.gif)
Afghanistan, Pakistan and USA are inextricably linked as far as their national security is concerned vis-a-vis the threat and plague of terrorism. Karzai's and Zardaari's visit had only one objective. To help President Obama sell to the US Congress and US Citizens why the US Administration is committing so many soldiers as well as resources in that far away part of the world. The latest funding proposals by the Obama Administration, making their way through Congress allocate more $ to Pakistan than to either Iraq or Afghanistan. President Obama's explanation on why is instructive and interesting and I quote "The United States has a stake in the future of these two countries .... we have learned time and again that our security is shared ... we meet today as three sovereign nations joined in a common goal ..... to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda and its extremist allies in Pakistan (he pronounces our country's name nearly perfectly -- the first for any US President) and Afghanistan and to prevent their ability to operate in either of these countries in the future". A more articulate expression of US interests I have not read and I as a US Citizen of Pakistani origin applaud this objective.One thing that this summit hopefully achieved is to bring Pakistan and Afghanistan together. Both these countries have for many months now blamed each other for the terrorism and insurgent problems that they both share. This summit comes as a critical juncture for Pakistan. I worry that Pakistan is close to falling apart. Swathes of my beloved country have fallen into the hands of the Talebaan. I worry that the dozens of nuclear weapons will fall into the wrong hands. We are running out of time and we need to deploy all available human and financial resources in fighting this cancer. Military and civilian aid from USA will come in most handy at this time and we should milk this cow for all that it is worth.
My concern remains the competence and far sightedness of our politicians and whether our "jiyaalaas" in the Army have the stomach for a long, protracted and vicious fight with the Talebaan. Based on past experiences, this is a potent recipe for failure and disaster. Zardari is a playboy whose corruption has earned him the nickname os Mr. 10 percent. The last time we had a playboy in power i.e. Yahya Khan, we lost half the country. His principal rival, Nawaz Sharif is more religious right wing than secular in his outlook and is stupid to boot. He could easily (as he has done in the past) miscalculate and believe that he could take his chances by sharing power with the Talebaan. He may therefore offer less than 100 % support to the current fight to eradicate them. And then finally, we have the army, infiltrated to the core (a Zia legacy) with Islamic fundamentalists. I would not be surprised if one of the corps commanders were to launch a coup and then invite the Talebaan in. We have a hurricane flowing in and our house might indeed be a pack of cards.
15 comments:
Your comments about Zardaree and Nawaz Sharif are right but about Army I donot agree, you do not know (as you cannot know) how the Army thinks. It would be a gross milcalculation (and jumping to premature conclusion)to think Army Corps Commander will rebel against country. It has never happenend before, it will never happen in future, what you can do at the moment is to concentrate on economy. I tell you one thing Pakistan should be able to sustain economicall, militarily rest assured you are in safe hands at the moment
@ Aasim
I appreciate your patriotism. I remember as a small child of 10 when my father used to say that we will never surrender in East Pakistan. I remember reading myself Niazi's statement that "They will enter Dacca over my dead body". Soon afterwards we surrendered !! Later I found out to my shame that we had raped our Bengali sisters en masse and committed many other atrocities. So, please do not talk to me about our "heroic" army. By intervening, again and again, in the democratic process, they have proven to be traitors time and time again. So do not tell me that "it has never happened before". When you abrogate a constitution, you are rebelling against the country. From Iiskander Mirza to Musharraf, this institution has been led by scumbags. The only two Generals I have had respect for are Lt General Sahabzada Yaqub Khan who resigned from his post in East Pakistan rather than be a party to all the horrors that we inflicted there and General Aslam Beg. Kayani, Inshallah promises to be a decent guy as well. My worry is for some asshole Major General under him who will launch a coup. I stand by my comments. I have no respect for this bunch of uniformed, cowardly, rapists and luteraas.
you seem very much in politics... :-)
Lolz, my dear Mustafa I do not want to indulge in this debate of who is traitor and who is not, let the people of Pakistan be the judge of that and the future generations. Whereas I do not defend the jingoism of Musharraf, Zia, Yahya and Ayub Khan which was by all means wrong, as an educated individual, I expect you to be neutral in your analysis. Just to put some of the facts straight Sikander Mirza was not a military general, who imposed the first Martial Law, Z.A. Bhutto (your Hero of 1971) used to call Ayub Khan as Daddy (what a Dad he found) so the entire generation of PPP seems to be offspring of a Dictator (right?). Same is true about Nawaz Sharif who is a product of Ziaul Haq, MQM ia a product of ISI and ironically Altaf Hussain himself has served as a Lance Naik in a Baluch Regiment of Army (which the bastard never talks about). Chaudhry Nisar who boldly talks against Army is the brother of a three star and his entire Town Chakri (near Rawalpindi) is a beneficiary of Army.
Your calling Army people rapists etc is a tricky statement, Tomorrow people of Baluchistan and Swat are also going to narrate stories that your sisters were raped there as well. I would recommend a book "Tragedy of Errors" by Kamal Mateen, may be it will help you understand the dynamics of East Pakistan. Niazi's surrender could have been avoided had he died fighting (which was an option as a soldier but a difficult one). Rest East Pakistan could not have been defended militarily (why? you should study geography,war studies and military history you will get the answer)
I am nor defending our Generals but I am asking you not to be cruel to those one million people who are fighting on the borders of this Land of the Ungrateful and are dying daily in dozens.
I am sorry about your dady's disappointment, as a child I saw my father weeping on 17 Dec 1971 as well. I think our nation should decide now whether we want to keep an Army of rapists or not, we can talk to India to make us a province of Maha Bharat (afterall no one has ever died of not eating cow meat or being bitten by a Monkey God) and we should present our nukes to USA and Israel to be kept as momentos of our shamelessness, afterall what right a people have to live as an independent nation if we cannot control our Army?
Anyways you didnt get my actual point at all, All I said was that there hasnt been a coup attempt by a Corps Commanader so far (as feared by you) and I am sure it will not happen.
@ Aasim:
It is Iskander and NOT Sikander Mirza. I stand corrected though that he was not a serving general. I got thrown off that he started his career in the Military as the first person from the Indian Sub-Continent to graduate from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He then served for six years in the British Indian Army. A direct descendant of the traitor -- Mir Jaafer. He may not have had been a serving Military officer. Yet, it was him who first introduced in the country the cancer called Martial Law.
I am neutral in my analysis and hence I admire SYK and Aslam Beg and am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Kayani.
You assume too much my friend and jump to conclusions. You should'nt. ZAB is no hero of mine. I hold him directly responsible for the break-up of Pakistan. You have already read the contempt I have for Zardari and NS. At least we agree that Altaf Hussain is a "bastard". LOL
There is nothing tricky about calling our "jiyaalaas" (at least the 1971 generation) rapists. It is a well documented fact by all neutral international media at that time and organisations. Closing our eyes and calling it "Indian/Zionist propaganda" is an exercise in self delution. We as a nation need to acknowledge these atrocities that we inflicted on our own citizens.
For losing three wars in succession, for denying Pakistan a strong democratic future, for inflicting unimaginable horrors on millions of citizens in East Pakistan, for being directly responsible (Yahya and his merry Generals in collusion with ZAB) for the break-up of my beloved country, for creating the horror that is the Talebaan, for plundering my country through a never ending line of corrupt Generals through the last 30 years, the Army has nothing but my eternal contempt. No other institution, through its leaders, going back to Ayub Khan and 1958 (51 years of plundering and looting the country) has inflicted more harm on Pakistan.
Finally, please do not make irrational statements like eating cow and being bitten by a monkey. You are a well educated intelligent man so please stay away from such sad platitudes. The Muslims of India are immensely patriotic to India, eat as much cow as they want and are free to practice their interpretation of Islam. Irnically, much more freely than some Muslims can in Pakistan. I however would agree with you that incidents like Baabri masjid and Gujarat confirm that India is not yet the pluralistic free society that it calims to be and Mulsims still face overt and covert discrmination.
I also never implied that we fold ourslelves into India. Also, when did I mention that we should present our nukes?
Clearly we disagree on many matters, and that is fine. Bbut lets keept it civilised and lets not assume things about each other and cast aspersions on each other. That is not healthy debating.
You are right that there has not been a coup attempt by a corps commander. Not yet. My fear is that it might happen. I know many individuals that serve in the army (none of whom share my contempt for the institution that they are fiercely loyal to but then they are not too apologetic for how rich they have become by being part of this elite club of looteraas) and there is consensus amongst them that Islamic fundaentalism fundamentalism is soreading like cancer in the army -- ironically as a response to the correuption and indolence that is also widespread in the army. Who knows which corps commander might be a closet fundo and will "open the gates" for the Talebaan horde to come streamng in.
Well thanx for agreeing to some of my points however to understand a soldiers mind you need to have atleast basic military training atleast. It it were an army of luteras and rapists then can you tell me how many sisters have been looted so far in Swat? or how many houses have been looted so far? A rapist remains a rapist and he rapes everywhere, how many sisters were ever raped in lahore or karachi or islamabad? How many military rapists have u seen or known? How come every soldier of Army became a rapist as soon as he landed on East Pakistani soil? have some empathy my friend, I will again recommend the same book. Please get the other side of the story before you speak, dont get carried away by Indian and bengale propaganda. Do you know that as per media claims the number of jews killed by hitler is actually more than the total documented worls population of Jews? Do not carried away by propaganda, and I can assure you that corrupt generals are not more than two dozen at one time, is it justified to call one million people luteras becoz of two dozen. The general who died in car bomb blast in Pindi in suicide bomb was a true walee, you can read his life history on net, The total corruption of generals of 62 years is less than one year loss of WAPDA or Railways of one year. Pakistani ppl are strange (and ungrateful too) a police man can strip you naked, deprive you of your pocket stuff, kick you, abuse you. Judges refuse to provide you justice for decades and generations, you are dragged and abused by customs, PIA, WAPDA, Railway yet you always abuse Army, Tell me frankly in your whole life have you ever paid bribe to an Army man? or has any Army man kicked you or abused you or raped any sister? Dont quote indian media (or bangladeshi for that matter). Army isnt perfect yet it is the best (and the only) institution which you have left, degrade it further and the entire nation will be on its knees in front of the whole world, I would request you its our last line of defence, dont for God's sake destroy this last line of defence. thank you
@ Asim's last comment. Your comment about the corruption of other institutions such as the police is thought-provoking but the indignation towards the army has to do with the precedent of atrocities and shamelessness that the army has set already (regardless of the true magnitude of it), its taking over the country time and again by manipulating parts of the constitution, and its self-indulgence and indolence on Foreign aid and government money which cannot be said so much about the other institutions.
How many generals does a small country like Pakistan need?
I hope you are talking about backing the sapays and few majors, and captains who may lose their lives and not ingratiating the already pompous brigadiers, and generals who better be under pressure for making the right decision-- but whose pressure? You are right. The public is so weak that we even have to careful on the internet and plead to the Generals to save Pakistan as if that isn't their job already!!
@ Amna
My dear Amna your ignorance of the system of the Army is the basic reason for your wrong assessment of the system of the Army, the 'few' sepays and majors and captains are actually the ones who are in majority (99%) and the generals you are talking about is less than 1%. And those generals who have indulged in corruption is again 4(Ayub Yahya,Zia and Musharraf) in number, my question is why are you punishing one million people for the crime of 4? Where as daily you get kicked by Police in the streets, get stripped by WAPDA, Customs, Income Tax and God knows how many departments. i am not condoning the extra-constitutional steps of these 4 generals I am just as asking a simple question has any girl in lahore or karachi or islamabad ever raped by an Army man? any such incident in your knowledge? when u call some one a rapist atleast you should know what are you talking about, If i am ever given a postion of authority i will make you all undergo military training so atleast when you comment upon it you have some authority on the subject to do so.
@ Amna
I would beg you to not argue with Aasim. I am scared to death that he will one day come to a position of authority and punish us all. LOL
I completely agree with what you have said but the cancer runs deeper than just the colonels and brigadiers and generals. I have paid substantial bribes to majors and even captains.
As far as the comment by "Aasim The Terrible" that there were only four corrupt individuals in the army in its 62 year history -- that and the fact that he started his rebuttal by calling you an ignorant confirms to me that we should not waste our breath and time with this gentleman. He is not only poorly informed but lacks some basic manners when speaking to a lady.
@ Aasim --
I do not get harrassed by any police, etc. In my experience, I am discrimianted from getting admission in good schools, have to go to sub-standard English medium schools while the children of Army get to travel here and there, stay in lavish Army messes and get to learn swimming, horse-riding, tennis and all kinds of fun stuff. They get priority in schools like Fauji Foundation and Army Public and other higher study schools. You can hail army for all the lovely benefits you get from it.
I don't believe in forced military training. You don't get to decide the good of the people either. People decide. You do probably realize that I am a female and it is highly outrageous of you to brag about some training of a few months or years that you go through. Women have their own vocation and they go through their own training if you know what I mean. Next thing you know, women are going to start ranting about how much pain and fear of death they go through in childbirth and they need encourangement from the whole country. You can't fight a few measly pathans in the mountains without the country crying for it? No wonder we lost all those wars. Damned, corrupt, effeminate generals putting poor, mal-noutrished sepoys on the front. So yeh, do be careful about your military sensitivities when talking to a lady.
As for my ignorance, even an idiot would know that generals are not in majority so keep your lessons for a two year old.
The police should be on an equal footing with the army because their job is just as, if not more important, in the everyday protection of the people. I wrote an opinion piece for a teen magazine as a kid in Pakistan. Obviously, it was not published.
I can understand the psychology of raping women of the enemy that occurs often in wartimes. Hell, we have examples of women raping enemy men as in Iraq. What is problematic though is that the Paksitani army was too presumptious and got distracted raping without actually achieving the real goal. That incident was a symptom of the kind of presumptiousness and inefficiency that permeates the Pakistani army.
The question is not that military men go around raping women but that they (under the influence of the effeminate and ayash upper ranks) remain stupid and inefficient and indulge in false notions of masculinity without a real sense of self-control. Hence, making a fool out of themselves in Bangladesh, Kargil, etc.
The training has proven itself insufficient time and again so there is something else that is seriously wrong with the Army's collective psyche.
We have to rely on the real stoicism that breeds in poverty; the advantage of the sepoy, that is, if the higher-up, self-seeking idiots don't mess up their orders -- then nothing is in the hands of the plausible soldiers.
An independent comment: My mother fled Iran at the time Khomeni was taking over and she tells that people used to say, "It's just smoke" and next thing you know-- Iran under mullah rule.
@Amna
Lolz
so you belong to a family which ran away from Mulla rule in Iran
I dont blame you for your inferiority complex and lack of knowledge
@ Aasim --
Mustafa is right. You have no skill for logical debate. You are like an insane person laughing to yourself at something that you have fabricated in your messed up mind to be somehow funny.
You are only embarassing yourself with your foolishness and bringing further bad character to your beloved army.
My parents were foreigners in Iran who had lived there only about two years. Iran was very liberal and westernized during their stay there!! They returned to Pakistan before Khomeni had taken over. You have lost your mantle of knowledge and are tripping all over the place with your own ignorance and mud-slinging.
http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/f155/talk-show-bolta-pakistan-25th-may-2009-a-114667/
assalam o aliakum
all said and tea house intellectualism. first let me tell you with open heart that i m not some good writer or not have words to convince you but i just wanna tell you that i m a human being and from the same earth from which u all belong. and whether i admit or not one day there is an end and i swear on ma daughter that its not the institution but individuals who create some problems . please dont curse institution because it is that institution of Pak Army that sons of soil who are always ready to sacrifice. and khuda karay kay tum us dard say ashna ho javo kay dard keya hota hay. bullet jab lagti hay to dard keya hota hay. jab ap ki tangain kat jati hain aur ap bed par laytay hotay ho aur ap ki bivi bhe ap ko tana day....kay sab kam mujhay karnay parr rahay hain.. dard keya hota hay. jab ap 28 sal ki umar may dead ho jatay hain to dard keya hota hay. akhbar may headline daynay say pehlay ye bhe socho that its a matter of whom. you are cursing NS zardari and altaf hussain ....who select them . WHO... have a heart and mind .....then utter such things .plzzzzzzzzzzz
Post a Comment