The Jan 10 strike — and its follow-up two days later — were joint operations, a Pakistani security source based in the tribal areas told Reuters.

They made use of Pakistani “spotters” on the ground and demonstrated a level of coordination that both sides have sought to downplay since tensions erupted in January 2011 with the killing of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor in Lahore.

“Our working relationship is a bit different from our political relationship,” the source told Reuters, requesting anonymity. “It’s more productive.”

U.S. and Pakistani sources told Reuters that the target of the Jan 10 attack was Aslam Awan, a Pakistani national from Abbottabad, the town where Osama bin Laden was killed last May by a U.S. commando team.

They said he was targeted in a strike by a U.S.-operated drone directed at what news reports said was a compound near the town of Miranshah in the border province of North Waziristan.

That strike broke an undeclared eight-week hiatus in attacks by the armed, unmanned drones that patrol the tribal areas and are a key weapon in U.S. President Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism strategy.

The sources described Awan, also known by the nom-de-guerre Abdullah Khorasani, as a significant figure in the remaining core leadership of al Qaeda, which U.S. officials say has been sharply reduced by the drone campaign. Most of the drone attacks are conducted as part of a clandestine CIA operation.

The Pakistani source, who helped target Awan, could not confirm that he was killed, but the U.S. official said he was. European officials said Awan had spent time in London and had ties to British extremists before returning to Pakistan.

The source, who says he runs a network of spotters primarily in North and South Waziristan, described for the first time how U.S.-Pakistani cooperation on strikes works, with his Pakistani agents keeping close tabs on suspected militants and building a pattern of their movements and associations.

“We run a network of human intelligence sources,” he said. “Separately, we monitor their cell and satellite phones.

“Thirdly, we run joint monitoring operations with our U.S. and UK friends,” he added, noting that cooperation with British intelligence was also extensive.

Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officers, using their own sources, hash out a joint “priority of targets lists” in regular face-to-face meetings, he said.

“Al Qaeda is our top priority,” he said.

He declined to say where the meetings take place.

Once a target is identified and “marked,” his network coordinates with drone operators on the U.S. side. He said the United States bases drones outside Kabul, likely at Bagram airfield about 25 miles north of the capital.

From spotting to firing a missile “hardly takes about two to three hours,” he said.

DRONE STRIKES A SORE POINT WITH PAKISTAN

It was impossible to verify the source’s claims and American experts, who decline to discuss the drone program, say the Pakistanis’ cooperation has been less helpful in the past.

U.S. officials have complained that when information on drone strikes was shared with the Pakistanis beforehand, the targets were often tipped off, allowing them to escape.

Drone strikes have been a sore point with the public and Pakistani politicians, who describe them as violations of sovereignty that produce unacceptable civilian casualties.

The last strike before January had been on Nov 16, 10 days before 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in what NATO says was an inadvertent cross-border attack on a Pakistani border post.

That incident sent U.S.-Pakistan relations into the deepest crisis since Islamabad joined the U.S.-led war on militancy following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. On Thursday, Pakistani foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar said ties were “on hold” while Pakistan completes a review of the alliance.

The United States sees Pakistan as critical to its efforts to wind down the war in Afghanistan, where U.S.-led NATO forces are battling a Taliban insurgency.

Some U.S. and Pakistani officials say that both sides are trying to improve ties. As part of this process, a U.S. official said, it is possible that some permanent changes could be made in the drone program which could slow the pace of attacks.

The security source said very few innocent people had been killed in the strikes. When a militant takes shelter in a house or compound which is then bombed, “the ones who are harboring him, they are equally responsible,” he said.

“When they stay at a host house, they (the hosts) obviously have sympathies for these guys.”

He denied that Pakistan helped target civilians.

“If … others say innocents have been targeted, it’s not true,” he said. “We never target civilians or innocents.”

The New America Foundation policy institute says that of 283 reported strikes from 2004 to Nov 16, 2011, between 1,717 and 2,680 people were killed. Between 293 and 471 were thought to be civilians — approximately 17 percent of those killed.

The Brookings Institution, however, says civilian deaths are high, reporting in 2009 that “for every militant killed, 10 or more civilians also died.” Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, also said in April 2011 that “the majority of victims are innocent civilians.”

Still, despite its public stance, Pakistan has quietly supported the drone program since Obama ramped up air strikes when he took office in 2009 and even asked for more flights.

According to a U.S. State Department cable published by anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, Pakistan’s chief of army staff General Ashfaq Kayani in February 2008 asked Admiral William J. Fallon, then-commander of U.S. Central Command, for increased surveillance and round-the-clock drone coverage over North and South Waziristan.

The security source said Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, also was supportive of the strikes, albeit privately.

Source: Reuters

Editor’s note: We strongly condemn brutal execution of 15 Pakistan army soldiers by a more radical and non-conforming group of the Taliban. In Pakistan army’s terminology, any group of Taliban which attacks Afghan and NATO officials and civilians is described as good Taliban while those groups which attack Pakistan army are described as bad Taliban. Today, the bad Taliban released a graphic video of how the 15 FC soldiers were killed in a most brutal manner.

Overall this episode has three important messages:

1. Pakistan army’s policy of nurturing, training and protecting Jihadi-sectarian assets has failed. The non-uniformed, unregimented Jihadi-sectarian beasts cannot be expected to follow the strategic and operational directions of Pakistan army commanders (including the ISI and MI commanders). The brainwashed Islamo-fascist mercenaries whose Jihadi-sectarian spirits have been galvanized through a radical Saudi-Salafi-Deobandi ideology cannot be expected to honour or follow Pakistan’s national laws and army regulations and directives;

2. The Jihadi-sectarian beasts (Taliban and their affiliates with amorphous and overlapping boundaries, e.g., Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (camouflaged as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat ASWJ or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi LeJ), Jaish-e-Muhammad JeM etc) have little regard for humanity and Islam;

3. Pakistan’s pro-military establishment media, both right wingers in Urdu press and self-professed liberals in English press, have ignored or underplayed the brutal execution of Pakistani soldiers by the Taliban. The same people who were extremely noisy and aggressive after the NATO’s attack on Salala check-post have failed to condemn the Taliban’s brutality against Pakistan army and civilians (including Shias, Ahmadis, Christians, Barelvis etc). Instead, many of them are active proponents of talks and reconciliation with the Taliban. This not only shows their hypocrisy but also selective morality. (End note)

Some comments:

Razarumi Raza Rumi
Let’s talk about ..err peace..RT @etribune: #Taliban video highlights revenge on #Pakistan #military bit.ly/AcXv8v

needroos Nadir El-Edroos
Negotiations? How did that turn out -Taliban video highlights revenge on Pakistan military http://t.co/r14vARXS

NadeemfParacha Nadeem F. Paracha
Please stop drone attacks on these innocent patriots … dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2…

Oval54
The problem is that when Taliban or #AlQaeda kills Pak soldiers no one talks about it. Too many apologists bit.ly/yTkYYb

TarekFatah
A month since Taliban executed 15 Pakistani POWs, yet no outrage. Now watch the executions; perhaps.. bit.ly/yTkYYb

*******

Handcuffed, blindfolded and shot in the back of the head: Taliban releases horrific video of executions of 15 Pakistani soldiers
The paramilitary troops were abducted on December 23
‘God is greatest’ the Taliban yelled as they fired AK-47 rifles
Horrific video has been copied and distributed in street markets

By JILL REILLY

22nd January 2012

A video showing fifteen Pakistani soldiers being lined up and shot dead by a firing squad has been released by the Taliban.

The paramilitary troops were abducted on December 23 in what the terror group described as an operation to avenge the deaths of insurgents in Pakistan.

The release of the horrific video is intended to serve as a warning to Pakistan’s 600,000-member army, which has failed to break the back of the insurgents despite superior firepower and a series of offensives against their strongholds in mountain regions.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Disturbing footage: The paramilitary troops were abducted by Pakistan's Taliban on December 23 and in the video, they are shown to be handcuffed, blindfolded and lined up, before being shot at point-blank range.

The abducted soldiers were stood blindfolded, handcuffed to each other on a barren hilltop as one of their bearded Taliban captors held an AK-47 rifle and spoke with fury about revenge.

‘Twelve of our comrades were besieged and mercilessly martyred in the Khyber Agency (area),’ said the militant.

‘Our pious women were also targeted. To avenge those comrades, we will kill these men. We warn the government of Pakistan that if the killing of our friends is not halted, this will be the fate of you all.’

Before death, one of the men described how dozens of Taliban fighters stormed their fort in the northwestern Tank district and kidnapped the soldiers.

‘They attacked us with rockets, killed a sentry. One ran away. The Taliban entered the fort and captured us with our weapons,’ he said, sitting in rows with other soldiers with their arms folded and legs crossed in front of Taliban banners.

‘They tied our hands, put us in a Datsun and took us away.’

The video then shows the men standing quietly. Taliban chanting can be heard. ‘We will cross all limits to avenge your blood,’ it said, referring to fighters killed by Pakistani security forces.

One of the men shoves a clip into his assault rifle and fires a few rounds into the back of the heads of a few of the soldiers. ‘God is greatest,’ the Taliban yell.

Other fighters step up and take turns pumping bullets into the men, some wearing green military uniforms. Each time a soldier collapses, the man standing next to him is pulled in that direction by the handcuffs.

The Taliban and Pakistan’s military, one of the largest in the world, have entered exploratory peace talks that raised hopes that their conflict, which has killed thousands of people, could ease, or even end one day.

But the talks have faltered, a senior Pakistani security official told Reuters, and the video – copied to compact discs and distributed in street markets in areas near the porous border with Afghanistan – is likely to enrage the army.

Formed in 2007, the TTP is an umbrella group of Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Allied with the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda, it pledged to overthrow the Pakistani government after the military started operations against militant groups.

It is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across the country and has carried out audacious attacks, including one on army headquarters near the capital Islamabad in 2009.

After the shooting ends in the video, the Taliban militants stare at the bodies slumped over on the earth.

‘If the killing of our friends is not stopped, this will be the fate of all infidel armies, God willing,’ says one militant.

Majeed Marwat, a commander of the Frontier Corps said morale among his men would always remain high despite such videos.

‘Our soldiers enlist because they want to sacrifice for the country. We are taking care of the families of the martyred soldiers,’ he told Reuters.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090165/Taliban-releases-horrific-video-executions-15-Pakistani-soldiers.html

Video report

This Parliament has also passed more than 70 bills. Legislatively, this National Assembly has been one of the most proactive and efficient.

The 35-year-old legislator speaks about Pakistan’s Mexican standoff, and Parliament’s unsung feats.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was served a contempt of court notice by the Supreme Court on Jan. 16. And, rejecting the government’s position, the Army considers Memogate to be a real issue. Do you believe Pakistani democracy is in danger?

The only solution to Pakistan’s problems is democracy and plenty of it. Participation in the electoral process by everyone—especially the young, and women—and uninterrupted democracy are critical requirements for the country’s long-term stability and economic growth. We need to keep the system going irrespective of who comes to power, even if it’s Nawaz Sharif.

How do you view the recent success of Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf?

Their Lahore rally [on Oct. 30] attracted a lot of people, who were curious to hear what Imran Khan had to say. Right now, they’re only attracting crowds. They have to convert their popularity into votes. Anyone who wants to participate in the electoral process should be given a fair chance, and PTI’s success in exciting potential, first-time voters is a good bellwether for Pakistani politics. The party they’re most likely to affect is the PMLN, then PMLQ, and then perhaps the PPP.

Is Memogate a cause of concern for you as a member of the ruling party?

This issue should not be allowed to derail the solid working relationship the government has had with the military. I don’t see this becoming a real threat, but it is a sensitive issue.

The current Parliament passed two constitutional amendments but is still derided as a “rubberstamp assembly.” Does the criticism have any validity?

This Parliament has also passed more than 70 bills. Legislatively, this National Assembly has been one of the most proactive and efficient. Compare this to the Punjab Assembly, where they’ve only made something like a dozen new laws over the last four years, with no private member’s bill being entertained. Prime Minister Gilani, Speaker Mirza, and the party whips have led Parliament well. I’ve personally worked on laws to clean up the civil service by enforcing merit and ensuring the declaration of assets, to penalize squatters, to make cyber bullying and harassment punishable crimes, to have telecom companies regulate the retail of phone numbers, to make new provinces, to have Parliament’s say in foreign policy.

Are other freshman legislators similarly charged about their responsibilities?

There are a lot of young parliamentarians, men and women, who are making a difference by proposing new legislation and introducing commitment in highly informed debates. These people have good ideas.

Source: News Week Pakistan

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) has directed Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to appear before it on Thursday to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him. The contempt charges emanate from Gilani not carrying out the court’s 2009 orders in the National Reconciliation Ordinance 2007 (NRO) case.

The NRO, 2007 had been signed and put into effect by the then military ruler of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, and let over 8,000 people against whom a variety of cases—many concocted out of sheer political vengeance—were pending at various stages of the legal process off the hook. The most prominent beneficiaries of this reconciliation were late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her spouse, the current President Asif Ali Zardari. Besides, thousands from the ethnic political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement were given reprieve under the NRO making the party the largest beneficiary of the law.

The NRO was negotiated between Musharraf and the current army Chief, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who headed the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Bhutto. International players from the United Kingdom, the United States and perhaps the Gulf sheikhs are said to have guaranteed the deal, which paved the way for Bhutto’s return and indirectly of another former Primer Minister-in-exile Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan, and safe exit from the country, down the road, of Musharraf.

The restoration of the democratic dispensation that flowed from the much-maligned NRO also allowed Gilani, an elected Prime Minister, to first release the Judges of superior judiciary who were under house arrest and later restore them to their office. The restitution of these Judges, however, was not an easy task and ultimately required street protests by lawyers and opposition parties along with a facilitating nod/prod from General Kayani. This delay on part of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), notably Zardari, to allow the country’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to resume office was perceived as an affront by the latter.

Zardari, on his part, was apprehensive of the judiciary’s past attitude towards the PPP and himself. After all, the same Judges seeking his blessings for restoration stood by and did nothing for a good decade when he was put through the wringer of lawsuits (several if not all fabricated). He was denied justice for way too long to easily forget the role of the Judges in his ordeal.

Bad blood has existed between Pakistani politicians and the judiciary for the better part of the country’s existence. In tussles between various power centers like the military and the civil bureaucracy on one side versus democratic and even quasi-democratic forces on the other, the judiciary has invariably sided with the former two. The Pakistani superior judiciary has been, to its dubious credit, legitimising military takeovers and abrogation of the Constitution.

The SC has validated multiple martial laws and granted protection to military usurpers under the garb of what it called the ‘doctrine of necessity’—a perverted concept defined by the second Chief Justice of Pakistan, Muhammad Munir, as “that which is not otherwise lawful, necessity makes lawful”. Justice Munir had also inducted two other mutations to the legal corpus that “the safety of the people is the supreme law” and “the safety of the State is the supreme law” thereby providing a judicial cover to the national security state paradigm.

Under Article 6 of the Constitution, such actions of the judiciary effectively were treasonous as they actively aided and abetted those who had subverted the Constitution. Even worse is the fact that the superior judiciary’s hands are stained with the blood of the country’s first elected Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose judicial murder was the result of connivance between military dictator Zia-ul-Haq and Judges aimed at eliminating Bhutto. Therein, lies the single-most important reason for the mistrust between the PPP and the SC.

Historically, courts have been the venue for prosecuting numerous other activists and politicians on treason allegations. They have ranged from Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Comrade Sajjad Zahir (Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case), Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman (Agartala Conspiracy Case), Afrasiab Khattak and Pashtun progressives (Malakand Conspiracy case), Wali Khan and Baloch nationalist leaders (Hyderabad Conspiracy Case) to Makhdoom Javed Hashmi in the recent past. And all this was done in the name of national security and fundamental rights—specifically the Right to Liberty— were made subservient to the security of the state as has been done by the SC in its order in the so-called Memogate case.

It is in this backdrop that one must see the present three-pronged assault on the incumbent democratic dispensation in Pakistan, which came to power in 2008. The military establishment, certain right-wing politicians and the judiciary have made common cause to oust the PPP and its allies. Large sections of the Pakistani media have served as very effective cheerleaders in this endeavour.

The military, which was ruling directly through General Musharraf, found it increasingly difficult to continue doing so for multiple reasons and was forced to allow at least a civilian veneer while wanting to rule from behind the scenes. The junta reluctantly signed the NRO with the PPP but was unhappy to let the latter rule even in name. Many observers believe that the military’s mistrust of Benazir Bhutto’s understanding with the West, especially the US, her critical views of jihadism as a tool of foreign policy and favouring civilian supremacy over the military might have contributed to her elimination.

No sooner did the PPP assume power, efforts to elbow it out started in earnest. The military flexed its muscle first in 2008-2009 during the so-called Biden-Lugar Bill (later Kerry-Lugar Berman Act) row, where the US, directly and indirectly, wanted to make its military aid to Pakistan conditional to the army’s respect for civilian supremacy. A later attempt by the PPP to bring the ISI under the MoD was also thwarted by the army. The military establishment considered the former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, its enemy number one. To them, Haqqani—an avowed proponent of civilian supremacy—had undone years of efforts by the junta to convince the US that they are the only show in town. Haqqani had to be cut to size, and soon. The quasi-sting operation a la Memogate afforded such opportunity to not just get Haqqani but also to net his boss, President Zardari. But as noted before here, the days of a textbook coup d’état are long gone. A physical takeover by the army would have led to international isolation and domestic turmoil.

This is where the courts became invaluable to the military brass again. The Opposition did not have the numbers in Parliament to impeach Zardari, or vote out the Prime Minister and mobilise the street had not worked so far. If an adverse verdict could be obtained against Haqqani and thus Zardari, it would be a slam-dunk. While some initial negotiations between the PPP and the junta were underway that could have brought closure to the Memogate, the army was actually looking for scalps. It double-crossed the PPP and just as Haqqani arrived in Islamabad, his passport was snatched and he was confined first to the presidency and then the PM House in a virtual house arrest.

Preparations had already been made through opposition politician Mian Nawaz to move the court in the Memogate matter and a plethora of petitions was filed with the SC in the name of public interest and national security. Nawaz Sharif, who had drifted away from the military establishment over the years, was induced to do their dirty work once again presumably via a threat of establishment putting its weight behind Imran Khan—the new kid on the political block, who has chipped away on Sharif’s power base in Punjab.

The classic military nutcracker manoeuvre was applied via the NRO judgment and Memogate to squeeze the PPP. Unfortunately, the SC, contrary to its recent claims to have buried its ignoble past, obliged to serve as the pincer trapping the PPP. In both, the NRO and Memogate verdicts, the court has resorted to a lethal cocktail of Islamism, jingoism and national security rhetoric with fanfare going so far as to declare Gilani a liar and a dishonest man not just in temporal but the divine sense of the words.

At the time of writing this piece, the SC had ordered PM to appear in person and explain why he should not be charged with contempt of court. As the disqualification clauses of the Constitution stand, he has not committed contempt of court by defaming or ridiculing the judiciary (Article 63-1G) and is not guilty of any moral turpitude (literally meaning a criminal offence) for which he could be sentenced to at least two years in prison (Article 63-1F). So the SC has a limited option to nail him down on vaguely applied standards of morality, or some presumed violation of the sovereignty or national security.

However, the SC—whose own past conduct has been highly contemptuous of the rule of law, upholding the Constitution and recognising civilian supremacy—may find it extremely difficult to hold an elected Prime Minister with a parliamentary majority backing him in contempt. The Supreme Court and especially Chief Justice Chaudhry must not forget that the only institution and its members who have a role dirtier than the military establishment in destabilising civilian governments is the superior judiciary of Pakistan. They can hardly be the ones fit to cast the first stone.

Mohammad Taqi is a columnist for ‘Daily Times’, Pakistan. He can be reached at
mazdaki@me.com or via @mazdaki

Source: Tehelka

The memogate issue is a conspiracy orchestrated by the establishment against democratic institutions to regain the power to dictate the other state institutions and it is being helped by biased judiciary, irresponsible media & right wing political parties. The wife of former Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani, Farahnaz Ispahani rightly points out that the civilian government, elected president & former Pakistan’s ambassador Hussain Haqqani are not on trail, but in fact pluralism, democracy and civilian supramacy on trial in Pakistan

She writes, “The manner in which my husband, former Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani, is being treated in our homeland reflects the shrinking political space there for anyone who advocates positive relations with the West or stands up for religious-cultural tolerance and pluralism.”

The most powerful political force in Pakistan; the Military, with four bloodless coup; conspired against the people on several occasions by imposing martial laws and removing democratically elected governments, judicial murder of first elected prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto via Supreme Court & later killing of first woman prime minister Shaheed-e-Jamhoriat Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, to it’s great credit. Now the same un-elected force is bent upon removing the duly elected government, by force unconstitutionally, and with the tacit support of judiciary on the pretext of an unsigned memo/ Khaghiz ka tukda. It was this institution that, on Wednesday, told the elected government that it should mind its language, or face “grave consequences” for the country.

The Economic Times report described this alliance the Pakistan Memo League; an alliance to oust yet another government in the country.

Pakistan’s leading opposition figure, Mian Nawaz Sharif, who has not learned from disastrous lessons of dictatorship. The most disturbing development is that he has decided to become a co-conspirator with the military establishment in yet another plot to dislodge a democratically-elected government. During his Turkey visit, he held a one-on-one meeting with Lt Gen Shuja Pasha in Istanbul in the last week of October wherein it was decided that the establishment and the opposition would work together to get rid of the PPP-led govt. And later he had a one-on-one meeting with the chief justice of Pakistan at his Murree residence and then he finally approached the Supreme Court. Some members of his Muslim league appear to have their own reservations against the former prime minister’s recent move and accuse him of conspiring against democratic regime. His party’s MNA Ayaz Amir openly criticized Mian sahib:

We have no doubt that the powerful Military is conspiring to make democratically elected Government as scapegoat along with Judiciary and Mian Nawaz Sharif as a co-conspirator.

Commenting on the memo issue, the Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa said one cannot name the President, Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chiefs in a petition but they all accepted it because the petition was filed by Nawaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, the PPP is trying to draw democratic forces to its defence against the threat of the military establishment and a coup.

The prime minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gilani has been talking to various political leaders and diplomats about potential threats to his administration and expressing fears that the army might stage a coup. The Express Tribune reported.

However, the PM House issued a flat out denial: “PM Gilani has not spoken to Thomson in this regard. The AP story is completely unfounded,” adding, “The democratic government, led by PM Gilani, draws its strength from the people of Pakistan – not from foreign powers.”

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) former president & human rights activist Asma Jahangir says , “It appears that judges are playing the role of lawyers in the Memogate case, and the time will tell the nation that memo was mere a plain paper.”

“We want people’s government in the country, not the rule of Army and judiciary,”, She said.

The legal fraternity launched movement for the restoration of judiciary but the Judges wanted them back on their jobs only, she regretted.

She also said the Judges supposed that whatever they say was law but the law was written in the Constitution.

The memogate was not being probed by Judicial Commission but at a place in Rawalpindi. She added.

The following article written by Mohammed Hanif describes the biased role of establishment friendly media & so called ‘Azad Adliya’ as well as current situation clearly.

Pakistan’s army is using rumours where it once used force

As reports of a possible coup show, Pakistan’s army is as corrupt as the politicians from whom it wants to save the country

As the rumours of an impending coup circulated in Pakistan this week, an inquiry commission investigating the death of the journalist Saleem Shehzad submitted its report to the Pakistan government. The report has not been made public yet but members of the commission leaked to the press the only bit of information that mattered: the commission has fully absolved Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the prime suspect in the torture and murder of Shehzad. Hours after his murder most of Shehzad’s colleagues and friends were convinced that it was an ISI job.

Another judicial commission is holding regular hearings to find out how Osama bin Laden managed to live near a military garrison in Abbottabad. Whatever this commission may or may not achieve, you don’t need to be an analyst to predict that it will absolve the army and its intelligence agencies of any culpability.

While a supreme court has been hearing, for years now, the cases of hundreds of missing persons, mostly Baloch activists who, their families allege, have been kidnapped by the military agencies. The bullet-riddled bodies of these activists keep appearing in the towns and villages of Balochistan almost every day. There is not a single bereaved family in the province that has any doubts about who is behind these killings. Yet, army officials, on the rare occasion they are asked, always throw up their hands in the air and say “Who, us?”

It was this institution that, on Wednesday, told the elected government that it should mind its language, or face “grave consequences” for the country.

This stand-off between the army and the government started over yet another investigation that the army is keen on. The army believes that President Zardari, through his ambassador in Washington, tried to lobby the US government to save himself from an alleged coup, after a memo emerged last October. The government denies it. The matter is in the court. Although the media is full of talk of sovereignty and honour once again, everybody seems to have missed the basic fact that in trying to save ourselves from a coup we have reached the brink of yet another coup.

Pakistan’s army has launched four coups and started and lost as many wars with India. Yet it still considers itself the sole arbiter of national interest and public morality. An army that’s not accountable to its own people is not a rare thing even in this day and age, but Pakistan’s army has the singular distinction of waging an almost continuous war against its own people and getting paid to do it. Pakistan’s army is as corrupt as the politicians from whom it wants to save the country. It’s just better at paperwork. If you are a politician in Pakistan you are likely to end up in a jail, or in exile, and in some cases hanged, or just bombed out of existence. If you are a general you are likely to spend your retirement years on a golf course paid by taxpayers, and own a holiday home in suburban Toronto. Pakistan’s president and prime minster may not be great leaders, but between them they have spent 15 years in jails, mostly under military rulers.

It’s easy for the army to give incompetent and corrupt politicians a bloody nose, but to come up with any remedies for an ailing country is another matter. And, lest we forget, it wasn’t the politicians who got this country into this fine mess.

The fact that instead of launching a coup the army has had to rely on rumours of a coup to deal with the government may be read as a sign that the Pakistan army is not as powerful – or shortsighted as it once was. But when it overthrew the last elected government, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had a two-thirds majority in parliament, and there was nobody clamouring for military rule. The army then stayed in power for nine years.

The classic garrison punishment for a new recruit is that he is asked to dig a hole in the ground. After the hole has been dug, you get a mound of earth which obviously looks unseemly in an otherwise spick and span training ground. Hence, very logically, the recruit is asked to dig another hole so that this earth can be disposed off. And then another and another till a time the recruit has learned his lesson. Pakistan’s army has turned this quaint little military routine into an elaborate ideology and transformed a promising country into a desolate land full of potholes.

پاکستان کا پودا گملے میں لگا نے کے بعد ہم بھول گۓ کہ اسکو ہم نے کشادہ زمین کے سینے میں منتقل کرنا ہے۔ اب اس پودے کینمی اور سانس رکنےلگی ہے۔ سورج کی روشنی بھی اب اسکے لۓ بیکار ہوتے جارہےہیں۔

پاکستان جو آدھی صدی سےگزرکر آدھی صدی کی کہانی بیان کرنے والا ہے، اس کے پاس کہنے کوکیا ہے؟ مرکز کے اختیارات اور صوبائ خود اختیاری سوال، پارلیمانی یا صدارتی نظام کی بحث، ریاست اور مذہب کے تعلق کی نوعیت، بار بار آیئین کی پامالی، اقساط میں خودکشی کرتی ہوئ جمہوریت، لمبی طویل فوجی بوٹوں کی چاپ، پاکستان کے ٹوٹ کر آدھا ہو جا نے کا نوحہ، نمائندہ رہنماؤں کی جلاوطنی، قائد عوام کا قتل، سڑکوں پر بہتا شہید جمہوریت کا خون، ایجنسیوں، بیوروکریسی اور اپوزیشن کی سازشیں، سیاسی اور مذہبی جماعتوں کے تضادات، عوام کا بے سمت ہجوم ۔ مگ افسوس ہم نے آج بھی کچھ نہیں سیکھا۔

ہمارا المیہ یہ ہے کہ ہمارے غیر نمائندہ ریاستی اداروں نے آ ج تک بین الاقوامی اصولوںاور بنیادی اقدارکی نفی کی ہے اور انسانی ذندگی کی عضمت کوپامال کیا ہے۔ اجتمای مفاد کی بجاۓ انفرادی مفاد کو سامنے رکھا ہے۔ جس سے ہمارے نظام کامجموی ڈھانچہ ریت کے ٹیلوں کی طرح بکھرتے بکھرتے صحرا بن چکا ہے، جہاں ہر طرف سراب نظر آتے ہیں۔

پاکستان کی تاریخ بحرانوں اور جرنیلوں کی تاریخ رہی ہے، جس میں ججوں اور جرنلسٹوں کا بطور آلہ کار ایک کلیدی کردار رہا ہے۔ ہر موڑ پر ایک نیا چیف مارشل لا ایڈمنسٹریٹر نۓ سائن بورڈ کے ساتھ کھڑا دکھائ دیتا ہے۔ جس میں کسی پر اسلامی جمہوریت، کسی پر بنیادی جمہوریت اور کسی پر حقیقی جمہوریت لکھاہواتھا۔

جمہوریت کے راستے سے ہٹانے والے ان سائن بورڈز کی منزل تباہی و بربادی کی گہری کھائ تھی ۔ ان غیر نمائندہ حکمرانوں نے جمہوریت کی نشو ونما روکنے کے لۓ سیاسی قیادت کو ہمیشہ گملوں میں رکھنے کی سازش کی ہے۔ اگر کسی سیاستدان نے اپنی جڑیں کشادہ زمیں میں منتقل کرنے کی کوشش کی ہے تو اسے نشان عبرت بنا دیا گیا ہے۔ قید وبند کی صعوبتیں، زہنی جسمانی اذیتیں اور شہادت اس کی قسمت میں لکھ دی گئ ہیں ہم آج بھی جمہویت کی تلاش میں ہیں۔ اور آج بھی خطرہ ہے کہ ہمیں منزل سے بھٹکا کراندھیرے راستے پر ڈالنے کی سازش ہورہی ہے۔ این ار او اور میمو اس سلسے کی کڑیاں ہیں۔

وزیرِاعظم یوسف رضا گیلانی نے قومی اسمبلی میں اپنے خطاب میں کہا کہ انیس سو ننانوے میں نواز شریف کی منتخب حکومت کا تختہ الٹنے کا ذکر کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ اس وقت بینظیر بھٹو نے ان سے کہا تھا کہ ’یہ سیج ہمارے لیے نہیں سجایا گیا اور یہاں نہ ہم آئیں گے اور نہ وہ (نواز شریف)‘۔

وزیرِ اعظم نے حزبِ اختلاف کو خبردار کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ’ اگر اب بھی کوئی سیج سجایا گیا تو وہ نہ آپ کے لیے ہوگا نہ ہمارے لیے‘۔

جو معاشرے تبدیل ہونے کی صلاحیت اور قوت کھو دیتے ہیں وہ گناہگار ہوجاتے ہیں اور انسانی معاشرے کا سب سے بڑا گناہ ‘جمود’ ہے۔ فرخ خان پتافی اپنے ‘روزنامہ ایکسپریس’ میں شائع ہونے والے آرٹیکل ‘ہم نے کیا سیکھا؟’ میں یہ سوال کرنے کے ساتھ ساتھ یہ تجزیہ بھی دے رہے ہیں کہ ہماری فوج، عدالت، میڈیا اور سیاسی جماعتیں ماضی سے سیکھنے میں ناکام رہی ہیں۔

اردو اور پنجابی کے معروف منفرد تیکھے لہجے اور بلند آہنگ شاعر اور ادیب نذیر قیصر روزنامہ مشرق کیلئے روزانہ قطعہ لِکھ رہے ہیں۔
ہم آج کا قطعہ قارئین کی خِدمت میں کراس پوسٹ کر رہے ہیں

ہم سب پرچم پاک کے چا ند ستارے ہیں

اک دوجے سے ٹکرانا ٹھیک نہیں

لہو میں بھیگی آزادی کی شمعوں کو

اپنے ہی ہاتھوں سے بجھانا ٹھیک نہیں

شاعر: نذیر قیصر

Source: Daily Mashriq(Page 3) January 13, 2012

کیا ان کو قومی غدار قرار دینے کا فیصلہ ہوچکا ہے؟

غیر جمہوری ریاستوں میں جو لوگ آ فاقی انسا نی حقوق، جمہوری آزادیوں، عوام کو اختیارات اور انصاف منتقل کرنےکی تحریکیں چلاتے ہیں اور نۓ جدیر نظام کی بشارت دیتے ہیں، ان کے نام ریاست غداری کا سرٹیفکیٹ جاری کردیتی ہے اور پھر اس باغی کو زہر کا پیالہ پینا ہوتا ہے، یا پھر تختہ دار پر پھانسی کے پھندے کو چومنا ہوتا ہے۔

سقراط سے زوالفقار بھٹو تک اور بے نظیر پھٹو کو سیکیورٹی رسک قرار دینے تک عدالت ریاست کی سب سے بڑی معاون رہی ہے۔ اور آج بھی ریاستی ادارے عدالت سے ہی فیصلہ صادر کروانا چاہتے ہیں کہ کون اہل کون نااہل اور کون غدار ہے۔ گزشتہ روز جسٹس آصف سعید کھوسہ کی سربراہی میں سپریم کورٹ کے پانچ رکنی بینچ نے متفقہ فیصلہ سُناتے ہوئے کہا کہ وزیر اعظم نے عدالتی احکامات پر عمل درآمد اور آئین کی پاسداری نہ کرکے اپنے حلف سے روگردانی کی ہے اور بادی النظر میں وہ ایماندار نہیں رہے اور اگر کوئی بھی شخص ایماندار اور امین نہ ہو تو وہ پارلیمنٹ کا رکن نہیں بن سکتا۔

عدالت کا کہنا تھا کہ وزیر اعظم نے آئین کی پاسداری پر اپنی سیاسی وابستگی کو ترجیح دی۔

عدالت کا یہ بھی کہنا تھا کہ صدر پاکستان اور وزیر قانون بھی بظاہر اپنے حلف سے روگردانی کے مرتکب ہوئے ہیں اور اُنہیں بھی ایسے ہی نتائج کا سامنا کرنا پڑ سکتا ہے۔

عدالت نے اپنے فیصلے میں کہا ہے کہ آئین کے ارٹیکل 189 کے تحت تمام ادارے سپریم کورٹ کے احکامات پر عمل درآمد کرنے کے پابند ہیں۔

پاکستان کا شمار ایسی ریاستوں میں ہوتا ہے جہاں اقتداراوراختیارات کا منبع فوج ہے۔ اور جو گزشتہ 64 سالوں سے دیگر ریاستی اداروں بیوکریسی، عدالت اور میڈیا کی معاونت سے نظام سلطنت چلارہی ہے۔

جب بھی میڈیا کی سول حکومت کی کرپشن مہم کے بعد فوج نے منتخب حکوت کوفارغ کیا تو قانونی جواز کا سرٹیفکیٹ عدالت نے ہی جاری کیا ہے۔

اس تناظر میں عدالت کے دو فرائص بن گۓ ہیں؛ شہری نما ئندوں کو ایمانداری یا غداری کا سر ٹیفکیٹ اور فوجی حکومتوں کو شب خون مارنے کے پعد قانونی جواز فراہم کرنا۔

کون اہل ہے یا نااہل اور کون ایماندار فیصلہ عوام نے کرنا ہے، کہ رہے ہیں پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے نائب صدر ڈاکٹر بابر اعوان ، یہی جمہوری آفاقی اصول بھی ہے اورجدید ریاستوں کا دستور بھی۔

عاصمہ جہانگیر جو اپنے والد ملک جیلانی سے لے کر حسین حقانی تک انصاف کے لۓ عدالت کے دروازے پر کھڑی رہی ہیں؛ انہیں انصاف تو نہ مل سکا مگر آذاد عدلیہ کا بھرم ضرور کھل گیا۔ وہ واضع طور پر کہ رہی ہیں ’عدلیہ اپنے دائرہ کار سے تجاوز کرگئی ہے اوریہ بہت ہی خطرناک بات ہوگی کہ سپریم کورٹ اراکین پارلیمان کی اخلاقیات پر فیصلے دے۔‘

میاں نواز شریف کی حکومت جب جنرل پرویز مشرف نے غیر آئینی طور پر پرطرف کی اور انہیں جلاوطن ہونا پڑا تو انہوں نے لندن میں سہیل وڑائچ سے کتاب لکھوائ غدار کون؟ تو ا`س میں اپنی بیگناہی ثابت کرنے کے ساتھ ساتھ انہوں نے کارگل سے لے کر تمام اقدامات کا قصوروار عسکری اور انٹیلیجینس اداروں کو ٹھرایا، انہوں نے یہ تک لکہا کہ بی بی شہید اور آصف علی زرداری کے خلاف مقدمات انٹیلی جینیس ایجنسیوں کے کہنے پر بناے مگر سیاسی آزادی ملنے پر وہ یہ سب بھول چکے ہیں؛ وہ بھول چکے ہیں جب انہں فوجی آمر کے دور میں ھتکڑیاں لگائ گئیں، پنجرے میں لاد کر شہروں کا چکر لگایا جاتا تھا۔ آج جب ہمیں مزید سیاسی جمہوری آزادیوں کی طرف بڑھنا تھا، پی ایم ایل (ن) کے قائد کاغذ کا ایک ٹکڑا لے کر عدالت میں پہنچے ہیں، ا`ن کی انگلیاں شہری نمائندوں کی طرف ہیں اور وہ چلا چلا کر کہ رہی ہیں یہی ہیں غدار۔

پاکستان میں فوجی بالادستی کے تابع جو ریاستی نظام رہا ہے، ا`س کی ایک اہم خاصیت اختیارات، اقتدار اور وسائل کی مرکزیت رہی ہے۔ اس میں جس کسی نے بھی انسانی جمہوری وفاقی اصولوں کی بنیاد پر آفاقی حقوق اورصوبائ وسائل پر اختیارمانگا ہے ا`س کا نام غداروں فہرست میں ڈال دیا گیا ہے، پہلے ا`سکا میڈیا ٹرائل ہوا ہے اور پھر کورٹ میں۔ زیر نظر مضمون جو حسن مجتبیٰ نے لکھا اور بی بی سی اردو میں شائع ہوا ہے، میں قوم پرست غداروں کی ایک لمبی فہرست ہے۔

آج سازش ہورہی ہے کہ اس فہرست میںوفاق کے سربراہ عوام کے منتخب صدرآصف علی زرداری’ حکومتی سربراہ وزیراعظم یوسف رضا گیلانی اور امریکہ میں سابق پاکستانی سفیرحسین حقانی کا نام شامل کیا جاۓ ؛ ان کا جرم عوامی سیاسی اداروں کی بالادستی کا مطالبہ اور جمہوری عوامی حقوق کو فوقیت دینا ہے’ اس جرم کی بنا پر ان کی نہ صرف سیاسی بقا خطرے میں ہے بلکہ ذندگی بھی۔

حسن مجتبیٰ کا مکمل مضمون ذیل میں پیش خدمت ہے۔

غداری کے سرٹیفیکیٹ، ایک تاریخ
حسن مجتبیٰ
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، نیو یارک

’اوہ جیہڑا جالب سی نہ! اوہ غدار سی غدار! قید ہوئیا چنگا ہوئیا‘ یہ وہ الفاظ تھے پاکستان کے عوامی شاعر حبیب جالب کے محلے والوں کے جو یہ اس وقت کہتے جب جالب گرفتار ہو کر جیل چلے جاتے۔ وہ حبیب جالب، آج جن کے شعر اگر پنجاب کے وزیر اعلیٰ شہباز شریف اور پاکستان کے صدر آصف علی زداری سمیت پاکستانی حکمران اپنے جلسوں میں نہ پڑھیں تو ان کی سیاسی روٹی ہضم نہیں ہوتی۔

پاکستان میں غداری کے القاب و سرٹیفیکیٹس بانٹے جانے کی تاریخ شاید پاکستان کی اپنی تاریخ سے بھی کہیں زیادہ پرانی ہے اور غداری کے ٹھپے بنانے کی فیکٹری کا سفر آج بھی جاری و ساری ہے۔

مضحکہ خیز بات یہ ہے کہ پاکستان میں ایسا بھی وقت آیا کہ جب تاج برطانیہ سے غداری کے الزامات تلے آنے والے اسی مٹی کی خمیر سے اٹھے ہوئے رہنما اور کارکن برصغیر میں انگریزوں سے نام نہاد آزادی حاصل کرنے کے بعد بھی پاکستان میں حکومتوں کی جانب سے بھی غدار ٹھہرائے گئے۔

اس کی ایک بڑی مثال خدائي خدمت گار اور ’سرحدی‘ گاندھی خان عبدالغفار خان باچا خان ہیں جنہیں آخر عمر تک اپنے اہل خانہ اور ساتھیوں سمیت غدار کہا جاتا رہا۔ پھر وہ غفار خان کے ساتھ ان کے بھائی ڈاکٹر خان صاحب تھے کہ بیٹے خان عبدالولی خان کہ ان کے پوتے اسفند یار ولی، اجمل خٹک کے زمانوں سے پہلے حاجی ترنگ زئي جیسے درویش (جن کے مزار پر کچھ عرصہ قبل طالبان نے قبضہ کیا تھا) یہ سب کے سب ایک یا دوسرے دور میں غدار ٹھہرائے جاتے رہے تھے۔

سابقہ مشرقی پاکستان میں حسین شہید سہروردی، مولانا عبد الحمید بھاشانی اور بنگلہ دیش کے بانی شیخ مجیب الرحمان کو غدار کہا گیا۔ اگرتلہ سازش کیس کے تحت ان پر غداری کا مقدمہ چلایا گیا اور دوسری بار انیس سو اکہتر میں ان پر خفیہ طور پر مقدمہ چلا کر انہیں سزائے موت دے دی گئی۔ ذوالفقار علی بھٹو نے برسرِ اقتدار آتے ہی شیخ مجیب الرحمان کی سزائے موت منسوخ کر دی تھی اور پھر اسی ’غدار‘ ٹھہرائے جانے والے شیخ مجیب الرحمان کے بنگلہ دیش کو نہ صرف تسلیم کیا گیا بلکہ اسلامی سربراہ کانفرنس میں شرکت کرنے کے لیے ان کی آمد کے موقع پر انہیں اکیس توپوں کی سلامی بھی دی گئی تھی۔

یہ بھی انسانی تاریخ میں شاذ و نادر ہی ہوا ہو کہ پوری کی پوری قوم اور فوج کا ایک بڑا حصہ بھی غدار کہلایا جائے۔انیس سو اکہتر میں پاکستان کی تاریخ میں اس روایت کی بھی داغ بیل ڈال دی گئی جب پورے کی پوری بنگالی قوم کو غدار کہا گیا اور پاکستانی فوج میں بنگالی فوجیوں کو بھی غدار۔
شاید لاہور کے پرانے لوگوں کو یاد ہو کہ اسی عاصمہ جہانگیر کے والد ملک جیلانی شیخ مجیب الرحمان کے پنجاب میں چند حامیوں اور دوستوں میں سے ایک تھے۔ وہ اکیلے ہی ان کی آزادی کے لیے بینر لیے مال روڈ پر کھڑے ہوا کرتے تھے۔
یہی عاصمہ جہانگير جو جوانی میں داخل ہوتے ہی اپنے ابا کو حبسِ بیجا میں رکھنے کے خلاف مقدمہ لڑتی رہی تھیں جسے پاکستان میں مشہور عاصمہ جیلانی کیس کہا جاتا ہے۔ اسی کیس میں ججوں نے جنرل یحییٰ کو فقط اس وقت غاصب کہا تھا جب وہ اقتدار میں نہیں رہے تھے۔
عبد الصمد خان اچکزئی پیر آف مانکی شریف، میاں افتخار الدین، فیض احمد فیض، مظہر علی خان، شيخ ایاز جیسے لوگ بھی مختلف دور میں حکومتوں اور ان کی کاسہ لیس میڈیا عرف قومی میڈیا کی طرف سےغدار قرار دیے جاتے رہے تھے۔

ایوب خان کے دور حکومت میں بلوچ رہنما نوروز خان اور اس کے بھائيوں اور بیٹوں کو پھانسی دے دی گئی تھی جبکہ عطاءاللہ خان مینگل ان کے بھائي نورالدین مینگل، غوث بخش بزنجو، خیر بخش مری، دود ا خان زرکزئي ، اور بلوچ قومی شاعر گل خان نصیر کو بھی غدار قرار دیا جاتا رہا جبکہ اکبر بگٹی کو سزائے موت سنائی گئی جو بعد میں معاف کردی گئی تھی۔

سندھی قوم پرست رہمنا جی ایم سید شاید غفار خان کے بعد اس ملک میں سب سے ’سینیئر غدار‘ تھے جنہیں اٹھائیس سال تک مختلف وقفوں سے تادم مرگ نظربند رکھا گیا اور ان کا انتقال بھی بینظیر بھٹو کی حکومت میں دوران نظر بندی میں ہوا تھا۔
بلکہ نظریہ ضرورت کی طرح غداری کے بھی سرٹیفیکیٹ حکومتیں، فوج اور میڈیا بانٹتے رہے۔

جنرل ضیاء کے آمرانہ دور حکومت میں غلام مصطفیٰ کھر اور جام صادق علی کو ’را کا ایجنٹ‘ بتایا گیا اور ان کے نام اٹک سازش کیس کے حوالے سے آئے۔ لیکن پھر اسی کھر اور جام صادق علی کی غداری کی سند پھاڑ کر انہیں بوقت ضرورت اعلیٰ عہدوں پر بھی بٹھایا گیا۔
غداروں کی فہرست میں ممتاز بھٹو، حفیظ پیرزادہ، الطاف حسین، مرتضیٰ بھٹو اور بینظیر بھٹو بھی بتائے جاتے رہے۔
تاریخ پلٹا کھاتی ہے اور پھر وہی حسین حقانی جو کہ اپنی اسی خالق اسٹیبلشمنٹ کے ہاتھوں سخت زیر عتاب آئے ہوئے ہیں اور غداری کے مقدمے کی تلوار پاکستانی اسٹیبلشمنٹ حب الوطنی کے کچے دھاگے میں باندھے ان کے سر پر لٹکائے رکھی ہوئی ہے۔ یہ ملک غداروں اور وعدہ معاف گواہوں کی فیکٹری ہے اور منتخب وزرائے اعظم کا مقتل گاہ ہے۔ پھر وہی عاصمہ اسی طرح ان کا مقدمہ لڑتی رہی ہے جس طرح وہ ملک جیلانی کا مقدمہ لڑتی رہی تھی کہ کردار وہی رہتے ہیں صرف غدار بدلتے رہتے ہیں۔

وہ اچھے بھلے چلتے نظام کا تختہ الٹ کر میرے ہی اوپر بیٹھ جائے تو نظریہ ضرورت۔

میں فیڈریشن کو کنفیڈریشن بنانے کی بات کروں تو ملک دشمن ۔

وہ اپنی پالیسیوں سے ملک توڑ دے تو صرف نااہل شرابی۔پھر بھی قومی پرچم میں لپٹ کر دفن ہونے کا مستحق۔

میں ہزاروں جنگی قیدی چھڑوانے اور ایٹمی پروگرام شروع کرنے کے بعد بھی پھانسی چڑھ جاؤں تو میرے جنازے میں کسی کا شامل ہونا بھی جرم۔

وہ بھارت سے تین دریا تیرے، تین دریا میرے کا معاہدہ کرلے تو حقیقت پسند۔

میں بھارت کے زیرِ قبضہ کشمیر میں چلتے دریا پر بننے والے ڈیمز رکوانے کا مقدمہ ہار جاؤں تو نا اہل اور مشکوک ۔

وہ اگر کہے کہ کیا ہوا بھارت نے سیاچن قبضہ کرلیا وہاں تو گھاس کا تنکہ نہیں اگتا تو اس کا بیان محض ایک شگفتہ تبصرہ۔

میں اگر کہوں کہ ممبئی حملوں میں پاکستانی عناصر ملوث تھے تو کان پکڑوا کر نوکری سے باہر۔

وہ اگر مسئلہ کشمیر کو اقوامِ متحدہ کی قراردادوں سے ہٹ کر حل کرنے کا فارمولا پیش کرے تو مدبر۔

میں اگر بھارت کو تجارتی لحاظ سے موسٹ فیورڈ نیشن کا درجہ دینے کا فیصلہ کروں تو اگلے ہی لمحے اپنے ہی الفاظ واپس نگلنے پر مجبور۔

وہ اگر اسرائیل کو تسلیم کرنے کی وکالت کرے تو حقیقت پسند۔

میں اگر بھارت سے سافٹ بارڈر اور ویزا پابندیاں ختم کرنے کی بات کروں تو حب الوطنی مشکوک۔۔۔

اس کے اگر بیرونِ ملک اکاؤنٹس ہوں تو کوئی بات نہیں۔اس حمام میں کون ننگا نہیں۔۔۔

میرے اگر بیرونِ ملک لاکھوں ڈالر کے اکاؤنٹ ہوں تو میں لٹیرا اور کرپٹ۔

وہ اگر آڈیٹر جنرل آف پاکستان سے آزادانہ آڈٹ کروانے سے انکاری ہو تو اسے قومی سلامتی کے مفاد میں انکار کی اجازت۔۔۔

میں اگر آڈیٹر جنرل سے آڈٹ کروانے سے انکار کردوں تو میری داڑھی میں تنکہ۔

وہ اگر مجھے اغوا کرلے اور پھر کہیں لاش پڑی ملے تو شششششش۔۔۔بولنا مت۔۔۔

میں اگر کسی کو اغوا کر کے قتل کر دوں تو عدالتی سمن میرے آگے اور پولیس میرے پیچھے۔

وہ اگر بیمار ہو تو بس علیل، کام کی زیادتی کے سبب تھکن کا شکار۔۔۔

میں اگر بیمار تو کم ازکم جسمانی مفلوج یا ذہنی مریض یا پھر مفرور۔۔۔

وہ اگر چپکے سے کسی ملک کو اپنی فضائی و زمینی حدود کے استعمال کی اجازت دے دے، فوجی اڈے بھی دے دے، اپنے شہریوں کو مارنے کا لائسنس بھی دے دے تو یہ سب اہم قومی مفاد میں وقت کا تقاضہ۔

مگر میرے حوالے سے اگر کوئی بےنام پرچہ کسی اخبار میں چھپ جائے تو میں ٹرائیل کا حقدار اور فیصلہ ہونے سے پہلے ہی غدار، کتا، کمینہ، زلیل، نیچ، گھٹیا۔۔۔

جسے دیکھو یہاں وہ حسن کی بارش میں گیلا ہے۔

میں کروں تو سالا کیریکٹر ڈھیلا ہے۔۔۔

Source: BBC Urdu

Pakistan’s civilian government, led by the Pakistan People’s Party, has long been an irritant to the country’s generals. President Asif Ali Zardari runs a corrupt and inept administration and has been far too willing to cozy up to Washington. Husain Haqqani, until November 2011, was Pakistan’s controversial envoy to the United States. He has been a thorn in the side of General Headquarters since publishing his book Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military in 2005 while at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. However, the Pakistani Army swallowed its contempt for the government and such representatives as Haqqani because the generals had very little choice in the matter — at least, that is, until now.

One reason is that, after nearly a decade of living under Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistanis are wary of military rule. The Army, too, has suffered a series of beatings to its reputation after nearly a decade of unpopular military cooperation with the United States and even more unpopular operations on Pakistan’s soil. The Army knows that another military government would be a tough sell.

Another reason is that, while the Army made much of the sanguinary NATO strike that killed 24 soldiers in November, both it and the ISI — Pakistan’s most notorious intelligence agency — are still smoldering over the humiliating facts that Osama Bin Laden enjoyed sanctuary in a cantonment town a short distance from the premier Pakistan Military Academy and that the United States could conduct a unilateral raid to kill and extract him before the Army even had a clue. Thus, the Army has been forced to work behind the scenes and through other institutions, such as the judiciary, to keep this government on his heels.

Third, no matter how detestable Zardari, Inc. may be to the men in khaki, they have had no real alternative until now. The primary rival to Zardari and his PPP is former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his political fiefdom, the Pakistan Muslim League. The Army is scarcely more able to stomach a Sharif return to power after he sacked one Army chief (Gen. Jehangir Karamat) and tried to sack another (Musharraf). Karamat, a true democrat, retired without resistance; however, when Sharif tried to oust Musharraf, the Army rolled in and toppled his government.

But the Army’s luck is changing along with that of Imran Khan, whose political fortunes have shifted in recent months. For years, the lothario cricket star turned politician could barely win his own seat. However, with what Pakistanis suspect is support from the military and ISI, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has successfully wooed numerous turncoat politicians and their swollen vote banks. Khan has asked politicians who are now joining PTI to vacate their current elected seats in the parliament both as a means of ensuring that they do not reverse course but also as a ploy to bring about fresh elections earlier than 2013, when general polls are to be held. So far, PTI does not have the numbers needed to bring down the government, but politics in Pakistan is about coalitions and vote banks. This is a long shot, but not impossible with ever more self-interested politicians from other parties flocking his way.

Khan holds views that align well with those of the Army. He has roused the sentiments of Pakistan’s masses by calling for a restructuring — if not outright cessation — of military cooperation with Washington. He supports the Afghan Taliban, believes that Pakistan’s armed forces should not be operating against Pakistani militants, and espouses a strong — if absurdly pandering and unrealistic — position on corruption. His views on sharia and blasphemy are chameleon-like. He is anything to anyone.

Not only does the Army have a palatable political alternative to either the PPP or PML-N — it now has a mechanism to bring about the downfall of this government: Pakistan’s interventionist Supreme Court. The current chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has long loathed Zardari because the latter opposed his reinstatement following his dismissal by then President Musharraf. The Supreme Court also rubbished a constitutional amendment — the “National Reconciliation Ordinance” (NRO) — that dropped various criminal charges against Zardari and his wife, Benazir Bhutto, along with other PPP members.

This legislation, which was brokered along with Musharraf and the U.S. government, paved the way for Bhutto’s return in the fall of 2007. Washington understood the NRO to be the only way to salvage Musharraf’s battered legitimacy by allowing him to remain as president while also paving the way for Bhutto to become prime minister following elections scheduled for late 2007. Her assassination changed everyone’s fortunes.

In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that the NRO was unconstitutional, with obvious implications for the various PPP officials who benefited from it, including Zardari. The Supreme Court has demanded to know why the government has failed to implement its 2009 vacation of the NRO by reinstating all criminal cases. The Supreme Court has also informed Zardari that he does not enjoy automatic immunity from prosecution for his alleged crimes.

The Army also now has a newer hook to hang proceedings against this government: the “Memogate” scandal. In the aftermath of the bin Laden raid, a mysterious memo was delivered to Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, . The memo asked for U.S. assistance to stave off a coup and in return offered to reverse Pakistan’s decades-long policy of jihad under an expanding nuclear umbrella. Mullen admits he received the document, but quickly concluded that it was not credible. The memo riles Pakistan’s military and intelligence officials because it sought to put them in their proper place: under civilian control. This was the last straw for Pakistan’s security complex, which for years has objected to this government’s efforts to enlist U.S. assistance in curbing its power and influence.

At the vortex of Memogate is Haqqani, now back in Pakistan and subject to a travel ban, and Mansoor Ijaz, a wealthy Pakistani-American well-known for shady dealings. For outside observers, the proceedings are bizarre. On Nov. 23, former Prime Minister Sharif filed a petition to the Supreme Court demanding a probe into the scandal under Article 184(3) of Pakistan’s Constitution. With no charges filed and without any reference from a lower court, Pakistan’s highest court of appeal has ordered a judicial commission to determine the authenticity and providence of the memo within four weeks. (This is possible because this provision of Pakistan’s Constitution permits the court to directly hear a matter that is of public importance relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights.)

Whether or not Haqqani drafted or dictated the memo in question is difficult to discern, as there is no direct evidence linking him to it other than Ijaz’s assertions and a series of cryptic BlackBerry messages. Ijaz claims Haqqani dictated the memo to him over the phone, and thus far Ijaz has not claimed to have recordings of those conversations. Few analysts are foolhardy enough to vigorously defend either man, as both have long-established records of duplicity and double-dealing.

The stakes are high for Haqqani. He believes that his life is in danger because he has been widely depicted in Pakistan’s jingoistic press as having sold out Pakistan’s sovereignty to the Americans. That he has been an extremely effective ambassador and ably buffeted Pakistan from various U.S. fits of outrage is immaterial: Haqqani has been presumed to be guilty, has not been afforded the opportunity to present his version of events to counter those of Ijaz, has been denied freedom of movement without any charges being filed against him, and lives as a virtual prisoner within the prime minister’s house.

Leaving aside the particular fate of Haqqani, it’s important to understand this bizarre fiasco as a new sort of coup. In the old days, Pakistani generals sent tanks to oust a government. Now they plant stories in the press and manipulate the legal system.

First, if, for the sake of argument, one assumes that Haqqani is the author of the memo and indeed requested U.S. assistance in maintaining and expanding civilian control over the government and national security policy, the request is hardly treasonous. After all, the political disposition articulated in the memo is exactly what is called for in Pakistan’s Constitution — civilian control of the military.

Second, Haqqani is hardly the first to request U.S. involvement in Pakistan’s national security affairs. In 1950, Pakistan’s first premier, Liaqat Ali Khan, told an American journalist that should the United States “guarantee our territorial integrity, I will not keep any Army at all.” Instead, Khan’s visit ushered in the deep military cooperation with Pakistan that has enabled the Army to strongly root itself as the dominant institution in the country. But no one even intimated that such statements were treasonous.

Third, if Ijaz is to be believed, we must also consider his claim that Pakistan’s spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, traveled to the Gulf to secure permission to sack Zardari. Surely, if these claims have any credence, such action is clearly an extraconstitutional step to undermine the government, if not high treason under Article 6 of Pakistan’s battered 1973 Constitution.

Watchers of Pakistan’s sordid history of military intrusion into civilian affairs understand the rich irony of this current saga. Not one of the generals who have overthrown varied governments has ever been charged with treason. Not one of the varied Supreme Court justices who violated their oaths to protect the Constitution by providing judicial sanction to Pakistan’s varied military coups has ever been punished.

So let’s call the devil by his name: Memogate should be understood as a sophisticated attempt by the Army and intelligence agency to use the court to bring down this government, not just a titillating imbroglio involving Husain Haqqani.

But is there anything Washington can do about it? While the current Pakistani government is certainly abysmal, what’s also true is that the only way Pakistani democracy can solidify is through consecutive constitutional changes of power through elections. If the United States and its partners genuinely support Pakistan’s fragile democracy as the only means to achieve a more stable Pakistan in the long run, then they should act now to preempt the coup that, ironically, the suspect memo was supposedly written to prevent in the first place.

Source: Foreign Policy