When Amir Haider Khan Hoti became Chief Minister of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) this month, he proved the point which Khan Abul Ghaffar Khan made before partition that a Muslim could be secular, without violating the tenets of Islam.
Hoti is the fourth generation scion of the Indian National Congress. He pledged 'peace', a message in line with Abdul Ghaffar Khan's faith in non-violence. It was a tribute to the relentless efforts by Asfandyar Wali Khan. He heads the ANP which has formed the state government.
Despite America's pressure, Hoti has brokered peace with the Taliban, clerics and terrorists, operating on the northern border of the state. He has released maulana Sufe Mohammad, Supreme leader of the banned Tehreek Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammad (TNSM), after six years in prison. In return, the maulana has signed a peace agreement with the government. The agreement says that attacks on brother "Muslims are anti Islamic". The Maulana has also given an undertaking that his people would not indulge in violence against the army, the police and all other security forces. This agreement has begun to work and it is a great victory for a conciliatory approach which Khan Abdul Ghaffar had preached and practised.
At the oath-taking ceremony Hoti recalled a colonial demarcation, the arbitrary Durand Line drawn by the British in 1893. This line has kept the Pushtu-speaking population divided. It is living in two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In fact, Ghaffar's followers, the Khudai Khidmatgars-they were also called Red Shirts-said soon after independence that Pakhtoonistan could be amalgamated into a confederation with Afghanistan. Referendum was held and the NWFP joined Pakistan. However, a British historian, Rittenburg, collected the eye-witnesses accounts which proved that almost every single person cast at least 50 votes each.
I recall the scene at the Congress Working Committee when the party accepted a formula for partition. Ghaffar Khan said with tears in his eyes: "Ham to tabhaa ho gaye (we are ruined). Before long we shall become aliens in Hindustan. The end of our long fight will be to pass under the domination of Pakistan."
Ghaffar Khan at this stage sought a third option-an independent State of Pakhtoonistan-in the plebiscite which, under the Mountbatten scheme, gave only two choices: whether to remain in India or join Pakistan. Gandhi did try to intervene on behalf of Ghaffar Khan but nothing came out of it.
Ghaffar Khan took the oath of allegiance to Pakistan. But its government's repression of the Khudai Khidmatgars did not change. Many years later, in the name of Islam, General Ayub, then Pakistan's martial Law Administrator, tried to make up with Afghanistan, which sympathised with the Pathans who wanted a unit within Pakistan to be called "Pakhtoonistan."
Ghaffar Khan and his son, Wali Khan, who inspired the movement, told me that what they wanted was autonomy, not independence. Pakistan had found in Ghaffar Khan's past connections with the Indian National Congress a ready-made brush to tarnish the movement and alleged that New Delhi was at the back of it. It is true that India sympathised with the movement more articulately whenever its relations with Pakistan would worsen. But the help was minimal. Had New Delhi really helped the Pathans, Abdul Ghaffar Khan would not have repeatedly said in public: "You (Indians) left us to the jackals; you promised to help us but you have betrayed us."
In New Delhi in 1969 he said that "India was never serious about Pakhtoonistan (an autonomous State for the Pakhtoons in Pakistan) but used the slogan only as a stick to beat Pakistan with." Afghanistan, while expressing sympathy, did not do much to help Pakhtoonistan's cause. Kabul ran the risk of losing its own Pakhtoon areas if the movement succeeded in Pakistan. Still Pakistan's overtures were bound to fail because Afghanistan would do nothing to embarrass its neighbour in the north-besides giving economic aid Russia gave all the arms and provided training to Afghan armed forces.
Ayub's efforts to win friends to influence India also had the effect of raising doubts about his reliability in the US, Pakistan's closest ally. Nothing came out of that exercise. My thoughts often go back to the time when I visited Charsada, Abdul Ghaffar Khan's village, at the invitation of his son, Wali Khan. It was a modest sitting room, with austere furnishing to which Wali Khan led me. I also met begum sahiba.I recall Wali Khan telling me that the manner in which Pakistan was interfering in the affairs of Afghanistan would one day boomerang and bring the fight right within Pakistan. What he said some 35 years ago has come true.
A historian, Mukulika Banerjee, recalls how on August 21, 1947, a week after gaining independence, "Governor Ambrose Dundas dismissed Dr. Khan Sahib's ministry, on orders from Governor General Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Ghaffar (Bacha) Khan took the formal oath of allegiance to Pakistan and vowed he would not seek to hurt the new state. He sought to lobby Jinnah to grant a significant level of autonomy to the Pastoons, but was persistently rebuffed."
Bannerjee also says that on June 1948, the Khudai Khidmatgar movement was banned by the Muslim League provincial government and its leaders imprisoned, branded as "friends of Gandhi and Nehru and traitors to Pakistan."
The Khudai Khidmatgars watched the development with disbelief when the Muslim League, regarded by most of them as the tools of the British, thrived. Thanks to the independence movement in which the Khudai Khidmatgars had given their blood and undergone repressions, but when the time of reward came they were pushed back to the prison. Their cryptic remark was "the stick that used to beat us now has a flag on it."
Hoti knows that the opponents of his policy of peace and pluralism will paint his ancestor as traitors. But he should remember that Dr Khan Sahib, despite a campaign of vilification against him, became Pakistan's Communications Minister in 1954 and the Chief Minister of West Pakistan, then a single unit, in 1955. Peace, conciliation and non-violence were the message of Khan Abdul Ghaffar. Hoti has followed the same policy because the NWFP made all the sacrifices for independence.
The triumph of peace in Pakistan's NWFP
Rehmat Shah Afridi...A winner !!!
Rehmat Shah Afridi...A winner
M Waqar
May 24 was indeed a beautiful warm beach day in New York, there was a nice smell in the air and I had feeling that I am going to hear some good news, and I WAS RIGHT, the greatest news for me was the release of Rehmat Shah Afridi, the great son of puktoonistan who refused to bow his head in front of cowards, corrupt, hypocrites of PML(N), BUT DID NOT SELL HIS SOUL, no one can bring nine years of his senseless stay in prison but he proved that he is a man of principles and a professional journalist. I extend my greetings to Mr. Afridi, his family, FP staff. The more shocking news was as Mr. Afridi mentioned after his release that why Nawaz corrupt regime send him to prison, today we can tell that Nawaz Sharif and his brother is not only interested in making money through illegal sources but they can also do anything illegal to get their political opponents in trouble, he is not a real professional politician but is a typical greedy businessman. Today Rehmat Shah Afridi is being released from prison and is enjoying a hero's welcome and we can see real horrible face and mentality of NAWAZ SHARIFF. Champions of human rights and media/press freedom should be ashamed of themselves that that it took so long to recognize the wrong that was being done to Mr. Afridi, who was imprisoned because his work was harming the interests of the powerful and corrupt. In advance and educated societies journalists are considered fourth estate of Govt.
BOB Woodward, an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post newspaper, is best known for his work in uncovering the government scandal that became known as Watergate and resulted in President Richard Nixon's resignation, President of the most powerful and rich country in the world resigned because a journalist disclosed his illegal and unconstitutional work, but this is America where president is not above the law and journalist BOB did not end up in jail because of his journalistic duty, Bob Woodward has won nearly every American journalism award, As important as Watergate was in political history, it was perhaps equally so in journalism history, if he was in Pakistan, that would be a different story, Bob would be still in prison because Pakistani bourgeois and elite don't like honesty and truth and we can see a classic example of Rehmat Shah Afridi of frontier post who spend nine years in prison because of his journalistic duties. Journalism is more than just a profession, good journalism is a duty. Good Journalism is to report the truth as you see .You are not a journalist because you work for a big company, or because you've got a press card in you pocket, You're a journalist if you provide people with the information they need to know, to be free and self-governing. Otherwise, you may be just another shark in a suit. The right to information, together with freedom of expression and criticism, is one of the fundamental liberties of every human being, straightforward and honest journalist's follows these rules, 1.To seek out the truth, in the interests of the public's right to know, whatever the consequences to him- or herself. 2 To defend freedom of information, freedom of commentary and criticism, and the independence and dignity of the journalistic profession. Persecution of journalists for publishing critical materials is inadmissible. Harassment of journalists in Pakistan is not something new, journalists are being constantly arrested, secretly imprisoned, beaten and tortured by police, and prevented from reporting about sensitive issues or accessing regions of conflict. Rehmat Shah Afridi of frontier post was in prison because he did not desist from calling a spade a spade. When he launched The frontier Post from Peshawar I was student at Islamia College, those were the days of Zia's cruel dictatorship, you were not a good Muslim if you were against Zia's regime. Frontier post impressed me by publishing news and articles about Zia's regime and FP was the only paper those days who was looking straight into eyes of a cruel dictator. Mr. Afridi made Frontier Post voice of Pakhtuns and never hesitated to publish facts even during cruel dictator Zia regime, he was punished for his pen which he was using for his people against tyrant rulers. Any journalist who does not work for the official media, bourgeois, and elite; is considered to be an "enemy or criminal" and that happens in third world countries. Third-world regimes are known to be intolerant of gutsy journalists and publishers. Mr. Afridi was imprisoned because of his peaceful expression of his beliefs during Nawaz Sharif era of corruption. He published a story detailing how members of the ruling party, including Prime Minister Sharif himself, had through illegal and bizarre use of power and influence obtained massive loans from some public-sector banks, leading to the banks' failure. He was tried and convicted solely for his journalistic work. He was in jail on cooked-up charges of possessing narcotics. Nawaz government sentenced Mr Afridi just because he was the real critic of that regime and was a big hurdle for the enemies of the nation and the country. The only sin of Mr. Rehmat Shah Afridi is that he was prisoner of conscience; he criticized the government for its illegal acts; he raised voice against cruelty; corruption; he spoke against unfair justice; and he disclosed those who looted the country. Rehmat Shah Afridi was exposing the corrupt practices of Nawaz regime and educating people of Pakhtunistan through his newspaper, in this case he was a true journalist. Bourgeois, Imperialists and their puppets are enemies of Pakhtun nation, today Pakhtun nation is victim and target of those elements who don't want to see Pakhtuns educated and advanced, who don't want to see books in pukhtoon kids hands, those anti pukhtoon elements don't want pukhtoon girls to go to the school and become educated mothers of tomorrow. He has not established his newspaper "The Frontier Post" to make money but rather he wished to serve the Pukhtoons particularly and the countrymen generally through his paper. Charges against him were politically motivated. He was sentenced to death on drug trafficking charges following the publication in the Maidan of reports of corruption of government ministers, alleged links between the Anti-Narcotics Force [ANF] and military intelligence and the ANF and drug smugglers. Mr. Nawaz Shariff who as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for two terms i.e. from 6 November 1990 to 18 July 1993 and 17 February 1997 to 12 October 1999 was responsible for gross human rights violations. During the first term of Shariff, even human rights defenders were oppressed. On 1 April 1993, three staff members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, including its director, I.A. Rehman, were detained by police and documents were confiscated from the HRCP's office. Nawaz Sharif had a history of terrorizing professional journalists. The press faced intense repression during Shariff's second term .In June 1997, Humayun Fur, Peshawar bureau chief of the daily Mashriq, was detained under charges of "anti-state" activities and sentenced to five years in jail by a military court on 9 September 1997.On 8 May 1999, Najam Sethi, editor of the Friday Times, was arrested in Lahore and held without charge for nearly a month by Inter-Services Intelligence. The government finally charged Mr Sethi on 1 June 1999 with sedition, promoting communal enmity, condemning the creation of Pakistan and advocating the abolition of its sovereignty, and violating the Prevention of Anti-National Activities Act. Two other journalists M.A.K Lodhi of The News International and Hussain Haqqani, an opposition leader and columnist for The Friday Times and daily Jang were also arrested. Rehmat Shah Afridi, editor of The Frontier Post, was arrested in April 1999.Extra judicial killings were rampant during the regime of Nawaz Sharif. In 1993, custodial torture and custodial deaths were reported throughout the country, particularly in Sindh province where about 40 cases of deaths in custody and encounter killings of suspected criminals or political detainees were reported during January- June 1993. In this atmosphere of fear and hypocrisy, REHMAT SHAH AFRIDI did not hesitate to challenge Nawaz regime, he disclosed regime's illegal practices, that was his duty as an honest journalist, he did not sell himself like so many others in his profession, committed no sin except propagation of "Amr-e-Bil Maaroof" and "Nahi-e-Anil Munker" to expose the corrupt practices of the people at the helm and reform society, ruler from General Zia to Nawaz Sharif tried their best to offer high public office, elevated positions and huge material benefits, but this great son of pukhtoonistan did not sell his soul. In his own words, Mr. Afridi said,''...Journalists are shouldered with the responsibility of exposing corruption and corrupt practices, guiding the nation on the right path and steering the ship to shore. It can never be expected of me to term night as day and black as white.'' If Mr. Afridi was a criminal then Nawaz sharif and his family should be put in prison too for their crimes of stealing money from the nation and Pakistan was declared a failed state because of their corrupt practices, Nawaz Sharif's only agenda was to make money. In order to achieve this goal, he formed/changed laws and policies for his personal benefit and expanded his business empire by misusing his authority as Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif is in love with judges but the nation has not forgotten when supreme court was attacked during his Govt. Sharif ordered his thugs to attack the Supreme Court in order to prevent the Chief Justice from giving a ruling against him. There is no difference between a military dictator and Nawaz Sharif of PML (N). The 'Loha Chors' of Lahore should not forget that they crushed media, press and physically assaulted Supreme Court while being in power. Mr. Afridi is a brave man. He considered the field of journalism as mission, a mission against the oppressors and the corrupt. In one of his interviews, Mr. Afridi said that his exposing of how Nawaz was burning the funds of Osama bin Laden for personal political ends made him clash with Nawaz. No one can deny that. Mr. Afridi needs to be recognized. What was his crime? Was he involved in suicide attacks and killing innocent people? Its interesting that Nawaz Sharif forgot that he was punished for life in prison and leading to possible death penalty but he was flown to Saudi Arabia, there were no legal complications then ?Nawaz Sharif wants to be a god father of Punjabi mafia, elite and bourgeois, he knows how to blackmail but people like Rehamt Shah Afridi can't be bought, where were those judges who wants their jobs back when Z A BHUTTO was facing a trial, where those judges when prosecution could not provide solid evidence against Mr. Afridi but they send him to jail? I salute to Frontier Post staff who continued their chief's mission and never hesitate to publish facts. The Frontier Post is a unique institution and voice of Pukhtoons. It's a courageous newspaper. Mr. Afridi becomes the victim because of his newspaper's independent policies and corruption stories of influential people. His release is a historic moment and victory for all oppressed people, Mr. Afridi is a hero in the world of journalism, while his enemies must be scared and feeling guilty today.
Fears that Peshawar may slip into militant hands .
Fears that Peshawar may slip into militant hands.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) capital Peshawar could slip into the hands of militants within a few months if the government does not take adequate measures to arrest the growing trend of militancy, a media report said on Wednesday.
Militant groups have been gaining strength for the past several months in a number of towns and villages around Peshawar, The News said.
Two groups, led respectively by Mangal Bagh and Haji Namdar, have established their ascendancy in the tribal Khyber Agency and a similar number hold sway in the Mohmand Agency.
"The Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) has never attacked security forces but clashed with rival groups on three different occasions in the past that left several people dead," The News said.
The LI has also threatened action against all those running brothels, selling liquor and heroin, kidnapping for ransom and other crimes.
"Many living in the areas close to the LI stronghold have abandoned their trades to save their skin," the newspaper said.
Threats were also issued on a number of occasions to the owners of CD and video shops, Internet cafes and snooker clubs in a number of towns and villages to the north of Peshawar.
A large number of such shops were bombed when the owners ignored the warnings.
"The law-enforcing agencies were also attacked on a number of occasions. The situation reached such a level that one of the capital's police officers had to request the government to deploy the Frontier Corps (meant for guarding the border) to assist the police in combating militants," The News said.
As far as attacks on the security forces are concerned, the record of Matani town is the worst, with at least 18 personnel having been killed in ambushes and attacks on security posts in the town in the last two years.
Among those killed were a deputy inspector general of police, an inspector and a sub-inspector.
"A number of criminals had also taken advantage of the situation. A number of gangs, posing as militants, were busy kidnapping people for ransom. Several rivals have also exploited the situation to take revenge against their enemies by attacking their properties with bombs," the newspaper said.
Pakistan and the Growing Threat of a Sharia Mini-State
Pakistan and the Growing Threat of a Sharia Mini-State
Jeffrey Imm
The Pakistan Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP) is in the process of gaining territory and power within Pakistan, as a result of numerous "peace treaties" and agreements to empower the Taliban to enforce an anti-freedom theocracy based on Sharia law in Pakistan. This is a critical American national security issue that requires revisiting the very ideologies that provide the foundation for Jihadist action itself, and answering difficult questions regarding the role of Sharia law and the reliability of Islamic republics in a global war against Jihad.
1. Multi-Level Threat from Pakistan Requiring Strategic Planning
The American national security challenge in the nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Pakistan includes the Taliban, but is not limited to Taliban efforts to create a Sharia mini-state. What these current efforts by the Taliban highlight is the larger, national challenges with a Sharia ideology supported by many of the Pakistani people and by members of the Pakistan government that affects their vision towards fighting Jihad and also that affects Pakistan international relations on peace and on freedom itself.
1.1. Ongoing Negotiations with Taliban towards Sharia Mini-State
Recently, there have been negotiations and agreements between the Pakistan Taliban (or tribal leaders including Taliban representatives) and Pakistan governments in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), both of which are in the northwestern area of Pakistan. Pakistan has seen 4,500 killed in terrorist attacks over the past year and a half, and the Pakistan NWFP and FATA governments view agreements with the Pakistan Taliban as the solution to end the violence and find peace in their areas.
One of the central agreements over the past month has been for Taliban-managed Sharia within the NWFP area of Swat. Most recently, on June 9, 2008, the Pakistan federal government expressed frustration with Taliban's continued Jihadist activities and has threatened to nullify the Swat agreement. The Pakistan NWFP government that made this agreement with the Taliban is denouncing such comments by the Pakistan federal government, and ensuring the Taliban that their Swat agreement is still valid. Should the Pakistan federal government disregard the NWFP-Taliban agreement, the Pakistan Taliban has promised to "turn cities of settled areas into battlefields" and would "open new fronts against the government."
The issue remains unsettled within Pakistan, but this article will show the extent of the Taliban's current progress in creating Sharia courts and punishments within NWFP and FATA which may not quickly be undone, as well as the frequent nurturing and appeasement of the Taliban found within Pakistan government history that questions whether any near-term change in policy against the Taliban will have effective long-term results.
Pakistan NWFP and FATA negotiations with the Taliban have included plans for the Taliban to enforce Sharia law throughout various parts of Pakistan northwest. Should the Taliban ultimately succeed in its efforts to create a Sharia-based mini-state within Pakistan based on the NWFP and FATA northwestern regions, it would have a population equivalent to the state of Florida. It is likely that the Taliban would use such a base for further assimilation of Pakistan and for larger Jihadist activity both within Pakistan and around the world. The Pakistan Taliban leader has sought the use of nuclear weapons to use against its enemies: "the Jews and the Christians." But such Taliban military activities are only one aspect of a multi-level threat from Pakistan.
1.2. The Strategic Issue of Sharia in Pakistan and America's National Security
Regardless of whether the Taliban is successful or not in its near-term efforts towards building a Sharia mini-state within Pakistan, the larger strategic issue that American political leadership must face is the massive support for "strict Sharia law" within Pakistan as an anti-freedom ideology. The Pakistan Taliban and their supporters are drawn from among the Pakistan people. While some may disavow the Taliban's terrorist tactics as "extreme," the Sharia ideology that the Taliban is fighting to enforce in Pakistan remains a shared value among the majority of Pakistanis. An assumption that such Sharia support is only from the "mad mullahs" of the Pakistan Taliban would be very mistaken.
In consistent national polls in August 2007 and January 2008, nearly 75% of the Pakistan population stated that they seek the government to implement "strict Sharia law." Pakistan has Sharia courts in its federal government, and it must never be forgotten that Pakistan is an Islamic republic - a nuclear-armed Islamic republic, with an estimated 60 nuclear weapons. While the current Pakistan law for "blasphemy" has resulted in the death penalty and torture of non-Muslims, this approach towards Islamic "blasphemy" is one that the Pakistan government has repeatedly sought to export to the international community, including the United Nations, calling for an international death penalty for Islamic "blasphemy."
This widespread support of "strict Sharia law" is even seen in Pakistan government ambassadors to other nations, with the Pakistan ambassador to Denmark stating, in effect, that the Danish embassy bombing is the fault of its people, and the Pakistan ambassador to Norway stating that cartoons represent "an act of terrorism." Moreover, the Pakistan government is demanding that the European Union restrict freedom of speech and press to prevent such future "blasphemy." Such an ideological position by Western-dressed, fluent, and globe trotting Pakistan government leaders and diplomats represents a deeper challenge within Pakistan than merely the Taliban. They represent an anti-freedom ideological challenge that American national leadership refuses to even acknowledge or define, let alone address from a national security perspective.
1.3. Planning, Not Patience, Needed in Fighting Growth of Pakistani Jihad and Sharia
American national leadership is calling for "patience" in the view of these developments, and ignoring the larger issue of widespread Pakistan national support for Sharia, as an ideological view of the Jihadist threat is not clearly understood. As the RAND Corporation is reporting on Pakistan intelligence providing support for Taliban operations in Afghanistan, various U.S. military and government leaders are urging "patience" with Pakistan in its dealings with the Taliban.
On June 9, 2008, AKI reported that U.S. Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff "stressed the need for strong relationships with coalition partners such as Pakistan." On June 6, 2008, the Pakistan Daily Times reported that U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley "has urged patience with Pakistan, as the new government develops a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy." On June 6, 2008, Pakistan Dawn reported U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen stating that "Pakistan's army is 'fighting bravely' against terrorism." On May 31, 2008, Pakistan News reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Gates stating that "Pakistan and the US remain steadfast allies, and Pakistan's military is fighting bravely against terrorism."
While supporting the effort of the Pakistan military, Admiral Mullen was also reported in the June 11, 2008 Pakistan Daily Times as stating: "I believe fundamentally that if the U.S. is going to get hit, it is going to come out of the planning of the leadership in FATA...That is a threat to us that must be dealt with." This will certainly require more than "patience," and will also require that American government leadership honestly assess the ideology of the enemy.
The challenge remains, however, that the reactive U.S. policy towards Pakistan and towards a global war against Jihad in general lacks a strategic plan that defines the enemy, defines the enemy's ideology, and provides a comprehensive approach towards both a physical war and a war of ideas. The calls for patience should instead be calls for strategic planning, especially towards an Islamic republic like Pakistan where American taxpayers have been providing $1 billion a year. The repeated polls showing massive Pakistani public support for "strict Sharia law" are not even considered as a factor in American national security planning in Pakistan.
In addition to such government calls for "patience" with Pakistan by these U.S. government leaders, the May 29, 2008 Washington Times published an editorial "Hear out Pakistan" that references its May 29th interview with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, where he makes a series of apparently unrebutted points that: (1.) U.S. is to blame for Pakistani "extremists," (2.) Pakistan is only engaging tribal leaders, not the Taliban in peace talks, (3.) Pakistan has "zero tolerance" for terrorism, and (4.) U.S. should respect its "shared values" with Pakistan. The unfortunate fact is that none of these points are accurate.
The American public must face the larger challenges of a pro-Sharia, nuclear Pakistan, without illusions or denial, and make sound decisions based on the facts of Pakistan's past support for the enemy Taliban, current support for the Taliban in some parts of Pakistan, and widespread Pakistan public and government support for the ideology that is the objective of the Taliban's Jihad.
The full version of this article can be found at the Counterterrorism Blog.
Disgraced atomic scientist disowns confession· Father of Pakistan's bomb rejects smuggling claim
· Khan defiant in first talk to western media since 2004
Declan Walsh in Islamabad The Guardian, Friday May 30 2008 Article history
Supporters of Pakistan Muslim League-N party hold a picture of disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan as they gather near a replica of Chaghi mountain, where the nuclear tests were conducted. Photograph: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood
For four years Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, has lived in the shadows, confined to his Islamabad home since a tearful televised confession in which he admitted selling nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. But yesterday the 76-year-old scientist returned to the spotlight with a bold new twist: that he had not meant a word of his earlier admission.
In his first western media interview since 2004, Khan said the confession had been forced upon him by President Pervez Musharraf. "It was not of my own free will. It was handed into my hand," he told the Guardian. More worryingly, he swore never to cooperate with investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, despite persistent fears that nuclear technology traded by his accomplices could fall into terrorist hands.
"Why should I talk to them?" he said. "I am under no obligation. We are not a signatory to the NPT [nuclear non-proliferation treaty]. I have not violated international laws." He said details of his clandestine nuclear supply network were "my internal affair and my country's affair".
Despite numerous requests from the IAEA and the US government, Pakistan has refused access to Khan, who is still considered a national hero. A spokesman at the UN watchdog's headquarters in Vienna declined to respond to his comments.
Until this week Khan had been unseen and largely unheard since his February 2004 appearance on state television, in which he said he had hawked the country's nuclear know-how abroad. He offered his "deepest regrets and unqualified apologies". Since then Khan has been confined to his villa below the Margalla Hills in Islamabad, where he lives with his wife, Henny. He was initially subjected to tight restrictions. Telephone calls were monitored, internet access was forbidden and visitors were turned away by soldiers camped at his gate. He was allowed to leave the house in August 2006 only for a cancer operation in Karachi, which was successful.
But as Musharraf's powers have ebbed over the past year, so have the ties on Khan been loosened. First he was allowed to have lunch with close friends, then last month he gave his first interview from his house arrest to a local Urdu language newspaper. Now he hopes that the newly elected prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, will set him free.
Link to this audio
Hear Declan Walsh speaking to Abdul Qadeer Khan
"As long as you are living there is always hope," he said, adding that he would wait for pressing economic and political crises to pass. In reality, he may be waiting for Musharraf to be forced out.
Yesterday the military dismissed speculation, prompted by changes in the army command, that Musharraf was about to quit as president. "A section of press is trying to sensationalise routine functional matters," said a spokesman.
Khan has emerged as Pakistan celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 1998 test that catapulted the volatile nation into the nuclear club. Speaking by telephone, he displayed the mix of defiant nationalism and religious ardour that has endeared him to many Pakistanis.
Reports that nuclear technology was smuggled abroad were "western rubbish", he said, and unfavourable accounts of his life were "shit piles". He brusquely dismissed nicknames such as "the Merchant of Menace" from a Time magazine cover.
"It doesn't bother me at all. They don't like our God, they don't like our prophet, they don't like our holy book, the Qur'an. So how could they like me?" he said.
He dismissed reports that he owned 43 houses in Islamabad, had many bank accounts and owned a $10m hotel in Timbuktu, Mali. "The journalists should have gone and seen - it was an eight-room mud-brick house where the poor people reside," he said, referring to the latter. Asked if he was rich he answered: "Never was, never will be."
International nuclear investigators and the Pakistani government paint a very different picture. In 2005, Musharraf confirmed that Khan had supplied North Korea with centrifuges used to enrich uranium. This week the IAEA board received further confirmation linking Pakistan with Iran's controversial nuclear programme.
Khan said yesterday that nuclear technology was freely available in the west to Iran or North Korea. "They were supplying to us, they were supplying to them ... [to] anyone who could pay," he said.
But for all his defiant talk, one subject remains out of bounds for Khan. Supporters claim he was made a scapegoat for Pakistani generals involved in nuclear trading. Khan refuses to discuss the issue. "I don't want to talk about it. Those things are to forget about," he said.
He denied speculation he had hidden evidence of military collusion with his daughter, Dina, who lives in London. "MI6 has spoken to my daughter, they have been to her house. I did not keep any official papers in my house or anywhere," he said.
Khan directed Pakistan's nuclear enrichment programme for 25 years. Born in pre-partition India - his family moved to Pakistan after 1947 - his passion for developing a nuclear bomb was driven by hatred of his country of birth.
Khan is worshipped as a hero at home, but the former CIA director George Tenet described him as "at least as dangerous as Osama bin Laden", and fears of the damage wreaked by his smuggling network were realised when North Korea exploded a nuclear device in October 2006.
In Musharraf's 2006 memoir, he said he sacked Khan after learning that he was "up to mischief".
Khan blames this on the "self-seekers and sycophants" around Musharraf, who had allowed Pakistan to become a "banana republic".
Backstory
The quest for a Pakistani nuclear bomb was launched by Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in 1972. "You men here will make it for me and for Pakistan," he told a secret meeting of scientists and generals. Bhutto's motive was to counter India's more developed programme. His secret asset was metallurgist AQ Khan who, while working in a Dutch nuclear laboratory, smuggled secrets home. Khan returned to head the programme in 1976. Pakistan exploded its first nuclear device in 1998. The army has an estimated 50 nuclear warheads.
About this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Friday May 30 2008
The Frontier Post
Commitment to Journalism
Prisoner of conscience
M Waqar New York Khyberzalmee@comcast.net
I read this headline on, THE NEWS website, Tension between Zardari, Shahbaz mounts over jailed chief editor of The Frontier Post''. This makes no sense that Rehmat Shah Afridi is still in prison, I was expecting from ANP Govt in pukhtoonistan to react on this issue but I don't understand muteness of ANP leadership, although on ANP web site I did send a message to Chief Minister, I would like to ask all the writers on this forum to send messages to CM on the following website of ANP(http://www.awaminationalparty.org/news/)and express your solidarity with The Frontier Post Chief Mr. Afridi who is in prison because he was punished for expressing his views and he was educating Pakhtuns through his newspaper. His confinement is politically motivated. The drugs were planted on vehicle he was in. Similar to innumerable judicial murders and crimes to suffocate voice of Pathans. The literate class of people in Pakistan is the only hope, which can place a check & balance on these bureaucrats corrupt politicians. Its about time this class should pick their pens. Its really amazing that criminals and thugs involved in suicide attacks can be easily released in Pakistan but someone like Mr. Afridi stays in prison. Two face Nawaz Sharif and his brother who are responsible for declaring Pakistan a failed state ran out of country but did not have courage and principles to face jail, attacked Supreme Court and insulted judges but now wants to be champions of judiciary and free press. I agree with Mr. Asif Ali Zardari who bitterly asked: "Where are the champions of the press freedom today? Rehmat Shah Afridi was arrested and booked in a fake drug smuggling case on political grounds. He spent nine years in jail just for writing the truth and now he is seriously ill but some people still want to take their revenge. "Champions of the press freedom should be ashamed of themselves that for nine years some one in their ranks is in prison but they are not saying a word. Rehmat Shah Afridi was punished because he disclosed that Nawaz Sharif received Rs. 150 crore from Osama bin Ladin in the Green Palace Hotel, Madina, with the pledge that the amount would be used for furthering the cause of Jihad in Afghanistan and helping the Mujahideen and exposing the deeds of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Instead he (Nawaz) put the whole amount in his pocket. Nawaz Sharif got annoyed with Afridi when he was chief minister of Punjab in 1986.Frontier Post Chief disclosed in his newspaper that Nawaze sold the commercial land between UCH and Kalma Chowk in Lahore to his relatives for meager Rs. 400 per marla. After that, he distributed plots in NWFP, Punjab and Balochistan among his colleagues and opponents to get their political support. He published all this in his newspaper along with proofs, which further infuriated Nawaz Sharif. Rehmat Shah Afridi used his personal links to thwart the "no-confidence motion" against Benazir Bhutto in 1990 and asked the members of National Assembly from Punjab, FATA and NWFP to use their vote in favour of Benazir Bhutto. Mr. Afridi did so as it was in the interest of the country at that time. Nawaz Sharif once threatened him that they would rule the country for 20 years and that he (Rehmat Shah) could not harm him through publishing news items against them. This proves all cases against The Frontier Post chief were false and baseless. Detention of Rehmat Shah Afridi is no more justified. Rehmat Shah Afridi had been arrested in a fake and bogus case because the then government was not happy with his bold editorial policy. The PPP government's pro-media and democratic credentials have already been enhanced by the proposed anti-PEMRA bill in parliament. It should now do the honourable and just thing by ordering the immediate release of Rehmat Shah Afridi and winning hearts and minds all round.
Saved from: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=le&nid=360&ad=22-05-200
Dated: Thursday, May 22, 2008, Jamad-i-Awal 14, 1429 A.H.
Promotion of extremism in pashtunkhwa !!!!!!!!!!
After the allied forces came in Afghanistan in oct:2001, Pakistan had to save the minimum investment in the form of Taliban and Al-Qaeda . It is worth mentioning that Pakistan will be only 5% sincere in elimination of the Al-Qaeda operatives while on Taliban she will never compromise as it is believed that they are the own children of Pakistan .For Pashtun Nation both are same as Pashtun need peace and development in the region while the presence of these forces have multiplied their problems and have created trouble for the Pashtun, these views were expressed by a tribal chief on the condition of not disclosing his name. The safe havens were provided to Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives in the mountains adjacent to the south and east of the Afghanistan near Durand line. Most of them were provided safe shelters in the seminaries and mosques in settled areas of the NWFP (Lower Pashtunkhwa) by the ISI, and bureaucracy including Political Agents of the tribal Agencies across Durand line without the consent of the tribal Pashtun as these areas have been ruling by the bureaucracy sitting in Islamabad for the last 60 years without doing any developmental work for the welfare of the tribal Pashtun. The Tableeghi Jumat, a religious organization struggling hard to make the people orthodox religious, having their center in Lahore , Pakistan have a special attention on the Pashtun to bring them to Lahore and train them for 4 months or 120 days is also believed to have played a role in sheltering the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in their center Lahore to get Pashtun forget their Nationalism. Initially Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives were advised by the Pakistani intelligence sleuths not to take steps against the American and allied forces stationed in Afghanistan. But they kept continued their skirmishes in Afghanistan across Durand line,attacked and backed to their safe abodes with the collaboration of the intelligence agencies without the permission of the tribal people as tribal Pashtun have no say and no role in the drama staged in FATA against Pashtun and Afghanistan. When Pakistani high-ups sensed that Americans engaged in Iraq, then they geared up their friends Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives to initiate their anti Afghanistan activities and damage all what were constructed in the last few years, particularly the schools where Pashtun children were studying the science, opined a tribal political activist .It is also pertinent to mention that the anti Pashtun and anti Afghanistan forces do not like to see Pashtun children having books in their hands. The antagonistic negative forces understand it well that one who reads book can not be misguided easily and their ulterior motives can not be materialized. There are credible and reliable information that the Pakistani ISI started assistance to the Taliban with weapons and pelf. They started their activities in Waziristan on a low scale, and beat the weak people like dressers ,bombed music centers and punished some low profile wicked in the area to get the support of the local people. They then started beheading some people to spread terror among the inhabitants. After getting more and more stronger by the help of the Pakistani intelligence Agency (ISI) and alleged drug mafia, they initiated the steps to tease the locals on the basis of such heinous crimes like kidnapping the affluent people, killing and assassinating the political and influential tribal Pashtun, secular, democratic and progressive nationalist to wipe them off and create a vacuum for them. People are just slaves and hostages and leading a life on the mercy of the miscreants. It is also worth mentioning that common tribal have no role in this game engineered by the ISI of Pakistan with the collaboration of some religious influential people, these views were expressed by a victim of terrorism. May be some Norco-businessmen will be having the hands but majority of the tribesmen are having no role in it. Political administration and establishment are be fooling the international community by telling them pack of lies that tribal territory is very dangerous and no one except Pakistani forces will have courage to fight against the extremists there. This is a mountainous area and fighting is very difficult thing here, such lies are told by the establishment to the international community and is trying to deceive them about the real situations in FATA. In tribal region which comprises 7 Agencies and six FRs(Frontier Regions ) even a leaf can not shake without the permission of the Political Agent and Pakistani Government. How can extremists operatives and other Taliban will do their activities without their assistance ?.When Taliban and Al-Qaeda activities increased the pressure on Pakistan built up. Now Pakistani ruling junta has to do something against theirown extremist forces. First they tell them that operation will be started on such and such day. There fore they should move to safer places. Then operation starts by the military while few Taliban retaliate. According to credible information and eye witnesses military men strike the places where there is no Talib or extremist. The real places are not hit. Only the miseries and troubles of the innocent Pashtuns increase. Schools are closed, hospitals are non functional, business activities come to stand still, and people are forced to move to safer places for shelter and security reasons. People are terrified and their children and women have nothing except weeping, mourning and wailing. Men are arrested on the charges of helping terrorists and extremists, which is wrong. Terrorists, extremists, militants and military men all come out of the same basket in Pakistan .Islamic insurgents are trained in different places in Pakistan. There are camps where these people are trained, and then these insurgents are brought to tribal territory and are moved onward to Afghanistan to fight against allied and Afghan forces. Their main objective is to get allied forces teased to flee from Afghanistan and they themselves move to Kabul and seize it, from where they will spread terrorism in different parts of the world. Previously Talibanization was in tribal areas, but with the passage of the time, this spread to the settled districts of the lower Pashtunkhwa. The objective of the Pakistani establishment is to spread the religious Taliban to more and more areas of the Pashtunkhwa, this side of the Durand line, so that to create more and more tumultuous situations and to engage her Army in a friendly fight. In this way several aims could be achieved. One is to get assistance from the American and international community for the military, and second is to add to problems of the allied forces in Afghanistan. The entire FATA and settled areas of the Pashtunkhwa have been handed over to extremist out-fits and Jihadi organizations where Pakistani establishment needs to eliminate progressive nationalist, secular and democratic political people and Pashtun tribal Chiefs who are avers to the extremism and want peace to prevail in region. The Government thinks that her objectives could be obtained only through the religious out-fits .That’s why in this way the above mentioned positive people are discouraged by promoting insurgents and militants by the establishment of Pakistan. In such uncertain and anarchic situations the extremist and negative anti Pashtun forces could get safer places to hide themselves. In election 2002 , the ISI of Pakistan created an atmosphere and forced people particularly Pashtun to get MMA voted to power. MMA was especially formed by the secret agencies over nights. This was an alliance of the religious Political parties to misguide the simple Pashtun on the name of the religion and exploit the situations. This alliance was needed to Pakistani ISI to win in two provinces namely NWFP (Pashtunkhwa) and Balochistan because both the provinces were adjacent to Durand line. In Khyber Agency a bus conductor Mangal Bagh was created by the intelligence Agencies and imposed on the tribal Pashtun of the Khyber Agency who has the power to decide the future of the Pashtun tribes there .He does what he wants as he is the sole authority in Khyber Agency and the state representative, Political Agent has no role to play in the presence of Mangal Bagh. The inhabitants of the Khyber Agency FATA have been taken as hostages and they are fed up of what is going on there on their soil. Now the said cleric is running a parallel Govt. in Khyber Agency. Before this man who has no knowledge of the religion, there were two religious mullahs(Clerics) namely mufti shakir and pir. People were engaged in fighting through these mullas. When the situations got seriously disturbed and pressure built up on Pakistan to solve the problem, she apparently forced both mullas to leave the Agency. Both disappeared for some time and later on one was seen shaking hand with Ijazul Haq ,a former religious federal minister in the cabinet of Shoukat Aziz under the president Musharraf and the son of a late military dictator General Zial Haq. The other came to lime light at a time when he started his preach in Jana Kor a tribal strip of FR Peshawar situated in the south of the metropolitan Peshawar. Besides, there are other extremist clerics too in Khyber Agency like Namdar, Pir Noorul Haq and other Tableeghees. The Khyber Agency is completely at the mercy of the extremists who have made the life of common people like hell. In Mahmand Agency, an other area of the FATA which was a peaceful territory, extremist forces were encouraged there after the Govt. bombarded Masjid Hafza in Islamabad last year. In Bajor, Maulana Liaqat and Maulana Faqir Muhammad were made to lead the people there breaking the Pashtun code. In Swat an other Molana with the name of Fazlullah suddenly appeared on the scene after he spent four months in tableeghee jumat in lahore a city of Pakistan in Punjab province which is known for the conspiracies against Pashtun Nation and Afghanistan alike. Before his new appointment he was just a driver of the Chair(This chair is used in the area where there is no bridge on the river swat for the passengers to be crossed over the river). According to information of the local people loaded trucks of the weapons were seen to provide weapons to molana and his friends. After some time his disciples started beheading the innocent people of Swat international pressure developed on the govt. once again to redress the problem of terrorism concerning Swat valley the rulers were compelled to engage in a friendly fight with extremist forces. Now it is claimed that extremists were pushed away to either mountains or some safer areas. But it is pertinent to mention that problem once again was not solved and left incomplete .The situations are uncertain and people look at security agencies with suspicion. Darra Adam Khel an other strip of the FATA on main high way near Kohat , a southern settled district of NWFP(Pashtunkhwa) was handed over to the extremist forces for the sole aim of looting and hitting the supply of the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. When the people of the said tribal area were fed up with the activities of the Taliban and more than three army vehicles loaded with weapons were confiscated, the govt .took steps to force the Taliban to apparently flee from the area at least for some time. But it is very interesting and ironic for the Pashtun Nation that military personnel were not striking the places where extremist forces were hidden, according to some reports gathered from the locals. This again was a friendly fire between two same forces in which almost all the extremist forces were safe and sound and were not harmed. Pashtun and their home Pashtunkhwa is burning in the fire which Pashtun have not lit. There are reports that the Americans have announced to spend 750 million $ on the development of FATA, but it is feared that Pakistani establishment in Islamabad are not sincere with Pashtun as they never like to see the child of Pashtun having book in his hand. Pashtun want prosperity and peace in their region and want development and happiness in their home Pashtunkhwa and Afghanistan. This is only possible with Pashtun National Unity.
Written by
Zar Ali Khan Musazai
Chairperson
Pashtun Democratic Council
NWFP(Pashtunkhwa)
Cell:0301-5963337
www.larawbar.com/pdc
Pakistan's 'Gandhi' party takes on Taliban, Al Qaeda
The Awami National Party, which leads the ruling coalition in the crucial North West Frontier Province, espouses a nonviolent approach to tackling extremism.
By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the May 5, 2008 edition
New DELHI - In following the will of its people by attempting to find a negotiated solution to mounting extremism, the new Pakistani government is wading against American skepticism, the lessons of the recent past, and – some suggest – its own military establishment.
Early indications, however, point to the enormousness of the task facing Pakistan's new ruling coalition. The US is likely to increase pressure after a major State Department report last week concluded that Al Qaeda has rebuilt some of its pre-9/11 capabilities from havens in Pakistan's contested border region with Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants have the upper hand in these Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where the region's colonial-era rules limit the new government's authority.
The job of overcoming these obstacles has largely fallen to the overlooked member of Pakistan's new ruling coalition, the Awami National Party (ANP). As Pashtuns, the ANP can talk to the Taliban as ethnic brothers. Yet as disciples of the nonviolence espoused by its late founder, Abdul Ghaffar Khan – the so-called "Frontier Gandhi" and follower of the Mahatma – the ANP is uniquely qualified to attempt peacemaking.
Whether it succeeds could determine whether Pakistan finds the peaceful resolution that a majority of its people so desire or descends back into war.
"The responsibility for a deal lies with the ANP because of the ANP being Pashtun and because they have been very critical of the way the war on terror has been conducted," says Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Facing opposition to cease-fires
The ANP is a minor partner in the national parliament, but it leads the ruling coalition in the strategically vital North West Frontier Province. Adjacent to the central battleground of FATA, the province is the front line against the Talibanization of Pakistan. Rising militancy in FATA has spilled into it with bombings against barbers who trim beards and owners of DVD shops – both Taliban taboos.
Already, the ANP-led government in the North West Frontier Province has had to withstand global criticism for its new, conciliatory tack – such as last week's release of Sufi Mohammed, a pro-Taliban hard-liner, from jail.
The US has warned against negotiations, saying they lead only to toothless cease-fires that have allowed militants time and space to tighten their grip on territory. Indeed, the State Department's annual terrorism report released last week suggested that suicide attacks in Pakistan more than doubled to 887 last year because terrorists were able to regroup during a 2006 cease-fire.
For this reason, a new potential cease-fire with militants in FATA, reported last week but apparently abandoned, raised deep concern in Washington.
"It's important that any agreement be effectively enforced and that it not interrupt any operations where we are going after terrorists in that area," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.
The White House was right to be worried, some experts agree. "The government is negotiating from a position of weakness," says Seth Jones, an analyst at RAND Corp., a security consultancy in Arlington, Va. "There should be no illusions – these [militant] groups are trying to strengthen their position."
Army 'capitulated' to militants
But others see another dynamic at work in the scrapped cease-fire, too.
"The military is out to save itself," says Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," a book considered one of the most insightful looks into the group.
He suggests that the failed deal was not the fault of the new government, but of the Army, which wields great influence in FATA, because it is controlled federally. The deal was essentially a capitulation to militants, Mr. Rashid adds, because the Army wants to get out of an unpopular campaign.
The military denies this, saying it is not in any direct negotiations with the Taliban. "The government officials are negotiating with them through interlocutors," says Maj. Gen. Atthar Abbas, an Army spokesman.
Yet due to the peculiar rules governing FATA, the Army does have more of a voice there. In the North West Frontier Province, the only government negotiators are new lawmakers. In FATA, however, talks are being supervised by a governor appointed by President Musharraf, and the regional Army corps commander, in addition to federal lawmakers, says Rahim Dad Khan, a member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), an ANP ally.
ANP pushes for more accountability
The ANP, for its part, wants to bring more accountability to negotiations by putting all the facts before the people. Past negotiations under the military-led government were never made public, says Sen. Zahid Khan of the ANP. So when agreements inevitably fell apart amid accusations and counteraccusations, no one knew who was right.
"We'll make all the developments in the talks public so as the masses can judge who is backing out of his words," he says. "The party going against the agreement would have to take the ire of the masses."
In this way, negotiations can serve a strategic purpose. Defense analyst Ikram Sehgal says there are many natural points of disagreement between Pashtun tribals and foreign terrorists, such as the tactic of suicide bombing.
"Terrorist ideology is completely anathema to tribal ideology," he says. "The whole idea is to drive a wedge between the tribals and the terrorists."
Yet Rashid and others say that to ultimately succeed, the government must have a policy beyond just talks – or bullets, for that matter. The government of North West Frontier Province has drawn a $4 billion development plan designed to spread the authority of the government through new counsels and government positions. But it must address the root causes of the tribal belt's problems – the economic backwardness and political isolation that have made the area a haven for militants, analysts add.
"They have to offer some strategic vision," says Rashid. "[The terrorists] want sharia. What are you offering?"
ZARDARI AIN'T STUPID!!!!!!
Mwaqar
Mr. Nawaz Sharif had planned a "Bangladeshi solution for Pakistan." Under the proposed plan, Mr. Chaudhry was supposed to have declared the election of Mr. Musharraf null and void, and then declared the NRO unconstitutional, and Mr. Chaudhry also would have upheld the graduation rule. By eliminating the NRO, and upholding the graduation rule Mr. Zardari would have been ineligible for any office. With Mr. Musharraf and Mr. Zardari out of the way, Mr. Chaudhry would have taken over the country as president. The Prime Minister would be Mr. Sharif. Mr. Zardari knows about this plan, does not want to restore the judges which would rock the boat, eliminate him from the corridors of power, NAWAZ SHARIF is a businessman and ''luhar'' who knows strike while the iron is hot. ZARDARI ain't stupid either. The PPP, the MQM, the ANP, the JUI-F are opposed to the reinstatement of deposed judges, each having its own set of interests. Nawaz has refused to unlock his horns with Musharraf and yearns for his ouster.
Nawaz is of the same breed, the same corrupt politicians era and he is not different from others. “Mr Sharif Businessman turned politician the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was ousted in a military coup in 1999 and was forced to forfeit $9million dollars and some of his assets including his $5m Mansion is Raiwind near Lahore. Before becoming PM he was a major share holder along with his brother and cousins of Ittefaq Group, having assets well in excess of £50m in the 90’s. However he got richer when he took commissions from foreign companies for construction in Pakistan. He build the first motor way and many new roads and took heavy kickbacks. He then also stole $100m from the Iqra funds, he started a new scheme “Ghar Apna” in which he again looted around $40m, the “Mulk swaaro” scheme involving public & govt. money collections to help pay Pakistan’s debts also was pocketed.” There are reports that Nawaz took millions from OSAMA BIN LADEN to fight election against Benaz ir in 90’s. Iftikhar Choudhery worked with Mush many years happily and doing all ordinary things like supporting his son for better placement, enjoying his remunerations as much as possible, keeping the CM luxury Mercedes Benz with him etc. His lower staff got corrupt seeing his character and looted millions by making false receipt of fuels on his car’s number. When he asked for it, he said he don’t know what the lower staff is doing .It were the judges who given law asylum to Mush for his illegal occupncy of president's post. They were also judges who signed the death warrant of Z.A. Bhutto.
I am sure that Mr .Nawaz remembers when supreme court was attacked during his Govt. Was not that shameful? He is in love with Judges now but lets not forget that most of these justices have in past taken oath under the first PCO, where was there diligence then? if they could have done it once they can do it twice and even more times. I am not supporting Zardari either, he should be more fair and honest in dealing with other political elements and should not bow his head to a former general and other hidden powers. I never been Nawaz fan but I think in greater national interests PPP and Nawaz should stay together,although I have reservations about Nawaz and as I mentioned in one of my previous letters that Nawaz cant be trusted. In civilized countries politicians decide their problems through referendum and I think there should be something like this to solve this problem and Govt should focus on other important issues. I kept an optimistic view on the new found political allianc es giving them a fair chance to prove their mettle, but as times passes one has to gawk at smooching circus on display, its hideously embarrassing to say the least. The PPP is the most popular party across the land. PML-N is only in Punjab. I would suggest to Asif Zardari to let this minor partner in the coalition know that PPP is a democratic and liberterian party and must respect its constituents. Either PML-N learns to play by the rule or just get out of the way. PML-N leadership will understand it, after all they are children of four generals (Gilanee, Zia, Beg, and Gul), they understand when get a kick in the right place. Nawaz Govt was dismissed by Gen.Mush, otherwise Nawaz would love him too just like Choudry brothers. Lets not forget that when Nawaz was prime minister, he not only crushed supreme court but also media and Rehmat Shah Afridi of FP is an example of Nawaz cruelties. PPP leadership should have more close working relationship with ANP of Pukhtoonistan as ANP is l iberal political party and even BENAZIR BHUTTO was advised by her father Z A BHUTTO to trust Pukhtoons. Nawaz claims that his party will not become part of any conspiracy to destabilise the democratic process but it seems like he will continue blackmailing , so he cant be trusted. I think there are other important issues politicians should discuss, the country is burdened by electricity shortages and rising inflation, running at 17%,suicides,so called Talibans, poverty etc.
Turkish schools offer Pakistan a gentler Islam
Turkish schools offer Pakistan a gentler Islam
By Sabrina Tavernise
Saturday, May 3, 2008
KARACHI, Pakistan: Praying in Pakistan has not been easy for Mesut Kacmaz, a Muslim teacher from Turkey.
He tried the mosque near his house, but it had Israeli and Danish flags painted on the floor for people to step on. The mosque near where he works warned him never to return wearing a tie. Pakistanis everywhere assume he is not Muslim because he has no beard.
"Kill, fight, shoot," Kacmaz said. "This is a misinterpretation of Islam."
But that view is common in Pakistan, a frontier land for the future of Islam, where schools, nourished by Saudi and American money dating back to the 1980s, have spread Islamic radicalism through the poorest parts of society. With a literacy rate of just 50 percent and a public school system near collapse, the country is particularly vulnerable.
Kacmaz (pronounced KATCH-maz) is part of a group of Turkish educators who have come to this battleground with an entirely different vision of Islam. Theirs is moderate and flexible, comfortably coexisting with the West while remaining distinct from it. Like Muslim Peace Corps volunteers, they promote this approach in schools, which are now established in more than 80 countries, Muslim and Christian.
Their efforts are important in Pakistan, a nuclear power whose stability and whose vulnerability to fundamentalism have become main preoccupations of American foreign policy. Its tribal areas have become a refuge to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and the battle against fundamentalism rests squarely on young people and the education they get.
At present, that education is extremely weak. The poorest Pakistanis cannot afford to send their children to public schools, which are free but require fees for books and uniforms. Some choose to send their children to madrasas, or religious schools, which, like aid organizations, offer free food and clothing. Many simply teach, but some have radical agendas. At the same time, a growing middle class is rejecting public schools, which are chaotic and poorly financed, and choosing from a new array of private schools.
The Turkish schools, which have expanded to seven cities in Pakistan since the first one opened a decade ago, cannot transform the country on their own. But they offer an alternative approach that could help reduce the influence of Islamic extremists.
They prescribe a strong Western curriculum, with courses, taught in English, from math and science to English literature and Shakespeare. They do not teach religion beyond the one class in Islamic studies that is required by the state. Unlike British-style private schools, however, they encourage Islam in their dormitories, where teachers set examples in lifestyle and prayer.
"Whatever the West has of science, let our kids have it," said Erkam Aytav, a Turk who works in the new schools. "But let our kids have their religion as well."
That approach appeals to parents in Pakistan, who want their children to be capable of competing with the West without losing their identities to it. Allahdad Niazi, a retired Urdu professor in Quetta, a frontier town near the Afghan border, took his son out of an elite military school, because it was too authoritarian and did not sufficiently encourage Islam, and put him in the Turkish school, called PakTurk.
"Private schools can't make our sons good Muslims," Niazi said, sitting on the floor in a Quetta house. "Religious schools can't give them modern education. PakTurk does both."
The model is the brainchild of a Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen. A preacher with millions of followers in Turkey, Gulen, 69, comes from a tradition of Sufism, an introspective, mystical strain of Islam. He has lived in exile in the United States since 2000, after getting in trouble with secular Turkish officials.
Gulen's idea, Aytav said, is that "without science, religion turns to radicalism, and without religion, science is blind and brings the world to danger."
The schools are putting into practice a Turkish Sufi philosophy that took its most modern form during the last century, after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's founder, crushed the Islamic caliphate in the 1920s. Islamic thinkers responded by trying to bring Western science into the faith they were trying to defend. In the 1950s, while Arab Islamic intellectuals like Sayyid Qutub were firmly rejecting the West, Turkish ones like Said Nursi were seeking ways to coexist with it.
In Karachi, a sprawling city that has had its own struggles with radicalism — the American reporter Daniel Pearl was killed here, and the famed Binori madrasa here is said to have sheltered Osama bin Laden — the two approaches compete daily.
The Turkish school is in a poor neighborhood in the south of the city where residents are mostly Pashtun, a strongly tribal ethnic group whose poorer fringes have been among the most susceptible to radicalism. Kacmaz, who became principal 10 months ago, ran into trouble almost as soon as he began. The locals were suspicious of the Turks, who, with their ties and clean-shaven faces, looked like math teachers from Middle America.
"They asked me several times, 'Are they Muslim? Do they pray? Are they drinking at night?' " said Ali Showkat, a vice principal of the school, who is Pakistani.
Goats nap by piles of rubbish near the school's entrance, and Kacmaz asked a local religious leader to help get people to stop throwing their trash near the school, to no avail. Exasperated, he hung an Islamic saying on the outer wall of the school: "Cleanliness is half of faith." When he prayed at a mosque, two young men followed him out and told him not to return wearing a tie because it was un-Islamic.
"I said, 'Show me a verse in the Koran where it was forbidden,' " Kacmaz said, steering his car through tangled rush-hour traffic. The two men were wearing glasses, and he told them that scripturally, there was no difference between a tie and glasses.
"Behind their words there was no Hadith," he said, referring to a set of Islamic texts, "only misunderstanding."
That misunderstanding, along with the radicalism that follows, stalks the poorest parts of Quetta. Abdul Bari, a 31-year-old teacher of Islam from a religious family, lives in a neighborhood without electricity or running water. Two brothers from his tribe were killed on a suicide mission, leaving their mother a beggar and angering Bari, who says a Muslim's first duty is to his mother and his family.
"Our nation has no patience," said Bari, who raised his seven younger siblings, after his father died suddenly a dozen years ago. He decided that one of his brothers should be educated, and enrolled him in the Turkish school.
The Turks put the focus on academics, which pleased Bari, who said his dream was for Saadudeen, his brother, to lift the family out of poverty and expand its horizons beyond religion. Bari's title, hafiz, means he has memorized the entire Koran, though he has no formal education. Two other brothers have earned the same distinction. Their father was an imam.
His is a lonely mission in a neighborhood where nearly all the residents are illiterate and most disapprove of his choices, Bari said. He is constantly on guard against extremism. He once punished Saadudeen for flying kites with the wrong kind of boys. At the Turkish school, the teenager is supervised around the clock in a dormitory.
"They are totally against extremism," Bari said of the Turks. "They are true Muslims. They will make my brother into a true Muslim. He'll deal with people with justice and wisdom. Not with impatience."
Illiteracy is one of the roots of problems dogging the Muslim world, said Matiullah Aail, a religious scholar in Quetta who graduated from Medina University in Saudi Arabia.
In Baluchistan, Quetta's sparsely populated province, the literacy rate is less than 10 percent, said Tariq Baluch, a government official in the Pasheen district. He estimated that about half of the district's children attended madrasas.
Aail said: "Doctors and lawyers have to show their degrees. But when it comes to mullahs, no one asks them for their qualifications. They don't have knowledge, but they are influential."
That leads to a skewed interpretation of Islam, even by those schooled in it, according to Gulen and his followers.
"They've memorized the entire holy book, but they don't understand its meaning," said Kamil Ture, a Turkish administrator.
Kacmaz chimed in: "How we interpret the Koran is totally dependent on our education."
In an interview in 2004, published in a book of his writings, Gulen put it like this: "In the countries where Muslims live, some religious leaders and immature Muslims have no other weapon in hand than their fundamental interpretation of Islam. They use this to engage people in struggles that serve their own purposes."
Moderate as that sounds, some Turks say Gulen uses the schools to advance his own political agenda. Murat Belge, a prominent Turkish intellectual who has experience with the movement, said that Gulen "sincerely believes that he has been chosen by God," and described Gulen's followers as "Muslim Jesuits" who are preparing elites to run the country.
Hakan Yavuz, a Turkish professor at the University of Utah who has had extensive experience with the Gulen movement, offered a darker assessment.
"The purpose here is very much power," Yavuz said. "The model of power is the Ottoman Empire and the idea that Turks should shape the Muslim world."
But while radical Islamists seek to re-establish a seventh-century Islamic caliphate, without nations or borders, and more moderate Islamists, like Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, use secular democracy to achieve the goal of an Islamic state, Gulen is a nationalist who says he wants no more than a secular democracy where citizens are free to worship, a claim secular Turks find highly suspect.
Still, his schools are richly supported by Turkish businessmen. M. Ihsan Kalkavan, a shipping magnate who has built hotels in Nigeria, helped finance Gulen schools there, which he said had attracted the children of the Nigerian elite.
"When we take our education experiment to other countries, we introduce ourselves. We say, 'See, we're not terrorists.' When people get to know us, things change," Kalkavan said in his office in Istanbul.
He estimated the number of Gulen's followers in Turkey at three million to five million. The network itself does not provide estimates, and Gulen declined to be interviewed.
The schools, which also operate in Christian countries like Russia, are not for Muslims alone, and one of their stated aims is to promote interfaith understanding. Gulen met the previous pope, as well as Jewish and Orthodox Christian leaders, and teachers in the schools say they stress multiculturalism and universal values.
"We are all humans," said Kacmaz, the principal. "In Islam, every human being is very important."
Pakistani society is changing fast, and more Pakistanis are realizing the importance of education, in part because they have more to lose, parents said. Abrar Awan, whose son is attending the Turkish school in Quetta, said he had grown tired of the attitude of the Islamic political parties he belonged to as a student. Now a government employee with a steady job, he sees real life as more complicated than black-and-white ideology.
"America or the West was always behind every fault, every problem," he said, at a gathering of fathers in April. "Now, in my practical life, I know the faults are within us."
The Hypocrisy and Danger of Anti-China Demonstrations
The Hypocrisy and Danger of Anti-China Demonstrations
By Floyd Rudmin
Global Research, April 18, 2008
We hear that Tibetans suffer “demographic aggression” and “cultural genocide”. But we do not hear those terms applied to Spanish and French policies toward the Basque minority. We do not hear those terms applied to the US annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1898. And Diego Garcia? In 1973, not so long ago, the UK forcibly deported the entire native Chagossian population from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. People were allowed one suitcase of clothing. Nothing else. Family pets were gassed, then cremated. Complete ethnic cleansing. Complete cultural destruction. Why? In order to build a big US air base. It has been used to bomb Afghanistan and Iraq, and soon maybe to bomb Iran and Pakistan. Diego Garcia, with nobody there but Brits and Americans, is also a perfect place for rendition, torture and other illegal actions.
When the Olympics come to London in 2012, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu will certainly lead the demonstrators protesting the “demographic aggression” and “cultural genocide” in Diego Garcia. The UN Secretary General, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the new US President and the entire US Congress will certainly boycott the opening ceremonies.
The height of hypocrisy is this moral posturing about 100 dead in race riots in Lhasa, while the USA, UK and more than 40 nations in the Coalition of the Willing wage a war of aggression against Iraq. This is not “demographic aggression” but raw shock-and-awe aggression. A war crime. A war on civilians, including the intentional destruction of the water and sewage systems, and the electrical grid. More than one million Iraqis are now dead; five million made into refugees. The Western invaders may not be doing “cultural genocide” but they are doing cultural destruction on an immense scale, in the very cradle of Western Civilization. Why is the news filled with demonstrators about Tibet but not about Iraq?
And as everyone knows but few dare say, “demographic aggression” and “cultural genocide” can be applied most accurately to Israel’s settlement policies and systematic destruction of Palestinian communities. On this, the Dalai Lama seems silent. Demonstrators don’t wave flags for bulldozed homes, destroyed orchards, or dead Palestinian children.
The Chinese Context
The Chinese government is responsible for the well-being and security of one-fourth of humanity. Race riots and rebellion cannot be tolerated, not even when done by Buddhist monks.
Chinese Civilization was already old when the Egyptians began building pyramids. But the last 200 years have not gone well, what with two Opium Wars forcing China to import drugs, and Europeans seizing coastal ports as a step to complete colonial control, then the Boxer Rebellion, the collapse of the Manchu Dynasty, civil war, a brutal invasion and occupation by Japan, more civil war, then Communist consolidation and transformation of society, then Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Such events caused tens of millions of people to die. Thus, China’s recent history has good reasons why social order is a higher priority than individual rights. Race riots and rebellion cannot be tolerated.
Considering this context, China’s treatment of its minorities has been exemplary compared to what the Western world has done to its minorities. After thousands of years of Chinese dominance, there still are more than 50 minorities in China. After a few hundred years of European dominance in North and South America, the original minority cultures have been exterminated, damaged, or diminished.
Chinese currency carries five languages: Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uigur, and Zhuang. In comparison, Canadian currency carries English and French, but no Cree or Inuktitut. If the USA were as considerate of ethnic minorities as is China, then the greenback would be written in English, Spanish, Cherokee and Hawaiian.
In China, ethnic minorities begin their primary schooling in their own language, in a school administered by one of their own community. Chinese language instruction is not introduced until age 10 or later. This is in sharp contrast to a history of coerced linguistic assimilation in most Western nations. The Australian government recently apologized to the Aboriginal minority for taking children from their families, forcing them to speak English, beating them if they spoke their mother tongue. China has no need to make such apology to Tibetans or to other minorities.
China’s one-child-policy seems oppressive to Westerners, but it has not applied to minorities, only to the Han Chinese. Tibetans can have as many children as they choose. If Han people have more than one child, they are punished.
There is a similar preference given to minorities when it comes to admission to universities. For example, Tibetan students enter China’s elite Peking University with lower exam scores than Han Chinese students.
China is not a perfect nation, but on matters of minority rights, it has been better than most Western nations. And China achieved this in the historical context of restoring itself and recovering from 200 years of continual crisis and foreign invasion.
Historical Claims
National boundaries are not natural. They all arise from history, and all history is disputable. Arguments and evidence can always be found to challenge a boundary. China has long claimed Tibet as part of its territory, though that has been hard to enforce during the past 200 years. The Dalai Lama does not dispute China’s claim to Tibet. The recent race riots in Tibet and the anti-Olympics demonstrations will not cause China to shrink itself and abandon part of its territory. Rioters and demonstrators know that.
Foreign governments promoting Tibet separatism and demonstrators demanding Tibet independence should look closer to home. Canadians can campaign for Québec libre. Americans can support separatists in Puerto Rico, Vermont, Texas, California, Hawaii, Guam, and Alaska. Brits can work for a free Wales, and Scotland for the Scots. French can help free Tahitians, New Caledonians, Corsicans, and the Basques. Spaniards can also back the Basques, or the Catalonians. Italians can help Sicilian separatists or the Northern League. Danes can free the Faeroe Islands. Poles can back Cashubians. Japanese can help Okinawan separatists, and Filipinos can help the Moros. Thai can promote Patanni independence; Indonesians can promote Acehnese independence. New Zealanders can leave the islands to the Maori; Australians can vacate Papua. Sri Lankans can help Tamil separatists; Indians can help Sikh separatists.
Nearly every nation has a separatist movement of some kind. There is no need to go to Tibet, to the top of the world, to promote ethnic separatism. China is not promoting separatism in other nations and does not appreciate other nations promoting separatism in China. The people most oppressed, most needing a nation of their own, are the Palestinians. There is a worthy project to promote and to demonstrate about.
Danger of Demonstrations
These demonstrations do not serve Tibetans, but rather use Tibetans for ulterior motives. Many Tibetans, therefore, oppose these demonstrations. Many Chinese remember their history and see the riots in Lhasa and subsequent demonstrations as another attempt by foreign powers to dismember and weaken China. There is grave danger that Chinese might come to fear Tibetans as traitors, resulting in wide spread anti-Tibetan feelings in China.
Fear that an ethnic minority serves foreign forces caused Canada, during World War 1, to imprison its Ukranian minority in concentration camps. For similar reasons, the Ottomans deported their Armenian minority and killed more than a million in death marches. The German Nazis saw the Jewish minority as traitors who caused defeat in World War 1; hence deportations in the 1930s and death camps in the 1940s. During World War 2, both Canada and the USA feared that their Japanese immigrant minorities were traitorous and deported them to concentration camps. Indonesians fearing their Chinese minority, deported 100,000 in 1959 and killed thousands more in 1965. Israel similarly fears its Arab minority, resulting in deportations and oppression.
Hopefully, the Chinese government and the Chinese people will see Tibetans as victims of foreign powers rather than agents of foreign powers. However, if China reacts like other nations have in history and starts systematic severe repression of Tibetans, then today’s demonstrators should remember their role in causing that to happen.
Conclusion
The demonstrators now disparaging China serve only to distract themselves and others from seeing and correcting the current failings of their own governments. If the demonstrators will take a moment to listen, they will hear the silence of their own hypocrisy.
The consequences of these demonstrations are 1) China will stiffen its resolve to find foreign influences inciting Tibetans to riot, and 2) the governments of the USA, UK, France and other Western nations will have less domestic criticism for a few weeks. That is all. These demonstrations can come to no good end.
How would a communist USA pay for "free" health care and education?
In a time when all politicians are crying about too little money to pay for programs, and with an administration racking up the biggest deficits in history (even bigger than the Reagan deficits!), the problem of how to pay for social programs seems insurmountable.
However, there are large amounts of money available. One source would be to cut the military budget by half—still leaving us with the largest military budget of any country in the world (instead of as large as all other countries combined, as at present), and transferring the funds to social programs. That would amount to several hundred billion dollars per year. We could provide for all real defense needs if we weren’t maintaining hundreds of overseas bases, if we weren’t engaging in military adventurism to the tune of billions per year, if we didn’t run military construction on a “cost plus” basis to give super-profits to the military industrial complex.
If we returned the tax rates to the levels in the 1960s, with higher tax rates for the wealthy and corporations, that would raise additional hundreds of billions of dollars per year.
Such steps would be enough to pay for free health care and education for all, and for stepping up many other social programs, and for avoiding the manufactured “Social Security crisis” they keep trying to frighten us with.
None of these steps is revolutionary, just radical reformism—for example, returning to the tax rates of the 1960s wouldn’t cripple the capitalist system, capitalists made plenty of money in the 1960s, it was a boom period, so such tax rates aren’t “confiscatory.” But returning to those rates would solve the current massive budget deficits of the federal, state, and municipal governments.
If we go farther and take revolutionary steps, nationalizing the major industries and finance capital (banks, etc.), the profits, instead of enriching the wealthy, could be used to provide greatly increased benefits for the working class, the large majority of the population, those who in fact create all that wealth.
In other words, we favor progressive tax structures, favor increasing taxes on the wealthy, favor removing the cap on Social Security taxes (bringing in billions more every year and keeping that system financially solvent way past the baby boom retirement years by making the rich pay the same percentages as the rest of us). We oppose both flat rate taxes and sales taxes (except those on luxury goods), as falling heaviest on working families and the poor.
How would free education and free medical care be paid for? Right now, each year billions of dollars go into the pockets of already wealthy capitalists. That’s one source of money to pay for these changes. Right now much of our tax dollars go to making repayments on the national debt, billions of dollars a year, and this is another source of money—if the banks and other financial institutions are nationalized, then the democratic political structure can rationally decide on realistic repayment options and interest rates, freeing up much of this money for public benefits. Another source is that, contrary to the common claim that private business can do everything cheaper, many things can be done more cheaply by government, by pooling resources, by maximizing economies of scale, by eliminating unnecessary paperwork. Before you guffaw, since government right now causes much unnecessary paperwork, let me point to a program that works well. In Washington State, the state provides worker’s compensation benefits—provides the insurance for workplace injuries. Private insurance companies, on top of their profits, run about 20% administrative costs. Since they are banned from operating in the state (except for large employers who can set up their own programs under certain conditions), and the state thus covers everyone, they keep the administrative costs to about 2%! In years when the state’s investments are paying well, the program has actually returned money to the state treasury, since there are no profits and since administrative/paperwork costs are so low. No doubt many government programs don’t work this way, but it is possible, especially when they are not set up to provide profits to the private sector. This is another source of billions.
For another example, if we as a society continued to spend the same amount of money on health care each year, but had a single-payer nationalized health care system, we could cover everyone for the same amount we spend now. That’s right, for the same amount, everyone could be covered if we eliminated the profits and excessive administrative costs of the insurance companies, the for-profit health care chains, the pharmaceutical companies, and similar needless expenses.
President Pervez Musharraf .......... EXCURSIONIST PRESIDENT !!!!!
EXCURSIONIST PRESIDENT !!!!!
M WAQAR
Well the latest news is…..‘’During the past five years, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf traveled to around 40 countries costing the country's exchequer Rs 1.4 billion‘’, I am sure Uncle Sam can figure out now where his Aid money was being spent. I am sure Mush could win American Express frequent traveler points very easily. Lets not forget that Musharraf is the president of one of the poorest countries in the world, where people are compelled to auction their children for the sake of bread, sell their kidneys or to commit suicide, Innocent people getting killed by suicide bombers but president of this poor nation spend such a huge money on his world tours, this money could be spend on education, getting rid of load shedding and so many other projects and problems Pakistanis face every day .It is a fact that such heavy expenses from public exchequer were not spent by the heads of any other conutry like China, India, Russia, USA, Germany, Canada and UK, who are the richest countries of the world. There are over 40 million people in Pakistan who cant read or write,Rs.1.4 billions on foreign tours by Mush could built world class schools and colleges. It is really disgusting. I think Pakistanis deserve to know why such money was spend on useless so called diplomatic tours. Is there anyone in Pakistan who thinks and cares about poor people, people who are begging on streets, people who are committing suicides because of poverty, selling kids and their body parts. I don’t understand how Pakistanis president and other elite face leaders of developed countries, in those countries their leaders care about their nation, people. I don’t think Pakistan’s leaders have any self respect or ego. Musharraf claimed to save Pakistan from two scourge: corrupt, money-grubbing politicians and Islamic extremists but he failed because his intentions were not sincere. He is corrupt just like any other military dictator and politician of Pakistan. On these tours, Musharraf not only spent with an open heart and both hands but also took with him more than thousand people on these tours to show the world his generosity. According to the media reports, the Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi told National Assembly that, President Musharraf was on foreign tour every 50th day on average and spent a total of 201 days abroad during these five years. In these tours, Musharraf didn't’ reside at embassy or at the house of any ambassador, rather he selected the most plush and posh residence for him and for his entourage. Following are the countries President Musharraf visited during Jan 2003 - Jan 2008 with number of visits to each of the country:
Russian Federation (1); Malaysia (3); Saudi Arabia (8); US (6); UK (3); Germany (1); France (3); Tunisia (1); Algeria (1); Morocco (2); Canada (1); China (2); Korea (1); Turkey (4); Switzerland (3); Sweden (1); Finland (1); Azerbaijan (1); Netherlands (1); Italy (1); UAE (5); Afghanistan (3); Brazil (1); Argentina (1); Mexico (1); Kyrgyzstan (1); Uzbekistan (1); India (1); Indonesia (2); Philippines (1); Qatar (1); Australia (1); New Zealand (1); Kuwait (1); Yemen (1); Norway (1); Belgium (2); Cuba (1); Jordan (1); Syria (1); Egypt (1); Iran (1); Spain (1); Poland (1) and Bosnia (1).
Musharraf’s stay at a luxurious hotel opposite of Hyde Park(UK) had cost Rs. 2 Million or roughly £17,000 per night to Pakistani tax payers. I think this money could save some Pakistanis who were going to commit suicide because of poverty. This is Pakistan’s President who can not see the people hunger and poverty in his country. Wonderful, Mr. President wonderful!!! You abused, accused and insult the most honorable chief justice of Pakistan of negligence and corruption, but you abused your own self and insulted your colleagues. You have proved that misusing of power spending the govt. exchequer lavishly is a noble cause. Spending millions over night serves the best interest of Pakistani people rather summon the notorious and powerful agencies before the court is dirty job. Flour must be kept out of reach of the people, load shedding, killing and suicide bombing is a noble cause to serve poor Pakistanis. Mr. President, You rule a country, where people even don’t have clean drinki ng water, two-thirds of women and a third of men are illiterate; one in two have extremely hard lives; one in four live desperately below the poverty line. According to the CIA Fact Book on Pakistan, last year the per capita income was $600 ($33,940 in the UK). Eighteen percent of the Pakistani budget goes on the military, while a meager 1% is spent on health and 2% on education. What this means is that Pakistan has among the richest generals and politicians in the world. The army controls aviation, agriculture, housing, industry, every aspect of the economy, and it dispenses patronage in order to divide and rule the opposition. There is no sanitation; no roads; inferior hospitals; poor utilities; rotten water; few state schools. It is estimated that about 32% of Pakistan's population are below the food poverty line rising from a level of 26% in 1988 (GoP, 2002), and about 44% are below the poverty line on the human poverty index (UNDP, 2002). And Musharraf has the nerve, after eight years in power, to say, "I have the national interest foremost." By 2007, Pakistan was among the world’s most dangerous places. This transformation is the result of Musharraf’s long, incompetent rule. His long, highly extravagant foreign tours to publicize his book or beg for more aid are hardly helpful in fighting terrorism or poverty. Musharraf spent billions on image improvement through ‘Enlightened Moderation’, and people are still confused as to what end all that money went???
It is shame that Pakistan is becoming ‘’kidney bazaar’’ but Pakistan’s elite is not aware of this. The rich constitute a very small percentage of the total population but command most of the resources. They live in palatal houses, drive luxury cars, and are educated in elite institutions. Conversely, the poor make up a very large portion of the population but do not have access to basic amenities, such as health, education and safe drinking water.
In February 2000, Mr Shahid Javed Burki (one of Pakistan’s most respected economists and then working in the World Bank) predicted that by the year 2010 Pakistan’s population would reach 170 million of whom 80 million (47 per cent) would be living below the poverty line. I wonder what will be suicide rate because of poverty?
Although Musharraf is not the only one, there is a history of Pakistani elite and bourgeois who spend and stole nation’s money, but it is really disgusting to look at these figures spend on foreign tours by Pakistan’s elite but poor are committing suicides. I don’t have any faith in Pakistani politicians either and I am sure the new Govt officials will do the same thing. It is shame that in Pakistan a terrorist mullah can be released but a journalist like Rehmat Shah Afridi of FP stays in prison.
