have recognized that right without any argument and arranged for their repatriation. But successive Pakistani Governments argued that the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh would upset the ethnic balance in West Pakistan and put an undue burden on the country’s economy. In a tragic farce, General Ziaul Haq’s military regime tied repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh to availability of international assistance. Saudi Arabia helped create a trust to fund the return of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh to Pakistan. But since when are citizenship rights a matter of economics? What other country has refused to allow its citizens the right to return to their homeland on grounds that the Government did not have enough money left from its defense spending to enable them to live in their own country? The Pakistanis in Bangladesh should have been issued Pakistani passports based on their citizenship and their inalienable right of return to their country of citizenship. They would have found a way of eking out a living just as tens of millions of other Pakistanis do. The military-bureaucratic complex that controls Pakistan’s destiny saw the matter, not from the lens of citizenship rights but from the prism of its ability to manage the country. That management approach, where the boss is always right, contributes to Pakistanis having a lesser sense and feeling of citizenship than in many other countries. Not only are Pakistan’s citizens not allowed to choose their own rulers, the country’s rulers arrogate to themselves the authority of determining whether a citizen has any rights at all or not. The disregard for law in relation to passports, but in the reverse direction, was witnessed in 1993 when the Pakistani military wanted to install Mr. Moeen Qureshi as caretaker Prime Minister. Mr. Qureshi had lived in the United States for several decades, had taken up US citizenship and by most accounts had not regularly renewed his Pakistani passport or obtained a Pakistani National identity card. Mr. Qureshi was issued both his national identity card and passport in Singapore so that he would not arrive in the country without these documents before becoming Prime Minister. He was, of course, entitled to Pakistani citizenship and there is no reason to impugn his commitment or services to Pakistan. The issue is that it was not Mr. Qureshi’s right as a dual citizen but rather the desire of the army commander at the time to name him caretaker Prime Minister that secured him his passport. Had it been a matter of right, Mr. Sharif’s right to a passport would have received the same attention at the Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah that Mr. Qureshi’s did at the Pakistan Embassy in Singapore. Musharraf Covers Tracks: Burns Record of Referendum Aijaz Mahar ISLAMABAD: Hard evidence is now available to show that the Pakistan Election Commission has burnt all the relevant record of the highly disputed April Referendum which General Musharraf claims elected him as President of Pakistan for five years.

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The exercise was carried out in the four provincial headquarters of the Election Commission and all the Embassies abroad where overseas Pakistanis had cast their votes in a great haste, despite the fact that a case had been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an urgent injunction to stop the destruction of the vital record which could prove that President Musharraf’s so called election was a total fraud. Surprisingly the Pakistani media has been curiously quiet over the development and not one leading newspaper has either reported the burning of the record or commented on the indecent haste shown by the government to cover its dirty tracks. SAT learnt that the orders to destroy the record were issued verbally by General Musharraf to the Chief Election Commissioner and the cut off date of December 20 was given, so that no trace of the dirty tricks is left behind, should the new Parliament want to probe into the matter. By Dec 27 all four Provincial Election Commissioners had submitted their compliance report to the Election Commission of Pakistan confirming that all the records of the referendum had been put to fire, as per instructions given in letter No. F. 26 (14)/2002-Cord., Dated November 16, 2002. A Copy of the said letter, now available with SAT, shows all the four Provincial Election Commissioners and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were directed to destroy the referendum record "by burning it by Dec 20, 2002”. General Musharraf wanted it burnt in front of responsible officers so that no copy is available with any one later. General Musharraf had in one of his Press conference admitted that some irregularities had been committed in the Referendum in which he was shown to have received over 98 per cent votes in a turn out which was massively disputed. Observers had reported it was not over 5 per cent but official figures claimed more people came out to vote for General Musharraf than the October 10 general elections. Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also destroyed the referendum records in all their foreign missions abroad where ever polling was held. It was the first time that without identity cards and voter lists Pakistani nationals, attaining the age of 18 years and above was allowed to cast their votes inside and outside the country. Similar facilities were not allowed to voters in the General Elections and no overseas votes were allowed. As per official results declared by the Chief Election Commissioner CEC 43.97 million (43,970,950) 'Yes' votes were caste as against only 0.883 million 'No' votes. Another 0.282 million (282935) votes were declared invalid. The number of YES votes was almost double that of total votes cast in the October 10 general elections which further strengthened the view that a massive fraud had been committed in April. The election figures also forced General Musharraf to move quickly to destroy the records in a shameful manner. Normally election records are kept by the Election Commission at least for one full year and if there are no legal cases pending, the ballot papers etc are then destroyed. But in this case the situation is totally different and the legal position had been questioned before the court of law by Syed Zafar Ali Shah, central leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N) who had filed a petition in the Supreme Court. The SC is yet to hear the case. While contacted by SAT, Syed Zafar Ali Shah said that it was illegal for the Election Commission to destroy the record and he will raise the issue before the concerned court. SAT has also learnt that the Opposition Parties in the National Assembly were preparing to raise the issue when the Assembly meets in Islamabad. Musharraf Looks Two Ways in Extremist Fight Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Aamer Ahmed Khan KARACHI, August 5: President Pervez Musharraf's latest crackdown on extremism, outlined in his July address to the nation, appears to have been aimed in two directions, inwards to his fellow Pakistanis and also to the rest of the world. Most of his time was taken up with painting a picture of the country's contemporary realities - not all of which may be visible from the outside. Perhaps what is most significant was the subtext that strongly suggests that there is little Pakistan can do to tackle its problem of extremism without active assistance and support from the outside world. One significant departure from President Musharraf's earlier references to extremism relates to his candid admission of Pakistan's "direct or indirect" linkages to the scourge of extremism. "No matter where something happens, we end up being directly or indirectly involved," he said. Involved, he said, and not blamed. "It turns out that they [extremists] have either visited Pakistan or passed through it on their way to Afghanistan." This is a marked departure from the country's existing policy of flatly denying any linkage with Islamist extremism. Gen Musharraf then elaborated on the extremism-related realities within the country. Between 20,000 to 30,000 Muslim militants, he said, flocked to Pakistan from all over the world during the US-backed war against the Soviets in Afghanistan through the 1980s. He said all their finances and logistics were routed through Pakistan. "Where are they now?" he asked. "Not all could have stayed on in Afghanistan." The president let the question hang there. If one were to assume - even if purely for the sake of argument - that many of these subsequently found their base in Pakistan, then what was the environment that greeted them? According to President Musharraf, the fallout from the Afghan war has divided Pakistani society into roughly three categories. There are those who subscribe to what he called orthodox Islamic thought. Then there are those that are enlightened and educated and finally there is the vast majority who have been left terribly confused about Islam by the Afghan war. The president said that the orthodox group had for 26 years been raising funds, recruiting manpower, providing military training and spreading hate literature in aid of the extremists. At times the extremists also draw support from Pakistan's mainstream religious parties, he said. It is hard to avoid concluding from his remarks that the country has been providing an ideal sanctuary for Islamic extremists. Not many are likely to find fault with the picture of Pakistan painted by General Musharraf in his address to the nation. As the head of the Pakistan Army - an institution credited with crafting and carrying Pakistan's pro-jihad policy in Afghanistan - few know more about what goes on in Pakistan than the army chief. What is important is how the world reacts to the problems outlined by the president. His own prescription is multi-pronged. Gen Musharraf wants a far more dynamic role for the Organization of Islamic Conference in the affairs of the Muslim world. He also wants active assistance and support from the West - not only in tackling extremism but also in helping many Muslim nations in the developing world out of their vicious cycles of public poverty. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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But lastly, and perhaps most importantly, President Musharraf wants the West to give a deep think to the festering disputes that involve the Muslim world. The subtext of all that he said seemed to indicate his conviction that only after the West and the Muslim world are able to resolve their disputes can the latest measures he has announced against extremism be expected to bear fruit. Musharraf ordered withdrawal of all MMA Cases on Polls Eve Aijaz Mahar ISLAMABAD: It is hard to believe but it is true and all the evidence shows it to be so, despite political denials by both the sides. General Musharraf’s military government and the anti-US religious alliance MMA were hand in glove before the Oct 10 elections and the government gave them full support and patronage to win an impressive victory. The obvious motive appears to be keeping a strong leverage to blackmail the Americans and the West as the MMA victory has provided General Musharraf reasons to say no to the Americans on many issues. Contrary to the prevailing perception that the MMA victory was in reaction to the US bombings in Afghanistan, documents now available with SA Tribune reveal the startling fact that the Musharraf government facilitated these extremists in whatever way possible. President Pervez Musharraf issued orders to withdraw all criminal cases registered all over the country, even before the Anti Terrorist Courts, against all MMA leaders. Roughly more than two hundred cases registered in all four provinces against 50 important top leaders of MMA were withdrawn. An official letter issued by the Law Department, Government of Balochistan on August 26, 2002 provides the evidence of how the government directly intervened in the electoral process for favoring the MMA. The letter directed the Public Prosecutors in at least four Anti-Terrorist Courts in the province to withdraw 20 criminal cases against the central leaders of the MMA including Maulana Fazalur Rehman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari, Maulana Mohammed Khan Shirani all elected parliamentarians and many other key leaders of the MMA. The letter further reveals that it was the Home Department, Government of Balochistan which issued a letter No. SO(Judl:) 4(6)/2002.1611-15 dated 26th August 26 to the Law Department for withdrawal of the cases against MMA leaders. These cases were registered against the MMA leaders for bringing out big processions in Balochistan in protest against the US bombing in Afghanistan. The charges included anti-state activities, terrorism, murders, riots and damage to the public property etc. General Pervez Musharraf, in his famous address to the nation on January 12, 2002, had banned five religious outfits on charges of terrorism just to show the world that he was determined to root out religious extremism in Pakistan. He was neither serious nor sincere SA Tribune has learnt that President General Musharaf himself ordered the withdrawal of all criminal cases against the central leadership of the MMA. The letter from the Law Department to the Public Prosecutors was issued on 26th of August, just a day before the scrutiny of nominations papers. However, the MMA leaders denied any deal with the military government. “We did not have any deal with the military government on the eve of election 2002”, said Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, an MNA and central leader of the MMA who also faced criminal cases before the elections.

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When he was asked to comment on the contents of the above-mentioned letter asking for withdrawal of cases against MMA leaders, he evaded a reply saying the question should be put to the military government. When the then Law Minister Mr. Khalid Ranjha was contacted, he said he was not aware of any such orders issued by the Center. Musharraf Reshuffles Generals as Lord of the Ring M T Butt ISLAMABAD, October 2: General Pervez Musharraf has made his move and like the Lord, swinging his lash in the middle of the Ring, he has thrown another five of his junta members out of the circus, promoting two others he thinks are more loyal to him than others. The latest shuffle involves promotion of ISI Chief Lt. General Ehsan ul Haq to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, replacing the most feared but controversial General Mohammed Aziz Khan, the man Musharraf projected in private sessions with American leaders as the fundo who may take over and reverse their war against the Islamic radicals. In appointing General Ehsan, Musharraf not only demonstrated a blatant disregard but publicly degraded the Pakistan Navy Chief, Admiral Shahid Karimullah, who as a matter of seniority, should have been named the new Chairman of JCSC, a largely ceremonial post with no real authority or manpower to command. But the other key appointment was made to replace the largely docile and obedient General Mohammed Yousuf, or Joe, the Vice Chief of Army Staff. His replacement would be the man who would take over the circus, or the country, should anything happen to the Ring Master. This key appointment went to Corps Commander, Karachi, Lt Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat, an officer of the Armored Corps who ranked number four in Pakistan Army’s seniority list. He has apparently been rewarded for the recent assassination attempt on his life in Karachi in which several others died but he survived. Of the three officers senior to him and who are now expected to go home, one, Lt. General Hamid Javed, is already on an extension, while the other two, Lt Gen Munir Hafeez (currently heading the National Accountability Bureau) and Lt Gen Javed Hasan of AK regiment are scheduled to retire on October 30. Thus having superceded them, means they will go home a few days before they were required to go in any case, unless of course they had proven to be more loyal to the King than others. It is now obvious Musharraf preferred others on these not-so-loyal colleagues. Lt. Gen. Ehsan ul Haq, who will become a General and Chairman of JCSC on October 7, will feel his wings clipped as he was the pivot who ran the political, security and military show for General Musharraf as ISI Chief. He will have hardly anything exciting to do in his new position. He will miss the action more so because he was also head of the Military Intelligence before he was brought in as the trusted guy to replace almost disgraced Lt. General Mahmud, the man, who with Lt. Gen. Aziz, brought Musharraf to power but was sacked under US pressure. While Musharraf himself is on his third extension as a General since 1998 when he was appointed Army chief by Nawaz Sharif, he has been constantly shuffling the pack of his commanders, as an astute commando who could not trust any one, for any extended time. Since he took over on October 12, 1999, Musharraf has moved 38 commanders among the nine Army Corps, not allowing any General to settle down.

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Six Generals have been brought in and kicked out of the most critical Rawalpindi Corps, or 10 Corps, being the closest to the nerve and power center of Islamabad. On average, in 5 years, six Generals came in and were moved out, thus no one was even allowed to complete a full one year. Likewise five Generals each changed places in nearby Peshawar and Gujranwala Corps, four each were shuffled in and out of Mangla, Multan, Lahore and Bahawalpur Corps and three each at Karachi and Quetta Corps. In short all the power players around Musharraf have been kept on the move, not allowed to settle down in one place lest they may start consolidating or plotting against the chief. The latest reshuffle came within hours of Musharraf returning from his extended foreign trip to US and Europe as almost everyone was waiting, and speculating whether the last batch of the Generals who brought Musharraf to power while he was still in mid air would go out quietly and who may replace these loyalists who were ultimately out-maneuvered by Musharraf. Even pro-establishment analysts and writers (Ikram Sehgal of the Defence Journal for one) were openly declaring that Musharraf’s main criteria in naming his Vice Chief will not be competence or merit but loyalty. Just a day before the shuffle, Sehgal wrote in The Nation: “One major factor is sacrosanct, the acid test for four-star selection will be personal loyalty to Pervez Musharraf.” There is an irony in this acid test which all incumbents in the hot seat of power have either ignored or do not care about. Almost by design, all those who were appointed because they appeared to be the most loyal, turned out to be instrumental in throwing out their benefactors. Examples can begin with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who thought General Zia ul Haq was his “chowkidar” (personal guard) as Zia would himself patrol the residence at nights where ZAB was staying. It was Zia who ousted Bhutto. Zia named General Aslam Beg but did not directly face the situation, though many fingers still point at Beg as the man responsible for Zia’s C-130 crash. Ghulam Ishaq Khan named General Abdul Waheed Kakar, superceding many seniors. It was Kakar who forced GIK and Nawaz Sharif to hand over their resignations at the height of the crisis in 1993. Nawaz Sharif then appointed General Asif Nawaz and he so hated Nawaz that when he died it was universally believed that Nawaz Sharif and his IB Chief Brig Imtiaz had something to do with his death. Even his dead body was exhumed and tested for poisoning. Sharif again appointed General Jehangir Karamat who called for setting up of the National Security Council and was forced to resign which led Sharif to name General Musharraf who then stabbed the man in the back. So all these appointees were considered to be the most loyal to the men in power, at that given time, but turned out to be the villains. Now Musharraf has selected his own loyalists after cleansing the Army of all those who brought him to power or shared it with him in some form for the last 5 years. Yet Musharraf is not naïve and his next move would be to invite all these now retired colleagues for a drink at his home and offer them some lucrative position or a post where they could sit over money making machines. The examples of Lt. General Mahmud Ahmed and Jehangir Karamat are recent examples, besides a horde of Generals who have now come to be known as the Directors of Pakistan Military Incorporated. We will soon have some more ex-Generals turned corporate CEOs heading newly acquired civilian corporations. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Musharraf's Army Buddy Challenges Him in Top Pakistan Court M T Butt ISLAMABAD, September 4: A former Army buddy of General Musharraf, who was appointed Corps Commander of the all-sensitive Rawalpindi Corps shortly after the 1999 coup, has turned against his former boss to the extent that on Friday he filed a petition in the High Court accusing Musharraf of misusing his powers. Lt General Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani, known during his military tenure as an upright and honest officer, was appointed Chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission of Pakistan for 5 years after his retirement from the Army in 2003. It was a constitutional tenure post and Musharraf thought he would be compliant and accommodate all his legal and illegal demands to post favorites on key positions of Government. But General Gulzar Kiyani turned out to be a tough cookie. Since he knew Musharraf well, including his weaknesses and strengths, he started taking principled positions on important appointments and always stood in the way of appointment of cronies, whether from the civil or military background. Soon Musharraf and his powerless Prime Minister were confronted with an institution which became a hurdle in their political designs to reward crooks in return for their support. The Federal Public Service Commission, under General Gulzar Kiyani, turned down several key appointments and in two annual reports criticized the Government for bypassing the FPSC and bulldozing its way, but Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz did not listen to Gulzar Kiyani. At least six officials including Maj Gen (r) Agha Masood, DG Post Office; Brig (r) Maqsoodul Hasan, DG Federal Education Directorate; Dr Fazle Hadi, ED PIMS; Chairman NADRA Brig (r) Saleem; Aziz Khan, Pakistan's High Commissioner in India, were given extensions in their contract beyond two years in violation of the FPSC ordinance and without getting NoCs from the FPSC. General Gulzar Kiyani kept continuously embarrassing Musharraf and Aziz, but shamelessly, instead of listening to the sound advice, they acted illegally against the General and tried to throw him out of office earlier than his legal tenure. Last week, on Aug 27, Musharraf issued an Ordinance to cut the tenure of General Gulzar Kiyani and other FPSC members from 5 to 3 years so that he could get rid of this pain in the butt. But even that move has now backfired. On Friday, Sept 2, 2005, Gulzar Kiyani and four out of seven members of the FPSC filed a constitutional petition in the Lahore High Court challenging Musharraf’s ordinance as mala fide, illegal and unconstitutional. It is the first legal challenge to Musharraf by one of his own colleagues, though now a retired General but on an important position of power. "The President and the Prime Minister could not countenance the independent and conscientious working of the petitioners for long and decided to cut short the tenure of the petitioners and removed them by promulgating an Ordinance just two days before the National Assembly Session which was convened for 29th August, 2005," said the constitutional petition, also seeking stay against the implementation of the said Ordinance. Filed through senior Advocate Muhammad Akram Sheikh the petitioners Lt Gen (Retd) Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani, chairman FPSC, Gul Hanif, member FPSC, Justice (Retd) Abdur Rehman Khan, member FPSC, Javed Akram, member FPSC and Tariq Saeed Haroon, member FPSC made Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Secretaries of the Establishment Division and Law as respondents.

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"The effect of this mala fide and colourable exercise is that the petitioners Mr Gul Hanif,, Justice (r) Abdur Rehman Khan and Javed Akram will cease to be members of FPSC forthwith while Mr Tariq Saeed Haroon on 1-12-2005 and the petitioner Lt Gen (r) Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani shall cease to be the Chairman FPSC on 30-3-2006," read the petition filed before LHC Rawalpindi Bench. While the tenure for which the petitioners were appointed as Members of FPSC has not yet elapsed, the petition said, the President promulgated the FPSC (amendment) Ordinance 2005 to cut their tenure from five to three years. The said ordinance, the petitioners said, has been made with mala fide as a consequence of the petitioners having faithfully acted in the spirit of the oath of their office. The petitioners, the petition said, performed their duties in the true spirit of their oath to uphold the law and the rules governing their functions. The chairman, it added, resisted any violation of laws and rules and took up such issue with the Prime Minister or the President as the case may be. "The first such case arose soon after the chairman assumed office when the then Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali ordered the promotion of one Major (r) Muhammad Habib Khan, an officer of the police service of Pakistan, from BS-20 to BS-21, who had already been superseded twice in the years 2000 & 2002, contrary to the recommendation of the Central Selection Board (CSB) not to promote him. The petitioner/chairman brought this to the notice of the President personally. Subsequently in January 2005 the petitioner/Chairman brought to the notice of the President a further case of violation when the Prime Minister disregarded the recommendations of the CSB held in the year 2004, regarding promotion of Maj (r) Fateh Sher and Mr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, two officers of the Police Service of Pakistan, from BS-19 to BS-20 and instead promoted on Capt (r) Zafar Ahmad Qureshi, who had not been even discussed for promotion by the CSB and one Mr Zafar Abbas Lak, who was considered by the Board but deferred because of a pending NAB inquiry." The Prime Minister, the petition said, in case of disagreement with the CSB was required to refer the case back to the CSB as provided under the rules but it was never done. "The petitioner/chairman also took up the issue of repeated extensions of contract appointments in the Federal Government. He and the other petitioners in their capacity as Members of the Commission expressed serious reservations about the practice of indiscriminate recruitment of retired government servants both from the civil administration and the defense services to higher posts in the civil service on the principle that such contract appointments block promotion of junior officers causing frustration amongst them and in many cases violate rules of appointment," the petition said. Analysts in Islamabad said Musharraf was confronted with a serious legal challenge as the petitioners were insiders, both from the Army and the Establishment and had challenged the authority knowing full well the consequences. “The High Court judges will now be under severe pressure because if they reject the petition, they would be changing the rules of their own employment and tenures, since FPSC members have similar constitutional protections as judges,” a legal expert said. “But if they declare the law passed by Musharraf as void, the General and his intelligence goons would be after them, making life miserable. But they have a great chance to restore some credibility of the judiciary.” The media has been reporting regularly on General Gulzar Kiyani’s confrontation with Musharraf and Aziz. One crusading journalist who chronicled the excesses of the Government is Ansar Abbasi, Bureau Chief of The News in Islamabad. According to

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one of his reports the following cases of irregularities, favoritism and illegal appointments were rejected by the Federal Public Service Commission: * In the very first week of his coming into power, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz approved an extension in the contract period of Maj Gen (r) Agha Masood Hassan as DG Post Office for the fifth year, subject to the mandatory consent of the Federal Public Service Commission as provided in the FPSC Ordinance. When the case was referred to it, the FPSC did not issue the NoC and ruled that the General's previous extensions were also illegal. Following this, the prime minister, instead of sending the officer home, gave him a two-year extension. * In the first week of September, the Prime Minister ordered the creation of six new federal ministries taking the total number of such entities to an all-time high of 39. This was done to induct the largest ever cabinet of 59 ministers and ministers of state. Goals and targets were set for the ministers and ministers of state but they were never reviewed despite the prime minister's resolve that the performance of the ministers would be reviewed quarterly and those not performing well would be shown the door. * In September 2004, the prime minister directed the recreation of the condemned public affairs wing of the prime minister's secretariat, which in the past had been making politicized appointments in government departments on the recommendation of MPs. The said wing was later formally set-up to commence the condemned practice of making politicized appointments. On the order of the Establishment Division, all federal agencies including the ministries and divisions were formally barred from making appointments against lower scale jobs without getting NoCs from the PM secretariat whose public affairs wing was tasked to get the nominees of government MPs appointed against the fixed quota informally allocated for each of them. * In October, the Aziz government decided to purchase a fleet of 30 high-priced hightech bullet-proof Mercedes Benz for the country's VVIPs. This cost the national exchequer more than Rs 3 billion. Later, 30 Limousines, each costing at least Rs 70 million, were ordered but following media controversy on the issue, the purchase order of 20 Mercedes was cancelled. * In November, the Establishment Division moved a case for the PM's approval for the appointment of Major General (r) Asif Bukhari as head of civil service reform unit (CSRU) ignoring both the set criteria and procedure. The PM approved the summary, surpassing the laid down procedure jointly evolved by the government and the donors, and later approved by the ECNEC. The appointment was to be made through a transparent procedure and by inviting the applications of the interesting candidates through media advertisement. Advertisements were given; applications were received and short listed. But out of nowhere the general was appointed despite not even being an applicant against the job advertised earlier. The World Bank conveyed its displeasure over this appointment. * In November, following the PM's order, the Establishment Division issued notifications for the appointment of 13 federal secretaries, one additional secretary incharge and five additional secretaries while three others including two federal secretaries and one additional secretary incharge were made OSD. The reshuffle was made without taking into consideration the officer's qualification, expertise and experience. Except in one case, none of the federal secretaries transferred had completed their three-year tenure. Moreover, at least 16 of the total 19 officers -secretaries and additional secretaries -- were given key assignments in the federal secretariat and had never served in the divisions that they were asked to lead. * In December, the PM appointed Tariq Pervez as Director General, Federal Investigation Agency (DG FIA) bypassing at least six of his seniors, which turned the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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organization's hierarchy topsy-turvy. Some of the seniors opted to go on leave, a few managed to get themselves posted out of the FIA while others are still serving in the FIA under their junior colleague. * In January 2005, the PM overruled the high-powered central selection board in violation of the promotion policy, to promote two police officers as Deputy Inspector General dropping the two officers who were unanimously cleared by the CSB. One of the two promoted officers was the brother of a sitting government MP and parliamentary secretary. He was never considered by the CSB as he was down on the seniority list while the other official, closely related to the Choudhries of Gujrat, was deferred by the board for facing an inquiry pending before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Punjab. This led to a serious controversy as both the chairman CSB and an elite intelligence agency approached the President over these violations. The President asked the PM to review the matter. Later the PM withdrew his approval in case of the officer who was never considered for promotion by the CSB but the promotion of the one who was recommended for deferment was notified. * In January, the PM approved an increase of Rs 35,000 to 40,000 in the salaries and house rent allowance of the federal ministers and ministers of states. Besides a raise of 15% in the name of "ad hoc relief" the house rent allowance was approved to be raised from the then Rs 40,000 to Rs 75,000 in case of federal ministers and Rs 70,000 in case of ministers of state. However, after the issue was taken up by the media, the President agreed to raise this house rent allowance to Rs 50,000 only. * In May this year, the PM through his cabinet approved an amendment in the FPSC Ordinance to slash the Commission's authority to allow contract appointments against civil posts beyond two years. The proposed amendment, yet to be tabled before the parliament, was sought after the Commission's consistent refusal to issue NoC to even retired generals. At least six officials including Maj Gen (r) Agha Masood, DG Post Office; Brig (r) Maqsoodul Hasan, DG federal education directorate; Dr Fazle Hadi, ED PIMS; Chairman NADRA Brig (r) Saleem; Aziz Khan, Pakistan's High Commissioner in India etc were given extensions in their contract beyond two years in violation of the FPSC ordinance and without getting NoCs from the FPSC. * In August this year, the Establishment Division initiated yet another proposed amendment in the FPSC Ordinance aimed at slashing the tenure of the Chairman and Members of the FPSC from existing five years to three years. This is being done to "sort out" the chairman FPSC, who is also the chairman of the CSB, for not dancing to the government's tunes. Relations between the chairman and the government are really tense after the former refused to flex rules for the "blue-eyed boys". * During the last 12 months many of the retiring federal secretaries were re-employed in contrast to the government's strict policy on re-employment. This massive reemployment has disappointed the civil bureaucracy as the serving lot sees their career prospects diminished because of excessive intrusion of outsiders against their cadre posts. Pakistan is in dire need of strong civilian institutions that could deliver to the masses without any fear or pressure, Abbasi reported. “This kind of institution building is only possible if we start respecting law. And law can only be respected and upheld when rulers act according to the law. Otherwise we will continue to have the rule of the jungle.” Musharraf's Survival is linked to Continuation of War on Terror Tarique Niazi

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WISCONSIN, August 6: Last week General Musharraf (GM) held two back to back news conferences. One was for the benefit of Desi (native) media and the other for their privileged kin - foreign Press. On July 25, he took the plane to Lahore, where a packed court of Pakistani newswriters and opinion-makers was cooling heels for him at the Governor’s House. When he swaggered into the waiting throng, they honored him with customary deference. There was, however, something amiss that struck quite a few of them. Gen. Musharraf showed up at the conference in military uniform, all bemedalled, starred, crowned, and cross-sworded, to remind dissident media that he does not give a damn to their rant about his trespass on the constitution. I wish there were one daring soul in his audience who would have risked an entry into his “blacklist,” which he keeps like Nixon’s “enemy list,” and walked out on him in protest. Or at least one of them would have used his military attire as a godsend prod to ask him a simple question: “Is Article 6 of the constitution still enforced, MR WHATEVER YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Sensing the disquieting hush hung over the air, GM took upon himself to answer the unasked quiz: “Contrary to my past practice, I came here dressed in (military) uniform to deliver a stern message to those who are preaching and practicing extremism!” So the starch of Khaki was meant to terrify the extremists. Was he telling the truth? You don’t have to go too far to find the answer. Within days, on July 29, he held another news conference for the foreign media to deliver the same stern message to extremists. This time around, he, however, changed his military clothes for civvies! Why? Because, “he has two faces,” as the country’s truth-teller Asma Jehangir once famously said of him. “He has a soft face for the West and a harsh one for Pakistan.” Above all, he treats Pakistan as his occupied territory and its people as his subjects, who he thinks are no better than a beast in need of “a strong hand, a full belly, and an occasional kick in the shin.” His two-facedness is nowhere evident than his phony war on terror. He is the world’s largest beneficiary of global terror and yet the frontline soldier in the war being waged against it. He washed the sins of his dictatorship with the blood of three thousand Americans who died in terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Since then, his pariah status as a military strongman has changed into a world statesman. Is it the triumph of terror or its trounced? It is the same Musharraf who was keeping the gates of Taliban’s Afghanistan, which was the ultimate sanctuary of terror, to the last day of their fall. Even today he is busy sifting ‘good’ Taliban from ‘bad’ ones for prospective buyers in the halls of world power. But how soon we put all that behind us, because he is now, as the London Economist politely put it, “our son of a bitch.” We want to fight terror with the help of those who are its breeders. If dictators could terminate terror, the Middle East would have been a heaven on earth. But this lesson was “lost in translation” or in what Christopher Hitchens describes as Americans’ characteristic aversion to history. Even if you apply exchange theory to international relations, Gen. Musharraf is far from having lived up to his end of the bargain. Yet he is paraded around the earth as the last savior of the western world? What did he do to earn this title? He switched sides. But he did this switching out of convenience, not conviction. He left the powerless – Taliban – for the powerful – the US? Is it conviction? Or is it what deserves his weight in $20 billion greenbacks? But this is exactly what happened. He spun the war on terror into a goldmine of profit that, by 2003, left him $20 billion richer than he was on or before September 11. Now Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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we are expecting him to help win this war! Translation: Turn off the spigot of money, and commit suicide. Deep down he knows that his survival is linked with the specter of terror. When the world bleeds, he leads. Just look at the July 7 London bombing that brought him the world full of face time. Media the world over was beaming his face in every living room with a television set. His mumbo-jumbo about the war on terror was the stuff of prime time television. The print media was not behind in front-paging his face. He then had the gluttony of “ear time” with world leaders ranging from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Secretary of State to President Bush. On July 14, Prime Minister Blair spoke with him about forging common cause against extremism. Days after, on July 19, he returned the courtesy with a faux crackdown on “extremists” in Islamabad, which scored him high visibility around the world, as Islamabad hosts a number of international news organizations and above all members of the diplomatic corps. With Falstaffian absurdity, the crackdown began with a raid into a women’s religious school –Jamia Hafsa – in the heart of Islamabad. As soon as the police force charged into the Jamia, around 200 women students, armed with sticks, spilled over onto the street, chasing the police all over the place. Despite a rain of free-swinging batons on the students, the police found it hard to hold the ground. Soon they took to their heels, with sticks-wielding women on their tail. Yet this opening salvo against extremists was warmly received in the world shaken by the forces of extremism. Yet, next day, Gen. Musharraf woke up with “morning-after regrets” writ large on him. As a “morning-after pill,” he had the entire police force of Islamabad – right from Inspector General to the Senior Superintendent of Police -- fired. Raid was, thus, a sop to the outside world to show that he is at it, while the firing was a pretend regret to the natives that he had to do it. Two faces? It is too hard to escape the fakeness of his war on terror. You may ask why thousands of Americans had to die before he cracked down on violent extremists in January 2002. Or why scores of Britons had to perish before he resumed the crackdown that he began in 2002. His rationale for “sleeping on work” verges on tragicomedy. The world has to adjust itself to the needs of his survival into power. When a foreign journalist asked him, at his July 29 news conference, why he did not do anything about militancy since 2002, he replied: “You have to be realistic and mindful of ground realities. If I had pushed against extremists then, I would have a million Taliban marching on me.” Three years ago, he reminded the questioner, he was struggling with a weak economy, the world’s reluctance to accept him as military ruler, and a live conflict with India. “Today, it is a totally different environment.” Indeed!! Today, he is $20 billion richer; world leaders are just a telephone call away; and India has come a long way to do business with him. Who did benefit from all that? War on terror or Musharraf? The answer is obvious. Today, Musharraf’s enemies are chained, while terrorists are on the loose. Mukhtaran Mai, Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Editor Shaheen Sehbai cannot leave Pakistan as they are placed on his infamous Exit Control List (ECL), while Osama Bin Laden leave or enter Pakistan at will. Similarly, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain cannot enter Pakistan, but every “third man” of Al-Qaeda keeps popping up in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Mardan to surprise those of us who want to surprise. You don’t have to be cynical to believe that

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Musharraf sleeps with Osama by night and dates with President Bush by day. There is an expression to describe such a two faced cad, but I am too polite to use it. Musharraf's Uniform against Pakistan's National Interest and Survival Anwar Syed BOSTON, Sept 19: The Constitution (17th amendment) requires General Musharraf to give up his army post by December 31, 2004. At the time this amendment was adopted, he gave the nation his word that he would "shed" his uniform by the appointed day. His loyalists have, of late, been urging him to abandon all thought of doing so. As of September 15, they have begun to advance the curious view that the Constitution does not stop him from being president and the army chief at the same time. They claim that his retention of his uniform is a vital national interest. The general said the other day that he would make his decision at the appropriate time, keeping in view the national interest, wishes of the people, and requirements of the Constitution. He professes to know what the people want: he has recently made the astounding, and also the incredibly disingenuous, claim that 96 per cent of them want him to keep his military uniform. Whoever suggested this figure (96 per cent) is clearly no friend of his. The reason for the general's apparent intention to stay on as the army chief is clear. He wishes to be the country's effective ruler, which he cannot be if he takes off his uniform, for then he will have no support base. The politicians as well as the generals will feel free to go their own way; they will have no compelling reason to listen to him. One must ask how he can keep his uniform when the Constitution, as it now stands, says he must take it off by December 31. If he does not comply with this requirement, the issue will most likely reach the Supreme Court. His spokesmen may ask the court to invoke its favorite"doctrine of necessity" and find ways of suppressing the troublesome clauses in the Constitution. That would not be too heavy a burden for the court to bear: at several critical junctures in our history, it has seen fit to go with the shifting gales of power politics. Another possibility may be to hold, and win, still another "referendum," and declare that the voice of the people, being the voice of God ("vox populi vox dei"/ or "sada-ikhalq ko naqqara-i-khuda samjho"), overrides the Constitution. The general has told us all along that in making his decisions he places the national interest above all else. Let us then see how this matter of his uniform relates to the national interest. It should be understood that his retention of his army post will, in essence, mean continuance of military rule in Pakistan. Even if it allows a democratic facade to remain in place, the nation's aspiration for democratic governance, and its quest for political maturity, will remain defeated for many long years. The key question would then seem to be whether democracy is a national interest and, if it is, how highly it is to be valued. We wanted independence, and attained it, because we wanted to be self-governing. That did not mean that thenceforth dictators who placed us under their rule would have Muslim names and brown skin. It meant that dictators would rule no longer, that we would be governed by our consent, and that we would be subject not to anyone's whim but to the rule of law. Seen in this context, military rule is a negation of our raison d'etre. Fulfillment of the reason for our existence as an independent state is thus a national interest of the highest order. It is alleged in certain quarters, including the military, that our aspiration for democracy is extravagant and frivolous, for we are not capable of governing ourselves Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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- at least not now or in the foreseeable future. The proponents of this view tell us also that military rule suits us better, and in support of their claim they point to the longer strides in economic development made during Ayub Khan's rule and the larger amounts of spending money some of us (particularly traffickers in drugs and weapons) had during Ziaul Haq's regime. They do concede, however, that the prosperity they speak of did not filter down to the ordinary folks. It follows then that military rule was no better than any other so far as the masses were concerned. It is alleged also that the masses are not all that worked up about the availability or absence of democratic rights and freedoms, and that burdened as they are with the toil of earning a living, they have no time for politics. This is, at best, a half-truth. They are unconcerned with an existing system of government so long as the politicians to whom they listen do not denounce it. But our experience shows that when the same politicians tell them that military rule is responsible for their deprivations, they will come out on the streets to demand its termination and the restoration of democracy. Let us now ask where our politicians stand. Of the 342 members of the National Assembly 191 voted to support General Pervez Musharraf's nominee (Mr Shaukat Aziz) for the post of prime minister on August 27. In other words, 151 members did not support him. This is a substantial number. It is possible that some of the 191 who did vote for Mr Aziz will withdraw their support of the general if he keeps his uniform beyond December 31. What will the disaffected politicians do? It goes without saying that their opposition to the general's regime will intensify. It may simmer for a time as they test the waters, so to speak, but it may turn into a general uprising if they find the time to be right for it. In this connection, it should be noted that the present government is not popular to any significant degree. Claims of its popularity advanced by General Musharraf and Mr Shaukat Aziz are either poetic exaggeration or delusions; the latter being the more likely since neither of them is known to be poetic. General Musharraf's spokesmen caution that political destabilization and chaos will ensue if he takes off his uniform. Instability does not signify only frequent changes in the prime minister's office and the resulting uncertainty in the realm of public policy. Destabilization and chaos have other manifestations as well: masses of people coming out on the streets, day after day, shouting anti-establishment slogans, blocking traffic, burning buses and private vehicles, forcing stores to close, breaking shop windows and plundering the merchandize, organizing and enforcing strikes, turning investors and tourists away, bringing the national economy to a standstill, clashing with the security forces, killing and getting killed, and paralyzing the government. Who, in his right mind, will deny that all of this is chaos, and that it constitutes the gravest of threats to the national interest? While we hope that this kind of an upheaval will not occur, it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that it may, if the general does not "shed" his uniform. The general may be aware that these developments can ensue. But it may be that he thinks he will ride the storm and come out unscathed, even beaming. That is possible, but not probable. He would do well to take a look at the books of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Ayub Khan. Even Ziaul Haq's experience will make an instructive study. Musharraf's walk through the "storm" will be made ever more hazardous by the fact that parts of the country (especially Sindh and Balochistan) are already in turmoil. Many of the politically aware people in these provinces, and others whom they can carry along, keep reminding us of the tragic events of 1971. They refer to the possibility of secession and civil war. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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They speak in this mode not because they are disloyal to Pakistan but because they despise General Musharraf's rule and the political system they think he wants to impose on us. If he continues to insist that his personal interest in retaining supremacy in our government is of vital interest to Pakistan, the opposition to him may become deeply alienated. That is what happened in East Pakistan. The general has other opponents whose grievances may not be precisely the same but they are just as strong as those of the Sindhi and Baloch "nationalists." Gathered in the MMA, ARD (especially PPP and PML-N), ANP and a few other organizations, they are likely to join hands with the "nationalists" in the smaller provinces in a general uprising in case he decides to keep his uniform. If the above interpretations are valid, it should be clear that a decision on General Musharraf's part to keep his uniform beyond the appointed day will be a menace to the national interest inasmuch as it will not only threaten the country's good order but its very survival. We must all hope that God will guide him to moderate his ambition and, in addition, save him from the self-seeking opportunists who pose as his friends. His decision is bound to have some impact abroad. Mr Bush may not care one way or the other so long as Musharraf is going after, and killing, the anti-American extremists, real and presumed. But many in the United States Congress, media, and academia will think less of Pakistan if they see that it continues to be ruled by a general in uniform. So will the governments and opinion-makers in the Commonwealth, Europe, and Japan. Our international standing and our bargaining position (all around but more specifically in negotiations with India) will weaken. Thus General Musharraf's decision to keep his uniform beyond December 31 will be prejudicial to our national interest not only at home but also in the outside world. Remembering This Darkest Day of History When Generals Shamed Us Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, July 5: Nations are proud of some dates as landmarks that make them hold their heads high. July 4, when "we the people" formed the United States of America, set the world ablaze with a new momentum to human endeavor, gave new meaning to human liberty and dignity. For Pakistan July 5, 1977 was the darkest day in our checkered history. On this day 28 years ago, a General, Ziaul Haq uprooted the nascent sapling of democracy from Pakistan and that act of high treason committed by him continues to hang even today like a cursed albatross with all its evil ramifications casting a long shadow of doubt on country's future. The similarities between Pakistan under General Zia and Pakistan today under General Pervez Musharraf are plentiful. The fact cannot be ignored that military rule then had put Pakistan on the road to destruction and under Musharraf the journey to doom is doing the final run. Pakistan's so-called 'savior' in military uniform in 1977 had dug the country's grave. Our latest 'savior' now is all geared up to lay the body to rest. Our Founder, the Quaid, had established Pakistan with hopes of making it a model of a democratic state. While Zia made Mr Jinnah's dream sour, it is Musharraf who has converted it into a horrific nightmare. Zia's greatest disservice to Pakistan was to drown Quaid's democratic liberal ideological Muslim moorings into an ocean of confusion with the objective of converting it into a Sunni Wahabi state. I am referring to this issue because of the controversy ignited by Indian BJP leader LK Advani. It has finally dawned upon him that Mr Jinnah was a secularist and not a communalist. It is indeed an irony for Mr Jinnah that we in Pakistan have to have a Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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certificate from Mr Advani to merely assert the truth and nothing but the whole truth what Mr Jinnah was. As early as 1893 Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had made it clear that India was a two-nation state. He based this observation not on grounds of religion but on account of economic disparities. He believed that Muslims with the best of education and talent would always be outnumbered by sheer numerical strength of the Hindus when competing for jobs. Nowhere did he assert that Muslims as a religious minority would be at the receiving end. Besides, Muslims at that time were free to go to their mosques, observe their religious festivals and prayers without any hindrance. It was fear of economic annihilation at the hands of the majority rather than religious domination which became the raison d'etre for a separate Muslim homeland. Zia straight jacketed Pakistan into his Sunni-Wahabi-Deobandi mould. His ten years were most abusive for the minorities and oppressive for women. Remember Nawabpur incident when village women were paraded in the nude, molested, depraved and humiliated in public. Ever since such orgies have become a common feature to the point that now under Musharraf hardly a week passes by when a woman or two are not raped, paraded in the nude and their spoilers remain unpunished. The General instead of going after the criminals has extended to them a license to do it more with pleasure, by putting a ban on the travel of victims like Mukhtaran Mai. Now he wants to resolve the issue of the growing incidence of rapes by calling a convention of rape victims to hear their tragic stories. This seems to be a sickening manifestation of a sadist mentality reflected in his desire to hear rape stories. Not only the rape cases, in others cases too his government supports men who disparage womenfolk. Look at the fate of the Opposition's legislative bid to outlaw Karo Kari, the so-called honor killings that too have acquired an epidemic form under Musharraf and that have been justified by his King's Party. To rub salt into the national wounds, the General does not get tired of orchestrating on his 'enlightened moderation' and when it comes to action, be it removal of highly abused blasphemy law, draconian action against rapists or putting his foot down firmly to stop introduction of religious column in the new passports, the General surrenders to the religious extremists without a squeak. When I compare Zia with Musharraf, I am reminded of the story of a notorious coffin thief who had made life miserable in a village by stealing coffins from freshly buried dead bodies in the graveyard. After a while he got sick and summoned his sons and asked who among them would do something extra-ordinary that would make the villagers remember him kindly. His son in the army promised that he would do something that will force the villagers to declare that his father was a kind person. The man died and for a few days there was no incident at the graveyard until the coffin thief's son struck. Some one had not only stolen the coffin the body had been raped and a spear put in the back. The villagers gathered in the local mosque and all remembered the deceased coffin thief in kind words for respecting the bodies. The moral of the story is obvious: Musharraf has definitely made good use of his nearly six years of power by outdoing Zia. No doubt Ayub started it all, Yahya followed him, it was General Zia who laid the foundation and it is Musharraf who as the incarnation of all three has soldered all the dirty tricks of the Praetorian management as the primary weapon of demolishing the civil society beyond reprieve. All the four military dictators, more so Musharraf, obtrusively raped the Constitution of the day and trampled with their jackboots those institutional oaths that give meaning to patriotism, loyalty and commitment to serve and protect the country.

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Except Yahya who did not get time, rest of the three dictators had referendums carried out for perpetuating their hold on power. Zia had a referendum on the issue whether people liked Islam or not and by virtue of the seven per cent votes cast in favor, declared himself President for all time. Musharraf circumvented the constitutional requirements for presidential election by holding his own referendum to declare himself President. He had 97 per cent votes cast in his favor of the total seven per cent registered voters. The international community declared his referendum as a fraud. General Zia had made the judges of superior courts take oath on his Provisional Constitutional Order so did General Musharraf. Both showed the door to those selfrespecting judges who refused to join hands, and were sent home for defending their honor. Like Zia's various electoral contraptions to keep doors closed on Benazir Bhutto, Musharraf's, polls in October 2002 were loaded with Bhutto-specific laws to keep her out of the electoral race, declared by international observers as overly rigged and manipulated before, during and after the votes had been cast, in favor of the King's Party and Mullas of MMA in cahoots with his Intelligence apparatus. He has kept the mullas alive and kicking to blackmail the Americans as well as to counter the liberal democratic forces. Musharraf's Legal Framework Order (LFO) later incorporated in the Constitution of 1973 as part of a sinister deal between him and the MMA, making him an absolute ruler, has been much of distortion, disfigurement and dislocation of a sacrosanct document playing foul with it that amounts to high treason and carries with it death sentence as punishment. When one refers to political horse-trading during his time, Musharraf wins the race hands down. Bunch of political thugs, co-op swindlers, sunshine politicians, all wanted by his very own National Accountability Bureau for various financial scams running into billions, have been allowed by him to remain scot-free in exchange for political support that he needs to sustain himself. Over and above they have been given an open licence to convert their ill-gotten millions into trillions. The entire accountability process has become a joke. His minister of Information acknowledged the other day that the country is in the grip of various mafias. Invariably most of the uniformed top guns or their kith and kin are doing full time real estate business. Besides the whole army of white-collar criminals, many of the king pins in his government are history sheeters and killers. The Constitution of 1973 was the most outstanding achievement of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the post-1971 political leadership. It resolved the tricky issue of the quantum of provincial autonomy to the satisfaction of the elected representatives of the federating units who agreed to its shape and form unanimously. By introducing arbitrary amendments in the 1973 Constitution, he converted it into a handmaid of the President and Praetorian center to transform it into a garrison state rather than the guarantor of equal distribution of resources, just power sharing, equality in job opportunities to all the citizens of the federation. By pitching one province against the other, fanning of fissiparous tendencies and by letting the Mullas run berserk, Musharraf has provided fuel to a process initiated by General Ziaul Haq, that would sooner than later Talibanize Pakistan. Remember Zia's promise of holding elections in 90 days and his great betrayal. As his obedient follower Musharraf more or less did the same when in December 2003 he pledged that he would give up the post of Army Chief by December 31, 2004. He is still holding the two offices and the news is that he would keep his uniform until 2012.

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His uniform is what hair to Samson were, source of all his manly strength and prowess. Zia demolished Pak-Afghan borders for the American Jihad. Zia kept quiet on Kashmir, Musharraf is about to do a sell-out. He has already surrendered Pakistan's traditional stand. Musharraf has rendered our independence into a myth for Washington's war on terrorism. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave his life to provide nuclear glow to Pakistan, Musharraf is hell bent on extinguishing it. South Waziristan is still under Pakistani military's occupation with American commanders breathing hot air down our necks. There is a civil war on in Balochistan. Instead of putting balm on their ulcerating wounds, Musharraf wants to hit them so hard that they would not know what hit them. The Baloch Liberation Army has been striking with great impunity. Even Chief Minister Jam Yusuf's well-secured residence is not safe and is hit by rockets. Anger from Dr Shazia's rape continues to simmer. It reminds one of General "Tiger" Niazi who used to ask his officers and jawans during the civil war in East Pakistan not how many enemies did they kill but how many Bengali women did they rape. Zia lost Siachen Glacier to India without firing a shot in its defence, Musharraf's Kargil misadventure has had a devastating effect on the morale of the Pakistani jawans, many of whose colleagues were brought dead in the dark of the night and post mortemed to discover they had been living on grass while their Generals continued to lead "spirited" lives that according to Shakespeare "takes away the performance". Zia had laid the foundation of making Pakistani military a business enterprise. Musharraf has erected a whole empire on it. Both Zia and Musharraf sold Pakistan's vital interests by assuming the role of disposables in the service of their foreign masters. General Musharraf, as the so-called democratic leader of the "most militarized state" in the world, has acquired the stamp of legitimacy not from his own people but from outsiders. This is the story of Pakistan under Musharraf and it began under General Zia on this ill-fated date of July 5. Pakistan today is not known for enlightened moderation but because of the outrageous stories of rape like that of Mukhtaran Mai and Musharraf's bid to kill the patient rather than cure the disease by putting a ban on her travel. Zia sowed the seeds of Balkanization and Talibanisation, Musharraf's policies have made it a failed state or a failing state that is likely to meet the fate of Yugoslavia under his jackbooted leadership. There is a consensus that our Generals have pushed Pakistan into a quagmire of problems that pose much more serious a challenge than that of 1971. When they surrendered half of the country to the Indian army (December 16, 1971), the residual Pakistan was fortunate enough to have a dynamic leader like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who had the enormous capacity to "pick up the pieces" and re-galvanise them into a proud nation. Unfortunately, with a General fully dressed in Army Chief's uniform as the President backed to the hilt by "summer soldiers and sunshine patriots" taking the country onto the road to disaster, there is no one within Pakistan who could save the country as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did when the defeated generals handed him a truncated Pakistan. There is no doubt that Pakistan today is at a cross-road. There is a big question mark on its future and its very survival as a federal state is in doubt especially when its Generals and their cronies seem determined in pushing Quaid's Pakistan it into the dustbin of history. Since we are facing a situation worse than 1971, we have got to go back to the leadership that could emulate Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's foot steps to bring the country back to safety from the edge of the precipice. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Rogue Army General Bloodies the Law and Gets Away With it, publicly Special SAT Report LAHORE: This is the bloodied face of law, and civil society, in Pakistan under the military government of General Pervez Musharraf. This poor man is a police cop who just did his duty under orders. But since he did not know (and how could he know) that the occupants of the car he had stopped were members of a General’s family, he had to face this torture and humiliation. But the officer, Major General Sabahat Hussain, is so drunk with power and is displaying such lack of respect for the country’s law that he is not content after beating this poor man blue and red. He has used his clout to get the Superintendent of Police and his Assistant Superintendent first suspended and then transferred from their posts. The SHO has also been punished. So much was the Police Chief of the province under pressure that he had to ring up newspaper offices himself at 11 pm at night on Tuesday, October 14, to give the news that the officers had been removed from their posts. And all this display of arrogance and notoriety because this constable, Nazir of Mandi Bahauddin, just did what he had been ordered to do – remove the coating from all tinted glasses in cars as the Punjab government had launched a drive in Lahore to catch the killers of Maulana Azam Tariq, the slain leader of Sipah Sahaba Pakistan. Hundreds of cars had been stopped and each one had received the same treatment, removal of the tinted coatings. So was the car of the General, a private car carrying family members and no one in uniform. That turned out to be a major crime. A case has been registered against Constable Nazir. He was first beaten, handcuffed and then locked in the Police Station. Not just the lowly constable was to be taught a lesson but the entire police force was to be sent a message. They were to be told that messing with a General, or even his car, would mean loss of blood and a punishment all future generations will remember. Never stop a General’s car ever again. The entire police force of Pakistan is stunned at the incident and not one officer, of the highest or the lowest rank is ready to talk about it with the Press, fearing that the outof- control army would crack down further. It is the height of lawlessness, and shamelessness. The political Opposition, led by PML-N's Parliamentarian Javed Hashmi, MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed and PPP's Pervez Ashraf joined in the protest at the National Assembly when they addressed a news conference and condemned the incident, asking for sacking of the lawless General, in the interest of law. But hardly anyone in the Army GHQ is hearing. General Musharraf and his junta is quiet, as he is too worried about stopping any of his Generals from any illegal and unlawful activity, lest his own power base may be challenged. If Musharraf cannot check such heinous criminal activity, in public view of every one, how can he stop these headstrong Generals from other forms of corruption, be it of any kind. Law has become a joke, practically. What has been partially reported in the Pakistani Press is not just shocking but repulsive. Senior Police officers have been practically begging the General to forgive them because the cop did not know that his family was in the car. Even despite the transfers of senior officials the General is not yet done. He wants more blood. BBC tried to get an official version of the Army on the incident but no spokesman is ready to provide that version. Some junior officers, on condition of anonymity, have grumbled that the “matter was not of removing the tinted glass coating but of police misbehavior.” What misbehavior?

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But more surprisingly on Tuesday night all police patrols were informed through wireless messages that no more cars belonging to Generals or the Judges should be checked for tinted glasses. They were officially declared above the law. The Press in Pakistan is also incensed. Commented Karachi newspaper ‘Dawn’ in an editorial: “The punishment meted out to four Lahore police officials on Thursday because a constable had stopped the family car of a major-general that was in violation of a ban on tinted glasses is shocking. The constable was booked and handcuffed and then taken to the corps headquarters. "The incident makes a mockery of elementary principles of law and justice. The police constable had only done his duty by stopping the car and questioning the driver. Instead of appreciating the good job done by the policeman in question, the higher military authorities rallied to the support of the erring officer and punished the policeman and his superior officers, including the area SHO, ASP and SP. "The speed and manner in which the military retaliated contrasts sharply with the way government reacts when acts of injustice against civilians take place. "To punish police officials for upholding the law is not only unfair, it also conveys a very unsettling impression of the military personnel's respect for the law of the land. In the given case if anyone should have been reprimanded, it should have been the major general whose car had tinted glasses prohibited by law. "The military's reaction to the incident makes it seem as if some sections in this country are more equal than others. To make amends for unfortunate happening, the army high command would do well to reprimand the military official concerned, and apologize to the police officials for the over-zealous response of its staff.” But Dawn editors are probably dreaming. It is General Musharraf's Pakistan where he has "true democracy" being practiced Sharif's Hard Stance against Musharraf Cost Him His Passport M. Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, July 26: The question of issuance of passports to exiled premier Nawaz Sharif and his spouse looked like a done deal a couple of weeks ago. All pronouncements from the Government during the first few days emphasized the right of every Pakistani to secure a passport. Nawaz Sharif could not be an exception. It was too good to believe and yet most people thought that the Government would honor this commitment to the law. Things have, however, gone awry much to the frustration of Mr. Sharif who, out of disgust, has now decided not to send his son-in-law, Capt. Safdar, to Pakistani diplomats in Jeddah to hear excuses on daily basis for being unable to take a decision. He says he will wait for it for the time being and in the meantime contemplate a court option. As first step towards that the PML-N has sent to the Chief Justice of Pakistan the copy of the letter Mr. Safdar had written to the Consul General in Jeddah. What went wrong is a matter of speculation. Relevant official circles attribute it to Nawaz Sharif’s hard hitting telephonic speech to PML-N leadership in Lahore on July 2 in which he repudiated the thought of even sitting with Musharraf for a dialogue or to accept for unification of the PML those people who betrayed the party. He continued with this theme and tone in subsequent speeches during the week. PML-N leaders reject this explanation as a lame excuse. “If that is the main reason for refusing the passport, it reflects only a petty mind,” says Sardar Ayaz Sadiq MNA. “How cold you violate the legal and constitutional right of a citizen of the country just because he said something to the distaste of one person.”

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Some incorrigible optimists in the PML-N and the appropriate diplomatic circles here still believe that the process has not derailed but only deferred. The original arrangement being talked about would have had Nawaz’s mother and some other family members return to Pakistan while Nawaz would have traveled to London. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who largely reflects President Musharraf’s thinking, now says that Mr. Nawaz Sharif will not come to Pakistan. Shahbaz Sharif’s, however, is a different case. He blames Nawaz Sharif for being a major hurdle in the return of his younger brother. Many interesting developments have taken place since the leak that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah may play a role in bringing about a Musharraf-Nawaz rapprochement, Government’s belated and warped denial notwithstanding. Nawaz applied for issuance of the passport while Government’s initial response seemed very positive. The exiled premier also began a series of telephonic addresses to party activists for the first time in four and a half years. Without confirming or denying the report, Sheikh Rashid was quoted in the media that if he was to reveal the terms on which Nawaz wants to return, it would take the entire country by a storm. The PML circles insist that the initiative to involve the Saudis came from Nawaz and not Musharraf. But it is widely acknowledged that the Saudis have great sympathy for the Sharifs and would like to do something to end their present ordeal. It is also admitted that even the speculation of a possible understanding between Musharraf and Nawaz or Benazir sends alarm bells in the ruling party creating a scare that the entire edifice built on quicksand of Establishment’s support and needs would collapse. This was publicly conceded by PML Chief Choudhry Shujaat Hussain when Asif Zardari was stopped from staging a spectacular return last April amid wide-spread perception that it enjoyed President Musharraf’s nod. The report about impending Saudi intervention sent similar shock waves, though Shujaat who was part of Musharraf’s Saudi trip, uncharacteristically kept a discreet silence before and after the publication of the story. The Government statement which came late by four days had some interesting elements. It rebounded to Nawaz Sharif’s impulsive statement of July 2 using the same tough language and tone. His name was not even mentioned during the meeting between Saudi and Pakistani “officials”, it said. The use of the expression ‘officials” is intriguing. The meeting was held between Musharraf and Crown Prince Abdullah and not any officials. While one may look like splitting hair, it is not clear whether it was an oversight or a deliberate attempt at subterfuge. Significantly the Government mentioned for the first time that under a ‘deal” Nawaz Sharif cannot leave Saudi Arabia for 10 years. Nawaz Sharif has always denied having signed such a deal. The Government has also failed to produce any document though its apologists say that the sensitivity of involvement of the Saudi royal family is the major restraint. President Musharraf once waved a paper to a group of journalists but did not let them see the signatures. However, in support of his contention that Sharifs willingly left for Jeddah, Musharraf has been telling journalists to see the TV clips of the departure scenes to ascertain how happy they were. On another occasion when Shujaat was confronted with the question whether the document bears the signatures of Nawaz Sharif and the Crown Prince, he retorted: ”Do you think the princes go about putting their signatures on documents?” PML-N circles say the only known document on the issue is the then President Rafiq Tarar’s grant of amnesty, apparently on a petition..Interestingly, the immigration authorities

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did not put the exit stamp on passports of the family members when they left for Jeddah. It is also no secret that irrespective of their own regard and ties with Nawaz Sharif, the Saudis has acted at the prompting of the then US President Bill Clinton. The former American President is on record indirectly sharing part of the blame for Nawaz Sharif’s downfall by sponsoring a retreat from Kargil. US diplomats who acknowledge this role, also say Clinton had developed a liking for Nawaz Sharif in his very first meeting. After Sharif left the room, Clinton told his National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger: “He is a simple and down-to-earth man”. These diplomats, however, insist that there is no American role in the current passport issue. Legal experts put a different tack to the so-called deal. There is no provision in the Constitution to send anybody into exile. Even if there be any agreement between Sharif and the Government, it is illegal and not binding. The Supreme Court has ruled that no citizen can be prevented from returning to his country. There is also another question. How can any member of a family enter into an illegal agreement condemning the entire family to a life of exile? Some Burning Questions in Need of Urgent Answers Nighat Yasmeen November 29, 2002 General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff, Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Dear Sir: When I was young, I used to ponder that why did we call the Alexander of Macedonia, “Alexander the Great” (Sikandar-e-Azam)? Ok, he was a smart and tactical warlord, but did his military conquests alone [the sole reason I was repeatedly told for his “azmat”] qualify him for the title “great” as well? For me, greatness demanded far nobler virtues and worthier traits than [or in addition to] mere bloodletting. Then one day, I stumbled upon a short poem “Ek behri Qazzak aur Sikandar -- A Sea Robber and Alexander" by Allama Iqbal, and thereby got my objections validated and queries answered. Sikandar: Silla tera teri zanjeer ya shamsheer hai meri, Keh teri rahzani se tang hai darya kee pahnai! Qazzak: Sikandar! haif tu is ko jawan-mardi samajhta hay, Gawara is tarah karte hain ham-chashmon kee ruswai? Tera pesha hai saffaki, mera pesha hai saffaki, Keh ham Qazzak hain dono, too medani, main daryaee! Historical discussion aside, the same analogy is convincingly applicable once again -now on generals and politicians of Pakistan. Parallels between these two are frighteningly discernible, similarities incredibly prominent. To tell the truth, politicians and generals, both are despicable robbers -- in different robes. Some don sherwanis, other dress in khaki. Both are equally unscrupulous and hell-bent to accumulate personal wealth, only procedure and mode differ. The whole drama is about power, perks and number of plots. In fact, two faces of the same coin. Welfare of the masses is not an issue for either group. Sir, with reference to the huge properties and unfathomable riches of our generals, sham accountability, your favourite hobby of politician bashing, and not the least the ongoing horse-trading, one can only wonder, what a grotesque definition of patriotism, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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bizarre standards of honesty, and weird benchmarks of morality, we must have in the land of the pure? Imagine, if seven prime plots in seven cities, while more than 40% of the population grinds under abject poverty, is not corruption then what else can be? Strange, CroreCommanders on one hand, 13 % infant mortality rate on the other, still a treachery to question the patriotism and judiciousness of the top brass. World-class recreational facilities for the kith and kin of the military officers, not even clean drinking water (what to talk about other basic necessities of daily life) for the majority of Pakistanis, yet generals have no moral qualms. You see, in the absence of “constitutional housing schemes” and the sort, politicians [can only] gobble through illegal means. Moreover, for obvious reasons, it is a rather difficult task for them to conceal their ill-gotten possessions. Besides, the military makes sure that a civilian batch would have at the most 30 –36 months to go berserk with their looting spree [mercifully somewhat minimizing their impact]. In the case of generals, it is nevertheless a double jeopardy. They not only devour by means of ‘by-the-book’ bonanzas for 10–20 years [time span from the rank of brigadier till disappearing off the skies] but also concurrently embezzle as much as possible. A trivial illustration: despite accruing ‘legal’ booty worth more than a billion, thanks to the web of wealth-generating mechanisms for high ranking military officers, Mansoorul Haq was also full-time busy minting money by kickbacks, commissions, fraud and cheating. Therefore, a terse [and sarcastic] deduction would be that the loot by civilians costs less to the country than the multi-prong sweep by their uniformed counterparts. Sir, if a beduin could audit the Caliph of the time in public for a piece of cloth, I deem myself fully competent, authorised and justified to ask you as follows: (i) My son doesn’t get even few tablets of Paracetamol after queuing for hours and enduring endless humiliation at public hospitals. For your son there are helicopter ambulances, luxurious VVIP wards at well-equipped military hospitals [out of bound for common man] -- free of cost. Why this callous discrimination against innocent Pakistani civilian children – in their own homeland? General sahib, my son demands an answer. (ii) Barn for cattle at military farms are generally better furnished than the government school of my daughter. And, she is still lucky that she has at least a school, be in rubbles, to go to -- more than 50% of her civilian age-fellows don’t have even this symbolic consolation either. In contrast, your daughter’s birthrights include O-Level at sumptuous Army Public Schools on highly subsidized rates. Sir, my girl holds you and your fellow officers responsible for this merciless disparity. What should I tell her? (iii) 95% civilian children don’t have access to decent playgrounds, but for your kids the state provides thoroughbred stallions and instructors for riding. A pointer: 140 million ‘ordinary’ Pakistanis have fewer swimming pools available to them than the sports centres exclusively on the disposal of officers of the armed forces [I can substantiate this claim with exact figures]. (iv) My old frail father toils in scorching heat to make the ends meet, to pay the everswelling utility bills in time, you write off millions of rupees, due from your defaulting chums, as it was your dad’s property. One fresh glaring example: Wasim Sajjad. Why? (v) Billions of rupees from the national exchequer were shamelessly frittered away on that nasty referendum, just for appeasing your extra-constitutional ambitions. An exercise, “the heaviest ever mandate”, no one gives a damn to, including you. Doesn’t the hard-earned money of my husband and taxpayers like him deserve bit more respect and a better use? Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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For God sake, don’t come up with those worn out, classical arguments of facing hardships on the borders, defending Pakistan to the peril of your lives and so forth. We have had enough of these obtuse excuses and are thoroughly fed-up of this allpurpose monologue. It has been delivered far too many times and has already lost all of its allure. No more emotional blackmailing, please. Conversely, do you have any idea that scores of Pakistani children scavenge rubbish for recyclables for their living; innumerable chotas are sweating across the country to survive? Surely, you don’t. How can you? Tinted glasses of your bulletproof armoured limousines have rendered you blind. Sir, we don’t live in same Pakistan. Your defence housing societies are not at all a part of the Pakistan we dwell in. Your secluded garrisons have nothing to do with the mainstream society – being crushed under unexplainable hardships. According to the WHO, 136 out of 1000 newly born babies die before the age of 5 in Pakistan. How many officers out of every 1000 passed-out from the PMA embrace martyrdom in the line of duty, in particular during last three decades? Not even 1. So, tell me: what is more, much more perilous and a deadlier task in Pakistan: to take birth as a civilian or to be an officer of the armed forces. You know, the most repulsive of all is that those, who in reality face the enemy bullets i.e., jawans, NCOs and JCOs are not much better off either. No less than 50,000 of them are orderlies – euphemism for slave – polishing shoes, making beds of the officers. Well, let’s proceed to the macro level: (i) How do you explain that a professor holding a Doctorate -- who started teaching at a public university 35 years back, before you joined the army -- is not entitled to a single residential plot whereas the property you have amassed-- squarely due to your military service -- is worth hundreds of millions rupees? (ii) How come a brigadier in the army has more perks and privileges than the Chief Justice of Pakistan (his tamely churning out of order-made indemnifying verdicts notwithstanding). (iii) Why a senior surgeon serving in a government hospital doesn’t get a fraction of monetary rewards as compared to what a GOC grabs without doing anything productive at all? (iv) What does a police officer get from the state, despite risking his life, putting up with abuses and curses of the public (and quite often flouting the law at the behest of the junta), in relation to good-for-nothing military officers? (v) Where in the world, a FA or at the most BA passed supervisor/foreman in a security firm is multi-millionaire, by default, on his retirement, entirely because of his job? (vi) Which government service, irrespective of tenure, academic qualifications and/or assignments, in the entire region of South Asia, results in comparable amount of financial gains than that of military career in Pakistan? What extraordinary, the military of Pakistan accomplishes to deserve the amazing rewards? Adding insult to injury, while disgustingly doling out billions from secret funds for buying loyalties of ‘patriots’, you keep on chanting hollow mantra of merit and honesty, brag about fulfilling promises, and vow not letting us down. Sir, what else the Staff College trains you for, with the exception of hypocrisy, horse-trading and bribing? I challenge you to refute any one of my assertions. I will never ever lift my pen again, if proved wrong. I offer you a convenient shortcut to do that. Just make your generals and lieutenant generals declare their chattels [as ‘corrupt’ civilian legislators have already done]. Execute me publicly, for treason, if a single soul among them Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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possesses military-conferred fortune valued less than US$ 450,000 [in the land with per capita income of US$ 450]. What a disgrace to our nationhood, what a disrespect of humanity? By the way, do we celebrate August 14 as our independence day? Shouldn’t we instead term it “Replacement Day”, the day when brown local military officers took over from the white Britons? To wind up, I would like to tell you clearly and honestly, the Raiwind Palace, the Surrey Mansion or the Beg Villa, all symbolise utmost filth – alike. To us, the ordinary mortals, these CMHs, Army Public Schools, Officer Messes, stand for social apartheid – nothing more. Yours obediently, The Many Mocking Masks of Master Musharraf Ali Dayan Hasan LAHORE, June 16: 'Teach the bitch a lesson. Strip her in public." As one of the police officers told me, these were the orders issued by their bosses. The police beat the woman with batons in the full glare of the news media, tore her shirt off and, though they failed to take off her baggy trousers, certainly tried their best. The ritual public humiliation over, she and others - some bloodied - were dragged screaming and protesting to police vans and taken away to police stations. This didn't happen to some unknown student or impoverished villager. This happened to Asma Jehangir, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion and head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the country's largest such nongovernmental group. The setting: a glitzy thoroughfare in Lahore's upmarket Gulberg neighborhood. The crime: attempting to organize a symbolic mixed-gender minimarathon on May 14. The stated aim of the marathon was to highlight violence against women and to promote "enlightened moderation" - a reference to President Pervez Musharraf's constant refrain describing the Pakistani military's ostensible shift from statesponsored Islamist militancy and religious orthodoxy to something else (just what it is not entirely clear). Others arrested included Hina Jilani, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and 40 others, this writer included (an observer, not a runner). The police, faced with embarrassing media coverage, released us a few hours later. The marathon was organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and affiliated non-governmental organizations in the light of recent "marathon politics" in Pakistan. Until early April, it was government policy to encourage sporting events for women, so Punjab Province organized a series of marathons in which men and women could compete. The brief experiment ended abruptly on April 3, when 900 activists of the Islamist alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e- Amal, or MMA - which was effectively created as a serious political force by Musharraf and is backed by the military attacked the participants of a race in the town of Gujranwala. According to a government statement at the time, the MMA activists were armed with firearms, batons and Molotov cocktails. Yet within days the activists were released without charge and Musharraf's government had reversed its policy of allowing mixedgender sporting activities in public. The public beating of Pakistan's most high-profile human rights defenders highlights what most Pakistanis have known all along: "Enlightened moderation" is a hoax perpetrated by Musharraf for international consumption. What is known in Pakistan as the "mullah-military alliance" remains deeply rooted, and the Pakistani military and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Musharraf continue to view "moderate" and "liberal" forces in politics and society as their principal adversaries. The reason is simple: Democracy, human rights and meaningful civil liberties are anathema to a hypermilitarized state. Pakistan's voters consistently vote overwhelmingly for moderate, secular-oriented parties and reject religious extremists, so the military must rely on the most retrogressive elements in society to preserve its hold on power. Jehangir and others were beaten because they tried - in a symbolic but crucial way - to challenge the mullah-military alliance on the streets of Lahore. In Washington and London, Musharraf presents himself as the face of enlightenment; in Pakistan there is another face. The Bush administration, Musharraf's chief backer, should realize that its friend in the war on terror came to power in a coup, continues to hold office without facing Pakistani voters, refuses to schedule a vote, and bans women from running in mixed-gender races. Those who stand for the values of human rights and democracy that the Bush administration calls universal are seen as the enemy within and are beaten on the streets. Instead of allying himself with espousers of hate and intolerance, Musharraf should pursue a genuine path of enlightened moderation by telling the MMA and others that the days of treating women as second-class citizens are over. If human rights defenders can be beaten for running for their rights, will they have to run for their lives before the rest of the world and Musharraf's patrons wake up? The Three Casualties of a Disastrous, Fraudulent Local Bodies' Poll Farhatullah Babar ISLAMABAD, September 4: The three serious casualties of the just concluded local polls are the Election Commission, citizens' trust in the State and General Musharraf's agenda of Enlightened Moderation. Historically each election of sorts has dented the credibility of the Election Commission. The 2005 polls are no exception. Remember how the Election Commission was diminished when the Chief Election Commissioner declared in December 1984 to an unbelieving nation that unprecedented 63 per cent voters had voted "yes" in General Zia's referendum. Remember the mortal blow dealt to the Commission when soon after another referendum in April 2002, the CEC Justice Irshad Hasan Khan appeared on national television and reciting the kalima announced to a shocked people that General Musharraf had won hands down in a transparent and fair vote in the referendum. Remember the very poignant commentary on the Election Commission made at the time by Dr. Sher Afgan Niazi who now sits in the Cabinet as a minister and is seen as the constitutional wizard of the ruling coalition. Writing in a national Urdu daily he had said: "I have not the least hesitation in asserting that the Chief Election Commissioner late Justice Nusrat blackened his face and also that of the entire nation in Zia's 1984 referendum." "The present CEC (Justice Irshad Hasan Khan)," he continued with reference to the Musharraf referendum "has not only blackened his face but also sold his conscience. This is his (Justice Irshad's) second assault on the nation. Previously as Chief Justice he not only upheld usurpation of power by General Musharraf but also gave him powers to amend the Constitution -- a power not even available to the Supreme Court itself."

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Some 60 people were killed and over 800 injured, some seriously, in the two phased polls. When the EC declared that the killings were not election related and were the result of personal rivalries, it dumb-founded the people. State functionaries, including chief ministers and ministers, went around announcing development schemes to influence voters. The Army Chief General Musharraf addressing a public meeting in Swat asked people to vote for the Muslim League besides reportedly announcing development schemes for Rawalpindi. In doing so, he mocked the code of conduct but when the EC chose not to take notice, it did no great service to itself. Hundreds of complaints flooded the offices of the Returning Officers and to the Election Commission. The victims complained about kidnappings of candidates and their supporters, forcible seizure of polling booths, snatching of ballot boxes and stuffing by the police. Many protested against biased presiding officers who would deliberately go slow, taking as long as forty minutes for a single vote cast in areas where the government nominees were not likely to win. Where some presiding officers were caught while stamping ballots they were bailed out the next day. Fake criminal cases have been filed against candidates and their supporters, as well as of shifting of polling stations to hostile areas or unpopulated areas to prevent voters from casting votes. Blatant threats were hurled by a Chief Minister boasting that he could change loyalties in 15 minutes, half the time taken by his predecessor to do so. When the EC claims that elections were fair or does not seem to follow up on the complaints or says that no complaints with proofs have been received it does not help in enhancing the credibility of polls. Despite promising to announce the results within 48 hours, the results were delayed by several days amid accusations that these were being manipulated and changed particularly in Sindh. Soon after the polls the Election Commission announced heavy turnout even before the declaration of official results. Media reports quoting the Election Commission talking of a 60 per cent turnout, questioned what mechanism was employed to arrive at this figure so early. In the absence of computerized voting and counting, a definite figure about the turnout would appear inexplicable. Several key government figures including federal ministers Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, Jehangir Tareen and Awais Leghari, ruling Party MP Firdous Ashiq, former minister Majid Malik, and others besides the opposition have cried foul. Is it any surprise that the Election Commission should have become the casualty? Deep erosion of citizen's trust in the State and its institutions and consequently the deepening of the crisis of confidence has been the second serious casualty of polls. When all the State institutions bend over backwards and pretend that the elections were party-less and non-political the mockery must deepen the distrust of these institutions. Heavens would not have fallen if it had been admitted that the elections were party based. By asking people to believe that they were party-less amounts to insulting their intelligence and eroding the credibility of the State itself. It would be most unfortunate if hurt by this crisis of confidence some people begin to demand elections under the United Nations because its own institutions have proved incapable of stopping the subversion of the will of the people. This crisis of confidence will only strengthen the prophets of doom, who claim that Pakistan was a failed State. It is not but a handful of short-sighted people blinded by self-aggrandisement have done incalculable harm by lending support to the theory of a failed state. There is an urgent need to wash such perceptions by restoring rule of law and respecting the will of the people.

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Inaugurating the Askari Park in Karachi on Friday, General Musharraf claimed that the moderates had won and the extremists had lost in the elections, not realizing that his agenda of so-called moderation has actually been a casualty rather than a trophy. Look who claims to have won? Those who opposed Musharraf's moderation on issues ranging from religious columns in passports, to marathon races, to amendments on Hudood laws and to foreign students in madrassas have manipulated the State apparatus to make it a one party affair. If their claims are true, the anti-moderation group has acquired greater strength to defy the General's liberal agenda. Yet, he claims that the moderates have won. How strange are the illusions by which men sustain themselves? All military rulers have flaunted local governments as non-political bodies for development at the local level. But in due course of time they helplessly watched the local bodies turn into heavily politicized institutions. Holding money and manpower, the local bodies of 2005 will now acquire greater political clout and ability to manipulate the National and Provincial Assembly elections, which may not be far away. The pillar on which General Musharraf had raised the edifice of sustainable democracy has finally come crashing down. The Unreported Terrorism Case against Pakistan's Media King Special SAT Report LAHORE: A former Chief of ISI has demanded death penalty under anti-terrorism laws for Pakistan’s virtual media “Ted Turner”, and three other senior journalists, in AntiTerrorism Court in Lahore, and the charge against them is carrying out “terrorist acts with their pen”, according to court documents. In this historic but bizarre case of its kind, the ex-ISI Chief, a Lieutenant General of the Pakistan Army, has submitted a signed petition which in itself is a document revealing some of the most well guarded national secrets, which should never have been revealed, and could get the General hanged for committing sedition if taken up by a fair and judicious court. The most intriguing part of this story is that this Anti Terrorism Court of General Pervez Musharraf not only started hearing the case, it even completed testimony of five prosecution witnesses without even sending a notice to the defendants. Later when the Judge decided that he had jurisdiction to hear the case, he summoned the defendants, who raised immediate objections. He then started hearing their arguments. The latest hearing of the case was held on December 19, with earlier hearings held on Dec 3 and 14, 2002. The complainant in this case is Lt. General (Retired) Javed Nasir, who headed the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) from March 1992 until May 1993 and the case has been filed against owner of the Jang/News Group of Newspapers and GEO TV, Mir Shakil ur Rehman, Mr. Salim Bokhari Editor of ‘The News’ Lahore, Mr. Usman Yousaf Chairman Editorial Committee ‘Jang’ Lahore and Mr. M.A.K. Lodhi Editor Investigations of ‘The News’ Lahore, who is also a senior employee of the official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). The case has been filed under Section 6 (a)(b)(c), 8 & 11 of the Anti Terrorist Act, 1997. Maximum punishment for most of the crimes under this Act is death and Gen. Javed Nasir has demanded in his written petition that the “severest possible punishment” be given to “these terrorists (who) in the garb of journalists have delivered the most lethal blow to the unity and survival of the country.” “By attacking his reputation the Army and the ISI have been jointly targeted. Left as the last stable institution, if destabilized can lead to an extreme chaos and confusion and eventually to a civil war,” he notes in his petition. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The basis for General Nasir’s complaint is a report published by ‘The News’ on August 24, 2002 which alleged that the General, as Chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, embezzled Rs. 3 billion and had fled the country. The report filed by Editor Investigations, M.A.K. Lodhi, claimed the writer had documents to prove its contents. “The complainant learnt about it (the report) through a telephone call which was followed by thousands of telephone calls from all over Pakistan and the world including England and USA,” General Nasir said in his petition. The General, who is an active member of the Tableeghi Jamaat, an organization of Islamic preachers, said the news item had “terrorized the entire Jamaat, the membership of which runs into millions, and the masses would have led to sectarian strife had it not been for the complainant’s interview on the TV the same night.” “The entire report manifests a highly arrogant attitude of a few terrorists garbed as journalists indulging in yellow journalism…they are an incurable cancer of the society which must be removed to save the rest of the nation through major surgical operation in the form of the severest possible punishment,” he demanded. Mir Shakil ur Rehman appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Court-III Judge Manzoor Hussain in Lahore on Dec 19. Editor Salim Bokhari appeared before him in an earlier hearing. “The entire journalistic community in Pakistan is terrorized, so much so that the newspapers of Mir Shakil ur Rehman himself, the largest circulated Urdu and English language newspapers and GEO TV, a recently launched satellite channel, have not reported anything about this huge case as yet,” journalists in Lahore told the South Asia Tribune. The original report against the General, carried by ‘The News’ was denied the same day but the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of General Musharraf confirmed in a letter to the Editor of ‘The News’ on Nov 15, 2002 that “various complaints against Lt. Gen ® Javed Nasir, Ex-Chairman ETPB, are under consideration in NAB.” This confirmed that not everything reported by the newspaper was wrong but what has shocked the journalists is the manner in which the complaint of the ex-ISI chief was filed and accepted by an Anti-Terrorism Court which started one-sided hearings. Journalists argued that it could at best be a case of defamation and be tried under ordinary law in a civil court. The ATC, instead of throwing out the case, started hearing arguments and decided that it was within its jurisdiction to hear a libel case, thus setting a new legal precedent and turning the so-called Press freedom pronounced so often by General Musharraf, on its head. In a short judgment given on Dec 3, 2002, the ATC Judge announced that it was within his jurisdiction to hear such a case. “After considering the material placed on record as aforementioned and reading the above provisions of law, I summon all the four persons arrayed as respondents in the complaint for 14.12.2002. A copy of the complaint, as also that of the evidence referred to above, shall be sent to all of them,” Judge Manzoor Hussain said. The anti-terrorism law was passed in August 1997 by the Nawaz Sharif Government. It gave police wide-ranging powers to arrest suspects and established special antiterrorism courts. Amnesty International at the time pointed out the manifold ways in which the law violated human rights particularly the right to a fair trial. In ... the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared that the Anti-terrorism law as a whole was not unconstitutional but that 12 key sections of the law were unconstitutional and needed to be amended. Several months later this was done by an Amendment Act. Dozens of people were tried and convicted by these special courts which still fail to provide a fair trial. Most of the death sentences in Pakistan are imposed by antiFascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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terrorist courts. In November 1998, summary military courts were set up to try, within three days, civilians suspected of specified serious offences. Several people were tried and convicted by these special courts; several were sentenced to death and two men were executed before the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared these courts unconstitutional and ordered them disbanded. General Musharraf enacted the new anti-terrorist law, which replaced the old one of 1997. It came into force on 31 January 2002. The new ordinance provided for new courts which included one senior military officer nominated by the government besides two civilian judicial officers constituting a three-member bench headed by a civilian judge. The courts were to sit in cantonments or jail premises to ensure the security of accused, witnesses and the judiciary. A senior officer said, "these are not military courts in the true sense, but these courts will comprise civil judges and military officers to speedily dispose of cases of all those involved in terrorism". Amnesty International condemning the law said it gave the police a new licence to violate human rights. It authorizes the police and army to fire on anyone "committing, or believed to be about to commit, a 'terrorist' offence". It also provides them with powers to arrest suspects and to search premises without a warrant. Placing the interpretation on what is justifiable use of lethal force entirely in the hands of law enforcement personnel is, in the Pakistan context, an incitement to the security forces to commit unlawful killings. Trial by special tribunals including military staff contravenes Principle 5 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, endorsed by the General Assembly in 1985. It states: "Everyone has the right to be tried by ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures. Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the ordinary courts of judicial tribunals." There is No Justice or Moral Standards in the West on Nuclear Affairs Eric Margolis Special to the South Asia Tribune WASHINGTON, August 19: Few people are aware just how close the world came to a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan in the spring of 1999. As the two old foes battled fiercely in northern Kashmir above the strategic city of Kargil, over 1.5 million troops on both sides were ready to attack. Powerful Indian armored 'strike corps’ were poised to strike into Pakistan and cut it in half. Unable to match India’s overwhelming conventional might, Pakistan prepared to defend itself with tactical nuclear weapons. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the Kargil confrontation abated, but not before a horrible scare. Western experts estimate a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would kill up to 2 million people outright, cause 100 million casualties, and pollute the entire globe with radioactive dust. Today, Pakistan’s and India’s nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert. Both nations fear a surprise, decapitating first strike by the other could destroy their nuclear forces and the command units that control them. Flight times of India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear-armed ballistic missiles are only minutes. Neither side has adequate early warning systems against nuclear attack – or the time to consider a response when enemy missiles or aircraft are reported incoming. On top of this, India’s nuclear command and control system is still shaky, unlike Pakistan’s which is believed to be more reliable and highly professional. False reports approaching enemy missiles or aircraft, or a missile test gone astray, could trigger a

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nuclear exchange. Even the most advanced early-warning systems can fail or give false readings. During the Cold War, a scientific sounding rocket launched from northern Norway caused the Soviet Union to believe itself under attack by American missiles and begin a countdown to launch its own missile force. Fortunately for mankind, the Soviets realized their error in time to abort launch sequences. With these grim thoughts in mind, the just-concluded agreement between Delhi and Islamabad to exchange advance notice of missile tests is welcome and long overdue news. They also agreed to extend the cease-fire along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir. But Indians and Pakistanis just can’t seem to miss a chance to one up each other. A week after the missile accord was announced; Pakistan proudly revealed the test of its first nuclear-capable, 500 km-range cruise missile, 'Babur.’ Pakistan didn’t warn India of the test. Why? According to Islamabad’s lame excuse, 'Babur’ was an air-breathing missile and thus a different class of weapon from ballistic missiles. Delhi was not amused by such deceptive semantics, and rightly so. Pakistan’s test blatantly undermined efforts to build confidence and normalize relations between the two old foes. If anything, the terrain-hugging 'Babur,’ which is almost invisible to radar, poses even a greater threat to India of a surprise first strike than Pakistan’s 2,000 km- ranged 'Shaheen-II’ ballistic missiles. 'Babur’s’ advanced radar mapping technology and engine puts it in the class of western and Russian cruise missiles – and will undoubtedly produce a firestorm of protest from America’s right wingers and pro-Israel lobby. Development of the cruise missile is a significant achievement for Pakistani defense technology. Not to be one-upped, India announced its 3,000 km-range 'Agni-III’ nuclear capable missile would be tested by year end. India’s shorter-ranged 'Agni-II' and 'Prithvi’ missiles can hit nearly all useful targets in Pakistan. 'Agni-III’ is clearly designed to be used against China, a point not lost on Beijing. In fact, China has watched the recent strategic alliance between the US and India with growing concern. India has a very large nuclear weapons program that is being covertly aided by Israel. India is even building sea-launched strategic missiles and developing an ICBM with a 7,000 km range that can serve only one purpose: to attack North America or Europe. America’s defense establishment has not yet comprehended this fact, or has turned a blind eye to this new threat. Delhi has always rejected UN nuclear inspection, accusing western powers of 'nuclear apartheid’ in seeking to maintain their monopoly on weapons of mass destruction. The Indians, of course, are perfectly correct. They and Pakistan had as much right to nuclear weapons as France, Britain or Israel, not to mention the United States which is updating its nuclear arsenal and may soon begin work on small warheads designed to attack underground targets. Eager to enlist India in its so-called 'war on terrorism,’ and to build a strategic counterweight to China, the Bush Administration recently embraced India, sanctified Delhi’s covert nuclear program, and approved the sale of US nuclear technology, conventional arms and advanced technology to India while keeping Pakistan in the nuclear dog-house. The Indians were cock-a-hoop o be granted major ally status by the US and have their much-criticized nuclear program sanctified by Washington. What many Indians failed to see in their euphoria was that their entente with Washington risked driving them into growing confrontation with neighboring China. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The Bush Administration’s powerful neoconservatives opened all doors in Washington for India after it became a close ally and major arms customer of Israel. In fact, Israel has become India’s second largest supplier of arms and military technology after Russia. These same neocons have designated China as America’s new enemy of choice - once Iran is destroyed. They plan to use India as a weapon against both China and Pakistan, whose nuclear arsenal is seen as a potential threat enemy of Israel. The Indians are no fools. They hope to use their new strategic alliance with the US to advance their own very evident superpower ambitions. But Beijing must view the new US-India alliance as a major national security threat, and India as a primary enemy. Moreover, far from promoting 'stability,’ as President Bush claimed, the US-India axis threatens to destabilize Asia by re-igniting tensions between India and China that led their Himalayan border war in 1962, as well as making Pakistan’s position even more precarious. But while the White House encourages India’s nuclear power, it is moving closer to attacking Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, as President Bush indicated last week in a speech on Israeli TV. Western intelligence estimates Iran would require 10 years to develop nuclear weapons. But Israeli intelligence reportedly believes Tehran could produce a nuclear warhead by 2006. So Israel has been exerting intensive pressure on the Bush Administration through its US supporters to destroy Iran’s nuclear plants. Pakistan may be the next target. Ironically, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea all rejected UN nuclear inspection, and all developed nuclear weapons. Taiwan and South Korea have all had secret nuclear weapons programs. Iran has no nukes but is suspected of wanting to develop them behind the cover of a civilian power program. However, a UN nuclear agency report last week confirmed Iran’s assertion that particles of enriched uranium found by inspectors on some of its centrifuges were indeed of Pakistani origin. This important finding was largely ignored by the US media which has joined the neocons in agitating for war against Iran. After resuming uranium enrichment for civilian purposes last week, Tehran now faces sanctions or even war over what it might do in the future. There are clearly no justice nor moral standards when it comes to nuclear affairs. When Musharraf Opens His Mouth, Only Fools Won't Believe Him Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, October 10: When General Pervez Musharraf opens his mouth these days, he is compelled by his inner fear, insecurity or contradictions, or all of these, to speak in terms of superlatives. Nothing that he says or does is less than the best, of the highest caliber, of unprecedented worth, of unmatched quality, top of the class and state of the art. In short, in his effort to look and prove himself to be right, successful and in control, specially when traveling abroad, Musharraf loses the sense of reason and balance. That makes him look more vulnerable and insecure. Often his own arguments are at odds with what he is trying to prove. But he either does not realize or does not care. A few examples will prove this. In recent days and weeks Musharraf has been saying the following: - Pakistan is today out of the minefield of troubles it faced until a few years ago (Amsterdam, Sept 26, Daily Dawn).

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Yet: He wants the Pakistani Parliament to authorize him to stay as Army Chief because otherwise things would get out of his control. - Democracy is functioning fully in the country with elected representatives sitting in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies (Address to joint session of Parliament in The Hague, Sept 27, APP) Yet: What these elected representatives do is to pass resolutions and bills asking the military to stay in power. - I would like to ask the world to look at the state of democracy in Pakistan and what I have done for democracy in Pakistan. I think we have introduced sustainable democracy in Pakistan. (Addressing a news conference at UN, Sept 23, The News) Yet: To sustain his ‘sustainable democracy’ he has to wear his military uniform, authorized by a ‘Democratic Parliament’ which passes an self-destructing bill declaring that it was impotent, and will not survive unless the President it has chosen wears a commando outfit. - Why can’t I keep my uniform when Charles de Gaulle could stay in uniform and still France was called a democracy (NYT Interview) Yet: He does not know, or remember, that De Gaulle also held a referendum and when he lost, he resigned and quit and went away for years to be called back by his people. - Whether I stay in uniform has nothing to do with democracy, It’s only the Western media, which is attaching, linking my uniform with democracy. I have not made a final decision about whether to stay on as military chief. . (Interview with Washington Post, , Sept 17) Yet: He thinks he can insult the intelligence of every one and always get away with it. - My government has effectively defused misperceptions about cross-border terrorism in Kashmir, happenings in Afghanistan and nuclear proliferation. (Daily Dawn, Sept 26) Yet: The tone and tenor of statements from India remains unchanged, Afghan Opposition blames Pakistan for interference as before and John Kerry and George Bush say Nuclear Non-Proliferation would be their No 1 target, meaning Pakistan and Dr. AQ Khan. - My meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York was positive and a victory for peace (Addressing Pakistanis in Amsterdam, Sept 26) Yet: Despite the victory for peace, movement towards peace is in the reverse direction. - No, not at all. There’s no pressure on us whatsoever (about capturing Osama). And how can there be pressure on us? What pressure? We are operating with all our might, with all our forces. We are suffering casualties. My life has been in danger. So what are we talking? What more can be done?" (Interview with Paula Zahn of CNN, Sept 25). Yet: In New York George Bush and Musharraf talk mainly about Osama, possibly his delivery before the Nov 2 poll. - I have no doubt in my mind that we would eliminate terrorism or terrorists from Pakistan. (Interview with Paula Zahn of CNN, Sept 25) Yet: The more he fights it, the more terrorism spreads within the country, forcing him to declare that he cannot trust anyone else to fight terrorism as Army Chief. - It is unacceptable that some organizations call themselves as Sipahs, Jaishs or Lashkars. Only Armed Forces of Pakistan are Lashkars of the country. (Addressing an international inter-religious conference in Islamabad, Sept 16, The News) Yet: All the Sipahs and Jaish’s and Lashkars have lived and thrived under his watch for years, sometimes surviving and growing just be changing their name because that Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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name was put on one list or another. And he thinks this tinkering has fooled the rest of the world. - How can a conflict on which we have fought wars be the solution tomorrow. (LoC as border) And that is absolutely ridiculous. Can’t be (possible). (Addressing a news conference at the UN, Sept 23). Yet: When TIME Magazine reveals some small give and take on re-drawing of LoC as the permanent border between Musharraf and Manmohan Singh, the meeting is called a ‘victory for peace’. - Corruption at the higher levels has almost disappeared because a strong accountability mechanism was able to secure successful conviction of several hundred politicians, senior bureaucrats and businessmen who were previously considered untouchable. (Addressing Italian businessmen in Rome, Sept 28, Dawn) Yet: Scandals of billions keep rolling out of the corridors of his government, revealed mainly by the small fish which were eaten in his stinky pond by bigger fish. Some names: Dr Nasim Ashraf ($37 million), Faisal Saleh Hayat- Choudhry Shujaat feud over FIA (hundreds of millions), Husnain Construction Company (Millions upon million), Shaukat Aziz’s handing over of United Bank to his Citibank clients (billions), Privatization of Habib Bank (more billions), Sale of Roosevelt Hotel (millions of dollars in the making), lands, plots for Generals (millions). - Don’t believe me, come to Pakistan and see what the ground realities are. (Addressing Dutch businessmen at a dinner reception hosted by Netherlands leading bank ABN-Amro, Sept 27, Daily Times). Yet: No serious investor wants to land in Pakistan with his money. Yes those who are offered free rides and free assets like banks and PIA and Steel Mills are waiting in a long queue for their turn. - In the last five years, through economic and administrative reforms we have been able to almost root out corruption at the high level and improvement in governance. (Addressing Italians, Sept 28) Yet: He adds after the microphones are switched off: Please note I have used the word “Almost” so don’t take this statement seriously. - I`m sorry, I don`t want to boast about myself but there is a renaissance, there is a big change we are trying to bring about." (NYT Interview, Sept 21) Yet: The renaissance that has been witnessed by every one was within his Army as all those who brought, or kept, him in power were thrown out of uniform but will now be waiting for big rewards, civilian jobs, corporate CEO chairs, big budgets, donor dollars, grabbed lands, free golf and the works. - How sweet that George W. Bush fights terrorism, of the Al-Qaeda kind, by forcibly introducing democracy into Iraq and Afghanistan but I am fighting the same enemy by keeping democracy away from my own people, for as long as I can. And George Bush says I am doing a great job. Yet: I don’t know what will happen if he loses in November. Abuse of Resources Mega Corruption of Gen. Pervez Musharraf Government Stealing the Steel Mill, 104 Billion Rupee Corruption Scandal White Paper Issued by PML-N The process of privatization of PSMC stands vitiated by act of omission and commissions on the part of certain state functionaries reflecting violation of mandatory provisions of law and the rules framed hereunder which adversely affected the decisions qua pre qualification of a member of the successful consortium (Mr. Arif Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Habib), valuation of the project and the final terms offered to the successful consortium which were not in accord with the initial public offering given through advertisement. --Supreme Court of Pakistan in Steel Mill Case The Supreme Court of Pakistan in its historic judgment delivered in a public interest litigation has declared the sale of 75% shares of Pakistan Steel Mills as void and of no legal effect as the process of privatization of PSMC stands vitiated by acts of omission and commissions on the part of certain state functionaries reflecting violation of mandatory provisions of law and the rules framed hereunder which adversely affected the decisions qua pre qualification of a member of the successful consortium (Mr. Arif Habib), valuation of the project and the final terms offered to the successful consortium with the initial public offering given through advertisement. Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd (the PSMC) was inaugurated in 1985 with the technical and financial assistance of the former Soviet Union and owns and operates an integrated steel manufacturing plant with the design capacity of 1.1 million tons per annum. The steel demand in Pakistan is approximately 4.5 million tones per annum. PSMC meets approximately the domestic demand of steel products. The shortfall is met through a large number of small private sector units in Pakistan and through imports. PSMC has a chequered history and has been plagued by mismanagement, corruption and overstaffing. It has been functioning at a lower capacity and with heavy losses in some years. Abuse of Resources Business in Jackboots More than just a well-oiled war machine, the Pakistan army is a flourishing business corporation. Gulmina Bilal The role of the army in Pakistani politics has received much attention. However, the army has over the years also acquired other vast and varied economic interests. While reports of the extensive land-holdings of the army have featured in the press (including this magazine), the army is also into other businesses – from leasing and dairy farms, to breakfast cereals. While virtually an entire generation of middle-class Pakistanis have grown up having Fauji Cornflakes for breakfast, few perhaps have focused on its parent company, the Fauji Foundation, a quintessential army concern. Another umbrella army organisation is the Army Welfare Trust (AWT). The mission statement of AWT declares: “It is a major obligation of the army to look after the welfare and rehabilitation of retired members, who have devoted the best part of their lives to the motherland.” The website of the AWT (www.awt.com.pk) further declares that looking after retired army personnel is “regarded by the army as sacrosanct and a bounded duty.” It is interesting how the army has evolved for itself a comprehensive system to look after its own, which is sadly missing in the civilian sector. However, is this system run by public or private companies? If they are private companies, then public money and other resources cannot be used for their operations. If they are public corporations, their chief executives are accountable to public representatives and the public at large. The parliamentarians themselves contend they are not clear whether the Fauji Foundation and the Army Welfare Trust are public or private concerns. In the Senate, Senator Farhatullah Babar questioned the workings of the Fauji Foundation. The Federal Education Minister, Lt. General (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi, responded to his query by stating the official position: Fauji Foundation is a private entity. Earlier, in 2005, when a parliamentary committee had summoned the Managing Director (MD) of the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Fauji Foundation, he refused to appear before them saying he was not accountable to the committee as Fauji Foundation was a private company. The government took the same stance. On November 22, 2005, the federal education minister declared on the floor of the house that Fauji Foundation was not given any public money. The minister stated: “It (Fauji Foundation) has been given no money. This [perception] is not correct. If at all, only a guarantee [was] given to the Army Welfare Trust, not to Fauji Foundation.” However, on December 28, 2005, while giving a written reply to a question of compensation, Minister of State for Finance, Omar Ayub Khan declared, “The government of Pakistan agreed to compensation for the losses incurred by the Fauji Jordan Fertiliser Company, renamed Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Ltd. in the wake of nonimplementation of the provisions of the Fertiliser Policy, 1989. The total amount of five billion rupees was agreed to be disbursed to the company over a period of seven years, starting from the year 2002.” The payment of this compensation made Fauji Fertiliser the only fertiliser company in the country to be compensated. Given this backdrop, the education minister was asked why he had declared that Fauji Foundation had not benefited from any public funds. He replied that there was no contradiction between what he had stated in the Senate and what the finance minister had said in reply to a question about the compensation paid to the Fauji Jordan Fertiliser Company. General Qazi also said that the Fauji Jordan Fertiliser Company was an independent entity and the Fauji Foundation was only a partner in it. The homepage of the foundation’s website (www.fauji.org.pk) describes the foundation as a “self-supporting entity in the private sector.” It further declares, “The Fauji Foundation has been generating financial resources to meet its welfare obligations through its own industrial and commercial projects. Today, it covers nine million beneficiaries spending over Rs 16 billion (on welfare) since its inception.” The website further goes on to describe the foundation as “being the largest welfare and industrial group in the country.” The natural conclusion based on this assertion would be that the Fauji Foundation is a private concern, and certainly one of the “largest industrial group(s) in the country,” considering its purported spending of 16 billion rupees on welfare causes. However, on the same page the foundation also asserts: “The Fauji Foundation is a charitable trust for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families. Its corporate operation began in 1954 when the Post War Services Reconstruction Fund was reactivated under the control of the Pakistan army.” The foundation is run by the administration committee and the board of directors. The chairman of the central board of directors is the secretary, ministry of defence of the government of Pakistan. The administration committee’s chairman is also the defence ministry secretary, and its members are chief of the general staff, Pakistan army, adjutant general, Pakistan army, quartermaster general, Pakistan army, chief of logistics staff, Pakistan army, deputy chief of the naval staff, Pakistan navy and the deputy chief of air staff, Pakistan air force. In other words, there are several public servants, including generals, serving on the administrative committee of this “self-supporting entity in the private sector.” The question is: are public servants allowed to be members of the administrative committees of private corporations? The Fauji Foundation also declared that it “disburses annual grants to service headquarters for the welfare of destitute and disabled ex-servicemen.” Figures for 2005 were not available, but in 2004, according to the foundation’s own website, 21.39 million rupees each were given to the general headquarters of the Pakistan army, the naval headquarters and the air headquarters. This generous grant raises certain questions, such as: (a) If the Fauji Foundation is a private corporation, then Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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why is a private corporation giving 64.17 million rupees to the three services of Pakistan, and (b) If the foundation is in a position to contribute this amount, then why did it need bailing out – i.e. the compensation it received for its fertiliser company – from public money? The Fauji Foundation has seven affiliates, namely, Marri Gas Company Limited, Fauji Cement Company Limited, Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited, Foundation Securities, Fauji Kabirwala Power Company Limited and Fauji Oil Terminal & Distribution Company Limited. The minister of state for finance, Omar Ayub Khan declared that Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Limited, formerly known as Fauji Jordan Fertiliser Company Limited, was given the compensation from a public company. However, the federal education minister maintains that this is not correct and “only a guarantee was given to the Army Welfare Trust.” It is not clear why the education minister deems it within his obligations to dispute a statement of the finance ministry given that this is surely a matter for this ministry’s purview, not the education ministry’s. Let us examine the education minister’s statement that merely a “guarantee” was given to the Army Welfare Trust, but no money was given to Fauji Foundation. The Army Welfare Trust was founded in 1971 and according to its website (www.awt.com.pk), “AWT’s mandate is restricted only to the generation of funds for welfare and rehabilitation without undertaking welfare activities itself.” The homepage further goes on to assert, “The Army Welfare Trust essentially operates as a business house.” Thus, if one was to paraphrase what the education minister actually said, while it is true that no public money was given to Fauji Foundation, a guarantee of five billion rupees of public money was given to an entity, which “essentially operates as a business house.” Is this legal? It is important to mention that no other business house was given any guarantee or compensation out of public money for the losses it suffered for the non-implementation of the provisions of the Fertiliser Policy 1989. The composition and status of the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) also raise certain questions. The adjutant general (AG) branch of the army, based at the general headquarters, oversees the welfare of retired and serving personnel. The Welfare and Rehabilitation Directorate (W&R) at the AG branch is directly involved in that welfare, and the AWT comes under the W&R Directorate. It is here that the story becomes interesting, as the AWT is actually the corporate and money-generating wing of the army. The website of the AWT (www.awt.com.pk) itself declares that the AWT, established in October 1971 under the Societies Registration Act, “essentially operates as a business house.” In other words, the AWT through its various divisions generates profit and then makes it available to the W&R Directorate for welfare activities. The website clearly declares: “AWT’s mandate is restricted only to the generation of funds for welfare and rehabilitation without undertaking welfare activities itself.” It is interesting that an organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act is operating as a profit-making business house. The figures certainly indicate its profit-making abilities. The AWT was started with a modest capital of 700,000 rupees in 1971, but now, according to the website, its assets are in excess of 50 billion rupees. Citizens might be interested in knowing that the initial seed money of 700,000 rupees was public money. The AWT has seven divisions, namely ‘army projects,’‘corporate development,’ ‘farms,’ ‘finance,’ ‘industries,’ ‘real estate’ and ‘technical.’ The army projects division consists of four projects, i.e. shoes, woollen mills, Al-Ghazi Travels and Services Travels. The last two are travel agencies which, according to the website, provide services to civilians and foreigners. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The army shoes project, with an industrial estate at Kot Lakhpat, supplies shoes to the army and foreign markets. The corporate development division in turn consists of seven profit-generating business houses, namely Askari Commercial Bank Limited, Askari Leasing, Askari Insurance, Askari Guard, Askari Associates, Askari Aviation and Askari Mobil. All these seven business houses generate good profit, while the Askari Commercial Bank has been declared the best commercial bank for 1994 and 1996. The farms division consists of the sugar mills at Badin and the five agricultural farms of AWT at Multan, Okara, Pakpattan and Badin. The finance division looks after the financial matters of AWT as a whole. The industries division consists of Askari Cement Factory, Wah, Askari Cement Nizampur and Askari Pharma at Lahore. The real estate division consists of AWT-owned commercial plazas, housing projects, lands and even restaurants. The technical division consists of Askari Information Systems, the computer section and, most interestingly, the Askari Commercial Enterprises that is mandated to “help retired army personnel and selected civilians to minimise infrastructural investment by prospective entrepreneurs.” The Askari Commercial Enterprises provide “furnished office accommodation, free guidance, loan and leasing facilities through AWT financial institutions, and many other facilities to get the prospective entrepreneurs off the ground.” Thus, in a nutshell, from shoes to wedding halls, insurance, leasing, lands to furnished offices, all are provided by the AWT, which by its own admission operates “as a business house.” This business house, which is registered under the Societies Registration Act meant for non-profit organisations, has a board of directors and an administration committee. Interestingly, the administration committee consists of the adjutant general Pakistan army, the chief of general staff, Pakistan army, the quarter master general, Pakistan army, master general ordinance and the managing director of AWT. Except for the latter, all the other members of the administration committee are serving generals. The board of directors consists of the directors of the seven divisions, the managing director of AWT and, of course, the adjutant general. So, is the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) public or private? It can be termed public as it falls under the AG Branch of the Pakistan army and was set up initially with public money. However, the Army Welfare Trust itself declares that it operates as a whole, as well as through its seven divisions, as a profitable business house designed to generate funds. If it operates as a business house, then can serving army personnel be on the boards of business houses or connected in any way with a profit-generating body? Why did the government, as admitted by the federal education minister, give a “guarantee of five billion rupees to AWT” from the public kitty to a business house? More interestingly, how is it that a business house is registered under the Societies Registration Act that is for non-profit organisations? These are one set of public interest questions. Another question one may ask is, what about the civilian sector of the population? In spite of their confusing public-private status, etc., the Fauji Foundation and the AWT ensure that an individual even remotely associated with the army has a comfortable living. The defence budget and the corporate interests of the army ensure that it has enough resources at its disposal to address the needs of its personnel. However, public servants not associated with the army do not enjoy such advantages. One fails to understand why this discrimination exists between uniformed and un-uniformed public servants? If the welfare of army personnel is a “sacrosanct duty,” then what about the needs of the public servant who has served all of his life in the railways, gas, education or health departments? While desisting from advocating a welfare state, one cannot help but demand, at the very least, that all public servants be

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respected and treated equally, and furthermore, that all the “business” concerns of the forces be made public. Army needs to move away from commercial ventures Anwar Iqbal WASHINGTON, Sept 19: The Pakistan army needs to disentangle itself from the vast business empire it has created if it wants to succeed as a professional fighting force capable of defending the country’s frontiers, says writer Ayesha Siddiqa. Back in Washington after almost two years to launch her book ‘Military Inc’ at the Woodrow Wilson Centre where she spent a year researching the book, Ms Siddiqa rejected the suggestion that she was on a mission to defame the Pakistani military. She argued that the military’s vast business interests not only introduces a culture of ‘cronyism’ in the country but also hurts its own professional capabilities. China, she said, already realised how the military’s involvement in business hurts the institution and the country and has begun to disengage the People’s Liberation Army from its commercial ventures. Ms Siddiqa said that Iran also has a similar problem and the involvement of the Pasdaran, a paramilitary force, in commercial ventures has created a culture of corruption and cronyism. Her conciliatory tone and friendly reasoning, however, failed to impress some serving and retired officers of the Pakistani military present at the launching ceremony. One officer reminded Ms Siddiqa how the army served the nation during the earthquake two years ago while another blamed her for signalling out the army as the villain. Ms Siddiqa, who came to the seminar despite the death of her sister in Pakistan the same day, explained how this ménage à trios, which involves the military, the bureaucrats and certain type of politicians, was hurting Pakistan. She showed how the military’s economic empire -- which she calls Milbus, shortened from military business -- has expanded rapidly since its modest beginning in the early 1950s. It is now the country’s biggest conglomeration. The tri-service Fauji Foundation, the army’s Army Welfare Trust, the air force’s Shaheen Foundation, and the Navy’s Bahria Foundation now control over 100 companies that make cement, fertilisers, cereal, and operate in the fields of IT, insurance, banking and education. These are manned by serving and retired military officers and draw resources from the military. The Frontier Works Organisation, a Milbus entity set up to profit from the business of building the Karakoram Highway, uses military equipment, resources and personnel to promote its business interests. Many Milbus companies are in deep financial trouble because they are run by officers who know nothing about business. This often forces the government to arrange multimillion dollars bailout packages; outstanding loans to Milbus total billions of dollars. Already Pakistan’s biggest landholder, the military, has institutionalised the colonial system of granting land. Officers get urban plots and farmland at throwaway prices. General Musharraf got eight plots, worth over $10 million. The book claims that Gen Tauqeer Zia, while heading the Pakistan Cricket Board, gifted away a part of Karachi stadium, which was then plotted and given to officers. The Fauji Foundation is involved in banking, pharmaceuticals, cement plants, etc., and the Army Welfare Trust is the largest business organisation of the country. The NLC is the largest goods transportation company, the FWO is the biggest contractor for building roads and collecting tolls and Fauji Oil Terminal and Distribution Company, the nation’s largest petroleum-handling facility. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The Shaheen and Bahria foundations, cantonments and housing estates have directly built 46 money-making housing schemes. Data on Army's Golf Courses Released in Senate Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD, July 13: The latest craze of Pakistan’s military Generals is to play Golf and convert State lands into Golf Courses all over the country. Data released in the Parliament proves this shocking reality. Army authorities have converted hundreds of acres of military farm lands into golf courses for pleasure and leisure activities of senior uniformed officials since 1999. These golf courses are in addition to those made on Railway lands, especially in Lahore where the cost was an unbelievable Rs 25 billion. The information about turning military farm lands into golf courses, housing schemes and commercial projects since 1999 was brought on public record in the Senate when Senator Rukhsana Zuberi asked pointed questions. Information provided by the Defence Minister, Rao Sikander Iqbal, confirmed that 307 acres of military farms lands were so converted. The minister embarrassingly did not reveal the maintenance cost of each golf course and thousands of gallons of water used daily to maintain the lush green grass for the Generals to tee off, while people die of water shortages or drinking contaminated water in various parts of the country. Similarly Auditor General's reports have also identified similar undertakings of the army for pleasure of senior officers. Information provided by the Defence Ministry to the Senate showed that since 1999, 24.5 acres of military land was converted into golf course in Attock. In Sargodha 60 acres of military land was converted into a golf course. The Defence Minister also informed the House that army housing schemes were launched on military farm lands on an area measuring 222 acres. The Senate was told that 36.96 acres of military dairy farm Chaklala in Rawalpindi was converted into a housing scheme. In Lahore, 133.96 acres of land belonging to military dairy farms were converted into housing schemes since 1999. In Sialkot, the authorities converted 51.2 acres of military dairy farm land into a housing society. Shockingly enough the shameful plunder of Pakistan's resources by the generals does not stop here. The Defence Minister in response to a question by senator Dr Nighat Agha said that the record pertaining to the terms and conditions on which the Varan Bus Service was given a terminal in the Cantonment Area of Rawalpindi on a land measuring 2.42 acres "was not available in the Military Estate Office Rawalpindi." The Defence Minister also told the Senate that Varan Bus Service, owned by the daughter of Lt Gen (Retd) Hamid Gul, a self-proclaimed ideologue of the Right, was causing environmental pollution in the area for which no effective measures have been adopted by the owners of the terminals. Perhaps to avoid accountability of such nature where the facts are revealed before the public, the defence forces do not allow the democratic system to flourish in Pakistan. If democracy flourishes, how would the generals justify the expenditure of millions of rupees on golf courses to the public representatives when millions are burdened by abject poverty and hundreds committing suicides due to hopelessness. While the government run by Gen Musharraf has spent millions on leisure and pleasure activities of the senior uniformed officials since 1999, their own Finance Minister admitted in the latest Economic Survey that 50 million people, some 32 per cent of the population, were living on just Rs848 per month or almost $14 per month.

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Ironically when the poor babies in millions of households of Pakistan cry for a piece of bread or a glass of milk, the Generals play golf on the lush green lawns. The disparity is glaring and provocative. High Court Presented With Massive Charge Sheet Against Pakistan Army A.H. Amin ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court in Pakistan is facing a legal and a practical dilemma: What to do with the petition which charge sheets the Pakistan Armed forces and lists details of massive kickbacks and corruption done by Generals, Air Marshals and Admirals. The petition has been filed by a lawyer in public interest but its contents are so explosive, the High Court Judges cannot touch it. The LHC, under tremendous pressure of the Army regime, is almost helpless in even admitting or hearing the petition, let alone give a verdict against the Army. The main charges mentioned in the petition include: - Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak (retired) had received Rs180 million as kickbacks in the purchase of 40 old Mirage fighters - Air Chief Marshal, Farooq Feroz Khan was suspected of receiving a five per cent commission on the purchase of 40 F-7 planes worth $271 million - In 1996, the Army bought 1,047 GS-90s jeeps, at a cost of $20,889 per unit. The market value of a jeep then was only $13,000. According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s main accountability organization, some senior Army officers made Rs. 510 million in the deal. - One hundred and eleven Army men got 400 plots in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan districts at throwaway prices, paying Rs. 47.50 per kanal (1/8th of a acre) as against the actual price of Rs15,000 to Rs20,000 (1US$=Rs. 56). Another 35,000 kanals were distributed among them. - Six respondents got 400 kanals in the Punjab while former NAB chairman Lt. Gen Mohammad Amjad was allotted a two-kanal plot on the Sarwar Road in Lahore for just Rs. 800,000 - payable in installments over 20 years. The market value of this plot was Rs. 20 million. - General Pervez Musharraf acquired a commercial plot worth Rs 20 million at DHA in Lahore for just Rs. 100,000, payable in 20 years. "As mentioned in the report of defense services director-general, a loss of Rs 5 billion was incurred due to such allotments." - The Army awarded a contract for the purchase of 1,000 Hino trucks at $40,000 per unit while the local Gandhara Industries had offered trucks of the same specification for $25,000 a piece. In the purchase of 3,000 Land Rover jeeps in 1995, Army officials allegedly received around Rs. 2 billion as kickbacks. - The Army management at WAPDA raised the power tariff 13 times during the last three years besides purchasing electric meters at Rs. 1,050 a piece against the open market price of Rs. 456, causing a loss of Rs 1.65 billion to the national exchequer. - A former military regime sold the Pak-Saudi Fertilizers for Rs. 7 billion and earned a Rs 2 billion commission on the deal. - In 1996, the Pakistan Navy spent Rs. 13 million on installing air-conditioners at the Islamabad Golf Club without any justification. Apart from this petition some other major scams involving serving or ex members of the military junta are as follows: - Ex Army chief General Jahangir Karamat took kickbacks of more than US$ 20 Million from Ukrainian tank company for purchase of 300 Ukrainian tanks for Pakistan Army through a middleman named as Colonel Mahmood , a brother tank corps officer of Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Karamat . Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent the present chief of the WAPDA Major General Zulfiqar, then serving in ISI, to Ukraine and Azerbaijan to investigate the scam. - General Zulfiqar compiled a complete report of the transaction and the bribes given. But the Army tried to buy him out by rewarding him with the post of WAPDA Chairman and promoting him to the rank of a three star General. The then Army Chief, General Jahangir Karamat was forced to resign, based on the threat that if he did not, he would be charged for corruption. - Many road contracts were given to a firm Hasnain Construction company without any public tenders by the recently removed Railways and Communication minister General Qazi. The company, owned by a relative of General Pervez Musharraf’s son, was also awarded the lease of a lucrative real estate in Lahore for construction of a Golf Course under frontmanship of Palm Country Golf Club, Singapore. The relative of General Musharraf admitted publicly that he was working for a commission to use his contacts and influence for the company. - Prime commercial land developed in Defence Housing Authority Karachi was leased at dirt heap rates to McDonalds operated by Amin Lakhani by the then Corps Commander, Karachi Lt. General Afzal Janjua. - The Army’s coercive organ NAB struck various under the table deals with various individuals accused of high profile economic crimes in addition to arm twisting NAB defaulters, into joining the present government. These include the present Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and at least one fourth of all elected legislators. Where does the military virtue of a defense outfit stand in these circumstances? Is 2003 not a year fit to publish its obituary? Our military virtue died, trampled below the treacherous wheels of overpriced military trucks and overpriced Chinese aircraft and defective Atlantique planes that crash in our waters because of dubious maintenance. Yes all this has served one important development purpose. Sons of ex-subedars, exclerks and ex-assistant political agents have done well, climbing from relatively simple life styles to grand luxuries propelled by phenomenal assets. All came to clean the Augean stables and all departed richer. The only exception was General Yahya Khan who whatever his drawbacks at least did not have the mind of a petty shop keeper. Clausewitz, the great philosopher of war described “Military Virtue” of an Army as the corporate spirit which forms the bond between bravery, enthusiasm and espirit de corps. Clausewitz further defined military virtue as a quality which drives an Army in a similar way as genius makes a military commander illustrious. Military virtue in words of Clausewitz could be generated in two ways, i.e. by a succession of military campaigns and victories or by military training activity carried to the highest pitch. The more a general demanded of his troops in terms of dedicated military activity in peace, the surer he would be that his demands in war would be properly answered. In short military virtue is the fuel that is supposed to drive an Army in war. With the above premise in mind and keeping in view our present history it can be safely concluded that military virtue of the Pakistan Army as an institution witnessed erosion from 1958 once the party started that made sons of Risaldar majors and Assistant Political Agents progress into industrial tycoons. It was a joy ride. Men who had one green suit to wear, in the words of General Tajammul, became the tycoons of Pakistan. It was the beginning of prosperity for few and the beginning of the end of military virtue of a previously Spartan and clean military machine. The second military junta of Pakistan was led by the only Army chief not from humble background and this ensured that the Pakistan Army was kept away from cheap consumerism and avaricious lust for real estate. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The second great dinner party started in 1979 when thanks to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a heaven-sent opportunity arrived in shape of US military aid for the third military junta of Pakistan. Stingers were flown in by the big daddy for the obedient son and these were sold in the open market by silent soldiers. Thus new business empires were created. The Zia junta as a whole did roaring business and the result is that at least four major tycoons of Pakistan today including present commerce minister have direct links with the Zia junta. Where does building 90 acres of a welfare colony known as Creek City with the cheapest shack for Rs. 6 million fit in? Did the military junta begin the occupation for such sublime purposes in 1958 or 1999? Where does developing 62 acres of land in prime commercial real estate in Islamabad fit in? Is this the business of a Navy that was miserably shut up in a mouse hole in Karachi Port in 1971 War? True that kickback may have been taken, but at least Admiral Mansur bought a good submarine for the Navy. But for whose welfare is the Navy undertaking a project 1500 kilometers from the nearest sea? What began as an idealistic journey ends with the shady deals around creeks in Karachi which the Navy failed to defend in 1971 and a military junta which wants to rule this country for eternity. And in this messy situation, the subservient Lahore High Court has been asked to sit on judgment with the sprawling mountains of charges, some even admitted publicly by the Army. God help the poor Mr. Justices of the superior court. Military Inc. Dominates Life in Pakistan Asia: The armed forces prevail not only in government but also in the economy. Elections this week are unlikely to alter the situation much. PAUL WATSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER KARACHI, Pakistan -- Generals have governed Pakistan longer than politicians, and over their many years in power, the military has refined the skill of stealth rule to an art. So when voters go to the polls Thursday in the first general elections since Gen. Pervez Musharraf seized power in an October 1999 coup, the men in uniform won't be surrendering power—just sharing some of it. A growing number of detractors say Musharraf, who declared himself president last year, is trying to disguise military rule as liberal democracy. Musharraf, who will remain president and commanding general after the legislative elections, forced through constitutional changes in August to guarantee the armed forces a central role in government. Musharraf has granted himself the power to dismiss an elected parliament and prime minister. He also has created a National Security Council and given several seats to military officers. Opponents say that will allow the military to oversee an elected government. In addition, Musharraf has extended the military's reach into state-run companies and agencies, installing loyal officers in place of civilians at the top of the entities that control everything from the phone system and postal service to road construction and computer databases on citizens. From Cereal to Fertilizer This administrative power melds with the military's already enormous commercial enterprises, which dominate large parts of Pakistan's economy with a network of companies that make products such as breakfast cereals, milk and fertilizer. The military's business ventures include an airline, an FM radio station, a pay-TV channel, insurance, real estate and travel agencies, and one of the country's largest banks. All

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this in a nation that devotes a very high 29% of its budget to the armed forces, according to the World Bank. Critics call this the relentless militarization of Pakistani society and charge that the generals who seized power promising to rid the country of corruption are now supervising a more subtle form of it. Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha, a security analyst at Qaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, the capital, has spent years investigating the military's business interests and says they aren't nearly as clean as they claim. "When you dig into them, you find out they are inefficient, and there is evidence of corruption," Siddiqa-Agha said. "There is also evidence of corruption linked to monopolization of government contracts. That has increased in the past three or four years." Military regimes have governed Pakistan for more than half of the 55 years since Britain granted the Indian subcontinent independence. But the armed forces, especially the army, have strengthened their control over government and the economy under Musharraf, said Mian Raza Rabbani, a former federal law minister. "After Oct. 12, 1999, Pakistan has perhaps witnessed the greatest militarization of civil society in its entire history," said Rabbani, secretary-general of exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. "Never has the military been inducted into such low levels of civil society." Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, Musharraf's spokesman, said Rabbani and Siddiqa-Agha are wrong and insisted that the 1999 coup gave Pakistan a high-quality government that is cleaning up the problems it inherited. "In the last years, there has been no martial law or military government," Qureshi said. "It's a government of civilians. President Musharraf selected the best Pakistani civilians available in the world. And they are the ones who formed the cabinets at the central level and at the provincial level. There is no 'militarization of society.' " But Siddiqa-Agha, former director of naval research for Pakistan's navy, said Musharraf has put about 500 uniformed officers in control of government agencies and state-run corporations. The president has made no commitment to return any of those jobs to civilians, and a newly elected government isn't likely to insist on it, she added. "The military is still powerful, and the fear is there," Siddiqa-Agha said. "You don't want to go out of your way and annoy the military as soon as you take over." One military man now heading a civilian agency is Maj. Gen. Farrukh Javed, whom Musharraf installed as chairman of the National Highway Authority, which is planning projects worth more than $800 million this fiscal year. Last month, the head of a private consortium building a major highway admitted at a news conference that he won the $117-million contract—awarded without competitive public bidding—with the help of retired army Brig. Aftab Siddiqui, the father-in-law of Musharraf's son Bilal. Sheikh Yousaf, who owns Husnain Construction Ltd., said the brigadier was a consultant on the project. But he isn't on the payroll anymore, Yousaf added. When reporters pressed for more details, Yousaf's son ran onto the stage and told him not to answer any more questions. Pakistan's water and power agency is another major state entity run by a man handpicked from the army. Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Ali Khan has headed the agency since 1998, when then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked the military to take charge of it because it was a mess, said Qureshi, the presidential spokesman. Khan retired from the army last year, but in his portrait on the agency's Web site he is dressed in army khaki and a beret.

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One of Pakistan's biggest employers, the utility is accused of squandering money and, in at least one case, stealing it. In June, Pakistan's auditor-general reported that $32 million was embezzled from the utility from 2000 to 2001. And it is one of three state-run entities that "are unanimously seen as the most corrupt institutions and responsible for most of the harassment of the private sector," John Wall, the World Bank's director for Pakistan, told a Paris conference in April. The second company that Wall singled out was the Karachi Electric Supply Corp. Ltd., also run by Khan and army Brig. Tariq Saddozai. The government insists that both firms are well run. "The army was asked to assist a civilian government [in 1998] to reform these two institutions, and today you will find they are vastly improved," Qureshi said. The water and power agency "was collapsing four years ago. It's been reformed and is much better than what it was, and that was what the army has been able to do." Third on the World Bank corruption list was the tax-collection agency. It is headed by a civilian. Praise for Officers Some military officers have garnered praise for their efforts to eliminate graft at public agencies. Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption organization, lauded Brig. Mohammad Behram Khan of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board in February for committing himself to award contracts to low bidders and to shun bribes and kickbacks. He also saved the utility millions in consulting fees, the group said. Still, complaints of foul water supplies and chronic shortages remain. A leaked report by the utility's staff said the drinking water for about 14 million people is heavily polluted with toxic waste. Khan was replaced last month by a retired army brigadier. Utility officials did not respond to an interview request Friday. Beyond running many public agencies, Pakistan's armed forces wield still more economic clout through four foundations created to aid retired personnel and their families by giving them jobs, a practice dating back to British rule. The largest is the Fauji, which translates as "military." The Fauji was established as a charity in 1953, with an endowment of $300,000. It is now a corporate empire that includes sugar mills, a cement factory and a natural gas supplier. Another foundation, the Army Welfare Trust, controls one of Pakistan's biggest financial institutions, Askari Commercial Bank Ltd. Such conglomerates, Siddiqa-Agha said, take business away from private companies. Like the defense budget, the military's business dealings are largely beyond public scrutiny, and the armed forces discourage journalists and others from asking questions, Rabbani and others complain. Shaheen Sehbai, former editor of the English-language daily the News, said he often was pressured by officials to either not publish, or at least tone down, stories that Musharraf's government didn't like. In July 2001, his newspaper uncovered an alleged $17-million insider fraud at the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution, the government's pension fund. Sehbai said he quickly took heat from senior officials.

Exile in Virginia "If you expose corruption, you pay," said Sehbai, who now lives in self-imposed exile in Virginia and publishes the crusading South Asia Tribune on the Internet. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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He said police are harassing relatives he left behind, including several who have been jailed for questioning on what Sehbai insists is a trumped-up charge that he robbed his former brother-in-law's house at gunpoint. A cousin's 18-year-old son has been in jail since late August without charge. Qureshi, Musharraf's spokesman, insisted that police are acting independently in a criminal investigation. Sehbai fled Pakistan with his wife and four children in February, after publishing a story that said Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted in the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, had admitted links to Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency. Sehbai said he was urged to apologize to the ISI's political and media chief, Maj. Gen. Ehtasham Zamir. But he refused. "They wanted me to go and tell them that I wouldn't do it again, and then they would all be happy.... I won't do that. I'm not going to tell them I'm sorry." Rabbani, of Bhutto's party, and other politicians accuse Musharraf of using the ISI to rig Thursday's election by coercing opposition candidates to quit and join parties that support him. Dozens of candidates have been threatened with prosecution on corruption charges, or punishment, if they don't change allegiance, Rabbani charged. Musharraf's officials deny the claim. Rabbani's office has submitted a thick file on the alleged tampering to Pakistan's election commissioner, who has promised to investigate. "In the history of Pakistan, we have not seen such interference in an attempt to gerrymander the results of the elections," Rabbani said The General in a Hurry Now Buying German Spy Planes for Millions M T Butt ISLAMABAD, August 24: After failing to push through a dubious $85 million deal for night vision equipment for tanks from a French company in late June, as the deal was exposed in time by the South Asia Tribune, the same ambitious top Pakistan Army General is now bull-dozing another $27 million deal to rush purchase German surveillance spy aircraft, bypassing all Army rules and regulations. But again, patriotic but angry, officers of the Army in the General Head Quarters in Rawalpindi are determined not to let him get his way. They have again released all the details of this new deal to the South Asia Tribune, hoping that General Pervez Musharraf will again intervene and stop this budding Admiral Mansurul Haq of the Pakistan Army, as he did in the last case. The General in a hurry to purchase anything, no matter how rotten or below standard or high priced, is the Chief of General Staff, Lt. General Tariq Majeed whose last bid to buy French night vision equipment from Thales was foiled at the last moment by a telephone call from General Musharraf, saving the Army an extra $37 million. Now his eyes are on German UAV unmanned spy aircraft, LUNA, and he has ordered that at least 4 or 5 of these planes be purchased immediately for an amount exceeding $27 million. According to details sent to the South Asia Tribune by GHQ officers not happy with the deal, the hasty selection of the LUNA UAV system has been done by the CGS in complete isolation without inviting any competitive international bids from other prospective UAV manufacturers in the world. “This is a direct contravention and violation of the government procurement rules and regulations,” an Email received from the GHQ officers revealed. The LUNA UAV system was also hurriedly tested in Pakistan without extending any invitation to other prospective international manufacturers by the W&E Directorate. The requirement of comparative trials for such high end projects was completely byFascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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passed to select a 'preferred' but inferior UAV system which was only dear and near to the heart of the CGS,” the Email said. There are cheaper and better Tactical Military UAV systems available worldwide. The angry officers believe the CGS, Lt. Gen Tariq Majeed, is continuing to flaunt internal procedures and processes and is acting like a civilian business owner in the way he is taking vital operational decisions. The scheduled purchase of LUNA, the UAV manufactured by EMT of Germany, is generating anger and frustration in the officers. They say LUNA UAV is a very small model plane. It is primarily used for very close area monitoring and does not even qualify to be a tactical military UAV system. However, last year and all of a sudden, CGS Gen. Tariq Majeed ordered his juniors to immediately start evaluating and eventually purchase the system for Pakistan Army. “It is quite unprecedented and against the normal code of ethics that a serving General categorically orders to purchase a specific system without first having it go through the standard laid-down procedures of merit, selection, tests and trials,” an officer’s message said. Almost simultaneously, as if he had an intuition, the Operations Director of the seller company, Target Consultations Services, Mr. Salim Khan, who represents EMT of Germany in Pakistan, sent a brief proposal to W&E Directorate in the General Head Quarters (GHQ) on August 23, 2004 (TCS Letter No. TCS/WNE/012). The proposal was evaluated on accelerated priority under orders of the CGS and was hurriedly called in for test and trials. Not surprisingly, during these tests which were held in the last week of February 2005 at three different locations in Pakistan, the Military Intelligence Directorate raised serious concerns on the viability of the UAV as the type of equipment it had used was being manufactured commercially off-the-shelf and hence anyone with the same equipment could easily and literally 'hijack' the subject UAV system. The MI Directorate, being the user, opined in its written report: ''It is finally concluded that incorporation of Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) products available to any customer may have serious implications on the survivability of the UAV.” The Technical Directorate of GHQ, ITD Directorate, in collaboration with IE&I also pointed out serious deficiencies in the subject UAV system compared with the official and approved General Staff Requirement (GSR) of the GHQ for Tactical UAV systems. The ITD Directorate in its report said that the subject UAV system had no ECM capabilities, was open to enemy jamming and was unable to detect enemy objects from the required flying height. The ITD in its original report recommended that the UAV should first incorporate all the missing parameters and then it should be tested again in Pakistan to confirm the changes before any decisions are taken. Instead of following the established Army rules and regulations and to reject the system because it did not follow the official Staff Requirement, an impatient General Majeed chose otherwise. The angry officers revealed: “He ordered to have the Tactical UAV GSR changed in order to accommodate the shortcomings of the LUNA UAV system. Mysteriously, the ITD Report’s original conclusions were also changed when the report reached the office of ITD Director General, Major General Mohammed Asaad.” Bulldozing all the technical objections and procedural elements, the CGS is now very keen to have an inferior UAV system inducted into the Army which essentially no one but the CGS wants. The CGS has also instructed the Military Operations and Military Intelligence Directorate to arrange the funds for over US$27 million to buy 4 to 5 LUNA UAV Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Systems in FY 2005-06 under the Army Future Development Program (AFDP) Fund 2019. In an In-House Discussions (IHD) meeting held at the GHQ on 27 July 2005, attended by the CGS and all the concerned Director Generals, including the MI, MO and ITD, the CGS surprised everyone by announcing the decision and instructed the W&E Directorate to buy 4 LUNA UAV systems this year. The irony is that in the same meeting the CGS also emphasized that the ultimate reliance of the Army should always remain on 'indigenously' developed UAVs. To cover up his hasty purchase, the CGS also instructed that 'after' the induction of the LUNA UAV system he had ordered, all other (and better) UAV system induction from the international market should be 'limited', perhaps to keep out the competition in future for the long term contract of his favorite system. One message received by the South Asia Tribune says: “This has caused serious concern in the ranks of the GHQ and officers who rightly think that rules are being played with in order to buy a toy which will eventually be of no use for them as Pakistani companies are developing much better UAV systems in Pakistan.” “But for the sake of their job, pay and pension they cannot defy the orders of the CGS. The most amazing part of this story is the conduct unbecoming of the CGS, Lt. Gen Tariq Majeed who is literally acting as the paid and employed agent for the German company, EMT.” “Army procurement procedures, as have been laid down over many years of experience, are designed for a reason to provide the best equipment at the best price to Pakistan Defense forces, however, when people like the CGS come along and exploit the procedures by virtue of their position they severely damage the reputation of an otherwise high character institution,” the officers maintain. Experts say Pakistan Army has its own indigenous UAV development program for the last 8 years in which they are making three types of Tactical UAV Systems. These UAVs include, Hud-Hud and two others manufactured by Integrated Defense Services (ex-PMO). One local private company SATUMA, based in the Kahuta Triangle in Islamabad, is also manufacturing UAV systems which are being used and deployed by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). All locally made UAV's are 60-70 per cent cheaper than what is being doled out for this inferior system from Germany. Some experts think in international systems, LUNA is not even considered to be a military system and is not used in the theater of war because of its inferior technology. The international market is full of better UAV systems that are more suited to military roles. In its on-going evaluation, however, the GHQ is also considering the French, American and a German Tactical Military UAV systems although none of which have been called for in-country trials. The French UAV system was shown to the ex-VCGS and now Corps Commander Karachi, during an all expense paid trip to France in June 2004. The essence of a good deal is ''Comparative Trials'' and competition between various suppliers. The spirit of competition and procedure dictates that in case the Army needs to select a UAV it must invite at least three suppliers and have a comparison test and trials in Pakistan. The equipment which gives the best result during trials and also the best price at the end of the day should be selected. Unfortunately, none of these aspects have been followed in the German case thereby violating the laid procedures of procurement.

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Pakistan goes defence shopping again Farooq Sulehria Pakistan goes defence shopping again; this time to Sweden SUMIR KAUL LONDON, NOV 7 (PTI) Pakistan is finalising a USD one billion defence deal with a Swedish firm for delivery of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) surveillance system. According to a report in the latest issue of 'Janes Defence Weekly', Pakistan, which is struggling to provide aid to survivors in all of its quake-hit areas, moved a step closer to adopting a Saab-Ericcson AEW system after signing a provisional contract, which envisages replacing of F-27 Fokker planes from the Pakistan Air Force. This was announced by the Swedish company on October 18, 10 days after the killer quake struck Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), the weekly said. The deal was believed to be for seven aircraft but a final step had to be taken as the company was going to seek a final nod from the US. The contract is worth USD one billion with two-third going to Saab company for providing Turboprop aircraft and the rest to Ericsson which would be providing Erieye airborne radar. Saab Chief Executive Ake Svenson was quoted by the weekly as saying that a number of outstanding issues remained to be resolved but the Janes said that it is understood that the deal was now close to being finalized. On the hurdles, a spokesman of the Saab Company Peter Larsson said "we are not disclosing what exactly these issues are..." All of the integration work attached to the contract will be carried out in Sweden, he said. In the past Swedish industry sources had noted that a Saab 200 AEW conversion would take 43 months from the contract signature. Importantly, the deal could lead to the selection of Saab's multi-role fighter aircraft, the weekly said, adding the purchase of these aircraft would provide access to datalink and command, control, computers and communication capability. The AEW systems to be supplied to Pakistan are to be primarily used for continuous surveillance of the air territory, borders and the sea. The Saab's 2000 turbo propel would be ex-lease aircraft. It was orgiinally planned that 14 aircraft would be sold to Pakistan with the extra seven aircraft going to Pakistan International Aiirways, which has, however, since opted for Dash-8 planes. Powered by two Allison or Rolls-Royce AE2100 engines, the Saab 2000 can remain airborne for nine hours at 30,000 feet and Ericsson's Erieye radar can effectively spot a fighter-sized target about 330 kilometres away. Seaborne targets can be detected 320 kilometres away when the aircraft is at optimum cruising height. Pakistan government had recenly postponed purchasing F-16 fighter jets from the US in the wake of the quake that killed over 73,000 people. The decision followed criticism from the opposition parties and human rights groups which demanded a cut in military spending after the quake. Saab Cashes In Trading Weapons While Kashmir Burns Farooq Sulehria Patience fellow Kashmiris. Islamabad is buying six high-tech Saab 2000 jets to help you out. 'Why the heck high-tech jets instead of helicopters if Islamabad has Kashmir in mind?' fellow Kashmiris might wonder. Because, the Saab 2000 turbo-propelled aircraft will be fitted with a land surveillance system 'that could have been useful in emergency operations arising from the earthquake in Kashmir'. True, the system will also help Pakistan face 'different threats' but Islamabad's prime concern was Kashmir since the deal was struck exactly a week after the earthquake hit Kashmir. Costs? What does costs matter when such noble intentions are drawn in. But Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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to satisfy the curiosity of fellow Kashmiris and unpatriotic Pakistanis, one better lay bare the facts. The surveillance system, to be provided by Ericsson, will cost hardly three billion Swedish crowns (SEK 1= Rs. 8). Since the Ericsson surveillance system Erieye operates aboard a Saab 2000 turbo-propelled aircraft, Islamabad is therefore compelled to buy six Saab 2000 worth eight billion Swedish crowns. The figure appears big in Swedish currency. We better do a dollar count. In US dollars, it is merely one billion. The deal was made public by a mainstream Swedish daily Aftonbladet. Saab/Ericsson would have hushed it up. Aftonbladet, exposing the deal, questioned its relevance since the deal not merely violates Swedish guidelines for arms export but also violates the promise made by ruling Social Democrats back in 1998. Following the nuclear blasts by India and Pakistan, Swedish trade minister Leif Pagrotsky made a public commitment not to sell weapons to India and Pakistan. But even more important is the violation of Swedish guidelines for weapon export, which forbids arms exports to countries running conflicts with other countries or having bad human rights record. Ironically, the Saab press release issued on October 19 in the wake of Aftonbladet criticism, besides contradicting the prices quoted in Aftonbladet's story, explains how useful the radar system is in situations like the earthquake: 'In the aftermath of the severe earthquake, the system would have been able to play a significant part in the search and rescue operations'. Earlier Saab's statement, issued on October 18, stressed the use of the radar system in fighting 'terrorism'. The deal was being negotiated for years. One wonders if Islamabad or Saab knew in advance that General Musharraf would be fighting 'terrorism' in Waziristan or that an earthquake would hit Kashmir and 'the system would have been able to play a significant part in the search and rescue operations'. The Saab statements were meant for domestic consumption. Because an article published on Pakistan government's website infopak.gov.pk 'clarified' that the Kargil conflict long ago convinced Islamabad of Erieye's need. A Reuters story (July 14, 2004) headlined, 'Government seeks Swedish radar system to match India', leaves no doubt regarding the 'humantarian' and 'anti terrorist' use of Erieye. Datelined Islamabad, Reuters report says: 'Government, concerned over India's plans to acquire a strategic radar system from Israel, is seeking a similar system from Sweden. Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, spokesman for the Pakistan Air Force, said talks were underway with Sweden over the purchase of an Airborne Early Warning System, but no final decision had been taken. A Swedish embassy spokesman confirmed that the matter came up for discussion when President Pervez Musharraf visited Stockholm. He said a Swedish parliamentary commission, which handles defence-related deals, had approved the sale of the radar system and it was now up to the Pakistani authorities to decide. "I can't say what stage it's at, but the negotiations have been going on for quite some time," he told Reuters'. To water down the domestic criticism, Saab/Ericsson and Swedish authorities are trying to propagate the 'civil' use of Erieye. But the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) has another explanation regarding the sale of Saab 2000 and Erieye. The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society has been, for years, closely following the negotiations and opposing the deal. The September 2004 issue of Pax, SPAS newspaper, asserted: 'Erieye is categorised as airradar and warning system and such systems have been used in many wars across the world'. Suppose Pax is wrong. Suppose Saab-Islamabad deal is well intentioned. Still, one speculates if it is six Saab jets fitted with Ericsson radar system, worth one billion dollars, that Kashmir needs to recover from the earthquake.

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Pakistan after Earthquake Hundreds of thousands of people are yet to receive help after the devastating earthquake hit Pakistan and Kashmir on 8 October. The reason? Corruption, repression and political manoeuvring. KHALID BHATTI, of the Socialist Movement Pakistan (part of the Committee for a Workers’ International), reports on the role of the militarybacked regime and the right-wing nationalist and religious forces which are vying for influence. Khalid Bhatti THE DEVASTATING earthquake caused widespread destruction in the northern areas of Pakistan and Pakistani occupied Kashmir (POK) on 8 October. The official death toll is 85,000 and more than 100,000 injured. According to World Bank and ADB reports, more than 7,000 schools and 3,000 health clinics have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in the mountains without proper shelter in freezing, sub-zero temperatures. The military-led government failed miserably to provide shelter and basic needs to the affected people. This earthquake has had a huge effect on the consciousness of the working people in Pakistan. They are thinking quite differently after experiencing the tremors. The devastation in the northern part of the country and POK has shocked the working masses. There are many questions under discussion about the relief and reconstruction work of the government, the role of the military and the question of resources. The most important and widely discussed question is that of defence expenditure and the role of the military in relief work. It is the first time that the general public is questioning the high levels of defence spending. The ruling elite has spent billions of dollars on the military, while social spending has been drastically reduced. The ruling elite – which is dominated by the generals – has promoted the myth that a strong military means a strong Pakistan, so the working masses should make sacrifices to strengthen national security. The generals pile up the weapons stocks in the name of national security. Respective governments completely ignored the social sector and big cuts were made in education and health. There has been hardly any spending on fire brigade and rescue services. The main argument was that these services were no longer required in the presence of the military. But this myth has been completely exposed in this disaster. The slow and casual response from the military establishment gave the lie to the propaganda claim of the last two decades that the military is the only efficient and reliable institution in the country and that people should blindly trust the generals in every situation. This rosy image has not only faded but has been badly damaged. The priorities of the generals are also under attack because, for the first time, the infrastructure of the military has also been exposed. People were shocked to hear that military aviation has only 26 helicopters, not enough to evacuate a village. Yet the country spends $3.5 billion on defence every year. Pakistan is a nuclear power but has no modern equipment to rescue people trapped under rubble. There are growing demands for a civilian rescue and relief organisation with all modern facilities and instruments. It will not be easy for the government to just ignore this demand and continue with its old policy of blind trust in generals. The question of resources THE ISSUE OF resources for reconstruction and rehabilitation has become the most contentious. General Pervez Musharraf has flatly refused to cut the defence budget, but there is a growing demand that he does so. It is not only the intellectuals which are involved, but ordinary working-class people are also taking a keen interest in this debate. The Musharraf regime is saying that it needs $5.2 billion for the rehabilitation Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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and reconstruction of the affected areas. The government is also crying that it has no resources and needs help from the so-called ‘international community’. At the same time, the government is going ahead with defence deals and other military expenditure. The government is ready to spend $1 billion for the purchase of six aircraft from a Swedish company. The deal to purchase 75 F-16 fighter planes from American company, Lockhead Martin, worth billions of dollars, is still going on. The government will pay the first instalment of $1.2 billion in a couple of months. The construction of new General Headquarters (GHQ) in Islamabad is also going ahead and will cost millions of dollars. If the money for these three projects was given to rehabilitation work then the government would not need any foreign assistance to help the affected people! There is no shortage of resources, the problem is with the distribution of these resources. The question of the system is vital in this regard. There is no possibility that under the present capitalist system, this money will be spent on the needs of the working people, because that is against the interests of the ruling elite. Capitalism is a system based on profits not on needs. A handful of rich people enjoy life at the cost of the suffering of millions of poor. The interests of big business are more important than the lives of ordinary working-class people. It is in the interests of big business and the generals to spend more money on the piling up of weapons of mass destruction than to spend it on the needs of the poor. The overthrow of this rotten and repressive capitalist system is necessary to improve the lives of working-class people. Socialism is the only system which can improve and transform the lives of the poor. A planned economy under the democratic control of the working class will make the task of rehabilitation and reconstruction much easier and faster. If the government stopped paying debts to imperialist international financial institutions and countries, that would provide enough resources for the rebuilding of schools, hospitals and decent housing for all the working masses. The price of one F-16 is enough to build 3,000 primary schools. The pressure is mounting on the government to cancel the deals to purchase the fighter aircraft and construct the new GHQ. Socialist Movement Pakistan (SMP) has already launched the campaign to stop these projects going ahead. This campaign has got a tremendous response from ordinary working-class people. It clearly shows that consciousness has changed significantly. The working class showed clear mistrust of this corrupt and inefficient system, as everyone was reluctant to give donations to government. Working-class people donated generously but, for the first time, they want to distribute the collected aid themselves. This is a significant development. People collected the stuff for affected people in every community but refused to hand it over to government officials. The disillusionment and mistrust of this corrupt and inefficient system has reached to the heights. Only the big traders and capitalists give money to the government – to get more concessions to increase profits and save taxes. The government was not very happy with this situation and has tried to discourage working-class people who want to go to the affected areas. People are expressing this mistrust very openly: hardly 7-9 % still have confidence in the government that there will be no corruption in the relief funds. Any one journey on public transport or one cup of tea at any public place will give the idea of how much mistrust in the ruling elite exists in Pakistani society. BBC News organised a survey before the earthquake asking how many really trust the army, police and political parties in South Asia. The result from Pakistan was shocking for the ruling elite: only 22 % said that they trust the army, only 12 % said they trust the police.

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There is widespread anger against the anti-working class policies of the present regime. The price hike has already gone out control, the inflation rate is 15%. The prices of all utilities have doubled in the last two years. The government has given a free hand to big business to make the maximum profits. There is no control over prices. Transport fares have increased 50% in the last three months, which means an increase of 380-450 rupees ($6-8) per month in the budget of a poor worker. Poverty is on the rise. The neo-liberal policies of the last two decades have made the lives of the working class miserable. Ordinary families cannot afford decent food, housing, education and health. All these basic needs have become luxuries for the working class. The earthquake has made people’s lives more difficult. It is not only those living in affected areas who are suffering but the whole working class of Pakistan is suffering from the greed of big business. Mullah/military alliance THIS EARTHQUAKE HAS exposed the secret alliance and close coordination between the military establishment and the mullahs. The so-called war between Islamic armed groups and the government disappeared soon after the disaster. All the banned groups are openly operating in affected areas and everywhere in Pakistan. The ‘terrorists’ have become angels. These groups are working closely with the military. The Pakistani media has launched a propaganda campaign in favour of these armed groups. All the newspapers and TV channels are giving full coverage to their relief activities. The same media is completely ignoring the role the trade unions and different left groups are playing in relief and rehabilitation. The media is even ignoring the role of organisations like the Edhi Foundation (the largest relief and welfare organisation in Pakistan, well-respected by workers and poor people) because Maulana Edhi has criticised the role of big business and is not closely linked with the military establishment. It seems that the reactionary, extreme right-wing section of the state has used this opportunity to strengthen itself. This section is also behind the media campaign to promote fundamentalism as an alternate to the corrupt, parasitic and inefficient ruling elite. The ruling elite wants to keep the reactionary mullahs on its side because it is frightened of a possible backlash from the working class and rural poor. Muthida Majlas-e-amal (MMA, an alliance of right-wing Islamic parties) government in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) proved its inefficiency and incapability in the earthquake affected areas. Now the mullahs once again want to enforce the Hibah Bill, which gives the right to religious police to stop ‘anti-religious’ and ‘immoral’ activities. SMP calls it the ‘martial law of the mullahs’. The Supreme Court already declared that the bill was against fundamental human rights. SMP has pointed out several times the close relationship between the military establishment and the mullahs. The open activities of the fundamentalist armed groups pose a threat to the lives of radical trade union and left activists, as these groups have a history of physical attacks. Fundamentalist groups are preparing for the next general elections, due in 2007. The military establishment is also using these religious parties to balance the nationalist forces. Sharp rise of nationalism THE EARTHQUAKE HAS exposed the weak infrastructure and backwardness of the northern areas, especially Kashmir and the Hazara region. The people in Kashmir and Hazara are not satisfied with the relief efforts of the military government. The militarisation of relief and rehabilitation work has added insult to the injury. It is most likely that there will be a sharp rise of nationalism in Kashmir, which might be Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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exploited by the ruling class to get support from the working masses. The nationalist forces are not strong or organised enough to cash in on this situation to muster support immediately. Unfortunately, there is no working-class party in Kashmir to provide an alternative to the masses, although the potential for this party does exist. The situation is no different in NWFP, Sindh and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. Nationalism is on the rise in Pakistan. The situation in Baluchistan is still tense, with violence and state repression continuing to dominate politics. The nationalist parties are making ground as fundamentalism is losing support in many parts of this province. The situation is no different in NWFP, where mullahs have ruled since 2002. The nationalist Awami National Party (ANP, which promotes a Pashtun homeland) is making ground against the religious parties. The US regime is also interested to bring ANP back into the provincial government in the coming elections, as it wants to install secular Pashtun nationalists in NWFP, which borders Afghanistan. This would boost the American ally, President Hamid Karzai, and Pashtun nationalism in Afghanistan. The nationalist forces are trying to get some ground in Sindh, as the Pakistan People’s Party has weakened in last few years. The nationalists want a better deal with the generals to get more shares in the plunder of resources for themselves. One thing is quite clear: the military-dominated establishment wants to use both fundamentalism and nationalism to keep the status quo. Both these forces are reactionary and provide no solution or alternative to the problems faced by the working class and rural poor. What is really needed in Pakistan is a party of the working class with a clear socialist programme. All the main capitalist, nationalist and religious parties are serving and protecting the interests of big business and the military establishment. The working class needs a party which can fight for the rights and interests of the working masses. A mass party of the working class will be able to end the domination of the military in economy and politics. Socialist Movement Pakistan is involved in this struggle to form a strong revolutionary party of the working class. The rapid growth of SMP shows the potential that exists. Many trade unions and political activists are discussing the formation of a new working-class party with a socialist programme. SMP has already started a discussion on this issue and is preparing to launch the campaign for its formation. This will be an important step in the struggle to overthrow this rotten and repressive capitalist system, and to transform the society on socialist lines. CWI will have to play a key role in this struggle to liberate the millions of workers, peasants, unemployed, youth, urban and rural poor, women and oppressed national and religious minorities from the exploitation and shackles of capitalism and feudalism. Scarcely Believable Ayaz Amir CONFRONTED with a rising chorus of calls to cut wasteful defence expenditure — emphasis on ‘wasteful’ — the Pakistan government goes ahead and signs a billion dollar deal with Sweden for the purchase of six SAAB early warning aircraft. It could be forgiven if this deal had been signed before calamity struck our northern mountains. But, no, it was signed in mid-October, a good seven days after the biggest quake in Pakistan’s history. Hand it to the powers that be for brilliant sense of timing. Calls for cuts in defence spending, even when the case for doing so is rationally argued, are not calculated to amuse any military establishment. But this is a matter of balancing priorities. What’s the more pressing need at present, funds for earthquake

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relief or a billion dollars down the drain for an early warning system perhaps of great utility in its own right but which at the moment looks silly and unnecessary? If we are dismayed by the tepid response of the international community to our need for relief assistance, we would sound more convincing if we had our own priorities right. General-President Musharraf is touchy on the subject. According to a news report, “...when asked about any possibility of cutting the defence budget (as a response to) the Oct 8 earthquake, General Musharraf’s temperature rose perceptibly. He rejected outright any cuts in the defence budget, arguing that the earthquake and security were two different things. ‘We cannot jeopardize one for the other’.” Perhaps he is missing the point. The growing chorus of calls is not for indiscriminate defence cuts which leave the country vulnerable but for avoiding ‘unnecessary’ spending. Most Pakistanis would probably consider the Swedish deal unnecessary at this juncture, which also raises questions about Sweden’s role in this affair. Didn’t the Swedish government have the sense to realize that such a deal at such a time would lead to a public outcry? If only this was the only deal of its kind. No such luck as the Pakistan government is still pledged to buy about 70 F-16s from the US at a price tag of around five billion dollars each. The accepted figure for kickbacks in such deals is 15 per cent (600 million dollars). But even if we are to be charitable and put kickbacks at five per cent, it still comes to 200 million dollars. These would be staggering sums at any time; in the context of the earthquake, they are positively obscene. Along with the kickbackers, the other party keen on this deal is the Bush White House. The US Air Force not placing any more orders for F-16s, Lockheed Martin would have had to close its F-16 plant in Texas (Bush’s home state), and in the process lay off close to 5,000 workers, but for the Pakistani order. It’s safe to guess therefore that our American friends wouldn’t be too pleased if we have second thoughts about this deal. But then we should be looking to our interests, not George Bush’s. We can’t afford the F-16s. At a time of budding rapprochement with India, we don’t really need them. But more importantly, against the backdrop of the earthquake, the rationale for having them can be explained neither to God nor to man. Of all the services in Pakistan, the PAF still has the fairest name, this despite former Air Chief Marshal Anwar Shamim and the shenanigans of one or two others of his ilk. Going ahead with this deal at this time will be counted against the PAF simply because the Pakistani people wouldn’t understand it. Time therefore to reconsider. We know the PAF badly needs new fighters but at this time other, more pressing priorities loom. When the earthquake is a memory, and there is money in our coffers, we can shop for all the missile frigates, French submarines and fancy aircraft we want. Not now. Please, let’s hear no angry lectures about the imperatives of national defence. Since the country’s founding the nation has diverted its best resources to the military (incidentally, without much value for all this sacrifice if we consider the record of our failed wars and the loss of East Pakistan). Even now no one is grudging ‘necessary’ military expenditure. It is only the spectre of waste and extravagance which is giving rise to unease in the public mind. More than early warning systems and F-16s, we need helicopters (50 of them) and mules (500) to bring succour to the uncounted thousands still battling cold and hunger on the mountains. If the defence ministry went about buying 50 helicopters, would a single soul in Pakistan object to that? The Pakistani nation is not unreasonable. As the response to the earthquake has shown, it is capable of great things. But it shouldn’t be taken for granted or have its intelligence insulted at every turning on the road. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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And what about the new General Headquarters that the army has set its heart on in Islamabad? Will that too buttress national defence? The present GHQ in Rawalpindi is as good a headquarters as any army could wish for, not only serviceable but with its colonial-era, single-storey, verandah-surrounded bungalows far more picturesque (and I daresay romantic) than any concrete monstrosity to rise in Islamabad. But when national priorities are skewed, the army as an institution catches the blame. With engineers working tirelessly to open blocked roads, aviators flying their helicopters to the limit, mules carrying relief supplies to cut-off communities, you would think the army would be earning praise for all this hard work. It is not, or not as much as it should, primarily because of that fatal initial delay in reaching the stricken areas. Private relief arrived first, army relief only later. But who is to blame for this? Soldiers and young officers (up to the rank of lieutenantcolonel and even brigadier) do what they are told. Deployment of troops — units, brigades, divisions, formations — is the province of the high command. Half of strategy is deployment, manoeuvring troops into position. If the army was slow to arrive in the quake-hit areas, this was a failure of command, a failure of deployment, not a failure of effort at the unit or individual level. General-President Musharraf now says relief deployment took time because army units had to be moved from Gujranwala. Pray, why? Weren’t troops deployed in Azad Kashmir already? Weren’t there troops in Murree, Rawalpindi, Mangla? Is the job of the famous Triple One Brigade stationed in Westridge, Rawalpindi, only to mount coups and oust civilian governments? How long would it have taken to move half of this brigade to Balakot and half to Muzaffarabad? If this was the speed of our response, what would have happened if there had been an incursion across the Line of Control? Would it have taken four days to mobilize troops and meet that threat? So we should keep things in perspective and apportion blame where it belongs instead of making the army as a whole a national punching bag for the misjudgment and slowfooted response of its leadership. From any angle this is a problem of part-timism, one of the world’s largest armies without a full-time chief. You can’t run a small enterprise this way, let alone a large one, but that’s how we are running both the army and what’s left of our political institutions. In other countries the fighting forces command undiluted public support. The Iraq war may be unpopular in the UK and increasingly so in the US but in both countries the armed forces are not blamed for this misadventure, the political leadership is. But with us because the military is both military overlord and political master, it carries the can for everything. Don’t blame the nation for not exactly warming to the army’s dual role and don’t blame the army for feeling upset when it has to carry the burden of public disapproval. Business as usual Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Since October 8th, nothing seems to happen in Pakistan except for relief work. Even drawing room discussions are restricted to debate about relief and reconstruction. One had even begun to wonder if life would ever get back to a normal pace. However, with the latest news of Pakistan finalising negotiations for the purchase of a few military aircraft days after the quake, one heaved a sigh of relief. At least, somewhere it is business as usual. Interestingly, the government did not disclose the news of the purchase of six Saab 2000 surveillance aircraft fitted with Erickson Erieye radar. The deal is worth 8.3 billion

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SEK. Converted in Pak rupees this amounts to Rs 66.4 billion. The news of the deal was brought to light by some insignificant Swedish newspaper. The Swedish manufacturer claimed that the aircraft were being purchased by the PAF to contribute to the earthquake relief effort. The aircraft can also perform search and rescue mission. According to the Director Public Relations (PAF), who confirmed the news, the deal is culmination of more than a yearlong series of negotiations. It must be mentioned that the General-President Musharraf had gone to Sweden in July last year to discuss the purchase of these aircraft along with JAS-39 Grippen fighter aircraft. One of the reasons for the delay in finalising of negotiations was the PAF's indecision regarding the selection of the platform for the Erickson radar. Islamabad is keen to acquire this technology for better surveillance across the border. The Erieye radar is considered comparable to the American Airborne Early Warning Aircraft (AWAC). The aircraft would give advance information regarding any enemy troop movement or threatening military regrouping. Such information, the readers must be reminded, is essential for the security of the people of Pakistan, especially Kashmiris. Pakistan has fought numerous wars for the rights of the Kashmiri people, and this purchase is another indicator of Islamabad's commitment to national security. The objective of this deal is primarily to beef up military security. So, one would like to challenge the assertion made by the Swedish manufacturer regarding the focus of the deal being search and rescue in Kashmir. Such a suggestion is absolutely ridiculous due to the simple fact that the aircraft are not likely to be delivered before a year and a half. The helpless people that are stuck in high mountains and unfriendly terrain need help in the next 48 hours rather than the coming 356-547 days. Also, these are fixed-wing aircraft that can detect movement in hazardous terrain, but will be completely useless in retrieving people stuck in the mountains. Thus, it will be difficult to convince these people of the logic of national security as envisioned by the GHQ, the AHQ or the NHQ. For these people, what is paramount is to save their lives and have food and shelter. At best, Islamabad urgently needs to hire helicopters to reach to the people that have not received any help as yet. The UN's predictions about the disaster about to strike Pakistan are horrifying. According to the World Food Program, there is a threat of starvation of approximately 2.3 million people. In addition, there is the threat of the outbreak of epidemics. Irrespective of the World Bank calculations the fact is that poverty has multiplied in the country due to the loss of assets and opportunities. Providing relief to these hungry and destitute people, and reconstructing their lives is a Herculean task requiring both efforts and resources. Musharraf himself has spoken about the cost of reconstruction exceeding US $5 billion. Surely, things would be better if the international community were to provide a helping hand. The comity of nations, especially the developed countries have not proved to be generous. They merely coughed out about US $500 million that will probably be divided between relief and reconstruction. This is hardly the amount that would put the lives of these homeless people back on track. While castigating the international community, one cannot but feel a sense of anger and frustration over Stockholm's decision to offer these aircraft. One wonders if the Swedish government, otherwise known for flagging human rights issues, would shamelessly sell aircraft to a country where millions of people face death, starvation and destitution. Referring to the international community, one suddenly understands the lack of enthusiasm regarding relief aid for Pakistan. After all, why should the world take the tab for Kashmir's reconstruction while Islamabad is busy buying modern

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military aircraft? Moreover, is the world morally obligated to provide aid to a nuclear weapon state that can produce various types of short and long-range missiles? The negotiations for the aircraft have just been finalised and it will take some days before a contract is drawn. From a financial standpoint, Pakistan will not have to pay the lump sum but deposit around 10 percent of the amount that itself amounts to Rs 7.2 billion. This will further drain foreign exchange reserve that has depleted from US $12 billion to US$ 11.2 billion. One would like to put the onus of this decision on the World Bank and the financial gurus according to whom the economic conditions of the country will not worsen after the quake. The planes of Punjab and Sindh that are the breadbasket have not been affected from the earthquake. Furthermore, with resources pouring into the country from abroad and collected within, the economy will get a boost, especially in the short to medium term. Considering such projections, one can conclude that the decision-makers were tonguetied and hypnotised into not appreciating the broader implications of making expensive military hardware purchases, particularly at this juncture. How else could the President and his cabal appreciate the fact that the destruction in Kashmir will enhance the overall poverty in the country? It is even sadder to realise that this is a 'sneak decision.' Despite that the negotiations were concluded with the intent of finalising a deal a few days after the earthquake, the news was kept a secret. It is assumed that people will not come to know of the purchase and the parliamentarians will gloss over the increase in the defense budget. Even if some hue and cry is raised, all criticism will be brushed aside in the name of national security. After all, it is highly important to provide security to the Kashmiris that otherwise cannot be delivered from cold and starvation due to lack of resources. A pragmatist or strategic-realist will surely argue in favour of purchasing the aircraft. The earthquake has not changed certain realities such as a nuclear Pakistan's need to beef up its conventional weapons capabilities, or the threat from India. Nonetheless, the sad reality is that the people that are the object of this security are out in the cold feeling helpless and insecure because they do not have shelter, warm clothing, medicine and food. There are hundreds and thousands of people, especially youngsters that have been amputated and will be crippled for life. Such people need facilities to be able to live. Moreover, thousands of children have become orphans. Kids need rehabilitation including shelter and education. Whatever the nature of military threat, the top decision-makers have to realise the need for reorienting the state's policies. Indubitably, it is important to be pragmatic, but then pragmatism has varied perspectives: policies could be driven either by the concern for an organization or the betterment of the masses. Today, more than ever, there is the need for the state to remain relevant for the common man in the country. Perhaps, reconsidering the decision to purchase the aircraft would be a signal that the people on top are sensitive towards the needs of the man on the street. Less Make-Up Please Ayaz Amir TALK of sending the wrong signals. No one would accuse Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of excessive charisma. If there was a prize for appearing consistently wooden in public he’d get it. But even if charisma-on-demand is not to be had, is it too out-of-place to suggest that he hang up his designer suits for the duration of earthquake relief? Clothes and looks should suit the occasion. When people are freezing on the mountains and walking miles to get something to eat, it is only sensible for ministers and other officials to dress down a bit rather than dress up. Indeed, if there was any Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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sense in the cabinet, they would stop wearing ties altogether during this time of crisis. Distress on this scale and unabashed designer clothing: give us a break. And the plush setting of meetings presided over by the president and prime minister. From the pictures of such meetings and the interior dicor to be seen there, who would think this was a country in urgent need of aid and assistance? Between now and November 19 when the international donors’ conference takes place in Islamabad, we better get serious ourselves and look like a nation in crisis if we want the world to take us seriously. If one reason for getting less aid than we should is the parsimony of the international community — long on sympathy, somewhat short on actual money given — another is the incomprehensible complacency of our own government which kept downplaying the scale of the disaster as it unfolded. When we should have been ringing the alarm bells we didn’t and it was the United Nations which did our job for us. Government and military can say what they like now, but opinion in Pakistan is nearunanimous that they were slow to wake up to the extent of the disaster. Be that as it may, regardless of what happens at the donors’ conference — whether the international community is generous or not — ultimately this is our crisis which we have to manage ourselves. We have to put our own house in order — no one else is going to do it for us — and harness our own resources for relief and rehabilitation. No amount of donors’ conferences can be an excuse for putting aside this agenda. It is in this context that the decision to put on hold the F-16 deal with the United States has been so welcomed across the country. It shows the military government in a good light: responding to public opinion. Putting on hold, however, is not enough. If anything deserves outright cancellation it is this piece of folly. A four-to-five billion dollar deal for any number of F-16s is a luxury Pakistan could not afford at the best of times. It makes no sense at all now. But what about the Swedish deal for six flying turkeys (an early warning system involving six SAAB aircraft) at a cost of around a billion dollars which was signed, believe it or not, after the earthquake? This is a foolish transaction concluded at a strange time and it definitely calls for second thoughts. Incidentally, why is the defence ministry mum over it? Surely the public deserves an explanation. Must we match India in every defence particular? India is getting an airborne early warning system from Israel. Must we have one too? The nation was led to believe its nuke capability provided insurance against Indian superiority in conventional arms. Nukes enabling cuts to be made in conventional defence spending makes sense. But along with possession of nukes allowing ourselves to be bled dry by a tit-for-tat arms race makes little sense. The SAAB deal therefore sucks. It too should head for the chopping block. Sweden, which puts such great store by its humanitarian record, should not mind. What’s leadership? Sensing the national mood and pointing the way. It doesn’t mean being out of step with the national mood, with no finger on the national pulse, and therefore in no position to mobilize popular feelings and lead the nation. Good horsemanship comes when horse and rider are one, good music when instrument and player are one. Break this unity and the result is discord. There was a new mood in the air when people responded to the earthquake. The challenge before the nation was/is to keep this spirit alive, to replace despondency and cynicism, of which we have more than our share, with courage and hope. But the jokers or cardboard figures you see in Islamabad are not going to do this, only a dispensation drawing strength from the people. But with such a dispensation scarcely visible on the horizon, don’t be surprised if the spirit of 2005 proves as fleeting as the spirit of 1965 when Pakistan went to war with India. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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A leadership more in tune with the national mood would not have waited for criticism to mount before postponing the F-16 deal. A leadership more alive to its responsibilities would not have inked the SAAB deal at a time when after-shocks from the earthquake were still taking place. And such a leadership would not be so hung up on building a new army headquarters (GHQ) in Islamabad. Why this project should become a matter of prestige for the military leadership defies common sense. The leadership should be ahead of the national mood, not trailing behind it. There is no public support for a new GHQ in Islamabad, people at large unable to see the justification for it, especially when the present GHQ in Rawalpindi is pretty good and sufficient for all genuine needs. The military would be doing itself a favour if this project was cancelled and the money saved put to better use. Field Marshal Ayub Khan built a new capital for himself in Islamabad which may be a good place for its denizens but which has brought nothing but harm to Pakistan. Looking back, Pakistan’s more serious problems arose when Islamabad became the national capital: the ‘65 war, the alienation of East Pakistan, the Yahya Khan interlude and the breakup of Pakistan, the failure of democracy, the rise and consolidation of military authoritarianism. The people of East Pakistan could relate to Karachi with its cosmopolitan feel and outlook. Islamabad in distant Potohar was quite foreign to them. Of all the factors which played a role in distancing East and West Pakistan, this was one, and by no means the least important. Among the other consequences of this move, Karachi, the city of lights and one of the pearls of the Orient — in its heyday rivalling Bombay and Singapore — became a crumbling backwater. Its political problems — no need to spell them out here — are a direct consequence of its diminished status. Doesn’t this tell us we should be cautious about new projects? The legacy of Islamabad speaks for itself. Let’s not wait and see what the legacy of a new GHQ may turn out to be. As it is, democracy, or whatever is left of it, faces serious breathing problems in Pakistan. Let’s not make them worse by parking GHQ within the capital. On a slightly different note, is there no one who can educate Pervaiz Elahi — for sins yet unrecorded, Punjab’s photo ops chief minister — about the evil that will flow from his New Murree Project: the destruction of what’s left of the Murree hills? Pervaiz as Punjab gauleiter is bad enough. As overlord of the province’s threatened habitat, he is nothing short of calamitous. Strange, is it not, in other climes ‘new’ denotes progress, a movement towards the light. With us it signifies regression, an about-turn into the dark: New Murree, new GHQ, and new capital, new this, new that, when we are hardpressed to manage the old. Abuse of Power Time to wake-up now Kamran Shafi Some months ago there were two incidents that should have served as wake-up calls to the Armed Forces high command. The first a fracas between a policeman on duty and a General’s driver in Lahore, and the second when a party of Army Engineers soldiers in Multan thrashed an ASI of the traffic police. Many commentators writing in the press at the time had warned that if such suo moto (!) action by an armed force (a very powerful one) against another (a very weak one) was not discouraged most immediately, such incidents would occur again and again, becoming more serious as time went on. In typical fashion of course, and learning from its civilian cousin, the Army bureaucracy sprang into action and began to issue denial after unbelievable denial. No action was taken, or shall we say was ‘seen’ to be taken by the Army command to Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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haul up those who had taken the law into their own hands. Indeed, if the Army’s versions were to be taken as the truth and nothing but the truth and the fault for the sorry episodes was only that of the policemen no action was taken against them either, leading to the conclusion that these incidents, like so many others before them, had been swept under the rather humongous carpet which hides so much of our sorry history. The commentators were right, however. On January 23rd, 2004, two sailors of the Pakistan Navy ran a red light on Shara-e-Faisal in Karachi and when stopped by traffic police constable Ghulam Haider alighted from their pick-up truck and proceeded to beat him, bruising his face severely and giving him a nose bleed. When the sailors attempted to drive away, a police crane (or was it a fork-lift?), driven by Constable Rana Khalid who had seen his colleague roughed up, blocked their way. The Navy vehicle in a desperate attempt to speed away, rammed into the police vehicle overturning it and causing two fractures to Khalid’s hand. While some brash field commanders might well look upon these as incidents in which “we” sorted out the “bloody civilians”, what should greatly alarm the senior commanders of the Armed Forces is that in the Karachi incident, the passers-by who had witnessed the high-handedness of the sailors formed themselves into an angry crowd and were about to give the sailors what in the Sub-continent is called ‘a sound thrashing’ which was prevented only by the timely arrival of a supervisor level police official who, using the police itself, cooled down and dispersed the crowd. It is to be noted that this was not Lyari or another of Karachi’s dirt-poor districts where there is not even water and electricity for months on end, and where the government and its representatives are not exactly loved; this was the main Shara-e-Faisal, Karachi’s main VVVVIP thoroughfare. It must be noted too, that it will take just one open conflagration between civilians and military personnel for the floodgates to open. What then? In the instant matter it is good, despite the fact that there was no need for the ISPR (Navy) to pre-judge the matter by using words like “the disorganised traffic had resulted in an accident .... misquoted in some newspapers” etcetera in the press release, that an inquiry has been announced. Let me make a suggestion here: the Navy should turn this into a joint inquiry and ask the police to send a representative to sit as a member of the board. Let the law take its course in the light of day, and let the guilty, sailors or policemen, be punished most severely. Our armed forces are not an occupying military; they are from among us and should be seen to be from among us. And remember: there is only so much straw a camel can carry. Which immediately brings me to the rather large load of straw already placed upon the poor camel’s back because of the ongoing saga concerning our once-upon-a-time heroes. Like most of what the Establishment does, this matter too has been handled with the nth degree of foolishness and knee-jerk reaction after knee-jerk reaction. If I had anything to do with it I would be petrified after reading Dr AlBaradei’s most recent statement that “Dr Khan is just the tip of the iceberg”! But who listens to you or I, let us take another aspect of this drama: How in God’s name can Dr AQ Khan, the man who has accepted complete responsibility for any proliferation, who has property in Timbuktu too (!), be “pardoned” after the cabinet recommended (excuse me while I fall off my chair laughing) to our General that his “mercy petition” be accepted, and his subordinates who did only what was asked of them according to Dr Khan himself, continue to be in custody? What is this, for Heaven’s sake? Is the State of Pakistan now admitting what lots of us have known for many, many years: that it is a big fat bully that preys on the weak and the defenceless, and is like nothing before the powerful and the strong? Release Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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these mid-level officials and scientists immediately, sirs, after whatever whitewash you want to give them whilst Amreeka Bahadur’s affection for you lasts. Otherwise you might well find yourselves in hotter water. May I here say to the General that, may he live long, he will not have to sacrifice his life for anything at all provided he sacrifices those who lie to him; those who made such a tamasha of this whole thing by not keeping their mouths tightly shut. And now for the General’s, and GHQ’s impending move to Islamabad the Beautiful. Let him pause and answer the following two sets of questions before he undertakes/orders either: First set: Is he the President of this country because he is COAS of the Pakistan Army or is he the COAS of the Pakistan Army because he is the President? If the answer lies in the former preposition, should he not attend his office in GHQ at least three times a week? If the answer is ‘yes’, should he not be resident in Army House, Rawalpindi, from where his office is all of one and a half miles rather than in The Presidency, Islamabad, from which it is fifteen miles distant? Can he see his Presidential files sitting in the Rawalpindi Presidency - which has just been renovated just as Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, ZAB, the tyrant Zia, and Benazir Bhutto used to? If the answer is ‘yes’ why can’t the babus of the President’s Secretariat bring those files to him every morning, get his orders on them, and drive back to Islamabad the Beautiful? If he moves residences, will the ignorant and wild-eyed fanatics who are out to get him, not get the message that he is running scared? Is it not the case that if you give the religious zealot an inch he’ll take ten miles? Second set: Should higher service headquarters, particularly one that has been stationed in a city for longer than the country has been in existence, move hither and thither because there is a threat to one person’s life? Is Pakistan so cash-rich now that it can afford to spend many billions of Rupees in setting up a new GHQ? Will those same fanatics not get the message that let alone the General himself, they have all of GHQ on the run, and, sensing weakness and fear, will they not increase their attacks? Let me again ask the question: What if, Heaven forbid, the attempts on the General’s life do not stop despite his changing residences? What will he and GHQ do then? Move to Mansehra; then to Bhai Pheru; and then perhaps, even to Timbuktu? No sirs, very silly ideas indeed. Stay where you are, and stare your enemies down. Send out the message loud and clear that the State is far more powerful than they think it is. Military Land Grab The armed forces are once again taking over prime real estate at throwaway prices this time for a 1400 acre GHQ complex in Islamabad. Ayaz Amir The Pakistani military high-command is going ahead with its ambitious plan of shifting the Army General Headquarters from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, despite widespread criticism from opposition circles, who maintain that the country's security or interservices' coordination are unlikely to benefit by moving the GHQ 20 kilometres away from its present location. The GHQ is moving from the garrison town of Rawalpindi to a sprawling Pentagonstyle headquarters in Islamabad. Scheduled to be completed by September 2007, the GHQ Headquarters is being set up in E-10 and E-11 sectors, considered to be the most expensive and exclusive urban real estate in the country, worth billions of rupees. Sprawling over more than 1400 acres of land, the GHQ complex will house the Ministry of Defence, the Army Headquarters, the office of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, hundreds of residences for army officers and generals and a huge golf course.

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The Capital Development Authority was made to give 1400 acres at the foot of the Margalla hills at a throwaway price of 180 rupees per square yard, as against the market rate of 110,000 rupees to 120,000 rupees per square yard. The construction of the new GHQ Complex started on September 6, 2004, when General Pervez Musharraf laid the foundation stone, saying the relocation of the headquarters of all three services at one place would ensure an efficient and smooth working environment, leading to better planning at all tiers of the armed forces. Critics of the move, however, recall that it was actually the Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission report that had recommended that the three service headquarters should be in one place at a time when communication technology was in its infancy. However, 35 years down the road, with the advent of IT, the move seems wasteful and unnecessary and will turn Islamabad into an army cantonment. Though the army is allegedly acquiring hundreds of acres of land ostensibly for the GHQ shift, critics maintain the real purpose was to dish out plots to the men-in-khaki at dirt cheap prices. Opposition circles in Islamabad are demanding a review of the decision to construct the new GHQ in the federal capital on prime real estate. The ambitious GHQ project has already come under sharp criticism by civilians after the army's recent demand for the provision of an additional 315 acres at a similar throwaway price, which would cause the CDA a staggering loss of billions of rupees, besides causing the dislocation of around 3,500 families living in Chauntra village. Reliable sources say in addition to the 1,400 acres already allotted for the GHQ Complex, the CDA was made to transfer another 870 acres at a stingy 200 rupees per square yard in November 2004, though the market rate of land in adjacent sectors is at least 120,000 rupees per square yard. The additional land was allotted to the GHQ despite some serious objections raised by the opposition parties. Two PPP senators, Farhatullah Babar and Enver Baig, submitted an adjournment motion in the Senate on November 29, 2004 against the move, stating that the additional land was being sold at 200 rupees per square yard against the market value of over 110,000 rupees per square yard. They further stated that the market rate of 870 acres is 505.296 billion rupees, while it was being provided to the military authorities for just 842 million rupees, causing a 500 billion rupee loss to the CDA. The motion added: "The land falls in the area of the national park zone-III, which under the master plan cannot be sold or purchased or used for construction purposes." The two senators were of the view that any construction in the national park zone would damage the environment. They also maintained that the CDA land, being public property, could not be sold in a manner which caused such a colossal loss to the state. The Pakistan Muslim League Chief Coordinator and former Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Ahsan Iqbal, claims that the additional land is being acquired to construct a massive golf course and hundreds of palatial houses for the army generals. He feels that if the GHQ Complex is to be built at all, it should be built on the land originally ear-marked for the project. Otherwise, according to Iqbal, an army command structure in the heart of the federal capital would make the city a prime military target and put the civilian population at great risk. "The General Headquarters should remain at its present location and only if there is a compelling need for constructing a new GHQ on the pattern of the Malaysian Putrajaya, should it be constructed on either the Islamabad-Lahore motorway, or some other suitable location away from the federal capital. Establishing an army complex in the heart of Islamabad, will destroy its civil character and turn it into a cantonment," says Ahsan Iqbal. However, refuting the apprehensions expressed by the PML-N leader, Director General Inter Services Public Relations, Major General Shaukat Sultan, claimed that all Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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expenses for the construction of the new GHQ are being incurred by the Pakistan Army from its own resources. He said the perception that the GHQ project would cause a 500 billion rupee loss to the CDA was incorrect. "The property owned by the army in Rawalpindi and other cities is being sold to generate finances for the construction of the GHQ Complex." He refuted reports that the shifting of GHQ was decided after the assassination attempts on General Musharraf. According to GHQ sources, it was former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had actually decided to shift the GHQ Headquarters to Islamabad[ in a cabinet meeting on March 29, 1972]. The shifting of the GHQ to Islamabad was first discussed after the 1965 Indo-Pak war, during which proper communication could not be established between the three services - the army, the navy and the air force - especially during Indian attacks. Therefore, it was decided to relocate the headquarters of the three military services to Islamabad. The Pakistan Navy was given top priority as it had to shift from Karachi, followed by the Pakistan Air Force that had to move from Peshawar. The GHQ delayed its shifting due to the enormous cost involved. The politics of Military's Economy in Pakistan Dr Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, Interview by Irshad Saleem Dr Ayesha Siddiqa did her doctorate from King's College, London in 1996 and has worked on issues varying from military expenditure, defence decision-making, nuclear deterrence, arms procurement, arms production to civil-military relations in South Asia. She is also a Ford Fellow and more recently Pakistan Scholar at t he Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars. She began her professional career with the Pakistan navy as the Director of Naval Research, making her the first civilian and woman to work at that position in Pakistan's defence establishment. She writes for various international journals such as: Journal of Asian Affairs, Journal of the European Institute of Asian Studies, Jane's Defence Weekly and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Her major publication to date is the book Pakistan's Arms Procurement and Military Buildup, 1979-99: In Search of a Policy (Palgrave Press, 2001). Here is an interview for despardes.com Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa about her book she is working on "Military Inc, The Politics of Military's Economy in Pakistan". Question: So what is this book about? Dr. Siddiqa: This book is about military business operations with a case study of Pakistan. Question: So what prompted you to write this book? Dr. Siddiqa: I was a civil servant. During the course of my work I had to deal with numbers of military spending and doing that one slowly realized that a lot was hidden. It is the search for numbers that took me in this direction. The other thing is that it is essential to understand the dynamics of the institution that virtually controls Pakistan's past, present and future. Question: Ok, so who did you work for as a civil servant? Dr. Siddiqa: I joined the civil service in 1988 and left in 2001. Served in military accounts, defence audit and later the navy. Question: Going back to the Pakistan army’s business, what are your findings? Dr. Siddiqa: Several. First, the military has become predatory engaging in political and economic predation. Second, political predation is not complete without economic predation. Third, military has mutated into a separate class that shares interests with other members of the ruling elite. Finally, because the military protects its vested interests, it leads to alienation of the masses. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Question: When did all this start? Dr. Siddiqa: It dates back to the early 1950s. The business ventures were started with the establishing of the first foundation called the Fauji Foundation in 1953. This was established with the war veteran's rehabilitation fund of Rs. 18 million. Question: Why do you consider forming Fauji Foundation a predatory step by the army? Dr. Siddiqa: Listen you have to understand the concept. A politically strong entity that engages in political predation needs to feel economically or financially autonomous. This completes the picture of predation. The generals thought that they wanted to establish independent means of providing for their welfare and not depending on the civilians like it happened in India. The financial autonomy gradually created the logic for greater interest in political control. Question: Give me one or two instances when the 1953 move swirled into predation. Dr. Siddiqa: It started right then with Ayub Khan and his cabal getting agricultural land and establishing independent means for themselves.Look at Ayub Khan. He not only got several squares of agricultural land in Sindh, he also established his sons into business. Look at the entire lot of generals at the moment. A Major General has a legal worth of about Rs. 300 million [Rs. 30 crores]. These are conservative estimates. Question: Going back to Pakistan army's economic superpower...What percentage of the GDP and GNP is it? Dr. Siddiqa: This is difficult to calculate but their own estimates are about 4 % of GDP. I would say that their share in private sector assets is about 7-10 percent of private sector assets. This is a large number for any single group. Question: Can you translate that into crores? Dr. Siddiqa: 7-10 percent of private sector assets cannot be translated but I can give you another figure: They are worth about Rs. 200 billion. It is just the business. If you put in real estate then we are talking about a Rs 1 trillion plus economy. Question: You mean Pakistan army's side economy? Dr. Siddiqa: Yes. This includes real estate, businesses done by subsidiaries, organizations and individuals. You have to understand that this economy is predatory by nature because it does not accept any form of civilian control over it. It is independent in terms of planning, appropriation of funds, etc. Question: If Pakistan army's assets total Rs 1 trillion can they fund Pakistan’s annual budget wholly or partially if they have to? Dr. Siddiqa: This would, converting these resources into liquid assets and then it would be possible to pay. A lot of these resources are state resources that could provide for military expenditure and more. It is difficult to say that this money would fund the entire budget. Of course, it can but over what period? These assets were acquired over time and their value should be added to the annual defence budget. Question: What was the defence budget for the year 2001? Dr. Siddiqa: 131 billion. If you add these numbers the budget would escalate to over Rs. 400 billion Question: When you left in 2001 how many generals, etc were there who form the command structure of Pakistan forces? Dr. Siddiqa: Brigadier and up would be a few hundred. Question: So if we assume 100 then 100 times 300 million = 30 billion is the legal worth of army's command structure correct? Dr. Siddiqa: it is more but don't get into these fancy numbers... Plus the higher you go the more pricy you become. A full general is worth Rs 500 million [Rs. 50 crores] plus. Question: How much land does the forces own in each province? Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Dr. Siddiqa: Difficult to bifurcate but to give you a taste - they own about 7-9 million acres in Punjab alone Question: What percentage is it of whole of Punjab? Dr. Siddiqa: I am still trying to figure this out. It is not an issue of what percentage is this of Punjab but that a major portion of state land is appropriated by one group Question: What about Sindh? Dr. Siddiqa: My sense is that it is less in Sindh Question: Why is that? Dr. Siddiqa: Most of the land is around the 2 barrages constructed after independence. Because they didn't make new barrages. Question: What is their modus operandi in getting these lands allotment? Dr. Siddiqa: 10 % of land, according to the 1912 Colonization of Land Act, is allotted to the military Question: 10% everywhere? Dr. Siddiqa: Yes it would be everywhere land is found. Colonization of land refers to each land reclaimed due to creation of water channels and other irrigation projects. However, they tend to get more in Punjab Question: Does India have this act too? Dr. Siddiqa: No. They got rid of such acts when they did land reforms. Remember India is a state moving towards capitalism. A capitalist state would not create means for institutionalizing feudalism Question: Are you saying Pakistan army has institutionalized feudalism? Dr. Siddiqa: I am saying that it is a feudal institution as well Question: So in that case their interests converge with feudal system correct? Dr. Siddiqa: Yes Question: Do you think they resisted land reform along with the feudal? Dr. Siddiqa: I wouldn't say that they resisted but they had sufficient stakes not to pursue a policy that had a negative impact on their benefits. For example, who buys the land the Faujis sell? The local feudal or the new rural capitalist class that is equally feudal in nature. Why should the officers then try to destroy the class that bails them out financially. After 1999, generals have started to keep their lands Question: What happened after 1999 Dr. Siddiqa: Since the value of land has gone up, especially after 9/11, generals now keep lands and have turned into absentee land lords Question: Why did the value of land in Pakistan go up after 9/11 Dr. Siddiqa: Because of the money that started to flow in from Pakistani expatriates plus other Muslim countries Question: What is their modus operandi in getting these lands allotted to generals individually and to their housing societies collectively? Dr. Siddiqa: The provincial governments allot the land to the Ministry of Defence who then gives the land to the three services for further dispersal. The land is also given to the Jawans but the quantity is lesser than what is given to the senior officers. Plus, the generals get greater facilities in making the land cultivable. Question: All this is based on 1912 colonization of land act that India got rid of and Pakistan still has? Dr. Siddiqa: Yes, but they have done alterations as well. For instance, the act does not say that land meant for operational purpose be appropriated for personal use. It is against the law Question: Are you saying that land meant for operational purposes are or have been appropriated to the generals for personal use or to the housing societies? Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Dr. Siddiqa: Of course. All land in the cities is military land turned into housing colonies Question: What is the conclusion of your book? Dr. Siddiqa: Simple: The political leadership in Pakistan has to negotiate the military's gradual withdrawal from the economy if they want democratic institutions to grow Question: At what value does the army buy land? Dr. Siddiqa: Between Rs. 30-60 per acre. In some cases they pay more. This refers to the private housing schemes Question: You mean in Defence Society in Karachi, the army gets land from the provincial govt for 30 to 60 rupees an acre only? Dr. Siddiqa: There are 2 methods for getting land. All the military land converted for personal use is given at the ridiculous price I quoted. Then there are other schemes where they pay a little more. For instance, the Cantonment Board distributed plots of 500 yards each by appropriating part of the parking lot of the Karachi stadium. Each plot was for about Rs 600,000 Question: What was the fair market value of each plot at that time? Dr. Siddiqa: One and a half crore Question: Who got these plots? Dr. Siddiqa: Generals. The bulk goes to generals. This was done by General Tauqeer Zia. As Chairman Cricket Control Board he authorized himself to return this land that once belonged to the Cantonment Board for further distribution Question: Any more instances of such land grabbing? Dr. Siddiqa: The entire Lahore Cantonment was turned into housing schemes. In fact, except for Defence phase I & II (Lahore), the rest of the land does not even belong to the military Question: How many acres is Lahore Cantonment, if you know? Dr. Siddiqa: About 8000 to 10,000. Question: What is its fair market worth now Dr. Siddiqa: Runs into billions. It should be around Rs. 700 billion Question: What was the "grabbing price" Dr. Siddiqa: As I said, Rs. 30-60. This is the rate that officers pay. A Battle Royale or the Farce Called Elections M. Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, September 13: The most excruciating stage of local government elections, the grueling contests for city and district nazims, a battle royale of sorts, is cutting across party lines, bringing to forth divisions and factionalism within parties and causing strains within and among alliances. Though every entity has been affected, nowhere the cleavage is more evident than in the ruling coalition. While the vanquished opposition is smarting under the blows dealt it by pre-poll rigging and polling-day fraud, the triumphant coalition partners are experiencing the pangs of victory. The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) claimed landslide successes in Punjab and Sindh while its ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), swept through urban Sindh in the first two phases. Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim who discovered his latent charismatic qualities after entering the exalted office he occupies now, boasted to have performed the unthinkable feat of annihilating PPP from interior Sindh. The fruits of his triumph, however, seem to have been soured by an unlikely challenge from Pir Pagara who is unwilling to let him have an unbridled sway over the province and has not demurred from coalescing even with the PPP in many districts.

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Renegades of the PPP (Patriots) have been badly battered in most of their constituencies in Punjab while Sherpao’s group is struggling to find strange partners in order to seize control of some districts, despite making somewhat better than expected showing. The Wattoos and Legharis of the PML who, in a command performance, meekly merged their parties in the PML, are being meted out an equally humiliating treatment. The MMA finds itself embarrassingly divided in its strongest bastion, the NWFP where some of the oddest alignments have taken place. The Jamaat Islami, with single-most obsession to get Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s son elevated to be boss in Nowshera district, abandoned its ally the JUI and conceded Peshawar to the ANP in the hope of a payback in Peshawar, Its gambit appears to be faltering as a resurgent ANP is eying Nowshera as well. The PPP and the PML-N who were at the receiving end of a blatantly manipulative electoral exercise, are currently facing a campaign of attrition amid desertions and betrayals. In the first flush of victory, the MQM claimed some of the major cities of Sindh including Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Khairpur Sukkur etc. where it was confident of forming government either independently or with the help of allies. Soon it had to come down on earth and face a new reality in utter disbelief. The power brokers at the center who had handed down, during past three years, some unbelievable gains to the group despite its narrow ethnic appeal, now appear to have different ideas. There is now talk of an outsider being imposed as city nazim in Karachi while Pir Pagara has stepped in to take away some of the towns in the interior Sindh which the MQM was claiming. No wonder Altaf Bhai seems to be a worried man and has called an emergency meeting in London inviting dozens of followers from Pakistan. It is, however, in Punjab where we are witnessing the incredible manifestation of factional politics that has put the PML in real soup. The mischief started when chief minister went about nominating officially backed prospective candidates in every district long before the elections. There was no consultation with interested parties in the districts who were expecting the PML leadership to leave the competition open at least for the top slot of district government and then claim allegiance of whosoever wins. After all that was the purpose behind holding the overall elections on non-party basis and exclusively making that of district and tehsil nazims as indirect and out of reach of common voters who could have proved to be unpredictable. But the arbitrary nominations continue till to date leaving a whole mass of disgruntled elements within the party who believe that the leadership is arrogantly imposing its will to bring a particular set of favorites in power. The chief minister has also demonstrated an obsessive proclivity of enticing PML-N and PPP leaders and offering them the lucrative district job in preference to his own party men. Many, particularly in the PML-N, have caved in to the temptation or some time arms twisting to desert the party. Thus we see Rafique Leghari being named candidate in Rahimyar khan, Cheema in Bahawalpur, Mumtaz Matiana in Bahawalnagar, Shujaat Husnain in Mian Channu, Hameed Sultan in Jhang, Sardar Abbas in Chakwal, Jameel Sharqpuri in Sheikhupura, Piracha in Sargodha etc etc. For once the disgruntled elements within the party appear to be up in arms and fiercely challenging the unilateral decisions. Jehangir Tareen and Ahmed Mahmood in Rahimyar Khan, Riaz Pirzada in Bahawalpur, Dr. Sher Afgan in Mianwali, Sardar Farooq Leghari in D.G. Khan, Amin Aslam and Allahyar in Attock, Wattoos and Rao Sikandar Iqbal in Okara, Faisal Saleh Hayat in Jhang, Tariq Kiyani and Raja Nasir in Rawalpindi, Tawakkal Virk in Sheikhupura, Variyos and Ghummans in Sialkot, Daniyal Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Aziz in Narowal/Shakargarh, Anwar Cheema in Sargodha and above all the senior most party vice president Lt. Gen. Majeed Malik in CHakwal, all have a common grouse. President Musharraf has intervened in certain cases to settle factional disputes. In his absence abroad his surrogates in the institution would do the job. There is also ample use of carrot and stick to settle infighting. In Sargodha, for instance, Anwar Ali Cheema seems to be winning the favor for his daughter much to the dismay of Piracha who have shelved plans to quit the PPP. Sardar Farooq Leghari facing certain defeat against Maqsood Leghari-Dreshak-PPP combine, has probably secured federal support to escape the humiliation. One device being contemplated to paper over internal strife is to leave the contest open like in Mianwali, Chakwal etc. But it evokes little comfort and trust among those who had challenged chief minister’s decision. The local police and the administration know who is the favorite and can always tilt the balance. A Despicable Check List of Musharraf's Pakistan Visionary LAHORE, May 31: Does it matter that the American Consulate in Karachi can kidnap any citizen, have him hauled inside, beat him black and blue and than deposit him at a police station with threats of dire consequences if he squeals about the matter, just because his vehicle scraped the Consulate boundary. I hope Justice Osmani and Justice Memon realize that Diplomatic immunity is not a licence of 007 (James Bond) to kill, kidnap, rape or harass citizens of the country. (And while I'm at it, could the Consulate withdraw from the land it has encroached upon, making life miserable for the citizens of Karachi, and instead strengthen their own walls within their legal premises.) Does it matter that on the date when freedom of press is celebrated all over the world, journalists were beaten up by the police in Islamabad and a week or so later a renounced daily was threatened to shut-up by withdrawing official ads. Does it matter that a project of national importance “Raising of the Mangla Dam” has been delayed and nearly jeopardized just because minions fronting for the Chief Executive of the province who through backdoor methods seem to have acquired the leases of most of the deposits of limestone in the vicinity of the dam and hiked the prices so high that the contractor nearly ran away. Does it matter that in this land of once five flowing rivers we have private armies that barge into factories with guns and tractors and remove goods without any fear of the police or concern for the stays of the courts and are bent upon harassing foreign investors so that no new foreign investor dare invest a penny in the country. Does it matter that in the world of Pakistani politics a husband is about to cheat on a wife and a brother is about to stab a brother so that they could wield political power under the watchful eye of the Khaki. Does it matter that all the political parties asking for return of democracy are the least democratic within their own setups. They have no elections. Their allegiance is to a personality who is elected Chairman for life and even if they have an election it is pure sham. The only people who are content to remain stagnant in any setup, may it be corporate or political, are those who are either very poor/weak or those who have personal agenda of making a buck through the position they are in. Otherwise how can the likes of Amin Faheem, Aitzaz Ehsan, Sardar Khoso and other men of substance just sit by and watch the shenanigans taking place. The whole sham is about creating personality

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cults and creating dynasties for their respective families. If that be so than why fault the incumbent, who as it is, thinks there is no one better than him. Does it matter that to register the purchase of land, the lower echelon of the tehsil still takes an amount equal to the official registration fee. Does it matter that an area which has a river flowing 10 kms from it and a mountain with huge water reserves of less than 3 kms away and still the womenfolk have to go on donkeys for 5-8 kms to fetch water. Does it matter that the steel pipes which were laid in the 40s were removed and sold for scrap worth millions and replaced by low quality cement pipes which collapsed within a month of replacement and the people are without water and no one has been hauled up for questioning. Does it matter that an honorable retired bureaucrat who has achieved a status of a pious man and to whom all and sundry flock for advice and to whom came for advice one of his retired chaprasis who had four daughters who were constantly harassed by the goons of the neighborhood and who had used all his resources of police contacts etc. All that this pious man could advise was to sacrifice one of the daughters? Does it matter that Imtiaz Sheikh against whom the Sindh Chief Minister has made allegations of corruption galore and who is now wanted for collusion in murder has been promoted to Senior Vice President of the official PML. And may well become the Chief Minister of Sindh. Does it matter that after the bursting of the land and stock exchange bubble and the hauling up of the officials of DHA Lahore, no one has been booked for any crime. Does it matter that with all the hue and cry for the promotion of SMEs even now the loans by banks are being given to the haves and the right-offs are for chronic defaulters like Ch Qasim. Try setting up a small or medium industrial enterprise without 300 percent collateral and you would be shown the door. Does it matter that everyone is raising a voice against the feudals, even the Chief of MQM lays fault at the doors of feudalism, without once realizing that where it has been done away with without a proper replacement, the vacuum has been filled by anarchism and terrorism The methods and tactics of some ethnic and religious groups in urban areas, and of the vacuum fillers in those rural areas where the local landlords have been sidelined, are clear references for study. Does it matter that when one comes across senior bureaucrats or members of the PMs team one is told that what one is writing about and much more. Well if they know and still don’t do anything about it then what right they have to strut around like proud peacocks. Does it matter that all those who previously stood for elections as MNAs and MPAs are all proudly vying to be demoted to the district and tehsil nazim slots. Why? Because that is where the buck stops. Does it matter that no one in the entire country takes out a procession against the Baglihar and Wullar but you have a huge march against the Kalabagh. The only people who took it on themselves as per news item were a group of Kashmiri freedom fighters who were on their way to blow up Baglihar but apparently got caught by the Indians, a typical case of bad planning and execution. Well so was Kargil anyway. Does it matter that both our allies (referring probably to US and China) have abandoned us and left us high and dry and are wooing Miss India? Does it matter that some one has advised the President to have his illustrious mother come on screen and voice her thoughts about her son who presently rules the country. I had a chance to watch one of her earlier interviews. The lady came across as an educated, soft spoken, kind and above all elegant – an aspect of upbringing fast eroding from our society. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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I also had an opportunity to meet Mr Zardari’s mother and found her to be a woman of strong character, substance and immense presence. But what better way to show love and respect to these souls than by doing what is right … and by improving the lot of the millions of sons of other mothers of this country. Does it matter that an individual who is now 50 plus and has fought the urge to make a quick buck and accept bribe may be on the verge of breaking his life long principle just to bring bread to the table. Yes it matters! It matters because one man of principles down is a great victory for the corrupt, evil and manipulative Holy Trinity. In this era where consumerism, materialism, individualism is breaking the very fiber of societies and religions and is further being strengthened by the grip of corruption and nepotism which has been unleashed by the media moguls of the New World Order. It matters that individuals who stand by values and principles and what is right by society and religion who are presently dispersed like straw need to be baled and looped. It matters because they are the hope for the millions in this country and billions in the world who are crawling below the line of inhumanity and poverty. It matters because throughout history it has been the individual fighter, Mard-eMomin, man of faith, man of vision who has changed the course of history and has been the rallying factor for the downfall of tyrants. To all those on the verge of collapse or who are in the grip of momentary weakness stand tall and matter. A Matter of Great Shame, But No Surprise Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON, July 11: What happened to Ahmed Faraz is a matter of great shame but it should not have surprised us because from the day Pakistan was born to the present era of “enlightened moderation” (Thank you Dr Kissinger), that is exactly the sort of thing that has been happening to our best and the brightest. Writers and artists, except those who sell their soul to the devil that every ruling order in Pakistan is, have always been suspect in our country. The oligarchy that has wielded power from the beginning, sometimes in civvies, at other times in bemedalled uniforms, has disliked both ideas and intellectuals. The ruling class has an intrinsic, if not genetic, dislike, indeed ill-hidden contempt, for writers, poets and journalists. In its book, they are lowest of the low. Some members of these so-called elite may pretend to have a literary taste but it is utterly insincere as it has little use either for poetry or for art or for serious music. It never fails to amuse me that the very people who would sway their heads as if they had been transported to another world when Iqbal Bano sings Faiz’s stirring lines about how the mighty will one day fall (Hum dekhain ge/Woh din ke jiska vahda hai) were the very tyrants whose fall Faiz had so confidently predicted. The first victims of official wrath just weeks after Pakistan’s birth were members of the Progressive Writers Movement. In the Government’s eyes, the final seal on their treachery was set when a large delegation from the Soviet Union came to Lahore to attend the first major writers’ conference. Anyone and everyone who was involved with that conference, whether he was a communist, a fellow traveler or a mere attendee, was now seen as a “security risk.” His mail was opened, his movements were tailed by plainclothesmen, he was blacklisted for employment under Government and every now and then, when the usual suspects had to be picked up and put into jail, he was picked up and put into jail.

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They were even blacklisted from appearing on the radio or freelancing for any official agency. The old colonial assumption that the greatest danger to India came from the Soviet Union became the official credo of independent Pakistan. Every writer of note – and they were all “progressive” in one sense or another – was put on the list of actual or potential enemies of the state. Every black law that the British had made – to their great shame, I should add – was not only made part of the penal code but new laws that gave the state machinery meta-judicial powers and made nonsense of the rule of law were promulgated, mostly through executive decree. People were picked up under one emergency law or another. The principal target always remained the writers and intellectuals of Pakistan. If Ahmed Faraz has been thrown on the street today, he should know – and he does know – that he is in august company. After all, was it not one of his spiritual predecessors, Hasan Nasir, who was tortured to death in the infamous Lahore Fort’s chamber of horrors? In passing, it should be noted that Nawaz Sharif’s one great act in office was the abolition of that medieval prison run by the Punjab Police and the country’s despicable intelligence agencies. Faiz was hounded till the day he died. What can be a matter of greater shame to us as a nation and a state is that a man who inhabits the same immortal hall of fame as Ghalib and Iqbal was shadowed all the days of his life because he was viewed an “enemy of the state.” The Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, in which Faiz was embroiled, sentenced and imprisoned, was a lie because all the “conspirators” had really done was talk about taking over the morally corrupt and anti-people Government. When they were caught, the “conspiracy” had long been abandoned. And yet, during Zia’s time, most of which he spent in exile, he was detained while in transit through Karachi. Wherever he went, he was tailed by the regime’s intelligence. Habib Jalib remained a suspect. Government after Government kept him under watch throughout his turbulent life, spent in conditions of near poverty. In another country, he would have been celebrated and honored as a national hero. Here he was disgraced – from being “found” with illicit liquor to being roughed up on the streets of Lahore in a Women’s Action Forum rally (what happened to those magnificent protesters led by such fearless fighters as Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan!). And what about the greatest of Pakistan’s Punjabi poets, the inimitable Ustad Daman? He was hounded and watched. Once he was booked on that timeless Punjab Police specialty: possession of illicit liquor. One of his poems ends with the couplet: Ais wastay bolda nahin Daman: Mataan lug jaye meri zubaan te tax. (Why Daman no longer speaks is for fear that if he opens his mouth, they will tax his voice). In Pakistan, every poet who stood for something and who spoke in the name of the people, found himself on the wrong side of the law. Ahmed Faraz is a national treasure and although he does not believe in the succession system, either in politics or in poetry, the fact is that if there is to be a successor to Faiz, it is none other than Faraz. This is not the first time Faraz has been persecuted by the establishment. He was sent home by Maulana Kausar Niazi, a misstep that was soon rectified. Faraz lost his job under the Zia regime and he spent many years in exile in Europe and America, quite a few of them in London. His great poem Mohasra (The Siege) remains one of the most powerful indictments of military rule. Who else but Faraz could have written: Pesha var qatilo tum sipahi nahin (You are no soldiers, you professional assassins). There can be no question that Faraz is also the greatest romantic Urdu poet of our times. Such a man should be placed on a pedestal so high that one should have to crane one’s neck to see him. But what is the reality of Pakistan?

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Some time last year, he and his family were evicted from their house and the family belongings thrown on the street. There was a nationwide uproar and the Government had to eat humble pie. This time he has been dismissed from his post on the orders of Shaukat “Shortcut” Aziz, the City Bank’s gift to Pakistan. This crass and tasteless act is all Aziz will be remembered by after he returns to where he came from. A Strong Rejoinder to Dr Hoodbhoy by HEC Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi ISLAMABAD, July 15: Corruption. Dishonesty. Incompetence. Cronyism. These are only a few of the very serious charges laid by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy at the door of the Higher Education Commission. One would expect such charges to be fully substantiated, especially when made by a distinguished academic. Unfortunately, Professor Hoodbhoy does not seem to believe in research any more. Let us start with Dr. Hoodbhoy’s dramatic announcement that HEC’s projects are riddled with “gross administrative incompetence.” As proof, Dr. Hoodbhoy refers to the “Best University Teacher” program. Please note that Dr. Hoodbhoy has no objection to the project itself, merely to the manner in which it is being implemented. But what is this highly objectionable course adopted by the HEC? Admittedly, the HEC selects the “best” university teachers on the basis of nominations received from university administrations. But those administrators are not supposed to make nominations based upon their personal whims. Instead, those nominations are required to be made on the basis of numerous factors, including student evaluations, a point which has been completely ignored by Dr. Hoodbhoy. In any event, is the HEC’s approach really so unreasonable as to justify a charge of “gross incompetence?” Is Dr. Hoodbhoy really arguing that no factor other than student opinion can ever be important in determining who is a good teacher? Is he really saying that the opinion of one’s peers is irrelevant? There are more than 250,000 university students in Pakistan. The HEC cannot interview those students itself. The HEC therefore has no option but to work with the existing administrations of universities to implement its programs. So, once the hype is stripped away, what we are left with is a program which Dr. Hoodbhoy admits is innovative and desirable, which the HEC is trying to implement in a self-evidently reasonable manner, and yet the program, according to Dr. Hoodbhoy, is conclusive proof of gross incompetence. The real problem here is that Dr. Hoodbhoy sees the rest of Pakistan as a problem, not as an opportunity. The HEC, however, does not have the luxury of living in an ideal world. Instead, it has to make do with the human resources which exist today in Pakistan. Dr. Hoodbhoy is right when he says that the HEC sees existing faculty members as “part of the solution.” Unlike Dr. Hoodbhoy, the HEC feels no reason to be ashamed of that vision. We come then to Dr. Hoodbhoy’s other example of “gross incompetence “– the Master Trainers in Physics program being run by Quaid e Azam University. Once again, we can safely assume that Dr. Hoodbhoy has no objection to the concept of the program itself since two years ago, when the project was first proposed, he demanded that he be placed in charge of it. Once again, his only objection to the program is the manner in which the project is being implemented. But, the HEC is not in charge of the implementation of that project. That responsibility belongs entirely to the Physics department of Quaid e Azam University, of which Dr. Hoodbhoy is supposedly a very senior member. Contrary to what Dr. Hoodbhoy says, HEC has not selected (let alone “hand-picked”) a single “master trainer.” Instead, each and every “master trainer” has been selected by Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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the Physics Department at QAU. Dr. Hoodbhoy may be justified in his criticism of the master trainers but that is something for him, as a senior member of the QAU Physics Department, to raise first with that department. Of course, Dr. Hoodbhoy chose to spend the last year on extraordinary leave so perhaps he was not in a position to offer his views. Dr. Hoodbhoy also alleges that the Master Trainers are being grossly overpaid. Perhaps Dr. Hoodbhoy has forgotten that he spent part of his extraordinary one-year leave giving lectures at Rs. 45,000 per hour. The Master Trainers are only paid a fraction of that amount; but then perhaps they lack Dr. Hoodbhoy’s facility with the truth. It should be noted that the object of this article is not to unfairly malign Dr. Hoodbhoy. However, Dr. Hoodbhoy has not given a single name of a single Master Trainer whom he believes to be unqualified. Instead, he has simply slandered the entire lot of them without bothering to give any details whatsoever. To the extent Dr. Hoodbhoy has specific and verifiable details regarding the Master Trainers he should first try to resolve his qualms at the departmental level and if that fails, then approach the HEC. If the HEC then refuses to listen to him, he can justifiably claim that the program is a disgrace. Till such time he bothers to substantiate his allegations though, it is only Dr. Hoodbhoy who can be considered a disgrace. We come then to Dr. Hoodbhoy’s allegation that HEC is throwing “enormous sums ... at half-baked proposals.” Dr. Hoodbhoy’s first exhibit in this regard is the grant sanctioned by the HEC for the purchase of a Van de Graaf accelerator. Admittedly, a Van de Graaf accelerator’s use for “cutting-edge” research is limited but that was never its purpose. Instead, it was always intended to be used for teaching and general research for which purpose it was, and remains, a very useful machine. Cutting-edge particle accelerators cost billions of dollars which is why HEC has partnered with other developing nations to have access to the SESAME project in Jordan. It should also be remembered that the proposal for the accelerator was submitted by the National Center for Physics, whose board is manned by the most eminent physicists in Pakistan. If Dr. Hoodbhoy is to be believed, those physicists are all either fools or criminals. The alternative does not leave Dr. Hoodbhoy in good company. Similarly, Dr. Hoodbhoy pours much scorn on the grant to Dr. Saadia Chishti. But, Dr. Chishti holds a PhD in education from Cornell and has been a senior research fellow at both Oxford and the Divinity School at Harvard. Her project, like any other research grant proposal funded by HEC, was not examined by HEC itself. Instead, as per standard procedures, the proposal was sent to be examined by the focal person in that subject (normally, the single most eminent and recognized scholar in that area in Pakistan) who then referred it to other competent scholars, who examined and reviewed the proposal. That internationally recognized method remains the standard method by which HEC reviews all grant proposals. Dr. Hoodbhoy asks “how true is this?” The question which Dr. Hoodbhoy needs to be asked is, “where is your proof that this method is not being followed?” Dr. Hoodbhoy tries to gain much mileage from the fact that some of the research proposals he reviewed were dubious. But clearly, HEC is not responsible for the quality of research proposals sent to it, only for the quality of research proposals actually funded by it. Assuming Dr. Hoodbhoy did indeed review a proposal containing a request for a $90,000 fridge, how is that proposal in any way represented of HEC’s performance? Dr. Hoodbhoy drops dark hints about how his refusal to fund $90,000 refrigerators has resulted in his no longer reviewing research proposals. It is a routine matter for reviewers to reject unreasonable requests submitted by scientists, and Dr. Hoodbhoy's Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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rejection of such a request was a normal response. The item was thus never funded by the HEC. Dr. Hoodbhoy is here trying too hard for the halo of martyred sainthood. HEC has no control over who is selected by the focal person to review proposals, nor has it created any “black lists.” If Dr. Hoodbhoy is not being selected to review proposals by the focal point in Physics, that would be the focal point’s decision, not that of HEC. It should further be noted that the focal point for Physics is Professor Dr. Riazuddin, one of 25 Distinguished National Professors in Pakistan, the Director of the National Center for Physics, and according to one internationally accepted method of ranking scholarly achievement (the “Impact Factor Assessment”), having an impact factor nearly eight times as that of Dr. Hoodbhoy. The same shoddy approach can also be seen in Dr. Hoodbhoy’s discussion of the grant to the Allama Iqbal Open University. He notes that according to the project summary, “this work aims to correct the mistakes made in this area by a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry” and that “such grand notions of challenging Nobel Prize winners are highly suspect.” What the abstract of the proposal actually states is that, “In our earlier investigations . . . we had found the earlier work of the Nobel Laureate Sir Ropert Robinson and two of his eminent colleagues Sir W. H. Perkins and R.H.F. Manske . . . to be incorrect.” The project abstract clearly states that the initial work was done in 1972 by Dr. Atta-urRahman, that the resultant research did in fact show the work of the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry to have been incorrect, and that the current work is only an extension of that research. In fact, the 1972 article by Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman was one of the works specifically cited by the United Nations when it awarded him the UNESCO Science Prize. Dr. Atta-urRahman remains, till date, the only Muslim scientist to have received this honor. It is tempting to believe that that Dr. Hoodbhoy simply misread the project abstract. Unfortunately, it appears more likely that he has deliberately misrepresented its contents. Dr. Hoodbhoy’s allegations with respect to HEC’s efforts to increase the number of PhDs in Pakistan is one of the few instances in his article where he actually substantiates his allegations with concrete facts. Unfortunately, those facts are all wrong. Dr. Hoodbhoy specifically alleges that in the Physics department of QAU, as many as 15 PhD students are registered with one supervisor while in the Biology Department at QAU, there are as many as 40 students with one supervisor. The Quaid-e-Azam University has confirmed that these allegations are incorrect. It should first be noted that as per HEC rules, the maximum number of PhD fellowship holders allowed to be registered with any one supervisor is eight. Furthermore, so far as the Biology department at QAU is concerned, HEC has not approved even a total of 40 PhD fellowships, let alone 40 for one supervisor. Instead, HEC has only approved a total of 20 PhD fellowships at the QAU biology department, which are being supervised by 10 HEC approved supervisors. Similarly, so far as the QAU physics department is concerned, HEC has only approved a total of 33 fellowships which are in turn being supervised by 11 professors. It should also be noted that none of those 33 students are enrolled with Dr. Hoodbhoy. In fact, Dr. Hoodbhoy has not published any work with a Pakistani student for almost a decade now. It is unfortunate that the HEC’s efforts continue to be greeted with scorn and suspicion. Dr. Hoodbhoy, like many other education reformers in Pakistan, has called for more funding of the sciences on numerous occasions. Now that funding is being provided, it is necessary for Dr. Hoodbhoy to remove the blinkers of the past and give Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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the HEC a fair hearing. For example, Dr. Hoodbhoy says that the PhDs which will be produced locally as a result of the HEC’s efforts will be worthless. What Dr. Hoodbhoy fails to mention is that the HEC has stipulated that it will not recognize any local PhD unless the thesis has been approved by at least two eminent academics from industrially advanced countries, and the work has been published in an international journal. In fact, the quality control system that has been introduced includes the introduction of an international subject GRE before a student is allowed to be enrolled into the Ph.D. program and extensive course work both at M. Phil. and PhD levels. Dr. Hoodbhoy is well aware of these steps but has conveniently ignored these, and many other measures, taken by the HEC to raise the quality of higher education in Pakistan. What is most unfortunate is that Prof. Hoodbhoy has ignored the largest programs of the Commission. These include programs relating to sending students on scholarships to foreign universities, post-doctoral training programs, and the foreign faculty hiring program under which hundreds of eminent expatriate and foreign scientists have joined Pakistani universities. These are the programs that have begun to change the landscape of our universities, uplifting them from their current mediocre status. Professor Hoodbhoy claims that the GRE-type administered by HEC is worthless. But if that is the case, why are professors from Austria, Germany, France and other countries clamoring for these students? Last week alone, 92 students left for France to do post-graduate studies. Till date, foreign supervisors have expressed complete satisfaction with the quality of the students sent to them. The Higher Education Commission is aiming to be one of the first public sector institutions to implement a fully computerized financial management system in accordance with the New Accounting Model (NAM) adopted by Project for Improvement of Financial Reporting and Auditing (PIFRA). Already, almost all the financial record of the HEC for the previous financial year has been entered into the computer, and record of every transaction is available at fingertip. The HEC has also implemented a wide-ranging project monitoring system under which every project in every university has been physically visited, and its performance assessed against standard measures. These reports are subsequently sent to the Finance Division, and the Planning Division. HEC also maintains the most widely accessed web site of any government department in Pakistan in which every single program is listed in detail along with results of all examinations and details regarding the award of research grants. For the record, HEC would welcome any financial or performance audit by any agency. We have nothing to hide. It must also be realized that the entire amount of Government funds available to nearly sixty public sector universities in Pakistan do not match the funds available to a single reasonable size university in Malaysia. Advanced countries spend an average of about Rs. 6 million per student per year while Pakistan only spends Rs. 35,000 per student per year. Today, out of an eligible pool of more than 20 million people in Pakistan between the ages of 18 – 23, only about 250,000 students are physically studying at universities and degree granting institutions. This is one of the lowest percentages in the world. Is it not time that Pakistan improved this percentage? Today, as a consequence of the HEC’s efforts and the enhanced funds provided by the government, every public sector university in Pakistan has computers, an internal computer network, high speed connectivity to the Internet, access to more than 15,000 journals and access to state-of-the-art instrumentation. Enrolment in our universities is rising at an excellent rate, four-year undergraduate programs are being Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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introduced from Malakand to Khairpur, faculty members are writing research proposals, collaborating with leading foreign universities, going on sabbaticals and post-doctoral fellowships, and presenting their research work to the world. Some 500 students have been sent abroad for PhD studies, Australia has offered 500 fully paid scholarships to Pakistan and over a billion rupees scholarship program has been initiated for poor and deserving students to study in private and public institutions which were previously beyond their financial means. Over the last two years, there has been a 44 per cent increase in the number of papers by Pakistani academics appearing in internationally reputed scientific journals. For the first time, Pakistan is making its presence felt in the international academic world. Is this not progress? To conclude then, Dr. Hoodbhoy’s diatribe against the HEC is completely unfair and unjustified. The HEC is doing its best to reform and serve higher education in Pakistan with both honesty and integrity. Unfortunately, that statement cannot be made with respect to Dr. Hoodbhoy’s efforts. A Technocrat Hawking the Military Agenda, to Keep His Lucrative Job Dr Ayesha Siddiqa Agha WASHINGTON, October 18: Islamabad is working hard these days to maintain the positive perception in Washington about the efficacy of a military-led government in Pakistan. Not that it needs to do much on that front. The Americans are already convinced of the advantages of having a general ruling Pakistan. Still, it pays to keep making the correct sales pitch. The barrage of ‘good’ news from Pakistan, ranging from improvement of economy and gradual elimination of militants to cleaning up the army of religious extremists, makes many a heart in Washington flutter with joy. At this point, there aren’t many takers for the argument that any democratic set-up could deliver as effectively on issues vital to US interests. The situation for democracy in terms of any US support is therefore dismal. What is worse, however, is that the Pakistani establishment is now working towards convincing the US that democracy in Pakistan is bad per se. And the irony is that it is the political turncoats that are pleading the military’s case harder than the military itself could have done. The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan is one of the leading figures known for making such a case. In a series of public meetings recently held in Washington to sell the current ‘idea of Pakistan’ to the US, Dr Ishrat Hussain made the argument that Pakistan’s economy tended to do better under authoritarian military regimes. Speaking at Johns Hopkins University, Dr Hussain said the country’s current account deficit was always lower under military governments. His particular reference was to the Ziaul Haq and Musharraf regimes. Further, he argued that spending on defence did not crowd out development spending and that there was no threat from the expansion of military’s interests in the form of the military-industrial complex. In fact, he presented data in his paper to convince the audience of his hypothesis. Dr Hussain seems to know how to make the financial aid donors dance to his tune. The basic message to his audience was that 9/11 was crucial but not central to the change that one sees in Pakistan’s economy today. Clearly, he was trying to project the current military-led establishment as highly responsible and with the right sense of how to put the economy back on track. This is not the first time that technocrats have hawked the agenda of the authoritarian governments. The elitist state of Pakistan Dr Hussain used to talk about, until he joined hands with the existing ruling clique, has always depended upon technocrats for socio-economic Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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face lifting and also to convince the outside world that the cosmetic changes are indeed a strategic rethink. And none but someone who knows Washington can do this. It is difficult at this stage to change perceptions but important, nonetheless, to present a few facts on the relationship between defence and development. (Of course, this is just a fraction of the overall picture.) Two crucial elements cannot be ignored in this discussion. First, the dire need for transparency of military expenditure The figures presented by Dr Hussain remain, at best, controversial. He not only denied that there was off-budget financing and military expenditure figures are hidden under other budgetary heads, he also stated incorrectly that the spending on defence as a percentage of GDP calculation included military pensions. He completely denied knowledge of the various grants that, if included, would bloat the annual defence budgetary figure to around Rs 300 billion. The only way to determine the exact situation is to make military expenditure transparent. This is essential to improving governance in the country. Second, I completely disagree with Dr Hussain’s contention that it is debt servicing rather than the defence budget that crowds out development spending. Doubtless, debt servicing has been a major additional burden that even surpasses defence spending. This is owed to inappropriate and unwise policies of various political and military governments. While the ball of foreign lending was set rolling by Zia-ul Haq, the succeeding political governments added to the malaise and cannot be forgiven for their contribution to the debt crisis. While one cannot deny that debt servicing has been a major burden, it is equally unwise to downplay the negative impact of high defence spending. A four percent-plus of GDP spent on national security is a high figure and its implications become more obvious when it is evaluated in a historical context. Pakistan has spent huge amounts on military security right from the beginning, a situation that does not bode well for development. So, it makes greater sense to take a longer view of it rather than a snapshot, regime-based one. In any case, both military as well as political regimes have tended to invest in defence. Then there is the broader politics of resource allocation. It does not make sense for Dr Hussain to negate the fact that Pakistan has traditionally given priority to military security. Moreover, the military’s urge to seek dominance at home has also played a key role in setting priorities for the state. Prioritization is not just about numbers but the peculiar concentration of policymakers. Hence, it is not just that large sums were spent on defence, but the growth and development of major institutions suffered due to a narrow definition of and an even narrower focus on national security and strengthening the military establishment. This also means that a military interested in ruling might not necessarily deprive other sectors of resources, but its continuation in power would tend to result, nonetheless, in a skewed political culture and environment. Such a culture erodes all institutional filters that would check gross financial and other mismanagement. The political leadership is often chided for not delivering. The fact is that lopsided civilmilitary relations have also contributed towards throwing up such an irresponsible political leadership. The political scene would certainly have been different if politics was not about power struggle among the various elites, including the military, and policies were receptive to the basic needs of the common man. Under the circumstances, it does not matter if the numbers for defence are lower than debt servicing. The real issue is that socio-economic development has gained little attention in Pakistan.

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It is also not prudent for anyone to argue that military’s business interests have not been harmful for development in the corporate sector by just focusing on numbers. The fact that a segment of the state chooses to manage or manipulate resources on its own is a flagrant disregard of the rules of governance. It also shows the weakness and inability of the state to provide resources or control its various entities. It is just such things that have earned Pakistan the sobriquet of an ‘almost failed’ state. While it is essential for the military leadership to develop sensitivity to political nuances of economic decisions, one hope that technocrats learn not to mislead those at top. After Six Years of Musharraf we are Still at Enlightened Crossroads Ghazi Salahuddin KARACHI, August 1: Many questions that had been prompted by 9/11 have acquired a sharp focus in the wake of the London bombs. Indeed, the backdrop against which terrorism has surfaced in London, if mainly in the underground, defines a particular historical moment. The existing global equilibrium may be at risk. In that sense, Pakistan is in the frontline of not just the war on terror. But do we have the capacity to understand the momentous events that are whirling around us and then draw a strategy to find our destiny? One problem, though it may not be of a seminal nature, is that our role in the war on terror is seen to be very ambivalent. With all the successes that our Government has claimed in apprehending Al Qaeda activists and destroying its network within the country, some western commentators believe we have been playing both sides. It would seem ironical that religious militancy has apparently gained strength in recent years. The London bombs have raised some intricate issues in the light of the alleged inspiration that three July 7 bombers of Pakistani origin had received religious education from our religious schools. While Britain surely has to come to terms with its own problems in the context of the evolution of an open, multicultural society that has accepted such a large number of Muslim immigrants, Pakistan faces the challenge of convincing the world that it is not a launching pad of Islamic militancy and jihadist beliefs. Beyond this, Pakistan has to transform itself into a modern polity that can keep pace with the realities of our times. In this respect, we have President General Pervez Musharraf's prescription of "Enlightened Moderation". But what is "Enlightened Moderation" and how can we translate this vision into collective action? Unfortunately, the steps taken by the Government and the policies pursued by the establishment provide no well thoughtout guidelines. Some of the confusion that emerges from the official management of the national affairs may be attributed to our congenital penchant for "double talk". We do sometimes hold contradictory views at the same time. By flagrantly suppressing democratic practice, our rulers have sought to promote democratic values. Hence the need for a primer on "Enlightened Moderation". The concept should be made easy for people to understand. That would be "Enlightened Moderation" for dummies --like the popular series designed to help people understand confusing topics and issues. Incidentally, the publishers of the series claim that their "teach yourself" books are not meant for dumb people but for those who feel frustrated and intimidated by something. Here, it is interesting to note that "Enlightened Moderation" is not meant for us only. Musharraf has recommended his vision to the entire Muslim Ummah

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In our pursuit of "Enlightened Moderation", the first task would appear to be the eradication of religious militancy, extremism, and intolerance from our society. This should also entail the promotion of an environment in which a rational debate is possible on all seminal issues. Now, the battle against religious militancy and terrorism has seemingly continued since immediately after 9/11. How well has it progressed may be judged by the fact that it was on Friday, July 29, 2005, that Musharraf announced the new measure of expelling foreign students from our seminaries. This decision has obviously come in response to the continuing reverberations of the London bombs. A crackdown, once again, is mounted against militant groups. This is a message particularly for the world at large. On Friday, the President was speaking to a group of foreign correspondents. Already, many religious schools were raided and arrests made after the terrorist attacks in London on July 7. There was that address to the nation on July 21, coincidentally the day of another terrorist scare in London. On Friday, Musharraf also pledged to enforce a ban on anti-western hate speeches that are either made in mosques and transmitted through loudspeakers or circulated in audio recordings. This should have a lot to do with popular perception of the west, particularly of the United States and should call for a serious discourse on an intellectual level. Our tragedy is that we generally encounter these issues in an emotional or even irrational frame of mind. Not unexpectedly, one foreign correspondent asked about the seriousness of the arrest campaign. And expectedly, Musharraf said: "I have never done anything not seriously". If this is so, we should still hope for some tangible advance towards "Enlightened Moderation". But the problem is that it has always been difficult to assess Musharraf -- for us as well as for foreign observers. At times, he does inspire hope about his resolve to suppress the fanatics and uphold liberal values. For instance, he struck the right note when he addressed the inaugural ceremony of the Rawalpindi campus of the National College of Arts on Wednesday. As an aside, let me point out that on the same day in London, Prime Minister Tony Blair presented a formulation we are so familiar with. Speaking at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, he called for promoting "the true face of Islam" in the international battle against terrorism. He said that combating extremist Islamists through promoting moderate Islam would stop extremists swelling in number. This brings us back to the present status of the official drive for "Enlightened Moderation". The more you contemplate the present situation, the more you are likely to deduce that the existing arrangement is not built to deliver "Enlightened Moderation". In fact, the unenlightened religious parties should be grateful to the establishment for not providing an enabling environment to the progressive civil society organizations for forging ahead. Instead, there have been occasions when the high officials of this Government, including Musharraf himself, have cast angry aspersions on social activists campaigning for human rights and emancipation of women. After being at the helm for almost six years, longer than a term allowed to an elected president in the United States or a prime minister in Britain, Musharraf is constrained to say, as he did on Wednesday in Rawalpindi, that Pakistan stands at crossroads of challenges and opportunities. And he added, "the status quo will not be tenable". This phrase, being at the crossroads, he had used in his first address to the nation in October 1999. Does this mean that "Enlightened Moderation" is still the road not taken -- and has that made all the difference? To be fair to Musharraf, he represents an institution that, with the awesome power that it wields, may serve as the ultimate barrier to progressive social change. Besides, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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our present failure must also be shared by our supposedly progressive political parties. They have also teetered on the edge of their respective crossroads. When will we have a leader who has the courage to take the road less traveled by? After So Many Goof-Ups Can We Trust the Judgment of General Musharraf Nighat Yasmeen SARGODHA, Pakistan, July 1: It would be an entirely superfluous endeavor to discuss adding poor Mukhtaran Mai’s name on the notorious “Exit Control List”, restricting her movement, taking away her passport, crudely gagging her and idiotically barring her from proceeding abroad, according to moral and legal norms. Because, talking about morality, legalities and justice with our incumbent rulers would be like asking stones to shed tears. This episode is not only outrageous and a sheer PR-disaster, it contains within terrifying long-term consequences for the country. Beyond ordinary human rights issues, there are a several more intriguing aspects needed to be looked into. Thus, let’s set aside all demands for propriety, turn a blind eye to even basic most ethics for the sake of simplicity, keep it strictly confined to non-normative precincts and dilate upon it through pragmatic lenses alone. The manner in which a very simple, unnecessary issue had been handled, sorry mishandled, right from the top most office-holder down to foot soldiers, makes your skin crawl. Sure, disgusting it was to observe the grisly treatment meted out to a hapless but pretty sensible woman, actually much more disturbing was to discern the total lack of analytical prowess of our rulers. If positive publicity and preventing bad image for Pakistan was Mr Musharraf's goal, he could not have chosen a worse strategy. Observe, now everyone is not just condemning Musharraf for this idiocy, but also badmouthing Pakistan with an intensity seldom seen before. A lot more worrisome side-effect is that an increasing number of influential writers are also questioning Pakistan’s record on assorted fronts not even remotely related to this issue. From AQ affair to insurgency in Kashmir, anti-terrorism drive along Afghan border, we are being scrutinized as never before. For what? Only because of one man’s high handedness, his total intellectual bankruptcy and his awful supporters and advisers. "Leave it to me and I will not let Pakistan surrender to the US or India," General Pervez Musharraf pledged to Kashmiri leaders in a briefing in Rawalpindi recently. Likewise, when asked last year if the world would pardon Dr Khan as he had done, the General said: "Leave it to me. I am standing between Dr Khan and the world community. Nothing will happen to him." The very pertinent question, we must ask today: Can this man be trusted? His honesty has already been witnessed on a number of times – may it be pledge not to perpetuate himself to not holding a bogus referendum to doffing his uniform. His values and patriotism have we already observed umpteen times – from the quality and quantity of his ministers to the dismal performance of NAB to orchestrating the complete rupture of judiciary and other civil institutions. If there was any doubt left in any respect, the recent display of his superb administrative skills and palpable mental insanity has shattered that one too. To tell the truth, instead of a seasoned statesman, he behaves more like a half-mad janitor. He does not allow some Pakistani citizens to enter the country, an unambiguous ruling from the Supreme Court of Pakistan notwithstanding. To some he does not allow to leave no matter if not accused of even jumping the red light at traffic

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crossing. It vividly shows why and how he will end up damaging Pakistan’s interest while trying to do exactly the opposite. It is all so depressing. Do we afford this one-man spoof as a nation state? Some collective soul-searching would be well advised. The chain of events makes one shudder. Taken together that it all reportedly started with an ex-army chief, currently posted as Pakistan’s envoy to Washington, ordering the Foreign Office in Islamabad to stop Mukhtaran Mai coming to the United States, it is hard not to marvel about the mental and moral horizon of our star officers. In particular, when the general-ambassador in question was projected as “intellectual general” during his tenure. I can bet 90 per cent rickshaw drivers plying the roads of Pakistan would have shown better judgment in analogous circumstances than the infinite wisdom of two consecutive Chiefs of Army Staff put together – without ever crossing the wellguarded gates of fabulous Staff College. The book Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry by John E. O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi, which claimed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry lied to get his Vietnam medals, is widely held to have damaged the Massachusetts senator's campaign. In due course, a possible future book, Mukhtaran Mai: Exposing a Tin-pot Dictator & His Perverted Moderation, will cost Musharraf his uniform as well as his presidency. Apropos the legendary valor and celebrated steadfastness of our commando savior, it would be interesting to mention that a call of PA to Under Secretary, South Asia at the State Department was enough to make him take another U-turn, yet again - in supreme national interests. Past a general-salute to Daddy Bush on video telephone, travel restrictions on Mukhtaran were instantly lifted, her passport promptly delivered back. A commander with this analytical prowess and moral values, would be a danger not only to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan but also to entire South Asia, if not beyond. Entrusting him nuclear weapons on one hand and leaving the fate of 160 million in his hands on the other is nothing less than a suicide attempt. Interestingly suicide attempt is also cognizable offence in Pakistan, the land of the pure. Mr Musharraf and his uniformed colleagues seem to have some obnoxious fetish taking the rape victims off the screen and let the rapists roam free. In Dr. Shazia case too, the principal accused were giving TV interviews, the victim was under protective custody. An Angry Column: 'We are All Dead Inside' Masood Hasan LAHORE, July 25: The recent train disaster that has already killed 135 innocent people and maimed and injured hundreds others is another sorry chapter in our sorry history. Those who died can be faulted for having chosen to travel by the archaic and disorderly Pakistan rail network that is as reliable as quicksand. What this has once again proven is that those in authority are compulsive liars and have absolutely no moral scruples when it comes to saving their own hides. Integrity, a commodity in perpetual and increasingly short supply, enjoys the status of a fullblown famine in their perk-infested lives. The Minister for Railways -- always ill qualified for the job (which was why he got it in the first place) and the Chairman, should have resigned immediately. That would have happened on another planet. Here, where morality is rammed down our throats and pushed up our behinds daily, they both chose to ride out the storm.

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The Minister, in what one can only term a grave loss of judgment, immediately cottoned on to the terrorism ploy, terming the accident the work of saboteurs. In proof he likened the Sarhad Station crash to an earlier one at Sanghi that claimed 307 lives. What the terrorist link in this bizarre connection is, he chose not to divulge. This far fetched, red herring theory was quickly abandoned as the blame was next put on the failure of the conductor of the Karachi Express who failed to read the signal. Blame was then shifted to the driver of the ill-fated train, which was very convenient since dead men tell no tales. Thereafter, to further confound the issue and sidetrack the truth, the personnel responsible for changing the tracks were declared the culprits. This followed soon after the announcement that the signals at Sarhad Station were malfunctioning. Why Minister Shamim Haider has not held the Mossad responsible, of course remains a mystery. If aliens indeed triggered the multiple crashes, he is keeping mum on that score. What these twists and turns and pathetic attempts at hiding the truth reveal is a complete absence of any knowledge worth the name about the ministry of which he is the head. It also reflects dereliction of duty and an inability to do the honorable thing. But then, he is not the only one. No public official, sans a precious few, has ever accepted responsibility when things go wrong. Those guilty of the highest crimes and acts of gross negligence have, contrary to foolish expectations, gone on to greater glories. Recently, the Indian Railways Minister resigned after a horrific train crash, but that is India, where one can still find many decent people. The five PR men that have been suspended are now rumored to be the convenient scapegoats, and those actually responsible for this criminal negligence are sitting it out waiting for the buzz to die down -- which it will soon enough. This is now a hallowed tradition in the Pakistan Railways. Suspend a few men, make a few announcements, express deep shock and grief, ferry over the President, the Prime Minister and any other factotum not on another foreign junket, announce cash compensations -- a great favorite that one -- make noble resolves, threaten fast action, pray for those who are dead and then simply carry on. Probes never materialize; reports never see the light of day -- and why should they? They are only decoys to keep the axe of responsibility from severing a few fat heads. Instead of taking action against the General Manager of Operations, Chief Operating Officer and Divisional Superintendent of Sukkur, some lowly ones are sent off into the night with a firm understanding that they will soon be back. The glorious traditions of the Railways cannot be allowed to wither and die. The relieving Station Master of Sarhad Station, who was having a well-deserved slumber while the three express trains ploughed into one another, has now been packed off. But make no mistake, he will be back soon; if not at Sarhad then at one of the many other stations; no blame attached, no enquiry report to sully his ACR and no punishment whatsoever. Accountability is for those idiots who have no connections. Everyone from here to Timbuktu is asking for an enquiry, but if there is to be one, why have five men been already suspended? Note, suspended, not dismissed. What's the hurry folks? The dead are dead; most buried in nameless mass graves. In all this turmoil, the railway authorities have quietly removed the driver and conductor of the Tezgam, two men who might have been able to give an authentic account of what happened. Removing them to a secret location while they are grilled and made to kowtow to the official safe line. Certainly, they haven't been heard from, and no one can access them. Some other things remain. First is the callous and instant announcement of cash compensation that the government wastes no time in announcing. Coming as it does Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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on the heels of such an awful tragedy – lives rent asunder horribly –, it reflects the mind set of the rulers who believe that when all else fails, rely on cash. There is even a slab system of monetary awards versus limbs lost. Such is the mathematics of a nation that has lost all feeling for humanity. Unlike London, and elsewhere in Europe, where flags flew at half-mast, where a twominute silence swept cities and countries into one serene and sad reflective moment, there was nothing here. Flags fluttered as before, VIPs went here and there, sirens screaming and the President and later the freshly imported from Europe PM, Shaukat Aziz, arrived at the scene of the crime – security apparatus and all. The President's arrival led to throwing out the relief workers, deranged relatives, paramedics and volunteers digging for bodies and clearing the debris. Well before he arrived, the area was clinically cleaned and made as antiseptic as an operating theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. Did it help the relief operations? No. But it was a good photo-op with somber-faced minions hanging on to each other to be as near the big man as physically possible. The truth is that not only are we dead inside; so is Pakistan Railways. And it's not the only institution we have managed to murder quite effortlessly. It is well-known that the rail system is more or less what the British infidels left us over half a century back. Of the 70,000 odd bridges almost 90 percent are now well past their design life, and therefore unsafe. The track is unsafe and in shambles, the switching systems in disrepair, the equipment falling apart, the men worthless and elevated to positions and perks they do not deserve, the leadership in undeserving and unaccountable hands, the infrastructure in smithereens, the systems long abandoned and the whole edifice corrupt, tainted and putrid from top to bottom. In this terrible world, people travel out of necessity. Nothing the Railways do will return the dead to life but although it is late and it will not happen, Mr. Haider, the Railways Minister should still resign before he barters his soul further. It won't mean a thing, but it might shame some others to do their jobs inefficiently -- that may be too much to expect. Above all, all the VIPs must make a public apology to us, the people, who have to suffer, day in and day out, both them and the burden of their sins that we carry painfully on our breaking backs. An Exit Strategy for General Musharraf, Pakistan Army, Political Parties Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, April 11: The biggest and the most complex issue confronting Pakistan today is how in the current convoluted and untenable political cum constitutional situation should the Pakistan Army and General Pervez Musharraf be provided with a face-saving “Exit Strategy” in which no party feels defeated and no party feels threatened, and Pakistan transitions from a dictatorship to a genuine democracy. The issue is discussed threadbare in almost all political meetings but hardly anyone has come up with a “practical and workable innovative idea” because any solution which does not provide the Army, General Musharraf and his colleagues, a safe and dependable exit will not be acceptable to the Army and the deadlock will continue. Most of the mainstream political parties demand a free and fair general election to solve the problem. That is the ultimate solution but that does not provide General Musharraf and the Army enough confidence to take the risk as they believe, and rightly so, that their hand-crafted house of cards will just collapse leaving them vulnerable to all kinds of threats and retributions. The political parties feel that free and fair elections will give them their rightful share in power but they also know that it is not easy to force the corrupt ruling clique to let Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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go their hold on power, just because some parties are demanding that. Pakistan’s history proves that no autocrat or dictator ever left power on his own and had to be either booted out by street pressure or his own Army colleagues stabbed him in the back or he just vanished into thin air like General Zia ul Haq. Either of these eventualities is possible, but not probable in the current scenario. The street is divided and politicians are unable to muster enough strength to force their demands. Army colleagues of General Musharraf are behind him, at least until they see a real challenge to his authority from outside the institution. Musharraf is taking extra-ordinary measures to avoid a Bahawalpur type exit. Yet he knows that his political structure is crumbling from within and as the next promised general election draws closer, unless a quick resolution of the crisis is achieved, pressures to manipulate the whole process will mount and correspondingly manipulation will become more difficult by the day. If Musharraf feels that things have become unmanageable, he may think of imposing direct Martial Law but that would be hard to market in the US and the West and domestically it would further alienate him, even from his present collaborators. The facade of democracy will also be washed out. So what could be a possible and practical way for a smooth transfer of power in which Musharraf himself does not feel threatened, even though he may have to take off his military uniform and appoint a new Chief of Army Staff while remaining the President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces? First the ground realities and the bottom line positions of each party from which it may be hard to deviate. All parties obviously have fundamental objections to these positions of the others: - General Musharraf is the all-powerful President and Army Chief and wants to remain so even after the next General Elections. - Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif think they enjoy a much wider support base and hence in a free and fair election they will re-emerge as the contenders to power. Hence they are reluctant to concede anything to General Musharraf in the long term. - Musharraf is unwilling to quit his Army post because he fears, and has said so many a times, that by doing so he would be weakened and the threat of a new military coup would emerge with a new power player coming into the equation. - The religious parties led by MMA believe that the status quo is helping them gain quick ground among the embittered, disillusioned and hard pressed masses and so they would like to prolong it. - The collaborators of Musharraf know that until he was around and powerful, they would be able to keep their house together but the moment he is weakened, their house of cards will collapse. - The Corps Commanders and members of the Musharraf junta believe they are helpless unless outside forces make a real dent in his authority providing them with some opening to put pressure. Otherwise they have to go along with anything and everything the General says and does. - All these parties understand that since 2007 is approaching fast something has to be done quickly to consolidate their own position, outwit the others and play their cards to their best advantage. Given these conflicting and opposing interests and strategies, the national political scene looks like a fish market with everybody scrambling behind closed doors but nothing understandable and logical happening publicly except confusing moves, contradictory statements, empty threats, meaningless fights on non-issues and reiteration of stated positions to keep the lid from blowing. In this scenario a few innovative thinkers in Washington, London and Pakistan have come up with a solution which I have been asked to articulate as a proposal and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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present as a “trial balloon” for everyone to consider, discuss and refine as the Exit Strategy for Pakistan Army (ESPA) from this messy situation. The salient features of ESPA are as follows: - It provides a safe passage to General Musharraf to quit his Army Post, appoint a new Army Chief but without facing the threat of a coup. - It provides the political parties a chance to get a free and fair election under a “civilian” or an ex-army President. - It enables Musharraf to stay on as the country’s President after the next General Elections for another term, but under legitimate constitutional authority and mandate. - It provides for basic judicial and administrative reforms which would enable creating a credible and transparent system for smooth transfer of power to duly elected representatives of the people. - It brings genuine democracy and distances the Army from politics of power. ESPA’s key component is to resolve the first issue of how to enable Musharraf to take off his uniform without facing the threat of a coup by his new COAS. The proposed solution is as follows: - The threat of a coup comes from the 111 Brigade and the Rawalpindi Corps of the Pakistan Army which controls the Islamabad-Rawalpindi zone with men and guns. This Brigade has been used again and again by the Army Chief to topple dictators and elected governments. When the 111 Brigade moves, Pakistan faces a new challenge. - ESPA proposes that the Rawalpindi Corps including the 111 Brigade should be separated from the rest of the Army, through an amendment in the Army Act or whatever law is applicable, to be placed under the direct control of the President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. - Thus the new Army Chief will control 8 out of the present 9 Army Corps. He will be able to focus on the professional capabilities and defence preparedness of the Army on the borders and elsewhere but not in Islamabad where there is no border security involved. - Since the President and Supreme Commander of the Army would directly control the Rawalpindi Corps, no other outside troops could come to stage a coup, and if they do so, it would be almost impossible with the Rawalpindi Corps defending Islamabad and the President. - In return for this crucial concession to General Musharraf, the political parties should be given the guarantee of free and fair elections. - Since words of either side are not to be trusted in this high-stake game, the President has to demonstrate that elections would be free by holding the Local Bodies Elections on a completely free and fair basis, allowing all parties to participate and without the Establishment, the Army and the Agencies taking sides. This trial run for elections would form the basis for the General Elections. - Once trust is established between the two sides, an independent Election Commission be set up and intense discussions be held to revamp the Supreme Court of Pakistan by appointing persons of impeccable and undisputed integrity to the Bench for the next 5 years. - Current Judges on which all parties have confidence may be retained but others told to go home. The new Supreme Court should revisit all the controversial constitutional judgments of the past which were believed to have been taken under any pressure or under duress. The Doctrine of Necessity, thus, needs to be revisited and thrown out of the system and whatever judicial wrong was done in the past, including hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, should be corrected, at least for the record. - If General Musharraf agrees to these terms, he should be promised a fresh Presidential Term as a civilian President, duly elected by the Parliament, with the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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powers to control the Rawalpindi Corps. Every new President thereon should have the same power, whether he be a civilian or an ex-army man. - The General Headquarters of the Army should be moved away from Islamabad to Kharian or anywhere else. - The President and the newly elected Parliament should revisit the Constitution and further balance the powers between the President and the Prime Minister, specially making it difficult for the President to use Article 58(2)(B) powers wrongfully or with malicious intent. If the Supreme Court restores any dismissed Government or Parliament, the President should under the Constitution be made to resign. The main objection to ESPA, during our discussions, was that the proposals split the Pakistan Army and would not be acceptable to the Generals. It may be so, but some of us believe that since this solution is Musharraf-specific and since in this situation Musharraf himself is the big issue, he is the one who has to decide whether this plan will work for him and provide him the "Safe Passage" that he is looking for. If Musharraf thinks it can work and he would be comfortable, other Generals and members of his junta do not matter. This is in very brief words the gist of ESPA and how the Army, the politicians and the country can break this logjam and move on to a respectable future. These are raw thoughts as of now. They have to be discussed and refined and if finally on this pattern some solution is worked out, ESPA would have succeeded. Else, until another alternative is suggested, Pakistan will keep on drifting under the weight of its messy polity of self interest and deceit and no one knows where the cord may snap and for whom. Balochistan Insurgency: Musharraf's Snowball, Spinning Out of Control Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, February 4: The Balochistan situation is rapidly spinning out of control of Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf, partly because of his naivety, mainly because of his arrogance. The insurgency is snowballing beyond speed limits. Six bomb and landmine blasts targeting key transport, communications and power facilities on Wednesday caused widespread damage. Militants blew up a major electricity transmission line on Tuesday night suspending power supplies to two thirds of the troubled province, including the capital city of Quetta where two bombs went off early on Sunday. Two out of the five explosions ripped up the main railway line between Quetta, the capital of Balochistan and Zahidan in neighboring Iran. The track was blown up at Mustung where a powerful bomb ripped through the wall of a police station. In the other rail blast a passenger train escaped a possible accident when a pilot engine found part of the track missing at Dera Ghazi Khan, in Punjab province. A 1.2 meter stretch had been blown up by a bomb leaving a 60 cms deep crater and halting the Chiltan express traveling from Quetta to Islamabad. In Kohlu, Balochistan militants blew up two microwave telephone masts. Multiple blasts destroyed an electricity transmission line tower in Naushki. On Saturday, three power towers were blown up in Nasirabad district, 220 km southeast of Quetta, suspending electricity supply to parts of the province. Two weeks back gas supply was stopped to most of Pakistan. In just two short weeks the country’s gas and power infrastructure have been disrupted like never before, railway lines have been blown up and bomb blasts have become a routine occurrence. While it all started with a totally unnecessary cover up of a doctor’s rape, just because Musharraf feared the Army may feel humiliated if he took action, even against a rapist Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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junior Captain, real anger and fury was unleashed when Musharraf uttered the “youwill-not-know-what-hit-you” remark. That politically incorrect outburst stunned the country but galvanized the Opposition spurring even Musharraf supporters to loudly proclaim their opposition to any military action. Parliamentarians from the troubled province declared war, almost. On Wednesday young Senator Sanaullah Baloch, a nationalist, elaborated, in these words: “Islamabad has missed the chance of appeasing us… Our suggestions were turned down with all the arrogance. Now my people would only want their recognition as equal partners of the Federation of Pakistan. Take it or leave it.” The mysterious, but now world famous, Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for all the actions, ignoring all warnings and threats by Pakistan Army, including the ill timed declarations to set up Army Garrisons at Sui and in other parts of the province. The nationalist leaders, openly conceding they would be outgunned if attacked, joined hands forgetting their centuries old tribal rivalries. They were also able to use the media to win sympathies countrywide, and abroad. A report published by the World Socialist Web said the tribal insurgency will become a "major headache" for Musharraf. The Army arrogance did not stop from complicating the situation. While some politicians, fearing they would become irrelevant as soon as Army action began, tried to make some conciliatory noises, Musharraf and his men continued to ignore and humiliate them by their actions. The situation has reached a point where Army is now ready to displace thousands of Balochis from their homes and colonies near the gas installations, bulldozing and demolishing their houses, in the name of securing these assets. The BLA has declared a Red Alert and has warned they would retaliate furiously if Army demolished any of the residential homes. The powerless politicians, mainly those supporting Musharraf, are in sheer panic and their head honcho, Choudhry Shujaat Hussain is talking of constitutional amendments to give more autonomy to Balochistan. Analysts see these moves as too little and too late since the Army is not conceding any ground as it prepares for action. Thousands of troops, tanks and artillery, have been moved to the Sui battleground. Nationalist leaders are talking of the ultimate sacrifice and everybody is recalling the 1971 East Pakistan debacle, comparing Musharraf to General Yahya Khan and his actions to the military operations that broke up the country. Fears of foreign hands are being publicly expressed. The bankruptcy of the Army strategy has been fully exposed. Even Baloch supporters of Musharraf like Mahim Khan and Sarwar Kakar on Wednesday joined Sanaullah Baloch, Aslam Buledi and others in the Opposition, to denounce it. The demand now is not of more autonomy but apparent humiliation of the Army. While talking in separatist tones, these leaders are asking not just for political and economic freedom, they have almost put the precondition that troops must be withdrawn from the province and plans for building more cantonments be abandoned for any political dialogue to begin. Sanaullah Baloch gave revealing statistics in the Senate on Wednesday calling it the “economic, political and psychological rape of Balochistan.” “The province produces 40 per cent of gas but consumes only two per cent. Gas was discovered in 1952 but provincial capital Quetta had first gas connection in 1986 after establishment of the Army Corps Headquarters. Power consumption is only half a percent. Eight per cent of sea coast is located in Balochistan but the coast guards are 100 per cent non-Baloch.”

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But the ground situation, as he narrated it, means neither the Army will concede anything nor they are looking for any face saving formula. “The Frontier Constabulary (FC) has set up 580 check posts across the length and breadth of the province, manned mostly by non-Balochs. These posts have become a source of extortion and harassment. The officers supervising them have become fabulously rich,” Baloch told the Senate. It was, in fact, typical conduct of an occupying army. “I have counted a total of 28 sardars in the province of which 24 are with the government,” he said. The provincial government is a pack of jokers, or almost so. “An Army Brigade was already on the march before the cabinet met to ask for Center’s help. The day Choudhry Shujaat was talking about an autonomy package recommended by his parliamentary committee, Army had flown journalists especially from Islamabad to Sui, to announce plans for building the cantonment and acquisition of 400 acres of Baloch land.” Nothing could be more arrogant and insulting. Locals say this land has been forcibly taken over and no Baloch has sold it to the Army. The charges are familiar to what the Army has been accused of doing all over the country – grab the land. While everybody else is hearing fire alarms blaring, Musharraf and his Generals are pretending to be deaf and looking busy in politicking. A pathetic sight was Musharraf wearing a Sindhi cap and an Ajrak on top of his commando jacket at an Armysponsored public meeting in Sindh. His outfit was an insult to both the Army Uniform and the Sindhi cap. When an all powerful General has to use crutches borrowed from political nobodies, it is the clearest sign that he has no clue where he is headed. Surely, as he predicted, he would not know what hit him, as it certainly is not the era of the 70s. Blundering Musharraf Beginning to Lose His Balance Ayaz Amir ISLAMABAD, September 26: If a picture is worth a thousand words, a single cannon shot as fired by Pakistan’s soldier-president on the subject of rape and Canadian visas is worth a thousand images. The next time he waxes eloquent about enlightenment and moderation his own words as spoken to the Washington Post will come back to mock him: “You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This has become a money-making 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.” This was during his New York visit hailed by official trumpeters — no shortage of the kind in Pakistan — as a huge success. (How does this breed define success?) Worse was to follow. Realizing his blunder, Gen. Musharraf went on the defensive, saying he had said no such thing. Indeed that he would have been stupid to say it. (“True,” as Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times commented.) The Washington Post, careful in such matters, checked its tapes and confirmed Gen Musharraf made the remarks and was accurately quoted. It also quoted his remarks about Dr Shazia Khalid (the lady raped in Sui allegedly by an army officer): “It is the easiest way of doing it. Every second person now wants to come up and get all the [pause] because there is so much of finances. Dr. Shazia, I don’t know. But maybe she’s a case of money (too), that she wants to make money. She is again talking all against Pakistan, against whatever we’ve done. But I know what the realities are.” Phew. You’ve got to be really tacky to talk like this. Gen Musharraf wants to project a ‘soft’ image of Pakistan. But he’s almost suggesting that Pakistan is the quintessential land of the purpose-built rape (Canada should be

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flattered). And when questioned, he gets angry, very angry, losing his cool before a gathering of Pakistanis in New York. According to a Dawn report: “Provoked by a single question, the president allowed an event held to promote his government’s pro-woman policies to degenerate into a bout between himself and part of the invited audience... ‘I am a fighter, I will fight you. I do not give up and if you can shout, I can shout louder’...Responding to (a) woman’s charge that he had retracted his interview to The Washington Post, (he) said: ‘Lady, you are used to people who tell lies. I am not one of them.’ When a woman raised her voice to ask a question, the president said: ‘Are you a Benazir supporter?’” How does Benazir come into this? “When the altercation began to get uglier,” Dawn added, “Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Jehangir Karamat, who was Gen Musharraf’s senior in the army, approached the podium and moved the president away by gently patting his shoulders.” Not to worry, however. Condi Rice has just issued another certificate of excellence to the general, saying that while Pakistan is not a complete democracy, Musharraf is an extraordinary man. Indeed he is. Tempting though it may be to say so, Gen Musharraf’s remarks are not typical of any standard Pakistani male mind set. Pakistani men, even those lacking a staff college education, don’t go around suggesting that Pakistani women invite rape for financial or travel benefits. The general’s remarks are his own and they reflect the mind of a person who (1) is answerable to no one for his thoughts and actions; and (2) speaks too much and too often. When you are overly fond of giving interviews, when the notion of brevity being the soul of wit is almost alien to you and when you regularly display a penchant for unscripted dialogue, don’t be surprised if you sometimes get it wrong. In fact, the unscripted or unrehearsed remark has been the bane of Pakistan under Gen Musharraf. At Agra for his famous breakfast meeting with Indian newspaper editors Musharraf went in unprepared and since the one subject all Pakistanis can talk about eloquently even without any preparation is Kashmir, it was about Kashmir that he spoke. There were many reasons why the Agra summit collapsed but one reason lay in that early morning eloquence. If only that tough stance had lasted. It didn’t. During the course of a Reuters’ interview, Musharraf made the startling proposal that for the sake of flexibility Pakistan could go beyond the UN resolutions on Kashmir. The wages of one-man rule: the entire basis of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir ditched or diluted through this single off-the-cuff remark. One man says ‘yes’ to Colin Powell on the telephone post-Sep 11 without any institutional discussion of what Pakistan’s negotiating position should be. When the Americans are preparing to invade Iraq they ask for Turkish cooperation, but the Turks, even though staunch American allies, put a stiff price on cooperation (eventually too steep for the Americans to accept). Not so Pakistan which thanks to military rule can afford to leap first and look afterwards. Gen Musharraf’s uniform is his body-armour. But it’s also a great convenience for the Americans. As long as Afghanistan is on the boil and they want Pakistan to deliver more, they wouldn’t be too concerned about the finer points of democracy. Remember the time when a Pakistan aviation team was in Delhi negotiating the resumption of air links between the two countries. The Pakistani side was looking for some assurance that India would not summarily sever air links as it had done in 1970 and again in 2001 after the terrorist attack on the Indian parliament. While discussions were yet to be concluded, Musharraf, addressing a gathering of Indian Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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businessmen in Islamabad, announced Pakistan’s readiness to resume air flights. Our aviation team wouldn’t have been amused. This adhocism is evident elsewhere too in dealings with India. India shows no flexibility on concrete issues — Siachen, Baglihar, Sir Creek, etc. The MusharrafManmohan Singh meeting in New York is, for the most part, an exercise in futility. Yet, as a measure of the tight fix Pakistan has got itself into, it is Musharraf, rather than anyone from India, who is at pains to suggest that India is showing flexibility. What a curious reversal of roles. And what evidence does Gen Musharraf cite in support of his contention that India is being flexible? That the Indian prime minister has accepted his invitation to visit Pakistan. Should one laugh or cry at this revelation? This was the fourth time in the past one year that the Indian prime minister was being ‘requested’ to visit Pakistan. Each time the invitation is graciously accepted but no dates are set. Pakistan has never lowered itself so much to please India, a string of unilateral concessions — from the Jan 4, 2004, joint statement to the misguided offer of bypassing the UN resolutions — for little in return. But there’s a reason for all this. Irfan Siddiqui in Nawa-i Waqt puts it well: “From Agra to New York, a single story is being repeated. Five years ago Vajpayee got upset because we spoke of Kashmir as the ‘core issue’. Today Manmohan Singh is upset because Gen Musharraf mentioned Kashmir in his address to the UN General Assembly. The basic fact is that whether it is Vajpayee or Manmohan Singh, no Indian prime minister dare show any flexibility on Kashmir. In India democracy is supreme and about democracies the worst thing is that no matter however powerful an individual, whatever high office he holds, he cannot ignore state institutions or stray even a hair’s breadth from established national positions. This is only possible where, instead of institutions, there is one-man rule, where the opinions of an individual become national policy and where every kind of U-turn and somersault becomes a part of everyday existence.” Gen Musharraf’s thoughts on rape, therefore, are not an aberration. Nor can they be attributed solely to the male chauvinism prevalent in our society. They reveal a problem of psychology: The helmsman in a dictatorship, [especially of the tin pot variety] beginning to lose balance. This should come as no surprise, six years of unchecked power being enough to turn anyone’s head.- Courtesy Daily Dawn, Karachi Clueless Musharraf Battles for Political Survival Shaheen Sehbai ISLAMABAD: General Pervez Musharraf appeared totally confused, directionless and under intense political (Opposition) and military (his own commanders) pressure last week as he desperately tried to wriggle out of the deep hole he has dug for himself by his ill considered utterances and arrogant acts of political immaturity. In the panic situation that he finds himself in, he has launched several political initiatives simultaneously, most of them at odds with each other and sending totally confusing messages. He pretended to be confident and tough when he spoke to the Editors of the leading newspapers. He abused the politicians but asked his Prime Minister to start a political dialogue with the Opposition. He is thinking of calling these Opposition leaders for a meeting himself sometime in the week beginning April 28. “The President’s House looks like a rudderless boat,” a seasoned analyst remarked. "The President is clueless and directionless. His main political advisers and players are not helping either." Head honcho of the King’s Party, Choudhry Shujaat Hussain, started making direct attacks on the role of the army in politics and in several interviews criticized Musharraf indirectly. Shujaat was said to have been dumped by Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Musharraf after major political failures to contain the Opposition protests inside the Parliament. The General, who has been humiliated by his own Parliament of “University Graduates” first called it “uncivilized” and then confirmed that he was not going to risk entering the Assembly Hall where he would face slogans of “Go Musharraf Go”, some eggs, tomatoes or even shoes and slippers of Maulanas. His remarks let loose a storm and hardened Opposition ranks. Now there is no way he can go back to address the Parliament in a decent, smooth setting. That means he is not going to inaugurate the formal session of Parliament, a constitutional requirement for every president. In a couple of weeks his Finance Minister must present his annual budget before the National Assembly and there is no escape clause unless the Assembly is dissolved. Without a formal Joint Session, the Budget Session cannot be convened. The hole is getting deeper. The real pressure, however, is coming from his army commanders and Musharraf himself gave enough indications that all was not well inside his own house. His strategy to get out of this mess so far has been to talk tough and bulldoze his way out. The first step he took was to call all national editors and leading journalists and speak to them. He told them he first wanted to address the nation on TV but then decided this meeting could double as his talk to the nation. It was a confirmation that he felt compelled to “address the nation” on the matter, as pressure was unrelenting. Sources told SA Tribune the Editors meeting was a virtual disaster and Musharraf rushed out of the meeting after two senior Editors, both from an influential newspaper locked horns with him on the crux of the whole issue, tearing apart his arguments and justifications for keeping his uniform and wearing the hats of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (as president) and his own subordinate Chief of Army Staff. One participant of the Editors meeting gave his impressions in these words: “He always carries a chip on his shoulder. Gives the impression that he is rather impatient with the way he is perceived by his detractors. When he opens his mouth he does it only to answer his critics. He did not say anything new during the press conference. More than half of the time he repeated his achievements on the economic front. He wants his critics to judge him by these so-called achievements and also tries to draw legitimacy for his illegitimate actions from these achievement alone.” “He is still trying to hijack the PPP from Benazir Bhutto and continues to try to use Asif Ali Zardari as a handle to blackmail her. He recognizes the MMA as the genuine opposition party but cannot bring it on board because of fear of international reaction.” The well respected Editor of ‘Dawn’, Mr. Ahmed Ali Khan, who has recently returned to the newspaper after a period of retirement for almost two years, asked a lengthy question going into the philosophy of military dictatorships and their history inside and outside the country. He observed that Musharraf was creating a confrontation between the people and the army. Mr. Khan's question was so lethal Musharraf had no answer. But Musharraf simply disagreed with Mr.Khan and called this a “doom's day scenario”. But he had no arguments to counter Mr. Khan’s well laid out case. The impression he left was that if he loses power, it would be “Doom’s day” for the country. In other words, he thinks he himself is Pakistan. When the PTV played the video of the meeting later, Mr. Khan’s question was neatly censored. Obviously the Press could not be shown to be that free, exposing the Emperor as naked. Another senior Editor, M. Ziauddin of ‘Dawn’ Islamabad entered into a bitter argument with Musharraf over the way he (one man) had tried to change the constitution, getting the authority to do so from courts whose own integrity was dubious. This Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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irritated the General but his reply was simplistic and self-serving: “I have consulted thousands of people.” Ziauddin retorted by saying the representatives of these thousands of people in the parliament did not agree with what he had done. Musharraf said the courts had given him the authority. Ziauddin said the courts suffered from dubious integrity. These arguments continued for some time and left the General non-plussed, and irritated. After one or two other easy questions he rushed out of the room. A noted columnist of leading Daily “The News”, Kamran Shafi described Musharraf’s meeting with Editors in these words: “I was one of those who came out of the General's briefing-cum-address to the nation dazed, confused and, like Mr. Jamali's government, completely at sea. I mean it was unbelievable, our General's performance: for the harshness of his words; for the indelicacy of his remarks about the leading political personalities of the country; for the sheer rancor he exhibited.” Shafi wrote in his column the next day: “This was not the extremely courteous and very dignified man I admired and had the great pleasure of hearing twice in the past; a man in complete command of his feelings, who would refer to Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif as 'they' or 'them' in the politest sense (in Urdu meaning 'theirs' or 'unhon nay' meaning 'they'). This was a rough and ready street-fighter ready to mix it up, so to say. A man at the end of his tether you might say, too. Which not only made me very sad. It frightened the living daylights out of me.” Shafi himself is an ex-army man and his observations that Musharraf was “a man at the end of tether” was echoed by another senior journalist and analyst Mr. M.A. Niazi of the Daily “Nation”. Niazi found that after giving some ordinary arguments for keeping his uniform, Musharraf suddenly said things which seemed odd. He wrote: “But then he said something rather odd: “At this time, national solidarity is needed. Between the military and the civil.. We have to take along the nation, including the military. I’ve been touring the garrisons, addressing gatherings of 500 officers in the garrisons, just as frankly, and even more frankly, as I’m addressing you. I’ve been to the Navy and Air force. We had a four-day formation commanders’ meeting, where we meet for three hours a day. If I’m not in uniform, I can’t talk to them.” Totally confused by these remarks, Niazi asked in his column: “Is there some problem in the armed forces? In the Army itself? Is there some fear in the President’s mind? Does he see some threat of some kind? While conceding that the posts need separating, does his refusal to set even a timeframe indicate that there are certain developments, some kind of situation, which he needs to bring under control, but about which he does not know how long he will take? Are there undercurrents the rest of the nation knows nothing about?” These questions arise from reports, including some which have appeared in SA Tribune, that the Army commanders were not happy with the situation and wanted Musharraf to resolve it sooner than later. But it is obvious that Musharraf cannot disclose the details of what his commanders have been telling him in three-hour sessions, each day for four days, or a total of 12 hours of discussions. Naturally unless there are different points of view and unless commanders express them freely, no discussion can continue for 12 hours. The reality then is that Musharraf has been forced by his commanders to correct the situation, or else…. SA Tribune has learnt that General Musharraf wants to take off his uniform anytime in next five years, as he told the Editors, but not before October 2004 when all the present senior Generals and commanders, who at one time or another helped

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Musharraf come into power, retire from the Army. This date has been given by Musharraf to several people in private sessions. October 2004 is when the last of these Generals, including present Vice Chief of Army Staff, General Yousuf will retire. Then there would be no senior General to challenge him and he can pick his own most trusted boy as new Army Chief. But the problem is that all the Generals know who is retiring when and they also know that if they wait until Oct 2004, they will go home with the wish to be Army Chief buried in their hearts. They also know that through a game of power play, using them, Musharraf who should have retired in 2001, had extended his tenure as Army Chief and then as President indefinitely. How will they react is the big question. Analysts say no one will directly challenge Musharraf but they will do what their predecessors have been doing: Push the Opposition into a direct bitter confrontation with Musharraf until he was totally exhausted or committed a blunder which could not be justified or tolerated. Then they may ask the Chief to ease out. Political insiders say this game of using the Opposition has already begun. A recently elected senator said the MMA leaders were acting as if they already have the script of what is going to come in their hands. They cannot be so methodical unless secret messages are being received and word was being passed that Musharraf was getting jittery and nervous and more pressure was needed. To argue against this pressure, Musharraf has started to convince Parliamentarians in separate meetings. In one such meeting with Senators of supportive parties he said the Opposition parties should not insist on the removal of his uniform as it would "harm democratic institutions in the country". “If I relinquish the office of the COAS, as was being demanded by the opposition parties, the present political system could come under pressure from various quarters,” he said. Analysts say this is a direct threat that he would wind up the entire system if this demand was pressed. But by talking about “various quarters” he was also warning that some other army people may be involved. The Generals are probably waiting for him to declare his three-year experiment as a failure. Then they may find the courage and the justification to ask him to step aside. Crucial Army-Opposition Talks Scheduled as Musharraf Makes Final Political Bid Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD: General Pervez Musharraf will make his last desperate bid to bring the religious parties around to accept his 4-year old rule next week when he meets MMA leaders with the promise that he would take off his uniform within a year. Reports here say agreement on almost all other contentious points has been reached as Musharraf is feeling increasing pressure from abroad and from within, where major political parties have announced Dec 18 as the cut off date to table constitutional amendments in the Parliament. They will then launch a countrywide movement against the government. “Finally the whole dialogue is stuck on only one issue, as Musharraf has agreed to give up his intransigent posture on other matters. This issue is whether he would give any undertaking in writing as to when he would quit the post of the Army Chief,” insiders told South Asia Tribune. If the Opposition makes him agree to present the LFO in the Parliament for approval, it would be a major success for the democratic forces, but all will still depend on whether General Musharraf submits himself to constitutional rule.

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Among the points conceded by the Government are presenting the LFO amendments before the Parliament, something Musharraf has been resisting for months, throwing the entire political process in a limbo. There are said to be 31 amendments which will be brought before the Parliament and Musharraf hopes to convince the MMA leaders that they should vote for adopting these amendments trusting him on his word that he would take off his uniform before December 2004. “The issue is whether the MMA leaders would be duped by another empty promise by the General who has gone back on so many of his promises made to so many people, including foreign governments,” a PPP leader said in Islamabad. According to leading Pakistani newspaper ‘The Nation’, “a secret official strategy is in place to make last year’s disputed 31 amendments of General Pervez Musharraf as formally part of the Constitution through two thirds parliamentary vote.” The paper quoted a member of the government negotiating team saying the government had agreed in principle to table the whole LFO (31 amendments) in the Parliament with many “ifs and buts” largely depending on favorable political situation. “Yes presenting the entire LFO in Parliament was the understanding we had reached with government team,” recalled Liaqat Baloch, member of MMA’s negotiating team. Baloch confirmed to The Nation but the deadlock was on his uniform. The Nation said if the government objectively concedes to the otherwise extraconstitutional Musharraf government, “it would unleash enormous political backlash for Musharraf.” Nation reported that the stage had been set for the top leaders to announce the final decision and take the bill before Parliament. Sources believed that the next two weeks were crucial in which big decisions are to be taken by both the political forces and the government. President PML (QA) Ch. Shujaat Hussain is also arriving on Tuesday morning and process of reconciliation between the two major stakeholders is expected to resume then. The MMA and the government are said to have reached an agreement with some minor details being worked out. It has also being decided that both the MMA and the government will jointly present the bill before Parliament after consensus. President will meet the top politicians on December 6 to make the final promise on his uniform. The Nation said “he would give some undertaking to MMA and other political leaders on the issue of uniform, taking the credit himself for the breakthrough.” Senator SM Zafar was quite hopeful of clinching a deal with MMA, saying there are ample possibilities of a deal given the ground realities. ‘The ground work is being laid out and final decision will be taken by the committee of heads of parties’, he commented. The MMA has already given December 18 deadline to the government for presenting the proposed constitutional package before the Parliament, otherwise an agitation movement along with other opposition parties, the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) would be launched. Defiant, Dissident General Declared Unfit for Election to Mayor's Office M Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, Sept. 21: A retired Lieutenant General of Pakistan Army, the former Chief of General Staff at the GHQ who was about to be named the Army Chief in 1976 and who later joined politics and became a senior minister, has now been declared unfit to become a District Mayor because "his educational papers appear to be suspicious."

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In a sensational development an official of Musharraf's Election Commission, District Election Officer of Chakwal, has disqualified Lt. General (Retd) Majeed Malik from contesting the election of the District Nazim although he has been contesting for Parliament for years and was elected member of the National Assembly for 4 times. Malik is also the senior-most Vice President of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) but has defied Chief Minister Punjab Choudhry Parvez Elahi’s nominee for the slot. The treatment given to General Majeed Malik demonstrates in the most vivid terms the bankruptcy of the elections being held by Musharraf and confirm repeated allegations by the Opposition that the whole process was thoroughly rigged. It shows that if even a retired General stands up against Musharraf, or his cronies, he will be thrown out of the process summarily. The then Lt. General Majeed Malik, was tipped as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in 1976 before the then Prime Minister ZA Bhutto changed his mind to appoint six steps junior and later his own hangman, General Ziaul Haq as COAS. Malik, 81, is pitted against the government-backed candidate and a PPP turn-coat Sardar Ghulam Abbas. He has spurned all pressures from the party, the Prime Minister and PML Chief Choudhry Shujaat Hussain for withdrawing from the contest. He is supported by an alliance of Opposition-backed councilors besides his own formidable group which makes him the most likely winner. Malik’s son-in-law, Tahir Iqbal, is Minister of State for Environment in the Federal Cabinet who earned displeasure of the Chief Minister for objecting to his pet New Murree Project and a cement plant being set up in the area on environmental and ecological grounds. Gen. Malik did his matriculation in 1935, joined the Royal Indian Army in 1940 and rose to be a General before retiring in 1976 along with six other senior generals when Zia superceded them to become Army Chief. At the time of retirement he was Chief of General Staff, the second most office in the army after COAS. He joined PML in 1980s and thrice served as a Federal Minister in the governments of Mohammad Khan Junejo and Nawaz Sharif. He has also been elected member of the National Assembly four times in a row. Malik’s papers were first accepted by the Returning Officer but his opponent Sardar Ghulam Abbas appealed to the District Returning Officer Mirza Rafiuz Zaman. Malik alleged that Punjab Government has exerted pressure on the officer. He was earlier threatened that his son-in-law may also lose his cabinet post. The defiant General is fighting back but the system is loaded against him. He has sent a complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner accusing his opponent of blatantly presiding over meetings of police and administration officials to use them for manipulating the elections. He has moved the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court against rejection of his papers. As a precaution, Malik’s son had filed papers as a cover candidate and would contest the election if his father fails to make it to the polls due on October 6. Malik has also made an unsuccessful bid to garner support within the PML. During a recent meeting of the Central Executive Committee, only one party leader, Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, backed him while others kept a discreet silence. Wasti is known to be a person who takes unpopular and sometimes not so politically correct decisions. In a related development, police have registered a case against opposition candidate for key Rawal Town Nazim in Rawalpindi, Rana Tanvir, who is contesting against nephew of Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed. Police have arrested Rana’s brother who himself has gone underground.

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Opposition members in the National Assembly Monday night raised the issue in the house and staged a walk out after the speaker ruled out their motion. Expected Recognition of Israel Part of Agenda Given to Musharraf Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, September 5: The rapid moves that Islamabad has been making indicate that Pakistan would soon become the 5th Muslim country to recognize Israel, the other four being Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania while Morocco and Qatar only have limited trade ties. And the credit for it would not go to any elected civilian leader but to an absolute military dictator. Since almost four years I have been writing that the recognition of Israel was part of the multifaceted agenda assigned to General Pervez Musharraf by powers that be in exchange for support to him for perpetuating his authoritarian rule against the democratic aspirations of the Pakistani people. Pakistan held first ever formal and public contacts with Israel in Istanbul on September 1 at its own request brokered by Turkey. Officially described as a historic breakthrough, Islamabad has claimed that it had the backing of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Mahmood Abbas of the Palestinian State Authority. While Saudis have not yet come out publicly whether Pakistan's initiative had their support, a spokesman of the PLA, however, has nailed Islamabad's claim that the move had the blessing of President Mahmood Abbas. The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday that it was "worried" about Pakistan's making high-level diplomatic contact with Israel despite its occupation of east Jerusalem and the West Bank. "It is not good to give Israel gifts before it really implements the peace process, not only in Gaza, but in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem," deputy prime minister Nabil Shaath told the press. "We are worried about this because it's not a good time to start relations with Israel." The West Bank leader of Islamist fundamentalist movement Hamas denounced the meeting and urged Islamic and Arab states not to fall into the trap of seeing the Gaza pullout as synonymous with the end of occupation as naively or advertently understood by Pakistani leader General Musharraf and his Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri. "We condemn any relationship between an Islamic state and the Israelis and we ask Pakistan to go back on this agreement, especially as the Palestinian people have not yet been given their rights," said Hamas spokesman Hassan Yussef. In order to defuse hostile domestic and foreign reaction as that of PLA, Musharraf has lost no time in stating that Islamabad would not recognize Israel until a Palestinian state was established while Israeli Prime Minister Sharon is insisting that he sees no final status talks with the Palestinians in the foreseeable future According to diplomatic sources General Pervez Musharraf has been under too much pressure from his pro-Zionist Western mentors to recognize Israel. The Gaza pullout gave them the stick to browbeat the General into taking initiatives that would soon foreclose recognition. He had also been conveyed that a positive gesture could mean further extension in the fast expiring insurance cover to his absolute hold on power that seemed to be becoming more of an embarrassment to Washington currently marketing democracy as a global phenomenon. In this context Assistant of Secretary of State Christina Rocca had not minced her words during her last visit to Islamabad where she made it categorically known in the shadow of countrywide allegations of massive pre-poll rigging in the local bodies elections, that the United States would like to see 2007 general elections to be completely transparent with even playing field for all the political parties and leaders. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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In the footsteps of pro-democratic rumblings came the news that Musharraf has accepted the invitation to address the powerful American Jewish Congress following the visit of its key members to Islamabad as his value-added guests. Sources in Islamabad had hinted that things would start moving towards a thaw with Israel after Musharraf's September visit to the United States. They had failed to gauge the urgency propelling Islamabad. In desperation Turkish intervention was sought, a meeting was brokered in Istanbul where Pakistan's Foreign Minister Kasuri had rushed to reveal that his country had decided to "engage" to hold talks with Israel after years as one of its harshest critics because of what it saw as the beginning of the end of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. While PLA is extremely "worried" over a move described by it as premature, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, said Israel hoped to use the Pakistan talks as a springboard for broader diplomatic ties with Muslim and Arab countries that have long spurned it. Shalom believes that his meeting would "finally lead to a full diplomatic relationship with Pakistan as we would like to see with all Arab countries." "We made a huge breakthrough today...," Shalom said. "We think it will be a very positive signal to Israeli and Palestinian public opinion that there are some fruits from this withdrawal from Gaza." In a wider move to rope in other Islamic states to recognizing Israel, Jordan's King Abdullah is also expected to visit Israel as early as next week to lend his support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's dismantling of Gaza settlements. Israel's recognition is thus around the corner, not far away, a matter of months and not years. Not that, such a recognition would help Islamabad much though it would definitely help Musharraf's personally as the man who can deliver. When in Washington later this month, he would have a very depressive tale to tell to his bosses how much he had personally to suffer for fulfilling Israeli part of the agenda assigned to him. When one looks at the speed behind his moves, it seems that Musharraf is half way through his agenda. He has already made solution of Kashmir issue easier by surrendering to India Pakistan's traditional stand on the UN resolution for plebiscite in Kashmir, not many years ago for the civilian leaders it was something non-negotiable and sacrosanct. Besides Kashmir, he has delivered a great deal on Pakistan's nuclear program. One of the most important issues assigned to him in the agenda was the decision to roll back Pakistan's nuclear program. With Dr. AQ Khan sitting on top of it, it would have been impossible for him to dislodge even its single brick. Now Dr Khan has been taken care of, rendered into a vegetable by design. From the day he was relieved from KRL in 2001 Pakistan has been on the downward slide and Musharraf Administration has done it very shabbily to self-branding Pakistan as being a rogue nuclear state. His recent diatribe against Dr Khan directly involving him in the North Korean deals shows a method in the madness, making a scapegoat of Dr Khan while himself having the cake of his spoils and eating it too. Instead of defending a program that has practically immunized the anorchous Pakistani generals from the Indian Army, Musharraf and his men sacrificed the man who gave them this virtual "Viagra". Our Generals are only capable of using their guns on unarmed civilians seeking their democratic and fundamental rights and have no shame in surrendering vital strategic locations such as Siachen to India without firing a shot. Throughout the Cold War Washington's agenda was multifaceted with the sole objective of combating and minimizing the increasing influence of Soviet Union. In the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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process, on the one hand, Islamists were backed, picked up, pumped to counter Soviet influence in Middle East and on the other, Israel was nurtured, nourished and nuclearized to play the role of a bastion state to protect Western interests. Pakistan under a military ruler, General Ayub Khan, was roped into CENTO (earlier known as Baghdad Pact) and SEATO to be part of Washington's strategy to counter China. Although Washington always had a soft corner for India but it lacked trust in it due to Sino-Indian friendship until 1962. It also realized that Pakistan under one-man rule would be more pliable and useful for its geo-strategic interests in the region as against a democratic India. This was also the period when Pakistan continued to follow the Arab line on Israel. It tagged its stand on Tel Aviv's recognition to the policy of non-recognition by Saudi Arabia and other OIC members although it had no common borders with Israel, no clash of economic or strategic interests. Rather, both Israel and Pakistan shared a common raison d' etre, their religions as founding pillars of their states. Obviously Israel was left with no option but to befriend India and support it against Pakistan. With the end of Cold War, Washington's Israel and Indian policies acquired a new thrust. Pakistan under a civilian and democratically elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was well oriented to rationalize its foreign policy objectives and pursue its goals to acquire greater respect in the comity of nations. While Bhutto stood by her independence, Pakistan's much too interfering military establishment went the other way. Though she refused to accept its dictations, it pursued its own agenda, both overtly and covertly, on Kashmir, relations with India, Israel and Afghanistan with Taliban in power was its sole domain beyond the reach of Pakistan's Foreign Office. She did not realize that those very Quislings who had been responsible for making a horrible example of her father would make her homeless. Who could best serve the foreign interests? Not civilian leaders, was the answer. The Kargil invasion in 1999, a brainchild of Musharraf, seemingly brought the truth home to Washington once again: In Pakistan, it is the Army Chief that calls the shots. Clinton Administration tried to save Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by issuing a warning as late as September 1999 that it would not approve of a military coup in Pakistan. However, American generals and CIA who had developed very close liaison and understanding with their Pakistani counterparts since their deep throated collaboration from the days of the Afghan Jihad, saw in the General the person who could deliver for them on Kashmir, nuclear roll-back, Bush's crusade against the Jihadi terrorists and recognition of Israel. And the horrendous tragedy of 9/11 led to the most profitable change in his fortune. A pariah military dictator with whom no leader of the civilized world, would shake hands became President Bush's blue-eyed boy and his Knight Templar in his crusade against terrorism. Just one line American ultimatum to him that "either you are with us or with them" brought about from him the most astounding U-turns in military history. Now we come to the remaining part of Musharraf agenda which relates to recognizing Israel. Musharraf believes that once he recognizes Israel, he will buy a perpetual lifecover for his presidency from Washington. His "incidental" meeting with former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres early in the year that led to "brief talks" between the two had set the ball rolling towards the direction of recognition. Answering a question Musharraf on his meeting made matters further clear. "We are undertaking great efforts for this to happen." Musharraf, it may be recalled, had first launched his recognize Israel' operation in June 2003 when he had said: "Recognizing Israel will not bring down the skies, if the Arabs are recognizing it, we also ought to reconsider our policies towards Israel." Looking for an opportune moment Musharraf again floated the idea in October 2003 when he said: Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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"We have been in support of the Palestinian cause. If the peace process moves forward in justice, we can revise our policy with Israel." Much like Musharraf's "incidental" meeting with Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto too had a chance meeting with him at an international forum in Europe where the two shared the podium with other top leaders including Gorbachev. Like his invitation to Musharraf, Peres also invited Benazir Bhutto to visit Israel. While Musharraf seems to have dropped the long-standing position of Pakistan's support for the Palestinians, Ms Bhutto's response was more appropriate. She told Peres that she will consult Yasser Arafat (until then alive) before she says anything on the issue of Israel's recognition or accepts invitation to visit Tel Aviv. The difference between Bhutto's stand and Musharraf's has been obvious. While she would not have liked to cause "worry" to the people of Palestine, Musharraf has gone more than an extra mile towards recognizing Israel since it would get him closer to Washington, a step if taken by any civilian leader in Pakistan, would have made Pakistani military establishment to hang him/her by the gallows. In conclusion, I share the view expressed by PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar on the meeting of the two foreign ministers in Istanbul that interfaith dialogue is the need of the time. However, no unilateral decisions should be taken on issues that will have an impact both domestically and in the Muslim world. Had the regime taken its langri-looli (handicapped, lame) Parliament into confidence, its decision would have become more credible. On important foreign policy issues, solo flight and individual decisions need to be avoided. Indeed, it is ironic that a regime that criticized former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for meeting with a former Israeli Prime Minister at a Socialist International Conference has now sought the good offices of Turkey to facilitate the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Israel. An apology to Ms Bhutto would surely be in order. Hi, My Name is Musharraf: Which Way Is Israel? Dr. Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, September 11: General Pervez Musharraf’s outreach to Israel is a tactical diversion from a mounting strategic domestic challenge to his military dictatorship. As he stands stripped of democratic legitimacy at home, he desperately seeks it abroad. So, the September 2 meeting in Istanbul between his Foreign Minister and his Israeli counterpart is no more than deflecting attention from a brewing storm within the country. This diversion coincides with his past pattern as well. Soon after the back-to-back failed assassination bids in December 2003 and a constitutional challenge to his hold on power, he had the Indian Prime Minister visit Pakistan which led to the signing of the Declaration of Islamabad on January 6, 2004. This move painted him as a “statesman” abroad, overshadowing his dictatorship. Such diversions are also his stratagems to divide the democratic opposition that is made up of two popular liberal and conservative alliances. He believes that if liberal leaders of democracy, who dominate his democratic opposition, go along with him on his overtures to Israel, their conservative allies and the average Pakistani who are not yet ready for such a grand leap in diplomacy, would split from them. If liberal democrats oppose his move, he will have them bracketed with the forces of “extremism and fundamentalism,” who want to keep Pakistan imprisoned in the past. He can then walk tall to the western world as “the only leader” who is unafraid of taking on tough issues. In either case, he will benefit: If the opposition cracks up, it will defuse the democratic challenge at home. If it opposes him, he will gain the much-needed traction overseas, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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which has of late been on the wane because of his “double-crossing on the war on terror.” While externalizing the problem of the lack of his democratic legitimacy, he intends to follow the Egyptian model. He knows that the Western world has willingly swallowed a military leader in Hosni Mobarak, who has governed Egypt for 24 years, without even caring about a fig leaf for democracy. Nor has it lifted a finger, when he sought and secured this month the fifth six-year term as “President!” What is it that is sustaining him into power? The answer is obvious: His supporters in the western world, who accentuate his “statesmanship” abroad to downplay the nagging issue of the lack of his democratic legitimacy at home. Ironically, it is his supporters in the West who are shamed by their electorate for supporting a dictator in Cairo, while Mobarak and his cronies continue to wallow in illgotten power and wealth. As a matter of fact, each year they accumulate billions of dollars of US largess -- $2 billion a year -- as Egypt has been the second largest recipient, after Israel, of American aid since 1978; while the poor in Africa, Egypt’s backyard, go on dying of hunger. Like Musharraf, the Egyptian has no popular base of support at home. It is his continuation of diplomatic outreach to Israel that is keeping him both in cash and power. This is the lesson that Musharraf has learned to beat the democratic opposition in Pakistan and stem the rapid fall-off in his support by the US that is increasingly becoming unsure of his willingness as well as ability to fight terror. To counter Washington’s growing suspicions of his intentions and actions, he has invoked the long-held anti-Semitic charade that “road to Washington goes through Tel Aviv.” This invocation was led from a series of events that signal Washington’s flagging support for him. He has recently seen that Americans have refused to receive a “state visit” from his “Prime Minister” on his terms, a visit that was scheduled 10 days apart from that of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July this year. Musharraf wanted his Prime Minister, like his Indian counterpart, to address the US Congress, have a 19-gun salute, and a state banquet in the White House. The US, having found such riddles ridiculous, hung up on him. This humiliating “nothing-doing” response from the US was further worsened by the CIA director’s implicit recognition that Pakistan is a “weak link” in the hunt for Osama, which shook Musharraf to the core. Above all, the US’s growing insistence that Pakistan open up to democracy is further diluting the will of his military commanders to stand by him. To combat all these gathering clouds over his already slipping hold on power, he set out to enlist Israel into fighting for him in Washington. Will the rank and file of the predominantly conservative military go along with his planned overtures to Tel Aviv? He has sop for the military as well, especially its top brass. Military leaders have long been wary of Israel on two counts: First, Israel, in their estimation, has moved dangerously close to India, especially since the late 1980s when then President Bush refused to certify to the US Congress that Pakistan was not on the path to building a nuclear bomb. That was a red flag for Israel that has long been restless over the possibility of nuclear weapons falling into Muslim hands, especially in the hands of a nation that has coziest relationship with its Arab antagonists. For the Pakistani military, an Israel increasingly concerned with its bomb-making had meant a preemptive strike against its nuclear facilities like the one Tel Aviv launched against Iraq in 1981 to knock down its nuclear program. Second, Israel had since forged close military and strategic ties with India, which were seen in Islamabad as “doubling” of the threat to its “strategic assets” and thereby the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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possibility of a collusive Indo-Israeli strike against those assets. This perception was alive and well even when Pakistan was just hours away from conducting nuclear tests on May 22, 1998. It was still gripped by the apprehension that Israel was waiting in the wings to bomb out its nuclear hardware. All day that day, the sky over Islamabad was dotted with the flight paths made by roaring F-16s in anticipation of an Israeli offensive. If Israel and Pakistan fall into a diplomatic embrace, Musharraf thinks, it will put both sides at ease. More importantly, Israel will have to do a balancing act to befriend two “adversaries” – India and Pakistan – at once. These advantages, to Musharraf, will make it easy for him to sell his diplomacy with Israel to his reluctant comrades-inarm. Israel’s pull out of Gaza, however, was a godsend for Musharraf to initiate such diplomacy. He immediately timed his diversionary tactics to balance the future of his dictatorship on the back of Gaza’s 9,000 weeping, wailing Jewish settlers, who were evicted from their settlements. He, accordingly, swapped the dried out blood of the 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks for the freshly-shed tears of the 9,000 Jewish evacuees to recast his “military dictatorship” as “statesmanship.” This is what led to a public handshake between Musharraf’s and Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom on September 2. The democratic opposition in Pakistan stands opposed to any dictator living off the misery of the innocent either at home or abroad. It is time the West, too, healed its way out of its self-inflicted wounds, i.e., babying pro-west dictators while bombing wayward ones. They all deserved equal treatment: A giant kick in the rear. It, however, must be remembered that the democratic opposition in Pakistan is not averse to diplomacy with Israel. It rather goes all the way to recognize Israel in “substance” as the “only democracy in the Muslim world,” and demands that Musharraf do the same and immediately step down. Musharraf’s opposition takes heart from Israel’s abiding faith in democracy that never wavered even in the event of war. Israel has been at war since its founding in 1948, yet it has never made it a pretext to impose Martial Law, or shut down democracy. Every Israeli citizen is obligated to serve the military and defend their country, yet they never accepted a military dictatorship for a day. Its generals win the wars, yet they do not gun their way into power. Instead, they go to their electorate to seek their vote. Its Election Commission has never been accomplice in stuffing ballot-boxes, tampering ballots, rigging elections, undercounting the opposition’s vote, over-counting the government’s ballot, or holding fraudulent “Presidential Referenda” to garb dictators as democrats. Its multiparty democracy has been thriving right in the middle of crises; its governments rise and fall right in the middle of war; its judiciary asserts its independence to hold to account anyone anywhere; its press does not live in the shadow of government; its peace movement is not dubbed as the enemy of the state; its opposition is not shipped out of country to live in exile. Not only do the leaders of democracy and the people of Pakistan recognize the “democratic Israel,” they are fighting Musharraf’s dictatorship to become an Israel-like democracy. On the contrary, Musharraf wants to use the “only democracy” in the Muslim world to prop up his “dictatorship.” Israelis need not be reminded that the Holocaust occurred on the watch of a “dictator.” If Army acts like a Political Party, why not a Forward Bloc in it Nighat Yasmeen Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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THE sordid state of affairs in Pakistan, the ongoing rape of the Constitution, the compact shamelessness being displayed by certain quarters, the depraved substitution of national interests with purely personal ambitions, the meticulous dismantling of the institutions, the total disregard for the people’s will, and a range of menacing political developments, have left every sane person in this country thoroughly dismayed, bewildered, clueless and wondering that to which depths of decadence we are being shoved down by our khaki-clad messiahs. I firmly believe that every patriotic Pakistani has a duty to warn that the nation is marching towards a precipice, whenever he/she discerns such a risk. And never before I have felt a stronger urge to rebel against the khaki hegemony, denounce their transgressions and stand up to their inane games, as now. Without intending to be impolite, it would be really pertinent to raise an allegorical question: if politicians -- obviously, here I mean fully civilian politicians -- as khakis want us to believe, are prostitutes [albeit, my personal opinion is that normally even whores are more principled than most of our political leaders], then is it irrational, unpatriotic to look around for their pimps? Ask yourself, what is a bigger and more deplorable sin: to be a prostitute or to be a pimp? Thankfully, it is more than obvious now to all and sundry that politicians are merely petty pawns. Masters of our destiny, responsible for the mess, are not those who go around begging for votes. Legislating assemblies, civil façade when it is there, elections, all this is charade for placating international demands and an illusion to dupe general public at home. The fate of nation rests in the hands of a dozen or so, top, commanding generals. Pakistan Army is the largest, mightiest political party in the country, by any definition of the term. As its institutional stakes and demands, regardless of political configuration in place, always far exceeds than of all the other parties’ put together; as the enormous trust people used to repose in it has time and over again badly betrayed; and as the immense respect it once enjoyed among masses has totally failed to satiate its extra-constitutional aspirations; it must be considered and treated as a political entity – subjected to all benefits and constraints of politicking. Thus, why not a forward block in the army? I mean a group of senior generals coming forward and announcing that they want to help the COAS to transfer power to the civilian government. It would be in order if they further declare that they are not doing this to support any particular party for the time being and was not under pressure either to support any particular party. The decisive factor is the realization that it is treason, a capital offence, to be a part of any military dispensation or to abet it in any form. Adding, “we will extend support to any party in keeping the greater national interest in view”. The political process is in a state of a deadlock and "we want to remove this deadlock for the sake of transfer of power and promotion of democracy”. In response to a question regarding leaving (the party, or resigning from the army for the formation of the forward bloc), they would say, "We are in the party and will never leave it. Pervez Musharraf is our leader and will remain in the party." [I have been very careful for not saying anything inappropriate and therefore kept myself strictly to the comments uttered by former PPP President Punjab, Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Faisal Saleh Hayat, while addressing a press conference on November 14, announcing the formation of a forward bloc]. Moreover, military personnel swear allegiance to the Constitution and the motherland, not to any chief, no matter that happens to be Ayub, Yahya, Zia or Musharraf. Loyalty must be to the kingdom not to the king. Whatever benchmark, one may apply of duty Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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and

patriotism,

Pakistan

MUST

come

first.

Hitherto, the martial party, has been engineering split in other political parties, all the times by hook or crook, only to ensure unhindered devouring of scarce national sources by its senior members. Why not this tradition be reciprocated? The circle coming full way. Those who have transformed coercion, bribing, deceit, deception, falsehood, selfishness into art would never mend their unscrupulous methods without tasting the medicine they themselves have been administrating to this unfortunate nation for the last fifty years. Who bears the ultimate responsibility of horse-trading: the horses or the traders? Will the coming generations forgive us for not protesting and sitting idly by, and letting generals ruin the country, perhaps beyond recovery. Is this the God-damned ‘true, sustainable democracy’, NRB had invented for us after three years of hard work and wastage of millions of rupees? Is this the obnoxious ‘continuity’ General Musharraf had been so passionately chanting about? We hoped for a departure from the filth of the past. General Musharraf and his uniformed colleagues, along with a bunch of civilian fagots – ever willing to serve anyone who can pay, are hell bent to wipe out the very last traces of uprightness from the society. It took 30 long years for our mighty Generals to realise that the Pak Army committed “excesses” in the Eastern Wing and [superficially] regretting about them. It might take three more decades but sooner or later they have to lift the siege of the remaining [truncated] part as well. The question is not if, only when and how. Just for putting the record straight, Musharraf’s so-called favourite “silent majority” clearly voted against him in the last election, all pre-poll rigging, manipulations and gerrymandering notwithstanding. What more could we helpless Pakistanis do? Its Hard For Musharraf to Get Out of Uniform Issue Ayaz Amir ISLAMABAD, October 22: It is easy getting the future wrong. But one thing is for sure: the soldier-president is at his weakest and most vulnerable since seizing power five years ago. The referendum was bad but not as bad as this. It was a blunder soon overtaken, if not rectified, by the dust and thunder of the subsequent general elections. But it's hard to see how the president can easily get out of the muddle created by the uniform issue. If, guided by his fears and misjudging the national mood, the president insists on wearing it, two things happen. The last shreds of his credibility stand destroyed and the opposition parties - from the PPP to the PML-N to the holy fathers of the MMA come together on a one-point platform against a government now obviously adrift and in distress. If, at the eleventh hour, belated wisdom dawning, he decides to shed his uniform, it will be seen and perhaps denounced as a sign of weakness, something done under pressure. It requires genius of a high order to paint oneself into such a corner. Colin Powell helped decide our foreign policy after September 11. Since this government takes American views so seriously, his advice could be sought on this issue as well. There is a whole bunch of assistant secretaries of state in the state department. When one of them visits Islamabad, the foreign minister should be good enough for him/her. But believing in going overboard with our American friends, we lay out the red carpet: an assistant secretary of state getting to meet the president Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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and the prime minister, with the foreign minister coming a poor third. When photos of these encounters are flashed on our front pages, there is little realization of what a poor image of Pakistan is conveyed by this too-eager-to-please mentality. But to return to our main story, when a Pakistan government is in trouble, and I say this on the basis of past experience, some whiz kid always gets it into his head to shepherd docile members of the legal community for an audience with the embattled president or prime minister. Why lawyers, I cannot say. But a section of lawyers readily lend themselves to such endeavors. This happened with President Musharraf on Wednesday evening when a group of faceless lawyers, headed by the law minister and the attorney-general, met the president in Army House, there to be treated to a lecture on why political stability is so essential for the country. Amazing, isn't it? You remain in the saddle for five years, master of everything (except your foreign policy, of course), all power concentrated in your person, and yet after all this exercise of authoritarianism and untrammeled power, you decry the absence of political stability. Can there be a more telling indictment of your rule? If political stability still eludes the country, what have you been up to all this time? And it's not as if this is happening for the first time. Field Marshal (self-appointed and for victories unknown to history) Ayub Khan, General Yahya Khan, the real founding father of Bangladesh, General Zia, unrivalled master of the false statement, all rose and fell the same way, embodiments of power in their prime, forlorn souls when they stumbled and lost their way. All those annals of military rule could have been scripted by the same author, the plots resembling each other so much. What sin have the people of Pakistan committed to endure endless cycles of the same history? Now the fourth in this line of distinguished soldier-presidents finds himself in much the same boat: adrift on choppy waters with little idea of how to make it to the shore. The Q or King's League should have been guarding the presidential gates, defending the president and foiling the opposition parties. Instead it looks more demoralized and closer to meltdown than ever. If its members can't bring themselves to maintaining the National Assembly's quorum, what other act of heroism can they perform? As for Shaukat Aziz, the new prime minister, my heart goes out to him for he looks more helpless than his predecessor, Zafarullah Jamali, which is saying a lot. From the moment of its misbegotten birth, this was a ramshackle system, a nightmare of conflicting architectural motifs and designs. But it has never looked shakier than now. Why? Because of a hard-to-understand insistence on staying in uniform despite the public pledge, solemnly given last year, that by end 2004, the anomaly of one man as both president and army chief will come to an end. Even within the presidential camp there are voices (naturally muted) saying that the president is making a mistake. I can't imagine the formation and div commanders enamored of the uniform idea because (1) it reveals a great sense of insecurity on the president's part and (2) it amounts to a vote of no-confidence against the entire top hierarchy of the army. For, in effect, what the president is saying is that he trusts no one except himself as army chief. The president is from the 29th PMA Long Course. The new Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, is at least 10 courses junior to him, most of the corps commanders even more junior than that, cubs in uniform compared to the president's elderly tiger stripes. So what accounts for this huge insecurity? It used to be said, and rightly so, that Pakistani prime ministers were afraid of their army chiefs. Now army chiefs are afraid of the dark and the unknown. Where will all this insecurity end? And one of the aims of the Musharraf takeover (soft name for Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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coup) was to equip the country with stability. If this is stability, what would instability look like? Authority comes from legitimacy, competence and force of personality. It scarcely casts you in a very flattering light if derived merely from an office, especially one to which you are not entitled - that is, if you go by an honest reading of the Constitution. Anyhow, the president's discomfiture is an opportunity for the opposition parties. But can they make the most of it? The 17th constitutional amendment last year was an issue with which to beat the government. The MMA mullahs, by voting for that amendment, bailed the president out of that one. What will they do this time? The real opposition to Musharraf, lest we need any reminding, comes from the PPP and the PML-N. The mullahs have been betwixt and between, running with the hare, hunting with the hounds, all things to all sides. With the president going back on his promise, they are faced with their moment of truth. Which side will they choose? Their course of action is likely to be dictated by the president's final decision. If he takes off his uniform, never mind the charges of weakness and bowing to pressure, the wind goes out of opposition sails and the MMA can claim vindication for its policy. But if the president decides that salvation and safety lie in his uniform, the MMA, much against its wishes no doubt, will be pushed into taking a tough stand. Hence the supreme paradox: democracy's cause will be served if Musharraf remains in uniform. For that, under the circumstances, is the only thing likely to galvanize the opposition parties and shake them out of their torpor. Conversely, if he redeems his uniform pledge, the neither-here-nor-there political system foisted upon the country gets another lease of life. More Outrageous Lies From MQM's Fake Aalim Online Special SAT Report WASHINGTON, May 8: General Musharraf’s and MQM’s comedian in the Pakistani cabinet, Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain, cannot keep his mouth shut even on such incriminating issues as obtaining bogus Internet degrees for his 2002 election. For the second time in a week he has blurted out some more confessions and again, as it happens with people who have to concoct more lies to cover up their old lies, the funny doctor has contradicted his own statements and released a new set of facts about his shameful conduct. The interesting part of this on-going comic opera is that he makes up facts while he is speaking and does not remember what he had cooked up last time. On Saturday, May 7, Aamir Liaquat Hussain (ALH) spoke to the Daily Times of Lahore, basically on political subjects, but he could not escape being asked about his fake degrees and he could not resist giving convoluted self-contradicting explanations, which make him look like a hardened liar instead of a soft spoken religious preacher that he portrays himself to be. On Sunday, May 1, he had given an interview to Daily Dawn which was mostly about his degrees and his unethical conduct. But in the Daily Times interview now ALH blatantly reverses the facts he gave to Daily Dawn just 7 days ago, making almost a fool of both the leading newspapers because the interviewers of both dailies were either not properly briefed or were deliberately soft on the otherwise charming young Minister, a TV celebrity who has made his own life miserable by getting caught in a scandal which he honestly cannot defend. Here are some of the statements he made to The Daily Times, contradicting his own words in Daily Dawn: He told Dawn: “My PhD degree has nothing to do with my becoming eligible for elections since my medical degree was sufficient for that. True, I attached my Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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honorary PhD degrees along with my other medical degree when I filed my nomination papers.” He now tells DT: “When I came to Karachi from Dubai to file my nomination for the general elections in 2002, I needed a degree to become eligible. I first went to Jamshoro to get my MBBS degree from the University of Sindh but they made delays. Then I applied to the University of Karachi for a certificate of equivalence to the honorary Bachelor’s degree so that I could file my nomination papers.” The Big Lie: He told Dawn he attached his Honorary PhD degree with his MBBS degree. Now he says he could not get his MBBS degree from Jamshoro and got equivalence of his Bachelor’s degree for his nomination paper. He told Dawn: "I got it (PhD) for free and as an honorary degree.” He now tells DT: "The Trinity College and University awarded me three honorary degrees; BA, MA and PhD way before the elections." The Big Lie: His BA degree is dated March 17, 1995, five years before the Trinity College started selling its degrees on the Internet in 2000. He says he was given this in one package in 2002. How can a College issue a degree for a year when it was not even there. He told Dawn: "I have never said that I have pursued a proper education program for my PhD degrees, which are just honorary entities awarded to me." He now tells DT: “The (Trinity College and) University doesn’t award degrees on payment of fees alone. It also seeks evidence of your ability and qualification before awarding a degree.” The Big Lie: How can any University worth its name award an Honorary degree when the candidate himself says he has never pursued a proper education program. And this University offers him not only one but three degrees, all at once, one of them even back dated to 1995. He told Dawn: “I contacted all the universities I could find on the net and sent my thesis to them.” He now tells DT: “I had written a 1,500-page thesis on Islam and Terrorism, which I mailed to various online universities." The Big Lie: Finding a university on the Internet is something mind boggling. On Google, if a search is made for "universities", in 0.08 seconds a list of 118 million universities appears. If one looks for "Online Universities" in 0.13 second a list of 181 million universities is available. Search for "Top Online Universities" and in 0.74 seconds 62.4 million universities are listed. Sending 1,500 pages to all these universities, as ALH claims, is simply hogwash. Just lgoing through the lists would need years for a man like ALH. He would need all his life’s income and savings just to mail 1,500 pages to these universities. His statement is simply preposterous. He tells DT: "The Trinity College and University has a faculty of Islamic Studies and those who contradict this are liars." The Big Lie: Not once on the web site of Trinity College has 'Islam' or 'Islamic Studies' been mentioned and the closest degree they offer for such studies is of Doctor of Divinity (DD) not a BA, MA or PhD. He tell DT: “My opponents claimed that they were responded to by the online university within 20 minutes, when they asked them about the credibility of my honorary degrees. This is the age of the Internet and online response comes within minutes.” Big Lie Caught: South Asia Tribune E-mailed questions to the Trinity College about “Honorary Degrees” they offer. Their response was they DO NOT offer any Honorary Degree but they could give an “Honoris Causa” Degree if someone wanted it, but that

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too would not be free of charge. The full text of Emails exchanged between SAT and Trinity College is as follows: ----- Original Message ------------From: Editor To: '[email protected]' Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 9:18 AM Subject: Urgent PH.D Degree Question May 1, 2005 Dean/Consultant Trinity College & University Subject: Award of Honorary Degrees by Your College Dear Sir, I am the Editor of a widely circulated newspaper based in Washington, DC, USA called the South Asia Tribune. I have 37 years of experience in Journalism and have edited important newspapers. I have learnt that your college issues "Honorary" PhD degrees in various subjects. Please send me more details of the Honorary Degrees that you issue. I have seen the details of the BA, MA and PhD "All-in-One" degrees package that costs 500 UK Pounds on your web site. Are Your "Honorary Degrees" different than the degrees you award under the "All-inOne" Package for 500 UK pounds? I would like to get an Honorary Degree in Journalism and would be obliged if you send me the details as soon as possible. With Kind Regards, Shaheen Sehbai Editor South Asia Tribune Ph: 703-450-1644, Fax: 703-995-4631 E-Mail: [email protected] ------------------------From: TRINITY COLLEGE [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 5:58 AM To: Editor Subject: PhD in Journalism Thank you for your enquiry. Please advise your full postal address and we will send you our brochure. Awards are issued based on previous studies and qualified work experience. Yes your 40 year work experience qualifies you for "Doctor of Philosophy in Journalism". Should you require speedy processing, please complete the attached application form, send payment, together with a copy of your CV(resume). Fee GBP295 less 10% discount for one PhD certificate sent out by registered post. Thank you for choosing Trinity College for your educational requirements and assuring you of our best help at all times. Kind regards Trinity College P.O. Box 608, Fuengirola 29640, Malaga, Spain E-mail: [email protected] Tel/fax +34 95 266 7011 ----- Original Message ------------------From: Editor Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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To: 'TRINITY COLLEGE' Cc: '[email protected]' Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 7:36 PM Subject: RE: PhD in Journalism Trinity College & University, Dear Sirs, Refer your response. Kindly clarify if you issue "Honorary PhD Degrees" without any charge. I have heard that you do. What are the criteria to get an Honorary PhD degree free of cost, if there is any? If not then I will work on the other option. Please respond as soon as possible. Best Regards, Shaheen Sehbai Journalist Washington ------------------------From: TRINITY COLLEGE [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 11:10 AM To: Editor Subject: Re: PhD in Journalism Thank you for your email. Yes we can issue a Doctorate "honoris causa". Awards are not free of charge. Kind regards Trinity College P.O. Box 608, Fuengirola 29640, Malaga, Spain email: [email protected] Tel/fax +34 95 266 7011 -------------------------The bottom line is that Dr Aamir is an unabashed liar and a man of no moral or ethical character. He is an embarrassment for the MQM, for the Government, for his TV employers and for the millions of TV viewers who see him preach Islam and morals every day. This subject is now closed. Musharraf Completes Six Years of Flip Flops, Impetuous Actions M. Ziauddin ISLAMABAD, October 12: Today, General Musharraf completed six years of his rule. It has been a period of flip-flops, tall promises, low delivery, and impetuous actions. To many eyes, the tenure represents a period in which the President has emerged as the State unto himself. By entering his 7th year Musharraf has become the third longest serving military ruler of Pakistan. The first two places belong to Field Marshal Ayub Khan (1958-69) and General Ziaul Haq (1977-88). Z. A. Bhutto was the only civilian who could get tenure of five years (1971-77). Six years is a long time for a ruler to make his mark, either way. In civilized societies, governments go to polls every three, four or five years and contest them on the basis of their own performance rather than on the record of their predecessors. So, it is time for Musharraf and his government functionaries to stop talking about the State of Pakistan on October 12, 1999 and start counting their own chickens, if they have hatched any.

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The last six years have been a period tall on promises and short on delivery. Of flipflops. Of abrasive decision-making and impetuous actions. All these six years, one felt like being on a roller coaster ride. What else could one feel, if one were a citizen of a country whose president is in the habit of taking long-term decisions like ‘engaging’ Israel on the basis of fleeting TV images. President Musharraf was quoted in newspapers last month saying that when he saw on his TV screen the pictures of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, he thought of catching the fleeting moment and turning it into an advantage for Pakistan. So he called his Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and asked him to contact Israel. Then the two decided to use Turkey for the purpose. Tel Aviv responded quickly with five dates and Musharraf decided on the very first date for the meeting in Istanbul. Can there be a more undergraduate reason than this for engaging Israel? Over the last six years President Musharraf has emerged as the state unto himself. At least he himself seems to have already stopped making a distinction between his person and Pakistan. Last month, at a women’s convention in New York he declared emphatically that those who opposed him were the enemies of Pakistan. Musharraf’s uniform and American crutches seemingly guarantee the viability of this state. And he seems to draw the ideological inspiration for the state from Washington’s post-9/11 war against “Islamic terrorism”. Just the other day while addressing the passing-out parade of 112 PMA Long Course and Integrated Course-31, the president claimed that Pakistan was a victim of both terrorism and extremism which, he said, has “opened a new dimension of responsibility on the Armed Forces of Pakistan — and while confronting these elements you have to guard against their vicious propaganda of making this battle look like one against Islam. The conflict involved is not one of religion. It simply is one of progress, emancipation versus backwardness and dogmatism.” With nearly 99 per cent of Pakistan’s population being Muslim, this new ideological underpinning of the state has brought it, that is the person of Musharraf, into direct confrontation with Pakistanis at large. The on-going Waziristan campaign is one highly relevant manifestation of this confrontation between the people and the state. And this antagonistic schism between the two is also the reason perhaps why the king’s party, instead of risking a contest on its performance, thought it safer to steal the just concluded three-phased local government elections in full public glare. That is perhaps why, despite having claimed that he is the most popular person in Pakistan, Musharraf does not dare rule the country without his uniform nor does he fancy contesting a fair and free elections with or without the uniform. That is also why he has not been able to decide which big dam to construct despite having said time and again that it’s a matter of life and death for Pakistan. And despite his claims of taking the right decision at the right time he has not even been able to resolve in the two long years the lingering problem of distribution of resources among the provinces, and between the provinces and the federation. Musharraf has given a fetching name to the new ideology of the state of Pakistan. Enlightened Moderation, he calls it. While preaching Enlightened Moderation, in practice he continues to court those very elements inside the country, which represent the forces of obscurantism. And ironically it is these very forces which he blames for the rise of extremism and terrorism in Pakistan. In Balochistan, the king’s party is a coalition partner of the MMA which is an alliance of all of Pakistan’s forces of obscurantism. In the NWFP, he has helped them emerge as the leading force and given them the provincial government. In parliament he has used the carrot and stick approach to help the MMA capture the slot of the leader of the opposition at the expense of moderate political parties. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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In fact he has divided the federation between the forces of obscurantism and his king’s party with Punjab and Sindh going to the latter and the NWFP and Balochistan in the hands of the former. And if you take a closer look at those who lead the king’s party, you will find them more of a watered-down version of the MMA leadership than champions of Musharraf’s Enlightened Moderation. Before the advent of Musharraf’s military rule, these forces of obscurantism while being promoted and pampered by his institution (to be used when needed as its political arm on the streets of Pakistan or as a militant extensions in Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir) had, however, found it almost impossible to acquire any political significance inside elected parliaments. But since his coming into power he has used these forces to deny moderate forces their genuine political space in these elected houses. Today he is the uniformed president of Pakistan because these very forces of obscurantism had helped him to become one by voting for the 17th amendment. Ironically, these forces of obscurantism are today shouting loud against his uniform claiming that he has gone back on his promise to take it off by December 31, 2004. The rhetoric of the two against each other has become so vicious and loud that one is easily misled into believing that Musharraf’s real opponents are not the moderate parties which are demanding immediate return of the armed forces to the barracks followed by fair and free elections under an independent and permanent election commission, but the MMA which is sharing power with him and which would lose all if such elections are held any time soon. Last month, while talking to journalists in New York, he told a reporter who thought the Indo-Pak peace process was making no headway on the Kashmir issue, that he would not like to divulge at ‘this juncture’ the details of what has already been achieved on this score. Now that is alright if he had shared these details with the elected parliament and taken the opposition into confidence on the issue. But going by the way he treats parliament and genuine opposition, one can say with a reasonable degree of confidence that he has not done this. In fact, it is he who has been calling the shots all these years on all the important and unimportant matters concerning Pakistan without consulting parliament or the cabinet. Even on the issue of Pakistan’s image, he is the one who seems more worried and is seen making visible efforts to give the image a favorable spin. It is this single-minded image-making mission of his which landed him in trouble in New York. And instead of winning over the not-so-friendly US media he has, with one faux pas, turned it into a vicious foe. One of the official justifications for engaging Israel, shaking hands with Ariel Sharon (even European leaders do not like to be seen publicly in his company or shaking hands with him because of his bloody record) and opening one’s heart to the World Jewish Congress is that it would help divert the Israeli lobby-controlled US media’s attention from Pakistan — and the negative stories coming out of it. This has not happened. And well after the rape flap, that is, on October 1, the Washington Post wrote a hard-hitting editorial against Musharraf in which he was called a liar and stupid. The other official reason given for engaging Israel is to neutralize the advantage India had achieved by recognizing Israel long way back in 1992. This is nothing but selfdelusion. And the claim that Pakistan would now be in a position to contribute to the Middle East peace process is all a flight of Islamabad’s imagination. As a rich country’s diplomat put it recently, Pakistan is not even a bit player in the Middle East theatre. Israel has no intention of leaving the West Bank. It is resettling those removed from

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Gaza in the West Bank to change the demography of the West Bank in favor of Israelis so that it can create one more ‘new reality’ there. The peace process in South Asia is proceeding in the right direction and at the right pace. But it would save the nation a lot of future embarrassment if Musharraf and his foreign office stopped reiterating the impossible, that is, ‘we would never accept the LoC as the final solution’. We have already done it by agreeing to make the LoC softer for the Kashmiris, but as hard as a permanent border for Pakistanis and the Indians. And they should also now stop insisting publicly that the progress on two-way trade, investment and transit facility should be made in tandem with progress on Kashmir because the two countries are today trading more actively than ever, the Indians have started investing in Pakistan through the UAE and the proposed open skies agreement between the two countries would render our objections to transit obsolete to a large extent. Musharraf in the last six years has changed the meanings of democracy, parliamentary system of government, press freedom and the rule of law. For him a democratic government means a government of the uniform, by the uniform and for the uniform. In his dictionary the parliamentary system of government means a government in which the president takes all the decisions while parliament debates irrelevancies. Press freedom in the absence of an independent judiciary and a strong parliament is meaningless. The freedom of information law is a misnomer. It is so restrictive that it should be named the denial of information law. The press is certainly free to express all kinds of opinion and harshest of criticism, but is not free to publish facts and true information. The Dubai-based independent TV channels, which are totally dependent on local cable operators, are being reined in through PEMRA laws, which empower police to switch off the cable on any flimsy reason. The press with the exception of a couple of newspapers has been so manipulated that its independence and freedom have become a farce. A couple of months back the SHO of an Islamabad Police Station issued notices to all the newspapers of the capital that if they published hate material they would be proceeded against under some obscure law. When the newspapers protested to the Information Ministry, the notice was withdrawn. But along with it the newspapers were ordered not to publish the story of the incident. Every one, with one exception, complied. The rule of law for Musharraf means strict enforcement of laws that he promulgates from time to time. When he wanted a five-year term for the chief and members of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) he gave it to them through an ordinance. But when they started objecting to out-of-turn promotions with no regard to merit and to unwarranted extensions in the service of contractual officers, Musharraf changed the law itself to curtail their tenure to three years. The president has been using his powers to make laws to create new realities like Israel does in the occupied territories. And all these new realities favor him while undermining the interests of those who oppose him. He has changed Article 63 of the Constitution in such a way that it makes it illegal for Benazir Bhutto to contest elections or lead her party. Then he issued an ordinance, which barred a third term for prime ministers. This was Benazir and Nawaz specific law as both have held the post twice. This is when he himself has been occupying a three-year-tenure constitutional post of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) for the last seven years and is likely to keep the slot as long as he remains the all powerful president of the country, an office with which he seems to have entered into a Catholic marriage.

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Under the LFO, which has become part of the Constitution after the 17th amendment, he has institutionalized the military’s political dominance and snatched the powers of the prime minister and reposed them in the office of the president. Then the law barring undergraduates to contest elections while curtailing the right of many experienced, popular and moderate parliamentarians to hold representative offices, qualified through some court ruling, the holders of madrassa certificates to fight elections and enter parliament with all their obscurantic mentality. NAB laws were liberally used to coerce and tempt moderates into joining the king’s party and those who refused to be coerced or tempted were sent to jail. To reduce the PPP from the single largest party in parliament after the 2002 elections and enable the king’s party to become the majority party, Musharraf kept suspended the law against crossing the floor until he had won over the required number of PPP MNAs to get a PML-Q man elected as prime minister. The law was revived as soon as prime minister Jamali’s government was installed at the center. The same tactics were used in Sindh where too the PPP had emerged as the single largest party. To get MMA’s cooperation to form the king’s party-led government in Balochistan, two former JUI ministers of the MMA who had been convicted of corruption and forgery were released. PPP turncoats which styled themselves as Patriots and PML-N turncoats who joined the PML-Q were allowed, again through some legal razzle dazzle, to register their parties under the names of PPP and PML respectively. The President to Hold Another Office Bill 2004 providing President Musharraf the legal cover to continue as Army Chief was passed by majority vote. And the acting President Mohammad Mian Soomro, a king’s party man, signed the bill citing national interest in the face of domestic and international security threats. And before the just concluded local government elections, the government created new districts to erode the PPP’s popular base in Sindh and that of the PML-N’s in the Punjab to increase the PML-Q’s chances. Like all other rulers of the past, Musharraf too seemingly has a short fuse for the opposition. So, while he keeps on terrorizing his friends in Washington and other European capitals with the idea that if he goes or even takes off the uniform, the forces of obscurantism (who he claims are the government-in-waiting today) would take over, he has by and large decimated completely all the genuine opposition through the laws he has framed himself, with the use of a subservient judiciary and by rigging elections. One bright spot of Musharraf’s six-year rule has been the economy. But then one must never forget as against the last four years when the 9/11 related manna kept flowing in from all directions, in the 10 years preceding Musharraf’s take-over Pakistan had become perhaps one of the most sanctioned countries in the world after Libya. It all started with the nuclear related Pressler amendment sanctions, imposed by the US in September 1990. The other bilateral and multilateral donors followed up in quick succession and by the end of 1999 the tap had completely dried up. While this was happening the IMF kept forcing successive governments to slash development budgets to reduce the burgeoning budgetary deficits which kept going up because of resort to heavy and expensive borrowing in the absence of any concessional or other assistance. Despite all the manna he has been getting from all over the world and the resultant high growth rates, Musharraf has failed to control the widening gap between the rich and the poor. His government is practicing one of the crassest economic systems which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. The sea of poverty has been

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expanding while the ruling elite is basking in the sunshine of prosperity on the island of vulgar wealth. This is a sure recipe for social upheaval, which brings us to the frequently asked question: If all is that bad, why don’t the people agitate against the government? Well, the people of Pakistan did agitate in 1969, in 1971 and 1977. But at the end of the first agitation, a new general took over. At the end of the second one, a general kicked the majority out of Pakistan. And at the end of third one, another general took over. The people don’t seem any more interested in sending one general home to bring in a new one or let a general kick out the residual majority. Today, if they are called to vote, no matter how blatantly rigged the elections are, they go to the polling stations, cast their votes and go home in silence. However, after the just concluded local government elections, most of these voters are likely to stay home in the elections of 2007. Musharraf Fails to Control Sectarian Monster Haunting the Country Amir Mir LAHORE, June 7: The sectarian war between Pakistan's Shias and Sunnis is bloody and deadly. Available figures indicate that, between January 1989 and May 31, 2005 a total of 1,784 Pakistanis were killed, and another 4,279 injured in 1,866 incidents of sectarian violence and terror across the country. This averages out to over 100 persons per year over the past 17 years, with no end in sight. And there are some indications that the trends may worsen. Thus, 187 persons were killed and another 619 were injured in 19 incidents of sectarian violence in 2004. Within the first five months of 2005, 120 Pakistanis have already lost their lives, and 286 have been injured in 30 incidents of sectarian violence. The worst of the incidents in the current year include: May 30, 2005: Six people, including two of the three assailants, among them a suicide bomber, are killed and 19 persons sustain injuries during an explosion in the courtyard of a Shia mosque at Gulshan-e-Iqbal in Karachi. May 27, 2005: At least 25 people, including a suspected suicide bomber, are killed and approximately 100 others sustain injuries during a powerful explosion at the Bari Imam shrine of the Shia sect located in vicinity of the diplomatic enclave in capital Islamabad. March 19, 2005: At least 50 people are killed and over 100 others sustain injuries during a suicide bombing at a crowded gathering near the shrine of a Shia saint at Fatehpur village in the Jhal Magsi district of Balochistan province. In view of the current wave of sectarian violence, it seems that the Government has simply failed to curb the activities of the banned Jihadi and sectarian groups, despite repeated claims by General Pervez Musharraf of having adopted strict administrative measures against them. The unfortunate fact remains that most of these groups continue to enjoy a free hand under the very nose of the administration, which is more interested in taking cosmetic steps instead of doing something practical to scotch the evil. It was the support extended by the country's third military ruler, President General Zia-ul-Haq, to the Jihadi and sectarian groups during the Afghan war that created these unmanageable monsters, who now rise to consume their own creators. The sectarian and ethnic essentialism that came into its own in an organized, militant form during the Zia period, now poses an ever more serious challenge to the state. The genie of sectarian violence refuses to be bottled and even as President Musharraf exhorts the people of Pakistan to adopt 'enlightened moderation', the country's Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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tentative quest for a non-discriminatory liberal democracy continues to unravel. Indeed, the ideology of fundamentalist Islam appears to remain at the heart of the Musharraf establishment's strategy of national political mobilization and consolidation, despite talk of enlightened moderation. Pakistan continues to be caught in the trap of extremist Islamist militancy and terror that its mighty military establishment constructed as part of its Afghan and Kashmir policies. Official support - both explicit and implicit - to Islamist terrorist groups continues, even while the state struggles to cope with the internal fall-out of the burgeoning terrorist community. Since the overall direction of Pakistan's military establishment remains committed to an Islamic ideological state, some of the militant groups that are supported by the regime are often found involved in bloody acts of sectarian violence. The Musharraf administration's support for the Jihadis fighting in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Afghanistan - and the growing nexus between the Jihadi and sectarian outfits - has indirectly promoted sectarian violence in Pakistan. The linkages between militants active in J&K and Afghanistan, on the one hand, and those within Pakistan, on the other, are not surprising, since these Jihadis share the same madrassas (seminaries), training camps and, often, operatives. Thus, though the Pakistani military establishment's support for these groups has kept the Indian Army tied down in J&K, it has created a serious 'principal-agent' problem on the domestic front. By facilitating the actions of irregulars in J&K, Pakistan actually promotes sectarian jihad and terrorism back home. Facing international criticism over its status as a host to numerous Islamist extremist elements, the Musharraf administration has, from time to time, sought to take steps to deflect growing internal and international criticism of the activities of fundamentalist elements within Pakistan. Inner contradictions within the ruling establishment are, however, bound to hamper these efforts. It is significant that, for decades, the country's Shia and Sunni sects lived side by side without any major problems. The roots of sectarian killing lie not in religious differences, but in political and social developments within Pakistan and the region. They are intimately tied up with the country's wider problem of militant and extremist Islam. With the passage of time, the largely theological differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims of Pakistan have been transformed into a full-fledged political conflict, with broad ramifications for law and order, social cohesion and governmental authority. It was during the Afghan jihad against the Soviet occupation, with dollars coming from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) promoted the proliferation of a huge number of militant groups and religious seminaries inside Pakistan. At that time, Washington needed Islamists to wage jihad against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, while Islamabad needed them to bring in billions of American dollars. Consequently, both turned a blind eye to their radical ideology and methods. The shortsightedness of the American administration and their Pakistani proxies became apparent soon after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan. While radical Islamists in Afghanistan formed the Taliban, their brethren in Pakistan turned their attention towards J&K or to sectarian opponents inside the country. Each act of sectarian killing provoked a cycle of revenge killings, with the civilian Governments failing to curb the menace, either because they also wanted the militants to fight in Pakistan's corner in J&K or because they lacked the will and the strength to do so. External factors other than Kashmir also promoted sectarianism - the foremost

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being funding of certain Pakistan-based Shia and Sunni sectarian groups by Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively. As successive Governments in Pakistan allowed Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shia-dominated Iran to fight a proxy war on Pakistani soil, the country and the people have had to suffer the devastating consequences. When Musharraf seized power in October 1999, he faced a formidable foe: well-armed, well-trained and well-financed Islamist-sectarian organizations, with a huge resource pool of recruits in thousands of religious madrassas in the country. Dealing with such a foe was never going to be easy for an isolated military dictator. Yet his task was made somewhat easier by the 9/11 terror attacks and the worldwide backlash against extremist Islam that it unleashed. Islamabad's decision to cut down support to the Kashmiri militants also boosted its drive against sectarianism. Once Islamabad decided to put the Kashmir issue on the back burner for the sake of better ties with New Delhi, it no longer had to put up with the Jihadi groups operating in J&K, or the sectarian outfits within Pakistan. The first clear sign of a shift in the Pakistan Government's attitude came in a televised speech by Musharraf to the nation on January 12, 2002. While announcing a massive campaign to eradicate the sectarian menace, the General banned three sectarian groups, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan (TJP) and the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) and put the Sunni Tehrik on notice. Another two sectarian groups - Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan (SMP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) had been banned earlier, on August 14, 2001. Despite the Government ban, however, almost all these sectarian groups continue to operate freely under changed names without much difficulty. Contrary to Musharraf's much-trumpeted claims of having dismantled the sectarian mafia in Pakistan, the hard fact remains that his administration has hardly taken any concrete measures to implement the ban in letter and spirit, except in arresting and later releasing some of the cadres of these groups. Enforcement agencies arrest some of these cadres every time there is an escalation in sectarian conflict, but they are released shortly after the wave of violence subsides. The organizational infrastructures of the banned sectarian groups has essentially remained intact, with most of the groups retaining the same office bearers who refused to go underground even after the January 2002 ban. Most of the banned groups continue to operate out of their old office premises, though some have shifted to new premises. They are still bringing out their periodical publications, in most cases under the old names, besides raising funds and holding congregations without any check or fear. And the sectarian tensions refuse to die down, given the fact that the contending groups are well organized and well armed. Their ability to maintain effectiveness and to elude enforcement agencies also has to do with an extensive support network that includes madrassas, political parties, bases across the border in Afghanistan, and financial support from foreign countries, if not foreign Governments. The International Crisis Group has noted, in its April 2005 report, The State of Sectarianism in Pakistan: Sectarian terrorists in Pakistan are thriving in an atmosphere of religious intolerance for which its military government is largely to blame. General Musharraf has repeatedly pledged that he would eradicate religious extremism and sectarianism and transform Pakistan into a moderate Muslim state. In the interests of retaining power, he has done the opposite. The report notes, further, that as Musharraf is praised by the international community for his role in the war against terrorism, the frequency and viciousness of sectarian terrorism continues to increase in his country. Regulating madaris, reforming the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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public education sector, invoking constitutional restrictions against private armies and hate speech, and removing all laws and state policies of religious discrimination are essential and overdue steps to stem the tide of religious extremism. The choice that Pakistan faces is not between the military and the mullahs, as is generally believed in the West; it is between genuine democracy and a military-mullah alliance that is responsible for producing and sustaining religious extremism of different hues. The report recommends to the Pakistan Government that it recognize the diversity of Islam in Pakistan, reaffirm the constitutional principle of equality for all citizens regardless of religion or sect, and give meaning to this by repealing all laws, penal codes and official procedures that reinforce sectarian identities and cause discrimination on the basis of faith. If these changes do not occur, the situation can be expected to worsen. Arif Jamal, a Pakistani writer on jihad, notes a troubling trend in the patterns of sectarian violence in the country: …the Pakistani groups used to carry out sectarian violence on the pattern of nonsectarian violence in the country before the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The sectarian violence became intense and brutal after the Jihadis had to leave Afghanistan in the aftermath of the US attack. The sectarian terrorists started using suicide attacks to perpetuate sectarian violence in Pakistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. Suicide attacks were unknown in Pakistan in the pre-9/11 period and were largely associated with the al-Qaeda network, although the al-Qaeda-affiliated groups never used them in Pakistan. However, a new mode of violence has been introduced during the current wave of sectarian conflict: a car bomb. It is for the first time that the terrorists have used a car bomb in Pakistan. And if past is any guide, they are likely to use this mode of violence more frequently in the future. Sectarian conflict and violence are an unpleasant reality in Pakistan today, and are becoming more and more intense. Administrative measures taken by the Musharrafled Government have failed to produce results so far. Analysts believe that the sectarian problem cannot be overcome by such administrative measures alone, while the state itself remains in alliance with extremist elements. The problem for General Musharraf is that it is difficult to promote the so-called jihad in J&K without inadvertently promoting many of the Pakistani sectarian outfits. In the process, state authority stands eroded in one way or the other. The increasing militarization and brutalization of the conflict shows that there are virtually no sanctuaries left - neither home, nor mosque nor hospital. Not even a jail is safe. And being innocent is not the issue. Just 'being' is enough - being Shia or Sunni, Barelvi or Deobandi. In a situation where different sectarian groups are vying to prove themselves the standard bearers of Islam, one strategy to secure prominence as a representative of 'true Islam' is obviously by displaying extreme hostility and intolerance to those designated as being 'un-Islamic' by virtue of belonging to religious minorities and minority sects. Musharraf Has Finally Become Dispensable, or so the General Claims Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, September 25: General Pervez Musharraf, with a bagful of 'foreign conquests' has returned to his country that welcomed its macho hero with bomb blasts, death of several innocent commoners, injuries to scores of others writhing in pain for lack of proper medical care and a blistering indictment of his recently held local bodies elections by the Commonwealth and the EU observers that found them, as in the past, fraudulent and deeply flawed. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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His more than a weeklong yatra that took him to New York to attend 60th annual session of the United Nations, among other engagements, included a 30-minute ceremonial meeting with President Bush, a much sought-after handshake with Israeli Prime Minister, a free meal with the Indian Prime Minister and his address to the World Jewry. Besides, the usual annual address to the UN General Assembly, an opportunity extended to all the invited heads of states, to recall its performance the previous year and to promise more of the same for the future, Musharraf used it as an occasion to reassure his insurers in Washington that he would do better and the taste he offered in the pudding as what it is being called as "historic breakthrough" regarding recognition of Israel was amply savoury for his mentors. While mention of Pakistan was conspicuously missing from President Bush's speech to the UN his comments praising India were prominently noted. When one calculates the gains and losses of his visit, one regretfully arrives at a total that is in the red for the country and its image. It is also a manifestation of the recognition of the glaring difference in American approaches to democracy and dictatorship. In case of India, it is the country that is praised and its people described as great. When it comes to Pakistan, it is Musharraf who gets plaudits and not his people who have to face the main brunt of his failures. In the Time magazine interview US Secretary of State Dr Condi Rice took pains to praise him to the skies for his brave stance against terrorism. Despite her being a woman and that too bracketed among the few most powerful in the world, she found it expedient to turn a deaf ear to his gender-bashing remarks that women in Pakistan are in the business of getting raped by design, that is to make money and get a foreign passport. No doubt she did mention about democracy in Pakistan and wants Musharraf to do more for it forgetting that to ask a military dictator to do that is like asking a man to get pregnant. Musharraf also ended up with lot of domestic and foreign flak on his face. His overall performance has done more damage to Pakistan's already tarnished image than ever before. Though he issued a tongue-and-cheek denial following his highly derogatory remarks on Mukhtaran Mai's rape case, his subsequent performance sunk him deeper into his own scum. What an anorchous image that he managed to create for himself when he got provoked on a question by a member of the weaker sex in a meeting attended by hundreds of women in New York that had been organized to white wash his sins of omission and commission. Apparently outraged by a question that hit him right where his flesh is rather sore since he sits long on pile of problems, the macho general trying to do his best to uphold the ignominious traditions of General "Tiger" Niazi (master of rape and genocide) converted an event to promote his regime's so-called pro-women policies to degenerate into a shouting match between himself and part of the invited audience. He desperately stooped so low that he tried to convert an innocent question into an enemy war against Pakistan. "I'm a fighter, I'll fight you. I don't give up and if you can shout, I can shout louder" was the response of our so-called battle-hardened commando president. Later, he also accused the questioner of being a member of a hostile political party-namely PPP. Knowing well his sub-human frame of mind, those who know him diagnose that his desperation is due to the messages that he is receiving from his Western mentors that enough is enough, that he has to do more for democracy, to ensure that 2007 elections are freely and transparently held with level-playing field for all political parties and their leaders especially poet Habib Jalib's "Nehati Larki" (Benazir Bhutto).

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Hence his disparate efforts at Geneva, that she nailed so effectively recently by putting the record straight on baseless charges of corruption out of political vendetta, through his NAB courts and outright thuggery to break PPP are his last ditch measures to force Ms Bhutto out of politics. Like his mentor General Zia who failed to bury the Bhutto legacy under the dung-heap of allegations, Musharraf too would ultimately have all the filth on his face when innate justice would be done to her by the Lord above who no general can bribe nor influence. The messages to Musharraf that a countdown has begun on him has at least brought on him the home truth that he is not indispensable. While his predecessor Ziaul Haq, despite well indicated, instead of calling it a day, continued to say and believe that he would remain at Pakistan's helms of affairs for many decades to come. Regretfully, powers that be that had supported him for so long against democracy, had found him to out-live his utility. His fatal fall from the sky was perhaps "arranged". The disposal bandobast (fix up) could only be done by his colleagues in uniform who had ensured that they do not accompany him on his fateful journey into eternity. In a number of my recent articles I have been underscoring the main concern of those in the West who have reasons to believe that their horse in Pakistan is in the last leg of his steam. The question by them begging an answer is: After Musharraf what and who? Their think tanks have been working on the contingency plans. No doubt yet another military intervention would become inevitable but it would not solve their problem. They do not know who that man on horseback might be: a liberal or a fundamentalist belonging to the Jihadis. To avoid such an eventuality their best bet is to pressurize Musharraf to hold early free, fair and transparent elections, let leaders in exile return home and participate in a level-playing field political and electoral activity. Both London and Washington have been trying to convey their man Friday that he cannot combat terrorism by isolating the great majority of the people in his country by denying it its democratic right to vote in a government of its choice. The enormous magnitude of the terrorism requires a national effort to combat it. By keeping main leaders out of the mainstream politics, he has given an open field to the religious parties to have the cake and eat it too. Of late Washington in particular and other Western capitals in general, seem to be taking seriously observations of experts like Stephen P. Cohen who have sized up Pakistani population's "growing alienation" from the United States that feeds into support for extremism. And this growing anti-Americanism obviously is due to absence of democracy and a level playing field for popular leaders who continue to command the support of the majority in the masses. The recent report before the House of Representatives International Relations Subcommittee for Asia and the Pacific on June 14 followed a month later by her statement in Islamabad, the American Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca virtually singed the lion's beard in his den. Ms Rocca 's message amply communicated the wind of change. She declared that it was the 'US policy that free and fair elections, a level-playing field and return to full democracy was the key to long-term prosperity and stability in Pakistan'. Besides, in her Washington-Islamabad video conference with senior journalists, Ms Rocca also brought on record that the US administration did not believe that the President's uniform guaranteed success of war against international terrorism and that it ensured that Pakistan's nuclear assets would not fall into the hands of fundamentalists. "It is a policy we continue to pursue," she said. How hurt Musharraf must have felt by her comments on his uniform as not being a necessity for war on terror, his personal main achievement in his just concluded American yatra was perhaps Washington's concession to him to tell the press that Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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uniform was not a matter of concern for the Americans and that during his several meetings with President Bush since 9/11 not once did Bush express his desire to see him without his uniform. Obviously, the American reaction to his fad is: "If the truant is happy with it, let it be." If his Khaki viagarises him, why deny him the pleasure of feeling manly. It is heartening to see that more and more of his Western supporters have started seeing through his game of misleading the international opinion in insisting that his uniform was essential for stability and to fight terrorism. While people in Pakistan who continue to struggle for democracy welcome the winds of change blowing from Washington, their gratitude is more for the Commonwealth that has remained steadfast in demanding of Musharraf to make electoral process transparent and to separate the office of the President from that of Army Chief since that is a contradiction of democracy. In this connection, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group in its 26th meeting in New York on 17 September 2005 reviewed developments in Pakistan since its last meeting in London in February 2005. The Group expressed concern on the slow progress in the democratization process. It stressed that there were areas where improvements still needed to be made to the electoral process and the political environment in Pakistan. CMAG endorsed the recommendations of the Commonwealth Election Team for strengthening the independence of the Election Commission and empowering it to use its executive powers to enforce its decisions and the code of conduct for elections. The Group requested the Secretary-General to intensify ongoing high-level contact with Pakistan and requested that the Secretariat continue to extend all possible technical assistance to Pakistan to support its transition to full democracy. CMAG reaffirmed its earlier stance that the holding by the same person of the offices of the Head of State and Chief of Army Staff is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare Commonwealth principles, as well as CMAG's expectations. It also restated its strong view that until the two offices are no longer combined in the same person, the process of democratization in Pakistan will not be irreversible. It urged the General to relinquish one of his two offices, certainly no later than the end of the current Presidential term in 2007. CMAG called on Islamabad to continue and intensify progress in fostering a sustainable and inclusive political culture, improving democratic governance, strengthening political and oversight institutions, supporting local governments, protecting human rights, respecting media freedoms and improving the position of women and minorities. It also called for the further widening of the democratic space so that all who wish can participate in the electoral process. The decision by CMAG to keep Pakistan on its agenda means that it shall continue to monitor the political and electoral activities to ensure sanctity of vote in 2007 general elections. While Commonwealth is doing all that it can to help speed up democratic transition in Pakistan, the European Union too has been contributing immensely to this end. Its mission in Islamabad too have compiled a detailed report on the recently conducted local bodies polls indicating serious flaws in the whole electoral exercise along with numerous complaints of pre-poll rigging from the opposition parties. The observers reported the failure of election officials to follow procedure, complete lack of secrecy in most polling stations during the vote casting and using of electoral rolls from 2001, not those of the last elections in 2002, serious problems on the days of polling such as presiding officers disallowing genuine ID cards, blatant breaches of election code by candidates and politicians, ballots box rigging including party officials removing real boxes and replacing them with pre-filled boxes and different methods of multiplying voting. The problems observed by EU missions also included an unusually Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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high number, in international terms, of spoiled ballot papers and chaotic and violent scenes at polling stations often to deliberately prevent voting from taking place. Notwithstanding the winds of change and apparently a countdown having begun on him, American Professor Stephen Cohen believes that it would be difficult to persuade the Pakistani General to democratize since the military establishment is afraid that a complete civilian government could mean end of policies that serve its interest best. It would also draw a curtain on its self-assumed role as the sole savior of "the national interests and guardian of Pakistan's ideological and geographical frontiers." Nevertheless, he rightly believes that Washington should insist that Musharraf allow the mainstream political parties - Ms Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N of Mian Nawaz Sharif - to function freely and be provided an even playing field. Any more marginalization of the main political leaders and their political parties would further strengthen the religious political parties who already have institutionalized support in the form of chain of madrassas throughout the country. Only a democratic Pakistan can defuse the emergence of a coalition of the Army and Islamist forces committed, in the longer run, to Talibanize Pakistan. Musharraf takes a Big Gamble as Pakistan Goes to Polls Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD: Pakistan goes to polls on Thursday, Oct 10, with no clear winner in sight, no national leader even in a position to claim victory nationwide, no single person looking like the next prime minister and the military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, sitting on the edge of his seat, thinking whether he had committed a major blunder. All indicators show that the major political parties led by exiled leaders Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Hussain, still enjoy a commanding position among the voters and if massive vote rigging is not resorted to, each will get a big chunk of seats. But all have complained of heavy pre-poll rigging in shape of official interference, forcing popular politicians to change loyalties, use of official machinery to support campaigns of favorite candidates and pre-qualifications and disqualifications of others on a large scale. As individual politicians wind up their campaigns, since no national campaign by any political party was visible on any countrywide issue, the one question in all minds is who will be chosen by the army as the new prime minister, as still every one believes it will be General Musharraf who will be selecting the PM and not the people of Pakistan electing their head of government. Musharraf has tried twice in the past to make a deal with both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto on unacceptable terms but SA Tribune has learnt that new lines of communications have again been opened with Shahbaz Sharif as the official assessments indicate a big swing in favor of Benazir Bhutto’s PPP, although she has personally been disqualified and thrown out of the race. Shahbaz Sharif has also not been allowed to run for the National Assembly but he could be maneuvered in as there is no time fixed for calling the session of Parliament to elect its leader. This issue is also complicated by the fact that the Senate would not be elected until one month after the NA polls and this constitutional lacuna has to be filled. The obvious choice of the army is the band of turncoat politicians, led by the Choudhries of Gujrat, forming what is now known as the “King’s Party”. Three years ago when General Musharraf came to power, he spoke against these very politicians. Today he is seeking their help to perpetuate his own rule amid disclosures of scandals which match those found in any political government. General Musharraf had intelligently kept his cards close to his chest and no one is yet sure of who will be picked as the Leader of the House, a prerogative which the elected Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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House should be enjoying in normal democracies. The secret agencies indulging in back door politicking and Musharraf’s trusted aides have made it somewhat known that the largest Punjab province will go to the Choudhries of Gujrat. But SA Tribune has learnt even this is not yet a done deal. Until recently Musharraf’s main political wheeler and dealer, his principal secretary Tariq Aziz and the ISI Chief were trying to woo Multan’s jailed PPP leader, ex-Speaker Yousaf Raza Gilani, to break away from the party and in return become the Chief Minister of Punjab, leading the King's Party, the PML (Quaid-e-Azam). Choudhry Shujaat was also asked to visit Gilani’s wife to offer mediation, without being told about the Chief Ministership’s offer. Shujaat did meet Gilani’s wife in Lahore and told her he was ready to help in Gilani’s release from jail, as he did in the case of another politician Syed Ghous Ali Shah of Sindh. Gilani’s brother in law was also present when Shujaat visited Gilani’s wife and made the offer. Later Tariq Aziz also met Gilani's wife with the real offer of Chief Ministership. Reportedly Gilani has rejected these offers saying he would not ditch his party at the time of a crisis specially when he had already suffered one year in jail on frivolous charges of misusing official cars. Many others, who were accused of similar charges, have not even been asked a single question, including ex-Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad. Gilani was given a 10 year jail sentence. Apart from these latest maneuvers, General Musharraf had been promising the prime ministership to all major leaders in the hope that any one of them would emerge with enough numbers to beat others. So at various times, Sardar Farooq Leghari, Mian Mohammed Azhar, Imran Khan, Ejaz ul Haq, Ilahi Bux Soomro and Ghulam Mustufa Jatoi have been appearing as possible nominees. None of them can however claim to command a majority on his own and would have to depend heavily on the carrot and stick of General Musharraf to get a vote of confidence in the House. The other issue giving sleepless nights to General Musharraf is his own position as President of Pakistan as no one has accepted his version that the fraudulent April referendum gave his a five year term. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has recently been showing signs of shifting its position as judges have been making observations that the laws and amendments promulgated by General Musharraf shall have to be ratified by the new Parliament. In such a scenario it is likely that the President’s election is also thrown open and that is where Benazir Bhutto is reportedly calculating her entry into the equation, although under no circumstances the army would allow her to even contest for the top position against General Musharraf, let alone let her win it and assume the job. All this means an uncertain immediate future for Pakistan, and specially General Musharraf, whose sole source of strength is now the support he enjoys in Washington. But that could also change if the elections throw up a credible alternative leadership. Musharraf, UN Photo Ops, Legitimacy and Democracy Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, September 15: As General Musharraf enjoys New York's excellent weather and extra-security from September 14 to 17, the question of “democratic legitimacy” of his claim to power will foreshadow his photo-ops at the UN, a summit with the Indian Prime Minister, a hand-gliding session with President Bush, a women’s convention, and his address to American Jewish Congress. The very fact that he is in New York brings the question of his democratic legitimacy into bold relief, and gives the lie to his claim that Pakistan has been put back on the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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democratic rails with a functioning “democratic government” led by a “Prime Minister.” If it is so what is he doing in New York? Why is he “standing in for” the supposed head of government that Prime Minister is? Shouldn’t it be the Prime Minister, according to the Constitution, conducting the business of government? Shouldn’t it be the Prime Minister representing the government? Will he meet the Indian President or Indian Prime Minister? Contrary to his claims of democracy in Pakistan, he continues to hold appointive and elective offices simultaneously. He is sitting Army Chief the raw force of which he brought to bear on evicting the constitutionally and democratically elected President Rafiq Tarar on June 20, 2001. He did it for the simple reason of swapping a worn “title” for one that befit his July 14-16, 2001 summit in Agra, India, with the Indian Prime Minister AB Vajpayee. He did not want to travel to India as “Chief Executive” -- a code name for “Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA)” – so he had his handlers evacuate the “Aiwan-eSadr,” after its occupant refused to sign on to a “voluntary resignation.” Like John Gotti, he stood there watching the constitutional President pack and move out. As soon as President Tarar drove out of sight, he had the Chief Justice of Pakistan brought to the Aiwan-e-Sadr, who, without raising an eyebrow, swore him as “President of Pakistan.” He has since been President as well as Army Chief. Ironically, he has zero trust in either institution. As President, he fears that the very political class he has created to populate the Quaid-i-Azam Muslim League (QML) will democratically remove him, unless he has his upholstered gun at the ready. It is his appointive office of Chief of Army Staff that lets him flash that much-needed firearm, just in case. The moment he quits the army command, it is only a matter of guess as to who will first take a swing at him – his comrades in arm or his political protégés? Because of these contradictions, he knows well his chances in a democracy. His knowledge was further bolstered on September 9, when he was left with no “stitch of legitimacy” on, as the country’s democratic opposition in a nation-wide strike put Pakistan out of business. It was protesting Musharraf’s six-year military dictatorship and free-for-all rigging in local council elections held in August in which Returning Officers, according to The Nawa-i-Waqt’s perceptive columnist, Mr Abbas Athar, charged a million rupees a pop for rewriting Presiding Officers’ sealed results. These Returning Officers are elite members of Musharraf’s judicial branch, who are in line to become judges of Pakistan’s Supreme Court and High Courts. Three features of the September 9 strike, however, stood out starkly to mortify him: First, the democratic opposition, made up of liberal-conservative alliances, put up an unprecedented united front, in six years of Musharraf’s dictatorship, to give a joint strike call and make it a grand success. Second, the trading classes, since Musharraf’s coup in October 1999, have been sitting on the sidelines. The opposition, for the first time, enlisted them into challenging the military dictatorship. Allied with them were the transporters who just as enthusiastically joined in the national chorus of “Go Musharraf Go”. The Musharraf government, according to The Nation, Pakistan’s centrist newspaper, bribed the National Transport Ittehad (NTI) with a graft of 10 million rupees to “stay on the wheel.” Those who refused to cut such a deal ended up in jail. Pakistan where privately owned transport is limited to fewer than one percent (1%) of the population, transporters’ strike can bring down any government. Aware of such a talisman-effect of the off-road transport, the government, in Karachi alone, had to hire 350 passenger vehicles and assign as many “police officers” to run those vehicles on city routes. Third, the opposition, within five days of the strike call, brought the country to a halt – with traders staying off their businesses and transporters standing off the road. If the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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opposition, despite the government’s bribing and bullying to break up the strike, can have a nation-wide shut down at such a short notice, it can wreak an even bigger havoc on Musharraf’s dictatorship if it gives future strike calls a little longer timeline with a tad of more energy? It is these concerns that are adding to Musharraf’s edginess that was on view in the wake of strike. The very next day of the strike, he had a Kangaroo court issue arrest warrants for Senator Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s husband, who is nursing in a New York hospital after an angioplasty, for not appearing in court! As the question of democratic legitimacy hangs heavy on him, Musharraf becomes even more nervous. Having completely lost it at home, he is now flailing about to seek it overseas. He always parrots the need for polishing “Pakistan’s image abroad,” by which he means his own reinvention as a “statesman.” To help his attempts at his imagined reincarnation, he has hired a bevy of image-makers – both from Britain and the US – with the help of state coffers to get an “extreme makeover” from a third-rate dictator to a “first-rate statesman.” His British consultants handed him the nostrum of a “soft Pakistan abroad” (and “hard Pakistan at home”) that he is combining with Dr. Kissinger’s tonic of “enlightened moderation” to set out for a long journey to “statesmanship.” His address at the United Nations’ General Assembly, his summit with the Indian Prime Minister, his grip and grin session with President Bush, his speech at a women’s convention, and his talk at the Jewish Congress are all choreographed to make him attractive to prospective overseas buyers. His symbolic packaging, however, is too threadbare to hide his substantial being to the contrary. He, for instance, has done nothing for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for which he is attending the UN General Assembly session. On the contrary, Pakistan’s economy, on his watch, has become one to resemble that of New Orleans’s: all entertainment and tourism that was swept away, perhaps forever, with a tidal wave unleashed by Hurricane Katrina. Pakistan, like New Orleans, is awash with cash without any economy to speak of. The cash that is flowing from the war on terror is keeping him and his cronies firmly grounded, while two-thirds (65%) of Pakistan live on $2 a day! As for his summit with the Indian Prime Minister, he brags that he and Man Mohan Singh will have the Kashmir dispute resolved before “we both are out of office!” This timeline is deceptively simple. We all know when Prime Minister Singh will leave office, but does anyone know when will Musharraf’s term be up? So, let Kashmiris be not carried away by his bravado. His next best bet is President Bush, who is, however, on the defensive for his slow response to the recovery effort in New Orleans. What’s more, Hurricane Katrina has exposed certain weak links in homeland security, because of overseas commitment to the war on terror that is largely benefiting double-crossers such as Musharraf, while Americans are paying for it their with blood and treasure. So, he will expect some “frank conversation” when he will walk into President Bush’s chamber. Above all, his speech at a women’s convention will have an Orwellian effect. This tribune of women’s rights is the same “man” who kept Mukhtaran Mai, a rape victim, from leaving the country for fear of bringing it “bad name.” In Dr. Shazia Khalid’s case, another rape victim, he stood by the rapist to this day. He went so far as to refuse The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof’s entry into Pakistan for his unadorned reporting on rape victims. When, recently, his police officers raped Sonia Naz, a resident of Faisalabad, in a makeshift police lockup, the horrific details of which chilled anyone who dared read her story.

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The Supreme Court, the “Prime Minister,” the “Chief Minister,” and everyone who was anyone ordered an inquiry into the accusations. It was Musharraf who kept mum (“soft image abroad;” “hard image at home”). On his watch, Pakistan has become the most unsafe place for women. Yet he has the gall to speak about “violence against women.” “By the same token,” he will seek his “statesmanship” by addressing the American Jewish Congress in New York. Before leaving Pakistan, he told the Associated Press of Pakistan that his dialogue with American Jewry would open the door “to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.” If his past is any guide, he used dialogue with India and the war on terror to deflect attention from the growing democratic challenge to his military dictatorship. Now that the years of dialogue with the Indians and the war on terror are losing world attention, he is in need of another “attention grabber” that his address to American Jewish Congress is hoped to become. Remember, Musharraf is neither pro-West, nor proIslam, nor pro-Pakistan. He is just pro-Musharraf! Musharraf's Blue Eyed Religious Affairs Minister Turns Out to be Dr. Fake M A Siddiqui KARACHI, March 9: He is the most high profile Parliamentarian of Altaf Hussain’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and is also projecting himself as Altaf Bhai’s successor, should something happen to the MQM leader in London. He is the blue-eyed boy of General Pervez Musharraf as the General telephones him after hearing his dramatic preachings on the TV. He is the most versatile preacher of Islamic values and morals on home TV screens round the clock. He is a prolific speaker and a successful fund-raiser for charities. He is a junior Minister for Religious Affairs in the huge cabinet of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. But in addition to all these qualifications, young, dapper and the stylish member of the National Assembly from Karachi, "Dr." Aamir Liaquat Hussain, is a fake and a fraud. In a stunning investigation by Karachi Urdu Daily “Ummat” it has been documented and proved that Dr Aamir purchased fake University degrees to contest the 2002 general election, forced the Karachi University officials to authenticate these degrees in a single day and prevented any investigations by the newspaper to dig deep into the unavailable records at the University. The newspaper, however, persisted with the three-month long probe and was able to obtain the copies of the “University” degrees Dr Aamir used to make himself eligible to contest the election for a National Assembly seat on the MQM ticket from Karachi. He won because of the party ticket and when MQM joined the Musharraf coalition, he was made a junior Minister of Religious Affairs in the cabinet. But his fame came from his TV show on GEO TV "Aalim Online" a religious program in which viewers phone in their questions on Islamic issues and he invites two prominent Islamic scholars every week to answer these personal and social questions. He also hosts other religious programs and General Musharraf and his wife Sehba are so fond of his style of preaching and reciting “Hamds and Naats”, specially during the month of Ramazan, that two years ago Sehba Musharraf called him instantly and told him General Musharraf was crying as he listened to his voice on TV. Dr Aamir did not have a graduate degree in 2002 and according to the investigation he approached a web site in Spain, The Trinity College & University, which boasts about providing Bachelors, Masters or even Doctorate degrees, without attending any class or college. “Everything by Email” the web site of the College says right on top with the big slogan: “Get your degree today.” Dr Aamir bought his “Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies” degree (Serial No: P2002227 Dated March 17, 1995), got his “Master of Arts in Islamic Studies” degree Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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(No: P-2002341 Dated March 15, 2002) and his “Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies” degree (No: P-2002528 Dated April 5, 2002). In what may be a world record worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. He got his Doctorate in just three weeks after his Master's degree, if the documents are to be believed. Daily Ummat contacted the Karachi University authorities to find out how these web site Email degrees were authenticated in a single day, in writing, by the then Registrar of Karachi University, Prof. NM Aqil Burney. The Registrar received the application from Dr Aamir on August 24, 2002, days before filing of his nomination papers for the NA election and authenticated his degrees though this letter No PA/2002 Dated August 24, 2002. Prof. Aqil, however, did leave some elbow room by stating in his letter that the authentication was “provisional” and the final decision would be conveyed to the applicant in due course of time. That decision was neither needed nor taken nor conveyed to anyone as Dr Aamir had used the provisional certificate to get himself elected to the Parliament and the matter was forgotten. When the newspaper contacted Prof Aqil later to ask how he could issue the authentication without referring the documents to the Karachi University’s Equivalence Committee, he admitted that Dr Aamir had come to him with degrees from some Spanish University and since these were not degrees issues by his University, he authenticated them on the spot. His answer was unconvincing to say the least. Prof Aqil kept no record of these degrees and when the newspaper contacted the current Registrar to verify whether any such record was kept, no one could trace the file, as none existed. When the newspaper contacted the Higher Education Commission in Islamabad, the official authority on the matter, to verify whether the Trinity College & University of Spain, which issued the degrees to Dr Aamir, was a recognized institution by Pakistan, Director General Mohammed Javed Khan informed the newspaper vide a letter Dated February 23, 2005 that the Trinity College was not recognized. The letter confirmed the forgery of Dr Aamir and abetment in the forgery by Prof Aqil to facilitate his candidacy in the election. Daily Ummat also obtained copies of the degrees Dr Aamir presented to the Election Commission and during the investigation found that the Trinity College had placed exactly similar samples on its web site, offered the same day for a price. The investigation leaves Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain, MQM Chief Altaf Hussain and General Pervez Musharraf in an embarrassing political dilemma. Musharraf has been promoting Dr Aamir as the heir apparent of Altaf Hussain himself and the way his curve was rising was creating serious apprehensions within the MQM circles as well. For Musharraf it would be a triple disaster in just a few weeks as Dr Aamir would be the third cabinet minister who has been caught literally with his pants down in the middle of the road. His supporter, PPP rebel and currently a minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, has already been asked by the Prime Minister to resign as his bail application was cancelled by the Supreme Court and National Accountability Bureau has to arrest him for unpaid loans. Many other candidates in the 2002 elections were disqualified because they were defaulters of loans but not Faisal. Interestingly just before the Supreme Court decision to cancel his bail, Faisal Saleh Hayat slipped out of the country and is now residing in London, considering his options whether to return to Pakistan and land in a jail or stay away. Another serious embarrassment for Musharraf has been the Health Minister in the Punjab Cabinet, Dr Tahir Javed who absconded from Nebraska after causing the worst

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Hepatitis C outbreak in US history and who had forced his insurance company and the State of Nebraska to pay millions of dollars to his victims who sued him. Now the show boy of Musharraf, Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain is in the dock. Scores of seasoned politicians, including former minister Syeda Abida Hussain of Jhang, were either disqualified or did not contest the 2002 polls because they did not have graduate degrees. Now we find that some of those who did, committed a fraud with the law and the people. The biggest embarrassment would, however, be for his GEO TV channel because he hosts a program which is supposed to teach moral values to its viewers. The host has now proved to be an immoral person himself. Musharraf's Dr Fake Caught in a Web of Lies and Deceit M A Siddiqui KARACHI, May 2: Pakistan controversial Religious Affairs junior minister, the gift of Altaf Hussain’s MQM to General Musharraf, one who is perpetually present on the Idiot Box, “Dr” Aamir Liaquat Hussain of the Fake Degrees fame, has once again stirred the bees nest by making conflicting claims in an interview to Daily Dawn, weeks after the controversy over his Internet degrees had almost been forgotten. Under the headline “My Degrees are not fake” the Minister has made so many incriminatory confessions, padded with untenable and almost stupid conflicting claims, that his credibility would now suffer the damage he may just have escaped through an embarrassing but understandable silence. He tears his own statements and claims apart and weaves a web of lies in which he finds himself entangled at the end. Dr Aamir (Fake) Hussain was accused of buying his educational degrees from an Internet College just before elections in 2002 so that he could become eligible under the new Musharraf doctrine to elect a “Graduate Parliament.” Officials of the Karachi University were apparently pressurized to authenticate his Internet degrees and declare them equivalent to those issued by a Pakistani University on the same day. The original story on his degrees was investigated by a Karachi Urdu Daily “Ummat”. According to the investigation he approached a web site in Spain, The Trinity College & University, which boasts about providing Bachelors, Masters or even Doctorate degrees, without attending any class or college. “Everything by Email” the web site of the College says right on top with the big slogan: “Get your degree today.” Dr Fake bought his “Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies” degree (Serial No: P-2002227 Dated March 17, 1995), got his “Master of Arts in Islamic Studies” degree (No: P2002341 Dated March 15, 2002) and his “Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies” degree (No: P-2002528 Dated April 5, 2002). In what may be a world record worthy of the Guinness Book, he got his Doctorate in just three weeks after his Master's degree, if the documents are to be believed. Daily Ummat contacted the Karachi University authorities to find out how these web site Email degrees were authenticated on a single day, in writing, by the then Registrar of Karachi University, Prof. NM Aqil Burney. The Registrar received the application from Dr Aamir on August 24, 2002, days before filing of his nomination papers for the NA election and authenticated his degrees though this letter No PA/2002 Dated August 24, 2002. But all hell broke for Dr Fake when South Asia Tribune picked up the Daily Ummat story and published not only copies of his degrees but also the images of the web site of the Trinity College. According to the latest article in the Sunday Magazine of Daily Dawn (May 1), more damage was done when the South Asia Tribune, which Dawn described as an explosive online news ezine, “also picked up this news item and uploaded some socalled documentary evidence on its site. None of these stories featured comments Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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from Aamir, who for the first time has spoken on this issue to any publication.” “These are all just lies. Before I never commented on this issue because, I believe, it’s in the nature of dogs to bark, and I don’t want to counter every bark made by a dog. This has all been done by a few people in some newspapers, and other people who don’t wish to see me in the religious spectrum of Pakistan. My PhD degree has nothing to do with my becoming eligible for elections since my medical degree was sufficient for that,” he told Dawn. But then he admitted: “True, I attached my honorary PhD degrees along with my other medical degree when I filed my nomination papers, but I ask, what’s wrong in that. Why should a storm stir up on this issue? Yes, it might be true that the Trinity College sells degrees or that other people buy degrees from it, but I wasn’t aware of or concerned with that. The point is that I got it for free and as an honorary degree.” This is how Dawn presented his explanation on the PhD degree that he got from an Internet College: “Aamir Liaquat owes his ‘Dr’ label to his two poles-apart degrees; he got an MBBS from Liaquat Medical College Jamshoro in 1995, and a PhD in Islamic Studies from an online university in 2002. “Explaining the events that led him to pursue an online degree in Islamic Studies after completing his medical education, he says: “Before the events of 9/11, in 2000 there was a negative propaganda against Islam. This was the era of the Taliban, who were being labeled as terrorists by the West and were being portrayed as tormentors of the fair sex since they disallowed them to work or pursue education. It was during this time that I started my research work on the topic ‘Islam and Terrorism’ which is also available in book form.” “Available for Rs200, the title of the book showcases a nuclear missile wrapped in the flags of Israel and India cruising towards Muslim countries, while the back cover has large-sized pictures of Osama and Al-Zawahiri splashed across. “I worked very hard for over a year on this topic and, in fact, went on to complete 1,500 pages. After completing my research I decided to get it published somewhere so that the world would recognize my effort. For this purpose I contacted all the universities I could find on the net and sent my thesis to them. “A number of them, which include the Ambassador University of Texas, Trinity College & University (Spain), Lincoln College, Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), appreciated my work. Out of these, two universities, the Ambassador University of Texas and the Trinity College & University, offered me honorary degrees on behalf of their faculty of arts, which I duly accepted. “Even though I did work hard for a year on my thesis, I want to make it clear that I have never said that I have pursued a proper education program for my PhD degrees, which are just honorary entities awarded to me in appreciation of my effort,” he concludes. It is what he said in these paragraphs that Dr. Fake has been caught lying through his teeth and making a fool of not only Dawn and its readers, but is trying to swim out of a pond full of his own lies and mud. A quick recollection of facts will determine the mess he has now landed himself in. Fact No. 1: On August 24, 2002 Dr Aamir presented his foreign degrees to the Registrar of Karachi and got his provisional approval on the same day. The letter talks of “foreign degrees” so it is clear that Dr Aamir presented more than one foreign degree to get its equivalence. In fact he presented all the three degrees he had purchased from Trinity College, that of BA, MA and PhD. Fact No 2: Dr Aamir admits in his Dawn interview: “True, I attached my honorary PhD degrees along with my other medical degree when I filed my nomination papers, but I ask, what’s wrong in that.” He had bought only one PhD degree from Trinity Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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College which was authenticated by the Karachi University Registrar. The other two degrees he attached with his nomination papers, of BA and MA, were also authenticated by the Registrar. Fact No. 3: He had no MBBS degree from Jamshoro University when he filed his nomination papers because if he had that degree, there was no need to rush to the Registrar with fake degrees, get a letter of authentication on the same day and try to break the Law of the land. This explanation is all an after-thought and it is possible as a Minister he may have managed to get a MBBS degree attached to his nomination papers in the Election Commission. In Pakistan everything is possible in the age of Enlightened Moderation. Fact No. 4: Dr Aamir claims his PhD degree had nothing to do with his nomination papers. But why did he buy and present the BA and MA degrees to the Election Commission has not been explained by him and that is where he gets caught lying. Fact No. 5: He says he got his MBBS degree in 1995 from Jamshoro College. But the BA Degree he got from Trinity College is dated 17 March 1995. Is this not a joke? It is an open fraud. How could Dr Fake do his MBBS from Jamshoro and his BA in Islamic Studies from Trinity College at the same time. Fact No. 6: Trinity College and University’s web address (URL) was registered under the name of: KSR Consulting,1403-1901 19 ST NE, Calgary, Alberta T2E4Y4, Canada. It was registered through: GoDaddy.com with these details: Domain Name: TRINITYEDUCATION.COM, Created on: 05-Jul-00, Expires on: 05-Jul-06, Last Updated on: 18-Feb-05. Fact No 7: When the college itself was registered in 2000, and that too in Canada and not in Spain as Dr Aamir claims, although they do have a Spanish address, how can it issue a degree to Dr Aamir dated March 17, 1995. It is thus a fake degree and when Dr Aamir got it authenticated from the Registrar of Karachi University, he committed a criminal act, an outright fraud. Fact No 8: The degrees Dr Aamir admitted he attached with his nomination papers for the 2002 election do not say anywhere that these are “Honorary” Degrees. In fact the PhD Degree states on its face in bold and capital letters: "The Trinity College has conferred upon Dr Aamir Liaquat the Degree, Rank and Academic Status, Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies.” It further adds: “All requirements of the Board of Regents and Examiners having been completed. All rights and Privileges thereunto appertaining are hereby awarded.” Is this the language of an Honorary Degree. Fact No 9: Trinity College offers an All-in-One Package to its customers for UK Pounds 500 (US$960) in which all three degrees, Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate are offered together. This is what Dr Aamir purchased with the request to the college to put the 1995 date on his BA degree. Fact No 10: Dr Aamir has not explained or clarified why would a commercial company selling its products to the rest of the world offer an almost 1000-dollar package free of cost to him making him an “Honorary” Doctor in a subject in which the College has no experience. What services did he render to the Trinity College and who is he trying to fool? All these facts and evidence proves Dr Aamir is trying to justify one mistakes and one lie by committing more mistakes and offering more lies to the people. If this is his personal standard of morals and ethics, the irony is that he is the junior Minister for Religious Affairs and on the TV every day he teaches morals to the rest of the nation. And now he claims that he has also been given the authority to issue 'Fatwas". May God help those who seek Fatwas from him and act on them as they would be following the words of an established "liar" and a "fraud" instead of an "Aalim" (a learned man). The authority given to him also shows how shallow and materialistic our other Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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religious leaders are. For a few minutes of appearance on TV, they could make an Aalim out of a swindler. Instead of coming clean and admitting that he committed a mistake, he now says dogs keep on barking and he does not care. After this overwhelming evidence which conclusively proves that he is a liar, a fraud and an unethical person, the people of Pakistan have to decide who is barking on the wrong tree. Musharraf’s Record of Repeated Disasters: Can We Trust His Judgment? Shaheen Sehbai LAST FRIDAY, when a moderate and half ambitious but widely-read Urdu columnist, Irshad Ahmed Haqqani, who had attended General Musharraf’s famous Lahore briefing, slapped the General with a brutal, almost discourteous smack in his column, it was clear that Musharraf was now being seen as a case gone astray, even by his sympathizers. Wrote Haqqani in Daily “Jang” of August 22: “You have put the condition of an “honest and righteous” leadership to eradicate corruption. Excuse Me. You (General Musharraf) are the almighty dictator for the last three and a half years. Look at your own performance first and then open your mouth to advice and lecture others. Have you collected the “honest and righteous” leadership under the umbrella of Mr. Jamali’s coalition? If a philosopher cannot act on his own philosophy, how can he complain about others? One ounce of action is heavier than one ton of words. If you had taken action in the right direction on the conditions (you are laying down today), you would not have felt the need to lecture the nation…” Strong words but coming rather late in the day. Yet it is now almost clear as a crystal that there has always been a very wide gap between what General Musharraf says and what he actually does. And whatever he does, has almost invariably, turned out not to be the right thing. We compiled a list of decisions Musharraf took, since he became the Army Chief to the present, and it turns out to be so depressing, one almost loses faith in the ability and capacity of the man to take any, repeat any, correct decision, unless forced on him or when he had no choice. Whether he does it deliberately or whether it is the fault of his training and instincts developed over the years as a commando and a survivor is debatable. Here are some of the key mistakes he made, as a decision-maker in various capacities: - As Army Chief, Musharraf rallied all Corps Commanders to take a vow that if the political prime minister tried to assert his authority on the new army chief, as he had done with General Jahangir Karamat, who was forced to resign, the Army would stage a coup d’etat. That laid the seeds of violating the Constitution, even when there was no apparent reason. The conspiracy was already hatched. - As Army Chief, Musharraf went to Abbaji, the father of the then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, in Raiwind, and asked him to replace the PM with his brother Shahbaz Sharif, who was then Chief Minister of Punjab. That day, he lost the confidence of the PM, for good and was then not to be trusted. (This was recorded by me in an interview with Abbaji, published in Daily ‘Dawn’ in August of 2000.) - As Army Chief Musharraf refused to obey the Prime Minister and support his peace initiative with India, when Vajpayee was invited to Pakistan for the famous bus trip. That decision signaled to the world that Pakistan was still a banana republic with the power in the hands of the army and civilians were helpless. - As Army Chief Musharraf launched the Kargil operation which ended in a disaster and killing of 4000 Pakistan Army men (according to Nawaz Sharif’s latest statement made Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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on Aug 14, 2003 at a protest rally in Lahore). Kargil has become the ultimate credibility factor for Musharraf and Pakistan Army as no one trusts him after that. - After October '99 coup, he made some right sounding noises about a liberal and modern Pakistan, but soon slipped into the mould of a traditional self-perpetuating dictator, negating everything he said earlier. He twisted the Supreme Court judgment in Zafar Ali Shah case to grab powers and extend his tenure. - In the April Referendum his decision-making power was exposed to the limit as the referendum took away 90 per cent of his credibility as a sincere and honest army commander who, he repeatedly and dishonestly claimed, had been forced into the October coup without ever intending it. The referendum was the beginning of his end as a credible leader. - He made appointments which exposed his decision-making powers. A Brigadier, illegally promoted as Major General, was made his chief spokesman and all agreed he was a disaster. Maleeha Lodhi was made Ambassador to US, again proving that he could not make a better judgment of personalities. Javed Jabbar was made Information Minister, only to be removed after he ended up with media disaster, specially turning the General’s first UN/US visit in September 2000 into a war between the Pakistani Press and the Army. - Perverted legal wizard, Sharifuddin Pirzada, was pressed again into service thereby sending the message to Pakistan that further rape and disfiguring of the Constitution was in the works. The LFO which came out proved that was a major disaster, still hanging around the General’s neck. - His takeover as President, removing the compliant Rafiq Tarar, brought him into a situation which gave birth to the now universal demand for separation of the presidency from the army chief’s post. - An open and shut case of bribing the top judges of the Supreme Court, by extending their retirement age, brought charges against the Army, but almost crippled the superior judiciary when the lawyers’ community revolted and refused to work with these tainted judges. Nothing could have damaged the Supreme Court more than this one decision. - Come 9/11 and Musharraf was swept by the force of the strong current into making many decisions, some out of sheer helplessness and some deliberate. His famous UTurns on Taliban and Jihadis could be justified as he had no choice but his decision to secretly support the religious extremists in local bodies’ elections first and then in October general elections backfired with such ferocity, he is still not able to get out of the mess. To this date the Mayor of Karachi is from Jamaat Islami, the party which refuses to accept Musharraf as a legitimate president in uniform. And everyone knows how Mayors were selected, not elected, by the Army and ISI. - After the October polls, Musharraf shed all pretence of honesty, ethics and morality in the name of “pragmatism” and started to act like any corrupt politician he so publicly denounced. When a Washington-based journalist asked him recently how he should be judged because the “company he was keeping” was of corrupt and dishonest politicians, Musharraf got very angry. - How good was his decision to associate the Choudhries of Gujrat, the turn-coats of PPP, the MQM of Altaf Bhai with his regime is now evident. It was his sheer selfishness which forced him into these gross mistakes and the entire Army as an institution is now being made to pay. - His choice of Mr. Zafarullah Jamali as Prime Minister is now turning out to be another disaster. And he himself says so. He may be thinking of replacing him with another of his more loyal and obedient servants, probably Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz. That would be another and a bigger blunder. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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- Just in the case of MQM, Musharraf’s interview to the Guardian of London on May 16, 2001 is a classic example of his double talk and capacity to make wrong decisions. Rory McCarthy and Luke Harding had this Q&A with him about MQM as part of their detailed interview: Q: There is one other Pakistani politician in the UK at the moment, Altaf Hussain, who has just been given a British passport while he is facing several criminal cases in this country. What was your reaction when you heard the news? A: I certainly wouldn't say that I am too happy about it, because Britain must understand that such political asylums being given to people who may be have worked against or are working against the interest of Pakistan should be given more serious thought before taking such action. Q: Will you make an effort to bring him back to Pakistan to face trial? A: I haven't given this a thought really. I don't think he has any place in Pakistani politics. I would like to stabilize the political environment in Pakistan, and in this effort certainly Karachi and Sindh need the stability which is going on at the moment, so I don't want to create waves in the waters at all. Then, after a political deal, when MQM’s man was appointed Sindh Governor, Musharraf flatly denied there was ever any case against him registered in Karachi. He conveniently forgot that he himself had accused Mr. Altaf Hussain of working against the interests of Pakistan and had categorically stated that Mr. Hussain had any place in Pakistani politics. Now he is a close ally with a central place in that very politics. - When Musharraf ditched his benefactors, Generals Mahmood and Aziz, under US pressure, it appeared to be a decision which was beyond his powers to resist. But when he started insisting that he would not take off his uniform until all of his Army colleagues including Aziz, his deputy COAS General Yousaf (Joe) and General Tauqir Zia, retire, it became clear Musharraf was now playing games with all of them. The result is that these Generals have started talking to Musharraf’s opponents, secretly sending messages, urging them not to drop the demand that he take off his uniform and give a date. When Musharraf acts in his own selfish interest, others who are below him are expected to do the same. The unity of the Army as an institution goes out of the window. - This cracking up within the army ranks made Musharraf to demand from his Corps Commanders recently that they issue an unprecedented and highly objectionable political statement assuring Musharraf of their support and asking him to keep his uniform whenever he wanted. The very need for such a statement betrayed the lack of confidence Musharraf had in his junta. Of course when asked by the Chief to issue a statement, who can say no. But within their hearts, many would have felt the need to do something against this dictator who was now dictating to even his own colleagues. - His decision to agree to revert the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges, against dealt a severe blow to his credibility as a dependable person. These judges went out of their way and risked their name and credibility to give him a lame excuse to remain in power. But the moment Musharraf saw that he could get support of a stronger political forum, the MMA in this case which could legitimize his unconstitutional rule in Parliament, he was ready to dump the judges. Now can he depend on the same judges to get another judgment in his favor, if needed? - Likewise he has been talking to everyone,including his avowed adversaries like Asif Ali Zardari, to get a supporting hand. Whenever he thinks he may succeed, he sends vibes that others could be ditched. This has made him into a subject of jokes. The latest says if Fazal supports him he would kick Qazi, if Qazi supports him, he would kick Patriots, if everybody supports him, he would kick himself.

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- In foreign affairs, his decisions have largely been dictated from abroad, but the ones he took himself, like the Agra summit, he bungled badly. Now after two years he has to eat humble pie and beg for a summit with Vajpayee again in New York. He punctured the Lahore bus in 1999 but had to push start it himself in 2003. How sound then were his judgments in the past? - His Afghan policy is in a mess with a hostile western neighbor now harassing Pakistan troops amid serious talk that India may send its troops into Afghanistan as part of ISAF. That his secret support to Taliban and the recent activity from Pakistan soil against US troops will ultimately land him into deeper trouble, is just a matter of time. Dozens of other examples can be quoted here to show that Musharraf as a 'man of vision' is not a dependable person. His vision is flawed. His decision-making powers are below average and his instincts are fatalistic. The man has proved in these recent years that he is incapable of leading a complex country like Pakistan. If people like Irshad Haqqani have realized this fact, others who will have to face the brunt of his decisions, sooner than later, should realize it as well, and quickly. How many mistakes can Pakistan afford and what if one blows up everything. Musharraf's Sweaty Performance Sheds Aura of Invincibility Shaheen Sehbai THE MYTH of invincibility has been shattered and today General Pervez Musharraf looks like an ordinary mortal, much weaker and meeker than even an ordinary political worker. The aura of absolute power that he hitherto carried has evaporated. His image of a brave commando has been seriously dented. His leadership qualities have been exposed and grossly undermined. He has badly flunked the test of facing the representatives of the people, something he was deliberately avoiding ever since the Parliament was born. Sweating profusely on the podium, unable to complete even well rehearsed sentences of his insignificant formula speech, Musharraf caved in to what would be called a fairly ordinary vocal protest by the Opposition MPs. Compared to him, the old man Ghulam Ishaq Khan and even a shaken Farooq Khan Leghari, both civilian presidents who faced similar situations in Parliaments in the past against a much nastier Opposition, now look taller and brave. Coming to address the joint session of the Parliament was constitutionally mandated for a President. It was becoming embarrassing for the General to avoid the showdown. He kept himself aloof for the first year but now he felt more confident as he had won the support of the MMA and a two-third majority in the House which had even passed a confidence vote for him few days back. That should have given him a lot of comfort. But it is one thing to pass orders in a quiet room with obedient officers saying “Yes Sir” to whatever you say and another thing to stand up in the middle of a Parliament and face even a depleted Opposition representing the masses. The Opposition strength was depleted because Musharraf had used all the dirty tricks in the book to keep active Opposition parliamentarians out of the House. Commercial aircraft carrying these members were diverted to other cities without explanation or reason, one landing in Peshawar instead of Islamabad and another never reaching the capital in time after taking off from Karachi. Later, as an after-thought, PIA claimed there were bomb threats against these aircraft. A lame excuse by all counts. MMA's Qazi Hussain Ahmed, though a new ally of Musharraf, was caught in one such plane. Vocal Tehmina Daultana of PML-N was another MP. Even a CNN journalist was Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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caught in this crossfire and landed in Peshawar after his plane was kept hostage at the tarmac on Islamabad airport for an hour and then ordered to take off. Fear was thus visible with every action of the Government. Security was so tight in Islamabad all employees of the Parliament had been given a free day off. All roads were blocked and MPs had to walk without cell phones and any electronic gadget, leaving their vehicles far way. Yet, whatever number of Opposition legislators made it to the House chanted "Go Musharraf, go Musharraf" and "Friends of dictators are traitors" slogans as soon as he took the podium. They kept up the cry throughout his 40-minute speech. The noise worsened as Musharraf's supporters countered by thumping on tables, apparently in a show of applause, but actually to lessen their embarrassment. Looking at their faces told a different story, though. No one was convinced their leader was in control. Even with a lot of supporters backing and cheering him, Musharraf appeared confused, shaken and cracking. Within 5 minutes, his forehead was full of sweat beads forcing him to wipe it frequently. His delivery of the written speech was colorless, words were being repeated, sentences left hanging, his body language sending signals of a man under siege, helpless, fearful and collapsing. He was being cut to size in front of the uniformed Generals and world diplomats sitting in the galleries. His speech and his words appeared to carry no weight and no meaning. Musharraf was like a man having lost the force of his conviction and the moral authority to stand up and speak. His state of mind was so obvious, each word and each minute appeared to be an eternity. So great was the pressure on his nerves, the moment he read the last written word, he raised both his fists as if the commando had conquered the enemy. Still nervous and shivering, he shook hands with the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Senate Chairman but then again raised his fists to get the fear out of his system. It was too late, though, as the message had been conveyed by the pictures which had gone round the world via live TV, something Musharraf had agreed to after a lot of persuasion. Even his speech was delayed for 60 minutes as these discussions and plans kept changing all the time. The Speaker of the NA, feeling the heat himself, as he was sitting closest to the General, lost no time in declaring the session closed and rushing him off the stage. An ordeal for him and his shaky General had just ended. Musharraf’s performance has opened a flood gate of more troubles for him. Some will appear in the immediate future and others will show in due course of time. The constituency that he belongs to must have felt let down by his performance and when next time he issues unpleasant orders to his colleagues or other partners in power, his shaky legs and sweaty face would come back to hound him. A General who was driven by his ambitions for power appeared to have missed the opportunity to prove his political credentials and capacity. A man who cannot stand a tiny vocal Opposition is nothing but a paper tiger, was the overall impression he conveyed. A so called tiger who can rule with a gun in his hand but cannot articulate an argument in his head to convince others. Musharraf’s political career as a civilian president seems to have crashed even before it could take off. How seasoned politicians make mince meat of him when he takes off his uniform would be a sight to watch. Nine Nuclear Scientists Slip Out of Pakistan Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Special SAT Report KARACHI: At least nine senior Pakistani Nuclear Scientists have secretly absconded from Pakistan, the latest defection taking place as late as in July 2002, documents from Pakistan's nuclear power plant CHASNUPP, built with Chinese assistance at Chashma in central Pakistan, have revealed. Eight of the nine absconders were "Senior Engineers" at CHASNUPP and one was an Assistant Engineer. Four of them belonged to the Operations Division of the power plant, two to the Mechanical Maintenance Division and one each to Electrical, Technical and Training Divisions. Many of them are CNS Fellows while others got their fellowship from Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, KANUPP. Six disappeared between February to October 2000, one in April 1997 and two in 2002. The details about these defections were revealed in an innocent looking memo sent by the engineers of CHASNUPP to their higher authorities warning them that “many more” nuclear scientists were "planning to run” from the country because they were not getting a fair deal in Pakistan. The Memo which gave a list of the nine absconders only speculated that these engineers had gone to USA, Canada or Australia but in fact they could have gone to any country as they left without permission or informing the authorities. There are some 250 nuclear engineers and scientists working at CHASNUPP. Most of them are unhappy with their salaries and other benefits and are thus looking for openings to leave the country quietly, as the Government of Pakistan would never allow them to go and work for some other country. “The working conditions of these nuclear scientists should be a cause for grave concern to everyone as unhappy engineers at nuclear facilities could mean troubles of all kinds,” a retired Pakistani nuclear scientist told South Asia Tribune in Karachi. The situation is ripe for any country needing their services to offer them a reasonable package and most will quietly disappear, traveling on passports which would not reveal their qualifications or experience. Pakistani passports normally do not mention the specific field of employment and it is easy to get replacement passports or even to conceal the real identity. The engineers were getting so restless that some of them decided to write a detailed Memo pointing out the main problems being faced by them at the remote facility. Copies of the Memo were made available to the SA Tribune in Karachi by some of the relatives of the unhappy employees. A look at the Memo reveals that these engineers are being kept in Chashma as if they were in a “detention camp” because they are required to work 11 hours a day, seven days a week. “They work Monday to Sunday from 7.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. and sometimes many of them are called for emergency duty,” a concerned relative said, handing over a copy of the Office Order issued late in September this year. It confirmed that every one was required to work for 77 hours a week. They are not allowed to keep their families in Chashma and scientists who are below Grade-20 are not being allowed even telephone facilities, the Memo reveals. Almost 90 per cent of the engineers fall in grades lower than 20. The Memo of the Engineers warns that taking such heavy duty at such a sensitive facility could result in a major catastrophe. “As per IAEA, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and CHASNUPP regulations, (authorities) are bound to implement the 40 hours limit … Engineers are called for emergency duty and working hours easily touch 90 hours a week,” the Memo complains. “Due to these extra abnormal working hours, the safety of the plant is in a dangerous position,” it warns reminding the authorities of the Chernobyl and Three-Mile Nuclear disasters in Soviet Union and USA. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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There has been no immediate improvement in their working conditions, despite the Memo which shows that Pakistan’s nuclear manpower is now almost ready to disperse throughout the world, even to rogue nations needing their expertise. The list of senior engineers who left the country for greener pastures mostly includes scientists who had at least two years of training from China and were highly qualified to run the power plant. The cost of training such an engineer, as estimated by the CHASNUPP scientists themselves is Rs. 9 million per engineer in a 7 to 8 year period. Each person lost is a huge blow to the Pakistani nuclear establishment but working conditions and salaries are not being improved to keep them engaged. For the rest of the world this is a scary situation as Pakistan could easily become the feeding ground for nuclear activities any where as Pakistani official wage structures are far less than any rich country with nuclear ambitions may offer, specially oil-rich states or organizations like Al Qaeda. “The scientists of CHASNUPP have sounded the warning bell for the Pakistani authorities. They have to look after this sensitive resource and not push it to the edge. Otherwise it could mean disaster for the country,” the retired nuclear scientist warned. Pakistan at Crossroads Facing United Militants, Divided Leaders Syed Saleem Shahzad KARACHI, July 24: Very much like in the post-September 11 days, Pakistan is once again standing at a crossroad between the military and the mosque following the bomb attacks in London on July 7. However, a major difference now is that the US and the United Kingdom are watching Pakistan's every action with unrelenting vigilance, which could force President General Pervez Musharraf to take action that will place him on a path of confrontation with various religious and political elements in the country. As an important ally in the US-led "war on terror", and given that three of the four London bombers are said to have visited Pakistan within in a year prior to the attacks, Musharraf had to act, both quickly and firmly. As a result, security forces have detained about 300 suspected Islamist extremists in raids on religious schools and other centers across the country. Within Pakistan, though, this has had an almost immediate and potentially dangerous effect: there is a split within the corridors of power, and complete harmony among the previously splintered underground militant organizations, developed within days to fight back against government pressures. Musharraf's televised address to the nation on Thursday was in effect a public announcement of a divorce between the military and the mosque. For the first time, although without citing its name, he called the influential Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) , the country's largest religious group, a regressive force. "They were the ones who declared Jihad-i-Kashmir un-Islamic in 1948 [referring to the statement of the founder of the JI, Syed Maudoodi, that sending Wazir tribespeople to liberate Kashmir was un-Islamic, that war should be declared by the state and not by private citizens] and now they are disturbing the peace process between India and Pakistan." The most significant part of the speech was Musharraf's condemnation of the JI's role in 1971 when it ran the "Bangladesh unacceptable" movement demanding that the rulers not recognize Bangladesh after the fall of Dhaka. (The JI's militant wing, alBadr, fought side-by-side with the Pakistani army against Bengali separatists and the Indian army in the former East Pakistan. )

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Now, the key question is whether the Pakistani army as an institution approves this divorce from religion. On Thursday, police raided the core of Islamic madrassas (seminaries), the Binori Town Islamic Seminary in Karachi, and detained several foreign students. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a powerful alliance of six religious/political parties, has responded by calling for nationwide protests. How the masses react to the government crackdown on madrassas is, however, secondary. The central issue is that several underground militant organizations have linked in preparation for retaliatory action against the government if it, under immense Western pressure, carries out "real" actions. Previously, most "crackdowns" were were a setup - militant groups were taken into confidence before members were arrested, and asked to be patient until the storm blew over. Now, both the militant groups and the army know that they cannot fool around as the US and the UK are both serious. The case of one Haseeb Hussain raises questions. The 16-year-old Briton of Pakistani origin was pinpointed as one of the four London bombers, and according to Pakistani immigration officials he visited Pakistan last July via Saudi Arabia. Now, Haseeb Hussain and his father have been interviewed at their High Wycombe home in England by Pakistani TV station ARY. "I first saw my photograph on Channel 4 [news] and I was terrified," the boy told ARY. "I didn't want people looking at me saying, hey, you are supposed to be dead," he told ARY. "Or someone saying that there goes the London bomber." His father told ARY that the family had indeed visited Karachi via Saudi Arabia. He appealed for British and Pakistani authorities to clear up the confusion. Yahya Mujahid, a spokesperson of Jamaatudawa (formerly known as the Lashkar-eTayyaba), also took issue with reports that have surfaced about another of the bombers, Shahzad Tanweer. "The whole story is built with bad intentions. Most of the allegations leveled against us are false. Even the story of Shahzad Tanweer, that he attended a madrassa at Mureedkey [headquarters of Jamaatudawa] is false. In fact, according to his uncle's statement, he attended a madrassa near Lahore. There are dozens of madrassas near Lahore and he need not necessarily have gone to Jamaatudawa. Secondly, he also spent time with Tableeghi Jamaat, which is [ideologically] contrary to Jamaatudawa in all aspects. How come would he wear two hats at the same time?" asked Yahya. "On such baseless allegations they are aiming to put us behind bars. Are we only here to be rounded up? Don't we have any human rights?" Yahya asked. "We condemned the London bombing. It was murder of civilians, which just cannot be approved," Yahya maintained. Reports of differences between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Musharraf have been circulating for some months, but they appear to be coming to a head. Shaukat recently called on all heads of law-enforcing agencies and asked them to report directly to his command. Shaukat also flexed his muscles when, on the instructions of President House, Brigadier Javed Cheema of the Crisis Management Cell led an operation against Lal Masjid Islamic Seminaries in Islamabad and detained several dozen students and teachers. Shaukat asked the concerned police officials why they had acted without his permission, and issued an order for the immediate suspension and transfer from the service of all the top police officials of Islamabad. The arrested teachers and students were released. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Shaukat is proving more ambitious than Musharraf would like, with the premier wanting to be powerful and the person to whom all intelligence agencies and lawenforcing agencies report. This puts him on a collision course with Musharraf. After rounding up the editorial staff of several pro-jihadi publications, the government issued notices to 17 different media organizations, including the two top-most newspaper groups, telling them that support of any "unscrupulous" group would be tantamount to meddling in the "war on terror" and that the government would take strong action, including arrests and seizure of publications. The message from Musharraf is clear: you are either with us or against us. The government has also approached the US government and asked it to monitor some Washington-based Pakistani journalists and scholars who are disseminating misinformation against the Musharraf government, and in this manner disturbing his drive against terrorism. Pakistan Getting Too Hot for the Generals to Handle Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, August 2: Following 9/11 many had believed that the world would never be the same again and that it had crash-landed into a century of terror. Retrospectively from now to 9/11, there has been no light at the end of the tunnel. Rather, invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan has changed the entire global scenario making it more complex. The universally accepted concept of state sovereignty has been shredded into pieces by those very powers that had accepted it as a sine quo non for a peaceful world order at Breton Wood when they established the United Nations in 1945, an institution that has now become anorchous. Invasion of Iraq without the UN resolution and on the basis of sexed up dossiers based on piles of lies, reasserting might as right have plunged it into a situation where it has to face causes emanating from socio-economic and political injustices as weapons in the hands of terrorists. Double standards practiced by world leaders who describe the thousands of innocent people they kill as 'co-lateral damage' while those fighting for their freedom from foreign occupation are called 'barbaric terrorists'. Their justification of evil on the ground of expediency has converted God's little earth into a cesspool of intrigue, machinations and chicanery now even beyond their own control. Regretfully, Pakistan being one of the pawns in the great evil game continues to sink in a quagmire of unmanageable internal problems and ominous external developments. It is facing such Herculean difficulties that its military establishment needs to open its eyes and read the writing on the wall. It boldly spells doom and disaster at each and every moment that goes by. A situation where even angels will fear to tread is being handled by Praetorian bravado. Dark clouds shrouding its future, its ruling military oligarchy needs to wake up from its suicidal inertia and surrender to the fact that Pakistan's increasing domestic and external problems are much too big and much too serious to be left solely in the hands of its generals. Only a total national effort, mobilization of the masses and the best political brains can only steer it out of the stormy ocean to the safe shores least scathed. No doubt General Pervez Musharraf has survived long enough on the reputation of him being the only Knight Templar in the service of war against global terror, his gilded veneer as irreplaceable is fast wearing of, his claim to be perennially useful is becoming more of a façade then reality and the truth is getting home that he is part of the problem of global terrorism rather than the solution.

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London bombings of July 7 followed by a repeat performance on July 21 and more lethal than the previous at the Egyptian tourist resort at Sharm al Shaikh, have brought Pakistan once again in international glare as the epicenter of global terrorism. It goes to the credit of British authorities, especially its Metropolitan police, to have worked out painstakingly to nab those accused terrorists who abortively tried to cause more death and destruction in the otherwise most peaceful capital of the world. This is notwithstanding the controversy as a consequence of the shooting of one innocent Brazilian to death as a case of mistaken identity. Whether it is in terrorism in London, Afghanistan, Iraq, Occupied Kashmir, India or Sharm al Sheikh, accusing fingers are instantly raised towards Pakistan while it was already at the receiving end due to Al-Qaeda's dastardly bombing of New York's Twin Towers in 2001. The growing distress among the peaceful and law-abiding Pakistanis in Britain is, therefore, understandable. While they are whole-heartedly with the British authorities to destroy terrorism at its roots, their growing concern of backlash from the racist elements is also not misplaced. Like the bunch of terrorists who had their evil ways of doing things, racists too do get away with their ulterior motives when the society needs utmost peace and inter-communal harmony. One could refer to a few incidents where the racists have targeted Pakistanis igniting a fear in a by and large peaceful community to the extent that a media survey conducted in Muslim areas indicates a growing desire among the Pakistanis to go back home. What has made their position more embarrassing and vulnerable is General Musharraf's quixotic swipe at Prime Minister Tony Blair asking him to put his own house in order. His assertion that it is more of an internal British problem while under his very nose continue to thrive terrorist training camps, amounts adding insult to injury. While ignoring the fact and latest investigative stories by some daring Pakistani journalists (especially Amir Mir's "General Musharraf's Commitment to Wipe Out Jihadis Badly Exposed," SAT July 31) unveiling thriving new terrorist training camps and that most of the British origin Pakistani suspect terrorists had been to some of these, Islamabad seems to abdicate its responsibility by just issuing orders of clamp downs "as usual". Musharraf's announcement that he would not allow terrorists any room in Pakistan, his decision for the registration of religious seminaries many of which are alleged to be training camps for both foreign and indigenous terrorists and his latest decision to throw out "foreign students" is much more of the same that has become a pet reaction from Islamabad whenever suicidal bombing incidents have taken place since 9/11. Each time after such announcements follows a clamp down, hundreds of militants are also arrested only be to rested to be freed again when pressure on Pakistan eases. These operations are much similar to the one ordered by Musharraf in 2001 for deweaponisation of the society. All these pronouncements have proved to be much a do about nothing especially when authorities in Islamabad know that over a hundred thousand foreigners comprising Afghans, Yemenis, Saudis, Algerians, Libyans, people from Gulf States, Chechens, Bosnians, Central Asians and many others recruited for the American Jihad against the Soviet's occupation of Afghanistan were issued Pakistani passports and National Identity Cards by Pakistan's military government under General Zia and even after and they continue to operate freely from Pakistani soil even now. If the Egyptian authorities discover Pakistani passports in Sharm al Sheikh it is not necessary that those belonged to genuine Pakistanis. They could have belonged to those Egyptian

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nationals-turned-Pakistanis either recruited by CIA or Ayman Al-Zawahiri for the Afghan Jihad. In this context the British authorities will do well to also probe the real causes of terrorism including how Muslim and other masses feel about war in Iraq and Afghanistan. They must lend their ears to saner voices like that of Tony Benn, Robin Cook, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, journalist Robert Fisk and MP George Galloway. Vast majority of such eminent personages and others believe in the conclusive words of Tony Benn that it was not about clash of civilizations or fight between religions but a conflict to control the resources of Middle East. Moreover, we need to find out what went wrong locally as well that has given birth to suicide bombers on a soil that gives equal freedom to all without discrimination and where the British have shown great generosity in accepting, with open arms, people of other cultures, religions and ethnic bearings in their compassionate fold dominated by the spirit to share the good that they have. Wiser are the words of warning in the current situation in the United Kingdom where Muslims especially Pakistanis fear a severe backlash, by the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. The Archbishop has expressed his opposition to the proposed drastic measures that the government is planning to introduce to combat terrorism. He believes that the people must not allow themselves to "surrender to logic of fear" when faced with threats. The British people also need to understand that one of the main causes of terrorism that it is related to Muslims lies in the policies pursued by the United States and its allies since the demise of the Soviet Union and end of Cold War. Sudden about turn soon after their arch rival stood buried in the debris of history, turning their faces away from those who they had used as fodders for their guns in the Afghan Jihad and switching off their funding pipelines to them --converted whole lot of their friends into terrorists -- Osama Bin Laden included. Now the chicken are coming home to roost. Had they come up with a socio-economic development scheme for Afghanistan, on the pattern of Marshall Plan that turned a war-struck West Europe around and ushered in democracy, soon after the end of Soviet occupation, by now Afghanistan would have had its own democracy and its people would not have been carrying bombs round their waists but would have been involved in profitable economic activity to usher in peace and prosperity. Since Pakistan remains the epicenter of terrorism and the menace is a much bigger problem and more complex then it is conceived by leaders in Washington, London and Islamabad, it requires to be addressed in a manner that cures the disease and does not kill the patient. Both Washington and London must get down to tell Musharraf point blank that he cannot combat terrorism by isolating the great majority of the people in his country by denying it its democratic right to vote in a government of its choice. The enormous magnitude of the terrorism requires a national effort to combat it. By keeping former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif out of the mainstream politics, he has given an open field to the religious parties and extremists to call the shots. The recently passed Hasba Bill by the North Western Frontier Provincial Assembly and the evils it will unleash in the country should be nipped in the bud before it acquires the magnitude of a death-knell for the liberal and democratic forces in Pakistan. Hasba is yet another step towards Talibanisation of Pakistan and a powerful manifestation of Mulla-Military alliance. In this context Washington would do well to listen to American experts like Stephen P. Cohen. In a paper read at a recent 'Crescent of Crisis' workshop, Cohen rightly pointed Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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out that Pakistani population's "growing alienation from the State feeds into support for extremism." And this obviously is due to absence of democracy and a level playing field for popular leaders like Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif. Cohen has urged upon Washington to ensure that Musharraf moves beyond "rhetoric" to give content to his notion of "Enlightened Moderation" by supporting liberal and moderate trends in Pakistani society." Cohen's description of Pakistan as a State "chronically teetering on the edge of failure" should not be dismissed lightly. While his paper deals with various issues related to Pakistan's role in nuclear proliferation into Middle East, cross-border terrorism in Indian-occupied Kashmir, need to resolve Kashmir issue, lopsided economy, need for fostering democracy and strengthening of liberal and secular forces, he has highlighted the fact that despite Pakistan being a major recipient of US financial aid and arms since 1954, "AntiAmericanism is endemic". In his view, Pakistan can be considered one of the most anti-American states in the world, which poses a threat to US interests in the region and beyond. He believes that Islamic extremism has flourished in Pakistan because of decades of support from foreign sources and Pakistan's intelligence services. This extremism has a strong component of anti-Americanism, has become widespread because of encouragement from Islamic extremists, perceived and actual American actions and intentions, and governmental inaction. Cohen, however, does not mention that one of the major factors for majority of Pakistanis to be anti-American is Washington's sustained preference and support to military dictators and intolerance of popular and democratic leaders who could take an independent position on vital national issues. In this context one would refer to the example of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was made a horrible example for pursuing a nuclear goal opposed tooth and nail by Washington. Or for that matter, his daughter was taught a lesson for defying them by making Pakistan a missile-armed country. Cohen accepts that the Islamist parties are far weaker than the centrist mainstream parties, and their victory in two provinces in 2002 did not represent a national trend, except to the degree that they were strengthened by anti-American feelings that are prevalent throughout Pakistan. He, perhaps inadvertently, ignored to state that the MMA was tacitly, overtly and covertly supported by the military establishment to be used as a trump card to blackmail Washington, that if Musharraf's power base is toppled, it would be the mad mullahs who would take over from him and Pakistan's nuclear assets would fall into their hands. The professor believes that it would be difficult to persuade General Musharraf to democratize since the military is afraid that a return to complete civilian government means a return to policies inimical to the army's conception of "the national interest." Nevertheless, he wants Washington to insist that Musharraf allow the mainstream political parties - Ms Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N to function freely and be provided an even playing field. Cohen has also overlooked the American factor that has helped sustain long military rules in Pakistan because Washington felt more comfortable in dealing with a military dictator rather than with an elected democratic government. One would, however, agree with Cohen's conclusion that the Pakistan Army needs the radical Islamists as the 'threat' to hold up to its Western supporters, the Islamists are biding their time, burrowing into many Pakistani institutions while building their own infrastructure in the form of chains of madrassas throughout the country. Unless Pakistan democratizes, what is likely to emerge is a coalition of the army and Islamist forces and the potential radicalization of Pakistan."

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Pakistanis Vote But General Musharraf Elects Dr. Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, August 26: On August 18 and 25, Gen. Musharraf “staged” the second municipal elections since his military coup on October 12, 1999. He garbed them as “grassroots democracy.” It is ironic that he willingly braves for electing “local governments,” but trembles at the very thought of electing the national one. The reason is obvious. Municipal elections offer his power grab a ‘taint’ of legitimacy, while the national elections would strip him of even a ‘tainted legitimacy.’ He has seen, to his horror, this reversal on April 30, 2002, when he held a national referendum to elect himself “president.” Voters resoundingly rejected his referendum by abstaining, en masse, as such a farce had no place in the constitution that punishes his power grab with death. So, he dreads both: the constitution and the elections. Yet he cannot rid himself of either. He has rather gone on subverting the two by rewriting the constitution and stealing the elections. Stealing was exactly what 20 per cent of the eligible voters, who turned out to vote on August 18, witnessed. They were dumbfounded to see ballot boxes already stuffed with ballot papers filled out by presiding officers and polling staff. This feat was pulled off by keeping the polling agents of opposition candidates out of polling precincts, which were seized by Musharraf-backed candidates with the active collusion of police and paramilitary forces. In Karachi, which houses half of the nation’s urban population, polling stations for 100 union councils were converted into “no go areas” for the opposition’s polling agents. Officers of the Musharraf government took pride in carving out such “off-limits” territory to keep opposition parties invisible. The Chief Minister of Sindh, which is the country’s second most populous province, long before the vote began, publicly pledged to turn Sindh into a “no go area” for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that dominates it. He lived up to his word. First, he changed the electoral cartography by gerrymandering the PPP-dominated districts. Second, he had around 1,000 candidates elected unopposed. Third, he beat the unbeatable PPP candidates by framing them in such cases as “rape, murder, and robberies.” Those who were charged with such fabrications included, among others, a brother of the Chief of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), and a PPP’s sitting member of the National Assembly, who also is a former federal minister. The Rangers, a paramilitary force headed by a serving army general, in Karachi provided the much-needed protective shield to polling officers and government-backed candidates while they were busy filling the empty void of ballot boxes. Gen. Musharraf followed a three-step “How-to” on cheating the municipal elections, which contained three separate sub-manuals on each phase of the elections: Before, during, and after. In the pre-polling phase, he first ensured that a “part-time” Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) stay in place. Mystified about “his” future, he would happily do what he was told, and so would the rest of his Commission. As expected, the Election Commission scheduled the elections in two parts: first batch held on August 18 in 53 districts and the second on August 25 in 56 districts. With this distribution, if the first heist goes bust, the second can still make up for more than half of the loss. It is pertinent to ask if the same Election Commission can hold elections for the National and Provincial Assemblies on the same day, why cannot it hold the same for City Halls? But an even bigger question arises as to why municipal elections become the concern of the Federal Election Commission, if they are meant to empower “grassroots communities?” Shouldn’t it be the concern of provincial governments and provincial Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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election commissions? Does Delhi decide who is going to be the Mayor of Amritsar? Does Whitehall choose who is going to be the Lord Mayor of London? Does Washington distribute “City Fathers?” Yet a part-time Election Commissioner with all his craft of carving and heaving the elections in “portable” distributions was not that reassuring to Gen. Musharraf. He supplemented the CEC and his rewarding skills with a barrage of amendments to the Local Government Ordinance (LGO) to allow the sitting ministers of his cabinet (yes, it is his cabinet) and sitting members of the parliament to contest the elections. On top of it, he empowered chief ministers to fire the elected municipal officers, just in case! These amendments opened the floodgate of corrupting influence to steal the elections long before they were actually held. Then, he went around the country and campaigned for ML (an acronym that is spelt out as Muslim League but read as “Musharraf League”) candidates, while barring the opposition from fielding or canvassing for theirs. Ironically, his campaigning was contrary to the very LGO that he himself signed into law. To reinforce his support for ML hopefuls and intimidate their opponents, he showed up in “military uniform” at prescreened and pre censored rallies. Yet unsure of victory, he had more than 4,000 candidates elected unopposed, while their opponents were kept from filing nomination papers. To further hedge his bets, he set off his men in “plain clothes” to “work on” a select set of opposition members, especially from the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and have them defect their parties. Many, for fear of life, did defect whom he embraced as “a vote of confidence in my policies.” While counting his blessings, he made it a point to mention the home constituency of the ARD Chief, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, where he collected several “portable” members, who were literally hammered from being “check-in luggage” to “overhead baggage.” Even still unsure of the mysteries of voters’ intentions, he held in the General Headquarters (GHQ) a meeting of police chiefs of all provinces, whom he directed to do whatever it takes for an upset, should the opposition prevails. The police outperformed his expectations all across the country, especially in Balochistan that was swept into the ML bag, claiming “204 Union Councils out of 274.” Here is a province that on August 14, just four days before the elections, has a latest round of a “province-wide bombing campaign” against the policies of Gen. Musharraf and those of his Musharraf League, and yet it succumbs to the seductive wave of the magic wand that sweeps it into the lap of Gen. Musharraf. He finally found an “under-the-counter” prescription for inter-provincial harmony. Where he failed to accomplish his goals through rigging, before or during the polls, he went on to plug those holes with post-poll rigging. That is why his Election Commission is sitting on the election results that it won’t release until seven days after the elections, i.e., on August 23. In short, Gen. Musharraf stole rural Sindh and Southern Punjab with pre-poll rigging; urban Sindh with during-the-poll rigging; and Central Punjab, Northern Punjab, and Balochistan with post-poll rigging. The only province that fought back his robbery was the Pakhtoonkhwa that witnessed the fairest of all electoral exercise. As a result, the nationalist Awami National Party (ANP) and center-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), together, won elections in 160 union councils, while the ruling Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) trailed behind with the second place.

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It is clear that Musharraf is in search of a “democracy” that could shoulder his dictatorship, but the people of Pakistan, whom he contemptuously treats as a herd of beasts yoked to his slavedom, once again shattered his dreams. PIA Chairman Saeed Officially Sacked, Kirmani Named New Airline Head M T Butt ISLAMABAD, April 17: As predicted by the South Asia Tribune on April 1, Chairman of Pakistan’s national airline, Choudhry Ahmed Saeed, was finally shown the door by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday, April 16. Tariq Kirmani of Pakistan State Oil (Left) was also named the new PIA Chairman. Saeed’s departure came as his frantic lobbying efforts get an extension from General Musharraf failed in the face of stiff opposition not just in the Prime Minister’s camp, but within the airline and in political circles. The last ditch effort he made was to arrange a presentation of his successes to General Musharraf on April 16, but PM Shaukat Aziz ordered that in the absence of Musharraf, who has gone to India, he would take the presentation. When Saeed said what he had to say, Shaukat Aziz started questioning him probingly and Saeed started faltering. The event started turning sour when Saeed understood that Shaukat would not let him get away without firing him. He then surrendered and said his resignation was already with the PM's Office to which Shaukat Aziz said his thank yous and announced than PSO's Tariq Kirmani, who has also gone to see the India-Pakistan cricket match, would be the new PIA Chairman. Till Kirmani returns, the PM Secretariat will oversee PIA affairs, it was announced. Earlier in another desperate attempt Saeed had arranged a quiet dinner last week at the home of Musharraf’s Bridge buddy, Brig (retd) Niaz, where not only Musharraf but his close aide Tariq Aziz was also present. Aziz and Niaz, who had been instrumental in getting Saeed appointed to the job, tried their best to convince Musharraf to retain Saeed for another year, but in vain. Saeed’s contract as Managing Director expired on April 14, but he kept clinging on in the hope that Musharraf may do something to save him. “At times Saeed even issued veiled threats saying that if he was booted out, all that had happened would be unveiled and Musharraf himself may be dragged into the massive corruption that had continued for over four years,” a source in the knowledge of the discussions of the dinner meeting revealed to South Asia Tribune. Saeed’s tenure turned out to be a period in which PIA purchased the largest number of aircraft, sold the largest number of aircraft and awarded contracts which were neither necessary nor cost effective. Some were filthy expensive and outrageously nonsensical like changing seats of all PIA aircraft, even those where the new seats could not fit. “It was a period in which one person enjoyed the powers of the Chairman and MD and did what he wanted, for himself and his friends, leaving the airline in massive debts and unable to meet its debt obligations without government grants,” a PIA official said. The South Asia Tribune has published details of almost all of these shady deals, as and when they were done, with all the documentary evidence which was available. Never could the PIA Chairman deny any of these deals, nor he seemed to care, as he was backed strongly by General Musharraf and his friends who rule the country. The biggest challenge for the incoming Chairman, Tariq Kirmani, would be how to handle the dirty mess Saeed has left behind. It is very possible that Musharraf may have agreed to let Saeed go on the condition that the New Chairman would not dig into his misdeeds and not expose his corruption, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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but that would leave Kirmani with an unwanted baggage, too heavy to carry on an airline sinking under its own weight. Yet Kirmani has the assurance that he is backed by the Prime Minister, who himself had snubbed Saeed several times in the last few months, specially after all the projections of huge profits turned out to be fake based on false promises. Shaukat Aziz had refused to inject more money into PIA after the first shot of Rs 20 billion could not turn the airline around and Saeed misused his influence to go on a purchasing spree, often declaring publicly that he was buying the most expensive planes because he liked them and without worrying whether his airline could afford them. PM Aziz, being a finance man himself, knew the implications of what Saeed was doing and thus when Saeed came back to him in the last few weeks for another shot of Rs 20 billion, this time through loans raised from the market on government guarantees, Shaukat Aziz said nothing doing, at least to Saeed. But with Kirmani in the pilot’s seat, Shaukat Aziz may have to dish out more cash to PIA, just to cover up for the losses and the financial mess Saeed has left behind. It would be interesting to see how Kirmani would justify the wrong decisions Saeed made costing the airline and the country billions. “If he does not justify those decisions, Kirmani would have to indict Saeed and put the blame where it lies before he attempts a take off. But if he says Saeed was right, then he would be in a difficult situation to keep following the same track,” a market analyst said in Karachi. More interesting would be the fate of the gang of cronies Saeed had gathered around himself after throwing out the cream of motivated professionals from all departments. “The three poor but rich retired colonels, who were lobbying for Saeed to save their own skins, would now be running away from the country if Kirmani replaced them, like the two top men who were eased out by Saeed weeks before his own exit,” a former PIA executive said. Saeed was so keen on controlling all the departments which handled purchases, finances, commissions and kickbacks that he abolished the entire Purchase and Stores Department, brought the Finance Department under his direct control and negotiated all deals himself. Ultimately that annoyed the Prime Minister and his close associates and Saeed was caught in the web of his over confidence based on friendship with Musharraf’s buddies. Another challenge for Kirmani would be how and whether he brings back the professional talent shunted out by Saeed because of his personal likes and dislikes, mostly his whims. There are several cases of senior PIA executives who were ousted because they would never have gone with the damaging decisions Saeed and his gang. But these people were always loyal to the PIA and in many cases sacrificed their careers because they could not join those openly and blatantly working against the interests of the airline. Some of these executives even sought legal remedies and in most of the cases won in courts, but Saeed refused to reinstate them because he thought they would create hurdles in his grand designs. Now Kirmani would have to decide who was sacked for what reason and who should be brought back. It would be unfortunate if Kirmani covers up Saeed’s misdeeds or protects the corruption of his cronies, just because exposing all this may embarrass General Musharraf or his close friends. Even if some people have to be protected, the rape which took place with PIA has to be exposed and corrected. Otherwise replacing one yes-man with another would not mean a turn around for the airline.

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PIA to Pledge Entire Fleet to US: Registers Aircraft in Cayman Islands Company M A Siddiqui KARACHI: The US Export-Import Bank has asked Pakistan’s national airline, the flag carrier PIA, to pledge its entire fleet before the US delivers three of the 8 Boeing 777 aircraft next year. And to comply with the request PIA has registered its entire fleet in the name of a fake off shore company – Fly PIA Limited – in Cayman Islands. The PIA management shifted its entire fleet to the account of the offshore company to pledge its assets for use as collateral to buy the three B777-2ER to be delivered in the first quarter of 2004. Exim Bank of America is the guarantor for the deal. However, the Bank has directed the PIA to pledge its entire fleet for the collateral. The PIA management had inked the most controversial deal in the PIA history buying each aircraft for $106 million. According to an agreement signed by PIA and the US Exim Bank with the Boeing company last year, Pakistan International Airlines is to purchase eight Boeing-777 aircraft at an approximate cost of $ 1.3 billion with 85% of Exim Bank guarantee. The Economic and Trade Ministers of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington told a joint press conference last July the Exim Bank have also extended $ 125 million guarantees for the letters of credits issued by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), United Bank Limited (UBL) and Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB). Despite the high price, several expensive components of the aircraft were not included in the main agreements. This means PIA will have to pay more for items like passenger seats in the aircraft. The PIA which is artificially breathing through massive handouts of billions, pumped by the Musharraf Government could face new problems in case of default in the near future, aviation experts said. To stabilize the financial health of the airline, the Government of Pakistan has injected more than Rs.35 billion during the last 30 months, or more than one billion a month. However, the accumulated losses are again rising despite fake claims of profit made by management. The airline has also recently mandated the UBL, Citigroup and the IDB to arrange $150 million that may be utilised to pay the first tranche of advance payment to Boeings towards the purchase price of eight new Boeing 777 aircraft. The structure of the facility as reported in the press appears somewhat complicated. It will be one-year facility of $ 85 million to be replaced by a three-year facility of $150 million. The three-year facility of $150 million will be in the form of an 'Ijra' facility, based on Islamic mode of financing. In the $ 85 million facility, the UBL and the Citibank/Saudi American Bank have underwritten $45 million and $40 million, respectively. The Islamic Development Bank has agreed to underwrite $ 70 million in the three-year facility. Reportedly, it is the first time that IDB has formed a partnership with a local and foreign bank based in Pakistan. This is also the first major deal for the United Bank after its privatisation. In case of default, the lending bank could sell the PIA fleet in the open market to recover its loans. Moreover, the bank could also recall or seize the new aircraft to recover its money. Experts say the entire deal made by the PIA management is speculative. They termed the pledging of fleet as a highly irresponsible act.

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On the other hand, de-registration of the aircraft in Pakistan, following registration in Cayman Islands, has created ambiguity for PIA operations in Pakistani skies as it no longer can claim to be the national flag carrier. But strangely enough the Ministry of Defence has forced the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority to re-register all the aircraft in Pakistan as well. Now, the entire fleet of PIA is having double registration – a first of its kind in the country’s aviation history. Meanwile the fate of PIA-owned Hotel Roosevelt in New York will be decided on October 12, in Paris and, according to Pakistani media reports, the lowest bid of $217 million of Freedman A Hotler, received by Privatisation Commission is expected to be accepted. The Privatisation Commission has already rejected the highest bid of $ 224 million filed by prominent entrepreneurs Donald Trump. The company owns famous Trump Plaza in New York and the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. According to these reports, Freedman’s bid was accepted without any invitation and others were turned down and not sent any required documents to submit their bids securing his position and generating loss of millions of dollars for Pakistan in foreign exchange reserves. "There is some major bungling going on in the Roosevelt deal," a senior PIA official told this correspondent in Karachi. "Things are happening which are shocking and unexplained," he said. Several companies had plans benefiting Pakistan and its exports by adding condition in the sales contract for importing Pakistani made products for 10 to 15 years for the hotel use after paying millions of dollars in purchase. It included cutlery, bed sheets, towels, kitchen utensils, etc. One of the company had also offered to provide roughly 2000 sq ft of space for the Pakistan commercial section to built Pakistan Export Display Centre and this space was free of rent for 15 years in full. A Pakistan International Airlines delegation stayed in New York for three weeks and did not meet any of the interested buyers having several beneficial proposals in their buying bids, the official said. "This is a major scandal," he added. PIA's Ahmed Saeed Finally Being Booted Out, Back to Manufacturing Boots M T Butt & M A Siddiqui ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, April 1: This is not an April Fool’s gig. General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have finally decided to appoint a new Chairman for Pakistan’s troubled national airline, PIA, as out-going and out of luck Chairman, Choudhry Ahmed Saeed, continues to make last ditch efforts to get an extension for his contract ending April 14, 2005. The new man coming in is Mr Tariq Kirmani, Managing Director of Pakistan State Oil, (Left) the largest corporate entity in the country, which is shortly to be privatized and most likely to be handed over to Fauji Foundation to keep it under the wings of the Pakistan Army. Kirmani is a friend of PM Shaukat Aziz and was recently appointed as the President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, replacing General Mohammed Aziz, the famous Kargil General retired by Musharraf few months back in a shake up of top Army commanders. “Kirmani’s appointment has been agreed between Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz,” a source in the PM’s office disclosed. “But Ahmed Saeed is still desperately trying to get an extension, using three retired Army colonels, Ahsan, Mahmood and Mudassar, who have been the major beneficiaries of Saeed’s extravagant policies.”

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These retired colonels were inducted and given powers beyond their capacity while none of them had the experience and training to run the sensitive departments they were given. The result was a mess in everything they did and now they need Saeed to keep the cover. Publicly claiming that he was not interested any more in the job, Ahmed Saeed has been lobbying hard through media interviews and his gang of three army colonels to impress upon General Musharraf and his close aides that only he could turn the airline around. To lobby for his lost cause, Saeed had initially scheduled a detailed briefing for the Prime Minister today, March 31, 2005 in Islamabad, but that date was extended to April 8, 2005 as Saeed felt that his friends were not succeeding in getting the proper message to General Musharraf and he was not responding favorably. And to add public pressure for his extension, Saeed gave a full length interview to “Blue Chip” a corporate magazine, making all kinds of tall and mostly conflicting claims about his intentions, his performance and the future of the airline. Yet the free media has been reporting Saeed’s failure with relish and even conservative newspapers like ‘Dawn’ have joined the exposure of Saeed’s follies and the negative impact of his decisions, taken almost single handedly as the Chairman and Managing Director of PIA, a position which militates against the PIAC Act which clearly states that the Chairman and MD would be two separate persons and the MD would be appointed in consultation with the Chairman. In one week at least four very damaging news items have appeared in the mainstream Pakistani media, including Dawn, The News and Daily Ummat, highlighting Saeed’s failures and focusing on the bad image and costly damage the airline had suffered. Now when Musharraf and Aziz have agreed on a replacement for Saeed, the April 8 briefing is again being pushed further to give Saeed more time for lobbying. A credible source in Islamabad said Saeed and his men were asking for April 30 as the briefing date for the PM, two weeks after Saeed is supposed to retire with the expiration of his contract on April 14, 2005. “This is a clever ploy as he will get a whole month to approach General Musharraf, although Shaukat Aziz has almost put his foot down and convinced Musharraf that Saeed must go, if PIA was to get back its financial health under control,” sources close to the PM told the South Asia Tribune. As a first step of his skillful maneuvering, Ahmed Saeed recently transferred all powers of the Managing Director to Farooq Shah, a recently promoted Deputy MD, who has now been authorized to handle all PIA affairs. This again is a clever move to cover up for the mismanagement and wrong decisions, fudging of figures and corruption in purchases amounting to billions of dollars. A man who has been a partner in all this corruption with Saeed would be the best suited to protect his own and Saeed’s interests. Knowing that his tenure was coming to an end, Saeed has been trying his best to provide corporate and legal cover to his major blunders. Minutes of a recent meeting of the PIA top brass, chaired by Ahmed Saeed in Lahore on March 7, 2005, obtained by the South Asia Tribune, disclosed many such belated attempts to cover up his failed decisions. The minutes reveal the details of the briefing which was to be given to the Prime Minister today, but have since been put off to April 8 and may even be extended further as a tactical ploy. The points to be discussed included the latest status of the sale of New York’s Roosevelt Hotel, the critical Reservation systems, the IT system and PIA’s engineering department.

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But the most revealing point was a proposal by the PIA Chairman to raise another Rs 20 billion as loans from the market, provided the Government of Pakistan gave guarantees. This revelation makes all the claims and figures of profits made by Chairman Saeed in the last thre years doubtful because if now he is asking for another Rs 20 billion in loans, that too under Government guarantees, it means all his projections and statistics were manipulated and misleading. PM Shaukat Aziz was unlikely to agree to provide such government guarantees as PIA had already been given a Rs 20 billion grant two years ago and now Saeed claims he needs another Rs 20 billion. Shaukat Aziz had already turned down other requests by Saeed to provide funds to buy replacement aircraft for the Fokker Fleet. Another major admission of failure and an attempt to cover it up, has been revealed on Page 3 of the Minutes wherein it is stated that two PIA Directors had now told the Chairman that US-based company SABRE was unable to handle the new Revenue Accounting System QUASAR. This admission shows that Ahmed Saeed had forced the decision without making proper enquiries and homework and had even spent more than 10 million dollars for preparing a whole building to be allotted to SABRE for the Accounting System. After all the expenses and all the wastage of time, now PIA is trying to wriggle out of the SABRE deal and the top Directors are being used by Saeed to provide the justification to do so. But who is going to account for the millions of dollars lost by such a huge wrong decision are not clear. Page 4 of the Minutes also reveals a massive deception carried out by Chairman Saeed in the PIA budget. The last para says an “extra” Fuel Cost of Rs 500 million “over the budget” will be needed in the first quarter of 2005. The budget was finalized towards the end of 2004 and there was no mention of this extra cost, just to keep expenses low and show profits. Once that was done, within a few weeks an extra Rs 500 million is being added to the budget. This is manipulation of figures at its worst, or best. While the Minutes reveal so many of the wronged decisions, Chairman Saeed himself has been speaking about his tenure, his successes and failures and has been indirectly lobbying for an extension of his contract. In his interview with “Blue Chip” he makes so many contradictory and confusing statements, it baffles the readers. Either Saeed thinks every body else is a moron or he considers himself a super intelligent person who can get away with anything he says or does. To quote an example in his interview he talks about making the largest ever corporate purchase in Pakistan’s history --- that of B-777 aircraft from US for US$1.5 billion although he admits that at that time the finances of PIA were fragile. Click for the Magazine quote Saeed claims that after September 11 terrorist attacks, “free planes were readily available, but we as a Management decided that we already have old planes and there is no point in buying more old planes, even if they are for free. We took a decision to go in for brand new planes and that is how these 777s came in. For the last decade there was no induction of any new planes in PIA. In the year 2004, we have inducted nine wide-bodies planes – three new 777s and six Airbus 310s.” This statement raises huge questions about maturity of decisions. If finances of PIA were fragile and “free planes” were available, who decided to spend the money PIA did not have on buying brand new aircraft and why? Saeed elsewhere claims in his interview that PIA’s Engineering Department was now approved by EAFA and aircraft repaired and maintained by PIA were acceptable all over the world. So if this is the

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case, why could PIA not get some free aircraft and repair them to run them on domestic and international routes? But the last part of Saeed’s statement, saying that PIA had inducted nine wide-bodies planes, three new 777s and six Airbus 310s, contradicts his earlier claim in the same paragraph, that new planes were needed and old ones were not acceptable, even if available for free. What he has done, as against what he is saying, is that in 2004 he bought six "old" Airbus 310s and only 3 "new" 777s. Is this what he means by inducting new aircraft? And if he was not ready to take old planes for free, why pay for six old 310s is beyond understanding. This is just a matter of misleading the authorities and Generals by deceptive statements. Not only that the 310s were old, there have been serious maintenance problems and warnings have been issued by the Civil Aviation Authority to PIA but Chairman Saeed has been using his influence to get provisional Airworthiness Certificates to keep them flying. In fact serious problems were also encountered in the new 777s as six of these planes’ landing gear have so far caught fire when landing. Out of these six accidents, four took place at Manchester Airport alone while one at Lahore and another at Toronto. The latest accident took place on March 1, 2005 at Manchester on Flight PK-789. In a detailed report, the CAA said it had been established that brake assemblies were not taken out as per the specifications of the manufacturers. Moreover, the chief engineers were not cautious to use grease and solvent for the service as per the specifications. The most pinching matter was that despite the occurrence of six identical fire incidents, the PIA was not ready to accept its failure. The CAA report also said: "Although six fire incidents have taken place on these aircraft but it was observed that involvement of quality control staff was highly inadequate. Had the quality control staff critically gone through the whole procedure at the early stage at least half of these fire incidents could have been avoided." The CAA also asked the PIA management to take action against Chief Engineer Quality Services for his failure to carry out timely investigation of such serious incidents. But all those responsible are enjoying life without any fear of punitive action, thanks to protection given by Saeed. The funniest part of the desperate claims made by Chairman Ahmed Saeed has been about the Engineering Department and its potential. In his “Blue Chip” interview, Saeed makes that unbelievable, almost utopian, claim that his Engineering Department could earn “from $15 billion to $20 billion in one year.” This looks like a major typo but the mistake has been repeated again and again, as if Saeed was actually saying that billions could be earned by repairing aircraft of other airlines. If so why is he asking for Rs 20 billion as loans from the Pakistani market. The most incriminating evidence of Saeed and his family benefiting from PIA comes from both the Minutes of the March 7 meeting and Saeed’s interview to “Blue Chip” Magazine. In Para-2 on Page-3 where SABRE is discussed, two companies are mentioned by Saeed’s Director of IT, a former car show room manager who was brought in PIA at an exorbitant salary of Rs 450,000 per month, as replacements. These companies are: Messrs Mercotor of Emirates and Lufthansa. Likewise in Para-3 on the same page it has been stated that a company “Aeroexchange” would submit a proposal to the Engineering Department. Who is behind these companies and why these companies are being given such a preferential treatment, is not explained. But South Asia Tribune has learnt on good authority that two companies mentioned above are fully or partly owned by sons of Chairman Ahmed Saeed. Hence they are to be rewarded without any open bidding or competition. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Saeed himself admitted at the end of his Blue Chip interview that his two sons Arif and Omar, an Oxford and the other a Harvard graduate, were “venturing into IT projects”. But the way he praised an ex-car show room manager, now his IT guru, was significant because the same IT guru was now going to award IT projects to his two sons. Given all this mess and personal involvement of Chairman Saeed, it is hard to believe his claim that he was not interested in an extension of his contract as PIA Chairman. Yet the new Chairman will have a daunting task at hand to deal with all the Saeed’s men sprawling all over the airline. He will have to clean up the management, bring back all the qualified and experienced professionals who have been shunted out on personal reasons and start picking up the pieces faced with a task of managing an airline burdened with huge debts and unable to generate revenues to meet its costs. Saeed had abolished the purchase and stores department altogether so that he could himself handle everything. He had authorized his hand picked directors to manipulate figures and present the stats to mislead the government. He had run the company as he runs his shoe company. The new Chairman will have to run the airline like an airline not like an oil company, where he comes from, or like a shoe factory where the outgoing chairman will go. 'Power Struggle after Musharraf Will be Very Fierce': Ahmed Rashid Sharmeen Obaid LAHORE: Ahmed Rashid is an internationally known Pakistani journalist and an authority on Muslim extremist groups. He is a correspondent with the Far East Economic Review as well as the author of Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia and Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. In an interview with Frontline/World, Rashid traces the roots of Pakistan's internal struggles to Musharraf's contradictory policy toward extremist groups that he once supported but now has outlawed. "He has banned them and restricts them," Rashid said. "At the same time, the intelligence services have worked with them very closely, especially in Kashmir and backing the Taliban.... I think all these chickens are coming home to roost now." Do you feel that the peace talks with India this time around are different? Well, I hope they are different. I don't know if they will be different ... . I think there is a realization here, in the military, that the gap between India and Pakistan is growing so much now that unless there is an accord over Kashmir, then India is going to outtrump Pakistan in every conceivable field. I think there is also a realization in India that this continued conflict with Pakistan is hampering India's acceptance into the world market, into the United Nations as a global player. So I hope that there is a realization on both sides, but of course we are just starting out in this process. It's going to take a very long time. Who is trying to kill Musharraf now? And why now? Since 9/11, Musharraf has had a very contradictory policy toward these extremist groups. He has banned them and restricts them. At the same time, the intelligence services have worked with them very closely, especially in Kashmir and backing the Taliban. But I think what has happened now is that some of these extremist groups have realized that in the long term what Musharraf has been forced to do -- as they see it, [forced] by the Americans -- is a threat to their own existence and beliefs. And I think some of them have put together a suicide hit squad to try and eliminate him. They see his departure as being a signal for the army ... perhaps radical elements in the army to come forward and not to pursue these pro-American policies. I think what we are seeing is a mixture of local extremist groups [and] elements of al Qaeda, who Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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are still in Pakistan. And I think a silent grid of ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's military intelligence agency] officials; some of the scientists, perhaps, in the Kahuta laboratories; some Islamicist intellectuals; people in the army; ... [a] grid of very hard-line radicals right up there in the top of the establishments who I think would like to see Musharraf go. What kind of pressure do you think Musharraf is under right now? Musharraf is under enormous pressure right now. ... He has tried to play this balancing act for the last two and half years. Since 9/11, he has tried to satisfy the West, the United States, the liberal critics inside Pakistan and also the fundamentalists. I think all these chickens are coming home to roost now. I don't think you can walk two high wires at the same time. Do you think that Musharraf faces any threats from within the army? I think certainly these two assassination attempts had people inside the army supporting them. I think given what he has been forced to do on the nuclear issue and on making peace with India and on other things ... that there is an increase ... within the midlevel ranks of the army of anti-Musharraf feeling. I think there certainly are security elements inside the military and intelligence that have been providing the extremists who are trying to assassinate him with information. I think that threat is pretty serious. Would you comment on the military alliance with the maulvis, the religious clerics? Why is the Pakistan army in cahoots with these people? The military has used the mullah, or the maulvi, alliance ... to achieve two foreign policy aims. One is to continue the fight in Kashmir and to tie down the Indian troops over a long period of time, which of course has happened. And the second is to pursue a foreign policy in Afghanistan which is a support for the extreme Pashtun elements, whether it was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar [Afghan warlord and leader of the hard-line Hizb-i-Islami party that advocates attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan] or Taliban. ... The mullahs have served the military's interest over the last two decades really well. But I think ... post-9/11, the army really did not understand that you could not at the same time back the Americans, crack down on terrorism and ... continue this policy [of support for extreme elements]. Now what we are seeing two and half years down the road is all these elements coming together and real pressure. Now Musharraf has to cut his losses with the militants. The Kashmiri jihadis -- do you think that they have a religious agenda as well or are they simply freedom fighters? I think it is a mixture of both. I think a lot of them are mercenaries, by the way, and a lot of them been brainwashed -- young kids who have been through the madrassahs [Islamic religious schools], who have no idea about Islam or jihad or the history of Indo-Pak or the history of Kashmir. They have no idea about the Kashmiri people or anything like that. I think there is another element that is religiously motivated and has interpreted jihad in a very narrow way, in a very one-dimensional way and believe that they have to conquer India -- not only Kashmir -- in order to fulfill the tenets of what they believe is jihad. I think the third element is the leadership, which is largely politicized leadership and very corrupt. They make a lot of money out of this, if you see the way that they move around in their four-wheel drives, their lifestyles, the houses they live in. They have made a lot of money out of Kashmir and they have a political agenda. And they certainly don't want to see peace between India and Pakistan because they know that it means an end to their economic lifestyle.

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So would these Kashmiri jihadis resist if Kashmir is brought onto the table now that the peace talks have begun? And what form of resistance do you think they can have? I think they will resist. You should understand that a lot of these militant groups have an enormous amount at stake here -- not only their lives and future but also economic stakes, political stakes. Their entire image in society, their whole self-esteem is based on these parties and what they are doing with this jihad. So I think a lot of them will continue resisting and fighting. And then it's really going to be up to the military -what actions do they take? Do they actually crack down hard on these militants who are still their allies and have been their allies for a long time? What effect would the recent allegations about Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan have on Musharraf and on Pakistan? Well, I don't think the story is going to go away. There has been a huge attempt to whitewash this by the army and by the Americans and particularly by the Bush administration. But the fact of the matter is that no Pakistani believes that Dr. AQ Khan single-handedly proliferated to three countries over 27 years. Everybody knows that this program was under the military, was run by the military. And if there has been a case of proliferation, then it is carried out by the military. I don't doubt that the Americans in their heart of hearts also know this extremely well. I am sure their intelligence is telling them the same. It is convenient right now to whitewash Musharraf, but I think the story is not going to go away. The silence of the Americans today may not continue six months or in a year's time. What if there is a different administration? Will Pakistan suffer sanctions from tougher policies? Even if the Americans have whitewashed it, then what would be the reaction from the European community? From the Japanese who are very sensitive [about] proliferation, for example, in North Korea? From the international atomic agency? From the U.N. Security Council? We don't know. I think this proliferation is going to unleash a whole series of questions for countries around the world. ... What links did they have with Pakistan? There were allegations against General [Mirza Aslam] Beg [former chief of staff of the Pakistani army], in terms of the proliferation, that he assisted in it and turned a blind eye. In your opinion, was General Beg or military leaders at his level involved in any way? I think that the military was certainly involved. A proliferation at this level cannot have been done single-handedly by a small group of scientists. The military had to be involved. I mean, the simple fact is that when we are talking about a barter deal with North Korea, it's fairly obvious ... who is going to benefit ... from the Pakistan side. General Beg, as army chief, I am sure was involved ... . It was an institutional commitment that the army had and unfortunately it has been tragic. In the long term, it is going to be devastating for Pakistan. Do you think that the general public in Pakistan is happy with General Pervez Musharraf? Do you think that there is a sense that he is failing the people or are people accepting his policies? I don't think he has [ever] been as unpopular as he is right now. He is hugely unpopular, I think, from both ends of the spectrum. From the Islamicists, he is seen as toeing the American line, making peace with India, blaming the scientist for this nuclear proliferation etc. He is very unpopular with the middle-class liberals, the democrats, with the opposition parties because he can't be seen to be doing enough. He is trying to run two horses at the same time. He is playing with the fundamentalists and with the Americans at the same time. The whitewash of the nuclear issue by blaming the scientists -- people are angry at this. And they are angry at the military, and I think what is happening is, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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unfortunately ... , that his unpopularity is rubbing off very strongly on the army. I think some of the thinking generals and officers understand that very well -- how unpopular the army is becoming with the public. And not just because of these issues but because of the corruption that people see: the perks and privileges that are going to the army; the enormous amount of benefits that the senior officers have reaped from this martial law ... the lack of democracy; the fake elections last year; the parliament that has no powers; a dummy prime minister. And people are very angry. But don't you think that Musharraf [is in] a hard place? Do you think that anyone else would have been able to do a better job or he is doing the best that he can under the circumstances? No doubt that he is in a hard place. But unfortunately, since 9/11, when he got a new lease on life, he has not been genuine about a single policy that he has pursued. He was not genuine about backing the Americans after 9/11. There was a resurgence of militancy in Kashmir and a re backing of the Taliban after they were defeated. There has been no real national assessment by the military. There has been no real thinking carried out by the military. Musharraf has played politics by the seat of his pants. There have been day-by-day tactical moves. Today we have to satisfy the fundamentalists; then it's the Americans. That's the way it has been played, and it has been tragic. There were huge opportunities after 9/11 ... if he had pursued [other] policies, it would have dramatically altered the political makeup of Pakistan. And the key to that was to bring in the civilians in a genuine power-sharing agreement. [But] he has consolidated the military power more than ever. Do you think that the assassination attempts have had any effect on Musharraf? That he is a changed person? He is very shaken, and the people close to him have told me that he is shaken. He was very glib and thought that he could get away with this kind of a policy. But after these attempts, he has realized that he cannot. ... It has a very profound personal impact on him. But how [will] this translate into policies, how [will] this turn into a crackdown on the militant groups? ... Not a convenient crackdown ... for two or three months, [but] a real strategy to deal with tens and thousands [of militants who will] become redundant if the peace talks in Kashmir succeed. What is the army going to do with them? Is there going to be re-education of them, a demobilization process? All this has to be thought through, and I am not seeing that level of thought process at the moment. Is there reason to believe that Pakistan might be attacked by the United States in the next two or three years? I think even under the current situation, under the Bush administration, there is a secret deal. There is no way, given its policy on Libya, on Iran and, of course, against Iraq and North Korea, ... that we could have been let off the hook if it were not for major concessions. We are going to see increasing concessions by Pakistan on other safeguards, not only on nuclear programs and weapons. This would also be the demand of the U.N., the International Nuclear Agency, of other countries ... . I don't foresee invasion, but I do see enormous pressure on Pakistan to concede some kind of control over its nuclear program. Do you think that there would be a power vacuum if Musharraf were to go tomorrow? The real issue in Pakistan under a military regime has always been that of grabs for succession -- very uncertain and mercurial. We saw that after the death of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. General Aslam Beg wanted [to] declare martial law and take over. President Ishaq Khan prevented him from doing that, and then we had an election, fortunately. Whoever comes in next in power, I necessarily don't see these policies taking a U-

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turn. I don't see a radical general coming in and combating the US. I don't see anything like that. I see that the struggle after Musharraf would be very fierce. He has not strengthened the political system. ... Succession in a military regime is always uncertain. The issue of Kashmir: Is it going to be resolved any time soon, in your opinion? Is there a genuine effort to resolve it? It's not going to be resolved soon. In this dialogue between India and Pakistan is [the understanding] that Kashmir would be put on the back burner for a few years and there would be talks on other fronts, where we would be working on trust, confidence etc. It would be disastrous if the Kashmir issue were negotiated right now because the level of trust and confidence is so bad that it just would not work. Do you think that opening up the borders with India and having ... people-to-people contact [will diminish] the idea that India is the enemy? I think the people-to-people contact has been critical. It's totally underestimated by the foreign media and by the Pakistani establishment. People have been fed up on both sides of the border by this continuous situation. They want their peace. They want talk, and they want to come and go, trade, business, every kind of interchange and exchange ... . What is happening now is unstoppable. Within the army itself, how do you perceive the hierarchy and the structure? Do you think it has changed over the years or since the war with Afghanistan or since the rise of the Taliban started? There is a great degree [more] of Islamicization in the army than what you had before because so many officers have been involved in Afghanistan and Kashmir and there has been a radicalization of the military. After 9/11, a long-term program was needed to reassess the education of ... military officers. That has not happened so far. What exists are a lot of middle-level officers who were inducted during the 1980s at the height of the Afghanistan jihad. Many of them were inducted from the religious schools. They became more radical during the 1990s in the Afghan and the Kashmir war. These officers are also looking at the corruption of the generals, the perks and privileges, the plots, houses etc. where Musharraf is just buying them off ... there would be resentment on that front too. Certainly they will form a critical element against what Musharraf's policies are right now. Probe Begins Against PIA Chief: Offers Public Apology for Mismanagement M A Siddiqui KARACHI, November 27: The sky has started to fall for PIA Chairman Choudhry Ahmed Saeed, as country’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) last week started asking him, and 17 other PIA officials, some searching questions and Saeed had to offer a humiliating and incriminating public apology over the Umra bookings fiasco which stranded more than 20,000 passengers in Saudi Arabia. But Saeed is not giving up without his last ditch attempt to finalize the last multimillion dollar aircraft purchase deal for PIA, which aviation experts say, will be a simple rape of PIA, compounded many times over in coming years. Following a string of in-depth and fully documented investigative reports by the South Asia Tribune, finally the sleeping sleuths of the NAB woke up last week to start a round of questioning about the many purchase deals, kickbacks and management disasters. Saeed’s downfall started Nov 5 when his main player Air Vice Marshal Niaz was fired on charges of corruption but the real story revolves around the two PIA directors, believed by Saeed to be his men, but who turned out to be spies for the Army, and

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who turned approver against Saeed, giving the NAB all the documents and information it needed to start a probe against Saeed. The story of the probe was broken by Karachi’s Daily News which gave a banner headline, shaking the PIA corporate structure from top to bottom. The story revealed that despite his connections with General Musharraf, Saeed himself had been questioned by the NAB about the Rs 23 billion (US$380 million) grant which PIA had been paid in recent years. Despite the grant and violation of rosy promises of annual profits of billions of rupees, PIA was sinking and asking for more grants from the Government. This annoyed Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz more than anyone else as Aziz was already not in favor of doling out billions to an organization just because its Chairman was a friend of the country’s military ruler. The inside story of how NAB got involved and Saeed was betrayed was revealed by PIA sources to the South Asia Tribune. Two retired Army officers, who Chairman Saeed thought were his dependable confidants, were actually planted moles inside his corporate headquarter. His own Special Assistant, Col. (Retd) Mahmud Ahmed and Col. (Retd) Ahsan Siddiqui, Director Airport Services, were secretly passing all relevant documents to the NAB while Saeed was trusting them as shields. Saeed had brought Col. Mahmud into PIA in violation of all rules and regulations, similar to those for which former National Assembly Speaker Yusuf Raza Gilani is now serving a 10-year jail term. Mahmud was given Group-9 instead of Group-7 but he was soon confirmed as a permanent employee although rules ban any one over the age of 49 to be employed on a regular basis. Saeed thought that Col. Mahmud would protect him but while enjoying the perks and privileges, he was all the time working secretly for the Army. Col. Ahsan was also given undue importance and positions and recently was the main character who was responsible for the Umra scandal. But instead of firing or punishing him, Saeed sent him to Jeddah to probe the Umra fiasco. By this time Ahsan knew that Saeed’s time was up so he returned a damning report blaming the PIA bosses for the mismanaged operation. On November 24, Saeed had no choice but to come out with a public apology admitting the guilt saying: "It is unfortunate that PIA could not foresee this year the extent of the huge increase in the number of Umra passengers, who wanted to return within a particular timeframe and hence could not make adequate arrangements." A press release issued by PIA said: “The chairman had assured that the responsible personnel would be taken to task and corrective measures would be taken for Umra operations next year and afterwards. Standing operation procedures are being amended accordingly and the corporation assures that this will not happen in future." "On my behalf and on behalf of the corporation I extend my sincere apologies to all people who have been put to inconvenience," the release said. But it raised more questions than it answered as Saeed had promised all those responsible will be taken to task but not one had been suspended or sacked. Instead, one accused had become an approver with the NAB and was now debriefing the Generals about activities of Saeed and his coterie of other civilians. The 17 other PIA executives who were being questioned by NAB include close Saeed associated ousted Deputy Managing Director AVM Niaz, other DMDs Kaleem Malik and Farooq Shah, Kamran Hasan, Director of Marketing, Director Rashid Hasan, S.M. Siddiq and Shah Nawaz Rehman. These executives are being asked about every deal Saeed had made in his disastrous 4-year tenure – from Boeing 777 to Airbus A-310, to Retrofit program in which seats were replaced in all aircraft for $50,000 a piece. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The focus would also be on the appointment of a friend of Saeed as Cargo Sales Agent for monopoly in Europe, the PIA shares scandal in which ordinary shareholders were ripped off by misleading statements and statistics given by the management. Some of these officials are being asked why they had suddenly changed their opinions about the purchase of one kind of aircraft to another when as officers in other capacities they had opposed the same purchases. But while all this is going on, Saeed believes he can still negotiate and get away with the final deal for PIA which will make his 4-year term as one in which PIA over-spent billions, more than anyone else, in purchasing aircraft which it could neither afford nor needed. This deal is for Dash-8 Bombardier aircraft to replace the Fokker fleet and all experts say it is just not needed as PIA itself has said that not just the purchase will have to be financed by the Government, the operations of these aircraft for many years would have to be subsidized as well because they will run on socio-economic or “loss-making routes.” Experts are seriously questioning the logic but Saeed is reported to have already made a down-payment of US$ 100,000 to Bombardier to clinch the deal and tie PIA in a way that it may find difficult to get out without a substantial loss. Experts say Saeed has asked (as if PIA is asking) the Government for $10 million for buying 8 Bombardier aircraft. Then they will need an additional $10 million per year to run these aircraft operations. The so called reason/justification is that these will be used to operate on so called socio-economic routes. They are incorrectly stating that even the US Government provide such capital (not calling is subsidy) to various US airlines to fly non profitable routes at remote areas. “The reference to US is baked with lies. US provides subsidy that is true but they allow any licensed US airliner to bid on it. There is no grand fathering to one airline like PIA wants,” according to one expert. “The funding approach is still coming from the non-competitive mind set. These people are using failed formulae from past decades to solve tomorrow's problem. The second problem is that they're looking at the wrong aircraft,” the expert said. No one is buying Bombardier for quite some time. After the recent crash of a Bombardier plane belonging to the China Eastern Airlines in Inner Mongolia, because of some maintenance issues, all Bombardier aircraft have been grounded, experts say. They argue that Government should not fund the purchase of these aircraft as it would amount to a plain and simple rape. “People like Saeed should go back where they came from and sell shoes. If Musharraf wants to write him a $10 million check for being a loyal crony, let him do so from his own pocket,” an angry PIA official said. Others suggest that only PIA should not be forced to get in this mess. “Why not ask the currently licensed, and operating, private airlines to bid for these routes?” they ask. Experts say PIA bidding for these routes will be no different than what Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has done with mobile phone licensing. Let the best proven airline, or airlines, buy these routes with terms and conditions, and GoP doesn't need to pay them any money. This will require changing the CAA policy but since there is no such policy invoke, let this job begin. The current PIA policy instead of the CAA policy must go. Signs That Washington is Ready to Stop Backing Musharraf Wajid Shamsul Hasan

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LONDON, August 8: In my last article: "Pakistan getting too hot for the Generals to handle" (SAT, August 2), I had underscored that the "justification of evil on the ground of expediency" by top world leaders, "has converted God's little earth into a cesspool of intrigue, machinations and chicanery now even beyond their own control." It was pleaded that if the deepening world disorder has to be arrested, preference to double standards and selective justice will have to be given up. Most of the article was concerned about the situation in Pakistan following the London bombings of the last month that had once again catapulted Pakistan as the epicenter of global terrorism. It was emphasis ed that only a total national effort, mobilization of the masses and the best political brains can steer Pakistan out of the stormy oceans. While I would be the last person to subscribe to the view that democracy can only come to Pakistan via Washington, a large number of our intellectuals/academics and opinion makers believe that it is the United States that calls the shots in Pakistan and holds the whip that makes our military establishment wag its tail. Since it has been the main provider of the shield of legitimacy to military rulers from the day we had the first martial law in October 1958, we have seen American preference to generals rather than democratically elected politicians. Even when it comes to American aid, the ratio of assistance to the dictators is four times more than the civilian governments. That, perhaps, has been one of the key reasons that genuine restoration of democracy in which "we the people" are the sole arbiters of power remains an elusive dream. Pakistan had the first taste of some democracy at the end of Cold War. Decline and subsequent demise of the Soviet Union had opened floodgates of change worldwide in favor of democratic movements. It was not love for democracy among the generals that had seen the restoration of some semblance of democracy in Pakistan following General Zia's fatal fall from the sky. They could not impose another martial law in August 1988 when the entire world had been romancing with the democratic dream. It would not have fitted in the American agenda for a democratic Eastern Europe and Central Asian Republics. They made a tactical retreat, allowed elections, manipulated them to deny PPP leader Benazir Bhutto an otherwise assured landslide. An assertive democratic Benazir Bhutto, much like her father, was not their ball game. They had her removed to switch on yet another round of musical chairs that ended in two terms, actually two half terms, both to her and Mian Nawaz Sharif as prime ministers. Throughout these half terms the Praetorian power wielders orchestrated unproven corruption charges and instability from behind the curtain. When they saw that time was ripe to strike, they struck and now in coming October General Pervez Musharraf would be completing his sixth year as absolute ruler of Pakistan, much more than the two terms of each elected prime ministers. Like Zia General Musharraf also used Afghanistan to further implement the Praetorian dream of converting Pakistan into a garrison state, a country for the military, of the military and run by the military. Its intelligence apparatus, ISI-employed Taliban, foreign and local Jihadis trained and armed by it from the stacked up funds received in tonnes from the United States during the 80s, created a situation when Washington would forget all about its commitment to democracy as a global phenomenon and support to the hilt yet another military dictator. After the invasion of Baghdad to restore democratic rights of the Iraqi people by toppling Saddam Hussain (the only defence for the Anglo-American invasion in the absence of the weapons of mass destruction), further democratization of the Palestinian State Authority and President Bush's Scheme for the democratization of Middle East, Washington's continued support to a military dictator in Pakistan, whom it had earlier declared a pariah, has been a constant source of embarrassment and a big Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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spanner in its move to garner wider acceptability to democracy as a universal movement. To correct this colossal biased selectivity in its foreign policy, it was urged in my last article that, "Both Washington and London must get down to tell Musharraf point blank that he cannot combat terrorism by isolating the great majority of the people in his country by denying it its democratic right to vote in a government of its choice. The enormous magnitude of the terrorism requires a national effort to combat it. By keeping former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif out of the mainstream politics, he has given an open field to the religious parties and extremists to call the shots. The recently passed Hasba Bill by the North Western Frontier Provincial Assembly and the evils it will unleash in the country should be nipped in the bud before it acquires the magnitude of a death-knell for the liberal and democratic forces in Pakistan. Hasba is yet another step towards Talibanisation of Pakistan and a powerful manifestation of Mulla-Military alliance." It was also urged that Washington would do well to listen to American experts like Stephen P. Cohen who can see and measure Pakistani population's "growing alienation" from the United States that feeds into support for extremism. And this growing anti-Americanism obviously is due to absence of democracy and a level playing field for popular leaders like Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif who continue to command the support of the majority in the masses. It is encouraging to note that after all observations such as Stephen Cohen's are not falling like seeds on the stony ground in Washington. It seems they are being heeded to. The recent statement of the American Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca in Islamabad amounts to singing the lion's beard in his den. Ms Rocca's declaration that it was the 'US policy that free and fair elections, a level-playing field and return to full democracy was the key to long-term prosperity and stability in Pakistan' shows that all is not all that bad in Washington and that there is a growing realization where things have gone wrong. Besides, in her Washington-Islamabad video conference with senior journalists, Ms Rocca also brought on record that the US administration did not believe that the President's uniform guaranteed success of war against international terrorism and that it ensured that Pakistan's nuclear assets would not fall into the hands of fundamentalists. "It is a policy we continue to pursue," she said. It is better late than never. It is heartening to see that Washington has at last started seeing through General Musharraf's game of misleading the international opinion in insisting that his uniform was essential for stability and fight against terror. The earlier the Bush administration realizes the better it would be for Pakistan and its war on terrorism that political stability comes only with legitimacy and the writ of the state gets acceptability when it is backed by general will and not by tin pot generals who confess to be anorchous without their uniforms. Moreover, winning war against terrorists and extremists requires national consensus that comes with democracy alone. Musharraf occupies Presidency through Saddam-like referendum and he wields power on the basis of a contrived, distorted, fractured constitution that has no legitimacy left. Besides, he is also at war with the entire civil society as a result of which there is no consensus behind him. Pakistan and its people can regain their respectability and honor in the comity of nations when they have a freely and fairly elected government. Notwithstanding the view spinned by Musharraf's media mongers that Ms Rocca's pronouncements should be dismissed lightly since she does not occupy a very high position in the American power hierarchy, her assertions definitely carry a new message that could not have been made without higher approval especially when it is Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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much in line with the earlier statement of the world's most powerful woman, US Secretary of State Condi Rice, who had underscored the importance of free and fair elections and genuinely representative government when she visited Islamabad last. Ms Rocca's statement definitely assumes special significance due to the timing and the venue of the video-conference held amidst wide scale reports of most blatant pre-poll rigging in the local bodies elections. Ms Rocca's remarks for the need for a level playing field essential not only for the local bodies elections, but also for the 2007 general elections, require no interpretation. Washington was "very clear about it publicly and privately," indicating that this concern had been conveyed to the government also through proper channels. She reassured her commitment when she said the US was providing technical assistance with observers along with the rest of the international community. No wonder many in Islamabad are having sleepless nights. This wind of change has been widely welcomed in Pakistan. People would acknowledge generously the return of democracy no matter how it comes. However, our military establishment, to save the people of embarrassment of receiving democracy delivered in an American gift wrap, should rise to the occasion and come to terms with the genuine political leadership that lives in exile per force, hold earliest free and fair elections and go back to the barracks where they belong, with some respect and dignity intact rather than go with mud on its face. Strong Army, Strong Economy: Two Parallels or Two Opposites Dawood Mamoon THE HAGUE, Netherlands, July 21: Recently the Pakistani military ruler claimed in front of large audience in Shandoor: ‘Pakistan is rising economically; both our defence and economic foundations are strong now’. Well the General was not completely honest while making this statement as the reality is quite different than what he perceives it to be. Our so called friends see us as the front line state against war on terror whereas in the eyes of our critics Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism. Both mean the same. With the recent 7/7 attacks in London where the four terrorists had Pakistani origins and had visited religious schools in Pakistan just months ago before carrying out the terrorist acts, it seems that the country is more of an epicenter of radicalism and extremism than a country which is waging a war against fanaticism. (Pix above shows Madarassa students protesting on the streets of Lahore). If anything the extremist groups still have a free hand in the country. In one of the four provinces, these extremist elements hold the majority seats and are calling for Taliban style government by passing one extremist law after another. In all this, Musharraf seems to be the only beneficiary as he has proved himself to be one of the best rent seeker dictators of his times. He has taken billions of dollars from the west with a promise to extend unconditional cooperation against war on terror. It is a long debate whether the West is really getting the returns worth their money from their key ally on war on terror in Pakistan. However one thing is sure, it is in Musharraf’s own interest to prolong this war on extremism in Pakistan, as it is the sole source of his rent seeking from the West, whereas this war will last as long as extremism and radicalism will last in this country. Pakistan under his dictatorial rule would not be a blue eyed boy of the West, as it is today, once the war on terror is over. Musharraf knows that the West, which is the champion of democracy, has accepted his dictatorship only as a compromise for his cooperation.

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Currently with the support of his Western allies, Musharraf is successfully ruling over Pakistan and it seems his prime motive remains simple and singular: to prolong and sustain his dictatorial rule over Pakistan. The money he has received is thus duly utilized to this effect. For instance a significant part has been allocated to billion dollar defence deals and further strengthening the army as an institution. This step is to ensure his continuous support in the army which remains the primary source of his power. A good part of the money has been injected into the economy only to artificially improve the statistics as seen in the macro picture. He is defending his dictatorial rule over the previous democratic governments on the basis of Pakistani economic achievement which is empty at best in real terms as the plight of the common man is worse than the 1990s. The government may view Pakistan as progressing, but a neutral observer views any such optimism with a lot of skepticism, whereas the skepticism feeds on the stark reality that this country has been witnessing a rapid demise of its political and legal institutions under army rule. No doubt, the utter tragedy in this country is that strong political institutions, which are deemed to be a pre-requisite of any progressing society, are considered by our present leadership to be a unnecessary. Ridiculous and bizarre it may sound, but this is the bitter truth and the leadership wants us to swallow it. Doesn’t matter if we agree or not. Like all military dictators, the lame justification Pakistan’s military leadership gives is that army is the only competent institution whereas politicians and judiciary in Pakistan has largely been incompetent., So further strengthening the army is in Pakistani national interest and the most competent should run the country if this country has to progress. However in the opinion of the intelligentsia in Pakistan and outside, weak institutions are the ones we need to strengthen and not the armed forces if we want to develop and progress on sustainable basis. It seems that an obvious fact has skipped the thinking minds of our rulers that armed forces are not meant to run the countries or contribute to economic prosperity. Instead their sole duty is to defend the borders of a sovereign nation. Yes, armed forces need to be strong enough to be able to deter the enemy against confrontation or defend the country if attacked. But in a country which yearns to progress, the army can never be a substitute of political institutions or judiciary. This country has seen many wars and many we may have lost not because we did not have strong army but because the enemy was many times superior to us. If there was ever a need to have a large army with a large arsenal, it is indeed not today for several reasons. First, we are a nuclear state. In order to get this nuclear capability, the nation has already sacrificed billions which could have been spent on poverty alleviation and social and infrastructure development, to allow the generals to spend to their satisfaction so that our borders would remain secure and we can live like a sovereign nation. Second, for a small country like Pakistan, the strength of the armed forces does not come from being large and expensive to the exchequer, but from being disciplined. Pakistani armed ranks have always been strong and confident to face any outside aggression as they practice immaculate discipline. It is only the top brass, which needs to learn some lessons so that they stop walking over the constitution and overthrowing democratic governments when ever they feel like it.

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Third and more importantly, the need to increase the arsenal is not required as our socalled traditional enemy is trying to become a friend and we have tried to be sensible as we have abandoned the language of confrontation and have started talking peace. Both Pakistan and India have wisely recognized that confrontation has not done any good to them and they have to learn to live as peaceful neighbors if they want to progress and realize their development goals. Fourth, when poverty is on top of the government agenda and the General himself claims that the government is following a comprehensive strategy for poverty reduction through employment generation and sustainable economic development at the grassroots level, adequate amount of funds need to channeled to meet the challenges of development sector rather than procuring expensive military gadgetry we can very well do without or spending on the lavish life styles of generals who can very well live without. Fifth, in strict economic terms, army is a non-development expenditure and a burden on the public exchequer. Pakistan is a developing country and the economic priority should lie in keeping the defence expenditure to its minimum. Furthermore, if economic prosperity is the main concern, then good political institutions, rather than a strong army, leads to sound economic foundations and puts the country into a long run growth path on sustainable basis. There is a rich economic literature available which talks about the importance of political and legal institutions in economic development. It strongly suggests that the success of economic policies is associated with well developed political and legal institutions rather than strong army. Recently Dani Rodrik, a well known Harvard Professor of political science, has shown in his study published in 2004 edition of ‘Journal of Economic Growth’ that good political and legal institutions are by far the most important determinant of long term economic growth. In a nutshell, the strong economy and strong army proposition presented by Musharraf is nothing to do with the progress of this country and every thing to do with perpetuating his rule over this country. In reality, Pakistan is a country hijacked by fanatics and ruled by a dictator. The only hope out of the shackles of tyrants and fanatics is democracy. Western powers should realize this fact sooner than later. The Aziz Cabinet: All the King's Horses and Poor Jamali's Men M Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: So it is more of the same. Many were nursing the illusion that this time it may be different, not necessarily better or worse, but just different. Even Shaukat Aziz was hinting at a new look administration - competent, clean, honest and chosen on merit. The team he will lead and which has been handpicked for him, is not only the same which Jamali and Shujaat were destined to live with, it may be more unwieldy this time. Already 32, full ministers have been inducted and some more may be trickling in at a later stage. Then there is the inevitable prospect of an army of junior ministers waiting in the wings to be sworn-in within the next couple of days. Indications are that every minister will have at least one, if not more, minister of state. The first purpose, of course, is to accommodate pressure groups within ruling coalition or the influential lobbies, which are pulling the strings from backstage. The second purpose is to cut the concerned minister to size under constant scrutiny. That is a sure-shot recipe of chaos. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Add to this the swarm of parliamentary secretaries, advisors and chairmen of standing committees, and you have a house suffocating-full. The Hashmi episode had exposed Mr. Shaukat Aziz’s hapless status. Despite his innate decency, resilience and civility, he was unable to prevent something that tainted the process of his election and tarnished his image. One of the characters in that event that posed to represent Mr. Aziz in the unsavory exercise of opposing the production order for Hashmi has even been rewarded with a ministerial post. The cabinet formation was being dubbed as a major test of the limits and parameters within which the new Prime Minister would be allowed to operate. There was some intense lobbying and the list was shuffled and reshuffled many times before the final announcement. Shaukat has fared no better than Jamali. There is hardly anybody in the new cabinet who could be considered Mr. Aziz’s choice. Everybody is somebody else’s representative. The next battle is for portfolios, and there is little hope of any major change on this count either. As a successful banker, Mr. Aziz is known for being very meticulous in hunting talent. This time around, he has gotten ready-made stuff, which he may or may not like. His skill to gel a cohesive and coherent team, owing allegiance to him, would be severely tested. Shaukat’s close friends say the Prime Minister may have a free hand in the selection of ministers of state. But names appearing in the media tell another story. Those who insist that he will be more of a glorified finance minister than a real prime minister, must have been reinforced in that view. It is thus a safe bet that he may be able to exercise his choice in the finance ministry without outside interference. He is reportedly intent on keeping the portfolio to himself and name an advisor to run the ministry, probably a repeat of VA Jaffery syndrome. Among the likely names, State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat Hussain seems to be the best possible candidate. On paper it is a cabinet of expedience. The pressure groups like MQM and Patriots now look more entrenched than ever. They not only have been able to maintain their previous strength in the cabinet, but have been given one more minister each. They also hope to have ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries as well. Pir Pagara, who made a lot of noise against the PML chief and withdrew his Functional League from the unified PML, accusing him of establishing the rule of the Jatts, has finally extracted the price and got Razzaq Thaheem in the cabinet. Moreover Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has been able to address the long-standing grievance of his party’s MPs that they have been ignored in order to appease smaller groups. Most of the 12 new ministers belong to the dominant party in the coalition. Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Tahir Iqbal and Mushtaq Cheema are his loyalists. Jadoon’s choice ensures representation of Hazara division and rewards a seasoned political worker. The backstage managers have got their own share of the pie like Javed Ashraf Qazi, Habibullah Warraich, Jehangir Tareen, Wasi Zafar and Mian Shamim Haider. Wasi Zafar had defected from the PPP after the election and dropped directly in PML’s fold instead of his other PPP colleagues who turned into Patriots. He is also well connected in sensitive places. Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain is brother of Chief Justice Lahore High Court and former governor (late) Chaudhry Altaf Hussain. Ghulam Sarwar Khan worked hard for Shaukat Aziz’s election campaign in Attock and was instrumental in fostering defections in his old party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Above all, he was the first person to demand in the National Assembly that President Musharraf must not shed his uniform and should back out from his solemn Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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pledge to the nation he made on television, because the MMA also reneged on its promise to support him in the confidence vote and on the National Security Council. Among other groups, Ejazul Haq is in his lone vote, while Hamid Nasir Chattha has got the coveted slot of Chairman Kashmir Committee. Mian Manzoor Wattoo has also not been accommodated. Kabir Wasti also got a rough treatment. Being first to merge his Qasim Muslim League in the PML, he had gone extra miles to demonstrate his loyalty to Shujaat and Gen. Musharraf. He contributed in the unraveling of Jamali and discredited his fine record of three decades of struggle for democracy by unqualified support to a military ruler. In the process, he was neither accommodated in the parliament nor the party or the government. He is living in political wilderness despite his sharp political acumen. “It serves him right,” says one of his old friends. The Crumbling World of General Musharraf Najam Sethi LAHORE, July 12: The political system and strategy cobbled by General Pervez Musharraf’s advisors in 2002 seems to be unraveling in the run up to the local body elections in 2005. The “revolutionary” grassroots system so beloved of General Tanvir Naqvi has been finally overthrown by the provinces. The Military Mullah Alliance once so dear to the military establishment has become a millstone around its neck. The Muslim League that was usurped from Nawaz Sharif (so that it could be united and groomed as the King’s Party) is riven with dissent. And efforts to woo the PPP of Benazir Bhutto in order to broaden the base of the regime have amounted to zilch. With Washington and the international community keen on greater democracy, stability, continuity and predictability, we are not terribly sanguine about the political outlook. General Naqvi, the founder of the high-sounding National “Reconstruction” Bureau, has already become a footnote in Pakistani history. The “revolutionary” local body system that was supposed to become an umbilical chord between the military establishment in Islamabad and the grassroots politician below has been spiked by provincial governments. The Punjab PML government has amended the Local Government Act by giving the chief minister full powers over district nazims. In Sindh, the PML government has blithely gerrymandered districts to undermine the PPP’s prospects. Now it has chickened out from holding the elections and ordered the city and district governments not to pass their budgets. But the Jamaat i Islami’s Karachi government has defied the provincial government’s orders. Meanwhile, the government’s current partner (MQM) and former partner (MMA) are sharpening their knives for a full blooded encounter in Karachi if the local polls are held. And everywhere the PML naib-nazims are demanding the accountability of PML nazims across the board while half the members of the PML are insisting that the local polls should be postponed. The Military Mullah Alliance was manufactured by the establishment and the mullahs were handed more than 60 seats in parliament, two seats in the National Security Council and the slot of the leader of the opposition. They were also catapulted into power in two provinces and Karachi. Now they have become a millstone around General Musharraf’s neck. They refuse to sit in the NSC, they refuse to help the war against terror; they refuse to support the India-Kashmir initiatives, they refuse to allow enlightened amendments to the blasphemy and Hudood laws. Worse, they refuse to prop up General Musharraf as president or army chief. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The Muslim League that was usurped from Nawaz Sharif and strapped to Choudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain so that it could become a strong, united and fierce fighting force, is bitterly divided. Its Punjab members are against holding local elections not because they can’t win them but because they don’t want the Choudhries to claim credit for victory and entrench themselves politically. General Musharraf is constantly involved in negotiating truces between its feuding members who are either former prime ministers or future prime ministerial hopefuls – first between Zafarullah Jamali and Choudhry Shujaat and recently between Humayun Akhtar Khan and Choudhry Shujaat. Meanwhile, the former president of Pakistan, Farooq Leghari, the former chief minister of Punjab, Manzoor Wattoo, and the former head of the Muslim League (J), Hamid Nasir Chattha, are all conspiring to dethrone the Choudhries And what are the Choudhries doing? They are lining up with the Jamaat i Islami to take aim at friends within and enemies without. Finally, attempts to woo the PPP and PMLN into the fold without Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have stalled. Mr Asif Zardari’s silence since he was released from prison and allowed to leave the country is as stunning as Mr Shahbaz Sharif’s since he was allowed to exit his gilded cage in Saudi Arabia and ensconce himself in London. Both of them are, as Choudhry Shujaat famously put it, “zeros without Nawaz and Benazir”. But neither Ms Bhutto will relent to a civilian Musharraf as president of Pakistan without a full withdrawal of the cases against her and free rein in the forthcoming general elections, nor will Mr Sharif settle for anything less than the unequivocal exit of General Musharraf and the army from politics. The only option for General Musharraf is to break both parties afresh and compel the new rumps to join his camp in preparation for 2007. But that’s where it all began in 1999, didn’t it, imprisonment and exile, the making of cases, the breaking of parties, the system change, the pre-election rigging and the constitutional wheeling and dealing? From 1999 to 2001, the military regime seemed strong at home but weak abroad. After 9/11, it seemed strong at home and strong abroad. Come 2007, however, after the war against terror has abated, and the honeymoon with the Bush regime has fizzled out, and institutional stability is still missing and a national consensus is lacking on the strategic goals of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf could be faced with the prospect of being shown up as weak at home and weak abroad. This might happen if he continues to make tactical maneuvers for political survival in the short term while losing sight of the national strategic objectives in the long run. The Irrelevant Controversy Over US Citizenship of PM-in-Waiting Shaukat Aziz Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, July 18: The controversy whether PM-in-waiting, Shaukat Aziz, is or is not, a US citizen is irrelevant as the Constitution of Pakistan categorically states that any Pakistani who acquires citizenship of a Foreign State shall stand disqualified from being elected as a member of Parliament. The disqualification clause has already been invoked in the case of at least one sitting Senator, Azam Swati of MMA, who was a US citizen and who had to renounce his US citizenship before his papers for Senate nomination were accepted in 2002. Shaukat Aziz, who has lived abroad for all his working life and has settled in the US, living in the posh Manhattan high rise compound, 100-UN Plaza, a property worth over two million dollars, has himself created the controversy around his citizenship, possibly for political reasons. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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He has been attacked by the Opposition on this count in the media and even on the Senate floor where he made his first appearance with the new PM Choudhry Shujaat Hussain recently. Opposition senators wanted a direct yes or no answer from Aziz whether or not he was a US citizen but he kept his response vague just declaring that he was a Pakistani. Yet in an interview with Mariana Babar of The News on Sunday, Aziz came closest to clarifying the issue by saying he was a Green Card holder and had never obtained the US passport. Two of the closest of people in New York, a senior journalist and a doctor associated with PPP, have separately stated to me that as far as they knew Aziz had never obtained the US citizenship. One of them said he had traveled with Aziz abroad several times and as recently as a few months back and he always saw a Pakistani Green Passport in his hand, not a Blue US book. Likewise the other friend said he was 100 per cent sure that Aziz was not a US citizen. These statements coupled with the Mariana Babar's interview make it quite evident that Aziz was sure of how he was handling this issue. He has been unruffled by the criticism and has remained cool and confident, despite quite provocative attacks, right at his face in the Senate and elsewhere. By contrast Aziz’s reaction to the other attack that he was a Qadyani or an Ahmedi, was instant and fierce as he considered that charge to be explosive if it stuck, no matter whether it was right or wrong. Many refer to the case of Interim Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi, who also came from the US and became the PM. But in his case as well it was clear that Mr Qureshi had never acquired the US citizenship and was only a Green Card holder, travelling all the time on a Pakistani passport. A former diplomat of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington confirmed to me that he always handled Mr Qureshi's passport whenever it came for renewal or any other consular service. The Pakistan Constitution Article 63, which deals with qualifications and disqualifications of becoming a member of Parliament, reads in part: 63- (1) A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if – (a) he is of unsound mind and has been so declared by a competent court; or (b) he is an undischarged insolvent; or (c) he ceases to be citizen of Pakistan, or acquires the citizenship of a Foreign State; or…… the list goes on until sub-section p, q, r and s. It was this sub-section (c) which forced Senator Azam Swati to forego his US citizenship and also forced another US-based politician of PML-Q, Omar Ghumman to declare that he was not a US citizen, at least at the time of filing his nomination papers. Shaukat Aziz must have also declared that he was not a US citizen before contesting for the Senate seat in 2002 and that is why he appears cool on the issue because by behaving in that way, he is distracting the Opposition from attacking him on other potentially more damaging issues. Legal experts say Article 63 is so clear it cannot be affected in any way by any dual citizenship laws which allow a Pakistani to keep his Pakistani citizenship along with US or British citizenship. Laws do not override the Constitution. The US laws on dual citizenship are also vague and in case Shaukat Aziz was a citizen and became the Prime Minister, the US law may not threaten him in any way. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Section 349(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is the section of law that governs the ability of a United States citizen to renounce his or her US citizenship. On 16 April 1990, though, the State Department adopted a new set of guidelines for handling dual citizenship cases which are much more streamlined and liberal than before. The State Department now says that it will assume that a US citizen intends to retain (not give up) his US citizenship if he: 1. is naturalized in a foreign country; 2. takes a routine oath of allegiance to a foreign country; or 3. accepts foreign government employment that is of a "non-policy-level" nature. Apparently, a "routine oath of allegiance" to another country is no longer taken as firm evidence of intent to give up US citizenship, even if said oath includes a renunciation of US citizenship. This presumption that someone intends to keep US citizenship does not apply to a person who: 4. takes a "policy-level" position in a foreign country; 5. is convicted of treason against the US; or 6. engages in "conduct which is so inconsistent with retention of U.S. citizenship that it compels a conclusion that [he] intended to relinquish U.S. citizenship." The State Department says that cases of these kinds will be examined carefully to determine the person's intent. They also say that cases falling under the last criterion mentioned above (conduct wholly inconsistent with intent to keep US citizenship) are presumed to be "very rare." In Shaukat Aziz’s case, the US will be more than happy to allow him to retain his US citizenship, if he has one, and become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Pitiless Plight of a General and His Clueless Army Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, February 13: If a politically enlightened crow flew South to North nonstop across Pakistan today, entering the country on the Arabian Sea coastline, it would see a picture that would contain the following images: - Balochistan is awash with a burst dam with hundreds missing and thousands crying for help. Scared officials and administrators are trying to mute demands to probe why the Dam gave in. - Further North, Balochistan either is under darkness, with no power supply. The frequent flickers of light are bombs and rockets fired by angry tribesmen on railway tracks, electricity towers, gas pipelines or other government or Army targets. - In Quetta Corps Headquarters, Generals and their juniors are wondering where the next billion will come from and what mark up they can negotiate in their next real estate deal. - The political coalition government with Mullas is wondering when they may get the marching orders by the Governor and the Chief Minister is losing sleep about who will succeed him in a ‘democratic’ shuffle ordered by Islamabad. - The Tribal Sardars are gearing up for an Army assault and trying to reactivate their links to foreign suppliers and supporters in case they had to fight a long entrenched bloody war. - Common man in Balochistan is wondering what has hit him as it is hard for him to survive the rising cost of living and growing anarchy in the society. - Enter Waziristan the first image is of total confusion in Army ranks. It is handing out dollars by the million to rebel fighters to repay debts of Al Qaeda’s “foreign militants”. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Until yesterday Al Qaeda and these militants were targets of helicopter gun ships. Something has changed quickly. - Army Generals are again holding jirgas with tribes who go back from their meetings and start firing at Army vehicles. In 9 months of Army Operation, the child born is a half million dollar gift to cash-strapped Al Qaeda. - US troops across the Afghan borders are unhappy because Pak Army has not rounded up those wanted. Pak troops are unhappy because US marines routinely enter their territory to chase militants. Neither of them publicly protests for fear of embarrassment. - Rest of NWFP is Mulla territory and Talibanization is progressing at a steady pace with latest law banning clicking pictures of women. All signboard and hoarding are no longer heterosexual. A junior Religious Affairs Minister of General Musharraf has already accused the Mullas they are sexually assaulting children in madrassas. But this is nothing new for NWFP. - Common man in NWFP is wondering what has hit him as it is hard for him to survive the rising cost of living and growing anarchy in the society. - Into Punjab and wow, we have the makings of an independent state where every week a new head of state is paying an official visit from India without the Islamabad Foreign Office having a clue. It was Punjab CM, then Haryana, next Chandigarh, next Rabri Devi because Phoolan Devi is already dead. Or whoever. - Army is happy that Punjab is peaceful and so they have grabbed all lands between Lahore and the Indian border at Wagah to be turned into Defence Housing Societies, commercialized and sold as plots making billions for the Generals and their cohorts. The Choudhries running Punjab are more than happy to get their share and not raise any objections. - General Musharraf is using the peace in Punjab to run his 2007 election campaign in his uniform. Public meetings are new to him and he gets so excited he may even accept to address a collection of all the Lotas (utensils used for abulitions) left behind after the Tablighi Jamaat congregation of 2 million Muslims in Raiwind. - The Choudhries are death scared as Musharraf is talking to Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari and Shahbaz Sharif. What will happen to their kingdom if these heavyweights enter the ring. - Basant was such a success for Punjab, even Musharraf forgot his woes and made a surprise landing at midnight at the roof of Crow Eaters Gallery, dressed like an Indian Film Hero, with a long Mughul-style shawl. He was crowded instantly by cuties, rushing to get closer to his bullet proof vest. Even Bapsi Sidhwa, the writer had to wait an endless half hour to shake hands. Kite flying is thus Musharraf’s favorite sports. - Common man in Punjab is wondering what has hit him as it is hard for him to survive the rising cost of living and growing anarchy in the society. - Come Islamabad and here Musharraf is stuck deep in a pond of what we daily excrete. He has announced elections for Local Bodies and Nazims in April. He has started secret negotiations with Benazir and Nawaz Sharif. He is paying Al Qaeda the ‘Khiraj’ (ransom). He has been physically attacked from within his ranks and cannot move without ordering ‘Handz Zup’ to everybody, wherever he goes. Even his own Generals are body searched and stripped for hidden guns. It is a day to day existence. - His problems begin where he thinks they will end. His talks with Benazir and Asif are all on “her terms”. She wants a guarantee that elections will be free and fair and not engineered like 2002. As a test she wants the Local Bodies elections to be made a sample. - Musharraf cannot afford a free and fair LB poll as that would mean BB and Nawaz would sweep away so many Nazims, the grassroots seat of power as he says, BB will Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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be firmly rooted for a late 2006 or early 2007 general election. He will end up in a situation the US Army now faces in Iraq with the Shias in control of Parliament. - If he does not concede, BB will not come on board and he would be left with a disenchanted bunch of courtiers of PML-Q who would know that they are there just about to be dumped. They are already showing signs of mistrust and irritation. Poor turncoats now have no place to turn to. But Choudhry Shujaat is smart and has reopened his communication lines with Nawaz Sharif saying he was “one of us.” - To find an easy escape route Musharraf is thinking, yes he thinks for a couple of minutes whenever he has to take a U-Turn, to postpone the Local Bodies polls until he can work out some other political strategy to deal with BB and NS. - BB and Nawaz have become smart as well and in their first meeting in 17 years, talked of a Charter of Democracy and a Road Map to real representation of the people. This is bad news for Musharraf and his clueless men running around in circles. If BB and NS remain united, all the Sheikh Rashids combined will not be able to escort Musharraf to a safe landing. - So the Musharraf camp is like a Tsunami hit beach. No one knows where the road is. Who to talk to. What to say and what will happen. There is debris all around. - While Musharraf says BB and NS will not be allowed to enter Pakistan, Sheikh Rashid says Musharraf and BB are talking about ‘seats adjustments’. What hogwash, but poor Sheikh has to say something before the beehive of TV microphones. - While Khurshid Kasuri informs the Senate that three Prime Ministers, including his own current boss, spent millions on Umra junkets for their own friends and family, Choudhry Shujaat attacks Kasuri for lying in the House. Poor Kasuri was only talking from the files and may not even have seen the answers sent to the Senate by some JS or Section Officer. But tempers are high and debris is flying. - While Army is itching to launch an all-out assault on Balochistan nationalist leaders, Choudhry Shujaat knows that this would destroy the entire political house of cards and he is thus making noises which keep hopes of a political solution alive. Or is at least keeping the operation away for a few more days. Now he has given 10 days to resolve the issue and 3 have already gone. - As Army tries to keep the Sui Rape Case investigation under control, pro-Musharraf Balochi parliamentarians join the Nationalists in demanding that the Army Captain be punished, or at least probed. One junior Officer has become the super ego of General Musharraf. He does not know whether to sacrifice a Captain or sacrifice himself. Utter confusion marks the GHQ on the subject. - While this confusion on domestic front awaits resolution, Musharraf knows that US and the West are getting restless on other key issues, like Dr AQ Khan, democracy and Musharraf’s own uniform. The imprints of Condi Rice on US policy are emerging as patriotic US media blasts Musharraf on AQ Khan issue and the Commonwealth says he will have to quit his uniform by 2007. - To optimists, in terms of a time frame, 2007 is just 21 months away and even PM Shaukat Aziz had to concede at the Davos Economic Forum that the clock was ticking for Musharraf as 2007 will be here in a whiff. (What Aziz got from Musharraf for that remark in a one-on-one meeting later is a separate story). - Common man in Islamabad is wondering what has hit him as it is hard for him to survive the rising cost of living and growing anarchy in the society. - Islamabad has many more dimensions of disaster brewing and more debris flying but entering Sindh is another ball game. Here the Chief Minister is acting like Jam Sadiq Ali reborn and has tried to act snobbish with every one. Pir Pagara is angry and talking. Largest party PPP is not helping. Karachi has five centers of power: Corps

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Commander's Office, Governor's House, CM House, Altaf Bhai's 90 Residence and Jamaat Islami Nazim's HQ. Each is over-stepping the other. - In the interior a power tussle is on between Musharraf loyalist Nazims and CM Arbab. His latest brush has come with Musharraf’s wonder boy, head of National Reconstruction Bureau, Daniyal Aziz, on the powers and elections of Local Bodies and Nazims. Arbab is so angry he stated on TV he will complain to Musharraf against Daniyal's interference. May be he will, but he will also come back to his office in Karachi, cut to his size. - The MQM is the biggest supporter and the strongest opponent of General Musharraf and his Army at the same time. While sitting in the Sindh and Federal Cabinets the MQM Ministers make pro-Musharraf noises, they are at a loss to defend what Altaf Bhai utters in London or New Delhi or on his phone. - Altaf Hussain's stand on Balochistan clean bowled Musharraf. By joining the ‘rebel’ cause Altaf Bhai forced Musharraf to back down from “they-will-not-know-what-hitthem” boast. But for how long? Ever since Musharraf blew his misplaced horn, insurgency in Balochistan has multiplied and snowballed. - Altaf Bhai is now quiet and poor Aamer Liaqat Hussain, the young MQM junior Minister cum TV compere cum best debater cum show boy was cut to pieces by a sober anchor of his rival TV channel ARY. Dr Shahid Masood made Aamer look like what he is, a novice. But he says and behaves as if Musharraf had ordained him to be Altaf Bhai’s successor to take over the MQM, should anything happen to Altaf Bhai. Aamer and Musharraf may have to wait as Altaf Bhai is no amateur in protecting himself. - Rural Sindh is preparing to explode with its own Sindh Liberation Army, a la the Balochistan Liberation Army, if Musharraf goes ahead with the Kalabagh Dam announcement. Alas that has become the only place where the Army and Musharraf will try to seek refuge but again they need Benazir and Nawaz Sharif on board to get Kalabagh going. - To deal with them, please refer to the section dealing with them above. - Common man Sindh is wondering what has hit him as it is hard for him to survive the rising cost of living and growing anarchy in the society. The Politics of the Killer Quake: Who has Gained and Who has Lost Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, October 17: The Deadly Quake on October’s Black Saturday not just killed thousands, it turned the entire political scene of Pakistan topsy turvy with neither the Government nor the Opposition having any clue of how it would impact their future. The obvious and the immediate casualty of the tragedy has been the Opposition’s slow but persistently growing campaign against General Pervez Musharraf as all Opposition alliances had finally agreed to launch a united movement against him after Ramadan. That has now been called off. Another noticeable victim was the break-up of the already fragile religious alliance MMA with Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s Jamaat Islami and Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI parting ways. As Chief Minister of NWFP, Akram Durrani, quietly came to attend the hastily summoned meeting of the National Security Council, despite protests by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, it became clear that Musharraf had struck the fatal blow to the religious right. When Maulana Fazlur Rehman openly supported the participation of his party leader at the NSC, the MMA split became final. Musharraf immediately rewarded Chief Minister Akram Durrani with a promise of several billion rupees in aid for the quake victims. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Exiled politicians Benazir Bhutto of PPP, Nawaz Sharif of PML and Altaf Hussain of MQM were still unable to muster enough political courage to return to the country as some analysts thought it may have been a smart move which would have made it awfully difficult for Musharraf to go after them at such a sensitive time. But all these leaders stayed abroad and tried to contribute verbally and by making personal donations and asking their parties to do whatever they could to provide help and relief. Nawaz Sharif, in fact, used the occasion cleverly to break his forced silence and gave live TV interviews, his first in almost 5 years, though he deliberately avoided talking about politics or to criticize the Army. Altaf Hussain saw in the tragedy an opportunity to naively establish the non-ethnic credentials of his party by appealing to the constituencies outside the Mohajir strongholds of Karachi and Hyderabad. General Musharraf, himself unsure how the media criticism of his inept handling of the crisis in the early days would play out, recovered quickly and started flying up and down the quake-hit areas to activate his administration. And in an attempt to appease the Opposition, he publicly thanked them for their concern and cooperation, by which he probably meant their inability to mount a serious barrage against him. Interestingly Musharraf repeatedly insisted that the blame game should not be played, implicitly admitting that some blame could be placed at his doors. That he realized soon and thought it prudent to apologize without loss of time for his lapses in order to keep the smoke from turning into a fire. He then went on to focus on the relief effort. The mainstream Opposition, realizing that its single track politics of attacking Musharraf on issues of democracy, human rights and power politics may turn out to be counter-productive in such a situation, announced postponing their anti-Musharraf campaign and instead vowed full support in relief efforts. All this means that everybody was looking at the tragedy through the glasses of his own political future and was trying not to do anything that could be attributed by the opponents as untimely opportunism or callousness in pursuit of political power. So what impact will the tragedy have on the political players of the country is the big question. One thing is clear. The only organized institution which can provide some help and relief to the victims in far flung remote areas is the Pakistan Army and they will have to receive the acclaim or share the blame, depending on how they conduct the relief operations and use or misuse the millions coming in as unconditional aid. The political parties seem helpless in any case as neither do they have the structure to provide any meaningful assistance, other than staging some road shows for TV cameras, nor do they have the credible leadership on the ground to challenge the actions or inaction of the Government and the Army. Had Benazir Bhutto herself, Nawaz or Shahbaz Sharif or even Asif Zardari camped themselves in Muzaffarabad with several tiers of leaders and workers, sharing the grief and pain of the victims, the Government would have been seriously challenged. That is not possible. But the role of these parties is still not yet over. The bigger and more serious challenge is still to be met. When hundreds of millions of dollars pour in as aid from round the world, there has to be an equally strong and organized watchdog role of the political parties, the private media and the civil society to ensure that most, if not all, of it goes into the right places and is not gobbled up by scam artists who surround General Musharraf in hordes. General Musharraf has not done well to name some of these very scavengers as managers of the relief funds, specially those who have publicly admitted that they Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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were more interested in keeping billions of rupees for their own salaries, perks and privileges although these billions were obtained from the Government in the name of spreading education and providing health to the general masses. Now these scam artists are under the eye of the cameras as their past is shadowy and the job Musharraf is giving them provides them the chance of their life to pilfer away billions in the name of earthquake aid. The politicians who have been supporting Musharraf, the likes of the Choudhries of Gujrat, are also feeling left out in the relief effort and in a display of some accommodation to the other politicians in Opposition ranks, have agreed to sit together to discuss the tragedy and what to do about it in a All Parties Round Table Conference. But these moves are more political than to benefit those in desperate need. It is also clear that for many months and probably years to come, the October 8 tragedy will determine the shape of politics in Pakistan. The only, and so far the obvious, beneficiary has been General Musharraf himself as the toll of death and misery has diverted all attention from his rule and misrule of the last 6 years and has given him another chance to prove that he can do much more than any of his critics. In that sense, Musharraf himself is also using the tragedy to push his political agenda of 2007 when he is committed to hold fresh general elections and when he himself intends to seek a new term of office as president. What Musharraf does now will become the issue of his election campaign in 2007 and conversely the role the Opposition plays now will determine the strength of the challenge it can mount against Musharraf and his allies. What everyone is not focusing on is that such a monumental tragedy should have brought everyone to his or her senses, brought every one together in order to turn a fresh leaf in politics by forgetting and forgiving the past and starting an era of accommodation and cooperation. Musharraf has to play that bigger and wiser role because he has to realize that if even now he introduces an institutionalized system of politics and change of governments, it may help him more than anyone else. If he seeks legitimacy through an accepted and internationally recognized process, he would have succeeded in playing the role of a visionary and may acquire another term in his office, this time legitimately. But if he continues on the path of confrontation to eliminate or push aside all potentially serious but popular opponents, through the use of his gun, he would only prolong the agony and misfortune of the nation. This is so because one day he has to go and if on that day, Pakistan goes back to square one and starts all over again with a new military commander staging a coup or grabbing power, it would be a bigger tragedy for the country, may be bigger than Black Saturday of October 8. The Shattered Pakistani Dream and Role of the Military Ahsan Iqbal ISLAMABAD, August 17: "We have an image problem". This has been repeatedly said by both General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz suggesting that everything is OK except that we are just lacking in our public relations effort. A cursory review of only previous month’s news headlines presents a totally different picture. Some of these headlines: "Pakistan implicated in London bombings", "Worst train crash in Ghotki kills over 200", "Breakdown of submarine cable disrupts country's internet and telecommunication link with outside world", "India moves with Baglihar dam threatening water supply to Pakistan", "Hundreds die in the four provinces due to Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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outbreak of gastroenteritis", "Blasts in Quetta, killings of ulema in Karachi, violence in Gilgit with shoot at sight orders", "Army under attack in tribal areas with joint FBI and army operations in progress", "Joint tribal jirga of elders and ulema boycotting army uplift schemes", "NWFP Assembly passes Hisba bill and the Federation files an appeal in Supreme Court", "GHQ and Fauji Foundation refuse to appear before Senate standing committee", "Nationwide crackdown on madrassas starts with over 300 arrests", "Opposition parties express no-confidence in fair and free conduct of local bodies elections", "India and US sign a nuclear cooperation pact and Pakistani PM's US visit is postponed", "Indian PM targets Pakistan's nuclear program and infiltration in Kashmir", "Pakistani PM dashes to Kabul to pacify angry Karzai", " Musharraf government downplaying its failure over Siachen", "Mukhtaran Mai and some government Ministers placed on ECL", "Mr. Nawaz Sharif denied Pakistani passport." These headlines are symptoms of a much deeper and growing crisis of meaning and governance in Pakistani society on account of our unstable political history. Long military tenures built and glorified an individual at the cost of building institutions and rule of law causing irreparable damage to our political and social structures. The democratic set ups during brief tenures were mostly left to fight survival battles. Resultantly these more serious and long term issues of the state and society have grown in complexity over time thereby taking form of a national malaise, which creates tension along five fault lines in our society. The first is about our national identity and meaning between Islamic and secular interpretations of Pakistan; the second relates to the model of governance and institutions for our state between forces of democracy and military; the third is between the ordinary people demanding rights and services and the ruling elite protecting privileges and patronage; the fourth is about distribution of resources and autonomy between federation and provinces; and the fifth pertains to globalization thus bringing global imperatives and forces in conflict with national interests, culture, and sovereignty. Our future depends on our response to resolve these contradictions. Otherwise the Pakistani society will continue its flip flop as it is said in a Chinese saying that when fish is out of water it continuously flips and flops sensing that its present position is unbearable without knowing where next flip will take it. The first tension relates to meaning and spirit of Pakistani society. Pakistan was created out of a political struggle waged by Muslims of South Asia, inspired by the thoughts of Iqbal and the vision of Jinnah that Muslims were a separate nation rather a minority which will not be safe within a united India. Jinnah's fears of a Hindu dominated state were confirmed by the actions of many of the Congress provincial governments of 1937-39 contributing to formal demand for independence by Muslim League at Lahore in 1940. Despite the fact that Jinnah was spokesman for Muslims in South Asia, his vision articulated an inclusive and a positive conception of the meaning of an Islamic state, which didn't preclude minority representation. It is interesting to note that at that time there were more credible religious leaders present to claim representation of Muslims in South Asia. Yet, Jinnah succeeded in winning vote of confidence from the Muslims due to the broad appeal of his message. It would not be fair to say that Jinnah espoused a pure secular Pakistan because in that case there can't be a compelling justification for Muslims to reject the competing secular message of the Congress Party. Knowing Jinnah, nobody can expect that he used the banner of Islam just to get the votes from Muslims and after securing independence he turned secular. Therefore, if one looks at his speeches in the context of his vision one finds that there isn't any Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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contradiction. Jinnah's vision for Pakistan certainly carried Islamic underpinning but was different from the traditional religious leaders in its inclusiveness, meaning and appeal. He offered a package in shape of Pakistan which while providing freedom to live according to Islam offered self governance, justice, dignity, security, and opportunities of economic emancipation to all citizens without any prejudice of religion. He modeled his vision on Charter of Medina, signed by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), in which there is no distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims as citizens of state so that all are equal in the eyes of state and can identify with the state. He was able to appeal to secular and religious, traditional and modern, and old and youth alike. Unfortunately, we inherited a civil and military bureaucracy strongly embedded in western secular tradition on account of its British training, which continued to serve the Royal Crown very loyally till midnight of 13th August, 1947. With the creation of Pakistan, its loyalties were transferred to Pakistan however its attitude towards public still remained rooted in the British colonial tradition. A proof of which is General Gracey's disobedience of Quaid-i-Azam and Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar's letter to Quaid-i-Azam about conduct of Brigadier Ayub Khan, who was deployed to work with him on rehabilitation of refugees, but was found to be more interested in mess and other undesirable activities. To his good luck, Quaid-i-Azam died shortly after writing adverse comments, approving his transfer to East Pakistan, and disallowing him to wear ranks as punishment. Soon after Quaid-i-Azam death and Liaquat Ali's assassination, this civilmilitary bureaucracy hijacked the state and started molding it in its own western secular outlook different from the vision shared by the nation. This created a tension as pointed out by Prof Steve Cohen in the newly established nation-state. The nation and the state took opposite directions. The nation subscribed to Jinnah's interpretation of Pakistan movement and while the state controlled by secular civilmilitary elite, which co-opted British patronized feudal class, espoused a European secular tradition. This disconnect between the nation and state, relegated the role of Islam to hands of the religious parties, who changed Jinnah's vision of a modern inclusive Muslim state into a theocratic and exclusive model. The second tension is a by-product of this dysfunctional arrangement. Military assumed a dominant role in the affairs of the state after Ayub Khan was able to offer his services to US for acting as a foot soldier in fight against communism. That was the time when it was more fashionable than today to bolster a dictator if he was your own. Resultantly, democratic forces were crushed and weakened in the country. Military destroyed judiciary through manipulation and coercion to get decisions for providing legal cover for its unconstitutional acts, corrupted political culture by engaging in horse trading to create a political base, and devastated civil services and institutions by inducting military personnel. But, because Pakistan being a product of a democratic process inherited strong democratic traditions, no military dictator succeeded in becoming Saddam, Qaddafi or Castro. Each dictator was challenged by democratic forces and had to bend by restoring some form of democracy. Unfortunately, military dictators repeatedly mutilated Jinnah's vision of constitutionalism and democracy as a result our democratic, judicial and public institutions could neither grow nor develop. Unless constitutional supremacy is restored as envisioned by Jinnah, Pakistan will continue to flip and flop. The third tension draws from the civil-military bureaucracy-feudal alliance, which has evolved over 32 years of military rule in the country. Initially, Pakistan missed the opportunity of eliminating feudalism as it faced immediate problem of resources and Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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rehabilitation of millions of refugees after independence. The other option to get rid of feudal system was through continuity of democratic system, which could have eventually led to emergence of a new middle class leadership. But, every Martial Law disempowered the new emerging breed of poor and middle class based political workers and leaders by removing their democratic ladder. On the other hand, feudal class remained untouched because they didn't derive their strength from the democratic process. Feudal power base, lands and holdings no Martial Law ever touched. In fact, it always co-opted them because they are pliable to control and suppress the people. The elite, comprising civil-military bureaucracy and feudals, has prospered and thrived at the cost of the people, who are marginalized from any benefits of growth. This elitist model of governance has turned the vision of Jinnah sour for millions of Pakistanis still living under poverty line, drinking contaminated water, getting sub standard education and living without justice, quality education, healthcare and protection. The fourth tension destabilizing Pakistan is due to the misunderstandings arising among federating units. Military is a security apparatus, which doesn't reflect regional shares in command structure. But when it becomes the dominant political apparatus of the state, regions under-represented in its higher echelons develop a sense of deprivation. This caused East Pakistanis to part ways with us and is now sowing the seeds of discontent in Sindh and Balochistan. The 1973 constitution was agreed between all political forces, national and regional. Its repeated sabotage is fueling regional and ethnic forces in the country. Under military governments distribution of resources award between provinces always becomes a discord and provinces become apprehensive of a strong central government. This conflict can only be resolved in a democratic system through dialogue and understanding. The fifth tension is due to a universal phenomenon of information revolution and globalization. New global governance structures are emerging such as WTO, national boundaries are getting blurred due to new communication technologies and cheaper logistics, trade barriers are falling and global threats such as terrorism, HIV, and environment are emerging. The role of nation states is undergoing a transformation as new global arrangements are negotiated by the international community. Such choices and decisions can be made prudently and implemented successfully only if people are involved in the governance. Therefore, we find an upsurge of democracy globally barring Pakistan. A General makes all the vital decisions leaving people guessing about merits of those decisions. Resultantly, national self esteem is low, apathy is growing and international players like to play tough with one person rather negotiate with representative leadership. Who wins? It is quite obviously a lot more than an image problem rather an imagination problem. We must tackle these issues before they become too complex to handle. Despite these challenges and tensions there is hope. We still have a two party structure intact, global information revolution has given immense power to our media, our civil service despite its drawbacks is still one of the best in developing countries, our judiciary is weak but legal community has grown in power, our basic economic endowments are strong, and our youth is promising. We need to go back to the original vision of Jinnah and rediscover “The Pakistani Dream”, which inspired our founding fathers to secure Pakistan. Without clear vision nations and individuals drift. A powerful vision fueled with strong passion and effort can do wonders. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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In today’s context, Jinnah's Pakistani dream demands from us firstly, defending our national ideology, freedom, and self respect; secondly, upholding principles of democracy based on merit, accountability, human rights, and respect for all citizens; thirdly, establishing supremacy of the Constitution and Rule of Law and delivering justice and good governance to all through independent judiciary and effective public institutions; fourthly, creating equal economic opportunities of prosperity and well being for all through promotion of human development driven by enterprise, excellence, collaboration, innovation, and ethics; fifthly, building a happy and harmonious society for all, which is confident, free from all prejudices, provides security, and fosters understanding, care, trust, accountability and social justice, based upon the principles of Islam. Our future depends on one question, can our military leadership learn from history to prove its critics wrong by submitting itself to Jinnah's vision and help the people of Pakistan realize “The Pakistani dream” through a genuine democratic process? Time for Opposition to Stop Vacillating on How to Deal With Musharraf Wajid Shamsul Hasan LONDON, June 27: Military rulers have, since Pakistan became an independent state, preferred to survive through the Goebbellian art of imposing lies on the Pakistani people and adopting an ostrich-like mind set to deceive them. Since they believe that power flows from the barrel of the gun, they look for legitimacy abroad with their foreign masters rather than their own people. Without having that stature, they have a tendency to masquerade as Asian De Gaulles. However, at the end of the road, it is Pakistan and its people that have suffered. Remember General Yahya's Pakistan was described by the Western media as a country run by pimps and prostitutes. Pakistan envisaged by its founding fathers as a secular, progressive democracy was plunged into an inferno of Talibanisation, heroin and Kalashnikov cultures by General Zia. It continues to reap the bitter harvest of the seeds of sectarianism and ethnicity sowed by him. In our times of the great conqueror General Perez Musharraf, Pakistan has acquired a three-dimensional image of Yahya Khan-1 (YK1), worst of the evils that Zia had bequeathed to the nation as his surviving legacy and combination of the two plus his own contribution that has made Pakistan the epicenter of global terrorism, most militarized state, criminalized the entire society, put it in the grip of land grabbers' mafia with generals, their kith and kin leading them all. Thomas Hobbes's description suits Musharraf's Pakistan. He has rendered life of our men and women, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Never before in the history of Pakistan so many rapes of innocent women were committed every day, never before law courts and law-enforcing agencies were either so helpless or in connivance with the criminals as now. Never before so many jobless people sought refuge from their miseries in suicides as under Musharraf's Pakistan. To rub salt into nation's injuries, he calls his bloody, ruthless and lawless reign as "enlightened moderation." Due to successive military rulers and their anti-people policies Pakistan has acquired a vicious global image. Whatever be Musharraf's claims its very existence is suspect for its continued patronage to terrorism, involvement in proliferation of nuclear arms, drug trade and distortion of Mr Jinnah's secularly democratic Pakistan into a hydraheaded monster that tolerates no dissent, has no room for liberalism and where even there is no premium on peaceful co-existence among various communities. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Minorities and women have to live in fear of oppressive and selective state application of laws pertaining to blasphemy and male victimization of female population. Indeed, image-wise Pakistan has come to such a deplorable pass that it is even bothering the man who would not be able to wash off his own sins with entire perfumery of the world. Known among the chattering classes for his amusing life style as YK2, Pakistan's generalissimo is desperate in giving a 'soft' image to Pakistan not by improving the quality of life for its people but by denying them international exposure. If he could have his ways, he would have preferred to erect an iron curtain around the country. Since he cannot have that, he has chosen as a first measure, to stop travel abroad especially to the United States, of that brave lady Mukhtaran Bibi, a victim of gang rape and later government kidnapping, ban on travel abroad and other usual harassments. Musharraf, representing a perverted mind set, in the words of Nicholas D. Kristof, is rather defensive about Pakistan's image. He shows preference to cover up brutality rather than taking concrete and effective measures to uproot it. Surely, the question of Pakistan's image and as a consequence of it treatment of Pakistanis as suspects the very moment they step out side their country is a constant source of irritancy and worry to those who still take pride in the higher ideals of liberalism and egalitarianism for which it had come into being. It is a considered view of the Pakistani liberal intellectuals and academics that a ban on travel of victims of gang rape does not offer a solution for image-improvement. Time has come for the nation and the military establishment to get to the bottom of the problem. Our image as a worst truant in the community of nations is not only because of growing number of rapes but because of our failure to respond to such horrific crimes in a manner that would minimize them. And for that, we will have to resolve the much larger question about our existence itself. Pakistan is bursting at its seams because its ruling elite especially from amongst the over bearing, oppressive and possessive military establishment, have betrayed the democratic and secular ideals that the country was created for. I am sure a truthful Mukhtaran Mai, if allowed to go abroad, would be a better representative of Pakistan than General Pervez Musharraf who has done immense harm by disclosing it to the foreign media in Australia that it was he who had ordered to ban travel abroad for Mukhtaran Mai since he feared she would foul mouth Pakistan and further tarnish the country's image, particularly in the United States from where he receives most of his support to perpetuate his illegitimate hold on power. Musharraf needs to be told that it is not Mukhtaran Mai who would bring notoriety to Pakistan but it is he who has done the most damage to the country's image abroad by denying its people their democratic rights, by clandestinely supporting terrorists and by letting them use Pakistan as epicenter of global terrorism. What a sorry figure Pakistan was reduced to in Auckland when its commando president did not have the courage to face the media and had to cancel his prescheduled interviews at the last minute. The interviews were scheduled for Radio New Zealand's 'Nine to Noon' and the TV One program 'Agenda'. How embarrassing it was for Pakistan when 'Agenda' producer Richard Harman later disclosed to his media colleagues that no explanation was given for the cancellation of the interview. However, a New Zealand Foreign Affairs spokesman claimed that the decision to cancel the interviews was made by Pakistani authorities Other media questions planned were related to restoration of genuine democracy through free and transparent elections and return of Pakistan's only leader of international standing Ms Benazir Bhutto. "They were all ready with grinded knives to Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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make mince meat of his claim of being the champion of enlightened moderation in Pakistan where he was running the affairs of the state with a whip," disclosed an Auckland media source. Despite Mukhtaran Mai's solemn commitment that she would be the last person to foul mouth Pakistan abroad especially in the United States where she is invited by several NGOs, the fate of her travel abroad remains a question mark. As against Musharraf's contention that her visit will further tarnish Pakistan's image, pamphlets are doing the rounds in Islamabad that many thousand of such rape cases cannot harm as much of country's image as the rape of Pakistan's constitution by the General which entitles him to be tried for treason and be given death sentence. "Musharraf being a hard nut to crack, would not listen to de marches such as made by Condy Rice once he has taken up a stand. He knows that notwithstanding her distaste of his actions, Bush would ensure that she gets to keep her mouth shut since his relations with the general are much more intimate and many Mukhtaran Mais can be sacrificed to keep him happy", disclosed a source from the Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad. While we do not know yet whether Mukhtaran Mai will be allowed to travel abroad or not, Musharraf junta continues to be at it on the domestic political front. Its wired pen pushers are busy spinning the yarn about the possibilities of it arriving at a deal with PPP. PPP, however, has dismissed the planted stories of fresh contacts with the government as regime's persistent disinformation campaign. According to PPP no fresh contacts had taken place between the PPP and the regime after talks broke down when the regime made an aborted attempt to take over the leadership of the party from Benazir Bhutto. Senator Farhatullah Babar expressed these views in response to the press reports that the government had made some fresh proposals to the PPP. There had been no further contacts after PPP had rejected regime's proposal for abdication of party leadership by Ms Bhutto besides not returning the country even after the next general elections and to accept the 17th constitutional amendments. Analysts are absolutely right in believing that Musharraf's primary objective is to eliminate Ms Bhutto's leadership one way or the other, through political means or by persecution. There has been no let up in this twin-strategy and the victimization of the party and its leaders continues much more venomously and rigorously than ever before. As a consequence of this approach regime's lawyers in Geneva are insisting that exSenator Asif Ali Zardari personally appear before the investigators next month knowing full well that doctors have advised him complete rest and travel and stress can endanger his life. The manner in which Zahid Bhurgury MPA Sindh was arrested, hooded and handcuffed and other PPP parliamentarians harassed shows to what extent Musharraf can distort and disfigure his so-called "enlightened moderation." Notwithstanding the fact Musharraf's Western mentors knowing well that his days are numbered and that they would like to see democracy return through transparent elections while he is still there to save Pakistan an upheaval of internal turmoil and take over by the extremists, they have been trying to promote the need for some sort of understanding between political forces and the regime. However, it is obvious that these overtures cannot succeed in the conditions of hostility pursued by the regime. "Such reports are fed by the regime to confuse the people and cause a division in the ranks of ARD," says PPP Spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar. He said that neither Ms Bhutto nor the PPP was mulling over any Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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so-called offer to join the helpless government that had no powers to help the people of Pakistan. According to him the establishment thinks that it can blackmail Benazir Bhutto into accepting General Musharraf and abdicating party leadership by flaunting the fabricated cases against her based on false allegations leveled by the rulers in Islamabad before authorities in Geneva that had already been disproved in Pakistan's highest court. Besides, the regime keeps feeding stories to the press that a deal is on the anvil with the PPP. It has done this since 2000 to give the impression of lowering political tensions at home and to satisfy the concern of those who are worried that a political vacuum is adding strength to the religious parties that already owe it all to Musharraf. In the light of vicious machinations and Musharraf's Machiavellian politics of one-step forward, two steps backward, analysts feel that time is ripening in Pakistan when the political leadership shall have to decide to have it out with Musharraf a do-or-die way. If they waste any more time in vacillating then matters would go out of their hands and the torch will pass then into the hands of the masses who will prefer to sort it out fighting one day rather committing suicides every day for want of jobs, food for their children, medicine for the sick and respectable way of life. Victims of the Deadly Quake Should Not Become Cash Cows For Usurpers Dr. Tarique Niazi WISCONSIN, October 11: It is heart-breaking to watch television images of the death and destruction wrought in Pakistan by an earthquake the intensity of which beggars parallel in the past 100 years. Measured 7.6 at the Richter scale, its destructive outcome is not hard to imagine. Within 24 hours of its strike on October 8, the death toll has already run into thousands. What packed it with even a deadlier punch was its “shallowness,” i.e., its ground motions were closer to the surface, which pulled down high-rise structures and mudhouse villages with equal ease. Geologists believe that deeper sub-surface tremors would have been less lethal and had even less fatal impact on surface objects and surface life. Unlike in the past, this earthquake’s geological sweep was felt throughout the length and breadth of Pakistan, and beyond to neighboring Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India. Yet the major brunt of it was borne by northern Pakistan that sits closer to its epicenter. The worst-hit, thus far, is Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir where 200 Pakistani soldiers stationed there have also been reported dead. It is still too early to assess the full extent of the devastation, especially in many parts of northern Pakistan, such as Batagram, Balakot, Mansehra, Abbotabad, and Pattan. These areas have been geographically susceptible to earthquakes. In the 1970s, the whole of Bhisham in Kohistan was razed to rubble, which is Pakistan’s Alaska. The sun sets on it as early as 3 in the afternoon. Yet its natural endowment makes it “mark of beauty.” The late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto picked up its pieces and remade it into a crown jewel to behold. Like Bhisham, many parts of northern Pakistan are inaccessible or hard to access by land. Road and rail links fluctuate between “to be and not to be.” Where there are roads, they stand there as an apology for their existence. This inaccessibility, especially for the relief and recovery effort, will cause even more death and destruction than what is known as of now. Even a bigger challenge to rescuers is the “law-and-order” orientation of the Pakistani State that singularly serves the ends of its abusive dictators, directing all its resources Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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against “political crime,” i.e., democratic opposition. As such State institutions are in the business of savaging, not saving lives. It is, however, the communitarian resources in extended families, tribal formations, and inter-tribal alliances, which provide much-needed succor to those in need. Urban-based civil society organization (CSOs) could become a modern agent of national relief, but their resources are already stretched to limits in combating “unnatural disasters,” i.e., military dictatorship and its economic, political, and social impact. Some of the private-sector relief groups, such as the Edhi Welfare Trust, are too urbanized in their relief operations to work in the trying semi-and-non-urban settings of land-slide-prone Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir and northern Pakistan. The law-and-order orientation of the State, to the criminal neglect of mass welfare, has grown manifold on Gen. Musharraf’s watch, who for the past six years has been squandering the national resources on buying “legitimacy” for his illegitimate government. Even just two days before the earthquake struck, he was busy bullying and bribing voters to elect his nominees to city halls, town houses, and village councils. The lowest bid for a mayoral seat was 25 million rupees in a country where the average monthly wages of a full-time worker, who traditionally provides for a family of five, is 2,500 rupees ($1.38 a day)! It is these families who will have been buried alive without even hearing the sound of “help is on the way.” Just in one town of Pakhtunkhaw, 400 children had died under the collapsed detritus of their school building. All State resources are committed to keep Gen. Musharraf and his illegitimate government in power. His power grab costs the nation a whopping $15 billion a year. Every nickel of which is spent on the dual task of keeping him in job and safe from the growingly impoverished masses. As a result, coercion, corruption, and cronyism (CCC) have come to mark his governance, while the masses languish in the prison of life. There is little that has been invested in their welfare over the past six years. Even Islamabad, where Gen. Musharraf’s dictatorship seats itself, is not immune from his neglect. A case in point is the disaster site of the 10-story Margalla Tower, where volunteers were moving immovable slabs of concrete and jumbles of mangled steel with their bare hands. CNN and MSNBC have shown others hammering away at the remains of the building to recover the entrapped dwellers. Volunteers pulled out “one man by cutting off his legs,” reported the Associated Press. This is the work of earth-moving machines– bulldozers, tractors, cranes. None was in sight, however. Atop of it all and even in the teeth of this tragedy, Gen. Musharraf showed up at the site in “full military gear” of “Chief of Army Staff” for a photo op. He never passes up an opportunity to insult the stricken nation of Pakistan by flashing his army uniform as a reminder that it continues to be shackled by his dictatorship. His empty-headedness, which only exceeds his reputation, keeps spilling out of his gunner’s image, nevertheless. At the disaster site of Margalla Tower, he could not come up with a single word of sympathy for the victims or their surviving families. All he said was a gauntlet to the forces of nature: “…it is a test for all of us… and we are sure we will qualify this test,” AFP reported him saying. We will qualify this test? This syntax does not just represent unfamiliarity with human language, but unmitigated intellectual vacuity. Still more empty-headedness was on display in his reaction to the earthquake, which was however predictable: Establishment of the “President’s Relief Fund.” Quick on his heels, his “Prime Minister” has set up two telephone lines in his secretariat. Is that all? Where is the institutional help? Relief and recovery effort? Saving lives from under the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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fallen structures? Who is going to call you, moron, when telephone lines in the quakehit areas have all been knocked down? Their actions are, indeed, worse than their intentions. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, are still groaning under the damaged buildings and devastated dwellings. Those who have survived are still uncared for, hungry, and thirsty. In Abbotabad, which is strewn with military establishments and which sits only a stone’s throw from where Gen. Musharraf lives, “hospital staff used loudspeakers to ask people for food and other relief supplies.” “President’s Relief Fund” is not the answer to their needs. Instead, the Fund is a money-making scheme to further fertilize Musharraf dictatorship. Ben Phillips of Oxfam, on the contrary, has identified “tents, blankets, food, and medical supplies” as the immediate needs for the relief effort. Between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 11, 2003, Gen. Musharraf spun the war on terror into a cold cash of $20 billion. He should not be allowed to turn the blood of thousands of earthquake victims into another spigot of cash. First of all, an honest assessment of needs should be made for immediate relief supplies. The week from October 8 should be devoted to just saving, sheltering, feeding, and clothing the survivors. Can these needs be met locally, regionally, nationally? Should Pakistan ask friendly nations for help? The answer to all these questions depends upon a nation-wide needs assessment. All relief aid – both public and private – however should be offered to private-sector charities such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, CARE, Edhi Welfare Trust, and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). In parallel, Pakistan’s political parties are taking charitable initiatives of their own as part of their long-held traditions, which deserve all-out support. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have instructed their respective parties to set up relief operations in affected areas. As these parties have local roots in the quake-hit areas, they could be the best delivery mechanism for relief aid, and they should be preferred for cash donations to the “President’s Relief Fund.” As a matter of fact, Prime Ministers Bhutto and Sharif have reportedly asked their party leaders to respectively set up the “PPP Relief Fund” and the “PML Relief Fund,” both inside and outside Pakistan, with substantial seed money of their own. Individual and organizational donors would better serve the cause of relief by making donations to these funds. In the meanwhile, my heart goes out to the victims of the devastating earthquake, and their families. Financial Swindling Army's Budding Mansurul Haq Pays Extra $21m in Hush-Hush French Deal M T Butt ISLAMABAD, June 30: For the first time in Pakistan Army’s history, intimate details of a multi-million dollar weapons deal have been leaked to the media by angry middle ranking officers who point to a massive scandal which has already left the Ministry of Defence and most of the senior officers in the GHQ wondering how bold and blatant some people can get. These officers have released all the details, including names, places, time and dates about the deal, raising a plethora of questions about the manner in which specialized defence equipment is being purchased in a blatantly roughshod manner, without any financial oversight. They say if no action was taken now, more details of many more scandals would also be made public including some personal scandals of Generals which many would not like. According to an expert, who has studied Pakistan military purchases for years, such deals and over-payments are a very common occurrence in the Pakistan Army but Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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what is new and different in this case is that the details have been leaked to the media for the first time while the deal is still in the process of being wrapped up. “These officers cannot reconcile with the fact that an extra 21 million dollars are being paid to a French company in extra-ordinary haste and that too to buy inferior quality equipment already discarded by most countries, including Pakistan Army itself,” an EMail received by the South Asia Tribune disclosed. The details of the deal are bizarre and the two top most Army Generals under General Musharraf are being named as the interested parties who are forcing the violation of all rules and regulations. Both are due to retire in 2007 and one of them may survive to become the Army Chief as well. “This violation is happening in the Army Headquarter right now and can possibly be stopped if General Musharraf or the helpless politicians occupying the posts of the Defence Minister or the Prime Minister, intervene and stop these Generals from making quick money at the expense of national defence and even country’s exports,” a concerned official said. According to the details, a quick fire, Restricted Tender was floated on June 17, 2005 by the Director General of Defence Purchases seeking to buy 900 Thermal Image Sight (TIS) Fire Control System Units (Pix Above) for the main Pakistani battle tanks – AlKhalid and Al-Zarrar, T-85 & T-80U. Surprisingly for such a large purchase through Tender No: 1338/49/TISight/DGDP/PC3B Dated 17th June, 2005, only four days were given for submission of bids. June 21 was set as the last date. This was ostensibly done because the Weapons and Equipment Directorate (W&ED) of the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, had already pre-qualified and short-listed two French companies, through a long process of tests, trials and final technical evaluation by the ITD-Directorate and I&E Directorates in the first week of June, 2005. So both the companies were practically ready to bid. These companies were Sagem and Thales, the first being Europe's third largest defence and security electronics company, while Thales is France's largest military company. Adnan, son of late Maj. Gen. Jamsheed Malik represents Sagem in Pakistan while Thales is represented by a Colonel Wazir and Mr Shibli from F.A. Enterprises. The tests and trials had included draft contract proposals, including commercial and technical offers, which were sought by the W&ED on May 24 and May 26, 2005 from these two companies. Both gave their offers and both were pre-qualified/short listed by GHQ. Then the W&ED sent the files to DGDP for final purchase contract before June 30, 2005. DGDP floated the tender asking for bids in 4 days. Both Sagem and Thales separately submitted their technical and commercial offers on June 21 in the presence of DGDP and their own representatives. First the technical offers were opened and evaluated by the technical departments, I&E and ITD Directorates of GHQ and after two hours both were declared technically qualified with 4 technical observations made on Sagem’s offer and 35 technical observations on Thales bid. The most significant difference in the two offers was that Sagem bid for the Generation-3 (G-3) TIS Units while Thales offered the older Generation-2 (G-2). The Tender had asked for both types although G-2 is almost obsolete. Why were G-2 units put on the tender is a big mystery because Pakistan Army has already been using the G-3 which are mounted on Al-Khalid tanks being manufactured by Pakistan for which Islamabad and the GHQ have been trying hard to secure export orders from the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

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The angry Army officers say G-2 units were not being mounted on Al-Khalid tanks because of integration, stabilization and target identification problems. In all the demonstrations to potential foreign buyers, the GHQ has been displaying Al-Khalid tanks with G-3 units. Side by side, the Pakistan Air Force has upgraded all the F-16, Mirage and Helicopter Gunships with G-3 units bought in 2001 or thereafter. These were purchased from Sagem in 1997. Sagem is also the main contractor in collaboration with Kamra Avionics Company. It introduced Kamra to the international export market for which General Musharraf is said to be very proud and keeps referring to. All NATO armies and Russians are using G-3 because it is light weight, has no payload problems on air and is more reliable than G-2. In 2002 the Pakistan Army GHQ and Weapons and Equipment Directorate decided to install G-3 in all its main battle tanks. Sagem was also offering transfer of technology which is included in the quoted price along with state-of-the-art Technical Ugradation Package to upgrade all the existing tanks from G-2 to G-3. That in itself promises a huge export market. Thales, on the other hand, was not even a qualified supplier until early 2004 and only Sagem was in the run. Then came General Tariq Majeed, the Chief of General Staff with his background of Military Intelligence (MI). He ordered that Thales should also be included in trials and tests which continued until November last year. More trials were done in February/March this year until Thales was pre-qualified, although it was offering only G-2 Units. The big envelopes of bids were opened on June 21, 2005 after the technical offers of both the companies were approved. Lo and Behold, Sagem had offered each G-3 TIS unit for 59,000 Euros or a total of 53.1 million Euros (US$64.5 million) for 900 units. The price of Thales was an unbelievable 78,000 for each G-2 unit or a total of 70.2 million Euros (US$85.3 million). On Thursday June 23, 2005, Lt. Gen. Tariq Majeed, Chief of General Staff took the decision, with the knowledge of the Vice Chief of Army Staff, General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, ruling out all technical and other objections to give the contract to Thales, the highest bidder, for its inferior G-2 equipment. His decision was given on the last day of his work as Gen Majeed proceeded the very next day on an official trip abroad. The decision stunned many who were involved with the project. There were so many angry officers who found it unpatriotic to keep quiet. Some of them believe the use of brute authority to reward a company which did not offer competitive technology has created a big problem for General Majeed who is being likened to Admiral Mansurul Haq of Pakistan Navy, the convicted former Navy Chief who made millions in submarine purchase deals and paid off a tiny percentage to get off the hook. The Ministry of Defence has been kept totally out of the loop in the deal. All the files were kept under control of the GS Branch headed by General Majeed. But there were other Generals heading other Directorates involved, who had to agree. These Officers and Directorates included Director General Armored Corps, Maj. General Saeedullah Khan, DG Weapons & Equipment Directorate Maj. Gen. Ejaz Bakhshi who was assisted by Brig. Zawwar Shah. The Military Operations Directorate under Major General Yousuf and his Technical Director Brig. Khalid Asghar also had to approve the purchase. The ITD Directorate was also involved. The angry officers of the Army say all these Generals and Brigadiers were put under severe pressure to approve the deal. “Maj General Ejaz Bakhshi was under tons of pressure, so was Major Gen. Yousuf but Technical Director Brig. Khalid Asghar was so terrorized he was almost crying, but he had obey the orders to keep his job and secure a pension,” one officer recalled. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The reason is that General Majeed is the senior most General after the current Vice Chief of Army Staff, General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, who retires in October 2007. General Majeed has the outside chance of becoming the Army Chief as he is due to retire on December 30, 2007 and could thus be a possible replacement of General Musharraf, if he is not kicked out earlier. The Editor of the South Asia Tribune contacted the Thales company through its given Email on its web site to confirm the deal. An Email sent to '[email protected]' asked Thales whether it had finally got the contract from Pakistan Army of 900 Thermal Imagers at Euro 78,000 per unit for Pakistan’s Main Battle Tanks. Thales was also requested to confirm whether the TIS Units were of Catherine-QW type, whether the imagers were Generation-2 or Generation-3 and whether Transfer of Technology (ToT) was also part of the contract. No response was immediately available from the company. The decision to buy G-2 units from Thales has many implications for the Army and Pakistan as well. Firstly Pakistan will be paying an extra US$21 million to buy inferior grade technology which is being phased out by all the armies the world over, including the Pakistan Army. Secondly by putting in these old Generation units, Pakistan is seriously going to compromise its export potential for Al-Khalid and other tanks as all buyers are looking for the latest technology when they purchase weapons at such a scale. Thirdly after a few years Pakistan will in any case have to upgrade these tanks and install the new technology which would again cost a bundle to the Army and the country. Why all this blatant favoritism is being done by some Generals is obvious but no one is still ready to give out a guess of what will happen to the new Admiral Mansurul Haq in the making. What it, nevertheless, proves is that General Musharraf has turned a totally blind eye on whatever his key position holders in GHQ may be doing because he wants them to stay happy, healthy, wealthy and content and not challenge his authority as the Army Chief, although he has crossed his retirement age years ago. Book Confirms Musharraf's First Multi-Million Dollar Telephone Scandal Special SAT Report WASHINGTON, Sept 8: Musharraf Government’s first multi-million dollar scandal of awarding a lucrative cell phone contract to a Canadian company in early 2000, ignoring the ever reliable Chinese friends, became the main reason for a split between Musharraf and his honorable and honest colleague, General Syed M. Amjad, who quit as Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau in less than a year. “This was an open-and-shut case as all the evidence was there, but when (Gen) Amjad wanted to move in and scuttle the contract, he was refrained from doing so. The only man who had the power to do this was Musharraf himself,” reveals a new book on Pakistan due to be released worldwide on Sept 11. The scandal was first reported by the South Asia Tribune in its issue No 47 on June 22, 2003 and full documentary evidence was also published, including a letter issued by the office of the then Chief Executive General Musharraf ordering that the contract be given to the company he favored and General Amjad objected to. The latest confirmation comes in the book written by Hassan Abbas, a former police officer and currently Research fellow at the Harvard Law School and a PhD. candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. The book is titled

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Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, The Army, And America's War On Terror, published by M.E. Sharpe. The author, who was also associated with NAB for some time and saw all these inner contradictions of Musharraf’s accountability bureau, has thrown a new light on how Musharraf started the accountability process to give credibility to his illegal regime but soon became a victim of its own ambitions. Abbas observes that NAB had an ominous start to begin with. In its first two weeks of operations, it cracked open a multimillion-dollar case of fraud and corruption. Nortel, a Canadian telecommunications company, had unfairly been handed a fat contract to build a mobile telephone network in Pakistan. After General Amjad’s departure and appointment of a new Chairman, the NAB was dead for all practical purposes, Abbas says. A noble experiment had ended because those who had initiated it did not have the moral stamina to carry it through. Following are excerpts of his book’s chapter on NAB: “The first decisive step that Musharraf took (after taking over in October 1999) was on the domestic front accountability of the corrupt. With every change of government since the revival of democracy in 1985, the cry for accountability had become louder and louder, but as the problem was so widespread and the ramparts of vested interest so invincible, no government dared go beyond a judicious mixture of flimsy steps and lip service toward meeting this demand. By the time Musharraf found himself catapulted to the helm, he had no option but to bow to the overwhelming sentiment of the people. Thus before the month of October 1999 was exhausted, he announced the formation of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), with Lieutenant General Syed Mohammad Amjad as its first chairman. And by a strange irony, it was fated that the “Attock conspiracy” officers who had paid a heavy price for attempting to conduct accountability twenty-five years before would have a fair representation on the Bureau. Within two days of the formation of the NAB, the services of Saeed Akhtar Malik and Farouk Adam Khan of the Attock court martial fame were requisitioned. General Amjad was the ideal and unanimous choice of the senior ranks of the army to be the NAB chairman. He was an officer of extraordinary diligence and exemplary character, his name was a byword for integrity. Ayaz Amir, a leading Pakistani journalist, while treating Musharraf’s choice of certain cabinet members to scathing criticism, had this to say about Amjad: “Chief [Musharraf] has redeemed himself by picking Lieutenant General Amjad - and if anyone can make NAB work, it is Amjad, and if he falters or fails, or even if the pace of his offensive slackens, General Musharraf can say good-bye to the public goodwill.” In the event, Musharraf’s credibility and commitment were to be defined by the performance of the NAB, the words of the journalist were to be prophetic. From the survey of the NAB team, one could only draw optimism. Farouk Adam had a courtly manner, an impressive personality, and a unique ability to smile through the tedium of a sixteen-hour workday. Saeed A. Malik had much idealism and passion and also a flair for winning the esteem of those working under him. He had written a freelance column for a decade in a leading English-language newspaper of the times (The Muslim), invariably exposing the corrupt practices of the ruling elite. The initial labors of the NAB were dedicated to drawing up the NAB Ordinance to provide a legal framework for this new organization. The central principle that dictated the ordinance was the shifting of the onus of proof to the accused, that is, that if the accused person could not reconcile his wealth, earnings, expenses, and taxes that he had paid, he must be deemed guilty of corruption. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The framers of this ordinance were very conscious that this Draconian law would be applied to a maximum of only four hundred of the most corrupt in the land, and the principle that would determine the qualification of these “selected few” would be that of either an association with a great crime or having a big name adorned perhaps by a theft not that big. Without such a law, the NAB would essentially have been a nonstarter because of the virtual nonexistence of investigative and prosecutorial resources. Had this ordinance been judiciously used to attain the purpose it was designed for, things would be much different today. To implement this agenda, Amjad was given full authority to select the “targets,” though he regularly consulted the ISI and a few legal experts while making vital decisions in this regard. Amjad had a free hand to hold across-the-board and evenhanded accountability from which no one was exempt, except the judiciary and serving armed forces officials. On November 17, 1999, the NAB moved in for its first crop of arrests. Many of those arrested were big names. There was great euphoria among the people because many individuals who had always considered themselves beyond the reach of law were now behind bars. Yet most of the arrests were made on the charges of loan default, perhaps the easiest charge to prove, but one that the NAB could be horrendously wrong about because it was very difficult to tell an honest from a willful default. With the first blood having been drawn, the public appetite was whetted and they bayed for more. Their clamor could have been ignored, but not that of the government, whose credibility and performance had nothing but the achievements of the NAB to show for itself. The ordinary public was under the impression that the ISI and other intelligence agencies had collected enough data on corrupt elements when they were “monitoring” the civilian governments during the 1990s, but when a few ISI files were handed over to NAB officials, these were mostly speculative and devoid of any sound material necessary to prove a case in a court of law. To quicken up things, General Amjad hurriedly developed a core team to run the organization comprising bankers, economists, lawyers, and a few from the intelligence and police backgrounds. It was a combination never tried before, the only handicap being a shortage of time to organize and deliver. Around that time, a letter from Musharraf’s office to the NAB (dated December 11, 1999) adequately reflects the anxiety of the government and its dependence on the NAB to shore up its credibility: “It has been reported with a great concern that corrupt politicians are becoming bold and the press is gradually becoming sympathetic to them. This trend must be stopped and reversed. Following steps are suggested: 1. Move fast on all issues, 2. Expose the corrupt people very expeditiously, 3. Scoop on corruption on a daily basis. Consequently, more people were arrested based on their filthy reputations, but proof of their corruption was lacking. The NAB could have gained a lot of credibility in its initial days by prosecuting the ones who were already in custody, but the special accountability courts were not in place yet as selection of judges and establishing a new chain of courts and developing a whole new infrastructure was taking time. What the military hierarchy did not realize was that there is a huge difference between deploying a military unit to a new location and in establishing a law enforcement institution that has to act within the parameters of law. To overcome this shortage, dozens of retired ISI officials were inducted who perhaps knew the art of interrogation well, but had very little legal and investigative experience, which was the core requirement in this case.

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There was a reason behind the compulsion that the new inductees had to be former ISI officials - the ISI was providing the funds for this NAB expansion and they opted to benefit their comrades in the process. As if these problems were not enough to hamper the NAB work, all of the arrested persons were kept in different cities under the custody of respective military commands where the local military officials and intelligence operatives started investigating/interrogating the accused on their own. Every single institution was trying to spy on NAB, making the task further complicated. This was symbolic of the general state of affairs in Pakistan. Amjad and Farouk Adam, the two public faces of the NAB, were now under immense pressure from the public, the press, and the government. As they addressed the press, it seemed to the military hierarchy that they were hogging the limelight, and they became victims of gratuitous envy. Shaukat Aziz, the finance minister, who had Musharraf’s ear, was for blanket protection to businessmen despite the fact that some of the latter, in cahoots with the bankers, were the biggest crooks. Amjad, on the other hand, was heading toward making an example of those industrialists and businessmen who had established their business empires through corrupt practices. This was a risky business as big money was involved. One of Amjad’s problems was the subtle increase of government interference with his functioning. As it was, NAB had an ominous start to begin with. In its first two weeks of operations, it cracked open a multimillion-dollar case of fraud and corruption. Nortel, a Canadian telecommunications company, had unfairly been handed a fat contract to build a mobile telephone network in Pakistan. This was an open-and-shut case as all the evidence was there, but when Amjad wanted to move in and scuttle the contract, he was refrained from doing so. The only man who had the power to do this was Musharraf himself. As the NAB moved along, two questions were frequently asked of Amjad, that is, whether there were any holy cows, and if the army generals involved in corruption would also be arrested. The government position was that only serving army officers and the judiciary were exempt from the NAB because both institutions had effective in-house correction systems, but technically, retired armed forces officials were not a part of this category. When a journalist publicly asked Amjad about press reports maintaining that corrupt military officials alone had deposited $1billion in foreign banks from kickbacks from weapons purchases, he shot back by saying: “We have not been sitting on our butts as regards defense deals.” Yet it was daily becoming clearer that all the big names among the retired generals were beyond the province of the NAB. The names of Generals Aslam Beg, Hamid Gul, Zahid Ali Akbar, Talat Masood, Saeed Qadir, Farrukh Khan, and Air Marshals Anwar Shamim and Abbas Khattak were discussed more than once, but nothing came of these discussions. Amjad was absolutely dedicated to having them probed, but was restrained from doing so. The reputation of Amjad, however, remained unimpaired. By releasing Khawaja Asif and Mr. Nawaz Tiwana, a leading politician and a bureaucrat, respectively, from detention and personally apologizing to them for wrongful arrest by the NAB, Amjad had set a new precedent in Pakistan by accepting that the mighty are often fallible. This only enhanced his stature, and the envy of his peers. In another high-profile case, a leading politician from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) known for his corrupt practices threatened NAB officials during his

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interrogation by saying that he was a CIA agent, and that political instability would be created in the country if he were not released immediately. Amjad responded by making things harsher for him and by appointing more investigators to probe his case. The politician was ultimately convicted. One of the brightest experiences of the NAB was the performance of its Central Investigation Team (CIT). General Amjad had allowed Saeed Malik to handpick a team of officers to give the NAB a limited in-house investigative capability. A former commander of army’s SSG, Brigadier Mohammad Nazir, an officer of unimpeachable integrity, was selected to head the CIT. The performance of the 12-member CIT team was outstanding on many counts. For instance, in a mere five months a three-man cell of the CIT (Lieutenant Colonel Riazuddin, Nadir Imtiaz Khan, and Major Taimur Shah) recovered or saved for the government of Pakistan Rs 3 billion (around US$500 million). But unfortunately, the most outstanding member of the team Lieutenant Colonel Obaidullah, a former ISI official, tragically died of a massive heart attack shortly after being wrongly accused of “mishandling” a case by a very senior NAB official. The saddest commentary on Musharraf’s much-vaunted commitment to the cause of accountability is that each member of this team of rare officers was hounded out of the NAB soon after Amjad’s departure from the institution. Their only handicap was that not one of them was prone to entertaining any adverse dictates. And so ended a heroic chapter of the war against crime by a handful of officers in a corrupt environment. Reportedly, Amjad had asked to be relieved of his duties more than once. He was not one to take government partiality lying down. He left the NAB at the end of September 2000. NAB’s change of command, in the words of Mohammad Malick’s commentary in Dawn, was “a clear sign of NAB’s tailored, if not changed, priorities.” No one then knew who the real “tailor” might be, but there was an acknowledgment that “Amjad remained a very fair accountability chief.” But Tariq Ali in his book The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihadis, and Modernity, was much more perceptive when he observed that Amjad was ready to push through, but “Musharraf balked at the scale of the enterprise.” The new chairman was General Khalid Maqbool, whose reputation was no match for Amjad’s. The NAB was dead for all practical purposes. A noble experiment had ended because those who had initiated it did not have the moral stamina to carry it through. But it would not be they who would pay the price for this failure. This would be paid once more by those who have always paid it, the people of Pakistan. Musharraf had made a clear choice — he would compromise with those politicians who were ready to side with him. He had given in to the building pressure from various sectors that wanted the regime to behave “normally” and not as a revolutionary one. This was the dilemma Musharraf faced — the masses were looking for a Messiah in him, whereas the political and military elite wanted the status quo to continue. Musharraf was still swinging in between. I cannot help recalling one of the conversations between Saeed A. Malik and (late) General Ghulam Ahmed (Musharraf’s Chief of Staff) - Malik was strongly asserting that everything was “do-able” provided the Musharraf government had the will to do it, and General GA stunned the audience when he said: “But, sir, first they [Musharraf, General Mahmood, and General Aziz] will have to get out of the cage of Kargil, otherwise all their efforts will be reactive.”

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And he was not being disloyal. He was merely delivering an analytical conclusion, and his tone and tenor were entirely reflective of this. No one in Musharraf’s government could have mustered the courage to say this." Corrupt Musharraf's Generals, Exposed by Musharraf's Generals Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, April 29: General Pervez Musharraf cannot, and does not, publicly claim that he has eliminated corruption altogether in Pakistan but he frequently boasts about cleaning up the top levels of his military cum civil administration. Now his own trusted men are exposing these tall claims by pointing fingers and naming the military regime’s big guns who are turning out to be the really big thieves. A few most glaring examples: When a prominent cabinet minister who was visiting Washington a few months back, revealed quietly to me and a friend, the horrifyingly ugly scale of land grabbing and fake land sale scams going on in Pakistan, especially in Punjab, we frankly did not believe him. We thought the minister was trying to get even with his uniformed masters for not fulfilling the tall political promises made to him. But the magnitude of the scams was such that the minister genuinely felt concerned and wanted us to write about them, although as a politician he was not going to raise his voice publicly and was prepared to serve those very Generals in every top position. The minister has now been proved right. Thanks to one of the more upright Generals in the present lot, the Corps Commander of Lahore, Lt. General Shahid Aziz, details of the massive land scams are emerging. Our ministerial source says Corps Commander Aziz, has started a serious investigation against his predecessor, the last Corps Commander of Lahore, currently posted in the GHQ, Lt. General Zarrar Azim, known in the real estate world of Lahore as General Zarrar Zamin (land). Early results of this fight between the top military bulls has revealed that General Zarrar was so deeply involved in the scam of Lahore Defence Society that in the price of every plot of land allotted in the society, a fee of Rs 600,000 (US$10,000) had to be built-in, almost automatically, meant for the Corps Commander’s office. In this scam, it is now being found by the detectives of the new Corps Commander, that not only the out-going CC was involved, he was using a junior officer, Major Lodhi as a front man. This major is related to General Musharraf’s coup partner and now retired General Aziz of Kargil fame. The details of these Defence Society scams are mind boggling. Thousands of plots of lands are designated in official files as Defence Society land and these plots are then sold and re-sold on files. More paper Housing Societies are registered and approved and they claim vast tracts of land without owning a square yard. According to our source, in Lahore alone there are 12,000 files of plots for Sectors 7, 8, 9 and 10 for which there is no land actually available on the ground. How many thousands of more such plots have been sold is not yet known but the probe ordered by Lt. Gen. Aziz will bring out some facts. According to a going joke in the Army Mess Circuit, the last request General Musharraf made to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi was to give him 8,000 acres of land from the Indian territory across the Wagah-Atari border, 30 miles from Lahore, in return for Kashmir and Siachin, because “my boys have already sold this land in the files.”

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Lahore is not the only Land of Land Scams. What has happened in Gwadar and Rawalpindi is of no less import. The ministerial source said in the Bahria Town of Rawalpindi and Lahore, thousands of non-existent plots have been sold by the scheme managers. In Bahria Town of Lahore for 7,000 available plots 28,000 applications were accepted with deposits. But in Bahria Town Islamabad/Rawalpindi 77,000 plots have been sold which require land equivalent to 16 built-up sectors of Islamabad. “What we are getting into is the Mother of all Scams because billions upon billions of people’s money has been collected by these project sponsors while there is no land to be allotted. How many of these buyers get back their deposits and when, is the 50 billion rupees question,” the source said. Incidentally official records of the Ministry of Defence presented before the National Assembly show that Pakistan Army has Defence Housing Societies in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on an area of only 179,308 Kanals, or 22,500 acres. Pakistan Navy and Air Force have two housing societies each covering an area of 712 and 536 acres of land respectively. Another of Musharraf’s top commanders, Lt Gen. Tariq Wasim Ghazi, former Corps Commander of Karachi became notoriously famous in Karachi for similar land scams in Defence Society, Karachi, including Creek City and allotment to two special people, Humayun Butt and Fareed Veerani. Who are these specials and what is their involvement is being investigated by South Asia Tribune and will be revealed soon. The Gwadar land scam has already infuriated the Baloch leadership and one reason why they are so violent and non-compromising is how their mother land is being sold and resold to outsiders after it was fraudulently bought from them for peanuts. In Gwadar the Generals and their front men were quietly told to buy the land from locals much in advance of announcement of mega projects. Once this mopping up operation was completed, the projects were announced and trading of this real estate began, multiplying the prices by 20 or even 40 times. The ministerial source said the bigger scandal in Gwadar has started just recently when Government has ordered all its banks and State-owned Corporations to buy land in Gwadar at market prices. Middlemen have already sold and resold these plots many times over to different parties to perk up the market price. “The tax payer will now end up paying the premium to these land mafias,” the source said. In a much quieter operation in Lahore the City Government of Nazim (Mayor) Mian Amer Mahmood claimed on Sunday, April 24, that it had succeeded in vacating 3,000 kanals (375 acres) of land belonging to schools from a land mafia, but interestingly he did not name the mafia. Most of those who read the small story or who were present when the announcement was made understood who was involved. While Corps Commanders of Musharraf are involved in perpetuating or dismantling these land scams, one of his pillars of accountability, the former head of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Lt. General (Retd) Amjad Hussain was himself accused of massive corruption in the corporation he has been heading. This charge of corruption was leveled in the National Assembly of Pakistan and involved the Fauji Foundation, undeniably the largest corporate body of Pakistan, now waiting to take over the largest public sector company, Pakistan State Oil. The National Assembly was told last week that a high-level inquiry had been ordered against the management of the Fauji Foundation after detection of huge financial bunglings. General Amjad was facing the inquiry for selling a sugar mills in a nontransparent manner at less than the highest bid to a business enterprise which did not even participate in the bidding process.

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The Assembly was told that the Khoski Sugar Mills was sold at Rs300 million against a previous bid of Rs387 million offered by a private party. Defence Minister Rao Sikandar ordered the inquiry to fix responsibility on those who violated the financial procedures and rules by going out of the way to benefit a favorite firm. While the above details show that in-service Generals and Corps Commanders were being investigated for corruption, another officially announced corruption case was against the management of the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, interestingly consisting of all military officers headed by Lt. General Arif Hassan. The management of SAF Games has been found involved in financial irregularities to the tune of Rs201 million, which among other charges, include giving undue benefit to private organizations through "verbal agreements," Daily Dawn said quoting an audit report . The ninth SAF Games management included Chairman Lt. Gen. Arif Hassan, Chief of staff and chief coordinating officer Brig. Amjad Javaid, Information and media director Lt. Col. Syed Mujtaba Tirmizi, Administration Director Brig. Ahmad Riza Siddiqi, Communications Director Brig Abid Hussain Bhatti, Technical Director Lt. Col. (retired) Muhammad Yahya, Procurement Director Lt. Col. Mansoor Abbas, Information Technology Director Lt. Col. Umer Farooq, Finance and Marketing Director Lt. Col. Azhar Dean, Ceremonies Director Brig. Arif Rasul Qureshi, Protocol Director Brig. Khalid Rasheed Lodhi and Chief Engineer Lt. Col. Usman Saeed. The question being asked in all relevant circles was that even to organize an sporting event, none of the very well qualified civilians was found to be suitable and from top to bottom all army men had been inducted as if it SAF Games were military exercises. And now these sacred cows have been found to be involved in irregularities and corruption. In a military regime, obviously the Corps Commanders and senior Generals are the top level of Government and if scams and scandals involving these top men are officially exposed, some in the National Assembly and others by leaks to the media by his own people, how would General Musharraf explain his claims of eliminating top level corruption. Former ISI General Becomes Test Case of Musharraf Regime's Corruption Mahr Ahmed ISLAMABAD, April 6: For the first time elected parliamentarians of Pakistan have picked up courage to bring a former ISI Chief, a retired General, one who is also very close to General Musharraf, into the dock for a botched up deal of $100 million with China, in which there are accusations of large scale corruption. “The China Railways deal is already shaping up as the first test case between politicians and Generals with the parliamentarians testing their limits as if they were shadow boxing with General Musharraf himself,” a member of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly told the South Asia Tribune. Former ISI Chief and Pakistan’s Railways Minister, Lt. General (Retd) Qazi Javed Ashraf (Left) is facing the probe by the NA Committee after Railways Ministry officials held him solely responsible for a faulty deal of $100 million with China for importing 69 defective electric Railway engines against a commercial loan. The PAC members who grilled the Railways Ministry bosses during a special meeting on March 29, suspected that General Qazi, and/or some others attached with this deal, may have pocketed big commissions as Qazi had himself ordered the import of the engines in bulk, instead of ordering a few samples first for trial runs.

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The locomotives developed faults quickly and their frames cracked within a year on Pakistani Railway tracks. The PAC formed a three-member sub-committee to probe into the deal and initial investigations revealed that General Qazi himself was solely in charge of the import orders. He took the case to the National Security Council (NSC) single handedly for approval of the faulty deal with China. The NSC, obviously influenced by General Qazi and his closeness with General Musharraf, approved the deal against a commercial loan. Chairman of the Railways Board, Shakeel Durrani, after facing a lot of grilling and tough questioning by parliamentarians, first resisted but then conceded that Lt General Javed Ashraf Qazi was responsible for the purchase of these defective locomotives. He said on record: “General Qazi had actually got the approval of the whole plan from the NSC presided over by General Pervez Musharraf on December 29, 1999.” Railways Ministry officials also confessed before the NA Committee that because of these defective locomotives, Pakistan Railways was suffering a daily loss of Rs2.4 million. The Secretary Railways, who was aided by engineers and other concerned officials, told the PAC the Chinese deal had landed the Railways into big financial trouble. According to a member of the PAC, Railway Ministry officials who appeared before the Committee were so scared for almost 30 minutes none of them spoke a word, despite relentless questioning by parliamentarians. Almost all the members of PAC put probing questions to these Railway Ministry officials but when the pressure increased, they finally had to name the former Minister and the General, as he was obviously the driving force behind the deal. The PAC members were at a loss to understand as to why recommendations of the Railways Technical Committee were not implemented and without any precedent such big numbers of defective locomotives were purchased without fear of accountability. The Committee members wanted to know whether the Pakistan Railways had checked the credentials of the supplier and whether any other country in the world had purchased similar locomotives from this Chinese company. But, PR officials had no reply to these questions. Former Minister and PML-N leader Choudhry Nisar Ali Khan was of the view that the PAC probe had initially established that serious irregularities had been committed in the purchase of these locomotives and a sub committee was constituted to deeper into the deal and fix the responsibility. The Chairman of PAC agreed with the proposal of Nisar Ali Khan and announced formation of the sub-committee that would probe the General. The case has drawn immediate attention as the first serious confrontation between the elected representatives and the Generals who have been running the country like their grand dad’s property for years. General Qazi is known to be a rude and foul-mouthed military man who ordered the thrashing of a PML activist and Information Secretary, Siddiqul Farooq, just because the politician had demanded a probe against the General. Qazi later went on air on the BBC to publicly abuse the political activist and was condemned by all sections of the civil society for his ill manners and arrogance. He, however, remained oblivious to the criticism. Later when the US announced a $240 million grant for development of education in Pakistan, Qazi used his influence with General Musharraf to become the country’s first Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Education Minister who himself desperately needs some basic education in good manners and public behavior. Currently the General is educating Pakistan, but more importantly, spending the $240 million grant in doing that. From Shoe Maker to a Gas Guzzler, PIA Remains a Raped Orphan M A Siddiqui KARACHI, October 8: Despite the change at the top, from a shoe maker to a gas dealer, the cancer that hit Pakistan’s national airline, PIA, has not been diagnosed. While General Musharraf’s nominee robbed the airlines left right and center, PM Shaukat Aziz’s man is not just stealing the coffin, he is raping the dead body as well, as a popular proverb goes in Pakistan. In the six months that Tariq Kirmani, head of the country’s largest oil company, the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), has run PIA, not only the mistakes made by ousted Chairman, Choudhry Ahmed Saeed, have been repeated, ratified and authenticated, Kirmani has made blunders of his own. Many insiders and experts agree that the way PIA is now being run appears to be a pre-meditated plan to bring it down to the status of a financial train wreck when it could be sold for ‘One Dollar’ to an international client of Citibank, the employers of Pakistan’s borrowed Prime Minister, waiting for his ‘elevation’ to join the World Bank. And guess who is having the biggest laugh these days? Musharraf’s crony Choudhry Ahmed Saeed. He goes about every evening reminding Musharraf and his inner circle high spirited comrades of another much used and abused proverb: ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’ Saeed’s desperate cries were answered by Musharraf not by stopping Kirmani from raping the PIA, but by awarding Saeed a national medal for his ‘meritorious services’ to PIA. Kirmani joined the PIA in April this year and came from PSO, a petroleum products wholesale and retail company, with absolutely no experience whatsoever of aviation or airline business. His sole claim to the PIA throne was his friendship with PM Shaukat Aziz who had acquired the leverage to name the new PIA boss because Ahmed Saeed and Musharraf had been so discredited it had become an embarrassment for Musharraf to either continue with Saeed or name a replacement. “Instead of learning the aviation ropes, Kirmani did what he knew best: Corporatize the set up. This meant that against all rules and regulations all Directors of PIA were re-named Senior Vice Presidents, as if renaming them would turn them into real experts,” a former PIA executive told the South Asia Tribune. Kirmani was known as the King of PSO because he would rule like a king. No one was allowed on the 9th Floor of the PSO building. Not even his senior most executives unless they had an appointment or a meeting. But the King had a lot of baggage, dirty baggage, which was either ignored by Shaukat Aziz and Musharraf or they did not bother to do a security and background check with relevant agencies and authorities. This dirty baggage included a long list of official investigations being conducted against Kirmani and PSO on charges of corruption, misuse and misappropriation of millions of dollars by none other than the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of General Musharraf in all the provinces. A list of these official probes, obtained by the South Asia Tribune makes a sad reading. It reveals that PSO and Kirmani were in deep trouble and Shaukat Aziz had tried to bail him out by giving him the high profile job of PIA Chairman. Even now if those official investigations are taken to their logical end, Kirmani would stand convicted of

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many crimes, big and small. South Asia Tribune will deal in full detail with these issues in the upcoming stories in this series. As late as January 2005, the NAB was seriously pursuing Kirmani. Many of the previous investigations were either put on hold or were pending clearance from the top to proceed. Most of them under PM Shaukat Aziz and General Musharraf may not see their logical end and may have to wait for the NAB under a new dispensation. With this background Kirmani started “revamping” the PIA on Corporate lines. The first orders he issued were to carpet the road which led to his office worth Rs 5.6 million. Although Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and not PIA is responsible for road maintenance, Kirmani had no problem issuing the orders. Then came another proclamation from the new Emperor. All employees of PIA, big or small, high or low, will have to use the back door to enter the head office. Only the Chairman will use the front door. Even that was not enough. Kirmani ordered that a new elevator to his first floor office be installed and his car should be able to drive right at the elevator door. That is right now being done to make the entry of the king more royal. Millions are being spent on the project. To keep the distance from his subordinates obvious, Kirmani ordered the removal of all chairs from briefing rooms and now all the executives have to stand in the morning meetings for hours. The corporate face of the airline has quickly changed to the headquarter of an intelligence agency. Having "corrected" his image and established himself as the corporate boss, since all the Directors of PIA were now called Vice Presidents, Kirmani went about the next hatchet job, of cutting jobs in the name of saving expenses. Hundreds of old and new employees have been ordered to be retired but only at the lower level because these poor guys do not have connections in the top echelons of power. Even in this operation no management or administrative skills were displayed. While jobs were cut to save money, millions were being thrown away either because Kirmani did not know what he was doing or he did not care. One such example is of a Director who is actually not a Director but who was pushed up by the previous Chairman as a favor because he was a blue eyed boy. Documents obtained by the South Asia Tribune reveal the case of Salman Javed, the General Manager promoted as Director General Services on virtually the last official day in office by Choudhry Ahmed Saeed. He was to stay on probation for six months before he was to be confirmed in his new post as Director. The confirmation would be due on October 14, 2005. Come Kirmani. Somehow he did not like Salman’s promotion and wanted to get rid of him. The most economical way would be not to confirm him on the new job if he was not fit. But using his ‘excellent’ administrative skills, Kirmani ordered on August 8, 2005 that Salman should be retired. Presumably the retirement before confirmation meant that Salman was going out as GM, his original designation. But no, he retires as Director with full pay and benefits up to age of 60 which would cost PIA close to Rs 13 million. “What a great show of magnanimity. The amount which is being paid to Salman could have kept at least 72 lower rank PIA employees, now being sent home, on their jobs for a year,” a PIA financial analyst said. “The case shows Kirmani has either no idea of how to save money or the job cuts are meant to serve some other agenda,” the analyst added. In another show of skill, or lack of it, Kirmani has not touched the expensive flight engineers who have nothing to do after PIA sold all its wide body planes. These 42 redundant engineers have to be paid flying hours even if they don’t fly and the amount

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comes to millions upon millions. If PIA were to fire these 42 engineers, almost 400 low level jobs could be saved. But Mr Kirmani has not yet thought about it. These were administrative matters in which Kirmani was supposed and required to be an expert. How about the real job of running the airline, aviation and aircraft? Kirmani’s decisions in the first six months are pathetic to the point of being naive and stupid, says a former PIA MD. “PIA is throwing away all the planes gradually at token prices and replacing these with the planes on wet lease. The terms on which these planes have been leased are worse even compared to the terms on which PIA sold its planes.” Kirmani has sold six A-300B4 planes while the 7th was scrapped. But before the sale PIA spent so much money on these aircraft under the head of maintenance, that the price obtained looked like peanuts. This fact was revealed during the physical inspection of the aircraft by the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production. According to an estimate of the PIA engineering, total cost of maintenance for A300B4 fleet was estimated to be $17.263 million. Therefore the PIA management decided to sell the entire fleet of six aircraft for $10.1 million but after it had done all the checks including C-checks and base checks. PIA also replaced and installed new equipment on the sold aircraft worth millions of dollars. Why it was never understood. The matter did not end there. PIA has been providing the facility to part out the parts without any cost to the buyers. In the open market, charges for parting the aircraft are very high and in millions of dollars. So there was something very fishy about the sale from the very beginning. Why were so many favors being dumped on the buyers? The buyer, MNG Airlines, attached many conditions with its offer to buy the aircraft and all were accepted by PIA. The most intriguing was for PIA to take the same aircraft on lease from the buyer. So PIA first sold them its duly refurbished planes at throw away price and then leased the same on questionable and highly profitable rates. Can any sane financial expert explain these decisions taken by Kirmani? For the last Hajj season, PIA hired three aircraft at $3 million each. However, a PIA official revealed that PIA has paid almost $15 million instead of $9 million. Why, it is not yet clear, but something was again very fishy. The point to note is that PIA had hired the three aircraft in the presence of the A300B4 fleet. Now that these six aircraft have been sold, it will have to hire as many more to meet the Hajj season needs. That’s why, the PIA management has already invited bids for three aircraft immediately till November period before the commencement of the Hajj season. The airline will also be looking for three more aircraft. Why such a great interest in leasing to the extent that fully airworthy aircraft are sold to a company and then leased back from it, is the million dollar question. Perhaps for Kirmani this is a good business practice but for PIA and the country it may mean losses of millions and billions instead of the promises made by Saeed that his decisions would bring profits of billions. When the South Asia Tribune broke the story of Kirmani’s appointment on April 1, 2005, we wrote: “Yet the new Chairman will have a daunting task at hand to deal with all the Saeed’s men sprawling all over the airline. He will have to clean up the management, bring back all the qualified and experienced professionals who have been shunted out on personal reasons and start picking up the pieces faced with a task of managing an airline burdened with huge debts and unable to generate revenues to meet its costs.”

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“The new Chairman will have to run the airline like an airline not like an oil company, where he comes from, or like a shoe factory where the outgoing chairman will go.” And when he was appointed, we wrote on April 17, 2005: “It would be unfortunate if Kirmani covers up Saeed’s misdeeds or protects the corruption of his cronies, just because exposing all this may embarrass General Musharraf or his close friends. Even if some people have to be protected, the rape which took place with PIA has to be exposed and corrected. Otherwise replacing one yes-man with another would not mean a turn around for the airline.” It turns out that a shoe maker has been replaced by an oil dealer and the airline has become the orphan, who is raped by the new father every time he is adopted. Generals Defy, Degrade Parliament to Protect a Corrupt Colleague M T Butt ISLAMABAD, June 8: Deeply engrossed in private businesses, Army Generals have officially refused to recognize the jurisdiction of Pakistan’s Parliament and a landmark battle has begun to determine who would have the upper hand. “Under any democracy and constitutional rule, this would never be an issue, but Pakistan Army is bent upon breaking every rule and demolish or disfigure every institution to protect the Army's personal, political and corporate interests,” a senior politician said in Islamabad. One of Musharraf’s top Generals, accused of corruption in Army’s biggest corporate entity, the Fauji Foundation, has turned his Rs300 million case of favoritism into this test case by challenging the authority of the Senate to look into his affairs. “This case would determine whether elected representatives will ever be able to peek into the back stage money-making secrets of the Army,” an expert said. The case involves Lt. General (Retd) Mohammed Amjad, (Top, Left) once the head of Musharraf's National Accountability Bureau (NAB). As NAB Chief General Amjad, and his successors, have been continuously using NAB, illegally and unconstitutionally, to investigate every private sector company or businessman the Generals want to target for their own personal, political or financial reasons. After General Amjad left NAB he was appointed head of the Fauji Foundation which is, for all practical purposes, an extension of the Pakistan Army, as many sitting armed forces high ups are on its Board called the Committee of Administration. The Committee of Administration of Fauji Foundation comprises Army's Chief of the General Staff, Quarter Master-General, Chief of Logistics Staff, Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (Training & Personnel) and Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Administration). According to Fauji Foundation, the Committee handles the administrative and management affairs of the Foundation. The case against Gen. Amjad is that he sold one of the sugar mills of Fauji Foundation to a favorite for an amount much less than the highest bid and this information was confirmed by the Defence Ministry in the National Assembly. So it was official. The Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Tanvir Hussain, admitted in the Assembly that the “sugar mill had been sold at Rs300 million, against the highest bid of Rs387 million.” There was an immediate uproar both inside and outside the Parliament. The Senate’s Defence Committee summoned the Fauji Foundation management to appear and explain why this corruption had been done. A spokesman of Senate said a meeting of the Defence Committee to discuss the working of the Fauji Foundation and the sale of Khoski Sugar Mills in particular was requisitioned by three Opposition members namely Senators Rukhsana Zuberi, Farhatullah Babar and Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Initially the Foundation did not respond but after two weeks rejected the information given to the MPs through quarter-page advertisements in national dailies. The ads titled "Fauji Foundation Rejects" not only dismissed allegations but also claimed that the Khoski Sugar Mill was sold "in the best interest of the Foundation" and in keeping with the "established corporate norms and business practices." "We have received no government assistance in cash or kind," the ads announced, and vowed to "jealously guard its reputation for impeccable conduct." The MPs took the Foundation's ads, which rejected the official information placed before them a few days before, as an affront and breach of their privilege. Even Government party member and Parliamentary Secretary, Major Tanvir, bemoaned that the Foundation had breached the privilege of Parliament. PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar, an activist on such issues, wrote in a newspaper column: “One is indeed puzzled by the Foundation's claim that it had not received government assistance in cash or in kind. Under SRO No 395, issued in March 1972, all the properties of the Post War Services Reconstruction Funds of the former West Pakistan were vested in the Federal Government, which in turn transferred these properties to the Fauji Foundation under the Charitable Endowments Act. With such a kick start from day one, how can the management today claim that it has not received from the government "any assistance in cash or in kind"? But instead of coming clean on the issue, General Amjad and the other top Generals sitting in the GHQ have decided to challenge the jurisdiction of the Parliament to look into the affairs of Army-run businesses. The Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production on June 4 received a communication from the Defence Ministry stating that the Committee had no jurisdiction to appear for or against Fauji Foundation at any forum. A press release said the office of the Chairman, Standing Committee on Defence, received a communication from the Defence Minister intimating that after having a detailed briefing from the ministry's officials it was apparent that "Fauji Foundation is a private sector organization." The Committee Chairman is an ardent Musharraf and Army loyalist. A hand-picked businessman, former IBM chief and Musharraf’s ex-Information Minister, Nisar Memon is now heading the Senate’s Defence Committee. Instantly he jumped to the General’s side and as Committee Chairman accepted, without a word, the Fauji Foundation’s contention that private businesses were outside the Senate’s purview. Memon accepted the explanation and declared that the meeting requisitioned by the Opposition senators will not be held, cutting his own legs and feet. No one is allowing him to get away with this serious issue and even political allies of the Generals, now providing Musharraf and his men the façade of a democracy, are confused and issuing conflicting statements. “This is how Musharraf undermines the constitution and rule of law as he has his own cronies installed in key places who do not care about any democratic tradition but serve the interests of their Army masters,” a senior politician commented as a chorus of credible political voices rejected Nisar Memon’s decision as totally uncalled for and without authority or legality. Even the Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the Shaukat Aziz cabinet, a PPP turncoat and often a Musharraf loyalist, Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, did not agree with Nisar Memon. He told newspaper Dawn on June 5 every organization within the limits of Pakistan, whether public or private, can be summoned before the parliament. "No private organization operating within the country has an exemption from being summoned before the parliament. The principle of sovereignty and supremacy of parliament is applicable in the case.” Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Another leading constitutional expert, Choudhry Aitzaz Ahsan of PPP went a step further. He said: “The Defence Ministry's refusal to bring the Fauji Foundation under scrutiny in the committee is a sheer disobedience and disrespect to the parliament. Any entity that is "controlled" or "owned" by the government can be summoned by a committee of the parliament, including the Senate and the National Assembly.” Ahsan said Fauji Foundation was like other organizations which operated as private entities but were "controlled" or "owned" by the government. He said if the PTV managing director and PIA Chairman could be summoned before a committee, nothing barred the management of Fauji Foundation from being summoned. He said the presence of the Defence Secretary and other senior serving officials of the armed forces on the committee of administration of Fauji Foundation made it subject to appear before the committee and the parliament. A former secretary of the National Assembly, Khan Ahmed Goraya, said the National Assembly committees had the powers of the civil court and could summon any person or entity within the precincts of the country. Similar rules were applicable to the Senate committees, he said. The influential Editor of Lahore’s Daily Times, Najam Sethi, weighed in with a strong editorial note on the issue titled: “Fauji Foundation must explain its conduct to the Senate Standing Committee.” His editorial said: “These are important questions, not only in relation to the issue at hand — namely the dubious sale of the sugar mills — but also vis à vis the larger questions of the military in business and civil-military relations. It is clear to us that the Foundation’s Committee of Administration is loath to appear before a committee of parliamentarians because of military’s traditional disregard of the parliament. Under the rules it is the Standing Committee’s prerogative “to take a decision and express an opinion on the new position taken by the defence ministry”. And as Senator Babar has contended, “The Rules have no provision for the Chairman of the Committee [in this case, Senator Memon] to give a personal verdict and cancel a requisitioned meeting.” ”General Pervez Musharraf continues to talk about a new Pakistan built around respect for institutions. We expect that the process of institutionalization will subsume the military and not bestow on it the status of a holy cow. At the end of the day, Parliament is the highest body in the realm and its members have every right — within prescribed law — to oversee the functioning of various departments, including the military,” the newspaper said. “It is also important to determine, once and for all, the sex of entities run by, and under, the military. Are they in the private sector or in the public domain?” Given all these arguments, the attempt by the Generals to bulldoze and over-run the Parliament are blatant, mean and self-serving. They want immunity from accountability for their misdeeds in all Government-run, funded and controlled organizations which they have grabbed. The next step would be to demand that all lands, properties and houses owned by the Generals would be exempt from any law, tax or regulation. This can go on and on. Because if the Generals claim that they are running a private business, which cannot be questioned by the Parliament, then the question that needs an immediate answer is why and how are these officers allowed to run a private business as Government Service rules prohibit any employee to run his own business. And why is tax-payers money being pumped into their private business. The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2004-05, released by the Ministry of Finance on June 4, reveals that the Government had explicit contingent liability of Rs1.02 billion on account of Fauji Fertilizer Company Jordan. The government's guarantee of for FFC

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increased from Rs0.70 billion in 2002-03 to Rs1.02 billion in 2004-05, revealed the Survey, an authentic official document released every year before the budget. According to the company profile, FFC Jordan is a Joint Venture of Fauji Foundation and Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited. The Chairman of Fauji Foundation, Lt Gen (retd.) Syed Muhammad Amjad, is shown as the chairman of the FFC in its recent annual report. This battle between the Generals and the Parliament is another manifestation of the crumbling state of affairs in General Musharraf's Pakistan. HEC Buying Fantastically Expensive Scientific Junk Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy ISLAMABAD, July 16: Dr Sohail Naqvi’s response (SAT, 15 July 2005) to my article (SAT, 7 July 2005) is worthy of remark only because it evades key issues and makes implausible excuses for the HEC’s blunders and squandering of public money. Dr. Naqvi justifies purchase of an obsolete Van de Graaf accelerator worth nearly 400 million rupees for “teaching and general research for which purpose it was, and remains, a very useful machine”. Really, for “general research”? It is amazing that he can talk of “general research” in an age of extreme precision and specialization. Unfortunately science cannot be done in the HEC way: buying fantastically expensive scientific junk without any credible plans for utilization in research. It is shocking that no meeting of potential users of this large-scale project was called, as is the normal practice in the rest of the world. And no one will have a clue of what to do when this machine finally arrives in Pakistan. Just ask any scientist in the field what a Van de Graaf machine is good for. In the 21st century it simply cannot be used for meaningful scientific work anywhere, much less for research in nuclear or particle physics where at least a million times more energy is needed. These machines have been superseded decades earlier by much better technology. Researchers in materials science and condensed matter physics also have little use for this machine. Searching on Google, I discovered that all US universities (Caltech, Rice, Carnegie-Mellon,...) which had Van de Graaf machines demolished them years – if not decades – ago. Even the buildings housing them have been torn down. Dr. Naqvi needs to know that the academic world – not to mention that in India – will laugh at Pakistan for wanting to order this dinosaur. The czars of the HEC are exposing their scientific underbellies by making such decisions. This money – which will create no scientific research of any worth – could have been used for improving science education in Pakistani schools, among other things. Dr. Naqvi is correct that the PC-1 form requesting the accelerator was sent by Prof. Riazuddin, director of the National Center for Physics, which is located on the campus of QAU. He is the founder of my department and is well-known internationally as a physicist. By temperament he is a shy, soft-spoken man who avoids confrontation at all cost. But how dare Dr. Naqvi allege that I think Prof. Riazuddin, and others, are “fools and criminals”? Yes, I was shocked by the allegation that he had signed a PC-1 for purchase of a Van de Graaf and so I called him immediately to ask if it was true. Prof. Riazuddin said without hesitation "mujh se baree ghultee ho gaee" (I have committed a grave mistake), and then quietly explained that he had been under severe pressure. He added that in 2004, a little after he had made the mistake, he had spoken privately to Dr. Atta and told him that a Van de Graaf would be a big folly. But all this was to no avail.

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The HEC was determined to have the machine. In the matter of Dr. Saadia Chishty and "Quranization Of Science Courses at the M.Sc level": will Dr. Naqvi please tell us why Rs5.5 million were awarded to a project which does not involve experiments, equipment, surveys, or any major expenditure? One does not need to be a big expert to know that something stinks here. I would also like to know why the project title (approved in 2003-2004) on the HEC website was changed the very next day after my article was published in The News and SAT (7 July 2005). A Google cache stands as proof of this embarrassing change. After my article on the HEC was published, I received the copy of a letter signed by Professor Dr. Muhammad al-Ghazali, head of Islamic Social Sciences Unit, Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad. This was an evaluation of Dr. Saadia Khawar Khan Chishti’s work. Here are extracts from the 3-page letter: "What has been done by the writer is just citing certain verses ostensibly have reference to some of the natural phenomena....to define a vision of scientific enterprise from the perspective of Quranic ontological and epistemological is something which is more than justified in the Islamic ethos. But to search for theories of Physics and Chemistry is quite a different matter...The lady scholar has not shown any evidence about the basics of Quranic scholarship…..Last but not least, the undersigned failed to appreciate the rationality of the exorbitant amount (Rs. 4,981,000/-) granted for a project that apparently does not warrant any empirical investigation, laboratory experiment, traveling or any other heavy expenditure. This is obviously an extravagant utilization of public funds, if not sheer squandering.” Ghazali then recommends, “following the Second Caliph Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)”, that Chishty’s project be discontinued. Since the envelope in which I received the letter quoted from above carried no return address, I have no way of verifying whether the above is genuine or otherwise. Perhaps Dr. Naqvi may want to clarify. Dr. Naqvi defends the grant of Rs5.3 million to Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, for a chemistry project at AIOU. I suppose loyalty to one’s boss is a good thing. But Dr. Naqvi does not explain, however, how a distance-learning institute can do cutting-edge scientific research, especially since the principal investigator heads 3 other institutions (including the HEC), is principal investigator as well as co-principal investigator of many other projects. And all of this is while he is out of Pakistan much of the time. This is the second example of HEC bosses giving themselves fat grants. I might add that a Google search reveals that Dr. Saadia Chishty is a member of the HEC’s governing board! Dr. Naqvi stoutly defends his implementation of the HEC "Best University Teacher Award", wherein administrators were asked to nominate the best. He says that the HEC could not possibly interview 250,000 students. Quite so. But, as he knows, the administrators simply nominated themselves as best teachers. This happened not once, but twice in a row. So if this is how casually and ineffectively HEC programs are implemented, then we are better off without them. As for the case of dozens of PhD students enrolled under one supervisor at QAU: I certainly did not say that all were funded by the HEC – they presumably have different funding sources. As of February 2005, when I saw the figures, this was true. One also knows from colleagues how many students are registered with which supervisor. Dr. Naqvi tells us that the HEC supports up to 8 PhD students per supervisor. True, but this too is a very large number. In relation to the disastrous "Physics Master Trainers" program at QAU, Dr. Naqvi claims that "Dr Hoodbhoy asked to be placed in charge of the program when it was first proposed". This is false. There was a 5-person committee of which I was a member, and my demand was that the program should not be handed over to one Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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particular member of the committee whose basic understanding of physics is known to be notoriously weak. Other physicist members supported my stand, but the HEC made its own choice. I do not know what blinders prevent Dr. Naqvi from seeing that the program is a disgrace and a failure. But then this is typical of his administrative style: make grand claims, throw away hundreds of millions, and then blame someone else by saying that he was not responsible for implementation of projects. Dr. Naqvi asks why several professors from Austria, Germany, France, etc are clamoring for more Pakistani students selected by the HEC on the basis of “GRE-type” tests, whose quality I have criticized. The answer is simple: it is because the HEC pays a student’s total expenses and helps keep those foreign professors and universities in business. Pakistani newspapers are flooded by advertisements from every kind of foreign university seeking to lure fee-paying Pakistani students. Sometimes foreign governments see this as a subsidy to their own universities. Whatever the case, I am pleased that more Pakistanis are going to these countries for higher education and I have congratulated Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman more than once on this. However, a far better crop of students could be sent if the HEC were to drop its present test and have one of better quality and relevance. The indifference of the HEC to issues of quality is apparent in how casually it has accepted fake degrees and fake universities. This tightened up a little only after some months when Dr. Isa Daudpota pointed out case after case in the national press – and then documented them with evidence. Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, his boss, terminated his job almost immediately. Finally, it saddens me to see that Dr. Naqvi stoops to make numerous petty personal attacks upon me: of my being on “extraordinary leave” so that I could be paid at Rs 45,000 per hour of lecturing, of attacking my research record, and of having set out to defame the HEC for some dark reason. I will not bother to answer these except to wish that I could be as rich as he alleges I am. Would he be so kind as to point out where I can make that kind of hourly wage? If so I would certainly seek to improve my personal finances. As for my research: good, fair, or poor, some of it may be found at http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?rawcmd=f+a+hoodbhoy Like many others, I too had many hopes from the HEC in its early days and not only wished it well, but also put in considerable effort voluntarily to support it as my public duty. Sadly its performance has disappointed not just me, but countless others. Unless its all-powerful czars are made accountable, the rot will be unstoppable. HEC vs Dr. Hoodbhoy: The Controversy Continues Mamoona Amjed ISLAMABAD, July 18: With reference to a rejoinder by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy captioned: “Pakistan Buying Costly, Obsolete Scientific Junk” it is stated that in his response to the rejoinder by the Executive Director, HEC, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy continues to distort, falsify and twist facts to fit his own viewpoint. It is absolutely incorrect that HEC has spent or is spending Rs400 million on the purchase of a Van de Graaf Accelerator. HEC is not purchasing any equipment! HEC had allocated a total of Rs180 million to the National Center for Physics, (NCP) Quaid-e Azam University, Islamabad for the establishment of an Accelerator and an associated experimental Physics Laboratory. Out of this amount only Rs90 million were estimated to be spent on the purchase of the Accelerator and not Rs400 million as claimed by the writer. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The worthy writer finds it “shocking that no meeting of potential users of this large scale project was called, as is the practice in the rest of the world. And no one will have a clue of what to do when this machine finally arrives in Pakistan”. It is to be noted that the top scientists of the country in the discipline of Physics were involved in the preparation and submission of the project to HEC. The project was prepared by Dr. Riaz ud Din, HI, a top notch physicist of the country and the Director of the National Center for Physics. Prof. Hoodbhoy claims that Prof. Riazuddin has acknowledged to him that he made a mistake. Even if his statement is true, how, is that the fault of HEC? The project for the purchase of the Accelerator was reviewed by Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, NI, HI, SI, Chairman NESCOM and a top nuclear scientist and submitted to HEC by Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, NI, HI, SI, our leading nuclear scientist, in his capacity as Chairman Board of Governors of National Center of Physics. The actual specifications and type of the Accelerator to be purchased are still under consideration. A committee of scientists constituted for this purpose will take the final decision. It is highly unfortunate that by making remarks about the project such as “stupid decision” and ridiculing the competence of those who are involved in establishing this facility, the worthy writer has insulted the above mentioned top scientists of the country as HEC is only sponsoring a project prepared, recommended and submitted by them. Regarding the objections raised on the research proposal of Dr. Saadia Chishti, it is clarified that only Rs.400.000 and not Rs5.5 million have been released for the project. While processing the case HEC procedure of a rigorous peer review by top experts in the field, in line with international norms and practices, was strictly followed. The project as well as the total amount to be allocated was approved on the recommendation of the Referees. Later on, HEC has had the progress report of her project evaluated by experts and the case is being processed for final decision in the light of evaluator’s comments. No further funds beyond Rs0.4 million were released after July, 2004. The honorable writer has also falsely contended that the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has only a distance learning program and questioned the feasibility of carrying out chemistry research by Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman at such an institution. He seems to ignore the reality on ground that AIOU has a first rate chemistry laboratory with a functional gas chromatograph, mass spectrometer system, Fourier transform infra-red spectrometer, ultra-violet spectrometer, high pressure liquid chromatographs and other sophisticated equipment installed and fully operational. Students are carrying out M.Phil and Ph.D. level studies in AIOU with the help of these facilities. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman is the leading scientist in the country who has written/edited 87 books published mainly in USA, Europe and Japan, many of which are used in courses in the West. He also has over 600 research papers, chapters in books and international patents to his credit which have won him numerous international prizes. He had the rare distinction of becoming a Cambridge Don (1969-1973 ) and he is the only Pakistani scientist (besides late Prof. Abdus Salam) to have been honored by the University of Cambridge with award of an honorary degree of Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) by Cambridge University. He is also the only scientist from the Muslim world to have been awarded the UNESCO Science Prize by the Director General of UNESCO in the 30 year old history for his

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eminent scientific contributions. Yet Prof. Hoodbhoy feels that being incharge of more than one institutions Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman should not carry out research. Regarding the “Best Teachers” awards, the worthy writer now acknowledges that it was impossible for HEC to interview 250,000 students (note that this is what he had recommended earlier -- that the students opinion should have been sought!) -- this time he has now changed his stance and made a different set of allegations against HEC saying that the “Administrators simply nominated themselves as best teachers” (presumably he means departmental heads). The reality is that nominations under the program were accepted by HEC only from Vice Chancellors and not directly from any “Administrators". The new objection raised by the worthy writer in “Physics Master Trainers Program” is not understandable. HEC has given the project to the Physics Department Quaid-eAzam University and it is being run by the Head of the Department. HEC welcomes positive criticism however, articles based on incorrect figures, spinning of facts and those creating public misperceptions about sincere efforts to develop S&T and higher education don’t serve any noble purpose. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy responded to this latest rejoinder with these remarks on Saturday, July 16, 2005: The HEC appears terribly confused. The official rejoinder of the HEC (17 July) to my article states that I have misrepresented facts and that only Rs 90 million shall be spent on a Tandem Accelerator. But this is not what the HEC chairman wrote on 25 June, 2005 (Dawn, Sci-Tech section, http://dawn.com/weekly/science/archive/050625/science3.htm). According to the above article: “HEC has allocated Rs180 million to establish a 5MW Tandem Accelerator” and, to support its function, “HEC will spend Rs164 million to set up laboratories at the NCP, Quaid-i-Azam University”. Whoever on the HEC payroll is charged with defending the HEC has obviously not read what the boss has written. I have no idea, or interest, of which individuals are behind this senseless project, one that is an astonishing waste of precious national resources. The author’s attempt to drag in other names is a mischievous move designed to create and inflame conflicts. My previous statements are correct and can be easily verified: Professor Riazuddin, whose scientific credentials everyone seems to agree upon, has expressed his view saying that he cannot support this project on grounds of scientific merit. He has communicated this in writing to the HEC chairman. In the matter of Dr. Saadia Khawar Chishty, the HEC web page shows for the project “Quranization Of Science Courses At The M.Sc level” the following entries: Total Amount – Rs5, 581,000 and Current Year Award – Rs1, 857,000. I do not see the figure of Rs 400,000 anywhere. Where is it? It is my hope that the HEC will not make yet another attempt to change these figures or tamper with web pages that were created in 2003-2004. One such shallow trick has already been caught and exposed. Best Teacher Awards: it is alleged by the HEC-commissioned author that I have “changed my stance” on the issue of getting students to evaluate a teacher’s performance in class. Rubbish! I think that without getting this crucial input, the whole idea of a “Best Teacher Award” is nonsensical. The problem seems to lie in the author’s limited comprehension of English. And, yes, I did mean that departmental heads had nominated themselves as the best teachers. It is perfectly normal to call departmental heads as “administrators” in the English language. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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As for the other matters rose by the HEC’s second rejoinder: I think I have made my position clear in my initial and follow-up articles. There is no need to prolong a now tedious debate. High Court Presented With Massive Charge Sheet against Pakistan Army A.H. Amin ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court in Pakistan is facing a legal and a practical dilemma: What to do with the petition which charge sheets the Pakistan Armed forces and lists details of massive kickbacks and corruption done by Generals, Air Marshals and Admirals. The petition has been filed by a lawyer in public interest but its contents are so explosive, the High Court Judges cannot touch it. The LHC, under tremendous pressure of the Army regime, is almost helpless in even admitting or hearing the petition, let alone give a verdict against the Army. The main charges mentioned in the petition include: - Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak (retired) had received Rs180 million as kickbacks in the purchase of 40 old Mirage fighters - Air Chief Marshal, Farooq Feroz Khan was suspected of receiving a five per cent commission on the purchase of 40 F-7 planes worth $271 million - In 1996, the Army bought 1,047 GS-90s jeeps, at a cost of $20,889 per unit. The market value of a jeep then was only $13,000. According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s main accountability organization, some senior Army officers made Rs. 510 million in the deal. - One hundred and eleven Army men got 400 plots in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan districts at throwaway prices, paying Rs. 47.50 per kanal (1/8th of a acre) as against the actual price of Rs15,000 to Rs20,000 (1US$=Rs. 56). Another 35,000 kanals were distributed among them. - Six respondents got 400 kanals in the Punjab while former NAB chairman Lt. Gen Mohammad Amjad was allotted a two-kanal plot on the Sarwar Road in Lahore for just Rs. 800,000 - payable in installments over 20 years. The market value of this plot was Rs. 20 million. - General Pervez Musharraf acquired a commercial plot worth Rs 20 million at DHA in Lahore for just Rs. 100,000, payable in 20 years. "As mentioned in the report of defense services director-general, a loss of Rs 5 billion was incurred due to such allotments." - The Army awarded a contract for the purchase of 1,000 Hino trucks at $40,000 per unit while the local Gandhara Industries had offered trucks of the same specification for $25,000 a piece. In the purchase of 3,000 Land Rover jeeps in 1995, Army officials allegedly received around Rs. 2 billion as kickbacks. - The Army management at WAPDA raised the power tariff 13 times during the last three years besides purchasing electric meters at Rs. 1,050 a piece against the open market price of Rs. 456, causing a loss of Rs 1.65 billion to the national exchequer. - A former military regime sold the Pak-Saudi Fertilizers for Rs. 7 billion and earned a Rs 2 billion commission on the deal. - In 1996, the Pakistan Navy spent Rs. 13 million on installing air-conditioners at the Islamabad Golf Club without any justification. Apart from this petition some other major scams involving serving or ex members of the military junta are as follows: - Ex Army chief General Jahangir Karamat took kickbacks of more than US$ 20 Million from Ukrainian tank company for purchase of 300 Ukrainian tanks for Pakistan Army through a middleman named as Colonel Mahmood , a brother tank corps officer of Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Karamat . Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent the present chief of the WAPDA Major General Zulfiqar, then serving in ISI, to Ukraine and Azerbaijan to investigate the scam. - General Zulfiqar compiled a complete report of the transaction and the bribes given. But the Army tried to buy him out by rewarding him with the post of WAPDA Chairman and promoting him to the rank of a three star General. The then Army Chief, General Jahangir Karamat was forced to resign, based on the threat that if he did not, he would be charged for corruption. - Many road contracts were given to a firm Hasnain Construction company without any public tenders by the recently removed Railways and Communication minister General Qazi. The company, owned by a relative of General Pervez Musharraf’s son, was also awarded the lease of a lucrative real estate in Lahore for construction of a Golf Course under frontmanship of Palm Country Golf Club, Singapore. The relative of General Musharraf admitted publicly that he was working for a commission to use his contacts and influence for the company. - Prime commercial land developed in Defence Housing Authority Karachi was leased at dirt heap rates to McDonalds operated by Amin Lakhani by the then Corps Commander, Karachi Lt. General Afzal Janjua. - The Army’s coercive organ NAB struck various under the table deals with various individuals accused of high profile economic crimes in addition to arm twisting NAB defaulters, into joining the present government. These include the present Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and at least one fourth of all elected legislators. Where does the military virtue of a defense outfit stand in these circumstances? Is 2003 not a year fit to publish its obituary? Our military virtue died, trampled below the treacherous wheels of overpriced military trucks and overpriced Chinese aircraft and defective Atlantique planes that crash in our waters because of dubious maintenance. Yes all this has served one important development purpose. Sons of ex-subedars, exclerks and ex-assistant political agents have done well, climbing from relatively simple life styles to grand luxuries propelled by phenomenal assets. All came to clean the Augean stables and all departed richer. The only exception was General Yahya Khan who whatever his drawbacks at least did not have the mind of a petty shop keeper. Clausewitz, the great philosopher of war described “Military Virtue” of an Army as the corporate spirit which forms the bond between bravery, enthusiasm and espirit de corps. Clausewitz further defined military virtue as a quality which drives an Army in a similar way as genius makes a military commander illustrious. Military virtue in words of Clausewitz could be generated in two ways, i.e. by a succession of military campaigns and victories or by military training activity carried to the highest pitch. The more a general demanded of his troops in terms of dedicated military activity in peace, the surer he would be that his demands in war would be properly answered. In short military virtue is the fuel that is supposed to drive an Army in war. With the above premise in mind and keeping in view our present history it can be safely concluded that military virtue of the Pakistan Army as an institution witnessed erosion from 1958 once the party started that made sons of Risaldar majors and Assistant Political Agents progress into industrial tycoons. It was a joy ride. Men who had one green suit to wear, in the words of General Tajammul, became the tycoons of Pakistan. It was the beginning of prosperity for few and the beginning of the end of military virtue of a previously Spartan and clean military machine. The second military junta of Pakistan was led by the only Army chief not from humble background and this ensured that the Pakistan Army was kept away from cheap consumerism and avaricious lust for real estate. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The second great dinner party started in 1979 when thanks to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a heaven-sent opportunity arrived in shape of US military aid for the third military junta of Pakistan. Stingers were flown in by the big daddy for the obedient son and these were sold in the open market by silent soldiers. Thus new business empires were created. The Zia junta as a whole did roaring business and the result is that at least four major tycoons of Pakistan today including present commerce minister have direct links with the Zia junta. Where does building 90 acres of a welfare colony known as Creek City with the cheapest shack for Rs. 6 million fit in? Did the military junta begin the occupation for such sublime purposes in 1958 or 1999? Where does developing 62 acres of land in prime commercial real estate in Islamabad fit in? Is this the business of a Navy that was miserably shut up in a mouse hole in Karachi Port in 1971 War? True that kickback may have been taken, but at least Admiral Mansur bought a good submarine for the Navy. But for whose welfare is the Navy undertaking a project 1500 kilometers from the nearest sea? What began as an idealistic journey ends with the shady deals around creeks in Karachi which the Navy failed to defend in 1971 and a military junta which wants to rule this country for eternity. And in this messy situation, the subservient Lahore High Court has been asked to sit on judgment with the sprawling mountains of charges, some even admitted publicly by the Army. God help the poor Mr. Justices of the superior court. How a Cook Unraveled a Multi-Billion Dollar Army Scam in Lahore M T Butt ISLAMABAD, May 31: A Pakistani chef of an influential Saudi Royal Family Prince cooked the goose of a top Pakistani General, several of his crony officers and has brought monumental infamy to the Pakistan Army, by exposing the biggest ever land fraud in the country’s history. This cook must get the Pride of Performance Award because he unknowingly forced General Pervez Musharraf to admit the biggest scandal of his six-year tenure – the grabbing of land and fictitious sales of non-existent residential plots, for billions of rupees, to unsuspecting innocent Pakistanis, living both inside Pakistan and abroad. The bizarre story of the Saudi cook began when Mohammed Sharif (name changed) bought a piece of land in the Lahore Defence Housing Authority, managed and run by Army Officers, falling prey to the dubious sale of plots, believing that since Pakistan Army was managing it, he would not be swindled and would be able to get a piece of land which will give him and his family dividends on his investment. The poor man was sadly mistaken. When on a brief vacation to Lahore, Mohammed Sharif wanted to have a look at the piece of land he had supposedly paid for, the Pakistan Army Brigadier and his juniors in the DHA, gave him the usual frustrating run around. He was never shown his land. Exhausted, shocked and in a state of disbelief, Mohammed Sharif returned to his job with the Prince but at an opportune moment informed his royal employer of what had happened. The Prince was furious. He straightway picked up the phone and dialed General Pervez Musharraf. Deeply embarrassed, the General, who would not listen to any one else except, of course, some body from Washington, asked his Vice Chief to order an inquiry as the main culprit was Musharraf’s own recently-shifted Corps Commander in Lahore, Lt. General Zarrar Azim, famous in Lahore Real Estate circles as General Zarrar Zamin.

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Since the new Corps Commander wanted the facts, it turned out that the entire hierarchy of DHA, headed by a Brigadier was deep in collusion with some real estate agencies and were minting billions in fraudulent sales to people like Mohammed Sharif. The entire top management of DHA was removed but no one, including the Brigadier, was sacked, obviously because General Zarrar Azim, now posted in the GHQ, protected them. The news of the DHA shake-up was broken by Lahore’s Daily “The News” on February 5, 2005. In a report from Lahore it said the military authorities had removed the top management of DHA on alleged corruption in the planned Phases 6-10 of the Lahore Cantonment Cooperative Housing Society (LCCHS). But the newspaper said DHA Administrator Brigadier Abdul Jalil Khan, Director Land, Lt. Col Ikram, Director Transfers Lt. Col Feroz Bhatti and Deputy Director Land Major Razaq had only been shifted and “placed at the disposal of the Station Headquarters.” “Brigadier Fazal Nawaz Khan has replaced the outgoing Administrator Brigadier Abdul Jalil. Brigadier Nawaz Khan is from infantry, and has been posted at the National Defense College (NDC). The military authorities have constituted an enquiry committee, headed by Commandant Signals Brigade of the 4 Corps Brigadier Khalilullah Butt. The enquiry is underway against military officials and some highprofile realtors." "The realtors include Yousuf Chauhan of the Chauhan Estate, Haji Allah Ditta of Defense Estate Mr Sahir of Sahir Estate. Apart from these, the owners of Panjnad Estate are also being interrogated,” the newspaper reported. In its own guarded way, since writing negatively about top Army officers is a risky business in Pakistan, The News said: “The trail of the enquiry is expected to lead the investigators to a couple of high-ranking serving military officials as well. It is important to note this enquiry has been initiated on the orders of Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS), General Ahsan Saleem Hayat. Commander 4-Corps (Lahore), LtGen Shahid Aziz, has played an important role.” The most disgusting response about the multi-billion scandal came from the Chief Military spokesman, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Shaukat Sultan, who contemptuously said: “Transfers and posting of Army officials beneath the rank of Major Generals are not made public by the Army, and media has nothing to do with it.” The media had everything to do with it as thousands of innocent Pakistanis had risked the savings of their lives by investing in a fraud perpetrated in the name of the Pakistan Army by senior officials. The most credible information about the scandal and the impact of the Army probe was reported by those in the business of real estate. A specialized web site on Pakistan’s Real Estate scene reproduced this comment by a reporter in the center of the scam: “When DHA's new management started investigations, it stopped all transfers of ownership on files that were submitted by those banned dealers under investigation. Now DHA have reached some kind of agreement with these dealers. Details are not official but news on the street is that banned dealers have agreed to pay over Rs 1 billion to have their files cleared by DHA. “Also I am told by people that this money that the DHA will get from dealers will be used to reduce development charges....Now hundreds of files that are returned to the dealers after completing transfers will be given to original owners. Remember these dealers sold these very files for Rs 6 to 7 million each just 4 weeks ago.”

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“In the past week alone 600 to 700 files were handed over by DHA after transfers were completed according to some very big dealers. The spate of these files is causing price drops in the DHA market. On normal days 30-40 files are transferred by DHA.” This reporting by insiders revealed that in one week alone if 600 plots were transferred, each costing Rs 6 million, the total would be Rs 3.6 billion. On the higher side the figure could be Rs 5 billion. All this is one week’s activity of correcting the frauds perpetrated by the sacked DHA management. The whole scandal would run into several hundred billion if not in trillions. According to guarded reporting by another Lahore newspaper, Daily Times, (March 24, 2005), "intelligence agencies had begun investigations six months back and a large number of DHA administration employees were under surveillance. One of the officers under inquiry has agreed to reveal all he knows about the scam in exchange for immunity. The Daily Times reported that property dealers had acquired several acres of land belonging to the government with fake names, in connivance with land revenue officials, and thereafter gave it to the DHA authorities. “The dealers acquired agricultural land (now DHA phases 5 to 10) and handed that to the DHA free of cost on the agreement that 25 per cent would be returned to them after their inclusion in the society. Due to stark differences in the prices of agricultural and DHA property, this translated into a very lucrative profit for investors.” The investigations have led to the blacklisting of four major real estate agents in DHA: Chauhan Estate, Defence Estate, Property Talk and Al-Rehman Associate. Their offices were sealed and their records were confiscated. DHA security personnel have been posted outside the offices to ensure no one goes in. The DHA administrator, Brig Nawaz Khan, said about the sealing of real estate agencies, “We sealed the offices after repeated complaints by people. Investigations are continuing. I can’t add anything further.” In a press conference a few days ago, he had said, “DHA will honor its commitments to the people.” Last week DHA allowed reopening of the real estate offices which were earlier sealed because of irregularities as a court ordered the DHA to allow it since legal formalities in closing them were not fulfilled. This was another way of helping the collaborators otherwise why would the Army not meet legal requirements to prosecute criminals who had swindled billions. Newspapers reported that DHA had allowed the offices to be reopened, but would not deal with them directly or indirectly. “They are still blacklisted and the DHA is not going to issue affidavits and allocation letters for property being dealt by them.” DHA authorities said that these offices had been sealed because many people had complained of “irregularities” in transactions. The most disturbing aspect of the whole scandal, feared by some real estate experts, is that in their scramble to make big money, Army Officers working in the DHA may have sold large tracts of lands to Indian buyers who were investing in DHA lands through their Dubai front offices. According to one source one company had been inquiring about buying 500 acres of land near the Pak-India border. Under the mess that was going it, it may have done so already. How Pakistan Army Blatantly Covered up Huge Frauds Shahwar Faryal

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ISLAMABAD: How the Pakistan Army bulldozes the civilians whenever any financial fraud is detected, even if it is years old, has become evident from what happened with some of the files of military purchases which came to the Auditor General of Pakistan. These files were provided to the AGP office when it conducted a special audit on Defense Procurements for the five-year period 1990-95. The concerned military authorities first provided the secret files containing the details of military purchases from different countries including France, USA, Germany, UK and Sweden. But within hours these secret files were physically snatched from the auditors. They were forced to evaluate the deals based only on what they could remember after they had a look at the details for a very brief time. This audit of major deals was done in 1996 and its report was never made public nor it was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee for examination. This important report, which found huge irregularities, was dumped. The Directorate General of Defense Procurement (DGDP) is a joint venture organization under the Ministry of Defense and the Defense Production Division, responsible for the procurement of Defense stores from local and overseas resources. It is also responsible for formulation of policies for the procurement of Defense services. According to one report obtained by SA Tribune the DGDP concluded a Contract no 1341/63/DGDP/PC 3 c with MS Land Rover Exports Ltd., UK on June 30, 1996 for procurement of 1,047 Land Rover Defender 90GS Jeeps at the rate of $20,889 plus 5 per cent for spares and 15 per cent for freight charges. But it was observed from the United Field Motors vehicles catalogue, issued by the manufacturers in April 1996, that the same Land Rover Defender 90 was being sold at the rate of £9,675 each. For large orders of 100 units or more, quantity discount was also to be considered by the suppliers on case to case basis. Thus, it appeared that DGDP purchased the vehicles at a rate much higher involving an extra expenditure of $6.856 million. The scandalous part of the entire case is that the case file of this deal was first supplied to auditors but withdrawn after a few hours and never produced again despite several requests. Non production of record to auditors was in itself a serious irregularity. Similarly a much higher rate was paid in May 1993 to an authorized agent of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus. The seller offered a price of US$ 825 but the Army paid $1,199 per piece of equipment to the firm. In another case, three old Cessna aircraft were purchased while a much better offer was available from Learjet for 1993 models. The AGP has asked the government to constitute an inquiry committee to look into these serious irregularities in the Defense purchases. Huge Fraud Committed by Pakistani MPs in Assets Declarations Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD: Some of the top parliamentarians of today may be in trouble as General Musharraf’s arm-twisting machine, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has started looking into the sources of the assets they have declared as part of the election process. “At the moment the NAB is looking into assets of Opposition MPs or those who they want to keep in control on the government side as well, but these assets, now on record with the Election Commission and partly made public officially, can cause trouble for any one any time, even after the present government is gone,” a senior political analyst said in Islamabad. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The list of those who have declared their millions and billions is interesting and repulsive as these political heavyweights have already made so much money while most of them cannot show where it came from. The declarations leave many questions unanswered and also raise new questions as the deadlines for these declarations were specially shifted because Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz did not submit his assets and he wanted more time. The forms and information required was also changed at the last moment and instead of asking when these assets were acquired and at what price and what was the current appraised price or market price, the MPs were asked only to declare the assets, without telling when and at what price they were acquired. So it is unclear whether the millions declared by sitting ministers were made during their current stings or these people had these millions before joining the military government. Interestingly the assets of National Assembly members have not been made public as it would be of specific interest to know what has been declared by the two sons of former Generals, Zia ul Haq and Akhtar Abdur Rehman. These two sons, Ejazul Haq and Humayun Akhtar, have become the prime examples of corruption and wealth accumulation by the army generals but they are being protected, at least so far. More people belonging to the families of other generals will also be exposed when the assets of all National Assembly members are made public, if they are. Most of 100 Senators of Pakistan are millionaires or billionaires, according to the details of their assets released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The details are based on the assets and liabilities statements filed by the senators with the ECP. The assets have been evaluated by the owners themselves and in most cases anything worth a million dollars has been valued at just 10 per cent of the market price or even less. Even then there are billionaires by the dozen. A number of senators have apparently disclosed their assets far below the present market value. According to the ECP, the richest member of the Senate is Azam Khan Swati, who was elected independent from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). His wealth totals around Rs3.36755 billions. His major business is based in the United States where he owns a chain of stores. Swati has also obtained a loan of around $3 million from an American bank. Liaquat Ali Bangalzai and Maulvi Agha Mohammad told the ECP they did not own even a penny. Ilyas Bilour said he owns Rs70 million assets but also mentioned loans of an equal amount. Mushahid Hussain showed assets of over Rs16 million. Nisar Memon disclosed assets of over Rs30 million. Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro has assets of over Rs8 million including a 92-kanal farm in Lahore worth just Rs1.8 million. Deputy Senate Chairman Khalilur Rehman has assets valuing Rs21.1 million. Prof Ghafoor Ahmad showed assets of Rs3 million. Wasim Sajjad disclosed assets over Rs10 million including a farm in Jheenga Galli with a price of just Rs18,000. Sajjad did not mention the value of the house at Canal Road in Lahore and just said he owns 15 percent share in it, which he inherited. Senator Tahira Latif showed assets of Rs27.5 million. Tariq Azim Khan and Mohammad Ali Durrani owned over Rs10 million assets each. Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz revealed over Rs400 million assets while Ishaq Dar over Rs297.1 million. Both have millions of pounds and dollars in foreign banks. Ishaq Dar has 2.4 million pounds and 3,05,000 UAE dirhams. Aziz’s assets include a flat in the UK (worth Rs10.84 million), an apartment in New York (worth Rs10.1 million), a bungalow in Defense Society, Karachi, (worth Rs3.5 million) and a plot worth (Rs500,000). Aziz owns two apartments one each in London and New York with both Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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having values in millions of rupees. He has 310,000 pounds in a bank in London, nearly 3 million dollars in Citibank in the US. While the value of Shaukat Aziz's flat in UK is grossly undervalued, the New York Pent House that Aziz has estimated to be priced at Rs 10 million (or less than US$ 175,000) is actually a Pent House in the prestigious UN Plaza Building where the value of each Pent House is about 5 to 10 million dollars (between Rs 300m to Rs 600m). “It shows in clear terms that the Finance Minister has played a direct fraud with the Pakistani authorities as in the current booming real estate market of New York, a one room studio in the heart of Manhattan would not be available for $175,000” a real estate agent said in New York. What his Pent House has is at least 3 bedrooms, a big living room, a servant quarter and the building has its own security systems, staff which monitors every visitor and is considered to be the most prime property in Manhattan. New York millionaire and Pakistani-American businessman and writer, Mansoor Ijaz, also owns a Pent House in the same building. Former ISI Chief Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf, now senator, owns assets of about Rs40 million. Senator Latif Khosa has assets of over Rs150 million, S.M. Zafar nearly Rs60 million, Farooq Naek Rs13.1 million, Khalid Ranjha over Rs60 million and Dr Muhammad Khan nearly Rs90 million. Several senators did not show the assets, which are in the name of their dependents. Wife of a former Air Force Chief Begum Razeena Aalam Khan showed assets of over Rs20 million. Senator Waqar Ahmed has wealth of over Rs23.5 million but his father, Gulzar Ahmed, also a Senator, owns just Rs1 million with loans of nearly Rs200 million. Asfandyar Wali has over Rs10 million assets. Farhatullah Babar owns assets of over Rs4.9 million, Maulana Samiul Haq of Rs4.1 million, Fauzia Fakhruzzaman Rs42.4 million, Amin Dadabhoy nearly Rs20 million, Babar Khan Ghauri Rs30 million, Mian Raza Rabbani Rs17.5 million, Asif Jatoi Rs22.5 million, Dr Abdullah Rs262.2 million with millions of dollars in foreign banks. Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani has assets of over Rs8.6 million, Senator Ahmed Ali Rs80 million and Anwar Begum Rs5.7 million. Musharraf Engulfed in Biggest Emerging Financial Scandal of His Tenure Shaheen Sehbai NEW YORK, September 13: When General Pervez Musharraf attends the Pakistan Human Development Fund Qawali in New York on September 15, (Price Tag: $275 per seat), he would be stamping the seal of his approval confirming to be an active partner in what would eventually emerge as the biggest financial scam of his tenure. The scandal involves massive wastage of almost Rs2 billion of Pakistani taxpayers’ money handed over practically to one individual, without any official oversight or accountability. The latest published statistics reveal much more than they conceal, although the money has been kept out of the searching eyes of any Government auditor. According to a signed document, Rs 1.5 billion had been doled out by the end of June, 2004. The money is claimed to have be spent in the name of the poor, illiterate and deprived people of Pakistan but no one knows where it is going or has gone. What is being claimed on documents is simply not verifiable but it is packaged in such attractive donor jargon that it has fooled even some international agencies. The biggest loser is the Government of Pakistan which has dished out a wholesome $32 million to a favorite of General Pervez Musharraf. The General was tricked by this soft spoken, poker faced, crafty Pakistani expatriate whose main reason to have come

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close to General Musharraf was that he offered some legitimacy to a pariah military dictator prior to 9/11. “If any civilian politician had done half of what Musharraf has done in this case, he would have been hanged by the Army. But since a General has officially authorized grant of millions of dollars, without any Government audit or accountability, no one has the courage to challenge the scam, although every one knows what it is,” a senior Information Ministry official now in New York confided to the South Asia Tribune. The scam is brewing in the National Commission for Human Development (NHCD), a body created cleverly under law and then smartly weaved into a privately owned Pakistan Human Development Fund (PHDF). Unsuspecting eyes would never find out the difference between these two identical sounding organizations and would never know where the billions were coming from and where they were going. The mastermind behind the whole idea is Dr Nasim Ashraf, a Pakistani medical doctor who settled in United States and for years made his living from his medical practice until he had enough money to pursue his political ambitions and become active in the Pakistani community as well as an active donor to US congressmen, thus buying some influence. Yet Dr. Ashraf, was a relatively unknown person until he got into the hi-profile project of the film on Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, which a former Pakistani High Commissioner in UK, Dr Akbar S. Ahmed, had produced. He even persuaded some known Pakistani-Americans to donate for the film as it was being produced to match the Oscar winner feature film ‘Gandhi’. ‘Jinnah’ never took off and Dr Akbar Ahmed was financially burnt in the project at the hands of Dr Nasim Ashraf. Dr Ahmed’s wife Zeenat publicly accused Dr. Nasim Ashraf of handing over the film in London to an Indian accountant Mr. Singla, appointed as Receiver. She also alleged that Ashraf brought out the film in DVD format with an addition in which he praised General Pervez Musharraf who had nothing to do with the film. Ashraf thus used the film as a political platform to get closer to Musharraf. Dr. Ashraf denied her charges but it was a fact that he got closer and closer to Musharraf by exploiting many other well respected names including that of former Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi, Imran Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Khan, Princess Sarwath of Jordan and even Abdul Sattar Edhi, the Pakistani social worker of international fame. When Dr Nasim Ashraf launched the Pakistan Human Development Fund, he used all these big names and some of them even contributed up to $100,000 each, thinking that it may be a genuine project with some achievable honest objectives of helping the poor people of Pakistan. Even today the web site of the Commission claims "four persons of international repute will manage the accounts" while in fact none of these four have either the time or the will now to involve with the Fund any more. These four persons are former Pakistan Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi, Imran Khan's former wife Jemima Khan, Princess Sarwath of Jordan and Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi. It was the early period of General Musharraf when despite support from many Pakistanis and expatriates he lacked legitimacy abroad and was looking for help from any quarter. That was the time when he found in Dr Nasim Ashraf an attractive ally who could lend him some credibility in the Pakistani community in US and congressional leadership in Washington. Dr Ashraf marketed himself well with the Pakistani dictator looking for legitimacy. By that time he had already conceived the Human Development Plan and in June 2001, Musharraf appointed him as head of a Task Force on Human Development which made its recommendations in June 2002. The main proposal was to create the National Commission on Human Development but all funds granted to the Commission Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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were to go into a privately run Fund of Dr. Ashraf called the Pakistan Human Development Fund. It was a pre-planned set up to divert funds into a private company set up under the 1984 Companies Ordinance. All kinds of false promises, disinformation and misinformation was used to get the Government grant after Dr. Ashraf was appointed Chairman of the new Commission in the rank of a Minister of State. General Musharraf was promised that if Government handed out Rs 2 billion to the NCHD (Read PHDF), Dr Ashraf will raise Rs 4 billion from the US and other donors. “We are initially targeting a sum of Rs. 6 billion for the Fund of which we expect that one-third each will be contributed by the Government, the donor community and private sector philanthropists,” General Musharraf said in his inaugural speech as President and Chief Executive at the Pakistan Human Development Forum on June 24, 2002 at the Convention Center in Islamabad. How could the Government just hand over Rs 2 billion to a private company was never explained. But in his inaugural speech Musharraf did explain that: “This fund will include members from all segments of the society, in particular, leading philanthropists and important personalities like Mr. Abdus Sattar Edhi.” “I want to assure you that government will ensure that this Fund will be managed by an independent Board of Trustees in a transparent manner and it will be audited by a firm of international repute. The Annual Report of the Trust Fund will be made public and the copies of the report will be sent to donor communities as well. I shall personally be monitoring the work of the Commission and the Fund,” the General said, taking direct responsibility of the billions he was going to hand over to his friend. The explanation was also to pre-empt any objections to such a large grant to an unknown and untested Pakistani expatriate who just happened to have come into the good books of an all-powerful dictator. But while the General was promising transparency, he had been very cleverly set up to declare that the audit of the Fund would be carried out by a firm of international repute. That was patently illegal and against the Pakistani laws as any organization receiving Government funds has to be audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan. Dr Nasim Ashraf never allowed the Auditor General to touch his account books despite growing resentment in the Ministry of Finance and Ministries of Education and Health. The resentment grew so much last June that the Senate of Pakistan unanimously recommended to the Lower House to get the accounts of the Commission audited by the Auditor General, but Dr. Nasim Ashraf foiled the entire Upper House by using General Musharraf’s powers who ordered the young junior Finance Minister, Omar Ayub Khan, to ignore this recommendation of the Senate. It was a moment of shame for the Senate as the Opposition and Government both had joined hands with all the 100 Senators demanding an audit, to be defeated by one crony of the dictator. When Pakistan's Secretary of Information, Mr. Shahid Rafi, was asked questions at his Press conference in New York last week about the Commission and why its accounts had not been audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan, first he could not believe there could be such a Department but then he realized the sensitiveness of the issue and redirected all the questions to Dr Nasim Ashraf, who was not present at the news conference. The basic purpose of the NCHD was declared in the hi-sounding donor jargon to be the following: - Based on a holistic development model, NCHD aims at enlarging the scale and scope of the efforts made by the government in ensuring the effective provision of social

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services. It perceives human development as a process of enlarging choices, building capacities and encouraging participation of communities at the grass roots. - To ensure this, NCHD is directed towards supporting government line departments, civil society organizations and the local communities in the sectors of education, basic health care and income generating activities at the grassroots. - NCHD identifies, and consequently presents innovative and cost effective solutions to fill implementation gaps, building the capacities of the involved agencies and stakeholders to effectively address the issues hampering the process. Through extensive training programs and capacity building workshops which cater to all the stakeholders involved in the process, NCHD helps ensure a lasting impact. These capacity building exercises are targeted towards Government Line departments, community based organizations and the community. - NCHD believes in the importance of community ownership in all its projects where decision rights are provided to all stakeholders. This approach to poverty alleviation is multi-sectoral, therefore at NCHD we are taking an integrated approach focusing on the needs of people at the grassroots. - Incubation of government and non-government delivery systems is a novel concept in human development. It is derived from the business world where a business incubator nurtures businesses through the initial phases of development. The ultimate objective is to help bridge the implementation gap between strategy and delivery by establishing a nationwide network of Human Development Support Units (HDSU) to operate under the aegis of the NCHD. Acting as incubators, the HDSUs will build the capacity and competencies of government line departments, and NGOs working in the social sectors at the district level by imparting skills to promote communication, coordination and knowledge sharing. - The Education Program aims to assist the government in achieving 100% primary school enrollment and will open schools in areas where no government schools exist. The Health Program is focused on the improvement of Health Indicators. - The NCHD has taken the initiative to create a National Volunteer Corps (NVC), following the UN International Year of Volunteers. Where thousands men, women and children are being mobilized to extend support to social sector interventions at the grassroots in Pakistan. NCHD is developing a system to match volunteer skill sets with the operational needs of the organization, in order to support its programs. - An effective Communications strategy and Social Awareness campaign are being constantly developed to articulate the attitudes and behaviors necessary for human development and will identify and promote NCHD programs. It will use innovative Social Marketing methods to generate demand for the Health and Education Programs at the grassroots and to support global resource mobilization initiatives. According to an expert in the Social Sector, all these attractive words mean nothing in terms of realities on the ground in Pakistan. In simple words, the Commission was duplicating the work of Education and Health Ministries, both provincial and federal, but without any government oversight of the billions it would receive. It was a license to enjoy life with Government money as almost Rs750 million had been granted to the Commission to meet its expenses for something which can never be measured against verifiable performance. Now after over three years, the Commission and its performance have nothing to show where the hundreds of millions of rupees have gone, although the official reports published at the web site of the Commission gives lots of data and statistics about the expenses. The irony is that no one on the ground can verify whether the stats are correct and whether anything actually exists on the ground. Dr. Nasim Ashraf would

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not let Government auditors touch his accounts or verify the claims of his web site reports. In one place the reports claims thousands of volunteers have been raised. A picture on the web site (above) shows only three persons as 'volunteers'. Where are these thousands is for the watchdogs and parliamentarians to find out but no one is available as far as knowledgeable people can see. Likewise the Commission claims it has taught 650,000 mothers to give ORS to their kids, as if the mothers did not know how to feed their children before. The Chief Minister of Sindh, Arbab Ghulam Rahim was recently asked by a parliamentarian about the “great work” done by the Commission in his province. The CM scoffed at the MNA and said he had never heard of the Human Development Commission, far less any work it may have done. Some of the pictures posted on the web site are reproduced above but that is all they have. An analysis of the Financial Report of the Commission for July 2004 to June 30, 2005 reveals a lot of pork barrel expenditure. It shows a total expenditure of Rs 757.3 million but out of this Rs 127.6 million went to Staff Cost, Rs 62.6 million to Program Support and Head Office Administration, Rs 45.9 million to Global Resource Mobilization and Rs 15.8 million to Communications. Likewise another Rs 30 million went to Capital Expenditure and Rs 11.3 million for an unexplained head of “literacy in NWFP” while another "NCHD Literacy Project" claimed Rs 55.5 million. There are many more heads which claims similar millions but no one can determine what they mean and whether this money ever left any bank account. At least until June 30, 2004 more than Rs 1 billion was parked in the private Pakistan Fund bank account, according to the very sketchy report of the private auditors. The Global Resource Mobilization for which Rs 46 million were spent included a grand gala dinner for General Pervez Musharraf in New York in 2004 in which a stolen drama production “Anarkali” was shown. But these resource mobilization efforts have produced hardly the figures that were promised to General Musharraf who had himself announced that while the Government would grant Rs 2 billion to the Fund, it would raise Rs 4 billion from other donors. The Audit Reports and Income Statement of the Auditors shows as against the promise of Rs 4 billion, the Fund has not been able to raise even Rs 100 million in the last 3 years but has been living lavishly on the tax payers’ money. All the assurances and explanations of General Musharraf before he gave away the billions to his crony, have now come to a point where they are falling flat and will soon come back to haunt him. Everyone knows that as long as General Musharraf remains in power, Dr Nasim Ashraf and the men and women who have benefited from this scandal will not be touched. But a very responsible Senator told the South Asia Tribune recently he had heard the key Fund guy admit at a private sitting saying: “Whenever Musharraf goes, I would be the first one to leave Pakistan.” Musharraf's Close Relative Paid in Rs 7bn Motorway project Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD: The first solid proof of involvement of General Pervez Musharraf’s close relative, his son Bilal’s father in law, in a multi-billion rupee road construction contract, has come to light.

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The proof was provided by the owner of the construction company, Husnain Construction, at a news conference at the M-3 Motorway site near Islamabad last week. Surprisingly it has remained buried without any discussion in the mainstream Pakistani media, although leading newspaper Dawn published portions of the incriminating statement on Sept 26 in a very subdued manner, hiding the disclosures under a positive statement by the National Highway Authority Chairman, Major General Farrukh Javed. In just under 5 weeks after SA Tribune broke the scandal of General Musharraf’s “Golfway” Project, a mix of the Rs 25 billion Golf Course in Lahore and the Rs 7 billion Pindi-Peshawar Motorway, Brig (Retd) Aftab Siddiqui’s was confirmed to be the big beneficiary. The proof came from the Horse Owner’s mouth, if not the Horse himself. The SA Tribune first reported in our Aug 26 issue that Musharraf's "Golfway" project, conceived and launched by an ex-ISI chief, held secret from the public for ‘national security reasons’ had a real connection with his close relatives. http://www.satribune.com/archives/aug26_sep1_02/P1_Grapevinecomm.htm On Sept 9, it was reported that the in-laws of Musharraf’s son were reportedly flying out of Pakistan “lock, stock and barrel” after their names were revealed in the Motorway project. http://www.satribune.com/archives/sep09_15_02/P1_Grapewinecomm.htm These were Sa Tribune reports. Now comes the surprising statement by Sheikh Yousaf, owner of Husnain Construction, which is the contractor for the Pindi-Peshawar Motorway project, also known as M-3. He spoke to journalists at a Press conference and admitted everything, as reported in Pakistan’s leading Daily ‘Dawn’ on Sept 25, 2002. Dawn’s Islamabad Staff reporter said: “Sheikh Yousaf explained the phases for which his company passed for converting the M-3 project from the Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) plan to the government funded project.” “When asked as to how much his company had been helped by Brig (Retd) Aftab Siddiqui father-in-law (of General Musharraf’s son), Bilal Musharraf, he said the gentleman had worked with his company as a consultant.” “Mr Yousaf said it was originally agreed that he would get two per cent of the profit from the project for 25 years, but since the project had been converted to a government funded plan, Aftab Siddiqui was no longer with his company. The cost of M-3 is Rs7 billion.” “He, however, said Mr Siddiqui had been paid for the 'services' which he rendered, but refused to give more details... Everything was documented, and the payments to Mr Siddiqui had been made through cheques the copies of which had been provided to "a number of government departments," he said.” The Dawn report then added a dramatic twist: “Then his son (Sheikh Yousaf’s son) rushed to the stage and asked Mr Yousaf not to answer more queries on the subject.” Still, “Mr Yousaf said the company was heading the consortium of the Pakistani construction companies called PAMIC, and added that they were completing the project to show that the country had the expertise to construct the motorway. He said it was the first contract of its kind which had no escalation clause.” “When asked as to how many projects his company had fetched in the period of military government, he avoided giving straight answer, and said that whatever his company had got was on merit. He admitted that he had purchased about a dozen sick industrial units.” The dramatic Press conference raised a plethora of questions which are begging for answers. The Chairman of the company confirmed that Bilal’s father in law “had been paid for his services”, which in other words means he had delivered his part of the Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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contract. And since he is no longer with the Company, it can be safely guessed that he is enjoying the two per cent somewhere, may be in US. Sheikh Yousaf, revealed that Bilal’s Father-in-Law had been paid through cheques and copies had been given to various departments of the Government. That would make the job of future Accountability Bureaus much easier, it seems. Then he was asked a very pertinent question. How many contracts his company had fetched during the Musharraf Regime? This apparently puzzled him and he could not give a straight answer. He still did not realize that some smart reporter was trying to trap him. But his son rushed to the stage and stopped him from making more disclosures. But his answer, reported in Dawn, at least gave an insight of how much they had already made. “He admitted that he had purchased about a dozen sick industrial units,” was his reply to one question. This seems to be an impressive record which would beat any Sharif or Zardari hands down. However many questions are now being raised. What are the rates at which he has purchased these units? Who else bid for them? What were the terms of purchase? Was there any competitive bidding? Was any undue government influence used for these purchases? What was the role of Bilal Musharraf’s father-in-law in these purchases? Is this not corruption? Is this what General Musharraf means by good governance? Musharraf's Relative Lands Another Super Duper Project of the Future M A Siddiqi KARACHI, May 12: Pakistan has taken a gigantic leap into the 22nd Century, (yes the 22nd Century), and Karachi has moved overnight from a town which shut down even its archaic Circular Railway to a Metropolis which will soon boast of the World’s first Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) Commercial train. All this thanks to a close relative of General Pervez Musharraf. This miracle has been possible not because General Musharraf wants Karachi to become modern or overcome its public transport problems but because Brig (Retd) Aftab Siddiqi, the father-in-law of First Son Bilal Musharraf, wanted the US$298 million Maglev contract and got it. The beauty of the deal is that by building the golden three miles of super fast Maglev Track, Musharraf’s relative would not just have pocketed almost 300 million dollars, he would have pushed Pakistan into the Guinness Book of Records for launching a project which even the pioneering countries France and Japan are reluctant to launch on a commercial basis. In Virginia US it is being run on an experimental basis in a University in Old Dominion (Pix Left). Three days ago, on May 9, 2005 South Korea held a trial run for reporters. The train was an improved version used by 120,000 people at the 1993 Daejeon Expo. It has a peak speed of 110 kilometers per hour and can carry 135 people per compartment. Korea is planning to start Maglev trains for people In spring 2007 and will become the third nation to run train, after Germany and Japan. German company Siemens is operating a high-speed Maglev train on a 32 kilometer track from downtown Shanghai, China to the Airport, and Japan is running an urbanstyle Maglev train on a 9-kilometer track within the Nagoya Aichi Expo site, similar to Korea. Both are experimental runs. Korea's top company Rotem, which has been developing Maglev trains for 17 years from the days of its antecedent, Hyundai Motor Service, is deeply troubled. This is because as local governments pursue LRT subways, they are reluctant to select domestic Maglevs because it has never been operated before. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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But for doing Karachi and Pakistan this huge favor, a series of rewards have been offered to this retired lucky Brigadier related to General Musharraf. He will also get as part of the overall package colossal benefits. The Maglev Project given to him is not on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis but on Ownership basis. He has been sanctioned one 450 MW [gas]-fired Power Plant. A Real Estate Development Commercial Loan of $100 million to his company will be guaranteed by Pakistan Government. A Non-Refundable Bank Guarantee of $60 million will be paid to his company to compensate for losses in the first 6 years of Maglev Project at $10 million per annum. Above all, whatever he imports will be exempted from Customs or other duties and taxes. Whatever money he makes will be free of Income Tax. It is another matter that even after such a platinum package, 99 per cent of Karachiites would still be hanging dangerously to diesel-emitting over-packed buses or waiting endlessly in traffic jams in the world’s most polluted environment. The story of how Brig Siddiqi has landed another multi-billion contract, this time beating the friendly Chinese out of the race, is not just intriguing but fascinating and reminds analysts of the historic statement of Sheikh Yousuf, Chairman of Husnain Construction, the company which first hired Brig Siddiqi who used the Musharraf connection and turned his construction business into a gold minting machine. Yousuf achieved this just by paying a two per cent commission to this talented father-in-law of General Musharraf’s son. On September 25, 2002, Yousuf talked to reporters at the site office of M-3 at Ghartal, Faisalabad According to a report in Daily Dawn, he was asked as to how much his company had been helped by Brig Aftab Siddiqi the useful father-in-law of Bilal Musharraf. Yousuf admitted that the gentleman had worked with his company as a consultant. Then he said: “It was originally agreed that he would get two per cent of the profit from the project for 25 years, but since the project had been converted to a government funded plan, Aftab Siddiqi was no longer with his company. The cost of M3 is Rs7 billion.” Yousuf also revealed that Mr Siddiqi “had been paid for the 'services' which he rendered,” but refused to give more details. “Everything was documented, and the payments to Mr Siddiqi had been made through checks, the copies of which had been provided to a number of government departments," he said. Exactly at that moment his smart son rushed to the stage and asked Yousuf not to answer more queries on the subject, according to the Dawn report. He was obviously revealing State secrets and could get into serious trouble and the son realized that more than the father. That was 2002 but Brig Siddiqi and Husnain Construction have never looked back. Already in the first years of General Musharraf's rule, this construction company, according to its Chairman, had acquired at least 12 sick mills from the Government. But Siddiqi’s biggest catch has been in Karachi. The story of Maglev started with the City District Government of Karachi inviting Tenders on BOT Basis in October 2003 from the private sector to undertake the Karachi Mass Transit, Priority One Corridor. Two tenders were received in November 2003, one from M/s American Maglev Technologies and other from a Chinese Company. The Chinese Company Tender was on finance cum construct basis for US $570 million, with long term credit on easy term made available by the Government of China. But M/s American Maglev Technologies which did not submit even the required Bid Bond of US $1 million was awarded the Contract in December 2004. This was done by a Special Committee headed by a retired bureaucrat, Dr Akram Sheikh, the man Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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planted for the job by the master-mind behind this manipulation, the father-in-law of the son of the President of Pakistan. Siddiqi had contacted Dr Akram Sheikh who had retired as Federal Secretary. Sheikh is well known for his dubious past as he was suspended from service three times but was always able to work, or pay, his way out of the black hole. Among the many examples of his reputation as a “Chaloo” officer (shrewd person) was the case of obtaining a 1000 square yards residential plot at half a million rupees from Karachi Port Trust in 1999. when the market price of this piece of land was Rs30 million. Siddiqi reached a deal with Sheikh that he will be made Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission if he promised to award the contract of the Maglev Train to M/s American Maglev Technologies. The deal was done and Siddiqi got the orders of his appointment from General Musharraf. But before the contract could be awarded, Siddiqi moved in as a partner of M/s American Maglev Technologies. All other partners were replaced with Siddiqi’s company M/s Infrastructure Development. The contract winners had turned into the sons-in-law of the State of Pakistan by virtue of Siddiqi’s relationship with Musharraf. So much so that the $1 million Bid Bond which was to be submitted with the tender, was submitted 13 months late and that too neither by M/s American Maglev Technologies nor by M/s Infrastructure Development Company but by two Pakistani Contractors, M/s Techno Engineering Services (Pvt.) Limited and M/s Saadullah Khan & Brothers. Siddiqi was promised and given concessions which experts quantified in dollar terms as horrendous. Adding all exemptions and $160 million Government and bank guarantees, this project will cost Pakistan over $900 million. In short, thanks to Siddiqi, poor Karachiites and the State of Pakistan will end by getting 3 miles of Maglev Train for $900 million. On the face of it, the Maglev contract to Siddiqi would be of $300 million but these hidden costs would push the price to $900 million. As against this huge cost, China would have done the same job for around $500 million and that too on easy loans. But then how would Mr Siddiqi earn his millions. According to the latest information, Siddiqi has again defaulted to sign the Contract Agreement within the time limit, which expired in March 2005, but thanks to youknow-who, he has managed to get another indefinite extension. Not knowing how the wheels in Islamabad work and who was doing what behind the wheels, the innocent Mayor of Karachi Naimatullah Khan announced that the first phase of Corridor I Karachi Mass Transit Program (KMTP) would start by December 31, 2006 with a Magnetic Levitation Train. Experts were aghast at the announcement as suddenly instead of improving the smoke detectors of Karachi buses, the Nazim had thrown Pakistan into the unknown future, while he himself is unable to determine whether he belongs to the past, present or the future. The total length of the Maglev Train track is said to be 17 kilometers, from Sohrab Goth to Mereweather Tower. But is such a short stretch of rail worth deploying a super-technological invention which was still in its embryonic stages of development in the countries where it was invented. There are no answers and no details available to the media or the Parliament but what is clear is that a contract of $300 million has been awarded to a Musharraf’s relative and he has been showered with a lot more concessions. Why all this generosity is yet to be determined.

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Musharraf's Smart Crony, Left Alone to Face the Media, Gets Knocked Out Special SAT Report NEW YORK, September 18: Dr Nasim Ashraf, General Musharraf's Minister of State and the innovative creator of a multi-million dollar scam in the name of Human Development in Pakistan, defended his project at a Press conference at the Press Center of Hotel Roosevelt on Sept 15, after South Asia Tribune had exposed his scam, but the tables were turned when he failed to answer probing questions from journalists. Dr. Ashraf’s story on the twin scandal of Human Development Commission and Human Development Fund, released by SAT two day earlier, was the main subject of discussion in the camp of General Musharraf, who was also staying at the Roosevelt along with his small “official” entourage but a large number of officials their wives, cronies, journalists and Pakistani diplomats, but none came to his help as he was practically told to fend for himself. Almost shaking and nervous Dr Ashraf came to the media center and spoke about the "great job" he and his men were doing to spread education and provide health to the poor in Pakistan but his main focus was on how they were raising money from different quarters in and outside Pakistan. “We don’t have funds to expand the project as it needs a lot of resources,” he said. “Important and large hearted people are helping us, yet we need more and more.” When a journalist pointed out at the Audit Report posted at the web site of the Commission which stated that on June 30, 2004 there was an amount of Rs 1,032,086,499 lying idle as cash in bank of the Fund account, Dr Nasim Ashraf gave the incriminating answer which exposed his entire game. See image of the report below: “This is our Endowment Fund which is to be used to sustain our program and not to be spent on our work,” was his response, meaning that over $16 million was to be kept separately for salaries, perks, cars, petrol, traveling, holding Qawali events etc but not for the declared goal of setting up schools, health centers etc. Newsmen did not spare Dr Ashraf as he was immediately told if this was so was he more interested in keeping the goodies flowing and not in his mission. Finding himself cornered, Dr Ashraf immediately introduced another Fund member and donor, a Dr. Lodhi, who tried to bail him out by declaring that he had full trust in the accounts of the Fund and he himself had donated thousands of dollars into it. But the key question as to why Dr. Ashraf was reluctant to allow the Auditor General of Pakistan to carry out an audit of his accounts was answered by him in the following words: “The Pakistan audit system is so slow and corrupt if we allow them, we will never be able to do anything. We do not want to get into the red tape. We have the world’s best auditors to check our accounts and senior bureaucrats sit in our meetings to monitor the accounts.” An important member of the Pakistan delegation said General Musharraf was stuck in a difficult situation as the Ashraf scandal could blow up intohis face if he allowed an independent audit and because Musharraf himself has been participating in fund raisers and "telethons" it would become an huge embarrassment if it was found that the whole thing was a scam. "The foreign donors and corporations like Microsoft will dump the Pakistanis instantly." Another important question about promises made by Dr Nasim Ashraf to General Musharraf that he would raise Rs 4 billion from “other donors” if the Government of Pakistan granted Rs 2 billion, which it did, went unanswered as Dr Ashraf stopped a South Asia Tribune journalist from asking any more questions. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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A key official of General Musharraf’s delegation, who was a frequent visitor to the media center, publicly admitted before journalists that no member of the Musharraf entourage was willing to come and defend Dr Ashraf before the media and “he has been told to go and face the music himself.” Top sources of the Pakistan delegation revealed to the South Asia Tribune that Dr Nasim Ashraf had approached the then Principal Secretary of General Musharraf, his friend and aide Tariq Aziz, to issue an Executive Order exempting his Fund from official audit by the Auditor General of Pakistan. “Tariq Aziz refused to do that as he argued that if his Fund and accounts were transparent, he should not be scared of the audit and should willingly submit to it to establish his credibility,” the source said. When he failed to get that order through Aziz, Dr. Ashraf then used the then ISI chief, General Ehsan, who also belongs to the Pashtun clan of NWFP, to get his Fund exempted. When a journalist asked him at his news conference why he was using names of international figures like Princess Sarwath of Jordan, Jemima Khan, ex-PM Moeen Qureshi to establish that these personalities were keeping an eye on his accounts, Dr Ashraf denied that this was so. A journalist pointed out at his own web site which claimed under the Sub-Title of “Transparency and Accountability” he had used the names of all these important personalities to convey the impression that they were acting as watchdogs. Dr Ashraf blatantly denied that this was so and challenged the journalist to prove and show him where he had done that. The journalist insisted that his own web site had that information. The relevant portion of that web site is reproduced here in the following image which proves that Dr Ashraf was trying to mislead the media even at his news conference. The overall result of his news conference was that all the journalists found his responses so unconvincing that no one filed a story in any major newspaper. A senior journalist remarked: “He answered no question and left the charges against him hanging in the air.” New PIA Chief Being Blackmailed by Ousted Chairman's Appointees M T Butt and M A Siddiqui ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, May 29: Transparency International, the globally respected NGO fighting corruption, has confirmed, in writing, big time purchase frauds in Pakistan’s national airline, PIA, under the ousted Chairman Choudhry Ahmed Saeed. Saeed, who was asked to resign by the Prime Minister on April 16, 2005 has, however, launched a concerted campaign, using his friends surrounding General Pervez Musharraf, to undermine the authority of his successor, Tariq Kirmani, ex-chief of Pakistan State Oil. A grim power struggle seems to be going on. “You have taken over the reigns of a gigantic public sector company which has not very good perception on its procurement,” Secretary General of the Transparency International in Pakistan (TIP), Syed Adil Gilani, wrote to the new PIA Chairman in a letter on May 6, 2005. “Transparency International Pakistan in September 2004 had timely warned Mr Ahmed Saeed on the violation of Public Procurement Rules 2004 in PIA tendering, but PIA continued non-transparent procurement,” the letter said, urging the new Chairman to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with TIP on “Integrity Pact” and “Transparent Procurement.” This warning was contained in a letter TIP sent to Chairman Ahmed Saeed on September 24, 2004 which in detail stated how PIA was violating the Government Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Rules in procurement. It specifically referred to a Pre qualification Notice for Consultants/Consulting Firms for RCC Steel Structures, published in Daily Dawn of Karachi on Sept 24. TIP acted on the same day as the PIA Notice was published in Dawn, indicating the seriousness with which it viewed the corruption in PIA. The correspondence between TIP and PIA was quietly passed on to the South Asia Tribune by sources close to the new Chairman in what seemed to be a part of the ongoing power struggle between the ousted man and the newly appointed Prime Minister’s friend. These sources also revealed the seriousness of the power struggle saying Choudhry Ahmed Saeed was trying hard to ensure that all his key appointees, including the exArmy Colonel posted on the all-sensitive position of Special Assistant to the Chairman, remain in their places and guard against any attempt to expose Saeed’s misdeeds. Surprisingly Tariq Kirmani has not been able to move even a single key official of Saeed’s tenure although he has been in charge of PIA for almost six weeks, a long period for any new comer to get adjusted and start making his first moves to get a grip on the administration. The two most important cronies Ahmed Saeed has left behind in PIA are Colonel Mahmood Ahmed, a former ISI officer who was Saeed’s Special Assistant and has been retained by Kirmani, at least so far, in the same position and Colonel Ahsan Siddiqui, Director of Airport Services, who was recently accused by a PIA air hostess of sexual harassment in the Supreme Court of Pakistan where she had taken her case of illegal termination of service. Saeed had ignored the charges against Col. Ahsan. As part of his larger cover-up operation, Saeed had eased out the two top officials of his Administration, both Deputy Managing Directors, weeks before his own sacking. Saeed’s campaign to keep a lid on his own deeds, through his trusted cronies in the Kirmani Administration has succeeded so far. As part of the campaign Saeed’s friends in the President’s House arranged a meeting of the ousted Chairman with General Pervez Musharraf and a lot of publicity was given to the meeting, including release of photographs, so that Kirmani could be pressurized not to dig into the mess Saeed had left, specially in finances, purchases and deals which could haunt Kirmani if he did not put the blame where it was due. Kirmani’s start as the PIA Chief has not been very impressive and he appears to have been blackmailed by Saeed’s men into keeping a low profile and going slow. Sources close to the new Chairman revealed to the South Asia Tribune that both these Colonels, Ahsan and Mahmood, have now started publicly claiming, while they are a little typsy in the evening, that they had secured their positions solidly and Kirmani could not touch them, even if he wanted to. According to one such conversation, Mahmood told his friends he had collected a lot of material through his ISI sources on Kirmani. This material deals with how Kirmani was trying to induct his friends on top PIA positions. “I will not allow him to induct any of his trusted cronies,” this former ISI colonel bragged before his friends recently. What he was referring to were two recent advertisements published in major newspapers for posts of Director, Human Resources and General Manager, Brand --- a position new to an airline though in an oil company which Kirmani ran before coming to PIA, brand was very important. Col. Mahmood has been telling his friends that Kirmani had already selected the people he wanted to induct on these top positions and the advertisements in newspapers were just an eyewash and a formality to shut up watchdog organizations like the Transparency International or the inquisitive media.

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“Kirmani has selected Zaheer Baig, his close friend, for the post of Director, Human Resources while for GM Brand, a lady named Marina has been chosen,” Colonel Mahmood has been claiming in his evening sessions with Saeed’s men. According to Mahmood, Kirmani neither had PIA Board’s approval for these top posts nor he had followed the procedure because applications were invited directly by the Chairman’s office and were processed there, in violation of PIA rules. Likewise Mahmood and Colonel Ahsan have been claiming that Kirmani was trying to outsource the PIA Flight Kitchen and Technical Ground Support (TGS) Services to companies of his friends and these were millions of dollars worth of contracts which would be closely scrutinized by Transparency International, if they were awarded in a non-transparent manner. According to Mahmood, Kirmani had decided to hand over TGS to a Dubai-based businessman, Saleem Mandviwala, who also handled a Saudi contract for PIA recently. The Flight Kitchen, again a multi-million dollar facility owned by PIA at Karachi and Islamabad, was being handed over to the Deewan Group, owned by close friends of Kirmani. These allegations being made almost publicly by Colonels Mahmood and Ahsan have yet to be proved but they are telling everyone that if Kirmani tried to touch them, they would expose the real deals behind these expected decisions by Kirmani. Experts say these threats tantamount to blackmailing the new Chairman, but so far they are working. Sources close to Kirmani say Colonel Mahmood was on a very weak wicket himself as in his own case PIA gave misleading and wrong information to the Parliament by stating that Mahmood was a graduate (a Bachelor of Arts) while in fact he just had intermediate level education. “This is a test case for Kirmani as he has to prove that under his Administration wrong information about his own Special Assistant was not passed on to the National Assembly,” sources close to the Chairman said. “If Kirmani fails to nab Mahmood on this, he would be held accountable by the National Assembly committees now closely monitoring and scrutinizing PIA affairs,” the sources said. These retired colonels were inducted and given powers beyond their capacity by Ahmed Saeed while none of them had the experience and training to run the sensitive departments they were given. How Saeed is using his connections in Islamabad to cover up his scandals was evident from the manner in which General Musharraf’s friend and his one-time Information Minister, now Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, Government party Senator Nisar Memon of IBM origin, on May 24 vetoed the findings of his own sub-committee and allowed the PIA management to proceed with the sale of six Airbus aircraft for $10.1 million, a decision originally taken by Saeed. If Memon had stopped the sale, fingers would have been raised on Saeed. Nothing could be more blatant and non-transparent as Memon contemptuously rejected the findings of his own Senate sub-committee, comprising two members of the Government and one from the Opposition, set up on April 14, to probe the sale of the A300B4 type aircraft. According to Daily Dawn, the Press was barred from the committee's meeting which provoked its opposition members to stage a token walkout. Two members of the subcommittee, senators Asif Jatoi and Rukhsana Zuberi, had raised serious questions about transparency in the sale. In a note of dissent submitted to the standing committee, opposition Senators Farhatullah Babar and Rukhsana Zuberi, said: "The sale of six airworthy aircraft for a

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paltry sum of $10.1 million and leasing of aircraft at 2.2 times higher cost (of $22 million) is not sound judgment and seems to be based on other considerations." The note said the sale of A300B4 aircraft should be dropped, as recommended by the sub-committee, in the national interest and in the interest of tax-payers. "PIA failed to make a cogent and satisfactory case to sell the aircraft and questions about transparency and feasibility persist," said the dissenting senators. However, an official handout issued by the Senate secretariat said the PIA management gave satisfactory replies to "most" of the questions raised by the subcommittee. It was a simple case of bull-dozing the Parliament and white-washing the sins of Ahmed Saeed, an Opposition source said. As Nisar Memon covered up for Saeed in the Parliamentary Committee, inaction by Kirmani was evident on other fronts as well. Sources in the PIA Headquarters in Karachi said one of the pet projects of Saeed, run by his IT chief, Nadeem Ikram, a business partner of Saeed’s son, valued at US$30 million, is still on, although no airline in the world employs this system for the purpose PIA is using it, ERP, as it is called. “Mr. Kirmani doesn't know what type of mafia men he has inherited in PIA. Trust me he doesn't. The only way, he will get to know this is by using the mafia knowledge of some other guy(s) who used to be part of the gang. You know this is how FBI solves the mafia problems,” a former PIA executive told the South Asia Tribune. The executive said Kirmani should "take over" the PIA in the real sense and work on an agenda which should include the following steps, on an emergency basis: Stop all IT or otherwise capital intensive projects till Ministry of Defence audits are completed on each project. Deploy experts to determine the business case justification behind these key projects and seek answers to the questions being raised: a) Abacus NMC project - How much is it costing PIA. What is the quantified benefit (realized in - Who is running it, said to be the girl friend of a Deputy MD.

last

4

months).

b) Sabre's revenue accounting Project - How much did it cost? - Why won't they let Sabre run it? May be then the real numbers will show up. - What are they doing to make use of it? - Why are they keen on not using any Revenue Accounting System? c) SAP -ERP project - Where is the business case? - How much has been paid so far and to whom. - Who signed this? d) AIMS Crew system project - Where is the business case? - Nadeem Ikram declared this project a success when no one uses it. - If this is a system then how come 70-80 staff is required to manipulate it? - Why didn't they get a crew system from their existing vendor Sabre when Sabre apparently offered this for FOC?

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- How much has been spent so far on this. e) Route by Route analysis of every route that Saeed opened up in last 3 years - Which airline in the world will fly a B-777 between Pakistan and Houston 2 times a year? - What is the monthly lease payment on the aircraft? - What is the operating cost for fuel, insurance, crew, station manpower, etc. - How many passengers they have flown in last 6 months. How much did each passenger pay. Snubbed Minister Reveals Massive Smuggling Scandal of Musharraf's Henchmen M T Butt ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: Within hours of announcing his cabinet, new Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz faced his first political test when the outgoing Interior Minister accused the head honcho of politics, just-resigned PM Choudhry Shujaat Hussain and his cronies, of massive smuggling of illegal immigrants to UK, supported by top aides of General Musharraf himself. Virtually pushed out of the sensitive Interior Ministry, PPP turncoat Faisal Saleh Hayat revealed the billions of rupees scandal, which, in his words, had the support of powerful Gujrat politicians, meaning the ruling clan of the Choudhries. In an interview published on Friday in The News, Hayat claimed that at least four top level officers of FIA facing actions for their involvement in human smuggling from country’s airports were instantly rescued by the Punjab government and given top postings in the province. He revealed that within 24 hours of dissolution of the Jamali cabinet on June 25, at least two dozens new postings were made by FIA bosses at Islamabad airport as at that point in time technically there was no Interior Minister. “To save the favorite accused officers from punitive action, the Choudhries have given them lucrative postings in Punjab province when I tried to punish them for their crimes,” Faisal told Rauf Klasra of The News. The disclosures of the outgoing Interior Minister will have serious repercussions for Pakistan-UK relations as it is for the first time that a government minister has admitted massive human smuggling sponsored by top politicians and officials sitting in General Musharraf’s secretariat. It is also not clear how PM Shaukat Aziz will resolve the situation as Faisal has been offered a cabinet slot along with 31 other ministers most of who belong to the PML of Choudhry Shujaat Hussain. Faisal accused Musharraf, his men and the Choudhries of not letting him deal with the human smuggling scandal. “Let me today make it clear to all that as an Interior Minister he had many limitations and restriction in discharging his duties.” He said how FIA officers nabbed by him for human smuggling were protected by Punjab government, could be judged from the single fact that these four top level officers were given lucrative postings in Punjab. He said first an assistant director Sajid Akram was arrested red handed at airport but despite his efforts, FIA did not arrest him. Faisal was offered millions for the release of Sajid who belonged to Gujrat. He said it was on the official record that human smuggling was being done by the recruitment agents of three districts – Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala, all Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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political strongholds of the Choudhries. He said recruitment agents of Gujrat were so powerful that despite his best efforts, he could not make the FIA to take action against them. He said these four accused powerful officers had such strong political backers that despite being the Interior Minister, he could not get them arrested. Faisal said when he sought action against other FIA officers – Nazar Abbas FIA director Rawalpindi, Deputy Director Passport Cell Rawalpindi, Naeem Khan and FIA Director Lahore, he was shocked to know that these accused officers were given lucrative postings in Punjab province. “One was made DIG and the other is serving as District Police Officer in Sargodha”, he claimed. “I was not even authorized to make postings and transfers of senior officers in FIA. Some powerful people were directly dealing with this crime dealing with the FIA whose top officers were involved in human smuggling.” The critics of Faisal Saleh Hayat had accused him of running the human smuggling racket but it turns out that Faisal was being made a scapegoat as in his view it were the top guns of the PML and President’s House who were involved. UK recently had complained that Pakistan was sending illegal immigrants on its flights and London had threatened to stop PIA flights into UK airports if the flow did not stop. However Faisal said Government of Pakistan had never received any official complaint from London against the human trafficking as was being widely believed. He repeatedly stated how he had tried to bring about changes in the corruption riddled FIA but his frantic efforts were always frustrated by some powerful political and ‘other’ people who always pressurized him. He said he too could unleash all kinds of allegations against his ‘political friends in coalition government’ as he knew too much about their own wheeling and dealings. But, Faisal said, he did not want to create a new ‘political crisis’ in the country by openly naming those politicians from Punjab who were behind the malicious media campaigns against him. Faisal particularly spoke in detail about human smuggling saying time had come to tell who was actually responsible for this trade that involved billions of rupees. He said in a bid to curb the rising menace of human smuggling a policy was prepared in September 2003 and at least 150 well educated and highly skilled girls were recruited at all immigration centers in Pakistan as women were comparatively less prone to corruption. He claimed that he had tried to recruit highly skilled and competent and honest officers in FIA with clear mandate to stop human smuggling. But, he lamented that from day one, FIA bureaucracy was not cooperating with him as he was not even empowered to make transfers and postings of senior bosses of FIA to execute his policy. So, Faisal said, in that backdrop, his frantic efforts to bring about changes in FIA were frustrated many times. “My orders were never implemented fully’, he revealed. He said we needed to understand that human smuggling trade involved billions of rupees and big cartels were working particularly in three districts of Punjab and it was not an easy thing to destroy them. He said these powerful people knew how to protect their trade interests and that was why, when he got the main culprit, Malik Bashir in Lahore on charges of human smuggling, he came under heavy pressure from all political and non political people. He claimed that even judiciary created hurdles in dealing with such people as Malik Bashir was given bail by a judge at his home late in the night. Ministry rushed him to Karachi as he was wanted in another case but, once again, the accused was given bail as he was being backed by some powerful people. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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He finally sought the services of the Army intelligence agency to deal with Malik Bashir who finally revealed names of his gang involved in the human smuggling. Faisal said even he was offered millions of rupees to release him.

The First Hand List of Army Land Grabbers Special SAT Report BAHAWALPUR, Pakistan: Pakistani Army Generals, including President Pervez Musharraf and his top colleagues, have found an innovative way to defend the land of their country --- by grabbing it. SA Tribune has got a list of over 100 armed forces men who allotted to themselves at least 400 or more acres of prime land in Bahawalpur, heart of Punjab, "to defend it from the enemy," at the throw away rate of Rs 380 per acre (US Dollars Six & 50 cents). The list is only of one District. Such lists exist all over Punjab and Sindh where a new breed of landlords has already been created through similar allotments. These fertile lands were given to the serving and retired generals on the pretext that these army generals will "prove a front line against the invading army." The centuries old British colonial law to settle locals near enemy border was invoked by these army men to grab the lands. But instead of taking lands close to the border, they took away prime heartland acres, thousands of them, in the name of defending the country. The price they paid was Rs 380 an acre was notional but many of them sold the land making millions. Others have become feudal lords in their own right by employing landless peasant to till these land and produce key crops. This list has been prepared with the help of land revenue record of the district of Bahawalpur by local activists of Nationalist Qaumi Movement, a group fighting for the rights of the local people. This conversion of generals into landlords also explains why no serious effort has been made by the military to introduce land reforms in the country, which could cure many political and social imbalances in the Pakistani society. The list includes the names and the area (Chak) where the land (400 acres or more) is located. Some of these officers may have been promoted to higher ranks or even retired from service: General Pervez Musharraf, Current President, Village (Moza) Nouabad Yazman, Bahawalpur; * General Zubair, Chak DB/14; * General Moinuddin Haider, Current Interior Minister, DB/43; * General Aziz, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, BC/16; * General Iqbal, BC/16; * General Saroop, BC/17; * General Javed, DB/61;

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* General Irashad Moin; * General Zarar Niazi, DB/64; * General Zulifkar Ali (Current Wapda chief) 54/P; * Lt General Saleem Haider 54/p; * Lt General Mohammad Akram 94/9; * Lt. General Mohammad Naeem; * Lt General Mohammad Afzal Janjua 54/P; * Lt General Amin Burki( 96/p); * Lt General Khalid Maqbool (Current Governor Punjab) 54/P; * Lt General Irshad Hussain; * Lt General Mushtaq Hussain 54/P; * Lt Gen Tariq Pervez (brother of Nawaz Sharif's cabinet minister Nadir Pervez); * Admiral Mansoorul Haq, former Chief of Naval Staff, DB/113; * Air Marshal Imtiaz Haider, DB/114; * Major General Malik Mohammad Salim, 1L/101; * Major General Amjad Shoaib 1L/127; * Major General Jehangir Nasrullah, 95/P; * Major General Waqar ul Haq, 55/P; * Major General Mahboub Muzaffar, 56/P; * Major General Khurshid Alam, A101/107; * Major General Agha Jhangir Ali Khan, 1L/120; * Major General Jamshed Iyaz Khan, 126/1L; * Major General Tahir Ali Qurshi, 93/P; * Major General Muzaffar Usmani (Later promoted to Lt General and retired recently by Gen. Musharraf), 93/P; * Major General Sultan Habib, 93/P;

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* Major General Abdul Razzak, 250/P; * Major General Mohamamd Mushtaq, 54/P; * Major General Mohammad Raza, 54/P; * Major General Rafiullah, (former IB Chief); * Major General Zafar Mehdi; * Brig Mohammad Sarfraz, 55/P; * Brig Mohammad Jamil Qudrat Warsi, IL/104; * Brig Mumtaz, IL/104; * Brig Rasheed, Chak 126; * Brig Ali Akbar, 54/P; * Brig Gull Alam Khan 46/P; * Brig Mohammad Bashir Baz, Chak 256; * Brig Saeed Abdul Khaliq, IL/129; * Brig Ashraf Khan Afridi, 49/P * Brig Ghazanfar Azam, Chak 105; * Brig Javed Malick, Chak 46/P * Brig Ghulam Abbas, Chak 46/P, * Brig Iftikar, Chak 46/P * Brig Shahid Naeem, Chak 46/P * Brig Ziaullah, IL/119; * Brig Saddik Khan, 54/P; * Brig Masoud Bashir; 54/P * Brig Pervez Akhtar son of Saleem Khan; 54/P * Colonel Shaukat Hayat, IL/123; * Colonel Safdar Hussain, 250/P;

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* Colonel Mohammed Tariq Khan, 256/P; * Colonel Bahadur Nawaz, 256/P * Lt Colonel Ahmad Yar Khan, 44/46; * Lt Colonel Abdur Rahim Khan, 93/P; * Lt Colonel Arshad Pervez Khan, 93/P In addition to these officers, 50 hawaldars, naib clerks; clerks, naiks, honorary captains; subedars; subedar majors have also been allotted lands in the vicinity of Bahawalpur and Cholistan. The Land Scams in the Name of the Sacred Soldiers M Afzal Khan ISLAMABAD, August 24: Land scams that are proliferating across the country, specially in the name of our Armed Forces, have come into sharp focus, sadly because of murder of two guards of a high profile housing society in the federal capital. First it was the National Assembly last night and next morning the Senate, where members from both sides of the isle voiced their outrage over the blatant manner in which this housing society used the name of Pakistan Navy to generate massive public interest and money in its highly publicized schemes. Lawmakers of the area said the developer purchased the land from poor villagers around Islamabad cheaply and sold plots at hugely inflated price. The violence reported in the press was attributed to allegation by some of these sellers that they have been cheated. In the end two innocent guards were caught in the fray and killed. The developer has shown ingenuity and innovation both in designs and marketing. These have made his various offerings one of the most attractive in the country, after the defence housing schemes. Few, perhaps, would grudge that, had it all been a fair and clean affair. But many lawmakers pointed accusing fingers at top political, civil and military figures whose patronage has gone along with it. Former law minister Sen. Dr. Khalid Ranjha pointed out that it was a criminal offence to use for any private commercial venture, the name of an official organization, more so an arm of the military. “Bahria Town“ was originally purported to be a project of the Pakistan Navy. But a former navy chief allegedly allowed the present developer for unknown reasons and consideration. On a number of occasions the developer has been running into trouble with the top government functionaries, including the NAB. He was even jailed. But in the end he escaped unscathed and expanded his business to incredible proportions. In private sector, he is, perhaps, the top-most real estate tycoon in the country. The lawmakers particularly took note of the latest offer in what was called Bahria Town-Phase 9. The publicity preceding the offering had set about a week for the people to file prescribed forms. The forms were available in some selected banks. But on the first day it was announced that within first six hours, 40,000 forms were distributed by banks to the applicants exhausting all supplies. Many bank branches witnessed virtual riots and damage to buildings caused by dejected prospective buyers who were unable to get any form.

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To top it all, the developer announced that all the 40,000 applicants would be given plots if they deposited the down payment within the due date. Apparently, it was inconceivable that the developer actually owned 40,000 plots. The two announcements sent the market in a tail spin. The frenzy that ensued led to black market sale and resale of forms at exorbitant prices ranging from Rs15,000 to Rs60,000. The lawmakers were intrigued by the way the forms were distributed. Influential people were given scores of these forms before sending them to the banks. This writer overheard two people in an escalator talking about the forms two days after the event. “Sir, you had promised to get me some forms,” one gentleman said. “Don’t you worry. An FIA director has been given 20 and has promised to share five with me.” Many lawmakers were perturbed that the real estate craze has overtaken the society and widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots to a vulgar level. You go to any office – private, public, civil, military - the most favorite topic is the housing schemes. The prices in all major cities, including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have skyrocketed. While the lucky ones with money and connections have made windfall profits in buying and selling, the less fortunate have nothing but to curse their luck. For most of the middle and lower class strata of the society, the price of land to build houses has gone out of their reach. A reasonably employed and paid person cannot even think of buying a servant quarter sized plot of land in Islamabad for his entire lifelong savings. Building a house has become a fantasy. In other major cities, things are no different. The most coveted societies, of course, are the defence housing societies in major cities. The President last week felt peeved by the fact that “pseudo intellectuals” feel jealous about these societies. According to him these are best developed and managed. If some army officer sells a plot for hundred times the cost at which he was allotted, so argued the President, why should people grudge or feel jealous about it. The President says only the retired military officers are looking after these societies which also provide employment and generate development activity. He conveniently ignores the fact of the involvement of officer corps in allotment, sale and resale of plots. Untold stories about higher echelons overseeing these schemes have tainted the image of the institution. Moreover the defence housing societies have become an obscene feature of our elite culture that is far removed from the rest of the populace. It generates, not just the” jealousy” which the President has referred to, but irrepressible rage and revulsion among the less privileged. There are reports of a new town being planned in Bedian between Lahore and Wagah, where only eight-acre plots for mansions and estates would be developed. For the country, investment in real estate from within and abroad, has replaced capital formation for productive use in the economy. Pakistan’s economy has more or less become a real estate economy. Huge capital has been invested in this unproductive sector. Little is thus available for investment in genuine economic activity. The land grab mafia has sprouted in every town and city, boosting all sorts of crimes and corruption. President Musharraf set a noble example in 1999 when he declared his assets after taking over. Eye brows were, however, raised, why he had to have seven or eight plots, including commercial plots, in different defence housing societies across the country. Asfandyar Wali Khan was intrigued by the revelation that the President owns a plot in Gwadar as well. "Is he going to build a house and live there," he had asked. Recently

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when he purchased a five-acre farm in Islamabad which is worth crores, it was stated that he sold one of his commercial plots in Lahore to pay for that. It is argued that the President had done nothing illegal as the rules permit an army officer to get more than one plot. The point is, how far is this ethically correct. If he surrenders his other plots and makes the rule that only one plot can be allotted to any officer in the country for building a house, the President would radically change the entire environment of “jealousy”. Instead, he would create tremendous goodwill for himself and the institution. In this context an encounter with another military dictator is instructive. When in 1976, Gen. Zia was named COAS, this writer and another dear friend who also knew Zia since he was Lt. Colonel, invited him to a cup of tea at the Multan Press Club. This friend was building a house but had not been able to complete it. Zia asked him:” Masood Sahib, have you been able to build your house?” Zia was told that it is as yet not even half complete. “Masood Sahib, I am sure you will be able to build it now that you have started it. Look at me. I am at the fag end of my career, and I cannot even think of building a house.” How many generals, nay even captains and majors of today can repeat those words? The Men Who Leaked $2 Billion Saudi Oil Secret and Got Away Rauf Klasra ISLAMABAD, July 29: Saudi Arabia, the Islamic brother of Pakistan has withdrawn a $2 billion annual oil grant, Prime Minister-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz is deeply worried how he will fill that huge gap but the men who betrayed the country and leaked the two billion dollar secret are enjoying life in Pakistan and in US and both are loved by the Army rulers. This grim story is not just of betrayal and selling out the national interest for petty personal gains but also of poor leadership by the institution which claims day in and day out that it is the custodian of the country’s interests and ideological frontiers, the Pakistan Army. This story is also about lessons Pakistan should have learnt from giving top national positions to experts and technocrats from international financial institutions because it proves that these “imported leaders” are always loyal to their real employers and never care for the interests of "their client" states. Since December 1998, Pakistan has been receiving from the Saudis crude oil worth $2 billion annually, free of cost. That was the reward Pakistan received for making the Islamic world feel a sense of strength and confidence by becoming a nuclear power. The nuclear test brought sanctions on Islamabad from the Western world but Muslim brothers supported a weakening Pakistan economy and the $2 billion free Saudi oil was one way of saying ‘Thank You’ and keeping Pakistan afloat. But there was a condition put by the Saudis. The oil would be free of cost for Pakistan but for the rest of the world, it would be a “sale on deferred payments” to keep away the intrusive IMF and World Bank from interfering and the US and the others, who had imposed sanctions on Pakistan, from pressurizing the Saudis. Every thing looked fine. But to their utter shock Nawaz Sharif and his financial managers soon found that their big secret had been leaked to the IMF. Who had done it was the big question. Only seven top men of the Nawaz Government knew the deal. Besides Sharif they were Sartaj Aziz, Ishaq Dar, Shahbaz Sharif, Hafeez Pasha, Secretary Finance Moeen Afzal and Governor of State Bank Dr. Mohammad Yaqub.

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Every body was duty bound to keep that secret keeping in view the national interest involved particularly after the economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan after the nuclear blasts. Ishaq Dar was in London with Nawaz Sharif on his return from the UN General Assembly session in September 1998 when Governor of the State Bank sent an urgent but explosive message informing him that some Finance Ministry guys had already told the IMF about the $2 billion free oil plan. IMF had also been told about the devaluation of the Pakistani currency, at least by four to five rupees against dollar. This created panic in the Nawaz camp. They were really in a fix how to explain the deal to the IMF as delicate negotiations for an IMF package were going on and disclosure of such a huge financial facility would disturb all the calculations. The Pakistanis were also worried about saving their Saudi friends who were facing the wrath of US for bailing out Pakistan. Nawaz asked Dar to rush to Washington to join the Pakistani team busy in the negotiations with IMF. Imported technocrat Hafeez Pasha was heading the Pakistan team. The purpose was to control the damage done by the disclosure. Before meeting the IMF guys, Dar went straight to meet one of his friends in the IMF and asked him how much they knew about Saudi oil facility? Islamabad had already given the agreed explanation to the IMF that Saudis were supplying oil on deferred payment basis. The IMF Director told Dar: “Yes Dear Minister your guys have already told us all in Islamabad while you were away with Nawaz in New York.” Once this was confirmed, Nawaz Sharif was so enraged he decided to sack the two top financial managers -- Secretary Finance Moeen Afzal and PM’s Advisor Hafeez Pasha as they had leaked the classified information. Afzal was retired and sent home disgraced and Pasha returned to US humiliated and embarrassed. The deal with Saudi Arabia was somehow restructured on papers, written down for the IMF and others and properly signed but in effect it remained a free oil facility. The Saudis stood by their word and kept on sending hundreds of thousands of barrels to keep the Pakistani economy running. Within a year, however, Nawaz Sharif was toppled and the Army took over and the first thing General Musharraf did was to reinstate the disgraced Moeen Afzal to a post higher than he first enjoyed. He was made the Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance. He was awarded the Hilal-I-Imtiaz, a high civil award, in 2002, when he became Chairman of a private bank. Hafeez Pasha was soon appointed at a top UN post for the services he had rendered. The betrayal to the country was forgotten and forgiven. In those turbulent times, no one was ready to talk on this troubling issue because the culprits had become powerful decision makers once again and the Opposition was on the run. However former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar recently shared this information with this scribe in detail and confirmed everything including how Pakistan was betrayed. Dar said the Crown Prince Abdullah had great regard and respect for Nawaz Sharif and even used to call him his brother. So, when Nawaz Sharif requested for help in those crucial times, Crown Prince Abdullah offered every help to bail out Pakistan. Two billion dollars a year was no small favor. Dar also disclosed how Hafeez Pasha had negotiated a $1.5 billion foreign loan at highly negative terms and conditions for Pakistan. Conditionalities attached with the loan were horrible but Pasha accepted these terms. He agreed to take the loan on 5 per cent above LIBOR against normal rate of 1.5 per cent. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Dar said Pakistan was also required to pledge three key strategic assets, including an oil refinery, a fertilizer unit and power plants to lenders. But the startling fact was that Pakistan would actually receive only $300 million out of $1.5 billion. The remainder of $1.2 billion was to be repaid to the same lenders. Even out of the $300 million, Pakistan would be repaying $240 million as increased interest. So in real terms Pakistan was to receive only $60 million out of a $1.5 billion loan negotiated by Hafeez Pasha. Ishaq Dar said after becoming Finance Minister he simply scrapped that expensive deal. Soon foreign exchange reserves situation started to improve simply because of an unprecedented tradition set by Ishaq Dar to buy dollars from open market particularly from the money changers of Dubai. Three billion dollars were purchased by Ishaq Dar. This practice got so popular with his successor Shaukat Aziz that he purchased $12 billion from the local market against cash payment of Rs 9 trillion without caring much about the inflation unleashed in Pakistan. Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves now stand at $12 billion thanks to money changers who were given Rs 2-3 more for each dollar against prevailing market price. Thus, taxpayers suffered a loss of Rs 25 billion to create the $12 billion reserve. Now this artificially created reserve has been cited by the Saudis to stop the free oil that Pakistan had been getting. The Saudis now want us to pay upfront as we have a huge dollar reserve. The immediate worry for Shaukat Aziz after he becomes a full time Prime Minister in August, would be how to convince the defiant Saudis. But Aziz’s foreign links are his biggest weakness as far as the Saudis are concerned. It were “imported technocrats” like him who betrayed the trust of the Saudi Royal family by leaking their secrets to IMF. Will they trust another imported leader? The Officially Certified Oil Rip Off in Pakistan M A Siddiqui KARACHI, September 9: With full knowledge and complete approval of the Government, big oil companies in Pakistan are ripping off the people by jacking up prices at gas stations, under any unrelated pretext, thanks to the scam called the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC). “It is the biggest fraud with the general public as well as the economy of the country going on in the name of OCAC with the blessing of the Petroleum Ministry,” an expert well-versed with the situation revealed. Details available to the South Asia Tribune prove that the waters of OCAC are more fishy than they appear. OCAC is the regulatory body that manages the prices of oil products in the country. That it has turned into a hand maiden of oil companies to screw the consumers is another matter. The scam being run by the OCAC is fairly sophisticated and well covered for ordinary folks to understand, far less object to. Usually OCAC uses the price of West Texas International (WTI), a US crude, as its benchmark. This is the first step of the rip off because Pakistan imports its crude from the Middle East where prices are usually $10 per barrel less than WTI. Even out of the Middle East, Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the largest crude oil consumer takes its supplies from Kuwait Petroleum which sells oil on a long-term basis and prices remain fairly stable. Purchases from KP have been going on for the last 35 years. Shell Pakistan, another major buyer, gets its supplies from its mother company Shell International while Caltex Pakistan gets its oil from Caltex International. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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“In all these purchases the per barrel price has never crossed $37 which can be verified from the accounts of these companies,” the informed oil expert told the South Asia Tribune. Instead of using the actual import price of the crude, the OCAC has cleverly stuck to the lucrative old formula which allows it to fix the retail price pegged to the price of Naphtha. “OCAC adds the price of Naphtha to the highest international market price of crude, the latest being $71 per barrel, and thrusts it down the throats of an unknowing public,” the expert said. “For five years, these greedy corporate barons have managed to get $30-$40 per tonne more than they paid bringing profits by the millions. Pakistan consumes 1.4 million tonnes a year so profits for five years is not difficult to assess,” the expert said. The most lucrative field for the oil companies is playing with the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD). The quantum of profit margins here can be estimated as Pakistan consumes 9.3 billion liters of diesel annually. According to the standard set by Platts Oilgram (the official reference journal) no product in Pakistan has the required quality to qualify as a “premium class product”. But OCAC continuously sells low quality products as “premium grade” and fraudulently jacks up its price. According to the Platts Oilgram, HSD containing not more than 0.5 per cent sulphur is considered as a premium product and the additional cost ranges from $0.8 to $1.3 per barrel. Pakistan started importing some premium grade HSD, with a 0.5 per cent sulfur content in June 2003 but not a single oil refinery in the country produces this quality HSD. “All the refineries are producing 1 per cent HSD that is not a premium product. But all the refineries are adding premium costs ranging from $1.67 per barrel to $2.6 per barrel and passing on this undeserved extra surcharge to the consumers,” says the expert. According to an estimate, the amount plundered on this account alone is more than Rs22 billion per annum. The oil mafia is also using another lever to raise the POL prices artificially. It is the unnecessary levy of 11 per cent regulatory duty on HSD and 6 per cent on other products starting from June 2002. But this duty should be levied on imported oil only. OCAC allows even local producers to charge it and not a single rupee is paid to the Government Treasury. By this trick, local refineries benefit to the tune of Rs4.8 billion per annum as duties have been included in the price setting mechanism. The third trick to continuously rip off the consumers is through changes in the specifications of the products. "The oil refineries are mixing kerosene oil with HSD at the refinery level which basically is a criminal offence," the expert says. These unchecked money making alternatives have allowed Oil Marketing Companies and refineries to boost their revenues and profits which are directly proportional to the burden placed on the consumers. Thus the earnings per share (EPS) of National Refinery Limited (NRL) rose from Rs4 in 1998 to Rs27.82 in 2003-04 despite the fact that auditors reported Rs5 billion worth of crude un-accounted for. The OCAC claim that corrections would result in refinery closure. The next level of artificially jacking up the prices is escalation in marketing margins and retailer margins. Prior to October 1999, marketing companies were getting fixed margins ranging from Rs0.22 to Rs0.55 per liter. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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The then Secretary Petroleum therefore lied to the Cabinet that it was pegged at 2 per cent of retail and wanted it to be increased initially to 3 per cent and later to 3.5 per cent. On paper it seemed to be a 50 to 75 per cent raise. The trick was to apply this raise not on fixed margins of Rs0.22 – Rs0.55 per liter but on retail price, thus compounding the increase to almost 300 per cent. For example, the margin on gasoline which stood at Rs0.52 per liter increased to Rs1.89 per liter. Same was done in the case of retailer margins. The massive increases in these margins were allowed by the Government on the pretext that Oil Marketing Companies would build additional storages in the country but till today not a single storage has been built but all the profits have been swallowed. The PAF Kickbacks Scandal Revealed by Mistake Special SAT Report ISLAMABAD: Strong evidence has surfaced of Musharraf regime's first major defense kickbacks scandal involving the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) last year when Pakistan purchased four CASA Transport aircraft from an Indonesian company for $50 million. Amusingly the scandal broke when a senior PAF officer mixed up the look-alike names of the commission agents and called in the wrong guy to contact the suppliers and submit the offer. All signs are that the kickbacks of four to five million dollars, were offered to the PAF high ups, and the role of the PAF Chief himself was so dubious many believe he could have been the ultimate beneficiary. Evidence, however, firmly establishes that his Dubai-based close friend was. This is the first major defense purchase scandal of the Musharraf government though it may appear to be not so big compared to the one billion dollar submarines purchase or the purchase of several hundred million dollars worth of Ukranian Tanks, both highly controversial deals involving kickbacks. In the submarines case Admiral Mansoor ul Haq, the former Navy Chief, was arrested and tried but let off the hook after he paid some 7 million dollars. No one was touched for the Ukranian Tanks deal. The evidence now available about the CASA CN-35 aircraft scandal reveals that the Indonesian supplier offered a 3 per cent normal commission and 5 per cent extra commission for "defence and finance personnel" on purchase of the 4 Transport Aircraft. The total cost was $49 million with commissions and kickbacks totaling four million dollars. The man in the center of the deal has now come out on record after failing to evoke a response from the PAF authorities, which refused to acknowledge or reply even to a legal notice served by him through his attorneys to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir. The original story of the CASA aircraft purchase was reported in a section of the Pakistani Press earlier this year but the dubious side of the deal was not highlighted and PAF spokesmen tried to bury it under strong denials and unofficial use of pressure to stop the story from catching wings. The episode which could go down as a major blot on the Musharraf regime, started in December of 2000 when instead of Khalid Kashmiri, a PAF official based in Dubai and said to be a close friend of PAF Chief, Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, officials contacted another ex-PAF officer, Khalid Khawaja, also in the same defense supplies business. The mix-up probably occurred because both had Khalid as their first name and all Khawajas are known to be of Kashmiri origin.

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"I was approached by the PAF to get them the offer, whereas they could have directly approached the company. We got the offer and when I went to Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat, along with Air Vice Marshal (retd) Khudadad, to submit it, I asked AM Kaleem why after all had I been approached in particular," Khalid Khawaja said in an EMail interview to the SA Tribune. "He laughed and said in fact the Air Chief had asked him to approach another retired officer, Khalid Kashmiri, who happens to be the Chief's friend, " Khalid Khawaja said. “In the first place, Air Marshal Kaleem never contacted me directly. He had asked Air Commodore Ateeb, ACAS (Operations), to contact Khalid Kashmiri and Ateeb mistook it as Khalid Khawaja. Ateeb asked Group Captain Rizwan, Director Air Transport, to contact me and it was Rizwan who contacted me desperately. Later Rizwan and Ateeb followed it up and asked me to do them this "national favor". “I met Air Marshal Kaleem first time when I handed him over the offer in presence of Air Vice Marshal Khudadad who was Director General of National Accountability Bureau. Later Khudadad was the one who met the Air Chief as well as AM Kaleem to resolve the issue,” Khawaja said, adding: "I do not find any reason to believe that AM Kaleem had any vested interest in the deal as he got me the Letter of Intent (LOI) and was very co-operative without any underhand understanding." "I was conveyed by the Indonesian company, through my contacts in Indonesia, that they will give us 3 per cent commission as our processing fee and 5 per cent (kickbacks) for PAF authorities," Khawaja said. As evidence Khawaja sent a scanned copy of an Email sent by Prima Niaga ([email protected]), sent by one Vice President (Sales) Suryana Padma Abdurrehman which stated clearly that "They (PAF) have given us a confirmation about commission fee (off the record) - Agency Fee=3%, Pakistan Finance and Defense Department=5%.” The Email also asked Khawaja to "prepare the Technoman Company Profile completely which will (be) appointed as IAe (Indonesian Aerospace) Agency." Technoman is the name of Khawaja’s company. "The point here is that this was the offer which came from the suppliers, without any demand from our side. I could have bargained more by saying that people are demanding more, as I knew that there was enough margin in the price. Instead I called Air Marshal Kaleem and told him that they must get a good bargain and the extra 5 per should be deposited in the Government/PAF treasury," Khawaja said. "A few days after that we were told that the suppliers had chosen Mr. Khalid Kashmiri as their agent, as required by the top authority of the Air Force. In between we were told that if we let this one go to Khalid Kashmiri we can be entertained in some other deal, but I refused as I was already fed up with the past experience," Khawaja said. "Air Marshal Kaleem told me one day that it was not the PAF but the Indonesian company which had changed its agent but why would they do so, when I was doing a fine job. Why did the PAF want the deal to go through a friend of the Air Chief," Khawaja asked. "When authorities in Indonesia were contacted they said that they could not afford to lose the business and if the PAF gave me a letter again they will be happy to deal with me." As Khawaja was frustrated in the deal, he decided to take legal action and sent a notice to the PAF Chief. Air Marshal Mushaf Mir, stating these facts. The Notice also stated that the supplier was prepared to pay 3% to the agency and 5% to defence and finance personnel but "Our Client immediately conveyed this, (offer) inter alia, to Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat, DCAS (Ops) and informed him that as Our Client did not intend to indulge in any unethical business practices, therefore, the 5% would be taken from the Supplier and paid into the Government Treasury." Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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"It appears that Our Client's honesty and high moral standards were not appreciated and the Supplier was informed that the PAF would deal with the Supplier through a nominee of the highest authority. Consequently, the Supplier acting in flagrant violation of its obligations towards Our Client appointed an agent of your choice," the notice said. When asked why he did not pursue the legal notice with a formal case, Khawaja said: "In fact some indirect communication started after the notice and the PAF Chief was too arrogant and confident that nothing can go against him. But somehow Air Marshal Khudadad after meeting the Chief and AM Kaleem could prevail upon my associates that pursuing the case will not benefit us. Rather we shall earn the wrath of the Chief and it will only damage our various business interests therefore the other directors of the company were of the opinion not to pursue the case any further." There was no immediate response to the notice from the PAF authorities but PAF media managers, however, went into overdrive to control any damage in the media and when some persistent newsmen tried to ask questions, the full force and authority of a military government was used to keep them at bay. One journalist was told to give the questions in advance, in writing, and when a very strong questionnaire was handed over, there was no response. No Pakistani newspaper touched the story again. World Viewpoints WSJournal Reprimands Musharraf on Balochistan Crisis a timely opinion from US capitalism’s watchdog – The Wall Street Journal. It calls for the democratization of Pakistan and not surprisingly accuses the military of fudging the real issues behind Balochistan’s discontent, as well as noting the similarities between the Khaki stupidities of Wall Street Journal Frederic Grare If you can’t find Balochistan on a map, you’re not alone. Here are some clues: It’s next to Iran and Afghanistan. It’s the biggest province in Pakistan, the one where the most of the oil and gas rigs are. Lots of Chinese can be found there, because they are building an enormous commercial and military port in Gwadar, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. There are two military bases from which US forces fight the war on terrorism. Don’t plan a trip to Balochistan any time soon, though. It’s recently come under fire from troops, helicopter gunships and fighter bombers – sent by the West’s favourite military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf. Balochistan, which has a literacy rate of 25 percent (3 percent for women), has never been integrated into Pakistan. Neither Balochistan’s rough tribal leaders nor the Punjabi-dominated elites of Pakistan have been able to rise beyond an uneasy colonial relationship. The current Baloch insurgency is the fourth in 67 years. Since 9/11, the US government has downplayed the importance of democratic reform in Pakistan, and Balochistan shows why this is a dangerous mistake. Repression by the military-dominated central government will only exacerbate Pakistan’s instability and economic problems. The two US bases in Balochistan – and cooperation needed in combating terrorism in Afghanistan – could be compromised. Chaos in Balochistan could also aggravate competitive Sino-US relations in the region. The Baloch have three main grievances that all reflect a general sense of being exploited as a colony by Punjab, the most powerful and populated province of Pakistan. They demand a fairer share of royalties generated by the production of natural gas in their province. The federal government pays a much lower price for each unit of gas Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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produced in Balochistan than it does for gas produced in other provinces. Moreover, Balochistan receives no more that 12.4 percent of the royalties generated for supplying gas. The people of Balochistan want to be included, rather than marginalized, in the huge development projects the central government has brought to the coast, particularly the Gwadar port. There is no technical school or college in the area to train locals for future participation in the development projects. Those employed so far have been only daily wage labourers. They also reject the Punjabi-dominated army’s establishment of new military cantonments in their province, and the selling at nominal prices by the central government of choice coastal property to out-of-province developers. In other words, the Baloch want Balochistan for Balochis, not for others. The government replies that Balochistan’s resources are national property and has made only nominal concessions. The conflict, it says, is the fault of a few greedy obscurantist tribal leaders opposed to the development of the province. This argument resembles that which the Punjabi-dominated central government made in the early 1970s towards East Pakistan before massive violence and war with India erupted, leading to the creation of Bangladesh. Similarly the Musharraf regime has responded with military force, air strikes, and – according to some reports – the use of napalm. The military rulers are more fearful of the situation than they admit, and have tried to conceal the real nature of the conflict in different ways. Balochistan is an anti-clerical province whose tribes have nothing to do with the sort of Islamism of the Taliban or Al Qaeda. Yet the Pakistani government has tried to tar the Baloch with the Islamist brush, in part to keep the international community from paying more attention to the real problems in the province. The central government in Islamabad also has sought to blame the unrest on ‘foreign hands’, with the main culprits being India, Iran and the US, depending on who the audience is. Lately, the government says ‘criminal elements’ lay behind the insurgency. The truth is that the development level is abysmal throughout the province. Many of the Balochis’ claims could have been satisfied without jeopardizing the country’s territorial integrity. The leaders of the Baloch nationalist movement have made it known that they would be satisfied with a generous version of autonomy. Instead, the conflict is now spreading. Reconciling conflicting interests and seeking fair allocations of the costs and benefits of development is what governments are supposed to do. And history suggests that democratic governments, for all their drawbacks, tend to produce fairer allocations that dictatorships do. By contrast, the manipulation of the 2002 elections, which gave the provincial government to a coalition of conservatives and Islamists, deprived the Baloch nationalists of any say in the allocation of resources. Balochistan is yet another example of the risks of postponing democratization in Pakistan. The outcome could be a major civil war, whose consequences on regional stability and the war against terrorism are likely to be unpredictable – and anything but positive. World Viewpoints The Musharraf Exception We can't afford not to push Pakistan back toward democracy. Robert L. pollock: wall Street Journal

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Pervez Musharraf is America's favorite dictator. The Bush administration seems to consider the Pakistani general--who took power in a 1999 military coup--an indispensable ally, and has yet to publicly pressure him on the democracy front. Democrats and foreign policy thinkers of the "realist" school seem equally comfortable with the idea of Gen. Musharraf running Pakistan for the indefinite future. Indeed, if the purpose of the general's new autobiography--"In the Line of Fire"--was to win American sympathy ahead of an attempt to fiddle with next year's presidential election, he probably needn't have bothered. A recent meeting of the Musharraf fan club took place at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, where Gen. Musharraf gave brief remarks and took questions as he launched his book tour on Monday night. He was treated to standing ovations that exceeded mere politeness as he entered and left the hall. Not one questioner raised the democracy issue. And if the moderator--former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin--was curious, he didn't let on. He was too busy extolling Gen. Musharraf's wisdom and the fact that he has been kind enough to employ as prime minister Mr. Rubin's ex-Citibank colleague, Shaukat Aziz. Even among the "neocon" architects of President Bush's democracy-promotion agenda it's hard to find an unkind word about Gen. Musharraf, as I discovered while spending several days last year in Islamabad with former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith. Behind this bipartisan support--or at least acceptance--is Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, and the perception that Gen. Musharraf is the only thing standing in the way of its takeover by a radical Islamic government. But there are good reasons to doubt this perception, and to suspect that allowing a permanent "Musharraf Exception" to the democracy agenda will do more harm than good. On the plus side of the Musharraf ledger is, indeed, the obvious fact that the man with the keys to Pakistan's bombs is not a raving Islamic fanatic. He has been an ally--of convenience, at least--in the fight against al Qaeda. And his rule, while autocratic, is not oppressive. With a smart and vibrant free press, Pakistan undoubtedly passes what Condoleezza Rice has called the "public square test"--a fancy way of saying you can speak your mind without fear of being carted away by the cops. At the same time, however, Gen. Musharraf suffers from his lack of legitimacy among the secular classes who have run Pakistan's democratic governments in the past, and who would almost surely win if another free poll is held. The Islamists got only 11% in the last parliamentary election, but the general is increasingly courting them as he attempts to hold power--which may be one reason his antiterror efforts haven't included any attempts to crack down on the madrassas. For the same reason, Pakistan's efforts to control Taliban elements operating within its borders seem half-hearted. And when confronted with a question about this at the Council Monday night, Gen. Musharraf launched into an ethnocentric diatribe about supporting Afghanistan's Pashtun majority. Never mind that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is a Pashtun. Gen. Musharraf went on at length about the apparently unseemly fact that the late anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud--a "minority" Tajik, he kept pointing out--is revered in Kabul. More broadly, Gen. Musharraf used his Council on Foreign Relations remarks to criticize the Bush administration's broader war on terror. "I feel that we are Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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only using the instrument of the military to combat terrorism," he said, ignoring the democracy agenda. And what does he think the root cause of terrorism is? "Palestine is the core issue," he said, repeatedly. The audience could have been forgiven for thinking it was listening to the tired rhetoric of someone like Hosni Mubarak. But then, Gen. Musharraf seems increasingly like Mr. Mubarak, and less like the modernizer preparing Pakistan for a return to democracy that he claims to be. Don't get me wrong. Your humble correspondent is under no illusions about the feasibility of immediate democratic revolutions in every country of the Islamic world. But equally, let's have no illusions about Pervez Musharraf. He took power illegitimately in a country with some history of democracy, however imperfect. And now he seems to be in no hurry to give it up. The Bush Doctrine can survive the Musharraf Exception over the short run. But over the longer term, the credibility of our efforts to address the root causes of terror will require nudging Pakistan, too, back toward the democratic path. Mr. Pollock is a member of the Journal's editorial board. Musharraf's unhappy new year Troubles are piling up for Pakistan's president The Economist FOR Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, troubles are coming not as single spies but in battalions. An American rocket attack on January 13th on a remote mountain village in Bajaur, a tribal agency near the border with Afghanistan, provoked angry nation-wide protests. Army action in Baluchistan province against rebellious tribesmen continues to take a toll of soldiers and civilians, and this week anonymous threats prompted foreign aid organisations to suspend operations there. Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, devastated by an earthquake in October, is suffering the misery of a Himalayan winter. Many Pakistanis fear the peace process with India is going nowhere (see article). To cap it all, the president has faced a political rebellion in Sindh province. The strike in Bajaur was aimed at Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, mistakenly thought to be there. It is reported to have killed three or four al-Qaeda terrorists—including an explosives expert on the most-wanted list—but also 18 civilians, including women and children. Pakistan has complained, but not over-loudly, given the presumed existence of secret agreements allowing America to wage war on Pakistani soil in certain extreme circumstances. For the past three years, Pakistan's army has faced an uphill task in this mountainous area. It is infested with heavily armed Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants, bent on making trouble in Afghanistan. Hardly a day goes by without killings by both sides. On January 10th, for instance, seven soldiers and 14 terrorists died in clashes in the tribal areas. Locals sympathise with the militants and see the army as an intruder, there at the behest of the Americans. The army commanders say they have killed hundreds of foreign fighters, and frequently claim that the job is almost done. But that is not the case. As if his troubles in the tribal areas and Baluchistan were not enough, General Musharraf has antagonised Sindh province by promoting the construction of a dam on the Indus river at a place called Kalabagh in Punjab. Sindh, further downstream, is bitterly opposed to the project. Such is the lack of trust that Sindhis suspect Punjabis will steal the waters of their Indus. They fear that new canals from the dam's reservoir will reduce the flow of water and leave the fertile Indus delta in Sindh vulnerable to the encroachments of the Arabian Sea. Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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In Sindh, even members of General Musharraf's own ruling coalition are afraid of openly supporting him. In early January the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which controls Karachi and the urban areas of Sindh, threatened to quit the Sindh government unless the Kalabagh project was ditched, and military action in Baluchistan halted. It took Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, and General Musharraf an hour each on the phone to placate Altaf Hussain, the MQM's leader, who lives in self-imposed exile in London. This week, General Musharraf was forced into an embarrassing retreat. Instead of Kalabagh, he said on national television, two other dams would be built first. MQM workers celebrated by dancing on the streets of Karachi. Yet delay in building a string of big dams, including Kalabagh (the most feasible one), could seriously impair agricultural productivity and energy supplies. According to a World Bank study, Pakistan is already one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, a situation which is going to degrade into outright water scarcity. Pakistan has only 150 cubic metres (33,000 gallons) of water storage per person compared with over 5,000 cubic metres in America and Australia and 2,200 in China. Many Pakistanis criticise General Musharraf for making his own life difficult by picking fights on so many controversial fronts. He seems rattled by the opposition he has provoked, and has resorted to bluster. In December he thundered against the rebellious Baluch tribesmen: I will sort them out they won't know what hit them. In the event, the insurgents almost downed an army helicopter carrying the top military commander in Baluchistan. The rebels also had the audacity to lob rockets at General Musharraf himself when he visited the area last month. If unchecked, the Baluch insurgency could destabilise the region and jeopardise oil and gas exploration, which are critical to Pakistan's economy. Similarly, any laxity in prosecuting the war against militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan would hurt relations with America, Pakistan's most important benefactor. As it is, the Americans are still pressing for a chance to interrogate the disgraced scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, outside Pakistan about help he is alleged to have provided for Iran's nuclear programme. Handing the father of Pakistan's nuclear deterrent over would infuriate nationalists at home. Besieged as he seems to be, General Musharraf still shows no inclination to broaden his political base by making friends with the parties of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, two exiled former prime ministers. Rather, he seems to see the presidential elections due next year as a chance to weaken them further, and consolidate his own power. Ruling Pakistan is not at all easy, even for an all-powerful dictator who, most observers reckon, sincerely wants to do well by the country. Human rights: How Guantanamo's prisoners were sold Musharraf admits to detaining more than 600 suspects; US sources suggest the true figure may be twice as high. Recent official data shows that only 5 per cent of prisoners at Guantanamo were captured by US forces. The rest were sold by Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clive Stafford Smith: New Statesman World leaders should take their cue from Pakistan's self-appointed president, General Pervez Musharraf, and publish memoirs while still in office. It is good to know what is really going on. Last month he went to America, partly to meet with President Bush, and partly to hawk his book, In the Line of Fire, on TV talk shows. The published extracts show that Musharraf has done some kissing and telling. He describes how the US threatened to bomb Pakistan immediately after the 11 Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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September 2001 attacks if his government did not co-operate in the war on terror ("Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age!" exclaimed the then US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage). He also spills the beans about shipping centrifuges to North Korea, and how his country's nuclear deterrent was not even operational when Pakistan threatened India in 1999. One interesting nugget involves Pakistan's sale of hundreds of stray Arabs to the Americans, for shipment to Bagram air force base and on to Guantanamo Bay. Many of my clients in Cuba insist that, far from being captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, they were grabbed in Pakistan and flogged to the Americans, like slaves at auction. Predictably enough, for five years the Bush administration has remained very quiet on this issue, but Musharraf's book sheds new light. "Many members of al-Qaeda fled Afghanistan and crossed the border into Pakistan," he writes. "We have played cat and mouse with them . . . We have captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States. We have earned bounties totalling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of 'not doing enough' in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the government of Pakistan." As his revelations set people arguing, so more truths came out. Rather than condemning or denying the bounty programme, the US department of justice complained about who had received the loot. "We didn't know about this," said a justice official. "It should not happen. These bounty payments are for private individuals who help to trace terrorists on the FBI's most wanted list, not foreign governments." Musharraf backed down, agreeing that the money be given to individuals rather than the government. So, that makes it OK? The payments help us see why so many innocent prisoners ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Musharraf writes that "millions" were paid for 369 prisoners - the minimum rate was apparently $5,00 0, enough to tempt a poor Pakistani to shop an unwanted Arab to the Americans, gift-wrapped with a story that he was up to no good in Afghanistan. Value for money At the start of his interrogation, the prisoner would deny that he had anything to do with the fighting, but, in pursuit of value for money spent, the American authorities would then get to work. Donald Rumsfeld had authorised use of his "enhanced interrogation techniques", and after a few days of "mild non-injurious physical contact" and "exploiting individual phobias" (such as setting on of dogs), the prisoner would inevitably confess to whatever was asked of him - generally, to confirm the story fabricated by the Pakistani bounty hunter. The US agents felt they were extracting only the truth, and this "truth" was worth a ticket to Cuba, where each man's coerced confession would also earn him the label "enemy combatant" at a military tribunal. Now he cannot even challenge his status in court because the Bush administration has just rushed a law through Congress eviscerating habeas corpus. Musharraf admits to detaining more than 600 suspects; US sources suggest the true figure may be twice as high. Recent official data shows that only 5 per cent of prisoners at Guantanamo were captured by US forces. The rest were sold by Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, in all likelihood, the president is none too concerned where the bounty dollars will go, as he has reportedly been paid an advance of more than $1m by his publishers, Simon & Schuster. One lesson of Musharraf's book is that the disastrous US bounty programme itself should come "in the line of fire". If you go to the market place and buy everything that

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glitters, you will end up with very little gold, but a whole heap of worthless iron pyrites. Musharraf: Islam's man of action Like his predecessor, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, he is a shrewd operator, skilful at manipulating his political opponents, congenial, is fond of lecturing his nation, and has a short fuse. New Statesman Ziauddin Sardar President Pervez Musharraf does not see himself as a dictator. On the contrary, he projects himself as a modern, tolerant, enlightened man tirelessly working to restore democracy to Pakistan. This country needs my leadership, he has declared on numerous occasions. Musharraf came to power in 1999 after ousting the civilian government of Nawaz Sharif. Sharif had brought the country to its knees: corruption was endemic, ethnic warfare was tearing Pakistan apart, the economy was near collapse. The army had to take over, Musharraf told the country, "as a last resort to prevent any further destabilisation". Since then, he has ruled Pakistan with as much cunning as brute power. Musharraf is the third of the great military dictators who have ruled Pakistan, on and off, for more than 30 years. Like his predecessor, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, he is a shrewd operator, skilful at manipulating his political opponents, congenial, is fond of lecturing his nation, and has a short fuse. Like Ayyub Khan, the first military dictator of Pakistan, he believes in "guided democracy", a historically established euphemism for army rule. After coming to power, Musharraf began implementing an elaborate plan to introduce grassroots democracy. He established regional and city assemblies, promoted the participation of women and peasants, and held elections. He went on to introduce parliamentary democracy and set up a National Assembly. But all this was done, in the true Pakistani military tradition, after he had introduced a few notable constitut ional changes. Musharraf's constitutional amend ments, the Legal Framework Order (LFO), give him the power to sack prime ministers, dissolve parliaments and make him both head of the army and head of state.Not surprisingly, the National Assembly refused to endorse his amendment. So Musharraf went directly to the voters, who had, by now, warmed to him. A referendum in April 2002 extended his rule for five years. There is little doubt that the "war on terror" has given Musharraf added respectability. Wash ington loves him because he is just the kind of authoritarian leader they like to do business with. He is not only a vital ally but someone with deep inside knowledge of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the jihadi movements - indeed, his army and intelligence services helped to create them in the first place. Musharraf has used his privileged position to gain considerable benefits. He had sanctions against Pakistan, imposed because of its nuclear programme, lifted; secured a $1bn aid package; and negotiated the purchase of new weapons. But Musharraf is aware that his supporters in Washington and London are embarrassed by the fact that he is, after all is said and done, an unelected, military ruler. He is about to put that right too, by holding presidential elections when his current term ends next year. Given the make-up of national and regional assemblies, he is assured of re-election; and he can then announce his democratic credentials to the world. There's only one problem. Both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the disposed and discredited leaders living in exile, are plotting against him. The two heads of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League are the only grass-roots Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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politicians who can stand against Musharraf. They have now put their differences aside and signed a "Charter for Democracy" calling for the repeal of the LFO, the return of the army to the barracks and the restoration of full democracy to Pakistan. Bhutto and Sharif also want an independent election commission to be set up to ensure free and fair polls. Proud to be Pakistani Musharraf has threatened both leaders with dire consequences if they return to Pakistan. Sharif has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and there are numerous warrants against Bhutto. But in all probability, he will call their bluff. He could call an election in April, leaving Bhutto and Sharif unprepared to participate in a full-blown election. Even if he allows them time to prepare, he will find some way to short-change them. The champion of "enlightened moderation" is determined to be around for some time. Musharraf may be a dictator, but he is strictly not of the tin-pot variety. He has survived two assassination attempts and numerous political upheavals. Under him, Pakistan has achieved high rates of economic growth but he has not accumulated any personal wealth, something that ordinary Pakistanis appreciate. He has also not muzzled the press, which aggressively maintains its independence. The leaders of other Muslim states hold him in high esteem. He is seen by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (the Muslim world's counterpart to the UN) as a "man of action" who gets things moving. And he is one of the few leaders in the world who has a finger on the nuclear button. Last year, I bumped into him in the restaurant of the Intercontinental Hotel in Islamabad. He came over to my table and patted me on the back. "I am very interested," he said, "in the opinions of learned Pakistanis like you." "I am British," I replied. "And I think Pakistan is a failed state." "We will change your mind," he shot back. "We will make you proud to be a Pakistani." The only way he can do that is to hang up his military uniform. The trouble with Pakistan A country that everyone should worry about The Economist TERRORISM has many sources and claimed justifications, but if it can be said to have a centre, it lies in the training camps, madrassas and battlefields of northern Pakistan and south-eastern Afghanistan. There the Taliban and their ally, al-Qaeda, were both formed. From there, in hellish diaspora, jihadis have fanned out across the globe. Add to that Afghanistan's lawlessness and ability to produce vast amounts of opium, not to mention Pakistan's wretched history of venal democrats and clumsy dictators, and its lamentable record on nuclear proliferation, and it is clear why what happens in those two places is of huge importance to the rest of the world. From neither place is there much good news. The West has invested a huge amount in Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in October 1999. This newspaper was prepared to give him a chance on condition that he acted swiftly and firmly to rein in extremism and sort out the economy, and then returned to barracks. He failed to do any of that. After September 11th 2001, however, he was recast as a provider of relative stability in a dangerous neighbourhood, and an essential ally in the “war on terror”. Money was showered upon him; he was feted in Washington, DC, and London. Only gradually has it started

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to dawn on his admirers that, in the past five years, he has not done very much to make Pakistan a less dangerous place. A destroyer of democracy True, the economy has improved quite a bit since 2001—and not just because of all that donor money. But promises, made even before September 11th, to bring the country's most radical madrassas under control have not been kept. The training camps that Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has long tolerated because of their usefulness against India and in Afghanistan still exist, though they have been told not to mount any operations for now. The most dangerous outfits, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (the Army of the Pure), have been banned, only to reappear under new guises. Not until 2004 and under the most intense American pressure did Pakistan arrest Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist who had cheerfully sold nuclear secrets to anyone prepared to pay. But perhaps the most damning criticism of General Musharraf is that he continues to do grave damage to the long-term political health of Pakistan (see our survey). In his seven long years in office, he has insinuated the army into every nook and cranny of Pakistani public life, weakening institutions that were feeble already, emasculating its political parties and reducing parliament to a squabbling irrelevance. He has sacked judges when it suited him, created and dismembered parties at his own convenience, rigged a referendum on his presidency and used Pakistan's constitution to write his own job description. None of this bodes well for a post-Musharraf future—which could arrive at any moment given the enthusiasm of his enemies for trying to kill him. Like a previous “caretaker” dictator, General Zia ul-Haq, who held power for 11 years before being killed, General Musharraf has been unable to resist the temptation to play politics with Islam, even if, unlike Zia, he has also had some success at purging fundamentalists from the top ranks of the army. He has forged a disparate group of Islamic political parties into a block that has helped him outmanoeuvre the democratic opposition; these Islamists are pushing hard for the extension of sharia law. And then there's Afghanistan It would not be fair to blame Pakistan for everything that is going wrong in Afghanistan. The government of Hamid Karzai is weak and corrupt; because of the West's continued failure to live up to its promises, much of the country, outside the big cities, is in the grip of bandits and warlords. But Pakistan's contribution to Afghanistan's chronic insecurity should not be underestimated. Both the Taliban and the remnants of al-Qaeda are able to take refuge on Pakistani soil, which makes the job of the soldiers from Western countries who have been struggling to eliminate them for the past five years much more difficult. The Taliban, after all, were in part a creation of Pakistan's ISI, which saw in them a way to establish a friendly state on their western flank, a vital strategic consideration for an organisation that sees itself as locked in perpetual conflict with India to its east. General Musharraf, by contrast, contends he is doing all he can to root out Taliban fighters from their sanctuaries in the tribal areas, and Pakistan has lost more than 600 soldiers fighting there. Even so, say the critics, it could try much harder, especially given the size of its army. And as for al-Qaeda, none of General Musharraf's protestations can hide the fact that Osama bin Laden is generally reckoned to be holed up on Pakistani soil. Lesser terrorists such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the planner of the September 11th attacks, have been caught and handed over by the general, but Mr bin Laden goes on evading capture. The danger is that Afghanistan may now, thanks to Pakistani meddling and Western neglect, gradually revert to what it was before September 2001: a state partly captured by the most dangerous Islamists. Belatedly waking up to this threat (see Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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article), Britain is leading NATO into risky action in Afghanistan's southern provinces, a swathe of territory where the Kabul government's writ is ignored and where a recordbreaking crop of poppies was recently harvested. With a remit that has been altered to war-fighting at short notice, inadequate numbers and an apparent lack of enough helicopters and armoured support, these soldiers are taking politically painful casualties. There is a risk that the will of the politicians back home to go on fighting will swiftly fade. An unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan, intertwined with a chaotic and Talibandominated Afghanistan: it is not a settling prospect. It has all happened before, of course. The result was September 11th, swiftly followed by a terrorist outrage in Delhi that came close to provoking full-scale war between Pakistan and also-nuclear India. What will happen next time? Beware the General across the border One stellar quality in Musharraf, as the world by now must have realised, is rank opportunism. He is not the typical officer and a gentleman as the Britons trained their officers to be. He is an officer and a politician, always looking for the first opportunity to network with those who can propel him further. Wilson John: The Pioneer Let us not underestimate Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. After finding himself cornered within his country by jihadi Generals and militant mullahs and from outside by the rampaging forces of the Northern Alliance and the United States, Musharraf ran to Beijing for shelter. That's what he did when he engineered the Kargil War. He was sitting pretty when his troops intruded into the Indian territory. This time around too, the Chinese welcomed him, shook hands with him, heard him out, put arms around his shoulders and told him not to worry. The Chinese are his good friends; they have so much at stake in Pakistan. So when India and the United States began making loud noises about terror groups and involvement of his country, Musharraf, with the Chinese at his side, decided to act tough and ordered freezing of bank accounts and assets of Lashkar-e-Toiba, told Lashkar chief Prof Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed to shut shop on his own. He made similar requests to Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Azhar Masood. Maybe the Americans would be willing to accept his actions as bona fide; we should not make that mistake. Musharraf is too clever a General to go on his knees and even if he feigns to do so, it is just another strategic retreat. It is important to understand Musharraf the man to make sense of his quicksilver swings. He is a Mohajir from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh but had settled down in Gujranwala in Punjab. He got commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1964 and was just one of the officers who waited for their promotion boards till General Zia-ul Haq spotted him. General Zia never hid his liking for devout officers and in Musharraf he found a pious Deobandi. Leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, a fundamentalist political party, made it known to the General that they too preferred Musharraf. Musharraf proved to be a right choice for both of them. The first task he was assigned by General Zia was to train mujahideens recruited by various religious organisations to fight the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. It was during those days that Musharraf first met a Saudi civil engineer who was keen to help the cause of jihad with money and muscle. The Central Intelligence Agency had brought this contractor to construct bunkers for the mujahideens. The contractor, with whom Musharraf had close working relationship, is today known as the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden. It was at this juncture that Musharraf developed two other key links that would stand him in good

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stead-the CIA and the narcotics syndicate operating in the North West Frontier Province. The only reason why I am re-visiting the history of Musharraf is to understand the factors that shaped his psyche. For instance, his close ties with General Zia ul Haq. It was General Zia who planned Operation Topac, a long-term plan to dismember India through both covert and overt operations. Musharraf was part of this plan. One of the elements of Operation Topac was to annex the Siachen area that somehow remained unmarked when the Line of Control was being re-drawn after the 1971 war. For his Siachen plan, General Zia raised a Special Services Group headquartered at Khapalu in the Siachen area in 1987. Musharraf was then a Brigadier and was asked to command the unit. The same year, an acolyte eager to please his master, Brigadier Musharraf attacked an Indian post in Siachen that was promptly repulsed. Within a year, Brigadier Musharraf got another critical assignment from General Zia. This time, his mission was to suppress a revolt in Gilgit. The Shias, a majority community in the area, had risen in revolt against their continued neglect at the hands of the rulers in Islamabad. Musharraf sought out bin Laden for his mission. Laden was by then known to be an effective leader of mujahideens. It is said several hundred Shias were massacred in the operation. After the revolt was brutally suppressed, Musharraf, on the orders of Zia, began settling Punjabis and Pakhtoons in Gilgit and Baltistan to reduce the Kashmiri Shias to a minority. The Kashmiris who swear by Musharraf today would do well to read about his exploits in Gilgit and Baltistan. One stellar quality in Musharraf, as the world by now must have realised, is rank opportunism. He is not the typical officer and a gentleman as the Britons trained their officers to be. He is an officer and a politician, always looking for the first opportunity to network with those who can propel him further. While in Gilgit and Baltistan, Musharraf became close to Lt.General Javed Nasir, who was then the Director General of the Inter Services Intelligence and Justice Mohmmad Rafique Tarar, both of whom played a key role in his becoming the Chief of Army Staff. Nasir was an adviser on intelligence matters to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and Tarar was the President. Another factor that linked the three together was their religious belief-they were Deobandis and had a good standing with fundamentalist parties and terrorist groups like Harkat ul Mujahideen, earlier known as Harkat ul Ansar. One of the splinter groups of Harkat is today known as Jaish-e-Mohmmad. Another reason for Sharief to choose Musharraf superceding two of his seniors, Lt.Gen. Ali Kuli Khan, the Chief of General Staff, and Lt. Gen. Khalid Nawaz, the Quarter Master General, was his hatred for Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a Mohajir rebel group. Musharraf, acting on the orders of Sharief, set up special courts to try MQM activists, Shias by caste, as terrorists. This anti-Shia operation helped Musharraf in more ways than one, the most crucial being the wide appreciation and support he got from the rabidly anti-Shia terrorist groups that were funded by the ISI via Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious fundamentalist party that has immense clout across the country. It was therefore no surprise that first thing Musharraf did on throwing Sharief out (incidentally he was once again out of the country, this time he was teeing in Colombo) was to let the fundamentalists have a free run of the country, drawing support from them to stabilise his hold over Islamabad. He openly courted them, allowing them to open offices in respectable commercial and residential complexes; letting them recruit men for terrorist training, arming them with modern weapons to kill civilians and security men in Kashmir. Within two years, Musharraf is turning once again, this time against the very forces that created him and made him the Emperor. It is not exactly easy to trust him when he makes a sound and fury about banning terror groups operating in his country. He is a man with a thousand faces. A few Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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months down the line, after he has lulled the Americans and the Western world into believing in his anti-terrorism charade, he is quite capable of bringing together the vanquished Al Qaida, the Taliban and the terror groups that pull his strings and create another invisible network of terror. Till then, I am sure he has already told Jaish and Lashkar leaders to lie low, change nomenclature, shift office and cooperate with him for achieving their common interest-inflict a thousand cuts on India. Beware. India needs to keep a close watch on this General who has a history of switching sides and using religion for military goals. General Pervez Musharraf: Pakistan's big beast unleashed It's boom time under the rule of General Pervez Musharraf. But can you ever really trust a dictator? Ahead of this year's elections, the novelist Mohsin Hamid takes an ambivalent look at the top cat who dragged his country into the 21st century. Mohsin Hamid : The Independent In Lahore, where I grew up, there were three distinct types that you found in every school and playground. The intellectuals were, by and large, known as chutiyas, a term which translates both literally and metaphorically into English as "pussies". Then there were the bubber shers. Though this is the Urdu word for lion, it is used mockingly more than admiringly, connoting not so much strength as overfed laziness. And then there were the true heroes, the studs; we called them cheetas and they were named, of course, after the cheetah, the deadly, fast-moving, great cat of Africa. I was reminded of these teenage labels when I started to read In the Line of Fire, the autobiography of Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf. I had expected bombastic, excessive prose from my supreme leader, but was surprised to find myself rather liking the man. I remain deeply concerned about the implications of his rule for the future of Pakistan, it is true, but insofar as he bears any similarity to the narrator, he strikes me as quite a pleasant sort of fellow to have as one's dictator. On recent visits to the country, my younger relatives tell me that the taxonomy of weak chutiyas, fat bubber shers, and exalted cheetas is still in common use in Pakistan today. I hypothesised that Pervez Musharraf might well be a cheeta. To confirm this I first set out to compare the elements one would expect to find in the life story of a cheeta with those present in his book. From my training as a management consultant, I realised that such a benchmarking is best done within a framework. Accordingly, I devised the double-M double-I double-H (or MMIIHH) framework, which is composed of Mischievousness, Machismo, Impetuousness, Intelligence, Heart, and Honour. Every cheeta I knew growing up took great delight in what we called "a bit of mischief". One favourite pastime was to throw raw eggs from automobiles at passing pedestrians (for the most part, impoverished manual labourers with no access to a change of clothes) in the dead of night, and then speed away, laughing. This was known as "egging". A true cheeta, even if he did not engage in egging himself, would at the very least come along for the ride and recount the story with some glee. Musharraf amply satisfies this requirement with anecdotes such as the one in which he is taught by his uncle how to go up to a "baldy" (in this case a "man [who] had oiled his bald pate, making matters worse, for it was shining like a mirror and inviting trouble"), "give him a tight smack right in the middle of his shiny head...[which] must have stung like hell", and get away without any consequences. Yet an instinct for mischief alone does not a cheeta make. Escaping automobiles can sometimes stall and baldies can sometimes retaliate, and in such circumstances Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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machismo is called for. The cheetas of my youth were perhaps most famous for their ability to take a beating while giving as good as they got in the face of overwhelming odds (having an arm fractured by a hockey-stick, for example, and still being able to break the other guy's nose). Musharraf is no exception. Whether joining "the street gangs" of Nazimabad (which he likens to the "South Bronx") as "one of the tough boys," or being told by a professional bodybuilder that he has "a most muscular physique", or leading his commandos through training exercises such as running at full speed "on a yard-wide beam 300ft high, spanning the top... of a metal bridge... with a fast river flowing underneath", he proves his machismo time and again. This serves him well in the face of multiple assassination attempts, which he confronts with remarkable equanimity. (omega) Machismo leads, perhaps inevitably, to impetuousness. Impetuousness explains why so many of us in Lahore died at the wheel in automobile accidents at the ages of 16 and 17, before we were legally entitled to drive. It also explains why our national cricket team seems to have an endless supply of fast bowlers and a desperate lack of opening batsmen - a delivery left well alone is categorically not the mark of a cheeta. Here again Musharraf does not disappoint. Repeatedly in his autobiography, when confronted or slighted, he informs us he "saw red". After September 11, 2001, when made aware of Richard Armitage's statement that Pakistan would be "bombed back to the Stone Age" if it did not support the US, Musharraf has to resist telling the American official "to go forth and multiply, or words to that effect". And he does not always hold back. At a tense meeting of South Asian leaders he extends his hand, "on the spur of the moment", to Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee in apparent violation of diplomatic procedure, with the result that "a loud gasp of awe [and I daresay admiration] went through the hall, full of stuffy officialdom, that the prime minister of 'the largest democracy in the world' had been upstaged." But impetuous as he is, a cheeta is no fool. He may not study, but he is invariably clever. A street-smart operator is a cheeta; a buffoon is a bubber sher. Perhaps it is this applied intelligence that explains why many of my schoolmates who were cheetas have done so well in the rough-and-ready world of Pakistani business, while many of the purely book-smart chutiyas of my acquaintance have been paralysed by overanalysis and now languish in less lucrative careers. Musharraf neatly captures the distinction when he points out, referencing Napoleon, that "two thirds of decisionmaking is based on study... but the other third is... based on one's gut". Moreover, like a true cheeta, he confesses of his youth, "if, from all this, you have concluded that I was not intensely focused on my studies, you would not be far wrong." If mischievousness, machismo, impetuousness, and intelligence were their only attributes, cheetas would not be so popular. But there are two more: heart and honour. When I was growing up, a cheeta could be forgiven for getting into needless fights, doing excessive amounts of drugs, harassing girls, and generally causing mayhem - so long as he had a good heart. By good heart, what was meant was that a cheeta was true to those he loved: true to his family, his friends, his team, his country. This test Musharraf passes with flying colours. He has great loyalty to each of the units in which he serves, to the army as a whole, and to Pakistan - often to the point of risking his own life. He also writes of his compassion for the Bosnians while on a peacekeeping mission: "When the Pakistani Brigade Group... finally came, all its personnel fasted one day of every week, and distributed the food they had saved among the more needy Bosnians." Similarly, honour is of great importance to the cheeta. The cheeta is expected to publicly assert that he always keeps his word. But unlike the more foolish bubber sher, who actually tries to fulfil his promises no matter how disastrous the consequences, Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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the cheeta is expected to be more discerning. In practice, like a company issuing quarterly earnings reports, the cheeta must almost always do what he has said he will do but also be prepared on rare occasions to depart from expectations. This concept can rarely have been better expressed than by Musharraf in the following passage about a vow he made soon after becoming President: "I was quite serious when I announced that I would remove my army chief's hat... But events that soon began to unfold started putting serious doubts in my mind... Therefore, much against my habit and character, I decided to go against my word." So the real question is not whether Musharraf is a cheeta. That he is, his autobiography makes abundantly clear. The real question is, what happens when a cheeta takes over one's country? As it turns out, part of what happens is a great deal of good. When I first met the woman I would later marry and asked her what she did for a living, she told me that, among other things, she was an actress on television. We were in London, where she was visiting on holiday, and I remember being surprised. I had grown up in a Pakistan with only one television channel - conservative, state-run, and featuring newsreaders with veils atop their heads - and I personally knew no actresses. My wife-to-be informed me that she acted in a show called Jutt and Bond, an Urdu sitcom about a Punjabi folk hero and a debonair British secret agent, and that she was the love interest. Like many men, I had always wanted to date a Bond girl. It took me less than a month to come up with a fictitious excuse for traveling to Lahore in hot pursuit. There, my wife-to-be exposed me to the incredible new world of media that had sprung up in Pakistan, a world of music videos, fashion programmes, independent news networks, cross-dressing talk-show hosts, religious debates, stock-market analysis, and dramas and comedies like Jutt and Bond. I knew, of course, that the government of Musharraf had opened the media to private operators. But I had not until then realized how profoundly things had changed. Not just television, but also private radio stations and newspapers have flourished in Pakistan over the past few years. The result is an unprecedented openness. In cities like Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, young people are speaking and dressing differently. Views both critical and supportive of the government are voiced with breathtaking frankness in an atmosphere remarkably lacking in censorship. Public space, the common area for culture and expression that had been so circumscribed in my childhood, has now been vastly expanded. The Vagina Monologues was recently performed on stage in Pakistan to standing ovations. Similarly, higher education has benefited from being opened to the private sector, as well as from a huge increase in state funding. After finishing her MA in journalism at Goldsmiths three years ago, my sister found herself with multiple teaching offers from universities back in Lahore. Our father, an economics professor for much of his professional life, says he cannot remember a time since the heady years of the 1960s when there was so much excitement in academia. My sister's experience bears this out. Her salary, at around £50 a week, might not seem much by London standards. But it goes a long way in Lahore. A few years ago, top MBA graduates in Pakistan would have been lucky to earn that amount. And if my sister becomes a full professor or a department head, she can expect to earn far more. The sudden attractiveness of her profession is fuelling a surge of interest in pursuing research degrees. In the sciences and engineering alone, the government is expecting to graduate 1,500 doctoral students annually by 2010, a hundred-fold increase on the 1990s figure.

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Going to speak at the small urban campus at which my sister teaches, I was taken aback by the subjects on offer. Students were studying to be beat reporters, literature professors, sound engineers, magazine editors, sculptors, and costume designers. They were putting on an original rock musical. And enrolment was soaring, with everincreasing demand for places. My sister told me some of her students were working nights in the city's call centres to pay their tuition. All of this has taken place against the backdrop of a staggering economic boom. Over the past five years, Pakistan's economy has been one of the fastest growing in the world. Foreign firms are investing billions of dollars in sectors such as telecoms, where Pakistani mobile-phone users have gone from under a million at the start of the decade to 30 million today. In London, one often reads of people of Pakistani descent travelling to Pakistan to attend terrorist training camps. Far more common, but virtually unreported, are the stories of successful Pakistan-born expatriates returning home for better financial prospects. My buddy OH is one of them. An architect, he trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and joined a small firm in Boston for several years, working on projects ranging from baseball stadiums in the US to nightclubs in China to cliffside residences in Venezuela. But he wanted to be his own boss. So a couple of years ago he moved back to Lahore and started his own firm. Now he is so busy that he has to turn away assignments. "Nothing works here, yaar," he tells me. "It frustrates the hell out of you. But I love it. I wouldn't go anywhere else." For despite the inefficiency of Pakistan's construction practices and the corruption of its bureaucracy, the skyline of Lahore is being transformed. With the economic boom has come a demand for offices, hotels, and housing. Gleaming new towers are beginning to rise out of deep pits in the fertile, alluvial soil of Lahore's newer neighbourhoods, dwarfing the slender minarets of the old walled city that feature so prominently in postcards and guidebooks. All this, it seems, is the upside of having a cheeta for your president. Why is it, then, given the remarkable progress made by Pakistan under Musharraf, that so few other countries are clamouring to be led by cheetas of their own? Perhaps it is because their people desire greater say in the running of national affairs. I recall my own participation in the referendum of 2002. Its purpose (omega) was to give Pakistanis a chance to decide whether Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, should continue to be President. I was in Islamabad at the time, so I cast my vote in Pakistan's capital. I arrived at the polling station with the intention of voting in support of Musharraf. My reasons were threefold. First, it was shortly after September 11, and the invasion of Afghanistan, and I felt Pakistan needed strong leadership if we were to avoid the fate that had befallen our neighbour. Second, I approved of what appeared to be a genuinely progressive approach that the government was taking in a number of areas. Third, I thought that returning to the rule of either Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif, the democratically elected Prime Ministers who had presided over the decline of Pakistan's economy and institutions in the 1990s, would be an unmitigated disaster. I immediately noticed at the polling station that staff far outnumbered voters. Indeed, my sister and I seemed to be the only voters there. I showed my identity card, had my finger marked with indelible ink, and was given a ballot to take with me into a booth. I expected a simple: "Pervez Musharraf for President: yes or no?" Instead, I encountered the following text: "For the survival of the local government system, establishment of democracy, continuity of reforms, end to sectarianism and extremism, and to fulfil the vision of Quaid-e-Azam, would you like to elect President General Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan for five years?" Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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As I struggled to decipher what precisely it was that I was being asked, a man came in and ordered me to hurry up. I had seen him lurking about the entrance to the polling station, but he was not one of the officials. "Who are you?" I asked him. "Can't you see I'm voting? Get out of here." He eyes hardened. "People are waiting," he said "What people? There's half a dozen booths here and one voter." "I said," he snarled, "hurry up." "Who the hell are you? Get out of my face." I appealed to the officials. "I'm trying to exercise my right as a citizen. I need my privacy. Who is this person? Why don't you do something about him?" The officials seemed alarmed by all this but did nothing to intervene. The man was clearly a soldier or policeman in plainclothes. He evoked in me that typically belligerent Pakistani reaction to being ordered around for no reason, the product no doubt of our history of colonialism and dictatorship. So we exchanged unpleasantries for a bit. Eventually he stepped back, although not as far as I would have liked, and I voted, although not as quickly as he would have liked, and that was that. My sister emerged from the women's section and we left. In the 10 minutes we had spent at the polls, neither of us had seen another voter. Yet when the results of the referendum were announced, the country was told not only that 97 per cent of votes had been in support of Musharraf, but that the turnout had been 43 million people, or a massive 56 per cent of the electorate. These figures were so obviously ridiculous that even someone who had actually voted for the man, as I had (having resisted the urge to change my mind in protest at the low-grade intimidation I experienced), felt deeply disheartened by the exercise. Rigged elections rankle, of course. But surely it is churlish to keep insisting on democracy when the cities one visits, the metropolises of Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, are witnessing a boom unlike any in recent memory? The problem is that there is more to Pakistan than its cities. And it is in the hinterlands to the west of the country, in the provinces bordering Afghanistan, that the downside of cheeta-style military rule becomes most apparent. In 2004, I made a reporting trip out to Gwadar in Pakistan's Balochistan province. Gwadar is one of the government's showcase development projects, a deep-water port and model city being constructed with Chinese help on the site of a small fishing village near the straits of Hormuz, through which most of the world's oil flows. The province is also home to an insurgency against the perceived heavy-handedness of the central government in general and the army in particular. I arrived shortly after a bomb had killed several of the Chinese engineers who were working on the port. I expected to find strong anti-Pakistani sentiment. I found nothing of the sort. Children were even playing street cricket in the uniforms of the Pakistan national team. But while I was in Gwadar I was stopped and questioned menacingly by a pair of undercover security operatives. No outright threat was made, but the tone of the encounter was so unsettling that I later complained of it over the telephone in a call home I made from a payphone. Overhearing me, a shopkeeper and his cousin began to commiserate. They told me of daily rudeness and regular beatings at the hands of the security forces. "We think of ourselves as Pakistanis," one of them said, "but they treat us like terrorists." And then, out of sympathy for what I had experienced, they refused to let me pay for my lunch. I left Gwadar deeply concerned about the consequences of the confrontational approach being taken by the government to the unrest in Pakistan's western Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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provinces. Of course, the state must act when faced with violence and terrorism. But it must also guard against the abuse of power by its security forces, and it must hold back from victimising entire populations in the pursuit of a few criminals. Unfortunately, cheetas are not known for their restraint. Since the schoolyard is the cheeta's typical stomping-ground, it may be useful to compare the rule of Musharraf to the reign of a bully in a rough inner-city secondary school. For a time, if the bully is a progressive and fair-minded one, some benefits may accrue. Other ruffians may become less likely to steal the lunch money of their classmates. Weak children with glasses may feel less frightened as they head off to class in the mornings. But resentment against the bully will grow, and eventually someone stronger will come along - or someone weaker will get his hands on a knife and the bully will be replaced. Acknowledgment of the bully's short shelf-life is implicit in the title Musharraf has chosen for his book, In the Line of Fire. What he seems not to understand are the implications of this: the urgent need, if his policies are to survive him, to broaden his support base and to plan for a Pakistan without him at its helm. In this he is following in the footsteps of the many army chiefs who have preceded him as dictators of Pakistan, men like Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq, very different in their policies but very similar in their failure to bequeath lasting national institutions or to provide a sustainable platform for Pakistan's growth. "The issue of democracy is a recent, post-Cold War obsession of the West," Musharraf writes. "I am still struggling to convince the West that Pakistan is more democratic today than it ever was in the past." Yet the issue of democracy is more than merely a recent obsession of the West. It was fundamental to the notion of Pakistan as envisaged by our nation's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, before the Cold War had even begun. And it is not just the West that is unconvinced Pakistan is democratic today; Pakistanis like myself are unconvinced as well. Democracy matters because without it the entire nation is in the line of fire, one bullet away from unpredictable change. And it matters because even progressive policies feel illegitimate to broad swathes of the nation's population when they are dictated by a president with a general's stars on his shoulders. There are trade-offs to be made when one allows scantily dressed models to walk the catwalks of Lahore but empowers the security forces to seize people on the streets of Balochistan merely for looking suspicious. And these trade-offs must be decided upon by the nation as a whole. It is the cheeta's natural inclinations away from inclusiveness and consensus that perhaps best explain why so few cheetas have proven popular with democratic electorates. But these values are of paramount importance in a country as vast and diverse as Pakistan, the world's sixth largest by population. We are increasingly divided between our more prosperous and progressive cities to the east and our more restive and conservative tribal areas to the west. Bridging our divisions has become essential. Pakistanis are scheduled to go to the polls again in 2007, our 60th year of independence. I for one would like to see models continuing to walk the catwalks. But I would also like to see whether the rest of the country agrees. If he wants to leave a lasting legacy, Pervez Musharraf would do well to put in place the preconditions for truly free and fair elections and to build alliances with politicians based on a shared vision of the future rather than on a willingness to support a President in uniform. Cheetas are celebrated for their speed, not for their endurance. Paradoxically, it is only by laying the foundations for his democratic departure that Musharraf is likely to be an exception.

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Mohsin Hamid's novel, 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist', is published by Hamish Hamilton in March. Hypocrisy of Musharraf Lovers A general who took Pakistan almost to the brink of destruction now sits merrily in Islamabad proclaiming himself to be the greatest savior of Pakistan and no one questions him. In my view this is the biggest irony. Mukhlis T I have closely observed some people who have been supporting Musharraf since he took over power and have studied their general behavior. I have been troubled by what I see as blatant hypocrisy on their side. Their favorite word and excuse to run away from any difficult argument is the word “choice”. Whenever anyone criticizes Musharraf or his policies the word “choice” is the one that I hear most frequently. Simply put, their argument in most cases is that “he had no choice” but to take such and such step otherwise we would all have been doomed. Tired of Musharraf Lovers’ (henceforth known as MLs) use of the word “choice” and their hypocrisy, I have taken up just a few issues where I think MLs use double standards. As they say that change should come from within and our leaders are only a reflection of what we are. So in order to have a better Pakistan we should first do soul searching ourselves, analyze our own behavior, and see whether what we say and do makes any sense. This attempt of mine is not a profound or deep study of any scholarly level. It is just a simple cobbling together of a few issues that I think exist both during elected governments’ and dictators’ time and compare how people react differently to these issues depending on who is in power. Argument-1 It was so bad of Nawaz Sharif to have the Supreme Court’s sanctity trampled by an illiterate & uncouth crowd to save his premiership, but it was fine for Musharraf to fire half the Supreme Court over fears that the majority of judges will give a verdict against him or his PCO. The purpose of both Nawaz & Musharraf was the same; to hold on to power. In Nawaz’s case Musharraf supporters turn red with fury. But in the General’s case they are much more understanding, saying that he had no “choice”. To me, this “choice” thing was true for Nawaz too. He also had no “choice”, otherwise the wise Sajjad Ali Shah would have put him behind bars. Or is the fact that Nawaz physically sent people over to the Supreme Court what irks MLs the most? Trying to get rid of judges by physically threatening them is not acceptable but doing the same through an executive order is fine? Should the way in which the crime is committed lessen the degree of punishment? Killing by poisoning is acceptable but murdering with a bullet is not? Argument-2 It was totally unacceptable of NAWAZ & BB to put their own favorites & relatives e.g. Asif Zardari, Nahid Khan, Shahbaz Sharif at top positions in Pakistan and it was all due to favoritism, nepotism, and all other “isms” in the same category. But Musharraf giving hundreds of juicy civilian posts to his favorite generals, brigadiers et al, all over Pakistan is absolutely fine. When BB/NS deploy their own people at important positions then it is corruption and they are just trying to keep their favorites happy. But if any post is given to Generals it is only because they are ultra competent and

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really deserve the job, and not because Musharraf is trying to keep his own constituency and top lieutenants happy. A fine example in this regard is of our omni present for-life PCB Cricket Chairman, Gen. (now retired) Tauqir Zia. If what has happened to cricket in Pakistan in the last three years had ever happened in a democratic dispensation, the PCB Chairman would not have been able to hold on to his job for very long. At least not as long as our current Chairman has. There would have been so much pressure on the elected Prime Minister to relieve him of his duties, especially if the Prime Minister had made one of his own men the Chairman of PCB. Our cricket in the last three years has gone to the dogs. The whole nation has been crying at this state of affairs and what does Musharraf do? He wholeheartedly praises this general (Musharraf’s own man) in a recent interview saying that he’s done a fine job. Makes me shudder if this is our CE’s idea of a fine job. Going from finalists in the ’99 World Cup to not even being able to enter the second round in `03 WC is doing a fine job in Musharraf’s opinion???!!! This sorry episode of our cricketing history also exposes the myth of accountability in the Armed Forces. If being virtually made the PCB Chairman for life is punishment for being an incompetent Chairman then we can say bye bye to accountability forever. And don’t even mention Ojhri Camp. Argument-3 Have MLs, who never tire of reminding us of what a visionary Musharraf is and how he has saved Pakistan from certain destruction, ever thought of what propelled him to come up with Kargil? What prompted these Generals, who imply that they are so well educated in the affairs of strategy and global issues, to take up an action like Kargil? Especially when Pakistan had recently conducted nuclear tests, had sanctions slammed on it, and was out of favour with both Europe and the U.S. Any idiot in those days would tell you that there would be no support for the Pakistani cause no matter how true we ourselves might believe the cause to be. Musharraf launched the Kargil Operation knowing very well what the international reaction to this operation will be. But he still went ahead with it. Why? Wasn’t this action against the interests of Pakistan? What prompted him to do this, especially in such an inhospitable international political environment? A general who took Pakistan almost to the brink of destruction now sits merrily in Islamabad proclaiming himself to be the greatest savior of Pakistan and no one questions him. In my view this is the biggest irony. Is it that our Generals are warrior-like only when they are not in power and will do anything to discredit the elected government? But in the blink of an eye they become the embodiment of wisdom and rationality when they illegally take over power and then bend over backwards to avoid wars in order to save their plots, cushy jobs, and their iron grip on power. Musharraf could not come to Wahgah to salute the Indian PM. But all of a sudden he become statesman-like and was happy to salute every Tom, Dick & Harry during his visit to India. MLs never tire of reminding us - at least a thousand times a day - how Musharraf has saved Pakistan from utter destruction by making a U-turn on Afghanistan and siding with the U.S. It would be so very nice of them if they can also remind us-even if only once a day- how he brought us perilously close to an unnecessary all out war with India and had hundreds of innocent Pak Army soldiers killed in vain. Soldiers who were brothers, husbands, sons of ordinary Pakistanis. All this at a time when his own son was sitting pretty in Boston. It would be interesting to hear from MLs why their favorite general took up Kargil action and why he had “no choice” but to go ahead with that operation? Fascisim of Army Complied By: S. M. Farid

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Can MLs please explain to us what type of a “selfless visionary” would take such an unnecessary step? What was the great hurry to start a useless mini war? And can a man who happily sent hundreds of soldiers under his command to their deaths for his personal objectives and ulterior political motives ever be true and loyal to Pakistan and act in a selfless way? Argument-4 MLs constantly refer to Asif Zardari as an example of corruption in Pakistan and are always asking for severer punishment for him even though the guy is already in jail for a few years now. But when it is pointed out to them that dozens of people as corrupt as Zardari have entered the NA/PA/cabinet under Musharraf’s watchful eyes, their answer is simple; he had “no choice” but to let these people in so that he could himself hold on to power. What MLs are effectively saying is that elected prime ministers “have a choice” and it is their mistake if corrupt people enter their cabinets and the assemblies. On the other hand poor, helpless army generals “don’t have any choice” but to let these corrupt people get elected to the assemblies so that our fine generals can hold on to power! This baffles me! Corruption during an elected government’s time is reason enough to overthrow the assemblies, but the same type of corruption is quite acceptable as long as it ensures that Musharraf stays in power! Argument-5 Musharraf lovers used to demand resignation from NS/BB after every bomb blast or sectarian killing. But since Oct. 99 they have become so much more understanding and come up with statements like “give him more time” or “law and order cannot be improved in a day - be patient” etc etc. It is amazing to see how all of a sudden their patience level is now hitting the skies. The question is, aren’t the same statements that are now being offered in Musharraf’s defense also true when elected governments are in power? But the demands from elected governments are quite different. They should resign at once when people get killed. But when the same happens during an all-powerful dictator’s rule, we should give him more time. If BB/NS could not control law and order situation it was because their administrations were incompetent. When generals can’t improve the situation, it is not because their admins. are corrupt. It is because law and order is such a difficult issue to deal with that it takes ages to bring about any change. Amazing how the criteria change with the change of government from civilian to Army and how general lovers all of a sudden become so patient and see the light. Argument-6 Nawaz Sharif donating LDA plots to his favorites when he was the Punjab Chief Minister was ultimate corruption but generals grabbing prime land whenever they feel like is not protested against. Generals have distributed thousands of acres of my country’s land to each other and not even a whimper of protest from MLs. Rangers have killed more than a dozen Pakistanis in Okara on the issue of land and most MLs are not even aware of this. The bullets that the Rangers fire on my people are paid through my taxes and the taxes my fellow Pakistanis pay. I do not want to pay for a bullet that will ultimately find me as a target. I would rather that the Army turn the barrels of their guns for a change and point them to the place towards which we actually pay them to point their guns to. A hint: That place is towards the East of our borders. Argument-7

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BB should be hanged for treason for exposing General Musharraf’s plan to take over Sri-Nagar but Musharraf should not be punished for taking over the country. I believe the same laws that MLs quote in order to make a case of treason against BB and the same constitution that spells out punishment for traitors also tells us how to deal with ambitious army generals who take over power. Why insist on only the selective use of laws? Argument-8 And one last thing that MLs never tire of mentioning i.e. Nawaz & BB are cowards because they have left the country. If they are brave enough they should come back and face charges in the courts. How naïve can MLs be? The question to them is: Are our courts independent enough to give impartial verdicts free of any pressure from the Army? NS & BB are cowards because they don’t come back to face charges in the courts that rubber-stamped Musharraf’s - and till date every tin-pot dictator’s - usurpation of power? It is like having a trap set up for a lion and then labeling the lion as a coward because he does not want to put his foot inside and become easy prey for his hunters. I am sure NS & BB will get some “real” & “pure” Army style justice if they ever come back to face charges. BB & Nawaz might be stupid but they are not as stupid as some MLs think. I have seen MLs change their views as soon as Musharraf changes his. Their mind-set seems to work like this; “We have to support Musharraf in everything he does and every action he takes. So whenever he makes a U-turn we will invariably do the same. And even if we ever have to criticize him we will always end our conversation on the note that he is the best choice we have and is the best thing ever to happen to Pakistan since Quaid-e-Azam, and of course he had no choice”. And these statements come from the same people who label PPP Jiyalaas as fools and idiots for following and accepting whatever BB says! I rest my case.

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