Dr Zulfiqar Mirza might not have the looks to match Mel Gibson, but he was as impulsive, fearless and defiant during his press conference at the Karachi Press Club as that cop with a death wish, Martin Riggs, played by the Hollywood star in the Lethal Weapon series of films.
Dr Mirza’s in-your-face approach has earned him quite a reputation and he has a tendency to create ripples in the political scenario, but this time around, he has triggered nothing less than a tsunami. This man has unleashed more fury on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Interior Minister Rehman Malik than the destructive Hurricane Irene did on the east coast of the US, simply with the power of his larynx.
His decision to quit all government and party posts and his allegations, not just against the MQM and a key member of his party, has opened the Pandora’s Box and taken matters to the point of no return.
The chances of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the MQM tying the knot once more have drastically reduced now unless the former is prepared to ditch Dr Mirza at this stage - a mistake one cannot expect it to make.
In fact, it would be a tough call for President Asif Ali Zardari to choose between the two men, who are so close to his heart - Dr Mirza and Mr Malik. But that is exactly what raises the suspicion that there could be more to all this than meets the eye. There is the possibility of Mr Zardari being the architect of this whole affair. If he is, he has certainly been able to get the better of the MQM by using the typical good cop and bad cop routine – in this case Mr Malik and Dr Mirza.
What goes in favour of this theory is the fact that the PPP-led Sindh government’s lacklustre performance, coupled with its alliance with the MQM, is bound to affect the party’s vote bank in the province. The nationalists are all set to capitalise on the PPP’s follies and the scales may tilt pretty fast unless the latter manages to pull off something spectacular to win back its disgruntled voters.
It might be that PPP is trying to hold on to its Sindh card by making a hero out of Dr Mirza, who has always looked good to take over the party’s reins in the province from old man Qaim Ali Shah.
In addition to that, the timing of Dr Mirza’s move is interesting as well – a day before the apex court was due to hear the suo motu case of Karachi violence. Then there is also the recent divulging of information to the media - courtesy of some concerned spooks - that is meant to further tighten the noose around the MQM. This could mean that there are other forces involved in this plan as well, aspiring to balance the equation in Karachi.
But then again, these are merely speculations. Dr Mirza might end up with nothing except for a further ridiculed interior minister. He made quite an impression, speaking with his hand on the Holy Quran during the press conference and even placing it on his head once, compelling many to rule out the possibility that he could be lying. But what if the Bhai in London counters the allegations with his hand on the Holy Quran as well? Pakistanis would be baffled for sure!
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has returned to President Asif Ali Zardari’s pack… or perhaps it never really left.
As the saying in Punjabi goes, “jethon di khoti, othay aan khaloti”, meaning that a jenny (female donkey) after straying off returns to its original spot, the MQM is all set to renew its vows with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and after its brief adventure as an opposition party, is ready to resume its role as a coalition partner.
MQM’s Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan has returned to take over as the Sindh governor again after his party chief Altaf Hussain gave him the green signal following the latter’s telephonic conversation with the president.
Now the party is expected to return to the treasury benches in the federal and provincial governments anytime soon.
So the question that arises is: why did the MQM make so much fuss at the time of its break-up with the PPP? The hullabaloo created by the MQM when it left the ruling coalition gave an impression that there won’t be going back this time around.
In a much trumpeted and chest-beating fashion, the party had announced that it was parting ways with the government. Then there was the Dr Zulfiqar Mirza episode that left more than 100 people dead in Karachi.
Regretfully, the whole drama is now winding up with an anti-climax. The MQM has certainly got it wrong this time. Its decision to become part of the government again would seriously hurt its credibility and many are likely to believe that it’s ready to compromise on any principle as long as it carries on staying in power.
The party has blown a great opportunity to prove its critics wrong and show that its first priority is public interest and not power. But such examples are far and few on our political landscape.
It’s never surprising when the man with a bag full of vibrantly coloured ties, rigid curly hair and beady eyes, the one and only Interior Minister Rehman Malik pops up a surprise for the nation.
This time he has hinted that foreign elements could be involved in the Karachi violence on the basis of the Israel-made weapons recovered from people arrested in the city.
He said that the Israel-made weapons recovered from over 200 arrested people prove that foreign hands are responsible for the unrest in Karachi.
The next day when it was realised that the minister had made a fool of himself by uttering such rubbish, the spokesman of the Interior Ministry clarified that the electronic and print media misinterpreted Mr Malik’s statement and he had not made any statement alleging involvement of any country, including Israel, in what’s happening in Karachi.
The ministry’s spokesman may be trying to clean up the mess made by the minister, but the fact is that Mr Malik is still hopelessly trying to pin the blame for the situation in Karachi on some outside force while pursuing the long-dead policy of reconciliation.
But then again, Mr Malik should be given a break. At least he only dragged in Israel into the matter, similar to how the mullah brigade keeps holding the US responsible for all ills of the country. Otherwise, with the vivid sense of imagination that Mr Malik possesses and his keen interest in science fiction (he described the PNS Mehran attackers as characters from Star Wars), he could have said that aliens from outer space are killing people in Karachi and also collecting bhattas and taking over lands in the city.
The truth is that the Karachi predicament is local in nature. The people responsible for the killings and violence are not Israelis, Indians or Americans. They are its own. Mr Malik’s futile efforts to deceive the public won’t make a difference. The residents of Karachi know better than that. Mr Malik’s remarks are only as amusing as his ties.
It’s pretty rare these days to see one of those ‘I Love Pakistan Army’, ‘We Are Proud Of Our Armed Forces’ and ‘Pakistan Army Zindabad’ stickers on the rear windows or bumpers of cars. Children are no longer interested in getting up early in the morning on Independence Day to watch the military’s parade on television. Women don’t get teary-eyed after hearing Malika-e-Tarannum Noorjehan singing “Aay puttar hattan de nahin wikde”. But these were common sights a decade back.
Times have changed and they call for a change in strategies as well. And the military’s top brass finally seems to be coming to terms with the reality that the nation is no longer ‘that’ proud of its army anymore.
Comprehending the fact that the dejected, inflation-hit masses are becoming increasingly perturbed over the major chunk of public money and foreign funds being gobbled up by the armed forces, the generals are becoming serious about revamping their tarnished image and win back public support.
Recently, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, while presiding over the 139th Core Commanders Conference, “requested” the government to divert US military aid towards helping the common man.
According to an official press release, the military high-ups also observed during the meetings that certain quarters, driven by their “perceptual biases”, were trying to run down the armed forces and thereby turning public opinion against the military.
They pointed out that attempts to create divisions between important institutions were harmful to national interest and stressed the need to put an end to this “unfortunate trend”.
The Pakistan Army hasn’t been having the best of times recently, starting from the US raid in Abbottabad last month in which al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed.
The discovery that the world’s top terrorist was hiding in a Pakistani garrison city for years instantly aroused suspicions that the Pakistan Army was involved in foul play.
Later the PSN Mehran attack exposed the vulnerability of the armed forces and the 16-hour long siege raised disturbing questions over their capability to defend their bases, especially when the masses are forced to starve just to ensure that their jawans are prepared enough to take on any adversary.
The naval base incident also paved way for speculations that some elements within the armed forces might be abetting terrorists as the attack appeared to be an inside job.
Things took a turn for the worse when Frontier Corps men killed five foreigners – believed to be four Chechens and a Tajik – in the Kharotabad area of Quetta on May 17. The Frontier Corps initially claimed that the five people including three women were would-be suicide bombers. However, witnesses claimed that they were unarmed and the bomb disposal squad also mentioned in its report that they were not carrying explosives. Later, some evidence surfaced suggesting that the Frontier Corps men at one of the check posts wanted to lay their hands on the dollars they assumed the foreigners were carrying. When the foreigners refused to give the Frontier Corps men what they wanted and moved on, they latter told their colleagues at the next check post that terrorists were headed their way, leading to five people’s tragic fate.
Then the military’s image was dealt another severe blow when on May 27, an Islamabad-based journalist, Saleem Shahzad, who disclosed in a report that al Qaeda has infiltrated the armed forces and is operating a cell at naval bases, was abducted, brutally tortured and found dead two days later near Mandi Bahauddin. This was all very similar to how the military’s premier spy agency is notorious for dealing with ‘dissidents’. The Humans Rights Watch also claimed on the back of Shahzad’s email that the journalist was receiving threats from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Finally, the murder of an unarmed youth by some trigger-happy Rangers personnel at a park in Karachi on June 8 again put the military in the firing line.
Even though what happened in Kharotabad and the park in Karachi were two incidents entirely different in nature, our vulturous electronic media somehow weaved them together as well as the other recent happenings involving the armed forces to present a villainous side of the men in uniform. But nevertheless, the media’s efforts have been instrumental in making the public realise that the military doesn’t have to be a ‘sacred cow’ and it deserves credit for that.
Also giving a hard time to the army is its own creation, Pakistan Muslim-League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif - perhaps the country’s most popular political leader as Benazir Bhutto is no longer with us. Sharif and his party are perhaps those “certain quarters” that the military high-ups were so concerned about.
Not only has the PML-N chief committed the ‘cardinal sin’ of demanding that the army’s budget should be presented before the parliament for the sake of transparency, but also criticised the military intelligence agencies’ constant meddling in domestic politics.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain, who is known for his distinct and amusing style of expressing his thoughts, hopped on the army-bashing bandwagon as well.
There is no doubt that he is an extraordinary man with many talents. But perhaps nobody was aware about his medical expertise. The MQM chief ‘diagnosed’ the armed forces and the ISI with cancer, gangrene, tuberculosis and last but not the least, AIDS. The ‘politician-cum-surgeon’ recommended that the parts affected by untreatable diseases such as cancer need to be surgically removed and the other parts should be quarantined until they recuperate.
He even brought up the question as to whether Pakistan’s nuclear assets are adequately safeguarded or not, following the ease with which terrorists managed to sneak into PNS Mehran. But then again, Hussain blows hot and cold and turns into the army’s biggest supporter as well.
The military leaders are rightly concerned about what’s going on… they should be. In fact, they also went as far as to hold held a meeting with the civilian leaders - President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani - at the Presidency to discuss the ongoing situation. The event was extraordinary in the sense that the civilian and military leaders usually gather at the Presidency only on ceremonial occasions.
However, the generals should bear in mind that is no deliberate attempt to malign the image of the army but it is a classic example of “you reap what you sow”. They have nobody else to blame but themselves for the profound dip in the army’s popularity.
The lavish lifestyles of the superiors of the armed forces, spending leisure time in dreamy golf courses and clubs while their children study abroad; the real estate business that the army has focused its energies on and the exorbitantly high-priced plots and bungalows in the Defence areas becoming a symbol of elite status… these are major obstacles for the men in uniform if they wish to become public idols once more.
There is a page on the Pakistan Army’s official website www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk containing general information about the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh).
It mostly highlights the ‘glorious achievements’ of the paramilitary force including remaining “continuously involved in combating terrorism and ensuring law and order by providing intimate support to Sindh police in Karachi and interior Sindh”; “by the grace of God Almighty and dedication of all ranks, winning the confidence and appreciation of the citizens” and, nevertheless, being “now regarded as a premier law enforcement agency, with high credibility and trust”.
There is also a subtitle on the page “Code of Conduct” under which it is written, “Troops of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), being intimately involved in multifaceted border and internal security duties, have a lot of responsibility and moral obligation to ensure that their performance remains above board and well within the jurisdiction of the law. To make them better understand their role, a Code of Conduct has been clearly defined which reads, Crackdown for Criminals and Terrorists, Patronage and Protection for the Peace Loving Citizens with an Absolutely Impartial Approach Along With Courteous and Polite Attitude Combined with the Motto, Respect All.”
Apparently, the Rangers personnel, who gunned down an unarmed teenager at a park in the BoatBasin area, never read this Code of Conduct or perhaps didn’t quite understand what it means.
It was yet another incident in which “the Custodians of the MehranValley”, tasked with assisting the police restore law and order in Karachi and also given more powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act for this purpose, have crossed the line. They have been found involved in at least four other extrajudicial murders in recent times.
The difference this time around was the footage being flashed repeatedly on all local TV channels showing the daring “jawans” of the Pakistan Rangers firing at a youth begging for his life.
If it weren’t for this footage, there would have been no other evidence to contradict the Pakistan Rangers’ version that the 19-year-old was a bandit gunned down in an encounter.
The SHO of the BoatBasin police station was unwilling to file an FIR against the accused Rangers personnel and the state-run hospital handed over the body of the teenager to his heirs without conducting a postmortem, which would have revealed that the young man was shot from a point-blank range.
Perhaps in a rush of adrenaline, the Rangers personnel paid no attention to the cameraman capturing the entire event or were simply too arrogant to care; a mistake they later would have regretted as it helped bring the truth into the open.
Otherwise, this case would have ended up like the closed file of a protester, who was allegedly shot dead by paramilitary force in the Chakra Goth area of the city last month while he was participating in a demonstration against power load shedding and water hydrants.
The SHO of the area had given a clean chit to the Pakistan Rangers claiming that the protester had not died of a bullet shot by the law enforcement agencies. The other participants of the demonstration, most of them women, say that they were brutally roughed up by the Rangers personnel.
Even if it is assumed that the youth murdered at the BoatBasin park was actually mugging people along with his aides, as claimed by the Pakistan Rangers as well as Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the members of the paramilitary force had no right to kill an unarmed person. The special powers granted to the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) allow them to arrest people involved in violent activities and keep them in custody for 90 days. This chilling display of callousness is certainly not among those special powers.
So the big question that arises is: Why are the members of this law enforcement agency, which is supposed to protect the citizens of Karachi, resorting to such actions. In the grisly footage of the cold-blooded murder at the park, one can notice the Rangers personnel’s abhorrence for the unfortunate soul crying for mercy in front of them and the remorselessness with which one of them shot him and the others watched him bleed to death. He was a stranger to them and even if he was caught involved in any wrongdoing, he could have been nothing more than a deviant youth.
Were those men venting their frustration on the kid? The Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) are constantly forced to succumb to political pressure when they act against criminals in Karachi and that’s why their current campaign in the city has been a failure, denting their morale.
On numerous occasions, they have to set free criminals they arrest following phone calls from people to whom they cannot say no. Probably this is driving them to their wits’ end and as a result, we see these frustrated law enforcers in a trigger-happy mode, devoid of compassion and eager to eliminate criminals – big or small - in fake encounters believing that if they arrest them, they are likely to get off the hook afterwards.
The other reason for the violent behaviour of the Rangers personnel could be that a force primarily trained for border patrol might be incapable of handling the challenges of an urban environment for a long period.
In the past, the Pakistan Rangers have been used in limited numbers and in short spells to deal with the violent convulsions in Karachi. It could be that the presence of too many personnel this time has complicated the situation and their current stay has extended more than it should be.
Pakistan’s best funnyman, the interior minister, has announced yet another committee to probe the BoatBasin incident. He has formed so many of such futile committees, it might be some kind of a record and he could be in contention for a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.
It seems as if the man keeps these committees in his pockets and sells them for a living. If only they could produce any worthwhile results. The one for the youth’s murder is unlikely to be any different.
The electronic media deserves credit for bringing into the public and higher authorities’ knowledge what actually occurred at the BoatBasin park. However, the reporters of the TV channels went a step too far by proclaiming that the youth was absolutely innocent. Yes, his murder was a great injustice, but whether he was involved in any criminal activity or not, that’s for the courts to decide on the basis of evidence, not the media.
The militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) has confirmed that its leader and commander of al Qaeda’s operational wing 313 Brigade, Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a drone strike on South Waziristan on the night of June 3.
If Kashmiri is indeed dead, al Qaeda and the militant groups linked to the Kashmir jihad that are now operating under its umbrella have been dealt a severe blow. But it would be unwise to assume on the basis of a shady HuJI statement that Kashmiri has really died. Conclusive evidence is necessary. There were similar reports about Kashmiri dying in a Predator attack in North Waziristan around a year back, but it later turned out that he was alive.
So until there is hard proof that he is actually no more, it wouldn’t be a good idea to breathe a sigh of relief just yet.
After all, this was man who remained India’s tormentor-in-chief for many years and escaped their prison and also tried to have that gung-ho former president of ours, Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf assassinated, but was still lived to see the next day.
Once a member of the Special Services Group, a special operations military unit of the Pakistan Army, Kashmiri was the product of the vile and spiteful ideology that has been fermented in our country for decades. Hate is a double-edged sword and there is a price to be paid for using it as a weapon. The malice that had been ingrained in the psyche of people trained to become killing machines does not simply fade away with changing policies.
Kashmiri is suspected to be involved in several attacks in Pakistan and abroad.
He is a prime suspect in the PSN Mehran attack in Karachi on May 22 and also believed to be perpetrator of the suicide attack at Marriot hotel in Islamabad on September 20, 2008 in which more than 50 people were killed.
A US court had indicted Kashmiri and a former Pakistan Army major for conspiring with a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Coleman Headley to target Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Headley also had told interrogators that Kashmiri was also involved in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
There was a time when the chests our men in uniform swelled with pride over Kashmiri’s ‘feats’ across the border. But Mr Musharraf’s “u-turn” on the Kashmir policy did not go down well with HuJI leader. He was arrested by the Pakistani authorities in 2003 for trying to have the former president killed, but was released in 2004.
The fact that Kashmiri managed to get off the hook even after being arrested for plotting the murder of a president in uniform indicates that certain elements in the armed forces and the intelligence agencies that haven’t been able to ditch the anti-India mindset as well were supporting him even at that time.
After he was allowed go scot-free, Kashmiri went on to orchestrate the murders of a number of Pakistanis. Perhaps, this dreaded terrorist has finally met his fate and the world, particularly Pakistan, is a safer place now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
To liken the buffoonery witnessed during finance minister Hafeez Shaikh’s budget speech in the parliament to the jugatbaazi-laced cheap comedy that theatres in Lahore have resorted to in recent times wouldn’t be wrong.
A disconcerted finance minister somehow managed to deliver his budget speech despite the bedlam in the House.
Female opposition lawmakers had bangles to offer to the finance minister and a PML-N leader showed a roti to the prime minister.
One could have expected the opposition members to be carrying rotten eggs and tomatoes too, but the finance minister must be thanking his lucky stars that they weren’t.
Our parliamentarians have certainly come up with quite a feast for the eyes and ears of the world… if there are still people left on the planet not ridiculing or censuring every Pakistani for the follies of a few, then a show of pathetic antics in the parliament would certainly finish the job and let the world know that with such uncouth representatives, the country’s masses must be yahoos as well.
In a speech that fortunately lasted only about 50 minutes, the finance minister had nothing to say out of the ordinary. The new budget has nothing much to offer but more woes for the masses.
It wasn’t a surprise that the government decided not to bring the farm sector into the tax net. That is unlikely to happen when most of the lawmakers are chaudhrys and waderas. It’s like setting the wolf to guard the sheep. Landlords making policies that are meant to protect the rights of peasants and mill owners formulating laws to benefit consumers? Silly it may be, but that’s how it is in our parliament.
The finance minister said that the government will try to maintain growth at seven percent and inflation will be brought down to single digits. Good luck with that… he will surely need it. The armed forces will gobble up most of the budget as usual, 11.4 percent more this time. They have a few more wedding halls and golf clubs to construct. After all, it is very essential for the national security that they do. It earns them money. More money means happier generals, colonels, brigadiers etc. Then in their happy moods, they will pompously claim that they are prepared to take on any challenge and the masses will believe them… until an attack like the one on PNS Mehran spoils the party.
Saleem Shahzad, the bureau chief of Asia Times Online, has paid the price committing the worse sin of them all in Pakistan – telling the truth. Perhaps if he had opted to be on the intelligence agencies’ payroll and glorify bloodthirsty terrorists, he might have lived, and in a much leisurely fashion as well. But no… the curse of being a journalist took its toll on him, forcing him to disclose stuff that is never meant to become public knowledge. He knew that his life was in danger… he had told the Human Rights Watch about it. He also must have thought about what would become of his wife and three children if he is no longer around. But he went through with it anyway.
He disclosed in a report that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pak Navy. A cell of the terrorist organisation was operating in many naval bases in Karachi. When the navy intelligence found out about it, many lower cadre naval personnel were arrested. After al Qaeda demanded their release, the Pak Navy tried to negotiate with it but failed. Eventually this led to the attacks on navy buses in Karachi and finally the PNS Mehran siege.
Shahzad had certainly tested the patience of some with such disclosures and to make matters worse, the journalist was planning to reveal more information on how al Qaeda had made inroads into the other armed forces of the country as well. This was unforgivable. They wanted Shahzad’s head on a spike.
Going through the list of the usual suspects, Shahzad may have been murdered by the bearded lunatics, whom he had spent his career reporting about, or it could have been our sleazebag spooks as they had every reason to teach him a ‘lesson’.
Shahzad’s murder was nowhere near the usual al Qaeda or Taliban style ala the gruesome Daniel Peal killing. However, it reeks of the intelligence agencies’ malice. The Human Rights Watch has claimed that Shahzad was abducted by the Inter-Services Intelligence. His abduction from a city like Islamabad, minutes after he had left for a TV station to participate in a talk show - perhaps to disclose more ‘disturbing’ stuff – the discovery of his body in the Sarai Alamgir area bearing torture marks, one just needs to fit the pieces together. Maybe his abductors didn’t want him dead… only give him a thrashing he would never forget, but their third degree tactics proved too much for the journalist. His death has probably only multiplied their troubles.
Whatever the case may be, it’s hopeless to expect a proper investigation into this grim affair. After the usual condemnations, condolences and the announcement of a probe, the case would be closed before anyone realises it.
Shahzad’s murder also brings another issue into focus. Whether it is him in Islamabad or Wali Khan Babar in Karachi, journalists would remain an easy target. Unarmed and vulnerable, they still put their lives at risk everyday, driven by the urge to do the right thing. And sometimes, it ends with the biggest sacrifice they can make.
Enter the domain of conspiracy theorists and you are bound to come across the most ludicrous of conjectures.
The discrepancies surrounding the PSN Mehran attack has fuelled the wildest of imaginations and the US-based contractor Blackwater, India’s RAW and Israel’s Mossad, all are being linked to the incident.
There are also claims that nobody sneaked into the naval base and attackers were in fact its employees already present there.
But the craziest one that has been churned up so far is that the attackers were members of the People’s Amn Committee – a Pakistan People’s Party-affiliated organisation based in the Lyari area of Karachi. There sure aren’t too many reasons to become a fan of the Amn Committee, but nobody in his/her rights senses can come up with such absurdity.
A mystery that leads to a number of possibilities and explanations is always intriguing, but some tend to go overboard, eventually obscuring their perception of reality to the point of ludicrousness.
In one such example, some have also come up with the assumption that al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s body has been thrown into the Bermuda Triangle as a gift to Masih ad-Dajjal, who, Muslims believe, would be the last of the false prophets and the greatest evil on earth before the Judgement Day – a figure comparable to the anti-Christ in Christian beliefs.
What was the person, who came up with this preposterous theory, had been smoking? Obviously, he/she has a deep resentment for the Americans as they are being perceived as aides of Dajjal. So it’s easy to guess as to where all this is coming from. In fact, one Maulana Umer Asim has even authored two books - Bermuda Tikon aur Dajjal (Bermuda Triangle and Dajjal) and Dajjal ka Lashkar - Blackwater (The Army of Dajjal - Blackwater) – in a bid to explain how the end-time scenario is shaping up.
Apart from brewing up conspiracy theories, some mullahs also propagate their agenda by spreading false tales about how people who desecrated the Quran or committed some other major sin were turned into grotesque creatures by God as punishment for their wrongdoing. For this, they use booklets and pamphlets and are also assisted by the profit-seeking owners of a few third-rated Urdu newspaper.
A few years ago, a newspaper carried a picture of a half woman-half animal along with a story, claiming that the creature was a woman punished for tossing the Quran into fire.
However, the deception was exposed the next day when it turned out that the monstrosity in the picture was actually a sculpture created by a famous artist.
Not too many of such lies circulate now… perhaps the presence of so many TV channels has made it hard to pull off such tricks (plus some TV channels have their own agendas to propagate). As for conspiracy theories, there are bound to be more bizarre ones in the coming days.
If you wondered why the eccentric Bollywood actor Nana Patekar in one of his movies frantically kept on repeating that a single mosquito can turn a man into a eunuch, you should go through the news about six men or probably four holding off about 1,500 soldiers for 16 hours in Karachi.
Six terrorists (if somebody actually wants to take Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s word for it, otherwise according to contradictory reports, there were only four), earlier speculated to be between 10 and 15, grabbed their arms and explosives, sneaked into the naval base, PNS Mehran, destroyed two precious US-made P-3C Orion aircraft and killed 10 security personnel. Later, the security forces were at their wits’ end by the time they managed to take down the handful of terrorists.
If the manner in which our armed forces’ “preparedness to meet any challenge” was exposed wasn’t painful enough, the interior minister and navy chief really rubbed salt into wounds. The former likened the attackers to "Star Wars characters" on the basis of their appearance, and as for the latter, it’s mind-boggling as to why he chose to speak if he only had to admire the attackers’ skills, training and efficiency.
The October 2009 attack on the military headquarters in Rawalpindi should have compelled the army to review many of its flawed strategies and set its priorities right.
But it didn’t. And now it cannot afford to waste time on reassessing as to who poses the biggest threat to the country. The answer is right there in front of it in its ugly form.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the naval base attack, which is apparently part of the expected backlash in the aftermath of the US raid in which al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed.
A closer look at the terrorists’ modus operandi in the PNS Mehran attack shows that it shares many similarities with the army headquarters siege in Pindi, the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Mumbai attacks in November 2008. In almost all these cases, there is a group of heavily armed men who are experts in guerilla tactics. They infiltrate into the targeted area and keeping the security forces engaged for hours.
These methods are unlike the ones employed by the tribal areas’ Taliban, who usually blow themselves up at crowded spots or ram an explosive-laden vehicle into a building, like what they did to the Crime Investigation Department office in Karachi.
The tactics used by terrorists in the naval base attack and the similar ones before it are hallmarks of the jihadists prepared for Kashmir. For years, they have managed to get the better of Indian armed forces and it’s no wonder why they are so well-trained.
When there was a shift in Pakistan’s Kashmir policy during former president Pervez Musharraf’s tenure and insurgency was reduced, these jihadists, rendered useless in the new scenario, turned against their own country’s military and joined hands with the Taliban in the tribal areas. They call themselves the Punjabi Taliban, as that is where most of them hail from. Though a sub-group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, they have their own methods of going about their business.
The PNS Mehran and the army headquarters sieges were both suicide missions. They attackers knew that there were no chances of survival. The only aim was to humiliate the armed forces by taking control of their bases… just long enough to dent their morale. And this is what must be giving the shivers to the West… a nuclear armed country, where less than half a dozen men are capable of taking on the defences of its “invincible army”.
The Don Juan of Pakistan now turned right-wing politician, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan put up a good show in Karachi.
His dharna (sit-in) at the NativeJettyBridge was aimed at choking off NATO supplies headed for Afghanistan in order to protest drone attacks in the tribal areas, even if it meant inflicting losses on the country’s own industries.
Whether or not Mr Khan actually gave any sort of trouble to NATO, he certainly managed to attract a large crowd, in fact bigger than many would have thought he would. The two days of his dharna were perhaps the hottest days of the summer in the city so far. Drenched in sweat, hundreds toiled in the harsh, relentless heat to make Mr Khan’s dharna a success.
So the PTI chief suddenly becomes the crowd-puller. And understandably so… he had the mullah brigade backing him up. And not to forget the buzz about “Immi” of the Pakistan cricket’s golden days recently becoming the new pawn in the hands of our always meddling spy agencies.
Nevertheless, the event was a unique spectacle as people, who are worlds apart, were found side by side for a common cause.
Most of Mr Khan’s followers are the younger lot. So there were a number of young men and women at the dharna acting as cheerleaders for the PTI chief’s mission as if they were at a concert… actually it did turn out be a concert with Ali Azmat and Strings entertaining the participants of the dharna – not a bad thing actually if the youth develop a sense of political awareness (not sure if that was happening in this case) and also make such gatherings more fun than they usually are.
But at the same time, the Sunni Tehreek and Jamaat-e-Islami mullahs were also present there. In fact, even when their leaders spewed their bigoted, spiteful mullah rants, Mr Khan’s jumping jacks continued to party.
So let’s thank Mr Khan for providing us with a sight that we don’t get to see everyday. Two very different lots of the frenzied kind together - one group brainwashed into believing that religion tells you to hate others and the other with minds so cluttered with unnecessary junk that clarity of thought and the ability to reason and reach the right conclusion is gone.
Fretted about the possibility of the US cutting of its billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan over the Osama bin Laden Pandora’s box, the country’s leaders are desperate to latch onto other options they have – backup plans, one might call them. Plus, they also have to deal with any other intimidating measures that the US might use against Pakistan with the ties between the two countries becoming increasingly marred by mistrust.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani rushed off to China to put the Pakistan-China friendship to test. The 60th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic ties presented the perfect excuse. And as always, the Chinese were quick to oblige. Pledges were made to “infuse new dynamics into the Pakistan-China partnership by enhancing cooperation among entrepreneurs of the two countries”. The Chinese also promised to provide Pakistan with 50 JF-17 fighter jets. But most of all, China defended Pakistan’s role in the war on terror and told the US to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, like a big brother coming to the aid of his younger sibling and warning the bully to back off.
SO Pakistan has managed to send across a message to the US that the world’s economic powerhouse is steadfastly behind it and the Americans need to realise that they are not holding all the cards.
As Mr Gilani China mission was somewhat of a success, President Asif Ali Zardari didn’t fare that bad in Russia. He was there to win the support of another powerful nation (the mysterious and controversial killing of five Chechens in Kharotabad got anything to do with that?).
During the president’s stay in Russia, both countries agreed to “promote trade, investment and pursue joint projects particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure development, metal industry and agriculture”.
The president also invited Russia to “invest in regional and trans-regional projects and benefit from Pakistan’s strategic location and investment-friendly policies”.
Considering that the Pakistan-US relations appear to be falling apart and turning into a novel of betrayal and deception, the Pakistani leaders’ strategy to look elsewhere for support isn’t bad. For a country that is being suspected by the West as the epicentre of terrorism, looking to the East is certainly makes sense.
The ‘tiger’ of Punjab roared and growled in Sindh. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has returned to his confrontational ways, which perhaps suits him better, but this time around, he is up against the very forces to which he owes his political career. His makers, one might say. So here we have a typical Frankenstein situation. The creation turns against its creator.
But the tiger is simply lashing back in self-defence. He realises that he is not the blue-eyed boy of the military establishment anymore. The spy agencies are up to its dirty old tricks again and devising a script to divide his vote bank in Punjab. Apparently, a part of this ploy is to back up Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, who appears to be the ideal man in the establishment’s scheme of things. Even though both Mr Sharif and Mr Khan are right-wing, the establishment fears that Mr Sharif might still be carrying the desire of becoming the Amir-ul-Momineen and asserting his authority over all, including military generals.
So Mr Sharif has delivered a few below the belt blows. He said that intelligence agencies need to stay away from politics and quit running a parallel government. He also demanded that the army and its top intelligence agency’s budget be brought to the parliament. Later, he urged the nation to stop treating India as the country’s biggest enemy. Now, he wants military dictators as well as the generals and judges who supported them to be brought to justice.
This is all too painful to the ears of his previous masters, especially the part about India - a major shock for the anti-India hawks perched in Pindi. The tiger is headed straight for the serpent’s lair. Mr Sharif is taking on an adversary that has never been defeated before – on a domestic level, that is. Good luck to him... he will need it.
Just as Pakistan is trying to rid itself of the spectre of Osama bin Laden and its authorities would like the world to believe that they had nothing to do with al Qaeda chief hiding in Abbottabad for years, perhaps the world’s new most wanted terrorist is already in the making – not in the caves of Afghanistan or the rugged terrain of Waziristan, but in the cultural centre of the country, Lahore.
One would expect someone like Ayman al Zawahiri or Mullah Omar to take over the mantle with bin Laden gone, but it’s Hafiz Saeed, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader, who literally promises much.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa is actually the al Qaeda-linked terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba operating with its new name ever since it was ‘banned’ by the government in 2002.
Recently in Lahore, a gathering of more than 4,000 bearded fanatics, reeking of hate and consumed by rage, cursed the Americans for killing bin Laden and called the terrorist a martyr. There, Saeed, the man allegedly responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, uttered the words that Osama's death is the beginning of America’s defeat.
Apart from Saeed’s followers, participating in the gathering were also activists of the country’s right-wing parties. In fact, the religio-political party Jamaat-e-Islami declared that Saeed is the leader of all religious parties of the country.
The Pakistan Army is reluctant to launch an operation against terrorists in North Waziristan and its spooks are quick to whisk away nationalists of Balochistan and Sindh, but here is a man declaring jihad against the US - a country giving us billions of dollars in aid from of its taxpayers’ money - and enjoying complete liberty of doing this in the open.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba was originally meant for the Kashmir jihad. But now it poses as much of a threat to the US as al Qaeda does. It has spread its tentacles not only across Pakistan but to other countries as well.
The powers that be in Pakistan, keeping in view what they believe are ‘strategic interests’ of the country, are unlikely to lay a hand on the terrorist organisation, which has been such a handy tool for them in the past and could still serve them in the days to come.
But is it really in Pakistan’s strategic interests to become increasingly isolated internationally and keep getting closer to being labelled a terrorist state? Perhaps for a mindset that is too anti-India to see anything else beyond, yes.
Prior to his arrival in Pakistan, US Senator John Kerry made it clear that it won’t be him taking the stick from the Pakistani authorities over the Osama bin Laden debacle and in fact, he would be the one giving it to them instead (strictly in the idiomatic sense of course).
He expected the Pakistanis to make a fuss over the al Qaeda chief hunt in Abbottabad in which the Americans “violated” the “sovereignty” of the country so he went for their Achilles’ heel - aid. He knows where it hurts most and he sent across a reminder that beggars can’t be choosers.
Mr Kerry made it clear that Pakistan can expect a “profound” change in its already troubled relationship with the US if does not mend its ways and become an actual ally in the war on terror instead of continuing to play its duplicitous game.
Warning Islamabad that it might run the risk of losing some of the billions of dollars in aid after the discovery that bin Laden was living in the city of Abbottabad for so many years, he advised the Pakistani authorities to give a rest to the monkey business of finger-pointing.
Let’s face it. The US and Pakistan are stuck in a bad marriage where a divorce at this stage will hurt them both. They will have to continue sharing the same bed whether they like it or not. The US needs Pakistan for its campaign in Afghanistan and the latter needs the billions of dollars flowing in from the former. For the Americans, Pakistan is a shoe that hurts, but one it cannot do without… not for now at least. It needs it to go the distance. As for Pakistan, it can’t let go of the habit of biting the hand that feeds.
Since 2002, Pakistan has gobbled up more than $20 billion from the US. Where has all that money gone and what is the financial crisis all about if all those dollars came in is another issue.
With Mr Kerry setting the tone for his meetings in Islamabad, one can imagine who will be calling the shots. One can expect some official statements similar to ones that condemn drone attacks. But what is actually said and done is quite different.
The hopes of those anticipating that David would finally take on Goliath were dashed with the civilian government caving in to the supremacy of the men in khakis. The high expectations fizzled out with a whimper and it turned out to be nothing more than a pathetic, gutless show.
In the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death, the civilian government, which has never been in the driving seat, finally had the opportunity to set things straight and exert its control over the army and its intelligence apparatus.
But for gains that are petty if the larger picture is taken into consideration, the government went on to support to the military and its spy agencies up over the bin Laden debacle.
In a marathon joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate meant to put for forward tough questions to the army and intelligence heads about that singular event responsible for bringing so much embarrassment to the country, the parliament unanimously approved a resolution condemning the US’ bin Laden mission as a “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty”. The resolution expressed “deep distress” over “the campaign to malign Pakistan”, without appreciating its “immense sacrifices in combating terror”. However, the parliamentarians also demanded an independent probe into the late al Qaeda chief’s episode.
During the session, Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha admitted that there was an intelligence failure and said that he was prepared for full accountability.
However, our frail civilian set-up is nowhere prepared to take the bull by the horns. To sum it up, another opportunity has gone to waste no thanks to the self-centred bunch of weaklings that call themselves our leaders.
In addition to all this, its is interesting to note what Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief, Nawaz Sharif has been up to recently.
He had earlier demanded an independent investigation into bin Laden's killing, and is now calling for the army and intelligence agencies’ budget to be presented in the assembly.
He said that intelligence agencies’ should not be involved in making foreign policy and neither should they make alliances and divisions among political parties. He is right, but nevertheless, his criticism is laced with his own motives as he is aware of what the ‘spooks’ have been up to weaken his position in Punjab.
As expected Osama bin Laden has struck back… or more correctly, his disciples, who he spawned from his cauldron of hate, have made their first major move in their efforts to avenge the death of their leader.
At least 80 people were killed and 140 injured in two suicide attacks on a paramilitary police training centre in the Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakstan has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is another addition to the long list of sacrifices that Pakistan has had to make in the war on terror.
But the question is that are the Taliban the only ones responsible for these heinous crimes. These fanatics with their distorted beliefs were brainwashed into doing this. This is what they are supposed to do – soldiers of hate only doing the job they were trained for. The real villains are the people who created them and are continuing to abet them. Despite the fact that the Taliban have killed thousands of Pakistanis, these people, who are convinced that they are more “patriotic” than the rest of us and are the final line of defence for the country, still have a soft spot for these cold-blooded murderers and continue to protect and support them.
They are the ones who should be held responsible for the death of so many innocents. Their everlasting obsession with the “Indian threat” has turned them into a threat for Pakistan that is much greater than what India poses. Their anti-Indian sentiments have ignited the flames that now engulf Pakistan itself. Perhaps, they also believe that the presence of the Taliban and al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan would ensure that the dollars keep flowing into the country so that the defences against India can be propped up. This doctrine has put us on the path of self-destruction and we need to mend our ways immediately.
Another May 12 has gone by and the lawyers’ community observed it as a black day to remember that fateful day when hell was unleashed in the city of Karachi. Similar to what they show in the Old Western flicks, law and order did not exist in the city on the May 12 of 2007. Bodies of dead people were scattered around in various areas of the metropolitan and its law enforcers were cowed by armed thugs, who called the shots that day.
May 12 might just be another day on the calendar. A date keeps coming back year after year simply because of a system that humans have devised to keep track of the passage of time. The May 12 of 2007 is gone and it will never come back. But it is important to mark this day and keep remembering what happened back then - just like January 27 is observed as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day so that everyone can remember or learn about the Nazis’ brutality and to commemorate the victims of their callousness.
A great deal of blood was spilled on the streets of Karachi on that day four years back when a dictator swung his fist around while murderers continued their onslaught. It is essential that we remember that a great wrong was done - at least until justice is served and those who caused the bloodshed that day pay for what they did.
Many of us tend to forget very quickly. A few years pass and all is forgiven. But it’s not the same for the families of the May 12 victims. They must be living with a pain that will last a lifetime. Had they not lost their loved ones, their future could have been quite different now – in most cases a better one. We must not forget May 12, if not for the sake of those who were mercilessly murdered so that some oppressors could bask in their power and glory, then for their unfortunate families at least.
With the recent inclusion of the Pakistan Muslim-League-Quaid (PML-Q) as well as the return of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the size of the federal cabinet tally has reached 45, with 39 federal ministers and ministers of states, four advisers and two special assistants to the prime minister.
Yes so much for the ‘rightsizing’ efforts we were all forced to hear about. Previously, a 54-member cabinet - 34 federal ministers, 18 ministers of state and two advisers - was dissolved considering the financial difficulties the country is facing. It was also aimed at fixing the government’s tainted image. According to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the move was meant to have fewer ministers with “a reputation of integrity, competence and efficiency”. So what was that effort all about? In what ways is the present bunch that has been included to swell the cabinet to jumbo-size again better than the one that was left out before? They certainly do not possess “a reputation of integrity, competence and efficiency”. In fact the ones from the PML-Q are mostly those who were dejected by most of the country for their tales of corruption and incompetence when they were dancing to the tune of a dictator. Integrity, competence and efficiency are terms that have themselves become alien to the PPP. If these words meant anything to the party, it wouldn’t have gone back on its own words. But in our country, the lust for power is greater than any ethics or principles. Unfortunately, our public tends to forget these ‘small things’ on the day of elections and keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. The masses need to keep the honesty factor in mind while casting their votes. This would help them a great deal in making the right decision.
Two hours of heart-wrenching scenes at the outpatient departments (OPDs) of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) as patients, some cringing in pain, helplessly tried in vain to receive medical attention. But there was none for them as the doctors were boycotting the OPDs for two hours to protest the decentralisation of these two federal government-run hospitals.
Never did they take into consideration that so many patients, not only from Karachi but other parts of the province and Balochistan as well arrive every day to these hospitals, the majority of them in need of immediate medical attention. But no - personal gains are more important for them than professional obligations. Perhaps this plague has crept all over our society.
These doctors believe that the provincial government is not equipped to run the two hospitals efficiently and therefore, their administrative control should not be shifted from the Centre. They claim that the federal government-run hospitals are in a better shape than the one being run by the provincial government. There is no huge difference between the hospitals run by the Centre and the ones under the provincial government’s control. The federal government-run hospitals offer some better facilities and the reason for that is the free flow of funds that arrive from the Centre.
But the question is whether these funds are completely utilised or not when the governing authority is in Islamabad. This is actually the issue that is at the centre of the problem. The provincial government’s administrative control means a closer watch on the managements of the hospitals currently run by the federal government.
There will be all sorts of questions as to where the funds are being spent and why. This is exactly what the people behind the doctors’ boycott do not want. Greed gets the better of many of us, but in some exceptional cases, shamelessness hits an all new level.
It’s an excruciating experience to hear the ministers of Sindh gloat about their “historic achievements” that have made no difference in the lives of the masses. Issues of great importance continue to pile up and the only time the provincial ministers seem active is when their larynxes are involved.
According to one minister, the provincial government has still been unable to finalise the date for the budget presentation. There has been no progress on the local government elections issue either. Never-ending deliberations are under way and it appears that a lifetime is required for all the stakeholders to reach a consensus on the matter.
Recently, Pakistan People’s Party Sindh general secretary and the supervisor of the party’s census monitoring committee, Taj Haider told the media that the Sindh government was not informed about the changes made in the delimitation of maps that are used to mark the blocks, circles and charges for the house and population census.
He said that even the chief minister and the chief secretary were unaware that these changed were made in 2007 and they believed that the census was being carried out according to the 2002 marking of limits. This pretty much sums up the state of affair in Sindh.
The precedent of ridiculousness that the provincial government has set when it came to the census takes the term “inefficiency” to a whole new level. The federal government was responsible for the carrying out the census, but the provincial government could have helped matters by launching an awareness campaign in the rural areas of Sindh as the complications faced in those places – including many families living under one roof but still counted as occupants of a single house and enumerators not provided with accurate data due to traditional constraints - were pretty much expected. But the government woke up from its slumber only when the harm was done. There were a many irregularities in the first phase of the census and Sindhis might end up becoming minorities in their own province. Is there still any advice for the people managing the affairs of the province? Yes there is. They can still wrap up their lip-service business and show some real action. But will they pay any heed to these words, there is not a flicker of a chance.
We are fed up with intolerable utterances. It wasn’t a rosy picture before, but after al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s death, it has become worse. In fact, it has become chaotic. The latest of such has come from the prime minister. Speaking to the parliament, he rejected allegations that government authorities were either hiding the al Qaeda chief or simply too incompetent to locate him and said that he has ordered a joint investigation into how bin Laden was able to live undetected in Abbottabad for such a long time. Army and civilian investigation officers will be used for this probe. Even more hurtful to the ears was Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar’s response that the prime minister has failed to satisfy the nation and he is to blame for the failure of the intelligence agencies.
Does the probe into how bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan for so long stand any chance of success if we are to think that the our intelligence agencies, which we have come to believe have knowledge of almost everything under the sky in the country, were so incapable that they couldn’t locate him for years even though he lived right under their nose.
The investigation is nothing but a move to satisfy the US, which, by the way, has given a clean chit to the Pakistani government just a day earlier. The US national security adviser said that the Obama administration has seen no evidence that Pakistan’s leadership knew bin Laden was living in that country before his killing last week. However, the US president called upon the Pakistani government to probe the “support network” for the al Qaeda leader in the country.
So it can be imagined where the probe would be headed. As for Mr Nisar’s criticism just for the sake of criticism, it makes no sense to begin with. Why should the prime minister be blamed for the intelligence agencies’ failure? If Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif can be kept in dark before the Kargil mess was started, why is it different in Mr Gilani’s case. All this nonsensical noise is maddening, but the masses still have to put up with it.
The city of Karachi has witnessed martyrdom of the true kind unlike the associating of the term “martyr” with people who are better off dead than alive. This actual martyrdom came in the form of the murder of two Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum activists, Haji Abu Bakar and Abdul Ghani – two men, who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the precious mangroves on our coasts from the clutches of land grabbers.Their bodies were found at the ShamspirIsland in Keamari. They were tortured and murdered. The death of these two men means that the city’s mangroves, on which 135,000 people depend for their livelihood, have lost two life lines. The dual murder has enraged the fisherfolk and they are demanding justice. But apparently, the perpetrators of this crime are too influential for the law enforcers.
Mangroves are inter-tidal forests with great economic and ecological significance. According to various researches, mangroves provide food, fodder and fuel-wood for villages. There are approximately 100,000 people who take a total of 18,000 tonnes of fuel-wood each year from the mangroves. In addition, 3,200 buffaloes and 6,000 camels also consume some 67 million kilogrammes of leaves and 19.5 million kilogrammes of grass. Much of Pakistan's fishing industry relies on the fish found in the mangroves, notably shrimp, which are the principal fisheries export of Pakistan. Of the $100 million that Pakistan earns in fisheries foreign exchange, shrimp accounts for 68 percent. Mangroves are also important for recreation purposes with high potential for eco-tourism. The Indus Delta is an important migratory route for millions of waterfowl that need to feed and breed during the winter months. Some 80 species of birds, such as pelicans, flamingos and herons are found in the Indus Delta mangroves. Mangrove forests also provide protection to the coastal areas from strong winds and ocean currents. Their vegetation also helps in reducing coastline erosion because the roots collect sediments that flow into the sea from the river.
There are certain elements who wish to deprive us of our mangroves. If men like, Haji Abu Bakar and Abdul Ghani continue to die, there will be nobody left to protect them.
The city of Karachi has witnessed a martyrdom of the true kind unlike the associating of the term “martyr” with people who are better off dead than alive. This actual martyrdom came in the form of the murder of two Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum activists, Haji Abu Bakar and Abdul Ghani – two men, who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the precious mangroves on our coasts from the clutches of land grabbers.Their bodies were found at the ShamspirIsland in Keamari. They were tortured and murdered. The death of these two men means that the city’s mangroves, on which 135,000 people depend for their livelihood, have lost two life lines. The dual murder has enraged the fisherfolk and they are demanding justice. But apparently, the perpetrators of this crime are too influential for the law enforcers.
Mangroves are inter-tidal forests with great economic and ecological significance. According to various researches, mangroves provide food, fodder and fuel-wood for villages. There are approximately 100,000 people who take a total of 18,000 tonnes of fuel-wood each year from the mangroves. In addition, 3,200 buffaloes and 6,000 camels also consume some 67 million kilogrammes of leaves and 19.5 million kilogrammes of grass. Much of Pakistan's fishing industry relies on the fish found in the mangroves, notably shrimp, which are the principal fisheries export of Pakistan. Of the $100 million that Pakistan earns in fisheries foreign exchange, shrimp accounts for 68 percent. Mangroves are also important for recreation purposes with high potential for eco-tourism. The Indus Delta is an important migratory route for millions of waterfowl that need to feed and breed during the winter months. Some 80 species of birds, such as pelicans, flamingos and herons are found in the Indus Delta mangroves. Mangrove forests also provide protection to the coastal areas from strong winds and ocean currents. Their vegetation also helps in reducing coastline erosion because the roots collect sediments that flow into the sea from the river.
There are certain elements who wish to deprive us of our mangroves. If men like, Haji Abu Bakar and Abdul Ghani continue to die, there will be nobody left to protect them.
