Of the Amn Committee and Dajjal

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.

The power of a single mosquito

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”.

A dharna of another kind

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 Native Jetty Bridge 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.

Looking to the East

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 headed straight for the serpent’s lair

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.

Exit Osama bin Laden, enter Hafiz Saeed?

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.

Setting the tone

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.

A blown opportunity

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.

The real culprits

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.

What is in a date?... nothing and everything

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.

Must keep the ‘small things’ in mind

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.

Professional obligations lost as greed prevails

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.

Only gloat and no action

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.

Intolerable utterances

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.

True martyrdom

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 Shamspir Island 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.

True martyrdom

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 Shamspir Island 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.

No longer a society for the funnymen

Four of Pakistan’s top comedy performers have died in less than a month. The first to depart was Liaquat Soldier, the funnyman with his distinct streetwise style of Karachi’s Kharadar. The next to go were Mastana and Baboo Baral, who, for years, enthralled audiences at the theatres of Punjab. Finally, it was Moin Akhtar, a master of his craft, a legend, whose unique talents and versatility to create humour we were so familiar with.

All four of them died of age-associated illnesses. But the mind wanders to the realm of endless possibilities. One might wonder why suddenly our comedians? Why now? It is more than just a coincidence? Has Pakistan become a place so grim that the funnymen cannot stand living here anymore? Comedians are motivated to carry on by the laughter of their audiences. Is it becoming harder to wipe off the glum look from people’s faces? Do they have to entertain much tougher crowds now? In a depressed society that Pakistan is fast turning into, if it hasn’t already, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make people happy. The four men who are no longer with us had made billions smile and laugh for so many years. Perhaps they thought that their stuff isn’t working anymore. The audiences are too depressed now. A lifetime of bringing smiles on so many faces and then reaching a point where this job becomes too arduous a task must be heartbreaking. Perhaps they died with a broken heart.

Artistes – especially comedians – are very sensitive people. They get overwhelmed by what is happening in their surroundings. Sometimes more than they should. The poor creatures allow emotions to get the better of them. It might be that they were engulfed by the gloominess they saw around them.

In Pakistan, with each passing day, there are fewer reasons to cheer about. You turn on the TV and you are bombarded with bad news almost every other minute. A glance at the headlines in newspapers is enough to start taking Prozac.

Our disfigured society, riddled with the plagues of intolerance and extremism brought upon us by the men with beards and those clean-shaved ones who have a beard hidden in their stomach, must be excruciatingly painful for someone who makes a living out of making other people see the lighter side of things.

Amid this melancholic atmosphere, the funnymen don’t stand a chance. And that is perhaps why they wish to leave for their heavenly abode and escape from the nauseating stench of hate, prejudice, double standards and a lack of respect for other human beings that our society has to offer. Rest in peace Liaquat Soldier, Mastana, Baboo Baral and Moin Akhtar, and thank you for all the good times that you gave us. This society was probably no more a place for the likes of you anyway.

The errors of their ways

With the good riddance of Osama bin Laden, The Guardian has published the world’s most wanted list as it stand now and guess who makes it to the second slot in that ranking – none other than Dawood Ibrahim, the head of the Mumbai-based, 5,000-member organised crime syndicate D-Company, which has engaged in everything from narcotics and counterfeits to weapon smuggling and contract killing.

He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol for organised crime and counterfeiting. He was ranked fourth on the Forbes' World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals list of 2008.

After the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people and wounded 713 - allegedly organised and financed by Ibrahim - he became India's most wanted man.

The US, maintaining that Ibrahim had close links with bin Laden, declared him a “global terrorist” in 2003 and pursued the matter before the United Nations in an attempt to freeze his assets around the world and crack down on his operations. The US government claims that the kingpin of the criminal world shares smuggling routes with al Qaeda and has collaborated with both al-Qaeda and its affiliate, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which allegedly pulled off the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, possibly with Ibrahim's help.

Unfortunately, Pakistan again comes into the limelight when Ibrahim’s issue comes up.

There have been numerous claims that he was, or probably still is, is a ‘guest’ in Pakistan just like bin Laden, protected by appearance-altering plastic surgery and friends in Pakistani intelligence community.

Urban legends in Karachi are that he lives somewhere in the DHA area of the city and many claim to have seen the underworld don.

The fact that Pakistani cricket legend Javed Miandad’s son married Ibrahim’s daughter further fuels suspicions.

Now if these rumours are true, it is yet another example of our intelligence agencies’ never-ending list of blunders. What objectives can they achieve by treading this path of self-destruction, it is anybody’s guess. Perhaps it all comes down to their eternal hatred for India. But in the process, what they are really doing is weakening their own country and tainting its image in the eyes of the world. We can only hope that our spy agencies can see the errors of their ways before it is too late.

Pak-India rivalry

The response that Pakistan’s Foreign Office could come up with to the US forces’ operation in Abbottabad was a very carefully selected one and even that was not meant for the Americans, but was actually an indirect message for another country.

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir warned that it will be catastrophic if any other country even imagines it can follow the example of the United States. He said that if any country ever acted on the assumption that it had a right to unilateralism of any sort, it would be construed as a miscalculation that could result in terrible catastrophe. There are no doubts that this warning was meant for India, which would also like to target some individuals in Pakistan – whom it believes are responsible for terrorist attacks on the Indian soil.

The message to the Americans from the GHQ was more potent, but again, it was also rather subdued than the fierce tone that could have been used considering that the country’s sovereignty had been breached.

Chairing a Corps Commanders’ Conference, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani hinted that military and intelligence cooperation with the US might be reviewed if an Abbottabad-type action that violates the sovereignty of Pakistan takes place again.

The military leadership also kept its focus on India, as the participants of the meeting took serious note of the assertions made by the Indian military about conducting similar operations and made it made clear that “any misadventures would be responded to very strongly”.

Considering the tight spot that Pakistan is in after the discovery that Osama bin Laden was hiding, not in the caves of Afghanistan or the rigid terrain of Pakistan’s tribal belt, but the garrison city of Abbottabad, the sovereignty issue does not really come into contention as far as the US’ operation is concerned, apart from the obligatory reaction to the incident. But what matters more to Pakistan is that India should not be having ideas of acting in a similar manner. Would India embarking on a mission similar to that of the US be a bigger wrong than what the Americans did? No. Any country violating Pakistan’s sovereignty should be dealt with in the same manner, but it is a different argument that individuals involved in terrorist activities should not be finding refuge in Pakistan in the first place. Pakistan’s obsession with India knows no bounds. It needs to set its priorities straight. There are bigger problems than the old Pak-India rivalry.

An exit from the mess

As expected, Pakistani authorities are now up against the wrath of the global community for - what the latter believes - either hiding the recently slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on their soil for years or being too inept to figure out that the world’s most wanted man was under living under their nose all along.

An anti-Pakistan mood prevails in the US Congress with many American lawmakers believing that the operation in Abbottabad has exposed the treachery of the Pakistani government.

Further complicating the matter is CIA chief Leon Panetta’s statement that Pakistan was not included in the mission to kill bin Laden as US officials feared it could have jeopardised the operation by alerting the targets.

What puzzles the US lawmakers is the fact that the al Qaeda chief was living in a complex close to a major military academy in the city of Abbottabad - where the armed forces have a large share in the property.

There are questions over whether Americans should continue military and economic assistance to a nation, which might be abetting al Qaeda.

Pakistan, caught in the middle of all sorts of crises one can think of due to its own self-destructive policies, is in dire need of US assistance and is denying that it had any information about bin Laden’s whereabouts.

But to make matters worse for itself, it is allowing organisations including Jamaatud Dawa to openly mourn the death of the man, who was responsible for the deaths of so many people - more Muslims than the followers of any other religion perhaps. Jamaatud Dawa is supposed to be a banned outfit, but every now and then, it stages rallies in major cities including Karachi and Lahore, a proof that it enjoys the authorities’ free hand. Newspapers all around the world and websites carrying images of Jamaatud Dawa members shedding tears for bin Laden at a funeral in absentia in Karachi surely won’t help matters for Pakistan.

One ray of light for the country is that the Obama administration hasn’t used harsh words for it yet. In fact, it is saying that Pakistani cooperation is essential for the war on terror in the coming days. Perhaps that might provide Pakistan with an exit from the mess it is currently stuck in, but at the same time, it can expect a much greater amount of “do more” pressure headed its way.

Moral victory for US but Pakistan has to prepare for backlash

Osama bin Laden is dead and buried… well dumped into the sea that is (It is interesting to see the a flood of tweets all likening this to the way the remains of Megatron, the villainous leader of the Decepticons in the blockbuster movie Transformers, were thrown into the sea, but the he later made a comeback in the movie’s sequel from his watery grave). However, it is not over yet… in fact far from it. Bin Laden was nothing more than a symbolic figure in the ranks of al Qaeda now. The organisation’s operations were being run by others. But nevertheless, it is a great moral victory and the death of perhaps the most hated man after Adolf Hitler would be a great blow to terrorists. But even as the US can celebrate the sweet taste of revenge for what the bin Laden did on September 11, 2001; the Pakistanis would have to prepare for a very terrible backlash from al Qaeda operatives and the Taliban.
After the news about bin Laden’s broke out, a bomb blast near a mosque in Charsadda killed a woman and three children and wounded five others. This incident might not be related to the news about bin Laden’s death, but the possibility cannot be counted out.
In an audio message issued to the Pakistani media from an undisclosed location, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has said that it would avenge the killing of the al Qaeda chief. The most significant part of the message was that Pakistan is now the Taliban’s first target and the US the second. The death of the world’s most wanted man would dramatically alter the current scenario of policies and strategies and Pakistan would have to make changes accordingly.