Archive for the 'Musharraf' Category

The Plan To Topple Pakistan Military by Ahmed Quraishi

Published on December 1, 2007 in Emergency, Musharraf and Pakistan. 8 Comments

[I am a bit unsure about what’s written here as it is almost a mini-thesis yet Ahmed Quraishi fails to address the most important issue for me. He doesn’t talk about the judiciary. There is no mention of what they did wrong, unless he is implying they were also part of the US campaign against the Pakistan army. Because at the end of the day Musharraf and his government, by imposing this emergency, took action against no one except for the judiciary. Our superior judiciary is jobless. The media is mostly back on and soon GEO should be up and running as well. I believe the Dubai authorities have allowed them to operate.

You see it seems like Mr Quraishi is blaming the entire world for what’s going wrong in our country, yet he fails to explain why action was only taken against the judiciary. Also, if the judiciary is part of this whole thing, just like the media, students, activists, lawyers, then something inside me questions why, if at all, all the good men are in the army?

Also, if this is there is a conspiracy against the army then what’s more important is how has the Musharraf government tackled it since November 3 or, in fact, prior to it? All I can see is an act that has visibly weakened the superior judiciary for many years to come.

Just for e.g. the man attacks Ayesha Siddiqa and mentions her Indian contacts. Yet he says nothing about the facts contained in her book. If the research is accurate then what difference does it make whom she meets or befriends?

Well, it’s an interesting read for the conspiracy factor, though completely unsubstantiated.]

WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

The Plan To Topple Pakistan Military

 

This is not about Musharraf anymore. This is about clipping the wings of a strong Pakistani military, denying space for China in Pakistan, squashing the ISI, stirring ethnic unrest, and neutralizing Pakistan’s nuclear program. The first shot in this plan was fired in Pakistan’s Balochistan province in 2004. The last bullet will be toppling Musharraf, sidelining the military and installing a pliant government in Islamabad. Musharraf shares the blame for letting things come this far. But he is also punching holes in Washington’s game plan. He needs to be supported.

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The day has finally arrived!

Published on November 28, 2007 in Army and Musharraf. 0 Comments

[Click here for BBC’s article on General Kiyani. No doubt his rise through the ranks has been extraordinary.]

RAWALPINDI: Pervez Musharraf stepped down Wednesday from the Army Chief post handing over the Army command to Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, who took charge as 14th Chief of Pakistan Army. Musharraf to take oath as a civilian president on Thursday.

Musharraf addressed the change of command ceremony held in this garrison town at Hockey Stadium next to the military General Headquarters.

The ceremony was attended by the caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, the services chiefs, members of the caretaker cabinet and high military and civil officials.

“I’m proud of this army and I was lucky to have commanded the world’s best army,” Musharraf said. “I will no longer command …but my heart and my mind will always be with you.” He said “I am leaving the Army in a best shape.” He said he knows Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani for last 20 years who is an excellent soldier and Army officer. Continue reading ‘The day has finally arrived!’

Musharraf and the media By Moeed Pirzada

Published on November 21, 2007 in Media and Musharraf. 1 Comment

In a rather interesting extension to Pakistan’s ongoing political crisis, President Musharraf has persuaded the UAE media watchdog to shut down two satellite news channels of Pakistani origin: GEO and ARY. Both were broadcasting from Dubai’s much-celebrated Media City. One of them had moved to Dubai from London, to save costs.

Ironically, this exhibition of extra-territorial muscle was demonstrated by the Pakistani dictator right at the moment when John Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, was landing in Pakistan. Apparently Condoleezza Rice’s second-in-command was on a mission to chastise the “indispensable ally” and to persuade him to lift the emergency and relax restrictions on the media. Continue reading ‘Musharraf and the media By Moeed Pirzada’

‘When is mushy going?’, asks SC

Published on September 6, 2007 in Judiciary and Musharraf. 0 Comments

SCWe’ll find out the date of the President’s ‘departure’ today. Obviously, we know that the office he’ll vacate will be the army office and not the presidential one. Once it is established that the President will be vacating one office, we might get a lot of petitions questioning the President’s ability to stand for re-elections.

Considering the response of the SC in this case, I would assume that they would not create any issues for Musharraf to stand for re-election as they believe it will ‘derail the system’. That is a valid point. But things must be seen in light of the existing law. A lot will depend on how liberally the SC interprets the law. Undoubtedly, there are no signs of the SC’s importance abating in the near future.

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A landmark verdict: Chief Justice Chaudhry restored & reference set aside

Published on July 20, 2007 in Judiciary and Musharraf. 3 Comments

The decision made in the people’s court a long, long time ago has finally been affirmed by the Supreme Court. A thirteen member bench of the Supreme Court has decided (Order in detail below) on the petition submitted by CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry and declared the following (a detailed judgment will be delivered at a later date):

  • Restraint, forced leave and suspension orders of the chief justice (by the President and Supreme Judicial Council) have been abrogated unanimously and declared as being unconstitutional. This effectively restores Iftikhar Chaudhry to his post of Chief Justice and one which he can continue to occuply till 2013.
  • The reference under Article 209 has been set aside with three dissenting justices. This marks the end of the (dare I say, first) reference submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council by President Musharraf.

    • Continue reading ‘A landmark verdict: Chief Justice Chaudhry restored & reference set aside’

President Musharraf’s interview with Kamran Khan

Published on March 21, 2007 in Musharraf. 1 Comment

President Musharraf’s interview with Kamran Khan on Aaj Kamran Khan ke Saath. It seems that he has finally answered my letter by giving us an explanation for his recent actions. No doubt it would have been advisable to do this earlier. However, I sympathise with the President since some of the actions attributed to him were taken by others of their own initiative. They were being more loyal than the king himself.

It is a good interview that covers everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks. The President speaks very well as usual, which was expected of him. I’m a happy man at the moment!

However, there are some who are not convinced by his answers. Also, another question arises. Will the Chief Justice be allowed to present his point of view to the media?

It is around an hour and 15 minutes and is divided into seven parts.

Part 1

WPvideo 1.10

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In his own line of fire

Published on March 17, 2007 in Musharraf and Satire. 3 Comments

“This government wants to come up to the people’s expectations. The question is what do the people want; especially the poor people and what are their expectations? In my view the people want self-respect. They want equality in the society. There should be no discrimination between the rich and the poor. They want self-respect and equal status. Secondly they want their genuine rights. Thirdly they want justice from us, from this country.”

Chief Executive Islamic Republic of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf
Excerpt from Address to the Nation - Islamabad
August 14 2000

Although many may be fully aware of its meaning, there is an old expression that some important and influential individuals might not know or have forgotten over the years. How many years? For some reason, the first number to cross my mind is eight, so we’ll just go with that to avoid digression. The reason behind referring to this particular expression is that it is completely relevant to the above quote and the present conditions in Pakistan, at least from my perspective. Hence, I feel the utmost need to mention it: “Don’t just talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk“. To put it in simple words, the meaning (if some of us still haven’t gotten it yet) is to keep a promise or abide by what one professes.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t go through the hassle of writing yet another piece on the good General but then again are the circumstances normal? In fact, have they ever been? To be really honest they haven’t.

Until last year, there has been no significant change in Pakistan’s corruption level and I strongly doubt if any difference has occurred since then. Why do I bring this up again? Well the General appears to be a person of logic and reasoning. If anything, that’s the image he tries to portray whenever he gives one of his speeches, where he seems to be explaining his respective viewpoints and philosophy to the nation in the same manner a parent does to an infant. So let us emulate our beloved leader and do some good old deductive reasoning at the grass root level: Continue reading ‘In his own line of fire’