Interestingly both Indian and Pakistanis commented and i concluded everyone want peace. But There were varied point of views came on the screen by both sides. I’ll base y article on the basis of those conversations.

Indian Channels are spreading a war hysteria not only in the India but CNN and BBC SKY news are following the same tune. Without any proves Indian media started disseminating just after five hours that Pakistan and ISI is involved in this Mumbai mayhem. For people of Pakistan it was strange thing that without any preliminary investigations how can media is so sure that Pakistan or its any of the organization is behind planing Mumbai terrorist attacks. According to one group of intelligentsia in Pakistan; Mumbai Terrorist attacks have been conducted in order to make ISI impotent. Because there have been evidences revealing that there are Anti-US and Pro-US groups present within ISI. In last few months the role of ISI has been seriously criticized; there were demands to ban the political wing of ISI, America has accused ISI for promoting and helping Talibans in Pakistan.

Pakistani Government reaction was little lenient; even Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has consented to send ISI Chief to India for investigation. People in Pakistan reacted negatively for sending ISI Chief to India. They were of the point of view that information should be shared on state to state basis but not on Chief of any organization should be sent to answer something that presumably was said that done by the same organization.

Indian Media was bringing out the facts and denying within next half an hour; even the accused terrorist captured labeled as Pakistani was later proven Indian citizen. Thanks GOD Indian Government has denied the reumours spread by the Indian Media that there has been any forces mobilization ordered by government.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani contacted all leaders of the political parties and civil society, who assured him of their full support. Whenever anything happens either in India or Pakistan; both countries pointing fingers towards each other and their securities agencies are brought on the hit list. It is Marriot or Taj ; both sides start a blame game and mainly the media plays scams in this regard and manipulate the facts. India put its Airforce on high alert and hen the Service Chief was called on by the head of state to discuss the situation that gave an impression that India is going to impose war on Pakistan. Pakistan Army said Sunday it found no solid evidence of unusual military movement by India at international border. DG Inter Services Public Relations Maj. Gen Athar Abbas while talking to newsmen said that Pakistan Army is ready for national defense and to tackle any untoward situation at western border. Abbas said that Army is closely monitoring the Indian military movements at international border and no unusual activity was witnessed so far. He advised nation not to worry over India’s reported ambitions. Pakistani media established counter opinion that we Pakistanis should be ready for war, though there are elements who do not want war but peace; and they promoted they hope for the best but be ready for worst and unity was demanded with the various fractions of the society.

Replying to my comment one American Suzanne Bowen said that media insinuate facts to generate ads; this is media that spread misconceptions among governments and on mass level develops opinion either in favour or against. So did the media did in Pakistan.

One of the group in Pakistan has been asking had Pakistani government or ISI been involved in masterminding Mumbai terrorists attacks and killing innocent people.. Can they be so silly to have their ID cards in their pockets and keeping their boats stand there (Indian reports have been saying that the terrorists came from Karachi through boats) ..

According to them Pakistan is being targeted for sure.. they question who can be the beneficiary of this whole situation? Is it Pakistan that is already engaged and fighting on its western borders with militants on pretext of war on terror and US drones are attacking and throwing missiles violating Pakistani territory.. Who does not want peace in Sub-Continent? who is looking for entering into Pakistani soils?

They question about the manner the whole Mumbai Terrorist attacks were engineered and terrorists were doing reminded the Indian underworld movies .. same drama, same style and same operations.. The way they ere engaged in it; gave an impression that those people have support from inside; and defence analyst comment that such operations can not be conducted without the inner support.. They ask that India have not provided any audio visual evidences that can prove that Pakistan was involved. Aaj kamran Khan k Saath show has revealed that Indian Army was busy in the exercise while these boats escaped so easily and terrorists found their way who were not acquainted with India.

A group of people question the Congress the ruling party is losing its strength n the country and Indian elections are going to be held in.. Where BJP can get benefit out of this situation too.. they comment not to be only judgmental and speculative .. They emphasis that there is need to be rational and propagate that we are neighbours and want to live peacefully..

Pakistan is giving SO SO So positive signals to India that offered cooperation in probing the whole matter? Religious extremists like Nerander Moodi and other (fundamentalists) are harming ultimately Indian politics to just get their vested interests served and killing innocent Muslims and Christians.

Kavita Chhibber wrote in one of her emails “It is really sad. I want Pakistan to thrive and be a successful economy so the people of Pakistan thrive. At the end whether its Bombay or the Marriot burning in Pakistan, its the innocent civilians who get hurt.” She told me that she was going to comment on the media hype in her upcoming issue of online magazine, a lot of it misrepresentation and hearsay.

President AJK Raja Zulqurnain on Sunday said that the master minds of Marriott Hotel blast and Mumbai attacks wanted to rollback on going dialogue process between Pakistan and India on Kashmir issue. Everyone has condemned and condoled to the bereaved ones on the precious loss of human lives in the attacks on Mumbai. Prime Minster AJK Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan Strongly rejected Indian media’s allegations regarding placement of the terrorist camp in AJK and termed it as baseless saying more than 42 foreign NGOs are working in the area but they never even gave a hint about it. He also urged Pakistani leadership to be united to face the time of calamity and on his part, AJK PM assured the leadership and the nation that Kashmir would ready to sacrifice their lives for the country.

Fear, bred by insecurity, can have two political consequences, one of which can be very beneficial to any government. George Bush remained President of the United States for eight years, quite against the odds, because he managed to exploit the American voter’s fear of Al Qaeda terrorists. However, he could not have won re-election on rhetoric alone. He had been able to keep a basic commitment. He might have angered the rest of the world, and irritated half of his own country, but he had kept America safe after 9/11.

Fear and insecurity will always instigate anger. It is a question of whom the anger is directed against. Americans concentrated their anger on Al Qaeda because they did not feel betrayed by their own government. They forgave George Bush a hundred vices because he displayed a single virtue.

Indian anger is bursting over in two directions. There is a passionate revulsion against terrorists of course. This was evident in Mumbai when citizens came out of their homes to cheer the heroic commandos who had delivered them from evil. But their second anger was also evident in their chants and slogans. Their impromptu slogans in praise of the motherland were punctuated with slogans demanding an end to Congress rule. The Indian voter is livid at the Congress-led governments in Maharashtra and Delhi because it feels betrayed by those it has elected to power. The voter no longer has much by way of expectation from any government. But if a government cannot deliver, ever, on security, then it is time to pull it down. If the Mumbai outrage had been a first incident, the voter would have given the government a second chance and more. But this government in Delhi has exhausted all its chances.

All fear/anger is not the same. The Indian Muslim voter is both afraid and angry as well, but his sentiments are trapped in confusion. He is angry with the terrorist for using Islam and his problems as an excuse for shocking violence and thereby making him vulnerable. He is afraid of his vulnerability to government retribution: a shamefaced Andhra Pradesh government is handing out Rs 35,000 to each innocent it picked up and tortured. And he is afraid of retribution at the popular level, motivated by leaders of radical Hindu outfits. His vote, therefore, could reflect this confusion. A part of the Muslim vote, possibly a large part, could rush back to the comfort zone of the Congress not because the Congress has done anyone any good but because it is considered less worse than the BJP. A strong section of the Muslim vote will go to third parties, like Mayawati’s BSP. And there may be other Muslim voters who will stay at home or vote for Muslim candidates who have no chance of winning. Wasting a vote is a means of showing no confidence in any of the parties on the slate.

The credibility of politicians has taken a hammering in the past week. Television anchors found, some to their shock and others to their happy surprise, that viewers did not want to see the faces of politicians during the long, continuous coverage of the siege at Taj, Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House. Politicians in government got the message quickly enough, and stayed home after a few statements that proved to be either premature, wrong or utterly stupid. Opposition politicians do not have to do anything except keep quiet. Those who could not keep quiet felt the whiplash of public reaction. But in any situation of this sort, it is the government that suffers the loss, since the voter cannot blame the Opposition for negligent, ineffectual and clueless governance. In these days of circulating SMS mobilisation, one crude SMS reflected the shifting mood. It described Manmohan Singh as “Noman” Singh.

If the Congress loses the popular vote in the Assembly elections, then it has no one to blame but itself. Dr Manmohan Singh regularly advertises his close friendship with Bush. All the pictures display a fawning admiring look on Dr Singh’s face whenever he is in the company of Bush. Couldn’t he have learnt from Bush how to win an election by manipulating fear?

The Delhi Congress is clearly worried that it will lose because of Mumbai. On the morning of the vote, it took out expensive full-page ads trying to suggest that attacks such as these had happened during the BJP’s time in power as well, as indeed they had. What the advertisement naturally could not mention was the frequency; or the absence of accountability either in the apprehension of the guilty, or among those at the highest levels of power who should take responsibility. In any case, the voter punished the BJP with five years of exile because of its sins of omission and commission. It won’t punish the BJP twice. Only those in office can commit a crime that deserves punishment.

A second SMS I received points out a baffling coincidence. I have not had time to check all the dates of disasters in recent memory, but find no reason to consider them untrue. “The Gujarat earthquake occurred on 26 January, the tsunami on 26 December, Godhra on 26 February, the Gujarat floods on 26 June, the Mumbai train havoc on 26 July and the terrorists struck last week in Mumbai on 26 November.”
I suppose that rules out any future election on the 26th of any month.

We are in a state of war, covert operations in FATA and Balochistan on part of Raw, and this is not a conspiracy theory, evidence suggests that this is happening unfortunately, suggest that. 14 embassies just along our western borders suggest that as well. No other country has that many embassies in any country. Fortresses are what these are. We are being cornered. Yes we have our plate full that needs attending. We have issues we have to address, but those propagating today and playing innocent need to have a reality check too. I am all for diplomacy, I am all for a non military approach but I can assure you they are not, as much as they would say they are. Why is it that when we analyze we are reminded of the afghan war, did problems start there? No they did not. Date them back to when the whole thing began, Let us go revisit 1947. Lets remember Redcliff, let us talk about Junagarh, Allahabad and then Kashmir.

If things are all that great across the border why are there 17 separatist movements in all corners, North West, North East, the entire South. Home grown and yet when they can’t deliver to their own people. Playing the Pakistan card and the export of terrorism seems to be the only hiding place. I am not taking anything away from our leaders either, but its time facts are set straight and people stand corrected.

Stop flooding us for a change when you have excess of water, and stop pushing us towards a drought when you need that very water. Oh is that not why the mere mention of Redcliff makes their establishment run a million miles away. Were there any acts of terrorism then? Had anyone heard of them, or was aware with the term even? Oh that’s the excuse behind raping Kashmiri mothers and sisters.

Junagarh, Our biggest military Arsenal, why was a straight line drawn, Mr Redcliff again, the state had voted to be with Pakistan, I wonder was it to terrorize us that we can be taken over when pleased. The escalation on part of Indian army a few months later proved what intentions were behind that.

Allahabad, Oh lets crush them economically. So that is where the root cause lies. How many more, I can go on forever. But to some only the past twenty years matter. No one just stands up one day and says lets do something that radical. These people are human beings too, what makes them so radicalized? We treat animals with more compassion, sedate and rehabilitate, and just over rule these individuals as some alien species, they are human beings.

Issues need attending to across the border just as much as on this side. Those of you who may feel offended, please don’t as what I hear offends me too but facts are facts and the distortion on part of information feeders wont change a thing. Anyone who wishes to go head on, can do nothing, will gain nothing. Absolutely nothing.

The Americans need to be taken into consideration here too. When in war it’s Pakistan, so that’s the Bush administration, when pushing the economy forward its India, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Barak Obama. This could well be a special show for him. There was one Clinton too if you recall.

And I wonder if it took the terrorists 4 months to mark every place as the Intelligence Chief said, better than the forces there, even the layouts of the hotel, why were they on boats that were found yesterday. Contradiction, or lack of intelligence there somewhere, in those statements. Or are things being made up, as time goes along based on public reaction.

7 UK based boys, two passports found on the two arrested. What covert operation would overlook that, and who needs those documents on a boat. Or perhaps they arrived by air and those who leapt are covering their negligence playing the Pakistan card. Why Blame Pakistan, blame the British then.

The Gag Real continues and unfolds further in more amusing ways than we can digest. Lets wake up.

The crisis, that began Wednesday night and lasted through Friday, dominates conversation, newspaper headlines, television coverage and Internet chatter on indigenous websites and e-mail lists run by Pakistanis at home and abroad.

As a frontline state in United States’ global ‘war on terror’ Pakistan is only too well acquainted with the effects of terrorism, with such attacks in the country having more than doubled and the number of deaths quadrupling from 2006 to 2007, according to a report released in May by the U.S. State Department.

However, even the most high profile attack in Pakistan which destroyed the Marriott Hotel in the capital Islamabad on Sep. 20, that some analysts termed Pakistan’s ‘9/11′, pales in comparison to the events in Mumbai that have claimed over 155 lives already, that many are now calling India’s ‘9/11′.

A group of at least 25 men armed with assault rifles and handgrenades attacked 10 sites in Mumbai and then barricaded themselves inside two of the city’s finest luxury hotels, the heritage Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Trident, as well as a building housing a Jewish centre.

By the time commando squads flushed out the buildings, 155 people lay dead, among them eight foreigners. The final death toll may well reach 200, according to officials.

There has been widespread condemnation in Pakistan against the violence in Mumbai, from ordinary people and non-government organisations as well as from the Pakistan government which has offered “complete cooperation” and support to India to fight the menace.

The Mumbai attacks, hitting in the midst of the fifth round of the ongoing composite dialogue between India and Pakistan, are likely to have wide-ranging repercussions for India and Pakistan relations and for the international community at large.

Analysts note that such attacks tend to take place whenever the South Asian neighbours are engaged in talks and peace initiatives. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had barely started his four-day visit to New Delhi to review the dialogue process when the attacks took place.

Pakistan and India tend to blame each other for terrorist activities within their borders, although over the past year they have been less quick to point fingers. This time too, New Delhi did not immediately blame Pakistan, but later claimed to have arrested a militant with Pakistani links. The Pakistan government has strongly denied involvement.

Commentators in Pakistan point to the huge intelligence failure in India to detect the amassing of arms and training that have enabled such a large number of militants to hold Mumbai hostage for over two days now. They also criticise New Delhi’s apparent reluctance to look within India’s own borders at its various indigenous insurgencies.

“All of India’s intelligence agencies have failed,” comments Farrukh Saleem, who heads the Centre for Research and Security Studies, an independent think tank in Islamabad, “The most critical element in their collective failure is their overwhelming focus on Pakistan-based militant groups.”

He believes that the intensity of this focus has allowed India’s home-grown militant entities “to spread like wildfire” that, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal, afflicts at least 231 of India’s 608 districts.

These insurgent and terrorist movements include three distinct types, “left-wing extremist, separatist and religious”, wrote Saleem in a front page analysis in daily The News on Nov. 28. “In 2006, a total of 2,765 Indians died in terrorism-related violence (that same year, 1,471 Pakistanis died similarly).”

Another analyst, who declining to be named, suggests that South Asian countries band together for joint military operations in the areas known to be breeding grounds for militancy against the guerrilla groups operating in different areas in the region.

In New Delhi, Qureshi stressed that India and Pakistan are both victims of terrorism. He said there was a need to strengthen the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism and “revisit our strategies for peace and security of the region.”

“Terrorism is a global phenomenon. We in Pakistan deal with it on a daily basis,” Qureshi said. “We will have to join all our resources to fight the menace.”

In an unprecedented gesture, Islamabad agreed to send its intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, the new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to India at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s request.

Pakistan’s civilian government in another groundbreaking move has recently disbanded the political wing of the ISI, often blamed for fomenting political trouble in the country and abroad.

“I feel a great fear that (the Mumbai violence) will adversely affect Pakistan and India relations,” prominent Karachi-based feminist poet and writer Attiya Dawood told IPS. “I can’t say whether Pakistan is involved or not, but whoever is involved, it is not the ordinary people of Pakistan, like myself, or my daughters. We are with our Indian brothers and sisters in their pain and sorrow.”

Dawood said she is still in shock from the events in Mumbai, a city she has often visited. “Such a beautiful city, so many people’s livelihoods and so much art and culture associated with it… It is so painful to see what is happening there. I watch the television coverage and remember standing at one of those spots watching street theatre…”

Others, like Karachi-based businessman Tahir Siddiqui, believe that events in Mumbai will force greater cooperation not only between India and Pakistan but also between other countries engaged in combating terrorism.

“Pakistan can’t afford to open any more fronts,” Siddiqui told IPS. “We have to cooperate in this fight. I think any support within Pakistan to militants will decrease significantly now, including in Kashmir.”

He added that the situation in Mumbai is “basically the symptom of a larger problem – the imperialist world’s continuing support to dictatorial regimes across the Muslim world, from Indonesia to Morocco. This lack of democracy marginalises people and holds back development. This is a wake-up call to address these issues.”

On a personal level, what can citizens do? ‘Resist fear!’ advocated Islamabad-based peace activist Shahid Fiaz in an email to friends in India and Pakistan. “I know how it feels when your cities are attacked. After the Marriot Hotel bombing and continued suicide bombings around the country, people go out less - markets and restaurants have a deserted look.”

Fiaz, who is on the National Council of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), the largest people-to-people initiative between the two countries, told IPS that fear is what the terrorists want to achieve. “We need to come out and resist and tell terrorists that these are our cities, we own our cities and we are not scared!”

“We in Pakistan understand and share the pain, anger and grief of the people of India, as we are also victims of terrorism including daily suicide bombings in one part of the country or the other,” said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and a former federal minister for law and human rights.

“Instead of accusing each other, which will only help the real terrorists, the need of the hour is unity and understanding among the people of our region. We need to make concerted efforts to defeat the nefarious aims of these terrorists and eradicate these extremist religious militants or mafias from every nook and corner of South Asia.”

In the final analysis, what is certain is that there will be no progress towards peace without determined political will.

Pakistan Times is grateful to Azhar Masood; who has sent this article after seeking permission from Ms. Beena Sarwar specially for the readers of Pakistan Times.

The Jammu jail authorities ignored the complain that Yasin Malik had made quite a few days earlier that led to severe abdominal pain followed by a partial damage of appendicitis. The damage has endangered his life and if not treated in time can prove very dangerous. The authorities put this popular leader behind bars on 22nd Oct. He was later on shifted to Jammu jail and booked under PSA on 1st Nov where he was kept in solitary confinement.

It is worth mentioning that he was arrested while he was exercising his democratic right of leading the peaceful and nonviolent election boycott campaign. The senior JKLF leaders urged Kashmiri top leadership to shun their differences away and forge and demonstrate unity at least at present when the Indian security forces are letting loose the reign of terror and trying to exploit Kashmiries and their forcible voter turn out for the so called assembly elections as their victory.

They urged the leadership not to level charges and counter charges against each other as it is un-necessary and of no use rather it proves advantageous to our common enemy. It is in no way in the interest of the freedom movement to accuse anybody who supports or leads and sacrifices for the freedom movement in anyway, they said.

The joint statement of the JKLF leaders condemned the barbaric and inhuman terrorist attacks that rocked Mumbai and killed more than 125 innocent lives and injured hundreds. The leaders also appealed people to boycott the so called state assembly elections and follow the co-ordination committee program.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik was hospitalized in critical condition over appendix burst Friday. According to sources, Yasin Malik was been brought to All India Medical Institute in New Delhi.
-SANA

She told that two floors of the Marriott were reserved for US officials and secret agents. “It is open secret that hotel lifts were not stopped at these floors”, She added, on condition of anonymity. She disclosed that an officer of British Scotland Yard was also a permanent resident of the hotel. “These spy rackets were the original target of the blast”, she asserted.

The Pentagon Officials confirmed the deaths of two US marines in blast who were staying in the hotel. Pentagon officially announced that its two marines succumbed to injuries in the blast. These agents were posted in US embassy in Islamabad; their names have yet not been disclosed.

Furthermore Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moeller also confirmed that an embassy official was dead but a secret agent of Denmark intelligence agency PET was gone missing since the deadly blast. 53-year-old Detective Inspector Karsten Krabbe, a security adviser to the Danish mission, had now been identified as being among those killed in the bombing. “It is with deep sorrow that we have learnt with certainty that PET has lost a competent, trusted and highly appreciated officer,” PET Director General Jakob Scharf said.

“We have lost all contact with him, he was talking about a member of the intelligence service stationed at Islamabad”, he told a local channel. The missing officer had been sent to Pakistan to improve security for Danish staff here. The Danish intelligence agency, PET, said in a separate statement that one of its agents, a security advisor, was missing, presumed dead. A second PET official was unhurt, it said.

It would deemed worthy to mention that an Urdu national daily The Jung has pointed out towards the secret activities going on in Marriot Hotel. It was reported that suspicious Steel Boxes were allowed entering without any particular scanning few days back this suicide blast took place.

However The Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik had declined The theory that the presence of two US marines in hotel was the total attraction to the terrorists in a press briefing when he issued footage of how the suicide bomber along with dumper truck loaded with 600kg of explosive; blew himself in front of Hotel gate causing deadliest ever attack in Islamabad.

BACK home in the subcontinent, they say you should always stay away from the cops: Their friendship as well as adversity is bad for one’s health. I am reminded of the advice as the world’s chief cop bombs its allies and friends in Pakistan. With friends like these, do you really need enemies?

When Pervez Musharraf had enthusiastically recruited Pakistan in the US war after that call from Colin Powell, he had assured his people that it was the only option available to Pakistan. Else, the general reasoned, the US would have bombed Pakistan back to the Stone Age. Fortunately or unfortunately for Pakistan, Musharraf is not around. Otherwise we could have asked the good general why the Coalition of the Willing has turned on its own.

Or is Pakistan no longer part of Bush’s divine mission to promote democracy and freedom in the Muslim world now that Musharraf is not in power? Or have Pakistan’s new leaders relinquished the total control of the Islamic republic to Uncle Sam?

Last week as new President Asif Ali Zardari joined “Brother Hamid Karzai” in a duet celebrating democracy and the glorious war of terror, the US forces were going about taking out “the terrorists” in the Northwest — “terrorists” who were women and children. I have nothing against Karzai. But he is not exactly the poster boy of democracy in the Muslim world. Most Pakistanis love to hate him. Musharraf might have committed a thousand blunders but he knew how to deal with the likes of Karzai.

But how do Pakistan’s new leaders propose to deal with the increasingly demanding Americans? Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani won the instant gratitude and admiration of his worried people by standing up to the US. The general was lionized by the Americans as “our man” when he took over from Musharraf as the army chief. There was much talk of his “enlightened moderation” and his positive outlook on the West.

Which was why the Pakistanis were elated to see the general lash out at the Americans vowing “retaliation” if they continued to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Whether the Pak Army will really take on America, the leading member of the fabled trinity, is still a hypothetical question. However, by asserting himself Kayani articulated the sentiments of the nation of 170 million people — at the receiving end for some time. More importantly, the general has provided the much-needed leadership and sense of direction to his disillusioned people at one of the most difficult points in the nation’s history.

But where are those who are supposed to lead the nation at all times? Where are the champions of democracy and freedom when they are under threat by the friends who are not so friendly?

While the rejuvenated Pak media is constantly debating the growing US attacks protesting against mounting civilian casualties, silence of the politicians is deafening. Zardari evaded all questions about the US incursions at his first press conference. It’s understandable if Benazir Bhutto’s widower finds himself indebted to Uncle Sam. After all, the US did play not an insignificant role in the turnaround of his fortune. It was the US pressure that persuaded Musharraf to bring in the National Reconciliation Ordinance paving the way for the return of Benazir and Zardari. It was the US again that pushed Musharraf to shed his uniform and hold elections. So even though it was the pro-democracy movement pioneered by the lawyers and the media that eventually brought Musharraf down, the man who spent 11 years in the prison on his way to the presidency views Washington as his real benefactor.

Which is why it’s doubtful when and if the neocons in their last desperate bid to make the most out of the Bush presidency hit Pakistan, they’ll face much resistance from the politicians.

Having totally wrecked Iraq and Afghanistan over the past seven years, the neocons are looking for fresh targets, new enemies and new territory to sustain the interest of the bored American voters. After the disastrous eight years of the Bush presidency, you would think the Republicans would be too embarrassed to ask for another shot at power. But if you can get Bush re-elected after what he unleashed on the Americans and the world in his first term, you can surely get another dummy elected all over again — even if he is too old to run and is promising to persist with the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan and open new fronts in Pakistan and Iran. Right now, the neocons are dangerously desperate. They could do anything to keep Barack Hussein Obama out of the White House. And for them, attacking Pakistan is the surest and only way to laugh all the way to the vote bank.

But who will tell the Bushies that if they hit Pakistan, the things could really come to a boil? The world’s first Muslim nuclear state might have been much abused by the men in khaki and the civvies over the past half a century. However, it’s not the defanged and neutered Iraq of Saddam Hussein. This is a country that has fought three major wars with the giant called India. The US may be the world’s greatest military power. But if it attacks Pakistan, all hell will break loose. It will end up turning the whole of Muslim world, from Morocco to Malaysia, into a large battlefield. So much so, Saddam’s Iraq would look like a long picnic.
Courtesy:Arab News

The journalist in me has a problem when an official declaration, a chronological monologue, is treated as the gospel. It is not the job of a journalist to arrive at conclusions. The job of a journalist is to stand outside the circle and communicate nuances and niceties taking place inside the circle. When a journalist jumps into the circle, he becomes part of the story. Proximity breeds bias. Bias breeds bigotry. A true journalist can be anything but he can never be a bigot.

Journalistic bigotry is dangerous for it plays a vital role in shaping public opinion. Each such story leaves an imprint on public consciousness. In each blast, media, the fourth estate, behaves like fourth mistake. The needle of suspicion automatically swings towards Muslims whether it is Mecca Masjid blast or Malegaon blasts in which devout Muslims were specifically targeted inside their mosques. Every time there is a blast, Muslims find themselves in the no man’s land. They are caught in the crossfire between intelligence agencies and terrorists. Neither of them will trust Muslims. The day-today Muslim problem is bread and butter rather than the bomb.

Each blast is viewed from the green lens of Islam although saffron lens is equally making India red. One of the reasons for these blasts is to put the entire Muslim community in the defensive mode by systematically manipulating Islam. The trick is like a psychological warfare before the beginning of actual war.

It is true that a minuscule minority among Muslims has become radical. It is equally true that a minuscule minority among Hindus has gone on the extreme. SIMI, RSS and Bajrang Dal, are competing identities, each one claiming to represent their respective community. It is competitive extremism at work which can be summed up in one-line: My version of extremism is better than yours! Media plays safe when RSS and Bajrang Dal are involved in bomb blasts while it indulges in triumphant journalism when SIMI comes under the scanner. The reason for this differential approach is commercial: No businessman would want to antagonize the majority Hindu readers. Media, therefore, claims to be nationalistic but it only practices majoritarian nationalism.

From a journalistic point of view, I have a problem when Police changes the names of ‘alleged’ (it is one adjective which we in the media have abused and used at will) masterminds overnight. First it was Abdus Subhan Qureishi (alias Tauqeer), now it is Atif, the “terrorist” who has been gunned down.

The journalist in me finds it hard to digest that Mufti Abul Bashar, the alleged mastermind of Ahmedabad blasts, is linked to Delhi blasts. If Bashar is really connected to Delhi blasts, the bomb blasts should never have taken place since he was in police custody when the blasts took place. How can Bashar, a poor madrasa-educated person mastermind Ahmedabad blast with such precision? When did Indian Madrasas start producing tech-savvy Muslims? Indian government would love that to happen! There won’t be any need for Central madrasa board for modernization then!

Police says that the educated Muslims are involved in the blasts yet they arrest who will not be termed ‘educated’ by worldly standards. Mufti Bashar is just one example. A section of the mainstream media is extremely behaving like the nautch girl of Indian intelligent agencies. Instead of investigating the police claims, media is promoting self-contradictory journalism.

The journalist in me has a problem when a TV correspondent spits out the intelligence feed that there was a meeting of SIMI in 2001 where 200 youth were recruited to wreak havoc across India. What was our intelligence agency doing for the last 8 years?

Muslim accused are being branded as terrorists before the proper investigation and filing of the chargesheet. The actual trial by a court of law is yet to begin but the trial by media has already passed its judgement. Sample this:

“Mohammed Saif, the terrorist (emphasis added) who was arrested after Friday’s encounter, even possessed a fake voter card.” (TOI, September 21, page 1, Delhi edition)

Isn’t it a perfect example of Judgemental journalism?

Meanwhile Muslims live under siege and fear. State, said Mahatma Gandhi, is nothing but organized violence. Friday’s encounter of Jamia Nagar in Delhi raises some disturbing questions. Local Muslims have termed it as “dubious.” They have reasons to believe so. As a Delhi friend put it, “No one saw cross firing yesterday. Only the police claim it happened. Did you read in any report that anyone actually saw cross-firing?” She added, “How come the two so-called terrorists managed to flee? There was only one exit.” She asked, “If they knew they were going for a possible encounter, why wasn’t the building or the area properly covered by the police?”

Her conclusion was chilling and disturbed me:

“But the point is that they can kill anyone anywhere. Tomorrow my brother might be the target and on flimsiest of grounds with no chance of proving the innocence. You are guilty just because they say so.”

“It makes me bloody angry.”

Indian Muslims live with fear, security, discrimination and terror tag. A bunch of the so-called ‘Muslims’ have hijacked their Faith. I detest when somebody says those who planted the bombs were Muslims. Indian Mujahideen, a faceless body, has launched a faceless jihad for the sake of Indian Muslims. A true jihad can never be faceless. If one peers through Islamic history, he will come to know that a jihad is a battle which is fought under the banner of recognition and not anonymity.

I see a problem when a country of more than one billion people can’t arrest a loose bunch of murderers who want to convert India into a slaughterhouse.

Indian intelligence agencies have some much input yet they produce zero output.

India’s 160 million Muslims have a problem: fear. And nobody is willing to even listen to them. They are the in-betweens of India’s fight against terrorism. They want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. India needs to integrate them. A Muslim friend put it bluntly, “Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Where the mind is without fear‘ no longer adorns my wall.”

Good question. An American columnist is convinced that nuclear energy is too extravagant for an economy as rich as America’s, but Dr Manmohan Singh insists on foisting it on the Indian taxpayer. To put the comparison in perspective, at over $1 trillion, the combined value of around half a dozen major American companies that collapsed in the last fortnight was near India’s GDP of $1.4 trillion.

As each deception is exposed, the goalposts keep changing. Now that people are becoming aware that even in thirty years nuclear energy will not contribute more than six or seven per cent to the energy mix, at prohibitive cost, a new fudge is in the works. Another energy plan will be formulated to increase, on paper, the share of nuclear energy. As for the cost, let those in charge in 2020 worry.

Former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh has been asking the government for clarity on the cost to the consumer of this nuclear energy. He has still to get a satisfactory answer.

Almost every argument used by the government to sell the nuclear deal has been upturned by revelations. Dr P.K. Iyengar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, summed up the American position in a statement on 4 September: “If India conducts a nuclear test, America will immediately abrogate the 123 Agreement, and take back all nuclear materials, including fuel, it has supplied; there are no guarantees of perpetual fuel supply or provisions to stock for lifetime; there will be no transfer of sensitive nuclear technology such as reprocessing technology; the US does not consider the 123 Agreement as the only document governing civil nuclear cooperation with India — its actions will also be dictated by the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act and the Hyde Act.”

The White House cited India’s vote against Iran at the IAEA as evidence of a pro-US Indian tilt in conformity with the provisions of the Hyde Act. Under pressure from the United States and Israel, we have also abandoned the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, which would have provided much cheaper energy than nuclear power. Moreover, even in the event of the abrogation of the treaty by the United States, the mandatory inspections of India’s nuclear facilities will continue in perpetuity.

When such details became public, Delhi argued that we could always ignore Washington and buy from countries like France. On the evening of 18 September the French ambassador to India, Jerome Bonnafont, clarified that the proposed Indo-French nuclear agreement is going to be on par with the American agreement — there will be no transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technologies to India. The Times of India printed this pithy comment: “Certainly, it’s a blow to all those who trumpeted that if the US wasn’t prepared to give things, let’s go to the French.”

Some long-time supporters of the nuclear deal, who accepted Delhi’s assurances about the negotiating process on good faith, like former Indian ambassador to Washington Lalit Mansingh, have now advised Prime Minister Singh greater caution before committing the nation. They have even suggested that he avoid a visit to Washington during his tour to America for the United Nations General Assembly session. But facts are unlikely to deter Dr Manmohan Singh from inking a one-sided agreement.

We might note that Americans, who are so anxious to sell nuclear plants to India, have not built a single new plant domestically since 1979, when the Three Mile Island accident took place. They do a more careful cost-benefit analysis when it comes to their own money.

One of the more interesting items lying in the debris of collapsing business reports is the only economic success story that George Bush can boast of during his eight years. He has been an unqualified triumph in arms sales. Eric Lipton wrote in the 15 September issue of the International Herald Tribune, which carries stories from the New York Times, “From tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year [March to mid-September 2008] to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005… Deliveries on orders being placed now will continue for several years, perhaps turning out to be one of President George W. Bush’s most lasting legacies…” And just in case you thought that Bush was not a good salesman, “most arms exports are paid for by purchasers without US financing.”

Who are the greatest benefactors of the American arms industry? Those fighting alongside America in its strategic wars. Between 2006 and 2008, Saudi Arabia bought $8.6 billion worth of American arms; Iraq, $4.4 billion; Afghanistan, $11.4 billion; Pakistan, $4.2 billion; Australia, $6.5 billion. Saudi Arabia and Australia can afford their defence budgets, while Iraq has an $80 billion surplus, and Pakistan gets cash handouts from America. The truly appalling statistic is Afghanistan’s, among the poorest nations in the world. Next year’s figures should show a marked improvement, since India will be on the top of the shopping list. The architecture of a US-Indian military alliance is already in place, and construction has begun on various outhouses.

Will the Manmohan-Bush signatures be irreversible? If the UPA returns to power, in some variation or the other, the strategic pact will deepen. If the UPA is voted out, the next government will have to negotiate a difficult tightrope between perceived obligations and the need to protect good relations with America.
It is going to be a complicated inheritance.

I am making public a few of my communications with Aitzaz Ahsan and his consolidated response to help put things in perspective. There have been a few questions that had been lingering in every one’s minds regarding decisions made at crucial junctions of the movement, Aitzaz’s decision to remain in the PPP - even when the party is the only hindrance in the restoration of the judges -, the end of the Long March and the lawyers silence on the casualties in the War on Terror and I hope this can address all of them. Many other answers are not part of these long emails but will be answered in due time.

I have been a part of this struggle only because I rationally believe in it. The decision is an informed, educated one so I have been constantly giving the leadership my input, criticizing whenever I think is appropriate but otherwise supporting them throughout. The decisions taken by the leadership itself have been very informed and well thought out and I would like to make some of the reasoning public as many people have had raised questions.

To start of I am making public my infamous, rather harsh email - that was even picked up in Off the Record by Kashif. It was written after talking to people following the end of the Long March and how things seemed very abysmal.It appeared unlikely that we would ever recover from the aftermath. Many of the things in the email were based on the collective sentiment of our activists who had come for a siege.
However I become extremely occupied with things after the Ambassador incident and Aitzaz later wrote an article for me in the Newsweek to ensure I am not labelled into something I am not.
However amidst all of our friendship and all I have probably been his harshest critic because our eventual struggle is ensure those who we support are accountable to us and that I am accountable to the people I mobilize. To my relief I have always gotten a satisfying answer which has kept my faith alive. Very few movements in the world have ever been this democratic and transparent to the extend where an ordinary supporter like myself can raise any number of issues and the are all directly answered by the leadership. This is the glory of this movement where the supporters aren’t brainwashed, jiyay-jiyay chanting, guns-wielding jiyalas but generally educated Pakistanis who understand what they believe in. The reason they are part of it is because of their fanciful idealism and because of their love for their country and understanding that if the judiciary is lost now, it may never be independent again. Hence most of the supporters become some of the harshest critics as well. As my friend Naeem Sadiq Sahib had once put it, civil disobedience is not our problem in Pakistani Politics; Our problem is civil obedience.

This is why I still strongly support the movement and urge everyone to remain loyal to it. Its 19 months now, since it all began with a simple NO.However throughout all the decisions taken have been with utmost logic and sincerity of intention and have generally been the best ones in retrospection with a lot of hindsight.

Of course we have a right to dissent, and we must exercise that right. However we do need to keep in mind that our criticism is justified and positive. At the end of the day, our leadership is much more experienced and probably more sincere and committed than us. It’s best to introspect before directing anger at the top - something I have learnt in this time too. I probably still won’t consider Zardari to be a legitimate President - for many reasons - but others have a right to have a different opinion which we must respect.

Also I am not related to Aitzaz Ahsan. I just came to know him through the movement and was only through this common cause for an independent judiciary that I met him. However by the time and effort taken by his many correspondences with many people it is pretty clear that he is making a sincere effort in ensuring transparency and of making sure everyone’s questions are answered.

Nonetheless the leadership has inspired may millions of in today’s youth with its constant dedication and committment, its ability to make tough but wise decisions, to have patience and resilience when even its own people turn against it, to withstand offers and offers and more offers of money, power and other perks and most importantly to ensure that movement is transparent and open to scrutiny by anyone. You can verify that from my emails below. I may have been a very strong public supporter but have always done my share of honest criticism.

I do really mean when I say that Aitzaz Ahsan we are proud of you and the vision that you have given our youth.

Sincerely,

Samad

My emails:

Dated: Sep 13th 2008

Disappointed

Sir, your latest statement regarding oath of Zardari as President has disappointed us all.

To become the legal President of Pakistan Zardari must take an oath from the Legal Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry. That is a constitutional requirement and till that happens I do not think Zardari can be considered a legal President. Without a constitutional oath of office Zardari can not become constitutional President.

Zardari’s oath was led a usurper - someone complicit in an act of treason - and that must be condemned. I am not even sure if Zardari was eligible to run for office of the President because the NRO had a stay order by the legal CJ and his eligibility would be the same as under the real SC.

With every passing day it reminds us that the struggle is between the supporters of independent judiciary and supporters of Zardari. It is not long before more people start deserting the cause because of our silence on Zardari and his tactics. More silence will lead to desertion by the cause’s “jiyayals” which may be disastrous for the movement.

Zardari needs oath from CJ Iftikhar. No second opinions on that. Without that he can not legally proclaim to be the President of Pakistan and we cannot support him as constitutional either. This - I believe - is in line with our principled cause.

Sincerely,
Samad

Dated: June 16th 2008

Backdrop: “In the end” – Linkin Park

My apology to fellow activists

Friends:

I am really thankful to you all for your support, encouragement and patience during the past eight months. This probably was the best time of my life and memories from this period will remain with me forever. Unfortunately, the naivety and personal agendas of the lawyers’ leadership has made it extremely unlikely that the judiciary will be restored and the current line of action may even do Pakistan more harm than good. I thought it appropriate to share with you all my reasoning before quitting the movement. Please do go through all of it whenever you have time.

1) We may not be able to recover from the tactical recklessness committed by the lawyers during the last few hours of the long march.

a. The lawyers had promised to “siege the army house” or have a “dharna” till Musharraf leaves/judges are restored (many news items, e.g: The News- Lower courts disgruntled over ‘hijacking’ by lawyers’ leaders or Lawyers vow not to rest until judges restored-Khaleej Times . The eventual line of action has seriously undermined the credibility of the lawyers – many of us felt cheated.

i. People are unlikely to come again on the call of the lawyers.

ii. Many have even started labeling the lawyers as being sold out. While I don’t think this is true, the perception within the masses is really widespread. I suggest those who doubt me to talk to 10 rickshaw drivers and find out for yourself.

iii. All those who had mobilized people under the promise of a dharna, including myself, have had serious smears to our credibility. People will not come on our call again and many of us will not want to have our integrity at stake.

iv. The overall spirit of despondency that sprung after Mr. Aizaz’s speech at the Long March will require serious reparation and can not be fixed in a day. By the time people regain their spirits the judiciary may have been lost for good.

b. Admission by Mr. Aitzaz that financial considerations could not permit “dharna” has given the Zardari camp renewed hope that their dilatory tactics are working. They had always planned on eliminating resistance by attrition by seeking for deadline after deadline or by introducing the largest amendment in the history of Pakistan amongst other things. Exposing the financial shortcomings of the lawyers – which many people doubt is the real case for not having adharna btw – is only going to strengthen their desire to delay the issue.

c. There is NO way that we can mobilize this many people in the future. The dejection in the hearts of those who had been in the forefront as well as those who participated in the Long March. According to one statistic taken by a resistance group over 80 % of the people were extremely disappointed at the end decision. The impact of word-of-mouth of 4 lac people can not be ignored.

d. All future mobilizations will be subsequently smaller seriously harming the movement:

i. A rally of 50000 people in Islamabad, which is huge by Islamabad’s standard, will not be given the same level of importance as it deserves. Comparisons will be made to the Long March and such rallies will be used to show decline in popularity of the lawyers’ movement. Islamabad’s rallies have rarely exceeded a few hundred and the same is the case in other cities.

ii. The “train march” will not help the cause much:

a. Pakistani trains are already overcrowded and a train rally only requires a few banners on each train and some people to chant slogans to make it into a “train march”. This is something even the Zardari camp realizes.

b. The cost to the public is too high. Imagine the thousands of people whose life will be affected by the train march and how they will hate the lawyers for the rest of their lives. Think about the hundreds of people who will not be able to go to funerals, weddings or other important events of their loved ones because the lawyers had to go for another picnic.

c. Very unlikely that such high numbers will be achieved.

e. I still maintain that if we had occupied the Supreme Court, Parliament and/or Presidency and refused to leave until the judges were restored. We had the numbers at the Long March to have made this possible. Now that might not be possible anymore.

2) We need to have a serious change of focus:

i. The judges’ restoration needs a mere executive order. It is Yousaf Raza Gilani and not Pervaiz Musharraf who needs to issue that executive order and it is Yousaf Raza Gilani and not Pervaiz Musharraf who is not issuing that executive order. How many of the lawyers chanted slogans against Yousaf Raza Gilani? Why are we still crying over a car shattered whose radio only works?

ii. It is the PPP, under the leadership of the great Mr. Clean which is the biggest (and perhaps only) hindrance to the restoration of the judiciary and not the radio of a shattered car. There is more than enough evidence to support this from BB-Musharraf deal under which BB was taken in confidence over the destruction of the courts and she left before Nov 3^rd, as per plan (amazing how many of us can conveniently overlook this) to the constitutional package to calling Musharraf an “asset”. If you still think the PPP is interested/committed in restoring the judiciary, I really feel sorry for you and pray for your sanity.

3) We lack the will, capacity or the honesty of intention to focus on the real impediments in the restoration of the judiciary – Asif Zardari.

i. Did Aitzaz, Munir or any other prominent lawyers condemn Zardari at the Long March? The Constitutional Package? The use of 2/3^rd amendment for the restoration of the judiciary? Thank you Imran Khan and one other member of PML-N for not letting our mouths remain chained by our blind amnesty for the PPP.

ii. Mr. Aitzaz himself is a member of the CEC of the PPP, the very same party that has been impeding the restoration of the judiciary. His refusal to recognize that his own party being the only real problem in the restoration of the judiciary is undermining his credibility on a daily basis. Many people have suggested that calling off thedharna was on the orders of Zardari to a member of his own party. While I do not doubt Mr. Aitzaz’s intention, I also do realize where the allegations of the people are coming from. The same way the people have rejected the Q-League members who started speaking in favor of the judiciary they may soon reject the words of a CEC member of the PPP (I will not make the mistake of asking forAitzaz’s resignation from PPP. When some CCP members suggested this to Mrs. Aitzaz the response they got was “aap ki aukaat kya hai yeh kahnay ki”. Maybe she is right; in a democratic setup people should not communicate their desires to whom they consider their leaders.)

iii. In November 2007, when APDM announced boycott of the elections a major opportunity was before us. We only had to convince PPP to boycott and Musharraf would have been history for good. I suggested to have a hunger strike till death in front of BB’s house until she withdrew from the elections and a daily protests outside her house to supplement the hunger strike. There was no way BB could have avoided it given the international coverage we were getting especially after the high school student protest Pakistan: School kids brave batons; Protest against emergency-Reddif . We were stopped by a leading lawyer who suggested that should not go against the PPP or BB. That major opportunity was lost and PML-N reversed its decision to boycott as well. Eight months later we are at the same square: let’s not criticize the PPP, let’s give them time, yadda yadda yadda. If we are incapable of openly criticizing the PPP or lack the moral character to do the same we might as well forget this movement.

iv. The media is full of PPP’s hung-over “tantrum brigade” who will constantly write articles in praise of the PPP no matter what the PPP does. For instance have a look at this article: Dancing on the Broken Glass . The very same author refused to accept the argument by Musharraf supporters that the lawyers protests were destabilizing the judiciary and was vocally in support of the immediate restoration of the judiciary until the PPP changed its colors. Ironically she merely recycled the words of the Musharraf lobby to not miss an opportunity to write in favor of the PPP. The media is full of these Beena Sarwars who will never speak up against the PPP no matter how badly their actions destroy Pakistan. Many people argue that same is the case with Aitzaz.

4) Marches will not get the judges restored. Civil disobedience might:

i. If Zardari and co had such high regard for the will of the opinion they would have not promised to remove Musharraf before coming to power and eaten their words after being elected. Many of them are on record on this. Some are even on record for demanding restoration of the judiciary as well. (e.g : Bhutto’s party vows to remove Musharraf-USA Today )

ii. According to IPOP statistics PPP had lost 38% of its expected seats for not including restoration of the judiciary in their official manifesto: PPP and the restoration issue -Analyst Network. If they did not learn from that major loss in vote bank it is unlikely that they will listen to a rally of PML-N, PTI, JI and civil society, none of whom voted for them.

iii. However, if by engaging in massive civil disobedience if we are able to affect the working of the state (such as occupation of the Dogar Court until real judges are restored) and bringing the PPP to international shame perhaps the judges might be restored. Picture an image of 1000 students, journalists, civil society activists listening to Nirvana, wearing jeans, speaking English and refusing the let Dogar Court function and the shame that PPP would have to go through. Picture students from leading universities in Pakistan being engaged in this and how badly this would shake the PPP in the eyes of everyone. Perhaps this is a possibility but then again we are not dealing with normal people. Rehman Malik and Asif Zardari have killed many many people in the past.

5) Our efforts are not restoring the judges but only strengthening Zardari which will be detrimental for Pakistan:

i. The world was all praise for the PPP for allowing the Long March to be successful. Incidentally they took credit for it too!

ii. Our protests are weakening the car whose radio is the only working part and when he leaves Zardari will be ready to hijack his departure. Once the most hated man in Pakistan is removed and the PPP is able to steal credit for it, Asif Zardari will become larger than life. The judges will then only be restored on Zardari’s terms and we will all be known in history as Sharif uddin Pirzadas. Our actions are only weakening Musharraf and strengthening Zardari.

iii. If we have no choice but to accept a package on judges than Musharraf’s package is much better than Zardari. His offer would take the judiciary back to Nov 2^nd position with all its powers and in members. In return we would have to let Musharraf be the President and give indemnity to his Nov 3^rd actions. Zardari’s package destroys the judiciary, mutes its authority, inducts PCO judges and denies the CJ post to Iftikhar Chaudhry. If our protests are to lead to Zardari’s package then we should probably stop and choose Musharraf’s package which is much better for the independence of the judiciary.

iv. Zardari in power will be MUCH WORSE than Musharraf. NRO powered goons running the show, mass murderers, money launderers and thieves in posts of powers and the constitutional package which gives divine powers to the President will come in play once Zardari becomes President. This is not something any one of us should work for. If the judiciary can be restored with all its powers and members and media allowed to function freely the question of who is in power is irrelevant as we can hold them accountable. However if the judiciary is not restored, or is infested with PCO inductees then we should work for who will be less of a disaster to Pakistan. I would choose Musharraf over Zardari (and no I am not a Musharraf-fan. I have been chanting slogans in favor of having him executed!).

My sincerest apologies to all fellow Pakistanis but I do not see the movement achieving the restoration of the judiciary and hence I do not think it to be worth my time to continue to be a part of it. I have already suffered a lot which includes physical injuries, intimidation by the intelligence agencies, arrests, threats, school grades, discontentment of parents, loss of social life and using up of all my life savings for a cause that is only bringing Mr. 10 % to power and not restoring the judiciary. Hence I would request all lawyers, students, political parties and civil society activists to not contact me if you are not willing or unable to speak up against the PPP or Zardari or are reluctant in intensifying the agitation. Please also unsubscribe me from all such mailing / sms lists.

However all those who are genuinely serious about the restoration of the judiciary and are willing to focus on the person responsible for not having the judges restored as well as intensifying our resistance please feel free to contact me. I will join you in a sit-in inside Bilawal House and be prepared to go to jail for illegal trespass but chanting slogans asking for removal of Musharraf – who is merely the radio of a demolished car- is not worth my time and probably not worth yours either.

On a low, sad note.

Samad

Aitzaz Ahsan’s reply:

Dated: September 18th 2008.

Samad Khurram

Harvard.

My dear Samad,

I opened your mail yesterday and was deeply pained by it and by its tenor.

Of late there is a veritable campaign being fostered on the net and many mails are targeting the leadership of the Lawyers Movement. There is no doubt that most of the criticism is pointed at me but the beauty of the Movement has been that we have seldom taken any decision except through consensus though I admit to have been, in many ways, the prime mobiliser. As a result the criticism, to the delight of those who oppose the Movement, is of the entire leadership.

There are several issues being raised on blogs and through emails. I will address each briefly in this message because I greatly value your emotion and passion for an independent judiciary in Pakistan. But first the matter that has disturbed you as per your latest mail.

1. My association with the PPP:

This is one issue, however, that is personal to me yet it is one that I have shared with my colleagues. There are two aspects of it: the persona of Mr. Zardari and the PPP as a party.

i. You accuse me of having accepted Zardari as the constitutional president of Pakistan. Whether one likes it or not Zardari has been elected through a democratic process in accordance with the letter of the Constitution. That is undeniable. An even more significant aspect is that within that process the representatives of three smaller provinces have voted for him almost unanimously. Thus there are both the issues of democracy and the federation.

In our quest for an independent judiciary we cannot become oblivious to the primacy of the democratic will and the federal compact. In this quest we cannot befuddle either. Pakistan can only be sustained as a democracy and as a federation. Punjabi politicians must accept the democratic choice of the smaller provinces.

This is not merely an issue of likes or dislikes. Equally it is not merely about the independence of the judiciary or the legitimacy of the Chief Justice. We do not recognize Dogar as the legitimate CJP. But we cannot ignore the democratic verdict, particularly the resounding ‘voice’ of the three smaller federating units. Hence in my statement I said precisely that: ‘Although Zardari is the constitutionally elected President of Pakistan, there is a defect in the oath that he took. However, it would be unfair not to recognize him as the President after he has obtained the overwhelming majority of the votes of the electoral college expressly provided in the Constitution whose supremacy we seek’.

Also when we speak of intra party democracy remember how Hilary Clinton, after having pounded Obama for a year, accepted him as the Party’s candidate when he got the Democratic nomination. She now campaigns for him. We call that democracy. So why when Aitzaz, having raised the issue (of the presidential nomination) in the Party (and outside it) goes with the overwhelming Party majority, is it a betrayal? And note, too, that no one complains that neither PML-N (Justice Siddiqui) nor PML-Q (Mushahid) raised any objection to his candidature when they had the opportunity during formal proceedings before the Election Commission.

ii. The judicial issue remains paramount with me. Even within the PPP I am the loudest voice of dissent on this issue and keep it alive in the Party. Is it not essential that some voices of dissent remain in this Party, which does, after all, enjoy the support of a very large section of Pakistanis at home and abroad? Why must we abdicate and leave the field open for those opposed to CJP Iftikhar? I can assure you that he does not want me to leave the PPP. On the contrary, (and believe me, or check with others close to him) he wants me to remain in the Party as do I. And yet I openly join issue with the Party on the judges’ matter. I contest the position and logic of its leaders openly and without mincing any words.

The apparent slow-down in the movement is attributed to my connection with the PPP. Thrice I have volunteered to place the leadership of the Movement in other hands while continuing to work for it as an ordinary comrade. On each occasion (July 19 in the All Pakistan Representative Lawyers Conference in Lahore, August 23 in the meeting of the National Co-ordination Council in Islamabad, and September 4 in the meeting of the Steering Committee of the NCC in Lahore), all 300 representatives of all the Bars by a resounding and unanimous acclaim reposed confidence in my leadership.

I have led the lawyers from the front. You have found me in the thick of the lathi charge, being hit by stones hurled by police, being arrested and jailed, writing poetry from prison cells, rousing bazaars during the Black Flag Week, clambering upon the Edhi ambulance to save the Movement as well as Sher Afgan from sure fire lynching, leading the Long March in the scorching summer heat, touring the country, driving the Chief Justice, pleading his case before the Supreme Court, and engaging media persons as well as opponents in the debate and argument. Highlighting the fact that the martyred leader of the party Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto declared Chief Justice Chaudhry as the Chief Justice of Pakistan and its Co-Chairperson thrice signed agreements to restore him as such, a promise that must be kept it is my effort, I seek from within the Party, that it honours these solemn declarations. And when I have been imprisoned my wife had taken up the banner and led rallies and protests. All this while I have obtained no office from the PPP (twice even declining to become its MNA in solidarity with the Movement).

None who chooses to throw stones at me, and there are a vast number, stops to reflect upon the fact that all the decisions he/she chooses to nail me for were made after deliberation and by consensus. If I was indeed motivated by my association with the PPP in not going for a dharna after the Long March (on which more later), what persuaded men of such integrity as Muneer Malik, Ali Kurd, Tariq Mahmood, and all the four provincial Presidents: Anvar Kamal, Latif Afridi, Rashid Rizvi and Baz Kakar (all strongly or mildly anti-PPP) to expressly state in their own speeches at that rally that there would be no dharna that night? Certainly not my association with the PPP.

In fact I personally had concluded my speech (you will recall) by saying that all those who wanted to do a dharna were free to do so if they wished! Why did then only a dozen or so volunteer?

I have no doubt been prohibiting some slogans being raised against the PPP leadership. It is the slogan I consistently prohibited against Musharraf also, being of the variety liking him to a particular animal or questioning his parentage. Yes I have pleaded with lawyers to remain dignified and ’shaista lab’. I believe that emotions do not have to be expressed in expletives to be effective. The contrary has more effect.

The PPP is a major element in the politics of Pakistan. You may or may not agree, it commands the support and loyalty of millions of Pakistanis most of whom are perfectly likeable, family-oriented, peaceable and honest people committed to the political process. It is also a mainstream party with effective and country-wide cadres and organization. Many PPP lawyers continue to vigorously support the Movement. The Islamabad Bar President belongs to the Party as does the Secretary of the Rawalpindi Bar. These two Bars have been the front edge of the Movement being proximate to Parliament and the Supreme Court. Most district and taluqa Presidents of Bars in Sindh belong to the PPP and were in the forefront of the nation-wide dharnas. The shaheed Imdad Awan was a PPP stalwart, a PPP Senator, who died in harness. He used to be deeply disturbed when his Party was condemned by protesters. Must we lose all of them, and even when they support us on this one vital issue?

The Lawyers’ Movement is a plural movement comprising of a rich diversity of opinions and persuasions. It is not easy to lead such a collective, and to do so for 18 months, keeping them all together. It is even more difficult to keep within the movement cadres and members of a Party whose leadership turns away from it. Yes, there are some who want to take advantage of this turning away for their own political benefit. But it would splinter the Movement as many of its opponents want. This has been, and remains a delicate task not to be addressed by emotion alone. The collective wisdom of the leadership of the Movement is a better guide to follow than the emotion of some of the more passionate ones who may be reckless about the split in the ranks of the movement (not just in the leadership).

As to myself, I have a long association with the PPP and its supporters, cadres and office-bearers. I have been with them in street demonstrations over the past four decades, been beaten by the police and been in jails and lock-ups with them. There is a bonding of a nature so pure and I have no intention of giving up that association.

This should suffice to address your current disappointment with me, but I take this opportunity of posting you with some other issues as you are a well keyed-in young man with many a critic and supporter within the reach of your net.

2. The pace of the Movement:

You must understand the nature of political and social movements. They cannot be sustained at the same high pace all the time. They cannot be run in top gear all through. Nor can they continue the same activity at varying speeds all the time.

If the only measure of success is the actual physical reinstatement of Chief Justice Chaudhry, then we have failed, at least to this point in time. But consider some of the successes of the Movement:

• The July 20, 2007 unanimous verdict of the Supreme Court.
• The return of the exiled leaders on the 18^th October and 25^th November.
• The 27^th November shedding of the uniform.
• The 18^th February resounding defeat of the dictator at the polls.
• Payment of all back dues to deposed judges immediately after the Long March.
• Even more significantly, there were three outright victories, and (prima facie) final and successful conclusions of the struggle. From any perspective whatsoever these should have been a triumphant completion, thrice over, of the last lap. This is the number of times the Movement impelled the leaders of the ruling coalition to actually and publicly sign formal documents and to make public declarations of their solemn commitments to restore all judges in accordance with the Murree Declaration. Would you not categorise that as a triumph each time? Should more have been required of the Lawyers?

We cannot, after all, carry the Chief Justice and judges on our shoulders, smash plate glass and padlocked doors, and break into court-rooms and seat the judges in the chairs they ought to be occupying. Telecast live by the channels across the globe, such mayhem will be the end of the Movement as well the judges. There is a dignity in the Lawyers’ Movement which is all about avoiding scenes like the Sher Afgan incident in Lahore on April 8. That dignity has won us global respect and acclaim. We have to remain within the bounds of what is non-violently possible and doable though some will shout: we need to give up non-violence! Fair enough: come out yourself and take it up as a course of action. The present leadership and vast body of lawyers will not resort to such actions howsoever much we may be chided with pusillanimity in this behalf.

Note also that regardless of whomsoever has reaped its benefit, the Lawyers Movement remains the only sustained movement in this country that has not had the support (in fact, it has been actively opposed) by the Army, the Intelligence Agencies and the United States. That is a feather in its cap.

When, to every one’s surprise, the signed declarations were not acted upon last month I immediately called a nation-wide two-hour dharna on the 28^th of August. That strategy was a resounding success. Though the time of dharna was limited, the spread and span was wide, thus jamming at once all the traffic in the entire country. What more can a mere 80,000 lawyers (of which at least half have always been non-practising or indifferent) and brave activists of civil society do given their small numbers? So I gave a call for what we could do with small numbers peppered across the land.

But, yes, I confess the Chief Justice has not been reinstated despite the signatures, the public promises, the Long March and dharnas. Meantime many of his colleagues broke ranks and took fresh oath. What do you do when people who, undoubtedly have been under pressure, decide to break rank? Hum nay tou in ko dhoop bhi nahin lagnay di. We braved the sun, the baton, the gas, the bullet and the prison cells. But they gave up. It affects the morale of the rank and file. I hope they will remain conscious of the cross on their shoulders and be good judges in the days ahead.

The Movement has also slowed down on account of Ramzan. That is why we did the nation-wide dharnas before its advent. Immediately after it we will be pre-occupied with Kurd’s election to my post. With a political government in place, it will not be a walk-over and the campaign will demand all our energies and time.

But the lawyers and civil society must not only be remembered for heating up the streets. Let us be realistic. We need at least one of the big parties with us. But both are now engaged in power-politics and consolidation of their governments in the Centre and the Punjab.

However, to keep the spotlight on the issue I have plans for the CJP’s visit to Europe and North America. For that we need the support of the community abroad. From November 4 to 14 he will travel through Belgium, Holland, Germany, France and the UK. November 15 he travels to NY to receive the NY Bar’s Honorary Life Membership. On November 19 he receives the Harvard Law School’s Medal of Freedom previously awarded only to Thurogood Marshall and Nelsen Mandela. (You are aware how Ali, my son, has co-coordinated the grant of both honours). These events will spotlight the underlying issue of the independent judges. What a shame it will appear when the US Bars and academia honour a Chief Justice we have ousted? We need you and your friends to mobilize people to accompany the CJP in long processions of cars in his travels around the US as other destinations will also be indicated soon.

I would also like him to attend the Lawasia Conference in Malaysia end October. He should be seen striding across the world with confidence and the gait of the constitutional Chief Justice of Pakistan. That will be another phase of the Movement, albeit with fewer participating lawyers from Pakistan.

So the Lawyers’ Movement is not all about the street alone. It is about an issue that has been agitated vigorously on the street and will be done again when the moment is ripe. To ripen it we may have to broaden our platform to link the issues of popular weal such as inflation, crime, discrimination, with that of the restoration of the Chief Justice. People miss his suo moto energies. But we are neither a political party now, nor can we aspire to become one in the future (there is such a rich diversity of views and persuasions amongst the community of lawyers). That can be stated to be our weakness. But it is real.

3. The controversy about the Long March dharna.

In my estimation the Long March (LM) was a huge success. It spanned the country. It woke up the people. It demonstrated that the people of every nook and corner, or every hamlet, village and town of Pakistan urgently wanted the reinstatement of the CJP and judges. It mobilized an entire nation. Every habitat that the ‘Marchers’ drove through was thronged with the locals showering rose petals, offering water bottles and food items. There were men, women and children of all ages, regions, ethnicities, linguistic groups and religious persuasions. Students, labour unions, lumpen labour, farmers, white collar professionals, even senior executives joined the milling crowds with pride and enthusiasm. The nation was energized.

Though the proposal for the Long March was mine, the decision was collectively taken by the All Pakistan Representative Lawyers’ Conference in Lahore on May 17. More than 300 Bar Presidents and office bearers from all over the country attended. There was indeed some talk at the Conference of the LM culminating in a dharna, but the Conference did not adopt the proposal. The decision was the LM would disperse after the concluding speech.

There were the hard-liners. They were not in a majority, but they were certainly more vociferous. I tried to plead with them at all stages to remain within the ambit of the decision. So we had to put our heads together again during the LM. Muneer, Kurd, Afridi, Tariq, Anvar Kamal, Baz Kakar, Rashid Rizvi, and I were all one that the dharna was impossible given the weather. It was June 14. You should remember the next day’s blazing sun. Incidentally when we rose from the two-hour dharna in the sun on August 28, countless lawyers thanked me for saving them a 14 hour sun blazer on the bare and boundless asphalt of the Islamabad Parade Ground at a much hotter time of the year, mid-June! Hamid suggested a 24 hour dharna but there was no point. The full day’s heat the next day was before us. And getting up after 24 hours we would have still been pestered by the media: have the judges been restored that you are leaving the venue? And there was no way that we were going to storm any building. I have already described to you what might have happened in such an eventuality.

We had not gone there to invite another military intervention. Certainly not. We had not gone there for a blood bath. Let that be clear. If the dharna had not petered out in the blazing sun, an assault would have resulted in discredit and, perhaps, a blood bath. What we wanted to do, to start with, in the LM we achieved. We wanted to force the world to notice the agitation within the nation as a whole on the judges’ issue. We were consciously following the precedent of Martin Luther King, not of any militant insurgency.

True there were shouts for a dharna in the front end of the crowd and just beneath the stage. These started after the speech of Mian Nawaz Sharif (who had himself contributed much of the crowd) that there be no dharna. Earlier both Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Mr Imran Khan in their speeches had exhorted the crowd to stage a dharna and left. Now when MNS suggested the contrary, these front benchers became anxious and began to shout “abhi nahin toa kabhi nahin”. They even aimed plastic water bottles full of water at us on the stage. Some tried to storm Parliament behind the stage. These activities were covered by the media.

But should we have been cowed down by this emotion? Jalib said:

Hajoom dekh kay rasta nahin badaltay hum….

That is what leadership means. The leaders have often to take seemingly unpopular decisions. So we had to be firm in our resolve. I had invited families, women and children to the final rally. I had promised that it would be peaceful and would end in peace. Men on motorbikes had brought wives, mothers and children with them. It was a large and festive crowd. They had come to make a point and they knew they were making it. More was not required of them or any one else.

The decision not to go for a dharna was a collective decision. Is one allowed to wonder why I am, alone, being targeted by those (most of whom were not even there), who think that the dharna would have made the government capitulate. I nevertheless have shoulders broad enough to take the criticism on myself alone because I think what we did was right.

I think those, like you, who were themselves there and prepared for the dharna, have a right to be critical. You wrote me a very strongly worded mail. You were disappointed even then, though I think I was able to convince you of the merits of the conclusion of the LM. Those, however, who never came there are aiming the most vicious stones. And there are far more of the latter category than of the first pelting projectiles of hate and venom. That remains their privilege.

4. The war in FATA:

I promised you a word