Enjoy a new set of American puppets in Pakistan.

This video shows how American Government deceives its own people. If this is the case, why would the American government not support Musharraf?

Musharraf cornered, politicians unclear

We are back! The whole group was in Pakistan for some time. We will publish our observations here soon.

Nobody knows what Musharraf will do and how politicians will try to get the unfairly dismissed judges restored. Pakistan is as predictable a country as it was 60 years ago. Fasten your seat belts and hold on.

The Price of Votes

A resident of Gulberg, Lahore (Pakistan) has reported that in Gulberg area the postmen are going around giving Rs. 1500 per house on behalf of the ruling party. In return they ask for a copy of N.I.C as verification that they have paid the money.

Question 1. They couldn't do pre-poll rigging more shamelessly. But Who is funding this ? Does it belong to the ruling party or is it some proportion of the taxes that we have paid (i.e. the government money?

Question 2 . what are they going to do with photocopies of N.I.C?

This is perhaps the most clear case of vote rigging and it should be highlighted in the press and to the election commission.

The Bhutto Dynasty Must End Now

Courtesy: Foreign Policy In Focus.

What becomes ever more clear in the aftermath of the tragic killing of Benazir Bhutto is that there is little if any internal democratic structure left in the Pakistan People’s Party, the one political party in Pakistan which was built on a populist grassroots foundation by Bhutto’s father in the late 60s.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was an intellectual who brought Western-style electioneering to Pakistan, campaigning up and down the country, holding political rallies in small villages and towns. But it was not all just fiery oratory and sloganeering (“Roti, kapra, aur Makan!”--Bread, clothing, and shelter!); there was a well-structured platform for poverty reduction, education, medical care, housing. And while campaigning, Bhutto also laid out his vision for an independent non-aligned foreign policy for Pakistan in his 1969 book The Myth of Independence. Though somewhat autocratic and manipulative, Bhutto showed himself as president and then prime minister from 1971-1977 to be the most effective civilian leader in Pakistan’s history.

Living up to his campaign promises, he changed labor policy to strengthen trade unions and increase workers’ rights. Despite severe opposition from powerful feudal landlords (of whom he himself was one), he managed to push through limits on land ownership. A proper constitution was adopted by the parliament under his leadership. He negotiated important treaties with India and China, particularly strengthening Sino-Pak relations and industrial cooperation. And he stepped up Pakistan’s nuclear program, foreseeing Pakistan’s need to counter a nuclear threat from India. But most importantly, by basing the foundation of his party on the poor and the illiterate, on farmers and peasants and laborers and the youth, he gave these groups not only a voice, but a dignity and hope they had never enjoyed.

Though it must be admitted that not everything he did turned out well--his nationalization of large parts of Pakistan’s industry resulted in a severe slowdown of the economy in the 70s--his was overall a record of remarkable efficacy. Despite her personal bravery and fortitude in the face of imprisonment and exile, Benazir Bhutto’s two eventual stints as Prime Minister were marked by a completely opposite inefficacy. No significant legislation was passed. No reforms were enacted. Political action was replaced by a weak and empty rhetoric, and the energies of the party her father had started were squandered on desperate efforts to stay in power. The prime minister’s office was weakened to the point that when Benazir Bhutto asked to be given a tour of Pakistan’s nuclear facilities, the army brass simply refused. The army did not even consult with her when implementing its ruinous policy of support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Disastrous political compromises were made and the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party was purged of intellectuals and filled instead with feudal landowning thugs who had to be appeased in exchange for their support. And all the while, the Prime Minister’s husband was raiding the treasury, eventually being indicted for his crimes in at least four countries.

Despite all this, Benazir Bhutto would probably have won the upcoming elections, because the desperate people of Pakistan were willing to give her one more chance, a measure of how severely limited their choices are. She seemed even to have distanced herself from her disgraced husband. And she was bravely opposing the Jihadi forces of Islamic extremism, by far the greatest present threat to the security and integrity of the nation. People thought that with a team of the moderate Musharraf as President and the equally anti-fundamentalist Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister, there was a chance that law and order could be restored to the country. Those hopes are now dashed. (Suggestions that Musharraf was behind her killing are ludicrous. Musharraf needed Benazir Bhutto desperately to give his own regime legitimacy and stability, and is now in a much shakier situation than when she was alive.)

And now, in a final, tragic, coup de grace for democracy in Pakistan, it has been announced that Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto will eventually become chairman-for-life of the PPP, and worse, while we wait for him to grow up, the party will be co-chaired by Asif Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s corrupt playboy husband who still faces charges in several countries. What hope can there be for democracy in the country when its largest, most populist political party completely lacks even a semblance of internal democracy, choosing instead a cult of personality in its abhorrent, dynastic succession? This foul decision cannot--it must not--stand.

S. Abbas Raza is the founding editor of 3quarksdaily.com and is a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

Daughters of Asma Jehangir assaulted and threatened by gunmen of the ruling party

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-002-2008
January 2, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: Daughters of Asma Jehangir assaulted and threatened by gunmen of the ruling party

The two daughters of Ms. Asma Jehangir, a well known lawyer, human rights activist and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of religion or belief, were assaulted and illegally held for several hours along with their friends by armed persons of the Pakistan Muslim League Q (PML-Q); they were beaten severely and threatened to be killed. One of the girls was pushed into a room and this was only prevented due to the intervention of their mother. Ms. Asma. Ms. Asma herself was also threatened by the gunmen who used very filthy language against her. When police were called to the scene they took the side of the gunmen who claimed to be police officers. However, only two out of this group were policemen and the 20 other gunmen belonged to the PML-Q.

This incident happened at 1.30am when Ms. Muneeza Jehangir, Asma's eldest daughter along with her younger sister Ms. Sulema Jehangir and other friends, were making a video clip for her television channel, the Geo TV. She was filming the ripped posters and banners of the political parties in Lahore city, Punjab province, after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former premier who was killed on December 27.

When they were filming the torn posters of the ruling party, which contained photographs of President Musharraf and other party leaders, some armed men arrived and held the two sisters and their companions at gun point. They were then ordered to follow the gunmen and when they resisted the gunmen beat them in public and dragged them to the PML-Q main election office of the province. At the office they were once again beaten and the men trained their guns on them. Someone then told the gunmen that the girls were the daughters of Asma Jehangir. The leader revealed that he was aware of their identities and then four of the gunmen started dragging the youngest one into a small room.

When she heard about this incident Ms. Asma Jehangir reached the party office but was refused entry as they physically restrained her and threatened her with their guns. Fortunately she managed to climb the iron gate of the party office and she saw that her eldest daughter and her friends were detained by more than ten armed persons and her youngest daughter was being carried by some other persons to a separate room. She immediately informed the Ghalib police station who reached the scene after some time. The police took the side of the armed men and pressurized the parents of the friends of her daughters to hand over the video tape which they did. The police then threatened the parents that they should not report this incident otherwise the girls would be kidnapped, raped and killed. The police also pressured the parents to stop Ms. Asma Jehangir from making this incident know and claimed that she would bear the responsibility for whatever might happen in the future.

The Asian Human Rights condemns this incident of kidnapping, the illegal holding and threats of violence against the daughters of Ms. Asma Jehangir by the armed elements of the PML-Q. This incident is an attempt to harass human rights activists and their family members for speaking out against the military regime.

The AHRC condemns this attack and calls upon the government of Pakistan to conduct an inquiry into this matter and to arrest the culprits. However, at the same time the AHRC is quite skeptical as to whether any inquiry will be made into this matter unless there is pressure from the civil rights movement in the country and the international community. In the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto it is quite likely that the military regime and the ruling party will attempt to silence the human rights and democratic activists. As the judges who defied the imposition of the state of emergency have been virtually dismissed from their posts there is little to be expected from the present judiciary of Pakistan by way of protection to citizens against acts of the regime and the ruling party. The AHRC calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to cause an inquiry into this incident and to take other appropriate action.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.