Dharna till the end

Yesterday's reception of the Chief Justice at the Lahore Airport gave plenty of confidence that the movement for an independent judiciary is not only alive, but regaining momentum. The celebratory spirit defied the despondency that emerges now and then seeing the lack of leadership displayed by the elected members.

Actions determine fates of society and this announcement by the lawyers will have plenty of repercussions. Committing to a dharna this time will set the stage for conflict with two entities. The first supposedly obvious one is with the PPP government heads - namely Zardari. While Zardari has plenty of reasons to prefer an impotent judiciary for personal reasons, the conflict with him will pale in comparison to the forces who have more to lose with an independent judiciary.

The long history of coups and acts of treason, the loss of territorial integrity, the loss of rivers, the attacks on Baluchistan and Lal Masjid and consequential losses of innocent lives, the hundreds of missing persons, illegal tapping of phones, detentions...the list of crimes perpetrated by this entity goes on.

How this entity reacts to the brave lawyers movement for building an independent judicary remains to be seen.

I fear that the PML-N, unwilling to take on this entity, and desiring to save its Punjab government, may bargain to forego the movement to restore the Chief Justice in return for the sacking Governor Salman Taseer.

It'll weaken the movement as far as the support from the Punjab Government is concerned, but it won't be the end. The dharna doesn't need any single political party backing it. Those who hope to scuttle or maul the movement will have to do much more than merely making deals with the parties in the assemblies. The more deals the assembly members make, the less relevantt their assemblies will become.

During the last long march, there were fears of some 'extra-constitutional' methods applied in case the lawyers got too tough. Unfortunatley the lawyers decided not to up the ante. This time everyone is on the same page - there is no middle ground left. It's either the unqualified restoration of the Chief Justice, or a volcanic rise in the movement for an indepedent judicary.

Monumental Disasters of PCB

Pakistan's cricket team, once a shining example of possibilities the nation could achieve with the immense talent it has, now rests in line with the rest of the nation, distraught, unwanted, and unsure of what it will do next and where to go.  Many of the leading players of the national team have decided to jump ship despite all the heavy threats by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL).  

While players of many other nations have joined ICL, Pakistan's leading names - primarily rejects from the national team - have joined in large numbers.  When Muhammad Yusuf joined ICL, it became clear that PCB's leadership in steering the ship for the sport had eroded.  

The malaise in cricket reflects the institutional negligeance seen elsewhere.  The PCB still hasn't finalized it's constitution - something the last Chairman, Nasim Ashraf, had promised to do, but remained undone throughout his tenure.  

Now the current news of another 'monumental disaster' in the awarding of a contract by the former COO Shafqat Naghmi to build a VIP pavilion at Gaddafi Stadium.  Whether this is a vendetta launched by the current PCB heads or some very bad mathematics - or as will be popularly believed, yet anther example of runaway corruption - the project was supposed to be completed at 142 million back in September 2008 and remains unfinished requiring another 471 million rupees.  

This quote nevertheless will keep the controvery alive and provide many juicy insights:  

“The whole project is a monumental disaster, utter wastage of PCB funds and is a tribute to the management ego and vision of grandeur. The project was to be completed by 31st August 2008. It was sheer negligence and incompetence of the previous management that the project has not been completed in time and there has been a colossal cost increase. The amazing aspect of the whole fraudulent tender is that a hefty advance has already been paid to the contractor.”

Religulous

"Jesus Christ wrote no account of himself, of his birth, parentage, or any thing else; not a line of what is called the New Testament is of his own writing. The history of him is altogether the work of other people; and as to the account given of his resurrection and ascension, it was the necessary counterpart to the story of his birth. His historians having brought him into the world in a supernatural manner, were obliged to take him out again in the same manner, or the first part of the story must have fallen to the ground." 

- "The age of reason" by Thomas Paine

 

"I don't know." 

- Bill Maher in his film "Religulous" 

 

Bill Maher's movie keeps it real.  It's funny, thought provoking while straying clear of boredom as often happens in intellectually motivated films.  But then, the role of religion in contemporary politics prefers a rejection of intellectual debate.  Muslims refuse to question their faith and text, Christian Evangelicals are inspired by theirs and use it to 'spread righteousness' such as in Iraq, and the Jews, despite the community's contribution to reason and science, are hell bent on keeping Palestine burning no matter how many innocent humans are slaughtered. 

One of the points that came out in the movie was how contemporary mindsets shape the interpretation of old religious texts.  For example, the monk in Amsterdam was more interested in what the Bible 'meant' to say rather than its literal interpretation.  Thus according to him, God does not want homosexuals to change, rather they should be happy with who they are.  The Bible 'means' to say this!  

The female Muslim politician interviewed in Amsterdam rejects that the Quran calls for the slaughtering of infidels.  And the parts that do make such calls are 'time specific' and something of the past.  

It reminds me of Imam Ghazali, the most famous Sunnni Islamic scholar whose book 'Ihya-ul-Uloom' has a section titled 'Etiquette of Marriage'.  In it, the 'Proof of Islam' - a title Ghazali has been honored with by subsequent Sunni scholars - argues that the Quran considers the place of women almost equal to slaves.  Women should never leave their homes - unless absolutely necessary, and even then, only with an accompanying man, and they should always serve their husbands as their primary and most important duty.  There are other extremely mysogonistic arguments targetting women, but Imam Ghazali's inspiration for such statements is the Quran. 

However, a thousand years later, many scholars, using the same inspiration of the Quran, the same text, reject such ridiculous dehumanization of females.  

The same text was used to both degrade half the human population, and the same text is used to give women somewhat a sense of equality.  

Is this 'flexibility' seen in religious texts a virtue, a strength or something less noble?  That the same religious texts can take on completely different meanings based on time reveals the strength of time rather than anything else.  That religious doctrines are left to play 'keep up' with time reveals the gap between reason, science and faith.  

Faith insists it knows everything - how everything began and how it will end.  It uses this knowledge of the beginning and end to control everything that happens in between.  

Science only plays with what it know, in the gaps in between and doesn't much care for the beginning or the end.  

There may be many questions that emerge from science's lack of assurance on some critical metaphysical issues, but at least it strays clear of fabricated historical accounts such as those highlighted by Thomas Paine which require continuous fabrications to uphold.  

Using songs to hack computers

Whether this report accurately reflects the process hackers use to destabilize computers or not nevertheless achieves the objective of discrediting a business - albeit, one without legality.

www.songs.pk is a famous website music lovers use to download songs - for free. Naturally it was bound to gain popularity since most of the desi land would prefer to acquire the intangibles without having to pay for them.

The accusation made, as per Press Trust of India, by Indian intelligence agencies, is that Pakistani hackers have embedded codes within the songs which when downloaded can provide access to anyone's computer when desired. 1.2 million computers around the world could be at the mercy of a few hackers.

However, songs.pk have issued a notification rejecting such allegations meant to hurt its business of freely providing a service without having to pay.

War hysteria and Pak-Indo tensions are spilling over into the music scene. Already there have been calls within Pakistan to ban the extremely popular Indian films that were regularly shown to sold out crowds which had been helping the cinemas breathe again.

Unions at PIA

The token machine was broken so stubs of paper with printed numbers were placed on an inconspicuous counter. I went to purchase an international ticket and wanted to be sure I was following the correct process. Unfortunately as I could not locate the representative of the international ticketing, I made the mistake of inquiring the lady at the national ticketing counter who was unoccupied at that moment.

"I need to purchase an international ticket. Are these the relevant tokens?" I asked.

In a voice clearly upset and an expression indicating extreme burden she stated:

"You want an international ticket? Go to the international desk! Why are you asking me?"

The main PIA office is littered with posters of PPP and Benazir. With the reemergence of union power, the workers of PIA may be feeling very excited at the prospect that their job security will remain insured despite the massive losses being faced by the national carrier - an institution like most all the rest of the companies owned by the government marred by inefficiencies, over staffing and thriving incompetence. But the PIA workers are bound to be excited. Not about working harder or with efficiency, but with the knowledge that they need to owe nothing, not even a smile to their customers. The unions have the backing of the government and in an era when privatization is an option - though not always successful as in the case of KESC - to root out inefficiencies, this government has gone to sufficient lengths to appease. An inspiring example was the re-hiring of the thousands of discharged staff in the mid 1990's who are back with the entire back pay and retain their lucrative posts.



The intensity of the union activity can be seen at the Allama Iqbal International Airport as well with the floods of banners by the PPP and an attempt by the PML-N to make some headway into this vote-bank.

The mindset of Hags

- Zaid Hamid - An exemplary hag

Jindoun Punjabi mai day banday nain duujee beevee lay aandee, tay mai tapee hoee kehndee ay: "Zaroor oas dain nain koi jaadoo toanaa keeta hoiga!"

When a Punjabi hag's husband brought home a second wife, instead of trying to find fault with herself or seeing her husband as the wrong-doer, she immediately began to curse the new wife:

"That witch must have cast a black spell on my husband," she reasoned.


These few words highlight the mindset of many Pakistanis. One cannot even argue that it is the uneducated who revel in conspiracy theories. Browse through any forum on any site related to politics and social issues and these "hags" have seizures against the West, Zionists, and even Nestle. Ironically, most of these "hags" are based in the West and intentionally thriving off the very conditions they vehemently criticize.

Blaming the West for our problems has become a past time.

Knowledge about the intricacies of conspiracies has never really helped anyone other than massage the ego. If anything, delving in such tabloid nonsense can prevent people from spending the efforts in finding solutions to their own problems - problems that have no link nor are a result of the policies of the West.

For example, if we focus on Pakistan, what is preventing the country from achieving 100% literacy? Why has health care not been a priority? Why is most of the population still denied a clean glass of water? Why are cases of polio on the increase in Pakistan? Why does the Army absorb the largest chunk of the budget? What is preventing Pakistan from becoming an integrated nation-state even after 60 years of tumultuous existence? Why is it that throughout these 60 years, components of the states want to break away?

Even a cursory analysis will reveal that the rot has everything to do with Pakistanis themselves rather than anyone else.

For example, Baluchistan faces massive injustice from the Pakistani rulers. Chairman Khan has continuously highlighted the numbers of 300 billion rupees of gas being extracted from Baluchistan while the province's budget is only 18 billion. By some figures 15% of the federal taxes are raised from Baluchistan's resources. This approximately 15% (some figures state 17%) contribution by Baluchistan is not in dispute like the figures of Sindh's contribution by virtue of Karachi being the port of entry. Yet, despite these contributions, Baluchistan gets less than a third back from the federal pool! Whatsmore, before the money is redistributed to the provinces, around 50% of the federal money is used to pay interest, build up the Army and pay salaries. Why should the Baluch not question how the federal budget is being used for the military? What is the utility of spending so much money on the army for the Baluch? What has the Army given the Baluch? If 75% of all armed force recruits come from Punjab, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that such figures will harden the perceptions of injustice in the smaller provinces.

Natural gas from Sui, Baluchistan was discovered in the early 1960's. Rawalpindi was connected to this resource in the same decade. Quetta first began to benefit from Sui natural gas in 1995. Similarly, while the gas in Sui began to be extracted much earlier, is there any rationale to giving Baluchistan the old rate of 22 rupees per KG of gas whereas Punjab's natural gas earns it 110 rupees and Sindh 185? Point is, with such drastic numbers before us, is it any wonder why the Baluchis should seek out right independence?

And in relation to this article, do foreign powers accused of having an 'evil eye' even need to do anything more to convince the Baluch they are better off independent? Yet, unfortunately many are more concerned to project and portray foreign intervention as the cause for secessionist movements and all other major ills the nation faces. These 'conspiracy theorists' hurt Pakistan by taking away our focus from the real problems which in turn cripples the vision to find solutions.

In short: when we no longer wish to be held accountable, why expect the politicians to be held accountable? We are an educated lot and should be cognizant of distraction tactics by those who insist that the real cause of Pakistan's mess lie outside its borders.

It is fine to seek possibilities of who else is making use of the problem - but the source and the solution to the problem lies only in us. The futile obsession with conspiracies supposedly emanating from the West is detrimental to the health of society. For every one such external conspiracy, there are 100 real internal causes of instability. Time would be better spent trying to fix the myriad of internal causes rather than entering analysis-paralysis by illusions of problematic external stimuli.

A haggin' hag never helped anyone's cause. Pakistan has been kind to hags giving them ample air time and turning them into celebrities. Dr. Shahid Masood took off with his program 'End of Times' and currently TV1 is entertaining Zaid Hamid as the supremo hag whose diatribe offers no solution and no return. While television is a business and there is nothing wrong with enjoying the tantrums of these Jerry Springers/Pat Robertsons/Rush Limbaughs of Pakistan, as politically aware individuals of a country that has self-destructed, we should be seeking solutions rather than myopic explanations of these depressed individuals.

Riding with the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

By Fraz Shafique [Courtesy Insaf Action Committee (IAC)]

www.insaf.pk

November 21, 2008

We arrived at the Lahore Airport with Punjab President Ahsan Rashid and former ISF Lahore convener Mohammad Madni. Madni had his task cut out for him as he was receiving non-stop calls on his two mobile sets from Lahoris wanting to join the party during the membership campaign.

"It takes me around 5 minutes to finish one call and by then there are a dozen missed calls in my phone log," stated the firebrand activist.

As we approached the arrival section a dozen ritalin-alert military men, with raised rifles ready to pull the trigger at the hint of danger, emerged surrounding a short man dressed in a suit and wearing sunglasses. My first thought was why a seeming bureaucrat deserved such a heavy security dedication.

"Who would waste time trying to do anything to him?" inquired Ahsan Rashid.

Turns out, the VVVIP was the defense minister of the country. While the PTI Punjab President had a point, the minister had built a resume of consistent gaffes that at the very least warranted a slap or two from the general populace. While we were still weighing the basis for the unbelievable security provided to the defense minister, Chairman Imran Khan walked out by himself, without any fanfare - other than the excited porters who ran toward him for a hand shake. Chairman Khan would be shaking a lot of hands today.

We got into Ahsan Rashid's car with Information Secretary Omar Sarfraz Cheema taking the driver's seat. Lahore President Mian Mehmood ur Rashid and Political Secretary Saifullah Niazi completed the passenger list. Mehmood ur Rashid briefed the Chairman on the incredible success of the Lahore membership drive as we headed toward our first of six camp stops across the metropolis of Lahore opposite the General Hospital on Ferozepur Road.

"Allah has really helped us with this drive," humbly stated Mehmood ur Rashid.

"But Zardari has also been a big help," observed Chairman Khan in a tone not so much thankful as helpless.

"People are so fed up of his government and that factor is also reflected in the big numbers we're seeing join PTI!"

We arrived at our first camp and were quickly surrounded by Chairman Khan's admirers. One of the massive floats began blaring patriotic songs while PTI flags proudly rose into the air.

Throughout the journey, the phones of the PTI leaders kept ringing.
"Khan sahib, you must have dinner with us!" declared Mehmood ur Rashid.

"Yes! Sooner the better - I am famished!"

Mehmood ur Rashid called up the owner of Butt Sweets family restaurant at Laxmi Chowk and ordered chicken karrahi to be prepared for the team.

"Make sure the chicken you slaughter is no more than 1.5 years old!" thundered Mehmood ur Rashid for the xth time to the owner of Butt Sweets. Chairman Khan laughed and readily agreed with the Lahore President's taste.

In spotless Punjabi, the Chairman heartily declared: "Sanu buddha kukarr naeen langda!"

Our next stop was Chuhngi Amar Sadhu further along on Ferozpur Road. This was one of the camps that wasn't planned but due to the euphoria, residents emerged and insisted they too wanted to take part in the growth of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Lahore. This is an area of the city seldom frequented by the media but bustled with the general laborers and transporters. The camp was also the most organized in terms of crowd management and the scenes of supporters seeking to have their membership cards signed by Chairman Khan were less chaotic.

After an appraisal of the camp and congratulating those who had taken the initiative to launch it, we left for the stop off College Road. Located in Township, it was in the middle of an extremely congested market. The location also offered the most rewards in terms of memberships obtained. It was manned and run by Dr. Shahid Siddiqui who has been active in assisting with welfare activities in the city. As we left the bustling localities leaving behind the loud sloganeering in favor of the PTI leader, Mehmood ur Rashid wiped his forehead and revealed an interesting tidbit political adversaries were spreading, perhaps indicating a sense of panic in their ranks.

"The latest word on the street is that the Jewish lobby and ISI are supporting Tehreek-e-Insaf," informed Mehmood ur Rashid.

"That's certainly news. Why would ISI want to support us if this government is proving to be more than sufficient?" responded the Chairman.

Mehmood ur Rashid had ensured that PTI membership drive came in with a bang and while it continues, there is bound to be a reassessment of the party by the opposing forces. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was a tide that could only rise. How does an opposing party deal with an entity that can go nowhere but up? To repeat a phrase voiced during the Presidential election in the United States, "How does one fight a movement?"

"I have ordered another 40,000 membership forms," said Saifullah Niazi after stating that the initial ones had run out in under one week.

The issue of resources cropped up - it was bound to. Although well managed and within the limits specified by PTI Lahore, the amounts add up once the rest of Pakistan is brought into the picture.

"If we had the resources the other parties have, we could have done so much more," stated Ahsan Rashid. However, he highlighted that for each member PTI takes in, it will translate into on average four additional household votes. Therefore, if PTI Lahore manages to secure 150,000 members during the two week drive, it will mean a whooping 700,000+ votes securely placing PTI in position to win the most seats from Lahore in the next elections.

"Furthermore, since we're seeing that 80% of the members are from among the youth, we have secured a solid vote bank that is most aggressive about seeking change as their future directly depends on it."

We arrived at the Icchra camp to loud cheers and supporters sprinkling flowers at the Chairman and his accompanying leaders. At this camp Irfan Hasan, another young firebrand member delivered his speech imploring members of society to join PTI. PTI Vice President Ejaz Chaudhary was also persent to prop up the workers of the party.

Often times during the trip Ahsan Rashid seemed preoccupied with the future strategies for the party - financial and logistical - as the Lahore membership campaign had proven to being exceptionally well executed and was delivering results in the main Punjabi city.

"Go for Rawalpindi next. We've got some good workers there like Sadaqat Ali Abbasi and the Islamabad team can assist as well," was the suggestion of the Chairman. "Faisalabad needs a proper ground force first."

For Ahsan Rashid, the cities to target in Punjab were many. Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Multan to name a few. While the PTI leaders were confident of sweeping NWFP, Punjab's status had been unclear until this membership campaign perhaps due to the role of the largest party in the province.

As we disembarked from the Allama Iqbal bridge we entered the heavily populated outliers of Old City Lahore. This was a hardcore constituency of the provincial government. It was at least. Billboards, flags and posters were plastered in the area with pictures of the Chief Minister and his son who had gotten elected unopposed. The Lahore city's apparatus was unhappy seeing PTI launch this campaign but Ahsan Rashid had gotten the permission from the CM, who perhaps did not realize the PTI campaign would be so successful and launched with such methodical execution. The success of the campaign in the heart of the political capital can set the example and pave the way for the other cities of the nation to replicate.

Unfortunately, and it was bound to happen, the PTI leaders were stuck in a horrendous traffic jam. Chairman Khan informed us that he had not had lunch and was extremely hungry now. Tempers also flared up with at the visibly poor behavior of the traffic which had turned a small road that could barely handle two lanes, into one with five lanes.

"Why don't the traffic police go down the line and fine anyone who breaks the rules. That way there won't be any of these jams!" sensibly reasoned the occupants of the car. Mehmood ur Rashid looked vexed that so much time was being wasted. His mobile phone battery ran out while he was trying to ask someone at the destination camps for an alternate route.

In the meantime, different topics were discussed such as making PTI a strong institution by having elections within the party in a few months time. Chairman Khan was adamant about internal elections as this was the only way to establish permanent change. Omar Sarfraz Cheema gave some damning statistics about the results of the emerging water shortages due to the Chenab river being dammed by India. Millions of acres of arable land would be effected he revealed. There was also an emphasis on ensuring proper media coverage of the rally to conclude the campaign on December 1.

After half an hour the traffic began to move at a crawl and we turned toward Misri Shah from the 'Do Moriya Bridge', beyond which the Old City begins. The camp at Misri Shah and in Shadbagh were both run by Usama Rana who along with his boisterous supporters brimmed with confidence and courage.

"I promise PTI will sweep this part of Lahore," he declared without any hesitation.

After the upbeat tours of the last two camps, Mehmood ur Rashid insisted that Chairman Khan devout one day for the heart of Lahore, 'undruun city' - the Old City, in the last day of the campaign before the December 1 rally. This has been the call of many PTI Lahore activists who know the symbolic significance of winning the walled city region. The 'undruun city' is to Lahore what Lahore is to Pakistan.

It had been a long day - perhaps longer for Chairman Khan as he rapidly emptied the containers of raita and mint chatni with a spoon while waiting for the karrahi - but an equally rewarding one. As the PTI leaders drove through the metropolis into the congested alleys and streets, the seeds they had planted, were beginning to germinate.

"If Muhammad can't get to the mountain, the mountain will come to Muhammad" - with the launch of the membership drive, PTI has gone to the masses. The dedicated workers of the party have shown determination during the most difficult of times and stood by their leaders. We often hear of Chairman Khan inspiring the workers. But as this campaign continues, it is the workers who are inspiring the leadership.

From policeman to insanity

I stood on the pedestrian bridge just outside the shrine of Hazrat Data Gunj Bux holding my camera waiting with my friend for the arrival of Chairman Khan who was going to sign up new entrants to the party in the camp just below us as part of the two week membership drive of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Lahore. In the distance I could make out two minarets of the Badshahi mosque but the dust-filled haze of the noon atmosphere wiped the visibility of Minar-e-Pakistan.

I do not have a professional camera, but I have always felt the depth of history, culture, and human spirit in the areas of 'undroon' Lahore. The richness of this area unleashes equally rich emotions - creative, sorrowful, jubilant - a comprehensive kaleidoscope.

On that day I met a gentleman clothed in decades old rags wandering back and forth aimlessly across the bridge. He had a large unkempt beard and teeth with traces of dark horizontal lines running across them. Despite his unimpressive appearance, he remained in a consistently joyous and kind-hearted mood. In the center of the bridge he kept his belongings tied in a large dark green bed sheet. The value of the items must not have been significant for he would often wander down the stairs and randomly greet anyone passing by in the street below with a beaming smile for lengthy periods of time.

As I was taking pictures of some of the billboards of the area, he came up to me and asked to take his picture. He made some comments which I couldn't understand but I nodded in any case.

Then he said that he's not had a decent meal for a long time.

I said I was surprised at his comments as Data Sahib never lets anyone go hungry. He stated that the food from the shrine gives him an upset stomach and causes indigestion so he prefers better quality food.

Despite my reluctance to be convinced of his difficulties due to his dietary habits, he remained cheerful and did not stoop to begging.




I took a closer look at his name tag which happened to be a policeman's ID card. His name was Sarwar and it seemed he had an interesting story to tell about a journey from being a policeman and rising in the ranks to that of insanity. But before I could ask, Chairman Khan arrived with loud cheers and I rushed for the stairs leaving the ex-policeman contentedly stooping over the bridge to catch a glimpse of the national hero.