Ohhh I miss my Army: Musharraf has tears in his eyes when taking oath as a Civilian President.

This is not a joke. Our newly Civil-ized President General (Retired) had tears in his eyes when taking oath as a Civilian-only President. The threesome he has been having with himself, as a General, as a President, and as the Great Benefactor of the Sycophants' League, ended when he said farewell to his uniform the other day.

There is a technical glitch in this process though. He took oath under the Suspended Constitution of Pakistan and not under his own Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), which goes on to show how much faith His Heaviness has in the laws he himself has drafted. These laws do not suit even his own need for stability, let alone the entire nation. Bravo, General Retarded, for deepening the constitutional crisis of the country!

Students Firm, Politicos in Disarray

Pakistan’s political mainstream is in disarray in the face of tyranny. Unsurprising as it is, it is shocking nonetheless.

Benazir Bhutto of the PPP, it is increasingly clear, is colluding with the now retired general who is hell bent on ruling Pakistan as his private fiefdom. In the same boat with Bhutto is Fazl-ur-Rehman of the Seventeenth Amendment fame.

The All-Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) does show some promise, but they also show signs of low self esteem; they are predicating their key decisions on Bhutto’s concord.

Non-politic of you, Sharif; you are stacking up Bhutto’s bargaining power vis-à-vis the establishment, which she will only use to extract concessions for her person, and deliver everything they need on a platter.

All in all, were we to pin our hopes of change on the political parties, former general Musharraf would look set to continue in power for a long time to come. Thankfully, there are other glimmers of hope; students, lawyers, the non-profit sector, and media people – in that order.

Students, in particular, have given the nation reason for hope. As of Friday, 30 November 2007, “they will be taking their movement outside of their universities, computers, cellphones and into the streets”, across Pakistan and worldwide.

And they are holding the light to the politicos. Below we excerpt from a letter from the Student Action Committee Lahore to the country’s political parties.

“Collectively, we have demanded the lifting of martial law, the reinstatement of the judiciary, the restoration of the constitution, the freedom of the media and the release of protest prisoners before we can even consider the upcoming election to be free and fair....

“[U]nless the aforementioned are undertaken, we shall advocate a complete boycott of the elections and attempt to mount a movement for the fulfilment of this struggle.

“This letter is a call to you with a single agenda – a boycott of the scheduled elections – for we must lend no legitimacy to any course that the present executive takes to justify the imposition of martial law against the judiciary and the citizenry of Pakistan. Therefore, in this appeal to your party leadership, we call upon you to stand by your own manifest cause – the restoration of democratic rule to Pakistan.

“What is vital today is that we stand together for the judiciary, who had begun to take the first steps to uphold our constitution. The restoration of the judiciary to its position as of the 2nd of November 2007 must be a pre-condition before extending any degree of participation in the electoral process. These elections are a slight to democracy and all its advocates.

“Therefore, we make this call to your alliance to stand steadfast for once: for we have oft seen you waver since your creation. We need our political leaders to stand together for the cause that they have oft championed.

“If you do stand steadfast and withdraw from the upcoming mockery (the elections) then we do promise that we will do our utmost to stand by you in protest and, perhaps, even, stand ahead of you for this country, in our united struggle for the institution of true democracy in the country.

“Our task is simple and needs no elaboration: the restoration of people’s rule to the citizens of Pakistan. If, indeed, you be ready to stand by the people of this nation, then, we shall commend you and respect you and struggle alongside you for the sake of our future.

“However, if you too give in to the imperatives of short term power then unfortunately, you too shall stand as an affront to our cause.”

Musharraf has Damaged Pakistan, says Time

“[Democracy is about] building lasting institutions such as a free press, an effective legislature and, most importantly, an independent judiciary”, says Time in an article. “By circumventing the constitution, and by twice dismissing the Supreme Court, Musharraf has inflicted long-term damage on the country.

“Given Pakistan's critical role in the global war on terror, his muscular methods for stabilizing a fractious nation were at first welcomed by some governments, especially Washington. “

The piece, titled “Musharraf's Strategic Retreat, goes on to add: “Establishing a lasting, fair and resilient democracy, however, requires not expediency but hard work, compromise and consensus-building. The rule of law is critical, for if a leader puts himself above the law, then stability only lasts for as long as he is in power.”

Author Aryn Baker lets drop an incisive if biting comment on Musharraf’s exit from the army: “[P]raising Musharraf for stepping down as army chief is akin to praising the honesty of a thief, who, having stolen and broken a priceless vase, returns it in pieces, with apologies.”

A Call from a Lawyer and an Activist in Pakistan

AITZAZ AHSAN, WHERE ARE YOU? Come out and speak for God's sake! We stood by you. We were tortured but did not complain to you because you were leading us and you spoke the truth. Now come out. Where are you? Rise to the occasion. Believe us Benazir Bhutto will look like a dwarf in front of you. Stand for the principles not the party which is led by a corrupt lady and her very corrupt spouse.

Aitzaz Ahsan shortlisted for an Honorary Doctorate. But why is he so silent?

Aitzaz Ahsan has been released from the prison for a long time now. He has also filed his election canidacy papers. Now we have got the reports that he has been shortlisted for an Honorary Doctorate or LLD by Cambridge University. But the question of questions: why is he silent after his release from captivity? What do they say in the prison to such brave leaders of resistance that either their kidneys fail or they are totally silent? How sinister the people-eating machine must be? We have also confirmed reports of torture of prisoners. We have reports of people pissing in their pants because they are not allowed to visit toilets. Even CIA refers to these practices in its documents as ""locally acceptable forms of interrogation." Read a report in The Guardian on the sinister state machinery in action here.

The Charade of Civility

President General Pervez Musharraf has become President General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf now but we do not purchase this rhetoric of his magnanimity and are not going to do any somersaults in sheer glee as yet. True that he will not have the army at his beck and call but he is still the person who holds the power to lift the emergency. We do not trust him. If we follow the proverb -- "Deceive me once, shame on you. Deceive me twice, shame on me" -- we know what we have to do. We have to keep telling him that he cannot continue this charade of magnanimous civility and to really earn some respect, if he still deserves any, he has to apologize and bring the unfairly dismissed judges of the Supreme Court back. Constitutionally speaking, he is a criminal because the Constitution of Pakistan prohibits a military or government employee from assuming a political office for two years after leaving the job. Moreover, he still retains the power to lift the emergency therefore he is not that benign even in his civilian garb. If he does not lift the emergency immediately, he is not civil at all. Here are two articles of interest:

The Autumn of the Patriarch

and

Uncertain Future for Musharraf outside Army.

Imran Khan has boycotted the sham elections

Imran Khan has taken the lead and gone ahead and torn his election candidacy forms. We hope everyone follows his example. If there are no parties participating in the elections, Musharraf cannot get away with this shamocracy. But some pundits in Pakistan are saying he is an idealist, a dreamer. But what is so wrong about dreaming? This is the only luxury still left with us after the Emergency that we can still dream of a better future -- when we are respected. We have done nothing wrong. We are the hard working blood, flesh, and bones of this country. We are Pakistan. We drive the trucks, we make the shoes, we remove the rubbish from the cities, we build the roads and we harvest the crops. Then we get these rulers who impose their nightmares on us and put barbed wire around the edges of our dreams.

Dreamers of a better Pakistan. The People of Pakistan.

Listen to what the newsreader says and what the battered advocate Munir A. Malik says:

See the post below on one of the causes of his kidneys' failure. The title of the post is Pakistani Government's Fascist Tactics: What kind of anti-judiciary juice is this?

Call for Joint Action

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Call of Student Action Committee (Issued at The Emergency Times):

YOUR SILENCE; THE DEATH OF OUR COUNTRY

· Under the guise of emergency, on the 3rd of November a brutal attack was launched against the civil society of Pakistan which recently mobilized in unison with the judiciary and the lawyers.
· All the judges who stood by their oath to protect the constitution were removed and placed under house arrest. Moreover, the two judges blamed for releasing terrorists have taken oath under the PCO. There is no excuse for the treatment meted out to the judiciary.
· The media has effectively been silenced as have all opposing voices to the totalitarian regime.
· Fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression and assembly, right to association and right to life, liberty and property, have been taken away.
· A direct assault on the students has been made: talks and debates on academic campuses have been banned. Students are being threatened with expulsions and are being pressurized by a pseudo-student’s (non-democratic) organization. Threats have been made against the students’ future careers and job acquisitions.
· Thousands of people are in jail to date without any legal basis.
· Our industries and businesses have suffered immense losses in millions of rupees due to the aforementioned governmental policies.

If not Now, WHEN? If not Us, Who?
There is no neutrality anymore; SILENCE IS CONSENT. SPEAK!
Do not strengthen the forces of repression which plunder the life and liberties of innocent citizens. SPEAK!
“I will not remember the words of my enemies but the silence of my friends.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Raise your voice with ours for the restoration of the constitution and the judiciary; freedom of the media and release of protest prisoners to enable a democratic process to take root through free and fair election.
Join us to peacefully PROTEST on 30th of November near Salt & Pepper, Liberty Market, Lahore at 2:30 (after the Friday prayers)

Student Action Committee

Dictatorship 101: Musharraf / Hitler

"Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and association; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications; and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed."

The above passage is not from Musharraf's Declaration of Emergency in Pakistan but summarizes the effects of the Emergency very well. The passage is from Hitler's declaration of Emergency in Germany in 1933 to deal with a fire at the Reichstag building. Hitler blamed the Communists for the fire "crisis" and said he needed special powers to deal with the Communists. Now if you replace the word "Communists" for "Terrorists and Fundamentalists," you will understand what Musharraf is trying to do in Pakistan. The recent suicide bombings in Rawalpindi prove that the Declaration of Emergency has not been really very helpful in dealing with terrorism. The sole aim of the Emergency was to protect the Emperor Musharraf from a humbling verdict of the Supreme Court.


Read How Hitler Became a Dictator and see the similarities yourself. Please pay special attention to the section titled The Judiciary under Hitler.

Pakistani Government's Fascist Tactics: What kind of anti-judiciary juice is this?

"Munir Malik was continuously telling the doctors that he was given a juice and from then onwards his health deteriorated continuously. Munir’s belly and feet have swollen and he was lying in a serious condition without any attendant, said the sources, adding that he was brought to the PIMS in a very serious condition on Friday night where he was given some painkillers...."

Read on.

----------

Signs of things to come

Two important news items which should indicate the drift of things to come:(1) Former US Commander Criticizes Bush on Iraq, and (2) Bush Ally Defeated in Australia. Hopefully, a John-Howard-like fate awaits Musharraf if the lawyers, students, and Imran Khan and other resistance figures in Pakistan can join their forces and stick to the demand that they want the dismissed Judges of the Supreme Court reinstated. After he removes his uniform, Musharraf will not have the mighty war machine of Pakistan following his every order. By then, Imran Khan, the students and lawyers should be ready to mount an earth-shattering resistance and to try to bring the deposed judiciary back. That will be one way to contain the neo-liberal people-eating machine we have got roaring in Pakistan.

If Sartre was France, Justice Chaudhry is Pakistan.

Pakistan’s military dictator Musharraf unleashed his second martial law primarily to bring down Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Twenty days later, while the media is abuzz with reports of thousands of Pakistanis being released from detention and some are jumping to the conclusion that the emergency is softening up, the man who claims to lawfully be the highest jurist of Pakistan remains under house arrest.

If Sartre was France, Justice Chaudhry is Pakistan.

--> Read the opinion of A Pakistani Blogger

AN UPDATED ACCOUNT OF THE ARREST OF ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH ON NOVEMBER 21, 2007, IN ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

AN UPDATED ACCOUNT OF THE ARREST OF ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH ON 21ST of NOVEMBER 2007

Athar Minallah was arrested on the 21st of Nov. 2007 at around 1.30 p.m. He had been accompanying Retd. Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad throughout that morning. After the arrival of Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad from Karachi, ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH took him to the District Courts of Islamabad in the F-8 sector where the Honorable Retired Judge delivered a speech to the lawyers. While they were still at the District Courts, someone conveyed a message that the Chief Justice, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had left his house and was trying to go to the Supreme Court, but was being prevented by the police. That very day a government spokesperson had announced in the newspapers that the judges "WERE NOT DETAINED.'' It was due to this news that the Chief Justice and Justice Bhagwandas decided to go to the Supreme Court.

When Justice Wajiuddin and an entourage of lawyers arrived at the scene the place was crawling with police carrying batons and shields and wearing helmets. When Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad wanted to go and visit the CJ, he was denied access to the road leading to the detained judges houses, and when he demanded an explanation as to why he was being prevented, the reply was "HOW COULD HE BE ALLOWED TO GO TO THE SUPREME COURT?". There were some clashes between the police and the lawyers ,and a lot of loud and angry slogans were being chanted. After the chaos died down, ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH and Justice Wajiuddin headed towards the Islamabad Club, where they were to meet a group of foreign media persons.

They had not gone very far when TWO police mobile vans forced them to stop,one of them in front and the other behind. Around six or seven PLAINCLOTHES INTELLIGENCE persons got out of the vans and walked towards the car. They opened the door on Athar's side and started pulling him out of the car, saying that they had a WARRANT for his arrest. Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad called out to them to stop pulling and to show them the document. The men DRAGGED Athar out
of the car and took him to their vehicle and SHOVED him inside. These details were given by Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad himself. He was very shaken and extremely upset . He made his way to the club and informed the journalists about what had happened. From there he went to the District Courts in Rawalpindi and addressed the lawyers, informing them of the incident. Then he addressed a huge gathering of people from all walks of life and narrated the same again at a seminar held in the Holiday Inn, Islamabad.

In the meanwhile, I was informed by my driver, who had been driving their car, that both of them had been arrested. I immediately started calling all the journalists whose numbers I had in my mobile phone. Since the arrest was made near the Marriot hotel,the Secretariat Police Station would be the right one. I went there at approx 2 p.m. with some friends but the place had a deserted look.The duty officer said he had no knowledge of the incident and neither could he help us.


While looking for him, I had been going to the Police Stations all over Islamabad trying to find him but we had no luck. I started getting very worried and my biggest fear was that since plainclothes men had arrested him they might take him to some unknown destination. At approximately 4 p.m. I decided to attend the seminar which was being held in the Holiday Inn. I was desperate and wanted to meet Retd. Justice Wajiuddin Ahmad regarding some advice as to the next step. It was there that I received a phone call from a reliable source that Athar was being shifted to Adiala.

I went the next day to meet ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH but after waiting outside the prison for four hours I was informed that I needed the permission of the Home Secretary. The next day I was able to get permission. Inside the prison I followed a policeman through several corridors and several locked gates till we got to the room where I was to meet him. There were policemen constantly sitting in the room with us.ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH looked fine but he said that those few hours of urcertainty had been very taxing on his nerves, not to mention my agony. He is in a cell with other prisoners and they sleep on the floor. Matresses, pillows or quilts are not allowed. We were told that the max capacity of the prison was 2000 wheres the number of prisoners at the moment 6000.


ADVOCATE ATHAR MINALLAH INFORMED ME IN MY MEETING WITH HIM TODAY AT ADIALA JAIL THAT WHEN WE WENT TO THE POLICE STATION LOOKING FOR HIM, HE COULD HEAR OUR VOICES SINCE HE WAS IN A ROOM NEXT DOOR AND HAD BEEN THREATENED TO KEEP QUIET. THE MOMENT WE LEFT HE WAS BUNDLED INTO A PRIVATE CAR WHICH SPED TOWARDS PINDI. ATHAR KEPT ASKING WHERE THEY WERE TAKING HIM BUT THERE WAS NO REPLY, HE WAS TAKEN TO THE SIHALA POLICE STATION AND FORCED TO WAIT FOR HOURS. ATHAR KEPT ASKING THEM WHERE THEY WOULD BE TAKING HIM AND THEY KEPT SAYING THEY WERE AWAITING ORDERS. HE WAS KEPT THERE TILL APROXIMATELY 6 P.M. AND THEN TAKEN TO ADIALA JAIL.

My heart goes out to the families of those who are missing, without any charge. For the wives of thousands of lawyers who are arrested after November 3. Unfortunatey we are living in the stone age right now. There are no courts, no judges, no constitution, no law, no fundamental rights. The custodians of law and order have their guns pointed towards the people they are paid to protect. We are cursed with the most despicable dictatorship. The army is busy wiping out their own people. The Chief Justice and honorable judges of the Supreme Court are locked in their houses with locks and chains on the gates, the President says FAIR AND FREE ELECTIONS will be held ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION.The prisons are bursting at their seams with people who have stood up for the independence of the judiciary and the corridors of power are also bursting with the most amazing collection of spineless people one could ever imagine.

The Message from the President of the American Bar Association.

Let's stand with Pakistan's heroes
Lawyers there are risking arrest to defend the rule of law. We admire their bravery.

By William H. Neukom

Washington - We all have seen the images: Lawyers clad in dark suits, symbols of professional responsibility, enveloped in clouds of tear gas. Soldiers surrounding a nation's Supreme Court, and thousands of lawyers and judges, as well as several justices, placed under arrest.

Much has been written about the unfolding crisis in Pakistan, and how the US government should respond. Less has been said about its significance for the rule of law, which is more important than ever in the dangerous world we live in today.

Since Gen. Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan, declared a state of emergency there, the impact on lawyers in America and in other nations has been electric – virtually unprecedented in my more than 40 years of practice.

To many Americans, Pakistan's breakdown may seem vaguely routine, another eruption in a distant land. But to American lawyers, the events are shocking and immediate.

In part, it is because we see our fellow lawyers and judges in Pakistan doing something dangerous and heroic: standing up to police and soldiers, subjecting themselves to arrest for such ideals as the "rule of law" and an "independent judiciary."

Their bravery reminds us that these ideals are not abstract at all. They are the difference between nations of justice and law, and unchecked tyrannies. This crisis reminds us how precious, and fragile, the rule of law is in the United States and in all nations.

This week, lawyers gathered in Washington and states across the country to express solidarity and to stand shoulder to shoulder with our courageous colleagues in Pakistan.

The American Bar Association and other bar groups have called on General Musharraf to restore the Constitution, re-instate the Supreme Court justices, and free those lawyers he has wrongly arrested. We will continue working until the rule of law is restored in Pakistan.

As lawyers, we see it as no coincidence that Musharraf targeted his crackdown on his nation's legal community, as well as on the press and other organs of civil society.

Like a free press, judges and lawyers who are free from intimidation and outside influence are essential checks to raw power. These agents of liberty are a danger to would-be tyrants, and Musharraf has treated them as such.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, American lawyers helped draft constitutions and train judges whose work would help new democracies emerge.

We appeared to be at the start of a worldwide flowering of liberty, but today, we increasingly see those gains in jeopardy.

To advocates of the rule of law, the recent actions in Pakistan are worse than a misfortune; they are a catastrophic reversal of values we hold dear. And in a world threatened by terrorism and rising autocrats, they make our world more dangerous, not less.

America's lawyers do not claim expertise in foreign policy. But we can speak for the urgency of standing up for justice and the rule of law.

The loss of a constitution and the arrest of thousands of lawyers and judges, including those on the Supreme Court, cannot be ignored. Lawful government in Pakistan is the best way to assure security and justice.

William H. Neukom is president of the American Bar Association

Digging In Deeper in Pakistan

"Gen. Pervez Musharraf has done far too little to drive Al Qaeda and the Taliban from its Pakistani sanctuaries over the last six years, but President Bush still insists on linking America’s interests to the general’s erratic and authoritarian whims..."

Click here to read the complete editorial in The New York Times

On Musharraf's Deceptive Justifications for the Emergency

Deceptive Justification for the Emergency
written by Bash!

The main justification given by General Musharaf for imposing emergency is judicial activism. In his address to the nation he accused judiciary of ordering the senior bureaucrats to attend the court and humiliating them. He also said that the superior judiciary set free certain people who were confirmed terrorists. It will be surprising to note that the only instance of judiciary giving release orders of extremist forces is that of Jamia Hafsa (Islamabad). The bench of the Supreme Court judges, which passed these orders have now taken oath of allegiance to the present military regime under the Provisional Constitutional Order issued by General Musharaf.

Within two days of issuing proclamation of emergency, the present military regime arrested 55 members/supporters of HRCP and various other members of liberal factions of the society and on the other hand struck a deal with the extremist forces. Under this deal the military set free dozens of extremists who were admittedly handling an armed movement against the government in exchange for recovering a large number of military men who had been captured by the extremist forces. So, in the war on terror, present military regime of Pakistan jailed liberals (who are its only supporters in the war on terror) and set free the extremists.

It is thus wrong to assume that Musharraf is the last hope against extremism in Pakistan. In fact it is the civil society in Pakistan which has always worked to prevent the society from being enslaved by the extremist factions. It is essential for the allies of Pakistan in war on terror to understand that it would be much better if they trust the civil society instead of the General who is in the process of reversing whatever little good he has presumably done in the past, like giving a free hand to electronic and print media.

At present the only viable option is to go by the book and follow the country’s constitution. This means, first and foremost, the members of judiciary who have been sent home by Musharaf should be reinstated. Musharraf should step down, army should go back to barracks, the Chairman Senate should be sworn in as president of Pakistan, elections be held on time.

Without the first step, i.e. the restoration of judiciary as it existed on 2 November 2007, no measures will be of any use. Without a judiciary which has struggled its way to independence with the help of lawyers' community, elections will merely be a farce and we will continue to wait for the next army intervention. If another army intervention is needs to be stopped, it should be done now by teaching the army a lesson. While rest of the measures are merely procedural in the life of this nation, the independence of judiciary is the actual step which this nation has taken forward and in the right direction. Without this and with only supporting Benazir, we will end up with a selfish and brutal dictator as president and a twice proven corrupt prime minister. Thus it is essential to ensure that the rule of law is in place in the country so that the corrupt politicians can be stopped in their attempts to please or support Musharaf.

In one of Shakespeare’s plays Henry VI, in Act IV, Scene 2, while planning an evil coup for establishing complete dictatorship, one of the main players Dick the Butcher suggests ‘the first thing we do, lets kill all the lawyers.’ Musharaf did everything right as a brutal and selfish ruler to persist with his illegal rule.

For once the civil society of Pakistan has stood up unanimously in every corner of the country. Now it deserves to exist as such.

It is not the General who should be trusted in establishing the rule of law in Pakistan and for fighting the war on terror, it is we, the people of Pakistan, who should be trusted in choosing our own leaders and establishing a representative government for ourselves.

The writer is a lawyer and a human rights activist. He has now been released from prison.

More cartoons on Emergency in Pakistan or on the Islamic Cantonment of Musharrafistan

Click on the images to see the full size.

Cartoons on Musharraf and Emergency in Pakistan

If you cannot read the text, click on the image to see the full size version. Every cartoon speaks a thousand sentiments.

Pervez Hoodbhoy explains why Musharraf should go

Click here to read Pervez Hoodbhoy's article on Musharraf and his Martial Law / Emergency

Musharraf is worse than Saddam, says Ted Rall

"....Actually, Musharaff is worse than Saddam. Despite occasional kowtowing to fundamentalists in Iraq's Koran Belt, he was a secular socialist who jailed radical Islamists. Musharraf's political prisoners, on the other hand, are journalists, judges, lawyers, artists and peace activists. "The first people to be arrested after the imposition of emergency were not the leaders of Pakistani Taliban, nor their sympathizers in Islamabad," wrote Mohammed Hanif, head of the BBC's Urdu service. "There was no crackdown on sleeper cells that have orchestrated a wave of suicide bombings across Pakistan..."

Read the complete story here

Political Science, Sociology, Cultural Studies and Other Human and Social Sciences are Endangered Subjects in Pakistan Now.

Yesterday the Government of Pakistan banned political debate at all university campuses throughout the country. It is a sad day. Pakistan has joined the ranks of those nations which punish citizens for thought crime.

THE NEWS (from DAWN):
Political debate banned in colleges

THE CURE: Black Bloc and Crimethinc

The United Nations Wants the Dismissed Judges of the Supreme Court Reinstated in Pakistan

Pakistan must free judges before vote: U.N.
Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:21pm EST

By Jonathan Saul

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Pakistan must reinstate all the judges dismissed under emergency rule or endure a "twisted form of democracy" where the judiciary is utterly subservient to the executive, UN human rights boss Louise Arbour said on Thursday.

Allies of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf are gearing up for an election on January 8 while his opponents are still undecided whether to boycott polls they say will not be free and fair under emergency rule, which was imposed on November 3.

Many judges and lawyers whose interpretation of the law posed the most serious challenge to Musharraf's authority, remain under house arrest or in prison.

Earlier in the day the Supreme Court, now stacked with judges friendly to Musharraf, threw out the last challenge to his October 6 re-election and paved the way for him to quit as army chief.

Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and a former prosecutor for international criminal tribunals on Yugoslavia and Rwanda, said Pakistan faced a "terrible deficit in governance" without a free judiciary.

"It is not enough to move towards free and fair elections unless all the judges who were dismissed or suspended are fully reinstated in their previous capacity," she told reporters in Dublin.

"Otherwise we will have a very twisted form of democracy where the judicial branch will have been made totally subservient to the executive," she said on the sidelines of a human rights conference.

Musharraf faces the prospect of Pakistan's second suspension from the Commonwealth since he took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, as he continues to resist calls to lift emergency rule.

The United States, while critical of his actions, has given him some leeway, as a crucial ally in the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban, to put things right before the election.

Arbour called on the Pakistani government to withdraw emergency rule as soon as possible and create "an atmosphere conducive to free and fair elections".

Thousands of detainees were freed this week as Musharraf reacted to intense international and opposition pressure to scrap his measures.

Arbour said Hina Jilani, the U.N. secretary-general's representative on the situation of human rights defenders, had traveled safely back to Pakistan and was not in custody. Jilani had been abroad when the emergency was imposed.

Last week Pakistani authorities freed Jilani's sister Asma Jahangir, U.N. special investigator on freedom of religion or belief and chairwoman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, after nearly two weeks under house arrest.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

The Black Sunday [ an eye witness' account from Lahore ]

The Black Sunday
by Bash!

November 4, 2007

On Sunday, November 4, 2007 a group of concerned citizens, including myself, held a meeting at the office of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Lahore. Around noon the number of individuals reached 60, which belonged to all age groups and included doctors, educationists, lawyers, human rights activists and representatives of NGOs. The discussion of the group in large part aimed at finding out the causes behind political chaos in Pakistan and measures to restore the judiciary which had been sacked by General Musharaf.

Two hours after the meeting started, police knocked at the door of our hall. After a little bit of questioning, police was allowed to come in and they were clearly told that the entire group was only having a discussion and did not have any intention to go out on the street to protest or to engage in any such activity. To our utter surprise, the police, headed by a Superintendent of Police (named Ali), insisted that we should go with them to a place they were not ready to disclose. After a few more dialogues, the police said that men will have to come along and women could be spared. Women simply declined to agree to this. Resultantly, the entire group, excluding Dr. Mubashar Hassan (left out due to his old age and deteriorating health) was taken to Model Town Police Station. Although the policemen did not treat any of the detainees harshly, they managed to keep things uncertain for us as much as possible. By 9 p.m. we were told that a criminal case (FIR) had been registered against us this confirmed our fear that we were not going to be released soon. We were not shown any paper containing the charges which were levelled against us. The rumours which surrounded included various possibilities including 90 days detention in some southern or northern Punjab jail. During all this time various policemen and some people in ordinary clothes kept making various lists of the detainees names, their home addresses and contact numbers. Quite evidently the non-policemen belonged to intelligence agencies who would now like to keep a check on us for the rest of our lives.

In the late evening the news broke out that members of civil society were holding a candle light vigil in front of the police station for our release and our names had already been released to media in Pakistan and abroad.

Around midnight we got the news that we were being shifted to three sub-jails, two for (24) women and one for (31) men detainees. It took us four hours to reach the sub-jails which were in fact private houses in Gulberg (Lahore) owned by extremely courteous hosts. While we were leaving the police station (at 4 a.m.) for going to the sub-jail, for each person whose name was called out for getting on the prisoners bus, there were people around to applaud.

The following morning we started receiving reports of protests and the brutal show of aggression by the police and intelligence agencies against the lawyers who protested at the Lahore High Court premises against the dismissal of judges of the Superior Courts. On the same day, we were taken to the court of Magistrate for filing applications for release on bail. On that day our lawyers (working pro-bono on our behalf) could only manage to file the bail application and get the case adjourned for Tuesday. From the court, we were taken to Kot Lakhpat Prison (Lahore). However, a few hours later once again we were shifted to the sub-jails in Gulberg. From the time we left the court until the following morning, the huge possibility of our bail being refused kept haunting us. Incidents of lawyers being beaten so badly by the police and the intelligence agencies in plain clothes made us think that our detention would prolong. Here I would like to point out that all the offences for which we were charged were bailable except for one. On merit, we had a good case in our favour, but it was not about merit. It depended on the government’s policy.

On Tuesday, November 6, 2007 to our utter surprise our bail orders were passed by the court of Magistrate. By evening our hopes of being free again got dimmed due to some procedural hitches in filing of bail bonds in the Court. Besides this, at no point of time we could rule out the possibility of getting arrested for another charge as soon as we stepped out of the sub-jail. None of the members of the group can rule out this possibility even now. In the evening, we were taken by another surprise when somebody informed that policemen who were guarding the sub-jail had left. Some of us completely refused to leave as this could give the government a fresh ground (of escaping from the prison) for our re-arrest. After a couple of hours at around 9 p.m. an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Model Town Police Station appeared and told us police had received orders (from the quarters not to be named) to withdraw from the sub-jail and set us free.

The FIR (Registration of a Charge at a Police Station)

According to the police report which formed the basis of our arrest and registration of criminal case, members of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan were holding a protest rally in front of HRCP office and were raising slogans against the government. Police reached there on time and asked the crowd to disperse peacefully, but to no avail. The entire crowd kept raising slogans against the government and ran inside the office. Police followed and arrested all the protestors from inside the building of HRCP.


Over a dozen members of our group were above 60 years of age.

The writer is a lawyer and a human rights activist. He has now been released from prison.

In Pakistan, the independence of the media is on the way out!

پی ٹی وی پر سرحد کے نگراں وزیر اعلیٰ شمس الملک کا انٹرویو چل رہا ہے، جس میں وہ موجودہ نگراں حکومتوں کو تمام نئے پرانے مسائل کا حل قرار دے رہے ہیں۔ ڈان نیوز پر جنرل مشرف کے سابق وزیر مملکت طارق عظیم کہہ رہے ہیں کہ اپوزیشن جماعتیں سرکاری پوزیشن کو سمجھ نہیں پا رہیں۔ ٹی وی ون پر میزبان ڈاکٹر دانش اپنے سرکاری مہمانوں سے پوچھ رہے ہیں کہ پیپلز پارٹی کے مہمانوں نے آنے سے کیوں انکار کیا؟ اے آر وائی کیو ٹی وی پر ایک مقرر کہہ رہے ہیں کہ جو خوف اور محبت دونوں جذبات سے مغلوب ہو کر عمل کرے وہ خدا کا محبوب ہے، اور ’آج‘ ٹی وی پر ایک معاشی ماہر کہہ رہے ہیں کہ سٹاک مارکیٹ کی گراوٹ کا موجودہ سیاسی حالات سے کوئی تعلق نہیں ہے۔

Read on: the BBC's Report in Urdu on the situation of the Media in Pakistan

The Bargain over the constitutional rights of 165 million hostages

In Pakistan the members of the civil society still ask why the U.S. policy makers presume that anyone other than Musharraf will not fight the war on terror effectively enough, and that the Supreme Court of Pakistan will actually set some terrorists free so that they can come and take over Islamabad (at the moment they are only 3 hours away from the Capital). Isn’t it correct that civil society was Musharraf’s only support in the War on Terror? Do the U.S. policy makers actually believe that the War on Terror can be fought and won without the support of the civil society in Pakistan?

Read on: The Bargain written by Bash.

Bigotry, Thy Name is America!

Read this article by Pat Buchanan the other day, and have since been unable to take it off my mind. Apparently, the author is criticizing Bush for supporting democracy in Pakistan. But when did Bush - or any other American administration - support democracy in Pakistan? Actually, Buchanan's line of argument lays bare the American rulers' mindset.

The article is pegged on recent events in Pakistan. Says the illustrious writer:
"A pro-American general in charge of the army and nuclear weapons may be preferable to having custody of those weapons turned over to a coalition government of politicians brought to power through a plebiscite in a country where anti-Americanism is pandemic."

My comment? Bigotry, thy name is America!

"Pat Buchanan has been a senior adviser to three presidents, twice a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, and the presidential nominee of the Reform Party in 2000." His article: Democracy vs. Security


-A. Pakistani

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY ON MISSING PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN by Filmmaker and Journalist Ziad Zafar

A heartbreaking work of documentary film-making by filmmaker and journalist Ziad Zafar on the disappeared people in Pakistan. The state in Pakistan is a cannibal state. It eats human beings alive. Watch and get angry and act, Pakistan.



or watch the documentary on a bigger screen at Stage 6 by clicking on the name of the movie below:
MISSING IN PAKISTAN
To download the video to your hard disk, click on the name of the movie here and then the downward arrow instead of the play button when the new page opens.

NOTE: WE ARE NOT THE PRODUCERS OF THIS MOVIE. AS THE NAME OF OUR SITE SUGGESTS, WE AGGREGATE CRITICAL OPINION ON DICTATORSHIP IN PAKISTAN. THE CREDIT GOES TO Filmmaker and Journalist Ziad Zafar.

Imran Khan, Chancellor of Bradford University, Released

After Bradford University decided that it would close its campuses and affiliated institutions all over the world tomorrow in protest against Imran Khan's arrest (because Imran Khan is also the Chancellor of Bradford University), the Government of Pakistan seems to have caved in to the mounting global pressure and has released him. So opposition to Musharraf lives on. Go Musharraf Go.

(Note about the photo. We took it from Bradford University's Website. Please do not sue this blog. We are with your chancellor in his fight against dictatorship in Pakistan.)

Our Keyboard Does not Feel Like Commenting on Pakistan Sometimes

This is how our keyboard sometimes reacts when we try to write something on Musharraf and the American Empire supporting him: злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗елд╗
лд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗елд╗лд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗злд╗елд╗елд╗

The Psychopathology of Power

"Evil is intentionally behaving -- or causing others to act – in ways that demean,
dehumanize, harm, destroy, or kill innocent people. This behaviorally-focused definition makes an agent of agency responsible for purposeful, motivated actions that have a range of negative consequences to other people. It excludes accidental or unintended harmful outcomes, as well as the broader, generic forms of institutional evil, such as poverty, prejudice or destruction of the environment by agents of corporate greed. But it does include corporate responsibility for marketing and selling products with known disease-causing, death-dealing properties, such as cigarette manufacturers, or other drug dealers. It also extends beyond the proximal agent of aggression, as studied in research on interpersonal violence, to encompass those in distal positions of authority whose orders or plans are carried out by functionaries. This is true of military commanders and national leaders, such as Hilter, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, and other tyrants for their complicity in creating political systems of destruction in their own nations and in the world..." Read on.

Lest We Forget

The Deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry became famous for taking up the cases of the Disappeared People in Pakistan. Because Chaudhry had been reinstated after Musharraf suspended him once, it was impossible for Musharraf to get rid of him till 2011 if the constitution had remained intact. That is why Musharraf imposed Emergency on Pakistan. This video shows the plight of the Disappeared before the Emergency. Now while everyone is demanding a return to democracy, this issue has become marginalized. We should remember the Disappeared People of Pakistan while demanding a return to democracy. Imran Khan has started a hunger strike till death if the deposed judges of the Supreme Court are not brought back. All of this is linked with the issue of the Disappeared and Musharraf's own legal status as President with a Military Uniform, a combination prohibited by the Constitution of Pakistan in 1973. Musharraf is both Pinochet and Idi Amin in one body.

Mushy boy, you have been very naughty. Now they are going to take away your toys.

The Americans are already talking about all the different scenarios in which they will have to invade Pakistan - especially to "secure" our nuclear weapons by taking them all the way to New Mexico. Now that is a sobering thought, amigo.

√ Read on: Pakistan's Collapse, Our Problem.

A Better Name for the WTO is World Toilet Organization

√ International statistics (WHO and UNICEF 2000; WHO and UNICEF 2004) indicates that over 2.6 billion people in the world today are without any form of "improved sanitation. World Toilet Organization is one of the leading organizations in giving the voice to address this global distress.

The Implacable Logic of Things

√ There is nothing more implacable than the logic of the existing order of things. Click here to read an article by Pierre Bourdieu.



Jemima Khan talking to Al-Jazeera about the arrest of Imran Khan:

Hugo Chavez says Negroponte is a Professional Killer

This is old news but, for Pakistanis, it has a new relevance.

√ Chavez says Negroponte is a Professional Killer

The Extremely Loud American Silence

In all their demands to restore the constitution and end the Emergency, the American leaders never mention the issue of reinstating the deposed Judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. According to Tariq Ali, the American government had prior knowledge of Musharraf's move and had approved that the Emergency could be a useful tactic to get rid of the Chief Justice who was being too troublesome for the American interests.

This is what Tariq Ali says in his article in Counterpunch.

"The two institutions targeted by the Emergency are the judiciary and the lively network of independent TV stations, many of whose correspondents supply information that can never be gleaned from politicians. Geo TV the largest of these continued to broadcast outside the country. Hamid Mir, one of its sharpest journalists, reported yesterday afternoon that according to his sources the US Embassy had green lighted the coup because they regarded the Chief Justice as a nuisance and 'a Taliban sympathiser'."

To read the complete article, click on the link below:
√ Tariq Ali's article in Counterpunch

Protest in New York Today: November 18, 2007

New York Students' Pakistan Action Committee

/EHTIJAJ/

Featuring: Salman Ahmad (Junoon)

*PROTEST AGAINST MARTIAL LAW IN PAKISTAN*

*OUTSIDE UN PLAZA, NEW YORK *

Sunday, November 18, 2007

1:00pm - 3:00pm (East Coast Time)

*Location: *UN Head Quarters,* *First Avenue at 46th
Street

*Subway: *42nd St.-Grand Central (4,5,6,7,S)

/NY Students' Pakistan Action Committee is a coalition of
students across NY Universities./

The Death of Geo TV

This is the first time, I have ever witnessed how a channel only dedicated to the news and political analysis dies an unnatural death at the hands of a general totally drunk on power. Watch the final moments of Geo News Channel. The irony is that they are allowed to continue the songs and entertainment channels but not the independent news channels. Is this what Musharraf meant by Moderate Enlightenment?

Look, Daddy, I am so Important. I have Nukes!

Our Cowboy Mushy on the Emergency Horseback has said that if he leaves his office, the Nuclear Weapons of Pakistan may fall in the wrong hands. First of all, we have to decide if his hands are the right ones but let us leave that for a moment. What he is doing is that he has taken out his Last Bargaining Chip. He is trying to tell the West that he is the only person who can take care of the Nukes. This is all nonsense because, as an institution, the entire army is responsible for the weapons they own. Is he trying to threaten the West? Or is he trying to say that he is the only capable soldier and other officers cannot look after our nuclear assets/liabilities. That is an insult to the entire army. Maybe he should be court martialled under the revised Army Act 2007 because this statement is "conducive to public mischief." Look at our nervous Mushy boy. Does he look like someone who can look after the nuclear weapons of Pakistan?


Our Mushy boy breaks out in a sweat just thinking about the Nukes.

Musharraf Exporting Martial Law to the UAE

Musharraf has asked the UAE government to close down Geo and ARY television broadcasts beaming from Dubai. The UAE government has caved in. Not satisfied with the results of his attempts to turn Pakistan into Puppetistan, our Mushy is globalizing tyranny and oppression. If he is allowed to continue like this, there will be a day when he can declare himself the President of the Universe. Read the news below.

-----------------
KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan's private Geo television network, ordered off air during President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule, said on Saturday it had been forced to close down altogether after it was ordered to halt transmissions via the United Arab Emirates.

Geo, Pakistan's biggest television network, has offices and studios in Dubai Media City, from where it broadcasts news.

"We have been told by the (Dubai) Media City that our transmission will be shut down," Imran Aslam, president of Geo News, told Reuters. "This is all I can say at the moment."

No one at Dubai Media City was immediately available for comment.

Local and international television channels disappeared from cable television in Pakistan amid media curbs imposed by military ruler Musharraf on Nov. 3, which ban reporting which humiliates the presidency, military or government.

Blogging Under Martial Law

Here is some coverage of blogging from Pakistan during Musharraf's third coup, or is it the second one? My math is a bit rusty. Someone should enlighten me about the actual number of coups we have had in Pakistan under all the different martial law administrators. If you know the correct number, email me at human.text[AT]gmail[DOT]com

The Ethical Blogger: Blogging Under Martial Law

If thy lips are not sewn, speak!

No comments needed. Click on the picture for the high-res version.

False Claims of Musharraf / Busharraf

Photo Courtesy (The Daily Jang)

Our generalissimo claims that he clamped emergency on Pakistan because the law and order situation was deteriorating. Now let us not even talk about Swat and Waziristan. Let us talk about Karachi. Here is a recent example of a very orderly killing of two boys. See the picture. Is this the ideal form of social order?

Assemblies to be Dissolved Tonight in Pakistan

Musharraf is always trying to congratulate himself that this is the first time in the history of Pakistan that the Assemblies are completing the five-year tenure. Here is a sample of the kind of ministers we had for the last five years. The Law Minister Wasi Zafar openly used indecent language in an interview with the Voice of America. Here is the recording and how he tries to defend himself on GEO TV again and again. After listening to this Minister, this scribe feels justified to paste links to some abusive language directed at Musharraf in the first two videos posted on the blog. Thank God, they are disappearing from the public sphere after today and another set of puppets are replacing them. Welcome to the caretaker puppets as the Government of the Islamic Garrison of Puppetistan. That is it. I am renaming the country from today. Henceforth, it shall be called the Islamic Garrison of Puppetistan.

A Popular Critique of the Pakistan Army

For our English readers, here is a translation of what is written on the Rickshaw.

"Salute to the Pakistani Army because whenever its sword falls it falls on the people it is supposed to defend. I should kiss the lips of this sword."

Islami Jamiat e Tulba Activists Manhandling Imran Khan

This is the rowdy scene at Imran Khan's detention and arrest at the Punjab University, Lahore.

Our Master of Doublespeak Opens and Closes His Haughty Mouth to Shower Brainless Platitudes on His Humble Servants - the People of Pakistan

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is Our Mandela

Iftikhar Chaudhry to get Harvard Law School honour

Islamabad (PTI): The prestigious Harvard Law School will award the Medal of Freedom, its highest honour, to deposed Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for his work to uphold the legal system's fundamental commitment to freedom and justice.

The previous recipients of this prestigious award include people like former South African President Nelson Mandela.

The Harvard Law School Association decided to award the honour to Chaudhry following last week's military crackdown in Pakistan and the detention of hundreds of lawyers, said a statement.

It noted that Chaudhry was "detained after he convened the Pakistan Supreme Court to declare the current state of emergency imposed by General Pervez Musharraf to be null and void".

Chaudhry and several other Supreme Court judges who refused to endorse the emergency imposed on November 3 are currently under house arrest. Significantly, the Harvard Law School's statement referred to Chaudhry as the "Pakistani Chief Justice" and not as a deposed or former judge.

The statement said: "Although Chaudhry has been placed under house arrest and is not free to leave Pakistan, Dean Elena Kagan has reached out to the chief justice regarding the award and hopes that he'll be able to come to the Law School to receive it when the state of emergency is lifted."

Kagan said: "As lawyers who value freedom and the rule of law, we at Harvard Law School want Chief Justice Chaudhry and all of the courageous lawyers in Pakistan to know that we stand with them in solidarity.

"We are proud to be their colleagues in the cause of justice, and we will do all we can to press for the prompt restoration of constitutionalism and legality in Pakistan."

pakistani protesting students cannot unite

This is really stupid. One protesting student body (Islami Jamiat e Tulba) has cooperated with the authorities and helped them capture Imran Khan when he arrived to lend support to their protest. Dumb Jamaatias!! They think they can take on Musharraf on their own. Musharraf must be laughing his ass off while enjoying the benefits of this disunity. The Jamaatias thought Imran Khan represented a secular side of the opposition and they were protesting as an Islamic group so they handed him over to the authorities. Subhanallah.

A List of People Arrested by Musharraf / Busharraf after the Emergency

Click on this link to see the list of people ARRESTed by Mushocracy after the FUCKENCY. The list was created by The Friday Times.

the forthcoming busharraf simulacrum of elections

to the protesting students of pakistan

Be Nobody’s Darling
by Alice Walker

Be nobody’s darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.

Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.

Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

Be nobody’s darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.

A Poem for the students of Pakistan who are resisting Musharraf's Busharrafency

The Low Road
by Marge Piercy

What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can’t walk, can’t remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can’t stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.

But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.

Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.

It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again and they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know you who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.

-Marge Piercy
From “The Moon is Always Female”, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Copyright 1980 by Marge Piercy.

an advertisement we just saw on youtube

اشتہار؛
اگر آپ نے دو چار بندے پھڑکانے ہوںـ چوری ڈاکہ ڈلوانہ ہو تو ناپاک فوج(کراے کی فوج) سے رابتہ کریں ۔
پتہ براے رابطہ: جنرلز ہڈکواٹرز راولپنڈی

Resist Emergency in Pakistan

The students of several universities in Lahore have started publishing an online newsletter about different strategies to resist THE EMERGENCY imposed on Pakistan by Musharraf and Busharraf. Here is a link to the newsletter titled THE EMERGENCY TIMES:

http://pakistanmartiallaw.blogspot.com/