Area 14/8: The Upside to Divisive Power-play

By Z. FEROZE
Area 14/8

While western scholars deem it necessary to permit a revolution in Pakistan, the question of whether or not we require a messiah has often boggled the intelligentsia. While nationalism and tradition hailed in Balochistan and Punjab respectively, a ghastly series of repercussions garnered results such as the killing of PTI leader Zahra Shahid Hussain in Sindh. Common sense dictates that Sindh is desperately in need for a political messiah to alleviate the town in lieu of target killings, ethnic violence harboring separatism and a scraped social fabric and security. The general disputation among the intelligentsia regarding the failing political situation of Karachi, the hub of the most influential political party in Sindh, has been to chalk out the cause and effect of the town’s social tumult. Without doubt, MQM is an important power-player that has repatriated ethnic devises and fuelled ethnocentrism of the Muhajir, directly as well as indirectly. Reduced to victimized manipulation, the people of Karachi have fixated on this politics of division and extortion. With an alarming number of people losing their lives to a lack of social security, the solution to a monochromatic political representation of Karachi has been wishy-washy. The Election of 2013, however, reworked the political dynamics of Karachi and managed to considerably compromise the strain exacted by the MQM influence on the region.

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An open letter to the D-chowk revolutionaries by Ahmad Shah Durrani

Area 14/8

I don’t know if Saad Rafique is guilty or not,but he’s right. What is being conducted against him is a misguided campaign of propaganda -by people with very little idea about election regulations and standards of evidence.

All the people out to get the man may have had second-hand,rarely ever first-hand accounts,of Saad Rafique’s rigging. Some people don’t even have that. They just saw social media throwing a hissy fit and joined in. “Of course,the fact that the PTI Tsunami failed to sweep Defence,and other surrounding areas,is proof enough for some that Saad Rafique is guilty” they say. I wonder if these same people know that there are over 150 polling stations in NA 125,some in Defence and Cantt. But the majority in Walton and surrounding areas Bhatta and Nishat. Now I don’t know what the support was like for PTI in areas like Walton,but demographically,at least,it is a clear PML-N stronghold.

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THE PUZZLE

  The Pieces of the Puzzle

#1—Renewed interest by Scotland Yard in the Imran Farooq murder in London

#2—The unconditional and abject apology by the MQM before the Supreme Court of Pakistan

#3—The Qadri intervention

#4—MQM’s prompt and total support of the Qadri intervention.

#5—Surge in US Drone attacks with TTP being targeted.

#5—Pakistan military’s changed threat perception with the internal threat identified as the main threat and a public announcement of this realization.

#6—US/UK/NATO compulsion to exit Afghanistan in an orderly manner and the need to protect Afghanistan from external inroads in the vulnerable post exit period

#7—Pakistan’s centrality in the entire exit strategy including safe passage for logistic movement.

#8—The political situation in Pakistan and the US/UK desire for status quo so that their exit strategy continues to get support.

 

The Mosaic

The US and UK decide that an electoral change in Pakistan that could have unpredictable results is not in their interest at this stage. They need the present political and military set up in Pakistan in 2013-2014 to get out of Afghanistan, push the peace process in Afghanistan forward and not face the ignominy of a post exit chaos in Afghanistan. Pakistan must therefore be accorded a central role and given an assurance of continuity of the status quo.

The US/UK does not favor an internal upheaval in Pakistan and want ‘democracy’ to continue. They sense that the people want change and reform to give them a better future and not more of the same that the elections seem to promise. The US and UK do not want a change that triggers a change in policies that may change the relationship with the US.

Enter Qadri with limitless funds and superb organizational ability. He promises reform and elections under a competent and impartial interim government. The implication being that the interim government will have to be given time for the reforms. The MQM ‘decides’ to join Qadri and clears itself with the Supreme Court—surprising many on both counts. To ward off criticism The MQM leader threatens a political Drone strike—obviously a disclosure of some sort.

The military readies itself to face the new threat and an expected disruption in the already serious internal security situation. Increased Drone strikes ratchet up the pressure on insurgents who may be expected to retaliate in Pakistan’s urban areas heightening the internal threat.

The major power players react as expected. The PPP (government) soft pedals the MQM turnabout and goes along with the evolving situation as status quo suits it. The military and the judiciary are satisfied that the Constitutional provisions are being respected. The PML(N) and the PTI are lost in the fog and likely to remain lost.

The interim government is given access to IMF and World Bank funds and acts to reform not just the electoral process but takes long overdue steps to establish the rule of law, to provide services and security to the people through effective governance, tackles the internal threat and puts the country on the road to economic recovery. The people heave a sigh of relief.

The War of the Rallies

By: Fatima Rizvi

The Chairman Pakistan Tehrik Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan started it. Sensing that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had been sidelined with even their government in Pakistan’s largest province with Shahbaz Sharif as the Chief Minister under criticism and the ruling party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), helpless against the mounting grievances of the people, Imran announced a political meeting in Punjab’s capital Lahore for Sunday October 30th. Not only that, Imran rubbed his advantage in by predicting a massive turn out that would decisively tilt the people in his favor. Woken from their slumber and desperate not to be outdone on their home turf the PML(N) announced a political rally (as distinct from meeting) for Friday October,28th with one single agenda-to start a movement “Go Zardai Go” against the President of the country. People wondered what this meant because the PML(N) was part of the political set up, being the government in Punjab, and so far had been an ineffective opposition. Once the PML(N) rally had railed against the government in strong language the PPP’s coalition partner the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) jumped in and announced a rally in their home city Karachi to be addressed by their exiled leader from London with the objective of supporting the President and condemning the outbursts of Shahbaz Sharif that had come in for across the board criticism because of the language used.

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PTI-led alliance on anvil to end ‘dynastic politics’

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has announced that his party will forge an alliance with ‘emerging’ political parties to provide the people with an alternative to the parties based on dynastic politics like the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the next general election.

Disillusioned politicians to be invited to join the camp.

“My party will campaign to bring likeminded politicians on a single platform to win more seats in the coming elections,” Khan told a news conference on Tuesday. “The Pakistani nation wants an end to politics of musical chairs,” he added.

The PTI, which recently accelerated its campaign against the government policies, is all set to contact the politicians disillusioned with their parties, sources in PTI told The Express Tribune. The PTI chairman has contacted PML-F leader Jahangir Tareen, who had recently announced that he would launch a new political party of ‘clean politicians’ in September, they added.

Renegade members of all political parties, inclined to join the alliance would be contacted, said PTI leader Zahid Hussain. Party sources said that the likely candidates are former PML-Q MNA Marvi Memon, PPP Senator Safdar Abbasi, Naheed Khan, former minister of state Omar Ayub, Javed Hashmi, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Sikandar Bosan, political rival of Premier Gilani’s family as well as other dissidents of the PML-N, PML-Q and PPP will soon be contacted. The PTI may also link up with the Sindh National Front and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.

The PTI chief said that the government should be held accountable for its refusal to implement the Supreme Court’s orders. “The Supreme Court should start contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister for violating its orders,” he said.

Contempt proceedings should also be initiated against President Asif Ali Zardari for holding two offices in defiance of the Lahore High Court verdict and exercising his powers as the PPP’s chief executive in contravention of the constitution. “The government’s consistent defiance of the apex court is leading to anarchy in the country,” he added.

“Criminals are on the rampage in Karachi and law of the jungle prevails everywhere,” Khan said. “It is high time the chief justice held the chief executive of the government and the state accountable under Article 6 of the constitution.”

He welcomed new political entrants to the PTI and said that his party’s membership was open to all honest politicians irrespective of their past political affiliations.

Students, teachers out to save sinking ship of HEC

By Mahtab Bashir

ISLAMABAD: Considering protest demonstration as a last straw to stop devolution of Higher Education Commission (HEC), hundreds of university students, faculty members of universities, educationists and officials of HEC on Tuesday held a protest in front of HEC Secretariat.

All voices were requesting Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who is the controlling authority of the HEC, to intervene and stop the process of devolution in the larger interest of the country.

Holding banners, placards, and Pakistani flags, to show solidarity for a cause to salvage the HEC pride, earned in last decade and its future fragmentation, the protestors raised full throat slogans ‘Save HEC, Save Education, Save the nation’, ‘Stop disintegration of HEC’ and ‘HEC khappay’. They also requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary to take suo motu action on this particular issue.

Over 2,000 protestors gathered in front of HEC Secretariat Sector H-9 were of their opinion that staging protests on the roads was the only option left to convince the government to revert its decision of devolution of the commission to provinces.

“There is an impending disaster looming in front of us regarding devolving the functions of the HEC to the provinces that has been decided by the cabinet (on the recommendation of a parliamentary committee on devolution headed by Raza Rabbani) to tear higher education to shreds and hand over the pieces to the provinces,” students maintained with wrath.

On the occasion, senior teaching staff members from QAU, IIUI, NUML, AIOU, NUST, and others said the HEC was created as an autonomous federal regulatory institution with the prime minister of Pakistan as its controlling authority. The composition of the commission reflects a balanced federal structure with representation from each province, as well as the secretary education and secretary science and technology, together with eminent academic and research experts, they said. “All powers and functions of the HEC defined under its legislation are covered and protected in the provisions of the 18th Amendment. But, alas, who cares about what is legal and what is not,” they explained.

The senior faculty members of various universities on the occasion said that Pakistan had made remarkable progress during 2002-2008 in higher education. “There was a 600 % increase in scientific publications in international journals and a 1,000 per cent increase in citations in this period. Today, several of our universities are ranked among the top 500. The University of Karachi was ranked at 223 in the world, NUST at 260 in the world and Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) at 270 in the world, in the field of natural sciences. This is no ordinary achievement after decades of stagnation. The World Bank, USAID and the British Council published comprehensive reports on the higher education sector, applauding it and calling it “a silent revolution”, they maintained.

The protestors pleaded government to stop this suicidal madness. “Something good happened in Pakistan after some 55 years of neglect. Let us not destroy this wonderful initiative,” they added.

HEC should remain intact: PTI:

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) believes that the concept of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) should stay despite devolution of education to the provinces according to the 18th Amendment, said PTI secretary general Arif Alvi at party delegation of educationists here at a party secretariat.

He said HEC should remain as an important directional body that could continue to play a major role in a sector where Pakistan was severely deficient.

Dr Alvi said that it was surprising to note that even appointments of vice chancellors in Pakistan were political and it was not even necessary for the appointee to have a PhD. The result was that such appointees who had no academic excellence ensured that meritocracy in academia was defeated.